Soulmates | Derek Hale - Chapter 48: Chapter 48

Derek walked into the empty living room with a deep sigh, he had spent hours at Deaton's trying to get Maeve to wake but she showed no signs of it.
Luna quietly entered the living room, hesitantly approaching her father, "Somethings wrong, isn't it?"
Derek smiled sadly, holding out his arms which Luna rushed to be in, "Why are you still awake?"
"Florence has been crying for the past hour she won't shut up - we've tried everything," Luna mumbled into his shoulder, "Nana Lorraine said she's never babysitting again if she keeps crying."
Much to the whole house's astonishment, Florence stopped crying once in Derek's arms. Lorraine had took one look at them and stalked off in search of wine, mumbling curses under her breath.
Derek gently rocked Florence in Luna's room as his eldest climbed into bed, staring at him expectantly, "Are you going to tell me what's wrong or am I going to have to ask Stiles."
Derek paused in place, Luna's eyes widened at his reaction.
"Is something wrong with Stiles?" She panicked, "Where's mom."
"Stiles is sick, he's not been sleeping while - he was in the hospital to catch up on some sleep," Derek explained simply, "Your mom... she bumped her head so she's sleeping for a while too."
"How long?" Luna frowned.
"I don't know, Sweetheart," Derek knelt down beside her, "But knowing your mom she'll wake up in a fuss over you lot being under responsibility of my family...."
"Dean gave us pizza for breakfast," Luna yawned, lying back, "I didn't mind... grandma Talia wasn't very happy."
Derek smiled, switching off her nightlight, "Go to sleep, Lu. Everything will be back to normal soon."
"Promise?" Luna whispered.
Derek reluctantly nodded, "Promise."
—
Maeve wanted to scream. It was like the alternate reality wasn't harsh enough, the trick had stepped up a notch. This was real, she was sure of it. With her memories intact, Maeve remembered this day clearly.
The day she turned into a werewolf was traumatic, by the time the moon was up Maeve was sprouting claws and fangs and was certain her aunt would waste no time in killing her.
But it didn't happen.
Instead she found herself running through the woods after a werewolf with Kate, her aunt had her usual malicious smirk as they cornered the young beta.
Maeve's breath hitched as she spotted Derek's familiar glowing blue eyes. Only he didn't recognise her, staring back at her with only fear.
Kate pointed the barrel of her gun closer to Derek's face, he scrambled back against a tree - behind him were cliffs, he was well and truly trapped.
Maeve glanced between them, shakily asking her aunt, "What are you doing?"
Kate tossed the gun towards Maeve, scoffing as Maeve dropped it to the floor before she could even catch it, "Pick it up, idiot."
Maeve scowled, picking the gun up, gasping as Kate grabbed onto her arms, turning them to face Derek.
"You're going to shoot him," Kate demanded, "And you're going to do it before you can run away like last time."
Maeve struggled under Kate's tight grip, "No, Kate, stop-"
Maeve felt her finger on the trigger, squeezing her eyes shut.
"Don't be such a baby Maeve, this is who you are - who we are," Kate drawled, her nails digging into Maeve's hands as they pointed the gun at Derek, "Shoot him."
"Shoot him!"
Maeve's eyes shot open with the gun, her entire being shattering seeing Derek fall back in agony. Maeve dropped the gun to the floor, stepping back with a sob. She'd hurt the one person she'd loved most.
Young Derek suddenly faded to the Derek she knew, Kate was gone and they were alone in the preserve. Maeve felt her heart drop, watching her husband bleed out on the grass.
She rushed forward, falling down beside him, "Derek? Derek! Oh god- Derek? I'm so sorry."
Maeve fell prey to the panic - maybe this was real...maybe this were her Derek. Her Derek bleeding out in front of her.
"Maeve-" Derek wheezed, blood trickling down the side of his mouth.
"Please don't die," Maeve cried, scrambling around in her pockets for her phone, "Keep breathing, I'll call for help!"
Her vision blurred at the blood oozing onto the floor, barley hearing Derek as he called out, "Maeve."
Maeve glanced back at Derek, gasping in shock at the blood reversing from the floor and back into his healing wound.
"This isn't real."
Maeve launched forward, gasping for a breath. She glanced around her surroundings, she was at the loft - everything appeared normal.
She was on the couch, the loft was oddly quiet - with its many inhabitants the loft was a chaotic place.
Maeve slowly pushed off the couch, the kids were probably at home - it would explain the quietness.
Wandering upstairs Maeve listened into the childlike chatter, making her way towards Luna's old room.
Maeve felt all the air leave her chest as she pushed open the door, her eyes landed on her daughter, thankfully appearing to be safe - but as Maeve looked to the girl next to Luna, she knew her world had spun on its axis.
Luna glanced at her mother, putting down the barbie doll in her hand, "Mom? You okay?"
Maeve couldn't form words, tears fell down her cheeks as she took in the small girl beside Luna, golden hair like her sister... and hazel eyes like her father.
This was undoubtedly her baby girl. The baby they had lost years ago.
"Rosie?" Maeve called out to the younger girl, her breath hitched as the girl turned and smiled up at her.
Rosie looked just as Maeve thought she would, and that made it hurt far more. She'd spent hours dreaming of what she would look like, how she would act or talk - this just confirmed it.
Maeve took a deep breath, avoiding Rosie's curious stare, "Luna, where's your dad?"
Luna looked at her mom blankly, standing slowly, "Mom, are you alright? Dads gone."
"Gone where?" Maeve questioned, her voice a whisper.
Maeve's silent tears turned to a sob as Rosie stood up, running around the toys to hug her mother. Maeve's shaking arms held her daughter close, treasuring the hug she would've never gotten.
"He's at his flat," Luna frowned, "He left after you split up. Are you sure you're okay?"
Maeve wiped away her tears, nodding as she reluctantly let go of Rosie, "I'm gonna go outside for a moment."
Maeve couldn't bare to be in that room anymore, she couldn't hear Rosie talk or watch her and Luna play. As real as the hug was, Maeve knew it was her imagination. She couldn't fall prisoner to an impossible dream.
Maeve hurried out of the room on numb legs, trying to breathe through a panic attack. She practically fell back through her bedroom door, only to be engulfed in darkness yet again.
—
When Maeve woke again, her vision blurred to reveal Derek's panicked eyes staring back at her.
She looked around frantically, almost sliding off the table in Deaton's clinic. Maeve spotted her mother and Laura stood with Archie, both looking horrified.
Maeve flinched at Derek's touch as he reached out to help her sit up, Derek blinked in surprise as she choked on a sob, suddenly gripping his hand.
"Is this real?" Maeve asked in barely a whisper, "Derek?"
Deaton looked to her apologetically, telling her slowly, "Its real, Maeve, you're alright."
Maeve slid off the table, Derek quickly caught her as she wobbled, holding her straight in his arms. Maeve broke down as soon as she was in his comforting embrace.
Derek hugged her closer, glancing up worriedly at Alan, "Maeve- "
"What happened, Maeve?" Alan called over gently, "What did you see?"
Maeve was silent, Elizabeth stepped forward quietly, "Sweetheart? It's alright, you can tell us."
"I can't," Maeve said in a broken whisper, "I can't talk about it."
Maeve felt utterly broken. She hadn't felt this hurt in a very long time, she almost didn't know how to react to it.
Derek didn't know how to comfort her, Maeve always, usually loudly, made it known what was upsetting her. The silent upset was always worse.
Maeve suddenly let go of Derek, hurrying out of the clinic despite the calls after her. Derek quickly ran out after her, catching up before she did anything impulsive.
"Maeve!" Laura called after her, frowning as Archie reached out to hold her back.
"Leave her," Archie sighed, "I imagine whatever she was shown, wasn't good."
Laura reluctantly nodded, "But why would someone want to possess Maeve?"
The group shared equally as confused looks, none of them knew - and when hours later when news broke of the same thing happening to Stiles, they would know it wasn't a coincidence.
Maeve made her way to Derek's car like she was on a mission, Derek almost flinched as she whipped around to face him.
"I need to go home," Maeve told him with a strained voice, "I don't want to see anyone but you and the kids."
"Okay," Derek nodded, "Let's go home."
Derek was reluctant to leave Maeve alone whilst he went to pick up Luna, but Lorraine was the only one who looked at Maeve like she wasn't going to cry, so Derek declared her Maeve's babysitter. Not that he'd tell Maeve that.
Despite being home for hours, Maeve couldn't bring herself to let the twins out of sight. Living in a reality where they were just gone made it painful for Maeve to let go. Even Malia watching Isaac a little too intently in the other room couldn't distract Maeve.
Lorraine watched her carefully from the opposite couch, Maeve smiled down at the twins in her lap - but her smile didn't meet her misty eyes.
"They won't disappear, Maeve," Lorraine reminded, even at the thought Maeve cradled the twins closer, "That was a mind game, you said so yourself. Do you want to tell me why you can't look at your husband without looking like you're about to cry?"
Maeve ran a hand over Freddie's black hair, he had fallen into a peaceful snooze against her stomach the moment she sat down. Wide awake, Florence was determined to try and pull off her tiny socks - with a scowl of frustration that made her look so much like her father.
"Maeve?"
Maeve glanced over at Lorraine, "Something happened in my - well, dream."
"What happened?" Lorraine questioned.
"Kate," Maeve sighed, "She made me hurt Derek."
Lorraine frowned knowingly, "Hurt him or kill him?"
Maeve looked away, blinking back the flashbacks of her dream. It truly was watching her worst nightmare over and over.
Thankfully Derek walked through the door, Luna dawdling in behind him, a stack of books up to her chin that didn't fit in her already stuffed school bag.
Luna shoved the books into her fathers hands, sprinting across the room at the sight of Maeve, "Mom!"
Maeve squeezed Luna into a hug with her spare arm, breathing in relief at the presence of her children around her and unharmed, "Hi my darling!"
"I've missed you," Luna hummed, picking up Florence and placing her on her lap as she sat beside Maeve.
Maeve leant her head against the couch tiredly, "Believe me, I've missed you more."
Maeve glanced over at Derek, he simply smiled back - happy to have his family back together.
—
Maeve looked down at her phone for the first time since she'd woken, scrolling through the past few days worth of panicked texts from the pack. Maeve frowned, Stiles was missing?
Derek took a deep breath as Maeve's angry gaze landed on him, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"He didn't want us to," Derek explained, "When he woke up before you the first thing he asked, was for you not to know."
"He's my brother!" Maeve exclaimed, "I deserved to know!"
"You were being freaking tortured, Maeve! You didn't need to know!" Derek shouted back, sighing regretfully, "Look- we didn't want to overwhelm you. What happened to you wasn't easy, you didn't need the extra stress."
"He's not an extra stress he's my brother!" Maeve clenched her fists, "Overwhelm me? I'm not a child!"
Lorraine finally stepped between the couple, eyeing Maeve cautiously, "Maeve, You're not in the right state of mind. You need time-"
"Don't tell me about how I'm feeling," Maeve glared at them both, storming out of the room.
Lorraine sighed, falling back on the couch, "Any ideas on how to handle that one?"
A slam echoed from upstairs causing Derek to shake his head, "Not really."
—
After practically waging war, Maeve had made it to the hospital to see Stiles in peace. If you could call Derek hovering like an anxious mother hen the whole drive there peaceful.
Noah looked away from a sleeping Stiles, smiling sadly at his daughter, "Hey."
Noah hadn't ever felt as helpless as he did when he found out Maeve had been tortured by some dark spirit that he had no idea existed.
"How are you doing?" Noah questioned as Maeve sat down on the armchair beside him.
"Crap," Maeve admitted, "But I'll get there. How's Stiles?"
"Finally getting some rest," Noah sighed, "I just want to know what's happening with him."
Maeve reached out and held his hand, "Me too. We'll find out, human or supernatural. We'll fix it, dad, I promise."
Stiles shifted in his sleep, blearily looking around, "What happened?"
"Get some rest, Stiles," Noah told him softly, standing to ease Stiles back down.
Stiles blinked slowly up at his sister, "Maeve? Are you okay?"
Maeve gently hugged him, pulling his blanket tighter around his shoulders, "I'm okay now, don't worry, you need to rest."
"O-okay," Stiles murmured with a yawn, "I love you."
Maeve sniffed, leaning her head on Noah's shoulder, "I love you too, Stiles."
Maeve tiredly walked out of the hospital, spotting Derek powering up the jeep across the lot. Seeing Stiles safe in the hospital with their dad temporarily eased her worries.
"Do you think he was just sleepwalking? Or is there something more to it?" Aiden questioned, walking to stand against the jeep.
"In this town there's always something more," Derek stated darkly.
"What if I told you I know something more?" Aiden hinted, Derek turned, raising his brows.
Maeve reached them as Aiden explained, "I kind of overheard. Well, I listened in on Stiles talking to Scott. How he thinks he was the one who wrote that message in the Chemistry room. The message telling Barrow to kill Kira."
"You're joking right?" Maeve questioned, chuckling nervously.
"You think Stiles, skinny, defenseless, Stiles is the Nogitsune?" Derek asked in amusement, "A powerful, dark spirit?"
Maeve clutched Dereks hand, Derek glanced down at her, only to frown at the fearful look on her face. Maeve hoped that it wasn't true, but after seeing Stiles whilst unconscious- it was too much of a coincidence.
Aiden stared at Maeve knowingly, "I'm not the only one thinking it. I'm just the only one saying it."
"This thing wants to possess someone and chooses Stiles? Why wouldn't it take someone bigger, stronger? Someone with a little more-" Derek started, falling silent as realisation dawned, "Power."
—
Maeve lay awake that night, her restlessness had attached itself on Derek who had decided a walk on the beach in the middle of the night was the best way forward.
She watched the waves slide in beside their feet, glancing up at her husband, "I think we need to step back from beacon hills."
Derek stood in silence, momentarily shocked by her words.
"Okay."
"Okay?" Maeve repeated, "You don't want to ask why?"
Derek shrugged, "I wanted us to leave the moment things turned bad two years ago."
"Thanks Peter," Maeve grumbled under her breath, looking to Derek seriously, "Honestly, I'm terrified. I just want to wake up each morning and not have to fear for our lives, for our kids lives, our packs lives. If we can get away from it all... maybe it will stop the fear."
"We'll protect them, we always have," Derek assured her, "We've moved and it's only the kids schools here. We don't have to be here or be involved, we can just visit."
Maeve nervously kicked at the sand. "What if things like this keep happening here?"
"We can't protect everyone," Derek reminded, "But we can protect our kids. Scotts coming into his own, Beacon Hills doesn't need two packs protecting it."
"My boss wants me to transfer out of the station in the new year," Maeve informed him, "I was holding off until Scotts dad and his lackeys left. I guess part of me didn't want to face the idea of leaving the station either."
"Your dad will be fine, he's been a sheriff for a long time now," Derek pointed out, "He knows about the supernatural. He's protected."
Maeve nodded in agreement, "But we need to teach Scott as much as we can."
"We already have," Derek argued, glancing up at the crescent moon shining onto the water, "How much longer do we need to stay here before one of us seriously gets hurt? I'm not saying we abandon Beacon Hills, we just take a step back."
His wife was traumatised, from something he didn't even know could be possible. Derek would happily leave Beacon Hills in the dust if he knew it would keep her safe.
"Then that's exactly what we will do," Maeve smiled, turning to wrap her arms around him.
Derek sighed, resting his head on hers, "I don't want anything like this to happen to you ever again. What's the real reason you won't talk about what you saw?"
Maeve took a breath, "It was like one long nightmare that I couldn't wake up from. I saw Kate.... she made me hurt you, I thought I'd killed you."
Derek glanced down at her in shock, "Is that why you were so scared when you saw me?"
"I didn't know what was and wasn't real at that point," Maeve nodded.
"I'm fine Maeve, you didn't hurt me," Derek soothed, "You would never hurt me, you know that."
Maeve hesitated, but kept talking, "I saw Rosie."
Derek's grip on her tightened, "What did you see?"
"Who she would've been," Maeve muttered, "I thought seeing her would help me get closure. But it only made it worse."
"You don't know if what you saw was real," Derek comforted, "There's no way of knowing."
Maeve blinked back her tears, "I know, you're right. It just - it just felt so real."
—
The doctor squinted down at Stiles' patient notes, "I'm not sure I know how to pronounce this. Or if it's not actually a misspelling."
"Just call him Stiles," Noah corrected.
"Okay," the doctor nodded, approaching Stiles, "Stiles, just to warn you, you're going to hear a lot of noise during the MRI. It's due to pulses of electricity going through metal coils inside the machine. Uh, if you want we can get you earplugs or headphones."
"Oh, no, no, I don't need anything," Stiles shook his head nervously.
"Hey, we're just on the other side of that window," Noah comforted with a sad smile, "Okay?"
Noah, Liz and Melissa walked back into the other room. Maeve stood in the doorway, frozen.
Maeve turned, her tears falling as she watched the two best friends hug. The thought of Stiles being sick was too much for Maeve to bear, the thought of Noah loosing his wife and son to the same illness was torture.
As Scott made his way out of the room, Maeve hurried across the room, tugging Stiles into a hug. They hadn't spoken about what had happened over the past few days, but all Maeve cared about now was getting him better.
"Maeve?" Stiles asked quietly.
Maeve smiled sadly, "Yeah?"
"If it's true-" Stiles started.
Maeve jumped in to interrupt, "Stiles."
"If it's true," Stiles repeated, his voice strong despite the tears trying to emerge, "Promise me you'll look after dad."
"I'll always look after dad," Maeve assured him, "We both will be, okay? You're gonna have this test and we'll get you help and you'll be absolutely fine."
—
Maeve's hand tightly held onto Derek's, the other holding softly onto Luna's. The nine year old had kicked up a fuss at being left out, and frankly Maeve felt better having Luna at her side with the oni running about.
The twins were safe with Talia and Lorraine, but Luna was old enough to understand danger, and like her parents, ran to it blindly. Maeve and Derek needed her in sight at all times.
Scott looked up to Derek, "You know the stuff you we're telling me about chemo signals earlier? It reminded me of the time you we're teaching me to use anger to control the shift."
"I think you ended up teaching me more about that," Derek corrected, the both of them smiled.
"Are you teaching me again?" Scott wondered.
"Think of it more like sharing a few trade secrets. You know, we took Cora back to visit South America, right? It's where she spent most of her time after the fire. But that's not the only reason I left," Derek explained.
Scott frowned at the mention of Talia, "Your dead now alive mother?"
"She told me something that changed my perspective on a lot of things. She said that my family didn't just live in Beacon Hills. They protected it. This town needs someone to protect it. Someone like you," Derek informed him.
He may still be an alpha of his own pack, but Derek's priority always fell with protecting his own, not the city.
"And someone like you two to teach me a few trade secrets?" Scott assumed.
Maeve smiled fondly, patting her husbands cheek, "Wise ole, Derek."
Derek rolled his eyes, only to frown as Scott suddenly stood.
"He was trying to protect us. Stiles was protecting us," Scott realised, "From himself."
The doctor avoided eye contact with the family as they reviewed the scans. Maeve knew by the unsteady beating of his heart that he didn't have good news to share.
"See this?" The doctor pointed to the scan, "The tissue here and there. Both those spots are showing signs of atrophy."
Melissa closed her eyes knowingly, taking a deep breath as she shared a look with Elizabeth. Liz reached out to take Maeve's hand, squeezing it comfortingly.
"Atrophy," Noah mumbled.
"I'm sorry," the doctor apologised awkwardly.
Maeve let her tears fall, crouching down as Luna hugged her. Luna didn't know how severely ill her uncle was, but seeing her mom in such a state told her nothing good.
They looked up as the lights flickered in the room, Luna hugged her mother tighter, "What was that?"
"It sounded like a power surge," the doctor suggested.
Maeve clutched Luna in her arms, looking around suspiciously as sparks flickered from the lights as they turned back on.
Noah turned to check on Stiles, leaning closer to the glass in shock as they found Stiles no where to be seen, "Where's my son?"
—
Maeve watched her mother's car drive away, it had taken much convincing for Luna to leave with her grandmother but with today's events feeling awfully familiar Maeve knew Luna wouldn't be safe here.
As she turned to walk across the parking lot, she stumbled to a stop as her cousins shout echoed across the lot, "Isaac!"
Maeve gasped as she watched Isaac fall into the water, electricity seizing his body. She ran across the lot to where Allison had fallen, helping her stand as Derek and Scott rushed to Isaac.
She couldn't bare to look, it was like watching one of her one children get hurt.
"Isaac?" Derek crouched down in the water, checking Isaac's pulse, "He's not breathing. Scott, he's not breathing!"
Scott looked around in panic as Derek continued to shout, "Scott, he's not breathing!"