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Theo wakes up in the morgue drawer. Again. He knows it's time to bust the door open. Again. And let his sister take her heart back. Again. Again. Again. And again. Over and over. He deserves it. He knows he does after everything he's done. He's hurt a lot of people and it all started with Tara. She deserves to rip her heart out of his chest as many times as she wants. Doesn't mean he has to like it. He sighs and turns over to prepare to open the door. He takes a deep breath and inhales the scent of dirt, disinfectant, steel, and fear. Wait, dirt? He pauses. He’s never smelled dirt before in the countless times he’s woken up in this drawer. He shifts his eyes to peer around the small space and sees a dirt wall at the other end of the confined space where he knows there was only ever solid steel before. If this is a chance to escape, he's going to take it. Turning around in the cramped area iqs difficult, but he manages. He looks at the wall and pushes his fingers in, half expecting it to turn back into the merciless steel. His fingers sink in and Theo starts to dig. He shifts his nails and claws into the dirt. He digs and digs. He doesn’t know how long it takes until his clawed hand breaks the surface. All he knows is that he can finally breathe. The first full breath he takes smells of of earth and the sewer. Both scents that make him think of the Dread Doctors. Oh goody. I've ascended to the next level of hell. He thinks to himself as he releases his fangs and prepares to fight. He might not be willing to fight his sister, but these freaks he’ll fight for eternity. They're the reason his sister's heart is in his chest in the first place. He finishes crawling out of the ground and looks into the most beautiful blue eyes he's ever seen. Holy shit. That's definitely not the Dread Doctors. It's just Liam. Liam's got Kira's sword. Liam freed him from hell. Liam whom he'd had a crush on since the first time he saw the little angry beta. This is too good to be true. Pull it together, Raeken. This is just a new way for Tara to rip your (her) heart out. He lunges at the werewolf and slams him against the wall. “Theo!” a voice screams. “We're not trying to hurt you. We're the ones that brought you back.” Theo looks up into the face of Hayden Romero. Wait. Hayden, too? Definitely still in hell. “Where's my sister?” he demands. “Your sister's dead.” Theo growls at Liam’s answer. “She died a long time ago.” “You killed her, remember?” Hayden adds. Yeah and she's been killing me back for who knows how long. If I'm not gonna be locked in that damn hospital, then I'm finding a way out of here. “I'm gonna kill you, too.” he declares to the demons in his personal hell. “I'm gonna kill all of you.” He’s not going down without a fight if he's now in a position to get out. “Okay. Send him back.” Hayden says to Liam.
Send who back where? What the hell is she talking about?
Liam pushes Theo back with a fist wrapped around Kira’s sword. “You know what this does?” he asks, panting. Theo backs away from the sword. The sword. The one that put him under. It’s real and it's in Liam's hands. Which means he really did let me out. He really saved me. He tries to focus on what the boy is saying. “We need your power to help us. Then you can kill whoever you want.” Oh really? I'm holding you to that Blue Eyes. Did you always smell this amazing? “But if you do kill us, you're gonna end up worse off than ever.” You’re lucky you’re pretty, Dunbar. “There's nothing worse than what I've been through.” “You ever hear about the ghost riders?” Liam counters. Pretty boy said what?
**
That’s how he ends up in another section of tunnels with “Mr. Douglas” and contraption meant to run a shit-ton of electricity through his body. “What makes you think this is going to work?” Theo asks. “You took Josh's power. You can do it," Liam answers. Gee thanks, Josh. Theo hesitantly grabs onto the rod. To be completely honest with himself, he know he didn't have Josh or Tracy's power in hell. Hopefully he'll have them here. “Here we go,” Douglas says and turns a knob on his device. Theo is immediately thrown back. He screams as he flies across the tunnel and grunts when he hits the floor hard. Fuck that hurt. “Hey, what the hell?” Liam asks. Confused puppy look on his face. God he's cute. And I'm such an asshole for thinking that while in this much pain. “That was only one billion joules.” Douglas feels the need to comment. What a prick. “Only?” Goddammit. I need to be useful. Now what? “Well, how many joules are in a bolt of lightning?” Liam, asking the important questions. “Five billion,” Douglas unhelpfully answers. Jeez, I know I'm nobody's favorite, but damn. “Well, I'm fine, by the way. Thank you for your concern,” Theo throws out there. Just in case anyone cares. “You don't have Josh's power anymore, do you?” Liam accuses him. Fuck. Now is not the time to be smart, Liam! Hayden marches up to Theo and grabs his hand, examining his claws. “Or Tracy's,” she feels the need to tell the rest of the class. Bitch. He rips his hand out of hers. “Guess I'm back to Classic Theo,” he says. It's enough. I promise. Liam's gaze meets Theo's. Oh, hello. “Maybe you should try some remorse, since you killed them for their powers.” Oh, hell no. “I just put them back the way I found them.” Wait. Damn it, Raeken. Now is not the time to be yourself. “Okay. Send him back," Hayden demands, looking at Liam. Liam takes a step forward and lifts the sword. Wait. No. Please, God, no. Anything but that. Literally, I'll do anything . “Hold on.” Theo sounds desperate, he knows he does, but he can't help it. “I can help. I know about the Wild Hunt from the Dread Doctors. I also know about things I'm betting you don't.” He aims a pointed glance at Douglas. Yeah, I know exactly who you are, Nazi bastard. Douglas looks down. Theo assumes he's thinking about all the times he'd seen him in the Dread Doctor’s lab. “I'm with Ms. Romero on this one.” He puts in. Of course you are. “Send him back.” I am not ready to see my sister again. “Who's making decisions around here?” Theo asks desperately. “Where's Scott? Where's Stiles?” He'd definitely take Stiles over Tara. “You remember Stiles?” Hayden asks. She and Liam look confused. “Why wouldn't I remember Stiles?” Of course he remembers the asshat who almost ruined his entire plan to take over the pack. Not that his plan worked anyway. Why are they acting like this?“Maybe he's useful all.” Liam says, looking at Theo. Of course I am. I can be as useful as you need me to be. Anything for you, Little Wolf.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Full offence, Theo. You reek,” Hayden states. Theo sees her wrinkle her nose in the rear view mirror from his position in the back seat of her car. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Next time, I’ll be sure to take a shower and spritz on my best cologne before I crawl out of the ground after being dead for however long, ‘kay?” Theo answers her in mock contrition. “No need to be an asshole, Theo,” Liam grumbles next to him. Dude, have you met me? “She’s kinda right, though. Obviously, you can’t help it, but that doesn’t make it any less true.” He looks over at Theo and readjusts his grip on the sword. Then he looks at Hayden. “Stop at my place. He can take a shower there.” Maybe there is a god, after all. Alright, keep it cool, Raeken. “Oh, goody. Casa de Dunbar. Think you can spare some grub, too? I’m starving.” Liam squints at him. Theo gives him his best smile. He snorts and rolls his eyes. “We’ll see. Right now, let’s just focus on making you smell better.” “You say the kindest things, Dunbar.” * They pull in front a nice 2 story house with a ancient looking Bronco sitting in the front. No lights were on inside. “Parents not home?” Theo asks. Liam stops halfway up the porch steps. “I don’t have… shit. They took my parents.” He marches up to the door and pushes it open. The house is barren. No personal items, no pictures on the walls, no knicknacks on the shelves. The house looks like it was done up for an open house, not like a family has been living there for years. Liam rushes to the kitchen. The only items they find are a lab coat, carelessly tossed over the back of a chair at the kitchen table and an apron hanging on a hook next to the fridge. Liam is breathing hard and Hayden steps around Theo to wrap her arms around the beta, telling him it’ll be alright and that they’ll get everyone back. Theo wishes more than anything that he could be the one to comfort him instead. The least I could do is bring some normal to the situation. He clears his throat. “Not to interrupt, because I’m sure missing parents that you can't even remember is traumatizing, but I was promised a shower so could somebody get me a towel please?” Liam growls and separates himself from Hayden. He walks to what Theo can only assume is the laundry room and comes back with a towel, tosses it at Theo and tells him to follow. Theo follows Liam down a short hallway and points Theo toward a room on the left. “I'll see if I can find some clean clothes for you. Just leave the dirty ones on the sink.” he scowls at Theo and then leaves him in the hall. I’ll do whatever I can to get your parents back for you Little Wolf. Theo enters the bathroom and strips off his filthy clothes. He leaves them on the sink as requested and turns on the shower. He looks around and sees generic brands of shampoo and body wash. He’s not going to complain. He’s just excited about getting clean. He grabs a washcloth from the sink and climbs inside of the stall and closes the door, immediately reopening it. The space is small and the thought of being enclosed inside reminds him too much of the morgue drawer. He looks down and watches the dirt swirl on the tile and down the drain. He grabs the shampoo, pours some in his hand, and lathers up his hair and rinses. It feels so amazing, he does it three more times, then repeats the process with the conditioner. He pours body wash on the washcloth and runs it all over his body and rinsing off. He repeats this process a few times as well. At one point during the third round he’d heard the door open and the sound of clothes rustling before the door closes again. He caught a whiff of the beta’s scent and his dick twitched in interest. Dude. Now really is not the time, so don’t even bother. He sighs and shuts off the water. He gets out and dries off before looking at the pile of clean clothes on the sink. A grey v-neck t-shirt, jeans, socks, and a hooded denim jacket he recognises as his own. What the hell is this doing here? He searches through the pile and sees no underwear. And they say I’m evil? These jeans better not be too tight. He slips the jeans on, they’re snug but there’s room to breathe. The shirt is a little tight across the chest, but that’s really not a problem. The jacket fits just right, as expected. He doesn’t bother with the socks until he sees what his shoe situation is gonna be. The jacket still smells mostly like him, but the rest of the clothes are covered in Liam’s scent. The jeans start to get too tight. Goddammit, what did I just tell you. These jeans are so not made for you. Go away. Theo walks back down the hall and into the kitchen. Liam is sitting in the chair with the lab coat on it and cradles the apron in his hands, the sword laying across his lap. Hayden tosses his shoes at his feet. “Brushed off as much dirt as I could. It’ll have to do.” “Thanks.” Theo sits down, pulling on his socks and shoes. “Where’d you get my jacket?” He really wants to know. Liam gets up and rummages through the cabinets with one hand, the other wrapped around the sword handle. “You left it at Scott’s. He asked me to return it to you because he figured I’d see you before he did. Then Hayden got sick and you wound me up and sent me off to kill Scott on the super moon.” He gives Theo a pointed glare. Well it’s not like you actually killed him. Had to do it myself. You’re welcome. “It’s just been sitting in the corner of my room for months. Been meaning to throw it away but I kept forgetting to. Lucky you.” He throws two packages of cherry poptarts and an apple at Theo. “Bon appetit. Don’t have time for anything else. We’re meeting Scott and the others at his house. You’re going to tell us everything you know about Stiles on the way there.” ** Theo is staring out Scott’s kitchen window when Hayden says, “You know all about the Ghost Riders. How do we get Stiles and the others back?” Hate to be the bearer of bad news but... “You can't. The Wild Hunt comes. The Wild Hunt goes. That's how it works.” Theo tells her and Liam, still looking out the window. “But they're still here. And they're still taking people.” Liam counters. Theo turns around to look at him. “That's not possible. They're the Wild Hunt. They're not just gonna stick around. Unless…” He trails off. “Unless what?” Hayden asks. “Unless they're stuck.” Theo answers. Well that makes no sense, but it’s all I’ve got because seriously, they should be gone by now. Liam gets a determined look on his face and steps around the kitchen island. “You're gonna help us.” Listen, Blue Eyes, I would if I could. “Liam, I don't know what to do.” “Well, you remember Stiles, so clearly you know more than we do,” Hayden butts in. Liam lifts the sword that hasn’t left his hand since he got it from Kira’s mom. “You're gonna help us or you're going back.” Alright, I’m getting a little tired of that damn thing. Also, you’re doing a helluva lot of posturing with it, Little Wolf. “Let me guess.” Theo lifts his gaze from the sword to meet Liam’s. “Scott wasn't a part of this plan, was he?” “It’ll be fine,” Liam says. Oh, yeah. Your heart says you’re a liar. We all know it won’t be fine. “I’ll figure it out.” A few minutes later they hear Malia’s car pull into the driveway. After a few moments, the front door opens and Liam and Hayden straighten up and look behind Theo, who follows their stares. There stands Scott, who looks like he’s barely holding onto control. He smells mostly of rage and a little bit of fear. Theo looks away from the alpha, not willing to meet his gaze and rile him up more. “Somehow I don't think we're gonna hug this out.” “I hope you realize it's taking all of my strength to not tear you in half right now,” Scott answers his rhetorical statement. I wonder if that hurts more or less than having a heart ripped out. Please let that whole true-alpha-not-willing-to-kill-even-your-enemies thing still stands. Theo hears a growl from behind him and turns around coming face to face with Malia. Well, fuck. RIP my beautiful face. Liam, I’ll miss you when I’m back in hell. “Hey, Malia. You aren't still upset about the whole shooting thing, are you?” Malia roars and launches herself at him. She’s got him pinned on his back and punches him over and over. He can’t help but think about his time in hell. Having his heart ripped out by his sister repeatedly was everything he deserved. Malia deserves to do this to him as much as his sister did. He did, after all, shoot her and leave her to mother whom he knew wanted to kill her. After a particularly brutal punch, he mumbles, “It's okay, you don't have to stop.” “Trust me, I won't.” She flicks out her claws and Theo starts to panic. Just don’t take the heart. Before she can bring her claws down, Liam grabs her wrist. Scott grabs her other arm and they drag her off Theo and across the room. “Malia, enough! Hey.” Scott commands her. She growls at him, clearly not willing to listen. “Slow down, okay? He's going back in the ground.” “You can't,” Liam says. Scott looks at him like he’s crazy. “He remembers Stiles.” Well, Liam, I can’t say you didn’t try. Theo hisses in pain as he sits up. Yup. I’m gonna feel that for a minute. Assuming I don’t die in the next 5 minutes. “Scott remembers Stiles.” Malia counters angrily. “Lydia and I remember Stiles.” “The Dread Doctors knew all about the Wild Hunt. He can help us.” Liam appeals to Scott. “Or he could kill us,” Scott says. Like I’ve got that kind of energy. Or resources. Or the element of surprise anymore. Do you all not realize how much effort and planning went into last time? And it still didn’t work. Bastards. “He's my responsibility. Noshiko gave me the sword,” Liam tells him. Theo sighs. “It's so awkward when Mom and Dad fight.” “Shut up!” They both yell at him. Touchy touchy. “You both are right.” Hayden the devil’s advocate? Ok, then. “If Theo tries anything, we'll send him back to the Skinwalkers.” Thanks, babe. “But for right now-” “He goes back now.” Scott interrupts her, looking at Liam. I just love it when they talk about me like I’m not here. I feel so special. “Except Liam's the one with the sword,” Theo points out. Everyone turns to him and yells, “Shut up!” Wow, rude. Scott pulls Liam into the next room. Malia takes a step towards Theo and Hayden steps in front of her. “Malia…” She says with a warning in her voice. Malia ignores it. “Can you give me a second alone with Theo?” “Why?” Hayden asks, clearly knowing the answer. “So I can kill him.” She answers, a silent ‘duh’ on her face. Well, that’s my cue. “Okay, look,” Theo says and they both look at him. “I know that there's mixed feelings all around.” Malia looks at him like he’s a dumbass. “But I might be your only option to stop the Wild Hunt.” “Let's kill him,” Malia says again. Theo tunes her out and focuses on what Liam and Scott are talking about. “What, you don't trust me?” Liam asks his alpha. “I don't trust him.” Scott answers. “Do you?” “No.” Ouch, but fair. “But I think we can use him.” Story of my life. “Remember who he is. He got into your head and you tried to kill me. And when that didn't work, he did kill me. And Tracy, and Josh, and his sister.” Yeah, yeah. I was an asshole. But if you think I won’t do anything for that little beta of yours, you’re a bigger dumbass than I thought, Scott. “But this might be our only chance to get Stiles back.” Yes, dangle that twink-sized, sarcastic carrot. “Can't we just try to find somebody that we at least trust?” They’ve all probably been taken already, idiot. “This might be a mistake.” Not for you at least. “But you don't know that yet. And you made mistakes when you were learning to be an Alpha.” Liam points out. “Yeah, I made a lot. But we don't have time for mistakes. I can't lose Stiles," Scott implores. “So we should try anything we can to save him. Right?” Liam pauses. “Even Theo.” It takes a few moments for Scott to answer. “Convince me.” Hells. Yes. Liam and Scott come back into the kitchen. Liam helps Theo stand and pulls him into the living room. With the others watching he shows Theo the sword. “I can put you back in the ground anytime.” I’m aware, thank you. Theo looks at the sword then up at Liam. “You also need a transformer that can handle five billion joules of electricity.” Liam lowers the sword. “I know where to find one and I can show you how it works.” Theo looks past Liam. “I'll tell you if Malia promises not to kill me.” Malia growls at him. “She promises,” Liam says quickly. “No, I don't.” She says and looks at Scott. “We're really gonna do this? Trust him?” “You got a better idea?” Hayden asks. Girl, you gotta stop. I don’t wanna like you. “I've got an idea. It may not be better. But at least it's not him,” Malia says, glaring at Theo and walks out of the house. Theo watches her leave then looks at Liam. Thanks for saving me again, Little Wolf.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Theo could think of several more interesting uses for the manacles around his wrists attached to the chain in Liam’s hands. Instead, I’m being led around the woods like a fucking poodle. “This was a bad idea,” Liam announces as if it wasn’t his idea. “It's not a bad idea.” Hayden tries to reassure him. Theo can’t help himself. “It is a terrible idea.” Liam jerks the chain, making Theo stumble. You little shit. You’re lucky I like you breathing. “I told you where the transformer is. I told you how it works. I don't need to be there when it all blows up.” Hayden stops, turns around, and glares at Theo. “It's not going to blow up. They ride the lightning. We can use that to catch one and keep him there until we figure out what they want. It's a good idea.” “You're trying to catch a Ghost Rider. A million things can go wrong. Terrible idea.” I would’ve never brought you back if I’d known you were this dumb. “The bad idea was bringing him back,” Liam says, glancing at Theo. “Scott's right. This is a mistake.” I’m helping, aren’t I? It’s a new thing, you know? Please stop looking so sad. Hayden looks at Liam earnestly. “You took a risk. We took a risk. But it was the right thing to do.” She steps forward. Ugh. Please, no. No, no, no. “I believe in you.” They both lean in and kiss. I knew I was still in hell. Isn’t there a cliff around here that I can throw myself off of? “You guys want me to leave you alone?” They both look at him. “Oh, that’s right,” Theo lifts his arms, hands wrapped around the chains attached to the manacles. “I can't.” He lets go. It's bad enough knowing he's kissing you and not me. I really don't want to see it. They hear thunder rumbling. “We better hurry.” Hayden, stating the obvious. Liam jerks the chain again as they resume walking. Starting to regret not killing you when I first crawled outta the ground, Little Wolf. ** The door squeaks as they enter the dilapidated building. Inside the large room is a huge cage. Scott is putting up the finishing touches on an electrical box on the side of the fence. Corey chuckles at the sight of Theo in chains when they walk in. Laugh it up, invisiboy. Don’t forget, I can find you when you’re cloaked. “You did it,” Hayden says to Mason. He looks at her almost offended. “Of course we did it.” Kid’s smart. Gotta give him that. Liam unlocks the manacles and they fall to the ground with a satisfying sound. My hero. Dick. Theo pushes past him towards the transformer at the back of the room. He looks at everyone who followed him and pushes a leaver up. See? Easy. I was not needed. Could've taken Blue Eyes and bounced. The lights come on and an electric noise fills the room as the transformer powers up.“This thing can transmute the energy from a lightning bolt. Even successive strikes.” Scott walks back around the cage and asks, “Mason, are you sure this is gonna work?” “Well, whatever's inside this cage is shielded from any outside electrical current. So the Ghost Rider won't be able to use lightning to escape.” Corey points up. “We put a lightning rod on the roof and connected it to that conduit cable. Drawing the Ghost Rider to that spot.” Everyone follows where is hand points toward a metal plate on the ground a couple of feet away from the cage. “We can't send him directly in because the cage neutralizes electromagnetism. Lightning will just bounce off it. Which is the same reason it'll hold him in.” Mason explains. Scott walks toward the plate. “If the Ghost Rider lands here, how do we get him in the cage?” “We have to lure him in,” Corey answers. “Bait?” Scott doesn’t sound happy about the idea. “I'll do it,” Hayden volunteers. Liam opens his mouth to protest. “It'll be okay. I'm faster than you.” Before Liam can say anything else, Mason continues. “As soon as Hayden's out, Scott and Liam, you guys close the gates,” He picks up a jar of familiar black powder. “And then I'll put down a barrier of Mountain Ash.” “I'll be on the roof to take down the rod,” Corey adds. “We'll be on the lookout for any other Ghost Riders,” Mason finishes. Alright, maybe we won’t die. I’m not holding my breath, though. Liam steps toward Scott. “What do you think?” The alpha turns around to look at him, quiet pride on his face. “I think it's the best idea that we have right now.” “As long as everything goes perfectly and he doesn't escape and kill us all,” Theo states, looking over at Liam. I’m just saying. But at least I get to see you before we all bite it. “And your transformer works and the whole place doesn't catch on fire.” Hayden sasses back at him. And I’ll gladly tell you I told you so. Bitch. “And there isn't a catastrophic solar flare.” Thank you for that, Mason. Scott takes a second to consider. “Let's do it.” “Okay.” Mason returns to a table by the door and turns a knob on the function generator that Douglas had used in the tunnels. Electricity begins crackling around the cage, making everyone flinch back and lighting the room up in a flashing blue. Mason turns it off and everyone smiles in triumph. Still a terrible idea. But it might actually work. A loud crack of thunder sounds outside. ** Night’s fallen and thunder is constantly rumbling. Hayden shuffles in anticipation by the cage door, ready to run as soon as the Ghost Rider shows. Electricity crackles as a bolt of lightning comes down the rod. A Ghost Rider appears and growls when it sees Hayden. She sprints through both cage doors, clearing the second as the Ghost Rider steps into the middle of the cage. Liam slams the gate in its face and throws the bolt. The Rider turns its head back to see Scott start to close the other gate. A loose piece of fence gets stuck on a pipe, preventing Scott from closing the gate all the way. The Rider takes the opportunity to grab the gate and try to force it back open. Shit shit shit!!! Theo rushes forward to help Scott push the gate closed. As the gap starts to close, the Rider grabs Theo’s shoulder and starts to pull him into the cage. He pulls the gate with him, trapping his arm in the cage.“Keep closing it.” He tells Scott. They both pull on the gate and hear his bones start to crack. Theo yells in pain. Fuck this hurts! Laim runs up and grabs Theo, pulling him from the cage and the Ghost Rider’s grip. Scott shifts and roars, using his alpha strength to force the gate closed. As soon as it’s slammed shut and Scott steps back, Mason lays down a line of Mountain Ash. He stares in awe at the Ghost Rider before Scott yells, “Go! Go!” Then he’s running out the door. Everyone is breathing heavy. The Ghost Rider stares at them and then reaches down for his pistol, finding his holster empty. Theo looks over as Scott lifts the pistol up to show it to the Ghost Rider. Well, goddamn, Scott. Who knew you were such a quick thinker? Thunder rumbles and the Rider lifts its arm to call down the lightning. A bolt comes down through the rod and hits the cage. The Rider is still standing inside. It lowers its arm slowly. Theo wasn’t sure it was possible for a Ghost Rider to look confused, but somehow that’s what was happening. “It worked.” Scott pants. Liam looks up in triumph. “We did it.” “Yeah. We did.”
Theo bends over, resting his hands above his knees in relief. This is insane. I can’t believe we’re all alive right now. And Liam just saved me. Again. You’re 0-3 Raeken, something’s gotta give. Thunder rumbles as the Ghost Rider lifts both arms. Twice as much electricity lights up the cage. The lights on the transformer start to brighten. Perhaps I was too hasty with my relief. When nothing else happens, the Rider lowers its arms. Theo scoffs. “Now what do we do?” “Try and talk to him,” Scott suggests. Liam takes a step forward. “Mr. Ghost Rider?” He clears his throat. “Mr. Rider?” Theo looks from Liam to Scott, who tilts his head at his beta. Really, Scott? This is the one you chose to give the bite to? “We'll let you out if you tell us how to get our friends back.” “Everyone,” Scott declares. “We want everyone back.” “Tell us how to get 'em all back,” Liam demands. The Ghost Rider just stares at them. Wait, wait, wait. Theo glances between Liam and Scott. “This is the plan?” Liam shuffles his feet and says in a hushed tone, “There wasn't a plan for this part of the plan.” Wow, ok. Fly by the seat of your pants isn't really my style. Especially when I'm not wearing underwear. “It's okay,” Scott assures his beta. “Look, we got him trapped. He can't get out. We just have to figure out how to communicate with him.” The Ghost Rider continues to just stand and stare. “Maybe he can't hear us,” Scott suggests. Liam shrugs. “Maybe he speaks an ancient language.” Theo steps up behind the werewolves. “Maybe he only responds to pain.” “Or fear.”“Nothing's gonna scare this thing. Look at him. He's a walking corpse.” Theo points out. “Something's wrong,” Liam says, ignoring Theo’s remarks. “Why'd he stop trying to get out?” The Ghost Rider lets out a shrieking howl. Well, shit. “Did he just call for backup?” Liam looks over at Scott. “When Corey made that Ghost Rider visible at the party, another one showed up. “We have to figure out how to talk to him,” Scott says, a little worry in his voice. “Or else get the hell out of here.” Smartest thing anyone has said all freaking night. ** Liam’s phone starts ringing. He answers. “Mason? What’s up?” “Dude. Call Parrish!” They all here Mason yell excitedly through the phone. “The Ghost Rider at the party was trying to communicate with him before it disappeared. Hellhounds often ride with the Wild Hunt. Parrish should be able to talk to the Ghost Riders.” Scott was already dialing Parrish’s number before Mason had finished talking. “Great thinking, Mase!” Liam tells his best friend. “Scott’s calling him now. Thanks, man.” “No problem. Call me if anything happens.” Both boys hang up and Liam turns to Scott who presses the end button on his own phone. “Parrish is on his way.” ** Fifteen minutes later, the boys and the Ghost Rider are having a staredown when the Rider turns its head toward the door. They follow its stare to see Parrish standing in the doorway. He walks up to the cage and stands directly in front of the Ghost Rider behind the Mountain Ash barrier. The Ghost Rider takes a step towards the hellhound. Well, what do you know? “That's progress.” Theo tips his head to Scott. “Ask him how we get everyone back,” Liam suggests to Parrish. “Tell us how we get everyone back.” Parrish immediately parrots to the figure inside the cage. The Ghost Rider wails. “What was that?” Liam asks. “Did he say something?” Scott asks as well. Parrish’s brow wrinkles.“He said: "Hellhound".” “Is that a good thing?” I’m not entirely sure that’s a good thing. Scott waits a moment. “Ask him again.” “What do you want from us?” In a voice that echoes throughout the entire room, the Ghost Rider finally answers. “We are the Wild Hunt. We hunt forever. Those who hunt with us hunt forever.” “What does that mean?” Liam wonders aloud. It means we’re doomed. “Tell us what you want,” Parish repeats. The echoing voice sounds again. “We are the Wild Hunt. Those who hunt with us hunt forever.” “That clarifies things,” Theo says sarcastically. And suddenly, I wish it was silent again. Scott’s not having any of this. “What do we have to do to get everyone back? Do you want something from us?” The Ghost Rider turns its head from Parrish to Scott. It stays silent and Liam asks, “Why's he looking at Scott?” Theo turns his head to look at Scott. Who do you take out first when you wanna take over this town? “He figured out Scott's the Alpha.” “There must be something you want.” Scott tries to take advantage of the knowledge. The Ghost Rider finally answers the alpha. “There is only the Hunt. No one resists. No one escapes.” Surprise, surprise. Scott looks at Liam and Theo. “If they can't be bargained with, we're gonna have to fight 'em.” He steps toward the cage, staring directly into the Ghost Riders ghastly face. “I'm comin' for my friends. I'm comin' for everyone. I won't stop. I'll never stop until we get everyone back.” Underestimating the young alpha is gonna get you dead, dude. So, by all means, underestimate him. The Ghost Rider turns back toward Parrish and starts whispering indistinctly. Parrish tenses up. “Parrish?” Liam asks the deputy. “What's happening?” Hellhounds often ride WITH the Wild Hunt. Shit. “Scott…” Scott turns toward Parrish as the smell of smoke fills the room. Oh, shit. The deputy’s clothes burn away and he takes a step forward, burning the Mountain Ash barrier. “What is he doing?” Theo asks Scott. Dumb question, I know. Just tell me I’m wrong. “He's gonna set him free.” Wrong answer. Goddammit. The barrier burns away and Liam and Scott immediately run in front of the Parrish, pushing him back.“Hey, hey, Parrish, Parrish, stop!” The hellhound growls at the werewolves and Theo grabs his shoulder to keep him back. He feels his hand burn and yells in pain. Parrish shoves Theo back, tossing him across the room like a ragdoll. Fuck. I’ve gotta stop trying to help people. He looks up in time to see Parrish snarl at the werewolves between him and the Rider. He lunges forward, Scott and Liam push back on his chest. “No!” Scott yells. They struggle against the hellhound’s strength. “Yeah, we need to do something.” Liam hollers. Scott looks toward the door. “Yeah. On three. One, two, three!” They rally their combined supernatural strength and push Parrish out the door. Theo runs to the table and grabs the jar of Mountain Ash and pours more down to fix the break in the barrier. He’s watching the Ghost Rider and sees it turn its head toward the door. He turns to see Mr. Douglas standing in the doorway. “Have you been here the whole time?” This is not good. “How could I stay away?” Douglas answers, dropping his American accent. He steps toward the cage and stares at the Ghost Rider. “Maybe you should tell them who you really are,” Theo suggests warily. “Hauptmann?” The older wolf just glares up at the Ghost Rider, eyes glowing red. Theo watches Hauptmann’s face shift. Goddamn, that is one ugly werewolf. Lowenmensch. Whatever. Hauptmann looks at Theo and growls. Nope! Theo turns to run but Hauptmann is faster. He reaches Theo and digs his claws into the boy’s back. Theo screams and Hauptmann commands him, “Break the barrier.” Fuck you! He pulls him toward the line of Mountain Ash. “Break the barrier, or I'll rip you in two.” Theo is breathing heavily. Oh god, it hurts. I can do this. Fuck! I can’t, I can’t. Liam, I’m so sorry. He breaks the ash line with one Converse clad shoe. Hauptmann releases him and tosses him aside. He can taste blood filling his mouth. Getting really fucking tired of being thrown around. Hauptmann slams open the gate and steps into the cage. He stalks toward the Ghost Rider, who backs away from the alpha. What the hell? “It's been a long time.” He flexes his claws as the Ghost Rider releases his whip. It swings the whip forward and Hauptmann catches it. Oh, shit! How did he even-? He growls and pulls the Ghost Rider towards himself with its own whip, then forces it onto its knees, claws at its throat. Hauptmann howls and bites down on the back of Ghost Rider’s head. What the fuck. WHAT THE FUCK?! The ghost rider wails in pain and then stops. No noise, no movement. Hauptmann drops him and Theo can see the gaping hole in its head. I should’ve told everyone about this guy while I had the chance. We’re all dead now. Theo watches in horror as the alpha digs his claws into the hole and pulls out part of its brain. Blood dripping from his fangs and claws, Hauptmann stares down at the gristly thing in his hand before bringing it to his mouth and biting down and chewing off a chunk. This is seriously the most fucked up thing I’ve ever seen. And I was around for a lot of horrifically failed experiments. Theo is shaking, he’s horrified and scared shitless. Hauptmann looks at Theo, quivering in the corner of the room where he’d tossed him. His eyes glow a freaky greenish-blue. He growls at the little chimera, rips the whip from the Ghost Rider’s dead hand, and stalks out of the building. I'm gonna make sure you regret leaving me alive and feeling like this. Several minutes later, Theo is leaning back against the transformer when Liam, Scott, Mason, and Hayden come in and see the damage. They’re staring, stunned at the sight of the dead and mutilated Ghost Rider. Theo coughs. Hayden marches around the cage and lifts Theo from the floor and forces his back against the transformer. He grunts in pain but she ignores him. “What did you do?” “It was- it was Mr. Douglas.” Theo stutters. God, I can’t believe I’ve been reduced to this. “He ate his brain.” He tells the others. “Scott was right.” Liam stares at him. “I was wrong. I'm sending you back.” I know I’ve lied about a lot of shit, but you’ve gotta believe me, Little Wolf. Please. Scott squats down to examine the back of the Ghost Riders' head. “It wasn't his brain. Mr. Douglas ate his pineal gland.” “It couldn't have been Theo.” Mason points out. Thank you, thank you, Mason. “These murders have been going on for weeks.” “Guys,” Liam says. “His whip's gone.” And I’ll be happy to tell everyone all about it, just don’t send me back. I’ll do anything.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Theo’s sitting in a cell at the Sheriff's station, listening to Plan B under the watchful eyes of Mason and Hayden. It seems Scott’s big plan is to get caught and Bite Stiles... so that Stiles can come up with a real plan. Just the kinda thinking we can expect from our esteemed True Alpha. He’s good at thinking on his feet, but long term plans are beyond him. Peter - the coward- tells them a better plan: “run like hell”, and promptly leaves. So much for paternal instincts, huh? The older members of the pack discuss where to search for the rift and Liam comes back to the cells. He takes the sword from Hayden and asks, “Do you think you guys could go get some food. We’re probably gonna be here for a while and I’m starving.” Theo perks up at the mention of food, but more importantly, on the promise of a supply run. “Think you could pick me up some fresh clothes, too. What? You all got to change,” He stands up and turns around to show his shredded shirt and jacket from where Douglas had sunk his claws into his back. “And I’m still feeling a draft. A change of clothes, including underwear, would be greatly appreciated.” He glares a little at Liam for his lack of underwear. Liam glares back as if clean clothes are such a heavy burden to give to his best friend and girlfriend. C’mon, Little Wolf, I’ll totally be less homicidal when my dick isn’t pressed up against a zipper. Liam must see that he’s desperate and takes pity on him. Or maybe he’s just being the good guy that he is because he turns back to his friends and tells them they might as well pick up some clothes while they’re getting food. Mason asks what Theo’s sizes are, and then starts to leave with Hayden, Corey’s phone clutched in his hands. Liam grabs Hayden’s hand before she can make it out the door. “Be careful.” She smiles up at him. Ugh, do you two ever stop?? “Always.” She leans in and kisses him before she walks out to her car. Oh yeah, I can totally see the resemblance to Snape. Theo peers over to Liam. Not exactly the alone time I was hoping for, but I’ll take it. “I’m sorry about Corey.” Liam snorts. “Yeah, right. You couldn't give two shits about any of us. You only care about not going back in the ground.” He lifts up the sword. You’re cute, but not too bright. I care about you. “Look, believe it or not, but I am sorry. I know he means a lot to you, and I’m very well versed on how much emotional pain hurts. Used to use it against people, as you know. But, people can change. It’s possible.” Liam rolls his eyes. “Whatever, Theo. I know it goes against everything you stand for, but could you just shut up for a while so I can think? Peter was right about our numbers and I need to figure out how to keep us free for as long as possible.” Anything for you, Little Wolf. Theo sits back down and rests his elbows on his knees. He links his fingers and rests his chin on his knuckles, raises his eyebrows, but doesn’t say anything. Liam huffs and sits on a chair across from Theo. He leans his head back and closes his eyes. Theo stares at the long column of his neck, mouth-watering. Goddamn, Liam. Playing dirty and you don’t even know it. Theo takes the time to let his eyes roam over the beta. Every bit of the shorter male is perfection, and Theo wants nothing more than the chance to explore every inch of him. He clamps down on his heartbeat and chemosignals before they give him away. After about an hour, Mason and Hayden show up with food and clothes. “Is it still considered stealing if the people you’re supposed to pay technically no longer exist?” Mason wonders out loud as he hands Theo a bag of clothes through the bars of his cell. Liam shrugs in answer as he digs through the bags of food. He hands Theo a pre-wrapped deli sandwich, a bag of chips, and a bottle of water before grabbing the same for himself. The others do the same and everyone settles down to eat before they do anything else. Theo finishes his sandwich and is finishing his chips when he decides to see what clothes Mason brought him. On top is a 3 pack of boxer briefs. Bless you, Mason Hewitt. Next, is a pair of jeans in just his size. Last is a blue long-sleeved t-shirt. He holds it up and tilts his head. Looks kinda small. He checks the tag. “Dude, this is a medium. I’m pretty sure I said large.” Mason lazily runs his eyes over Theo’s chest and arms, then looks him dead in the eye. “Oops.” His heartbeat stutters. Liam snorts at his best friend and gives him an incredulous look. Hayden rolls her eyes and shakes her head. Theo just gives him a droll stare and shucks off his ruined jacket. He starts to lift his shirt and all three are just staring at him. He stops and raises his eyebrows. “You’re gonna have to pay me if you want a show.” Free for you, though, Blue Eyes. Liam clears his throat. “He’s not going anywhere. Let’s give him some privacy.” He leads them to the main room. Theo quickly strips and redresses. He actually has no problem being naked in front of people, but he’s not sure he could keep his dick under control if Liam was looking at it. When he’s finished dressing, he crosses his arms and stands at the door of the cell, listening to the others’ conversation. He hears Hayden walk to the door and pull down the blinds. “So we should stay here. Is that what you're thinking?” “It doesn't matter where we are. We still need to figure out how to fight them.” Liam answers her. “No one can fight them.” “Douglas can.” Theo chimes in from his cell, knowing they can hear him as well as he can hear them. “Does he need to stay in there?” Mason asks. No, I don’t. Thank you for asking, Mason. I like you more every day. “He's still Theo.” Hayden immediately says. Bitch. “Theo saved Scott. Remember?” I know only Liam was there to witness it because he had to save my ass in turn, but you all know by now. “He can still hear you.” Mason helpfully points out. Hayden feels the need to put in her two cents. “Then he can hear me say he needs to shut up so we can figure out how to fight the Ghost Riders.” Theo clues them in. “You don't need to figure it out.” He leans against the cell door. “Because Douglas already did.” Good job, Little Wolf. “If he knew how to fight them, then he might know everything about them.” Hayden’s finally putting her thinking cap on. Theo straightens up from the door and moves to sit back on the bench in the cell. “And guess who knows all about Mr. Douglas?” Hook, line, and sinker. Suckers. The three file back into the cell room. “Fine,” Hayden says. “Tell us what you know about Douglas.” “Break the sword and I’ll tell you anything you wanna know.” “ WHAT?” All three of them shout. “Fuck no,” Liam says on his own. “That’s my deal. I’m not saying anything until that sword is nothing but a pile of scrap metal.” I’m not about to get sent back to my sister as soon as my usefulness ends. Fuck that. Mason walks up to the door of the cell. “That’s never going to happen.” He tells Theo. “We’re not making that deal.” Just when I was starting to like you, kid. “I hold all the cards.” “You're locked in a jail cell. You have no cards.” “You want me to tell you about Douglas.” Theo sees Mason hesitate. “Break the sword.” Mason turns, leaving Theo with a clear view of a vexed, and yet still very hot, werewolf. “Does anyone else want to do the negotiating?” Green eyes meet blue. “Break the sword.” Hayden moves to the cell door. “I'll break the sword. I'll break it right in…” “Hayden.” Liam interrupts her and joins her and Mason at the cell door. “You break, I talk.” Theo makes the decision to show some of his vulnerability. Can’t hurt at this point. “Come on, guys.” He stands up and takes a couple of steps forward. “Look, I don't want in anyone's pack. I don't want anyone's power. I just wanna stay alive.” “How do we know if we let you out, you won't run?” Hayden asks. And leave Liam? Please. “'Cause we're not letting him out,” Liam answers her. “He's going to tell us from in here.” I can live with that, as long as that damn sword is gone. I’ll get out of here eventually. “I'm still going to need some incentive.” Liam turns around and takes a couple of steps away from the cell. He pulls the sword from its scabbard. He looks at it for a couple of moments, then turns around, pointing the sword down and grasping the handle in one hand, fingers of the other hand on the release. Everyone’s heart is pounding, including Theo’s. He can’t bring himself to care. Please, please Liam. Liam holds Theo’s gaze for a few seconds then looks back down at the sword and twists the release at the base of the hilt. The sound of many pieces of metal hitting the concrete floor is the most beautiful sound Theo’s ever heard. Thank you, Little Wolf. No getting rid of me now. “He's a Lowenmensch,” Theo says, still staring at his once again savior. I’m counting this. 4-0. Gotta let me help if I’m gonna keep up. “What the hell is a Lowenmensch?” Hayden asks. “It's part-wolf, part-lion,” Mason answers before he can say anything. Well done. Now get this. “He was a part of the Ahnenerbe, Himmler's personal project to use the Occult to win the war.” “The war,” Mason stares at him. “As in World War Two.” “The very one. He wanted to use the Ghost Riders as soldiers. His own undying army. He searched and searched and finally found the rift in the current town the Riders were taking. He tried to find a way inside the rift, but before he could, the Ghost Riders showed up and started taking out his men. He knew he was outnumbered so he ran. Before he could escape though, one of the Riders got him with his whip.” “He didn’t fight the Ghost Riders,” Liam says, walking up to the cell, dead look in his eyes. “He ran.” Don’t look at me like that, I’m not done. “We broke the sword for nothing,” Hayden adds, looking worried. “Wait,” Mason interrupts their brooding. “If that was back in 1943, where's he been all this time?” Mason, asking the important questions. Theo steps forward and wraps his hand around one of the bars to his cell. “Douglas kept looking. He found a scientist that he thought could help him. Three of them.” He looks up at the other three and squeezes the bar. One by one, understanding shows on their faces. Bombshell dropped. “The Ghost Rider's whip didn't go deep enough to take him but left a gash on his back. He was thrown into the tank and the wound infected the water. It mixed with the fluid from the vat and actually made him stronger. Soaking it in, absorbing the power for 70 years.” Liam walks away from the cell. “So, he came out with the power of an Alpha, a Lowenmensch, and a Ghost Rider.” “A side effect no one could expect.” “So he can fight them.” Hayden works out, joining Liam at the desk across from Theo’s cell. “He could stop them.” “The Nazis lost the war.” Liam points out. “Why is he still obsessed? What does he want an army for?” Once again, Mason answers before Theo can. “He doesn't want it for them. The Nazis were just a means to an end. He wants it for himself. His own personal, supernatural army.” Ding ding! We have a winner. Not so useless information, after all. Liam looks up at Theo. “We need to warn Scott.” I suppose so. “You’re going to stay here where we know you can’t get up to something. “Seriously? What the hell am I going to do, huh?” “Don’t want to know what your devious mind could come up with. I’m not taking any chances. You’re staying here.” He thinks my mind is devious. I can’t even. Theo sighs dramatically. “Fine. Guess I’ll catch up on my beauty sleep.” He lays across the uncomfortable bench. Liam rolls his eyes and motions for the others out the door. Mason rushes out first, followed by Liam, then Hayden. Theo listens to them get prepared to leave as he settles himself for a night of alone time. Joy. “Yeah, Liam, come on. We gotta hurry.” He hears Mason say, then the sound of keys being picked up. “We can still find him,” Liam says, rushed. Suddenly, the sound of the doors being ripped open and the jangle of spurs can be heard. Theo bolts upright and rushes to the cell door, gripping the bars. Thunder rumbles and lightning crashes. There’s a crack of a whip. Liam screams. “No!” “Liam.” Mason chokes out. Oh fuck. He’s got a whip around his neck. “Run!” The whip snaps again and Liam roars. Damnit, Little Wolf. Just run like Mason says. Of course, the beta doesn’t listen to reason. Theo can hear Liam lunge forward, hitting a Ghost Rider. Hear it wail as they crash into something. Then, he can hear repeated punches. Liam really is the strongest werewolf when he was angry. And losing his best friend in front of his eyes was bound to piss him off. Suddenly, there’s a loud crash, and Theo can hear Liam grunt from inside the Sheriff’s office. No. Theo tugs frantically at the iron bars, but they won’t budge. Fucking chimera! They couldn’t have made me part hellhound so I could melt the goddamn bars! “Liam.” He hears Hayden say softly. The Ghost Rider growls at her. Theo hears Liam recover just as the telltale sound of a Ghost Riders spurred boots start walking to where Theo thinks Hayden is. The werewolf snarls and there’s a loud crash. Theo assumes Liam tackled the Rider. He hears the beta roar as he attacks the Rider again. Theo continues to try to bust out of the cell, slamming into the door until he dislocates his shoulder. He snarls and pushes it back into place. He claws at the bars, but they just don’t give. Should’ve let me out so I could help!! There’s another crash and Liam grunts. Theo hears the sound of a pistol cocking before he hears Hayden shriek. Finally! Scott gave you the Bite. You’re a fucking werewolf. Make yourself useful and act like it! There’s a loud thump and Hayden growls. Two sets of footsteps sounds and Theo hopes it’s Liam and Hayden attacking the Ghost Rider. Then, he hears two thumps and knows his hope was right, but apparently ineffective, as both Liam and Hayden grunt. Hayden is panting. “We have to get to Scott.” There’s a crack of a whip and Hayden gasps. Liam must run to grab the whip while it’s around whatever part of Hayden to prevent the Ghost Rider from jerking her to oblivion because Theo can hear both of them grunting and gasping. He hears their shoes squeaking on the tile as they’re pulled forward. He renews his assault on the cell door. There’s a loud crash and a sudden smell of electricity. Fuck, another one. Theo doubles his efforts, making no headway. Another whip cracks and he has no idea who it caught. Liam cries out in effort. Fuck fuck fuck! “Liam. You have to find Scott,” Hayden says desperately. “I'm not leaving you.” Must just be Hayden, then. Liam, just go! “You have to. You can save me on the other side.” For once, I agree with the girl. “I believe in you.” Ugh. “I love you.” Ugh! Just go! “Then go.” Liam must listen because Theo hears his footsteps start toward the rear entrance. He pauses and Theo hears the whips snap back. Hayden is gone. Liam sprints toward the exit. Go, Little Wolf! Theo waits at the door of his cell, knowing he’ll be easy pickings for the Ghost Riders. Except they don’t come for him. They follow Liam. Theo is alone. Good luck, Liam. Please come back. I don’t care how or why, just come back.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Theo sits in the cell for hours. Alone. God, he is so tired of being alone. No sound in the building except his own breathing and heartbeat, and the endless buzzing static from one of the radios. I knew I was still in Hell. Nice of the skinwalkers to change the scenery, but the torture is still so real, but if this isn’t actually hell... Is he the only one left? Except for Lydia, he guesses. He wonders if she’d find him if they were left all alone. Or if she’d just leave the town and him and try to move on from losing everyone she loves and the town she grew up in. Why didn’t the Ghost Riders just take him, too? Not that he wants to be taken, but at least he could help Mason and Corey on the other side… and Hayden. But, no. He’s alone in the cell and he’s probably going to be there until he dies. Probably of starvation. His thoughts are spinning, each one increasingly more dramatic than the one before when he hears footsteps and voices coming through the front hall of the Sheriff’s Station. “Look, I'm not saying you have to like him.” Liam. “I'm just saying maybe he can help us.” He’s back. He came back! Theo scrambles up from the bench and leans against the door of the cell, listening intently. “Liam,” The sheriff says. “I'll consider asking Theo for help when I don't have a station full of armed deputies to back me up.” He opens the door to the bullpen and Theo hears them freeze. Really, Liam. You didn’t bother to tell him the place was empty of officers when you left? Through the little window across the cell, Theo sees the Sheriff walk over toward the radio making the infernal buzzing noise, the buzzing stops and the Sheriff says, “Any available units, this is Sheriff Stilinski. Do you copy?” Nothing but more radio static. The buzz changes when the Sheriff switches channels. “I repeat, any and all units, this is Sheriff Stilinski. Respond immediately with your 20.” It doesn’t matter how many times you change the channel. They’re all gone, dumbass. “All units…” “They're gone.” Liam interrupts him. “That, that... That's not possible. That's... They couldn't have taken everyone.” “They didn't.” Theo pipes up. Liam and the Sheriff turn to look at him through the window. Hello. Yes, I’m still here. Please get me the fuck out of here. Liam and the Sheriff walk into the cell room and stand a few feet away, in front of the cell. Theo walks toward them. “Please, please tell me that you brought the key card.” “I also brought my gun.” Really? “And your sense of humor. That is great.” What is it with you Stilinskis, huh? “But if we're the only ones left in Beacon Hills, then we need each other. Which means you need me out of this cell.” “We need to trust you.” Liam cuts in. “Then you need to get realistic because trust is not important right now. It is us against them. And you want a lot more of us considering how many of them there are.” Besides, you can always trust me, Dunbar. Him? Probably not so much. “I hate to say he's right but... He's kind of right.” I love it when you’re smart, Little Wolf. Makes me feel all tingly inside. The Sheriff gets his attention. “If I let you out and I see any behavior that I find remotely suspicious,” Oh. Here comes the threat. Theo takes a step forward. Let’s hear it Stilinski. “I'll put so many bullets in your head, God won't even recognize you.” Nice, but… “I'm an atheist. Fire at will.” Goddamn, Raeken. Even Dunbar was impressed with that one. Stilinski sighs heavily and pulls the key card out of his pocket. He flicks it a couple of times. Come on, come on! Theo jerks his head toward the card reader. The Sheriff moves the card toward the reader and hesitates, pulling it back. “You're gonna need to be a bit closer than that, Sheriff. Wave it over the card reader, come on.” Theo reaches through the bars to tap the reader. “Right here. Up and down. You can do it.” A desperate growl, like from a cornered animal, enters his voice on the last sentence. I’ve been a prisoner almost my entire life. I can’t spend another minute behind bars, or I really will go insane. Liam turns to Stilinski. “Sheriff, we need him.” While Stilinski is looking at Liam, Theo makes a desperate grab for the card. The Sheriff pulls it out of reach, clearly having anticipated the move. Theo raps his knuckles against one of the bars separating him from freedom. Getting predictable, Raeken? What the fuck. “Tell me something.” Stilinski offers, raising his eyebrows. “What?” Theo asks, exasperatedly. Liam looks up, hearing the wind and thunder that Theo hears. We don’t have time for this! “Tell you what? What are you talking about…” “Tell me about my son.” We really, really don’t have fucking time for this! Theo looks away and smiles hysterically. “Tell me one thing about Stiles that you remember. Just one.” Theo points to the card reader. “You swipe that key card, I'll tell you anything you want.” “Sheriff.” Thunder rumbles and lightning flashes. “They are coming,” Liam informs him, shifting on his feet. “One thing.” Why is this so fucking important? “Just one thing!” Theo fights against the cell door. The Sheriff starts to walk away. Fine. FINE! “He was smart!” I’ll say whatever you want to hear, just don’t leave me here. Stilinski turns around, Theo looks down and then back into the Sheriff’s eyes. “Smart enough not to trust me.” Stilinski swipes the card. Holy fucking shit. They file out of the cell room and Liam sets down his jacket. They hear thunder and horses directly outside. “They're here.” He says. “How close?” Stilinski asks. Theo pauses to listen. “Too close.” “How many?” “I heard a couple horses. Maybe more.” Liam answers this time. “Five,” Theo adds. “I, I think five at most.” “Three of us. Five of them.” The Sheriff cocks his gun. “You ready?” “Wait, are you kidding?” Theo reaches out to stop him. I just got outta the cell, I’m not trying to die. “Us against five Ghost Riders?” “We can take 'em,” Liam tells Theo. “Five of them?” You couldn’t take one, Liam! “Three of us.” He assures him. “Yeah,” Stilinski mutters and steps toward the door. Liam follows him. Theo follows Liam, flicking out his claws. I’m at least going to be prepared. The Sheriff opens the door. In front of them are over a dozen Ghost Riders. Well, I only heard five horses. They all pull out their pistols and Stilinski only has enough time to let out a disappointed “Ugh.” before he’s blown away. Theo and Liam press themselves against either side of the doorway as the cloud of green smoke that was formerly Sheriff Stilinski, dissipates. Liam reaches across the doorway and grabs Theo’s arm, pulling him to his side. “Two of us,” Theo says, right before they run to the back of the station. “We can take one of the cruisers!” he hollers at Liam. He rips the box labeled “KEYS” off the wall and tosses it to Liam before continuing toward the back exit. They burst out the back doors and haul ass toward a cruiser. Theo sits behind the wheel and sees Liam pull out the box. “Keys, keys!” Liam rips open the box. They both stare down at what must be a hundred keys, only half labeled. Liam glances up at Theo and then lets out a small whimper as Theo asks exasperatedly, “Are you serious?” "Here.” Liam tosses him a key but it doesn’t fit. “Give me another.” “Which one?” “Any of them. Come on!” “There's a lot of keys here!” He tosses another key, it doesn’t fit either. “I really feel like you're not even trying right now, Liam.” “I'm trying!” Liam is starting to sound hysterical. “No.” Theo tosses aside another key. “Come on, Liam, give me ano…” Liam holds up a tiny key. Theo grabs it out of his hand. “This isn't even a car key!” I get that this is really stressful, but you’re way smarter than this, Liam! Theo looks up to the rearview mirror and sees the Ghost Riders walking their way. “Their coming!” “That's a small key, that's too small, too small!” Liam is frantically tossing keys aside, now. “Come on!” “Okay, here, take this one.” Theo grabs it and it slides into the ignition. He turns it and the car starts. Fucking finally! “Whoa! Yes!” Liam yells in excitement. Theo grins at him. “Go, go, go!” Right. Theo slams the car into reverse, slings his right arm behind Liam’s seat, and hits the gas. He looks back just in time to see the Ghost Rider, right before the car slams into it, taking it down. Theo looks over at Liam. They send each other surprised and delighted smiles. I made him smile. Theo slides the gear shift into drive and speeds away. Liam tells Theo to take a left when they hit the highway. “Where does this take us?” Theo asks. “The hospital.” What? No. “Hospital? Why the... What the hell are we supposed to do at the hospital?” “Hide. Look, we can't outrun them, right?” I mean, I guess not, but why the hospital? “I know every inch of that building. Every room, every corner.” “Hide, that's the best that we've got?” “We just need to keep them away from Scott for as long as possible.” Theo looks over at him. “Why? What's he gonna do?” “He's gonna remember.” That’s supposed to make sense? “Remember what?” “Stiles. He has to remember Stiles.” “What if he can't?” “Then the rest of us... We get forgotten.” Sounds better than going back to the place where Tara ripped out my… her heart over and over and over. This better be worth it. “What’s so damn important about remembering Stiles?” “When the Sheriff fully remembered Stiles, it opened a temporary rift. If Scott can remember, it can open another one and he can go through and get Stiles back. And if we can get Stiles back, we can get everyone back.” “Why can’t he go through the main rift?” Why go through all this trouble? “Douglas used his Ghost Rider power to control Parrish and made him burn through the rifts protection. Then, they stepped through and closed the rift behind them. It’s gone. Remembering Stiles is the last chance we’ve got.” Go fucking figure. Theo sighs. “Fine.” He hits the gas and speeds toward the hospital. Without all the traffic, it only takes about five minutes for them to reach the hospital. Theo parks the car and gets out, Liam hot on his heels. Here goes nothing. Brave face for the Little Wolf, Raeken. He marches right for the front door and starts to open it. Liam pauses, looking at the ambulance. “Liam, come on. We don't have much of a lead on them.” Liam ignores him and opens the door to the ambulance, reaching up in the cab and turning on the siren. The fuck? “What the hell are you doing?” Theo rushes toward, reaching in to turn off the switch. Liam grabs his arm and pushes him away. “Don't! Don't turn it off.” “You want to bring them all here?” He pushes Liam, Liam pushes him back. “Every single one of them?” This place already gives me nightmares! I don’t need Ghost Riders on top of Tara! “That's exactly what I want to do. 'Cause if the Ghost Riders are here, that means they're not trying to get to Scott.” Always about Scott! “So you don't care if they get to you?” I do! “They're gonna get to all of us eventually.” FINE! “You! You're going first. That's the only reason I'm with you. Because while they're busy wrapping a whip around your neck, or shooting a hole in your head, I'll be running the other direction. I'm on your side as long it helps me.” Wait. “Trust me, I know.” Liam pushes Theo back again. You gotta know I didn’t mean it, Liam. Theo, fed up with himself and the entire situation, angrily pushes open the door and stomps into the hospital, Liam behind him. He turns down the first corridor and freezes. All he can see is his sister, cracked ribs sticking out of her gaping chest, as she crawls toward him, intent on ripping the heart from his chest with her bare hand. “Theo.” He hears her hissing his name. “Theo?” Another voice? Theo sees her knock him down; feels her dig her fingers into his chest, gripping his/her heart and pulling it out of his chest. He can hear a heartbeat. It’s not his or hers. Who’s heart is it? Who’s heart is it!? “Theo?” Liam’s voice pulls him out of his vision. All he can hear is Liam’s heartbeat. “I'm fine.” Thanks to you. “Just, just thought I was somewhere else for a second.” “Where?” “In a bad dream.” They hear thunder crash and look toward the front door and see the wind blowing fiercely. “You said you knew where to hide.” “Follow me.” Liam starts running down the halls, Theo follows.
Liam skips the elevators and goes through the door to the stairwell. He heads down to the bottom floor and doesn’t stop running when he opens the door to another familiar corridor. Please tell me we’re not going where I think we’re going. Liam disappoints him by barging through the doors labeled “Morgue”. Who knew this kid was a sadist who could pluck the nightmares right out of a person’s brain? Theo reluctantly follows him into the cold room. Liam grabs a heavy examination table and pushes it up against the doors. “This is your brilliant idea?” Theo questions. “To barricade ourselves in the morgue?” “The Ghost Riders go after the living. So we hide with the dead.” That’s almost a smart idea if I didn’t hate this plan go goddamn much. Liam walks over to one of the drawers and opens it. “I'm not getting in one of those.” Never again. Just burn me when I’m dead. “Me neither,” Liam states disgustedly, staring at the body inside before closing the door. Theo shakes his head. I don’t think I can take much more of this place. “You should've left me in the holding cell.” At least the Ghost Riders ignored me when I was in there. He leans against the table and looks out the windows in the doors. “I should've left you in the ground.” Liam retorts. Mother fuck. I can’t deal with this right now. Theo looks over at him. “Oh, really?” He straightens up to face Liam fully. “Yeah.” Says with conviction. “Really.” “What do you think I was doing down there? Just hanging out with my dead sister? Having a good time catching up on childhood memories?” “I think you were rotting down there.” Theo looks away, remembering how every time his sister ripped out his heart, he recalled one more bad thing he’d done, one more thing to feel sorry for every time he woke back up in that drawer. With every death and resurrection, Theo lost a little piece of the apathetic monster the Dread Doctors had turned him into, until nothing was left but the bare bones of who he could’ve become. “Liam finally gets one thing right.” He leans back against the table to keep looking out the window. “I also think whatever happened to you, you deserved it.” “Is that right?” Of course it is. Liam takes a couple of steps toward him. “When the Ghost Riders find us, I'm not gonna do anything for you. I'm not gonna help you. I'm not gonna save you. I'm gonna do exactly what you would do to me. I'm gonna use you as bait.” Theo turns his head to look at the beta. Wow. That… fucking hurts. Real pain really is emotional pain. And you’re wrong, Liam Dunbar. Despite what I said out there, I’m not leaving you behind. Before he can say anything back, Theo hears the siren stop. “You still hear the ambulance?” Liam turns his head to listen. “The siren, can you still hear it?” Liam tenses when he hears nothing. Shit. “They're here.” They hear the jingle of spurs and cowboy boots hitting tile as Riders make their way through the hospital. Theo sucks in a breath. “Alright, in case this brilliant plan of yours doesn’t work, we need another one.” Liam glares at him before crossing his arms. “Fine. What do you want to do?” Throw you over my shoulder and run as fast and as far as I can in whatever direction I see first, thanks for asking. He looks out the windows again. “If we see one, let’s take this table, and crush him with it against that door.” He points across the hall. “Then regroup and... kick ass, I guess.” The side of Liam’s mouth twitches. “Okay. Let’s get the table ready. Just in case.” Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long for the Ghost Riders to come marching down their hallway from the elevator. Honestly, that’s gotta be a ridiculous sight. A bunch of oversized cowboy demons riding an elevator? Theo and Liam brace themselves, ready to push the table as hard as they can at the first sight of a Rider. They see a Ghost Rider check the door across the hall. It pauses, looking at the morgue doors, like it senses them. Theo and Liam push the table forward with all of their combined strength, slamming the Rider into the door so hard its spine is crushed on impact. They step around the table and look at their handiwork. They don’t have any time to savor their victory because four more Riders come around the corner with pistols drawn. “Hide with the dead?” Theo asks harshly. “It was worth a try!” Liam answers, turning to run. Theo follows as the bullets start flying. Liam runs up one hall and down another, going upstairs, crossing through offices, and down more stairs. Theo keeps up but is having a hard time figuring out exactly where they are. That’s good, I guess. They’ll have to split up to find us. I hope he really does know where we are, though. Liam turns a corner then slams his back against the wall. Theo stops beside him. “Why are we stopping here?” He hisses. “I’m going to grab one! If there is another one, you grab it.” He whispers back. Theo just rolls his eyes and doesn’t bother to answer. If only we could all be so fucking positive. An arm carrying a pistol appears around the corner and Liam latches onto it. The Rider squeezes off a random shot before Liam slams it down on a laundry folding table. Another shot hits the ceiling. It stands up and tries to bring its gun to Liam’s head. Liam pushes it back. Not smart. Now he’s got room to shoot. The Rider lifts its gun and Theo tackles it. It gets off another shot but it misses Liam. Theo pushes the rider into an empty room then holds the door shut as Liam comes over with a crutch to jam the door closed. They hear the Ghost rider trying to get out. I finally got to save you for once, Blue Eyes. 4-1. They share a small smile of victory. They tune their ears to the sounds around the hospital. Theo can hear footsteps above and below them. “They're everywhere.” “Good.” Liam nods. “Really?” This again, Little Wolf? “You really need me to remind you that getting captured by the Ghost Riders isn't gonna help you save your friends?” Before Liam can answer, he gets distracted by something behind Theo. Theo turns and sees multiple Ghost Rider shadows. “We're both getting caught.” Liam says softly. Theo turns to look him in the eyes. “You can do it while you're running. I'm going down fighting.” Why can’t you ever just run, Liam? God, I’m starting to sound like Peter. Theo turns toward the Ghost Riders as Liam steps in front of him. The beta flicks out his claws and roars at the Riders before sprinting for them. The Riders start running, as well. Moment of truth, Raeken. You really going to leave that beautiful idiot to fight by himself? You keep saying you’re not going to leave him, right? So prove it. He feels his fangs grow in his mouth, he lets out his own short roar as he finishes his shift and runs after the beta. Theo finds himself cornered by a Ghost Rider and its whip. He barely dodges the whip, only getting hit in the hand. It’s enough to knock him on his ass. Fuck fuck fuck! I need something! He looks over to see a pile of tools that had fallen on the floor. He crawls over to them and finds a bonesaw. That’ll do nicely. He stands up, bonesaw in his hand, facing the Ghost Rider. Before it can take another step toward him, he lunges, bringing the bonesaw in a wide arc and burying it in the Rider’s neck. It falls to the ground, dead. A pool of blood growing under its still twitching body. Don’t need to have Douglas’ power to kill them. Good old fashioned murder techniques work just fine. Good to know. He hears Liam fighting another Rider somewhere behind him. He turns to help the beta and comes face to chest with another Ghost Rider. Can’t get a fucking break. It’s grabbed him by the shoulders and is pushing him towards the floor. He grabs its chest, trying to fight it off, but its reach gives it an advantage. Theo looks behind him to see Liam struggling with his own Rider in the room to his right. Liam manages to momentarily free himself from his opponent. The distraction was too much and Theo ends up on his knees. Theo renews his fight, praying to the gods he doesn’t believe in that Liam can pull out of this one on his own. There’s a loud shot and Theo’s Ghost Rider goes flying across the hall, an eerie green bullet hole in its chest. Theo turns, still on his knees, shocked to see Liam with his Rider face down on a table, shooting arm twisted behind it, pointing toward where Theo’s opponent had been. He watches in awe as Liam pulls the Rider up, curls its arm, pointing its pistol at its own head, and forcing it to fire. Holy shit! They can be killed by their own damn guns! Theo glances back at his Rider and then back at Liam’s. He stands up and stares at Liam panting. That was literally the hottest thing I have ever seen. 5-1. Liam steps over the Ghost Rider at his feet and walks toward Theo. Theo smiles at Liam, who looks down at his handiwork. He looks up and gives Theo a look that says ‘not too shabby’. Theo slowly raises his fist, Liam immediately raises his own to meet Theo’s. Holy shit. Voluntary physical contact. Before they can bump fists, however, both boys are distracted by a sound from the end of the corridor. The look over and see four more Ghost Riders. Liam takes up a fighting stance. Theo looks behind him and sees the elevator. Don’t hate me, Blue Eyes. He runs toward the elevator and pushes the button several times. He runs back as Liam starts to roar. He wraps an arm around the werewolf’s chest and starts dragging him toward the elevator. “Let’s go!” He yells, tossing Liam into the open elevator. Liam looks up at him from his back. “What are you doing?” He asks, confusion written all over his face. I said I wasn’t going to leave you, but I’m making an exception to keep you safer. The elevator dings and the doors start to close. Theo smiles at Liam. 5-2. “Being the bait.” “No!” Theo hears Liam scream just before the doors close. He hears the thump of Liam hitting the closed doors. Theo feels his heart make a heavy thump at the panic in Liam’s voice. Maybe he does care a little. He digs his claws into the control panel of the elevator to keep Liam in and turns toward the Ghost Riders. He roars as he shifts and runs toward them. He grabs the pistol off the one he killed with the bonesaw and hits one in the face with it. Another grabs his arm, but he’s still able to get off a shot, shooting one in the chest. He heaves and throws the one off his arm and into one of its friends. One of them takes a shot at him just as he gets off another shot at its companion. The shot misses him and hits the Rider that had been coming up from behind him. You think that just because you have endless magic ammo, you can’t learn to aim properly? The final Rider takes another shot and it grazes Theo’s arm. he screams in pain before getting off a final shot, point-blank in the Rider’s face. He walks toward the stairs, goes up a flight, walks down the corridor, and out the front door. Come and get me motherfuckers. Stay safe, Little Wolf.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Theo ran and ran. He entertained the idea of taking the cruiser again, but he didn’t want any of the remaining Ghost Riders at the hospital to hang around and wait for Liam to get out of the elevator. Theo knows the beta will get out eventually, and he wants the Ghost Riders as far away from him as possible so that he can stay free. And if that means hoofing it on foot, so be it. The Ghost Riders can be killed and Theo’s going to use every bit of knowledge and experience he learned from the Dread Doctors and Deucalion to take out as many of them as he can before one of them gets lucky. He’s running down an alley when two bolts of lightning carrying Ghost Riders crash in front of him so close that he feels singed. If that burned off my eyebrows, so help me- He kicks at the one on his left, sending it crashing into the wall, brick dust exploding in a cloud around them. Before the one on his right can react, he leaps up, digging his claws into its neck, and dragging it down to the ground. He slashes its throat and drops the body before focusing back on the other Rider recovering from its date with the wall. It only takes two steps toward him before Theo shoots it with its partner’s gun. He takes the pistol with him as he walks to the end of the alley. Turns out, the Ghost Riders' guns do run out of ammo at some point after the Rider is dead. Theo hasn’t quite figured out how long it takes for them to run out of juice, but he’ll use them for a long as they work. He pokes his head around the corner. He doesn’t see any Ghost Riders but he does see a convenience store. He’s debating making a pit stop to refuel. On one hand, he doesn't want to stop for any extended amount of time. The Ghost Riders have a lock on him, and they've gotta be getting pissed about the twenty or so Riders he's taken out since he locked Liam in the elevator. On the other hand, he hasn't eaten since the sandwich at the Sheriff's station. How long ago even was that? In the end, his empty stomach wins out, giving a loud growl. Theo looks out across the road one more time, mapping out the quickest and easiest route to the store. He takes a deep breath, gently squeezes the pistol, and bolts across the asphalt. Theo considers it a miracle when he bursts through the door unscathed and unfollowed. He takes a moment to catch his breath, feeling the slight shaking in his limbs. Okay, yeah. I definitely need food. I'm no good to Liam if I'm too exhausted to fight. A quick scan of the store points him toward the aisle with protein bars and bags of chips. He shoves the pistol in the back of his waistband and marched over to the display of bars. He grabs the first bar he sees, rips the package open and shoves the entire thing in his mouth. He starts stuffing his pockets with additional bars, occasionally ripping one open to eat as he swallows down the one before. When his pockets are as full as possible and he's finished off his fourth bar, he rushes toward the cooler, pulls out a bottle of water, and starts chugging. He's on his third bottle when the front window bursts, sending shards of glass flying everywhere, some slicing shallow cuts across Theo's back as he ducks behind a shelf. The Ghost Rider that came through the window gets off a shot but it misses Theo by a couple of inches. He pulls the pistol from his waistband, hoping it's still operational as he leans far enough out from behind the shelf to see the Rider and take aim. He pulls the trigger six times but only two supernatural bullets are released. One misses the Ghost Rider, but the other hits somewhere near its hip. The Rider's leg buckles and it goes down. Well fuck. Better than nothing, I guess. Theo tosses the useless gun away and bolts to the other side of the store, behind the front counter. Behind him is a wall of cigarette packs. In front of him, however, is a shotgun. Bless whatever paranoid bastard it is that owns this store. He grabs the double barrel and checks the chambers. Both are loaded, Theo grins. He sits back on his heels and listens to the Ghost Rider get up and limp its way toward the front counter. Theo knows he only has one chance to get this right, so he waits and he calculates how far the Rider is and how much he’ll have to raise the shotgun to get the perfect shot. The ghost rider is mid-step when Theo leaps out from behind the counter, aims, and pulls the trigger. The first blow hits the Rider square in the chest, forcing it to take a step back to catch its balance. Before it can reorient itself, Theo pumps the shotgun, aims it point-blank at the Rider’s head, and blows a hole into its face before it has a chance to raise its own weapon. It falls to the ground in a heap of dusty clothes, withered skin, and brain matter. Theo smirks down at his handy work and hops over the counter. Damn, I’m good. I haven’t had this much fun since… fourth grade? He squints out the window, trying to see if another Rider is on its way but he knows that it’s impossible to tell where they’re going to ride the lightning to. He knows he's been in the store too long though, so he picks up the Ghost Rider’s pistol his right hand, grabs a honeybun with his left, and vacates the little building before any new Ghost Riders can show up. He’s running between buildings and under awnings trying to make himself less visible. Not that he’s even sure it would help. He reaches the end of a line of buildings and realizes that all beyond it is an empty field. Well, that’s inconvenient. He looks across the road and sees a large shopping center across a huge parking lot filled with cars and zero people, of course. Lots of places to hide in there. He glances around and finds himself blessedly alone, for however long it’ll last. He takes a deep breath and starts sprinting toward the parking lot. He feels like he’s never ran so fast before. He’s flying, he’s- he’s literally flying. Right before he lands face first in the dirt of the median. Mother fuck! He’d calculated when to leap over the median and avoid it altogether. There’s no way he tripped over it, so what gives? Theo spits grass out of his mouth as he turns to see what he missed while planning his mad sprint. What the actual fuck?? Behind him, where he was absolutely sure was only asphalt, is now a freaking railroad track. He looks around and sees the track spanning endlessly for as far as he could see. Theo takes a moment to contemplate the situation in front of him. He can continue to the huge store, or he can follow the tracks back into the heart of town where it seems to be heading. Liam is in town, and whatever this train track is doing here, it can’t mean anything good. Back to town, it is. He follows the track, killing any Ghost Riders he encounters along the way. The track leads to the hospital. And through it. He can smell Liam's scent. Fairly fresh and also following the tracks. Theo is helpless to follow the beta’s scent that he’s fast becoming addicted to. More and more Ghost Riders pop up as he follows the tracks toward what he can only assume it the school. Why is it always the school? Probably the freaking library while we're at it. He reaches the school and peeks inside the library doors. What do you know? A train station in the library. He's not even surprised anymore. He hears two feminine voices and glances toward the parking lot to see Lydia and Malia standing in front of an empty parking space with fresh-looking skid marks leading out of it. Better make myself scarce. He fades back into the shadows and watches Malia discover the railroad tracks. He turns and bolts farther onto the campus before Malia catches him lurking and accuses him of something nefarious. Nefarious? He snorts at his own thoughts and wanders around, picking off Ghost Riders as he sees them to give the others as much time to figure everything out as possible. He's about to turn a corner he hears a very familiar voice mumble, “I hate horses.” Liam? Horses?? “Nice horse. Oh!” Theo rounds the corner and sees a Ghost Rider with its arms wrapped around Liam’s neck. No. No! He doesn't hesitate. He flexed his clawed fingers and rushes toward the struggling pair. He comes up behind the Rider and buries his claws into its back. It shrieks and releases Liam. Theo wraps his own arms around the Ghost Rider’s neck as Liam scrambles away. “Hey, you made it out!” Liam sounds kind of relieved. “Yeah, barely!” Theo growls out and glances behind him to look at Liam. “What's the plan?” “Uh, steal the horse and get to the Hunt.” Did I just hear what I think I just heard? “You're kidding, right?” Theo is still struggling with the Rider. He chances another look behind him. “I went through all this to keep you from being taken.” Liam shoots him a confused frown. “You need a hand?” Sweet of you to ask, Liam. Not necessary, though. The Ghost Rider is definitely weakened, or it would’ve gotten free by now. “I'm good.” Theo shifts his hands and twists them, making something in the Rider’s neck crack. It wails again and Theo spins it around to look at Liam and nod in the direction of the horse. “Then go already! Go!” Liam doesn’t hesitate before letting out a short roar and bolting full speed toward the railing. Theo doesn’t watch, but he hears Liam yell as he jumps off the second floor and (hopefully) lands on the horse. Considering the startled neigh that the horse just made, Theo’s assuming Liam made it. Hope he didn’t land on his balls. Theo spins the Rider around, slashes at its throat with his claws, then executes a perfect roundhouse kick to its abdomen. It collapses and doesn’t move again. He strides to the railing and looks down to see Liam struggling to control the horse. “You know how to ride a horse?” “Not really.” Theo feels his mouth hitch up on one side as he watches, a little in awe, as Liam manages to steer the horse in the right direction and send it galloping away to wherever it goes to get back into the Hunt. 5:3, Little Wolf. Good luck. * Theo doesn’t really know what he’s going to do now since Liam voluntarily went into the Hunt. He figures he’ll just keep taking out Ghost Riders as he comes across them when he sees Scott run past him, following the tracks with a determined look on his face. Might as well help the alpha. He follows slowly, not wanting Scott to think he’s being followed by an enemy. Scott slows and Theo can hear Douglas speaking. “I'd almost say you enjoy this, Scott. The pursuit of utterly futile endeavors.” “Step back from the diverter. Or I'll make you step back.” Scott replies, no fear in his voice. Theo comes close enough to see Douglas turn around to face the True Alpha. “Now that's the German way of doing things. You would've made an excellent Nazi Youth.” Oh, yes. I’m sure his black hair, brown eyes, Scottish surname, and Mexican ancestry would’ve been exactly what Hitler was looking for. “Maybe you didn't hear me.” Scott takes a step forward. “I said step back.” Douglas whips his head and shifts into his fugly face. “And maybe you didn't hear me.” He lets out a loud roar. Scott shifts as well and answers the challenge with his own roar. Out of the woods, through the fog comes hundreds of Ghost Riders. None of them pay any mind to Theo. Or the two other people he can hear coming their way. The Riders just surround Scott, who stands his ground, growling at the surrounding army. He takes a couple of steps toward the souped-up lowenmensch. “Unbelievable.." Douglas shakes his head. “Even in the face of insurmountable odds.” He takes a couple of steps forward, himself. “I don't know if it's suicide or stupidity.” “Maybe both.” Scott bounces on the balls of his feet. “Either way, I'm getting to that diverter.” “You of all people, Scott, should know what happens to a lone wolf.” Scott snarls at Douglas and Theo takes this as his cue to step in. “He's not alone.” Scott and all of the Riders who had their backs to him turn to see him walking out from behind a tree. “He's got a pack.” Malia comes up to stand beside him. “And Theo's not in it.” Not the time for details. “But I am.” Peter strolls up behind her. “I'm not in the pack. But no one likes a Nazi.” Scott growls and tenses up to attack Douglas. Douglas raises his arm and throws it down in a signal for the Ghost Riders to attack. Scott lunges at him and Malia roars, charging toward the Riders across from her. Theo and Peter follow her. The Ghost Riders start shooting at them and they duck and dodge the supernatural bullets. Thank god for their shitty aim. Theo throws himself at the one closest to him and takes all of the skill and knowledge he’s built up through the night and pours it into the fight, tearing through one Rider after the other. One gets in a hard hit to his solar plexus and knocks the breath out of him. Through the pain, he hears Douglas start talking again. Did I talk this much when I was a bad guy? Man, I hope not. “Your little friends are no match for the Wild Hunt. There are too many of us and too few of you.” Scott shuts him up and their fight resumes. Theo continues to fight Riders as they attack. Suddenly, a train horn blows and the fighting slows. From the corner of his eye, Theo sees Malia make a fantastic jump over a line of Ghost Riders, then she’s tossing a whip to Scott. Theo takes another brutal hit from the Rider he’s fighting and lands on the ground, blood spraying from his mouth. He looks up in time to see Scott wrap the whip around the diverter and pull. Douglas leaps to cut the whip before Scott can jerk it back, but he misses. The lever shifts back as the train barrels through the forest. They all watch as the train rushes past on a separate track, away from the town. Douglas makes disbelieving noises as the train disappears in the distance. Malia rushes up and says to him, “You missed your train.” Scott takes a deep breath and releases a loud, drawn out roar. A signal for Liam? The ground shakes and the Ghost Riders simultaneously surround Theo, Scott, Malia, and Peter. Herding them together with drawn pistols. Whelp. At least it’s not Tara. Lightning flashes all around them and thunder rumbles loudly. They all look up to see clouds the rolling. The Ghost Riders lower their weapons and holster them before they all turn toward the direction the train went and start walking away. “Where are you going?” Douglas asks disbelievingly. “Stop.” He looks around as they walk past him. “Zuruckkommen.” The Nazi turns around to shout the orders at their backs. Theo and the others move into place behind Douglas. “Come back and kill them. Tote sie.” The Ghost Riders keep walking away. Theo really can’t help himself. “Call your army back.” Douglas whips his head back to glare at him. I told you you’d pay for leaving me alive. “Or don't they listen to you?” Theo mocks. “I am your leader. Ich bin dein Anfuhrer! Obey me. Gehorcht mir.” At the final shouted command the Riders pause and turn around. Well fuck. “Kill them.” Douglas turns around in triumph. “All of them. Tote sie. Tote sie.” Theo gets into a fighting position and watches the others do the same. They’re not going out without a fight. The Ghost Riders come up behind Douglas and then surround him, ignoring the four supernaturals. “Riders don't bow. They have no leader.” Apparently, Peter can’t help himself, either. They watch as the Riders close in on Douglas. He lifts his hands and they're covered in black gloves, his eyes turn to black pits, the face on his skin withers, and his mouth seals shut. Lightning flashes brightly and when their eyes can focus again, where Douglas stood is now a Ghost Rider. Long black hair has replaced the blond, old western attire replaces the modern clothes he’d been wearing. The only thing that separates this Rider from the others is a red armband with a black swastika inside of a white circle on his right arm. The new Ghost Rider raises its head and wails at the sky. A huge green bolt of lightning engulfs them all and they disappear. Theo looks up to see the rolling clouds disappear as well, leaving a clear sky full of stars beyond the treetops. Holy. Shit. * Theo didn’t really know what to do after the fight was over, but somehow he found himself back at the hospital in the waiting room with the others, waiting on word about Corey. Apparently Douglas had somehow plugged the Hunt into the mostly defenseless chimera and used his powers to move between worlds to merge the Hunt with the regular world. Melissa and Argent were taking care of him now. What am I even doing here? I should probably just go. He watches Liam. (Of course.) Who's kissing Hayden. (No surprise.) He wants to be angry. After all, he's the one who has been risking his ass to keep the little shit safe all night, not her. But Liam looks so happy to see her, so relieved that the town has been saved, and Theo can't help but be happy for him, too. He can totally be jealous of Hayden, but no one needs to know about that. He turns to walk away and comes face to face with Scott and Stiles. Oh, here we go. Scott just studies him for a moment while Stiles is squinting between Theo and the PDA couple. Scott finally sucks in a breath and says, “Thank you, Theo.” He sounds like the words physically pain him to say. “Liam told me what you did for him at the hospital. And you fought with us tonight. That was… unexpected. I don't trust you, but I do thank you.” “I don't expect or need your trust. I didn't do any of it for you.” Theo replied. Stiles's eyes widen as he glances back toward Liam. Oh goody. Fucker was always too smart for his own good. Scott rolls his eyes. “Whatever, Theo. I think it's best if you don't leave town. I want to keep an eye on you since the sword is gone.” With that, he walks away, leaving Theo with Stiles. “Don't even think about trying to kill her.” Stiles glares at him. “Please,” Theo rolls his eyes. “I prefer him happy. Killing her would defeat the purpose. If there's anything I've learned from you lot, it's that eliminating people I consider obstacles doesn't exactly endear people to me. I'll limit myself to light stalking, if that’s alright with you, Mr. 10-Year-Plan?” Stiles’s mouth twitches and his eyes narrow. “It took eleven and a half years, just so you know.” He sighs lightly. “Just- just keep your nose clean, Theo. I don’t really have the energy or time to repeat the shit show from the last time.” “And I don’t have the reason, opportunity, or resources anymore, so don’t worry about it.” Theo glances back over to Liam before focusing back on Stiles. “He prefers you all alive, so you live.” “Jesus Christ. You really are gone on him.” “He saved me,” Theo whispers. “I’d follow him anywhere.” “Right,” Stiles says, looking at Theo in a way he never had before. “Well, don’t follow him into the bathroom. That’s creepy.” Theo blinks. Was that an actual joke thrown my way? From Stiles? Suddenly, Theo feels like he’s nine years old again, sharing a secret with his best friend. Logically, he knows that they are far, far away from being friends, let alone best friends, but he’s now realizing just how much he destroyed when he let the Dread Doctors convince him to steal his sister’s heart. “I’m not going anywhere. And I’m not going to hurt anybody.” “You know what? I actually believe you.” Stiles wanders off and joins the older members of the pack, wrapping his arms around Lydia, now that he can.Theo sends one last wistful glance toward Liam, then walks away. Be happy, Little Wolf. I’ll be here if you need me.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Theo steps out of the hospital doors and his shoulders immediately lose tension. The hospital doesn’t exactly inspire warm feelings and safety, despite being a place of healing. All Theo can smell is antiseptic and death while the echoes of Tara’s whispers and jingling spurs fill his head. Leaving the building is a relief to his senses and psyche, yet leaving Liam behind makes his shoulders threaten to tense up again. Get a grip, Raeken. He’s with his pack. He’ll be fine without you. He takes a deep breath. Now what? He turns left and starts walking, he doesn’t really have a destination in mind. He’s dirty, he’s tired, and he’s ready to finally rest. But where, exactly, is he going to do that? He turns a corner and sees he’s heading toward the residential area on this side of town. He grimaces. The Bryce’s, the couple the Dread Doctors had hired to pose as Theo’s parents, had lived in this area. They’d been let go after the Super Moon. He doesn’t really know if they’d been killed or given amnesia, but he knows they’re long gone. He wonders if “his house” still had all their stuff in it. It was worth looking into, he’d had some clothes left there. Maybe he’ll have something to change into. If not, there’s always the operating theater. Theo hates the idea of going back there, but he knows he has resources there that he could use, and with the Dread Doctors dead -god, he’ll never get over the fact that they are gone - he can access them without asking permission or fear of getting caught. Their absence also means that the resources are finite. As Theo walks down the sidewalk, he thinks wistfully about his pretty blue truck. Really, it was one of his favorite things he’d “bought” for himself under the pretense of being a real boy. He halts in the middle of the sidewalk. That truck is in his name, it was technically bought and paid for. For all intents and purposes, he owned it. A small smile forms on his lips and he resumes walking. Now he just hopes the truck is still where he left it. * He’s reached the Bryce’s house, where he’d stayed while Stiles had been following him to prove he wasn’t who he said he was. He remembered the night he’d been forced to play video games for hours while Liam had been on a stakeout, watching him. He remembered wanting to look straight at the beta and let him know that he knew he was being watched. But Theo Raeken: Omega Werewolf Looking for a Pack didn’t know how paranoid Stiles Stilinski was. He wouldn’t have been expecting anyone to be spying on him. Theo wonders if he’d do anything differently if he’d known he’d end up as he is now as he listens to the inside of the house. It’s completely silent. No breathing or heartbeats, no water in the pipes, no hum of appliances. He takes a quick glance around, then opens the mailbox. Several months worth of bills and overdue notices are stuffed in the little box. Along with cutoff dates. He sighs. So much for a shower. He slinks behind the house and hurries to the back door. He wraps a hand around the doorknob and jerks it to the right, breaking the lock easily. He pushes the door open and slides inside before anyone can see him. Theo looks around the kitchen, the place is a little dusty, but otherwise, it looks like the people who lived there are coming back soon. There are dishes in the drying rack and Jeanette’s apron is flung over the back of a kitchen chair instead of on the hook where it belongs. He wanders into the living room and sees Jonathan’s boots by the door and a newspaper spread across the coffee table. Theo checks the date. Four days after the supermoon. He figures the Bryce’s are dead. With Theo no longer needing parents for show, their lives would’ve been inconsequential. Theo turns and walks down the side hall to the last door on his left. Theo’s room looks exactly as he left it. He smiles. The first thing he does is dig through the dresser and find a clean set of clothes. He goes back to the kitchen and grabs a couple of bottles of water and uses them with a dishcloth to clean up as best he can before putting on the clean clothes. Once he's as comfortable as he's going to get, he digs a duffle bag from the closet and picks out jeans, t-shirts, and a few jackets along with socks and underwear. Items of clothing that will mix and match well with no effort. He’s not going to have the time or inclination to put thought into the perfect outfit to accentuate his assets anymore. Pity. His assets are worth accentuating as much as possible. He grabs the essential toiletries from the bathroom and tucks them into a side pocket, figuring he’ll find someplace to shower eventually. When he’s finished packing his bag, he lays on the bed, pulling his blanket up and settling in without bothering to take off his shoes. He might have to bolt quickly if he’s caught basically squatting. The sheriff knows he doesn’t live here, and would probably arrest him for trespassing. But he’s exhausted and he hasn’t slept in a bed in forever. And he’s not sure when he’ll get the chance again. * Theo bolts upright in the bed, hand clawing at his chest. His breathing is heavy and he can smell his fear tinting the air as he jerks his head left and right looking for his sister. As he takes in the familiar walls and decor, he remembers that he’s no longer in the underground hospital with Tara ripping his heart out repeatedly. He slows his heartbeat and thinks about impossibly blue eyes. Liam got me out. Liam saved me. Liam broke the sword. Liam. Liam. Liam. He sighs heavily, looking around the room again. The eerie silence of the house is disturbing. He’s not getting back to sleep anytime soon. It’s dark outside now, so that’s a plus. He pulls off the blanket and rolls off the bed. Theo takes a moment to stretch before pushing his bed against the opposite wall. Theo is glad the house is unoccupied. Not that he’d have any problem with breaking and entering, but at least this way he doesn’t have to wait. Somewhere under where the bed used to be is a loose floorboard where Theo had squirreled away some cash, a fake ID, a prepaid cell phone, and some serums. Just in case. Theo always knew his usefulness to the Dread Doctors had an expiration date. Hence, his desire for a powerful pack and a True Alpha’s spark and/or the Beast’s power. Obviously, he’d gone about getting literally all of that the wrong way. To be fair, meaningful interactions and feel good emotions aren’t really is forte since he’d been raised like a sewer rat by three psychos who wanted to resurrect the ultimate evil. Yeah, not the best representation for winning friends and influencing people for positive reasons. The subtle art of being nice for the sake of it is lost on him. Theo steps around the small area until he finds the loose board then pries it up and pulls his little bag out of the small space before replacing the board. He pushes the bed back where he’d had it, then checks the contents before shoving the bag in the bottom of his duffle. He slips a jacket over his shoulders and takes one last glance around the room. There’s nothing left for him here. He grabs a pillow and the thin blanket at the foot of the bed, drapes them over the duffle, and walks out of the house, never looking back. He tells himself that he’s going to go straight to the sewers. That he’s going to see if his truck is still parked behind the building. He’s not going to go out of his way to check on anyone. Especially not one angry little werewolf who barely tolerates his existence. For such a superb liar, he really sucks at lying to himself. Seriously, Raeken? It hasn’t even been twelve hours. Yeah, but it’s fucking Beacon Hills. He stops by the McCall house first. He focuses his hearing, not catching the heartbeat he’s listening for. But Scott and Melissa’s heartbeats are calm, so Theo moves on towards the house he’d been at a few nights ago. Was it really only a few nights ago? Feels like a lifetime. He’s already been through so much since he’s been back, but he was literally in hell four days ago. The thought makes him pause. He’s really earned a sort of probation in that short amount of time? Part of him can only marvel at how stupid they all are, honestly. But most of him is thankful for this unexpected second chance. He’s not going to blow it. Even if he ends up having to leave Beacon Hills, and Liam, for good. Theo stands under the shadow of a tree in the front yard of Liam’s house. He can see through the gap in the curtains, Liam leaning against a woman who must be his mother. He can’t see Dr. Geyer, but he can hear the third heartbeat in the same vicinity as Liam and his mom. Theo shifts his focus to what they’re saying. “All I remember is waiting for a train for no reason that I can remember. Just that there was a train coming, and that I was waiting for it to go… somewhere.” Liam’s mom is saying. “Nowhere good. I can promise you that.” Liam takes a deep breath. “Mom. Dad. In case you haven’t noticed lately, this town is… weird.” “Oh, I’ve noticed.” Dr. Geyer says. “Kids coming in all the time, being completely healed the next day. Somehow, Melissa McCall knew that we’d left a fragment of bone in the Sheriff that was causing him to be poisoned by bone marrow even though nothing indicated he’d been attacked with bones? That woman knows things. I’m just not sure how or why.” Liam’s heartbeat starts to pick up. “Well… I know why. And I- I can tell you if you really want to know.” Is he about to tell his parents he’s a werewolf? So maybe Theo’s light stalking is a good thing. If this doesn’t end well, at least Liam won’t be alone. “Will it explain why you’ve been so weird lately?” His mom asks. Theo sees Liam wince. “You noticed?” “Of course I did. I’m your mother. I’ve known you your entire life. I will admit that at first, I thought it was just a teenage boy thing, but then you started staying out later and making up weird excuses and David saw you hanging around with Melissa’s son.” She squeezes his shoulders. “I just want to make sure you’re not getting into anything dangerous.” “Well, uh, that’s really difficult to stay away from in this town. And because I am what I am, there’s no real way to avoid it.” “What do you mean, what you are?” Dr. Geyer asks. “This is going to sound insane, but I swear I’m telling the truth.” He sucks in a deep breath. “I’m a werewolf.” Silence. Then, “What?” Liam’s mom laughs. Liam pulls away from his mother and moves to the other end of the couch. He closes his eyes and Theo watches as his sideburns grow longer and his brows become more pronounced. His lips bulge out a little and Theo knows he’s let his fangs grow inside his mouth. Liam opens his eyes and shows his parents the wolfs golden glow. He lifts his hands to show off his claws. His shoulders are up to his pointed ears as if he’s about to be scolded. “I’m getting better at controlling it.” He slurs through his fangs. “I’d never hurt anyone on purpose.” He must have felt his own heartbeat skip. “Not- well, someone manipulated me once into hurting my friend.” Theo can’t suppress his wince. “But there were a lot of extenuating circumstances. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’d never hurt you.” He shifts back. “And believe me, I worried about that a lot in the beginning.” Liam’s mom leans forward and caresses his cheek. “Oh, baby. When did this happen? Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” He leans into her touch. “A little over a year? And because I was afraid that you would be scared of me.” “A year?” Dr. Geyer asks, startled. “Remember last year when I hurt my leg really bad at tryouts because I pissed off a couple of juniors? The same night that kid went crazy and ate the officer outside of his room? Well, I stumbled across that scene and the crazy guy -who was a windigo by the way, long story- chased me up to the roof. I was going to fall off the edge of the roof but Scott caught me before I could fall… with his teeth- fangs. He’s the alpha. He turned me to save me.” “Well then, thank God for Scott McCall.” Liam’s mom pulls him back into her arms. He wraps his arms around her back. Guess I’m not needed after all. Theo turns away, not wanting to watch anymore. Liam is safe and loved. That’s what’s important. He pulls a squished protein bar out of his pocket and opens it, chewing slowly as he wonders what it’s like to have people who love you unconditionally. Tara might’ve loved him like that a long time ago, but he’d fucked that up. He can’t ever remember his parents caring about him as much as Liam’s mom clearly cares about him. The way Melissa cares about Scott and the sheriff cares about Stiles. He pushes those thoughts deep down and locks them away. He’s fucked up any chance at deserving that kind of love from anyone. All he has to do now is survive and keep the Little Wolf alive. After an hour and a half of walking, he huffs out a breath at the sight of his truck sitting exactly where he left it all those months ago. He takes a look around it, making sure it hasn’t been tampered with. The original keys he had to it were long gone, but there should be a spare in one of those magnetic boxes under the rear driver’s wheel well. He feels around and finds it, making a noise of triumph as he hears the key rattle around inside the box when he pulls it out. He makes a mental note to have another spare key made. Theo turns toward the back entrance of the building that will lead him to the tunnels. He takes a steadying breath marches toward it. Just get what you need, and you’ll never have to worry about going down there again. He opens the door, the lock long since broken, enters the room and turns toward the stairwell that takes him to the tunnels. Unless, of course, Liam or Scott need me to come down here for some reason in the future. He actively avoids the tunnel where he’d been dragged to hell. Really not helping, Raeken. He finds the ouroboros and turns it, slipping between the stone walls and into the darkness toward the Dread Doctors’ old operating theater. His lungs squeeze tight and his heart pounds in his ears and he’s really glad he’s alone as he can smell his own uncontrollable fear surround him. I’m underground, but I’m not in hell. I’m in the tunnels, but the Doctors are gone. Tara isn’t here and the Doctors are gone. Tara isn’t here and the Doctors are gone. When he steps into the cavernous space, he takes a deep breath and holds it, willing his heartbeat to slow as he takes in the gutted space; the Dread Doctors had moved everything important to the abandoned outbuilding in the preserve. They’d died there. He releases his breath as he walks past the fresco, slashing the Beast’s face with his claws before wandering toward his “room”. Really, it was just a corner of the huge room, separated by a few pipes that traveled into the room for a few yards before curving up toward the ceiling. Behind the pipes is a small bed where he used to sleep, piles of neatly folded designer clothes and shoes, his skateboard, and a laptop. He’d used the laptop to keep up with pop culture and to research the McCall pack or anyone else of interest to the Dread Doctors. Under the fourth pile of clothes was another hidey-hole with more cash, a few loaded prepaid credit cards (another use for the laptop, courtesy of the Doctor’s need for funds and ability to manipulate certain frequencies), and a picture of his sister that he doesn’t bother to look at before shoving it facedown in his wallet. He sees her enough in his dreams. At the far end of the room, he climbs a ladder that leads to the area he’d used as a home base for the Chimera Pack. The machine they’d had Deucalion hooked up to still stands next to the window. He takes a moment to look at the spots where he’d killed Josh and Tracy, trying to see if he feels anything. He’s surprised to find that, unlike a few nights ago, when Liam and Hayden had discovered that he’d lost the powers he’d stolen, he actually feels a pang of something he can only assume is guilt. He hadn’t taken the time to really get to know Josh. He’d known he was a junkie and that the addictive personality wouldn’t go away after his chimera healing took away his ability to get high. All just information he’d gathered to manipulate the poor bastard. Then he’d killed him. And Tracy, she’d been his greatest ally and he’d betrayed her. He remembers feeling nothing but satisfaction while her power filled him. He’d also felt irritation at Deucalion’s necessary presence and that fact that Corey and Hayden had bailed on him, making acquiring their powers more difficult. Now his chest is heavy with regret. A part of him even wishes that the kiss with Tracy had been real and not just a distraction to get her to lower her guard. He knows he definitely wouldn’t want to pursue her now for obvious reasons, but maybe if he’d changed his course for her, maybe he wouldn’t have gone to hell, and maybe he wouldn’t be pining over a dude who is sickeningly in love with his girlfriend. Ugh. I really am pathetic. He wanders over toward the back and checks behind a loose tile to see if the cache he’d stored there had been disturbed. He breathes a sigh of relief to see it all still there. He’s going to leave this one here, just in case. Along with the others he has in various places around town. If he needs to leave, it would only take him about half an hour to collect it all and go. He makes another mental note to check the rest as soon as possible. Theo takes one last look around at his past and hopes he never has to come here again. Not for the money, not for the pack, nothing. He heads for the nearest exit. He unlocks the truck and shoves his duffle in the back seat, then sits behind the wheel, contemplating his next move. There’s some equipment at the Dread Doctors’ final operating theater he can use to wire more funds to himself, but he’s not feeling up to committing fraud or wrestling with those particular demons at the outbuilding today. His stomach rumbles. Food it is. He starts the truck and looks at the gauges. Gas, then food. The little oil can lights up next to the gas gauge. He sighs and makes plans to take the truck in for an oil change and tune-up in the morning. He has a feeling he’s going to be spending a lot of time in his truck, so he should probably make sure it’s in top shape. He’s really glad he decided to collect some of his nest eggs. It’s not going to be easy getting on his feet. * One. Whole. Month. It’s been one whole month he’s been on his own. He had thought that he wouldn’t still be sleeping in his truck by now. He’d been wrong. Turns out, nobody in this godforsaken town wants to rent a room, let alone a whole apartment, to a teenager with no credentials. And since all credentials get checked through the Sheriff’s department, he knows there’s no way he’d be approved. As evidenced by the fact that every time he tries to get a few hours of rest, a deputy comes by to wake him up and tells him to move on. Fucking Stilinski. He’s tired and he’s bored. He’s not starving, but his diet isn’t always steady. He knows he can get more money transferred to the bank account the Doctors had set up for him, but that involves a lot of illegal maneuvering in the system. And while, morally, he’s not above breaking the law, a voice in the back of his head that sounds an awful lot like Liam’s, keeps telling him it’s wrong and that he can do better. Maybe it’s true. He won’t know until everything he’s already got runs dry. To keep that from happening as long as possible, Theo takes odd jobs that pay cash he finds in the “Help Wanted” ads in the newspaper and on community bulletin boards. So far he’s helped re-shingle a roof, aided in a stump removal, -I know of a huge stump that could stand to be uprooted- and walked six dogs for a week who’s owners had gone on vacation. They didn’t pay a whole lot, and the work wasn’t steady, but he doesn’t eat much anyway and it helps to pass the time. Also, the wife of the couple with the roof had given him cookies and the dogs were pretty cool. Theo is leaving the Y, after taking a shower and checking out the bulletin board -they’re looking for a new volunteer for the self-defense course; he’ll have to look into that-, and heading back to his truck, contemplating where he wants to try parking to get a few hours of sleep, when he hears a police radio go off. He looks over and sees Hayden’s sister responding to the hail. He’s about to duck his head and hustle out of there before he’s spotted, then he tunes into the report. He listens to the dispatcher. “Suspect is a male, approximately early thirties, dark hair. Reports state he has glowing eyes and is running on all fours…” Theo watches as deputy Clarke leans her head against the steering wheel of the patrol car, sighing, before responding with an affirmative to join the pursuit. Keep your head down, Raeken. Don’t get involved. He slides into his driver's seat and starts the truck. Of course, if someone gets hurt and anyone from the pack finds out that I could’ve helped but didn’t, I’ll probably be in more shit than I already am. He sighs and turns in the direction Deputy Clarke went, following her flashing lights. Maybe the pack will be along to help. He perks up at the thought of maybe seeing Liam. It’s been almost a week since he’d last seen the beta. Theo doesn’t want to be a total creep, so he only checks up on Liam once or twice a week. Usually just watching an after-school practice or strolling by his house. Once, Theo had strolled by while the Geyers were gone and Hayden was visiting. That had not been a good day for Theo. Theo follows Valerie toward the preserve. He veers off course and parks the truck in a small clearing surrounded by a dense formation of trees. When he can’t take the periodic wake-up calls and needs more than an hour or two of uninterrupted sleep, he comes out here to this spot. His nightmares wake him, but at least he doesn’t have to move the truck before trying to go back under. He doesn’t like to stay out here too much, though, because it’s so far out of town and away from Liam. He exits the truck, locking the doors behind him before he starts running toward the sirens. He runs through the trees, senses alert for the “man” everyone is chasing. He hears Scott let out a short howl, signaling to the pack and the rogue that they are on the hunt. Theo almost releases his own howl of delight when he hears Liam’s answer to his alpha’s call. He bites it back, knowing the pack wouldn’t welcome it. By the sound of it, the chase is happening on his right flank, the pack behind the sheriff’s people, the rogue somewhere in front of them. He cuts to the right, running until he’s about thirty yards ahead of the pursuit. He stops and looks up. Neither of his animals are keen on climbing, but the advantages of high ground cannot be denied. He sighs in resignation and starts up the nearest tree. This reminds him of the first time he’d seen Liam up close. When he’d jumped off a branch of a tree and confronted him and Stiles. Liam had stepped in front of Stiles, all fierce protectiveness, and Theo could finally see just how blue those eyes were. Instant infatuation. But having a crush on a cute boy hadn’t fit into his plan for power, so he’d pretty well ignored it. Of all the plans of his that had succeeded and failed, the ones involving Liam give him the most conflicting emotions. He could have easily smothered the spark of attraction between Liam and Hayden, set up a scenario or two that would’ve made her resent him even more, nurturing the discord between them. Instead, he’d used the attraction and put them in a situation where they had to protect each other and stop circling around it. Theo remembers feeling satisfaction and envy while watching them kiss and cuddle in the back seat of his truck after “rescuing” them. Now, he wishes he’d never encouraged that relationship. He sighs as he reaches his desired branch on the tree and settles down. On the plus side, if they hadn’t been together, he wouldn’t have left Scott alive, then I would’ve killed him for the True Alpha spark. Yadda, yadda. He’s had this conversation with himself many times in the last month of solitude. Alright. Focus, Raeken. He lets his eyes flare and tunes his senses ahead of him. He sees the line of deputies and the dark figures with glowing eyes behind them. He scans the large area between himself and the pursuers. He sees nothing. Damnit! That’s what you get for distracting yourself. He looks again, and again. Still nothing. The uniformed men and women are coming ever closer, but it seems they’re now chasing nothing. He growls in frustration. Deputies start passing beneath his perch and Theo spots Parrish in the crowd. He shrills out a quick, sharp whistle, catching the hellhound’s attention. Theo gives Parrish an unimpressed look as his shoulders tense up wearily at the sight of him up in the tree. Theo decides to not take it personally as long as A) Parrish doesn’t accuse him of being the rogue, and B) he understands the message Theo is sending him as he jerks his chin toward the front of the line, then shakes his head and shrugs. He’s not up there, I don’t know where he went. Parrish squints up at him as if he can read Theo’s mind to see if he’s telling the truth if he just tries hard enough. Theo rolls his eyes at him. That must be enough for Parrish to consider because he jogs over to Stilinski and tells him he’s pretty sure they lost the omega. “How sure?” The sheriff asks. “Like, ninety-two percent.” Parrish looks up at Theo as the chimera scoffs. The sheriff follows his gaze up the tree and locks eyes with Theo. His eyes harden and Theo just shrugs and pretends to inspect his claws. Don’t believe me? Fine. But if this rogue omega gets away, it’s on you. Parrish’s voice makes him look up from his claws. “Where do you think he went, Raeken?” Theo scans the forest again, considering the terrain and geography. “I’d say he either veered east, or he came up.” He gestures to the treetops surrounding him. “He could’ve gone west to the cliffs and be long gone by now, but I get this feeling that he’s enjoying the chase.” Parrish relays his ideas to the sheriff. Stilinski rubs his face before marching to Theo’s tree and glaring up at him. “If I find out you’re lying-” “You’ll fill me with so many holes god won’t recognize me. I’m an atheist. Blah, blah. We’ve had this conversation already.” Theo interrupts loud enough for him to hear. “Look, I’ve got nothing but the will to live. I have no reason to lie. So stop wasting time.” Stilinski takes another moment to consider Theo, then pulls out his radio, calling for the deputies to fall back to his location. Nobody looks up at Theo while he’s giving new instructions, so he takes the relative stillness to watch the forest around them. He wishes he’d been able to catch the omega’s scent before they lost him, it’d be a lot easier to track him by scent. Theo watches a coyote slink around the group. He focuses, making sure it’s Malia, probably gathering information for Scott about the status on the search. Her head snaps up toward Theo, eyes flashing electric blue and she bares her teeth at him. He wiggles his fingers at her and blows her a kiss. She snarls before bolting back to where he’s sure the pack is waiting. The deputies break apart into teams of three, one group heads east, the rest spread out west., one person with eyes on the trees in each group. Theo thinks about what he’s going to do now. Stay in the tree and scout from the higher vantage point, or go down and see if he can pick up a scent. He figures that if he hasn’t seen anything yet, he’s probably not going to, so he jumps down. He briefly debates shifting, but with his luck, he’ll be caught undressing and get arrested for public indecency. Almost anywhere the rogue might’ve stepped is now thoroughly diluted by the scent of so many humans, and his full shift would be better equipped to sort them out but he’s going to have to leave the super sniffing to Malia. Theo ghosts through the woods between search groups. He’s sure the omega is still around, toying with them. He keeps his ears trained to the sounds around him and his eyes on the trees. He’s about to climb another tree when he hears a hard thump and a bitten off curse to his right, followed by another thump and an interrupted scream. Fuck! Theo sprints toward the noises and halts when he sees Valerie Clarke, terrified and held hostage by the rogue omega. He’s got her hands trapped behind her with her back against his chest. He's free hand is cupping her throat and he’s running his nose up the exposed side of her neck. “You smell like the one I want. Her sister perhaps? I can use you, deputy.” He tightens his hand around her throat. “Or,” Theo steps into his line of sight. “You can let her go and deal with me.” “You? Why would I bother.” The rogue pulls Clarke closer. “You’re not even part of McCall’s precious pack. You’re nothing to anyone. You’re just like me.” “No,” Theo says taking slow steps forward. “I might be an omega, but I’m not like you. Let Deputy Clarke go. She’s not even the one you want.” “You’re right. But she’ll get me the one I want.” “Hayden.” Theo starts shifting, taking another step forward. “What is it about her, huh? She’s a selfish, insubordinate bitch. You don’t want her. She’ll spend every moment with you trying to get back to the Little Wolf. So don’t bother.” “SHE’S MINE!” The rogue snarls, gripping the deputy tighter. “And if she wants her sister to live, she’ll come with me and forget all about that worthless little beta she’s been fucking. He’s dying before we leave for touching her anyway, she’ll have nothing to come back to.” The fuck he’s dying. Theo doesn’t like Hayden, but even he wouldn’t leave her to this asshole. Not to mention Liam would never forgive him if he let something happen to his girlfriend or her sister. But if this shitstain lifts one claw toward Liam, Theo will happily eviscerate him. He takes another step forward. “Ah-ah.” Clarke whimpers as he jerks her arms up behind her back and releases her claws at her neck. “Come any closer and I’ll rip her pretty throat out.” “Hayden definitely won’t go with you if you kill the one family member she has left.” Theo stops about two yards away, calculating his chances at getting Valerie out of this alive. “And if you touch Liam the entire pack will hunt you down. You might even evade them, but not me. Scott might not be too keen on killing, but I don’t suffer from that mental block.” “You won’t kill me if you want in the pack.” “Here’s the thing, I don’t want in the pack. The pack and I share a common goal, so I stick around. I don’t really care about Scott’s rules, but life’s easier when I follow them. You want to live? Let her go and turn yourself in. Otherwise, I’m sure they’ll forgive me for killing you to save her.” The rogue opens his mouth to retort and Theo strikes. He leaps across the short distance, ripping into the male’s arm and forcing him to let go of Clarke’s throat. Theo grips her and pulls her from the rogue’s grip. He hears a loud pop and Clarke screams as her shoulder is dislocated. Theo pushes her behind him and attacks the other male. Enraged at losing his prize, the rogue hits hard but sloppy. He gets his claws into Theo’s gut but misses anything vital. Theo slices his claws across the omega’s face in retaliation, causing him to double over, clutching what’s left of his eye. Before he can recover, Theo grabs both sides of his head and jerks it to the left. His neck cracks and his legs crumble beneath him. Yeah, that shit hurts like a bitch, huh? Thank you, Deucalion, for that little nightmare. He shifts back and kneels over Deputy Clarke. “Do you want me to pop that back or just wait for a professional?” He asks her, gesturing at her shoulder while she cradles her injured arm. She has a few shallow cuts on her throat, along with some bruising, but otherwise, she looks fine as she flinches away from him. “What the hell are you?” She croaks out. Before he can answer, Hayden comes crashing through the trees and sees him hovering over her sister. “I’ll kill you!” She snarls, rushing at him, claws and fangs bared. “Hayden!” He grabs her and throws her on the ground, straddling her hips, pinning her hands above her head. “Pay attention to your surroundings, dumbass,” Theo growls at her. “She’s alive because of me.” Theo looks up to see Liam walking of the trees, fangs bared, looking like he’s about to pounce. “C’mon, man. The rogue is right over there.” He jerks his head toward the omega, then indicates the sisters. “I haven’t hurt either of them. You gonna attack me if I let you go?” He asks Hayden. She shakes her head and Theo springs off of her. She flips over and crawls to her sister. “Val.” “You, too? You’re one of them, too?” Clarke whispers to her. “Yeah, Val. I’m a werewolf. Scott’s the alpha. He changed me to save my life. I swear I’ll tell you all about it, but right now I need to know you’re okay.” “Dislocated shoulder, some cuts, and bruises. Raeken did save me from the other one.” Hayden and Liam visibly relax, Theo rolls his eyes and watches Liam walk around the area, taking in the scene. “George and Roberts. Are they alive?” Theo can only hear five heartbeats. “No, they’re gone.” “I’m sorry Miss Valerie,” Liam says, shaking his head. “He wanted you.” Valerie reaches up with her good hand and strokes Hayden’s hair. “He was going to use me to get you to leave with him,” Liam growls lowly and Clarke looks over at Theo. “Thank you.” “Uh,” Theo shifts his feet and ducks his head. “No problem. Maybe just let me sleep next time and we’ll call it even.” Clarke furrows her brows but before she can say anything, the Sheriff and Parrish arrive on one side of the scene while Scott and Malia show up on the other. “What happened?” Stilinski asks. “Uh,” Liam starts. “Omega attacked the deputies. Killed George and Rogers and then tried to kidnap Miss V- uh, Deputy Clarke. Theo fought him? We showed up after that.” He points at himself and Hayden. “You didn’t kill him?” Scott was looking at the rogue but Theo knew the question was directed at him. “Just broke his neck. He’ll be back up in about ten minutes. Probably. Figured you’d do whatever you were planning to do with him when you caught him. I don’t care.” “We’ll take him to Argent.” A tiny whine escapes the omega’s throat at the hunter’s name. “Ah, thanks, Theo.” Scott’s got his head tilted like he’s trying to figure out this new version of Theo. Good luck, dude. I don’t even know what I’m doing half the time. “Right.” Theo looks at Liam, double checking that he beta isn’t going to get himself into trouble in the immediate future. “Well, I did the hard work, I’ll leave the clean-up to you.” He turns on his heel and heads in the direction of his truck. How’s that for a dose of normal Theo? No one stops him. No one follows him. He’s back to being on his own. Nothing new and not at all surprising. * It’s been over a month since the rogue. Theo finds work when he can get it, sometimes going to neighboring towns, but staying as close to Liam as possible. He got the volunteer position at the Y so twice a week he teaches a room full of mostly women how to fend off a potential attacker. The director tells him the class has doubled since he started and that he should be proud. Yeah, the amount of women who ask for more hands-on training after class tells him they’re mostly there for his pretty face. At least it cuts down on the boredom. He’d be lying if he said he never took up any of those offers. He’s a teenage boy with needs, after all. He’s always been sure to tell whoever he hooks up with -usually from Sinema, not the class- that he’s not interested in doing so more than once. Thankfully, that hasn’t been a problem. There isn’t much for him to do when there’s no work to be done. He’s filched everything he would probably need from the operating theater. He’d thought about burning the place to the ground behind him, but decided to save it for a rainy day. Maybe literally. Wouldn’t want to start a forest fire. I’d hate to disappoint Smokey. Every other night he breaks into the school gym to work out. He’s eating cheap food, which is shit for the body, so he needs to do something to stay so pretty. Besides, it takes up long night hours when he can’t sleep. A few nights a week he can stay in one place for several hours uninterrupted. He figures those are the nights Clarke is patrolling. She hasn’t knocked on his window since that night. Parrish hasn't either. He’s sitting in his driver’s seat, mindlessly playing Candy Crush and trying to decide if he wants to hustle some bikers out of their cash at the pool tables in the bar down the street when he hears footsteps walking toward his truck. He looks up, fully prepared to tell the deputy that he's about to leave when he sees that it’s Hayden. He rolls down his window and raises his eyebrow. “To what do I owe this pleasure?” He asks sarcastically. “You really do live out of your truck, don’t you?” She asks instead of answering, eyeballing his pillow in the back seat. “I’m not allowed to squat in the house I pretended to live in, no one wants to rent to a teenager, and I refuse to sleep in the sewers ever again.” He tells her bluntly. “What do you want Hayden? I didn’t do anything.” “Nobody thinks you’ve done anything.” “Then what does Scott want me to do?” “Nothing. Look, I’m just here to tell you that Val and I are leaving. She got approved to transfer to a Sheriff’s Department in a town in Washington and away from this hellmouth. She’s been through a lot of shit, but last time was where she drew the line. We’re all we have left, so we’re gonna go where it’s hopefully safer. Away from the nemeton.” There go my uninterrupted nights. “And you’re telling me, why?” “This is my last chance to thank you for what you did for Val… and me, I guess, since I’m the one that guy wanted.” She shudders. “Yeah, well, your sister didn’t do anything to deserve to be treated that way and I don’t hate you that much.” Hayden’s lips twitch as she stares at him, then looks around the truck. “You have changed. Still an asshole, but maybe not an evil one anymore. The Theo I remember wouldn’t have even been in the preserve that night.” Theo scoffs. “You’ll take care of him, won’t you?” Theo snaps his head back toward her. “Who?” “C’mon, Theo, everyone knows. Except for Liam.” She rolls her eyes. “Love him, he’s actually pretty intelligent, but man he’s dumb sometimes. You wouldn’t be ‘the bait’ for just anyone.” I’m not sure I appreciate your deep analysis of my character. Theo shifts in his seat. “Whatever. I’m not going to let him die. You can leave in peace.” Hayden smirks at him. “We’re leaving tomorrow. Take care, Theo.” She turns around and walks back to her car parked across the street. Okay, Raeken. No more Hayden. Now what? Theo has absolutely no idea. * Weeks pass and Theo’s days are starting to blur. He searches for work, he does his classes, he works out, he tries to sleep. He’s stopped hooking up. It’s not satisfying and any physical needs he can take care of himself. Even with Clarke gone, he’s not bothered by most of the deputies anymore. There are two, though, that just won’t leave him alone. Every time he thinks he’s going to get a decent amount of sleep, one of those assholes is tapping on his window. It’s not like he’s sitting in front of someone’s house, or taking up anyone’s special parking place. He’s not hurting anybody and he has literally nowhere to go. Except back underground, but fuck that. The morning sun is streaming through his window and Theo doesn’t even need his thin blanket, he’s warm and dozing peacefully for once in the back seat. Then, *tap tap tap tap tap tap* he lifts his head from his pillow, looking around for whatever woke him. *tap tap tap tap tap tap tap* Asshole Deputy #1 is staring disapprovingly at him. He fumbles up into a sitting position. “Okay. Okay.” He waves the deputy off and watches him walk to his car before getting out of the back seat and into the driver’s seat. #1 stays until he drives off. Theo thinks he’s found a good place to try to sleep after his workout on a back road behind a strip mall. He doesn’t bother to get in the back seat, just in case. Just grabs his blanket and leans the seat back a bit. He’s glad he didn’t bother to move because not even two hours later, Deputy Asshole #2 wakes him. *tap tap tap tap* Flashlight shining in his face. He jumps slightly at the startling noise and squints into the beam. “Yeah. Okay. Alright, alright.” #2 shakes his head at him as he puts his keys back in the ignition and prepares to drive off. He drives around for an hour or two before parking behind a building supply store. He prays to the gods he doesn’t believe in that it’s not on either of the assholes’ routes. Taking the chance, he slides into the back seat. Despite being so tired his eyes are burning, he lays back, head leaning uncomfortably against the door, one arm behind his head. He’s pondering his existence, wondering why he got this second chance if this is all he’s going to get to do with it. Maybe I should just go back to being evil. At least then I’ll have a purpose. He thinks about how guilty Liam would feel about freeing Theo and then breaking the sword if he turned on all of them again. The thought makes him feel worse than the terrible loneliness. A wave of something like paranoia, dread, and terror washes over Theo. He sits up and looks around, trying to find the source of his discomfort. He sees nothing. He focuses his hearing. Nothing. Nothing, nothing. Just like him. The feeling passes and he settles into a more comfortable position, pulling the frayed, green blanket up to his chin and drifts off into a restless sleep. Deputy Asshole #1 wakes him in the morning and the cycle continues. One night, Theo’s lying in the back seat, trying to doze off before he can be run off when he feels something crawling up his arm. What the fuck? He sees it’s a small-ish spider, making him lean up onto his other elbow to get a closer look. Hello, little dude. He watches it crawl around his forearm, over his inner wrist, and up his palm. It tickles a little as it crawls over the junction between his pointer and middle fingers. He spins his hand around gently to watch it start to crawl down the back of his hand. He smiles a little. Just you and me, little dude. The spider stops dead center in the back of his hand. Theo jumps and gasps in pain as it digs into his skin. He watches in horror as it burrows completely beneath his skin and his advanced healing seals the wound behind it. Fuck. Fuck! He turns on the dome light in the truck to see if he can find it in his arm, pulling his sleeve up and over his shoulder. He can feel it crawling towards his back. He looks around frantically. He’s parked behind Deaton’s clinic. His mind is racing as he bolts out of the truck and toward the rear entrance to the clinic. The lifting door isn’t even locked as he pushes it up and sprints toward the examination room. He looks around the room and walks to a supply cabinet, pulling open a drawer. He sees a hand mirror, a pair of scissors, and what looks like a small tool kit. He grabs the mirror and places it on top of the cabinet. The goddamned spider is crawling down his back, he's going to need to be able to see it to get it out. Next, he grabs the tool kit. Please have a scalpel. Please have a scalpel. He unzips it and immediately pulls out a scalpel. Thank fuck! He sets the mirror and scalpel down on the examination table and switches on the high powered exam light. Then, he rips his shirt over his head and grabs the mirror in his left hand, lifting it above his head to get a view of his back. He grips the scalpel with his right hand, watching as the creature starts crawling back up his back beneath his skin. He utilizes every engineered supernatural reflex he possesses, waiting until just the right moment and strikes! He grunts in pain as he stabs himself in the back, straight through the wicked thing under his skin. He grunts again as he pulls the scalpel and the spider out of his back. He brings the scalpel up to face level to get a closer look. The spider’s legs are still moving, even as it’s impaled on the tip of the blade. Then Poof! It disappears in a puff of black smoke. What the fuck? He lets the scalpel drop through his numb fingers. WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK? Does Scott know about this? What about Liam? Fuck, what about Liam!? Theo turns off the light, picks up the scalpel and wipes his blood off of it before putting it and the mirror back in their proper places. He leaves the clinic, pulling the door back down, before returning to his truck. He sits in his truck, staring at his phone, thumb hovering over the call button under Scott’s phone number. He’s not going to want to listen to what you have to say, Raeken. Yeah, but he’s all about helping people. And I haven’t done anything horrible lately. He’ll at least hear me out. Probably. Hopefully. But before he can convince himself to hit the little green phone symbol, he hears: *tap tap tap* Goddamnit now is really not the time. He looks over to see a light shining in his face. A light attached to a shotgun. Not a deputy. He looks around as three more flashlights attached to three more guns are pointed at him. Shit. What do they want? Are they hunters? First demon spiders and now hunters? He raises his hands, no claws, no fangs. Maybe he can bluff his way out of this. Before he can say anything, the first shot goes off.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Theo wakes up in a small, bare room. He doesn’t move as he assesses his surroundings, trying to remember anything before he woke up. Flashes of his own hand holding his phone with Scott’s contact info on it, a bright light shining in his eyes, multiple gunshots, searing pain, and blackness.
Fucking. Hunters. Should’ve pressed the call button while I had the chance, then at least someone would know I was shot up and missing. Whether or not Scott would care…
None of that matters now. He’s alive, he’s alone, and apparently, there’s still a bullet in his ribs. He lifts his head to get a full view of his ‘accommodations’. Four blank walls, one door, a vent in the ceiling, and one camera pointing to the center of the room, most likely with a clear view of the door. There might not be any bars, but Theo knows a cell when he sees one.
He finally sits up, gritting his teeth at the pain in his side, he looks at his shirt and sees it's a filthy mess of blood, dirt, and bullet holes. Scattered around him are the bullets he’s already shed. A quick count shows four.
Those useless assholes shot up my fucking truck at basically point blank range and only got me five times? What the fuck kind of shitty hunters have digs like this but can’t even shoot straight?
He notices something white at his feet, he picks it up, holding out a plain white t-shirt.
At least I didn’t have to bargain for it.
Theo takes off his soiled shirt and sets it aside. His jeans are dirty but only have a minimal amount of blood on it. He looks down at his ribs and winces at the angry discoloration under the healed skin.
He scoots back, bracing his back against the wall, and flicks out his claws on one hand. Gritting his teeth, he prods around the wound, searching for the bullet, finding it between his fourth and fifth rib.
Fuck that hurts. This is gonna be worse.
He digs his claw into the skin and under it, then uses the claws on his thumb and forefinger to dig the bullet out. Panting, he tosses it on the ground with the others and bundles his dirty shirt up against the wound until he stops bleeding again. He leans his head against the wall, exhausted, and closes his eyes.
*
The sound of footsteps wakes him up. He looks down at his torso, finding himself still shirtless. His breaths no longer hurt, though. He grimaces as he peels the balled up shirt away from the healed wound. The dried blood looks gross but the skin under it is no longer angry red. He does what he can to wipe away the mess, but it’s relatively hopeless. He doesn’t bother to put the clean shirt on or even do more than look up as the door opens and a man steps in, giant werewolf taser first. He’s got an automatic rifle strapped over his shoulder and a brown paper bag in his hand. Theo takes a whiff and the guy’s tough face can’t hide his elevated heartbeat nor the satisfying scent of fear seeping from his pores. Theo can also smell the food smells coming from the bag.
“For some reason, the boss wants you healthy enough to talk.” The guy tosses the bag Theo’s feet then pulls a bottle of water out of his back pocket and tosses it at him too. “Personally, I think we should just kill you and every freak like you.”
“Well here’s the thing, I’m one of a kind.” Theo gives the hunter his brightest grin.
The guy takes a step back.
Huh. I was always told I have such a nice smile. Perhaps I should’ve put the fangs away first?
Theo leans forward and the
hunter
takes another step back. Theo just grabs the bag and looks inside it, sniffing the contents for contamination. Definitely laced with wolfsbane, but not so much that Theo’s superior resistance to it will have trouble burning it off quickly. He wonders if these idiots even know he’s a chimera.
He feigns a reluctant posture and proceeds to pull out the sandwich, acting reluctant to eat anything with wolfsbane, but less willing to starve while surrounded by enemies. He takes a bite and looks up at the other man. “You can leave me to my solitary confinement now.” He leans his head back against the wall again, chewing thoughtfully.
The hunter leaves, bolting the door behind him. Theo rolls his eyes at the lingering stink of fear permeating the room. Of course, he’s not going to attack the first person who enters his cell. His best bet at getting out of here is to let these assholes think he’s weaker than he is. So he’s going to eat their contaminated food and wait them out.
He finds a cleanish corner of the dirty shirt, wets it with water from the bottle, and cleans off his skin as best as he can. Then, he pulls the clean shirt over his head and leans back against the wall to start thinking of a plan.
*
Theo thinks he’s been in hunter custody for at least a day. At least he’s been in for two “meals”. They’ve put guards outside his cell since he woke up. Idiots. Guards get bored and talk. Theo has supernatural hearing. He heard them bragging about a hit and run that “took out two at once” and “made that other one freak out so bad he shifted in front of a whole crowd”. Apparently, they recruited a dozen more people in ten minutes. Pricks. Using people’s fears of the unknown and an innocent’s trauma to up their numbers is low. Even for Theo.
He feels almost glad for Dread Doctors’ lack of attention, the time he’d spent in the cell in the sheriff’s office, and the countless hours he’d spent alone in his truck. He’s become well acquainted with boredom in his life. Does he like it? Hell no. But he’s used to it. The poor fools who have to monitor his room probably hate every hour they have to watch him do nothing. Well, nothing on the outside. His mind is a playground where he can live out his greatest fantasies of eviscerating every hunter in the facility he’s rotting in.
Especially the hulking troglodyte who’s jolted him and cuffed him and hauled him to a small bathroom three times. He gets exactly five minutes to do his business. The fucker is a pervert who pats him down way too thoroughly to make sure he doesn’t stash anything from the bathroom in his clothes.
Damn me and my pretty face.
He’s back in his cell after being violated for the third time, sitting in his favorite spot against the wall, directly across from the door. He’s listening to the heartbeats of the guards that have been posted outside his cell since he woke up. He’s about to let them lull him into a doze when he hears two voices coming down the hallway, their tones sound aggravated but their too far away still for Theo to understand the words. One of the guards must know what it’s about because he asks the newcomers how it went.
“The old man’s intel was bullshit. We beat the hell out of Dunbar and he didn’t shift. His eyes glowed once or twice where we could see them but nobody else saw it. He had almost perfect control.”
“Yeah, then the coach came in and broke up the fight before we could finish, making us look like the bad guys. Dunbar’s still walking around and we got detention.”
Theo is glad he’s set himself up where the camera is less likely to see his reaction. He’s fully shifted in seconds, claws digging into the concrete under him. He inhales deeply to catch the scent of the two deadmen outside his door. He commits their heartbeats to memory, already anticipating the day he can silence them. They hurt Liam, he’s going to kill them.
Theo takes a slow breath and shifts back, pulling everything in except his claws. He deliberately starts making patterns in the floor with them to cover up his emotional outburst. Better they think he succumbed to boredom than the truth. His devotion to Scott’s beta is a weakness he’ll not have exploited. He’ll have to keep it in check and be more prepared to hear mentions of Liam in the future.
Liam’s not safe. Get the fuck out of here, Raeken.
*
Minutes, hours, days later, the door opens and Sasquatch immediately hits him with the souped-up cattle prod. Fucking hurts, but not totally incapacitating. Theo had survived one billion joules of electricity once. In comparison, this wasn’t so bad. Made shifting a bitch, though. Luckily for the hunter, Theo’s still biding his time; acting weaker than he actually is.
“They’ve decided they’re ready to play with you, Fido,” Caveman says in Theo’s ear. “They’ve got a couple of your friends coming in, too.”
“I don’t have any fucking friends.”
If they bring in Liam, I’ll slaughter you all.
“Whatever.”
The colossal asshole drags Theo down the hall and through a door to a room that looks like a small warehouse. Theo smells steel and gunpowder and assumes the crates are filled with weapons.
Fucking great. They have an arsenal.
At the end of the aisle is a large metal gate. A scrawny, somewhat familiar looking man stands behind the gate.
Bigfoot slams Theo against it and clubs him hard in the head with the electroshock weapon.
Alright, that one really hurt.
As Theo is recovering, he’s turned and his arms are forced between two of the diamond-shaped holes in the gate. The Big Unfriendly Giant leans against Theo’s front and his rough hands hold Theo’s together behind him as another set ties them to the gate with a thick zip tie.
When the behemoth steps back, Theo takes a deep breath. “Thank god, your breath is foul.” He’s immediately backhanded for the comment.
Worth it.
Theo takes a look around and sees the set up with the wires connecting the gate to an electric board with a remote switch. “Um, excuse me, sir, but I didn’t sign up for electroshock therapy.”
“Shut. The fuck. Up.” Mongo growls at him before turning to the weasely looking dude behind the gate. The others will be here in about five minutes. We’re leaving you with them. Old Man’s working on weapon’s training.”
Before the other guy can answer, a door to the side of the building opens and multiple footsteps head toward them. “Good, they’re early.”
Theo tries to catch a familiar scent but he doesn’t recognize any of the newcomers. He breathes a small sigh as hunters drag two teens around the corner. He can tell they’re werewolves, but they don’t belong to Scott’s pack.
Once they’re tied up beside Theo, all of the hunters leave, except the creeper who’d tied their hands together. Something about the guy rubs Theo the wrong way. More than just the fact that he’s a hunter that’s got him tied up and ready for frying.
When he picks up the remote for the electric board and says, “I’m not at all sorry to say that this is going to hurt.” Theo finally recognizes him, his voice. Schrader. The freak used to intentionally hurt Eichen patients. He’s not really surprised to see him allied with the hunters.
Schrader presses the button. Waves of electricity set every single of Theo’s nerve endings on fire. “Oh, damn. It slipped my mind. You’re not fully prepared.” Schrader says mildly, heart skipping. He walks over to three buckets of water and systematically dumps them over each of their heads. Then he presses the button again. Again and again.
What the fuck? I didn’t actually do anything this time! Why am I trussed up with these bastards if I don’t even know them?
The lights flicker until Schrader cuts off the current, pausing in front of the Asian boy.
“I'm not gonna tell you anything.” The boy pants out, fangs bared.
Schrader extends the electro-baton he’d been carrying in his remoteless hand. “I don't really have any questions.” He jabs it into the boys gut and presses the button. The boy grunts as electricity flows through him. When he lets go, the boy slumps against the gate.
Shrader looms over the tiny blonde girl next. “I don't have any questions for you either.”
“Good.” She bares her fangs at him. He shoves the baton against her ribs and she screams in agony.
“Stop!” The boy hollers at Schrader, clearly upset at seeing his packmate, maybe even girlfriend hurt. When Schrader releases the button, he growls, “Just stop.”
The girl growls as well, staring defiantly up at Schrader. “We're not afraid to die.”
Speak for yourself, bitch. I got places to be, people to kill, betas to protect and you are not him.
“Does that go for everyone here?” Schrader looks over at Theo.
“Not me.” Theo automatically replies. The sooner he’s out of here, the better. “No death. No pain. I'll tell you anything you want to know.”
Schrader pushes the baton against his ribs.
Motherfucker!
Theo grunts in pain. When Schrader stops, he shouts in Theo’s face, “I don't have any questions.”
“Okay.” Theo tries his reasonable voice. “Maybe you have some unfinished business with these two losers. But I'm not with them.” He watches Schrader pace in front of them. “I-I don't know who they are, or what they did or what their problem is. I'm not a part of it.” Schrader ignores him and instead, picks up a bucket of water and soaks them, hitting Theo square in the face. Theo pants, control on his temper slipping. “That wasn't friendly.”
Schrader walks over to a stool and sits down, holding up the remote. He leans back, crossing his legs, looking pleased with himself, his power. He brushes his thumb over the black and white power button on the remote. They all tense in anticipation. The girl beside Theo growls. He can smell the anger coming off her. He tries to catch her attention, but before he can, she hollers at Schrader, “Just do it!”
Schrader obliges. They all scream in agony.
Fuck. This.
Theo leans toward the girl. “How about you let me do the talking?” She growls back at him.
Fucking werewolves.
He turns his focus back to Schrader. “You obviously have us here for a reason.” Schrader pushes the button. More screaming. Schrader chuckles when he releases the button.
I’ll kill you myself when I get out of this.
Theo tries again. “If you, if you tell me what you want…” More electricity, more pain, more screaming. “Whoa. I'm trying to help you.” Schrader presses the button again. Theo looks over at the others. “What the hell did you two do?” Again. “All right, like, can, can you just…” Again.
The other boy tries. “Stop it. Stop it!” Again.
“Fine!” Theo screams at Schrader, ready to endure until he finds out what the hunters want. Schrader keeps the button pressed for seconds, minutes, hours. Theo can’t tell anymore.
When Schrader finally lets go, Theo takes a moment to catch his breath, then turns to the werewolves. “If we get out of this alive…” He pants, “I'm gonna kill you myself. And then I'm gonna…” A faint glow catches the corner of Theo’s eye. He glances back behind the girl and sees her zip tie burning orange.
Oh, hello there.
“So, that’s all you got?” Theo chuckles.
He looks back up at Schrader.
Time to really piss you off.
“Because I'm not impressed.” The other two whip their heads toward him, but Theo doesn’t care about them anymore. He’s found a way out. A little extra pain is worth it. “What did they do? Give you permission to shock us a little, but not do any real damage?” Schrader thumbs at the button but looks away. “They don't trust you, Schrader.” The other man looks up at him. “Yeah, that's right. I remember you.” Schrader stands up and walks toward Theo. “Weird little sadist from Eichen House. Did they fire you? Or did you get out of there before they realized you were just another psycho that should've been locked up with the other freaks?” Theo gets up into his face as best he can. Schrader is actually pretty tall. He follows the guy’s gaze to the remote in his hand. He watches as Schrader turns the red dial at the top of the remote.
That’s right, little puppet. Dance for me.
Theo grins up at him. “No, they fired you, didn't they? Did you get caught trying to stick helpless patients with needles again? Or did they catch you trying to stick them with something else?” Schrader slams his thumb on the power button. The wolves scream, Theo pulls on his bindings and continues to goad the orderly turned hunter. “Looks like…” Schrader keeps his thumb on the button and turns the dial again. “We've got…” The dial turns completely. “A winner!” Theo rips through his zip ties, releases his fangs and claws. He roars at Schrader, eyes glowing.
Theo will take time later to relish in Schrader’s shocked expression as he careens back and drops the remote, screaming. For now, he grabs Schrader’s shoulder as he turns to run and tosses him face first to the ground. Schrader flips over and Theo grabs his ankle, dragging him toward the gate.
The wolves seemed to have caught on that they could get free because they’re pushing away from the gate. “Grab him!” Theo orders them. “We’ll see how he likes being tied to the gate.”
The others hold Shrader against the gate and Theo rushes to a table with more zip ties on it. He makes quick work of tying Schrader to the gate, stringing ties together to wrap all the way around his waist and neck as well as his arms and legs.
Theo wanders over to another table. He sees a thin red-ish hoodie and picks it up, checking the size. Perfect. He slides it over his shoulders and zips it up.
“You just gonna leave him here?” The girl asks him.
“Him and you.”
“We didn't need your help anyways.” The boy says, making Theo roll his eyes.
“Come on.” The girl says to her friend. “I want to put a couple hundred miles between us and this place by dawn.”
That gets Theo’s attention. “You got a car?”
“No.” The girl picks up a set of keys from the table and holds them up. “But he does.”
Theo grabs her arm, distracted by a bunch of circles on the girl’s forearm. He absolutely recognizes the symbol. “What is that?” He lets go and she steps back.
“You've never seen a pack symbol before?” The boy asks him.
“I'm not much of a pack animal.”
Tried it once, didn’t agree with me.
“What does it mean?”
The girl answers him. “They're stacked rocks. It's a Buddhist practice.”
“You're part of Satomi's pack. The Buddhist werewolves.” As if the thought had just come to him.
“Satomi's dead. We don't have an Alpha or a pack anymore.” The boy informs him.
“Why do you care anyway?” The girl demands.
Because you have the keys that I need, and I know the True Alpha that will help you little orphan omegas.
“Oh, I don't. But you should find Scott McCall. He's got a thing for taking in strays.”
“You know Scott McCall?” The girl asks.
“Do you know where he is?” The boy follows up immediately.
Too easy.
Theo settles back, folding his hands in front of him. Then, he looks at the keys in the girl’s hand, then holds his hand out. “I might.” He smirks.
The girl knows she’s been played but she hands the keys to him anyway.
Werewolves. The call of an alpha and pack is just too much.
Theo turns and is about to walk out the door when he spots the remote one of the others must have picked up and set on the table.
Oh, right. Poetic justice.
The other two pause with him and follow his gaze to Schrader. Theo picks up the remote and slams it power button down on the table. Theo pulls his hood up and grabs another jacket he spots on the way out, slipping it over the hoodie. They leave the warehouse to the musical sounds of their tormentor’s screams.
Huh. So justified murder does feel different than killing for ambition. I feel no shame at all.
They walk onto the parking lot and Theo presses the unlock button on the key fob attached to the keyring. An older looking cars’ lights blink and it makes a short beeping noise.
“There it is.” Theo takes a closer look at the car.
The weird little sadist drove a fucking Gremlin? Why am I not even surprised?
Before they can even reach the car, the Sheriff pulls up in a county truck, lights flashing.
Do I have a tracking chip or something?
“Don't move. And let me do the talking. Only me.” He turns to look at the other two.
Stilinski immediately walks up to him. “Theo.”
“Sheriff. What seems to be the problem here?”
“Isn't that usually my line?” Another county truck pulls up behind the wolves
“Just letting you know we don't have a problem.”
“Unfortunately, I think you do. Hands above your head. All of you.”
“You're arresting us? For what?” Theo looks back to see the others already raising their arms.
“Murder.”
What the fuck? I haven’t killed anyone in months.
Dude, you literally just fried Shrader.
Shut up, inner voice that sounds disturbingly like Liam. There’s no way Stilinski knows about that yet.
“Theo Raeken, Jiang Lin, Tierney Basset, you are all under arrest for murder. Anything you say can and will be used against you…”
Should’ve killed those two when I had the chance.
*
The sound of the cell door closing behind him is almost enough to drive him mad. For months he’d kept his head down and nose clean. He’d stayed out of everyone’s way and mostly stayed in town, as ordered. For once, he actually doesn’t deserve to be here. And yet here he is, locked up
again.
He hates this town. He hates Stilinski. He hates the two losers behind him. And he hates this motherfucking cell.
He watches the deputy who’d booked them walk off and stares at the locked cell door for a solid five minutes, memories bombarding him. Finally, he snaps and wraps his hands around the bars of the cell. “I had nothing to do with any of this. Hello? Come on!” He hollers to the deputies he can see through the window. They ignore him.
He turns to his cellmates and sees Tierney laying on top of and Jiang sitting in front of the bench across from him. “Who did you kill? Was it you?” He asks the girl first. “You? Both of you? Who's the murderer?” Tierney stares defiantly at him, Jiang won’t look at him at all.
New approach, then.
“All right, I get it. The longer you stay quiet, the better. Right?” Jiang is starting to crack, his breathing is getting heavy, he’s clutching his hands, and he closes his eyes as if to tune out Theo’s voice.
Sorry buddy, but I’m not staying for something I didn’t do.
Theo squats down in front of Jiang to look him in the eye. “But you're here for murder.” Tierney places a hand on Jiang’s shoulder. “And they're keeping me here, too. But you're the murderers.”
You say that like they didn’t just see you kill Schrader.
Shut up. Not the point.
“We're not murderers.”
Sure, dude, neither am I.
“Jiang…” Tierney says in warning.
Jiang doesn’t heed it and keeps talking. “If you'd been there you'd know we didn't have a choice.” Tierney sits up to stare down at her partner. “They came after us.”
“Jiang, shut up,” Tierney says more firmly. But it’s already to way.
Theo grins up at them. Judging by Tierney’s face, she knows they’ve blown it.
Damn, I’m good.
He looks up at the cell room’s camera. “We good?”
He folds his hands in front of him as he watches Parrish come to the cell door and swipe the keycard, letting him out. He spares the duo a sideways glance and walks past the hellhound. Suddenly, the sound of the cell door closing isn’t so bad.
As he walks toward the front desk, he catches a scent that sets his blood on fire.
Liam. He’s here.
He glances toward the Sheriff’s office and sees Liam, Lydia, Malia, and Scott through the blinds, standing around his desk. He tunes his ears in to hear Malia accusing one of the deputies working with Gerard. Theo looks around at all of the people in uniform as Stilinski immediately refuses the suggestion, saying he knows who they are and he trusts them.
Please let that asshole be right for once.
Theo’s ears perk up at the sound of Liam’s voice. “You know who they were. There's something out there.”
Do what now?
“Everyone's afraid. And it's getting worse.”
“Yeah,” Scott agrees with his beta. “You can't protect two werewolves from hunters if they're already on the inside.”
“It's Quinn, right?” Stilinksi asks someone where Theo can’t see. Liam turns around to look at them.
Ugh, that shirt is killing me.
“You're sure it was a deputy who shot you? Absolutely, one hundred percent sure?
Before Theo can hear an answer, Parrish catches his attention. “Catch!” Theo reaches out to grab the object out of the air. He looks down to see his keys in his hand. “Deaton reported your truck abandoned and shot up outside the clinic. We had it towed into impound. Your windows definitely need to be replaced and the upholstery, but the rest of the body looks alright from what I saw.”
Theo’s still staring at his keys, wrestling control over his breathing and heartbeat to hide how messed up he is about this. He’s glad he knows where his truck is, but he’s not really prepared to see it in its current condition.
Parrish pulls a clipboard out from behind the counter and sets it down, prompting Theo to pocket his keys. “Sign it and you’re free to go.”
Maybe I’ll stick around to check up on Little Wolf.
Theo grabs the pen and starts to sign the release papers when his ears pick up the sound of multiple cars pulling into the parking lot and surrounding the building. His coyote immediately going on alert at being cornered. “Do you hear that?” He asks the deputy.
Parrish cocks his head and listens. Floodlights suddenly light up outside the station. Parrish rushes toward the bullpen. Theo follows but stops inside the doorway when he sees the pack members spilling out of the Sheriff’s office. Parrish and Stilinski have a short conversation about who’s outside.
Hunters, duh.
The Sheriff unholsters his pistol and sets it on a desk.
Idiot.
Then, he walks out with his hands up.
Dumbass.
The deputies watch their superior through the windows of the bullpen. Parrish tells another deputy to keep his weapon holstered. The guy does so reluctantly. The entire station is starting to reek of fear.
The pack watches Stilinski through the blinds in his office.
Malia steps away from the window. “We have to get out of here.” He voice sounds panicked and Theo knows her coyote is feeling as anxious as his own.
“Give him a chance,” Scott says. “He knows what he's doing.”
“I am giving him a chance. He can talk all he wants, but we have to get the hell out of here.”
“How do we get Jiang and Tierney out?” Liam asks.
Why do you care?
“Screw them. It's Stilinski's job.”
For once, I agree with Malia.
“But it's our job to keep them alive,” Scott tells her.
Absolutely not.
Theo’s had enough of this conversation, already. He barges into the office. “Not mine.”
I’m done with those delinquents.
Liam surges forward. “Do you want me to kill him?”
Missed you, too, Little Wolf.
Malia stops him. “No, just leave him.”
Woah. Mark a calendar or something.
“Can we please, just go?”
“We're not going anywhere.” A girl who must be Quinn says. “Don't you get it? We're trapped. They have all of the windows and doors covered. We're going to die in here.”
What a ray of sunshine.
“Does someone want to kill her?” Theo suggests.
“Shut up!” Malia screams in his face.
Just a polite suggestion. Jeez.
“Malia, hey.” Scott pulls her back a little. “Take a breath. You're shaking.”
“I'm fine.” She doesn’t sound fine. The usually fearless werecoyote sounds totally shaken.
“Guys,” Lydia marches toward Scott. “There's only a dozen of them out there. We can take them.”
“Scott, they're the last of Satomi's pack,” Liam says to him. “We can't leave them behind.”
Oh my god, who cares, Liam? For once just save yourself!
Scott looks around at his pack members. Liam looks stubborn and Lydia nods at him. He grabs Malia’s arms and says assuredly, “Okay. We go.” He looks at Liam. “But Jiang and Tierney are coming with us.”
Fucking really?
Liam grabs a keycard off of Stilinski’s desk and rushes into the cellblock. Theo hears the telltale beep of the lock releasing and door opening. “We're getting you out of here.” One set of footsteps sound as Liam runs back toward the front. They stop when he must realize he’s not being followed. He runs back in. “What are you doing? Come on.”
“We can hear them out there. A lot of heartbeats.” Tierney says.
“And guns,” Jiang adds.
“You want to be locked in a cell if they get in here, or do you want to come with me?” Apparently, they want to go with him because this time they follow.
All of the wolves, plus one banshee, one coyote, and one Theo, walk toward the front entrance.
“You ready?” Scott asks Lydia. She nods. He looks around at the others in question. Malia growls and Liam releases his claws. Scott shoots a wary look at Theo.
What?
Liam looks at him expectantly.
Oh my god. Fight for the pack once or twice and suddenly they expect you to fight with them every time.
Theo flicks out his own claws.
Fine! Not like I wouldn’t leave Liam to fight for himself anyway, but at least I could have pretended I’m not entirely hopeless.
As they turn towards the door, Stilinski’s voice booms behind them. “Nobody's going anywhere.”
“I can get through them.” Lydia insists.
“We're not gonna fire the first shot.”
How noble.
“Now, get back from the door. All of you. Parrish, get these two back in their cell.” He gestures to Jiang and Tierney.
As the hellhound ushers they back towards the cells, Scott pushes toward the Sheriff. “What happened?”
“She gave us till midnight.” Stilinski sighs.
Cool, cool. So instead of the horses turning back into mice, all of the animals get shot. I hate this town.
*
Theo helps the pack upturn desks and push them up against the doors while the deputies start preparing weapons and ammunition.
He watches as Stilinski walks over to Parrish. “We're gonna need help eventually,” Parrish says.
“Any help we call is gonna risk exposing Scott and the others.” The Sheriff counters.
“If they see actual werewolves, they're not gonna be able to tell the good guys from the bad.”
“If Quinn's right about one of our deputies, I'm not sure we're gonna be able to tell either.”
Suddenly, the lights go out and a wave of fear shudders through the room sending a shiver down Theo’s spine. One deputy starts towards the window.
“Morrow.” Stilinski tries to get her attention. “Morrow! Get away from the window.” Morrow snaps out of it and steps to the side.
“How easy is it to cut the power in a sheriff's station?” Malia asks.
“Too easy.” A deputy says, tossing a boy onto the floor and holding a set of bolt cutters. Theo breathes in his scent and his fangs automatically release and he curls his fingers around his claws. He’s sure his eyes flashed briefly.
Oh, little hunter. You shouldn’t have come.
“Throw him out.” Liam immediately says, his heartbeat spiking in anger.
“No, you can't. Okay? Please don't. She'll know I screwed up.” The boy looks up at them, terrified.
“He's with them.” Liam insists.
“Liam,” Scott warns.
Parrish pipes up. “Sheriff?”
Theo steps up behind Liam. He’s going to support whatever the beta wants. “He's a liar and he's sick in the head.” Liam stares the other boy down.
“And now he's under arrest,” Stilinski says. “Lock him up.”
Theo feels like his skin is on too tight. His head is buzzing with the information that there is some kind of fear creature out there causing the townspeople to take up arms against supernaturals. He wants to run. He wants to find a safe, quiet place to hide in until it all blows over. He wants to walk out, claws and fangs bared, and slaughter every person out there who dares to threaten the only person he cares about. He’s working overtime to keep his chemosignals under control. The stench of fear permeating the room has all of the supernaturals on edge. Even Lydia is tense, he heart beating too fast. Theo knows a banshee bracing herself for death when he sees one.
Well, it’s not going to be Liam and it’s not going to be me. I guess I don’t want any of the pack to bite it either, between us and them, I’m picking us.
Everyone is discussing the next course of action, trying to find a way to make this Monroe bitch back off without a shootout or handing over Jiang and Tierney. Theo’s had enough. He can’t to sit here and do nothing. He doesn’t care about those two. If he can’t run and he can’t kill that hunter that hurt Liam, then he’s just going to have to convince someone to just give up the goods. Malia is already ready to get rid of them and he knows Scott absolutely won’t agree without a unanimous decision, and even then, it’ll take a lot of persuasion. Theo decides to try to convince Liam first.
Liam is situated behind the discussion looking pissed, but not contributing. Theo walks up beside him. “Come with me, I need to talk to you.” He grabs Liam’s arm and pulls him towards the men’s room.
Once inside the door, he pushes Liam ahead of him, then gets in his face. “Monroe's not gonna stop. Nothing we say is gonna make them get in their cars and drive away. Those two losers killed hunters.”
“Who killed their pack.” Liam immediately counters.
“So what? I mean, Monroe's gonna tear through anything standing between her and them. That means you, Lydia, Malia and Scott. You gonna watch your friends die?”
I’ll use whoever I’ve gotta to get you out of here alive.
“Are you gonna watch hunters murder them?”
I really don’t care.
“Jiang and Tierney weren't the only ones that were part of Satomi's pack.”
Theo takes a step back and a memory of an overheard conversation runs through his head. “Took out two at once, couple of those Buddhist ones” “Yeah, right. The hit-and-run. Sorry if I'm not losing sleep over some random road-kill.”
“They were murdered. Brett and Lori. They didn't have anything to do with this.” Theo is feeling more frustrated by the second. He’d forgotten Liam was friends with Brett and his sister. His hopes for convincing Liam are diminishing and it’s pissing him off.
“So what? You think saving those two is gonna make everything feel better?” Liam takes a step back, jaw tensing. “Your dead friends are dead and they're gonna stay dead no matter what you do-” Liam rears back and punches Theo in the nose so hard, he slams into the wall behind him and slides down to the floor, cradling the broken cartilage.
Ow. I should’ve seen that coming.
Liam steps over him and out the door. “By the way, I'm still working on my anger.”
Theo holds up a hand and gasps out, “Good to know.”
Alright, I deserved that. Maybe try a little empathy next time, Raeken.
Theo gets up off the floor and looks in the mirror. He grits his teeth and straightens out his nose so it can heal straight. As he’s cleaning the blood off his face he hears Parrish yell, “Everyone, get down!” Then an explosion sounds and a bright light shines under the bathroom door.
LIAM!
Theo rushes out of the bathroom, toward the lobby, and into a cloud of smoke.
“What the hell was that?” Malia asks as Theo steps through the door to see everyone getting up.
“A distraction,” Scott answers, seeing everyone alive and unharmed. It was only a flash bomb.
“They said midnight!” Stilinski growls and storms toward the windows.
Parrish stops him short. “The grenade came from in here. It was one of us.”
Liam drags the hunter in from the direction of the cells. He holds a vial of purple liquid up to Scott. “Wolfsbane. He was trying to kill them.”
Well, now we know what the distraction is for. Should’ve listened to Liam when he told you to throw him back out.
“Scott, there's something else you need to see.”
That piques Theo’s interest. He watches as Liam hands the hunter over to Parrish. “Follow me.” Theo knows that it’s directed toward the Alpha, but he follows anyway. Liam leads them toward the cells. Theo stops and watches through the observation window.
Liam marches up toward the cell where Jiang and Tierney are sitting on the bench, holding hands and demands, “Show him your eyes.”
Tierney doesn’t look up as she says softly, “We never said we were innocent.”
“Show me,” Scott demands, equally as soft. When they don’t respond, he roared at them, flashing his alpha red eyes. “Show me!” Subtle, Scott. It’s not like there aren’t any jumpy deputies with guns all throughout the building.
The omegas are unable to resist a direct command from an Alpha. They turn to look at Scott, eyes glowing a condemning electric blue.
Huh. Didn’t think the Jiang kid actually had it in him.
Scott sighs and leans his head against the bars.
Scott has Liam grab a keycard. On his way back, he spares a glare in Theo’s direction before walking back in and handing it to Scott.
Scott unlocks the cell door and walks in, followed by Liam. “Tell me what happened.”
“They were hunters,” Tierney tells him.
“If I'm asking my friends to risk their lives for you, then you have to tell me the truth. What happened?”
Jiang starts. “Satomi didn't want to fight. We were on the run for two days, but they were everywhere. Then it was just us hiding in the storm drain while Satomi tried to talk to them.
“But they didn't want to talk.” Tierney continues. “She died so we could keep running.”
“And then what?” Liam asks her.
“We stopped running and we started hunting them instead.”
Scott asks, “How?”
“It's not hard to use public records to find where someone lives. All you need is a name.”
“Were they the ones that killed Satomi? Or Brett and Lori? Did you see them kill anyone?”
“Does it matter?”
“It does matter.: Liam steps forward to back up his Alpha. “You can't kill innocent people.”
Like Alpha, like beta.
“They murdered our whole pack. You really think any of them are more innocent than us?” Tierney challenges.
Scott’s wearing his conflicted face.
“What are you gonna do?” Jiang wants to know.
Scott just looks at him. “I don't know.”
How about we hand them over and get the fuck outta dodge?
Scott leaves them in a cell and goes to talk to Stilinski. Theo follows Liam out to the lobby but hangs back away from everyone, content to just keep an eye on Liam.
One of the windows shatters and a crossbow bolt slams into a wall. Malia pries it out and then pulls off a scrap of fabric impaled on the shaft.
Liam rips it out of her hands and unfolds it. His heart jumps. “This is Brett's number.”
Those complete assholes.
“They're trying to rattle us,” Lydia says, looking at Liam.
Theo’s watching him, too. His heartbeat is rising and anger rolls off of him in waves. “It's working.”
Liam looks up at him, eyes glowing gold.
Before anyone can say anything else, a scream sounds from the room the hunter is in. The Sheriff and Parrish rush in. Theo stays to keep an eye on Liam, but tunes into whatever is being said in the next room.
“I... I didn't do anything.” The hunter stammers. “I... I didn't even say anything. He just got up and started putting the wire around his neck.”
What?
“Get him down.”
Someone literally hung themselves?
Theo can hear the heartbeat and breathing of the deputy who found the hanged man rising. “Fifteen minutes.” She whimpers. “They're coming to kill us in minutes. They're coming to kill us and no one's gonna help us.”
Well, that’s the spirit.
“We're all dead.”
Uh, ok but seriously, is someone going to at least say something encouraging?
“We're already dead.”
“Deputy.”Stilinski hollers. The woman sobs. “Morrow. Morrow!”
“We're already dead.” She says one more time. Then a gunshot sounds.
Shit! Fuck, FUCK! Did she just-
He peers into the room behind everyone and sees the deputy slumped against a surveillance monitor. There are blood splatter and brain matter on the wall above her head.
What the actual fuck is going on?
Parrish and Stilinski finish pulling down the first deputy who’d committed suicide. Then, the Sheriff unlocks the handcuffs around the hunter’s wrist. “Let’s get you somewhere… not here.”
Liam steps forward. “I’ll take him off your hands.” Stilinski eyeballs him. He huffs. “I’m not going to kill him.”
Why the fuck not?
Stilinski hands the hunter over and Liam drags him toward the cells. He pulls the keycard out of his pocket and nods for the wolves to get out. Once they’ve cleared out, he tosses the hunter in.
“What are you doing?” He asks Liam.
“I'm saving your life, dumbass.”
Yeah, but why???
Liam slams the cell door and marches past Jiang and Tierney. “Keep your head down.” They follow him out.
“That wasn't just panic,” Lydia says, staring down at the dead deputies, her breathing heavy. “It's in here with us.”
“What do you mean?” Stilinski asks.
Excellent question.
“Whatever's causing the fear. The same thing that drove the wolves to kill each other.” She sucks in a breath and turns to look at the Sheriff. “It's here with us.”
“Guys,” Scott gets their attention. “It's almost midnight. We're out of time.”
“I've already got two bodies.” Stilinski declares. “I'm not giving Monroe two more.”
Scott looks up at Theo. “You came in with them right?”
Theo’s startled at being addressed directly, first. “Yeah.”
Scott nods for him to follow. “Did the hunters have you first?”
Theo nods in confirmation and follows Scott to the lobby. “I watched two guys bring them in and tie them up.”
“Okay, but how long did they actually have Tierney and Jiang?”
“A couple hours, maybe.”
“Did Monroe talk to them?”
“No. I don't think so. Just that guy from Eichen, maybe one or two other guys with shotguns. I think they were waiting for Monroe to do the real interrogating.”
“So she might not have seen them.”
“What are you getting at, Scott?” The Sheriff asks.
Scott sighs. “I got an idea. I don't think you're gonna like it.”
“If it keeps someone from getting killed, I'm pretty open.”
Monroe said that she wanted Jiang and Tierney brought out.” Scott looks at Theo. “Dead or alive.”
Wait, what?
Everyone listens as Scott tells them his plan to take the dead deputies gear off and put them in body bags to deliver to Monroe. “I know it’s got a lot of holes and it won’t work long term. But it should buy us some time to get Jiang and Tierney out of here. I’m open to any better ideas.”
Nobody counters, but Stilinski adds, “I’ll shoot off a couple of rounds so we can say they tried to run and take some deputies, so we killed them.”
“Right, good thinking.” Scott turns to Theo. “I’m going to ask you to come out with me. You’ll be able to recognize if any of them were the ones who brought Jiang and Tierney in, right?”
Theo’s eyes flick to Liam to see him watching him, face inscrutable. “Yeah, no problem.”
They get the deputies in the bags and the Sheriff fires three rounds into the ceiling. “Five minutes.” He tells Theo and Scott. They finish zipping the bags up and hoist them over their shoulders. They follow Stilinski out the door and set the bags down in front of Monroe like sacrifices offered to a demon.
As they’re straightening out the bags, Theo can hear Malia ask, “Anyone think this is gonna work? I'll stop asking.”
Yes. Please stop.
Scott makes a questioning face at Theo. Theo shakes his head. He doesn’t recognize any of the hunters here.
“They tried to run. And tried to take a couple of deputies with them.” Stilinski says to Monroe. “Either way. You got what you wanted.”
“Let me see their faces.”
Shit.
Theo and Scott unzip the bags just enough to show Monroe the deputies’ faces. She steps forward, staring down at them.
“What's wrong?” Scott asks. “You don't recognize them?”
“Show me their tattoos.”
Fuck.
Scott, bless his oblivious soul, doesn’t even have to play dumb. “What tattoos?”
“The pack symbol.”
Damnit, we didn’t even have time to change their uniforms let alone draw fake tattoos!
Theo locks eyes with Scott. “I was hoping for a fight.”
Stilinski makes a move to unholster his weapon when a voice sounds from behind the line of hunters. “Good thing you're not the only ones who can negotiate.”
“Dad?”
Dad?
“What are you doing here?”
“Making sure no one else dies tonight.” Rafe McCall replies, in all his FBI glory.
*
The deal had been made. Jiang and Tierney would go with the FBI and the supernaturals would leave town. Total bullshit but at least everyone important lives. Everyone files into the Sheriff’s office and settles in. Agent McCall shuts the door.
“Scott, are you sure about this?” Lydia asks.
“I'm not.” Pipes up from the seat behind her. “This deal sucks.”
“But it's the only one on the table.” McCall maintains. “In a situation like this, the best solution is always to de-escalate. It's why you called me, isn't it?”
“To be honest, I didn't think anyone was gonna show up,” Stilinski tells him.
Theo runs his fingers through his hair.
First I can’t leave town, now I’m being run out?
“Okay.” Theo’s head snaps up at Scott’s words. “We'll go.” Scott does nothing to try to hide the skip in his heartbeat.
Hell. Yes.
Stilinski and Parrish lead the teenagers out the front doors of the Sheriff’s station. The hunter, Nolan, slides past them and sidles up next to a tall boy who shakes his head. Theo doesn’t recognize him.
I know that heartbeat, though.
The other dead man. McCall leads Jiang and Tierney to an FBI transport van.
Tierney looks back and mouths, “Thank you.” to Scott.
Theo looks at Liam.
Hope you’re happy, Little Wolf, but we’re going to fight back, now. I’m not letting you out of my sight.
Liam glances back at him before returning his attention ahead.
Tierney climbs in the van and McCall closes the door. He taps the side twice, sending the van on it’s way. He turns to Monroe. “I’ll make sure my son and his friends get out of here ASAP.”
“Excellent idea, Agent McCall.” She turns to the man beside her. “Let’s get back to the warehouse.” The hunters pack up and leave as fast as they came. Theo doesn’t trust it one bit.
“Raeken.” Parish gets his attention. “You’ve still gotta sign your release papers.”
“Right.” He follows the hellhound into the station. “Are you coming with us?”
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m needed here and I have to figure out which deputy is on Monroe’s side. If there are any more of them.” Parrish answers quietly.
“Scott,” Liam says behind Theo as he signs his papers. “Can you call Corey? Nolan knows about him. I’m going to call my parents and tell them we need to go on vacation or something.”
“Sure. I’ll have him meet us at the clinic so we can all coordinate where we’re going.” Scott assures him and pulls out his phone.
While they make their calls, Theo pulls out his keys and stares down at them. He’s still gotta do something about his truck.
“You better not be thinking about running.” Liam hisses at him.
Theo just lifts his eyes to peer at him from under his lashes. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Sweetheart.”
Liam clenches his jaw and shifts his feet.
Well, that’s interesting.
Before he can respond, though, Scott leans in. “Theo, you can take Liam to his house to pack and then bring him to the clinic. That way I’ll know you both get there.” He sends Theo a meaningful look.
Jesus. Everyone really does know.
Theo rolls his eyes. “Yeah, fine. Whatever.” He grips his keys and gestures to Parrish. “Lead the way, if you would, deputy.”
Parrish takes them to a door at the back of the station. He opens it and points toward a fenced in lot. “Take this card,” He hands Theo a keycard. “It’ll open the gate. Return it on your way back through.”
“Thanks.”
The boys make their way to the lot and through the gate. There’s only one big blue truck in the lot, second row from the back. All Theo can see from where he’s standing is the rear window, which seems to be intact. They jog to it and Theo braces himself for the damage.
He was not prepared. When they reach the truck, he has to bite back a whine. Somehow, the back glass is untouched, as well as his rear driver’s side window. All of the others have jagged bullet holes in them or are busted out completely. “Those sons of b-” Theo freezes. He scents the air and snarls.
“What is it?” Liam asks.
“One of those fuckers pissed on my goddamned tire!”
Liam coughs and Theo turns to glare at him. He’s got a fist to his mouth and his pretty blue eyes are comically wide.
You little shit.
“Don’t you dare.”
Liam looks up and his shoulders shake a couple of times before he clears his throat. He takes a deep breath and says, “Wouldn’t dream of it.” He looks over the damaged truck. “Seriously, though. This really sucks, man. I’m sorry.”
“Wasn’t you who shot up me and my truck before kidnapping me and throwing me in a hole. But thanks.” Theo walks around the truck to assess the rest of the damage. Not many bullet holes in the doors themselves. None in the hood or bed. They’d mostly shot his windows and seats and him.
I can work with this.
They brush as much glass out of the seats as they can and get in the truck. It starts right up when Theo turns the key.
After returning the keycard to Parrish, the ride to Liam’s is uneventful. The beta stares out the window, his slicked back hair getting messed up in the wind. The stop at his house only takes about ten minutes. His parents are packing for an extended stay at his mom’s sister’s house in Sacramento. Liam assures them that he’s going to be fine and that the pack will get through this as they got through everything else. Liam’s mom, Jenna, even comes out to meet Theo and cluck at the condition of his truck before ruffling hair and asking him to take care of himself and her baby. Theo is absolutely baffled by the woman.
He takes a couple of minutes to pull out his duffle bag from under his back seat and dig through it, making sure everything is there. It is. His pillow and blanket are also still under the seat. He’s going to have to empty cache to pay for his truck, though.
On their way to the clinic, Liam asks, “Aren’t we going to stop by your place?”
He doesn’t know?
“I’ve already got a bag packed in the back seat.”
Liam looks back and sees it. “I don’t remember seeing that before.”
Theo just shrugs. If Liam doesn’t know, he’s not going to tell him.
They’re the last ones to arrive at the clinic. They set down their bags and Scott sighs. “Alright. It’s been a really hard night for all of us. I think we should try to get some sleep and we can start working out a plan in the morning.”
Everyone agrees and Scott opens a cabinet full of blankets and pillows. “These pretty much have a permanent dog smell, but they’re clean.”
Theo grabs a couple of blankets and a pillow and settles against the wall under the windows. Scott, Malia, and Lydia lay down in the back of the room.
“I call top bunk!” Corey whisper-shouts before laying a blanket over the examination table.
Liam frowns at the table and the shelf under it. He shrugs and lays a blanket and pillow down over the metal, then crawls under the table and burritos himself in his other blanket. Theo can’t help but grin.
Liam makes a face at him before closing his eyes.
Goodnight, Little Wolf.
*
After everyone wakes up, Corey tells them that Deaton had figured out what the creature is, but it would be better if Mason explained it. Scott agrees and sends Corey out to get him. They start discussing what needs to be done while waiting for Corey to get back.
They’ve got the beginning of a plan by the time Corey walks back through the door. “He’s right behind me.” He turns in the doorway to wait for his boyfriend to arrive. Theo settles back against the wall.
Not even five minutes later, Mason bursts through the front door. “You told me you were leaving.”
“I had to.” Corey defends himself.
Mason pushes him. “You lied.”
“We all did,” Liam says, catching Mason’s attention.
Mason comes to the doorway to see the pack and Theo standing around the examination room. “So this was the plan all along?”
Scott nods. “Sorry, Mason. My dad had to believe we left Beacon Hills. Everyone has to believe it.”
“Then what happens next?” Mason asks, hopeful. “We fight back now, right?”
“What did you think we were gonna do?” Scott asks. Theo looks up at the boy. “Run?”
Not a chance.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Theo leans back against the wall, listening to Mason and Corey explain to the pack what the latest creature is. Some kind of fear monster called an Anuk-Ite. Whatever the fuck
that
is. Its purpose is to generate fear and chaos until the natives kill themselves off and it moves on. Or whatever. Apparently, there was a wolf pack that tore itself apart because of this thing. All Theo cares about is whether or not they could kill the damn thing. Which no one knows how to do. Great.
Oh, and there are two halves running around, so double the fun!
“From what I’ve read,” Mason is telling everyone. “The rats are some kind of omen and the spiders are its… I dunno, minions? Drones? It uses the spiders to steal the flesh and face of another and to seek targets, I guess.”
“Spiders?” Theo stands up straight. “It was this Anuk-whatever that sent the goddamned spider?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Malia demands.
“Not ten minutes before I was kidnapped by hunters, a spider crawled
into
my hand. As in under the skin. Crawled up my arm and down my back. I broke in here and used a scalpel to stab the fucking thing out of my back. It wiggled around a second and then POOF turned to dust.”
“Oh,” Malia muses. “Well, at least now you know how it feels to be stabbed in the back by Theo Raeken.”
Theo narrows his eyes at her and opens his mouth to reply.
Scott interrupts his retort. “Now is really not the time, guys. Fighting amongst ourselves is literally the exact opposite of what we need to be doing right now. And like it or not,” He looks around the room. “Theo is with us. He’s not any safer out there than we are and we can really use the numbers.”
I’m with Liam, but okay.
“Scott’s right. You don’t have to like me to work with me. I’m not the problem. That thing and the hunters its creating are. If we can’t get to the Anuk-Ite thing, then we should focus on the hunters until we come up with something.”
“Right. Argent says Gerard is supplying the hunters with weapons from his warehouse. If we could somehow disarm them, it would buy us some time to deal with the Anuk-Ite.”
“What do you want us to do? Blow up the warehouse?” Mason asks.
“As tempting as that sounds,” Lydia nods at him. “There’s always going to be people in there and killing people is what we don’t do, remember?”
“So, get the people out.” Liam shrugs.
“Excellent idea.” Theo rolls his eyes. “How?”
“We’re not going to blow up the warehouse.” Scott holds his hands up. “But getting the people out so we can disarm them really is an excellent idea. With Argent’s help, we could find our way around so that we could steal at least a huge chunk of their arsenal. But… how?”
“Uh, divide and conquer?” Corey suggests. “We split into two teams, one to lure the hunters away and one to steal the guns.”
“That’s actually not what that means. What Gerard and Monroe are doing, turning the townspeople against us is more of what ‘divide and conquer’ means, but that is a good suggestion.” Liam points at Corey, making the other boy smile. “It’s a good place to start.”
“Since we’re, you know, stealing,” Lydia muses. “We’re wanting more sleight of hand, diversion tactics. Deception on a grand scale.” She raises an eyebrow pointedly at Theo.
Theo glances between Lydia and Liam then the rest of the pack who are all now staring at him expectantly. “What?”
“You’re the schemer. Start scheming.” Mason gestures toward him.
“Seriously? You expect me to just pull a brilliant idea out of my ass?” Everyone stares at him blankly.
“If I remember correctly, and I do,” Malia curls her lip at him. “y
ou
were the one who almost tore this entire pack apart.
You
were the one who set disaster after disaster in motion so that you could manipulate us into distrusting each other. If anyone can get the hunters to look in one direction while we’re robbing them blind in the other, it’s you.”
“Gosh, Malia,” Theo brings a hand to his chest. “I didn’t know you thought so highly of me.”
The coyote snarls at him.
Scott shifts a shoulder in front of her. “Theo…”
Theo sighs. “You guys realize that plan took months and months to think out
with
the Dread Doctor’s unlimited resources and then it didn’t even work in the end. I got nothing that I wanted, remember? Half of you were there when I got pulled under.”
“The big plan didn’t work, but the small ones did. Or at least they did enough.” Liam mutters, staring at his hands, curling his fingers into his palms. Theo can smell the guilt pouring off the beta and he remembers convincing the other boy that the only way to save Hayden was to kill Scott and take his power.
That wasn’t on you, Little Wolf.
Theo can’t stand to see Liam beating himself up because he was a manipulative, power-hungry prick. “Alright. Alright. Corey’s idea is solid. Two teams. One to distract the hunters and one to disarm them.” He looks up at Lydia to see her slight smirk. He resists the urge to roll his eyes. “We know what they want, to kill us, but as far as they know, we’ve left town. How do we lure them away from here? Where do we take them while the other team is breaking into the warehouse?”
“Why did you go after Stiles the hardest?” Lydia asks him.
“He was the only human. I thought that made him weaker, easier to manipulate. The-” Theo clears his throat. “The nogitsune got to him, after all. I didn’t count on him being so… Stiles. I stayed on him because he ended up being the biggest threat.” He shrugs.
Lydia huffs out a short breath. “And next on your list?”
“Why does this matter?”
“Trying to help you remember how to plan a heist. Except this time you’re not out to steal power. Just firepower. Who was next?”
The wall suddenly becomes very interesting. “Malia.” The coyote growled. “She wasn’t dating the alpha nor was she his own bitten beta. Her main connection to the pack was Stiles. Plus, there was my own coyote to trick her into trusting in me.”
“So, you went after them because you considered them the weakest links. In strength and ties.”
“Yes.”
“So, who is the weakest link with the hunters?”
“That Nolan kid,” Theo responds automatically.
“Hmm.” Her face turns thoughtful. “I think you’re right. He seemed pretty freaked out that he didn’t get to complete his mission.”
“Of course I’m-”
This bitch. And they call me manipulative.
“So, Nolan. What do we have on him.”
“He needs to prove himself now that he failed once,” Liam starts. “So, maybe we can make him believe he’s getting an opportunity to take some initiative. Prove he’s on their side.” He narrows his eyes in thought. “How much do you want to bet that Gerard, and therefore the rest of the hunters don’t believe we actually left?”
“There’s no way he thinks I gave up,” Scott scoffs. “The packing was for my dad’s benefit.”
“So what if Nolan thinks he’s found a way to find us? To lead everyone to us?”
“What do you have in mind?” Theo asks him, intrigued by the wheels obviously turning in Liam’s head.
Liam turns to Mason. “Do you share your free period with him?”
“No, but I know what class he has then.”
Next, he turns to Lydia. “How do you feel about Mason driving your car?”
“Why?”
“One, because it’s
your
car. The Banshee. Two, it’s bright blue. Easy to follow.”
“Fine, I’ll think about it. Your thoughts, however, are not easy to follow. What’s going on up there, kid?”
“Mason is dating a pack member. There’s no way Nolan will believe that he’s been completely left behind. I mean…” The beta gestures toward Mason standing in the room with everyone to accentuate his point. “So he goes to school and on his free period, happens to walk past Nolan’s classroom with a bunch of blankets.” Liam gestures toward the pile in the corner of the room. “Nolan is desperate. He’s gonna want to see what Mason’s doing with all of those blankets. And when he watches Mason stuff them into
your
trunk with a ton of other blankets and groceries, he’s going to assume that Mason is still helping us by bringing us supplies. He follows the bright blue car to wherever Team A is going to be for the distraction and calls the troops to take on the pack. Team B breaks into the warehouse when backup leaves to answer the call.”
“Intense.” Mason nods.
Indeed. As if I wasn’t already hopelessly devoted. Damn.
“Alright, look at you using your own scheming brain.” Lydia also nods in approval. “So where are we going to send Team A?”
“Somewhere where with a lot of hiding places so it’s plausible that we’re all there, just out of sight.” Theo muses. “Preferably with some high ground so we can observe their movements. Somewhere out of town but close enough that we obviously plan to go back into town at the first chance. Obviously, someplace that’s secluded and offers some form of shelter. Any ideas?”
“The zoo!” Liam exclaims excitedly, grinning at Theo. Theo
really
hopes he’s too excited to notice how his heart skipped. Malia’s quiet snort behind Liam indicates that it doesn’t go completely unnoticed. As does Scott’s gentle elbow in her ribs.
Great.
“The abandoned zoo between here and Stillwater Bluff. Nobody should be there in the middle of the day. Kids from Devenford go there on weekend nights sometimes to party and graffiti the place but it’s bound to be empty on a school day. There’re lots of buildings and walkways and there’s a place that looks over the parking lot. Plus, it’s starting to get pretty overgrown since there aren’t any people to trim trees and shit anymore. Lots of places to hide.” He turns his bright gaze toward Theo. “Mason brings us the supplies and we keep the hunters distracted while you guys,” He turns to the older members of the pack, “can break into the warehouse.”
Us? WE?
“You want to go with Theo?” Mason asks.
You want to go with me??
“We made a pretty good team against the Ghost Riders.” Liam shrugs. “Besides, does anyone else want to work with him?”
“I’m standing right here.” Theo reminds them. Anything to distract himself from his internal freakout.
“Obviously we don’t care,” Malia says to him. “But if Liam wants to take you off our hands, he can have you. We’ll take care of the warehouse.”
Scott tilts his head at Theo. “Does the zoo work for you?”
“I can check it out, but if Liam’s right about the place it should be fine. Give me twelve hours to get my truck fixed and I’ll do whatever you guys plan.”
“You can get that fixed in twelve hours?” Corey asks dubiously.
“I know a guy who owes me a favor, so yes.”
“Liam can go with you,” Scott says. “You guys can go over your part of the plan.”
“And he can make sure you don’t bail out on us,” Malia adds.
“Wasn’t planning to bail, but whatever.”
You just agreed to let me have one on one time with the little wolf. I’m not going anywhere.
“Right. I’ll call Argent.” Scott pulls out his phone and waves at them. “Go get your truck fixed, tell us when you’re done so we can get the plan rolling.”
“Sir, yes, sir,” Theo mumbles and walks out the door, Liam hot on his heels.
*
Theo pulls into the parking lot of the abandoned Beacon Hills First National Bank. He looks around and climbs out of the truck when he sees no one around. Liam practically falls out of the passenger seat to catch up with him.
“What the hell, Theo? Why are we here?”
“Need to make a withdrawal.”
“This place has been closed forever.”
“Yep. And yet it’s still pretty busy all things considered. Though, after Scott took care of the Alpha pack, nobody has felt the need to come here. Seemed ideal.”
Theo puts his weight behind the door and it pops open with an obnoxious squeak. He struts into the dusty lobby. The lingering scent of wolves, blood, and death still linger in the corners of the neglected space.
“Okay, none of what you are saying makes any sense.” Liam follows him. “Also, this place gives me the creeps.”
“Thus, the basis of its appeal.”
“Did you just quote
10 Things I Hate About You?
”
“Is that where that’s from?” Theo had heard one of the girls from his class use the phrase. She’d brought a friend who was complaining about the time of the class but at least the instructor was hot. Figures it was from a chick flick.
“Seriously, dude. What are we doing here?”
“I already told you. It’s not my fault if you don’t believe me.” Liam grumbles behind him as Theo passes the vault on his way to the break room. “Did you know that this is where Scott’s True Alpha power manifested and settled?”
“Wait, really?” Liam’s steps stutter.
“Yeah, he saved Deaton in the vault by forcing through a circle of mountain ash. Before that, he’d had a few blips of alpha power show up while he was fighting the alphas and the Darach, but it wasn’t until he totally committed here that he embraced it and it solidified. Not like he wasn’t already playing alpha to his little band of misfits anyway, but this, ah, formalized it.”
“Damn. How do you know all of this?”
“Lots and lots of research.” Theo pauses inside the break room and says quietly, “I wanted that power for myself. I wanted to know where it came from. Obviously, I was in no position to earn it like he did, so I started to plan how to steal it.”
“But I’m the only one who can.”
Theo glances back to see the beta with his eyebrows furrowed. “Yeah,” he confirms.
“So, if I’d succeeded?” Liam’s eyes bore into Theo’s.
Theo drops his gaze and turns away without answering. Liam is smart enough to know the answer anyway. He doesn’t bother to hide the guilt in his scent as he drops to his knees in front of the cabinet under the small sink. He opens the doors and leans into the small space. His stomach drops a little at the confined space.
As quickly as he can, he pulls the back panel away, revealing a good sized hole in the drywall behind it. He reaches into the hole and lets out a relieved and triumphant grunt as he pulls out a dirty grey messenger bag. Sitting back on his heels he opens the bag to check its contents again. Burner phone, fake ID, a change of clothes, and ten neatly bundled stacks of one hundred dollar bills. Ten thousand dollars worth to be exact.
“Holy shit!” Liam squats beside him to run a finger across one stack. “Where the hell did you get this from?”
“Dread Doctors had ways of maneuvering money once everything went digital. I would withdraw small-ish amounts with one of their many fabricated IDs and debit cards for me. I’d stash what I pulled in secret places wherever we went, just in case I ever got a chance to get away from them. The stashes grew quite a bit over the years.” Theo knocks a knuckle on top of a stack. “I didn’t want to spend it all at once, and I won’t, but I really need the truck fixed quickly, properly, and discreetly. That’s gonna take money I don’t usually keep on me.”
“Whose money is this, really?” Liam asks coldly.
Theo picks up the fake ID. “Hmm. Dalton James Dunway. The accounts were… well, as legit as they could be with a fake ID.” Theo waves the Nevada license up with his face on it. “The money was transferred to the account from a private offshore account. AKA the docs changing numbers when no one is looking and making a false paper trail. The money wasn’t
stolen
from anybody. Technically. Maybe the government if you really want to get technical, I guess?”
Theo looks up to see an unreadable look on Liam’s face.
He rolls his eyes. “Don’t judge me for trying to survive, Liam. You only had to deal with them for a handful of weeks. And mostly on the peripheral. I spent eight years with them up my ass. The least they can do is fund my truck repair.”
Something shifts in the wolf’s blue, blue eyes, but Theo still can’t quite decipher it. He decides he doesn’t care for this not being able to read Liam thing.
Liam finally jerks his head to the side as if shaking thoughts away. “Whatever. I guess it’s kind of smart to keep this around, just in case. It’s working out today, at least.”
Theo re-packs the bag and brushes off as much of the dust as possible before slinging it over his shoulder. He leads Liam back through the lobby and to the front doors. He pauses, cocking his head and listening outside for any foreign noises.
“You hear anything?” He asks Liam. Alas, a real werewolf will always have slightly superior senses over his chimera.
Liam also concentrates then shakes his head. “Couple of birds in the roof and a dog barking somewhere behind us.”
Theo nods. “Let’s hope you’re not missing anything either.”
They exit the bank and make it to the truck without getting shot. Excellent. Theo tosses the bag to Liam and starts the truck.
They’re about a mile from the main exit out of town when Liam finally clues in that they’re leaving. “Where the hell are we going?”
“To get my truck fixed. We’ve already had this discussion.”
“You didn’t say anything about going out of town to do it.”
“Seriously?” Theo glances over. “If I went to someone in town, I’d probably get both our heads blown off. We have no idea who all is in with the hunters. Our chances are better out of town. Besides, I said I know a guy who owes me a favor. He operates out of Stillwater Bluff. I figure you can show me where your zoo is on the way there.”
“How do you even know a guy in Stillwater Bluff?” Liam grumbles and thumps back against his seat. “And why does he owe you a favor?”
Theo sighs. “Look, I know Scott told me not to leave town, but there aren’t a lot of under the table paying jobs to be had in Beacon Hills. Most employers want background checks. You think the Sheriff’s department is going to give me a good review?” He scoffs. “I had to branch out. I stayed within the county, that should count for something. Picked up jobs from the Help Wanted section in the local newspapers. That’s how I met Vic.
“He owns a car detailing shop and was relocating to a larger building and wanted a few extra hands for moving and hauling. A couple of the other guys who answered the ad were attempting to take off with several thousand dollars worth of equipment, including Vic’s custom detailing spray guns. When I overheard what they were doing, I didn’t want to get lumped in and get arrested with a bunch of idiot assholes, so I ran them down and stopped them before they got too far. Vic called the cops and I bailed before they could pick the other guys up. He had my number from when I answered the ad, so he called me and asked why I left before I got paid. I went back, helped with the last of the move, and got paid. Vic even gave me the asshole’s shares as well. Then, Vic told me he owed me. Anything, anytime. So, I’m going to collect. I wasn’t actually ever planning to use it, but here we are.”
The truck is silent for several long moments and Theo finally gives in to look over at Liam. The beta has a thoughtful look on his face that Theo can’t quite decipher.
I’m really not liking this. Is this how everyone feels all the time?
Finally, Liam looks over at him. “I didn’t know Scott told you not to leave town.”
That’s all you got out of that?
“Yeah, well, helping with the Ghost Riders wasn’t enough for him to trust me.”
“I mean, that’s fair.” Liam’s lips twitch at Theo’s droll stare. “But now you’re saving deputies and stopping thieves. Some villain you’re turning out to be.”
“Fuck off,” Theo grumbles.
Liam snorts and gets serious. “You really do live in your truck, don’t you?” He practically whispers.
Theo’s stomach drops. He tightens his grip on the steering wheel and clears his throat. “Yeah. For the same reasons as the jobs. Didn’t figure anyone would want me as a tenant after receiving a background check.”
Liam doesn’t say anything, he just goes back to pondering. Theo goes back to overthinking about what Liam’s possibly thinking about. After around fifteen minutes, Liam tells Theo to get onto an exit to get to the zoo. When Theo pulls into the parking lot, he gazes out toward the faux cave entrance with a cheap looking fence in front of it.
Liam points up toward a ‘window’ in the rock facing the parking lot. “That’s the place I was talking about. It’s pretty much just part of the stairway that leads toward what I think used to be the monkey enclosures or whatever. We’ll be able to see what’s going on down here from up there.”
Theo has to lean forward to see what Liam is pointing at. He can feel Liam’s body heat radiating against his shoulder and he subtly takes in as much of the wolf’s scent as he can while he looks up toward the little overhang. “That’s actually pretty useful. Do you know of anywhere closer?”
Liam leans forward a little and bumps his chest against Theo’s shoulder. Theo shifts out of his way and clamps down on his heartbeat and chemosignals.
He’s going to be the death of me.
Liam gestures toward a wall surrounded by overgrown bushes. “Somewhere around there should be good, I think. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been here, though. We’ll have to check it out before we send Mason a go-ahead.”
“Alright. I can definitely work with this. Probably.” Theo pulls out his phone. “I’m going to call Vic.”
The older man picks up on the third ring. “Raeken! About time you called me you sorry son of a bitch. How you been. My old lady wants to have you over for dinner again.”
Theo smiles wryly. “Tell Selene I’ll have to take a rain check because I’ve definitely been better. Ran into some shit and my truck got fucked up. Think I could call in that favor?”
“Anything, anytime, man. I was serious. What’s the damage?”
Theo sighs heavily. “Windshield, front driver’s window, and both passenger windows need to be replaced. Both front seats are in desperate need of new upholstery, and about a dozen or so bullet holes need to be filled.”
“Bullet holes?? What the hell, Theo? Was it a gang? Are you okay?”
“You could say that. I’m fine, my truck took the majority of the damage and I need it fixed as soon as possible. Can you do it?”
“Sure, man. I’ll cancel my appointments for today if you want to bring it in. I’ll have to call Frankie’s for the glass.”
“Thanks, Vic. I’ve got 5k in it for you for this.”
“That ain’t necessary, T. I said anything, anytime. Literally, anything, bro.”
“Yeah, and you dropping everything to help is favor enough. The least I can do is pay the expenses. And if the money helps grease wheels and keep mouths shut, mores the better.”
“Alright, alright. I get it. When should I expect you?”
“I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”
“Cool, bro. See you then.”
“Thanks, Vic.” Theo hangs up.
Liam leans toward Theo and runs a finger over one of the rusty-brown stains in his seat. “I’m an asshole for only asking this now, but how bad was it exactly? You said the truck got the majority of the damage and you told us this morning that the hunters shot you up to kidnap you. And you still kinds smell like you shoved a butter knife in a light socket-”
“Thanks.”
“So.. how bad?”
Do you actually care, Little Wolf? About me? Even just a little?
“Despite all of this,” he gestures around the cab at the damage. “I only got hit with five,
five
bullets. These guys are
not
professionals. I was locked in a cell for an undetermined amount of time, then strung up to a fence with those Buddhist betas. We managed to escape and the Sheriff immediately arrested all of us for murder. Which is rude, by the way. I didn’t even do it that time but I got blamed anyway.” Theo huffs.
Schrader.
Shut. Up.
“Gee. Can’t imagine why.”
You can shut up, too.
“Whatever. Let’s go get my truck fixed.”
*
Two hours later, Theo is sitting across from Liam at a table in a diner a few blocks away from Vic's shop. Both of them have been staring at their phones for an indiscernible amount of time. Vic had told them he’d get everyone on the truck right away and that the work would take at least five hours. The boys still had lots of time to kill.
Theo sighs, his milkshake glass is empty and he’s eaten all of his fries a while ago and he doesn’t want to use up his entire phone battery staring at shitposts on Instagram. He looks over at his duffle bag and then out the window to the gym across the street.
Might as well. Got nothing better to do.
He stands up and tosses a couple of twenties on the table before grabbing his bag and heads for the door.
“Hey, wait up!” Liam scrambles after him. “Where are you going?”
“Across the street. I can’t take the boredom anymore.” He looks both ways and runs across the asphalt as quick as humanly possible. He checks to make sure Liam followed him and then walks through the door to the gym.
“This is actually an awesome idea.” Liam mumbles.
“I know, right.”
Theo strides toward the girl behind the front desk. “Hi, there.” He smiles at her.
The girl straightens up in her seat at the sight of him. “Hello. What can I do for you.” Her gaze wanders briefly down his chest.
Yeah, no.
“My, uh,” He glances at Liam and then ducks his head shyly at the girl. “Friend and I are on a road trip and we’re passing through. We’re getting tired of sitting in the truck and we’ve probably eaten enough junk food for three heart attacks. Our poor bodies need a break. Do you have any day passes or something that we could use?”
She looks over at Liam who gives her a puppy grin that Theo can't really blame her for swooning over. “Day passes aren’t really a thing we offer anymore because no one was using them so the boss decided to drop the option. But I think if you guys are only going to be here for today, I don’t see how it’s going to be much of a problem.” She clicks around on her computer. “Look at that, we still have the sign-up sheet.”
She clicks around and then prints off a couple of papers. “Here you go. Just fill these out. There’s a ten dollar fee per person. After that’s all settled, I’ll let you guys onto the main floor and show you where the locker rooms are for your bags.”
“Thanks!” Theo grins at her and takes one of the sheets to start filling out.
“Where are you guys coming from.”
Theo says “San Fran” the same time Liam says “Sacramento”. Theo grimaces at Liam.
Let me do the talking.
“I’m from San Francisco. He’s from Sacramento. I picked him up on the way. We’re headed to Seattle to check out a college we’re hoping to go to together.”
“That’s pretty awesome. How did you guys meet?”
“Video games,” Liam answers before Theo can. “Online. Hated him at first, to be honest. Wait, that’s not true. Thought he was kinda cool at first, then he switched over to another team and tried killing us all. Then when he came back I got paired with him for a campaign and was forced to work with him. Get to know him, I guess. Then, we became… friends. Now, here we are.” He shrugs.
Not bad, Little Wolf.
Theo snorts. “Sounds dumb when you say it out loud.”
“Well, I think it’s cute.” She collects her paperwork and buzzes the door open. “Follow me.” The girl shows them to the locker room and leaves them be.
“I wasn’t going to ask, but why did you imply that we’re… ‘friends’ when you could have just told her we are friends?” Liam says, digging through his bag for something gym worthy. When he doesn’t find anything specific, he pulls out a plain grey tee and starts ripping the sleeves off.
“Did you not see the way she was eyeballing me when we walked it. I didn’t feel like dealing with that. So, I used you as a shield. Thanks, bro.” Theo pulls a black tank and a pair of thin sweats out of his own duffle bag. “Not like I would have been telling the truth, either way, right?”
Liam pauses his shredding of the collar of his shirt. He looks up at Theo with that infuriating expression that Theo can’t figure out. “Sure. Whatever, Theo.” He pulls out a pair of shorts and walks around the corner to get changed.
What the fuck is that even supposed to mean??
*
This was a terrible fucking idea.
Why did I think this was going to be a good idea?
Theo wishes for the tedium of the diner as he watches the Little Wolf’s shoulders bunch up and his biceps flex as he does pull up after pull up after pull up after…
SNAP OUT OF IT, RAEKEN!
He manages to tear his gaze away. To spare himself, he moves to the leg press and sets it up. He lies back on the bench, squares his feet on the metal plate, and pushes up. His thighs flex and he gets a little lost in the repetitive movements. The part of him that is always hyper-aware of Liam when he’s nearby, immediately brings him back online when Theo hears him approaching. He glances up to see Liam’s eyes fixated on his thighs.
Probably just… appreciating the power. Or whatever.
“Want this when I’m done, Dunbar?” Theo asks.
Liam blinks, startled. “Uh, yeah. I’ll just” -he points to another leg machine- “use that one until you’re done.” His heart does a weird stutter as he walks away.
Whaa?
Theo finishes his reps and wipes down the bench for Liam, knowing the beta can easily lift the weight he left on the bars.
They dance around each other for the rest of their workout. When they’d been there for about two hours, Theo finally decides to call it quits and tells Liam he’s going to hit the showers. Liam just grunts at him and continues his set.
He’s halfway through his shower when he hears Liam plod into the locker room. He’s very aware that he’s naked and that Liam is also about to be. He takes a deep breath to keep himself under control.
“This was also a good idea because now you won’t smell like a lightning strike victim.” Liam remarks in a casual tone. “Smart, Theo.”
“Christ, Dunbar. Eat a dick, would you?” Theo immediately regrets his words as his mind is flooded with images of Liam on his knees in front of him.
No, no, no. Bad brain.
“I thought you were an Atheist, Raeken.” Theo scoffs at Liam’s accusation. “And I don’t think dick would be substantial enough right now. I’m starving. But thanks, I guess.”
What the fuck is happening?? Who is this guy and where is my awkward Little Wolf?
Theo finishes his shower as fast as possible and dries off quickly, pulling clean clothes over his still damp body. He waits for Liam outside the locker room door and leads the wolf out. The front counter girl waves at them as they leave and wishes them a safe trip. Theo hangs a left and starts walking down the block.
“Isn’t the shop the other way?” Liam waves behind them.
“Yes, but we’ve still got at least an hour before Vic said they’d be done. I know an awesome pizza joint this way, but first.” Theo stops and walks through another door.
“A laundromat?” Liam asks, following him in.
“Do you want the sweaty clothes you just wore to stink up the rest of your clothes?”
“No, actually. I was wondering what I could do about that. Good thinking.”
You learn to think of these things when you live out of a duffle bag.
They stuff their workout clothes in one of the smaller washers and dump in some detergent from the quarter machine. Theo sets the machine for express wash and they book it to the pizza place a few buildings down. They order their pizzas to go and walk them back to the laundromat when they’re finished.
Theo checks the washer, the timer indicates that it’s on its last few minutes when they arrive. "Perfect timing."
After he switches the clothes into the dryer, the boys sit back and eat their pizzas. Bickering over toppings and which pizza joint in Beacon Hills has the best pizza.
Despite his thoughts in the shower, this here, just being with Liam and talking to him, makes Theo feel… happy. At least, he's pretty sure that's what that light, warm feeling in his chest is. He knows that as soon as they're back in Beacon Hills and within the Anuk-Ite's influential radius, the easiness will disappear and the fear, anger, and suspicion will resurface. He wishes it could be like this between them for longer than just today.
Just kidnap him and run far, far away. He'll forgive you eventually.
Theo shakes away the thoughts. Liam wouldn't forgive him for that and he knows it.
They head back toward Vic's shop after their clothes are dry and shoved back into their respective bags. As soon as they came into view, Theo heard squeals and small feet pounding on pavement. He grins as Vic's daughters barrel toward him. He braces himself for impact as the two girls crash into him, babbling excitedly, trying to get his attention.
Finally, the younger one notices Liam and stops tugging on Theo's sleeve to ask him, "Who are you?"
Theo looks over and laughs at Liam's stupefied stare. "That's, Liam. He's a friend of mine." Theo smirks at Liam. "Liam, this is Cici" -he points at the younger girl, then her sister- "and Lacy. They're Vic and Selene's kids."
"You girls get off that poor boy and get your butts back in here and finish your dinner!" Selene hollers from the garage door.
"C'mon!" Lacy grabs his hand and pulls him toward the shop. "I bet mom will let me show you how good I got at that trick you taught me first."
Theo looks back to see Liam and Cici following at a more sedate pace. He can hear Cici complaining to him.
"She always does that. I already told her to back off."
"Back off what?" Liam asks the girl. "Theo?"
"Duh. She thinks that just because she's a year older than me, she can just take whatever she wants. But
I'm
gonna marry Theo someday."
Theo chuckles.
Cute, but, uh, I’m not marrying either of them.
"Wow." Liam sounds like he's trying not to laugh. "Does Theo know?"
"He will."
"I'm gonna be honest, Cici. I'm not sure you're his type."
Theo pauses outside of the garage, blatantly eavesdropping while Lacy grabs her skateboard.
"Well, duh, not yet. But I'll grow."
“Maybe not even then.” He leans toward the girl and whispers. “I think he likes boys.”
One boy. One. And how does he know??
Cici stops walking.
“What?
No.”
“Well, I mean, I could be wrong. He’s never told me or anything.” Liam pauses beside her. “But he hasn’t had a girlfriend since I met him. That’s doesn’t have to mean anything, though. Maybe he just has no game.” He shrugs, smirking up at Theo from under his ridiculous eyelashes.
He didn’t.
“Are you his boyfriend?” Cici demands.
That startles Liam into looking away from Theo and back down at the girl. “What? No. We’re barely friends. Like, only on good days. Most of the time I just want to punch him in the face.”
“Don’t do that! It’s perfect! You’ll mess it up.”
Theo smirks, preening a little at the twelve-year-old’s approval. But he rolls his eyes when Liam tells her: “You think so? I think it could use some character.”
He’s distracted when Lacy comes out with her skateboard. “Okay, so check it. I’ve been practicing.” The girl flawlessly executes a flip trick Theo had taught her the last time he’d visited.
“Dang, girl. You might be better at that than me, now.” He beams at her as the other two finally reach them. Liam’s looking at him
like that
again. Arg!
“I’ve been practicing,” Lacy repeats. “Also, you’re getting old, so.”
Theo grabs his chest in mock betrayal. “What? How could you say that to me? I thought we were friends?”
“We are. Friends tell friends when they’re getting old.” the girl nodded sagely.
Liam bursts out laughing and Lacy’s eyes widen and her cheeks pinken.
Yeah, I know that feeling, Lace.
“C-c’mon, Cici. Let’s go finish dinner before mom yells at us again,” The older girl stutters at her sister, not looking at Liam before hustling back inside.
Cici sighs dramatically and turns to Liam. “Good, she can have
you.”
Then marches inside.
Theo looks at Liam’s confused puppy face and bursts out laughing.
She
can’t
have you, but it’s still funny.
Liam shakes his head and chuckles. “That Cici is, and I don’t usually try to steal Mason’s catchphrase, but she’s intense.”
“At least she knows what she wants. I almost feel sorry for the boys her own age when she decides she likes them, after all.”
“Poor little dudes.” Liam shakes his head. “Let’s go check on your baby.”
Theo snorts and leads them into the garage. He sees his seats being worked on by a group of guys replacing the upholstery. His heart skips a beat or two at seeing the pristine glass and paint on his truck. He runs a finger along the door where a bullet hole had been and feels the slightest ridge where it’d been filled in and filed down before covered by paint to match the rest of his truck. He sighs happily at the sight.
“That’s awesome,” Liam mutters, running a hand down the door. “It’s like it never happened. Kinda like when we get shot.” He shoots Theo a crooked grin. Theo barely controls his own blush.
“It didn’t take as long to shed the bullets myself, though.” He shrugs. “A lot less expensive, too.”
“I told you you didn’t have to pay me, punk.” Vic ruffles Theo’s hair. “But I get why you’re doing it. Your seats are almost done, but some of the guys asked about the blood. Told them they’re not getting paid to ask questions.”
“Thanks, Vic. Seriously.” Theo grabs the man’s forearm and pulls him into a quick hug.
“Least I could do, man. You’re like family.” Vic wanders off to oversee the progress on the reupholstering of Theo’s seats. Which is good, because Theo thinks he’s about to embarrass himself.
He looks up at the industrial ceiling and takes a deep breath, willing the sob in his chest to go back down.
Family. God.
He hasn’t had a family for so long. He’s pretty sure a part of him wanted a pack so bad so that they could replace the family he’d lost when he’d betrayed his sister. He’s finally free from the Dread Doctors, but he lives in his truck. He’s still not part of the pack and he doesn’t have a place to belong. Despite helping the pack and keeping his hands as clean as possible, the McCall pack wants nothing to do with him. Unless he can be useful. But Vic, a guy he’d helped once and whose family he’d had dinner with twice, thinks of him as family. It’s really nice to feel accepted for once.
But, of course, he’d never killed Vic and tried to steal his family from him. He’s never been anything but Theo, the guy who stopped some thieves, to Vic and his family. Scott and Liam and the pack don’t have the luxury of only knowing the Theo who’s just trying to be good.
Theo flinches at the light touch on his shoulder. “Hey, Theo…”
Theo shrugs off Liam’s hand and refuses to look at him. Not wanting to know what Liam thinks about all of the unrestricted emotions that had just poured out of him at Vic’s words. He doesn’t want Liam’s pity or empathy or whatever Liam feels at Theo’s expense. He walks to the back of the truck, lowering the tailgate and sitting on it to watch the guys finish making his seats as good as new. Liam joins him but doesn’t try to talk to him again.
Theo hates that Liam understands almost as much as he appreciates it.
I’m such a fucking mess.
He gives in to temptation and leans toward the wolf until his shoulder is resting against Liam’s. Liam doesn’t move away.
*
After his seats had been reinstalled, Theo handed Vic five neat stacks of bills. Vic accepted them, muttering about how he didn’t want to know where Theo’d gotten it from.
Theo had told him from a rainy day fund, and Liam said casually, “Saw him get it from the bank myself,” with a cheeky grin.
Liam quietly snorted and followed Vic to the stairwell at the side of the building. The shop was the bottom floor of a warehouse building, not unlike Derek Hale’s. The top two levels had been converted into a living space that Vic and his family lived in.
They’d told Selene that they’d eaten before returning to the shop, but she insisted they stayed for some cobbler. Theo wasn’t dumb enough to say no to that offer. Neither was Liam, apparently.
Cici had promptly plopped herself between the boys at the round table, making them grin ruefully above her head. Lacy had to sit between Liam and Selene. The poor girl’s ears were pink throughout dessert and Theo could barely get her to talk. Liam tried his very best to make the whole thing as painless as possible for her. Bless him. Theo could tell he was unfamiliar with being so obviously crushed on. Which was ridiculous. Have you seen the guy?
When the cobbler had been decimated and the goodbyes had been said, Theo and Liam left in Theo’s good-as-new truck.
On the road, they don’t say anything. Liam looks lost in thought and Theo, as always, wonders what he’s thinking about. They pass the exit for the zoo and Theo hopes that Liam’s plan works out the next day.
As they get closer to Beacon Hills, a squirmy, uncomfortable feeling sits heavy in the bottom of his stomach. Dread, he thinks. He’s more than half tempted to make a U-turn and head back to Stillwater Bluff.
“You feel it?” Liam asks quietly.
“The sudden urge to get the fuck out as fast as possible? Yeah, I feel it.” Theo grips the steering wheel.
“Just- just get us to the clinic,” Liam says through clenched teeth.
Good idea. Let me just surround myself by people who loathe the very sight of me. Great fucking plan.
Theo pulls in behind Mason’s car and they walk into the clinic together.
Mason stands up at the sight of them. “You came back!”
“Of course we did.” Liam rolls his eyes. “I’ve kept you up to date all day.” He waves his phone at the other boy.
“Yeah, but…” Mason glances quickly at Theo.
Theo rolls his eyes. “Kidnapping the second strongest werewolf in town isn’t in my best interest.”
Well, maybe…
“Thanks for coming back, Theo,” Scott says. ‘Did everything go alright with your truck?”
Gee, Scotty. It’s almost like you care.
“Yeah. Looks good as new.”
“Seriously,” Liam confirms. “It’s freaking awesome.”
“That’s good.” Scott smiles. “Alright, we should all try to get some rest. Big day tomorrow.”
Everyone agrees and start spreading out blankets like they had the night before.
“Um, Theo?” Theo turns to see Corey looking at him hesitantly. Theo hates that the other chimera doesn’t trust him, even though he knows and understands why. “Mason told his parents he’s staying a Liam’s. We were wondering…” He gestures to Theo’s spot under the window.
Theo glances at his spot and then at the examination table. Of course, they both wouldn’t fit on the table. He just nods. “No problem. Top bunk for me.”
He moves his blankets and pillow to the table and climbs on after he’s arranged them to his liking. “Thanks, Theo.” Corey murmurs, looking up at him from the floor.
Theo just smiles slightly and nods. He resists the urge to lean over to look at Liam.
Good night, Little Wolf.
*
Theo didn’t sleep much, and he’s aware that no one else really did either. Scott’s the first one to give up pretending and gets up from the floor with the girls. He stumbles toward the back of the clinic toward, Theo assumes, the bathroom. Theo feels Liam shift under the table and looks down to see Liam roll onto the floor and stand up, stretching.
That’s not at all what I needed to see in the morning in a room full of people with supernatural creatures. Thanks, Liam.
Theo distracts himself by also standing up. He looks down at Mason and Corey to see Corey smirking and Mason frowning at him. Theo just sighs and goes out to check on his truck. Just in case.
Melissa brings them breakfast on her way to the hospital. They eat and go over the plans one last time. When the time finally comes, Mason (and an invisible Corey) go to school in Lydia’s car. Scott, Malia, and Lydia head out to rendezvous with Argent.
Theo and Liam climb back in the truck and head toward the zoo. Once they get there, they have a couple of hours to kill before Mason can lure Nolan to them.
“We should go in and familiarize ourselves with the place,” Liam suggests. “We need to know where to hide if one of them gets too close. I’ve never been inside while it was daylight and you’ve never been in at all.”
Theo sees zero holes in Liam’s logic, so he nods and they climb out of the truck. Liam shows him how the gate to the fence has been compromised to slide right off its hinges. The entrance door to the ‘cave’ doesn’t even have a handle anymore, let alone a lock. After they’re both through the gate, the beta slides it back into place and leads Theo through the door and toward the wall and bushes he’d pointed out the day before.
“This looks like it’ll be good.” He points at Theo’s truck. “We can see the majority of the parking lot, plus it’d be easier to hear what they’re saying than from up there.” He gestures toward the ‘window’.
“Yeah. We can stay here while we wait for Nolan to call back up and see who all comes to help him.” Theo looks up at the overhang again. “Now, let’s go up there.”
They spend the rest of the morning roaming the zoo, checking the entrances and exits of the buildings, finding the perfect place to set up their supplies when Mason arrives. When Mason texts Liam and tells him that he’s about to head out, they make their way back to the truck to sit and wait.
Liam calls Mason. When he answers, he asks, “Did it work?”
“Yep. Nolan's right behind me.” Mason kind of chuckles. “Like, literally right behind me. He's driving a bright red car. He's actually terrible at this.”
Theo just snorts but Liam says, “Okay, just be careful.”
“Okay.” They hang up.
Theo moves the truck until it’s sitting in plain sight in front of the Hill Valley Zoo sign to wait for Mason. Nolan won’t be able to miss the exchange. When they see Mason pull pulling up, they climb out of the truck to meet him.
Theo heads for the trunk and Liam leans down into Mason’s open driver window. “Hey. How close is he?”
“He's back down the road. Don't look.”
Theo grabs a couple of sleeping bags and pauses on his way to toss them into the truck when he hears Mason ask, “Should I come with you guys?”
He looks between Liam and Mason who are both looking at him. “His friends shoot to kill.”
I’m not about to have Liam watch you die.
“Go home.” Then resumes his way to the truck.
“Okay,” Mason agrees reluctantly. “Yeah, Lydia would kill me if anything happened to her car anyways, so…”
“Don't worry about it,” Liam reassures him. “Nolan's gonna do the rest.”
After they transfer everything from the car to the truck they wait for Mason to leave before they get back into the truck. Theo’s halfway down the drive when they see a bright red car come up behind them. Not close, but still visible. Theo huffs. “He is terrible at this.”
Liam looks in his mirror. “Jeez. Looks like Gabe is the brains and the brawn. Though he’s got a wicked right hook.” He runs a thumb along his jaw. Theo sees red at the reminder that this kid was one of the ones who’d hurt Liam while he was indisposed.
“He’s a follower. He never would have gone near you if he’d been alone.”
“No, I know. I’m not even mad that he beat me. It was a hard, fast lesson in control that I really, really needed since Hayden left me anchorless. And he’s just scared, so I don’t really blame him. This Anuk-Ite thing is fucking with everyone’s heads. The naturally violent people are going to go straight for their guns and the more docile ones are going to follow the ones who they think are strongest and more able to protect them. Nolan isn’t violent, not even in lacrosse. But he’s had a crush on Gabe for forever and Gabe is falling right into line with the other hunters, so Nolan is going to follow.” Liam shrugs. “He doesn’t deserve to be put down any more than we do.”
Theo takes a moment to marvel at the heart of the boy beside him. What must it be like to be so
good?
Despite being the ‘beta with anger issues’ that make him the strongest beta in Beacon Hills, he doesn’t use that strength against people and he does everything he can to keep his anger in check. Theo uses the excuse of unloading the truck to keep himself from answering Liam.
A gust of wind blows a strong scent of Nolan toward them. They both freeze for a split second before resuming their task. Liam’s shoulders shake in silent laughter.
When they slide through the open gate, Liam says quietly enough that only Theo can hear him, “Christ. I’m half tempted to just look right at him. I’m sure he’s half hidden in a bush or behind a tree or something.” He snickers.
Theo snorts. “Smother the urge. This plan has to work for the other plan to work. Don’t scare him off.”
“Yeah, I know, I know. But still.”
When they’re finished unloading and setting up they head to the hiding place they’d agreed on that morning to wait for Nolan’s backup.
Nolan fidgets as he waits for someone else to arrive. Finally, a truck pulls up and two men get out.
“Where are they?” One guy asks.
“Inside the zoo. They're all here.” Nolan looks at them. “It's not just the two of you, is it?”
The other guy looks offended. “What do you mean, "just?"
“It's not just a pack, okay? There's an Alpha and a Banshee. They're all here.” The guys look around exaggeratedly. Walking away from Nolan while he’s still talking. Theo starts to see why Liam feels sorry for the kid.
“I don't see all of them.” Goon #2 says.
“I don't see anyone.” Goon #1 also inputs.
“I... I saw Theo and Liam bringing a car full of food and supplies right here.” Nolan points at the entrance.
Maybe we should have left the gate undone?
“There were at least six sleeping bags, okay? They're here, they're all here!” Theo can see the goons practically laughing at Nolan.
“It's just Nolan and two other guys.” Liam turns to look at Theo. “This isn't gonna work.”
“Where's the backup?” Theo wants to know. “I mean, shouldn't there be, like, twenty of them?”
Liam sighs. “I mean, they only saw us, and they're not gonna believe Nolan.”
They need to believe there are more of us here? Fine.
“Okay,” Theo smirks. “Then they have to believe us.” He takes a deep breath and hollers, “ Isn't that right?”
Liam immediately turns toward him, whispering, “Why are you yelling?”
“You got a problem?” Theo can see that the hunters have heard him. They’re starting to look around. “Oh, that's right, you always have a problem.” Theo keeps yelling.
“What the hell are you doing?” Liam whisper-demands.
“Shut up!” Theo yells right in his face. The look on Liam’s face is priceless and Theo gives in to the urge to punch away his feelings, smashing his fist right into the beta’s face.
Liam scrambles up so Theo stands up as well. “Yeah, you see that, Scott?” Theo pretends to look around at the pack that isn’t actually there. “Little Beta can't even take a punch. And what do you think, Malia?”
They hear one of the goons say, “Hey, over there.”
Theo keeps up his charade. “What, you think he can take me?”
“Okay, I get it,” Liam tells him, cradling his jaw. “But did you actually have to punch me?”
No, but…
Theo punches him again.
I’ve got a lot of repressed tension to work out and a golden opportunity just fell into my lap to work it out.
Liam starts fighting back.
“Told you they're here,” Nolan says to the goons.
“You sure that's all of 'em?” One of them asks.
Need, more? Fine.
Theo can tell Liam’s starting to get pissed. So far he’s only been able to land one punch, Theo’s managed to dodge the rest. He feels bad, but the plan is working and he knows Liam can take it.
“See what I mean, Scott?” He stares at Liam. “He's only good in a fight when he's angry. So let's see just how angry he gets.”
Liam snarls and lunges at him. Unfortunately for him, Theo has the higher ground and punches him square in the nose. This time, when Liam recovers, he looks up at Theo with rage. Theo still feels bad, but he also feels triumphant at a plan coming together. Liam’s smart enough to lunge low enough to tackle him and it turns into a full-out brawl.
Theo’s not sure how long they fight. Liam had broken his nose as soon as he’d tackled him to the ground. He’d managed to get out from under him and land a few punches of his own while it healed. When Liam broke his nose a second time, Theo retaliated by slashing his claws across his stomach, leaving shallow cuts across his abdomen. They’ll heal in a few minutes.
That seems to snap Liam out of some of his fury. He sounds annoyed as hell when he asks, “Are you done? Or should we keep going?”
Theo looks down to the hunters in time to hear goon #1 say, “We gotta call for backup.”
He turns back to Liam. “I think they're sold.”
Liam sighs and looks down at his stomach. “You ripped my t-shirt.”
“Yeah, you broke my nose.” Theo tilts his head back as the cartilage fuses back together. “Twice. It healed, you broke it again. Two times!”
Liam gives Theo a considering look then punches him in the nose again. “Three times.”
Goddammit!
Theo slides down the wall, cradling his nose.
Alright, I’ll give you that one, Little Wolf, but only because of all the cheap shots I took at you.
Theo decides to let Liam cool off a little and goes to check the back of the zoo. He meets Liam halfway up the stairs in front of a window.
“There's still three of them, and it's been half-an-hour.” Liam sounds a little panicky.
“Don't blame me. You're the one that picked the abandoned zoo. The hell we doing in this place anyway?”
“Because it's like Mykonos.”
Wait, what?
“Like what?”
“The Greek island.”
That means nothing to me.
“In the city, they built these long, narrow, winding streets that all meet up with each other. Invaders would get lost in them like they were in a maze trying to figure out which way to go.”
Oh my god.
“What? I like history.”
Theo smiles at him. “I'm impressed.”
So cute when you’re being smart, Little Wolf.
“It's a good idea.”
“Yeah, only if invaders actually show up.” Liam looks a little sad that his plan isn’t working so far.
Just then, two large SUVs pull up. “I think they just showed up.”
Gerard Argent himself get out of the first vehicle. Monroe gets out of the second. Theo feels Liam tense up at the sight and anger starts permeating the air.
Theo turns to walk away. When Liam doesn’t follow him, he stops to get his attention. “Hey, let's go.” Liam doesn’t move. “We're supposed to be decoys, not target practice. You still working on that anger?”
“I'm fine.” Liam practically growls.
“Well, you can be angry at Nolan and stay alive. Come on.” Theo grabs his shoulder, but Liam shakes him off. “Fine, get caught.” Theo only makes it halfway up the stairs before stopping. The compulsive urge to flee and hide warring with his need to keep Liam safe at all costs.
“Spread out.” He can hear Gerard tell his men. Another bolt of fear rolls through him at the sound of his voice. “Nothing gets in or out.”
He can hear Liam growl lowly. If this is how he feels, what’s happening to Liam? He goes back down and sees Liam heading down the stairs so he follows him. They end up behind a small pump house. They can hear Nolan’s rabbit heartbeat coming closer. They peek around and see the boy with a crossbow in his hands. Theo steps back but Liam keeps watching Nolan. He can practically feel the anger rolling off the beta.
Theo grabs his arm to get his attention. “If you keep looking, he's gonna see you. Get back.” Liam ignores him and turns back to stare at Nolan. Theo grabs his arm again. “I'm not dying out here because you want payback against some kid who kicked your ass, okay?”
Liam turns bach before Theo finishes talking.
Alright, you stubborn shit.
He grabs Liam’s arm and hauls him away from pump house toward an exhibit building.
“Let go,” Liam growls at him.
“Calm down!” Theo knows that’s the opposite of what he’s supposed to say, but he’s frustrated and terrified for them both.
“I said let go.” Liam’s eyes glow golden at him.
“What's going on with you? This can't just be Nolan. Something around here is triggering you.”
“I'm fine.”
No, you’re not!
“What is it? The hunters? You don't like cages, scared of heights?”
Please, just tell me so I can help.
“I said I'm fine.”
Before Theo can answer, Nolan catches up to them.
Fuck.
“They're up here!” The boy hollers for anyone who can hear him.
Liam turns and tackles him off the ledge. Theo runs to the edge and watches then burst apart when they hit the ground. Nolan manages to scramble up and point his crossbow directly at Liam. Liam, who’s advancing toward him anyway, eyes glowing, claws and fangs bared.
“She wants me to kill you,” Nolan tells him, voice quivering. “She'll kill me if I don't.”
Liam roars and swats the crossbow away, pinning Nolan against the rock wall. The little hunter is practically pissing himself and Liam pauses before punching the wall beside Nolan’s head. Full force, once, twice. Three more times. The rock shatters under his bloody fist. Liam opens his fist to see that one of his claws broke on impact.
Alright, that’s my queue.
Theo jumps down, knowing Liam’s tenuous control is about to snap completely. Liam starts to roar again and Theo bashes him in the back of his head as hard as he can. Liam drops.
T: 4, L:5. It’s about damn time I could save you again. Even from yourself, Little Wolf.
Theo looks down to see Nolan trembling.
I should kill you myself for what you did to him, for making him lose control like that.
Instead, Theo remembers what Liam had said about Nolan before they unloaded the truck. He smirks at the terrified little hunter. “Run.”
Nolan listens.
*
Theo is
tired.
After Nolan had scampered away Theo had hauled Liam over his shoulder and took him to the nearest hiding place. He’d parked the truck outside the eastern wall of the park. He’d just needed to figure out the quickest, easiest way to get there. He woke Liam up with a few slaps to the face. Liam bolted away with a roar, fully shifted. Theo promptly punched him as hard as he could, knocking him unconscious again. He had to get them to the eastern wall with Liam as dead weight. Great.
He’d planned the quickest route possible and pulled Liam back over his shoulder. He had to duck an weave to keep out of sight of hunters. Twice, Liam woke up, still out of control, so Theo had to knock him out again and again. Getting Liam over the wall was nearly impossible and Theo thanked whatever deity he didn’t believe in that he managed to do it without getting caught. Liam woke up, growling while Theo was still clearing the brush away from his truck. He hauled him up and punched him right in the jaw. His fist was really starting to hurt.
When the truck was ready, he got one arm around Liam’s back and the other under his knees, then hauled him up and into the passenger seat. Buckling him in, he resisted the urge to brush the hair from his face.
They were on their way back to Beacon Hills when Liam’s heartbeat ratcheted up and anger filled the truck cab. His glowing eyes snapped open and Theo reached over, punching him out a fifth time. “Sorry, Little Wolf.” He whispered to the silence.
*
The next time Liam woke, it was dark outside and he was calm. Groaning and clutching his jaw, but calm.
“I had to knock you out,” Theo informs him.
“Yeah, how many times?”
Theo glances over at him and smiles. Happy to have his Little Wolf back to normal. “Five.”
“I almost killed him, didn't I?” Liam looks so disappointed with himself.
Don’t be like that, Little Wolf. You did damn good.
“Almost,” Theo tells him honestly. “But you broke your hands trying not to.”
Liam scoffs. “I guess that's something.”
“Next time you come up with a plan like this, pick a place that doesn't trigger a murderous rage.”
“I didn't know this was gonna happen.”
“Whether you meant it or not, you picked the spot. You made the plan.” Theo still couldn’t quite figure this last one out. “You wanted me to help.”
I have a theory about that, but it seems to good to be true.
“If I needed your help for anything, it'll be so I get angry enough to kill you myself.”
Theo is gracious enough to not point out the skip in Liam’s heart.
“You brought me here because that thing that came out of the Wild Hunt is affecting you, too.”
You’re not afraid to hurt me.
“You need to figure this out before you completely lose it.”
“The Anuk-Ite causes fear it doesn't cause anger.”
“People only feel one emotion at a time, Liam. Which is why you get angry when you're afraid. That's why you almost tore Nolan's head off.”
Liam looks over at Theo. “If the Anuk-Ite can do this to me, what do you think it's doing to everyone else?” There’s a pause. “What does it do to you?”
Just had to ask that, didn’t you, Little Wolf? It makes me want to toss you over my shoulder again and run the fuck out of here as fast as my truck can drive us.
“It, uh, keeps my nightmares right here.” Theo taps his forehead. “Right up front, always ready to haunt me whether I’m awake or not.” Theo’s chest squeezes a little at sharing something so personal to someone else, even Liam.
“You have nightmares?” Liam sounds a little shocked.
“Seriously, Liam?” Theo asks incredulously. “I’m a real boy, you know. Have thoughts and feelings and shitty memories just like everyone else. Just because I don’t emote freely like the rest of you doesn’t mean I don’t feel anything.”
“I’m sorry. You’re right, I know. I’m sorry.” Liam holds his hands up defensively. “God, I just- like you said, you don’t really show your emotions like the rest of us. And you totally were evil for a while there.” Theo snorts. The corner of Liam’s mouth ticks up. “I dunno, you’re always so… calm and collected or whatever that it’s shocking that you could let anything get to you enough to give you nightmares.”
“Thanks, I think.” Theo is desperately ready to change the subject before Liam asks what his nightmares are about. “So, you never did answer me. What was it about the zoo that messed you up so bad and are there any other places I should be concerned about taking you?”
“I don’t… think there are any other places. Except maybe…”
“Maybe where?”
“The library,” Liam whispers so softly, Theo barely hears him.
Oh.
“Shit. That’s- I’m-” Theo can’t find the words.
“It’s… okay. Scott’s alive and I didn’t actually kill him.” Theo winces. “Just, like, don’t ever manipulate me like that again.”
“Honestly, Liam, I couldn’t if I wanted to. And I don’t. Want to, that is.” Theo grips the steering wheel tightly and stares straight ahead at the dark road. “I couldn’t do any of it again. If I got a do-over, I’d probably tell Scott from the get-go about the Dread Doctors and their plan and what my roll in it was supposed to be and hope that he and Stiles would believe me and help me get rid of them before they made so many chimeras and-” He stops before his rambling gets any worse.
“You’ve thought about a lot, huh?”
“Every day since you gave me a second chance.”
The truck is silent. Theo is mentally berating himself for sharing too much and making it awkward.
“It was a nightmare,” Liam says quietly. “That made me freak out so bad back there.”
“A nightmare?”
“Yeah. I play lacrosse because it gave me a healthy outlet for my anger. When I got accepted onto the Devenford team, it was exciting and everything I needed to channel some of this heat that’s always there under the surface. Brett? I looked up to him. Not just because he was stupid tall.” Theo snorts. “Shut up, not like your that much taller than me.” Liam swats Theo’s arm.
“Don’t attack the driver!” Theo ducks away.
“Whatever. Anyway, Brett was cool and confident and an amazing player and all I wanted was to prove to him that I was good enough to be on the same team as him. And I did. The first several games of the season went really well, I was on fire. And then I had an episode. A relatively small one, but it screwed with me the rest of the day and through the game against our biggest rival. We lost because I couldn’t concentrate.
“After wins, the team went to the zoo to throw a party and celebrate. I don’t know if they went to commiserate the loss or anything, but I could imagine how they would spend the night blaming me so I didn’t bother to ask if they had plans to go. I just went home. Especially after Brett tore into me for losing the game. I was in enough control to leave before he triggered another full episode, but having the person I looked up to talk to me like that was… well, it wasn’t good for me.
“I had this really vivid nightmare that night about Brett and the team kidnapping me and throwing me in one of the cages then shooting an endless amount of balls at me. When I woke up I was still curled up with my head covered like I was trying to protect as much of myself as I could. My whole body ached like I really had been hit multiple times.” Liam shrugs. “It wasn’t real, but it felt real. Real enough to make me wary of Brett. He’d acted like nothing happened and we just had a bad game and we could move on from it so I tried my best to do the same. Today, I basically felt like I was back in that dream, caged and beaten. And instead of seeing Brett and the team, I saw Nolan and his crossbow. And I got so pissed that I felt so helpless. Didn’t help that you were there to witness it.”
“Why would that matter?”
“Because you’re you.”
What does that even mean?
“Forget about it. Did you talk to Scott while I was out?”
“Oh, yeah. The warehouse was a bust and a trap. All of the weapons have already been distributed and to top it all off, Jiang and Tierney are dead. Gerard left… enough of them for Scott to detect behind a door and rigged the door to activate the fire alarm, sucking all of the air out of the room when he opened it. He and Malia almost died but Lydia screamed the door down. We’re instructed to lay low.”
“Lay low where?”
“There are a few options but I’m taking us to the preserve.”
“Why?”
“There’s a place off the road that’s completely secluded by trees. We’d be able to hear anyone that tries to find us before we could possibly be found. You can take the back seat if you want.”
“We’re going to sleep in your truck?”
“Anywhere with an actual bed isn’t a safe option. Well, maybe the tunnels but that’s a No place for me so...” Theo looks over at Liam. “Got any better ideas?”
“Not really,” Liam grumbled.
“There you go. Do you want the back seat or not?”
“Um. I think I’ll just lean the seat back. I’m so exhausted, I could sleep on concrete.”
You say that but these seats are uncomfortable as fuck.
“Fine.”
Ten minutes later, Theo drives the truck between two willow trees and parks in a tiny clearing next to the creek.
“Wow.” Liam looks around. “This really is a small hidey hole. How did you even find it.”
“I was bored one night so I shifted to run off some energy.” Theo clears his throat. “I, uh, chased a rabbit under those trees. When I saw this place, I knew it would be perfect to park my truck if I didn’t want to be found. I use it when I’m too tired to function and need an uninterrupted night’s sleep.”
“Oh. Yeah, I guess I could see how this would be a good place to stay. For that.”
No need to smell embarrassed, Little Wolf. I’m way past humiliation.
“Why didn’t- why didn’t you stay out here every night?”
Couldn’t get to you very fast if I was all the way out here, now would I?
“Shitty service. No use to the pack if no one can get ahold of me, right?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Liam reaches down and fumbles with the seat controls before finding the lever that tilts the seat back.
Theo reaches back and pulls out his blanket, offering it to Liam.
“I should be okay. Werewolf, you know? I stay pretty hot.”
Yeah, you do.
“Alright, well if you change your mind.”
“Do you have an extra hoodie I could borrow? That oughta work just fine for me if you don’t mind.”
Christ, Liam. I’d kill someone to see you in one of my hoodies.
“Yeah, gimme a sec.” Theo twists around, getting up on his knees to lean into the back and pull his duffle bag out from under the back seat. He hears Liam’s heartbeat pick up a little. Looking back he sees the beta staring intently at the dashboard.
What’s that about?
He pulls out a grey hoodie and flips back in his seat, handing it to Liam. “Here.”
“Thanks.” Liam pulls the hoodie over his head and Theo’s mouth goes a little dry at seeing the small strip of skin that’s revealed when his shirt rides up.
Get a grip, Raeken. Don’t make this any more awkward.
Theo tilts his own seat back and kicks off his shoes before draping the thin blanket over himself. He resists the urge to turn his head and stare at the werewolf in the passenger seat. It’s starting to really smell less like Theo in the truck and more like Theo
and Liam
and Theo’s animals rumble happily inside him at the realization.
“Were you going to eat it?” Liam interrupts his thoughts.
Theo looks at him, confused. “What? Eat what?”
“The rabbit you were chasing?” Liam smirks at him.
“No.” Theo snorts. “I was chasing it for fun. I haven’t been so hungry that I had to resort to bunnies in the woods for sustenance.”
“Good.” Liam murmurs.
Theo sends the beta a questioning look only to see that Liam’s face is slack and he’s fast asleep. “Night, Little Wolf,” He whispers.
His own eyelids droop and Liam’s heartbeat lulls him into the first peaceful sleep he’s had since he’d been brought back.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“You must be swift as a coursing river. With all the force of a great typhoon!”
Theo wakes up to Li Shang's recruits singing in Liam’s pocket. The beta grumbles and digs his phone out.
Oh, sure, he has cell service out here, but more importantly…
“That’s really you’re ringtone?”
“Fuck off,” Liam grumbles. “Mulan is a badass.” He answers his phone. “‘Lo?”
“Liam,”
Scott’s voice sounds from the phone.
“Shit, man. I should’ve called you earlier. I’m sorry. It’s been… chaotic. You guys should get to the hospital as soon as you can. Mason is here, Corey is with him now. Lydia and my- my parents are here, too.”
Scott’s voice is shaky.
“They’re all okay now, but someone shot up my house while we were inside. Argent got lucky. Malia and I did too, but if it had to have been anyone, why couldn’t it have been us? We heal. We-”
The alpha cuts himself off. Clearly, he’s been thinking those thoughts for a while.
Liam's breathing is shallow and he's squeezing his phone so hard the screen cracks. Theo gently pries the phone from his hand and puts it to his ear. He already has his seat up and is turning the key in the ignition. ”Scott? We’re in the preserve, but we’ll be there as soon as possible. Thanks for letting us know.”
Theo sets Liam’s phone down on the center console and backs out of the little clearing and onto the path. He goes as fast as he dares before hitting the highway. When his tires meet the pavement, he spares little regard for the speed limit.
He can hear Liam’s heart beating wildly as anger permeates the air.
Shit.
At the risk of getting punched, Theo reaches over and lays a hand on Liam’s arm. He must’ve gotten hot while he was sleeping because he’s no longer wearing Theo’s hoodie. Theo hides his disappointment and says, “He’s fine. Scott said everyone is okay.”
“Mason’s human. Melissa and Argent and Scott’s dad are human. Lydia can’t heal like us. I get that the hunters are afraid of us and want
us
dead, but now they’re attacking humans, too? Associating with us is a death warrant now?” Liam clenches his fists and Theo can smell the blood where Liam’s claws are digging into his palms.
To distract Liam from his spiral, Theo says, “Please refrain from bleeding on my seats. I just had the upholstery replaced. You should know, you were there.”
Theo wills his heartbeat steady, then reaches over and gently tugs at Liam’s fingers until they loosen, then returns his hands to the wheel when he’s satisfied Liam’s relaxed a little. He tries not to think too hard about why the contact had worked; to hope.
Liam takes a deep breath and nods, wiping his healed hands on his shirt.
When they pull into the hospital parking lot, Liam has his door open before Theo even turns the truck off. “Woah, Liam. You might want to consider changing your shirt at least.” He points down at Liam’s ripped, dry-blood-stained shirt.
Liam glances down, then glares at Theo. “Gee, I wonder how that happened.”
Theo holds his hands up in surrender. “Just remember that you already broke my nose. ‘
Three times.’
So, change your shirt before some clueless nurse tries to put you on a gurney.”
Liam rolls his eyes but pulls his shirt over his head. To distract himself, Theo changes his shirt as well. By the time he pulls a black long-sleeve over his head, Liam’s fastening the last buttons on the shirt he’d pulled out of his own duffle.
Theo braces himself before entering the hospital. It’s the first time he’s been there since the Ghost Riders.
At least it’s during the day this time.
They rush through the front doors and into the waiting area. Scott stands up when he sees them. “Liam!” He stops the beta from shooting past him. “Hey, he’s okay. He’s resting. He’s going to be fine. I’m sorry I forgot to call earlier.”
Liam takes a deep breath and nods. “Can I see him?”
“Let’s go ask.” Scott drapes an arm over Liam’s shoulder and leads him toward the front desk.
Theo doesn’t follow them. He considers going back to his truck but doesn’t trust himself to not just drive off. He keeps an ear on Liam and turns toward an empty line of waiting chairs. Maybe he can doze a little.
He listens to Corey explain that he’d been upstairs, sleeping off the exhaustion of being invisible all day, following Mason. The other chimera was beating himself up for not protecting him when that had been the reason to tail him in the first place. Theo can only imagine how much of a mess he’d be if Liam had been seriously hurt on his watch.
That last thought makes Theo pause. He
would
be a mess. Hell, he’s practically already one, following the beta around like a lost puppy. No wonder the other pack members send him those looks. If pre-hell Theo could see him now, he’d probably gut himself on principle.
Theo pushes his self-reflection away and listens as Liam reassures Corey that he doesn’t blame him. Then he asks who did the shooting. No one knows. They’d all been too worried about the injured to check the surrounding area for scents.
Sloppy.
Theo stays in the waiting room for hours, mostly in the increasingly uncomfortable chair. He drinks too much shitty coffee and stares unseeing at the tv in the corner of the room while listening out for the members of the pack.
Miraculously, the bullet that hit Mason went straight through, it didn’t hit anything but fat and muscle. Lydia’s bullet had lodged into a rib but was easily removed. The broken rib will be hard on her for a while. Agent McCall had to have part of his liver removed and was transferred to another hospital after he was stabilized. Argent got the bullets extracted from his arm, then left saying something about following some rumors south of the border. Melissa was in the worst condition, the bullet had entered right above her heart, but had missed all major aortas. She’ll be back on her feet in no time.
All in all, their humans and banshee will be alright. Well, not
theirs.
Scott’s. The pack’s humans and banshee. They’re not Theo’s any more than he’s theirs. It’s why he’s been sitting in the waiting room instead of checking on anyone.
He’s starting to wonder what he’s even doing in the hospital when no one even wants him there when Liam marches out of Mason’s room and out the doors.
“Where are you going?” Theo hurries after him.
“To get answers!”
Theo grabs his arm. “At least let me drive you where you want to go.”
Liam rips his arm out of Theo’s grip. “I’m going to find that sniveling asshole and his boyfriend and they’re going to tell me what I want to know. Meet me there or not.”
He turns and starts running in the direction of the school. Right into Monroe’s territory. If Liam keeps up that speed and ignores the roads, cutting through alleys and backyards, he probably will make it there before Theo can get in his truck. Shit.
*
Theo parks in the very back of the parking lot behind the school. He leaves his truck and scents the air, searching for Liam’s unique scent. He’s definitely here, but Theo can’t pinpoint where he is.
Sighing, Theo sprints across the parking lot as fast as he can and presses himself against the side of the building. He keeps his senses alert for any danger as he slinks around the corner and sees the lacrosse field. Theo pauses under an alcove, shaded by the evenings fading sunlight, watching as boys leave through the side entrance of the locker rooms.
He hears a scuffing sound above him. Brows furrowed, he slowly eases away from the wall, craning his head up to see the roof.
Oh, damn.
There Liam is, pacing above the locker room door, clearly waiting for someone specific to walk out.
Shit. Theo assumes from Liam’s comment outside of the hospital that he’s waiting for Nolan and Gabe. But since Nolan was probably still on his way home from the zoo when the shooting went down, he probably won’t know who was involved. Gabe wasn’t at the zoo, though, so he’d be the best person to ask. But in Liam’s agitated state, he’s probably not thinking that logically. And if he tries to grab either of them where someone can see… shit.
Theo needs to make sure Liam grabs Gabe and that he’s alone when he grabs him. He sighs and slips through the closest door. Luckily the school day is over and the hallways are empty. Theo can hear a few heartbeats; teachers preparing for the next day, janitors, kids in tutoring. He makes his way toward the main entrance of the locker room.
The door doesn’t squeak when he opens it and enters the locker room. He hears Nolan speaking and peeks around the lockers to see him standing in front of Gabe, blocking his way to the rear entrance.
“Wait, okay? Yesterday really sucked for me and I was hoping we could talk about it. We used to talk all the time, but now you barely talk to me at all.” He reaches out to grab Gabe’s wrist.
Gabe sighs. “I know. And once all of this is over and we’ve taken care of our pest problem, things will go back to normal, okay?”
Theo shifts and catches Nolan’s attention. The boy sees him and his eyes widen. Theo narrows his eyes and brings a finger to his lips. When Nolan doesn’t move or say anything, Theo points toward the back door and shakes his head, then nods back toward the main entrance, mouthing
‘run’.
Gabe turns to see what Nolan is looking back and Theo ducks behind the row of lockers.
“What?” Gabe asks.
“I- I just remembered that I left a worksheet in my locker for French and if I don’t turn it in I will definitely fail. I’m going to stop by my locker before I head home. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Yeah. See you later.”
Theo watches Nolan rush past him and through the locker room door without looking back.
Looks like he can be smart after all.
Theo leans against the lockers and listens to Gabe dig through his locker, close it, lock it, and walk toward the back door.
3… 2… 1…
The back door bursts open and Liam tosses Gabe into the center of the locker room.
As Liam looms over him, eyes glowing and fangs bared, the hunter holds his hands up as if to ward Liam off. “I don’t know anything! I swear. I don’t know what happened to Scott’s house.” Theo wishes Gabe wasn’t so panicked so he could hear if he was lying or not.
Liam growls before hauling Gabe up by his neck. “Did you know who was there? Did you know Mason was in there?”
“No, I didn't know anything. I don't know anything!”
Hasn’t Gerard taught you not to lie to a werewolf, dumbass.
Gabe yells in alarm as Liam snarls and spins him around and slams his face into a mirror above one of the sinks.
“Maybe you haven't noticed lately, but I've been having trouble controlling my anger.”
‘Kay, so that’s kinda hot.
“When things happen to my friends, I just can't seem to help it.”
“No, Liam, wait, please,” Gabe begs.
Liam growls again. “I just get so angry!” He pushes Gabe’s head further into the mirror. The glass starts to spiderweb around the hunter’s head.
That’s… not a good sign.
“Stop, Liam, please.” Gabe grips the sink as blood drips from his head onto the porcelain. His fear permeates the air.
Okay, nope.
Theo moves to stand a few feet behind Liam.
“You think I'm going to kill you?” Liam presses harder. “You think we're all killers? Maybe we should be.”
“You're really gonna kill him?” Theo asks, arms crossed. Liam turns to look at him. “I mean, I don't care if you do,” Liam turns back, “but, have you thought this through? Any idea where you're gonna dump the body? But no one saw you grab him, did they? 'Cause that could be a problem.”
“I don't care.”
“I don't care either, but at least let me help. I'm the one with experience here.” That gets Liam’s attention again.
There you go, Little Wolf. Focus on me.
“If we kill him, we'll have to find the witnesses and kill them, too. Which means we're gonna need shovels, some plastic bags, maybe a chainsaw-”
Liam grunts and drops the hunter. His breathing is heavy as he stares at his reflection and the blood on the mirror. He features shift back to human and he says, “You made your point.”
5 and 5, and we’re still not even.
“And you didn't kill him,” Theo says seriously. “That's progress.”
Liam marches up to him. “Why do you keep trying to save me? You think it'll make Scott forget about everything you did and he'll just let you into the pack? Scott's never gonna trust you.”
Can confirm that Scott has literally nothing to do with all of this.
“You might wanna remember what Scott's goal has been all along: Keep people alive.”
From the floor, Gabe grunts, “He should try harder.”
Liam turns around. “What are you talking about?”
The hunter looks confused. “You don't know, do you?” Gabe leans up on his elbow.
Theo comes up behind Liam. “Know what?”
When Gabe doesn’t answer, Theo glances at Liam who looks like he’s about to shove Gabe’s face into the mirror again. Theo steps around and does it for him.
“About the other bodies,” Gabe finally grits out.
“What other bodies?” Liam asks.
Theo pulls Gabe back and shoves him toward the door. “Show us.”
Gabe’s eyes shift between Theo and Liam as he hesitates.
Theo gestures toward Liam. “He might not know of any good places to bury a body, but I know plenty.”
Gabe swallows and leads them out of the locker room. They follow him down the hall and into a supply room for the biology teachers. Gabe leads them to the back of the room where a large chest freezer sits. He lifts the door to show them three bodies shoved inside. Frost and frozen blood cover their faces and all of the victims’ eyes were nothing but jagged black pits.
“Does the teacher know about this?” Theo asks.
“That's the teacher.” Gabe indicates the man in the left side of the freezer.
“Unless there's a gun in there, too, this isn't helping us find the shooter,” Liam says impatiently.
Priorities, Little Wolf. Work on them.
Theo brings the conversation back to the matter at hand and asks Gabe, “Why'd you hide these bodies?”
“We didn't wanna get caught.”
“Caught doing what?”
“Testing them. To see if they were werewolves. And they were.”
“Just like you tested Corey?” Liam glares at him.
“But we didn't kill them,” Gabe insists. “Look at their faces. Something else did that.”
“The Anuk-ite.” Theo is sure of it.
“The what?” Gabe asks.
Liam ignores him and turns to Theo. “Why would it want to kill anyone? It feeds off fear. Dead people aren't afraid.”
Theo’s mind is whirling. “Maybe the killing is just a by-product.”
“Of what?”
“Of it looking for its other half. Which means it's looking for a supernatural creature. Someone like us.”
“So these three could have been werewolves, just not the ones that the Anuk-ite's were looking for.”
Theo turns back toward Gabe. “Which means you've been helping it.” He shuts the freezer. “Idiot.”
Gabe meets his gaze. “I don't even know what you guys are talking about. I was just helping Aaron. It was his idea to test everyone.”
“Who's Aaron?” Theo demands.
“He's on the lacrosse team.” Liam answers. “He's just a freshman.” Theo can practically see the gears moving in Liam’s head. “Aaron didn't want to find more of us. He wanted to find his other half.”
Theo gets what he’s saying. “He's the Anuk-ite.”
“What the hell is an Anuk-ite?” Gabe asks.
“It’s a creature that makes the rest of us look like fluffy bunnies. Not that it matters to you because you’ve gone full-on specist.” Theo glowers at him, then turns to Liam. “You should call Scott so he can see this. Figuring out who shot up his house is going to have to go a little lower on the list of priorities. Nobody died. Mason will be sore, but he’ll be fine.”
Liam sucks in a slow breath and nods once.
Theo is grateful he doesn’t try to argue. He's about to dismiss Gabe, but curiosity gets the better of him. "Why do you hate us so much anyway?"
Liam lowers his phone and focuses on the new turn in the conversation.
Gabe's jaw clenches and his eyes go hard. "I'm like the rest of Ms. Monroe's crew. We've all lost people to
you."
He gestures widely to both of them, indicating supernaturals in general.
“I had a cousin. My parents took him in when he was eight when my aunt died in a car accident. Two years ago, he almost died in his own car accident when he was ejected through the windshield and across the pavement. He ended up with four skin grafts and an addiction to pain pills.”
Josh. Fuck.
“Last year, he disappeared for a week. My parents were terrified he’d OD’d in a ditch somewhere. When he showed back up with ‘no memory of what happened’, I didn’t buy it. Especially when he started hanging out with you.” He glares at Theo.
Theo manages to keep his face impassive, but he can’t control his heartbeat pounding wildly in his chest. He barely keeps his breathing under control, but it hitches every couple of breaths. He calms slightly when Liam brushes the back of his hand against his knuckles.
Gabe continues. “Two weeks later, he disappears again and we haven’t seen him since.” The young hunter glares between Theo and Liam, his gaze settles on the werewolf. “Ms. Monroe and Mr. Argent are planning something. And when they’re done, I’m going to kill you.”
Liam’s heart skips at the hatred in Gabe’s eyes and that snaps Theo out of his own head. He steps in front of Liam. “Don’t think for one second that he had anything to do with Josh.” Theo cocks his head at Gabe. “You want some closure? There’s a bridge to the east of the nearest public entrance of the preserve. At the south end of the bridge, on the left side. That’s where he’s buried.” Theo smiles coldly, eyes flashing with a hint of fang. “Run along now before I decide to do to you what I did to him and bury you beside him instead.”
Gabe practically sprints out the exterior door of the little room. Liam rolls his eyes and unlocks his phone to call Scott.
Theo listens as Liam and Scott discuss what they’ve found. The others are already on their way back from the preserve to drop Lydia off at the hospital. Apparently, the dead hellhound, Halwyn, had pierced the veil to show Lydia where to find the skinless remains of a werewolf from the Primal pack; the supernatural second half of the Anuk-ite. As well as a pile of dead bodies. Fun times all around. Hooray.
When Liam hangs up he looks at Theo. “Did- did you really bury Josh?”
“Yeah. I- I dunno. I guess I just didn’t want him to be taken by Parrish again?”
“Is that the bridge where..?”
Theo sighs. “Yeah. Tara was the first person I betrayed. Seemed fitting I lay the pack members I betrayed where her ghost lies. Tracy is buried at the north end.” Liam’s face is unreadable again. Theo shifts uncomfortably. “Back then, it was kind of an inside joke with myself. Now, I’m- I don’t really know how I feel. They shouldn’t be there. Most of the kids got ‘found’ before Parrish could burn them.” He remembers sending Hayden to lead some deputies to the Nemeton. Judging by the unamused look on Liam’s face, he remembers too. Theo suppresses a wince. “Josh’s family
should
have been allowed to bury him. And Tracy?” Theo stares at his hands. “She killed the last of her family when the Doctors made her. That poor girl had only
me
and I-”
Theo cuts off his sentence when he hears shuffling at the open doorway. His head snaps up and he sees Scott and Malia standing there. Malia’s head is tilted in mild confusion and Scott’s face shows understanding. Theo wants none of it. Clearly, they’d heard way too much.
He lowers his hands and straightens his shoulders, forcing his face into neutrality. He points his thumb over his shoulder. “Bodies are in there.”
Thankfully, Scott doesn’t try to push it. He grabs Malia’s hand, gently pulling her toward the freezer. Theo steps to the side to get out of their way. Liam doesn’t bother to move out of his and they end up shoulder to shoulder beside the freezer.
Scott lifts the door and exhales. “That’s exactly how the Primal pack looked. Definitely the Anuk-Ite.”
Malia shuts the freezer. “It's a bad day for finding bodies.”
“There's gonna be a lot more if we don't find Aaron's other half,” Liam points out.
“Which we know nothing about,” Theo throws in his own two cents.
Scott looks at him. “We do know one thing. We know it's a werewolf.”
“We need to find this other werewolf right now,” Liam starts.
Theo finishes. “Preferably before they merge.”
“What happens if they merge?” Malia asking the important questions.
Scott looks back at her, shaking his head. “I don't know, but I got a feeling that it's not going to be good.”
“Any chance you got to put together that army, Scott?” Liam asks his alpha.
“You're looking at it.” Malia answers.
Well, shit.
Everyone starts at a voice from the open doorway. “Let's hope this thing doesn't feed off desperation because this room reeks of it.”
Gee, thanks, Peter.
The dude is covered in soot and smells like a gas fire.
“What happened?” Scott asks him.
Peter holds up a charred steering wheel. “The hunters destroyed my perfect automobile.”
I know that feel, bro. But, uh, I don’t think Vic can fix that.
“So, if this thing had anything to do with it, I'd like to see its demise is appropriately painful.” He sets the steering wheel on the window sill.
“I thought you had two cars?” Malia asks.
In his other hand, Peter holds up an object that Theo is pretty sure is a gear shift lever before letting it drop to the floor.
Ouch.
“There's going to be hell to pay.”
*
For the next week, the pack spends most of their time in the preserve or at the hospital as the humans heal. They continue to stay holed up at the animal clinic at night. Before Deaton had conveniently disappeared -again-, he’d done some Druid woo-woo on it to make the hunters avoid it. Said it was the same kind of spell around the Nemeton, just on a smaller scale. Whatever. It works and that’s all Theo cares about.
Parrish had the Primal Pack’s bodies and the ones found in the freezer in the school taken to the morgue. Theo was a little surprised that the hellhound hadn’t been summoned to burn their backwoods hideout to the ground to eliminate supernatural evidence. He supposes that with half of the town in the know, maybe there isn’t a point anymore.
When Malia goes to the hospital to try and help Lydia figure out how to contact the dead hellhound, Scott brings Liam, Mason, and Theo into the receiving area of the clinic.
“So, when we were clearing out the Primal Pack,” he pulls out an old flip phone, “this was found. Listen.”
Scott presses a few buttons and leaves it on the back counter.
A voice message starts playing:
“Hey, it's me again. I, uh, don't know why you can't seem to call me back. Maybe it's because you think you're punishing me. But this is too long. It- It's too much. And it's not about us. Something's happening in Beacon Hills, to the people here. I just- I just, I need to know everyone there with you is okay, so can you just, please, call me, please? One call, that's all I'm asking for, and if you can't call me back, then I'm going to get my answer, anyway. That means I'm coming up there myself. If I don't get a call from you, I'm coming up there. So just try, try to remember, it's my pack, too.”
“You pulled this off one of the bodies in the woods?” Theo asks, pushing off the doorframe where he’d been looking out at the clinic’s parking lot as the message played.
“Malia did.” Liam answers.
“Yeah,” Scott confirms. “There were six dead bodies, and one of them had no face.”
“Okay,” Theo stands beside Mason, leaning against the partition to the receiving desk. “So the one with no face, you think that's the woman on the phone?”
“Maybe.”
“It's the same thing that happened to Aaron,” Mason says. It took over his body, basically stole his face and his DNA.” He stands to pace as he talks and looks around at everyone else in the room. “So that means whoever this woman is, she could be the other half of the Anuk-Ite.”
Great.
“Which means she's just half of the problem. The other half we already know about, Aaron,” Theo says to Liam.
“We don't know where he is, though.”
“Okay, hold on.” Theo looks between Scott and Liam’s skeptical faces. “Aren't we supposed to keep both halves apart? If we know about one half, let's just go for that one, that's Aaron.”
“I'm not agreeing with Theo,” Mason says, “but I do think it'd be easier to track down Aaron over a voice on a phone.”
That’s agreeing with me.
“That's agreeing with Theo,” Liam points at him.
“Yeah.” Mason shrugs. “But I thought I'd try to soften the blow a bit.”
The fuck, Mason?
Theo looks around incredulously. “Is everyone completely shocked that I might be right?”
“No, we just don't like it.” Liam snarks, walking away to pick up the phone.
Love you, too, Little Wolf.
Before Theo can dwell on that thought, Scott stands from where he’d been leaning back against the counter. “Maybe we're all right, maybe we should be looking for both, Aaron and the woman on the phone. I mean, since you guys agree…” He looks at Mason and Theo.
Mason blinks at Scott. “Wait, you mean, me and…”
“Him?” Theo finishes.
Are you kidding?
“Yeah. You two find Aaron. Liam and I will try to figure out whose voice is on the phone.”
“If we find either half,” Liam clutches the phone, staring earnestly at Theo. “Maybe we don't have to fight at all. Stop the Anuk-Ite…”
“Stop the war.” Scott finishes for him.
Like father, like son. Fantastic.
“Fine,” Mason sighs. “I’m going to call Corey so he’ll know where I’ll be.”
They’ve had Corey hanging around the school, keeping an eye on the teen hunters. He’d reported to them that Aaron had stopped going to school a few days earlier. It seems he’s decided he’s not going to find his other half at the school and is searching elsewhere.
Mason leaves them in the lobby for some privacy and Scott wanders away to listen to the message again.
How did he even get the pin for the voicemail?
Theo looks up from his musing to see Liam staring intently at him. “What?”
He shakes his shoulders a little. “Nothing. Just… sorry for being a dick earlier. All this waiting around for something to happen had been stressing me out and now that something has happened it’s somehow even more stressful. And-”
“I get it. I wasn’t holding it against you.”
One corner of Liam’s mouth quirks. “Thanks.” He looks toward the door to the examination room where Mason is holed up then looks back at Theo.
“I promise to not let your best friend get killed, Liam.”
“I believe you.”
Theo marvels a little when Liam’s heart stays strong and steady.
Mason walks into the lobby and says, “We’re taking my car.” He walks through the open gate and out the front door.
“Alrighty, then.” Theo turns to follow the human. “I guess I’ll see you guys later.”
Before he reaches the door, Scott speaks up. “Hey, Theo?”
Theo pauses with one hand on the door to look up at him in question.
“Thanks.”
Theo looks from Scott to Liam and back to Scott. “No problem.” He walks out the door before he can see Scott’s face change to understanding.
He folds himself into Mason’s passenger seat, idly thinking about how short he feels so close to the ground compared to his truck. Mason doesn’t say anything as he starts the car and starts driving to the other side of town.
Theo manages to keep the panic out of his voice when he recognizes where they’re going. “You’re taking us to the tunnels?”
“Yep.”
Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
He’d told Liam that the tunnels were a place that would trigger his fear, and now he has to go down into them with Liam’s very human best friend? Theo takes a slow, deep breath. Okay. He can do this. He promised to keep Mason alive and he’s not going to break that promise no matter how scared he gets.
“He’s too good for you, you know?” Mason says, pulling Theo out of his thoughts.
“Really? You want to talk about this now?”
Mason grips the steering wheel tighter. “We all see how you look at him, so yes, I want to talk about this now while we’re alone for once.”
“Look, I’m aware, okay. And I’m not- he’s a big boy who can make his own decisions. The right decisions.” Theo stares down at his hands as though he could see the blood he’s spilled on them. “All I want is to make sure he’s alive to make those decisions.”
Mason scoffs. “That better be all you want.”
The rest of the ride is silent and when they park outside of one of the outer entrances of the tunnels, one where you have to climb down through a hatch, Theo’s glad Mason is human and can’t hear his heartbeat spike involuntarily.
He pauses when he sees Mason pull a warped baseball bat out of his back seat. He stares pointedly at the part that looks like it had been melted.
“Before Monroe killed that other hellhound, Halwyn, he attacked Liam at school. I wasn’t just going to leave Liam there, was I?” Mason examined the bat. “Obviously, he blocked my attack, but I distracted him enough to let Liam fight back.
Liam had fought the hellhound?
Where was I??
“When did this happen?”
“A few weeks ago. The day before she got Brett.” Mason angrily bangs the bat against the asphalt.
So, around the time he got kidnapped. Fucking great.
He’s not sure what his face is doing, but it prompts Mason to say: “You could just stay here. I’ll find Aaron on my own.”
Theo suppresses the urge to growl and instead pulls open the hatch and jumps down into the tunnel.
As if I’d let you go down there by yourself. I’d never be able to look Liam in the eye again.
Instead of saying any of that though, he says, “You'd never be able to find Aaron on your own, you're not smart enough.”
The smell of the tunnels brings back memories he’d rather not think about. He’s not sure if it’s just his own subconscious or the Anuk-Ite’s influence, but he already wants to flee as far and as fast as possible. The last thing he needs is a fragile human tagging along.
He says as much to Mason as he starts climbing through the hatch. When Mason hops off the ladder, he responds, walking up behind Theo. “That's a pretty egotistical thing to say, don't you think? ‘You'd never be able to find Aaron on your own, you're not smart enough.’"
Ego’s got nothing to do with it, kid.
Theo turns to face him. “So if you found him, what were you gonna do? Beat him up with your AP Calculus book?”
Mason brings the bat up to his shoulder. “I can be resourceful.” Theo reaches out and grabs the bat, tossing it behind him. Mason huffs, and brings his hands to his hips. “Was that necessary?”
No, but it was funny.
Theo doesn’t stop Mason as he brushes past him to pick up the bat.
“Okay, so you're the smart one.” Theo concedes. “Why are we down here? Shouldn't we be looking around the school, or somewhere with better lighting?” He starts following Mason down the tunnel.
“Aaron hasn't been in class in days. The last sighting of the Faceless was in the tunnels. Parrish burned the body, but, you know, none of us have ever been back down here to check.”
“Why not?” Theo pauses when Mason does, watching as Mason grips his bat tight. He can hear the human’s heartbeat pick up, see the slight tremble in his limbs, smell the sour scent of fear.
“Because we're scared. We're all scared to come back down here. You feel it, right? It's like it doesn't want us here.”
Theo moves to walk past Mason, pausing at his shoulder to say. “That makes two of us.”
He makes it all of two steps before he pauses. He swears he can hear the hissing of the Geneticist’s breathing through her gas mask, the heavy thud of the Pathologist’s boots, the clank of the Surgeon’s cane against the concrete, the gurgle of Hauptmann’s tank. His sister’s voice whispering, whispering.
Theo...
He knows they’re all gone, dead or trapped with the Wild Hunt, but he looks around, waiting for his demons to come for him.
“You're afraid.” Mason’s voice pulls him out of it. He steps up beside Theo. “That's the exact reason why we should be looking down here. I feel it, too.” He steps ahead and Theo stares after him before following.
After a few minutes, they turn a corner and find two tunnels they can follow. The one on the right is well lit, the one on the left is shrouded in shadows.
Mason sighs. “Okay. Nice and bright, dark and spooky...” He starts to turn toward the well-lit tunnel.
Theo grabs his shoulder to stop him. “You're right. We need to follow our fear.” He starts walking toward the creepy tunnel, stopping and turning when he realizes Mason isn’t following him. He spreads his arms, “Hey, it was your idea.”
Mason takes a moment to psyche himself up, gripping his bat and taking a couple of deep breaths. He sighs heavily and follows Theo, bat at the ready.
They walk for an hour, the tunnels twisting and turning. They have no determined destination, so when they find a room or a new tunnel, they follow their fear in whatever direction they think they need to go.
They walk for two hours. The stench of fear permeating Theo’s nose as he tries to keep his own shit together. He’s fraying at the edges, unable to find the same comfort in Mason as he does Liam. And fuck if that doesn’t answer questions he’s been blatantly ignoring.
“These tunnels go on forever,” Theo complains, “and we've been down here for hours.”
“No real news from the last time you said it 20 minutes ago.” Mason snarks.
“I wasn't doubting the plan 20 minutes ago,” Theo says, continuing to follow Mason,
“If you're so concerned, just go.” Mason shrugs. “I mean, no one's forcing you to stay here.”
“Yeah, and leave you and our army in charge of my survival? Don't think so.”
“Whatever it takes just to save your own ass, and just nobody else's.”
“I'm here, aren't I?”
Didn’t I
just
confess to you about my investment in Liam’s survival in the car?
Theo pulls ahead of him. “Maybe I wanna be in the pack.”
If only so I can continue following the Little Wolf around like a lost puppy because apparently, I’m in love with the little asshole.
“Yeah, right.” Mason stops and Theo turns to look at him. “You, you expect me to believe that?” Mason’s breathing is heavier than it’s been since they got down there. “A pack is about trust. I mean, the first thing you'd do is figure out a way to kill all of us.” Theo looks away from him.
That’s obviously not true anymore and you’re usually smart enough to figure that out.
“And it doesn't matter who forgets. I won't.” Mason’s hands are shaking furiously and Theo is only half-listening to the hurtful things he’s saying. “I saw Scott's mom. I saw what you did. And as much as I'm terrified of what's down here, I'm way more terrified of turning my back on you.”
Tears are gathering in Mason’s eyes; he’s fucking terrified. Theo turns away from him and listens. He assesses his own reactions, bringing his hand up to see it trembling wildly. He looks back up at Mason and realizes what’s happening. He summons his chimera, tapping into the supernatural strength and speed. His vision shifts and he can feel his fangs drop. He roars and tackles Mason to the ground as a boy rushes out of a dark tunnel to his right and barely misses shattering one of their skulls with a pipe. The pipe hits a series of larger pipes, busting them open, steam pouring out and obscuring their vision.
They scramble back as Aaron comes toward them with the pipe, swinging wildly. Theo manages to tackle him and toss him away. He goes to Mason and helps him sit up. “You okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I'm fine.” Mason looks around. “Where's he?”
“I don't know.” Just as he says it, he hears Aaron behind him and ducks before he’s hit with the pipe.
Theo straightens from his crouch and slices his claws over Aaron’s shoulder, causing him to drop the pipe. But where Aaron only hisses at the pain, they hear a loud, animalistic scream coming from somewhere. Aaron elbows Theo in the face, knocking him to the ground, and runs off.
“What was that?” Mason asks as Theo looks him over.
“I don't know, but we gotta find him.” Theo reaches for Mason to help him stand. “All right, get up, I can't leave you.”
They both grunt and Theo realizes Mason is more hurt than he’d thought.
“Wait, wait, something's happening.” Mason insists, sitting heavily. “We need, we need to figure it out.”
“So figure it out.” Mason shakes his head, clearly in too much pain to be able to think too much. Theo smells blood and realizes he’s ripped open his stitches as well as banged up his leg when Theo had tackled him out of the way.
Fuck. Fuck! This is my fault, my fault! Maybe I can help.
He grabs Mason’s hand, trying to take his pain. He’s never done it without the intention to kill before and he can’t seem to do it now. “I can’t-” “I can't.”
Mason shakes his head at him. “You can't take pain if you don't care.”
But I do care!
And not just because Liam would want him to help his friend. He could have bolted once he realized the Aunk-Ite was close. Instead, he put his ass on the line for Mason and has been ever since.
Theo blinks back tears of frustration. It’s his fault Mason is in so much pain, he should be able to take it back!
They hear Aaron running back toward them. Theo stands to confront him. If Theo can’t help Mason, at least he can fight for him.
“Theo. Hey, Theo Theo, don't fight him! - It's what he wants!”
He barely registers Mason’s words before shifting and roaring to attack. Aaron dodges his attack and pushes him against the pipes. Theo makes to rip his head off but Aaron grabs his arms and forces them back. Before Theo can make another swipe, Aaron grabs his wrists and plunges Theo’s claws into is own stomach.
What the-
Another demonic scream echoes through the tunnels, followed by another when he forces the claws out. Theo finally realizes what Mason was trying to tell him. The woman, or whoever, Aaron’s other half, screaming when Aaron gets hurt.
Aaron kicks Theo’s chest, breaking some ribs and Theo crashes on to the ground. Aaron runs off again, following the sound of his other half’s screaming.
Fuck.
Mason scoots his way across the tunnel and leans over to help Theo sit up. They both grunt in pain, panting as they watch Aaron’s figure disappear.
Theo huffs out a half-hysterical laugh. “How do I always manage to fuck up this badly? We came here to keep them apart and not only is he on his way to merge with his other half, but I also helped him find them and got our asses kicked in the process.”
“Yeah, well, I should’ve figured out that the scream came from his other half as soon as he ran off the first time. I could’ve told you to get us out of here instead of trying to fight him.”
“First of all, you’re in a lot of pain and that’s my fault. Second, you did figure it out and I didn’t listen. Third, if I had listened, he would’ve killed us and still used my claws to hurt himself, so.” Theo shrugs.
Mason lolls his head to look at Theo. “This whole martyr thing is a terrible look on you. I think I liked you better when you were a sociopath.”
Theo sighs. “Never have been and never will be a sociopath. I feel just as much as the rest of you.”
Mason doesn’t say anything for a long moment, then, “I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I didn’t-”
“Don’t lie and say you didn’t mean it.”
“But here’s the thing,” Mason reaches out and rests a hand on Theo’s shoulder. “I really didn’t. I’m terrified of those things being true, but I know they’re not. Most of them anyway. You wouldn’t kill all of us. You’d definitely keep Liam alive.” He smirks. “And probably me because I’m Liam’s best friend and upsetting him isn’t exactly in your best interest, is it?”
Theo rolls his eyes. “That’s basically what I told Stiles after the Ghost Riders. Except I included the entire pack, not just you. And it’s still true enough, but, uh,” he turns away with an embarrassed cough, “it’s not the only reason I wouldn’t kill everyone. Not anymore.”
Theo can feel Mason’s gaze boring into the side of his face but he refuses to look back.
“We should probably get out of here.” Theo brings a hand to his ribs and twists his torso, grimacing. “Maybe after my ribs heal a little more, though.”
“Are we going to go back the way we came? Please say no.”
“No,” Theo dutifully replies. “We’ll just follow Aaron’s scent out, now that I know what he smells like, it shouldn’t be hard to follow at all. It’s very distinctive and won’t get lost in all of the other stenches down here.”
Mason opens his mouth to reply, but they hear a werewolf’s roaring howl above them.
“Liam.” Theo bolts up, heart in his throat.
I left him alone for too long. Fuck!
“No time for healing. Can you walk or do I need to carry you?”
Mason blinks up at him owlishly. “Uh. I should be able to walk if you help.”
They both groan as Theo lifts him up and drapes one of his arms over his shoulders. “Fine, but if you slow us down too much, I’m carrying you in my arms like a swooning bride and it’ll be embarrassing for both of us.”
Mason snorts, “Speak for yourself.”
Theo scoffs as they start making their way out of the tunnels.
Heading your way, Little Wolf. You better be alive when we get there.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The days following the Anuk-Ite’s rise to full power have been suspiciously quiet as far as Theo is concerned. Scott doesn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but Theo knows the alpha is as unnerved by the lack of the activity as he is. Its influence is still going strong among the townspeople, but for some reason, it had decided to lay low after apparently turning half the hospital into stone. Lydia thinks maybe it’s content to watch the humans destroy its greatest threats before having its way with them. Theo thinks she might be right, but nobody wants to ignore the threat of the hunters trying to hunt for a creature that’s too dangerous to find.
Which is how Theo found himself on the roof of Argent Arms International warehouse listening to a crowd of people apparently watching a werewolf being tortured on the electric fence.
“
AHHHHHHHHHH!!!”
Theo feels sympathy pains throughout his entire body at the memory of being tied to that fence. He doesn’t recognize the wolf’s voice and wonders where the hunters found him.
Whoever is controlling the power switch turns down the current and the wolf pants in pain and relief.
A familiar voice reaches Theo.
“Take a good look.” He can hear her footsteps approaching the wolf. “We keep that current of electricity coursing through him because
otherwise
, he'd break through his bindings. Because
otherwise
, he'd break free and
kill
us.
The wolf growls at her. “I'd start with
you
.” Theo can tell his fangs are bared by his lisp.
Immediately, the wolf is electrocuted again. And he roars in pain once more. “AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”
The current stops again and Monroe keeps talking. “The people who came before us used arrows and crossbows to fight them. This is all they had to protect themselves-- a sliver of wood.” Theo assumes she’s demonstrating with an arrow.
“While he has claws that can cut into bone, and fangs to tear us apart! He's stronger, faster, and his ability to heal can only be described as extraordinary.”
It is a pretty sweet set up, to be honest.
Monroe pauses and Theo’s ears perk up when he hears, “You. What's your name?”
“Sydney…” a girl answers timidly.
Wait,
Sydney?
From school?
Theo remembers the quiet girl who’d shared many of his AP classes. What is she doing at a hunter rally?
“You've seen them up close,” Monroe states. When Sydney doesn’t answer, she says, “Don't be shy.”
Sydney takes a deep breath and says, “There was a lacrosse game... We got trapped in the library.”
“And what did you do?”
“Nothing. All we could do was hide.”
“It's okay, Sydney. I did the
same
thing... Until I got tired of hiding.” Her voice raises as she speaks to the entire crowd. “Tired of being
afraid
. And I decided it's
their
turn to be afraid!”
Theo hears her march toward the wolf and a squelching sound immediately followed by the wolf’s scream can only mean she has just stabbed him with the arrow.
The wolf grunts as Monroe continues her speech. “It's
their
turn! Their turn to hide. Their turn to be
alone.
Their turn to run. Their turn to be
hunted
.
”
Theo will admit it to only himself but he feels his fear rise at her every word as if the Anuk-Ite were standing right beside him. His heart pounds in his chest and his breathing is shallow. “I was alone when I killed that Hellhound-- a creature they said couldn't be killed.” He takes some vague satisfaction in knowing that she only killed that hellhound by sheer dumb luck. The silver coating her bullet had killed him.
The crowd cheers in response to her declaration.
“You know who else was alone?” She pauses. “Nolan, come here.”
Theo recognizes the rabbit fast heartbeat of the little hunter. He finds it curious that Nolan doesn’t seem comfortable around Monroe and her followers. He remembers what Nolan had told Liam at the zoo.
She’ll kill me if I don’t.
“You wanna know what Nolan did?” Theo listens as Nolan slowly approaches Monroe. When he stops, she continues. “On his own, late at night, he risked his life to try to take out
Scott McCall
-- the Alpha.”
What? No way.
The crowd mumbles in approval. “This sixteen-year-old boy put enough bullets in that house, I'm surprised it's still standing!”
Nolan’s heartbeat stumbles over itself at her words.
No. Nolan didn’t do it.
Theo is sure of it. The wolf’s huffed growl of disbelief confirms his belief. Theo bets Gabe did it. He grits his teeth, pissed at himself for letting the asshole go.
Monroe lets the crowd cheer a moment before quieting them down. “
You
won't have to be alone.” A switch is flipped and the hum of industrial lights fills the air. “Thanks to Gerard, you have an armory-- guns, weapons... And, most of all, you have each other.” The wolf’s heartbeat rises in panic. Theo guesses the armory is full once again. “I don't wanna pretend that this will be easy. I know it goes against our nature as protectors.” Theo chokes. “But, you're going to have to be like Nolan and Sydney. Keep their bravery in mind as you step out tonight and do what you know you have to do.”
Tonight?
Theo nearly misses the ripping sound before the wolf roars again, causing the crowd to erupt once more.
“Sydney,” Monroe says, and the crowd quiets down once again. Theo listens as Sydney slowly walks toward Monroe. “Get him out of here.” Theo assumes she’s talking about the abused wolf. “You, too.” Judging by the uptick in Nolan’s heartbeat, Theo knows she was talking to him.
He listens to the shuffle and drag of Sydney and Nolan dragging the wolf away until Monroe says, “Help yourselves.”
More whooping is heard from the rest of the new hunters as they presumably check out the weaponry Monroe and Gerard are offering them. Theo can hear the clicks and chinks of guns being lifted and examined.
They’re arming the entire fucking city.
He pulls out his phone to text Scott with an update and swears at the No Signal icon at the top of the screen.
Fuck.
He’ll have to get all the information he can before leaving so he can relay it all at once when he’s back within service range.
Nothing interesting seems to be happening beyond the hunters picking out weapons so he uses his senses to follow Nolan and Sydney. Both of their hearts are erratic and their breathing is labored. The wolf is clearly weighing them down and eventually, they stop in what Theo assumes is a hallway in the east side of the building. He hears the ragged breathing of the wolf as he asks faintly, “Where is he? What have you done with him? Where is he?”
Who?
The sound of a body hitting the floor reaches Theo before the wolf pants, “Where's Jackson? Where's Jackson…”
Jackson? Whittemore?? I thought he was in London.
The wolf continues to pant and ask about Jackson. Theo hears Sydney ask, “What do we do?”
“Ms. Monroe gave me the arrow to finish him off,” Nolan answers.
The wolf growls lowly, but he’s clearly in no condition to defend himself. “That… that doesn’t seem right. He’s already been tortured.” Sydney whispers. “How is this any better than that thing that attacked in the library? I thought- I thought being here would make me feel safer but I’m even more scared now.”
“I know. Me too. I’m
always
scared. But…” Nolan’s breathing picks up. “She’ll kill me if I don’t kill at her command. I didn’t shoot up Scott’s house. Gabe did that to help me. There was a mission- I failed. Twice. As long as Ms. Monroe thinks I tried to kill the alpha, then I get to live.”
“Well, I didn’t hear her tell you to kill him, just to get him out of there. We can just say we didn’t understand. I
can’t
kill him, Nolan.”
“Me neither. God, I can’t! Stabbing Corey's hand, beating Liam up," -Theo growls- "testing everyone? I could do that. But I can’t actually kill someone and it’s going to get
me
killed.” Nolan laughs hysterically.
“Nolan!” Sydney snaps. “Shut up! We’ve got to figure something out.”
“Stab me again,” the wolf huffs out.
“What?” Nolan and Sydney both ask.
“Use the arrow, stab me again. In the chest. I’ll show you where so you miss my heart. It’ll be close, but I’ll heal. You get to 'kill' me and I get to live.”
“You’re just going to trust me to stab you in the right place?” Nolan sounds incredulous.
“I just heard you say you can’t kill me, so yes.” The wolf lets out a harsh chuckle. “You kids chose the wrong side. All Scott has ever wanted is to protect this godforsaken town from the bigger, badder things that show up to destroy it. Who’s going to protect you when he’s gone? Gerard? Monroe? No. They’re going to be on their crusade to kill all supernatural creatures. Which will only get them killed eventually. You need Scott and his pack alive.”
“At the library that night,” Sydney says quietly, “Scott was the one who told us to hide. He fought the huge creature. Distracted it so that it wouldn’t attack us. Oh, god. What am I even doing here?”
“Okay.” Nolan inhales shakily. “Show me where to stab you, and I’ll try to warn Scott. And you can leave, Sydney. Just. Stay home. Something big is happening really soon, and you don’t have to be a part of it. Just stay home until it’s over.”
“What about you?”
“I’m in too deep to leave now. I have to warn the- the pack. Give- give them a chance.”
Theo can’t see what is going on, but he imagines Nolan trembling with a determined look on his face.
Glad to see you found some balls, kid.
“Good,” the wolf pants. “Let’s get this over with. Here. Stab right her, straight up. Do me the favor of pulling the arrow back out about an inch after? I’d like to not have my lung heal around it before I have to pull it out.”
“It’s going to stab your lung?” Sydney squeaks out.
“Better than my heart, I assure you.” The wolf sighs. “Just do it.”
“Shit. Okay, okay.” Nolan takes a shuddering breath. Then-
The wolf lets out a short roar that’s cut off by a choking sound and then a cough. Theo hears an answering howl from another part of the building and starts in that direction. Either Nolan killed with the wolf or he didn’t. It’s not Theo’s job to figure it out.
Before he’s out of hearing range, he hears Nolan his, “Fuck.
Fuck!
Did I-?”
“Let’s just hope you did it right and let’s go,” Sydney answers.
Theo’s attention is diverted by a new voice. One he’s only heard in recordings. “-if you killed Ethan, I will rip you apart!” Jackson.
“Now, now, Jackson.” Gerard’s decrepit voice sounds from below Theo. “You should be worrying more about your own hide. Because once I’m finished with you, I’ll reunite you with your lover. But I need you to get to Scott, so here you’ll stay until then.” Gerard’s slow footsteps move as he tells someone else in the room to keep an eye on Jackson.
Theo starts to follow Gerard, but something makes him stay with Jackson a moment longer. Finally, he makes a decision. “Jackson,” he says lowly.
The startled jump in Jackson’s heartbeat lets him know he’s been heard. “Don’t say anything. Pretend you can’t hear me.” He pauses, hoping Jackson obeyed. “Listen, I’m with Scott. I’m here for recon. I’ll tell him you and Ethan are here as soon as I can and we’ll get you out. Ethan is probably still alive, so keep your heads down and hold on.”
With his message delivered, he moves in the direction Gerard had gone. It doesn’t take him long to pick up on his voice once more. The old bastard loves to hear himself talk.
“As soon as you two have the rendezvous secure, report back, and sit tight. You know what local pack members look like, kill them, and anyone stupid enough to ally themselves with Scott McCall with extreme prejudice. Now get out of here.”
“Yes, sir,” two men say before heading toward the door.
Theo is torn once again. Gerard and Monroe might or might not have anything else to say about what they’re planning, but if those two guys really are on some adjacent mission to intercept and kill potential allies, then someone needs to stop them.
Theo sighs heavily and beats his head against the proverbial wall. Why couldn’t he be a chimera that could split itself into multiple beings? He ultimately decides to follow the two on the important errand. Maybe he can sabotage whatever they’re doing and give Scott and the others a little more room to breathe. He watches over the edge of the roof as the two men mount four-wheelers and disappear into the woods.
Theo sighs again at the idea of being out in the woods all night following them instead of finding an excuse to spend it close to the little wolf. He shakes his head at himself and crosses the roof to the same place where he’d gotten onto the roof in the first place. The large tree that towers over the building with branches that nearly hang over the roof was perfect to hide in out of sight of cameras and was situated close enough to more trees that he could climb from one to the other without touching the ground until he was well out of sight of the building.
As soon as Theo’s feet hit the ground he starts sprinting toward the sounds of the four-wheelers. Despite their headstart, it’s dark outside and the men have to go relatively slow to see where they’re going in the minimal glow from their headlights, so it doesn’t take too long for Theo to catch up. When he’s about a hundred yards behind them, he slows down and maintains the distance while he continues to follow.
He follows for about ten more minutes before the riders slow down and then stop. Theo also stops, lowering himself to the ground and focusing his hearing in their direction. He can hear the men climbing off their ATVs.
“You’re sure this is the place?” One asks.
“Of course I’m sure. Argent put the coordinance in himself and I followed them. So here we are.”
“Whatever, man. We’re already on shit duty. I’m just making sure you didn’t fuck us over more.”
“Shut. Up, Sprague,” the second man hisses.
“Whatever,” Sprague repeats.
Theo recognizes those voices. These are the guys who'd first joined Nolan at the zoo. He needs to get closer to figure out why they'd think the opportunity to kill more werewolves
shit detail
. Especially since Gerard sent them to what Theo is pretty damn sure is a cabin owned by Derek Hale’s family.
While still on the ground, he slips out of his clothes, hiding them under a raised root from a large tree before shifting. He takes a moment to stretch out before stalking toward the hunter’s outpost. He keeps his senses alert to any possible traps or cameras as he slinks closer.
He's thankful for his black coat as he creeps closer and watches the men each pull a sack out of the small storage containers on their MTVs. Theo sniffs the air. Mountain ash.
He follows Sprague around the cabin as he pours a line of black ash until he meets the other hunter halfway around. Theo watches as they make their way back to the four-wheelers and set up a trap line to pull to close the mountain ash circle after any werewolves step inside. Not a bad setup, if he’s being honest.
After the hunters move their vehicles closer to the cabin and head inside to wait, Theo creeps up to the mountain ash line on the eastern side of the house where there are only two small windows and breaks the line with his paws.
Not a bad setup if I weren’t a chimera. Suckers.
While he waits for someone to show up, he thinks about how much he’d hated being a chimera before the skinwalkers had sent him to his personal hell. He’d hated being inferior to real werewolves. A cheap knockoff. And it’s true that he’s still a little resentful about his slightly duller senses and his slightly slower healing. But he can do things that the pure wolves can’t and the more he uses these assets to help the pack rather than hurt it, the less he feel inferior.
He listens to the hunters’ check-in and settles in for a long wait.
As the hours pass and he dozes, waking at any twig snap and every hourly check-in where the hunters report no activity, Theo thinks about Liam and the pack and how maybe he could be pack-adjacent someday. He thinks he’s proved himself to be a decent ally, much like Peter.
Fuck it, I’m way better than Peter.
But even if Scott never lets him in, he’s going out of town for college. Liam will be the interim alpha and if Theo can keep making himself useful, maybe Liam will let him in a little more.
He doesn’t expect his… his feelings
-oh, god I have actual feelings for a complete disaster of a werewolf-
to be reciprocated by Liam, but maybe he can convince Liam to be his friend for real. Theo is even willing to put in the effort with Mason and Corey. Mason might not be too hard to get through to since he already knows about how invested Theo is in Liam’s well-being, but Corey. Corey is another concern entirely. He’s got a lot to make up for with the entire pack, but Corey is the one he hurt most on a personal level, and that, that makes Theo sad and ashamed.
He shakes his head before his melancholy thoughts can send him on a downward spiral. He’d spent many hours in his truck thinking about his “pack” and how he’d treated them, using them up, treating them like they were expendable. He was a shit excuse for an alpha and everyone knows it. He’d been a scared little boy inside a teenager’s body wanting power to get away from the awful people who’d hurt him for years. He’d never noticed how much of a monster he’d become until he’d gone to hell. Until he’d recalled every awful thing he’d done since he’d let his sister freeze to death and stole her heart.
As the sun comes up his full bladder and empty stomach make themselves known. He takes care of the former and tries to ignore the latter as the Sprague radios the home base on yet another hour of inactivity. Theo briefly entertains the idea of trying to actually hunt a rabbit, remembering the conversation he’d had with Liam in his truck, but he decides he's still not that hungry. He’s not sure he could actually pull it off anyway.
He starts to slowly patrol around the cabin, hoping to intercept anyone who shows up. If they ever do. At this point, he’s not sure if Gerard’s intel was bullshit or if the potential allies got a hit of the Anuk-Ite’s power and hightailed it out of the area. He sticks within hearing distance and finds ways to entertain himself as the hours pass by excruciatingly slowly.
I could be annoying the little wolf right now.
Theo heaves a heavy sigh and flops down on the ground and gnaws on a large stick.
This is how far I’ve fallen. Christ.
Somewhere between his short naps and patrols, the day passes and the sun sets. The guys in the house aren’t friends, so they don’t do a lot of talking but Sprague likes to bitch, and his partner, Alton, is getting fed up. The impending drama perks Theo up some.
“You can’t tell me you don’t think this is bullshit, Alton. It’s not our fault the kid fucked up. Again.”
“No, but we called for back up with nothing to show for it. So, we did fuck up, Sprague. Just shut the fuck up, man. I’m not taking the fall if you fuck
this
up with your stupid fucking mouth.”
Oh ho. My little ruse at the zoo got you boys stuck in a cabin in the woods, oh so far away from the big plan prep. So sad.
“All I’m saying is that we’d be a lot better use to them than the kid. I don’t care if he blew up the alpha’s house, we care more about the cause than he does. He’s only in it to save his neck. I’m ready to actually do something, man.” The sound of his pacing footsteps on hardwood amuses Theo to no end. He’ll give it to Nolan, the little fucker is good a pissing people off. “Nothing’s happening here. If it hasn’t happened by now, it’s not going to-”
“Shut. The fuck. Up. Sprague!”
Theo’s head tilts at the tone in Alton’s voice. But before he can think about it, the radio crackles and Gerard’s voice comes through the speaker, making Theo’s hackles rise.
"Blood and destruction.
Dreadful objects so familiar.
All pity choked with custom of fell deeds.
Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge.
With Ate by his side come hot from hell.
Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice."
Static rattles as he pauses. What he says next freezes Theo’s blood.
“Do you know the rest, Scott? Do you know your Shakespeare?”
Why is he talking to Scott?
A voice that is not Scott’s answers. "Cry, 'Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war."
“War, indeed. Welcome back, Derek.”
I guess Derek was supposed to come here but decided to go straight to Scott instead.
Theo starts to back away, ears still tuned to the radio inside the cabin. “You must all be feeling rather nostalgic. Are you pleased with the little family reunion I've gathered around you, Scott?” “
“Yeah,” Scott answers, “well, why don't you come join us and I can thank you in person?”
Gerard continues as if he hadn’t spoken. “I even have a few visitors for you, from London. Even someone like
Jackson Whittemore
couldn't resist coming back to Beacon Hills. Say hello, Jackson.”
The sound of electricity crackling and pained groaning fills the speaker. The hunters in the cabin chuckle.
“Do it again, old man,” Jackson growls. “Come a little closer. I'm gonna shove that thing so far up your ass-”
“Lost none of his charm, has he?” Gerard interrupts his threats. “You can find him here with us at the Armory, Scott. In fact, I'm going to tell you where to find all of them.” Theo’s heart beats rabbit fast in his chest.
No.
“Your Deputy Hellhound met some friends of his while responding to a call at Eichen House. Your father was on his way back from San Francisco with the goal of entering the fight. But he didn't get far. You might want to tell your mother to skip her shift at the hospital tonight. Liam and his friends are there now…”
Theo doesn’t hear the rest. As soon as Liam’s name left that evil bastard’s mouth Theo bolted for his truck. He pauses only long enough to shift and put on his jeans and shoes, only because he needs his phone and keys; and running barefoot would slow him down more. The endless minutes it takes him to reach his truck leave him panicked.
He rips open his back door, digs in his duffle, and pulls on the first shirt he finds, forcing himself to calm down as he digs his keys out of his pocket. He takes deep breaths, taking comfort in Liam’s scent still covering the passenger seat. He’s no use to the little wolf if he’s having a mental breakdown. He uses every ounce of training he’d learned with the Dread Doctors to regulate his breathing and heartbeat, to drag his thoughts away from what could be happening and focus on what he needs to do next. He calmly climbs inside the truck and starts it, pulling away from his hidden parking space and starts speeding toward town.
He sets his phone in its dock and keeps one eye on it as he drives, impatiently waiting for the “No Service” message to disappear. When it does, it rings before he can try to call Liam.
“Scott-”
“Theo! Thank god.” The alpha sounds shaken and Theo can’t even appreciate the True Alpha being relieved to hear from him. “We don’t have much time. Whatever Gerard and Monroe have planned, it’s happening tonight and we need all the help we can get. We’re going to the high school, but Liam went with Nolan to the hospital.” Theo growls. “I know, Theo. I’m sorry. He said he had something to show him about the hunters but after the conversation I just had with Gerard, that might’ve been a setup. I sent Mason and Corey to meet them and now I can’t get ahold of anyone. Just like at the Sheriff’s station.”
“I have a feeling the asshole sent me on a fucking wild goose chase for the last twenty-four hours, too.”
Fuck!
“Alright.” He takes a calming breath. “What do you need me to do?”
“Just buy us more time. Wherever Liam and the others are, get them out of there.”
Excellent idea.
“Am I buying you time to come up with a plan, or to get help?”
“Both.”
Oh, nothing too difficult then. Cool.
Theo ends the call and grips the steering wheel as he presses the gas pedal farther down.
Sit tight, Little Wolf. I’m on my way.
*
Theo keeps it together long enough to make it into town. He parks a block away from the hospital and makes the rest of the way on foot. He doesn’t bother going toward the main entrance, he’s sure it’s blocked or guarded. Instead, he goes around the building to a staff entrance. One armed guard stands beside the door. It’s almost effortless for Theo to knock him out and steal his rifle and beanie.
As far as disguises go, it’s pretty shitty, but it’s better than nothing. Besides, these asswipes won’t be looking for someone with a gun.
He slips through the door and marches forward like he’s supposed to be there. No one even bats an eye.
Fucking morons.
As much as he’d like to take them all out, he’s got something much more important to do.
A familiar voice catches his attention from the direction of the morgue.
“-sure I have any friends right now.” Nolan. Just the fucker he needs to see.
He heads toward him listening to Melissa check on him then volunteer him to help take back the hospital.
Well, if anyone can do it, it’s the woman who brought Scott McCall into the world.
He sets the rifle aside and waits for them at the end of the hall and grabs Nolan, slamming him against the wall as soon as he comes into view. With his eyes glowing and fangs bared, he growls in the little hunter’s face.
“Theo!” Melissa hisses at him, pointing her electro-baton at him.
“I’m not going to hurt him, Melissa,” Theo tells her. “As long as he tells me where Liam is.”
“I-I don’t know! I left him on the fourth floor. H-he might still be there.”
“Good enough.” Theo steps back and picks up the rifle. He grabs the barrel and bends it sideways before shoving the ruined weapon against Nolan’s chest before turning toward the elevator.
As he presses the 4 button, he wonders what the fuck he’s even doing there.
Should’ve taken off with Liam as soon as my truck was fixed. Should’ve gone north instead of coming back to this godforsaken town.
The first gunshot goes off as the elevator starts to move.
No, no, nononono.
Theo frantically presses the 4 button over and over as if doing so will make the elevator move any faster.
The sound of guns cocking brings Theo’s heart to his throat.
“Wait,” Gabe’s voice makes Theo freeze. “Let me do it.”
Theo can’t take comfort in the sound of Liam's heartbeat because it’s beating too fast.
“Go ahead, Liam.” Gabe goads. “Run. It'll be more fun that way.”
Fuck, no! Fuck!
Theo claws at the doors.
Fucking open! God fucking damnit!
Someone or something must hear his pleas because the doors open as Liam reaches them and Theo reaches out and pulls the beta to his chest, ducking to the side as the hunters start shooting. He presses the Door Close button and steps back from Liam, even while everything in him wants to bring the smaller boy closer.
Liam looks at him, eyes wide and panting. “What are you doing here?”
Theo pulls the stolen beanie off his head. “I was just asking myself the same thing.”
That’s mostly true.
They stare at the now-closed doors, listening to the sound of bullets pinging off the steel. Luckily, the doors seem to be thick enough that they can’t penetrate.
I can’t believe I actually made it here on time.
Theo leans his head back against the elevator wall and waits for whatever happens next. Maybe the hunters will waste all their ammo on the elevator door.
As soon as he finishes the thought, the shooting stops.
I guess I only get one miracle today, then. Fine.
Liam turns and backs away from the wall, clearly listening at the door.
Theo curses his own still-ringing ears. “They still out there?”
Liam nods. He must hear the hunters’ heartbeats.
Well, fuck.
Theo panics and lies straight through his teeth. “Look, I'm not dying for you.”
“I'm not dying for you, either,” Liam says automatically. Even as his heart skips a beat.
Whaa…
Theo’s eyes drop to look at Liam’s chest but they get caught on his lips, pressed in frustration.
He looks away from Theo, clicking his tongue. Theo watches his ridiculous jawline flex as he thinks.
“But, I
will
...” he looks back at Theo, “fight with you.”
Oh, we’re so talking about this later, Little Wolf.
Theo looks away to reset his thoughts and sighs. “Okay. Let's fight.”
Liam smiles at him and Theo’s traitorous heart trips over itself. His smile shifts into a smirk before he turns toward the door, flicking out his claws. “This will probably be difficult for you, but try not to kill them. Injure and maim only.”
“You just gotta take the fun out of everything,” Theo slurs around his fangs. He stands beside Liam, using one clawed finger to press the Open Doors button then shifts his body into a fighting stance, eyes glowing.
The doors ding open and they snarl at the first two hunters facing the elevator. They sprint toward them before the two surprised men can even fully raise their weapons. Theo and Liam run to each wall closest to them, jumping to kick off them and slam into the hunters. Liam’s hunter gets a few useless shots off before the wolf grabs him. Whips his hunter around, lifting him up and hurls him into the opposite wall.
He glances back to make sure Liam is right behind him, his own hunter crumpled against the wall, before sprinting toward the next set of men with guns raised. He slides to his knees, dodging the shots from a hunter with a handgun. He lunges up to grab him, flipping him around and slams him on the ground while Liam finishes off the first hunter Theo had grabbed.
Three hunters down, Liam snarls behind Theo as he charges toward the fourth, pushing him back and off-balance. Liam races towards them, so Theo ducks so Liam can roll over his back to kick the hunter in the face before he can fully recover.
The fifth hunter, who’d been hanging back, trying to get a clear shot, starts backing away as Liam bounds toward him. He barely has his rifle raised before Liam swipes his arm with his claws and whips it away from him as he passes by. Theo is elated to see Liam crouch behind the hunter’s legs, knowing what the werewolf wants him to do.
Good thinking, Little Wolf.
Theo leaps into the air, kicking out his right leg to slam into the side of the hunter’s head and watches in satisfaction as his trips backward over Liam’s back. His head makes a satisfying crack against the linoleum. They both reach down to lift him and then toss him into the pharmaceutical desk.
Before they can feel any relief, they hear the sound of movement behind them. They turn to see the first hunter Liam had grabbed kneeling on the floor. He slaps his rifle a couple to times, then takes aim.
Aw, fuck. This is going to hurt.
Before they can run or the guy starts shooting, Melissa appears from around the corner and shoves the electro-baton into his back. The hunter falls, firearm clattering to the ground. Liam and Theo stare at her in surprise.
When a second hunter starts to rise, Nolan sprints around Melissa, picks up a dropped rifle, and uses to butt of the weapon to knock the guy in the back of the head.
Well, what do you know?
Theo can practically feel Liam’s perplexity. Before the werewolf can say anything, footsteps sound behind them. Nolan’s face contorts and he yells, “Get down!”
Nolan and Melissa duck as Theo and Liam turn to see Gabe behind them raising his rifle and aiming right at them. Theo grabs Liam and they turn to sprint down the hallway. He pushes Liam forward as Gabe starts shooting. He’s a terrible fucking shot. Bullet after bullet misses them as they run. Eventually, their luck runs out. Liam’s steps falter as lead buries itself into his calf. Theo follows him into the ground as a bullet tears into his shoulder. They growl, clutching their wounds as Gabe keeps shooting.
A moment later, his rifle runs out of ammunition. Gabe curses and ducks around the desk and down the hall to the left. Presumably to reload.
Maybe there is room for more miracles today.
“How much do you want to bet he’s going to come all the way around?” Liam grumbles, gesturing to indicate the hallways.
“You’re probably not wrong,” Melissa tells him as she checks his leg.
Theo crouches down beside Liam, hissing as his shoulder throbs. Melissa turns to him and he waves her away. “Liam first. We get that bullet out and his body will do the rest,” Theo rips the hole in Liam’s jeans wider, ignoring the pain in his own shoulder. “Hold his shoulders, I’m going to dig it out. Bite something, Little Wolf, this is going to hurt.”
“Shit. Okay.” Melissa presses down on Liam’s shoulders as the boy stuffs his jacket sleeve into his mouth.
Theo uses one claw to slice into Liam’s leg to widen the wound enough to pull the bullet out. His chest clenches as Liam groans in pain. He hates putting Liam through more pain. As quickly as he can, he grips the bullet with two claws and plucks it out of the werewolf’s flesh. He tosses the bullet aside and moves out of the way as Melissa dresses the wound with gauze and tape she’d procured from god knows where.
He pauses to listen for Gabe and notes that the sounds of the weapon’s clicking has ceased and footsteps are slowly making their way down the hall. “He’s coming,” Theo warns them, pressing himself against the wall beside a stretcher. The movement jolting his shoulder causing pain to radiate down his entire arm.
FUCK!
“Thanks, Ms. McCall.” Liam grunts as he stands. “Now, you and Nolan get back. Theo, hurry up and fix that.” He nods to where Theo is clutching his shoulder.
Theo growls at him but gets to work on digging out his own bullet. He tears into his shoulder but the bullet won’t budge. It’s lodged into the bone and his hand is shaking too much grip it precisely. Before he can try something else, Gabe comes stalking down the end of the hall.
As he passes the corner Liam’s hiding behind, the wolf growls and lunges at him, gripping his weapon before Gabe can raise it, pushing the hunter against the wall. Gabe reflexively pulls the trigger, sending useless shots to the side. Theo watches the struggle, wanting to help but knowing he’d just get in Liam’s way.
He notes Nolan and Melissa taking cover behind a supply shelf. Melissa shifts, restlessly watching the fight as well.
Liam tries the rip the gun away from Gabe but the hunter holds on, following Liam and using his momentum to press him against the wall.
Theo stretches out to see and is startled to hear a new voice.
“Gabe is fighting with one of the werewolves. I can't get a shot.” A new hunter says into his radio, his other hand holding a handgun aimed at the boys fighting over the assault rifle. “What do you want me to do?”
Monroe’s voice orders clearly from the little speaker.
“Just shoot him! Shoot both of them!
What? No. That’s- What the fu-
He barely notices Nolan scrambling away from his hiding spot as Liam headbutts Gabe, causing the boy to stumble back just as the man starts shooting. Liam’s arm is grazed as he ducks at the sound of gunshots. But Gabe, though. Gabe is stunned as the first shot hits him in the chest. Followed by another. And another. Theo screws his eyes shut and turns his head away. He can’t- can’t watch another kid being betrayed by one of his own.
A fourth shot goes off as a different, loud bang sounds. Theo opens his eyes to see Nolan standing beside the crumpled hunter with a fire extinguisher in his hands. He looks over to see Gabe start to fall, blood pouring from his lips. First to his knees, then onto his chest. His head landing on his outstretched arm.
And as if the death of a child soldier was all that was needed to end a war, the heavy, oppressive feel of fear and anger and helplessness lifts from Theo’s shoulders. Everyone takes a deep breath like they’d shoved a formidable weight off their chests.
“Scott did it,” Liam says quietly. “The Anuk-Ite is gone.”
A wet cough catches their attention. Everyone watches in silent horror as Gabe turns and starts dragging himself by the arms toward the medication shelves, leaving a gruesome blood trail behind him. He manages to make it to the shelves and turn to prop his back against them before anyone else can move.
That’s not right. He shouldn’t… We didn’t kill anyone. But he’s going to die because his leader betrayed him. He was just a scared kid. I remember being a scared kid. Tracy was a scared kid. Josh.
Panting, Theo grits his teeth and starts to stand. His shoulder throbs, but he’ll heal. Gabe won’t. The others get up, Melissa helping Liam stand and he limps a little on his injured leg, no doubt still healing from Theo’s crude surgery. Luckily, she and Nolan seem to have made it without a scratch.
Gabe coughs weakly, more blood dripping down his lips. “It hurts... It hurt.”
Theo ignores his screaming shoulder and brushes past Melissa, making his way toward the young hunter. He ignores Melissa’s pity and Liam’s disgust. He ignores Nolan and his confused blend of both as he continues walking toward Gabe.
“It hurts. It hurts.”
As Theo stands over him, Gabe gives him a defeated stare, clearly believing Theo is going to kill him. And perhaps he should. Just put him out of his misery. But as Theo looks into his tear-filled eyes and sees the pain and betrayal and fear, as he watches the life slowly drain out of a seventeen-year-old boy who’d only wanted to not be scared of beings stronger and scarier than him, Theo sees himself as a boy being promised power beyond his imagination.
He crouches down in front of Gabe and gently grabs one of his shaking forearms, pushing up the sleeve to make room for his hands. He readjusts his grip and focuses on giving the kid some relief. He wants to show him that he doesn’t have to be afraid anymore.
Black veins travel down Gabe’s arm and up Theo’s as the hunter sighs in relief. He stares up at Theo in wonder.
Theo asks grimly, “Does it hurt anymore?”
Gabe shakes his head, his breathing shallow. His arm is no longer shaking. “No.”
“Good.”
One last tear falls down Gabe’s cheek and his last breath pushes out of his lungs. His body goes limp and his head lolls, eyes closing. Theo is reminded of Josh, Gabe’s cousin. He remembers watching the life drain from the chimera’s eyes. This is so very different, and it feels like a useless apology to the boy he’d murdered for all the wrong reasons. He gently lowers Gabe’s arm back down and stands to take a few steps away.
Theo’s head feels like it’s full of cotton, his body is numb except for his throbbing shoulder.
I can’t believe I did that.
The own sound he can hear is his own galloping heartbeat. And then a female’s voice says his name.
“Theo?”
Theooo…
All he can see is blood-covered hospital floor tiles and flickering fluorescent lights.
Theooo…
He’d done something good, hadn’t he? Why is Tara coming for him now? He can still be good. He can keep doing good things. He can be useful. He can-
“Theo!”
His eyes snap up to meet cool blue irises. His hearing comes flooding back and he absently notes the eleven other heartbeats in the room, including the knocked out hunters. He can see Liam’s worried face and Melissa’s concerned face behind him. His eyes flick to Nolan, Mason, Corey.
When did they get here?
Inevitably, his gaze drops back down to Gabe and he takes a slow breath in, breathing in Liam’s scent, letting it anchor him into the present, and releases it just as slowly before looking back at Liam. “I’m okay.”
Before Liam can say anything, the murderous hunter’s radio crackles and Monroe’s panicked voice comes through.
“This is Monroe. Someone report with a status
now
.”
Liam limps over to the prone hunter, Theo hot on his heels.
“Someone
respond
.
” Radio silence never sounded so good.
“Someone talk to me!”
Liam kneels down to pick up the radio.
What's happening? Someone pick up the radio and tell me what's happening!
‘Kay, bitch. You asked for it.
Before Monroe can ask again, Liam presses the button on the side of the radio and says two words: “You lost.”
Monroe doesn’t answer.
*
Theo sits beside Liam on the bench in the front waiting area of the hospital. The sheriff and his men had apprehended the last straggling hunters. Melissa and other hospital personnel, are still patching up the injured, including the staff that had been turned to stone by the Anuk-Ite. Gabe is on his way to the morgue.
Many of the nurses and orderlies who’d helped take the hospital and feed patient information to Gerard and Monroe had dropped their weapons as soon as the Anuk-Ite’s influence disappeared, leaving them horrified by their behavior. Melissa and the Sheriff give them a crash course on the supernatural beings that are worse than their friendly neighborhood werewolves. Nobody quite knew what would happen to the wolves hooked up to the wolfsbane IV’s that Nolan had shown Liam if they unhooked them, so they were waiting for Deaton to arrive, as well as the rest of the pack. Mason and Corey had gone to the school to help with transport.
Theo rotates his healing shoulder to make sure everything is knitting together properly, he’s pleased by what he feels. Melissa had insisted he let her get the bullet out with a proper pair of forceps before he could try to use his claws again. She’d done a much cleaner job than he’d done to Liam’s leg. When he apologizes to Liam, the beta just grins lopsidedly and shrugs, telling him he didn’t mind and he’s better now anyway.
“How are you feeling?” Liam asks. Theo knows he’s not asking about his shoulder.
“Oh, you know,” Theo picks at his fingernails. “Just took a kid’s pain as he died and felt the crushing weight of fear disappear like it was never there. All in all, I guess I’m alright.”
“Well, that sounds like an understatement and like you’re avoiding the real question I asked.” Liam reaches out and grabs one of Theo’s hands. Theo freezes. “It’s cool, though. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
He pulls Theo’s hand into his lap, running his fingers over the veins on the back of his hand that travel up his forearms. The skin on Theo’s entire body prickles at the feeling.
“That was really something, Theo,” Liam says softly. “I’m not even sure if I could’ve taken Gabe’s pain.”
“He reminded me of me. A kid manipulated into killing by people who didn’t care if he lived or died.” Theo flexes his fingers. “He’ll never get the chance to try to be better. He didn’t deserve to die like that, by the hands of his own. It was the least I could do since I am getting a second chance.”
Liam places Theo’s hand back in his own lap. Theo immediately misses the contact.
He watches Liam as the other boy leans back, resting his head against the wall, eyes closed. “You lied,” he declares.
Theo blinks. “What?”
“You lied.”
“When?”
“In the elevator.” Liam turns his head and opens one eye to peer at Theo. “You said you weren’t dying for me.”
“I didn’t die for you, so I didn’t lie.”
Liam waves that away. “Semantics. You totally would have. So you lied.”
“You did, too.” Theo points out.
“Stupid heart,” Liam mutters. He sits back up and turns toward Theo, sighing. “I’m not as dumb as everyone thinks.”
“Of course not,” Theo agrees slowly, unsure of what that has to do with him lying.
Liam snorts. “Look, I know why you keep saving me. I know it’s not because of Scott or the pack. I knew when I asked at the school. I know why I often smell your scent outside my house of when I walked past the bleachers after lacrosse practice. I know why you keep showing up when the pack needs your help. I know why you decided to help me at the zoo. I know why you didn’t leave Beacon Hills.”
Theo stares at Liam, unable to control his pounding heartbeat while the beta’s blue, blue eyes peer right into his soul.
“What I didn’t know,” Liam continues. “Was how I felt about all of it. At first, I figured you were just grateful or felt indebted to me for getting you out of the ground. Then, I found out about you staying in your truck.” He shrugs. “Suddenly, all of Scott’s and Lydia’s
looks
started making more sense. Then you stopped just saving me from outside things and started saving me from myself. And I couldn’t just ignore everything I knew about how you felt.”
He picks up Theo’s hand again, playing with his fingers. Theo is barely breathing.
“And then you went with Mason down into the tunnels. I wasn’t prepared to feel so…” He huffs, eyes lifting up to meet Theo’s. “Tetherless.
Anchor-less
with you gone. And even though it was really important to figure out who was on the other end of that voicemail, half of my attention was focused on what you said about what the Anuk-Ite made you feel about the tunnels. I just knew going down there had to have been terrible for you, but it was already too late for me to help with that and that… really sucked.”
“Liam,” Theo whispers, more than a little desperate.
“Almost done, I swear.” He smiles a little, reaching up to brush Theo’s hair out of his eyes. “Then, tonight, you pulled me back into an elevator. Again. My mind was running wild.” He drops his voice, imitating Theo.
“‘Being the bait.’ ‘I went through all of this to keep you from being taken.’
Damnit, Theo. I didn’t even question who was grabbing me. I just knew. And I was mad because you were here because that meant you could get hurt or die. And I’m so used to contradicting you, it was just automatic to throw your words back at you. But my stupid heart gave me away while you were able to lie right to my face.
“And then you looked at my mouth.”
Theo can’t help it, his eyes fall back down to Liam’s lips again.
Liam snorts. “I had to look away because there was no way I was going to let our first kiss happen in the middle of a battle. So I told myself that if we made it out alive, I’d stop stalling and denying and making up excuses. I offered you to fight with me instead, knowing you’d agree. And now that the battle is over and I’ve bared my soul, will you finally kiss me Theo Raeken?”
Theo’s breath hitches. “You’re not going to punch me in the face if I do, are you?”
“Shut up,” Liam huffs, reaching up to pull Theo’s head toward his. “If you want something done r-”
Theo gently grabs the sides of Liam’s face and closes the short distance between their mouths, crushing their lips together.
His heart feels like it’s about to rip through his ribcage without his sister’s help. He pulls back to look at Liam’s face, to make sure he still wants to be kissed by Theo. Liam doesn’t even open his eyes. He just leans forward, following Theo’s mouth.
Theo presses in again, softer. Liam hums happily and wraps his arms around Theo’s neck, pulling him closer. Theo loses himself inside the feeling of Liam’s chest pressed against his own, of the taste of his lips on his tongue. He could happily die now, knowing how Liam’s waist feels in his arms.
“Oh, come on, Liam! Can you not breathe without someone’s face attached to yours or something?”
They spring apart at the sound of Stiles’ voice and look wide-eyed at the small crowd gathered at the front entrance.
“I missed you, too, Stiles,” Liam says drolly and presses his shoulder firmly against Theo’s and grabs his hand.
Theo swallows at Liam’s blatant and obvious territorial display, silently communicating to his pack and anyone else in the room that Theo is his. Theo doesn’t have any problems at all being claimed by Liam, but he is worried about what his alpha has to say about it.
Scott, however, just sighs and shakes his head at their clasped hands. “We’ll talk about it later. Right now, I’m just happy you guys are alive.”
“I kinda think we should talk about it now?” Stiles tries to argue, but Lydia grabs his hand.
“Stiles, honey, as long as Liam likes us, Theo’s not a problem.”
“He’s been following the kid around like a lovesick puppy for months. It’s disgusting.” Malia curls her lip.
Theo resolutely clamps down on his chemosignals to hide his embarrassment. Liam squeezes his hand and presses closer in comfort. At least the little wolf doesn’t mind.
“Theo? Raeken?” Theo recognizes Ethan’s voice coming from the taller of the unfamiliar pair that’d come in with the pack.
Theo lifts his chin. “You’ve heard of me?” he asks dryly.
Ethan snorts and shoots his companion, who must be Jackson, a significant look. Jackson just rolls his eyes. “Your reputation proceeds you. I heard you used to tell a little tale about being bitten by my old alpha before my brother and I killed him.”
“Yeah, well, I used to tell a lot of tales. I’m trying to kick the habit, though.”
“You were on the roof,” Jackson says to him.
“Yes.”
He nods thoughtfully. “Thanks for the message. It kept me sane.”
Theo watches as Jackson tangles his fingers with Ethan’s. “Glad I could help.”
“Alright, well,” Scott sighs, “I’m going to check on my mom and then we can head over to my place to crash. Mom’s pretty used to after battle pack gatherings so there should be enough soft or inflatable surfaces for everyone to sleep on.” With that, he leaves the waiting room, followed by Stiles, Malia, and Lydia.
Jackson and Ethan make their way to a corner on the far side of the room. Mason plops down beside Liam with Corey on his other side.
The remaining pack member stays standing, staring at Theo.
Theo sighs and sits back in his chair. “Say what you need to say, Derek Hale.”
Derek raises one impressive eyebrow but doesn’t say a word.
“I’m sure it goes along the lines of ‘If you ever hurt this pack again…’ blah, blah, blah, something about my entrails being displayed for any others who are dumb enough to try to fuck with your family. Blah, blah.”
“That was way more creative than what I was going to say, but sure, let’s go with that.” He shrugs and turns toward the elevator.
When the doors open, Parrish steps off with Nolan in tow. “Hey, Derek! Good to see you again!”
“You, too, Deputy Parrish,” Derek says gruffly, entering the elevator.
Parrish laughs. “How many times do I have to tell you to call me Jordan?”
“Maybe if I ever see you out of uniform, I’ll stop calling you Deputy.” Derek blinks and then scowls like he can’t believe he just said that. Before Parrish can answer, the doors close.
When the deputy turns around and sees everyone staring at him, his cheeks flush. He clears his throat. “I’m taking Nolan to the station to make an official statement.”
“The FBI is going to mark this down as a cult movement.” Nolan stares at his hands.
“Well, they’re not
wrong,”
Mason points out.
Nolan nods and squares his shoulders before following Parrish out the doors.
Liam sighs and lays his forehead on Theo’s shoulder. “This has been the longest day of my life, I swear.”
Theo can’t answer because he’s too busy gaping at the top of his head.
“He’s still too good for you,” Mason mutters at Theo.
Liam half-heartedly slaps the back of his hand against whatever part of Mason he can reach. “Be nice.”
“I’m still aware,” Theo answers Mason seriously.
Liam lifts his head up to scowl at Theo. “It’s true,” Theo says gently, kissing his forehead. “But I’ll strive every day to bridge the gap.”
“Alright, now that I believe.” Mason nods in approval, tucking himself into Corey’s side.
Liam rolls his eyes and stands up, holding his hand out to Theo. “Wanna come raid the vending machine with me?”
“I thought you’d figured this out already, Little Wolf.” Theo stands, grabbing Liam’s hand. “I’ll follow you anywhere.”