"Guys, we might have a problem."

The members of the McCall pack (well, most of them) looked up at mason's ominous statement. After the Battle of Beacon Hills, those who had returned opted to stay for a while and more wandering friends had trickled back. It was reassuring after all the upheaval, having so many allies around was reassuring. Strength in numbers and all.

Still, none of them wanted to face another big bad anytime soon.

"What is it?" Scott asked, putting down his textbook and highlighter. The rest of the pack continued to watch mason, who took a breath.

"Look, I know Theo's been less murdery since Liam brought him back, but…," he hesitated a moment, "I was at Home Depot with my dad and saw Theo there. He had a bunch of stuff in his cart, like a shovel, tarps, hammers….So you can see my concern…."

Around the room, people groaned. Others sighed or rolled their eyes. Stiles pursed his lips and gave Scott a look. "I told you, we need to put a tracker on that little bastard. Like, one of those ones ARGUS used in Suicide Squad."

"We aren't putting a bomb in his head," Scott said patiently. "We don't know that he's done anything wrong. This time."

Malia shrugged. "I'm gonna agree with Stiles on this one."

"It does seem like a safety net," Isaac added with a nod.

"I hate to agree with Id and Impulse over there, but...he does have a history," Mason said. "Does anyone actually know what he does when he's not with us?"

Everyone was shocked when Derek spoke up. "He got a job and I let him stay on some land near the preserve." He stared back at the pack. "What? He's living in his truck. Being in the woods makes it feel more like camping than homelessness and he can get a tent or something."

"So...where is this land where he's probably burying bodies?" Stiles asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Well, this is so much better than you were all assuming," Liam said, standing beside Mason's car. Everyone had piled into vehicles and followed Derek's shiny black camera out into the woods, stopping at a small clearing.

Theo's truck was there, but so was a small house. There were clear signs of ongoing construction and, as they stood there, the Chimera emerged from the house, a frown on his face.

He was wearing jeans, a tool belt and boots, shirtless torso dusted with sawdust. Liam swallowed, feeling his heart thump a little harder and Malia tossed him a look.

"Hey," Theo called, hopping off of the small porch. "What are you all doing out here?"

Clearly feeling a little silly about the assumptions that had been made, no one spoke...until Jackson drawled, "So you aren't planning a whole bunch of murders, right?"

That earned him a slow blink. "Not presently," Theo replied. "Why?"

No one really wanted to say why, so Liam blurted, "Did you build this?"

"Yeah," Theo told them with a nod. "I mean, the guys from work helped me with the plumbing and electrical, but I did most of it."

"Cool," Liam replied honestly and Theo grinned brightly at him.

After that, it was not uncommon for pack members to be found 'helping out' at Theo's. Derek, Braeden and Isaac were actually quite handy and Danny worked some quasi-legal magic on the Chimera's mobile hotspot so that the wo-fi was awesome, but the rest of the pack just tended to hang around, offering commentary and watching the work going on.

Liam tried to help, he really did, but after the fourth bashed finger, Lydia had ushered him over tot he picnic blanket she, Jackson, Ethan and Danny were lounging on. They'd even brought snacks today.

"I'm fine," he protested, casting a look over his shoulder to where Theo was bent over, sawing a plank of wood to a particular length.

Jackson snorted. "Sure...but if you're going to be distracted by someone's dimples of Venus, maybe just help with the painting. Werewolf healing or not, broken fingers suck."

Having no idea what to say to that, Liam simply gaped, causing Lydia to pat his arm. "I don't know what you're talking about," he finally sputtered, feeling his face heat up.

Danny reached over and thumped his back in a supportive manner. "Oh, you do...The boy has a nice back. Nice everything really, even if he isn't my type."

That made Lydia laugh and gesture broadly at Ethan. "Really? Tell us again how hot, hot bad boy twunk who has tried to kill us at one point is not your type?"

"She's got you there," Jackson laughed as Ethan shrugged and Danny flipped them off playfully.

"Well, she used to be your type Jackson," Danny replied, a little smug.

"Yeah, but Lydia's amazing and I was so closeted I may as well have been a hanger," Jackson pointed out. "What's your type now then?"

A smile crooked the corner of Danny's mouth. "Tall, blond and dry witted," he admitted, nodding over to where Isaac was leaping off of the roof, having finished with the shingles.

"Honestly, not surprising," Lydia drawled after a moment, slipping her sunglasses on and sipping her drink. "That boy never knew whether he wanted to toss puppy eyes at Scott or Allison. Good to know he learned both was an option."

"Just not at once," Danny, Ethan and Jackson chorused.

Lydia shrugged. "Who knows, I don't think he ever asked. Pretty sure Allison would have been on board."

After that observation, everyone was quiet for a moment before agreeing that Lydia was probably right.

She usually was about such things.

"Hey," Ethan said brightly, turning to Danny. "Since you've got some pull, maybe you can talk to Isaac about not plotting my death. I'm pretty sure he and Malia are making plans on how to off me."

"Babe, if he hates one of us, it's me," Jackson tried to assure Ethan.

Looking up from where he had begun to dig a hole, Isaac said, "I don't like either of you. But you're not the only ones we have contingency plans for."

Then he went back to his hole.

"Charming," Jackson muttered.

"I kinda deserved that," Ethan admitted, but Liam tuned them out for a moment.

Theo had emerged from whatever he had been doing inside the house (there had been hammering involved) and dumped a bucket of river water over his head.

Every day, Liam was getting more and more sure that he wasn't quite as straight as he had once assumed...at least not where a certain ridiculously gorgeous Chimera was concerned.

Shaking himself, he asked, "Do I want to know what a twunk is?"

Danny laughed. "Probably not."

Less than 2 weeks later, Liam sat cross legged on Theo's porch, a tin cup of cocoa in hand. It was just the two of them...as had become common. For some reason, Liam kept finding himself dropping by to visit Theo in the evenings.

The other boy didn't seem opposed to the company. He'd even started leaving the door unlocked for Liam.

Of course, that did mean that Liam risked walking in on a warm, damp, fresh from the shower Theo. Who was not modest. Nope. Not at all.

Not that he had a reason to be.

"I haven't really had a home since I was like 11," Theo said out of the blue, staring into his own cocoa. "After we left Beacon Hills...I don't know what happened to my parents, not really. They were just gone and there was that couple the Dread Doctors had pretending to be them to keep up appearances. But that wasn't home, this is."

The admission surprised Liam. Theo didn't really talk about what had happened with his family or The Dread Doctors. Gently, Liam asked, "So...you lived with those people?"

Theo shrugged. "Not really. Spent most of my time with the Doctors. I was even home schooled. Test results got mailed in, so I didn't have to live anywhere particular. Just needed a mailing address for appearances."

Oh well, that probably explained a lot….

"You need to finish school!"

"Yeah, that's not happening."

"How did this happen?"

Theo honestly had no intention of going back to school. He figured he could get his GED easy enough at some point, but finishing senior year was a big old no.

Of course, that had been before the pack meeting the day after his chat with Liam. Even the adults (The Sheriff, Mrs. McCall, Chris Argent, Peter, Parrish, Derek and Braeden) had been there. Everyone wanted to push him about school, how important it was.

Except Stiles, who pointed out that further educating a potential threat could come back to bite them in the ass.

His protests were part of the reason Theo had agreed to re-enroll. Liam's big, worried eyes summed up the rest of his motivation.

Fortunately, after all the chaos as of late, the school wasn't asking many questions and didn't put up a fuss when Theo went to register as a mid year transfer to finish his high school career.

Entering the school with Liam, Mason and Corey, he raised a brow as eyes turned towards them and conversations dropped away. He could smell the nervousness and rolled his eyes. "Really? Still? Are they like this all the time?"

Liam huffed a sigh. "Yeah, most mornings and when the jerk patrol is around. It gets better."

"They smell like guilt and shame," Theo frowned. "It's acrid."

"Hey!"

Nolan popped out of the cross corridor and Theo whipped around to glare at the other boy. He could hear the way Liam's heart stuttered, a rapid patter of fear that the smaller wolf quickly reigned in. He knew Liam had forgiven Nolan for what he had done, but clearly there were some lingering effects.

"Nolan," Liam said, voice not betraying his internal struggle. "What's up?"

Theo shifted, letting his bicep press against the back of Liam's arm, reassuring the other that he was there.

"You guys have been disappearing so fast after school, I never get to catch up with you," Nolan babbled, not picking up on the 'GO AWAY' vibes Theo was trying to project.

"We've been kinda busy, Nolan," Mason said and Theo could hear the faint hint of distaste beneath his words. "You know, helping get everything settled after a good chunk of the town went a little evil and decided it would be awesome to murder a bunch of teenagers.'

That made Nolan wince.

Good for Mason.

"How've you been," Liam asked, once again proving that he took after his Alpha. Theo wasn't so forgiving, which was why he understoood Stiles's continued dislike of him.

"Who's the jerk patrol?" Theo asked as they walked down the hall. Clearly, he had some shit to handle.

He was right. There were a few of Monroe's pet psychos in training still lingering around, too dumb to realize they'd lost and generally making everyone nervous. Most of their douchebaggery was confined to commentary and threats when there were no teachers around, but it was enough to create an unpleasant atmosphere.

The three main instigators were on the lacrosse team and after seeing a practice where they intentionally hit Liam with the ball repeatedly, Theo had enough.

Like most bullies lacking protectors in positions of power, they were cowards deep down. The day after their little display on the lacrosse field, Theo cornered the morons in the locker room. He didn't want them filming anything after all and no one liked to be confronted naked...well, no one who couldn't shift into a wolf.

"You're going to stop all this wannabe hard hunter bullshit, right now," he told them, speaking slowly so that even the dumbest of them could understand. He flashed them a charming smile with a little too much tooth. " Cuz, unlike my friends, I'm not a nice guy. I'm trying to be, but you're making it really hard. I don't particularly want to dismember you, it's a messy process, but I can, I will and I know where to get enough acid to dissolve your remains. We clear?

He said all that in a bright, cheerful voice, but the lingering steam in the air carried the tang of fear.

The biggest of the assholes tried to puff himself up, thinking the 5" of height he had on Theo was any kind of advantage. "I'm not scared of you, freak!"

Theo blinked at him. "You should be," Hesiod simply. "I mean, decent people don't have to worry, but I'm not a big fan of mouth breathing ass…."

That was when the idiot tried to punch him. Theo neatly avoided the blow, letting the jerk break his hand on the tile wall. Asshole's screech mingled with Coach Finstock's shout.

"PETERSEN! What the hell are you doing? Do you not understand the concept of Zero Tolerance? You're off the team! Put on some damn pants and get your ass to the principal's office!"

"He attacked me!" The kid whined, but it was for naught.

Fin stock looked at Theo, standing there, trying to look as innocent as he could. "I might believe that if I hadn't seen you throw the punch," Finstock said. "PANTS! Principal! NOW!"

Petersen shuffled off, followed by his friends, who gave Theo a wide berth. Finstock continued to eye Theo. "Lose the 'Who me?'expression. I never bought it from Stilinski, I don't buy it from you. Good reflexes."

Theo gave a little nod. "Comes with the territory."

"Oh...another werewolf," Finstock said, then jabbed a finger at him. "You play lacrosse?"

TBC…...