“You kissed Kira? That’s great!” Stiles really has a fine talent for putting his own feet in his mouth–hearing a dreary sigh from the other end of the line, he winces and says, “You guys like each other. You should totally forget about sour-wolf. He’s an idiot anyway.”
Scott scoffs. “Or he just doesn’t wanna go out with high school children, which, he actually totally gets cookie points for.”
Stiles’ eyes narrow with suspicion as he says, “I feel like something happened between the two of you after I left you at the loft with him the other night.” He laughs bitterly. “Which is ridiculous, because I know you’d never not tell me anything. I mean, you text me whenever they introduce a new flavour of Pop Tart.” His tone is sarcastic, but his words are deadly serious, “So, I’m sure you’d tell me if something happened between you and the guy you’re secretly in love with...”
There’s a pause and Stiles is sure she’s shooting him a withered glare right now.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about me. I still have Lydia and Malia to talk to. Guess I’ll have Kira, too, if you don’t really want her.”
“Are you done? Scott snips.
Stiles grins, tells her, “No, but rain check, slut.”
Scott scoffs quietly, but thankfully for Stiles, neither of them have time right now as Scott asks, “Is your dad already at the hospital?”
“Yeah.” Stiles nods to himself as he grips the steering wheel to turn the next street corner. “I’m on my way back there now. Derek is gonna meet me there. I told them both what happened, but obviously I didn’t mention Liam.”
Scott lets out a breath (not of relief, mainly just to try to calm herself.) “OK. Thanks. Meet me back at my house when you’re done, please?”
“Absolutely. I’ll text you when I’m on my way.”
“OK.”
“Oh, and Scott?”
“Yeah?”
“Stop beating yourself up. You saved that kid’s life tonight.”
Scott scoffs weakly, says, “We both know the bite could have easily killed him. It still could. So, far we’ve been lucky.”
“Eh, that literally might as well be both our middle names by now.”
Scott manages a tiny chuckle, but as always, Stiles still counts it as a win for her brooding do-gooder ass.
¤
Stiles doesn’t know how he gets away with lying to Derek (of all people; wolves), but he expects it comes from his desire to keep Scotty out of trouble. It may also have something to do with him being in total Detective Stilinksi (Jr.) Mode...
While his dad is busy still questioning witnesses to make sure there are no witnesses, Stiles leads Derek up onto the roof of the hospital, where Parrish and a whole bunch of other cops are poking around. He thanks God briefly for them not being forensic experts as he walks over to Parrish with Derek in toe.
“Can we get everyone off the roof for ten minutes?” Stiles asks the Deputy.
Parrish glances curiously at Derek, then, smiles and nods at Stiles. He turns around, whistles loudly to get their attention before signalling the other cops away.
“Thanks.” Stiles says, “Oh, and see if you can stall the M.E for that long, please? Derek here introduced my dad and I to an expert he’s good friends with.”
Derek fights back his smirk, smiling politely and nodding instead when the Deputy looks at him again.
Parrish glances between the two, both amused and slightly disturbed as he asks, “So, this person is an expert on teenage cannibals?”
Stiles bites the tip of his tongue to keep from countering with something witty and funny. Now isn’t the time, and he shows it by keeping a serious face and a low tone when he says, “Just ten minutes, Parrish.”
Parrish instantly composes himself with a firm nod before leaving them to it.
Derek arches a brow, feeling a little impressed. “I didn’t know you had a serious side, let alone an authoritative one...albeit, barely.”
Stiles mock-laughs before flipping him the middle finger.
Derek chuckles, nods. “Well, that lasted long.”
Stiles rolls his eyes, ignoring his taunt by asking, “So, can you smell anything yet?”
Derek pauses, eyes Stiles curiously, because he feels like something is off with him. But what concerns him more is that–“Why isn’t Scott here, too?”
Stiles doesn’t know how his heart doesn’t so much as stutter when he says, “She was forced to almost kill this dude, so, I’m guessing she’s just taking a short breather.” He definitely feels guilty when Derek looks all bummed out. Stiles tells him, “Look, don’t worry, she’s fine, OK? She’s not having a breakdown or anything. I just talked to her on the way over here, and I’m going to see her after I’m done here.”
Without missing a beat, Derek says “Good. I’m going with you.”
“Wha...” Stiles pauses when Derek arches a brow and asks, “Problem?”
Stiles grits his teeth and mumbles, “No.”
Derek smiles a little too sweetly for Stiles’ irritation right now. He doesn’t see the face Stiles pulls behind his back as he walks away, but he doesn’t need to because he can hear the small little huff that goes with.
Stiles folds his arms, smirking smugly as he watches the wolf look around for a few moments. Stiles then says, “So, I know I could never beat you in a real fight, but it still goes without saying that if you EVER mess with Scotty while she’s in heat, I will bitch slap into the Sun.”
Derek pauses, slowly turns with a scowl and says, “Why would you think I’d ever do that?”
Stiles blinks, rather taken off guard by sour-wolf’s soft and slightly strained tone. And then, Stiles’ blood runs cold when he fucking remembers–“Oh, my God! Dude, I am SO sorry! I didn’t mean to bring up old shit for you! I was just kidding! Well, kind of, ‘cause I have the brotherly talk with all her boyfriends and girlfriends–b-but I TOTALLY wasn’t insinuating you were ANYTHING like Ka–“
“Stiles, breathe, goddamn it.” Derek huffs, but is now smiling and looking rather amused.
And Stiles blows out a sigh of relief upon just seeing him do that alone.
“I wasn’t even thinking about Kate.” Derek chuckles, shakes his head and says, “Just thought you two trusted me by now.”
“Oh, dude, we do! We totally do!” Stiles eagerly tells him, though, smiles sheepishly while then adding, “I mean, Scott trusts you more than I do, but that’s just ‘cause she likes you...uh, more. She likes you more. I totally like you–“
“Good God, stop.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Derek groans quietly, turning away from Stiles to focus more on scenting the scene.
Stiles sighs and follows after the wolf, though, makes sure to give him enough space to do his wolfy thang.
“So, I’m guessing you overheard the conversation I had with my dad.” Stiles continues when the wolf nods, “Well, we’ve gotta be quick about this. We have six minutes left. And Scott said this guy called himself a ‘wendigo’–which there is just too much contradictory lore for me to even begin weeding out which information is fake or not.”
Derek nods again, tells him, “In real life, they’re shape-shifting cannibals. They take on the form of anyone or anything they’ve ever eaten. They prefer the taste of human flesh the most, though they do have eat the whole heart and brain in order to be able to shift into their prey’s form. They’re no stronger than any skilled Beta wolf, but obviously the real problem is they could be anything or anyone. And weird thing is, I haven’t even heard of one being so close to Beacon Hills for over eighty years.”
Derek has always understood Beacon Hills is quite literally a beacon for the supernatural. But in all his life, it’s never drawn so many all at once.
It worries him immensely.
He needs to talk to Scott. She isn’t his mother, but even his mother needed Deaton beside her. And Derek hopes, if anything, he can be that for his Alpha, for Scott. He’s already taught her what he could, or rather, whatever she would listen to.
He’s definitely glad she doesn’t listen to everything he says. Because then she’d just end up as bitter and angry and lonely as he is.
He tried so hard to keep his pack together before ultimately being forced to kill most of them. And there was Scott, who already had a pack choose her and gravitate to her. Even his own, Isaac, while the other half he hadn’t killed had ran out on him (for being such an ass to them; for failing to protect them.)
“This one must have been well-hidden and well fed. They’re not known for good impulse control when they’re hungry.” Derek notes as he crouches down to look at a few droplets of blood near the edge of the roof. He notices how antsy Stiles is, says nothing about it, though, he does watch closely for Stiles’ reaction when asking, “How many people did Scott mention were up here with her?”
“Uh, just Sean and an axe murdering skinhead with no mouth. She was particularly disturbed by that...and so am I. You think his mouth is somewhere else on him??” He starts off curiously asking, but ends up with wide eyes of horror when he actually thinks about it.
“No mouth. Hm.” Derek nods, having heard of such a person, though, until he talks to Deaton, he can’t say for sure whatever he remembers earwigging in on from his mother’s pack council meetings.
Stiles nods, asks, “Yeah. You know anything about that?”
“I’m not sure yet. Maybe.” Derek sniffs the air one last time, just to make sure he’s smelling right. He then finally tells Stiles, “There was someone else here. Young male, by the smell of it.”
Oh, shit. Stiles doesn’t know how the wolf doesn’t notice the actual skip of his heart this time. Or maybe he does, and he isn’t saying. Stiles smoothly pretends his panic is over what Derek is telling him as he shuffles quickly over to him and asks, “Can you smell his fear, or something?”
Derek nods, and Stiles is grateful the wolf isn’t looking at him when he says, “Yeah, that and his blood.”
Stiles gasps softly, pretends to look alarmed. “You think that’s what Scott’s really panicking for?”
Derek turns to him, arches a brow, holds back on a smirk as he says, “You said she was fine.”
Oh, shit. Stiles smiles as non sheepishly as he can. “She is...”
The only reason Derek doesn’t panic, too, is because he knows Stiles would be panicking for real if Scott was really in trouble. So instead, Derek points a firm finger towards the roof exit.
Stiles’ head drops as a defeated sigh blows out of him. “So unfair. She’s gonna kill me.” He mumbles as he turns and shuffles over to the door.
Derek chuckles, says, “Then, learn how to lie better,” before slapping him around the back of the head.
Stiles turns to slap the wolf’s hand away, mutters, “Look, it’s not even that bad. You’ll see.”
¤
“Oh, my shitting God, this is SO bad!”
“Ohh...” Stiles cringes after Scott’s (slightly unhinged) outburst. She has literally just opened the front door on he and Derek, just as Derek was lifting his fist to knock, she almost tore the door off its hinges in her rush to meet them. And he cringes even harder when Derek turns to glare at him.
“Get in!” Scott grabs Stiles by the front of his shirt, yanking him into the house behind her. For Derek, she knows she could move him just as easily, but at least gives him a tiny bit more dignity as she shuffles behind him and ushers him quickly in.
Stiles blinks as she slams the door behind them, her breath is heaving as he slowly and carefully asks, “Scotty...girl, what happened??”
Scott opens her mouth to answer, but Derek cuts her off, grabbing her poorly wrapped left hand gently in his own. He can smell blood, though, thankfully it is bruising when he peeks underneath. He scowls when he sees the indents of human teeth, biting back a little snarl as he asks, “Did someone bite you?”
“The little shit bit you?!” Stiles hisses, and for once, Derek is totally on Stiles’ side, though, he is thoroughly confused.
Scott looks up at Derek, eyes wide with pure alarm as she tells him, “OK, look, I didn’t know you were gonna be here, too, but I bit a kid last night when the wendigo had me pinned and had the kid dangling off the roof. It’s the last move I had left, I swear, I really did try not to break his skin, but I just panicked, and the kid was looking at me like I was gonna drop him, and I almost did, and I don’t know how, but I didn’t drop him, I didn’t let him down, I didn’t let him die, not like I let Allison or Aiden or anybody else die, and I just—”
“Hey, just breathe.” Derek whispers, staying calm for her as he reaches out to her.
For a moment, seeing her panic so much makes Stiles’ heart break. He freezes up, and he doesn’t even realise he’s done so until Derek is moving forward and pulling her into a tight hug and telling her it’s OK and that he understands and that they’ll deal with it. All the things Stiles usually says to her, usually makes her believe, and yet, it somehow makes him able to breathe properly again. Knowing he isn’t the only one who cares about Scott. And knowing that he, too, isn’t alone in taking care of her precious ass.
She isn’t crying or hyperventilating, but Stiles dips a hand into his pocket just to make sure he still has her asthma inhaler with him (as he’s always had, even long after her becoming a werewolf, there’s still been moments and he isn’t willing to take any risks.)
When she’s finally calm, when Derek has made her breathe in-and-out for a good minute, Stiles can already see the calming effect Derek has on her. Despite the fucked up situation here, he can’t help smirking knowingly to himself.
“I’m so screwed.” Scott mutters, shakes her head, flops back to lean against the door.
“No, you’re not. We just gotta figure out how to ease him into it.” Derek says.
Stiles can’t help scoffing lightly and sarcastically cutting in with, “You mean like you did with Scott?” He smirks when they both turn to shoot him a withered glare. They’re SO made for each other. It’s sweet. And slightly sickening. That reminds me, I gotta call Malia before she rips my face off.
Scott sighs, nods and says, “OK. I can do that... I hope...” She pulls the bandage from her hand now that her wound has healed. She pouts slightly when she mumbles, “It really hurt... He said it was payback...”
Stiles purses his lips hard to keep from laughing.
Derek also seems to be fighting a smirk as he sighs exasperatedly and asks, “OK, where is he now?”
“Uhm...” Scott’s voice wavers.
Both Stiles and Derek follow the subtle flicker upwards of her eyes, then, both noticing how she shifts uncomfortably, which can only mean one thing for Scott–that she knows she did something bad...
Stiles’ own eyes widen as Derek’s crinkle slightly in amusement.
“No, no, no, Scott, please tell me you did NOT kidnap a frigging minor!” Stiles sputters, hands gripping at his hair in horror.
“I told you I panicked!” Scott hisses angrily back before instantly sagging back against the door and whining out, “What do I do now?”
¤
After Derek asks her to, Scott leads them up to her room. She unlocks the door and steps in first, head hanging in shame when Stiles mumbles out, “Oh, my God, Scott...”
Derek sighs, shakes his head as the kid glares bravely up at all three of them. He’s weirdly impressed by how well she’s tied the kid up...maybe wonders if she would ever be in to tying him up...
“So, you bit him, then, kidnapped him, then, brought him to your home, then, tied him up and taped his mouth over...” Stiles sums up with a pleasant smile that they both know he uses to mask his panic.
Scott huffs, stares at Liam, who’s now just glaring at her when she says, “Yeah... I told you I panicked, and...he wasn’t helping.”
Stiles chuckles, “Oh, he wasn’t helping you stay calm while you abducted him? How inconsiderate of him.”
Scott glares at Stiles, then, at Derek, who thinks he’s hiding that smirk behind Stiles.
Liam snorts his agreement with a roll of his eyes.
Scott moves her glare onto him, pointing a finger as she says, “You, shush! It’s your own fault I even had to tie you up!”
Derek arches, scoffing out a laugh when Stiles laughs and says, “Holy fuck, dude, that’s such a psycho killer thing to say.”
“Mwhah?!” Liam squeals behind the tape, eyes wide in horror as his they flit between the three of them.
“Shh, and let the grownups talk now.” Stiles waves him off dismissively.
Liam glares when he turns his back on him, blocking his view from the other two.
“Don’t be so mean to him.” Scott tuts loudly, grabs Stiles by the shoulder and shoves him kindly to one side.
Stiles shoots her a withered look as he asks a sarcastic laced, “Really? Me?”
Derek snorts quietly, quickly turning away to pretend he’s more interested in looking at Scott’s bookshelves when both she and Stiles throw him an aggravated look.
Liam rolls his eyes, but is really staring to like the silent guy. Kind of. He’s an adult, yet, doesn’t seem to think what’s happening right now is fucking NOT normal.
Stiles turns to take Liam in again, looks rather thoughtful when asking, “This isn’t gonna end with us having to bury the tiny pieces left of him, is it?”
“MWHAH!!!” Liam yells pretty clearly through the tape this time.
“Nice one, Stilinksi.” Derek pats him on the back before retreating to Scott’s kitchen. Hopefully some tea or beer will help calm Scott (and also, he’s pretty sure the kid is going to make a run for it, the first chance he gets, and Derek is thrilled to see what Scott will do.)
Stiles winces as Scott slaps his shoulder and hisses out, “WHY would you say something like that?! STOP teasing him! He already thinks I’ve brought him here to kill him!”
“Shit...sorry.” Stiles nods, looks at Liam, holds up a hand, “Sorry, dude, my bad. We’re totally not gonna murder you.”
Scott shoves him out of the way with a huff. She smiles softly down at Liam, tells him, “I know your probably scared and confused about all the weird things you’ve seen tonight, or the weird things that happened, but...well, I promise you I would not have, um, done that...to you...if I had any other way to keep you from falling off that roof. And I know you don’t have any reason to trust me, but I also promise you that I’ll try my very best to give you that reason. And um, also, this bite that I...g-gave you...um, well, it’s gonna change you...”
“If it doesn’t kill you first.” Stiles mutters before he can stop this literal Foot-In-Mouth disease of his.
“Oh, my God, I’m gonna kill YOU!” Scott says as she turns to give him an angry glare.
Liam stops his fidgeting and wiggling to get free then the moment he realises he may be able to appeal to the girl’s softer side. She certainly looks like she doesn’t know what she’s doing on top of looking like she regrets doing it. So, like a pro, he begins to sniffle loudly until he’s tricked his brain into thinking he’s going to cry. And then, he cries like a little baby. (And fuck, it feels so deliciously evil, every damn time he pulls this card, because it’s never failed him.)
“Dude, I could have worded myself better, sure, but you gotta give him all the facts.” Stiles argues with a huff.
Scott’s heart drops when she turns back to face Liam. “Yeah, well, I was gonna...ease him into it... Oh, boy...”
“What??” Stiles huffs. “Oh, great, he’s crying. And now, we’re officially going to Hell.”
“I kidnap him, and he bites me! YOU talk near him, and now, he’s crying! This is YOUR fault!”
“Oh, how very Alpha of you to blame your pack members.”
“OK, that’s it! I’m untying him, this is SO fucked up!” Scott waves Stiles off when he opens his mouth to protest.
¤
From the living room couch, Derek leisurely sips at his green tea. He’s reading one of Melissa’s equestrian magazines (a childhood hobby he remembers Scott telling him about and that she used to share with her mother before her father left them) while listening in on the conversation upstairs. A small smirk playing on his lips as he does.
“Liam, it’s OK, you’re gonna be OK.”
“He still might not be.”
“Will you stop doing that, and help me untie him?!”
“Ugh, fine. Hey, kid, I’m gonna take the tape off and you better not scream the house down, or else!...please... What? I said ‘please.’”
Derek’s smirk widens a little while he imagines Scott throwing Stiles a glare.
“We’re really sorry about tha–OOF!”
Derek pauses, scowls—
“Holy shit! Did you just–nyurgh! Son of a–hurgh!!”
—then, Derek is laughing as he hears the flop of Stiles’ body hit the floor. Of course, if they weren’t both getting their asses handed to them by a 14 year old, Derek would go help them out. Instead, he’s quite happy to sit back and sip his tea as he listens to the rest of the struggle—
“Get him!”
“I’m trying!”
“Well, try harder! You have wolf speed on your side!”
“He’s so nimble, I can’t!”
“Goddamn it! Come here you little–shit! He made it to the door!”
“Liam, wait!!”
”Yeah, we promise to still NOT kill you!”
“STILES!”
“Oh, whatever! My face still hurts!”
“Get away from me! You’re BOTH psychos!”
Liam doesn’t even notice Derek sitting there as he rushes through the house and out of the front door. Neither do Scott or Stiles as she stumble and rush and spill out of the house after Liam.
Derek blinks, chuckles, finishes his tea, places the cup in the sink, and then, makes his own exit.