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Step by Step, We'll Get There	By : Sasunarufan13 Category: S through Z > Teen Wolf Views: 4677 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Wolf nor profit of it. Jeff Davis owns it.

Chapter List
- 38
- 39
- 40
Author's note: I've been writing fanfiction for eleven years so far; have I learnt to write amazing action scenes? Nope, still a work in progress, ladies and gents. I did my best with the final fight, so I hope it doesn't suck too badly! ^^;
Warnings: Angst, violence, minor bloodshed
I hope you'll like it!
Chapter 39
"I'm expecting you in ten minutes; I need to gather the rest of the supplies and someone has to keep an eye on them in the meantime."
When Stiles came to, he had a nasty headache and his vision was blurry for a couple of seconds. He blinked rapidly for a moment and once his visions cleared up and he took stock of his surroundings, he froze up.
Ah fuck, this couldn't be good.
His hands were tied behind his back, his ankles suffering the same fate and he'd been propped up against a young tree. Right across from him, about eight yards further, the Nemeton stood; its branches rocking back and forth slowly in the wind. The air was silent around the giant tree, as if the tree was surveying its surroundings, taking in what was happening. It seemed to sense Stiles was conscious again, because several of its branches swung in his direction, as if they wanted to touch and caress him.
And not even a yard from him, standing proud and tall on his left, was …
"Ah, you're finally awake. I was starting to think I had misjudged the amount of Wolfsbane in the sedation," Theo smirked, slipping his phone back in his pocket. "Good to have you with us again, Stiles. You've been dearly missed."
"You were dead," Stiles uttered through numb lips, staring dumbfounded at the Alpha.
How could he still be alive? The pathologist had been able to link the DNA of the dead person in the car to the DNA prints in Theo's file. There was no way a mishap could have happened. Theo was supposed to be dead.
And yet here he stood, relaxed and grinning, not even a scar marking his skin. How the fuck was that possible? How could they all have been so mistaken? If Theo didn't die – who had been the body in the car then? And how come the DNA of that body had matched with the DNA in Theo's file?
Nothing made sense!
"The person on my file is dead. I'm clearly not," Theo said cheerfully and hunched down in front of him; his eyes gaining in intensity, a hint of red lurking around the pupils. "We've still got some time, so I'll indulge the curiosity you're no doubt feeling now."
"How the fuck are you still alive?" Stiles snapped. Behind his back, he tried twisting his wrists, but the rope was tied so firmly around them, it cut into his skin and he halted his attempts for now.
"Such language," Theo tutted mockingly. "As with all stories, mine started many years ago. Technically before I was born even."
Resting his hands on his knees, keeping his gaze fixated on the bound fox in front of him, he continued with a sneer, "You see, my mother had a little bit of trouble staying faithful to my father. After my little brother was born, our father started becoming suspicious about the differences in looks. So being the smart guy he was, he ordered my mother to order a paternity test. Now see, she knew for sure that my little brother was our father's son, but of me … That she wasn't sure about. She could hardly lose her nice life all because she hadn't managed to keep her legs closed, right?"
His sneer deepened as he went on, "She wasn't stupid either and instead of sending my DNA sample through, she gave the organisation a sample of my brother. Two weeks later, ding, ding, ding, the results announced that I was definitely my father's son. Father happy, mother happy, everybody happy!"
Theo didn't even have to continue for Stiles to understand who the body in the car had been. Feeling sick to his stomach, he muttered horrified, "You killed your own brother."
The Alpha shrugged as if killing his own sibling was meaningless. "He was never quite the same anymore after losing our parents in that horrible car crash," he said casually and rose up again. "He wanted to join our parents and I just gave him what he wanted – albeit with a bit of a delay." His smile was twisted and cruel.
"But you weren't the one I saw on the picture," Stiles said, focusing on that instead of on the fact that he was currently in deep shit. "How did you even get into the town undetected? All the roads were being watched."
"So curious," Theo chuckled, placing his hands on his hips. "But that's what I like about you. You're right, that wasn't me who followed you those couple of times. Nor was it me who met up with the boy to get the pictures. I've got a partner who was all too glad to help me out. As for how I go into Beacon Hills undetected … I'm sure you know who Hale was dating before you," he sneered.
"What does she have to do with this?" Stiles demanded, frowning when he recalled what Derek had told him about the woman. She was dead, wasn't she? Or had she somehow tricked everyone into thinking she was dead just like Theo had done?
"I did a lot of research on the Hales before I moved here," Theo said. "That included meeting up with people who might share their knowledge with me. Turns out that the Hales are not only the oldest family inhabiting this land, but they're most likely also the only ones with an escape route underground."
Stiles' eyes widened.
"Not sure why they thought it was necessary to build one, but they did. The entrance is in their basement and it leads all the way up to right outside of Beacon Hills," Theo smirked. "Unused now of course, but they never thought to block it off. It was just a matter of finding the exit – or entrance if you will. And you know what the best part is?"
He jerked his thumb at the Nemeton behind him. "Because the tunnel is deep under the ground, they pass right through any existing wards." His smirk deepened. "So don't get mad at your tree for not warning you on time, Stiles. It wasn't a matter of not wanting to, but one of not being able to."
An existing underground tunnel. Of course there was one. Because his life was currently one giant shitshow and of course the guy he thought was dead would be able to grab him right from the Hales' own home by a goddamn underground tunnel.
Because his life was just that shitty. Fuck.
"And what's your brilliant plan now?" he asked, interjecting as much sarcasm as he could in the question. "Because they're going to notice I'm gone – if they hadn't noticed that already."
He didn't know how long he'd been unconscious and that thought set him on edge but surely by now someone had noticed that he was gone?
Theo just smirked, undeterred by the sarcasm. "I'm going to finish what I started and this time nobody's going to stop me."
He was going to complete the ritual.
That thought had fear gripping him tightly but he forced himself to push past it, focusing on the facts instead. Facts like –
"In case you didn't notice, we're not exactly close to a special moon. Kind of hard to complete the ritual when the moon's not in the right position, don't you think so?" Stiles scoffed, trying to ignore how his daughter was starting to kick up quite the fuss in his stomach.
She must feel how agitated he was becoming and was reacting to it.
"There's no special moon, no," Theo allowed, still smirking like the asshole he was. "But that was just one of the two conditions under which the ritual can take place. The other one would be to use the blood of an Elemental Creature. Granted, that particular condition is even more difficult to fulfil than waiting for a special moon, but what do you know? I've got an Elemental Creature right here."
His eyes gleamed almost viciously when he continued casually, "But don't worry, I won't bleed you dry. Kind of would defeat my purpose if you died in this ritual after all. I'll just take a little bit of your blood and that will be it."
Stiles really wasn't liking his chances. "You don't have a Hale," he blurted out, remembering the other condition of the ritual.
Well, he was assuming that Theo hadn't managed to grab one of the Hales. Wouldn't they be here with him if that was the case? Then again, Laura had gone outside …
"And I very much doubt you'll be able to grab one of them now that they're on high alert," he added.
"You really looked up everything about the ritual, didn't you?" Theo said and the admiration in his voice filled Stiles with revulsion. "I like how you try to get the better of me, but that's not going to happen now. Because while I very much dislike that Hale got his hands on you," his eyes darkened dangerously, "there's also one benefit to that: I've got an Elemental Creature and a Hale all in one now."
His gaze landed on Stiles' rounded stomach and ice instantly seemed to replace the blood in his veins as the Omega realised what Theo was implying.
"You touch her and I'll fucking kill you!" Stiles snarled, wishing his legs hadn't been bound as well so he could kick that motherfucker's legs to shit.
"Your fierceness is admirable, but you're not in a position to make demands now," Theo chuckled and slipped something out of his pocket. "Now, while I do love listening to your voice, for now at least you're going to have to be quiet. Can't have you calling out the others again like last time."
"Yeah? I'd like to see you t-hmph!" He turned his head away, but was too late: a piece of tape was roughly plastered across his mouth.
He nearly banged his head against the tree trunk behind him when Theo cupped his cheek and he shuddered underneath the cold touch, glaring at the other man.
"Oh, don't look at me like that," Theo tutted and shook his head. "I know you're not happy now, but it'll be over soon, I promise."
He stood up and turned his head to the left, addressing someone right out of Stiles' view. "Did you lead them far enough away?"
"Of course," a male voice replied dryly. "Who do you take me for? I did exactly what you told me to do."
When the man stepped into view, Stiles would have gasped aloud if his mouth hadn't been taped shut. The lanky brown haired man walking leisurely towards them was none other than the guy who had chased him all the way to Beacon Hills and the one who had killed that boy when he'd stolen Stiles' Jeep.
So the guy had been working together with someone after all. For once Stiles wasn't glad to be right.
"Stiles, meet Corey, a friend of mine," Theo introduced him, grinning. "Corey, this is Stiles, but well, no need for that introduction."
He sobered up when he rested a hand on Corey's shoulder. "I'm going to collect the last tools. Keep an eye on them. Kill anyone who comes too close."
Them?
Belatedly Stiles twisted his head around to look behind him and lead filled his stomach at what he saw. Six people had been rounded up: three men of which the youngest looked around thirty; two women and one little girl. She could barely be older than eight at most; her dark blonde hair pulled back in pigtails and smeared with dirt. Her face was pressed into the stomach of a short haired brunette and for one heart stopping moment Stiles thought they were dead.
But no. Their breathing was faint, so faint it was barely visible, but it was still there and when he focused on his hearing, he could pick up their slow heartbeats. Sedated most likely then.
The ritual had required seven people to be killed: four according to the nature elements, two according to their human and animal sides and the seventh one, a Hale, by bleeding out.
He had no idea why they were still alive when Theo had killed them the previous victims long before he got a hold on Cora. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to know either, because it could only mean one thing: Theo was planning on killing them all at the same time in front of his eyes.
The thought of seeing all these people die right in front of him, witnessing that little girl be slaughtered … It made him sick and he swallowed back the bile souring his throat.
He couldn't let that happen. He didn't know how long it would take for the others to find him, especially if what Corey had said was true and he had led them astray, but he needed to do something.
He needed to find a way to keep them all safe until the others arrived, but how could he do that when both his legs and arms were bound, his mouth was taped shut, and Theo had basically put a guard here to watch over them?
A guard who took keeping an eye on them very seriously when Stiles chanced a look: blank dark eyes pierced straight into his and Corey crossed his arms, leaning his shoulder against a tree. Theo was nowhere to be seen anymore; he must have already left to gather whatever tools he needed.
If he wanted to save them somehow, or at least buy them enough time for the others to find him, then he needed to get rid of Corey first. But how? His only weapon – his mouth – had been taped shut and he doubted Corey would remove the tape anytime soon. Throw something to distract him? Yeah, like that was going to work with his hands tied behind his back.
As he tried to think of a way to distract Corey, knowing that time was rapidly running out, his attention was caught by the way the Nemeton was swinging back and forth, as if listening to a tune only the ancient tree could hear. The longest branches swept across the forest floor, stirring dead leaves and tufts of grass. As if it noticed that Stiles was looking at it, several of its longest branches started swaying towards him; the longest tip nearly brushing the sole of his shoe.
At once he was struck by an idea. It was completely ridiculous and he honestly didn't think the chances of succeeding were high – more like forty percent and that was probably being generous – but he had to try. It was the only thing he could come up with that would both buy them time and perhaps even save them, and fuck it, he was going for it.
What had he to lose anyway?
He tried very hard not to think that he might very well lose his daughter and his life if he fucked this up. But hey, no pressure. No pressure whatsoever.
His hysterical chuckle was thankfully muffled by the tape and he ducked his head down, closing his eyes. It was almost unnaturally quiet in the forest, as if the Preserve knew something bad was going to take place and wanted nothing to do with it. There were no squirrels bustling around in the bushes, no birds chirping, singing or arguing in the trees, no bugs buzzing and zooming around.
Underneath the unnatural silence, however, there was a faint humming sound; a noise which travelled through his veins and settled down in the pit of his belly. He reached out to it, imagining his fingers touching the sound and at once it flared to life, the humming a continuous loud buzzing now. It felt warm against his mental fingers and thrummed happily, eager to find out what he was planning to do next.
Apparently Deaton hadn't been bullshitting for once: Stiles really did have a bond with the Nemeton. Now it was time to find out just how far this bond would lead them.
Distract him, he whispered through the mental link. Lead him away from him, hold him back.
The warmth thrummed thoughtfully. It felt like the Nemeton was considering its options, attempting to decide what it could do to obey the request. It appeared to quickly make decisions, though, because Stiles had just opened his eyes and started to look up when a loud crashing noise deeper into the forest startled both him and Corey.
Corey straightened up, narrowing his eyes as he turned into the direction of the noise. His nostrils flared as if trying to scent the air and frustration quickly crossed his face when he seemed unable to catch a scent. Still he didn't move.
A second loud crash was followed by a third and then a fourth, as if something large was stomping its way around in the woods.
At the fifth crash, which sounded closer, Corey clucked his tongue annoyed, threw him a warning glance – really, did he honestly think Stiles was capable of running away when he couldn't even move his legs? He had a high opinion of a heavily pregnant, bound fox, that was for sure – and stormed away into the direction of the mysterious noises.
Hell yes! Stiles mentally cheered, knowing even without seeing that this was the Nemeton's work. He had no clue how the tree was managing to create the noises, but it was and it had worked.
Corey was gone, Theo was gone, now he just needed to figure out another way to stall them when they returned. If only he could at least hide the other ones, that would delay the ritual for sure and would give –
His gaze snapped back towards the Nemeton, which was still swaying back and forth, appearing a lot more eager now. His mind flashed back to the visit he'd paid to the Nemeton with Scott and the frightening vision the tree had given him when he'd touched it. He'd been shown the Nemeton literally squeezing someone to death with its branches – but what if it was capable of picking someone up without killing them?
Could that be possible? Was he somehow interpreting the vision wrongly? Only one way to find out.
Swallowing, he focused back on the bond he felt thrumming vividly between him and the tree and said, I need you to keep these people safe. I need you to pick them up with your branches and hide them within you. Keep them safe. Keep them hidden.
The Nemeton groaned lowly as if mulling over the request and for a moment Stiles thought his request was too farfetched, that even an ancient magical tree like the Nemeton couldn't physically pick up someone.
But then right in front of his eyes the branches seemed to elongate, sprouting leaves, and one of them curled around the little girl's waist. It started to roll the girl towards the tree and Stiles had the ridiculous thought that it was like looking at a lizard flicking his tongue back with his meal clenched between the folds.
The branches shook when it started to lift the girl in the air and Stiles worried that it wouldn't be possible after all. The Nemeton was as stubborn as he was, though, and with a deep groan the branch curled entirely around the girl, turning her into a human sized cocoon before it seemingly shot back up in the tree. The girl disappeared somewhere high up in the tree and Stiles watched on amazed how one by one the others disappeared from view in a similar manner.
All were wrapped up in branches as thick as Stiles' lower leg and were hidden somewhere high up the tree. He took a couple of seconds to enjoy the mental image of some human sized branch cocoons just chilling in the tree, before he sobered up again.
Okay, so, he had found a way to at least delay the ritual. Now what? It would help if he could at least free his legs, but he wasn't in the habit of carrying a pocketknife with him and it wasn't like he could use his fangs either now that his mouth was taped up. Not that he would have been flexible enough to be able to reach his ankles like that, but …
Briefly he pondered over the idea of turning into his fox form, but the sickly sweet smell on the inside of the ropes informed him they were coated with some kind of Wolfsbane. Not the type that would immediately kill him, but without knowing how long the Wolfsbane had been entering his system, he couldn't risk shifting. The amount of Wolfsbane in his system now wouldn't kill him, but what if it was enough for the small form of his fox?
He'd rather not kill himself and his daughter, thank you very much. He'd already been nearly poisoned to death once before and he wasn't keen on repeating that experience.
Abruptly the wind was knocked out of him when something wrapped around his legs and tugged hard, making him almost smack his head against the ground. Whatever it was – oh thank god, it was just the Nemeton – dragged him closer to the tree. Once he was underneath the leaf roof, surrounded on all sides by the branches, the tree dropped his legs and something small but heavy fell down next to his left arm.
When he twisted around to look at it, he saw that it was a pocketknife. Which was great, if a little bit worrying how the Nemeton had got a hold on that, but – he still couldn't do anything with it. Could he roll around to grab it? But he didn't want to put too much pressure on his stomach and his balance had already been iffy at best before he became pregnant.
It turned out that he didn't need to worry. Something rough scraped past his hands and there was some light tugging at the rope around his wrists. The rope fell off his wrists soon afterwards and he blinked, bringing his hands around, ignoring the twinging in his shoulders.
A tree branch slithered away from him, dropping the knife next to his knee and oh. Yeah. Right. Compared to humans, picking up a knife was probably child's play to the Nemeton now.
Ripping the tape off, he peered up at the tree suspiciously. "You really are not an average tree."
The Nemeton hummed in response, sounding pleased.
Stiles snorted, amused in spite of the circumstances, and started sawing away at the ropes around his ankles, trying to be as quick as he could. It wasn't easy, having to work around his big stomach, but he managed it soon enough. He used the tree to get back on his feet, grimacing when the familiar sensation of pin needles started. There were faint red rings around his ankles and his wrists due to the Wolfsbane, but there was no burning or tingling sensation so for now he was okay with assuming that he wouldn't die.
Not from Wolfsbane poisoning at least.
"Corey, where the hell are you? I told you to - "
Stiles froze and hastily turned around, watching through the branches how Theo came to an abrupt stop and dropped everything but the knife in his hand when he noticed the empty space.
Lips pulled back in an impressive snarl, he whirled around and locked eyes with Stiles. "You really do try to get the better of me every time, don't you? I admit, it's becoming a tad annoying." That last one was said in a growl and he stalked towards Stiles; his features drawn back with fury.
Stiles was already backing away, but before Theo could take another step, a branch suddenly swept his legs from underneath him and he landed on his back. Another branch shot down to grab him, but the Alpha rolled out of the way just in time and then jumped back, snarling furiously.
Stiles couldn't help but grin deliriously when he realised what was happening. "You can't touch me!" he laughed, resting a hand against the Nemeton's trunk. "You're such a power hungry asshole that you didn't even realise what would happen if you put me near the tree! You know I'm an Elemental Creature and yet you still brought me here, you stupid fuck!"
The Nemeton wouldn't let Theo touch him.
That knowledge bounced around in his mind, the sweet taste of relief and victory following swiftly after it. With Stiles within the cover of the branches, there was no way for Theo to get a hold on him.
Something which Theo quickly realised as well as he tried again and again to get close enough to grab him. Every time he came close, however, the tree would lash out, attempting to grab him. Roots shot through the earth, doing their best to trip him up, and Theo snarled and growled as he was forced to keep moving around or be caught otherwise.
He changed into his panther form even, which while impressively large, didn't get him any closer to Stiles either. It only ended up giving him several large gashes across his back when he was too slow to avoid the Nemeton's wrath.
Theo shifted back, panting heavily, and staring at him with glowing eyes from the other side of the field.
"How does it feel to fail completing your ritual for the second time?" Stiles taunted him; one hand wrapped around a branch, the other resting on his stomach. His daughter was settling down finally; only giving the lightest pushes and kicks now.
Theo raised an eyebrow and bent down, reaching for the bag he'd dropped a while ago. Frowning, Stiles leant forwards slightly, careful enough to keep himself within the branches' cover, but wanting to know what made Theo look so calm all of a sudden.
A calm Theo couldn't be anything good.
It wasn't.
Stiles froze when a gun was cocked in his direction. The shot rang out loudly in the forest and he ducked away, curling his arms around his stomach instinctively. The bullet burst apart right above him in the tree and he was about to get up and taunt Theo that he couldn't even aim right when pain, worse than anything he'd felt before, suddenly exploded in his right shoulder.
He screamed and grabbed his shoulder, expecting to see blood. Had Theo hit him after all? But when he looked down, there was no blood. There was no blood, but pain was radiating from his shoulder to the rest of his body and how was that possible when he hadn't even been shot?
His attention was quickly diverted by the branches which started shuddering and curling around, creating openings when they hadn't done that before and Stiles understood. When he looked at the trunk, he clenched his teeth together in fury: the Nemeton had caught the bullet and dark red tree sap was dripping down from the hole. The Nemeton was hurting and he was hurting along with it, because he was bonded to it.
But all that didn't matter because the Nemeton wouldn't let him –
"NO!" he yelled when a hand shot through an opening in the branches and grabbed his wrist. He swung his leg up to kick Theo away, but then a black blur tackled Theo out of nowhere and Stiles stumbled back, crashing against the tree.
Wide-eyed, he watched how the black wolf – Derek, it was Derek, Derek had found him – fought with Theo who had changed back into his panther form. The two animals were nothing but a blur of blackness and glinting teeth as they snarled and snapped at each other, each one of them trying to gain the upper hand.
As Stiles watched stumped, other people started filing into the field: his dad, Talia, Peter, Laura, looking worse for the wear. Dad saw him and rushed over to him, one hand on his gun.
"You okay, kid? Are you hurt?" he asked sharply, assessing Stiles quickly.
"No – no, erm, the Nemeton took the hit," Stiles explained weakly and was pressed against dad's chest before he could say something else.
"Oh thank god," Dad breathed out. "Thank god you're okay. I wouldn't have been – you're okay."
"The Nemeton isn't, dad. It got shot and - "
The snarling got worse and Stiles pushed his dad away, panicking when he saw how Theo had pinned Derek to the ground, leaning down to deliver the killing blow with his teeth.
"DEREK!"
The wolf snarled viciously and twisted around, slamming the panther remorselessly against one of the wider trees. Theo smacked his head hard against the tree and changed back, grappling for something in the grass.
Before he could grab whatever he was looking for, Talia was already there, kicking something away, and Derek changed back, picking up Theo effortlessly by his neck. Growling, he slammed Theo into the tree, his hand – still bearing claws – tightening around Theo's neck.
The Alpha snarled back and kicked and swiped at him, but Derek didn't let him go, only tightening his choking hold, seething with rage.
As Stiles hurried towards Derek, worried at how much blood he could see trickling from the deep gashes on his back, Theo rasped out, "Go on then, kill me. I'm not going to stop."
Derek bared his teeth and sneered at him, "You are nothing. Killing you would be too easy. The Sheriff's got a nice place for you reserved instead. Heard the druids have been looking for a test subject."
Theo's eyes widened a tad and for the first time since Stiles knew him, there was a genuine flicker of fear in them before Derek knocked him out. Theo crumped to the floor and dad was quick to put handcuffs on him.
"I can't believe it's finally over," Stiles breathed out, feeling light-headed even though he wasn't the one who had lost blood. "Wait, did you catch Co-"
"Already got him in custody," Laura said grimly. "Paid the fucker back for what he did to me." She pointed at the healing gash in her forehead.
"Oh thank fuck," Stiles groaned and rubbed his forehead. The last thing they needed was Corey still out there. "Derek, we need to get those wounds looked at. You're bleeding pretty badly."
Derek didn't turn around.
Stiles frowned, uneasy at how still Derek stood. "Derek, hey, are you okay?" Which was a stupid question, obviously, when he was still bleeding out of several deep wounds, but –
When Derek finally turned around, reaching out to him, he looked at him with blood red eyes.
The eyes of an Alpha.
AN2: Only one more chapter left for this story, guys! Thanks for sticking with me for so long, try to bear with me a little bit longer still :P
Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
I hope to see you all back in the last chapter! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!
Cuddles
Melissa
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