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“Okay, run this by me again,” Dean says, trying not to be too obvious as he glances around the room.
It’s a regular room, that’s what he finds so surprising. They’re sitting around a dining room table, and it’s nothing too huge or ostentatious. Not obnoxiously modern, or too Ikea, but certainly nothing someone’s great grandma would have.
Garth, of course, notices Dean’s curiosity; either from his scent or Dean’s wandering eyes. “I can give you a tour, if you want, it’s a real nice house. Comfortable. Everyone knows you’re here, of course. I wouldn’t have invited you otherwise.” He looks over to Sam to see if there’s any clues there. “So you want me to go over everything again? You agreed to come here, so I thought…”
“No, of course we understand what you need,” Sam quickly assures their old friend. They haven’t seen him in person for a while, but keep up by text. Garth loves to text and neither brother is surprised by how much he likes emojis. “We just want to hear it again so that we’re up-to-date and make sure we get to ask any questions. You know how it goes.”
Nodding and pointing at his brother, Dean says, “Yeah, that. Just start it at the beginning and we’ll ask questions as we need to. But we’re here, Garth, and fully committed to helping.”
With a sigh, Garth gives them both a wobbly grin. “Right, guess I’m just nervous because of everything and I haven’t been on a hunt, of course, in forever. Not a hunt like you guys hunt, I mean we protect the area, sure, but…”
Dean nods again and they wait while Garth takes a steading breath. “Okay, so short story is there’s a were-jaguar and we expect she’s going to come after our pack. She’s completely homicidal and sadistic. And she used to be a hunter; she’s Chris Argent’s sister, so she knows what she’s doing and knows he’s here, but that won’t stop her. She’s the one who burned our pack before. Which is also why we need your help.”
“Argent still lives around here?” Sam asks, checking to confirm that Dean’s also surprised. “I thought he might have left after his wife…”
“No, he’s here, he’s…” Garth looks in the living room, and eyes the stairs, cocking his head. “Well he’s not here now, everyone thought I should get to talk to you without them, but he’ll be back soon. I know he’ll want to see you both. Derek will too, of course, to thank you for what you’re doing for us.”
“Well, that sounds super,” Dean says, looking to heaven. “An audience with Grumpy pants himself, can’t wait.”
Garth chuckles and says, “That’s funny because Stiles calls him Sour Wolf. I guess that started a long time ago. Anyway, so Kate Argent. She was the heir to the Argent hunter family. Gerard, I don’t know if you met him, he was really rabid in the worst way and raised Kate the same way. She really took to hunting, especially…” he pauses and shakes his head. “Some people, I think, enjoy the killing part of the job a little too much. Some enjoy making creatures suffer for no reason other than their own pleasure.” He stops, taking a breath and letting his eyes turn back to their normal warm color.
“Garth? Is everything okay?” A smallish, pretty woman asks as she comes into the room. She’s carrying a child, who is fussing against her shoulder. “We heard…”
“Bess, come on in, you remember Dean and Sam, right? They’re my oldest friends, from back when I was a hunter. You met them…”
“Of course, I remember them, silly,” she says, nodding and holding out a hand for a quick shake. “They helped us get accepted to the pack. Welcome and thank you for your help. I hope you can stay for dinner. Meet everyone, meet our little one.”
Garth’s face lights up and he pulls his phone out of his shirt pocket. “Ellie! I know I’ve sent you pictures, did I send you this one? She’s learning to control her eye flashes. I’m so proud of her.”
Dean looks at the picture on the phone. She’s a pretty little girl, but of course he can’t see her eyes, just the flashes. “Yeah, thanks for the pictures, this one is new,” he says, passing the phone to Sam for a look and smiling at Garth’s wife and their baby.
“She’s really cute, we like getting the pictures, thanks.” He nudges the phone back to Garth and smiles at the man’s wife. “And thanks for the invite, Bess, we’ll, um, we’ll see how it goes. We haven’t really figured out what our home base should be here.”
“You’re welcome to stay here, but I understand it might be uncomfortable. I can tell you the local motels if you want.” Garth nods at his friends and says, “Do you want to hold her? She’s a real easy baby.”
“Um, no thanks, I’m…” Sam shrugs and Dean just sits back, something in his eyes close to panic.
“You guys aren’t really comfortable with babies, right?” Bess asks, bending down to kiss Garth’s temple. “We’ve had a few of those in the pack. Kira was so afraid of breaking her. Lydia, too, but she covered it better.”
“Well, maybe later, when we’re done talking. Or after dinner or something.” Garth kisses both Bess and Ellie’s hands, adoration plain on his face. “Thanks, hon. Thanks for checking in.”
After she leaves, Garth is back to business. “Okay back to Kate. So she was turned, um…” His eyes go sad and hurt when he continues, “She was turned by Peter. Hale. It was during his revenge rampage after Kate murdered most of the Hales.”
“How many people did he kill?” Sam asks, keeping his voice level. He doesn’t even have to imagine how it would feel to lose family members, but he’s heard stories of the Hale revenge massacre.
“Not as many as she did,” Garth answers quickly, knotting his long fingers together. “I found out what happened from some of the pack members; it’s not something they want to talk a lot about. Kate was 26 and targeted Derek when he was 16. Said she loved him, the usual stuff and he told her about his family and when they’d all be at the house for a family event.” He shakes his head and his eyes flash again, now looking sad more than angry. “There were children and old people here! Peter’s mother and his human sister. Children, Dean, she basically raped a teenager so she’d be able to kill people because she didn’t like the way they lived their lives, didn’t like how they were born and…”
“We get it, we agree,” Sam says quickly. He reaches over and gives Garth’s wrist a soft squeeze, leaving his hand there until Garth looks calmer. “Okay, so Peter turned her, but she turned into a were-jaguar, whatever that is. I’ve never heard of that, but if it’s the usual were-thing we can take care of it. Has she done anything lately? Do you know where she is or what she’s planning?”
Garth takes a breath, running a hand through his fine hair as he regains his composure. “Thanks, Sam, I knew you guys would help. I told everyone that you could help us.” He takes a breath and nods. “Okay, we have a general idea of where she is. She’s been staying just outside the city, but comes in now and then. Mostly, she’s trying to keep away from the preserve, but we don’t like the way she’s keeping track of things with the pack. She’s been spotted sitting in parking lots around where some of us work.”
Dean gets up and goes to the nearby kitchen, pulling a couple bottles of water out and taking them back to the dining room, allowing himself another quick look around the pack house. “Okay, I gotta ask – I can see that maybe having Chris kills his own sister, no matter how fucked up she is, isn’t a great idea. But you guys are the Hale pack and there’s a reputation, right? Isn’t Peter supposed to be the super protective left hand who can do this on his own?”
“I’m sure he could, but since he was the one who turned her by killing her, we’re thinking to kill her this time with a non-werewolf method. So we thought just gunshot to the head.”
Sam nods, putting down his half-empty bottle and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “That’s pretty effective, it doesn’t even need to be wolfsbane. But it does leave a body to be disposed of.”
“We can do that,” Garth says quickly. “Peter’s mate is our emissary and getting rid of a body is no big deal. See, that’s the other reason we’re all thinking Peter shouldn’t be involved – and he does agree. His mate, Stiles, is pregnant and Peter’s super protective, of course.” He chuckles and shrugs, “Totally understandable, we get really protective of any pack kids, and especially when it’s your own. And with an emissary and a born wolf, they’re really connected and worried about each other.”
“Stiles? What kind of name is that, I’ve never heard a girl with that name.” Dean pulls over a thin file that has maps of Beacon Hills and surrounding cities, noting a couple of circles and lines drawn on the top map. “A Hale’s having a kid, well, I guess good for them.”
“He’s our emissary, Stiles.” Garth grins, looking younger as he brags. “He’s got amazing magic, Dean, he was born with a spark, just like his mother, apparently. He worked on a spell for a while, and they did a ritual and bang! Stiles is pregnant, due in about three more months. Just before Ellie turns one.”
“He’s a pregnant man?” Dean asks, eyes wide. “That’s… is he like a transguy or something? Or a dude-dude?”
Before Garth can answer, there’s noise from the kitchen. “Regular dude, thank you. Or not exactly regular,” Stiles says, rubbing his stomach, as he chews on the straw stuck in his Starbucks cup. “Just your basic equipment in the body, but yeah, guess I got something a little extra.”
Dean keeps an eye on Peter, as he’s circling the dining room, eyes bright blue. Not taking his eyes off the older man, he says, “You must be Stiles.”
Peter growls as Stiles barks out a laugh, stepping quickly around the table to pull his mate towards him. “Okay, that’s funny. See, that’s the first thing Peter ever said to me. I’m telling you if we were in a Star Wars fanfic, I think that means we’d be soulmates or something.” He steps in front of Peter, wrapping the older man’s arms around his expanding waist, holding Peter’s hands on his belly. “Calm down, wolfie, stop growling. He didn’t mean anything.”
“Yeah, sorry, I have no idea what you’re talking about, but, um…” Dean pauses, watching as Peter’s eyes turn back to their normal, human blue. “Anyway, let’s go back to talking about killing this bitch. You don’t want to do it because you’re, um, expecting? And Argent can’t do it because it really isn’t right making someone shoot their family, even if they deserves it.”
“Good to know,” Sam mutters and pushes out a chair at the table. “Stiles, do you want to sit down? Do you need anything?”
“And how does the baby get out? I mean, you have guy parts so how does it get out? Not the same way it got in, I hope,” Dean asks, looking at the couple, sitting close to Garth.
“Well, I’m not planning on pushing an eight pound baby out of my ass, Dean.” Stiles sighs and shakes his head, reaching over to take Peter’s hand. “It’s a c-section. If my beloved husband doesn’t do it, then Garth will, ‘cause he’s got a medical background. And after that, I’ve got a spell to close things up again, almost as good as werewolf healing.”
Dean’s head whips around to the former hunter. “Medical background? Garth was a dentist. You’re having a former dentist deliver your baby?”
“If Peter doesn’t want to, I volunteered,” Garth says, nodding happily. “I’m not squeamish and anyway, Stiles has his magic, so…”
“Okay, that covers pregnancy and delivery; do we want to get back to the Kate problem?” Sam finishes his bottle of water, pushing a full one towards Stiles, who nudges it to Peter to open. “You know where she is, right? Do you already have a plan or…”
Peter turns his head to smile at Stiles, fangs just poking out over his lip. “A plan? Yes, hunter-man, Stiles always has the plan.”
“Um, Peter?” Garth reaches over to tap Peter’s forearm. “That’s Sam, he’s the tall guy. And Dean’s his brother, he gives good hugs.”
Stiles is quick to grab Peter’s hand and gives a warm smile to Garth. “Terrific, thanks for confirming, I wasn’t sure who’s who.” He turns to Sam and now his face is all business. “Yeah, I have an idea. So which of you is better with a rifle and who is better talking with a crazy lady on the phone? And who is more inclined to vanish? Because here’s my thought…”
The plan is actually pretty simple after they’ve ironed it out.
They elect Dean to be the shooter. His aim is good and honestly, he has fewer crises of conscious about shooting people than Sam. But that’s only discussed once and afterwards, it’s aim, it’s all about the aim.
Sam gets Kate on the phone, using the number that Stiles managed to come up with.
“Is it magic? Is it the Verizon? Is it legal? Do I look like I care?” he asks the room at large.
He won’t admit it, but Dean is actually starting to like the little shit.
As they expected, Kate’s suspicious, but they worked out their story thinking of every possible option. First off, they say they got the phone number from Ellen Harvelle, a well-respected and semi-retired hunter. They’re so legit.
After Sam talks with her a few minutes about how Dean’s gone missing and was last seen looking for a rugaru in the mountains north of Beacon Hills, she agrees to meet with him at a dive bar close to where she’s living. It’s a perfect set up.
“She agreed too easily,” Peter says, pacing around the living room. “She’s offering to be helpful and that’s not like her.”
“She didn’t offer, she was asked. And she’s not helping us, so there’s that. She’s also extremely arrogant; it would be a good way to reenter the hunter community if she could say that she helped find a missing Winchester or at least helped the remaining one,” Chris says. He’s in some of the planning sessions, although of course he’s not going out. “Tell her you didn’t call me because… because you know I’m associating with the local pack and you don’t know if I’m still in the loop. Ellen might have a number for her, I know the women keep up with each other.”
“I’m sure that’s sexist somehow, but let’s go with it.” Stiles turns his laptop screen to show it to the group. He’s already got Google Street maps pulled up. “Okay, so here’s the salmonella pit that you’re going to. You don’t need to stay long, just get her there and afterwards, get her to the mouth of the alley just here,” he says, pointing with his chewed up pen.
Garth gives Chris a soft smile and turns back to the group before continuing to discuss killing his sister. “Before you even meet her, we’ll have Dean on the roof. You and Kate come out and he’ll take care of the rest.”
“No one will report a gunshot in that neighborhood, and we’ll have a silencer or something on it.” Stiles waves his hands and says, “Poof, magic works, too.”
Peter nods, pacing around the room, but never far from his mate. “You’ll need to give him some scent cover and probably mask his heart beat, too. If she’s a were-whatever, she’ll may be able to get something from him.” His smile is cold when he adds, “And yes, I know, it’s outside and in an alley, which’ll have its own smells, but we certainly don’t want to ignore something so obvious and easy to fix.”
“I’m feeling like this isn’t your guys’ first rodeo,” Dean says, looking around the room. He’s hunted with a lot of different people and different types of people, but this is a first. And actually, they’re not the worst partners he’s had. “Why aren’t you taking care of this yourselves? You certainly seem to have everything handled.”
Shaking his head, Chris says, “We appreciate your help, Dean, Sam. There’s a lot of things I’d do for the pack, but…”
Stiles tries to keep calm, honestly, he does. But his pack is upset and Kate needs to be taken care of. “I thought we’d discussed it, Dean,” Stiles snarls, eyes flashing briefly to an opaque white. “No matter how much of a monster she is, Chris cannot be expected to shoot his own sister in the head. She came back after she should have died by Peter’s claws. We don’t want to risk that again. She needs a head shot to be sure she won’t come back. Unless you’d rather behead her? Or cut her in half, isn’t that one of your hunter tactics?”
The brothers are quiet until Dean asks, “What the fuck are you?”
Garth and Peter both move to stand in front of Stiles as Garth answers, “He’s our emissary and he protects us, Dean. However, whatever it takes to protect the pack. Right now, it takes some outside help. You said you’d help. Right?”
Sam and Dean exchange a long look and finally Sam nods. “We trust you, Garth. We’re in this far, we’ve arranged the meeting and we’ll see it through. To protect you and your pack.”
Kate is extremely arrogant, there’s no doubt about it. To her, Sam isn’t a threat and he’s nothing for her to be concerned with. She doesn’t even bring any back up.
Sam buys her a drink, she flirts, he demurs, and they leave in about thirty minutes. If Dean were really missing, she wouldn’t have been any help.
“My car’s out here,” she says and leads him towards the alley where Dean’s waiting on the roof. “You sure you don’t need a ride someplace. I know your brother is pretty possessive with his car, not sure what you have as a –“
Dean’s shot is quick and clean, timed for when she clicks the lock on her key-fob. It’s not nearly as loud as expected, even with the echo in the alley. Before Dean can even get to the fire escape ladder and get to the ground, Peter and Stiles are there, pulling her lifeless body further into the alley.
Stiles mutters something and the noises from the street just outside fall silent.
“Good job and good riddance.” Peter uses his steel-toed boot to kick Kate’s body. The hole in her forehead looks almost harmless; of course the back of her head (or what’s left of it) doesn’t show as she’s lying on her back, pool of blood spreading. “Darling, you have your supplies?” he asks, ignoring the brothers as he uses a claw to slit her from throat to crotch, pulling the sides apart.
“Got everything, thanks, dear.” Stiles takes Peter’s hand to slowly kneel on a mostly dry bit of pavement and looks over his shoulder. “Thanks, guys, this was really helpful. I’m so glad this bitch is dead, I know we’ll all breathe easier.”
“She’s been Derek’s boogey-man since he was a teenager; always there in the back of his head. It’ll be good to tell him that we know she’s really most sincerely dead.” Peter’s as casual as someone getting a cup of coffee, while watching his mate pull various things out of the dead body.
Stiles mutters quietly with the cadence of a spell, as organs go into various containers. Some look like Tupperware and some look as though they’re pottery or antique silver.
“He’s what, a witch? A dark witch?” Dean asks, jutting his chin towards Stiles. “That’s why he’s collecting all that stuff, right? Oh and by the way, that’s disgusting.”
Peter collects the jars and boxes, carefully wrapping them in plastic bags and bubble wrap, before arranging them neatly in a canvas bag. “Bit more than a simple witch, I’d say, but he’s protective. Mainly.” Peter grins up at them and shrugs. “Dark or white or some shade in between is up for debate, I suppose, but don’t get any ideas, gentlemen. I will agree though, this isn’t my favorite part of his craft.”
“I’m assuming there’s a plan to get rid of the body? Especially since it’s going to make the police think Jack the Ripper’s come back and he’s picked here to work.” Sam looks around and asks, “Wait, where’s her car? I thought her car was…”
“Car? What car, I don’t see any car left by a missing woman,” Stiles says, smirking. He rubs his lower back and wiggles a bit, stretching out his spine. “Think I’ve got what I need to hold me over until I’m a little more limber again. I’m not sure if it’s harder to get up or get down here.”
“Darling, you need to tell me when you need help.” Peter places a hand on Stiles’ bare arm, keeping it there just a few seconds until thin, black tendrils show. “I’ll stop, I’ll stop,” he says, holding up his hands in surrender. “Just a smidge to take the edge off, not enough to blah blah blah, whine whine whine.”
“You’re a dick,” Stiles says, but there’s no heat to his words. “So if you know you’re not supposed to take my pain while I’m pregnant, why do you do it? So hey,” he continues, turning to the brothers. “You guys did a great job and yeah, everything’ll be cleaned up in just a couple of minutes. You coming back to the house? You can stay a few more days, take some vacation or whatever?”
Sam shakes his head and catches his brother’s eye. “Okay, seriously? What gives around here? Obviously, you two could have handled this, without Chris or…”
“Why’d you need us anyway?” Dean continues for his brother. “No bullshit this time.”
Peter and Stiles take a minute to exchange their own looks. “We did need you. Peter and I are in no shape to do too much. I physically can’t and he worries about me and the pack bonds just keep us in knots. With the pregnancy and being their emissary, it’s this endless wacky loop. And since, like we said, his claws should have killed her, but turned her, so we wanted something you simply cannot recover from.”
“And second, we wanted to meet you. The famous Winchester brothers. Hunters extraordinaire.”
“And we wanted you two here because Garth misses you.” Stiles shrugs. “He talks about you like you’re his heroes. And you haven’t been around and – “
“We’re not blaming you. Not exactly,” Peter says, taking over. “But he makes it sound like you guys were close and we know you don’t completely hate all werewolves. We know you follow the code, that’s what Garth says. Or what he believes.”
“But I know it upsets him that you haven’t really met his daughter yet. You haven’t, have you?”
Peter picks up the bag, carefully settling it carefully on his shoulder. “Ellie. She’s adorable. She’s the best combination of her father’s attitude and her mother’s looks.”
“She’s been around for seven months and he said that you didn’t want to hold her. We suggested you didn’t want to mess with her pack scent, but I don’t know if he believed it.” Stiles wipes his eyes and says, “She’s changed so much since she was born and she’s hardly even a baby any more, they grow so fast. And you didn’t even want to hold her!”
“Darling, your hormones,” Peter sighs, using a thumb to wipe away a tear on Stiles’ cheek. “Come on, love, we have what we need and it’s time to go.”
“Garth and Bess and Ellie, they convinced us to give it a try,” Stiles says, rubbing his belly. Cause they’re so great together.” He takes Peter’s arm and turns towards the front of the alley. Suddenly the silence ends and the street noises are back with a pop. “There’s your reasons. Because Garth’s pack and we’ll do anything necessary for our pack. Even inviting in hunters.”
It’s a short walk to their van, parked only a few blocks away. Peter and Stiles walk in the front, heads together, whispering to each other.
“What do ya think?” Dean asks his brother as they walk. “I mean, not stay at the pack house, but…”
“At the motel we’re at, sure. If you think we should,” Sam says. The couple in front are holding hands. Sam can’t remember the last time he held hands with someone. “We could. We could stay at the house, I know there’s guest rooms. Nothing much is going on that can’t wait. We could rest up, visit with Garth and his family for a bit. Let the younger guys take a crisis or two.”
“Younger guys?” Dean snorts. He didn’t realize they’d parked so far and his knee is starting to hurt, although he’d never say so out loud. “Sure, yeah. I mean, maybe we can learn something while we’re here. About wolf packs and whatever the hell Stiles is.”
“We’ll let you know as soon as we have it figured out,” Peter answer, unlocking the doors and helping Stiles climb in, over the younger man’s protests.
“Coming over for a nightcap?” Stiles asks, looking in the rear view mirror as the Winchesters belt up. They’ve learned the car does not move until seat belts are on.
“I think so.” Dean nods at his brother, stretching out his legs. “I’m sure everyone’ll want to get an update and we can’t have you two taking all the credit.”