Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

August 17th, 2016

Stiles was excited. He and Jackson were finally joining the Washington-based members of their pack after five years. They would be having their first full team meeting on Friday. They had scheduled it to be after the full moon run, but before Jackson and Stiles started at the FBI Academy to complete the liaison course on Monday.

When they arrived at Quantico for their first meeting, the biggest surprise for Stiles was to see Ethan and Aiden present as members of the FBI team. He demanded, "What the hell? I thought you said they died, Sourwolf?"

Aiden smirked. "We did, technically. But because we were in our joined form, it just cost us our alpha spark. Deputy Parrish knew of another set of twins with the same ability we have, and he knew that what happened in the rescue wouldn't kill us completely. He worked with the FBI to get us out of Beacon Hills, and they made us an offer we couldn't refuse."

Sam cleared his throat as he stood at the head of the conference table and went around the room to introduce everyone. The team was quite large, but they would break into smaller groups where necessary. He gestured to his left. "I'll start with the core FBI team, starting with the Supervisory Special Agent, Alpha Derek Hale, his second, Beta Peter Hale, and twin Betas Aiden and Ethan Steiner. They're joined by the team from MI5, led by the Senior Case Officer, Alpha Stiles Paddington, his second, Beta Jackson Whittemore, and Betas Dalton Cooper and Adam Nero. Supporting them will be the tech analysts on permanent loan from Homeland Security, Danny Mahealani, Beta Cora Hale, and Kira Yukimura."

He pulled up a PowerPoint presentation on the screen behind him as he said, "Some of you know this already, but we had originally planned to merge what we did here and at MI5 under a larger series of teams reporting to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. We have since done extensive research, and based on information we received, we found that 95% of rogue supernatural actions happen in North America and Europe. While rogues happen in other countries, they are also dealt with efficiently by either the hunters, or the packs, in those countries. And it's done in such a way that the collateral damage doesn't spill out into the mundane community."

Cora whispered to Kira, who had become her best friend. "That was Stiles throwing extra wrenches into the works."

Sam gave her a stern glance, and the two girls sat back with matching innocent expressions.

The Deputy Director moved to the next slide and explained, "So right now we run five FBI teams out of Quantico that deal with cases of rogues, as they are reported. The supernatural community is slowly accepting that we are there to help them and that we aren't just jumped-up hunters on a power trip. In coordination with Lord Paddington, we are changing it up on both sides of the pond. We will split all the teams 50/50 FBI and MI5 with tech support coming in from Homeland. Europe will have two teams, one based in London for the United Kingdom and one based in Toulouse, France for Central Europe. In fact, I believe that's where Alpha James will be heading after his assignment in Beacon Hills is complete."

Derek grinned. "He's doing an outstanding job, Sir. We appreciate the loan. Having someone with the experience of living near a Nemeton would be good for the team in Toulouse." 

Sam agreed. "That's why he's agreed to the transfer. We've also spoken to packs that guard the other Nemetons around the world, and we have offered them support, should they ever need it. Our research into various packs and hunter families around the world resulted in the restructure we are implementing. So we will be restructuring the teams that are based in Quantico. They will work with MI5 liaison officers, and we will assign them to FBI field offices around the States, namely Phoenix, Houston, Detroit, Atlanta, Quantico, and Beacon Hills."

Not one to shy away from the obvious, Stiles said, "There is no current field office in Beacon Hills. The nearest is at least two hours drive away, in San Francisco."

Sam moved to the next slide of the PowerPoint, which showed an office building that those born in Beacon Hills recognized as being near to the Sheriff's office. "Because this is a joint task force that comes under the counterintelligence division, our budget is a bit higher than other teams. We have used this to purchase a new field office in Beacon Hills. The two middle floors will be locked down to just the task force, and the basement is being retrofitted with two levels of cells. The lower level of cells are warded so that they will hold even an alpha werewolf. Alpha Paddington, you're welcome to add wards to the building next time you visit Beacon Hills. We have warned the builders who are retrofitting the building that you may stop in."

Stiles nodded. "If my memory is correct, the building itself has four levels above ground? What will the other two levels be for?"

Sam smiled. "The first floor will be the public face of the office, on the rare occasions that you will receive visitors. And the top floor is being fitted with apartment-style rooms for visitors either from other task force teams or even if you are on a long shift and just need a few hours to rest. The building itself won't be advertised as a field office, nor will there be mundane FBI agents stationed there. There will be four admin staff members that will keep the office ticking. They aren't officially part of the Talos Task Force, but they are all in the know about the supernatural, and they have requested transfers closer to home in Beacon County. They are due to start September next year, and we will place them on the ground floor."

Stiles asked, "What about Agent Rafe McCall. He has a habit of turning up in Beacon Hills like a bad penny."

Sam smiled. "I have warned him to stay out of Beacon Hills. He's on a short lead right now. He tried to get your father impeached using FBI resources to do so. It failed when your father called me directly to demand answers about what the hell was going on."

Stiles muttered, "Like father like son."

Jackson had been considering the cells, as he thought they would need to ensure the pack could all be restrained, just in case they were hit with stray magic or poison. But their resistance to mountain ash would make that difficult. So he interrupted the incoming rant when he asked, "The cells downstairs, are they mostly mountain ash? Or have other precautions been taken?"

Sam said, "We have reinforced two of the cells as much as we can. When you see them, you will know which two are specifically for your pack. They can be operated by other creatures if need be, as we have created them without mountain ash. The rest of the cells on that level rely on mountain ash for containment."

Ethan asked, "Why is that important. I thought mountain ash worked on anything supernatural?"

Stiles looked to Derek with a raised eyebrow, and Derek nodded slightly to show he trusted the twins. Stiles took a deep breath and explained, "I'm a spark, normally the bite would have killed me as the wolf and the spark fought for power; at least that's the running theory. Except, when I was attacked, I killed Ennis seconds after he bit me. So, the alpha spark joined the party, and I was able to keep both my spark and my wolf. A spark's magic works on belief, right, and I sort of accidentally believed our pack into an immunity to Mountain Ash."

Aiden whistled. "Wow, Ennis was huge. That actually kind of explains your growth spurt. I remember you were a lot smaller and all gangly limbs back in Beacon Hills."

Stiles laughed, "Yep, I was a pretty awkward kid. It's awesome, though. When I've visited Beacon Hills to visit Dad, I could walk right past members of the McCall Pack, and they didn't recognize me at all. Even Scott and Issac, who had known me for years. It makes me want to crack up laughing every time."

Cora asked bluntly, "So, when are we moving home?"

Sam said, "The current plan is for the team to move in late next year. We want you all to train with the current teams, go out on cases, and get your feet wet. The four MI5 officers will be at the FBI Academy for the next six weeks. So, once they are back with us, we will divide them up to work with the various teams as they deal with cases."

He moved to the next slide, which had a list of FBI supervisory agents. "These are a list of agents who are in the know but not part of the task force. We often use them to help us with jurisdiction issues. This list will be available on the task force intranet with details about when they should be called in on cases. There are also agents that we have liaised with from other agencies who are in the know. It will list them with instructions on when to loop them in and who to contact to make it happen."

Kira raised her hand, but lowered it at Sam's raised eyebrow. She asked, "What about us? Are we doing the liaison courses?"

Sam shook his head. "You three will remain under the purview of Homeland Security under Deputy Director Tom Morrow. If we absorb you into the FBI, you will be sent to the cyber crimes division, and it will be impossible to pull you out again. I understand, Agent Mahealani, that you and Agent Hale have trained several members of the Homeland Security tech team to be support agents for our task force. Is that correct?"

Danny nodded. "We have trained another ten agents in how to do deep searches, financial analysis, and other tasks that are essential to supporting a supernatural task force. We have also created several apps that we will install on the task force phones to assist in investigations. These include a comprehensive bestiary and an encrypted directory of packs and hunter families. The directory will work in conjunction with AFIS for identification at crime scenes." 

He saw the worry flit across the various faces in the room. So he reassured, "We have warded the phones, so they only give the information in the apps to their owners, and the apps won't work until the phone itself is blood bonded to a specific agent. If they force the phone's owner to unlock it under duress, the phone will be wiped, and an alert will go out to the nearest task force agents so we can mount a rescue. Thanks for the help with the runes, Stiles."

Stiles smiled, "You're welcome." He glanced at Derek and the twins. "I need to have a private chat with my alpha. We'll be right back."

Stiles excused himself and Derek and took them to a second conference room that the older alpha promised him could be soundproofed. He said, "Everyone on our team is pack, aside from the twins. You've obviously worked with them over the last few years. Do you want them to be pack? Do they want to be pack? Do you trust them?"

Derek sighed and then nodded. "We had a long talk when Sam introduced us. They didn't want to be part of Deucalion's pack, but they didn't really have a choice about joining him either. It was a case of being forced to kill their alpha and join Deucalion's Alpha Pack, or die. They had no love for their former alpha, as their birth pack treated them like omegas."

Stiles exclaimed, "But, they were still part of the alpha pack. They captured Boyd and Erica!"

Derek shrugged. "They died trying to protect them. I think that, and working with them for the last few years tells me I can trust them, I would like to make them both pack. Cora is dating one of them, so he's likely to join the pack, anyway."

Stiles sat, stunned. "Cora's dating one of the twins? Even though they were in the pack that held her captive for several months."

"Aiden," Derek clarified. "I think that should be a big clue about how much we can trust them. You know how picky Cora is about who she trusts."

Stiles nodded, "Are you sure they're interested in joining our pack?" 

Derek nodded. "We've talked about it a few times, but they understood that our pack needs both of us to agree to add new members. They don't know about our full-shift, although they are curious about the tattoos we have. Ethan recognized them as runes, but he didn't know they were wards."

Stiles asked, "Don't they have a joined form that's huge? Would that translate to a full-shift?"

Derek looked flummoxed as he thought about it. "Fuck, if it does, they'd dwarf us easily. They might even be close to Jordan's full-shift size. We'll have to get them out to the forest behind the house to try. Shall we go and offer them a place in the pack?"

Stiles took Derek's hand and pulled him to his feet. With a quick kiss, he led him back to the original conference room. 

As they entered, Derek murmured, "Speaking of tattoos, Danny has figured out what he wants to complete his sleeve on his right arm. He just wants you to check over the runes first to make sure they are the right ones, and he wants you to confirm the runes will do what his research said they would do."

Stiles nodded. "I'll have a look tonight, and we can do some research with Adam in the library. I brought all my rune books from England in my pocket dimension rather than trusting the shipping company."

They talked to the twins as everyone was catching up, and they were glad to be welcomed into the pack. They were in a local pack right now, but it was more of an arrangement with an alpha that they had minimal contact with so that they wouldn't go omega. It was a pack that often took in wolves that joined the various federal agencies while they were in training. 

Peter cleared his throat once he felt the twins join the pack bond and said, "Let's adjourn to the house so we can celebrate with a post full moon run. Sam, you and Tom are welcome to join us. It would be a good chance for you both to see the larger pack gathering, although it still doesn't compare to the entire pack running together."

Sam grinned. "I'll contact Tom and make sure he meets us out there. Do you want Tony and Gibbs there too?"

Peter said, "It's already arranged. Tony said they'd be there later, provided they don't catch a case."

-x-

It surprised Tom Morrow to see Tony and Gibbs at the Hale Pack celebration. He knew it was the first time the pack had been mostly in one place for several years.

He cornered the pair and asked, "So, how do you two fit in?"

Tony smirked. "Alpha Paddington is my cousin. Our mothers were sisters. The family link is listed in the classified section of my personnel file, due to my uncle's role as the Queen's Alpha. As for how we were read in on the supernatural, I've always known that I grew up knowing about the supernatural world because of my mother's side of the family.  I had Peter and Derek tagged as wolves as soon as we met. Gibbs had to be read in after a case, though."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "I remember knowing about the supernatural, but the why is still a bit fuzzy."

Tony laughed. "We were on a case with Fornell and Peter. There was a drug ring, but the drugs weren't the standard type. It turned out that the sailors were trading in hallucinogenics that could affect werewolves. It allowed them to get high, and it had a side effect of a reduction in control. They hit Peter with a faceful of the drug when they tried to run, and he wolfed out. We were able to get him contained in a storeroom so that I could contact my cousin. He walked us through activating one of his tattoos which was able to enhance his healing factor to flush the drug out of his system."

Gibbs nodded. "That's right. I remember nearly shooting him when his face changed. We were lucky he didn't shift into his wolf form; he would have just disappeared."
 
Tony agreed. "They are fast in their wolf forms, especially Peter and Derek. I tried to run with them before the plague incident, and even then, they both left me in the dust in their wolf forms."

Tom asked, "You're still not interested in taking the bite?"

Tony shook his head. "It's not the bite that worries me. It's the duties as Heir Paddington that I don't want. I would be required to relocate to England when Uncle Clive is close to retiring, so I can learn the duties required of the Queen's Alpha. Right now, Stiles is the heir, and I know he wants it even less than I do. Mostly because he has a mate, and it will mean leaving his pack. Something I know he's not interested in doing."

"Understandable," Tom agreed. "They are a very close-knit unit, even though they have been separated for the last five years. This isn't the entire pack, though, is it?"

Tony shook his head. "No, there are five members back in Beacon Hills holding down the fort. Kira's parents, Stiles' dad, his stepdad, and Asora. What's funny is that Stiles' stepdad is Chris Argent."

The Homeland Deputy Director looked confused. He was sure that was a name included in his most-wanted list. So he asked, "Aren't they hunters? I am sure we have at least one Argent on the most-wanted board."

Tony nodded, "You do. The Argent you're thinking of is Gerard Argent, Chris' father. Chris has given up hunting and disavowed his entire family. If his father got in touch, well, Chris would hand him over to us before he could so much as blink. Chris won't even talk to his daughter these days, and she's part of a wolf pack herself. It's a bit of a mess, to be honest."

Tom looked at Gibbs, assessing before he said, "You seem more accepting of all this than I would have expected."

Gibbs shrugged. "I was an active duty marine. Some of the things I saw were unexplainable, at least until I learned about the supernatural. I mean, we had soldiers with badly broken limbs from IEDs fighting the next day. Things were such a crapshoot over there, so you just learned not to question it."

Peter had been monitoring the conversation. He approached and explained, "It's not ideal, but a lot of wolves are drawn to the military, especially the ones that are not as close to their pack for whatever reason. Law enforcement is another career that draws them in. Wolves are protective by nature; it's a way we can protect others and keep our wolves happy."

"Makes sense," Tom agreed. "When I was read in on the supernatural, I learned who were werewolves at Homeland. I could see the difference between the way they worked versus the human agents. They look at the world in a different way, and they can often outthink those we are hunting."

Peter agreed, "That's true. You'll also find that humans who are pack will think a lot like wolves, even if they don't take the bite. Danny is an excellent example of that. How are they going with the algorithms? The last time I spoke to Cora, she said they were setting a few programs up to search for supernatural events before they go viral."

The two NCIS agents perked up; they had heard none of this. Tom nodded with a grin. "They are still refining the algorithms, but they have a pretty good hit rate so far. They've managed to catch a few wolf outs on camera, and Kira's used her degree to build a program that they use to alter the videos, so they look fake. From what I understand, it adds marks that make the brows look like obvious prosthetics or makeup, and the teeth and claws somehow look fake as well. It's a bit over my head, to be honest, but it's working so far."

Gibbs asked, "What about the subject of the videos, the one that was shifted or feral?"

"One of Sam's teams are sent out to investigate," Tom explained. "So far, we've found it's been the hunters provoking the wolves nine times out of ten. We are investigating a sub-group of probable hunters that seem to be going out of their way to provoke various supernatural people so they will change in front of mundanes."

Tony asked, "Seriously? Do they know who's behind it?"

Tom shook his head. "It's still early days in the investigation. But it's one reason the FBI teams are being split out over the various field offices, rather than all of them being based in Washington. Right now, it's just isolated incidents spread out a few months apart. But, they are slowly escalating."

Chapter Text

August 22nd, 2016

The four MI5 officers walked into the FBI training academy, looking rather intimidating. Stiles learned how to dress to look good with his body type and make an imposing first impression. Jackson had always dressed well, and even though they had completed their master's in criminal justice as they attended Oxford with the pack, Adam and Dalton still considered themselves Stiles' guards and dressed appropriately. 

Stiles approached the desk, and with a cultured British accent that had taken him years to develop, he said, "Hello, we're here for the liaison course that starts today. I believe Special Agent Roche is expecting us."

The agent on the desk looked up, and she froze. She opened her mouth a few times to answer, but the appearance of the four men had stunned her. 

An agent approached from the main doors with a muttered, "For fuck's sake," and he barked, "Janice! Marc won't be impressed if you make them late with your ogling. Can you print out their temporary badges? The details are already in your email."

Janice gave the agent an unimpressed look. "Which email Glenn, it's Monday. My inbox is overflowing with requests."

Glenn sighed. "Clearly, it's the one asking you to print four badges in the subject line. The names are Dr. Stiles Paddington, Dr. Jackson Whittemore, Mr. Adam Nero, and Mr. Dalton Cooper. They are all liaison agents with MI5 on permanent loan to the FBI."

Janice looked through her emails until she found the correct one. She printed out the four badges with a scowl at Glenn after she checked over the officer's MI5 identification. She said, "These are temporary badges that you'll wear throughout your training. Once your training is complete, and you're assigned to a team, you'll be granted a more permanent badge. Please do look after these as they will charge your agency for reprints."

Stiles took the badges with a nod of thanks before passing them to his team members as they followed the agent through the building. "I'm Agent Glenn Fowler; please call me Glenn. Deputy Director Conway has assigned me to assist with your training. The training officer, Agent Marc Roche, isn't read in on what your team deals with, and they would prefer to keep it that way."

Jackson asked, "He hasn't had his own agents trained up as instructors?"

Glenn shook his head. "Not yet. We have a few of us going through instructor training now. I am helping out on this course as part of my work placement before graduating as a full instructor. Before joining the FBI, I was a high school teacher until one of my students was attacked by an omega wolf on a camping trip. I transferred to the FBI when this opportunity came up."

Stiles grinned. "That's how it happens for a lot of us. Did the student survive?"

Glenn smiled. "They did. She gained a few extra scars, but I was able to draw the omega away from her and the other students. And the FBI who had been tracking the omega captured him without further injuries." 

He looked at Dalton and Adam, and he noticed how they were flanking Stiles more than Jackson. So he asked, "What's with the positioning? It doesn't seem like any pack behavior I've seen."

Stiles grinned. "It's not. They've been my personal bodyguards for the last five years. Old habits are hard to break, I guess."

They entered the classroom, but just before they entered, Stiles saw what he thought was a familiar flash of blonde hair exiting an office down the hall. He thought she looked like someone he knew, but the introductions soon distracted him.

He saw the flash of blond hair a few times over his first week of training, but he could never get a good look at the woman that was niggling at his senses.

It took a few weeks, but Stiles finally figured out why the blonde had triggered his spidey senses. He was shocked when Agent Roche introduced them to their next instructor; she would be teaching their class on jurisdiction.

Agent Roche stood, and he welcomed the blonde into the room. "Class, this is Agent Katherine Stirling. She'll be taking you through the minefield that is US Law Enforcement Jurisdiction."

Stiles allowed himself a split second to panic at seeing a very, not dead, Kate Argent in front of him. He pulled himself together and sent a sense of calm down the pack bond. The rune cluster the pack had tattooed specifically to disguise the pack's heartbeats and reactions was doing its job, for which Stiles was grateful. He hoped that the false agent hadn't noticed the brief panic.

Jackson had seen his momentary reaction, and he sent a burst of worry down the pack bond, which Stiles returned with calm. He decided they would act as if nothing was wrong until they got home. He just hoped she wouldn't recognize either himself or Jackson. Stiles decided if they worked like they were just another class, she wouldn't pick up on his or Jackson's worry.

She gave him a curious look before starting in on her lecture. Thankfully Stiles was thoroughly educated in US jurisdiction rules, considering it was the subject of his criminal justice doctoral thesis, so he didn't need to worry about missing anything important. 

While she lectured the group, he tried to understand how she was still alive, and he plotted how to handle the not-so-dead hunter that was claiming to be FBI. One theory he pondered while she was talking was if when Peter killed her, he actually turned her. He knew if the claws of an alpha went deep enough that the person could turn. He was sure they'd done an autopsy on her body, which would have confirmed her death, but he would get in touch with his dad to get the confirmation.

He used some of her lecture to write a note to the other three officers to explain his suspicions and the need for calm. 

As they sat down in the cafeteria for lunch, he passed the note to Jackson. He noticed the fake agent sit at a neighboring table with a colleague, so he said, "Jax, here are the notes I promised you for your dissertation."

Jackson threw him a confused look, but understanding took over as he read the note.

The agent teaching us is Kate Argent. She should be dead, and when we get home tonight, I'll be asking Danny and Cora to look into her. For now, we need to stay calm and keep the accents. It's possible she's a wolf.

Jackson folded the note after showing it to Dalton and Adam. Just in case Kate was listening, he said, "Thanks, that's exactly what I needed to complete what I'm working on."

Dalton and Adam both gave subtle nods that they understood as they started their lunches.

Stiles sent off a quick text to his mate, and he asked him to get Sam to the pack house for dinner. He let him know it was important that Sam attend the pack dinner, but left out the details about why. It wasn't something to discuss over a text conversation. 

Derek had felt the brief burst of panic down the bond, so he immediately went to his boss's office to invite him for dinner.

The British-born agents weren't as familiar with the US law enforcement system, but they had learned a lot from listening to Stiles working on his thesis, so they used the afternoon to ask a lot of questions. They wanted to keep the fake agent distracted. They didn't want her looking too hard at Stiles or Jackson; they were pretty sure she wouldn't recognize Stiles, since not even his ex-best friend recognized him these days. But Jackson still looked pretty similar to how he looked when he lived in Beacon Hills.

On the way home after an exhausting afternoon, Stiles sent a warning to Derek that they were on their way. He also demanded cuddles time after the stressful day he'd had.

Derek pulled Stiles into a hug as soon as the group entered the house. He could feel the waves of distress pouring off his mate, and he wanted to offer comfort.

He maneuvered them into the living room, where the rest of the pack was waiting for them with Sam. The deputy director had arrived just before the MI5 officers. The alpha pulled Stiles into his lap as he sat on the sofa so he could deliver the promised cuddles.

Jackson asked, "Danny, can you please do a deep dive into Agent Katherine Stirling? She was our instructor today."

Sam noticed Peter and Derek both freeze when they heard the agent's name, and he asked, "Who is she?"

Peter snarled, "If it's who I think it is, she's supposed to be a dead woman. I killed her myself."

Stiles muttered, "You probably turned her, you clawed out her throat, and somehow she survived." He sat up and asked, "Cora, can you contact Dad and get the autopsy results for Kate Argent? He should be able to either email them through or give you access to the files so you can grab it yourself."

She nodded and went through to her office to make the call. As she left the room, she motioned to Dalton, who dragged Peter down to their training room before he lost control completely. 

Danny was already sitting on the sofa with his laptop, pulling records and trying to find everything on Katherine Stirling. Sam was helping by using his higher level of access to pull up training records and other classified information on the agent.

Sam swore. "These are good, but definitely fake training records. Danny, I'm sending you some files. I need you to try and trace their origin. It looks like we might have a hunter altering files so they can hunt down the supernatural agents in the agency."

Danny just nodded his agreement and started searching. Sam had already used his team a few times to ferret out agents who had infiltrated the agency for nefarious means. However, usually, they were fully fledged agents who had been radicalized, and they were using their positions to hide hunter activities. It was rare for someone to pull the wool over the agency's eyes and sneak someone in who hadn't even been through the academy.

Cora walked out of her office with her laptop, and she looked pissed off. "I spoke with both Papa S and Chris, who was visiting his office. They said her father refused the right to an autopsy via his lawyer, and then had her removed to the funeral home within hours of her body being found. Chris has authorized an exhumation, just to confirm that there isn't a body buried in her grave, especially after I showed him footage from the academy showing his sister walking the hallways."

Stiles frowned. "I remember seeing a report on her death; the medical examiner classified it as an animal attack."

Cora shook her head. "It looks like the report was placed in the file by one of the deputies. There is no corresponding report in the medical examiner's files. Papa S said he is a stickler for only doing reports when he himself had done the autopsy. He's doing a search to see how many other deaths have reports where there isn't one in the medical examiner's files. One of the wolves who moved to Beacon Hills to work as a deputy is a tech wiz like me and Danny, so he should be able to find out pretty quickly."

Jackson pondered. "I wonder if there will be any reports after that purge just after we moved to London. I am pretty sure that a few of the deputies that were fired were on the Argent's payroll."

Derek was still trying to process the news that Kate was alive and hiding in the FBI. He asked quietly, "What does she have to gain? How does working for the FBI benefit her? What's her end game?"

Peter and Dalton reentered the room, looking disheveled and sweaty as they collapsed on the floor near one of the sofas. Peter suggested, "She could be trying to find a way onto the task force. I think we should let her think she's succeeded. We can watch her closely, but let her work through whatever mission she's on."

Derek demanded, "Are you crazy?"

Peter shook his head. "Think about it, nephew; it's unlikely she will recognize Stiles. The official name on his file is Mieczysław Paddington, after all. So he and Jackson should evade her notice if they can keep their British accents going. It will give her a false sense of security that lets her think she's winning. While she thinks she's safe, Sam has Danny and Cora put flags on all of her access so they can monitor what she's accessing in the files. Even in the manual files. Eventually, she'll tip her hand."

Jackson added, "She also doesn't entirely suck at teaching. She knows her subject well enough to look authentic, even if she is teaching out-of-date information. So she hasn't given any outright wrong information so far, but she's definitely working off old course info. I think that our two usual instructors would have been quick to correct her if she had said anything blatantly incorrect."

Dalton said, "I think it's a good idea. We just have to keep our reactions under control. The rune we have tattooed to keep our chemosignals and heartbeats hidden is helpful. I think the bigger problem will be if she sees either Derek or Peter; which is a risk, since they are both currently based out of Quantico."

Sam suggested, "Why don't we assign the two of you to Fornell's team while we work out her end game. I'm sure Tobias won't mind your help."

Peter grinned. He enjoyed working for the older agent, especially when he poked at other agencies during jurisdiction battles. Derek shrugged in an attempt at nonchalance as he said, "Anything, as long as I don't have to see her."

Sam agreed. "I think that's for the best. Danny and Cora will come into the office tomorrow so they can set up the monitoring. I'll also get them to go through her logs to find out what she's already been digging into."

Danny saluted from his chair; he'd been digging pretty deep into Kate's background check. He said, "I think you need to look into your HR department. These records are impeccable and would stand up to scrutiny from most people. It's only the fact that I know what she was actually up to that I know these records are fake. There are records of training courses taken and grades given. However, we know she was in Beacon Hills during several of the time periods listed in her files. Hell, she was apparently based out of a field office in So-Cal for four years, and there are even performance reviews showing her to be an excellent agent."

Cora said, "She has an immaculate record. There is absolutely nothing in her history, not even a speeding fine. That in itself is a huge red flag right there. So it looks like whoever created her background, inserted everything she needed to make her look like a good hire. Especially for the courses she teaches in jurisdiction, multi-agency cooperation, and courtroom etiquette. They even included a relevant degree with a teaching certificate."

Sam said, "I am going to bring in the other SSAs into the loop, but they will be sworn to secrecy. I think out of all of them, Charlie will be the best placed to manage the investigation into how she got in. He trained with IA after that mess with the Argents. We recognized we needed someone to deal with internal issues, so he knows how to investigate without leaving traces."

Danny nodded. "I've worked with him on a few cases of hunter infiltration into police departments. This will be my first investigation of federal agency infiltration. Either the hunters are getting bold, or she's working alone, and she's after something specific."

Derek suggested self deprecatingly, "Me? She's definitely been obsessed with me."

Peter agreed. "It's possible. You're the one that got away. It all depends on if she's aware of my resurrection and Cora's survival. It's likely that far as she's concerned, you're the last surviving Hale. It really does depend on what she knows, and what she's after."

Danny agreed. "We should find out from her logs. If she is looking for you three, it would be a good idea to lock down your records, or at least put alerts on the file."

Stiles suggested, "What if we set up records for the Derek Hale she's expecting; we could show you moving back to Beacon Hills after university, and we lock down your actual records. Boss, you should be able to get authorization for the alteration with the evidence we have so far."

The deputy director turned to the two tech analysts, and he asked, "Can you both prioritize the analysis of her logs? We should check she hasn't already discovered your location. I would also suggest you go through the log files for the files of Derek and Peter. It would be good to see who has accessed their files since they both joined the agency."

With a plan in place, Sam left to get started on contacting the other SSAs for his task force. He decided it would be safer to advise them from the pack's office, which was less likely to be bugged.

Chapter Text

September 8th, 2016

The jurisdiction module was scheduled to last just over a week, so they just had to keep their cool until she was done. Meanwhile, Tom brought Danny to Quantico for a meeting so he could pull the logs from the FBI systems, with help from Sam with his higher level access. 

As Danny sat at his desk to pull the logs, Sam and Tom took a seat at his conference table on the other side of the room. 

Sam took the time to give him the details for the investigation, as well as a history lesson on just how much damage Kate and her father have done to the supernatural world. 

The logs were more extensive than they were expecting on both Kate Argent's access and the access logs for the two Hales. 

Danny admitted, "These are going to take us a few days to process. Which do you want a priority on?"

Sam thought through the issue before he made a decision. "Go through the logs for who has accessed their files. Does it show who has used the FBI systems to do background or location checks on them?"

The tech analyst nodded. "It'll show both, with basic details on the agent that ran the files. It'll also show if they connected the search to a specific case file."

Sam smiled. "Prioritize Derek's records. Odds are the hunters still believe that Peter's dead, so his can wait until Derek's are completed."

"He will," Tom promised. "I'll be pulling Danny, Cora, and Kira from any other tasks they are currently on. Kira can assist them with going through the files. Are you sure she hasn't recognized Stiles or Jackson? From what you were saying earlier, she's had previous contact with them."

Danny laughed, and he asserted, "She has no chance of recognizing Stiles. Even his own ex-best-friend doesn't recognize him these days."

Danny had a photo on his phone of the Beacon Hills High School Lacrosse Team before the supernatural shit show started, so he pulled it up for the two men. Sam hadn't met Stiles before he'd been bitten, so he was surprised to see Stiles in the team photo. He looked a lot shorter and skinnier than Jackson, who was standing not far from him in the lineup.

Tom asked, "Wait, which one is he?"

Danny zoomed in on the image, so it was just Stiles on the screen, and Tom did a double-take as he asked, "Seriously? That's Stiles?"

Danny nodded. "Before he got the bite, he was average height and more of a lanky runner's build. He had ADHD, and he was on Adderall. I think it affected his ability to put on muscle or something. He's never said, and I've never asked. When he got the bite, he killed the alpha in the attack, so his turning bite was more traumatic than most. The alpha that bit him was 6'5" and built like a tank, from what I understand. So when Stiles went through his first full-shift, he grew into that alpha spark, at least that's how I understand it."

Sam added, "They have also been sticking to their British accents while they have been going through the academy. We think it should throw off any hints of them being from California."

Tom agreed. "It sounds like you have it all under control. I'll take Danny back to the office, and he'll get his team started on processing the logs. We'll let you know as soon as we find anything."

-x-

There was nothing substantial in the logs. It took the analysts a few days to go through them all. They were investigating a few junior FBI agents who had accessed Derek's arrest record. Thankfully, that's as far as it went. And they hadn't discovered that he was now an FBI agent.

Danny and Cora made a personal visit to the FBI deputy director, as they didn't want their report going through the FBI systems. Especially since there were a few things in the logs that had them concerned. 

Cora handed over the report to Sam as Danny explained, "There were a couple of agents who accessed Derek's arrest records, but that's as far as they went. They didn't search for his current information, nor did they do a full background check. They didn't include a current case number when they did the search, so it would be worth interviewing the agents to find out why they pulled the records."

Danny opened the report he'd printed out for the deputy director, and he pointed at the short list. "The only names on that list I recognize are Vic Dubois and Bruce Greenaway. Both are likely members of prominent hunting families. However, they are also both families that are known for following the code. The other two agents, Emmett Richards and Rob Parnell, are not names I recognize, but they could still be worth interviewing."

Sam agreed, "I'll get Charlie to investigate them to see if this was a one-off or if they are perhaps providing information to someone outside the agency."

Danny grinned. "Let me know if you need help. Meanwhile, I should get back to the office; we're helping Kira design an update to her baby. She figured out a way for her program to add dental glue marks on the fangs in the videos. That way, the shifters look like they are wearing badly fitted Halloween fangs."

Sam asked, "How's it going with the trojan?"

Danny shrugged. "We're still working on a reliable way to track the videos to the source device. Current testing has a 64% hit rate, which isn't even close to workable. We're still working on it around other projects, though."

Sam smiled. "I'm sure you'll figure something out. You kids are smart."

Danny nodded, and the Homeland agents left the office as soon as Cora indicated the coast was clear.

-x- 

Stiles was going insane. Kate was a passable teacher, even though she was teaching outdated information. It was evident that she had learned how to teach as part of her cover story, back when she was seducing underage betas for her father. But he wasn't expecting this level of competence. It was taking everything in him not to poke and needle at the woman, which was causing no end of entertainment for the other three in the class. 

While Dalton was asking a question for clarification, Jackson used the distraction and whispered, "It's like watching you when you were in Harris' class, that inner war to be a troll, but not wanting the detention for it."

She stood up straight, and with a glare at Jackson, she asked, "Anything you would like to share with the class?"

Jackson flushed and shook his head. "Nothing important, ma'am. Sorry for interrupting."

She turned to Stiles. "What about you, Mr. Paddington?"

Stiles narrowed his eyes at her. He stated coldly, "It's either Officer Paddington or Dr. Paddington; unless we are at an official function, then it's Baron Paddington. Never Mr. Paddington. I'm sure it states that in the notes you received for the class."

She scoffed. "You're only 21. Do you seriously expect me to believe you have a doctorate?"

Dalton chuckled. "He's ABD in his second doctorate. He went to Oxford when he was 16 and blitzed his way through the first three years of courses in his placement testing. It's why he was recruited by MI5 before he finished his degrees."

"Fine," Kate huffed. "Do you have anything to add, Officer Paddington?"

Stiles shook his head. "Not at all. Jax was just asking if I had included the negotiation technique you mentioned in my dissertation."

She snapped, "And?"

Stiles shook his head. "I didn't. I included a newer technique that resulted in less paperwork and more inter-agency co-operation."

Kate sneered, "And what jurisdiction issues would you have in England?"

Stiles smirked, "None. Back in jolly ol' England, we know how to work together. However, my criminal justice doctoral dissertation was about the US federal law jurisdiction minefield. I used various cases from the USA, where multiple agencies could have taken jurisdiction on a case, and I created a new method for resolving the cases in the best way for the victim. I do believe it's currently required reading for the FBI Academy and various FLETC courses."

Jackson asked, "Can we get back to it? We have a meeting to attend during our lunch break, and I would prefer not to miss it."

Adam muttered under his breath, "I would like to know how she is teaching this course when she is unaware of your dissertation. She should be teaching it, as it is required for the tests in this module. I mean, she was doing well until that point."

Stiles saw the telltale blue flush on Kate's face as she turned back to face the board, which to him proved the existence of her supernatural abilities.

-x-

Jackson dragged Stiles to Sam's office, and the two former guards followed them. Sam looked up as they entered and asked, "What's up?"

Jackson growled, "Stiles is more qualified to teach this module than our so-called instructor. Stiles' dissertation is required reading, and she'd never heard of it. That is a rookie mistake." 

Sam agreed. "The good news is, Charlie is on his way to pick her up for a chat. I'll get someone to administer the test for this module early. Then once you're finished, you can come and observe her interrogation."

Stiles asked, "She finally did the deep searches?"

The older agent nodded. "Not just on Derek's records, but on Peter's records, and you two of you as well. It gets worse. She searched Stiles Stilinski, not Paddington."

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "Allison! What's the bet Kate's been in touch with her darling niece."

"I agree," Sam said. "I've added it to the questions we'll be asking her in interrogation. We've also sent Alpha James out to bring Allison in for questioning. We think we have a case for aiding and abetting two known fugitives."

"Good job," Jackson muttered. He was pissed off that the girl who was engaged to be married to a werewolf would be so willing to throw other wolves to the slaughter.

-x-

Allison was being led through the Beacon Hills Sheriff's Station by Deputies James and Parrish. She saw her father in the sheriff's office and yelled, "This is your doing?"

Chris shook his head, and he stepped out of the office with the Sheriff. "I have no idea why you're here, Allison. I was just here to bring lunch to my husband, since he forgot to grab his from the fridge this morning."

She stopped following the two deputies, and she hissed, "Husband? What the hell do you mean by 'your husband'?"

Chris and Noah both held up their hands to show off their matching wedding bands, and he explained, "We got married six months ago on a trip to England. It was lovely. Lord Paddington let us use his country manor for the ceremony."

Noah asked, "Do you think Stiles will get married there?"

Chris shook his head. "No, I'm pretty sure his partner has something pretty big planned for the eventual wedding. If I understood correctly, it wouldn't be for a few years yet."

Noah looked at his stepdaughter and said, "You should go with Deputy James. I understand he has some questions for you."

She snarled, "I've done nothing to warrant being dragged in here like a common criminal."

Chris snarked, "I thought they dragged common criminals in wearing handcuffs."

The sheriff smirked, and he said, "Usually they are. From what I understand, Allison's just here to answer a few questions about a couple of your relatives that are wanted by the FBI." He looked at the young woman and said, "I'm sure you haven't been in touch with them since they are known fugitives. I would say if that's the case, you'll be released after answering those questions then, won't you? As far as I'm aware, you haven't been arrested… yet."

She ignored the snark from the two men and turned to follow the deputies. 

Connor watched as Deputy Parrish lead her away. He waited until they were out of hearing range, and before he suggested, "You should both head to the observation room, Sheriff. I think, conflict of interest aside, you should be aware of what's going on as it's likely to have wider reaching effects."

Noah raised an eyebrow. "Really? Fuck, does this involve the pack, Stiles?"

Connor nodded. "Yeah, jump into the observation room. Both of you."

He didn't wait to see if they'd followed his instructions. He just entered the interview room and took a seat opposite Allison.

He said, "While you're not under arrest, you are welcome to call your lawyer."

Allison gave him a slow blink before she shook her head. "I'm fine. It's just questioning, right? I do reserve the right to call my lawyer at a later stage."

Connor gave her a disarming smile as he agreed amicably. He opened his notebook, and he asked, "Tell me about your family?"

She sneered, and she said, "Well, you've met my father just now. We haven't actually spoken in years. My mother died several years ago, the victim of a vicious animal attack."

The alpha pulled a file out from the pile Jordan had brought in, and he pulled up Victoria Argent's autopsy report. He pulled it out of the file and placed it on the table in front of Allison. He tapped the cause of death line on the report and said, "It states here she died from a self-inflicted knife wound. And I am well aware you had a meeting with Deputy Director Conway from the FBI, where he reiterated the findings that the bite Mrs. Argent received was due to her own actions."

Allison shrugged. "That may be what it says, but I know the truth."

He placed the file back in the folder and replaced the folder in the pile with deliberate movements. He was hoping to ruffle her feathers, so he asked, "What about other members of your family? I've heard mention around town about an aunt, and the former principal was apparently your grandfather?"

She said flatly, "They're both dead."

This time another folder was produced, and Connor asked, "Can you confirm your cell number for me, please."

"Why?" she demanded. "I can't see how that's relevant or any of your business."

Connor tapped the folder in front of him and said, "A number registered in your name has been in regular contact with a person of interest. We'd like to know more about those discussions."

Allison shook her head, and she said, "I'd like to call my lawyer now."

Conner gathered the files, and he said, "That's fine. Jordan will arrange for a phone, so you can call them down here. Please be aware, any calls you make will be monitored." He didn't mention that the aunt she'd been in contact with had already been arrested, nor that her aunt's phone was in the hands of the FBI.

It took nearly an hour for her lawyer, Barbara Hirst, to arrive. Allison already sounded quite stressed, as she was missing work. While she'd been waiting, she'd sent a few text messages to her aunt, warning her that she was being questioned by the local deputies.

Screenshots of the texts had been sent to Connor while they were waiting, and he had printed them out and placed them in the file with the call history.

When signaled by the lawyer, the two deputies entered the interview room, and they took up the same positions as earlier.

Connor asked, "Has Allison explained why she called you in?"

Barbara shook her head. "You had questions about calls and texts she made to another individual?"

Connor nodded. "An individual she texted with a warning while she was waiting for you to arrive."

Barbara whipped her head around to Allison and demanded, "Is this true? Did you seriously call me to represent you, then send off a text to the subject of this interview?" 

Allison shook her head in denial. But as she saw Connor pull the screenshots out of the folder, she wanted to sink into the floor.

"Oh," she breathed.

Barbara snapped, "Don't say another word." Before she turned to the deputy and she asked, "What do you want to know."

Connor asked, "How long have you been in contact with your aunt?"

Allison looked at Barbara, and the lawyer gave a brief nod of agreement, so she said, "Since late 2011, she was back in Beacon Hills trying to get hold of the Hales."

"Why?" Connor asked, but he changed his question when she shook her head. "Are you in contact with other members of your family?"

Barbara narrowed her eyes, and she asked, "Just what are you implying, Deputy James?"

Connor shrugged. "I'm not implying anything. I'm simply trying to ascertain what family members she's been in contact with, and what those discussions entailed. Two members of her family are on the FBI Most Wanted list. Knowingly contacting those family members without contacting law enforcement can be construed as aiding and abetting. So if you need a moment to confer with your client, we'd be happy to leave the room and give you a minute."

The lawyer refused to give an inch, so she shook her head. "We're fine. Allison, you can answer the deputy's question. In fact, I would advise it." She knew Gerard and Kate would throw her to the wolves to save their own asses in a heartbeat.

Allison looked down at her phone and admitted, "I've been in regular contact with Kate since 2011, and my grandfather, Gerard Argent, has contacted me a few times in the last year."

Connor gave her a go on motion with his hands as he asked, "And what did you discuss in these conversations?"

Allison shrugged. "With Kate, it's just been her catching up with what I've been up to. She was also tutoring me via video chat while I was attending university. As for Gerard, he's been urging me to break up with my fiance."

Connor nodded, and he made some notes before he asked, "Has Kate asked for information on anyone local to Beacon Hills?"

At the nod from her lawyer, she said, "She's asked about Dad a few times, and oh, that's right, she asked If I recognized some names a few days ago. Two that I identified were Stiles and Jackson. I let her know they left town before our Junior year at high school."

Connor made some notes on the file, then he asked, "Have you seen Kate since her apparent death?"

Allison just nodded. They had taught her from an early age about how to answer police questions, short answers, or just gestures, so you didn't give away too much information.

Connor sighed, and he asked, "When did the visits start?"

Allison shook her head. "I've only seen her a couple of times. She was here for about a month after the Hales ran away. She said she was there to see me, but Scott said he saw her car out in the preserve and parked outside Derek's loft. I figured she was trying to find Derek, but she never asked me about him. If she had, I would have told her how the Hales left town without even looking back, like the cowards they are."

Connor rolled his eyes at the comment about the Hales running away, and he asked, "What can you tell me about her activities for the last six years?"

Allison frowned. "Nothing much. She doesn't actually tell me much beyond the fact she moves around a lot. I thought she'd got a job for a different weapons dealer, like what she used to do for Argent Arms. I did ask once, but she evaded the question, so I took the hint and didn't ask again."

"What about your grandfather?" Connor asked. "What's he been up to?"

Allison shook her head. "I have no idea. His calls are always extremely short and to the point. He calls out of the blue and asks if I've come to my senses and stopped dating Scott. When I tell him that we were still dating, he'd hang up on me. The calls always came from blocked phone numbers. The only unique call was when I told him I was engaged to Scott. He spouted vitriolic hate for about 5 minutes, until I finally hung up on him."

Connor sighed, and he asked, "One last question. Why didn't you tell anyone you knew Kate had survived?"

Allison flushed. "She's my aunt."

Connor nodded. "We may call you in later for further questioning, so please don't leave town."

She nodded as her lawyer led her out of the room. She saw her father talking quietly with the sheriff outside his office, and she approached the pair. She looked at her dad, and she said, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. Kate asked me not to say anything to anyone."

Chris glared at Allison before he shook his head and walked into Noah's office. It disgusted him that his daughter would be in contact with Kate after everything she'd done.

Before he turned to join his husband, Noah said, "I wouldn't recommend trying to get in touch. This was very much the last straw for him."

Chapter Text

September 15th, 2016

Derek and Peter had been called back to Quantico as soon as Kate had been taken in for questioning. Sam was betting on the presence of the two wolves throwing her off her game somewhat. Even though the Talos Taskforce had been around for several years, hunters still believed that wolves and other supernatural creatures would avoid law enforcement like the FBI. He'd be the first to admit it wasn't an easy road on either side of the fence to get the task force started. But he was happy with how much his teams had grown. 

Peter walked into the observation room where Sam and Charlie were deep in discussion. He saw Kate sitting at the table in the interrogation room. With a huge grin, he asked, "She did the searches?"

Sam grinned, "Yep, but she only found the information we planted earlier this week. The files said that you were dead and Derek was still living in the loft in Beacon Hills."

Peter rubbed his hands together like a cartoon villain. He asked, "Do we get to watch the interview?"

Sam shook his head and watched as their faces fell, "We were hoping you would agree to do the interview. Derek, I understand if you want to bow out, but…"

Peter asked, "Won't that cause issues with the validity of the interview later? If it comes out that the agents that interviewed her were her victims?"

Sam shrugged, "It's a gray area we will use to our advantage because you're our best chance at getting her to actually break and talk. Anyone else we send is likely to have her clamming up."

Derek agreed, and with a smirk, he said, "I'll do it. You're hoping it will throw her off her game? Make her sloppy?"

Sam nodded. "Exactly so."

Peter asked, "Can we push her a bit?"

Sam nodded, "You're probably going to have to if her reputation is anything to go by. We also had confirmation from Stiles that she's a shifter. She overheard a comment that Stiles made that was subvocal. She didn't seem to realize that she shouldn't have been able to hear it if she was human."

Derek raised an eyebrow, "If our suspicions are correct and Uncle Peter turned her back in Beacon Hills, shouldn't she have control by now? That was over five years ago."

Sam shrugged, "We don't know how long it took her to actually turn, or if she was even buried in Beacon Hills. That's on the list of questions we want answers to. We've also asked Agent James to add it to the list of questions for Allison. We should have the transcript for that interview in a few hours."

Derek asked, "When do you want us to start?"

Charlie said, "Go get some lunch. I believe Stiles and his team are already in the cafeteria waiting for you. They've all requested to observe her interview."

The two men nodded and headed to the cafeteria. They could hear Stiles ranting before they go there. He seemed more pissed off that she hadn't done her research, than the fact she'd faked her way into the FBI. They could see the team had already got them their lunches, so they sat in the chairs left for them, and Derek leaned in and pulled Stiles into a kiss.

Jackson snarked, "Oh, thank god. He was going to explode."

Peter asked, "Why?"

Dalton chuckled, "She was teaching the jurisdiction module without having read Stiles' dissertation on jurisdiction conflict resolution. It's required reading for both the FBI academy and all the instructors. She had been doing really well up until that point."

Derek pulled out of the kiss and asked incredulously, "Seriously? From all our research, she's not usually that sloppy."

After finishing his mouthful, Peter said, "Maybe it's all related to that control issue? Something we can use for sure."

Stiles frowned. "Something you can use?"

With a smirk, the alpha explained, "Sam wants us to interview her. He and Charlie are hoping it will throw her off her game."

Adam laughed. "After today, that won't be too hard. Shit, I thought she was going to shift right in the classroom."

Joining in on the laughter, Dalton agreed, "Her eyes definitely started to glow this weird green color before she got them under control."

Jackson asked, "Is she being interviewed in one of our interview rooms?"

Derek nodded, "Yeah, she's already in our main interview room, so any accidental shifts won't go on the main servers. There's also plenty of room for observers."

They finished their lunches, all of them thinking of the coming interview. Derek knew she was after him, but he just couldn't figure out why. Using FBI resources was too obvious. If she killed him, they would see her inquiries in the system.

Derek followed the rest of the group with a mental shrug to his internal musings towards the floor the taskforce occupied.

The four MI5 officers joined Charlie in the observation room. The interview room had been warded so supernatural ears couldn't hear anything outside of the walls of the room. 

Sam was waiting outside for Derek and Peter; he had a list of files and questions that he wanted them to ask. He said, "Since you already know the gist of it, the top two folders include her call logs to Beacon Hills, and her phone's GPS data, which shows regular short visits to Beacon Hills. The rest of the files are mostly full of inconsequential evidence."

Peter flipped the folder containing her GPS data open as he was curious. He took his time reading through the file before he murmured, "It looks like she spent some time in Mexico. The Calaveras?"

With a nod, Sam confirmed his theory, "We suspect Gerard called in a favor from Araya. It's the only way she  would be in Mexico without being "

Derek asked, "Does any of this show she's been in contact with her father?"

Sam shook his head, "There's a few burner phones in there, but there are no calls that show regular contact with anyone but a few hunters and her niece Allison." 

"It's possible," Peter said, "That Gerard called in the favor to ensure Kate killed herself after the turn. The Argents and the Calaveras are two families who believe strongly in death before the turn."

Derek pondered, "I wonder if she's aware her father wanted the bite. That would put the cat amongst the pigeons."

Sam squeezed his shoulder, "Have at it. Feel free to push a little; it would be good to identify her creature type."

Derek took the file back from Peter and added it to the pile in his arms. He said, "I want you to lead the interview; she thinks you're dead after all. I think if I stand in the corner and play on my phone, between the two of us, she'll hopefully become completely unglued."

Peter smirked, "Sounds like a plan. Let's go."

They entered the room, and they both smiled internally at the shocked look on the hunter's face. Derek dropped the files on the desk, then he moved to stand behind her in the corner. He deliberately chose his spot so she couldn't see him in the observation room mirror. 

Before they entered, he'd turned on the keypad noise on his phone; he just knew the quiet beeps would get to her. He started texting with Stiles letting him know that he was texting to bug Kate.

Peter sat and carefully arranged the files Derek had dropped on the desk. Once he was happy, he looked up and said, "I'm Agent Peter Hale, and I think you already know my team lead, SSA Derek Hale."

She stammered, "You're both FBI? How?"

"Like most people," Peter said like it was obvious. "We were recruited while we were in college. What about yourself?"

She sneered and tried to turn so she could glare at Derek, who was still texting. 

Peter stopped her by asking. "So I am super curious; your personnel file has you based in San Diego in 2011. Yet, I seem to recall seeing you in Beacon Hills during that period. Vacation time?"

She rolled her eyes and said, "I'm sure you've already figured out I'm not an FBI agent. So let's cut the crap, sweetie, and you can ask what you really want to ask."

Peter smirked. "Well, that's quite a list. How about we start with why are you hiding in the FBI, Kate. I mean, you made a good effort to hide, but your FBI background was lacking in the finer details."

She shook her head, "It wasn't like I needed to hide for long. It just had to be enough to get me access for a few weeks."

"To what end?" Peter asked, "You must have had a reason."

She shrugged, "Does it matter?" She gestured at the pile of files, "It's clear I'm not getting out of here anytime soon."

Peter nodded, "It does; matter, I mean. You've been off the grid for nearly six years. It would be good to know where you've been and what you've been up to. When you turned into whatever the hell you are."

Kate prevaricated, "How is that relevant to why I am here now? Clearly, you've brought me in to discuss my impersonating an FBI agent. I fail to see how my activities outside of that factor in. I was mostly laying low and hiding from the Calaveras."

"Mostly," Peter said flatly, "And what about the times you weren't hiding out?" He tapped the folders and said, "You do, after all, have a history of family annihilation killings by the method of arson."

She looked away from the wolf; she refused point-blank to answer. Kate knew that after her apparent death that many of her secrets had come to light. Most at the hands of the FBI.

Peter knew she was stubborn, so he changed direction. He asked, "So why did you look up Derek's records," He looked down at the folder. "Oh, and the records of two of your students? Students that are liaisons with an international agency." 

He smirked at the shock on her face as he said, "What, did you think they didn't recognize you?"

She snarled, and those in the observation room saw a flash of fang as she said, "They aren't even old enough to join the FBI."

Derek whispered from the corner, too low for the microphones to pick up but plenty loud for shifter hearing, "Careful Katie, your shift is showing."

Her face started to tinge blue before she managed to wrangle back some control. Peter ignored it, and he went on, "I mean, we've come to the conclusion that if you wanted to kill the last Hale that survived the fire, you would have been more subtle. So what's your end game here, Katie?"

She leaned back in her seat, "Why would I give you that info. As it stands, I am already looking at the death penalty. I have nothing to gain in giving up my secrets."

Peter shook his head, "Oh no, you're facing life in a supermax prison specifically for supernaturals. The death penalty would be showing lenience."

Derek had pulled up information about werejaguars on his phone as soon as he'd seen the hint of blue on her face. He moved, so he was standing behind his uncle as he said, "The prison we use for supernatural creatures such as yourself is specially designed. All the cells are individually tailored to the creatures they contain; for example, alpha wolves are in wolfsbane lined cells with an outer barrier of mountain ash. For werejaguars such as yourself, it's a mountain ash lined cell with an outer layer of foxglove and mistletoe."

Kate frowned. "That's barbaric."

Derek shrugged as he moved to stand behind her again. He could tell it was getting to her in the way she kept twitching every time his phone beeped. As he walked past her, he stated snidely, "Some would say the same about trapping families in their house with mountain ash before burning the house to the ground."

Peter asked, "So with the reality of your situation now laid out, what was the purpose in the records you pulled yesterday evening."

Kate huffed, "I need access to the Hale Vaults. I was planning to have Derek framed for mass murder so I could force him to give me access to the vault in North Carolina."

Peter laughed, "Seriously, you thought it would be that easy to get hold of yellow wolfsbane? Those vaults were cleaned out of anything dangerous to the pack years ago. Now the important question is, what were you planning to do with yellow wolfsbane?"

Kate narrowed her eyes. "How do you know that was even my target? It's not like yellow wolfsbane is hard to find."

He shook his head and with a chuckle, "Ahh, but I'm sure you're aware that the sales are highly regulated, and all the black market sellers have been found and shut down over the last few years." He glared at her. "For the last time, why were you trying to get your hands on a sample of yellow wolfsbane?"

She took a few minutes to answer, and Peter could see the emotions of her indecision play across her face. Eventually, she said, "I needed it for my father, so he would accept me back into the family."

Smelling the blood in the water, Peter asked, "So you're aware of your father's location?"

She shook her head in denial. "No. He refuses to meet with me unless I supply an appropriate gift. He's suggested Yellow Wolfsbane, Purple Mistletoe, or there is a rare strain of foxglove he's been trying to get his hands on. There were rumors that your family had yellow wolfsbane, that it was placed in your vault in North Carolina by a paranoid former alpha."

Peter smirked. "Oh, there was a small sample. It's been moved to a new vault, and it's secured under wards that only allow the Hale Alpha and the alpha mate to enter. It's also warded with intent wards, so if they are there under coercion, the wards will refuse them entrance and notify the pack that the alpha is under threat."

Kate raised an eyebrow. "Paranoid much?"

Derek snorted. "After you and other hunters like you nearly decimated our pack, it's vigilance, a common-sense action. I want to know why she pulled the records for Doctors Paddington and Whittemore."

She sneered. "Don't you mean Stilinski, the Sheriff's brat?"

Peter shook his head. "No, he means Dr. Stiles Paddington. The man who wrote the dissertation now used as required reading for the jurisdiction modules for the FBI Academy. Something I'm surprised you didn't read as part of your research, I mean you have a reputation for your attention to detail."

With a shrug, she said dismissively, "I was in a hurry, the jurisdiction module was the only course that needed an instructor, and I didn't have the time to research. As for why I pulled the records on the two brats, that was at the request of my niece. Her fiancé has been trying to find them."

Peter narrowed his eyes as he demanded, "Then why pull their records when you knew where they were? You knew damn well they were your students. And as much as I would believe that Mr. McCall would want information on two former residents of Beacon Hills. He would use his own father to get that information; since he is an actual FBI agent. So, with that in mind, do you want to try answering that again? This time I'd prefer the actual answer."

This time she couldn't hold back the shift as she snarled, "I wanted to know how two cowards could get into MI5 so young. My niece was very clear that they ran away when things went bad in Beacon Hills. She said the entire Hale Pack ran away, leaving the territory clear for her fiancé."

Peter and Derek both started to laugh, Peter began to wipe tears from his eyes. "Oh wow, that's impressive."

Derek snarked, "I know, I had no idea the Fail Alpha was that delusional."

Peter ignored the spluttering from the jaguar as he said conversationally to his nephew, "Maybe the local druid is more persuasive than we thought. He seemed pretty invested in getting control of the territory. I wouldn't put it past him to manipulate the so-called True Alpha to get what he wants."

Derek inquired, "Do you need anything else from her?"

Peter asked, "Why's that?"

Derek shrugged. "The other interview is finished, and it looks like Kate asked last week about Jackson and Stiles. The younger Argent hasn't yet learned to lie to an alpha, so I'm more inclined to believe her, and it's clear we won't learn anything from this one."

He was grateful for the years of therapy he and his uncle had been given as part of their FBI training. It had taken a while, but he finally understood he'd been manipulated by a master; and that the fire and what happened afterward was no one's fault but Kate's. He knew through experience that if she didn't want to give up information, there would be nothing they could do to get it.

With a tap to his ears to remind her that he could hear a lie, Peter looked at her directly and asked, "Where is your father?"

She laughed and shook her head, "You think he'd tell me? He doesn't consort with beasts."

Peter stood, but before he followed his nephew out of the room, he left her with a parting shot. "Do you honestly think he would take you back in the fold if you hand over the one thing that can kill you without the possibility of a cure?"

Chapter Text

September 15th, 2016

The two agents entered the observation room, and they could hear Stiles chuckling at Kate. They looked through the glass and saw she was sneering at Peter's parting comment. 

Stiles commented, "She honestly thinks if she provides one of those rare poisons, that he will welcome her back with open arms."

Sam wished he could borrow Rick from Clive for the task force, as there weren't a lot of creatures that could subdue an out-of-control werejaguar. The one creature he didn't have on the roster was a kanima aside from Jackson.

He turned to Jackson, and he asked, "Do you have any venom handy?"

Jackson shook his head, but he offered, "No, but if you bring me some of the darts for the tranquilizer guns, I'll fill them with venom. As long as it's only used for transporting her if she gets out of control." 

The older man agreed. "It's not something I want to get into the habit of using. I just have a feeling that if anyone is going to cause us problems, it'll be her."

Stiles agreed, "Definitely. She has a sense of entitlement that defies belief, to be honest. I met her a few times in Beacon Hills before the big showdown at the Hale house, and my impression of her was that she believed that as a hunter, she had the right to end creatures with no due process."

Peter said, "I'd recommend doubling the recommended number of guards and making sure they're all armed with the venom darts. Her control is barely holding, and if she feels cornered, she's going to try and fight her way out."

Sam agreed. "I'll put teams on rotation to guard her until her trial. We already have the evidence for each of the fires and the bribes. All we need to do now is formally arrest her, which I will do personally. I want to make sure all the paperwork is completed so there is no way her lawyers can cry foul."

Stiles raised an eyebrow, and he said, "Technically, that interview won't be usable in court. Not when she was being interviewed by two of her victims."

Sam shook his head. "We have enough evidence with the fires and the bribes for her to go away for a long time. We made the call that we would rather use the interview to try and get information about Gerard. Rather than get nothing from her, and add what is a minor charge compared to the rest to the long list we already have."

Peter said, "Make sure that they take the death penalty off the table. Even her cooperation was layered in lies."

Charlie came in with a box of darts, and he handed them to Jackson. "We've earmarked these for Ms. Argent, for her prisoner transports once the court dates start."

He flicked his hand to release his kanima claws, and with help from Stiles, he started filling the darts with venom. Stiles handed the first few to Sam so he could make the arrest and get her transported to the supernatural cells in the basement. Jackson promised, "I'll leave the rest on your desk when I'm done."

The arrest went smoother than they expected, as she seemed to go meekly with the agents without putting up a fight. The pack watched from the observation room, and Derek said, "She's planning something. There is no way she's just accepting this."

Peter agreed. He recognized a fellow schemer. "She also hasn't asked for a lawyer or her phone call. I know from talking to Chris, the Argent's have a firm on retainer. He still has access to the lawyer, even though he's no longer a hunter."

Stiles shrugged, "We'll just have to investigate if one mysteriously turns up; it'll let us know if she's the bait we're starting to suspect she is."

Derek requested, "In the meantime, I want to strengthen the wards at home, and probably back in Beacon Hills too. Perhaps a weekend visit to add to the wards."

Pulling out his phone to check if he had any weekend classes, Stiles agreed. "Sounds good, Sourwolf. It'll see if Dad and Chris are willing to move to the pack house with Jordan and Connor for a while. It'll be easier to add stronger wards to one house, rather than splitting my focus when we will be on a limited timeframe."

-x-

The group tested out of the jurisdiction module with high scores, primarily due to them all being familiar with Stiles' dissertation. They had all helped him by acting as sounding boards as he formulated his ideas. Adam and Dalton definitely got more out of Kate's lessons than Stiles and even Jackson, as the younger men had learned a lot of the basics as teenagers.

With the abrupt end to their module, Sam gave them Friday off. Stiles and Derek used it as an excellent opportunity to take an early morning flight back to Beacon Hills. They wanted to convince the sheriff and Chris to move into the pack house for a while. If Stiles got his way, the move would be permanent; they would be able to use the house he grew up in to host visiting packs.

As they were flying into Sacramento Airport, Derek asked, "Have you seen any of the deputies since you left after the attack?"

Stiles shook his head. "No, just the two that are pack, Connor and Jordan. All my visits home have been under the radar. I figure since we are not far away from moving home, it's time to be a bit more open about our visits."

"So wards first?" Derek asked, "Then we visit the station to convince your dad to move?"

The younger alpha nodded. "Yep, I want to strengthen the wards on the Nemeton, too. It would be good to check how it's recovering."

"Sounds good." Derek stood to get their baggage to hide his smile. "Connor said he'd have a car waiting for us outside. I just need to pick up the keys from the info desk." 

He'd arranged with Noah to get the Jeep restored to its former glory with a completely rebuilt engine. He'd safely stored the Camaro at the new pack house, in the oversized garage they'd built, and he was sure that's what Stiles was expecting to be waiting outside for them.

Derek handed over his ID to the girl at the information desk, and she handed back an envelope with his name on it. She said, "He said to tell you the keys, parking ticket, and the location of the vehicle are all in the envelope. He dropped it over just over an hour ago, and he said he'd see you both later at work."

"Thanks!" Derek took the envelope and pocketed the keys before Stiles could get a good look at them.

Stiles asked, "So where are we going, Sourwolf?"

He pulled a piece of paper out of the envelope, and he read out loud, "Terminal B Parking Garage, level 2, left out of the elevator."

They looked around for the signboard, and the girl at the desk helpfully pointed out, "Go through those doors, and it's right across the street."

Derek picked up the handle of his suitcase and, with a quick, "Thanks," as he led Stiles to the parking garage. He wanted to see his mate's reaction to seeing Roscoe.

He was not disappointed. 

Stiles exclaimed, "ROSCOE! Holy fuck, she looks awesome, Sourwolf! Who rebuilt her?"

Derek grinned as he explained, "Connor and your dad organized it with one of Alpha Ito's betas. He's got an excellent reputation for restoring cars. He's also Peter's main mechanic, and he babysits Uncle Peter's classic car collection whenever he's away."

Stiles held his hand out for the keys as he asked, "So what have they done to her? I can see she's had the panels all fixed up, given most of the dents and scratches are all fixed up. What about under the hood?"

Derek threw the keys over after he got their suitcases in the back. "You can check it out later. We should get that warding done before people find out that you're back in town."

Stiles gave him a deadpan look as he said, "If you wanted us to sneak into town, you picked the wrong car."

With a shrug, Derek said, "We can go to the house the back way from here. There is a little-known access road in the preserve. The entrance is well hidden, and you need to be shown where it is to get through it. I'll let you know when we're close."

Asora welcomed them to the house, giving both of the alphas tight hugs. He said, "I hear you're going to update the wards. Mind if I help out?"

"Dude," Stiles enthused, ignoring the frown on the kitsune's face. "That would be awesome. Did Connor tell you why the wards are being updated?"

Asora shook his head. "He just said they needed to be done, and he mentioned it would be fairly soon as a matter of urgency, which is why I offered to help. What are you planning to add? We already have pretty strong warning and intent wards."

Stiles shrugged. "I was going to add to the intent wards, so they would warn us if anyone armed entered the property that wasn't pack. I also want to double-check the wards around the Nemeton."

The kitsune nodded. "Sounds good. I have a few wards to suggest; I think we should upgrade the fireproofing wards on the property. Also, I would like to add a new ward to the Nemeton that warns all pack members that are in the territory that someone is trying to breach the wards, rather than just the alphas. It'll make the Nemeton feel a bit more secure."

Derek asked, "Have there been attempts?"

"A few," Asora confirmed. "Druid Deaton has tried a few times while Connor has been on shift. He's been able to let myself and Noshiko know, so we could find the intruder. There have been other attempts, but by the time we've got to the Nemeton, they were gone."

Stiles asked, "What if we put a trip ward that has an intent base half a mile, or even a mile out from the current ward line. We could make it undetectable, but it flares to all pack members who are local if the person walking through is intending to find the Nemeton."

Asora grinned, "That'll work. The dojo isn't far from the Nemeton, so we should be pretty quick to respond."

Derek smiled. "What do you both need from me to do this?"

Stiles shook his head. "Nothing. How about while we do the wards, you go and make nice with the tree? You know it loves to see you."

"Come get me when you're done," Derek said as he started for the tree line. "You still need to meet the tree formally, you know."

They got on with the warding. It took them both a few hours. Once they were done, they met their alpha at the Nemeton. 

Stiles studied the tree, which had grown a fair bit since the druids cleansed it. He ran his hand down the trunk and said, "It's looking amazing. Will it get much bigger? It's already looking like a baby redwood. So how do I formally introduce myself?"

Asora and Derek both said, "Blood."

Stiles took out the knife he had used to etch the runes needed for the wards and slashed it across his palm. He held back his healing and let the blood pool on his palm before he smeared it on the tree. He could feel the warmth from the tree as it accepted his introduction. "Wow, it's happy. How's it going to feel when we all move back here?"

Derek's eyes flared red, and he said, "Ecstatic for sure, just like I will be. Right, let's go to the station. We can try to catch your dad for a late lunch break."

As they walked back to the rebuilt pack house, Stiles asked, "Do we know where Scott and his pack are working these days?"

Asora reported, "Alpha McCall works for Dr. Deaton as a vet nurse. Ms. Argent works at the local high school as an assistant coach and substitute teacher. Beta Lahey is a barista at the Starbucks in town; it's on the other side of town from the sheriff's station. I haven't heard much about the younger betas. The last I heard, Beta Dunbar is doing his residency at the local hospital, Mr. Hewitt is still at Stanford, Beta Bryant is with him, and Beta Raeken is currently unemployed."

Stiles nodded. "So we should be able to avoid seeing them all if we're careful. I would rather have the impending confrontation at a later date. Do you want to join us for lunch, Asora?"

The kitsune shook his head. "I would love to, but I have a class starting in half an hour."

They were about to jump into Roscoe when Stiles asked, "Should we take one of the other less conspicuous cars?"

Derek shook his head. "Nope. Honestly, I don't actually care if they see us; it's our territory."

They drove down the main street heading for the station, and Stiles was pointing out shops that had changed as he went past. He was surprised to see a tea shop had moved in, and Derek promised they'd check it out before they flew back to Washington.

They pulled up at the sheriff's station, and Derek asked, "Shall we see if we can get past the front desk before they realize who you are? Use our IDs?"

Stiles chuckled as he pulled his ID out of his back pocket and hooked it into his waist as he got out of the Jeep. "Sounds perfect. Let's go!"

They entered the station, and Stiles recognized Deputy Tara Graeme, who was working the front desk. He gently tapped Derek's lower back out of her eyesight, so he would know to take the lead.

Derek approached with his badge in his hand. "Hi, I'm looking for Sheriff Stilinski."

She looked up at the pair of them and asked, "And who may I say is asking?"

Stiles could see Connor snickering away at his desk as Derek introduced them. "I'm Agent Hale from the FBI, and this is Officer Paddington of MI5."

Tara frowned. She couldn't figure out why a British intelligence agency would be interested in speaking to the sheriff. She checked her computer and couldn't see any appointments on his calendar. The deputy was trying to place Officer Paddington; he looked familiar, but she just couldn't think how she knew him. "Is he expecting you?"

Derek shook his head. "No, this was an unexpected visit. He won't mind the interruption, I promise."

She stood and went back to the office. Noah had his husband in for a lunchtime visit, which he often did between classes. "Boss? You have an Agent Hale and Officer Paddington waiting at the front desk for you."

Noah stood and practically sprinted out of the office with Chris and Tara hot on his heels. She asked, "Do you know them?"

Chris grinned, "Stiles and his boyfriend are home."

She froze and demanded, "What?"

Chris turned her, so she was facing the front desk; it gave her a great view of Noah with a death grip on the British officer. He explained quietly, "Officer Paddington is Officer Stiles Paddington. He changed his name when he moved to the UK in his Junior year."

Tara approached the father and son pair, and she punched Stiles as soon as he let go of his father. "You little shit!"

Stiles grinned and pulled her into a tight hug as he murmured, "Missed you too, Tara."

She held him at arm's length and asked, "What the hell happened to you?"

He knew she was read in on the supernatural, so when he ensured no one could see, he flashed his alpha eyes at her.

She dragged him through to his father's office as she yelled, "Deputy James, take over the desk, please. I need to have words with a certain delinquent."

The station burst out laughing at that. Even the deputies who'd never met Stiles had heard stories of the sheriff's son.

The five of them entered the office, and she demanded, "What the hell, Stiles. When did that happen?"

Stiles and Derek explained the alpha pack and the attack on Stiles while he was out running patrol in the preserve. He also told her about going to college early and getting his criminal justice doctorate.

She hugged him tight and whispered, "I'm so damn proud of you, kid." She pulled back, and she asked, "So does this mean the Hale Pack is back for good?"

Derek shook his head. "Not yet. We are doing a final year of training with the Talos Task Force, then we are moving into a new FBI office that is currently being prepared for us down the street. We'll be dealing with west coast based supernatural cases from the office. The team is all Hale Pack members with occasional visits from other teams when we need additional help."

Noah interrupted the reunion. "As nice as it is to see you, Stiles, why are you here in Beacon Hills? Does this have something to do with what's been frustrating you for the last week?"

Stiles nodded. "We had an instructor for our jurisdiction module, Kate Argent."

Noah nodded in understanding, "That explains the interview with Allison the other day."

Chris asked, "How did she survive? I saw her after the attack; she shouldn't have been able to live through it."

Derek flicked out his claws and raised his eyebrow as if to say, 'Duh.'

Chris paled. "She's a wolf?"

Stiles laughed. "Oh no. She's a werejaguar," he couldn't help snickering. "She turns blue when she shifts; it's hilarious."

Chris' jaw dropped. "Seriously? Does she at least have control?"

Derek and Stiles both shook their heads, and with a grin, Derek said, "It didn't take much for Peter to provoke her into shifting."

The sheriff frowned. "Wouldn't that void the charges?"

Derek wiggled his hand in a so-so motion. "No. We pulled her in for impersonating an FBI agent, and we didn't question her about the fires or the bribes, nor was she under arrest at the time. Compared to the charges she is facing on the fires and the bribes, the penalty for impersonating a federal officer was a mere drop in the bucket. They decided to use the opportunity to try and get her father's location from her, and they wanted to know why she searched for the four of us."

Tara demanded, "And?"

Derek shrugged. "She spent most of the interview either lying or evading the questions with misdirection. It's made us wonder if she was bait for a trap we can't see yet."

Chris nodded in understanding. "It's something Gerard would do; sacrifice a pawn to get closer to the king. With Kate being a shifter, especially one with a reputation of being a loose cannon, he has no use for her now."

"He is after some rare poisons," Stiles confirmed. "Yellow Wolfsbane, Purple Mistletoe, and there is a rare strain of foxglove he's been trying to get his hands on, according to Kate. She was claiming to be looking for Derek so she could get access to the Hale Vault in North Carolina. There are rumors of the vault containing a vial of Yellow Wolfsbane."

Chris sighed. "Yellow Wolfsbane has no cure. Odds are it's for the pack, or Kate. I wonder what he's up to?"

Noah said darkly, "Whatever it is, it can't be good."

Stiles said hesitantly, "We've spent a few hours at the pack house today strengthening the wards. I would like the two of you to move out there. It's easier to strengthen the wards on one place rather than different places around town."

Noah raised his hands in surrender. "Fine, fine. We've already been discussing it, and we were thinking of moving our stuff over this weekend."

Chris nodded. "The interview Connor had with Allison just didn't sit right. She didn't lie, but I don't trust that she told the truth, either. Speaking of moving since you're here, Alpha Hale, I would like to join the Hale Pack as a human member."

They all felt the pack bond snap into place before Derek did anything, and Chris frowned. "I don't get it. You didn't bite me, but I feel the pack bond?"

Derek grinned, "You already were pack, Chris. Your marriage to Noah saw to that. You just had to accept your own place in the pack to solidify the pack bond."

Stiles suggested, "Why don't we head to your place now and start packing?" He glanced at Tara. "Can you cover for him?"

Tara nodded her agreement. She knew if there was trouble, they would try to hit at the pack through the humans.

Chapter Text

September 16th, 2016

As they were packing up the important things in the old Stilinski house, Noah pulled Stiles aside and said, "Mel misses you. All she knows is you left town, and I told her Scott didn't even notice you'd left the country."

Stiles asked, "Do you know if she's working today?"

Noah nodded. "She's a charge nurse now in the long-term care ward. If you avoid ED, you should be fine. Scott's beta, Liam Dunbar, is doing his residency in the emergency department. I doubt he will recognize either of you, but he may smell your wolves. Go now, and maybe stop in at the diner and pick her up something for a late lunch."

Derek asked, "Will she know we're in town?"

Noah shook his head. "I don't think so. The only way she would know your home is if one of the deputies has told her or Scott, and as far as I know, she's not close to any of the deputies."

Stiles shook his keys, and he asked, "You coming, Sourwolf?"

Derek nodded. "We'll be back to help transfer everything once it's all packed up."

They had switched to Derek's SUV, as it had the trunk space for lots of boxes, and it was fairly anonymous around Beacon Hills. When they arrived at the hospital, they were able to get through the emergency department without being stopped by anyone, to the relief of both of the alphas. They'd stopped on the way to the hospital to pick up Melissa's favorite meal from the diner. It was an apology for being away for so long.

They waited at the ward entrance until the nurse she was talking to left the charge nurse's office before they approached. Stiles asked, "Melissa?"

She looked up, and with no sign of recognition on her face, she asked, "Can I help you."

He held up the takeaway bag from the diner, and he said, "Dad suggested I bring a bribe to apologize for being gone for so long."

She beckoned the pair into her office before she stood and pulled her second son into a hug. "What the hell happened to you, kiddo. I can barely recognize you."

Derek discretely shut the door behind the pair so they wouldn't be overheard as Stiles explained, "I left town after one of the wolves from the alpha pack attacked me. I got home covered in blood and scratches, and it was the last straw for Dad. He sent me to live with my uncle in England."

"Sit," she said as she gestured them to the chairs. "Now, who's your young man?"

Stiles introduced his mate, "This is Derek Hale, my alpha. Derek, this is Melissa McCall. I don't know if you actually met her before we all left town."

Derek shook his head, and he said, "No, I didn't. It's nice to meet Stiles' other mama, finally. He's told me a lot about you."

Realization dawned on her face when she took in the name Hale. So she asked, "Are you both back to stay?"

Stiles shook his head, "No, not yet; this is just a short visit. I needed to update the wards on our house, and help Dad and Chris move to the pack house."

She frowned as she asked, "So, you're the emissary?"

Stiles smirked and let his eyes flare crimson as he shook his head. "Nope, alpha mate, actually. But, because of the circumstances of my bite, I was able to keep my magic."

"I thought you didn't want the bite?" She asked. She was a bit confused.

Stiles agreed, "I didn't. After my patrol partner decided a booty call was more important than doing his assigned patrol run, he abandoned me to do the rest of the patrol on my own. I was attacked while running through the preserve, and I was able to kill the alpha that bit me within seconds of him biting me. It was lucky, due to being magical, I would have died from bite rejection if I didn't have the stronger alpha spark to help me through the turn."

Derek grabbed his hand and squeezed tight as he murmured, "I'm glad you survived."

She was trying to get the timeline straight in her head, and she asked Derek, "So you joined him when you left?"

Derek shook his head. "No. Stiles only moved to our house in Washington a month ago. When he left Beacon Hills, he moved to London to live with his Uncle Clive and started at Oxford University a few weeks after he arrived. About a week or so after he left, I was invited to join the FBI with my Uncle Peter, and we moved to Washington to complete our degrees at GWU before we joined the FBI academy. I am now a Supervisory Special Agent with the FBI's Talos Task Force, and Stiles is a Senior Officer with MI5 on permanent loan to the FBI."

Stiles grinned and said, "I got my doctorate in criminal justice, and I am ABD in my second doctorate in psychology with Derek, who is working towards his first doctorate."

"That's amazing, kiddo," she grinned. "Your mom would be so proud. She always knew you would excel at school."

Stiles asked, "So what have I missed around here?"

Melissa leaned back in her chair, and she said, "Well, after you and the Whittemore boy left, there were a few more that followed not long after. The kid who played goalie on the lacrosse team left just before the end of the year? I can't remember his name, sorry. Scott was ranting about him leaving because they didn't have a backup. Then the Martin girl, the one you had a crush on, she left at the end of her junior year to start college early. No one's heard from her since."

Stiles nodded. "Jackson ended up in London with me and Cora, Derek's sister. Danny, the goalie, attended GWU with Derek and Peter. We're all working together on the same task force team. Last I heard, Lydia moved to Boston to attend MIT, but I haven't heard from her since I left town."

Melissa tilted her head. "And you all graduated early?"

Stiles and Derek nodded slowly, so she asked, "Don't you find that a little odd. That a small town would have a higher than usual rate of genius students?"

Derek nodded and said, "We looked into it, as we did find it odd. Especially since Stiles, Cora, and Jackson skipped at least two years of university courses at a young age, Stiles and Jackson were 16, and my sister was only 18. It's how Stiles and Jackson both have doctorates at 21. Even Uncle Peter and myself are also a bit unusual with how fast we can pass courses." 

He went on to explain the research they had done on those who had been born close to the Nemeton, and how they theorized that it gifted them with the intelligence to help it survive.

Melissa said, "It makes sense. I remember Claudia telling me how she went into the preserve to have you."

Stiles nodded. "Now, I had an ulterior motive for my visit. I wanted to make sure you had protection both here and at home. Has Scott had your house warded?"

"Against what?" Melissa asked. She shook her head and continued bitterly, "I haven't spoken to my son in months. I'm human, and Scott and his fiance have made it very clear that I'm not pack. Allison even told me that I should keep my nose out of pack business. Noah has spoken to me more in the last few years than my own son."

Derek scrubbed his hand down his face. "Fuck. Look, we think Gerard is gearing up for something. We captured Kate Argent yesterday as she was impersonating an FBI agent. We didn't get much out of her, but we did find out her father is looking for rare poisons, including yellow wolfsbane, which is fatal to werewolves without a cure."

Stiles added, "We're worried enough that Dad's agreed for him and Chris to move to the pack house. It's warded to kingdom come." He glanced at Derek, who nodded. "We would like you to consider the move, too. Gerard sees you as a weak point for Scott, and you would be one of the first people he targets."

Derek suggested, "You could also make her some of those holsters so we can arm her at work without anyone realizing."

Melissa asked, "Holsters?"

Stiles pulled his sleeve up, and he touched the holster on his arm, so it was visible, and Melissa could see the large knife he habitually wore. He pulled his hand away, and it faded away and was no longer visible. 

She moved her hand toward his arm and asked, "May I?"

Stiles smirked, "Sure. When it's invisible, only I can feel it there. It's part of the magic of the holster. I have worn one on each forearm since Gerard first kidnapped and beat me as a message to Scott. It wouldn't take much to rig up a pair for you, and either Chris or Asora can teach you how to fight with them."

Melissa thought about it and asked, "Just how serious is the threat from Gerard? I thought he was dying of bite rejection."

Stiles shrugged. "Honestly, we aren't sure, but we would prefer to prepare for the worst than be caught unawares."

Melissa asked, "Where is the Hale house? The only house I know of is the ruins in the preserve?"

Derek smirked. "Magic is awesome. It's warded, so only those who are keyed into the wards know the house exists. It took a couple of construction crews nearly two years to complete it, so we wanted to make sure it's protected. And before you ask, yes, there is plenty of room for you."

Stiles offered, "Why don't you meet us at dad's after your shift, and you can follow us out there to check it out. You'll be able to meet Asora and maybe even the Yukimuras. It depends on if they are at the house or their own place further into the preserve."

She nodded. "Give me an hour to get things finished here. I'd like to see the house and talk to your dad before I decide."

They both agreed and gave her a hug before leaving her office. They had luck on their side on their way out, and they managed to avoid being spotted.

-x-

The two alphas were delayed getting to the pack house. They had stopped to pick up some pizza to welcome everyone to the house and kick off a full moon run. 

Asora wasn't keen on Melissa moving in, as she wasn't part of the Hale Pack. That was until Chris and Noah explained her history with Gerard; and how she would be one of his first targets. The kitsune offered to put a personal ward on her, so if she was in trouble, the pack would know and would check on her.

Melissa decided to ask a few questions in the alpha's absence. "Why?" She was curious as to why someone who wasn't pack would be welcomed to the den. "I know I mean a lot to Stiles, just like he means a lot to me. But that can't be all?"

Asora nodded. "It is actually, we trust his gut, and right now, his gut says you're in danger from Gerard Argent. Keeping you out of harm's way keeps him safe."

Noah agreed, "If you were taken, Stiles would move heaven and earth to get you back. You know he's loyal to those he claims as his."

Melissa nodded. "Scott's no longer his anymore, is he?"

Noah and Chris both shook their heads. Chris explained, "Scott changed after he was bitten. He became popular, and he finally had others who hung on to his every word. He no longer had time for someone he perceived as holding him back, someone so squishy and human. I think part of him, and probably a large part of him, still blames Stiles for Peter biting him. The way he tells it, Stiles dragged him out to the forest, and it's his fault he was in Peter's path."

Noah laughed. "It's hilarious because Scott would have been dragged into the supernatural world, regardless. Stiles was never fully human. I'll let him explain more when they get back with Jordan and Connor."

Chris grinned. "You are going to love the full moon run. I won't spoil it, but it's a fantastic sight."

Melissa was curious. "I thought the Hale Pack was small. Just Peter, Derek, and obviously, Stiles."

Noah chuckled. "No, there is a large contingent in DC waiting for the task force to spread out so they can move home. I think all up there are two alphas, three kitsune, five betas, a hellhound, and four humans so far."

Melissa asked, "What's a kitsune? It's not something I've heard of before."

The only kitsune in the room, Asora, explained, "We are fox shifters from Japan. You might have heard of the nine-tailed fox?"

Melissa nodded. "Sort of. I'm guessing they based that Pokemon on you."

Asora scowled. "If I ever get my hands on the one who showed their true form… Sorry, yes, that is a good approximation. We live long lives as long as our tails are not destroyed. I am over a thousand years old and Noshiko, who you will probably meet later, is nearly 900 years old."

Melissa's eyes widened. "Wow, that's a long time. You must have seen so much."

Chris laughed as he said, "He helped build the Tower of Pisa."

Derek and Stiles called out as they entered, both holding an enormous stack of pizzas.

Noah called out, "We're in here, son."

Derek asked, "What's wrong with Melissa?"

Noah replied, "Asora told her how old he is. I think she's still processing it."

The alpha put the pizzas on the coffee table, and he took the pile from Stiles' arms so the other alpha could get plates and napkins from the kitchen. He said, "Connor and Jordan are about five minutes behind us. We got a good selection, so we could all get a decent meal before the full moon run."

Melissa snapped out of her stupor as Connor and Jordan entered the room, and she asked, "So, what happens on a full moon run? The most I ever saw Scott's pack do, was hang around and watch movies."

Derek explained, "My family always went into the preserve as a pack to go for a hunt. Our pack is a bit different from most, though. Stiles was able to help us all find our full-shift, so when we run, it's as our inner animal."

She looked stunned as she asked, "You can turn into wolves?"

Stiles put down the pizza he had been eating, and he shifted into his wolf form so she could check it out.

"Wow," she breathed. "You're huge."

Derek nodded. "We suspect we are similar in size to the extinct dire wolf. My form is slightly bigger than Stiles', and I think the betas are slightly smaller. Jordan is huge as a hellhound, I think around the same size as the Cerberus from the first Harry Potter movie. And the kitsunes are about half the size of us when fully shifted, but they can use magic in their shifted form."

Melissa thought back to what Asora said about kitsunes, and she asked, "Do the kitsunes have all the tails when they are shifted?"

Asora grinned. "Yep, myself and Noshiko both have nine tails, and her daughter, Kira, had three the last time I saw her. Kira's with the rest of the pack in Washington. My kitsune form is pitch black, like Derek's wolf form, Noshiko is a deep blue that looks almost black, and her coat is speckled with flecks of purple and light blue through her fur. Kira is orange with flecks of light blue through her fur."

Derek nudged his mate. "Shift back and finish eating so we can go hunt. I saw a nice 12 point buck I want to hunt down."

The nurse gave him one last pat before he moved back and shifted back to human. As he picked up his plate, he said, "The best part of having a full-shift form is the puppy piles. When we get back from the full moon runs, we tend to pile up in the living room and snuggle together as a pack. The humans love it in the winter, as we all run hot."

 Chris and Noah both nodded. Noah explained, "It's like being wrapped in a space heater. It was brilliant when we were in England. It was freezing over there in the winter."

Derek said, "It also puts rogues off their game when we shift as they are trying to fight us. We've won more than a few battles that way."

Connor grumbled, "Part of me wishes I had access to the full-shift for that alone." He saw the confusion on Melissa's face and explained, "I am here as a proxy alpha, so I am not a full pack member. Once the Hale Pack moves home, I'll be sent to my next assignment, which I believe is in France."

Derek nodded. "That's the plan. There is a pack near the Nemeton in Toulouse that needs a bit of help."

Eventually, they all moved outside, and the non-human pack members all shifted into their creature forms and ran into the preserve.

"Fuck," Melissa exclaimed, "Jordan dwarfs the wolves; he makes them look like those little yappy purse dogs."

The three men all chuckled. Ken had joined them for the regular full moon gossip sessions the human pack members had while the rest of the pack was out hunting. He mentioned, "The first time he shifted in front of me, I got such a fright I ended up on my ass on the ground."

Noah nodded. "I think he gave everyone a fright that first time he shifted. It was awesome; I don't even think he expected to be as big as he is."

Melissa asked quietly, "Scott is in for a rude awakening, isn't he?"

Noah nodded. "Sorry Mel, but yeah. He thinks this is his territory even though it's been made clear to both Scott and Deaton, time and time again, that when the Hales left that they were not giving up the territory. They were both told in plain English that Connor would be representing the Hale Pack as the proxy alpha until their return, you know, once they were done with their education."

Chris added, "We were both at that meeting, myself as the local hunter representative, and Noah as the Sheriff. We both overheard Deaton telling Scott that the Hales didn't have the authority to declare the territory theirs. That it was up to the emissary who the land belongs to."

Melissa said deadpan, "And Scotty would have fallen for that hook, line, and sinker."

Chapter Text

September 19th, 2016

After careful analysis of the two interview transcripts, they decided to pull Kate in for another interview. After talking it through with Charlie, Sam had reassigned the case to the team who initially went to Beacon Hills when the Alpha Pack and the Darach were causing issues. 

They were familiar with the Hale Fire case, having looked into it while they were in town. They were also familiar with the local packs and the two Argents that were still living in Beacon Hills.

Sam sent in SSA Dean Samuels, an alpha wolf, with one of his betas, Maggie Gilroy. They were a solid interview team, poker faces that would kill at professional poker, and they were both exceptional at reading slight alterations in chemosignals. Sam agreed that Derek and Peter could watch from the observation room as long as they didn't interfere.

Kate was looking mulish when they brought her into the interview room. Four agents escorted her up from the cells. All of them were shifters, and they armed the two agents taking the rear with kanima venom tranquilizer darts. Once she had been handcuffed to the table with specially made cuffs that were designed to hold shifters, Dean and Maggie entered the interview room with the same stack of folders that Peter had brought in during her last interview.

They both sat down opposite her and put the stack of folders between them. They wanted to ask about the various fires she had allegedly set, and they intended to find out about the bribes she had paid for the fires to be reported as accidents.

Maggie had the list of questions that came from the transcript of the interview with Allison Argent. "We let you know about this interview on Friday to give you a chance to call in your lawyer. Are they coming?"

Kate shook her head. "No, my lawyer has declined to represent me, and I'm still trying to find one on my family's approved list to take my case. I will be fine without one for this interview, as long as you make the transcript available to whomever I hire later."

Maggie nodded. "We can certainly look into it once you give us a name. For the records, can you please tell us your full name and date of birth?"

"Kate Gwyneth Argent," she said in a bored tone. "I was born June 12th, 1980."

Maggie did the math in her head, and she asked, "So at the time of the Taylor fire, you were 21, for the Shipton fire you were 22, the Hale fire you were 24, the Astor fire you were 25, and the Talbot fire you were 26."

Kate drawled, "Your point?"

Maggie tapped the notepad with her pen as she said, "For each of those fires, you seduced a young teen for access to the house. All of them were under 15 at the time of the fires, which makes it five counts of statutory rape to start with. Then we can look at the numbers that died in each fire, 60 counts of murder across five house fires that we can confirm you planned and started. On top of that are the numerous officials you bribed to cover up each fire."

Kate shrugged dismissively, so Maggie asked, "Why were you in Beacon Hills in late 2011?"

They both scented the flash of rage that flooded the room until Kate got herself under control as she said, "I was there to see my niece, so she knew I wasn't dead."

Dean's grin was almost feral when he said, "Well, that's odd because, according to her statement, you didn't see her until early in 2012, but your own cellphone records put you in Beacon Hills from October 2011 until early 2012. Care to explain why you were there for nearly three months?"

Kate shook her head. "I don't see how it's relevant, to be honest."

Maggie said, "That's not up to you to decide. Now answer the question, why were you in Beacon Hills in late 2011? We can see from your cell phone records you spent time out by the old Hale house and also around the loft belonging to Derek Hale."

Kate growled, "You're just going to keep pushing, so fine. I woke up as a beast, and I was out of control. I remember Derek had issues with control when I was seeing him, so I was hoping I could convince him to help me."

Derek muttered in the observation room, "She would have been better off buying a lottery ticket. At least that would have had a chance at working."

Back in the interrogation room, the two agents who had gotten to know the alpha fairly well both raised an eyebrow. Maggie commented, "You honestly expected him to help you? Did you plan to kidnap him again?"

Kate scoffed, and she denied, "No."

"Lie," Dean said with a grin. "Want to try that again? I mean, you already kidnapped him once and held him for a week as you tortured him with electricity. Were you planning to do the same again?"

Kate snarled, "No!"

Maggie wrote some notes down before she said, "So you planned to kidnap him, but not torture him with electricity. So what was the plan?"

Kate said, "Stop putting words in my mouth. There was no plan!"

"Lie!" both agents said in unison. Maggie shook her head, and she said, "You might as well tell us, we can keep this up all day."

Kate shook her head, and her fangs were starting to interfere with her speech as she lisped, "There is nothing to tell, he wasn't in Beacon Hills, so I found another way to gain control."

Maggie said sarcastically, "Sure you did. So what were your plans with Derek Hale? We've established that you planned to kidnap him. We just need you to tell us why, for our records, of course."

Kate refused to answer, so eventually, Maggie pushed on. "How did you find out he'd left town?"

The shifter smirked as she said, "I ran into Allison and her pet alpha. I asked if they'd seen Derek; the alpha was very quick to tell me that the Hales had run away from Beacon Hills like cowards."

"Wow," Maggie said. "Okay. So you claim to have control and that you no longer needed Derek, so why were you looking him up in the system?"

With a look of disdain, Kate said, "I already told them that in the interview last week. I needed access to his family vault."

Dean asked, "For access to the rare Yellow Wolfsbane?"

"Yes!" Kate yelled.

Maggie took the first folder off the pile. It was the evidence for the Taylor fire. She asked, "You attacked the Taylor pack in August 2003. We can see from evidence and witness statements that you worked as a substitute teacher at Maple Park School in Corte Madera. We have reports here that state you seduced Grant Taylor into a sexual relationship when he was just fourteen years old. Why did you target the Taylor Pack?"

Kate shrugged. "They were beasts, and there were rumors of animal attacks in the area."

"Lie," Dean said tonelessly. "Want to try the truth this time?"

The agents both knew that she'd been sent to target them specifically. They had met with Gerard about a treaty, and he'd left empty-handed when they wouldn't agree to his terms. They'd been able to confirm that all the packs that Kate attacked had upset Gerard Argent in some way.

Kate sat back in her chair and tried to cross her arms, at least until she remembered she was handcuffed to the table. She sneered. "I wasn't lying."

Dean chuckled. "Feel free to lie to yourself, but we know from reading the local police reports that none of the areas had random animal attacks, not even rumors. So why did you target the Taylor Pack in 2003?"

The werejaguar shrugged as she leaned forward, and she said tonelessly, "I don't recall."

Maggie had a feeling she was going to refuse to comment on all of the fires, but they required her to continue the questioning. So she asked, "What about the Shipton fire in 2004?"

Kate smirked as she said, "I don't recall." She refused point-blank to give up the fact that her father chose her targets.

They interviewed her several times over the next month to try to get her to give up just a little bit of information, anything that they could use. Throughout the interviews, she gave up the fact she was not the one who chose the targets, that she seduced the younger boys because she saw them as beasts with no rights, essentially due to their lack of humanity. All the boys she targeted were born werewolves, which in her mind, human laws didn't apply to them as far as she was concerned as they weren't actually human.

She'd also tried a few times a week to engage one of the lawyers that her family employed on retainer, but they all refused to represent her because of her shifter nature. At each interview, they offered her a supernaturally aware public defender; but she turned her nose up at the offers and decided she would work on her own defense.

After six weeks of trying, with only a few tidbits of information to add to the files, the scheduled court date was finally upon them. Although the courtroom that was being used for the trial was not far away from the main FBI buildings, there was still a high risk of her escaping.

They had pulled in all the supernatural teams to be on hand for any escape attempts, and they spread out the 30 agents along the route from the cells to the warded van waiting outside.

Kate ignored the obvious increase in agents as they escorted her through the building to the van. She chose to walk with her head held high and her shirt sleeves hanging down over her cuffs. 

It was something Stiles had noticed when she walked past him, as they had stationed him and Adam reasonably close to the cells.

He murmured to Adam, "Look at her hands."

Adam and a few of the other agents saw her sleeves came down well past the cuffs, but her hands were still, and based on the angle of her hands, she appeared to be cuffed, so they weren't too concerned.

The group had almost made it out of the building with her when she made her move. It would appear escape was not her objective. She slashed at both of her escorts to get them out of the way; before she attacked Derek like a berserker, and she took him down with her hand buried deep in his chest. 

Before the surrounding agents could react, Stiles, who had listened to his instincts, and he had followed the group after they passed his assigned position, had moved in behind her with his claws at her throat. He ordered, "Remove your hand from his chest, or I'll rip out your throat."

Kate snarled. "What's the point? I'd rather die than end up in prison for the rest of my life. If I have to die, then I'm taking him with me."

Stiles dug his claws in, making sure to pierce her carotid artery with his thumb claw. Then, clearly within her sight line, he pulled the knife from the sheath hidden on his forearm, and he ran it under her nose so she could get a whiff of the poisons on the blade. He murmured too low for anyone but himself and Derek to hear, "I imbued this knife with a rare mix of herbs, one stab, and whatever it hits will never heal. Not even for a shifter with an advanced healing factor. So, if you don't pull your hand out of his chest, I will embed this knife in your spine and leave you to live as a paralyzed defective shifter. That way, you can rot in prison for the rest of your life. Remove. Your. Hand. NOW!"

Derek was too busy concentrating. He kept a death grip on her hand so that she couldn't slide it in further, so he missed the murmured comment. The rest of the surrounding agents had their weapons trained on the group, with various orders being shouted at the huntress.

Peter came sprinting when he heard the shouting. Kate had passed him earlier on the route, and she'd barely spared him a glance. "Fuck!" He slid down beside his nephew just as she pulled her hand out of Derek's chest. 

As he put pressure on the wound, the blue-eyed wolf demanded, "What the fuck just happened?"

Stiles, who was pulling Kate back, explained, "She was wearing long sleeves, and her escorts didn't notice her slipping her cuffs. As soon as she saw Derek, she dropped the pretense and the cuffs before attacking him like a feral animal. She attacked too quick for him, or anyone else, to react."

Sam had arrived just in time to hear Stiles' report, and he yelled, "I want the full shackles like I originally ordered. Who the fuck decided she only needed cuffs." One of the agents surrounding the small group sprinted off to the equipment room to find the warded shackles.

There was a groan from the floor, and one of the junior agents said, "The shackles gave her a panic attack; it's why we were delayed."

Sam hissed, "Someone get those two clowns to medical. We'll be having words about your future on the team if you can't even notice when you are being played."

He first checked that Stiles was okay with holding the shifter in place while they got the restraints, and he got a nod. When he really looked, he realized Stiles was whispering to Kate, and the woman was getting paler with each word. 

Sam decided he didn't see or hear anything from the younger agent, and he turned to get the clusterfuck sorted out so they could get her to the courtroom.

Peter had sent Dalton to get a stretcher so they could move Derek safely to their medical bay, then he had stripped off his jacket and was holding it on the large hole in Derek's chest to try to stop the bleeding. 

When Sam crouched down for a report, he said, "Derek's out cold now that she's no longer a danger. He's lost a fair amount of blood, but I can feel that his healing is already starting to kick in."

Ethan came sprinting into the room with the shackles he had grabbed from the junior agent. He didn't trust anyone else to protect his alpha. He handed them over to Jackson as he took over his guard position. Aiden moved with his twin to flank Derek. They wanted to guard him, as they were suspicious about the ease of her escape.

Jackson worked around Stiles to place the new shackles on Kate. The younger agent was silent, with his claws still embedded in her throat. Jackson said, "These are warded for shifter strength, and I promise you, none of us are naïve enough to believe you'd have a panic attack about being restrained. We'll also be rolling up your sleeves, so the cuffs stay in full view until they place you in your cell in the supermax prison."

He stood after rolling up her trouser legs and securing the last cuff around her ankle. "You can let her go now, Stiles. The twins will be her escorts from here. Adam, Dalton, and myself will join them for support. We'll text you with updates from her trial."

Stiles stepped back after he whispered darkly, "Remember my threat, Katie; any time anywhere. I won't kill you… but you'll wish I had."

Dalton dropped off a stretcher from medical before he left with the group guarding Kate. Stiles and Peter worked fast to get Derek situated, so they could carry him through to medical. They wanted him out of the public eye before the agents that were not in the know noticed his healing rate; or that the wound in his chest was actually rather large.

Dr. Matthews came out of his office and pointed at one of the beds as he ordered, "Put him down here."

They carefully laid him on the bed as directed, before they stood on the opposite side and started to pull his pain. The doctor examined him both visually and with a brief scan of his magic before he said, "He'll be fine. He should wake up in a few minutes."

Peter said, "We have a court date to attend, and it starts in a few minutes. When can he leave? The woman that caused all this is currently on trial. I don't want him to miss it, lest she believes she's won."

Dr. Matthews nodded. "As soon as the wound is closed, he can go." With a pointed look at Stiles, he ordered, "It's important he does nothing strenuous for a few days while his body completes the healing."

Stiles raised his eyebrows, and he asked, "Why tell me, Doc? It's his body."

The doctor gave him a raised eyebrow, and he said, "Yes, but it takes two to tango, and you might actually listen to me."

Derek muttered, "I listen, when what you say makes sense." He rolled his head to look at Stiles and asked, "Did she get away?"

Stiles shook his head. "Fuck no. I held her until they put her in warded shackles. Then five members of our pack escorted her personally to the courthouse. Sam ordered that they will keep her shackles on in full view at all times until they deliver her to the supermax prison. He also stipulated that they must keep her sleeves and cuffs rolled up at all times. Sam is going to rip the two fuckups who let her escape new assholes. That's if he doesn't rip their throats out for their incompetence."

"The FBI frown on that sort of thing," Peter deadpanned. "I asked."

Stiles muttered, "Then I'm glad I didn't rip her throat out. The paperwork would have been a nightmare."

Chapter Text

October 25th, 2016

When the three of them finally took their seats in the courtroom, they hadn't missed much. The prosecutor had added charges of the attempted murder of a federal agent and attempting to escape custody, due to her attack on Derek at the FBI building.

Sam whispered to Derek, "Are you ok?"

Derek nodded. "I just have to take it easy for a few days, nothing strenuous while the healing finishes. How's it going?"

Sam grinned. "Watch the judge. He's presided over so many supernatural cases. I think this is the first time I have seen him look truly disgusted with a defendant's actions. He usually has a great poker face."

Peter agreed, "I've been in his courtroom when I've had to testify for a few of our cases, and he's always looked impassive like nothing fazes him."

The supernatural cases had a unique process. They weren't jury trials, as it was impossible to find a balanced jury of their peers, especially for hunter versus creature cases. They presented the evidence to the judge, and they made the final decision on their own. The judges chosen for the supernatural courts had to swear a magical vow to remain impartial. If there was any potential conflict of interest, they would have to recuse themselves from the case. There were five judges in DC and a few others scattered around the country who had taken the vow so far. 

Usually, the prosecutor would outlay the evidence like a standard trial, then they would give the defense a chance to defend their client. In this case, however, there was just too much evidence, and it would take several weeks to submit it all. The judge had held his hand out for the folders when he had seen just how much evidence there was against Kate Argent, and he was sitting at the bench reading through it all. 

The judge looked up from the latest folder and asked, "I understand the death penalty is off the table. May I ask why?"

The prosecutor glanced at the Hales before he said, "Death is too quick a punishment. The survivors all agreed that life without parole in a supernatural prison was the preferred sentence."

The judge nodded and went back to his reading. He looked up when a clerk brought in a new folder of paperwork. He asked, "What's this?"

The clerk swallowed nervously, "It's the paperwork for the added charge of attempted murder of a federal agent, Sir."

The judge flicked through the photos in the folder before he looked up. His gaze narrowed on Derek. "SSA Hale, please approach the bench."

Derek stood, and he approached the judge. The judge held the photos so the alpha could see them and asked, "When was this?"

The photos were screen captures from the security cameras in the FBI building showing Kate's hand embedded in his chest. There was another photo of Stiles with an absolutely vicious expression, as he had his claws at Kate's throat.

Derek said, "This happened a few hours ago, Sir. As she was being escorted to the court."

The judge pulled the Hale folder out of the stack and asked, "You're the Derek Hale she targeted for the Hale fire?"

Derek nodded. "I was. She was my substitute French teacher at Beacon Hills High School."

The judge nodded. "Thank you, you can take a seat with your pack, SSA Hale."

Stiles gripped his hand as soon as he sat back in his seat, and he murmured, "She's going down."

Derek whispered, "I wonder if she'll get the cell next to Deucalion?"

Peter whispered to the pair of them, "We can but hope. Now shush, he's about to deliver his verdict."

The judge put down the last folder, and he looked at Kate as if he could see all of her past actions in the expressions on her face. He said coldly, "I have never in my long career come across someone so callous and cruel. You ruined entire territories with your actions. Without the packs there to protect the territories, crime rates have skyrocketed, and unsolved murder rates are climbing, all because dangerous creatures are going unchecked without the local packs to defend their territories. You left traumatized boys in your wake, several of whom have since died at their own hands. Those deaths are on you."

He tapped his notepad with his fingertips in a steady rhythm as he contemplated his next words. "Death would be a kindness you do not deserve, Katherine Argent. My sentence is thus; you will spend the rest of your life locked away in the Supermax Prison in Colorado. It has specially warded cells for shifters like you. Yes, even Jaguar shifters."

She started to rage, so he yelled, "QUIET! I'm not finished!"

"The rest of your sentence affects the Argent Hunting Family," he looked at Sam. "I understand you have brought representatives of the Argent family to the court to hear the sentencing."

Sam nodded, and he stood to open the doors at the back of the room so the three Argents could enter. He said, "This is Chris, Allison, and Dominique Argent." Dominique was a statuesque woman with long white hair tied into a tight bun at the back of her head; she radiated confidence. Allison stood beside her, looking cowed. Her brunette hair flowing in gentle curls around her face as she stood between the two elder Argents. Sam introduced them to the judge, "Dominique is the Head Matriarch of the Argent family; she's based in France. Allison is the current American Matriarch. Lastly, we have Chris Stilinski nee Argent; he has retired from hunting completely and is a member of the Hale Pack."

He made this clear to everyone when he made a beeline for the pack after the introductions. He sat between Stiles and Peter, taking the seat Sam had been using. When he sat, he turned to give Stiles a tight hug. As Sam showed Dominique and Allison to their seats, Chris whispered, "I heard there was an incident before the trial."

Stiles nodded. "Kate tried to kill Derek as she was being transported out of the FBI cells. I'll explain later. Are you staying for a few days?"

Chris nodded. "It was a last-minute thing. Apparently, the preliminary evidence was enough for the judge to know the sentence would affect the entire family."

The judge asked Dominique to stand, and he asked, "Were you aware of the actions of Gerard and Kate Argent?"

Dominique shook her head. "No, their actions were against the code our family follows. I have put the word out to other hunting families that Gerard is no longer affiliated with the Argent family. We have also disavowed Katherine for her despicable actions."

The judge nodded, "Be that as it may, it is the decision of the court that the Argent family is on probation in the United States. All Argent hunters residing in the United States must either register and give a magical vow that they'll follow the code, or they have to leave the country."

Allison stood, and she shouted, "You can't do that; you don't have the right!"

"Silence!" the judge retorted. "I have every right. Even you yourself, Ms. Argent, are not blameless. Did you not capture two of your own classmates by shooting them with arrows until they could no longer move? What I struggle to comprehend is that you then handed them over to your own grandfather to torture. Then you stood by and watched while he tortured the human son of the sheriff, a boy who was supposed to be your friend."

Dominique looked at her in horror. "Merde, what have you done, child." She looked at Christopher. "Is this why you no longer speak to her?"

Chris shook his head. "No, Aunt Dominique. I no longer speak to her because she still hasn't apologized to Stiles, the sheriff's son, and the only one left alive after the kidnapping. She still refuses to admit that allowing Gerard to torture any of them was wrong. She still blames Alpha Hale for killing her mother. Even after learning the truth about that night, she still won't admit fault with her actions. I didn't raise her to be like that, and I want no part of someone so full of hate and bigotry."

Dominique moved, so she was no longer standing next to her grandniece and asked the judge, "I would like to request permission to remain in the US. I think I could help the Hale Pack and work towards fixing the issues my relatives have created."

The judge eyed her critically, and he eventually nodded. "I will meet with you in a week. I want to hear a proposal on how you wish you start fixing the chaos left by Kate and Gerard Argent. In the meantime, she will be transferred to the Colorado Supermax to start her sentence." 

He turned to Sam, and he ordered, "She must be both sedated and paralyzed with Kanima venom for the entire trip. I want no accidents allowing her to escape. If anyone tries to liberate her during the transfer, lethal force is authorized."

Sam nodded, and he said, "I already have a team of my most experienced task force members ready to transport her. I've also had an offer of a SEAL team to back them up."

The judge waved his hand at the captured werejaguar, and he said, "She's all yours." 

He fixed his gaze on the youngest Argent and said, "Consider this a warning for your actions against members of the Hale Pack. These are the actions of a thug, not a hunter. Be thankful you're not on trial today, or you would be joining your aunt in maximum security. My final order for you, Ms. Argent, is that you will take a secrecy vow. Nothing discussed in this courtroom is to be mentioned to any member of your pack."

With that parting shot, he left the bench to a silent courtroom. Seth, a task force member who was ex-army, entered the courtroom and injected Kate with a combination of a were-strength sedative and kanima venom, so they could safely fly her to Colorado. Sam promised the pack that Charlie and his hand-picked team would be accompanying her on the flight.

Chris stood once Kate was out of the courtroom, and he pulled his aunt into a hug. He hadn't seen her since Victoria's funeral. 

Derek offered, "Why don't the pair of you stay with us while you're in DC, rather than a hotel room. We still have a few spare rooms."

Dominique nodded. "I would like that. It would appear I don't have the full picture of everything that's happened over the last ten years, and I would like to get caught up before I start on this proposal."

As Allison was being led from the courtroom, Dominique called out, "Allison, we will be having a long discussion once I have the full picture." She glanced at Derek as she said, "That is, as long as Alpha Hale gives me permission to enter his territory, under the rules of peaceful negotiations."

Derek nodded. "You have it." 

He scowled at Allison and snarked, "I'm glad there is more than one Argent who understands that Beacon Hills is still Hale territory."

The other agents not affiliated with the Hale Pack left the courtroom as soon as they understood pack business was about to be discussed. One of Sam's magic users took her through the secrecy vow. 

Allison waited until they all left before she hissed, "I don't care what anyone says; Derek killed my mother."

Chris shook his head. "As I have explained over and over until I am blue in the face, your mother was trying to kill Scott with an illegal form of aerosolized wolfsbane. She stabbed Derek in the shoulder, and he fought back and bit her in the melee. It is not on him that she decided to kill herself rather than live as a werewolf."

Stiles agreed, "She was using the aerosolized wolfsbane to simulate an asthma attack. She wanted to make it look like Scott died of something mundane, rather than being murdered by a complete psycho."

Allison snarled, "What would you know about it. You weren't even there."

Stiles raised an eyebrow reminiscent of Derek, and he asked, "Wasn't I? I know that the kanima escaped and went on to kill several deputies at the sheriff's station because of her actions. Five deputies died because she went off the deep end."

Jackson snarled, "I was contained. Stiles had successfully laid the mountain ash around the building, trapping me inside. They could have rescued me that night. But no, your mother had to put her desire to separate you and your boyfriend over the safety of everyone else."

Stiles nodded. "I had to break the line so Derek could rescue Scotty. Not that he's ever thanked Derek for saving his life."

Allison staggered back, and she asked, "Stiles?"

Stiles chuckled darkly. "Yes. And before you ask, I didn't run away. Dad sent me to live with my uncle in England. He was terrified that Scott's actions, or should that be inactions, would get me killed. Scott left me on patrol on my own in the preserve to answer your booty call. I was attacked and ended up going home that night covered from head to toe in blood."

He turned to Derek. "I'm done. Can we go home? You still need to recuperate."

Sam took Allison's arm and led her from the courtroom. He reiterated the warning from the judge. "You won't spill their secrets, and you won't take action against the pack, or we will arrest you for the torture of a human. The crimes aren't forgotten, just on hold to force your compliance."

Allison agreed, "Fine. Can I go home now?"

-x-

They all got comfortable around the living room at the pack house in Washington, as they figured it would be a long story. Derek suggested, "It's probably easier if you tell us what you know, and we can fill in the blanks."

Dominique agreed from her seat beside her nephew and spent half an hour explaining the sporadic reports she had received. First from her daughter-in-law, Victoria, who had been acting as the regent while Allison was underage, then the sparse reports from Allison. None of which implicated the Argents in any of the chaos in California.

Stiles snarked, "Well, that's all a gigantic pile of bullshit. Wow, it makes me wonder if Allison is still following orders. Victoria might have been the named regent, but she and Kate both took orders from Gerard. It's likely Allison still is to some degree."

Peter placed a binder on the table and said, "That's the evidence we had collected on Kate's actions; before a team of FBI agents that weren't her victims took over the investigation." He placed a much larger binder on the table. "This is our evidence of Gerard's actions over the last twenty years. Unfortunately, he's vanished off the face of the earth after Allison's fiancé forced Derek to give him the bite."

Dominique demanded, "What?"

Chris admitted, "He had cancer, terminal cancer, and the only way he could see to fix it was to take the bite. He had apparently planned to kill the alpha after they bit him, so that he could take their alpha spark. But the local druid had talked McCall into poisoning him with mountain ash so that he would reject the bite."

Dominique asked, "Did you have a pack bond with him?"

Derek shrugged. "I don't think so. I would have felt it, I think. We all went through a cleanse with some druids before we left Beacon Hills, and there was no bond to him at the time. It's possible he found an alpha to kill or somehow survived the bite, but I am not sure. We only know he's alive because Allison said he frequently calls her to find out if she's left her beast."

Dominique sighed. "There is not a lot I can offer there, to be honest. I would, however, like to stay and support my nephew. It's time I returned to the States. I have already trained up my replacement as head matriarch back in France. She is aware of the issues here in the USA, which is why she is happy to take over early. My assistant is also going to remain to support her; rather than follow me home." She looked slyly at Chris. "I would also like to meet the man who stole your heart."

Chris flushed and shook his head. He asked, "Are you sure you want to come home. To be honest, the entire purpose of hunters is being slowly phased out by the law enforcement agencies. There won't be a lot you can do here."

She looked confused as she asked, "How so? How come we haven't heard of this?"

Stiles grinned. "Because the task forces around the world work to keep it a secret, even from those involved in the supernatural. Our mandate is to protect the secrecy of the supernatural; which means keeping feral creatures under control where we can and eliminating them where we can't. There are currently two major branches of the Talos Task Force. The North American branch is run by the FBI, under Deputy Director Sam Conway; and MI5 runs the European branch, under Lord Clive Paddington. They both monitor the other areas that aren't explicitly covered, but the other countries around the world seem to self-manage just fine."

She frowned, and she asked, "Isn't Lord Paddington the Queen's Alpha?"

Stiles nodded slowly, and he said, "Not many know that. It's not a state secret, but…"

Dominique smirked. "The Argents and the Paddingtons used to be close. Back when the Argents used to be werewolves; before the first hunter matriarch went against her pack and killed her own brother for being a beast."

Chris demanded, "What?"

Dominique nodded. "It is history only known to the head matriarchs. Something they teach us when we are trained to take over. There are some in the hunting circles who would not take the news well. Now, who can explain the task force to me? I want to assist in any way I can, and I think knowing about the task force here in the USA will make my proposal more successful for all of us."

Peter sat forward. "I'll do it. I am curious about your history, so how about a bit of quid pro quo?"

Dominique grinned, and she stood and beckoned for Chris to follow them. "Come along, Christopher, you can learn your family history at the same time."

Eventually, with help from Chris and Peter, she had a proposal that was accepted by the judge. Dominique agreed to move to Beacon Hills and become an adjacent member of the Hale Pack. With support from Chris and the task force, she would work to find the survivors of the fires that Kate had lit, and help them re-establish their packs in the territories they had come from. 

She also promised to help keep other hunting families out of the areas that used to be under the control of the Argent hunting dynasty. They removed Allison from her position as the US Argent Matriarch. They forced her to hand over her contact lists of the hunters under her command.

Chapter Text

November 6th, 2016

Stiles was excited. They had a regular movie night each Sunday with Tony and Gibbs at their house in Alexandria; it wasn't actually far from the pack house. It was usually just himself and Derek that went, but occasionally others tagged along, if the selected movie that week was a good one.

This week the movie they'd chosen was an old classic Bond film, 'From Russia With Love,' so Jackson and Peter had tagged along as they enjoyed the James Bond films.

 As the four wolves pulled up to the house, they noticed Gibbs' truck was missing, and there was only one sluggish heartbeat in the house. Stiles whispered, "Something's not right. Jackson, you and Peter go through the back, and we'll enter through the front."

The two betas took off stealthily through the neighbor's yard as Derek and Stiles approached the front door; they were being careful to avoid detection. They waited until they could hear Jackson and Peter approach the back door before they entered through the unlocked front door. 

Stiles started to panic when he realized all he could hear was loud wheezing coming from the bedroom. He confirmed with Derek that it was definitely the only heartbeat in the house before he sprinted toward the sound.

"Fuck." Stiles dropped down next to Tony, who was barely conscious on the floor. He checked over his cousin as he yelled, "Derek, get in here. Peter, find Gibbs!"

Tony wheezed, "' spital."

Derek added, "Check Bethesda and call Brad Pitt."

Tony shook his head. "'oo 'ate." He tried to get a breath to explain, but he knew that his lungs were toast. He looked at Derek meaningfully and tried to lift his shirt.

Derek softly asked, "The bite?"

Tony nodded resignedly as he saw his cousin step back in horror. 

Stiles knew it would take a lot to push his cousin into taking the bite. They had offered him the bite a few times over the years; even after he had contracted the plague from a vengeance filled mother, he had declined. Stiles said, "I'm going to call Uncle Clive; he needs to know. Once you recover, we are going to have to have a long chat."

Derek reached down and bit into Tony's side, just above the hip bone. When he pulled back, Jackson was waiting with the first aid kit to dress the wound.

Peter entered the room. "I found Gibbs. He's at Bethesda, making a ruckus. Brad said he's trying to sign himself out AMA. I've sent the twins with Adam and Dalton to stop him. Brad doesn't know the whole story, but he said it seems like a bit of a mess. Something about a girl being kidnapped, an old friend of Gibbs' late daughter."

He looked down and saw that they had moved Tony to the bed, and he was currently unconscious. The blue tinge was slowly fading from Tony's lips, which was a good sign that the bite was starting to heal him already. He asked, "How's he doing?"

Derek said, "I can already feel the pack bond taking hold. You need to talk to Brad and get him signed out for at least a week. Is Brad in the know? This is going to fix Tony's lungs, and as his doctor of record, Brad will need to know."

Peter sent off a text to Dalton to ask Gibbs. He figured if anyone knew about Brad, it would be him.

-x-

At Bethesda, Brad was in the room with Jethro Gibbs, trying again to talk him out of leaving against his advice. He looked up when four very large men entered the room.

He turned to ask them what was going on when he recognized one of the men. He asked, "Aren't you on the wrong side of the pond?"

Dalton grinned. "Not so much, Doc. They transferred my team into the FBI. What's going on with Gibbs? Does he have to stay or what?"

Gibbs growled from the bed, "I need to go check on Tony."

The twins moved to the bed, and Ethan murmured, "He's fine now. He wasn't fine, but Derek gave him the bite, and he's recovering."

Gibbs slumped back on the bed. "Shit, was he alone?"

Ethan nodded. "Yep. Peter said he was in the bedroom on the floor. It looked like he had been trying to reach for his cell phone. He was conscious enough to ask for the bite if that's what you're worried about."

Gibbs growled, "McGee and Ziva were supposed to check on him. I ordered them to get him to the hospital if he was unwell. Clearly, they ignored my instructions."

Brad asked, "What happened to Tony?"

Gibbs sighed. "I had a visit from one of my daughter's school friends, Maddie Tyler. She was in trouble, and she remembered I was in the military. She was being stalked by a marine and wanted my help in stopping him. Maddie was adamant that no one else know about it. It turned out the stalker was her boyfriend, and she had broken up with him. It apparently impeded his plans. He was waiting for stolen money from Iraq to be delivered to her apartment, disguised as the personal effects of a marine killed in action."

Adam asked, "How did that result in you and Maddie being brought to Bethesda and Tony nearly dead at your place?"

Gibbs explained, "They kidnapped her right in front of Tony and me. I was able to organize a trade with the money they were trying to get their hands on. It was delivered to her place not long after she was taken. The whole situation came to a head at the docks. While we were trying to escape the kidnappers who were shooting at us, we ended up in the Potomac in my truck. We had to be rescued by Tony, who shot the kidnappers before diving into the water."

Brad cursed under his breath. "That water is filthy, and there is no way Tony's lungs would cope if any of that got in."

Dalton reassured, "He'll be fine Doc, our alpha is with him now. He did mention his medical records would probably need an update."

The doctor tried to process the statement, and he eventually asked, "He took the bite? He said he never wanted it. I know they offered him the bite while he was recovering from the plague."

Dalton shrugged. "All I know is that when they got there, Tony was barely conscious, his lips were blue, and he could barely talk. He was able to lift his shirt and request the bite, so it was given by our alpha."

Gibbs asked, "Any signs of rejection?"

Dalton smiled. "None, we can already feel him in the pack bond. Derek thinks it will take a few days for him to heal fully because of the damage to his lungs, and he's going to need to stay with the pack for at least a week so he can train his senses and learn to control his shift. You're welcome to join us. In fact, it's encouraged since you're likely his anchor."

Gibbs nodded. "Of course, after I rip McGee and Ziva a new one for not checking on him as I ordered." He looked at the twins with a mischievous look that was unfamiliar on the older man's face. "Feel like helping? You've both worked with Fornell before, right?"

Aiden could see where this was going, and he asked, "You want us to say Fornell stopped in to see you and found him near death?"

Gibbs nodded. "It'll also help me get the director off my back. She's trying to con Tony into an undercover mission. I would put money it being her fault that McGee and Ziva ignored a direct order to check on Tony."

Aiden said, "I'll call Agent Fornell, see if he's keen to help us out."

Brad pulled out his notebook, and he said, "I will write you both off work for two weeks due to your near-drowning. That should give him time to get his shift under control, at least enough to hide from the supposedly observant people you work with. I'll also lock down both of your medical files as classified under Lord Paddington's authority." 

Gibbs smiled at him. "Thanks, Brad. We'll head home once Fornell gets here."

Brad left the room to sort out the paperwork and discharge notes.

Aiden grinned as he read the reply on his phone. "Fornell wants to take Peter with us in the morning. I get the feeling AD Fornell doesn't like your underlings much."

Gibbs shook his head, "No, they haven't impressed him at all. He said once that he was surprised that they fit in the bullpen, with the egos they have."

Brad entered the hospital room with a few pieces of paper in his hand. He double-checked he had everything, then he passed them over to Gibbs. "The two medical certificates, a prescription for the drugs Tony would have normally needed to treat pneumonia, just in case you need an excuse to leave. And I think you need to consider reading Ducky in since he's the one who usually treats you both."

Gibbs nodded. "I get that. I just need to find a way to read in both Ducky and Palmer where Abby won't overhear us. Tony and I have discussed it, and we both agree that she can't find out. Her loyalties are divided, and she would tell McGee and Ziva the first time Tony forgets to acknowledge her in some way."

Aiden offered, "Do it at the pack house. We can make it clear that she is not to find out. We can see if Dr. Matthews will join us and explain the difference in treating a werewolf." He checked his phone when he felt it vibrate. "Agent Fornell has arrived at the house. Peter is explaining what happened tonight."

Gibbs stood, and he said, "Let's go. Thanks for the help, Brad."

Fornell was waiting for them in the living room at the pack house. He asked, "What's the story we're going with?"

Gibbs shrugged, and Aiden suggested, "You could go with the movie night thing; it's close enough to the truth. It's just not often that Fornell joins you all."

Fornell nodded. "What was the movie?"

Peter said, "A Bond classic, 'From Russia with Love.' I believe you mentioned you like Bond films."

Fornell agreed. "Especially the ones with Connery, he's a great Bond."

Dalton said, "Follow me. We have a guest room you can use so you can all head to the NCIS office from here in the morning."

-x-

Tony was up in his room at the pack house with Stiles and Derek, getting used to his new senses while they were on a video call with Clive in the UK.

They explained what happened with Maddie to the bewildered alpha, and how that led to Tony receiving the bite.

Gibbs entered the room, and he waved at the MI5 Deputy Director as he settled beside Tony on the bed. He said, "Fornell is going to escort me to NCIS tomorrow, so I can read the riot act to the dense duo."

Clive asked, "Dense duo?"

Tony grinned. "Junior Agent Tim McGee, he thinks he's all that because he has degrees from John Hopkins and MIT; and our Mossad Liaison Officer Ziva David."

Clive frowned. "Isn't she the daughter of Eli David? The Director of Mossad?"

Gibbs confirmed, "Yep. Director Jenny Shepard didn't give us a choice and placed her on the team. This was after Ziva's half-brother Ari Haswari killed Kate, the junior agent that used to be on the MCRT."

Clive asked, "Is she even a trained investigator?"

Tony snorted, "No. She's a trained assassin with limited experience in undercover, mostly as a honeypot. Her ego, however, could fill a stadium."

In a good impression of the officer, Gibbs mimicked, "I could kill you with this paperclip."

Tony snarked, "As if I would ever let her get that close without putting her on the ground."

Clive asked, "Do you want me to put feelers out to find out why she's there and on an investigative team rather than the international desk?"

Tony shook his head. "Not yet. The director is up to something, she's been trying to pull me into an undercover mission, and I have been resisting. Something is not right with it. I would rather figure out what she's up to first."

Stiles piped up from where he and Derek had been chatting quietly, "We'll keep an eye on him, Uncle Clive."

They exchanged brief small talk about the task force, now that the MI5 members were now full FBI liaison agents, now that they had finished their liaison training. Despite the minor hiccup in the form of Kate Argent.

-x-

Adam had them all up reasonably early. Tony had agreed to stay with the pack to get his senses under control. The twins had offered to help after they returned from their escort duties. Most of his daytime work would be working with his wolf using the techniques that Stiles had formulated. He'd written a book to explain things to new pack members, especially those unused to the gifts that came from being in the Hale Pack like the full-shift. He also explained how to communicate with the inner wolf, which was a tremendous help in gaining control quickly.

Gibbs picked up the paperwork and prescription and walked out with the twins, Peter, and Fornell. As Tony waved them off, he called out, "Good luck with the dense duo."

As they were getting in the cars, Gibbs mentioned, "We need to get Ducky and Jimmy to the pack house without Abby finding out."

Peter offered, "If he's in the office, I can get Balboa to take me down to see them. I've worked with him on a few joint cases now."

When they got out of the elevator at NCIS, Aiden and Ethan both blinked as if trying to get rid of sunspots. Aiden snarked, "I would file this under 'unsafe working environments' if we had to work like this, Agent Fornell."

Tobias snickered, making no effort to hide his humor from their comments. "Why do you think I swear so much when we have a case here. It's blinding. Right, Gibbs, hand over your paperwork to Director Sheppard and grab your bags, then we can drop you off where you're supposed to be."

Jenny Shepard, the director of NCIS, was already descending the stairs, and she asked imperiously, "What's going on?"

Peter was already talking to Balboa in the next cubicle, disclosing that he needed to talk to Ducky privately. They used the distraction of the director to enter the stairwell without being seen. 

They were both thankful that Abby was in the bullpen chatting with Agent McGee, so she wouldn't see them enter autopsy.

Gibbs handed over the two medical certificates. Once she had finished reading through them, he said, "They have signed both myself and DiNozzo out for two weeks off, due to the fact we both nearly drowned yesterday. While I ended up in the hospital, DiNozzo almost died at home."

McGee scoffed. "The big baby is just milking it, like normal."

Fornell narrowed his eyes. "Really? That's why when I turned up for movie night, I found him nearly dead on the floor, blue lips and gasping for breath? It certainly shocked Gibbs when I finally found him at Bethesda last night to let him know. He said he sent you two knuckleheads to check on him."

Ziva sneered. "He's just weak, like a dog."

McGee corrected, "I think you mean kitten, Ziva."

Gibbs yelled, "ENOUGH! I sent you to check on him, and you both completely disregarded my orders. He almost died! It will be up to him if he returns to NCIS, after what you both put him through, god knows he gets enough offers from other agencies."

Abby hadn't noticed her silver fox entering, but she growled about Tony daring to leave their family. "He won't leave his family, Gibbs, you know that. Besides, those agency offers are just him boasting."

Fornell smirked. "I'd take him in a heartbeat, and he knows it. He has standing offers from most of the alphabet agencies, and several divisions within the FBI have made offers." He saw Balboa give him a nod as he sat back down at his desk, so he said, "We should go. You need to pick up that prescription for DiNotezo."

Director Shepard spoke up. "Excuse me, who are you to order my team around, Agent Fornell?"

Tobias gave her a flat look. "Oh, I'm sorry, are you displeased that I did the job Gibbs assigned his underlings to do after they ignored his orders? I would have thought you'd be happy that I was able to save the life of an exceptional agent?"

Ziva scoffed from her place behind Director Shepard. "He is hardly exceptional. I have more training in my little finger, thanks to Mossad."

Fornell let the Mossad agent have her delusions as he shook his head.

Gibbs gathered his and Tony's backpacks from their desks, and he passed them to Ethan when the younger agent reached for them. He then gestured to the paperwork the director was now holding. "We have two weeks off to recover from our near-death experiences as decided by Dr. Pitt. I'll contact you if he decides either of us are not ready when the two weeks are up. Do not call, do not visit. We would both like to recover in peace."

Jenny asked, "What are they supposed to do while you're both off sick?"

Gibbs gave her a strange look and said, "You're the director, isn't that up to you?" When she didn't answer, he suggested, "I'm sure they can handle doing cold cases under Balboa's supervision quite easily."

They finally entered the lift, leaving behind a pissed off looking director and two underlings who looked smug. As they descended, Peter murmured, "Drs. Mallard and Palmer are already on their way to the house. They had just finished the autopsy of the two kidnappers and were off rotation. I have to admit, Dr. Mallard seems unusually observant."

Gibbs chuckled. "Yes, and he's seen a lot in his long life. I wouldn't be surprised if he has you all figured out within five minutes of arriving at the house."

Chapter Text

November 7th, 2016

Ducky and Jimmy were waiting outside the pack house when the group arrived. Gibbs asked, "Why didn't you knock on the door?"

The older doctor said, "We knew you wouldn't be far behind us, dear boy. Now lead us to Tony. I want to see he's ok with my own two eyes."

Jimmy chuckled, "He's been champing at the bit." He glanced nervously at the group, and he asked, "Just out of curiosity, where are we?"

Peter grinned wolfishly, and he said, "This would be my family's townhouse." As they walked inside, Peter introduced himself. "I'm Peter Hale, and I live here with my extended family. Behind me are Aiden and Ethan Steiner, and you already know Tobias Fornell. He doesn't actually live here. I think he's just here for the entertainment value."

They entered the living room where the rest of the pack were hanging out. Sam and Tom had given them a few days off to help Tony get settled.

Peter pointed around the room as he introduced the rest of the pack. Ducky ignored the introductions as soon as he saw Tony. 

He sat down on the convenient ottoman in front of the newly turned werewolf, and he asked, "What happened?"

Stiles stood from where he had been talking quietly with his cousin, and he let Gibbs take his place. Tony couldn't help the flash of his new blue wolf eyes when he saw his mate.

Ducky smiled. "Finally. I thought Clive would never convince you."

Tony shook his head sadly. "He didn't, Ducky. I was adamant I didn't want to be Heir Paddington. You know this. My dive into the Potomac led to what looks like a case of sudden onset pneumonia. When Stiles and Derek arrived for movie night, they found me on the floor in our bedroom trying to reach for my phone."

Ducky blinked as he recalled the name. "Hale?" He looked around the room for Peter. "Did you say your name was Peter Hale?"

Peter nodded. "I did." He pointed at two other Hales in the room. "These are my niece and nephew, Cora and Derek. Derek is the current Hale Alpha."

Ducky smiled. "I knew Sebastian Hale. I met him on my travels around Europe. He was traveling before taking on the mantle of alpha of his pack in California. Was he related?"

Peter nodded. "My father, I think. I recall stories of his backpacking adventures around Europe, before he took over from my grandmother as alpha."

Jimmy murmured to Tony, "It's a small world when you know Dr. Mallard."

Tony agreed wholeheartedly. "It's handy. Ducky and his contacts have got us out of many sticky situations. Although he still won't tell us how he knows Uncle Clive."

Stiles added, "All I know is that Dr. Mallard was in the know before he met Uncle Clive, and I think it was because of Grandpa Paddington that he was read into the supernatural."

Jimmy looked between the two men, and he noticed the similarities. He asked, "Cousins?"

Tony nodded. "Our mothers were sisters. This is my cousin, Stiles Paddington. He grew up in Beacon Hills, California. He moved to live with our Uncle Clive after a werewolf attack when he was sixteen. He is the alpha mate of his pack."

Jimmy shook Stiles' hand, and the younger man said, "Thanks for looking after Tony while Gibbs was away getting treatment for his head injury." He grinned wolfishly as he stated, "The terrible trio were lucky I was still in England at the time, or I would have let rip on their bullshit behavior. I'm still pissed that the NCIS director let them get away with it."

Tony shrugged. "I think it's all part of a long game. That's why I am letting it play out. I want to know her end game before I act." He saw Stiles was grinning, and he asked, "What's going on?"

Stiles murmured, "Ducky is in the kitchen regaling Peter, Derek, and Cora with stories from his adventures with Sebastian Hale, and they are loving it." He wondered if Tony could hear them, so he said, "If you focus your hearing, you should be able to zero in on the conversation. Just go slow like I taught you."

After a few minutes, they could see Tony was wincing, and Stiles reminded him. "Ask your wolf if you need help."

Tony started to smile as his wolf helped him narrow the focus of his hearing. "Wicked, this will come in handy on investigations."

Stiles agreed. "It really does." 

He saw the group walk back into the living room and announced, "Right, I'm going to go for a run so you guys can chat with Ducky. You need to figure out how he and Jimmy can help you stay hidden at work."

With that, he shifted in front of the pair and walked over to Derek, and he barked to let him know he wanted his mate to join him.

Ducky looked at the enormous wolf and asked, "What? Is that..?"

Peter explained, "The Hale Pack is gifted with the full wolf form. For years it was just the alpha that would learn how to shift. But then Stiles came along with his wonderful limitless brain, and he taught us how to talk to our wolves. Now we can all do the full-shift."

Derek shifted and joined his mate as they left through the wolf-sized door at the back of the house. They had a fair bit of land they could run around in that was heavily warded to keep them all safe. Cora, Jackson, Kira, Aiden, and Dalton joined them for the run. Danny was up in his office working on a case, with Ethan keeping him company and acting as a sounding board.

Ducky watched them all leave, and he asked Peter, "Where do their clothes go? I would have expected them to be in ripped puddles on the floor given the size disparities."

Peter asked, "Tony?"

"I trust him," Tony confirmed from where he was now standing beside the group. "While he is an expert storyteller, it's never people's secrets. If it helps, he is one of the few people Uncle Clive trusts enough to let him close if he's injured."

Gibbs agreed. "I'd trust them both, and you always have the vow if you need it?"

Peter rolled up his sleeve, and he explained, "Stiles is a magic user that's known as a spark."

Ducky sat up. "I remember hearing about Sparks. They are magic users only limited by their imagination?"

Peter nodded. "And science fiction, fantasy novels, comics, and movies fuel Stiles imagination." He pointed at a tattoo on his wrist and said, "He created magical tattoos that work as runic wards, but some also function as pocket dimensions."

Ducky nodded. "I recognize a few of the runes on your arms, dear boy, protection, stealth, and is that the kanji for self?"

Peter nodded. "Possession prevention. It's one that was recommended by one of our pack mates who is a void kitsune. He's been around a long time, and when he found out about Stiles' ability to do magical tattoos, he suggested a few runes that would protect us from more than the obvious."

The wolf concentrated, and his service weapon, a Glock 19, was suddenly in his hand. "We all use the storage tattoos on our wrists, so we always have a few weapons on us, well, on top of our claws and teeth."

Ducky reached out and asked, "May I touch?"

Peter nodded, and as Ducky felt the tattoos and he said, "They don't feel like a normal tattoo. Often, there is a slight difference in how the skin feels, especially on shifters, but there is no difference with these. Did you have to burn the skin to allow the tattoo to stay?"

Jimmy squeaked as he asked, "What?"

Peter grinned. "Werewolves have evolved healing, so if we get a standard tattoo, our bodies will heal it over completely within an hour or so. For a regular tattoo to stay, we have to use a blowtorch to set the tattoo. It's entirely unpleasant, and it's why tattoos on werewolves feel different from a tattoo on a standard human. These tattoos, however, are done entirely by magic. No tattoo gun is needed. As long as Stiles has the art, and he can see the image that needs to be tattooed, and more importantly, he can visualize how it will form on the body, he can do it."

Adam approached the two doctors, and he took off his shirt so they could see all the artwork he's had Stiles do over the years. "If you feel down my arms, you can feel the difference between the ones I got done the standard werewolf way, and the ones Stiles has done for me."

Jimmy commented as he felt the difference in the various tattoos. "There seems to be more vibrancy in the ones Stiles did as well."

Adam agreed. "The larger pieces tire him out a bit, so I have tried to keep it to smaller pieces when I get the urge for more art. It's great though, most of these are my own artwork. Usually, when you get a tattooist to do them, there is always a touch of their own interpretation in the tattoo. With Stiles, there is no interpretation, no alterations, just the art I hand over." 

He saw the look Jimmy was giving the art, and he said, "It works on humans too, you just have to ask."

Adam turned to Peter. "I'm going to make sure Danny and Ethan are taking breaks to eat. I think Danny's following a lead, but he's been glued to his computer for a few hours now."

Peter nodded. "Thanks. I'm going to help these guys brainstorm how to keep Tony's secret at work. Especially from the observant Miss Sciuto."

Tony slumped back into his partner. "Yeah, she's going to be an issue."

Gibbs agreed. "The entire time I was away getting treatment for my head injury, she was helping the dense duo bring Tony down. Insubordination was the least of it from what Balboa was saying."

Tony griped. "It's not insubordination if the director endorses it. They were barely doing 30 hours a week, they never showed up on time, and nearly always left early. Tim was supposed to do the SFA paperwork, but he refused, saying he wouldn't do my work for me. I wrote them up a few times for it, but Shepard threw the reports out and disregarded not just my complaints but the reports from other team leaders in the building."

The group got to planning, and they decided on a few runes that would help keep him from being discovered by other creatures, as well as one that would assist him in controlling his shift. This way, he wouldn't accidentally wolf out when the trio got on his last nerve. There was also a bit of discussion about the undercover mission the director seemed determined to assign to Tony. 

Best as the five men could figure, the mission didn't seem to be sanctioned or official. The only information Tony had been given was that she wanted him to seduce a doctor at a local hospital. There had been no mention of getting a TAD to cover his SFA work, nor had he been advised of who would be his backup team for the operation; something that was standard operating procedure for any undercover operation.  

Tony had stated he was reluctant to accept because he was already in a long-term relationship and didn't want to jeopardize it. But the director didn't seem to care, since as far as she was concerned, it was just an undercover mission. 

She was unaware that Tony and Gibbs had been in a relationship for several years. It didn't impact their work, so they hadn't declared it. They had looked into it, and they found that it wasn't actually against the agency's fraternization regulations.

Peter said, "You're going to have to tip her hand. If it's unsanctioned, that will give us grounds to investigate. I know Fornell will help; he seriously doesn't like her."

Gibbs laughed. "No, he really doesn't. They clashed a lot when she was an agent. She hates cooperating with other agencies more than I do."

Ducky said, "Now that we have that out of the way, we need to have a discussion on what to do when you get injured on the job. I recall Sebastian could hold back his healing when necessary. Is that something you can learn?"

Peter nodded. "It's something we'll be teaching him on top of how to hold back his shift while injured. Dr. Pitt is in the know, so if he gets shipped to the hospital, it has to be Bethesda, and his records will need to be updated to reflect that. Dr. Pitt and his staff are aware of how to treat shifters, and they are experts in how to disguise wounds that healed too fast."

Jimmy asked, "You have to learn how to control the shift while injured? That sounds a bit brutal."

Peter nodded. "One thing that can make us lose control is extreme pain. If we are shifted, it can force us to shift back and vice versa. It's handy having people like yourself and Dr. Mallard in the know, for those occasions where Tony may be unconscious and unable to hold back his healing."

The other wolves returned after a few hours of running, and Kira came in and curled up on Jackson in her fox form once he'd settled on the sofa. Ducky asked, "Is that the kitsune you mentioned earlier?"

Peter shook his head. "No, Kira is young hence only having four tails; she's a thunder kitsune. Asora is a 1000-year-old void kitsune, and he's a nine-tailed fox. The tails look fantastic when he's in his full-shift form, and he's melanistic in color. We also have Kira's mother in the pack, who is also a nine-tailed fox; Noshiko is a celestial kitsune and is just over 900 years old."

Tony added, "I know that look Ducky! Yes, it is unusual to see kitsunes in a wolf pack, but it works for the Hale Pack. Asora and Noshiko, and her human husband Ken, are part of the pack that has remained to help protect Beacon Hills. This branch of the pack will be moving back in just under a year, I think."

Stiles nodded with a look of pure mischief on his face. "Yep, I can't wait; it's going to be a chaotic return."

Ducky said, "I would love to meet Asora and Noshiko. The stories they could tell must be fantastic."

He stood and said, "Right, Mr. Palmer, we should return to the office. If Madam Director asks, I'll let her know I've checked you both over, and I fully agree with the diagnosis of two weeks of medical time off to recover. I would recommend staying here instead of your own house, since you know the other three will likely want to check on you themselves."

Jimmy agreed. "We'll stop in every few days to see how you're going. Let us know if you need anything, ok?"

-x-

Tony's training went pretty well, especially with Gibbs there every step of the way for support. There were also a lot of discussions between Stiles and Tony over the Paddington Earldom. Stiles knew it wasn't an option for him because of Derek's position as the Hale Alpha. He knew his place was by his alpha's side in Beacon Hills, protecting the territory and the Nemeton. 

Tony shrugged. "I know it's easier for me to take up the Barony and become the heir, but I'm not ready to leave NCIS."

Stiles smirked. "So don't. Uncle Clive is going to be around for a while. All he expects is that eventually, one of us will move to the UK to train under him. The only real downside is you'll have to join the Paddington Pack officially, and you'll lose the gift of the full-shift. But I think it will be easier for you and Gibbs to move to MI5 together. Since the only thing really keeping you both here seems to be NCIS."

Gibbs shook his head. "Honestly, that's become more of a chore lately. But I'm an American citizen. Don't you have to be a UK citizen to work for MI5 and MI6? So what would I do?"

Stiles laughed. "I'm an American citizen as well. So is Jackson, but we are both MI5 agents. Uncle Clive's division has a bit more leeway with the origins of its agents. I am fairly certain he would have plenty for someone with your vast experience to do."

Tony agreed. "Uncle Clive already knows you're part of the package, and he already has plans."

Stiles cheered as he bounced around the room. "Yes! Now I can just be Stiles instead of Baron Paddington."

Derek laughed at his mate's antics. "Sorry, the formal side of the being the Paddington Heir drove Stiles crazy. He loves his uncle but not the pageantry that came with the title."

Gibbs whispered, "There is one positive, Senior won't bother you if you're with Clive. Remember that time you mentioned visiting your Uncle Clive."

Tony nodded with a feral grin. "He paled so fast I thought he was going to faint. That is a huge positive. Maybe we can resign once we figure out what's going on at work. The only thing keeping me at NCIS is you, and if you're willing to move with me to London, then we could both work for MI5 on the Talos Task Force."

Tony reached out when Stiles, who was still bouncing around like a lunatic, bounced past him, and he yanked him down to sit on the sofa beside him. "Can you keep the title until we move? No one at work besides Gibbs, Ducky, and Jimmy knows about my relationship to the Paddington Lord, or even you. It's all locked down above top-secret by SECNAV. Not even the director knows. I would rather keep it that way as long as possible."

Stiles nodded. "Sure, you know Uncle Clive is already looking into your director, though, right? He is doing it quietly, but he's asked a few pointed questions recently on our daily calls."

Tony smiled. "Are you still doing those?"

Stiles nodded. "Yep, I call Uncle Clive after I get home from the office most days and catch him just before he goes to bed. Dad and I work around his shifts, but I usually call just before I go to bed and catch him and Chris just as they're getting home or during dinner on Dad's night shifts. He and Chris usually catch me up on everything that's going on at home. The calls help with the separation of the pack bonds."

Chapter Text

November 27th, 2016

Tony had returned to work with Gibbs after two weeks of medical leave, and he had done well with keeping his changes to himself. So far, he had only one near slip. He had been hiking through the woods with Ziva. They were after a suspect who was wanted for murder and child abduction. She had spent the entire hike needling and trying to provoke him. It was tempting to let the wolf out to shut her up.

Right now, though, he was putting all of his concentration into not letting his broken nose heal. A suspect had attacked his team when McGee had ignored instructions and tried to handcuff the Corporal before he was adequately subdued. Corporal Wurth had been an inpatient at a local psychiatric facility getting treatment for PTSD until he broke out to rescue a teammate who was receiving rehab at John Hopkins.

Tony looked up when he heard the elevator doors open, and he saw his cousin walk out. He snorted to himself when he heard his cousin exclaim, "How can anyone work in a place this orange."

Derek approached his desk, and in a tone of innocence, he said, "Hi, we're looking for Agent Gibbs. We were told by the guards at the front desk we could find him here."

Tony stood and said, "He's currently in a meeting with the director. Is it something I can help with? I'm his Senior Field Agent."

Derek shook his head as the others from his team stood back and waited by the windows. "Sorry, Agent?"

"DiNozzo," Tony confirmed. "Agent Tony DiNozzo."

Derek looked down at his phone and confirmed the details. He said, "Agent Dinozzo, I understand Agent Gibbs is in charge of the case involving Corporal Wurth. We've been sent over to take over the case as it's part of a larger investigation already underway."

Tim stood and said, "I'll go get the boss."

Ziva, who was sporting a large bruise on her forehead, demanded, "So who are you? You didn't introduce yourself."

Derek looked at her with his trademark scowl and admitted, "You're right, I didn't."

He could hear Stiles snickering behind him as they watched Agent Gibbs come down the stairs. 

Gibbs approached, looking like he was full of fire and bluster. He assessed the group of agents, curious about what would bring the Talos Task Force to his bullpen. He asked, "Someone's looking for me?"

Derek held his hand out with his business card and said, "I'm SSA Derek Hale from the FBI. We've been sent to pick up Corporal Wurth and any evidence relating to his case. This case is part of a wider investigation that's already underway."

Gibbs weighed up the options of his usual meeting room over a conference room. He knew if he went to the conference room, they would end up with the director and the dense duo following. He asked, "Is there any information you can share before I agree to hand it over?"

Derek nodded. "Yes, but only yourself and your SFA have the required security clearances."

The director scoffed behind Gibbs. "I am sure I am also cleared to hear the details."

Derek shook his head and said, "No, ma'am, you aren't. I was told that only Agents Gibbs and DiNozzo have the clearance to hear the details, and that came direct from the SECDEF. Feel free to give him a call if you would like to dispute it. In the meantime, do you have a conference room we can use?"

Gibbs ignored Jenny seething behind him and said, "Follow me." As he walked away, he turned his head slightly and barked, "DiNozzo!"

"On your six, Boss," DiNozzo confirmed as he gathered the evidence from the desks of the two junior agents before they could protest. He followed the rest of the taskforce members who had been waiting quietly.

When they all entered the conference room, Stiles closed the door and placed his hand on the back, etching a rune on the door for privacy. As he joined the others at the conference table, he confirmed, "Any cameras and audio equipment in here will appear to fail until I remove the rune."

Gibbs asked, "What's going on? As far as I was aware, Corporal Wurth just escaped custody after a psychotic break, a break related to his PTSD."

Derek hedged. "It's not that simple. Yes, he's likely had a psychotic break, and it may be related to his PTSD. But we think it's more than likely due to the unsanctioned experiments that have been performed on him. Do you remember the investigation that we did into Eichen House?"

Gibbs nodded, "Creature experiments, right? You suspect the same thing here?"

Derek nodded. "We think they are trying to create a super-soldier. After watching the footage of his escape, which was edited before you got there, his eyes flashed gold. We suspect the company has captured an alpha, and they are using them to turn soldiers."

Tony frowned, "You think he's feral?"

Stiles shook his head. "Not feral exactly. We think he's been drugged."

Gibbs frowned. "The director was meeting with a witness, Karen Sutherland. She mentioned she has defense contracts looking into next-generation prosthetics and alternative therapies to treat psychological issues."

Derek nodded, "We would like to put Corporal Wurth into protective custody while we are investigating. This seems to be a lot wider-reaching than the Eichen House experiments."

Gibbs agreed, "It's all yours. Someone will need to go down to Abby and Ducky to claim any evidence they have. I know blood was taken to see what drugs were in his system.

Derek ordered, "Jackson, Ethan, you two tackle Dr. Sciuto. Aiden, Adam, I want you two to visit Ducky. Peter, Dalton, I want you two to explain to Corporal Wurth what's going on. We are going to claim the evidence from the bullpen and get the transfer paperwork signed off."

Gibbs looked at Peter and said, "Follow me. I'll show you to the interrogation rooms and make sure the cameras are off. Stiles, don't forget to clear the rune."

Stiles nodded and put his hand on the door to remove the rune before following Derek out into the bullpen.

Tony set them up on one of the TAD desks to get started on the paperwork for the chain of evidence handovers. 

He called out from his desk, "Officer Paddington, do you have a moment?"

Tim frowned from his desk where he was gathering the files they had been given by the psychiatric unit and asked, "Why are you being so formal with your cousin?"

The two men whipped their heads around, and they both demanded in unison, "What did you say?"

Tim shrugged. "I just asked why you were being so formal when he's your cousin."

Stiles sent off a quick text to his uncle to let him know that Agent McGee was aware that his cousin is a Paddington.

Tony stated, "My relationship to the Paddington family has never been in the non-classified part of my personnel file, Timmy. Also, the few government records showing that relationship are locked down to a few key people. And none of those key people work at NCIS. So, McSnoopy, where have you been digging that you shouldn't have been?"

As soon as he heard the question, Derek ducked into the stairwell and sent a 911 text to Gibbs so he would know to head to the bullpen asap, then he called Tom Morrow.

"Derek?" Tom wasn't expecting a call from the laconic alpha. "Is everything ok?"

Derek huffed. "Not even close. Agent McGee appears to be aware that Tony is a Paddington. Information that I know was locked down above top secret by SECDEF before he even started at NCIS.
 
"Shit," Tom exclaimed. "I'll send through your team so they can do an audit on McGee's computer. Do you want me to let SECDEF know?"

Derek considered it before he declined, "No, I'll call him. He's probably going to come down here after the conversations he's been having with Lord Paddington lately. Thing's aren't right here."

Tom sighed, "I'll head in with your team, just in case you need the support. We won't be long, not if your sister drives us."

Derek laughed as he hung up. Cora had been taught to drive in a small town in South America, where everyday driving was like being in a war zone. It was usually due to luck if your car was dent free at the end of it.

He walked back into the bullpen, and the first thing he heard was Ziva and McGee yelling at Tony about special treatment. He could tell from what Ziva was saying that she also knew the information about Tony's family. He noticed Gibbs and the remaining members of his team entering from the elevator. 

He whistled loudly to get everyone's attention. "Dalton, Adam, Ethan, Aiden, I want you four to take those two," He pointed to Ziva and McGee. "To the interrogation rooms; separate rooms, and guard them until we hear back from SECDEF."

He turned to Gibbs and murmured, "It would appear Agent McGee has been snooping in Tony's personnel file, the secret one. He knew that Tony and Stiles were cousins. Tom is bringing the team so they can audit McGee's computer, and Tom is coming as he has a feeling SECDEF will be pissed."

Gibbs nodded. "He will be. Porter will see it as treason to a point. After all, there is a reason his info was locked down. Let's go calm them down while we wait for Tom and your geeks."

-x-

By the time Tom arrived with the rest of the team, the NCIS director was throwing a rather unbecoming fit; she was yelling at the FBI team about illegally locking her agents away.

"You have no right to hold my agents!" She commanded. "They did nothing wrong."

Derek stood there impassively with his arms crossed and refused to engage with the redhead.

Tom asked, "What's going on?"

Jenny scowled and said, "These agents have locked up Agent McGee and Officer David, and they are refusing to release them. All SSA Hale will tell me is that they are being held for questioning under suspicion of hacking and possible treason."

Tom nodded. "That's how I understand it. From what SSA Hale reported, they both had information that was locked down by SECDEF as above top secret."

Jenny replied frostily, "They were following orders."

Tom narrowed his eyes and asked, "So you're saying you ordered them to dig into Agent DiNozzo's classified background?"

"I am the director of this agency," She said imperiously, "There is nothing about the agents who work for me that should be kept a secret."

Tom narrowed his eyes and said, "That's not actually for you to decide. SECDEF made the decision before Tony was hired that his personnel file would be locked down. I know I was told this was for his own safety but also for diplomatic reasons."

Jenny shrugged, "I needed the information so I could decide if he was the best for an undercover mission I am planning."

Tom shook his head in disappointment, and he sent off a text to the approaching SECDEF who was dragging the SECNAV with him to the NCIS office. He asked, "Who else was involved in the background check beyond Agent McGee and Officer David? And don't think I have forgotten that you've authorized a foreign operative to have access to our agency personnel files."

The director sneered and said, "Just Ms. Sciuto, the cybercrime division refused to look past the blocks."

Tom sighed, "I have a warrant here to search Agent McGee and Officer David's computers for any sign of the information breach. DiNozzo, if you could point out the relevant computers. It also includes any others suspected of being involved, so we'll also be auditing the forensic computers. Someone needs to move Sciuto and Shepard to interrogation rooms. Do you have enough space?"

Gibbs nodded. "We do if we transfer Corporal Wurth to FBI custody."

Derek spoke up. "Deputy Director Conway has sent in a team to pick him up. He also said he's on his way in with a team to take over for myself and Officer Paddington."

Jenny was seething as she was grabbed by two of the agents. She yelled, "You have no right to take me into custody. I'm the director of a federal agency!"

Tom shook his head at her behavior, "You breached the security on top-secret files for your own curiosity. You gave a foreign intelligence operative carte blanche to go digging in the personnel files of the agents you are supposed to protect. You exposed the personal information of a foreign agency deputy director, just to assuage your curiosity. You had to know there would be consequences."

-x-

Sam wanted to bash his head on the table when the teams all got together to discuss the interrogations. Hetty Lange from the LA office had joined them, as SECDEF wanted someone he trusted to look after the agency. The President was taking his time choosing a new SECNAV. The investigation had uncovered a blackmail file on the former SECNAV, Philip Davonport. It was the only reason why he had promoted Jennifer Shepard to the director chair.

Hetty huffed and demanded, "Porter, what fresh hell have you dragged me into?"

James Porter laughed. "Honestly, Hetty, it's a shitshow. So far, we have evidence of hacking into files classified above top secret. An agency director with terminal brain cancer using the agency to further a personal vendetta; a vendetta that would have blown up in her face considering the target is a CIA CI. In her infinite wisdom, she brought in a Mossad agent, who we discovered was sending classified files home to daddy dearest. And to top it off, she has probably lost us the two best agents within NCIS; because Dinozzo and Gibbs will likely be transferring to MI5."

Hetty cursed viciously in a language not recognized by many at the table. She asked, "What are we doing about the breach by Mossad, and how much information did she get?"

Sam grinned. "Not as much as she was hoping. Tony had managed to restrict her access without it being obvious, so all she got access to were the missions that were already about to be declassified, so nothing that would harm American operatives. She still went looking, and she still sent classified information to a foreign agency, so she's headed straight to Gitmo."

She glanced at the list. "What's being done about Agent McGee and Technician Sciuto?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "They both refuse to admit they were in the wrong. While they followed orders, it doesn't give them the right to hack into a federal agency to get information clearly above their clearance levels. They should have followed the example set by the cyber crimes team and refused the order. They are both being charged with Obtaining National Security Information, and they are facing at least ten years each in Leavenworth."

"And Shepard?" She demanded. "Do I need to worry about her trying to come back to work?"

Porter shook his head. "No, she's being detained for trial for the same charges as McGee and Sciuto, as well as charges relating to the unsanctioned operation she was planning. It is unlikely to make it to trial as her brain tumor is aggressive. She is privy to far too many secrets to be allowed out on bail."

Hetty asked, "Have Gibbs and DiNozzo been made aware of the results of the investigation?"

Sam shook his head, "No, nor have Officer Paddington or SSA Hale. Their team has been asked to keep it from them to prevent any possibility of a conflict of interest charge being levied. They are all currently on stand down while the investigation is ongoing."

She nodded, "I want to see them and give them the details personally. I'll be using the meeting to find out Gibbs and DiNozzo's future plans. If they aren't returning, I am going to call in Callen, Hanna, and Blye to build a new MCRT."

Sam slid a piece of paper across the table, "This is where they are all staying right now."

She stood, "I'll head there now, is there anyone you trust to be my escort?"

Porter thought about the various agents he'd gotten to know over the investigation. He suggested, "Take Balboa; he's the current lead for the sexual crimes team. He's worked with the four men a few times on joint investigations. His team is currently working on cold cases."

She picked up Rick Balboa on the way through the bullpen, and she spent the drive interrogating him on the state of play in the office. Not gossip exactly, but certainly information handy for her to have.

Derek heard them approaching the house. So he stood to answer the door and welcomed them both in. "Rick, Ms. Lange, we're all in the living room."

Hetty nodded and followed him through the house. There was already a pot of her preferred tea steeping on the table with a timer beside it. She nodded in approval and said, "Someone's been telling tales."

Gibbs chuckled, "Sam called and let us know you and Balboa were on your way over. You and Peter have the same obsession with tea that most Americans have for coffee." He looked thoughtfully at Hetty and asked, "Do you need introductions?"

She shook her head. "Do you think I don't already have dossiers on the members of the Hale Pack? There is a reason I lead the Office of Special Projects at NCIS."

Derek whispered to Tony, "Should we be worried?"

Tony shook his head, "Nope, Hetty is the most honorable person I know. I'm more worried about Balboa knowing."

Hetty smiled. "Oh, he knows, Rick's always known. One of his jobs at NCIS is making sure that the directors never find out about the supernatural accidentally, and wiping the knowledge if they did." 

Stiles sat forward, "As nice as all this is, how can we help you, Ms. Lange?"

Hetty smirked, "I have news on the completion of the investigation into Jennifer Shepard, Ziva David, Timothy McGee, and Abigail Sciuto. I asked that I be the one to brief you all as the new interim director of NCIS."

She went on to explain the charges that had been levied at each of the perpetrators. She also let the group know that it was unlikely that Jennifer Shepard would ever see the inside of a courtroom.

Tony asked, "Did they find out what the undercover op was about? I tried to get details, but she was super cagey about it all, which is why I refused to commit."

Hetty nodded. "She had issues with an arms dealer known as The Frog, Rene Benoit. She wanted you to seduce his daughter, who is a doctor at a local hospital. There is no way the op would have been sanctioned since he is a CIA asset."

Tony frowned. "That's what Kort was talking about? He was more cryptic than usual, so I guess he's one of the agents at the CIA handling The Frog. Does the daughter even know what her father does?"

Hetty shook her head, "Not even slightly. She hasn't seen her father for years." She gave the two NCIS agents a stern look and asked, "Will you be returning?"

Gibbs and Tony both shook their heads. Tony said, "I've had an offer to train as my Uncle Clive's replacement at MI5. Gibbs will be joining me as a trainer, teaching investigative techniques, crime scene procedure, various firearms, and giving sniper training to those with the potential."

Hetty grinned and said, "Well, I wouldn't want to separate a mated pair. When will you be leaving? I'd like time for you to train your replacements."

Gibbs asked, "Callen's team?"

She nodded. "Yes, they won't be happy about it, but they are the best team to hit the ground running."

Balboa said, "I'll be able to help them as they settle in. Will you be rounding out the team with a fourth member?"

Hetty nodded. "I do plan to, if you have suggestions for someone who would fit, email their names through so the team can choose who would best fit."

Balboa nodded his agreement as Gibbs finished his quiet conversation with Tony. The younger man confirmed, "We can give you a few weeks before we are expected at MI5. No more than that, though."

Hetty smiled. "So, should I be calling you Baron Paddington?"

Stiles laughed. "No, we've been debating it hotly, and he refuses to take the barony since he's not actually a Paddington in name. That's technically still me. I'll stay the heir until one of our younger cousins is ready to take over."

Chapter Text

December 8th, 2016

Once Tony and Gibbs had worked out their notice under the new permanent director of NCIS, Hetty Lange, they had one last pack night at the Hale House to say farewell. Hetty was sad to see them go, but they had done a lot to train the new members of the MCRT to take over.

Gibbs was reluctant to sell his house in Alexandria, so Sam and his family would be moving in to look after it for him. At some point, he would be ready to let it go, but not yet. Tony was hoping he would eventually find out how the older man got his boats out of the basement.

When they got to London, Clive helped them find a townhouse to buy that would have a decent amount of space for Gibbs to keep building his boats. Clive understood that the boat building was more about relaxation than actually sailing the boat. He’d even arranged with the pack to have all of Gibbs’ tools shipped over to England. That way, Gibbs could use what he was used to, rather than buying new tools. He knew from experience that breaking in new woodworking tools could be a painful experience.

Before they got on the plane, Gibbs took the Talos Task Force director aside and said, “Can you try to get Fornell to switch to the task force. He’s stagnating where they have him right now, and his underlings are going to get him killed. If you can, try to do something about Agent Sacks. He’s definitely the worst offender.”

Sam asked, “You understand that he’s there because he has a family, a child. The unit he’s in has a lower rate of agent injuries than most.”

Gibbs snorted, “Sure. But if he gets any more bored, he’s going to start looking elsewhere for a new job. Why waste time when we all know he would be a good fit for the task force. He’s already in the know, and while he might be human, he’s smart and has great instincts.”

Sam agreed, “I’ll do what I can.”

-x-

By Christmas, the MI5 agents had fully integrated into the FBI arm of the task force. They had noticed a rise in the cases of hunters provoking wolves, and occasionally other creatures, into shifting within range of security cameras. 

Danny and Cora had refined the algorithm, so it had a 98% hit rate on the videos, and Kira had developed software that made a range of changes to shifter videos to throw off the conspiracy theorists.

 The team of eight FBI agents, and the three homeland agents, had managed to wrangle and bribe their way into having the Christmas holiday off. They were looking forward to heading home to Beacon Hills to spend time with their pack. They wanted to officially introduce the twins to the rest of the pack but also introduce them to the Nemeton. Due to bad timing, the only downside of the vacation was that there would be no full moon run during the Christmas break. However, they would still spend time hunting through the preserve in their full-shift forms, just for the enjoyment factor. As far as most of them were concerned, there was nothing like it.

Noah and Chris were happy to have the family back together, so along with the rest of the Beacon Hills based pack members, they went all out to make the house feel Christmassy.

When they were all gathered in the living room enjoying desert with a hot chocolate, Jackson was quick to share a story about a case they had dealt with a few weeks before the break. Stiles was still muttering darkly about being hazed. 

Jackson could barely suppress his giggling as he explained, “They sent us out to the Ocala National Forest in Florida. The local police couldn’t find a reason why so many campsites were being destroyed, and someone suggested calling in the task force.”

Noah asked, “How badly were they being destroyed?”

Jackson snorted, “Obliterated. Everything was either shredded or smashed. It’s why we were called. The shredding wasn’t done by anything man-made.”

Noah asked, “What was causing it?”

Stiles snarled, “Fucking pixies. They are little assholes.”

Chris snorted before he schooled his face, and he asked, “How big was the swarm?”

Jackson was grinning as he said, “Only twenty. But did you know they can smell magic? Sparks are like pixie catnip. It was hilarious.”

Chris shook his head. “I didn’t know that. So the equivalent of supernatural rodents took our mighty spark down.”

Jackson nodded. “Yep. He was able to deal with them fairly easily, though… Once he stopped screaming.”

Stiles growled, “They bite, and it fucking hurts, you asshole. Next time you can deal with them on your own.”

-x-

It was the middle of June, and the team had been working together now for three months. Stiles was away on a case with his team, and it was just Derek and the tech guys in the office. 

Sam approached the team bullpen, and with no preamble, he announced, “The office in Beacon Hills is ready. Finish up or transfer any cases you’re still working on, then you’ll be moving. The case in California just got a lot more serious.”

Derek asked, “What’s going on? I thought Stiles’ team was just investigating a few missing persons?”

Sam shook his head. “He was, but he’s missed his last four hourly check-ins, and more people have vanished without a trace. It’s time for the Hale Pack to return to Beacon Hills.”

Derek nodded. “We should be able to hand off our current caseload to the other teams fairly easily. I want to move out tomorrow.”

Peter asked, “Do his team know what happened?”

Sam shook his head. “No, and that’s why we’re worried. It seems they don’t remember Stiles at all. Ethan, Danny, and Jackson think they went to Beacon Hills alone.”

The team started gathering all their case notes, and Derek asked, “Any preferences for where to send the cases?”

“Talk to Charlie,” Sam confirmed. “He’s more aware of the caseload right now. I’ve been busy making sure your office is ready for you.”

It only took them a few hours to get everything assigned to the other task force teams. Peter took the rest of the week off to arrange the movers for the things they wanted to take back to Beacon Hills, while the rest of the team took the red-eye to Sacramento. They would be keeping the house in Washington for the pack to use when they needed to be in town for cases.

Connor said he would stick around for a few weeks. It would give the pack time to get settled before he headed to France for his next assignment. He wanted to be around for the fireworks when Alpha McCall found out the Hales were back in town to stay.

They split the team in two when they arrived in Sacramento. Derek would be taking Aiden and Adam to Beacon Hills. They would be trying to find any trace of Stiles and the other missing people. While Cora, Kira, Dalton, and eventually Peter would stay in Sacramento to monitor the population and the team remotely. 

Based on the reactions from the team members that were with Stiles, they had a theory that the people in Beacon Hills were being magically compelled somehow to forget the disappearances.

Before Derek took his team home to Beacon Hills, he set up a group chat for the entire pack. Everyone was under orders to check in hourly, no exceptions.

He knew he was already missing a few members. He could still feel them in the pack bonds, but they were muted, like they were out of reach.

Ken and Danny had vanished as the team was flying across the country, and like Stiles, the others in Beacon Hills had no idea who they were, or that they even existed. Derek was worried that it would affect him the same way, and he had planned to hit up the Nemeton when he arrived at home.

Derek, Aiden, and Adam headed for the pack house to meet with everyone that was there. He gathered the pack in the living room and said, “We have an issue, and it appears to be flying under the radar of everyone in Beacon Hills.”

Noah demanded, “What is it?”

Derek asked, “Who is your son?”

Noah shook his head. “I don’t have any kids, well, beyond Allison, who is technically my stepdaughter.”

Derek pulled out a photo that was taken at Noah and Chris’ wedding in England. It showed the happy couple hugging Stiles, with Derek laughing in the background. He passed it to the pair and said, “The man you are hugging is my mate, Stiles Paddington. He was born Mieczysław Genim Stilinski to Claudia and Noah Stilinski. He was here investigating a few missing persons cases that seemed to be centered on Beacon Hills when he disappeared.”

Noah shook his head. “I don’t remember him.”

Chris agreed. “Neither do I. Who else has gone missing?”

Derek looked at the Noshiko and said, “Noshiko’s husband, Ken, and one of our tech analysts, Danny Mahealani, went missing as we were flying across the country.” He started to pace as he explained, “We have had reports of at least ten others who have gone missing over the last week. All of them were reported missing by people outside of Beacon County. We have left a team in Sacramento who will be tracking us all. I’ve also implemented hourly check-in texts to the group chat by all pack members, including those adjacent members like Melissa, Dominique, and Tara.”

They all agreed, knowing it was for their safety, and Connor said, “This could explain the unease I have felt from the Nemeton. It’s not a threat type of warning; it’s something else entirely.”

Derek raised an eyebrow. “I was going to visit the Nemeton tomorrow, but I think that needs to be a sooner rather than later visit. Will you join me, Connor?”

Connor agreed, and he said, “We’ll take Aiden and Adam to guard us while we chat with the tree.”

Noshiko and Asora looked worried, and the older kitsune said, “We’re going to research what could be going on. The fact that they were able to take our memories of these people is a concern, nor is it something either of us has seen before.”

Melissa said, “It’s not just memories.” She handed over a photo album from Noah and Chris’ wedding, and she pointed at a copy of the photo Derek had shown them earlier. “The photos have changed to remove Stiles completely.”

Derek flicked through the album to confirm her theory, and he said sadly, “Danny is missing from the photos as well.” He stood, as he said, “Look, I would prefer if no one was alone while all this is going on. I know for some of you that will be difficult, but it would give me peace of mind.”

Chris agreed. “I’ll hang out with Noah at the office. We’ll do some digging in the system for the names you’ve given us, see if we can figure out how widespread the disappearances are.”

The rest of the pack agreed to stick together. Dominique decided to spend time with Melissa at the hospital during her shift so she wasn’t alone.

Derek left the house as Noah sent the pairing arrangements to the group chat. Peter suggested that they send in their own check-in and a separate check-in text for their partner for the check-in texts. That way, if anyone was suddenly alone, it would be more obvious.

Derek, Connor, Aiden, and Adam headed out for the Nemeton. Derek asked, “Have there been any more attempts to access the Nemeton while we’ve been away?”

Connor shook his head. “Nothing beyond lost hikers. Deaton has kept his distance after the last warning he got from the wards. Whoever you hired to build them made them increasingly punitive. The more he tried, the more painful it got.”

Derek smirked. “That sounds like something Stiles would do.”

-x-

Stiles came back to himself and found himself at a train station with a large crowd of people. They all seemed to be waiting for a train. But he couldn’t remember Beacon Hills ever having a train line.

He knew Derek had lived in the abandoned train depot when he first arrived in town, but it used to be occupied by a company that upgraded train carriages. But he knew they had all be shipped in by trucks. He remembered asking Derek about it one night while they were out searching for Boyd and Erica. It was one of the many companies that went under when the Hale Fire happened. 

He stood to walk around, and he recognized a few of the people who were sitting around the station. But none of them seemed aware of where they were or even what was going on. He tried to question a nurse he saw sitting on the bench beside him. She knew she was waiting for a train but couldn’t say where she was going.

He tried to reach the pack on his phone, but it had no signal, and the pack bonds seemed muted.

As he wandered around the weird train station and tried to break into the rooms he found, he heard someone yell his name. He spun around. “Danny?”

Danny nodded. “It would appear that whatever is taking people, it’s supernatural in origin.”

Stiles snorted. “Ya think?”

Danny laughed. “I don’t even remember seeing anything take you.”

Stiles shrugged. “I just remember a wraith wrapping around me. Then I was here. I’ve looked around, but I can’t see anything that indicates where we are.”

Danny suggested. “It’s like a holding station. Look.” He pointed at the destination board, where there was a long list of towns. “None of these towns exist anymore.”

Stiles swore. “Shit, I recognize a few of the names. Remember when I went through that phase of reading the historical files for the task force?”

Danny nodded. “You recognize one of the towns?”

Stiles chuckled darkly. “I recognize several. Pripyat, Canaan, Garnet, and Trenton. They were all towns with heavy supernatural activity before it stopped suddenly.”

Danny narrowed his eyes. “What are you thinking, Stiles?”

Stiles slumped back into the bench seat and said, “Remember how I speculated that we weren’t the last resort, that there was a higher power that would deal with secrecy breaches if we couldn’t stop them?” Danny nodded, so he continued. “I think this may be what we are experiencing. If everyone in Beacon Hills is taken, they will wipe the town off the map, so to speak. Given we have an active Nemeton, that would be bad.”

Ken joined them as Danny asked, “So, what do we do now?”

Stiles said, “We keep hunting for a way out or a clue to where we are.”

-x-

Derek approached the growing tree, and he sat and leaned back against the stump. “I see what you mean. It’s radiating worry.”

in a panicked voice from the ward line, Aiden called out, “Derek!”

Derek and Connor sprinted toward the beta, and they could see a floating wraith waiting on the outside of the ward line that was protecting the Nemeton. Derek demanded, “What the hell is that.”

Adam was panting as he tried to catch his breath, so Aiden explained, “Adam was doing a patrol around the ward line and the wraith looking thing came at him. He sprinted for the wards hoping they would keep him safe, and it worked.”

Derek inspected the wraith as it floated serenely on the other side of the invisible ward line. He looked around and pointed at a ghostly horse that was hiding in the trees. “Is it just me, or is that horse see-through?”

Connor snarked, “It is, so it’s what? A Ghost Rider? So we’re stuck here?”

“Are we, though? It seems pretty fixated on Adam.” Derek commented as he pulled out his phone. He made a FaceTime call to his uncle.

“Nephew,” Peter started to ask what was going on, until he realized what was in front of the camera. “Where are you?”

Derek explained, “We are inside the Nemeton ward line, and the wraith and his horse are on the outside. They seem to be waiting for Adam.”

Derek moved back, and he asked, “Adam, can you walk up and down the ward line?”

They all watched as the wraith fixated on the beta as he moved around inside the ward line.

Aiden waited until Adam was a reasonable distance away, and he stepped across the ward line. He wanted to see if the wraith would notice him. The beta wasn’t keen to get too close; he wanted time to make sure he could escape back across the ward line if the wraith moved for him.

Peter asked, “Is that the same ward Stiles used around the house?”

The alpha wasn’t sure. “It could be. We think they took Ken from the high school. The last text check-in from him said he would be cleaning out his classroom for the summer break. And Danny was at the new office when he disappeared.”

Aiden asked, “So, how do we get out of here? I know it didn’t watch me when I left the ward, but I’m not keen on leaving Adam behind either.”

Connor suggested, “I’m expendable, and I don’t have anyone waiting for me back at the house. I can let the others know what’s going on here and help them plan from that side.”

Adam shook his head. “No, it’s fine. We don’t know that it won’t do worse to you. Just, please let Dalton know what’s going on, so he doesn’t worry.”

Connor said, “Let me approach it first. I am curious if it is fixated on Adam, as a single specific target, or if it will change its target to me if I touch it.”

Peter said over the call, “I’ll admit to some curiosity about this as well. I’ve also sent a text to Sam to let him know what’s going on. We are both curious if the magic that removes all memory of those taken will affect me over the phone.”

Connor hummed, “I hadn’t thought about that. Right, I’m going to start with the wraith. If he does nothing, I’ll try the horse. Adam, record it with your phone.”

Adam laughed. “So if he takes me anyway, I have video evidence for Stiles?”

Derek and Peter both laughed, knowing it was true. Derek said, “We all know he’s the one with the memory for esoteric knowledge.”

Adam pulled out his phone, and he started recording as Connor approached the wraith. Adam thought it was unusual that when Connor stood between him and the wraith, that the wraith would move, so he still had a clear line of sight to Adam.

The alpha tried to talk to the wraith, and he even tried poking it a few times with his baton, but nothing diverted its attention from Adam. He then moved to the horse, and aside from giving him a curious sniff, it ignored him. He was able to approach it and even feel the warmth from its body; he tried to touch the horse, but his hand went through it, and he couldn’t physically feel anything there, just the body heat.

Connor called out, “This is seriously weird. I can feel its body heat, even though I can’t feel the horse itself. The wraith has no temperature changes, though.”

Derek suggested, “Adam, pass me your phone and head back to the Nemeton. It’s out of sight of all the ward lines. I want to see how the wraith reacts. Aiden, if it heads away from us, I want you to shift and sprint home and let the others know what’s happening.” He had a reason for wanting Aiden to let the pack know. He wanted to test how the memory magic affected someone who had seen the wraith before the target was taken.

As Adam was running toward the Nemeton, Derek called out, “Connor, can you get inside the ward line and pass me your phone?”

Connor nodded, and he swapped places with Aiden when the wraith started moving around the ward. Aiden sprinted off for the pack house as Derek and Connor switched phones. Derek wrote a quick message asking Connor to get Adam to return from the Nemeton in his full-shift before swapping back.

Connor read the message, and he smirked. He asked, “You think it’ll work?”

Derek shrugged, “Not really, but it’s worth a try.”

Connor took off toward the Nemeton with Adam’s phone, which contained the video and a text message for Stiles to read. Derek followed the wraith around the ward line. He watched as the wraith stopped moving, the ghostly horse still slightly behind him. 

He was talking with Peter as Connor returned, with Adam on his heels in his full-shift form.

Peter asked, “Is it still watching him in his shifted form?”

Derek confirmed, “Yep. Does anyone find it weird how it seems to be fixated on Adam? Since he wasn’t even in Beacon Hills when all this started.”

Peter agreed. “That is odd. Stiles and Danny were there investigating the disappearances. Maybe whatever it is, it sees the pack as a threat to what they are doing.”

Derek asked, “So why doesn’t he try to take the rest of us? He completely ignored Aiden when he ran for the house.”

Peter said, “I’ve been doing some research while we’ve been talking. I think we’re definitely looking at a Ghost Rider.”

Chapter Text

June 15th, 2017

Derek huffed. "Ghost Riders? Aren't they a myth?"

Peter shook his head. "No, they are part of the Wild Hunt, a last resort, the supernatural boogeyman, if you will. The lore says they are sent in when the supernatural is at risk of exposure. They are sent in to clean up before the supernatural is exposed in an irreversible way."

Derek asked, "So, what can we do?"

Peter shrugged. "I don't know. I am still looking. Sam is sending over everything he has on the Ghost Riders and the Wild Hunt. Hopefully, there is something there that can help us. I'll make sure I bring everything with me on the flight."

Adam approached the wraith, and he shook his head at Connor as he stepped over the ward line. Faster than they could blink, the wraith approached Adam, and with a flash of lightning, the wolf, the wraith, and its horse were all gone.

Peter could see the angry expressions as he asked, "Do you remember Adam?" 

The group all nodded, but they were all pretty sure those at the house wouldn't know he's missing. Derek said, "I'll send a text to the group chat to let them know he was taken. Hopefully, he can work with Stiles, Danny, and Ken to get back to us."

-x-

Adam found himself lying down on a bench in a train station surrounded by people. He was shocked when he recognized his pack mates sitting across from him, talking quietly. He shifted back to human as he stood and asked, "Stiles?"

Stiles' head whipped up. "Adam! Thank god you're awake."

Adam looked around. "None of them are awake?"

Stiles shook his head. "It's like a fugue state. They only seem to be active when the riders drop off someone new. They all move away with fear, but as soon as the riders are gone, they move back to their seats like nothing happened. It's creepy as hell."

Adam sighed. "Peter thinks they are Ghost Riders, from the Wild Hunt. He's trying to look into the lore to see how to stop them." He pulled out his phone and pulled up the video of the wraith following him around the ward line. "Here, we got video of one of the riders and their horse. If you watch, you can see how both the wraith and, to a lesser degree, the horse, seemed fixated on just me. Connor was able to approach, and they didn't even glance at him."

The alpha and the two humans watched the video all the way through, then Adam pointed out the message Derek had typed out for Stiles. 

Ken thought about the video and asked, "Why didn't it get any closer?"

Adam said, "We think it's one of the wards that kept it away; it couldn't cross the ward line. Whatever the ward is, it's not one at the house."

Ken agreed, "They took me from the house. I'd just got home from cleaning up my classroom. Noshiko was there when I was taken. My last check-in was at the school, though, so they probably think that's where I was taken."

The alpha had tears in his eyes as he asked, "So, how do we get out of here?"

A voice spoke up from the side, "You can't."

They all turned to look, and they found a young man watching them from the side. Ken asked, "Brett, what do you mean you can't?" He explained to the group, "This is Brett Talbot. He's one of Satomi Ito's betas."

Brett hopped down from the counter he was sitting on and said, "I've watched a few people try to escape by riding behind one of the riders."

Adam frowned, and he said, "But they're ghosts. Connor tried to touch one, and his hand went right through it."

Brett nodded in agreement. "That's true enough, but here, in this weirdo train station, they are solid as you or I. But when people tried to ride out, they burned to ashes every time."

Stiles tilted his head in thought and asked, "Humans, right?"

Brett nodded, "I thought about trying it, but then I remembered Peter Hale being stuck in a coma due to burns his wolf couldn't heal."

Stiles looked down at his tattooed arms and grinned, "I have a theory; it's risky, though."

Adam said, "If you want to give it a try, I'll stay here to protect the pack."

Stiles asked, "Brett, do you want to come with me? I'm pretty sure I have a way to mitigate the burns. I just need to check my phone."

Brett nodded hesitantly as he asked, "How sure are you?"

Stiles shrugged, and with a smirk, he said, "Maybe 66% sure. But it's worth a try, right?"

The beta nodded. "Sure."

With a wiggle of his fingers, Stiles asked, "Adam, do you want to be my guinea pig?"

Adam grinned. "More ink? Definitely."

Stiles nodded, and he held up his phone so the group could see the rune he intended to use. Ken asked, "What about the ward? Is that one that can be tattooed?"

Stiles shrugged. "I don't have the details for that one on my phone. It's in my grimoire back at the house in DC. I'll need to wait for Peter to bring it to California with the rest of the books. Derek's message said he was getting ready with the movers for a cargo flight. Something about shipping the books in a specialty container that was designed for transporting rare books and scrolls."

Adam agreed, "He is. He is working with the same company that moved us from the UK." He looked down at his arms, which were pretty full of designs already, and he knew his back was almost full too. "Ok, where do you want to put the rune? I'm starting to run out of room."

Stiles contemplated Adam's body and what he could remember of his ink, and he asked, "Can you take your shirt off? I think I remember there being room on your chest."

Brett frowned, and he asked, "How are you going to do the tattoo? I don't see any way to do it down here."

Stiles wiggled his fingers, and he said, "Magic." He looked over at Adam and suggested, "I think maybe one on each side of your ribs, just to be sure. I'll be adding mine and the others to our ribs."

Adam agreed. "Sounds good. Feel up to wrapping them in flames? I can draw it if you need a reference?"

Stiles laughed. "Get drawing. I need at least some sort of reference. Or do you not remember the debacle the last time you got me to freehand that bird? It looked like a five-year-old drew it with crayons."

Adam held up his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. It's just lucky you can remove tattoos just as well as you can create them. Give me a few minutes, and I'll sketch you something. Do you have your stylus on you?"

Stiles handed it over from the pocket space tattoo at his wrist. "Use Procreate. It's got the best clarity out of all the apps."

Adam nodded absently as he was sketching flames around the rune that he'd imported into the app. Ten minutes later, he handed over the phone so Stiles could get on with the tattoos.

Stiles got him to hop up onto the counter Brett was sitting on earlier. "Because I'm doing them on your ribs, I should be able to do both at the same time. Ok?"

Adam nodded, and as Stiles got started on the tattoo, Brett noticed the scent of ozone in the air. He saw the tattoos beginning to form on Adam's sides, under where Stiles was holding his hands, and the beta wasn't even flinching. 

Adam saw him watching, and he said, "Stiles is a spark. He can create magical tattoos that work like wards. Most of the tattoos you can see on my body are wards of some sort. We put decorative tattoos around them to disguise them."

Brett nodded. "Cool. I've always thought about getting a tattoo of my birth pack symbol, but the idea of a blowtorch is off-putting after the fire that killed my family."

Stiles looked up when the tattoo was finished, and he said, "She's locked away. Kate Argent, I mean. She tried to infiltrate the FBI as a trainer, using a false identity. It's just a shame, for her, I mean, that she was assigned to teach a class where my PhD thesis was required reading, and she hadn't read it. It gave us a reason to look into her identity and flush her out. She's been locked away for life in the Supermax prison in Colorado, the one that was created to hold shifters."

Brett smiled. "Good! The bitch deserves it after what she was doing to the packs she attacked. Now, where do you want me?"

Adam jumped down from the counter, and he said, "Jump up and sit with your legs crossed. He'll need to do yours one at a time. Unless you want yours in the same place as mine?"

Brett nodded. "That would be good, actually. It leaves my back and chest for other designs. That is if I can pay you to do more later."

Stiles chuckled, "Sure, just don't spread it too far. I work full time for the FBI and don't want to end up as the go-to for supernatural tattoos. If you talk to Adam once we sort all this out, he can sort the designs for you. He's a brilliant artist. Most of his tattoos are his own work."

Stiles got to work on the rest of the tattoos, including his own. Ken and Danny both opted to have the tattoos on their chest and back rather than their ribs.

They settled back and waited until they could hear the horses approach. Stiles and Brett had talked earlier about the best place to jump on. So as soon as they heard the noise of the horses approaching, they headed to the exit, and they waited by the pillars.

Brett asked, "Are you sure you want to do this? Even with the runes, it's still going to hurt."

Stiles nodded. "I need to get back to help my pack. From what Derek said in his message, the riders are going to try and clear all of Beacon County. Once they are satisfied, the towns vanish off the face of the earth. Everyone in them is forgotten by the rest of the world. I only recognized some of those names because the FBI stored the files I was reading in warded storage rooms. The wards prevent tampering by magical means."

Brett nodded. "Cool. I'll make sure I let Alpha Ito know what's going on. Who should she get in touch with?"

Stiles thought about it as they got into place. "She has Connor's number, or if she wants to contact someone outside of Beacon County, Peter will be in DC or Sacramento, depending on travel times. He's researching how to stop the hunt."

They heard the horses approaching. As Stiles jumped on the back of a horse, he yelled, "See you on the other side!"

-x-

It had been about 24 hours since Adam had vanished. The pack were on a group Skype call with Peter in DC and Cora, Kira, and Dalton in Sacramento when Derek felt his mate bond to Stiles surge in awareness. "Stiles!"

Aiden sat up. "Where is he?"

Derek stood without a word, and he ran outside, following the bond to his mate. Aiden, Ethan, and Jackson were all armed as they chased him out the door. Asora and Connor behind followed quietly. They had lost Melissa and Dominique while Melissa was on shift at the hospital overnight. 

They'd been running for fifteen minutes through the preserve when they came across Stiles and another beta. They were out cold, and both of them were still smoking. Asora dropped down beside them, and he said, "They both have pretty severe burns, but I think they'll heal."

Jackson said, "I recognize the other guy. He's Brett Talbot. We used to play him in lacrosse when he was attending Devenford Prep. I think he's one of Satomi's betas."

Connor stepped back, and as he pulled out his cellphone, he suggested, "Let's get them back to the house, and I'll call Satomi."

Derek gently picked up his mate in a bridal carry as Asora picked up Brett. The twins ran back to the house to get the medical room ready for the pair.

Connor made a few calls on the way back to the house. His first was to Satomi, to let her know she needed to come to the Hale house. 

She was suspicious. "You're saying I have a missing beta, and you've found him in the preserve?"

Connor sighed. "Look, we think the Wild Hunt is in Beacon County. He was with Derek's mate, Stiles, who was taken by the hunt two days ago."

Satomi thought about it. "I'll be there. I'll be bringing Vaughn with me; he's our researcher."

She said she would be there in about half an hour, so he ended the call and made his second call of the night to Noah and Chris. Noah was at the station doing paperwork, with Chris hanging out in his office and Jordan out in the bullpen.

"Connor?" Noah answered as Chris sat up, and Jordan moved to stand in the doorway. "What's going on?" 

Connor took a deep, calming breath before he said, "Stiles is back. We just found him and Brett Talbot in the preserve. They are injured, but Asora said they'll be fine."

Noah picked up his keys to the cruiser, and he said, "We'll be home soon." He hung up the phone, and he asked Jordan, "Can you stay here with Tara. Same check-in schedule, please."

Jordan nodded his agreement as the two men ran out the door. Tara approached, and she asked, "What's going on?"

Jordan grinned. "Noah's son returned from the hunt."

-x-

Stiles woke slowly, and he looked around at the group in their medical room. "Derek?"

Derek smiled softly, and he whispered, "You're not allowed to disappear on me, Mischief."

Stiles reached up with a hand that was still healing. "I found my way back. I promise I always will." He sat up and looked across at Brett. "Is he ok?"

Asora nodded. "He's healing a bit slower than you because he's a beta, but he'll be fine. Satomi is on her way to see him. I think the memories are slow to return, but we are starting to remember you. So hopefully, by the time she and her second get here, they'll remember Brett. She should feel the pack bond, but that has been slow to return for some of us too. I think your mate bond is helping there, though."

Stiles asked, "So aside from what you put in the message on Adam's phone, what do we know?"

Derek huffed. "From what we can gather, it's definitely the Wild Hunt. We still haven't found how to kill them or even stop them. What we do know, is that they are a last resort action to protect the supernatural."

Stiles frowned. "I thought that's what hellhounds were?"

The kitsune shook his head, and he said, "That's actually a mistranslation from some old Welsh texts. It was translated as hellhound when it actually meant hounds from hell. They are not interchangeable."

Stiles frowned. "That sounds familiar. There is something I read a while ago; let me think on it." He looked at Asora treating Brett and asked, "Where's Melissa?"

Derek shook his head. "Cora said they took her last night a few hours after Adam. She was with Dominique; I think she said she is Chris' Aunt. They were both at the hospital."

Stiles swore. "Shit. Do you know if Peter packed my grimoire yet? I need him to send me copies of the notes I added about the wards here and at the Nemeton."

Derek shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure. We can ask him though, I think he's still on Skype in the living room."

Stiles struggled to sit up. "Help me out to the living room, Sourwolf. I need to figure out what's different in the two ward runes, so I can add whatever's missing to the house wards."

Derek looked to Asora, who nodded. "It's fine if he moves. His burns are healing; it's just going to be a bit slower than usual due to the magical nature of the burns."

Derek helped support Stiles as they limped out of the medical room. Derek called back, "I'll have someone escort Alpha Ito back when she arrives."

He got Stiles settled on the sofa in front of the camera they were using for Skype. They displayed the group video call on the large TV on the wall. 

Stiles looked at the Skype screen, and he implored, "Please tell me you still have my grimoire handy?"

Peter nodded, and he held up the well-used tome. "What do you need? I unpacked the scanner just in case."

Stiles explained, "About halfway through the book are two pages full of runes, there is no heading for the pages, but it should be clear as they are the only pages with pure runes and no explanation on them. I need you to scan both pages, so all the rune clusters are clear, and send them through to my email. Then I need the book itself overnighted so I can update it and create ward schemes for other buildings in town."

Noah asked, "Are you going to do the sheriff's station? We've already lost several officers based on the empty desks."

Stiles shrugged. "It depends on if the ward itself is specific or if it's a ward that restricts an area to pack only. I need to figure that out first. I did the wards years ago when I was still learning about magic, so I need to refresh my memory before I can make any plans."

The wolves all faced the door, and Aiden said, "I'll show her through to the medical room. What do you want me to do with whoever is with her?"

Connor said, "I'll escort Vaughn here. Satomi said he's the pack researcher; another set of eyes could be a good idea."

Chapter Text

June 17th, 2017

Vaughn was happy to join the research party as Stiles was going through his notes. He and Peter had been friends before the fire. Before Laura had restricted access to his hospital room to just family, he had been planning to visit Peter in the hospital.

Stiles was busy going through the notes he had on the wards to try and find what could have blocked the wraith. Derek was looking through their digital library for information on the Wild Hunt and the Ghost Riders. He was pretty sure that if Stiles had read enough to remember bits and pieces, that the information was likely in one of the books that had been digitized.

He was saving any information that looked relevant to a separate file. He wanted the pack to go through it all once they were finished with the physical books.

Stiles got to his feet. He was still a little unsteady, even though his burns were mostly healed. He looked down at his mate and said, "I'll need your help, Alpha. I found the ward I used at the Nemeton, and I'll need your help in setting it on the house."

Noah sat up. "Can we use it on public buildings?"

Stiles shook his head. "No, not in its current form. It's a fairly strict intent type ward that's keyed to the pack. So it will exclude anyone who means harm to anyone in the Hale Pack. I'll need to modify it to be usable on public buildings. Why, what were you thinking?"

Noah looked at Chris, who said, "We were thinking of making some safe places in town. So the sheriff's station, the hospital, the school, maybe even the dojo. If they can keep people safe from the wraiths, it'll give us time to figure out how to stop the hunt before everyone is taken."

Stiles agreed, "Good idea. I'm pretty sure once everyone has been taken, the hunt is completed, and Beacon Hills disappears like it never existed." 

He turned to face the screen. "Peter, can you ask Sam for the details on the wards in the file rooms? Whatever they used to prevent magical tampering, seems to stop the memory wipe. We could use that ward on the pack house in the short term. It would be good backup just in case the ward I used on the Nemeton isn't what prevented Derek and Connor from forgetting Adam."

Peter agreed, "Then you'll know when people are missing rather than relying just on those out of town."

Dalton asked, "Do you need us to head to you yet? You're already down several people."

Derek shook his head. "Not yet. I would prefer we hold you guys in reserve for now."

Dalton nodded, and Peter confirmed, "I should be with them in a few days. Do we know how far out the hunting grounds are?"

Derek shook his head. "We aren't sure. It's hard to know when we don't know who's going missing."

Stiles said, "Brett was in Beacon Valley when he was taken. We both recognized other people in the train station, so that would suggest Beacon County rather than just Beacon Hills." He snagged Derek's hand and said, "We're going to play with the wards. Text if you need us."

-x-

Satomi was sitting with Brett in the medical room. He still hadn't woken up. Asora said, "You should start to recognize him as the magic that had taken him from our world falls."

Satomi nodded, "It's odd, I can feel a pack bond to him, linking him to a sister in the pack, but I still don't recognize him." She examined the burns covering his arms and torso, and she asked, "What caused these?"

Asora explained, "We think they are burns he received by going through a portal that was not designed to carry corporeal beings. Stiles told us they came through on the back of the ghost rider's horses. He said if it wasn't for the fireproof wards he gave the two of them, it would have burned them beyond recognition. Brett saw a human try to leave the same way, and they burned to ashes on the spot."

Satomi frowned. "How did he ward them?"

Asora lifted the beta's arms to show her the two tattoos on his ribs. "These are magical tattoos. The rune in the center is a fireproof ward, and the design around the outside is art that one of our betas, Adam, would have done. The riders took him near the Nemeton."

Satomi smiled. "Good thinking. Now we just need to figure out how to get humans across."

Asora shook his head. "I don't think it's going to be that simple."

-x-

Jackson was reading through the various digitized books, and he asked quietly, "Do we know why the Wild Hunt is here?"

Peter asked, "What do you mean?"

Jackson looked up, and he said, "Everything I am reading states that the Wild Hunt is a last resort, that they exist to prevent the exposure of the supernatural. So, why are they here? What is putting the secrecy at risk?"

"Shit," Connor sighed. "It begs the question. What has McCall done this time?"

Jackson shook his head. "It's not something small. The Wild Hunt is a nuclear option. I mean, they literally wipe an area off the map to protect the secret. So whatever is going on, it's something big."

Noah snorted. "It's either something big or something moronic. We know Scott is capable of moronic plans. Look at the plan he created to force Derek to bite Gerard."

Jackson muttered, "I still think Deaton was the reason for most of that plan."

Chris asked, "So you think if we can shut down whatever is going on, it might stop the hunt?"

Jackson shrugged. "It's worth a try."

Peter suggested, "I think there needs to be a meeting between McCall, the Hale Pack, and the Ito Pack. You might need to explain to Satomi that Scott believes he is the territory alpha, even though he has been told otherwise several times."

Vaughn snorted. "She's very aware. She's also told him and seen him completely ignore the statement. It's like if he pretends she didn't say it, it's not real."

Ethan muttered, "So he's still delusional."

Chris nodded. "Both he and my daughter seem to be at least lost in their own little world. She was in contact with my psychopathic sister, and she didn't see that as wrong, even though she knew Kate still wanted to kill the Hales."

Stiles and Derek entered the room, and Stiles said, "We've added the ward to the house that should protect anyone here. We can't use the ward in its current state in town because it works as an intent ward. I've also added the ward they use in the file rooms to make sure that the memory aspect won't affect anyone at the house, nor anything in the house like the photos."

Derek asked, "So what's the plan?"

Peter said, "You and Alpha Ito, with your seconds and emissaries, need to meet with McCall. Jackson has a theory that the hunt is a reaction to something specific, and we all mostly agree that Scott is probably at the center of it all."

Stiles said, "The Wild Hunt has taken our emissary."

Peter rolled his eyes. "You're a magic user. You can act as our emissary, you just don't want to do it, and you'll use extreme measures to get out of it."

Stiles shrugged. "There is nothing wrong with using C4 as a negotiation tool."

Derek nudged him and said, "For the sake of this meeting, I think you would be a good emissary. It'll put Deaton off his game. I'll take Connor as my second. He's been in town the entire time we were away, representing the Hale Pack as the proxy alpha."

Noah suggested, "How about I arrange it, and we can use the conference room at the station. Stiles can ward it for privacy."

Stiles agreed. "I need to head to our office to add the new wards. Once I'm finished, I'll be at the station with Derek to get the warding done in the conference room. Jordan's still at work, right?"

Noah nodded. "Jordan and Tara are both on shift. I'll let Jordan know you'll be using the conference room for an inter-pack meeting. He'll understand."

Connor said, "Satomi has already called her second and emissary, and they'll be here in about an hour." 

He looked at his watch, and he suggested, "It's just after four now, maybe set up the meeting for six. It will take away the excuse of the school and the vet clinic being open. You'll also need to be clear that only the alpha, his second, and their emissary will be welcome at the meeting." He looked at Stiles. "Will that give you time to ward the new FBI building and the conference room?"

Stiles nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that should give me plenty of time. The conference room will be a bit trickier since I will be adding privacy runes, but it should be fine."

Noah nodded. "That sounds good. I'll be at the station with Chris doing paperwork if you run into any issues. Maybe Jackson and Ethan should come with us. They can give Tara and Jordan a debriefing from an FBI perspective."

Jackson grinned. "We can do that. I'll grab Ethan and our laptops, and we'll follow you in. That way, I can set us up before the packs arrive."

-x-

Scott had grudgingly agreed to the meeting, and Noah showed him into the conference room. Dr. Deaton and Allison accompanied him, and they all arrived right on the dot of six. Satomi was already in the conference room with Beta Maria Cruz, her second, and her emissary, Druid Emily White. They had been chatting quietly with the Hale Pack alphas as they waited.

Scott stood belligerently at the end of the table, and he demanded, "So why am I here?"

Connor shook his head at the impertinence, and he said, "Take a seat, Alpha McCall. This is going to be a long meeting."

As the three of them took a seat, Dr. Deaton asked, "Perhaps you could start with introductions, Alpha James." 

Connor smirked. "Sure." As he gestured to each person, he said, "I'm sure you all know Alpha Satomi Ito, alpha of the Ito Pack of Beacon Valley, her second Beta Maria Cruz, and her emissary Druid Emily White."

He then grinned wickedly and said, "Last but by no means least, we have Alpha Derek Hale, alpha of the Hale Pack of Beacon County, and his mate and emissary, Alpha Stiles Paddington."

Scott stood as he yelled, "What?"

Dr. Deaton sat back with his usual serene mask, and he said, "I was unaware an alpha could be an emissary."

Stiles smirked, and he snarked, "I'm a special snowflake." He glared at Scott. "Sit down, Scotty. We have a lot to discuss."

Scott sat down and demanded, "What are you doing here, Stiles? And what's this bullshit about you being an alpha."

Derek chuckled. "He's been an alpha since he left town, Scott. His father sent him away for his own safety, since he felt your inability to care about others around you would get his only son killed."

Scott scoffed. "That doesn't give him the right to be here now. It's not like he's part of your pack."

Stiles shook his head in disbelief. "Wow, Scotty, I joined the Hale Pack after I realized you knew Gerard had taken me and tortured me in his murder basement, and you just didn't care. I joined that summer as a human member, and I spent the first few months with Derek and Peter, helping them search for our missing betas. But hey, you barely even noticed anything going on back then, especially if Allison wasn't part of it. After all, you left me alone in the preserve on patrol; when you knew the alpha pack was targeting pack members, and for what? A booty call. By the time I got home that night, Scott, I was covered in blood from head to toe after being attacked by Ennis. You remember him, tall, built like a tank. He was attempting to kill me to send a message to Derek."

Derek smirked. "He didn't count on the training we'd given Stiles so he could defend himself."

Scott sneered. "So you murdered him?"

Satomi frowned. "Self-defense isn't murder, Alpha McCall. As I understand it, they cleared him of the death, as it was a clear cut case of self-defense against an alpha that was being actively hunted by the FBI."

Deaton cleared his throat, and he said, "Mr. Stilinski…"

Stiles held up his hand. "You can address me as either Dr. Paddington, Agent Paddington, or in pack business, Alpha Paddington."

Allison asked curiously, "You're a doctor?"

Stiles shook his head. "Not a medical doctor, I have a Ph.D. in criminal justice, and I just defended my dissertation for my psychology doctorate."

Deaton cleared his throat again to get their attention. "Dr. Paddington, are you any relation to Alpha Paddington?"

Stiles nodded. "Alpha Clive Paddington is my uncle."

"Right," Deaton nodded. "So you expect us to believe you killed Ennis Browne, as a human?"

Stiles shrugged. "I normally wouldn't actually care what you believe." He rolled up his sleeve and pulled out one of the two knives he always has on him. "However, just so there is no doubt, I have a knife on each forearm, and I have worn them ever since I was kidnapped by Gerard fucking Argent. Peter helped me find some runes that would allow me to hide the sheaths from detection, and I laced the blades with wolfsbane. You know, just in case I was attacked by a werewolf."

He glared at the druid and said, "Anyway, that's not why we are here. Sourwolf?"

Derek nodded. "He's right. The first reason for this meeting is to let you all know that the rest of our pack are on their way back to Beacon Hills. Our unit has been assigned to the new FBI office here in town."

Scott scowled. "This isn't your territory, Derek. You left."

Maria asked, "What does that have to do with it? He left a proxy alpha which is standard practice for packs where the alpha is young and wishes to attend college. You were informed that Alpha James was here as Alpha Hale's proxy. We have all informed you of this several times with witnesses, Alpha McCall."

Scott shook his head. "You left us to keep the territory safe. We had several issues come up while you were away."

Connor asked, "Like what, Alpha McCall?"

Allison said, "The Dread Doctors. They created Chimeras and released them on Beacon Hills to create chaos."

Connor nodded. "They did, and the FBI sent in one of their task force teams to assist our pack in shutting them down. We killed the doctors as we could not capture them because of their phase-shifting ability. We found packs for the chimeras that didn't want to remain with Alpha McCall. I recall reading in the reports that he took in two of the chimeras and one of their mates. He expected the rest to fend for themselves."

Satomi nodded. "I took in Hayden, and she is currently attending university out of state. I think Alpha Richardson over in Oakdale took in a couple as well."

Scott sneered. "I'll bet you'll try to claim credit for the assassins leaving as well."

Connor smirked. "They didn't leave. They were arrested. We caught several high-profile assassins who are currently serving long sentences at the Colorado Supermax prison. The rest of them left when they realized there wasn't actually a payday. We also tracked down the creator of the Deadpool list. It was an orderly at Eichen House. He was working with Kate Argent to get hold of the money in the Hale Vault. But Derek wasn't in town to lead her to the vault."

Derek chuckled. "The money wasn't there, anyway. We cleared out the vault of anything important before we left town. My mother had granted too many people access."

Satomi asked, "Just out of curiosity, which assassins were captured?"

Connor ticked off on his fingers. "We caught The Mute; he's the one who killed the Walcotts. I caught the Chemist before he could release a contagion at the school, the orphans were captured when they went after Kira at lacrosse practice, and the FBI captured Deputy Haigh when he tried to set fire to our hellhound."

Derek grinned. "They were good captures for the Sheriff. Certainly took away some of the heat from the unsolved cases and animal attacks that are typical in a town full of supernaturals." 

He looked Scott in the eyes and said, "Our pack has also dealt with a few attempts at hunters trying to move in on the territory and several omegas and feral creatures."

Scott sneered. "Taking them out like a murder bot."

Connor laughed. "Oh, I am keeping that nickname. No, Alpha McCall, we sent the omegas to a rehabilitation center we use in Montana. They get the omegas back on an even keel again before they find them a pack that suits their needs. They rehabilitated the feral creatures where possible. Killing them is always a last resort."

Satomi frowned, and she asked, "If killing them isn't an option, what do you do with those causing trouble, Alpha McCall?"

"There is always another option," Scott said sanctimoniously. "Killing is never the way."

Satomi said, "That didn't answer my question, Alpha McCall. If killing them isn't an option, what do you do with them?"

Scott scoffed. "I'm a True Alpha. I can't be seen to be killing indiscriminately."

"And?" Satomi asked with a raised eyebrow. "A True Alpha is just an alpha who rose to the rank of alpha out of stubbornness. You still have to protect your pack, and that often involves the death of the threat. The supernatural world is not as black and white as you seem to think."

Connor laughed. "The last two omegas he dealt with were made to promise they wouldn't kill anyone, and then Alpha McCall let them go. They proceeded to move into Alpha Richardson and Alpha Matthews territories. They were both killed after they tried to kill a member of their packs."

Satomi narrowed her eyes. "So, all you did with your no-killing policy is create a mess for the surrounding territories."

Connor nodded. "Thankfully, they were both aware that Alpha McCall had gone outside his agreement by not notifying a Hale Pack member of the threat. We have since added extra wards to warn us of mild threats to the territory."

Stiles nodded. "The wards we added initially were only set to warn for major threats. We thought Scotty would deal with any minor threats properly if he, or his pack, came across them."

Derek smiled. "So, we are back, and we would appreciate you leaving any and all threats to the territory to us to deal with. Our pack is rather large, and we have enough members to deal with any threats."

Allison rolled her eyes, and she said dismissively, "Whatever. You mentioned that there were two reasons you invited us here?"

Derek nodded. "The Wild Hunt is here. There are at least 200 people so far who have been taken by the hunt, including Scott's mother and Allison's great-aunt."

Scott argued, "My mother? She skipped out when I was born."

Stiles shook his head, "No, Scott. It's how the Wild Hunt works. When they take someone, all memories of that person are taken as well. They even alter photos to remove the person. Your mother joined the Hale Pack at the end of the last year, after you and your fiance declared since she was not a wolf, she couldn't be pack, and you left her vulnerable."

Scott shook his head as if he didn't believe a word from his ex-best friend. "Is that all?"

Derek nodded. "Yes. I would suggest you stick to pairs and do regular check-ins by text, so you know if any of your packs have disappeared."

Scott shook his head, "We'll be fine. It sounds like the hunt is just after your pack."

At the incredulous looks on the faces of both of the other packs, Allison asked, "They aren't going after just the packs, are they?"

Stiles snorted. "Our pack might be large, but we don't have 200 members. The Wild Hunt is going after everyone in Beacon County. Once they have everyone, they will literally wipe the town off the map."

He thought about mentioning their theory that they were causing it with their actions, but he figured it wasn't worth it. Scott was still of the belief that everything was fine in his own little world.

She nodded and stood with Scott. "Thank you for the warning. I'm sure we'll be fine."

As the three members of the McCall Pack were walking out the front doors of the station, the wolves overheard Dr. Deaton murmur, "He doesn't look anything like the Stiles that left Beacon Hills in your Junior year." 

When they had driven away, Jackson, Ethan, Noah, and Chris entered the conference room. Jackson asked, "Well?"

Stiles and Derek both shook their heads in disbelief, as Connor confirmed, "They are definitely in their own little world. They think the hunt is after our pack."

Satomi sighed. "We need to get going. I want to get the text groups set up. I also want to add Peter to ours if that's ok? It would be good to have someone outside the area tracking the texts."

Stiles pulled his phone out of his pocket, and after a quick check with the owners, he wrote down a couple of numbers. As he slid the paper across, he said, "These are the numbers for Cora and Kira. They are currently in Sacramento and are doing the tracking for our pack. Peter will be joining them in a few days. He's packing our house in DC for the move."

She passed the numbers to Maria, who would be setting up the chats. She hesitantly said, "I would also like to set up a chat with the alphas of the region. Just so we can all keep each other updated."

Connor said, "Leave me off the list, please. I am leaving Beacon Hills once we have the Wild Hunt situation sorted. I have a new assignment with an office near the Nemeton in France."

Chapter Text

June 17th, 2017

By the time they got back to the house, it was pretty late. Satomi had joined them, as Brett was still unconscious when she left for the meeting. Asora had organized a dinner for the group that was easily reheated, and they were thankful that they had no new missing persons in the pack.

The Skype call in the living room was still going strong, and when they walked in with their dinner, Peter asked, "Stiles, does the name Gwyn Ap Nudd mean anything to you?"

Stiles chewed his dinner thoughtfully before he said, "I think so. Isn't he the Welsh God of the Underworld?" He snapped his fingers when he remembered, "Ooh ohhh, and he's the leader of the Wild Hunt with the Cwn Annwn." He slumped. "Well shit, that's bad."

Derek asked, "Bad how?"

Stiles looked at him with an incredulous expression. "How do we stop a god, especially when he's one of the Old Gods?"

Derek shrugged, and he said almost jokingly, "Ask nicely?"

Peter laughed heartily over the Skype call. "It's the only thing that might work. And that's a big might. Everything I've read says he's a vengeful god. Very unforgiving."

Stiles nodded. "I'm sure I've read something recently on how to petition a god."

Asora frowned. "That doesn't often go well for the petitioner."

Stiles shrugged, "Honestly, what choice do we have? The Wild Hunt won't stop until either the threat is eliminated or the wraith-looking things have caught us all."

Asora added warningly, "Go into the petition with an open mind. I have heard of petitions to other gods, most involved a trade, or worse."

Stiles muttered as he walked to his office, "Maybe I should offer to trade Scott to Gwyn Ap Nudd. Do you think it would work?"

-x-

Derek and Stiles had found the research Stiles had done into petitioning a god. It was one of the many rabbit holes he dived into during his college years. They both agreed that the Nemeton would be the perfect place to do the petition, as it was safe and protected and out of the way of the town itself.

They were relaxing in bed later that night, and Stiles whispered, "What if the sacrifice he demands is one of us?"

Derek shook his head, and he growled, "Then we move the pack to DC and leave Beacon Hills to Scott, since it was probably him and his pack that's put us in this situation in the first place. I'm done paying for his fuckups."

Stiles agreed. "I still can't believe he just lets murderers go with a stern warning. What does he think that's going to do? Fuck, what would he have done with Deucalion?"

Derek snorted. "He would have taken credit for saving him from the Darach, then sent him off with a pat on the head most likely."

Stiles snorted, then sobered, "Damn, that's hilarious, but not entirely wrong. So we're agreed, if the petition requires a sacrifice from our pack, we'll go back to DC with the pack."

Derek nodded. "We just need to figure out how to rescue our pack from the hunt. You warded Adam, Ken, and Danny, but they now have Dominique and Melissa. They are both human and weren't warded before they were taken by the hunt."

Stiles shook his head. "One problem at a time. I should give you the fireproof ward, you know, just in case."

Derek nodded. "Yes please, can you do it now?"

Stiles sat up and asked, "Are you sure?"

Derek used his feet to move the blankets down to the bottom of the bed, and he manhandled the younger alpha, so he was straddling his hips. He held his hips as he stroked his thumbs in a caress over his hipbones and said, "I want mine in the same place you have yours, on my ribs. I don't want to run the risk of being separated again with no way to return to you."

Stiles leaned forward, and he held his hands over the blank spots on his mate's ribs. He concentrated his magic to do both tattoos at the same time. Thankfully, after doing those at the train station, he had a clear picture of the rune and the outer design in his mind to use as a reference. He decided he would offer the fireproof ward to the other pack members after breakfast in the morning.

When he was done with the tattoo, he leaned forward and bracketed Derek's head as he kissed him softly. 

Derek knocked out his elbows, so his mate landed hard on his chest before pulling him into a tight, life-affirming hug. He said, "I hated the separation. I couldn't even feel you through the mate bond. You were there, but it was muted. It was only just enough, so I knew you were alive, but that was all. It was worse than the pack bond we had when you were still human. The bond was just barely there; it was worse than that static feeling."

Stiles snugged in and asked, "When do you think we should do the petition?"

Derek shrugged. "We could wait for the new moon, that's just a week away, but we might not even have much of the pack left by then. So does it really matter? He's a god. He likely already knows what we're planning."

Stiles agreed with a snort. "He's not just a god, but one of the Ancient Ones. And that's what worries me."

Derek asked, "Why? He's the God of the Underworld, basically a personification of Death, right? So we already know he's going to be pretty unforgiving."

Stiles shook his head. "He's a Celtic god. They are all vicious; they were all made, or born, so to speak, for war."

Derek asked, "Isn't war exactly what this is, though? We are at the front lines, and it's our job to keep the war from spilling over to the mundanes. The Wild Hunt exists for when we can't." He sighed, "We have to accept that whatever is coming must bigger than anything we've dealt with in the past."

"I still can't believe Scott fucked things up bad enough that the gods have summoned the Wild Hunt to clean up the mess," Stiles said with a snort. "I mean, he's not even the territory alpha. It makes me wonder just what he's done or is in the process of doing that would be this fucking bad."

Derek said, "Ten bucks says Gerard is involved somehow."

Stiles shook his head with a laugh, "No way, that's a sucker's bet."

-x-

When they woke, they found they were missing Jordan, who had been taken while working the night shift, and Ethan, who had been taken while out on a patrol run through the preserve. 

Brett had woken, though, and he was sitting at the table with Satomi having breakfast. Satomi said, "The hunt took Maria last night. I sent Emily the list Peter had of the pack members he knew about, so she could confirm who was still at the pack house. The list, of course, included Maria, who you met yesterday. Emily was missing Maria, Hayden, and Dave. That list was likely not comprehensive since it only included the members Peter knew about, but it's enough to know we are missing people."

Brett said, "It also took a while for my sister to remember who I am, which kinda sucked."

Stiles agreed. "Yeah, it's like the magic struggles to undo itself when you escape. I had similar issues when I woke up with those who had been here in Beacon Hills when I was taken. Although it didn't take as long for those in the pack."

Noshiko said, "I wish we knew when all this started, it would be easier to tell if it's escalating if we could track if people are being taken faster or if it's affecting a wider area."

Stiles shrugged. "Either way, we need to do the petition sooner than I was planning. After breakfast, I am going to do the fire ward tattoo on anyone who wants it."

Satomi asked, "Is that the tattoo that Asora showed me yesterday? What does it do?"

Brett said, "It's how we got through the portal without dying, I think. The humans who tried to escape by riding on the back of the horses burned to ashes as soon as they hit the portal."

Stiles lifted his shirt and showed Satomi the two tattoos he had on his ribs. "I can either do them on your ribs, both sides, or on your chest and shoulder blade. I did Derek's last night."

Brett promised, "It doesn't hurt. They are magical tattoos, so there is no blowtorch required, not even any needles."

Stiles nodded. "I just need to either know or see the artwork if it's something new. We learned the hard way not to let me do them freehand."

Satomi nodded, "Sure, if it means I can get back to my pack if I am taken, then I am all in."

Brett said, "You just have to hide behind the pillars, and then when the riders come through, jump on the back of the horse and hold on tight. It burns like hell, but the tattoos seemed to stop the worst of it."

Derek muttered, "Uncle Peter is staying out of Beacon Hills until the riders are gone. He is not going through being burned alive a third time." He stood from the table. "I'm going to give the director an update. I'll let him know we are doing the petition to Gwyn Ap Nudd later tonight."

Stiles smiled. "I'll join you in the office once I am done with everyone's tattoos."

It took Stiles nearly an hour to get through the various pack members. Derek was still on the call with Sam when he joined him in the office. The director was not happy that they were doing the petition without backup, and he wasn't at all shy about expressing his displeasure.

He understood that involving more of the task force put them at risk, but he was worried that he would lose the entire pack to the hunt. He didn't want the only memory of them, being as a footnote in various files in the file room when the Wild Hunt was finished.

Derek and Stiles headed out to the Nemeton at ten. They wanted a few hours to get set up for their petition, which they had decided to do at midnight. The ritual itself was nothing fancy. It was just a matter of burning specific herbs that opened up the area to the older magicks.

They leaned back against the tree as the herbs burned, and they both contemplated what the god could ask for to end the hunt.

Derek looked up when he smelled a change in the clearing. He saw the man sitting cross-legged across from them, and he nudged Stiles. It seemed odd to see a man in a formal three-piece suit sitting on the ground like he didn't have a care in the world. He looked distinguished, with dark hair, except for the gray at the temples and in his neatly trimmed beard. They could see shadows lurking in the trees, but they both knew better than to ask.

Stiles sat up and asked, "Gwyn Ap Nudd?"

The god nodded. "I am. I got bored with waiting for midnight and decided I would just stop in for that chat."

Stiles nodded slowly, and he decided in self-preservation to let Derek take the lead. While his ADHD was mostly gone, he still tended to babble when he was stressed.

Derek said, "Thank you. We wanted to know if there was any way to stop the hunt."

The god raised his eyebrows, and he said, "Straight to the point, I see. Normally I would say no, but I've been looking into the town since the hunt was triggered. Tell me about your Talos Task Force. Why did you choose to work for the government to police supernaturals?"

Derek said, "A few reasons, resources mostly. And it's not just for supernaturals. We police the rogue hunter elements as well. Our goal is to keep the supernatural a secret by taking out those who want war."

Gwyn Ap Nudd nodded. "So you jail them?"

Derek nodded. "The worst of them, yes. The creatures that are beyond saving end up in our Supermax prison in Colorado. We also have a rehab facility where near feral omegas are treated, and we find them new packs. Hunters that are captured have their memories of the supernatural removed; then we send them to a maximum security human prison."

The god frowned. "This works?"

Derek and Stiles both nodded, and Derek said, "It's taken us a while to build the teams up and get ourselves sorted so we can be effective, but it's working so far, or it was. We've only just moved our full pack back to Beacon Hills."

Gwyn Ap Nudd asked, "Why did you leave town? It seems a lot of the problems in Beacon Hills stem back to when the Hale Alpha left after the fire."

Derek nodded. "After the fire, my sister was the alpha. She basically ordered me to leave with her, even though she wasn't my legal guardian. I couldn't go against her orders until she died at my uncle's hands."

Stiles said, "I left in 2011 after a psychotic alpha attacked me. My dad sent me away when I came home covered in blood. Uncle Clive recruited the pack into the Talos Task Force, and we spent the last six years getting the training we needed to take care of an area with an active Nemeton."

Derek agreed. "It was training we all needed. My mother only trained my sister on how to be an alpha, so I needed the help."

Gwyn Ap Nudd nodded. "So you're officially taking back the territory? As you've already surmised, the resident alpha, Alpha McCall, is why the hunt has been called."

Stiles snarled, "He's not the resident alpha. We left Alpha Connor James in place as our proxy alpha. He took care of things for us, while we were away doing what we could to be the alphas this territory needed. He did what he could, but Scott got in the way a lot, and I suspect his pet druid did whatever he could to disrupt the wards we placed in town."

"I can't comment on that." The god rolled his eyes, and he asked, "Are you aware they nearly triggered the hunt around five years ago? The phase-shifting doctors, they were trying to resurrect La Bête du Gévaudan. If your team hadn't had shut them down, the town would have vanished way back then."

Stiles muttered, "So what the hell is Scotty planning now? I mean, what could be worse than resurrecting a 200-year-old werewolf?"

Gwyn Ap Nudd leaned back against a tree and said, "A war. Before your task force came in and shut down the doctors, there were a few attacks on humans in Beacon Hills and Oakdale. One of those that was attacked has become a fanatical hunter. She's on par with Gerard Argent, the man who seems to be financing her efforts. She's been traveling around the world looking for humans who have been involved in supernatural attacks, drawing them into her army, and spreading misinformation. They are planning to bring the army to Beacon Hills to shut down what she perceives as the origin of all creatures."

Derek raised his eyebrows. "So she's a few crayons short of a whole box then?"

The god smirked and nodded. "Essentially. She's being provoked by Gerard Argent, who we all know is rabid about human superiority."

Stiles asked, "So the hunt trying to wipe Beacon Hills off the map before they can get started?"

Gwyn Ap Nudd shook his head. "No, most of their hunters are already here. As you know, the hunt is what you call a nuclear option."

Derek said morosely, "So there is no stopping it?"

With a smirk, Gwyn Ap Nudd shook his head. "Oh, I wouldn't say that. I can stop it, but there will be conditions, strict conditions that will need to be followed." He held his hand out, and a piece of paper appeared. "It all depends on how you plan to deal with Tamora Munroe's little army, especially those who have triggered the near exposure of the supernatural world."

Derek shrugged, and he said, "We'd treat them like any other rogue we deal with. We would jail the creatures in the supermax prison. The human's memories of the supernatural would be stripped from them, and they would go to a standard human jail. The only exception would be Gerard; he's got a cell waiting in the supermax just for him. We can't trust that the bite hasn't changed him somehow."

"That sounds like something we can agree on," the god said. 

He held up the sheet of paper, and he said, "The names on this list require judgment by the Old Gods."

Stiles nodded. "They won't survive either way?"

Gwyn Ap Nudd shook his head., "Probably not. They are a clear and present danger to the supernatural world." He passed over the sheet to the two alphas. "Here's my offer. I will give you three months to clean up the mess. I will return all those in limbo within 24 hours. However, I will be leaving a small pack of my Cwn Annwn hounds who will bring those on the list to us for judgment."

He whistled loudly, and they watched as eight white, wolf-sized dogs with red-tipped ears and tails came out of the trees to sit calmly beside the god.

Stiles squealed, "Cwn Annwn puppies! They are so cute!"

The god looked at him like he was crazy. "They are vicious and bloodthirsty hounds of hell. They aren't cute."

Derek chuckled. "Stiles has a warped perception of cute." He looked down at the list of names. He recognized most of them, and he knew not everyone would be happy with it. "Is the list negotiable at all? The parents of two of them are members of our pack."

Gwyn Ap Nudd shook his head. "No, not at all. That list consists of the biggest risks to the secrecy of the supernatural world. By either their actions or inactions, each of them is a threat to the secrecy of the supernatural to the world. The false alpha is guilty of both. He first came to our attention when he worked with a hunter and forced you to give that hunter the bite against your will. His actions are abhorrent, and his inactions have led to attacks on humans." He could see the dismay on their faces. "Look, it's not a death sentence, yet. We will judge them fairly on their actions and inactions. You'll be notified of the results once it's all settled."

Derek sighed, and he passed the list to Stiles. He was busy trying to get one of the Cwn Annwn hounds to come over for a cuddle. Stiles read through the list and said, "I wish I could say I was surprised, but I'm not, and I can completely understand. Well, except for Theo Raeken. Who is he?"

Derek explained, "He's one of Scott's betas. He was one of the chimeras created by the doctors."

The alphas both looked up when they heard an undignified snort from the welsh god. "He was the one who kidnapped the kids who were later experimented on. Most of them were orphans, but he still kidnapped them and helped the doctors with their experiments. He wants to be an alpha."

Derek asked, "So how do we care for the Cwn Annwn while we have them? How will they take those from the list?"

Gwyn Ap Nudd shrugged. "Just care for them like any other dog. They are pack animals, and they will respect pack hierarchy. When I am not around, they will obey you both as the pack alphas or whoever you assign them to guard. They are partial to raw meat, especially deer, and they'll love to run with the pack. They will work like my riders. When they take someone, they will vanish from the world, and their target will be brought to us for final judgment. The only people who will remember them are the Hale Pack. In the case of Scott McCall and Allison Argent, their betas will also remember them."

Stiles commented, "There are more puppies than there are people on the list."

"You're an observant little shit, aren't you." The god said with a chuckle. "Consider the two that remain as a gift. They will be helpful in your duties with the task force. I may stop in from time to time to check on them, but otherwise, they will remain with the pack."

He decided against telling them about their skill in disappearing. Like the shadow travel of the hellhound, his Cwn Annwn had the ability to go completely invisible. This included hiding their scent and sounds from detection.

Derek smirked. "I guess we need to find a new vet for the town."

Stiles said, "I heard Gretchen was looking for a change. She would be able to give Danny more training in how to do the emissary stuff now that we are home, and she's a qualified vet."

Derek laughed, "You can debate that one with your uncle; she's one of his druids."

Gwyn Ap Nudd asked, "So we're in agreement? You'll clean up their mess in three months, and you'll lead the Cwn Annwn to the six on the list?"

Derek nodded. "It'll be hard to explain this to the bosses, but we both agree with the level of risk they pose. I think both Sam and Clive will agree as well."

Stiles nodded. "I'm already sure that Gerard's actions are the cause of at least two of the previous hunts. I recognized the names on the boards in the train station."

Gwyn Ap Nudd demanded, "How?"

Stiles explained, "The FBI file rooms have various wards, including one that prevents magical tampering. Any files contained in the rooms seem to have been unaffected by the magic that removes the existence of the towns once the hunt is complete. During one of my research binges, I remember reading the reports on Pripyat, Canaan, Garnet, and Trenton. I know that the events that preceded Canaan and Trenton being wiped off the map were engineered by Gerard and his merry band of murderous thugs. I would need to get access to the file rooms in DC to confirm my theory that he's behind the other two I remember reading."

The god nodded. "He's managed to skip town before the hunt could find him each time. He is the top priority. I would recommend leaving the false alpha, his mate, and his emissary until after you have captured Gerard Argent."

The alphas both agreed, and Stiles confirmed, "We'll do our best. I hope you don't expect him in perfect condition, though. I do owe him for the treatment I received in his basement."

Gwyn Ap Nudd grinned malevolently, "As long as we get him, we don't care what condition he's in."

Chapter Text

June 19th, 2017

Stiles and Derek ran back to the house in their full-shift form, with the pack of Cwn Annwn dogs chasing them. 

The pack came out to join them and to check out the recent additions to the pack. The alphas both transformed when they approached the pack, and everyone leaned down to pat the various hounds that had gathered around them. 

Stiles explained, "They have given us three months to fix the mess. However, there are six who have been summoned for judgment by the Old Gods. They are deemed to be a high risk of obliterating the secrecy."

He looked sorrowfully at the two parents. "Scott and Allison are both on the list. I'm sorry, but Gwyn Ap Nudd said they were non-negotiable."

Melissa had a few tears already falling, but she nodded in acceptance of the inevitable. Chris said, "Honestly, I'm surprised he didn't demand they be sacrificed now."

Derek shook his head. "They want Gerard. He's the cause of several of the most recent hunts. The Old Gods, well, they are done with his shit. We all agreed that if we hand over the others too fast, Gerard will skip town again to avoid the hunt."

Stiles said, "He said those that were taken by the hunt from Beacon County will be returned over the next 24 hours. It's unlikely the mundane population will remember anything being different, but we are hopeful the pack will remember."

Derek suggested, "We'll do some extra patrols over the next few days, just to be sure there aren't any issues."

-x-

Adam was the last to return to the pack. He said, "Gwyn Ap Nudd, and can I just say that meeting him was utterly terrifying, but he said that those with pack bonds will remember the hunt, but the mundane population won't remember a thing. For them, the last week will have seemed absolutely normal."

Derek asked, "What about Scott and his pack?"

Adam shrugged. "I'm not sure, and I didn't want to ask any questions, ya know."

Stiles chuckled. "He didn't seem that scary. But then we saw him relaxing on the ground in a three-piece suit as we chatted about the hunt."

Adam nodded. "I can see that. He is a nature god, after all. But yeah, I'm not sure about Scott's pack or any of the other packs affected. I noticed several wolves in the station that were gathered together."

Derek said, "Well, hopefully, Scott doesn't find out. The last thing we need is Gerard getting wind of it and running again."

Jackson asked, "Do we know if he's actually in town?"
 
Connor and Jordan both shook their heads, and Jordan confirmed, "We haven't seen him at all, but there has been an influx of new residents. We were going to bring it up once the Wild Hunt business was sorted."

"So Gerard's army is in town." Derek said with resignation, "We should probably head to the office. We can update Sam and start looking into the new people in town, see if we can confirm links to Gerard or this Monroe person."

Stiles asked, "What about the team in Sacramento? When are they going to arrive in town?"

Derek checked his phone, and he answered, "They'll be here in a few hours. They are just packing up and checking out of the hotel. They are going to drop their bags off here, before meeting us at the office to get the tech side of the office setup. Peter is still a few days away. He has the library all packed up and ready for the specialized shipping container to arrive. He's booked on a chartered cargo flight in a few days."

-x-

Danny headed straight to his floor in the new building. They had a dedicated server room that took up the entire third floor. The equipment had arrived, but it all needed to be set up by his team. The servers would be dedicated to hunting down videos of supernatural exposure. They had a system set up so they would know where the task force was needed. The system would then set up the videos to be altered, so they would seem fake. The alterations were automated. However, they needed the human sign-off before being finalized.

The rest of the pack entered the second floor. Derek and Stiles headed to the office they shared as team leads. They wanted to get a head start on their investigation into Tamora Monroe. Jackson, Adam, and the twins got set up in their new bullpen, as they began to investigate the list of new residents they had received from Jordan. The two Cwn Annwn hounds they had brought with them followed Derek and Stiles into their office, and they lay down on the floor in subtle guard positions.

In Stiles' opinion, the best part of the second floor was the large blank wall that was set up purely to be used as a crime wall for their more extensive cases.

The ground floor would be set up later, once their admin staff had moved in. It would have the appearance of an average office. It would function as a decoy for when they had visitors.

Derek said, "Tamora Monroe just started at the high school as a guidance counselor. I wonder if Ken knows her."

Stiles shook his head. "Not sure I want to expose Ken to her, to be honest. She barely even passes a background check. It's like the school just doesn't care anymore."

Derek snorted. "Did they ever? They hired Gerard as a principal. Even Harris kept his job, no matter how many complaints were made about his favoritism and harassment."

Stiles nodded. "Good point. So I've started a deeper background check into Tamora Monroe, and I sent a request to Danny to pull her financials. I'm hoping she will lead us to Gerard. How did Sam take the news about our meeting with Gwyn Ap Nudd?"

Derek shrugged. "He's disappointed he won't be able to put Gerard in the cell beside Kate's, but he understands the reasoning. We just need to convince the old man to come to town."

Stiles snarked, "If he's not already here."

Jackson peeked in the doorway. "So every single person on that list Jordan gave us is connected with Monroe. She either paid for their tickets to town, or she has been in contact with them since they arrived. None of them appear to be affiliated with any known hunting family. We've got the crime wall started already. Aiden is following some leads the searches gave us. He wants to see if he can figure out any other members of her army who may not have arrived in town yet. Adam is concentrating on locating Gerard. I'm working with Ethan." He glared at the chuckles from his two team leads. With a huff, he said, "We are building the crime wall, tracking the connections."

Stiles nodded. "Thanks, Jackson. We'll come out and help soon. I'm just waiting on a background check to run on Monroe, and I think Derek is looking into the other name on the list, Theo Raeken."

Derek nodded. "He's completely snowed Scott. His entire background has more holes than the plot of a bad movie."

The two hounds perked up at the thought of prey. Stiles leaned down to scratch the closest one behind the ears. He murmured, "We really should give you guys names."

 Derek said flatly, "No Stiles, they are not all ours to keep. If you name them, you will want to keep them."

Stiles laughed. "We are keeping them, two of them at least. Probably these two since they have stuck to us like glue since we got up this morning."

Derek agreed. "You're not wrong, although they could just be sticking with us knowing we'll get them close to their target."

Stiles shook his head. "No, I don't think so. They know we aren't taking them all straight away. Asora is taking care of the rest of the pack back at the house. He sent a few photos earlier. It looks like they are having fun."

Derek stood, and one of the hounds stood to follow him as he walked out the room. He stood in front of the wall where they had placed the photos of the six people from the list Gwyn Ap Nudd had given them.

Stiles followed him and asked, "What are you thinking, Sourwolf?"

Derek tapped the photo of Theo and suggested, "What if we take him first. He doesn't seem to be essential to anything, he's more likely to get in the way, and he's also expected to stir up the hunters."

Adam agreed. "I asked Jordan about Theo. He said he wormed his way into Scott's pack, using a lot of half truths and evasion. He said that to him, it looked like the chimera was trying to gain Scott's trust, like he wants to become his second in command."

Stiles agreed. "Isaac is his second, according to Connor. He doesn't say much in the few meetings he's attended, apparently. He just rolls over for whatever Scott wants."

Derek nodded sadly. "Maybe he's still pining for Scott. He's not going to take his disappearance well."

Stiles shrugged. "He's probably lucky he's not on the list, in all honesty. I think that the fact that Scott only listens to Dr. Deaton, probably worked in Isaac's favor. Scott was never good at taking advice from others."

Adam asked, "Do we know why Allison is on the list?"

Derek shook his head. "I would say it's due to her contact with Gerard. She claimed it's just occasional phone calls, but what if it's not? What if she's giving him information? What if she's the reason he's targeting Beacon Hills?"

Stiles asked, "You think she lied about their calls when she was interviewed last year? That she was able to get around the werewolf lie detector?"

Derek shook his head. "Maybe not then, but since then, after Kate was arrested. She always was close to her aunt; she could be reacting to her arrest by siding with her grandfather." He shrugged. "Who knows?"

Stiles said, "So we take Theo. Get him out of the way first, then we subtly push Allison into contacting her grandfather to let him know that the Hale Pack has returned to town. That will hopefully draw him and the rest of their hunters in. The hard part will be reducing collateral damage."

Jackson asked, "So what do we know about this Theo guy? I recall Asora commented that he was unemployed last year."

Derek replied, "According to the background check I ran and the information from Asora, he's still unemployed. He's done a few odd jobs, but nothing serious or long-term. As far as we can tell, he's been couch surfing, so we are unsure where he is currently living."

Adam offered, "When Dalton arrives, we can grab one of the hounds and scout out his known hangouts. We can try to capture him before Scott and his pack really start paying attention to the activities of our pack."

Jackson said, "What if we use Munroe to lure Gerard in. We could let her overhear us talking to Ken at the school about returning to take back the territory. If we head to the school, we can scope her out. If they question us about why we are at the school, we can say we are helping Ken pack up his classroom."
 
Derek nodded. "Text Ken and make sure he's actually at the school. Loop him in on the plan."

Jackson fired off a quick salute as he and Ethan left the room. 

-x-

They were putting details up on the crime wall, photos of the various mundanes who had been brought to town by Monroe, and any details they could find on each person.

Stiles asked, "Do you think the confirmation of us returning to town would be enough to draw in Gerard?"

Derek shrugged. "Maybe. We could make it more enticing by mentioning that it was us that got Kate arrested."

Stiles scowled. "And put you in his crosshairs? No thanks."

Derek chuckled. "We have the advantage. The pack is behind us. We have had all the training. So, he won't win. We just need to draw him out of the hole he's been hiding in."

Stiles smirked. "So confident. Are we sure he doesn't have any tricks up his sleeves? We know from his daughter that he was trying to get his hands on yellow wolfsbane and other poisons that are fatal to wolves. We know he wants those to get rid of the one pack that's evaded him for so long."

Derek gestured to the two hounds that were not far away. "We have the Cwn Annwn who can guard us. You know that they can turn invisible, right?"

Stiles asked, "What?"

Derek nodded. "I caught one of them following me last night when I was out for my run. I couldn't hear its footsteps or see it, but I could hear the twigs and leaves cracking as it was running beside me."

Stiles pondered. "So they will protect you, Peter, Jackson, and Cora?"

Derek nodded. "I think so. I want you guarded as well. After the basement, Gerard will see you as the one that got away."

"I think that's Jackson," Stiles countered. "After all, Gerard controlled him as the kanima, at least until Lydia was able to free him."

Derek shrugged. "Maybe, but that's beside the point. I want you protected, so you'll have a hound with you at all times."

Stiles agreed. "Sure, you know I love having the puppies around."

Derek shook his head as he laughed. "They aren't puppies, Stiles. They are vicious hounds of hell."

Stiles was already rolling around on the floor, roughhousing in his full-shift with one of the hounds. One that had already become quite attached to the younger alpha.

Derek muttered under his breath, "As long as you don't call it Fluffy."

Stiles shifted back, panting a bit, and he said, "Nope, I'm more likely to call it Sirius, or maybe Padfoot. Even though it's the wrong color. He's still a supernatural canine, like Sirius' animagus form."

Derek nodded. "I can live with that. Just let me know, and we'll get him a collar with a tag. While you were horsing around, I sent the text to Jackson to let him know the change to the plan."

Stiles grinned, "Awesome, oh to be a fly on the wall to watch her reactions. Wait, does the school still have the cameras set up?"

Derek nodded. "Let's go talk to Danny, see if we can get into the system."

-x-

Jackson received the text from Derek as he pulled into the high school. They had to wait until Ken had arrived before they could use the excuse of helping him.

He sent a quick text to Ken to let him know they had arrived, and Ken confirmed that Monroe was roaming the corridors.  

They strolled through the halls, hoping to bump into their prey. Ethan asked, "Is it weird being back?"

Jackson nodded. "Yeah."

The woman in question walked past. Her face showed disinterest, but to the two wolves, her scent and heartbeat radiated curiosity. Jackson turned to her and said, "Excuse me." When she turned and gave him a once over, he hid a smirk, and he said with an air of faux nervousness, "Uh, hi. We're looking for Ken Yukimura. We offered to help him sort out his classroom."

She smiled at them and said, "I'd be happy to help you find him. Tell me your name again?"

Jackson thought to himself. ‘Hook, line, and sinker.’ He replied, "Jackson."

She tilted her head, and she asked, "Jackson Whittemore?"

With a smirk on his face, Jackson said, "… Yeah. You've heard of me?"

Ken came jogging down the hallway just as someone joined Monroe with something hidden in their hand. He called out, "There you are. Come on, I have a heap of boxes to carry out to the car. I could use your strong, young arms."

Jackson and Ethan walked toward him, and just as they were about to turn the corner, Jackson called out, "Thanks for your help."

She smiled and waved, but the betas both knew she was angry at the interruption. As soon as they were out of sight, Jackson whispered, "What do you think she was planning?"

Ethan offered, "I could smell electricity on the guy that joined her, so maybe tasers? Maybe they planned to capture us both for information."

Jackson smirked. "Danny will let us know when someone is listening outside the room, so we'll know when to start talking about Derek."

Ethan asked, "So they think that hearing that Derek is back will draw the old man in?"

Jackson nodded. "You haven't met the guy, have you? It will be like taking candy from a baby. He has a hard-on for killing the Hales; we just don't know why. He's been targeting this territory since 2003."

Ken suggested, "We suspect it's the Nemeton, which isn't logical since he can't access it, and he hasn't been able to since we arrived in town."

Jackson asked, "Does he know that? I guess it depends on what he's been told by Scott and Allison." He looked down when his phone beeped, and he showed it to Ken, who grinned.

He knew what they needed to entice the fanatical hunter, so he asked, "So, you're all back here permanently now?"

Jackson grinned. "Yep, we all finally finished our degrees, so Alpha Hale said it was time to go home. I think he just wants to marry his mate in their hometown. I know Peter and Cora are happy to be back home."

Ken said, "I bet they are. It's been rough for them since the fire. I know when I taught Derek at NYU after the fire, he was a mess."

Ethan explained, "He's doing so much better now. He's a great alpha, far better than the last one we had."

Ken asked, "Oh, who was that?"

"Deucalion," Jackson said with a sneer. "He was a megalomaniac. Things around here got so much better after he was arrested."

Ken asked, "So you're not from Beacon Hills, Ethan?"

Ethan shook his head, "No, myself and my brother were from a town about four hours drive south of here. But we like what we've seen of Beacon Hills so far."

-x-

Danny was grinning back in his control center as he watched Monroe and the man they had identified as Trent Morgan. They were outside the classroom, clearly listening in to the private conversation.

Cora snarked, "Look at her. She has zero chill. You can read her like a book. Look at the glee on her face as she is texting. Dollars to donuts she's texting the old man to let him know Derek is back in town."

Kira smiled from her desk. "Now we just need the old man to arrive so the hounds can take him."

Chapter Text

June 22nd, 2017

When Peter arrived in town, they had their first full pack meeting. It would be an excellent way to catch up with where they were at, but they also explained the Cwn Annwn hounds and their plans for capturing everyone.

They were now down to seven hounds. Adam and Dalton were able to take down Theo without even really trying.

Adam was still laughing as he explained, "We bumped into him as he was storming out of one of the coffee shops in town. I hid down the alley beside the shop, and one of the hounds was waiting, invisible, at the entrance of the alley for him to pass. I flashed my beta eyes at him when I saw him, and I growled a little, just to tempt him further. As soon as he entered the alley to confront me, the hound grabbed hold of his arm, and 'poof,' they were gone."

Stiles checked the list the god had given them, and he found it had crossed Theo Raeken off the list. He held up the list, and he said, "Oh hey, it looks like the list is self-updating."

Derek grabbed the list when Stiles passed it over. "Good to know. So we just need Gerard to arrive in town. We can grab him, then work on the other four."

Stiles stated, "Deaton should be near the top of our list. He's still trying to get near the Nemeton. The dumb bastard tried again last night. He waited until we were busy eating dinner. He didn't get through the wards, and from what they reported, he went away in a decent amount of pain again. The dickhead just doesn't learn."

Connor laughed. "He doesn't, no. We also need to do the ritual to remove me from the wards. My transfer has been processed, and I'll be leaving as soon as I have worked out my notice at the station."

Melissa asked, "You can't stay?"

Connor smiled sadly as he said, "No, there is a pack near the Nemeton in France that needs help. Help that I am able to offer, thanks mostly to the Hale Pack. My wolf is an odd one because it is more flexible than other alpha wolves; I don't need a pack to keep my wolf happy."

Melissa asked, "You'll stay in touch, though, right?"

Connor agreed readily. "Of course, and I'll visit as often as I can."

Stiles offered, "How about we head to the Nemeton tomorrow night? We can get the wards updated for the territory. I would like to add Peter, Jackson, and Asora to the notifications. Especially with Deaton being so persistent."

Peter muttered, "Why not just ask one of the Cwn Annwn to patrol near the Nemeton. Then the next time he tries, they can take him."

Derek nodded. "Agreed. It would be nice to get a night of uninterrupted sleep."

Noah asked, "Am I going to need to come up with a cover story for their disappearances?"

Stiles shrugged. "Maybe. We aren't sure, but we'll be able to help you with that. It's more the FBI's deal, anyway. I'm pretty sure Gwyn Ap Nudd said the hounds work the same way as the wraiths, that the magic works in the same way as the Hunt. We probably won't know until Scott reports Theo missing, if he even notices."

By the end of the meeting, they decided that the Cwn Annwn would stick to Derek, Peter, Cora, Jackson, and Stiles. They were deemed the most at risk of being attacked by Gerard and his army. 

-x-

A few days later, Derek and Stiles were working in their office in town. Derek was working on tracing Monroe's steps through Europe. At the same time, Stiles looked into the reports of random attacks in and around Beacon Hills. So far, no one had died, but a few people had been hospitalized with gunshot wounds that were not healing. Noah had called earlier to report that someone had shot at the McCall house with an automatic rifle of some sort. He suspected the hunters had been looking for Melissa, so they could use her for leverage.

 Derek asked suddenly, "Did you put intent wards on the station?"

Stiles had felt the same ward notification, so he nodded slowly as he started to pale, "Sort of. They aren't the normal intent wards. I had to set them to where there has to be an immediate danger to everyone at the station before they warn us."

Derek stared at him, wide-eyed. "Just how much danger?"

Stiles stood. "Something like a bomb threat would do it. We'll have to go investigate, call Asora, tell him to bring the hounds. I'll go and get us ready."

He left the office and sprinted up to the third floor. "Danny, what's going on at the station? The intent wards just went off."

Danny and Cora started typing furiously as Kira said, "I'll go down and help Derek get our gear ready."

"Thanks, Kira," Stiles acknowledged absently. 

He had started to watch the camera feeds that Danny was able to pull up. He could see a gathering of at least fifteen armed hunters outside the sheriff's station and Gerard standing smug as you please in the middle of the group. "Shit. Are we sure that's Gerard? What's he planning?"

Danny shook his head. "Yeah, facial recognition confirmed it this time. I'm not sure what they're planning, but if it's setting off the wards, it can't be good. I'll stay here to hijack the camera feeds and set them up to record a safe loop on their systems. I'll capture the footage on our own servers for evidence, just in case."

Stiles nodded. "Thanks, Danny. Cora, are you coming with us?"

Cora nodded, and she stood with grim determination. She snapped her fingers, and the Cwn Annwn that had been tailing her followed along happily.

As they got to the stairwell, Danny called out, "Stiles! Scott and Allison just turned up with Monroe." 

Stiles rolled his eyes. "So it's like that." 

He walked into their locker room as the team was gearing up. He reported, "Gerard is outside the sheriff's station with approximately fifteen hunters, Scott, Allison, and Monroe. Asora is on his way with the hounds that were chilling at home."

Derek corrected, "He said one is patrolling the Nemeton, and he won't return when called."

Stiles nodded. "That's fine. Six should be enough with all of us, plus Dad, Chris, Jordan, and Connor, who are all at the station."

Peter shook his head. "Jordan is waiting for us downstairs." He flushed slightly. "We were having lunch together when you sent out the alert. He hasn't heard from anyone at the station, so he's not sure if they're aware of what's going on."

Stiles' eyes widened. "Shit, I didn't think of that. None of those on the ward notifications work for Dad. I'll definitely have to fix that."

Peter asked, "What's the plan?"

Derek pulled a floor plan of the station from a filing cabinet in their conference room, which doubled as a war room. Stiles placed post-it flags to indicate the locations of Gerard's group according to the camera footage. 

Jackson looked at the floor plans before he pulled out a street map that showed the town center. He suggested, "We could go through the garage to get to the bullpen. We know the station has the wards you added to prevent eavesdropping by magical means, so we should be good to plan our defense with your dad and his deputies. Stiles, you can do that thing that amplifies your voice. You could use that to find out what he wants from the safety of the station."

Stiles agreed, "I'll do the spell on Derek. That would throw the old man off his game a bit more."

Derek grinned wolfishly. "It's the last thing he would want. I'm surprised they are at the sheriff's station, though. I can't think of what they have to gain from it."

Dalton scoffed. "He probably thinks the station has fewer wards, so it would do more damage to the town. Or maybe he thinks he can take over as sheriff."

Stiles said, "Or he's hoping to take someone for leverage? We still don't know why they shot the McCall house up last night."

Jackson agreed. "If he's getting his information from McCall, then he probably believes he can force a takeover due to bad unsolved stats. It's likely he has tried to get at least one of the deputies on his payroll. It would make it easier for them to force the issue from the inside."

Ethan said, "With what we've found about Monroe, she's been spreading the secret far and wide, but with no actual proof. It's likely she's swayed a few that were not officially in the know, but they have seen enough of the Beacon Hills weirdness to believe her without actual proof."

Adam suggested, "We should use the escape tunnel to get to the station. He probably has the perimeter under observation. Peter, why don't you grab Jordan and meet us in the basement so we can get moving."

Peter jogged down the stairs and pulled Jordan into the stairwell silently before making his way down to the basement. He let Jordan know their plan before they met up with the rest of the unit.

They had set the building up with an escape tunnel, similar to what they had set up under the new house. It let them out near the sheriff's station garage entrance.

Jordan offered, "Let me go first. You guys can put your hearing into practice to see if anyone sees me. Just be on guard. The cameras won't see any snipers, so keep your ears peeled."

Derek nodded. "Sounds good. Asora and Noshiko are with the hounds; they are waiting behind the group of hunters. Honestly, they are holding the hounds back. They are pretty keen to bite their targets."

Jordan left the tunnel through the door beside the bakery. It was unobtrusive and just looked like the bakery had an extra entry for deliveries. The wolves all stretched their hearing and couldn't hear anyone paying extra attention to the hellhound. Stiles whispered, "Are they seriously focusing their attention on the front of the building?"

Derek murmured back, "Stop trying to apply logic to hunters. You know damn well the only ones who are capable of logic and rational thinking, are the ones who quit."

They slowly left the tunnel as a group, and they made their way into the station's garage, where Jordan was holding the door open.

-x-

Meanwhile, at the Nemeton, Gwyn Ap Nudd was sitting against the stump, patting the Cwn Annwn who had refused to leave with the other hounds. He could sense his prey was close, and he didn't want to miss the opportunity to grab his target. 

The Old God had altered the wards slightly. He wanted to let the darach get closer to the Nemeton without giving him access to the sacred tree.

Alan Deaton was using the gathering in the town center as a distraction. He wanted to try a new ritual to try and get access to the sacred tree. In his opinion, as Talia Hale's emissary until her untimely death and as the emissary to the True Alpha of Beacon Hills, he was the only person with the right to access the Nemeton. He felt that the upstart pack had no right to restrict access to the ancient node.

He found the wards missing as he approached, and with a confident grin, the druid walked in what they could only call a strut toward the tree. He stopped as he saw a man sitting at the base of the tree, petting a large white wolf.

He demanded, "Who are you?"

Gwyn Ap Nudd stood fluidly, and he said, "Are you that far gone in your dark rituals? Do you no longer recognize one of the Old Gods, Druid Deaton?" He tilted his head and examined the druid. "Or perhaps that should be Darach Deaton."

Deaton glared at the man. "How dare you!"

The god raised an eyebrow in challenge and said, "Did you not do a dark ritual on a stubborn deluded beta to make him an alpha, then spin lie after lie, so he believes he's some sort of werewolf messiah?"

Deaton stood firm as he defended his actions. "He rose to Alpha by his own will."

Gwyn Ap Nudd rolled his eyes, and he said dryly, "Keep telling yourself that. Are you aware that when you die, the ritual will end?"

Deaton shrugged. "So?"

Shadows started to form into figures that stepped out from the trees surrounding the clearing. They intoned together, "We the Old Gods have passed judgment on you, Alan Deaton. We have found you guilty of subverting the balance for your own gain. You have practiced dark and corrupted magic, all in the name of a wish to control the Nemeton. They are not supposed to be controlled. They are a sacred grove for those of your kind. Furthermore, we have decreed that you are a grave threat to the secrecy of the supernatural world. Our judgment is final."

Deaton staggered back, and he attempted to run, but he found the way blocked by several more large hounds. The man in front of him said, "We have notified the Druid Council, the Hunter's Council, and the various supernatural task forces around the world of our ruling."

Deaton demanded, "Who do you think you are to pass such judgments."

Gwyn Ap Nudd gestured behind him. "We are the Gods of Old. I am Gwyn Ap Nudd, the God of the Underworld and the leader of the Wild Hunt." He gestured to the red-haired man crouched down in front of the hound beside him and introduced, "This is Arawn, King of Annwn. Around the clearing, you will see my wife, Ceridwen, as well as Gwydion, Arianrhod, Rhiannon, and several others who wish to remain nameless."

As Deaton tried to stammer a retort, the god overheard Arawn asking, "Do you want to stay, pup?" 

The hound barked once in ascent, before he weaved his way through the gods standing by the Nemeton to wait at the edge of the clearing closest to the Hale House.

"Darach Deaton," Gwyn Ap Nudd intoned as he called on two of his Ghost Riders, who took hold of Deaton's arm. "Your sentence is death. You will spend an eternity in Purgatory, never resting, always running."

The god smiled as the riders vanished with a screaming Darach in their arms. He turned to the other gods and goddesses as they observed the druid being taken away. Once he was gone, most of them left quietly. 

Ceridwen put her hand on the fledgling tree and said, "So much has been done to harm the Nemeton here, my love. I believe it would have been better to let the hunt run its course."

Gwyn Ap Nudd shook his head. "No, I think the pack that has returned is exactly what we need. They are a powerful pack, yet they do not seek to abuse that power. They just want to help keep our world safe, and they want to protect those who we love so."

Arawn agreed, "My Cwn Annwn like them enough to want to stay. Never has an entire pack of my hounds wanted to stay in the waking world. I have been watching the pack closely, and I am pleased with what I have seen. They have involved the hounds in their planning, but they have also made sure their plans don't put my hounds at risk of harm. The alphas already consider them pack, even though they believe their stay was temporary." 

The god of Annwn snapped his fingers, and the hound that had previously taken Theo to the underworld returned to the clearing. His tail was wagging in happiness. He pets the hound as he murmured, "It shall be your choice. You and your pack may return to the Hale Pack after you bring us our prey. All I ask is for is occasional visits; please let us know how you're fairing."

He stood and gave the hound a scratch behind the ears before he sent him off to join his pack mate on the edge of the clearing.

Ceridwen sighed, "You are that sure, absolutely sure, that they will protect our Nemeton?"

Gwyn Ap Nudd cupped her face in his hands and said, "Reach out with your senses. I know you can feel their wards. They have done what they can to heal the damage done by the darach with his silver tongue. They added the wards to keep the Nemeton safe, as it has been slowly regrowing. Darach Deaton and his many lies and misdirections convinced the previous alpha of this territory to cut it down. The only reason he got close to the Nemeton tonight was that I left a Deaton sized hole in the wards specifically so we could pass judgment in privacy."

Ceridwen nodded, "The wards are strong. They feel different from anything I've felt before."

Gwyn Ap Nudd agreed, "They were originally set by a druid, but then they were strengthened and maintained by the alpha's mate, who is an alpha wolf and a spark."

She snapped her head up in shock. "Impossible!"

The god chuckled and shook his head. "No, just a one in a billion chance. A rogue alpha bit him against his will, and he killed the alpha seconds after the bite. He was able to survive as an alpha, with full access to his magic. He and his mate, with help from their pack, are exactly what our world needs to survive in the modern age."

Gwydion asked, "Tell me about this task force you mentioned."

"It's called the Talos Task Force. I believe it's a nod to the automaton created by Hephaestus to protect Europa from invaders. The various mundane law enforcement agencies run the task force," Gwyn Ap Nudd explained. "Their role is to keep the supernatural a secret from the mundane world, while making sure those who put the secrecy at risk are punished appropriately. They built a prison that has custom-made cells for supernatural creatures. They design each cell specifically for the creature within. Werewolves are in cells with mountain ash and wolfsbane embedded in the walls. Jaguars have foxglove and mountain ash. They even cater to kitsune. They have a specialist team who combat the modern world to keep our secrets, altering video so they can claim any shifts caught on camera to be faked footage."

Gwydion asked, "Will it work?"

Gwyn Ap Nudd shrugged. "I'd like to think so. They need time to prove themselves."

Ceridwen nodded. "Then they shall have it." She leaned against the Nemeton, giving it life, as it grew back to its previous height and strength. "A small gift to help them in their efforts."

The hounds waited until all of the gods had vanished from the clearing, before they ran toward the pack house. They liked the freedom that came with being pack hounds; they were determined to stay as long as the Hale Pack allowed.

Chapter Text

June 27th, 2017

The pack crept into the station slowly and silently. They'd overheard Gerard and Monroe talking about the deputies they had waiting inside to help their takeover. 

Derek shook his head at Stiles, who wanted to go in, guns blazing. He signed, 'Wait! We can flush them out if we stay hidden.'

Stiles grudgingly agreed, and the pack waited silently in the hall. The four Cwn Annwn dogs faded out of view and spread themselves around the deputies waiting in the bullpen at his quiet command.

Stiles sent a message to his father to let him know they were in the building. He let him know that they were waiting for Gerard to make his first move. 

Once he had heard his father's sigh of relief, the alpha put his hand on the wall, and with a push of his magic, he increased the power to the protection wards on the building. He hoped it would give some protection to those inside the building from the armed hunters standing threateningly outside.

He snapped to attention when he heard Gerard call out, "Sheriff Stilinski, please do come out. We're here to make a citizen's arrest."

Stiles could hear his dad snorting when he heard the ridiculous statement, and he shook his head as he chuckled along with him.

One of the bolder deputies stepped forward and said, "Sheriff, you need to get out there. He sounds serious."

Noah shook his head. "No, he's a delusional old man with a superiority complex and money to throw around at the easily corruptible. Are you one of those he has corrupted, Deputy Morris? Is there more to you trying to get me to go outside?"

Deputy Morris shook his head. But he knew his heartbeat was giving him away to the supernaturals in the building.

Noah smirked at the deputy. "Deputy Morris, have I ever introduced you to my son?" He turned to the corridor where he knew Stiles was waiting and called out, "Son, you can all come out now."

The pack filed out of the hallway and spread themselves out around the deputies, specifically hunting out those whose heartbeats were giving them away. 

Stiles and Derek took up flanking positions on either side of the Sheriff, and Stiles said, "Hi, I'm Senior Officer Stiles Paddington of MI5 at your service; on the other side of my dad is my counterpart from the FBI, Supervisory Special Agent Derek Hale."

They both saw the deputy pale, and they grinned when Peter purred, "Oh look, the deputy has heard of you."

One of the braver of the deputies called out, "MI5 has no jurisdiction in America."

Stiles smirked and said, "That would normally be the case. Except we are currently on permanent loan to the FBI."

Noah commented, "Oh, you should tell them about your current case. Especially since it looks like you are going to close it today."

Derek nodded. "Oh yes. After all, our targets have nicely presented themselves for capture."

Deputy Morris scoffed, "Capture, not arrest?"

Stiles whistled sharply, and four large white hounds appeared out of nowhere in front of the alphas. He explained, "These are the Cwn Annwn, otherwise known as hounds of hell. The Old Gods have summoned six from Beacon Hills to face judgment. They have loaned us eight of the Cwn Annwn hounds for a short period to assist in capturing their targets. Gerard and several of his co-conspirators have been declared as a danger to the supernatural world by Gwyn Ap Nudd. They will be judged appropriately by the Old Gods, and they are vengeful." 

Deputy Morris sneered, "And what gives them the right?"

Peter chuckled from somewhere beside the deputy, "Are you really that stupid, deputy. Gwyn Ap Nudd is the God of the Underworld. He leads the Wild Hunt, and when all other attempts to protect the supernatural world from exposure have failed, Gwyn Ap Nudd sends them in as a nuclear option."

Jackson from the other side continued, "When someone like Tamora Monroe uses the Argent purse to spread misinformation and straight-up lies, they send in the Wild Hunt in order to clean up the mess. My alphas had to bust their gut to negotiate a ceasefire. In return, the traitors are to be delivered to the Gods for their punishment."

"What about those of us that sided with Mr. Argent?" A deputy asked from the group standing by the doors. "What will happen to us?"

Derek explained, "You will have your memories of the supernatural taken, and they will try you in the mundane court system for whatever crimes you have committed." 

He looked around at the pack and requested, "Ethan, Aiden, Dalton, and Adam, can you please take the deputies that seem to be panicking over this news down to the cells. We'll transfer them to the FBI cells once we have the mess outside sorted."

Gerard called out, "Our patience grows thin, Sheriff."

Derek said, "I can hear several weapons being primed. Stiles, how about that loudspeaker spell?"

Stiles nodded. "Probably easier if I just channel the spell." He put his hand on Derek's throat. After he pushed a bit of magic, he nodded.

Derek called out, "Gerard Argent, this is SSA Derek Hale from the FBI Talos Task Force. We've been looking for you for quite some time. This is an order for you and your compatriots to lay down your arms and surrender quietly."

At Derek's look, Stiles removed the magic, and he asked, "What now? I mean, that was the equivalent of waving a red flag in front of a pissed-off bull."

Derek held up his hand, and he sent a text to Asora stating simply, 'Be ready to release the hounds.'

Stiles saw the text and chuckled, "That is great. So that will create a distraction. What if we go out the back and surround the hunters? Danny confirmed they are all still hanging around the front. The wards should prevent major damage to the station."

Chris gestured to Noah, and he said, "We have our rifles here. Do you want some cover from the roof?"

Derek nodded. "That would be good, disabling shots only. Nothing lethal."

Chris and Noah both nodded, and Tara said, "Valerie and I are going with you. We can help by being your spotters."

Deputy Valerie Clarke agreed. "We want to help. I just have one question, who are the targets for the hounds?"

Derek raised an eyebrow, and she said, "I know what the Cwn Annwn are, Alpha Hale. You mentioned earlier that they have targets. I would like to know who, partially out of curiosity, but mostly so if they vanish, I won't panic so much."

Stiles pulled the list out of his pocket, and he crowed when he saw another name was ticked off. "They dealt with Deaton. Two down, four to go." He looked up at the faces of the two deputies who seemed shocked, "Oh sorry, so the list was Gerard Argent, Tamora Munroe, Scott McCall, Allison Argent, Alan Deaton, and Theo Raeken. Theo was taken several days ago, something Scotty hasn't realized, and they took Deaton while we were breaking in here. Which means he probably tried to break into the wards protecting the Nemeton again."

Valerie looked at Chris in shock. "Your Allison?"

Chris nodded. "She's been in contact with her grandfather, likely giving him information on Beacon Hills and the Hale Pack. She seems to believe in the same bullshit my father does about human supremacy. I've tried so hard to get her to wake up and smell the truth, but she's just as stubborn as her fiancé."

"Shit, that sucks, Chris." she commiserated. She turned to Tara, and she said, "Let's go get in place to watch their backs."

Stiles looked around at the rest of the deputies and said, "I've put protections up to protect the building, but that's no guarantee. You're probably safer down near the cells or out on patrol. Dad said he's rerouted all the 911 calls to Beacon Valley, so they will be managing the radio tonight."

Deputy Midland volunteered, "If you can give us a diversion, I think we all agree we'd prefer to be out on patrol. We'll make sure that whatever the old man is up to doesn't spill out into the town. What about the four in the basement? Will they be guarded?"

Derek nodded. "Deputies James and Parrish will be guarding them."

Deputy Midland nodded as he headed for the garages. "Good. Boys, don't go easy on them." He looked back at the alphas before he went through the garage door, and he said, "I'll toot when we are ready, then we'll give you a minute before we leave."

Derek nodded. "That sounds great." He led the pack out through the garages, and they spread out on either side of the hunters. Their plan was to immobilize as many as possible in the chaos before dealing with Gerard. So they were all equipped with tranquilizer darts filled with Jackson's venom.

As soon as the alpha heard the beep of the horn from the garage, he sent the text to Asora, 'Release the hounds. Give one the order to capture Ms. Argent, ask the others to be a distraction.' And he sat back and waited for the chaos to begin.

He could feel Stiles trying to hold in the laughter beside him as the invisible hounds created absolute chaos. They ran through the gathering of hunters as they scouted out their prey. He watched as one of the hounds captured Allison, and she vanished into thin air.

A few of the gathered hunters made a break for it. They were able to quietly tranquilize a few as they went past. However, three of them got away, mainly because capturing them would have given away their position. Derek was confident that Danny would already have their ID from the station's external cameras.

Gerard and Scott both roared in fury as the remaining hunters raised their weapons, ready to fire on the next hound to cross their path. They were confused, as the hounds had managed to capture one of their own, despite the mountain ash surrounding them. Gerard yelled, "Cowards! At least come out and face us."

Stiles saw Scott in his beta shift. He nudged Derek and whispered, "Look at his eyes."

Scott's eyes were now a brilliant electric blue, something the former alpha was yet to realize. Stiles wondered how his wolf eyes could be blue when the alpha was so against killing people. He wondered if it was the ritual Deaton did to give him an alpha spark.

Stiles and Derek moved out into the open, just inside the wards that Stiles had set up earlier. They knew that their pack would protect them from any trigger-happy hunters.

Scott growled, "Where is Allison? What have you bastards done with her?"

Stiles laughed. "Always quick with the conclusions, Beta McCall. We haven't done anything with her. The Old Gods took her for judgment. You'll see her again, I'm sure."

Derek agreed, "You will." He addressed the hunters that had accompanied Gerard and Munroe. "This will be your only chance to prove you are redeemable in the eyes of the law. Drop your weapons and surrender."

Gerard snarled, "Don't you dare. The Old Gods have no authority over humans."

Derek asked, "Are you though? Human, I mean. You did force me to give you the bite. I can't see how you would count as human after that."

The hunter standing to Gerard's left lifted his gun with a snarl, and he fired a shot at Derek's head. Derek didn't even flinch as the ward sent the bullet back to the hunter.

Derek saw some of the hunters recoil, both at the news that Gerard had taken the bite, along with the way the wards had protected the two alphas, so he stabbed the metaphorical knife in further. "I mean, you went to a lot of effort to get the bite, forcing a Kanima to your will. You even kidnapped the human son of the sheriff, purely so you and your granddaughter could beat him bloody for six hours straight as a message to Beta McCall."

Stiles waved. "He means me, and it wasn't just a beating. They both used shock sticks repeatedly on me, to the point that if I hadn't been bitten, I would have needed a new heart before I turned 20 due to the stress the repeated electric current put on it."

Monroe shook her head. "Lies, it's all lies."

Stiles snarked, "Says the woman who has spent the last two years spreading lies and myths to get people to join your cult."

Derek roared, "This is your last chance! Drop your weapons and surrender!"

He smirked when he saw how green a few of the hunters were. However, a few of the more fanatical hunters lifted their rifles to shoot the pair of alphas. They figured multiple shots had more of a chance of breaking the ward. For a ward set by a druid, that would definitely be the case, but wards set by sparks are much stronger and more resilient. 

The hunters were shot by the pack with tranquilizer darts as soon as the guns came up. The rest surrendered and lay down away from the paralyzed hunters.

Gerard snarled, "What makes you think you can take me?"

Derek shrugged with an air of indifference. "I don't actually have to." He whistled sharply, and he smiled as Gerard stumbled back when he saw the five large white hounds standing in front of himself, Monroe and Scott. Derek explained, "These are the Cwn Annwn, the hounds from hell, not to be confused with a hellhound, which is an entirely different beasty. They'll be taking the three of you for your turn in judgment by the Old Gods. Please do pass on our thanks to Gwyn Ap Nudd for the loan of his hounds."

One of the hunters that was lying on the ground took aim at the alphas, but before he could fire, a shot rang out from the roof of the station, and the hunter dropped the gun as the bullet impacted their shoulder. 

Stiles called out, "We aren't messing around. Guys, start cuffing them and call in a bus to transport them to our cells."

Scott cried out, "You can't do this Stiles, you have no right!"

Derek ignored the beta, and he looked Gerard in the eyes as he asked, "Any last words? No?" 

Gerard snarled as Derek and Stiles both waved like children. As the hounds grabbed the arms of their prey, they watched dispassionately as Gerard, Monroe, and Scott vanished before their eyes.

Stiles muttered, "Well, that was anti-climactic. Let's get these guys processed so we can work on finding the few that managed to run away."

As the two alphas walked through the mountain ash barrier that was still standing, one of the hunters on the ground asked, "How?"

Stiles smirked, and with a wiggle of his fingers, he said, "Magic." 

Valerie and Tara came outside and offered to help with the arrests. Stiles asked, "Is Chris ok?"

Tara shook her head. "I know they've been estranged for years, but she was still his daughter. Your dad is comforting him as he comes to terms with it."

Stiles nodded sadly. "Melissa is going to need the same, if not more. She was still in contact with Scott. They both understood why it had to happen. It doesn't make it easier, though."

Tara gave him a quick hug before she said, "I'm going to help out with the arrests. Let me know if you need anything."

-x-

With the four deputies they had arrested earlier, they had a total of 19 people on the prison transport bus to be contained in the cells in the basement of the new FBI building.

Derek had updated Sam to let him know they would need help to interview the large number of mundanes they had arrested. He put in a request to see if he could get hold of Tony. He and Jethro were expert interrogators, so they could nail down what the hunters had done, how they had discovered the supernatural, and who else they knew that was part of Gerard and Monroe's army. 

They had a feeling that for everyone they had arrested, there would be another two in the wind who needed to be hunted down and at least interviewed.

Sam agreed to send Charlie and Bryant to assist in the interviews. But the deputy director was a bit worried that they would run out of room to hold all the hunters in Beacon Hills by the time they were done.

Sam suggested, "We have a few portable holding cells that will fit in the garage level of your building. They will need to be warded, but I'm sure Stiles can handle that easy enough."

Derek agreed. "He can. Clive is sending us a druid who can help him and our emissary out. We are hopeful she will arrive soon, as we have meetings coming up with the other packs in the area to explain the disappearance of Beta McCall. She will be able to help split the load with Danny for the diplomacy side of the meetings."

Sam asked, "What about his betas? I believe there are four betas that will need to find a new pack."

"Isaac has let me know they are ok," Derek confirmed. "He's been in touch a fair bit over the last few years. I plan to meet with them tomorrow, find out what they want to do. We are going to use the conference room on the first floor. To them, it will be a neutral place to meet."

Sam agreed. "Sounds good. Keep in touch and let me know if you need more help. I have a few teams that are working on cold cases I could send in."

"Send them," Derek said. "We will probably need them to hunt down the full army when it's all said and done."

Sam hung up, and he arranged early flights for the two teams, as well as Charlie and Bryant. 

Derek checked on the holding cells, and Stiles confirmed that those in the standard cells were mundane. Most of them had been twisted by Munroe and her misinformation. 

Derek asked, "It looks like there are some missing?"

Stiles nodded, "I have a couple in the warded cells downstairs. Two are from the Calaveras family. There is also a hunter from the Eventide family. I believe she is Victoria Argent's cousin."

Derek looked over the faces of the various mundane prisoners. They would need to lose their memories of the supernatural at the minimum, and some would be facing lengthy prison sentences.

Stiles said, "I put the locals in the cells at the end. It turns out several had been exposed to the supernatural; either because of Scott shifting in front of them or doing nothing to prevent an attack of a feral on a human before James could get involved."

Derek shook his head. "We probably should have visited more often, done more to help James keep the area secure."

Stiles disagreed, "Look, what happened sucked, but how were we to know just how corrupted Scotty was. Even I never thought he could be that delusional, and he was my best friend for years. What's done is done. Now we just have to clean up the mess."

Chapter Text

June 24th, 2017

Stiles woke slowly in his exhaustion. They had managed to round up another ten members of Munroe and Gerard's army. It turned out Munroe had come to Gerard's attention when she was recruiting for her army in Europe. She'd discovered the story about La Bête du Gévaudan and had been researching in the old libraries in France.

Stiles whispered, "When do you think we'll hear from the old ones?"

Derek shrugged. "Soon, I hope. I know the wait is killing Chris and Melissa. Dominique has kept the judge updated on our progress. He's glad that the hunter army he'd heard rumors about has been effectively shut down."

Stiles took a calming breath. "I completely forgot about him. I guess he'll be happy to know that Gerard is likely dead and will never return."

"Dominique said he sounded unusually chipper," Derek confirmed. "Hopefully, that will help us out in the long run. She let him know that we have prevented The Wild Hunt, for now, and that the Old Gods were passing judgment on the six that have been taken."

Stiles snuggled down into Derek. "I'm shattered, and I don't want to get up, but we have Tony, Jethro, and Gretchen arriving today."

Derek nodded. "I know. We also have that meeting with Scott's former betas this afternoon. Corey and Mason are visiting for the weekend to find out what happened."

They heard a knock on their door, and Jackson poked his head in. "Sorry guys, there is a car pulling into the driveway. I think it's the guys from London."

Derek let his head drop to the pillow. "Thanks, Jackson. We'll be down shortly."

The alpha got up, and he started the shower in their large ensuite. He chuckled as he saw Stiles trying to burrow into their blankets. He sat on the edge of the bed. "Come on, Lil Red, we can take a vacation when the mess is cleaned up. I can smell waffles and bacon, which means Peter's cooking, and you know that doesn't last long."

Stiles poked his head out of the blanket nest, and he pouted. "I don't care. I'm tired, I just want to sleep."

Before he could react, Derek had stripped the blankets off the bed and had Stiles off the bed in a fireman's carry. 

Stiles was shrieking, "Don't you dare, Sourwolf!"

The alpha ignored him and walked them both into the shower stall before placing his mate on his feet.

Stiles poked him in the chest. "That was unnecessary, and you know it!" He looked down at his sleep pants that were already soaked, and he watched with growing interest as Derek dropped to his knees to help him out of them.

-x-

Tony smirked at his cousin when they finally came downstairs. "Busy morning?"

Stiles flicked him the bird and kept walking to the coffeepot. Derek said, "He was planning to stay in bed all day. I had to distract him. It's been a busy few days." He looked around the kitchen before he asked, "Where's Gretchen?"

Tony said, "We dropped her off at the Animal Clinic this morning. The lawyers have already accepted her offer on the practice. She's there assessing what needs to be altered before she can reopen."

Gibbs asked, "Clive said you have people that need interrogating?"

Derek nodded. "Yeah, we've got a few stubborn hunters who are resisting all non-magical attempts for interrogation. We could use magic, but it invalidates the interview, as we can't use the transcripts in court."

Gibbs grinned. "We'll crack them. Do you know why they are holding out?"

"They are the actual hunters," Derek confirmed. "A couple of Calaveras, the Eventide matriarch, and they tried to hide their family affiliation, but we found a couple of Gilpatrick hunters." 

Jethro said, "I remember reading about them. Their reputation is supposed to be squeaky clean."

Derek shrugged. "Well, somehow, they got caught up in this mess. It's not going to look good for them when the Hunter's Council finds out."

Tony asked, "So you need a list of names of others involved, but you also need to know if they are there on behalf of their families? Anything else?"

Stiles said, "It would be nice to know if Gerard roped them in or if they joined because of Munroe's little tour. Especially since the Gilpatrick family is supposed to be Europe based."

Tony nodded. "Should we get Uncle Clive to pull in the family's patriarch for questioning?"

Stiles shook his head. "Not yet. I would rather wait until we know more first. Charlie and Bryant are our best interrogators, and they are already on site. They are staying in the rooms on the fourth floor of our new building."

Tony stood. "We'll head in now." At Gibbs' noise of protest, he clarified, "We'll be stopping on the way for coffee."

Stiles laughed. "We have the good coffee machines on each floor of our building and a decent supply of coffee. And trust me, it's better than what they serve at the only coffee shop in town. Its dishwater they claim is coffee."

Derek agreed. "We cater for coffee fiends at the office. You should have access to the third floor kitchen. There is a jar on the coffee shelf labeled 'Toxic Waste,' that's a Gibbs strength coffee."

Stiles added, "I just put a pot of it on in the kitchen. It should be ready in a few minutes. We have a bunch of travel mugs in the cupboard above the machine."

-x-

Jackson took the twins and Danny into the station with Tony and Gibbs. Jackson, Ethan, and Aiden wanted to observe the interviews to see how they could improve their techniques. And Danny was knee-deep in the camera footage from the confrontation. He wanted to see if he could clean up the images to identify all those who ran.

On the way to the office, Stiles and Derek stopped in to see Gretchen at the clinic. They wanted to check in and see how she was going and talk to her about giving Danny more training for the emissary position.

She glomped Derek, and she said, "It's good to see you looking so well!"

Derek chuckled. "I feel much better than the last time you were in Beacon Hills, for sure."

She turned to Stiles, and she said, "He looked ghastly the last time I was here. The state of the Nemeton was affecting him badly."

Stiles asked, "Are you up for a visit to the Nemeton tonight? I thought we could go after we've met with the former McCall Pack members. We'll need a few hours with them. We need to find out what they need in the way of a pack."

Gretchen agreed. "That would be good. We could seal the emissary bond for Danny with the Nemeton."

Derek grinned. "I should warn you, we have a small pack of Cwn Annwn hounds that are staying with us. We thought it would be just two of them staying behind. But we got home after the confrontation and found all eight of them waiting for us."

Gretchen raised her eyebrows, and she asked with a note of disbelief, "You have Cwn Annwn hounds. Large white hounds with red ears and tail?"

The hound that stuck to Stiles like glue became visible, giving the new vet a fright. She said, "Wow, ok, so they are bigger than I expected. Do they need any special care?"

Stiles shook his head as he gave his hound a hug. "No, Gwyn Ap Nudd said to just treat them like any other canine. They love running with us when we are out in our full-shift."

Gretchen laughed. "I bet that's a sight, aren't most of you nearly completely black in color when you're shifted?"

Stiles nodded. "Well, the wolves are all pretty dark in color, the kitsunes, not so much. They look great, though. So we'll stop in on our way back home to pick you up. It should be no more than a few hours."

Gretchen asked, "You think it'll take that long?"

Derek nodded. "Yeah, one of the betas was around when Stiles was bitten. He's not going to take it well."

Stiles snorted. "He's going to take it with the grace of a rampaging harpy. He wasn't my biggest fan."

-x-

The two alphas entered the conference room where Dalton had left Isaac, Liam, Corey, and Mason. Stiles asked, "This is going to be a fairly long discussion, so does anyone want a drink?"

They all nodded, so Stiles sent off a request for Dalton to bring a coffee tray in. He figured that would be easiest. He saw Isaac was giving him a weird look, so he asked, "What's up, Isaac?"

Isaac narrowed his eyes. "I know you. Why do I know you?"

Stiles chuckled. "Well, I hear being on the same lacrosse team in high school will lead to knowing people."

Derek took pity on the beta and said, "Stiles, be nice."

Stiles smiled. "For you, sure. Sorry, Isaac, I left a long time ago. It's not surprising you don't recognize me."

Liam frowned. "I remember you, but not looking like that. The last time I saw you, you were lanky and a lot shorter."

Isaac snarked. "And human."

Stiles flashed his red eyes, and he said, "I definitely didn't leave Beacon Hills as a human. I was bitten about two hours before I left town. I got home covered in blood after Scott abandoned me on a patrol run for a booty call. Dad was pissed, and he sent me to live with my uncle in London."

Isaac was curious, and he asked, "How did you handle the change without help?"

Stiles shrugged. "I had help. My uncle is an alpha, the Queen's Alpha, to be precise. He assigned me two guards who helped me with my change. You met Dalton; he's the one who escorted you in here. He was one of the guards assigned to me while I lived in the UK."

The curly-haired beta gestured between Derek and Stiles, and he asked, "So how does that work, having two alphas in the same pack?"

Stiles grinned. "Well, I am the alpha mate. We run the pack together, and it's a pretty large pack."

Mason asked, "How large is large? We were told the McCall pack was pretty big with eight members."

Derek pondered. "Would you count the hounds?"

Stiles nodded. "I think so. That would make the pack 27 strong, with three pack adjacent members. Although that's dropping to 26 next week when Connor leaves for France."

Corey asked, "Would you accept us?"

Derek nodded. "Sure, if you fully accept the pack and the pack bond. No wavering. If you can't accept our pack, then we can help you look for another pack that you will be comfortable with."

Isaac asked, "Even me?"

Derek nodded. "Yes, Isaac, even you. If you can handle me as your alpha again."

Mason asked, "Can you tell us about your pack?"

Stiles grinned. "I can give you the basic rundown. So we currently have three alphas, Derek, myself, and Connor James, who is the one leaving next week. We have seven betas, five humans, three kitsune, and a hellhound, oh, and the eight Cwn Annwn hounds we mentioned earlier."

Isaac frowned, and he asked, "So what actually happened to Scott? It's not really clear, all we know is our pack bonds broke, and we haven't been able to find Scott. When we asked around, most of the people we talked to didn't even know who we were talking about."

Stiles explained, "The Old Gods took Scott, Allison, Theo, and Deaton for judgment. They've been accused of serious crimes against the supernatural world. It was that, or they would have had the entire town wiped out of existence by the Wild Hunt."

Mason asked tentatively, "Wait, the hounds you mentioned earlier. They are hell hounds?"

"Close, but not quite," Stiles said with a grin. He snapped his fingers, and the two invisible hounds allowed themselves to become visible, much to the surprise of the others in the room. "These are Cwn Annwn, otherwise known as hounds of hell. They loaned us eight Cwn Annwn hounds to capture those who were summoned. After their job was done, it would seem the hounds have asked to stay."

Mason asked, "Why is there a distinction between a hellhound and a hound from hell?"

Derek chuckled. "Hellhounds have a human form, like werewolves and other shifters. However, these guys, while intelligent, don't have an alternative form." He looked around at the small group and asked, "Do you have any more questions?"

Corey gestured to Mason, and he asked, "What about the two of us? We're still in college?"

Stiles asked, "Stanford, right? I remember Asora mentioning something about it when we got back to town."

They both nodded, and Derek reassured them, "That's fine. We are big believers in education. Isaac, I thought you were planning to attend college?"

Isaac shook his head. "I couldn't get a scholarship, so I have been saving up to attend with work at the coffee shop."

"Are you still planning to be a social worker?" Derek asked. He wasn't sure if the beta's plans had been changed. "Or did you find something you wanted to do more?"

Isaac nodded. "I thought about being a child psychologist. I want to help those in situations like mine come out the other side a bit less damaged. I was awarded a few partial scholarships, but not enough to cover everything I would need without working three jobs on the side."

Derek frowned. "And, of course, you didn't get an offer of help from your pack."

Isaac asked, "What do you mean?"

"Most packs have an education fund," Stiles explained. "Pack members pay a tithe into a central fund, and they earmarked a portion of it for education. But I guess a new pack wouldn't have the time to build up a fund."

Derek said, "We can discuss support for future education, regardless of what pack you join. Take a few days to decide. We don't need your answer straight away."

Isaac shook his head. "Look, I regretted joining Scott's pack after a few months, but you were already gone. I didn't know who to turn to for help. I've managed to stay out of his more dubious plans, including refusing point blank to work with Gerard in any way. I've done everything I can to protect these guys until I was able to get them out of town for college."

Derek nodded. "We know, Connor kept an eye on you for us while we were gone."

Liam asked Isaac, "You trust these guys?"

Isaac nodded. "Derek is the alpha that turned me before Scott, and his idiocy chased him out of town."

Derek chuckled. "Actually, Scott didn't chase us away. We got an offer from the FBI to leave for training so we could better protect the Nemeton. I left Alpha James as my proxy, which Scott knew."

Isaac scowled. "He told us you left and that he was the new alpha for the territory." 

He looked around at his fellow pack members and asked, "Could we have some time to talk about it privately?"

Derek nodded. "Sure, we have some paperwork that needs to be completed. One of our agents will be working in the public bullpen, so just let them know when you want us to return."

They were in there for an hour, just talking about their options. They were sure they wanted to stick together, but Isaac still wasn't sure of his welcome.

They heard a knock on the door, and Liam called out for the person to enter. Jackson walked in with a tray of snacks and said, "We thought you might be hungry."

"Jackson?" Isaac asked incredulously. "You're in the Hale Pack?"

Jackson nodded, and he sat down where his alphas had sat earlier. "Stiles found me in London after my parents had forced me to move. He helped me get into Oxford, and then we both joined MI5."

Isaac asked, "Is there anyone else I know in the pack?"

Jackson nodded. "Danny joined not long after me, and Kira joined about a year later. Oh, and I'm not sure if you met them, but the twins from the alpha pack joined a year ago."

Isaac frowned. "I thought they died."

Jackson shook his head. "It's a long story, but their merged form saved them. The FBI spirited them out of Beacon Hills, and they eventually joined Derek and Peter at GWU with Danny and Kira."

Liam asked, "Wasn't there another Hale? I remember Scott ranting about her at some point."

"Cora," Jackson confirmed. "Derek's younger sister, she joined Stiles and me at Oxford."

The human in the room was trying to work out the math, and he asked, "Are you all the same age as Scott? I thought you left at the start of your junior year."

Jackson nodded, "We did. Cora is two years older than Stiles and me, so she had already graduated from high school when she arrived in London. Stiles and I tested out when we got there, and his uncle was able to get us a late interview with Oxford University."

Mason's jaw dropped. "How? That's supposed to be impossible."

Jackson shrugged. "He's alumni and a Deputy Director at MI5. It opens doors. Thank's to his support, we were able to complete our degrees faster than most. I ended up with a doctorate and a master's degree. I got a law doctorate, and a master's degree in criminal justice. Stiles has dual PhDs. He has a criminal justice doctorate, and he just completed his second doctorate in psychology. He also has a master's in forensic accounting."

Mason gaped at the beta. "Are you serious?"

Jackson nodded. "Yep. Stiles is smart and extremely driven, and he dragged us along for the ride. Part of it was due to the Nemeton. We discovered that the six of us were born close to the Nemeton, and it gifted us with intelligence. We suspect it was a last-ditch effort to save itself. The rest, though, is because of Stiles. He's good at building training and study schedules that don't stress you out. The three of us in London were on a fast track for MI5, which helped."

Corey asked, "I heard some talk in town about an FBI supernatural task force. Is that you guys?"

Jackson nodded. "The Talos Task Force. It's a joint task force between the FBI and MI5. Derek and Stiles lead the team here in Beacon Hills, Derek is the SSA for the FBI side of the team, and Stiles is the Senior Case Officer for the MI5 side of the team. We also have three tech analysts from Homeland Security on the team."

Corey grinned. "That sounds so cool. So you deal with all the supernatural weirdness?"

Jackson shook his head. "No, local stations dealt with most of the cases. We are called in when it looks like the supernatural will be exposed. They called here us to deal with a spate of missing persons cases that looked supernatural in origin. It turns out Gerard and Munroe's little war invoked the Wild Hunt."

Isaac sighed. "Hence why Scott, Allison, and the rest of them were taken by the hounds. I would love to swear up a blue streak, but we all knew something like that would happen. Scott just refused to listen to reason, and Allison was always right there with him." He looked at the others at the table, and when they all nodded, he said, "Can you let Derek and Stiles know we've made our decision, please?"

Jackson nodded, "Sure, I'll just go and get them."

Chapter Text

June 24th, 2017

Derek entered the conference room and asked, "You've decided?"

Isaac nodded. "We would all like to join your pack, Alpha Hale. We would like to be part of a pack where the alpha, or in your case, alphas, care about their betas."

Derek nodded. "Are you all sure? We have contacts in several packs around the country, and we would be happy to help you find a new pack, if that's what you wanted."

Isaac shook his head. "We would like to stay together."

Liam nodded. "Honestly, the four of us have stuck together like glue since we joined. Scott talks big about being a good pack that does the right thing and how the pack is family and other blah blah bullshit. But he barely spoke to us, unless it was to order us on patrol runs, or to yell at us for the deaths of the latest big bad."

Corey snorted. "We got blamed by him for so much, when it wasn't even us."

Derek asked, "And if the Old Gods return him? Will you want to return to him? Are you sure you don't want to wait to see what their verdict is?"

Isaac snorted. "Even you don't believe he will return without some sort of punishment. Either way, we would prefer to be part of a pack that actually wants us for us, rather than using us to stop the urge to bite random people."

Derek asked, "Umm, what?"

Liam rolled his eyes. "He bit me without my consent. I was trying to get away from a Wendigo that was attacking people in the hospital. Scott saved me from falling to my death... with his teeth."

Derek hesitantly asked, "Did he say why?"

Liam laughed derisively. "Not with anything believable. Honestly, he has two perfectly good arms, but no, he caught me with his teeth."

Derek nodded. "Ok. So, where are you currently living? I know Corey and Mason are at Stanford, I'm guessing in the dorms?"

Isaac said, "I technically live with Scott, but I spend most nights in Liam's spare room. His parents were nice enough to offer when they realized just how stuck we all were."

Derek asked, "Do you have anything at Scott's you want to pick up? What about the rest of you? We have plenty of spare rooms in the house we had built out in the preserve."

Liam smiled. "I think I speak for all of us. It would be good to finally get out of my parent's place. All of us end up staying there when it's break time from college."

Derek offered, "Why don't you go home and pack up the essentials for now, and we can get you set up at the house. We'll have a pack meeting tonight so you can meet everyone. Liam, your parents are welcome to join us. I'm sure they'll have loads of questions."

Liam shook his head. "They actually don't. Mama McCall has been singing your praises for months now. She works with both of them at the hospital."

Derek suggested, "Ok. If you meet us back here at five, you can follow us out to the house. We'll do the pack bite at the house if that's ok?"

Mason asked, "Pack bite?"

Derek explained. "It's a specific bite that brings you into the pack bonds. We can even do it to humans so they can feel the bonds without having to be turned."

Mason frowned. "Oh, we didn't have that."

Derek grimaced. "That actually explains a lot. So I'll meet you all back here at five. We'll be making a quick stop at the animal clinic to pick up another new pack member, Gretchen, on the way home."

They all nodded their agreement, and they jumped into Mason's car for the trip back to Liam's house.

-x-

When they finally got home, Derek found a note on the side table beside the entryway. He showed it to Stiles. "So it looks like our pack meeting will be at the Nemeton. For everyone."

Stiles nodded. "I'll gather everyone up. Do you want to go talk to the new betas, give them a quick lesson in how to address one of the Old Gods?"

"Yeah," Derek agreed. "I'm sure they'll be fine, but just to be on the safe side. Come on, it looks like we're dropping you in the deep end."

Stiles sent a group text to the pack telling them they needed to gather outside ASAP for a meeting with the Old Gods. He then went looking for Asora. He often left his cellphone in random places when he got distracted.

It took about half an hour for everyone to show up, including the three pack adjacent members, Dominique, Tara, and Valerie.

Stiles was the first to approach the regrown tree, and he was stunned. He looked back at Derek and hoarsely asked, "How?"

From the edge of the clearing, Ceridwen said, "A gift." 

Gwyn Ap Nudd, Gwydion, and Arawn joined her. The latter was crouched down in front of his hounds, who had come to greet their king.

The pack as one went to one knee in respect as Stiles said, "You honor us all with your gift." He stood and addressed Arawn, "King Arawn, thank you for the loan of your hounds. They were a tremendous help."

Arawn smiled. "You cared for them so well they have requested to stay with the pack. Never before has a pack of Cwn Annwn requested to stay in the waking world."

Derek pat the hound that had returned to his side. "We would be honored to have them, Sir."

Arawn said, "Sit all of you, please. There is no need to kneel. I think we'll be here for a while, and the clearing is quite comfortable. As for the hounds, they will occasionally visit me to let me know how you all are doing; we've left them a portal in this clearing. One that only they can use to cross between worlds."

Gwyn Ap Nudd cleared his throat once everyone was sitting comfortably. "We have returned with the verdicts of the six you sent us." 

He glanced at the two Argents and said, "We have sentenced Gerard Argent to a lifetime in purgatory. He will spend eternity running from those he has harmed."

He looked at Chris and said, "Your daughter, Allison Argent, received the same sentence. She was working with her grandfather to kill the revived Hale Pack. She didn't care that they would've killed you as collateral damage."

Chris sagged. "Fuck. I can't figure out where I went wrong."

The god crouched down where Chris was sitting snuggled up to Noah, and he reassured, "You didn't. You did the best you could. Victoria and Kate manipulated her. They were very clever about keeping her in the dark about the supernatural, as per your agreement, while at the same time preparing her for her future as a hunter. By the time she met Gerard, she was well on the way to fanaticism."

Chris snarked, "Yet she stayed with Scott."

Ceridwen nodded. "She loved him, but she would have killed him in a heartbeat if she ever fell out of love with him."

Gwyn Ap Nudd sighed. "As for Scott McCall. His sentence was a difficult decision to make."

Gwydion nodded. "It really was. He hated being a werewolf. We thought about sentencing him with the removal of the wolf and a memory wipe. Give him a fresh start. But he wouldn't have survived it."

Gwyn Ap Nudd nodded in agreement. "Without the bite, he would have died in his senior year of high school. He was already living on borrowed time. We would like to let you know about the others that were taken before we return to the issue of Beta McCall."

Melissa nodded her agreement, so Gwyn Ap Nudd said, "Darach Alan Deaton. He has a lot to answer for, and he will be answering for it in purgatory. He's the reason Talia Hale cut the Nemeton down. And he was using his connection to the Hale Pack as the emissary to leech power from the land."

Peter asked, "He wanted the fire?"

Gwyn Ap Nudd said, "Sort of. He wanted a more malleable alpha, which would have been Laura. But she ruined his plans by leaving town. So he started a backup plan and started grooming Beta McCall from a very young age to be his weapon, so to speak. His pet alpha. If Scott hadn't gone into the preserve that night with Stiles, Deaton would have found another way to get him bitten. However, he needed to be sure Scott wouldn't join the Hale Pack, so he used lies and misdirection to build up Peter's actions as the actions of a monster, and Derek as his right-hand man."

Stiles had a suspicion, so he asked, "Was Deaton behind the death of my mother?"

The god nodded. "He was. He saw her as a threat. Sparks are a lot more powerful than druids, and Claudia Stilinski was no exception. He's also the reason you were bitten. He wanted you out of Scott's life. He just didn't realize how much of a stupid move that was."

Stiles shrugged, and he said pragmatically, "From his point of view, it was a great move. It's well known that sparks don't survive the bite. From everything we've read, I am a very rare case."

Ceridwen motioned to the tree, and she explained, "We asked the tree how you could survive. You were bitten not far from here. The Nemeton did what it could to prevent your death. You were born to protect the Nemeton, and it saw your survival as necessary."

Stiles asked, "So that's why my change happened so fast. I mean, I could talk to my wolf by the time I got home. From what I gathered from other bitten wolves, it was unusually quick. But I figured that was because of the alpha spark I gained at the same time."

Ceridwen nodded. "It was a bit. But mostly, it was the Nemeton shoring up your wolf, so you would survive the turn with no ill effects."

Gwydion explained, "It knew that you were the lynchpin for the pack. As much as you would protest it, you are the heart of the Hale Pack. It knew that if you died, everything would change, perhaps not right away, but it knew. Without you, there wouldn't be a Hale Pack. The Hales would have gone to New York after further betrayals by the false alpha and his druid master. The Nemeton would have died. You already know through your research that the Nemeton gifted six of you with heightened intelligence by virtue of proximity to the Nemeton at the time of your births."

Derek cleared his throat that was suddenly dry, and he asked, "What would have happened if the Nemeton died?"

Ceridwen said, "The death of one would corrupt the others. It is why there are packs in place to protect them. Once they start dying, that corruption would then disrupt the link between the gods and the waking world."

Peter heard Stiles gasp, and he glanced at him briefly as he saw the younger man grasp the horror of the situation. He said, "Which would remove the ability of The Wild Hunt to protect us from exposure."

Gwyn Ap Nudd nodded. "Exactly so."

Stiles muttered, "I'm just me. I'm not that important."

Derek pulled him into his lap and whispered, "You are important, Lil Red. I agree with Ceridwen. You are the heart of our pack."

Stiles asked, "What about the other two? Theo Raeken and Tamora Monroe?"

Gwyn Ap Nudd huffed in amusement at the subject change. He said, "Beta Raeken is waiting in your cells at the FBI building, and we have left evidence on Alpha Hale's desk of his many crimes. There's a couple of murders and several kidnappings, including two of your new betas. They were both kidnapped from orphanages, but they were still minors at the time according to your laws."

Arawn sighed. "As for Ms. Munroe, she isn't actually guilty of anything beyond spreading misinformation and inciting others to violence. She wouldn't even get charged according to your own laws. So we have removed the last five years of her memory and dropped her in a hospital near her family. Medical records have been altered, so it looks like she survived a bad car accident and has severe amnesia. I have warded her to avoid the supernatural. If she is ever around a supernatural creature, she will feel uncomfortable, and she will want to get away from them."

Peter nodded. "That sounds like a wonderful solution. Was she manipulated by Gerard?"

Arawn shrugged. "Eventually, but it was actually Allison who drove most of her actions. Allison came across her after she'd seen Beta McCall wolf out, and she used a combination of manipulation and misinformation to lead Ms. Monroe down the path she was on." He chuckled. "Allison even told her that when wolves are shifted into their beta shift, that they are feral and will mindlessly kill anyone in their path."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Which would have led to the conclusion that Allison saved her life. We'll add her to a watch list, just to make sure she stays out of trouble."

Gwyn Ap Nudd sighed. "And that brings us back to Scott. The primary reason it took so long for us to return to report our decisions. We have a left-field suggestion."

Ceridwen said, "We would like to give him a second chance." She looked at Melissa. "A second chance that can be with you, or we can find him another pack."

Melissa sat up and asked, "How would this second chance work?"

Ceridwen explained, "We have done a ritual that has reversed his age back to being a newborn. You and Chris Argent can raise him within the pack as the son of Scott and Allison. He will have papers to this effect, so you will have no issues legally."

Melissa asked, "What will people think happened to Scott and Allison?"

Gwyn Ap Nudd said, "It will be reported as a car accident. If he's agreeable, the accident report will have the baby being delivered by Beta Dunbar on the side of the road by emergency cesarean." He looked sternly at the pack as a whole. "It is vital that he gets a fair chance at a new life for this second chance to be effective. He will be a blank slate, and he will have a chance to be the start of the next generation in the Hale Pack. If you can't do this, speak up now."

Derek nodded when he saw the hope on Melissa's face. "We'll do it."

Ceridwen walked behind the Nemeton and came back with a sleeping baby boy in her arms. She approached Melissa, who stood as the goddess passed over the newborn. She said, "He has kept his lycanthropy so he won't have the issues with asthma that he had in his previous life. I am sure that with all the wolves in the Hale Pack, you will have plenty of help with how to raise him as a born wolf." She'd also made some minor changes so he wouldn't grow up as an exact duplicate of his former self. That news she would keep to herself.

Derek nodded. "Definitely. Thank you, for everything. Especially for the gift of a healthy Nemeton. We've been trying so much to help it grow, but it was so badly damaged by all that had been done to it."

Gwyn Ap Nudd smiled. "The wards you have protecting it shows you care for it greatly. If you could assist the other packs that are protecting Nemeta around the world in adding the same wards, we would appreciate it. The balance of intent versus protection wards is frankly brilliant."

Stiles blushed and said, "I can show other sparks. The wards I created work more on spark magic than anything a druid could do. I think that's why they could keep Deaton out."

Gwydion smirked. "If he hadn't been allowed through a hole we created in the wards, he would have died either during this attempt or the next due to the increasingly punitive nature of the wards."

Stiles scowled. "He's been trying that often? I know I turned off the notification when we were out here several times a week because we thought that animals were setting it off."

Gwydion nodded. "The animals triggered the intent ward. They were under the control of Deaton. He was trying to find a way through. He was annoyingly persistent."

Gwyn Ap Nudd cleared his throat as he faced the pack. "You have grown into a powerful pack from a rocky beginning, and you have a very clear future as one of the most influential packs in North America. You are going to bring change to the supernatural world, you and your task force. A welcome change, one that will see the supernatural world feeling less hunted, less haunted." 

He turned to walk away, and he watched as the other gods stepped through the portal that had been created for the hounds. Before he walked through, he turned and reminded them all, "We'll be watching." 

FIN