Bifurcation

Title: Bifurcation
Author: Claire Watson
Series: Create Your Own Bingo stage one, TBD
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Genre: Canon divergence
Relationship(s): pre Stiles Stilinski/Derek Hale
Content Rating: PG
Warnings: Minor character death
Author Notes: I like this idea too much for this to be where I leave it for good, so I’ll probably turn it into a series at some point.
Beta: Grammarly
Word Count: 4,289
Summary: Gerard Argent’s sudden death after the fracas at the station changes things.

---

Despite not remembering anything between the moment of his death and the moment he drew breath again, Peter Hale had quickly worked out what the current drama in good old Beacon Hills was.

His nephew—never the brightest crayon in the box—had managed to balls things up spectacularly. Hunters on the left, a kanima on the right, and here he was, stuck in the middle with the least competent of his late sister’s children.

Okay, that was a bit unfair to Derek. It wasn’t his fault that he’d never had the ambition or drive of his sisters, in fact one could argue that it was Talia’s fault. She’d focused so much on her eldest, the one she expected to inherit her power, that she’d left her younger children to practically raise themselves.

Cora’s response had been to challenge everyone until she got what she wanted, but Derek had always been more of a dreamer than the rest of his family, and just…accepted that he couldn’t have what he wanted and got on with things.

It made him perhaps the least stressful beta an alpha ever had—until puberty started, anyway—but didn’t help prepare Derek in any way for the situation he now found himself in.

Which left Peter with a conundrum. He had three options open to him. He could leave this hellhole and try to make a life elsewhere. He could do his best to help his poor nephew strengthen the guttering candle of the Hale pack. Or he could work to become the alpha again.

It didn’t take much thought to discard the third option. Peter had never really wanted to be the Alpha, there was too much responsibility involved. What he’d wanted was for his opinions to be listened to and his contributions accepted as worthy.

So his options were…stay or go? For the affection he still held for his nephew, for the lingering ties he had to this land that his family had bled and died for over generations, he wanted to stay. The Argent presence, the McCall situation—which, okay, he had to accept some responsibility for no matter how out of his mind he’d been at the time—and his nephew’s lack of education were combining to make a perfect storm of difficulties. The chances that Derek and his pack would survive them without Peter’s assistance were…minimal.

For his safety and life expectancy, he wanted to go. Because as unlikely as the Hale pack’s survival of the present drama was, the chances they’d make it out without loss of life were laughable.

After weighing the pros and cons for several hours, he decided that the best path forward would be to stay, for now. After all, the option to leave had no expiry, so it wasn’t like his choice now would commit him forever.

Besides, he still had unfinished business in Beacon Hills. There was no way Peter wanted to let Gerard Argent get away with what he’d done, or whatever it was he was up to now. There was still vengeance to be had, so long as he was careful.

Mind settled, Peter decided to get some rest.

Less than an hour later, he woke, aware that someone was in the room with him. He opened his eyes to see the kanima sitting in front of him, staring.

v^v^v

After everything that had happened at the station, Derek was too agitated to settle. The night’s events had been strange and disturbing on several levels, and he needed to make sense of everything somehow and find a way forward.

For lack of other options, he decided to run the territory boundaries, hoping the familiar sights and sounds would at least allow him to calm down and maybe find some clarity.

It didn’t work, but at least it was something to do.

He was finishing his second lap when Peter approached him.

“What do you want?” Derek asked. Peter always wanted something, and unless he were asked up front, he’d sidle around the issue until Derek had lost what little patience he had with him.

Peter made a production of clearing his throat. “I…seem to have acquired an unexpected asset that I don’t really want. The problem is that I don’t want anyone else to have it, either. As my alpha…” The pause was long and pointed.

Derek waited it out.

Peter sighed, disappointed. “We should decide together what we will do with it.”

Derek raised a single eyebrow. “And the nature of this asset.”

“It seems that I’m the new master of the kanima.”

Derek blinked. That…was not what he’d expected. He narrowed his eyes. “I find it hard to believe you don’t want the power of the kanima under your control.”

Peter sighed again. “Such distrust, nephew. The kanima is a tainted blade; the pitfalls are too numerous for me to feel comfortable utilising it. I think we should either attempt to reverse the transformation, or kill it.”

“We’ve been trying to kill it,” Derek reminded him.

“Yes, but now I can order it not to resist.”

The thought left an unpleasant taste in Derek’s mouth. “Either way, we need to do something about it before anyone discovers you’re the master. The last thing we need is to be blamed for the recent deaths.”

“At least we don’t have to worry about any more of them happening,” Peter pointed out. “That gives us a little bit of breathing room.”

Derek shook his head. “I wouldn’t count on it. Can the transformation really be reversed? I thought it was as much of an old wives tale as the idea that killing your alpha reversed the effects of the bite.”

Peter shrugged. “I don’t know for sure. Most myths have a kernel of truth to them somewhere, the difficulty is finding it.”

Derek folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against the nearest tree, tipping his head up to gaze at the clouds covering the night sky. “Is there any way we can get reliable information?”

“I’ll make some discreet inquiries,” said Peter. “You’re not even considering using it against the Argents?”

“No.” Derek’s answer held no room for doubt. “Any retaliation will eventually come back to bite us. Not just us, but other innocent werewolf packs.”

“If we do nothing to change the situation, it will never change!” Peter said, voice rising. “It’s not right that those who attacked us are free to go after other innocent victims.”

“I know,” said Derek. “But we’re not the ones with the power to effect change. If you truly want things changed, you need to convince the hunting families themselves. Otherwise, any action we take will cause an escalation, eventually wiping us all out.”

“We can’t just sit here and let ourselves be targeted!” Peter shouted, eyes flashing blue.

“I know!” Derek shouted back. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, reducing his volume so that he was talking normally again. “I know.”

Peter closed his eyes for a few moments. When he opened them again, his beta blue eyes had faded. “My sister tried doing nothing, and that backfired on us. If it happens again, we’ll be truly wiped out. Talk to your beta’s, Derek. Talk to Scott and Stiles. We have to come up with something.”

Derek grimaced. “Scott is working with Gerard. We can’t trust him.”

“Scott is an idiot, and he’s stubborn. Fine. Talk to Stiles. He’s actually got a brain, and he’ll see the benefit of siding with us, providing we give him something to work with.” Peter brightened. “Come to think of it, he’ll be useful for research. Were you aware that he diagnosed Scott’s lycanthrope before the kid in question was even sure something was different?”

Derek wasn’t enthused about talking to Stiles, but at least it was a better option than Scott. Stiles, at least, could be reasoned with, sarcasm notwithstanding. Scott seemed to delight in being contrary, he was almost guaranteed to reject anything Derek suggested on principle.

“Also, ask him what the deal they have with Gerard is,” Peter added. At Derek’s raised eyebrow, he shrugged. “It can’t hurt, and we might just get some information we didn’t already have.”

“Fine.”

v^v^v

Stiles knew that one day he would look back on this and laugh. Or maybe reminisce fondly. Definitely, he’d be looking back and smiling.

Right now, he didn’t feel like smiling.

“Scott isn’t working with Gerard,” he said, rolling his eyes. “He might be a bit Argent obsessed, but he’s not an idiot, you know.”

Derek’s frown got even frownier. “You believe that.” It wasn’t a question.

Stiles narrowed his eyes. He might not have freaky werewolf powers of being able to hear or smell lies, but he was good at picking up when people weren’t dealing straight with him. Maybe some kind of inherited cop instincts. “And you believe what you’re saying.”

Derek folded his arms across his chest. “I’m basing my opinion on things I’ve personally seen and heard. What are you basing yours on?”

“Being as close as brothers with Scott most of my life.” Even as he said it, Stiles felt tendrils of doubt creep in. Since Scott had been bitten, Stiles’ ability to predict his behaviour had suffered. “If he had some kind of deal with Gerard, he would have told me.”

Derek just shook his head. The slant of his eyebrows said that he knew that this time, Stiles didn’t actually believe what he was saying.

“Fine,” Stiles said, letting his body go boneless against his chair. “I’ll ask Scott about it, and you can listen to see if he’s lying, okay? He’s got a shift at Deaton’s tomorrow; I’ll go find him there. The sound of all the animals will probably hide your presence from him, if you stay far enough away.”

Derek nodded.

Stiles expected him to leave, having got what he came for, but he didn’t. “Was there anything else?” he bit out, wanting to be left alone to process this new information.

Derek sighed. “The Argents opened fire on the station. We know the deputies were dead by then…did they? How? Or did they not care, so long as they got what they wanted?” He made his way to the window. “Alison was giving the orders, you know. Maybe that’s why Scott is in Gerard’s pocket.”

Seconds later, he was gone.

Stiles wanted to scream. Yes, Allison’s direct involvement did explain things. It didn’t excuse it, though, not when good men and women were dead, and the damage to the station would take years, if not decades, to pay off.

He blinked at the ceiling. Wait a minute. The Argents were the ones who shot up the station, why weren’t they paying for the repairs? Why weren’t they arrested for armed assault, or whatever the relevant charge was?

First things first: interrogate Scott…carefully. Find out if Derek was telling the truth or trying to create division. Meanwhile, ask his dad how the investigation into the attack on the station was going.

v^v^v

Stiles wished he had a way of getting hold of Derek that didn’t involve exposing his intentions to the newest werewolves. He still wasn’t over Erica knocking him out and leaving him in a dumpster, and the other two were only marginally better. At present, he didn’t have the emotional energy to deal with them.

The discussion with Scott had not gone well.

They hadn’t been friends for years without learning things about each other. They each knew the others’ tells, could tell when lies were being told, evasions were being made, understood what every twitch of the face or body meant. At least, when they were paying attention.

Stiles didn’t know whether to be pleased or pissed that Scott clearly wasn’t paying attention to him.  That Scott lied to his face and didn’t even grant him the respect of putting his full effort into it.

True, if Stiles hadn’t been on the watch for it, he might not have noticed. But that only made it worse, because Scott had never been comfortable with lies. But his responses to Stiles’ pointed questions had come easily; too easily to be unfamiliar.

The only logical conclusion was that Scott had been lying to Stiles for a while; had done it enough that he didn’t even have to think hard about it anymore.

Which meant that while Stiles had been doing his utmost to help Scott, believing they were a team, Scott had been playing the game very differently.

Since Scott was lying, Stiles wasn’t in possession of all the information he would ideally have liked. What he did pick up was that Derek was right about Scott working with Gerard. Why, and to what end, Stiles didn’t know, but the fact that it was happening was indisputable.

So now he had some choices to make. For starters, he needed to work out how to respond to Derek.

The first option was to reject Derek’s overtures, to close his eyes to this new knowledge, and to continue supporting Scott with everything he had.

He wrinkled his nose. Yeah, even if he tried to go down this road, he knew it wouldn’t be long until he exploded with frustration and hurt.

Secondly, he could confront Scott. He could point out that he knew he was being lied to, didn’t like it, and wanted Scott to change.

The difficulty with that was that Stiles had learned from dealing with his father after his mother died that changing other people was impossible. People changed themselves, and while changing for others was definitely a thing, Scott’s behaviour since he’d been bitten indicated that Stiles wasn’t high on his list of priorities. Not to mention, there was nothing to stop him from saying what Stiles wanted to hear and then going off and doing whatever the hell he wanted.

Thirdly, he could declare himself supernatural Switzerland. Tell everyone involved that he was removing himself from the board and no longer wanted to have anything to do with it all.

The problem there, was that Stiles knew himself. He knew that, knowing all this was going on, it was unlikely he’d be able to stop himself from finding out everything anyway. From there, it was only a moment of weakness away from going to someone’s aid or pointing out something obvious that people were missing, and then he’d be right back in the middle of it again. That’s even supposing that either side would let him declare himself not-involved. Melissa had been targeted by Peter just because of her proximity to Scott despite not being aware of anything at the time.

Since the attack at the station, it had become increasingly clear to Stiles that for his father, ignorance was no longer any guarantee of safety. The only reason he hadn’t already told him everything was because Scott had objected.

This left Stiles in the unenviable position of lying to his father on Scott’s orders. His father, not a stupid man, knew that Stiles was lying and rightfully held it against him. Irritatingly, he didn’t know of Scott’s involvement and kept trying to get Stiles to be more like Scott when this whole mess was because of Scott in the first place!

Well, not the whole mess. Peter was responsible for a good bit of it. And to be fair to him, it was unlikely that he would have bitten Scott and gone on a murder spree if the Argents hadn’t killed almost his entire family and left him with such bad burns that even with werewolf healing, it took six years to recover.

So, really, everything was the Argent’s fault.

Shocking.

Not that any of them, Stiles included, were fully absolved from the actions they’d chosen to take, but extenuating circumstances did need to be taken into account.

Stiles tried to make a list of extenuating circumstances for Scott. Firstly, of course, he’d never chosen to be bitten. Second, he was only sixteen and dealing with adults threatening him. Third…

Third…

Stiles threw his pen at the wall, annoyed that he couldn’t come up with a third.

Right. Extenuating circumstances for Derek. First, almost his entire family, his pack, including his alpha, had been murdered when he was only fifteen. Not only did no one get caught, it wasn’t even ruled as a homicide.

Second, Laura, his sister, alpha and sole remaining pack member not in a coma, was also murdered, leaving him alone. No support: no home, no family, no friends, no one to even discuss the situation he was in.

Maybe that should count as two things? Sister/alpha murdered, and completely alone. So, second and third.

Fourth. He was constantly faced with the family who had perpetrated the crime on his pack, walking around town and continuing to hunt him and otherwise harass him.

Fifth…

Stiles shook his head. Who needed a fifth? The four things on the list so far were enough to make anyone have a breakdown; that Derek was as functional as he was kind of a miracle.

With all that in mind, it seemed like Derek needed him more than Scott did. Maybe Derek would be open to listening to his advice; Scott certainly wasn’t.

Some of the nervous tension inside him settled as he made the decision. He’d go to Derek, listen to what he had to say. Offer his help. In return, he’d ask for Derek’s permission and assistance to bring his father up to speed on the supernatural.

That didn’t mean he would be abandoning Scott; he could still look out for Scott’s interests. When Scott finally came to his senses, there might still be a place for him in the pack.

v^v^v

“I think this is a mistake,” Chris said again, hoping that this time his daughter would listen. This black place that she’d fallen into following Victoria’s death scared him.

If only Gerard hadn’t followed them to Beacon Hills! His influence on Ally had been disastrous; it was even worse than what he’d done to Kate.

Kate had reveled in the hunt, had gloried in her strength and successes. All Gerard had to do was enable her and show her possibilities; Kate had taken the information and run with it.

Ally, on the other hand, had been a gentle, kind soul. To see her twisted into this perversion of what she used to be was painful, and he wanted nothing more than to turn her from this path.

“He has to pay,” Ally said, her tone adamant and eyes like stone. “They all have to pay. It’s what grandfather would have wanted, and I aim to fulfil his last wish and get revenge for him. For all of them, Aunt Kate, and Mom included.”

“We don’t have any proof that the Hales had anything to do with it,” Chris reminded her. “My father wasn’t a young man; it’s possible that the heart failure was natural. At least wait until a full autopsy before making any decisions.”

Ally scoffed. “You don’t believe that any more than I do. He was in perfect health, which means someone did something to him! I know who is to blame, and I intend to do something about it.”

Chris sighed. She wouldn’t be persuaded, not in this mood. He’d have to wait until she calmed down. The best thing to do in the meantime was keep her safe.

Ally tapped her fingers on a spot on the map of the Preserve. “This is where they’ve been squatting, but it would be stupid to stay there after attacking us so blatantly. They’ll have moved, so we need to get some updated information. We should pick up one of the newer mutts and find out where the new lair is.”

Chris wasn’t so sure they would have moved since he doubted they’d done anything to Gerard. However, taking a bit longer and not making assumptions was good hunting practice, so he nodded his approval. “What strategy do you want to use?”

“Gerard told me that the new ones might be able to be lured, with the right bait.” Ally tipped her head to one side, considering. “I want to bring in Adrian’s group from…where are they again? Clayton?”

“Should be,” Chris confirmed. “They haven’t reported back yet. Depending on what they’re dealing with, we should be able to have them here within the week. What about Timothy’s group?”

Ally pursed her lips. “Why not? The more the merrier.” Her eyes glinted and her smile held the promise of pain for those in her sights. “We can have one big Argent family reunion. Make arrangements to have them here by the end of next week.”

Chris patted her gently on the shoulder and moved away to start the ball rolling. Hopefully, Martine, Timothy’s wife, would be able to connect with Allison and talk some sense into her.

v^v^v

The sense of relief Derek felt when Stiles arrived at the abandoned rail car was intense. He’d half expected Stiles to completely disregard what he said and run straight to Scott.

But if that were the case, Stiles wouldn’t be here now, smelling of anxiety, sadness, and determination. And lust too, of course; Stiles always smelled of lust. Derek sometimes wondered if Stiles really was perpetually horny or if part of his natural scent just smelled like lust.

Despite what the signals were telling him, Derek wanted to hear Stiles say the words, to listen to his heart and know for sure that this wasn’t another deception. He waited with his eyebrows raised.

Stiles leaned against the entrance and sighed. “I think you’re right,” he admitted. “Scott lied to me when I asked him about it.” His heartbeat didn’t deviate from the usual pattern, and his scent didn’t spike either. “I can’t think of a good reason why he’d lie to me; it’s not like I’m not already up to my eyebrows in this whole business, so it can’t be to keep me safe.”

Since Scott’s critical thinking process was a complete mystery to Derek, he didn’t have an answer. “Why are you here?” he asked, wondering what Stiles planned to do now.

Stiles straightened up. “The kanima needs to be taken care of, and I can’t count on Scott. But I don’t know if joining up with you will be any better. Are you going to listen to me? Or will you expect me to be an obedient lemming?”

Derek shook his head. “I know you well enough to know that you’ll never just obey. But can you trust me enough to not ask questions if I tell you something is important, and there’s no time? Because I’m the alpha, and being part of my pack means acknowledging that with more than just lip service.”

Stiles looked off to the left. “I can promise to try, if you promise to give my point of view proper consideration when the situation isn’t urgent.” He looked down for a moment before looking back up at Derek. “And I want to tell my dad about what’s happening.”

Derek frowned. His mother had always told him that revealing the supernatural to those unaware was never something to be done lightly and that it was better overall not to. But the sheriff had already found himself in the crossfire, almost literally, and his connection to Stiles would likely see him exposed again and again, whether Stiles wanted it or not.

The real question was why Stiles was even asking for Derek’s agreement. There was obviously nothing stopping him from just going ahead and spilling the beans. “Why do you need my permission?”

“Because it’s not my secret to tell.” Stiles sighed and dropped his gaze to the floor. “As much as I’m involved with all this—” he waved his hand in an arc “—I’m still on the outside enough to walk away if I have to. It’s not my right to just out you to all and sundry without your consent. I know I’m an asshole, but I’m not that kind of dick.”

As much as Derek’s knee-jerk reaction was to say no, that the sheriff didn’t need to know, it was more important to bind Stiles to them. If this was what he needed, it was a small price to pay. Especially since it was probable that something would happen before too long to clue the sheriff in anyway. In fact, things might be easier if they had the sheriff on their side. “Okay.”

Stiles’ eyebrows went up. “Okay? Just like that?”

Derek shrugged. “If you think he needs to know, I trust your judgement. How can I expect you to put my pack first when I won’t put your pack first?”

Stiles swallowed hard. “Right. Well…” He ran a hand over his hair. “To be honest, I didn’t expect you to agree quite so quickly.”

“Is there something you need from me to help with that?”

Stiles scrunched his nose. “Now that you mention it, getting him to believe in werewolves might be easier with a live-action example I could show him.”

Derek sighed, folding his arms. “At least you probably won’t want me to strip for you again.”

Stiles went pink. “Not my finest hour, but in my defence, we were on a time crunch.” He clapped his hands together. “Moving on! Tonight.”

“Tonight?”

“You can come around, and we can give my dad the big reveal tonight.”

It wasn’t like Derek had anything better to do. “Fine.”

It felt good to have Stiles on board, like things were finally starting to go his way. For the first time in a long time, Derek began to have hope for the future.