Help me Derek

Chapter 11

"Stiles?" He heard his dad knock quietly on the door but Stiles couldn't answer, wasn't sure his voice would work even if he wanted it to, his throat was clogged with unshed emotion and he wanted to believe that this was it, that he was finally out of there, finally safe, but he couldn't, it wasn't possible, this had to be some kind of dream. "Son, you okay?" Noah's voice drifted through the door again and Stiles shut off the water, he didn't want his dad to worry any more than necessary.

Stiles opened the door, ignoring the fact that his shorts were dripping onto the floor, and looked at his father, Noah's face relaxing in relief and then smiling gently in confusion.

"Stiles, you're all wet, you know, they have this invention now called towels? You use them to dry yourself so you don't drip all over the floor?" Noah said sarcastically and Stiles grinned, dropping his swords and pulling Noah into a tight hug, burying his head in his father's shoulder, Noah wrapped his arms around Stiles, holding him equally as tight. "It's alright Stiles, you're safe, we've got you." Noah muttered into his ear. When they finally pulled apart, if could have been minutes or hours later, Melissa moved towards him with open arms.

"I'm so glad you're here Stiles." She whispered hugging him gently, as if afraid he might break. Stiles wasn't completely sure that he wasn't going to break, the sincerity with which Melissa hugged him, it made his chest ache.

"I got you a towel." Lydia said a moment later and Stiles raised an eyebrow at her in question before taking the towel from her and wrapping it around his shoulders before moving back to pick his swords up, needing the familiar comfort of their weight in his hands, needing to feel the strength that they gave him.

"How long before we can go home?" Isaac asked, "To get a passport for him?" He asked Braeden.

"A day or two I guess?" She replied. Stiles was suspicious of her intentions, he knew she couldn't be trusted, yet the pack seemed to trust her, so he couldn't just kill her. They'd think he'd gone insane. Instead he decided to keep an eye on her, the moment she did something even slightly suspicious he'd tear her apart. Stiles moved to the nearby table where there was a map spread out across it, he traced the lines with his fingertips, studying the names of the towns and cities surrounding them, his gaze hovering on three particular towns, he wasn't going home, not yet, he had business to take care of here first.

"I should check out your injuries." Melissa suggested and Stiles tensed.

"I'm fine." He growled out a moment later, shocking the room into silence.

"Are you sure? I mean, I've got a first aid box in the car?" Melissa replied but Stiles just nodded firmly. He was sure. Besides, he didn't even hurt that much anymore, since Derek had drained his pain, a whole lot of it apparently, he felt a lot better, able to focus more clearly on his movements rather than the constant pain he'd been in, he'd fought better today than he had done in months.

"Okay, well, until we get the passport sorted," Derek began, looking uncertainly at Stiles, "Maybe it would be a good idea if we all got some sleep?" Everyone slowly agreed with Derek, shooting glances out of the corner of their eyes at Stiles, as if waiting for him to react in some way. He couldn't understand this; how could they sleep when there were people out there still being made to fight for their lives? Did they not know about the other rings? Or did they know and just not care? He frowned, struggling to control his emotions as he thought about the other rings he'd spent time in over the past few years, how, really, in comparison the main ring had been like a vacation.

He knew he had to take care of the other rings, that he wouldn't be able to rest until he shut them down too, just because the pack didn't want to do anything about it, it didn't mean that he wasn't going to do something about it himself, he'd just have to wait until they left him alone.