Title: Something Afoot
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Warnings Apply
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Tags: Teen Wolf: The Movie Spoilers, Angst, Happy Ending
Summary: Stiles knew his life would change when Eli arrived at his job.
Word Count: 8,802
Beta: Grammarly
"I'm sorry. Can you repeat that?" Stiles asked as he looked at his boss.
"I said two feet were found in the national park."
"You didn't say a pair...are they from the same person?"
"No, they are not. Two left feet, as it were."
Stiles wanted to beat his head off his desk. This was not something he wanted to work on right now.
"You will be with Johns again on this. He's already there but was camping and just decided to stay."
Stiles wasn't too upset about that part. Johns was his favorite to work with right now. His normal partner was out after being shot in the shoulder. She would be coming back but staying in the office since she would be in a sling for a while. Being paired with Johns was going to make things easier.
Of course, Johns was the only other person there who knew anything about the supernatural beyond Stiles, Amy, and their boss. Since the boss was in the know, it made it easier to shuffle cases to Stiles or Johns. The section chief knew as well, but he was really just a paper pusher anymore. Stiles was pretty sure the guy was at least older than his father. Still, he was sharp as a tack, and he took no prisoners when it came to getting his people what they needed. It was pretty good in the grand scheme of things.
"Beacon Hills, I promise. Unless Eli doesn't want to go back there. I can't say I would want to go back if he does."
"Not even for your father?"
"No. He's a grown man, and he likes that getting out to see me means he's out of town and can't be called in for small shit. Parrish tries to catch people who call him, but there are brown nosers, and there are those who think that Parrish can't handle it. I answered his phone once and used my job as an FBI agent to tell the guy that if he called back, I was going to make sure whatever deviant behavior he was in would be
"There is also something happening in Beacon Hills, but I sent someone else to deal with that because Scott was seen there, and I know you two don't get along."
"If I'm needed, I don't mind going."
"I'll keep an eye and make sure."
Stiles nodded. He looked at his phone and knew why Derek hadn't texted him, but he wondered why his father didn't. Then it came to him.
"What's going on?"
Stiles' boss looked at him with a raised eyebrow. But after a few seconds, he nodded and sat down.
"I haven't got a full report yet, but it's something to do with a woman who died, and they think they can bring her back."
"Allison?"
"Something like that. Argent, I think, was the last name."
"That's why my father doesn't want me there. He's afraid of what it could do to me. I was deep in that, and it was a demon wearing my face that killed her the first time."
"Ah, the Nogitsune. I remember you talking about that for the files we have and everything. Who has the demon? It was trapped in a jar, right?"
"Yes, last I knew, Scott's beta has it. I think he's in Japan. I don't keep track of him that much. I don't need to, really, and I don't think I need to. He's a good kid if a little too trusting."
"You let me know if you think of anything about what we might need to do about all of this. I'll try and make sure you know what's going on, so there are no surprises."
"Thanks. I'll go deal with feet. I hope we don't find more of them. It's never good if people keep their feet. Well, if they keep one foot from each victim. It's not good."
"No, it's not. I look forward to Johns telling me how to react to all of it."
---
Stiles wasn't sure who was laughing more, Johns or their boss. Not only was it two left feet, but it was obvious that they were chewed off. He wasn't sure what the hell what was going on, but it seemed they had a serial killer Wendigo that liked to keep trophies.
Wendigo families were usually ones who went after animals, not humans, but this Wendigo had gone for human flesh. Stiles knew the bite marks of a Wendigo, and he could see them on the ankles. He wasn't looking forward to this.
"There are more feet out there, aren't there?"
"Yes. We have people with machines going out and checking everywhere they can."
"Of course. I wonder how many bodies we will have in total." Stiles didn't want Johns to answer as this seemed like this was going to be a big thing. This was the kind of case that really only came out once in a blue moon, as the saying was. He didn't know what was going to happen, but he felt like it was going to be a long haul.
The national park was at least going to be a good place to search. The weather was just okay, but at least it wasn't full of rain and other nasty things at the moment. He still didn't want to have to hike all over. There would be park rangers and others helping them since this place was dangerous in certain areas.
"Are we working on getting a list of all we can for who comes and goes regularly?"
"It's starting. We will send the feet off to be tested to see if we can figure out a rough idea of when they died. Any more feet we can find will help narrow that down."
"I wear you sometimes just need this kind of thing to be happy; you know that, right?"
"Love the job, or you end up hating it."
"I am not sure that should be said for this kind of job, Johns."
Johns shrugged, and he pointed toward where the feet had been found. "You can head to look and see if you see something that I haven't. You always see stuff I don't. I don't know if it's your youth or how your brain works."
"I want to say both. I have a brain that always works a little differently than everyone else. But also, I'm young, and my brain just works differently that way as well. So, yeah, I can head up to look at what is going on with the dump site."
Stiles grabbed one of the packs that had everything he might need if he was injured or just needed to do something that would need more than his body and a gun. He knew the techs packed these things to make sure that people could do what they needed to do what they needed. There were also specimen bags, gloves, and everything else that was needed to pick up evidence.
The dump site was well above where most people went, and there was no safe path through for anything other than an ATV, but Stiles didn't want to use one of them. He needed to see the area better. He had seen a few things on the way to other dump sites when he worked normal killings that others didn't because he didn't rush anywhere. There was nothing worse than missing something that someone else caught later. Stiles didn't want it happening to him, at least not until years later. There were not a lot of things that he could be seeing but still. He wanted to make sure.
The trees all looked just fine. There were no broken branches and nothing else that drew his eyes as he walked. He instead just kept on looking. When he was about halfway up the ridge toward where the dump site was, Stiles stopped as he saw something just off to the side. He found the flashlight to give himself more light as the trees were covering everything up. He stopped when he saw it.
Stiles snagged the radio on his shoulder, and he tipped his head toward it as he pressed the button. "This is Stilinski."
"Go for Johsn."
"I have another foot. Left again, and I think it's been here a while. I can't tell since the part is disgusting with dirt."
"They where you are, and we will come to you."
Stiles knew that this was going to add in more time. He was glad to have more feet but also upset to have more feet. He really didn't want to hang around with the feet that he could see. Well, it was a foot, but he didn't think it was alone in the hole. There was no way that it was a single foot.
"I can't tell if your luck is good or bad," Johns said as he came up the hill with his gun drawn. He looked like he was looking for the UnSub.
"Who are you looking for?"
"There was a sighting of someone just a moment ago. About fifty feet from here. I didn't want to radio it just in case the person attacked."
"Not heard anything. You sure it's the UnSub?"
"No, not at all, but we have to be sure. You keep on heading up. We've got a ranger to go with you. I'll take care of this." Johns looked around the area. "You give me the fun stuff."
"Well, I could stay here and deal with his," Stiles offered.
"No, you go and look at the other side. I'll get pictures of this site so you can see everything if needed for something."
Stiles kept on going as soon as he was sure who was going with him. The ranger looked like he picked up trees for a living. It reminded him of Derek a little bit. Not too much as they looked nothing alike but the muscles and the care of about the body. Despite being able to eat junk and never really get fat, Derek had never taken on that. He would eat it sometimes, but he mostly cared about what he put into his body. Especially once Eli came to live with him in Beacon Hills. It had made Stiles laugh a little as Eli wasn't really taking the stuff in. he ate pretty much whatever Derek put in front of him. Eli only got picky when Derek was upset.
Which, in the end, was a lot. Stiles still wasn't sure what had gone wrong with them. He had been about to propose, but then Derek was telling him that maybe it was time for him to go and stay at his own place for a while. The place Stiles had in San Francisco, not a place in Beacon Hills. It had been the start of the decline of their relationship, and then it had just fizzled out.
Stiles still wasn't sure what he had done to make Derek not want him anymore, but he had decided a long time ago he wasn't going to push. Lydia had dropped him after that as well when he tried to move on from Derek. It had just pushed to Stiles that no one from his past wanted him, and it was hard to date given what he did. He would never get to be open with his cases unless he found someone who was part of another pack.
"You look like you just swallowed a lemon," the ranger said.
"Sorry, I was thinking about the past. How much further?"
"A few hundred feet. Don't worry; you'll know when we get close."
Stiles saw the start of the taped-off area as he took another step. He wondered how he hadn't seen it before but blamed his wandering thoughts.
---
Stiles dropped the file down onto his desk and rubbed at his eyes. They felt like sandpaper, but the UnSub they were chasing had started to dump fresh bodies of random people taken from the next closest national park. It sucked, and Stiles had been pissed. The UnSub had at least gone hunting pretty close after his first spot was found. Still, it would have been better if the UnSub had just been caught. They were up to ten bodies found in the first dump site park and two bodies in the new park.
"Stiles, you have a visitor," Johns called out.
Stiles looked up and blinked a few times as he tried to figure out who he was. "Come and have a seat. I need some eyedrops." Stiles pulled the drops from his desk drawer and tipped his head back to put them in. He added a drop to each eye and blinked a few times and then added a few more to each to really clear out the feeling of horrible from his eyes.
"Can I help you?" Stiles asked as he focused on the kid again. He kept on blinking, trying to make his eyes tell him who it was.
Then the kid scowled, and it was like he had gone back in time to when Eli had been upset about Stiles leaving for the last time, taking the last of his things. Stiles had promised to write him, and Stiles did until six months had gone since his last reply from Eli. Stiles had left the door open, giving Eli his cell phone number or telling him to go to Noah if he needed Stiles for anything that Stiles respected that Eli didn't want anything to do with him anymore.
"Wow, does your father know you are here? You are fifteen, right?"
"I took the bus here, and I don't care if he knows or not. Uncle Peter knows where I was heading. I didn't leave without telling someone."
"And you chose Peter?"
"Not going to ask why I came here?"
"Well, I figured you would bring that up when you were ready. You always did bring up things right when you were ready."
"Dad nearly died. He nearly let himself be burned alive right in front of me, and when he survived and everything was won, he wanted to go on like it hadn't happened. He didn't seem to care at all that I was messed up. We got into a fight, and he told me that he thought that just moving on was best."
"It's kind of what your father does."
"Yes, well, I don't like it. You told me in your letters that you would always be there for me, even if it was ten years down the road. I hope that still stands, that you haven't replaced me."
"I never did. Who do you think paid for most of your birthday and Christmas presents from my dad? I never wanted to force myself on you in any fashion, but I still care about you."
"I'm sorry for stopping sending back letters. Dad would get upset every single time I got one, and that would make me sad. He would tell me he was okay with me getting them, but then he smelled so angry and sad."
"You not only stopped writing me, but you also suppressed your wolf even more, didn't you?"
"You understand?"
"My father has told me a little bit about things. I never fully understood it, but now I kind of do. Look, I'm a Federal Agent; I have to contact your father and tell him that I have you. I'll get it in writing that he's allowing you to stay up here with me. Even just a text. No matter the reason, I can't be seen as keeping an underage kid from his father. Are you hungry?"
"Yeah, I forgot my debit card at home and ran out of cash a few hours ago. I shifted."
"I bet you are starved. Look, I have very little in my place right now that's not shelf stable. I'll contact your father while you go and get snacks that you like and lunch. I have some cash here. Don't worry about paying me back or anything. Scott's place was my shelter in times like this, so I get it. Don't worry about anything, okay. If your father is unreasonable, I'll get peter and Malia on things."
"They are mad at him as well. Uncle Peter's not even talking to him."
"I bet. Fire and your family, especially Peter, are a very tight-knit bit of trauma. What kind of fire was it?"
"Hellhound."
"Ah, Parrish. Okay, get going." Stiles pulled his wallet out of the drawer and grabbed three hundreds. He had gone to the bank not long before to have cash for people to entice them into talking. It hadn't panned out to anything. "Spend as much as you need. Do you have clothes?"
"Enough to be able to wash some and re-wear. I'm good on that. I need to make sure that I have some in case I'm here for a while. I don't need a lot of snacks."
"You think you are going to go hungry; you are crazy."
Eli laughed but stood up, shoving the money into his pocket. He gave a little sloppy salute before he headed off, tripping over a chair that had been in the same place.
Stiles covered his face. Eli was too much like him despite not being blood at all. It was one fo the things that Stiles was sure had his father loving the boy even more.
Stiles picked up his desk phone and called Derek's auto shop.
"Hale Auto," Derek said, not sounding as gruff as Stiles thought he should if he knew it was Stiles calling. He probably hadn't looked at the caller ID.
"Oh, was that all?" Stiles asked when Derek didn't say anything else.
"What do you want?" The tone was just as harsh as Stiles thought it would be.
"Well, if you have to ask that, then you haven't figured out that your son took a bus to San Francisco, and your uncle knew about it, according to Eli."
"Peter's not talking to me. For more than one reason. I'm sure that Eli has filled you in?"
"Sure."
"Are you going to yell at me as well?"
"Why would I? I'm not in your life anymore. I was just calling to let you know that Eli is up here, and I would like a text from you stating that he's allowed to stay with me. I'm a Federal Agent and can't open myself up to be accused of kidnapping."
"You think I would do that?"
"I've not seen you in a long time. I have no clue about the kind of man you are now. No matter who is on the other end, I can't take chances with my career. If you want me to ship him back, you'll have to come and get him yourself, as I would never force him to leave like that. Or send Peter or Malia after him. I have a feeling that won't work out like you want."
"He can stay. I'll send the text as soon as I hang up with you. Number still the same?"
"Yup." Stiles popped the P in the word, and he wasn't shocked when Derek hung up on him.
Stiles wasn't sure that Eli being away was the best for Derek, but it was the best for Eli, and since Eli was the kid, Stiles would prioritize him over anyone else.
"Trouble?" Johns asked.
"Depends if I get a text in the next few minutes that allows me to take custody of a minor for a while as he has run away from his father."
"Why would the...the Hale kid? That was the Hale kid?"
"Yeah. That's Eli. He will get food for himself for lunch and then some snacks for my place. I'll stick what I can in the fridge here, and the rest will be in bags. I hope that no one steals his food."
"They won't. Do you need to work from home?"
"Nah, I trust him home alone. He's a homebody, and with no friends to make him want to run away and spend time with them, it will be easy to keep him right here. Don't worry."
"If that changes, let me know. Even if it's bringing him along and sticking him with the officers keeping the gawkers back."
"I will."
Stiles picked up his cell when it went off. He shook his head at the short, curt message, but it was enough. He marked the message to be saved. He never wanted it to go away. He also took a screenshot of it and sent that one off to his father. He then sent off a quick message to him about having Eli up here and that Eli came on his own without asking Stiles and only telling Peter.
Daddio: I'm well aware of what he did, Stiles. Chris followed him and got on the same bus. He didn't leave him until he was inside the FBI building. Peter's up there as well; he drove on his own. I think they are having a day to themselves.
Stiles rolled his eyes, and it seemed no one had warned him of what was happening with Eli. He wouldn't have turned him away, but he would have gotten Derek to agree before Eli ever came here.
Having a kid of a werewolf like this wasn't the best idea, but it was what it was.
Daddio: And since I'm sure that Eli didn't tell you. Derek's an alpha now, a true alpha. Scott's in a huge strop about it. He's bitching that since Derek killed someone, he shouldn't be an alpha. Even Deaton is a little upset about him. They are all in LA, though. Even Allison is down there. She looks as young as she did when she died, so things are a little weird there. She is attached to Scott and hasn't let go. I think it's why he's attached himself to Eli right now since he can't do anything with Allison. She's pissed at him even though he turned good at the same time as her.
Beacon Hills politics were what they always were.
Stiles: Thanks for telling me.
Daddio: Parrish and I are working on a longer, more drawn-out report with as little bias to file with the FBI.
Stiles hadn't looked at the files that had been filed about it so far by the agent who had been there. Stiles had only made sure that no one died. He hadn't been told that Derek had almost died. He wasn't sure what he felt about that. It seemed like things were all that good in Beacon Hills at the moment, with Eli running away and Allison alive again. Scott acting like he had more of a claim on Allison. Of course, it was the way he was. Everything was about him. No one else had any feelings to care about when it came to something that affected him. He wasn't sure what going on with everything, but he would wait to read his father's report before he talked to Eli.
---
Stiles dropped his backpack with the files from his inside of them, and he looked at Eli, who was looking around.
"Nice place."
"Thanks. I bought it not too long ago. There are two guest rooms. There is one on this floor and another on the second beside my bedroom. The room closest to the stairs is an office. I have things in there that are secure and can't be read by anyone but me, so there is a code to get into the room along with a biometric. Please don't try to get in."
"Sure. I can do that."
"Hungry? I was going to order in pizza for dinner tonight, so I could have it for lunch the next few days."
"I could easily demolish a large pizza on my own."
"Okay. I'm going to take care of a few things in my office, and you can look around. What do you want on your pizza?"
"The same you always got back then."
Stiles nodded. Derek had hated the pizza, and Stiles was pretty sure it was most of the reason why Eli wanted to eat it. It had not been hard to think that the boy loved his father but really loved to mess with him. Stiles had never met his mother, and Derek had never talked about her. So Stiles wasn't sure if Eli took after her or not. He knew the boy took a few things after Stiles because of the whole plaid thing. Which had to suck for Derek to see someone who looked like and acted like Stiles. The moles were not something that Eli could help, and it wasn't like Stiles had infected him with them. Still, it was something else added into the whole thing. It was quite interesting.
The files had come in just before Stiles left, and despite not wanting the time out of the office, he had agreed when Johns pushed it. So Stiles would be working from home unless they got another foot dump.
Stiles got his files set up in his office, and he pulled out the one that was a simple summary of everything from the agent. It wasn't anything too much, but Stiles could see where a few hadn't put some things together that should have been. There was no way the Nogitsune had kept the aspects of the wolf. Which was how the agent had been able to take out the Nogitsune since it still had a body while it was in that underworld. It wasn't able to control just nothing like that. It wasn't an Oni. It wasn't a dream world, either. It was a place that had power but not that much power. So the agent had shot the Nogitsune with what they called a magic bullet. It was packed with spells, and most of those would make sure the Nogitsune hadn't been able to do anything.
Then it had been bitten by an alpha Werewolf. Stiles had assumed it had been Scott, but now that he knew Derek was an alpha, he wondered who had bitten the Nogitsune's body so they could trap the fly it was again. Stiles hadn't been sure where the container for it was either. So, then it had been kept in FBI custody so that no one stuck it on a spice and tea shelf in a ramen shop where anyone could have stolen it in a moment of distraction. It was the worst place the jar could have been kept. He just wanted to make sense of all of this. Still, the report from his father with the stuff from Scott inside of it was interesting while not too much in the way of truth, just how Scott took it all in, including that it seemed that Scott thought that Derek was dark because he didn't die after being burned alive, even with the alpha spark inside of him for nearly dying to save those he loved.
A knock had Stiles checking the app for the pizza to see that it had been delivered. He was glad he had tipped on the app and did not leave Eli to give a tip. Stiles closed the files and tried to figure it all out for a few seconds but decided he needed to focus on Eli.
There was nothing to do with him but let Eli vent his spleen if needed, or at least let him be where he wanted to be and feel safe.
"Thanks. I got lost in files." Stiles shut the office door and followed Eli down to the living room.
"I remember you doing that before. Never ones that, if I snuck up on you and could see, would freak me out. Dad could say your name fifty times before you finally paid attention."
"Partially a side effect of ADHD, but sometimes it's just me. How are you feeling?"
"Worn out, which I know I shouldn't be based on how I did nothing but play games and read on my phone all day long. Even after I got here."
"Emotions can wear you out. Even the best of times can be draining. What do you want to watch?" Stiles picked up the remote and tossed it into Eli's lap before he headed to the kitchen to get a can of pop for each of them. He also grabbed plates. By the time he got to the kitchen, Eli had a TV show that Stiles had never seen before, but it was one he wanted to see.
"Is this okay?" Eli asked.
"Sure."
"It was on your to-watch list, but I didn't want to push it if you were waiting to watch it with someone."
"I just haven't got to it yet. It's not something that I would watch with someone unless I had been dating them a while, and my last date kind of sucked."
"What went wrong?" Eli picked up a few pieces of pizza and tossed them on a plate as soon as Stiles handed it over.
"My job. She wasn't too happy that I couldn't ever promise to be somewhere if I was on call or not on vacation. I told her my job came first unless she was injured. She didn't even like that I wouldn't take off work to take care of her when she had a cold. Not a big sickness but a simple cold. I would gladly go shopping and get everything she needed, check in on her."
"I have no clue what to think about that. I mean, like...she's an adult."
"Yes."
"A kid, I can see that. The last time I got sick, dad tossed crackers at me and told me not to throw up on the couch. He loves me, and I know it. I'm more than able to take care of myself. Does it feel nice? Yes. But, like, no. She can take care of herself, and if she needs another adult to care for her when there is a cold going on, she needs someone who is more than willing to make her his whole life. Like asking to breathe would have to be asked. You aren't like that, or at least you weren't back then."
"I am still not. I don't even go and mother my father like that. I used to, but nothing like what she wanted."
"Would you take Dad back?"
"I don't know, Eli. I want to say that I would be there are a lot of things between us. I don't think he'll ever get to where he and I can love each other again."
"You don't love him?"
"There is a part of me that always will. I don't think that I will love him like that again."
"Dad's never really talked about what went on."
"I think it was all in his head. He got scared or something. I don't understand it, and I might never."
Eli hit play on the TV remote and shifted on the couch a little until he was closer to Stiles.
Stiles kept the silence because it seemed Eli was more than willing to think about things. There had never been a time when Stiles would feel like lying to the kid was an option. He didn't think that lying about things like that would be good. Eli would know, even if there was very little he had been taught about what lying sounded like, he would notice something was wrong. It would be easy to learn what it meant. Then there was just the sound of Stiles' voice.
"I am sorry."
"I forgave you a long time ago, Eli. I'm not your father. I wanted to be, but I wasn't, and in the end, you gotta stick with your dad. I get it. Don't worry about it. I just want to make you happy right now, and I wanted to keep your father happy back then."
"He missed you. He always got really upset when someone brought you up."
Stiles knew that neither of them was watching a bit of the show, but maybe that was a good thing. Eli needed to talk, and it seemed he needed something to hide the words.
"Are you sure that you aren't going to be able to love him again?"
"I don't know. I can't say that I hate him. I stopped feeling a lot of things for him a long time ago. I can't dwell on the past like that. I'd never move on. He was hurt by a lot of people, and I can't tell what it did to him."
"Grandpa slipped one time. He was talking to Miss Melissa and said that you had bought a ring. I didn't get it until a few years ago when I was thinking about it. He meant a ring to ask Dad to marry you, right?"
"Yes. I still have it. It was a pretty thing, but it was also really old. It would have to be fitted as I wasn't sure what his size was. I found it in a city I was in for a case. It has a triskele on it. There were also black diamonds in the band. It wasn't too gaudy."
"He was happy. Never as happy as when you were around, but he was happy."
"I'm glad. I never wished him harm or hated him. I was upset. I just wanted-" Stiles stopped as Eli sat up, his head cocking to the side. He knew what that meant. He had been around werewolves and other shifters to know he heard something. "Eli?"
"Dad's here."
"Oh." Stiles looked at the door, and he debated not answering it if Derek knocked, but there was a doorbell, and Derek would press it and set it off forever if Stiles ignored him.
"I'll get it if you want."
"I'll order more pizza because he won't eat this."
"Yeah." Eli laid his plate down and got up.
Stiles stayed where he was and listened to Eli opening the door. Derek said nothing while Eli seemed to chatter on him as they came into the living room.
"He's taking good care of me," Eli said.
"I know he is. He bought you pizza. Oh, it's that pizza. That's going to make you want it again."
"He didn't even hesitate to ask. Do you want some?"
"No, thanks. I don't like it."
"I can order it without pineapple," Stiles said.
"You don't need to," Derek said at the same time his stomach growled.
Stiles raised an eyebrow at him.
Derek nodded.
Stiles started to order more pizza as well as some kind of dessert. He didn't need to have Derek complain because he wanted something sweet. Once Stiles was done, he turned off the show and then shut down his Fire Stick. He flipped the TV off next.
"What can I do for you?" Stiles asked. He lifted the pizza to his mouth because he wasn't going to let his pizza get cold while he waited for Derek's pizza to get there.
Eli handed over a crust piece to Derek, and Derek eyed it, but in the end, he took it and took a bite.
"I just wanted to bring him some clothes and some money. I know what it's like to feed a normal teenager, much less a kid who just started to burn calories like a werewolf. I also brought his laptop so that he could do his classwork. I talked to your teachers, and they are uploading it all to a portal. I assume you know how to access it?"
"Yeah, it's the same one used when we were all out when the water pipes burst, and the school flooded. I have a few things I always submit in that as well. The papers are all done through it. Some teachers also offer it for other things, but I always do them by hand instead of typing them up."
"Well, I just wanted to make sure. I explained that it was so close to the end of the year, and I didn't want to transfer you, but things had turned sour after my near death. Of course, it was all over the phone since I healed slowly. Thankfully it was all under the clothes by the time the medics got to me. No one thinks anything of me being seen a little while in a vehicle."
"That's good."
"Once you are done eating, you can get your stuff from the car and take it up. Show your father where you are staying."
"Sure. When will his food be here?" Eli looked like he was a little unsure of Derek and Stiles being in the same room at the moment.
"Soon. They are pretty quick and not too far from here. They tend to push food to certain types of people, such as law enforcement, medical, first responders, and others. We tip them well when we do order from them. It's probably why they do it, beyond the whole helping feed us when we want food."
"And you are working from home?" Derek asked.
"I do work from home some days. There are cases that I just consult on instead of heading out and working. So yeah. They also just want to help take care of us, I think. I have no clue but fast pizza after a horrible day is nice."
Derek said nothing; he just looked at Eli and gave him a smile. Eli didn't even look at him. Moody teenager, and Stiles was in the middle. He knew what side he would fall on unless it was something that would hurt Eli. Derek should understand where Eli was coming from. Derek was his only parent, and it seemed they really loved each other. Stiles knew what he would have felt if his father had done something like that. Saving the world but sacrificing himself right in front of Stiles. If Noha had lived, Stiles would have moved in with Scott and not left. He would be happy his father was alive but, in the end, pissed off that his father had been that stupid.
"What were you two watching?" Derek looked like he was pulling his own teeth asking the question.
"It was just background noise as we talked," Stiles said.
"I'm done with my food. I'll be right back."
Stiles looked to see that Eli had indeed finished off the entire large pizza. The second box had two slices missing, one Stiles was nearly done with, and the second was still on his place.
"Don't kill each other while I'm gone." Eli shoved himself up off the couch and glared at his father as he walked away.
The silence was going to be the thing that killed Stiles, not Derek himself. Still, he wouldn't be the one to crack on that. He looked at the blank TV and ate his food, making sure not to even glance at Derek.
"I don't think I've ever seen you this quiet when you are not stopped from speaking."
Stiles shrugged.
"Ah, being a petulant asshole. Got it."
Stiles wasn't going to rise to that bait there. He was well above that now. UnSubs had tried harder before to get Stiles to break. He closed his eyes as he also attempted to push that thought away.
"Are you okay?" Derek got up from where he had been sitting in the chair across the room and dropped beside Stiles, reaching out like he was trying to find some skin to drain the pain that wasn't his face or neck.
"Yeah, sorry. I had a thought, and it reminded me of something I would rather forget. It's not you; it's work."
"When you were taken hostage for a week, and no one could find you."
Stiles looked at him. he had asked his father not to tell Derek anything about it, but it seemed that he had been told about it.
"Yes. It's okay."
"No, it's not. I'm glad you got out of that okay."
"They still don't understand how it all happened. A person activated my phone. Turned it on, but no one ever figured out who. It wasn't me."
"No, it was me."
Stiles looked at Derek, nearly dropping his plate of pizza. "What?"
"No one could find you. Your father was freaked out. A few of Chris' friends were looking, and then they found you, but we had no way of really telling how the hell we found you."
"You were working with Chris and his friends?"
"Well, they wanted my nose. The place wouldn't have a random 911 call work. So then I noticed your phone in the stuff. I used my shirt to turn it on, and then we all left. There were no cameras. I never told anyone, and Chris promised to keep it quiet."
"You also drained my pain, so I could speak when my team found me." Stiles stated it, but Derek still nodded like Stiles wanted an answer.
"Why did you never say anything?"
"I tossed you away, and by the time I realized that it was something I had done out of fear, I thought I had burned the bridge. So I just stayed away."
"Derek, you could have come to me at any time and told me how sorry you were and that you were working on your issues, and I would have said, yes, we can try once you are better."
"I got better. My therapist is still pissed off that I won't even apologize to you. She points it out every single time I see her, and she can't figure out why I just don't fix it. It's the only outstanding issue I have anymore. I guess I can tell her now that I've done it."
"Have you?"
Derek laughed and ducked his head. After a few seconds, he looked back up at Stiles. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I got freaked out when I found the wedding ring you were hiding in your work bag when I went to grab a notepad when you asked for it. I'm sorry that I reacted like a wounded animal trapped in a corner when you were only loving me. I'm sorry for all of the pain I caused you, and I'm sorry that my pain hurt Eli and you's relationship."
"It's fine, Derek. I accept your apology. At least now I understand what happened that caused you to tell me to stop living with you." Stiles felt like an idiot. He had thought he had the ring hidden better than that. It hadn't even crossed his mind that Derek might have found the ring. Derek never went through pockets of anything of Stiles', but this time Stiles had asked him to grab something, so it was understandable.
"I still hurt you and don't like that, Stiles. I hurt me, and I hurt Eli. I've worked through most of it in therapy. I just have no clue what will happen going forward. I mean, my kid ran right to you the moment I upset him. He hadn't seen you in nearly a decade."
"I promised him in my letters I would always be there for him, even if it was thirty years from now."
Derek looked like he was going to start to cry. It was hard to see it as Stiles had so rarely seen Derek cry. Even after his sister died, he hadn't cried. He had cried about Boyd, but that had been probably one too many things on top of each other. There wasn't time most of the time to deal with anything after that either.
It had only been after Stiles got to college that he felt like he could breathe again. Honestly, going to college felt like a break compared to the hell he had gone through. Even working through the academy had felt like a vacation. Once he had been given cases, it was different. Still, the cases waxed and waned. He was able to say he couldn't handle something and be given something else to do.
"Where do we go from here?"
"Well, I've got your kid. He's probably not going to want to go home, and I would never make him as long as it's not hurting him. I will never think that making him go home when it would hurt him to make him do it."
"I know, and I don't want to hurt him more than I have. I have an appointment scheduled with my therapist, but I can do that over the computer. I planned on getting a hotel here tonight and staying. I'm not good to drive home, and I know it."
"You can crash here."
Eli came back inside with not just a bag that was obviously his but one that was Derek's.
"You staying in the second bedroom, Dad?"
"If Stiles doesn't mind."
"Not at all." Stiles knew that Derke wanted a second push and that it was okay for him to stay. If Eli was okay with it, Stiles was.
---
There was nothing like coming home to Stiles. The Wendigo case was done, and he was just tired. It had been gone for three weeks, and constant calls with Eli had been the only thing getting him through it all. He hadn't minded it, really, it was his job, but this one had been a literal hunt for three weeks. He never stayed the same night in the same city and just kept on moving around. It had been hard, and he hated it, but the Wendigo was found and would be going to trial for murder. It wouldn't be going to case for a while, so there would be a way for a lawyer to try and get him off. Stiles didn't think that there would be a way. The Wendigo had been caught with its newest victim nearly dead. The woman would be scarred for life, and Stiles knew it would take a lot of therapy to get her to where she could survive in society without constant terror.
"Oh," Stiles said as he came into the living room to find Derek sitting there with a plate of pizza in front f him. There was a box that was unopened next to the one open. "I didn't expect you to be awake."
"I wasn't in bed yet when Eli got the text you were on your way home from the airport. He left his phone in here. I saw the message and ordered pizza."
"It's still my favorite food to eat after I get off work with cases like this."
"You always liked it after we had a big fight. I could always figure out what you wanted based on how tired you were. Pizza if you were exhausted. I think it just became your normal after a case."
Stiles opened up the pizza box before he pulled it into his lap. Then he picked up a slice. Derek turned the TV onto a show that Stiles liked to watch that was easy to just pick up and drop again. He had seen all of them years ago.
Derk and Eli had patched up a lot of their issues, but Eli wasn't ready to go home yet. Stiles wasn't going to push that. He liked having Derek here on the weekends and Eli here all the time. Derek had the shop closed on the weekends outside of long repairs that his staff sometimes did to get extra money.
After about half an episode, Stiles leaned over and rested his head on Derek's shoulder. Derek stiffened up and then relaxed after a few seconds before he raised his arm and wrapped it around Stiles to hold him. When Stiles was done eating, he turned a little more and turned into Derek, like they used to when they were cuddling back when they dated.
"Is this okay?" Stiles asked.
"Yes," Derek said.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Are you sure?"
"Yes, I am. I'm happy. It's really strange, and I have no clue what this will mean, but having you two here has been wonderful."
"Are you attached to here?"
"No, not really, but I don't want to move too fast at all."
"No, but I want to know if I need to put down roots here or stay back in Beacon Hills?"
"Oh, I don't want to stay here forever, and with the cases we do, I can fly out of wherever for them. I don't do big cases that have me working with a team; it's consulting for the most part."
"The Wendigo with the foot fetish is not the norm?"
"No, it's not. I mean, I am sometimes gone for a week or two, or I go to sites to see things, but then, in the end, I am always back. I never wanted to be gone from Beacon Hills for long, but things just changed."
"You didn't want to upset me."
"I didn't want you upset all the time. I didn't want Eli's homelife messed up at all. It wasn't the worst, but I wasn't ready for that. I am not one to mess up home lives like that. I love him."
"I know. I know you do, and it's why I didn't want to mess things up, but I also know that things were hectic for a while."
Stiles didn't want to say anything. He wasn't upset that Derek had messed up. Stiles had messed up a lot over his years. There were not a lot of things Stiles hadn't regretted at some point when it came to how he reacted when he was upset. The one with Scott was one of the few things he never regretted. Scott would never be the person he tried to make people believe he was. Even after being faced with the truth of everything that was in the world, Scott still thought that his intent mattered more than the facts of what was going on. Just like Scott was the only one that was allowed to decide if someone was allowed to die. He was the only one who could make sure that the person deserved to die for what they did. It wasn't a big thing in the end because the ones who Scott wanted to give a second chance that didn't deserve it had met their end in other ways, usually from a pack that wasn't willing to leave an enemy alive to come after them.
"Quit thinking about Scott," Derek said.
Stiles laughed and turned his head to look at Derek's face. "Even after all this time, you still know?"
"I do. You only smell like that when you are thinking of him. It's not too hard to figure it out, really."
"How are you feeling?" Stiles asked.
"Pretty good. There are times that I feel like I should make a massive decision for you as I'm afraid I'm going t hurt you, but my therapist yells at me that I can't just make decisions for you. I need to let you do what you what to do, and if we hurt each other again, well, then it wasn't meant to be."
"I do not like it when people make decisions for me."
"I know, but I don't know why you want me. I am not perfect."
"No, but you are perfect for me. That's all that matters, Derek. We can be good for each other, and you just need to talk to me when you freak out. Instead of just freaking out and pushing me away."
"I forgot what it was like to come into this kind of thing," Eli said.
Stiles looked at where he was. Derek was blushing, and Stiles could tell he was upset that he didn't hear him coming.
"Not able to sleep?" Stiles asked as he sat up. Derek's arms came off him, but there was a feeling of reluctance.
"I just woke up and wasn't sure what woke me up, but I think it was you coming home. I heard your heartbeat as soon as I was fully awake. It's not that horrible to be awake when you are home." Eli climbed over the couch and settled on Stiles' other side, sandwiching him between two Hales.
Stiles was sure that this little family they had going would get stronger as time passed. There was something good about it as well. It was good that they could build something up.
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Warnings Apply
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Tags: Teen Wolf: The Movie Spoilers, Angst, Happy Ending
Summary: Stiles knew his life would change when Eli arrived at his job.
Word Count: 8,802
Beta: Grammarly
"I'm sorry. Can you repeat that?" Stiles asked as he looked at his boss.
"I said two feet were found in the national park."
"You didn't say a pair...are they from the same person?"
"No, they are not. Two left feet, as it were."
Stiles wanted to beat his head off his desk. This was not something he wanted to work on right now.
"You will be with Johns again on this. He's already there but was camping and just decided to stay."
Stiles wasn't too upset about that part. Johns was his favorite to work with right now. His normal partner was out after being shot in the shoulder. She would be coming back but staying in the office since she would be in a sling for a while. Being paired with Johns was going to make things easier.
Of course, Johns was the only other person there who knew anything about the supernatural beyond Stiles, Amy, and their boss. Since the boss was in the know, it made it easier to shuffle cases to Stiles or Johns. The section chief knew as well, but he was really just a paper pusher anymore. Stiles was pretty sure the guy was at least older than his father. Still, he was sharp as a tack, and he took no prisoners when it came to getting his people what they needed. It was pretty good in the grand scheme of things.
"Beacon Hills, I promise. Unless Eli doesn't want to go back there. I can't say I would want to go back if he does."
"Not even for your father?"
"No. He's a grown man, and he likes that getting out to see me means he's out of town and can't be called in for small shit. Parrish tries to catch people who call him, but there are brown nosers, and there are those who think that Parrish can't handle it. I answered his phone once and used my job as an FBI agent to tell the guy that if he called back, I was going to make sure whatever deviant behavior he was in would be
"There is also something happening in Beacon Hills, but I sent someone else to deal with that because Scott was seen there, and I know you two don't get along."
"If I'm needed, I don't mind going."
"I'll keep an eye and make sure."
Stiles nodded. He looked at his phone and knew why Derek hadn't texted him, but he wondered why his father didn't. Then it came to him.
"What's going on?"
Stiles' boss looked at him with a raised eyebrow. But after a few seconds, he nodded and sat down.
"I haven't got a full report yet, but it's something to do with a woman who died, and they think they can bring her back."
"Allison?"
"Something like that. Argent, I think, was the last name."
"That's why my father doesn't want me there. He's afraid of what it could do to me. I was deep in that, and it was a demon wearing my face that killed her the first time."
"Ah, the Nogitsune. I remember you talking about that for the files we have and everything. Who has the demon? It was trapped in a jar, right?"
"Yes, last I knew, Scott's beta has it. I think he's in Japan. I don't keep track of him that much. I don't need to, really, and I don't think I need to. He's a good kid if a little too trusting."
"You let me know if you think of anything about what we might need to do about all of this. I'll try and make sure you know what's going on, so there are no surprises."
"Thanks. I'll go deal with feet. I hope we don't find more of them. It's never good if people keep their feet. Well, if they keep one foot from each victim. It's not good."
"No, it's not. I look forward to Johns telling me how to react to all of it."
---
Stiles wasn't sure who was laughing more, Johns or their boss. Not only was it two left feet, but it was obvious that they were chewed off. He wasn't sure what the hell what was going on, but it seemed they had a serial killer Wendigo that liked to keep trophies.
Wendigo families were usually ones who went after animals, not humans, but this Wendigo had gone for human flesh. Stiles knew the bite marks of a Wendigo, and he could see them on the ankles. He wasn't looking forward to this.
"There are more feet out there, aren't there?"
"Yes. We have people with machines going out and checking everywhere they can."
"Of course. I wonder how many bodies we will have in total." Stiles didn't want Johns to answer as this seemed like this was going to be a big thing. This was the kind of case that really only came out once in a blue moon, as the saying was. He didn't know what was going to happen, but he felt like it was going to be a long haul.
The national park was at least going to be a good place to search. The weather was just okay, but at least it wasn't full of rain and other nasty things at the moment. He still didn't want to have to hike all over. There would be park rangers and others helping them since this place was dangerous in certain areas.
"Are we working on getting a list of all we can for who comes and goes regularly?"
"It's starting. We will send the feet off to be tested to see if we can figure out a rough idea of when they died. Any more feet we can find will help narrow that down."
"I wear you sometimes just need this kind of thing to be happy; you know that, right?"
"Love the job, or you end up hating it."
"I am not sure that should be said for this kind of job, Johns."
Johns shrugged, and he pointed toward where the feet had been found. "You can head to look and see if you see something that I haven't. You always see stuff I don't. I don't know if it's your youth or how your brain works."
"I want to say both. I have a brain that always works a little differently than everyone else. But also, I'm young, and my brain just works differently that way as well. So, yeah, I can head up to look at what is going on with the dump site."
Stiles grabbed one of the packs that had everything he might need if he was injured or just needed to do something that would need more than his body and a gun. He knew the techs packed these things to make sure that people could do what they needed to do what they needed. There were also specimen bags, gloves, and everything else that was needed to pick up evidence.
The dump site was well above where most people went, and there was no safe path through for anything other than an ATV, but Stiles didn't want to use one of them. He needed to see the area better. He had seen a few things on the way to other dump sites when he worked normal killings that others didn't because he didn't rush anywhere. There was nothing worse than missing something that someone else caught later. Stiles didn't want it happening to him, at least not until years later. There were not a lot of things that he could be seeing but still. He wanted to make sure.
The trees all looked just fine. There were no broken branches and nothing else that drew his eyes as he walked. He instead just kept on looking. When he was about halfway up the ridge toward where the dump site was, Stiles stopped as he saw something just off to the side. He found the flashlight to give himself more light as the trees were covering everything up. He stopped when he saw it.
Stiles snagged the radio on his shoulder, and he tipped his head toward it as he pressed the button. "This is Stilinski."
"Go for Johsn."
"I have another foot. Left again, and I think it's been here a while. I can't tell since the part is disgusting with dirt."
"They where you are, and we will come to you."
Stiles knew that this was going to add in more time. He was glad to have more feet but also upset to have more feet. He really didn't want to hang around with the feet that he could see. Well, it was a foot, but he didn't think it was alone in the hole. There was no way that it was a single foot.
"I can't tell if your luck is good or bad," Johns said as he came up the hill with his gun drawn. He looked like he was looking for the UnSub.
"Who are you looking for?"
"There was a sighting of someone just a moment ago. About fifty feet from here. I didn't want to radio it just in case the person attacked."
"Not heard anything. You sure it's the UnSub?"
"No, not at all, but we have to be sure. You keep on heading up. We've got a ranger to go with you. I'll take care of this." Johns looked around the area. "You give me the fun stuff."
"Well, I could stay here and deal with his," Stiles offered.
"No, you go and look at the other side. I'll get pictures of this site so you can see everything if needed for something."
Stiles kept on going as soon as he was sure who was going with him. The ranger looked like he picked up trees for a living. It reminded him of Derek a little bit. Not too much as they looked nothing alike but the muscles and the care of about the body. Despite being able to eat junk and never really get fat, Derek had never taken on that. He would eat it sometimes, but he mostly cared about what he put into his body. Especially once Eli came to live with him in Beacon Hills. It had made Stiles laugh a little as Eli wasn't really taking the stuff in. he ate pretty much whatever Derek put in front of him. Eli only got picky when Derek was upset.
Which, in the end, was a lot. Stiles still wasn't sure what had gone wrong with them. He had been about to propose, but then Derek was telling him that maybe it was time for him to go and stay at his own place for a while. The place Stiles had in San Francisco, not a place in Beacon Hills. It had been the start of the decline of their relationship, and then it had just fizzled out.
Stiles still wasn't sure what he had done to make Derek not want him anymore, but he had decided a long time ago he wasn't going to push. Lydia had dropped him after that as well when he tried to move on from Derek. It had just pushed to Stiles that no one from his past wanted him, and it was hard to date given what he did. He would never get to be open with his cases unless he found someone who was part of another pack.
"You look like you just swallowed a lemon," the ranger said.
"Sorry, I was thinking about the past. How much further?"
"A few hundred feet. Don't worry; you'll know when we get close."
Stiles saw the start of the taped-off area as he took another step. He wondered how he hadn't seen it before but blamed his wandering thoughts.
---
Stiles dropped the file down onto his desk and rubbed at his eyes. They felt like sandpaper, but the UnSub they were chasing had started to dump fresh bodies of random people taken from the next closest national park. It sucked, and Stiles had been pissed. The UnSub had at least gone hunting pretty close after his first spot was found. Still, it would have been better if the UnSub had just been caught. They were up to ten bodies found in the first dump site park and two bodies in the new park.
"Stiles, you have a visitor," Johns called out.
Stiles looked up and blinked a few times as he tried to figure out who he was. "Come and have a seat. I need some eyedrops." Stiles pulled the drops from his desk drawer and tipped his head back to put them in. He added a drop to each eye and blinked a few times and then added a few more to each to really clear out the feeling of horrible from his eyes.
"Can I help you?" Stiles asked as he focused on the kid again. He kept on blinking, trying to make his eyes tell him who it was.
Then the kid scowled, and it was like he had gone back in time to when Eli had been upset about Stiles leaving for the last time, taking the last of his things. Stiles had promised to write him, and Stiles did until six months had gone since his last reply from Eli. Stiles had left the door open, giving Eli his cell phone number or telling him to go to Noah if he needed Stiles for anything that Stiles respected that Eli didn't want anything to do with him anymore.
"Wow, does your father know you are here? You are fifteen, right?"
"I took the bus here, and I don't care if he knows or not. Uncle Peter knows where I was heading. I didn't leave without telling someone."
"And you chose Peter?"
"Not going to ask why I came here?"
"Well, I figured you would bring that up when you were ready. You always did bring up things right when you were ready."
"Dad nearly died. He nearly let himself be burned alive right in front of me, and when he survived and everything was won, he wanted to go on like it hadn't happened. He didn't seem to care at all that I was messed up. We got into a fight, and he told me that he thought that just moving on was best."
"It's kind of what your father does."
"Yes, well, I don't like it. You told me in your letters that you would always be there for me, even if it was ten years down the road. I hope that still stands, that you haven't replaced me."
"I never did. Who do you think paid for most of your birthday and Christmas presents from my dad? I never wanted to force myself on you in any fashion, but I still care about you."
"I'm sorry for stopping sending back letters. Dad would get upset every single time I got one, and that would make me sad. He would tell me he was okay with me getting them, but then he smelled so angry and sad."
"You not only stopped writing me, but you also suppressed your wolf even more, didn't you?"
"You understand?"
"My father has told me a little bit about things. I never fully understood it, but now I kind of do. Look, I'm a Federal Agent; I have to contact your father and tell him that I have you. I'll get it in writing that he's allowing you to stay up here with me. Even just a text. No matter the reason, I can't be seen as keeping an underage kid from his father. Are you hungry?"
"Yeah, I forgot my debit card at home and ran out of cash a few hours ago. I shifted."
"I bet you are starved. Look, I have very little in my place right now that's not shelf stable. I'll contact your father while you go and get snacks that you like and lunch. I have some cash here. Don't worry about paying me back or anything. Scott's place was my shelter in times like this, so I get it. Don't worry about anything, okay. If your father is unreasonable, I'll get peter and Malia on things."
"They are mad at him as well. Uncle Peter's not even talking to him."
"I bet. Fire and your family, especially Peter, are a very tight-knit bit of trauma. What kind of fire was it?"
"Hellhound."
"Ah, Parrish. Okay, get going." Stiles pulled his wallet out of the drawer and grabbed three hundreds. He had gone to the bank not long before to have cash for people to entice them into talking. It hadn't panned out to anything. "Spend as much as you need. Do you have clothes?"
"Enough to be able to wash some and re-wear. I'm good on that. I need to make sure that I have some in case I'm here for a while. I don't need a lot of snacks."
"You think you are going to go hungry; you are crazy."
Eli laughed but stood up, shoving the money into his pocket. He gave a little sloppy salute before he headed off, tripping over a chair that had been in the same place.
Stiles covered his face. Eli was too much like him despite not being blood at all. It was one fo the things that Stiles was sure had his father loving the boy even more.
Stiles picked up his desk phone and called Derek's auto shop.
"Hale Auto," Derek said, not sounding as gruff as Stiles thought he should if he knew it was Stiles calling. He probably hadn't looked at the caller ID.
"Oh, was that all?" Stiles asked when Derek didn't say anything else.
"What do you want?" The tone was just as harsh as Stiles thought it would be.
"Well, if you have to ask that, then you haven't figured out that your son took a bus to San Francisco, and your uncle knew about it, according to Eli."
"Peter's not talking to me. For more than one reason. I'm sure that Eli has filled you in?"
"Sure."
"Are you going to yell at me as well?"
"Why would I? I'm not in your life anymore. I was just calling to let you know that Eli is up here, and I would like a text from you stating that he's allowed to stay with me. I'm a Federal Agent and can't open myself up to be accused of kidnapping."
"You think I would do that?"
"I've not seen you in a long time. I have no clue about the kind of man you are now. No matter who is on the other end, I can't take chances with my career. If you want me to ship him back, you'll have to come and get him yourself, as I would never force him to leave like that. Or send Peter or Malia after him. I have a feeling that won't work out like you want."
"He can stay. I'll send the text as soon as I hang up with you. Number still the same?"
"Yup." Stiles popped the P in the word, and he wasn't shocked when Derek hung up on him.
Stiles wasn't sure that Eli being away was the best for Derek, but it was the best for Eli, and since Eli was the kid, Stiles would prioritize him over anyone else.
"Trouble?" Johns asked.
"Depends if I get a text in the next few minutes that allows me to take custody of a minor for a while as he has run away from his father."
"Why would the...the Hale kid? That was the Hale kid?"
"Yeah. That's Eli. He will get food for himself for lunch and then some snacks for my place. I'll stick what I can in the fridge here, and the rest will be in bags. I hope that no one steals his food."
"They won't. Do you need to work from home?"
"Nah, I trust him home alone. He's a homebody, and with no friends to make him want to run away and spend time with them, it will be easy to keep him right here. Don't worry."
"If that changes, let me know. Even if it's bringing him along and sticking him with the officers keeping the gawkers back."
"I will."
Stiles picked up his cell when it went off. He shook his head at the short, curt message, but it was enough. He marked the message to be saved. He never wanted it to go away. He also took a screenshot of it and sent that one off to his father. He then sent off a quick message to him about having Eli up here and that Eli came on his own without asking Stiles and only telling Peter.
Daddio: I'm well aware of what he did, Stiles. Chris followed him and got on the same bus. He didn't leave him until he was inside the FBI building. Peter's up there as well; he drove on his own. I think they are having a day to themselves.
Stiles rolled his eyes, and it seemed no one had warned him of what was happening with Eli. He wouldn't have turned him away, but he would have gotten Derek to agree before Eli ever came here.
Having a kid of a werewolf like this wasn't the best idea, but it was what it was.
Daddio: And since I'm sure that Eli didn't tell you. Derek's an alpha now, a true alpha. Scott's in a huge strop about it. He's bitching that since Derek killed someone, he shouldn't be an alpha. Even Deaton is a little upset about him. They are all in LA, though. Even Allison is down there. She looks as young as she did when she died, so things are a little weird there. She is attached to Scott and hasn't let go. I think it's why he's attached himself to Eli right now since he can't do anything with Allison. She's pissed at him even though he turned good at the same time as her.
Beacon Hills politics were what they always were.
Stiles: Thanks for telling me.
Daddio: Parrish and I are working on a longer, more drawn-out report with as little bias to file with the FBI.
Stiles hadn't looked at the files that had been filed about it so far by the agent who had been there. Stiles had only made sure that no one died. He hadn't been told that Derek had almost died. He wasn't sure what he felt about that. It seemed like things were all that good in Beacon Hills at the moment, with Eli running away and Allison alive again. Scott acting like he had more of a claim on Allison. Of course, it was the way he was. Everything was about him. No one else had any feelings to care about when it came to something that affected him. He wasn't sure what going on with everything, but he would wait to read his father's report before he talked to Eli.
---
Stiles dropped his backpack with the files from his inside of them, and he looked at Eli, who was looking around.
"Nice place."
"Thanks. I bought it not too long ago. There are two guest rooms. There is one on this floor and another on the second beside my bedroom. The room closest to the stairs is an office. I have things in there that are secure and can't be read by anyone but me, so there is a code to get into the room along with a biometric. Please don't try to get in."
"Sure. I can do that."
"Hungry? I was going to order in pizza for dinner tonight, so I could have it for lunch the next few days."
"I could easily demolish a large pizza on my own."
"Okay. I'm going to take care of a few things in my office, and you can look around. What do you want on your pizza?"
"The same you always got back then."
Stiles nodded. Derek had hated the pizza, and Stiles was pretty sure it was most of the reason why Eli wanted to eat it. It had not been hard to think that the boy loved his father but really loved to mess with him. Stiles had never met his mother, and Derek had never talked about her. So Stiles wasn't sure if Eli took after her or not. He knew the boy took a few things after Stiles because of the whole plaid thing. Which had to suck for Derek to see someone who looked like and acted like Stiles. The moles were not something that Eli could help, and it wasn't like Stiles had infected him with them. Still, it was something else added into the whole thing. It was quite interesting.
The files had come in just before Stiles left, and despite not wanting the time out of the office, he had agreed when Johns pushed it. So Stiles would be working from home unless they got another foot dump.
Stiles got his files set up in his office, and he pulled out the one that was a simple summary of everything from the agent. It wasn't anything too much, but Stiles could see where a few hadn't put some things together that should have been. There was no way the Nogitsune had kept the aspects of the wolf. Which was how the agent had been able to take out the Nogitsune since it still had a body while it was in that underworld. It wasn't able to control just nothing like that. It wasn't an Oni. It wasn't a dream world, either. It was a place that had power but not that much power. So the agent had shot the Nogitsune with what they called a magic bullet. It was packed with spells, and most of those would make sure the Nogitsune hadn't been able to do anything.
Then it had been bitten by an alpha Werewolf. Stiles had assumed it had been Scott, but now that he knew Derek was an alpha, he wondered who had bitten the Nogitsune's body so they could trap the fly it was again. Stiles hadn't been sure where the container for it was either. So, then it had been kept in FBI custody so that no one stuck it on a spice and tea shelf in a ramen shop where anyone could have stolen it in a moment of distraction. It was the worst place the jar could have been kept. He just wanted to make sense of all of this. Still, the report from his father with the stuff from Scott inside of it was interesting while not too much in the way of truth, just how Scott took it all in, including that it seemed that Scott thought that Derek was dark because he didn't die after being burned alive, even with the alpha spark inside of him for nearly dying to save those he loved.
A knock had Stiles checking the app for the pizza to see that it had been delivered. He was glad he had tipped on the app and did not leave Eli to give a tip. Stiles closed the files and tried to figure it all out for a few seconds but decided he needed to focus on Eli.
There was nothing to do with him but let Eli vent his spleen if needed, or at least let him be where he wanted to be and feel safe.
"Thanks. I got lost in files." Stiles shut the office door and followed Eli down to the living room.
"I remember you doing that before. Never ones that, if I snuck up on you and could see, would freak me out. Dad could say your name fifty times before you finally paid attention."
"Partially a side effect of ADHD, but sometimes it's just me. How are you feeling?"
"Worn out, which I know I shouldn't be based on how I did nothing but play games and read on my phone all day long. Even after I got here."
"Emotions can wear you out. Even the best of times can be draining. What do you want to watch?" Stiles picked up the remote and tossed it into Eli's lap before he headed to the kitchen to get a can of pop for each of them. He also grabbed plates. By the time he got to the kitchen, Eli had a TV show that Stiles had never seen before, but it was one he wanted to see.
"Is this okay?" Eli asked.
"Sure."
"It was on your to-watch list, but I didn't want to push it if you were waiting to watch it with someone."
"I just haven't got to it yet. It's not something that I would watch with someone unless I had been dating them a while, and my last date kind of sucked."
"What went wrong?" Eli picked up a few pieces of pizza and tossed them on a plate as soon as Stiles handed it over.
"My job. She wasn't too happy that I couldn't ever promise to be somewhere if I was on call or not on vacation. I told her my job came first unless she was injured. She didn't even like that I wouldn't take off work to take care of her when she had a cold. Not a big sickness but a simple cold. I would gladly go shopping and get everything she needed, check in on her."
"I have no clue what to think about that. I mean, like...she's an adult."
"Yes."
"A kid, I can see that. The last time I got sick, dad tossed crackers at me and told me not to throw up on the couch. He loves me, and I know it. I'm more than able to take care of myself. Does it feel nice? Yes. But, like, no. She can take care of herself, and if she needs another adult to care for her when there is a cold going on, she needs someone who is more than willing to make her his whole life. Like asking to breathe would have to be asked. You aren't like that, or at least you weren't back then."
"I am still not. I don't even go and mother my father like that. I used to, but nothing like what she wanted."
"Would you take Dad back?"
"I don't know, Eli. I want to say that I would be there are a lot of things between us. I don't think he'll ever get to where he and I can love each other again."
"You don't love him?"
"There is a part of me that always will. I don't think that I will love him like that again."
"Dad's never really talked about what went on."
"I think it was all in his head. He got scared or something. I don't understand it, and I might never."
Eli hit play on the TV remote and shifted on the couch a little until he was closer to Stiles.
Stiles kept the silence because it seemed Eli was more than willing to think about things. There had never been a time when Stiles would feel like lying to the kid was an option. He didn't think that lying about things like that would be good. Eli would know, even if there was very little he had been taught about what lying sounded like, he would notice something was wrong. It would be easy to learn what it meant. Then there was just the sound of Stiles' voice.
"I am sorry."
"I forgave you a long time ago, Eli. I'm not your father. I wanted to be, but I wasn't, and in the end, you gotta stick with your dad. I get it. Don't worry about it. I just want to make you happy right now, and I wanted to keep your father happy back then."
"He missed you. He always got really upset when someone brought you up."
Stiles knew that neither of them was watching a bit of the show, but maybe that was a good thing. Eli needed to talk, and it seemed he needed something to hide the words.
"Are you sure that you aren't going to be able to love him again?"
"I don't know. I can't say that I hate him. I stopped feeling a lot of things for him a long time ago. I can't dwell on the past like that. I'd never move on. He was hurt by a lot of people, and I can't tell what it did to him."
"Grandpa slipped one time. He was talking to Miss Melissa and said that you had bought a ring. I didn't get it until a few years ago when I was thinking about it. He meant a ring to ask Dad to marry you, right?"
"Yes. I still have it. It was a pretty thing, but it was also really old. It would have to be fitted as I wasn't sure what his size was. I found it in a city I was in for a case. It has a triskele on it. There were also black diamonds in the band. It wasn't too gaudy."
"He was happy. Never as happy as when you were around, but he was happy."
"I'm glad. I never wished him harm or hated him. I was upset. I just wanted-" Stiles stopped as Eli sat up, his head cocking to the side. He knew what that meant. He had been around werewolves and other shifters to know he heard something. "Eli?"
"Dad's here."
"Oh." Stiles looked at the door, and he debated not answering it if Derek knocked, but there was a doorbell, and Derek would press it and set it off forever if Stiles ignored him.
"I'll get it if you want."
"I'll order more pizza because he won't eat this."
"Yeah." Eli laid his plate down and got up.
Stiles stayed where he was and listened to Eli opening the door. Derek said nothing while Eli seemed to chatter on him as they came into the living room.
"He's taking good care of me," Eli said.
"I know he is. He bought you pizza. Oh, it's that pizza. That's going to make you want it again."
"He didn't even hesitate to ask. Do you want some?"
"No, thanks. I don't like it."
"I can order it without pineapple," Stiles said.
"You don't need to," Derek said at the same time his stomach growled.
Stiles raised an eyebrow at him.
Derek nodded.
Stiles started to order more pizza as well as some kind of dessert. He didn't need to have Derek complain because he wanted something sweet. Once Stiles was done, he turned off the show and then shut down his Fire Stick. He flipped the TV off next.
"What can I do for you?" Stiles asked. He lifted the pizza to his mouth because he wasn't going to let his pizza get cold while he waited for Derek's pizza to get there.
Eli handed over a crust piece to Derek, and Derek eyed it, but in the end, he took it and took a bite.
"I just wanted to bring him some clothes and some money. I know what it's like to feed a normal teenager, much less a kid who just started to burn calories like a werewolf. I also brought his laptop so that he could do his classwork. I talked to your teachers, and they are uploading it all to a portal. I assume you know how to access it?"
"Yeah, it's the same one used when we were all out when the water pipes burst, and the school flooded. I have a few things I always submit in that as well. The papers are all done through it. Some teachers also offer it for other things, but I always do them by hand instead of typing them up."
"Well, I just wanted to make sure. I explained that it was so close to the end of the year, and I didn't want to transfer you, but things had turned sour after my near death. Of course, it was all over the phone since I healed slowly. Thankfully it was all under the clothes by the time the medics got to me. No one thinks anything of me being seen a little while in a vehicle."
"That's good."
"Once you are done eating, you can get your stuff from the car and take it up. Show your father where you are staying."
"Sure. When will his food be here?" Eli looked like he was a little unsure of Derek and Stiles being in the same room at the moment.
"Soon. They are pretty quick and not too far from here. They tend to push food to certain types of people, such as law enforcement, medical, first responders, and others. We tip them well when we do order from them. It's probably why they do it, beyond the whole helping feed us when we want food."
"And you are working from home?" Derek asked.
"I do work from home some days. There are cases that I just consult on instead of heading out and working. So yeah. They also just want to help take care of us, I think. I have no clue but fast pizza after a horrible day is nice."
Derek said nothing; he just looked at Eli and gave him a smile. Eli didn't even look at him. Moody teenager, and Stiles was in the middle. He knew what side he would fall on unless it was something that would hurt Eli. Derek should understand where Eli was coming from. Derek was his only parent, and it seemed they really loved each other. Stiles knew what he would have felt if his father had done something like that. Saving the world but sacrificing himself right in front of Stiles. If Noha had lived, Stiles would have moved in with Scott and not left. He would be happy his father was alive but, in the end, pissed off that his father had been that stupid.
"What were you two watching?" Derek looked like he was pulling his own teeth asking the question.
"It was just background noise as we talked," Stiles said.
"I'm done with my food. I'll be right back."
Stiles looked to see that Eli had indeed finished off the entire large pizza. The second box had two slices missing, one Stiles was nearly done with, and the second was still on his place.
"Don't kill each other while I'm gone." Eli shoved himself up off the couch and glared at his father as he walked away.
The silence was going to be the thing that killed Stiles, not Derek himself. Still, he wouldn't be the one to crack on that. He looked at the blank TV and ate his food, making sure not to even glance at Derek.
"I don't think I've ever seen you this quiet when you are not stopped from speaking."
Stiles shrugged.
"Ah, being a petulant asshole. Got it."
Stiles wasn't going to rise to that bait there. He was well above that now. UnSubs had tried harder before to get Stiles to break. He closed his eyes as he also attempted to push that thought away.
"Are you okay?" Derek got up from where he had been sitting in the chair across the room and dropped beside Stiles, reaching out like he was trying to find some skin to drain the pain that wasn't his face or neck.
"Yeah, sorry. I had a thought, and it reminded me of something I would rather forget. It's not you; it's work."
"When you were taken hostage for a week, and no one could find you."
Stiles looked at him. he had asked his father not to tell Derek anything about it, but it seemed that he had been told about it.
"Yes. It's okay."
"No, it's not. I'm glad you got out of that okay."
"They still don't understand how it all happened. A person activated my phone. Turned it on, but no one ever figured out who. It wasn't me."
"No, it was me."
Stiles looked at Derek, nearly dropping his plate of pizza. "What?"
"No one could find you. Your father was freaked out. A few of Chris' friends were looking, and then they found you, but we had no way of really telling how the hell we found you."
"You were working with Chris and his friends?"
"Well, they wanted my nose. The place wouldn't have a random 911 call work. So then I noticed your phone in the stuff. I used my shirt to turn it on, and then we all left. There were no cameras. I never told anyone, and Chris promised to keep it quiet."
"You also drained my pain, so I could speak when my team found me." Stiles stated it, but Derek still nodded like Stiles wanted an answer.
"Why did you never say anything?"
"I tossed you away, and by the time I realized that it was something I had done out of fear, I thought I had burned the bridge. So I just stayed away."
"Derek, you could have come to me at any time and told me how sorry you were and that you were working on your issues, and I would have said, yes, we can try once you are better."
"I got better. My therapist is still pissed off that I won't even apologize to you. She points it out every single time I see her, and she can't figure out why I just don't fix it. It's the only outstanding issue I have anymore. I guess I can tell her now that I've done it."
"Have you?"
Derek laughed and ducked his head. After a few seconds, he looked back up at Stiles. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I got freaked out when I found the wedding ring you were hiding in your work bag when I went to grab a notepad when you asked for it. I'm sorry that I reacted like a wounded animal trapped in a corner when you were only loving me. I'm sorry for all of the pain I caused you, and I'm sorry that my pain hurt Eli and you's relationship."
"It's fine, Derek. I accept your apology. At least now I understand what happened that caused you to tell me to stop living with you." Stiles felt like an idiot. He had thought he had the ring hidden better than that. It hadn't even crossed his mind that Derek might have found the ring. Derek never went through pockets of anything of Stiles', but this time Stiles had asked him to grab something, so it was understandable.
"I still hurt you and don't like that, Stiles. I hurt me, and I hurt Eli. I've worked through most of it in therapy. I just have no clue what will happen going forward. I mean, my kid ran right to you the moment I upset him. He hadn't seen you in nearly a decade."
"I promised him in my letters I would always be there for him, even if it was thirty years from now."
Derek looked like he was going to start to cry. It was hard to see it as Stiles had so rarely seen Derek cry. Even after his sister died, he hadn't cried. He had cried about Boyd, but that had been probably one too many things on top of each other. There wasn't time most of the time to deal with anything after that either.
It had only been after Stiles got to college that he felt like he could breathe again. Honestly, going to college felt like a break compared to the hell he had gone through. Even working through the academy had felt like a vacation. Once he had been given cases, it was different. Still, the cases waxed and waned. He was able to say he couldn't handle something and be given something else to do.
"Where do we go from here?"
"Well, I've got your kid. He's probably not going to want to go home, and I would never make him as long as it's not hurting him. I will never think that making him go home when it would hurt him to make him do it."
"I know, and I don't want to hurt him more than I have. I have an appointment scheduled with my therapist, but I can do that over the computer. I planned on getting a hotel here tonight and staying. I'm not good to drive home, and I know it."
"You can crash here."
Eli came back inside with not just a bag that was obviously his but one that was Derek's.
"You staying in the second bedroom, Dad?"
"If Stiles doesn't mind."
"Not at all." Stiles knew that Derke wanted a second push and that it was okay for him to stay. If Eli was okay with it, Stiles was.
---
There was nothing like coming home to Stiles. The Wendigo case was done, and he was just tired. It had been gone for three weeks, and constant calls with Eli had been the only thing getting him through it all. He hadn't minded it, really, it was his job, but this one had been a literal hunt for three weeks. He never stayed the same night in the same city and just kept on moving around. It had been hard, and he hated it, but the Wendigo was found and would be going to trial for murder. It wouldn't be going to case for a while, so there would be a way for a lawyer to try and get him off. Stiles didn't think that there would be a way. The Wendigo had been caught with its newest victim nearly dead. The woman would be scarred for life, and Stiles knew it would take a lot of therapy to get her to where she could survive in society without constant terror.
"Oh," Stiles said as he came into the living room to find Derek sitting there with a plate of pizza in front f him. There was a box that was unopened next to the one open. "I didn't expect you to be awake."
"I wasn't in bed yet when Eli got the text you were on your way home from the airport. He left his phone in here. I saw the message and ordered pizza."
"It's still my favorite food to eat after I get off work with cases like this."
"You always liked it after we had a big fight. I could always figure out what you wanted based on how tired you were. Pizza if you were exhausted. I think it just became your normal after a case."
Stiles opened up the pizza box before he pulled it into his lap. Then he picked up a slice. Derek turned the TV onto a show that Stiles liked to watch that was easy to just pick up and drop again. He had seen all of them years ago.
Derk and Eli had patched up a lot of their issues, but Eli wasn't ready to go home yet. Stiles wasn't going to push that. He liked having Derek here on the weekends and Eli here all the time. Derek had the shop closed on the weekends outside of long repairs that his staff sometimes did to get extra money.
After about half an episode, Stiles leaned over and rested his head on Derek's shoulder. Derek stiffened up and then relaxed after a few seconds before he raised his arm and wrapped it around Stiles to hold him. When Stiles was done eating, he turned a little more and turned into Derek, like they used to when they were cuddling back when they dated.
"Is this okay?" Stiles asked.
"Yes," Derek said.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Are you sure?"
"Yes, I am. I'm happy. It's really strange, and I have no clue what this will mean, but having you two here has been wonderful."
"Are you attached to here?"
"No, not really, but I don't want to move too fast at all."
"No, but I want to know if I need to put down roots here or stay back in Beacon Hills?"
"Oh, I don't want to stay here forever, and with the cases we do, I can fly out of wherever for them. I don't do big cases that have me working with a team; it's consulting for the most part."
"The Wendigo with the foot fetish is not the norm?"
"No, it's not. I mean, I am sometimes gone for a week or two, or I go to sites to see things, but then, in the end, I am always back. I never wanted to be gone from Beacon Hills for long, but things just changed."
"You didn't want to upset me."
"I didn't want you upset all the time. I didn't want Eli's homelife messed up at all. It wasn't the worst, but I wasn't ready for that. I am not one to mess up home lives like that. I love him."
"I know. I know you do, and it's why I didn't want to mess things up, but I also know that things were hectic for a while."
Stiles didn't want to say anything. He wasn't upset that Derek had messed up. Stiles had messed up a lot over his years. There were not a lot of things Stiles hadn't regretted at some point when it came to how he reacted when he was upset. The one with Scott was one of the few things he never regretted. Scott would never be the person he tried to make people believe he was. Even after being faced with the truth of everything that was in the world, Scott still thought that his intent mattered more than the facts of what was going on. Just like Scott was the only one that was allowed to decide if someone was allowed to die. He was the only one who could make sure that the person deserved to die for what they did. It wasn't a big thing in the end because the ones who Scott wanted to give a second chance that didn't deserve it had met their end in other ways, usually from a pack that wasn't willing to leave an enemy alive to come after them.
"Quit thinking about Scott," Derek said.
Stiles laughed and turned his head to look at Derek's face. "Even after all this time, you still know?"
"I do. You only smell like that when you are thinking of him. It's not too hard to figure it out, really."
"How are you feeling?" Stiles asked.
"Pretty good. There are times that I feel like I should make a massive decision for you as I'm afraid I'm going t hurt you, but my therapist yells at me that I can't just make decisions for you. I need to let you do what you what to do, and if we hurt each other again, well, then it wasn't meant to be."
"I do not like it when people make decisions for me."
"I know, but I don't know why you want me. I am not perfect."
"No, but you are perfect for me. That's all that matters, Derek. We can be good for each other, and you just need to talk to me when you freak out. Instead of just freaking out and pushing me away."
"I forgot what it was like to come into this kind of thing," Eli said.
Stiles looked at where he was. Derek was blushing, and Stiles could tell he was upset that he didn't hear him coming.
"Not able to sleep?" Stiles asked as he sat up. Derek's arms came off him, but there was a feeling of reluctance.
"I just woke up and wasn't sure what woke me up, but I think it was you coming home. I heard your heartbeat as soon as I was fully awake. It's not that horrible to be awake when you are home." Eli climbed over the couch and settled on Stiles' other side, sandwiching him between two Hales.
Stiles was sure that this little family they had going would get stronger as time passed. There was something good about it as well. It was good that they could build something up.
The End
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