Close But No Cigar

Derek pulled up into the Hale house driveway, leaving Scott to marvel at his childhood home. He couldn't believe how much it hadn't changed. Of course thew grass wasn't well taken care of and it seemed the elements had taken over the hale household and the house was still partially destroyed from the fire but it was still their house. It was just a little bit rougher around the edges.

Scott and Derek both get out of the car and neared the house. They looked at each other for a moment before nodding in unison. Derek stepped ahead keeping his feet as light as possible as he stepped onto the front porch, and opened the door. It creaked and Scott winced. He just hoped that if there was anything inside that little creak wouldn't ruin their advantage.

Derek gave short pause before he continued. Scott followed trying to follow Derek's example and kept quiet. Though once inside it was starting to become of a challenge. If Scott the outside of the house looked bad he should have waited until it was inside. To put it simply it didn't look safe.

"Derek, I don't know about this." Scott whispered. "The house doesn't look stable."

Derek continued forward reaching the edge of the steps. "That just means we'll have to be careful doesn't it. Stay on the first floor I'll check out the second floor."

Scott stuck out his tongue but followed Derek's instructions. Derek always was a bit too bossy for his own good, though Scott guessed it couldn't be helped. It was just Derek's way that was what Laura always said. It didn't mean Scott had to like it but if he also didn't want a full scale argument every single time Derek ordered him around. If that was the case they would be fighting non-stop. Scott walked carefully through the house he didn't want to fall through one of the boards and land in the basement.

He searched around the house and when finding the first floor empty went to wait for his brother in the kitchen. When Scott heard his brother's loud footsteps going down the stairs he assumed the same it was the same upstairs too.

His brother appeared at the doorway of the kitchen. "Anything?" Scott asked.

"Laura was here." Derek said simply as he leaned against the kitchen counter. "Maybe a day or two ago but she was here."

Scott narrowed his eyes at Derek's words. He didn't understand why Laura would come back after all these years. When Laura first left, Scott thought it was just something for her job. It wasn't uncommon for Laura to leave town much to Scotts dislike. It was the only thing that Scott and Laura argued about but luckily for Scott Derek had always sided with him in those occasions. The down side to that was even after Laura left Derek would usually continue the argument over the phone. Derek never did it in front of Scott but with the super hearing and all it was virtually impossible not to eavesdrop.

"Why would she ever come back here and alone? She should have brought us along or at the very least tell us." Scott said sullenly.

"She must have had her reasons."

Scott frowned giving Derek a once over. Derek didn't move away or fidget under Scotts gaze. He stood stark still. Standing his ground Scott couldn't help thinking. He swallowed, licking his lips slowly before choosing his next words.

"You knew didn't you." It was a statement not a question. Scott knew all of Derek's tells. Scott was his brother it was his job to know what Derek was thinking and given that Derek wasn't much for talking his only forms of communication was body language something Scott was well versed in.

Derek sighed his posture relaxing in what Scott knew was defeat. "Yes."

"And you didn't think it was a good idea to tell me?" Scott said his tone growing higher, his blood boiling. He couldn't believe that this whole time Derek knew where Laura went this whole time. No wonder he was so sure Laura was in Beacon Hills, Laura probably told Derek himself. He closed his eyes taking a deep breath to calm himself. He couldn't let his anger get to him.

"You didn't need to know." Derek said resolutely replied.

"Bullshit." Scott hissed. "I'm sick and tired of you and Laura not including me in any of these big decisions because you think 'I don't need to know.' Scott mocked. "What is it because I'm your baby brother and you don't want to see me get hurt!" Scott shouted his temper rising as he slammed his fist on the marble counter, breaking it and causing the rubble to land all over the floor. "Open your eyes Derek I'm not ten anymore."

Derek's expression didn't change, he didn't move and neither did Scott. Scotts panting the only noise filling the room.

Knowing that Derek wasn't going to talk, Scott looked at any direction that didn't involve his brother moving his hand through his hair as he took a deep breath, dispelling his anger as best he could.

"Why was Laura here?" Scott asked. He might as well learn what Laura was doing here and even though Derek was the last person Scott wanted to talk to he was the only one who knew what was going on so far.

Derek didn't talk, Scott didn't expect him to but he was nothing but persistent and he wouldn't let this matter rest, and Scott knew that Derek knew that too.

Scott watched as Derek moved to the kitchens doorway. His head raised he stared intently at nothing in particular. It took a moment for Scott to realize that he was listening, taken aback, Scott started to tune into his surrounding as well.

It was faint but the sound was so out of place in the forest floor that it was easy enough for Scott to pick it out from memory. It was the sound of police siren, and a lot of them.

"We can talk about his later." Derek said without turning his head to face Scott.

Scott scoffed. "Yeah right." he muttered, as he followed Derek out the door. He could already tell this was going to be a long night.

It was dark by the time Scott and Derek found the police officers. The two brothers hid behind a cover of bushes as they watched the police going over an area that was quickly becoming a crime scene. They saw officers rolling out the yellow tape setting up a perimeter, getting closer to Scott and Dereks position. At that point it became too risky to peer over the bushes for a visual of what was going on. Scott just had to settle with his hearing.

Scott closed his eyes focusing on the police officers conversations. It was difficult to listen in on one conversation without another police officer inadvertently interrupting as well. He wasn't able to tune out certain sounds like Laura and Derek could but he was doing his best. After a while he got the basic gist of what this entire crime scene was all about. Apparently they had found a woman's body, correction half of a woman's body.

Scott grimaced the feeling of wanting to vomit all over the forest floor was hard to push away, though he succeeded if barely.

"That's Laura's body, isn't it?" Scott hated stating the obvious but in circumstances like these he honestly couldn't help it. It allowed Scott to know that what was happening was real and unfortunately not a nightmare. It was comforting in a morbid sort of way and steadied Scott's sanity to be honest though he knew Derek didn't appreciate it. He did the same thing when his house burned down. Scott remembered he had asked if their entire family was really dead and Derek nearly bit Scotts head off. Until Laura stepped in and told Derek to cool off. This time however Derek didn't seem to be fighting his coping mechanism.

"Any idea how we're going to get her back?" Scott hated the idea of his sister being in this condition with all types of strangers looking at her body. Laura needed a proper burial not this parade of police officers.

Derek shook his head. "We'll figure something out." He said pushing him up carefully off the ground making sure to keep his form hidden behind the bushes. "We can't do anything tonight with this going on."

"Well what are we supposed to then, maybe take a stroll through the forest or housesit our burned down house, whichever one you choose it'd be better than what we've been doing for the past few days." Scott whispered harshly.

"You want to go ask those police officers for Laura go right ahead I just hope you have a good enough story that won't land you in an interrogation room until morning." Derek growled.

Scott didn't answer; the silence prompted Derek to continue.

"We have to play this smart Scott; we can't rush into things. That's what gets people killed. Now come on we have work to do." Derek said grabbing Scott's shoulders and pulling him to the front and leading him in the opposite direction of the lights and sounds of the police cruisers.

"What work?" Scott grumbled yanking himself out of Derek's grip and rushed forward so he would be a few feet away from his brother.

Derek didn't seem fazed by Scott's reaction. He simply rolled his eyes and started walking. "They only found half of Laura, remember."

"Well that's just great." Scott grumbled, sticking his hands into his pants pockets. They started an easy pace through the woods, an awkward silence settling itself between the two. Scott being the only one affected. From what Scott knows Derek thrived on awkward silences he wouldn't put it past his brother if he was actually enjoying it, and given that Scott wasn't exactly pleased with his brother at the moment couldn't let that continue.

"You think the Alphas still around?"

"Don't be stupid."

"Just saying." Scott said indignantly. "I don't see you rushing in to say anything."

Derek groaned in annoyance. "Scott, would you stop acting like a child for once in your life."

"Only if you stop acting like an asshole." Scott retorted. He knew it didn't really help his cause but he wasn't really in the mood to be acting reasonable at this point.

Scott watched as his brother massaged his temples the sign of a migraine of coming along. Good Scott thought bitterly, as he trudged on ahead of Derek, only to stop once he caught the scent of an overwhelming odor. He only ever associated this smell with his father and his sister. It was unmistakable and by the way Derek rushed ahead of him Scott knew Derek smelled it too.

"Look whose stupid now." Scott couldn't help putting in.

Derek ignored him as narrowed his eyes and listened in. "He's close." Derek said quietly, before turning to face Scott his face set. Scott knew what that meant and before Derek could even open his mouth Scott shook his head.

"Before you even begin to say what I know you're going to say the answer is no, actually Hell no." Scott said with a glare.

Derek didn't back down. "It's dangerous, Scott you're not ready to take on an Alpha."

"And what you are." Scot spat out. "What happened to the 'As long as we stick together we'll be fine', was that a load of bullshit or did you actually mean it."

Derek went quiet thinking over Scott's words carefully. Scott was glad that Derek had the decency to look guilty.

"Please Derek." Scott said hoping that his begging would be the thing to convince Derek to let him come.

After a few minutes Derek rubbed his temples, frowning before giving a small but noticeable nod. Scott had the sudden urge to jump and celebrate but he didn't want to risk Derek changing his mind so he settled with rocking his heels back and forth.

"But you have to listen to me." Derek cut in sharply. "If you disobey me even once the Alpha won't be the only one you'll have to worry about." Derek finished seriously.

"I'll listen." Scott said begrudgingly. "Can we just go find this thing?" Scott started to walk ahead of Derek only to be you stopped, Derek's grip tightening over his shoulder again pushing him to the back.

"I'm in front." Derek said gruffly before he started to run ahead.

Scott scoffed but ran to follow his brother.

Scott didn't know what to expect after what seemed like hours of running. They hadn't found the alpha or even the other half of Laura's body. Scott was almost tempted to say that he had imagined the alphas scent but every so often the smell would return full force reminding him that the threat was very real.

Scott stopped briefly catching his breath. He'd never run this much before. Being stuck in the city you spent most of your time indoors. If it wasn't the crowds of people that bothered you the smog definitely would.

"Keep up." Derek called from ahead.

Scott groaned, but shook his fatigue away and followed his brother. He had started to gain speed and catch up to his brother, only to slow down and skid to a halt. He turned watching as a herd of deer stampede its way through the forest.

"Do deer usually do that?"

"No, something must have startled them." Derek replied as he started to walk in the direction that Deer had left in.

Scott shrugged falling into step with his brother after minutes of walking; Scott could hear the rustling of leaves, braking of branches and a heavy breathing. Someone was running.

A howl echoed through the forest surprising Scott from his musings.

Derek and Scott shared a look before the rushed through the forest.

The alpha must have been begun recruiting people for his pack already, which would make Scott and Derek's life much harder if the alpha succeeded. It was common knowledge that the larger the pack the stronger the alpha. The situation was getting worse and worse by the minute. Scott just hoped they could reach whoever it was the alpha was chasing before things got out of hand.

He heard the kid before he saw the kid, that didn't stop Scott from running into the kid head on. Causing whoever Scott ran into fall to the ground with a loud thump. Scott stood stunned to the floor. Well that was convenient Scott thought.

"Hey uh dude you alright?" Scott asked awkwardly bending his knees so he could get a better look at the guy. He looked to be the same age as Scott himself; he was sure that if he went to the same high school they would be in the same grade.

The boy snapped his head upward once he heard Scotts voice, his hands frantically gripping Scotts shoulders. "Dude," He gasped out. " gotta get out of here! There's like this huge wolf thing, monster, like something from the Howling kind of monster and its coming this way like fast and it would probably be a good idea to start running right about now."

Scott took advantage of the guys close proximity to give a small sniff. The guy hadn't had any contact with the alpha so far, but from the heavy footfalls in the distance and the alphas scent getting stronger by the second it wouldn't be long before the alpha came and changed that.

The guy pushed himself off the floor. "Look I know how this might sound, and yeah I still don't believe it myself but know what I saw. I've seen to many creature features to not know what that thing is." The guy babbled. Scott was pretty sure the guy could probably keep go on talking forever but Derek who had remained silent throughout this exchange. Had grabbed the guy by the scruff of his shirt and dropped him a ways behind him.

"Don't move." Derek warned as he ran forward to meet the Alpha head on. Scott gave a nervous smile at the boy who was just gaping at his brother.

"Sorry he's not good with people but uh he's right you should stay here and um not move." Scott finished awkwardly, following his brother. Sometimes couldn't get over hoy ant-social his brother was. How Derek was able to hold onto his mechanic job for so long Scott didn't know.

He had bigger things to worry about like helping Derek with the Alpha who as Scott run through the bush could tell was already in the midst of a fight. Derek seemed to be drawing it out to a more open area. Scott hid in the shadows of the trees waiting for his chance to strike. Derek was dodging the alphas attacks there was an instance where Scott saw that Derek was almost able to get the alphas throat but he was pushed back before he could do so. Scott shook his head; he only wished killing an alpha was that easy. The alpha started to stalk in Derek direction its back Scott.

Scott took advantage, being careful to not make any unnecessary sounds. The alpha didn't notice his attention solely on Derek. Scott, taking a deep breath to collect himself pounced, landing squarely on the alphas back, the momentum causing the alpha to fall flat on the ground. Scott wasted in no time in grabbing hold of the alphas arms. The alpha struggled, snarling as it bucked in Scotts grip. Scott didn't know how long he could keep this up. Sure he was strong but his strength couldn't begin to rival that of an alpha. He just needed to stall long enough for Derek to cut the alphas throat and they would be done.

Of course it was never that easy.

The alpha was able to stand up and with Scott still on his back slammed his back to the ground, the weight of the wolf crushing Scott causing him to wheeze. The pain causing to let go freeing the alpha as it rushed forward for Derek.

Derek jumped out of the way barely avoiding the alphas attack. The alpha only snarled turning around to find Scott still on the ground. His red eyes pinning Scott to the ground, a surge of fear coursed through Scott, an overwhelming need to bare his throat out and submit to the alphas presence. He didn't of course but it was more of a challenge then Scott was proud to admit.

The Alpha moved keeping his pace deliberately slow. Scott could see Derek out of the corner of his eye getting back up and attacking the alpha head on. The alpha saw it coming; he caught Derek before he could land a punch throwing him against a tree. Scott winced as he heard something crack; he really hoped that was the tree and not Derek's spine, though at this point Scott had bigger things to worry about.

It didn't look like Derek was getting up anytime soon and Scott couldn't get his legs to unbuckle so he could grab Derek turn tail and run. His legs weren't up to cooperating anytime soon.

The alpha came closer and Scott was sure the damn thing was grinning. Scott closed his eyes not really brave enough to face his soon to be killer in the eye. Laura probably did and Derek definitely would the fact couldn't made him feel ashamed.

The expected swipe at his throat didn't come through. The sound of a branch breaking was deafening. Scott opened his eyes in confusion and saw that the kid from before was standing behind the alpha holding a broken stick.

Scott was dumbfounded; he would never have been brave enough to take on an alpha all by himself he couldn't even imagine standing up to it without his abilities. Not to mention that hitting an alpha with a stick was just embarrassing.

From what it looked like the guy was probably thinking the same thing, as he dropped his broken weapon and started to run off. The alpha gave a loud howl before following his new prey. He didn't have far to run as charged after the boy and tackled him biting his side.

Scott flinched when he heard the boy scream and the shame he felt before intensified.

He watched as the alpha turned to look at Scott the wolfish grin returning twice as big as before. Then without another sound he was gone leaving Scott alone in the forest with his brother unconscious and a potential werewolf and or corpse.

Scott let his head rest on the forest floor, watching as a few of the leaves lazily fell down to the ground.

"Well that could have gone better." Scott muttered, moving to the side to see if his brother had awoken.

Scott waited his Derek to stir before pulling himself together and get back on his feet.

"The alpha escaped." Derek hissed joining Scott at his side.

"Tell me something I don't know." Scott groaned. "And I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the alpha not only got away but got what he was after."

At Derek's expression he pointed at the fainted form of the boy from before. Scott knew he was still alive, he could still hear his heartbeat growing strong. He supposed that was a good thing. His body wasn't outright rejecting the bite so far.

Derek's face darkened once he put the pieces together. He walked up to where the guy was situated, Scott following just like always.

He was sound asleep a stream of drool at the edge of his mouth. Scott couldn't help chuckling at that much to Derek's irritation.

Derek shook his head picking the boy up throwing him across the shoulder, much to Scott's surprise. He didn't do it with much care but it didn't seem like the guy noticed much, just gave a small snort.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Scott asked incredulously not liking where this was going.

"Carrying him to the house." Derek stated plainly as he started to walk, the guy's head bobbing in time with Derek's steps.

Sometimes Scott just wanted to punch Derek but he knew nine times out of ten he'd just get his ass kicked.

"Yeah the real question is why. No offense Derek but I don't think kidnapping well look good on our resume." Kidnapping might have been a slight exaggeration on Scott's part but that was certainly how it felt like to him. They might not have grabbed him from his bed in the middle of the night but they were taking him somewhere without his permission.

"Are you saying we should just leave him out here?"

Scott winced at Derek's bluntness. "Well no, but I don't know this, taking him, I just don't think-"He felt guilty just taking the guy. It just didn't seem right and Scott knew that Derek wasn't doing this out of the bottom of his heart he was planning something, Scott just knew it. Scott looked at Derek's stiff form and knew he wasn't going to be spilling the beans anytime soon. He let that question slide for now. The bid question at the moment was whether the guy was even going to live long enough to tell him his name. He felt bad for regarding the guy who just saved his life as just well 'the guy.' "Is he going to be ok?"

At the very least his heartbeat wasn't dropping but Scott didn't know if that was even a big indicator whether he would survive or not.

"Too soon to tell." Derek said without turning around.

It was better than saying he was downright going to die, so that was good news and today of all days Scott was going to take it.

Thanks for sticking with it and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Best case scenario I have two buffer chapters by this weekend and getting in the next chapter up sooner. Worst case scenario update next friday. Also I'm afraid this isn't a torrent love affair between Scott and Stiles big mistake on my part while categorizing the story hope this doesn't disappoint anyone.

Unrelated subject: Arkham Asylum