Chapter Text
Halloween
Stiles ran.
He ran, as he never did before.
Normally he would be with his friend running away from the big bad of the week.
However, today he ran alone.
Today he was running from his brother.
Nothing could have prepared Stiles for the pain of Scott's betrayal.
His arm was red from the blood spilled in his house. Claw marks ran from his shoulder to his wrist, gaping holes. It would leave a scar. His bare feet were bleeding from cuts, that’s what he got running through the trees without shoes. His cell phone was left on the kitchen counter, where his father would probably find it among the broken dishes and food thrown on the floor. He hoped that his father wouldn’t have to find his body in the woods.
Stiles was alone.
His only chance was to get to Nemeton.
After the disaster that was the Nogitsune, Stiles found comfort in the big stump in the middle of the woods. Something about the place called to the boy. And it was there that he went when Scott started to look at him like prey.
What Scott didn't know, was that Stiles realized more than he let on to others.
He knew, the same day the Nogitsune was defeated, and Stiles breathed free for the first time in months, only to find his friend's cold eyes in front of him. Knew when Allison survived, with a few scars to tell the story, and a burning hatred towards the vessel of the fox. That day Scott had started looking at his childhood friend as a threat. Erica, Boyd and Isaac left town shortly after to look for their Alpha. Derek hadn't been there for the shit show. Stiles wasn’t going to lie and say that his absence didn’t hurt a little, but he understood that the man wasn’t ready to come back to his hometown, and at least he sent help.
The boy tried to always remember that when the pain of being alone threatened to drown him. He still remembers the shattered look on Derek’s face when Scott forced him to bite Gerard, or how depressed the man was during the Alpha Pack attack, he almost lost his betas and his presumed dead sister, and ended up giving up his spark to save all of them. So Stiles could understand the need to run away and stay away, even if he would have appreciated his presence when Scott started listening to Deaton far beyond what was comfortable for anyone.
So Stiles did the only thing he was truly good at: researched.
He began with the story of the Hales. Why was Beacon Hills the place that the family chose so many years ago to establish their pack? He found out about the ley lines that ran through the city, and about the cross of the lines right below the Nemeton. So Stiles knew now why Beacon Hills was, well, a beacon for the supernatural.
He then got in touch with Peter Hale. The two had a strange friendship based on old, obscure books and annoying each other. It was Peter who told Stiles about Derek’s alpha spark being returned to him. Peter kept Stiles in the loop about what was happening with the pack, the pack that Stiles secretly thought of as his.
Afterwards, Stiles began researching the Nemeton and its role in protecting the Hales' territory. More than a giant loudspeaker for supernatural creatures, the Nementon was something like a barrier. Keeping whoever was inside safe, and keeping the world outside oblivious of the power in the city. Once upon a time, Beacon Hills was the epicenter of the supernatural, it was where some long gone supernatural government had established themselves, where creatures lived in relative peace. Where the first Hales commanded the power of their world, helped by the magicks and those who could wield it.
From there it was easy to get lost in the history of the druids and finally understand what the hell it was to be a Spark. Stiles always thought Deaton’s “everyone has a spark” spiel was bullshit. But after all the times that he spent pouring over the books that Peter dug up for him, the boy found out that it was rather rare for a spark to be born. His very existence was something that much of the supernatural world thought of as a fairy tale, and that was a lot for him. His power came from the Earth itself, it was connected with all living beings, it manifested through his belief in life, and it could change anything.
Stiles could feel his power dancing through his body, he trained alone in the middle of the Preserve, with a thought he could make life thrive and in the next second he could erase it from the earth. His fear grew with his power, the fear of losing control of it, the fear of being manipulated to use it for anything other than helping other people, or the worst fear: being lost in his own mind while someone else got access to what lived inside him. So much power left Stiles on the brink of a panic attack. Dreams about the demon fox plague his nights, the fear of something getting hold of his power, twisting the kinds of things he could do, was terrifying. Peter came to the rescue one night, and explained that Sparks - as werewolves - need an anchor, something to keep them in touch with their humanity. Stiles didn't have a doubt what his anchor was, but stayed silent on the phone call. Peter also knew. It didn't need to be spoken out loud.
Instead they talked about the role that Sparks had in the old days of Beacon Hill. Their connection with the Hales and the land. With the Nemeton and its power.
It was also easy to understand that Deaton's role in all the disasters that befell Beacon Hill was greater than he thought. As an emissary of the Hales, Deaton supposedly had a connection to the land, to the Nemeton, to the very magic that surrounded the city. It was his job to place wards and protect the pack in any way, be it by giving counsel or helping in a fight.
Instead, Beacon Hills ended up with a severed Nemeton, a natural magical barrier in shards, and a pack trying to hold itself together by a thread. So Stiles researched how to recover the Nemeton, and how to strengthen the city's barriers so they didn't have to worry about some new monster every week. He found the natural barriers that existed when the Nemeton flourish were sufficient to stop the worst of things, but if there was a strong magic attack involved it would be a little more difficult for them to hold.
That’s why the Hales bound themselves to the land through the Nemeton when they first established themselves on the land. With help of their emissary, the first one being a Spark, they made it their life’s work to protect Beacon Hills.
Scott, on the other hand, spent his days attempting to build a pack. He went to the hospital with his mother and offered the bite to bedridden patients, always young people because he said he wanted a strong pack. He hadn’t forgiven Derek for leaving Beacon Hills, and never thanked the Hale pack for their help in taking down the Nogitsune. The fledgling pack was large and unstable. His wolves were unable to control themselves during the full moon, all while Deaton claimed the lack of control was perfectly normal. So Scott decided to lock up all of them through it. Stiles tried to help them find their anchors, but Scott said he didn’t want him with the betas alone.
After being somewhat content with the number of wolves he gathered (Stiles’ last known number was 15) his mind focused on his relationship with Allison and his new status as the territory's alpha, and then he began cutting Stiles out of the pack's affairs. The young man was not invited to any pack nights or meetings, but they still came to him when they needed information on the monster of the week before leaving without explanation again. Stiles could say he was surprised, but he was really not, actually he was expecting something like that.
He started his own bestiary, within which was all the information he gathered through the years. Whether research or real experience, he protected it with all the spells and data security he could. Danny helped him with the latter, and the two became fast friends. Turns out that Jackson had already told everything to Danny way back when he got the bite. After the whole lizard fiasco, the two of them still kept in contact. With his new friendship with Danny, it was only natural that Stiles started talking with the London wolf too. They didn’t have a friendship per se, but they were cordial, who knew right?
He shared the bestiary online archive with the Hale’s, through Peter of course. Information being added from both sides was a sure thing, with him and Peter constantly updating it with new research. It was a beautiful and priceless thing that became a secret between them.
It was in Peter that Stiles found a sympathetic ear regarding his wildest theories. And it was also from Peter that he received news from Derek and the betas. It was also Peter who kept asking if Stiles was ok alone in Beacon Hills, and what his plans were for after graduation. Peter, who first learned that the boy wasn’t going to college, that he decided to stay in Beacon Hill and keep everyone safe.
Peter went on a tirade about how it absolutely was not Stiles' job to do that, but the Spark disagreed. Every new thing that he discovered further proved to him that his role in the supernatural world was bigger than he had initially thought. And there was also the fact that every degree he researched became uninteresting in light of the supernatural universe he had access to. Even though the wolf wasn't very happy, he was too far away to do anything against it.
Scott meanwhile had become more and more aggressive towards Stiles. His paranoia ordering him to send his wolves to follow the Spark wherever he went. Following suit, Allison would needle him with malicious and petty innuendos whenever he was near, Scott joining in with laughter and cold, calculating red eyes. And Beacon Hills had begun to die.
Stiles took note of the dying trees, the changing weather, and the lack of animals in the preserve. The numbers of creatures with evil intentions getting in the city was increasing, the number of dead and of people moving out too. He and his dad did what they could, but it was difficult to make any difference with Scott breathing down their necks.
He continued to visit the Nemeton, trying to think of what he could do to fix everything. Scott was destroying the Hale’s land and he refused to stand by and let that happen. After all, Derek was his alpha. Always has been and always would be. Not that anyone needed to know that yet. Well, besides Peter fucking Hale, who stuck his finger where he didn't belong.
So, when Stiles stumbled across a piece of information that made his heart hammer in his chest with anxiety and excitement in equal measure, it was Peter that he called first. Stiles planned everything, had prepared for months, with Peter insisting that The Spark wait until the older wolf arrived in Beacon Hills to help or to at least protect Stiles from Scott.
But Stiles didn't have time. He had begun having strange dreams where the Nemeton was bleeding and screaming for help, all while the land became a black mass of destruction, he was certain it was a warning that the town’s time was ending. Peter tried to get Stiles to hold off, told him he was trying to get Derek to return, but that the Alpha wanted to get his pack healthy first and it would take time. Stiles wouldn’t talk to Derek directly, but he couldn’t blame the Alpha if he never wanted to return. Beacon Hill held a lot of bad experiences for all of them and if it was too much then Stiles would understand. Regardless, there was no time to wait, Stiles had to act.
What Stiles wasn't prepared for, was for Deaton and Scott to discover his plan so fast and try to stop him. He also hadn’t thought Scott would come charging in without at least trying to talk to him first. In the end, he still had hope that his friend was that little boy with asthma he met all those years ago.
It was safe to say that his hope was dead.
The boy tripped over a root and heard the wolves howl coming closer.
He was almost there.
When Stiles stumbled into the clearing with the tree stump, he almost cried with relief. All the ritual instruments he had prepared had already been there for days. He chose the Samhain ritual to connect with the Hale’s blood that permeated Beacon Hills.
Stiles only had one chance to connect his Spark with the Nemeton and become the territory's protector. If he couldn't do it, then that was it, he knew he would die. If the ritual worked, Scott wouldn't be able to touch him. Forces greater than the “True Alpha” could understand would protect Stiles.
Most important of all: the territory and the people in it would be protected from Scott until the Hales returned.
Which according to Peter, would happen eventually.
Working quickly, Styles began the ritual. The previously still wind picked up and created a cortex which swirled around the clearing. The wolves howling cut off abruptly, the power within Stiles awakened once again, shining brightly in his mind. Sweating, the boy finished what he had to do and knelt in front of the tree, placing his forehead against the trunk.
“Please. Please . I am trying to help you. I am trying to help all of us.” Stiles sighed the words, struggling to suppress the sobs that wanted to escape.
The wind stopped suddenly and Stiles looked up at the tree in front of him, which was now shining with a translucent lilac light.
“ SPARK .” The sound came from all around, as if a chorus of voices were speaking together. Stiles felt his body relax and the power within him calmed and settled in his veins. “You are now the protector of the Hale’s’ land, and we will be your protectors in turn. While you are on our territory, you will be safe. Leaving here means weakening all our power. Think carefully. Our protection does not make you invincible, merely a force to be reckoned with.”
“Thank you. I will do my best” Stiles replied, oblivious to the tears that ran down his face until they reached the smile that graced his mouth.
With one last breath, the earth stilled and Beacon Hill sighed in peace.