Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The party was going great. The alcohol was flowing, the girls were down to bikinis, and Jared was primed and ready to move in on his next target. He had her leaning up against the hand rail, his hands on either side of her hips, and was just about to go in for the kiss. Then he saw something on the beach and broke away to get a closer look. Once he realized what he was looking at his eyes widened and he rushed down the side stairs to the beach while calling for Peter to come help him.

Staggering down the beach, looking about to collapse at any moment, was a young man. He had blood all over one of his arms and was covered in bruises. Half his face was covered in blood as well from an obviously broken nose. Jared reached him just as the kid fell to his knees, “Hey, kid, can you hear me? What happened?”

The kid looked up from where he had collapsed against Jared's chest, “Please, I need to use your phone.” his voice was pleading and broken sounding, “I need a phone, please.”

“Kid, tell me what happened.” Jared insisted as he got the kid to his feet, supporting him with a shoulder under the arm, and helping him back to the house

“Please, I need to call someone. It's life or death.” the kid's voice was now broken because of the tears in the young man's eyes

“Yeah, yeah, sure. We'll get you phone while we call 911.” Jared said as he got the boy inside and downstairs away from the eyes of the party guests. They settled for Jared's bedroom, as it was the closest to the stairs.

“No, no hospitals. I'll be fine, I just need to make a call.” the kid repeated.

Peter showed up at that moment with Pindar's first aid kit, “Jesus Jared, what happened?”

“I don't know, but the kid needs a phone.” Jared said with a shrug

Peter instantly handed over his cell phone. With shaking hands the kid called a number and held the phone to his ear. After a few seconds he started to speak, “Derek, it's me.” pause, “I'm fine, well, mostly fine. But you have to know, it's a scam. Maria isn't in on it, but her minions don't like us so they took me. I managed to get away, but you have to sort this out now before they try and find me again.” a longer pause, “Alright, I'll stay where I am. Have Danny trace the call and send some security for the place. No need for anyone else to get hurt.” and then the kid hung up and collapsed backward onto the bed, eyes closing and a pained groan coming out, “Oh God, why is this my life?”

“Alright kid, start talking.” Jared said as Peter opened the First Aid Kit, “What the hell was that all about?”

The kid just lay there, eyes closed and arms spread wide, and sighed, “It's really complicated.”

“Well, I found you bloody on a beach so I think you can at least try.” Jared said, “Especially since you just picked our pad to hide in from whoever turned you into hamburger meat.”

“It's really nothing.” the kid sat up with a pained grunt, “I've had worse for less. It's just a negotiation that got out of hand.”

Peter snorted as he started to used an alcohol pad to clean the blood off the kid's face, “Kid, we're lawyers, we do negotiations all the time. And it usually doesn't end like this.”

“Well...” Jared interrupted, “There was that one time a few years ago with that surfer dude who...”

“Hey, we don't talk about that.” Peter interrupted

“I'm just saying, some negotiations end this way.” Jared said with a shrug

Peter started cutting off the kid's shirt after all the blood had been mopped off his face. Peter let out a shout of surprise as what he uncovered, “Holy Shit!”

Jared looked and hissed with sympathy. The blood on the kid's arm was coming from what looked like claw marks on his shoulder. His whole torso also looked like one giant bruise. Not to mention the several scars that littered the kid's body, “Dude, what happened?”

“It's nothing, honestly.” the kid said as he took the supplies from Peter's hand and started to clean his own shoulder, “I've had way worse. I've almost been killed three times in the last two years, trust me, this is nothing.”

“Who the hell are you?” Peter asked in shock, “Some kind of secret agent or something?”

“No, I'm the second in command of the Hale family.” the kid said simply as he searched in the first aid kit for something

This brought Jared up short. The Hale family, over the last three years, had become a big name in California. They we a family that started a company that sold lucky charms, scented candles, crystals, and a bunch of other new age stuff. The head of the family and the company was a man by the name of Derek Hale. He was rumored to have a secret weapon known only to those in the inner circle of the company, someone only known as the Second. Supposedly the Second took care of all the little details that most people missed, as well as a few things that were rumored to be a bit shady. And this kid was claiming to be that person.

“Wait, your the Second? The big scary monster that Hale House keeps in it's back pocket?” Jared asked in indignation

“That would be me.” the kid said as he pulled away from the first aid kit, a needle and thread in hand, “Hey, can you find me a clean shirt? I'll pay you back.” and then the kid started to stitch up the claw marks on his arm without flinching

Both Peter and Jared took a few steps back and exclaimed in shock, “Kid, what the hell?”

The kid rolled his eyes and continued to stitch his arm, “Oh grow up. And stop calling me kid. I'm 22 and married, not a kid.” he held up his hand for a second to show off a wedding ring tattoo on his finger. As he went back to stitching himself up as he said, “You might want to go meet the guys who are on their way over before they...” suddenly there was the sound of shouting and many footsteps above them, “oh, to late.”

Jared motioned at the kid, “Stay with him, I'll check it out.” and then he was out the door and up the stairs. He got there just in time to see the last person of the party leave. There were three people he had never seen standing in his living room. Two of them appeared to be twins and there was also a guy with curly brown hair. They all looked about as young as the kid downstairs. But they had a different feel about them. The leather jackets and hard expressions were the first clue. They also sported gun holsters which were clearly visible under the jackets, “What the hell is going on.”

As one the three people turned to look at him, hard eyed look making Jared take a slight step back. The guy with curly hair stepped forward, “Where is he?” it was more of a demand then a question

Jared was about to answer when he remembered the kid downstairs was in big trouble. It was likely that these could easily be the people who had hurt him as it was the people who had come to protect him, “Sorry, no idea what your talking about.”

The young man glared, “Where is he?” he took a few more steps forward before a voice called out from behind Jared

“Chill Isaac, I'm right here.”

Suddenly all three of the intruders were rushing past Jared to get to the top of the stairs where the injured kid was leaning against Peter's side. He was quickly taken from Peter and supported between the two twins. The other guy, Isaac, was checking him over and suddenly looked more like a puppy then a bad-ass, “Jesus, you said it wasn't that bad.” Isaac said as his hands roamed over the kid's chest, but didn't touch skin

“It's not as bad as that one time last year in Colorado.” the kid said with a pained smirk

The twins snorted as one and moved their supporting hands to the center of the kid's back as they maneuvered him over to the kitchen counter to sit at the bar. As soon as they touched him the kid seemed to relax and looked to be in less pain. Peter and Jared went over to stand by Pindar and Carmen against a far wall

“What the hell is going on you guys?” Carmen asked

“Found a beat up kid on the beach. Guess he has friends in high places.” Peter said as he watched the four talk in whispers in the kitchen, “He claims to work for Hale House.”

“The New Age company?” Pindar asked, “I love their organic bath scrub, it makes me feel so tingly. And it doesn't have a single inorganic chemical in it.”

“I heard they were in town meeting with the Tanner company to set something up.” Carmen said, “Supposed to be a big deal.”

“Wait, Tanner?” Jared said as he stepped away from the wall in shock, “He said something about Maria not knowing about the attack. The head of the Tanner company is Maria Tanner.”

“Yeah, and thats all you need to know.” said a voice from behind them. They all jumped and spun around, not having heard anyone approach. It was the guy known as Isaac. He looked relieved and a bit tired, “Thanks for taking care of him. But you can't tell anyone about what happened here tonight.”

“But that kid was assaulted. And from the sound of it, assaulted by a rival business.” Peter said, “You need to call someone.”

“It's being handled internally. We've already been in contact with the Tanner's, and they are currently dealing with their two rogue agents. Maria Tanner had no part in this, so it doesn't effect the deal we are doing.” Isaac said simply, “And you need to leave it alone. This isn't something you can be involved in.”

Before anymore could be said the front door burst open and a man in a leather jacket and jeans rushed into the room. He took a quickly look around before rushing over to the kitchen counter and stopping right in front of the kid. The guy was handsome in a rough kind of way and looked like he was about to explode with nerves, “Stiles.” he said in relief before leaning forward to kiss the kid gently

Isaac relaxed next to them and was quickly joined by the twins. They all watched as the new person kissed the kid, Stiles, for a few more seconds before pulling back and putting their foreheads together.

“Is everything handled?” Stiles asked

“Maria took care of it. She knows how big a problem this is, so she let us call the Argents to deal with it.” there was a sort of darkness to the statement but both of them were smiling. And then the man was looking right at the Franklin and Bash group. He was across the room in seconds and was smiling at them gratefully as he offered his hand, which Jared took, “I really don't know how to thank you for finding him. He was missing for hours.”

“No problem. I couldn't just leave a bleeding kid out on the beach.” Jared said truthfully. He looked down at the hand holding his and was surprised to see a tattoo matching the one the kid, Stiles, had, “Are you his husband?”

“Yeah, Derek Hale. And you are?” he seemed genuinely happy about everything that was going on right now and everyone would understand that

“I'm Jared Franklin.” Then it hit Jared, “You're Derek Hale, head of Hale House?”

Derek took his hand back but kept smiling, “Yeah. And if you ever need anything, Hale House owes you one.” there were murmured agreement from the others in the room

“Well...” Jared hesitated before asking, “Is it true your trying to work out some kind of deal with Tanner?”

“It's a work in progress.” Derek said, smile falling, “This is gonna set us back a bit.”

Peter snorted, “I'll bet.”

Jared elbowed him and continued, “I was thinking that your negotiations might go a little better with legal help. We all happen to work for a very powerful law firm, Infeld, Daniels, King, and would be happy to help in any way we can.”

Derek looked a little confused by that, “We've never really tried using lawyers before. Most agreements are made on good faith and family ties.”

Stiles sighed from the other end of the room, “Yeah, but this is the first real company we've ever dealt with. I told you it would be different. And I think the fact that I'm a giant bruise right now might prove that we need a little help.”

Derek spun around, “But they don't know the...traditions of our business.” the last part was said with a clear double meaning

“Well, I'm sure we can accommodate for any sort of special circumstances.” Peter said quickly, “Whatever it takes to make sure that both parties are happy and no one else gets hurt.”

Derek seemed to seriously consider this for a few moments before giving a slow nod, “I guess it couldn't hurt. We really need this land deal to work.” he looked at Jared, “Will you be in charge of this?”

“If that is what you want.” Jared said quickly with a smile, “Like Peter said, anything to make you comfortable.”

Derek sighed but nodded, “We'll be by tomorrow at 11 to set stuff up and fill you in on the traditions. We'll bring some people to help with negotiating a contract.” he held out his hand to Jared

Jared took it and shook it, “We'll be looking forward to it.”

With that Derek turned around, “Ethan, Aiden, Isaac, help Stiles to the car. We've got to get him home and properly patched up.”

And then they were gone, just like that. Jared may have been slightly freaked out, but he couldn't help but smile at the look that Damien would have on his face when he heard they had just booked the up and coming Hale House as clients of the firm.

Chapter Text

Damien was having a wonderful day. He had had Court that morning and blown the Prosecutor's case to bits in minutes, leaving him with a few hours that morning to catch up on every single piece of paperwork he had. To top it all off he hadn't seen Franklin or Bash all day. And because of that, he had an extra hour to enjoy his lunch until his next client. He was heading toward the elevators when he spotted someone leaning against the wall and looking bored. He was dressed in a nice suit, leather shoes, and a silk scarf instead of a tie that seemed to just bring the whole outfit together. He was shorter then Damien, with lightly tanned skin and short cut brown hair that matched the color of the man's goatee. He was leaning up against the wall next to the closest elevator and seemed uninterested in everything around him.

Damien walked right up to him and tapped the man on the shoulder. The man blinked lazily before turning his head slowly to look at Damien's face. In that instant, Damien was struck by some sort of invisible force. He felt like taking a step back to breath and at the same time taking an extra step forward to be closer to the mystery man. And by the look on the man's face, he felt that strange force as well. But unlike Damien, who was confused as all Hell as to what was going on, the mystery man was grinning like the cat that got the canary. He held out his hand and said simply in a voice that made Damien shiver slightly, “Peter Hale. And you are?”

Damien reacted more out of instinct then anything when he took the man's hand, shook it, and said, “Damien Karp. Pleased to meet you.”

Peter Hale grinned a bit wider, “Oh, the pleasure is all mine.” as the man took his hand back he allowed his fingers to slide over Damien's pulse point. This shocked Damien so much that he snapped out of his stupor and got back to why he had tapped the man on the shoulder in the first place

He cleared his throat and blinked a few times before asking, “Are you here looking for someone Mr. Hale?”

“Please, call me Peter. And no, I'm not looking for anyone. I'm here to pick up my nephew and his husband. They came to work some things out with two lawyers. A mere territory dispute, hardly worth all the fuss.” Peter waved his hand in the air as if doing so would make the problem go away

“If it's territory or land, I'm the lawyer you should be seeing.” Damien was quick to say, “I'm the best in the firm at that sort of thing.”

Peter's smirk seemed to grow and his eyes, which were an icy blue, almost seemed to glow with excitement of some kind, “Well, isn't that wonderful. Perhaps you could convince my nephew you use you instead. I've met his new lawyers, complete children in my opinion.”

Damien felt his stomach drop a bit and his smile fell slightly, “You wouldn't happen to be talking about Franklin and Bash would you.”

Peter nodded, “Those are the idiots.” he let out a slightly aggravated sigh, “I come to pick them up and what do I find? My nephew playing ping pong with his lawyers. And then my nephew in law tells me to wait out here because I have the same name as one of them and having us both in the same room is to confusing without name tags.” he lets out another sigh and closes his eyes, tilting his head back to lean against the wall

Damien tries so very hard not to look at the expanse of neck that is now in view. It's flawless skin with just a hint of stubble. Damien finds he has the sudden urge to lean down and bite that neck so hard it leaves a bruise for weeks. He even catches himself leaning forward slightly. He is snapped back to reality when Peter suddenly moves away from the wall and is now facing Damien, hands in his pockets.

“You know what would serve them right?” Peter asks. A few seconds go by before Damien realizes the man wants a response and simply shakes his head 'no', “If I signed you on to join our new legal team. I have that right as one of the board members of the company my nephew runs. And I would feel so much better knowing someone competent was on the case.”

Damien is shocked to say the least but has to agree that it would be satisfying. Because while he is no longer arch rival to the pair, he still likes to trip them up every chance he gets. And then he remembers his lunch as his stomach lets out a small growl. Before he can ask Peter to set up an appointment, the man is talking again.

“In fact, how about we discuss the whole thing over lunch?” Peter turns and hits the down button, “Yes, I think a lunch date would be just perfect for what I have in mind.”

And for some reason, that single sentence causes Damien to shiver. He doesn't know why, but he feels like he should just follow this man. If for no other reason then to try and explain all these sudden urges. So he simply nods and follows Peter into the elevator.

As soon as the elevator door closes a group of four come around the corner. They all looked around in confusion and one of them asked, “We said by the elevators right?”

One of them then seemed to take a deep breath and sighed, “It's no use, he found something else to do.”

The first one to speak asked, “What do you mean?”

“I'll tell you later.” Derek sighed, for it was him, Stiles, Jared Franklin, and Peter Bash. Derek turned to his new layers, as the papers had just been signed, “We're having a little get together tonight with all the main people in the Company. You should come and we'll explain those things we couldn't talk about here.”

Jared nodded, “Sure, that would be great. I'm looking forward to hearing this big family secret you keep talking about.”

Derek just smirked slightly as Stiles giggled while pushing the elevator button.

Damien looked around the restaurant he found himself in and was amazed. The chandeliers were obviously pure crystal by the way the light shown off them. The table cloths felt like silk. The silverware was real silver. And the plates were patterned with gold. He had been in many fancy places over the years, but never to this one. Mostly because the place was extremely exclusive. But when Peter Hale had walked through the door the hostess had fallen over herself to get them to a private room in the back. Obviously Peter Hale was a man a great influence.

Speaking of Peter, he was smirking across the table at Damien, “Do you like this place?”

“Oh, yes, very nice.” Damien said quickly, coming out of his shock, “I've always wanted to come here but I could never get a table.”

“Yes, I can understand that. This place only caters to...individuals like myself. It's not really about who you know, more who you are.” the smile he gave at that point was filled with secrets. And for some reason, Damien wanted to know every single one as soon as possible

“I see. And who do you need to be to get a table?” Damien asked

“Oh, thats not something I can tell you yet. I have to get to know you a bit better first. Hopefully, by the end of this meal, you'll know everything you need to.” Peter leaned across the table and winked, “But only if you feel it too.”

Damien was suddenly very nervous. Apparently he wasn't the only one who felt the strange pull. And it seemed that Peter knew exactly what it meant, “So you know what this...” he really wasn't sure how to put what he was feeling without being incredibly forward

Peter just chuckled, “Oh, I do indeed feel it Damien. And I'll tell you what it is over a good steak. I hope you don't mind your meat on the pink side. This place doesn't cook anything over Medium Rare.”

That night was met with excitement and curiosity by Jared and Peter. They were going to meet the rest of the Hale House Company board members and learn why this particular family didn't use lawyers. They were vibrating with excitement as they pulled up to camp ground on the outside of town. The place was secluded, wooded, and very exclusive if the guards a few miles back were any indication. They got out of the car and looked around. The place was beautiful. The trees were green, the forest filled with the sounds of wild life, and there was a great view of a small lake. In front of them were three deluxe RV campers forming a semi-circle in the middle of a clearing. And in the middle of the semi-circle were a few picnic tables all set up for a barbeque. There were several young men and women running around getting the tables set up and making food.

Jared and Peter were suddenly confronted with a young man who seemed to appear out of nowhere. He had blond hair, blue eyes, and was dressed like a men's catalog add for outdoor wear. He would have been very handsome if not for the slight scowl on his face. He just glared slightly at them for a few seconds before asking, “You the lawyers?”

Jared ignored the attitude and smiled, “Yup, thats us.” he held out a hand, “Jared Franklin, and this is my associate Peter Bash.”

The young man looked at the hand but didn't take it. He simply said, “I'm Jackson.” before turning and motioning them to follow him

As they were led farther into the small camp ground everyone turned to look at them. It felt a bit intimidating because almost everyone seemed very wary of them. It gave the feeling that Peter and Jared were outsiders and needed to earn trust to be accepted. Luckily, it was at that moment that Stiles emerged from one of the Campers and came bounding over to them with a large smile. As soon as this happened the feeling seemed to almost vanish.

“Hey, you found us. Sorry about the seclusion and stuff, but it's necessary sometimes. You'll understand by the end of the meal.” he looked around, as if slightly confused, “Is Damien not with you?”

This question shocked both Peter and Jared, “Damien?” Peter asked

“Yeah, Damien Karp.” Stiles smile dimmed slightly, “Did he not tell you guys he was coming? He even called to confirm the time and place of the meeting.”

“Why would he?” asked Jared, “He doesn't even know we've signed you guys to the firm yet.”

“Oh, that isn't true at all.” a voice suddenly said from directly behind the three

Peter and Jared jumped in shock but Stiles just sighed. Peter and Jared turned to see Peter Hale standing there with a big shit eating grin on his face. After getting over the shock of the man appearing out of nowhere Peter asked, “Mr. Hale, what are you talking about?”

“Oh, it was the most wonderful coincidence. I was waiting for you to be done with your...meeting...when I met the most interesting man. He claimed to be the most knowledgeable about property law, so I invited him out to lunch. By the end of the meal he was signed up on our legal team, same as you two. Of course, he knows a bit more about whats going on then the pair of you do.” Peter chuckled, “I hope you take it as well as Damien did.”

Peter and Jared were stunned. Not only was Karp now working with them, he also knew what the big secret was before they did. How in the hell was that even fair? They were quickly brought out of their shock when a loud shout of “WHAT?” filled the campground and Derek Hale came bursting out of the same Camper Stiles had emerged from. He was across the campground in less then a second and had Peter pinned to the ground, “WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?”

While Jared and Peter found the whole thing alarming, no one else even spared a second look at the commotion as they continued setting everything up. When Peter moved forward to pull Derek off his Uncle Stiles grabbed his arm to stop him, “Just let it play out. This is the way we do things around here.”

Peter was about to argue but was drawn to the scuffle again when Peter Hale responded, “I informed my mate of the soul bond and all it entails.” he was calm and didn't seem at all threatened by the larger man on top of him.

And while the fighting hadn't caught anyone's attention, that single sentence was enough to freeze everyone in their tracks and draw their eyes to him. Apparently, whatever Peter Hale had just said was a big deal. And in an instant there were several shouted questions and everyone was rushing over to the small group. Jared and Peter were suddenly pushed to the outside of the group. There were mixed emotions from the large group. A few looked angry. Some of them just looked stunned. But a select few were congratulating the man who was still pinned to the ground.

The whole thing was turning into a circus and getting out of control fast. And then a shout broke through the chaos, “GET THE HELL OFF OF HIM.”

Everyone turned to see Damien Karp, who had pulled up during all the insanity. He looked both angry and a little afraid at what was happening. Derek was thrown back several feet as Peter Hale kicked him in the stomach and rushed across the campground to take Damien into a tight hug while nuzzling the man's neck. And to Jared and Peter's shock, Damien hugged the man back and let himself be cuddled with a warm smile on his face. Jared thought he smelled smoke all of a sudden and was sure his brain had just blown a fuse. Nothing was making any sense right now.

Peter however reacted a bit more logically. He just turned to Derek who was laying on the ground and staring at his Uncle in shock, “I think it's time to tell us what is going on.”

Derek just nodded as Stiles helped him to his feet, “Yeah, I think so.” he turned to a tan man with black hair and said, “Get the meat started Danny, it'll be best to do this over a good meal.”

The young man, Danny, nodded. He had a large smile on his face and was glancing to Peter every few seconds, “Yeah, I can do that.” then he got a sort of kicked puppy look on his face and said, “Go easy on him Derek, he needed this.” before heading over to the grill on the other side of the campground, quickly followed by the familiar twins who had come after Stiles a few nights ago

Derek turned back to Jared and Peter and motioned to the closest Picnic table, “Have a seat. You'll want to be sitting for this.” he called out to an older man who was helping set the tables, “Chris, can you get these guys some beer. They might need it.”

The man, Chris, nodded, “Sure.” and went over to a large cooler to get a few bottles and brought them over to the table, “Should I stick around and help?”

Derek nodded, “Yeah, you can help explain it from the human point of view.”

Jared frowned, “Human?”

Derek just smirked and all of a sudden his eyes glowed a bright red and his teeth turned into small fangs, “Yeah, as in I'm not one.”