Pack Is Family

Sitting at the table with the pack, Madison ate her dinner in silence and listened to the conversation going on around her. Clearing her plate, she placed it in the sink and chuckled as Scott made his way over to the sink to wash up.

"Peter, can I have a word with you, please?" Madison said, earning a nod from Peter and leading him outside onto the porch.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Madison mumbled, swallowing past the lump in her throat, "We don't know what my mum is planning and I have no idea how far she is willing to go, which is where you come in."

"Me?" Peter asked, looking up as Derek joined them, "What do you need from me?"

"We want you to take Logan out of town for a little while, get him out of Beacon Hills and away from my mum," Madison told him, "You're the only person that I trust enough to keep him safe, I would ask Derek, but..."

"He needs to be here with his pack," Peter finished, "When do you want me to leave?"

"Tonight, if possible," Derek said.

"I'll leave as soon as you've got his things together."

Heading back inside, Madison disconnected Logan's car seat from his pushchair and took him out to Derek's car. Once she had him fastened into the backseat, Madison climbed into the passenger seat and Derek drove them over to the Stilinski house.

Leaving Derek to get Logan as he parked up outside, Madison made her way upstairs and started packing some of Logan's things into a duffel bag. Joining Derek in the kitchen, she added a few more items that Logan would need and turned to watch Derek with their son.

"Have you got everything packed?" Derek inquired, earning a nod from Madison and picking up Logan's car seat from the countertop, "Let's get back to the house."

Arriving back at the house, Madison grabbed the duffel bag from the trunk and followed Derek inside. Handing the bag over to Peter, Madison crouched down in front of Logan's car seat that Derek had placed on the ground and stroked her thumb across his cheek.

"There are enough clothes and formula to last for two weeks," Madison explained, kissing Logan's head and standing up as she turned to face Peter, "Look after him."

"You know I won't let anything happen to him," Peter promised, pulling Madison into a hug, "I better get going if I want to get out of town tonight."

Taking a deep breath, Madison watched Peter leave with Logan and wiped away a few stray tears from her cheeks. Listening as the sound of Peter's car faded, Madison glanced over at Derek and allowed more tears to fall as Derek wrapped his arms around her.

"He's going to be okay," Derek whispered as he tightened his hold on her, "We'll deal with your mum and once it is safe for him to be here, Peter will bring him home... he's safe Mads."

"I hate her so much," Madison mumbled, "I just want her out of my life... out of our life."

"Our life?" Derek inquired, stepping back and looking down at her with a hint of hopefulness in his eyes.

"I don't know where we stand after everything that's happened between us, but Logan is your son too and I would never deny you that connection with him."

"Guys, do me a favor and run the perimeter... take Stiles and the others with you," Derek ordered, waiting for the pack to leave and leading Madison into the kitchen, "Since you came home, I've been trying to figure out where I fit into your life and then I found out about Logan. After the fire, I never thought I'd find a group of people that felt so much like family to me..."

"The pack love you, Der."

"I know they do, but Logan is blood... he's a generation of the Hale family that I never imagined would exist and that means a lot. Through him, my families name will live on and I want to share that with you... I want a future with you."

"Der..." Madison mumbled.

"You and the pack are the most important people in my life, Mads," Derek admitted, leaning on the counter with his head down and continuing, "I've not treated any of you the way I should, but you've never walked away and I'm trying to be a better person for the sake of my pack."

"You're not a bad person, Der," Madison told him, "You're a good person that bad things happened to and I understand why you're angry at the world, I just want you to remember that you're not on your own."

"That's one of the things that I admire about you," Derek replied with a smile, standing up and moving in front of her, "You have the ability to see good in people when nobody else can... me, Jackson, Peter, and it makes us want to do better."

"I'd be extremely disappointed and naïve to believe that everyone has good in them," Madison added, "For some, it's simply overshadowed by emotions like anger or grief, but for others... life and the choices they've made have turned everything good in them to black. Some people just can't be saved."

"What about your mum?"

"There was a time when I thought it was possible, but not anymore," Madison admitted as tears filled her eyes, "She's too far gone and what makes it worse is that she's trying to take our little boy in the same direction... I don't think she knows what good is anymore."

"Mads..."

"From the moment we met I knew that this day would come... that I would have to choose and my decision has always been the pack."

Watching her for a few seconds in silence, Derek gently cupped her cheek and kissed her. Pulling back as the pack bustled in, Madison took a deep breath and headed into the living room where the pack had set up for a movie night.

"Welcome home," Jackson whispered as she curled into his side, taking his hand and squeezing it in response as the film began to play.