sassiopath | Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly: For Haled

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Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly: For Haled

This was a bad idea. Peter was pretty sure of this. Even if it was just Derek crashing there a few days, it meant them living together. In the former home of a woman he'd killed. Somewhere deep down, he knew this was a bad idea.

Yet he'd invited him nonetheless.

Unlocking the door, he made sure everything was clean and neat. It was all elegant in white and grey and oyster with a fireplace where earlier he'd built a fire, a massive desk tucked into one corner and a rather expensive computer set up that hadn't come with the place when he'd "inherited" it.

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Derek was silent for a few moments before he finally nodded in response, looking at Peter.

"If you're serious about trying, yeah." Family probably didn't mean as much to either of them as it used to. Not in the same way, at least. And Derek didn't doubt the possibility of Peter betraying him even if he did try to help.

He was still offering anyway. Peter was all he had left.

He was quiet, toying with his bottle. He thought about what he should say, and how to handle this. Did he leave it alone and not mention Laura ever? Would Derek prefer that?

He decided to follow Derek's lead and not say a word.

"So... How goes things with you and the beta," he asked suddenly, changing directions to the living and not the dead.

Honestly, Derek would have preferred to not talk about Laura or the rest of their family. The loss was something he locked away because it just felt easier to deal with things like that.

It was either that or he ran the risk of snapping one day.

The sudden change of subject wasn't as disarming as it felt like it should've been. "Things are good. He's not seeing the apartment until everything's there, though. I don't know how much he appreciates that."

It was a loss that Peter felt though, and because of his actions he had no one he could ever talk to about it. That was the hardest part for him. He knew he couldn't talk to anyone about things, but he was entirely and completely without anyone he could talk to about what drove him, the screams he'd heard, and all he had lost.

"He'd help you, you know," he pointed out. "Least he seems the type. So... puppyish."

Derek would potentially be willing to talk to Peter about it, to listen to his side of things. But, right then, with everything still so fresh, he couldn't. It didn't all have to do with Peter. Part of it was the fact that he never did give himself the time to really mourn Laura and it was something he was still putting off. Like he had to find the right time to manage it.

"I know he would, but I'm trying to prove that he can depend on me," Derek replied, shrugging.

"That's a sentiment I can understand. Something we don't have now," he admitted, thinking back to times before the fire. There had always been a family to rely on, a pack that a person could turn to.

"What is it you want, Derek?"

He nodded at that because it was the truth. With Derek as the alpha and the lacking bit of pack they did have, there was nothing near the sense of togetherness or stability they'd had before the fire.

There was a long few moments of silence after the question as Derek looked at Peter. "I'd like to be able to depend on you at some point. Or to trust you and have you depend on me."

And it was something that Peter didn't believe they would ever have. The family was dead. The people they loved gone. How could they have back everything they lost considering?

He heard what Derek said, actually listening. "And do you think those things are possible? Derek, what happened to me doesn't get cured." He'd had a snap, and didn't believe he could ever wholly heal."

There was no faith in getting things back, but Derek did have some hope that he could build something new. He couldn't replace his family. That wasn't going to happen. But, forming a new pack and having people around him that he could eventually learn to trust sounded like a good idea.

"Even if I can't depend on you because of that, it doesn't mean you can't depend on me at some point." Which was what his role should've been from the moment he became alpha, after all. Someone the rest of the pack could depend on.

Peter wanted more. He had to focus on more than the idea that there was nothing but these two men and a burned out shell of a home. If he focused only on that, the crack that ran through his mind would only considered to widen until there was no crossing that chasm.

"Derek, let's be honest. You're going to support your pack, but just like them you don't see me as part of that even if you're my alpha." That he knew, and would accept. For the time being.

"Maybe not right now." Derek was at least going to be honest about things, even if the potential for driving more of a wedge between them was there. Lying about things would've just been a quick way to end anything decent between them and he wasn't looking to do that.

"Things can change. I don't plan on cutting you out. I'd eventually like you to be part of my pack." That was assuming he ever managed to keep enough betas around to build one.

"Things are changing. That is something we have to face." All the threats around them, their own differences aside, there was more they had to worry about than just what Peter was capable of.

"What do you consider me now then," he asked, curious where he stood in Derek's eyes.

All he could do was nod at that because it was the truth. Unless Peter was going to turn on them right in the middle of dealing with bigger threats, is uncle wasn't the biggest worry right then. And, even if that was going to happen, it wasn't like it was something Derek could predict.

"An ally," he replied. If he considered Peter anything else, he doubted he would've been sitting at the table with him.

"Good. With this pack coming in, you're going to need all the allies you have." He paused then because his next words might seem harsh, but they were honest. "Because you don't have many. You need to try and work on McCall."

And it was his fault McCall wouldn't speak to him. Therein lay the rub.

While Scott wasn't speaking to him, Derek was also not speaking to Scott. He understood why Scott was against joining his pack and he knew that they needed to be one group that at least cooperated if they wanted to get rid of the alphas.

But the fact that Scott had used him in his plan against Gerard without a word and then gone on to snub him about being part of his pack yet again... well, Derek had no problem with staying away from him for the time being. Peter reminding him that he needed to make the effort at some point had Derek resting an elbow on the table as he massaged the spot between his eyes.

"Yeah, I know McCall and I need to be on the same page. I've gotta work on it."

"You do. Sadly I don't think he'll listen to me," he said, not sounding the least bit upset. He'd violated the boy and still didn't entirely see anything wrong with what he had done. Of course, who he'd chosen, that was another story. He really should have just gone for Stilinski.

"Even if he's not with you, you need to make sure he's not against you."

Falling silent again, considering. "And you need to expand the pack, but we've discussed this."

What Derek didn't see was why Scott thought being a werewolf was such a horrible thing. He understood being upset about getting the bite without warning, but he couldn't see where it was a bad thing. Then again, he and Scott rarely saw eye to eye on anything, so it wasn't all that curious.

"I know. The last thing I need is having him across from me instead of beside me when this goes down."

He let out a soft sigh as he lifted his head to look at Peter. "Yeah, we have. That's what I'll be doing once the apartment is set up."

That was something Peter and Derek could agree on. He may have gone about it in the wrong ways, but it was a gift he'd given to McCall. One he was wasting in Peter's honest opinion.

"If he makes that choice, you can't hesitate, Derek. You have to be set to deal with his choices."

Which led him to another thought that needed to be broached. "Speaking of choices... What about Whittemore?"

Derek would've agreed with that. Scott was wasting something amazing and dealing with it frustrated him. How anyone could neglect something as good as what had been given to him was beyond Derek.

"I know that, too." There wasn't much else to say to that. He didn't really like the idea of having to get Scott out of his way if they didn't see eye to eye when push came to shove.

"What about him?"

Peter suspected that if it came to it, he would be the one handling McCall. It was his beta, if technicalities were counted. Not to mention he was the one willing to handle things when they needed to get ugly.

"Just that he's your beta. What are you going to do about him?"

It would've been better, in that case. Derek was reluctant to do anything to Scott if he could help it, even after what he'd done and how back and forth they were with each other. He still hoped that he was going to come around one day.

Derek sighed at the thought of Jackson. "See if he wants to join the pack. If he doesn't, that's it. I don't have time to waste on trying to get him to listen to me when he's almost as bad as Scott."

“Derek, no. He’s not. Scott was attacked and brought to this life. Jackson came to you. He asked for it. This was the life he wanted. Be his alpha, and if he doesn’t want to listen, take him in hand and make him.”

He believed that. He believed it of McCall as well, though he knew Derek wouldn’t do that to Scott.

“Be his alpha, Derek.”

It was different with Scott. He wasn't Scott's alpha and that made a difference. And he hadn't wanted to be his alpha. Derek had wanted them to work side by side, to help Scott learn what it was to be a werewolf, but that clearly wasn't happening. Not then. Possibly not ever.

But Peter was right about Jackson. He'd come to him, asked for the bite.

"Alright. You're right." It was getting a little less painful to actually say those words. "I'll go to him soon."

Peter thinks those words should be said so often. They were glorious words. Not to mention that, at this time, he truly was right.

"It's what I would have done for Scott but, you know, no longer an alpha."

That was only slightly rude, right?

"Good then. You'll need him."

It was only a little rude and it didn't bother Derek at all. Rather, it had him rolling his eyes and overlooking what he'd said in favor of focusing on the next thing with a nod.

"I'll need anyone I can get. You can say it. I already know."

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