"So let me get this straight. There is now a second body that has the same weird spiral mark that Laura's had which is tattooed on Derek's back and the running theory is that whoever burned down the Hale house is behind it?" Scott looked at little bit like a lost puppy, his brows furrowed together in confusion and his lips pulled down at the corners into a frown, but that wasn't anything new. Stiles nodded and picked up the hacky sack from his desk, bouncing it on his foot. "Okay, why do we think that since the second victim wasn't a Hale?"

"Because the second victim was the insurance investigator who claimed the Hale fire an accident due to faulty wiring and not arson."

"I thought he was a bus driver!" Stiles rolled his eyes and nodded, bouncing the hacky sack on his toes to his heel and back.

"He was. Before that though, he worked for the insurance company that handled the case. Turns out he was fired over suspected insurance fraud. There was evidence of him taking payouts from families, businesses, tons of different cases." Scott's eyes widened, his brow raised, and let out a low whistle.

"So the police think that whoever killed him did it to keep him from talking," Scott stated. Stiles nodded and let the hacky sack fall to the floor with a soft thump before he picked it up and tossed it onto his desk.

"Yeah dude, that's exactly right." Scott beamed, smile slightly crooked like his jaw and Stiles couldn't help but smile back, proud at the ease Scott had in making the connection. "Guy had worked over three hundred cases during his time there. The company and the feds are still looking though all of them to find more concrete evidence."

"Feds?" Scott asked and Stiles nodded.

"Insurance fraud is a pretty big deal- especially if it's the insurance company doing it. Whole firm's taken a blow. And with everything going on, Allison's pulling for a warrant for their copy of the Hale file. She's hoping to find a lead from it besides the one I gave Lydia but I don't think she will." Scott nodded as Stiles sighed and began to pace the floor between their desks. Scott frowned once more.

"What is it?"

"I don't know if I agree with the theory," Stiles murmured, biting at the skin of his thumb. Scott's frown deepened and his brow furrowed further. "The crime scenes are too different, almost like they were done by two separate people."

"But the mark, this tris-thing," Scott reminded.

"I know. The triskelion is what makes the theory possible. But you didn't see this crime scene, Scott. It was a mess, a freaking blood bath. Whoever did this ravaged Myers, left his back almost in pieces with the tearing from the stab wounds." Scott's lips thinned and his face paled and Stiles knew that he was glad to not have seen it. "There was blood everywhere and the mark was pretty rough too unlike Laura's."

"Laura was also left intact," Scott added and Stiles nodded, frown deepening as he stared down at the wood floor.

"It was like she had been cared for, like whoever did it had a sense of remorse. Which doesn't make sense if whoever is doing this is the same person who burned down the Hale house with the family in it." Whoever burned down the Hale house wanted the Hales to suffer, wanted them to feel every inch of their skin burn and slough off, wanted them to feel pain and heat. Whoever burned down the Hale house had done it out of malicious intent. Same with Myers' murder. He had been alive when it had happened, had felt every pierce of the blade in his back, probably had felt the blood filling his lungs and knew he was going to die. It had been slow, painful. Laura's had almost been a mercy. She was there one second and gone the next.

"You have an idea of who did it though," Scott stated, startling Stiles out his thoughts. Stiles frowned and tilted his head slightly to the right in question. "You have an idea of who burnt down Derek's house," he clarified. Stiles exhaled heavily and rubbed at his face as he nodded.

"Yeah. Derek told me about a woman, Kate, which is the lead I gave Lydia. She'd apparently been around and interested during the time before the fire. She disappeared right after. Allison is looking into it." Scott perked up at the mention of her name and smiled. Stiles couldn't help but roll his eyes. "I don't know if she'll find anything though. I highly doubt that the school's kept records about substitute teachers dating back twenty years." Scott frowned and nodded.

"Yeah, does seem like a dead end." Stiles shrugged his shoulders and sat down at his desk. He sat silent as he went over the details in his head while Scott tapped at the dog bobble head on his desk, watching the plastic head swing up and down for a moment before he gave a soft laugh. "Hey, did you know that Allison has an aunt named Kate?" Scott asked. Stiles scrunched his face up on confusion, shooting his gaze once more to his best friend.

"Dude, what does that have to do with anything?" Stiles asked, his lips twisted into a half frown, half grin. Scott shrugged his shoulders and grinned widely in answer and all Stiles could do was shake his head at his friend's antics.

His cell lit up and began skittering across the wood of his desk, the vibrations skewering through the silence of the office. Stiles frowned and picked the offending object up and looked at screen. Derek Hale's eyebrows glared up in disapproval at him. Stiles cringed and waved the cell at Scott. "Looks like I'm about to get reamed out. Mind hitting up Allison and seeing what she's found out so far?" Scott jumped up and nodded, swinging on his jacket as he did so.

"Good luck with Hale, dude. At least he can't kill you over the phone." Stiles chucked the hacky sack at Scott who swatted it away with a smile. He bounded out of the office, the bell at the front door tinkling softly with his departure as Stiles turned his attention back to the cell in his hand. He swiped his thumb along the bottom, answering the call, and brought it to his ear.

"Hey," he began, dragging out the one syllable word as he swiveled his chair around to face the window behind him. Sunlight streamed through the slats of the blinds, casting the office in a warm golden glow. A pair of kids played with match cars on the sidewalk as their parents sat on a bench facing the neighboring park.

"Stiles," came Derek's answering growl and Stiles frowned, holding back a sigh as he picked at a loose thread on his jeans.

"What can I do ya for?"

Derek huffed and Stiles wondered briefly where the detective was. Encased in his car staring down a perp to take his mind off of Laura's case or was he at home, shuttered in, collapsed on his old throw away couch in a tank and his boxers, waiting for the day to end just so he could sleep.

"You told Lydia," he answered, clipped, after a moment of air silence. Stiles sighed and nodded his head though he knew the head detective couldn't see. "I told that to you in confidence." Stiles rolled his eyes and looked up at the ceiling, noting the pockmarks from sticking pencils into the foam tiles.

"I needed to give them a lead and contrary to popular belief, the spirits aren't exactly forthcoming with all the answers and they have access to avenues I don't. You said yourself that there was something strange about the way she left, Derek."

"I didn't say anything like that, Stiles!" Derek answered, cursing softly afterwards, a car horn blaring in the background.

"Please tell me you are not breaking the law right now calling me on your cell while you are driving." Derek huffed and Stiles shook his head. "And you implied it. Don't tell me you didn't." Derek was silent on the other end, the hum of a radio now faint and noticeable in the background. "Are you angry because I told them or are you angry because it might mean them finding out," Stiles asked softly.

"Finding out what. Stiles?" Derek's voice was low, soft, and dangerous, as if he was just daring Stiles to answer. "What do you think you know?"

"Derek-"

"No, Stiles. You think you know something, tell me." Stiles bit his lip and picked harder at the loose thread of his jeans. "Did the spirits decide to impart that part of the mystery? Not where she is or her motive or if she's back or why she chose Laura first but me? What she did to me?" He sat silent as Derek breathed across the other end of the line, his anger working him up to muffled huffs and sighs. After another minute of silence, Derek gave a soft, bitter, chuckle. "Well? What did the spirits say Stiles?"

"Derek-" Stiles began but was cut off quickly by Derek growling over the phone.

"Don't. Don't say a damn thing because you don't fucking know a damn thing. I asked you to find my sister's killer not dig up a past that is better buried!" Stiles bit back a sigh and closed his eyes, blocking out the warm sun, the kids playing on the sidewalk, the beautiful perfect day depicted outside his window. He listened to the harsh breaths, the cracking of Derek's voice, and the roar of the Camaro's engine in the background.

"What if they're connected?" Stiles asked quietly and Derek heaved a sigh like all the fight had gone out of him.

"They're not, Stiles. They can't be." Another moment of silence stretched by and Stiles opened his eyes, allowing the world back in, needing it's comfort and reminder of goodness before he asked his next question, knowing the answer would wound him as surely as it did Derek.

"Why?" Stiles waited a beat, heard Derek turn the car off, the engine's growl dimming and wondered where he was.

"Because if they're connected that means," he paused, taking a deep breath and Stiles waited for his foundations to shake with the confirmation that what he had guessed, what he had read from Derek, that Kate had taken advantage of him to murder his family, was true. "That means that it's my fault," Derek breathed. Derek's voice hitched and Stiles could only shake his head as Derek continued. "It means that it's my fault my family's dead."

Scott's return herald no new information with the exception that apparently Allison's aunt Kate had lived in Beacon Hills for about a year working as a bartender at the local dive bar the year of the Hale fire. Stiles wondered briefly for a moment if it was possibly that Kate Argent was in fact the same Kate that had seduced Derek Hale but quickly discarded it giving how often Allison raved about how awesome her Aunt Kate was. That and Stiles was pretty sure Allison kept a picture of her Aunt on her desk and if she was the same person who effectively ruined Derek's life, it would have been discovered pretty early on in their partnership and Allison would have been transferred shortly after.

Stiles' phone call with Derek hadn't ended well either. No matter how many times Stiles had said 'no' into the receiver, how he had denied the fault and placed it squarely on Kate's shoulders where it truly belonged, Derek wouldn't listen. He cut Stiles off multiple times, softly at first until Stiles got so worked up Derek had ended the call, leaving Stiles yelling at nothing but static. A quick but sharp text from Derek had Stiles slumping back into his seat, keeping him from searching Derek out and physically holding him down until he got him to understand.

It was another hour of sitting slouched in his chair, watching the day go by until Scott returned with no news. In this case, no news wasn't good news.

The day passed slowly, with Stiles itching to grab his keys and go, find Derek and shake some sense into him. The fact that Derek even said it meant that he believed it, had thought it numerous times over the past twenty years. Stiles wondered when he first thought it, when he first decided that he was to blame for the death of his parents, his siblings, cousins, aunts, and uncles. How long had he walked around with the weight of that on his shoulders. He wondered if he was the first person Derek confessed the thought to, wondered if he was the first person to deny it in twenty years.

He texted Derek sporadically, each text the same. Derek never responded. By the time it was five, Scott was frowning, the glow from his visit with Allison disintegrating under the steady pulse of Stiles' heartache. He reached out and quickly pulled Stiles up and out of his chair and into a hug, his chin hooked over Stiles' shoulder. Stiles stood still for only a moment of surprise before he reciprocated the hug, his long arms wrapping around Scott's middle and pulling him tight, his face hidden in his best friend's neck.

"It's going to be okay, Stiles. Whatever it is that you've figured out, it's going to be okay."

"How do you know I figured anything out?" he asked, voice muffled by the fabric of Scott's shirt.

"You're leaking sadness everywhere dude. It must've been something pretty big too." Stiles nodded but didn't expand on it either and Scott didn't push. Instead he just held Stiles a little tighter until Stiles took a deep breath and pulled back, a soft smile turning the corners of his lips upwards. He lightly knocked Scott's shoulder and gave a softly muttered 'thanks man' to which Scott replied, "No problem. Anytime." Stiles nodded and maneuvered his way back behind his desk as Scott pushed his hand into his pocket, retrieving his phone as he did so. "So it turns out that the system does keep records on substitutes and a woman named Kate Silver did sub in Beacon County that year. She apparently only took jobs at Beacon Hills High and actually filled a long term position for two months as the Biology/Anatomy teacher," Scott stated, eyes scanning over the text he had received from the junior detective.

"God, that just makes things worse," Stiles sighed. Scott frowned in confusion as Stiles ram his fingers through his hair. "I'm pretty sure this woman, Kate, used Derek to get to the Hales." Scott's eyes widened as his frowned became more pronounced.

"You don't mean…" he talked off, hesitant to even speak the words.

"Yeah, Scott. That's exactly what I mean," Stiles replied gravely.

"But Derek was like 16 back then! You mean to tell me you think he was having an affair with his substitute teacher?" he exclaimed and Stiles could only frown.

"Yup and unfortunately teacher/student affairs are not as rare as we'd like them to be." Stiles ram his hand over his face and shook his head.

"So, what now?" Stiles stood up and stretched his arms over his head before grabbing his keys up off his desk and making his way out the front door.

"Now, I get a look at those sub files myself." Scott nodded and followed him out of the office, taking care to lock up behind them before hopping into the passenger seat of the jeep. Stiles paused, key in the ignition but not turned. "Wait, why are you coming?" Scott turned his eyes to Stiles, wide eyed with a pout gracing his lips. Stiles rolled his eyes as he started his jeep up, the engine turning over with a rumble. He eased the break off and backed out of the space slowly as he shook his head. "Stupid question. Seeing her once today just wasn't enough, was it Scotty?" Scott returned the comment with a bright grin and Stiles couldn't help but grin as well.

The visit to the BHPD was short lived. Right as they had walked through the door, Stiles with the intent of pouring over every detail of whatever files on Kate Silver remained while Scott stared dopey eyed at Allison, they were quickly rushed to the long-term care ward of Beacon Hills Hospital with the surprising news that the other last living Hale was finally awake after a twenty year long coma.

The ride to the hospital was filled with questions. While Peter had been showing increased activity in the past few years, the general consensus was that he would never wake and if he did, it would be with reduced mobility and mental capacity. When Stiles skidded to a halt outside the man's room, Scott right behind him, it was to find Peter Hale sitting upright in his bed, confusion marring his once handsome face as he stared at the nephew seated next to him. Derek sat tight lipped and white knuckled in an uncomfortable looking chair that had been pulled up next to the elevated hospital bed. Stiles rapped his own knuckles lightly on the open door gaining both Hale's attention as they turned to face them, Derek's hazel eyes widening slightly as the sight of the psychic detective while Peter's own eyes clouded over with confusion.

"You," Peter began, coughing once at the rough quality of his voice, scratchy and soft from unuse, "You're not Claudia Stilinski's son, are you?" Stiles' eyes widened in surprise before nodding slowly. Peter nodded himself before turning his attention back to Derek. "He's a psychic?" Peter asked and Stiles could only gape as Derek's face grew red, nodding stiffly in reply.

"You told him about me?" Stiles asked quickly, stumbling into the room while pulling Scott in behind him. Derek's nostrils flared as she shot Stiles a glare.

"Yes, I've been trying to catch Peter up on what's been going on." Peter nodded slowly, his fingers tracing patterns into the sheets folded around his waist.

"I'm still quiet lost but you do look a lot like Claudia. She always says hi to me and the girls whenever we ran into her at the Library," Peter recalled, his eyes glazing over with a far away look. "Malia wanted to go again, get the latest Babysitter's Club. I was supposed to take her." Peter's brow furrowed and his gaze dropped to his hands, the scars that stretched across his forearm, pale and twisted. "I… we…"

"Uncle Peter?" Derek asked softly as he reached out and gently grasped one of Peter's hands in his own. Peter shook his head as if to shake away memories before he turned his blue eyes back towards his nephew.

"Talia, where's Talia?" Stiles could only watch as Derek shook his head softly, his hand squeezing gently. "Where's Malia? Where's Corrine? Hayley?" Peter gasped, becoming agitated, his face crumpling in dismay as Derek shook his head again.

"They're gone, it's only me." Peter pulled at his hands but Derek held the steady in his grasp. "I'm sorry, Uncle Peter, it's just me." Peter's shoulders shook and Stiles could make out the small gasps and hiccups that escaped him as he began to sob, his fingers digging into Derek's hands as the younger man stood to try and comfort his last living relative.

Scott gently pulled on Stiles' shoulder, willing him away from the scene. Stiles nodded, letting himself be pulled away as he watched Derek wrap his uncle up in his arms, the echos of Peter's cries and Derek soft apologies following them down the hallway.

A/N: So...

It's been a while...

Hope everything's been cool these last two years...

Updates every Sunday...

Promise...

:)