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Returning to this town is the last thing Isaac ever thought he would do. Yet, here he is, crossing the city lines and entering the one place where his life both crashed and burned and changed for the better.
He should have called. He knows this. He should have at least texted. But it's been too long and he has no idea if anyone would even reply to his messages or just leave him on read.
He just… He had a lot of things to deal with. And it was easier to do it somewhere else, somewhere where the memories didn't haunt him along with the ghosts of his past.
For a moment, he considers going to Derek, his original alpha; even if the werewolf has long ago lost that status, sacrificing it to save his sister. But Derek kicked him out of his pack, told him to leave and never come back.
Scott was always a better option anyway.
He drives by the sheriff's station, wondering if Stilinski is still running the show or if he was replaced. He doesn’t stop there, not having the desire to find out. Instead, he drives down the main road and turns onto a familiar street.
The McCall house still looks the same. Somehow, with Scott running around, doing his werewolf/alpha duties, plus schoolwork and Melissa pulling shifts at the hospital, their lawn still looks pristine. There is an unfamiliar truck parked in the driveway, and he wonders for a moment if Scott upgraded.
When he knocks on the door, a kid opens it. He's got dark brown eyes and a mop of curly hair, and his expression is one of confusion, probably mimicking Isaac's own. There is also a hint of mistrust, if Isaac is reading him right. “Can I help you?”
“Um… I was looking for… Is this still the McCall house?” He blurts out.
“Alec, honey, who is it?” Melissa's voice echoes from the back followed by heavy footsteps.
“Some dude, I don’t know,” the kid, Alec, responds just as the footsteps come closer. Issac thinks it is Melissa's, so he puts on a smile, but when the door opens further, he is shocked to find Argent there.
“Isaac,” he says, surprised, but in the very next second, he is moving away. “Come on in.”
Melissa greets him warmly when she sees him. He allows himself to bask a little in her warm hug before he draws away, smiling. “It is so good to see you, sweetheart. How have you been?”
“Um, good. I've been good. Missed this place.”
They end up sitting at the dining table, Melissa insisting he join them for dinner that, apparently, Argent is making. He spots a few hidden glances and an occasional brush of hand and wonders when did that happen. And why didn't Argent tell him he was dating Melissa now?
They make small talk for a while, even if Alec just sits on the side, quietly absorbing every word Isaac says. He has no clue who the kid is, but if he is sitting at the McCall dining table, he must be trustworthy.
Finally, Argent asks the one question that Isaac has also been trying to find out the answer to..
“So, what brings you back to Beacon Hills?”
“I… I’m not sure,” he replies after a few moments, curling a little into himself. He feels ashamed for basically crawling back to the pack after he abandoned them.
He thought it was the right thing to do. He thought it would help him figure out who he is and who he wanted to be. Only to realize he just needs somewhere to belong.
“Well, they did say the town is a Beacon for the supernatural,” Melissa jokes. Next to her, Alec chokes on air and Isaac looks at him curiously. He has no idea who the kid is, or if he is even human, but he definitely knows about the supernatural if Melissa is throwing the word around so easily.
Argent huffs a laugh as he sets the food on the table. Isaac inhales deeply, mouth watering from the rich scent of pasta, tomato sauce, and something else, something he can’t quite put a name to.
“If that were true,” Argent continues as he sits down, while Melissa takes the role of serving everyone, “no supernatural creature would ever leave.”
“Oh?” Isaac prompts and Melissa and Argent share a look. She looks a little sad, but at the same time, there is a strong scent of pride wafting off her.
“Scott’s in California. He’s attending UC Davis,” she explains and Isaac's heart drops. Scott isn't here anymore?
Argent doesn't seem to notice as he continues. “Yeah, he is studying to be a veterinarian. And Lydia got into MIT.”
“What, um, what about Malia, Stiles?”
Melissa frowns as she looks at Argent, like she's not sure. “I think Malia went off to Europe?”
“Paris,” Argent corrects, “and Stiles is actually doing an internship with the FBI. Can you believe it?”
“Actually, yeah, that does sound like something Stiles would do,” Isaac replies, forcing a smile even as he feels the pit of his stomach opening up to swallow him whole. He came back to a pack that doesn't exist anymore. What's he going to do now?
Try to go back to Derek?
“Yes, well, someone has to keep an eye on Derek while he runs around the country playing a vigilante or whatever it is that he does.”
Yeah, that pit? Just got a whole lot bigger.
What the hell did he expect? Did he really think he could just come back and everything would be the same as he left it? That he would have a place, a pack to come back to?
“This tastes incredible,” Alec says, stuffing his face with the pasta Argent prepared. As amazing as it smells, Isaac has lost his appetite.
Suddenly, the front door bursts open. They all shoot up from their seats, when a kid with dirty blond hair comes in, half carrying half dragging another, skinnier kid who seems to be bleeding. His pale skin makes a stark contrast to his dark hair, which is matted with mud and sweat.
In a split second, the table is cleared and the wounded kid is being deposited on it.
“What happened?” Argent asks as he retrieves some supplies. Alec hovers close, holding the boy's head while Melissa takes a stalk of the boy's state. Seconds later, another kid rushes in, eyes wide and filled with worry. He is breathless and shaking. Another blond kid follows, looking equal parts concerned and terrified.
“Wedigos. They ambushed us after lacrosse practice. Is he gonna be okay?” The kid who brought in the hurt one asks, casting a glance at Isaac for only a moment before looking back at his friend.
Isaac watches it all unfold, curious.
“I am pretty sure I can help him here,” Melissa responds.
“Okay, good. You do that, and Mase, you stay with him. I gotta go back out there,” he replies, looking at the shaky kid first, then at Argent. It seems like he is calling the shots in the group.
“Why?” Argent asks.
“They took Theo. I have to go back and get him.”
“I'll come too,” Alec pipes in, words rushed and eager. Isaac raises a brow, noting it, but remains quiet.
“If someone gives me a gun, I can come too,” the second blond adds, looking not too sure, but still willing to help. They are really a strange bunch of kids, but they kind of remind Isaac of how Scott and Stiles used to work.
“I'll go too,” Argent adds, then looks at Isaac's. “You want in?”
“Sure,” he answers, feeling a little excited at the prospect of any action. Feels like the old times even if none of his old friends are here.
“Um…” The leader of the band, the dirty blond lets out, and Isaac smiles.
“Hi, I’m Isaac.”
“Oh, Isaac!!” The kid replies, suddenly smiling before he scolds his expression into something a little more neutral. “Scott’s told me a lot about you.”
Isaac frowns at that, not thinking Scott would ever mention him, much less talk about him, but before he can voice it, the kid is sticking his hand out.
“I'm Liam! I'm Scott’s beta,” he says like it’s no big deal. He motions for the kid on the table, then at everyone else. “That’s Corey, Mason, and Nolan. We're… Kinda holding the fort now?”
“You do a lot more than that, Liam,” Argent counters and Liam blushes a little.
“Yeah, well, you guys help, so…” he trails off, looking anywhere else, even back at Nolan for a second before clearing his throat. “We should, um, we should go.”
They all file into what Isaac learns is Argent's truck. Despite being older than Liam, Issac gets seated in the back with Alec and Nolan. Not that he minds. He is just eager to go save whoever this Theo is. (Funny enough, he knew a Theo when he was a kid. They never played together, but Isaac remembers seeing him with Scott and Stiles back when they were in kindergarten. He wonders, for a moment, if that is the same Theo they are talking about, but then remembers he moved away a long time ago.)
“So, are you all… werewolves?” He asks, curious. He thinks that Nolan might not be, considering the gun Argent was so willing to give him.
“No, just me and Alec,” Liam says. “Corey and Theo are Chimeras… um, like a mixed breed. Corey is half werewolf, half chameleon, and Theo is half werewolf, half coyote.”
Okay, that is weird even for Beacon Hills.
“And Nolan is human. Well, he was a hunter, but he’s on our side now, like Argent, so he knows how to use a shotgun,” Liam finishes. Nolan keeps his head and his gaze down, a scent of shame filling the cabin. Huh. Interesting.
“Well, looks like you got a really good team here,” he says, and yeah, he knows it sounds awkward. He feels awkward.
“There!” Liam suddenly shouts, finger pointed at what looks like an abandoned warehouse. It is close enough to the lacrosse field for the wendigos to drag this Theo guy there.
“How many of them were there?” Argent prompts.
“Seven or eight, not sure,” Liam responds and Isaac feels his eyes go wide. Seven or eight? It will be a real miracle if Theo isn’t already Wendigo chow.
“How the hell did Theo let himself be taken?” Argent sounds pissed, as if he expected better. If Isaac is following things correctly, then Theo couldn’t be older than him, and if that is the case, how could he have stopped them?
“He was playing the bait. Again,” Liam sounds pissed at him, and it occurs to Isaac that the beta seems to care about this guy. He wonders how deep that goes.
They don’t linger outside the warehouse for too long, only taking stock in the amount of heartbeats they hear as well as any sounds coming from the inside before they charge in, guns and claws blazing. They find three dead wendigos on the floor, something silver smeared all over their faces. A group of them is huddled up around someone, but as soon as they notice the newcomers, they abandon whatever it is they were doing to charge at them.
Isaac only gets a glimpse of a guy lying in a pool of blood and that same silver stuff before he has to focus on finding one of the Wendigos.
It is five against five, but Liam tears into the one that came after him, leaving him bloodied and injured, unable to move, then moves onto the one Nolan tried and failed to shoot. Anger is radiating off him in tsunami sized waves and Isaac thinks he alone would be able to take down the rest easily.
Still, he is reckless and allows one to sneak up on him. Isaac is about to shout his name when suddenly Alec is on top of the wendigo, slashing and growling.
It doesn’t take long for them to clear the room. As soon as it is safe, Liam rushes to Theo, scent filled with fear and concern.
“I’m fine,” Theo grumbles, half conscious, but is clearly anything but fine.
“You’re an idiot!” Liam tells him, angry and maybe a little relieved. He tries to get him to stand up, but when Theo hisses in pain, Liam grabs under his legs and back and lifts him, bridal style. Theo tries to protest, but is too weak to do anything more than huff.
“Let’s get him back to Melissa,” Argent says and turns around to head outside, when Theo lets out a long, painful ‘no’. Argent and Liam share a look, and Isaac just knows there is something more to that, but he doesn’t know what.
“Let’s go to my house,” Liam says, then heads for the door. Isaac pauses for a moment; it occurs to him that there isn’t really room in the truck for all of them now, especially with how wounded Theo is. Uncertain of what to do, he follows them all outside.
“Hey, I am good to walk,” Nolan says, looking a little shaken, but putting on a brave face. “I live like half a mile from here, so it’s fine.” He is lying. He’s not fine, but he has obviously come to the same conclusion Isaac has.
“I can walk him home,” Isaac finds himself saying before the words even register properly in his mind. Nolan looks at him sharply, like he hasn’t expected that, but is flooded with relief. Isaac offers him a smile.
“Thanks, man,” Liam says, nodding at him while still struggling to hold Theo. Isaac nods back then watches as the rest of them head towards the truck. Nolan motions for the direction of his house and the two of them start walking.
“Uh, thanks for doing this,” Nolan says after a while, but doesn’t meet Isaac’s gaze. There is still a hint of shame in his scent and while Isaac has no clue why, he finds himself wanting to help. Still, he’s got no idae where to start.
“It’s nothing,” he says instead, brushing it off.
“No, I mean it,” Nolan replies, meeting his eyes for a moment before looking away again. They walk silently for a few more minutes before he speaks up again. “I, uh, did some bad things before… I still don’t know how Liam was able to forgive me, but he did and I have been trying really hard since then to help. Just doesn’t seem like anything I do is ever the right thing.”
“Yeah, I get that,” Isaac replies. When Nolan gives him a sceptical look, Isaac huffs a laugh. “Did you know I fought against Scott at first? That’s until Derek kicked me out of his pack and Scott just welcomed me with open arms.” He smiles when he sees the wide-eyed look on Nolan’s face. “It figures Scott’s second in command would be just as forgiving.”
“The point is, you are trying. And that’s all that matters,” Isaac adds after a moment.
“Thanks,” Nolan replies, a little blush creeping up on his cheeks. He probably isn’t used to getting praised, not that it really was one. Scott was always better at these sorts of talks anyway.
“Do you wanna stay over?” the kid asks when they reach his house. Isaac is so startled by the question that he just stares at him for a few moments, not able to conjure words.
“Why?”
“Uh…” Nolan tries, eyes going wide, uncertain before he blurts out, “My parents are out of town and there could be more of those things?”
Oh, okay. That sounds like a logical thing. Nolan is, after all, just a human, and Isaac could protect him in case more wendigos have followed them (it is the same reason why he offered to walk with him, so…)
And if he ends up staying with Nolan for the unforeseeable future and ends up joining what Stiles referred to as ‘The Puppy Pack’, well… He would never admit it out loud, but he is glad to get to be a part of a family again.