Just like old times
Also at AO3.
Teen Wolf, gen, rated PG-13.
Written for a prompt from jyorraku on tumblr, who wanted Kate as an alpha. Diverges from S1E10.
Warnings: violence, torture, references to underage relationships.
Peter Hale is insane.
When you first realized he was the alpha, that night in the hospital with Stiles, you didn't realize exactly how little of his humanity was left. He was dangerous, he was angry, he was a little unhinged -- all of these things you realized, but you thought he was still rational. That's why you went along with him, at first, why you went with him to visit Scott. You knew Peter wanted Kate Argent dead and so did you, so it was easy to get back into your old role as a beta and follow his lead.
When he showed up in the basement where Kate was holding you captive, you thought he was going to free you and kill her. It's what you would have done, if you were him.
Instead, he killed all of her backup and chained her up next to you, silencing your protests with a roar.
You wanted Kate to suffer, you wanted her dead, but you didn't want to hang chained next to her while Peter slowly and carefully sliced her open -- enough to hurt, enough to bleed, but not enough to kill her. Once upon a time, you thought hearing Kate scream in agony would make you feel better. Once upon a time, Peter was your favorite uncle.
When the smell of Kate's blood was so strong in the room it almost overpowered the lingering scent of ash, Peter pulled his claws out of her flesh and leaned in close to her ear. "My family died in this room, did you know that?" he asked her. "You probably think you know what burning flesh smells like. Do you know what it smells like to a werewolf?"
Kate spat in his face.
You don't know what you were expecting, but you didn't expect Peter to snarl, his jaw elongating, and bite deep into Kate's neck.
It's been three hours since then, and you know now that Peter Hale is absolutely, irrevocably insane. Kate has been unconscious since the bite, but Peter won't release you from the chains. He'd heard Kate taunting you, he knows your secret, and he's going to make you pay for it almost as much as her. After all, he'd told you, he can always make a new pack. A fresh start of things, nobody from his past left to get in the way.
When you got caught, you had hoped that Scott would find you and get you out. Now, you hope Scott's sensible enough to stay away.
You're alone, for now -- the bodies of the hunters Peter killed are piled up at your feet, but Peter is gone. You're pretty sure he's gone to buy gasoline. For a while, you listened to Kate's heartbeat getting weaker and weaker as the blood drained out of the cuts on her body and the venom from the bite attacked her cells, but about an hour ago, instead of fading to nothing, her heartbeat started to get stronger. You glance sideways at her -- her skin is nearly in one piece again. When she takes a deep breath in and opens her eyes, you ask, "How's it feel to be a monster?"
She winces, nostrils flaring, and you watch as she struggles with your voice sounding so loud in her ears, with the scent of blood from the hunters' bodies thick in her nose. Both of you freeze when you hear footsteps approaching. Peter wastes no time covering the bodies in front of you in gasoline, then spreading it around the room. "You're awake," he observes. "Just in time. You know, I could have killed you earlier." He shoots a pointed glance at you. "Both of you. But then I thought, wouldn't this be a great opportunity for a little karmic retribution? To die the same way as all the innocent people you killed has a certain poetic justice. Now that you've turned, you'll even get to experience having your skin burn and heal and burn again until you can't heal anymore. I must say I'm quite pleased with how this has all turned out."
You struggle with the chains, but Peter never turned off the electricity and it keeps you too weak to break the cuffs. He smiles as he tosses a match onto the pile of bodies, and then you're struggling for real, unable to shift, hoping the fire fries the generator before it gets to you. You can see Peter's face flickering from the other side of the flames, and you think this is it, that you're going to die for real this time. Then his face changes, suddenly surprised, and you realize that Peter made a miscalculation. The electricity keeps you from shifting and breaking your chains, but Kate? Kate's not hooked up. She was human when he chained her, and the chains were more than enough on their own.
The few moments Peter is frozen in surprise when Kate breaks out of the chains are just enough time for her to cross the room, and her training in hand-to-hand combat as a human pays off when she ducks his attack and spins around, clawing his throat open before he realizes she's gotten inside his guard. The flames leap higher and you can't see anymore; you keep struggling even though it's fruitless, the heat of the fire starting to make your skin blister. You close your eyes to let the inevitable happen.
All of a sudden, you're free, hauled away from the fire coughing and choking. Your eyes blink open and there's Kate, holding the chains in one hand and your arm in the other, that same infuriating grin on her face but her eyes blazing red. "Aw, sweetie," she says, "you didn't think I was going to let you die, did you?"
***
It's funny, how easily Kate adapts to becoming a werewolf. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," she says when you ask her about it, and you realize that for Kate it's always been about power. As a hunter, she killed because it made her feel strong, and killing the strongest wolves just meant she was better than all of them. As an alpha, she's still stronger and more powerful than all of you. You know, because you've tried to kill her, several times since she became alpha. She's stronger, faster, and smarter than you, and she's got a lifetime of tricks up her sleeve. Tricks like getting her niece on her side, to lure in Scott. Tricks like seducing teenagers to secure their goodwill. Tricks like putting you in a position where you can't say anything against her without revealing your past, and somehow that's still so shameful that you can't bring yourself to do it.
After a while, you don't even try anymore.
After a while, you're just Kate's dog on a leash. Just like old times.
This entry was originally posted at http://marmolita.dreamwidth.org/6051.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Teen Wolf, gen, rated PG-13.
Written for a prompt from jyorraku on tumblr, who wanted Kate as an alpha. Diverges from S1E10.
Warnings: violence, torture, references to underage relationships.
Peter Hale is insane.
When you first realized he was the alpha, that night in the hospital with Stiles, you didn't realize exactly how little of his humanity was left. He was dangerous, he was angry, he was a little unhinged -- all of these things you realized, but you thought he was still rational. That's why you went along with him, at first, why you went with him to visit Scott. You knew Peter wanted Kate Argent dead and so did you, so it was easy to get back into your old role as a beta and follow his lead.
When he showed up in the basement where Kate was holding you captive, you thought he was going to free you and kill her. It's what you would have done, if you were him.
Instead, he killed all of her backup and chained her up next to you, silencing your protests with a roar.
You wanted Kate to suffer, you wanted her dead, but you didn't want to hang chained next to her while Peter slowly and carefully sliced her open -- enough to hurt, enough to bleed, but not enough to kill her. Once upon a time, you thought hearing Kate scream in agony would make you feel better. Once upon a time, Peter was your favorite uncle.
When the smell of Kate's blood was so strong in the room it almost overpowered the lingering scent of ash, Peter pulled his claws out of her flesh and leaned in close to her ear. "My family died in this room, did you know that?" he asked her. "You probably think you know what burning flesh smells like. Do you know what it smells like to a werewolf?"
Kate spat in his face.
You don't know what you were expecting, but you didn't expect Peter to snarl, his jaw elongating, and bite deep into Kate's neck.
It's been three hours since then, and you know now that Peter Hale is absolutely, irrevocably insane. Kate has been unconscious since the bite, but Peter won't release you from the chains. He'd heard Kate taunting you, he knows your secret, and he's going to make you pay for it almost as much as her. After all, he'd told you, he can always make a new pack. A fresh start of things, nobody from his past left to get in the way.
When you got caught, you had hoped that Scott would find you and get you out. Now, you hope Scott's sensible enough to stay away.
You're alone, for now -- the bodies of the hunters Peter killed are piled up at your feet, but Peter is gone. You're pretty sure he's gone to buy gasoline. For a while, you listened to Kate's heartbeat getting weaker and weaker as the blood drained out of the cuts on her body and the venom from the bite attacked her cells, but about an hour ago, instead of fading to nothing, her heartbeat started to get stronger. You glance sideways at her -- her skin is nearly in one piece again. When she takes a deep breath in and opens her eyes, you ask, "How's it feel to be a monster?"
She winces, nostrils flaring, and you watch as she struggles with your voice sounding so loud in her ears, with the scent of blood from the hunters' bodies thick in her nose. Both of you freeze when you hear footsteps approaching. Peter wastes no time covering the bodies in front of you in gasoline, then spreading it around the room. "You're awake," he observes. "Just in time. You know, I could have killed you earlier." He shoots a pointed glance at you. "Both of you. But then I thought, wouldn't this be a great opportunity for a little karmic retribution? To die the same way as all the innocent people you killed has a certain poetic justice. Now that you've turned, you'll even get to experience having your skin burn and heal and burn again until you can't heal anymore. I must say I'm quite pleased with how this has all turned out."
You struggle with the chains, but Peter never turned off the electricity and it keeps you too weak to break the cuffs. He smiles as he tosses a match onto the pile of bodies, and then you're struggling for real, unable to shift, hoping the fire fries the generator before it gets to you. You can see Peter's face flickering from the other side of the flames, and you think this is it, that you're going to die for real this time. Then his face changes, suddenly surprised, and you realize that Peter made a miscalculation. The electricity keeps you from shifting and breaking your chains, but Kate? Kate's not hooked up. She was human when he chained her, and the chains were more than enough on their own.
The few moments Peter is frozen in surprise when Kate breaks out of the chains are just enough time for her to cross the room, and her training in hand-to-hand combat as a human pays off when she ducks his attack and spins around, clawing his throat open before he realizes she's gotten inside his guard. The flames leap higher and you can't see anymore; you keep struggling even though it's fruitless, the heat of the fire starting to make your skin blister. You close your eyes to let the inevitable happen.
All of a sudden, you're free, hauled away from the fire coughing and choking. Your eyes blink open and there's Kate, holding the chains in one hand and your arm in the other, that same infuriating grin on her face but her eyes blazing red. "Aw, sweetie," she says, "you didn't think I was going to let you die, did you?"
***
It's funny, how easily Kate adapts to becoming a werewolf. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," she says when you ask her about it, and you realize that for Kate it's always been about power. As a hunter, she killed because it made her feel strong, and killing the strongest wolves just meant she was better than all of them. As an alpha, she's still stronger and more powerful than all of you. You know, because you've tried to kill her, several times since she became alpha. She's stronger, faster, and smarter than you, and she's got a lifetime of tricks up her sleeve. Tricks like getting her niece on her side, to lure in Scott. Tricks like seducing teenagers to secure their goodwill. Tricks like putting you in a position where you can't say anything against her without revealing your past, and somehow that's still so shameful that you can't bring yourself to do it.
After a while, you don't even try anymore.
After a while, you're just Kate's dog on a leash. Just like old times.
This entry was originally posted at http://marmolita.dreamwidth.org/6051.html. Please comment there using OpenID.