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stop showing up in the last lines.

CHARACTERS: derek + isaac
LOCATION: isaac's room
WARNINGS: will update as needed.
SUMMARY: post-jump and post-canon update chit chat.

[ derek doesn't find isaac at the jump. he finds an empty pod and he--

there are people missing. remus is missing, and ruby. it's selfish, wishing for anyone to stay here rather than let them go, but derek's always been selfish in his way. he looks for them. he talks to scott, to stiles, to cora. he makes his way through the crushing press of people in the jump, and he goes up to his room. he wants isaac to be there, but he's next door, and derek has a moment of uncertainty, of not knowing whether or not to leave it alone, or to knock.

getting isaac into a pod before the jump hadn't exactly gone well, but derek doesn't have an apology to offer up for it. ]

Isaac.

[ at least he's knocking, rather than just walking in. that's something. ]

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[he'd be lying if he said there wasn't any residual resentment felt towards derek for just how things went down before the jump. for the fact that he'd been forced in to the pods again against his will. it's only the knowledge that he wouldn't be here now if derek hadn't taken that choice from him that keeps him from letting too much of that show as he hits the button to let the door slide open.]

Hey.

[stepping back from the door, he doesn't bother inviting derek in. the offer is already clear enough.]

If you're here to say 'I told you so', can we pass?

[in other words, he's already seen scott. he knows that their pods opened up this jump. as relieved as he may be about it, he's also still annoyed that it happened in the first place. it's an anger he took out on scott already. that he doesn't want to direct at derek. he doesn't want to ruin what they've managed to salvage of their friendship over the past few months.]

I'm not going to say "I told you so."

[ though he wanted to. derek gets frustrated, gets petty. but things have been getting better between him and isaac. derek has the presence of mind to not want to ruin that outright. ]

I wanted to make sure you...

[ derek trails off, uncertain. make sure isaac was alright is absolutely what he means, but the words don't come. he doesn't know where they stand. the last time he saw isaac, isaac had left him for scott. this is a strange middle ground, and derek isn't sure how to proceed. ]

Planning on finishing that sentence?

[there's a smirk on his face, solely because it's easier this way. easier to play off whatever derek's concerns are as a joke. it's not as though discussing their feelings is a particularly common occurrence between them, and he doesn't plan on changing that now.

the attempt doesn't last long though. not once he finally pays close enough attention to the other man. to the fact that something feels off between them. (more so than usual). he just doesn't know what.]

...did something happen?

[ finishing that sentence is more difficult than isaac perhaps realizes. derek can't tell from just looking at him what he knows, whether or not he's caught up too. he realizes he doesn't even know what scott's told him, what stiles might have said. ]

Not at the moment.

[ snapped out, before derek makes a visible effort to reign himself back in. ]

I caught up. To Scott, and the others.

[ meaning he remembers everything. but the most important part-- ]

I'm not an alpha anymore.

...oh.

[that's it, at first. that's all he manages to say as the information sinks in. with derek caught up, everything changes. everything that he's fought hard to ignore, to set aside, is pushed back out in to the open again. a future he has yet to live, and one that's now firmly in derek's past.]

So what happens now?

[because there's no point denying it. no point fighting what's happened. derek's not an alpha, but scott is. if that means they have to answer to scott now- he's not ready for that. and he has no idea where things even stand with derek. those shared memories didn't go that far.]

...what happens to our pack?

[ derek looks stunned for a moment, before he schools his features back into something less revealing. it takes him by surprise, isaac calling them pack. derek isn't sure he shouldn't correct him, tell him that he wasn't sure they'd been a pack every before he'd fallen back to beta. ]

What do you want to happen?

[ even derek isn't sure what happens now. he doesn't intend to change anything, not the help he offers to other werewolves, not the concern and attachment he has to isaac. but he's not an alpha. if isaac wanted one, there was only one real option on the ship. ]

[things are different here, and that's the problem. back home, he'd ended up following scott, and at first, it'd been the same here. but things had begun to fall apart since arriving on the ship. between the lies and withheld information, with the shared memories and emotions; things are different because he has the opportunity to detach himself from those events and make sense of it all. it's something he knows he won't get when he returns home again.

but that also means it's more complicated. means that those around him, that derek and scott, have already lived through those decisions. he's left playing catch up, and the results never seem to be the right ones. this though; derek may not be an alpha anymore, but he's still the same person who saved him from his own personal hell. he's family, even with derek's fall to beta-

omega?]

Is Scott your alpha?

[ derek doesn't have an answer to that question. he's quiet for a long moment, thinking about it, but he can't--

he isn't scott's beta. he knows that. scott hadn't asked, and derek hadn't offered. so there was only one answer, even if derek thinks it might be more complicated than that. it wasn't in beacon hills, but it was here, where he couldn't leave with cora, where he had to stay in close proximity to everyone, had to figure out where he fit. ]

No.

[ heavily, because it's not--

he's said beta more than once, but that's not the truth. he's omega. he's omega like he was when laura died. it was his life once, it can be his life again. ]

[there's a pause of his own. a long period of silence spent trying to take that admission in. it's not as though it really surprises him, if he's honest. but at the same time, he still remembers the talks. the warnings. he knows what happens to a werewolf without a pack. what they fall to-]

You're an omega.

[a statement, because what else could he be. neither of the other two hales are alphas, and derek isn't the type to start looking for a leader elsewhere. he's the one they turn to for help in the first place. the one who saves them. (or tries to).]

We're still pack, Derek. [theres a determination in his voice that hasn't been there for a long time. not since before things got so messed up between them] I mean- I know things are different now, but we're still family, aren't we? So we need to stick together.

[ it's difficult to hear. derek doesn't know how much trust he can put into it, because what happens when isaac remembers everything? does this go away, this offer, this sentiment? derek looks at him for a long moment, expression inscrutable. ]

I'm not going anywhere.

[ everything was different up here. derek's voice is quiet, intent. ]

Nothing's changed with us.

Good.

[it's a simple acceptance. one constant in the mess that is their lives on the ship. he knows it's something that will change one day though. knows that no matter what statements or promises he makes, one day it'll be scott he's turning to for that same type of assurance that comes from being around derek. but that day hasn't come yet, and maybe--

who says he'll be sent back again in the first place?]

We're gonna be okay though, right? I mean, without an alpha.

[because he knows what being an omega means. he's heard the warnings. (the threats). to someone like derek, he knows how important power can be.]

[ without an alpha. derek's expression tightens, remembering the slam of the door behind isaac, the weight of the knowledge behind that, knowing without fail where he was going and what it meant. isaac had an alpha still. it felt like an inevitability, like neither of them should bother with a delay. ]

You're going to be alright.

[ it's not meant to imply that derek wouldn't be, it's meant to imply that they'd take care of isaac, him and scott, all of them. ]

You should see Scott.

[ like derek has to hurry something along, make sure isaac has an alpha who can protect him now that derek himself can't the way he once could. ]

[there's a long moment spent simply forcing himself to breathe. to not give in to what would have been his automatic response; to get angry. to snap at derek for trying to push this point all over again.]

I already have.

[talked to him. (with the added bonus of attacking him first). but that isn't the reason he's angry. if it was just about talking to scott, he could deal with it. but it's more than that. more, when it follows a conversation about pack. with only one alpha here from their world, with it being one that he's supposedly meant to end up following himself, it's obvious that derek is trying to push that point again. that despite everything that was just said-]

You kicked me out once. Don't tell me you're having trouble doing it again.

[ derek stiffens, feeling the accusation like a physical blow. it's not fair, because isaac's right, but derek's kneejerk response is that isaac left already, that derek's just trying-- ]

I'm not telling you to leave.

[ firmly, though his tone is defensive, more so than it needs to be. ]

I'm saying you should talk to Scott about this.

[ he doesn't want to lose isaac. but he wants him to be safe, and scott's the best option for that. he's strong in a way derek isn't, not anymore. ]

That's what it sounds like.

[he's been far too insistent about forcing him back to scott for it to simply be about restoring their friendship. and now, with derek no longer being an alpha, with the future having become the present, it's harder to avoid the fact that their pack really is falling apart. he just isn't willing to let it go so easily.]

Scott's not my alpha, Derek. And talking to him isn't going to change that.

[not when every attempt at rebuilding their friendship, at placing his trust back in the other teen, is being interrupted before its even begun. the ship has done its best to make sure of that.]

I'm not gonna follow someone I don't trust.

[ it's startling, hearing that from isaac's mouth. derek's never heard him say that before. isaac had given scott his trust easier and more wholly than derek had, even in the beginning. the lack of it, the depth of the damage, derek hadn't realized it was so bad. ]

Isaac.

[ frustrated, derek uncertain of what else to say. the implication, that isaac trusts him enough to follow him, it's what derek had wanted so badly before. and now that he has it, he doesn't know what to do, what to say about it. he's not an alpha. he wasn't much of a leader, though he'd wanted very badly to be. ]

I'm not telling you to leave. [ he repeats, because that's important, that's something he has to say, and derek's aware enough to realize it. ] But we can trust Scott.

[ we, like derek thinks that by lumping himself into the equation that will help somehow. ]

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