Chapter 18

Lydia parks her car with a huff of annoyance. She did not appreciate the text calling her back from her first real work as the Hale Pack Emissary. Though she had just begun her training, Deaton and Derek apparently felt that the best way to learn was by doing so she had been sent to meet with Sakura and Felisha, the emissaries of the Ito and Marshall Packs. To be honest, it wasn't exactly rocket science. Sakura was a druid who must have been close to 70 years old and was the actual definition of serenity. She had been friends with Satomi for decades and was happily training her grandson to take her place though neither of them appeared to be in a hurry as he was more interested in computers than trees.

Felisha was an alchemist and as it turns out, a colleague of Professor Chavez-Morales at Stanford. However, she was not a chemist like him, or at least not a legitimate one. She was actually an herbal medicine practitioner and had a rather successful homeopathy business in Redding in addition to her work with the Marshall Pack.

They had met at Sakura's house to discuss general emissary things, mostly she was certain it was the opportunity to feel her out as the newest member of the club, but there was also what appeared to be a 'sisters in the supernatural' element to it as well. It seems that even in the supernatural world, chauvinism was still around and some of the male Emissaries could still be a pain. Fortunately, those that felt and acted that way rarely lasted too long before they had their eyes opened. Female Emissaries had power and they rarely put up with shit from anyone, let alone a misogynist jerk. No, mostly they had to deal with condescending superiority which they managed rather effectively. Listening to some of their stories had made Lydia rather happy to know that she had some serious support.

Currently the split was close to 50/50 in terms of the number of male to female Emissaries in the area, but where the men kept each other at arm's length, and Deaton was a rather good example of that, the women were much more collaborative. Sakura and Felisha had also met just about every Emissary in about a five-state radius, so most of the meeting was spent getting an evaluation and their opinions about them. Though she reserved judgement for herself, both of the older woman surprised her in confirming that decision by telling her that she would need to make up her own mind. Overall it had been a good trip till she got the text to come back.

This morning Stiles had been planning something around his father and the hospital with Erica and Boyd but he had insisted it wasn't pack related so she wasn't too concerned. Now however, it seemed that it was pack related and she was needed back at home. The other texts Stiles had sent made absolutely no sense.

"Lyds" Jackson says with a warmth that still makes her smile as she steps out of the car and pulls her into a hug. "Sorry for messing up your meeting."

Lydia just shrugs a bit. "It wasn't messed up. We were pretty much finished when I got your text calling me back. Something a bit more than 'Pack alert, come home' would have been nice, especially as you didn't answer your phone when I called."

Jackson looks a bit embarrassed "Uh…I broke it…again. There was a fight at the hospital."

Walking to the elevator in Derek's building she just sighed. They couldn't go one day? "I thought it was not supposed to be pack related?"

Jackson shrugged as he hit the button and the door closed. "It wasn't supposed to be but then the guy apparently had superpowers and tore up the hospital. Stiles portaled us there and we took him out. Apparently, he was possessed by a fly or something."

Lydia sighed looking at him. She loved the guy, but he did not take the time or energy to actually find out things that she needed to know and she did not understand how on earth he could be so blasé about things. She knew she would have to wait for the full story as they walked into the loft and she looked around.

"Hey Lydia!" Allison says from the couch where she was sitting with Kira. Isaac and Scott were playing a video game and Derek was pacing by the window. She didn't see Stiles.

"Well this looks like an emergency" she says unhappily and enjoys the guilty looks on most of their faces. Surprisingly, Derek's isn't one of them. "So can someone please explain Stiles' garbled text?"

"What did he say?" Derek looks at the redhead mildly curious.

Pulling out her phone she opens the text chat. "OMG Lydia!" she looks at the alpha with an eye roll. "You won't believe" she pauses again "ITS HER" she looks up again "AVENGERS IN BH" she pauses one last time "FOSA!@#$DSAHD" she spells it out. "At that point I began to think it was a stroke. Where is he?" she looks around but doesn't see him, Boyd, or Erica.

Derek mutters "he is currently 'meditating' or something."

"He's looking for Thor" Isaac snorts and Derek growls in annoyance.

Lydia taps her foot looking very unhappy. Somebody better explain.

"It seems that the Black Widow is in town" Allison says happily, ignoring Derek's muttering and Isaac's giggling.

Lydia stares at the brunette for a second, hoping for some sign that she is kidding but doesn't see it. "You mean that there really is an Avenger here?"

"Yep" Allison smiles.

Lydia looks at Derek who is pacing again and the rest of the pack who are all looking way too happy. "Where are Erica and Boyd?"

"Still at the hospital" Derek tells her.

Lydia nods at that. She had heard of Stiles plan for them so at least that was still on track. "It is pretty cool, you gotta admit" Scott says looking up from his game, smiling happily.

"That one of the world's most effect assassin spies, connected to the world's most powerful intelligence agency, one who works directly with Tony Stark, a brilliant scientist with barely a passing grasp of the concept of subtlety, is currently sneaking around Beacon Hills and has apparently gotten involved with our pack, and by extension, Stiles?"

Derek looks actually pleased at her comment. The rest? They suddenly look a lot less sure. "Uh…but she's a good guy, girl, hero" Scott tries weakly. "She wouldn't hurt Stiles…" he looks around at the others.

Lydia sighs and sits down. "Probably not, but do you want Stiles to have to deal with Shield and the Avengers? And why is she here in the first place? Beacon Hills is not Avengers territory. If the worlds most competent intelligence agent is here, she is looking for Stiles."

"We know" Derek says quietly. "And she knows about us."

Lydia wishes she could say she was surprised, but she already figured that part out. Just as she was about to ask another question Stiles walked back in looking disappointed. "No Thor?" Isaac asks and Derek growls again.

Stiles looks offended. "I wasn't looking for him" he yells but from the snickers from all of the wolves Lydia is betting that his heart beeped. "Okay fine, I was curious if any of the other avengers were around and he was the only likely one I would be able to sense, but I got nothing. I also was looking around and detected something coming this way, a couple of hundred miles out."

Everyone looked surprised at that. "Do you know what?" Derek asks distracted from the previous conversation.

"No. Not really, I mean I felt something. Excitement maybe? I could smell rain, and ozone, like in a thunderstorm. It didn't feel malevolent or bad or anything, more…anxious?" he tests out the right words but none seem to really fit.

"Rain? Like all the weird weather that's been around the state the last few days?" Kira asks.

"Yeah…I think so. It felt like it was a bubble, maybe two, or like a cloud or something."

"Well that's an issue for later. What about the hospital and this avenger?" Lydia asks.

Stiles suddenly looks like a kid at Disneyland. "It was AWESOME! I had arranged for Erica and Boyd to be at the hospital for backup, you know in case dad needed help."

Lydia smirked knowing that the Sheriff probably did not appreciate that.

"So, Satomi and Noshiko had come to the loft that morning to tell us about why they were so upset."

(Flashback to Derek's Loft that morning)

"Alpha Hale" Satomi says respectfully as she and Noshiko enter the loft as Derek holds the door open. "Arcanist" she says to Stiles with a bit less certainty. Apparently, there are some missing protocols for how to deal with him.

"Stiles please" the teen replies quickly. Technically he supposes he could be that, or Alpha Stilinski, or is he also Alpha Hale? No, that sounds like he is married to Derek. Well…technically he is, sorta. Nope, not gonna go down that road this morning.

"You wanted to speak with us?" Derek says as their guests sit down and he pours some tea for the two women.

"It is about the Nemeton" Noshiko says looking unhappy to be talking about this.

Stiles and Derek share a look. Ever since they met the Kitsune, she has been overly focused on the Nemeton but neither she nor Satomi has truly explained why, just a vague worry about some danger.

"It began during World War II" Noshiko started looking very unhappy. Over the next hour they got the full story. The internment camp at Oak Creek, the black market sale of medicine, the deaths, and finally Noshiko calling out the Nogitsune and everything that it caused.

"We finally managed to defeat him and buried him in the only prison that we could find, a magical well that would prevent his escape" she tells them, emotionally drained by this point.

"The Nemeton" Stiles whispers. "That was the dark shadow that was there. It was faint, but dense. A darkness that was different than Blake." He looks at an equally concerned Derek. "But I don't remember it afterwards. I mean I don't remember much of the finale, but I haven't sensed anything like it since I woke up, and I have been looking."

"Would you be able to sense it if it was hiding within someone?" Noshiko asks.

Stiles frowned and thought about it. "I can't say for sure. I mean it was pretty hard to sense even back then, and it has gotten harder to spot things now because the numbers are growing in the territory. It seems that something new shows up every day."

"You didn't mention that" Derek says looking worried.

Stiles sighs. "Its not that" he struggles to explain. "Some things, yes I feel and let everyone know immediately. But others…its like the difference between a breeze and a wind. Do you want to know that a dozen pixies have shown up 80 miles from here in the woods?"

Derek frowns. He hadn't considered that Stiles' senses were being so bombarded. "It's happening every day?"

Stiles shrugs. "Just about. I kind of tune things out if it isn't making me nervous or something. Its like I can tell if something is harmless or neutral vs dangerous. If it isn't making me anxious, I figured it was probably okay."

Satomi seems to agree but Derek looks concerned. "What about the spider?" he asks.

Stiles groans. "Not the spider!"

"Spider?" Satomi asks confused.

Derek explains the spider Erica and Kira saw, which causes Noshiko to have a minor freak out since her daughter apparently didn't share the news, but Satomi seems less concerned. "But Stiles has been having trouble finding it" he adds looking at the teen who is glaring back.

"I might be able to provide some insight" Satomi offers and both of them look at her in surprise. "It was about thirty years ago when I met a witch who was the daughter of the High Witch. She had been searching for a creature that many had believed extinct. A Ghost Spider."

Stiles leaned forward. "Did she describe it?"

"Apparently it could change its appearance at will. She said that it was ghostly in appearance and could be a small as a normal spider or as large as an elephant. It glowed with a otherworldly light and could appear and disappear at will."

Stiles and Derek both looked at each other. This sounded good. "What else? Was it dangerous?"

Satomi frowned. "Not that I recall. She wanted to get some of its venom for a spell, but the spider was crafty and had been avoiding her. She didn't wish to cause it harm, so I think she didn't believe it was malevolent or evil, rather it was simply there. When I asked, she said that the ghost spiders were living manifestations of unfulfilled purpose. They were the remains of dreams and ideas that had never been seen to life. Art never painted, songs never sung, dreams left undone. They were what could have been."

Stiles looked unhappy. "That's terrible."

Satomi shook her head. "No. It simply is. There is much that could be that never is. It is the way of life. But apparently the ghost spiders exist to keep those potentials alive until it is time to be rediscovered. They can interact with people and when they find the right person, they are a source of inspiration and creativity and once expressed, the spider has done its duty and fades away."

"Wait!" Stiles looks shocked "These spiders carry the ideas around and then give them to someone else and if they sing the song or whatever, the spider dies?"

"Essentially. The ghost spiders are inspiration unfulfilled. Once they find expression, they are not needed."

"I don't think my powers can find an idea" Stiles mutters.

Derek looks at his mate with sympathy. Stiles had been beating himself up over not being able to find the spider but if what Satomi is saying is true, it shouldn't be possible. He's not even sure why Erica and Kira even saw it in the first place, unless it somehow involved them.

"This is truly fascinating, but not exactly a priority" Noshiko reminds them.

"Right" Stiles shakes it off. "So, tell us everything you know about this Nogitsune."

When Boyd calls its both a surprise and not. Stiles was certain that something would go wrong with his dad's thing at the hospital no matter how many times he had swore it was going to be routine. He had convinced Derek to station the two betas there as backup without telling his dad, hoping that he might not even notice, but he did. They had reported in that they had been busted and Erica was apparently rattled by his dad enough to report that he had grounded them. Stiles had laughed but he loved that his dad was so awesome that he could pull that off. He would avoid it of course, pizza from Wong would get him out of trouble easily enough, but at least they were there.

Boyd had called back and left his phone on when they heard screaming and shots fired. Boyd had managed a brief update before the sounds of fighting drowned out everything in sounds of chaos. In that second, Stiles was certain, it had to be. Reaching out to his dad, Boyd, Erica, and Melissa he felt the darkness near them, it was rage, fury, and pain. Joy at the chaos. It was that damn thing! Derek wanted to run but Stiles had already screamed for Jackson and Isaac and both of them had come running as he opened a portal. Derek, seeing the chaos roared and shifted as he leapt past the Sheriff and a woman with a gun staring at them before he is past and attacking Barrow, Jackson and Isaac right on his tail, claws and fangs out.

It is over almost at once with three more werewolves on the scene and Barrows goes down without a sound. Derek stares and sees the fly come out of his mouth and he roars at it. It is just like Noshiko described. Before he can move a ball of light surrounds it and it is trapped.

"I don't fucking think so" Stiles voice sounds furious as the ball of light traps the fly. Derek stares at the thing, the fury and rage scents are thick in the air, but there is also a stink of fear.

"You are not getting away again." Derek's pride at his mate, standing tall and righteous, dealing with a threat that hurt his pack, his family. The uncertainty that often defines Stiles is long gone. This is the Arcanist and High Alpha.

"Stiles?" the sheriff sounds uncertain, worried.

"Sorry dad, Noshiko finally told Derek and I about why she was here and what it was that got her so worked up and we were going to start looking for this bastard when Boyd called. Seems he escaped when the Nemeton was destroyed, but he was badly injured and lost most of his power. This thing isn't going to hurt anyone" Stiles voice is cold, hard, and determined.

Derek looks over and sees Melissa tending to the staff in the operating room. Derek can hear heartbeats, so he knows they are alive, but they all appear to be unconscious. Jackson and Isaac are helping Boyd and Erica and the deputies who were hurt in the fight.

"Well, it appears that your department has some interesting back up when things get more than a little unusual" the woman with the gun says and Derek frowns at her. She isn't a deputy, so why is she armed?

"Oh my god! You're the Black Widow!" Stiles screams in joy and Derek looks at the woman again. He thought she was supposed to be a redhead? At least that was the comments that the pack had always said when talking about them. Last movie night there was an argument about who would get to be which Avenger and there was a three-way fight among Erica, Allison, and Lydia over who would get to be her.

"You are what?" Sheriff Stilinski asks looking at the woman.

She smiles. "Sorry about that Sheriff but I was undercover." Oh lord the Mayor is not going to like this Noah thinks.

Stiles is literally bouncing in excitement, but they don't have time for this. "Sheriff, what do we need to do about all this?" Derek asks

Noah looks around and know this is going to be a nightmare once McCall gets wind of it. "Derek, take the pack home. I, we" he looked over at his 'guest' for a moment who actually managed to look completely innocent. Damn, no wonder she was a good spy! "We will clean up here and meet you there."

Derek frowned for a moment but nodded.

"Wait! Are you kidding?! I have so many questions!" he yells and looks at Ms. Rushman. "Why are you here? Are the other Avengers here? Have you made up with Captain America yet? Where was Thor in the fight in Berlin? What's the real story there? Who was the cat guy and is he an Avenger? Is Spider-Man to the Avengers? Why are there so few female Avengers? Is there a gender bias for superheroes?"

It is only the pause for breath that allows Derek to interrupt. "Stiles, we need to go. I'm sure the Sheriff will bring her to the loft."

Stiles looks like he is about to argue when he pauses to look around and sees the damage and gets serious. "Dad are you sure we can't help?"

"I don't want you here or involved. Actually," he looks around "I don't think anyone here isn't already in the know" he says surprised. The only deputies that appear awake are actually the ones that know about everything and the med team appears to be unconscious."

"I might be able to assist as well" Natasha says pulling out her phone. "Wouldn't be the first time we needed to cover something up." She steps away for a moment before they hear her say "Tony, I need you to fix something for me. Replace all video footage at Beacon Hills Hospital in California for the last hour with fuzz, make it look like a fault." Pause. "I'll explain later. No, something else." Pause. "Be nice and I will." She hangs up and turns around. "That should take care of the evidence, let's check on the people." With that she heads towards Melissa.

"That was so cool! You know that was Tony Stark! Iron Man was just here. Well, on the phone, but close enough" Stiles gushes.

Noah rolls his eyes as Boyd and Erica come up followed by the other boys. "We will stay here as witnesses or whatever you need sir. We actually do have an appointment" Boyd tells him and the Sheriff nods. It takes a minute but Derek finally manages to corral Stiles long enough to portal them all back to the loft.

Stepping through, Satomi and Noshiko stand up and are about to ask something when the Kitsune suddenly sees the small ball of light hovering behind Stiles with the fly inside furiously battering against it, desperate to escape. "You found him!" she says breathlessly, relief clear in her voice.

Satomi looks at the fly with disgust clear in her eyes. "What will you do?" she asks Stiles.

Stiles looks at the ball before a memory comes to him. "The Nogitsune is void, darkness and shadow, right?" he asks them. The both nod. "I have an idea" he says and opens another portal, stepping through without waiting but the rest of them, startled by his action, quickly follow before it closes. Stepping through the door they find themselves in the Preserve, in the stone circle, back where the Nemeton once stood.

"Stiles, why are we here? Are you going to imprison it again?" Derek asks looking uncomfortable with that idea.

"Nope" Stiles says and without another word he closes his eyes and starts glowing. A subtle humming coming from the teen causes the winds to pick up and shake the trees and then the ground begins to move with a slight tremble before everything goes completely quiet, no sounds of animals at all, no birds or even insects.

"What did you do?" Noshiko demands with a tremor in her voice.

Stiles doesn't answer, just waits but he doesn't have long before the temperature drops around them rapidly and the sun dims to a gray overcast. Derek growls and both Jackson and Isaac start looking around them feeling the hairs on the back of their necks rise.

"You presume much little mortal to summon me so" the voice is cold and sharp and everyone spins around to see the Winter Queen, Mab, standing at the edge of the forest looking less than pleased.

"My apologies Majesty. It was not my intent to summon, but to invite. It was my first time, I wished only to invite" Stiles says. Derek looks at his mate with a raised eyebrow. Though politely said, there was a hint of 'rightness' in his tone suggesting that even if he didn't intend to summon the Winter Queen, he was in his right to do so.

Mab smirks at the reply and tilts her head in acknowledgment of the non-apology defense. "Perhaps so. You are young and not fully prepared for your role. Mayhaps your call, though a bit forceful, was more enthusiastic?"

"I bow to your wisdom and grace your Majesty. I hope my exuberance did not inconvenience you too much but I hope that I may offer a boon in compensation for disturbing you."

Derek silenced the betas with a look. Stiles was playing a game, and this didn't involve them. Luckily Satomi and Noshiko were both old enough and smart enough to stay out of it.

Mab nodded in permission and Stiles gestured sending the ball of light towards the Fae Queen who suddenly laughed in delight. "What is this?" she almost sang as the ball approached close enough for her to grab ahold. "A tiny shadow?"

"A Nogitsune, milady" Stiles says with a slight bow. "I wondered if it would entertain you. I know that the winters are cold and long in your realm and entertainment is cherished."

Mab laughs and it freezes the blood of the wolves and the kitsune. "Oh my boy, you are going to be so much fun" she says looking at Stiles before turning to the fly that is terrified as it tries to escape. "A new toy" she looks up at the teen. "This is way too great a gift for a mere apology for a confused message."

"Then a boon of you. It is an irritant in my lands, and I wish it gone. As long as it doesn't return here, you can do as you wish with it, and I will be satisfied that we are balanced." Mab, who hadn't looked as happy with the word boon, suddenly smiled.

"I see. A rather simple request, not truly a boon at all. A kindness for a misunderstanding."

Stiles bows a bit more this time "Your wisdom and grace is not exaggerated."

Mab laughs at Stiles, nods to Derek and pretty much ignores the rest. In a blink she is gone, and the temperature returns along with the sun and sounds.

"What the hell was that?" Jackson asks looking more than a bit worried.

Stiles shrugs. "Mab is not one to be trifled with, and winter is cruel. I figured that the void would be a gift that she would appreciate, and she was more than capable of containing it. Winter is the season of endings and it is long past the time that bug ended." He smiled and looked at the two women standing there looking confused. "Queen Mab is cold and dark, and the void is not strength but chaos and the absence of light." He suddenly snickered. "She's gonna eat him alive."

(Back to the present at the loft)

Lydia looked around the room at the pack and shook her head. Once again, she missed seeing Queen Mab. Stiles was going to pay for that. "So, to sum it all up: You captured and disposed of the Nogitsune which had been imprisoned in the Nemeton and was the reason Kira's mom came here, you eliminated a serial killer in a hospital that Scott's dad had set up as a pain for your dad who now has to explain why the guy is dead, and either the Avengers or Shield or both now know about werewolves, magic, and us. Have I missed anything?"

"The spider" Derek adds helpfully when Stiles flounders.

Lydia sighs. "Right, the ghost spider. At least that isn't something that's going to be a problem."

"What were we supposed to do Lyds?" Stiles asks looking offended. "We had a possessed serial killer trying to destroy the hospital and everyone there!"

Lydia shakes her head but concedes the point. "I know that Stiles, but this might be worse than the original situation. I am not sure we can trust them. And where are Satomi and Noshiko?"

Stiles frowns at that but doesn't argue. "They left after we got back. I think Kira's mom was a bit overwhelmed by everything and Satomi was trying to get her to relax. Kira showed up not long after with Scott and Allison."

"Erica and Boyd are here." Derek announces

The pack all strain till the other wolves can hear the two betas but the humans have to wait. Stiles smirks as he can sense them too, magic rocks! Finally, the betas enter the loft smiling.

"Your dad is so cool" Erica gushes as she pulls Stiles into a hug. Boyd nods in greeting but he is smiling as well. "I so want to be him when I grow up. Maybe more than Black Widow even."

Everyone looks shocked at that. "We stayed and gave our 'statement' to Deputy Graeme. We will go back to sign it tomorrow. Curious to see what we said."

That gets a laugh from several of them. "So team BHPD will write up something acceptable?" Stiles guesses and both Betas nod.

"Apparently when they were doing the surgery, a cloud of flies burst out of Barrows and actually knocked the entire med team out. Mama McCall was the only one unaffected thanks to Stiles' magic amulet."

"Dude!" Scott beamed at Stiles happily.

"I wasn't about to leave your mom or my dad unprotected" he said with a shrug.

"Well I think she would have liked a heads up as she was totally surprised. Then Barrows knocked out two of the deputies and by the time we all arrived, the only conscious people were the Sheriff, Widow, our favorite deputies and Mama M. So when we left the Sheriff and Black Widow were explaining that apparently Barrows had drugged himself up with something and went crazy nearly killing everyone. Luckily the quick actions of the Sheriff's department stopped him. In fact, there is some great footage of Sheriff Stilinski taking him down after he almost killed Mrs. Mcall."

Everyone looked confused. "That didn't happen" Derek said confused.

"Well it did on the video that is now in evidence. Seems our friend from the Avengers has a friend of her own who 'fixed' the tape" Erica tells them.

Everyone looked around. "So you are saying that no one except the Black Widow realizes what happened?" Lydia presses.

"Yep" Boyd says succinctly.

"Huh" Lydia mumbles. This is going to be interesting.

"Dad's on his way" Stiles says looking up from his phone. "Says he's bringing his friend." He didn't squeal, no matter what the rest of the pack says!