Chapter 28

Randolph Davies walked into the house that Gerard had set up for himself and that they were using as a meeting place and was surprised that it was almost completely empty. Only the old man, McCall, Rogers (Argent's #2), Severo, and Parker were there along with two other men he had never met but were wearing what looked like uniforms of some military. "You wanted to speak with me?" he asks Gerard eyeing the new men suspiciously.

"It's time" Gerard says simply and Davies stares at the cruel smile on the old man's face.

"Finally?"

"Yes. Everyone will be assigned their targets and strike them exactly on schedule so that they can't help each other. The time for observation and data collection is over. Get your teams ready." He looks over at the FBI Agent. "You will get to finally end that incompetent Sheriff and his men" he smiles and gestures to Rogers. The man steps forward and puts a rather ordinary looking briefcase on the table before opening it.

Raphael looks down and whistles. The tech is impressive, almost as impressive as the large amount of what he thinks are explosives. "That's not C-4?" he asks staring at the unfamiliar substance.

"No, it's a high energy explosive our scientists developed. No trace of explosives or radiation exists six minutes after detonation. A very clean weapon" one of the unknown men explains as he pulls out a cell phone. "Just set it down wherever it won't be noticed and then leave. Once you get at least 100 meters away, press 61 and * and the trigger will activate. Five seconds later, boom." He smiles proudly as if he was talking about his kid's report card.

"100 Meters?" McCall whistles. That is a substantial blast zone.

"Minimum" Gerard says. "Best thing would be driving away when it goes off to be safe. Go now, I want you to detonate at approximately 6:00 pm tonight."

McCall grins. "Finally. Then what?"

"Meet us at the high school. We will regroup there."

McCall nods and closes the briefcase. "I will head out now. I can have the field office call Stilinski and make sure he is in the station when I arrive and then I will go back out to get something from my car. I will say we found evidence that Burrows had outside help and was possibly connected to the Blake woman, pretend to eat crow, then all of those bastards will be there to see me 'humiliated' and we can get them all in one move. Once they are gone, I can step up and take over law enforcement in the town during the crisis and cover your actions with anyone who shows up asking questions." He smiles and nods to the other men and heads out the door.

"Now," Gerard looks at the various hunters "I have very specific assignments for each of you and your men" he smiles and pulls out a map of Beacon Hills as everyone gathers around and looks down.

It takes about twenty minutes before they are finished and everyone has their assignments and Gerard dismisses everyone except the two strangers but Davies hangs back and doesn't leave with the other hunters.

"You have something to say?" Argent says looking at the man with a haughty expression.

Randolph looks at the two other men before looking back at the old man. "You didn't give them any job" he says indicating the two.

"They already know their tasks and it's not necessary for you to be involved."

"I thought we were all together in taking down Hale?"

Gerard smirks. "We are, have no doubt that when this is done, that pack and all their friends are going to nothing but a cautionary tale to the beasts and an inspiration to real humans."

"Then why is no one taking care of Hale and his uncle? Every team had a target but they were not on anyone's list and they are the two most dangerous. You have had people spying on everyone one of them, you have tracers on their cars, you know where any of them are going to be at any time, so why not the big two? Hale's the Alpha and his uncle is completely unhinged. The guy killed your daughter!" he yells the last part but it doesn't seem to affect Gerard at all.

"You can be certain that neither of the Hales are going to escape my retribution for what they have done" Gerard snarled. "But all in the proper time and place" he added much calmer than the other man. "I want to see Hale suffer as he watches his pack die one by one till he is the last one and he dies truly and finally alone. It isn't enough to kill the dogs Davies, I want to make sure that every worthless pack cowers in fear of their fate. We are going to wipe them all out and this is the first blow in the war of extinction" he rages.

"Then why are you letting these amateurs deal with the Hales?" Davies snarls back.

Gerard looks startled for a moment before he laughs. "These two, and their teams, are not going after Hale and his uncle. They are going to attack the storage depot and get us weapons and gear that will allow us to wipe out the others" the old man says easily.

Davies looks confused. "But if they aren't going after them, then why aren't I? Hale took my kill from me!"

Gerard rears up out of his seat and Randolph steps back at the look of fury and violence in the old man's face. "Your kill?" he whispers with a dangerous tone. "Do not think for one moment that you have any claim over that mongrel. I haven't forgotten what they did and Deucalion was not yours to end, he was mine! He would have wiped you out without breaking a sweat if you had actually been competent enough to actually catch up to him. You were woefully unprepared to face the so-called 'demon-wolf'. Hale did you a favor taking care of that madman, but no, you are not going anywhere near Hale in this."

"Why not?" the man demands not backing down.

Gerard narrows his eyes. "You are too eager to face him Davies. You want the kill and I don't trust you to bring both of them to me alive. I have no doubt that if I sent you there would be a tragic accident of some sort. No, you will do what I told you, exactly as I told you. You will bring Hale's betas to me so he can watch them die. They will be alive and intact as I want him to watch them each suffer and die."

Davies fumes but he doesn't argue, just stares, and when Gerard moves close to him and glares, the younger hunter is the first to look away. "And if you or your men fail me, you won't be able to run fast enough to escape me" he says in a deathly quiet voice. Davies eyes snap up in shock. "Because if you do fail me, you are going to be the one to take their place. Are we clear?" his voice is cold and deadly and Randolph Davies swallows at the absolute promise of his fate if he crosses the old man. He nods. "Good, then do what you are told" Gerard dismisses the hunter who quickly leaves.

Gerard gets to his seat and sets down before being struck with another coughing fit. He finally finishes and looks up at the two men still standing there. "Well?"

"Your allies are undisciplined" the first says.

Gerard laughs. "They serve their purpose. As do you. Go. You will need to hit the depot as we are dealing with Hale and his pack."

Both men nod and walk out leaving Gerard alone sitting at his desk. He looks over the plans and acknowledges that Derek and Peter Hale are not covered by any of the plans he shared. A door opens silently behind him as a figure moves in the shadows without a sound but he still knows they are there. "Don't fail me" he says simply.

She laughs cruelly. "Please. Killing them would be a kindness and I am not kind. Neither one of them deserve that mercy. I can't promise that they won't be damaged, but they will both be there to watch it all happen before they die."

Gerard nods knowing that is good enough. "You have a plan?" he asks slightly disturbed by the lack of sharing, but he trusts her and knows her skills so he isn't particularly worried.

"Peter Hale got back from his little trip today so I am sure he is going to report to Derek. The two of them will be at Derek's loft, all by themselves. My men and I will be happy to give him the welcome back he deserves. Especially with those new toys."

"Alive" Gerard reminds her.

She rolls her eyes and smirks wickedly. "Don't worry. I want to watch Peter and Derek as they get to watch little Cora as I rip out her throat in front of them. Poetic justice, don't you think?

Gerard laughs and agrees. She always did have a flair for the dramatic but he knew that she would follow orders. He looks back to his notes as she slips back out.

"Is everything in place?" Phil asks as Melinda walks into his temporary office.

"We have the team in their assigned locations as well as the back up agents, but I am still not sure what exactly we are going to be facing" she replies.

"And it wouldn't hurt if we knew where this information was coming from" Skye adds following behind her mentor.

"Classified" Phil says with a smirk as he watches her frustrated reaction, heightened by Melinda's lack of concern.

"Seriously?" she demands of both of them.

"In this case yes. Right now, this is definitely a 'need to know' only circumstance. Hydra's been ahead of us in too many situations. We now have the chance to hit them hard when they are least expecting it."

"We'll be ready. I have Fitz and Simmons off site running back up from the bus" Mays says quickly. "And Hill sent us almost two dozen agents who we have managed to slip into the facility without anyone noticing."

Skye looks confused. "That's the part I really don't understand. Why don't you want anyone to know that we are…" she trails off looking between the two senior agents "…unless you think we have a leak? Or maybe a mole among the agents here?"

Phil nods sadly. "This facility is very low on the target list, at least so we thought. When Hydra made their moves at the beginning of their attempted takeover, no one even bothered with this facility and as far as we could tell, they didn't even try to get anyone in place. This place wasn't cutting edge or critical."

"So why now? I mean, what's changed?"

He sighs. "We have secured or lost the most dangerous equipment, but some of our stuff, things we would consider fairly basic, would have significant impact in the wrong hands. Gangs, crime families, mercenaries. There is enough here that local law enforcement, even the military, could be caught off guard and overwhelmed before anyone could react, let alone in some other places around the world. Once I realized this was the target, I've took precautions."

"That is why you have ordered those other facilities shut down and consolidated?" Mays nods in approval.

"But what about that town, Beacon Hills?" Skye asks looking back at Phil. "Isn't that what we were really concerned about?" she asks and flushes when both Coulson and Mays glare. "Okay, seriously, do the two of you not know me? Once you started investigating the place, I noticed. I have been checking things out."

"What did you find?" Phil asks leaning back in his chair curious to see what she found.

Skye tilts her head. "Well, I am pretty sure that an old hacker friend of mine lives or lived there. Name is Day and I met him online right before he got caught hacking into a secure system, but he was actually just a kid and they didn't realize even half of what he was up to, so he was let go with a warning. But once I started looking at the place…" she looks away for a moment. "I would say there are meta humans there. There have been too many 'coincidental' problems with sudden explanations or resolutions without anything that holds up. Did you know that there was a string of serial killings there? Twelve people were killed in a really strange way. Not to mention wild animal attacks. I mean I know that they are near the woods, but how exactly does a wild animal attack a police station, so I think that would count as more than your typical level of unusual. And then…" she suddenly snaps her mouth shuts and shakes her head.

"And then?" Melinda asks surprised at the sudden shut down.

"It's stupid."

"Probably not" Phil says dryly.

Skye looks embarrassed. "I have a friend from Rising Tide days, she's a bit of an eco-warrior."

"Eco-Terrorist?" Melinda asks dryly.

"No!" she defends a bit too quickly. "Okay, maybe. I mean she didn't really do anything, but she was big on talking about it. She mostly hacked companies who were polluters or doing illegal dumping and then exposing them. "

"Is she the one who stole several million dollars from Roxxon the same year a number of environmental charities also mysteriously received some generous donations?" Phil asks with a smirk.

Skye freezes for a second before shrugging. "I cannot confirm or deny that" she replies. Phil glances over and sees Melinda roll her eyes. "Look, the point is that she is really hooked into the GreenNet."

"GreenNet?" Melinda questions.

"There is an underground network of environmental hackers, but among them, there are some that are really big into Wicca and druidism and stuff. Not everyone, but they have this whole Gaea approach to things."

"Okay" Phil says with a nod. "And what does this have to do with our current situation?"

Skye looks uncomfortable but finally takes a deep breath "It's just that Beacon Hills and the areas all around it, are getting a lot of chatter on the GreenNet. And some of it is pretty strange."

"Strange how?" Melinda asks glancing at Coulson to gauge his reaction.

"Fantastical?"

"Not the word I would have used" Phil says with a snort.

"What would you use?" Melinda asks staring at him.

"Magical?"

Melinda doesn't snort, but if she did, that would have been the time for it. Instead she narrows her glare and stares at her boss, willing an answer without actually saying anything. Skye is impressed.

Phil returns the stare with a near vacant expression and he smiles just a bit when he spots the point where she pushes down her annoyance with him. "S.H.I.E.L.D., the Avengers, and Stark have all noticed things" he admits. "My trip there was to take a look around, but well, this came up and needs to be dealt with first. I am not willing to draw the wrong kind of attention there and I am not sure that our teams are really the right ones to manage what is going on. Besides, I am fairly sure that this" he taps his finger on the folder on his desk "will be the focus of Hydra's attention."

Melinda cocks her head with a questioning expression. S.H.I.E.L.D., and Coulson in particular, have dealt with quite a lot, up to and including more than one Norse 'god'. What is he concerned about in that town and more importantly, why doesn't he want to deal with it? "A smaller team could be discreet" she suggests.

Phil nods. "Agreed. But we have…not exactly allies, but let's just call them potential friends who already there and they have expressed a...superseding jurisdictional claim over the issue."

Melinda's expression on anyone else would be mild, but to Phil, her shock and surprise is clear. "Wait a second. Who has priority over us? I mean this is California. S.H.I.E.L.D., even now, is still a player, right?" Skye asks looking back and forth between them.

Phil is silent while the other two stare at him for a few moments. "There's a new player on the board" Melinda says flatly looking at him. He nods.

"Someone new? How new?"

"Have you ever come across someone called the Sorcerer Supreme?" he asks them.

Both women look like he might be joking but when he doesn't follow up with a joke they stare. "Like Harry Potter?" Skye demands.

"Please don't say that around him. He really doesn't find it funny" Phil says with a shiver remembering Stark's jokes at the time. "He's real. Magic is real. And there is a whole other world that we don't know about. And apparently Beacon Hills is spook central."

Both Skye and Melinda look completely blown away. Mays also looks extremely skeptical and Skye looks like she just found out Santa is real after all. "And I hope it is clear that this is not to be shared, with anyone" Phil adds staring at the two of them.

Skye looks about to argue. "Anyone. Even the others on our team. I seriously doubt that Fitz or Simmons is ready to deal with this."

Skye laughs and quickly covers her mouth thinking of the two scientists. Then she frowns thinking of all the various agents she has known. "Are you sure that all this magic stuff isn't just meta human type things?"

Melinda looks like that idea is much more palatable but frowns when Phil shakes his head. "Look, any science advanced enough looks like magic, that's what they say right? But when Stark is totally stumped? I think that it basically is just easier to call it magic. Besides, I am fairly certain that most of our team are not ready to deal with werewolves" he adds with a sigh.

Melinda and Skye's eyes widen at that.

(5:25pm)

"Is that new?" Jackson asks looking at Lydia with a practiced eye but staring at the purse and recognizing both the quality and the cost brand, both of which are high.

"Yes actually. A rather nice present don't you think?"

He chuckled. "What did your father do this time?" he asks. Mr. Martin was painfully obvious. Ever since he left Lydia and her mother for his younger model, he would try to buy Lydia off with various items. How the man didn't get that she was totally onto his crap, Jackson did not know. But Lydia had a very wide mercenary streak to her that only a few got to see. She had no problem taking him for everything he offered, but how the man didn't realize it didn't move her feelings in the slightest was beyond the teen. Especially as most of his gifts and efforts were for the illusion Lydia projected to others rather than her real self.

"It's not from him" she replied with a disdainful dismissal.

Jackson frowned for a second. At a guess, he would estimate that the purse was at least $1000 if he was any judge. Lydia hadn't bought anything like that for herself in months and he was also certain that her mother hadn't either. He felt a slight growl escape his throat. "Then who gave it to you?" he grits out.

Lydia smirks at his reaction and he can tell that she is thinking about dragging this out but it seems that after a moment or two of thought, she decides to be merciful. "It was a gift from Alpha Delgado. Apparently he has an in at the store on Rodeo Drive."

Jackson looks confused. "Wait, the guy in LA whose pack is the movie industry?" She nods. "What the hell is some other Alpha doing sending you gifts? Does Derek know?" he looks a mix between unhappy and worried.

She laughs and rolls her eyes. "It's a bribe Jackson. He is trying to curry favor with me as the Emissary in order to improve his chances of a good outcome with Derek."

"With a purse?" he asks with a snort.

She smiles a little. "That and the rather expense bottle of perfume, a diamond tennis bracelet, and a first edition copy of The Complete Extant Works of Pappus of Alexandria."

Jackson looks at her for a moment. "A book?"

"A rare 4th century text of the history of geometry."

Jackson now looks concerned. Jewelry, perfume, and fashion are not going to do shit with Lydia, but that book, she almost melted when she said it's name. "Lyds" Jackson voice is enough warning to break her chain of thoughts and she laughs.

"Don't worry. I mean the book was a very well thought gift, but apparently, this is a rather common practice. In fact, I have been getting gifts, large and small, for some time now, ever since word got out about my new role. Many come via Deaton or Morrell who I am sure are the ones who let it be known that I was Derek's Emissary. It appears that 'greasing the wheels' is also as common a practice in the supernatural world as it is in the regular one. There are a lot of packs and others who want to be on Stiles and Derek's good side so they send me gifts to gather favor. It isn't uncommon with packs that have highly regarded Alphas. With them being High Alphas, it is basically expected that they are sent tokens of appreciation. Almost like some kind of feudal tribute or something."

"So they know?"

She shrugs. "Mostly. I talked about it with Peter and Sakura. Felisha also explained it when the gifts from Alpha Marshal showed up. Derek is aware, but he is mostly amused. Cora was also impressed when I showed her the book after I got it. She told me about some of the items in the vault that were sent as gifts to Talia. She offered to help track everything for me so she and Danny are working on adding that to the new inventory system they are developing."

Jackson shakes his head. Somehow the idea of all these powerful supernaturals throwing tribute at Lydia's feet is the least surprising thing that happened today.

(5:27 pm)

"So where are we going?" Erica asks intertwining her fingers with Boyd's.

"I thought we could try the diner."

"Uh huh. Anyone else joining us?" she says with a smirk.

Boyd just shakes his head and she smiles happily. She loves the pack but she really wants some time with just the two of them. Since Alicia's return and finding out that Boyd's grandmother knows about everything, it has been hard to carve out some time just for them. She understands though, having his little sister back has been pretty emotional and having to explain the brownies moving in to his house was a fun time. The brownie who adopted her was a really shy thing and Erica barely saw her. She still left out the traditional offerings, but she was very subtle about it so not to alert her parents. Erica was fairly certain that they hadn't even noticed or if they had, had attributed to her helping out more. The little old man brownie who adopted Boyd was like a male version of Nana Boyd: grouchy, stubborn, and set in his ways. But he had a grandson of his own living there too that he bossed around along with the Boyds. The only one he really listed to was Nana and Erica was pretty sure it was an uneasy truce.

"What's wrong?"

She smiled. Unlike the other boys in the Pack, Boyd didn't talk just to hear himself. Though he definitely talked a lot more at his house or when it was just them. "Nothing…not really. I just wonder what's next is all. I mean it seems like every week something new shows up."

She laughs. "Definitely prefer that to what could show up. Lydia was telling me that she had done some research and that if Stiles hadn't destroyed the remains of the Nemeton, it could have gotten a lot worse." She looks over and sees him frown in confusion. "Apparently the tree had been badly corrupted, but it still had power. Without proper 'cleansing', it would have been a beacon to all sorts of nasty things. Not to mention it would have repulsed all the good ones like Dave and the Centaurs."

Boyd nods, that did make sense. "Has your Spider found what it's looking for?" he asks carefully knowing how she feels about them.

Erica shivers. "Ugh, no. It keeps popping up around every few days no matter where I go like it is looking for something but hasn't found it yet. I know Stiles swears that it is harmless, but it still freaks me out."

"Don't worry, I'll protect you."

"Promise?" she asks as she burrows in under his arm, close to his warmth as they walk.

"I swear."

(5:33 pm)

"Dude, where are you going?" Scott asks as Eddie jumps the last few stairs down to the first floor, landing with a rather significant thump.

"Going to Brennar's. I'm meeting up with Billy to grab some ice cream and talk about our homework" he yells as he rushes to the door.

"Want a ride?" Scott calls out and smirks when he hears the teen screech to a halt and spin around.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Throw your bike in the back of mom's car. I will drop you off there and you can ride home."

Eddie looks at him for a second then smiles wickedly. "Going to see Allison?" he singsongs and laughs when Scott shoves him.

"Brat. Maybe you don't need a ride after all" he says unlocking the door.

Eddie jumps to toss his bike in the back and grab his seat and buckling up. "Mmm mmm mmm" he says making kissing noises and pursing his lips at his Alpha.

Scott laughs and shoves him. "Dude I cannot wait until you start dating. I am going to make things 10x worse for you."

Eddie sneers at that. No thanks, he thinks. He sees it with Scott, Jackson, and his own family. Teenagers get stupid when they fall in love! "Are you going to the coffee shop?" he asks as they turn into Brennar's lot.

Scott shakes his head. "No. We're gonna study at Allison's. Mr. Argent wants us to have dinner together." But he's talking to air. Eddie has already jumped out and grabbed his bike, waving at Billy who was already sitting at a table.

"Be home by nine!" he calls out and get's a half-hearted wave back and he smiles glad that things are a lot safer and quieter around here.

(5:35pm)

Stiles pulls up in front of the station and gets out, grabbing the bag of Tupperware with his dad's dinner before heading inside. He is fairly sure that with the distractions of the last few days that his dad has been sneaking over to the diner for food that is definitely not approved of, even if Shirley swore that he had been behaving. Stiles knew that she was sweet on him even though she was old enough to be his mother, she liked to feed people, especially his dad. Stiles had taken time to make a veggie lasagna with a healthy salad and rolls and had even swung by and got a piece of apple pie as a bribe to get him to eat the rest of the meal. Opening the doors to the station he was surprised that the place was full, it looked like the entire staff was here, which was definitely unusual.

"Hey Sandy!" Stiles says looking at the dispatcher in surprise. "I thought you would be gone by now. Why is everyone here?" The woman rarely worked evenings or weekends preferring early morning shifts. He often saw her when his dad would bring him to the office before school before he decided he would prefer to sleep in and get there on his own.

Sandy rolls her eyes. "Apparently, the very Special FBI Agent McCall called the Sheriff. It seems there has been some new information in both the Blake and Burrows cases and he is coming to brief us." She smiles and leans forward to whisper. "It seems that they finally figured out that it wasn't us that was to blame for all of this, and he is being made to come apologize" she tells him with a gleeful look. Stiles knew that the entire station had been dealing with Scott's dad and weren't happy about it.

Stiles smiles back. Oh boy, if Scott's dad was having to eat crow, this will be worth the price of admission. He holds up the food and Sandy chuckles and waves him back as he heads towards his dad's office and he smiles at the other deputies who all seem to be hanging out while not bothering the evening shift too much. Jordan and Tara are both over by Stevens' desk and all three deputies give him a nod and a smile. Stiles remembers the discussion about updating the deputies about the non-werewolf stuff and reminds himself to discuss it with his dad the next time they are at home.

Stepping up to the door he sees his dad working at his desk and since no one is in the office, he raps his knuckles on the door and walks in.

Noah Stilinski looks up and smiles before he spots the bag of food and then sighs. "Stiles, you didn't need to bring me dinner."

"It's no problem daddio. I figured with all the late hours you have been working that you deserve a real home cooked meal."

Noah stares as his son pulls out the containers and he leans back in his chair and watches his son, who is very obviously avoiding making eye contact, and he places each one on the desk. "Stiles, it is not even six. A bit early for dinner don't you think?"

Stiles looks up and does a terrible job of faking being surprised. "What? Well, you don't have to eat it right this second dad. I just wanted you to have your dinner already covered since you are working late. That way you won't have to stop or anything."

"And by anything you mean go out for dinner."

Stiles smirks. "That would be wasting food."

"You do know that I am the parent in this relationship don't you. It doesn't matter how all high and mighty you get, I can still ground you."

Stiles looks offended. "Wha…? Dad, you know I only care about you!"

"What monstrosity did you attempt this time?"

"That hurts dad."

"Stiles, you tried to make a quinoa and tofu burrito last week. You managed to drive away three werewolves from the house."

Stiles flinches. Okay, that had been a failure. "That wasn't my fault!" he exclaims but Noah only raises an eyebrow and stares. "Okay fine, I shouldn't have tried to make it in the pressure cooker, but I was short on time!"

"It exploded."

Stiles flails. "That wasn't my fault. I didn't know the vinegar would react that way!"

Noah pinches the bridge of his nose and tries counting to regain his equilibrium. To be fair, his son had cleaned it all up and if Noah hadn't walked in that second he would never have known but the sight of three teens running from his house covered in food debris and reeking of vinegar and rice wine had worried him. True, Stiles had magically cleaned the place up, but he really thought he might get a break from the food after the last fiasco. "I am sure that Isaac, Scott, and Eddie all appreciated that."

Stiles pouts. The other three had been teasing him mercilessly since the incident, not to mention Lydia and Cora's rather pointed jokes at his expense. "It is veggie lasagna, salad, and a three-bean salad. Nothing crazy or experimental. Lydia and Allison gave me the recipes.

Noah raised an eye at that and leaned forward. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad. "And I got you a slice of apple pie from the diner."

The sheriff narrowed his eyes and stared at the obvious bribe for what it was. He tried to hold on to the suspicion but if Stiles had gotten Shirley's Dutch apple pie, not to mention using the girls' help, it might actually be worth it. "Well, put it in the fridge and I will heat it up after we deal with things.

Stiles slides the containers over to the mini fridge in the office before looking at his father. "So, I heard that Scott's dad is coming by" he starts off casually.

Noah groans. "Stiles! You have got to stop interrogating my officers."

"I'm just being a conscientious High Alpha dad, making sure to keep contact with the local authorities about issues affecting the territory" he replies with such obviously fake sincerity that Noah snorts. "Hey!"

"You are snooping Stiles. You know I'm not supposed to be discussing this with you." He frowns for a moment before glancing up to the door and windows of the office and confirming no one is close by. "But I am concerned" he says quietly.

Stiles' smile slips and he scoots forward. "Concerned? But I thought he was being sent here to apologize."

Noah nods but doesn't look happy about that. "That's what we were told. That the field office was sending him to update our office on their findings that the Burrows and Blake situations were 'the result of forces outside our office's jurisdiction and ability to anticipate' and that they had in fact found significant connections between the two cases."

Stiles looks at his dad with a confused expression before he frowns. "Wait. What?"

"The field office said that McCall was coming to update the department on the connections they found."

"But that doesn't make any sense. There are no connections whatsoever. We know that" Stiles protested.

"Exactly. We know that Blake is dead along with Deucalion, but the agency thinks they crossed the border into Mexico some time ago. Chris even told me that there were 'sightings' in Oaxaca reported to the task force. And Burrows died here and was in Eichen House before that. I don't know what kind of connection they think they found or how they think it is substantial enough to make Raphael McCall to apologize."

Stiles stared for a second. "Should I call Derek?"

Noah shakes his head. "Not yet. I want to see what the man has to say first. Once we know what we are dealing with, I will let everyone know."

"When is supposed to be here?" Stiles asks.

Noah looks at his watch. "Any time now."

(5:44 pm)

Isaac looks down at the cart and shakes his head at the mass of groceries that they are buying. "Do we really need this much?" he asks being careful not to annoy Cora. She still scares him a bit with how wolf-like she is compared to Derek or even Peter. The female Hale definitely carries herself with an air that he has noticed that Erica has been trying to emulate since she arrived.

"Considering that neither Derek nor Peter ever remember most days, and Stiles forgets to buy meat half the time, yes, we do" Cora says sniffing the vegetables to find the ones she feels are acceptable. She really needs to set up weekly trips to a larger town to hit up some farmers' markets to get stuff without all the chemicals and pesticides.

"But we aren't buying any meat" Isaac says looking confused.

Cora rolls her eyes and Isaac sees the resemblance to Derek and Peter in that particular expression. "There is a local butcher over on 4th which has the order I called in. I don't like the stuff here and they are much healthier, even have some venison."

Yvette looks a little green at that but she doesn't say anything when she sees Isaac struggling with both desire and repulsion at the thought. "It is common for many packs to produce a lot of their own food to avoid all the stuff that is put in food nowadays" she tells them happy to be a part of the trip.

"Is that why you don't like cereal?" he asks Cora who just shakes her head.

"I used to eat it before, but ever since I've been with the Alvarez Pack, we had full breakfast, not cereal or toaster pastries" she adds with a shiver.

"You don't like pastries?" he asks in disbelief. He lived on Pop tarts freshman year of high school.

"I like Celeste's pastries just fine. It's that crap you all eat I don't like. But I know you do" she adds and points at the four boxes in the cart "so I pick it up for you all."

"Who likes anchovies?" he asks looking at the stack of tins that she had added two aisles back.

"Aiden" she says scratching off another item when Yvette drops in the bag of peppers.

"Why are we buying them food?" he asks curiously.

"They were out of a few things and asked if I could pick them up when I said I was coming. Since Alpha Ito asked them to come help her with an emergency with a new wolf that she's taken on this afternoon, I offered to help out so they would have what they needed when they got back tomorrow."

Isaac didn't really respond to that. The pack had tentatively accepted the twins, he knows that both Derek and Stiles had given them the okay, at least provisionally, and Danny had definitely been on their side which meant that Jackson had too. Lydia was much more reserved, but even she had lightened up a bit about them. "Did they say what the problem Alpha Ito had was?" he asks as they stop to pick up some cleaning supplies.

Cora is quiet for a moment while she directs the two of them to get the items she needs but then she looks at him with a shrug. "Just that a lone wolf had showed up looking for sanctuary and help. She is helping them get some control before having them report to Derek I would guess. Satomi said that the twins would be ideal to help them, but other than that, I don't know" she looks completely disinterested in the whole thing and moves them along.

Isaac follows behind the two women as they continue to add items to the already overflowing cart and he wonders if he should get a second one or not if they keep going. To be fair, she is buying for three different apartments, but still it seems to be excessive in his eyes. But then he remembers the last dinner and movie night they had with most of the pack in attendance and how much food they all put away that night and revises his thought. This would probably only last a week at best. But then this didn't include the other stops they were going to make.

"Oh, ice cream" Yvette says happily as Isaac brightens as Cora starts grabbing various containers with everyone's favorite flavors. He smiles when she grabs his, striking it off the list, and realizes that Cora may have a prickly nature, but she really watches everyone and remembers. He knows he never told her his favorite flavor directly, but he probably mentioned it and she remembered like she did with everyone else. Between her and Stiles, they did take care of everyone. He wonders if they can do another movie night soon, or even a game night. They could all use something fun to do.

(5:47 pm)

"So, did you enjoy your trip?" Derek asks with a smirk when Peter finally comes into the loft. His uncle had returned from his 'visit' to Alpha Flores and her pack that morning but had been playing catch up since he had been back. Not that Derek minded actually. He had spent some time at the construction site today and it was coming along well. Everyone was done for the night so they had left a bit early while Derek and stayed behind to talk with Dave, Kreyna, and Whulibela about the next steps in the plans. Wong hadn't been by in a while, he had just sent a very curt message that they were dealing with some crisis and he would talk to them later. Stiles had suggested seeing if Master Mahti would be willing to come stay for a few weeks and help out.

Peter rolled his eyes at his nephew's veiled question and decided instead to pretend that he missed the barb for what it was. "Actually I did. Alpha Flores sends her regards." Derek snorted at that and Peter smirked knowingly at the look of disbelief he got with the bland platitude. "Well, she did officially, if only to be polite. "And I actually spoke with a beta from the Ferris Pack."

Derek looked up with a trace of confusion. That was not a name he recognized. "Ferris? I don't remember them."

"Not surprising" Peter replies sliding onto the couch facing Derek's chair. "They are a relatively new pack in this part of the country and in general. Moved to Bedford, Oregon about five years ago from Wisconsin. Their Alpha had a run in with a feral alpha when she crossed the pack's borders. She killed one of the pack and was apparently trying to seize the pack. Alpha Ferris, or Kevin Ferris at the time as he was still a beta, came upon her attacking some of the younger members and fought her. She was too far gone and he ended up killing her before his own Alpha could arrive so he became an alpha."

"Why was she feral?" Derek asks with a feeling of dread and based on the look on Peter's face, he was right to feel that way.

"They did some research and found she was the alpha of a small pack, just six including her husband and two kids. Hunters attacked them and killed all but her. She managed to escape but the damage and loss was too much and she went feral. Kevin was now an Alpha so he decided to form a scion pack and he moved to Medford with a half dozen of his old pack. They now have ten members, small, but stable. They had reached out to Anna about their concerns with the Williams Pack."

Derek frowned. That was a name he knew. "From Eugene?"

Peter nodded. He had done some nosing around before the fire on his sister's orders about the Williams pack but he wasn't able to prove anything or at least enough to satisfy her. He heard enough that he felt the man should be eliminated, but Talia wasn't willing to cross that line. "It appears that he has deteriorated since my last visit. Anna and Alpha Marshall have both been hearing things about Williams and are concerned and with Kevin's new information, I think they are going to expect you to step in and deal with the man."

Derek frowns. "Eugene is out of even Stiles territory Peter" he reminds his uncle.

Peter sighs and shakes his head. "Derek, I know you didn't expect or plan this, but you need to lose the naivety and wake up. While it might have been nice thinking that you were just the alpha for our little town and maybe you could have some kind of ceremonial position for the rest of Stiles' territory, I think you have greatly underestimated the full consequences of claiming the mantle of High Alpha."

Derek stares at his uncle and can feel the man's sincerity, but also hints of disappointment. "Perhaps you should explain it to me then" he says carefully, putting aside the book he had been reading to focus on his uncle.

Peter stared for a few moments before taking a deep, calming breath. "Derek, you know your mother had significant influence with packs both near and far?" he starts and Derek nods not seeing where this was going. "She was feared, but more she was respected for the Hale name, her ability to full shift, and the fact that our home was firmly in place for decades. Even packs with no chance of alliance or even any kind of connection, respected and knew her. She would receive letters and communications almost weekly. You, Laura, and Cora all received courtship inquiries not long after you were born."

Derek startles. "What?" He had never heard about any of that!

Peter waves it off. "Talia wasn't interested and told them so. Besides, it was mostly from packs in Europe, but the truth was that if there were a 'noble or royal' family for werewolves, the Hales would be one of them, if not the one. She was courted as both ally as well as leader. If things had been different, and she had been more ambitious…"

"Like you" Derek says with a look.

Peter acknowledges the point. "Like I was, yes. She might well have eventually been acclaimed as High Alpha. But she wasn't. She was happy with her life here and she felt she served other packs better as advisor and teacher. Once Laura was old enough to hold Beacon Hills on her own...that might have changed, but we won't ever know. But you my dear nephew, not only declared yourself a High Alpha, you killed Deucalion and his pack, and you are mated to the most powerful magic user our kind has seen."

"Lizzie and Stephen are..." Derek starts.

Peter shakes his head and cuts him off. "No one counts them Derek. No pack would ever have the Morgaine as member, nor would she ever be interested in that. But Stiles is both a member of your pack and your mate. You are now, whether you like it or not, the closest thing our kind has to werewolf royalty."

"I'm no king!" Derek protests.

"Fine. Whatever. Doesn't matter what you call yourself, I'm afraid that's now how you are seen. Alpha Williams is an issue. The others expect you, the High Alpha, to deal with it."

Derek looked stunned. "But that's not in our territory!"

Peter chuckled. "You do know that that our dear Ms. Martin has been receiving tribute gifts, yes?"

Derek frowned. Yes, he knew that Lydia was getting what was basically bribes, but he trusted her. "Yes, but mom did too."

"That's true. It is fairly common to send gifts to allies or those you respect. Lydia has received them from five of the six continents with packs on them."

Derek's eyes go wide at that bit of news. Sure, he figured that they would get attention from everyone west of the Rockies, and probably even as far as the Mississippi. And he had heard from some contacts in New York who had reached out to him to reestablish contact, but he wasn't expecting anything else. Maybe some Canadian or Mexican packs, but this…?

Peter watches his nephew struggling with this and decides to take pity on him. "Derek" he says gently and waits till he looks up and Peter swallows down the emotion that gesture raises as he looks so much like his sister did when she was younger. "You may not wish this, but you cannot escape it or push it on to someone else. At this point, you are basically, for all intents and purposes, the High Alpha for all wolf packs everywhere. It will take a few years to settle things, but it's going to happen. Whether or not there is a ceremony or something official, you are going to have packs calling for your judgement regarding conflicts, advice on dealing with Hunters, not to mention the requests to join your pack."

Derek looks skeptical at that. Peter sighs. "Derek, you have three alphas, including a True Alpha, in your own pack. Deucalion, for all his insanity, had an Alpha Pack of defectives, who stayed from fear or lust for power. He never achieved by design what you are doing almost by accident. You need to prepare to cope with all of this. You should be grateful you are mated or you would be dealing with all of that as well. And since your mate is a male, you will still have to deal with some of it" he says with a chuckle.

"Peter" Derek says in a low voice, almost a growl.

"Alpha Flores has heard of a number of betas, even an alpha or two, who would definitely be interested in marriage with you, both for your status and the raise in her own. She has heard several of them mention that since your mate is a male, that you would need a woman to carry on your line and there are more than a few who would be happy to serve in that role for the ability to join your pack as mother to your heirs."

Derek looked absolutely stunned at that and Peter laughs at his nephew's expression. Anna and he had rather enjoyed that discussion over several bottles of very good wine and even though they couldn't get drunk, it was pleasant. She had managed to delay more than a few with words of 'new mates' and 'propriety', but she wanted him to know that when they hit one full year, to expect a deluge of offers. "I've bought you some time, and Ms. Martin and I will do what we can, but you will have to deal with this the minute you leave Beacon Hills, and you are going to have to travel some. Most will come to you" Peter says with a self-satisfied smirk "but there are some things you should show your face at. And some that you should personally call on."

Derek shakes his head. This is giving him a headache, one he doesn't need right now. Things were finally settling down and now he is going to have to face a potential horde of women who want to have his kids since he is with Stiles?! How is he going to explain this? This must be what it feels like when a human gets a migraine. He even has a ringing in his ears! He looks over at the source of this, his rather too happy uncle and sees him rubbing his temples and ears. As if he has the same headache that...

Derek looks up and takes a deep breath but there is a nauseating smell of peppermint and, he flinches at the whine in his ears. It's almost like when Chris used those…the sonic devices! "PETER!" he roars and races for the door now finally able to smell the gunpowder the peppermint was masking.

Peter spins around but Derek is moving faster, he is halfway to the loft door when the explosion hits, tearing the door off it's track and blowing it inward and sending Derek flying back to crash into the brick wall, doing substantial damage on impact before sliding down to the ground.

But Derek's position meant that Peter was partially shielded by the blast and he doesn't roar at the attack, but leaps forward silently and the first man who enters the loft has his throat ripped out before he even notices the beta coming at him. He falls and Peter spins and drop kicks number two so hard he flies across the room and smashes into the glass windows which don't shatter thanks to Stiles' protections. The man probably didn't appreciate it since it would be like hitting a solid wall.

Peter wasn't waiting to see though and had turned when two more men opened fire and he took at least a dozen hits in arms, leg, and chest and he staggered back at the blows but with one breath and he knew it wasn't wolfsbane in the bullets, so they were not prepared for him. He snarled and started to move when a third man stepped up and aimed a rather large shotgun and Peter would have ducked if he was able, but he took the blast full on and was thrown across the room to hit the ground hard. He wasn't out though. He tried to pull himself up and glanced over to see Derek starting to move as well when one of the men pulled out what looked like a ray guy and pointed it at them.

Derek was staring at the man with the strange weapon when he pulled the trigger and Derek and Peter both screamed. The gun hit them with ultra-high frequency sonics and Derek felt his eardrums shatter just before he saw Peter go down, his uncles' eyes rolled up into his head before the gun had even stopped. It takes Derek a few moments for his ears to heal well enough to hear again and he spots a figure moving behind the men who had attacked them. From the shape, it looks like a woman and then he smells it: Jasmine, wolfsbane, and gun oil. 'It couldn't be!' he thinks desperately as he tries to stand up to defend himself and Peter.

But then he hears that laugh and he freezes for a second. That laugh that haunted him even now. He looks up as she walks into the light, the cruel smile on her harsh face surrounded by blonde hair, a large shotgun cradled lovingly in her arms. "Aw Derek aren't you happy to see me again?" she asks with hateful eyes and her own snarl. Derek watches in horror as her teeth elongate into fangs, claws on her hands, and her face becomes covered with blue fur and spots.

"Kate" he whispers but she just laughs before he feels the blast from her gun, and then everything goes black.

(5:48 pm)

Raphael McCall pulls his car into the Sheriff's station and pulls out his phone reading the reply to his text with a nod. It is finally going to happen and all of this will be over with tonight! He gets out and walks into the station, the briefcase in his grip as he quickly scans the room and notices the full attendance of the station. He has pulled everyone's work records and sure enough, everyone that works here is present. He frowns, certain that there would be someone missing.

"Agent McCall" Noah Stilinski says stepping out of his office, Stiles is standing right beside him looking less than pleased to see the man. "I hear you have some news for us" he says and points to the conference room.

McCall nods, setting the briefcase down on a desk before following the Sheriff and Deputy Graeme. He notes that Stiles isn't following, but the kid is just standing by the office door.

Stiles watches the man walk over to the room and step in with his father before stopping and shutting the door on Tara. He glances over at Jordan who looks equally shocked. His father is talking with McCall and Tara looks pissed off, but when she reaches for the door his father looks over and holds up his hand and waves her off. 'WTF?' Stiles thinks and he can tell the deputy is thinking the same thing. She stands at the door, watching through the glass for a moment before she moves over to Stiles and Jordan as they all look into the conference room, the other deputies all gathered around looking inconspicuous.

"Is he giving the Sheriff an advance briefing?" Jordan asks confused.

"I don't know" Tara says very slowly and deliberately and Stiles decides 'screw this' and he moves his fingers and draws a rune in the air, invisible to everyone.

"What the hell is that?" Jordan asks in a shocked voice.

Stiles looks over and sees the deputy staring at the rune while Tara is looking around trying to figure out what he's talking about.

"You can see it?" Stiles whispers looking around the station.

"It is glowing!" Jordan whisper yells as his eyes bug out.

"It's Magic, I'll explain later. Now be quiet and let me listen" Stiles hushes the man. He will figure out how he can see it later, right now he wants to eavesdrop. He focuses.

"No fucking way" he whispers.

Sandy Rogers watches from her spot at the desk as Raphael McCall walks in and heads back to talk to the Sheriff. She smiles over at Deputy Stevens and signals that she is going for a smoke and grabs her purse. Walking out quietly she watches the group all trying to listen in on the conversation without being too obvious about it, but the Sheriff takes the FBI agent into the conference room and she knows that place is pretty much soundproofed. She knows, she has tried to listen in before. She laughs at the deputies as she knows that they are never going to be subtle about that kind of stuff, not like she was. Small towns, even small-town police, are just unable to avoid being all up in everyone's business.

It has been like that since she arrived five years ago and nothing has changed. Walking to the far end of the row of cars, she opens the car door on her rental, slides in, and pops her keys in the ignition before pulling out her lipstick to touch up. Smiling in the mirror when done, she starts it up and backs out of the spot, looking over at the car she has been driving for the last three years sitting in its regular spot. Picking up her cell phone she smiles in relief that it's over. Five years is a long time for a job, but the old man has paid her well and with this bonus, she is planning on spending some serious time living it up in the south of France. Looking over at the station she has a sudden regret at not getting a box of pastries from Celeste's before leaving, she is going to miss that place, but she isn't about to leave anyone to remember that she wasn't inside the station.

Reaching down, she presses the contact on her phone and listens as it rings once before connecting. She looks back in her rear-view mirror, confirming that no one else left after her, just as the first explosion inside goes off and blows out the windows and glass doors of the Sheriff's station with a noise louder than any thunderclap. She stares at the fire billowing out of every crack and hole just before the roof explodes outwards with another blast. The east wall, where the Sheriff's personal office sits, comes crashing down with the third explosion. And the fourth and final explosion billows out and engulfs two of the cruisers, Special Agent McCall's boring government sedan, her sad little hatchback, and Stiles' ugly ass jeep setting all of them on fire. She laughs seeing that ugly blue piece of garbage finally burning, she always hated that jeep.

Turning on the road towards the interstate she sends the text confirming that all four bombs went off. She knows that the old man was done with that idiot from the FBI. She wonders if he had any clue that his bomb was never going to go off? She has cleaned up messes of other hunters more than once and while she got word that the old man was in bad standing or some shit, she doesn't really care since Gerard pays so well. She thinks she might actually have enough to buy a villa overlooking the water. She has definitely earned it having to spend all this time in this back-water town.