Chapter 12

Melissa sighed as she finished updating her last chart before her dinner break. Scott had called to tell her that he was with Allison so she didn't have to worry too much about him and was planning to enjoy the leftover enchiladas that she had brought for a few minutes of peace and quiet. Leaning back in her chair she rubbed her eyes as she glanced at the chart on the wall and smiled slightly at the number of empty rooms on the floor. Alan Deaton and the others had come to the hospital shortly after Stiles' call and with Melissa's assistance, they had managed to cure the remaining victims of the witches' curse. Scott had told her some details about the coven's defeat but that wasn't something she was going to focus on. It was quiet now and she was going to enjoy it as long as she could.

"Mrs. McCall!" Melissa flinched as she recognized Stiles' panicked voice and she looked over her shoulder and saw the teen for a second, moving before she even consciously recognized that the boy's shirt was covered in blood. She was at his side in seconds but his shirt appeared whole, despite the blood.

"Stiles?" she started but he grabbed her arm and started to pull her back the way he came, apparently from one of the empty exam rooms. "What's going on" she demanded in a whisper that froze when she saw the look of desperation on his face.

"It's my dad" he croaked and Melissa's eyes hardened and she bolted forward as Stile pulled her into the room. Stepping inside she saw Noah laying on the table, his shirt torn and bleeding from multiple wounds on his chest and neck. Melissa felt the mental shift inside her as she went into 'nurse mode' and cut off her emotions as she moved to her friend's side to catalog the wounds. Multiple punctures on the neck in addition to bruising that appeared to be the result of strangulation, four parallel cuts on the stomach that luckily were not too deep, bruising and cuts on the head, and a hand that looked sprained or broken.

"Stiles get that cart" she ordered before reaching for another tray and grabbing supplies. The next few moments were solely focused on checking out everything but she could spot no other major injuries. "What the hell Stiles, why aren't we in the ER?" she demanded not quite meeting Noah's eyes.

"One of the Alphas attacked us at our house" Stiles stammered looking pale as she cleaned around the claw marks.

Melissa's eyes widened and she glanced at the Sheriff who was watching them through gritted teeth. He was watching her and his eyes suddenly narrowed in suspicion. "You knew about all of this…this" the Sheriff waves his uninjured hand and sees Melissa flinch. "We will be talking about that…ah!" the shout of pain interrupts whatever he was going to say and Melissa glared at Stiles and he could see the unhappy 'I told you so' in her eyes.

"Long story, but did you say Derek did this?" she demanded of Stiles and then frowned at the matching confused looks on the Stilinski men.

"Hale?" Noah asks in confusion but Stiles shakes his head.

"Not Derek, one of the Alpha Pack" Stiles clarifies but sees that Melissa doesn't understand. "Please tell me that Scott told you about the pack of Alpha werewolves that came to town to kill everyone" Stiles asks and groans at the look of fury that quickly crosses her face.

"He is so grounded" she mutters as the Sheriff looks at Stiles with a calculating look.

"Hale is a werewolf?" he asks and Stiles closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

"Yeah he is. It's complicated" he starts but the sheriff cuts him off quickly with a move that causes him to gasp in shock.

"Stop moving Noah" Melissa orders quickly and he leans back to let her work.

"Stiles you need to explain things to me. Apparently we were just attacked…by a werewolf who said he was going to kill you to send a message, who pretty much ignored being shot by me, twice, and then you…you did whatever it was you did…" the Sheriff stammered at a loss and Stiles flushed when Melissa looked confused.

"What did you do?" she asked confused.

"I may have been learning magic without really telling anyone. When the guy attacked us, I kind of zapped him" Stiles said looking sheepish as Melissa cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Magic? You zapped a werewolf with magic?" she repeated looking at the teen in disbelief.

"Zap is a bit of an understatement" Noah said with a slightly wild look in his eyes. "You cut his arm off, blasted him through a door with green fireballs, did something I still don't understand that broke his legs and then you dumped him through a flaming door onto a deserted island." Stiles was flinching at each new description while Melissa looked more and more surprised. Stiles looked at her and saw the question there.

"Surprise?" Stiles offered and looked offended by the simultaneous snorts of derision from both his dad and his surrogate mom. "Hey!" he yelped and Melissa chuckled.

"Does Scott know?" she asks looking unhappy again but that clears when Stiles shakes his head with a guilty look causing her to frown "Why not?" she asks curiously.

"He's been really busy this summer" Stiles' justification was pretty lame even to his own ears, he didn't need Mama McCall's look of derision. "Well, he has!"

"How long Stiles?" she demands and he mumbles something "I can't hear you" she prods and he throws his hands up in surrender.

"Just a couple of months. Since the end of school" he protests and sees her look shocked. "It's not that big of a deal" he tries to argue.

Melissa just looks at him with that disappointed mom face and he squirms and turns to his dad for any support only to see the man staring at him with narrowed eyes. "Stiles, I think you need to tell me everything. Starting with why Melissa seems to know about this stuff, Hale, the guy who attacked us and everything" the Sheriff demanded. "You have been keeping all of this from me for how long Stiles? Is this what you have been lying about all year?"

"Told you so" Melissa muttered and started when the Sheriff turned his eyes towards her. "Hey, I only found out when that Matt kid attacked the station. Sorry it took me a bit to deal with my son being a werewolf" she says with some serious snark.

"Scott's a werewolf?" the Sheriff demands looking at both of them. "You are so grounded" he growls and Stiles winces.

"Dad. Okay, I'll tell you everything, but it will take a bit of time" Stiles promises before turning to Melissa "is he going to be okay?" he asks.

"The cuts are not threatening so yes. We need to x-ray his hand, although that will be hard to do without anyone seeing" she says with a frown.

Stiles smirks and waves his hand over his father, sparkles falling from his hand. Melissa jumps back as the sheriff and the bed both disappear like they were never there. "What the hell?" Melissa says looking at Stiles who is grinning like a loon.

"What's going on?" the Sheriff's voice comes from the vicinity of where used to be but wasn't anymore.

"Illusion" Stiles says proudly. "Makes you invisible so no one can see you. Will that help?" he says waving again and the sheriff reappears looking totally unhappy.

"That was really weird" Noah mutters staring at his now visible hands but Melissa nods happily. Promising to talk later, Stiles hides his dad and himself as they go to the x-ray lab and get his wrist checked out and luckily it's just a bad sprain, no broken bones. They head back to the room where the Sheriff, now bandaged up, looks at his son expectantly.

"Okay, so…remember the night you found Laura Hale's body in the woods?" Stiles began and the Sheriff nodded. Stiles then proceeded to tell him about Scott being bitten, the attacks against the people involved in the fire due to Peter going crazy with revenge leading to him killing Kate, Derek killing Peter and becoming the Alpha werewolf, Derek's new pack, Jackson turning in to the Kanima and Gerard's attacks on Melissa and kidnapping Stiles, and all the rest to the end of the school year. "And now we are apparently dealing with an evil druid committing human sacrifices along with a pack of Alphas who all killed their packs to gain power and are apparently after Derek."

Noah sits in silence for a few minutes as Melissa asks some clarifying questions about a couple of items that she didn't have the full picture on. "And you?" Noah finally asks which causes Stiles to look really uncomfortable.

"Okay, first I haven't told any of the pack yet, so please don't say anything until I can" he pleads and they both nod. Stiles then explains how Deaton told him he was a spark, but not a druid which led to more explaining about the vet's real role in town. He shares how he met the astral form of Dr. Strange who he helped and was taught by the man until they freed his body from the trap and introduced him to his new teachers.

"You remember Wong?" Stiles asks his dad and sees the man pause before nodding remembering the phone call. "He works with Stephen in New York and I spent a lot of the summer training with him there and at their place in Nepal" Stiles explains the portal system and they both look flabbergasted.

"You have been teleporting to New York? And Nepal!?" Noah was astonished at his son's explanation. Then his eyes narrowed and he almost growled. "Is that where you have been getting that pizza!" he demanded.

Stiles started laughing until he flopped down in the chair by his dad's bed. "I knew it. I knew you would try to find it!" he finally manages to say while wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Dammit Stiles! I have had every deputy in the county trying to find that place" he grumbled and Stiles looked exceedingly proud of himself.

"Sorry dad but now that I have magic, you are so going to eat healthy" Stiles is still laughing at his muttering dad when he spots Melissa looking at them with a fond expression. "I found an amazing pizza place in Greenwich Village and have been bringing home one each week as a treat" he mock glares at his dad who grumbles at his son. "I knew dad would try to find the place but he had no chance!" he said proudly.

"Magical pizza delivery, very nice use of powers Stiles" she teases but Stiles just looks offended and innocent.

"I only pick it up after I get a lesson" he smirks "it's like I'm using it to be better at Lacrosse" he smirks even wider as Melissa smacks him on the back of his head. "Hey!" he protests but sees his dad nodding in approval.

"And perhaps you would like to explain what I saw on your arms?" Noah asks suddenly remembering what looked like glowing tattoos during the fight.

Stiles suddenly looks guilty and caught and he looks at both of them like he is getting ready to run but he is caught by his dad's glare. Sighing he concentrates and the tattoos on his arms appear, surprising both of them. "They are magical tattoos and runes. This one" he shows his right arm "has sigils and runes I designed to help me connect with the element of fire while this one" he shows his left "is for the element of air. The tattoos magnify my ability to control and use those elements" he says while stroking over the different parts and with a flick of his magic, both of them gently light up causing Melissa to whistle softly.

"Any others?" Noah asks looking rather unhappy. "I mean do you have any other tattoos that I did not give you permission to get."

Stiles sighs but holds up his right leg and pulls up the material "Earth" he says causing the tattoos on his leg to light up before switching legs "and Water" he finishes and puts both legs down. "I'm really good at Elemental Magic, so, they help me be even better" he says trying to sound casual but he falters at his father's silent stare. Stiles tries to hold out, he really does, but he can only take the parental stare for so long before he cracks. "And on my chest and back" he finally confesses and squawks when both his dad and Melissa give him the 'show us' signal.

Muttering about privacy, Stiles takes off his shirt before lifting off the blood stained t-shirt when his dad starts "What is that?" he demands and Stiles looks down in confusion before he spots the wolf, posed like he is howling at the moon on his side below his ribs.

"Oh. That's my spirit animal" Stiles says easily. "He's doesn't like to do what he's told" he says to it and Noah is about to question his son's sanity when the wolf actually turns to look at him for a second before running down his son's chest and disappearing below his waist.

"Stiles…what the hell" Melissa stammers having seen the wolf moving and looking totally freaked out.

"He does that. I got him on my back but he doesn't like to stay there. He roams around" Stiles says with a shrug ignoring the bug-eyed look on his dad's face. "This one is my spirit tattoo" he says pointing to the design over his heart before taking a deep breath and turning around. He hears his dad and Melissa gasp in shock.

It is quiet for a few minutes while both of the adults stare at the tree on the teen's back, intricate symbols masterfully blended into the branches and roots while they watch the colored leaves flutter in some imagined breeze. It is truly mesmerizing to watch the tattoo and Stiles gives them a bit before coughing gently breaking the spell. "Watch this" he says and they both watch the tattoo disappear completely from his skin as he pulls his shirt back on.

"Stiles…that…" Noah trails off not knowing exactly what to say. He wasn't sure what to say anymore. He wasn't happy that his seventeen year old son went and got a bunch of tattoos without permission, but that tree and wolf, how they moved and looked so…alive…it made his hesitate.

"Where did it go? More importantly, what does it do?" Melissa finally asked the teen who was looking rather shy in the moment at how the two most important adults in his life were looking at him.

"I have a tattoo on my hip that helps hide things. Normally it hides the other tattoos, wolfy apparently is immune to that don't ask me why, but I can also use it to turn invisible. The tree? That is what I dreamed of as I searched for the fundamental core of my power. It symbolizes my ka or chi or soul and it draws on my past and future. I blended in runes and sigils for health and healing and protection so that I could better help the pack fight" he explains. That leads to a brief discussion of the six domains of magic and how unlike others, Stiles is able to use all six.

Noah shakes his head and laughs a bit at that. "Son, you never did follow what everybody else did" he says with a look that was more amused than worried. "You mentioned killing?" his eyes are pained as he asks.

Stiles sees the look of concern on his and Melissa's faces when he starts relating the story of the coven that had attacked Erica and the others. He explained how Stephen had helped him turn their powers back on them, killing the three leaders of the coven, and the threats he made against the rest. Stiles saw the worry in his father and Melissa's eyes but then his dad sighed resignedly. "Stiles, I don't like that you are having to deal with this, but I know you. You have always been fiercely devoted to those you love and I hate it, but you wouldn't let them face this alone. What you did with those witches…that was probably more mercy than they deserved if what you say is true. I wish you hadn't had to do that, but I definitely wouldn't call it murder or even a crime."

"Well maybe, but I did kind of lose it with Ennis" he said looking ashamed as he reminded his dad about the fight and how he would have killed the wolf if he hadn't stopped him.

"Son, you severed his arm, blasted him, and exiled him, yes, but you let him live and that was more than he deserved. I shot at him intending to kill him Stiles and I wouldn't have lost a minute of sleep if my gun had actually worked" he added sounding annoyed. Melissa looks stunned by all of it.

"Yeah…you need wolfsbane bullets to take a werewolf down" Stiles informed him to the man's surprise. "I have been preparing some weapons for you for when you found out" he adds carefully.

The Sheriff nods slowly but still is struggling with all of this. "Stiles…I don't pretend to understand all of this, but we will get through it. But no more lies or deception. I want to know everything and we can start with which of my unsolved cases are actually supernatural issues. Am I good to go?" Noah asks Melissa who agrees and leads them out of the room.

"Sheriff!" Officer Andy Murray comes running up to them. "I found you! Are you okay?"

Walking into the Animal clinic, Scott can feel the tension in the room go up. Deaton is a serene island, as ever, standing at the end of the examination table. Derek and Peter are both next to him and they had obviously been talking animatedly about something. Erica, Boyd, and Isaac were standing on the other side of the room watching the older three men with interest while Jackson and Lydia were over by one of the cabinets and while Jackson looked bored, Lydia had a shrewd look on her face.

"Derek" Scott said as the three of them walked in and he saw both Hales tense as they saw not only Allison, but Chris enter the room. "Chris has some information about the Darach and the Alpha Pack" Scott told him causing Peter to raise an eyebrow and snort before Derek's growl cut him off.

"Erica told us about Stiles and Lydia's theory and Deaton was just telling us that it was a good one" Derek admitted gruffly.

"There was an entry in our book about a Darach" Chris said pulling out a piece of paper with most of the information from that entry on it. He also repeated to the group what he told Scott and Allison about Deucalion and the others.

"I remember that meeting" Peter said with a thoughtful look causing Derek to look at his uncle in surprise. "Talia was approached by Deucalion and the others to join them at the summit but she refused" Peter glanced at Chris and smirked "she didn't trust Gerard Argent."

Chris just nodded. "That was smart" he said causing Derek to look a bit uncertain. "Scott raised the idea that Gerard was lying about even wanting peace in order to use the summit as an excuse to attack the packs. I have to admit that it is definitely his style. However, if he is still around, he is going to have a significantly harder time of things."

"Why?" Lydia asks the elder Hunter when everyone else seemed too surprised by the man's answer to press.

"The Grande Matriarch of the Argents has declared Gerard to be an Abomination based on dad's and my testimony this summer" Allison told her friend and saw the redhead look interested.

"What does that mean?" Isaac asks.

"It means that no legitimate hunter will aid him in any way and in fact if they find him they are instructed to send him to the Grande Matriarch" Chris tells the beta.

"So he can get a slap on the wrist" Erica snorts in disgust.

Allison and her father look at each other and the others can see the silent communication going between them. Finally Allison turns to Erica and shakes her head "She said they only needed to send his head."

Most of the rest of the room looks stunned by the huntress' words. "She ordered him killed?" Jackson yelps.

Allison nods. "She is very displeased and trust me, upsetting her is something no one should ever risk. She even ordered the same for Kate, and she is dead. She also ordered them stricken from the family records she was so mad" Allison just looks unhappy but she looked right at Derek. "She also told me to formally ask you for permission to send you something on behalf of the clan to your family" she told Derek who looked thoroughly confused.

"What? Why does she want to send me anything?" Derek finally asked the hunters and even Peter seemed surprised.

"She didn't tell me" Allison admits but then she smiles a bit "however after talking with her, I think she wants to deliver her personal apologies for what Kate did on behalf of the Argent family."

Derek actually looked lost at that and his glance towards Peter was not that of an Alpha but as a young man to his mother's brother. Peter looked very thoughtful before he looked back at Derek and nodded "I have heard of Clarissant Argent and I would not wish to draw her ire. If she is asking permission, then she is acknowledging your authority as the Alpha of Beacon Hills and that of your claim on this territory."

Derek is still looking stunned but he nods in agreement and Allison takes another deep breath. "I also need to apologize to you Derek" she glances over at the betas "and to Erica and Boyd for my own actions. I let Gerard use my grief about my mom to twist and use me and though it is no excuse, I am sorry. I learned a great deal about being a true Hunter this summer and it is not what Kate and Gerard believed. I only hope that we will be able to work together to protect everyone."

Derek stared at the girl as she offered her apologies and he knew, as all the werewolves in the room did, that she was not lying. Not only was her heartbeat steady, but he could scent the shame and regret coming off the girl. Derek glances over at the two betas to judge their reactions.

Boyd and Erica were staring at each other and Isaac was probably the only one who saw when Boyd's expression silently agreed with Erica. The blonde turned to Allison and smiled gently "That man was evil. He was twisted and what he did to us and Stiles…well, we never thought about it but he did it to you too, just differently. We can forgive you" she said sincerely.

"Stiles?" Derek started and looked at the beta who suddenly paled when almost everyone turned towards her in confusion. Erica glanced at Boyd desperately and he grabbed her hand and squeezed gently. Derek suddenly realized that he hadn't heard Stiles talking this whole time.

"Gerard grabbed Stiles after the Lacrosse game and brought him to the basement where he and his men beat him up pretty badly" Boyd said carefully to the shock of everyone but Erica, Allison, and Chris. "He was supposed to be a message to McCall" he added and watched as the boy suddenly looked sick.

"He beat up Stiles to send me a message?" Scott whispered in disbelief. He turned to look at Allison and saw the guilt in her eyes. "You knew?" he asked desperately hoping she would deny it.

Allison nodded. "I overheard them" she said, shame filling her face. "That was what made me realize he was crazy. As soon as he left with his men to drop Stiles off, I went down and freed Erica and Boyd and told them to get to Derek so he wouldn't find them. Afterwards I told my dad what had happened and he reported it to the Grande Matriarch. I talked to Stiles a little while later to try and apologize but he said that he didn't blame me, just thanked me for freeing Erica and Boyd. He also told me not to tell you" she said finally looking at Scott.

Scott looked devastated and sat down hard in a chair as he tried to process why his best friend didn't tell him what happened. "It was the perfect insult to Gerard" Peter mused, the admiration in his voice causing Scott to look at the former Alpha in confusion. "Gerard's attempt at sending a message failed if you didn't ever get it. If Stiles had told you, you might have felt more helpless or less willing to stand up to Gerard. He didn't want to distract you and that explains the blood and bruises I smelled on him that day. I thought it was his typical clumsiness during the game, I never even considered that it was something more sinister" Peter glanced meaningfully at his nephew.

Derek frowned but then looked confused as he looked around "Where is he?" he asked and everyone seemed to realize at the same time that Stiles wasn't there.

"He's having dinner with his dad. The Sheriff has been working a lot of overtime with the murders" Scott replied still wrecked over Erica's revelation. Pulling out his phone he sent a quick 'u ok?' text to Stiles.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Derek growled looking at his betas and they both straightened their shoulders and looked him in the eyes though there was no real challenge there.

"We promised we wouldn't" Erica said simply. "Stiles asked that we not tell anyone and we felt he had the right to ask that of us." Boyd just nodded in agreement.

Derek didn't look happy at her words but he finally nodded in acceptance. Both of the betas realized that there would be words in private later.

"The bigger question is what we do next" Chris said clearing his throat. The next twenty minutes are spent planning out how Chris and Allison will coordinate with Derek to look for the Alphas as well as trying to stop the Darach.

"I am willing to serve as a go-between the pack and the hunters" Scott offers and looks at Derek and he takes a breath "if you are okay with that?" he asks the Alpha and sees the pleased surprise on the older man's face. Derek nods and they start to break up.

Derek announces that the pack will patrol in pairs and he will organize that and both Jackson and Scott agree to participate and to everyone's surprise, so does Peter, giving them seven wolves. Chris says his hunters will patrol the town and leave the woods to Derek and then Deaton asks Scott to take a book to Stiles to help with his studies.

"He hasn't responded to my text" Scott says feeling a bit concerned.

"We will do the first patrol" Boyd offers and grabs Jackson who yelps but goes along with the towering beta. Isaac, Erica, and Lydia all head out to their homes while Peter leaves to wherever he goes.

Allison looks at Scott carefully and he nods. "Dad, Scott and I need to talk with Derek. Meet you back at the house later?" she asks and he nods with a thoughtful look at his daughter. He glances at Scott and notices that the teen is still staring at his phone and looking nervous.

"If you want, I can drop off the book to Stilinski and check on him" Chris offers and sees the quick agreement from the teen. "I'll let Allison know after I see him." Chris turns and leaves the vet clinic with Deaton right beside him asking him for a copy of the Argent's notes on the Darach they fought.

Derek looked at the two remaining teens who were looking uncertain and he realized that both of them had made efforts to reach out to the Alpha and if they were going to work together, he would need to meet them halfway. "I think we probably should all talk" Derek offered and the three of them sat down.

Deputy Tara Graeme took a sip of coffee as she drove her patrol car around the town on the look-out for anything out of the ordinary. With the killings, everyone was working overtime trying to be highly visible to the town. Her family had lived in Beacon Hills for a very long time, her grandmother had some crazy stories, but she didn't remember anything this weird.

"Tara, you there?" her radio sounded and Tara rolled her eyes. Andy had the worst radio skills of anyone in the department.

"Graeme here, Murray. What do you need?" she asks trying not to sound annoyed. The guy was okay, just very green.

"I was supposed to meet the Sheriff about ten minutes ago and I tried calling him to let him know I got detained and would be late but he hasn't responded. Sandy tried his cell but he didn't answer that either" the young man told her sounding a bit on edge.

Tara probably had the best relationship with the Sheriff and most of the staff knew it. From helping out Stiles when he was younger, to helping the Sheriff when he took over for their previous boss, Tara had enjoyed working for Sheriff Stilinski because he was one of the best bosses she had ever had. He never hesitated to give her the tough work or treat her as anything other than one of his best deputies and she knew from colleagues how rare that unfortunately still was for women. The idea that the Sheriff wasn't answering the radio or his cell was odd enough to trigger a reaction.

"I'm not far from the Sheriff's house. He said he was going home to have dinner with Stiles, so he might have left his radio in the car to have a moment's peace. I will swing by and let him know you are running late" she offers. "When will you be back?"

Andy sighs in relief. "About an hour" he promises and Tara signs off and turns toward the Stilinski's house.

Tara turns on the street and sees a large black SUV just a few yards in front of her slowing down and parking right in front of the Stilinski house. She has seen the car around before and had gotten a bad vibe off it so she turned her lights on as she parked behind it as she noticed both Stiles' jeep and the Sheriff's cruiser in the driveway. Stepping out of the patrol car she saw Chris Argent get out of the SUV with a large book in his hand.

"Mr. Argent" Tara says with a slight nod and sees the man smile easily at her.

"Deputy. Everything okay?" he asks casually.

"Just stopping by to give the Sheriff a message. You?" she asks pointedly.

"Scott asked me to stop by and drop off this book for Stiles" Chris said with a smile. "Said he was borrowing it for some project."

"Nice of you to bring it by then" Tara said and they both turned to walk to the house.

"Do you smell smoke?" Chris suddenly asked and Tara turned looked at the front and saw smoke coming from the top of the open front door.

Pulling her gun, Tara rushed up the steps and paused just enough to see that the door hadn't been forced. The smoke and smell was much stronger as she stepped inside and now she could hear the smoke detector screaming from around the corner. "Sheriff!" she called out and rounded the corner and stopped in shock.

The living room looked trashed with the TV and table in rubble and she was pretty sure that it was blood splattered all over one of the walls and the floor. "The kitchen" Tara turned at Argent's voice and saw the man looking around her, holding a rather impressive looking gun in his hand. She glanced to the kitchen and saw the smoke was definitely much worse there.

Stepping carefully around the shattered remains of the table and spilled food of what was obviously their dinner, Tara looks into the kitchen and sees smoke and flames pouring out of oven. "Fire!" she yells and is about to order the man out when he dashes to the sink and pulls out an extinguisher from underneath it.

Maneuvering the canister, Chris manages to get the oven door open just enough to spray the chemicals inside putting out the fire. He reaches up to turn off the oven and turns to see the deputy nodding in approval. "We were really lucky, that fire must have just started, but it could have spread quickly" she tells him.

Chris just nodded but he saw the oven and noticed that it had been really burnt. The fire had been burning longer than she thought and it should have spread much farther than it actually did. But now he was more focused on the other damage including the destroyed back door as well as the blood everywhere. He looks at the deputy who is reaching for her radio when he grabs her hand.

"Argent?" Tara barks looking at the man in disbelief. "I need to call this in" she demands.

Chris shakes his head in the negative. "We need to see if he or Stiles are here first. If they have been targeted, you do not want this getting out" he advises her. He sees the struggle in the woman's face as she weighs his words before grudgingly agreeing.

"Okay. We clear down here first. Only after do we go upstairs" she orders and Chris agrees. They search the house, being extremely careful but there is no sign of either Stiles or the Sheriff. Chris finds the Sheriff's gun and confirms that it has been fired recently which worries Tara. She stares at the man who is looking at the blood with a look she normally only sees on detectives or forensics teams.

"What?" she demands.

"Not sure" he admits looking at her. "The front door wasn't forced but it was left open suggesting that whoever came in was probably let in before it all blew up. There was obviously a struggle but why was the back door destroyed? Somethings not adding up" he muttered.

"I'm calling this in. We need to get a team here to look for evidence and to start talking to neighbors to see if anyone heard anything" she says but Chris stops her again.

"I think this needs to be handled…delicately" he says carefully as he looks at the deputy and sees her eyes narrow.

"You think this is related to something supernatural don't you?" she asks and sees the man's shocked reaction. "My family has been in Beacon Hills for a hundred years Argent, you don't live in here that long without learning that monsters under the bed are actually real" she snorts at him as his expression shows his surprise.

"Sorry, just didn't realize that…civilians…were in on things" Chris finally stated.

Tara rolled her eyes. "There are a lot of people in this town who knew and liked the Hales. They kept the really bad things out and your sister killed them" she looks at him with a glare and saw his guilty acknowledgement. "She didn't make it safer in this town, she made it worse. My granny always swore that fire was not natural" she finally added.

"She paid for her crime" Chris stated carefully. "But the Sheriff?" he prompted.

Tara smiled and reached for her radio. "Sandy, Tara here" she said into the radio. The woman replies immediately. "I need a code 2 on the Sheriff and Stiles" she instructs.

"Code 2?" Sandy's voice is startled. "I'll spread the word. You at his house?" she asks.

"Yes, both cars are here, so they aren't in their vehicles. Coordinate with me" Tara instructs and the other woman signs off. She sees the confused look on Chris' face and laughs. "A code 2 is the Sheriff's instruction for everyone to look for a missing person but nothing is made official or recorded so that there is no trail of what we are doing. Kind of an invisible missing persons. He uses it for when someone is worried, but the search would cause more problems. He came up with it when the Mayor's daughter was dating that jerk from Madison" she explained and Chris just nodded.

"Deputy Murray" Noah says looking at the man running up to him, eyes wide as he sees the state of the Sheriff's uniform.

"Sheriff, Tara put out a code 2 on you and Stiles" he says looking very nervous and concerned.

"A code 2?" Melissa asks confused.

"Missing person report that doesn't get written down anywhere" Stiles explained causing both Andy and his dad to look at him in surprise. "What, you seriously thought I didn't eavesdrop on you when you had to do one every one week for Jessica?" he snorts.

Noah sighs in resignation and asks Andy for his radio. "All units, this is Stilinski. Code 2 is clear. Repeat. Code 2 is clear" he hands the radio back just as it goes off again.

"Sheriff, this is Graeme. I am at your house" she says and Stiles eyes widen in fear as he looks at his father. The Sheriff pinched his nose but took the radio back. "Understood. We are on the way back there, stay in place" he instructs. He turns to Andy, "Deputy Murray, can you give Stiles and I a ride to my house?" he asks and the man nods eagerly. "Thank you again Mel" he says and she gives him a quick hug and promises to stop by and check on him tomorrow.

"Is everything okay sir?" Andy asks as they get in the cruiser. "This isn't about" he pauses as he looks at Stiles in the backseat remembering the rule 'don't tell Stiles' that the Sheriff has for any police business.

"Murray…" the Sheriff makes an exaggerated glance back at his son "don't worry about it."

Andy just nods though he really wants to ask about what he is fairly certain is blood on the Sheriff's shirt but he knows better than to pursue it. They get to the house where he spots Tara's cruiser parked in front, the deputy leaning against the car.

Noah thanks Murray and tells him they will talk tomorrow and he sends the man home. "Sheriff" Tara says in a clipped voice as she glances back at the house. "Anything you want to tell me?" she asks with a rather determined expression clearly cataloging the wounds and bandages the Sheriff is sporting.

"Tomorrow please. I'm wrung out" he says and she stares for a moment before she nods briefly and looks over at Stiles. "You'll take care of him? The house is in pretty rough shape. The oven was on fire but we got it out" she warns them and they both stop.

"We?" they both ask simultaneously. Stiles smirks at that.

"Chris Argent was here. Had a book for Stiles, he also suggested that you would not want this called in" she indicated the house.

The Sheriff glanced at Stiles who was looking totally rattled. "How did he convince you of that?" the Sheriff asked casually.

Tara snorted. "My family has lived in Beacon Hills for a long time Sheriff, longer than you and we know that there are some things that should never be written down somewhere" she gave him a meaningful look. "But if something is targeting you, and after the attack on the station, I think I need some more information."

Noah nodded after a moment and re-confirmed that they would talk in the morning before he stepped back in the now aired out house, but the smell of smoke was still pretty strong. The place was pretty badly messed up causing him to sigh heavily. "I will take care of it dad" Stiles suggested and when he looks doubtful Stiles just smirked and waved his hand.

The room was completely restored, the blood gone, the TV back in place, even the back door was intact. Noah looked amazed before he thought about Stiles story. "Illusion?" he asks and laughs when he sees his son blush. "Guess it will work until tomorrow when we can do real repairs" he concedes. "Do you think anyone will try and come looking for the Alpha?" he asks. Noah knows he shouldn't be, but he is surprised by the suddenly serious look on his son's face.

"I will set up some protections on the house that no one will get through" he swears and Noah sees that green glow in his son's eyes and desperately hopes that no one comes by, for their sake.