Archive of Our Own ^beta

The waxing gibbous moon struggled, caught in the branches of the trees, and sheds it’s deceiving light throughout the Preserve. Their rescue mission had come to a halt when Liam had caught Mason’s scent and seemed poised to refuse to let the First Chimera come with them. Scott kept his gaze somewhere between Theo and his beta, waiting for the younger boy to make his decision.

It was important to Scott that he not influence the outcome in any way. The conflict that Theo had engineered between them before the Supermoon had relied on tempting Scott into exerting too much control and prodding Liam to resent it. This call had to be his beta’s, even if it meant Liam would have to live with the possibly unpleasant consequences. Scott waited.

Theo wasn’t so patient. “Where is he? What direction?”

Liam hesitated, his heart racing while his scent suddenly flattening out with the enormity of his choice. “This way.” He raced off through the woods, and after a single glance back at Scott, Theo followed him.

The glance could mean nothing more than Theo was checking on Scott’s position. Or it could mean Theo was plotting something against him. Or it could mean that Theo was worried that Scott was plotting to move against him once they found Mason.

It was so hard to read the chimera sometimes.

He had seldom had a problem reading his other enemies, mostly because they tended not to think of him as a threat. Why hide your motivations from a child?

Peter had been outraged, seething with resentment at how much trouble his first bitten beta had caused him. Without that constant sneering irritation, Peter might have thought to conceal his responsibility for La Iglesia more effectively.

On the other hand, Derek had been so determined to reclaim what he had lost while trying to pretend that he had never lost anything that he telegraphed his frustrated vulnerability for anyone to see who bothered to look. As much as Scott had opposed Derek’s methods those first few months, he understood that Derek wasn’t evil, just misguided.

As a talented strategist, Gerard had been more difficult to pierce, but once Scott had figured out that the old man cared only about himself and hated everyone else, the details of his plans became easier to discern. Scott had confidence that his present plot with Chris would neutralize the bastard when the time came.

His foes underestimated him so badly that they tended to treat him as barely sentient, fit only to be manipulated. To Deucalion, he was a prize to be won. To the fox, a meal to be devoured. To the Doctors, an obstacle to be removed.

On the other hand, Theo hadn’t seen Scott as beneath him. He had seen Scott as a peer, someone worthy of caution as an intellect in his own right. In fact it had been more than that, Theo had treated Scott as someone to be envied, to be pulled down from his pedestal.

Scott shrugged off his ruminations and all they might mean. The hours of the night were burning, and they had to find Mason. The alpha sprinted after them.

It didn’t take him long at all to catch up. Scott was fully healed, and so he was faster than either of them in human form. He had never tried to match Theo in his coywolf form; he suddenly wanted to see it even if it was artificial. He hadn’t had a chance to see Derek’s transformation in Mexico.

In the distance, he saw the manufactured and thus unnatural outline of a building hidden in the trees. It had to be the Operating Theater, and he started to point it out to others when suddenly Liam froze in his tracks. The beta gasped and his scent skyrocketed into panic.

“What is it, Liam? What’s wrong?”

“I stepped on something!”

“Don’t move!” Theo shouted suddenly, dropping to his knees at Liam’s feet to take a closer look.

Scott felt a spike of annoyance shoot through him at the chimera giving orders to a member of his pack, but he pushed it down, as he done so often in the last few weeks. Giving into his ego or his hurt wasn’t going to help anything. Instead, he managed to keep his voice calm. “What is it?”

“A land mine, if we’re lucky.”

“Lucky?” Liam exclaimed at a higher octave than he normally spoke.

“Don’t. Move.” Theo hissed. Circling Liam with his hands and knees, he tried to get a better look. “Think about it as good news. This means we’re close.”

It didn’t seem anything resembling good news to Scott. He circled himself, but to a position where Liam could see him. “I’m right here, Liam. No one’s going to leave you.”

Liam nodded swallowing. His beta sometimes seemed Scott’s age and then sometimes he seemed so much younger.

Silently, Theo began to carefully pull dead leaves and grass away from the ground at Liam’s feet to get a better look.

“Is it a mine?” Scott said casually.

“Oh, it’s absolutely a mine, but they could have used several different types. I hadn’t realized the Doctors had built this facility at all. They hid it from me.” The chimera sounded bitter. “They only use these kind of defenses around their most valuable laboratories.”

“What other kind of mines are there?” Liam tried to demand, but it came out more of a plea around his throat.

“Psychic land mines. They have different variations and none of them would do us any good.”

“What’s worse than being blown up?”

“Liam, calm down. Theo and I aren’t going to let you be blown up.” Scott tried to reassure him. “Theo, you can disarm it, right?”

Lifting his head, Theo narrowed his eyes at Scott. “Do you ever run dry of that Pollyanna shit? Both kinds are really sophisticated. The first erases its victims’ memories of the last twenty-four hours. If it goes off, none of us will remember that Mason has even been kidnapped, which means we’ll lose him. The second incapacitates its victims in a mental hallucination constructed from their own subconscious – something I’m told you’ve experienced, Scott.”

Scott felt a frown form on his lips, involuntarily.

“Scott. Scott, you need to back away,” Liam said suddenly.

“What? Why?”

“If it goes off, someone still has to rescue Mason.”

“Hey!” Theo snarled. “I don’t know where you got the idea that I was trying to disarm this thing out of altruism, but I’m not. If Scott leaves, so do I.”

“No one is going anywhere,” Scott spoke quickly. “No one’s going to leave you here, Liam, and if you want the Beast’s power, Theo, you’re going to disarm that mine.”

Liam tried to be stoic, but his eyes sought out Scott’s. Scott smiled at him and nodded.

“I didn’t say I wasn’t willing to try,” muttered Theo. “A little bit of murder and they think the worse of you.”

“Was that a joke?” Liam’s voice seemed shrill.

Theo didn’t answer; instead he got over and dusted himself off. “Scott, can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Say what you have to say in front of Liam.”

“Whatever.” Theo sighed. “I can’t tell what type it is. And even if I did, I don’t have any tools. As much as I might want to, I don’t think I can disarm it.”

“Okay.” Scott nodded thinking back to a story Lydia told him. “This is what we’re going to do. Theo, do me a favor and back up to that tree over there. Liam, don’t tense up.”

Theo and Liam both looked at him in confusion, hesitating to follow his orders.

“Trust me.”

Scott took a few steps back, enough to get a running start. The other two’s eyes followed him.

“Scott, what are you doing?”

He didn’t answer.

There wasn’t any good way to answer. Scott had come to his own decision weeks ago while staring at a hole in his chest in his bathroom mirror. All of this was his responsibility. Mason had to be saved because Mason deserved to be saved. The Beast had to be stopped because the Beast would keep on killing until someone stopped him. The Doctors were still out there, and every minute they wasted here increased the chances of them doing something even more terrible. Liam could heal, but not as well as Scott could. Theo could heal, but not as well as Scott could.

There was no good answer, but there was an answer.

Planting his feet and letting the alpha shift come over him, Scott charged forward and slammed into Liam with all his might. It might break a few of the beta’s bones, but the impact would hopefully hurl him far enough away that he would be safe from the explosion.

Strangely enough, it came without sound or flame. Instead, the world whited out.

Scott felt if he got any more relaxed, he’d melt right into the forest floor. The dead log at his back was the only thing keeping him upright.

“What time is it?” To his right, Liam scratched at the fuzz that he was attempting to grow into a goatee; Stiles had teased him unmercifully, but the sophomore had been stubborn about it. In the orange light from the small campfire, the facial hair and his half-slitted eyes made him seem slightly feral.

“I left my phone in the car, dude.” Scott stretched his legs out towards the flame to warm them. The fire kept them from freezing, but it was still chilly. “Don’t bogart that joint.”

To Scott’s left, Theo stretched out his own legs so he could dig his phone out of his pocket, and they came to rest within a few inches of Scott’s. “It’s a little before nine.”

“Cool. I told Mason I’d pick him up at …” Liam paused while passing the doobie to his left. “I … at … sometime tonight.”

Chuckling, Scott took another hit. “You’re totally baked.”

Theo leaned over to where Scott was up against the same log. “Do you really think he should drive?”

“Whatever. I’m not his dad.”

“I know, but … you’re not worried?”

Scott responded by offering Theo the joint. “Not really. I think we’re deep enough in the woods that won’t be able to find the road let alone his truck.”

“Ha-ha.” Liam stuck out his tongue at them both.

Theo stared at the glowing cherry in Scott’s hand for a minute before shaking his head. “I’m good.”

Scott wasn’t going to do something shitty like press Theo to do more pot. If he didn’t want to, Theo didn’t have to. Scott coughed, and from the corner of his eye, he saw Theo frown again. So that was it. “I’m fine.”

“I didn’t say anything!” Theo protested.

“Uh-huh.”

“I’m just … I’ve got asthma, too. Smoke can trigger an attack.”

Scott handed the marijuana back to Liam. “It’s a risk, yeah. So is playing lacrosse. So is walking down the street. But it’s the middle of the night, I’m a senior, I aced the A.P. Biology midterm, and I’m here with two of my best buds in the middle of the woods with a camp fire, cheap beer, some blue leaf, and nothing to do tomorrow but clean the gutters for Mom.”

“Sounds nice,” Liam muttered. “I think I bombed the math quiz.”

“That happens when you don’t study,” Theo snapped at the sophomore.

“I studied!”

“If that’s what you want to call it. When I came by, you and Mason were playing videogames.”

Liam struggled to sit up and then snapped angrily. “Whatever. We can’t all be tight-ass suck-ups like you.”

Scott almost missed the shade of hurt passing over Theo’s face. “Guys. Please no fighting. This is supposed to be fun.”

Theo didn’t reply, but at the attention, his face had gone carefully and completely blank. Scott had seen him do it before, when he made a mistake.

“Sorry.” Liam finally staggered to his feet. Scott straightened up when for a second he thought the younger kid might fall over into the fire, but that even was avoided. “I didn’t mean nothing by it. I’m gonna go pick up Mason.”

“Okay.” Scott said absently, searching for any change in Theo’s face. “Be careful.”

Liam waited for Theo to say something, but the other boy didn’t say anything. Blowing air through his teeth, he walked off into the woods.

With little to no inflection, Theo suddenly broke the silence. “I still don’t think he’s in any condition to drive.”

“You’re probably right.” Scott said lightly. “Considering the truck’s in the opposite direction.”

Startled, Theo narrowed his eyes in the direction Liam went and then jerked his head over his shoulder to look at the forest between them and the road. “Oh. Uh. Well, he could find it eventually.”

Scott dug Liam’s keys out of his pocket. “He dropped them earlier.”

“You’ve got an answer for everything don’t you?” Theo stood up, angrily. He suddenly made to storm off, but then he must have realized that he had rode with Scott.

“Hey.” Scott stood up with him. He hadn’t meant to make things worse. He liked hanging out with Theo; he was glad the boy had moved back for senior year. “Hey, Theo. Don’t be like that. No one’s angry with you. I know you were just trying to help.”

Theo didn’t move and then ground his palms into his eyes. He grunted.

“Look, I don’t have an answer for everything. Most of them time, I have no idea what I’m doing. I mean, Liam wandered off into the woods. He could literally fall down a bank and break his neck. You or I could have an asthma attack, and I wouldn’t know what to do if the inhalers didn’t work. I’m not perfect. Not even close.”

“Then why …” Theo choked off what he was going to ask.

“Why what?” Scott took a step towards him.

“I’m not like you. I can’t be … less than perfect. You can fuck up and it doesn’t seem to bother you.”

“Uh. It bothers me when I make a mistake.” Scott laughed because of the absurdity of the notion. “Stiles could tell you some really huge mistakes I made. He could go on … for hours.”

“But you’re okay with it. You just get back up and dust yourself off, like you didn’t just embarrass yourself. You don’t worry that everyone is going to think you’re a loser. I make a mistake and it’s like I got my heart ripped out.”

“Just because your parents are big time doctors doesn’t mean you have to be like them, Theo.” Scott had met Theo’s foster parents. They were brilliant, yet super strict and they were always demanding the best from Theo, whether it was grades or first line or the right friends. They were never, ever satisfied with anything Theo – or anyone, for that matter -- did. Living with them had to be a nightmare.

“It’s not them.” Theo hesitated. “It’s not just them. I want it, too. I want people to look up me the way all our friends look up to you. I want it because I see how it makes you happy, just being there for people. I want to be happy like that, but the harder I try the more I’m not. I’m a failure.”

“Well then stop.”

Theo goggled at him.

“I want you to be happy too, so I know you don’t have to try so hard with us. We’re your friends; that makes us the people you don’t have to worry about. I’m your friend. Liam’s your friend. Stiles and Lydia and Kira and Mason are your friends. Malia … that’s a work in progress.”

Theo cracked a smile. “I don’t really think Stiles really likes me.”

“He makes fun of you all the time, just like he makes fun of me. That’s how he shows he likes you.” Scott clapped him on the shoulder and squeezed. “So, let’s sit down. We’ll give Liam ten minutes and then we’ll find him.”

Theo nodded. “Okay.”

Scott went to sit back down but before he could take another hit, there was a sharp pain across his jaw.

~*~

“What?” Scott felt himself snap back to reality. “Who?”

“Oh, thank God!” Liam exclaimed. “Why did you do that? Why would you do that?”

Scott looked around the clearing. Beneath his feet was the remains of what had to have been a psychic land mine. “Uh. Someone had to do something.”

Liam suddenly relaxed. “You don’t have to do that any—“

“Yeah, I do.” Scott turned to where Theo was still standing where had been, staring off into space, and still obviously under the mine’s spell. “You weren’t affected, were you?”

“Nope.” His beta held out his arm. “You must have knocked me out of you range. It only took so long to wake you up because you hit me so hard you broke my sternum and one of my legs. I had to heal enough to move.”

“Oh, dude, I’m sorry.”

“It’s better than all three of us getting caught in that thing,” Liam tried to shrug it off, though now that he had described his injuries, Scott realized he was moving gingerly. He hated doing stuff like that. “And it’s not like I haven’t done worse.”

“No one deserves it.” Scott snapped. “I don’t like hurting you. I didn’t like hurting you in Eichen House either. Don’t get used to that, because it’s never going to happen again.”

Liam looked away.

Scott softened. “You well enough to go get Mason? I can see the building where he’s in.”

“Yeah. I’m good to go. At least we can ditch Theo.”

“No, we can’t.” Scott walked over to him. “We have no idea how long this … vision will last. He could be standing there for hours.”

“Yeah. Right, that’s the point.”

“Anything could happen to him. The Doctors could come “

Liam snorted. “Serves him right.”

“No one deserves it,” Scott again, far more softly. “I know he’s not your favorite person right now, but I can’t leave him here.”

“He left you dead in that library.”

Scott took a deep breath and straightened his back. “I know. But that’s what he did, not what I’m doing. Or what I’m going to do.” Growing a single claw, he sliced across the back of Theo’s hand like Mason had done with the scalpel.

Theo came out of the trance and looked around. He must have realized that they had to free him, and his face went utterly and completely blank.

Oh Theo, Scott sighed internally.
“We gotta go!” Liam said and then turned to sprint off, but then he stopped. “Maybe you should go first, Theo. You know what to look for.”

Theo’s eyes slid to Scott, and Scott nodded in agreement with Liam.

“Fine. Walk where I walk.”

They walked toward the vegetation covered building in the middle of the Preserve.