Cora misses the old house. She misses the marks of her growth and the teeth marks she left on the furniture.
The new house smells funny, it doesn't smell like home, not like the old one did.
Cora remembers what happened, wakes with the scent of smoke and burning skin itching her nose as she sits up with the screams that she hadn't had enough breath for then.
She remembers her mother's tight grip on her while she listened to the thud, thud, thud of Uncle Peter trying to save them, of Uncle Peter failing to save them.
She remembers hating him, hating that he wasn't, couldn't save them.
She hates that she had hated him, even so briefly, he'd tried, which was more than her mother and Alpha had done, he'd tried and failed, only to have his Mate succeed.
Cora hadn't been able to see what happened, having been thrust at her father as her mother had gone to where Uncle Peter had fallen with his Mate.
But she had heard his words as all the others had, she remembers feeling sad that she wouldn't get to meet Uncle Peter's Mate if he died.
But Uncle Peter didn't die and Stiles was welcomed into their Pack, though he and her mother didn't really get along, it became obvious that Stiles would not bow to her Alpha Mother's rule and Mother..., Mother eventually bowed to Stiles'.
Cora knew that if Stiles had been a Wolf, like them, he'd be the Alpha of the Pack now and so, she decided that he was going to be her friend, and as her friend it was her duty to make him smile.
Eventually she met her own Mate, a Hunter's child but she didn't seem to care that Cora was a Wolf, didn't care that Cora was sometimes too rough in their play and her Father didn't either.
Cora liked Mister Chris, he was nice, for a Hunter, he let her sneak into his house to share Allison's bed, gave her breakfast as though he'd known she was staying over.
And Mister Chris never turned Derek away when the noise of the new house overwhelmed him, Derek had his own room in Mister Chris' house, even when Mister Chris got new children, Isaac, Lydia, and Jackson, Stiles had already belonged to Mister Chris in someway, Cora wasn't sure how though, he'd lived with her Pack before.
Cora liked Lydia because Allison did, she said she liked having a sister to share fashion tips with, Cora didn't understand, she'd much rather fight with Allison's brothers in the backyard and Lydia told her that was okay, she didn't say she'd change her mind when she was older like Laura did, maybe Lydia was a better sister than Laura, but Cora wouldn't steal her, Lydia would be her sister too one day.
Cora found herself preferring Mister Chris' house more than her own, even with Mister Deuca always being around, she wasn't sure why he was always there but she wondered if he and Mister Chris were Mates, even though they hadn't made an announcement like they should.
When she'd first met Mister Deuca she'd been scared and defensive, he smelled funny and she hadn't liked it at all.
But then she'd seen the careful way Mister Deuca tucked Isaac into a blanket after the boy fell asleep on the couch and the way he'd pet his hair each time he whimpered from a nightmare, sometimes even singing a song to make him calm, like Mister Chris sometimes did for him, and she felt jealous.
She felt jealous because she didn't get that, her Mother had so many nightmares to sooth that she barely got re-tucked in before her mother was gone to another child.
Cora frowned but shook the feeling away, it wasn't fair to be jealous of Isaac, he didn't have real parents anymore to comfort him like she did.
But after dinner, Mister Chris led them up the stairs to tuck them all into bed, Derek carrying her up as Mister Chris carried a needy Jackson and Mister Deuca carried Lydia and Allison, with Isaac holding onto his leg to be carried giggling with each lift she missed the way bedtime had happened before the Fire took their old house, missed the laughter and chasing.
Now they trudged up the stairs without sound most days, tucked in quickly with hope that nightmares wouldn't come.
Cora let Mister Chris and Mister Deuca tuck her in, surprised, as she always was when she was included in the routine when she slept over and she listened to them tuck Jackson and Isaac in and was a little startled when they did the same for Derek before going to bed themselves, Stiles was staying with Peter at the Hale House tonight.
Cora hummed to herself and let it soothed her into sleep.
She was startled when gentle hands lifted her up and she could still smell the smoke and Uncle Peter burning and she was crying but, at least she hadn't screamed and woken the whole house.
She looked up at Mister Deuca with tear filled eyes.
"You are safe here, little pup." He told her as he held her to his chest, his heartbeat soothing and steady, no lie.
Cora sniffled and waited for Mister Deuca to put her down, tuck her in and leave her but she fell asleep again first.
When she woke up it was to the smell of food and the sizzle of grease in a pan, it wasn't bacon, she always had a hard time with cooking meat after a nightmare, though most didn't notice that.
She watched the eggs fry for a long moment, feeling Mister Deuca shifting her so that she wouldn't get burned when he lifted the eggs out of the pan onto a plate.
"What do you think, pup, pancakes too?" Mister Deuca asked as he looked down at her.
Cora stared up at him and nodded silently and let him set her on the counter so he could mix the batter up quickly, he let her pour it into the pan though and told her that maybe they could make some that weren't the size of the pan itself with a teasing smile.
As she helped Mister Deuca cook breakfast for the slowly waking house she realized that this was what she missed the most after the Fire.
Somehow the Fire hadn't just taken their house, it'd taken their home too.
And as Mister Deuca and Mister Chris transfered the full plates to the table as the children and Derek stumbled into the room Cora wondered if it was bad that she felt more at Home here than in her Mother's house.
"Are you still wanting to be held?" Mister Chris asked her as he came back to get her from the counter as Mister Deuca lifted Isaac onto his chair.
Cora nodded, she was feeling needy today but she still expected Mister Chris to put her in her own chair, instead he sat her on his lap and cut her pancake first before turning to Derek to ask how he'd slept and who he wanted to go woth him to his appointment today.
He didn't ask her how she'd slept, didn't even really acknowledge she was sitting in his lap really, but his arm around her waist was a reminder that he was there if she needed him, even if there were other children that held his attention at the moment.
So, Cora ate her food and stole pieces of Mister Chris' when hers was empty and was reminded what Home felt like, she had missed it.
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A/n: I'm actually a little sorry about how Talia is portrayed in this but with so many traumatized wolves sharing a house it's easy to lose one in the shuffle of nightmares. They are trying but it's hard when they have their own issues and nightmares to deal with.
Also note about the way Deucalion seemed to know Cora doesn't like the smell of cooking bacon, that's mostly Stiles' doing because he had a major Panic attack when they cooked meat once and he couldn't find Peter so they don't cook meat around the children, sending them out to play while they cook it, because the wolves still need meat.
*Note for Noise Series Movie Ban. I'm not saying the movies will always be banned but most of the group is still young enough that they might not really understand what is going on with their feelings, Derek is definitely working with a therapist through his issues with supervision because he doesn't feel safe going alone, at first only Stiles went but the people he trusts to keep him safe has expanded, in fact most of the Hales are going to a therapist to work through their trauma because they didn't want Derek to feel alone.
All the kids probably go at some point to work on their issues but at the moment the adults want to be able to focus on each child's mental health and their own without bringing up another issues.
There are some days where Chris will put on a movie one child has refused to watch and help them understand what it makes them feel. Or if the group has voted for the movie they can't watch they'll spend time with Chris or Deucalion in another room doing other things.
Sometimes, when there are so many things that could trigger some one it's easier to have a catchall, i'm not saying it's right but even Chris isn't sure what movie will trigger who.
And yes, most of the movies do have happy endings where the main character escapes their trauma but it doesn't show just how hard it is to recover from that trauma.
Tangled for example does have Rapunzel escaping her situation but it doesn't tell you that she probably still grieved for Mother Gothel, because for eighteen years that woman raised her, that moment where she still reaches out for her as she falls from the Tower is heartbreaking because Rapunzel knows what she did, what she intended to do and she still loved that women enough to want to save her, even momentarily.
For the moment the children need a safe space, a place where nothing will harm them, eventually the banned movies will come back, but as one commenter said Peter cannot control his environment, cannot really express why he can't watch a movie and turning away from it is an extreme effort, if need be you can consider the ban for his benefit more than the children's because they don't know what Peter will be able to sit through.
And yeah even for the unbanned movies there is discussion about what things are portrayed because Lydia has questions and she demands answers but remember that they are all still young and growing, probably around 7 or 8 and I can't remember how emotionally developed 7/8 year olds are and then Cora is a few years younger than the group at about 4/5 not to mention all the miscellaneous Hale children that are around.
So yes perhaps a disservice but at the moment Chris would rather the children feel safe than to not have the words to express what they are feeling when they watch a movie that was supposed to be enjoyed, Chris' goal is first and foremost to create a safe place for the children and also the Hales.
With that I want to address the time line here, it hasn't been a year yet since the Fire occured, most of the Hales are in therapy to work through what happened, Derek always accompanied by a child of his choice since he doesn't really trust adults like he once did and most of the main children are 7/8 or younger in the case of Cora at 4/5.
And one commenter suggested a list of triggers for who and so I wrote that list and I have so many lists for this series, I may discover more as stories are written, (I discovered some as I wrote this story so I will probably update the list as needed.)
Trigger warning follows.
Key is Person: Triggers(other)
Derek: fire, some days, mostly bad days, blond hair or blue eyes mostly both together.
Peter: fire, extreme heat (hot days are hard), being helpless (he doesn't like relying on others, Stiles is alright because they are Mates but he's still not really comfortable with it.)
Isaac: enclosed spaces, darkness, (his door is always left open a little with a light left on someplace along with a nightlight, even if he's asleep)
Scott: yelling and sudden movements (I'm going with a theory that his father was abusive if not to Scott then toward Melissa)
Lydia: doesn't like being called Princess or like things (as if that's all she should be), (not really a trigger i guess but they still respect that she doesn't like it.)
Jackson: being ignored (sometimes they have to explain that he needs to wait, especially when he catches Chris in the middle of cleaning his guns or sharpening his knives, which Jackson learns is for his safety not because Chris would rather do that than hug him. He gets a special 'wait corner' in Chris' weapon's room and as soon as everything is put up Chris will pick him up and carry him out of the room.)
Chris: doesn't like pain, or sudden movements, sometimes raised voices and raised hands make him flinch (because Gerard's idea of training was most likely more akin to torture.)
Allison: not sure yet, maybe even none at the moment.
Stiles: doesn't like comas, or the sight of fresh burns, also anything where he sees a person's bone through their injury( he can usually make it through the moment it all just hits him after he feel safe). Probably fire as well. Putting his face under water, baths are an issue and sometimes swimming. (This is because his mother tried to drown him. He doesn't really like seeing people trapped underwater either, think the scene in Kingsmen before Eggsy breaks the window) cooking meat, (cooked meat is fine but the smell of it cooking reminds him of how he found Peter)
Cora: fire, being locked in her room, cooking meat(also reminds her of Uncle Peter burning)
Most Hales: fire, being enclosed with no obvious way out (there new house has lots of windows that can be broken even lined with mountain ash, Stiles made sure of that, don't ask me how)(most of the Hales can filter out the differences between burning human flesh and non human meat which is why cooking meat is not listed here.)
Deucalion: not sure if he has any yet
Talia: she has regrets but not sure about triggers other than Fire and enclosed spaces.
Laura: doesn't like seeing children in danger, (she doesn't have fire or enclosed spaces as a trigger because she was at college when the Fire happened, she came back in the aftermath of it to help support her family)
Like I said they are working on things but their main goal is establishing a safe space for the group because that's an important step towards recovery.