If the Stilinski boys had a thing, and they most definitely did have a thing other then sarcasm and awkwardness, then it would be cars. Specifically old, beat up cars (or in Bugs case trucks) that needed to be attended too every 5 minutes and old enough to be grandparents.
"Bugs are you okay?" Malia asked the spastic teenager who was currently obsessing over every inch of his truck. She could never quite understand why he would be so compelled to guard the damn piece of crap metal but she would never argue it, if it made Bugs smile then she was up for it. Plus she kind of thought it was entertaining when he referred to the car as if it were a person, even going as far as to give it a name.
Bugs Stilinski indeed had a child, a cherry red child that was named Thumper Stilinski. No one quite knew why he named it that but only one ride in the truck down the older rode's of Beacon Hills and they would understand. Heads would bang against the roof of the car every so often, making a very permanent 'thump' sound and that was that. The name was very clear after that every time.
Bugs however, was not smiling in the moment. In fact, he was a few seconds away from yelling at the hunters for touching his baby. Seconds after coming out alive of the real life set of Saw 1 did he catch site of Thumper and Roscoe being driven by Calaveras hunters.
One look between both boys and they had gone from relief of seeing the light of day and each other alive to anger and sarcasm.
Stiles had calmed down after a few seconds, Lydia having reminded him not too push his luck. On the other hand there was Bugs, who was slightly more of a brat.
"Malia, he smelled like tobacco, if that dick smoked in my car I'm going to smack him with my wrench." Bugs whipped around, reasoning with the girl. "Now come over here and smell this seat and tell me if it smells like smoke."
"Uh I'm not gonna do that," Malia quickly answered, shaking her head and stepping back.
"What, why?" Bugs lifts his head ready to complain.
"Because he also smelled like he hadn't showed in weeks," she counters, crossing her arms. A smile breaks out into her face once she sees realization dawn onto his face.
"Oh, ew," Bugs said, twitching his nose in disgust.
"Bugs!" Stiles calls out to his older twin brother' motioning towards where Scott was coming out with Araya.
Bugs looks at Malia once, "watch Thumper."
Malia rolled her eyes, waiting for him to turn around before walking over towards Kira and Lydia.
"So what now?" Stiles asks, the Stilinski boys crossing their arms at the same time in front of the alpha. Neither of which realizing that they had done it in synch, it was kind of their thing. Neither would notice except other standing around them but no one would mention it, they all just understood that the twins were in tune with one another.
"She thinks she knows where we can find Derek," Scott answers, briefly noting the small twin move.
"She gonna tell us where?" Bugs asks, waiting for the rest of the statement.
"Uh, actually, she's giving us a guide." Scott answers the sound of a motorcycle closing in.
"You know her?" Stiles asks with doubt.
"Braeden." Scott utters one word and Bugs rifles through his mind. He remembers her name then, from the time with the Alpha pack. She had saved Isaac Lahey from their wrath, however, had been taken down herself or at least that's what it seemed like. Now it seemed she had more lives then a cat, or Derek Hale since she stood before them, scars and all.
"Who's Braeden?" Malia asked, her voice growing louder as to gain everyone's attention.
"She's a mercenary." Lydia answers her, looking as shocked as every original members of the pack did as well.
"Right now, I'm the only one who's gonna take you to la iglesia." Braeden cuts in.
"I'm sorry," Bugs cuts in. Irritated he hadn't taken that Spanish class his freshmen year," I didn't bring my portable google translate-"
"The Church Bugs, it's the church," Lydia cuts off the older Stilinski. Silencing him with a look and roll of her eyes.
"What's The Church?" Stiles questions, seeming confused why they would be going somewhere holly to find such a devilish bitch.
"It's not a place you'll find God." Braeden murmurs, answering the question.
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Considering Stiles Jeep 'Roscoe' was about as comfortable as a boa constrictor around your neck with one person sitting in the back, another 4 people would certainly not make that idea any better. So Bugs had opted to bring his own car and waste the gas money.
The twins had also decided a 6 hour road trip was not going to be fun unless all "Rescue Team Derek" was able to communicate the entire time so they had bought walkie talkies.
Malia hadn't even asked if she could ride with Bugs before she was sitting in the truck, ready to take on the ride.
So they drove away from Club Calavera in the same manner, Malia tapping her finger against her thigh and looking impatient. Bugs could tell exactly why she was being so jittery considering he hadn't told her the full extent of Kate Argent back in the torture chamber. He had only given her a name and how she related to them before they had been freed. Now, he was waiting for her to ask everyone in both cars.
"Okay, I'll ask. Who's Kate Argent?" Malia spoke to both cars, pressing the walkie to her mouth.
"Uh, I'd like to know, too." Kira was heard on the other end.
"Well, we were at her funeral. So, I'd like to know how she got out of a casket that was buried six feet underground." The Stilinski twins said in the same moment, using the same sassy tone. A smirk was evident in each of their faces as soon as they had finished speaking. They did this thing often as well, even their facial expressions were identical.
"She was never in it." Scott had answered their question. Stating the obvious answer for them all.
"She was Allison's aunt." Lydia answered after a moment. Causing Bugs to look down, the pain from loosing one of their own was still very present. They had all loved the hunter in one form or the other and for some the pain was still too much to talk about , "And a total sociopath."
Bugs could almost see Scotts face at the mention of Allison, she had been the alphas first love. A love that was still very present to the day she had given her last breath.
"You don't have to talk about it now if you don't want to." Kira clearly understood what was happening.
"Um, yes, he does." Malia cut in, demanding to know.
Bugs signed, looking at her with a shake of his head and taking the walkie talkie away," no he doesn't Malia." The werecoyote suddenly realizing this was one of those things she shouldn't press like Bugs had explained, "It's okay Scott, don't."
"No, She's right. You guys should know. You need to know." Scott finally agreed.
"All right. Kate was the one who set the fire that killed most of Derek's family." Stiles began to explain for his best friend.
"Some of them survived, like Cora, and Peter." Scott continued.
"A very angry Peter." Lydia added.
"Yeah, he's the one who bit and turned me." Scott explained.
"And the one who finally caught up to Kate and killed her." Lydia went on.
"Looks like he couldn't even do that right," Bugs added, tapping his fingers against the wheel. He was still trying to process how exactly that bitch was alive.
"And we saw her buried." Stiles reminds them.
"No. We saw a casket, remember? She wasn't in it. The Calaveras heard that Kate had been killed by an Alpha's claws. They wanted to make sure she was really dead. Her body was healing. More and more, as she got closer to a full moon. She was coming back. So they switched out the bodies. If a hunter is bit, they have to take their own life before they change. The Calaveras, they treat the code like law. They make it their responsibility to enforce it." Scott informed the group of what he had been told.
"Good for her. I wouldn't do it either." Malia answered, pressing her eyebrows together like it was the most obvious choice. Bugs once again shook his head at her, sighing. She would get it eventually, he just needed to be patient.
"Would you kill half a dozen people to get out?" Scott asked over the radio, earning a silent Malia. "Because that's what she did."
"So Kate's a werewolf now?" Kira asked the following question.
"I don't know. You know, there's a saying, sometimes the shape you take reflects the person you are." Scott explained to them.
"What kind of shape is sociopathic bitch?" Lydia uttered, and almost as if Kate had heard them herself suddenly the jeep was stalling.
Bugs heard the commotion behind him, looking in the rearview mirror to see Stiles loosing control of the wheel and everyone attempting to hold onto something. Dust floated up at the sudden stop, Bugs also slamming on his brakes. He barely took 2 seconds to shut the engine of his car off before flinging himself out of it.
"What happened?" It seemed like Braeden had also noticed the incident as she got off her bike. She walked over looking beyond frustrates at the set of teenager.
"I don't know. It felt like we hit something." Stiles answered, pulling the hood of his jeep up. Bugs walked over, looking through all the smoke of it and examining it with his twin.
"Scott, we need to get there by night. It's too dangerous otherwise." Braeden talked to the alpha.
Stiles looked at his older brother, both of them having their usual twin conversation only using facial expressions. In this case Stiles was asking wether he should let their best friend go off with only a human mercenary as help. Bugs obviously was slightly concerned as Scott was also his best friend and practically the triplet the never had, but nonetheless answered his brother that yes. They needed to find Derek, the grumpy wolf was necessary in their pack, no matter how bitchy he acted most days. Finally both twins turned and spoke in the same moment, "Go."
"Not without you guys." Scott quickly answered, walking back to the twins.
"Dude, someone needs to find Derek." Stiles reminds him, Bugs nodding his head.
"We'll figure something out. We always do. Just go." Bugs added, now it was Stiles turn to nod his head in agreement.
With a heavy sigh Scott finally gave in, "Okay."
The alpha began walking away as the twins debated over what to do.
"Stiles your Roscoes worse then Thumper," Bugs stated, looking over everything that was being held together by tape, and one piece of dried gum.
"Dude," Stiles instantly defended Roscoe, "Thumper has a shoe string holding it together, mine is not worse."
"There's a piece of your dried gum holding the battery in place dumbass," Bugs contradicted him, pointing it out. "Plus, dad prefers to drive in Thumper. He even told me Thumper is the favorite."
"Kiss my ass," Stiles scoffed at his brother, eyes narrowing slightly," actually kiss Roscoes ass. You and Thumper can kiss both our asses."
"Boys!" Lydia came over, shutting down their argument. The strawberry blonde was not in the mood for this, especially since this one was probably the fourth one they had today. "Can we just get this thing up and running."
"Bugs!" Malia ran over from where she was inspecting the back of the jeep. She held what looked like a dagger in her hand, coming straight up to Bugs and opening her palm to show them," I don't think they hit something. I think something hit them."
One look at the device Jeepers Creeps used to stall the bus of teenagers and Bugs was pushing his brother back to the jeep.
"Let's get Roscoe fixed before we get eaten alive baby bro," Bugs said to his twin.
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"Maybe we should just get in the trucks bed Stiles." Lydia finally questioned the younger twin.
"Thumper, Lydia. He's named Thumper," Bugs reminded the shorter girl who currently held the flashlight. Lydia rolled her eyes at the older twin, sometimes she couldn't tell which one was more unbelievable.
"Hey, I will never abandon this jeep." Stiles popped up, waving the wrench around at the strawberry blonde. The sass clear in his voice as he spoke, "You understand me? Ever. Ever. Ever."
Malia who had been guarding the perimeter around each truck called out too the twins, "Work faster. There's something out here with us."
"Lydia, could you please hold the light still for a second? It's really hard to see anything if you keep shaking it like that." Stiles complained, lifting his head once again from his work. Bugs listened silently, knowing his brother did this purposely. Of course Stiles still liked her, it was evident and sometimes Bugs would catch his brother looking at her as if he still couldn't believe the grave condition they had been put through had brought them that much closer. He would know, Bugs loathed the shit storm that constantly clouded over him and his friend but one thing good had come out of it.
"I'm shaking it like this because we're in the middle of nowhere with your broken down jeep and we're being attacked by yet another razor-clawed monster. And I'm terrified." Lydia complained right back, eyeing daggers at him. Bugs swore they always fought like an old married couple, and people thought the Stilisnki twins were bad.
"Well, just be slightly less terrified. And hold this." Stiles sighed, understand her finally before pulling out something with lots of wires.
"What's this?" Lydia asked both twins
"I don't know. I'm hoping it's not important." Stiles answered her.
Bugs looked at the thing, studying it's shape for a moment before sighing," Stiles. That's the jeeps battery you dumbass."
"Oh wow," Stiles answered, looking at his brother the way he always did when he had messed up.
"Let me put it back before you break-" Bugs began to huff, going to take the thing from lady's is hands.
"Malia, wait!" Kira yelled out, her voice being heard over the growl from the werecoyote.
"Hey, Malia!" Bugs dropped the battery right back into Lydia's hands, turning in the same moment to hopefully stop his girlfriend. Lydia grabbed his arm though, shaking her head.
"Kira, go!" She yelled out, then turned towards Bugs," You. Help your incompetent brother fix the jeep! Focus!"
Bugs turned his head once more to see the kitsune off, his heart hammering thinking of a million different scenarios where something could go wrong.
"All right, all right," Bugs finally answered, grabbing the battery and placing it back into place.
"She's gonna be fine Bugs," Stiles spoke to his brother. He could see Bugs was not in the least bit relaxed in the moment, in fact, Bugs was one second away from running into the unknown himself.
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20 minutes and a slightly fixed jeep later were they all driving down the road, following the path Braeden had left them. Bugs was slightly irritated and Malia could smell it.
Bugs had never been mad at her, not even when she had punched him inside Eichen House so it was a little nerve racking. So far she had been treated to a tight hug and silence, but there was something happening.
Bugs flexed his jaw, tightening his grasp on the wheel and finding the right words to use before finally just spitting out "You... you please don't do that ever again!"
"Do what?" Malia sled cluelessly, truthfully she didn't know why he was mad. She was using her newfound werewolf skills to protect the pack, wasn't that what everyone was always trying to do.
Bugs paused for a moment, reminding himself exactly how to explain to her. Anger wasn't the way to go about this, no he needed to express to her what he felt. "I... I thought you just took off. I thought you were running."
"I was running." Malia nodded, stating the obvious.
"No, I mean, like, I thought you were leaving. I thought you were leaving me," Bugs admitted, tapping his fingers nervously.
"I wouldn't leave without you." Malia answered him, shaking her head. It was the truth, Bugs had been nice to her and she felt protective of him like he did her. She liked how much time he had spent dedicated to getting her back to being a normal teenager. She liked him in general.
"Really?" Bugs questioned, perking up.
"I would never leave without you." Malia reassured him, "Them I would leave. Maybe not Stiles though, you would be sad if I took your from Stiles."
Bugs smirked, he knew Malia was much more aware of things then she let on.
He looked at her, going to grasp his hand with hers like he usually did when driving with her when he caught site of the ripped bottom of her top. The blood there was also pouring out and it looked like a long gash.
"Malia are you okay?" Bugs asked, trying to keep his eyes on the road although that gash in her stomach was making it hard.
She nodded, looking at it casually," it'll heal."
"Still it looks deep and painful. Did you see what it was?" Bugs said, casting another glance at it.
"Barely, it had a strong scent though," She mumbled.
"Like what?" Bugs asked her, curious.
"Like death," she said back, causing goosebumps to raise.
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BUGSY! I LOVE MY BUGS! BUGS LIFE (HAHA GET IT) IS GOING TO BE ADORABLE! AS TIME GOES ON I WLL GIVE YOU BUGS HISTORY WITH THE PACK! OKAY I SHOULD SLEEP NOW!
Dedicated to Bugs godmother aka vividparacosm for helping me with the truck idea! My child is in good hands.
-Ash🔮