Chapter Text
(Previously)
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“He knows how to grow a new Nemeton?” Julia roared “But he is dead!”
“Less dead than you think!” Lydia croaked, “I didn’t stop screaming because I was tired you know.”
“And he isn’t growing a new Nemeton, he’s replacing the old one, with himself.” Allison crowed.
Julia felt the life energy she had stolen all those years ago flickering out like a spent candle.
“You might say, he has a few Nemetons in his family tree!” Lydia grinned.
Stiles opened his eyes with a gasp, sitting up suddenly.
The huge stump of the Nemeton cracked loudly into two pieces and fell apart.
“Whoa! Hi there everyone! Did you miss me?”
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It was still a dark and stormy night... bummer, dude.
The wolves, both Beacon Hills’ and HYDRA’s were still stunned by the events of the last minutes.
Julia collapsed to the ground as her storm fell apart.
Then her body began to disintegrate; mercifully she was already gone it seemed.
“Well... colour this anticlimactic.” Stiles pouted. “I had some epic smack talk pre-prepared and everything!”
The last spurts of the rain dissolved the body of the former Darach and washed her into the mud.
Kali snapped out of her stupor first and screamed with rage as she saw the corpse of Ennis lying like a discarded rag next to where Erica and Boyd were being tended to by Peter and the twins.
She rushed towards them, only to be stopped by an immovable object, Scott McCall.
The young Alpha simply stood in her path and let her bounce off his body.
Kali, almost incandescent with rage snarled at him.
“Stupid boy, if Deucalion didn’t want you alive I would tear you limb from limb. Get out of my way pup! We both know that you are too soft to do what it would take to stop me. You will learn though, or Deucalion will kill you without a thought and swallow your power for himself.”
Scott stood before her with one eyebrow raised sceptically.
“As my bro would say ‘Do you kiss your Alpha’s ass with that mouth?’ Kali, this is your last chance, give it up and leave or face the consequences.”
“You are too weak to kill!”
“He doesn’t have to, “Derek growled from behind her, “I’d be more than willing to do the dirty job. I’ve got a lot of tension just at the moment and smacking you into the next dimension sounds like an excellent way to work off my anger issues.”
“Sourwolf got some game!” Stiles murmured proudly but also sadly, still perched on the remains of the stump.
“We are having words later,” Derek growled at him too, “But not until I’ve taken out the trash; I don’t want to talk to you while I’m this angry. I would say something I’d regret.”
Stiles bit his lip and tried not to cry.
Kali rushed at who she thought was the weaker target, claws out and aiming for blood.
Scott didn’t use his claws, instead his fist slammed into her face, stopping her cold.
He grabbed the front of her shirt and threw her through the air towards his Alpha.
“Derek, catch!”
Derek swung a vicious claw through the air and hit Kali in mid flight which such force that she screamed as she was hurled back towards the young True Alpha.
“High and long Scott!”
Scott grabbed one of Kali’s flailing legs and spun around like a hammer thrower, letting go as he was turning back to Derek.
Kali was morphing into her Alpha form as she soared up about fifteen feet.
Derek leapt up to meet her as she reached the apogee of her arc, and with a vicious volleyball spike movement, drove her into the ground several inches before landing on her.
Everyone heard her spine snap even over the dying remains of Jennifer’s storm.
With a final stomp Derek crushed her skull.
“Didn’t want to get nasty stuff under my nails.” He snarked as he wiped his boots on the grass at the edge of the clearing.
The four HYDRA wolves that remained in the clearing tried to flee, but Jackson and Isaac were there to delay them long enough to allow Allison and Lydia the chance to finish them off.
“Where’s Duke?” Stiles said as he broke the line of ash surrounding the former Nemeton allowing Scott and Derek to slam him between their bodies in a desperate hug.
“He’s with us!” Danny shouted into their ears via the comms system, “He’s been hell-bent on killing Chris as the last male Argent. You don’t want to know what he has planned for Allison. Mitch and Keith are already down, but Deaton has them in care. Chris and I got away from him after Sif knocked him flying so we’re heading back to you. We’re coming in hot though, so get ready.”
Even the humans could hear the trail bikes Stiles had found for the outliers heading towards them. There was a roaring noise also getting louder.
“Isaac, Jackson, help the twins and Peter to get Erica and Boyd up here with us.”
Stiles reached out and touched the rapidly decaying wood of the broken stump turning it to dust and leaving a clear spot where the others placed the unconscious wolves.
Peter was the worst of the still ambulatory wolves, but he was slowly recovering.
Stiles took a step towards Scott and Derek and waved his hand again as he did so.
The line of ash reformed and glowed green for a second.
“What have you done Stilinski?” Jackson growled as he bounced off the barrier separating him from his Alphas and Stiles.
“Your fight is over for now guys. Get your breaths back. Try not to get in Ally’s or Chris’s line of fire.”
Chris and Danny, sporting several wounds, some of which were still bleeding, skidded into the clearing on their bikes, leaping off them and running towards the group by the circle.
“Danny’s little fireworks have slowed him down, but he’s right behind us!” Chris said as he leapt over the ash line and to the relative safety of the group.
“Danny! Did you get bitten?” Derek noticed the bloody shirt as Danny ran from his bike towards them.
“Maybe a little?” Danny huffed as he ran.
“Was it an Alpha?” Stiles shouted.
“We’re about to find out!” Danny leaped over the line and...
stuck...
in mid air...
“Well... you don’t see that every day.” Stiles was both amused and concerned.
“OK, what does this mean?” Danny asked, with more than a trace of panic.
“Non-weres should just pass through the barrier.” Chris said confusedly.
“Werewolves should bounce off it.” Lydia didn’t like things like this happening.
“Am I immune to the bite like Lydia?” Danny was still hanging, “or is it because I haven’t fully turned yet?”
“I can cross the barrier fine.” Lydia stepped over it and back again.
“If you aren’t already dying, then you’ve turned,” Derek said blandly, “It might take a few hours for your body to fully change, but the ash would affect you from the moment you started.”
“What trickery is this?”
“Aaaaaand, cue the delusional psychopath!” Stiles frowned. “Derek, Scott, hold him off until I fix this.”
“Got it bro!”
Stiles walked up to Danny and pushed.
With a sparkle of bright purple magic the boy fell to the ground inside the barrier, caught at the last moment by Jackson.
“Ok... a new colour there... Pretty! Not one of mine though... That was probably you I’m afraid, Danny.”
“Join me or die weaklings! Embrace your true potential! I am your new leader!”
“I’m magical?”
“Oh for heaven’s sake!” Stiles spun around, “It’s just cliché after cliché with you lot! Do they have a special Evil Villain school where you get taught how to monologue like your lines were written by a Hollywood hack?”
“You’ll be fine Danny.” Lydia helped him to his feet.
“I shall destroy you all! I am the Wolf of Wolves! I am the Alpha of Alphas! I am...”
“The Duke of Douchery! High Fleabag of the Grand Latrines! The Largest and Most Ferocious Rice-Pudding in the World!” Stiles was whipping small lightning bolts at the Alpha as Derek and Scott kept him off balance by alternately attacking and defending from either side. (classic wolf pack tactics as it happens)
Stiles sent a stronger bolt into Deucalion and Scott managed to break the Alpha’s nose with a lightning quick roundhouse kick. Deucalion collapsed to the ground convulsing.
“Your allies are dead or captured Deucalion,” Derek rumbled, “You’re outnumbered and outmatched.”
“Give up your obsessions with revenge and power and we’ll let you live.” Scott was holding him down with his foot.
“I’ll even see what I can do about curing your sight,” Stiles grudgingly muttered, “Pollyanna-Wolf thinks that might help.”
Deucalion sagged under Scott’s leg and nodded his surrender.
“I have no choice do I?” he grumbled, “I have to...”
Suddenly he convulsed again, throwing Scott aside as Stiles’ eyes narrowed.
Something was wrong with this picture.
“No...” Deucalion didn’t seem to be defying them though; instead he seemed to be talking to himself.
“No... I cannot... you said...” He screamed and suddenly took his Alpha form.
“No! You are mine!” It was Deucalion’s voice but... it wasn’t.
“Oh great, he’s tired of being a bad Bond villain and has decided to become Linda Blair.” Stiles was concerned.
Deucalion stood; no, he didn’t stand; instead he rose from the ground as if lifted by an unseen force.
His Alpha form was huge.
As they watched it seemed to swell even larger and took on an unnatural purple/green tinge.
“Guys... I think we might have an issue.” Stiles was frantically motioning Derek and Scott to step back.
“Our bargain was clear!” the stranger within Deucalion was clearly the one speaking now, “You have failed! I shall destroy these fools myself and then continue my plans as before!”
One huge clawed hand swung out and Derek only just managed to dodge beneath it by throwing himself flat.
Allison fired an arrow which bounced off the hide of the huge beast.
The fight was rejoined, but this time Deucalion, or whatever he had become was winning.
“Who the hell, pun intended, are you?” Stiles used his winds to blow the form away from Derek so that he could get up.
“I am the Demon Wolf!” Deucalion screamed as Derek flipped himself to his feet and scored a particularly deep slash on his back as the evil Alpha had turned to strike at Scott.
Stiles was about to banter a little more when he suddenly tensed.
Deucalion’s eyes were...
Ok, that red was not the red of an Alpha Werewolf.
Scott and Derek wrinkled their noses, as did the betas inside the safety zone.
As well as the strong smell, Deucalion had some sort of green acid oozing from his pores and from under his claws.
“Sulphur!” Peter called out to Stiles, “Not a reassuring scent from someone who likes to call himself a ‘Demon Wolf’. Might need to bring this to an end quickly Stiles!”
“I am the Lord of Chaos! You and your world are mine to destroy!” The Wolf’s head seemed to be flickering with eldritch flames.
“Deaton! We might need an assist here!” Stiles was already noticing the ground beneath Duke’s feet beginning to char. “Derek, Scotty! Don’t let him hit you with his claws!”
“I wasn’t planning on it anyway Sti... OW!” Scott’s chest was slashed and burned, but more like acid than just heat alone.
“No mere mortal can threaten the Dread One!” Deucalion grabbed a fallen branch from one of the trees that surrounded the clearing and it burst into flames. “You shall beg for the mercy of death!”
“And it’s time to tag me in!” Stiles concentrated for a few seconds then ran at the Alpha. “Hi there O Great Dread Fuck-knuckle! Did you miss me?”
He leapt high in the air, spinning as he tumbled towards the wolf and slammed both feet directly into his face.
The soles of his shoes smoked a little but seemed to be resisting the... whatever it was Deucalion had going on.
“Stiles! Be careful!” Derek was mad at him, but not that mad.
“Just doing some experimentation Sourwolf!” Stiles had a quick look at his shoes while dodging a wild swing from Deucalion. “Ah! Pink! Almost red! Naughty wolf, trying to make us think it’s acid.”
“What is he talking about?”Isaac asked nervously.
“He’s obviously used the hydrangea extract he was preparing the other day, on his shoes.” Lydia explained “The colour of the flowers when they are growing is dependent on the pH of the soil. By learning what sort of chemical Duke is excreting or creating, Stiles can work out how to neutralise it.”
“Concentrate hornet venom as well, judging by the smell,” Stiles said as he got slashed by the wolf’s claws. They barely scratched his skin, but the boy hissed in agony. “Oooh, big mistake Dukey Babe, I can’t call you Duke anymore though, can I? Oh! I could call you Douche, which practically rhymes!”
Stiles picked up a droplet of the greenish, yellow venom from his wound and licked it.
“Oh that is disgusting Stilinski!” Jackson whinged.
“Hmm, Hornet venom and... Fire Ant saliva...? so Acetyl Choline and what could be a Piperidine Alkaloid?”
“How does he know that?” Danny asked Lydia “Or do I not want to know?”
“His insect buddies like to boast I think.”
“I think they swap recipes with him.” Allison offered as yet another arrow bounced off the Demon Wolf. “You really don’t want to know about some of the poisons he’s been making and sharing with me and my Dad.”
“Deucalion was weak and a failure! Your world is doomed. It is pointless to resist!” Whatever was in charge of the body obviously didn’t care about it being injured as ‘Duke’ exposed his throat to Derek’s claws in order to sink his own into Scott’s abdomen.
Scott screamed and fell to the ground.
With a flick of his wrist Stiles frowned at his fallen friend; Scott’s body sank into the earth, reappearing just outside the ring of ash.
Allison and Chris began to tend him.
“Use this!” Lydia handed them a vial of yellowish liquid, “It should counter the Base.”
“What is it? Are you sure it won’t hurt him?” Isaac was almost frantic since he was unable to get to Scott because of the barrier.
“Concentrated lemon juice.” Lydia was mixing several vials from hidden pockets around her person into a larger glass flask she had drawn from her bag. “It’s handy to have potion ingredients on hand that aren’t all poisonous.”
Meanwhile Derek had struck the unguarded throat, even though his hands were now sizzling and badly burned.
He tore right through it, opening the artery and tearing out the windpipe completely; Deucalion, or whoever it was, bled sluggishly, but seemed to be unaffected by the terrible wound.
Derek’s hands were immediately covered by a stream of water, conjured by Stiles, which washed the corrosive chemical from them.
“Ok, unfair!” Stiles whined, “You’re not allowed to be a zombie wolf! We already have one of those and ours is way cooler!”
“Stiles! Catch!” Lydia called out, handing the now capped flask to Jackson who threw it expertly towards the boy. Stiles caught it easily and whirled to face the seemingly unkillable creature. He opened the vial and concentrated, creating a small windstorm which atomised the contents and covered Deucalion’s body in a fine mist of potion.
“That should neutralise the burny burny stuff!” Stiles said happily as the mist swirled around the Alpha. “Deaton, any ideas yet?”
“I’m afraid I have at least one, judging by the names he’s given. I’ve contacted Stephen and he cannot get here to help us with our fight. He sensed a violent shift in the barrier around our dimension and was already investigating that. It appears the two incidents are related. He and his apprentice are attempting to disrupt whatever connection the entity responsible for the possession is using to power its vessel. He says if we can somehow disperse the physical form sufficiently, that should remove the focal point and assist him to seal the conduit shut.”
“What? Now is not a good time to be verbose.”
“Blow it up Stiles!” Lydia was fluent in Deaton-Speak, “Into as many small pieces as you can and scatter them as widely as you can. The smaller and further apart the better!”
Chris and Danny checked their pouches and bandoliers.
“I’ve got two grenades left!” Chris called out.
“I’ve only got 100 grams of Semtex left.” Danny seemed sad.
“Have you been making plastic explosives again Danny?” Lydia asked.
“Of course not, that would be illegal. I must have found them lying on the ground somewhere.”
“I have a better idea!” Stiles shouted as his mist finally cleared.
The Demon Wolf was looking even less wolf-like now, and more demonic.
It was no longer speaking, since it no longer had a throat.
The corrosive slime that had been oozing from it was gone and the flickering flames which had been growing about its head were out, but for how long was anyone’s guess.
“Ok Demon Freak, time to introduce you to some of my friends I think!” Stiles smiled as he checked on Derek.
“Der, could you repeat that leap you made on Kali for me?”
Derek just nodded and bent his legs in preparation.
Stiles threw a massive lightning bolt into the walking corpse and then gestured to the ground beneath it as Derek landed on its shoulders.
The form was driven into the ground below to its waist.
The soil seemed to resolidify around it.
“That’s not likely to hold it for long though, is it?” Derek asked as he leapt clear of the swinging claws.
“It only has to hold him long enough for my ladies to get here,” Stiles grinned “Hey, girls! I’ve got another favour to ask!”
“Girls?” Jackson murmured “He’s going to kill it with drag queens?”
Danny slapped him.
Ants, different species, different sizes, colours...
Boiling from the bushes, the trees, even from the ground around the struggling demon.
There must have been thousands.. maybe hundreds of thousands.
“Girls... I’ve got some dinner for you, eat up!”
It wasn’t pretty.
Even Peter turned away in the end, although he was the last to do so.
Thankfully Scott was still unconscious, Isaac thought, because even the glimpse he had had of what was happening to the Demon Wolf was enough to make him almost nostalgic about his freezer.
“I’m keeping the currents open both ways so they can get back to their nests, just like I did last time.” Stiles said, “It’s way easier now though!”
“How far is the furthest nest?” Lydia asked “If you know that is. I’d be interested to learn how much easier the currents are to manipulate now that you’ve become a Nemeton.”
Stiles concentrated to commune with the insects making the ground seem alive in front of him.
The numbers continued to increase, there must have been more than a million now.
“Really?” Stiles seemed shocked at what they were telling him. “Well... thanks for coming girls! It’s always nice to meet people from out of town.”
“I know I’m going to regret asking this...” Danny muttered, “Where are they from Stiles?”
“Well, most of them are local, from within a twenty mile radius anyway. The big brown ones on his head; wave girls...!”
The ants in question seemed to simultaneously wave their thoraxes at the group.
“...they’re from a nest in Central Park; as in Central Park, New York City. I met a few of them the other night when Derek and I went walking after our date, and they somehow heard my call just now and answered it; bit freaky huh?”
Lydia was a little shocked by that.
“And the tiny black ones that are currently finishing off the left hand are from Croatia. They wanted to thank me for the present I gave them? I think they mean the supplies from those Hunters I sent to that forest a couple of months ago. They hadn’t eaten that well ever before.”
“Why does he keep calling the ants girls?” Jackson asked, trying really hard not to look at what remained of the former demon.
“They are girls!” Stiles had heard him. “That’s why; and beautiful, deadly, vicious girls you are too!”
“All worker ants, bees, even most wasps you see are female.” Danny frowned at his friend.
“You’d think you’d know that Jackson!” Stiles was watching the last of the ants finish carrying the bones back to their nests. “You’re dating Lydia after all. Everyone knows the female of the species is the dangerous one.”
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Erica, Scott and Boyd were just regaining consciousness as the battle weary fighters arrived at the hangar the SHIELD plane was again hidden in.
“You called in SHIELD?” Scott asked as his senses cleared.
“Of course he did,” Peter snarled, “How long have you known him? Stiles will use any resource, and connection he can to make sure the people he loves are safe.”
“And do anything he needs to do!” a furious Cora was waiting with Sif. Melissa, the Sherriff and another figure were lying in the makeshift medical centre Deaton and Dr Simmons were tending. “You DRUGGED me?”
Cora was obviously steaming mad.
“WHY would you DRUG me Stiles?” She screamed. “I woke up in the Bus, in an ash circle with Deaton telling me that it was part of the plan. What part of the plan was it to stop me being able to help my brother and my pack?”
Derek was confused, and Scott was even more so.
“He had to Cora, “Lydia was exhausted and her voice was rough. “He didn’t want to, but there were three very pressing reasons.”
“I’d like to hear them/” Derek growled, “And the reason for several other things too.”
Stiles paled and looked about to collapse.
“Can we wait for a day or two to...” Danny asked as he noticed Stiles’ condition.
“No, I deserve to know.” Derek was mad.
Stiles stared at him for several long seconds, then nodded silently and with a longing look at his father’s unconscious form, went to enter the plane.
“Oh for goodness sakes Stiles! I meant AFTER you check on your father! I’m angry and upset, not heartless and cruel. I’m not even that mad, I just need to yell a bit more before I can calm down.” Derek was flushed and trying not to cry. “You go see your Dad. I’m going to go and ask Sif if she feels like smashing at each other with claws and weapons hard enough draw blood for a while.”
He stalked off with the Asgardian woman following.
“He’ll forgive you.” Peter said, “He probably already has, that’s why he feels the need to yell.”
Stiles just pulled the wolf into a hug of epic proportions and squeezed.
“Careful Stiles, people will start to think you’ve stopped hating me.”
“Stupid Zombie,” Stiles muttered into Peter’s neck, “No one hates you anymore; except you. Thank you for Erica’s life, but please start valuing yours a little more. I kind of need my daily dose of sparkling strychnine and acid.”
Stiles murmured one more word into his ear and moved on to find his Dad. Peter’s eyes glazed over with tears as the other wolves moved as a mob and buried him in affection, literally.
“What did he say?” Lydia asked, since not even all the wolves might have picked up the softly whispered word.
“He said ‘pack’,” Scott’s smile was tremulous as he scented Peter and the twins before moving to his mother’s bedside, “and he’s right!”
Peter was trying to apologise to Lydia for his past actions when the red haired girl stopped him with a finger to his lips and a hug of her own.
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Deaton was writing up some notes when Stiles and Scott moved to him.
“Your parents are uninjured and have yet to wake up. Julia dosed them up with a Mistletoe based potion that has unfortunate effects if someone tries to remove it from one’s system. I have given them some fluids and a potion of my own that should ease their awakening. The original draught was due to end about now, so it won’t be long.”
“What about Fury?” Stiles asked as he glanced over to where Dr Simmons was tending to a still figure.
“He had been given an extra dose, since he was kidnapped the night before your parents. He should awaken in about a couple of hours or so.”
“Are you sure they’re going to be ok?” Stiles was a worrier, even with super-powers.
“Yes Stiles, I may not be powerful, but I know a lot of things.” Deaton was kind and gentle in his smack down.
“He’s also remarkable accurate.” Melissa groaned, causing Scott to practically leap on her.
Stiles turned to his father and saw the man yawning and stretching.
“We’ve been semi-awake for the last few minutes,” John rumbled as his son squeezed him as gently as he could. “It was a very disconcerting way to wake up; piece by piece, I’m still not convinced my legs are fully aware yet.”
“Dad!” Stiles just held him and tried not to cry. “Dad, I messed up.”
“Probably,” John sighed as he felt his son’s tension, “Even I make the occasional small error. What is it you’ve managed to convince yourself is so unforgivable?”
“I... I hurt him.” Stiles was barely holding it together.
“Derek?” John sighed into his son’s hair as he kissed the tears away.
Stiles just nodded as he sobbed.
“Did you know what you were planning would hurt him?”
Stiles sobbed harder.
“Was there any other way?”
Stiles shook his head ‘no’, but his sobbing was even deeper now.
“Ok, now this is a hard question Stiles. Knowing how much he is hurting, would you still do it again if you had to?”
Scott was about to ask what the Sherriff was talking about when Melissa silenced him with a touch and a shake of her head.
Scott made his confused puppy face and she rolled her eyes at him.
“If... I didn’t have time Dad. I had to... I had to get so close to her to make the plan work. I knew she’d be able to stop me if she had even the slightest suspicion...”
Stiles’ face was red and blotchy, and his breath was coming in huge gulps.
“...Lydia and Allison are experts at hiding their feelings, so am I but... I couldn’t warn anyone Dad... Jennifer wasn’t just hyper suspicious, but she used to be an Emissary... She knows how to read wolves, not just by body language, but with ma...magic...”
Stiles was shaking in his father’s arms and looked like he might throw up any moment.
“... I had to... I didn’t even know if it would work... but I had to try... Danny made me change his fighting assignment because he couldn’t act well enough... And then Cora found us in a planning session and... I had to make sure someone survived for him... My backup plan was to... to destroy the focus point as I died... but then the pack would... Scott and Derek would survive... I had to make sure he had someone left... so I... oh Dad... I don’t know how to tell him... I had to do it though... I would do it again to make sure he lived... I’m a monster... I can’t look him in the face ever again... He was so hurt... I could feel it as I died...”
Sherriff Stilinski just held his son tighter as the sobbing increased.
“... and worst of all... if I had to I would do it all again... I have to Dad... I have to keep them safe... I swore I’d never hurt him, but I had to... I’ve lost him Dad... He must hate me now... How could he ever trust me again? I don’t deserve him... I don’t deserve any of them... I wish Gerard had killed me... I wish I’d stayed dead this time... I wish...”
“Shut up you idiot!” Derek’s voice was harsh and broken as he wrapped his arms around the boy in the Sherriff’s arms and wept with him. “I told you I was angry, not that I was angry AT YOU. I was angry at the situation. I admit I almost lost my mind when your heart stopped beating, but when I realised you were coming back I worked out, if not what you’d done, at least why you hadn’t told me. I know you wouldn’t hurt me for no reason Stiles. I understand why you had to. I don’t think it’s necessary, but if it makes things clearer for you, then you are forgiven. Got that? I, Derek Samhain Hale forgive you, Ceann’na’gcrann Æsch Stilinski, for doing what you had to do to save us all.”
The Sherriff allowed Derek to pick his son up and hold him.
The bed had been starting to creak alarmingly anyway.
“We’ll need to debrief soon.” Phil Coulson said as he walked out of the plane smiling, “Alan filled us in on some of the plan, but we would like to offer you our equipment if you need to test what, if anything, may have changed.”
“Well I know I’m getting flickers in my vision,” Stiles mumbled into Derek’s chest, “I think the potion I had put in to let me see through Jennifer’s illusions may have been affected by the whole thing. I keep seeing glimmers of magic over things.”
“Where exactly?” Deaton asked with a concerned look.
“You, Lydia, Danny... and Melissa and Dad, only it’s already fading on them; I think it might be the remnants of the sleeping draught, because Mr Fury over there is positively glowing still. Sif has a little on her belt somewhere and in her hair...”
“That would be my sword and a special hairclip Frigga made for me before her death. It helps keep my hair out of my face during a battle, and can be transformed into a poisoned dagger if needed.”
Lydia, Cora, Erica and Allison all perked up at the idea of such an item.
Stiles made a mental note; Christmas wasn’t that far off after all. He could even make them with stones to match their birth months.
“Loki and Thor are en route after rejoining the rest of the Avengers.” Phil continued.
“That spot of bother in Africa finished with?” Stiles smiled.
“Well... Loki and Thor were in Africa,” Phil sighed, “Tony and Steve and the others were caught up in something unexpected. They left Sokovia just after sunset and should be here within the hour.”
Stiles picked up on an undercurrent of worry.
“Casualties?” His voice was tight.
“Only one... sort of... It’s a bit odd really.”
“You’re talking to a photosynthesising human alien with multiple parents; do you really think you have the corner on the market for ‘weird’?”
Phil smiled. Stiles always seemed to be equal parts infuriating and comforting.
“Well, let’s just say they lost someone, then got him back, and found two new friends, one of whom they’ve almost lost again. Jemma will need to prep for surgery, if he lasts long enough.”
“I’ve got more of that salve if it would help.” Deaton offered “And I can assist Dr Simmons if she needs me.”
“I’ve got some mojo ready to go too Director Coulson!” Stiles grinned at him, “I’ll start setting up a supportive field now actually.”
Phil wasn’t sure what the boy meant, but as long as it didn’t mean making more reports or getting on May’s last nerve, he was fine with it.
“Oh my God!” Scott sounded as though he was in pain.
“Scott? Are you ok?” Stiles was already trying to check the place where the Demon had almost gutted him.
“No, I’m fine, I just...”
Scott pointed to where the pack members were lounging around chatting to May, Daisy, Mack and Fitz.
It took a few seconds for Stiles and Derek to realise what he was looking at.
Tucked back in a corner of the hangar Peter and Chris were having what looked like an argument, only there was too little anger for it to be a serious one.
Chris looked like he was trying to check the wolf for hidden wounds and...
Oh...
Peter had just huffed in annoyance at Chris’ poking and prodding and wrapped him up in a crushing hug until Chris had finally stilled and begun to cry a little into Peter’s chest.
“Well... there’s one less thing for me to worry about then!” Stiles grinned. “Now we just need to find a surgeon who can remove the stick from Jackson’s pert white ass and...”
Derek caught the shoe Jackson threw before it hit Stiles.
“Hey! I said ‘Pert’!”