Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/12139875.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Teen_Wolf_(TV)
  Relationship:
      Derek_Hale/Stiles_Stilinski, Laura_Hale_&_Stiles_Stilinski
  Character:
      Derek_Hale, Stiles_Stilinski, Laura_Hale, Sheriff_Stilinski, Scott
      McCall, Lydia_Martin, Allison_Argent, Peter_Hale, Kate_Argent, Jackson
      Whittemore, Melissa_McCall
  Additional Tags:
      Alternate_Universe_-_Canon_Divergence, Alive_Laura_Hale, Laura_and_Stiles
      are_the_best_bros_ever, Kate_Argent_is_her_own_warning, Past_Kate_Argent/
      Derek_Hale, implied/referenced_past_rape/non-con, Violence, Gore,
      Alternate_Season/Series_01, Derek_is_a_lot_nicer_without_a_dead_sister,
      Derek_is_Not_a_Failwolf, Laura_Hale_&_Stiles_Stilinski_Friendship, Laura
      is_a_Good_Alpha, Panic_Attacks, copious_amounts_of_smelling_and_mentions
      of_scents, Derek_Hale_is_Bad_at_Feelings
  Series:
      Part 1 of warm_skin,_wolf_grin
  Stats:
      Published: 2017-09-20 Updated: 2018-03-30 Chapters: 25/? Words: 152689
****** i fell into the moon ******
by lscar123
Summary
     Laura Hale is arrested hours after returning to Beacon Hills. Derek
     Hale returns to town to bring his sister back home and together they
     are drawn into the mystery of a rogue wolf on their family land. They
     also can't seem to stop bumping into the Sheriff's son, Stiles.
     Laura is determined to make Stiles her new best friend and Derek just
     wants everyone to survive so he can get the hell out of the town that
     took everything from him. Stiles just wants everyone to be happy.
Notes
     Hi! I read skoosiepants' excellent one shot "This Story's Going
     Somewhere" and couldn't help but wish it was longer so with
     permission from the original author I've decided to take the original
     idea and adapt it in my own way, the beginning roughly follows the
     same beats but diverges from canon and the inspired story pretty
     quickly. Enjoy!
     The title of the fic comes from Blue_by_Angie_Hart from the best
     episode of Buffy, Conversations With Dead People.
     There's no beta so any mistakes that I didn't catch when I was
     rereading the chapter are my own, I've got the next few chapters
     written so updates should be pretty consistent!
  This work was inspired by
      This_Story’s_Going_Somewhere by skoosiepants
***** A New Beginning *****
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                  Chapter One
                                A New Beginning
                                        
“This is a collect call from the Beacon Hills Sheriff’s Department on behalf
of,” the prerecorded voice paused for a moment before being replaced by a
familiar voice, “Laura Hale.” 
Derek paused, his eyes sweeping over the city in front of him.
“Will you accept the charges?”
Derek shook his head and briefly toyed with the idea of declining and letting
Laura sit in jail overnight just to prove his point, to drive home the fact
that he knew she never should have gone back to the town that stole everything
from them.
Laura would kill him though and Derek couldn’t deny the relief that washed over
him as he realized the call was coming from Laura herself and not from someone
in Beacon Hills calling to inform him that his sister was dead. He would
already know if she was, he’d been checking into their pack bonds all night,
but it was beside the point.
With a labored sigh, “Yes, I’ll accept all charges.”
There was a soft click on the other end of the phone before another mechanical
voice, a man this time, spoke, “This is a recorded line.”
Silence.
And then, “Hey, little brother. How are you? Did you remember to call the cable
guy? I hope you found the grocery list I left you, the fridge was looking a
little dire before I left.”
“Laura,” Derek all but growled, “Seriously?”
Laura huffed out a low sigh, “I’m sorry. You were right, I shouldn’t have come
here alone.”
“What happened?”
Laura laughed, “It’s really not anything major, they don’t have any probable
cause.”
Laura shouted the last two words and Derek could hear the people in the
background laughing at his sister even from the other side of the phone.
Derek scrubbed his free hand over his face, “Do I need to come bail you out or
are you just going to annoy the Sheriff until he releases you?”
Laura must have been drumming her fingers against the bars of the holding cell,
“The Sheriff decided it would be a good idea if I stayed here overnight to…calm
down and then I’ll be released in the morning.”
“Laura, what the fuck happened?”
Laura sighed, “I went to visit an…old friend and out conversation got a little
out of hand. No, before you ask, no bodily harm. The Sheriff just happened to
be around and interrupted out conversation and decided to haul me in before
anything else could happen.”
“And?”
“And nothing. My friend isn’t going to press any charges, I can promise you
that. The Sheriff is using some legal mumbo jumbo to hold me here for the night
but I don’t even think he’s mad beyond the fact that he had to arrest someone
when he was in his sweatpants. Well, that and the blood he found in my car.”
“Blood?” Derek gasped, “Laura, what the hell?”
“Recorded line,” someone in the background yelled out.
“Quiet!” Laura snapped, “It was just from the deer that I hit on the way into
town but I will admit that bloody handprints on leather seats could be
perceived as a little bit suspicious.”
Derek pinched the bridge of his nose, “I’m hanging up the phone and booking the
next flight out, I’ll see you in like twelve hours.”
“Derek,” Laura said softly, “you don’t have to.”
Derek clenched his fist, wincing as he felt his claws extending into the palm
of his hand, “I’ll see you in the morning.”
 
                                       X
                                        
The all too familiar oppressive weight fit itself perfectly back over Derek’s
chest the second his plane touched down in California. It was as if it was just
waiting for him to come home, like an excited dog that was ready to pounce on
its owner the second the front door opened.
He hated it. He hated the entire fucking state of California.
He especially hated the shitty little Prius that was the only car available for
him to rent long term. Derek lowered himself into the small car and winced as
his knees knocked against the center console before he found the lever to shift
the seat back a merciful few inches. This car was not made for someone of his
size and he hated it.
He allowed himself to resent Laura for making him come to California and stuff
himself into a real-life interpretation of a clown car because Laura was alive
and he was allowed to be a little pissed off that she was dragging him back to
the place she promised they’d never have to return to.
Derek pulled the car onto the highway and tried to shut his brain off as he
made the three-hour drive from the airport to Beacon Hills.
 
                                       X
Derek’s face went blank as he hit the welcome sign for Beacon Hills. He curled
his hand around the wheel of the Prius, barely restraining himself from
breaking it under his grip, and made the familiar drive to the Sheriff’s
station on autopilot.
He tried to ignore just how much the town had changed since he’d left but he
couldn’t ignore how much Main Street seemed to have evolved in his absence. He
counted new book stores, cafes, and a comic shop that his younger self would
have killed for when he was growing up in town.
Now all the new sights just filled him with a bitter and resentful rage and he
forced his foot down on the gas, pushing the small car past the speed limit in
an effort to make it to the Sheriff’s station as fast as he could.
The faster he made it to the station, the fast her could get Laura, and the
faster they could get the fuck out of this hellhole of a town.
Derek saw Laura’s Camaro first as he pulled into the parking lot of the
station. The car was behind a flimsy chain-link fence with a rolling gate, it
was something he could easily tear down with his pinky. Derek filed that
observation in the back of his mind in case he and his sister needed to make a
quick exit.
Derek parked the Prius next to a powder blue Jeep and killed the engine. He was
out of the car and inside the station in less than ten seconds, keeping his
head angled low to minimize the admittedly small chance of being recognized.
The station was bustling with energy as Derek stepped inside, he could
distantly hear voices in the far back of the office, muffled and talking about
mountain lions. A phone was ringing off to the side. Derek focused on blocking
all of them out and homed in on the one thing he was here for.
“Admit it,” Laura’s voice echoed in his ear, she was talking to someone who was
humoring her at this point, “you’re going to miss me when I’m gone.”
The woman Laura was talking to laughed, “Miss Hale, you’ve certainly been
entertaining.”
Derek rolled his eyes. Leave it to Laura to make friends anywhere.
The reception desk was empty and the phone in front of Derek was alternating
between blinking incessantly and ringing every three seconds. Just as Derek was
about to lose every ounce of control and smash the damn thing, a chair rolled
around the corner and long fingers picked up the handset before dancing along
the keypad to answer the phone with a practiced ease.  
“Sheriff’s Department, Stilinski speaking.”
A pause.
“No,” the guy groaned, “the other Stilinski.”
“Stiles,” the voice on the other line laughed, half warm and half exasperated,
“get off the phone.”
“Hey!” The guy, Stiles, protested, “Tara is away from the desk at the moment
and left me in charge!”
“Really?”
Stiles was quiet for a few moments, “Listen, do you want me to transfer your
call to someone or not?”
The voice laughed, “Fine kid, send me to the Sheriff.”
Stiles narrowed his eyes, “If he asks…”
“You weren’t the one to answer the phone,” the voice sighed, “transfer me and
finish your damn homework.”
Stiles rolled his eyes and punched in a few keys before placing the handset
back onto its cradle and looking up at Derek with big, impossibly brown eyes.
The guy, Derek realized, was a teenager. A teenager who apparently spent a lot
of time in the Sheriff’s office.
Derek sniffed, because he wasn’t planning on sticking around long enough to
have to deal with manners, and was met with the scent of hormones, some kind of
synthetic medication, and a faint hint of cherries and pine.
Derek’s brow drew up in confusion as he stared down at Stiles, his eyes tracing
the smattering of moles across his face and the buzzed hair on top of his head.
Derek maybe, possibly, wanted to rub his hand across the top of Stiles’ head.
Laura would say that Stiles looked fluffy.
Stiles cleared his throat before threading his fingers together and resting his
chin on top of them, “Hello person whom I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting,
how can I help you?”
Derek blinked.
Stiles’ eyebrows rose to his hairline, “Let’s see, you can say something like
‘I need to see the law man,’ or ‘I need to confess a heinous crime that I
committed because it’s eating me up and my soul is being torn apart by
repressed guilt!’ Actually, don’t say that because I don’t really think I’m
qualified to take someone’s confession and it would probably get thrown out in
a court of law…unless that’s your plan to relieve your guilt but also get away
with your terrible mass murder!” 
Derek blinked again, unable to focus on half of what just poured out of Stiles’
mouth, “Law man?”
Stiles nodded, unthreading his fingers and pointing one at Derek, “Right, you
need a cop! Now, any run of the mill cop or do you need the Sheriff directly?”
Derek didn’t know if he needed to speak to the Sheriff directly or just any
regular cop to have Laura released, “My sister?”
“Your sister?” Stiles repeated slowly, “Dude, I don’t think your sister is a
deputy here because I’m here like all the time and I sure as hell would have
remembered seeing someone like you around here.”
Derek sputtered as the telltale scent of arousal hit his nose, it was small
enough to be written off as nothing but a passing attraction but it was
distinct none the less and it made Derek cringe. He hated that smell.
“I’m here to pick up my sister,” Derek snapped, his human teeth showing a
little more than necessary, “I don’t need some little delinquent wasting my
time!”
Stiles’ chair rolled back until it thumped against the wall hard enough to make
the boy wince in slight pain, “Wow, OK then. I’m just going to…go and do
something that’s not…here.”
Stiles waved his hand in Derek’s general direction as he rose from the chair
and rubbed the back of his head where it had hit the wall.
Derek opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by another man who
rounded the corner and grabbed Stiles by the back of his hoodie, “Seriously,
Stiles? What have I told you about sitting up here?”
“Hey!” Stiles looked offended, “I told Tara I’d watch the desk while she ran to
the evidence room for you!”
The man, Derek now realized was the Sheriff himself thanks to the golden badge
that glinted under the fluorescent lighting, sighed, “And what did Tara tell
you when you said that?”
Stiles huffed, “That I was under no circumstances to go near her desk, or to
touch the phone, or to talk to anyone that came to the front while she wasn’t
here.”
The Sheriff raised a single brow as he let go of Stiles’ hood before he turned
to Derek and crossed his arms over his chest, “Mister Hale, I’m so glad you
could join us.”
Derek tensed, “Derek is fine, sir.”
The Sheriff narrowed his eyes, “Your sister has been a pain in my ass over the
last half a day.”
Stiles face lit up, “Dude! You’re Laura’s brother! You’re Derek Hale!”
The Sheriff’s head snapped back towards Stiles, “Son, why are you still here?”
Stiles clutched his chest, “Father, why must you wound me so?”
The Sheriff rolled his eyes, “Go wait in the conference room, I’ll grab you
after I’m done having a chat with the Hale’s and we can go grab some dinner.”
Stiles pushed himself off the wall and saluted, “10-4!”
Stiles gave Derek one final cautious glance before turning his back and heading
towards what Derek assumed was the conference room.
Derek turned his attention back to the Sheriff and it suddenly hit him.
Son. Father.
Shit.
Stiles wasn’t a delinquent, he was the Sheriff’s son.
Derek fixed his eyes on the space that Stiles previously occupied and watched
as Stiles drifted down the hallway into what he assumed was the conference
room. Derek wasn’t aware that he’d been staring until the Sheriff cleared his
throat.
“Mister Hale,” The Sheriff’s voice was deep and vaguely threatening, “if you’re
done staring at my teenage son I can take you back to your sister.”
Derek coughed, frantically turning to face the Sheriff and waving his arms in
front of him, “No! I, uh, I just thought he worked here at first.”
The Sheriff laughed and the tension eased out of his shoulders, the scowl on
his face making way for a small smile, “He wishes.”
The Sheriff led Derek to the back of the station, punching in a code to an
electronic door and holding it open as Derek stepped through. He caught sight
of Laura instantly, she was sitting on the floor of the cell with her back
pressed against the stone and her head resting on the top of her knee.
Laura’s head perked up instantly, she smiled, “Derek.”
Derek sighed, “Hi,”
The Sheriff shook his head and turned to the deputy who sat on the bench across
from Laura’s cell, “Thanks for doing me a favor, Missy.”
“No problem, sir. Miss Hale has been lovely company.”
“See,” Laura grinned, “I told you I wouldn’t cause any problems.”
The Sheriff laughed and took a seat on the bench across from Laura. Derek
settled himself on the floor of the holding room and felt the tension he didn’t
even know he was carrying melt away when Laura shifted her position and pressed
her shoulder against him through the bars.
“So, Derek,” The Sheriff said, “I found your sister at the High School.”
“High school?” Derek’s brows drew together as he looked at Laura in confusion.
Laura sighed, “I told you, I went to visit an old friend.”
“An old friend by the name of Adrian Harris?” The Sheriff questioned.
“That’s the one!” Laura smiled.
“I don’t know about you, but when I visit my old friends I don’t pin them
against the wall and scream in their face.”
Derek’s jaw dropped, “Jesus, Laura! What were you thinking?”
Laura was silent.
“Is Harris pressing charges?” Derek asked.
The Sheriff scrubbed his hand over his face, “No, he says the same thing as
your sister. Old friends.”
“Good, then I can leave.” Laura smiled.
“Not just yet,” The Sheriff shook his head, “there’s still the matter of the
bloody handprints in your car.”
Derek’s stomach dropped.
“I told you,” Laura snapped, “those were from the deer I hit on the way into
town. The thing jumped out in front of my car, I hit it, I went back to see if
there was anything I could do to save it but by the time I found it in the
woods it was already dead.”
The Sheriff looked between Derek and Laura before Derek spoke, “I know we’ve
been gone for a while but is it a crime to hit a deer and flee the scene now?”
The Sheriff shook his head, “No, but I sent a few guys out to see if they could
find this deer you claim you hit?”
“And?” Laura tensed.
“They found it,” The Sheriff said, “Funny thing though, they said that the
entire right flank of the deer had been skinned and that couldn’t have been
caused by the accident.”
“What does that have to do with Laura?” Derek leaned forward, “You can’t prove
she did anything like that.”
The Sheriff laughed, “It’s interesting because we’ve had to deal with a few
suspicious animal attacks around town lately. Mutilated deer and dogs keep
popping up all over the preserve.”
“I just got into town last night,” Laura shrugged, “you really think I’m some
kind of serial animal killer or something?”
“Any way to prove you just got here?” The Sheriff asked.
“I drove from New York City to California, I’ve got a whole mess of receipts in
my car and I’m sure you can find pictures of me at about five thousand toll
booths and fifteen gas stations. I can get you bank statements if you need
them.”
The Sheriff nodded, “Thank you, Laura. I’m not trying to be a hard ass, I
promise. I was friendly with your parents and you’ve always been a good kid.
It’s been a tense couple of weeks in town and I hope you can understand how
your sudden reappearance could be construed.”
Laura deflated, her bravado failing as the mere mention of their parents, “I
understand. I’m sorry too, for being such a pain in the ass. It’s hard…being
back here and I let my emotions get away from me. It won’t happen again.”
The Sheriff smiled and stood, “I get it. I’ll start the paperwork to get you
out of here.”
Derek stood, “We’re done? We can go home?”
The Sheriff turned around, “Not quite yet, I still need to check on Laura’s
alibi and it will take a day or two to get everything in from about fifteen
different departments but I don’t see the need to keep Laura locked up for a
few days. I’ll need Laura to hang around town until everything comes in though,
just to be safe.”
Derek deflated and leaned against the bars of the cell.
“My car?” Laura asked.
The Sheriff shook his head, “We’re going to need to keep it until your story
checks out.”
Laura sighed, “Understood.”
Laura bumped her nose into the side of Derek’s cheek through the bars and
whispered, “I’m sorry, pup.”
“Derek,” The Sheriff spoke up, “come with me and I’ll get the paperwork started
to process Laura out, it should take about half an hour. She’ll meet you out
front.”
Derek nodded, gave Laura one last small, pained smiled, and followed the
Sheriff back out to the lobby.
They passed the conference room on their way out and Derek briefly noted that
the door was open and the room was empty. The Sheriff stopped them at the lobby
and leaned across the desk to speak to a deputy who he assumed was Tara. He got
far enough to tell Tara to start the release paperwork for Laura before a call
summoned him back to his office.
Tara assured him that she would get the paperwork for Laura release processed
as quickly as possible so Derek found the closest chair and fell into it. His
head dropped to his hands and he let out a low, almost inaudible growl. He was
so tired and so angry that he was forced back to this place and now he had to
stay there even longer just to make sure his sister didn’t end up in any more
trouble than she was already in.
Derek lifted his head after about ten minutes and found the desk once again
empty. He focused his hearing and heard the Sheriff in his office arguing on
the phone with someone about tests results on an animal, and he heard Tara
further back in the station telling Laura she should be out in about ten
minutes.
Derek stood to stretch his legs and roll his neck; the chair had done nothing
to help his already tense muscles. His eyes swept to the front of the station
and fell to Stiles who was leaning against the powder blue jeep he parked next
to and absentmindedly kicking at the ground in front of him.
Derek hesitated for a moment before he remembered the look of hurt in Stiles’
eyes when he snapped at him. Derek may be a hard ass but he isn’t normally an
asshole and he felt like he owed Stiles some sort of apology, even if he’d
never see him again.
‘Hey,” Derek said as he came into a stop in front of Stiles.
Stiles jumped about a foot in the air and fell back against the hood of the
jeep, “Jesus! Make some noise next time, would you?”
Derek swallowed a laugh, his mother always told him he needed to work on making
more sound when he moved, “Stiles,”
Stiles settled and hopped up to sit on the hood of the jeep and fidgeted with
the sleeve of his hoodie, “That’s me, everyone’s favorite neighborhood
delinquent.”
Derek winced, “I’m…sorry.”
Stiles looked up and blinked, “You’re…sorry?”
Derek sighed, “Yes, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called you that. It’s been a
stressful day but I shouldn’t have snapped at you, you were just trying to
help.”
“Wow,” Stiles face cracked into a smile, “I didn’t know you could say that many
words at one time.”
Derek narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to reply but Stiles waved him off,
“Seriously dude, don’t worry about it. I’ve been called way worse than a
delinquent.”
Stiles’ voice trailed off as he finished speaking and his scent spiked with
sadness and embarrassment that betrayed the smile that was still firmly stuck
on his face.
Derek got the sense that Stiles was used to having to shrug off what hurtful
things people say to him, “Don’t do that,” Derek said before he could stop
himself.
“Huh?” Stiles looked up, confused.
Derek sighed, “Don’t…don’t force yourself to deal with shitty things people say
to you or act like it doesn’t bother you. Don’t bottle it up.”
Stiles’ face fell and he hesitated for a moment, he opened his mouth to speak
but he was cut off from a voice calling out to Derek from behind.
“Derek!” Laura voice rang across the parking lot, “I thought you left me for a
second.”
Derek knew that was a lie, Laura could feel his presence stronger than he could
feel hers.
“Oh hey!” Laura laughed as she leaned into Derek’s side, “You met Stiles!”
Derek coughed, “You know Stiles?”
“Duh!” Laura smiled, flicking Derek on the side of the head, “Stiles here is
the first friend I made when I got back into town.”
“Friend?” Derek repeated.
Stiles grinned, “When I heard my dad arrested this like…impossibly hot girl for
grabbing Mr. Harris by the neck and slamming him against the wall I just had to
meet her.”
Laura cackled, “Imagine my surprise when I look up from my self-loathing and
find this fluffy little guy reeking of excitement on the other side of the
bars.”
“Fluffy…” Derek shook his head.
“Mhm,” Stiles nodded, “I even let her rub my head.”
Derek was dumbfounded, he stared at Laura who only shrugged.
“What can I say? I have a weakness for a nice buzzcut!”
Derek sighed, “I’m sure the Sheriff appreciated you touching his underage son.”
Laura cackled again, “I’m pretty sure he gave us both the same conversation.”
Derek felt his cheeks heat up. Of courseLaura was listening when the Sheriff
said something about Stiles to him.
Stiles looked confused. Confused and utterly excited.
As if on cue, the Sheriff stuck his head outside, “Stiles! Inside! Now!”
Stiles groaned, “Well, it was…nice meeting you to. And thank you for the head
rubs, Laura. And…thank you, Derek. For the…apology.”
Laura’s hand fell to Stiles’ shoulder and lightly shook him, “Don’t mention it.
We’ll be in town for a few days, maybe we’ll see you around before we head
out.”
“Maybe,” Stiles smiled, his eyes flicking to Derek.
“Don’t count on it,” Derek said quickly, “I’m not staying here any longer than
I have to.”
“Oh,” Stiles’ face fell again, his scent spiking with something confusing that
Derek didn’t have the energy to sift through, “Well, it was nice to meet you
for a few minutes then. Try not to commit anymore mass murder, huh big guy?”
Derek huffed in amusement, “I’ll try.”
 
 
***** Breakfast For Three *****
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                  Chapter Two
                              Breakfast For Three
                                        
Laura was the first person to break the tense silence that had fallen over the
Prius in the five minutes between leaving the Sheriff’s station and pulling on
the road.
“I’m sorry,” Laura repeated, “I should have listened to you.”
“I know,” Derek said, replying to both statements.
“How much do you hate me?” Laura asked, her voice small and entirely not Alpha-
like at all.
Derek’s hands tightened on the wheel and he wondered, not for the first time,
if he was going to be able to return this fucking car to the rental place
without serious damage.
“I don’t hate you,” Derek said as he pulled the car to a stop at the red light
in front of them.
“But you’re angry,” Laura said, matter of fact, “I can feel it.”
“Obviously I’m angry!” Derek snapped, “I didn’t want you to come out here, I
knew that letter had to be a trap! You just happen to get drawn back to this
miserable hole of a town when there’s a string of violent animal killings going
on? You just happen to get arrested for assault and then drawn into said animal
killing investigation?”
Derek saw Laura’s eyes briefly flash red out of the corner of his eye but
ignored it, instead focusing on the road in front of him as he pulled through
the now green light.
“I’m talking to you as my sister,” Derek said softly, “not my Alpha.”
“Go on,” Laura said, her voice trembling slightly.
“You were stupid,” Derek’s voice cracked, “You were stupid, I love you, and
you’re all I have left. I spent the entire time you were gone thinking you were
going to die out here and leave me alone. Fuck, Laur, when I got that call…”
“You’d know if I was dead before you got a call,” Laura said, trying to
deflect.
“I know that!” Derek screamed, his voice coming out as a savage roar, “Why do
you think I’ve barely slept in a week? I was scared to go to sleep, scared that
I was going to wake up in the middle of the night and feel you dead!”
Derek could smell the tears rolling down Laura’s face.
“You’re all I have left,” Derek’s voice cracked, “You don’t know what it would
do to me if I lost you. I wouldn’t be myself anymore.”
“I fucked up,” Laura said between tears.
“Yeah,” Derek agreed, “but you’re my sister and my Alpha and I fucking love
you.”
Laura let out a watery laugh and Derek smiled as he felt her hand clasp around
his wrist. He leaned into the touch as he followed Laura’s directions to their
motel room and felt the tension ease out of his chest.
Derek knew he and Laura were fine, they had their blow up and he had his chance
to say everything that he was holding inside. It was just the two of them, it
had been for a long time, and all they could do was learn from this and do
better next time.
“So,” Derek said as the rounded the corner to the motel, “you might as well
tell me what you’ve found out.”
 
                                       X
                                        
The first thing Derek did when he stepped into the dimly lit motel room that
Laura rented for the week was pick up the small twin bed in the corner of the
room and push it together with the one right next to it, creating a slightly
bigger, but still terribly uncomfortable, bed.
Laura fell to the bed first, landing almost directly in the middle, and Derek
shrugged off his jacket before falling into bed next to her. Derek curled his
body around Laura’s, tucking himself under her arm and resting his head in the
crook of her neck. He was content to spend the entire night next to his sister
in silence with just her scent and the knowledge that she was safe to comfort
him.
Laura had other plans.
“There’s another wolf in Beacon Hills,” Laura said grimly as she threaded her
fingers through Derek’s hair, “it’s what has been killing those animals in the
preserve.”
Derek huffed, “I figured. Any humans?”
Derek only felt Laura shake her head, “Not that I know of, I was keeping my
ears open at the station but the only thing anyone talked about were animals.
No missing persons either.”
Derek looked up and immediately saw the look on Laura’s face. Even though it
was half obscured by her hair, Derek could tell that his sister was worried.
“Laura?”
“I left something out in my statement to the Sheriff,” Laura said, “I didn’t
hit that deer when I came into town.”
“What?” Derek sat up, twisting on the bed to face Laura.
“I had the windows down when I pulled across the county line,” Laura said, “the
second I made it into our territory I smelled something. It was…familiar but
different at the same time.”
“What do you mean?” Derek questioned, “I didn’t smell anything when I got into
town.”
“It smelled like pack, Derek,” Laura’s voice sent a chill down Derek’s spine,
“but…it wasn’t pack. Not really. It smelled like a wolf from the Hale line but
it was twisted, dark almost. Like it didn’t belong. I’ve never smelled anything
like it, it made me so sick to my stomach I had to pull over.”
“What happened?”
“I heard something off in the preserve,” Laura said, “it was moving fast,
faster than something as simple as an Omega should have been able to move. Then
everything stopped, the sound went away, the smell vanished, and then the deer
came flying from the woods.”
“The deer…flew?”
“No,” Laura laughed, brittle and hollow, “whatever was in the woods, whatever I
smelled, it threw the deer at me.”
Derek blinked, “Another wolf threw a deer at you?”
“It was a warning, a challenge. Just like the picture and the letter. There was
a spiral cut into the flank of the deer. Someone, something, wanted me here.
Whatever it was, it was trying to draw me into the woods. I knew I didn’t stand
a chance against it, not alone and not without all the information, so I threw
the fucking deer back at it.”
“You threw the deer back into the woods?” Derek’s eyebrows rose to his
hairline.
“Yeah,” Laura laughed, “it was pretty bad ass, honestly. Whatever was out there
must have skinned the deer after I threw it back and left the body in the woods
after.”
“What about Harris?” Derek asked.
Laura groaned and rolled on her side, facing away from Derek, “Can we talk
about my attempted assault tomorrow? I promise you, it’s not as exciting as it
sounds. It’s not much we didn’t already know about the fire anyway, we just
have a new name to put with a face.”
Derek fell back into the bed and wrapped his arms around Laura, “Fine.”
Laura let out a long sigh, “You know what else we have to do tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah,” Derek nodded, “Peter.”
Laura’s responding growl was low but strong enough to shake the entire bed.
They both knew the same thing, there was only one living wolf alive that was
part of the Hale line and he was currently comatose in a special ward in Beacon
General.
 
                                       X
                                        
Visiting hours, as it turned out, weren’t until 11am so Derek and Laura decided
to head into town and stop for breakfast at the small diner their father used
to take them to on the weekends. They sat in the same booth they’d sat at a
hundred times before and they both remembered each other’s orders. It would
have been nice, if a little melancholy, had it not been for the circumstances
that drew them back to town.
“Alright,” Derek said as their waitress stepped away, “tell me about Harris.”
The entire reason Laura had come back to Beacon Hills was the unmarked letter
they received over a week ago. The letter was in a blank envelope, with a
single piece of paper inside. Scrawled across the white sheet was a simple
sentence, ‘The truth about the Hale Fire begins with Adrian Harris.’
Laura and Derek had argued for the better part of a day about if they should
trust the letter. Derek knew it was a trap and Laura did too, for the most
part. But between the two of them Laura was always the one who needed to know
everything about their family’s murder.
Part of the reason Derek didn’t want her coming back to Beacon Hills was
because he didn’t want his sister to learn the part that he’d played in the
fire. He didn’t want Laura to learn that he’d given Kate all the information
she’d needed to kill their entire family. It had always driven Laura mad, she
knew that Kate played a part in the fire but she could never figure out how
she’d learned such intimate details about their home.
“I tracked him to the school,” Laura said before taking a sip of her coffee, “I
found him in his classroom and he immediately knew who I was. His heart was
about to beat out of his chest and you could have probably smelled his fear for
miles. All it took was me throwing him around the room for a minute to get him
to break and tell me everything he knew.”
“And?” Derek tensed, he knew Laura couldn’t have found anything too damming or
else she wouldn’t be having this conversation with him. He’d been lying to her
for so long that Derek knew she’d either have killed him or banished him from
her pack.
“Harris was approached by a woman at a bar a few weeks before the fire,” Laura
said, “he was drunk, she was hot and played up his ego. She knew he was a
chemist and kept asking him questions about how to start fires, how to make it
untraceable. He wouldn’t tell her anything so she took him into the bathroom,
sucked his dick, and he told her how to kill our family without leaving a
trace.”
Derek’s stomach dropped. It was what Kate did, she preyed on you, sought out
all your weaknesses and used them against you, turned her body into a weapon
and took and took from you until you were all used up. Then she either threw
you to the side with a cruel laugh or murdered your entire family. Or, In
Derek’s case, both.
“-erek, Derek!” Laura snapped her fingers in front of Derek’s face.
Derek’s vision refocused suddenly and he gasped for air, drawing in a deep
breath and filling his lungs with oxygen. He hadn’t even realized he’d stopped
breathing for a few minutes. He looked across the table and found Laura’s face
filled with guilt and sorrow. She smelled of agony and regret.
“Fuck,” Laura ran a hand through her dark hair, “I shouldn’t have said
anything. Fuck, I never should have come here.”
“It’s fine,” Derek’s voice came out as a painful rasp, “I…it’s just hard to
think about everything.”
“I know,” Laura said softly, “we’ll leave after we take care of Peter, I
promise. We never have to come back here.”
“Good,” Derek shuddered, “thank you.”
The door behind them opened, the small bell above it echoing through the diner,
and Derek’s attention was caught by a familiar smell. It was less synthetic
pharmaceuticals and more cherries and pine today.
“Stiles,” Laura grinned as the Stiles passed their table, “funny running into
you here.”
“Laura!” Stiles’ face lit up, “Just the woman I wanted to see!”
“Oh?” Laura laughed, settling back into the booth.
Derek looked up at the clock, it was 8am on a Tuesday, “Shouldn’t you be in
school?”
Stiles turned his gaze towards Derek and glared, “Actually, that’s why I’m here
and why I need to thank your sister who’s about a hundred times the
conversationalist that you are.”
Laura cackled, the witch.
“You won’t catch me arguing with that one,” Laura winked, “my little brother
could stand to take a few public speaking classes.”
“Tell me about it,” Stiles laughed as he fell into the booth next to Laura.
“Sure Stiles,” Derek glared, “sit with us, please. It’s not like we were
talking about anything important.”
Stiles scoffed and kicked Derek under the table, “I knew your apology was
bullshit.”
Laura gasped, “Derek apologized to you for something?”
Stiles shrugged, “Supposedly. But I think when you apologize to someone for
being a dick you’re supposed to not be a dick to them again less than 24 hours
later.”
Derek growled.
Laura Glared.
Stiles spoke, “Anyway, Laura! You’ve literally saved my life! If my dad ever
arrests you again I’m personally going to spring you, Prison Break style.”
Derek allowed himself a small smile at that and Stiles’ face lit up when he
caught the sight of it. Derek followed it up with a stern glare just to be
safe.
“What did I do?” Laura laughed.
Stiles leaned in close, “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that you storm into
the school like the badass warrior princess that you are and slam Mr. Harris
against a wall and then he puts in his formal registration a few hours later
and flees town in the middle of the night.”
Derek choked on his coffee, “You made Harris flee town?”
Laura shrugged, “I mean, I didn’t know he would flee. I just happened to
mention that I would be sticking around town for a while and that the sheriff
might not be so close by for our next interaction. I can’t really control the
fact that he took it as some kind of threat.”
Laura glanced down at Stiles and her eyes went wide, “Not that it was a threat
or anything.”
Stiles laughed, “Anything I hear is inadmissible in a court of law.”
Laura grinned, all teeth, “I like you.”
Stiles’ scent spiked, but it wasn’t the expected arousal that you’d assume
would come from a teenager. It was…bright happiness.
Stiles blushed and ducked his head, “Thank you.”
Laura smiled and rubbed Stiles’ head. Stiles leaned into the touch, not wanting
anything more than simple affection. He seemed to be touch starved.
“So fuzzy,” Laura grinned.
It took Derek a second to realize what Laura was doing. She was scenting
Stiles, it seemed mostly subconscious but it was obvious that Laura had formed
some kind of attachment with Stiles.
“Can I buy you breakfast?” Stiles asked, “As payment for ridding me of the bane
of my existence?”
Laura laughed, “I don’t think you can afford the amount of food that Derek
eats.”
Stiles smiled and turned his face back to Derek, “Oh, I wasn’t offering to buy
him food, just you.”
Laura cackled. Again.
“I love you,” Laura rubbed Stiles’ head again, “I appreciate the offer but we
ordered our food to go, we’ve got somewhere we need to be in a little bit.”
“Oh,” Stiles deflated a little bit, “Yeah, that’s cool, I need to get to school
before second period anyway.”
Stiles lifted himself out of the booth abruptly and made his way towards the
door.
Laura frowned, “Hey, Stiles?”
Stiles paused with his hand on the door, “Yeah?”
“How about later?” Laura smiled, “Lunch or something? I can tell you the
details I left out of my statement, which may or may not include Harris
actually crying.”
Stiles’ eyes went wide, “Seriously?”
Laura laughed and nodded.
“Is Derek going to be there?” Stiles asked hesitantly.
“I don’t know,” Laura turned her grin on Derek, “do you want Derek to be
there?”
Derek didn’t need to look at Stiles to see the flush that crept up his face, “I
mean, he’s not terrible company when he’s not talking.”
Laura winked a Derek before grabbing a napkin from the table and writing her
number down with the pen their waitress left at their table. Stiles came back
and took the napkin from her hands and stuffed it in his pocket.
“That’s my number,” Laura smiled, “text me yours and we can set something up,
we’ll be in town for a few more days at least.”
“Yeah,” Stiles nodded, “I…thanks.”
Laura smiled and nodded as Stiles turned again to leave.
Stiles was hallway out of the door before Derek spoke, “Stiles?”
Derek heard Stiles sputter, turn, and crash into the door in his haste to
answer Derek, “Yes, uh, hi. Yes?”
Derek huffed, amused, “Have a good day.”
Stiles grinned, the same happy and content smell returning, “Thanks, dude. You
too.”
Derek and Laura were silent for a few moments as they watched Stiles walk
across the parking lot to his old Jeep.
Derek was the first to break the silence, “Why are you so nice to him?”
Laura rolled her eyes, “Not everyone has to be so serious all the time.”
“I just…don’t get it.”
Laura sighed, “He’s nice, funny, and fucking adorable. And it was honestly
refreshing to meet a 16-year-old who didn’t immediately smell like he wanted to
fuck me upon first impression.”
Derek winced, “I don’t need to even think about that.”
Laura rolled her eyes again, her face softened before she spoke, “He’s lonely,
I think.”
“Stiles?” Derek asked, it made sense though.
“I heard him talking at the station, he’s got like one friend who’s all but
abandoned him for the girl he’s trying to date, his dad is the Sheriff who
works too much and I heard them have a ten-minute-long argument about how the
Sheriff should eat better because Stiles is afraid his dad is going to have a
heart attack and leave him too.”
Derek frowned, he felt like a dick for being a dick.
“Even through all of that though he’s funny as shit and I can already tell he’s
smart as fuck,” Laura smiled, “he’d make a good wolf.”
Derek blinked, “Laura, please tell me you’re not thinking about giving him the
bite.”
Laura gasped, “God, Derek, no! Who in their right mind would go around biting
teenagers for the hell of it? It was just a general statement.”
Derek felt his shoulders sag in relief, “So you’re just going to be his friend
for a few days and then leave town?”
Laura shrugged, “I don’t know, I figured I could like…give him a pep talk or
something. Let him know that he’s not alone or something, that there’s more to
the world than Beacon Hills or the dumb people in it. Give him life advice, let
him know that my broodingly handsome brother is both very single and very
bisexual.”
Derek choked on his coffee, “Fucking…”
Laura rolled her eyes and dropped her voice low in a mockery of Derek’s voice,
“Have a good day, Stiles. Kiss me, Stiles. Make love to me, Stiles. Hold me,
Stiles.”
Derek felt his face heat up, “Christ, Laura! He’s a teenager!”
There were so many things wrong with that idea. Derek couldn’t do that. He
wouldn’t be someone like Kate. He refused.
“And you’re an emotionally repressed 21-year-old werewolf which puts you
mentally at about 18, it’s not that big of a deal. Mom met dad when she was 19
and he was 15.”
“That…” Derek trailed off, “It’s different. Mom was a born wolf and dad was a
human member of another pack, it’s not the same.”
Laura sighed, “I’m not telling you to go crawl through his window and get in
his bed, but he obviously thinks you’re cute so it couldn’t hurt you to be nice
to him.”
Derek growled, “I’m not going to lead a teenager on!”
Laura pinched the bridge of her nose, “You can have a civil conversation with
him without him thinking you want to fuck him, just try to maybe not imply that
he’s stupid or that you don’t want him around.”
“Whatever,” Derek mumbled, getting up from the table and picking up his and
Laura’s breakfast from the counter, “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
“Whatever,” Laura rolled her eyes, “I’ll let you off the hook for now.We should
leave for the hospital now anyway.”
“Right.” Derek nodded as he made his way back to the table.
Time to pay Uncle Peter a visit.
 
***** Hospitals and High Schools *****
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                 Chapter Three
                          Hospitals and High Schools
                                        
“Remind me again why we’re eating in this tiny little car instead of the nice,
comfortable diner?” Laura asked between bites of her breakfast burrito.
“Because,” Derek said as he licked the ketchup off of his thumb, “it’s weird
and morbid and I didn’t want to do it.”
Laura laughed, “Because eating breakfast from styrofoam containers in the
parking lot of the hospital where our uncle, who may or may not actually be
comatose, is being taken care of isn’t morbid?”
“Peter isn’t dead,” Derek shrugged, “Speaking of Peter, what are you planning
on accomplishing in there?”
Laura was quiet for a moment. Derek had tried to picture scenarios in his head
of how his sister was going to determine if Peter was faking his condition and
none of the ideas he came up with seemed like they’d keep Laura off of the
Sheriff’s radar.
Laura sat her burrito down in its box, “I want to smell him first, see if I can
catch any trace of what I smelled on the road into town.”
“And then what?”
“Then we play it by ear, see if I can figure out some way to get him to reveal
himself. An Alpha roar would probably work.”
Derek sputtered, “An Alpha roar in the middle of a hospital?”
Laura sighed, “Therein lies the problem, pup.”
“We could- “
Derek cut Laura off before she could even finish, “I’m not helping you kidnap
Uncle Peter from the hospital.”
Laura huffed, “You’re no fun.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be trying to not do illegal things while you’re in
town?” Derek shook his head.
Laura groaned, “I can’t help it if the town makes doing illegal things
necessary!”
The alarm on Derek’s phone went off and he and Laura paused. They shared a look
as Derek silenced his phone and turned the alarm off.
Laura pushed the passenger side door open and stepped out of the car, “Visiting
hours have officially begun.”
Derek followed his sister into the hospital after locking the car behind them.
The hospital itself wasn’t anything special, it looked like it had gotten a
slight revamp since the last time Derek was there but he’d tried to put that
entire night out of his mind. There wasn’t much he remembered from the
aftermath of the fire except for the smell of burning bodies and the taste of
terrible guilt.
Laura’s face was a blank slate. Derek had seen it before; his sister had gone
into full on Alpha mode. Laura described it as a way for her to do what she
needed to do without having to worry about her emotions or feelings getting in
the way. It was an armor she could put on to block out the years of pain and
hurt and the terrible dread that Derek knew his sister was feeling about
stepping foot in the hospital again.
Laura remembered much more than Derek did about that night.
It had been years since either of them had been inside the hospital so the
first thing they both managed to do while trying to find Peter was to get lost.
They stood in the same spot for several minutes, spinning in circles while
trying to use their enhanced senses to locate Peter. The hospital was too
muddled, too filled with the stench of pain, death, and antiseptic that it made
locating Peter by smell almost impossible.
“Are you going to be able to smell what you smelled on whatever attacked you in
here?” Derek asked.
Laura nodded, “I’m never going to forget that smell, Derek.”
They wandered through the hallways for a few more minutes, this time trying to
use the hospital directory and confusing arrows on the wall to find the proper
ward for Peter.
When that failed, Derek decided to go to the nearest nurse’s station to ask for
directions. Derek settled against the closest counter as he waited for someone
to help him.
It took a few minutes but Derek was eventually greeted by a woman with curly
brown hair, tan skin, and kind eyes.
“Can I help you?” The nurse, Nurse McCall her nametag read, asked.
“Hi,” Laura smiled, coming up silently behind Derek, “my brother and I are
looking for our uncle, we can’t seem to make sense of the map of this place.”
Nurse McCall laughed, “Tell me about it, I’ve been here for over a decade and I
still get lost once a week. What’s your uncle’s name?”
“Peter,” Derek offered, “Peter Hale.”
Nurse McCall froze, obviously recognizing the name. To her credit though she
immediately recovered and didn’t offer the same, ‘you’re Laura and Derek,’
comment that everyone else seemed to.
“Head down to the end of this hallway,” Nurse McCall pointed in the direction
opposite of the nurse’s station, “take a left, then take the elevator up to the
third floor and go through the first set of double doors. That will take you to
the long-term care ward, the nurses up there should be able to direct you to
your uncle.”
Derek nodded, “Thank you.”
Nurse McCall smiled, “You’re welcome, you two take care.”
Laura smiled in return before grabbing Derek by the elbow and pulling him down
the hallway in the direction that Nurse McCall indicated.
The elevator opened to the third floor and Derek’s hand instinctively found
Laura’s, squeezing harder than necessary. Compared to the rest of the hospital,
the long-term care ward was filled with an overwhelming scent of sadness. Derek
felt like he could taste the lingering tears of family members who sat by the
bedside of their unresponsive loved ones at all hours of the day.  
Laura’s thumb swept over the back of Derek’s hand in a soothing motion, “Let’s
go, Peter is this way.”
Derek paused for a moment before hesitantly trying to pick up the same scent
that Laura caught. Once he filtered through the other smells of the floor he
was able to pick Peter out. Peter smelled like sickness, cheap soap, and
family.
“I don’t smell anything out of the ordinary?” Derek said hesitantly.
Laura’s eyes flashed red briefly, “Neither do I, he just smells like Peter.”
They continued down the hall before coming to a stop at the door to Peter’s
room. Peter was in a wheelchair that was parked next to the large bay windows
on the wall, the windows that looked out into the open expanse of the preserve.
It would be the perfect place for a not so vegetative werewolf to disappear
into in the middle of the night.
“How did he get into the chair?” Laura wondered out loud.
Derek caught the sound of footsteps leading towards Peter’s room and turned to
face a nurse who was approaching. Her hair was tied back in a bun and her name,
according to her lanyard, was Jennifer.
“We move him to the window for a few hours every day,” Jennifer said, “studies
show that patients in states such as his can often still see what’s going on
around them even if they can’t react or process it. We figured it would be nice
for him to see something other than florescent lighting and pink walls.”
Derek nodded, “That’s very nice, I’m sure our uncle appreciates it if he’s
aware.”
Jennifer took a step back, “Oh my, you’re Laura and Derek?”
Laura stepped forward with a soft smile, “Yes, we just got back into town for a
few days to settle some things and we thought we would come visit Uncle Peter.”
“That’s very sweet of you,” Jennifer said, “it’s been years since he’s had an
actual visitor.”
Years. The idea made Derek’s gut twist in grief. He’d had his issues with Peter
over the years, and they were numerous and fucked up, but he was still family.
The last of his family besides Laura. They’d left Peter alone for years and now
he might be some kind of monster because of it.
Derek shuddered and walked towards the window, coming to a stop next to Peter
while Laura continued to talk to Jennifer.
“Are you Peter’s full-time nurse?” Laura asked.
“One of them,” Jennifer nodded, “each patient in this ward has four full-time
nurses, one for the day and one for the evening and then we trade off, but for
the most part I’ve been working with Peter for the past four years.”
“Has there been any change? I know if something major had happened that the
hospital would have called us…but you’re around him so much that maybe you’ve
noticed something small? Twitches of fingers? Blinking? Anything?”
“It’s common for patients with Peter’s condition to exhibit some signs of
interaction such as blinking or twitches, but there’s no way for us to know for
sure if it’s a true response or just an automatic signal from the body. His bi-
monthly brain scan hasn’t indicted any change since he was admitted to this
floor full time.”
Laura let out a long sigh, “Thank you, Jennifer. Do you mind if we have some
alone time with our Uncle?”
Jennifer shook her head, “Not at all, I’ll be down the hall at the nurse’s
station and you can press the red button on the wall if you need me.”
Laura nodded and turned back towards Peter. She waited for Jennifer to leave
the room and take her seat at the station down the hall before she crouched
down in front of Peter and let her eyes turn red.
“Listen to me, asshole,” Laura glared, “if you’re in there and you were the one
who wanted me to come back here you better say something right the hell now.”
Derek tensed as he listened to Peter’s heart. There was no change, no small
blip to indicate that he’d heard anything that Laura said. Peter’s breathing
remained steady and there was no change to his scent at all.
“Fine,” Laura growled, “if that’s how you want to play it.”
Laura held up her index finger and checked over her shoulder before she let
herself shift slightly and produce a single, sharp claw. She held it up to
Peter’s face, pressing lightly into his unscarred cheek.
“Laura!” Derek snapped.
Laura glanced up at Derek before retracting her claw, “Relax, pup.”
Derek sighed and leaned against the window, “I don’t think he’s in there
Laura.”
Laura pushed herself up from the ground and nodded her head towards the door.
Derek followed after her, staying silent as they made their way down the hall
and back to the elevator to take them to the first floor of the hospital. Laura
didn’t speak until they were in the car and down the street from the hospital.
“He’s either faking it, and don’t give me that look because it’s Peter, if
anyone could fake a vegetative state it would be him.”
Derek nodded, “Or?”
“Or,” Laura said, “he doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
Derek raised his eyebrows, “How would that even be possible?”
Laura straightened in her seat, “Mom told me a story once about a wolf who was
so badly injured that the human part of his body wouldn’t allow his wolf
healing to trigger.”
Derek nodded, Deaton had told them this was probably the case with Peter before
they left Beacon Hills for good six years ago.
“It separated something within him, the wolf and the human. The human part
stayed injured and catatonic. But something changed after a few full moons and
the wolf part found a way to break free, the man shifted almost every night and
essentially went feral from sundown to sunrise. But when the sun came up, the
man was back to the weakened state his human body left him in.”
“What happened?” Derek asked.
Laura frowned, “He got out one night, got away from his pack and killed a
child. Hunters got involved and I’m sure you can guess the rest of the story.”
Derek’s hands tightened on the wheel, “So you think that it’s possible that
Peter is shifting without knowing and escaping the hospital without anyone
realizing every single night?”
“No,” Laura shook her head, “if that’s really what’s happened then it just
started recently, there’s no way that there wouldn’t have been any sign for the
last six years.”
“That doesn’t explain the letter,” Derek said, “or the fact that Peter, or
whatever it was, tried to attack you on your way into town.”
Laura growled, “I know, Derek! I just…I don’t know what to do. If this is Peter
then it’s our responsibility, we can’t just leave and let him shift again and
hurt someone. What if he kills someone?”
Derek slowed the car and pulled over on the side of the road, he put the car in
park and turned towards Laura, “Are you telling me you want to stay here?”
Laura’s breath hitched, “Not forever, but Peter is family. Pack. I’m the Alpha
and if one of my Beta’s is out of control then I have to stop it. What if Peter
kills someone and Hunters become involved. They won’t stop with Peter! They’ll
track us down and use the fact that I couldn’t control a member of my own pack
as the flimsy justification they’d need to kill me too.”
Derek growled, loud enough that it shook the windows of the small car, “No. No,
don’t say that.”
Derek felt his heart start to race. All he could picture was Laura, dead, cut
in half, a lifeless husk in front of him. He thought of himself alone in the
world as an Omega with no family and no pack left.
Laura’s hand gripped the back of Derek’s neck, squeezing tightly, “Come back to
me, Derek. Listen to my heart. Breathe with me.”
Derek focused in on Laura’s heartbeat and the sound of her lungs expanding and
contracting, it took a few minutes but he was eventually able to match her. His
vision came back to him slowly, the dark tunnel that had clouded his
peripheries dissipating and allowing him to see Laura’s soft smile.
“I…” Derek breathed, “I can’t stay here but…I can’t let anything happen to you.
I don’t know what to do.”
Laura increased the pressure on Derek’s neck slightly, “The full moon is
tomorrow night, we’ll watch Peter and see if anything happens. If the wolf is
going to take over then it would make sense for it to happen during the full
moon. If it is Peter, we stop him. If it isn’t, we regroup and plan our next
move. If it comes down to it then I can reach out to one of mom’s old contacts,
a pack a couple hundred miles from here. We could offer them the territory in
exchange for stopping the threat.”
“You’d give up our territory?” Derek blinked, Laura was always prideful about
Hale land. Even if they didn’t currently live on it, it still belonged to them
and Laura always took comfort in that fact. The notion that she’d be willing to
give up their entire territory for Derek’s sake was…Derek couldn’t even think
of a word impactful enough.
“I’d give up anything to protect you, pup. I’m saying this as your sister, not
your Alpha. You’re the most important thing that I have left in this world and
it’s killing me that you’re in pain right now just by being here. If I have to
give up our family’s land to stop you from hurting then I’d do it in a
heartbeat. I know mom would understand, she always wanted what was best for
us.”
Derek ran a hand through his hair and leaned into Laura’s side, “Let’s just see
what happens tomorrow night with Peter.”
Laura smiled and rested her chin on top of Derek’s head, “Sounds like a plan.”
“What about tonight?” Derek asked, “Are we going to watch Peter?”
Laura shook her head, “I want to look around the preserve, start near the
hospital and see if I can pick up the scent from the other night.”
“Full shift?” Derek asked her.
“Yeah,” Laura said, running her hand over the top of Derek’s head one final
time, “if something is out there it’ll be easier for me to pick up on as a
wolf.”
“It’s been awhile since you’ve shifted fully.” Derek said, matter of fact.
Laura sighed, “Not many places for a giant wolf to run around in the streets of
New York. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to it, stretching my
four legs in our own territory. Especially if it’s the last time I’ll be able
to do it.”
Derek whined.
“Hey,” Laura said softly, “I didn’t mean it like that and you know it.”
Derek closed his eyes.
“Alright,” Laura laughed, “out of the car, I’m driving now.”
“What?” Derek looked at Laura, “Where are we going?”
Laura shrugged and grinned as she opened the door, “Dunno, haven’t decided
yet.”
Derek rolled his eyes as he got out of the car. He knew his sister well enough
to know that was a lie even without enhanced senses.
 
                                       X
                                        
“No,” Derek said immediately as he realized where Laura was taking them,
“absolutely not. You’re insane.”
Laura winked as she pulled into the parking lot of Beacon Hills High.
“What’s the worst that could happen?” Laura asked with a sharp grin.
“You could get arrested, I could get arrested.”
“No one is going to get arrested, Derek.” Laura rolled her eyes, “I’ve been
dying to get a look at the place in the daylight.”
“What about the students?” Derek shook his head, “We’re not exactly subtle.”
“Look at the parking lot, there’s no one here.” Laura smiled.
Derek looked around and realized that the parking lot was mostly empty save for
a few cars. One of which happened to be Stiles’ Jeep. Derek looked down at his
watch and frowned.
“It’s only 1pm, where the hell is everyone?”
Laura handed her phone to Derek, the Beacon Hills High website was open with
large, red letters proclaiming that today was an early release day.
Laura snatched her phone back and cracked her knuckles, “See! We’re fine! And
according to Stiles, Harris is gone so there’s nothing to worry about. I just
want to go inside and take a look around, see if I can find your team photos
from baseball and basketball.”
Derek’s jaw dropped, “No! No, I draw the line there.”
Laura cackled, “C’mon, pup. I haven’t seen you with those big ears in so long!”
Derek growled, “You’re the worst.”
Laura opened the door and jumped out of the car, “I know!”
Derek sat in silence as he watched his sister make her way into the school. He
waited until she was up the front steps and had disappeared though the double
doors before he begrudgingly followed her.
Laura’s forehead was already pressed to a glass display case by the time he
found her. He arrived just in time to see her extending two claws to use as
lock picks.
“Seriously?” Derek sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“What?” Laura said, not even bothering to look up at Derek while she worked, “I
need to this picture in my life at all times.”
Derek shook his head and came up behind Laura, leaning over her shoulder to see
what picture she was talking about. Derek froze when he saw the photo.
It was a black and white photo of his teenage self with a giant grin being
hoisted on the shoulders of his basketball team after scoring the winning
basket at the regional game. Derek’s face was discreetly angled away from the
camera and it appeared in the photo as if he was looking across the gym at
something else entirely.
Derek remembered the night vividly. He remembered having to cover his ears as
the crowd screamed when he scored, he remembered the feelingly of
weightlessness as his entire team lifted him off the ground, and he remembered
Paige’s blindingly white smile from across the gym as she jumped up and down
and waved her pompoms at him.
It was the last game before Paige died.  
“Got it,” Laura laughed as the lock popped open, she pushed the glass door to
the side and deftly lifted the photo off of the shelf and pried it out of its
frame.
Derek’s self-control wavered. He ripped the photo from Laura’s hands, claws
extended, and shredded it until there was nothing but tiny pieces of photo
paper in a pile on the ground beneath his feet.
“Derek!” Laura yelped, “What the hell?”
Derek stared at the pile on the ground, he could feel his teeth extending and
his brow contracting. He was vaguely aware of Laura out of the corner of his
eye, crouched low and ready to take him down if she had to.
Derek felt utterly pathetic. He’d been doing so well for the past few months,
it had been so long since he’d lost control like this. All it took was Beacon
Hills and a few bad memories to set him back, to snap his thin grasp on
control.
Derek swallowed.
Laura. Cora. His father. His mother.
He repeated the list in his head, imagining all their faces smiling and
laughing. Imagining them happy as a family before they were torn apart. They
were his anchor, along with the rest of the Hale line that died that night in
the fire. Derek got himself under control for them, to honor the memory of the
ones who were lost and to fight for the one that was still with him.
Slowly, Derek felt himself relax. His teeth returned to normal, he felt his
brow settle back into place, and his hands slowly straightened as his claws
retracted. Laura was in front of him when he opened his eyes, her stance calm
and her mouth forming the smallest of smiles.
“Hi,” Laura said softly.
“Fuck,” Derek rasped, “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Laura shook her head, “you did good.”
“I…” Derek trailed off, “thank you for letting me get myself under control.”
“I knew you could do it,” Laura pulled him into a tight hug, “wanna talk about
it?”
Derek broke away from the hug and shook his head, “Not right now.”
“Alright,” Laura said, “I’ll be here when you do.”
Derek nodded tightly, “I…I need some fresh air. Alone. For a minute.”
“Ok,” Laura smiled, “I’ll be here, I want to see if I can find the pictures of
me on Homecoming Court.”
Derek nodded and turned on his heel, not quite running but not quite walking
back to the front door and out into the parking lot. The wind that hit his skin
was a welcome relief from the stale air in the high school. The scent outside
was far less saturated with teenage hormones and self-loathing.
Admittedly, the scent of self-loathing could have belonged to Derek. He wasn’t
entirely sure.
Derek crossed the lawn of the school until he came to a stop under a large tree
and leaned against it. He ran his hands across the rough bark and let the
feeling ground him. He tipped his head towards the sky and inhaled deeply. His
senses flared to life as he took in the smell of the world around him. The
familiar scents of the preserve wafted from the trees nearby but it was the
scent of cherries and pine that caused Derek to pause.
Derek shouldn’t have been surprised that Stiles was in the area. They were at
his school and Derek saw his Jeep when they pulled in. What Derek didn’t
expect, was to smell Stiles outside and for that scent to be accompanied by the
smell of sweat and pain.
Stiles was somewhere nearby and he was in pain.
Derek pushed himself off of the tree and quickly found himself traveling in
Stiles’ general direction. Derek didn’t know why he felt such a frantic need to
help Stiles if he was in pain but he’d worry about that later.
As Derek got closer to where Stiles seemed to be he paused. He could hear the
sounds of other voices, teenagers yelling at each other. Then a sharp whistle.
Sports.
Stiles was practicing.
Derek felt like an idiot.
He moved closer anyway. Just to be sure.
The field came into view and Derek’s eyes roamed over a dozen or so students
all dressed in grey and maroon with netted sticks over their shoulders.
Lacrosse, Derek’s mind helpfully supplied.
Derek quickly found Stiles among the group. He was easy to spot, laying on the
ground face first with only the ‘Stilinski’ on the back of his jersey visible.
“Jesus, Stilinski,” one of the guys closest to him said, “are you always this
fucking useless.”
Derek growled.
“Bite me, Jackson,” Stiles spat back as he pushed himself off of the ground and
brushed the grass off of the front of his body.
Derek growled again.
“I bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” The guy, Jackson, sneered, “Bet you’d
like it if Lydia and I took turns. As if that would ever happen.”
“Dude!” Another boy said as he stood in front of Stiles defensively, though his
long shaggy hair made him look more like a puppy than a guard dog, “Don’t be an
ass.”
“Whatever, McCall,” Jackson rolled his eyes, “it’s not like you or Stilinski
will ever make it off of the bench, what’s it matter to me if Stilinski can’t
run in a straight line and you can’t move more than three feet without needing
an inhaler.”
Before Stiles or the other boy could respond a sharp whistle cut through the
air. Derek winced at the surprise sound.
“Hello!” the older man at center field yelled, “If you’re done braiding each
other’s hair, could we please get back to practice so this sorry excuse for a
team even has a chance at this weekend’s game?”
“Yes, Coach.” All the boys responded in unison.
Stiles kept his position while the boy with long hair and Jackson ran to the
other side of the field. Derek watched as the small skirmish continued,
marveling at the way Stiles barely seemed to be able to stay upright. It looked
like it was a legitimate challenge for him to even stand upright and hold the
lacrosse stick at the same time.
Derek had never seen anything like it and he could feel his lips turning upward
into a small smile.
The one thing Derek didn’t expect, however, was for Stiles to see him. It
seemed as if Stiles’ attention easily drifted from the match in front of him
and his eyes began to scan the areas surrounding the field.
It didn’t take Stiles long to find Derek. Derek was standing in the middle of
an open field and wearing a leather jacket, he wasn’t exactly being subtle.
Stiles’ eyes went wide, wide enough for Derek to see even from a short distance
away, and he froze in the middle of the field. He was so focused on Derek that
he didn’t see the ball coming towards his head.
Derek wanted to do something. He knew that he could make it to Stiles in time
to pull him out of the way of the ball but there would be a crowd of witnesses
and no easy way to explain why he was watching a high school lacrosse practice
or how he managed to move quickly enough to cross half a football field and
pull Stiles out of the way of an incoming ball.
Which meant all Derek could do was watch, and wince in sympathy, as the
lacrosse ball collided with the side of Stiles’ head and Stiles once again fell
face first into the grass.
***** Twice Shy, *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                 Chapter Four
                                  Twice Shy,
                                        
The last thing Stiles saw was Derek.
Derek Hale. Watching him play lacrosse. Well, play was probably a gross
exaggeration.
Derek Hale watched him get brained by a lacrosse ball.
Fuck.
“Stiles! Holy shit!”
Stiles blinked as Scott’s face came into view, “Why are you upside down?”
Scott was pushed out of the way and his face was quickly replaced with
Finstock’s less handsome, more terrifying face.
“No,” Stiles mumbled, “bring Scott’s face back.”
Finstock glared, “If you’re coherent enough to be a smart ass I’m not calling
you an ambulance.”
“No!” Stiles said quickly, sitting up entirely too fast and just barely holding
on to his lunch, “no ambulance! I’m good! Fit as a whistle! Wait...I don’t
think that’s how that goes.”
“Ah hell,” Finstock sighed, rubbing his hand across his forehead, “you’re done
for today Bilinski. Can I trust you to make it to the locker room without
killing yourself on the way there?”
Stiles looked around, everyone still seemed to be moving a little to the left.
“I’ll take him,” Scott offered.
“Of course,” Jackson rolled his eyes, “McCall wants to be with his boyfriend.”
Stiles decided if he was going to puke then it was going to be on Jackson.
“McCall, you’re staying here! I need you to be ready for next weekend in case
Greenberg decides to go to Del Taco an hour before the game like last week.”
“Wait!” Scott’s mood improved a little too quickly for Stiles’ liking, “I might
play?”
Finstock glared again, “Don’t bug me about it.”
Scott deflated, but only a little.
Finstock jammed his finger at Stiles, “You. Locker room.”
Stiles sighed, pushed himself off the ground, and used Scott’s arm to steady
himself. He briefly looked for a glimpse of Derek Hale and frowned internally
when he didn’t see him. Maybe he got hit with the ball sooner than he thought
and Derek’s appearance was part of his head trauma.
Scott gripped his shoulder until Stiles stopped swaying, “Hang out until
practice is over and I’ll drive you to my mom, she’s off this afternoon. She
can make sure you don’t have a concussion.”
Stiles nodded and shrugged. There was still half an hour left of practice, as
long as he didn’t fall asleep and slip into a coma in between now and Scott
finishing up then he’d be fine. Probably.
The scrimmage resumed the second that Stiles was off the field. It took him a
second to orient himself but he followed the usual sidewalk from the athletics
field to the boy’s locker room with relative ease. He managed to make it about
half of the way without an incident.
Until.
“Hey,” a deep voice came from behind Stiles.
Stiles flailed, naturally, surprised by the voice behind him. Next, he was
falling face first towards the cement sidewalk and the only thing he could
think was that his dad was going to be pissed and that broken noses are
probably expensive.
Stiles didn’t hit the ground though. Stiles blinked in confusion as he felt
himself suspended in midair. He was pulled upwards and repositioned by the hand
that was wrapped around his bicep and he spun to face whoever was behind him as
soon as he was released.
“Derek,” Stiles gaped, “I thought you were part of my head trauma.”
Derek huffed, “You saw me before you got hit.”
“Oh,” Stiles hummed, “everything got a little scrambled.”
Stiles emphasized his point by flailing his arms around his head, a move he
regretted the second he made it.
Derek’s eyes narrowed, “Are you OK?”
Stiles shrugged, “Possible concussion but I don’t think there’s anything else
wrong with me aside from the usual.”
Derek huffed, Stiles was beginning to realize that it was Derek’s go to
mechanism, “There’s nothing usually wrong with you.”
“Oh,” Stiles felt himself heating up.
Derek leaned closer, he slipped a finger under Stiles’ chin and tipped his head
up towards the sky. Derek leaned in closer, squinting his eyes, before leaning
back and holding a single finger in front of Stiles’ face. Derek told him to
follow his finger with his eyes, Stiles went along with it because when someone
as hot as Derek Hale tells you to watch his fingers then you damn well better
watch his fingers.
“You don’t have a concussion,” Derek said definitively.
Stiles blinked, “I didn’t know you were a doctor.”
Derek rolled his eyes, “I’m not.”
They were both silent for a few seconds until Derek grimaced.
“My cousins,” Derek trailed off briefly before recovering, “my cousins were
always hitting their heads because they tried so hard to keep up with my
sisters and I but they weren’t as…resilient as we were. They didn’t bounce back
as fast so my mom taught us how to check for a few things in case we were alone
with them, one of them being a concussion.”
“Oh,” Stiles whispered, “thank you.”
He knew about the Hale’s. Everyone in Beacon Hills knew about the Hale’s and
the fire that killed their entire extended family, aside from Derek, Laura, and
their Uncle Peter. Stiles frowned, almost everyone Derek mentioned in his story
was dead.
Before Stiles could dwell on it, Derek spoke, “You should sit down.”
Stiles nodded, relieved that he didn’t feel quite as nauseous after moving his
head as he did a few seconds ago, “The locker room is over there.”
Derek cringed and took about three steps backwards, “I’m not going in there.”
Stiles sputtered, “It wasn’t like I was inviting you to watch me change or
something!”
Derek gaped, “I…no…the smell. I’m not going in there because it smells.”
“Oh!” Stiles laughed, “Ok, yeah, I can’t fault you on that one.”
Stiles paused. Did that mean Derek Hale did want to watch him change or
something? Stiles coughed and decided to file away that thought until later.
Much later.
“There’s benches on the other side of the locker room…we could sit there?”
Stiles hesitated, “I mean, not that you want to sit with me. You totally don’t
have to.”
Derek laughed, slightly, “It’s fine, I can wait with you. I’m avoiding Laura
anyway.”
Stiles gasped, “Why would you want to avoid Laura?”
Derek’s eyebrows drew together, “You’ve met her.”
Stiles shrugged, “True. She’s a bit…much. But then again, so am I.”
Derek nodded and motioned for Stiles to start moving, “That’s probably why she
likes you.”
“She got rid of Mr. Harris, she could be a serial killer and I’d still like
her. I’d probably try to harbor her from my dad.”
“Don’t give her any ideas.”
Stiles snorted, “I’d be her getaway driver.”
Derek laughed, “You don’t seem like the type of person built for a hardened
life of crime.”
“You’d know all about that, huh? Mr. Tall, Dark, and Leather Jacket.”
Stiles cringed inwardly, he’d only barely managed to resist calling Derek
handsome to his face.
Derek hummed thoughtfully, “This jacket has seen a lot of things.”
“I bet,” Stiles mumbled. He didn’t want to think about what exactly that jacket
had seen. Well, he did. But…later. Tonight. Alone. Again.
If Derek heard he didn’t acknowledge it, instead continuing on, “I got it the
first winter after Laura and I moved to New York. None of the warmer clothes
I’d gotten a few months before fit me anymore because of how often I’d worked
out.”
Stiles laughed, “A moment of silence for the poor sweater that tried to
accommodate your newly formed biceps.”
Derek rolled his eyes, “Anyway, Laura gave it to me one day when she found me
sitting on the fire escape of our building in the middle of a snowstorm.”
“Hardcore,” Stiles said.
“I was punishing myself,” Stiles assumed from the way Derek quickly stopped
talking that Derek hadn’t meant to say that out loud, “she threw the jacket at
me and told me if I ever lost it she’d buy me a new one just so she could hang
me with it.”
Stiles smiled, politely ignoring Derek’s unintended emotional slip, “And you’ve
worn it ever since.”
Derek nodded, “I didn’t take it off for almost a month.”
“Smart man,” Stiles laughed, “I bet New York is nice.”
Derek looked over at Stiles and their eyes met. Stiles, for the first time in
his life, couldn’t think of anything to say and the silence stretched out for a
few comfortable seconds before Derek spoke.
“It’ll never be home, but that’s fine. I don’t like home much anymore.”
If Stiles were anyone but himself he’d find it weird and slightly creepy that
he was having an unintentional, and roundabout, emotionally charged
conversation with a guy a few years older than him while sitting outside of a
high school locker room. But since Stiles was himself he felt like he
understood a little bit.
Stiles had always longed for someone that he could talk to without any fear of
judgment. The only people he’d really ever had since his mother died were his
father and Scott. Stiles knew his dad already dealt with enough at work and he
would never think about adding to his father’s ever-growing list of problems.
It was better for the both of them if Stiles let his father believe that he was
happy and content with his life.
Scott, on the other hand, used to be his go to person. But things had changed
recently ever since Allison Argent had moved back to town. Allison and Scott
had been engaged in some kind of weird courting ritual for the last few weeks,
both obviously interested in each other but neither of them willing to make a
move beyond asking for a pen or to borrow a textbook.
His father was focused on work. Scott was focused on Allison. And Stiles was
trapped in his own head without any real outlet.
“Stiles?” Derek’s voice broke through the haze of Stiles’ thoughts, “You
haven’t said anything in five minutes.”
“What?” Stiles blinked, “I…huh?”
“You’ve been spaced out for the last few minutes,” Derek said, “I was starting
to get worried that I was wrong about you not having a concussion.”
“Sorry,” Stiles coughed, “I just…I get lost in my head sometimes. It’s another
one of my undesirable traits.”
Derek frowned, “It’s fine. I used to do the same thing, Laura always called me
a space cadet.”
Stiles laughed, “My mom used to call me that all the time.”
Derek was silent for a moment before speaking, “Used to?”
Stiles’ stomach dropped. He wasn’t used to being around people who didn’t know
about his mother. It had been a whole thing, wife of local Sheriff candidate
dying just a few weeks before he was elected.
“She uh…” Stiles trailed off, “she died. Six years ago, two months before I
turned 11.”
Derek flinched away like he’d been burned.
Well, maybe that wasn’t the best comparison for a guy whose family died in a
fire.
“Fuck,” Derek rasped, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I never would have said
anything…I know…”
Stiles held up a placating hand, “It’s fine, I know you didn’t know. You look
mortified, dude.”
Derek let out a tense breath, “I’m used…I’m used to people bringing up my
family out of the blue. I know how terrible it feels, I didn’t mean to do that
to you.”
“It’s fine,” Stiles shook his head, “Well, no. It’s fine that you asked about
her. It’s…it’s not fine that she’s dead and that I turn 17 in two weeks and she
won’t be around to see it.”
Stiles clenched his fist. This was not how he saw this whole conversation with
Derek going. Stiles had hoped for, at best, a little bit of harmless and one-
sided flirting and not dead parents and overwhelming existential dread.
Maybe this was all part of his head injury. Maybe the lacrosse ball put him in
a coma and he’s really living his life and having weirdly deep conversations
with a man he doesn’t even know inside of a snow globe while Scott and his
father sit as his bedside every day and cry over his lifeless body.
Stiles looked up to find Derek looking at him intently and he sighed, “I did it
again, didn’t I?”
Derek laughed, his lips turning up in a small smile, “Yeah. Where did you go?”
Stiles scoffed, “Trying to figure out if I’m really living in a snow globe or
not,” Stiles held his arm out to Derek, “Pinch me.”
Stiles was about to pull his arm away, because it was a terrible attempt at a
joke, but just before he pulled his arm back he felt a small, sharp pain in his
forearm.
Stiles yelped, pulling his arm back to his chest and cradling it defensively,
“Dude! What the fuck!”
Derek laughed, grinning, “You asked me to!”
Stiles sputtered, “I didn’t think you would do it!”
Derek rolled his eyes, “So, are you living in a snow globe?”
Stiles released his arm and looked down at the small red mark on it, smiling,
“I don’t think so. I’d like to think I wouldn’t feel this much pain in the
perfect world I’d created in my comatose head.”
“Maybe snow globe you is just really dramatic?” Derek offered
Stiles glared, “Well, snow globe Derek is a fucking asshole.”
Derek laughed, a loud, open sound that Stiles didn’t know Derek was capable of
making, “How would that be any different than the real me?”
Stiles thought about it for a second, “Yeah, you’re right. Snow globe Derek
would be a fucking saint compared to you. It’s official, I’m still among the
living.”
Derek smiled, softer, “I’m glad.”
Stiles, under the scrutinizing glow of Derek’s tiny smile, did what he did
best. He torpedoed the conversation.
“So,” Stiles said, “my dad is working late tonight. Do you…maybe…you and Laura
want to hang out or something?”
Stiles held his breath for what seemed like an eternity and it took every ounce
of self-control he had in him to not squeeze his eyes shut in fear while he
waited for an answer. Derek was suspiciously quiet, looking off into the
distance before blinking and turning to look back at Stiles.
“No,” Derek said simply.
Stiles’ stomach flipped. He was such an idiot. What in the hell was he even
thinking?
“Right,” Stiles said quickly, “it was a dumb idea. Why would you even want to
hang out with me or anything. Duh, Stiles!”
Stiles tried to laugh, to play it off as a joke, but he knew he failed terribly
by the way his voice cracked. His entire body sparked with embarrassment.
“It’s not…” Derek trailed off, “I didn’t me it like that. I’m sorry. Sometimes
I forget to be hum- “
Derek cut himself off immediately and Stiles raised a single eyebrow at him out
of curiosity.
“Forget to be what?”
Derek looked away, “I forget to act like a normal person. I’m not good at it
sometimes. I didn’t mean to be dismissive, Laura and I have plans tonight
already. I’m sorry.”
“Oh,” Stiles said as he rubbed he back of his head, it made him feel marginally
better but he couldn’t be entirely sure that Derek wasn’t just lying to spare
Stiles’ feelings, “Another night then? You and Laura can’t leave town before I
show you where to get the best curly fries.”
“Maybe,” Derek said, abruptly standing from the bench, “We’re going to be busy
for the next few days before we leave but...maybe. If we have time. I should
go. Your practice just ended and the team is on its way back.”
“Wait, what?” Stiles asked, turning around to look back towards the field, he
couldn’t even see the team over the hill, let alone hear them so how did Derek
know?
Stiles turned back around to ask Derek that exact question. Except Derek wasn’t
there. Derek wasn’t anywhere in sight.
 
                                       X
                                        
Laura spent what felt like an hour roaming the halls of Beacon Hills High. She
felt calm and at peace as she walked the same hallways that she did as a
teenager, stuck her head in the same classes she’d had when she went there, and
even sat in a few desks that she’s sure was the exact same ones she’d sat in
years ago.
It reminded her of a time when she didn’t have to bare the weight of the world,
of when she was just a (mostly) normal teenage girl with (mostly) normal
teenage girl problems.
She found a few pictures from her various homecoming dances and her senior prom
plastered onto a large collage in one of the common areas and pried off a
single picture of her standing next to her boyfriend from Senior year with a
dainty tiara on her head and a cheap plastic scepter in her hand. She folded
the picture in half and stuffed it into the breast pocket of her jacket.
She even found a few more pictures of Derek. Derek with his bunny teeth and
oversized ears. Derek smiling like she hadn’t seen him smile in years. Laura
would be lying if she said she didn’t feel a bone deep ache when she thought of
the boy her brother used to be.
Laura could probably count on both hands the number of times she’d heard Derek
laugh, really laugh, over the past six years.
Laura swallowed the lump in her throat and took a deep breath to fight back the
guilt she felt for dragging Derek back to this stupid town. He’d been doing
better over the last year, finally starting to come out of his shell and
interact with the world a little more.
But since being back in Beacon Hills she’d seen him regress, starting to shut
down and close out the world out again. She felt like a terrible sister and a
terrible Alpha. She let her emotions get the better of her and she could have
lost everything if things had gone a different way that first night she’d
gotten back to town.
If she hadn’t been arrested she probably would have let her curiosity get the
better of her and gone out to the preserve alone. Who knows what would have
happened then? She could have died and left Derek truly alone in the world.
It was times like this that Laura desperately wished she could talk to her
mother for advice. Sometimes Laura felt impossibly lost. She’d jumped so
quickly to the idea of killing Peter if he was out of control before she even
thought of helping him. It was worrying and she knew her mother would have had
something to say about it if she were around.
Laura liked to think of herself as a pragmatist, it was almost a necessity
after the last six years and it was nothing like how her mother ran her pack
Laura let her head fall against the stone wall as she tried to sift through her
jumbled thoughts. She stood there for a moment, basking in the quiet, before
she heard a pair of footsteps in the hallway. They were soft, almost certainly
belonging to a teenager.
Laura peered around the corner and caught sight of a girl wearing an oversized
grey hoodie. Her posture was terrible, she was slumped over and cradling her
backpack in her hand in what looked like an attempt to make herself as
unnoticeable as possible. She was wearing a pair of black glasses and thick
blonde curls spilled out from her hoodie in a messy fashion.
Just as Laura was about to turn the corner and leave the girl to herself the
air spiked with something Laura had never quite smelled before. It was odd…it
felt like sickness but it made her uncomfortable, almost as if the scent was
trying to tell her something.
Laura heard the girl drop her bag, the sound echoed through the halls and Laura
spun on her heel. She finally realized what she was smelling, it was a warning
and it was coming from the girl. Laura’s eyes fell on the girl just in time to
see the girl’s eyes roll into the back of her head and her entire body go
slack.
Laura quickly realized that the girl was having a seizure. Laura looked around
the hallway, she had to make a decision. It would take more than human speed to
make it to the girl before her head hit the ground.
Laura darted forward, the lines of lockers blurring into nothingness as she
made it down the hallway in a blink of an eye. It was almost too late. Laura
caught the girl right before her head hit the hard ground. She wasn’t entirely
sure what to do with the girl, if she should restrain her or do something to
make sure she didn’t bite her tongue off.
She settled on wrapping her hands loosely around the girl’s midsection and
holding her as the attack continued. The girl shook violently for a few more
seconds before it slowly petered off and her body went slack. Laura listened to
her heartbeat just to make sure she didn’t need to call an ambulance sooner.
The girl began to stir and Laura loosened her grip. She kept an ear out for
anything worrying and let the girl push herself up against the lockers they
were near and settled back across from her.
Laura wondered if this is what service dogs felt like.
“What?” The girl mumbled, the hood of her sweater falling down and spilling out
tousled blonde curls, “Oh, no.”
“Hey,” Laura said softly, “you’re OK.”
“Oh my god,” the girl looked up at Laura and flushed red, “This is so
embarrassing. Fuck, I was doing so well.”
Laura shook her head, “Don’t be embarrassed. I’m glad I was here, you’d be
laying here with your head cracked open if I hadn’t caught you before you
fell.”
Her eyes went wide, “You caught me?”
Laura laughed, “Yeah, I was lucky enough to be right down the hall when I
realized what was happening.”
“Epilepsy,” the girl sighed, “I’m Erica, by the way.”
Laura smiled and held out her hand, “Hello, Erica. I’m Laura.”
“Hale,” Erica laughed, “I know.”
Laura sighed as she stood, “I see my reputation proceeds me.”
Erica blinked, “No! Oh god, I didn’t mean it like that! We’ve met before, I
mean. I already knew who you were.”
Laura cocked her head to the side. She had zero recollection of ever meeting
Erica before. She didn’t recognize her face or her scent in the slightest.
“Are you sure?” Laura asked, “I’m normally really good with faces?”
“It was years ago,” Erica lowered her eyes to the ground, “I was just a kid.”
“I must have made quite the impression,” Laura laughed, she thought back to
what she would have been like around the time of Erica’s childhood and
grimaced, she was a bit of a dick, “I hope it was a good one?”
“A great one,” Erica laughed, “I was on the playground and some girl was making
fun of me, calling me tremors and a whole bunch of other things. Kids are
terrible, ya know?”
Laura nodded, most kids she’d met were huge assholes.
“Anyway,” Erica shrugged, “she ended up making me cry and stood over me,
kicking sand on me. I was trying to find some way to get away from her but she
had me boxed in against the swing set. I’d all but decided to just give in and
suffer until I heard the girl scream.”
“Oh,” Laura said, her eyes going wide with recollection.
“I opened my eyes and saw you,” Erica laughed, “you’d literally picked the girl
up by her shirt and were holding her in the air with one hand. You made her
apologize to me, pick up all my toys, and promise to never speak to me again.”
“And I threatened to come back and hang her from the monkey bars by her toes if
I ever found out she was making fun of you again.” Laura finished.
Erica’s smile lit up the entire hallway, “You remember?”
Laura let out a small laugh, “Oh, I remember. I don’t think I’ll ever forget
how mad my mom was when she found out. The girl’s parents went to the police
and everything. I was grounded for like four months and had to do all my little
brother and sisters chores for the whole time.”
Erica’s moth fell open and Laura cut her off before her likely apology.
“Don’t even,” Laura waved her hand, “it was totally worth it to see the look on
that girl’s face.”
“Yeah,” Erica smiled shyly, “she never did mess with me again.”
Laura’s phone buzzed in her pocket, she quickly pulled it out and found a text
from Derek telling her that he was outside by the car and ready to go. Laura
shoved her phone back in her pocket and looked up at Erica.
“I need to run but are you going to be Ok?” Laura asked, “Is there someone I
can call?”
Erica shook her head, “I think the nurse is still here, she knows about my
condition and she can call my parents and let them know.”
Laura nodded and smiled, “Take care of yourself.”
Erica smiled back, “Thanks. You too.”
 
                                       X
                                        
Derek knew he was being stupid. He really did. But he couldn’t help himself
He knew he never should have spoken to Stiles, that he should have just watched
from a distance to make sure Stiles didn’t hurt himself anymore on the way to
the locker room and left it at that. But he couldn’t help himself, not when he
had a literal wolf inside his body that was clawing at his ribcage to be near
Stiles, to touch him and feel for himself that he was OK.
It was stupid, ill advised, and he did it anyway.
What was worse is that it was dangerous. Dangerous because Stiles was easy to
talk to. He understood Derek in a way that Derek never could have anticipated.
Derek had opened up more in a short conversation with Stiles than he did with
most people over the last six years, Laura included.
Even more confusing was that Derek wasn’t left with an empty, hollow feeling
after talking about his family. Usually after talking to Laura about their
parents, or sister, or cousins, Derek was left feeling like he’d just reached
inside of himself and torn himself to shreds. But after talking about them with
Stiles he felt…not happy but not sad.
It was terrible, confusing, and it couldn’t happen anymore. Stiles was still a
teenager, Stiles was a human, and worst of all, Stiles was in Beacon Hills and
wasn’t planning on leaving any time soon.
It couldn’t happen, even if Stiles made Derek smile and laugh like he hadn’t
since Paige.
 
                                       X
                                        
Stiles decided, after a few hours of sitting on his bed playing Call of Duty,
that he was bored. He’d taken it easy ever since getting home from Scott’s
house and was following Melissa’s strict instructions to not do anything that
could further damage his head but he was starting to feel that terrible thrum
of pent up energy buzzing under his skin.
It was a Friday night, his dad was working late, and he had nothing to do. He
fished his phone out from where it had fallen under his bed an hour previously
and texted the only person he knew that would probably reply, ignoring the new
contact in his phone under the name of Laura Hale.
To Scott: I’m bored
Stiles set his phone down and looked out his bedroom window and into the woods,
getting lost in the darkness before his phone buzzed and drew his attention
again.
From Scott: Me too. Wanna come over?
Stiles looked down at his phone, back at the woods, and then back to his phone.
He had an idea.
To Scott: Better idea.
To Scott: Me. You. A few of dad’s beers. The preserve. Smores.
Stiles grinned, pulled on a hoodie, and galloped down the stairs to get the
necessary supplies for a night of fun.
From Scott: I don’t know dude. What about the animal attacks?
Stiles rolled his eyes before replying.
To Scott: It’s not like we’re going to go miles into the woods. Man up, Scotty
boy!
Stiles finished packing a small bag when his phone buzzed again.
From Scott: Fine but if I die then I’m going to haunt you forever.
To Scott: Awesome.
Stiles pumped a fist in the air in victory before grabbing his keys off the
counter and darting out the door towards the Jeep.
First stop, Scott.
Second stop, the Preserve.
Chapter End Notes
     I wrote legit like four versions of the ending of Stiles and Derek's
     conversations, all with varying levels of angst (including one where
     Stiles jokingly said Derek should be on To Catch A Predator and Derek
     freaked the fuck out with guilt) before I settled on more of a
     happyishy ending to their first major conversation.
     Also, Stiles' weird snow globe references are references to the 80s
     show St. Eleswhere where it's revealed in the finale that the entire
     world of the show takes place inside of a snow globe that belongs to
     an autistic child because why the hell not.
     Also also, hey Erica.
***** Once Bitten *****
Chapter Notes
     this chapter is long and stuff happens
     brief warning for something that could possibly be seen as self harm,
     more details in the end notes. If this bothers you then skip the
     first few paragraphs in the third section of the chapter.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                 Chapter Five
                                  Once Bitten
                                        
“Peter is still in his room,” Laura said as she scanned the tree line, “He
smells normal, or as normal as he can smell.”
Derek nodded. He was glad Peter seemed to be in control tonight, he wasn’t in
the mood for a fight and he couldn’t stomach the idea of possibly having to go
to extreme measures to stop his uncle. He hadn’t voiced his concerns to Laura
because he knew she was dealing with enough already, but the thought that Laura
or he might have to kill Peter made Derek’s stomach churn with anger and fear.
“It should be dark enough for us to do our thing now,” Laura said as she
stepped around a large tree, shrugging her jacket off and hanging it on a low
branch.
Derek turned his back as Laura began to undress. Modesty wasn’t something that
was easy to come by in a pack of born wolves, especially one as large as the
Hale pack, but it had just been him and Laura alone for so long that they’d
shed the habits of their old life and had learned to give each other some
privacy.
Laura actually knocked whenever she went in his room now, it was something 15-
year-old Derek would have loved but 21-year-old Derek occasionally missed the
invasions of privacy.
Derek let himself fall into his Beta shift and the darkened forest immediately
lit up in front of him. The scents of the night air jumped out at him almost
immediately and he had to take a moment to concentrate on what he was looking
for. He turned his head up towards the hospital and caught the scent of Peter
almost immediately. He turned his head towards the forest and tried to pick up
any kind of trail to indicate Peter, or Peter’s wolf, had been down here but he
came up empty.
Soft, padding footsteps came from behind Derek. Derek turned and smiled,
shifting back to human as he took in the sight of his sister’s full shift.
Laura stood tall, larger than any normal wolf possibly could be, and her inky
black fur melted into the darkness around her. Laura was almost impossible to
see, even with Derek’s slightly enhanced human eyesight Laura was just a
silhouette of darkness with two bold, red eyes blazing though the night. 
Laura took a step forward, bumping her head against Derek’s stomach, and Derek
shifted back to Beta so he could see Laura fully.
“You look just like mom,” Derek said softly, if he closed his eyes he could
still picture his mother’s full shift. She was still larger than Laura, almost
as tall as Derek himself, but they looked remarkably similar aside from the
height difference.
Laura whined softly, circling around Derek and brushing her tail against the
small of his back. Derek reached down and delicately ran a clawed hand down
Laura’s back, combing through the thick fur and then resettling his hand on the
back of her neck, making sure to get the scent of Laura’s full shift.
“You ready?” Derek asked.
Laura looked up at Derek and nodded before tipping her head up towards the sky
and breathing in deeply. Derek waited, Laura’s sense of smell was far beyond
his (which was admittedly impressive for a Beta) in her full shift and Derek
knew that if there was something out there in the preserve that his sister
would catch it eventually.
Laura’s head snaps forward, her ears falling almost flat, and she let out a low
growl. It’s a terrifying sound, one that is dangerous and promises deadly
intent, and Derek had never heard her make it before. Laura’s entire body was
tense, her tail bone straight and unmoving.
Slowly, Laura lowered her nose to the ground and inhaled deeply before letting
out a bark to draw Derek’s attention. She was signaling him, letting him know
that she’s about to take off and that he better keep up. Derek nodded and
croushed down, ready to sprint after Laura.
Laura took off like an arrow shooting straight through the night, she moves so
fucking fast that Derek often forgot the kind of bonuses that come with the
Alpha power. Laura was faster and stronger than he could ever hope to be and
even moving at his full speed he was still a good thirty of forty feet behind
Laura as she weaved through trees and jumped over boulders in the darkened
woods.
Laura came to a stop in the middle of a large clearing, her entire body tense
once again. Derek slowed to a jog as he came into the clearing and stopped next
to Laura, resting his hand at the nape of her neck once again.
“What is it?” Derek asked, breathing in deeply to try and catch the scent Laura
had.
Something was in the air, it was faint but Derek could smell it. It was strange
and uncomfortable, almost exactly the way that Laura had described it. It felt
wrong.
Laura barked again, drawing Derek’s attention. She softly closed her jaws
around his wrist and pulled him forward and back into the woods. She was
leading him somewhere precise.
“Show me where,” Derek nodded as Laura let go of his wrist. She kept the pace
slow, almost as if she was still searching for something even though she
clearly had a destination in mind.
Derek quickly realized that they were on the boarder of Beacon Hills proper, a
mile or so off from the main road that led into town. The same road that Laura
had driven in on and caught the scent of their mysterious wolf. Laura’s head
snapped to the left and she gave Derek one quick look before breaking out into
a run again.
Derek followed after her moving as fast as he could. The scent got stronger the
further they went in the direction that Laura was running and it only took a
few minutes for the smell to become almost overwhelming.
Derek had never smelled anything like it. It was imposing and the fact that
there was just the smallest note of the Hale pack buried beneath the scent of
death and darkness made it worse. It was like he could smell the burning bodies
of his family again, only this time it was magnified tenfold.
Laura was standing over the body of a dead deer when Derek found her. She
stepped to the side when she heard Derek approaching and Derek flinched back
when he saw the decomposed animal laying at the base of a tree.
The deer had to have been dead for at least a few days, it was that far
decomposed. Derek quickly realized that the entire side of the deer had been
skinned and it dawned on him.
“This is the deer that you hit,” Derek said slowly as he looked down at Laura.
Laura nodded and flicked her nose towards the dead animal, she was telling
Derek to get closer and smell it.
Derek grimaced, the smell of dead things had always gotten to him, even as a
child. It hadn’t gotten any better after he smelled his entire family as they
died.
Derek lowered his head to the deer, his nose closest to the area where they
skin had started to be removed, and inhaled deeply. He coughed, falling
backwards onto the ground as the smell overwhelmed him. His head began to swim
as the scent assaulted him through almost all of his senses. Fuck, it was like
he could even taste it.
“How are you still upright,” Derek asked between breaths, “this is terrible,
Laura.”
Laura huffed, rolling her eyes. And when did she learn to do that?
Derek read between the lines, ‘duh’
Laura barked again and nudged Derek’s knee with her head before darting off to
the east, signaling Derek to follow her. Derek took a deep breath and nodded
when he found what Laura had sensed as well. Whatever killed the deer the night
Laura had gotten to town left a trail. A trail that was strong enough to
follow.
Derek ran after Laura, letting all his senses guide him along the path left by
Laura’s attacker. The scent was still so strong even two days later and that
fact worried Derek. He worried it was some kind of trap, worried that he and
Laura were playing right into Peter, or someone else’s, hands.
Derek shook of the worry, there wasn’t much he could do now. He had to trust
Laura, his Alpha, his sister. They ran for around 20 minutes and Derek began to
fell an odd sense of dread settle onto his shoulders like an enormous weight.
Laura skidded to a stop ahead of him, crouched low to the ground and growling
ferociously. Derek slowed, claws extended, and claimed his spot next to Laura.
He dropped down into a fighting stance and looked at the view in front of his
face.
The reason for Derek’s dread quickly became apparent.
The trail had led them from the deer’s corpse to the burned out remains of the
Hale house.
 
                                       X
                                        
Stiles was point five seconds away from slapping Scott’s inhaler out of his
hand. He’d never actually do it, because Scott could die, but Scott kept
nervously opening and closing the mouth guard and the sound was grating on
Stiles’ ears.
“Scott,” Stiles pleaded, “for the love of god would you please stop?”
Scott sighed, “Sorry, I’m just nervous!”
Stiles rolled his eyes, “Scott, it’s just the preserve. We’re not going to run
into any man-eating mountain lions or anything.”
“It’s not just that!” Scott shook his head, “Won’t your dad realize there are
beers missing from the fridge?”
Stiles bust out laughing, “That is what you’re worried about?”
“Why shouldn’t I be?” Scott protested, “You know your dad wouldn’t hesitate to
arrest either of us just to make a point! My mom’s going to kill me!”
Stiles rolled his eyes again, “He’s been working non-stop lately, he’ll think
he just drank them without remembering when he was half asleep.”
Scott groaned and Stiles cuffed him on the back of the head. Scott was being a
baby, it was only four beers.
“’You need to grow up, Scotty.” Stiles laughed, “You think Allison doesn’t go
out to Lydia’s parties and engage in all sorts of underage drinking?”
“No!” Scott yelped, “Allison is too smart for that!”
“How would you know? You’ve both said like ten words to each other combined.”
Scott sighed, “I just know! The same way that you know Lydia is the love of
your life.”
Stiles shrugged, “We’ve been over this, I’m over Lydia.”
“Sure,” Scott rolled his eyes, “whatever you say.”
It was true. Stiles had firmly been aboard the friendship train with Lydia
after last semester when she told him all he’d needed was a fedora to complete
his Nice Guy look. Some things you just can’t come back from and Stiles still
felt the sting of her words whenever he thinks about it.
Because really, who wants to be the fedora wearing Nice Guy?
Stiles was content with whatever weird friendship he had with Lydia wherein
they mock everyone in the classes they share together because Lydia is a secret
fucking genius and will probably take over the world someday and last week she
deemed Stiles’ brains ‘adequate if not a little lacking’ which is probably the
best compliment anyone could get from Lydia Martin.
So, no, Stiles didn’t want Lydia like that anymore contrary to what Scott or
Jackson thought. It may or may not be because Stiles currently had his eyes on
a tall, broad, scruffy, possible stalker whose shy smile he couldn’t get out of
his head.
“Stiles,” Scott snapped his fingers from the passenger’s seat, “dude, you’re
about to miss the turn off for the preserve.”
Stiles shook his head and slammed on the brakes, sending Scott and the bag in
the back seat tumbling forward, and stopped just in time to not miss the small
gate that led to one of the lesser patrolled entrances to the preserve. Stiles
had long since memorized the patrol routes and schedules of Beacon Hills’
Finest and he knew exactly where to park his Jeep so it would go unseen by a
half-asleep deputy.
Stiles circled the Jeep deeper into the woods and pulled it to a stop
underneath a dense canopy of trees. He opened the door, balanced himself on the
running board, and pulled down a thick branch that drooped just enough to hide
most of the Jeep from prying eyes.
Scott shook his head as he rounded the back of the Jeep, “It should worry me
that you know exactly how to do that, dude.”
Stiles grinned, “It’s just one of my many talents.”
He reached into the back of the Jeep and retrieved the bag that contained the
beers and ingredients for smores and spun back to face Scott, “Inhaler check.”
Scott sighed, pulling the inhaler out of his pocket and proving to Stiles that
it worked, “Satisfied, mom?”
“Very,” Stiles grinned, “it’s for your own good, dude. My frail limbs cannot
carry you out of the woods if you go all asthmatic on me.”
Scott laughed and shoved Stiles in the shoulder, “I know, thanks dude.”
Stiles smiled and rubbed the back of his head and Scott’s smile didn’t falter.
“This is nice,” Scott said, moving to match Stiles’ steps, “I feel like we
haven’t gotten bro time in a while, ya’know?” 
Stiles shrugged, ignoring the little bit of hurt he felt about that very fact,
“It’s all good. As much as I tease you, I know you’ve been making some headway
with Allison so if Scott and Stiles time has to suffer for you to get a
girlfriend then I humbly sacrifice myself.”
Scott laughed, “Dude, you know I’d never sacrifice your friendship for a girl.
We’re brothers, that dark magic blood ritual we did in the first grade made
sure of it.”
Stiles laughed and knocked his shoulder into Scott’s, “Yeah, I don’t think we
want to go against the forces of darkness who bonded us together.”
They were silent for a few minutes as they walked, eventually coming to a small
clearing with enough of an open area to build a small campfire. It had been a
relatively dry month and Stiles didn’t have any trouble finding enough dry wood
for a small fire. He watched it carefully as it grew, just to make sure he
didn’t start a forest fire.
He belatedly thought of the Hale house and figured that the Preserve had seen
enough fire to last a lifetime.
Stiles positioned his and Scott’s marshmallows over the fire and passed the
first of Scott’s beers to him. He and Scott popped the tabs open at the same
time and both took a sip. Stiles laughed when Scott stuck his tongue out and
gagged.
“This stuff is terrible,” Scott said before taking another sip and gagging.
Stiles rolled his eyes and took another sip of his own beer. They were both two
drinks in, lightly buzzed since neither of them drank that often, when Scott
took advantage of the situation.
“So,” Scott said, drawing out the o, “if you’re over Lydia who is the new
object of your desire.”
Stiles’ stomach flipped, “No one!”
“Right,” Scott hummed, “you’re telling me that you gave up on Lydia Martin,
woman of your dreams, without any other prospects?”
“There are no prospects!” Stiles jabbed Scott with a twig, “There is no one
that replaced Lydia.”
Scott give Stiles a wicked side eye.
Stiles took another sip of his beer. He met Derek after getting over Lydia, he
totally didn’t count as a replacement crush.
“Derek?” Scott’s voice echoed, “Who’s Derek?”
Stiles felt his world tilt sideways and he scrambled to cover his traitorous
and disloyal mouth.
“Dude, Stiles,” Scott said softly, “Who’s Derek?”
“No one!” Stiles denied, his voice high bitched and muffled behind his hands,
“No one! You didn’t hear anything! That was the PBR talking and not Stiles!”
Scott shuffled closer, “Stiles, man, if there’s…something you want to tell me
then I’m all ears. You don’t have to…but I said earlier that you’re my brother
and I mean it.”
Stiles swallowed the lump in his throat before slowly lowering his hands to his
sides, “I’mbisexualandtheremightbeaguynamedDerekwhoImettheotherdayandhavea
giantcrushon.”
Scott cackled, “Stiles, you’re going to have to slow down if you want me to
understand.”
Stiles drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, he hadn’t exactly planned on
coming out to his best friend tonight but it was too far gone at this point, “I
said, I am bisexual and there is possibly a guy named Derek who I’ve met a few
times and I might have a crush on him.”
Scott grinned, big, blinding, and lopsided, “Stiles, dude! That’s awesome!”
“Awesome?” Stiles sputtered.
Scott laughed and wrapped his arm around Stiles’ shoulder, pulling him in close
for a hug, “Yes, awesome! I’m glad you told me.”
“You’re fine with it?” Stiles closed his eyes, it wasn’t that he expected Scott
to say he hated him and that he was an abomination or anything but…
“Of course, I’m fine with it, dumb ass!” Scott rolled his eyes, “Have I ever
said anything that would make you think I wouldn’t be?”
“No,” Stiles shook his head, “I don’t know, it’s just scary. But hey, I just
came out to you!”
Stiles laughed, maybe a bit manically, and Scott patted him on the back.
“So, tell me about Derek.”
 
                                       X
                                        
“Someone’s been here,” Derek said as he followed Laura into the remains of the
Hale house, it was dark and Derek couldn’t help but feel like something was off
when he stepped inside.
Laura growled, low and threatening, and began to nose around the entryway of
the house. Derek clenched his fists, his claws digging into his palms, and used
the pain as a distraction from the years of memories that were threatening to
overwhelm him.
It was best to approach this cold and calculated, like they were just simply
tracking something instead of digging though their own personal graveyard.
Derek was startled by Laura appearing at his side and gently licking his
clenched fist, wiping the blood away with her tongue. She gently bit down onto
his wrist to get him to release his fists and remove his claws from his palm.
Laura licked his wounds clean and then snapped at him with her impressive jaws,
a clear warning that she didn’t want Derek to hurt himself like that.
Derek nodded, turning away from Laura and exploring the lower level of the
house. It was very easy to tell that someone had been inside recently from the
footprints in the dust and the small collection of trash in the various corners
of the rooms. Most likely teenagers who were dared to go into the creepy old
house, or who used it as a hideaway to get up to god knows what. Derek couldn’t
think about it.
Derek stopped, stood at the base of the stairs near the kitchen, and inhaled
deeply. It was then he realized why he’d felt something was missing when he
entered the house.
“I can’t smell anything,” Derek said, “Laura?”
Laura came around the corner and shook her head, her eyes glowing a deep red in
the darkness. She moved in close to Derek and pressed against his side to keep
them united. Derek settled his hand on Laura’s neck to calm her, they were
without one of their strongest enhanced senses and it put them both off
balance.
Derek closed his eyes and rested his hand on the wall nearest to him and
concentrated, breathing slowly, he opened his eyes after a few seconds and
looked down at Laura.
“Magic,” Derek said, “someone did something to the house, it’s masking all the
scents inside. Someone was using this as a hiding place.”
Laura growled and moved forward slowly, leading Derek to the end of the hall.
Derek froze when he saw what was in front of him. Stretched out along the wall
between his father’s old office and the family room was a giant rune carved
into the wall itself.
Derek wasn’t that familiar with magic but he didn’t have to be a witch to know
that what he was seeing was some powerful stuff.
“Jesus,” Derek said as his hand hovered over the rune, he could feel the magic
emanating from it, “Peter was always the most familiar with magic out of the
entire family.”
Laura glared at the wall and Derek ran another hand down her back to sooth her.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Derek wondered out loud, “who would Peter need to do
this?”
Derek heard more than saw Laura shift back next to him.
“He knew I was coming back,” Laura’s voice was raspy, “maybe he intended to use
this as some kind of trap for me?”
“How would Peter have been able to make this rune though?”
Laura shook her head, “You said it yourself, Peter was always the most familiar
with magic out of everyone.”
“Still,” Derek trailed off.
“I know,” Laura nodded, “something feels off, even for someone as crafty as
Peter.”
Derek swallowed, “I need to go outside, this is too much.”
Between the house and his senses being deprived Derek was dangerously close to
being overwhelmed with the situation.
Laura rested her head on his shoulder, “Go outside for a minute, pup. I’m going
to look around upstairs for a few minutes.”
Derek exhaled, “Call me if you find anything.”
Derek quickly made his way outside and to the tree line that was just opposite
of the Hale house. He leaned against one of the larger trees and ran a hand
through his hair and exhaled a shaky breath. He breathed in deeply and let the
smells of the preserve wash over him, the fresh air doing more to relax him
that he’d even imagined.
Derek took another deep breath and he froze, shook his head, and took a few
steps deeper into the woods.
He smelled Stiles.
It wasn’t possible, there was no reason he should be able to smell Stiles out
here. Not unless…
“That idiot,” Derek growled, moving through the trees faster and faster as
Stiles’ scent got closer and closer.
Derek paused when he heard the sounds of a small crackling fire and two voices.
“Come on Stiles, just tell me!” the first voice said.
“No,” Stiles’ voice was a higher pitch than Derek had ever heard, “there’s
nothing to tell! He’s just…drop it”
“Stiles, dude! I’m your best friend, I want to know these things!”
“There’s nothing to know, Scott. It’s not like I have a chance or anything,
they’ll be gone soon and I highly doubt they’ll ever come back. It’s better for
me to just get over it.”
Derek froze. Was Stiles talking about him? Laura?
Derek suddenly felt invasive, he wanted to know more of what Stiles was going
to say but he also felt like an insane stalker and there was no good that could
come of Stiles finding him listening to his conversation with a friend in the
woods.
Derek took a step backwards, intending to make his way back to the house to
find Laura, and focused on the sounds deeper into the preserve as he walked.
He was a few seconds away from the house when he heard it. The sounds of
something running through the woods, large, fast, and angry. Derek shifted,
concentrating on the sound that seemed to be getting closer by the second.
Whatever it was, it was larger than anything in the preserve should be.
It could only be one thing.
Derek ran as fast as he could, he couldn’t howl for Laura because Stiles was
nearby and Derek knew enough by now to know that if Stiles heard a wolf howling
then there was a 90% chance that he’d run towards it instead of away from it.
The house came into view just as Derek heard a vicious snarl from his right
side and felt something overwhelmingly large collide into him. Derek let out a
sharp yell as he fell to the ground, the crushing weight of the creature
bearing down on him, and scrambled to swipe out with his claws.
Derek just managed to clip the creature with his claws before leveraging his
legs out from under himself and kicking the thing off of him with as much
strength as he could muster. Derek rolled backwards, bracing one arm against a
nearby tree, and winced as he popped his dislocated shoulder back in place.
“Laura!” Derek called out, not loud enough for Stiles to hear but loud enough
for Laura.
Derek could hear the creature stalking the tree line around him, moving in a
jagged circle almost as it was toying with him. He could smell the same scent
that they’d tracked earlier, the scent of pack and darkness, and he shuddered.
This was what they were looking for.
Laura came flying around the corner, shifted fully again, and let out a sharp
snarl towards the tree line. Derek listened as the creature stopped moving and
the preserve fell silent. He could still smell it, track it to exactly where it
was standing still and just watching them, but neither he nor Laura made the
first move.
The creature knew what it was doing, it was watching, surveying, and looking
for any weakness. Derek crouched low, ready to attack, and nodded at Laura when
she looked at him.
Slow, heavy footsteps came from the edge of the forest that was directly in
front of them. The creature was moving in, slowly and deliberately, ready to
challenge them. Derek flexed his hands and extended his claws fully, ready for
anything.
The moon was bright, giving off enough light to show every inch of the beast as
it stepped into the clearing. It was huge, taller than Derek, larger and more
muscular than Laura in her wolf form, and walking on its hind legs. It was
covered in thick, matted brown fur, and its snout was elongated and almost
larger than its head. It flashed its teeth, bright white and razor sharp, and
drug its foreclaws across the ground slowly.
 Its eyes were black. Not red. Not gold. Not blue. Just black. A dark, deep
void of nothingness.
It was a wolf like Derek had never seen. It felt utterly and terribly wrong and
it sickened Derek that whatever it was smelled like pack underneath everything.
“Peter?” Derek gaped, his reply cut off by the beast charging directly towards
him.
Derek underestimated its speed and reach and the wolfs claws slashed across his
chest before he even had a chance to react. Laura snarled next to him,
launching herself through the air and biting down on the wolfs arm, jerking her
head furiously to tear at skin and muscle.
The wolf roared, lifting its arm with Laura still attached and slamming her
against a nearby tree. Laura yelped, letting go of the wolfs arm, and rolled
across the ground and collided with the side of the house.
The wolf turned towards Derek again, roaring as it charged directly towards
him. Derek was ready this time though, weaving out of the way of the wolfs
claws at the last possible second and spinning to get himself behind the wolf
as it ran by. Derek jumped through the air, landing on the wolfs back, and dug
his claws in between the wolfs shoulder blades.
The wolf roared again, jumping into the air and falling on its back in an
effort to deliberately crush Derek. Derek gasped for air as the wolfs weight
came down on him with his claws still embedded in its back, his ripped his
claws out, feeing chunks of skin and bone come with them.
The wolf snarled, flipping itself over and pinning Derek to the ground, shoving
both of its claws in his shoulders to hold him down. It curled its lips back,
bearing its large teeth, and went for his neck.
Laura howled from behind Derek, tackling into the wolf and sending it tumbling.
Derek cried out as the claws were ripped from his skin and scrambled to his
feet to help Laura.
Laura was on her hind legs with her jaw locked into the wolfs broad shoulder,
her front paws digging into the beast’s chest as she worked it back towards a
tree and pinned it there. Derek ran forward, limping, and was able to catch
Laura just in time as the wolf pushed back, headbutting her and sending her
tumbling across the ground.
“Laura,” Derek said between ragged breaths, wincing in pain, “it’s strong.”
Laura growled but nodded her head in agreement.
“Stiles is nearby,” Derek rasped, “we need to lead Peter away from him.”
Laura red eyes grew wide and she let out an exasperated huff before nodding.
The wolf slowly recovered as Derek watched it from across the clearing, he
crouched and roared, challenging it as it got to its feet. Laura did the same,
directing a full Alpha roar at the creature.
The sound echoed through the forest and Derek knew there was no way that Stiles
didn’t hear it. All he could do was hope that he wasn’t stupid enough to want
to investigate something so terrifying.
 
                                       X
                                        
“Dude, did you hear that?”
Stiles shook his head, “No, Scott. I did not hear the terrifying roar that just
shook the trees around us.”
“OK good,” Scott’s eyes were wide, “I’m just going crazy then.”
“What the hell was that?” Stiles asked, his eyes scanning the trees around
them.
“I don’t know but I think it’s our cue to leave.” Scott said as he smothered
the fire and began collecting their beer cans.
“No way, dude!” Stiles eyes were wide with excitement, “I need to know what
that was.”
Scott furiously shook his head, “No. Nope. Not happening. There’s no way we’re
going any deeper into the woods to find a mountain lion.”
Stiles scoffed, he’d watched enough Discovery Channel to know that was no
mountain lion.
Scott tugged at Stiles’ arm, “Come on, I’m serious. Let’s go.”
Stiles stood still as he listened for any more signs of what made the sound. He
could hear Scott anxiously moving around him but he couldn’t help but be
fascinated by whatever the hell it was that he’d just heard. Sure, he was
terrified but he was also curious.
“Stiles!” Scott hissed.
Stiles held up his hand, “Quiet, Scott. Listen.”
Scott grew quiet and Stiles leaned in closer to the forest. He swore he could
hear footsteps, fast and frantic like someone was running. Whatever he was
hearing was totally human, there was no way a mountain lion could move like
that.
Stiles felt Scott’s hand circle around his wrist and begin to pull him away,
“Stiles, we’re leaving. Now.”
Stiles sighed and turned back to look at Scott who actually looked terrified,
his resolve shattered, “Alright, alright. Let’s go, the Jeep isn’t that far.”
“Thank you,” Scott let out a nervous sigh of relief.
Just as Stiles bent down to pick up his phone a body came crashing through the
trees in front of him. He let out a totally and completely manly sounding yelp
as he stumbled backwards and into Scott, knocking them both to the ground.
Scott grunted in pain, already wheezing from the exertion, and Stiles rolled
off of him. He crawled closer to the guy who fell out of the forest, grimacing
as he saw the guys shirt was tattered and torn with bloodstains covering it.
The guy was face down in the dirt, his back rising and falling in rhythm with
his breathing. Stiles made note of half a back tattoo peeking out from under
his torn shirt just in case he needed to remember any identifying marks.
“Come on, we need to go!” Scott yelped, pulling at Stiles’ hoodie.
“We can’t leave the guy!” Stiles sputtered, “He’s seriously fucked up, dude!”
“Stiles,” the guy on the ground rasped, and OK that was creepy, “Stiles, run.”
Stiles fell backwards, scrambling away from the bloody person who knew his
name, “What the hell?”
The guy looked up and Stiles froze as they locked eyes, “Derek?”
“Derek?” Scott shouted, “That is Derek?”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Stiles scrambled forward, “Derek, what the hell happened to
you?”
Derek pushed himself up from the ground, still kneeling in the dirt, and
grabbed Stiles by the shoulders, “You idiot, you were supposed to run.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Stiles shook his head, “Dude, I think
you’ve lost too much blood.”
Stiles pushed Derek’s hands off his shoulders and checked Derek over, his
clothes were torn to shreds and covered in blood but there didn’t seem to be
any marks on him. Which was terrifying because that meant it wasn’t Derek’s
blood.
“I know I made a joke about how I would be totally down if Laura was a serial
killer,” Stiles laughed nervously, “but I didn’t really think it would be
true.”
“What?” Derek blinked, and Stiles could have sworn he saw his eyes turn
electric blue for a second, “Stiles, you need to take Scott and get out of here
now.”
“I’m with him,” Scott yelled, “Take me and get out of here now!”
Stiles looked between Derek and Scott, torn on what to do. Scott was his best
friend but Derek was clearly in some kind of trouble and he didn’t know if he
could leave him. But Scott was asthmatic and even if Stiles sent him to the
Jeep alone there was a serious chance that Scott could have an attack in the
middle of the woods and die.
“Scott, grab his other shoulder, we’re getting him out of here.”
“Stiles,” Scott began but Stiles cut him off with a glare and Scott huffed,
“Fine.”
“No,” Derek shook his head, weakly pushing Stiles away, “Can’t, Laura is out
there.”
“Laura?!” Stiles gaped, “Derek, what the fuck is going on.”
Derek’s head snapped to the side, facing away from Stiles, and Derek let out a
low and rumbling growl towards the Darkness. And, OK, that was a thing. Derek
growled.
Then, a dog came flying and landed almost in Stiles’ lap. Except it wasn’t a
dog, it was a wolf. And, OK, that was a thing too. Wolves in California.
Giant wolves in California.
Derek stumbled, falling to his knees and pressing his face into the fur of the
wolves’ neck, “Shit, Laura, come on.”
“Laura?!” Stiles gaped, again, “Derek, dude, this is a wolf, not your sister.”
The wolf growled snapping weakly at Stiles’ fingers.
“Hey!” Stiles scolded.
The wolf looked up at him, its eyes were red, and it cocked its head to the
side before letting out what almost sounded like a strangely human huff of
exasperation.
“Laura,” Derek said again, “Where is it?”
The wolf looked up, nudging its head to the right, before dropping it back down
in Stiles’ lap.
“Stiles, you have to go,” Derek growled, “leave us here, we’ll buy you and
Scott enough time to escape.”
“Escape who?” Scott shouted, he was pacing back and forth and holding on to his
inhaler like the lifeline it was.
In the time it took for Stiles to blink, Derek was gone. A huge, black mass
appeared out of the forest and launched itself into Derek, knocking Derek
across the clearing and over the remains of Stiles and Scott’s campfire.
The wolf wined, struggling to stand as it limped for a few feet before shaking
its coat and seeming to recover a bit. The wolf ran forward and bit into
whatever was on top of Derek, letting go and dodging when it tried to strike at
it again.
The wolf darted into the forest for a second before coming out of the opposite
side of the trees and throwing itself at the black shape again. Derek was on
his feet a few seconds later, his face twisted into something Stiles couldn’t
make out from the distance, but this time he knew for sure that Derek’s eyes
were blue and glowing.
“Stiles, what the fuck is happening?” Scott’s hands were trembling.
Derek was thrown through the air again, his body colliding with a tree and
Stiles winced as he heard a sickening snap. The wolf was the next to be thrown,
landing in a heap next to Derek. Stiles looked on in horror as whatever Derek
and the wolf were fighting stepped out into the clearing and became fully
illuminated under the moonlight.
Stiles knew, somehow, what he was looking at.
“Stiles,” Scott’s voice was barely above a whisper, “what the hell is that?”
The monster stepped forward, its long arms dragging across the dirt, silver
claws glinting in the moonlight. It tipped its canine head to the sky and let
out a long and loud howl before turning its attention back to Stiles. Stiles
was frozen in fear as the giant wolf stepped forward, walking upright on its
hind legs, and peeled its lip back in a snarl.
Scott’s breath next to him was ragged, he was gasping for air, desperately
trying to get in what little oxygen he could.
Stiles knew they were fucked.
Until, they weren’t.
Derek was in front of Stiles in an instant, crouched down low, and Stiles
couldn’t help but notice how Derek had claws. They weren’t as big as the giant
ass wolf in front of him but still, claws.
Derek turned back to Stiles, his face was shifted, his nose different, eyebrows
missing, and he was sporting a pair of wicked sideburns along with fangs and
the previously noticed glowing blue eyes.
“Dude,” Stiles whispered, “you’re a werewolf.”
Derek blinked, like he somehow hadn’t expected Stiles to come to the
ridiculously logical conclusion, before turning back to the wolf and ramming
his claws through its chest.
The giant wolf let out a feral scream as Derek’s hands pushed deeper into its
flesh and it struggled to get free. Stiles knew, just by basic anatomy, that
Derek had missed its heart but it was enough to throw the wolf off balance.
Derek ripped his hands out, shredding skin as he went, and pounced on it again,
furiously slashing at the beast as it fell to the ground. The other wolf, the
one Derek was working with, and holy shit maybe that really was Laura, joined
in by clamping its teeth around the giant wolfs throat.
Derek and maybe wolf, maybe Laura, were making headway but it was obvious to
Stiles that they were both injured and tired and the giant wolf still had a lot
more stamina left in it. Stiles looked around for something he could use to
help and his eyes fell on the can of lighter fluid that he’d brought in case he
and Scott couldn’t start a fire.
“Scott,” Stiles spun to find Scott sitting against a tree and huffing on his
inhaler, “Scott, I need the matches.”
“What?” Scott asked in between breaths.
“The matches!” Stiles repeated himself, “I gave them to you!”
“Oh,” Scott replied, dazed, “Yeah, here.”
Scott pulled the box of matches out of his pocket and handed them to Stiles
with a shaky hand. Stiles snatched them away before running over to the can of
lighter fluid and popping the top open.
Derek was still on top of the giant wolf and Laura was still trying to rip its
throat out but they were both losing energy fast and it would only be a little
bit longer before the giant wolf could overtake them again.
Stiles ripped a match out of the packet, failing to strike it with his shaky
hand, and dropped it.
“Fuck,” Stiles cursed as he pulled another match out.
Stiles took a deep breath to steady himself and struck the match against the
rough patch of the box and cheered in victory as it went up in flames.
“Derek!” Stiles yelled, “Also, possibly Laura!”
Derek and the wolf looked at him briefly as Stiles ran forward.
“Stiles!” Derek screamed, “What are you doing?”
“Move!” Stiles yelled as he dropped the lit match into the package.
Derek looked at him in confusion but the wolf seemed to realize what was
happening and it let go of the giant wolfs neck and pulled Derek away by his
wrist.
“Laura!” Derek yelled as he was pulled away.
Yep, the wolf was totally Derek’s terrifying sister. It made total sense as he
watched them together.
The box in Stiles’ hands went up in flames and he winced as they licked against
the palm of his hands. He knew he only had a few seconds to act so he ran as
close as he could get to the giant wolf without being in its immediate range
and squeezed the can of lighter fluid, a trail of liquid shot out and landed on
the giant wolf, covering the front of its stomach and most of its legs in
lighter fluid.
Stiles said a quick prayer as he threw the flaming box of matches at the giant
wolf and watched in a combination of horror and accomplishment as it landed on
the giant wolfs fur and immediately went up in flames.
The giant wolf let out a roar that Stiles could feel in his core and began to
roll around of the ground, screaming and writhing in pain.
“Holy shit,” Stiles said, manic laughter bubbling out of his chest, “I…holy
shit.”
Stiles felt a hand on the back of his hoodie and jumped as Derek began to pull
him away from the burning wolf.
“That won’t stop him, we need to go. Now.”
Derek’s face was still twisted in a different form and Stiles couldn’t stop
looking at it. Derek must have realized because the next seconds it shifted
back to the human face that Stiles was more familiar with.
“Holy shit,” Stiles mumbled, “fucking werewolves.”
The wolf, Laura, came up beside him and nudged his legs, snapping with her
jaws. Stiles took that to mean, hurry the fuck up and move.
Stiles ran towards Scott, grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him through the
woods towards the Jeep.
“My jeep is this way,” Stiles called out behind him, “I’ll drive us out of
here.”
“Laura and I will be fine, you two need to go.”
“No way!” Stiles yelled over his shoulder, “I’m not leaving you two out in the
woods with that thing, even if it currently is being barbequed to a crisp.”
“It’ll heal,” Derek said, coming up next to Stiles as they ran, “Laura and I
need to stop it before it can do that.”
“You and Laura almost died,” Stiles reminded him, “whatever that this is, it’s
too strong for the both of you right now.”
“If we let him go he’s just going to hurt someone else!”
“And if you and Laura go back there and get killed by it then it’ll be free to
hurt whoever it wants and I’d certainly like it if my dad didn’t have to be the
one to try and take that thing down.”
Laura barked, and lord that was weird, but it sounded like an agreement to
Stiles.
The four of them made it to Stiles’ Jeep quickly and Stiles fumbled through his
pockets to try and find his keys. Derek’s breath was ragged and he stuck close
to Stiles while Laura circled the perimeter of the jeep as Stiles opened the
back gate for her to jump in.
 Derek climbed into the back seat, wedging his knees up close to his chest, and
Stiles turned to find Scott.
Except Scott wasn’t there.
“Scott?” Stiles called out, “Scott, come on! This isn’t funny!”
The only response Stiles got was the sound of Scott desperately gasping for
air.
“No, no, no no, no,” Stiles yelled as he ran around the front of the Jeep to
find Scott on his knees and gasping for air.
“Can’t breathe,” Scott rasped.
“Your inhaler!” Stiles yelled, “Where is it?”
“Dropped it,” Scott mumbled, “too much running.”
“Fuck,” Stiles ran a trembling hand over his head before fishing his phone out
of his pocket.
He tried to dial 911 and the phone was dead.
“Fuck!” Stiles screamed, “Derek!”
Derek was at his side in a second, “What’s wrong with him?”
“He has asthma, he can’t breathe,” Stiles voice was shaking, “I need you to
help me get him into the car, we’re not that far from the hospital. We can make
it, they’ll take care of him. Melissa is there, we need Melissa. Oh my god,
Melissa.”
“Stiles,” Derek’s hand clasped the back of Stiles’ neck, “you need to calm
down.”
“Calm!” Stiles snapped as he looked down at Scott was starting to turn blue,
“My best friend is dying, Derek! Oh my god, he’s dying and I killed him.”
Derek let go of Stiles neck and pressed his head against Scott’s chest, “He
won’t make it to the hospital.”
“What?” Stiles blinked, “You don’t know that! You can’t know that!”
“I can hear his lungs, Stiles, they’re starting to give up. He’s got maybe ten
minutes left.”
“No!” Stiles screamed, tears pouring out of his eyes, “Scott can’t die!
He’s…he’s my brother! He’s all I have and I’ve been such a little shit to him
lately, I made him come out here and now he’s dying because of me!”
“Scott,” Derek said firmly, “Can you hear me?”
Scott nodded.
“I need to make sure you’re understanding everything I’m saying, are you?”
Scott nodded again.
“Good,” Derek turned his head towards Stiles.
Stiles felt warm breath on the back of his neck and he jumped before turning
around and realizing that Laura was behind him.
“Laura,” Derek said, “He’s going to die if we don’t do something.”
Laura’s head dropped and she nudged Derek’s shoulder.
“He’s Stiles’ best friend,” Derek said, “we can’t just let him die. It’s my
fault this even happened.”
Laura growled, admonishing her brother.
“What’s happening?” Stiles asked numbly.
“Laura?” Derek asked.
Laura nodded.
Stiles felt like he was floating outside of his body as he watched Laura fall
to the ground and begin shifting from a wolf to a human. Stiles watched as her
bones cracked and elongated, as her fur retreated into her skin, and as her
face shifted from canine to human.
Only a few seconds passed before a very human, very naked Laura was laying in
the grass.
“Laura is my Alpha,” Derek said, “she can bite Scott and it might save him.”
Stiles nodded, taking off his hoodie and handing it to Laura because he felt
like she shouldn’t be naked for this for some reason.
“Scott,” Laura’s voice was rough as she shrugged on the hoodie, “I’m Laura
Hale, I can try to save you but you need to know what you’d be agreeing to.”
Scott was getting bluer by the moment but nodded in understanding.
“My brother and I are werewolves,” Laura said slowly, “I’m an Alpha, my bite
has the potential to heal you, it can cure your asthma and save your life.”
“Do it!” Stiles yelled, “You can’t let him die!”
“Stiles,” Derek whispered, pulling him in by the shoulder, “let her talk, Scott
needs to consent to this.”
“I need you to know that the bite can save you, but it can also kill you.
You’re in a weakened state right now and the success rate is already only about
85%. If I don’t bite you, you’ll die. If I do bite you and you survive then
you’ll be like Derek and I. You’ll be a werewolf.”
Stiles’ eyes went wide. Laura wanted to turn Scott?
“That will save him?” Stiles asked, turning to Derek.
“If the bite takes,” Derek nodded, “the bite can cure most diseases and save
someone if they’re dying but it’s always a risk.”
“Scott, if you survive you will be a werewolf and you’ll be part of my pack,”
Laura said slowly, “You’ll be alive but your life will never be the same. Do
you want the bite?”
Scott didn’t respond and for a moment Stiles thought it was too late, they’d
spent too much time talking and now Scott was dead. But then Scott opened his
mouth, he was nodding and struggling to speak.
“Yes,” Scott’s voice was almost inaudible but Stiles could see the tears in his
eyes, “please, I don’t want to die.”
Stiles let out a wrecked sob and grabbed for Derek, desperately looking for any
kind of comfort by pulling himself into Derek’s chest. Derek’s arms closed
around him and squeezed tight.
“Alright,” Laura said softly, “this may hurt a little bit.”
Stiles watched, everything moving as if it was in slow motion, as Laura’s face
twisted and her eyes began to glow red. Her brows drew together, her nose
shifted deeper into her face, and she opened her mouth to reveal a sharp set of
fangs.
Laura looked back at Derek, held his gaze for a brief second, and then nodded.
She lifted Scott’s shirt, lowered her face down to the softest part of Scott’s
side, and bit him.
Chapter End Notes
     self harm warning: Derek digs his claws into his palms in an effort
     to block out the pain of being in his family old house. Laura stops
     him and makes sure he doesn't do it again.
     it's probably best if you don't think of season one canon when it
     comes to most things because it's gone full on divergence from here
     on out lol
***** Sleep It Off *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                  Chapter Six
                                 Sleep It Off
                                        
“Alright,” Stiles said, bracing himself against the Jeep with unsteady hands,
“do we take him to the hospital now?”
Stiles looked down at Scott, the color had returned to his face and it seemed
like he could actually breathe but he was sweating bullets and mumbling
something under his breath. The pale moonlight reflected off of his skin,
illuminated the wisps of hair plastered to his forehead and the tracks of tears
that had spilled out of Scott’s eyes as he thought he was dying.
Laura shook her head, “No, we can’t take him to the hospital. There will be no
way to explain the bite or how he’d wake up healed overnight. If we take Scott
to the hospital people will start asking questions and that will be dangerous
for everyone.”
Laura was still clad in Stiles’ sweatshirt and nothing else and Stiles moved
numbly to the back of his Jeep and pulled out his gym bag, sniffing the sweats
to make sure they were actually clean before handing them to Laura.
“I know you’re down with this whole naked in the woods vibe but I’d be a lot
more comfortable if you put on some pants.”
Laura laughed, grabbing the sweats from Stiles and bumping their hands together
in the process. She shook the sweats out and was about to step into them before
she shared an odd look with Derek. Derek’s eyes were narrowed, almost glaring,
at his sister. Laura shrugged, rolled her eyes, and punched Derek in the
shoulder. Hard.
Scott began to cough and Stiles’ attention was quickly drawn away from Derek
and Laura. He fell to his knees and placed the back of his hand against Scott’s
forehead.
“He’s burning up!” Stiles voice was beginning to shake.
Laura sat down softly next to him, “I know it’s scary Stiles but you have to
trust me. It’s going to get worse before it gets better for him.”
“You…” Stiles trailed off, “You said there was a chance it wouldn’t take, that
Scott could still die. How long do I have to wait to know if my best friend is
going to die or not?”
Laura opened her mouth to speak but she was cut off by Derek’s voice, rough and
pained, “You’d know by now. It’s very obvious when someone rejects the bite,
it’s painful and ugly. Scott is showing no signs of rejection, it’ll be a long
night and he’s going to be in a lot of pain but he won’t feel any of it when he
wakes up.”
“Do you have somewhere we can take him for the night?” Laura asked, “We have a
motel in town but I don’t want to take the chance of the people in the rooms
next to us overhearing anything.”
Stiles nodded, “We can go back to my place, my dad is working an overnight
shift and Scott’s mom thinks he’s supposed to be staying the night with me
anyway.”
“That works,” Laura said as she stood, “I’ll ride in the back with Scott so I
can watch him, Derek will drive. We need to get out of here before that thing
out there recovers and decides to go for round two, Derek and I havent healed
enough to stand a chance.”
Stiles clutched his keys in his hands, “It’s fine, I can drive. I need to
do…something to take my mind off of this.”
Derek’s hand lightly wrapped around Stiles’ wrist, “Stiles, you can barely
stand and your hands are shaking. If you crash then the only person who’s going
to get hurt at this point is you.”
Stiles stared at Derek’s hand where it rested around his wrist and blinked once
before numbly nodding and releasing his iron grip on his keys and pushing them
towards Derek’s chest.
“I think I’m in shock,” Stiles said absentmindedly, “Like, this is a thing that
would cause shock, right? Because I feel like I’m floating outside of myself a
little bit and I don’t really know what to do next and I always know what to
do.”
Laura appeared again, back from softly depositing Scott in the back seat of the
Jeep, and wrapped Stiles in a bone crushing hug, “You take a few seconds to
breathe, give Derek directions to your house, and then you’re going to shower,
eat something, and we can answer any questions you have.”
“Right.” Stiles nodded, it sounded like a solid plan.
Laura let go of Stiles and crawled into the back seat, cradling Scott’s head in
her lap, and pressing her hand against the top of his head.
Stiles let Derek guide him to the passenger’s seat with a hand on the center of
his back, he opened the door to Stiles and made sure he was buckled in before
speaking, “You did good tonight.”
“Huh?” Stiles’ face twisted in confusion.
“You saved Laura,” Derek said, “and me.”
“Oh,” Stiles said, smiling slightly, “you’re much nicer to me when I’m in
shock.”
Derek laughed, “Don’t get used to it.”
Stiles reply was cut off by Derek slamming the car door in his face. Laura
laughed from the backseat and Stiles turned to half-heartedly glare at her.
“Don’t give me that look,” Laura rolled her eyes, “my brother has said more
words since meeting you than he’s said in the last month.”
Stiles sputtered, “What am I supposed to do with that?”
Derek grunted as he climbed in behind the wheel, “You’re supposed to tell me
how to get to your house.”
“Right,” Stiles glanced at Scott and then down to his own shirt that was
covered in Derek and Laura’s blood, “I need to shower.”
 
                                       X
                                        
The Stilinski house was exactly what Derek expected. It was clearly a house
where two men had lived without the influence of a woman for many years. The
house wasn’t dirty or disheveled but it lacked a personal touch, a kind of
warmth that Derek knew only a mother could bring.
He felt the same way about his and Laura’s apartment in New York.
Laura was the second through the door, Scott cradled in her arms, and she made
a line for the living room. She gently sat Scott on the sofa and dropped to the
floor next to him.
Stiles was the last through the door, closing and locking it behind himself, he
looked at Laura, “My room is just upstairs, we can put Scott in my bed?”
Laura shook her head, “The couch is fine, Scott will recover from the bite
faster if his pack is around him and it’s easier for all of us to be out here
than cramped in your room.”
Derek bit the inside of his cheek, he wasn’t sure if Laura could sense that he
wanted to be the only one in Stiles’ room, the one to run his hands over his
things, to let his scent mix with the room. From the small glances that Laura
kept throwing him, Derek thought she had a pretty good idea.
Derek cursed internally and tried to rein in his instincts, to fight back the
wolf inside that wanted to make a claim. It was stupid and destructive for
Derek to want more than he already had and he’d known Stiles for literally two
days. Not to mention the fact that Stiles was a teenager.
Stiles still looked a little dazed, his eyes flickering over the room as if he
wasn’t sure exactly where to start with everything he wanted to do, say, or
ask.
“Shower,” Derek reminded him as he looked at Stiles clothes that were stained
with his and Laura’s blood, “You might want to get rid of that shirt, burn it
just to be safe.”
Stiles’ face flushed, “Right. Shower. Upstairs. Uh, make yourself at home but
try not to eat too much food if you’re hungry. I mean, I don’t know how much
werewolves eat but you two both look like underwear models and I’m sure you
have to eat like major calories in a day so, you know, food but not a lot.
Because I can eat but not like, werewolf eat, and my dad will probably wonder
where all the food went.”
“Stiles,” Derek said, unable to fight back a bit of amusement in his voice, “go
take a shower, Laura and I won’t touch anything until you’re back down.”
Stiles nodded, giving once last lingering glance to Scott, then back to Derek,
before turning and shambling up the stairs.
Derek listened until Stiles turned the water on, just to make sure that he
didn’t pass out from stress or anything else, before he made his way over to
Laura and sat on the arm of the couch closest to Scott’s head. He looked down
at Scott, the hair matted to his forehead and the sweat gleaming under the dim
lighting, and he couldn’t help but think of the last time he’d seen a human
bitten.
Laura must have sensed it because she gently sat her hand on Derek’s knee,
“Don’t go there, not tonight.”
As far as admonishments went it was a gentle one but Derek knew what it meant.
Laura couldn’t do this on her own, she couldn’t look after Scott, Stiles, and
Derek at the same time. Derek nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat, he had
to be strong for Laura.
“I can’t believe you actually did it,” Derek finally said, “you always said you
wouldn’t.”
Laura laughed and it came out more broken than Derek thought she’d intended it
to, “It’s a bit hard to stick to that when there’s a kid dying in front of you
and his best friend is sobbing and blaming himself for it. Also, you kinda
asked me to do it too.”
Derek flinched. In the moment it was the right choice, the only choice as far
as Derek was concerned. He couldn’t sit by and let Scott die just because he
was in the wrong place as the wrong time. He couldn’t sit there and listen to
Stiles sob, screaming and crying, and lose one of the few people left in his
life. But he hadn’t thought of Laura, of what kind of position that request
would put her in. She never wanted to be an Alpha and she never wanted a pack
that extended beyond Derek.
“I’m sorry,” Derek rasped, “I shouldn’t have…I wasn’t thinking of you when I
asked and I should have been.”
Laura blinked up at him for a moment before crowding into his space and pulling
Derek into a hug, “Hey, no. None of that.”
“What?” Derek cocked his head to the side, he’d expected her to be mad, furious
even
 “I’m not mad, Derek. It was the right thing to do.” Laura said softly, kissing
his forehead, “Even if you hadn’t asked me…I couldn’t just sit there and let
Stiles lose someone like that.”
Derek was silent as his forehead rested against Laura’s. It was a few minutes
before he spoke again.
“I guess this means we’re not leaving in a few days.”
Laura looked up and pushed Derek backwards softly, “You don’t have to stay.”
“I do.”
“You don’t. I know you hate it here and it’s going to take at least a month or
two to teach Scott what he needs to know to be functional before I can even
think about what happens after that. You don’t have to be here, I can teach
Scott on my own.”
Derek growled, “I’m not leaving you alone. I’m never leaving you alone again.”
Laura laughed, lighter this time, “Well that sounds extremely healthy and not
at all dysfunctional.”
Derek rolled his eyes, glad that the mood had lightened, they could talk more
about the future later, “Dysfunction is what we do.”
They sat in silence for long minutes, only paying attention to each other and
Scott. Laura had her back pressed to the couch as she sat on the floor, her
head tilted back and pressed against Scott’s neck. Derek sat on the other arm
of the couch, the one closest to the stairs, and angled himself so Scott’s feet
were just barely touching him. They weren’t a big pack and they couldn’t pile
on each other for comfort and healing but they did the best they could do.
It was several more minutes before Derek heard Stiles coming down the stairs.
He turned his head just in time to see Stiles hit the landing, skidding to a
stop as he ran a hand across his still damp head, water droplets falling onto
his shoulders and the wood floor around him.
Stiles’ body was still wet with condensation and his thin shirt clung to him
and ways that Derek shouldn’t have noticed. He hated himself for noticing.
“Everything good?” Stiles asked.
Laura hummed, “All good.”
Stiles waved his hand in their general direction, “Is this like…a thing?”
Derek sighed, “Packs take comfort in being close to each other, especially when
one of their own is injured or newly bitten. It helps the healing process and
calms everyone down.”
Stiles smiled, and god Derek was glad to see something on his face other than
pure terror or blank nothingness, “Sooooo, a puppy pile.”
“Not a puppy pile.” Derek and Laura said in unison, startling both of them and
drawing a surprised laugh out of Stiles.
“I see you’ve got your sense of humor back,” Laura smiled as she cracked a
single eye open and looked at Stiles, “Shower did you good then, yeah?”
Stiles shifted awkwardly, “Yeah, searing hot water does a lot to snap your mind
back into place.”
Laura let out a long sigh, “One day I’m going to have a conversation with you
and my brother about why we shouldn’t self-flagellate.”
Stiles rolled his eyes before taking a step forward and hovering awkwardly,
clearly unsure of where to sit. Derek watched him, watched Stiles’ mind work,
until he settled on the coffee table. Their knees bumped and settled near each
other as Stiles sat and Derek didn’t feel like drawing back immediately like he
usually did whenever someone else touched him.
Stiles seemed content to leave his leg where it was and Derek made no attempt
to move.
Stiles opened and closed his mouth several times and Derek watched Laura watch
him. Laura seemed content to let Stiles take the time he needed to formulate
his thoughts and Derek could only imagine the kind of questions that Stiles
had. It was new territory for Laura too, she’d never…come out…to anyone before.
Derek had, to Paige and to Kate, but he couldn’t think about either of those
situations and compare them to Stiles.
“I have questions,” Stiles eventually said, “I just don’t know what my
questions are.”
Laura smiled, “Take all the time you need.”
“Scott,” Stiles said after a few more minutes, “what’s really going to happen
with Scott?”
Laura leaned forward and moved a bit closer to Stiles, “He’ll wake up in a few
hours fully healed, he’ll be overwhelmed with the way all his senses will
assault him in ways they never have before, he might be angry or confused and
unsure what to do with all this new strength he has but he’ll be alive. And
I’ll teach him to control that anger, to reel in his power and find an anchor
he can use to keep himself steady when I’m not around.”
“You’re staying?” Stiles’ eyes went wide, “You’re not going to leave?”
Laura laughed softly, “There’s no way I could just leave Scott and let a 16-
year-old boy figure out how to deal with all of this on his own. There’s also
the issue with what you saw last night so between Scott and the rampaging
monster in the woods I think I’m going to be in Beacon Hills for a bit longer
than I anticipated.”
“What about Derek?” Stiles asked before he turned his wide, brown eyes onto
Derek himself, “Are you staying?”
Derek felt himself go rigid, “I…I don’t want to. But I have to.”
Stiles shoulders slumped but he quickly recovered, “OK.”
“Anything else you can think of?”
“Do I need to get Scott’s mom to throw out all that nice silverware that she
breaks out for the holidays?”
Laura cackled, “No. Silver doesn’t negatively affect us, most of the lore and
pop culture things that you know about werewolves aren’t true. In fact, most of
it was put out into the world by actual werewolves so people wouldn’t get
suspicious.”
“I knew it!” Stiles exclaimed, shoving his fists in the air, “Take that
everyone who ever doubted any of my conspiracy theories!”
Derek rolled his eyes, “We’re not forced into a shift on a full moon, it does
greatly affect us and Scott will feel the urge to go out and unleash the wolf
inside him no matter where he is but that’s only because he’s newly bitten.
Given time he will be able to control himself during full moons and at worst
he’ll just be a little irritable.”
Stiles scoffed, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Scott irritable in his life.”
Laura laughed, dropping a hand on Sties’ knee, “Get ready for it, newly bitten
wolves are drama queens.”
Stiles’ eyebrows drew together, “You keep saying bitten, is there another
kind?”
“Born,” Derek supplied, “like Laura and I.”
“Born?” Stiles repeated.
“A werewolf who has a child with another wolf had roughly a 90% chance of that
child being a werewolf by birth. A werewolf who has a child with a human drops
that chance down to around 50%.”
“Our mother was a born wolf,” Laura smiled, “and our father was bitten, by our
mother actually.”
“Kinky,” Stiles said, almost out of habit, and then quickly winced, “oh my god,
I’m so sorry.”
Laura shook her head, “I made that joke at least once a month when we were
growing up, it’s fine.”
“Our family was mostly born wolves,” Derek said, “we had a little brother who
was a human and a younger sister who was a wolf. Those cousins I told you about
were human too. Most of the adults were wolves, but a few of them did have
human mates.”
Stiles mouthed the word mate and looked bewildered.
“Not like that, Stiles,” Derek sighed, “it’s just a word, boyfriend or
girlfriend often doesn’t feel strong enough for the type of bond we form with
people we love but it’s just a word. Not National Geographic.”
“Oh,” Stiles nodded, “So, knots?”
Laura did a spit take, spewing half of the glass of water that she was drinking
all over Derek, Scott, and Stiles, “Did he…oh my god, Derek you should see your
face!”
Derek didn’t need to see his face to know the horrified expression he was
wearing and he could feel the heat rapidly rising in his cheeks, “Jesus,
Stiles! No, just…no.”
Stiles really laughed for the first time since Derek heard him in the preserve
and Derek figured that maybe a little humiliation might have been worth it just
for that, “Right. Noted. Natural male anatomy. Cool.”
Stiles tipped his head up towards the ceiling and missed Laura craning her head
towards Derek and mouthing ‘cool’ with a seductive waggle of her eyebrows.
Derek quickly flashed his eyes are her and Laura responded by flashing her
back, the deep red making Derek wither a bit under her Alpha stare. Laura
smiled, all satisfaction and teeth, and turned back to Stiles and began to
supply him with the answers to every question he hadn’t asked yet.
Derek paid attention to the way Stiles reacted to the conversation more than
what Laura was actually saying, he obviously already knew all this information
and didn’t need to waste time listening to it all be explained. He watched as
Stiles’ eyes grew comically large as Laura explained pack structures, watched
how he smiled as Laura explained scenting and how they used their enhanced
senses to track and fight, and he even smiled as Stiles goaded Laura into
lifting the coffee table he was still sitting on with one hand just so he could
see her demonstrate her strength.
Derek politely declined when Stiles asked if Derek would bench press him. Laura
did another spit take and Stiles ended up having to go refill her glass of
water because she dumped the rest of it all over Scott.
“Can you turn into a wolf?” Stiles asked Derek.
“No,” Derek shook his head, “I mean, theoretically I could but I don’t know
how. I was never taught.”
“Can Laura teach you?” Stiles asked, “I mean, since she’s all down with the
four-legged thing and all.”
Derek frowned, “No, Laura can make the full shift because she’s an Alpha and
she has our mothers power inside of her. It’s a natural instinct, one she
doesn’t know how to explain to me. It would be like me trying to teach you how
to Beta shift.”
“Will you show me your…” Stiles trailed off and made claw hands and let out the
least threatening snarl that Derek had ever heard.
Derek blinked at him, “You’ve already seen it.”
“Yeah,” Stiles shrugged, “but that was in the woods and it was dark and I was
trying not to get eaten by the giant monster wolf thing. You don’t have to show
me if it’s like…taboo to let a human see or something…I’m just curious.”
Derek sighed and shifted, lifting his hands off of the couch and setting them
in his lap so he didn’t shred the couch. Stiles gaped at him in awe and Derek
was surprised that there wasn’t a single trace of fear on him, not from his
scent to his heartbeat.
“Dude,” Stiles smiled, “where did your eyebrows go?”
Derek growled, softly, “I don’t know, OK? It just happens.”
Stiles laughed, reaching out a hand towards Derek’s face but stopping half way,
“Wait, sorry. That’s weird.”
Derek swallowed, “You can, if you want.”
Stiles’ eyes went wide and Derek heard the increase in his heartbeat. He
reached out, moving slowly as if he was giving Derek every chance to stop him,
and lightly rested one finger on Derek’s brow and drew it across the smooth
skin. Derek felt his own heart pick up and he knew there was no way Laura
wasn’t hearing it to.
As if she was summoned, Laura walked around the corner as a wolf and placed her
head in Stiles’ lap.
Stiles screamed, pulling his hand away from Derek’s face faster than Derek
thought he could move, and looked down at Laura.
“Jesus!” Stiles gasped, “Warn a guy before do that, huh?”
Laura gave Derek a side eye and Derek shifted back to normal and moved slightly
away from Stiles. Laura huffed, irritated, and retreated back into the kitchen.
She returned a few seconds later, human again and dressed in Stiles’ clothes.
“That’s what you get for talking about knots.”
“It was a completely valid question!” Stiles snapped, “I’m curious, sue me!”
“I bet you are,” Laura mumbled, low enough so only Derek could hear, with a
smirk.
Derek was going to kill her.
Scott began to stir just as Stiles opened his mouth.
“What’s…” Scott’s voice was rough, “Where am I?”
“Scott!” Stiles lept forward, throwing himself on Scott’s chest and hugging him
tightly, “Oh my god, Scott! You’re alive!”
Scott let out a loud wail, “Stiles! Stop screaming!”
Scot covered his ears and rolled to the side, curling into a ball. Derek could
see his claws starting to appear and he quickly jumped up from the couch and
scooped Stiles up and pulled him to the other side of the room.
Stiles flailed, and yelped, “Derek! What the hell!”
“He’s dangerous like this.” Derek said, holding Stiles in place.
“Right,” Stiles said, looking back at Scott who’s claws were fully pronounced
now, “with the claws and the teeth and the meltdown.”
“Let Laura calm him down.”
Stiles nodded and they both watched as Laura approached Scott and placed her
hand on the center of his chest.
“Scott,” Laura said, her voice soft yet holding an air of authority, “do you
remember who I am?”
Scott stopped struggling on the couch and opened his eyes, “Everything is so
loud, why is everything so loud?”
“It’s your body reacting to your enhanced senses, you’re overwhelming yourself
and experiencing everything at once.”
“What’s wrong with me?” Scott gasped.
“Scott,” Laura swallowed, “Stop for a second and tell me what you remember.”
Scott closed his eyes and Derek could see he was concentrating too hard on
trying to block out the ambient sounds around him.
“Scott,” Derek said, Scott and Laura both turned to look at him, “focus on
Stiles, try to find his heartbeat. Focus on it and use that to orient
yourself.”
Laura nodded. Using Stiles as a sort of temporary anchor was a bit brilliant.
It should calm him and having Scott focus on the only person in the room that
he really knows should help Scott sort through everything he’s hearing.
“Hey Scotty,” Stiles laughed.
“Stiles,” Scott said, sitting up and tipping his head in Stiles’ direction,
“your heart is beating really fast.”
“God Scott, buy a guy dinner first.” Stiles rolled his eyes but a fond smile
crept across his face.
Scott laughed, breathless, and seemed to settle back into the couch, “It’s loud
but it’s like the sound is blocking everything else out.”
“Good,” Laura smiled, “Do you remember what happened?”
Scott opened his eyes and focused on Laura, “You’re Laura Hale, and that’s
Derek Hale. Stiles! Dude! Derek!”
Stiles sputtered, “Now’s not the time Scott, listen to Laura please.”
Derek looked down at Stiles and quirked an eyebrow. Stiles was pointedly
looking everywhere but Derek.
“We were in the preserve,” Scott continued, “then…that thing, and I was
running, and then I was having an asthma attack.”
Scott chokes on a sob and Derek has to physically restrain Stiles from running
over to him. Derek wasn’t taking any chances until Scott settled completely.
“I was going to die,” Scott said, his hands shaking, “you told me you could
save me but that I’d be like you and Derek, that is was dangerous but the only
way.”
“Good,” Laura smiled, “do you know what Derek and I are?”
Scott blinked, and Derek could see the gears turning in his head. Laura seemed
content to give Scott all the time he needed to come to his conclusion but
Stiles seemed to have other plans.
“Werewolves,” Stiles shouted, Scott and Laura’s heads both snapped to Stiles,
“they’re werewolves, Scott.”
“Stiles!” Laura scolded, “so not cool!”
“Were…wolves…” Scott’s eyes went wide. He looked down at his own hands and then
flinched as his claws began to appear.
“I’m…a werewolf…” Scott trailed off, “I’m not human anymore?”
Laura frowned, “You are, Scott. You’re still a human but there another part of
you now, we call it a wolf. It’s inside of you, a living, breathing part of
you.”
Scott nodded before looking up at Stiles.
Stiles smiled, “Dude,”
Scott laughed softly, “Dude,”
Stiles’ smile broke out into a grin, “Werewolves.”
Scott laughed louder this time, “Werewolves.”
Stiles flailed, struggling against Derek’s hold on his arm, “Can I go hug my
best friend now?”
Derek listened closely to Scott. His breathing was even, his heart rate had
calmed, and the scent of overwhelming anxiety had gone down. Derek nodded and
let Stiles go, he knew Laura was close enough that she could help Stiles is
something happened.
Stiles rushed forward, tacking into Scott on the couch and wrapping his limbs
around Scott like an octopus. Scott laughed as Stiles bowled him over, his face
dropping to Stiles neck and rubbing back and forth.
Derek bit back a growl.
“Dude!” Stiles laughed, “Are you nuzzling me?”
Scott blushed, “I don’t know, it just felt like a thing I should do?”
Laura laughed, “It’s a scent thing, you want people you’re close with to smell
like you, especially humans in your pack.”
“Pack?” Stiles cocked his head to the side, “but Scott is in your pack, why
isn’t he rubbing all over you?”
Laura’s smile was smaller, gentle, “Scott’s wolf must recognize that you two
were close before the bite, it recognizes you as someone important to Scott. As
pack.”
Derek tensed. Was Laura saying what he thought she was saying?
“But how can I be part of Scott’s pack when Scott is in your pack? Isn’t that
like interloping or something? I don’t know but it sounds like it should be
against the rules.”
“Can someone tell me what any of these words mean?” Scott frowned.
“Give us a minute, Scotty,” Stiles patted his cheek, “the adults are talking.”
Scott growled and Stiles let out a wicked cackle.
“You two are going to be a pain in my ass,” Laura sighed, “welcome to the pack,
Scott. And Stiles.”
Stiles’ face broke out into a bright and blinding grin, his brown eyes
impossibly wide as he looked at Laura, then to Scott, and finally at Derek.
Derek smiled back, just the smallest quirk of his lips, and Stiles’ grin seemed
to grow even wider.
Derek realized in that exact moment that he was truly fucked.
 
Chapter End Notes
     this chapter is like...100% fluff but I wanted to get all the been
     there, done that werewolf explications out of the way before the plot
     picks back up in the next chapter and I didn't want to bog down a
     chapter with actual exciting things happening with 5k words of fluff
     and thus you get this!
     Hope you enjoyed!
***** Code 187 *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                 Chapter Seven
                                   Code 187
                                        
“So, what do we focus on first?” Stiles asked as they sat crowded around his
kitchen table at 4am, “Scott possibly becoming a blood thirsty killing machine
tonight when the moon comes up or the actual bloodthirsty killing machine that
tried to kill all of us tonight and will probably be even thirstier for blood
when the moon comes up?”
Stiles could see Derek’s hand clench on the edge of the table and he really,
really hoped that Derek would keep the claws at bay because there really was no
easy way to explain claw marks to his dad.
“We are not focusing on anything,” Derek said tightly, “Laura and I will take
care of Peter, it’s too dangerous for you two to get involved.”
“Peter?” Scott repeated, looking lost and confused.
Stiles repeated the name in his head over and over, there was something
familiar about it. It took a few more seconds for it to click and then Stiles’
jaw dropped, “That thing in the woods last night was Peter Hale? As in,
currently catatonic for six yearsPeter Hale?”
Laura grimaced as she ran a hand through her long hair, “We don’t know for
sure, we’re just acting on an assumption.”
“Of course it’s Peter,” Derek snapped, “who else could it be? You’re telling me
it’s a coincidence that we go visit Peter, you threaten him, and then that same
night we’re attacked in the woods?”
Scott’s eyes went wide, “Dude, you threated a guy in a coma?”
Stiles rolled his eyes, “Obviously he’s not in a coma if he’s in the woods
trying to kill us!”
Derek growled, “He wasn’t trying to kill you! You both would have been fine if
you weren’t in the woods last night!”
Stiles rolled his eyes, “Uh, what happened to ‘thank you Stiles, you saved us,
Stiles, Stiles-Wan Kenobi, you’re our only hope’?”
Derek glared, his eyes flashing blue, “I never said any of that!”
Stiles glared right back, leaning forward and crowding into Derek’s space,
“There was totally some thanking going on last night! You seem awfully
ungrateful to the person who saved your furry ass!”
They both glared at each other for a few more seconds until Derek withered,
“I’m grateful, Stiles. It was quick thinking with the lighter fluid and you
probably saved all of us but it doesn’t change the fact that you could have
gotten killed last night. What if he had decided to go after you and Scott
before Laura and I? What if I didn’t get to you two in time? Last night was
dangerous Stiles and I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
Stiles gaped, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water as he
tried to figure out what he wanted to say back. His shoulders deflated as the
fight left his body and Stiles began to feel the weight of the nights events
finally settle onto his shoulders.
“Or Scott,” Laura supplied, “we don’t want anything to happen to you or Scott.”
Scott frowned, “I thought I was a werewolf now, can’t I take care of myself?”
“One of the most dangerous things a new wolf can do is get into a fight,” Laura
said, “you don’t know your limits or what you are or aren’t capable of. All you
feel is a new sense of power and you think that you’re unstoppable. It takes
more than raw strength to win a fight, Scott”
Derek nodded, “Look at last night, Laura and I have been wolves since we were
born and Laura has the added power of an Alpha and we still almost lost. We
were overwhelmed and underprepared and we almost died because of it. Scott, if
you were just to stumble headfirst in a fight he could take you out in a
second.”
Stiles nodded, it was hard to miss the logic in that, “Ok, new question then!
What are your plans for tonight?”
Laura sighed as she leaned back in her chair, “Well, Derek and I intended on
spending the night surveilling Peter’s hospital room. My running theory was
that he wasn’t in control of whatever was happening to him, that his human side
was lost but his wolf side was taking over in intervals. I figured that if the
wolf was going to take over it would be during the full moon and we could use
that to our advantage to catch him off guard and see if there was anything we
could do to help him or to fix it. If not…”
Stiles didn’t need Laura to finish her thoughts on what would happen if they
couldn’t have helped Peter, “I’m thinking last night changed things?”
Laura’s head dropped to Derek’s shoulder, “I was hoping that whatever was wrong
with Peter was out of his control, that it was the wolf acting on instinct and
we could fix it somehow. But now? I don’t think there’s a coincidence that
Derek and I visited Peter and then we’re attacked the same night. We started
our search just outside of the hospital and then not even an hour later the
wolf came after us.”
Scott frowned, “This is probably a dumb question…”
Laura shook her head with a slight smile, “There’s no dumb questions when it
comes to any of this Scott, don’t be afraid to ask me or Derek anything.”
Scott beamed and Stiles felt a little part inside of him warm, Scott had never
been the smartest person when it came to school, he’d always had trouble in
classes and had been at risk of failing a grade or two and it usually
translated into him being afraid to ask questions about things he didn’t know
because he didn’t want people to think he was stupid. Seeing Laura gently
assuage that fear, and Scott’s grin at not being made to feel dumb, made Stiles
forget all his petty issues with Scott over the last few weeks.
Stiles saw Derek looking at him out of the corner of his eye, probably
wondering why he was looking at his sister with what could only be described as
puppy dog eyes, and quickly tried to school his face back into a more neutral
position as subtly as possible.
“Alright,” Scott said, “I know I’m new to this stuff but…couldn’t you just
smell it to tell if it was Peter? I mean, I’m pretty sure I could pick Stiles
out of crowd now and I’ve only know what he smells like for a few hours.”
“Dude!” Stiles yelped, shifting uncomfortably, “Totally not cool!”
“You don’t smell bad,” Derek said.
Stiles blinked, looking at Derek with wide eyes, and Scott spoke before he
could try to follow up on that comment.
“No,” Scott laughed, “he’s right. You just smell like…Stiles, like my best
friend. I would kinda just assume that you’d be able to smell someone you grew
up with.”
Laura reached over the table and ruffled Scott’s hair and, Scott would probably
deny it, but Stiles totally saw him preen at the attention, “Excellent
question, but I don’t really know what’s going on. The wolf…it smells like Pack
but there’s something wrong with it, it’s dark and twisted and smells more like
death than anything. I’ve honestly never heard of or seen anything like this.”
“There must be some big book of monsters or something?” Stiles asked
hesitantly.
Derek shook his head, “Our family had a bestiary that was hundreds of years
old, passed down through generations of Alpha’s, but we lost it…”
Derek trailed off and, right, fire.
“Is there anyone you can talk to?” Scott asked, “Do you have friends that would
know anything?”
Laura smirked, “There’s someone I could think of but I haven’t seen him in
quite a long time, he didn’t really agree with our decision to leave town and
I’m not entirely sure how helpful he’d be.”
Derek growled.
“You might as well tell them about the wall.” Derek said.
“What wall?” Stiles asked.
“Back at our old house,” Laura said, “we were there that night, we’d tracked
the scent of the wolf through the woods and it led to our family’s home. We
searched around inside and someone had carved a rune on one of the back walls
of the house, large enough to emit magical energy that cut off our enhanced
sense of smell through the entire house.”
“Rune?” Stiles gasped, “Magic is real?”
Laura tipped her head back and let out a wicked laugh, “Duh, of course magic is
real. You didn’t think that there were werewolves without magic, did you?”
Stiles sputtered, “I don’t know! I just learned about werewolves and how
there’s bestiaries, which means there’s more crazy things than just werewolves!
I wasn’t really thinking about witchcraft!”
“It’s more than just witchcraft,” Derek said, “I mean, witches are part of it,
but there’s a lot more to magic than what you’re probably thinking right now.”
“Magic, most of the time, is more druidic and draws from the earth rather than
black bubbling cauldrons and spells,” Laura explained, “there are covens and
most of them practice some pretty serious shit but most basic magic is used for
good or protection. Runes are primarily used by druids but anyone who has a
tiny bit of magical energy inside them, such as a werewolf, can power a simple
rune. It takes more innate magical abilities to pull off bigger stuff though.”
“Magic,” Stiles repeated, “this is really not how I saw tonight going.”
Scott rolled his eyes, “Dude, at least you didn’t almost die and wake up a
werewolf.”
Stiles shrugged, conceding, “True. So, you think catatonic Peter isn’t so
catatonic and is leaving the hospital, doing magic, and trying to kill you?”
Laura cringed, “It sounds insane when you put it like that.”
Stiles shrugged, he was pretty sure if anyone overheard half of the
conversation they’d hade then they would all be locked up in Eichen House, “Can
you watch Scott tonight and surveil Peter?”
Laura shook her head, “No, Scott has to come first. Being bitten the night
before a full moon is one of the most stressful things a new wolf can
experience because it doesn’t give their body any time to acclimate to the new
senses and abilities before they’re amplified during the full moon. I can’t
split my attention between Peter and Scott.”
“I hate to say it,” Derek said, “but Scott is the bigger danger tonight.”
“Hey!” Scott protested.
“I don’t think they mean it’s your fault,” Stiles said, “just that you have the
greater chance of going crazy and killing someone since you don’t know how to
control yourself.”
Scott glared, “Oh, that sounds so much better, Stiles!”
“Besides,” Derek shook his head, “I can’t imagine Peter would try to come after
us two nights in a row, especially after Stiles stopped him with fire.”
Laura cringed.
Stiles frowned, “I didn’t mean to inflict psychological damage along with
physical damage.”
Derek bumped his knee under the table, “Wolves take longer to heal from fire,
if that was Peter last night then his wolf probably isn’t healed enough to make
another move.”
“Oh,” Stiles said, “Well, yay me then.”
Derek rolled his eyes, “Yes, Stiles. Yay you.”
Stiles grinned at Derek and then, since he obviously had no control over his
body, he winked.
Derek’s eyes went wide and he coughed awkwardly before looking at Laura.
“My biggest concern is getting Scott out of his house overnight without causing
a problem with his mother.” Laura said.
“That’s easy,” Scott shrugged, “she’s working tonight, I’ll tell her I’m
staying with Stiles.”
“Where does she work?” Laura asked.
“She’s a nurse at the hospital.”
“Oh!” Laura gasped like she’d just finished a puzzle without all the pieces,
“We met her!”
“We did?” Derek asked, his eyebrows creeping up his forehead.
“She was the nurse who gave us directions to Peter’s floor,” Laura said,
leveling Derek with a look that screamed I can’t believe you don’t remember
that, “that’s why Scott smelled familiar.”
“You guys really like to smell things,” Stiles shook his head.
“Everything smells so good!” Scott beamed, “Like, I didn’t know stuff could
smell like this!”
Laura laughed, “Wait until you go into a public bathroom until you make that
kind of statement.”
Stiles gasped and thrusted a single finger at Derek, “That’s why you didn’t
want to go into the locker room!”
Derek grimaced, “I could smell it from where we were sitting, there was no way
in hell I was going inside there.”
Scott cocked his head to the side, “You didn’t tell me that Derek was at the
school too.”
Derek cocked his head to the side too, and Stiles just barely stopped himself
from making a curious dog joke, “When did you tell Scott about me?”
Stiles’ eyes darted between Scott and Derek. Laura was sitting opposite Stiles
with her head rested on her folded hands and a wicked grin on her face.
“Not important!” Stiles smiled awkwardly, “Point is, Scott will tell his mom
that he’s staying here tonight and my dad is on the overnight shift all weekend
so he’ll be gone and we can watch Scott here.”
Laura shook her head, “No, Scott is going to need to be chained up and I highly
doubt your house can accommodate that.”
“Chained up?!” Scott yelped, “What?”
Laura frowned, “Did I forget to mention that part?”
“Yes!” Scott squealed, “I think that should have been like the first thing that
you said!”
Laura’s shoulders fell, “Sorry, I’ve never done this before, especially with a
bitten wolf.”
“Everyone in our family knew the procedure,” Derek said, “it was told to us
when we were young so we wouldn’t be scared when we saw it happening or when it
happened to us.”
“How long will you have to chain Scott up?” Stiles asked. The idea seemed
sensible, as weird as it sounded.
“We’ll see how he does under his first moon and make a plan after that but
usually a bitten wolf is chained during the moon until he exhibits control and
the ability to stop the forced Beta shift.” Laura said, “The faster you find an
anchor then the faster you’ll be able to control it.”
Stiles was unable to control his curiosity after a few hours of dwelling on the
question that was on the tip of his tongue, “What are your anchors?”
Laura and Derek both tensed and Derek growled softly.
Stiles jumped back, unable to fight the slight bolt of fear that shot through
him as the sound brought back the memory of the giant wolf in the preserve.
Derek’s anger seemed to drop away as he heard Stiles’ chair skidding across the
floor. Derek’s face dropped and he quickly pushed himself away from the table,
“I…”
Laura cut in before Derek could finish speaking, “An anchor can be a very
personal thing to werewolves, it’s literally our link to humanity.”
“Right,” Stiles nodded dumbly, “which means that’s probably a really invasive
thing to ask someone.”
Laura nodded, “It can be, yes.”
“Noted,” Stiles said, looking at the tense lines of Derek’s shoulders out of
the corner of his eye, “I’m sorry.”
Derek shook his head, still a little tense, “It’s OK, you didn’t know.”
Scott let out a yawn, quickly followed by Laura who looked surprised at the
sound she just made.
Stiles looked at the clock and grimaced when he saw the time, “Holy shit is it
late. Or early. I don’t even have a concept of time at this point.”
Laura cracked her neck, “Everyone needs to sleep.”
“I’m exhausted,” Scott said as he let his head fall to the table, “it just hit
me out of nowhere.”
“Side effect of the change,” Laura said, “your body is reacting to its new
chemistry and you’ll have to start eating more to make up for increased energy
burn.”
“Great,” Scott groaned, “my mom is going to love that.”
Stiles broke out into a fit of giggles as he imagined Melissa looking at Scott
like he’d grown a second head after eating her out of house and home. Something
told him that was going to be the most difficult part of Scott’s change.
“You two up to bed,” Laura said, “Scott, put my number in your phone and I’ll
call you in the afternoon about meeting up before sunset. I’ll look into
finding us a place that will hold up for the night, I have an idea of where to
go but it might take a little bit of work to get us in.”
“Because that’s not ominous.” Stiles smirked
Laura rolled her eyes, “You sleep too. You need it more than any of us, weak
and fleshy human.”
“Wow,” Stiles jaw dropped open, “alright fine, we’ll see how you like it when I
show up tomorrow with a brand-new flea collar for you.”
Laura narrowed her eyes, “Try it and you’ll have to find a creative way to
explain to your dad how you lost a finger.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Stiles waved her away, “I think you’re more of a doggy sweater
kind of girl anyway.”
Laura growled playfully before reaching over and pulling him into a bone
crushing hug.
Stiles yelped, “Hey! Weak and fleshy human!”
Laura rolled her eyes as she pushed him away and pulled Scott in for a hug,
wrapping her arms tightly around him and lifting him off the ground. Scott
laughed, squeezing back and trying (and failing) to lift Laura off the ground.
“We’ll work on it,” Laura said with a smile as she patted Scott’s cheek.
Derek got up from the table and reached out a hand to Scott. Scott looked at
Derek’s hand like it was about to bite him before slowly reaching out and
grabbing it. They exchanged the most awkward bro handshake that Stiles had ever
seen and it took every ounce of self-control he had to not collapse on the
floor in a heap of laughter.
“I’m gonna go shower,” Scott said as Derek released his hand.
Stiles nodded, “Just grab some of my clothes out of the drawer if you can’t
find something you’ve left here before.”
Stiles was probably delirious from the lack of sleep but he could have sworn he
heard Derek growl under his breath.
Scott laughed, “I don’t know where my clothes end and your clothes begin at
this point.”
Stiles shrugged, “True.”
Scott bounded his way up the steps, taking three at a time, and Stiles looked
on in awe.
Laura tilted her head towards the door, “I’m going to go make a call.”
Right. Now Laura was gone and he was in the kitchen with Derek. Alone.
“So,” Stiles said, shifting on his feet, “I feel like a dick for earlier.”
“Don’t,” Derek shook his head, “it’s fine.”
“It’s not fine,” Stiles rolled his eyes, “don’t say things are fine when
they’re not fine.”
“Fine,” Derek glared, “it’s not fine but it’s not your fault.”
“Fine.” Stiles said, a bit indignantly.
“Fine.” Derek huffed.
“Great talk,” Stiles shook his head, reaching his hands behind his back and
stretch out, smiling when he felt the felt his back pop, “I guess I should go
get in bed before Scotty steals all the covers.”
“You sleep in the same bed?” Derek raised an eyebrow.
Stiles rolled his eyes, “It’s only weird if you make it weird, dude.”
“I’m not,” Derek stumbled, “It’s not…”
Stiles laughed softly, splaying his hand across Derek’s chest and patting one
rather impressive pec a few more times than necessary, “Night, big guy.”
Stiles stilled as Derek’s hand reached around him head and settled on the back
of Stiles’ neck, gripping it firmly, “Goodnight, Stiles.”
Derek was gone before Stiles could even open his mouth.
 
                                       X
                                        
Teeth. Claws. Blood.
It was all Stiles could see when he closed his eyes.
The hulking wolf crowding him against a tree and sinking its teeth into his
neck as he screams out, helpless to stop the beast as it rips into him. Stiles
could feel the pain, the burning intensity, as the wolf’s teeth shredded muscle
and cracked bone.
He tried to call out, to scream for help, but there was no one left to answer.
Scott was dead, clawed to pieces. Laura was dead, cut in half by the beast and
left to rot in the woods, and Derek was dead at his feet with his throat ripped
out after defending Stiles for as long as he could.
Everyone was dead and Stiles was going to join them. 
Stiles watched in slow motion as his father appeared from the woods, his gun
drawn, and began firing on the wolf. The wolf dropped Stiles from its jaws and
Stiles tried to scream, to tell his dad to run, but no words came.
Stiles watched as the wolf leapt through the air and drove its claws through
his dad’s chest, right into his heart.
Stiles always knew it would be his dads heart that did him in.
The wolf dropped his dad and slowly, so slowly, began to make its way back
towards Stiles.
The last thing Stiles remembered seeing was darkness.
 
                                       X
                                        
Stiles was shaken awake by a pair of rough hands on his shoulders.
“Breathe, Stiles,” the voice commanded, “breathe.”
Stiles shook violently, lashing out with his fists and wincing in pain when his
fist made contact with what Stiles could only assume was a rock. Stiles yelped,
pulling his hand back to his chest and cradling it protectively, before opening
his eyes. He froze as a pair of electric blue eyes locked onto him and rough
hands gripped his shoulder harder.
Stiles tried to open his mouth to speak but the hands just gripped his tighter.
He wasn’t sure if he should keep fighting the touch or lean into it.
“If you don’t calm down you’re going to wake Scott.” the voice said.
Stiles looked to his left and saw Scott, asleep, drooling, and half hanging off
the bed. Stiles would be concerned that Scott was somehow sleeping through a
violent struggle and some very manly screaming but it was Scott. Scott has
slept through four earthquakes and Stiles screaming derogatory things at people
from Germany in bouts of insomnia induced Call of Duty sessions.
Stiles squeezed his eyes shut and drew in a deep breath, taking a moment to
collect himself, before the familiarity of the electric blue eyes dawned on
him.
“Derek?” Stiles whispered, “what the hell are you doing in my room?”
Derek blinked, his eyes changing back to their normal color, “Your heart was
racing.”
Stiles’ eyebrows rose to his hairline, “Is that an acceptable excuse for
somehow being in my room at…” Stiles craned his head and looked at his alarm
clock, “6:30 in the morning?”
6:30. That meant his dad would be home soon and it would be very hard to
explain the very grown man who was holding him down in his bedroom.
Derek withdrew his hands, as if he could sense Stiles’ thoughts, and took a
step back, “I thought you were in trouble.”
Stiles felt like he was missing a very important part of this conversation. He
sighed and slipped out of the covers, stopping to pull on a pair of sweats over
his boxers, and silently thanked god for the fact that fear was the best way to
kill awkward morning wood. Stiles jerked his head at the door for Derek to
follow him and they were soon standing in the narrow hallway. Stiles closed the
door to his room and made his way around Derek and to the stairs.
Stiles yawned and stretched his hands above his head before pulling out the
coffee maker, “Alright, explain.”
Derek sat at the table and folded his hands together, “I told you, I heard your
heart going crazy and I thought you were in trouble.”
Stiles sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, “Which doesn’t actually
explain how you heard my heart.”
“I was outside your window.” Derek said, like it was the most perfectly normal
thing to say to someone at 6:35 in the morning.
Stiles dropped his mug in shock and watched as it fell to the floor and
shattered, “Fuck!”
Derek jumped up from the table, pushing Stiles away from the glass, and started
to pick up the shards of glass quickly. Stiles watched as Derek piled all the
glass in his hands, ignoring the small cuts that began to bleed for only a
second before healing, and threw the ruined mug in the trashcan.
“Thanks,” Stiles said dumbly, reaching down to wipe the drops of Derek’s blood
off the floor, “now would you care to explain why you were outside my window?”
Derek grimaced, “It’s not like that. I wasn’t…sitting on your roof or anything.
I was watching your room from the woods.”
Stiles doubled over in surprise laughter, “Should it worry me that you think
that sounds better than sitting on my roof?”
Derek growled, “Laura and I have been watching your house all night, taking
shifts to make sure the wolf didn’t track you down or Scott didn’t lose
control. We were trying to keep you safe. I heard your heart, you smelled
scared, so I climbed into your window to make sure you weren’t dead. Laura is
shifted and asleep under a tree right now.”
“Oh,” Stiles said softly, Derek was protecting him, “I…that’s really nice. I’m
sorry, I’m kind of a dick in the mornings.”
Derek rolled his eyes but was unable to hide a soft smile, “Just in the
mornings?”
Stiles shrugged, “Point.”
Derek was silent as Stiles made the coffee but Stiles could feel Derek’s eyes
on him the entire time. He was self-conscious enough that Stiles was sure Derek
could smell his lingering fear and anxiety.
Stiles already missed the days when people couldn’t smell his emotions.
“I was having a nightmare,” Stiles finally said as he sat down at the table and
slid a cup of black coffee at Derek, “I assume you like it black, you have a
whole black coffee vibe about you.”
Derek glared before getting up from the table and pouring milk and about nine
spoonful’s of sugar into his coffee.
Stiles laughed as Derek sat back down at the table and he quickly snatched
Derek’s mug and took a sip of it, grimacing as he swallowed, “Jesus, dude! This
is like drinking a candy store!”
Derek jerked the mug out of Stiles’ hand and cradled it defensively, “It’s how
I like it.”
Stiles smiled over the rim of his mug before taking a sip of his own black
coffee, “Sorry, I just assumed we were coffee soul mates or something.”
“Or something,” Derek mumbled as he took a sip of his coffee and let out a
contended sigh.
They sat in silence for a few more minutes before Stiles felt himself relax. He
was beginning to like the fact that he could sit in silence with Derek without
feeling an overwhelming need to keep a conversation going or trying to
entertain him like he did with everyone else.
“You died,” Stiles said, rushing to clarify when Derek looked at him in
confusion, “in my nightmare. Everyone died trying to defend me. You, Laura,
Scott, and then my dad showed up and that thing just killed him like it was
nothing. It felt too real.”
“You’re alive,” Derek said, resting his ankle against Stiles’ under the table,
“everyone is alive.”
“I know,” Stiles let out a shaky sigh, “ it’s just…I had nightmares for years
after my mom died, I wouldn’t sleep for days at a time because I was scared of
seeing her dead body when I went to sleep.”
Derek was silent, content to let Stiles work through his feelings, the constant
press of his leg enough to convey that he was there and listening.
“I was in the room when she died,” Stiles said, “by myself. I couldn’t get the
image of her laying there lifeless out of my mind. Sometimes I’m afraid that
it’s all I’ll be able to remember about her one day.”
Derek’s jaw clenched but he remained silent.
“Scott almost dying in the woods,” Stiles whispered, “I never would have
forgotten his face like that if he’d have died. And then you getting hurt for
me, and Laura covered in blood. God, you don’t even know me and you stepped in
front of a giant rage filled monster wolf to protect me. Who does that?”
“People who can,” Derek said, “I could protect you so I did. I haven’t been
able to protect a lot of people in my life but I could protect you so I did
it.”
“You don’t know me,” Stiles challenged, “you don’t know me and you could have
died for me!”
Derek shrugged, “You’re pack. The strongest members of a pack protect the ones
who can’t protect themselves. It’s what we do.”
Stiles decided it was too early to be contrary so he just said, “Well, thank
you. And thank you for making sure I wasn’t being murdered earlier.”
Derek nodded and stood from the table, walked over to the sink, and poured the
rest of his coffee down the drain, “Your dad just pulled up.”
Stiles looked over his shoulder in a panic as he heard his father’s keys in the
door. He quickly turned back to Derek and jumped up from the table to help him
flee from the house but when he turned around Derek was gone and his empty mug
was sitting in the sink.
“Stiles?” his dads confused voice came from behind him, startling Stiles into
jumping.
Stiles spun, clutching his chest, “Geeze, Dad. Make some noise, would ya?”
His dad looked tired, frazzled, and pale, but he still smiled his usual
confused smile when it came to Stiles, “Why are you awake and drinking coffee
at 7am?”
Stiles made finger guns and waved them at his dad, “You know me, good ol’ wacky
Stiles!”
His dads face dropped, “Tell me what’s wrong.”
Stiles sighed, “Nothing’s wrong, dad.”
The Sheriff crossed his arms and leveled Stiles with a look. Stiles withered
under the stare and let his shoulders slump forward.
“Fine,” Stiles huffed, “I had a nightmare and I couldn’t fall back to sleep.”
The Sheriff frowned and pulled Stiles into a hug, “It’s been a while since
you’ve had one bad enough to keep you up, huh?”
Stiles nodded against his dad’s chest.
“You mom?” The Sheriff asked hesitantly.
Stiles shook his head, “Scott. Other people. You.”
The Sheriff’s hands fell to Stiles’ shoulders and pushed him back so he could
look at Stiles in the eye, “You don’t have to be worried about me, kiddo.”
Stiles let out a rough laugh, “Of course I have to be worried about you.”
“Stiles,” the Sheriff sighed, pulling him back in for another hug.
His dad was cut off by the police radio on his shoulder crackling.
“Sheriff,” the tinny voice said, “I’m so sorry to bother you.”
The Sheriff sighed, “I just got home.”
The voice broke back through, “I wouldn’t bother you if it wasn’t important, I
tried your phone and no one picked up.”
The Sheriff patted all his pockets and sighed before replying into the radio,
“Probably left it in my car, what’s wrong?”
 “The code 187 from last night,” the voice said.
Stiles eyes went wide as his dad’s face snapped to him. The Sheriff held up a
single, stern finger in warning and mouthed ‘no’ before walking away.
Stiles, naturally, followed.
“Go on,” his dad said into the radio.
“We have a witness who just came in, claims she saw someone in the apartment
building and overheard the struggle.”
“Damn,” The Sheriff said, “has anyone taken her statement.”
“That’s the problem,” the voice said, “she’s really scared and said she’ll only
talk to you and no one else.”
The Sheriff scrubbed a hand over his face and sighed, “Alright, tell her I’m on
my way in. I’ll be there in 10.”
“Copy.”
Stiles flattened himself against the wall as his dad walked by. The Sheriff
paused and stuck his head around the corner and glared. 
“Forget everything you heard and go back to sleep. I’m serious, Stiles.”
Stiles nodded and went back upstairs to placate his dad, listening for the
cruiser to pull out of the driveway.
“Shit,” Stiles whispered, “shit, shit, shit.”
A code 187 was the police code for a murder.
Someone was killed last night.
 
                                       X
                                        
Laura and Derek returned to their hotel room in the early afternoon. They’d
stayed up almost all night to keep an eye on Scott and Stiles and Laura was as
close to passing out as she could possibly be, regardless of the few hours
she’d gotten to sleep as a wolf while Derek took over the watch.
They’d followed Scott home after he left Stiles, telling him again to call her
if he needed anything. It was a bit jarring to leave a new Beta alone like that
but even Laura knew there was only so much you could explain to a parent and
she wasn’t in any rush to explain to an angry mother why herself, a 26-year-old
woman, was following and fighting to urge to cuddle a 16-year-old boy.
Laura hadn’t really had much time to think about things last night, about the
fact that she had an actual, honest to god, Pack. She’d sworn up and down for
the last six years that she didn’t want one and it was the truth. Mostly.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want a pack, is was that she didn’t trust herself
with a pack. She was never formally taught how to lead, how to care for
everyone equally, how to settle disputes between members and keep herself
viewed as both an open, warm figure while also giving off an air of strength
and power.
She wasn’t her mother and she never would be. She couldn’t protect her actual
family six years ago and there was always this voice in the back of her head
that told her there was no way she’d be able to protect a pack of her own.
She was content to spend the rest of her life with Derek and their rag tag pack
of two. It was safe. It was family. They were equals and they protected each
other.
But nothing could have prepared Laura for the swell of energy she’d gotten when
Scott woke up after the bite. She could feel the energy flowing through her,
humming like a live wire, a steady thump of power and electricity. A smaller,
more controlled burst flowed through her again a few hours later when she’d
proclaimed Stiles a human member of the pack too.
She felt like an Alpha, an honest to god, uninhibited, Alpha. She knew what it
was supposed to feel like but she never imagined she’d feel it herself.
Even now, she could close her eyes and sense Derek next to her, Scott across
town, and if she really tried, Stiles at his house.
“Can you feel Scott?” Laura asked Derek as they sat on the end of the bed in
their shitty motel room.
Derek nodded, “It’s weird. I…never thought I’d feel that again. Being able to
sense someone other than you.”
Laura’s smile was all sadness and she wrapped an arm around Derek to pull him
closer, “I know, pup.”
Derek let out a small groan as he nuzzled closer, “It’s not…terrible. It’s just
weird.”
“I wish you could feel what I’m feeling,” Laura laughed, “when Scott woke up it
was like every euphoric sensation I’d ever felt all at once.”
“Gross,” Derek shuddered, “I felt a pull when he woke up. And after Stiles.”
Laura nodded, “The bonds settling into place.”
“We have a pack now, huh?” Derek asked.
Laura laughed, “Yeah, didn’t count on that when I came back.”
Derek fell back towards the bed, “What do we do now?”
“Not think about it!” Laura announced, flying up from the bed and planting her
hands on her hips, “We ignore the future like the good, emotionally repressed
adults we are and focus on nothing but the full moon tonight!”
Derek laughed, and god was it music to Laura’s ears, “Yes, Alpha Hale.”
Laura’s face broke into a grin as she dived back onto the bed, pouncing on
Derek and wrestling him to the floor. They rolled around the room, bumping into
walls and end tables, and knocking a lamp to the ground. They fought for
dominance and fun, lightly nipping at each other with fangs and scratching with
claws for a few minutes before breaking into a fit of giggles and collapsing on
the ground next to each other.
Laura rubbed her arm and the healing scrape from the jagged edge of the shitty
bed, and smiled, “It’s been a long time since we did that.”
Laura’s mind drifted to the past and replayed memories of herself and Derek in
the family room, wrestling each other over who had to take out the trash or do
the dishes. She remembered when her mother would find them rolling around on
the ground and slamming each other into walls while laughing. She could still
see the look of fondness and annoyance that her mother always wore when she
caught them.  
“It’s nice,” Derek said, “I feel…nice.”
Laura just barely resisted a sly comment about Stiles, not wanting to ruin the
moment with Derek. She’d seen the looks he’d given Stiles last night, watched
the way that Derek jumped to defend him in the woods. Laura wasn’t dumb, she
had eyes and she’d never seen her brother react to someone like that.
It made her happy and for the first time since coming to Beacon Hills she
thought that maybe, just maybe, she hadn’t made the wrong choice in coming back
here.
Laura was drawn out of her thoughts by a steady knock at the door. She shared a
look of confusion with Derek before she listened beyond the door. She heard
several men breathing, the chatter of a radio, and a familiar heartbeat.
“It’s the Sheriff,” Laura whispered.
She got up from the ground with a groan, pulling Derek up with her, and quickly
arranged the room back to a more presentable fashion and pushed the two twin
beds apart before she opened the door.
“Well” Laura said as the door swung open, “if it isn’t my favorite elected
official.”
The Sheriff’s face was stone cold, “Is your brother here, Laura?”
Laura narrowed her eyes, “Why?”
The Sheriff tensed, “Just answer the question, please.”
Laura felt Derek appear behind her, “Is there a problem, sir?”
The Sheriff took a step backwards, settling his hand on his side arm, “Mr.
Hale, I need you to come with me.”
“Excuse me?” Laura asked, “What the hell is this?”
“You’ll make this easier on your brother if you stay calm,” The Sheriff said,
“Derek, I need you to slowly step out of the room with your hands raised.”
“Why?” Derek asked.
Laura could feel the tension and anger radiating from her brother. She reached
back and wrapped a hand around his wrist and squeezed in an attempt to calm him
down.
“We can talk about it at the station,” The Sheriff said, “please don’t make a
scene.”
Laura glared, “No one is going anywhere unless you tell us what the fuck is
going on.”
“Fine,” the Sheriff sighed, “if that’s how you two want this to go then you
leave me no other choice.”
Laura took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and focused on her father’s smile,
the way her mother’s hair blew in the wind before they’d go on runs as a
family, the first time she ever saw Cora smile as a baby.
“Derek Hale,” The Sheriff said, his voice cold and clinical, “you’re under
arrest for the suspicion of the murder of Adrian Harris.”
“What?!” Derek growled.
Laura spun, clamping down on Derek’s shoulders, and let her eyes flash red
before she whispered low enough that Derek was the only one who could hear,
“Derek, that is Stiles’ father. Keep yourself together. I don’t know what’s
going on but just go with it, don’t say anything until I figure out what the
hell is happening. Don’t fight.”
Derek clenched his jaw but nodded with a sharp jerk of his chin. Laura looked
down and made sure there were no claws in sight before stepping to the side and
letting one of the officers with the Sheriff cuff Derek and pull him out of the
room.
There was a small crowd gathered in the parking lot, and at the grocery store
across the street, and it took every ounce of control that Laura had to fight
the wolf inside her who was screaming and howling at her to protect her
brother, her Beta.
Laura watched as Derek was read his rights and deposited into the back of a
squad car. Derek turned and looked at her as the car pulled out of the parking
lot and Laura held his gaze until he was out of sight.
Laura let herself have one moment of anger as the door to the room closed by
driving her hand through the flimsy bathroom door, knocking it off its hinges,
and letting out a wild snarl. She looked down at the door for a few more second
before taking another deep breath and walking to the small table in the corner
of the room.
Laura fished her phone out of the pocket of Stiles’ hoodie and called the only
person she could think of to help her.
Stiles answered after the first ring, “Laura! I was just about to call you!
Listen, I think we might have a problem, something happened last night and I
think it might be related to- “
“Stiles,” Laura cut him off, “your father just arrested Derek under suspicion
of murder.”
Stiles was silent for a moment, “Oh hell. I’m calling Scott, meet us at my
house.”
“OK,” Laura said before hanging up, barely questions herself as to why she was
taking orders from a 16-year-old boy.
Laura changed quickly, glad to at least be in her own clothes now, and grabbed
the keys to the shitty rental car to make her way to Stiles’ house.
Chapter End Notes
     i swear i never intend to write so much DIALOGUE but it just happens
***** Like Prison Break, but only the first season *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                 Chapter Eight
                 Like Prison Break, but only the first season
                                        
Laura was the first to arrive to Stiles’ house. Well, she didn’t so much arrive
as she show up on the back porch as a giant wolf with a backpack in her mouth.
Stiles stepped out of the way as Laura walked past him, “I don’t even want to
know how you got here without being seen.”
Laura huffed out a low bark, something Stiles took to mean as a laugh, and made
her way down the hall and towards the guest bathroom. Stiles waited patiently,
checking his phone for any texts from Scott, and looked back up when Laura
reemerged in the living room. She was dressed in a pair of tight jeans, a red
tank top, and a leather jacket.
“I got into the car at first but I figured I’d make it here faster if I ran so
I kept to the woods.” Laura said in answer to Stiles’ previous question, “It
cut my travel time by about five minutes.”
Scott barreled through the front door a few minutes later, shirtless and
covered in sweat, “Dude! I ran all the way here! It was awesome!” 
“You ran in public?” Stiles asked, “Like, just on the sidewalk, running around
in all your sweaty shirtless glory?”
“Yeah,” Scott shrugged, “I just felt like I should, you know, burn off some of
this crazy excess energy before tonight.”
Stiles sighed and scrubbed his hand over his face before turning to Laura,
“I’ll let you take this one.”
“Scott,” Laura said calmly, “I know we kinda glossed over some things last
night because it was so late but I know I told you how important discretion is,
right?”
Scott nodded.
“OK, so you can see why people might think it’s a bit odd if they saw a
formerly asthmatic kid sprinting down the sidewalk and running faster than no
normal human could possibly run?”
“Well, yeah,” Scott said, “but I figured people would just think I’d been
training or I’m on some new kind of medication. It’s not like the first thing
that will pop into people’s minds would be that I’m a werewolf.”
Laura took a deep breath, and god bless her patience when they were all really
there to discuss the fact that Derek had just been arrested for murder, “God,
this is my fault. I should have explained more about the dangers of people
finding out last night but everyone was so tired and I figured it could wait
until later today and now Derek’s been arrested and we only have a few hours
until sunset and there’s not enough time for everything.”
“I’m sorry,” Scott frowned, “I wasn’t thinking.”
“It’s no one’s fault,” Stiles said, “just learning experiences! Scott, don’t
run around shirtless in public like an Olympic athlete and Laura try not to get
so stressed out over not telling Scott every possible werewolfy thing in a few
hours.”
“Werewolfy?” Laura raised an eyebrow, “You realize that I’m an Alpha, right?
That I’m technically your Alpha?”
Stiles nodded, “And as the weird squishy human of the bunch I feel confident
that I can say things that you’d probably throw Derek or Scott through a wall
for just thinking.”
Laura glared but couldn’t keep the fondness out of her eyes, “Keep testing me
and I’ll find something to throw you through that won’t break any bones.”
“Noted!” Stiles saluted, “Now that we have all that out of the way we should
probably discuss the whole Derek is in jail thing. What happened?”
Laura growled as she fell down onto the couch, “We were in our motel room and
then your dad knocked on the door and said Derek needed to come outside. He had
this really intense look on his face and that’s when I knew it wasn’t a social
call.”
“The Sheriff face,” Scott said, “it’s pretty scary.”
Stiles nodded. The Sheriff face had been directed at him a few times through
his life and every time it happened it chilled Stiles to the bone.
“Once Derek realized he was about to be arrested he had a bit of a freak out,”
Laura said, “I had to calm him down, remind him that it was your dad and not
some random, and I told him that I’d figure it out and come to get him. If it
was anyone else other than your father I probably would have fought them the
second they put their hands on Derek.”
“Well thank you for not maiming my dad,” Stiles shuddered, “I really appreciate
it.”
“I would never,” Laura shook her head, “even if he wasn’t your dad our mom
still respected him and that was back before he even was the Sheriff, I could
never hurt him.”
His dad knew Derek and Laura’s mom? Stiles filed that revelation away for a
later date before getting his mind back on what they were all there for.
“What did dad say when he arrested Derek?” Stiles asked, “What was the actual
charge?”
“Suspicion of murder.” Laura said.
Stiles let out a sigh of relief, “Oh thank god, that’s good.”
Laura’s eyebrows shot up to her forehead and Scott looked at Stiles like he was
insane, “That’s good?”
Stiles nodded emphatically, “Being arrested for suspicion of murder is not
being arrested for actual murder. It’s just a flimsy blanket charge that they
can bring someone in with against their will if the person isn’t cooperating.
It means that there’s evidence that might point to Derek but it’s flimsy at
best, most likely an eyewitness report that says they saw or heard something
but they don’t have any physical evidence.”
“So we can just go pick him up then?” Laura asked.
“No,” Stiles shook his head, “dad can hold him for 24 hours and then he’ll
either have to decide if he wants to keep going forward and charge Derek with
murder or let him go while he builds a case.”
“Why did your dad even arrest Derek?” Scott asked, “It doesn’t make any sense.”
Stiles sighed, “I don’t know, all I know is what I overheard him saying this
morning.”
“What did he say?” Laura asked.
“It’s why I was glad you called, I was trying to see if I could find anything
else out before I called you but there was an actual murder last night. One of
the dispatch people was talking about it on dad’s radio when he got home.”
“And?” Laura prompted.
“Well, people don’t usually get murdered in Beacon Hills so I was worried that
this dead body was connected to the giant wolf that tried to kill us last
night,” Stiles said, “the dispatch officer said someone came in to the station
after he left, a woman, and she had information about the murder but she would
only talk to my dad.”
“If Derek was arrested then it didn’t have anything to do with last night,
right?” Scott asked, “Maybe it’s just some weird coincidence?”
“It’s connected,” Laura said grimly, “the person who was murdered last night
was Adrian Harris.”
Scott gasped, “Mr. Harris was murdered?”
Stiles hummed, “Wow, couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.”
Laura smirked, “That’s dark.”
Stiles shrugged, “If Harris was the one that was murdered then why aren’t you a
suspect? Why is Derek the one being arrested?”
Laura ran a hand through her hair, “I don’t know but there’s no way it’s a
coincidence that I go after Harris when I get into town, Derek comes back, we
all get attacked in the woods, and then Harris gets murdered and some
eyewitness claims that is was Derek.”
“Dispatch said that the woman claimed she saw someone go into the building and
then overheard an argument,” Stiles said, “it doesn’t sound like this woman
claims that she caught Derek red handed with the murder weapon.”
“Paranoia maybe?” Scott suggested, “The woman saw something but she wasn’t
entirely sure what it was so she blamed the newest person in town? You do have
to admit that Derek does look a bit shady sometimes.”
Stiles couldn’t argue that fact, having been personally stalked by Derek Hale
at least twice now. After they got Derek out of jail they would have to do
something about his public image.
“I need to know what the witness said,” Laura clenched her fist, “if I know
what she’s claiming then I can come up with an alibi for Derek to get around
it.”
Stiles shook his head, “No offense but my dad isn’t going to buy anything that
you’d be selling. You’re his sister, the person he maybe, possibly murdered is
someone you had a problem with, any alibi that comes from you is going to be
picked apart to death and it might not stand up. My dad is good at his job,
he’d be able to find a lie somewhere.”
“Then what do I do, Stiles?” Laura growled, her eyes flashing red, “Because
right now the only solution I see is going in and getting him out myself.”
“Hey!” Stiles yelped, “I have a plan, OK? A good plan, a fool proof plan. No
need to Prison Break the whole situation, even if it does sound like season one
cool before the show became a mess.”
“Oh no,” Scott mumbled. Stiles glared at him.
“A plan?” Laura sounded skeptical, “It’s been 20 minutes since you found out
about this and you already have a plan?”
“Of course,” Stiles said with shrug as if it was the most obvious thing in the
world, “plans are like, my thing.”
“Fine,” Laura huffed, “let’s hear this plan then.”
“First question,” Stiles said, “how good is Derek’s hearing? Would he be able
to hear me from my dad’s office?”
Laura looked confused, “He’d probably be able to hear you from the diner across
the street if he concentrated. Why?” 
“Because,” Stiles grinned, “I said my dad wouldn’t believe an alibi from you
but there is someone who he would believe.”
“Who?” Laura asked.
“Me,” Stiles said, “I’ll be Derek’s alibi.”
 
                                       X
                                        
The Sheriff that sat across from Derek in the interrogation room was a far cry
from the Sheriff that had sat with Derek and Laura the night she’d gotten
arrested. This Sheriff was virtually unrecognizable from the one that lined the
hallways of the Stilinski house in framed photographs, smiling with his arm
around his son and wife.
The Sheriff’s face was cold and calculated, it radiated bad cop and Derek had
yet to meet the good cop, “So, Derek, want to tell me where you were last
night?”
“What time?” Derek asked.
Laura had told him to be quiet, to not say anything, but Derek wanted to know
why he was being accused of murder.
The Sheriff hummed and tipped his head up towards the ceiling, Derek had to
fight back a smile because it was such a Stiles-like gesture, “Let’s say
between midnight and four in the morning.”
‘Running around the woods fighting a killer werewolf and then in your home with
your underage son’was not an acceptable answer so Derek opted for the safest
version of the truth, “I was with Laura.”
“Right,” the Sheriff nodded, “and where were you and Laura?”
“The preserve,” Derek said, “we went to visit our family’s old house.”
“You’re telling me that you and your sister went into the woods in the middle
of the night just to look at your old house?” The Sheriff was skeptical.
“That’s what I said,” Derek glared, “Why am I here?”
“Did anyone else happen to see you in the woods?” The Sheriff asked, ignoring
Derek’s question entirely.
Derek hesitated long enough for the Sheriff to notice, Derek watched as he
wrote something in his notebook before answering, “Just Laura.”
“So, your only alibi is that you were with your sister, alone, in the woods,
with no one else around?” The Sheriff leaned forward, “That’s a tough one.”
Derek stayed silent.
“Look at it from my point of view,” The Sheriff said, “you’re telling me that
your only alibi is your sister, who I already have a big suspicion would lie
for your anyway.”
“I don’t care about your suspicions,” Derek snapped, “it’s the truth.”
The Sheriff made another note in his book, “Even setting aside the fact that
Laura is family and family lies for each other, the woman who I previously
arrested for assaulting the man that you’re now being accused of murdering is
really not that great of an alibi.”
Derek growled, just barely managing to keep fangs and claws at bay, “I didn’t
murder anyone! This is fucking insane!”
“Do you have anger problems, Mr. Hale?” The Sheriff asked, “Because it looked
to me, the crime scene that is, that whoever murdered Mr. Harris had a bit of
an angry problem.”
Derek bit his tongue until it started to bleed and then heal.
“I’ve been in Beacon Hills for a long time and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a
crime scene that messy,” The Sheriff said, “we don’t get a lot of murders
around here but when they do they’re always usually crimes of passion. An angry
wife who caught her husband cheating and stabbed him or a dumb kid who got
ahold of a gun and through it would settle all of his problems.”
No murders except for an entire family burned alive in their home. Derek
swallowed the blood in his mouth and took a deep breath.
“Most murders in Beacon Hills don’t involve the victims head almost being
completely severed by a very sharp blade and then being left to bleed out all
over his kitchen floor. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that much blood at a crime
scene, Mr. Hale.”
Derek bit back a bitter laugh, “You think I slit Adrian Harris’ throat?”
If Derek was going to murder someone that would be the last method he’d go for.
The Sheriff folded his notebook closed, “I’ll be honest, Derek. I don’t know
what to think.”
Derek raised an eyebrow.
“All I know is that I’ve got a witness here who is terrified of you, who said
they saw you go into Harris’ building and overheard you two fighting. They said
they heard you threaten him about your sister, you told him to stay away from
her and get the hell out of town. They say that they heard Harris tell you no,
to go to hell, and then a loud slamming sound followed by Harris screaming and
then a loud thud.”
“That’s it?” Derek asked, exhausted, “That’s all you have?”
“It’s a lot more than I had at the beginning of the night,” the Sheriff
shrugged, “this witness doesn’t have a reason to lie.”
“Let me talk to this witness then,” Derek said, “I’ll tell you if they’re
lying.”
The Sheriff laughed, “That’s not happening.”
“What?” Derek leaned forward, “Don’t I have the right to face my accuser?”
“That’s only in a court of law,” The Sheriff smiled, “Do you see this going
that far, Derek?”
Derek was saved from having to reply by a loud crash from outside of the
interrogation room.
“What the?” The Sheriff looked over his shoulder before he got to his feet.
Derek angled his head to the door and listened, his eyes going wide when he
heard a familiar voice.
“Tara!” Stiles shouted, “Let me go! I have- “
“Stiles, I love you but I will arrest you,” a woman, Tara probably, said
sounding entirely too used to delivering that specific threat.
“it’s important!” Stiles yelped, “Super, duper, life and death important! I
need to talk to my dad now!”
Derek winced. This could only mean one thing and he knew it wasn’t good.
There was another loud crash, then silence, and suddenly the door to the
interrogation room flew open. Stiles was standing in the door way, his face
beet red, and he was gasping for air. His eyes fell to Derek immediately and he
smiled, small and private.
“Stiles?!” The Sheriff shouted, “What in the actual hell?”
“Dad!” Stiles jumped, “I need to talk to you right now!”
The woman Stiles was arguing with earlier came up behind Stiles and wrapped her
hand around his arm in an attempt to pull him away, “I’m so sorry, Sheriff. I
thought I had him but he slipped away.”
Stiles had a death grip on the door frame and the Sheriff sighed, “He tends to
do that. I’ll take care of it, Tara.”
Tara nodded, releasing Stiles and walking away.
“You’re half a second away from being grounded for the rest of your life,” The
Sheriff shouted, “I’m in the middle of a damn interrogation, Stiles! You’ve
just corrupted this entire investigation. What the hell is wrong with you,
son?”
Stiles winced, a bolt of sadness crossing his face for a brief moment before he
recovered, “That’s why I’m here!”
“What?” The Sheriff deadpanned.
“I have information! Important information!” Stiles said, locking eyes with
Derek, “I need to talk to you and I need you to listen to every single thing
I’m going to say.”
“Stiles,” The Sheriff warned, “this is not the time.”
“Please! This is totally the time!” Stiles begged, “You know I wouldn’t be
doing this is it wasn’t important. I just need you to listen to me, dad.”
“I don’t have time for this, Stiles!” The Sheriff yelled.
Stiles let out a wild noise, flustered, and threw his arms up in the air, “Dad!
I know where Derek was last night and I need to talk to you about it! Please!”
The Sheriff paused, his entire body going rigid as a board, and slowly looked
between Stiles and Derek. Derek could sense the anger that was pouring off of
the Sheriff and watched as the man closed his eyes and took several deep
breaths.
When he opened his eyes and spoke he appeared much calmer but Derek could only
assume he’d done this for Stiles’ sake because the way the Sheriff’s heart
hammered in his chest broadcasted his anger to Derek like a megaphone.
“My office.” The Sheriff’s voice was calm, “Now.”
Stiles hovered in the doorway, glancing at Derek quickly, “You’re going to
listen to me, right?”
It finally clicked in Derek’s head. Stiles was a complete idiot and if they
both made it out of this without being arrested he was going to tell him that
to his face. But for now, Derek settled on catching Stiles’ eyes and nodding
slightly to let him know that he’d listen in on their conversation.
“Yes, Stiles,” The Sheriff said, “Go wait in my office, I’ll be there in a
second.”
Stiles nodded, closed the door, and Derek listened to his footsteps until he
was in the Sheriff’s office.
The Sheriff turned around slowly, a grim look on his face as he reached up and
turned the power off on the camera that was recording the interrogation,
“You’re going to have a hell of a lot more to explain to me after this, Derek.
Because now I’m much more interested in how my underage son happens to know
where you were in the middle of the night. Thank really carefully about your
answers, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Derek watched the Sheriff as he left the room and then listened as his
footsteps followed the same path that Stiles had taken a few moments earlier.
He heard the door swing open with more force than was strictly necessary and
heard Stiles yelp as the chair he was sitting in let out a loud squeak when he
turned to face his father.
The room was quiet for a few moments, only the sound of both Stilinski’s
breathing, before the Sheriff finally spoke.
“Give me one good reason as to why I shouldn’t arrest you right now and trust
me, it better be good or you’re spending the night in a holding cell.”
There was no falter in the Sheriff’s heartbeat so he was telling the truth, he
was prepared to make Stiles spend a night in a holding cell if he wasn’t
satisfied by his son’s answer.
 Something told Derek that the two of them had gone through this song and dance
before.
“You can’t arrest Derek!” Stiles said quickly.
“You’re on a first name basis with a murder suspect now?” The Sheriff asked,
his tone confused and speculative.
Derek could almost hear Stiles roll his eyes, “You already know that I met him
and Laura at the station the other night, am I supposed to call him Mr. Hale?
It’s not like he’s your age or something.”
Derek winced.
The Sheriff coughed, “Regardless, you’re 16 and I’d prefer it if you weren’t
friendly enough with a grown man to be on a first name basis with him.”
Derek heard the gulp that Stiles made when he swallowed, “Then you’re really
not going to like what I have to say.”
“Stiles,” The Sheriff warned, “you’re on thin ice.”
“Derek couldn’t have killed anyone last night because he was with me.”
Derek’s stomach dropped and he flinched back so violently he almost fell out of
his chair. It took Derek a moment to regain his composure and to focus back in
on the conversation between Stiles and his father and when his ears tuned in
all he could hear was silence and two rapid heartbeats, one of anger and one of
fear.
“You have two seconds to convince me that I don’t need to add statutory rape
onto Derek’s list of charges.”
Derek closed his eyes, he was going to be sick.
“What!?!” Stiles yelped, “Seriously? You really…me…and Derek? You really think?
Dad!”
“Stiles!” The Sheriff snapped, “Use your words. Quickly. My trigger finger is
getting very twitchy.”
Stiles took a deep breath, “OK, while I appreciate it that you think I’m
actually attractive, good enough, or in shape enough for someone like Derek
Hale to want to have sex with, that is entirely not what happened.”
Derek was going to need to figure out some way to improve Stiles’ view of
himself if he made it out of this situation alive.
The Sheriff’s rapidly beating heart calmed down, “First, you’re better than
someone like Derek Hale,” Derek let his head drop to the table as the Sheriff
continued, “Second, let’s say for a moment that I do believe you…would you like
to explain to me why you were with Derek Hale in the middle of the night if you
weren’t doing something illegal with him?”
Stiles’ chair was making a creaking nose from his nervous bouncing, “I was…kind
of upset last night. I don’t know, you know how I get dad…and you saw me this
morning. Last night was just…a lot. I was looking forward to hanging out with
Scott but he blew me off and you were at work and I just couldn’t really sit in
an empty house.”
Stiles was drawing Scott into this now? What the hell was he doing?
“Stiles,” The Sheriff’s voice was softer now, “what happened?”
“I tried to go to sleep early but I had a dream about mom, I couldn’t stay in
the house because everything reminded me of her and I just had to get out of
there and be somewhere else.”
Stiles heartbeat was erratic, almost pounding out of his chest due to the
volume of lies he was telling. Derek felt sick to his stomach, Stiles was lying
to his father and using his mother’s memory to sell it just to save Derek from
being charged with murder?
The Sheriff sighed and a chair scraped along the floor before coming to a stop,
presumably in front of Stiles, “Keep going.”
“I didn’t really know where to go so I just drove for a little bit and ended up
in the preserve.”
“You went to the preserve?!” The Sheriff snapped, “I told you to stay out of
there! Especially with all these animal attacks lately!”
“I know! Why do you think I made Derek promise that he wouldn’t say anything to
you?”
“God dammit, Stiles.” Derek muttered to himself before listening back in.
“Where does Derek Hale come into this?” The Sheriff asked.
“I walked around for a bit,” Stiles said, “and you know me, I got lost, fell
and scraped up my leg, and ended up walking around in circles until I heard
voices off in the distance.”
The Sheriff drew in breath as if he was about to speak but Stiles stopped him.
“Yes, I know. Why would I go towards the creepy voices in the woods, I’m aware
it was a stupid decision but if I didn’t I’d probably still be lost in the
woods.”
The Sheriff sighed, resigned, “Continue.”
“Well,” Stiles said, “turns out the voices I heard were Laura and Derek and
that I was a lot closer to the old Hale house than I thought I was. Laura saw
me limping through the woods and took a look at my leg and Derek hung out with
me while she went to go get the first aid kit from their car.”
Derek sighed, fucking Stiles had everything covered.
“How long was Laura gone?” The Sheriff asked.
“Like, 20 minutes maybe,” Stiles said, Derek could hear the shrug, “not long
enough to murder someone if that’s what you’re asking.”
The Sheriff sighed, “What time was this?”
Stiles paused for a moment, thinking, “Around 1am probably.”
The Sheriff’s chair groaned as he stood up and Derek listened to him walk
across the office and pick up what he assumed was his desk phone, he heard the
dial tone, a quick punch of numbers, and a short bit of ringing.
“Medical Examiner’s office,” the voice answered, “how can I help you?”
“Hey, Cathy,” The Sheriff said, “It’s Noah Stilinski, I was wondering if you
got a time a death for my murder victim last night.”
“We just finished the prelims so give me a second to check the paperwork.”
There was the sound of rustling papers on the other end of the line, followed
by a short pause before, “Based on atrophy and the state of the tissue we
estimate time of death between 2:40am and 2:50am.”
“Alright, thanks so much. You let me know if anything else comes up.”
“Will do,” the woman said just before hanging up.
Derek hard a low buzz come from the room just before Stiles’ began to search
through his pockets.
His cell. Someone had sent him a text.
The seat across from Stiles groaned again as the Sheriff sat, “How long were
you with Derek last night?”
Stiles shrugged, “A few hours, I guess.”
The Sheriff’s heart began thumping angrily again.
Stiles sighed, “Again, not like that. We were just talking.”
“Talking?” The Sheriff asked, obviously skeptical, “What could you and a grown
man have to talk about?”
Stiles was silent for a moment before he whispered, “Sorry.”
It was only for Derek’s ears.
“Dead parents,” Stiles gritted out, “there’s not really anyone around who I can
talk to who really understands, you know? I started telling him about mom and
then he told me things about his family and we just ended up talking for a
while until Laura came back.”
Derek’s claws extending, just barely pressing into the think skin of his palm
and threatening to puncture them.
The Sheriff’s heart slowed, and Derek figured if he was close enough he’d smell
the sadness on both the Stilinski’s, “You said Laura was only gone for 20
minutes, where’s the rest of the time?”
“They helped me find my way back to the jeep,” Stiles began, “and I’ll give you
one chance to guess what happened after that.”
The Sheriff groaned, “It didn’t start.”
It wasn’t a question which meant that Stiles’ jeep’s reliability was a
recurring theme in their life.
“Laura’s good with cars apparently,” Stiles said, “so she looked at it while
Derek and I hung off to the side.”
“Laura is the one who’s good with cars?” The Sheriff asked, obviously not sold
on this part of the story.
“Really, dad?” Stiles scoffed, “Stop trying to enforce toxic gender norms.”
“I, uh,” The Sheriff sputtered, Derek couldn’t help but crack a smile, his
emotions from a few moments earlier brightening slightly, “OK, fine, Laura
fixed the Jeep.”
“It took her about an hour because it was dark out and all we had were our
phones and two flashlights but she finally got it running, there’s a cracked
hose that she sealed off temporarily by the way, and I drove them back to where
their car was parked.”
“What time was this?”
“Around 2:30”
“And you went your separate ways after that?”
“Nope,” Stiles said, “Derek insisted that he and Laura follow me home incase
anything happened to the jeep again or I fell asleep at the wheel.”
“Really?” The Sheriff asked, “He was that concerned about your welfare?”
“I mean, I did spend like 30 minutes yawning and talking about how dumb and
tired I was.”
The Sheriff sighed, “Anything else?”
“Not really,” Stiles said, “they followed me home, I made it there a few
minutes before three and I offered them coffee since they helped me out, they
both said no because they were tired and were heading back to their motel room,
I went upstairs and slept for a few hours until I had another nightmare and
then you found me in the kitchen.”
“And you’re positive that they didn’t leave your sight until after 3am?” The
Sheriff asked, his voice chancing from father to Sheriff.
“Yes, dad.” Stiles said, “I’m 100% sure. I was in bed by 3:05.”
“Dammit.” the Sheriff sighed, “Do you know what kind of position this puts me
in?”
“I’m sorry,” Stiles said softly, “I just…I needed to tell you the truth. Derek
couldn’t have killed anyone.”
“How did you even know Derek was here?”
Derek tensed.
“I got…curious after you left this morning and I may or may not have been
listening to the police scanner and then I heard you picked up Derek.”
“Jesus, kid,” The Sheriff said, “I don’t even know what to do anymore. I have a
witness who swears up and down they saw and heard Derek Hale at the scene.”
“I dunno dad,” Stiles said, “they’re wrong though, it’s not possible for Derek
to have been there unless they’re saying he was there after I last saw him?”
“I can’t discuss those kind of specifics with you, you know that.”
Stiles was undeterred, “Derek’s the first new person in town in ages, maybe
this witness is just freaked out and through she saw Derek. He does look a
little shifty, I’ll give you that.”
Derek scoffed. He did not look shifty.
“Stiles, I need you to be honest with me,” The Sheriff was serious again, “you
have to be telling me the truth, I need to log this officially and if you’re
lying…this will destroy my career, son. Not to mention the fact that you’d be
arrested for giving a false statement to the police. You think any good college
would take you after that? This isn’t something I can just brush off to the
side, it’s a murder investigation.”
Derek’s stomach dropped. Why was Stiles risking so much for him? He wasn’t even
just putting himself in jeopardy anymore, it could affect his father now. Why
did Derek matter that much?
“It’s a good thing I’m not lying then,” Stiles said brightly, “I swear to you
that I was with Laura and Derek during those hours last night.”
Stiles heartbeat was steady. It wasn’t a lie, not that statement. The entire
story around it was false but the actual fact that Stiles was with him and
Laura was still true.  
“And nothing happened with you and Derek?” The Sheriff asked, “If he did
something…something you’re scared to tell me about…”
“Dad!” Stiles yelped, “God, no, Derek did not bad touch me! God, why are you so
focused on Derek? Why aren’t you lining up Laura for your next episode of To
Catch A Predator?”
The Sheriff groaned, “Because…god, never mind. I don’t have the energy left to
even touch that conversation right now.”   
Stiles was quiet for a moment, “I’m sorry. I know…I know I really messed this
up but I couldn’t just let something happen to someone when I know they’re
innocent.”
Derek could hear the sound of Stiles being pulled into a hug, “You didn’t mess
anything up, kiddo. You’re doing the right thing, it just so happens that the
right thing makes my job a hell of a lot more difficult.”
“I’ve already made peace with the fact that I’m going to be grounded until I
get married.” Stiles laughed.
“You’re not..” The Sheriff trailed off, “you didn’t do anything wrong. Well,
I’m not too crazy about the fact that you went out into the woods in the middle
of the night but…I don’t know, Stiles. We’ll talk about this later. I need to
figure out what the hell I’m going to do next.”
“OK,” Stiles said, “I’m sorry…for everything.”
The chair groaned as the Sheriff reclined, “Just go find Johnston and give him
your statement, he’s the main deputy on this case. Just tell him the facts,
nothing more nothing less.”
“Alright,” Stiles said.
The door to the Sheriff’s office opened and then closed. Derek tracked Stiles
through the halls until he heard him talk to Deputy Johnston and begin to give
his official statement. The Sheriff’s footsteps came closer and Derek let his
head fall to the table, his arms pillowed underneath it. He looked up just as
the Sheriff opened the door and pulled out his chair to sit down.
“So, Derek,” the Sheriff said, “mind telling me why you neglected to mention
that you spent a few hours in the woods with my underage son last night?”
Derek winced before taking a moment to collect himself before speaking, “I
promised Stiles I wouldn’t say anything to you.”
The Sheriff blinked, “That’s quite a promise, especially if you think that it’s
still valid during a murder investigation.”
Derek shrugged, “I knew I didn’t kill anyone and that you’d find no actual
evidence to prove that I did so I didn’t think it was worth getting Stiles in
trouble just to save myself a few hours of questioning.”
“That’s quite the dedication to someone you’ve only just met,” the sheriff
said, “someone who, might I remind you, is my teenage son.”
Derek rolled his eyes, “You may have mentioned that once or twice.”
“Don’t start with me, Hale.”
Derek sighed, he really didn’t want to commit to the story that Stiles gave but
it was beyond the point of no return at this point, “Stiles reminds me of
myself, I didn’t have anyone to talk to after the fire and I was too scared to
talk to Laura because I didn’t want to hurt her by bringing up bad memories so
I bottled it up and closed myself off. Stiles needed someone to talk to,
someone who understood him, so I talked to him for a few hours.”
The Sheriff leaned forward, muttering, “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“I don’t know what kind of person you think I am,” Derek said, “but I’d
never…do anything that you must be thinking. All we did was talk about his
mother and then I talked about my family, I think it helped us both. I didn’t
see any harm in it because as soon as you release the Camaro, Laura and I will
be gone and I’m never coming back to this place.”
The Sheriff shook his head as he stood, “You sister is in the lobby, someone
will come by in a few minutes and let you out of here. Stiles’ statement is
pretty much iron clad, no one is going to question the son of a Sheriff and
Stiles knows that, for better or worse. Laura’s car should be released tomorrow
afternoon.”
“Thank you,” Derek said, “I’m sorry for all the trouble that we’ve caused for
you.”
The Sheriff paused with his hand on the doorknob, without turning around he
said, “Just do me a favor, stay the hell away from my son.”
Derek looked away from the Sheriff and didn’t answer, he wasn’t sure he could
make that promise.
Chapter End Notes
     next chapter we'll have some police station fallout, a full moon, and
     we may or may not meet one or two of the many argents
***** The Fullest Moon *****
Chapter Notes
     get ready for the longest chapter so far!
See the end of the chapter for more notes
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                 Chapter Nine
                               The Fullest Moon
                                        
“Laura just texted,” Stiles said to Scott who was currently halfway up a tree
in Stiles’ back yard just because he wanted to see if he could do it, “she’ll
be here with Derek in a few minutes.”
Scot nodded, climbing higher in the tree. Stiles, selfishly, wished Scott would
fall just because he wanted to see how the whole werewolf healing thing applied
to broken bones.
Stiles sat on the back-porch step and waited for Derek and Laura, they were
still meeting at Stiles’ house because none of them felt like going back out
into the preserve and Scott’s mom was currently asleep at their house. His dad
would still be wrapped up for a little while longer before coming back home.
“Laura is coming up through the woods!” Scott called down from the top of the
tree.
“Of course she is,” Stiles said, to no one in particular.
Laura emerged from the woods a few seconds later with Derek trailing a few feet
behind her.
“Faster way again?” Stiles asked.
Laura shook her head, “We both agreed it would probably be best if no one saw
either of us knocking on the Sheriff’s front door when you’re the only person
home.”
Stiles nodded, it was a good idea. The back yard was bordered by the woods on
all sides so they didn’t have to worry about prying eyes out back, it made for
a good temporary basecamp.
Derek stalked around Laura, angrily stomping towards Stiles and stopping just
close enough that Stiles had to look up to see his face, “Stiles, you’re a
fucking idiot.”
Stiles blinked, “Excuse me?”
“What were you thinking?” Derek yelled, “You lied to your father, to the
police! You had no idea what this person was claiming they saw, what time they
were claiming they saw it! You didn’t know what your dad already knew, for all
we know there could be planted fingerprints of mine at the scene or something
like that!”
Stiles felt his face twist into anger, “Well, I’m sorry! I’m sorry I didn’t
leave you alone to get arrested and charged for murder when all of us know you
didn’t do it! Laura wouldn’t have worked as an alibi because my dad wouldn’t
believe that you two weren’t lying for each other! It had to come from someone
he trusted!”
“And if your dad ever finds out you just lied to him then he’ll never trust you
again.”
Stiles flinched, “I know, OK? I know. He’ll never find out, Derek.”
Stiles expected Derek to be more grateful. It was true that he had to lie to
his dad to do it but even then, he didn’t lie that much. He just made up a
different story that didn’t include running through the woods and being
attacked by werewolves.
 “It was a good plan, Derek,” Laura finally spoke up, “we didn’t have time to
think of anything else. Stiles did what he had to do and it worked.”
Derek glared at Laura, “It was still stupid.”
Laura rolled her eyes, “And how many stupid things have you done to help me
over the years? It’s what we do. We do stupid things to help each other because
we care.”
“Why do you care?” Derek asked Stiles, “We’ve known each other for three days.”
“It’s like you said this morning,” Stiles’ voice was soft, “you do what you can
to protect the weaker members of your pack. You have your strength, I have my
brain and a connection to my dad. You were the weaker one in the situation and
I helped you. It’s no different than you standing in front of the giant wolf
and getting a claw in your stomach. They’re both different kinds of stupid and
dangerous and we both did them to protect the other.” 
Derek glared, “You make no sense.”
“Right back at you!” Stiles yelled as Derek turned around and stalked back
towards the woods.
Stiles was equal parts confused and angry. Derek had done such a 180 from this
morning where they sat and talked quietly and Stiles couldn’t help but be
pissed off, he’d assumed that Derek would have been grateful for getting him
out of a murder investigation but maybe there was some weird macho werewolf
pride thing on the line and Derek had a complex about having to be saved by a
stupid human.
“Derek!” Laura called after him.
“I need a minute!” Derek called back, not stopping his straight line towards
the forest, “Scott, come with me.”
“Oh,” Stiles said under his breath, “so he’ll talk to Scott but not me.”
Derek and Laura both looked at him, Laura with a grin and Derek with a
confusing twist to his face. Stiles blinked back at them until Scott hopped
down from the tree and ran over to him.
“We all just totally heard you say that.” Scott said with a soft smile,
dropping his hand to Stiles’ shoulder and squeezing it in solidarity, “I’m on
your team.”
“Stupid werewolves and their stupid super hearing,” Stiles mumbled again as
Scott walked away, “I can’t even talk shit to myself anymore.”
“We heard that too!” Scott yelled back.
“I know!” Stiles glared, turning to stomp up the porch steps as obnoxiously as
he could before taking a seat on the swinging bench in the corner.
Stiles could just see Derek beyond the tree line. He watched as he bent down
towards Scott and told him something before he stuck his hand out to the left.
Scott nodded and waited a few seconds before taking off and sprinting through
the woods, bobbing a weaving through trees until Stiles couldn’t see him
anymore. Derek waited a few moments, looked back at the house, and then
stripped off his shirt and ran after Scott.
Asshole.
Stiles looked up at the sound of footsteps and found Laura standing in front of
him, “This seat taken?”
Stiles shrugged, then figured he should stop acting like a child if he wanted
Laura and Derek to take him seriously, “Nope.”
Laura nodded and sat down. They were silent for a few minutes, just swaying
back and forth as the old wooden swing croaked with every movement. It was
Stiles’ mom’s favorite swing and he hadn’t sat on it much since she died and it
was a bit weird sitting on it now with another person sitting where she always
did.
Laura eventually spoke, breaking the awkward silence, “Since Derek didn’t say
it, I will, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Stiles said, “Why is he being a dick?”
Laura laughed, “You really have no filter, huh?”
“I didn’t come with one,” Stiles smiled, “factory defect.”
Laura huffed, “There’s nothing defective about you.”
Stiles shook his head, “What is it with you and Derek and the pep talks? Can’t
I revel in my teenage angst for a few minutes?”
“Revel away,” Laura rolled her eyes, “Derek’s not really being a dick, he just
doesn’t understand why you’d jeopardize your relationship with your father for
us. He’s not used to anyone helping him, it’s just been the two of us for so
long and I don’t think he knows how to accept help from anyone who isn’t me.”
“He saved my life,” Stiles shrugged, “it’s the least I could do.”
“It’s more than that and you know it,” Laura smiled, “you made a whole plan,
concocted several believable backstories and had about three backup plans in
case your dad didn’t believe what you were saying. That goes a little bit
farther than just trying to pay Derek back for saving your life.”
“It’s just…” Stiles trailed off, taking a moment to collect his thoughts so he
could say this in a way that didn’t completely embarrass him, “Before I met you
and Derek I was lonely, I know it sounds pathetic but it’s true. I don’t really
have any friends. I mean, Scott is my best friend, he’s my brother, but I feel
like I’ve been losing him a bit too lately. He’s not terrible at lacrosse,
asthma aside, and he’s starting to get his own group of friends and then
there’s Allison, I know the second they both get their shit together that
they’re going to be inseparable and I don’t really know where that would leave
me.”
Laura leaned into him, pressing her shoulder against his, “Keep going, I
promise you that I’m not judging you.”
“It all sounds so petty when I say it out loud,” Stiles sighed, “There are
plenty of people in the world who have it worse than me but it doesn’t change
the fact that I feel like an outsider 99% of the time. I’m loud, I talk too
much without really saying anything, but I’d gotten used to it.”
“Then I just happen to meet you and Derek and you both talked to me, you
listened to what I was saying, and people don’t usually do that. Even if Derek
was a dick at first, he still listened and made an effort. Hell, he sat with me
and made sure I didn’t have a concussion when most people would have just made
sure I made it to the nurse without passing out and then left me. I just…I just
feel like you two get me, you know?”
Laura wrapped her hand around Stiles’ shoulder and pulled him in closer, “I get
it, it’s not weird. Trust me, growing up in a family full of werewolves you get
used to forming bonds with people incredibly quickly. I sensed something in you
that night at the station, I could feel your sadness and you were practically
screaming out for someone to hear you. I wasn’t going to say anything because I
was planning on getting out of town as fast as possible but then you sat down
in front of me and just started talking, it was the strangest thing but it just
clicked. I thought that even if I was going to be leaving town I could at least
find some way to let you know that there was a whole world outside of Beacon
Hills, that you could go out and make yourself something else, find people who
understood you, who got your wickedly awesome sense of humor. I don’t know if
it was a wolf thing or a Laura thing but it was something I just felt like I
needed to do.”
Stiles smiled, “You’re pretty awesome, you know that?”
Laura grinned, “I’ve been told that a few times.”
“I’m glad you’re staying for a while,” Stiles said, “it’s totally selfish
because I know you hate this place, but it’s nice to have someone here.”
Laura shrugged, “It’s not all bad, killer werewolves aside.”
Stiles laughed and looked back out towards the woods. There was still no
sign of Derek or Scott but Derek’s shirt still hung from the low tree branch.
“Derek will come around,” Laura said a few seconds later, “he’s mostly just
grumpy because he insisted on staying up all last night to make sure you didn’t
get killed instead of sleeping. The only time he slept was when I hit him over
the head with a rock and knocked him out for an hour.”
Stiles laughed, “He told me you were taking turns.”
Laura rolled her eyes, “That was the plan but when it came time for me to take
over he just growled at me and told me to go back to sleep.”
Stiles cocked his head to the side. It was just another thing to add to the
list of things about Derek that confused him and Stiles was beginning to go a
little bit crazy trying to figure out this weird game of hot and cold Derek
seemed to have going on.
Stiles couldn’t take anymore Derek talk, it was something he’d have to sort out
on his own and without the help of Derek’s own sister.
“You know,” Laura said abruptly, “I think there are other people are your
school who feel the same way that you do?”
Stiles was grateful for the subject change, “What do you mean?”
“When I was at the school the other day I could just feel it, the overwhelming
rush of teenage hormones, the feeling of wanting to belong and not being able
to find where you fit. Maybe if you look around you’ll find people who are more
like you.”
“I have Scott,” Stiles said almost automatically.
“So?” Laura smiled, “You don’t have to limit yourself to Scott, you’re allowed
to have other friends. You said yourself that Scott was beginning to branch out
so why can’t you do the same?”
“Because I don’t like the people Scott is branching towards,” Stiles scrunched
his face up, “that doesn’t even make sense.”
Laura laughed, “Then go in the opposite direction, find people who don’t have
anyone else either.”
Stiles leaned back on the swing and through about it, he thought about his
weird and budding friendship with Lydia, thought about the kids he saw in the
hallways every day who seemed to keep to themselves, “So you’re saying you want
me to start a Beacon Hills branch of the Losers club?”
“You’re not a loser,” Laura said automatically, “and I’m not telling you to
form a group of teenagers to fight an evil interdimensional clown monster but
it couldn’t hurt to find a group of people you can connect with and be with
when Scott isn’t around. What’s the harm in trying?”
Stiles laughed, “The overwhelming fear of rejection?”
Laura sighed, put upon, “Fine, what if I give you a lead?”
Stiles quirked an eyebrow, “Why do I feel like I’m playing a part in some evil
plan?”
“Yes Stiles,” Laura deadpanned, “you’ve caught me, I’m trying to get teenagers
to be friends so I can harness their power and take over the world.”
“Sounds plausible.” Stiles shrugged.
“You’re infuriating,” Laura huffed, “I just want to be sure that you won’t be
alone when Derek and I aren’t around as much. Or when Derek and I can’t be
around because your father is chasing us off with shotguns.”
Laura wanted to make sure he had friends? It sounded noble, if not a little
odd, as far as good deeds went.
“Alright Oprah, tell me who you think I should make my friend?”
“I’d make an awesome Oprah,” Laura grinned, “there was a girl I met at the
school, her name was Erica and she had a seizure in front of me.”
“Erica Reyes,” Stiles nodded, “everyone knows about Erica after what happened
last year.”
Laura leaned forward, “What do you mean?”
“She had a seizure in the library and some asshole recorded it and put it
online,” Stiles shook his head, “then they somehow got into the A/V office at
school and cut off the morning announcements to play it on a loop for the
entire school to see.”
“Jesus Christ,” Laura growled, her eyes flashing red, “what the fuck is wrong
with people?”
Stiles frowned, “Her parents pulled her out of school for the rest of the year
after that, last I’d heard she was being homeschooled. I had no idea she was
back at school.”
“She’s there,” Laura said, “and she really seemed like she needed someone. I’m
not telling you to force it if it’s awkward and you two honestly don’t get
along but you’re a good person and I think it would do you a lot of good to
make new friends.”
“Is this an Alpha order thing?” Stiles laughed, “Am I being commanded to build
friendships?”
Laura hummed thoughtfully, “Sure, let’s go with that.”
 
                                       X
                                        
“Another lap.” Derek said, leaning against the tree with his arms crossed over
his chest.
Scott looked up from his position where he was sprawled out on the ground,
heaving in gulps of air, “Seriously?”
“Seriously,” Derek deadpanned, “you need to burn off as much energy as you can
and this will teach you to learn the limits to your abilities.”
“Dude!” Scott cried, “I think I’ve already hit my limit!”
“Stop calling me dude,” Derek shook his head, “you can push yourself further,
you’re still thinking like a human and you’re reacting to your body like a
human would.”
“I don’t want to run!” Scott groaned, “I want to sleep forever.”
Derek sighed, running a hand through his damp hair, “The later it gets the more
energy you’ll have, you’ll start to feel the call of the moon and you’ll want
to run, bite, and claw into anything you can get your hands on. If you exhaust
yourself now then it won’t be as intense. The first full moon is the hardest,
Scott. I’m just trying to help you.”
“I know,” Scott said as he tried to push himself up from the ground, “I
appreciate it, I really do, it’s just that my legs feel like they’re about to
fall off.”
“They’ll feel better once you start moving,” Derek walked to Scott and offered
him a hand, “either you start running or I’m going to pick you up and throw you
into a tree.”
Scott rolled his eyes, “Dude, that’s the weakest threat ever.”
Derek tilted his head towards the sky and said a silent prayer before reaching
down and grabbing Scott by the neck of his shirt. Scott flailed as Derek hefted
him over his shoulders, his yelp of surprise coming out as more of a snarl.
Derek smiled to himself, Scott’s aggression was taking over and they were far
enough away from Stiles that he could safely egg Scott on and tire him out this
way.
Scott’s claws scraped against Derek’s arms are he threw Scott through the air,
wincing when Scott’s side collided with the trunk of a particularly thick tree.
Derek watched in amusement as Scott rolled back and forth in pain for a moment
before his healing kicked in. A second Later Scott was on his feet, crouched
and ready to attack with his eyes shining gold.
“What the fuck?” Scott snarled, flexing his newly grown claws.
Derek shrugged, “I told you not to call me dude.”
Scott slammed his fist against a smaller tree, splintering the bark, “I was
being nice to you for Stiles’ sake but you’re kind of a fucking dick!”   
Derek raised a single eyebrow. Why the hell would Scott try to be nice to Derek
just for Stiles?
“I don’t care about your feelings right now,” Derek said, “I care about making
sure you don’t escape and maul your mother or Stiles tonight.”
“I would never hurt them!” Scott growled.
“You wouldn’t,” Derek said, “but when the wolf takes over it instinctively
seeks out people you’re close to and you don’t know how they will react. Why if
your mother doesn’t realize it’s you? What if you scared her so much she tried
to attack you? You run on pure instinct for your first full moon and no matter
who it was that attacked you, you’d fight back.”
Scott, apparently, decided he’d done enough listening and charged towards Derek
with a rumbling growl. Scott was fast but he was also sloppy, he was no match
for Derek.
Derek easily stepped out of the way, causing Scott to go tumbling into another
tree. Derek sighed as Scott launched himself forward again, this time swiping
at Derek with his claws. Derek dodged back and forth, grabbing Scott by the arm
to twist him around and shove him into another tree.
Derek was maybe having a little too much fun with this.
“Asshole!” Scott yelled, “You’re such a dick!”
“I didn’t ask for your opinion of me,” Derek said as he dodged another one of
Scott’s swipes.
“You ungrateful dick!” Scott yelled again, this time managing to tackle Derek
to the ground, “Stiles saved your ass today and the first thing you did when
you saw him was act like a fucking douche!”
Derek froze, stunned into silence by Scott’s words. He didn’t even notice that
Scott had drawn back his fist until it was too late and it had already collided
with his nose. Derek let out a loud growl as he felt his nose break and blood
began to pour down into his mouth.
He pushed Scott off with his legs, sending him tumbling through the dirt, and
jumped up. He drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes to concentrate as his
nose formed itself back into place. When Derek opened his eyes, he found Scott
sitting on the ground with his back resting against a tree. Scott’s shirt was
torn and covered in blood and he was cradling his head in his hands. Derek
could smell the shame that was pouring out of Scott.
Scott looked up as Derek walked closer, his eyes were wet and Derek could see
the tracks of tears on his face, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Derek said as he offered Scott another hand up off the ground,
“like I said, aggression.”
“I’ve never felt that mad,” Scott said as he stood, “I just wanted to hurt
you.”
“That’s normally how it goes, one emotion gets magnified repeatedly until it’s
the only thing you can feel. If you had an anchor you would have been able to
control it.”
“I was so mad at you,” Scott said, “because you were a dick to Stiles and then
I just wanted you to pay for it…it made me happy when I broke your nose. What
the fuck?”
Derek stilled again, if Scott was this mad about how Derek had treated Stiles
then Derek couldn’t imagine how Stiles felt.
Derek shook his head, now wasn’t the time to think about that, “Make it up to
me by taking another lap.”
Scott groaned, “Only if you run with me.”
Derek looked at Scott and rolled his eyes, waiting another second before
shifting and taking off through the trees. He laughed to himself as he heard an
indignant Scott yelling about Derek being a cheater. Scott caught up a few
moments later and they ran for another hour, silently letting the experience
and the previous fight bond them together as pack members.
It had been too long since Derek had run with anyone other than Laura. He’d
forgotten how easy it was to let the world drift away, to forget your problems
and troubles and just let yourself get lost in the sounds and smells of the
woods. Derek looked over and saw Scott smile as he punched along the pathway,
weaving in and out of trees and jumping over fallen and rotted logs.
Laura and Stiles’ scents began to filter through the air and Derek realized
that he’d subconsciously been leading himself and Scott back towards the rest
of their small pack.
“We should head back,” Derek said, “we’ve been running for close to two hours,
you should have worked off enough energy for tonight.”
“OK.” Scott said, falling into step beside Derek, “Are you going to tell Laura
I broke your nose?”
Derek laughed, “Yes, but not because I’m mad. She needs to know these things so
she can gauge your progress.”
“Is she going to be mad?”
Derek shrugged, “She’ll probably tell you I had it coming.”
Scott tripped Derek and took off running back towards the house with a laugh.
 
                                       X
                                        
“Broken nose, huh?” Stiles grinned as he walked up behind Derek.
Derek didn’t startle, because werewolf hearing.
Derek turned and Stiles fought off another smile as he took in the sight of a
sweaty, disheveled, and slightly bloody Derek. Stiles was past being surprised
about what he finds hot at this point.
“Laura talking to Scott?” Derek asked as he turned the garden hose on and began
to drink from it.
Stiles’ eyes went wide as he watched Derek’s tongue lap at the stream of water
and he came close to a heart attack when Derek turned the house on himself to
clean off. Stiles trailed stray water droplets as they traveled down Derek’s
body, some running red with the dried blood.
“Yeah,” Stiles coughed awkwardly, “though I’m sure you could already hear
that.”
“Wasn’t listening.” Derek said.
Stiles hoped Derek also wasn’t smelling things either. He still wasn’t entirely
sure how the whole enhanced sense of smell thing worked but Stiles was positive
he was giving off strong notes of ‘I want to lick that water off your body very
badly’.
“Oh,” Stiles said, turning his back on Derek, “she just told him that she
understands the urge to break your nose but that he shouldn’t actually do it
unless you really deserve it.”
The sound from the hose stopped so Stiles figured it was safe to turn around.
Derek was drying himself off with a towel he’d grabbed from Stiles’ bathroom.
“Scott said I deserved it because I was a dick to you.” Derek said as he
scrubbed his hair.
Stiles let out a surprised laugh, “I’ll be right back, I need to go give him a
high-five.”
Derek balled the towel up and threw it at Stiles. Stiles totally didn’t let out
a manly yelp.
“I’m sorry,” Derek said after he pulled his shirt back on, “I’m not used to
trusting people who aren’t Laura. I’m not used to letting someone help me.”
“I get it,” Stiles said, “I mean, I talked to Laura so I understand. I’m not
mad, I wasn’t really mad in the first place. Just annoyed. And confused. But
you’ve annoyed and confused me from the literal second I met you so there’s
nothing really new about that.”
“The idea of you and my sister talking terrifies me more and more every day.”
Derek shuddered.
“Derek!” Laura called from behind them, “We’re leaving, the Sheriff just turned
down the street.”
“Dammit,” Stiles muttered, “what are you going to do about Scott?”
Laura came to a stop just in front of the tree line, “We’ve still got a couple
hours before sun down. Scott, you said your mom is at work?”
“Yeah,” Scott nodded, “she should be leaving any minute now.”
“Good,” Laura said, “go home. I’ll be by to get you in less than an hour. I
still have a few more things that I need to get for tonight.”
“What about me?” Stiles asked.
There was no way in hell he was being left out of Scott’s first full moon.
“We need to see what your dad is going to do first,” Laura said, “if you’re
grounded then we’ll figure something out. It might be for the best, Scott is
going to be dangerous tonight.”
“Should we be worried about the other wolf?” Scott asked, “I don’t want Stiles
to be alone.”
Stiles smiled. It was weirdly endearing.
“I’ll stay,” Derek offered, “I’ll hang back in the woods while Laura finishes
getting ready for tonight and we’ll go from there.”
“Your dad is in the driveway.” Laura said, “Go. I’ll talk to you later.”
Stiles watched as Derek and Laura both disappeared into the woods.
Stiles and Scott made it back inside the house just as the Sheriff was stepping
through the front door.
“Scott,” the Sheriff said, “nice to see you.”
“Hi, Sheriff,” Scott said awkwardly, “how was your day?”
The Sheriff leveled Scott with a look, “I’m sure Stiles has already told you
everything.”
“Dad,” Stiles rolled his eyes, “you know I know better than to talk about
official police business with Scott.”
The Sheriff closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, “Scott, are you staying
for dinner?”
“No,” Scott shook his head, “I was actually wondering if Stiles could stay the
night at my house?”
“Isn’t your mom working tonight?”
Scott shrugged, “Yeah, but it would just be me and Stiles. I promised him I’d
make up for canceling last night.”
Stiles blinked, when did Scott become such a good liar?
The Sheriff took off his belt and draped it over the closest chair, “I still
haven’t decided what Stiles’ punishment is going to be for going against what I
said last night.”
“Hey!” Stiles yelped, “I saved an innocent man from going to prison today, I
think I deserve some leniency.”
“A feat which you could only accomplish by doing what I expressly told you not
to do,” The Sheriff said, frustration radiating from him, “not only did you
disobey me by going into the Preserve, you spent the night running around with
adults who I don’t particularly trust, who I’ve literally arrested multiple
times!”
Scott shifted awkwardly, “I’m gonna go, dude. Call me and let me know if you’re
allowed to come over?”
Stiles nodded.
Scott turned to face the Sheriff, “Please don’t be mad at Stiles. It was my
fault, if I hadn’t blown him off then we would have just sat around here all
night and done nothing. I was the one who was wrong so please don’t take it out
on him.”
The Sheriff scrubbed his hand across his face, “I appreciate the sentiment,
Scott, but Stiles won’t be joining you tonight. I’d like to know exactly where
my son is for at least one night. Maybe next weekend.”
Scott looked pained, “Alright. I’ll…I’ll text you later.”
“Dad!” Stiles shouted, “Seriously?”
“Not now, Stiles,” The Sheriff sighed, “I’m tired and I’ve been working all day
to clean up this whole mess. Just please, for once, listen to what I say
without arguing.”
“I’m walking Scott out.” Stiles said as he grabbed Scott by the elbow and led
him outside.
“Damn,” Scott said as the door closed, “I really wanted you to be there
tonight.”
“I’m sneaking out.” Stiles said, “I don’t care, he’s going to go to sleep early
tonight and I’ll just crawl out the window.”
“Stiles,” Scott said, “do you really think that’s the best idea?”
“What else am I supposed to do?” Stiles threw his head back, “I can’t let you
go through tonight alone!”
“Your relationship with your dad is more important,” Scott insisted, “think of
what he would do if he got up in the middle of the night and found out you were
gone? He’d probably board up your window and borrow a house arrest anklet.”
“Fuck,” Stiles sighed, he hated when Scott used logic, “fuck, fuck, fuck.”
“It’ll be fine,” Scott smiled, dropping a hand on Stiles’ shoulder, “I’ll have
Laura there, she’ll make sure nothing bad happens. I’m actually a little glad
you won’t be there, I’m not sure I trust myself to not hurt you if something
went wrong.”
Stiles rolled his eyes, “Dude, you’d never hurt me.”
Scott frowned, “I didn’t think I’d ever break anyone’s nose but I did that a
few hours ago. Maybe it’s a sign that you should be there, at least for the
first one. Derek said it’s the worst one, that I’ll just be running on pure
animal instinct.”
Stiles kicked at a stray pebble in the road, “Fuck. Maybe you’re right.”
“It happens sometimes,” Scot grinned, “it’ll be fine. Pick me up for School
tomorrow?”
“Will you even be able to go to school tomorrow?” Stiles asked.
“Oh,” Scott frowned, “I didn’t even think of that.”
Stiles sighed, “We’ll figure it out.”
“We will.” Scott nodded, “This is probably really weird but I have this
like…urge to hug you and rub my face all over you. Is that cool?”
Stiles laughed and opened his arms, “Rub away, buddy. I hear my hair is
pleasant to the touch.”
“Asshole,” Scott rolled his eyes before pulling Stiles into a crushing hug and
nuzzling him nose in Stiles’ neck.
Stiles groaned, pushing Scott away, “God, I hope my dad didn’t see that.”
“He didn’t,” Scott said as he started down the street, “he’s upstairs changing
right now.”
“Gross, dude!” Stiles gagged, “Don’t ever listen to my dad changing again!”
Scott flicked him off and kept walking.
Stiles flailed wildly but gave up when he realized that Scott couldn’t see him.
He scuffed his feet against the pavement before turning on his heel and heading
back inside the house. Stiles could hear his dad kicking around upstairs as he
walked into the kitchen and saw a stack of files sitting on the table.
Stiles, naturally, decided to snoop.
He fumbled through the files, taking great care to leave them in the same order
he found them, and froze when he came to the file labeled Adrian Harris. He
hovered his hand over the outside of the folder and turned his head towards the
stairs to check for his dad. The folder would almost certainly contain the name
of the woman who accused Derek of Mr. Harris’ murder, it would give them an
edge and Stiles should be able to figure out if it was a genuine case of
mistaken identity or something more.
Just as Stiles was about to flip the file open he heard the creak on the top
step of the stairs. He quickly pushed the folder closed, placed it back where
it was in the stack, and ran to the sink to start getting something ready for
dinner.
The Sheriff came around the corner and laughed, “You’re actually cooking? I
thought you’d protest.”
Stiles rolled his eyes before looking over his shoulder, “If I didn’t cook
you’d order the greasiest burger imaginable. At least this way I get to torture
you with a mixed greens salad while you’re torturing me with grounding.”
The Sheriff sighed, “You’re not grounded, Stiles. I just want you home tonight,
it’s been a crazy last few days and I just wanted to spend the evening with my
son since I got one of the deputies to cover my shift tonight.”
Stiles’ resolved cracked and he turned around with a smile and swallowed his
dad into a hug, “Alright, fine. You’re right. We haven’t gotten to spend much
time together.”
The Sheriff laughed and pushed Stiles back by the shoulders, locking their eyes
together, “Did you just tell me I was right about something?”
Stiles rolled his eyes, “Savor this moment because it won’t happen again.”
The Sheriff rolled his eyes and ruffled Stiles’ hair before pushing him away,
“At least put some bacon in my salad.”
“Never!” Stiles glared, “I’m going to turn the oven on to preheat and then run
upstairs and take a shower. Don’t eat anything terrible while I’m gone.”
“Yeah, yeah,” The Sheriff waved him off.
Stiles smiled and paused before he left the kitchen, “Hey dad?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
The Sheriff smiled, “I love you too, kid.”
Stiles left the kitchen with a smile on his face, content in knowing that his
effort to save Derek didn’t destroy his relationship with his father. He knew,
at least deep down, that his father would be proud of him for speaking up even
when knowing it had the potential to get himself in trouble.
Stiles vaulted his way up the stairs, taking two steps at a time and somehow
managing to not fall and break his neck. He rounded the corner at the top of
the stairs and opened the door to his room and froze.
The last thing Stiles expected to see when he opened his door was Derek Hale
reclining on his bed and reading his school copy of Their Eyes Were Watching
God.  
“Dude!” Stiles whisper screamed, “What the actual fuck?”
Derek looked up from the book with a blank face, “Your window was open.”
Stiles flailed his arms above his head, “And you took that as a blanket
invitation? What if I had been my dad?”
Stiles didn’t stop to examine the fact that he wasn’t angry about the fact that
Derek was in his room, in his bed, but that he was worried about what would
have happened if someone else had come through the door.
“I knew it was you, if it was your dad I would have crawled back out the
window.” Derek said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Stiles sputtered, “Why are you even in here?”
Derek shrugged, “I got tired of sitting in a tree.”
“And you thought you’d just come roll around in my bed instead?”
Derek at least had the grace to look slightly ashamed, “I can leave if you
want? I didn’t think you’d mind.”
“I don’t.” Stiles said, “Mind. I mean. You can stay but like, a heads up would
have been cool. What if I decided to shower before coming in here and I walked
in naked?”
Derek blushed, actually and honestly blushed, “I’m glad you made up with your
dad.”
Stiles glared at the subject change because only Derek would progress a
conversation from the idea of Stiles being naked to Stiles having a heart to
heart with his father.
“Shouldn’t you be with Laura and Scott?” Stiles asked, deflecting.
Derek shook his head, “Laura can handle Scott, it’s better for a bitten wolf
just to be with their Alpha for their first full moon. If I was there Scott
could see it as a challenge and it would make him even harder to control. It
might have been fine if you were there to remind him of his human side but
three werewolves in an enclosed space is just asking for trouble.”
“Right,” Stiles said as he awkwardly crossed the room to pull out a set of
pajamas from his drawer, “Well, I’m going to go shower. And change. In the
bathroom. And then make dinner.”
“Ok,” Derek said, “bring me a plate.”
Stiles blinked, nodding dumbly, and then retreated down the hall to the
bathroom.
It was another moment to add to the list of things that confused him about
Derek and Stiles started to think that Derek was the walking embodiment of that
stupid Katy Perry song.
 
                                       X
                                        
Laura ambled down the aisle of the grocery store, aimlessly pushing her cart as
she tried to remember things that her mother bought to give to newly bitten
wolves after their first full moon. She knew she needed to get protein and
carbs, things for Scott to eat quickly to give him enough energy to make it to
his bed in the morning. She was lost in the ingredients label of a pack of
breakfast bars when she heard a voice she never thought she’d hear again.
“I heard you were back in town,” Chris Argents smooth voice drifted from the
end of the aisle. No regular person would have been able to hear him, but Laura
wasn’t a regular person and Chris knew that all too well. He was giving her
time to react, to see what she would do.
Laura barely resisted the urge to let her claws come out and sat the box of
breakfast bars in her cart as gently as possible, “I smelled you when I got
into town.”
“Oh?” Chris said, sliding his cart up right next to Laura’s.
“The smell of murder takes a long time to go away,” Laura said, “especially
when someone is as practiced at it as you are.”
Chris grinned, the asshole, “Speaking of murder, I heard an interesting thing
about your brother.”
Laura didn’t stop herself as she let her eyes flash red, “You better think very
carefully about what you say next.”
Chris was undeterred, “I got a few calls from interested parties asking about
an update on the situation.”
Laura smiled, false cheer and satisfaction, “You’ll be happy to know that the
charges were dropped then. Derek had an alibi and everything.”
“You’ll forgive me if I don’t take the word of an Alpha who’s trying to protect
her Beta. The Sheriff may buy something like that but you and I both know I’m
not that stupid.”
“Then you’ll be happy to know that Derek’s alibi didn’t come from me,” Laura
said, reveling in the look of shock that ever so briefly crossed Chris’ face,
“someone else saw Derek when the murder happened, the Sheriff verified it and
everything. Derek had nothing to do with what happened and you’d do well to
spread the word on that.”
Chris collected himself quickly, “And who was it that saw Derek? Do you have
any other pack members I should know about?”
Laura didn’t let Chris get under her skin, there was no way she was giving up
any hint about Scott or Stiles, “It’s an ongoing investigation, you’d have to
take that question up with the Sheriff but he’s a surprisingly smart man and he
may start to wonder why you of all people are looking into it.”
Laura continued on as Chris glared, “Hell, he may even decide to look into your
past, maybe your entire family. We both know there’s enough skeletons buried in
the Argent backyard so don’t push me Chris because I will push back and I won’t
even need my claws to do it.”
Chris’ reply was cut off by a girl’s voice, “Dad? I can’t remember what type of
pasta that mom said to get for dinner.”
Laura looked down the aisle to find a girl with long, curly dark hair weighing
two boxes of pasta between her hands. She looked up and caught Laura’s eyes and
smiled, “Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you were talking to someone.”
Chris coughed into his hand, “It’s fine. Allison, this is Laura. Laura Hale.”
Allison smiled and Laura stuck out her hand just because she knew it would piss
Chris off, “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Allison shook Laura’s hand awkwardly, “Yeah. I’m sorry, this is awkward, I have
no idea who you are.”
Laura laughed, “It’s fine, your dad and I are old friends and I’ve been out of
town for a while. We were just catching up.”
“Yes,” Chris said, “I was just telling Laura how sad it was that she would be
leaving town so soon after just getting back.”
Laura hummed thoughtfully as she turned her cart around, “You know, I was
actually thinking of sticking around for a while. I forgot how much I missed my
home.”
Laura walked away from Chris without turning back, she didn’t need to look over
her shoulder to tell that Chris Argent was seething with anger.
 
                                       X
                                        
“Uh, why are we at the vet’s office?” Scott asked as Laura pulled the car into
the parking lot of Deaton’s practice.
Scott was dressed in sweats and a ratty shirt. Laura was impressed that he
listened to her when she told him to dress comfortably in a pair of clothes
that he didn’t care were probably going to get destroyed. She was a bit
confused about why he was looking at Deaton’s with something between
fascination and terror though.
“Doctor Deaton is an old family friend,” Laura said, “he owes me a few favors
and since this was so short notice he said we could use his facilities for the
night.”
“He knows about this stuff?” Scott’s eyes went wide.
Laura laughed, she supposed it might be a bit odd for Scott that the town vet
knew about werewolves, “He was an advisor to my mom for decades, he knows a lot
about this stuff.”
Scott’s scent spiked with anxiety, “Did you tell him about me?”
Laura shook her head, confused, “I told him I had a new Beta that needed a safe
place for the night but not who you were.”
“OK,” Scott said awkwardly as he fumbled his way out of the car.
Laura watched him as they walked, confused at the way that Scott drew into
himself the closer they got to the front door. Was Scott worried that Deaton
would tell someone?
Laura pushed the door open, walking in front of Scott, and Deaton turned when
the bell above the door rang out.
“Laura,” Deaton calmly smiled, “right on time.”
“Deaton,” Laura said, “it’s nice to see you. It’s been too long.”
“Entirely,” Deaton said, “is your Beta not with you?”
Laura looked to her left and saw that Scott was gone. She turned around and
found Scott trying to huddle behind her to stay hidden.
“Seriously?” Laura raised an eyebrow, “What is your drama, Scott?”
Laura stepped out of the way so Deaton could see Scott. Scott winced as
Deaton’s eyes fell on him and went impossibly wide. It was the first time that
Laura had seen Deaton’s face in any other state but calmly collected.
“Hey boss,” Scott’s voice came out in a high-pitched squeak.
“Boss?” Laura spun on her heel to face Scott.
“Laura,” Deaton said, “you neglected to tell me that you bit my only employee.”
Laura’s jaw dropped, “What? You work for Deaton?”
Scott nodded, “He was the only person who would hire me.”
Laura clapped both hands to her face and barely contained the urge to claw her
own skin off.
“Would anyone care to explain to me how Scott became your Beta?” Deaton asked,
his arms crossed as he rested against the counter.
“She saved my life!” Scott spoke up, louder than Laura had heard him before.
Deaton raised an eyebrow and motioned for someone to continue.
“Derek and I were in the woods,” Laura said, “we were tracking something.
Another wolf. The wolf found us and then ended up near Scott. The panic caused
him to have an asthma attack, his inhaler wasn’t working so I explained what I
was, told him about the Bite, the dangers and everything associated with it,
and he accepted it. I know it’s…unorthodox but I couldn’t just let a kid die
while I sat by and did nothing.”
Deaton was silent for a moment, his eyes dancing between Scott and Laura,
before he finally nodded, “Your mother would have done the same thing, she
would be proud of you.”
Laura took a step back. That was…not the reaction she was expecting.
“I was totally prepared to have to defend my decision more than that.” Laura
admitted.
Deaton shook his head, “It’s not an idea situation but what’s done is done. I
hope you’re at least planning on staying in town to help Scott learn to control
himself.”
Laura nodded, “I’m here for as long as it takes. We’ll work on getting
somewhere else for the next full moon but it was so last minute that you were
all I could think of.”
“You’re welcome to use my facilities any time you need them,” Deaton said as he
waved them into the back of the office.
“You’re not putting me in a kennel, are you?” Scott balked.
Deaton looked at Scott like he’d grown a second head.
Laura bit back her laugh as she followed Deaton to the end of a long hallway
and came to a stop in front of a red door. He pulled out a special key that was
on a thick black rope and unlocked it, pushing it open with a groan.
A gust of air tumbled through the office as the musty, neglected scent of the
room rushed through the open door. Deaton led them through, turning on a light
to reveal a staircase that led to a lower level. Scott looked on in a mixture
of fascination and horror as they descended the steps and found themselves in a
wide open room. The walls were lined with maps and charts, dozens of bookcases
sat end to end across another back wall and were filled to the brim with old
looking books. A large table sat in the middle of the room and was covered in
various herbs that Laura recognized as components for potions.
“The wolfsbane is locked in a separate room,” Deaton said when he saw Laura
eyeing the herbs.
Laura nodded. The last wall she saw was what they were there for. Heavy iron
chains were bolted into the stone wall and the concrete floor. There were claw
marks across the floor and crisscrossing over the wall behind it.
“That’s for me?” Scott’s eyes were wide with horror.
“I told you there would be chains involved.” Laura said.
“You didn’t tell me it would be in a Game of Thrones torture chamber!”
“No one has been tortured in here, Scott.” Deaton sighed.
“Did you get the mountain ash?” Laura asked.
Deaton nodded before pulling out an industrial sized glass jar filled with the
coarse black powder.
“What’s that?” Scott asked.
“Mountain Ash,” Deaton said, “it comes from the Rowan tree.”
“What does it do?” Scott asked. 
“Rowan has a special history,” Deaton said, “it’s widely used in druidic magic
and, when ground into a powder, has the ability to form barriers that contain
or repel supernatural creatures.”
“What does that even mean?” Scott asked, cocking his head to the side in
confusion.
Laura shrugged, “You might as well show him.”
“Very well.” Deaton took the top from the jar and pulled out a handful of the
ash. He tossed it into the air and Laura watched as it swirled like a small
tornado before falling to the ground and forming a perfect circle around Scott.
“Woah,” Scott said, “that was cool.”
“Try to step out of the ring.” Deaton said.
Scott tried to step over the line and was knocked onto his back.
“What the hell?” Scott yelped, “What just happened?”
“As I said, it forms a barrier that either contains supernatural creatures or
keeps them out depending on the intent of the caster.”
Deaton shared a look with Laura, a somber sadness crossing over his face. Laura
swallowed and shook her head, now wasn’t the time to think of her family,
trapped in a burning home by mountain ash. She had to focus on Scott.
“The barrier can only be broken by a human,” Laura said, walking to Scott and
demonstrating that she couldn’t get across the circle to reach him either,
“it’s very common for humans with the knowledge of the supernatural world to
use this to protect themselves.”
She didn’t add that it was sometimes used as a weapon as well.
“The sun will be setting soon,” Deaton said, “we should get Scott into
position.”
Deaton swiped his foot across the circle just as Scott was leaning against the
invisible wall and he tumbled across the floor as the barrier broke.
“Ouch,” Scott said as he rubbed his head, “Do I still need to be chained if
you’re just going to put this magical wall thing around me?”
“Laura and I think it’s best to chain you as well, I’m sorry to say.”
Laura spoke up before Scott could protest, “I need to see how well you do with
control, how you react to being restrained. I also want to see how strong you
are, if the chains will hold you. The ash will be there only as a last resort.”
“I will be here all night in case there’s an emergency and the circle needs to
be broken but otherwise I will leave you to Laura’s care.”
Scott decided to go with it instead of fighting the idea of the chains. Laura
hoped that it was a sign of things to come with the full moon but even she
wasn’t that naive. They chained Scott to the wall, made sure he was
comfortable, and Deaton spread the ash around Scott in a wide circle just as
the moon began to rise.
Scott’s eyes were already beginning to glow yellow when Deaton pulled Laura to
the side.
“You said there was another wolf in the preserve?” Deaton asked, “An Omega?”
Laura shook her head, “No, it was something I’d never seen before. I
thought…that maybe it was Peter but even if it was him I don’t see how it could
even be possible.”
“You think it was Peter?” Deaton looked skeptical, “What did the wolf look
like?”
“It was like an Alpha shift, large, furry, strong as fuck,” Laura said, “but it
was walking on two legs. It looked like a shitty fantasy book drawing come to
life. Its eyes were pure black, no trace of color in them at all.”
Deaton’s eyes went wide and he looked a little startled. It was as if he knew
exactly what Laura was talking about.
“Do you know what it was?” Laura asked.
“I…” Deaton trailed off, “it’s too soon to say for sure. I need to look at some
things, I have a few books that discuss different werewolf lore through the
years but I want to be positive before I tell you anything.”
“You’re freaking me out,” Laura said honestly, “you look rattled. I’ve never
seen you rattled.”
Deaton laughed, “I’m sorry. I don’t want to worry you before I know for sure.
Give me a few hours to find what I’m looking for, if it is what I think you’re
describing then we will need to discuss it immediately.”
Laura was torn from her conversation with Deaton by a savage growl from Scott.
She looked over her shoulder and found Scott, fully Beta shifted, pulling at
the chains on the wall and snarling.  
She left Deaton on his own to start his research while she walked towards Scott
and sat at the edge of the mountain ash barrier.
It was going to be a long night.
 
                                       X
                                        
Stiles balanced a plate of food on top of the stolen police file as he made his
way back up to his room. Once he was confident (aka Derek had told him) that
his dad was asleep Stiles rushed downstairs to find the files that his dad left
on the counter.
Stiles sat the plate down in front of Derek who was now sitting at Stiles’ desk
leafing through copies of his homework, “I was going to put it in a metal dog
bowl but we don’t have any.”
“You wouldn’t have any fingers either if you actually did that.” Derek glared.
Stiles rolled his eyes but watched as Derek cut into the lean pork chops and
popped them into his mouth. He let out an obscene moan as he chewed and Stiles
totally didn’t fall from the bed when he heard it.
“These are really good,” Derek said with his mouth still full of food, “I
haven’t had something homecooked in forever.”
“You mean to tell me that you and Laura don’t cook for each other?” Stiles
laughed.
“Laura can barely manage to make ramen noodles and I hate cooking. We always
order takeout.”
“You’re basically my dad’s goal.” Stiles laughed.
 Derek ignored him and continued to stuff his face. Stiles ignored Derek as he
opened the folder and began to leaf through the pages. He paused at the photo
from the crime scene and his eyes went wide. No matter how much he hated Harris
he wasn’t ready to see the guy almost decapitated and laying in a pool of his
own blood.
“Stiles!” Derek growled, “What the hell are you doing?”
Huh?” Stiles looked up, “What?”
Derek got up from the desk and looked over Stiles’ shoulder. He let out another
low growl and snatched the papers out of Stiles’ hands, “Why are you looking at
that?”
“I wanted to see if the name of the witness who accused you was in there!”
Stiles snapped, “I forgot about the rest of the file.”
Derek shook his head, “Give me the folder, I’m taking out all the pictures.”
Stiles nodded and handed the folder to Derek. Derek leafed through the pages
and pulled out all the pictures and sat them face down on Stiles’ desk.
“I hope you remembered where those went,” Stiles said as he began to read
through the initial report.
Derek watched him like a hawk as he read, skipping pages that detailed the
crime scene because it wasn’t what he was interested in.
The second to last page was what Stiles was looking for, it detailed the
witnesses report and Stiles cocked his head in confusion as he read.
“This woman says repeatedly that it was you,” Stiles sighed, “your full name
and everything, she keeps swearing up and down that she saw Derek Hale go into
that apartment. I thought that maybe it would be a case of paranoia or mistaken
identity but it’s like she explicitly went into the station to say it was you.”
“What the hell?” Derek said, “Is there a name?”
Stiles absentmindedly thrust the second page at Derek, “Check this one, the
name of the witness is usually the last thing they list.”
Stiles kept reading as Derek sat down on the bed beside him. He ignored the way
their thighs pressed together as he read the woman’s detailed account of how
she heard Derek threaten Harris through the walls and then hard him scream
right before he presumably died.
“This is crazy,” Stiles said as he looked up at Derek.
Derek’s face was paler than Stiles had ever seen it. He had a death grip on the
page, twisting and crumping the edge of the paper, and his eyes were wide with
what looked like shock and fear.
“Derek?” Stiles said softly, “What’s wrong?”
“This can’t be right,” Derek mumbled to himself, “This isn’t true. It can’t be.
No. No. No. No.”
Stiles stood and crouched in front of Derek, “Derek? What’s wrong? Talk to me,
you’re freaking me out.”
Stiles went to rest his hand on Derek’s knee but Derek’s eyes immediately
snapped towards him, glowing that bright electric blue, and Derek whispered,
“Don’t touch me.”
Stiles stilled his hand in midair and jerked it back to his chest, he stood and
took a few steps backwards to let Derek have breathing room. Derek stood from
the bed instantly and crossed to the window, opening it quickly and jumping out
of it. Stiles rushed to the window and made it just in time to see Derek
disappear into the darkness of the woods.
“What the fuck?” Stiles whispered to himself.
Nothing about what just happened made any sense. Stiles was left staring dumbly
into the woods for several minutes in hopes that Derek would come back and
explain things but he gave up as soon as he remembered the paper.
It was still intact and sitting on Stiles’ bed so he rushed for it, quickly
scooping it off the bed and reading it as fast as he could. It was all standard
stuff, the name of the interviewing officer, the time and date, and at the end
there was a single bolded line with the name of the witness.
Kate Argent.
Chapter End Notes
     this chapter got totally out of hand lmao i really didn't mean for it
     to be almost be 10k but things needed to be set up!
     props to everyone who guessed that the witness was kate, even though
     I think it was pretty obvious from the beginning lmao
     we're about to get into some wild stuff that will throw the entirety
     of season one canon out of the window so I hope you're excited!
***** Whole Lotta History *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                  Chapter Ten
                              Whole Lotta History
                                        
Derek lost himself as he ran through the woods. His shoes were the first to go,
he left them just outside of the Stilinski house’s property line. The cold
ground connected with the soles of his feet, stones digging into the soft
bottoms and healing before he even took another step. Derek stripped off his
shirt next, ignoring the sharp nicks of pain that came from his skin scraping
against low hanging branches. Derek kept his jeans on but they were nothing but
stained, bloody rags by the time he was gone.
Derek ran for miles, for hours. When he finally came to a stop he realized he
wasn’t even in Beacon County anymore. The distance from the place did little to
settle him, not when he knew that she was there. Kate had been in Beacon Hills
and Derek had no idea. He didn’t trust himself anymore, he didn’t trust that
he’d know if Kate was standing right behind him. How could he be so stupid?
The howl that Derek let out was a savage and wild sound, it rang through the
night air like a lone bell and echoed off the trees and mountains in the
distance. Derek howled for what felt like hours, he screamed and cried at the
painful burn of memories that were seared into his brain. He screamed for Kate,
at the loss of what he thought was love. He screamed because he hated himself,
he hated himself because Kate used him and killed his entire family but a small
part of Derek, that anxious and wiry 16-year-old boy, still loved her in some
sick and fucked up way.
It took Derek a little while longer to calm down and to start thinking
straight. Eventually his running slowed to a jog and then to a staggering walk
before he stopped completely and leaned against the trunk of a large tree. He
let his claws dig into the wood for only a second before he closed his eyes and
thought of Laura, Cora, and their mother all sitting on the front porch of the
old house with their dark hair blowing in the wind.
Finally anchored, Derek fell to the ground and sat against the tree. He tipped
his head towards the sky and took in the brightness of the full moon. He felt
it tug at him for a moment before he closed his eyes and ran a hand through his
damp hair.
Derek took a deep breath and thought, really thought about Kate and what she
could be after. Why would Kate involve herself in a police investigation? Why
would Kate go on record and name him as the killer when she knows he didn’t do
it? Hunters never got involved with local law enforcement, it was better for
everyone involved if the secrecy of what they did was kept intact. Secrecy was
a hunter’s biggest weapon so why would Kate risk it?
Derek let out a bitter laugh, it was Kate after all. When had Kate ever given a
damn about the code? It was probably all part of some twisted game, just
another way for her to torture Derek before she finally killed him.
Kate always did like the play with her food before she killed it.
And then it hit Derek like a high-speed truck: Kate planned the entire thing.
Derek should have seen it coming, he should have been more distrustful of the
letter Laura received. He should have smelled it, examined every inch of it,
but he was always blind when it came to Kate. He could never see her coming.
Kate drew Laura back to Beacon Hills, she set her up to have a meeting with
Harris knowing that Laura wouldn’t be able to control her anger and would end
up getting arrested. Kate must have killed Harris, or paid someone to do it at
the very least, and then she accused Derek of the murder.  It was all timed so
perfectly that Derek couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen it sooner.
Harris was killed just before the full moon. Kate knew that Derek would be
arrested and held for 24 hours. Derek would have spent the night, the full
moon, in police custody. He was already angry and ready to lash out at the
Sheriff during the day when he was being questioned and there was no telling
how he would have reacted if he was held overnight. It was what Kate wanted,
she wanted him to lose control, to expose himself or to hurt someone.
Derek’s control issues lately had been so fragile that he couldn’t even
comfortably lie to himself that he wouldn’t have hurt someone.
Hell, maybe Laura was Kate’s target, an angry Alpha storming a Sheriff’s
Station for her Beta would draw every hunter in the tri-state area.
Regardless of her true motivation, Derek knew for a fact that Kate was behind
everything. But something was different this time, there was a player that Kate
couldn’t account for, someone she would never have been able to see coming.
Stiles.
Stiles ruined Kate’s entire plan. There was no way Kate could have ever
expected the Sheriff’s son to become close to Derek and Laura. There was no way
for her to know that Stiles would find out that he and Laura were werewolves or
that Stiles would give his own father an infallible testimony about Derek’s
whereabouts when Harris was murdered.
Stiles ruined Kate’s entire plan and unknowingly put himself in her crosshairs.
Derek knew Kate had no qualms about killing a human, especially one that
associated with a werewolf pack. He didn’t know how investigations really
worked, especially with Stiles being a minor and the Sheriff’s son, but he knew
Kate and knew that she could find a way to learn who contradicted her
statement.
Derek knew he needed to get to Stiles, and then to Laura. He needed to protect
them both, and Scott because there would be hell to pay if the Argent’s found
out that Laura turned a teenager. Stiles and Scott needed to know the history
of the Hales, they needed to learn about the dangers of Hunters, and they
needed to know what could be coming their way.
Derek pushed himself up from the ground and ran back towards Beacon Hills. The
moon was just beginning to lower in the sky, he’d be back to Stiles’ by the
time his father left and they could go to Deaton’s together to talk to Laura.
Scott should be recovered enough by then to listen too.
It was going to be a long morning.      
 
                                       X
                                        
Stiles hadn’t slept. Every time he tried to close his eyes the only thing he
saw was Derek’s pale white face and that terrible look of intense fear in his
electric blue eyes. Stiles never thought he’d see Derek look like that.
Derek, with his muscles and eyebrows. Derek, with his claws and teeth. Derek,
with his speed and strength. The same Derek he’d seen take a set of claws to
his stomach was reduced to such a state of fear by a single name.
Kate Argent.
Kate Argent.
It took Stiles approximately five seconds to find Kate Argent through Allison’s
Facebook. Kate, in addition to being a practitioner of lying to the police, was
Allison’s aunt. Allison’s father, who Stiles has only met once and was
completely terrified of, is Kate’s older brother.
Kate’s own profile is surprisingly open, she doesn’t have much in the way of
privacy settings so Stiles was able to scroll through a few albums that
highlighted Kate’s numerous trips around the world. From Stiles’ count it
seemed that Kate had been in seven countries in the last two years alone, not
to mention she had photos of herself in every state in America, Alaska
included.
There were numerous photos of Kate climbing mountains, surfing, scuba diving,
hiking, camping, and even a few of her with some rather large and scary looking
guns. There was even a video of Kate beating a Marine at a pushup competition,
it was thirteen minutes long and the marine dropped out around the three-minute
mark.
In summary, Stiles was more than slightly terrified of Kate Argent.
Stiles went back to Allison’s page and found a comment from Kate that was a
week old, Kate was telling Allison that she couldn’t wait to see her in a few
days. Stiles cocked his head to the side, Kate had only been back in Beacon
Hills for three, maybe four, days and the first thing she does is accuse Derek
of murder?
It didn’t make any sense.
Stiles grabbed the file from the bed, he’d spent close to an hour smoothing the
paper out after Derek had crumpled it, and reread Kate’s statement. Upon a
second read through, Stiles noticed a few moments of hesitation in her words
that were transcribed to the page. There was just enough room in her words to
allow for a possible mistake. But Stiles read through it again, comparing those
small slips with the other parts where she seemed hell bent on making his dad
believe it was Derek, and he couldn’t help but feel that they were deliberate.
As if Kate had placed a few inconsistencies in her story just in case.
 Kate mentioned that she’d spent the evening catching up with her family after
a few months apart, mentioned that her brother made a wicked cocktail that
could knock the socks off anyone. She started by saying that the road was dark,
but then that she saw Derek’s face illuminated by a streetlight. She mentioned
being scared when she heard the sounds of a fight, so scared that she couldn’t
concentrate enough to call 911.
There were enough things in the story that if someone really wanted to pick it
apart they probably could. It was enough to get Derek arrested though, and
maybe that was all that mattered?
Stiles couldn’t think anymore, he closed his laptop and looked at his alarm
clock and groaned. It was 5am, on a Monday, and he had to be up for school in
less than four hours. Stiles knew his dad would be up in less than half an hour
so he threw the file back together, making sure to put the papers and pictures
back exactly where they had been, and scurried down to the kitchen to replace
it before his dad woke up.
Stiles sat on his bed when he got back to his room, his legs crossed, and
stared at the wall. He wasn’t entirely sure what to do with all this
information. Derek was still MIA, Laura wasn’t answering her phone, Scott was
currently shifted into a killing machine, and there was no way Stiles could
explain anything that he'd learned to his dad.
Stiles spent several minutes looking at the wall, desperately hoping that it
somehow had the answer that he needed. He was so focused on the wall that he
only saw the hand that gripped his windowsill out of his peripheral vision. A
second hand quickly joined the first and Stiles only barely managed to contain
a sharp yelp as a dark figure pulled itself into his room.
He still fell off the bed though.
The bedside lamp clicked on, thanks to the shadow figure, and it illuminated
the room and revealed a very sweaty, bloody, and shirtless Derek.
Stiles’ jaw hit the floor, “What in the ever loving, all imaginable, galaxy
spanning, time defying, actual fuck?”
Derek at least had the good sense to look guilty, “I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry?” Stiles balked, “OK, well that fixes everything!”
“Stiles,” Derek said, his voice pained, “I’m…”
Stiles sighed, scrubbing his hand over his face, and looked at Derek. He took
in his disheveled hair that had fallen over his forehead, giving him some
impressive 2004 Myspace emo bangs, his chest that dripped with a mixture of
sweat and what Stiles hoped was his own blood, and his sad eyes.
Stiles frowned and pulled a towel out of his hamper and tossed it at Derek, he
decided to have some empathy and let the guy off the hook just this once,
“Clean off, you look like you’ve been through a wood chipper.”
Derek caught the towel out of the air and held it in front of his body with a
confused look on his face, “I?”
“It’s not going to bite you, dude,” Stiles rolled his eyes, “it might smell a
little but I don’t really feel like going to grab a fresh one and risk waking
my dad up.”
Derek blinked at the towel before he brought it up to his face and inhaled,
which, weird, “It smells good.”
Stiles coughed in surprise and opened his mouth to say something but Derek was
already scrubbing his hair with the towel and Stiles decided he was too tired
and too confused about life in general to even try and unpack that comment.
Instead, Stiles said, “I researched.”
When Derek looked up his chest and stomach were mostly free of dried blood,
“You researched?”
Stiles shrugged, “OK, maybe it was more Facebook stalking and less Giles and
Willow in the library.”
Derek still looked lost, “Stiles, what are you talking about?”
“Kate Argent,” Stiles took a deep breath and tried his best to ignore the way
Derek flinched at just her name, “I found her. And there’s something important
I need to tell you abo-”
Derek dropped the towel and immediately crowded into Stiles’ space, pushing him
back against the wall, when Derek spoke his eyes were electric blue and his
breath was hot on Stiles’ face, “Stay away from her.”
Stiles blinked, “Derek? Derek, dude, you’re kinda scaring me here.”
It wasn’t that Stiles was afraid that Derek would hurt him, Stiles knew that he
wouldn’t. But there was something to be said about the primal, ingrained fear
that came with a man who had arms the size of your head pushing you against a
wall in any other situation that wasn’t consensual sexy times. Add glowing eyes
and sharp teeth to that man and you’ve got a recipe for blanket fear.
Derek’s eyes faded back to their normal human color and he fled to the other
end of the room in two quick strides, “I’m sorry. I wouldn’t- “
“I know,” Stiles cut him off, “still, squishy human and big bad wolf just kinda
equals automatic fear.”
“I just…” Derek trailed off, he looked frustrated at his inabilities to form
actual sentences, “I had a plan, I thought of words.”
“Words?” Stiles repeated.
If Derek wasn’t so obviously terrified of everything at the moment Stiles would
find this socially awkward phase endearing.
“I had a plan!” Derek growled, “You. Laura. Scott. I was going to talk, to tell
you all. But I can’t…I can’t even hear her name without…”
Stiles was slowly starting to piece some of the information together.
“You know her.” Stiles said, it wasn’t a question.
Derek nodded jerkily.
“And she’s not good people.” Again, a statement.
“Obviously,” Derek huffed out a slightly manic laugh, “good people don’t set
you up for murder.”
Stiles hedged his bets, pushing a bit further, “That’s the part I don’t get.
Why would she do that? It’s like her statement is perfectly crafted to get you
into trouble but there’s also enough inconsistency worked into it that she
could get out of it without any legal trouble if it fell apart.”
Derek’s eyes went dark, “It figures she’d be prepared even for that.”
Stiles took a step closer to Derek, he was within arm’s reach now, “I know you
don’t want to talk about this, it’s obviously a sore subject but…”
“She killed my entire family,” Derek said, his voice was nonchalant and
detached.
Stiles’ jaw hit the floor and he opened his mouth to speak.
Derek stepped forward and pressed the palm of his hand gently against Stiles’
lips, “Your dad just woke up.”
Stiles’ breath was warm against Derek’s hand until he pulled it away. Content
that Stiles was going to stay quiet, Derek walked to the bedside table and
turned off the lamp, casting the room into darkness again. Stiles numbly walked
to his bed and got under the covers, turning to face Derek where he rested
against the open window.
“I’ll be outside,” Derek whispered, “I’ll come back when he leaves.”
Stiles nodded. He didn’t trust himself to speak, not when there were a million
and one questions flying around his head as to why Allison’s aunt killed
Derek’s entire family.
Stiles stared at the ceiling and listened to his dad go through his normal
morning routine. He heard the shower start, listened as his dad stubbed his toe
on the side of the wall in the hall and cursed its existence. Stiles quickly
closed his eyes as he heard the door to his room open, pulling the covers up
over his shoulders and turning onto his side.
His father walked quietly across the room and came to a stop next to the bed.
He slowly lowered himself, sat on the edge of the mattress, and gently ran his
hand over the top of Stiles’ hair before whispering, “Love you, kid.”
Stiles resisted the urge to bolt out of the bed and wrap his arms around his
dad and hug him tight. He’d caused his dad to worry so much over the past two
days and he felt endlessly guilty about it.
He waited until the sound of his father pulling the cruiser out of the driveway
faded before he turned on the lamp. When Stiles looked up at his window he
found Derek’s face looking inside, his hand pressed flat against the glass.
Stiles looked up at Derek, unimpressed, and settled back into the bed. Derek
could find his own way inside, he’d apparently done it before so he could do it
again. Derek scowled at Stiles before extending a single clawed finger and
sliding it under the bottom of the widow. Derek effortlessly raised the window
and silently slipped inside within a few seconds.
“So,” Stiles said, sitting up on the bed and wrapping his comforter around his
shoulders like a cape, “do you want to talk about it?”
“No,” Derek said, his voice rough, “but I have to. So you’ll know. How
dangerous she is.”
Stiles sighed, “You don’t have to give me any details, what you’ve said is
already enough.”
It almost pained Stiles to say it since every instinct of his was buzzing with
electricity and the need to find out every detail, to pick and research until
he unearthed every aspect of what Derek had just said. But Stiles could take
one look at Derek and tell that it would be the wrong course of action, Derek
didn’t need someone picking through the graves of his family just so Stiles
could satisfy his own curiosity.
“Kate was the one who burned down our house,” Derek said through gritted teeth,
“and she had help. Harris drunkenly told her how to do it so there would be no
trace of foul play.”
Stiles’ eyes went wide, “Holy shit.”
“There were others,” Derek said, “others who helped her, people who she paid
off and people who just wanted to see my kind die.”
“Your kind?” Stiles repeated, “Werewolves?”
“Kate is a hunter,” Derek said softly, “she hunts supernatural creatures,
specializes in werewolves. They’re supposed to have a code, only kill those who
harm others. But my family never hurt anyone, she killed them just because she
wanted to. She didn’t care if there were humans in the pack, or children, she
just killed them all and she got off on it. Her entire family does.”
Stiles was given so much information so quickly that he almost didn’t know what
to focus on, “Her entire family? What do you mean?”
Derek sighed, “The Argent family is the oldest active hunting family on record.
They’re all raised to be lethal fighters, ruthless and bloodthirsty. They’re
trained to hunt and kill our kind, and others like us. They haven’t followed
the code for a long time.” 
Stiles nearly fell off his bed. He pictured Allison and her dimples, her soft
smile, her curly dark hair, and tried to imagine her as some ruthless killer.
It couldn’t be true, could it?
“I was trying to tell you something earlier…” Stiles trailed off, he felt
himself going numb.
“What?” Derek said, looking a little more put together after his information
dump.
“Allison,” Stiles mumbled, “Scott’s Allison, the one he’s one more lost pencil
away from asking out on an actual date.”
“Stiles?” Derek asked, dropping down to his eye level.
“Her name is Allison Argent,” Stiles said, looking up to meet Derek’s eyes,
“Kate is her aunt.”
 
                                       X
                                        
It was a little after 5am when Scott finally passed out, Laura realized as she
looked at her watch. She’d spent all night on the floor across from him, just
on the other side of the mountain ash line. She’d spent the hours talking to
him, trying to connect with his human side and find something that he could use
as his anchor.
Nothing seemed to work though and Scott spent the entire night a snarling,
wild, mess. Scott had shifted almost automatically the second the moon reached
its peak and stayed that way until it began to slowly sink in the sky. She was
grateful for the mountain ash line that Deaton had put down because Scott
exhibited some pretty intense signs of strength for a newly bitten wolf and
Laura wasn’t entirely confident that the chains would stay bolted into place.
She made a note to search for some new ones just in case Scott didn’t get
himself settled by the next full moon.
Laura did notice how it took longer for Scott to react to things with anger
though, how he seemed to move a bit sluggishly in the beginning. It made her
smile, Derek had done a good job of wearing Scott out and making her job at
night just a bit easier. It made something side her swell, a rush of warmth
flooding through her entire body. The feeling of peace that come with a pack.
“I see he finally gave up,” Deaton’s voice came from behind Laura, soft and
amused, “he lasted a lot longer than I expected him too.”
Laura smiled, “He’s certainly wilier than I thought he was going to be. Thank
god Derek tired him out with a run before we got here, I was starting to think
he was going to break through the chains.”
Deaton hummed, “They are old, they haven’t been used in a few decades.”
Laura looked over her shoulder, “When was the last time?”
Deaton’s eyes turned downward, “It was Peter, actually.”
Laura gaped, “Peter? I don’t remember that?”
“You were young,” Deaton said, “I’m not sure if you’d remember, it was the
night Joshua was born.”
Laura felt herself go numb, Joshua was Peter’s oldest son, her cousin.
“I don’t.”
“When Joshua was born there were some…complications.” Deaton said, “Mariska was
a human, after all.”
Aunt Mariska. Peter’s wife.
“I always remember Aunt Mariska as so much more than human,” Laura laughed,
“she never acted like one, it was easy to forget.”
Deaton smiled, “Yes, even with her gifts she was still just a human.”
Laura smiled sadly.
“I don’t remember the specifics, all I know is that Joshua was born the night
before a full moon and there was a lot of bleeding on Mariska’s part. Your
mother was worried about Peter’s anger during the full moon and they both
agreed that it would be safer for Mariska and Joshua if he stayed with me
during the full moon.”
Laura ran her hands through her hair. It always took her by surprise when she
learned something new about her family, she thought she’d know everything about
them but it always seemed like there was something else to learn.
“Mariska and Joshua were fine though, I know that.” Laura said.
“Yes, Mariska pulled through and Peter went back to her side in the morning.
Your mother offered her the bite but no one was sure if it would take and
Mariska would only accept if it was the very last option.”
Laura laughed, “She was always stubborn, it was why Peter loved her so much.”
Deaton didn’t respond, he only smiled and nodded before turning back to his
table and picking up several large books. Laura had almost forgotten that
Deaton had spent the last few hours researching what the wolf that attacked
them was.
Laura cleared her throat, grateful for a subject change, “Did you find
anything?”
Deaton waved her over, “Yes, my suspicions were correct.”
“You found it?” Laura scurried to her feet and ran over to Deaton, dropping
into the chair next to him.
“I believe what you encountered was a Rougarou.” Deaton said.
Laura’s eyebrows shot to her hairline, “A who the what now?”
Deaton laughed, “A Rougarou, though it is sometimes referred to as a Loup
Garou. Loup being the French word for wolf and garou is what they call a man
who turned into an animal. It’s mostly folklore stuff but, as you know,
everything has a root in reality.”
“Wolf?” Laura repeated, “I don’t understand, I’ve never seen a werewolf that
looks like that.”
“A Rougarou is a werewolf,” Deaton nodded, “but it is one that has been
tampered with by magic. Some say it’s a sort of curse.”
“A curse?” Laura cocked her head to the side, “I don’t understand.”
Deaton smiled, “A Rougarou can only be created by someone with strong magical
energy, it is a highly advanced spell that requires a blood sacrifice and often
backfires and kills the caster if they are not strong enough. A Rougarou is
created when a witch casts a spell on someone who has been bitten by a wolf, it
takes advantage of the fact that the wolf did not grow with the human and
drives a wedge between them. The wolf becomes savage and angry at the fact that
it’s being kept apart from its other half and over time it corrupts it.”
Laura nodded, “Keep going.”
“It causes great pain for the human, it makes them feel like they’re being torn
apart from the inside as the wolf fights to reconnect with them. It either ends
with the person dying or the wolf managing to reform the connection.”
“What happens then?”
“As I said, the magic corrupts the wolf. It’s no longer the calming, protective
presence you feel within yourself. It’s angry, vengeful. The magic somehow
overwrites the standard Beta shift and it presents as what you and Derek
encountered in the preserve. Something similar to an Alpha shift, but more man
than wolf. Most people theorize that it’s because the wolf is worried about
losing its human connection again so it welcomes it into the shift and finds a
way to merge the two sides together.”
Laura was dumbfounded, “How have I never heard of this before?”
“Hunters and werewolves alike have worked to keep it a relative secret,” Deaton
said, “it’s probably one of the only things they agree on.”
“Why?”
“Another side effect of the curse is that the witch who completes the spell,
given she survives, can potentially have control over the wolf and use it to do
her bidding. I’m sure you can see why both hunters and packs would not want
that information to be readily available to any witch who decided she wanted to
be a little power hungry.”
Laura knew she was still gaping at Deaton but she couldn’t do much to collect
herself, “You’re telling me that it’s possible someone is controlling Peter?”
Deaton looked puzzled, “You still think the wolf is Peter?”
“Of course,” Laura said, “who else could it be?”
“It’s not possible for it to be Peter. As I said, the spell only works on a
wolf who’s been bitten, it has no effect on a born wolf because the wolf and
human sides are bonded from the moment of conception.”
Laura felt her entire body sag in relief. It wasn’t until a few moments later
when a memory struck her like a bolt of lightning and a seemingly random
conversation she’d overheard as a child became clear to her, “Peter wasn’t a
born wolf.”
Deaton wore an expression of surprise that Laura had never seen before, “What?”
Laura thought back to the conversation, “It was something he wasn’t proud of, I
think. I overheard him and my mother arguing about it one day, she told him
that it was his greatest insecurity and that it would be the ruin of him. From
what I could gather, he was born a human and then bitten by my grandmother when
he was a few years older. Looking back, it makes so much more sense now. Peter
was always jealous of my mother, that she was the Alpha. He always told her
that she had it all and never appreciated it.”
Deaton hummed thoughtfully, “It does make sense. It puts quite a few events
from the past in new context.”
Laura let her head fall to the table, “This is all my fault.”
“How so?” Deaton asked.
Laura growled, “I left him. I was so worried about myself and Derek that we
left Peter on his own. God. I could have called and had him transferred so he
would be closer to us but I was so worried that it would alert the Argent’s to
where we were that I just left him. I assumed he would be safe, what reason
would they have to kill Peter? He was in a coma for fucks sake.”
“He was vulnerable,” Deaton nodded along, “you think someone found him and took
advantage of his state.”
“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” Laura growled as she pushed herself
back from the table, “it’s why the…the Rougarou smelled like pack. It smells
like pack but it’s twisted and dark, it’s the magic.”
Deaton stayed silent, his eyes tracking Laura as she paced back and forth.
“Is there a way to fix this?” Laura asked, “There has to be something, curses
are meant to be broken.”
“I’m not sure,” Deaton said honestly, “I only have one book that talks about
Rougarou lore and it doesn’t mention any way to break the spell. I’d have to
consider it some more, reach out to some people who I think could know
something.”
“Could you?” Laura sighed, “I know you’re not my emissary, I know it’s a lot to
ask but…I’m lost.”
Deaton nodded, “I may not have a pledge to you, but I promised your mother that
I would help you in any way I could. Within reason. It may take me awhile, I
don’t want to ask too many questions too fast.”
“Thank you,” Laura smiled. She would hug him but she had a suspicion that
Deaton wasn’t a big hugger.
Deaton only nodded in reply.
Laura leaned against the wall as she checked her watch, it was closer to 6am
now. She tilted her head to the ceiling as she heard a familiar rumbling sound
approaching.
Stiles’ jeep.  
She could also feel Derek growing closer. She smiled a small, knowing smile.
“Derek is here,” Laura told Deaton, “Stiles is with him.”
Deaton’s eyebrows rose again, “As in Stilinski?”
Laura awkwardly avoided eye contact, “Did I forget to mention that?”
Deaton gave Laura a look which told her he was seriously questioning her life
choices. Which was fair.
“I hope you’re not planning on biting him too.”
Laura laughed, “No, he seems pretty attached to his humanity.”
Deaton hummed thoughtfully.
Laura heard the bell above the front door ding, she didn’t want to think about
how Derek unlocked the front door, “We’re downstairs.”
Laura listened as Derek relayed the message to Stiles.
Stiles was the first to make it to the basement galloping down the steps
quickly and without paying attention. Stiles tripped over his feet on the last
step and went falling towards the ground face first. Laura moved to catch him
but Derek made it first, jumping from the top step and wrapping his hand around
Stiles’ bicep before Stiles’ face met the concrete floor.
Stiles looked up with wide eyes and a small smile. Derek nodded, a small jerk
of his chin, and quickly released Stiles arm, then settled both of his hands on
Stiles shoulders before lightly pushing him away.
It only made Stiles smile more.
Laura rolled her eyes. They were both idiots.
Stiles spun in a circle as he took in the walls of the room and the obvious
mystical feeling of the space, “Dude, Doctor Deaton is a witch!”
“Druid,” Deaton deadpanned, not bothering to look up from his book, “it’s nice
to see you again Mister Stilinski.”
“Dude! Doctor Deaton, Druid!” Stiles laughed, “alliteration rocks.”
Deaton sighed, long suffering.
It wasn’t until Laura really looked at Derek that she noticed something was
wrong. He was hunched in on himself, his shoulders rigid, and his eyes were
darting around the room like he was looking for every possible entrance and
exit. He smelled like fear, anger, and sadness. Even Stiles had an air of fear
about him when Laura looked before the surprised wonder and false bravado.
Something had obviously brought them to Laura.
“What’s wrong?” Laura asked, “Tell me.”
Stiles and Derek both looked at each other as if they were trying to decide who
should be the one to speak. They were having a silent argument that Stiles
apparently won, if Derek’s growl was any indication.
“Stiles found his father’s file on Harris’ murder.” Derek said.
“Sounds totally legal,” Laura shrugged, “what’s in it?”
“The person who claimed I killed Harris.”
Laura heard Deaton’s chair scrape against the floor behind her but she didn’t
turn to face him, “Who was it?”
Stiles eyes were cast towards the floor and Derek’s hands were balled into
tight fists, it took a moment but he finally answered, “Kate. The woman who the
Sheriff spoke to was Kate.”
Laura felt like she’d been punched in the gut. She took a few steps backwards
until she collided with the table and reached behind to grab it and steady
herself. It couldn’t have been a coincidence then that she ran into Chris in
the grocery store.
“Fuck!” Laura spat, “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”
“There’s something else,” Stiles said, “I mean, Kate is terrible and Derek told
me about what happened but...”
Laura raked a hand through her hair and sighed, “What is it, Stiles?”
Stiles swallowed audibly, “It’s probably a good thing that Scott is passed out
for this part.”
“Stiles!” Derek snapped, “Just fucking tell her!”
“Ok! Ok!” Stiles held up his hands in a placating gesture, “The girl that Scott
is head over heels for? Allison?”
Laura’s eyes went wide, how could she not have put the pieces together.
“No.” Laura whispered.
“Yes,” Stiles said, “Allison is Allison Argent. She’s Kate’s niece.”
“I saw them earlier,” Laura said numbly, “Allison and Chris. Fuck.”
Derek’s reply was cut off by Scott stirring in the corner, “Huh? What about
Allison?”
Stiles slapped a hand to his face and groaned, “Great.”
Laura was overwhelmed. She didn’t know what to do, she didn’t know how to
process any of the information she’d just learned. Her newest Beta wanted to
date an Argent? Kate was back and she was the one who turned Derek in? Chris’
veiled threats in the grocery store suddenly made a whole lot more sense.
“Why are you talking about Allison?” Scott said as he sat up, rubbing at his
eyes. He was completely human again.
“I didn’t hurt her, did I?” Scott’s eyes went wide as he began to panic.
“No,” Laura said, quickly and as soothingly as she could, “you didn’t hurt
anyone, you were here with me all night.”
“Scott, dude,” Stiles began.
Laura glared at him and flashed her eyes red. Something told her that Stiles’
brand of bluntness wouldn’t be the best course of action for this conversation.
“Scott,” Laura said, but she was cut off by the ringing of her cell phone.
Laura was determined to ignore the phone, the faster she told Scott about
Allison and her family history the faster they could come up with a plan.
“Laura,” Derek said, “your phone.”
Laura shook her head, “Ignore it, whatever it is isn’t important right now.”
“Laura,” Derek said again, his voice louder, “it’s the hospital.”
Laura’s eyes went wide. She looked back at Scott who nodded at her and then
towards the phone. She rushed past Deaton, asking him to break Scott’s mountain
ash line in the process, and then quickly answered her phone.
“Hello?”
“Hi, yes,” the voice on the other end said, a little frantic, “is this Laura
Hale?”
“Yes, what is this about?”
“Miss Hale, I’m Rebecca, the head of administration at Beacon General,” Rebecca
said, “we have you listed as the next of kin for Peter Hale.”
Laura’s stomach dropped, “Did something happen to him?”
Rebecca was quiet for a moment and Laura could hear the murmur of voices behind
her on the phone, “Something…unusual has happened, yes.”
Laura turned slowly and looked at Derek whose eyes were as wide as hers felt,
“What is it?”
“Miss Hale,” Rebecca said, “your uncle went missing from the hospital sometime
last night.”
Chapter End Notes
     anyway, hi! information dump there at the end! i wanted to do
     something a little different than ~the alpha~ of season one, mostly
     because Laura was alive. And I spent a few hours researching stuff
     one night and found the legend of the Rougarou pretty interesting and
     thought it would make a fun fic, I just changed the legend a bit just
     to make it fit how I wanted the story to go.
     this_is_pretty_much_roughly_how_i_imagine_the_rougarou_of_the_story
     to_look_btwz just with black eyes instead of red
     Next chapter we'll get some Allison interaction, some Lydia, and
     maybe one or two more surprises ;)
***** Gengar Used Substitute! *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                Chapter Eleven
                            Gengar Used Substitute!
                                        
Derek met Laura’s eyes from across the room. There was no mistaking what he’d
heard on the other end of that phone call. Peter was gone.
Stiles, unsurprisingly, was the first to break the silence, “I know you two
have your like, secret wonder twin telepathy thing going on but could you share
with the rest of the class?”
Derek barely resisted an eye roll as he looked towards Stiles. Stiles was
balanced precariously on the edge of the stool and with Scott was slumped down
on the table next to him the odds were fairly high that Scott didn’t hear the
phone call either.
“That was the hospital,” Laura said, taking charge, “something happened last
night.”
Scott’s head immediately shot up at that, his eyes glowing a dull golden color,
“What happened? Did that thing attack it? I need to find my mom!”
Laura stood and quickly made her way around the table and to Scott. Laura’s
hand fell to the middle of Scott’s shoulders and began to rub in a gentle,
circular motion. It was something that Derek remembered his mother doing
whenever any of the cubs got upset.
“That was bad wording on my part, I’m sorry.” Laura said softly.
“Something happened with Uncle Peter,” Derek clarified, “he went missing in the
middle of the night.”
Stiles’ eyebrows shot up to his hairline, “How does someone in a coma go
missing in the middle of the night?”
Derek didn’t have a chance to reply before Stiles slapped his hand to his own
forehead in an apparently surprised revelation, “Hello, Stiles! When that
person in a coma is actually an evil werewolf.”
“Actually,” Laura said, “Deaton has a theory about that.”
“That it’s a demon!” Stiles interrupted, “A dancing demon! No, wait, something
isn’t right there.”
The entire room fell silent and everyone’s eyes turned to Stiles.
“Stiles, what the hell?” Derek finally asked after several seconds of silence.
Stiles shrugged, “Sorry, I forgot to take my Adderall when you rushed me out
the door this morning.”
“Right,” Derek mumbled, “blame it on me.”
Stiles glared, “I heard that! And I didn’t even need fancy magic hearing
either!”
Laura sighed before straightening her posture and squaring her shoulders back,
“Enough. Both of you. There’s no time for this.”
Derek quickly cut off his snippy reply and turned to face Laura. Stiles was
sitting straight up, his hands folded in front of him on the table, and
watching Laura with equally rapt attention. Laura looked startled, like she
hadn’t expected either of them to listen to her, and Derek realized for the
first time how powerful of an Alpha his sister could potential become.
Stiles opened his mouth a few times, evidently trying to draw up the courage to
speak, before he settled on raising his hand and waiting to be called on.
Laura chuckled, pointing at Stiles, “Unnecessary, but appreciated.”
Stiles smiled, “What’s the plan?”
Laura drummed her fingers on the table for a second before nodding to herself,
“Derek, you’re going to the hospital. Tell them I’m busy and couldn’t make it
but get all the information you can out of them. You also have a better sense
of smell than me when I’m not fully shifted so if anyone can pick up anything
it’ll be you.”
Derek nodded. He was listed alongside Laura as Peter’s next of kin so he
figured he wouldn’t have any trouble getting any information out of the
hospital staff.
Laura turned towards Scott and Stiles next, “Stiles, you’re going to school.
Don’t give me that face, it’ll look weird if you don’t show up. Scott, you’re
taking the day off. You’re still vulnerable to emotional outbursts for a few
hours after the moon goes down and the whole thing takes a toll on you. You
need to sleep, not go to school.”
Derek smiled, seeing his sister give out marching orders was something new and
fascinating. She reminded him so much of their mother, in the best way
possible. Derek was surprised to find that it didn’t hurt terrible this time
when he thought of their mother, instead there was a warm glow that seemed to
spread through his entire chest. Laura locked eyes with him across the table, a
small smile across her face that conveyed the words, ‘I feel it too’, without
having to speak.
Scott frowned, “I still want to know why you guys were talking about Allison.”
“We can talk about it later,” Laura said, “you need to rest.”
“No.” Scott stuck his chin out, stubborn and set, “I want to know why.”
Laura narrowed her eyes. Derek doubted she expected to be challenged so quickly
after laying down the law but he was admittedly interested in seeing how Laura
would handle it.
Unsurprisingly, once again, Stiles offered his opinion, “I think we should
probably tell him. I know Scott, if we don’t tell him now he’ll go home and
sulk for an hour, then make some terrible decision like running to find Allison
and demanding to know why two of the towns newest werewolf residents aren’t too
keen on her.”
Derek bit back a small laugh, he could see all that happening in vivid detail.
Scott still hadn’t really grasped the concept of discretion.
Laura threw her hands up in the air, “Sure, fine. It’s not like I’m the Alpha
or anything.”
Derek hoped that Laura didn’t decide to dwell on it, Scott was a teenager in
love before he was a werewolf. He doubted there was anything Laura could have
done to get him to drop that particular thread, other than to glare him into
submission.
Derek stood from the table, “I’m going to go to the hospital. I’ll call you if
I find out anything.”
Laura stood and pulled him into a quick but firm hug, “Be careful, pup.”
Derek could see Stiles grinning at the pet name over Laura’s shoulder. He
tried, and failed, to glare him into submission.
Derek wanted to brush it off, to tell her that he’d obviously be safe because
he’s just going to the hospital but they both knew, especially with Kate in
town, that something terrible could happen at any time. They all needed to be
on guard.
“Deaton thinks it’s possible that Peter is being controlled by a witch,” Laura
said grimly, “it’s something called a Rougarou. I’ll explain more later just
see if you can find any signs of magic, anything that could lead us to this
possible witch. There might be a way to save him, Derek. I didn’t think it
would be possible at first…but now…just be careful, OK?”
Derek nodded. They’d both accepted the fact that if Peter had gone feral it was
either him or them, it was a terrible thing to think of but they had to be
prepared for that eventuality. But now? If Peter was being controlled, if there
was a way to save him? They had to try, they owed it to their family to at
least do that.
A witch was the last thing Derek would have expected when they got back to
Beacon Hills but it made sense, especially the rune that was carved into the
wall of their old house.
Besides, Derek would rather hunt down a witch than hear Laura retell their
family tragedy and listen to Scott fight the idea that Allison is nothing but a
bloodthirsty killer. He liked Scott, he didn’t want to have to rip his head off
for being an oblivious idiot.
Derek turned to leave the room but stopped before he hit the stairs, “Stiles,
give me your phone.”
He heard Stiles’ stool wobble, no doubt a fraction of a second away from
falling to the floor, “Huh? What? Why?”
Derek turned on his heel and held out his hand, a bored expression of his face,
“Phone, Stiles.”
Stiles’ eyes were wide and slightly weary, as if he expected Derek to take his
phone and smash it under his boot. They looked at each other for a few more
seconds before Derek sighed, stomped over to Stiles, and plucked the phone out
of his hands.
“Hey!” Stiles squawked.
Derek ignored his protests, “Did you want my number or not?”
Stiles grew quiet and Derek could almost feel the frenzy melt away from Stiles,
“Oh, yeah. Sure. That’s cool. Bro.”
Derek raised a curious eyebrow as he put his number in Stiles phone, saving
himself under the simple initials of DH. He slid Stiles’ phone back to him
across the table and Stiles just barely managed to catch it before it slid
right off the table and onto the floor.
“I’ll call you after I’m done at the hospital,” Derek said to Laura before he
made his way upstairs, “call me if anything major comes up before then.”
Laura nodded, “Stay safe.”
Derek made his way up the stairs, giving Deaton a polite nod before leaving the
office, and made his way to the rental car. He was glad they were only a few
minutes from the hospital before he wasn’t sure he’d be able to sit in the damn
thing for any longer than he had to.
Derek’s phone buzzed in his pocket as he pulled out of the parking lot but he
ignored it. There was on lesson his father always tried to impress upon them
and it was to never text and drive, he always said that a werewolf could die in
a car crash just as easily as a human if they weren’t careful.
Derek drove the few minutes to the hospital in silence, focusing on the road in
front of him so he didn’t have to think of anything involving Kate Argent.
When Derek pulled into the parking lot he frowned, the Sheriff’s cruiser was
parked right in front of the hospital. Derek wasn’t looking forward to another
conversation with him so soon after their last, nor was he looking forward to
anymore not so thinly veiled threats about staying away from the Sheriff’s
underage son.
Derek parked and walked towards the hospital, pausing when his phone buzzed in
his pocket again and reminded him that he had a text. Derek pulled his phone
out and unlocked it, immediately rolling his eyes when he read the text from an
unknown number.
From Unknown Number: DH? Seriously? You do know my dad does detective work for
a living, right?
From Unknown Number: I changed your contact name to Americas Most Wanted btw 
Derek sighed, not unfondly, and added Stiles to his contacts under the name Do
Not Answer. He took a screenshot of the entry and sent it to Stiles, figuring
he’d be amused by it. He sent Laura a text to tell her he’d made it to the
Hospital and pocketed his phone before Stiles had a chance to reply.
The interior of the hospital was the same as Derek remembered it being only a
few days before but there was something different in the air. He tipped his
head to the side and breathed in deeply, furrowing his brow in confusion as he
tried to figure out just what it was he was smelling. He took a few steps
forward, following the direction of the scent around a corner and paused when
he saw Melissa McCall standing off to the side with her cell pressed against
her ear. She looked worn out and frazzled, her dark hair pulled into a mussy
bun above her head.
Derek realized it was her he was smelling, or rather, he was smelling the scent
of a pack mate on her. He took another step forward and then stopped when he
picked up Scott’s voice on the other end of the line.
“I’m serious,” Scott said, sounding terribly pathetic, “I feel like I’m dying,
mom.”
Melissa looked skeptical, “What test do you have today that you didn’t study
for?”
Scott coughed and sounded slightly convincing, “I don’t! I promise, I really
don’t feel good.”
Melissa sighed and tipped her head towards the ceiling, “Fine, you can stay
home but if you’re really sick then no video games and no Stiles until I verify
that you’re either not contagious or that you’re lying.”
“OK. Can I go back to bed now?”
Melissa shook her head, smiling, “Yes. I’ll be home in a few hours, do you need
anything?”
Scott made another pathetic wining sound and Derek rolled his eyes, he’d have
to talk to Scott about not hamming it up too much after every full moon so
Melissa doesn’t get suspicious.
Derek tuned out the rest of the conversation to be polite and waited until
Melissa hung up the phone to approach her. Her back was turned towards Derek so
he made a few sounds louder than he normally would so he didn’t scare her to
death.
“Nurse McCall?” Derek asked just as she turned around to face him.
“Derek?” Melissa asked, looking momentarily confused before something seemed to
click in her brain, “Derek! You’re here about your uncle?”
“Yes,” Derek said, “Laura got the call but she’s…unavailable right now so she
asked me to come down to see what you know?”
Melissa waved him forward and they walked down the hallway towards the
elevators, “I should probably wait for the Sheriff to fill you in before I tell
you anything.”
Derek paused as they waited for the doors to open, “I don’t get how someone
with his condition just disappears? He didn’t just…walk out in the middle of
the night, did he?”
Melissa laughed, “It was a strange night but it wasn’t that strange.”
Derek cocked his head to the side, “What happened?”
Melissa stepped into the elevator and hit the button for the same floor he and
Laura had visited the other day, “The hospital had a power surge last night,
I’ve never seen anything like it in all the years I’ve been here.”
That wasn’t suspicious at all, Derek thought, “Power surge?”
Melissa nodded, “A little after midnight, all the lights flashed a few times
and then this sound, like thunder, rolled through the building and all the
lights died.”
“How long were they out?”
“Maybe ten minutes?” Melissa contemplated, “They discovered Peter missing a few
minutes after the lights came back on.”
“You have backup generators, right?”
“Melissa nodded, “They kicked on a few seconds later.”
“Would the security cameras still work with the generator?” Derek asked.
“That was my first thought,” Melissa said, “they’re supposed to but apparently
the surge fried the mainframe and deleted a few weeks’ worth of archived
footage, including everything from that night.”
Totally not suspicious, Derek thought again, “Who found out he was missing?”
“One of his regular nurses.” Melissa said.
Derek thought back to their visit with Peter, “Jennifer?”
Melissa looked up, startled and a bit confused, “Who?”
Derek opened his mouth but was cut off by Melissa’s pager beeping frantically.
She looked down at it and sighed, “Dammit, sorry. Emergency. The Sheriff should
be just down the hallway.”
Derek could hear, and smell, the Sheriff just down the hallway inside of the
room that used to belong to Peter. He took a deep breath and squared his
shoulders, then let them drop again because he figured making his shoulders
look even broader was some kind of intimidation tactic that would fail
horribly, and made his way down to Peter’s room.
The Sheriff was leaning against the window, obviously looking for any signs of
entry. Derek would point out that it was probably moot since they were a few
dozen feet from the ground but he didn’t feel like getting shot.
Derek cleared his throat, “Sheriff?”
The Sheriff turned, and if the stutter in his heartbeat didn’t give away his
surprise at seeing Derek then his eyes would have. The Sheriff, to his credit,
recovered quickly and admitted, “I was expecting to see Laura.”
Derek shrugged, “She couldn’t get away.”
The Sheriff looked like he wanted to say more but he held himself back for some
reason, “We dusted for prints but it seems like the janitor came through and
cleaned just before Peter went missing. The only fingerprints in the room
likely belong to her and Peter.”
“And the janitor?”
“Is a seventy-year-old grandmother of three,” The Sheriff quirked a small
smile, “I don’t think she would abduct anyone.”
Appearances can be deceiving, Derek wanted to say, “Did anyone see anything?”
“I had a few deputies make some rounds but everything went a bit crazy when the
power went out, everyone went to check on the patients in the ward who were on
ventilators. It’s why they left Peter for last.”
Derek could’ve made a comment about the staff neglecting Peter but he would be
just as guilty so he bit his tongue.
“A few of the staff said you and Laura were here the other day, do you know
anything?” The Sheriff asked.
Derek sighed, “I didn’t kidnap my uncle if that’s what you’re asking.”
The Sheriff laughed, smiled even, “I didn’t think you did, Derek. I was just
asking if you remember anything out of the ordinary.”
“Oh,” Derek said, feeling like a bit of an ass, “No. Not really. We spoke to
Nurse McCall when we got lost and then one of Peter’s nurses but other than
that we just visited and left.”
The Sheriff nodded, pulling out a notepad, “Do you remember the name of Peter’s
nurse?”
“Jennifer,” Derek said, “I didn’t catch her last name.”
“Give me a few seconds, let me go ask around,” The Sheriff said as Derek
stepped out of the doorway, he paused before leaving the room, “Oh, you can
tell Laura she can come pick up her car this afternoon, it was deer blood.”
“Like she said it was,” Derek said, “thank you.”
The Sheriff’s eyes narrowed slightly before he turned and walked down to the
nurse’s station. Derek looked over his shoulder to make sure the Sheriff was
occupied before he stepped into the room and took stock of it.
The Sheriff was right, the room had been cleaned recently. The false lemon
smell of the antiseptic burned his nose as he leaned down into the bed. Peter’s
scent was strongest on the pillow and seemed to gradually dissipate the further
that Derek went down on the bed.
Derek paused to listen for the Sheriff and went back to work after realizing he
was still talking to one of the nurses.
Derek walked around to the other side of the bed and stumbled, his eyes went
wide and he looked at the ground in confusion because there was nothing for him
to trip over. Derek cocked his head to the side, he knew he didn’t trip over
his own feet because what self-respecting werewolf would do that?
He stepped to the side and walked back to the front of the bed, giving a wide
berth of space to the area that he tripped over. He listened for the Sheriff
again before taking a step forward, then another, then one more, and then
stumbling in the exact same spot as before.
“What the?” Derek mumbled to himself.
Derek dropped to his knees and looked under the bed, he could see something but
he couldn’t make it out with the bed obstructing his view. He stood quickly,
listened again and heard the Sheriff quietly arguing with another nurse, and
then turned back to the bed. Derek lifted the bed with one hand and sat it off
to the side.
Derek looked back down to the floor and his eyes went wide when he realized
what he was looking at. There was a rune etched into the floor, thick black
lines surrounding what looked like four triangles folded in on themselves and
then incased in another diamond shape. He pulled out his phone, quickly
snapping a picture, and moved the bed back to its previous position as he heard
the Sheriff’s footsteps echo from down the hallway.
Derek made his way to the door, shouldering through and slipping into the crowd
of people in the hallway. He could hear the Sheriff behind him calling his name
but he kept his back turned as he made his way towards the elevator. The doors
opened the second Derek hit the call button and Derek darted inside, jamming
the close button as the Sheriff’s face came into view from the other end of the
hallway.
 
 
                                       X
                                        
Laura patiently waited for Scott to get off the phone with his mother. Scott
insisted he needed her approval to stay home from school and that if he tried
to stay home without telling her it would end with him being grounded until the
next full moon and that didn’t bode well for anyone.
Laura watched with a slight tinge of amusement as Scott practiced several kinds
of fake coughs, dropped his voice so it sounded like he was congested, and
basically wined like a little baby on the phone. Laura could hear Melissa on
the other end, clearly hesitant about the validity of Scott’s claims, but in
the end, she gave in. Most mothers usually did.
Laura swallowed down the sadness of the memories of her mother, of trying to
convince an Alpha werewolf that she was too sick to go to school regardless of
the fact that werewolves don’t get sick.
“She said she would be home in a few hours,” Scott said, drawing Laura from her
memories, “I think she got wrapped up in the thing with your uncle too.”
Laura ignored the anxiousness that had settled itself on her shoulders. She
couldn’t let her guilt over the situation with Peter take over just yet. She
knew she had to stay strong for Scott, and even Stiles.
Stiles, meanwhile, was grinning at his phone like an idiot. Laura could
probably guess who’s texts he was reading. Or rather, rereading, since she
hadn’t heard Stiles’ phone go off since Derek let her know that he was at the
hospital.
It was a small miracle that Stiles had gotten Derek to even reply to a text,
let alone get Derek to give Stiles his number.  Laura wondered if she was
underestimating this…whatever that Derek and Stiles had going on. She’d teased
Derek at first because it was an easy target, it made Derek blush and made him
give Laura that throaty growl that she found hilarious. She never expected it
to last, for Derek to not rip Stiles’ head off mid-ramble or Stiles to not get
fed up with Derek’s inability to act like a regular person. But somehow, they’d
only known each other for about a week and Stiles was already making Derek
blush and bringing out the fiercely protective side of her brother she hadn’t
seen since Cora was alive.
Laura decided if she survived telling Scott that his girlfriend would probably
kill him if she knew he was a werewolf then having a talk about Derek and his
whatever with Stiles would be a cakewalk. 
Anyway, on to the hard part.
Laura took a deep breath, “Scott, first things first, I need you to promise me
that you’ll let me speak before you say anything.”
Scott looked skeptical but he nodded anyway.
“Stiles,” Laura asked him, “Did Derek tell you anything about our family? About
what happened to them?”
Stiles nodded, “The basic summary, we didn’t really talk about it.”
Laura figured as much.
“Before I go on about that, there’s something you both have to understand.”
Laura said, waiting for both Stiles and Scott to nod.
“I should have told you this sooner, I would have made it perfectly clear to
Scott before I bit him if it would have happened under any other circumstances
but there just wasn’t time.”
Laura took a deep breath.
“For almost as long as there have been werewolves, there have been hunters. The
sole objective of hunters is to protect humans from the dangers that come with
werewolves and other supernatural creatures. They have a code, we hunt those
who hunt us, it’s supposed to be a guideline that they follow. It’s supposed to
protect the werewolves and other creatures who don’t harm humans, the ones who
just want to live a peaceful life. It isn’t always the case.”
Laura looked at Scott and Stiles, they were both still listening with rapt
attention.
“There are good groups of hunters out there, ones who protect innocent people
against actual werewolves who want to harm them. They keep an eye on packs to
make sure that they’re not growing their power to take over a local drug trade
or start some kind of human trafficking ring. It’s happened before and the area
hunters were able to put a stop to it, so when I say that there are good ones
out there I do believe it, but I also believe that the bad ones far outnumber
the good ones.”
Scott was fidgeting in his seat, clearly desperate to say something.
“I’m sure you’re wondering what this has to do with Allison?” Laura asked
Scott.
Scott nodded and Stiles winced. Stiles had clearly already put the pieces
together in his head before this conversation even began.
“Thousands of werewolves have died at the hands of hunter who don’t follow the
code, entire packs have been decimated in a matter of minutes. My family was
one of those packs. The Hale Fire, as the locals so lovingly refer to it, was
not a matter of faulty wiring in an old house. A group of hunters surrounded
our home in mountain ash during our family reunion, they pumped wolfsbane gas
into the air system to take out the wolves and some kind of sleeping gas to
incapacitate the human members of our pack, and then they set the home on
fire.”
Scott’s eyes were wide and Stiles looked like he was overcome with sadness.
“My entire family died that night, Derek and I only survived because we were
late getting home that evening. I’m still not entirely sure how Peter survived
but that’s another issue all together. I’m telling you this because the hunters
who did this were part of an old family, one of the first hunting families in
existence. The Argent’s killed my entire pack.”
“What- “Laura cut Scott off.
“You said you would let me finish.”
Scott bit his tongue, quite literally, and nodded for Laura to continue.
“The Argent’s used to be part of the good group of hunters but they’ve been
systematically poisoned over the years by Gerard Argent and his daughter Kate.
They’ve recruited what are basically racist extremists to join their ranks and
they follow a flimsy version of the code, twisting it in any way they can to
justify cold blooded murder. I’ve never met Gerard, but I’ve met Kate and she’s
as crazy and evil as they come. I’ve known her brother Chris for a number of
years too, he was never outwardly hostile to me but we didn’t exactly have the
greatest reunion in the grocery store the other day.”
Laura finished, “That about sums it up, I’m sure both of you have questions.”
“Chris is Allison’s father, right?” Stiles asked.
“Yes,” Laura nodded, “I ran into him and Allison together yesterday.”
Scott took a deep breath, “There’s no way you can know if Allison is some kind
of killer! You don’t know her, she’d never hurt a fly!”
Stiles looked a little more dubious, “Dude, she’s a championship archer. She
could hurt a fly from like a thousand feet away if she wanted to.”
That answered one of Laura’s questions, Allison was already proficient with a
common weapon for a hunter.
“I’m not accusing her of anything, Scott,” Laura said placatingly, “How old is
Allison?”
Scott tipped his head backwards, “She just had her 16th birthday a few months
ago, why?”
Laura grimaced, “From what I understand, members of the Argent family are
introduced to the…family business on their 16th birthday. They’re given a
choice, they can join and become an official hunter or they can abstain and
live a relatively normal life. If they choose to join then they are trained to
become killers and if they don’t they’re still taught basic self-defense and
know how to protect themselves from werewolves and other creatures.”
“So, you’re saying it’s possible that Allison doesn’t want to kill all
werewolves?” Stiles asked.
Scott looked hopeful and it almost physically hurt Laura to let him down.
“Even if she doesn’t join she’ll be told stories about how we’re monsters and
don’t belong in the world,” Laura felt her face twist in anger, “just because
she doesn’t want to dedicate her life to hunting my kind down doesn’t mean that
she wouldn’t share the same beliefs and couldn’t still hurt you.”
“You said you met her yesterday?” Stiles leaned back in his chair and stretched
his arms above his head, “Did you get any bad vibes from her?”
Laura thought back to the smiling girl in the grocery store, the one who wasn’t
lying when she said she didn’t know who Laura was. Still, Laura couldn’t know
for sure because she was so focused on Chris being the main threat that she
didn’t take time to properly assess Allison.
“Not immediately,” Laura admitted, “but I wasn’t focused on her.”
Scott frowned, looking entirely like a kicked puppy, “Are you trying to tell me
I can’t see her anymore?”
Laura was torn. Every instinct within her was screaming to say yes, to tell
Scott that she was the Alpha and he was the Beta and that she wouldn’t allow
him to see Allison. But Laura also remembered being a teenager, she remembered
rebelling against her mother and defying direct orders from her Alpha. Allison
was a part of Scott’s life before Laura and Derek ever dragged their bullshit
into it and it didn’t seem fair to try and separate them.
“No,” Laura said after several minutes of contemplation, “and I’m doing this
against my better judgement. Allison was in your life before you were bitten
and it would look too suspicious if you stopped associating with her after the
full moon. You’re going to be careful thought, and I’m going to be watching
you. I don’t want the two of you alone together until you find an anchor and
get a better grip on your control. Believe me, teenage hormones and werewolf
hormones do not mix.”
Scott perked up a little at that but Laura could tell that there was still
something that was bothering him. He shared a look with Stiles, who sighed, and
cradled his head in his hands.
“I’ll just ask the question that Scott is too scared to ask,” Stiles said after
a few seconds, “what happens if it turns out that Allison is a hunter?”
Laura legitimately had no answer. She had no idea how to handle something like
that. She knew the chances of forging some kind of treaty with the Argent’s was
out of the question, especially if Kate was back. And if they found out that
Laura had bitten and turned a teenager then they would use that as a
justification to hunt her down, regardless of the fact that it saved Scott’s
life.
“Then you’ll be lucky you found out early.” Laura said simply, “The Argent
family is run under a matriarchal structure, Allison’s grandmother was the
matriarch before she died. I’m a bit fuzzy on the line of succession but I
think that means Allison, if she chooses to join their ranks, would be next in
line for the matriarch position once she turns 18. If there’s one thing worse
than falling for a hunter, it’s falling for a matriarch.”
Stiles gaped, “So Allison is basically a warrior princess?”
“I wouldn’t exactly describe it in those terms,” Laura grimaced, “but
technically speaking, yes.”
Scott couldn’t quite hide his soft smile from Laura and she had the sickening
feeling that it made Allison even more attractive in his eyes. Not for the
first time, but Laura wondered what she’d done in her 27 years on this planet
to be cursed with such terrible luck.
“I’ll do some recon at School today then, Allison and I have Chemistry
together,” Stiles paused, wrinkling his face, “like, the class. Not actual
chemistry. We all have it. Together. The class. Because, she’s nice and all and
the dimples and flowing hair are a nice combination but after the whole, maybe
psychopath revelation there’s like…”
“Stiles,” Laura sighed, cutting him off, “I got you the first time. And no,
you’re not doing any type of recon. If she’s a hunter then she’s already been
taught what to look for, how to spot leading questions and potential signs.
She’ll know exactly why you’re digging around in her family history.”
“But,” Stiles began.
Laura cut him off again with a shake of her head, “No.”
Stiles huffed, “Oh, so Scott gets to make out with her still but I don’t get to
find out if she’s secretly trying to kill my friends.”
Scott yelped, “Make out?! We haven’t even held hands yet!”
Stiles rolled his eyes and began to bicker back and forth with Scott. Laura
watched them with abject fascination and horror, wondering how she could have
possibly thought bringing two teenagers into her pack was ever a good idea.
“Enough!” Laura growled, eyes red, “This is not something to argue about.
Stiles, Kate killed my entire family, including humans. The hunter code states
that they’re never to kill children, even if they’re werewolves, or humans.
Kate did both. She killed ever human member of my family, my pack, including
the kids and teenagers. She killed spouses, aunts, uncles, and cousins. She
killed toddlers and newborn babies.”
Laura could feel her fury growing, she was vaguely aware of Stiles fear but she
could tell it was fear of the situation and not directed at Laura herself.
“She killed them all, Stiles. Kate didn’t hesitate to hurt them and she
wouldn’t hesitate to hurt you if she knew you were close to us or that you knew
the truth about her actions. I’m not telling you to leave it alone to be a
bitch, I’m telling you to leave it alone because I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Stiles nodded and looked guilty.
Laura looked down at her watch, “Stiles, you need to get to school. Scott, you
need to get home before your mom. I need to call Derek and see if he found
anything. We’ll get together sometime this evening and talk about anything else
we need to, OK?”
“Where?” Scott asked.
Laura smiled, “I have an idea.”
 
                                       X
                                        
Stiles could count the number of times that he’d arrived at school without
Scott on one hand. Well, maybe one and a half hands. All of the pervious times
had been because Scott was recovering from a particularly bad asthma attack so
at least this time had its novelty. Still, he felt like he was missing some
sort of protective shield.
Maybe today would be a good day to take up Laura’s idea of branching out and
talking to other people and trying to find someone else he could connect with.
Though it was a bit embarrassing now that Stiles realized he’d basically been
told he needed to stop being a quasi-loner and make more friends by a hot and
terrifying werewolf.
“Stiles!” A terrifyingly familiar voice rang out from behind him.
Stiles went rigid. Of course, of course, this would happen.
“Allison!” Stiles said, his voice totally not suspiciously rising a few octaves
higher than usual, “What’s up? How’s it going? Shoot anything with your bow
lately?”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.
Allison laughed, shaking her head with a fond smile, “As weird as always,
Stiles.”
Stiles let out a nervous laugh, suddenly amazingly thankful for the fact that
he’d always been an awkward asshole who said everything that came to his mind,
“What’s up?”
Allison fell into step beside him as they walked towards the front of the
school. Stiles tried to sneakily glance at her out of the corner of his eyes
and was suddenly, painfully, aware of all the places she could be hiding a
weapon. Under the sleeves of her jacket or in her combat boots.
Honestly, it’s a wonder that Stiles never put it together before because he
always thought it was weird that Allison primarily wore combat boots to school.
Though the Stiles of a few weeks ago probably wouldn’t have jumped to the
conclusion that she was possibly just trying to be ready in case she had to
kick supernatural ass at a moment’s notice.
“Where’s Scott?” Allison asked, “I tried calling him this morning but his phone
went straight to voicemail.”
“Oh,” Stiles said, keenly aware that Allison probably knew that last night was
a full moon, “I found him curled up in his bed this morning, like, oozing snot.
Seriously, it was so gross. He was just like, dripping it all over the place
and couldn’t even talk. Some real nasty stuff. Melissa made him stay home and
turn off his phone so he could get some sleep.”
Allison frowned, “Of course Scott chooses today of all days to get sick.”
“Today?” Stiles asked, probably a bit too quickly, “What’s today?”
Allison stopped in front of her locker and gave Stiles a wicked grin, “Oh,
you’ll find out later. It’s a surprise!”
“That’s not ominous.” Stiles said as the first bell rang, “Well, that’s me!
Time for English!”
Allison laughed, “Bye, Stiles. See you in Chemistry!”
 
                                       X
                                        
Stiles decided to spend his lunch period in the library. He wasn’t particularly
hungry and without Scott he didn’t have many options aside from sitting at a
table alone which wasn’t an option at all.
Besides, he could use the library to get the bang out his father’s taxpaying
bucks and use the computers to do some research on the Argent family. After
all, Stiles promised Laura that he specifically wouldn’t talk to Allison about
it, he never said anything about consulting the internet.
There were a few people in the library but no one looked up when Stiles walked
in. He made his way past the librarian’s desk and settled at the row of
computers in the very back of the library and as far away from prying eyes as
he possibly could.
Stiles did the first sensible thing, typed ‘Argent’ into the search bar. He
laughed out loud when he realized that Argent was the French word of silver.
Talk about irony. Well, the Alanis kind.
Next up was Allison, he put her name into the search bar and hit enter. He
found a few articles about her from her last school. They were about the girl
who had an Olympic level mastery of archery and he spent a few minutes reading
off stats that made no sense to him. The final article he read was an interview
Allison had given to an archery magazine where she was asked why she turned
down an invitation to join the Olympic qualifying team.
Her answer? She was young and wanted to spend more time with her family.
Well. Shit.
Chris Argent was next. He learned that Allison’s father was a weapons dealer
who specialized in antique weapons of warfare. There were a few interviews from
Guns & Ammo magazine where he detailed his process of how he tracks old weapons
down from all eras and is constantly flying around the globe to try and obtain
them for interested parties. His wife, Victoria, ran the business side of
things and controlled the bookkeeping because Chris claimed, with a hearty
laugh, that he wasn’t any good at it.
It turns out, Stiles discovered after googling Gerard Argent, that Argent
Antique Reclamations was a family business that was started almost forty years
ago by his late wife, Cassandra Argent. There was another interview from the
same magazine where Gerard, who just looked like a creepy mother fucker, told
the magazine that his wife started the business one day because she had such a
love for history. Their children, Kate and Chris, started helping out when they
were in high school and both really took to it as well. After Cassandra died in
a tragic accident she left the business to Gerard. Gerard retired a few years
ago and left it to Chris, which was a surprise because everyone thought that it
would be left to Kate but Gerard explained that Cassandra was very specific in
that she wanted Chris to take over.
Interesting.
Kate was the last name that Stiles searched. Surprisingly, there was far less
information about her than the rest of the family. There were a few pictures
from extreme sports magazines that she’d appeared in but there were no
interviews and nothing recent. The last time her name had been mentioned
anywhere that Google would pick up was the last interview Gerard gave where he
talked about the business being left to Chris.
It seemed like there was a bit of family tension going on. But Kate was in town
and Allison was excited to see her, so maybe all the drama involved Kate and
her parents? From what Laura said it had seemed like Gerard and Kate were
closer than Gerard and Chris, that Kate shared Gerard’s ideology more than
Chris did. It didn’t make sense at first, but then Stiles went back and re-read
Gerard’s interview. Gerard very specifically said that Cassandra made sure that
Chris was the one left with the business and not Kate.
The antique business was an obvious front for their escapades as hunters and
Stiles thought it was kind of genius. He knew what kind of papers antique
dealers traveled with and those things could easily let Chris or any other
“employee” through customs with all kinds of weapons.
But it didn’t make sense that Cassandra wanted Chris to run the business. Laura
had said that the Argent’s were run in a matriarchal fashion so wouldn’t the
line of succession fall to Kate? Stiles was clearly missing something.
“Is this seat taken?” An unsure, an unfamiliar voice came from behind Stiles.
Stiles flailed, frantically clicking at the screen to close all of his tabs,
and turned around, “Hi! Nothing to see here!”
Stiles looked up at the girl standing behind him. She was dressed in a too
large sweater that sleeves hung down almost past her fingers and she was
clutching her bag to her chest. She had long hair, blonde and slightly unruly,
and it took Stiles a second to realize who she was.
“Erica?” Stiles asked, surprised.
Erica look just as surprised to be recognized as she sat her bag down on the
chair next to Stiles, “You know who I am?”
“Yeah,” Stiles nodded, “obviously.”
Erica’s face twisted into a bitter frown, “Right. Of course, everyone knows who
I am.”
Erica didn’t linger, she angrily snatched her back out of the chair and turned
on her heel to stalk off back towards the front of the library.
“Wait!” Stiles yelped, jumping up from his seat and knocking it over in the
process, “Erica! Wait! I didn’t mean it like that!”
Erica paused but didn’t turn around.
Stiles stood where he was, “Really, I didn’t mean it like that.”
“How did you mean it?” Erica asked, her voice small.
“I remembered last year,” Stiles said, “talking to you in the hallway after…you
know.”
Erica laughed bitterly, “Yeah, I know. I didn’t think you’d remember me.”
“Dude,” Stiles smiled, “I’m like an elephant, I never forget anything.”
“An elephant?” Erica raised an eyebrow.
Stiles gave her a lazy salute, “Just call me Dumbo.”
Erica rolled her eyes but Stiles didn’t miss the small smile that crept across
her face, “Alright Dumbo, why are you spending your lunch hour in the library?”
“Research,” Stiles shrugged, “lots and lots of research.”
Erica looked dubious, “Allison Argent’s family history is research?”
Stiles’ eyes went wide and he sputtered, “It’s not…that’s…it’s less creepy than
you think.”
Erica grinned, and it reminded Stiles of the look Laura gave him when she
wanted to freak him out, “I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation.”
“Scott!” Stiles said quickly, flailing his arms, “Scott’s hopelessly in love
with her and a terrible study so I was trying to find…archery facts for him and
then it just spiraled into some kind of weird stalker thing.”
Erica looked like she was trying very hard not to laugh, “Does it spiral
often?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Stiles let out a huff, “though it usually starts
with me looking up the French Revolution and ends with me reading the Wikipedia
article on Marshmallow Fluff because I wanted to know how it was made.”
Erica looked a little more relaxed as she took a tentative step forward and
pulled out the seat that was next to the one Stiles knocked over. Stiles picked
his chair up and sat back down, waiting to see if Erica would join him.
Stiles smiled when Erica sat down, “It’s cool you’re back at school.”
Erica blushed a bit, “Yeah…my parents figured since Matt got expelled that I
could come back this year. People have left me alone for the most part, I think
they’re all just scared to end up like Matt if they look at me wrong or
something.”
Stiles glared at the computer screen, “Matt was a dick and he deserved what he
got.”
“He was,” Erica laughed, “thank you.”
Stiles cocked his head to the side, “For what?”
Erica rolled her eyes, “For getting you dad to take it seriously. I know you’re
the one who changed his mind on doing a full investigation. You’re the reason
he was expelled and hit with a million community service hours.”
Stiles’ eyes went wide, he had no idea that Erica knew he basically annoyed his
dad every single day for a week until he took a deeper look into what Matt did.
“It was nothing,” Stiles tried to wave it off, “I maybe just cited like…ten
case laws from across the county about invasion of privacy and cyber bullying.”
“Your dad said you also made quite a case for breaking and entering on school
property.” Erica smiled, “Thank you. It meant a lot.”
“Oh,” Stiles felt his cheeks grow hot, “you’re welcome. It wasn’t really that
big of a deal, I just wanted to make sure he didn’t get away with it.”
Erica smiled and turned her head away, “Whatever, Stilinski. It was a big deal
to me, OK?”
Stiles opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by a different, more familiar
voice.
“There you are. God, I’ve been looking for you for the last half hour.”
“Lydia?” Stiles turned around in his chair and looked around to try and find
her.
Lydia stood behind Stiles with her arms crossed over her chest. She shook her
head, tossing red curls over her shoulder, and glared at Stiles. “You forgot,
didn’t you?”
“Forgot?” Stiles repeated dumbly.
Lydia sighed and looked upwards as if she was asking a higher power for the
patience to deal with Stiles, “We were supposed to go over our lab work before
Chemistry.”
“Fuck,” Stiles groaned, “I’m sorry, I completely blanked.”
The fact that Stiles had forgotten about a lunch date with Lydia was almost
inconceivable. A year ago, Stiles would have sacrificed a small woodland
creature just to have Lydia sit at the same table as him let alone actually
eating together and conversing.
Lydia tapped her foot repeatedly against the floor, “Right, because you’ve been
so busy doing whatever it is you were doing.”
“Research.” Erica said with a sly grin.
Lydia’s eyes briefly flicked towards Erica before she grabbed Stiles by the
back of his hoodie, “We’ve lost lunch but if we leave now we can make it to
class before the bell and use that time to go over the group work.”
Stiles was powerless to stop Lydia as she hauled him away from the computer.
Erica watched with a mixture of a few conflicting emotions on her face.
“This was nice!” Stiles called to Erica as Lydia pulled him towards the door,
“We should have lunch together tomorrow.”
Stiles was pulled out pf the library before he could hear Erica’s reply.
“Rude much?” Stiles glared at Lydia as they walked down the stairs.
Lydia smirked, “Your taste is wildly inconsistent.”
Stiles sputtered, “What is that supposed to mean?”
Lydia hummed an assent, “Nothing. I figured when you said you were over me that
you were under, or at least wanting to be under, someone else. I wouldn’t have
expected Erica Reyes but she seems nice.”
Stiles’ eyes went wide, “What? No! No, I really don’t have a thing for Erica. I
mean, she’s nice and all but I don’t want to be…under her? Though wouldn’t she
technically be under me?”
Lydia gave him the side eye, “It’s wildly sexist to assume that all women just
lay under their men like bored blow up dolls.”
“That wasn’t…” Stiles shook his head, “Nope. Never mind. Not even falling for
that bait.”
“Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it.” Lydia rolled her eyes.
“You’re impossible,” Stiles groaned, “Anyway, Erica is really isn’t the person
I have eyes for.”
“Hmm,” Lydia mused, “If it isn’t me, and it isn’t Erica…don’t tell me you’ve
finally fallen in love with Scott??
“Scott?!” Stiles almost gagged, “Never in a million years. I mean, I see the
charm and all but when you’ve seen Scott do the things that I have it kinda
ruins any chance at ever being sexually attracted to him. Nope, Scott is not
the dude I have my eye on.”
Lydia, for the first time that Stiles could ever remember seeing, looked
shocked.
“Lydia?” Stiles quirked an eyebrow.
It wasn’t until a few seconds later that Stiles’ brain registered what he’d
just said out loud.
“Oh,” Stiles said, “Umm…surprise?”
Stiles waited several nervous seconds for Lydia to react. It was the second
time he’d accidently told someone he was bisexual and he was far more nervous
to see how Lydia would react than he was with Scott. Stiles had known deep down
that Scott would accept him but Lydia was an unknown.
Lydia’s mouth slowly stretched into a soft smile and she lightly elbowed Stiles
in the side, “You know, I really do like you so much better when you’re not
trying to make me fall in love with you.”
Stiles let out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding in, “Few have ever
been able to resist the Stilinski charm but you’ve always been one to do the
impossible.”
Lydia laughed, “Let’s hear about this mysterious guy then, it’s not Danny, is
it?”
Stiles rolled his eyes, “No, Danny wouldn’t even entertain me when I tried to
flirt with him. It was kind of heart breaking actually, he flirts with
everyone.”
Stiles kept walking and waited for Lydia’s reply. It took him a few seconds to
notice he was walking alone though. He looked to his left and found the space
empty.
“Lydia?”
Stiles stopped and turned around. Lydia was standing in the middle of the
hallway with her arms slack and her purse loosely dangling off of her wrist.
Stiles took a step towards her and saw that her eyes were blown impossibly
wide, her pupils dilated so much it gave her the appearance of a cartoon
character.
“Lydia? What’s wrong?”
Lydia didn’t reply. She continued to look down the hallway, unblinking, and
didn’t react to Stiles waving a hand in her face. He stood in front of her and
leaned down to her eye level and realized that she wasn’t even breathing.
Stiles fumbled for his cell phone, ready to call 911 in the event that Lydia
was having some kind of stroke, when the light snapped back into Lydia’s eyes
and she sucked in a deep gasp of air. Lydia stumbled, bracing herself against
the row of lockers, and tried to hold herself steady even as she was trembling.
“Lydia!” Stiles rushed over to her, “What the hell? Are you OK?”
Lydia looked up at Stiles, her eyes wide and filled with fear.
“Do I need to call someone?” Stiles asked.
Lydia shook her head quickly, “No. Just tell me you heard that too.”
“Heard what?” Stiles asked, “Lydia, I didn’t hear anything.”
Lydia ran a trembling hard through her hair, “How did you not hear it? The echo
was so loud, it was all around us.”
“Echo?”
Lydia let out a long breath, “It was like…it sounded like high heels.”
“High heels?” Stiles was getting more and more concerned by the second.
Lydia made some kind of annoyed sound, “Like someone in heels walking behind
us! It was so loud it echoed off of the walls!”
“Lydia, we’re the only people in the hallway. We’ve been the only people in the
hallway this entire time.”
Lydia opened her mouth but was cut off by the ring of the bell overhead. The
doors to the surrounding classrooms opened and Lydia quickly pushed Stiles
away, standing up straight and smoothing her hands down the front of her dress.
It was like nothing happened.
“Let’s go,” Lydia said quickly, “I still want to see what you said for the
third long response.”
Lydia walked ahead of him, moving swiftly and dodging anyone who tried to come
near her. Stiles watched her go, dumbstruck and utterly confused about what had
just happened.  
When Stiles made it to the classroom he found Lydia with her things spread out
on the lab table that they shared as partners. She continued to act as if
nothing was wrong as she snatched Stiles’ lab notebook out of his hands and
opened it to their most recent experiment.
Stiles tried to act like everything was normal. Clearly Lydia didn’t want to
discuss what had just happened and he wasn’t going to do their tentative
friendship any favors by trying to push her to talk about what happened.
Instead, he simply answered the question she asked about their homework.
It was their first Chemistry class since Harris’ resignation and subsequent
murder and no one really knew what the school was going to do but Stiles and
Lydia had both decided to do their work as scheduled just in case it was
collected.
It took Stiles another second to notice that the table in front of them, the
one that Scott shared with Allison, was completely empty. Scott obviously
wouldn’t be in class but there was no reason Allison would be missing.
No reason that didn’t involve murdering werewolves anyway.
Before Stiles could mention it to Lydia, the door to the classroom swung open.
Stiles looked up and saw Allison enter the room with a bright smile on her
face. Instead of walking to her table though, she stayed at the door and held
it open.
Stiles look on in confusion for a few seconds. The entire class must have been
as confused as he was because the room quickly fell silent. A moment later,
Stiles heard it.
 The sound of someone walking in high heels echoing through the hallway outside
of the class, slowly moving closer.
Lydia’s eyes went wide and she slowly turned to Stiles. Their eyes met and
Stiles could see his own face reflected back in Lydia’s eyes.
Stiles turned back to the front of the class when he heard Allison pull out her
chair in front of him. There was a woman at the front of the class with her
back turned to the students while she wrote something on the white board.
Allison turned back to him with a wide smile on her face, “I told you I had a
surprise!”
Stiles looked back at Lydia who had mostly recovered and was now looking facing
the front of the class with a tilt to her head and a slightly confused look on
her face.
Stiles looked forward and his stomach dropped.
Standing at the front of the class was a woman dressed in a tight black pencil
skirt and a white top with the first few buttons undone, her long hair was
tousled and she wore a necklace with a pendant that hung dangerously low in the
center of her chest. A hollow, silver arrow head that had a single purple
flower encased in the middle of it that pressed into her tan skin.
The woman grinned, the sickly-sweet smile of a predator, “Good afternoon,
class. My name is Kate Argent and I’ll be your substitute Chemistry teacher for
the rest of the semester.”
Chapter End Notes
     I'm kinda blown away by the fact that I'm close to 10k hits, 200
     comments, and 600 kudos. I'm so happy that everyone is enjoying this
     so much and it's just a blast to write something that people really
     like! That being said, I wrote part of this chapter when I was half
     asleep so it might reflect that in some parts lol
     Anyway! Canon? What canon?
     I'm v excited with what I have planned for Lydia and the more ideas
     that I come up with for other characters keep growing and growing to
     the point where I've already cut off a few things I've had planned
     for people you have and haven't met yet and made places for in the
     outline to the sequel.
     It's been a bit of a stretch without any action but we'll have plenty
     of it coming up soon so I hope you're excited!
***** I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream *****
Chapter Notes
     There's pretty much a warning from here to the end of the story re:
     Kate in that she's literally a psychopath and a rapist. There's
     nothing graphic or explicit but there's some non-consensual touching
     of arms and legs done in an attempt to seduce and things that could
     make people uncomfortable so just a heads up that if that bothers you
     or you can't read it then you should stop here.
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                  Chapter 12
                      I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream
                                        
So.
Kate Argent was his new Chemistry teacher.
Well, that’s something. It’d been a long week of firsts but Stiles was
absolutely sure that he’d never have guessed this time last week that he’d wish
Mr. Harris was still his teacher.
Allison turned around and grinned at him, “I wish Scott was here, I wanted to
surprise him with this too. You don’t know how excited I am to have a Chemistry
teacher who doesn’t terrify me.”
Stiles barely managed to smile and nod after remembering that he wasn’t
supposed to know that Kate Argent was more than terrifying, “Right? Great
surprise, Allison!”
Allison preened at the compliment and Stiles made a mental note to never let
her plan a surprise party because she had a terrible concept of actual
surprises.
“Who is she?” Lydia asked under her breath.
“The Argent part didn’t give it away?” Allison smiled.
Lydia rolled her eyes but still smiled, “Obviously she’s related to you, but I
don’t know how.”
“I’m her aunt.”
Kate appeared out of nowhere, causing Stiles to jump in his chair. The surprise
motion sent the stool wobbling and shaking towards the side closest to Kate.
Kate caught him quickly, wrapping a hand around his bicep to steady him and
squeezing just a bit too hard to be an accident. Kate’s hand lingered on his
arm for a fraction of a second longer than socially acceptable and Stiles
didn’t think he was imagining things when he felt the drag of Kate’s fingers
skim across the exposed skin on his arm.
Kate sighed, “Let’s get the awkward parts out of the way first. Yes, I’m
Allison’s aunt. No, that will not have a positive effect on her grades because
I know how smart she is and that means I’ll expect more out of her than anyone
else in this room.”
Allison groaned, dropping her head to the lab table and cradling it in her arms
to hide the creeping flush on her cheeks as the rest of the class chuckled.
Kate continued, “I know I’m younger than most teachers here and while 36 is
older in human years, I might as well be 17 in teacher years. That being said,
I know my stuff. I have a bachelor’s degree from Berkeley and I’ve subbed here
before, but that was quite a few years ago and I’m sure most of you were still
more worried about recess rather than complex mixtures of compounds and
solutions.”
The class laughed again and Kate grinned, she knew she was reeling them in and
Stiles knew that they would be putty in her hands for the rest of the year if
she kept this up.
“Alright, let’s get this show on the road.” Kate said as she opened up a binder
that was on Harris’, or rather, her desk.
“Apologies in advance if I butcher any of your names,” Kate said as she tossed
her hair over her shoulder.
Kate went down the list slowly, as if she was trying her best to memorize
everyone’s names and faces. The enter class laughed again when Kate made a joke
about Allison obviously being absent from class. Stiles barely contained and
eye roll and a quick glance towards Lydia out of the corner of his eye proved
that she was barely containing an unimpressed look on her face.
Stiles knew there was a reason he’d been in love with Lydia for the last
decade.
“Lydia Martin?”
Lydia raised her hand, prim and proper, “Present.”
Kate looked up, studied her a bit more intently than everyone before her, and
then nodded with a smile.
Kate called out one or two more names and then, “Scott McCall?”
Stiles’ stomach dropped. He hadn’t even thought of that; what Kate would think
about a student being absent the day after the full moon. Would she even put it
together?
Kate looked around the room before quirking an eyebrow, “Scott McCall? McCall?”
Silence.
“Going once, going twice.”
“Scott is absent today,” Allison said quickly, “he wasn’t feeling well this
morning.”
Kate narrowed her eyes at Allison, turned around and ran her finger across the
calendar pinned to the wall behind her, and made an apprising sound when her
finger lingered over todays date. She buried her face into her binder for a
second, scribbling a note or two, and then went back to the class list.
Well, shit.
Stiles tried, as subtly as possible, to slip his phone out of his pocket. This
didn’t feel like it was a situation where he could wait another hour until
school ended to give everyone a heads up. In fact, Stiles wasn’t even entirely
sure how he was holding himself together right now. It was entirely possible
that he was only holding himself together so it wouldn’t lead to Scott, Derek,
and Laura being horrible murdered.
Stiles managed to extract his phone and cradle it in his lap when he heard Kate
reach his name on the attendance list.
“Mi…Mec…My…what the hell, kid?”
Stiles looked up, a little smug smile appearing on his face when he saw how
utterly confused Kate looked while trying to read his actual name.
Stiles raised his hand, “That’s me. Just call me Stiles.”
Kate looked up, locking eyes with him for a second before she looked back down
at the paper and write something on it, “Stilinski, like the Sheriff?”
Stiles heart skipped a beat, “The one and only. Best dad on the planet who’s
always ready and willing to arrest anyone who deserves it. “
Kate scoffed, more of an annoyed laugh, ‘Right. Well, I’m debating on asking
for a parent-teacher conference just so I can figure out why anyone on the
planet would ever name their child something like that.”
The entire class let out a laugh and Stiles felt his entire body tense. He
didn’t realize until his fingers started to tingle that he’d clenched both
hands into fists.
Lydia was looking at from the side when Stiles spoke again, “My mother was
Polish, I’m named after my grandfather. But sure, go ahead and call my dad in
for that, I’m sure he’d love to take time out of his busy schedule to talk to
you all about it.”
The entire class went eerily silent, so silent that Stiles could hear Lydia
draw in a surprised and nervous breath next to him. Allison spun around in her
chair, her eyebrows halfway up her forehead and firmly in the ‘what the actual
fuck, Stiles?’ position.
Stiles fumbled with his phone as sneakily as possibly, trying to get it
unlocked so he could text Derek and Laura and urgent fucking SOS.
Kate pursed her lips for a moment and kept her eyes on Stiles, they were
calculating in the most terrifying way and Stiles, not for the first time,
wished he had the superpower to go back in time and erase the stupid things he
said.
“Interesting.” Kate finally said with a slight nod.
The class was still silent as Kate rounded her desk and made her way through
the classroom. The sound of Kate’s heels on the tile floor was the only sound
in the room, aside from the beat of his own heart that Stiles could hear in his
ears.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Kate walked deliberately slow and Stiles had yet another flashback to hours of
late night Animal Planet and the sound of Oprah’s voice narrating Planet Earth
as he fell asleep. Kate’s entire body moved when she walked, her shoulders
curved and her hips swayed, and the way she seemed to slink down the aisle
reminded Stiles of a jaguar.
Or, a terrifying human-jaguar hybrid. A werejaguar!
No, that was fucking stupid.
Stiles managed another look at Lydia just before Kate reached their table.
Lydia’s eyes were wide and her lips were parted just a fraction of an inch as
she seemed to focus on each of Kate’s steps, flinching ever so slightly each
time a stiletto hit the floor.
Stiles only had half of a text composed to Derek when Kate came to a stop at
their lab table, her manicured nails rhythmically tapping against the black
table top. Stiles was unable to send the text, instead he quickly locked his
phone and dropped it into his lap in hopes that Kate wouldn’t see it. She
trailed her fingers across the table slowly until she reached the edge in front
of Stiles. Her fingers slipped from the table and down towards Stiles’ lap,
uncomfortably close to being in firm bad fucking touch territory and the
invasiveness of the move made Stiles’ stomach churn. Kate’s index finger and
thumb plucked Stiles’ phone from his grasp, her pinkie just barely making
contact with his inner thigh. 
Stiles was stunned into silence at the brazenness of Kate’s actions. It was
easy to see how she could have just decided to burn down a home with an entire
family inside of it without worrying about the possible consequences after
she’d veered dangerously close to just groping Stiles in the middle of a
crowded classroom.
Kate was the most dangerous kind of crazy, the kind of crazy who just didn’t
give a fuck. And with the way she was acting there was no way that she didn’t
know something about Stiles’ involvement in refuting her statement to the
police.
“You can have this back after class,” Kate said as she slipped Stiles’ phone
into the breast pocket of her shirt, “In fact, it says in Mr. Harris’ notes
that you still have a scheduled detention so why don’t we just get that out of
the way today?”
Stiles swallowed audibly. He refused to open his mouth only because he didn’t
trust what would come out of it.
The entire class snickered, no doubt amused by the fact that Stiles had so
immediately gotten on the bad side of another chemistry teacher. The fact that
no one noticed Kate’s actions was a testament to the fact that teenagers rarely
paid attention to anything beyond the surface value. Even Lydia, who was almost
always hyper aware, was still having some kind of internal freak out about what
had happened in the hallway and wasn’t paying attention. Allison, meanwhile,
was too busy glaring daggers at Stiles to notice anything else.
The last thing on the planet that Stiles wanted at the moment was to be left
alone with Kate Argent.
 
                                       X
                                        
“I sent Deaton the picture, he said he’d call me back in a few hours after he
looked through some old books of his.” Derek said on the other end of the
phone.
Laura rocked back and forth on her heels outside of the Sheriff’s Station,
“Good. Good. That’s…”
“Good?” Derek echoed, slight amusement in his tone.
“Yeah,” Laura said as she ran a hand through her hair, “Sorry, I’m distracted.”
“It’s fine,” Derek said, “I get it. You’re at the Station.”
“Yeah,” Laura answered even though she knew it was a statement and not a
question, “Anything I should be worried about? Kill anyone else? Maim anyone,
even? Kidnap a small child?”
Derek hissed into the phone, “Laura! There are police around you!”
Laura laughed, feeling a little bit of the weight lift off her shoulders.
Making Derek suffer uncomfortably always did a bit to lighten her mood.
“Relax, pup,” Laura said placatingly, “No one is going to arrest you. I’ll see
you in an a little bit. You remember where to go, right?”
Derek sighed, “Yes, I’ll be there.”
“Good.” Laura smiled, “Love you.”
“Love you too.”
Derek hung up first, as he usually did, and Laura slipped her phone into the
pocket of her torn jeans. She took a deep breath, her hand hovering over the
handle to the glass doors of the station, and pulled. The station was less busy
than the last time she was there, which made sense because Laura assumed that
nothing too crazy happened at almost 3pm on a Monday. Then again, this was
Beacon Hills and there was possibly a magically controlled werewolf running
around so who really knew for sure when shit would pop off?
“Laura.” The Sheriff’s familiar voice filtered from the hallway to Laura’s
right.
“Sheriff,” Laura said, hooking her thumbs in her pockets, “long time no see.”
The Sheriff narrowed his eyes, “Not long enough.”
Laura would be hurt but the Sheriff did know about her galivanting around the
forest with his son so she couldn’t hold his iciness against him.
“Derek says you’re ready to release my baby?” Laura smiled, trying to throw the
Sheriff off by not being openly hostile.
The Sheriff was unfazed, which of course he was, “My office first, there’s
something I need to ask you. I would have asked your brother this morning but
he took off like a bat out of hell before I could get to him.”
Laura groaned inwardly, Derek had conveniently forgotten that piece of
information when he’d rushed back to show her the picture of the rune he’d
taken. Honestly, if Derek wanted people to stop thinking he was a serial killer
then he needed to stop acting like one.
“Sorry, he doesn’t do well with hospitals.”
If all else failed, prey on the Sheriff’s heart. At least he still had one,
Laura wondered about hers late at night sometimes.
The Sheriff frowned, his resolve cracking, and he scrubbed a hand over his
face. It was something she’d seen Stiles do half a dozen times now and Laura
wondered which of them it originated from.
“Understandable,” The Sheriff said quickly, “in any case I still need to ask
you something.”
Laura narrowed her eyes, “Do I need a lawyer present?”
The Sheriff cracked a small smile, “No, it’s not that kind of question. I just
need you to clarify something Derek said, since you were with him when he
visited Peter.”
“Right,” Laura nodded and followed the Sheriff back to his office.
The Sheriff closed the office door behind him when they were both inside and
crossed to the read of his desk, dropping down into the plus seat and folding
his hands over top of the desk.
“Derek said you spoke to Peter’s nurse when you visited him?”
Laura cocked her head to the side, “Uh, yeah? One of them anyway, her name was
Jennifer?”
The Sheriff’s eyebrows rose, “Jennifer? Are you positive?”
Laura nodded, there was no way she misread the woman’s nametag.
“Well, we have a problem then.” The Sheriff frowned.
“Which is?”
The Sheriff sighed, “I’ve spoken to everyone who’s worked with your uncle over
the last two years. I’ve gone through Hospital employment records, candy
stripers, and volunteers. There has never been anyone by the name of Jennifer
who had any association with your uncle.”
Laura’s mouth hung open and formed a small o, “What?”
“I’ve double, then triple, checked. No one named Jennifer has ever officially
worked with your uncle. There’s one nurse named Jennifer in the entire hospital
and she works in pediatrics, five floors away from the long-term care wing.”
“That’s not possible.” Laura almost growled, “We spoke to her! She was wearing
scrubs, she had a name tag, she smelled like the hospital!”
Fuck. Good job, Laura.
And she wanted to call Scott reckless and unsubtle.
The Sheriff cocked his head in confusion for a short second before schooling
his face back to a more professional manner, “Then the woman you spoke to was
lying to you, there was no way she worked at the hospital.”
“That’s not possible.”
Laura couldn’t elaborate on how it wasn’t possible, she couldn’t explain that
she and Derek were essentially walking lie detectors and could tell when
someone so much as smudged the truth.
If they were paying attention.
Which Laura wasn’t, because she was too busy focusing all her senses on Peter
to try and figure out if he was faking his catatonia. Wow, Laura had been
terribly off of her game in Beacon Hills.
“Fuck.” Laura sighed, “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”
“It’s likely that this woman is involved in Peter’s disappearance,” The Sheriff
said, “it would be helpful if you could sit down with a sketch artist and give
him a description. It’s our only lead so far.”
Laura looked down at her watch and sighed, she only had 20 minutes to make it
across town and meet Derek for their appointment. Plus, she didn’t exactly want
to give up this woman’s identity to the police. Laura wanted to be the one to
find her, especially if she was the witch they were looking for.
“Can I come back tomorrow?” Laura asked, “I have a packed schedule for the rest
of the day, I didn’t exactly plan ahead for this when I set up a few meetings
around town for this evening.”
The Sheriff narrowed his eyes, “Meetings?”
Right. As far as the Sheriff knew, she and Derek were supposed to be on their
way out of town the second Laura got the Camaro back.
Laura ran a hand through her hair, “Full disclosure.”
The Sheriff made a sweeping, continue on, motion.
“Derek and I will be staying in town for a while,” Laura said quickly, “at
least until Peter is found. Maybe even after, I wasn’t aware how many affairs
my family had left behind here. We never really…looked back after we left.
Being back here, remembering things and learning stuff I never knew has been
difficult. But…I miss it.”
The Sheriff sighed, leaning his head back to rest against his chair, “I knew
the two of you wouldn’t go so easily.”
“It’s not…” Laura trailed off, “we’re not going to cause trouble. That isn’t
what I came for in the first place, things have just gotten out of hand. I
never meant for Stiles to get wrapped up in anything. I’m sorry.”
The Sheriff leaned forward, “You’re not the one I’m worried about when it comes
to my son.”
Laura clenched her fist, the urge to defend Derek almost forcing its way out of
her body, “Derek would never…he would never hurt anyone. He’s big and likes to
act tough but it’s just that, an act. It’s just him protecting himself. We’ve
both been hurt, we’re fucked up and we deal with it in different ways.”
“May I remind you that I arrested your brother for murder less than 48 hours
ago?”
“Suspicion of murder,” Laura clarified, “and on a false statement, no less. I
wouldn’t ever tell you how to do your job but that seems like something you
should possibly look into.”
The Sheriff’s eyes hardened, it was possible that Laura might have taken one
step too far, “We’ve already had a conversation, the witness was very
apologetic about the mistake and had been drinking just before they thought
they saw Derek. It’s taken care of, forensics swept the apartment and there was
no trace of your brother. You have the Beacon County Sheriff Department’s
deepest apologies.”
The Sheriff quickly opened a drawer at his desk, reached in, and pulled out an
envelope. He broke the seal and tipped a key out onto the desk. Laura quickly
realized it was the key to the Camaro. The Sheriff placed his index finger on
the key and slowly, and loudly, slid the key across the desk towards Laura.
“Have a good evening, Miss Hale.” The Sheriff said, “Stop by tomorrow, if you
find the time, so we can set you up with a sketch artist.”
Laura was stunned into silence. The Sheriff was clearly angry, it was easy
enough to tell even without enhanced senses. The Sheriff was rigid in his
chair, his arms folded across his chest as he pointedly glared at Laura, then
down at the key to the Camaro on his desk.
 Laura made a quick note to herself as she grabbed the key off the desk. Never
the profession or ability of someone you actually like to do their job, no
matter how pissed you are at them.
Laura specifically did not listen to the Sheriff after she left his office, she
was sure she didn’t want to hear what he’d have to say about her now that she
was gone. She quickly made her way out of the station and around the back of
the building, coming to a stop at a small booth next to a chained in portion of
the parking lot.
“This is the smallest impound lot I’ve ever seen.” Laura said with a lopsided
grin.
The man at the booth, Deputy Parish his nametag read, looked up at Laura with
wide eyes. He was cute, if a bit baby faced, and Laura didn’t ignore the spike
of attraction in his scent when they made eye contact. It was refreshing for
once to not smell basic lust, but something more well intentioned.
Deputy Parrish continued looked up at Laura from his seat. He blinked a few
more times before Laura decided to put him out of his misery.
“I’m here to pick up my car,” Laura said, pulling the key out of her pocket and
dangling it over the desk, “the Camaro right up front.”
“Right!” Parrish snapped to attention and began fumbling around through a
drawer in front of him, “Shit, sorry. I know the key is in here somewhere.”
Laura waited at least another two minutes before Parrish finally found the key.
She couldn’t find it in herself to be annoyed with the wait, it was pretty damn
entertaining watching the poor guy becoming increasingly panicked as he tried
to find the gate key.
“Found it!” Parrish laughs, holding the key up triumphantly, “Sorry, this is my
first week and this is the first time anyone has come back here the entire
time.”
Laura leaned against the small window, unable to resist some light flirting,
“Why would they put someone as pretty as you all the way back here?”
Parrish turned a shade of red that Laura didn’t even know a human could turn
and sputtered, “It’s the most boring job here…uh, no one ever wants to do it.”
Laura laughed as Parrish stepped out of the booth and over to the gate to
unlock it. He held the gate open for Laura as she walked through and then
pulled it back further, so she’d have enough room to drive out.
“Nice car, by the way.” Parrish said.
“Thanks,” Laura smiled, “it’s even nicer now that they know I didn’t kill
anyone in it.”
Parrish’s eyes went wide.
Laura cackled, “Seriously, I told them the blood didn’t belong to a person!”
Parrish looked a little terrified and a little turned on, Laura decided she
liked it.
The Camaro looked the same from the outside, but Laura had to take a step
backwards and cover her nose when she opened the door, the car absolutely
reeked of bleach and other chemicals.
“Christ,” Laura muttered, “this is going to take forever to air out.”
Parish was looking at her curiously from across the lot, so Laura gave him a
small wave as she slipped her sunglasses on and got into the car. The first
thing she did after stating it was roll every single window down and then turn
the AC on full blast to get fresh air circulating through the vehicle.
Laura smirked and waved at Parrish as she pulled past him and out of the
parking lot, leaving a blushing Deputy in her wake. Nothing was going to come
of it, but it was still nice to know that she still had it, it’d been comically
long since she’d gotten anything from anyone.
The chemical smell of the car started to clear out by the time Laura made it
across town. It took a little under 15 minutes for Laura to make it from the
Station, which was in the heart of the downtown area, to the older historic
district of the city. The more modern buildings slowly faded away and were
replaced with older, weathered brownstone’s and warehouses.
Laura found Derek leaning against their shitty rental car, glaring at the
sidewalk and ignoring the poor realtor who was standing right next to him. They
were in front of an old apartment building, it was in fine shape, but it was
easy to see why most residents had abandoned the building for the more urban
parts of the city.
The low number of neighbors was a plus for Laura, the less people around to
butt into their business the better.
“Miss Hale,” the realtor smiled, “I’m glad you made it, I was starting to get
worried.”
Derek scoffed. Laura glared at him.
“Sorry, I got held up for a few minutes longer than I thought.”
“Not a problem! I have the keys right here, so we can head inside and take a
look.”
Laura shook her head, “No need, we’ll take it.”
The realtor actually took a surprised step back, “What? You don’t want to see
it?”
“Nope, we’ve already seen the pictures and it’s exactly what we’re looking
for.” Laura smiled and pulled out her check book, “I’ll pay in advance for the
next six months if that’s OK?”
The realtor recovered quickly, to Laura’s surprise, “You can, but you should
know that this apartment requires a one-year lease.”
Laura sighed, “OK, fine. I’ll pay for the year in advance. Any deposits I need
to know about?”
The realtor cocked her head to the side, “Not unless you have any pets.” 
Derek let out a surprised laugh. Laura glared at him again.
“No, no pets. Just an annoying brother.”
The realtor looked at Derek, and then back at Laura, “Right. Well…I do have
paperwork in my bag, so I can draw everything up really quick and then as long
as your check clears you can move in today.”
“The check will clear,” Laura said, “I promise.”
There was more than enough money in the account, money that she and Derek hated
to spend unless it was entirely necessary. She’d managed to talk Derek into
renting an apartment for the rest of their time in Beacon Hills so they could
have their own space and not be on top of each other in an uncomfortable motel
room. They both knew that it would require them to use some of the money from
after the fire, but it was unavoidable unless they wanted to live in the burnt-
out shell of their old house or something equally as terrible.
Laura pretended she didn’t hear Derek when he made an offhand comment about
camping out at the abandoned train station just outside of town.
Honestly, what the fuck was wrong with her brother sometimes?
“I still need to run the check, just to make sure.”
“I understand,” Laura said, “do you mind if my brother and I head up by
ourselves though?”
The realtor shrugged and held out the key to Laura, “It shouldn’t take me long
to run the check.”
Laura grabbed the key, and then grabbed Derek by his elbow, and made her way
inside the building. She led Derek to the elevator and jammed the button.
“You’re extra sulky this afternoon,” Laura said, “wanna talk?”
Derek shrugged, “Everything with Peter…I’m just anxious.”
Laura frowned, “I know, but there’s not much we can do until Deaton calls us
back.”
Derek let out a soft growl and changed the subject, “Why did you pick this
place?”
The elevator doors opened, and Laura stepped inside with Derek and hit the
button for the top floor.
“It’s two apartments converted into one, so that means more space so we’re not
on top of each other. And the price is a steal.”
Derek scoffed, “Someone was probably murdered in it.”
Laura hummed, “You’re right, I bet we could get Harris’ apartment for dirt
cheap, let’s go there instead!
Derek rolled his eyes and let out a long-suffering sigh, elbowing Laura and
causing her to stumble towards the other side of the elevator. She glared at
him until the elevator reached the top floor and stuck out her foot to trip
Derek as he stepped out of the elevator.
“Really mature.” Derek mumbled as he stumbled a few steps forward.
Laura gave him a smug grin as she passed him to unlock the door to their new
apartment.
The apartment smelled fresh, clean but not in an overly chemical way. It hadn’t
been lived in for a few years though, that much was obvious. Laura was happy
with that part, it meant there would be less work for them to do to get rid of
the lingering smell of other people.
The top floor of the apartment held the basics. There was a nice kitchen,
obviously recently renovated. A nice sized dining room sat to the side of the
kitchen, backlit by floor to ceiling windows that looked out over the preserve
behind the building. The living room was large enough for a nice couch and a
good TV. There was a single bedroom at the end of the hall, which Laura would
claim for herself.
The stairs led down to the floor below them, winding in a small spiral down to
the apartment directly below. The kitchen had been removed in that one,
replaced with a large open space that Laura honestly had no idea what to do
with. There were two bedrooms on this floor, a larger one that Derek would take
and then a second one which could become an office of some sort. If either of
them actually did something that would require an office.
It was a nice space, large and inviting but still small enough that she and
Derek would feel close without being on top of each other. There was room for
Scott and Stiles to lounge around if they wanted, maybe the third bedroom could
be made up for one of them if they ever needed a place to go.
Laura let out a low whistle, “I like it. What do you think?”
Derek shrugged, “It’s OK. Needs a lot of furniture.”
Laura nodded, “I know, I’ll take care of it.”
When Laura turned around again she saw Derek leaning his head against the large
windows and looking out into the preserve with a frown on his face. Laura’s
shoulders dropped as she walked over to him, placing a hand in the center of
his back and rubbing small circles.
“I know you don’t want to be here,” Laura said softly, “I’m sorry. You know you
don’t have to stay, right? You can always go back to New York if it gets to be
too much for you here.”
Derek shook his head, “I wouldn’t…I couldn’t leave you.”
Laura wrapped her arm around Derek’s shoulder, pulling him in close for a hug.
“It’s not as bad as I thought it would be,” Derek said, his voice muffled by
the top of Laura’s head, “It hurts all the time…but it’s manageable. There’s
things about this place that aren’t terrible.”
Laura laughed, “Like a certain someone you seem to be getting close to?”
Derek growled, “Shut up. It’s not like that.”
“Really?” Laura teased, “I saw you checking your phone today! You never check
your phone, in fact you normally go out of your way to not check it! What
changed about your phone other than that certain someone having your number
now?”
“We’re not talking about this.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Laura rolled her eyes and pushed Derek away, “Go downstairs and
check out your room you big loser.”
 
                                       X
                                        
Scott sprawled out along the couch with a bowl of soup his mom made him before
leaving to go to the store. The soup was a welcomed surprise after he
discovered he had no appetite the morning after the full moon. He’d slept all
day, which helped when his mom came in trying to figure out what was wrong with
him.
She took one look at Scott, frowned, and let him sleep.
It was kinda awesome.
Still, ever since Scott woke up all he’d done was walk around the house bored.
There was a standing rule in place that if he was too sick to go to school then
he was too sick to play videogames and nothing good ever came on TV during the
day, so all Scott had to do was reflect on the last few days.
Dude.
He was a werewolf.
He thought he would freak out or maybe be a bit angry and Stiles for dragging
him out into the woods but neither of those came. Instead, he was excited. He
could already feel the changes, he could run for more than five minutes without
collapsing to his knees, he didn’t have to worry about his mom having to spend
any of the money that they didn’t have on expensive hospital visits or
medicine. Maybe it would help him with lacrosse?
“Fuck.” Scott whispered to himself as he remembered the promise he’d made to
Laura.
Scott had done a pretty good job at avoiding thinking about Allison all day.
There was no way he could wrap his head around Allison being a killer, it just
didn’t make sense. He knew Allison, knew what kind of person she was and the
things she talked about. No one who killed werewolves for a living would
volunteer at the animal shelter three times a month!
Kate, on the other hand, Scott knew they weren’t lying about. Laura had quickly
taught him how to tell if someone was lying by listening to their heart and
seeing if their pulse faltered. She’d told him it was almost foolproof since
people could control their faces and any nervous twitches but couldn’t control
their pulse.
Laura wasn’t lying when she told him about Kate and what she’d done to their
family. Allison had only ever mentioned Kate a few times, she’d talked about
her being her wild aunt who lived life whatever way the wind blew her and
travelled the world just looking for fun things to do. They didn’t sound close,
Allison never mentioned disliking her but said that they’d never really spent
an extended amount of time together so maybe Allison just didn’t know that Kate
was crazy?
Maybe Allison found out about her family’s life and didn’t want any part in it?
Maybe she disagreed with their treatment of werewolves and could try to change
their minds? Maybe, if forced, she would choose a werewolf over them?
The Allison that Scott knew was gentle and kind and he just couldn’t see her
willingly killing anyone, regardless of what her family thought of them.
Someone knocked on the front door, drawing Scott out of his own mind, and he
almost broke his neck when he turned his head to look at the door. The only two
people who regularly used that door, his mom and Stiles, didn’t knock.
Scott hopped up from the couch, jumping over the back of it just because he
could, and made his way to the door. He looked out the peep hole and froze
because Allison was standing on the other side of the door.
Scott jumped away from the door as if it had burned him and began to pace in a
nervous circle. Why was she here? What would she say? Was she really a psycho
killer and did she already put two and two together and come to murder Scott in
his doorway?
Scott shook his head and wiped his sweaty palms on his old Looney Toons pajama
pants, and what a great outfit to be wearing the first time Allison ever comes
to his house, and opened the door.
“I’m mad at you!” Allison said, glaring as Scott.
“Me?!” Scott gasped, “Why? What did I do?”
“You weren’t at school today!” Allison said, looking at Scott intently for a
few seconds before her face broke and she began to giggle.
“Huh?”
Allison’s laughing grew louder, “Oh my god, you should see your face!”
“My face?” Scott cocked his head to the side.
Allison’s face softened when she looked back up at Scott, “I’m not mad at you
dummy, I came to bring you the homework you missed.”
“Oh,” Scott said dumbly, that made a lot more sense than Allison coming to kill
him.
Allison pulled a folder out of her bag and handed it to Scott. Scott opened it
and leafed through all the papers before looking back up at Allison, “These are
from all of my classes...we only have two together.”
Allison blushed, brushing some of her hair forward to try and hide it. Scott’s
eye went wide as a gust of wind blew from behind Allison and he was hit with
the most amazing thing he’d ever smelled in his entire life.
Scott couldn’t even begin to describe it, it smelled like honey and peaches,
like some rare spice, like the woods after a soft rain. She smelled…perfect.
“I might have gone to all of your teachers after School to find out what you
missed,” Allison said, kicking at a random pebble on the front porch, “didn’t
want you to fall behind because you were, and I quote Stiles, leaking all over
the place.”
“What?” Scott gasped, “I wasn’t leaking!”
Allison laughed, “Yeah, you don’t look very leaky.”
Scott grimaced, “Can we stop talking about me leaking?”
“Please.” Allison smiled, “Is it safe for me to come inside or are you actually
contagious?”
“Uh,” Scott mumbled, “I should be fine…my mom will be home soon, and she’ll
probably kick you out but yeah, come inside.”
Scott stepped aside and let Allison though the door. She paused in the
entryway, doing a small spin to take in what parts of the house she could see.
“Welcome to Casa McCall,” Scott shrugged awkwardly, “it’s kinda messy right
now.”
Allison rolled her eyes, “It’s nice, I like it. I can’t believe I’ve never been
inside before.”
“Do you want anything to drink?”
Allison shook her head, “I’m fine.”
They stood in front of the door for a few awkward seconds before Scott swept
him arms to the side, “The living room is over here.”
Allison smiled and walked in the direction that Scott was pointing, “I’m glad
you’re feeling better. Think you’re going to make it to school tomorrow?”
“Yeah,” Scott nodded, “mom checked me out when she got home, she said it’s
probably just a stomach buy that’s been going around.”
Allison laughed, “In that case, I’m glad you didn’t come today.”
Scott grinned as they sat on opposite ends of the couch, Allison tucked her
feet under her legs and let her head fall to the back of the couch. Scott was
hit with that scent again and all he wanted to do was crawl across the couch
and rub his nose against Allison’s neck.
What the fuck?
“So!” Scott coughed awkwardly, “Did I miss anything exciting at school?”
Allison perked up and grinned, “Actually, you did. I was a bit bummed when I
realized you weren’t going to be around for Chemistry, I had a cool surprise.”
“A surprise?” Scott raised his eyebrow, “in Chemistry?”
Allison nodded, chewing on her lip, “I might know our new Chemistry teacher.”
Scott leaned back, “We have a new Chemistry teacher?”
Allison nodded slowly, “Because…”
“Oh!” Scott slapped his forehead, “Right, Mr. Harris. Yeah. Cool. Well, not
cool. But.”
Allison laughed again, crawling forward to rest her hand across his forehead,
“Are you sure you don’t have a fever?”
Scott froze, Allison’s touch sent shockwaves through his body. She was so
close, close enough to just grab and kiss and smell and…
“You do feel a little warm,” Allison said, “maybe I should go?”
“No!” Scott snapped back to attention, “No! It’s fine, I’ve just been laying
under blankets all day. Not contagious, I promise.”
Allison looked a little skeptical but decided to drop it, “If you say so.”
Scott changed the subject, “Tell me about the new Chemistry teacher! How do you
know him?”
Allison settled herself back in her previous spot, “It’s actually a her.”
“Her?”
“My aunt Kate,” Allison said, “She’s our new Chemistry teacher until the end of
the year.”
Scott felt all the air leave his body. It was different than an asthma attack,
he felt this overwhelming pressure in his chest that he couldn’t see to get
around.
“That’s…” Scott managed to find the words, “That’s…cool.”
“Yeah,” Allison said, not noticing that Scott was having an internal freak out,
“I think Stiles is cursed when it comes to Chemistry teachers though.”
That knocked Scott out of his freak out, “What? Stiles?”
Allison sighed, “He and Kate didn’t…make the best first impression on each
other.”
Scott leaned forward, suddenly feeling the need to throw himself out the door
and find Stiles as quickly as possible, “What do you mean?”
“Kate has a weird sense of humor,” Allison said, “she made a crack about his
real name, which I still don’t even know by the way, and I guess it upset him
because he got an attitude and sorta threatened Kate with his dad?”
Scott’s jaw dropped, “Jesus, Stiles…what the fuck?”
Scott wanted to strangle Stiles after making sure he was OK. No. He had a
better idea, he’d tell Laura and then Laura could strangle Stiles.
Derek would probably strangle Stiles too, but Scott wondered if Stiles would
like that part.
“Yeah,” Allison hummed, “it was a bit awkward. Then she caught him with his
phone and took it from him and gave him detention.”
“Detention?” Scott’s eyes went wide, “When?”
“To be fair, she didn’t give him detention. She was just making him serve one
of the ones Harris gave him, she’s probably just trying to make a point that
she won’t go easy on anyone even if they’re my friend.”
“When was the detention for?” Scott asked again.
“Now,” Allison said, “she told him to stay after class and since it was the
last one of the day I guess she’s making him serve it now.”
“Stiles is alone with Kate right now?”
Allison nodded slowly, “Yes.”
Fuck. Shit. Crap. Damn. Hell.
Scott needed to do something, he had to get to Stiles or get to Laura to tell
her. It could all be a crazy coincidence, Stiles could have just mouthed off at
Kate because he knew who she was, but it still didn’t sit right with Scott. It
was too big of a coincidence.
Scott reached for his phone and then bit back a groan when he remembered it was
upstairs. He couldn’t think of a way to race off upstairs to grab it without
making Allison suspicious.
“He’ll survive,” Allison shrugged, “Kate will probably end up apologizing to
him for the crack about his name, she’s really not a mean person.”
Scott could only smile and nod.
Allison looked at him intently for a few seconds, “Are you sure you’re OK? You
look a little pale.”
Scott coughed, “I…I don’t know. Maybe? I feel kinda dizzy.”
Allison frowned, “Ugh, I probably shouldn’t have come over. Of course, you’re
not recovered after a few hours.”
“No, it’s not you,” Scott shook his head, “I just haven’t really eaten all day
and you’re the only person I’ve talked to other than my mom so I’m just a
little…”
“Overwhelmed,” Allison laughed, “I get it. I need to get home soon anyway, I’ll
see you tomorrow?”
Scott nodded as Allison stood up from the couch, “Yeah, I’ll be there.
Hopefully.”
Allison laughed and pushed Scott lightly when he tried to stand up from the
couch, “You rest. I can show myself out.”
“Thanks for the homework.” Scott called after her as she disappeared around the
corner.
Scott waited until he hard Allison’s car door close to get off the couch, and
then until he heard her turn off at the end of the street to run up to his room
using his newfound speed.
It took a few seconds for Scott to find where he’d thrown his phone earlier
that morning but when he found it he unlocked it with trembling hands and
called Laura.
Scott didn’t give her time to speak when she answered the phone, “We have a
problem! Kate is the new Chemistry teacher at school and she gave Stiles
detention.”
Laura was quiet for a second, “Scott, slow down. What does that mean?”
Scott growled, “It means Stiles is alone with Kate right now!”
There was a sound of glass breaking on the other end of the line, then the
muffled voices of Derek and Laura arguing.
“Derek!” Laura yelled, “Derek! Stop!”
“Laura?” Scott asked, “Laura? What’s happening?”
“Derek just took off,” Laura said quickly, “Scott, I have to go. Stay home. Let
us take care of this.”
Laura hung up the phone and Scott sat on his bed with no idea what to do.
 
 
                                       X
                                        
“I think we got off on the wrong foot.”
Kate was sitting on top of her desk, her legs crossed at the ankles. She was
leaning back with her hands resting behind her and her head tilted up to the
ceiling as if she was sunbathing.
It was all very ‘come hither’ and Stiles wasn’t buying any of it.
“Sorry about earlier,” Stiles said, deciding to try and play along, “I didn’t
mean to be a dick, I just don’t like when people make fun of my name. I know
it’s a mouthful but still.”
Kate looked at him with a soft smile, “I have to be honest, I’m still getting
back into teacher brain mode. It’s been years since I last took a substitute
job.”
“You said you’ve worked here before?”
Kate laughed and hopped down from the desk, “Years ago, it almost feels like a
lifetime.”
Stiles filed that one away, it shouldn’t be too hard for him to find records of
when Kate taught at Beacon Hills High. She wasn’t old enough to teach there
before everything went digital and even then, there were always yearbooks.
That would be his next project, if he made it through detention alive. 
“I’m not evil,” Kate said with a hint of amusement in her voice, “I’ve heard
stories about Mr. Harris. Not that I would ever speak ill of the dead but…”
“He was a dick.” Stiles supplied, figuring if he kept Kate talking about
anything else it would give her less time to try and pick him apart.
Kate laughed, “You said it, not me. Anyway, I like to think I’m not a dick.”
Stiles shrugged, “I get it. First day and all, gotta show the kids who’s boss.”
Kate winked, and it made Stiles’ skin crawl, “I do like to be the one calling
the shots.”
“I’m used to it,” Stiles shrugged again, “I’ve had more detention in this room
than I can remember.”
Kate cocked her head to the side, “You don’t look like a troublemaker, you look
like more of a Bambi than anything. A cute, defenseless little deer just
learning to walk.”
Stiles barely suppressed a cringe, “What can I say? I’ve got a big mouth, it
gets me in trouble a lot.”
Kate’s eyes flicked to Stiles’ lips for a millisecond, “I bet it does.”
Jesus Christ, where was Chris Hansen when you needed him?
Kate pulled Stiles’ phone out of her pocket and held it between her fingers,
“Password lock, huh? That’s smart, you never can be too careful these days.”
“Yep,” Stiles popped the p, “I’ll gladly take it off your hands though.”
Kate smirked and sat his phone down on the corner of her desk, “You can have it
when you leave, wouldn’t want you to get distracted or anything.”
Stiles laughed, fucking hell Kate was a bad cliché of an after school special.
“So, how long have you been in town?” Stiles asked.
Kate shrugged, “I got in a few days ago.”
“You were here before Harris died?”
Kate nodded, turning her back to Stiles and erasing the white board, “I was
just going to visit for a few days, then Harris died, and my sister-in-law
mentioned me to the principal as someone who could take over at the last
minute, so I guess I’m here until the end of the school year.”
Stiles nodded even though Kate couldn’t see him, “Well, I promise to be on my
best behavior for the rest of the year. No more detentions.”
Kate dropped the eraser on her desk and walked towards Stiles’ table. She came
to a stop next to it and leaned her hip against the table, her body forming a
diagonal line as she looked down at Stiles. Kate’s fingers toyed with the
silver arrow head around her neck, brushing over the small purple flower that
was embedded in the center of it. She let go of the necklace and let her hand
drop to the table, skimming over the black top and settling close enough to
Stiles’ hand that he had to pull it away so they didn’t touch.
“We’ll see about that.” Kate smirked.
Stiles’ reply was cut off by a loud crash from outside the classroom. Kate’s
entire body tensed, and her head swung towards the door like she was looking
for a threat.
They were both quiet for another few seconds, the only sound in the room was
Stiles’ heart pounding in his own ears, and then the fire alarm went off. The
shrieking siren startled Stiles, causing him to jump in his seat and almost
knock it over.
The lights were flashing on the wall and Stiles looked up at Kate who was
looking around the room with a mixture of annoyance and confusion.
“I don’t think it’s a drill,” Stiles said, “it’s after school hours.”
There’s no reason the school would do a fire drill after classes ended so there
was either an actual fire or it was something else.
Something like a diversion Stiles realized as he saw his phone light up on
Kate’s desk.
It lit up again and buzzed with another incoming text, moving a few inches from
being left on vibrate. Stiles got up from the table and slung his backpack over
his shoulder, he maneuvered his way around Kate and quickly snatched his phone
off her desk.
He had two texts from America’s Most Wanted.
Stiles didn’t wait for Kate or look back to see if she was leaving the room
behind him. He moved quickly down the hallway, keeping his head down and
waiting until he was a safe distance away from Kate’s room before unlocking his
phone and reading both of the texts he’d gotten from Derek.
From America’s Most Wanted: You’re safe. I’m watching you. 
From America’s Most Wanted: Front Exit. Get in your car. Go home. Don’t stop
for anything.
Stiles looked over his shoulder and broke out into a job when he didn’t see
Kate behind him. There were only two other cars in the parking lot besides his
and Stiles made a beeline for his jeep. He opened the door quickly and there
still wasn’t any sign of Kate when Stiles made it to the jeep and cranked the
engine. He didn’t want to see if she would show up before he pulled out of the
parking lot.
***** Kill V. Maim (Part One) *****
Chapter Notes
     so it's been two weeks and i'm super sorry! everything has been so
     body that i've barely had any time to write! full disclosure, this is
     only half of an actual chapter but i didn't want to have to wait any
     longer to post something so i took half of the already written
     chapter and split it at a decent stopping point so i could at least
     have something to put out so there could at least be something to
     read.
     again with the running warning about kate, stiles' thoughts about
     what happened last chapter, derek's thoughts about what happened
     between him and kate when he was younger, and his skewed view on it
     where he blames himself for everything
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                               Chapter Thirteen
                            Kill V. Maim (Part One)
                                        
Stiles was more than relieved when he pulled up to his house to find the
driveway free of the Sheriff’s cruiser, he knew he was a little high strung
from Kate and his dad would have been able to pick up on it right away. He sat
in the driveway for a few extra seconds, drumming his fingers against the wheel
and trying to get the memory of Kate’s fingers trailing across his thigh out of
his head. Just the simple thought of it unsettled him, made something inside
him twist with uncomfortable anger.
Stiles let out a sharp laugh and let his head drop towards the back of the
seat. He was being stupid. Kate didn’t actually do anything, right? She just
got a little handsy, and not even the type of handsy that she could be arrested
for, really.
Stiles shook his head and hopped out of the jeep, he didn’t want to think about
it anymore tonight and since he didn’t have chemistry tomorrow he could at
least try to not think about being in a room with Kate for at least another 24
hours. He just wanted to go inside, take a shower, eat something unhealthy
before his dad got home, and then go to bed early.
The house was quiet once Stiles let himself inside and he kicked off his shoes
and dropped his bag by the door. He wouldn’t be doing any homework tonight, so
it wasn’t like he needed to lug it upstairs with him. Stiles quickly galloped
up the stairs and opened the door to his room.
Stiles should have been surprised to find Derek leaning against his desk with
the window open behind him, but he really wasn’t. If anything, Stiles would
have been disappointed if he didn’t find Derek in his room.
Stiles leaned against the door frame and sighed, “What would you do if I
started locking that window?”
“Sleep better at night.” Derek huffed.
Stiles rolled his eyes, as if Derek ever thought of him at night.
They were both quiet for a moment, an uneasy silence settling between them when
it was obvious that neither of them knew what to say first.
Stiles thought for a few seconds before speaking, “Nice thinking with the fire
alarm.”
Derek busied himself by going through the notes sprawled out on Stiles’ desk,
“I accidentally ripped it off the wall.”
Stiles let out a surprised laugh, “That’s what that sound was?”
“I wasn’t paying attention,” Derek mumbled, “I wasn’t watching my strength. I
went to pull the fire alarm and I ripped it out of the wall.”
“No big deal,” Stiles shrugged, “it worked, and it gave me a reason to not have
to go back afterwards, the school can’t really fault me for evacuating during a
fire alarm.”
Stiles stretched his arms over his head and let out a small groan before
walking over to his bed and dropping down into it, sprawling himself out over
the blankets.
“Hey,” Stile said a second later, “how did you know I was there? I tried to
text you, but Kate took my phone before I could send it.”
“Scott called Laura after Allison told him what happened in class.”
“Allison was with Scott?” Stiles cocked his head to the side, “God, so much
shit happened today I don’t even know how to process anything anymore.”
Derek’s head snapped up towards Stiles, “What did Kate do?”
“Huh?” Stiles locked eyes with Derek, his eyes were glowing blue.
“What happened?” Derek repeated, his voice low, “What did she do? Did she touch
you?”
Stiles felt him heart jump, “What? No.”
Derek walked over to the bed, “You’re lying.”
Stiles shook his head, “What the hell? No, no we’re not doing the whole
invasive lie detector thing dude, it’s not cool. Kate didn’t hurt me, we
weren’t even alone together that long.”
Derek clenched his fists, “I didn’t ask if she hurt you, I asked if she touched
you.”
Stiles swallowed as he thought of Kate’s hands on him, he really didn’t want to
get into this right now.
“I can smell her all over you,” Derek whispered, walking closer and colliding
with Stiles’ legs where they hung off the bed, “I…she’s dangerous, Stiles.”
Stiles ran a hand across his head and scrubbed the back of his neck, “I know, I
get it. Listen, Derek, dude, she didn’t hurt me. She wasn’t going to hurt me, I
think she just wanted to freak me out.”
“Tell me everything.” Derek said, taking a step backwards after realizing how
close he’d gotten.
Stiles let out a small breath, grateful that Derek gave him a few extra feet of
room to breathe. It wasn’t that he didn’t want Derek around, it was the
opposite actually, but after everything that happened during the day Stiles
would be lying if he’d said he didn’t want to just have to space to himself.
“Kate did not physically harm me,” Stiles said, trying to keep his voice even
and hoping that a lie of omission didn’t register on Derek’s super lie
detector, “she dropped some hints about my dad, somethings that made me think
that she knows that I’m the one who refuted her statement. She called me Bambi,
implied that I was in over my head. She…she picked up on Scott not being in
class and took the time to look at the calendar to check the date.”
Derek’s eyes were still glowing in the dim light of the room.
“This is all my fault, I never should have let you get this deeply involved.”
Stiles narrowed his eyes, “You didn’t let me do anything, Derek. I could have
run the other way and forgotten about all of this, but I didn’t. I was there
when Laura told Scott about all the dangerous shit that comes along with this
and I still chose to stick it out. I stayed for Scott, because he’s my best
friend. I stayed for Laura, because she’s awesome. And I stayed for you,
because you’re pretty decent and looked like you could use a friend. So don’t
go there with the guilty conscious stuff, please.”
Stiles saw Derek’s lips turn up slightly, “Pretty decent?”
Stiles shrugged, smirking a little, “You’re a little rough around the edges but
I can tell there’s something under there.”
Derek huffed out a dry laugh.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, mostly just looking at each other
awkwardly, until Derek spoke again.
“Laura is doing some training with Scott out in the preserve.”
Stiles nodded, he had a vague memory of Scott mumbling something about it
earlier this morning, but it had slipped his mind until that moment.
“You should train too.”
Stiles blinked a few times before bursting out into laughter, a full body laugh
that rolled through his body and threw him off balance so much that he had to
brace himself on the mattress before he fell off the bed.
Derek’s eyebrows where pushed together in a tight line when Stiles looked back
at him, “What’s so funny?”
“Dude!” Stiles laughed, “You saw me get brained by a lacrosse ball! You’ve seen
me trip and fall on my face no less than four times in the last two days! You
really think it’s safe to give me any kind of training?”
“It’s safer than you not having any kind of training at all,” Derek huffed, “if
you’re going to be involved you should know how to protect yourself.”
Stiles flailed his arms above his head, “And what are these pale noodles
supposed to do to fight off the Rougarou or any other wolf?”
Derek sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, “There’s other things than
wolves. There are hunters, there’s Kate.”
“I’m pretty sure Kate could kill me before I lifted a fing- “
Derek moved across the room so quickly that Stiles’ eyes didn’t even register
he was gone from his previous spot until Derek was in front of him, both of his
hands clasped on Stiles’ shoulders, and looking like he was just barely
containing the desire to shake Stiles until his brain rattled on the inside of
his skull.
Derek loosened his grip a little, relaxing his hands until they were softly
settled on Stiles’ shoulders rather than holding him firmly in place. Stiles
wondered if he should be scared, an actual werewolf had just flown across the
room to grab him after all, but there was a kind of delicate vulnerability to
Derek’s touch that Stiles knew it was probably the only way that Derek knew how
to convey the seriousness of whatever Derek was feeling at the moment.
Stiles looked up at Derek, there was only a two or three inch difference
between them, but Derek suddenly seemed a foot taller from the angle they were
both at, “Derek?”
“You’re not going to die,” Derek said, “don’t say that. She won’t kill you, I
won’t let her.”
Oh.
Well, Stiles was an asshole who liked to make flippant comments about being
murdered by the woman who actually murdered Derek’s entire family.
“I’m sorry, shit. I didn’t mean…”
Derek shook his head, “She scares you. I get it. She scares me too, but I’m not
going to let her hurt anyone ever again. Not Laura, not Scott, and not you.
She’s not hurting anyone, even if I have to rip her throat out myself. It was
my fault I didn’t stop her last time, I won’t let it happen again.”
Derek’s eyes were glowing blue again and Stiles found himself lost in them, he
wanted to lean in and look at them up close to see just how they did what they
did, to see how they’d look when there were only inches between their faces.
Stiles shook his head, those weren’t the kind of things to be thinking about
right now.
“Your fault?” Stiles frowned, “Derek, she was an insane hunter who came out of
nowhere…there’s no way you could have known what she was going to do.”
Derek clenched his jaw and finally removed his hands from Stiles’ shoulders and
shoved them deep into his pockets, “You don’t…it doesn’t matter.”
Derek turned his back to Stiles and moved towards the window, he had one foot
on the roof before Stiles finally found his words again.
“Wait,” Stiles said awkwardly, “I…don’t go?”
“I have to meet Laura,” Derek said as he stepped out onto the roof, “Scott
knows where to go, ride with him if you’re coming.”
And just like that, Stiles watched as Derek jumped from the lip of his roof to
the branch of the large tree in their backyard, climbing down quickly and
disappearing into the edge of the woods. Stiles let out a sigh and dropped his
forehead against the glass and was left wondering why Derek literally ran away
from half of their conversations.
 
                                       X
                                        
Derek was more than relieved when he made it back to the new apartment and got
a text from Laura letting him know that she’d just left to go set up the
training area for Scott out in the preserve. He was glad to be momentarily
spared from the lecture she was sure to give him about running off into
situations alone.
Sure, he could have waited with Laura and came up with a plan before rushing
off to the school but none of that registered in the moment. Knowing Kate, the
entire thing it could have been a trap. But even if that was the case, Derek
still would have rather gone in alone than with Laura because if he’d been
captured it still would have left Laura on the outside to help him. If they’d
both gone and gotten taken their only hope would have been Scott.
All Derek had been able to think about when he overheard Laura’s call was the
fact that Stiles was alone with Kate. Derek hadn’t felt that level of fear and
anger in years, he’d almost forgotten what it felt like. Jesus, he was so angry
that he lost control and ripped a fire alarm off of the wall. At least he
didn’t use his claws, the school would just think that it was a fucked-up prank
by a bored kid and hopefully Kate would just write it off and wouldn’t look too
far into it.
Kate.
Fucking Kate.
Derek could still smell her, the scent that lingered on Stiles was so strong
that it had even rubbed off on himself. It made him sick to his stomach. Derek
rushed to the kitchen and turned the sink on, grateful that Laura had decided
to go to the store and buy soap for some reason. Derek scrubbed at his hands
until they were bright red and smelled overwhelmingly of fake lemongrass and
chemicals that burned his nose. Whatever, at least it was better than Kate.
Sighing, Derek turned from the sink and made his way downstairs to the lower
level of the apartment. He walked through the empty space that used to be a
living room and made a note of the space on the wall that was painted a
slightly different shade of white than the rest, realizing it was the spot
where the front door to the old apartment used to be, and made a note to go out
to get paint so it wouldn’t bother him.
A project sounded nice, something easy to take his mind off of everything and
that didn’t involve homicidal maniacs and magically cursed werewolves.
Derek opened the door to his room and stopped just short of entering when he
saw the inflated air mattress in the center of the room. It was done up with a
few plush pillows and a blanket that looked softer than anything Derek had
slept on in the last few months. There was a wooden crate next to the bed with
a note nailed to it that was covered in Laura’s delicate handwriting, until we
can get to Ikea.
The suitcase’s in the corner of the room caught Derek’s attention and he turned
to them, pulling out a fresh set of clothes to change into before meeting Laura
out in the woods. Kate’s scent was mostly gone from his skin, but he could
still catch a stray smell from where it had settled on his clothes. Derek
walked out to the kitchen and pulled out a trash bag and threw the clothes he
was wearing inside of it, tying it off and throwing it near the foot of the
stairs. He didn’t even want to try and wash them. Derek didn’t even know where
the trash bags came from, or the blow-up mattress for that matter, Laura had
only been alone in the apartment for about an hour.
Derek threw the bag against the wall, slamming his hand down on the counter
before letting out a strangled growl. Why the fuck was he wondering how Laura
had gotten everything done?
He let out a bitter laugh, he knew exactly why. Derek was using anything he
could think of to distract himself from the thought of Stiles being left alone
with Kate. If Derek focused he could still hear the stutter of Stiles’
heartbeat when he said Kate didn’t do anything to him, he could see the brief
flashes of fear that crossed Stiles’ face when he thought Derek wasn’t looking.
Stiles wasn’t lying when he said Kate did hurt him though, not that it meant
anything. Derek knew all too well the kind of pain and damage Kate could
inflict on someone without drawing a single drop of blood. After all, Kate
still haunted Derek to this day and she never physically hurt him either.
It was almost enough to make Derek vomit, the thought of Kate doing anything to
Stiles that was similar to what she did to him. Derek’s only consolation was
that he knew that nothing went that far, he knew that if it did he’d have been
able to tell and there was no way he could have stopped himself from going into
that classroom and ripping Kate’s throat out with his bare hands, regardless of
who was around to witness it.
Derek would just add it to the list of things Kate would pay for when he
finally got his hands on her.
Stiles though, Stiles was turning out to be more than Derek expected.
Everything Derek had taught himself over the last six years was screaming for
him to push Stiles away, to put a stop to whatever was happening, and to let
Stiles know that he was someone who didn’t belong in the situation they’d
gotten themselves into. But then Stiles would smile, or make some stupid joke,
and Derek would feel that resolve crack inside of him.
Something about Stiles made Derek feel content, like maybe the entire world
wasn’t filled with humans who were fucking terrible. It had been so long since
Derek had wanted to trust anyone but Laura and here he was, wanting to trust
this sarcastic asshole who’d all but strong armed his way into being pack.
Derek wasn’t stupid, as much as Laura would like to disagree. He knew that
Stiles was attracted to him, he could see it in the way Stiles looked at him
sometimes, or in the way that Stiles would lean into the smallest of touches.
He discounted the arousal at first because high school tended to do that to
everyone, but it had become prevalent when they were alone together.
Shockingly, it didn’t bother Derek all that much because Stiles never acted on
it. Stiles never made a lurid sexual comment or tried to touch Derek in any way
that would make him uncomfortable, he just existed with it and acted like
everything was normal between them.
It was one of the reasons that it hurt Derek so much when Stiles insisted that
nothing Kate did was his fault. Stiles had no idea about his relationship with
Kate, he’d said as much when he made the comment. Stiles had no idea that Derek
let Kate take advantage of him because of his grief over Paige, that he let
Kate do whatever she wanted because it made him feel like someone cared about
him after the death of the girl he loved.
Derek let Kate use his body and Kate used him to kill Derek’s entire family.
Derek knew that Stiles would be disgusted by him, just like he knew that Laura
would never forgive him if she knew. It was a bone deep understanding that if
either of them ever found out, it would ruin everything. Laura would hate him,
she would scream and cry because Derek was the one who killed their entire
family. It would make Stiles sick to his stomach, he’d know that Derek was
damaged goods and would wonder how he’d ever wanted anything from Derek in the
first place.
The phone buzzed on the counter and drew Derek out of his thoughts. He turned
to look at it, sighing when he saw a text from Laura asking him where he was
at. He replied and let her know that he was on his way before stuffing the
phone in his pocket and heading out the door to meet Laura.
***** Kill V. Maim (Part Two) *****
Chapter Notes
     it's been 84 years.gif
     hi. i promise i wont disappear for that long again. anyway, same
     warnings for the kate of it all. enjoy!
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                               Chapter Fourteen
                            Kill V. Maim (Part Two)
                                        
Stiles drummed his fingers against the wheel of the jeep.
“How did you get your mom to let you out of the house?”
Scott shrugged, “I told her I missed a lot today and that you were going to
help me study and catch up.”
Stiles raised an eyebrow, “And she believed you?”
“Hey!” Scott looked offended, “Just because I don’t put in as much effort as
you or Lydia doesn’t mean I don’t care about my grades! She said she was very
happy that I cared enough to drag myself to the library after being sick all
day.”
Scott was beaming, he looked exceptionally proud of himself for making his
mother happy. Stiles didn’t have the heart to tell Scott that he mother was
proud of a lie since instead of the library, Scott would be in the woods
learning how to fight from two werewolves.
Stiles simply reached across the seat and clapped Scott on the shoulder, “What
time do you have to be home?”
“I told her that you and I would get something to eat after studying so she
told me to be home by nine.”
Stiles glanced down at the clock on the jeep’s radio, “That gives us four hours
of wolfy training if we plan to leave by eight and actually get something to
eat.”
“You don’t think they’re going to feed us?” Scott frowned.
Stiles rolled his eyes and made the turn down the road to the preserve. Scott
was quiet for a few minutes as he hung his head out of the window, making it
impossibly hard for Stiles to keep back the dog jokes that were slowly
beginning to overflow in his brain.
“Thanks, by the way.” Stiles said.
Scott turned his head towards Stiles, “For what?”
“For calling Laura, telling her about Kate.”
“Oh,” Scott shrugged, “it was no big deal, of course I’d call her.”
“Derek said you were with Allison,” Stiles grinned, “you gave up Allison time
to save me from being murdered?”
Scott rolled his eyes, “I doubt Kate would have murdered you in the middle of
the Chemistry lab.”
Stiles shrugged before taking a left down a back road, “I don’t know dude,
she’s majorly creepy. Bad vibes all over the place.”
Scott cocked his head at that, “What happened? Did she actually do something?”
Stiles swallowed, the only person he wanted to talk about Kate and her creepy
hands with less than Derek was Scott.
“She didn’t hurt me,” Stiles said, hoping the bit of truth would cover up any
other lies if Scott had worked on honing his invasive lie detector powers,
“she’s just a creep.”
Scott seemed to study Stiles for a few minutes, and Stiles felt like he could
hear the gears turning in Scott’s brain before he spoke, “Well, at least we
don’t have her class tomorrow.”
“True.” Stiles smiled, “Oh, dude! Derek told me he wants to teach me to defend
myself.”
Scott’s laughter echoed through the jeep, “Oh my god, Derek is going to teach
you how to fight someone? You can barely walk up a flight of stairs without
tripping.”
“That’s what I said! But then he got all,” Stiles slowed to a stop and held up
his hands, curling his fingers into a terrible proximation of werewolf claws,
“grr-argh, you must learn how to protect yourself from the forces of darkness!”
Scott side eyed him, “Those were his exact words?”
“Close enough.” Stiles mumbled, “Where are we going exactly?”
Scott leaned his head out of the window again and inhaled deeply, “Stop here,
we’re close.”
“Dude, did you just try to smell for Laura and Derek?”
“Laura said I had to find them by tracking her scent,” Scott said, “Why did you
think I’ve been sticking my head out of the window?”
“Because you wanted to feel the wind in your hair?”
Scott rolled his eyes and punched Stiles in the shoulder. Which, fucking ouch.
“Dude!” Stiles yelped, “That’s totally going to leave a fucking bruise!”
“Oh my god!” Scott lunged forward and pressed his hand lightly against Stiles’
shoulder, “Dude, I’m so fucking sorry. I didn’t mean to!”
“Hey, hey,” Stiles dropped his voice to the most soothing tone he could come up
with, “Hey, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. Just…try not to beat me up
anymore, OK? You know I bruise like a peach.”
“Fine,” Scott huffed, “as long as you don’t tell Laura.”
Stiles rolled his eyes and flicked Scott on the shoulder, “Fine."
Stiles put the jeep into park and hopped out, waiting for Scott to round the
front and lead him to wherever Derek and Laura were waiting. Scott angled his
head towards the tree line and started walking, Stiles fell into step behind
him and carefully kept his eyes on the surrounding trees just in case anything
decided to try jumping out at them. There was still a bit over an hour left of
daylight but Stiles hadn’t had the best of times in the woods lately so who
would blame him for being a little more cautious?
They walked for a few more minutes until they came to a stop in a small
clearing not too far off from where they parked the jeep. Stiles breathed a
small sigh of relief at the fact, the jeep was within human running distance on
the off chance that things decided to get spooky.
Laura was leaning against a tree on the opposite end of the clearing, her claws
extended as she checked them over in way that creepily mirrored Lydia after a
fresh manicure.
“Too slow,” Laura said without looking up from her claws, “you could have
gotten here at least a minute faster, Scott.”
“Hey!” Scott wined, “I had Stiles with me!”
Laura still didn’t look up from her claws, “And Stiles couldn’t run?”
Stiles sputtered, “Excuse me? Why does Stiles have to run?”
Laura let out a short sigh, “Stiles is part of the pack, even though you’re a
human you still need to keep up with a modified version of Scott or Derek’s
training. I’ve explained the dangers of being in the pack, and you’ve seen it
first hand with the Rougarou and Kate. There’s not always going to be a pack
member around to protect you, we’ll die trying to if we’re there but we both
know that won’t always be the case. It’ll give everyone peace of mind to know
that you can at least run a mile or two without passing out.”
Stiles stood rooted in place, as far as speeches go it was a pretty damn good
one. It tied in with Derek wanting Stiles to be able to defend himself, and for
the first time he got the sense that Laura truly cared about him. He knew she
liked him, or at least tolerated him because he came in a package deal with an
actual werewolf, and that she would prefer if he didn’t meet a grisly death,
but it wasn’t until that moment that Stiles really understood the gravity of
it.
“Ok, yeah,” Stiles nodded, “I can step it up in lacrosse practice too.”
Derek silent stepped out from behind a tree, which was slightly fucking creepy,
“I’ve seen your lacrosse practices, they’re not going to help with anything.”
Laura laughed, “We can work on stamina next time. Derek mentioned that he
brought of the idea of you learning a little self-defense?”
Stiles groaned, “Did he also mention that I laughed in his face?”
Laura glanced at Derek with a conspiratorially raised eyebrow, “You know, he
forgot to mention that.”
Derek seemed torn at who to glare at between Laura and Stiles, so he
compromised by glaring at the space directly between both of them.
Stiles kicked a stray rock closest to his shoe, “So, what? Is Derek gonna Mr.
Miyagi me? Wax on, wax off?”
Laura tilted her head towards the sky, the fading sunlight that was filtering
through the trees catching a dangerous glint in her eyes, “Oh no, Derek won’t
be doing anything. You’re all mine.”
Stiles felt his eyes go wide as he stared at Laura who was pulling her hair
behind her head and tying it up in a tight pony tail. Derek pushed himself off
of the tree next to her and flashed Stiles a wicked before stretching his arms
behind his head.
Stiles’ eyes tracked Derek’s shirt as it moved up his stomach, unsubtly
catching a glimpse of defined muscle and a light dusting of hair that
disappeared into the waistband of Derek’s jeans. Scott’s sharp elbow to his
side drew Stiles out of his gaze.
“Seriously?” Scott muttered under his breath.
“Scott!” Derek barked, “You’re with me again today.”
“I don’t get to learn how to fight?” Scott all but whined.
Laura threw a water bottle at Stiles, which bounced off his chest and rolled
across the ground when he failed to catch it, and turned to look at Scott.
“There are things you need to work on before anyone teaches you how to fight,
you need to learn how to use your newly enhanced senses before anything else.
We could teach you how to throw a punch, but it would all be useless in your
first real fight because you’d be overwhelmed with everything that was
happening. Derek’s going to teach you how to quit your senses and how to turn
certain things down while highlighting another.”
“Derek’s basically going to make me run around a lot and then yell at me, isn’t
he?”
Derek rolled his eyes, “Basically. Let’s go, I want to get a few basic lessons
in before sundown.”
Derek was gone in the blink of an eye, Stiles turned to his left in time to see
Scott take off in a blur after him and was left standing alone in the middle of
the woods with a rather intimidating Laura Hale.
Laura reached into her bag and pulled out a pair of fingerless boxing gloves
and tossed them at Stiles. Stiles caught them this time and flapped the gloves
around while looking at Laura with a cocked head.
“You’re supposed to put them on.” Laura said, already sounding exasperated.
Stiles nodded, slipping the gloves on his hands and tightening them around his
wrists. “What’re you teaching me? Karate?”
Laura lifted her leg and grasped her foot, pulling it behind her back in a
complicated stretch, “Kickboxing.”
Stiles blinked, “Kickboxing?”
“Did I say something different the first time?” Laura narrowed her eyes.
“No!” Stiles yelped, “No…I just don’t get why I’m learning kickboxing in the
middle of the woods when there’s a perfectly nice 24-Hour Fitness downtown that
would happily teach it to me.”
Laura moved quickly, leaving a cloud of dust where she once stood, and circled
around Stiles. Stiles gasped in pain as Laura wrenched his arm behind his back
and went breathless when he felt a pair of clawed hands lightly close around
his throat.
“By all means, feel free to go down to Becky and her online certification at
24-Hour Fitness If you think she’s more equipped to teach you how to defend
yourself from something like that.”
Stiles stumbled forward as Laura released him, tripping over a rock in front of
him and falling towards the ground. He was stopped midway down by Laura’s hand
on his arm again, though this time the grasp was much gentler.
Laura hoisted Stiles up, setting him gently on his feet before taking a step
backwards and smoothing down her shirt.
“A little intense there, Laura.” Stiles mumbled nervously.
Laura’s eyes locked with Stiles and Stiles could see the hint of sadness in
them before she spoke, “My mom was intense when it came to this stuff. As soon
as we could walk she’d have us running any kind of self defense drill she could
think of.”
“Wow.”
“I’m sure it sounds weird, a mother teaching her children to fight at a young
age,” Laura laughed softly, “but there was always so much danger out there. She
never taught us to fight with the intent for us to hurt people, but she always
said that she’d be dammed if she sent out into a world that was constantly
trying to kill us without any way for us to protect ourselves.”
Laura took a deep breath and continued, “Everyone in the pack learned how to
fight, the humans who stuck around and joined the family were given lessons on
how to protect themselves from hunters and other wolves. Hell, even the few
witches we had in the immediate family learned how to take someone or something
down with more than just a fireball.”
There wasn’t much Stiles could say to that, Laura just wanted him to be able to
take care of himself and it was something he could respect. It resonated with
him too, he thought back to the classroom with Kate and how utterly powerless
he would have been to stop her if she tried anything. He thought about what he
could have done to get out of the room if Derek hadn’t shown up. The fact of
the matter was that Stiles was pretty weak and defenseless and that wouldn’t
cut it anymore, not with the while new world of strange and terrifying things
he’d gotten himself involved in.
Stiles bounced back and forth on his feet in a poor imitation of that one Rocky
movie he’d half payed attention to when he watched it with his dad, “Alright,
where do we start?”
Laura smiled, “I want you to hit me.”
Stiles jaw dropped, “What?”
“Hit me,” Laura shrugged, “I need to know if you can throw a punch.”
“Why do I have to hit you?” Stiles exclaimed, “Can’t I just hit a dummy or
something?”
Laura shook her head and winked, “Derek isn’t around right now.”
“I really have to hit you?” Stiles frowned, “You’re like made of marble! What
if I break my hand?”
Laura rolled her eyes, “You’re wearing gloves, Stiles. As long as you don’t
tuck your thumb in your first before you swing you’ll be fine.”
Stiles took a deep breath and squared his shoulders, curling his hand into a
fist and swinging at Laura before he could overthink it. The padding of his
golves connected with Laura’s jaw with a small thud. Laura’s eyes were wide as
she lifted her hand up to touch the spot where Stiles’ fit connected.
“You hit me in the face.”
Stiles took a step backwards, his hands held defensively in front of him, “You
told me to hit you!”
Laura shook her head, “No! It’s fine! I just…didn’t expect you to go for my
face. I thought you’d wuss out and hit me in the shoulder or something.”
Stiles scoffed, “Stiles does not wuss out of anything.”
Laura leveled him with a look, “Stiles will never speak in third person around
me again.”
“Anyway!” Stiles changed the subject, “How did I do.”
Laura hummed thoughtfully, rubbing at her jaw again, “Better than I expected,
you’ve got a nice follow through so there’s a solid foundation for you to build
off. We’re going to work on defense first before we move to offence though.”
“Right.”
Stiles listened as Laura explained the basics of kickboxing, nodding along with
a smile every time she went off on another tangent about how what she was doing
was completely different than cardio kickboxing that housewives take before
they pick their kids up from school.
Laura’s teaching style was easy enough for Stiles to latch on to, she’d
demonstrate a move a few times before showing Stiles how to do it in slow
motion. She’s leave Stiles to practice it on his own, watching from the sides
and offering critiques or criticisms. Then, after she was satisfied he’d gotten
it down she’d try to come at Stiles in varied ways to see if he could adapt the
move she taught him into any situation.
Stiles had down well for the most part, though he’d ended up on his ass more
than a few times and Laura didn’t catch he before he fell. By the end of their
two-hour session Stiles felt like he’d gotten off to a good start. He certainly
wasn’t ready to take on any fights with a hunter or the Rougarou, but he’d
wager that he could probably knock Jackson on his ass if he caught him off
guard. Not that he would, because Laura would be mad, and the thought of a mad
Laura was terrifying.
Derek and Scott still weren’t back by the time Stiles collapsed on his ass and
rested against a tree, but Laura said she could still hear them running around
deeper in the woods. Scott was apparently bitching about everything and Laura
said Derek hadn’t stopped growling for the last half hour.
“He sounds like a purring kitten, honestly.”
Stiles laughed as he unscrewed the water bottle that Laura had tossed him, his
hands were still a little unsteady, but he counted it as a win since he didn’t
throw up like the first time he’d had lacrosse practice.
Laura sat on the ground next to Stiles, her legs crossed under her and he head
tipped up towards the sky that had slowly filled itself with stars, “How are
you?”
Stiles was taken aback, “I’m…fine?”
“Was that a question or an answer?”
Stiles thought for a moment, “It was a verbal shrug.”
Laura laughed, “Understandable.”
The silence stretched between them for a few moments before Stiles spoke again,
“Kate scares the shit out of me.”
Laura tilted her head to the side, her ponytail falling over her should and
swinging behind her back. She seemed to be studying Stiles, drinking in the
truth of his words.
“She scares me too.”
“She...”
Stiles trailed off, he thought about telling Laura about his detention. He
thought about telling Laura how uncomfortable Kate had made him, how she came
dangerously close to crossing a line that Stiles didn’t even know how to react
to. Laura seemed to be the safest option to tell, he didn’t feel the crushing
weight of embarrassment that he did when he thought of telling Derek.
“She what?”
Stiles took a deep breath, “Don’t tell Derek.”
Laura leaned forward, “Stiles, what’s wrong?”
Stiles turned his head back to the woods, but Laura stopped him with a soft
hand on his shoulder, “He isn’t listening, he’s too focused on Scott. I won’t
tell him anything you don’t want me to.”
“It’s nothing,” Stiles tried to laugh, “it’s stupid.”
“It’s not stupid,” Laura shook her head, “whatever it is, it isn’t stupid. I
could tell you were bottling something up, but I wasn’t going to make you tell
me…but I’m here if you do want to.”
Stiles look down at the ground, absentmindedly digging his fingers into the
dirt in front of him. Laura was there and willing to listen and Stiles knew he
needed to get it off of his chest before he let the events fester in his mind.
“She was…” Stiles sighed, “Let’s just say she would win the award for the bad
touch teacher of the year. Kinda. Well, the almost bad touch teacher of the
year. The plausibly deniable bad touch teacher of the year.”
“Stiles…” Laura’s voice was barely above a whisper, “Did she…”
“No,” Stiles said quickly, “she didn’t do anything. I don’t even think she
wanted to, she just came uncomfortable close to touching things I’d rather not
have touched by a mass murderer.”
A sharp cracking sound from Stiles’ side startled him. He looked over to find
Laura, half wolfed out with red eyes, with her arm elbow deep into the solid
oak tree they were sitting near.
“I’m going to fucking kill her.” Laura snarled, “That piece of shit, useless
waste of a fucking life. I’m going to rip her to fucking pieces for everything
she’s done.”
“Laura…”
“No!” Laura growled, “It doesn’t matter how she touched you, she did it and you
didn’t want it. It’s just as bad as anything else, she’s not going to get away
with it. She’s not going to get away with what she did to my family, what she
did to you, what she did…”
Laura took a deep breath, her features slowly returning to normal. She pulled
her arm out of the trunk of the tree and scrubbed a hand down her face.
“I’m sorry she did that to you.” Laura said softly.
“It’s fine,” Stiles shrugged.
Laura shook her head, “It’s not fine, you don’t have to pretend to be fine.”
Stiles’ reply was cut off by his cell phone buzzing in his pocket, he pulled it
out to find his dads name flashing across the screen.
“Fuck.” Stiles hissed before answering, “Hey, daddio.”
“Stiles,” his dads voice sounded tired and wary, “Where are you?”
“I’m out with Scott, why?”
“Go back to Scott’s house, now. Don’t leave unless I come to get you myself.”
“What?” Stiles stood up from the ground and began pacing, “Dad, what’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing,” his dad lied before sighing, “fine, you’re going to hear it on
the news before the night is over, I’m sure. Something happened downtown at the
video store.”
“What?”
“Someone’s dead, son. I need you and Scott to go straight home, don’t answer
the door for anyone who isn’t me or Melissa.”
Stiles looked over his shoulder at Laura, her head abruptly shot to the
darkened tree line just as Stiles told his dad he was heading home with Scott.
A deep, wild roar tore through the woods just as Stiles ended the call with his
father.
***** Into the Woods *****
Chapter Notes
     this chapter is basically three different sections all covering
     things that happen at the same time. i don't think it's too hard to
     follow but just a heads up if you get confused!
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                Chapter Fifteen
                                Into the Woods
                                        
The roar traveled across the forest like a bullet, it was a wild and savage
sound like nothing Derek had ever heard before. Derek could tell it was the
same creature as the other night, the Rougarou, Peter, but there was something
else about it. Something in the way it sounded was different from the other
night, it was more frenzied, more powerful.
It was angry.
Scott stood to attention in the middle of the clearing he shared with Derek.
Derek could see the hairs on Scott’s arm begin to raise, and the slight tremble
to Scott’s hand when he looked out at the vacant blackness in front of him.
Scott was scared.
So was Derek, but he knew they had to move quickly. They didn’t have time to be
scared, not when Laura and Stiles were far closer to the beast than he and
Scott.
“Scott!” Derek snapped, “Pull it together!”
Scott blinked a few times, his eyes flickering between their normal human color
and his Beta gold, before he seemed to remember where they were.
“Was that?” Scott asked.
“Yeah,” Derek cut him off, “it was the Rougarou. It’s here.”
A gust of wind blew through the woods, far colder than was usual for the time
of year, and Scott tipped his head in the air, his nose following the breeze.
“Why does it smell like that?” Scott began to cough and swipe at the air in
front of him as if that would eliminate the smell.
Derek was used to the smell of the Rougarou by now, it felt like it was burning
his nose from the inside out, but it was easy enough to ignore while he focused
on his other senses.
Another roar rang through the forest, and this one was followed by a sharp
howl. Derek and Scott both stood at attention as the howl echoed around them.
It was the howl of an Alpha, Laura calling them for help.
“Come on,” Derek said to Scott before taking off running towards the last place
he’d seen Laura and Stiles.
Scott fell into step with Derek a few moments late, though Derek could tell he
was struggling to keep up with the faster pace.
“What do we do?” Scott asked.
Derek weaved through the trees and vaulted over a fallen log before answering,
“You focus on Stiles, get him and yourself to safety. Leave Peter…the Rougarou
to Laura and I.”
“I can help,” Scott insisted, “that thing kicked both of your asses last time!
I’ll get Stiles out of there and then come back for you two!”
“No!” Derek growled, “You’re not ready, there’s no way you could even dream of
fighting it.”
Scott opened his mouth to protest but Derek cut him off, “Scott, you’d just be
in the way. Get Stiles out of there and focus on keeping him safe. That’s your
only job.”
Scott looked like he wanted to argue but he wisely kept his mouth shut.
Derek broke into the clearing first, skidding to a stop to take in the state of
the fight.
The Rougarou stood in the center of the clearing, its towering frame casting a
shadow across the ground. It was hunched over, claws extended, and ready to
attack. Derek could see several long claw marks on it’s flank, they were deep
red and ragged. Laura had already gotten a few good hits in, not that it
surprised Derek at all.
Laura stood a few feet away from the Rougarou, she hadn’t gone for the full
Alpha shift this time and instead it looked like she’d settled on something
that was halfway between Alpha and Beta. Laura’s face was slightly elongated
and gave off a look that was more canine than human. Her feet were bare, and
all her nails had shifted into claws longer than Derek’s in his Beta shift.
Derek had never seen Laura in this shift and he was surprised by it, he could
barely keep track of Laura as she darted around the Rougarou, landing a hit
with every available opening. It seemed like she lacked the brute strength of
her Alpha form but made up for it with incredible speed.
Scott sped into the clearing a moment later, coming to a stop right behind
Derek.
“Stiles!” Scott yelled.
Derek’s eyes shifted to Stiles’ position, he was wisely keeping himself out of
the immediate range of the Rougarou, but he was frantically searching the
ground, no doubt scrambling for something he could use as a weapon.
Laura looked up as she heard Scott’s voice, but so did the Rougarou.
The Rougarou took advantage of the opening and reeled it’s arm back before
slamming it into Laura’s sternum. Laura let out a sharp cry of pain as she flew
through the air, and Derek winced when he heard the telltale crack of a rib
breaking.
“Laura!” Stiles yelled, drawing the Rougarou’s attention to him.
The Rougarou bounded forward towards Stiles with a snarl. Derek pushed Scott
out of the way as he watched Stiles stand frozen in fear while the Rougarou
reached out for him with its claws. The Rougarou drew it’s arm back to swipe at
Stiles but Derek made it just in time.
Derek grabbed Stiles and spun him away from the attack. Derek wrapped his arms
around him, cradling him in a protective shield as the Rougarou’s claws dug
into his back. Derek growled in pain as he felt the claws sink into his skin,
pulling through his back slowly and tearing away skin, muscle, and fragments of
bone.
A growl from the opposite end of the clearing signaled Laura’s return to the
fight. Derek heard her pull the Rougarou away from he and Stiles more than he
saw it. Derek used the brief moment to pull Stiles over to Scott and gently
release him onto the ground.
“Derek,” Stiles said softly, out of breath, “fuck, are you OK?”
Derek shrugged, which proved to be the wrong move, “It’s fine, I’m already
starting to heal.”
Derek could feel his skin slowly stitching itself back together and knew he’d
be fully recovered by the time he rejoined Laura in the fight.
“What do we do?” Stiles asked.
“You run,” Derek said, lightly showing Stiles in Scott’s direction, “run and
don’t fucking come back. That thing will kill both of you if you do.”
“I’m not leaving you!” Stiles said.
Derek swallowed a bit of blood that was left in his mouth, he could already see
a faint bruise starting to form on Stiles’ leg, along with a cut on his
forehead, and it put in perspective how vulnerable Stiles really was.
“You can’t do anything here!” Derek snapped, “You’re just a small human,
what’re you going to do? Are you going to talk the Rougarou to death?”
A flicker of hurt flashed across Stiles face and Derek wanted to kick himself,
he was always saying the wrong fucking things. But now wasn’t the time to dwell
on that.
“Do what I told you, Scott.” Derek ordered, “You’re not far from the jeep, just
get to it and go home. Laura and I will be fine.”
Laura’s body flew past Derek’s head right as he spoke, colliding with another
tree a few feet away. Laura was already on her feet before she even made
impact, and she rolled to the side before darting over to Derek.
“Both of you, go!” Laura growled, her eyes flashing red, “That’s an order!”
Scott had no comeback for that, he only nodded and grabbed Stiles by the wrist.
Derek watched as they made it into the woods, listening as Stiles shouted his
protests along the way. The Rougarou’s head tracked them but Derek tackled into
the beast, drawing its attention back to himself and Laura.
Derek shoved his claws into the Rougarou’s chest, pulling them downwards. The
Rougarou grabbed Derek by the neck and flung him through the air. He just
barely missed colliding with Laura.
Laura helped him up and braced herself against his shoulder, “Any plans?”
Derek laughed, shaking his head, “You’re the Alpha, you make the plans.”
“Right,” Laura nodded, “new plan, we kick its ass.”
“What if it’s Peter?”
Laura worried her lip between her teeth, stopping when she accidentally bit
herself, “We’re not going to kill it…him. I’d say capture him, but we don’t
have anywhere to hold him, or any way to move him if we do knock him out.”
“Deaton’s?” Derek offered.
“I don’t think it would hold him for long,” Laura sighed, “we just need to give
Scott and Stiles enough time to escape and then we draw him away from the
town.”
“Right.”
Derek lunged forward, tackling into the Rougarou again. He dodged the beasts’
claws as it swiped at him, keeping it distracted while Laura scaled a nearby
tree. Laura dropped down on the beast, dragging her claws down its back before
kicking it in the back of the knees and toppling it to the ground.
Derek went to pounce on the Rougarou again, but it rolled across the forest
floor, just barely dodging Derek. The Rougarou scrambled to its feet and jumped
into the tree above it. Derek and Laura watched as the Rougarou dashed trough
the trees, not in an attempt to hide itself, but in an attempt to confuse the
two of them.
“Where did it go?” Derek shouted.
The clearing was too littered with blood and the smell of Stiles and Scott for
Derek to be able to track it properly. It sounded like the Rougarou was in
multiple trees at once, as if it was breaking off branches and throwing them
into other trees as a distraction.
Laura was tackled to the ground as the Rougarou launched itself out off the
tree behind her. She screamed as the beast dug its claws into her stomach and
tried to tear her apart.
Derek had to remind himself that if the Rougarou was Peter than he was being
controlled by someone else, he couldn’t possibly be trying to kill Laura of his
own volition.
Laura was able to free one of her pinned legs and drove her knee into the
Rougarou’s chest, breaking a few of its ribs in the process. The Rougarou
released her, rolling onto its side and howling in pain.
Derek moved quickly towards the Rougarou, his claws extended, ready to take
advantage of its momentary weakness. He was stopped by something shooting in
front of his face.
The object flew through the air, whistling as it went by. Whatever it was came
dangerously close to striking Derek, only missing his neck by a mere few
inches. A soft thunk echoed through the darkness as the object buried itself in
the trunk of a tree. Derek’s eyes followed the path the object had taken, and
he froze when he realized what it was.
An arrow.
“Get down!” Derek shouted, jumping towards Laura and pulling her to the ground
just as a volley of arrows was unleashed on the clearing. They flew through the
air, three at a time, and landed in a perfect line leading up to where Laura
and Derek lay on the ground. Another arrow landed a few feet away and blinked
once, twice, three times before erupting in an explosion of light.
The bright flash of light seared Derek’s eyes, and Derek felt the skin around
them begin to sizzle. He blinked but couldn’t make out more than a vague
approximation of what he’d normally be seeing. Laura was laying a few feet
away, mostly shielded from the blast.
“Derek!” Laura’s voice crept through the ringing in Derek’s ears, ‘We’ve got to
go, hurry!”
Derek felt, rather than saw, Laura lift him off the ground and drag him into
the woods. The trees were fuzzy, the ground a formless blob, and Laura’s face
looked like it was behind several dirty windows.
“I can’t see,” Derek rasped, “what’s happening?”
“Hunters,” Laura whispered, “I count four near us.”
“Kate?” Derek growled.
“I don’t know,” Laura said, pulling Derek behind a tree, “I can’t pick anyone
specific out, there’s too much going on.”
“What did they do to my eyes?” Derek said, his voice growing frantic, “I can’t
see, why isn’t it healing?”
The blob that Derek supposed was Laura’s face came closer through his hazy
vision, “The flash bang had wolfsbane in it. It’s not enough to kill you but
it’s delaying the healing around your eyes.”
It was almost poetic, Derek thought. His eyes were what ruined their lives all
those years ago, those traitorous eyes that saw Kate Argent for the first time
and couldn’t stop searching for her in the crowd.
“You’ll be fine, but we’ve got to get out of here. Now. We need to find Scott
and Stiles.”
Fuck.
“What about the Rougarou?”
Derek felt Laura shrug, “It got away in the confusion, I don’t know if they
were hunting it or us. Stiles got a call from his dad right before it showed
up, someone was killed in town. I think it was the Rougarou.”
“If it’s Peter…” Derek trailed off.
“If it’s Peter then he’s being controlled by that witch, we’ll figure it out.
The only thing we need to focus on right now is finding Scott and Stiles.”
“And not getting shot.” Derek added.
“That too.” Laura said as she hefted Derek up by the shoulders and began moving
them through the woods again.
 
                                       X
                                        
“Cheater,” Stiles mumbled, trying in vain to dislodge Scott’s grip on his
hoodie, “Stupid super strength.”
Scott sighed and tightened his grip, “I’m sorry, dude. It was an official
command!”
“So what, if Laura got all glowy with the red eyes and told you to jump off a
bridge you would?”
“Laura isn’t going to ask me to jump off a bridge, “Stiles.”
“That wasn’t a no.”
Scott continued walking, pulling Stiles along by the hood of his hoodie, and
Stiles tried to ignore the sounds of fighting he heard off in the distance. It
was almost impossible to do so, there were all kinds of sounds drifting through
the trees. Growls, screams of pain, howling, all of it playing on a loop in
Stiles’ head. He felt just as useless as Derek thought he was.
Stiles pushed the thought from his head, the dark woods in the middle of a
magical werewolf attack was not the place to wax-depressive about his feelings
when it came to Derek. Stiles might be an emotional train wreck, but damn if he
didn’t know how to compartmentalize.
“Where did you park the Jeep again?” Scott asked, looking around the darkened
woods in confusion.
Stiles came to a stop, “Don’t tell me you got us lost.”
Scott kept walking, pulling a stumbling Stiles along with him, “We’re not
lost…I just don’t know where the Jeep is.”
“How do you not know where the Jeep is?” Stiles yelped, “You have super
senses!”
“That I don’t know how to use!” Scott glared at him, his eyes flashing yellow,
“It’s not my fault!”
“Your job was to protect me! Protect the stupid, squishy human! Now we’re lost
in the woods in the middle of a werewolf attack!”
Scott let go of the hoodie, “Don’t go anywhere, I’m going to try to smell the
Jeep.”
“Smell?” Stiles gaped, “What does she smell like?”
Scott hummed thoughtfully, “Like…Mountain Dew and wet dog.”
Stiles’ jaw dropped, “That last part is totally on you.”
“Just be quiet,” Scott whisper-shouted, “I need to concentrate.”
Stiles mimed zipping his lips and leaned back as casually as possible onto a
nearby tree. He could still hear the sounds of the fight in the distance, but
it wasn’t nearly as loud as before. He hoped that meant Derek and Laura were
winning.
A loud howl rang through the air, startling Stiles, and then everything went
quiet. Stiles pushed himself off of the tree and turned to face the direction
he and Scott had come from. The woods were eerily quiet now, the only sound
coming from the snapping of twigs beneath Stiles’ feet as he walked away from
Scott.
And then there was an explosion.
The sound ripped through the preserve like a stone disturbing the peace of a
still body of water. Stiles leaped backwards as if he was afraid that whatever
the blast was could reach him from where he stood. He stumbled, his feet not
cooperating with the rest of his body, and fell to the ground. Stiles yelped as
his palm caught a stray stone, slicing deep into the flesh and drawing blood.
“Stiles!” Scott yelled, running up behind him and hoisting him to his feet.
“You heard that too, right?” Stiles asked, slightly afraid that he’d gone
insane.
“Yeah,” Scott nodded, “it sounded like an explosion.”
“I don’t think Laura had any grenades in her bag,” Stiles said, “I’m worried.”
“I…” Scott trailed off, “We should listen to Laura and go back to the car.”
“Something just exploded, Scott! They could be laying there, alone and hurt!”
“You hard Laura earlier, whatever it is we’re just going to get in the way.”
Scott’s eyes flashed golden again, a cheap intimidation tactic now that Stiles
had seen Laura do the same, albeit in a much scarier fashion.
Stiles shook his head, “Dude, I know you’re freaked the fuck out, I am too, but
we need to do something! I can’t just sit here and wonder if Derek just got
himself blown up! I’m going back there, and the only way you’re going to stop
me is if you throw me over your shoulder and drag me back to the car against my
will and I really hope you won’t do that to me buddy, because I don’t think we
could come back from that.”
Scott blinked, dumbfounded, “That’s…really manipulative, dude.”
Stiles’ reply was cut off by a sharp, searing pain in his upper arm. It all
happened so fast that he barely had time to process it in the moment. One
second, Stiles was readying a sarcastic retort to Scott, and the next, Stiles
was looking down at the newly missing chunk of fabric and skin on his arm.
Stiles let out a scream, falling to the ground and clutching his arm. It was
almost as painful as that time he’d broken his foot in fifth grade by jumping
off the swings at the park.
Stiles clutched his hand to his arm, wincing as blood began to seep through the
cracks in his fingers.
“Stiles!” Scott rushed over to Stiles, dropping to his knees.
“What…the fuck…was that?” Stiles rasped, breathing in through his nose and out
through his mouth to try and block out the pain.
“Someone shot you!” Scott yelped, “Who the hell shot you?”
“That didn’t feel like a bullet,” Stiles breathed, “it felt like a really fast
knife.”
“How do you know what a bullet feels like?” Scott asked.
“Well, I know it doesn’t feel like getting cut by a really fast knife!” Stiles
tried to sit up, accidentally putting pressure on his injured arm, and cried
out in pain.
Something else whistled through the air, just barely missing Scott’s back.
Stiles reached up with his good arm and pulled Scott down to the ground,
ignoring Scott’s protests while his eyes searched for whatever was being thrown
at them.
Stiles’ eyes finally landed on the offender, “An arrow.”
“What?” Scott looked in the direction Stiles was pointing.
“Someone’s shooting arrows at us.” Stiles whispered.
“Who would do that?” Scott whispered back.
Stiles fought back an eye roll, “Hunters. They must be tracking the Rougarou.”
“We’re not the Rougarou though!”
“Four-for-one special.”
Another voice, a woman’s, broke through the night air, “They’re over here
somewhere.”
“Shit,” Stiles whispered, “we need to move.”
Scott nodded, “I know where the Jeep is.”
“We have to stay down, but we have to move fast.”
“I can take them.” Scott said, puffing out his chest as he stood.
“Oh, now you want to fight!”
“We don’t have a choice!” Scott protested.
Stiles sighed, “I don’t think Laura would be down with you killing a bunch of
people.”
“They’re trying to kill us!”
Another Arrow flew between them, whoever was shooting wasn’t that good at
hitting their target.
“Run!” Stiles said, pulling Scott along with him.
Scott went along with it, taking up the lead and setting a path for Stiles to
follow.
A howl went up in the air, one that Stiles recognized as Laura’s.
“Laura,” Scott said, still running, “she and Derek are OK, they managed to
shake off the hunters.”
“You got all that from a howl?”
“It’s like…a feeling. I don’t know how to explain it.”
The Jeep came into view, it’s blue paint glinting under the moonlight. Stiles
frantically pulled the keys out of his pocket, running to unlock the door.
Stiles turned to Scott, “Can you like, answer her? Let her know that we’re
alive?”
“Maybe?” Scott shrugged, he leaned out of the window of the Jeep just as Stiles
cranked the engine and put it in drive, and howled.
Scott’s voice cracked halfway through the howl, and it would have been
hilarious if Stiles wasn’t about to piss his pants in fear.
An answering howl filtered through the cracked window as Stiles pulled onto the
main road leading back to his house.
“She got the message.” Scott beamed, proud of himself.
Stiles reached over to ruffle Scott’s hair, but winced when he pulled on the
raw skin of his wound.
“Fuck that hurts.”
 
                                       X
                                        
The hunters fanned out through the forest, they flowed into the standard
triangle formation that was normally used for tracking multiple targets. It was
a lot quieter than one expected, less pomp and circumstance and more tactical
precision.
“Chris, what’s the plan?” one of the hunters asked.
“Ask her.”
“Kate?” The hunter questioned, “She took off on her own a few minutes back.”
“Not Kate.”
The group was silent, and an awkward tension fell over the group.
Chris sighed, “Allison, what do you think the best course of action is?”
Allison blinked, her throat closing up now that she was suddenly in the
spotlight.
“I…” Allison trailed off, “you didn’t tell me I was going to be in charge.”
“You’re going to lead us all one day,” Chris snapped, “you need to learn how to
think on your feet.”
Allison clenched her first, her knuckles going white as the grip on her bow
tightened, “It’s just recon, right? We just want to see if there’s any evidence
that the Hale’s were involved in the murders in town so there’s no need to make
contact if we don’t have to.”
Chris nodded.
Allison crouched to the ground, running her hand across the soft dirt, “There’s
two sets of tracks on the ground leading west, we follow them and see what we
find.”
“Someone radio Kate and find out where the hell she is.” Chris said as he fell
into step behind Allison, seemingly content to let her lead the charge.
“We tired,” another one of the hunters said, “all we get is static.”
“Why did she break away?” Allison asked, “I didn’t even realize she wasn’t with
us anymore.”
Chris made a tsk sound and Allison felt her shoulders drop.
“She said she wanted to be in position for a pincer attack if it came down to
it, said that the Hale’s are tricky fuckers and we’d need to surprise them if
we wanted to take down an Alpha like Laura Hale.”
“Kate can take care of herself,” Chris said, “I just want to make sure we’re
not walking on top of each other.”
A savage roar rolled through the forest and the entire team stopped in it’s
tracks.
“What the fuck was that?” One of the hunters said, raising his gun to the
ready.
Allison reached behind and pulled a wolfsbane tipped arrow from her quiver and
knocked it in her bowstring, “Let’s go.”
The team picked up the pace and broke out into a jog while following the same
tracks as before. Sounds of fighting got louder the closer the team got to
their destination.
“That sounds like more than two wolves,” Allison said, “did we just walk into a
territory dispute?”
The clearing came into view and the entire team stopped in their tracks as they
took in the sight in front of them. A monstrous wolf, bigger than anything
Allison had ever seen or read about, stood in the middle of the clearing.
Allison watched in morbid fascination as the giant wolf fought against Derek
and Laura Hale.
The wolf scrambled across the ground with the Hale’s, each of the siblings
taking turns ripping chinks of flesh out of the wolf and having their bodies
torn apart in return. Blood covered the grass of the clearing that was
perfectly illuminated by the moon overhead. The Hales, even Laura, an Alpha,
were being tossed around like ragdolls by the monster. They both got in some
good hits, but the monster seemed to recover faster and could take more of a
beating until it eventually slowed down. It moved with such alarming speed,
jumping from tree to tree, that Allison was rooted in place with fear and awe.
“This isn’t a territory dispute.” Chris said.
“Is that thing that’s killed the people in town?” Allison asked, “It’s huge.”
“We don’t know anything yet.” Chris said.
“Should have brought popcorn,” one of the hunters said, “this is a hell of a
show.”
“At this rate we’re only going to have to deal with the winner of this fight,”
the other hunter smiled, “makes our job a hell of a lot easier.”
That didn’t sit right with Allison, “We’re just going to sit here and not do
anything?”
One of the hunters scoffed, “Let the mutts kill each other, as long as they’re
dead it’s the same to me.”
“What else would you propose?” Chris asked.
Allison thought for a second, “Flash bang.”
“Continue.” Chris prompted.
Allison took a deep breath, “If I aim it right I should be able to stun them.
We can take the Hales in for questioning, maybe find out what the hell that big
thing is, and we might even be able to take down the other one.”
Chris was quiet for a few seconds before nodding, “Do it.”
Allison swapped out her standard Arrow for the flash bang and drew back on the
bow strong. It was now that she’d wished she spent more time practicing with
them over the standard arrows she was more comfortable with.
Chris stopped her before she let the arrow go, “Try to wound them first.”
“What?”
“Just listen to me,” Chris insisted, “Wolfsbane arrows first, then the flash
bang.”
Allison hesitated for a moment, but followed her father’s orders while doubting
who was supposed to be in charge. It was probably a test, she thought after she
fired the first arrow that missed its mark. A test she failed, if the fact that
her second volley of three arrows didn’t hit a single wolf.
Allison was getting frustrated, she pulled the flash bang from the quiver and
pulled her bow back, lining up the shot and letting it go. A breeze blew
through the preserve at the last moment and blew the arrow slightly off course,
causing it to land a few feet further from Derek Hale than she’d intended.
“Dammit.” Allison hissed.
The arrow exploded, showering the clearing with a bight light.
Everything erupted into chaos after that.
All three wolves scrambled, the Hales running in one direction while the
monstrous wolf ran in the other. Allison watched as her father ran off,
grabbing one of the spare hunters by the arm and shouting furiously for Kate on
his radio.
Allison stood still for a few more moments before snapping back to her senses.
“Come on,” she said, tapping the left-over hunter on the arm, “let’s go this
way.”
They ran through the woods in the general direction that the Hale’s were last
seen. They ran for a few minutes without a single trace of the Hale’s until
Allison heard the sound of voices coming from the opposite direction in the
distance. She wasn’t close enough to pick up on the actual conversation, but
she could hear the cadence of the voices, it was two people arguing. She was
ready to write it off until she saw a flash of golden Beta eyes in the
darkness.
Allison tapped the hunter on the shoulder and held a finger up to her lips
before pointing at the shrouded silhouettes in the distance. The hunter nodded
and readied his gun, but Allison pushed the barrel down and shook her head
before drawing another arrow from her quiver.
Allison lined up the shot and let the arrow loose, watching as it sailed
through the air and made contact with a target. Allison grinned as she watched
the shadow fall to the floor with a cry of pain, the arrow was one of the ones
tipped with wolfsbane, they wouldn’t be getting far.
Allison let another arrow fly as they moved towards their targets.
“They’re over here somewhere.” Allison said as they moved towards the sound of
hushed voices.
A crackling sound from her earpiece startled her as she let another arrow go,
sending it off course.
“Everyone regroup, we lost track of the Hale’s and the other wolf disappeared.”
“Dad,” Allison said into her radio, “I have the Hale’s in front of me.”
“That’s not possible,” her father said, “I just watched Laura Hale shift into a
wolf and take off with her brother faster than I could get to them.”
Allison looked over her shoulder as the two shadows who were almost completely
out of a view. If the Hale’s were gone than who the hell did she just hit with
an arrow?
“What about Kate?” The hunter with Allison asked.
“I’m here,” Kate’s voice broke through the radio, she was panting and out of
breath, “I can see you, Allison. I’m coming up behind you, try not to nail me
with an arrow.”
Allison turned and waited for a few seconds before Kate stepped out of the
darkness. She was drenched in sweat, her white shirt stained and her leather
jacket half hanging off her shoulder. Kate stopped and braced herself against a
tree with one hand, leaning over to catch her breath.
“Holy shit,” Kate laughed, “that was wild.”
“What happened?” Her father’s voice came through the speaker again, this time
sounding angry.
“Don’t get your panties in a bunch, Chris.” Kate rolled her eyes.
Allison covered her mic to smother her laughter.
“I was trying to circle around the Hale’s, and you were throwing off my
concentration with all your bitching in my ear, by the way,” Kate said, “then
outta nowhere comes this giant fucking thing, barrels right into me and knocks
me on my ass before trying to take my head off.”
“You saw the other thing out here?” Allison asked, that only left the two
mystery people out in the woods unaccounted for.
Kate nodded, “Got it good with my knife and then chased it down until I lost
it. That thing can move.”
“Everyone regroup,” her dad sighed into the radio, “this was a real shit show.”
Allison frowned and hung her bow from her shoulder as a howl echoed through the
preserve.
Kate came up beside her, placing a hand on the top of Allison’s head after
disconnecting her radio, “Don’t listen to your dad, kiddo. You fucking killed
it tonight.”
Allison smiled, preening a bit, “Thanks Aunt Kate.”
The group was quiet as they walked back to their fleet of vehicles. Allison
loaded herself into the front seat of her dad’s SUV and twisted onto her side,
watching the road pass by as he drove home.
Allison spent the entire drive thinking of the mysterious golden eyes in the
forest.
***** Being Human *****
                                Chapter Sixteen
                                  Being Human
                                        
Stiles blinked at the ceiling of his room a few times before rolling over and
looking at the digital clock by his bedside. It was almost 1am and he hadn’t
gotten a second of sleep since he’d been home. His dad had picked him up from
Scott’s shortly after they’d gotten there, Stiles barely had enough time to
shower, bandage his arm, and steal clean clothes from Scott before his dad
arrived to escort him home.
Stiles and his dad hadn’t spoken much after getting home, he just said that
there was a murder and he couldn’t talk anymore about it before retreating
upstairs to get as much sleep as possible before he had to go back in to
continue leading the investigation.
Seeing his dad so tired and overworked bothered Stiles more than he’d
anticipated. Stiles didn’t stop to think that he was actively contributing to
his father’s headache by not telling him what he knew. Stiles knew his dad, he
knew how much his father cared about the town and the people in it. He knew
that his dad would be running himself ragged trying to find out who had
committed two murders in the span of a few days in their once quiet little
town.
If only Stiles could tell his dad that it wasn’t just a person he was looking
for.
How would that even work?
‘Oh, by the way, dad! Your murderer is actually a giant werewolf that’s being
magically controlled by a random woman in town! Also, my new teacher is a
serial killer who kinda tried to molest me in the middle of class! Have a good
day!’
Stiles blinked in tandem with the flashing red numbers of his digital clock,
quietly counting the seconds in his head until a stinging pain in his arm
diverted his attention. He reached over and turned on the bedside lamp and
frowned when he saw the blood from his arm seeping through the bandage and onto
the sleeve of his shirt.
Stiles turned off the lamp and quickly hopped out of bed, because blood was a
bitch to get out of sheets. A fact he’d learned during the great Nosebleed
Sleepover Fiasco of 2001.
Dodging every creaky floorboard on his way to the bathroom, Stiles quickly
grabbed the deluxe first aid kit his father had given him as a gag birthday
present and made his way back to his room.
Two pinpoints of electric blue from outside his bedroom window were the only
sources of light in the darkness. Stiles’ grip on the first aid kit tightened
before he turned his lamp back on and unlocked the window.
Stiles stepped to the side as Derek crawled through the window and stood
awkwardly to the side.
Stiles didn’t want to be the first one to speak so he stood silently in an
effort to wait Derek out.
Finally, mercifully, after a few more seconds, Derek spoke, “You locked the
window.”
Stiles nodded, “Us weak and defenses humans need all the protection we can
get.”
Not the most mature of responses, sure, but it was 1am and Stiles’ head was
filled with a flood of emotions from the day.
Derek opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it. He repeated the
action several times before he apparently settled on something to say.
“I smelled blood.”
Stiles’ eyebrows shot up to his hairline, “Um?”
Derek shook his head, “I was outside, making sure nothing came for you and I
smelled blood, so I came to your window.”
“You’ve been outside the entire time?” Stiles asked, questioning himself on if
he found that idea creepy or endearing.
“Not all night,” Derek said, “just after I finished healing.”
Stiles walked back over to his bed and sat on the edge, “How bad was it? Laura
said you were pretty roughed up when I talked to her on the phone a few hours
ago.”
Derek shrugged, “The hunters put wolfsbane in their flash bangs. I was too
close and looking directly at it when it went off. It burnt off my corneas.”
“Burnt off your corneas?” Stiles hissed, “Dude, it seriously worries me how
casually you said that.”
Derek shrugged again, “It’s not the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Stiles…had no idea to respond to that.
“Can you hand me the first aid kit?” Stiles said, pointing to the metal box
he’d left sitting on the desk near Derek.
Derek nodded and picked up the kit, walking over to Stiles and kneeling in
front of him. Derek studied him for a minute, his eyes sweeping over every inch
of Stiles’ frame before zeroing in on the growing red spot on his sleeve.
“What happened?” Derek asked as he opened the first aid kit.
“I got shot with an arrow,” Stiles said, alarmingly too casual for himself too,
“Well, more like grazed.”
“I’m going to kill all of them.” Derek said, his eyes glowing electric blue
again.
Stiles shook his head, “Please don’t, there’s already enough dead people around
town. If anymore pop up I’m worried my dad is going to have a heart attack that
doesn’t have anything to do with butter and red meat.”
Derek let out a tense breath before leaning forward, “Let me see it.”
Stiles stared at Derek, “It’s not that big a deal, I can take care of it
myself.”
“Stiles.” Derek’s voice left no room for an argument.
Stiles slowly rolled up his sleeve, wincing as the fabric caught on the bandage
and pulled at the wound in a painful direction. Stiles didn’t focus on Derek as
he pulled the bandage off and tossed it into the trashcan nearby.
The cut was deeper than Stiles remembered it being and the area around it was
an angry red color. There wasn’t much swelling or anything that would make
Stiles think he had an infection, he’d been more than generous with the
antibiotic ointment.
Derek slowly raised his hand to Stiles’ arm, his fingers light as a feather as
they came to rest on Stiles’ skin. Derek traced the area around the cut with
his index finger before removing his hands completely and sighing.
“You’re going to need stitches.”
Stiles groaned, “I was hoping you wouldn’t say that.”
“It won’t heal properly,” Derek said, “and the longer it stays open like that
the more of a chance you have of getting an infection.”
Stiles scrubbed his hand down his face and stuck his tongue out before falling
back onto his bed, “Mrs. McCall is never going to believe any story I tell her
about this.”
Stiles listened as Derek dug through the first aid kit.
“There are sutures in here.” Derek said.
Stiles sat up and eyed Derek dubiously. Derek held the packet of stitches in
his hand, turning it back and forth so the only thing that Stiles could see was
the rather large needle glinting under the lamp light.
“And?”
“I can do it,” Derek said, “you don’t have to go to Scott’s mom.”
Stiles swallowed the lump in his throat, “You sure you know how to do that?”
Derek nodded, “My aunt taught me when I was younger.”
Stiles weighed the options in his head. On one hand, it let him avoid Mrs.
McCall and her deadly truth-seeking eyes. On the other hand, Derek would
probably get to see Stiles cry entirely not manly tears. Stiles learned the
hard way a few years ago that he didn’t have the best reaction to having a
needle and thread repeatedly pulled through his skin.
Derek must have caught the uptick in Stiles’ heartbeat, “It won’t hurt.”
Stiles sputtered, “That’s easy for you to say!”
“Stiles,” Derek said, his voice more serious than it had been the moment
before, “do you trust me?”
Stiles’ breath hitched in his chest. It was such an unexpected question, loaded
in ways that Stiles didn’t even think he fully understood. Still, there was no
question what his answer was.
“Yes.”
Derek nodded, “Take off your shirt.”
Stiles felt his face go red in an instant, “Huh? What? Who? Me?”
Derek sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, “It’s in the way. Either take
it off or I’m just going to rip the sleeve off.”
“Great bedside manner there, doc.” Stiles mumbled before using his good arm to
pull the shirt over his head.
Derek rolled his eyes, “You’ll be fine.”
“Last time Mrs. McCall gave me stiches Scott had to sit on top of me to stop me
from moving.” Stiles warned him.
Derek didn’t respond. The room was dead quiet save for the sound of Derek
tearing the plastic packaging open with his teeth. Derek worked quietly as he
set everything up, rolling out a strip of gauze and placing the needle and
sutures on it. He popped open a bottle of disinfectant and dipped the needle
into it before threading it and holding it at the ready.
“Don’t move.” Derek said.
Stiles nodded and squeezed his eyes shut as he felt Derek’s hand press down on
his arm to hold him in place. Derek’s grip was softer than Stiles had imagined,
like he was purposely holding back and treating Stiles as delicately as
possible. It was easy for Stiles to relax into such a touch.
Stiles cringed as he felt the sharp end of the needle press into his skin, the
sharp piercing pain being replaced by a dull pressure a moment later. Stiles
gritted his teeth as he felt the uncomfortable glide of the sutures under his
skin, but it wasn’t until he felt the press of the needle into his skin for the
second time that stiles realized he wasn’t feeling any pain.
“What the?” Stiles opened his eyes and looked at Derek.
Derek’s face was tight, his eyes solely concentrated on the job at hand.
Stiles looked down at his arm just in time to see Derek pierce his skin with
the needle again. Still, there was no pain. Derek was about halfway done with
stitching Stiles up and he hadn’t felt anything other than the pressure of the
needle being pressed into his skin.
“How are you doing that?” Stiles asked, “What kind of magic is happening right
now? Did you drug me?”
Derek’s face shifted, a small smiled pulled at the edges of his mouth as he
spoke, “I didn’t drug you.”
“Then what…” Stiles trailed off as he looked down at Derek’s hands again.
Derek’s right hand was working on stitching Stiles’ arm, but his left hand was
still lightly pressed on Stiles’ lower arm. Stiles would have found time to be
amazed at Derek doing a flawless set of stitches one handed if it wasn’t for
what was happening with Derek’s left hand.
All along the top of Derek’s left hand, black veins bulged out from under his
skin. The veins were pulsing repeatedly, almost as if they were moving under
Derek’s skin.
“What the hell is that?” Stiles said, mildly confused.
Derek huffed out a small laugh, “I’m taking your pain.”
“You’re doing my what?” Stiles cocked his head to the side, he was suddenly
starting to feel loopy and tired.
“It’s something some wolves can do,” Derek said simply, “usually it’s just
something an Alpha learns but my mother taught all of us when we were younger.
I’m drawing out any pain you’re feeling and taking it for myself.”
Stiles took a few moments to process what Derek said. It was hardly the
weirdest thing Stiles had learned about werewolves in the last week, but it was
easily the most surprising.
“So, you’re in pain right now?” Stiles asked. The last thing he wanted to do
was have Derek suffer anymore because of him.
Derek shook his head, “I barely feel it, at worst it just feels like being
pinched for a second before the healing takes over.”
“What would happen if you took your hand away?” Stiles asked hesitantly.
Derek smirked, “Do you want to find out?”
Stiles furiously shook his head, “No! Nope! Not at all, keep on with the
werewolf pain magic!”
“It’s not magic.” Derek rolled his eyes, “Stop moving so much, I’m almost
done.”
Stiles watched Derek’s left had as he finished up his work. It was almost
hypnotizing watching the veins pulse and knowing that it was all the pain being
drained from his body.
“Done.” Derek said, tying off the last stitch, “Don’t move, I’m going to
bandage it.”
Derek pulled his left hand away and Stiles bit his lip as a small flood of pain
flashed through his arm, but the sensation went away almost as quickly as it
came as soon as Derek returned with the antibiotic cream.
Derek wrapped Stiles’ arm in gauze and made sure it was taped properly before
nodding.
“It shouldn’t scar that badly,” Derek said, “it wasn’t as deep as it could have
been, and the stitches are dissolvable so just try to not get them wet.”
“Right.” Stiles said, letting out a yawn.
“You need to go to sleep.” Derek stood up and cleaned his hands off with a roll
of paper towels by the desk.
Stiles look at the clock and was surprised to find it was nearly 2am. Had Derek
really been there for almost an hour?
“What about you?” Stiles asked, “You’ve got to be tired.”
Derek shrugged, “I can sleep during the day.”
“You’re not really going to sit in a tree outside my window all night, are
you?” Stiles asked, astounded by the insanity of the statement.
“There’s a comfortable rock just outside of your property line,” Derek said, “I
was sitting there reading before I came up here.”
Stiles burst into laughter, quickly covering his mouth before me made anymore
sound, “A rock? You were sitting on a rock? You couldn’t even bring a chair?”
Derek didn’t say anything as he walked back to the window and opened it. He had
one leg out onto the roof before Stiles stopped him.
“Wait!” Stiles whispered, “If you’re going to stay outside you might as well
just stay in here.”
The lamp light didn’t stretch to the other side of the room and it left Derek’s
face impossible to read from that far away.
Derek spoke after a few seconds, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why?” Stiles shrugged before reaching over to turn off his lamp, “I’m about to
pass out and if you’re determined to make sure something doesn’t come kill me
in the middle of the night the least you can do is be comfortable.”
Derek hesitated for several seconds, long enough for Stiles to begin to feel
awkward for making the offer at all. Stiles didn’t think he had an ulterior
motive behind his offer, he just wanted Derek to not sit outside in the woods
on a rock. It wasn’t like he expected Derek to crawl into bed with him or
anything.
But Stiles had no way to know how Derek interpreted the offer.
Stiles was just about to tell Derek he didn’t have to stay when he saw Derek
set back into the room and close the window. Derek pulled out the chair at
Stiles desk and plucked at worn paperback book from his back pocket and sat
down. Stiles couldn’t see the title of the book in the dark.
“I’ll stay until I hear your dad wake up.”
Stiles reply was cut off by his own yawn.
“Go to sleep, Stiles.” Derek said before Stiles could try to speak again.
Stiles nodded with his head against his pillow and drifted to sleep before he
could think of anything else to say.
 
                                       X
                                        
Stiles was stirred from his sleep by a vibrating from under his pillow. He
opened his eyes slowly, squinting to block out the sunlight. Stiles looked
around the room as he sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. His
eyes went immediately to the last place he saw Derek before he fell asleep but
the chair at his desk was pushed in and undisturbed. The window was also closed
and locked.
If it wasn’t for the bandage on his arm and the stitches underneath Stiles
would have thought everything that happened with Derek last night was a dream.
It was just after 7am and Stiles could hear his dad moving around in the
hallway outside his room, so Derek couldn’t have been gone for long if he did
stay until he heard the Sheriff wake up. The window was locked too, meaning
Derick must have left through one of the doors downstairs.
The buzzing under his pillow continued.
Stiles groaned and pulled his phone out, cocking his head to the side when he
saw it was Lydia calling him. Stiles could count on both hands the number of
times Lydia had been the first one to call him, and he could count on zero
hands the number of times Lydia called him before 12pm.
“Lyds?” Stiles mumbled groggily into the phone.
“I need you to come pick me up.” Lydia said, succinct as always.
Stiles swung his legs off the bed, “Good morning to you too, Lydia.”
Lydia sighed on the other end of the line, “Good morning, Stiles. I need you to
come pick me up.”
Stiles stretched his arms above his head while he cradled the phone against his
shoulder. It was easy enough to ignore the slight sting in his arm, Stiles
wondered if it was leftover werewolf pain magic.
“Where’s your car?”
“It’s downtown at the video store,” Lydia said, “your dad said I couldn’t have
it back until sometime tomorrow.”
“My dad?” Stiles repeated, confused for a moment, and then it hit him, “Holy
shit, you were at the store last night when that guy was killed?”
Stiles’ mind was racing. What had Lydia seen? Holy shit, she could have easily
been the victim.
Lydia was quiet for a second, “It’s…hard to explain. Just come pick me up,
please.”
“Yeah, no problem.” Stiles nodded to himself, “Wait, why are you calling me
instead of Jackson?”
Lydia groaned, “I’m not talking to Jackson and you’re not talking about Jackson
to me. Be here in no more than fifteen minutes.”
Lydia hung up the phone.
Stiles jumped out of bed, quickly throwing on a passably decent outfit before
rushing to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He texted Scott to see if he needed
a ride as he was walking down the stairs and got a reply that his mom felt
better dropping him off on her way to work. That left Stiles with plenty of
time with Lydia to see what she knew, Stiles knew enough about Lydia to know
that she’d divulge more information in a one on one conversation.
Stiles’ dad was grabbing his keys just as Stiles turned the corner.
“Where are you off to this early?”
Stiles dashed into the kitchen to grab a poptart before replying.
“I’m picking Lydia up,” Stiles said between bites, “she said something about
this really rude cop not letting her have her car until tomorrow.”
The Sheriff rolled his eyes, “It’s part of a crime scene.”
“About that,” Stiles smiled, “do you have anymore information?”
“Nothing that I’m going to tell you.”
Stiles groaned, “C’mon dad, if there’s a psycho murderer running around town
don’t you think I should arm myself with all the facts?”
The Sheriff paused, “You’re not arming yourself with anything. You’re either
here after school or at Scott’s when Melissa is around. I don’t want you
running around town, or out in the damn woods, when we’re not sure what the
hell is happening here. And that includes staying away from anyone with the
last name Hale.”
Stiles held both of his hands up in surrender and took a step backwards, “It
was just a question!”
“I mean it.” the Sheriff warned.
Stiles nodded and followed his dad out the door with a pit opening in the
bottom of his stomach about all the lies he’d already told, and all the rules
he was going to break.
 
                                       X
                                        
Lydia was waiting outside of the front gate of her house as Stiles pulled up.
She opened the door and quickly climbed into the passenger’s seat, holding her
purse in her lap as she buckled her seatbelt.
“Drive.” Lydia said.
“What?” Stiles grinned, “Afraid of your neighbors seeing you get in a car
that’s more than a year old?”
Lydia smacked him in the chest, “No, asshole, I’m afraid of being late to
school.”
“Chill, we’ve got plenty of time.” Stiles said as he turned the jeep around and
pulled back onto the main road.
“Not if you’re stopping to get me coffee.” Lydia said, her eyes focused on her
phone.
They drove for a few minutes and Stiles held his tongue until they got in the
Starbucks drive through. He wasn’t against holding Lydia’s coffee hostage until
she told him what happened last night.
“I’ll talk to my dad and see if he can let you have your car today.” Stiles
said, offering up an ice breaker to lead into the bigger conversation.
Lydia dropped her phone into her purse and turned to look at Stiles, smiling,
“Thank you.”
So,” Stiles said, smoothly drawing out the last letter of the word, “what
happened last night.”
Lydia’s smile dropped, and her eyes narrowed, “Like I told your dad, I don’t
know.”
“What?” Stiles said, taken aback, “How do you not know if you were there?”
Lydia sighed and ran a hand through her hair, tossing it over her shoulder, “I
left before anything happened.”
“If you left before the guy was killed then why was your car there?” Stiles
asked, something wasn’t adding up.
“Jesus, are you the cop or is it your dad?” Lydia snapped.
Stiles recoiled, leaning back in his seat and away from Lydia.
Lydia rubbed her eyes and rested her head against the window, “I’m sorry.”
Stiles shook his head, maybe trying to get answers out of Lydia so soon was a
bad idea, “It’s fine.”
“I don’t know what happened,” Lydia said suddenly, her voice small and
detached, “one second I was standing in the romantic comedy section trying to
decide what I wanted to watch and then the next I heard…something.”
Stiles’ eyes went wide as he remembered Lydia’s freak out in the hallway.
Lydia continued on, “It was like something was screaming in my head, telling me
to get out of there as fast as I could. I felt this…weight. It was like the air
was pressing down on me, I couldn’t stand to be inside anymore, so I just left
and started walking down the street. I probably walked half a mile before I
came back to my senses. By the time I got back to the store it was surrounded
by police, the front window was broken, and my car was covered in glass with
the hood dented in.”
“Holy shit,” Stiles whispered, “what did you tell my dad?”
Lydia laughed, though it sounded strained, “I told him I’d just broken up with
Jackson, which is true, and that I got sad looking at movies we used to watch
together and needed to get some air. I threw in a few tears and he got
uncomfortable and let me go home.”
Stiles smiled and pulled up to the window to pay for their drinks. He waved
away Lydia’s credit card, it didn’t seem right making her pay after that, and
pulled back onto the road.
“That wasn’t the first time you’ve gotten that feeling, was it?” Stiles asked.
Lydia shook her head, “No. It’s been happing for the last few weeks, but it’s
always been smaller stuff, like a voice telling me I left my flat iron on. Or
something stopping me from gunning it through a yellow light only for someone
to speed through the intersection right where my car would have been. It’s
never been…I’m losing my mind. That must be it. I need more Xanax or
something.”
“I don’t think Xanax is going to help with that.”
Lydia smacked him in the chest again, “Don’t be rude.”
Stiles smiled at her as they pulled into the parking lot, “We’ll figure out
what’s going on, I promise.”
Lydia paused as she opened the door, “I don't think it's something you can
figure out, Stiles.”
Stiles grinned, “Lydia, it's me. If anyone can figure it out, I can.”
Lydia shook her head and looked towards the sky with a silent prayer, "I've
always wondered if you were actually certifiable. Well, at least I'll know
someone when we end up in Eichen House together." 
Stiles winked, yelling to Lydia as she walked across the parking lot, "Birds of
a feather!"
Stiles waited until Lydia disappeared inside the building before turning the
Jeep off and getting out, He pulled his phone out and texted Laura, asking her
to meet him at Deaton's after school. Stiles had a list of questions for the
man and he hoping having Laura there would make Deaton's tongue a little
looser. 
 
***** Cryptic *****
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                               Chapter Seventeen
                                    Cryptic
                                        
Lunch time found Stiles, once again, in the library for two reasons. The first
reason, he’d been dying to do research on psychic phenomena all day. The
second, he’d seen Kate lingering outside of the cafeteria door and Stiles would
rather starve for the rest of the day than be anywhere in Kate’s orbit.
Stiles spent the entire day going out if his way to avoid Kate, even showing up
to his third period class late because he had to take the long way around
campus to avoid walking past the door to Kate’s classroom.
Needless to say, Stiles had positioned himself perfectly in the library. He
could see every person who walked through the door, but he was conveniently
obscured by the stacks of books around his computer. Kate wasn’t getting the
jump on him in there.
Stiles pulls up Google, because Google is the knower of all things, and simply
searched for the word psychics. He really shouldn’t have been surprised that
his tops hits were Wikipedia and some shady websites offering to tell him his
future for $24.99.
Stiles angrily backspaced the word and replaced it with psychic phenomena. This
gave him a few more interesting hits, though he purposely avoided every article
related to MKUltra because he’d already gone down that rabbit hole once and
didn’t come back for like three days.
The rest of the search results, however, seem to fall into the telekinesis
school of thought. And it’s not that it wouldn’t be cool, but Stiles really
didn’t think Lydia was lifting objects with her mind. Lydia seemed more Raven
Baxter than Jean Grey.
Stiles glanced at the clock, he didn’t have much longer until his lunch period
was over, so he decided to throw everything at the wall to see what stuck.
Psychic, psychic powers, future, supernatural, sensing death
Stiles clicked through several pages of results, stopping every so often to
read a few paragraphs here and there, but nothing seemed to fit. Maybe he
shouldn’t have put so much faith in Google. After all, how could Google filter
out the stuff that Stiles knew was obviously real from the stuff that was
obviously fiction.
Stiles’ cursor hovered over the Wikipedia entry for Banshee when he was
startled by a voice next to him.
“Who are you stalking now?”
Stiles yelped, jumping in his seat, and quickly closed out the browser before
looking for the source of the voice. When Stiles looked up he saw Erica,
dressed in her usual hoodie with her unruly hair pulled into a ponytail. So
much for no one being able to get the jump on him.  Just how long had Erica
been standing there?
“I watched The Sixth Sense last night,” Stiles said, rather smoothly, “now I
can’t stop thinking I’m seeing dead people.”
“Huh,” Erica cocked her head to the side, “I did think it was weird that you
were the only person who could see me.”
Stiles rolled his eyes, “Very funny. What’s up?”
Erica shrugged, “Not much, just hiding out in here and I saw you skulking
around back here, so I figured I’d come torment you. That is…if your offer
still stands.”
Stiles furrowed his brow, “My offer?”
Erica’s face dropped along with her shoulders, she hunched forward, closing
herself off, “Never mind.”
Stiles was confused for a few moments until it dawned on him, and the he just
felt like the worlds biggest asshole.
“My offer!” Stiles all but yelled, drawing a few angry eyes and whispers,
“Lunch! With me! Yes! Sorry!”
Erica tipped her head back up to meet Stiles eyes, a fond smirk playing across
her lips, “I think I can physically see all the exclamation points you put into
that.”
Stiles shrugged, “If ya ain’t exlamin’, then you’re a lame’n!”
Erica’s jaw dropped, “That was…terrible. I can’t associate with you anymore,
you’ll drop my already nonexistent street cred into the negative.”
“Hmm,” Stiles tipped his chin upwards, “I didn’t know street cred could go any
lower than mine, it’s nice to know I’m not the most tragic person among the
student body.”
Erica rolled her eyes and flicked Stiles on the side of the head, “Asshole.”
Stiles grinned, “That’s me!”
Erica flicked him on the side of the head again before leaning back in her
chair, “I hear you made friends with yet another Chemistry teacher.”
Stiles froze, his entire body going rigid, “What do you mean?”
Erica shrugged, “Just that you made a great first impression on the grownup
Argent.”
Stiles swallowed the lump in his quickly tightening throat, he pushed away all
thoughts of Kate and tried to act as normal as possible, “Some people just
don’t get my brand of humor.”
Erica laughed, “From what I’ve heard it was less humor and more straight up
antagonism.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Stiles said as he pushed himself away from the
computer, standing up right as the bell rang, “We should get to class.”
Erica blinked, studying Stiles for a moment, before picking her bag up from the
ground and standing, “Fine. You can walk me to class.”
“We’re going to the same class, Erica.”
“Exactly,” Erica said with a smile, “so you can walk me there.”
Stiles held his arms out in front of them with a fancy flourish, and let Erica
take point as they left the library. They made it through the halls rather
quickly, dodging the other students and teachers by taking advantage of the
back way to the Econ classroom from the library.
Stiles had a…complicated relationship with his Econ class. On one hand, it was
one of the two classes that literally all his friends were in. Ignoring the
slightly sad fact that the total of all of Stiles’ friends fit into one
classroom, Stiles looked forward to the class he shared with Scott, Allison,
Lydia, and now, thanks to their newly minted friendship, Erica.
On the other hand, the class had Jackson in it as well. And it was also taught
by his Lacrosse coach, which one would think would make the class easier.
It didn’t.
Finstock liked to talk, ramble even. And he was notorious for the amount of
group projects he assigned. Stiles had already done four group projects this
semester and he had a sinking feeling that they were in for another. There was
usually a 50/50 chance that Finstock would let them group up on their own
rather than assign them himself. The times that Finstock assigned groups
himself had led to some of Stiles’ least favorite memories of high school.
Stiles still had nightmares about his clusterfuck of a “Get Rich or Die Trying”
project with Jackson.
Scott was already in his usual seat in front of Stiles’ desk, with Allison
sitting next to him. Lydia usually sat next to Stiles in the desk closest to
the window. Jackson, depending on if he was on speaking terms with Lydia,
usually sat behind her. Stiles looked around the room and frowned when he
realized that he had no idea where Erica normally sat. Finstock’s class didn’t
have assigned seats but everyone usually picked one and just gravitated to the
same spot every day.
“Hey,” Stiles said, just as Erica started to head towards the back of the
class, “sit behind me today?”
Erica looked confused, “Isn’t that usually Greenberg’s seat?”
Stiles shrugged, “Your point?”
Erica huffed out a small breath of laughter but walked towards the desk behind
Stiles’, “Whatever you say.”
Stiles dropped into his seat, stretching his legs out and not so accidentally
kicking Scott in the back of the legs.
“Asshole,” Scott muttered before turning around, “how did you sleep?”
Scott looked no worse for wear after last night, and Stiles was momentarily
jealous of the whole werewolf rejuvenation thing because Stiles was sure he
looked like hell. Still, he had to admit that he didn’t sleep too terribly
after Derek and his magic werewolf hands.
Stiles choked on his own spit, blushing, “I was pretty beat, so I passed right
out.”
Scott nodded before turning back to Allison and resting his head on his hands
while hanging on her every word.
Allison, Stiles had to admit, looked a little rough. She kept yawning and was
sporting a matching pair of bags under her eyes similar to Stiles’ own.
Interesting.
Lydia, on the other hand, was still pristinely put together. Stiles would have
no idea that she was just a few hours removed from a psychic warning induced
hysteria.
Stiles decided that supernatural crisis could wait until class was over, so he
knocked his knuckles on his desk a few times to get the attention of his
friends.
“You all know Erica, right?” Stiles said with a grin as everyone turned to face
him.
“Who?” Allison was the first to speak.
Stiles deflated a little bit, his shoulders sagging as he leaned out of the way
to expose Erica in the chair behind him, “Erica. This Erica. Reyes. Erica
Reyes.”
Erica groaned, “I think that’s the most anyone in this school has ever said my
name.”
Lydia, shockingly, was the first to acknowledge Erica’s presence, looking up
from her phone briefly, “Nice to see you again.”
Erica blinked rapidly, obviously shocked, “Uh, yeah. You too?”
Lydia hummed and gave Erica a small smile before turning back to her phone.
“I’m so sorry!” Allison’s eyes were wide and apologetic, “I honestly didn’t see
you behind Stiles.”
Erica shook her head, “It’s fine, I’m used to it.”
Finstock tumbled into the room, bellowing, “Sit down, delinquents! Let’s get
this show on the road.”
Erica leaned forward and whispered, “Well, that wasn’t awkward at all.”
Stiles flicked his hand at her over his shoulder, “Stop being rude, I’m trying
to get you friends!”
Erica scoffed, “I don’t need you to come flying in like some superhero to try
and save my social life, Stilinski. I’m perfectly fine as I am.”
Stiles turned around, “I’m not trying to save you!”
“Whatever,” Erica rolled her eyes, “pay attention to class.”
Stiles opened his mouth to reply but Erica arched a dangerous eyebrow,
silencing him. He turned around in his chair and slumped in his seat, hardly
paying attention to the lesson going on around him.
Stiles abandoned all hope of paying attention to class when he looked out the
window and saw Kate walking between the buildings of the school. She paused in
the middle of the walkway and slowly turned until she was facing the window of
the Econ class. Kate’s mouth stretched into a tight smile as they made eye
contact. Stiles didn’t know what to do, he only knew that he was determined to
not be the first one to break eye contact. Maybe it was stupid, maybe he was
challenging her in some way, but Stiles had the feeling that he was looking
into the eyes of a predator, and he wasn’t going to show any fear if he had his
way.
Kate cocked her head to the side after a few seconds, and her smile abruptly
dropped from her face. She blinked once, twice, and then turned on her heels to
stomp back into the science building.
Stiles let out a tense breath and looked down at his trembling hands under his
desk. He needed to do something to occupy them before Lydia or someone else in
class looked over at him. He quickly fished his phone out of his pocket and
pulled up the first person he could think of to text, which ended up being
Derek. 
Stiles’ fingers hesitated over the keyboard for a second before he made a
decision.
To Americas Most Wanted: Get any sleep?
Stiles clicked his phone screen off and slide his phone under his palm as he
waited for a reply. Maybe texting Derek wasn’t the best idea if he needed
something to occupy his time, the odds that Derek would text back were slim
anyway. Laura would have been the better option for an extended conversation.
Stiles phone vibrated.
From Americas Most Wanted: …
From Americas Most Wanted: You just woke me up.
Stiles snorted, it was just after 2pm, there was no way Derek was still asleep,
even if he was up all night.
To Americas Most Wanted: Liar.
Stiles waited for another reply, passively paying attention to Finstock at the
front of the class. Finstock was scribbling something on the dry erase board
but Stiles didn’t care enough to try and decipher his handwriting.
Stiles’ phone vibrated again, only this time there was no text message.
It was a picture. Of Derek. In bed.
Derek’s hair was a mess, fuzzy and sticking up in every direction possible. He
was shirtless, but the comforter was drawn up to just below his chest, leaving
just enough skin exposed for Stiles to eye the sculp of the muscle of Derek’s
chest.  One of Derek’s eyes were closed, while the other was only half open. He
looked grumpy, tired, and entirely too fucking hot.
What the fuck had Stiles done in another life to deserve a blessing like this?
From Americas Most Wanted: I don’t lie, Stiles.
Stiles, being the dumpster fire of a train wreck that he was, did the only
thing he could think to do.
To Americas Most Wanted: skdjadklfkzdjfakljsfajlaskl
And then Stiles turned his phone off completely because he didn’t trust himself
to not be a fucking idiot.
“Something you’d like the share with the class?”
Stiles blinked, looking up at Finstock when he realized he was being spoke to.
“Uh, no?”
“You sure?” Finstock leaned against his desk, “I’m all ears.”
“Nope!” Stiles said, not at all casually, “Just me, a dead cell phone, and a
thirst for knowledge.”
The class chuckled and Finstock shrugged, continuing on, “Alright then, time
for your next group project.”
The entire class groaned in unison.
“I knew it!” Stiles whispered, drawing an annoyed look from Lydia.
“You’re going to be teamed up in groups of three and assigned a random country,
I want a full presentation on their form of currency by next Tuesday.”
Stiles tapped Scott’s shoulder, hoping to get to him before Allison did.
“And I’m going to be the one choosing your groups.”
Well, fuck.
“Stilinski!” Finstock bellowed, running his finger down his attendance book.
“Not Jackson, not Jackson.” Stiles whispered to himself, feeling entirely too
much like Harry Potter under the Sorting Hat.
“You’re with…” Finstock trailed off, “Martin and Reyes.”
“Yes!” Stiles hissed, “Thank god!”
Lydia let out a put-upon sigh before turning and facing Erica, “I apologize in
advance for your being subjected to working on a group project with Stiles.”
“Hey!” Stiles yelped, “I’m not that bad.”
Lydia fixed him with an icy stare, “Stiles, you tried to make our last project
about the history of male circumcision.”
“And?” Stiles challenged.
“The project was supposed to be about the Great Depression.”
“Circumcision is depressing!”
Erica flicked Stiles on the back of the head, “Stop talking, Stilinski.”
Lydia’s mouth curled into a wicked smile, “Oh, I like you.”
Erica preened a bit, and that alone made Stiles happy.
“McCall!” Finstock said, “You’re with Argent and Whittmore.”
Scott, of course, was beaming. Stiles, on the other hand, could see a few
potential complications, seeing as how Scott was not paired with the biggest
asshole in school and the girl of his dreams who possibly killed werewolves for
a living. Jackson lived to make Scott miserable, he took every change he going
to get under Scott’s skin and the fact that they were now working together with
Allison sat Stiles on edge.
What if Jackson pissed Scott off so much that he wolfed out on him in front of
Allison?
The bell rang.
“We should all get together to work on our projects,” Stiles said to both
groups, “you know, strength in numbers and all.”
Lydia looked like she wanted to murder Stiles for suggesting she be in close
proximity with Jackson, but Stiles was more worried about Scott.
Allison, surprisingly, smiled, “That’s a great idea! What about the Library on
Sunday night? Does that work for everyone?”
Lydia sighed, “I suppose.”
Jackson shrugged, and Scott agreed to anything Allison said.
Stiles turned to Erica, “That work for you?”
Erica looked hesitant, “I’ll have to see if my mom can give me a ride.”
“I can pick you up,” Stiles offered, “it’s not that big of a deal. We can all
get dinner and then go make foreign currency our bitch.”
Erica smiled as she stood from her desk, “Sure, Stilinski.”
The rest of the class filtered out of the room. Stiles stood from his desk and
rolled his eyes when his phone fell out of his pocket and onto the ground.
Without thinking, Stiles’ injured arm shot out to try and catch it before it
hit the ground. Stiles hissed in pain when he pulled against the stitches in
his arm, wincing as sharp pricks of pain radiated from his arm and down to his
fingers.
Allison was the only one left in the room with him, she rushed to his side,
“Stiles, are you OK?”
Stiles looked up at her, alert, “Yeah, sorry. Just…bruised my arm this morning
and forgot about it.”
“Your arm?” Allison repeated with a quizzical look on her face.
Stiles swallowed, “Yeah, I, uh, hit it on the door of my Jeep when I was
throwing my bag into the back. I might have cried like, a few manly tears over
it.”
Allison looked at him for a few more seconds, her eyes lingering over the exact
spot where Stiles’ arm was bandaged under his shirt. She smiled after another
tense few seconds.
“You’re a disaster zone.”
Stiles let out a shaky breath, “I think FEMA is seriously considering adding a
Stilinski relief fund to their budget.”
Allison laughed and slung her bag over her shoulder, “I’ll text you a time for
Sunday?”
Stiles nodded, “Sounds like a plan.”
Allison left the room and Stiles lingered to let Finstock know that he wouldn’t
be at practice today, giving him a flimsy excuse about having to do something
for his dad. Finstock only shrugged and told him to not make it a habit, either
not caring because Stiles was non-essential or unwilling to argue with a fake
request from the Sheriff.
Either way, Stiles had his afternoon free. Laura had told him earlier that
Derek was going to hang around the school and monitor Scott during practice
while they met up with Deaton, so Stiles made his way to the parking lot and
towards his Jeep.
Stiles was almost to the door when he was stopped by a strong hand on his arm,
he thought it was Derek at first until the hand shifted upwards and closed
around the exact spot where his arm was bandaged and tightened its grip.
Stiles’ legs shook, his knees nearly giving out under him because of the pain,
but the hand released its grip just a moment later.
Stiles breath caught in his throat when he turned around and saw Kate behind
him.
“Stiles!” Her smile was dazzling, “I’ve been looking for you all day.”
Stiles arm was throbbing, and he was sure that a stitch or two popped, but he
ignored the pain, “Busy day.”
Kate nodded, “Tell me about it. Listen, I just wanted to apologize for
yesterday.”
That threw Stiles off, “Apologize?”
“I think we got off on the wrong foot,” Kate said as she ran a hand through her
hair, tossing it over her shoulder as the breeze blew, “I don’t think you’re a
bad kid, I just wanted to get with you before tomorrow so there wouldn’t be any
awkward tension tomorrow in class. You kinda disappeared during your
detention.”
“Sorry about that, thought the building was on fire.”
Kate laughed, “Yeah, that was weird, wasn’t it? Did you see the alarm on your
way out? It was like someone knocked it off the wall completely.”
Shit.
“I appreciate it,” Stiles said quickly, “the apologizing. And I’m sorry too,
sometimes I’m a bit too sarcastic for my own good. Anyway, bygones and all!
Yay!”
Stiles opened the passenger door and threw his bag inside before quickly
rounding the front of the Jeep and cranking the engine the second he was
inside.
“See you tomorrow!” Stiles waved as he pulled out of his parking spot.
Kate stood in the same spot and watched him until he pulled off school
property.
 
                                       X
                                        
Laura, of course, was on top of Stiles the moment he got to Deaton’s.
“I can smell her,” Laura said as soon as Stiles walked in the door, “what
happened?”
“Hello to you too, Laura.”
Laura took a step backwards and closed her eyes, when she opened him they were
no longer red, “Sorry.”
Stiles shook his head, “It’s fine, I dodged her all day, but she caught me as I
was walking to my car.”
“What did she want?”
Stiles huffed, “She wanted to apologize so there’d be no weird tension in
class. And she specifically mentioned how weird it was that fire alarm
conveniently went off in the middle of my detention.”
Laura growled, “I wish I could just go rip her throat out and be done with it.”
Stiles laughed, he was sure Laura wasn’t the only one who thought that. Which
made him think of Derek, and the fact that he was going to be so close to Kate
if she decided to stick around the school after classes ended.
“Are you sure Derek will be fine watching Scott?” Stiles asked, “What if Kate
stays after school?”
Laura sighed, “I thought the same thing, but he insisted when I told him I was
meeting you here. He’s just going to stay in the woods outside of the practice
field just to make sure Scott doesn’t do anything stupid.”
“And there’s no way Kate will see him?”
Laura shook her head and walked with Stiles into Deaton’s building, “Derek will
be fine, Stiles. It’s sweet of you to worry though, both of you.”
Stiles felt his face flush, “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing,” Laura grinned, “just that you both are bending over backwards to
make sure the other one is safe. It’s cute.”
“I…” Stiles trailed off.
“Stiles, it’s fine,” Laura smiled, “though I did have to have a talk with Derek
when he came home just before sunrise smelling like he rolled all over you.”
Stiles’ eyes went wide, “We…no…he just stayed in my room. While I slept.
Because he’s stupid and was going to sit outside on a rock and read.”
Laura laughed, “That sounds like something he would do.”
Deaton appeared from the back of his office just then, mercifully ending
anymore talk of Derek in Stiles’ room.
“Laura,” Deaton smiled softly, “Mr. Stilinski.”
“How come she gets to be Laura but I have to be Mr. Stilinski?”
Deaton ignored the question, “Laura said there was something you wanted to ask
me about, Mr. Stilinski?”
“Yeah,” Stiles nodded, looking around the waiting room and eyeing the woman
sitting in the corner with two small cats, “maybe it would be better if we
talked in the back?”
“Certainly,” Deaton nodded, opening the door to the back office, “follow me.”
Stiles let Laura take the lead as they followed Deaton back through his office.
They came to a stop at one of the exam rooms and Deaton opened the door to
usher them inside.
“No mystical basement this time?” Stiles asked.
Laura swatted him on the back of the head, “Stop being difficult.”
“Now, what was your question?” Deaton pulled out a rolling chair and sat on it.
Laura was in the only other chair in the room so Stiles, with his lack of
options, hopped onto the exam table.
“Are psychics real?”
Deaton was quiet for a moment, “That would depend on how you define a psychic.
Most psychic phenomena are the result of a supernatural creature, not just a
regular human who can see the future.”
“Hypothetically,” Stiles prefaced himself, “say I know someone who is a human.
And say that human has been having…feelings.”
“Feelings?” Laura echoed.
“Yes, bad feelings.”
Deaton raised a quizzical eyebrow, “What kind of bad feelings?”
Stiles sighed, scrubbing a hand over his head, “Feelings about death. This
hypothetical friend might have had a few instances where they hypothetically
felt like something was trying to warn them and then bad things happened.”
“Do you have an example?” Deaton asked.
“Hypothetically,” Stiles stressed, “this person was at the video store last
night.”
“What?” Laura stood from her seat, “You know someone who was there?”
“I said hypothetically!” Stiles hissed.
Deaton sat up straight and looked at Laura, “Let’s have Stiles finish his
hypothetical tale before we ask questions.”
Laura nodded, smoothly sitting back down.
“Anyway, they might have had this feeling like something bad was about to go
down. This feeling like voices were screaming and telling them to get out of
there. Then they walked a mile away from the store without realizing it.”
“Interesting,” Deaton said, “you’re sure this person is a human?”
“I don’t know how they could be anything other than human.” Stiles said.
“You’d be surprised,” Deaton said, “not every supernatural creature looks like
what you would call a monster. There are plenty of lines that appear human.
Some of them are familial, passed down through generations. Sometimes they stay
dormant for the persons entire life, giving them the appearance of a human, and
others manifest over the persons early life, slowly turning them into whatever
it is that is in their genes. It all depends. There is, as you can imagine, no
exact science when it comes to things like this.”
“So, it’s more likely for someone to suddenly become like, an elf or something
rather than just be a plain psychic?” Stiles asked.
Deaton laughed, “Not an elf, no. Based on what you’ve told me I have a few
theories, but I wouldn’t want to speak on them without meeting the person
beforehand. But, as you say, they are hypothetical.”
“Right,” Stiles nodded, “totally hypothetical.”
Deaton stood and pushed the chair to the corner, “Is there anything else I can
help you with?”
Laura shook her head, “I think that’s it. Thank you for taking the time to talk
to us.”
“Not a problem,” Deaton smiled as he opened the door, “you two can show
yourselves out, I have a few things I need to attend to.”
Stiles followed Laura out of the office and into the parking lot. Neither of
them spoke until they were outside, and Laura turned on her heel once they were
a few feet away from the building.
“Spill. Now.”
Stiles held his hands up in surrender, “I was planning on telling you!”
“Who is they hypothetical person?” Laura asked.
“My friend Lydia,” Stiles said, “she was there last night but she told me this
morning that she got a weird feeling, like something was telling her to leave.
She left and then by the time she came back the Rougarou had already attacked
and killed the guy.”
“Jesus,” Laura whispered, “is this the first time something like this has
happened?”
Stiles shook his head, “She freaked out the other day, right before Kate showed
up?”
“What do you mean?” Laura asked.
“We were walking to class and she said she heard something, like heels echoing
down the hallway, but we were the only ones around. Then, Kate showed up and
Lydia had a total silent freakout thing going on.”
Laura ran a hand through her hair and leaned against the Jeep, “Why didn’t you
tell Deaton who you were talking about?”
Stiles shrugged, “I don’t know, it felt like an invasion of privacy or
something. Also, I’m not entirely sure I trust him? He’s too cryptic for me.
Cryptic people always end up being the big bad.”
“That’s just Deaton,” Laura sighed, “Do you think Lydia would be willing to
meet with me if I told her what was really going on in town?”
“Seriously?” Stiles’ eyebrows shot up to his hairline, “You want to drop the W-
Bomb on Lydia?”
“We’re not calling it the W-Bomb,” Laura rolled her eyes, “and I don’t
know…maybe?”
Stiles narrowed his eyes, “Laura, are you secretly trying to create an army of
teenagers to take over the world?”
Laura groaned, “It’s not my fault that everyone who isn’t useless in this town
is under 18! If Lydia can really sense these things then she might be able to
help us, she may be able to tell us when the Rougarou is about to kill again
and we can stop it…especially if it is Peter.”
Stiles looked up at the clouds and thought about what Laura was saying. Sure,
it made sense in some ways. Lydia would throw herself into the world of the
supernatural the same way she did anything else, with full commitment while
striving for perfection. Lydia could help them, she might even be able to stop
anyone else from getting killed if Laura’s theory was correct.
Still, Stiles had only known about everything for a little over a week and he’d
almost already died like, three times and that was just in the last day and a
half. Would he willingly expose Lydia to something so dangerous? Would Laura be
able to keep two (possibly only one) humans safe under he watch?
Laura’s voice drew Stiles out of his thoughts, “Come on, Derek said Scott just
finished up at practice and they’re heading over to our apartment. Derek had
the car, so I ran here. I’ll show you how to get there.”
Stiles nodded as Laura got into the passenger’s seat of the Jeep. Stiles
followed her directions silently, spending the entire drive trying to decide
what to do about Lydia.
He still had no idea what to do by the time he reached Derek and Laura’s
apartment.
***** Possessed By a Rage Ghost *****
Chapter Notes
     100k+ words what the fuck
See the end of the chapter for more notes
                                        
                                        
                                        
                               Chapter Eighteen
                           Possessed By a Rage Ghost
                                        
The first thing Derek noticed when returning to the apartment was Stiles’ Jeep
parked conspicuously between a bright blue dumpster and the alleyway behind the
apartment building. Derek sighed, realizing that Stiles was probably going
for inconspicuous. The last thing Derek or Laura needed was an overeager deputy
to drive through their neighborhood, spot the Jeep, and then rush to tell the
Sheriff that they saw his sons Jeep parked outside an apartment in the
industrial district of town.
The Sheriff had a gun, and while Derek knew he couldn’t be killed by the
bullets in it that didn’t mean it still wouldn’t hurt like a fucking bitch.
Scott hopped out of the Camaro as Derek pulled into his parking spot. Derek was
surprised to learn that Scott was a quiet the entire ride. It seemed like Scott
only ventured into the frenetic personality Derek had seen a handful of times
when he was with Stiles or out training with Derek. It was probably a
combination of Scott realizing that Derek wouldn’t be a very talkative partner,
and Scott being exhausted from practice and then having to run a mile through
the woods to meet Derek where the car was parked.
“This is your place?” Scott asked as he tipped his head up towards the top of
the building.
Derek nodded, “For now. Laura put a down payment on a year’s worth of rent.”
Scott looked at Derek out of the corner of his eye, “So you’re here for at
least a year?”
“She did the same thing in New York,” Derek shrugged, “and now we’re here. So
who knows?”
Scott made a humming sound but otherwise kept his mouth shut as they walked
inside the building. The lobby was thankfully empty; Derek didn’t want to deal
with trying to justify having two teenagers in his apartment with his new
neighbors.
Scott ran his fingers along the mailboxes, and Derek noted a strip of tape with
Hale written in Laura’s distinct handwriting across the front of the mailbox
for their apartment. There were only five other names out of the thirty or so
mailboxes that lined the wall. Derek hadn’t realized that when the realtor said
they didn’t have many neighbors, she actually meant that they only had five and
that none of them were on either of the floors that Derek and Laura’s converted
apartment took up.
“Not a lot of people live here.” Scott said as he turned towards the elevator.
Derek followed him in and hit the button to their floor, “The realtor said it’s
a combination of the price and the area.”
Scott nodded awkwardly, “I guess there isn’t much around.”
“Yep.” Derek said, willing the elevator to move faster so he could be freed
from the awkward small talk.
The elevator mercifully came to a stop and opened onto Derek’s floor. Derek
slipped out of the elevator first and led Scott down the hallway to the door to
the apartment. He slipped the key out of his pocket and opened the door,
freezing in the entryway when he saw Laura sitting on a couch. A brand-new
couch that was not there when Derek left the house earlier.
Laura looked up with a grin and swung her legs over the arm of the couch,
“Furniture delivery came.”
“The furniture delivery I didn’t know about, apparently.” Derek said slowly.
“Dude!” Scott boomed, stepping around Derek, “that TV is sick!”
“It’s OK,” Laura shrugged, “I wanted a bigger one, but they were sold out.”
Derek’s eyes floated across the living room, landing on the gigantic TV mounted
on the wall. An entertainment center sat under the TV, housing a sound system
and evidently every video game console that Laura could find.
Laura saw Derek eyeing the entertainment center, “You can blame those on
Stiles, he put forth a very good argument in favor of them.”
Derek raised a skeptical eyebrow, “I’m sure he did. How much did all of this
cost?”
Derek was mentally tallying the living room in his head. In addition to the
couch, TV, and entertainment center, there was a large area rug and two
recliners facing the TV as well.
“A lot.” Laura said.
“Laura!” Derek snapped.
Laura rolled her eyes, “It’s not like we don’t have the money.”
Derek bit his bottom lip, struggling to keep from starting a fight when Stiles
and Scott were around.
The fact that Laura had spent so much on what was supposed to be their
temporary place to live in Beacon Hills, and the fact that she actually let
Stiles have an input, made Derek think there was something Laura wasn’t telling
him.
Maybe Laura didn’t want Beacon Hills to be so temporary after all.
“Where is Stiles?” Scott asked, drawing Derek out of his thoughts.
It slowly dawned on Derek that he hadn’t seen Stiles in the short time that
he’d been home. Stiles, for better or worse, was almost always he first thing
that anyone noticed when walking into a room. He tipped his head to the side
and tried to pick out the sound of Stiles moving through the apartment until he
heard the sound of someone walking up the stairs from the lower level of the
apartment.
Stiles looked up as he reached the top landing of the stairs. He had a towel
around his shoulders, though his skin was still damp, and he was
wearing…Derek’s clothes.
Derek’s nostrils flared as he took in the sight of Stiles with one of Derek’s
shirts on, the shoulders loose and the collar falling and revealing Stiles’
collarbones. Derek struggled to tear his eyes away from Stiles and when he
finally did he found Laura leaning against the same wall as the TV and looking
entirely too pleased with herself.
“Dude?” Scott asked as Stiles scrubbed the towel over his head.
Derek finally found his voice, “That’s my shirt.”
Stiles paused with the towel over his head, “Uh, yeah. Sorry.”
Derek’s eyes traveled down Stiles’ body to the baggy pair of basketball shorts
he was wearing, “And my shorts.”
Scott snorted, “Are you wearing his underwear too?”
Derek choked on his spit and Stiles’ face turned a shade of red that Derek
didn’t think humans were capable of.
“No!” Stiles sputtered, “I mean, I’m wearing underwear but they’re totally my
underwear.”
Laura’s cackling laugh echoed through the living room, “Stiles spilled
something on himself, I told him to take a shower and threw his clothes in the
washer.”
When the fuck did they get a washer?
“And then you gave him my clothes?”
“Would you rather I gave him mine, little brother?” Laura challenged Derek with
an all too knowing smirk.
Stiles was still standing awkwardly at the top of the stairs with a towel
around his neck, “I’ll totally take them off.”
Scott and Laura howled with laughter in unison.
“Fuck!” Stiles stomped his foot, “I mean, after my clothes are done! I’ll wash
these so my like…humanness isn’t all over your stuff.”
Derek’s mind was numb, he was lost for words.
“He’s just being grumpy,” Laura smirked, “he doesn’t like people playing with
his things.”
Derek growled. He was going to kill his sister later.
Derek looked between Stiles and Scott who seemed to be having an entirely
separate, and silent, conversation between themselves.
“Right!” Stiles startled when he realized Derek was watching him, “We’re here
to talk about murder! Murder and dead people, not Stiles’ outfit!”
Laura dropped back down onto the couch, pulling Derek down with her. She used
her strength to twist out from under him, forcing Derek to the side of the
couch as she stretched out and rested her feet in his lap.
Derek ignored Laura, he was too busy plotting her death.
Stiles and Scott each took one of the new recliners and Stiles quickly reclined
in his, stretching his long arms out and resting them behind his head. Stiles
adjusted his injured arm, pulling the sleeve down to cover the bandage Derek
had put on the wound the previous night.
Derek’s eyes didn’t linger on the expanse of skin exposed by the loose neck of
his shirt when Stiles shifted in the chair again trying to get comfortable.
“What happened today?” Scott asked, “I barely saw you except for Econ.”
Stiles let out a drawn-out groan, “That project is gonna be a bitch, dude.”
“Right?” Scott echoed, “At least you don’t have to work with Jackson.”
Stiles hummed an ascent, “True, I got lucky with Lydia and Erica.”
“Speaking of Erica,” Scott leaned forward, “what was up with that? When did you
two become friends?”
Stiles shrugged, “We’ve just been hanging out the last couple days at lunch,
she’s really cool once you get to know her.”
Scott’s face broke out into a toothy grin, “Stiles has a crush!”
“What?” Stiles shook his head, “No way, no crushes for Stiles. I am the
opposite of crushed, I am a fully three dimensional.”
Derek felt a low rumbling building in the back of his throat. Laura kicked him
in the thigh and flashed him a warning glare.
Fuck.
“Boys!” Laura interrupted, “I thought we were talking about death and
destruction.”
Derek sighed and scrubbed his hand over his face, “Yes, please tell me there is
a point to all of this.”
Stiles stopped talking and looked between both of them before nodding, “Oh
yeah, Lydia is totally psychic.”
“Wait, what?” Scott was the first to speak up.
Derek sat back and listened as Stiles explained his day to them. Scott couldn’t
get over the fact that Stiles thought their friend Lydia might be some kind of
psychic and constantly had to be steered back towards the conversation. Laura
had obviously heard the story earlier and was only half paying attention,
spending most of her time trying to give Derek meaningful looks and kicking him
every time he stared at Stiles’ mouth for too long while he was talking without
taking a breath.
It really wasn’t Derek’s day.
“Anyway, that’s all we found out from Deaton.”
“Lydia might be something, but Deaton doesn’t want to say what something she
might be?”
“Pretty much,” Laura said, “he’s like a walking limerick.”
Stiles laughed, “Oh! I left out the best part! Laura wants to tell Lydia about
everything!”
The room fell silent.
“Seriously?” Scott asked.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Derek’s voice was quiet and furious.
“Derek?” Stiles’ voice registered to Derek’s ears, but it felt like he was
miles away.
Derek felt the anger building slowly inside of him like a pressure cooker. He
could feel it slowly bubbling its way up his body, burning hot and white and
threatening to scorch everything.
Derek clenched his fists and took a deep breath, “You should have talked to me
before even mentioning it to them.”
“Der, it was just a vague suggestion, it’s not like there are actual plans or
anything.” Laura said softly, obviously realizing the signs of an impending
Derek freak out.
“It’s not the point!” Derek growled, “You keep doing things without telling
me!”
Laura pulled her feet of Derek’s lap, “This is obviously about more than just
telling someone else.”
“Of course it is!” Derek turned to face Laura, “It’s about everything! Beacon
Hills, the apartment, the furniture, I feel like I’m just being pulled along
without a say in anything.”
Laura sighed, “We both agreed to stay here until we got the Peter situation
taken care of and Scott learned to control his abilities.”
“We agreed after you ignored everything I said and came back to Beacon Hills in
the first place!”
“Derek, we talked about this already. You know I’m sorry, but you have to admit
that we needed to come here.”
Derek wasn’t entirely sure why he was exploding like he was, he knew he’d been
bottling things up for a while now with Laura, even before Beacon Hills. He
loved his sister, but she had a history of making major decisions without
talking to Derek beforehand.
It was all just too much. The Rougarou, Peter, their slowly growing Pack, Kate.
It was all a lot to deal with at once, and Derek had reached his breaking
point.
“We should go.” Stiles said, awkwardly standing up from the recliner.
“Yeah,” Scott agreed, “lots of homework and stuff.”
“No.” Laura and Derek both said in unison.
Stiles took a step backwards and Scott stood rooted in place, his eyes
flickering between the siblings and the door to the apartment.
 Derek got up from the couch and walked towards the stairs to the lower level
of the apartment, “You two stay, I’ll be downstairs.”
 
                                       X
                                        
“That wasn’t awkward.” Stiles said as he stared at the spot where Derek had
been standing before retreating down the stairs.
Laura sighed, “He can hear you.”
Stiles nodded, “And I’m sure he’d agree that it was awkward.”
The floor beneath Stiles’ feet thumped. Stiles jumped backwards and stumbled
over the leg rest of the recliner
Scott laughed, “That was a shoe if you were curious.”
Laura’s eyes flashed red, and she jabbed a finger in Stiles’ direction, “If
that fucks up my security deposit I’m making both of you pay me back.”
“We really should go,” Scott said, “you guys should probably talk without us
here.”
Laura sighed and raked a hand through her hair, tossing it over her shoulder,
“Derek and I will talk in a little while, I actually need to talk about
something with you.”
“Me?” Scott’s eyes grew wide with worry.
“Calm down, I can hear your heart going crazy and I’m not even a werewolf.”
Stiles laughed.
Scott glared at Stiles before turning back to Laura, “Did I do something wrong
today? Derek watched us practice and said I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Laura smiled, “It’s nothing bad, it’s just something you might not want to
hear.”
“It’s about Allison.” Scott said, once again surprising Stiles with how
perceptive he was sometimes.
“She looked exhausted today, dude.” Stile said.
Scott blinked a few times, “She said she didn’t sleep well last night.”
Laura arched an eyebrow, “And what happened last night?”
Scott shook his head, “You don’t think she was one of the Hunters in the woods?
She couldn’t be!”
Stiles grimaced, “She looked a little freaked when she realized my arm was
hurt. The same arm that was shot with an arrow.”
“So?” Scott challenge.
“So, Allison is like an Olympic level archer!”
“That doesn’t mean anything,” Scott jutted his chin forward, “Laura said
herself that a lot of hunters used bows and if Allison was the one who shot you
then she’d probably hit you someplace worse than your arm since she’s so good
at it.”
Stiles blinked, “Wait, it would take me getting shot somewhere worse than my
arm to make you believe that your not-girlfriend tried to kill me? Do I have to
be missing an eye? Or dead?"
Scott rolled his eyes, “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
“Do I?” Stiles glared at Scott.
“Hey!” Laura interrupted them, “Knock it off!”
“Sorry.” Scott and Stiles said in unison as they took a step back from each
other.
“I had a much more constructive way to go about this conversation, so thank you
for that.” Laura said with a pointed look at Stiles.
Stiles hung his head and kicked awkwardly at the hardwood floor.
Laura sighed, “Why don’t I talk to Scott on my own?”
Stiles nodded, “Sure, I’ll just be…over here.”
Stiles pointed somewhere in the vaguely general direction away from Scott and
Laura. He walked down the hall and headed towards the dryer, leaving Scott and
Laura to talk in private. If anyone could get through to Scott about Allison it
would be Laura, even if she had to use her scary Alpha eyes on him.
Stiles came to a stop in front of the dryer and found that his clothes were
done. He pulled them out and bundled them in his arms before walking towards
Laura’s bathroom to change. Laura probably made the right call to have him wash
Kate’s scent off his clothes before Derek came home, but Stiles couldn’t stop
thinking about Derek’s reaction to seeing Stiles in his clothes.
Derek had seemed angry, but there was something else beneath it that Stiles
didn’t think he was equipped to figure out. At least, not now.
Stiles quickly changed into his own clothes, folding Derek’s and setting them
on the counter while he checked his reflection in the mirror. He looked
exhausted, dark circles sitting prominent under his eyes. Stiles let out a yawn
before checking the bandage on his arm, he’d taped it up before taking a shower
to stop it from getting wet, but he’d been obsessively checking it since he
really didn’t want to explain to his dad how he ended up with an infected arrow
wound.
Stiles briefly considered throwing Derek’s clothes in the washer but decided
against it, he didn’t know if Derek did anything special to his clothes before
washing him and he really did not want to be the one to fuck up any of Derek’s
things.
Scott was still deep into a conversation with Laura when Stiles stuck his head
around the corner, and Stiles was left with two options: stand awkwardly in the
hallway not listening to them talk or to make the, probably stupid, decision to
take the stairs down to Derek’s level of the apartment.
Stiles took a deep breath, bundled Derek’s clothes against his chest, and made
his way to the stairs. Laura looked up when she heard Stiles, flashing him a
brief smile before returning to her conversation with Scott.
Stiles hadn’t really looked at Derek’s living space when he was down there
before, he’d mostly just made a line straight for the bathroom, so he could
shower as quickly as possible. The only reason Stiles hadn’t used Laura’s
shower was that he didn’t want to go home smelling like Warm Vanilla Sugar body
wash.
It was sparsely decorated, with only a couch and a matching TV to the one
upstairs. It was obvious that the kitchen had been pulled out of this
apartment, making Derek’s floor appear more like a large den with an open
floorplan.
Stiles stepped over a lone shoe in the middle of the room on his way towards
the hall, looking up and wincing when he saw that Derek had indeed damaged the
ceiling.
The other shoe was lodged into the plaster of the ceiling.
Stiles ignored it for the time being and hesitantly made his way down the hall
to the door that he assumed led to Derek’s room. Stiles paused outside of the
door, taking a few seconds to gather the courage to knock on the door. When
Stiles finally did draw his hand back to knock on the door, the door opened
just before Stiles’ knuckles hit it, and Stiles let out an involuntary yelp at
the same time his closed fist fell onto Derek’s chest.
Derek looked down at Stiles, then his eyes drifted to Stiles’ hand on his
chest, and back to Stiles.
“You were taking too long to knock.” Derek said, not moving.
“Right,” Stiles said, “sorry. Hi.”
“Hi.”
Stiles realized his hand was still on Derek’s chest and he awkwardly knocked on
Derek’s unsurprisingly muscled pec. Just as Stiles was about to spontaneously
combust into a pile of embarrassed ashes, Derek laughed.
Derek looked surprised, and a little scared, by the sound coming out of his
mouth. He reached up and pushed Stiles’ hand away after smothering the laugh
before stepping to the side and motioning for Stiles to come inside with the
flick of his head.
Derek’s bedroom barely qualified as one. It was a mattress on the floor, a pile
of suitcases in the corner, and an upside-down crate acting as a makeshift
nightstand. Compared to Laura’s fully furnished room that Stiles had seen a
glimpse of, it was clear that all Derek had used his for was a few hours of
restless sleep.
“I’m surprised Laura didn’t furnish this too.” Stiles said.
Derek shook his head, “She knows better than that. She tried once and…it didn’t
end well.”
Stiles cracked a smile, “Sounds like there’s a story in there somewhere.”
“Not so much a story as an entire bedroom set thrown out the fourth-floor
window of a shitty New York apartment.”
“I take it Laura’s dedication to interior design is an ongoing struggle?”
Stiles asked.
Derek sighed and sat on the edge of his bed, “Laura likes things to feel
complete and put together, even if everything is actually falling apart at the
seams.”
Stiles tipped his head upwards and eyed Laura’s general direction on the floor
above.
Derek huffed, “She’s not listening, she’s giving me my privacy.”
“Ah,” Stiles said as he sat down on the floor in front of Derek, crossing his
legs, “and what do you like?”
Derek looked startled, as if he hadn’t expected Stiles to ask. Or, more
depressingly, like he didn’t even expect Stiles to care.
It made Stiles realize that he really didn’t know much about Derek. Or, rather,
he didn’t know much about Derek that didn’t have to do with terrible memories
of the past. He didn’t know what Derek liked to do for fun, what kind of music
he liked, what his favorite movie was, or even what Derek liked to eat. Stiles
surprised himself when he realized how much he wanted to know those things.
“I guess I like simplicity,” Derek said quietly, as if he was asking a question
to himself, “I don’t really need a lot to feel comfortable.”
Stiles opened his mouth to respond but Derek kept talking.
“Laura tries to replace everything we lost in the fire, she buys stuff to fill
wherever we live with everything mom would have wanted us to have. I get why
she does it, but she’s always making impulsive decisions without talking to me.
She’s the Alpha, so it’s not like she has to but...”
“But she’s your sister…” Stiles said, seeing where Derek was going.
Derek nodded, “She’s my sister, so sometimes I just want her to talk to me
about things.”
Stiles let out a long breath, “I get it, it’s always the little things that set
off fights with my dad. It’s never the fact that I was in the woods with a
suspected murderer in the middle of the night, but it’s the fact that I didn’t
wash a coffee mug, or that he left his jacket on the back of the couch instead
of on the hook by the door.”
“Sounds about right.”
“We bottle things up with people we love, especially if they’re the last person
we have.”
Derek smiled sadly, “It’s not very healthy.”
“Nope,” Stiles laughed, “but I think we might be able to let you off the hook
for this one.”
“Why?” Derek asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Scott and I got into a fight after you and Laura, I’m pretty sure this place
is haunted with like rage ghosts or something and they possessed us and made us
act like assholes.”
Derek rolled his eyes, “Laura would buy the one fucking haunted apartment in
Beacon Hills.”
Stiles laughed, so hard he ended up falling onto his back, after he recovered
he sat up and looked at Derek, “You’re funny.”
Derek glared at him, “I’m not funny, Stiles.”
“You are!” Stiles laughed again, “You’re not like, a standup comedian or
anything but you’re just surprisingly funny.”
Derek tipped his head to the side, “That doesn’t sound like a compliment.”
“Stop deflecting!”
“I’m not deflecting.”
“You’re totally deflecting.”
“Shut up.”
They fell silent for a few moments before Stiles realized he still had Derek’s
clothes sitting in his lap. Stiles bundled them up and held them out to Derek.
“I can down here to bring these back to you, by the way.”
Derek eyed the clothes for a few minutes before slowly reaching out and taking
them from Stiles. Derek’s fingers brushed over the palm of Stiles hand, sending
shivers down Stiles’ spine.
Stiles coughed, “I was going to wash them, but I didn’t want to shrink them or
anything.”
“It’s fine,” Derek said before her turned his head to the side awkwardly,
“Laura and Scott are done talking, Scott’s ready to leave.”
Stiles cringed, “Oh god, is it bad?”
Derek shrugged, “I wasn’t listening to their talk. You should go though, before
it gets too late.”
Derek stood from the bed and held out a hand to Stiles. Stiles reached up and
grabbed Derek’s hand, shivering again as Derek’s hand closed completely around
his. Derek hauled him up to his feet without Stiles having to put in any
effort. Derek let go of Stiles’ hand and placed both of his hands on Stiles’
shoulders to steady him.
Derek’s hands lingered before he spoke, “Thank you. For talking.”
Stiles nodded, “Yeah, no problem.”
Stiles swallowed thickly as Derek let go of his shoulders and opened the door
to the room, stepping out into the hallway before Stiles. Stiles followed Derek
to the base of the stairs, stepping over the lone shoe again on the way there.
Stiles stopped behind Derek, “We should do something sometime.”
Derek turned around slowly, “What?”
Stiles took a deep breath, wondering where the random rush of bravery was
coming from, “I mean, like hang out or something.”
“Hang out?” Derek repeated.
“Yeah,” Stiles said, “we’re friends, right?” Friends hang out and stuff.”
Derek still looked confused, “We hang out.”
Stiles rolled his eyes, “Yeah, and so far it’s only involved blood, the woods,
monsters, or monsters in the woods while someone is bleeding. Let’s do
something that doesn’t involve any of that.”
“OK.” Derek said.
“Wait, what?” Stiles didn’t think it would be that easy.
“Did you expect me to say no?" Derek asked.
“Maybe? Yes?” Stiles wasn’t ready for such a quick answer, “I had a whole sales
pitch ready to go.”
Derek sighed, “You don’t have to give me a sales pitch, Stiles. We’ll do
something that doesn’t involve blood, monsters, or the woods.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Stiles smiled, “Cool.”
Derek rolled his eyes and turned away from the stairs, “Go home, Stiles. And
lock your window when you go to sleep tonight.”
Stiles was glad that Derek’s back was to him, because he couldn’t hide the
smile that stretched across his face.
 
                                       X
                                        
Derek waited until he heard Stiles’ Jeep pull away before he went upstairs to
find Laura.
Laura looked up a smile when she heard Derek coming, “Look who decided to come
out of his cave.”
Derek scowled at her before dropping down onto the couch next to her, crowding
into her personal space and wedging himself in under her arm.
“Fuck off.” Derek said without any heat behind it.
Laura’s arm snaked around the back of Derek’s head, her finger finding their
way to Derek's head and carding through his hair.
“Sorry.” Laura said.
“For?” Derek tipped his head up to look at her.
It was their tradition at this point, apologizing for everything before
breaking it down for the other person.
“For everything,” Laura said, “for buying all the furniture, for not talking
with you about Lydia before everyone else, for dragging you back here and
making it somewhat permeant.”
Derek inhaled sharply, it was the first time that Laura had admitted that maybe
she wouldn’t want to leave Beacon Hills after this was all over. He pushed the
thought out of his mind, they could deal with that later.
“And?” Derek prompted.
Laura’s brow furrowed, “Is there something else I should be apologizing for?”
Derek glared at her, “You know exactly what.”
Laura chewed on her tongue for a moment before replying, “If you’re referring
to my dressing Stiles in your clothes and sticking him in your shower, you
should really be thanking me.”
Derek’s stomach flipped, he didn’t realize Stiles had been in his shower.
Though now it made sense as to why Stiles had come from downstairs when Derek
got home earlier.
Derek growled, “You knew exactly how I would react.”
Laura laughed, “I mean, I didn’t think you’d look so much like you wanted to
tear him apart in the middle of the living room. And I mean that in the good,
fun way and not the messy, bloody way.”
Derek turned away from her, “It wasn’t fair.”
Laura sighed, “Don’t be like that, Der. I’m just trying to help.”
“There’s nothing to help.” Derek said firmly, “Nothing is going to happen.”
“Really?” Laura’s voice was amused, “Did I not hear the both of you agree to go
on a date?”
Derek coughed in surprise, “That wasn’t about a date.”
“Right,” Laura said skeptically, “it was just about two dudes, being dudes, and
just hanging out totally platonically in a completely heterosexual way.”
“It’s not going to happen,” Derek said between his gritted teeth, “I’m not…I
can’t.”
Laura was quiet for a moment, and then she spoke with a soft voice, “Alright. I
promise I won’t push you.”
“Thank you,” Derek said, “And I’m sorry to.”
“For?”
“For being an asshole.”
“Damn right you were.”
 
                                       X
                                        
Stiles hadn’t spoken to Scott since he dropped him off at home from Derek and
Laura’s yesterday. Even that car ride had been awkward, with Scott simply
saying bye before jumping out of the Jeep and heading inside as quickly as
possible.
Stiles almost didn’t want to bother picking Scott up in the morning, but he
wasn’t that heartless, so he woke up on time, got dressed, and left to pick
Scott up for school.
Scott was waiting on the curb outside his house like he normally did. He
wordlessly opened the door, threw his bag into the back seat next to Stiles’
and buckled his seat belt.
Stiles pulled off and headed towards the school.  
Stiles was content, and just petty enough, to ride out the silence until Scott
decided to break it.  So Stiles drove through town with only the low humming of
the radio breaking the wall of silence between him and Scott. It wasn’t until
Stiles pulled onto that road that led to the school that he spoke.
“Laura doesn’t want me to be alone with Allison.” Scott said, looking out the
window.
“OK,” Stiles said, “how do you feel about that?”
Scott shrugged.
Stiles struggled to not roll his eyes.
“Why does Laura get a shrug, but I get like, evil animal death glares?”
Scott turned from the window and gave him the evil animal death glare, “Because
Laura doesn’t automatically assume that Allison is evil, she’s willing to give
her the benefit of the doubt.”
“I didn’t say she was evil!” Stiles groaned, “I said she was suspicious!”
“You think she shot you with an arrow!”
“I don’t think she shot me knowing it was me, dude. There’s a difference.”
Scott sighed, “I hate this.”
“I know,” Stiles frowned, “I’m sorry.”
Scott was quiet for a few seconds, “Do you really think she was out there that
night?”
Stiles slowed to a stop at the stop sign, “I think it’s possible.”
“It’s possible she wasn’t.” Scott said.
“Sure,” Stiles said, “but after Kate, I’d prefer not to underestimate that
family.”
Stiles saw Scott looking at him from the corner of his eye, he feigned paying
attention to the road to ignore Scott’s eyes.
“What do you mean after Kate? You said nothing happened.”
Stiles sighed, “I just mean Kate in general, we know she’s evil.”
Scott studied Stiles for a second longer, “You’re lying, I can hear it. What
aren’t you telling me?”
Stiles was getting tired of not being able to lie to people for the sake of his
own sanity. Luckily, the school came into view just in time to save Stiles from
having to answer. Stiles slowed and turned his blinker on to pull into the
parking lot, but he quickly braked when a car came flying past him.
Sirens blared in the distance and Stiles pulled off to the side as two more
Sheriff’s vehicles came flying into the parking lot.
“What the hell?” Scott said.
Stiles looked at the front of the school and saw a large cluster of students,
teachers, and police officers. Distantly, Stiles could see his dad talking to
the principal.
“Oh no.” Stiles whispered, locking eyes with Scott.
“We need to get up there.” Scott said.
Stiles nodded and pulled into the parking lot, swinging around the corners to
make it to his usual parking spot. Stiles’ phone buzzed from its spot in the
cup holder and Scott reached down to grab it, flipping it over in his hand to
read the front of the screen.
“It’s your dad.” Scott said.
Stiles shook his head, “Let it ring, he’s probably calling to tell me to come
to school.”
Stiles’ parking spot was in sight, as was Lydia who was leaning against the
tree in front of it.
“Is that Lydia?” Scott asked.
Stiles nodded, quickly pulling into the spot and turning off the car. He left
his bag in the back seat as he jumped out of the Jeep, circling around the
front and rushing over to Lydia.
Lydia looked exhausted. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun, a far cry from
her usually cascading waterfall of hair. She looked pale, and there were large
black bags under her eyes that matched Stiles own.
“Lyds?” Stiles asked as he stepped towards her.
Lydia looked up at Stiles, blinking in confusion as if she hadn’t even realized
he pulled up in front of her only seconds before.
Lydia turned her head towards the front of the school, “Something bad happened
last night.”  
Chapter End Notes
     sorry for the delay, i got a new laptop and have slowly been
     adjusting to the slightly different keyboard layout
     anyway, my favorite chapter is coming up soon. get hyped, it's gonna
     be lit.
***** Where Do You Think You’re Goin’? *****
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                               Chapter Nineteen
                       Where Do You Think You’re Goin’?
                                        
“What do you mean, Lydia?” Stiles asked under his breath.
Lydia shook her head and leaned her back against the tree, “I’d like to talk to
you alone.”
“Did you see anything?” Scott asked, breaking into their conversation.
Lydia did a double take, and silently stared at Scott before letting her eyes
drift towards Stiles.
Lydia narrowed her eyes, “Of course you told Scott.”
“Dammit.” Stiles mumbled under his breath before glaring at Scott.
“I should have known you would,” Lydia shook her head, “and we all know Scott
couldn’t keep a secret to save his life so it’s only a matter of time before
the rest of the school finds out I’m some schizophrenic freak.”
“You’re not schizophrenic, Lydia,” Stiles said automatically, “I had to tell
Scott.”
Lydia rolled her eyes, “Spare me your bro-code bullshit.”
Stiles scrubbed both hands down his face, “That’s not why I told him. There’s
not time now, but I’ll tell you everything later, I promise.”
Lydia shrugged, “I’m going home, I’m not sticking around all day with this mess
outside.”
Lydia turned on her heel and slung her bag over her shoulder and she marched
towards her car a few parking spots away.
“Wait!” Stiles said, rushing after her, “What happened last night? What did you
feel?”
Lydia stopped walking for a fraction of a second, but she wouldn’t look at
Stiles, “Go find out for yourself.”
Stiles turned back to the school as Lydia walked ahead and got into her car. He
was torn between finding out what happened and trying to repair the newly
broken trust with Lydia, but he’d known Lydia long enough to know that she’d
need a while to cool off before she’d accept any apology from Stiles.
Stiles watched Lydia’s car pull out of the lot before he rushed back over to
Scott.
“Good job there, Scotty.”
“Hey!” Scott protested, “You didn’t tell me not to say anything!”
Stiles rolled his eyes, “I figured it would be common sense!”
Scott’s shoulders dropped, “Sorry.”
Stiles shook his head, “It’s fine, there’s nothing I can do about it right now.
We should go see what the hell happened.”
The scene at the front of the school grew more hectic as Scott and Stiles got
closer. It seemed like the entire student body was gathered out front, broken
off into clusters that were huddled together whispering and spreading the
latest gossip. Even teachers weren’t immune to the effect, Stiles spotted
dozens of them paying more attention to the police activity surrounding the
school rather than the students they were supposed to be keeping in control.
Stiles noticed several familiar faces among the swarm of deputies, most of them
giving him a grim look as he passed by. He thought about stopping to ask one of
them what was happening, but he figured he’d have better luck with his own dad
if he could find him.  
“Have you seen Allison?” Scott asked, “What if something happened to her?”
Stiles bit his tongue and searched through the crowd, pushing through a group
of students so he could get a better view from higher ground. Stiles dodged a
few more kids as he climbed the stairs at the front of the school and scanned
the crowd from the new vantage point.
He spotted Allison almost immediately, and she was with Kate. They
were standing close together, right next to the yellow caution tape that had
the bus pick up and drop off area roped off. Kate was pointing at something
just beyond Stiles’ view and Allison was nodding frantically.
“There.” Stiles pointed towards Allison and Kate, “Surprise, surprise.”
Scott sucked in a sharp breath, “Maybe she’s just making sure Allison stays
safe.”
Stiles bit his tongue, now wasn’t the time to go in on Scott’s naiveite.
“We need to find my dad,” Stiles said, “Can you hear him?”
Scott turned his head to the side for a few seconds before groaning and shaking
his head, “There’s too many voices.”
“Old fashioned way then.” Stiles said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.
Stiles’ eyes drifted back towards Kate, Allison was gone now.
“Should we call Derek and Laura?” Scott asked.
Kate turned her head, her eyes drifting across the sea of students before she
locked eyes with Stiles. Stiles swallowed the lump in his throat and tore his
eyes away from her.
“Not until we know what actually happened.”
Stiles dialed his dads number by heart.
“Stiles, where are you?” His dad answered.
“I was calling to ask you the same thing?” Stiles said, “I’m at the front of
the school.”
“Stay where you are, I’ll come to you.”
The line went dead.
Stiles looked back across the courtyard to where Kate was standing before, but
he found the spot empty. There was no sign of Allison or Kate at all.
“I don’t smell Allison anymore.” Scott said.
Stiles blinked, “You can smell her?”
Scott gave him a bashful smile, “Yeah, like, all the time whenever she’s
around.”
“Dude,” Stiles held back a gagging sound, “that’s weird as fuck.”
“Stiles!” The Sheriff’s voice interrupted Scott’s reply, “Scott, good you’re
here too.”
“What’s going on, dad?” Stiles asked, using his best clueless teenager
impression.
The Sheriff shook his head, “They’re about to announce that school is canceled
for today, you boys should get a head start before you’re stuck in the parking
lot.”
Stiles wasn’t letting his dad deflect like that, “Dad, c’mon, what the hell
happened?”
“Language.” the Sheriff chided before sighing and pulling Scott and Stiles into
the building and away from the ever-growing crowd, “Don’t repeat anything. Go
straight from here to your car.”
 “Yes sir.” Scott nodded.
Stiles gave Scott a side eye.
“Someone was killed early this morning on School property,” the Sheriff said,
his voice low, “it was a bus driver.”
“Holy shit.” Stiles said, before correcting himself, “Sorry.”
“Is this connected to the other killings?” Scott asked, “First Mr. Harris, then
the guy at the video store, and now this one?”
The Sheriff shook his head, “Don’t speculate, Scott.”
Stiles worried his lip between his teeth, if they told his dad everything right
now it could solve so many problems.
“You boys just go back to my house,” the Sheriff said, breaking through Stiles’
thoughts, “I’ve already talked to Melissa, she said she wants Scott to stay at
our house until she gets off work in a few hours.”
Stiles nodded, “Yeah, we’ll head home now.”
The Sheriff pulled Stiles into a quick hug, “Text me when you’re home.”
Stiles broke apart from the hug feeling slightly guilty, “OK. Stay safe, dad.”
The Sheriff smiled and turned his attention to the buzzing radio on his chest,
“I’ve got to go, the principal is about to give the announcement.”
Stiles watched his dad disappear down the hallway, probably heading towards the
principal’s office, and he grabbed Scott by the elbow as soon as he dad was far
enough away. Scott protested as Stiles pulled him out of the front door of the
school and towards the parking lot.
“Dude!” Scott yelped.
“You heard my dad,” Stiles said as they kept walking, “this place is going to
be a mad house in a few minutes. I don’t think either of us want to be stuck in
jammed up parking lot with nowhere to go while Kate is prowling around
somewhere.”
“Stiles!” A voice called from across the parking lot.
Stiles stopped and spun around a few times to find the source of the voice, his
eyes eventually falling on Erica. Erica was in her usual hoodie, though her
hair was down today and blew through the wind as she jogged towards Stiles.
“Ixnay on the erewolvesway.” Stiles said under his breath.
Scott cocked his head to the side, “What?”
“No werewolves!” Stiles hissed just before Erica stopped in front of them.
Erica was out of breath after the short run, “Do you have any idea what
happened here? I overheard a few people saying someone was murdered.”
Stiles looked awkwardly off to the side, “I’ve been told not to spread rumors
or false information.”
“Right,” Erica nodded, “Sheriff’s son and all.”
Stiles gave her a tight smile, “I do have it on good authority that the
principal is about to announce that classes are canceled today and that we
should get off the campus before that happens and everyone tries to leave at
once.”
“Shit,” Erica sighed, “my parents are at work, there’s no way I’m getting out
of here.”
Stiles looked at Scott to ask a silent question, when Scott shrugged Stiles
turned back to Erica, “I can take you home if you want? Or wherever you want me
to take you?”
Erica gave Stiles a bright smile, “Seriously? You’re such a life saver,
Stilinski.”
Stiles waved her away, “It’s no big deal.”
Erica pulled her phone out and took a few steps away before pressing the phone
against her ear. Stiles turned away so he wasn’t eavesdropping.
“I figured you’d want to rush over to Laura and Derek’s.” Scott said.
Stiles shrugged, “There’s not really much we can do right now? It’s not like
Derek or Laura can just hop over some police tape in the middle of the day to
sniff around the crime scene, especially with Kate lurking god knows where.”
“True.” Scott said, “Do you think they know about this yet?”
Stiles shook his head, “I don’t think so. There aren’t even any news trucks
here, it probably hasn’t hit mainstream yet.”
“I guess I’ll text her then.” Scott said, quieting down as Erica hung up her
phone.
“My dad said he was planning on leaving work early today anyway so if I could
just hang out at your house for an hour or two he can come pick me up from
there?” Erica said hesitantly.
Stiles flashed Erica a bright smile, “Totally fine. Just a warning though,
Scott and I aren’t great company.”
Erica rolled her eyes, “Stiles, I literally have no friends, any company is
good company.”
“Congratulations, you just said the most depressing sentence of the day! Your
reward is getting to sit in the front seat while Scott gets wedged in the back
seat with all of our shit.”
“Hey!” Scott yelped.
“Sweet.” Erica smiled as they reached the Jeep.
Stiles pulled his front seat forward so Scott could crawl in the back. When
everyone was in place he checked his seat to make sure it was in his favorite
position before cranking the Jeep and pulling out of his parking spot.
They reached the stop sign that led out of the parking lot just as the
principal’s voice crackled over the intercom and announced that school was
canceled for the day and that classes would resume as scheduled on Monday.
“What a way to get a three-day weekend.” Stiles mumbled morbidly as he pulled
off campus.
 
                                       X
                                        
The ride back to Stiles’ house was a mostly quiet affair, due in part to
Erica’s own awkwardness. Stiles tried a few times to engage her into a
conversation he was having with Scott, but it usually just ended in Erica
adding one of two words before turning to look back out the window. Stiles
couldn’t blame her, he knew more than anyone how weird it was to be thrust into
uncomfortable social situations with people you barely knew.
Stiles pulled into his driveway and parked the Jeep. Erica waited to open her
door until Stiles opened his and hopped out of the Jeep. Stiles lowered the
seat so Scott could crawl out before meeting Erica at the front and motioning
her to follow him to the front door.
Stiles flipped his key ring in his hand, “I’ll unlock the door for you and then
come back to help Scott get our stuff, help yourself to anything in the kitchen
if you want. It’s the first room to the right, you literally can’t miss it.”
Stiles opened the door and held it for Erica, who smiled and stepped inside.
Once she was in the house, Stiles jogged back over to Scott who was struggling
to carry three backpacks at once.
“Really?” Stiles deadpanned, “Don’t you have super strength now?”
Scott growled, actually growled, “These are a lot heavier than they look!”
Stiles’ reply was cut off by a deafening scream coming from inside his house.
Scott immediately dropped all three bags and darted into the house. It took
Stiles a second to recover, his eyes lingered on the abandoned pile of bookbags
until another scream from Erica took him out of his trance.
Stiles ran into the house as fast as he could, skidding to a stop on the tiled
floor of the kitchen. Scott was standing in front of Erica, or rather, Erica
was using Scott as a human shield, and looked utterly confused. Stiles’ eyes
drifted to the back door of the house and he froze when he realized what the
cause of all the commotion was.
Derek stood outside, just visible through the panes of glass that ran across
the top of the back door. Derek’s eyes were comically wide.
“What’s he doing here?” Erica’s quivering voice was the first sound Stiles had
heard since he ran inside.
“Him?” Stiles asked, his voice a couple octaves higher than normal, “He’s
totally fine. That’s just my…cousin!”
Scott looked even more confused now, “Your cousin? What?”
“Yeah!” Stiles glared at Scott, “My cousin, you know, you’ve met him before. My
cousin…Miguel!”
Stiles could just make out Derek mouthing the name.
Erica finally let go of Scott’s shoulder and straightened herself, running her
hands down the front of her sweater to smooth it out. When she turned to Stiles
she looked angry, “Really? Your cousin?”
“Yes?” Stiles answered, slightly unsure.
“Your cousin looks an awful lot like Derek Hale, accused murderer Derek Hale.”
“Really?” Stiles cocked his head to the side, “I guess I can kinda see it.”
Stiles looked at the back door and sighed in relief when he realized that Derek
was gone.
“I’m not stupid, Stilinski. Don’t treat me like I am.” Erica jammed a finger
into Stiles chest.
“Ow,” Stiles rubbed his chest, “I don’t think you’re stupid.”
“Really?” Erica challenged, “Then start by telling me why Derek Hale was on
your back porch.”
“I…don’t know.” Stiles answered, half honestly.
“Oh, you don’t?” Erica pulled out her phone, “Then I guess I’ll just call the
police, they’d love to know that an accused murder suspect is creeping around
the Sheriff’s house and looking in windows.”
Erica made it to the first one of 911 before Stiles lunged forward waving his
hands, “No! Don’t!”
Erica took a step backwards, just out of Stiles’ reach, and held her finger
menacingly over the final one, “Are you going to tell me why I just had the
shit scared about of me in your house? Was this some kind of joke?”
“What?” Stiles shook his head, “No! Jesus, Erica. No.”
Scott finally spoke, “Derek was here because I texted him.”
Erica slowly turned towards Scott, “Why?”
“Because I told him what happened at school,” Scott said, “I didn’t tell him
you were with us or he wouldn’t have showed up.”
Erica lowered her phone before putting it back in her pocket, “So
you’re…friends with Derek Hale?”
Scott shrugged and looked to Stiles for an answer  
Stiles let out a breath of air and pinched the bridge of his nose, there was no
point in lying anymore. Erica was too smart, and Stiles liked her too much to
insult her like that.
 “Yes, we’re friends with Derek.”
“Why did you lie to me then?” Erica asked.
“Because you were freaked out and through he was here to kill you or
something.” Stiles said, “I don’t know! I panicked!”
Erica crossed her arms over her chest and sighed, “I take it your dad doesn’t
know?”
“Obviously not,” Stiles shook his head, “Why else would I try to tackle you to
stop you from calling him?”
“Point taken.” Erica rolled her eyes, “That was super rude, by the way.”
Stiles shrugged, “Yeah. Sorry.”
Stiles looked up to find Scott and frowned when he wasn’t anywhere in sight.
The backdoor was ajar. Stiles wondered if Scott had gone to look for Derek.
“Why are you friends with Derek Hale? How are you friends with Derek Hale?”
Erica asked.
Stiles groaned, “Can we stop with using his full name?”
“No.”
Stiles groaned again, “I met him when he got to town and essentially forced him
to be my friend.”
“Seems like a pattern.” Erica said pointedly.
“He’s not a murderer, just so you know. I was with him the night Harris got
murdered.”
Erica arched an eyebrow, “And what were you doing with Derek Hale in the middle
of the night?”
“It wasn’t the middle of the night!” Stiles balked, “And he was…helping me fix
my Jeep when it broke down. He couldn’t cut Harris’ head off, he was too greasy
for it.”
Stiles flinched when he heard a choking sound come from outside. He prayed that
Erica didn’t hear it.
“I didn’t actually think he was going to kill me.” Erica said.
Stiles cocked his head to the side, “You sure seemed like you did.”
“I was just surprised, I didn’t expect to see him here” Erica rolled her eyes
before adding, “I’ve actually met his sister a few times.”
“Laura?” Stiles questioned.
He remembered Laura mentioning meeting Erica but Stiles didn’t want to give
that away, so he sat quietly and waited for an answer.
Erica nodded, “Yeah, she’s kinda a bad ass.”
“She really is.” Stiles smiled, “Way cooler than Derek.”
Erica finally relaxed her shoulders and dropped into a chair at the kitchen
table, “Well this has been a weird day.”
Stiles laughed, “It’s not even 10am.”
“Don’t remind me.”
Scott quietly slipped in the back door as Erica put her head down on the table
silently. Stiles looked at Scott with a question in his eyes, but Scott shook
his head, mouthing the word ‘later’. Stiles looked out the back window in time
to see Derek’s back as he was retreating into the woods behind the house.
 
                                       X
                                        
Laura waited until a little after 4:30am until she deemed it safe enough for
her and Derek to investigate the crime scene at the school. Derek had tried all
day to make a case for going earlier, saying that the police could remove
evidence they’d need, or that the smells would all get jumbled together. Laura
had remained steadfast in her position, there was no way they were going to the
scene until it was night time and the police had reliably cleared out. She knew
the Argent’s would be around once the sun went down as well, it would have been
insane if they weren’t, and she hoped that choosing such a random and late time
would throw them off.
“We have a little under two hours until sunrise.” Laura said as she checked he
watch on their walk through the forest.
“I still think we should have come earlier.” Derek said, a little disgruntled.
Derek had been on edge all day, ever since he got back from Stiles. He wouldn’t
talk about anything, but Laura had known Derek long enough to realize the signs
that he was in a mood about something. She left him alone for the most part, it
was a stressful day for them both and she’d hoped that letting Derek stew on
his own would put him in better shape for their nighttime activity.
“Earlier meant police and hunters,” Laura shook her head, “I don’t think we’ll
be here for long anyway.”
Derek was silent as they ran the rest of the way. They’d left the Camaro back
at the apartment and had decided to run the way to school since it was easier
for them to hide among the trees rather than risk being seen in a very
recognizable vehicle.
“Remember, we’re looking for any trace of the witch who’s in control of the
Rougarou.”
Derek shook his head, “Why do we keep calling it the Rougarou? It’s Peter.”
Laura shook her head, “No. We don’t know for sure.”
Derek sighed, “Who else could it be?”
Laura stopped walking, “I don’t know. But we don’t know for certain that it’s
Peter. I know I said a lot of stuff when we first came back…about how we’d deal
with Peter. But it was wrong. Totally wrong. As far as I’m concerned, the
Rougarou isn’t Peter unless I see it for myself.”
Laura had been eating herself up inside with guilt about how she intended to
take car of Peter when they first got back into town. She was pissed off and
confused and resorted to the one tactic that made sense.
Violence.
Violence had been one of the only constants in Laura’s life. It took everyone
from her years ago, and she used it whenever she needed to in the years that
followed. Laura was hardly the moral compass of their rag tag group, but she
was trying to change.
Derek nodded after a few seconds of look at Laura, “If that’s how you want to
go with this.”
“I do.” Laura said, “Come on, we’re close.”
They walked for a few more minutes before the woods spat them out on the edge
of the old practice field.
Laura listened closely to their surroundings. It sounded like they were alone.
She knew there would usually be a car left behind to watch the scene overnight,
but the Sheriff’s Department was already spread so thin investigating the two
other murders that there probably weren’t enough officers that could be spared.
It made things a hell of a lot easier.
Not that Laura was happy that two other people were dead.
But it still made things easier.
They moved across the campus quickly, still sticking to the shadows just to be
safe. The wind blew around them as they made their way towards the front of the
school. Laura pulled her leather jacket tighter around her body to fight off
the chill that was creeping into her spine, but something told Laura that the
chill had nothing to do with the bite that the wind had.
“You smell it?” Derek asked, breaking the silence as they approached the lines
of caution tape that cordoned off the entrance to the bus loop.
The smell was unmistakable, Laura had picked up on it the second the wind blew.
The Rougarou had been there alright.
Derek pulled out two sets of rubber gloves and tossed one to Laura, “Before I
forget. They have your prints in the system.”
“Yours too.” Laura rolled her eyes as she slipped the gloves on.
Derek finally cracked a smile, “Nope. They never fingerprinted me.”
Laura glared at him, “Asshole.”
Laura ducked under the tape first. The loop had been cleared out except for the
lone bus that the body was found in. The entire bus itself was wrapped in
caution tape, but all the windows were down, and Laura could smell the scent of
stale blood mixed in with the musk of the Rougarou.
“First someone at the video store, now a bus driver.” Derek said, “It’s
purposely random.”
Laura nodded, “Someone is fucking with us for sure, and they’re doing it in a
way that sends the actual authorities running around in circles.”
Laura knew that the Sheriff was hard at work trying to draw connections between
the two victims, trying to make sense out of a pattern that didn’t exist. The
only possible connections any of the victims had was the bus driver, but he was
only connected to Harris, who wasn’t connected to any of these murders.
As if he read Laura’s mind, Derek said, “They’re probably trying to connect
Harris to the other two.”
Laura nodded, “But we know that Kate was responsible for Harris.”
Laura noticed how rigid Derek went at the mention of her name, but she
pretended she didn’t notice. Laura walked the perimeter of the bus while she
waited for Derek to find his bearings again, not finding anything suspicious.  
“I wonder if the witch is taking advantage of that too, maybe it inspired her
plan.” Laura said as she came around the back of the bus and stopped in front
of Derek.
Derek laughed bitterly, “I’m sure Kate must be honored.”
“At least that gives us an advantage.” Laura smiled.
“What do you mean?” Derek asked.
“Think about it, we know something that the police and the hunters don’t. It
wouldn’t surprise me if the Argent’s thought that Harris’ death was connected
to everything too.”
Derek shook his head, “There’s no way the Argent’s don’t know about Kate
killing Harris. She went to the police to blame me.”
“Kate’s always operated on her own wavelength,” Laura said, “I don’t like
Chris, but I also don’t think he’d just shoot us on sight. I don’t think Chris
would be down with Kate killing a human just to get you into a police station
in hopes that you lose control and kill someone for real.”
Derek scoffed, “I’m glad you have so much faith in the Argents.”
“Der,” Laura said softly, “I don’t have faith, it’s just a hunch.”
“A hunch that will get you killed.”
Laura ran her hand through her hair and tossed it over her shoulder, “We don’t
have a lot of time left before sunrise, can we table this discussion for
later?”
“Whatever.” Derek said, “Let’s look inside the bus.”
Laura hung back while Derek walked ahead. She didn’t know how to convey to him
that she didn’t trust Chris Argent, but that she just thought that he’d at
least not be OK with his sister running around killing humans just to trap a
werewolf.
“Laura, get in here.” Derek’s voice broke though Laura’s thoughts.
Laura jogged over to the bus and stopped in her tracks when she hit the first
step. The smell was overwhelming. The scent of the Rougarou poured from every
inch of the bus, mixing in with the smell of blood, sweat, and fear.
The seats were torn to shreds, jagged claw marks ripped into the vinyl and the
padding inside spilled out. A few windows were shattered. A long set of claw
marks ran across the roof of the bus, the metal warped and pried open as if the
Rougarou tore its way into the bus from the top.
“Jesus.” Laura said out loud, “How are the police even going to justify this?”
Derek shook his head, “I have no idea.”
They couldn’t investigate the video store so Laura had no idea what kind of
state the scene was in, but she was fairly sure that there weren’t signs that
something had torn through a metal roof there.
“This is bad.”
There were two dried puddles of blood on the floor, both a few feet apart from
each other. The first, which was hallway up the length of the bus, was the
largest. The second, closer to the rear emergency exit, was smaller.
“It ripped his head off.” Derek said as he examined the two bloodstains.
Laura nodded and pointed to the larger one first, “The body fell here.”
Derek continued, standing in front of the smaller one, “And the head landed
here.”
“Harris’ head was almost ripped off too.” Laura added.
Derek opened his mouth to respond, but quickly closed it and turned his head
towards one of the broken windows of the bus.
“Someone’s coming.” Derek said.
“Fuck.” Laura said, “It can’t be Stiles or Scott, I didn’t tell them anything
about this, so they wouldn’t show up.”
“Five people,” Derek whispered, “moving quickly, at least three rifles between
them.”
“Totally not Scott and Stiles then.” Laura shook her head, “They sound close.”
“We can still make it out before they get here.” Derek said, “And if not, we
can take them in a fight.”
Laura shook her head, “It’s not the police, it’s the Argent’s. If we run now
then we look guilty. We didn’t do anything wrong.”
Derek narrowed his eyes, “Remember when I told you that hunch of yours was
going to get you killed.”
Laura sighed, “We need to talk to them at some point, Der. Or I do, at least as
the Alpha of this area.”
“Mom tried to maintain a relationship with the Argent’s and look what
happened.”
Laura’s heart skipped a beat. It was a low blow, even for Derek. She took a
deep breath, closed her eyes, and counted to ten. Now wasn’t the time for them
to fight, now if they were about to face down a group of hunters and walk out
alive.
“Text Stiles and Scott, tell them what’s happening.” Laura said when she opened
her eyes.
“Why?” Derek asked.
“So that they’ll know what happened to us if we don’t come back.”
Derek was quiet for a moment, but he eventually took out his phone and tapped
out two texts. Laura didn’t miss how he took longer to send the second one than
the first, and she had a hunch about who the second one was sent to.
The group of hunters were just around the corner now, rounding the front of the
school. Laura walked out of the bus first, with Derek following closely behind
her. She stood a few feet away from the entrance of the bus loop with her arms
crossed over her chest. She specifically stood in front of Derek, blocking him
from any kind of danger.
“Relax.” Laura said softly.
“Kate isn’t with them.” Derek gritted out, “I don’t smell her.”
Laura nodded. That took a bit of pressure off her chest. She swallowed as the
beams from the hunters’ lights washed over the front of the bus loop.
A group of five people rounded the corner next, the three men in front dressed
in all black with three rifles held out at the ready. The hunters froze when
they sported Derek and Laura. The light from their night vision goggles shone
though the darkness and they pointed their guns at them.
Laura could already smell the wolfsbane in their bullets.
“Wait!” A voice broke out from behind the three hunters.
“Move aside.” The voice said.
The three hunters stepped apart almost immediately, two moving to the right and
one moving to the left, revealing Chris Argent.
Chris was dressed similarly in all black, though his goggles were around his
neck and he carried a crossbow rather than a rifle. Chris hefted the crossbow
in his hands, letting it swing across Laura’s path before it came to a rest of
his shoulder.
“Alpha Hale.” Chris said, “Derek.”
Derek didn’t say anything.
“Chris,” Laura said with as much cheer as she could muster, “funny running into
you here.”
Chris arched an eyebrow, “Yes, I’m sure it was a complete coincidence.”
Another voice, a female, came from behind Chris, “You know what they say, the
murderer always returns to the scene of the crime.”
The fifth and fine hunter stepped up and came to a stop next to Chris. It took
Laura a moment to realize who she was.
She had short red hair and wore a turtle neck and dark pants. A silver pistol
dangled from her fingers and she had a set of knives strapped to her thigh.
Victoria Argent. 
***** A Speeding Bullet *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                Chapter Twenty
                               A Speeding Bullet
                                        
“Victoria, it’s been a long time.”
Derek didn’t understand how Laura was able to speak to these people without
ripping their throats out. He was just barely holding back his own claws when
it was only Chris Argent in front of him, the addition of Victoria Argent was
taking every ounce of control that Derek had left and sending it through a meat
grinder.
“Not long enough.” Victoria mused.
She kept her silver pistol dangling limply in her hands, but they were in such
close proximity that Derek doubted his ability to get it away from her before
she could ready if it he had to.
Laura only politely smiled at Victoria.
Victoria sighed, “I thought you’d know better than to ignore the rules that our
people have thrived by for years.”
Derek scoffed, “Yeah, thrived.”
Victoria glared at him.
“What do you mean?” Laura asked.
“It’s tradition for any Alpha to introduce themselves to the head of the local
hunters before invading their land. Not only did you not do that, but right
after you and your brother return to town there seemed to be in influx of dead
bodies. What are we supposed to think of that, Alpha Hale?”
“Your land?” Derek snarled.
Laura turned and gave Derek a look to calm him down. Derek closed his eyes and
breathed slowly as he felt his teeth return to normal.
“There must be some kind of misunderstanding, I was under the impression that I
spoke with the Argent Matriarch.” Laura said.
Victoria narrowed her eyes, “Excuse me?”
Laura shrugged, “I ran into Chris and your daughter at the grocery store the
day after I got back to town. I spoke to him, informed him why I was in town,
and made sure to give my thanks to Allison.”
Victoria’s eyes went wide, and she immediately turned to Chris, “You never said
anything about this!”
 “I didn’t think it was important, I thought Miss Hale would be gone from town
soon after that.”
“I did my duty,” Laura said, “I’m not at any fault for your communication
errors.”
Victoria turned back to Laura, “You did not introduce yourself to the
matriarch.”
Derek felt his eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. Victoria was the matriarch?
Laura cocked her head to the side, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know the Argent’s
allowed Matriarchs outside of the family now. It’s been quite a while since
I’ve spoken to one.”
Victoria’s eyes burned with anger, “I am an Argent.”
“Not by blood.” Laura said, “I actually remember when Chris’ mother wasn’t
considered for the Matriarch position because she wasn’t an Argent by blood. If
things have changed within the ranks since then, I’m glad. It never seemed fair
to me that even an organization that valued women so much they let them lead
wouldn’t allow a woman to lead if she didn’t pass an arbitrary rule that was
put into place by a man.”
Victoria’s hand twitched and her grip on the gun tightened. Derek saw Chris’
eyes register the movement and he took a step forward, placing his hand on
Victoria’s arm.
“The inner workings of our family are of no concern to you; however, Victoria
is acting Matriarch for the moment. Once Allison comes of age then she will
take over.”
“My apologies then.” Laura said, though Derek couldn’t miss the smile that
pulled at the corner of her mouth. Laura had set out to get a reaction out of
Victoria and she got it.
“We would like to speak to you about the deaths in town.” Victoria said after
another second.
Laura shook her head, “There’s no need. We both know Derek and I are not the
ones responsible for them.”
“And how do we know that?” Victoria challenged.
“Because Derek and I were attacked by a group of hunters in the preserve the
other night as we were fighting what is responsible for the killings. So either
there’s another group of hunters in your territory, or you think that Derek and
I are the ones going around ripping people apart and not the giant monster you
failed to kill while trying to kill us.”
Chris took a deep breath, “No one was trying to kill you.”
Derek scoffed, “You could have fooled me.”
“And what about your second Beta?” Victoria asked.
“What do you mean?” Laura shook her head, “It’s only Derek and I.”
Victoria rolled her eyes, “One of our hunters reported seeing a set of golden
eyes in the preserve that night.”
“Did either of you see it?” Laura asked, angling her head between Victoria and
Chris.
Chris shook his head, “No, but we have no reason to doubt the person who did.
They very clearly heard voices and saw a set of golden eyes in the darkness. We
know that neither you nor Derek have golden eyes, so the only explanation that
you’ve brought a second Beta to town. Or worse, that you’ve turned someone
since being here.”
“I haven’t turned anyone, but even if I had, it wouldn’t violate the code.”
Laura said easily.
“It would if you turned someone against their will.” Chris challenged.
Laura laughed, “Seriously?”
Victoria narrowed her eyes, “This is no laughing matter. Not only do we have to
worry about you and your brother being in town, we now have to worry about the
killings and the possibility that you could have a rabid Beta right under our
noses.”
“If I had bitten someone while I was here do you really think I’d be off
investigating crime scenes in the middle of the night while leaving that Beta
alone? It’s just Derek and I, where else would this magical Beta be?”
Victoria arched a single eyebrow, “We’re keeping a very close eye on you.”
Laura rolled her eyes, “Yes, just like how Kate was keeping such a close eye on
my brother that she accused him of a murder he didn’t commit. I might be rusty
with the code, but does intentionally trying to expose the supernatural to a
department full of police just to further some petty vengeance fall under doing
no harm to humans?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Chris stepped forward, “Kate had
only just gotten to town when the chemistry teacher was murdered, Kate would
never speak to the police about it if she thought he was killed by a werewolf.
She’s not that reckless.”
“Like you said, the inner workings of your family are not my business.”
“We have no reason to speak to you.” Derek growled, “We have no reason to trust
you. My mother trusted you, I trusted…”
“Derek.” Laura whispered.
“No!” Derek glared at her, “My family trusted your family and they were burnt
alive. We don’t have to introduce ourselves to you or turn ourselves over to be
fucking monitored. We’re not the dangerous ones here, you fucking are.” 
“You watch your tone with me.” Victoria glared at Derek.
Derek flashed his eyes at her, “Or what?”
Victoria’s reply was stopped by Laura as she steeped between them. Laura turned
to Derek and glared, though Derek noted that her eyes weren’t red.
“We’re leaving.” Laura said, grabbing Derek by the crook of his elbow and
pulling him to the other side of the bus loop.
They ignored Victoria’s protests behind them and kept silent until the reached
the chain link fence at the edge of the parking lot. They scaled it quickly and
walked towards the edge of the forest, disappearing into the tree line and
breaking out into a run back to the Camaro.
Neither of them spoke as they ran, but Derek was prepping himself for a tongue
lashing of epic proportions from Laura once that stopped. Derek didn’t care,
he’d take a million verbal spats with his sister over playing pretend with
respecting the Argent’s.
The Camaro came into sight and they slowed to a jog that turned into a
leisurely walk the closer they got to the car. Derek kept glancing at Laura out
of the corner of his eye, waiting for her to get angry with him but the only
time Laura spoke was when she tossed him the keys to the car.
“You drive,” Laura smiled, “I’m exhausted.”
“Seriously?” Derek said as he caught the keys midair.
Laura looked at Derek like he’d grown another head, “Did you not want to drive?
You always want to drive? You cry like a child when I don’t let you drive.”
Derek glared at her, “I do not cry.”
“Whatever you say.” Laura laughed, “Seriously though, what’s wrong? You look
like you’re waiting for me to yell at you about something. Did you not do the
laundry like I asked?”
“You’re not mad?” Derek asked.
“Derek, if my nice shirts are sitting at the bottom of the washing machine
getting moldy and nasty I’m going to be fucking pissed.”
Derek shook his head, “You’re not mad about back there?”
Laura’s eyebrows drew together, “Why would I be mad?”
“Because you were trying to be diplomatic and I threated to rip Victoria
Argents arms off and beat her to death with them.”
Laura smiled brightly, “I would literally pay to see that. And no, I’m not mad
at you.”
“You talked about having to be civil with them though.”
Laura frowned and pulled Derek into a tight hug, “I’m sorry. Sometimes I forget
that you never…you never got to have any lessons with mom.”
Derek pushed Laura back until they were face to face, “Lessons?”
Laura’s frown was replaced with a fond smile, “Mom always knew I’d be the next
Alpha, she trained me bit by bit for a year or two before she died. We never
got into big specifics, but she always told me how I needed to at least try and
be respectful to any hunters I came across. Most hunters see us as animals and
if we’re nice to them it throws them off. It’s my job as an Alpha to be
diplomatic.”
“What about me?” Derek asked.
“Mom always said it was the Alpha’s job to be nice to the hunters, not anyone
else.” Laura grinned, “She used to take Peter with her to negotiate with them,
she called it the ultimate game of good cop/bad cop.”
Derek laughed and ran a hand through his hair, “I was ready for you to be
angry.”
Laura rolled her eyes again and flicked him on the tip of the nose, “In any
case, we don’t have to worry about respecting Victoria. She’s not the one
calling the shots, even if she thinks she is.”
“I noticed that too.” Derek said.
It wasn’t obvious at first, but the more Victoria spoke the more it seemed like
the only person who was buying was she was selling was herself. Chris didn’t
even look like he respected his wife as their leader.
“That means that either Allison is really in charge and they’re trying to
protect her so we don’t find out…” Laura trailed off.
“Or Kate decided to take over.” Derek shuddered. He felt the bile creeping up
the back of his throat, but he swallowed it down quickly.
Laura was quiet for a few moments, she rested both hands against the hood of
the Camaro and took a deep breath.
“It’s late, there’s no sense in trying to figure out all this right now.”
Derek nodded, “Yeah, I guess.”
Derek rounded the front of the car and unlocked the door. Laura climbed into
the passenger seat as Derek cranked the engine. They were back on the main road
of town before Laura spoke again.
“I can’t believe we went through all of this and didn’t even find what we were
after.”
“There was nothing around the school that would give the witch away,” Derek
said, “I didn’t sense any magic either.”
Laura cradled her head in her hands, “We’re assuming the witch needs to be near
control the Rougarou.”
Derek considered it for a moment, “Did Deaton ever say anything about her
needing to be around?”
“I don’t think so.” Laura shook her head, “I guess we can try talking to him
tomorrow.”
Derek snorted, “A lot of good that will do.”
Laura shrugged, “Maybe I’ll bring Stiles, he seems to like him.”
“What do you mean?” Derek asked.
“With as much attention as you pay to Stiles I’m surprised you didn’t notice.”
Laura grinned.
“Laura.” Derek warned.
Laura held her hands up in surrender, “I’m just saying, the only person I’ve
ever seen watch Stiles more than you is Deaton.”
Derek’s hands tightened on the wheel, “I didn’t notice.”
“He’s probably just fascinated to find another human that hangs around with
werewolves.” Laura said, “In any case, it couldn’t hurt to give him a visit
tomorrow. Maybe he can tell us more about Lydia too.”
“You really think that’s a good idea?” Derek asked, “We can barely keep track
of Stiles and Scott as it is, you really want to add another teenager to this
whole thing? Weren’t you the one that said making an army of teenagers was the
worst idea on the planet a few weeks ago?”
“Find me a competent adult in this town then,” Laura said, “because everywhere
I look they’re fucking things up or causing unnecessary problems. It’s not my
fault that the only people who can get anything done happen to be a pack of
teenagers. Unless you want me to go bite Sheriff Stilinski.”
Derek shuddered, “The Sheriff is already terrifying as is.”
Laura laughed as Derek pulled into the parking lot of their building, “If
Stiles is to be believed then this Lydia is like…a girl genius. It wouldn’t be
the worst to have someone on our side like that, especially someone who can
apparently tell when the Rougarou is going to attack.”
“Can we table this discussion for a time when I’m not sleep deprived?” Derek
asked.
He could see Laura’s reasoning, and he had to admit that the only people to
help them in Beacon Hills so far had been a group of insane teenagers, but it
was far too late/early for Derek to have a legitimate conversation about this.
The adrenaline from earlier was wearing off and Derek felt dull and sleepy.
“Sure thing, pup.” Laura reached over and ruffled his hair.
Derek pulled his head away and growled at her, but he couldn’t fight off the
smile on his face.
“I’m glad you’re in a better mood.” Laura said, “Dare I ask what had you in
such a tizzy earlier.”
Derek put the Camaro in park and turned to face Laura with a blank look,
“Tizzy? Really?”
Laura shrugged, “I notice things.”
Derek sighed and shook his head, “It’s nothing. It was stupid.”
Laura was silent but the questions in her eyes didn’t need t be asked out loud.
“Erica Reyes, the girl Stiles talked about, was there when I went to check on
them this morning. She saw me, freaked out, Stiles lied about who I was, she
was going to call the police. It was a whole thing.”
“And you were…upset Stiles lied about who you were?” Laura cocked her head to
the side.
Derek shook his head, “Not really. Erica knew who I was anyway, she thought I
was there to kill everyone.”
“And obviously that is not the first impression you want people to have of
you?”
Derek nodded, “Kinda hard when you’ve been brought in on suspicion of murder.”
“You’ll just have to start winning people over with your sparkling
personality.” Laura smiled.
Derek only glared at her.
“Yeah,” Laura tipped her head upwards and grinned, “you’re totally fucked.”
Derek rolled his eyes and shoved her gently before he got out of the car. The
night air was cool and still, no breeze blew, and it gave the darkened parking
lot a sense of earie calm. Laura hopped out of the car and slide across the
hood, so she was standing next to Derek. She looped her arm around his shoulder
and pulled him close to her side.
“Well, at least you’ll always have-”
Laura’s words halted abruptly, and she ducked to the ground, pulling Derek down
with her, just as a shot rang out through the night. Another one followed,
passing through the window of the Camaro and shattering the glass. Derek shook
his head to dislodge the pieces of glass and pressed himself down flat next to
Laura.
“Come out, come out wherever you are.” A vicious voice sang.
Derek’s eyes went wide, and he could already feel his claws starting to grow.
Kate.
Derek and Laura were pressed between two cars, the Camaro and a small hybrid
that Derek didn’t know the owner of. He rolled on his back and reached up,
grabbing the side mirror of the hybrid and ripping it off. He passed the mirror
to Laura who stuck it around the front of the Camaro and angled it, trying to
catch any glimpse of Kate.
“There.” Derek whispered, grabbing Laura’s arm to stop her from moving.
Kate was on the other side of the lot. She had a high-powered rifle balanced on
her knee, reloading it with bullets that glowed a dull blue under the
moonlight. Wolfsbane.
Kate’s hair was disheveled, her white shirt was torn and stained with what
looked like dirt and blood, and she had small cuts on her forehead.
“Something attacked her.” Laura whispered, “That’s why she wasn’t with Chris
and Victoria.”
Derek was frozen, he couldn’t speak or do much more than process what he was
seeing in real time.
Kate pulled the rifle from her knee, hefting it upwards and holding it at the
ready.
“There’s nowhere else for you to go.” Kate called out, “Why don’t you both come
out and end this?”
“Stay here.” Laura said as she pulled off her leather jacket and tossed it to
the side.
Derek watched as she closed her eyes and let herself shift fully. Her clothes
were torn away, and she laid on her side until it was complete. A few moments
later Laura stood, a full wolf with glowing red eyes, and swiftly crawled under
the hybrid and out to the other side.
Derek kept track of Laura’ feet as she moved around the other cars. She was
trying to circle around to Kate’s flank to get the drop on her, maybe hoping to
surprise her with a full shift.
“Derek, don’t hide.” Kate whined, “You know how much I like to play with my
food.”
Derek felt the bile building up in his throat again. He shook his head and let
himself shift into his Beta form as a distraction. He got to his knees and
crouched along the side of the Camaro, ready to help Laura if he needed to.
Kate sighed, “Fine, I guess if you won’t come play with me I’ll go pat a visit
to your new little boy toy. He’s a feisty one, he could really give me a run
for my money. But then again, you know how much I love a fighter.”
Derek’s claws dugs into the asphalt, shattering it as his grip tightened.
“I’d say it surprised me that you were into dick, but it really doesn’t. So
many things make sense now. He’s a little young for you though, don’t you
think? I wouldn’t have guessed you of all people were into the whole jailbait
twink thing.”
Despite his attempts to keep quiet, Derek roared. It echoed across the parking
lot like a bell.
“Bingo.” Kate whispered, firing a few shots off in Derek’s direction.
Laura’s howl overshadowed the gun shots though, and she snarled before
attacking. Derek stuck his head around the side of a car to watch as Laura
leapt at Kate, throwing her head into Kate’s stomach and knocking the rifle out
of her hands.
Kate fell to the ground and rolled, hitting the tire of a large truck, and she
pushed herself up and brushed her hair out of her face.
“That’s a surprise.” Kate said as her eyes fell onto Laura, “The wolf bitch
actually did it.”
Kate pulled a knife out of her boot at the same time as Laura pounced as her.
Kate hit Laura in the side, dragging the blade though her fur. Laura yelped but
kept up her attack, swiping at Kate and pushing her up against another car.
Kate kicked Laura, but Laura just barely dodged it by rolling onto her side and
disappearing around another car.
Laura tried to surprise her again, but Kate was good. She turned just as Laura
launched herself from the top of a nearby truck. Kate drove the knife into
Laura’s back leg, throwing her into a motorcycle in the process.
Kate scrambled for her rifle while Laura lay dazed on the ground. Derek ran as
soon as Kate had the gun back in her hands, he couldn’t make it to Kate in time
but he could protect Laura. Kate fired the gun at the same moment that Derek
jumped in front of Laura.
Derek screamed as the bullet tore through him, hitting him in the bicep. Derek
felt the bullet shred bone and muscle as it hit him. He didn’t feel the exit
wound, which mean that the bullet had stopped inside his arm and was filling
him with the wolfsbane.
The effect was almost instantaneous. Derek’s arm was on fire, he fell to the
ground and clutched at the wound in a futile effort to stop the bleeding. Derek
could feel the poison working its way though his body.
“Not the Hale I wanted, but I’ll take it I guess.” Kate laughed, her gun held
at the ready.
Derek struggled to speak as he looked behind himself and found Laura gone.
“I have to say, I never thought it would end this way between us.” Kate
shrugged and pointed the rifle between Derek’s eyes, “Oh well. Thanks for the
memories.”
Before Kate could pull the trigger, Laura jumped though the air and ripped the
rifle from her hands. The rifle slid across the ground and Derek was vaguely
aware of the sound of approaching sirens. He could already see the flashing red
and blue lights.
Derek’s eyes fluttered closed for a second and when he opened them again he
found himself in the woods, his wrist in Laura’s mouth as she pulled his limp
body away from scene. They weren’t far from the parking lot, Derek could still
make out the flashing lights between the trees and there seemed to be a fleet
of squad cars assembled.
“The gun?” Derek asked, hissing through the pain.
The gun had the bullets Kate was using inside of it, it was their only hope at
the moment.
Laura dropped Derek’s wrist and whined, her head held low.
A no then.
“It’s ok, we’ll figure something out.” Derek whispered, “We can’t go back to
the apartment.”
Laura shook her head.
Derek felt his consciousness drifting gain, the trees above him blurred and
focused rabidly and the sound of the sirens was getting further and further
away.
Everything slowly went black.
 
                                      XXX
                                        
Stiles was halfway through a dream that involved himself, Derek, a rowboat, and
Sebastian the crab from The Little Mermaid when a tapping at his bedroom window
woke him up. Stiles groaned and pulled the pillow over his head, he was looking
forward to getting a good nights sleep tonight after the mess that was this
morning but there was always a surely werewolf outside his window to shit all
over his plans.
“Come back in the morning,” Stiles groaned, “I’m so tired.”
The tapping continued, and the something barked.
Stiles shot up out of the bed faster than he’d ever moved in his entire life.
He was on the other side of the room and reaching for his baseball bat when he
looked outside his window and saw an imposing figure.
A large dog sat outside his window, hidden under the shadow of night, with
burning red eyes.
“Laura?” Stiles asked, “Am I dreaming?”
Laura barked once before standing and jumping down from the roof. Stiles really
hoped no one happened to be looking outside, he couldn’t think up any lie to
explain why there was a dog the size of a small horse sitting outside his
bedroom window.
Laura barked again, and Stiles looked out the window, he could see her sitting
on his back porch and pawing at the door.
“This is so going to wake dad up,” Stiles mumbled to himself as he sat the
baseball bat on the edge of his bed and walked out into the hallway.
He moved quietly down the stairs and made his way into the kitchen. He could
hear Laura pawing at the door and he moved as fast as he could to open it so
she wouldn’t permanently scratch it. Stiles would have no good explanation for
that either.
When Stiles opened the door, Derek’s body tumbled onto the floor.
“Holy mother of fucking shit!” Stiles yelped, jumping backwards as Derek’s pale
body fell at his feet and began to bleed all over the tile.
Laura barked again, running around Stiles and down the hallway.
“Laura!” Stiles hissed, “What happened? Stop barking, you’re going to wake my
dad up!”
“Kate.” Laura said from behind Stiles, “And your dad isn’t here. I assume he’s
gone out to investigate the reports of gunfire near our apartment.”
Stiles turned around and there was Laura, standing naked in his kitchen.
“Why isn’t Derek healing?” Stiles asked, ignoring Laura’s lack of clothing and
turning back to Derek, “Why is there so much blood?”
Stiles dropped to his knees and grabbed a roll of paper towels and pressed them
over the wound on Derek’s arm. He pulled back Derek’s sleeve and gasped when he
saw the wound ringed with black spidery veins.
“Kate shot him with a wolfsbane bullet.” Laura said, “She attacked us outside
of our apartment.”
“Fuck.” Stiles hissed, Derek’s face was growing paler by the moment. “How do we
fix this?”
“I need the gun that Kate had, if I can get one of the bullets then we can use
it to cure him.”
“Where’s the gun?” Stiles asked.
“Kate ran off without it so I’m going to assume your father has found it by now
and it’s going to be catalogued as evidence, I need to get it before that
happens.”
“Can Deaton help?” Stiles asked, “That has to be the easier option, right?
Deaton knows all about this stuff.”
Laura shook her head, “Deaton isn’t answering his phone, and even if he was we
don’t know what kind of wolfsbane Kate used in her bullets, so we’d only just
make it worse by guessing. Besides, Derek wanted me to take him here.”
“Here?” Stiles looked up and locked eyes with Laura, “Why?”
Laura swallowed and took a deep breath, she was clearly trying to keep it
together for the sake of everyone, “He feels safe here.”
Stiles lost his breath, but quickly recovered, he didn’t have time to analyze
that.
“What do I need to do?”
“Get a belt and make a tourniquet on his arm, tie it off just above the entry
wound and it should help stop the spread of the wolfsbane. They to keep him
lucid and talking, it will be easier to help him if he’s awake when I get
back.”
Stiles nodded, “How are you planning on getting the gun?”
“I have a plan. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Laura said before she shifted
back to her Alpha form and took off running out back towards the woods.
Derek groaned, “Stiles?”
Stiles took a deep breath and tried to smile, “Hey big guy, can you stand?”
Derek tried to push himself up but was only able to get hallway up before he
started to sway. Stiles rushed over and slid his arm around Derek’s back and
let Derek rest his good arm on his shoulder.
Derek’s skin was on fire.
“Let’s get you upstairs, it’ll be more comfortable than the tile floor.”
Derek nodded, “Thank you.”
Stiles bit back the waves of panic he was feeling and smiled when he locked
eyes with Derek, “Thank me later. Everything is going to be fine.”
At least, Stiles hoped it would be.
Chapter End Notes
     surprise Magic Bullet!
***** Meets an Immovable Object *****
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                              Chapter Twenty-One
                           Meets an Immovable Object
                                        
Stiles was sure this was the most blood he’d ever seen in his entire life.
Sure, there was that time last year when Greenberg fell and broke his arm with
a compound fracture and Stiles just happened to walk by in time to get a
righteous view of his Ulna piercing his skin, but that was just gross and there
really wasn’t that much blood involved.
Derek, on the other hand, was oozing blood. It started out red, then a deep
purple color, until it finally began to ooze out like thick black oil.
“Derek?” Stiles asked, “Should your blood be black?”
Derek lifted his head up slowly and looked at his arm before grimacing, “It’s
the poison mixing with my blood.”
Stiles swallowed, “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
“Both,” Derek said, his words coming out in a rasp, “It means my body is still
fighting the wolfsbane, but it also means its starting to spread slowly.”
Stiles rested his hand on the center of Derek’s bare chest and looked at him in
the eye, “What do we do if it keeps spreading and Laura isn’t back in time?”
Derek held Stiles’ stare, “Does your dad have a table saw?”
Stiles was thrown by the question, “Yeah…there’s on in the…”
Derek’s true question finally registered, and Stiles bit back a surge of vomit,
“No! Fuck you, no!”
“Stiles.” Derek gritted his teeth.
“No!” Stiles said again, his voice raising, “Fuck you for even thinking you
could get me to cut off your arm. I can’t even play Operation without setting
off the buzzer, let alone cut off an entire arm with a table saw!”
Derek took a deep breath, “If Laura isn’t back in time then it’s either my arm
or my life.”
Stiles understood, he really did. Amputations to save someone lives were
common, he read all about them one night when he couldn’t sleep. But Stiles was
still in high school, and sure he was a high school student who now ran around
with wolves and other supernatural creatures but that didn’t mean he was ready
to cut someone’s arm off.
To cut Derek’s arm off.
“I’m already having nightmares about psychotic Biology teachers and evil wolf
monsters,” Stiles said, unable to stop himself, “I can’t add nightmares about
cutting off your arm into the mix to.”
Fuck.
Stiles really would have preferred if Derek didn’t know about any of that.
“Stiles...”
Stiles shook his head and tried what he thought was a reassuring smile, which
probably looked more manic than anything, “Besides, there’s no way I could
clean up all that blood before my dad got home.”
Derek looked up at him without saying anything, his eyes were flashing back and
forth between their normal dull green color and electric blue. Stiles’ hand was
still resting on Derek’s chest, and he tightened it into a fist, trying to
fight off whatever terrible images were coming to his mind. Stiles felt his
nails scrape against Derek’s skin, Derek slowly raised his good arm and Stiles
blinked in surprise when he felt Derek’s hand fall on top of his fist.
Derek splayed his fingers out across the top of Stiles’ fist, slowly working it
open until Stiles’ hand was laying flat on Derek’s chest again. Stiles sucked
in a deep breath of air as he turned his hand over, his palm facing upwards
with Derek’s resting on top. Derek’s fingers danced against the thin skin of
Stiles’ palm, his claws slightly extended and sending shivers up Stiles’ arm
and through his entire body as he felt the slight drag of Derek’s claws on him.
Derek slotted his fingers between Stiles’ and closed both of their hands
together, squeezing slightly as he spoke without looking at Stiles, “I won’t
make you do it.”
Stiles felt the familiar pin pricks of tears forming behind his eyes. He was
such a piece of shit, Derek was literally dying in front of him and all Stiles
was worried about was the ramifications of it on his own mental health. Stiles
shook his head, he couldn’t be selfish, and he couldn’t let Derek die. He’d
deal with whatever consequences came afterwards like he always did, at least
Derek would still be alive.
Stiles didn’t say anything, he just tightened his grip on Derek’s hand.
Stiles would do it if he had to, but he really fucking hoped Laura would be
back before it came to that.
 
                                       X
Laura quickly scaled the fire escape of their apartment building and slipped
into one of the smaller windows on the bottom floor of her and Derek’s
apartment. She didn’t have time to do much else aside from strip of the clothes
she’d borrowed from Stiles, leaving them in a pile near Derek’s door, and make
her way upstairs to her own bedroom.
She pulled out her most unassuming pair of pajamas and dressed in them before
letting herself out into the hallway and heading towards the door that led to
the roof access stairs of the building.
The flashing lights from the police cruisers reached the top of the building,
casting the already uncomfortable shadows into strange colored versions of
themselves. She spotted the figure crouched at the edge of the roof and raised
her voice only slightly.
“Did you bring what I asked?"
Scott turned, he was dressed in an old shirt that had more exposed holes than
fabric, and a loose pair of sweats. He yawned as he spotted Laura, but then
lifted a plastic grocery bag that was in his hand.
“Yeah,” Scott said, a little confused, “what happened down there?”
Laura hadn’t given Scott any details when she called him after leaving Derek
with Stiles. She’d spent an anxious minute waiting for the line to connect,
unsure of what she would have done had Scott not answered. When he did pick up,
obviously stirred out of a deep sleep, Laura had said nothing to him but that
she needed his help and he needed to meet her on the roof of the apartment
building in ten minutes.
That was nine minutes ago.
“Kate.” Laura said, “She attacked Derek and I when we got home, she shot Derek
with a wolfsbane bullet.”
Scott gasped, “Holy shit.”
Laura huffed out a laugh, “Yeah, holy shit.”
“Where’s Derek?” Scott asked.
“I left him with Stiles, he’s watching him to make sure it doesn’t get worse
before we can do anything to help him.”
Scott looked doubtful, “Are you sure? Stiles isn’t the most…nurturing person.”
“He’ll take care of Derek.” Laura smiled softly, “Anyway, we need to get the
gun Kate was using.”
“Where is it?” Scott asked.
Laura flicked her head to the side, towards the edge of the roof, “Currently
being logged as a piece of evidence.”
“Shit,” Scott said, “Why do we need the gun?”
“We need the exact strain of wolfsbane Kate used to make her bullets to save
Derek, there’s too many kinds to try at random and we’d just make him worse.
The only way to counteract wolfsbane poising is to burn the poison out with the
same strain.”
“How are we going to get the gun?” Scott shook his head, “If Kate was the one
who did it wouldn’t it be easier to just go after her to get the bullets? Maybe
they’re at Allison’s hose, I could go over there and try to find them instead
of trying to steal them from the police.”
Laura shook her head, slightly in shock, “In what world does that sound safer
or easier than taking the gun from an active crime scene?”
Scott grimaced and shrugged, “The TV world?”
Laura sighed and raked a hand through her hair, “I already have a plan, it
requires two people so that’s why I called you. I don’t want to ask you to
break the law for me, but there’s no other way to do this and I don’t trust
anyone but you.”
Laura bit back a smile as she noticed Scott preening a bit at the compliment.
She’d have to work on that, letting Scott know he was appreciated. Laura knew
she focused on Derek out of habit and necessity, but Derek wasn’t her only Beta
anymore and she’d have to keep that in mind going forward.
She wished her mom was still around to teach her how to spread the love among a
pack.
“Stiles is my best friend, breaking the law is nothing new.” Scott laughed,
“Tell me the plan.”
 
                                       X
                                        
Laura pulled her hair up into a pony tail before she pushed the doors to the
apartments lobby open and stepped out onto the sidewalk. She caught a flash of
gold from the tree line, Scott’s eyes, and nodded before heading towards the
parking lot. She rubbed her eyes a few more times before running into anyone,
trying to make herself look as sleep rumpled as possible.
Laura’s eyes scanned the parking lot, she was looking for any sign of the CSU
team, assuming Beacon Hills had a proper Crime Scene Unit. If they’d already
found Kate’s gun, then the CSU van would be the most likely place for the gun
to be kept before it could be taken in and processed for evidence. There were
no signs of any trucks having left the parking lot, so Laura figured the gun
was still around somewhere.
“Miss Hale?” A familiar voice called out from behind Laura.
Laura turned, and with a yawn, “Sheriff Stilinski?”
The Sheriff looked grim, his pulse was racing a little too quickly and he had
deep bags under his eyes. Stiles had said the Sheriff had been at home, so he
must have been woken up and called out to the crime scene in the middle of the
night.
“This saves me the trouble of having to come find you then.” The Sheriff said.
Laura cocked her head to the side, “What?”
The Sheriff sighed, “Your name is listed on the mailboxes inside. I actually
wasn’t surprised, at this point it doesn’t seem like there’s a crime that goes
on in this town without one Hale or another being around, even if you did tell
me you and your brother were leaving town as soon as possible.”   
The Sheriff was already on offence. Good. It would make Laura’s job easier.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Laura said, feigning ignorance, “what crime? What
happened here?”
The Sheriff raised a single eyebrow, “Are you seriously asking me that?”
Laura sighed, “Sheriff, I’ve been asleep for the last few hours. I woke up to
go to the bathroom and I saw the lights through the window and came down to see
what was going on.”
The Sheriff started to laugh, “You expect me to believe that you slept thought
what looks to be a shoot out right outside your apartment?”
Laura took a step backwards, “What?”
“We have several bullet casings, multiple bullets recovered from cars, and the
gun itself,” The Sheriff scrubbed a hand over his face, “you’re really going to
tell me you slept through all of that?”
Laura yawned again, “I’ve lived in a crappy apartment in New York with my
brother for the last few years, you get used to sleeping through a lot of stuff
there.”
The Sheriff’s heartbeat settled a little bit, he was starting to buy Laura’s
story. She knew he would fall for the New York excuse, it always worked.
The Sheriff changed the subject, “Since you’re here, would you mind explaining
something to me?”
“Sure.” Laura nodded.
The Sheriff spoke into the radio on his shoulder, “Deputy Parrish, could you
bring what we just bagged from the truck?”
Score.
Laura remembered Deputy Parrish from the impound lot. She turned her head to
the side and listened for his voice in the crowd of people, catching onto it
just as he replied to the Sheriff. He was across the parking lot and Laura
could just barely see him from where she was standing.
“Sure, Sheriff.” Parrish replied.
Laura subtly tracked Parrish as he moved across the parking lot. He weaved
through the crowd of deputies and came to a stop at a black van, opening the
doors and reaching inside to retrieve an evidence bag. Parrish closed the door
and then jogged over to Laura and the Sheriff, handing him a plastic bag that
was full of Laura’s clothes. The clothes she’d stripped off earlier before
fully shifting to fight Kate.
Well, damn. Time to think fast.  
“Can you tell me what these are, Laura?” The Sheriff asked.
“My clothes?” Laura asked, confused, “Where did you get those? I’ve been
looking for them all night.”  
“You’ve what?” Parrish asked, surprised.
The Sheriff stuck his hand out and pressed it against the center of Parrish’s
chest. Parrish took a step backwards.
 “I did laundry at the coin laundry in town earlier today,” which wasn’t a lie,
Laura had accidentally shattered the glass of the brand new front loading
washing because she slammed it too hard when she closed it, “I was looking for
those when I was putting them away. I thought I’d left them there.”
“They were out here on the ground near your car.” The Sheriff said.
Laura huffed, “I must have dropped them when I got the basket out of the car.”
The Sheriff frowned, “We’ll still need to keep these, they’re part of a crime
scene now.”
“Will I get them back?” Laura asked, because that seemed like the stupid
question someone who was totally innocent would ask.
The Sheriff didn’t answer, just handed the bag back to Parrish, “Go put this
back in the truck with the rest of the evidence, tell the techs to be ready to
roll out since we’re almost done here.”
Bingo.
Laura turned her head to the side and whispered, low enough so that neither the
Sheriff or Parrish would her, but Scott would.
“Now.”
Laura held her breath. She had no idea if the plan would work, but it was
either this or muscling her way through a team of Beacon Hills’ finest to get
what she needed, and she’d go for subterfuge over brute strength any day.
A few more seconds, and then a long bang echoed across the parking lot, coming
from the woods to their riht.
“Oh my god!” Laura gasped.
The Sheriff jumped forward, shielding Laura with his body and pulling her to
the ground.
“Everyone down!” The Sheriff screamed, pulling Laura behind a car and motioning
Parrish to follow.
Another bang from the right, and then a few moments later two more from the
left.
“Multiple shooters!” The Sheriff spoke into his radio, “Everyone stay down and
be ready to mobilize!”
A few more bangs from the woods behind them, and then silence.
The Sheriff waited for a few minutes, and then he must have thought the coast
was clear, he spoke.
“I want three teams, fan out and search the woods and see if you can find
anything. Parrish, you take Laura and the CSU techs inside and stay with them.”
Laura watched as the Sheriff put together three teams and headed in the
directions that the "shots" came from. She went along with Parrish and the CSU
team to wait inside the lobby of the apartment, hanging back while they moved
ahead of her.
“Black van at left corner of the parking lot.” Laura whispered towards Scott’s
position.
Now it was up to Scott.
 
                                       X
                                        
Scott did what Laura told him to. It was an awesome plan, to be honest. Stiles
would have gotten a kick out of it, but they’d both decided it was probably
better if Stiles never learned the specifics of this plan because there was a
small, almost miniscule, chance it could give his dad a heart attack.
“Now.” Laura said, her voice a low whisper that Scott could just barely hear.
Scott slipped on the gloves that Laura told him to bring, a pair of pink cotton
gardening gloves he’d found outside that barely fit his hands. Oh well, it
wasn’t about comfort so much as it was about not leaving fingerprints.
Scott ran to the south, letting the wolf inside him free as he moved faster
than he even thought he could move. When he reached the perfect spot, he pulled
the package of Cherry Bombs out of his pocket and undid them. They were left
over from last year’s ill-advised New Year’s celebration and Scott hoped they
still worked.
Scott sat two on the ground, a few feet away from each other, and then pulled
out the lighter he’d grabbed from the outside grill.
“Sorry, Sheriff.” Scott said, lighting the wick of the first cherry bomb.
A moment later, it exploded. Scott waited another few seconds and then lit the
second. He ran off before that one exploded, it was a distant echo by the time
he got to the second spot Laura had told him to get to. Scott couldn’t believe
how fast he was moving, or the rush of excitement he was getting from the whole
thing.
He found a good area for the next few cherry bombs, set them off, and then ran
to the final spot. He repeated the same process and then ran back to the
apartment building. Coming up from the rear so he wouldn’t be seen, he scaled
the fire escape until he was back on the top of the room and looking down at
the scene below him.
Scott felt a pang of guild, he’d made almost the entire police force, Stiles’
dad included, think they were being shot at. Scott couldn’t help but wonder
what they were thinking, assuming it was their final moments. Scott shook his
head, he couldn’t let that bother him right now.
The police broke into a few teams as the Sheriff gave his orders, and soon they
were moving out towards the woods while Laura was being escorted inside along
with a few other people.
“Black van in the left corner of the parking lot." Laura whispered before going
inside with everyone else.
Scott looked over the lot, spotting the van almost instantly. He’d seen it
sitting outside a few crime scene’s over the years.
When the coast was clear, and all the police were a safe distance away in the
woods, Scott pulled on the mask Laura had told him to bring. The only mask
Scott had sitting around his house was from a Halloween costume a few years
ago, a wolf man mask.
Scott laughed to himself, it was a bit on the nose, but it was pretty perfect.
Scott pulled the rubber mask over his head and climbed down the building,
keeping himself low as he moved through the rows of cars towards the black van.
His gloves were still on so he didn’t waste any time when he got to the van,
quickly opening the door and spotting Kate’s gun right away.
The gun was bigger than any Scott had ever seen, obviously not something anyone
could just pick up at an outdoors store. It wasn’t bagged or anything, so it
was easy for Scott to slide the clip out, after dropping it a few times, and
pull out three bullets.
Scott thought they were going to take the entire gun at first, but Laura said
it would be easier for them to just get a few bullets from it and they wouldn’t
arouse any suspicion like they would if the entire gun went missing. With any
luck, no one would even notice that the gun was missing a few bullets from the
clip.
Scott grabbed an unused evidence bag from a box and dropped the bullets inside,
he didn’t want to risk any of the wolfsbane inside of them getting on him and
slowing him down before he could get to Derek and Stiles.
“I’ve got them.” Scott said, hoping Laura could hear him.
“Good.” Laura said, a moment later, “Go. Hurry.”
“Right.” Scott nodded to himself. He closed the door to the van just as the
sound of voices came from the woods.
“Fireworks? Really?” The Sheriff sounded pissed.
Scott turned and ran, hoping he would make it to Stiles’ house before it was
too late.
 
                                       X
                                        
Derek was getting worse.
Stiles tried to stay calm, wipe away the blood, and reassure Derek that he was
going to be OK. But Derek was pale, like, scary pale. And the veins around his
wound were black and they’d grown darker and darker since Derek arrived. The
dark veins had been slowly creeping up Derek’s arm for the last hour and were
almost to his shoulder now.
Derek had been drifting in and out of consciousness, his eyes fluttering closed
until Stiles shook him awake again.
“If they start to go past my shoulder then my arm has to…”
Stiles shook his head, “It won’t come to that.”
Derek growled, “Stiles.”
Stiles growled back at him, “Derek.”
Derek was silent for a moment, and then he burst out into a fit of weak
laughter, “Did you just growl at me?”
“What? Like you’re the only one who’s allowed to have a monopoly on growling?”
Stiles rolled his eyes, “Stop being speciest.”
“That’s not a word.” Derek laughed again.
Stiles growled again.
Derek smiled softly, “You’re cute when you growl.”
Stiles felt his face growing hotter and he looked away from Derek as the blush
started to rise on his cheeks. Derek had been saying stuff like that all night
and Stiles didn’t know how to react to it. Derek was obviously delusional, and
he couldn’t be held accountable for this he said while his insides were being
liquified by werewolf poison.
There was no way Derek meant any of what he was saying.
“Do you want some water? You look like you could use some water. I’ll be right
back, please don’t die while I go get you some water.”
Stiles stood up, took one last look at Derek, and then made his way to the
kitchen to get Derek a bottle of water. When Stiles got back to the room,
Derek’s eyes were closed, and he wasn’t moving.
“Shit!” Stiles dropped the bottle of water and rushed to Derek, “Please don’t
be dead, please don’t be dead.”
Stiles pressed his ear to Derek’s chest and sighed in relief when he could
still hear his heartbeat. It was faint, but it was there. The black veins still
hadn’t reached Derek’s shoulder yet, so Stiles didn’t need to fire up the table
saw either.
Stiles let his hand rest on Derek’s chest as he leaned forward, “Derek. Derek,
you have to stay awake.”
Derek didn’t open his eyes.
Stiles sighed and placed both hands on Derek’s shoulder, shaking him a little
bit. When that didn’t work, Stiles put his hand to Derek’s cheek and tapped it
lightly. He ignored the way Derek’s scruff felt on his hand as he moved it back
and forth.
“Derek,” Stiles tapped a little harder, “C’mon buddy, you’ve got to wake up.”
Derek woke up with a gasp, his eyes electric blue and panicked.
“Kate?” Derek’s voice was raspy, he sounded terrified.
“Derek, it’s me. It’s Stiles.” Stiles said, moving his hand to rest on Derek’s
chest again, “You’re OK, you’re at my house.”
Derek looked at Stiles, but Stiles could tell from his eyes that Derek wasn’t
seeing him.
“Kate,” Derek’s voice sounded so small, so terrified, his eyes fell on Stiles’
hand on his chest and he whined, “Kate, I don’t want to. Not tonight.”
Stiles swallowed. He was frozen.
“Please,” Derek said, shaking his head, “Kate, I said no!”
Stiles jerked his hand away like he’d been burned.
Derek turned to his side and curled himself into a ball. Stiles’ entire mouth
was dry and felt like sandpaper. He had the deepest pit in his stomach, but he
felt sick at the same time. There’s no way that Stiles could be right in what
he was thinking, right? Derek was in pain, delirious, he didn’t know what he
was saying.
Kate didn’t.
Kate couldn’t.
Except Kate could, Stiles knew that all too well.
Three taps came from Stiles window, shaking Stiles from his thoughts as he let
out a surprised yelp and looked over to find two golden eyes looking at him
from the other side of the glass.
“Scott?” Stiles rushed to the window and opened it, “Where’s Laura?”
Scott climbed inside, “She’s fine. She told me to come, I have what Derek
needs.”
Scott was a part of Laura’s plan? Stiles was dying to know what happened, but
he pushed those thoughts aside when Scott pulled out an evidence bag with three
long bullets inside of it.
“Scott?” Derek asked.
Stiles looked over his shoulder and found Derek leaning against his bed. He
looked like he was back to normal, or as normal as he could be right now. There
wasn’t a single trace of the scared, panicked Derek that Stiles had seen a
moment earlier.
Derek looked at Stiles and smiled and Stiles felt his stomach lurch. Derek had
no idea what he’d just said, did he?
Scott showed Derek the bag, “What do we do?”
Derek hissed in pain as he laid back on the floor, “Stiles, you have to open up
the shell and pour the powder into my wound.”
“Seriously?” Stiles took a step backwards.
Derek nodded, “It’s too dangerous for Scott to handle the wolfsbane himself.”
Stiles looked around his room, scrambling to find a pair of pliers. He had some
in his desk drawer for some reason. He pulled off the cap of the bullet and
looked down at the fine, sandy powder inside that shimmered blue and purple
under the right light.
“Once you pour it inside, you have to light it on fire. It’ll burn the poison
out quickly, but it’s going to hurt. Scott, I need you to hold me down and make
sure I don’t do anything to hurt Stiles.”
Scott's eyes drifted between Derek and Stiles with a surprised look but didn’t
say anything before nodding and kneeling next to Derek. Scott tossed Stiles a
lighter and then braced himself, his arms on Derek’s shoulders. Stiles took a
deep breath and sat next to Scott.
“Here we go.”
Stiles turned the bullet upside down and watched the power fall inside Derek’s
arm. It reminded him of an hourglass in a twisted way. He reached over and
grabbed one of his leather belts, folding it in half and handing it to Derek.
“Here.” Stiles said, “Bite down on it so you down roar and wake up the entire
neighborhood.”
“Thanks.” Derek put the belt between his teeth and clamped down on it just as
Stiles lit the lighter.
Stiles figured it was best not to let Derek anticipate the pain. He winced as
he lowered the flame towards Derek’s wound, and scrambled backwards and the
flame caught and erupted into a sizeable fire with a blue flame.
Scott was shifted, his eyebrows gone and his eyes gold, and he struggled to
hold down a thrashing Derek. Derek’s body convulsed, his legs kicked and
flailed, but Scott managed to keep him down until the tremors subsided.
When Derek was still, Stiles crawled back across the room to look at Derek’s
arm. Stiles gasped in surprise when he saw that the black veins were gone, the
wound wasn’t swollen anymore, and Derek’s skin was already starting to stitch
itself closed.
“Derek?” Stiles asked softly, “Are you OK?”
Derek’s was silent for a moment until he opened his eyes and spit out Stiles’
belt, which was now bitten in half.
“That belt taste like shit.”
Stiles smiled, and then fell to the floor in a heap of laughter.
 
***** It’s Been One Week Since You Looked at Me *****
Chapter Notes
     surprise new chapter thats accidentally 6k long! this was literally
     supposed to a short chapter to bridge everything until the next
     chapter and then i couldn't stop myself so it turned into this lol
See the end of the chapter for more notes
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                  Chapter 22
                   It’s Been One Week Since You Looked at Me
                                        
                                        
The next week passes slowly.
 
                                   Saturday
Stiles spent the early hours of Saturday making sure Derek didn’t die, then
cleaning up all the blood from around his house before his dad got home in the
early morning looking very tired and very angry. Stiles avoided his dad, too
nervous about being called out on a lie to think straight. It was fine, his dad
slept most of the day anyway, and then he spent all dinner talking about
assholes with fireworks. Whatever that meant.
Derek came to see Stiles before he went to bed, scaling the house and tapping
on Stiles’ window. Their conversation was stilted and awkward. Stiles wondered
if Derek remembered anything he’d said while he was poisoned. Wondered if Derek
remembered holding his hand and calling Stiles cute. Wondered if Derek
remembered accidentally telling Stiles that Kate had…Stiles didn’t know the
exact word to put to what Derek had said. Or, rather, Stiles did. He was just
scared to.
Derek sat on the edge of Stiles’ bed and poked him in the leg when Stiles
stared off into space for too long.
“I’m glad I didn’t have to cut off your arm.” Stiles said.
“I’m glad I didn’t die.” Derek said. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Derek left through the window.
 
                                    Sunday
                                        
Stiles slept the entire day.
 
                                    Monday
                                        
Lydia still won’t talk to Stiles.
Stiles didn't blame her, really. She’d told him something in confidence,
something that could wreck the image of perfection she so carefully displays to
everyone around her, and Stiles went and fucked it up by telling Scott.
But Stiles couldn’t tell Lydia why he told Scott, he couldn’t tell her that
he’d only told Scott because he’d told Laura Hale. And he couldn’t tell Lydia
that he’d told Laura Hale because Laura Hale is the Alpha to the pack of
werewolves that Stiles had suddenly found himself in, and that Lydia’s weird
psychic feelings are predicting deaths caused by another evil werewolf monster
thing.
Well, Stiles could potentially tell her, but that discussion had been tabled on
account of Derek getting shot and almost dying. Stiles would have to bring the
Lydia thing up again.
Stiles spent his lunch in the library again, though he ignored the computers
this time. Instead, he spent the 45 minutes looking at a stack of old
yearbooks. He’d done the calculations and figured out which years Derek would
have been in school and pulled all four yearbooks.
He looked at the stack and warred with himself on what to do. Part of Stiles
wanted to see the person that Derek was before the fire, before his world was
twisted up and destroyed. The other part of Stiles, the more human part, didn’t
feel like he had any right to try and know that Derek. That part of Stiles felt
dirty.
Stiles also did the calculations and found out when Kate was a substitute
teacher for the first time.
Stiles looked at the yearbooks.
The times lined up.
Stiles’ hand hovered over the stack, but he pushed them away and replaced them
on the shelf just before the bell rang.
In Econ, Finstock wasn’t surprised that no one did their project over the
weekend. Someone died in their parking lot, he couldn’t really be mad so gave
them until next Tuesday.
Stiles hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to Erica after the whole kitchen incident
either, but she leaned forward and tapped him on the shoulder.
“Should we meet up on Saturday?” Erica asked.
Stiles looked from Erica to Lydia, “What do you say, Lyds?”
Lydia paused, looked directly at Erica while avoiding Stiles, “Saturday sounds
fine. The library?”
“Sure?” Erica said, slightly confused.
Allison interjected before things could get too awkward, “We were going to meet
at the library on Saturday too! Why don’t we all just hang out together while
we work?”
“Great,” Stiles huffed, “my idea of a fun Saturday night is spending it in the
library with Jackson.”
“Suck my dick, Stilinski.” Jackson growled.
“Maybe if you ask nicely.”
The bell rang.
 
                                    Tuesday
                                        
“Are you sure Lydia isn’t magical?” Stiles asked Deaton as he reclined on one
of the exam tables before school.
Deaton looked amused, which was weird, but Stiles ignored it.
Laura noticed to, if the way she watched Deaton watch Stiles was any
indication.
“I’m fairly confident, Mr. Stilinski.”
“But how do you know for sure?” Stiles challenged.
Deaton folded his hands and sat them in his lap, “Most people are born with
magical abilities, same as lycanthropy. They are raised with their magical
powers from a young age, taught and trained to control it and master it.
Spontaneous magical abilities are extremely rare and often require the perfect
line up of events. I am fairly sure Martin’s have not been practicing magic
under my nose for the last decade, and I would have been aware of anything that
could result in spontaneous magic in the last few months.”
“So, what?” Laura asked, “If she’s not magical, and she’s not a psychic, then
what the hell is she?”
“I’d have to look at the Martin family tree to know for sure, but it’s possible
that Lydia could be a banshee.”
Stiles laughed, a full body laugh that echoed off the walls around him.
“That’s just rude.”
Deaton didn’t look amused.
“Wait,” Stiles sat up, “you’re serious? You just said the Martin’s weren’t
magical!”
“Magical and supernatural are not necessarily exclusive to each other.”
“Yeah, OK, Fanneedoolee.”
Laura tipped her head to the side, “That actually makes sense. I’ve never
encountered a banshee, but Peter used to have a whole book on them.”
“I can’t believe we’re saying banshee in a serious context.” Stiles shook his
head.
Deaton ignored him, “I also thought it might be possible for Miss Martin to be
possessed, but that is also incredibly rare.”
“I’d believe possession over a banshee,” Stiles sighed, “but she’s been acting
totally normal aside from the whole visions of death thing.”
Deaton shook his head, “Just because someone is acting normally doesn’t mean
they aren’t possessed, it can sometimes take months, even years, for possession
to show outward signs.”
“Seriously?” Stiles asked, shocked.
Deaton nodded, “But that would be a conversation for another time, you’re going
to be late to school.”
Stiles looked at the clock and jumped off the table, “Shit! Good looking out,
Doc!”
Later in the day, Stiles finally came face to face with Kate again.
Kate was dressed impeccably, as usual, her blouse was low cut and Stiles was
sure that she violated the school dress code.
It made him sick to his stomach.
Though the rough cut that ran along the side of her forehead helped calm Stiles
a bit, he grinned every time she turned her head and put it on display.
Kate hadn’t looked at him once since class started, and Stiles wondered if she
had any idea that Derek was still alive. Stiles expected her to gloat, the
shove it in his face any chance she got, but Kate was rather subdued. For her
standards anyway.
A student finally asked her what happened to her face right before class ended.
“Some asshole tried to break into my car.” Kate said with a grin.
Stiles looked at Allison out of the corner of his eye, trying to track her
expression, but she didn’t give anything away with her body language.
“What happened?” The student asked.
Kate laughed, “I kicked his ass.”
The entire classroom began to murmur. Stiles saw Lydia roll her eyes once she
made sure Allison wasn’t looking.
Stiles, well, Stiles couldn’t help himself. He raised his hand.
Stiles felt Scott’s entire body go rigid as he realized what was happening.
Kate blinked a few times when she saw his hand, before, “Yes, Mr. Stilinski.”
“Someone tried to break into your car?” Stiles frowned, “That must have been
scary.”
Kate shrugged, “I’ve dealt with worse.”
“Did you report it?” Stiles asked, with a quizzical tilt to his head, “I’m sure
my dad would love to know that there’s some crazy person running around town
trying to hurt people.”
“Stiles!” Scott hissed under his breath.
Kate’s smile grew tighter, “I’m touched by you concern, Stiles.” She drew her
hand up to her heart, “But I made sure that it was taken care of, we had a nice
chat and I can promise everyone in this room that there’s nothing to be worried
about when it comes to that guy.”
The bell rang, and Scott sprung to his feet, wrapping his hand in the crook of
Stiles’ elbow and dragging him out of the classroom, “Derek is going to fucking
kill you.”
Stiles shrugged, “Worth it.”
 
                                   Wednesday
                                        
“Again!” Laura said, standing over Stiles with her hands on her hips.
“Seriously?” Stiles groaned, pushing himself up from the ground and brushing
the dirt off his palms.
“I’m not even using my speed, Stiles.” Laura shook her head, “If you can’t even
hit me in a fair fight, what could you hope to do in an unfair one?”
“Blame Derek!” Stiles hissed, “He’s the one that’s supposed to be training me
to be speedy!”
“I can't work on your endurance if you yell at me to slow down every two
minutes.” Derek stuck his head out from the tree he was in above Stiles,
teaching Scott how to track from above ground.
Derek smiled and winked at him before disappearing back into the leaves. Stiles
stood on the ground, looking up at the tree with his mouth hung open.
Derek did not, in fact, kill Stiles for antagonizing Kate. But Stiles figured
that was only because Scott didn’t tell Derek. Which was awesome, cuz Scott was
his bro.
“Shitfuckdamn!” Stiles yelped as he feet were swept out from under him.
“Never shift your focus in a fight.” Laura stood over him with her hand held
out, Stiles reached up and grabbed it and she pulled him close to whisper in
his ear, “Even if my brother did wear those jeans because I told him you’d
appreciate how good his ass looked in them.”
Stiles blushed, and then he headbutted Laura in the face and broke her nose.
Laura was so impressed she bought him a milkshake.
 
                                   Thursday
                                        
“What’s going on with you and Lydia?” Erica asked, dropping into the seat in
front of Stiles in the library.
Stiles shifted his head to the side, around the stack of yearbooks he’d been
staring at for the last twenty minutes while trying to work up the courage to
open them, and asked, “What do you mean?”
Erica rolled her eyes, “You guys haven’t said one word to each other all week.”
“Have you been…spying on me?” Stiles narrowed his eyes.
Erica scoffed, “I’m not that creepy, Stilinski. I just have eyes.”
Stiles scrubbed a hand over his face and pushed the stack of yearbooks to the
side, “Lydia and I are fine. We’re the best of friends with no animosity at
all.”
Erica leaned forward and hissed, “Lies!”
“Oh my god,” Stiles groaned, “It’s nothing! I was an asshole and she’s mad at
me.”
Erica leaned back in her chair and folded her arms over her chest, “I knew
you’d be the asshole in the whole thing. What did you do?”
“Hey!” Stiles protested, which drew an angry glare from the librarian, “And
that’s none of your business!”
“It’s my business when I have a project to do with the two of you!” Erica
pointed her finger at Stiles, “I’m only in Econ because the new guidance
counselor said it would look good on my college applications, I’m not going to
risk my grade because you’re an asshole who wears a stupid hoodie and doesn’t
know how to apologize.”
“That was…oddly specific.” Stiles said, confused.
“I may have talked to Lydia before I talked to you.”
Stiles scoffed, “Of course.”
“She told me to ask you what you did,” Erica said, “and if you felt any shame
about it.”
“Of course I feel shame!” Stiles banged his hand on the table, the librarian
glared again, “I didn’t think it would piss her off that I told Scott, but
that’s what I do! I don’t think before I do things and it hurts people and
makes them upset and then they’re mad at me and I don’t know what to do!”
Erica’s eyes were wide, “That is…a lot to process.”
Stiles dropped his head, “Sorry.”
“Have you apologized to Lydia?”
“What?”
Erica sighed, “Did you actually say you’re sorry to Lydia?”
“Yeah…I mean…I think?” Stiles cocked his head to the side.
He couldn’t remember if he’d apologized to her directly. Stiles knew he’d said
something to that effect when she first realized he’d told Scott, but Stiles
had been so wrapped up in everything that had happened over the weekend that he
didn’t just go up to Lydia and simply tell her he’s sorry.
Well, shit.
Erica raised her eyebrow, “I think you should probably start with that.”
Stiles left Erica in the library a few minutes before the bell rang so he could
try and get to Lydia before Econ. The end of period bell rang, and Stiles
pressed himself against the wall to avoid the flood of students in the hallways
until he saw Lydia coming down the stairs.
“Lydia!” Stiles said as he got closer to her.
Lydia walked right past him.
Stiles sighed, “Lydia, I’m sorry!”
Lydia stopped, the crowd parting around her as she stood still for a few
seconds before turning on her heel and looking at Stiles.
She raised a single eyebrow, unspoken Lydia language for ‘continue’.
“I’m so sorry, Lydia.” Stiles said again, “I was a dick, and an asshole, and a
shitty friend, and I’m really bad at apologizing but I’m trying.”
Lydia sighed and rolled her eyes. Stiles winced, waiting for her to turn her
back to him and walk down the hallway.
Surprisingly, Lydia took a few steps forward.
“Don’t do it again.”
Stiles nodded.
“Good.” Lydia smiled, “My parents are finally getting me a new car on
Saturday.”
 
                                    Friday
                                        
Stiles found himself back in the library, this time before school even began.
Stiles was maybe deluding himself thinking he could work up the courage to open
the yearbooks if he was alone in the library without anyone to surprise him or
ask him why he was looking at yearbooks from six years ago.
Stiles reached out and grabbed the first yearbook on the stack, what would have
been Derek’s freshman year and Laura’s junior.
He opened it and turned to the back page of the yearbook, the index of every
page a student appears on. He scanned through the pages until he got to the ‘H’
section and ran his finger down the list until he found Hale.
There, under Stiles’ finger, were Laura and Derek’s name.  Derek, only
appearing on one page, while Laura was featured on at least fifteen.
Stiles hesitated before turning to the page Derek was on. He could still back
out, still close the book and pretend like he never thought of the whole idea
and leave Derek’s life untouched.
Stiles flipped the page, he was never good at talking himself out of bad ideas.
There, looking up at him in black and white, was freshman Derek Hale.
Derek then was about as far of a cry from Derek now as he could have been.
There was not a bit of stubble in sight, his ears were huge, and most heart
wrenching of all, he was smiling as if he didn’t have a single care in the
world, tiny bunny teeth front and center.
Stiles let his finger linger over Derek’s photo for a few more seconds before
he flipped to the page Laura was on.
Laura looked almost the same in her pictures, though without the added weight
of the world on her shoulders. She was in various clubs, activities, and even
nominated for prom queen.
Stiles sighed and flipped the yearbook closed, pushing it off to the side
before grabbing the book that contained Derek’s sophomore and Laura’s senior
years.
Stiles opened the book to the index again, this time surprised to find that
Derek had two full rows of page numbers next to his name.
“Someone got popular.” Stiles grinned to himself.
There were pages upon pages of Derek. Derek on the basketball team, Derek on
the baseball team, and Derek Hale, Homecoming King.
Stiles looked down at the page, Derek in full color and smiling ear to ear with
an over the top crown on his head and his arms wrapped around a beautiful girl
long brown hair. Another photo of Derek and the girl was right next to their
crowning, the two of them pressed close together on the dance floor while
kissing.
Stiles was absolutely not feeling a surge of overwhelming jealousy as he ran
his finger along the caption to find the girls name.
Homecoming King and Queen, Derek Hale (Right) and Paige Krasikeva (Left) share
a tender kiss on the dancefloor just moments after being crowned. Paige was all
smiles when asked how she felt about her win, “I can’t think of a better way to
celebrate our one-year anniversary than to drive everyone crazy with how much
we love each other.”
Stiles closed the yearbook and sat it on top of the previous one.
It wasn’t like Stiles had expected Derek to have zero dating history, he just
hadn’t expected to see a smiling Derek looking at someone else in a way that
Stiles would literally dream Derek looked at him. And Derek had yet to even
mention Paige, for all Stiles knew they could still be together and Derek’s
actions the other night could solely be blamed on the fact that he was dying.
There was one yearbook left, what would have been Derek’s junior year. It was
the year of the fire and Stiles wasn’t exactly sure what he would find inside,
but he certainly didn’t expect the first thing he saw when he opened the book
to be an in-memoriam section for Paige.
“Shit.” Stiles whispered, feeling like a complete asshole.
There was nothing that said how Paige died, which was a given since it was a
yearbook, but there were at least forty pictures of her. Ones of Paige laughing
with friends, ones of her with her eyes closed and a violin pressed against her
shoulder, and the same picture of her and Derek smiling at their Homecoming
Dance.
Stiles pulled out his phone, his need to know all the information available
trumping his common decency. He pulled up Google, put in Paige’s name, and
clicked the first article that came up.
The death of Paige Krasikeva has officially been ruled an accident.
Authorities were called to the Beacon Hills preserve late Friday evening by
Krasikeva’s boyfriend, Derek Hale. Hale told the 911 operator that he and his
girlfriend were walking late one evening in the preserve when they came upon an
abandoned root cellar and decided to look inside. Hale then said that Krasikeva
slipped on the stairs and fell, she was unresponsive when Hale rushed to her
aid. Hale was found sitting outside of the cellar, accompanied by his mother,
Talia Hale, as paramedics arrived and pronounced Krasikeva dead on the scene,
the cause of death a broken neck.
The Sherriff’s department launched a mandatory investigation and announced
early this morning that Derek Hale had been cleared of any wrong doing, owing
the accident that took Krasikeva’s life to a broken step on the dilapidated
staircase of the root cellar.
The date of the article meant that Paige would have died in the summer between
sophomore and junior year.
Stiles scrubbed a hand down his face and let out a long sigh, “Fuck.”
He really, really wished he hadn’t read that. Stiles couldn’t imagine what
Derek had gone thought, losing his girlfriend, and then his entire family? But
he also had to wonder if there was something more to the story, it stuck out to
him that Derek’s mother was on the scene when the paramedics arrived. Maybe
Talia was close by, or maybe something else happened. Stiles knew Derek didn't
killed her, but it was Beacon Hills and there was always something just under
the surface.
Stiles shook his head and pocketed his phone, trying to forget everything he’d
just read before his brain started spinning its own stories. There was no use
wondering if Paige’s death had anything to do with the supernatural, it
wouldn’t help them in any way.
When Stiles checked the index for the final yearbook, Derek was only listed on
one page. There was no official photo of him that year, the fire must have
happened before picture day.
The only page Derek appeared on was a feature on the new tutoring program run
by the school. Derek was seated at a table, his head turned away from the
camera while a teacher stood above him with long blond hair in a ponytail,
leaning over to look at his work with a hand on his shoulders.
Derek Hale, Junior, receives extra attention on his English paper from year-
long substitute Ms. Argent.
Stiles knuckles turned white as he gripped the book before slamming it closed.
Fuck.
It was so obvious to see what had happened now.
Kate took advantage of Paige’s death, took advantage of how fragile Derek
probably was, manipulated and violated him, and then killed his entire family.
Fuck. Fuck.
Stiles was going to be sick.
The bell rang overhead, startling Stiles and causing him to jump in his seat.
He quickly gathered the yearbooks, placed them on the shelf, left the library,
and then left the school.
Twelve minutes later, Stiles pulled into the sheriff’s station.
Tara was the first to spot him the second he stepped in the door, “Shouldn’t
you be at school?”
“Free period.” Stiles lied easily, “Dad here? I was going to see if he wanted
breakfast.”
Tara shook her head, “He ran out a little bit ago, but he should be back soon.”
“I’ll just go wait in his office then,” Stiles smiled, “I wouldn’t want to
distract you or anything.”
Tara rolled her eyes and shooed him away with a wave.
Stiles closed the office door behind himself before dropping into his dad’s
chair. He wasn’t sure what exactly he was going to tell him, if he was going to
drop the w-bomb, but he just knew he had to tell him something.
He kicked his feet up on the desk, recalling the chair backwards, and stared
off into space. His eyes drifted around the room until they fell on the rolling
whiteboard his dad had set up in the corner of his office. Stiles would have
ignored it on any other day, it was usually just around the help his dad keep
track of files that would otherwise litter his desk, but today the whiteboard
had something written on it that was screaming at Stiles to pay attention.
There, in black dry erase marker and enclosed in a harsh red circle, were two
words.
Hale Fire.
Stiles jumped from the chair, banging it against the back wall in the process,
and stopped in front of the board. It was filled with documents from the
original case, the report from the fire marshal stating that it was faulty
wiring that led to the blaze, the reports from the insurance adjuster backing
it up. And, in Stiles’ dad’s distinct handwriting, ‘arson?’.
“Holy shit.” Stiles whispered, “How the fuck?”
How had his dad come to this conclusion? Why was his dad even looking into the
fire at all? It couldn’t just be because Derek and Laura were back in town,
there had to be a reason.
Stiles scanned the documents again, pulling back a few sheet protectors and
balking when he saw pictures of dead bodies. Stiles slapped a hand over his
mouth to stop the yelp that almost escaped as he looked at Mr. Harris’ almost
completely sever head.
“Holy fuck.” Stiles mumbled behind his hand.
Harris was an asshole, sure, but Stiles didn’t need to see him like that.
But why was Harris’ crime scene photo included on a board about the fire? His
dad couldn’t have thought Harris was connected to it in any way.
Stiles pulled a few more sheet proctors away, this time confronted by scenes of
the other victims in town. The first, the guy at the video store, was
disemboweled. The second, the bus driver, was decapitated. Stiles shuddered,
the Rougarou sure knew how to handle its business.
Stiles ran his finger along the board, stopping at the names of the victims.
The video store clerk was Harrison Gaines, and the bus driver was Richard
Altman.
“Gaines and Altman…” Stiles whispered to himself, “Why do you sound so
familiar?”
He blinked a few times, and then Stiles pulled the files from the original Hale
fire investigation off the board. He read over the report from the fire marshal
and almost crushed the paper in his hands when he got to the end.
Signed, H. Gaines
Stiles held his breath as he read of the report from the insurance company, not
at all surprised when he reached the signature at the bottom of the page.
Richard Altman.
The Rougarou was killing people involved in the fire.
Stiles read the two reports side by side. They matched up, they both covered
the same points and agreed that the cause of the fire was faulty wiring. But
there was something off, something that just didn’t sit right, so Stiles read
them again. It only took him a few seconds to figure out what was bothering him
about the reports.
“They both say the same thing.” Stiles shook his head, “It’s almost word for
word.”
It was like someone wrote the same report twice, and then just changed the
conjunctions and added synonyms to the other so it wouldn’t appear identical.
Gaines and Altman covered up the fire. They were either working for Kate, or
being blackmailed by her, and they went along with whatever story she told
them.
Stiles pulled out his phone and took a few pictures of the board, then close
ups of each document, and his dads handwriting so he could go over all of it
later. Then he put the board back together, replacing everything from the exact
spot he took it and covering each of the crime scene photos.
Talking to his dad would have to wait, he needed to get to Laura and Derek and
tell them about this now. It was what they’d been looking for, a reason for all
of this.
Stiles opened the door to the office and froze hallway when he heard his dads
voice coming from down the hall.
“Shit!” He hissed, cracking the door so he could still hear but staying out of
sight.
“I have a class to teach, Sheriff.” An annoyed voice said.
Stiles knew the voice.
“Kate?”
“I understand, Miss Argent.” The Sheriff said, “I just need a few minutes of
your time.”
“And it couldn’t wait until after school?” Kate sighed.
“Unfortunately not.” The Sheriff walked back his office and lead Kate down the
hallway, opening a door that Stiles knew lead to an interrogation room.
His dad was interrogating Kate?
Stiles figured Derek and Laura could wait a few extra minutes, he had to find
out what the fuck was going on. He stuck his head out into the hallway,
checking left and right to make sure the coast was clear before slipping out
and walking casually to the door a few feet from the one his dad and Kate
entered.
Stiles opened the door to the viewing room slowly, praying that no one else was
inside. When he didn’t hear anything after opening the door, he quickly slipped
inside and locked the door behind himself. He didn’t want to be interrupted.
He watched through the two-way mirror as his dad sat down in front of Kate and
pulled out a folder.
“Have you heard about the incident last Friday night?”
Kate nodded, “I heard a few of my students mention it.”
“So you’re aware that there was some kind of…gun fight in the parking lot of an
apartment complex in the industrial district?” The Sheriff asked.
Kate shifted in her seat, “Yes.”
The Sheriff nodded, “Do you remember being arrested about ten years ago?”
Kate actually looked shocked at that question, but she laughed, “Underage
drinking.”
His dad smiled fondly, “So you remember being fingerprinted?”
Kate’s eyes went wide, “What does that have to do with anything?”
Well,” his dad flipped open the folder, “we found this gun in the parking lot.
It’s real heavy-duty stuff, not your run of the mill rifles you can go down to
Walmart and pick up. There was a set of fingerprints on it, and when we ran
them only one match came back. Yours.”
“Holy shit.” Stiles whispered, “He’s got her. He’s fucking got her.”
Kate’s eyes shifted towards the glass, looking in Stiles direction for a brief
second before turning back at the Sheriff. Good, Stiles thought, she thinks
she’s being watched by other deputies.
“My car was broken into,” Kate said easily, “someone must have stolen one of my
guns.”
His dad leaned back in his chair, “And you didn’t report it?”
“I hadn’t realized it was stolen.” Kate said, “I never checked to see if
someone had broken into the trunk.”
Stiles rolled his eyes, there was no way his dad was buying that.
“Where were you Saturday night between one and six am.”
“At my brother’s house.”
“Can anyone verify that?”
Kate nodded.
His dad looked skeptical, “Someone can verify your whereabouts for that entire
time period?”
“My brother, sister-in-law, and I stayed up talking until about five, and then
I was on a Skype call with my father until just before six.”
Stiles gritted his teeth.
His dad made a list of everything, “I’ll have to follow up on those. Could you
please give me some way to contact your father?”
Kate splayed her hands out on the table and recited a phone number for his dad
to copy down.
Stiles sighed and ran a hand across his head. Kate was going to fucking get
away with it, all the Argents would lie for her, and she’d be free to do
whatever the fuck it is she wanted to do.
Whatever.
If his dad couldn’t stop her, then Stiles and the rest of the pack would have
to. He left the viewing room, slipping past Tara’s desk unseen on the way out,
and got into his jeep.
Derek didn’t answer when Stiles called, so he tried Laura next.
“Shouldn’t you be in school?” Laura said.
“Are you with Derek?” Stiles asked.
“He’s asleep,” Laura said, “What’s wrong?”
“I was just at my dad’s office, and he figured something out about the
Rougarou.”
“What?” Laura growled.
“Not the Rougarou specially,” Stiles winced, “sorry, that was bad wording. But
he’s been looking into the guys who were murdered, and he figured something
out.”
“What is it, Stiles?” Laura’s voice was low.
“The video store clerk and the bus driver were both connected to the fire…”
Stiles trailed off, “One was the fire marshal at the time, and the other was
the insurance adjuster who investigated the claim.”
The other end of the line was quiet, Stiles couldn’t even hear Laura breathing.
“Laura?” Stiles asked hesitantly.
“Pet-the Rougarou is killing people that looked into the fire?”
“I think they helped cover it up,” Stiles said, “I read their reports, they
were almost identical, it was too much to be a coincidence. My dad must have
figured it out after he investigated the backgrounds of the victims. He also
has Harris on the board, but I don’t really get that one.”
“Jesus,” Laura whispered, “Fuck. Thank you for telling me.”
Stiles winced, “There’s something else.”
“What?” Laura sighed.
“My dad has Kate in an interrogation room right now.”
“What?” Laura hissed, “Why?”
“Her prints were on the gun, and her prints are in the system here. She was
arrested when she was 18, my dad ran them and got a hit.”
“Well I’ll be dammed.” Laura sounded a bit lighter, “She’ll find a way out of
it, I’m sure.”
Stiles scoffed, “She already had an alibi ready and waiting.”
“Of course.”
Laura went quite for a few seconds again, Stiles asked, “Are you OK? Like,
really OK and not just ‘I have to be OK because I’m the Alpha’ OK?”
Stiles heard Laura swallow, and then she laughed, sounding a bit watery, “I
honestly don’t know.”
“Do you need anything?”
“No,” Laura said quickly, sniffling, “you’ve already done more than I could
have asked for. Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me.”
“I do.” Laura said, “I really, really, do.”
“Are you going to tell Derek?”
“Yeah,” Laura said, “I’ll let him sleep a bit longer, but he’ll want to know
this.”
“OK.” Stiles nodded to himself, “Will you tell him he can call me after…if he
needs to?”
 Laura laughed softly, “I won’t have to tell him that, Stiles.”
 
                                   Saturday
Everything went to shit.
 
Chapter End Notes
     i was too lazy to look up the names of the dudes who were killed in
     season one so i just made up my own lmao
     im SO EXCITED for the next chapter, it's one of the ones i've been
     looking forward to since i started writing this and i can't wait to
     finish it lol
***** Night Project *****
Chapter Notes
     *points at chapter title* heh
     i always knew this chapter was going to be long but i didn't expect
     it to end up at 14,443 words lmao
See the end of the chapter for more notes
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                             Chapter Twenty-Three
                                 Night Project
                                        
“I can’t believe you woke me up at 6am on a Saturday for this.”
Derek looked over his shoulder at Stiles and shrugged. This was Stiles’ fault
for asking Derek to help him.
“I told you when I agreed to help you that weekends weren’t off limits.”
Derek could feel Stiles’ eyes glaring holes into his back and he was glad
Stiles couldn’t see the grin on his face.
“Yeah, but I didn’t think they would mean you showing up outside my window
before sunrise without even bringing me coffee.”
“And if I’d brought you coffee then you’d have been fine with it?” Derek asked
with an eye roll.
“Nope,” Stiles hummed, “but I’d be marginally less of an asshole.”
“Noted.” Derek said, coming to a stop in the middle of a peaceful clearing in
the woods.
Derek shrugged the bag off his shoulder and sat it on the ground, tipping his
head up towards the early morning sunlight and taking a deep breath of the
fresh morning air. Nowhere else Derek had ever been smelled quite like the
woods of Beacon Hills, it was quiet and comforting in a way Derek hadn’t
experienced in so long. Derek felt himself smiling and quickly reached up to
rub it off his face, surprising himself that he was able to feel so comfortable
in a place that he hated.
When Derek opened his eyes, he saw Stiles bouncing back and forth on the balls
of his heels, clearly trying to get the blood pumping in his veins. He watched
in amusement as Stiles braced himself against a tree and leaned forward to
stretch out his legs, Derek’s eyes zeroing in on the stretch of exposed skin on
Stiles’ throat.
Derek coughed when he realized he’d been staring, startling Stiles.
Stiles looked up at him, confused, “What?”
Derek shook his head, “What are you doing?”
“Stretching.”
“Why?”
Stiles rolled his eyes, “Seriously? You were the one who lectured me for
fifteen minutes the other day about proper stretching techniques before and
after running.”
Derek sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “We’re not out here to run,
Stiles.”
“Excuse me?” Stiles gaped, “You woke me up at the ass crack of dawn to ‘work on
my breathing techniques’, and we’re not running? What are we doing then?”
Derek ignored the way Stiles mimicked him by dropping his voice and octave
lower and forming stupid claws with his hands and reached down to the bag he’d
just dropped. He unzipped the bag and pulled out two soft rolls of foam and
tossed one to Stiles.
“Is this a yoga mat?”
Derek nodded.
“We’re doing yoga?”
Derek nodded again.
“You do yoga?”
“Occasionally.” Derek said, unfurling his mat and placing it on the ground.
It was the truth. He’d started it in New York after spending a few stringless
nights with a rather flexible yoga instructor, not that Stiles needed to know
that part. Still, Derek had listened when she talked about how yoga helped her
center herself and control her emotions when she was upset, and Derek figured
it was either yoga or a therapist.
Derek chose yoga.
Obviously.
He didn’t practice it daily like most everyone else did, only when he felt
himself becoming totally overwhelmed. He felt fine today, but he also knew that
yoga was a good way to relax your body and spirt, and Stiles could use some
damn relaxation.
“Get the jokes over with,” Derek mumbled, “I’m waiting for them.”
In truth, Derek was a bit afraid to expose this side of himself to Stiles.
Stiles had mostly only seen him as a lather wearing, fang having, emotionally
constipated tight ass. Derek didn’t know how Stiles would react, but he
expected a few barbed jokes.
Stiles could be vicious with his jokes, he laced them with sarcasm and venom,
and Derek was a bit worried about being on the other side of that.
“I’m not going to make fun of you.” Stiles said, as if he was offended that
Derek would even think he would. “It’s cool…and nice. I can’t promise I’m going
to be like the best Yogi ever, but I’ll try.”
Derek smiled shyly, turning so Stiles couldn’t see, “The teacher is normally
called the Yogi.”
Stiles was quiet for a moment, and when Derek turned around to see why, he
sputtered. Stiles was kneeling on the ground, his hands clasped together in
prayer position, looking up at Derek with huge, blinking brown eyes.
“Help me, Yogi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.”
Stiles absentminded licked his lips, the innocent look still on his face. Derek
bit down on his tongue, hard enough to taste blood, and swallowed deeply.
Just as Derek opened his mouth to reply, Stiles fell to his side, rolling
around on the ground while he cackled at the top of his lungs.
“God damn, I’m proud of that one. I’m so powerful. My mind...it amazes me
sometimes.”
Derek released his tongue, feeling it heal instantly, and he looked down at
Stiles. Stiles was laying in the grass, arms and legs outstretched as he looked
up at the sky. It was everything Derek could do to not pounce on him right
there. He couldn’t. Not with Stiles, not while he was in Beacon Hills with all
its ghosts and demons of the past. Not with Kate lurking around every corner.
“You’re very funny,” Derek said, trying to keep his tone as flat as possible,
“I bow to your superior comedic skills. Can we start now?”
“Whatever you say, Yogi Bear!” Stiles gave him a salute, “Or…Yogi Wolf.”
Derek flashed his eyes at him, “Don’t even think about calling me that again.”
Stiles held his hands up in surrender and turned to unfurl his yoga mat.
Derek sat down on his, his legs crossed, and closed his eyes as he breathed in
the smell of the forest. He let his hands rest palm down on his thighs and took
in a deep, calming breath.
“Am I supposed to be doing this too?” Stiles whispered.
Derek waited a beat to answer, “Yes. Quietly.”
“Got it.” Stiles whispered, “Quietly.”
To Stiles’ credit, he was quiet and generally tried to listen to whatever Derek
told him. His pulse was still racing, pounding in Derek’s ears like a kick
drum, but Derek could tell Stiles was making an actual effort to take the whole
thing seriously.
“You’re fast, but you have no stamina.” Derek said, “I’m going to show you a
few poses to try and help you with your breathing techniques, I want you to do
them at least once a day. Like it or not, if it really comes down to it you’re
going to have to be able to run, fast and for long distances, if things go
badly sometimes.”
“Derek…”
Derek shook his head, “I know you’re working with Laura on combat, I’m not
invalidating that. I’m just being realistic. Laura can teach you every kind of
fighting technique but at the end of the day you’re still a human. You can’t
expect to be able to fight everything that you come across. It’s not a sign of
weakness to run.”
“Yoga Derek is very talkative.” Derek could hear the smile in Stiles’ voice.
They worked for about an hour, Derek leading Stiles through a variety of poses
meant to strengthen his lungs and open his respiratory system. Bridge, Cat,
Cobra, Locust, and, Stiles’ favorite, Upward Dog. Derek kept the poses as
beginner friendly as he could, not making Stiles do anything that could hurt
himself. By the time their hour was done, Derek could tell that Stiles
connected with at least a little bit of it.
Stiles was notably more relaxed, he wasn’t constantly vibrating in place or
drumming his hands on his things as he had been earlier. He looked content. It
made Derek smile.
“That was not terrible.” Stiles said, taking a gulp of water.
“I’ll make sure to put that review on my website.” Derek said before taking a
bite of his Cliff Bar.
“Hey, show me one of the hardest poses that you can do.” Stiles said, sitting
the bottle down next to him.
Derek ran though the poses he knew he could accomplish in his mind, taking a
bit of extra time to decide which one was the coolest and most visually
impressive.
He wanted Stiles to think he was cool, OK?
Derek took a deep breath, “Do not try to do this.”
Stiles laughed, “Dude, I could barely pull off that Locust one, there is no
danger in me ever attempting what you’re about to do.”
Derek kneeled on the mat, placing his hands flat on the ground in front of him
with his wrists facing Stiles and his fingers pointed back at himself. He
tucked his elbows in against his stomach and took a deep breath, leaving
forward and feeling his muscles strain as he listed himself off the ground.
“Holy crap.” Stiles whispered.
Derek smirked, ready to show off just a bit. Derek stretched his legs out from
the Lotus position so that they were sticking straight out. He took another
deep breath and lifted them slowly so that his body was making a rough obtuse
angle.
“Now you’re just showing off.” Stiles laughed.
Derek looked up, catching Stiles eyes and holding his stare as he shifted all
his weight to his left-hand side and took his right hand off the ground,
sticking it out to the side as he balanced completely on his left hand.
Stiles gaped at him, his mouth hanging open.
Derek laughed softly, slowly bringing his hand back into position before easing
out of the pose.
“That was Peacock, and then I transitioned into Wounded Peacock.”
“Peacock, huh?” Stiles grinned, “Are you showing off for me, Derek?”
Fuck. Derek hadn’t even thought of that. He felt himself starting to blush.
“It was awesome.” Stiles said, “Can we make this like…a thing?”
“A thing?” Derek repeated.
“Yeah,” Stiles shrugged, “Like, Derek and Stiles’ Weekly Yoga Adventure or
something.”
“You really want to?” Derek asked.
He hadn’t expected that. He’d expected Stiles to think it was stupid, not for
him to want to do it more often.
“I had my doubts.” Stiles admitted, “But it was like, weirdly calming. And I
know that’s what yoga is supposed to do, but like, it’s me so I didn’t expect
that. And you’re a good teacher. And your voice is very calming when it’s Zen
and not growling at things in the night.”
Derek’s body was tingling, “Sure.”
Derek agreed easily. Agreeing to do something with Stiles every week was the
easiest thing Derek had agreed to in a while.
“Cool.” Stiles smiled, “I’m going to get the best yoga pants.”
Derek was glad Stiles’ back was to him, so he couldn’t see Derek completely
flatten his Cliff Bar in his fist at the idea of Stiles in yoga pants.
Stiles checked his phone, “I told dad that I’d be back by 8. He wants us to
have breakfast together.”
They gathered up their tings and started back to the car, walking though the
woods in companionable silence for a few minutes.
“So…” Stiles trailed off, “Not to risk the whole Zen atmosphere we have going
on but…Laura did tell you what I found out yesterday, right?”
Derek had been waiting for Stiles to bring it up all morning. He was impressed
that Stiles had lasted as long as he did without saying anything.
“Yeah.”
“Oh, cool.” Stiles said, “I, uh, told Laura to tell you that you could call me
if you needed someone who wasn’t your sister or something to talk to.”
“I know,” Derek looked over at Stiles, “thank you.”
“You’re OK then?” Stiles glanced to the side.
“I was upset for a minute.” Derek said honestly.
He’d been a little more than upset though. He’d been angry. Furious. Laura had
watched him all afternoon to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid. He’d
wanted to call Stiles, to hear his voice and try to calm himself, but Derek
didn’t want to talk to Stiles while he was that upset.  
“I’m sorry.” Stiles frowned.
Derek shook his head, “You don’t have anything to be sorry for. I’m glad you
found out what you did. I was angry for a while, but when I calmed down I
almost felt…relieved. Laura and I have known for years that it was arson, that
it was Kate who killed our entire family. But it was just us. We didn’t think
anyone in town would believe us, so we left. But…you dad figured it out. He’s
actually looking into it and I know he hates Laura and I, but he’s still
looking into it and that’s more than anyone has ever done for us in a long
time.”
Stiles was quiet for a second before speaking, “My dad doesn’t hate you. He
thinks you’re a bad influence and possibly half of a sibling serial killer
team, but he doesn’t hate you. He’s not playing with all the cards so he
doesn’t get to see the Derek and Laura that I do.”
Derek felt the sharp pain of guilt in his stomach. He knew how close Stiles and
his dad were, and they’d been strained ever since Derek showed up to town.
“I’m sorry you have to lie for us. It’s not fair.”
Stiles shook his head, “Don’t put that on yourself. I made my decision, not
you.”
“But-”
Stiles cut him off, “You’ve got to stop carrying the weight of the world on
your shoulders, Atlas.”
Stiles bumped their shoulders together, smiling up at him. Derek felt the warm
line of Stiles’ body next to him, not feeling the least bit uncomfortable when
Stiles didn’t immediately move away from him. They walked for the next few
minutes with their sides pressed together, Stiles hand occasionally brushing
against the back of Derek’s until they got to the clearing where they’d parking
their cars.
They said their goodbyes, and Derek watched until Stiles was safely in his Jeep
and down the road before he got into the Camaro and drove back to his
apartment. He spent the entire drive with the lingering phantom touch of Stiles
against his side.
 
                                       X
                                        
Laura sat her phone on the counter and looked back at Derek. Derek was sprawled
over the couch, his arm dangling off the side as he absentmindedly flipped
though the TV. He looked relaxed, he’d looked like that ever since he came back
from training with Stiles earlier in the morning.
She’d wondered at first if they finally got their shit together and made the
moves they’d both obviously wanted to make on each other, but Laura would have
been able to tell if they’d done anything serious. Still, the look on Derek’s
face all morning long told Laura that they were certainly getting close to
ending their hilariously endearing circling of each other.
“How long are you going to be gone?” Derek asked when he realized Laura was off
the phone.
“I’m supposed to meet with them after 6pm,” Laura said, “Beacon City is a
little under two hours away, so I should be out of here by 4.”
“I still wish you’d let me come with you.” Derek said with a surly look on his
face.
“I know, but I need you here looking after Scott and Stiles.” Laura said,
“Besides, Deaton said they’d only meet with the Alpha directly.”
“What part of that doesn’t sound suspicious to you?”
Laura rolled her eyes, “The part where I’m going to meet people that Deaton has
been friends with for decades.”
Laura had gone to Deaton shortly after talking with Stiles the day before.
She’d told him everything Stiles told her, how the Sheriff had figured out that
the fire wasn’t an accident and was digging into the cover up. If anyone knew
anything about the time after the fire, it’d be Deaton.
Laura could tell immediately that there was something that Deaton wasn’t
telling her. It only took a few minutes of guilt tripping for Deaton to confess
that he’d had someone investigate the fire years ago, just before Derek and
Laura had left town.
Deaton told her that he had a friend in Beacon City who was a sort of private
investigator for the supernatural community. She was discrete, efficient, and
trustworthy. He’d asked her father to look into the fire after it happened to
see if there was anything he could figure out.
Deaton didn’t know how the investigation turned out, he’d told his friend to
drop it when Laura decided to leave town. He didn’t think it was worth the
danger if Laura and Derek weren’t going to stick around.
He’d said his friend had died a year ago, but that his daughter had taken over
the business and that if her father had found anything he’d have kept the
information stored away just incase Deaton changed his mind.
Deaton had called her yesterday, and she’d gotten back to Laura earlier in the
morning.
Laura’s conversation with Braeden was brief, she’d told Laura that she found
files her father had kept but she wouldn’t discuss anything over the phone and
she’d only meet with Deaton or Laura herself. Laura didn’t begrudge her
paranoia and told Braeden she could meet with her later in the evening.
“We don’t know this girl. We don’t know if she even has anything useful.” Derek
said.
“I know,” Laura admitted, “but if Deaton said she’s trustworthy then I believe
him, and I’d like to think she wouldn’t waste both of our times if she didn’t
have something worth while to bring me out to the city.”
“I still don’t like it.” Derek huffed.
Laura walked over to him, dropping down onto the couch as she carded her
fingers through Derek’s hair. Derek reflexively curled up next to her, and
Laura smiled when he let out an annoyed grunt.
Laura said softly, “I wish you could go with me, but I need you here.”
“Yeah.” Derek agreed, still surly.
“So,” Laura said, changing the subject, “How was yoga? You came back…relaxed.”
Derek, for once, didn’t glare at her, “It was yoga. Stiles is good at it, or at
least good at not talking through it.”
“Seriously?” Laura laughed.
She couldn’t imagine Stiles being quiet for more than a few seconds at a time,
let alone quite enough to not piss Derek off when he was trying to be Zen.
“He wants to keep doing it, so we’re going to add it into the training
rotation.”
“Ahh.” Laura said, now she realized why Derek was in such a good mood when he
got home.
Derek looked at her out of the corner of his eye, “What do you mean ‘ahh’?”
“Nothing.” Laura smiled innocently, “I guess I just realized why you were so
happy when you got home this morning.”
Derek sat up straight and glared at her, “I was not happy!”
Laura rolled her eyes, “Jeez, Der. You act like I just said I saw you in a
pointy white hood with a burning cross.”
Derek stood up from the couch, “You said you were going to leave me alone about
this!”
Laura stayed seated, reaming calm, “I said I wasn’t going to bothering you
about doing something with him, nowhere did I say I wasn’t going to talk about
the fact that you seem happy. It’s not such a terrible thing to be happy, Der.
You’re allowed to not be miserable.”
“Shut up!” Derek growled.
“You feel guilty.” The realization struck Laura suddenly. Derek felt guilty
that he was happy, he felt guilty that he was back in Beacon Hills and he’d
somehow found something, someone, who made him feel a little less miserable.
Derek turned his back to Laura, “Of course I feel guilty. I feel happy, and
then I feel guilty, and then I feel happy again, and it just makes it worse.”
Laura stood up from the couch and walked over to Derek, turning him so they
were facing each other, “Derek.”
Derek moved his head to the side, his eyes cast down to the floor.
“Derek.” Laura said, a little more forcefully, “Look at me.”
Derek sighed but eventually lifted his head to look at Laura.
Laura smiled softly, “You’re allowed to be happy. You’re allowed to be content.
You don’t have to walk around pretending to not be miserable, or only half
enjoying things in life, that’s not what they would want. Do you think mom
would want you walking around hating the world? Of course not! She’d want you
to be happy.”
“You don’t understand.” Derek started, but he cut himself off.
Laura took in a deep breath. She understood. She really, really did. Laura knew
a lot more than Derek thought she did, but now wasn’t the time to bring any of
that up.
“I understand that you’re my brother,” Laura’s hands tightened on his
shoulders, “and you’re my second.”
Derek looked up at that, his eyes wide, “I’m your second?”
Laura smiled, a small laugh escaping her lips, “Of course you are. You’ve
always been my second.”
“There’s only been two of us.” Derek pointed out.
Laura rolled her eyes, “Even before then. I always knew I’d want you as my
second. There’s no one else I would have trusted.”
Derek looked like he was about to say something, so Laura pulled him into a
tight hug. Derek was no doubt about to say something self-deprecating to ruin
the moment, and Laura was really into the moment they were having.
It took a second, but Derek’s arms slowly closed around her and pulled Laura
close. They stood together for a few minutes, not speaking, until Derek pushed
himself away and ran a hand though his hair.
“Just promise me you’ll try.” Laura said, “I won’t bring up anything related to
you and Stiles if you promise to just try and be happy, even if that does or
doesn’t include kissing him.”
“Laura!” Derek blushed and turned his head away.
“That was it!” Laura held her hands up in surrender, “That was the last thing
I’m going to say.”
 
                                       X
                                        
“So, it’s just the two of us?”
Stiles was momentarily startled by Erica’s voice, the way it dropped into a
throaty, more seductive tone than she usually spoke with. He turned slowly, and
slightly horrified, to see her half draped through the lowered window of his
Jeep.
“Uh…”
Erica burst out into a fit of laughter, “You should see your face right now!”
Stiles instantly felt his skin flush, “You! Huh! What?”
Erica rolled her eyes and opened the door, climbing into the Jeep, “I’m just
fucking with you, Stilinski.”
“Oh.” Stiles whispered, slightly relieved.
“If the look of pure horror on your face wasn’t so fucking hilarious, I’d be
super offended.”
Stiles cringed, realizing how he’d reacted.
“It’s fine,” Erica laughed, “I had the same look on my face this morning when
my parents asked me why I was brining my boyfriend over to meet them.”
“Your what?” Stiles gaped, “They think we’re dating?”
Erica rolled her eyes, “Apparently when you go a few years without friends, and
then suddenly start hanging out with one guy your parents assume you must be
fucking him. They’re weirdly heteronormative like that.”
“Oh.” Stiles said, still slightly confused, “And…what did you tell them?”
“I told them that while you’re objectively cute, and don’t give me that look
because you are, you’re not really my type.”
Stiles laughed, “And what is your type?”
Erica tipped her head to the side thoughtfully for a moment before she
answered, “I think I like some tall, dark, and handsome bullshit or something
like that. Someone who will put up with me and let me be in charge but be able
to hold me back when I need to.”
“So definitely not me then.” Stiles rolled his eyes.
“Also, a big dick would be a plus.”
Stiles, mid sip of water from his water bottle, spat all over his windshield.
Erica just looked at him innocently and shrugged, “You asked.”
“That was more than I ever needed to know about you.”
Erica rolled her eyes before changing the subject, “Where is everyone else?”
Well, speaking of big dicks, Lydia was going to ride with us, but her parents
got her a brand new, shiny BMW this morning, so she pulled a power move and
offered to drive Jackson since her car and newer and nicer than his now.”
“I fucking love feminism.” Erica held a fist up in solidarity.
“And Allison and Scott have been hanging out all morning and are going to meet
us there too, since she basically has complete control over him whenever she
wants.”
Erica grinned, “Beacon Hills women are so powerful.”
Stiles shuddered, it was true. All the women Stiles had surrounded himself with
recently were forces of nature.
It didn’t help that Stiles was nervous about Scott being alone with Allison for
so long. He’d been doing remarkably well a controlling himself, Stiles had only
seen him freak out and lose it once, but still. If anyone would be able to
figure out Scott is a werewolf, it would be the person who hunted them. But
Stiles also knew Scott and knew that if he said anything it would lead to Scott
shutting him out and doing it anyway. At least Stiles knew where Scott was, and
what to do if anything went wrong.
And sure, maybe Stiles had been blowing Scott’s phone up every half hour asking
for updates and his location but sue him for wanting to make sure his best
friend was OK. Especially after what he’d learned about Kate, not that Stile
could say anything to Scott about it because it would be betraying a secret
that he wasn’t even supposed to know.
Talk about a rock and a hard place.
“Where are we meeting?” Erica asked.
“Lydia had to do something dumb with her assigned parking spot so we’re all
meeting in the parking lot of the school and then figuring it out from there.”
“Why are we meeting at the school when the library is like right across the
street?” Erica looked dubious.
Stiles shrugged, “Ask Lydia. She decides and we all just follow like the
lemmings we are.”
“If she ever learns to use her powers for evil then we’re all fucked.” Erica
said, buckling her seatbelt.
Stiles pulled out of her driveway and onto the road, the music playing and
filling any awkward silences there would be otherwise. When they were halfway
to the school, Stiles phone rang. It was sitting in the cup holder between the
two front seats, and Erica’s eyes happened to glance at the caller ID.
“Who is America’s Most Wanted?” Erica laughed, “Oh, wait. Don’t tell me.”
Erica’s eyes narrowed, growing a bit evil. She reached for the phone and
answered it before Stiles could grab it from her, mostly because he didn’t want
to die in a car accident.
“Stiles’ phone.” Erica cooed, answering the phone and putting it on speaker.
Stiles cringed at the silence before the eventual reply from Derek.
An angry growl, “Who is this?”
Erica looked taken aback, and Stiles sighed, Derek wasn’t doing much to help
his serial killer image, but he couldn’t begrudge Derek being worried about a
strange woman answering his phone.
“Erica!” Stiles half yelled, “Give me the phone!”
Erica stared at it for another second before shrugging and handing it to Stiles
when he pulled up to a stop sign. Stiles promptly took it off speaker and
cradled it between his ear and shoulder.
“Who was that?” Derek asked, and Stiles didn’t miss the note of panic in his
voice.
Stiles aimed for calm, “It’s just my friend, Erica.”
“Erica.” Derek said, like he was trying to make himself remember who she was,
“I…I thought it was…for a second.”
“I know.” Stiles said softly, trying to figure out how to have this
conversation with Erica sitting right next to him and not so subtly watching
him out of the corner of her eye, “Is everything OK?”
Derek coughed, and this his tone was a bit lighter, “Laura’s getting ready to
drive down to Beacon City to talk to the person Deaton recommended, I’m just
making sure you’re still doing your project tonight so I’ll know where you
are.”
Stiles smiled, “Yeah, we’re probably going to be working on it until the
library kicks us out.”
“Scott too?”
“Mhm,” Stiles nodded, “Me, Scott, Erica, Lydia, Jackson, and…Allison.”
“Allison.” Derek’s voice was flat.
“Yes,” Stiles took a deep breath, “She’s in the same group as Scott, they’ve
been together all day.”
“What?” Derek growled, “How could…”
“Not having this conversation!” Stiles cut him off, “I don’t like it either,
but we both know there’s nothing I could do to stop it!”
Derek was silent, and then he huffed out a long breath, “Just tell me if your
plans change, I’ll be around.”
“Around?” Stiles laughed, “Is that what you’re calling it.”
“Shut up,” Derek mumbled, “Laura won’t be here, I need to make sure you’re
safe.”
Stiles maybe, possibly, probably, had a few butterflies in his stomach,
“Thanks. I’m almost to the school, I’ll call you later?”
“Don’t call,” Derek said, “I’ll see you when you get home.”
And that, well, Stiles didn’t really know how to process that. Thankfully,
Derek hung up the phone before Stiles could stutter out a reply. He hung up the
phone and jammed it in his pocket before pulling into the school parking lot
and coming to a stop next to Lydia’s bright blue BMW.
Stiles purposely avoided looking at Erica until they were out of the car. Erica
was leaning against the hood of the Jeep and laughed, “I guess I’m not the only
one who loves tall, dark, and handsome.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” Stiles weakly tried to defend
himself.
Erica, never one to be deterred, laughed, “I wonder if Derek had a big di-”
Allison’s car pulled into the parking lot, the horn honking and mercifully
cutting Erica off before she could finish that statement. Allison parked on the
other side of Lydia and Scott hopped out a second later, walking over to
Stiles.
“Dude, why are you so red?”
Stiles jammed a finger in Erica’s direction, “Not a word!”
Erica smiled innocently and mimed locking her lips and throwing away the key.
Allison got out of the car next, dressed in a leather jacket, frilly skirt, and
combat boots. She was the epitome of warrior princess, and Stiles didn’t miss
the way she and Scott stood a little closer to each other than they usually
did.
Stiles watched them out of the corner of his eye, and the moment he saw Scott’s
eyes glance down at Allison’s lips for the third time in ten seconds, he knew
exactly what they’d spent all day doing together.
Stiles pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Derek was going to be pissed.
Allison and Erica were distracted by each other, trading weird stories, so
Stiles grabbed Scott by the elbow and hauled him to the other side of the Jeep.
“Dude! You kissed Allison?”
Scott’s eyes went wide, “How did you know?”
“I’m going to ignore the part where you apparently weren’t going to tell me and
just let you know that you’ve looked at her lips more in the last minute than
is humanly possible.”
“I was going to tell you.” Scott hung his head, “I just wanted to be happy
about it for a while before you got mad at me.”
And that hit Stiles like a punch in the gut, “Scott, man…”
Scott shook his head, “I know you don’t like Allison, OK? I know you, and
Derek, and Laura all think it’s a bad idea, but I like her. And she likes me!
No one’s ever liked me, Stiles! Dumb, goofy Scott with the inhaler. But Allison
liked dumb Scott with the inhaler, she didn’t care that I wasn’t the smartest
or couldn’t run two feet without being able to breath. She liked me for me, and
maybe she’s evil and kills people like me in her spare time, but maybe she’s
good. Maybe she’s not like Kate, or her parents. Everyone deserves a chance to
prove themselves before we assume they’re evil.”
Stiles stared at Scott in shock. It was the closest Scott had ever come to
yelling at him in the years that they’d know each other, and it made Stiles
feel like a fucking asshole.
“Scott,” Stiles whispered, “I…fuck, dude. I’m sorry I made you feel that way. I
didn’t realize it bothered you as much as it did.”
Scott kicked at a rock on the ground, “It does.”
Stiles ran a hand over his head, “I’m sorry, I really am. I’ll…I’ll try to keep
an open mind about Allison, OK? And I’ll back you up with Derek and Laura.”
“Really?” Scott started to smile, “But you love Laura. And Derek.”
Stiles ignored that insinuation, “Yeah, but you came first. You’re my brother
and I’m going to fight for your right to date whoever you want.”
“You’d really do that?”
Stiles shrugged, “I mean, I’m still going to watch her but until she does
something that makes me think otherwise I’ll just have to trust you.”
Scott grinned and pulled Stiles into a bone crushing hug, lifting him off the
ground and spinning him in a circle.
“My spine!” Stiles hissed, “Dude, my spine!”
Scott released him and sat him back on the ground, looking away sheepishly,
“Sorry.”
Stiles reached out and ruffled Scott’s hair, “It’s fine, who needs to use their
legs anyway?”
“What are you two doing?” Erica yelled from the other side of the Jeep.
Stiles slammed the door and scurried around the front, holding a pencil in the
air, “Scott was helping me find my lucky pencil.”
“Lucky pencil?” Allison crossed her arms over her chest.
Stiles jabbed the pencil in her direction, “Don’t make fun, this pencil has
gotten me an A on every project so far.”
Allison held her hands up, “I bow to the power of the lucky pencil.”
“Damn straight.” Stiles nodded.
“Good, you’re all here.” Lydia said from behind the group, startling Stiles.
“Where did you come from?” Stiles asked.
Jackson rolled his eyes, “I know sex is probably a foreign concept for you but
when a man and a woman really like each other-”
Lydia slapped Jackson in the stomach, “Don’t be childish.”
Jackson sighed and dropped his shoulders, “Sorry.”
Stiles laughed. He loved watching Lydia terrorize Jackson every time he tried
to worm his way back into her good graces.
“Why did you want us to meet you here, Lydia?” Allison asked, “I thought we
were doing this at the library?”
“We are,” Lydia hummed, “but if you think I’m parking my brand new car anywhere
near that place then you’re insane.”
“And because you don’t want someone to ding your car we all have to walk to the
library now?” Stiles deadpanned.
Lydia rolled her eyes, “Don’t be so dramatic, it’s right across the street.”  
“Let’s just get this over with, I’m already pissed I have to waste the rest of
my Saturday with Stilinski and McCall breathing on me.”
Stiles ignored Jackson and fell into step with the group as they made their way
towards the library.
The Beacon Hills Public Library was one of the largest buildings in the town.
It was actually three buildings put together, the city had swooped in and
bought up a row of brownstones across from the school after a tree fell on top
of the old public library a few miles down the road. There were some generous
out of state donations that made the purchase possible, and even more local
fundraisers to raise the necessary funds for books and computers.
What resulted was the behemoth in front of them, a building that was probably
the size of an airplane hangar but much nicer. It was sectioned off into three
sections, one for each original building. The middle area, the general
reception area, was three stories high and had more of a traditional library
feel while the left section was more catered to kids, and the right section was
based around technology.
The group went for the right section when they entered the building, claiming a
table next to a bank of computers and signing out the section for the use for
the next couple of hours.
“It always trips me out how big this place is,” Erica said, “it feels so out of
place here.”
“My parents were pretty pissed when they wouldn’t name it the Whittemore Public
Library after they donated most of the money for the inside renovations.”
Jackson sighed.
“I’m so sorry,” Erica said, sarcasm dripping in her voice, “that must have been
so hard for them.”
The entire table laughed quietly while Jackson fumed, “Who even invited her?”
“I did,” Lydia said, “now shut the hell up and get started on your project.”
Erica leaned over and whispered, “I’m starting to think my type is less talk,
dark, and handsome and more short, red, and vicious.”
Stiles laughed under his breath, “Tell me about it.”
They broke off into their respective groups a few minutes later, each taking a
separate table and delegating tasks among themselves. Erica and Lydia nominated
themselves as the creative division, while Stiles was selected as the person to
do all the research.
Stiles liked his research, don’t get him wrong. But he only enjoyed it when the
subject was interesting, or it was something that had nothing to do with what
he should have been looking up. Needless to say, by the time the third hour
rolled around, Stiles was just about over researching Greek currency.
When Stiles looked at the windows across from him, he was surprised to see that
it was dark outside. He checked his watch and looked at it in shock, they’d
been there working on their projects for almost four hours.
“When did it get so late?” Stiles asked, turning to see who was sitting next to
him.
It was Allison.
Allison looked up from the computer, bleary eyed, and yawned, “I didn’t think
we’d be here all night. The project seemed a lot easier when Finstock was
explaining it.”
Stiles sighed, “Good ol’ Bobby, always underselling everything he assigns to
us. Really, it’s our fault because we should know by now not to trust a word
that man says unless it’s a quote from a 90’s action movie.”
Allison shuddered, “Don’t remind me. I still have nightmares about his
Terminator impression.”
Stiles laughed, because it really was terrible and a little traumatizing when
Finstock tried to flex and show off his muscles. Allison was still cringing,
and Stiles felt a little bad for all the times he’d thought she could possibly
be a psycho killer.
Sure, she could be, but Scott had gotten through to him earlier in the day.
Allison could be evil just because her family is evil, but was thinking that
any different than a hunter thinking all werewolves were evil just because
there were bad ones out there?
Kate and Allison didn’t seem like they could be more different. Kate was all
curves and sharp edges, weaponized sexuality and brutal terror. Allison was,
well, Stiles didn’t really know how to describe Allison other than the fact
that he wasn’t scared she was going to sexually assault him and slit his throat
afterwards.
“Earth to Stiles.” Allison waved a hand in front of his face.
“Sorry, I spaced,” Stiles tried for a casual laugh, “anyway, Scott tells me you
two got pretty close today.”
Allison’s cheeks instantly turned red and she covered her eyes, “Oh god, I told
him not to tell you until later.”
Stiles laughed, “In his defense, I figured it out because he couldn’t stop
looking at your lips.”
Allison’s eyes went a little wide and she lifted a hand to her mouth,
reverently touching her lips, “I really like him, Stiles.”
“Thank god, cuz he’s obsessed with you. In the least creepy way possible. But
still. Obsessed.”
Allison smiled, “Is this the part where you give me the shovel talk?”
Stiles shook his head, “No, but only because I’m pretty sure you could kill
me.”
Allison looked confused, and Stiles backpedaled as quickly as he could.
“I mean, uh, you know, shoot me with your bow and arrow because you’re the best
archer on the planet.”
Allison’s face settled, and she giggled, “I wouldn’t say I’m the best in the
world but thank you. And don’t worry, I don’t plan on breaking Scott’s heart.”
Stiles smiled tightly as she walked away, slumping in his chair when she
disappeared around the corner.
Allison might be normal, or at least not psychotic, but the rest of her family
was. He couldn’t help but feeling like everything happening had an expiration
date on it that he couldn’t see.
Stiles’ phone buzzed in his pocket, her pulled it out and saw a text from
Derek.
 
From America’s Most Wanted: STAY INSIDE THE LIBRARY. DO NOT LEAVE.
 
Stiles’ eyes went wide.
 
To America’s Most Wanted: What’s going on?
To America’s Most Wanted: Hello?
To America’s Most Wanted: Are you OK?
To America’s Most Wanted: DEREK
 
Stiles’ hands were shaking as he called Derek, and he nearly dropped his phone
when it went straight to Derek’s generic mechanical voicemail message.
Stiles took a deep breath and fought off the panic that was threatening to
overwhelm him and scrolled through his contacts until he found Laura’s number
and pressed call. He held his phone up to his ear but pulled it away in
confusion a few seconds later when it beeped sharply twice. Stiles pulled the
phone back and went sheet white when the words no serviceflashed across the top
of his screen.
Now he was allowed to freak out.
He pushed himself away from the computers and shoved his phone in his pocket
before walking down the short hallway that led to their reserved tables. Scott
and Allison were standing close together and Scott looked up when he heard
Stiles coming.
“I was just coming to get you,” Scott said, “the librarian is kicking us out,
they’re about to close and apparently we’re the only ones left around.”
“Cool,” Stiles smiled tightly, “can I borrow you for a second?”
Allison shrugged and opened her bag, shoving her books inside while Scott
walked over to Stiles.
“What’s up?” Scott whispered, leaning in close and sniffing, “You don’t smell
right.”
“Thanks, Scoob,” Stiles tried for humor, but he felt a bit manic when he
smiled, “I need to see your phone.”
“What’s going on?”
“Just let me see your phone!” Stiles hissed, a little more forcefully than
necessary.
Scott recoiled a step but took his phone out and slowly handed it to Stiles,
“You’re freaking me out, man.”
Sure enough, Scott’s phone didn’t have any service either.
That was the last straw, Stiles was about to go into full blown panic mode.
“Neither of our phones have service.” Stiles whispered.
“OK?” Scott was obviously confused, “We’re on the far side of town, I always
lose service at School.”
Stiles unlocked his phone and showed Scott the last text Derek had sent him.
“You want to tell me the chances I get this text from Derek, and then we lose
phone service?”
Scott’s eyes went wide, “I’m sure it’s fine. Derek is probably just messing
with us. Maybe it’s a test or something.”
Stiles had thought of that for a brief second, but even Derek wasn’t that
fucked up.
“I’m like, barely holding on to the ledge here, dude. I need you to use your
wolfy senses to tell me that everything is fine and I’m not about to have the
mother of all panic attacks in an abandoned library in the middle of nowhere.”
Scott closed his eyes and turned his head to the side, grimacing a few seconds
later, “All I can hear is your heart going crazy, Stiles. I’m really not good
at this whole hearing thing, it’s hard to pick everything apart.”
Stiles took a dep breath, “OK. I’m going to walk away, like, far away, and
you’re going to listen to stuff and come tell me that everything is fine and
I’m just a paranoid freak.”
Scott nodded, “That might work.”
Stiles clenched his fists and walked away from Scott, back to the group who
were still gathering their things around the table.
“Stiles?” Lydia was the first to see him, “What’s wrong?”
“What?” Stiles tried to smile, “Nothing, everything is totally fi-”
The lights went out.
Erica screamed, surprised at the sudden change.
“Really, Jackson?” Lydia sighed, “Your parents couldn’t donate enough for
competent electricity?”
The sound of glass breaking echoed through the building, followed by a blood
curdling scream. Stiles felt his hairs stand on end, his skin going rough with
goosebumps just as Scott came flying around the corner. He was running faster
than normal, but Stiles couldn’t really focus on anything other than the next
scream that came and chilled him to his core.
“We have to go. Now.” Scott said, skidding to a stop in front of Stiles, “It’s
here. I can smell it.”
Stiles mouth went dry, his voice coming out rough and scratchy, “The Rougarou?”
Stiles looked over his shoulder at the group of his friends and Jackson. Erica
was shaking, visible to Stiles even in the darkened room. Jackson was trying to
play it cool, but Stiles could see the fear in his eyes. Allison was glaring at
her phone, her expression cloudy. Stiles figured she must have just realized
they had no cell service, which at least meant that she couldn’t call Kate or
anyone else.
Lydia though, Lydia was pale white, her red lips parted ever so slightly. She
looked directly at Stiles, and Stiles could already hear what she was going to
say before she spoke. Lydia took two steps towards him, wrapped her cold hands
around his wrist, and squeezed tightly.
“We need to leave.” Lydia’s voice was barely above a whisper, “I can feel it.”
“What?” Stiles needed to hear her say it.
“Death.”
“Fuck this shit,” Jackson growled, grabbing his bag and slinging it over his
shoulder, “I’m getting the hell out of here.”
“Jackson!” Allison’s tone had gone commanding, “We need to stay together, we
don’t know what’s going on.”
“As much as I’d hate spending anymore time with you, Allison is right.” Stiles
said, “Bad shit always happens when people split up.”
“We’re not in a horror movie, Stilinski.” Jackson sneered.
“Then why do you look like you’re about to piss your pants?” Stiles glared at
him.
Jackson lunged forward, grabbing for Stiles throat, but Allison was quicker.
She swept his feet out from under him, catching Jackson before his head hit the
ground and pulling him up with one arm by the collar of his shirt.
And just like that, Allison was fucking terrifying again.
“Stiles is right.” Allison said, removing her hand from Jackson, “Lets just
stay together. We’re not that far from the entrance and it’s probably just a
stupid power outage.”
“And the librarian screaming bloody murder?” Erica asked, her arms wrapped
around herself.
“She’s probably just freaked out,” Scott offered, “she probably just dropped
something and got scared.”
They grabbed their things and walked down the hallway that lead to the central
part of the library in a tight cluster. It was starting to get hotter inside,
Stiles could feel his brow growing damper as a result of the loss of A/C in the
outage.
Scott stopped moving just before they got to the door that led to the reception
area. Stiles knew that couldn’t be a good sign. No one else seemed to notice
though, and Jackson dashed forward, opening the door and freezing in the
doorway.
Erica was the first person to step up behind him and she let out an ear
piercing scream. Scott doubled over, clutching at his ears as the scream
bounced off the walls of the narrow hallway. Stiles ran forward towards Erica
to pull her away from whatever he was seeing, and he froze when he caught sight
of what lay just in front of the doorway.
The librarian was in a pool of blood, her body torn to pieces. Stiles was
pretty sure he could see some of her intestines, and he knew instantly that
what he was looking at would be the main feature of all his upcoming
nightmares.
“What the fuck is that?” Jackson’s shaky voice asked as he slowly pointed
forward.
Stiles didn’t want to look, because if he looked then it would be real. But he
had to, and sure enough, a few feet away from them stood the Rougarou. It
towered over them, it’s long and lean body hunched forward. Its claws were
dragging against the ground, stained red with the librarian’s blood.
“No, no, no, no.” Stiles mumbled to himself.
Scott came up behind him, pressing a hand to the small of his back. The touch
alone comforted Stiles, but then something occurred to him.
“Scott, if it’s here…then where is Derek?”
Stiles’ chest wanted to cave in. He’d seen how strong the Rougarou was, he’d
seen how it had been a struggle for Derek and Laura to even get the upper hand
with it. Could Derek really have taken the thing by himself? If so, then where
the fuck was he?
“Don’t freak out,” Stiles whispered, “we don’t know anything for sure and
freaking out won’t help us right now.”
“When did you become the rational one?” Stiles’ voice cracked.
“What the fuck is that?” Jackson hissed again.
“Don’t move.” Allison commanded, “Seriously. Just listen to me. Do. Not. Move.”
Erica was frozen in place, and Lydia just stared vacantly ahead. Stiles
wondered if Lydia even realized what was happening, or if her mind was wherever
the hell it went when she had an episode.
“Fuck that.” Jackson shook his head, “I’m not standing here and waiting for
that thing to kill me.”
Stiles always knew Jackson was an idiot, but at least he’d finally had
undisputable proof even if he died a few seconds later.
Jackson dashed forward, trying to make it to the front door of the library.
Jackson obviously had no idea how fast the Rougarou could move and it was in
front of him before Jackson even made it halfway to the door. Jackson skidded
to a stop, slipping on the blood of the librarian. When he finally reoriented
himself, the Rougarou stalked over to him, it’s footsteps echoing through the
room and up to the vaulted ceilings. The Rougarou reeled its hand back, just as
Allison screamed for Jackson to move, and backhanded him.
Jackson let out a sickening sound as the Rougarou struck him and Stiles watched
in horror as Jackson’s body flew through the air for a few seconds before
hitting the floor. But Jackson’s body didn’t stop when he hit the ground, the
momentum carried him across the floor and into a shelving unit that buckled
when he hit it. The shelves collapsed on top of Jackson, covering him with
dozens upon dozens of books.
The Rougarou tracked Jackson’s body as it moved, and Stiles swore he saw the
corner of its lip curl up into a smile. Its head slowly turned until it was
looking directly at them, its lips curled back again, this time showing a set
of sharp, blindingly white teeth.
“Run!” Allison screamed, slamming the door and pulling the closest bookshelf
down in front of it.
The four of them turned, Stiles grabbing Lydia by the arm and pulling her
along. They were halfway down the hall when they heard the door behind them
break, wood splintering just before the Rougarou’s scream rang out behind them.
“What do we do?” Erica yelled, “Fuck. We’re going to die.”
“We’re not going to die.” Allison’s voice was cold as steel.
“Tell that to Jackson!” Erica screeched.
“Jackson isn’t dead.” Scott said, “It could have killed him, but it didn’t. It
didn’t use its claws.”
Allison slammed the double doors behind them, grabbing a decorative iron bar
off the wall and shoving it between the handles.
“Someone help me move this shelf in front of the door.”
Scott volunteered, stepping next to Allison and hopefully using human strength
to help her push the large shelf in front of the door.
“That won’t stop it for long, we need to figure out how to get out of here.”
“We can go upstairs and try to make it to the other side from there.” Erica
offered.
Stiles shook his head, “There’s no easy way down to the entrance from there.
We’d have to make it across that skybridge, into the left side of the library,
and then circle back around to the middle.”
“This place is fucking insane,” Erica hissed, “Who designed it like this?”
“I can distract it while the rest of you make a break for it.” Allison said,
hiking her foot up onto a nearby chair.
Allison felt around the edge of her boot for a second before pulling a long,
silver dagger out of it. Score one for Stiles, he totally knew Allison kept
weapons in those boots.
“Jesus, do you always carry that around with you?” Erica gaped as Allison
twisted the knife around in her hands.
Allison didn’t reply. She sat her bag on the table, unzipped it, and pulled out
what looked like a fucking pistol.
“Holy fuck.” Stiles’ eyes went wide.
She sat the gun on the table before pulling out something that looked like a
tiny bow. Allison held the bow in one hand, the pistol in the other, and then
combined them together to create a small crossbow. She pulled put what looked
like a pencil case, but when she unzipped it she pulled out a Velcro strip with
small arrows attached to it. Allison fastened the strip around her wrist like a
bracelet, pulled an arrow out of it, and loaded it into the crossbow.
Erica’s eyes were wide as saucers, “Who the hell are you?”
Allison took a deep breath and tested her aim with the crossbow, “You’re just
going to have to trust me. I won’t let anything happen to any of you. I can’t
really answer any questions you have, but I’m going to do my best to make sure
we all walk out of here alive.”
“You know what that thing is?” Erica asked.
Allison nodded.
“It’s not human.”
“No.” Allison shook her head.
“Holy fuck,” Erica ran a hand through her hair and turned to Stiles, “Why
aren’t you more freaked out? That thing barely even looked like it surprised
you.”
That got Allison’s attention, she looked at Stiles quizzically.
Scott came to his rescue, “He’s in shock.”
“If Stiles in in shock, then what the hell is wrong with Lydia?”
Lydia hadn’t moved from the spot Stiles pulled her too, she just stared ahead
vacantly and blinked every so often.
“Lydia?” Allison’s voice was soft as she stood in front of her, “Lydia, I need
you to listen to me. We’re going to get out of here, but we have to run, and I
need you to be able to do that.”
Lydia didn’t say anything, didn’t even move.
Allison sighed, “I don’t know what’s wrong with her, but someone needs to make
sure she can get out of here.”
“I’ve got her.” Stiles said instantly.
“Good.”
“It’s on the other side of the door.” Scott said, “Listen.”
The group fell quiet. The library was deathly silent, the only sound came from
the other side of the barricaded door. Stiles could hear the slow breath of the
Rougarou as it walked back and forth.
“It’s taunting us.” Stiles said.
Allison nodded.
“Can you really take this thing?” Stiles asked.
Allison looked at him, “I think.”
 Stiles had to trust her. But he had his doubts, if an Alpha and Beta wolf
couldn’t take the Rougarou down, then what chance did a single hunter have?
“I don’t hear anything anymore.” Scott whispered, “It’s gone.”
It wasn’t that simple. Because of course not.
A few seconds later, the windows above them shattered. Glass rained down from
above and the Rougarou crawled through the window, standing at the top of the
stairs, and let out a bone rattling roar.
Stiles looked back to their only way out of the room now, the door that they’d
just barred and blocked shut.
“We did exactly what it wanted.” Stiles shook his head.
Allison ran forward, grabbing her crossbow and sliding over the top of a table
to get closer to the Rougarou. She held the crossbow up, lined up her shot, and
pulled the trigger. The arrow moved through the air faster than Stiles’ eyes
could track it, but he saw the second it hit the Rougarou in the chest.
The Rougarou took a step back, looked down at the arrow sticking out of its
chest, and ripped it out. It tossed the arrow down the stairs before locking
its eyes on Allison. Allison ran to the side, pulling another arrow from her
wrist and loading it into the gun before firing it.
The Rougarou dodged that one, but its eyes were still firmly locked on Allison.
“She’s drawing its attention.” Stiles said, “We’ve got to get ready to move
when it stops blocking out way out.”
“We can’t just leave her!” Scott cried, “She can’t take the Rougarou on her
own!”
“The whothewhat?” Erica’s eyes narrowed, “You do know what that thing is!”
Stiles sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face, “Scott, I need your help to
get Erica and Lydia out of here. We’ll come back for Allison, I promise.”
Stiles looked back at Allison. She fired another shot and hit the Rougarou in
the leg.
That did it, the Rougarou leapt from the stairs, crashing to the ground next to
the rows of computers and swiping its claws through them. It picked up a
monitor and tossed it at Allison, she just barely managed to dodge it by
sliding under a table and flipping it over to shield herself.
The Rougarou ran forward, jumping over the table and landing in front of
Allison. Allison rolled to the side, kicked the Rougarou in the knee, and
pulled out her knife. She slashed at its chest, the Rougarou howled in pain
while Allison retreated.
Watching Allison fight was different than watching Derek and Laura. Derek was a
brawler by nature, his size and muscles made it easier for him to just charge
into a fight and start throwing punches. Laura was the faster, lighter version
of that, more focused on landing kicks and swipes with her claws.
But Allison? Allison was tactical precision at its best. She was fast,
efficient, and almost clinical in the way that she fought. It was like watching
a heart surgeon operate, only she was a teenage girl fighting a monster
instead.
“Let’s go.” Stiles grabbed Lydia by the arm and pulled her towards the stairs.
Erica followed behind them, with Scott taking up the spot in the back.
 
                                       X
                                        
Allison knew she could do this. It’s what she’d been training for. She still
wasn’t entirely sure what she was fighting, it was a wolf of some kind, but it
moved differently than she’d ever seen or been taught. She’d never seen a shift
like that, never heard of a full shift werewolf that walked on it’s hind legs
or had eyes as black as coal.
But in the end, it was still a monster and she was still a hunter. She had
people to protect. Her friends. Scott.
She could do it.
Allison circled the wolf, her crossbow in one hand and her dagger in the other
and watched out of the corner of her eye as the rest of her friends made up
upstairs and disappeared into the other section of the library. She smiled, and
just as the wolf was about to look their way, she fired another arrow into its
flank.
The tips of the arrows were coated in wolfsbane, but they weren’t doing a thing
to slow the wolf down. All the arrows seemed to do was piss it off, which
Allison figured worked out in her favor since she was the distraction.
She hadn’t worked out a plan for her own escape, a fact that her dad would call
reckless. If she kept backing herself towards the stairs she might be able to
make it to the upper area and she’d at least stand a chance running for her
life, especially if she weakened the wolf enough to slow it down.
The wolf lunged, swiping a large claw at Allison’s neck. She barely dodged it,
twisting to the side with just enough time to spare before having her throat
slit.
She’d only fought a wolf once before this, a rogue Omega that made its way into
Beacon Hills last year in a frenzied mania. She’d seen the Omega attack a girl
in the preserve, watched as it tried to rip her to pieces as it was overcome
with bloodlust.
Her dad sent her after it, told her that this was her final test. If Allison
couldn’t take down an Omega on her own, then she could never become the Argent
Matriarch.
Allison took it out with her bow, right before the Omega drove its claws into
the girl and tore her apart.
Allison really fucking wished she had her bow with her, but she was glad for
her dad’s paranoia and the fact that he’d slipped the miniature crossbow in her
bag without her realizing.
She could tell the wolf was gearing up for another attack, watched the way it
dropped into a fighting stance and led with its left claw before swiping with
its right.
Allison had always been taught that the best tactic in a fight was surprise,
you do the thing your opponent least expects, and it throws them off just
enough for you to land a few blows. So Allison ran towards the wolf as it
swiped at her. She could tell she surprised it, the thing was awfully
expressive for a giant monster covered in fur, and she took advantage of it.
She dropped to her knees, sliding across the slick floor of the library and
under the wolf. She aimed the crossbow upwards, firing when she passed under
its chest. The wolf howled when the arrow hit, and she continued her slide.
Allison flipped the blade in her hand as she slid between the legs of the wolf,
twisting at the last moment and swiping the blade across the back of its knee.
The wolf screeched, falling to one leg and rolling on its side. It wasn’t quite
hamstringed, but Allison knew it wouldn’t be able to move as fast now. She
rolled to her side, pushing herself up and running past the wolf and towards
the stairs. She fired another shot at it for good measure when she was halfway
up the stairs, counting her remaining arrows as she ran.
She had five left.
There was no sign of anyone else by the time she made it to the skybridge of
the lobby. It was a straight shot to the other side of the room, and from there
she only had to go down another flight of stairs and she could be outside. She
hoped that the others had already made it out, she had no doubt that Stiles
would call his father, and her dad monitored police transmissions constantly,
the second he heard about something happening at the library she knew he’d be
there with an army in less than ten minutes.
Allison really thought she’d make it, until something slammed into her back.
Allison screamed as something shattered against her back, knocking her forward
and sending her towards the ground. She hit her head on the railing on the way
down, and she already felt the blood begin to run down her face.
Head wounds always bled like a bitch.
Allison rolled onto her back and tried to recover. She was vaguely aware of the
shattered chair a few feet away from her and the wolf standing at the other end
of the bridge.
“You threw a chair at me?” Allison asked out loud, astonished.
Why the hell would it do that when it could have just as easily gotten behind
her and killed her?
Allison scrambled for her crossbow, cringing when she saw it laying on the
floor some thirty feet below her.
“Fuck.”
She still had her dagger though, and she’d rather have that than nothing. She
took a few steps backwards, slowly trying to regain her composure as she
stopped seeing stars. For every step she took, the wolf took two. She knew it
was only a matter of time before it charged her. She looked over the edge of
the bridge, wondering if she could make the jump. She figured she probably
couldn’t without breaking a leg, or both. She flipped the blade in her hand and
held it at the ready.
“Bring it.”
The wolf charged. Allison braced herself, trying for a repeat of her last
maneuver. The wolf was ready though, it jumped just as Allison dropped to her
knees, it landed behind her, and she only had enough time to bring an arm up to
protect her head as it hit her with the back of its hand.
Allison screamed, it hurt a hundred times worse than the chair. It hurt worse
than any injury she’d ever gotten while training. She felt like someone had
picked up a small U-Hall and thrown it at her. She crashed into the side of the
archway, her vision going blurry as she watched the wolf stalk towards her.
She wasn’t scared, really. She knew it was part of the job. She’d seen Buffy,
always identified with the part where the young girl kicks monster ass while
knowing she’s fated to die horribly one day because of it. She just hoped that
the rest of her friends make it out, that Scott made it out.
She felt bad for Scott. They’d just kissed, decided to go on a first date, and
now Allision was about to die. For the rest of Scott’s life, Allison would be
remembered as the girl he kissed and then died a few hours later.
Allison’s entire body hurt, but she wasn’t going down without a fight. She
reached for the dagger and held it in front of her, spitting the blood out of
her mouth.
And then, then Allison heard footsteps behind her. Someone was running, someone
was running really fucking fast. Faster than normal.
She watched, unable to move, as someone stepped in front of her. A small,
skinny, nothing of a boy in shorts and a maroon shirt.
“Scott?” Allison whispered.
“It’s OK, Allison.” Scott said, but his voice sounded weird. It was like he was
slurring. Or maybe that was just Allison’s brain.
The wolf snarled, and then…another wolf snarled back at it.
Then Allison noticed Scott’s hands. Except, they weren’t hands. Scott’s claws.
“Scott.”
Scott turned and looked at her. Scott, with his pointed ears. Scott, with his
sideburns. Scott, with his fangs. Scott, with his golden eyes.
“I’m sorry.” Scott looked so sad, so broken. “I’m not going to let it hurt you
anymore.”
The wolf lunged at Scott, and Scott’s roar filled the entire building before he
ran towards it.
Scott McCall was a werewolf.
 
                                       X
                                        
They were halfway to the school when Scott turned and ran back towards the
library.
Stiles didn’t have a chance to stop Scott once he heard Allison’s scream.
Stiles really couldn’t blame him though, because you ran after the people you
cared about. Even if you couldn’t do anything to protect them, you still had to
try.
“Erica, take Lydia to the cars and get the fuck out of here.” Stiles tossed her
the keys to his Jeep.
“Where are you going?” Erica’s voice was full of panic, “I don’t even know how
to drive!”
“I can’t let Scott go back there alone.”
“Scott is…Scott is one of those things!” Erica yelled, “I saw his face! I saw
the way you didn’t react to him! You knew!”
“Erica, calm down.” Stiles said slowly.
“Don’t!” Erica yelled, “Do not tell me to calm down when you’re fucking lying
to me and I’ve seen a dead body and a giant fucking monster in the span of half
an hour!”
“It’s complicated!” Stiles yelled back, fingers clawing at his scalp, “And it’s
fucking dangerous!”
Erica deflated, pulling her arms tightly around her body. Lydia, still
basically catatonic, stood off to the side, blinking occasionally but saying
nothing.
“I’m so fucking scared right now.” Erica whispered.
“I know.” Stiles impulsively grabbed her and pulled her into a hug, “But I need
you to take care of Lydia, and I need to go make sure my best friend isn’t
dead.”
Stiles was trying hard to ignore the sounds coming from the library, the
crashing and the screaming. He tried to ignore the screaming voice in his head
telling him that Derek’s dead body was probably only a few feet away too,
conveniently hidden behind a tree or in some bushes.
“Turn the keys, put it in drive, and get onto the road. It’s just a straight
patch, keep the wheel straight and you can’t go wrong.”
“I’ll call the police, have them send someone.”
“No!” Stiles shook his head, “They’ll send my dad, and it’s too dangerous for
him to be here.”
“Jesus, Stiles. We’re just teenagers.”
Stiles silently put Lydia’s hand in Erica’s.
“Go.”
“I hate you so much right now.” Erica said, but she turned and pulled Lydia
along after her.
Stiles watched until they were safely across the street, and then he turned on
his heel and ran back towards the library.
“Derek!” Stiles yelled as he ran, “I know you’re not dead, because you’re Derek
fucking Hale and you’ve been through too much to be dead outside some fucking
library. But I think I might be dead soon, so I really need you to come make
sure that doesn’t happen.”
Stiles stopped to catch his breath just outside of the library before stepping
over the broken glass and into the building.
The reception area was empty, but Stiles made note of the broken banister of
the sky bridge. He saw Allison’s crossbow on the ground and he grabbed it for
lack of a better weapon. His dad had always said a gun in an untrained hand is
one of the most dangerous things, but his dad had never faced a Rougarou and
Stiles would rather have a crossbow than nothing.
Jackson was still across the room, unconscious and covered in books. There was
no sign of Allison, Scott, or the Rougarou. There was no sound of fighting,
nothing to make it seem like there was even anyone else in the building.
Until Scott’s screaming body fell in front of him.
Stiles yelped and jumped backwards as Scott pushed himself to his feet. He was
bloody, covered in cuts and bruises that Stiles could already see healing on
their own.
“Stiles, you were supposed to run!” Scott growled between fangs.
“As if I was going to leave you here!”
Scott didn’t reply, instead he shoved Stiles out of the way just as the
Rougarou came crashing down from above.
Scott barreled into the Rougarou, swiping at it and yelping when it threw him
off. It tackled into Scott, pouncing on top of him and pinning him down with a
claw over his throat.
Fuck. Scott was about to die.
Stiles held the crossbow up, his hand trembling, and aimed at the Rougarou. He
wasn’t sure he could actually hit it, he was far away, and he didn’t know how
the trajectory of the arrows worked. He could just as easily hit Scott.
“Don’t!” Allison yelled, limping out from the left side of the room, “The
arrows…”
Stiles looked down at the crossbow and finally noticed how the tips of the
arrow gleamed blue under the right light.
“Wolfsbane?” Stiles’ eyes went wide as he looked at Allison, “You’ve been
hitting this thing with wolfsbane the entire time and it’s done nothing?”
Allison frowned, “You know too.”
It wasn’t a question.
Scott’s scream startled both of them, and Stiles looked over to see the
Rougarou pressing a single claw into Scott’s shoulder.
He had to do something, and Allison didn’t look like she was in any shape to
fight. He noticed a broken chair leg to his left, a few nails sticking out of
the part where it splintered away from the seat. Stiles tossed the crossbow to
the side and picked up the leg, weighing it in his hands and shrugging.
If it was good enough for The Bride in Kill Bill, Vol. 1, then it was good
enough for Stiles.
Stiles ran forward, drawing back the chair leg and swinging it when he got
close enough. The chair leg his the Rougarou in the side of the face, embedding
itself in its cheek.
Unlike Kill Bill, the Rougarou was not a teenage Japanese assassin named GoGo
who could be killed by something as easy as a nail to the head.
The Rougarou released Scott and slowly turned its head to face Stiles. Their
eyes locked, and the Rougarou curled its lip to reveal its, now bloody, fangs.
Kicking Scott’s body off to the side, the Rougarou stalked slowly towards
Stiles.
Allison was going for the crossbow, but there’s no way she would get to it in
time. Stiles was pretty sure he was about to die.
He was about to die, and Derek had no idea that Stiles was kinda falling in
love with him. He was about to die, and all he’d done to his dad for the last
couple months was lie to him.
He was about to die.
Until he wasn’t.
In what seemed like slow motion, the Rougarou drew its arm back, ready to swipe
at Stiles. It lunged forward, claw close enough for Stiles to feel the gust of
air it produced as it moved. And then someone stepped in front of Stiles,
catching the Rougarou’s claw just before it made contact and throwing it across
the room.
Stiles would know the back of the man standing in front of him anywhere.
“Derek.” Stiles said softly, “You’re not dead.”
Derek was covered in blood, his clothes were torn to pieces, and Stiles noticed
the beginning of a tattoo peaking out though one of the holes in Derek’s shirt.
Stiles launched himself at Derek, wrapping his arms around Derek’s midsection
and squeezing tightly as his face pressed into Derek’s back.
Derek laughed softly, the vibration if it going straight through Stiles’ body
and into his bones.
“I heard you.”
“Derek?” Scott’s voice was small, hurt, and broken.
“Dammit, Scott.” Derek said, walking over to Scott and looping an arm around
him as he tried to stand.
“Couldn’t let it kill Allison,” Scott coughed, “she saved us.”
Derek turned his head slowly, locking eyes with Allison from across the room.
Neither of them said anything, there was just an intense kind of staring
contest going on for a few more seconds until Derek spoke.
“Has anyone called Laura?”
Stiles shook his head, “We lost service right before it attacked, the last
thing I got was your text.”
“It broke my phone.” Derek said, “We need to call her, she should be getting
back soon. We’re going to need her help.”

“I think we did pretty well on our own, considering…” Allison trailed off.
“You’re half dead, Scott would be dead, and Stiles tried to take down a
Rougarou with a chair leg.” Derek glared at her.
“A Rougarou?” Allison asked, “I’ve never heard of that before.”
“Welcome to the club.” Stiles muttered.
Allison’s eyes went wide with realization, “It was you two…you were the other
ones in the preserve that night. The eyes I saw…they were Scott’s. I shot at
both of you!”
“You were the one who hit me with an arrow?” Stiles cried, “What the actual
fuck, Allison?”
Allison’s hand flew up to her mouth, “I hit you? God…I…I didn’t know it was the
two of you.”
“And if you did know? Would it have changed anything?” Derek glared at her
again, “Would it really have mattered if you knew it was Scott you were
shooting at?”
“Of course it would!” Allison yelled, “Scott’s not…Scott wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
“And what about me?” Derek asked, his eyes turning electric blue.
Allison’s grip on her dagger tightened, “I know what those eyes mean, do they?”
Derek’s nostrils flared as he shifted. Stiles watched him, the way his body
grew more tense. What the hell did Allison mean by that?
“Can we not fight each other until we’re sure we’re not going to die here?”
Stiles asked, “Also, can you not tell your scary dad and your psycho aunt about
Scott and me?”
“Psycho aunt?” Allison asked, her face twisting, “What the hell do you mean?”
Stiles didn’t have a chance to reply, because the Rougarou was back in the
fray. It lunged from the shadows, clawing Derek across the chest and sending
him tumbling towards the ground. Allison grabbed for the crossbow, loading it
again and firing off a shot at the Rougarou.
“If you hit Derek with that thing…” Stiles warned her.
Allison looked at him, her face a blank mask, “I won’t.”
“Good, I’d really like to go at least a week without having to save him from
wolfsbane poisoning again.”
“Again?”
Scott jumped on the Rougarou’s back, frantically clawing at its shoulder blades
while Derek dove towards its middle, punching it in the stomach once before
digging his claws into its chest. The Rougarou howled in pain, shaking Scott
off its back, picking him up, and then using him as a werewolf baseball bat. It
grabbed Scott by the legs and swung his body into Derek, sending Derek flying
into the wall and then letting go of Scott.
The Rougarou turned, locking its eyes onto Stiles and Allison. Allison grabbed
Stiles’ arm and pulled him to the side, pulling him behind the reception desk.
Allison popped up from behind the desk, firing off another arrow that lodged
itself in the Rougarou’s throat.
“Lydia!” Erica’s frantic voice came from behind them, “Lydia! Stop!”
Stiles and Allison turned at the same time to see Lydia stepping over the
broken glass and into the library. Erica was right behind her, trying to pull
her back outside but Lydia would just shake her off and keep walking.
“What is she doing?” Allison hissed, “Lydia!”
The Rougarou ripped the arrow out of its throat, a spray of blood following
after it as it ran around the side of the room and set its sights on Lydia.
Allison fired another arrow at it, hitting it in the side, but it didn’t slow
the Rougarou down. She sat the crossbow on the desk and pulled out her dagger,
running towards the Rougarou.
Stiles took advantage of the moment to run towards Derek and Scott. Derek was
just pushing himself up from the ground, and Scott was unconscious, but he was
still breathing. Stiles helped Derek up from the ground just as Allison
screamed, staggering backwards after the Rougarou backhanded her again.
Lydia was right in the path of the Rougarou, it seemed like she was the only
thing it cared about. Erica ran inside the library, giving up on trying to pull
Lydia away, and stumbled to the ground near Allison.
Lydia stood completely still, and as the Rougarou got closer, she opened her
mouth and screamed.
The sound was nothing like Stiles had ever heard before. The entire room seemed
to vibrate, glass display cases shattering as Lydia’s voice rose higher and
higher. Derek fell to the ground, pawing at his ears as he tried to block out
the sound.
The tile floor in front of Lydia cracked, pieces of it splintering in the
direction she screamed. The Rougarou was right in the path of Lydia’s scream
and it went flying backwards, crashing into a display case and screaming as the
glass embedded itself into the Rougarou’s skin.
It was like it had been hit by a freight train. Stiles had never seen anything
like it, even during the fight with Laura.
Lydia kept screaming, stepping forward towards the Rougarou. It rolled back and
forth, howling in pain as the wall behind it splintered and caved in under
Lydia’s scream.
“Holy shit.” Stiles whispered.
Apparently, Lydia was now the fucking Black Canary.
Abruptly, Lydia’s voice stopped, and the room quieted. Lydia fell to her knees,
gasping for air as she hit the ground. The Rougarou was still, not moving at
all.
“We have to get out of here.” Derek said, “I can hear the sirens.”
“Shit.” Stiles hissed, “Get Jackson outside, there’s no way I can carry him.”
Derek nodded and retrieved Jackson’s still unconscious body from the floor a
few feet away and ran outside with him. Stiles helped Scott up as he regained
consciousness, and Erica and Allison both wrapped an arm around Lydia and led
her outside.  
They all stumbled outside, only making it a few more steps before fatigue took
over. Stiles could see the flashing lights down the road and he was already
trying to figure out a lie to tell his dad. Derek laid Jackson’s body down on
the grass and then turned to Stiles.
“Are you OK?”
“I’m fine,” Stiles waved him off, “you need to get out of here though. I can’t
explain to my dad why you’re here.”
“And how are you going to explain everything inside?” Derek looked panicked.
“We didn’t see anything.” Allison said, “That’s what we’re going with. The
power went out, we heard screaming, and by the time we got to the front of the
library it was destroyed and the Liberian was dead.”
“And how do we explain the fucking monster inside?” Erica’s voice trembled.
Derek looked over his shoulder, turning his head to the side, “It’s gone. I
don’t hear or smell it anymore.”
“Fuck.” Stiles hissed, “We’ll deal with that later. You need to get out of here
before my dad shows up. One of the doors in there is barricaded from the
inside, can you fix it? We wouldn’t be able to explain that.”
Derek looked conflicted, but Stiles stared him down until he nodded and gripped
Stiles’ shoulder, squeezing and letting his hand linger for a few minutes
before he turned and ran back into the library. He trusted that the Rougarou
wasn’t around and that Derek would be able to disappear quickly afterwards.
“Everyone agrees to the same story?” Stiles asked, looking around the group.
“I can’t fucking believe this.” Erica cried, “What the fuck is happening?”
“I’ll explain everything that I can,” Stiles said, “I promise. But not now.”
“Fine.” Erica ran a hand through her hair, “I didn’t see anything.”
“What about Lydia and Jackson?” Scott asked, his wounds already healed.
Lydia finally spoke, her voice almost completely gone, “I didn’t see anything.”
“And what do we say when they ask about Allison’s injuries? What the fuck do we
say about Jackson?” Erica was growing more and more panicked.
Lydia answered her, “Jackson freaked out when he saw the librarian dead, he
ran, slipped in her blood, and hit his head. If he even remembers anything
about the monster when he wakes up no one will believe him, it’ll be the word
of the five of us versus the word of someone with a head injury.”
“Lydia is right,” Allison said, “if I’ve learned anything, it’s that people
would rather believe the worst lie than the truth that they can’t wrap their
head around. No one would believe Jackson if he said he saw what attacked us. I
can cover up most of my injuries, just say I slipped and fell in broken glass
for the cuts on my legs.”
“And what about the people who do know what actually happened here?” Stiles
asked Allison, “Are you going to tell your parents?”
Allison’s fists clenched, “I have to. They already know that thing is out there
killing people all over town.”
“And what about Scott?” Stiles challenged, “Are you going to tell them about
him? Your aunt already attacked Derek and Laura for no reason last week, are
you going to send her after Scott next?”
“Stiles!” Scott hissed, “This is not the time for this conversation!”
“When is the time for it then?” Stiles all but yelled.
“Kate was attacked by that thing last weekend, she was defending herself
because she thought it was the Alpha that attacked her.”
“The Alpha has a name, it’s Laura Hale.”
“I know that!” Allison raked a hand through her hair, “I…I won’t tell my dad
about Scott. At least not yet. But I want to know everything.”
Stiles sighed and slumped forward, the adrenaline rush finally subsiding and
leaving him feeling worn out and empty. He didn’t have any fight left in him,
he simply flapped a hand in Allison’s direction and hoped she took it for a
yes.
“You’re not telling him about Lydia either.”
Allison looked between Stiles and Lydia before nodding, “To be honest, I don’t
even know what I’d tell him about Lydia.”
“Please don’t talk about me like I’m not sitting right here.” Lydia’s horse
voice still managed to carry a displeased tone.
“Sorry.” Allison and Stiles replied at the same time.
“This is so fucked up.” Erica sighed, slumping back against the bench behind
her, “You’ve all got one hell of a story to tell me.”
Stiles nodded and laid back onto the grass, closing his eyes and trying to
forget everything that had just happened as what sounded like the entire Beacon
Hills Sheriff Department pulled into the parking lot of the library.
 
 
Chapter End Notes
     wow so HEY we're finally here lmao the chapter i've been waiting to
     write since i first thought of this fic. i hope you enjoyed my
     completely unrealistic public library that i created for the singular
     purpose of an extended action scene and because i wanted to do Night
     School but not in the actual school!
     also, hey! lydia! she's going to have a more active role now lmao i'm
     so stoked because the whole banshee thing was woefully underused when
     it came to actual powers and i'm very inspired by black canary
     because shes one of the best comic characters ever!
     fun fact this chapter was also going to originally be the one that
     introduced allison as a hunter with stiles being like "oh shiiiiit"
     and there was going to be a longer "is she or isn't she one yet"
     leading up to it but i threw those plans out a long time ago
     also, yoga. because sexual tension.
     sorry im just really excited about this chapter lmao
***** Two Truths and a Lie *****
Chapter Notes
     slight warning for an in-depth description of a panic attack at the
     end of the chapter if you need to skip it it starts with "He ran to
     the bathroom," and ends with ""You're here." Stiles said"
See the end of the chapter for more notes
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                              Chapter Twenty-Four
                             Two Truths and a Lie
                                        
Sheriff Noah Stilinski had seen a lot of things in his years in law
enforcement, terrible things that no one should ever have to see. Beacon Hills
was a small town, sure, but that didn’t mean that things never went wrong. He
may not have experienced things that a big city officer would have, but he’d
seen enough to know how messed up the world could be.
Even with all that behind himself, nothing could have ever prepared him for
seeing his son sitting on the grass outside of the public library, glassy eyed
and numb, while he was surrounded by a group of other teenagers.
Noah would hesitate to call them Stiles’ friends, if only because he knew the
only friend Stiles ever talked about was Scott. Scott was the only friend of
Stiles’ that Noah had ever met, and, while it often kept him up late at night
worrying about how he’d failed his son, he was fairly sure that Scott was his
only friend.
Still, Stiles sat on the ground, Scott’s head nuzzled into his right shoulder
while Allison Argent was sitting with her hand on Scott’s leg. Lydia Martin
drooped next to Stiles with most of her weight resting on Stiles’ left side.
Erica Reyes, who Noah vividly remembered from the nasty business at the school
last year, sat at Stiles’ feet. Noah knew Stiles was going to have a lot of
things to explain when this was all over, and the reason behind Lydia Martin
being pressed against his side was going to be high on that list.
The reason for Lydia’s close personal contact dropped about fifteen thousand
places when Noah realized that Jackson Whittemore was laying in the grass
behind them, bleeding and unconscious.
“Paramedics!” Noah shouted, “We’ve got at least one kid unconscious.”
It was then that Noah swept over the other kids once again. He could already
see bruises forming on Stiles’ arm, Allison’s legs were cut to pieces, and
Scott’s shirt was torn in a few places, but he didn’t seem to have any visible
injuries.
Lydia and Erica, though both looked like they were about to vomit, seemed to be
free of any injuries.
Noah dropped to his knees, pulling Stiles towards him and into a tight hug.
Scott graciously moved backwards, while Lydia jumped as if she hadn’t been
aware of Noah’s approach.
Noah wordlessly released Stiles and grabbed for Scott, pulling him into a
quick, but equally as firm, hug. Noah viewed Scott as something like another
kid, the same what that he knew Melissa viewed Stiles as another son. He was
just as relieved to see both of them alive, though he didn’t know how well they
were.
Noah ignored the footsteps of his deputies as they rushed past him and into the
library. Distantly, Noah was aware of the reason they were called to the scene
in the first place, but all that mattered was Stiles and the rest of the kids.
Noah had been close to packing it in for the night, ready to head home and
relax for a few hours after a long day of running his head into immovable
objects while trying to get something done on any of the fucked up cases that
had crossed his desk in the last few weeks, when he’d heard the call come in.
Someone, a man, had called 911 to report the sounds of screaming coming from
the library. Noah was about to pass it off to another deputy until he
remembered that Stiles told him earlier in the day that he would be working on
a class project at the library with a group of kids from his school.
Noah tried not to panic, it was entirely possible that Stiles was already home
by then, so he called Stiles’ phone.  When it went straight to voicemail, Noah
gave himself full license to panic. Stiles never let his phone die, his was
almost obsessive in that fact that he never let it fall below 25%.
Noah rounded up every deputy he could spare, all of them willing to be pulled
out when Noah told them that Stiles could be at the library. He’d rather be
embarrassed and seen as an overprotective father by pulling up to the library
with a squadron for a simple prank, than to be overly cautious and not show up
with enough help if his son was truly in trouble.
He leaned back on his legs, looking over the group of kids again just as the
paramedics rolled over a stretcher and dropped down next to Jackson.
“How long has he been unconscious?” One of them asked.
Lydia and Stiles looked at each other, as if they were communicating silently,
and Lydia spoke a moment later.
“Twenty minutes?” Lydia said, though Noah had to strain to hear her because her
voice was almost completely gone, “Maybe half an hour?”
Noah raked a hand down his face, “Jesus, kids. What the hell happened?”
Stiles squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, and when he opened them Noah felt
sick to his stomach. It was as if Stiles had erased all the pain and fear from
his eyes and replaced it with a fake mask of neutrality.
“Jackson tripped and fell when we were running,” Stiles said, his voice light,
“He hit his head on the ground, Scott and I carried him out but tried not to
move him too much.”
“He’s most likely got a concussion,” the paramedic said, “and a broken leg. You
said he fell? Where is this blood from?”
The skepticism in the paramedic’s voice was not lost on Noah. He looked at
Stiles who opened his mouth without missing a beat.
“He was running fast and slipped on the…on the blood.”
“Blood?” Noah balked, “Stiles, what the hell happened?”
Stiles’ reply was cut off by a call from Parrish on his radio.
“Sheriff, you’re going to want to come see this.”
Noah looked up, conflicted about leaving the group of kids in front of him.
“Go, Sheriff, we’ll make sure they’re all OK.” The second paramedic said before
crouching in front of Allison to take a look at the cuts on her legs.
With on last lingering look at Stiles, Noah stood and walked over to the front
of the library. He could already see the broken glass doors before he
approached, and he could see flecks of blood strewn about the broken glass on
the concrete outside. None of that prepared Noah for what he’d see when he
stepped inside the library.
The lobby of the library was destroyed, shattered glass, broken doors and
shelves. The tile was cracked for fucks sake.
“What the hell?” Noah muttered to himself.
“Sheriff!” Parrish called out, “Over here.”
Noah walked over to Parrish, gasping when he stepped to the side to reveal the
body of the local librarian, Ms. Dane. Or, well, the pieces of Ms. Dane.  
Noah almost lost his dinner on the spot. Ms. Dane had been the librarian since
he was in high school, back when the library was a simple one story building
downtown. Noah had never expected to see the old woman he’d seen grow with the
town in pieces, her intestines pulled out onto the floor.
“Jesus, fuck.” Noah whispered, turning his head away from the scene.
It was then he realized that the kids had all seen this too, that Stiles had
seen this.
The were sets of footprints in the blood, a spot where it looked like someone
had fallen and slipped through the deep red puddle as well.
None gave one last look at the body over his shoulder before sighing and
pinching the bridge of his nose, “We’re going to need to talk to the kids.”
 
                                       X
                                        
Scott was the first interview Noah conducted. It was easiest, he was able to
call Melissa personally and explain to her what happened. He asked her to come
down to the station so he could speak to Scott and while Noah knew that Melissa
wouldn’t have a problem with his speaking to Scott alone, this was a delicate
situation and possibly connected to a bigger string of murders and Noah needed
to do everything above board.
“Thank you both for making some time for me.” Noah said, smiling at Scott and
Melissa.
Melissa smiled back, though the edges of it were tight and forced. Noah knew
that Melissa had been worried since he called her, and the fact that he
couldn’t share much information with her other than that Scott was uninjured
didn’t do much to calm her. He’d assumed that Scott had told Melissa everything
by now, or at least as much as he was going to tell her.
“How is Stiles?” Melissa asked.
“He’s fine,” Noah said, “he’s out waiting with Erica Reyes until her parents
show up.”
“What about Jackson?” Scott asked, “Have you heard anything?”
Noah sighed, “Last I heard, his fibula was broken, and he had a pretty severe
concussion. They’re keeping him overnight for observation. I’ve got a deputy
stationed outside his room, but his parents don’t want him speaking to anyone
until the doctors have cleared him.”
“Jesus, Noah,” Melissa sighed, “What the hell happened out there?”
“That’s what I want to ask Scott.” Noah said, “Just talk me through what
happened.”
“Did Stiles tell you?” Scott asked.
Noah shook his head, “I need to hear everything in your own words, Scott.”
Scott grimaced.
Noah didn’t let Scott know that he hadn’t spoken to Stiles about what happened
aside from the few questions outside of the library. Noah could feel that
something was off with the whole thing, and while he didn’t think his son and
his friends were a group of murderers, something just didn’t sit right with
Noah. He wanted to talk to everyone else before he talked to Stiles.
Scott opened and closed his mouth a few times before he spoke, “We were working
on our projects and we got pretty wrapped up in them, we didn’t realize the
time until the librarian came over and told us we were the last ones left and
the place was about to close.”
“What time was this?”
Scott shrugged, “A little bit before nine?”
Noah nodded for Scott to continue.
“Stiles came over and said his phone didn’t have service, I tried mine and it
didn’t work either. I didn’t think it was that weird because the library is
pretty far out, and I always lose my signal at school. Then the power went out
and everyone started to get freaked out. That’s when we heard the scream.”
“Scream?”
“Yeah, we heard someone scream a few times and then what sounded like glass and
wood breaking so we wanted to get out of there. We all stuck together and
started to leave. When we got to the front that’s when we…when we saw the body.
She was just laying there like that, and there was so much blood and it looked
like the front room had been destroyed.”
Melissa’s hand on Scott’s shoulder tightened.
Scott continued, “Everyone freaked out, we were trying to stay calm, but we
couldn’t call anyone because no one had service and we wanted to get out of
there. Jackson was panicking so he ran, and I guess he slipped in the blood or
something because he fell really hard and hit his head so we all had to carry
him out and then you came a little while later.”
“Your shirt was ripped when I saw you,” Noah said, “how did that happen?”
Scott stiffened for a brief second, almost fast enough for Noah to miss, “I
guess it got caught on some glass when we were carrying Jackson out.”
“Who exactly helped carry Jackson?”
“Me, Stiles, and Allison.”
“Allison Argent?” Noah asked, skeptical.
Scott nodded, “She’s like, stronger than Stiles and I combined, she still
managed to hold onto him when she tripped and fell.”
Noah huffed out a small laugh, “Is there anything else you can remember?”
Scott shook his head, “I don’t think so.”
Noah nodded, standing up, “OK. You two go home and get some sleep, I’ll let you
know if I have anymore questions.”
“Should we be worried about the kids?” Melissa asked, “If someone thinks they
saw something…”
“Mel, don’t worry. I’m going to figure this out.” Noah smiled, “If it makes you
feel better I can put someone outside of your house for tonight?”
“Mom, I think they probably have better things to do.” Scott said.
“It’s really no trouble.”
“No,” Melissa laughed to herself, “Scott’s right, your deputies have better
things to do than babysit my house all night.”
Noah nodded, “Alright. You let me know if you change your mind.”
“I will.”
Noah watched Melissa and Scott leave. He waited another few minutes before
leaning out the door and calling in his next set of parents.
 
                                       X
                                        
Noah leaned back in his chair, scrubbing a hand over his face as he sighed.
He’d just sent Allison and her father home and stared down at the notes in his
book in a strange sort of disconnect. He went over everything again, starting
with the notes he took during Scott’s interview, then Lydia Martin, followed by
Erica Reyes, and finally Allison Argent. He almost couldn’t believe it himself,
but there he was, sitting at a stainless steel table in the middle of an
interview room and doubting the words of four scared and injured teenagers.
It wasn’t that they each didn’t put forth a compelling form of events, it’s
that they were all almost the same. Sure, there were a few personal touches to
each of their story, something that another kid might not have noticed, but by
and large they were almost identical in their description of events. Noah
normally wouldn’t have been bothered by that, but after spending so long
researching the Hale fire over the last few weeks he’d gotten pretty good at
picking up on when stories were too similar.
Each kids statement followed the same beats, the same sequence of events in
almost the exact same order. The power outage, screaming, breaking glass, the
body, Jackson slipping and having to be carried out, Allison falling.
It just didn’t sit right with Noah. It was too perfect, too rehearsed. It was
like Noah was being told exactly what he needed to hear to match up with the
state the kids were in when Noah found them. And god damn, it hurt him to think
it, but there was only one person who would know the exact kinds of things that
Noah would be looking for in his investigation.
Stiles had grown restless all night as he watched his friends come and go from
the room, and when it was just him left in the waiting room he seemed to
vibrate almost uncontrollably. It wasn’t odd for Stiles, his body was always in
perpetual state of motion, but there was a certain edge to it that Noah
couldn’t overlook when he thought about it.
Noah knew for a fact that none of the kids killed anyone, that was clear as
day, but he wasn’t convinced that they weren’t lying to protect someone.
But who would they be protecting? And why?
Noah sighed and pushed his chair backwards, wincing as it scraped across the
floor. It was time to get it over with, time to pull Stiles in the room and
find out exactly what he knew. He’d have to have another deputy sit in and ask
most of the questions, because he was still trying to do everything above
board, but even if the deputy wasn’t as tough as he would be himself, Noah
could at least see how Stiles reacted. And there was nothing that said he
couldn’t question his son as a parent at home afterwards.
It broke his fucking heart to have to do it, but Stiles had already broken the
trust they’d shared up until that point in the past few weeks.
Steeling himself, Noah opened the door and waved to Stiles to get his
attention.
He was interrupted by Parrish, rushing over to him with a phone pressed against
his ear.
“Sheriff!” Parrish said, “They want you over at the hospital s soon as
possible.”
Noah saw Stiles’ head whip towards them out of the corner of his eye.
“What is it? Is everything OK with the Whittemore kid?” Noah asked.
Parrish nodded, “He’s awake and he wants to talk to you now. His parents said
he’d freaking out, wont calm down and said he needs to talk to the Sheriff
now.”
Noah turned to face Stiles, just in time to see his wide-eyed look of fear
before he wiped the expression off his face and replaced it with something more
neutral and Noah’s heart broke all over again. Sometimes he really wished his
kid wasn’t so easy to read, he wished that Stiles knew how much he gave away
just with his facial expressions alone.  
“Tell them I’m on my way.” Noah said before walking over to Stiles.
“What’s up, dad?” Stiles asked, his tone casual.
Noah took a deep breath, “I have to go over to the hospital to talk to Jackson,
I want you to head straight home and not to go anywhere else tonight. I’m going
to have Tara follow you home and make sure you get there in one piece.”
“Jackson’s awake?” Stiles asked, “Is he OK?”
“I don’t know, kid.” Noah said, “I won’t find out what’s going on until I get
there myself.”
“OK.” Stiles said.
Noah dropped a hand to his shoulder, squeezing tightly before standing up and
walking towards Tara’s desk.
“Tara, follow Stiles home for me, will you?”
Tara smiled, “Sure thing. You want me to stay outside just to make sure
everything’s fine?”
Noah thought back to Melissa earlier in the evening, “Yeah. If you’re fine with
sitting there for an hour or two?”
Tara nodded, “Of course.”
Noah was at the hospital within ten minutes, the benefits of flashing lights
and sirens. When he got off the elevator on the floor Jackson was on, he was
immediately greeted by the sight of stressed out parents, one of which happened
to be the District Attorney.
“How is he?” Noah asked.
Mr. Whittemore glared, “My son won’t stop having panic attacks and thinks
someone is coming to fucking murder him, how do you think he is?”
Noah sighed, “Let me talk to him.”
Noah followed the Whittemore’s to Jackson’s room. The lights were dimmed,
probably because of the concussion, and Jackson’s leg was up in a sling. There
was an Iv drip attached to his arm and a small button dangled from the side of
the bed. Jackson was hooked up to a morphine drip, Noah winced at the
assumption of how much pain he must be in.
“Jackson?” Noah said softly, “It’s Sheriff Stilinski.”
Jackson flinched, hissing in pain and scrambling for the morphine pump. He
jammed his finger down on the button and relaxed a few seconds later. Noah
would have preferred if Jackson was a little more lucid for the conversation,
but if he was as freaked out as his parents say than Noah would rather talk to
him as soon as possible.
“Your parents said you wanted to talk to me about what happened tonight?”
“I…I think I know who it was.” Jackson whispered.
“You know who what was?”
“Derek Hale,” Jackson whispered, “He was…he was at the library. I remember him
grabbing him, he had blood on him.”
Noah went rigid, his hands hurting from how tight he was squeezing them into
fists. Pieces were starting to snap into place at a rapid pace, and Noah’s head
was threatening to spin off his shoulders due to how fast his brain was working
to put things together.
Noah took a deep breath, “Are you sure? How do you know who Derek Hale is?”
Jackson swallowed, “There was a picture of him in the paper. After Mr. Harris…”
“Are you positive it was him?” Noah asked, “I just have to be sure. You have a
head injury and you’re in pain.”
Jackson glared at him, “I’m not a fucking idiot. It was his face, and I heard
people saying his name.”
Noah tensed, “Who?”
Jackson took a deep breath, but then deflated, “I don’t know, I just heard
everyone’s voices.”
“OK,” Noah said slowly, “Do you remember anything else?”
Jackson’s head turned to look out the window, “No.”
Noah nodded, “I’m going to leave a deputy outside of your room until you’re
released from the hospital. Try and get some rest, Jackson. You need anything
else then you just let me know.”
Jackson didn’t say anything. Noah turned and caught Mr. Whittemore motioning
him out into the hallway.
“I’ve already spoken to a few judges,” Mr. Whittemore said as soon as the door
to Jackson’s room closed, “They’re ready and waiting to sign any warrants you
need as soon as you ask for them.”
Noah took a step backwards, “We both know how unethical this entire
conversation is, and how it could destroy any case I possibly build in the
future.”
Mr. Whittemore rolled his eyes, “Spare me the sanctimonious bullshit, we both
know you’d do the same if it was your kid laying in that bed.”
Noah groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. Life just got a whole lot more
complicated.
 
                                       X
                                        
Laura was pushing close to 100 miles per hour on the freeway as she tried to
make it back to Beacon Hills. She’d gotten held up while meeting with Braeden,
it took Laura more time to find her than she’d care to admit. Braeden took her
privacy very seriously; her building was warded in ways that Laura had never
seen before. It didn’t help that she was in an unfamiliar city looking for an
unfamiliar person.
It had all been a waste of time anyway. Braeden’s father had a stack of files
left over from when he looked into the fire, but there was hardly any new
information in them. Most of it were things that Stiles and the Sheriff had
already figured out, and the other half were things that Derek and Laura had
already known.
The officials lied, and Kate led a group of hunters to their home, weakened the
family with wolfsbane while they slept, and set the house on fire. Laura had
hoped that there would be some explanation on how the hunters were able to get
so close to a house of werewolves undetected, but it seemed that Braeden’s
father was just as mystified about that as Laura had been all these years
later.
The only new piece of information was something that hardly even mattered. It
was just a single piece of paper, notes taken by Braeden’s father from a
conversation with a bartender in Beacon Hills. A man matching Adrian Harris’
description was seen leaving the bar with someone matching Kate’s description,
drunk and hanging all over her.
At least now Laura knew where Kate learned how to start an accelerated fire
from. And it explained why Harris was one of the Rougarou’s victims.
Laura had basically wasted an entire day, and from the frantic phone calls
she’d gotten from Stiles and Scott, it seemed like she would have been of more
use back in Beacon Hills. She’d been kicking herself for the last two hours.
She knew it was a bad idea to leave them, especially with everything that was
going on, but she was so distracted by the thought of finding out more of what
happened to her family that Laura had naively assumed that everything would be
fine for an evening.
Of course Stiles and Scott, and their friends, would be attacked while she was
out of town. Hell, they were probably attacked for that exact reason. The pack
was at a weakened state with Laura gone, and the opportunity was quickly
pounced upon.
Scott had almost died.
Stiles had almost died.
Derek had almost died.  
And they were all protected by Allison Argent.
Laura’s grip threatened to destroy her steering wheel. She let out a slow,
shaky breath and tried to relax. She wasn’t thrilled about the idea of owing an
Argent for protecting her pack, but if she had to owe any of them she’d rather
owe Allison than Victoria or Chris.
Scott had told her, in vivid detail, about how Allison sprung to action to
protect her friends from the Rougarou. If Laura hadn’t carried an ingrained
hatred of anyone with the last name Argent, she’d almost admire the girl. Laura
knew first hand how strong the Rougarou was, she knew that she had a tough time
fighting it even in her Alpha shift with Derek as back up. But the tiny, human
teenager jumped into action and fought it on her own and lived to tell the
tale. Laura had to begrudgingly admit that it was an impressive feat.
On the other hand, Laura was less than enthused about Scott leaving out the
fact that Allison now knew he was a werewolf, and that he was the Beta Laura
denied having to Chris and Victoria only a week earlier.
She’d gotten that info from Stiles in a separate phone call. Stiles had given
her the version of the story that was less clouded by heart eyes for Allison.
Yes, Allison was just as impressive in Stiles’ version, but her attitude was a
bit more in line with how Laura expected it to be.
Though Laura was a bit surprised when Stiles told her that Allison agreed to
keep Scott’s identity a secret, and even more surprised when Stiles felt like
she was telling the truth. She trusted Stiles’ judgment when it came to
Allison, he’d been critical enough of her in the past that his endorsement
meant Laura could rest a little easier.
She wasn’t looking forward to any upcoming conversations she was bound to
though. Not only did she had to schedule a sit down with Allison, she also had
to explain everything to Lydia and Erica. She was pissed that everything was
agreed to without her knowledge, but she couldn’t exactly blame anyone. It was
hard to lie to people when they’d just been inches away from death at the hands
of a supernatural creature.
Laura wasn’t even going to begin to try and process the fact that Lydia had,
apparently, screamed at the Rougarou and sent it flying across a building
before almost taking down said building with the power of her voice. Laura was
willing to bet that part of that was hyperbole, Stiles may not have the same
kind of heart eyes for Lydia that Scott did for Allison, but it was clear he
respected and admired her. At least they were pretty sure that Lydia was a
banshee now and Laura had no idea what to make of that.
Laura didn’t know what kind of shit storm she’d be walking into back in Beacon
Hills. She’d only briefly spoke to Derek on Stiles’ phone, he told her that
he’d tried his best to clean up any blood or evidence of his involvement at the
crime scene and that he saw one of Chris’ hunters disguised as a deputy
retrieving all of the arrows that Allison had used in her fight, but Laura
wouldn’t put it past the Sheriff to crack this entire thing wide open now.
There were too many variables at play, too many ways for someone to slip up and
say the wrong thing. The Sheriff was a smart man, and no matter how many times
Stiles tried to assure her that they’d worked out the perfect story, Laura knew
it was only a matter of time before everything came to a head.
Laura was half an hour outside of Beacon Hills, she was so lost in her thoughts
she almost didn’t see the figure in the middle of the road before it was too
late. She snapped to awareness with just enough time to gasp, slam on the
breaks, and jerk the wheel to the side. The car skidded sideways, narrowly
missing the body in the middle of the road and threatening to send the Camaro
tumbling over onto its side.
Laura sucked in a deep breath and exhaled shakily as she tried to get her wits
about her. Her hands were shaking, just barely, as she released her white-
knuckle grip on the steering wheel. She turned her head and looked out her
window at hesitated for a brief second before opening the door and stepping out
onto the pavement.
In the middle of the road, in the fetal position, laid a body. She could
clearly tell it was a man with dark hair, he was naked, and his skin was almost
as pale as the moon above her head. Laura took a single step forward,
hesitating to take another one because of how dangerous it felt.
The air was charged, almost as if Laura could sense it was a trap. Laura took
another step, her curiosity winning over her screaming instincts. As Laura got
closer to the body, the feeling of dread plummeted to the depths of her
stomach. She felt like this was going to end with herself ripped apart in the
forest, but she was so close to the body now that she had to know for sure, she
had to know if the body belonged to who she thought it did.
Laura stood over the man, his face was turned to the side and pressed into the
asphalt, but Laura could hear the shallow beat of his heart. He was still
alive. Laura reached down, slowly as if she was moving through muddy water, and
rested her hand on the mans shoulder. A shock immediately went through her
body, a red mark shooting its way up her arm and healing itself half a second
later.
Laura had been shocked by magic once before as a kid. She was playing in
Deaton’s workshop when she shouldn’t have been and unknowingly touched a book
that had been warded. It was the same sharp feeling of pain she’d felt just a
moment ago. Deaton had explained the intricacies of magic to her that day,
about how you should never mess with something you’re unfamiliar with, but
Laura hadn’t paid attention. She’d learned her lesson to not fuck with anything
magical she didn’t know unless it came directly from Deaton.
Bracing herself for another shock, Laura reached down and quickly flipped the
body over to reveal the face of the man in the road.
Laura gasped and pulled her hand, not because she was hurt again but because
she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Laura stared with wide eyes at a body
fully healed of any and every burn scar.
“Peter?”
 
                                       X
                                        
Stiles wasn’t surprised when Tara stayed parked in the driveway after escorting
him home. He’d expected it, especially after the call his dad had gotten about
Jackson. Stiles could feel the entire web he’d spun unraveling at the hands of
his father and there was nothing he could do to stop it. His dad had questioned
every single one of his friends before even speaking to Stiles at the station,
and Stiles knew exactly what that meant. His dad saw through their story, or at
least saw the parts that didn’t quite add up. There was no telling what Jackson
remembered, but for all Stiles knew his dad could be getting a crash course in
werewolves while he sat on the end of his bed in his room.
The worst part was…he could barely bring himself to care. He was so tired, and
every time he tried to close his eyes all he could see was Ms. Dane’s glassy
eyes and the blood pulling around her severed body. Ms. Dane had given Stiles
his first library card with a smile, and now Stiles had seen what her insides
looked like.
He ran to the bathroom, shoving his head into the toilet and hacking, but
nothing came up. Stiles only realized he was crying when his tears hit the
water in the toilet bowl, sending tiny ripples across the still surface. His
breath came in gasps, and in one swift motion it felt like the entire room was
shrinking in on him even though he couldn’t see it.
He kept his head down, the sound of his wrecked sobs echoing off the porcelain
around his ears. Every time he closed his eyes he saw Derek covered in blood,
Scott pinned down and screaming, Allison fighting a losing battle, bruised and
limping.
Stiles pushed his head out of the toilet, scampering backwards and slamming
into the row of cabinets behind him. Stiles gasped in pain when one of the
knobs drove itself into his back and he hunched forward, sticking his head
between his knees as he tried to calm his ragged breathing.
Stiles squeezed his eyes shut, but all he could see were the bodies of everyone
he cared about strewn in front of him. Everyone he loved was dead, their bodies
ripped open like Ms. Dane. The Rougarou walked around him in a circle, taunting
him while it licked the blood of his friends and his dad from its sharp claws.
“Stiles!” A distant voice that sounded like Derek called out.
Stiles’ breathing hitched and he let out a manic laugh. Of course, of course he
was going insane and hearing voices now. What else was left?
He was losing his mind on the floor of his bathroom. His best friend was a
werewolf. He had a crush on a different, broodier werewolf. The girl his best
friend had a crush on killed werewolves. The girl he used to have a crush on
put a new twist on the phrase ‘scream like a banshee’.
“You’re not losing your mind,” Derek’s disembodied voice said softly, “you’re
having a panic attack.”
“I-I-I’m aware!” Stiles yelled out between sobs, “You can get out of my head
now!”
Disembodied Derek huffed, sounding quite like the real thing.
“Stiles, look at me.”
“Nope. You’re not real.”
Suddenly, a strong hand gripped the back of his neck and Stiles felt it
reverberate though his entire body like a shockwave. His head snapped up, eyes
locking with a not disembodied, but very physically present, Derek.
Derek reached forward, grabbing Stiles hand and placing it on his chest, just
over his heart. Stiles fought the urge to dig his fingers into the fabric of
Derek’s shirt.
“You’re here.” Stiles whispered.
Derek nodded, “Match your breathing to mine.”
Stiles focused on his hand on Derek’s chest, trying to match his own breathing
with the steady rise and fall of Derek’s chest. It took him a few minutes to
get his breathing under control, but Derek didn’t move an inch. He stayed
crouched in front of Stiles, a firm hand on the back of his neck, until Stiles
pulled his hand away from Derek’s chest and coughed awkwardly.
“I…thanks.” Stiles trailed off, “I’m better now…I think.”
Derek’s hand lingered for a moment, the tips of his fingers trailing softly
against the nape of Stiles’ neck as Derek pulled his had away.
“You’re here.” Stiles said, almost breathless.
“I’ve been here.” Derek confirmed.
Stiles’ eyes went wide when he realized that Derek directly replied to
something Stiles thought he was only thinking in his head. He almost felt like
he was going to fall into another panic attack, he’d been talking out loud and
Derek heard everything he’d said.
“Don’t.” Derek’s voice was firm, but not unkind, “It’s…it’s fine, Stiles.”
The awkward silence only lasted for a few seconds before Stiles pushed himself
up from the ground and stepped around Derek as he headed towards his room. He
heard Derek’s footsteps behind him, so he left the door to his room open as he
walked towards the bed and fell forward onto it. He heard the desk chair
closest to his bed squeak with the weight of someone sitting down on it, so he
rolled over on his side and found Derek leaning forward in the chair and
watching him.
“Why are you here?” Stiles asked, rushing to clarify when he noticed Derek
flinch slightly, “I mean, I’m glad you are. I’d probably still be on the floor
of my bathroom losing it, but I figured you’d follow my dad to the hospital to
find out what Jackson was telling him.”
Derek hesitated, “I was going to. I…I should have. But I was worried about
you.”
Stiles wanted to tell Derek that he was fine, he would have dealt with
everything himself. It should have been more important to find out exactly what
Jackson was telling his dad. But he couldn’t.
“Thank you.” Stiles whispered, “For, you know, everything.”
“You’re welcome.” Derek stood from the chair abruptly, heading straight for the
window, “I’ll be outside if you need anything.”
Stiles knew he should let Derek go, let him wait outside until his dad gone
home.
“Wait.” Stiles whispered.
Derek stopped, one leg out onto the roof, and looked back at Stiles.
“Stay?”
It was one simple word, but it was as loaded as a wolfsbane bullet.
“Please.”
Stiles closed his eyes. He couldn’t bare to see the look on Derek’s face, or to
watch as Derek climbed out of the window anyway. He winced as he heard the
window shut with a soft thunk, and he told himself he wouldn’t cry. He could be
alone in his room without losing it again. He could, it would be fine. Derek
was still outside.
The desk chair groaned under pressure again.
Stiles eyes flew open and his mouth went dry when he saw Derek sitting in the
chair, his leather jacket draped over the back of it, watching him.
“You’re staying?” Stiles asked, hating how pathetic he sounded. He wasn’t
supposed t sound like that.
Derek nodded, “Until your dad gets home.”
Maybe it was mania, maybe it was the lingering effects of his panic attack, but
Stiles sat up and slipped himself under the covers of his bed. He reached over
and turned the light off, shuffling to one side of the bed, and he turned down
the blanket on the other side of the bed and looked at Derek in the darkness, a
question in his eyes that he knew Derek didn’t need light to see.
Maybe it was the darkness, or maybe Stiles looked even more broken than he
felt, but Derek stood from the chair and sat gently on the edge of Stiles’ bed.
Stiles wondered what he was doing at first until he heard the soft thump of
Derek’s boots hitting the floor.  Stiles held his breath when the mattress
dipped further under Derek’s weight as he slipped himself under the blanket and
pulled it up to his chest.
Derek was close, close enough for Stiles to feel his body heat. Derek shifted,
rolling onto his side so he and Stiles’ faces were only a few inches apart. The
bed was usually big enough for Stiles alone, or even enough to comfortably fit
Scott when he slept over, but there had never been anyone near Derek’s size in
his bed and even if Stiles wanted to, there wasn’t much distance he could put
between them without falling onto the floor.
Stiles could just make out the small details of Derek’s face in the moonlight.
His blue-green eyes, the permanent five o’clock shadow, his lips. They were
close enough now that Stiles would only have to shift a few inches to bridge
the gap between them, to press his lips against Derek without thinking.
Stiles knew he could do it, he could do it, and he knew Derek would kiss him
back. Derek wouldn’t have gotten into bed with him if he wasn’t ready for that
possibility. Stiles leaned forward, his hand coming to rest of Derek’s chest in
a mirror of their position in the bathroom a few minutes earlier. He could feel
Derek’s breath ghosting over his lips, it smelled sweeter than Stiles had
expected.
Stiles’ eyes flicked to Derek’s lips at the same time as Derek’s did to Stiles,
and he closed his eyes and leaned forward to press them together.
He stopped with just centimeters between them. Stiles wouldn’t have noticed if
he hadn’t put his hand on Derek’s chest, but he felt Derek’s entire body tense
just before their lips met. He opened his eyes and backed away slowly, Derek’s
eyes were shining electric blue in the dark room and they were full of warring
emotions.
Confusion.
Fear.
Sadness.
Desire.
“Fuck.” Stiles let out a slow breath and closed his eyes again.
He felt Derek’s body relax as soon as Derek must have realized that Stiles
wasn’t going to kiss him. He pulled his hand away and turned onto his back as
he stared up at the ceiling.
Stiles, knowing what he’d accidentally learned about Derek, could only imagine
how Derek felt right now. Stiles felt a wave of guilt crash into him. Just
because Derek was ready for the possibility of Stiles kissing him, it didn’t
mean that he wanted it. Or maybe he did, but just because he wanted it didn’t
mean he was ready for it.
Stiles was hurt, and scared, and confused, and Derek was there. Derek was who
he was leaning on, Derek was who he trusted and wanted to feel close to.
Stiles didn’t have to guess what it reminded Derek of.
“I want to.” Derek’s whisper pierced the silence like an arrow.
“I know.” Stiles said softly.
“But I can’t.” Derek swallowed audibly, “Not now.”
Stiles turned back on his side to face him, he tried to smile as reassuringly
as he could, “I know.”
Derek turned his head and looked at Stiles, “I’m sorry.”
Stiles shook his head, “You don’t have to be.”
Derek reached out and pulled Stiles in close to him, wrapping an arm around his
shoulder as Stiles’ head fell onto Derek’s chest. Stiles let out a yelp,
surprised by the sudden movement. Derek tensed again and tried to push Stiles
away.
“Nope!” Stiles laughed, wrapping an arm around Derek’s chest and holding onto
him like an octopus, “No way. Too comfortable.”
Derek’s body relaxed again, and Stiles heard Derek’s small laugh come from his
chest. Stiles smiled, content to melt bonelessly into Derek’s body as he
drifted off to sleep. Derek’s hand trailed softly up and down Stiles’ back, his
fingers rubbing swirling spirals over the back of Stiles shirt.
Stiles let out a pleased hum and smiled. Something about this was even more
intimate than the kiss, and he briefly wondered why Derek was fine with this
but not with a kiss, but those were Derek’s boundaries and Stiles wasn’t going
to ask for a specific roadmap.
“OK?” Derek asked, his hand pausing momentarily.
“Mhm,” Stiles smiled into Derek’s chest, “I’m alright with a slow burn.”
Derek’s fingers resumed their motions, and Stiles let the soft feeling of them
dragging over his shirt lull him off to sleep. He knew that things were
probably going to be worse when it came to everything but Derek when he woke
up, but in that moment the only thing he could think about was the sound of
Derek’s heart beating and the feel of Derek’s hands on his back.
 
Chapter End Notes
     hopefully the end of the chapter made up for basically giving you two
     different cliffhangers lol also i KNOW it seems like a tease/cop out
     to have them not kiss, and there's a version of this chapter written
     where they do actually kiss BUT i felt like with everything i've set
     up so far it felt very sus on both their parts to make any kind of
     moves after everything that had happened leading up to it but they
     are essentially done dancing around feelings for each other sooooooo
     after 24 chapters and roughly 145k words we have Sterek lift off
     people
     also, shout out to the fact that i had no idea the sheriff's actual
     name was Noah until I wrote this chapter and had previously named him
     the standard John once before in like chapter 8 before i went back
     and changed it right before this lol
***** Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater *****
Chapter Notes
     super quick update cuz its burning a hole in my laptop
See the end of the chapter for more notes
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                              Chapter Twenty-Five
                          Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater
                                        
Derek woke shortly after sunrise. The first thing he noticed was the unfamiliar
room he’d woke up in. A brief bit of panic spiked through him as he struggled
to remember where he was, but a soft sound from beside him snapped him back
into awareness quickly. It all rushed back to him in one fell swoop, the entire
night leading up to the moment he’d frantically pulled himself inside Stiles’
bedroom window when he heard the staccato rhythm of Stiles’ heart beating out
of his chest.
He looked down and smiled, small and private, when he saw Stiles’ face pressed
into the side of his chest. Derek’s legs were stiff from sleeping in his jeans,
and his arm was numb from the weight of Stiles’ body on top of it, but it was
the most comfortable Derek had been in a long time.
His mind raced as he remembered the night, rushing through the emotions of
deciding to crawl into bed with Stiles. He remembered how terrified Stiles
looked at the thought of sleeping alone after what he’d been through, how small
and vulnerable he’d been from the moment Derek found him mid panic attack on
his bathroom floor.
Derek swallowed deeply, his tongue darting out of his mouth to wet his chapped
lips. The same lips that Stiles almost kissed last night.
Jesus.
Derek was so fucked up that he couldn’t even kiss Stiles. He wanted to, god he
fucking wanted to, but in that brief moment before they connected he’d
panicked. His mind flashed to his first kiss with Paige, and then his last,
just moments before she’d died. His first kiss with Kate, and this his last,
just hours before she killed his family.
Derek wanted to kiss Stiles, wanted to know what his lips felt like. Wanted to
know how his breath tasted, if it was as good as it smelled. Wanted to know the
kinds of sounds Stiles would make, would Stiles be aggressive or reserved?
But Derek couldn’t, because his head was a field of landmines just waiting to
be set off by the wrong step of an innocent person.
Derek hadn’t known how to stop it, how to tell Stiles that he wanted to kiss
him, but he couldn’t. He hadn’t had much practice saying no to people when it
came to things like that. They were either like Kate, who didn’t take no for an
answer, or like the other people who Derek never wanted to say no to, but they
just didn’t matter.
Stiles mattered, and he didn’t want to fuck it up.
He would be forever grateful that Stiles realized what was happening, and that
Stiles had stopped without Derek even asking him to.  How Stiles could tell,
Derek didn’t know, and there was a part of him that didn’t want to know. Derek
knew Stiles was smart, too smart for his own good sometimes, and Derek
wondered, not for the first time, if he should tell Stiles about everything.
Maybe it would be better for Derek to tell him and soften the blow before
Stiles found out on his own. The thought made Derek’s stomach flip, Derek could
only imagine the look of horror on Stiles’ face.
“I can hear you thinking in my sleep.” Stiles mumbled, his voice groggy and
full of gravel.
Stiles’ voice drew Derek from his thoughts, and he looked down at Stiles with
his blinking brown eyes, and tried to smile as best as he could, “Shut up.”
Stiles’ eyebrows knitted themselves together and he sat up, bracing his head on
one arm and putting a few inches of distance between himself and Derek, “What’s
wrong?”
“Nothing.” Derek said, trying to aim for as casual as possible while swallowing
the lump in his throat.
The look on Stiles’ face told Derek he was less than successful.
Stiles sat up further, moving across the bed so there was as much distance
between them as there could be without Stiles falling off the bed. Derek’s
heart sunk, all his worst fears seemed like they were coming true in slow
motion right in front of his face.
“Are you…” Stiles trailed off and took a deep breath, “Do you regret this?”
Derek’s eyes went wide, he was thrown for a loop. His mind was running wild
imagining that Stiles had some type of epiphany in his sleep and had woken up
realizing just how fucked up Derek was. He didn’t think that Stiles would ever
thing Derek didn’t want him.
“Of course I don’t!” Derek rushed out, unsure if he should reach out for Stiles
or keep the distance that Stiles had intentionally put between them.
“Really?” Stiles’ voice sounded hopeful, “I mean, if you did…I’d totally
understand. I get that last night was like, a lot, and if you were just trying
to make sure I didn’t go completely crazy then that would be fine. It doesn’t
have to be more than just, you know, two guys just being dudes and waking up in
each other’s arms. I can be platonic, platonic is a thing that I can be.”
Stiles didn’t show any sign of slowing down, so Derek impulsively reached out
and pressed his hand to Stiles’ cheek, his touch feather light against Stiles’
skin.
“Stiles,” Derek said, waiting until Stiles was looking at him to continue, “do
you not remember anything I said last night?”
Stiles blinked, “I do…but I wasn’t sure if it was part of a panic attack
induced fever dream.”
Derek pulled his hand back and smiled, “I meant it, Stiles. I was just thinking
about how I don’t want to mess this up.”
“Oh.” Stiles said, his voice softer as he moved back towards Derek’s side.
“I haven’t wanted anything in a long time,” Derek said, taking a deliberate
pause, “I don’t want to mess anything up.”
“Me either.” Stiles smiled, curling up against Derek’s side.
“I still…I still want to take things slow,” Derek winced as the words left his
mouth, “It’s…”
As if Stiles could tell Derek was having trouble forming the words, he reached
up and placed a single finger over Derek’s lips, “You don’t have to explain
anything to me. I’m more than fine with taking things slow, it’s not like I
have that much experience to begin with.”
Derek let his hand fall on top of Stiles’ head, his fingers finally running
over Stiles’ buzzcut, “I’ve wanted to do this for so long.”
Stiles laughed, leaning into the touch, “I told you it’s as fuzzy as it
looked.”
“You smell so good,” Derek exhaled, “you’ve always smelled so good.”
Stiles made a choking sound, “Dude, I never thought someone tell me I smell
good could make me blush.”
“Don’t call me dude,” Derek smiled, zero heat behind the words, “I almost lost
it when you wore my clothes.”
“I knew it!” Stiles gasped, “I knew it and I thought I was just imagining it!
You totally have like, a Stiles wearing your clothes kink!”
“Kink?” Derek sputtered, “It’s not a kink!”
“Mhm.” Stiles hummed, the sound reverberating in Derek’s chest.
“It’s not!” Derek could feel his skin growing warmer by the minute, “I just
like how you look in them. And smell.”
Stiles was quiet for a second before whispering, “That’s a kink.”
“I hate you.” Derek grumbled.
Stiles looked up at Derek and rolled his eyes, “You really don’t.”
Derek wanted to glare, but he withered under Stiles’ smile, “You’re right.”
“So what do we do now?” Stiles asked, “Not that I’m saying we have to like DTR
or anything, but, you know, just wondering.”
Derek raised an eyebrow, “DTR?”
“Define The Relationship.” Stiles said, entirely serious.
“Oh.” Derek said, “What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know, dude.” Stiles shrugged, “Do we like, go on dates? Do we tell
people? Do we have to tell Laura? Oh god, Laura is going to have a field day
with this. Scott’s going to die.”
“We can’t tell Laura when we go on a date,” Derek’s eyes were wide with fear,
“she’d follow us for sure.”
“Really?” Stiles laughed.
“Laura was very invested in this.” Derek shook his head, “Too invested.”
“Oh god,” Stiles groaned, “she totally knew every time I was creeping on you.”
“She did.” Derek sighed, “And she encouraged it.”
“Have you heard from her since we called her?” Stiles asked.
Derek shook his head, “I left a note at the apartment that I’d be here, she
should have gotten back a little after we fell asleep.”
Stiles stretched out, his shirt riding up a little, and leaned over Derek to
grab his phone from the nightstand. Derek reveled in the freedom to just watch
Stiles as he moved, happy in the fact that he no longer had to avert his eyes
when he didn’t want to. Stiles dropped back down next to Derek, nuzzling into
his arm as he lifted his phone to his face.
“Uh oh.”
“What?” Derek asked, leaning over to see Stiles phone.
Stiles tipped the screen towards him, grimacing out of the corner of Derek’s
eyes as he scrolled through a long list of missed calls from Laura.
“How did we sleep through that?” Derek asked, “How did I sleep through that?”
Stiles ducked his head, “I put my phone on silent. I didn’t think I’d need to
answer any calls!”
Derek huffed out a breath, “You should probably call her back.”
Stiles cringed but nodded and tapped Laura’s name on his screen. The phone
barely rang once before Laura answered.
“Finally.” Laura growled, “I’ve been calling you all night.”
“Sorry.” Stiles’ voice squeaked, “We fell asleep.”
“Derek’s still there?” Laura asked.
“Yes.” Derek replied, “What’s going on? You sound weird.”
“Something came up on my way home, I need you to meet me at Deaton’s.” Laura
said.
“Laura, you’re freaking me out.” Stiles sat up, holding the phone out, “Is
everything OK?”
“It’s a lot to explain,” Derek could hear Laura’s footsteps as she paced, “I’ll
explain it soon, I just need Derek to meet me at Deaton’s.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Derek said.
“Oh.” Stiles said, and Derek didn’t need to have enhanced senses to know that
he was feeling left out.
“If it’s something important I should bring Stiles with me.” Derek said,
looking over at Stiles and giving him a small smile.
“I’m not trying to keep you away from anything, Stiles.” Laura said, “I just
need you somewhere else while I deal with this.”
“Laura, what’s going on?” Derek asked, “Seriously. Tell us.”
Laura took a deep breath, “I found Peter.”
“What?” Stiles yelled, his jaw dropping open, “You just found him?”
“Where?” Derek asked.
“I found him last night on my way home. About thirty miles outside of town, he
was just lying in the middle of the road.”
“Well that doesn’t sound like a trap.” Stiles intoned.
“He was out of it and there was magic all around him,” Laura said, “I could
feel it. I didn’t know what else to do so I brought him to Deaton’s. We’ve got
him chained up and behind a mountain ash barrier. I want you here when he waked
up, Der. I don’t know what kind of state he’s going to be in, but Deaton thinks
its best if it’s just you and I here when he wakes up. He doesn’t know Stiles
or Scott, and the only interaction he’s had with them has been trying to kill
them so…”
“Right.” Stiles looked to the side, “I’m totally fine with not sharing a room
with a guy who tried to eat me less than twelve hours ago.”
Derek stood up from the bed, rolling his neck to the side to work out the
kinks, “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“While Derek and I are dealing with this,” Laura said to Stiles, “I know you
promised you I’d explain everything to Lydia and Erica, this is me giving you
permission to do it without me. I trust you to explain everything that you can,
and I’ll fill in any holes later, but I need them to understand that they
cannot say anything.”
“They won’t.” Stiles said, “I really, really don’t think they will.”
“OK.” Laura said, “you might want to bring Scott for some show and tell.”
Stiles laughed, “We’ll see.”
Laura hung up and Stiles dropped the phone onto his bed. He shared a look with
Derek before falling backwards onto the bed and groaning.
“That was, what? A good twenty minutes before hellfire and damnation returned?”
Stiles flailed, his arms flying out to the side. “And now that I think of it,
I’d actually prefer to be in a room with the crazy werewolf who tried to kill
me than have to explain werewolves to Lydia and Erica by myself.”
Derek sat on the bed next to him, his hand resting on Stiles’ knee, “I don’t
think there’s much left to explain. You just have to tell them the truth.”
Stiles sighed, “I haven’t been doing a very good job of that lately. You should
have seen my dad last night, it was like, he knew I was lying through my teeth
and he was too disappointed to even call me on it.”
Derek pulled Stiles forward so his head was in Derek’s lap, and his fingers
resumed their previous position in Stiles’ hair, “I think Laura would be fine
with telling him…if you wanted.”
Derek felt Stiles’ entire body go rigid. His eyes were closed when Derek looked
down at him, and he sucked in a deep breath before opening them and looking
back at Derek.
“I know my dad,” Stiles said, “as soon as he knows about everything that’s
really going on he’s going to want to get involved. He’s not going to want me
to be involved. I can’t sit on the sidelines while everything happens around
me, but I can’t let him throw himself into this either. We can’t tell him
unless we absolutely have to.”
Derek nodded, “It’s your decision.”
“Thanks.” Stiles whispered, a small smile on his face, “You should probably
go.”
“Probably.” Derek said, making no move to get up.
He really should have, he knew it, but Derek was too busy trying to make up for
lost time with Stiles. Derek didn’t think the novelty of being able to have
Stiles that close to him would ever wear off. The only thing he wanted to do
was fall back into the bed with his arms around Stiles and breathe in his scent
as they drifted back off to sleep.
Derek might have, if he hadn’t heard the door open downstairs. He froze as he
listened to the sound of the Sheriff’s heavy boots on the tile floor, the sound
of his clanging keys as he threw them on the table, and the sound of his
holster as he draped it over the back of a kitchen chair.
“Your dad is home.” Derek whispered to Stiles.
Stiles sighed and sat up, leaning his shoulder against Derek’s.
“I can probably pretend to be asleep until he actually does go to bed.” Stiles
said, “Then I’ll get Erica and Lydia together.”
“It sounds like he’s on the phone, do you want me to listen?”
Stiles nodded, “Maybe he’ll say something about Jackson.”
Derek turned his ear to the door, leaning forward slightly so he could hear
better, the Sheriff sounded angry, “I understand what your son is saying. I
also understand that your son is suffering from head trauma and I have five
other kids who are saying the exact opposite of him.”
“Jackson said something,” Derek whispered, “but it doesn’t sound like your dad
believes him.”
“Kids lie, Sheriff.” The voice on the other end of the line said.
“My son is one of those kids, I’d advise you to choose your next words
carefully,” The Sheriff’s heartbeat didn’t skip, “and so is your sons
girlfriend. Why would Lydia lie about not seeing Derek Hale at the library?
What would she have to lose?”
“Shit.” Derek hissed.
Stiles looked at him, “What? What’s happening?”
“Jackson told your dad I was at the library.” Derek shook his head, “He must
have come to for a second when I was carrying him outside.”
Stiles sighed, “Typical Jackson. He forgets the giant man-eating monster, but
he remembers you.”
“I understand you’re the District Attorney, and I understand you have
connections. This is the second time you’ve told me that. I don’t think you
understand that I am the Sheriff and you’re compromising anything I do from
here on out by saying these things.”
“Talk to Jackson again.” The man on the phone growled, “I’ll make sure he tells
you the truth.”
“I will speak to your son when the doctor clears him of any lingering head
trauma. That’s final.”
The other end of the line went dead without a reply.
“Your dad won’t talk to Jackson until the doctors clear him. He thinks that
Jackson’s head trauma is making him misremember things.” Derek told Stiles.
“I never thought I’d say ‘yay’ for head trauma,” Stiles scrunched his nose,
“but yay for head trauma!”
Derek turned his ear back to the door just in time to hear a chair scrape
against the floor and the sound of the Sheriff’s body falling into it. He heard
a long sigh, following by what sounded like someone trying their best not to
cry. Derek swallowed and tried to decide if he should keep listening or not.
“Jesus, Stiles.” The Sheriff whispered, “How the hell did it come to this,
Claudia? Did I really fuck everything up that much without you? God, I wish you
were here, maybe he’d tell you the truth. You were always better at talking to
him than I was. Sometimes I think he’s scared of me, scared I’m going to judge
him or throw him in a fucking cell for telling me the truth.”
“What’s he saying?” Stiles whispered.
Derek looked at Stiles, torn on if he should tell him the truth or not. On one
hand, he knew Stiles was already beating himself up over lying to his dad. On
the other, Derek didn’t want to start out whatever they were by lying to
Stiles. He’d told Stiles the choice of telling his father was up to him, and
Stiles couldn't make a true decision without all the facts.
“He’s talking to himself.” Derek said, “About you.”
Derek listened again.
“And Derek fucking Hale. Derek Hale, Claudia. What the hell, right? I remember
seeing him at the supermarket as a kid, running behind his mom trying to throw
shit into her cart. It seemed like all she’d have to do was glare at him to get
him to behave. If only it were that easy.”
“Stiles…” Derek trailed off, “Is Claudia your mom?”
The scent of sadness filled the room almost immediately, it was so overwhelming
that Derek wished he could grab ahold of the words and stuff them back into his
mouth.
“He’s talking to mom about me?”
Derek nodded.
“I don’t know what to do,” The Sheriff was still talking, “I’m afraid no matter
what I do it’s going to drive him away. If I force him to tell me the truth, he
resents me. If I make Derek Hale tell me the truth, because I know there is
truth there somewhere, Stiles may never forgive me. I just…I just want to know
that he’s OK. You’d give me a sign if he wasn’t, wouldn’t you?”
“I don’t want to know what he’s saying,” Stiles whispered, “at least not right
now.”
Derek nodded, slightly relieved, “Ask me whenever you’re ready.”
“You should go meet Laura,” Stiles said suddenly, “finding out about Peter is
the most important thing right now.”
“Are you sure?” Derek asked, “I can stay a little longer?”
Stiles smiled and shook his head, Derek could smell the tears stinging at the
back of Stiles’ eyes, but he knew Stiles didn’t want him to acknowledge them.
Stiles needed time to process, to decide what he wanted to do. Derek stood and
pulled Stiles into a hug, wrapping his arms around him tightly and taking
advantage of the few extra inches he had on Stiles to rest his chin on the
crown of Stiles’ head. They stood there for a few more moments, quietly holding
each other tightly, until Derek put his hands on Stiles’ shoulders and smiled.
“Whatever you decide, I’m sure Laura would be fine with it.”
Stiles nodded, a stray tear slipping out of the corner of his eye.
“Thanks.”
 
                                       X
                                        
Laura handed Derek a phone as soon as he walked into Deaton’s office.
“A flip phone?” Derek arched a dubious eyebrow.
Laura shrugged and rolled her eyes, “It’s the best I could do last minute. Text
me so I have the number.”
Derek flipped the phone open and powered it on, sending quick texts to both
Laura and Stiles so they had his number. It took Derek a few seconds to get
used to the keyboard, but he discovered he had a pretty good muscle memory when
it came to T9.
Laura stopped walking abruptly causing Derek to bump into her while he was
pocketing his phone. Laura spun on her heel, and as soon as Derek saw the face
splitting grin she was wearing he braced himself for the incoming onslaught.
Laura reached out quickly, grabbing Derek by the shoulders and shoving her face
into his neck. She inhaled and laughed, pushing him backwards and smacking him
on the shoulder.
“You finally did it!”
“Did what?” Derek asked, feigning ignorance.
Laura leveled him with a blank look, “Really? You’re going to try and deny it?
You smell more like Stiles than you do yourself.”
Derek kicked absently at the ground, “It’s really not what you think.”
“Oh really?” Laura poked him in the stomach, “Because I think you finally got
your shit together and put the moves on our resident human.”
“I didn’t put the moves on anyone!” Derek hissed, “We didn’t even kiss!”
“This is you in a good mood from not even kissing?” Laura laughed, “Remind me
to ask you for literally anything I want when you finally do kiss him.”
“Shut up.” Derek glared, “I…we’re taking it slow. I don’t want to mess this
up.”
Laura face softened, and she pulled him into a tight hug, “I love you.”
Derek groaned, but hugged her back just as tight, “I love you too.”
“I’m going to give Stiles the best shovel talk of all time, I can’t fucking
wait.” Laura’s smile was positively evil, and Derek made a note to warn Stiles
ahead of time.
“Speaking of pack members terrorizing people,” Derek tried to steer the
conversation back onto the track, “show me Peter.”
Laura’s playful demeanor disappeared almost instantly. She led them down the
hallway and down into Deaton’s magical basement, the same one they detained
Scott in during the full moon. The lights were dim, and Derek spotted Deaton
leaning against the far wall with a large book in his hand. He looked up when
he heard Derek and smiled.
“Good morning, Derek.”
Derek nodded to him, but his reply was swallowed whole when he looked across
the room at the opposite wall from Deaton. He took a hesitant few steps closer,
stopping just short of the mountain ash line on the floor.
Peter was chained to the wall, his skin smooth and devoid of any burn scars.
The skin still had a slight pink tint to it, as if the skin had only just
healed itself recently. He was wearing a pair of mint green scrub pants,
identical to the ones Deaton wore himself. His eyes were closed, and his
breathing was shallow, but Derek could hear the steady rhythm of Peter’s heart
when he listened in.
“I found him naked in the middle of the road.” Laura said, “Like he had just
shifted back.”
“You said you find him thirty miles outside of town?” Derek asked, his brow
wrinkled in confusion, “What time?”
“A little after 10pm.” Laura said, “Why?”
That didn’t make any sense. The Rougarou had attacked the library around 9:30pm
that same night. Could Peter have really ran that far, that quickly, in time to
be found by Laura on the road?
“The timing doesn’t make sense.” Derek said, “And why is he completely healed?
How is he still alive? Allison pumped the Rougarou full of so much wolfsbane it
should have died on the spot.”
Deaton spoke up, “I’ve said before that Rougarou’s are not effected by
traditional werewolf weaknesses. Their purpose was to be a killing machine, the
original witch who created the spell must have been very powerful because she
found a way to strip the wolf of its weakness by combining it with the human
self. A Rougarou, theoretically, could have no adverse effects from contact
with wolfsbane. Touch or otherwise.”
“He smells normal.” Laura said, “Like pack. Like Peter. He doesn’t smell like
the Rougarou.”
Deaton sighed, as if he was put out by having to explain everything, and sat
the book down on the closest table. He walked over to Laura and Derek and
folded his hands over his chest.
“Derek, you said that Lydia Martin…screamed and stopped the Rougarou, correct?”
Derek nodded, “I’ve never seen anything like it. It was like her voice was a
physical object, it broke the walls, cracked the tiles, sent the Rougarou
flying like it had just been hit by Laura and me at the same time.”
“I believe that my earlier assumption of Miss Martin being a banshee is
correct.” Deaton licked his lips before continuing, “Banshees are usually
solitary creatures, they don’t often venture out of their places of birth or
interact with strangers so there is very little written about them. Some lore
states that banshees have the ability to purify curses, that the magic that
created them eons ago was so powerful and dark that it could strip the magic
from lesser beings under the right circumstances.”
“You think Lydia’s scream…cured Peter?” Laura cocked her head to the side,
“Doesn’t that seem a little too easy?”
Deaton shrugged and waved his hand towards Peter’s body, “I don’t know anything
for sure, but I do know that the last time I saw your uncle he was covered in
burn scars and catatonic. I would love to speak with Miss Martin, I never
thought there would be an actual banshee in Beacon Hills. Will she be joining
your pack?”
Laura took a step backwards, “I haven’t even met her yet. Let’s just focus on
Peter for now, yeah?”
“Is there any kind of test you can run to see if he was the Rougarou?” Derek
asked, “Or to find out if he’s cured.”
Deaton shrugged, “I suppose I could introduce him to some wolfsbane and see if
he has a reaction.”
“Do it,” a shaky voice said from the closest wall, “and I will rend you limb
from limb.”
All three of their heads snapped to the side at once. Derek was the first to
make eye contact with peter, his head held up weakly, fighting a losing battle
with the pull of gravity. Peter’s ice blue eyes locked with Derek and he smiled
that infuriating smirk that had driven Derek crazy for nearly two decades.
“Hello, nephew.”
“Peter.” Derek gritted out.
Uncle Peter,” Laura said softly, “you’re awake.”
Peter’s eyes flicked towards Laura briefly, before he rolled them, “Yes, I’m so
sorry you don’t get to kill me now. I’ll tell you, that was sure a surprise.
Imagine my delight when I smell you enter the hospital, my long lost Alpha home
at last, only to then feel your claws pressed against me with a whispered
threat of my death.”
Laura looked as if someone had slapped her across the face. Her eyes were wide,
and her jaw was hung open. She closed her mouth and swallowed thickly.
“I…”
Peter rolled his eyes again, “I’m sure you’re so very sorry, Laura. So sorry
for leaving me alone to be tortured for years, just because you were too scared
to come home and face your demons.”
Derek clenched his fist. Part of him wanted to walk over to Peter and rip his
throat out for talking to his sister like that, but another part of him could
see past Peter’s icy exterior and into the thinly veiled hurt that sat just
behind it.
The worst part was, they couldn’t even deny Peter’s words. They had run away
and left him alone for years.
“Tortured?” Deaton asked.
“I’ve been away from society for a while, so I might not be up to date on my
definitions,” Peter hummed thoughtfully, “but I do suppose that being kept in
magical catatonia for six years while being forced to remember the worst night
of my life repeatedly counts as torture.”
Laura clasped a hand over her mouth.
“Six years?” Laura whispered, “You’ve been the Rougarou for six years?”
Peter’s eyebrows climbed to his hairline, “The what?”
“A Rougarou is-” Deaton began.
“I know what a Rougarou is,” Peter cut Deaton off with a roll of his eyes, “I
wrote the entry for it in the Hale Bestiary. What I fail to understand is why
you think I am one.”
“A Rougarou has been attacking the town for the last few weeks,” Derek
explained, “it’s killing people who were involved in the fire. It started right
after we got back to town, and after you went missing we found the runes in
your hospital room, so we assumed that it was you and that you were being
controlled by whoever placed them there.”
Peter scoffed, “You know what they say when you assume.”
“So you’re not…” Laura trailed off.
“Would he even know if he was?” Derek asked Deaton.
Deaton could only shrug, “Theoretically, memory loss is possible.”
Peter groaned, “I can assure you the witch that was keeping me had no interest
in creating a Rougarou. Any time they came by my room to check on me, they
blinded me, deafened me, took away my sense of smell, just so I wouldn’t be
able to know who was doing this to me. The connection between a Rougarou and a
witch generally requires constant contact, unless the witch who cast the
original spell upon the Rougarou dies and then they’re left to their own
devices and become, essentially, a super powered werewolf.”
“I don’t understand.” Derek said, “If you’re not-”
Peter cut him off with a sigh, “You’ve always been so naive, nephew. Let me
tell you a story, I think you’re going to like it. It might sound familiar at
first, but I promise you there are a few twists that you’ll never seen coming.”
 
                                       X
                                        
Stiles leaned back against Lydia’s bed frame, Prada in his lap and reveling in
the attention Stiles was providing. Erica was on the floor next to him, staring
blankly at the white carpet in Lydia’s room. Lydia sat at her vanity, her hair
piled up into a messy bun while she drank lemon tea with honey.
Lydia could still barely speak when Stiles showed up at her house, only
offering him a horse rasp before pulling him in by the collar of his shirt.
Erica had gotten there before him and Stiles was terrified to even think of
what they’d talked about.
“Werewolves.” Erica repeated for the third time, “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“And Scott is a werewolf. And both of the Hales.”
Stiles nodded, “Laura is the Alpha.”
“The Alpha is the leader.” Lydia whispered, “Laura is the one in charge?”
“Yep.”
“And she knows you’re here telling us?”
“She told me to,” Stiles said, “it’s kinda hard to hide it after everything
that happened last night.”
“That was another werewolf that attacked us last night?” Erica asked.
“Yes and no,” Stiles shrugged, “it’s complicated. It’s called a Rougarou, it’s
kind of a magical hybrid between a human and a werewolf.”
“Magic?” Lydia repeated, “Magic is real, and the town Vet thinks I’m a
banshee.”
Erica laughed, “I think it’s more than think at this point.”
Lydia glared at her, “What is that supposed to mean?”
“I think Erica is referring to your epic Black Canary impression last night.”
Stiles said, catching Erica’s smile out of the corner of his eye.
Lydia rolled her eyes and took another sip of her tea, “I’m not even going to
pretend to know what that means.”
“A banshee’s thing is screaming…right?” Erica tipped her head back, “I think
you nearly brought the library down with a scream last night.”
“Don’t be dramatic!” Lydia hissed, wincing at the strain it put on her throat,
“I barely even remember last night.”
“Screaming aside,” Stiles said, “those feelings you’ve been getting, I think
you’ve been sensing death.”
“Sensing death?” Lydia repeated.
Stiles could see the pieces falling into place in her head.
“The video store, the body at the school, the library.” Stiles said, “You
knew all of those were going to happen before they actually did. You sensed
it.”
Lydia sighed, “We’re changing the subject because I need a Xanax if we’re going
to continue on this one.”
“What is Allison?” Erica asked, “I saw the way she moved and the way she fought
that thing.”
“Allison is a hunter,” Stiles sighed, “her family hunts werewolves and other
supernatural creatures.”
“For fun?” Lydia’s eyes went wide.
Stiles shrugged, “They’re supposed to have a code, only hunt those who hunt
them, but they’ve done a pretty shitty job at following it and from what I can
tell certain members of that family just use it as an excuse to take out their
fucked up murder desires.”
“What do you mean?” Erica asked, “Allison has always seemed nice.”
“The jury is still out on Allison,” Stiles conceded, “but her fucked up aunt is
certifiable.”
“Her aunt as in the new biology teacher?” Erica’s eyes went wide, “Seriously?
Is everyone in this town but me some secret supernatural creature.”
Stiles raised his hand, “Still human here.”
“What do you mean about Kate?” Lydia asked.
Stiles took a deep breath, “You remember the Hale fire, right?”
Lydia and Erica both nodded.
“The Hales were a family of werewolves, they had never hurt anyone and one
night Kate Argent trapped them in their home and set it on fire with them all
inside. She killed them all just for fun, because they were different than she
was, and she felt they deserved to die because of how they were born. The only
ones who survived were Laura, Derek, and their uncle.”
Lydia sat her mug down on the vanity with a thunk, “Well, I for one have never
liked Kate.”
“She does have a weird vibe.” Erica said, “I thought she was just into some
weird shit or something, not that she was a murderer.”
“She makes my skin crawl,” Lydia said, her voice dropping to almost a whisper,
“things just feel wrong when she’s around.”
“Maybe that’s the banshee talking.” Erica laughed.
Lydia glared at her but didn’t say anything. The silence spoke volumes.
Stiles thought back to the first day that Kate started at their school. He
remembered Lydia’s first freak out in the hallway, about how she said she heard
heels echoing through the empty hallway. And then, minutes later Kate entered
the room in an echo of stilettos. Stiles could still see Lydia’s pale face when
she heard Kate entering the room.
“Lydia,” Stiles said slowly, “what exactly do you feel when you’re around
Kate?”
Something hadn’t ben sitting right with Stiles since Laura’s phone call that
morning. She’d said she found Peter so far out of town, but there just didn’t
seem to be enough time for him to get where Laura found him and attack the
library.
“Stiles.” Lydia’s voice was a harsh warning.
“Lydia, please.” Stiles said, standing up and walking towards her, “This is
important.”
Lydia closed her eyes and clenched and unclenched her fists before opened them
again and looking stiles directly in the eye.
“She feels like death.” Lydia said, “Ever since the first day she walked into
class, any time I’m around her I feel like death is right around the corner.
Have you ever felt like someone is watching you? It’s like that, but worse. It
feels like someone is just behind you with sharp claws dancing across your back
like they’re playing with you. It makes me sick to my stomach.”
“When else have you felt that outside of the classroom?” Stiles whispered.
Stiles barely realized that Erica had came to stand next to her. She was
looking down at Lydia, hanging onto ever word.
“The library.” Lydia’s voice was suddenly back to full strength, sounding like
there had never been anything wrong with it in the first place, “I felt it
again last night right before we were attacked. It was the exact same feeling.”
Stiles’ vision went dark around the edges. He was only vaguely aware of taking
a few steps backwards and dropping down to sit on the edge of Lydia’s bed. His
brain hammered him with memories from the past few weeks.
The way Kate seemed to know what he was feeling that first day in class, the
way Kate’s eyes always found him across large crowds, the day at the school
when Kate looked right at him above the confusion of the murder as he said
Derek’s name, the day after Stiles was shot by Allison’s arrow and Kate
happened to know exactly where to grab him to put him in as much pain as
possible.  
Stiles closed his eyes and the image of Kate in the interrogation room on
Friday played on a loop. It was so obvious now that Stiles wanted to kick
himself for not realizing it sooner. Kate looked directly at him through the
glass as if she’d known he was there, her forehead wasn’t bandaged and there
was zero trace of the deep, angry red cut that she’d shown the class only three
days earlier.
Kate had known about his relationship with the Hales from the very beginning.
She’d known about Scott being a werewolf. She'd just been fucking with him this
entire time.
Kate had known everything because Kate was the Rougarou.
 
Chapter End Notes
     TA-DAAA! I've been waiting for this moment for a long time lol I was
     worried the little hints and bits of foreshadowing I've been dropping
     since Kate's first appearance were too small (thought I also thought
     some were incredibly freaking obvious and was worried they were going
     to give everything away in chapter 15 but if anyone realized it they
     didn't say anything lol), but I was so excited when someone mentioned
     their Kate theory in a comment on chapter 22 and it made me even more
     excited for this.
     As you may be able to tell, we're getting close to the end of this
     fic. I don't know exactly how many chapters will be left, but it's
     safe to say we're firmly in the final act now.
Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed
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