A Banquet of Consequences
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Summary: Derek fights for control.
Note: Sequel to Love is Just a Bloodsport. AU take on the Hale house fire and its consequences. Title from a Robert Louis Stevenson quote.
A Banquet of Consequences
They’re hurling their bodies down the freeway
to the smell of gasoline,
which is the sound of a voice saying I told you so.
Yes you did, dear.
{Driving, Not Washing by Richard Siken}
Derek gets called to the principal’s office in the middle of history. It’s the last class of the day so he grabs his backpack, stuffing the textbook in it as he walks down the hall. He grinds his teeth, wondering if Terry ratted him out, if this is about yesterday at lunch, when he shoved Terry hard against the lockers before he reined his wolf in. Or maybe it was Michelle with her hand slipping in around his thigh under the desk, and how he squeezed her wrist so hard it bruised almost instantly and he had to bolt to the bathroom before his fangs surfaced.
He’s getting better at handling the wolf that’s woken up in his chest but he still loses control sometimes. It’s easier at home, where he can let slip a flash of fang or fur without fearing for his life, where instead he’ll get a steadying hand on his shoulder and a breathe through it, find you anchor.
It’s not so hard with Kate, either. With her, they’re in the dark, her eyes are closed, his face is in her shoulder, and if his face shifts or his nails dig a little too deep into her skin, neither of them notice. She steadies him, steadies the wolf, and when he kisses her, his Alpha’s voice ringing in his ears - breathe it out - kisses her shoulder, her neck, her breasts, he thinks about anchors and oceans and drowning.
But at school it’s a constant battle for control. The incessant chaos whirling around him - all the noises, smells, movements - overwhelm him and leave him reeling, slouched in chairs, leaning against lockers or crouched over the bathroom sink. It’s like he’s six all over again, first day at school and screaming because it’s too much. Only now instead of screaming he’s pushing back, he’s hurting people, and the wolf is taking the reins before he even knows what’s what.
Because while he’s always been a werewolf, now that he’s blooming the wolf has stirred, has started stretching inside his chest and clawing out of him, nails curving and teeth lengthening. Now he understands why Laura was on a hair-trigger when she went through it, running off into the woods for stillness and quiet. Were-puberty is a bitch.
So he doesn’t know why he’s been called into the principal’s office, but he knows it’s not going to be just him and the principal. He knocks once and steps in, expecting an accusatory face waiting for him in one of the chairs, but what he sees instead is Kate. His stomach drops. Words like statutory rape and corruption of a minor squeeze the air out of his lungs. His fangs bite at the corners of his mouth.
He turns around - too fast, slow down - and closes the door carefully, inch by inch, eyes on his hands and his nails and stay human, stay anchored, stay, stay, stay calm. He lets go of the doorknob and his hands stay human. He turns back to face the office and his teeth are blunt.
The principal gestures for him to sit in the chair beside Kate and when he does, she leans over and puts her hand on his shoulder. He almost flinches, eyes glued to the principal in front of him, waiting for the frown.
Kate squeezes his shoulder and says, “Hey, cousin.” The blip in her heartbeat grounds Derek more than her touch does. He’s never heard her lie before.
She lies through the rest of the meeting.
Sitting in her car fifteen minutes later, Kate turns to him and grins. “Not a bad story, huh?” She means the doctor’s appointment she’s supposed to be taking him to and the family crisis that meant no one else but Derek’s cousin was available to take him. She laughs and tells him what she thinks of his school (godawful colour scheme) and his principal (pretty thick) and Derek just closes his eyes and listens to her steady heartbeat until they’re out of the parking lot.
“It’s a lot of trouble to go through for a booty call,” he says, because he still doesn’t know what Kate is doing here.
She glances at him, her face suddenly serious. “It certainly is,” she murmurs, and though her heart stays true Derek knows she means something else entirely. Kate checks her watch and coaxes speed out of her car. Derek watches her and doesn’t say anything else.
The first ambulance passes them five minutes later. Kate pulls to the shoulder and watches it get larger in the rearview mirror. She waits until the ambulance takes a right two blocks ahead before pulling the car back into traffic. The second ambulance races up ten minutes after that, wailing down a parallel street in the opposite direction. Kate grips the steering wheel harder and steps on the accelerator.
By then, Derek can smell the smoke. He twists in his seat and looks out the window, but the sky he sees is clear. Then Kate takes a right and he sees it, a black cloud rising up through the trees on the edge of town, and with a lurch Derek realizes where the fire is.
“Kate,” he whispers.
“I know.”
Derek’s eyes are glued to the sky. “Kate.”
The needle on the speedometer twitches to the right and they bullet down the street.
“My house is on fire.” He says the words even though they don’t make sense.
“I know,” repeats Kate, and this time Derek hears her.