A Coward 'Till The End, Lies.

"Okay so let me get this straight," Scott started, dark eyebrows drawn together as he tried his best to understand the situation, poor puppy.
"You're six months pregnant with Derek's werewolf offspring, a fact that you have kept from everyone except your dad and Lydia," He shoots her a glare at that to which the red head simply shrugs, preening slightly, "and to top it all off youre 'dating' a werewolf hunter, are you freaking crazy?!"

"Ermm youre not really one to talk on that subject honey." Alison whispered from beside her boyfriend threading her thin fingers through his recieving a tight smile in return.

Stiles took a deep breath, glancing quickly at her Dad who nodded his approval, before speaking, god she wished she could have a stiff drink right about now.
"Look, i know this is a lot to take in and im really, really sorry that i didnt tell you but, i mean can you blame me? Derek wants nothing to do with me he made that very clear last time i was here! He doesnt want me okay? And he most probably wont want my baby either! This is my baby, its in my body! If Derek doesnt want it fine, we can cope," Her hands are back to resting on her bump as she meets everyones eyes with a firey intensity. "You can either be apart of my babys life or you can ignore his/her existance completely, either way i'll understand, i know im not pack anymore..." She sucks in a deep breath at this, lightening shooting through her heart, "And i know he's your alpha... So its totally your call."

Even as her heart jack hammers in her chest she can feel some of the weight slip from her shoulders. They know. Its out in the open now, out of her hands.

Strangly its Jackson who's the first to nod, suprising everyone as he gets up from his seat, walks over to Stiles and flops down onto his knees so that he's eye level with her stomach.

"You'll always be pack Stilinski." And yeah, Stiles chokes at that, feels the familiar sting of tears at the back of her eyes and suddenly all the years of hating Jackson and vice versa cease to matter because hes here now, wants to be there in the future.

"Can i say hello?" he asked softly after a beat, his blue eyes sparkling with a light Stiles has never seen before. The grin that settles onto her face is blinding.
"Of course, you're his/her Uncle Jacks."

He joins her grinning then, a wide smile that shows off all his teeth and softens the hard planes of his face, his voice is full of warmth when he next speaks, "Hey little buddy..."

xXx

All of Scotts anger deflated pretty quickly after that and he was soon sweeping Stiles up into a bear hug and even shook Xanders hand, thanking him for looking after his best friend.
A comfortable air was falling through the room, making the house feel like a home again.
Stiles couldnt stop the smile present on her lips, the pack was fine with her and her baby! She was always going to have her friends, everything was going to be okay.

A pained groan slices though the room like a rusty knife sending everyone from relaxed to soliders in a split second.

"What the hell was that?" Xander demanded unconsiously leaning towards Stiles, one hand tight on the back of her chair his whole body coiled to spring at any given moment. Scott, Jackson and Lydia go tense before a strained, exhausted voice sounds from the doorway making everyone jump.

"That would be the hunter that attacked us."

The room goes utterly silent, silent enough to hear Stiles shocked gasp at the sight of Derek. Silent enough that even her Dad with all his average human senses hears her heart beat stutter and pick up faster than usual from fear or anxiety or relief. Actually Stiles has no idea how she feels but its overwelming and its in every inch of her body, fogging up her mind.

Derek looks so pale, even more so than usual and he's sweating like he has a fever, (judging from the glazed over look in his normally hazel eyes that keep flashing red, thats probably the case). Hes leaning heavily on the door with thick black and crimson blood soaking through his dark gray shirt from where his wounds cant heal, he looks a mess, dark purple bruises circle his eyes and at least three days worth of stubble litters his throat and lower face. Hes right on the edge, balancing between wolfing out and collapsing and its enough to break Stiles' heart all over again.

He'sdyinghe'sdyinghe'sdying.

It hits Stiles like a tonn of bricks.

"Stiles?"

Her head shoots up at the sound of her name being whispered, Derek sounds confused, his expression dissbelieving before his whole face melts into the widest smile shes ever seen. God, the warmth that leaks onto his face is breathtaking, it makes Stiles want to climb over the table and jump into his arms, never let him go again.

"Stiles, you came." He sounds so unbelievably happy, like a child thats been given a puppy or a cake or a puppy covered in cake and it makes her smile but it also makes her want to scream and shake him.

'Of course i came you idiot," she wants to yell, 'Its you!'

But then he's hitting the floor like a tonn of lead straight onto his knees and he's coughing up black goo and its 100x worse then with the wolfbane bullet because this time Stiles doesnt know the cure, she doesnt know if there even is a cure.

Shes on her feet and around the table in a second flat, kneeling in front of Derek as Jackson and Scott hold him steady, try and help him to his feet.

"Hey, hey, hey, you should be in bed sourwolf." Stiles tries to joke, her thumb brusing his cheek softly. Dereks answering smile is weak but his hand around hers is anything but.

"I cant believe you came, I've been dreaming about you, i've missed you so much, i kept hearing your voice," a body wracking cough cuts him off and his whole body curls in on itself, black goo dripping out of his mouth.

A sob makes its way out of Stiles's mouth as she tries to crawl towards him but Xander has his arms around her waist, drags her to her feet and pushes her into her dads arms.

"Stiles stay away, it looks like moon stone poisoning and if that black shit gets on your skin it could hurt the baby." Stiles nods jerkily clutching at her dad her eyes solely on Derek.

How is this her life?? How did her luck bring her here? Surrounded by freaking werwolves and hunters and moon stone poisoning? How did everything get so screwed up?

"Hunter." Derek snarls, his eyes flashing from hazel to blood red as Xander crouches in front of him. Jackson and Scott go to move their alpha away but Stiles' voice stops them.

"He knows what he's doing, trust him!"

And yeah, Xander cant help but smile at that, at Stiles' undying faith in him when she has nothing but his words to go on.
Hes a born hunter. Derek is a werewolf. Derek's the father of the baby in Stiles' stomach, the only thing standing in the way of Xander and Stiles being together.
Xander could kill him right now, it would be beyond easy, Derek is literally hours from death, Xander could just pretend he didnt know how to fix him or considering that hunting is Xanders birth rite, the instinct pulsing through his not quite human veins like wildfire, he could take the knife from his belt and slit Dereks throat before anyone even had time to react. He could take out the entire pack.
Hell, taking out Jackson would be like taking candy from a baby, he was way too overun by his emotions and Xander was a pro, Scott wouldnt be too difficult either, harder than Jackson for sure but not too much so. The only one that would be trouble was Lydia but even then Xander was probably better then even her, albiet a little rusty. It would be a walk in the park, would take him ten minutes, tops.

His clocks ticking and the knife feels so heavy on his belt, his fingers itch for it, to close around the cool stone, the comforting weigh of a blade in his palm.

Xander shakes his head and reaches for the white stone knife anchoring him down.
Derek growls inhumanly loud at the sight of it, his eyes flashing dramatically, claws growing and fangs extending, Scott and Jackson are on the cusp of their beta forms and Xander knows his eyes are glowing like theirs, knows that he looks just as alien as they do.

"The arrows," he manages to growl out around gritted teeth. "What did they look like?" Unsuprisingly Lyida is the one who answers, he can feel her close behind him, still fully human and almost calm even if her voice wavers when she answers him.
"They were white tipped, just like that knife in your hand, it burnt my fingers when i picked it up."

Xander nods, not breaking eye contact with Derek until hes stood up and across the room one hand comfortingly squeezing Stiles' shoulder.

"I can fix him."

xXx

The whole pack relaxes at Xanders words and it makes his stomach twist.
He'd just been contemplating the easiest ways to murder them all for his own happy ending and now they were treating him like their hero, like he was safe and a part of their little family. It makes him want to be sick and he curses his father internally.

Theyve all migrated to the living room, Stiles and Scott sharing an arm chair in a way that makes Xander think theyve been doing it since they were kids whilst Derek is laid out on the carpet at their feet, propped up against the sofa as he swims in and out of consiousness. Lydia's sat to the other side of him, her dainty feet crossed under her body as she constantly checks on her alpha and her best friend, Jackson, Allison and the Sheriff are the only ones not in the room, all three of them down stairs with the hunter trying to find out more about them, more about what they want.

It says just how badly injured Derek is that he's not clicked onto the fact that Stiles is pregnant and from the way that she keeps grimicing every time Derek talks about a 'Laura' Xander is pretty sure that he's hallucinating and 'Laura' isnt alive anymore. Xander can tell just by looking at him that his fever is off the charts, he doesnt even seem to think Stiles is really there as she cades soft fingers through his matted black hair shooting Xander guilty looks every few seconds.

Xander understands, he can see the way Stiles and Derek are more then just ex's, if Stiles was a werewolf Xander would go as far as calling them mates, she cant help being in love with him even more than Xander can help being a hunter. Its there in their DNA, written by some fucked up god with a twisted sense of humor and too much time on his hands.
He understands but it doesnt stop the pain in his chest at seeing the girl he loves love someone else. Xanders not a monster, he's a good person in a strange circumstance plus he loves Stiles way too much to ever hurt her and killing Derek well... Killing Derek would kill Stiles and there was no way Xander could carry that around on his consious. No way jose.

He lets out a frustrated sigh and pulls his knife from his belt again simultaniously picking up the lone bullet thats sat on the wooden chopping board he has resting on his knee next to the mixing bowl Stiles had found in the kitchen.
The jagged blade of his knife slides through the metal casing of the wolfsbane bullet as if it was butter before he pours the ground up plant into the bowl. Xander hesitates and sends a weary glance in Stiles' direction to see if she's watching, of course the entire packs eyes are on him, save for Derek who cant even open his anymore.

Xander sighs again, cursing his dad once more in his head before allowing his teeth to sharpen into fangs, drawing a collective gasp from the pack, and biting into the butt of his dagger, cracking the white stone and spitting it into the bowl along with the wolfbane.

"Excuse my language but what the fuck was that?" Sheriff Stilinski exclaims strolling into the room flanked by Jackson and Allison.

"Give me five minutes to cure the alpha and i'll answer all your questions i promise."

The Sheriff hesitates but one quick look at the state of a near dead Derek sparwled at his daughters feet has him nodding and Xanders turns back to his work, dragging the razor sharp edge across his forearm letting the thick crimson blood drip down his pale arm and into the bowl.

"Xander thats gross seriously dude, ugh." Stiles jokes from across the lounge dragging a smile out of him before he sticks his tongue out at her making her giggle. The wound on his arm closes the second he stops squeezing the skin and he can tell everyone's biting their tongues and waiting for him to finish so he can answer their questions.

An agonised howl sounds from Derek and then he's suddenly bent in two, eyes wide open and glowing white, heart pounding against his rib cage like its trying to escape in the most brutal way possible. All of the betas are around him instantly, The sheriff and Allison pulling Stiles away from the alpha even as she screams for him.

"Xander hurry!" Lydia yells fully wolfed out and paniced, her perfect apperance cracked to him for the first time showing the fragile teenage girl underneath.

Xander nods sliding the plastic lighter out of his back pocket, desperately striking his thumb against the flint wheel to no avail.

"Comeoncomeoncomeon!" he mutters under his breath getting nothing but tiny sparks.

"XAN PLEASE!"

"I'm trying!"

Yes! The wolfsbane catches fire almost instantly and the moonstone from his knife melts into a liquid mixing with his blood and turning the same colour as the dying alpha eyes.

"Out of my way, out of my way!" he demands, sprinting to Derek who's parcially shifted, completely blind to his surroundings as he roars with pain and yanks his mouth open, pouring the disgusting mixture down the alpha's throat, holding his jaw shut as he tries to spit it out.

"Guys, a little help here?"

All three betas spring to hold Derek down as he thrashes and tries to escape the fire in his veins until his eyes finally fade from white to red to their human hazel before closing completely, Allison must have let go of Stiles because the next thing Xander knew she was right next to him, clutching at his arm with one hand whilst checking Dereks now completely healed wounds with the other whipsering, "Thank you, thank you, thank you so so much you beautiful person! God i might even consider naming my baby Alexander after you, you lying, supernatural dick who's ass im gonna kick as soon as i can breathe properly and thankyouthankyouthankyou."

Xander grinned collapsing onto the carpet and letting Stiles climb onto his lap and curl up under his chin like they did every night back at Berekly.

"He's gonna need to sleep for a while, his body has literally been to hell and back," Xander annouced to the pack, winding his arms around Stiles and resting his chin on her head, letting out a sigh, "I guess ive got some explaining to do huh..."

The pack all nodded whilst Stiles snorted into his chest. "Understatment of the year Mr!"

Xander shook his head, clutching Stiles tighter. His clock was paused at the moment, suspended in animation and he could finally breathe easily if just for a little while.

"Soooo... Where shall i start?"

Tonight was gonna be a long night.