Archive of Our Own

Chris Argent had always been observant. And after his journey from stepping foot into Beacon Hills to losing his only daughter to being somewhat of a McCall pack mentor, he only became more perceptive. And he learned the staggering importance of slowing down and watching, slowing down and noticing because that’s when things became strikingly clear.

And right now, there was nothing more clear than Theo Raeken’s discomfort and wariness.

The chimera was stiff, standing in the far corner of the McCall living room with a face so blank that it was transparent. At least to Chris.

And in all honesty, Chris didn’t give a fuck about whether Theo was uncomfortable because that was the least he deserved. 

But there was something in the rigid set of Theo’s shoulders and his sunken eyes, and the way he’d blink hard every few minutes that set Chris on edge, made him wary of the chimera despite the fact that he had a gun a foot away from him on the table. And Chris hated not knowing all the pieces to the puzzle, despised that he couldn’t tie up the loose end that was Theo Raeken. 

And a small but unrelenting corner of Chris’s mind kept hinting that maybe part of it was because there was a little piece of him that could see himself reflected in Theo. He saw himself in the chimera’s blatant suspicion, in his gut instinct to trust no one but himself, in the way Theo always seemed to catalogue the entire room the second he stepped into it like he was mapping out an exit strategy in his head. 

“Chris, you were saying something about patrols?” Scott asked, and Chris was pulled out of his thoughts abruptly when he heard his name. 

He took a second to process the alpha’s words and nodded. “I was saying it would be better to stick together,” he said gravely, the tension of the ongoing fight with the hunters settling into his bones again. “No more patrolling out there alone. It’s too big a risk.”

Scott pressed his lips into a thin line and exchanged a glance with Stiles. “Yeah,” the alpha breathed out, turning to the rest of the pack. “Too many people have gotten hurt already, so just—if you’re on patrol, don’t do it alone.”

The pack murmured their agreement, and Chris’s gaze darted to Theo again, who—like he had predicted—looked like he was half a second away from running away, although he was trying to hide it. And Chris didn't know what made him do it—maybe the leftover thoughts from his earlier contemplation—but he found himself speaking up before the words even fully registered in his own brain. “I can take patrol tonight,” he declared before deliberately looking at Theo. “You’re coming with me.”

The chimera looked taken aback for a moment, his mouth parting in shock, but he recovered unnaturally quickly, his jaw clenching as he jerked a nod. And if the rest of the pack thought Chris was acting strange, they didn’t voice it, although he could feel multiple confused stares on the side of his face. But as the pack slowly started to leave the room, Chris noticed something that had him narrowing his eyes. 

Liam, despite being a few yards away from Theo, was watching him with a locked jaw. And it only took a couple of seconds for Theo to realize because the chimera lifted his head and looked back at the beta, and for a long minute, they just stared. Chris squinted his eyes more, darting them back and forth between the two teenagers, but it wasn’t enough. Whatever they were doing, whatever they were saying, was inaccessible to him, to everyone besides them. Theo’s face was barely moving, but somehow Liam seemed to understand something in it because the beta jerked his head subtly towards the door, and the next thing Chris knew, they were both gone, the door falling shut behind them.

Chris looked around the room to see if any of the remaining pack members had noticed it too, but they were all caught up in their own conversations. 

His eyes flicked towards the door for a moment before he let out a small sigh. Something was going on, and he needed to figure it out before it ended up hurting the pack again.

---

Chris could honestly say that he hadn’t expected this, although it wasn’t that surprising when he thought about it.

“You’re homeless,” he stated, watching as Theo flinched almost imperceptibly before closing his face off again, his eyes vacant and staring out into the preserve. Chris could almost hear the way the chimera was chastising himself in his head for leaving the blanket out in the backseat, and he gave Theo one last glance before pulling his gaze away. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“This isn’t the place to do this,” Theo responded, his voice a little too steady, and Chris felt a little concern stir in his chest, but he ignored it. Theo was right, patrol wasn’t the place to do this, but after minutes of complete silence, Chris spoke up again.

“Theo—”

“I don’t want your pity,” Theo cut him off, and there was a hint of bitterness in his voice now. “You didn’t care before you found out. There’s no reason for you to start caring now.”

Chris fell silent because he couldn’t say anything to that. He couldn’t even deny it because it’s been months since Theo had come back, and no one in the pack had bothered to check in on the chimera. They’d all assumed he was fine because that’s what Theo showed them, and they believed it, even though a large part of the pack didn’t trust him. But there was someone who apparently did, even if he didn’t fully acknowledge it yet.

“Does Lia—”

“Stiles does,” Theo interrupted, his voice hard, and Chris’s eyes widened for a split second. “And if Stiles knows, so does Scott.”

Scott knows, and he didn’t do anything about it? And for a moment, Chris had a hard time believing that Scott was even capable of something like that, but then flashes of the alpha flickered through his mind. The way he was almost always tense now, the way his eyes lost some of the naive innocence he’d carried with him for years, the way he looked at Stiles during pack meetings more and more, and Chris thought: maybe he was.

Chris must not have been as poker-faced as he thought he’d been because he was pulled out his thoughts by a short, humorless snort.

“Don’t worry about me,” Theo almost drawled, and Chris wondered how the chimera was so casual about something like this, but then again, he’d been doing it for months now. “I’ll be fine. I always am.”

And Chris couldn’t help but think that despite the chimera’s nonchalance, it sounded like Theo was trying to convince himself.

---

Melissa snapped her fingers in front of his face, and Chris nearly jumped out of his skin. She let out a short laugh, but he could see her curiosity as she pulled out a couple of plates from the cabinet. 

“What’s on your mind?” Melissa asked, and Chris hesitated for a moment before sighing heavily. He leaned down and grabbed the lasagna from the oven, walking it over to the table before speaking. 

“I was just thinking of everything that’s happened over the last few years,” he said, which wasn’t a complete lie, but he couldn’t tell Melissa that what he was actually thinking about was how her son seemed to be more vindictive—not that Chris could blame him—than everyone thought he was. “How much everyone’s changed because of it.”

Melissa pursed her lips as she sat down, her laughter fading. “They’re just kids,” she stated softly, but Chris could hear the distress behind her words. “And now they’re stuck in this,” she waved her hand around vaguely, “and I hate that we can’t even do anything about it.”

“They’re just kids,” Chris repeated hollowly. He let out a short breath, a shadow of a smirk on his lips, but it was anything but amused. All of them were just kids.

The nurse paused, the fork in her hand hanging limply as she stared at him. “Chris, what’s wrong?”

He blinked, suddenly noticing Melissa’s concern, and he shook his head. “Nothing.”

“Chris.” 

Melissa was clearly worried now, her food forgotten as she tilted her head slightly. Chris opened his mouth, then closed it again. After a few seconds, he got his thoughts in order and spoke. “After everything I did to Scott, how did you forgive me?” Melissa looked stunned, and he hastily grabbed her hand. “I—I was just thinking about it. I’m fine, but…”

She swallowed, her eyes a little wary, and Chris waited patiently for her to answer. “You were doing what you were brought up to do, and that doesn’t justify everything, but…” Melissa trailed off and met his gaze. “But you realized that what you were doing was wrong, and you changed. And if Scott could see that, then who was I to stop him from giving you a second chance? Everyone deserves a second chance.”

Chris briefly closed his eyes, her words washing over him, before reopening them and giving her a smile. “Thank you for giving me that chance.” Theo never got that chance, he thought, even as he outwardly relaxed.

Melissa’s eyes squinted happily, her lips tilting up in acknowledgement, and she picked up her fork again. “Now eat. I didn’t make this lasagna so we can eat it cold.”

His grin widened, and he picked up his fork, both of them turning to a more lighthearted conversation as the sun sunk lower. 

But Melissa’s words continued to echo in his head long after she was asleep, and Chris lied awake, ruminating over them again and again.

---

Theo looked like he was about to fall over, and Chris wondered how all of them had been so oblivious for so long, how he had been so oblivious. Because in spite of the chimera’s insistence to portray himself as completely okay, Chris could clearly see that he was not.

“A few hunters tried attacking Peter yesterday,” Derek stated, his face grim. “They’re getting more confident again, even though Monroe’s still in hiding.”

Scott let out a sigh, and he looked exhausted. Chris’s mind replayed they’re just kids again, and his jaw tightened. Stiles’s lips thinned and his voice was quiet when he spoke. “This war won’t be over until we get Monroe, and honestly,” Stiles let out a sarcastic laugh, “I don’t even know if it’ll end then. But all we can do now is fight.” The human looked down at the table in front of him briefly before looking back up at the pack. “And try to stay inside as much as you can, especially when it gets dark. These hunters aren’t stopping anytime soon.”

The atmosphere plunged in the room, and Chris blinked in shock at Stiles’s words. Could Stiles really be that cruel, or was it just ignorance? Chris watched as Theo just barely flinched and then straightened up immediately. No one else seemed to notice, and even Scott didn’t say anything to Stiles, and Chris was a little stunned.

Theo was talking to Liam quietly in front of his truck when Chris finally got outside, and the chimera stiffened when he noticed him. Liam seemed a little alarmed, and Chris’s eyes fell to the beta’s hand on Theo’s arm, almost like Liam was trying to comfort him, but Theo stepped away from it almost instantly. Liam’s arm fell down limply, and the beta’s face contorted, an expression on it that Chris couldn’t quite place yet.

“You have a minute?” Chris asked Theo, and the chimera’s eyes darted to Liam for a split second, so quickly that he almost missed it. But Chris could see why Theo was hesitating, and he turned to Liam. “Liam, I heard Mason asking for you inside.”

It wasn’t a lie, and Liam gave Theo one last look before heading back inside the house, leaving Chris alone with Theo. Tense silence dragged on between them for a minute before Chris cleared his throat softly.

“I have an apartm—”

“I don’t,” Theo practically seethed, and Chris faltered, “want your pity. Go back inside, Argent, and leave me alone. I’m fine where I am, and I don’t need your charity.”

Chris’s irritation flared, something Theo evidently caught, judging from the way his nose wrinkled slightly. “It’s not charity or pity, Theo. You can’t live in your goddamn truck.”

“I’ve been doing it for this long,” Theo retorted, his eyes a little wild. “So I think I’m okay. And besides,” Theo’s mouth twisted up into a bitter smirk, “You saw what happened inside, didn’t you? Shouldn’t go up against your alpha, Argent.”

And for the first time in a while, Chris was a little furious at Scott. The alpha had every right to hate Theo, every right to be wary, but this felt like crossing some sort of line. Letting the chimera live in his truck was a level of resentful that even Chris couldn’t feel, and his jaw ticked as he glared at Theo. 

“This isn’t about Scott, this is about you,” Chris said, and Theo’s eyes widened slightly. “You’re barely eighteen, Theo—you shouldn’t be living in your truck. And where do you even eat?”

Theo’s stoic exterior cracked just a little, and Chris saw the anguish in his eyes before he closed up again. “That doesn’t concern you.”

“It does now,” Chris bit out, his voice hard. “When was the last time you ate?”

“Fuck off, Argent,” Theo breathed out, apparently reaching the last strand of his patience. “I’m still here, aren’t I?”

Chris took in Theo’s rigid posture, and his gaze dropped to the chimera’s hands, both clenched up into fists. “For how long, Theo?” he asked, and Theo flinched, not bothering to hide it this time. “You can’t survive like this, can’t live like this. How long do you think you’ll still be here if you keep going on like this?”

“Long enough,” Theo snapped, his voice hoarse, but he suddenly quieted, almost like he was sinking into himself. “Too long.”

Chris’s head whipped up, the weight of Theo’s words hitting him. “Theo—”

“Don’t,” Theo rasped, and for a second, he sounded like the eighteen-year-old that he was, instead of the ruthless chimera that Chris remembered from last year. They’re just kids resounded in his head again as he watched Theo compose himself. “I have to go.”

Theo was delusional if he thought Chris was just gonna let him walk away after this. “I have an empty apartment,” Chris repeated, one arm reaching out to block Theo from opening his truck door. “I’ll text you the address.”

Theo stared at him for a few moments silently, his jaw working as he mulled over the words. “You—”

Chris cut him off by grabbing his hand and dropping the keys he had made sure to grab this morning from the nightstand in it. “Security code’s 0125.” Theo gaped, his unperturbed facade breaking down, and Chris couldn’t help but be slightly satisfied at that. “Keep an eye out for hunters.”

It was all he said before turning around and walking back towards the house, and he felt Theo’s gaze on his back until he stepped inside, his eyes flicking to the chimera once more before closing the door. 

The sound of Theo’s truck starting came from the other side of the door, and Chris let out a short sigh before turning around and making his way to the living room. The rest of the pack was still lounging around, and it was only when Chris passed by Liam when the beta faltered in his conversation with Mason and Corey, his head cocking to the side.

His eyes stayed on Chris for a few more minutes, and Chris tried to put all the little moments together, tried to figure out what was happening, but it was still a little out of reach. Liam eventually looked away, but Chris’s mind was still stuck on the way Liam and Theo had been looking at each other before he’d interrupted them outside.

And for some reason, Chris felt like he was missing something important, missing something right in front of his eyes.

---

Chris hadn’t seen Theo for the last three days, but he kept getting the notifications that his alarm system was being turned on and off, so he let the chimera keep his distance. He knew what it was like to be suspicious of everyone but yourself, and in the short time he’d been observing Theo, he’d figured out quickly that the chimera wasn’t good with dealing with vulnerability. 

But now there was a pack meeting, and Theo wasn’t here. 

“I’ve tried calling him, but it keeps going to voicemail,” Scott sighed out, one hand rubbing his temples. “He hasn’t answered any of my texts either.”

Chris’s eyes narrowed when he noticed Liam pulling out his phone. The rest of the pack didn’t seem to realize—or in Mason’s case, didn’t say anything even though he did—and Liam discreetly put the phone up to his ear. Chris shuffled a little closer slowly, hoping he could catch what Liam was saying because he had a pretty good idea of who the beta was calling.

“Why aren’t you here?” Liam hissed into the phone, and Chris bit back a small smirk at being proven right. Liam’s eyes darted to Scott, who was still talking to Stiles and Derek, before dropping to the floor again. “What happened?” It was silent for a few moments—and for a second, Chris wished he could hear what Theo was saying on the other side of the phone—and then Liam exhaled softly. “Okay fine, but you better be here soon.”

Liam slipped his phone back into his pocket, and after exchanging a quick glance with Mason, he turned to the rest of the pack. “Theo will be here in ten. He said to start without him.”

The room fell silent, and Chris almost grinned at Scott’s confusion. “Did he tell you that or…”

“Yeah.” Liam’s voice left no room for questions, although judging from the older pack’s faces, they had hundreds of them. When no one spoke up, still staring at the beta in disbelief, Liam huffed. “Why aren’t we starting? Hunters trying to kill us, remember?”

That seemed to break everyone out of the shock they had fallen into, and Scott nodded once before starting the meeting, informing the pack about the new information they’d gotten from one of Chris’s contacts. 

By the time Theo entered the room, Derek was in the middle of going over all the various places Monroe had been sighted. The chimera stiffened when he walked in, and he resolutely avoided Chris’s eyes and stood next to Liam—a little close, Chris observed, when he saw their arms brush together. When the meeting finally drew to a close, no one left the room, apparently sensing that something was about to happen. 

“Theo, where have you been?” Scott asked, and the chimera crossed his arms over his chest, his face as blank as always.

“Around.”

Liam’s mouth pulled down into a frown, but he didn’t say anything as Stiles turned to the chimera with a sharp glare. “You don’t get to do that, not when we’re in the middle of a goddamn war,” the human scowled. “You don’t get to run away and hide so that you can be safe.”

Safe? Chris thought incredulously as he watched Theo’s eyes harden. If he hadn’t given Theo his old apartment, Theo would’ve still been living in his truck, nowhere near safe. And yeah, Stiles and Scott’s animosity wasn’t irrational, but this had gone on for long enough. And Stiles goading Theo every chance he got even though he knew seemed a little too harsh, even for Chris, because Theo was still just a kid.

“I wasn’t hiding—”

“Scott,” Chris interjected, and he saw the chimera’s eyes widen, caught the panic written on his face. But Chris was done letting this drag out. “Don’t you think this is a little ext—”

“Argent,” Theo snarled, and pin-drop silence filled the room, the tension palpable as everyone looked in between him and Theo. Liam shifted towards the chimera, and Chris saw Theo freeze when he sensed the beta’s proximity. 

“Scott,” Chris repeated, keeping his eyes on Theo, “I get that you’re wary, but this isn’t right.”

Theo let out a growl, but he looked defeated, like he had realized that Chris was going to go through with this, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. 

“What isn’t right?” Scott asked, and Chris finally pulled his gaze away from Theo, catching the alpha’s puzzled expression. When neither Theo or Chris responded, Scott’s eyes darted between them. “Chris,” he pressed, “What isn’t right?”

Theo’s lips were pressed together, but Chris saw the hint of confusion in them because didn’t Scott know? Chris swallowed, turning to Scott. “Theo,” he stated, but when the alpha’s brows just furrowed together, Chris bit the inside of his cheek and narrowed his eyes. “In his truck?”

His subtle tries at getting Scott to understand weren’t working for the alpha, but they did for Stiles. The human’s head snapped to the chimera, a little horror evident on his face, and Theo clenched his jaw when he noticed. 

“Theo, what are they talking about?” Liam demanded quietly, but Theo didn’t even acknowledge the beta. He met Stiles’s gaze for a few long moments, both teenagers staring at each other—Stiles in indignation and Theo in thinly veiled apprehension. 

“You thought we knew,” Stiles whispered, and Theo looked away. Chris watched as Stiles’s face twisted while the chimera actively tried to avoid Liam’s searching gaze. “You thought we fucking knew,” the human repeated, his voice growing louder, “And that we said nothing on purpose.”

“You had every right to,” Theo finally said, and despite everything that the chimera had done last year to the pack, Chris couldn’t see any part of that Theo standing there in front of them. And even though Theo was trying to appear unaffected, Chris couldn’t help but think he seemed so small in that moment. “I don’t blame you for that.”

“We didn’t know,” Stiles almost shrieked, and Chris blinked, Stiles’s words from before finally registering in his head. Theo had said Stiles and Scott knew, but… was that just an unfounded assumption? “Why the fuck did you think we knew?”

“It was your dad’s deputies that kept waking me up,” Theo snapped, and Stiles took a step back at the edge in the chimera’s voice. “Forgive me for not thinking that you somehow didn’t know.”

Chris watched as understanding dawned on the rest of the pack slowly, and Scott’s face held so much anguish that Chris felt a little bad for ever thinking that the alpha was capable of leaving Theo like that. 

“You’re homeless?” Scott asked in horror, and Theo’s eyes darted to Chris.

“No.”

Scott caught the movement, and he seemed to make the connection quickly because his mouth parted in surprise before turning back to Theo. “You were homeless?” he corrected, and Theo didn’t answer, the silence telling enough. 

All of a sudden, Chris heard a low growl, and his eyes flickered around the room until they fell on Liam, whose eyes were flashing gold as he glowered at Theo. The chimera’s jaw ticked when he realized, but he muttered something under his breath, something that Chris was too far away to hear over the older pack’s conversation about their ignorance about Theo’s situation next to him. Liam didn’t fully calm down, but he managed to get his shift back in control, although his eyes still conveyed his anger perfectly well without the gold eyes. 

“Theo,” Scott started, and the chimera pursed his lips and turned to him. “We wouldn’t leave you like that if we knew. You know that, right?”

Theo scoffed, and that was an answer in itself because Chris knew, knew that the chimera didn’t think he was pack. And Chris couldn’t really blame him. How could he when Theo had thought Scott and Stiles had left him living in his truck as some sort of punishment for what he did? 

“You didn’t know, got it,” Theo said, acknowledging the implication behind Scott’s words but not accepting it. “I have to go. I’ll see you guys later.”

To Chris’s surprise, no one in the pack stopped him, although that might’ve been because of the way Liam’s eyes flared once before following Theo out quickly. Mason looked like he wanted to go after his best friend, but Corey and Brett both stopped him with a look that Chris couldn’t fully interpret. 

The aftermath of the confrontation left a heavy weight lingering in the air, and Chris knew that it wouldn’t leave anytime soon, even though Theo was already gone.

---

“He told you that both of us already knew?” Scott asked, aghast, and Chris nodded, eyes moving between the members of the older pack. “And you—you believed him?”

Chris faltered, and he was sure that Scott, Malia, and Derek could all smell his guilt, but outwardly, his expression didn’t change. “I—” he started, but hesitated again, unsure of what exactly to say. “He was convinced that you guys knew and that it was some sort of retribution against him.”

Stiles’s mouth was pulled in a straight line as he stared at Chris. “And you thought that that was true?”

“I don’t know,” Chris answered honestly. “After everything he did to you,” he nodded at Scott, “and the pack…” Chris trailed off, the unsaid words hanging in the air. 

“Where is he staying now?” Lydia asked, and Chris was a little grateful for the banshee attempting to move on from the previous topic. 

“My old apartment,” he replied, his voice gruff. “He refused at first, but he—he was about to collapse. Part of the reason why I believed him when he said that you guys knew was that it was so obvious when you looked at him. I don’t think he was even eating.”

Everyone looked a little taken aback, but the guilt and shame was clear on their faces. Chris knew that this was something that would haunt them for a while, especially considering how harsh they’d been on the chimera for the last few months. The only ones who hadn’t were Liam and the Puppy Pack, although they hadn’t known either, judging from Liam’s reaction. 

“I just—” Scott huffed, a hint of irritation coloring his face. “I just don’t get why Theo thought we’d do this on purpose; we’d never do that to anyone in the pack, no matter what they did before.”

“Well, is he pack?” Derek asked the alpha, and Scott looked offended. 

“Yeah—”

“Does he know that?” the older werewolf cut Scott off, and the alpha balked, his brows pulling together. Derek waited for a few seconds before nodding, his eyes darting up to Chris for a moment. “Exactly.”

Chris took over, pulling together everything he’d observed for the last few weeks. “He doesn’t think he’s pack, doesn’t even think he’s an ally,” Chris declared, his voice unyielding, and he saw Scott’s expression crack open, but he didn’t stop. Scott needed to hear this, needed to know that despite his best intentions, the chimera saw things differently. 

“But he—”

Chris interrupted Malia, knowing what she was going to say. “I’m not excusing what he’s done, and I’m not telling you to forget that. But just—” Chris briefly remembered Melissa’s words from weeks ago, and he sighed. “You forgave me,” he said to Scott, and the alpha reeled back. “After I tried to kill you, you gave me a second chance and let me into the pack. You did it with Peter too, and he put you through a lot worse than Theo did.”

The room was dead silent as Chris’s words sunk in, and Scott looked a little ashamed, and Chris could tell that the alpha knew where this was going.

“I’m not saying that what Theo did back then was okay,” Chris continued, remembering how the chimera almost managed to tear the pack apart last year. “But in his shoes, you gave everyone else a second chance and decided he didn’t deserve that. You just sent him to hell, and I don’t know exactly what happened down there, and I know you guys don’t either, but it’s hell. It couldn’t have been pleasant.”

“Fuck,” Stiles whispered, and even Malia was quiet as she mulled over his words. Lydia’s mouth was turned down, her head cocked to the side, and Derek had his arms crossed over his chest, his gaze firmly set on the table in the middle of the room. And Scott was the most affected—like Chris had predicted—his eyes wide and exposing every one of his thoughts as they flashed by. 

“No wonder he doesn’t think he’s pack,” Scott said, letting out a short breath. “Who would?”

---

Chris didn’t know exactly what Scott and the older pack had done, but after two weeks, it was obvious that they’d done something because Theo didn’t stiffen every time he walked in the room anymore. He wasn’t comfortable, but he wasn’t uncomfortable, so Chris supposed that was progress.

At least when it was Theo that they were talking about.

“This is the warehouse,” Stiles said and pointed to a red circle on the map, everyone’s attention solely on the human as he explained their newest plan. “And if everything goes to plan, we’ll be able to get rid of a huge chunk of Monroe’s numbers.”

The room buzzed with both excitement and anxiety, but Chris didn’t want to get his hopes up before they’d actually carried out the mission because he’d seen enough of them go wrong to believe otherwise. 

“Liam,” Scott began, and Chris held back a smirk because he knew what the alpha was about to say, and he knew that Liam wouldn’t even let him finish. “You shou—”

“I’m coming,” the beta cut Scott off, and Chris saw Theo hide a small grin by tilting his head down. “Don’t try and talk me out of it, Scott.”

Scott looked like he wanted to argue, but Stiles gave him a look, one that clearly said this is a fight you won’t win, and Chris almost snorted. Scott let out a heavy sigh and turned away from Liam, who looked triumphant, although everyone in the room knew that if it was up to Scott, the beta wouldn’t be going. 

“Okay,” Scott reluctantly breathed out, his apprehension clear on his face. “Theo, can you drive L—”

“Yeah,” the chimera announced, and Chris’s eyes honed in on the way Liam’s lips spasmed, like he was holding back something. “We’ll meet you guys there.”

There was something in the way Liam and Theo walked out that struck something in Chris—something in the way the beta elbowed Theo in the stomach as soon as the words left Theo’s mouth, in the way the chimera’s face somehow seemed younger—softer, even—when he grinned at Liam, in the way they just existed in the air around each other like it was made for them.

It was overwhelmingly nonsensical, but Chris couldn’t help but think that somehow, it worked.

---

Chris huffed, reloading his gun hastily as two more hunters appeared in the doorway. He saw Scott take down another one out of the corner of his eye, but he didn’t have time to check in on everyone else, pulling up his gun and shooting one of the hunters in the shoulder and the other in the leg. 

The warehouse was in chaos, hunters coming from what seemed like every direction and Chris barely had time to catch his breath before another one started heading his way. All the supernaturals were fighting off multiple hunters at the same time, and Chris aimed a bullet at a hunter that was about to shoot Derek’s back. The werewolf snarled in acknowledgement before turning back to his fight. 

The fight dragged on, and Chris could tell that the teenagers were starting to lose their energy, starting to feel the exhaustion set in. Liam tripped over one of the unconscious hunters, almost falling in the line of fire of another hunter, but suddenly, Theo was there, grabbing onto the beta’s shirt and pulling him back. Chris’s eyes squinted for a split second because he could’ve sworn that Theo had been yards away from Liam, but he didn’t have time to think about it before he felt a bullet graze his shoulder lightly, and he refocused on his own fight. 

Eventually, the hunters started to stay down, and their numbers started thinning. The fight was finally starting to wind down, and a few long minutes later, the last of the hunters fell to the ground, Malia knocking him out with a well-aimed hit to his head.

Rounding up the hunters took longer than Chris wished it would, but he pushed through, helping the Sheriff arrest all of them and giving the teenagers—and Derek—a chance to catch their breath. There was an eerie silence in the warehouse when all the hunters were gone, and Chris exhaled heavily as he motioned to Scott.

The alpha nodded wearily, leaning on Malia as all of them started to leave the warehouse, and Chris knew that he’d have to burn out quite a few wolfsbane bullets out of him. Liam and Theo were the last to come out, Liam’s eyes a little unfocused as Theo nudged him forward with his shoulder. 

They were both still inside the warehouse when Theo froze, and Chris straightened up immediately against his car. And he knew that the other supernaturals, despite their fatigue, had noticed it too, but none of them had time to react. 

The last thing Chris saw before the heat hit him was Theo shoving Liam forward with what seemed like all his strength.

When Chris’s ears finally stopped ringing enough for him to open his eyes, the first thing his gaze landed on was Theo, mostly because he was the only one that wasn’t moving.

Chris slowly pushed himself off the ground, his eyes taking in the blown-up warehouse in front of them. How had they missed that?  

“Theo!”

Chris’s attention was drawn back to the chimera, or more like Liam, who had crawled over to Theo, panic on his face. Scott, despite his injuries, somehow managed to stumble over to the two teenagers, his expression crumpling as he spotted Theo on the ground. 

Liam was shaking the chimera hard, and Chris wanted to tell him that maybe that wasn’t the best idea. But he knew that the beta wouldn’t listen to anything or anyone right now. It was obvious that Theo had pushed Liam away from the warehouse as much as he could before the explosion, obvious that he had taken the brunt of the blast. 

Chris could feel the pack practically sag in relief when Theo’s eyes finally opened, and he slowly made his way over to the chimera. Theo blinked a few times as he sat up, his eyes darting from Liam to Scott to Derek rapidly, and Chris sped up a little, something churning in his gut.

“Theo, why would you do that?” Liam snarled, but Theo’s eyes just widened, dropping down to Liam’s mouth. “You can’t keep sacrificing yourself, you—you asshole.”

The chimera was still staring at Liam’s lips, but Chris had a feeling it didn’t have anything to do with the way Liam’s ears were turning pink. 

“Liam.” Theo’s voice was barely above a whisper, and the beta faltered at how shaky it was, the hand gripping Theo’s forearm tightening. “Liam.”

“What happened?” Liam asked, his concern growing, and Chris suddenly knew, and his heart sank in his chest. “Theo, what’s wrong?”

“Liam, I can’t hear you,” Theo rushed out, his eyes large and glassy. “I can’t hear you.”

The pack gasped quietly behind them, and Liam gaped at the chimera, his expression spasming. Theo’s hands flew up to his ears and he staggered back, and Chris could tell that he was starting to freak out.

“Theo, wait—”

“I can’t fucking hear you,” Theo repeated, his voice wavering, and he pushed back further from Liam, who looked like he was about to break down too. “Why can’t I hear you?”

Chris glanced up at Scott, who was staring in horror at the chimera, and the rest of the pack wasn’t much better. All of them were in shock, doing nothing more than gawking at Theo.

Theo, in spite of the fact that he had just been caught in an explosion, rose to his feet, his eyes a little crazed, and Liam hastily followed him. 

“Theo, you need to—”

“Why can’t I hear you?” Theo mumbled, his gaze on Liam’s lips again, and Chris didn’t need to be supernatural to know that the chimera’s heart rate was probably going off the charts. “Liam, I—”

Liam moved closer, both of his hands latching onto Theo’s arms to hold him still. “Theo, you need to calm down.” The chimera’s eyes dropped to Liam’s hands, and the beta squeezed, almost unconsciously, like he was—

Chris met Derek’s eyes over Liam’s head, and he knew that the werewolf had figured it out too. 

“Liam,” Derek caught the beta’s attention, and Liam turned to him reluctantly. “Keep him focused on you, okay?”

The beta’s face twitched, but he nodded, twisting his head back to Theo, who was looking between Liam and Derek, his eyes fixated on their mouths. 

“Theo, look at me,” Liam said, moving his hands up Theo’s arms to get his attention and the chimera’s mouth parted, probably to voice his panic again, but Liam didn’t let him. “I’m here, okay? You’re gonna be okay, Theo, you’re gonna be fine.”

Somehow, they managed to get Theo into his truck, Chris slamming the accelerator as he drove to Deaton’s—a little recklessly, but he doubted that anyone would fault him for it. Liam was talking to Theo in the backseat, his hands still firmly attached to Theo’s arms, and every time Chris looked at the rearview mirror, Theo’s eyes were locked in on the beta’s lips, clearly trying to understand what he was saying. 

Theo was still a little frantic when he and Liam jumped out of the truck before Chris had even fully parked, but Liam stayed close, one of his hands dropping to intertwine with Theo’s. By the time Chris had made his way into the back room of the clinic, Deaton was shaking his head apologetically. 

“There’s nothing I can do right now,” the druid stated, and Chris’s eyes flickered to the doorway when he heard the rest of the pack rush in. “But this should be temporary. Theo will be fine.”

“But how long?” Liam asked, his voice bordering on hysterical as he tightened his grip on Theo’s hand. 

Deaton let out a small sigh, his gaze darting to the pack before moving back to Liam. “I don’t know, Liam. This might just be a waiting game.”

Theo was getting agitated, and Liam clearly noticed, because he shuffled even closer, his free hand reaching up to cup the back of Theo’s neck. “Theo, you’re gonna be okay,” Liam murmured, his face moving right in front of Theo’s, and Chris pulled his eyes away, the moment seeming a little too intimate to watch. The rest of the pack evidently didn’t care, because they were all staring at Liam and Theo with wide eyes, dumbfounded. Chris cleared his throat softly, being careful not to disturb Liam, and narrowed his eyes and jerked his head towards the exit when the pack turned to him.

Scott understood almost immediately, and he slowly began making his way towards the door, still leaning on Malia, and Chris grabbed a lighter off the counter before following them out. The alpha collapsed into one of the chairs in the lobby, letting out an involuntary groan, and Chris tossed the lighter to Derek, who instantly knelt down besides Scott, asking him to lift his shirt up. 

“You knew?” Scott panted out as Derek brought the lighter closer to his skin, and Chris lifted his head up to see the alpha looking at him. 

Chris’s eyes flickered to the door to the back room before breathing out heavily. “Yeah.”

“Knew what?” Malia piped up, wincing slightly as Scott squeezed her hand harder when Derek fished a bullet out of his arm. 

“They’re each other’s anchors,” Derek answered quietly without looking up from Scott’s arm. “I had my suspicions, but I still wasn’t sure until today.”

Malia pressed her lips together. “Normally I’d disagree with you, but I don’t think I can after all… that.”

Chris snorted, and even Scott’s lips pulled up into a tired smile. Derek pulled Scott’s shirt back in place before standing up, his eyes drifting over to Malia, who shook her head at the silent question. Derek nodded, pocketing the lighter before sinking down into one of the chairs opposite of the alpha. Chris dropped down on the other one, pulling his phone out.

“He pushed Liam in front of him,” Scott commented after a few seconds, and Chris looked up, pressing send on the text informing the rest of the pack that they were at the clinic. His phone began buzzing half a second later, but he ignored it, not keen on explaining everything that had happened over text. 

To Chris’s bewilderment, it was Malia who spoke up first. “Is that really that surprising?” the werecoyote questioned, slumping back into her chair. “I mean, I’m not Theo’s biggest fan, but even I’ve seen that he somehow always seems to be the one saving Liam. Today wasn’t the first time.”

“And it probably won’t be the last,” Derek added, folding his arms over his chest. “Although I have a feeling Liam might have something to say about that after today.”

Chris held back another snort, knowing the might in Derek’s statement was just a formality and completely unnecessary. Scott seemed to recognize that too, because a corner of his mouth quirked up languidly. 

Five minutes later, Liam and Theo still hadn’t come out of the back room, and the clinic was suddenly filled with chaos as some of the pack hurried in. Stiles was the first of course—he’d been outraged when Scott and Derek had told him he couldn’t come with them—and his eyes were a little wild as he entered the clinic.

“What happened?” the human demanded, and Chris saw Mason, Corey, and Brett immediately behind him, their heads swiveling as they looked around the room. 

“We—”

Mason cut Scott off. “Where are Liam and Theo?”

The human’s voice was a little panicked and Brett tilted his head slightly, his eyes scrunching up. “They’re here,” the werewolf declared softly, angling his head towards the back room. 

Mason looked relieved and he started to head towards the door, but Brett stopped him. The werewolf exchanged a glance with Corey, whose expression had turned grave, and Chris knew that both of them had heard something from the back room. 

“Not yet,” Corey stated, and Mason’s brows furrowed. 

“What do you mean not ye—”

“The hunters were all arrested,” Derek cut in, answering Stiles’s question, and everyone turned to him. “But we hadn’t noticed that there was a bomb in the warehouse.”

Mason stiffened, his mind most likely jumping to the worst-case scenario, but Corey grabbed his hand, shaking his head subtly. 

“Theo was the closest,” Scott picked up the explanation, exhaustion dripping from his every word. Mason and Stiles both inhaled sharply, and Scott grimaced. “Deaton said it was temporary, so Liam’s waiting it out with him in there. But Theo’s a little shaken up, since he can’t hear anything, so we decided to give them some space.”

Stiles let out a sigh after hearing that Theo wasn’t severely hurt, leaning back against the counter. He didn’t say anything else, and Chris saw Scott turn to his best friend, confusion on his face. “You’re not surprised?” he asked Stiles, “That Liam’s in there with him?”

“Why would I be surprised?” Stiles responded, eyes flitting to Mason’s momentarily. “Liam’s his anchor.”

Scott’s mouth parted, and despite the situation, Chris couldn’t stop the burst of amusement in his chest. “You knew too?” Scott probed, and Stiles nodded, his lips tilting upwards a bit. 

“Liam’s always anchoring him during pack meetings,” Stiles said, and Chris suddenly realized that he hadn’t been the only one to notice all those moments between the two teenagers. “After the first few times it happened, I put it together.”

Brett, Mason, and Corey didn’t appear shocked by the news either, but Chris knew that Scott wouldn’t be as stunned at that. The three of them were the closest to both Theo and Liam, and Chris was sure that they had probably been the first to figure it out. Probably even before Theo and Liam had figured it out, based on the small grin on Mason’s face. 

No one made any move to leave, none of them keen on abandoning Liam and Theo here, and they all made themselves comfortable in the crowded lobby. And Chris could tell that everyone was rejoicing in the successful mission and taking in that they were all here, but he also knew that the supernaturals were all subtly keeping an ear out for the two teenagers in the back. 

When the door finally opened almost a half-hour later, most of the pack had been on the verge of drifting off to sleep, but when they heard the door creak, they all perked up quickly.

Theo stumbled out first, Liam close behind, and Chris could almost see the way the pack held their breaths. 

“Theo,” Scott started warily, and the chimera’s lips slanted up slightly.

“Hey.”

The relief in the room was unmistakable, and Theo barely had time to walk any further before Corey was pulling him into a hug. The chimera was too startled to avoid it, and his head crashed into the chameleon’s shoulder as he let out an alarmed yelp. Brett lightly cuffed the back of Theo’s head, and the chimera lifted his head up to glare at the werewolf. 

Liam had a small smile on his face as he watched them, but he was pulled forward into a hug by Mason, and his arms tightened around his best friend immediately. 

Chris looked away, letting the five of them have their moment, and glanced at Scott. The alpha was watching the present members of the Puppy Pack with a soft grin, and Chris felt his lips twitch up too, the absurdity of everything that had happened that day fading a little as he looked around at the pack reveling in the comfort of being alive.

---

By the time they all made it back to the McCall house, everyone was on the brink of giving into their exhaustion, and Mason and Brett had to help Liam and Theo inside. The both of them hadn’t gotten the brief rest that the rest of them had in the clinic, and Chris wasn’t actually certain that the wolfsbane in their bodies had been burned out. 

Turned out it hadn’t, and Scott chastised the both of them—albeit sluggishly—as Derek and Chris cauterized their wounds. He was sure that the two teenagers weren’t actually listening, and Scott seemed to realize that too, because he gave up with a resigned sigh. 

“Scott, you need to get some rest,” Chris muttered as he finished burning the last of the wolfsbane out of Liam. “We’ll take care of everything, just go sleep.”

The alpha looked a little reluctant, but Malia didn’t give him a choice, dragging him up the stairs with her. Chris stood up and tossed the lighter on the table before making his way to the guest room, grabbing as many of the worn-down mattresses as he could. When he reentered the living room, Theo was slumped on the couch next to Liam, his eyes closed and his head almost tilting onto the beta’s shoulder. 

Derek and Stiles nodded at him and disappeared into the guest bedroom, while Corey and Brett took the mattresses from Chris’s arms. 

“He’s not asleep, is he?” Chris asked quietly, and Liam shook his head, nudging Theo’s arm gently. The chimera’s eyes opened, although he seemed a little dazed. 

“C’mon, you’ll be more comfortable on the mattress,” Liam whispered, and Theo nodded drowsily. Brett had already settled down on one of the mattresses, Mason and Corey on the other, leaving one open for Theo and Liam. 

Chris waited until the two boys were fully lying down, his lips quirking up a little at the way Theo’s face was pressed into Liam’s neck, before turning the lights off in the room and making his way upstairs. 

If he’d had any lingering doubts about Theo and Liam before, they had all disappeared by the time he reached the top of the stairs.

---

When Chris walked downstairs the next morning, he was greeted with a practically full living room, but everyone was quiet. He rolled his shoulder, still aching from yesterday, and braced himself for the worst as he stepped into the room. 

But he paused when the first thing he saw was Scott smiling. He narrowed his eyes and took a closer look, and held back a smirk when he realized why everyone was crowding the small space.

Theo and Liam were tangled up together on the small, twin mattress next to the couch, both of them still fast asleep. Theo’s head was resting on Liam’s collarbone, which couldn’t have been that comfortable, but the chimera somehow looked perfectly relaxed. Liam’s chin was tilted down and touched the crown of Theo’s head, his steady breaths displacing strands of Theo’s hair, and he had one arm slung loosely around the chimera’s waist. 

All in all, Chris wasn’t that surprised, considering what he’d seen last night, but the rest of the pack looked like they were vibrating with excitement. Derek looked like he wanted to be anywhere else, but the others were gaping at the sleeping teenagers. Even Malia had a ghost of a smirk on her lips as she looked down at the mattress. 

“Take a fucking picture,” Stiles whispered to Scott, who shook his head in disbelief, but pulled out his phone either way. The rest of the Puppy Pack—the ones that had slept over last night—were still lounging on their mattresses, but had wide smiles on their lips when they took in Theo and Liam’s position. 

Chris shook his head with a small grin before heading to the kitchen, knowing that it wouldn't be long before the beta and chimera woke up with the way everyone in the room was peering at them. 

Melissa was shuffling around quietly, flipping a pancake before taking a sip from her mug. Chris walked over and kissed the top of her head, whispering a soft good morning into her hair. She smiled up at him before shoving the spatula into his hand, and he let out a short laugh. 

“So I take it the kids are still ogling Theo and Liam sleeping?” Melissa asked in a low voice, and Chris’s grin widened.

“Taking pictures and everything,” he answered, scooping up some batter. “It’s like they’ve never seen them before.”

She snorted, handing him his mug filled with coffee. “The Sheriff owes me thirty bucks.”

“You knew,” Chris noted nonchalantly, and Melissa had a knowing smirk on her face when she turned towards him. 

“They weren’t being subtle about it,” she retorted, and Chris couldn’t really disagree with that. “Scott told me about the anchor thing yesterday, but if he thinks that the two of them are only anchors, then he’s in for a shock.”

Chris laughed, flipping the finished pancake onto a plate. They both went back to making breakfast with tranquil smiles on their faces, relishing the peaceful silence in the kitchen that they knew would be gone when the pack stormed in.

---

There was always an ever-present tension in the air when it came to pack meetings, but for once, it was anticipatory rather than anxious. 

The rest of the pack had been filled in on what had happened yesterday before either Theo or Liam had woken up, and that meant that Stiles had taken it on himself to send out the picture Scott had taken in his retelling of the events. 

Needless to say, the people that weren’t already here had arrived in record time and by the time everyone—including the two teenagers at the center of the whole thing—had finished eating and generally looked like they wouldn’t collapse, the living room was filled with amused glances and faint smirks. 

“So all the hunters were arrested,” Nolan commented before quickly darting his eyes towards Theo. Chris could appreciate the human for trying, but the words felt a little out of place and no one was actually paying attention.

Scott nodded with a straight face, but Chris could see that despite the alpha’s effort to keep everyone focused, this meeting was turning out to be for one thing and one thing only. The two teenagers involved in that thing, however, seemed to be avoiding it with all their might. 

“If one more person looks over at me,” Theo started suddenly, and everyone stilled, “I’m gonna fucking leave.”

Liam’s lips twitched up, and Theo elbowed the beta in the stomach while snickers broke out amongst the pack. Chris met Derek’s eyes and the werewolf rolled his eyes while Chris shook his head in resignation, both of them knowing that this meeting was over as far as actual debriefing was concerned. 

“Fuck off,” Theo muttered, “All of you.”

The laughter around the room only grew louder, and Liam shifted closer to the chimera, looking up at him with a soft smile. He said something that Chris couldn’t catch over all the commotion, and Theo froze for a moment before rolling his eyes. 

But Chris watched the way Theo’s lips tugged into a smile as he kept his gaze on the beta in front of him, and he knew that things were going to turn out alright.

Well, as alright as they could be with their lives.