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Peter's phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and Stiles could feel a flash of puzzlement through the Pack bond.
"Yes, Christopher?" he said into the phone.
Stiles watched as he nodded, then noticed Derek's surprised face. Not fair! Derek could listen in when Stiles couldn't.
As soon as Peter hung up, Stiles asked, "So. What's up?"
"Christopher and Allison are boarding a plane on their way to France," Peter said. "He will contact me again once he's talked to the Argent Matriarch."
"And..." Stiles encouraged.
"Evidently they've left us a present of some sort." Peter shot Stiles a quick grin. "He promised it was a good thing but wouldn't tell me any more than that."
"And..." Stiles said patiently.
"He dropped off an envelope at the Sheriff's Station. We can pick it up there," Peter said.
"Did it feel time sensitive?" Derek asked. "I didn't get the impression."
"I didn't either," Peter nodded. "John can pick it up when he goes into the Station."
"Aww... don't you have any curiosity?" Stiles whined.
"Patience," Peter said gently. "We have a group of 'wolves who also need our attention. I think whatever Christopher left can wait until the morning."
Stiles rolled his eyes but settled down.
"Where do you want to start?" Derek asked.
"Scott and Theo. Hard no on both of them," Stiles said firmly. "They have to find another Pack and, preferably, leave town. Deaton has to leave town, too."
"I'm going to agree," Peter added.
"I don't have a problem with that," Derek replied. "Scott's never taken direction from any of us. I've caught Theo giving Scott bad advice more than once. I never tried to correct Theo unless it was dangerous. And Deaton's been on the wrong side of enough things that he has to know his time here is limited. I'm surprised he hasn't approached us yet."
"What will happen to them?" John asked.
"That depends on them," Peter replied. "Ideally, they should leave Beacon Hills and find a pack somewhere else. The problem is that we won't be giving them any positive recommendations. If asked, we'll put it up to 'personal differences' but any good pack will see through that."
"Scott's obsession with Allison Argent will put off even the most forgiving Alpha," Stiles added.
"What can I tell his mom?" John asked.
Stiles and Peter looked at each other. Stiles shrugged. "He can finish high school here," Peter decided. "That's another eighteen-ish months. But at that point he will have to move on."
"We will need to have at least one intervention during that time," Stiles sighed. "He's going to be a pain." Thoughts drifted into Stiles' mind about what he could do if Scott was uncooperative. Stiles squashed those for the moment.
"I'll talk to Mel and see if she can help," John offered.
"But Theo has to leave at the end of this school year," Stiles said. "If not sooner."
"Agreed," Peter nodded.
"Deaton has to leave, like, yesterday," Stiles said.
"I would like to see if he knows anything, but, yes, sooner than later," Peter nodded.
"What about the other members of Scott's Pack?" John asked.
"Derek? Any strong feelings about anyone else?" Stiles asked.
Derek shook his head. "Rather than try to sort them out, I'd say that they all should be on probation," he suggested. "Some will earn Pack membership sooner than others, but that's not unusual for a group being brought into a new Pack."
"Explain it that way," Stiles suggested. "They would be on probation for any pack they go to. They can stay here or we'll help them move on. That can be their choice."
"There are a couple that are emotionally attached to Scott," Derek warned.
"Point them out to us when we meet with them and we'll talk to them separately," Peter said. "Again, something any Pack would do."
"Let me talk to Mel before you talk to Scott," John suggested. "She needs to understand what is going on and what Scott's options really are. We all know he won't tell her everything. She can handle him better if she's prepared."
"That is reasonable," Peter nodded. "Let me or Stiles know when you've had a chance to do that."
"Wonder how long it will take Scott to realize that Allison is gone?" John mused.
"Oh, man! That's going to be my fault!" Stiles whined.
"I'll explain that to Mel, too," John promised. "She'll be glad Allison is gone, even though Scott will be unbearable for days over it."
"Hopefully, Chris has Allison call sooner than later," Stiles said. "It won't solve all of our problems because he'll still mope after she calls."
"That should take the blame off of you," Peter said.
"I can only hope," Stiles sighed. He brightened. "Let's go see what Chris left us! We don't have to wait for the morning."
"Brat," Peter said. "You have no patience."
John laughed. "Either he's hyper-focused or totally unfocused. There's no in-between."
"Hey! No ganging up on me" Stiles protested. But it felt good to have someone looking out for him. He hadn't had that in a long time.
"Come, then," Peter said. "We can see what Christopher left us."
"I'm going to pass. I have an early shift tomorrow," John said. "You can fill me in when you have a chance."
"Want me to come?" Derek asked.
"Sure!" Stiles said. "More the merrier!"
Peter nodded. Stiles could feel a pleased feeling through the Pack bond.
They took Peter's car, Derek climbing into the back to allow Stiles to sit in the front.
At the station, Parrish must have been watching for them since he came out before they could even get out of the car.
He handed Peter a padded envelope. "Chris Argent asked me to hold on to this for you."
"Thank you," Peter said.
Parrish hovered, obviously curious. Peter ripped open the envelope and peered inside. He pulled out a set of keys that had a fob with an address on it. He showed Parrish the address.
"That's in the industrial section, off Cedar," Parrish said. "There's a row of buildings that are in partial use, some light manufacturing, some storage. It's an up-and-coming section of town."
Stiles could see some papers that he was itching to get his hands on. Peter tucked the envelope in the pocket of the driver's door and handed Stiles the keys.
"We'll check this out first," Peter said. "Thank you, Jordan."
Stiles huffed before he sat back in the seat. He knew that Peter would get to everything eventually, but that didn't lessen his curiosity.
It wasn't a far drive and they were soon rolling slowly down the street to find the street number listed with the keys.
"The next one." Stiles pointed.
Peter parked in front and they got out.
"Huh, good size place," Derek commented. "Three full stories and probably goes back to the next street."
Stiles paced the front of the building. "Parking lot over here. Not huge, but it'll hold maybe twenty cars."
"Let's see what we have," Peter said, holding a hand out for the keys.
Stiles didn't hand the keys over right away. "Give me a minute," he warned. "Let me check it out."
The two 'wolves took a step back as Stiles moved toward the building. There was a door in the center of the front facade and Stiles walked slowly toward the door. He let his senses loose, looking for traps -- both magical and mundane. He paced the sidewalk and inspected both sides of the door and then looked up to the other floors. He shook himself.
"Not finding any traps," Stiles reported. "Just... a building."
"Good," Peter said. "Christopher said this was a good thing."
"Then, let's go in!" Stiles said cheerfully.
Peter unlocked the door, waited until they were all inside and then re-locked it behind them. He found light switches that turned on enough lights to see by.
The first floor was a pretty standard office building. There was a receptionist area just inside the front door and doors to several offices.
"I suspect there are more than empty offices here," Derek said.
They went to the stairwell. "Up or down?" Peter asked.
Stiles sent threads of magic in both directions. "Down feels more interesting."
"Down it is," Peter nodded. He started down the stairs with Stiles coming next and Derek bringing up the rear.
There was only one light at the base of the stairs and it revealed a heavy-duty steel door.
"Bet this is our present." Stiles bounced on his toes.
Peter flipped through the keys and found one that would open the door. He took a step inside and then stopped.
"What is it?" Stiles asked.
"Gunpowder," Derek growled.
Peter reached to the side and flipped on the lights.
Not just gunpowder. Guns. Hand guns. Rifles. Automatic weapons. Knives. Tasers. Cabinets and drawers lined one wall. It was an entire arsenal of weapons.
"Whoa." Stiles breathed.
"Maybe we should have read whatever else was in that packet," Derek said, looking around.
"It is likely this is where Argent Arms kept its inventory," Peter mused. "Shipments at odd hours and people coming and going wouldn't be unusual in this area."
Derek sniffed. "Wolfsbane. And mistletoe."
"That makes sense," Peter nodded. "When Christopher moved from the house to an apartment, he needed a separate working space."
"This is more than just a working space," Stiles said.
"This is more than we can deal with without a plan," Peter said. "Let's check out the rest of the building."
After Peter locked the steel door, Stiles placed a hand on it. He held out the other hand. "Both of you, put your hands on mine. I want to set up wards and tie all three of us to them."
"Good idea," Peter praised. He put his hand in Stiles' and Derek wrapped his hand around them both.
Stiles concentrated for a few minutes and they all felt a shiver of magic settle on the door.
"There. If someone that is not us tries to get in, we'll know about it. It won't stop anyone but we'll have a warning," Stiles said.
Derek pointed to a corner of the ceiling. "Looks like there are security cameras. Maybe we can find out where they go."
"Then we go up," Peter said. There was an elevator, which they ignored for the moment. They went up to the second floor. The front of the building was more office space. There was a corridor that led to the back of the building and to another steel door.
"Now what?" Stiles asked rhetorically.
Past the steel door were two more offices and a dozen studio apartments. One of the offices was obviously the security office. A bank of dark monitors was arranged along one wall and a rack bolted to the floor held a variety of powered down electrical and computer equipment. The other office had a large desk and chair, and a large safe that was bolted to the floor.
The studio apartments each had a queen sized Murphy bed, a corner kitchenette with stove, microwave, dishwasher, and refrigerator, a table and two chairs, and a bathroom with a shower but no tub. None of them looked like they had been used. The blinds on the windows were drawn but there were no linens for the beds and no towels in the bathrooms.
"A safe house?" Derek asked. "A place for transient Hunters to stay?"
"That's one thought," Peter admitted.
"Now I've got to see what's upstairs," Stiles said.
The third floor had a landing and a single steel door. Peter opened the door and went through.
"This is nice!" Stiles breathed.
The third floor seemed to be a single, huge, apartment. The living room led to a dining room, a huge kitchen, and four bedrooms, each with their own bathroom. The rooms were furnished but, again, looked like they had never been used. There was no food in the cabinets and no linens anywhere.
Peter looked thoughtful.
"A Pack House?" Derek asked.
"That's one possibility," Peter admitted. "It's... a lot."
"Well, now we have to see what else was in that envelope," Stiles said.
"Yes, we do," Peter agreed.