Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Nothing goes as he planned: even if Jennifer gathered lots of power, the fact that she didn't complete the ritual and killed the three guardians means that she is not strong enough.

Derek is not an Alpha anymore and he can't actually do much: every now and then he launches himself at the Demonic wolf, distracting him from tearing Jennifer apart, but it's useless: she's losing her battle.

Blood is spilling out of her mouth, running along her jaw and neck and she's panting, desperate for air and life. The same life that he once gave her back.

As Deucalion grabs Jennifer's curls and drags her on the concrete, Derek stumblers to get back on his feet: she doesn't even make a sound when the Alpha moves her right in front of Scott, demanding the he ends her.

Derek feels a pang of pain deep in chest when he sees the terror raising on her features at the realization that this could be it.

But Scott is not like him: Scott would never kill someone, no matter what. That is exactly what makes Scott a better Alpha then him and Deucalion's tricks won't be enough to turn his friend into a murderer.

With an evil grin plastered on his lips, the Alpha levels with Jennifer's face and slapping her once again:

"Did you really think you could beat me? I always get what I want. Always."

She's talking now and, as blood floods out of her lips, she cleans it with the back of her hand. The ice in her voice scares him:

"No, you won't. I'll kill you even if I have to die in order to do that."

"Let my friends go, Jennifer. Let them go and I won't let him kill you." Scott's words are smooth but firm, even if they prove just how naive he can be.

Thinking that there's a way for Jennifer to make it out alive is crazy and, as Deucalion launches her across the room, he knows this is his time to let her down: her eyes are looking for him, silently praying for him to help her, but he drags himself up from the floor and moves until he's standing next to Scott.

He meets her desperate gaze, hears her voice mumble his name once, but he doesn't move.

And as understanding dawns on her face, he dies a little inside.

"What are you doing?" Scott is looking at him, confused and horrified as he realizes Derek is letting Deucalion march in direction without doing nothing. "He's gonna killer her."

"I know…" he breaths back while he tries to hate her as much as he should.

She's there, begging for him to save her in the only way he still can, and he's refusing to.

"Are you out of your mind?"

"Scott, it's either her or your mom and the others' parents… There's nothing we can do."

"What is wrong with you? You can't just stand there and watch as he ends her."

Scott's right, he can't. But he will anyway: that is how it was supposed to go.

She won't go down without a fight, though: she's gathering her all strength, praying in the same language he heard her talk before, loading her next hit against Deucalion.

The Alpha stops just a couple of meters from her, smiling evilly and mocking her desperate attempt to threaten him.

"Tell me, Jennifer: how has it been down there, in the cold of the ground for ten years, begging the Gods to heal your lost beauty and remembering the screams of your friends while they were torn apart?" Derek watches her stone face crumbles and her eyes go from dark to hurt in a second.

"Did you ever think it was all your fault? An emissary, a guidance that didn't see it coming. Or did you? Did you dream about what was in for your pack but were too stupid or scared to talk about it?" her hands fall flat against her sides and her gaze moves to the ground when a tear slips along her cheek.

"Ah… you did, didn't you? You knew Kali was going to massacre you all but you didn't think she could betray you like that. She loved you, after all, uh?" he's torturing her with the words before he will destroy her body too.

"See, it's yourself you should be mad at. Love had already let you down in the past: how did you not learn from your mistakes?"

She trusted someone she loved before: no matter what the odds told her, she believed that love would save her and her friends. And that same love is what destroyed her.

Yet she trusted him: she put her faith in him, believing that what happened between them would have been enough for him to care; enough to have mercy; enough to prove her that you can love without being destroyed.

That is when he finally really understands what broke her: it wasn't just the physical pain or the loneliness. It was the profound heartbreak of being tore apart by someone she had faith in. Of putting your heart in the hands of someone that you love, just to watch them walk all over it as if you never meant anything.

Love is what broke her.

Love is what is breaking her all over again. This time for good. He is what is breaking her.

She's avoiding his eyes because now she knows he was never on her side: it was them against her from the start and he was basically something that made her weaker. Because she thought on some level he had her back, when in reality he was just working in the dark.

Just like she did with him. They were doomed from day one: she used him and lied to him.

Today he did the same thing, but somehow, he doesn't feel like they are even: she broke his heart but he is letting someone kill her. It's not exactly the same.

Deucalion is walking in her direction again now, ready to end it all: she's back on her feet and her face looks colder then ever.

It's like after his betrayal there's no humanity left in her; no Jennifer to save and no soul to drag back from the dark.

“Say goodbye to your sacred oak and to your boy, Jennifer. It's time to end what Kali once started.”

Scott takes a step towards them, probably looking for a way to stop the Alpha but unable to find one and, as the light grows brighter, Derek feels something change inside his chest: one look at Jennifer's face and he knows what's happening.

The Eclipse has started and this is her only chance to make it out alive.

“You talk too much...” she smirks coldly, watching Deucalion loose his scary wolf form and turn back to a powerless and blind man.

It's a blur: she moves so fast Derek can't even see as she punches the Alpha straight in the face and sends him flying across the room right at Derek's feet.

Then, with no emotion but hate left in her body, she marches towards them: her eyes fixed on her prey.

This is not what he planned: she was supposed to be dead before the Eclipse even started and his friends safe from her.

He can't stop her, now: not with the Eclipse and not now that she knows he was never going to help her.

“Jennifer, wait!”

Scott's voice comes out desperate and, for a second, she moves her eyes on the boy next to him.

“You don't have to do this: you don't have to kill anyone else. We know now: we know what he did to you. You are not left alone with your pain anymore.” his friend sounds sincere as he watches her with compassion and try to reach out for the heart that's hidden under the thirst of revenge.

“I'm sorry nobody was there for you and you got your future stolen, but please, stop. We can help you...”

Derek frowns at Scott's words, unable to see how they can do that: how do you help someone who has nothing left but rage and darkness?

“You don't want to help me. You just want me to let your friends go...” she's not even trying to manipulate them anymore. She's empty and it's like nothing matters to her anymore: she just wants Deucalion dead. She's on a mission to inflict pain to however gets in her way.

“Yes, yes I do. I'm begging you to let the people I love live... To be different from them. How can we believe in your cause when you give us nothing to prove this is not just all about revenge?”

“It is about revenge: if I don't do this, nobody will. No one will be here to make him pay for what he did to me and to all those he killed. I have to do this... It's my job!”

As Scott tries to reason with her 'tough, Deucalion moves slowly behind Derek and, as he gets to his feet, he locks one arm around Derek's neck, ready to snap it.

The Alpha holds him hard, choking him a little and Derek tries to pray his hands away from his body but, with the eclipse taking away all his wolf strength and the previous battle weakening him, every attempt to fight back is useless.

Jennifer's gaze flies straight from Scott to Deucalion, before it softly lands on Derek: her features a mix of shock and anger.

“What's gonna be, Jennifer? Revenge or love?”

The minutes are passing fast and her fifteen minutes to kill a powerless Deucalion are fading away as she struggles with her choice: their eyes meet for longer then Derek can stand and, closing them, he 's suddenly aware of what she will chose.

Revenge. It's been all she has known for ten years: it's been feeding her heart for longer then anything else and there is no love there to fight for.

“A snap, Jennifer. That's all it's gonna take. I don't need my eyes to that and with the eclipse he's not going to heal from anything...” Deucalion chuckles darkly “But he couldn't heal from a broken neck anyway.”

Her silent is constant, she's speaking with her eyes and they are so full of hate yet so empty, Derek is sure she will kill him first just to get him out of her way.

“Do you want him dead? I can give you that: after all he was standing there watching you fight your druid war on your own...”

She takes one step. Then another one: her body tense but her orbs are turning white, signaling that she's gathering her powers once again.

Derek swallows hard when energy fills her body, the air around her turning electric and her curls float around her, showing how strong she really is.

“Can you remember your first kiss? Did he hold you like you meant something? Did he whisper sweet words in your ear when you gave yourself to him?”

Derek feels his stomach contract with emotions as flashes of their nights together come to life in his mind: the first time her lips touched his he was so scared he trembled under he skin and drew back for a second. And she stood there with her eyes closed, breathing hard and giving him the chance to push her away.

He's remembering little moments of them, suddenly aware of the weight of his betrayal and what it is making to him, but she looks untouched.

“Derek, did you ever breathed on her lips how beautiful she was?”

He did. He kissed her skin and caressed her neck, savoring her like she tasted of life, and he was mesmerized by her beauty.

“Did you feel wanted, Jennifer? Did you think he was going to love your heart instead of your body?”

At that she stops: pain invades her features when she takes in what Deucalion's words mean.

There was nothing for him to love once he saw her true form: what they shared before was never enough for him to want her. For him to save her.

He watches as what she's thinking passes on her face and the air leaves his lungs when he realizes he's the reason for the sudden pain flowing through her veins.

Then she softly asks him:

“Do you hate me?”

“I want to...” he chokes out, Deucalion's grip on his neck tighter.

“Can you forgive me?”

He wants to lie and say that he can, but she's doing everything wrong; she's hurting the people he loves and he doesn't want to lie anymore.

“No. I don't think can't.”

“Will you remember me the way you knew me before?”

“That's all I want to remember of you. The bright side of you.”

It's a bittersweet confession: it's all he can give her now and he wants his last promise to be real. He doesn't know how to stop her anymore, but he needs to redeem himself somehow: he doesn't want to be like Kali. He doesn't want to be another love that broke her.

“His feelings are just not strong enough, Jennifer.”

Why is Deucalion doing this? Turning her against Derek is not going to save him from her revenge: if anything, it's just going to get them both killed.

But then Derek realizes that the Alpha is not really using him against her: he's tricking her into hating Derek enough to hurt him, so that Scott will be forced to kill her in order to save his friend.

And there his blood freezes, because the eclipse is almost over and Deucalion's plan could actually work: if her anger is strong enough, Scott will be his only hope.

There's one heavy tear that is running painfully slow along her cheek and it looks like she's not aware of the time that is passing faster and faster.

“Do you really think your tragedy is enough for him to forgive you? You were alone for ten years and you are still alone: he cares about his pack, not about you.”

As the last sentence leaves Deucalion's lips, Derek can see her eyes turn white again and he has no doubts that she's gonna hit them hard unless Scott steps in, and he is sure that he will.

“The sweet emissary will never learn that love is not enough...”

She's breathing hard, walking towards them again: no emotion in display on her face.

“He's wrong...” Scott whispers from his left “Even if it's short lived, you want to fight for it. Love is always enough.”

“I know.” she whispers back, before everything changes.

The storm is coming to an halt, the wind not howling anymore and the electricity in the air around her gets calmer: it's not stopping, but something is keeping it in check.

“Let him go.” she growls at the Alpha.

“No. You either surrender or I will kill him. Or you can kill him.”

 When she turns to Scott, her eyes are back to those sweet and innocent orbs her remembers the first night he saw her, yet Derek doesn't know if she's acting again.

“I can't stop the storm, it's not up to me, but it is happening because of my connection to the telluric currents: all I can do is slow it down.”

“Wh-what?” the teen's voice trembles a little when he realizes what she is trying to tell him but she doesn't explain any further; she just looks at Deucalion and, with pure hate and regret running in her blood, she declares:

“You win. Now let him go.”

“Not until your powers are gone. Let go of your stupid magic and I will give you your Romeo back.”

Derek stands still, completely in shock and searching for her gaze: she avoids every bit of him, focusing her attention on the Alpha that is still chocking him and then, without any hesitation, she breaths out heavily. Something they can't see happens, it's as if energy is actually leaving her body and that powerful flow that was running through her is now reduced to minimum.

“Good, girl. See, Derek? She did care about  you enough for the both of you...” Deucalion chuckles throwing him on the floor, raising his hands up in the air as the Eclipse ends and he regains his Demonic form.

She takes a couple of steps back, aware that her only chance to kill him without completing her ritual is now gone, yet she is still keeping the storm in control and that is now visibly weakening her.

Scott helps Derek get back on his feet and they both stand like idiots right where they are: it's evil against evil and, again, they don't know what to do.

“You know, Derek? You underestimated her ability to love: you focused on her horrible actions, but never saw the heart and the pain behind that. Did he, Jennifer?”

But he does: he now knows how to read all those memories she showed him and he feels everything she's feeling now, too, as if the connection was still there.

She's terrified, lost and alone all over again: gone is her need of vengeance and there is no hope left in her soul.

He can hear as her heart begs for forgiveness and suddenly he finds himself whispering to Scott:

“Stop him.”

“What?” the boy looks at him confused before he moves his gaze to Deucalion's back.

“I can't stop him, but you can. This is it, Scott. This is your chance to became a True Alpha.”

“I don't know how!”

“It doesn't matter, it will happen if you want it. He knows you are a threat. Stop him...”

“Are you asking me to save her?”

Derek swallows tentatively, looking at her and feeling his heart sunk in his chest.

He can save her soul: he knows he can reach for her and push the darkness away.

She is not evil, she is just broken and, even he can't forget what she did, he knows he can drag her back from the hole she's been locked in for ten yeas. He has to.

“Yes. I can't. But I need you to.”

“Are you sure?”

“I know how it is to feel lost and angry, Scott. I felt it for years and, if it weren't for you guys, I'd still be. I need to do that for her: I can be her anchor.”

“Can you do that? Can you bring her humanity back?”

“Yes, I think I can...”

“Are you gonna trick her again?”

“No, I'm gonna show her I care.”

“Do you really?”

“I wish I didn't anymore. But if she is connected to that tree, maybe she can use that connection to stop Deucalion. We can do it, Scott. We can save them all, I just need to get to her.”

That's all Scott needs to know: everything that happens next changes the dynamics of their lives, because soon Scott's eyes are turning bright red and a new strength is driving him as he moves incredibly fast and puts himself between Jennifer and Deucalion.

She's visibly weak – probably because of her control over the storm – and she has a hard time standing, but when she sees Scott in front of her, her heart fills with a spark of hope.

Derek is right behind her before she even has time to register: his arm curls around her waist to help and support her when her body loses the will to keep her up.

“Can you stop him without killing him?” he asks not looking at her, but his hold on her tightens a little.

“I... I have to kill him.”

“No, you don't. I know you think it's over, but it's not. I didn't understand the emotions you showed me before, but I know now.”

“Know what?”

“That you need me. You said you wished I could have saved you too. I knew what you meant, and I'm ready to do it now...”

Her breath trembles and her heart beats in a way that tells him she doesn't believe him, so he  adds softly:

“I thought there was nothing to save. I believed you were just the Darach, that the girl I got to know was never there...”

“You were wrong.”

“I know that now. I want to save that girl. I'm here to save you.” he says finding her eyes. They are so tired and conflicted: as if she wants to give up but, at the same time, he's keeping her here.

“Let go of you revenge, Jen. It's not worth it: let go of your anger.”

“It's all I have known for ten years. It's all I have left. I lost you too.”

“Then get me back. Let go of your fucking hate and hold onto me!”

Scott is fretting: Derek is taking too much time and he doesn't know how to stop Deucalion from killing them all.

“Do you really think that just because the color of your eyes changed, you can fight me now?”

“I can try...”

The boy flashes his eyes at the demon wolf, showing him what he mostly feared, yet still an evil grin forms on his lips:

“You can't kill me. True Alphas don't steal power...”

“Jennifer, is there another way to stop him?” Derek breaths in her ear trying to keep their conversation hidden from the other wolves.

“I can give his power to the Nematon.”

“What do you need?”

“To touch him.”

Scott titles his head in Derek's direction for a second, driving Deucalion's attention back on Jennifer: Derek nods just once and Scott feels the panic leaving his muscles.

Gathering the bullets Deaton gave him earlier, he throws them right in front of his enemy and, as sparks erupt from the collision with the ground, he covers his eyes to protect himself.

It only takes them a few seconds to round Deucalion: Scott is standing behind him, ready to attack while Derek drags Jennifer next to him.

He can read in her body when she hesitates and ponder to kill the man responsible of her pain, but he doesn't let her linger on that feeling:

“Killing him won't erase your hurt and it won't change what you went through. Do the right thing...” he's looking directly in her eyes and he's trying to pour his heart out through his gaze. “Please...”

It's a beg for her to show him he can actually save her from herself; to let him know Jennifer is fighting against the Darach and that she can win.

Swallowing hard she touches Deucalion's chest and, praying once again to her sacred oak, she works her magic: Derek feels the energy passing through her muscles first, turning her body to stone as it flows from Deucalion to her cells before it leaves her flash, sent to the wood of a cut down tree as the ultimate sacrifice.

Deucalion is screaming in pain and they can hear as she pants, overwhelmed by the force of what she is doing: the storm stops suddenly, leaving them all in the heavy and thick silence of the aftermath.

“Is it over?” the question comes from a stunned Scott, now back to his normal appearance, but his new red eyes shining; Deucalion still as he slowly opens his eyes.

Jennifer simply nods before she pushes herself away from Derek, the distance suddenly needed and the memory of her sins back over them.

He follows her figure while she tries to get back on her feet: he watches her and he can't help but wonder if he's looking at Jennifer or at the Darach.

When Scott's phone rings, everyone turns in his direction, listening as Stiles asks them to go there and get them out of the cellar Jennifer trapped them in.

She's standing still at the distillery's entrance, looking at the moon as if it holds some sort of resolution. As if it could wash away her crimes.

Scott looks at Derek, unsure about what he should do, before the man says:

“I'll deal with her...” his orbs locked on Jennifer's back.

“What are you gonna do to her?”

“I don't know.” Derek answers truthfully “What about Deucalion?”

“I'll take care of him.”

“I'll see you at the loft.”