Chapter Text
Stiles freaks out a little bit when he hears Gerard is coming to town.
"Granddaddy hunter? As is the guardian of all supernatural bigotry? He's coming to Beacon Hills?" Stiles asks when Cora breaks the news.
"Yeah," Cora says. "Stiles, it'll be okay."
"Okay?" Stiles asks hysterically. "Last time Peter and I were kidnapped and almost burned alive!"
"To be fair, you set the fire," Cora says. Stiles throws his notebook at her. "Okay, okay! Jeez. Look, you can stay with us. We're all safer together. We'll be ready for anything."
"I can't just leave my dad," Stiles says and shakes his head. "No, I'll batten down the hatches and stay here. You should make sure your emissary is up-to-date on your wards."
"Wards?" Cora asks.
Stiles looks at her incredulously.
"Yes, wards. Protection runes, ringing any bells?" Stiles asks. Cora just looks at him blankly. "Oh good god."
"What?" Cora asks.
"Any emissary worth anything is able to at least do basic protection wards that alert the alpha if anyone enters their territory," Stiles says. "Really strong ones can ward a house to the nines and basically make it impregnable."
"Oh..." Cora says. "I don't know. I mean, mom doesn't exactly share everything with us, but I feel like she'd have told us if she has a supernatural alarm system. I'll have to ask Peter."
"Ask Peter what?" Peter asks, walking in the front door (he's taken to strolling into Stiles' home like it's his own). Cora and Stiles look up from where they're hunched over the kitchen table. "What's going on?"
"Do you know if Deaton has any kind of protection on the house?" Cora asks.
"Protection?"
"Wards, runes, anything like that?" Stiles asks.
"Not that I know of," Peter says. "I can ask Talia though. Why?"
"He definitely should," Stiles says. "Any emissary worth anything does."
Peter frowns.
"Just exactly how vulnerable would we be if he doesn't have anything up?" Peter asks.
Stiles blows out a breath.
"Dude, I've got basic stuff around my house. Burglar deterrents, alerts when someone dangerous is close, even something that can temporarily freeze anyone inside that shouldn't be here," Stiles says. "If he doesn't have even the bare bones on your place, I'd seriously consider have a claw-to-heart talk with him."
"Why Stiles, you're absolutely vicious," Peter says, delighted.
"Look, you've said you don't trust Deaton, right?"
"I don't," Peter says.
"And you?" Stiles asks Cora.
"I don't really deal with him much. Mom trusts him, but I trust Peter's judgement I think...he has a knack for people," Cora says. Peter tries not to preen.
"Ask Talia about wards and have her bring it up to him. If he has nothing up, he better have a damn good explanation as to why," Stiles says.
"How did we not know this is a thing?" Cora asks. "All Peter does is read!"
"There are books that non-magic users can't even read," Stiles says. "Things stay secret for a reason."
Peter, who's basically in charge of the security of the pack, wonders just how vulnerable they are.
-
Gerard arrives in town the Friday before spring break starts. Cora only knows this because in the middle of their math class, she smells wolfsbane. She freezes, her pencil dropping from her hand. Stiles looks over at her, alarm on his face at whatever he sees on hers.
"Cora?" he asks under his breath while Mrs. Collins drones on at the front of the room. "What is it?"
"Someone has wolfsbane close by," she whispers back.
"Is there something you need to share?" Mrs. Collins calls to them, her sour face worse than normal.
"Nope," Stiles says. "Just enjoying the wonderful world of math."
Cora snorts under her breath, but the wolfsbane is stronger than she thought and she immediately starts coughing. She glances around, wondering if it's being filtered in through the vents, when she hears the footsteps outside the door. The smell gets stronger the closer they get, as if whoever it is bathed in wolfsbane that morning. They stop right outside the math door and knock. Mrs. Collins looks frustrated but tells a kid in the front to open the door. Cora does her best to stop her coughing, holding her breath.
"Mrs. Collins," the principal says when the door opens. Mrs. Collins looks visibly surprised to see him there. "This is Mr. Argent, Ms. Argent's father. He would like to have a word with the class about her disappearance."
The principal looks about as happy as a dog getting neutered about having Gerard there, and Mrs. Collins doesn't look much better, but she lets him walk to the front of the class. The man is old and slow, but Cora knows better than to assume he's weak. It's a front, she knows, that a lot of hunters use to throw off their prey. Prey, she scoffs. As if wolves spent any of their lives as prey.
"Good afternoon," Gerard says, voice slimy. No one answers him back. The class is sitting up straighter, as if they know the man in front of them is dangerous, but they aren't sure why their animal hind brain is telling them so. "I'm sure some of you took home economics and know my daughter. She has been missing for quite a few weeks now, and none of the local authorities seem to be doing much on that front."
He looks right at Stiles when he says that. Stiles stares right back at him, chin lifted and defiant.
"I would like to encourage any student with information to step forward. We wouldn't want anything...unfortunate to happen to anyone else."
"Okay then," the principal cut in. "If you have any information about Ms. Argent's disappearance, please report it to the police as soon as possible."
"Report it to me," Gerard says.
"The police," the principal says firmly, though he looks unhappy to be under the older man' scrutiny.
Gerard gives a pointed look to Cora and Stiles before turning on his heel and walking out after the principal. Cora lets out a harsh breath, coughing violently as soon as the door is closed. Stiles thumps her on the back and she feels a bit of tingling that she thinks might be his spark helping to force the wolfsbane from her system.
"Are you all right, Miss Hale?" Mrs. Collins calls, sounding like she couldn't care less.
"Swallowed wrong," Cora gasps out. "Fine."
"Then get back to work."
Stiles is texting furiously under his desk and a few seconds later, Cora's phone buzzes. Stiles has messaged Peter, Derek, Laura, and Cora in a group message.
From: Stiles
Gerard just came to our classroom. Cora coughing from wolfsbane, getting better. Be aware.
From: Laura
What?!?! What did he want?
From: Stiles
He basically threatened us all for info about where Kate went. He knows, the way he looked right at us, he has to know.
From: Peter
Stay put after class. Laura and I are a few rooms down, we'll grab Derek then come get you.
From: Derek
We can't go home. What if he wants to flush us all into one place?
From: Laura
We'll all go to Cora and Stiles' lunch period and deal with it then. For right now, just stay alert.
From: Stiles
If you hear footsteps, hold your breath. Cora's coughing fit was gnarly.
Cora barely pays attention to the rest of the lesson. Her nose and throat are burning from the wolfsbane she'd breathed in, but whatever Stiles did when he rubbed her back seems to helping her body naturally expel the poison. She's lucky that Stiles absently takes notes and will help her out later with any work they go over.
Cora and Stiles pack up as slowly as they can. Mrs. Collins doesn't pay them any mind, sweeping out of the room before anyone else. Peter and Laura arrive a few minutes later, Derek behind them. Peter immediately is over and pulls Cora into a hug. He tilts her head up, listening to her breathing and checking for any sign of a rash.
"Come on," he says when he's done.
They follow Peter to the courtyard. It's early spring, so there are a few students scattered outside. Enough to stop Gerard from coming in guns blazing if he decided to, at least Cora hopes.
"Tell us exactly what he said," Peter says.
Stiles does, as best he can (which is a lot better than Cora could have done). By the end, Peter and Laura are both looking worried. Derek is looking and smelling incredibly guilty.
"It's not your fault," Stiles says abruptly, interrupting whatever Laura and Peter were arguing about. They all look at him, then at Derek, who just shrugs. "They were aiming for your family and would have gotten in one way or another. At least this way we can see them coming."
"If I hadn't - "
"No," Peter says firmly. "An adult took advantage of you. None of this is your fault."
"Dr. Mason says that too," Derek says.
"She's right," Peter says.
"Do we go home?" Cora asks. "It's...exposed here. It's too easy to get one of us alone."
"Call your mom," Peter asks. "See what she wants us to do. If we stay, we're vulnerable. If we leave, they could follow us. I'm sure they know where we live anyway, but still."
Cora pulls out her phone and dials her mom. She has to call twice until she answers the phone.
"What is it?" Talia asks.
"Rude," Cora mutters. "Gerard is here."
"Where? At your school?"
"Yeah. He came into our class and basically threatened everyone for information about Kate."
"And had airborne wolfsbane that gave Cora one hell of a coughing fit!" Stiles says, leaning in to the receiver. Cora pushes him away, mouthing 'tattletale!'.
"Are you hurt?" Talia asks.
"I'm fine. I'm with Laura, Derek, Stiles, and Peter. What do you want us to do? Stay here or go home?"
Talia hums and Cora can picture her frown on the other end of the line.
"We can't leave Stiles either way," Peter says. "There's no way Gerard doesn't know he's associated with us."
"Agreed," Talia says.
"Here," Stiles says, making grabby hands for the phone. Cora hands it over. "Talia, it's Stiles. Do you guys have wards on your house?"
"What?"
"Did Deaton put protection wards up? Any runes, sigils?" Stiles asks.
"No, should he have?" Talia asks.
"Absolutely," Stiles says. "We'll go back to my house. It's protected way more than yours is at the moment."
"I want to talk to you more about this," she says. "I'll be over as soon as I can. Stay safe. I love you all."
They chorus back their I love yous and head toward the front of the school. They stop to look around and make sure they can't smell Gerard anywhere before hurrying out and piling into Stiles' jeep. Cora takes the passenger seat, making Peter, Laura, and Derek squish into the back. She's still coughing a bit and no one argues with her.
"He's watching us," Cora says suddenly. She nods out the side window and sure enough, there is Gerard, watching from a classroom window.
"Let him watch," Stiles says. "He can't do shit right now but try to scare teenagers."
Stiles waves cheerily at Gerard, who glares, and backs his jeep out. He doesn't bother losing the tail they have. They know who he is, they know where he lives, it's not like they won't assume he's going there. They hustle inside and as soon as the door is closed, Stiles pulls out a knife from his pocket and cuts his arm, then smears the blood on his hand and presses it again the closed door. A tingle rushes through Cora the second his hand makes contact.
"What the hell was that?" Laura asks, shivering slightly.
"Those were the wards going up," Stiles says.
"And what does that mean?" Laura asks.
"It's like a magical barrier. Nothing can get in unless I want it to," Stiles says.
Derek and Laura stare at him, eyes wide.
"Magical?" Derek asks. "You can, you're magic?"
"Are you a wizard, Harry?" Laura asks, voice deceptively light.
"No," Stiles says. "I'd just rather go into it when your mom gets here. What matters right now is that we're as safe as we're going to get in Beacon Hills."
"You two aren't shocked. Why aren't you two shocked?" Laura demands of Cora and Peter. They glance at each other before shrugging.
"He told me," Peter says.
"Me, too," Cora says. "Though he had to be drugged up to do it."
"Hey, I was planning on it!"
"Sure."
"Were you ever planning on telling us?" Derek asks.
Stiles looks uncomfortable.
"Not unless I had to," he finally says.
"You know about us, but you don't trust us to do the same?" Laura asks.
"It isn't about that!" Stiles says. "It's dangerous."
"Right, and we know nothing about danger," Derek says sarcastically.
"It's dangerous knowledge to have," Stiles says. "It's not that I don't trust you, it's that one tiny slip up, one mention of it is so goddamn dangerous I can't even describe...look. You know S-scott?"
"The best friend that was bitten that you never want to talk about?" Laura says. "Yeah, you've mentioned him."
"Do you really think I would just abandon my best friend and move across the state? Do you think I would have been like, okay good luck with the hunters, peace out?" Stiles says, his voice scathing. "Scott's dead."
Cora's hit with the overwhelming stench of sadness and guilt rolling off of Stiles so strongly that she nearly gags.
"You've never said that," Laura says softly.
"Shockingly, it isn't something I like to think about," Stiles says. "Scott knew about me and because of that, a witch took him and tortured him to get to me. By the time I got there, he was on her alter and had already bled out."
"Stiles," Derek says softly, reaching out. Stiles lets himself be pulled into a hug, but only half-heartedly returns it. "I'm so sorry. We didn't know."
"I know," Stiles says. "That as kind of the point of moving here."
"What happened to her?" Peter asks.
"What?" Stiles asks.
"The witch, what happened to her?" Peter asks.
Stiles looks him in the eye, his face hard and void of emotion.
"She died," he says coldly.
For the first time, Cora sees Stiles as a predator.