Work Text:
She thinks it’s special,
But it’s all reused
—
Jonathan Williams could remember the heartbreak on his mother’s face when he was drafted for World War II. The way she had taken his face in her hands and gave him a look of determination.
‘You will live on, even if you do not come home to me off that battlefield,' she’d whispered, sealing the words with a kiss to his forehead.
Four bullets to the chest later confirmed he would never return to his quiet countryside home, never see his mother’s or sister’s face again, and he welcomed death.
But Death was bored with the monotony of mortals living and dying, and when they heard the muttered phrase fall from Eleanore Williams’ lips, they decided to get some entertainment out of life.
“What do you mean I’m not going to heaven? You’re sending me to hell?” Jon, growing up the good, Christian boy he did, was a bit taken aback on his arrival to the afterlife. God did exist, ruling over the domain of ‘Heaven’ and the Devil over ‘Hell’ but they weren’t the only destinations, and the person in charge of getting you there was a non-binary corporeal Death, who took the form of a stoner in college.
“I’m not sending you anywhere, not yet at least. Your mother said you’d live on, and live on you shall, for as long as I see fit. So I’m sending you back to Earth.”
Jon blinked, looking at the joint Death was currently smoking and back to them. “And when exactly will I be granted the opportunity to open the pearly gates?”
Death hummed, “When I’m less bored.”
This was going to be a hell of a ride.
—
Theo Reaken had done horrible things to decent people simply because he could. It was a means of survival for most of his life, doing the Dread Doctors' bidding so they wouldn’t stick a giant, mercury-filled needle in his neck, but then they died.
And Theo didn’t exactly have a way to just flip off his sociopathic tendencies, as much as he tried. When Kira plunged her sword into the ground, Tara’s waterlogged corpse crawling up from the depths of hell to drag him down with her, Theo wondered if he could have been better if given the chance.
He died so many times down there with her, Tara ripping out his heart before the loop would reset. By the 127th time, he had given up hope, given up everything.
‘You don’t have to stop,’ and she didn’t. She never stopped, even when Theo thought he saw confusion mark her face she still plunged her hand through his ribs and grabbed his heart.
The longer he was there with her, the more she began to talk. The 346th time she said the name, Casey Westbrook. He didn’t get context, whether it was the name of one of his victims or another person who was stuck in hell, but he didn’t get the chance to ask.
Dominic Larson
Parker Gardener
On the 728th time, the time right before—not that he knew—Liam and Hayden would pull him from the ground in a last-ditch effort, she gave him the last name, Jonathan Williams.
“It worked!” Theo’s senses were slowly becoming acclimated to the living world again, and he briefly realized it was Hayden whispering the words from a few feet away.
He turned quickly in the direction of Liam and Hayden, snarling at the presence of the sword still gripped in Liam’s hands before the kid had the good sense to drop it and level Theo with a look.
“We need your help.”
That was the beginning of Theo’s second chance. Death moved up a chess piece.
—
The Ghost Riders were an absolute pain in the ass. But the McCall Pack saved the day, hooray for them , and Theo looked on at the reunited pack with the slightest sense of jealousy brewing in his stomach.
Liam had even protested putting him back in the ground, “He’s my responsibility! I brought him back, so I get a say in what happens. He saved my life!” And Scott, True Alpha, and all bent to the will of his first beta so easily.
He wasn’t trusted, a smart move on their part, but he was allowed to remain above ground. So, he found his truck where it had been abandoned and drove it back to the last place he’d lived with his fake parents.
He wasn’t surprised to find it abandoned, a big ‘FOR SALE’ sale out front showcasing that nobody lived there anymore. The fake Raekens had probably left the moment Theo didn’t come home that first night, shouting their freedom from the rooftops and driving off into the night.
Theo didn’t blame them, if he’d thought for a minute through the years with the Doctors that one of the many days they didn’t come back to the operating theater at night he could run away with no repercussions, he would have been long gone. Probably would have never touched foot down in Beacon Hills again, and saved a lot of people a lot of heartaches.
“Funny how life works, isn’t it?”
Theo turned, face-to-face with Death, all though he wasn’t quite sure how he knew that. This person was definitely not the college-age stoner he’d first been confronted with in limbo or Bardo—whatever it was. This elderly woman reeked of death, it hung over them and when Theo smelled a little deeper he could tell it was just a part of their scent.
“Getting thrown in hell and tormented by my dead sister for months, yeah it’s a blast.”
Death turned to him, their ancient bones creaking at a volume audible to Theo’s human ears. “You have done so much good in the time you’ve been on Earth. Despite what you may think you’ve squandered from this life deep down your soul is still good.”
“This really throws a wrench in my ‘I’m an atheist’ speech I’ve been giving, you know?” A smirk pulled at the deity’s lips. “I hope you’re getting some enjoyment out of my torment.” With a final glance back at the faux Raeken house, Theo turned and walked away, not sparing Death another moment.
—
“Where are you?” Liam’s voice crackled over the phone as Theo picked up.
It had been two months since Theo and Death had chatted and Theo had been wandering Beacon Hills since. It was becoming tiresome to find parking lots to crash in since every business store owner and police officer in town had tried to run him off.
Monroe and the Anuk-Ite hadn’t been something Theo was prepared to deal with after the Ghost Riders fiasco, but it was Beacon Hills, he should have known better.
“What are you talking about, Liam?” Said werewolf huffed over the phone, and Theo could imagine the accompanying pout that followed.
“Scott’s having a pack meeting, remember? Monroe was spotted in Vegas and he wanted everyone there to debrief on possible scouting assignments.” Theo held back a snarky reply about how Argent and Derek had probably arranged the majority of the assignments.
Instead, he settled on, “That still doesn’t answer why you called me.”
He heard Liam pull the phone away and wondered for a moment how he had survived so long as a werewolf and could still not understand what super -hearing meant.
“Does he not know what everyone means?” Okay, so they were beating each other for their lacking vocabulary. He heard a voice that sounded suspiciously like Brett’s answer his question with a chuckle. “Do you not know what super-hearing means?”
Theo barked out a laugh and listened as Liam gasped and pulled the phone back to his ear. “Just get over here!” Before Theo could protest, he hung up.
He stared at the silent phone for a minute, already knowing he’d give in to anything Liam asked him to because that’s how they were now. He was Liam’s responsibility, and Liam was his anchor, the former completely oblivious to his role in Theo’s control.
It didn’t take him long to arrive at the McCall house, cars littering the driveway and street. As if not all being parked in one spot wouldn’t clue in someone looking that something was off. Theo pulled in behind Roscoe, the beloved pack Jeep, and didn’t think twice about the fact it made five cars in the driveway.
He didn’t even get up the stairs to the door before it was being pulled open by Liam and he was being dragged in. The living room had been turned into a de facto FBI office, courtesy of Stiles Stilinski.
A map, broadcasting the world, and another with North America were pinned up on one wall, taking up the entire surface area. It was scattered with markers in all different colors and writing, most noticeably Stiles’ red pen, Argent’s writing in blue, and Derek’s in black.
“Okay, so it seems like Monroe’s crew have been moving their operation in a star formation. That is until we get to Vegas, which deviates from the pattern. So, what makes Vegas important, is it a diversion, or is she starting a new pattern?” Stiles was at the board, showing off the exaggerated lining of Monroe’s headquarter movement which indeed followed a star formation.
“Wasn’t there possible intel that a new crime lord settled in Vegas last year? Maybe she went to try and build an alliance.” The blond werewolf, who Theo had almost mistaken for Brett a month ago when he showed up without warning to a pack meeting (and was decked out in way too many layers for the average Californian) was Isaac Lahey.
Derek’s last remaining bitten beta, and the first wolf that had pledged loyalty to Scott even before he became an alpha, Isaac was no mystery to Theo. The Doctors hadn’t liked surprises, and the possibility of him being unprepared on the McCall pack would have led to too many surprises.
Looking back on it, it was kind of sick to read about the role Allison Argent had played in the pack, being Scott’s first girlfriend and anchor when he’d first been turned. When she died the pack had broken a little, Isaac had gone to France with Chris Argent as an omega with the hopes he could recruit other omegas into safety.
“It’s better than her attempts to ally with the yakuza,” Kira said. Theo shuddered as her voice rang out, Liam looked at him in confusion and he brushed him aside. It wasn’t that he didn’t want Kira back, on a logical-pack perspective he understood stopping Monroe would take everyone. But on a personal-Theo level, he wasn’t thrilled when he was in the same room as her.
He knew that the time she had to spend with the Skinwalkers was necessary to save her life, the Doctors screwing up her fox spirit on a level that regular R and R treatment couldn’t fix. He remembered a young girl the Doctors had experimented on when Theo was about twelve.
She was a born kitsune, earth if Theo recalled correctly, and a genetic chimera. The Doctors, in their twisted logic, thought that inserting wolf DNA into her, would defy the ritual of kitsune-tsuki and the fox spirit would remain in the girl’s body.
They were right, seeing as she didn’t receive the bite in a natural manner her fox was not dispelled. But Theo knew the old legends, the foxes and wolves didn’t get along, and he watched it first hand as the wolf and fox literally tore the girl apart from the inside out.
Theo thinks they were merciful with how they killed Corey and Hayden, that whole group during their hunt for La Bete. Watching the kitsune girl writhe in agony every minute of the day as her fox tried to burn out the wolf and only burned her, was torture.
“It would be better if she wasn’t trying to ally herself with anyone, like at all.”
“Theo, thank you for gracing us with your presence, so glad you could finally find the time to join us,” Stiles replied, sarcasm dripping from his words.
He shrugged, “You know how it is, one day ‘everyone’ includes me and the next it’s ‘no, Theo, we said everyone as in pack-only,’ so I’ve stopped trying to guess.” Stiles just scoffed and turned back to the map, pulling the rest of the pack’s attention back to the course of action they’d planned.
Except for Kira, who kept looking at him like he was going to snap Liam’s neck or something. But Liam hadn’t even said anything annoying since Theo got there, and he’d definitely break his nose and then his neck.
“Derek, you said you spotted potential hunters leaving a warehouse over in Brighton?” Derek nodded. “Okay, so we’ll send a group there to scout out the warehouse and see if it’s Monroe, the other group will be going to Soleil Noir, we have a lead we need to follow up on.”
And then they split the groups, as even as possible in case either operation went south. Theo was going to the warehouse and Liam was not .
“Why can’t I go to the warehouse too?”
“Because we already made the groups, Liam. And you’ll be more useful in Soleil,” Stiles said, ignoring the twitch Liam’s eye gave at the latter comment.
“Don’t fuss, little wolf. It’s one mission, I’m sure Stiles will think about putting you on the potentially more dangerous one next time.” Stiles better do no such thing or Theo would have words with him, but for Liam’s sake, he needed to make all the sweet comments he could.
“You think the warehouse will be more dangerous?” Okay, so Theo was seeing the flaw in his comment, but Liam wasn’t going to get his way with this. “Shouldn’t we have more people there in that case?”
“Stop arguing, Liam. Kira, Derek, Scott, and Argent will all be at the warehouse. If that isn’t enough firepower between them then we’ve lost anyway.”
With a disgruntled huff, Liam fell back on the couch with a pout, Theo and Mason sharing a look over him. But it was settled, the teams weren’t changing, and the plans were in motion.
—
Warehouse group: Theo, Derek, Scott, Kira, Argent, Isaac, Nolan
Soleil group: Liam, Mason, Corey, Brett, Malia, Stiles, Lydia
Okay so the paper pinned up with all their names was a little much, but watching Liam pout at the paper was priceless. Malia had grumbled a bit at being separated from Scott, but when she realized that meant she didn’t have to go with Theo she was perfectly okay again.
The warehouse group decided not to drive the same vehicle, in case they needed a quick getaway, so Theo was thankfully alone in his own truck as he drove to Beacon Hill’s neighboring city, Brighton.
Or so he thought.
“I see you’re having fun, Theo.” He almost swerved off of the road as a middle-aged man appeared in his passenger seat, reeking of death just like when he’d last seen them.
“Fun isn’t a word I’d use to describe this experience. Tedious, now that’s a good one.”
“Now, now, don’t be so cross. You’re doing something for the good of the pack, imagine if you weren’t here, then Liam would be sent off to investigate this warehouse potentially crawling with supernatural hunters.” Theo’s hands tightened around the wheel, not breaking eye contact with the road in front of him where Roscoe drove ahead.
“You really took our last chat to heart, didn’t you?”
“About enjoying your torment? Well, I don’t see it that way. All though, Lucifer has made a couple of comments over the last month so maybe he is, I mean, he’s the Devil after all.”
“I’m sure watching Tara rip my heart out over and over in Hell was amusing for him, probably sat down with some popcorn and enjoyed the show.” Death hummed and Theo took that to mean he was right, the Devil was a douchebag.
“Listen, Theo, the whole reason I came here today is to tell you to be careful. I may be Death, the supposedly omniscient being, but there are things I don’t know about the living until they die. I don’t want you showing up at my door any time soon.”
“I don’t plan on it.”
—
Nolan was scoping the warehouse from one side, Derek and Argent on the other, the remaining four were spread low in the treeline. All watched for any movement in and out of the building. It looked dead inside, and Theo was about ready to run into the place himself if it meant they could prove no one was here or start some shit.
Unfortunately for him at that moment, a balding man emerged from the complex, gracing them with his presence. He was decked out in what seemed to be a military uniform and had so many ammo clips strung across his chest the bullets were the only thing visible from where they were.
“No visible threats, Captain.” The static of a walkie crackled towards their sensitive ears and Monroe’s voice followed shortly after.
“Keep your eyes peeled, Richard. They’re vile creatures who aren’t afraid of catching you off guard.” Thanks, Monroe, we think you’re just as vile.
Theo wished Corey had been on this trip, maneuvering an invisible Argent or Derek closer to Richard to knock him out. The tactic had worked in the past, and to Theo, it was pointless to try and fix something that wasn’t broken.
But with Corey not there they had to silently walk the shadows until Theo and Isaac was a corner turn away from the diligent watchman. The dim glow from Isaac’s eyes reflected just enough for Theo to pick up on where Scott and Kira were lurking in the treeline.
The slight sting that always accompanied any aspect of Theo’s shift pulled at his fingers as his claws released from their nailbed prison. He decided against the fangs for the moment, wanting to opt-out of the aching jaw that came with those until he needed them.
The two-finger gesture Theo gave to Isaac was all the warning he gave that Theo was going for it. Richard’s back was turned, surveying the opposite land, far off from where anyone except Nolan was waiting. Not wanting to give the man time to turn and find Theo in his face, he took the back on Richard’s neck and slammed in against the metal pole attached to the overhang above them.
“Theo,” Scott’s voice said from where he and Kira were making their way over. Theo huffed and looked back down at the prone body at his feet.
“He’s just knocked out, concussed probably, but not dead.”
Scott opened his mouth, probably to make some hero’s remark on the violent way Theo had handled the encounter—as if Scott’s claws weren’t covered in blood too—when the walkie crackled to life on the ground next to Richard.
“Update, Reynolds! I have no patience for your forgetfulness!” The three older pack members looked at the device in horror, knowing Monroe would catch on to their scheme after moments of Richard’s silence. Theo blinked at them, swallowed back nausea that threatened to creep upon him, and picked up the walkie.
“Still clear here, Captain. Thought I spotted one of them on the hill but it was just a bunny.” Ignoring the other’s bewildered looks at his near-perfect impression of the unconscious man he listened to Monroe berate her guard for confusing a bunny for a bloodthirsty killer.
When the walkie was silenced in his hand he dropped it back to the ground and smashed it under his foot. They had probably ten minutes based on the timing between the last report and this one, they had to make it count.
“Why are you all staring at me like that?” He turned a stone-like glare on the still flabbergasted others and watched Scott try to regain enough composure to answer him.
“You sounded just like him.”
“Brilliant observation, Scott. We probably have about nine minutes until Monroe radios back so we should—”
“How?”
He blinked at Kira, minutely slighted at the interruption but willing to indulge them. “I was the resident lab experiment for three near-immortal psychopathic scientists. I can walk through mountain ash and have a resistance to wolfbane and you ask how I can mimic voices?” At their silence, he straightened his shoulders and crossed his arms. “I’m a coywolf chimera, that doesn’t mean those are the only aspects of supernaturals I have.”
He looked at Kira, “I think you’re most acquainted with the beings the Doctors altered my vocal cords to mimic… all though I guess I’m also well acquainted with them.”
“The Skinwalkers.” He nodded.
“And we’re now down to eight minutes, can we talk about this later and how it will probably be exploited for the sake of missions? Great, move.”
—
The warehouse looked dead inside, even Scott couldn’t pick up on any heartbeats in the building. Theo’s eyes scanned the walls, checking every corner where he would think to hide if he were a crazy hunter wanting to kill supernaturals.
He stopped in his tracks, hands darting out to stop the others from advancing when it clicked. If he were a crazy hunter wanting to kill all supernaturals… he would lock the escape route.
He swung around, claws and fangs out, golden eyes ablaze as Monroe stood by the door, a handful of mountain ash clutched in her fist. Kira brought out her sword, Theo wanted to step away at the sight of it but it really wasn’t the time. Scott and Isaac had wolfed out on his other side, the four of them coming to stand in a line and look down at the crazy woman.
“How are you this predictable, McCall? I mean, let a couple of newbies walk in and out of this place for a few hours and one of you is bound to see them and come check it out. Imagine if I actually had important things here, you could have ruined me.”
“We’ve been tricked.” Theo really wished he could punch Scott with no repercussions like Liam, other than a broken nose nothing ever came of their arguments.
“Thank you, Captain Obvious. You would have been so much more useful on my side, Theo. A real shame…”
The sound of vehicles rolling up outside alerted the group that they were no longer alone. But unless Brett and Stiles had turned into speed demons, Theo didn’t think this was their backup.
And he was right, it was pretty obvious by the hunter regalia the newcomers were adorned in that they were not here to save the McCall pack’s life. Kira took a small step forward, placing her (and her sword) in front of the other three. Theo took the opportunity to slip behind her slightly, moving to a position where he could take out a surprise opponent.
“Scott McCall, we’ve done this dance one too many times, today is the end of our fight seeing as you won’t be leaving this place alive.” Monroe took her own step forward, the other hunters falling in line behind her like loyal soldiers.
“I’ve tried to handle this with as little bloodshed as possible, Monroe. I don’t believe in violence as a solution, even when the enemy does. So even if I win, I won’t kill you. You can live knowing you lost.”
“Cute speech, too bad it’s all for nothing,” Monroe flicked her hand forward and all hell broke loose.
—
The hunters had somehow managed to split them up. Kira was fighting, sword-swinging and eyes glowing, making her way to where Scott was taking on four hunters. Isaac had managed to gain the high ground, running for the stairs and baiting the hunters up to the second floor so he could throw them from above.
And Theo was dealing with his own shit. Trying to make it to the door and break the mountain ash for Derek before he, Argent, and Nolan arrived on the scene. The hunter fighting him wasn’t really in the mood to let that happen though, pushing Theo to the opposite side of the room away from the door and leaving whoever got to the door first vulnerable.
“Will you let up for a minute?”
“Die, animal scum!”
“I’ll take that as a no.”
He wasn’t giving up though. He was the only one who could get them an advantage. If he could break the mountain ash they would have an escape route, right now they were stuck in this building at Monroe and her men’s mercy.
Where the hell is Argent? The thought crossed Theo’s mind for a moment as he ducked a sloppy punch from the hunter. Entertaining the idea that their hillside crew had been taken out before they’d even made it in the building—Theo pushed the thought aside.
His head gave a sharp, concentrated pain that he knew came from holding off his full shift. His claws and fangs were out but his mind was entering fight-or-flight mode and wanted to go full ‘fight-mode.’
Scott and Isaac had already given in to the shift, not dissuaded from it in the way Theo was. The Doctors manufactured creation of a werewolf forced human bones to break and reform how they wanted during full shifts. Becoming a werewolf the ‘proper’ way meant the body adapted, the bones became malleable and went where they needed to on instinct.
The space next to his heart lurched and he wondered what the Soleil group was dealing with for Liam to react enough for Theo to feel it. He’d never told Liam he was Theo’s anchor, that they were linked in a way only supernatural anchors were. He didn’t even know if Liam would understand if he told him that he knew when Liam was experiencing a strong feeling because his wolf grasped on to those feelings to keep control.
Taking a punch to the face, Theo spat the blood back in the hunter’s face, watching as the guy’s lips curled in disgust as Theo’s curled in amusement. He took the moment of hesitation from the hunter to snap the guy’s arm, incapacitating him.
He made a run for the door, ignoring the bullet that obviously lodged itself in his lower abdomen. As long as it wasn’t his spine he didn’t care at the moment, but being temporarily paralyzed would suck right now.
Not for the first time since being back from hell, Theo wished he still had Tracy and Josh’s powers, that they hadn’t died for basically nothing as Theo went slowly to rapidly insane. He wished he’d been rational back then and Tracy and Josh were still here to help out the pack, to use their powers during crises like Corey did.
He barely reached the door, his foot swiping the mountain ash and effectively breaking the barrier before a hand clamped around his hair and pulled his head back. He came face-to-face with Monroe, no shocker there, and saw the rage in her eyes.
She was admittedly too young to harbor so much rage over something, and Theo’s own heart betrayed him at the sentiment seeing as he was even younger and even angrier with the world.
“You should have let them put you back in the ground, Theo. Perhaps I’ll slit your throat, give you the mercy I’m sure you didn’t grant many others.” He growled in response to her words, one clawed hand finding a home on her wrist and tightening.
“Let go, or I’ll break your wrist.”
“I’m sure a few months ago you would have said you’d gut me, isn’t that right, Theo? They’re making you soft, making you weak! You could join me and not be judged for your disposal methods for other supernaturals.”
“And be the last one left so you can kill me and rid the world, no thanks.”
Theo saw the glint of the knife as she raised it to plunge it into his chest, his hand around her wrist effectively breaking the bone. He listened as she screeched and called him obscene names before he kicked her in the stomach and knocked her out cold.
Turning back to the fighting he saw the Argent and Derek had arrived on the scene. Nolan was still nowhere to be seen, so hopefully, the kid was trying to reach backup or the Sheriff.
With the arrival of Argent and another werewolf, Monroe’s men were quickly becoming overwhelmed. Kira and Scott were now fighting back-to-back while Isaac still manned the upper floor by himself. Derek and Argent were trying to incapacitate the hunters that the other three weren’t occupied with.
Theo took a moment, looking at the bigger picture and feeling like he was missing something big. His eyes landed on a prone body of a hunter near Derek’s feet, one that had taken too hard a fall and didn’t have a heartbeat anymore.
A college-age girl stood over the body, looking down with blank indifference. They raised their eyes to meet Theo’s and he watched as their gaze drifted across the room. To Scott and Kira. And the hunter that was slowly rising from the ground, gun raised in their direction, oblivious to the threat.
Theo didn’t think, didn’t have time to. All he knew was Scott couldn’t die. If Scott died, Liam would be the Alpha, and Theo knew he’d break before he learned. So Scott had to live, for Liam.
Theo reached the guy moments before the gun went off, his hand cupped over the muzzle to snap the weapon. The bullet fired, Theo felt it go through his hand, splintering bone and muscle, knowing it would be a bitch to heal.
But it didn’t stop at his hand. His body had been in front of the gun, set up to snap the weapon. And the bullet buried itself in his chest.
Theo let out a gasp, the hunter looking as surprised as Theo felt and he used that moment to grab the gun with his not-ruined hand and hit the guy over the head with it. He dropped the gun beside the body as he brought his shot hand to his chest, to the gaping wound there.
He was hurt, pretty bad if the hitch in his breath said anything. Probably punctured the lung, might even still be in there since Theo couldn’t feel an exit wound.
He needed to sit down, yeah, that was a good idea. His mind repeated sitdownsitdownsitdown even as his body slumped against the closest wall. His head dropped, chin hitting his chest, and he wondered briefly if he could close his eyes for a minute.
He lifted his head back up, confronted with Death again, surprised to see the sadness written in their features. The college-age girl took a seat next to him, resting their head on Theo’s shoulder as Theo felt a tear slip down his face.
He hoped Liam would be okay.
—
“THEO!”
—
Theo didn’t know where he was, a muted white room with seemingly no exit. He began to walk.
“Something’s wrong,” Liam said as he stopped in the middle of their walk back to the cars. Soleil’s lead had proved a dead end so the group was going to wait for word from the others before making the trip to either them or home.
“What do you mean?” Mason asked, looking at his best friend who was currently staring at his shaking hands. “Liam, what’s happening?”
“Um, guys, I think we were in a dead zone here. Nolan has been requesting backup for ten minutes.” Brett called from the car, where his phone was pinging off the hook, no doubt from Nolan’s request for backup and request for an answer on their silence.
Mason and Corey were trying to get Liam to move to the car, even as the young werewolf looked completely spaced out. Stiles looked to Lydia and Malia for help, but— "Lydia? What’s wrong?”
The banshee had a stricken look on her face, looking up at the sky like she was willing whatever was happening to not be true. Malia took a step back from her and looked to Stiles for an answer he couldn’t provide.
Liam’s knees buckled under him as he fell to the pavement, a lost look on his face. Mason looked to Brett for help and the other werewolf jogged over, attempting to siphon pain from him, but there was none to take.
“THEO!”
Lydia’s scream rang out in the parking lot, cracks on the windows of the cars closest to them. Liam gave his own strangled scream before he slumped over unconscious into Mason’s arms.
Theo continued through the room, stopping when he came to a plain white door. He opened it, finding Death sitting at a desk on the other side.
“Theo, come in. Close the door behind you.”
“You guys came at the perfect time, thanks,” Scott said as Argent clapped him on the back.
“No problem, kid. Good thinking on Theo’s part to break the mountain ash for us so you guys could run if you needed to before we got here.”
“Yeah, Theo that was—where’s Theo?” The group looked around the warehouse, the chimera nowhere in sight. Monroe’s unconscious figure was still laid out by the door and Scott walked towards it with an unsettled feeling creeping on him.
Monroe’s wrist was obviously broken, but beyond that, there were no signs of violence. Scott turned, scoping out the other unconscious figures of Monroe’s men and one body catching his eye.
He walked over to the wall, where a hunter was knocked out, a gun abandoned a few feet from the body. But the hunter wasn’t bleeding, and the smell of blood was strong here.
“Oh shit.” He almost didn’t want to turn, with the way Isaac said that. But he was Scott McCall, True Alpha, he was Theo’s alpha, even if the other didn’t know it. And he owed it to Theo to face whatever it was.
But he still wasn’t prepared for Theo Raeken’s slumped-over body, blood pouring from his mouth and nose, no doubt a result of the gaping hole in his chest. His hand too, which laid at his side, looked mangled beyond belief. As if he’s stopped the gun with his hand.
Scott bent down, his werewolf-hearing searching desperately for a pulse he knew wasn’t there. But he owed it to Theo to try, to not just write him off as another casualty of war.
Nolan chose that moment to run into the warehouse, eyes scanning desperately for the group and locking on them. Isaac and Kira went to meet him halfway, not wanting him to have to see Theo in that condition. Bloodied and lifeless.
“Guys, what’s happening? Liam is unconscious and won’t wake up! Why did Lydia scream Theo’s name? ”
“We have quite the predicament, Theo. You see, I made this deal with the first you, Jonathan, that you’d be reincarnated until I was satisfied because his—your mother made a vow for you to live on and I happened to be listening. This was going to be your last trip… but a couple of things have happened.”
Theo sat, staring blankly at the immortal being and taking in the fact that he was kept alive through the offhand comment of a worried mother.
“When you were on the way to the warehouse I told you I didn’t want you to show up at my door anytime soon, and you said you didn’t plan on it. Well, apparently the universe took that as its own kind of agreement that you wouldn’t die then. But obviously, you did, so I had to do my job… but I can’t.”
Theo’s head tilted, “Why not?”
“Your soul has tethered itself to another soul. So if I reap your soul, it will kill you both. I assume it has to do with your little trip to hell, your body is taking protective measures to ensure you stay alive.”
“Who am I tethered to?”
“Where is this place?” A startlingly familiar voice called from outside the door. Theo walked over and opened it to reveal Liam standing there, but he wasn’t completely there. He was almost transparent.
“He’s not supposed to be here. His mind is rejecting the experience.” Death waved it off as if this was an everyday occurrence. “But this does mean I won’t be taking your soul today. So, as of now, Theo Raeken, you are immortal. I expect you’ll have some explaining to do when you get back.”
Theo’s vision whited out before he could say another word.
—
Theo bolted upright on the table he was laid out on in the morgue. His wounds had healed and there was a hospital gown in the corner of the room he threw on over his naked body.
Three floors above him his hearing picked up on the familiar timbre of Liam’s voice. “Let me see him! Scott, no you don’t understand. Theo isn’t dead! He can’t be dead!” He wondered how long that argument had been going on.
Cracking his stiff neck and popping his knuckles he made his way out of the morgue, instinctively searching out Tara in the hallways, but she wasn’t there. Stepping into the elevator there was a brief moment where he was reminded of pulling Liam into this very place, out of range of the hunter’s bullets.
“I’m so sorry, Liam. Theo’s gone.” He hit the third floor.
The whole floor reeked of the McCall Pack and their subgroup, the puppies. One room, halfway down the hall had a fair amount of heartbeats in it, so Theo assumed they were huddled in that room, doting over an injured pack member.
“Let me go! I can’t—Scott I can’t—” Liam’s heartbeat ticked up, the monitor in the room echoing the sound. Theo’s leisurely pace sped up a little bit at the fact Liam was the one in the hospital room.
He locked eyes with Dr. Geyer first, the man exiting the door next to his stepson’s and watching Theo falter in the middle of the hallway. Dr. Geyer’s eyes widened, his heart blipped for one beat before relaxing and looking back at Liam’s door.
Jenna and David Geyer had taken the news of the supernatural surprisingly well. After the ordeal with the hunters at the hospital, Liam didn’t want his parents to find out from someone else if he died or if word of the supernatural got out again.
Jenna had taken her son’s face between her hands, her blue eyes she’d given her son reflecting at him, and said, “You’re my son, Liam. Werewolf or Loch Ness sea monster or completely human, you’ll always be my son.”
So Dr. Geyer definitely knew Theo had not arrived at the hospital alive . He’d probably even helped Melissa smuggle his body into the morgue until she and Chris could examine him and clear him for the Sheriff to perform his law-abiding duties.
He jerked a thumb back in the direction of Liam’s room, a slight nod of his head all the indication that Theo needed. Right before he passed Dr. Geyer, the man put a hand on his shoulder and smiled. Theo smiled back.
“Please! Scott, just let me see him!” The low growl in Liam’s voice meant that he was probably shifted, probably had no control over it right now with the way his chemosignals made Theo feel like he was on a rollercoaster.
“Liam—Liam you have to stop!” Malia’s voice called out, the coyote no doubt trying to restrain Liam to the bed. “He’s gone! Okay? Theo is—”
“Standing at the door and can speak for himself,” Theo cut her off. He watched as every pair of eyes in the room turned to him: Scott, Malia, Stiles, Isaac, Kira, Lydia, Mason, Corey, Brett, Nolan, and Liam .
“You bastard!” Liam choked out as he launched himself from the bed at Theo. He knew what was coming, so he relaxed the muscles in his face and stayed put as Liam’s fist came barreling towards his nose.
Clutching the broken cartilage between his fingers his eyebrow rose in Liam’s direction. “You done now? Gonna break something else?”
Liam opened his mouth, probably to give some snarky retort when Scott spoke up from behind him. “How? I mean… Theo, you were dead.”
“Oh don’t I know it. Fun fact, Death is quite the character. They accidentally bet my mortality for our last mission.” Theo didn’t know if Liam remembered Death’s corner of Bardo, but he didn’t want to reveal that card yet.
Looking back at Liam, it was funny how he didn’t notice it before, or maybe he had and dismissed it. But the gold and silver thread, entwined and knotted in random places, shone faintly between them. It connected him and Liam on another level that even the universe didn’t want to mess with.
“Bet your… so you weren’t supposed to die?” He shook his head. “Then what happened?”
Theo blanked for a moment, confronted with a decision. Tell the pack he’d saved their precious alpha and have them feel indebted to him, or play it off as his usual self-sacrificial stuff. The latter sounds good.
“Turns out knocking out Monroe didn’t earn me any brownie points. Some hunter got a little too trigger happy when I told him to stand down.” He hoped his heartbeat and chemosignals didn’t betray him. He hadn’t had perfect composure over them ever since his stint in hell.
“I don’t really care what the reason is, you don’t go getting yourself shot, Theo!” This time he intercepted Liam’s fist before it reached his face, his nose just finishing healing from the last break. He glared at Liam, a mutual glare being returned as his fist was dropped.
Attempting to break the tension between Theo and Liam, Isaac interjected, “It’s been a long day for everyone. How about we all go home and we can debrief in the morning?”
—
Theo wasn’t surprised when Liam climbed into the passenger seat of his truck. Apparently, Nolan had driven it to the hospital instead of riding with Argent again. His pillows and sheets were stuffed down on the floor in the back, so Liam couldn’t see it unless he was looking.
“Are we going to talk about it?” Liam said three minutes into the trip to the Dunbar-Geyer house. Theo looked over at him briefly, but no chemosignals gave away what Liam was talking about.
“Talk about what?”
“Why you really died… or why you really didn’t stay dead.”
His hands tightened on the wheel, turning white for a moment before he relaxed them again. “He was going to kill Scott. What was I supposed to do, let it happen? If Scott dies you become an alpha, Liam; I know you’re the de facto alpha to the puppies, but you don’t have the eyes or the responsibility. I wasn’t going to stand there and let that happen to you.”
“So you didn’t really get shot to save Scott, you did it so I wouldn’t bear the burden of becoming an alpha like that. That’s so messed up, Theo.”
“You think I don’t understand that?” He pulled over on the side of the road, gold eyes blazing in Liam’s direction. “I almost destroyed your pack for the opportunity to have that power. I feel no guilt in what I did, not to Scott, not to Stiles, not to—”
Liam cut him off, gold staring back at him, “What about Josh and Tracy? You can’t even use their powers anymore. They died for nothing.”
Theo's eyes twitched and flickered, a snarl building in his throat making him want to lash out at Liam. A clawed hand wrapped around Liam’s throat instead, pinning him to the seat as Theo’s wolf and coyote fought on what to do. Killhim , the coyote whispered. Submitsubmitsubmit , the wolf howled.
Liam didn’t move from where he was pinned, his eyes still blazing and heartbeat steady. “Don’t say their names.” The please was unsaid but heard nonetheless as Theo pulled away and resumed the car ride to Liam’s.
There were nights where Theo couldn’t sleep, where Tara wouldn’t be the only ghost of his past to haunt him. Sometimes Tracy would cuddle up real close before she whispered in his ear how she wished she’d thought of killing him first. Sometimes he’d see Josh sitting on a random pair of steps, when he double-checked he’d find the blank and lifeless stare of his former packmate greeting him.
They arrived at Liam’s not long after, the remainder of the car ride left in silence. As Liam exited the vehicle, he paused and turned back to look at Theo, who tensed at the way Liam’s heart sped up.
“Come inside, Theo.” It wasn’t asking, Liam was pretty much stating Theo would be coming inside tonight. But he stayed in the driver’s seat.
“I’m not letting you sleep in your truck after you died tonight. Besides, we’re connected and all that shit, so I want to keep you close and alive.” Theo’s heart betrayed him at Liam’s casual mention of him sleeping in the truck.
“Don’t fight me on this, Theo. I’ll get my mom.” His lips quirked at the thought of Jenna finding out about his living arrangements. He looked at Liam, the determination set on his face, and nodded.
—
[27 years later]
“Liam, babe, we’ve really got to go! Corey has been blowing up my phone and I know Mason has been blowing up yours.” Theo said as he turned the corner to his and Liam’s bedroom, watching as the man in question rushed around the room grabbing various items.
“I know, I know, I just… have this feeling.” Theo’s eyebrow quirked up and he watched the entwined string connecting them pull a little.
“What kind of feeling? Good or bad?”
“Bad, so bad it’s making me nauseous. I feel like… Theo, I feel like if we leave now we aren’t going to make it to the party.”
Oh, okay, so it was one of those feelings. Ever since Theo’s first encounter with Death where Liam had been dragged to Bardo with him through their connection Liam had been very in tune with their fates. Even more so than Theo, who had all but stopped seeing Death unless a stray bullet caught him on a mission, like last month.
But… if Liam and Theo both died, that was it, they were gone. No more close encounters, no more second-third-fourth chances. They would just end.
“Okay, let’s just let them know we’ll be late. Tell them to tell Kason we’ll be there as soon as possible.”
Liam breathed a sigh of relief, his shoulders losing all tension as he looked down at his phone to text Mason just that. Theo looked out the window, watching the girl decked out in Victorian-era clothes strut by and wink, and he knew they’d be okay. Just as long as they had each other.