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Scott met Stiles on a rainy day, his first Saturday in Beacon Hills. His father was supposed to be watching him while he tried to make friends at the park; but his father went to the bar across the street and Scott wasn’t very good at making friends - and then it started raining. All the kids ran to the wooden gazebo in the center of the park, but Scott couldn’t run much so he was a little behind.
“Are you okay?” A little voice asked, making him turn around. A kid his age was staring at him with big brown eyes and a little smile, he was wearing a red rain cape with the hood on. Scott nodded, and the kid smiled widely at him. “Cool!” he said, taking his hand “come on! You can’t stand in the water like this! You’ll catch a cold!”
Scott just followed him, as he brought him to his mother and kept talking to him. That afternoon he learned a lot about the kid: first of all that he was a girl, and that she wanted to be called Stiles even if it wasn’t her name, that her father was a cop and her mother cooked the best goulash - he had no idea what that was, but he wasn’t going to question it.
Scott was overwhelmed, but happy and when Stiles asked if he wanted to play videogames with her the next day he almost couldn’t believe his luck. Stiles didn’t mind when Scott couldn't run, she didn’t make fun of his inhaler and she kept saying “of course you can come with me, you’re my friend now!” It was so amazing that Scott somedays couldn’t believe it, life had never been as fun as it was with Stiles - Scott met his best friend that day, and if he privately wondered if Stiles was actually a superhero agent undercover, no one had to know.
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“Jackson, you absolute asshat, would you stop making me trip with that thing?! Do you even know how to get rid of it again?” Stiles screams were ringing in the woods, way louder than any grunt or howl. They just finished training, Scott's last partner had thankfully been Isaac; but the whole thing had been two hours worth of sparring, so now he’s more than a little tired. But the sun is warm on his skin, and the breeze in the woods feels amazing on his sweaty skin.
Allison and Lydia are still shooting arrows on a tree, Derek was with Boyd and Erica, giving pointers on technique, and Isaac was sprawled on the grass starfish, taking deep breaths. Jackson and Stiles were, unsurprisingly, arguing - or bickering, maybe. Jackson is still shirtless, and Stiles is wearing the batman t-shirt he gave her as a present for her last birthday and her favorite red hoodie.
“Why, Stilinski, your eyes aren’t working?” Jackson’s comeback almost makes him growl deep in his chest - he still hates Jackson, he’s not going to forget that he made his and Stiles’ life hell for a long time just because now they’re Pack. “Oh my, you can’t! You have no idea how to retract the tail, do you? Oh my, this is the best!” Stiles mocks him, just before she starts laughing even louder.
Jackson growls at that, but then Stiles puts a hand on his shoulder while laughing and even puts her forehead on her hand - Jackson rolls his eyes, and Scott calms down a bit. He doesn’t like Jackson, even if he’s Pack, and he likes even less how comfortable Stiles acts around him. It’s like she forgot all about the bullying, and the threats, and the mocking.
“Come on, go ask Derek some relaxation technique or whatever, I don’t think a big lizard tail will go unnoticed” Stiles says, patting Jackson on the shoulder and smiling up at him. Jackson snorts, rolls his eyes, and then follows her words and goes to Derek - Scott doesn’t like how Jackson acts around Stiles either, or how he looks at her.
“Hey, Scotty” Stiles says, walking towards him - he tenses up, he knows Stiles had wanted to talk to him for days. “Hey, dude!” he starts, going for a wide smile, and then takes a sip of water to look away from Stiles. “You have to apologize” she starts, and Scott whines “to Derek.”
Stiles already gave him the whole speech already, and he’s honestly sorry about what he did: he realizes now that forcing Derek to give the bite to someone is bad, that forcing him to give the bite to Gerard Argent is even worse, and that generally forcing anyone to do anything is shitty. But, apologizing still feels way too awkward.
"It's serious, Scott, okay?" she says, suddenly lowering her voice so much he has problems hearing her from the step away he's standing - she doesn't want to be overheard apparently. "What you did was- just unexcusable, really. I have no idea why he didn't kill you, why the hell he still treats you as Pack . You shamed him as an Alpha and, Christ, you violated him as a human. Please understand that it's not something you can just forget about. Please"
Scott knows this, she told him all of this already; but hearing her say the words again, with that much sadness in her voice, makes him feel- like shit . Like the asshole he clearly is. Scott takes a deep breath, looks at Derek talking in hushed tones with Jackson, and nods.
"Good," Stiles answers, taking a Reeses pack from her hoodie pocket "do it soon." She passes the Reeses without looking, and Scott accepts one instinctively - he fucked up, big time. Thank god he has Stiles to point it out to him.
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It was raining the day Scott woke up and his father wasn’t home anymore, but Scott wasn’t crying. He wasn’t sad, not really - well, he was kind of sad; but not because his father went away. He was sad because his father was not a good man. He drank too much, and yelled a lot, and he made mom cry; Scott shouldn’t be glad that he was finally gone, but he kind of was. But it was just him and mom now, and Mom worked a lot, and Scott was feeling lonely already.
Something made a tiny noise, hitting his window from outside, and Scott jumped a bit. Then another little rock hit the window, and Scott got up to see who was there. “Scott!” Stiles whispered loudly, waving her hands in the air - she was in her red raincoat with the hood down, soaking her buzz cut hair in the rain “do you want to play?”
It was raining so they couldn’t play outside, and Scott didn’t have many games at home. He heard mom on the phone with Mrs. Claudia last night, after the yelling stopped: Stiles must have been eavesdropping too, so. Stiles must already know what happened, and she decided to face the rain to come to Scott’s house. He felt twin tears in his eyes, as he waved Stiles inside.
He got down the stairs as Stiles hung the red cape standing on her tiptoes; she was dripping on the carpet, and Scott is sure she didn't tell her parents she was going out, and suddenly something in Scott's chest just broke. Stiles was beside him immediately, hugging him so close he could feel her ribs under his arms; and Scott was crying now, sobbing loudly and wetting Stiles' shirt with his tears.
“Oh, Scotty” Stiles whispered, patting his head “it’s okay. It will be okay.” Scott hugged Stiles even closer : the hero always appears when the people are in danger, when they need them the most, and Stiles appeared for Scott with her little red cape and her warm hugs - Scott’s dad won’t be there in the morning but Stiles will, and Scott feels that maybe it’s better like this. Things will be better this way.
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School ended abruptly, almost surprisingly - Scott hadn’t been paying attention to anything school related for a while now, not with all the supernatural events happening around them. But he passed the year, surprisingly; probably just because Stiles never really lost track of his tests and homework and kept him in check. He is lucky like that, he guesses.
It is a beautiful day, and the morning sun filtered to the clearing behind the Hale house just right. The building is still eerie, still making Scott uneasy inside; but he got used to it, to the wave of sadness that overcomes him everytime he sees it. He knows Derek is inside, he can smell him already.
“Derek?” he whispers, stepping inside the house - his hands are trembling a bit, he doesn't feel calm at all. “He’s your Alpha, Scott, and you own him your respect. Just that, no need to be scared" Stiles had said, but Scott still feels thoughtfully fearful. He takes a deep breath, as he gets closer to Derek. He came to practice early to do this, so he's doing it: he's going to apologize, and he is going to do it because he knows in his heart it's the right thing to do. And not just because Stiles told him to.
"Scott" Derek greets him, his arms crossed on his chest and his face as angry looking as ever. "Derek" he answers, setting his posture straight and holding the Alpha's gaze "I came to apologize." If Derek is surprised, he doesn't show it; his only visible reaction is the slow raise of an eyebrow. "Go on" he rasps, after uncountable seconds. Scott swallows loudly and instinctively drops his gaze to the floor. "I understand that what I did was just wrong. As your beta, and as a person too. I won’t use Gerard blackmailing me as an excuse, I should have told the Pack. I should have told you.”
Derek huffs, his stance relaxing just a tiny bit - Scott realizes just now that his head is bowed, his neck bared to Derek is submission: he is his Alpha, no matter how much he tries to fight it. "I want to trust you, Scott" Derek states, eyes trained on Scott's nape "I want to trust that you'll learn from your errors, that you'll learn to trust us . Not just me, but the pack." Derek huffs again, and Scott raises his gaze on instinct - Derek catches it, holds it and Scott is once again reminded of how little he knows Derek, how he can’t read him for shit "You're the older Beta, the one with most control. I have three newly turned teens and a Kanima to look out for, and the full is knocking at our door already. This is your pack , Scott: trust us , help us . Help the Pack .”
Scott feels a breeze caress his neck, and realizes he can hear Stiles playing with the keys on the Jeep outside. He thinks of Erica's prowess to rage, of Isaac's sudden panics, of Boyd's too silent and closed attitude. He thinks about Jackson, and the instincts even they know very little about; and Lydia, and how she still tries to run from it all. He thinks about Allison, and the position she's in and all the effort she's putting into finding a balance. And Stiles.
"Okay" he says, feeling the breeze pick up behind him "I trust The Pack" Scott waits for Derek to nod, his expression somber and almost relaxed, and steps out of the Hale House.
Stiles, leaning with her elbows on the hood of the Jeep, is basking in the warm rays of the sun, face relaxed and happy; hair up, red hoodie falling down from one shoulder "Hey, Scotty" she says, eyes still closed and with a serene smile on her face. "Hey, dude" he answers, with a serene smile of his own - he trusts Stiles, he'll trust the Pack too.
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The rain started falling, as Jackson Whittemore pushed him down in the puddle of mud; Scott didn’t want to cry, knowing that it’ll just make Jackson’s taunts worse, but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t do anything to Jackson, he swears; but the boy hated him, for some reason, and he always said mean things to him. Stiles was late that day, and Jackson decided he wasn’t going to stop at insults.
“What’s wrong, McCall? You can’t breathe?” Jackson said, kicking him on the shin. Scott was going to start sobbing any second, Jackson was just too mean. “Stop!” a voice shouted from the distance, and suddenly Stiles was there, standing between Scott and Jackson with her arms wide. “Stop, Jackson! You’re such a bully!” Stiles shouted at Jackson's face, her hands balling in fists on her sides.
Scott doesn’t remember how that fight ended, how exactly Stiles managed to get Jackson to stop; but he remembers that Stiles saved him that day . He remembers watching her back from the ground, her tiny frame looking imposing, the red raincoat flapping around her like a superhero cape. Stiles was his best friend, and his savior - and she definitely was also a superhero undercover, but she didn’t need to worry, Scott was going to keep her secret, he was going to be a good best friend.
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"The full will be here in seven days, so it's too late already" Derek starts, voice grave and booming, standing in front of an organized line made of his betas. "Control is not easy, but necessary. You need it in your everyday life, but most of all on full moons."
Scott is standing beside Jackson, with Isaac, Boyd and Erica on his other side. Stiles and Allison are sitting on the hood of the Jeep behind them, and Lydia is standing beside them wearing a rather bored frown. The sun is up, bright in the clear sky, and the forest is silent and loud at the same time, in that way that only the early morning can create.
"Scott helped us a lot last time, since he already has a good hold on control" Derek goes on, pointing at Scott with his chin. "And if everything goes south, well-" he glances at Jackson, that answers with his most annoying smirk "we have that option, now."
"No way" is Erica's immediate answer, her eyes in slits "I'm not doing that again." Boyd nods along with her, Isaac shrugs - Scott has personally never been paralyzed by the Kanima, but he saw Erica having convulsions from it: he can believe she doesn't want a repeat performance.
"The more reason to get it now" Derek says, crossing his arms "so let's start from what I told you last time"
"Concentrate on a totem" Boyd stats, voice always low and calm "repeat the mantra, keep breathing." Derek nods, almost smiles at Boyd - Scott remembers the whole alpha beta omega thing too, but it didn't work that well last time.
"What mantra? Scott didn't use a mantra! There was a mantra that could have helped?! And a totem too!" Stiles' voice makes everyone turn to her - her eyes are wide with shock, and she's holding tightly on the sleeves of her trademark red hoodie; and she's looking at Derek with pure rage in her eyes.
"It's a Pack thing" Derek answers, with a roll of his eyes "an omega needs to find an anchor, in a Pack the anchor is the Pack" Stiles doesn't look angry anymore, just confused, as she waves at Derek to go on. Derek, after an annoyed huff and another eye roll, does. "In a Pack your packmates are your anchor, your instinct to protect them, not to hurt them. We use mantras to remind the youngs of the Pack they belong to, usually linked to the Pack Symbol, so the image can be used as a totem to keep control"
"So… The tattoo on your back is not just an aesthetic thing, got it. The mantra? What is it? I'm dying of curiosity here!" Stiles goes on, with a playful smirk on her lips. Derek glares at her, and she giggles in response.
" Alpha, beta, omega" Derek answers, his tone still calm despite the abundantly displayed annoyance "everyone can become any, at any given time."
"Well" Stiles' answer is immediate, her face in a confused frown "that's not very reassuring . Or calming. In any possible way. Unless-" Scott can feel the anger in Derek's body, and he wants Stiles to shut up immediately if she doesn't want a very angry Alpha on her ass; but Stiles hasn't been afraid of Derek for a while, and shutting up is not her forte anyway.
" Ah " she gasps, staring at Derek with a sudden softness in her eyes - a gentle smile appears on her face, a quiet breeze moves her hair away from her face, her hoodie falls off from one shoulder " Resilience ."
Derek's eyes widen, his face gets soft, incredibly young for a second. "The Pack survives. This is the Hale Pack. No matter what changes, no matter in what form or who's the Alpha or the number or whatever: Alpha, beta, omega. We can change, but not die."
Scott sees Derek shiver visibly, feels the gentle breeze caress his skin."We are the Hale Pack" he whispers, so softly he barely hears it "the Hale Pack survived."
The breeze blows more strongly, right into Derek's face; Scott sees Stiles' smile with wet eyes and then glances back at Derek - he never saw it, but he bets that that time with Jackson when they were kids he was looking at Stiles with the same expression Derek's making now: at the time Scott was convinced that Stiles was some kind of superhero, or an undercover agent; Derek’s probably making less absurd assumption right now, but he bets the feeling behind it is the same
The sun shines, right on Stiles face when she smiles and Scott smiles back - he wasn't that far off at the time: Stiles is the best friend anyone could ask for and maybe, sometimes, also some sort of superhero. At least, she is for Scott.