Chapter 15

Jackson slams his car door as he looks at the house. Smiling at finally getting to see him, he moves quickly to the front door before ringing the bell. It only takes a few seconds before the door opens and he is pulled into an overpowering embrace that accompanies the wonderful scent of Hibiscus that always hovers around Mrs. Mahealani. "Jackson!" she exclaims happily. "So good to see you keiki! We missed you this summer."

Jackson smiles back at the short woman. Despite him being half a foot taller than Danny's mom, she always seems so much larger than he remembers. She has such an amazingly warm heart and that is probably why he has always loved spending time at their house and how easy it was to spend time with Danny. His parents had at first been hesitant about Jackson staying friends with Danny when the other boy had come out but Jackson, in a rather unusual display of rebellion and defiance, absolutely refused their passive aggressive suggestions. If anything, he upped his support of the teen and their friendship flourished, even through all the times that Jackson, looking back on it, was rather embarrassed by the shit he had pulled that Danny had either ignored or let go.

Danny had put up with a lot from Jackson and the last year with the whole wolf thing had put a strain on their friendship but Jackson had realized how important it was so he had been working hard at being a better friend to…well, everyone.

"I missed you too, especially your Kalua pork" he says smiling at the thought. Even his parents would drop plans when the Mahealani's invited them over to a party when Danny's family had made that amazingly wonderful dish. Simple…but so good! "Did you have a good time seeing everyone? Danny said that he got to spend a lot of time with family."

Kailani Mahealani laughs at that. "Well he did spend some time with the family, but he also spent a whole lot of time at the beach with his new Ku'uipo." She snickered and saw the confusion on Jackson's face and laughed again. "Summer romance" she explained and Jackson snorted. In their calls Danny hadn't mentioned dating anyone but that was hardly unusual for the teen. He rarely talked about the guys he saw unless it was serious, and he hadn't been serious about anyone in a while. Of course, Jackson had to admit there wasn't a lot of options here in Beacon Hills. No surprise he found someone back in the islands.

"Is he in his room?" Jackson asks and Mama Mahealani nods and shoves him towards the stairs after confirming that he was staying for dinner with the family which Jackson had enthusiastically accepted. Taking the stairs in a rush he is at Danny's room in seconds and sees the teen through the open door. "Danny!" he calls out and rushes over to wrap him up in a bear hug.

"Jackson!?" Danny is surprised, but he quickly returns the hug. He had noticed that the other boy was getting more physically affectionate before he left but this was a pretty big change. He smirked thinking about his conversation on the beach.

"So glad you are back. We need to get to practicing so we can take state this year" he says with a trace of the Whittemore arrogance.

"Well, with you, Scott, and Isaac all on the team we should definitely be good. Think we can get Boyd to try out again? He seems like he would be a good one after that game" Danny says making sure to keep his tone casual and easy.

Jackson looks rattled but he quickly recovers. "Uh, I guess so. I mean yes, we can definitely get him to try out. Coach certainly liked him...well as much as he likes anyone you know."

"Cool…cool. And Stiles too. I mean you and he have been hanging out and all so that won't be a problem with him and McCall right?"

Jackson looked caught off guard again, Danny really shouldn't be enjoying this so much, but he just shrugged. "I guess so. I mean he's been pretty busy lately so not sure if he is going to try out again."

Danny frowned. "Busy with what?"

"Oh, lots of things. He and Lydia are having dinner tonight and going over some stuff that he is working on tonight otherwise she would have come with me."

Danny looked completely confused. Sure, Jackson had said that things were different but this? "You are okay with Stilinski and Lydia hanging out?" he asks, the doubt clear in his voice.

Jackson smirked. His arrogant expression was so classically Jackson that Danny almost laughed. "Doesn't bother me at all."

Danny just stared knowing he was missing something. "Stilinski? The guy with the ten-year plan to woo Lydia, your Lydia? You don't have a problem with him going on what is essentially a date with your girlfriend?"

Jackson snorted and moved to sit down. "Well, the spaz is not really interested in her anymore."

Danny looked at his friend and wondered if he had been drinking…can he get drunk? "You don't say. Well, okay. Guess you know best." He said with a smile and moved to finish his unpacking. He knows Jackson and the guy won't be able to last even minute. Danny can wait him out.

Thirty seconds later. "You ass!" Jackson snarls and snorts when the teen looks at him with a completely innocent expression. "He has a boyfriend!"

Danny snorts and rolls his eyes. "Right" he replies. "I told you Jackson, he and McCall are not a couple."

Jackson laughs. "No shit. McCall and Argent are back together. But Stilinski is dating a guy and it is pretty serious. I mean 'meet the parent' serious."

Danny looks uncertain about that. "Stiles introduced the guy to the Sheriff?" he clarifies.

Jackson looks unbearably smug. "Yep" he pops the p loudly.

"Okay" he pauses for a second. "Okay, now I feel bad. All those times he was asking if he was attractive to gay guys, I blew him off. Guess he was trying to come out."

Jackson sniggers.

"Grow up asshole" Danny shoves Jackson who just snorts again. "So who is he dating?"

"You will never guess. Not in a million years"

Danny frowns and thinks. Who would he never…he goes pale at the thought "Oh god, tell me it's not Greenberg?"

Jackson falls off the bed laughing, and Danny is totally caught off guard at the sight. Jackson, the perfect boy, laughing his ass off on his floor. The guy can barely breathe he is laughing so hard. Trying to fight it he does smile a bit. Danny is not sure that he has ever seen his friend look so…at ease. So relaxed and happy. The changes are more than skin deep it seems.

Catching his breath, he sits up and looks at Danny. "Dude! Oh god I can't wait to share that. That was the best." Jackson smirks and looks at his friend. "Actually, I think you met him once at Stilinski's."

Danny frowns. Met at Stilinski's? He was only there one time and that was when he saw…"His cousin Miguel?!?" he yells.

Jackson roars with laughter and falls back over. "Oh god….Miguel" he gasps.

Danny flounders. Jesus talk about bursting out the closet like a superstar. "Stilinski is dating Derek Hale?" he says in shock.

Jackson freezes and looks at his friend in shock. "What?" he whispers.

Danny rolls his eyes at that. "Jax. Despite what the rest of you all seem to think, everyone else in town are not idiots. I may not have recognized 'cousin Miguel' (he actually used air quotes to say that) but I certainly recognized all the wanted posters around town afterwards. I mean seriously the Hales were the most important family in town hands down."

Jackson looks offended at that and Danny just stares him down. "Dude, Lydia's family has been here for maybe three generations and your dad moved here after college. The Hales founded the damn place. And the missing prodigal son returns and is on the run from the law? Everyone was paying attention." He snorts and then looks like he swallowed a bug. "You said he met the Sheriff?" he exclaims in shock.

Jackson has been slowly recovering but he finally manages to find his tongue. "Uh…yeah. He's okay with it" he manages to say.

Danny looks impressed. Seriously impressed. "Huh. Well kudos to Stilinski. If I had a stud like Derek Hale waiting for me I doubt Lacrosse would be at the top of my list of things to do."

Jackson snorts. "Be careful. Don't think Stilinski will appreciate that. He is kind of possessive."

Danny nods. "I definitely don't want to piss him off. I mean anyone that can kick two Alpha werewolves' ass is definitely someone I don't want to piss off."

Looking back on it, Danny Mahealani can truly say that in the list of the best moments of his life, this will always be in the top five. The look and subsequent reaction of one Jackson Whittemore to that particular bombshell will go down in his own personal history as one of the best. Of course, seeing his oldest friend's eyes glowing an arctic blue and all hairy was freaky weird but not unexpected and the fact that he didn't startle or freak out only made Jackson's reaction even better. Payback's a bitch old friend he thought. He loved the guy, but Danny was not so stand up that he didn't thoroughly enjoy Jackson's complete meltdown.

Noah Stilinski walks into the station and isn't particularly happy to be back. They are pretty much set for tomorrow, but he plans to spend at least some time going over the work up that Tara and Parrish figured out for everyone for the next few days. Not that he didn't already approve it, but it would be good to give it one more look.

But first, he had to deal with the Mayor's 'special request'. Roberts was a fairly decent Mayor, she had even apologized for the whole incident with Whittemore and the town suspending him, had actually pulled Noah aside to let him know that the whole thing was basically Whittemore making threats and pulling in favors to the others who were quick to knuckle under, a description she regretfully admitted she shared. For a politician, she wasn't too bad.

But the Sheriff might have to reconsider that after this stunt. Apparently some business muckety-muck had dangled some economic carrot and Roberts had pretty much gone all in on it. She wouldn't give Noah any details, but the gist was that if we made their rep happy, then she might open a business in town. Which was all well and good, they could certainly do with filling one of the empty shops or warehouses, but the way Roberts was going on it almost seemed like it was way bigger, like a factory or something.

Ever since Stiles had his magical makeover, Noah had noticed the changes to their town. He wouldn't have said that Beacon Hills was dying, but there were definitely more people moving out than in and more businesses had closed than opened since, well, since the Hale fire if he really considered it. Lizzie had advised him that Stiles' magic was going to be felt in a lot of ways that even regular people could feel. The biggest being that once the old tree had been dealt with, the town would start healing. Add to that Stiles' own actions to speed things along, and she had predicted that they would see things reverse with magical people coming to live here, not to mention all the benign creatures. They would also bring prosperity, hope, and luck that would ripple out to the humans and make Beacon Hills much more desirable and seem like a great place to be. Apparently it had already begun.

"Sheriff" Sandy Rogers, their dispatch, said happily from the front desk "your guest is here. I went ahead and let her in to your office." Noah frowned a bit at that but then he noticed that Rogers was glancing over at the pen where several of his deputies seemed to be trying to covertly stare into his office and failing at it pretty badly. He raised his eyes at that and looked back at Sandy. "She's…nice" she responds with a trace of disapproval that makes Noah sigh. So the woman is attractive.

Nodding he walks around the desk and his deputies all try and look like they haven't been staring and he just walks in as the woman in his office stands up and looks at him.

Noah immediately understands Sandy's reaction, not to mention his deputies. The woman is striking in every way and looks more like a model than some business flunky. Noah feels a sudden recollection of Lydia Martin and the Allison Argent in how she stands but it almost as quickly fades when she smiled at him. Damn, that smile should be on a magazine cover.

"Ma'am. Sorry I am late but I grabbed dinner with my son."

"No problem Sheriff. I am just glad you were able to speak with me so late."

"Well, we have an exciting day tomorrow so I was going to be here for a bit no matter what. Now what can I do that the Mayor couldn't help you with? I understand you are looking to open a business here." In a way the Sheriff is glad that Stiles and Derek are now together. He has a feeling that Stiles would have been following this woman around like a puppy if he saw her. Maybe she was planning on opening a restaurant, she had the bearing of someone who could handle a team of cooks.

"Exciting? Nothing serious I hope" she asks looking interested.

"Just tedious. A prisoner from a nearby facility is coming to get medical attention from the hospital. We are providing security for him while he is in town. Now, how can I help?" he says again.

She smiles and Noah can admit that he does feel something at that. She knows she looks good and isn't afraid to use it. Must be something more than a restaurant.

"My employer is looking to open a facility here in town. I am not in the position to give many details, but in doing our research of potential locations, Beacon Hills came up but there were some concerns when we started investigating" she tells him.

"Concerns?' Noah gently prods as they both sit down and she takes out a portfolio.

Opening up the black book, he is expecting to see a notepad or some printouts but the tablet is a bit of a surprise. It's significantly more surprising when it lights up and projects a display in the air above it like a hologram. His eyes widen, this woman is definitely not a cook. "Yes. We have noticed that there are some criminal issues in the county that are…" she looks almost apologetic for even mentioning it "worrisome. Specifically, the number of murders and animal attacks over the last several months. They are wildly disproportionate for a town your size and relative stability."

Noah leans back in his chair. Okay, this is not going to be easy. "We did have some issues with mountain lions recently, and one rather disturbing situation with a mass murderer, but both were dealt with."

The woman's green eyes are laser focused on him. They are not the green of trees or emeralds, but closer to a green that is judging you and it's not looking good. "Katherine Argent" she states and he sees the woman's picture pop up in the images above her notebook. He nods without saying anything else.

"It says that she killed a family in January, 2005. But it was initially declared an accident. You were a deputy then."

Noah frowned. That detail showed she had done her research. "That's correct."

"But then Laura Hale, one of the survivors returned and was killed along with several others. Argent was responsible for those as well" she asks.

Noah shrugs. "We couldn't prove it, but it makes sense. After Laura Hale was killed, Meyers, the insurance adjuster who ruled it an accident was killed in an attack. Three known arsonists were also killed and after the first one, the killer stopped trying to make it look like animal attacks."

"So you think it was one killer?"

"It lines up. Laura was back investigating and had found out about Myers and the others. It seemed that someone was killing everyone involved in the Hale fire and she was the best suspect. Her brother told us that she was a skilled hunter. Making attacks looks like an animal attack would have been easy for her."

"But she was killed, in an animal attack" she says looking doubtful.

"Irony, I guess. He learned that she was responsible and was apparently killing off her accomplices to erase any connection to her. Or at least that is our best guess. She was killed by a mountain lion or other animal, which is karmic payback to me" Noah says looking unhappy.

"You didn't like that?" she asks shrewdly.

"No. I didn't. She escaped justice and answering for her crimes. I mean I am glad she is dead, no question there, but she should have gone to jail. I would wager the Hales weren't her only victims" he sighs. "But people are safer with her gone, so I won't be losing any sleep." Noah frowns, he really didn't intend to talk this much. He has been spending too much time with the pack, he needs more adults to talk to.

She smiles. "Sounds reasonable actually. If I may, can I ask you about some of the other crime statistics we found?"

Noah starts to nod when he pauses. "You know, I don't think I caught your name or who it is you are working for that has got the Mayor so worked up."

She smiles again and damn the woman has some serious dimples. "My apologies Sheriff. I am an internal investigator for Stark Industries. I work for the CEO, Pepper Potts."

Noah's eyes widen and he sits up. Stark?!? Stark Industries is looking to come here? No wonder Roberts is falling all over herself to suck up to the woman. They aren't opening a restaurant, coffee shop, or factory. If Stark Industries comes here, it will bring dozens to hundreds of jobs, really good jobs. "And your name?"

Smiling she extends her hand and Noah reaches out to shake it. "Natalie. Natalie Rushman."

"Stiles?" Lydia calls out as she walks into the Stilinski house. Stiles had made it clear that they were all welcome here, both socially and magically and with the missing cruiser, she was fairly certain that the Sheriff wasn't home which wasn't really a surprise. They had all heard, both from Stiles and Scott, about the situation at the hospital with the prisoner that Scott's father had dumped on them but she was comfortable that Sheriff Stilinski and Mrs. McCall were both capable of handling whatever happened. And that wasn't even counting that she was fairly certain that both Derek and Stiles had several back up plans ready to go if needed.

"In the kitchen" Stiles voice calls out and she moves around the room and glances at the wall with a slight shiver. She can feel echoes of the fight with Ennis in this place, how close death came for both the Sheriff and the Alpha. She had witnessed Stiles in a way that none of the others really had, not counting his father. Seeing Stiles truly using his powers, his magic not the awe-inspiring thing it was during his ascension, but the magic of a gifted user who had used his brain to direct the power he had to the best effect. He wasn't anywhere near as powerful back then, but in some ways, he was more impressive.

Lydia had talked with Lizzie, Deaton, Morrel, and even Peter Hale to better understand the truth of what was going on with the teen and she probably had the best idea of what was coming, and she knew that Stiles would not have an easy time ahead. Lydia Martin was the undisputed queen of Beacon Hills High School, but the kind of machinations, manipulations, and treachery that he would be facing from everyone who would try and use Stiles and his power made her concerned.

She had spoken with Derek more than once about it but the Alpha didn't truly understand. Despite what he dealt with due to Kate Argent, he had a very black and white view of things. Peter and Lizzie on the other hand, both of them had agreed that things were never that simple. Even the Centaurs and the coven members that Stiles knew, they wanted something from him and while they may, in time, be friends, the fact was that they all had to be suspicious of everyone until they knew for certain.

"What are you doing?" Lydia said looking completely dumbfounded by the sight before her. Stiles was in the kitchen but he wasn't making dinner or at least she desperately hoped he wasn't. He had a large pot on the stove, just under a boil, that was filled with a rather shocking blue liquid in it that he was adding in ingredients that had no business in a kitchen. "Are you making a potion?" she asks in disbelief.

Stiles looks up and smiles happily and nods. "Martinique brought me a book of potions so I thought I would try a few out. Want to help?" he asks, indicating the open book.

Looking down at the yellowed pages with rather beautiful illustrations she begins to read over the instructions. "A Dream Potion" she reads aloud but quickly becomes absorbed in her reading. The potion, once complete, will give the user dreams to help resolve problems, find solutions, and help the dreamer with obstacles by looking at the world in a different way. It also appears to give the dreamer refreshing and happy dreams that help overcome trauma. She looks back up at Stiles who is tossing in the spider webs. "What is this for?"

"Well, I thought that maybe Erica and Kira could use it. After the whole spider thing" he says looking embarrassed.

Lydia nods and looking down she reaches for the bottle of milky white liquid and looks at the label. "Stiles? Is this Lethe water?" she looks at him in shock. "How did you get this?"

He looks embarrassed but smiles. "Wong hooked me up. He has a friend who knows a guy."

Lydia frowned. "He knows a guy? Stiles this is water from the River Lethe…in Hell! Is it supposed to erase memories."

"No. I mean yes, but not for this. I only use a single drop and that is not enough in this potion to do that but it does makes the dreams better. See?" he points at the notes in the book and Lydia seems the notation clarifying the substitution for the listed water from a spring in Greece. Apparently using Lethe water was significantly better for the potion. Reading through the spell a second full time she definitely could see the value. Both Kira and Erica had been rattled by the encounter and when Stiles couldn't find it, both girls were even more unhappy. To be honest, she is a bit surprised that the blonde isn't camping out here since the Stilinski house has more protections than anywhere. Then again, she may feel that if it shows up again it will be looking for Stiles.

"I don't think this is why you called me."

Stiles sighs heavily and Lydia leans against the counter to wait. Stiles is not as subtle as he thinks he is. She knows that the whole potion thing was a performance for her. The guy knows her weakness for chemistry and this book of potions is fascinating and she will be borrowing it at some point to read it cover to cover, but this isn't it.

"No, it's not." Stiles turns off the stove to allow the potion to rest before he turns back to the redhead and takes a deep breath. "Derek and I have been talking about you."

Lydia raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow at that and gave him a point for not flinching. Lesser men, and he was one once at least as far as she had thought, would have run, but he didn't. In fact he seemed to find it funny. "You and Derek are way too alike" he compliments as he moves into the living room with her following as they take a seat on the couch.

Lydia just waits, looking at him without speaking, determined not to be the first to break in this contest or whatever he was doing. "You handled Martinique, Kiran, and the others really well. Sophie was especially impressed and she said that Professor Chavez-Morales was really taken by you. He was trying to figure a way to get you to come to Stanford and study with him."

Lydia smirked a bit at that. The professor was especially kind, but she hadn't been interested in his rather generous offer. Chemistry, while interesting, wasn't where she wanted to go. "I know. He made an offer and it was very kind."

Stiles smiled. "Charyl was also really complimentary. She said that the herd elders all were impressed by you. They hadn't had a lot of interactions with a banshee before and you were not what they expected."

Lydia nodded. She had talked with Beverly for some time and found the mare fascinating. She was an astronomer and her grasp of physics and math were incredible. She had invited Lydia to visit once they were more settled to talk more. "And of course, Celeste and Arwen love you" Stiles added happily.

"All very nice to hear Stiles. Out with it" she decided to end this meandering line of conversation.

Taking a deep breath, Stiles looks at her "Derek and I want to make you the official Emissary for the Hale Pack" he says in a rush.

Lydia leans back in surprise. She was definitely not expecting this. "But Deaton…" she starts.

Stiles shakes his head rather quickly at that. "Deaton was Talia's Emissary, but Derek…he just doesn't have the same trust in him that she did. Too much other stuff for that. Not to mention…Derek feels that if Scott ever decides to form his own pack that Deaton would prefer to be his Emissary."

Lydia nods. That makes sense. "Morell?"

Stiles snorts. "Uh, no. We may have forgiven her for her role with Deucalion, but not gonna happen." Stiles was definitely sure about that.

Lydia agrees with that rather strongly, but she felt it needed to be said. If they had wanted the woman then she would have argued loudly against it but still. "Isn't the Emissary usually a magic user…I mean you are much more that than I can ever be." It didn't bother her to say that as it once would have.

Stiles smiles like he can tell what she is thinking, and he probably can. "Maybe, but not in this case. One" he holds up a finger "I am High Alpha with Derek. I can't be leader and speak for leader at the same time. Two, ultimately we will need our Emissary to travel outside the territory and I can't do that" he says, and Lydia looks at him with sympathy but he just shakes his head. "I am getting use to that fact Lydia but Derek and I, we need someone who we can fully trust to be our representative. To speak on our behalf, to gather intelligence, and to be suspicious as hell."

She smiles at that. Ever since Peter Hale's little trick, Lydia was significantly more suspicious of everyone. "But the magic?"

He shrugs. "It's nice for a pack's Emissary, but like you said, it's not like we will be lacking that" he says with a snort. "Besides, I think that your powers will be pretty impressive as it is. Not to mention, you have a pretty good bodyguard" he adds.

She looks at him with a smirk. "You mean Jackson?"

"Can you think of anyone who is going to be more suspicious about anyone messing with you?" he challenges.

She concedes the point though she admits that Peter definitely fits the description as well and surprisingly she would actually trust the older beta in a crunch. Mainly because she is certain that if he ever truly tries anything against them again, he won't survive Stiles and Derek's response. Though to be honest, she doubts he worries about that anymore. Peter Hale loves power. That much has always been the case and she understands that. He wanted power, to be the alpha, to control. But no matter what, he would never be able to be what Derek is now even with the power. And he has no chance of taking over for Stiles. No, Peter might like the idea of being an Alpha, but being a trusted elder of the strongest and most powerful pack in the world? He could never be that on his own and he wouldn't trade what he has, not for anything less.

"So, I'm the last option?" she says with a huff.

Stiles snorts. "Really? Lydia you know you were the first. Even without being a Banshee you would have been. We considered everyone, sure, but it was always in comparison to you. Sure, Deaton and Morell know more about being Druids, but how long will that last? We are going to ask them both to help train you so I figure you will outstrip them in short order. Besides, I need help gathering resources for our Library and who else would take it as seriously as you would? Deaton would ignore anything that he doesn't fully trust, and he doesn't know a whole lot. You and I? We need to know everything."

Lydia has to agree with that and to be honest ever since Stiles began taking about a mystical library here in Beacon Hills, Lydia has almost felt her fingers itching to get her hands on it. And she did understand what was needed with all of these negotiations…she turns to Stiles in shock. "You have been planning this! You and Derek! That's why he has been talking to me about the packs and the herd and everything!"

Stiles smiles a massive smile and nods. "Yep. Derek suggested you two days after the whole light show thingy. He's been trying to see if you would be a good fit."

"I would have thought it was your idea" she admitted feeling more than a little surprised to hear it was Derek's idea.

"Well to be fair, I had thought it as well, he just said it first. So, yes?" he prompts.

Lydia smiles. Emissary to the most powerful pack on Earth? She can handle that.