![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
fic snippet for new sterek fic
I need some cheerleading and positive noises. I miss posting stuff in order to garner a little praise that'll keep me going. So I'm trying it this way: here's a little bit of the beginning of a time travel/amnesia story.
notes: I've smudged some canon. timelines will be tweaked and claudia was the Hale emissary until she got sick.
There's not a hint of rain in the air and not one cloud in the sky that night, which makes the crack of lightning all the more surprising. The noise is loud enough to shake the whole house, and the light is nearly blinding, even from within the walls of the Hale home.
Talia is awake immediately, looking over at her husband to see her own worry mirrored in his face.
"That wasn't natural," he says quietly.
Talia's lips are tight. "No, I don't think so, either."
She's already downstairs when the phone rings. She sighs and almost doesn't pick up, but when she does, she's glad of it.
"It's Claudia. I felt… something," the voice says over the line. "I'm coming over."
Talia huffs, amusement and frustration with her emissary warring with each other. "Claudia, just stay home. I'll call you out here if we need you."
"I feel like I should be there," Claudia says stubbornly. "I've been expecting something for days, and now it's here."
Talia narrows her eyes as she takes in the words, watching as her brother and older daughter take their places by her side and wait for her to direct them. "What do you mean you've been expecting something? You didn't think to tell me?"
Claudia huffs. "It was just a feeling. I didn't know how to explain it."
"You should really learn to trust me," Talia says calmly. "But we'll talk about this another time. Right now, we're going out into the woods to check and see what it is."
"I can be over in fifteen minutes," Claudia protests.
"No," Talia growls. "Stay home with your family. If we need you, I'll call."
She hangs up before Claudia can argue more, and tilts her head at Peter and Laura. "Let's go see what it is."
As soon as they set foot outside, they notice the scent. It's a hint of ozone and something that smells like plastic melted in the microwave. Magic, but perhaps magic gone wrong. Talia and Peter exchange a significant glance. Laura scrunches her nose but is otherwise silent as they follow the scent further into the woods.
The forest animals are usually quiet when the wolves are out, but they are even more so tonight. Talia wouldn't admit to feeling uneasy, but that's exactly what's happening.
"There," Peter says quietly, jerking his chin toward the pale figure on the forest floor.
The man looks human, but they all know looks can be deceiving. He isn't moving, though, and he's completely naked except for some pink and silver scars, freshly blooming bruises, blood, and-
Laura's whine is confused, and Talia is feeling the same way. The man is on his side, curled into a position that is almost fetal but not quite. There, along his ribs, is the Hale family symbol - a large black triskele.
"I don't know," Talia says to her daughter.
Before she can stop him, Peter is moving closer to the man and crouching down to get a better look. Talia can hear from his heartbeat and breathing that the man is unconscious.
"Human?" Talia asks.
"Hmm," Peter says, leaning in even closer to take a deep breath. "As far as I can tell."
Talia frowns. "I don't like this. Nude humans do not make a habit of dropping out of the sky on our property."
Laura snorts. "Too bad. I wouldn't mind so much if they were all as pretty as this one."
"Laura," Talia scolds.
"Girl's got a point," Peter says, gesturing to the naked man.
Talia rolls her eyes and gets closer to see if she can scent any internal bleeding. She doesn't think there's any, so she motions her brother to pick up the human and carry him back to the house. It looks like she'll be calling Claudia to come over after all.
Once they get him settled on the guest room's bed - Talia almost put him in the basement on a cot, but something about the man makes her change her mind - most of the family is awake and buzzing with theories as they drank cocoa and tea in the living room.
Peter and Adam are speaking softly even though anyone could listen in if they wanted. Talia doesn't want to hear their opinions yet, not until they come up with something definitive.
The thing Talia's mind keeps coming back to is the tattoo. It marks the young man as hers, her packmate, even if she's never seen him before and he's human. There's something else, a gut instinct Claudia always tells her to follow, but she's not going to mention it to anyone yet.
Derek is quiet, even more so than usual. He must feel her eyes on him because he raises his head and looks at her in question. She smiles softly and sits next to him on the loveseat.
"You're thinking about something," Talia says.
Derek's eyebrows scrunch together. Even at fourteen, he's such a serious child. The others in the family never seem to know what to think of him and his quiet ways, but Talia has always known he's the 'still waters run deep' sort, even more so than his father. He looks as if he's trying to come up with the right words, but eventually he shrugs and tilts his head up toward the ceiling, as if seeking out the sounds of their guest.
"His heartbeat is slow," Derek says, soft so that only she can hear. "He'll be okay?"
Talia takes a deep breath to cover her surprise. "You can hear from down here?" She, too, keeps her voice low.
It's not that the guest room is soundproofed, or that Derek's hearing isn't one of the best in the family. But he's young, and a beta, and surrounded by the noises of his family in the den. She can hear the stranger's heart, but she has much more experience at concentrating and picking sounds out of ambient noise, and is the Alpha besides.
It might not mean anything. Then again, it might mean everything.
It's something to think about later, once they've had their immediate questions answered.
Everyone else in the room stills as they hear what Talia's been hearing for a few minutes now: Claudia's Jeep is rolling up the drive.
notes: I've smudged some canon. timelines will be tweaked and claudia was the Hale emissary until she got sick.
There's not a hint of rain in the air and not one cloud in the sky that night, which makes the crack of lightning all the more surprising. The noise is loud enough to shake the whole house, and the light is nearly blinding, even from within the walls of the Hale home.
Talia is awake immediately, looking over at her husband to see her own worry mirrored in his face.
"That wasn't natural," he says quietly.
Talia's lips are tight. "No, I don't think so, either."
She's already downstairs when the phone rings. She sighs and almost doesn't pick up, but when she does, she's glad of it.
"It's Claudia. I felt… something," the voice says over the line. "I'm coming over."
Talia huffs, amusement and frustration with her emissary warring with each other. "Claudia, just stay home. I'll call you out here if we need you."
"I feel like I should be there," Claudia says stubbornly. "I've been expecting something for days, and now it's here."
Talia narrows her eyes as she takes in the words, watching as her brother and older daughter take their places by her side and wait for her to direct them. "What do you mean you've been expecting something? You didn't think to tell me?"
Claudia huffs. "It was just a feeling. I didn't know how to explain it."
"You should really learn to trust me," Talia says calmly. "But we'll talk about this another time. Right now, we're going out into the woods to check and see what it is."
"I can be over in fifteen minutes," Claudia protests.
"No," Talia growls. "Stay home with your family. If we need you, I'll call."
She hangs up before Claudia can argue more, and tilts her head at Peter and Laura. "Let's go see what it is."
As soon as they set foot outside, they notice the scent. It's a hint of ozone and something that smells like plastic melted in the microwave. Magic, but perhaps magic gone wrong. Talia and Peter exchange a significant glance. Laura scrunches her nose but is otherwise silent as they follow the scent further into the woods.
The forest animals are usually quiet when the wolves are out, but they are even more so tonight. Talia wouldn't admit to feeling uneasy, but that's exactly what's happening.
"There," Peter says quietly, jerking his chin toward the pale figure on the forest floor.
The man looks human, but they all know looks can be deceiving. He isn't moving, though, and he's completely naked except for some pink and silver scars, freshly blooming bruises, blood, and-
Laura's whine is confused, and Talia is feeling the same way. The man is on his side, curled into a position that is almost fetal but not quite. There, along his ribs, is the Hale family symbol - a large black triskele.
"I don't know," Talia says to her daughter.
Before she can stop him, Peter is moving closer to the man and crouching down to get a better look. Talia can hear from his heartbeat and breathing that the man is unconscious.
"Human?" Talia asks.
"Hmm," Peter says, leaning in even closer to take a deep breath. "As far as I can tell."
Talia frowns. "I don't like this. Nude humans do not make a habit of dropping out of the sky on our property."
Laura snorts. "Too bad. I wouldn't mind so much if they were all as pretty as this one."
"Laura," Talia scolds.
"Girl's got a point," Peter says, gesturing to the naked man.
Talia rolls her eyes and gets closer to see if she can scent any internal bleeding. She doesn't think there's any, so she motions her brother to pick up the human and carry him back to the house. It looks like she'll be calling Claudia to come over after all.
Once they get him settled on the guest room's bed - Talia almost put him in the basement on a cot, but something about the man makes her change her mind - most of the family is awake and buzzing with theories as they drank cocoa and tea in the living room.
Peter and Adam are speaking softly even though anyone could listen in if they wanted. Talia doesn't want to hear their opinions yet, not until they come up with something definitive.
The thing Talia's mind keeps coming back to is the tattoo. It marks the young man as hers, her packmate, even if she's never seen him before and he's human. There's something else, a gut instinct Claudia always tells her to follow, but she's not going to mention it to anyone yet.
Derek is quiet, even more so than usual. He must feel her eyes on him because he raises his head and looks at her in question. She smiles softly and sits next to him on the loveseat.
"You're thinking about something," Talia says.
Derek's eyebrows scrunch together. Even at fourteen, he's such a serious child. The others in the family never seem to know what to think of him and his quiet ways, but Talia has always known he's the 'still waters run deep' sort, even more so than his father. He looks as if he's trying to come up with the right words, but eventually he shrugs and tilts his head up toward the ceiling, as if seeking out the sounds of their guest.
"His heartbeat is slow," Derek says, soft so that only she can hear. "He'll be okay?"
Talia takes a deep breath to cover her surprise. "You can hear from down here?" She, too, keeps her voice low.
It's not that the guest room is soundproofed, or that Derek's hearing isn't one of the best in the family. But he's young, and a beta, and surrounded by the noises of his family in the den. She can hear the stranger's heart, but she has much more experience at concentrating and picking sounds out of ambient noise, and is the Alpha besides.
It might not mean anything. Then again, it might mean everything.
It's something to think about later, once they've had their immediate questions answered.
Everyone else in the room stills as they hear what Talia's been hearing for a few minutes now: Claudia's Jeep is rolling up the drive.