Stiles is a Jack Russell Terrier
Derek is a Black Alsatian - Wolf Dog Mix
Lydia is a Red Long-Haired Dachsund
Jackson is a German Short-Haired Pointer
Erica is a Blonde Pitbull
Isaac is a Brown Labradoodle Mutt
Boyd is a Black Airdale
Danny is a Corgi
This is a Lady and the Tramp!AU mixup, and despite my obvious deviations from the original plot from the movie, it will have the same feel to it in the end. And sorry in advance for all the angst, but the Lady and the Tramp movie is actually pretty sad to begin with, so I'm not as sorry as I should be. Probably.
This is a two parter, so the second chapter should be up relatively soon. Thank you for reading!
Chapter One: I'm More Of A "Laddie" Than A "Lady" Anyways
Although Stiles hardly knew much about what was beyond the gates of his beloved yard, he would easily and adamantly say that he was happy. So happy, in fact, that it often made him rather, well, spastic. Not that he wasn't spastic to begin with, of course, but hey! Beggars can't be choosers, right? Even if he wasn't a beggar. After all, he had his permit finally, all of his shots, and a shiny new collar complete with tags to prove it. Courtesy of his beloved Alpha Scott.
He'd been living with Scott ever since he could remember, practically forever by his recollection, but really he was only about a year old. Stiles wasn't really sure where he'd been before Scott had found him and brought him home, he'd only been a puppy then, but he was sure it wasn't anywhere good or as nice as Scott's house. Scott's house, and his yard, and his bed -which he wasn't supposed to sleep in but did anyways- and his couch. (Sometimes Scott would even let him in the car for rides, and by now Stiles thought of the Jeep as his more than it was Scott's.) Stiles didn't want to go back there, so no matter now obnoxious or spastic or wild he acted, he always made sure to follow orders as well as he could. Even if he couldn't understand Alpha Scott all of the time. He always followed instructions.
Stiles is a Jack Russell Terrier, after all, and his breed are well known for their boisterous personalities, need for near constant stimulation and exercise, and their intelligence. Stiles prides himself on his brains and mental prowess, particularly because it makes up for how small he really is. Terriers aren't overly large when compared to other dogs, and the neighbor dogs are near-constant reminders of just how small he tends to be. Because Jackson, the snooty dog that he is, is a German bread Pointer, and he towers over Stiles. Literally towers, and often glares down his nose at Stiles when he is being particularly frisky. Luckily, he also towers over Lydia, who is one of the most beautiful dogs Stiles has ever seen, and is a lovely long-haired, red Dachshund. She's only a bit smaller than Stiles, but her personality and presence more than makes up for her lack of height. Lydia frequently bowls Stiles over with her personality, but more often than not Jackson does it for her as he attempts to follower her around as closely as he possibly can. Sometimes, Stiles envies Jackson.
But he was a happy dog, all the way through and through. He knew it in his bones that he and Alpha Scott would be together forever and nothing would ever come between them! Except something did. And that something's name was Allison.
Now don't get him wrong, Stiles actually likes Allison. He likes her a lot. She's pretty and funny and smart and all the things mates are supposed to be, plus she gives excellent scratches behind his ears. Allison works out and makes sure that Scott eats right, that he does his homework before he rushes between classes and work at the Vet's office. And Allison has slowly been taking up more and more time that once was Scott and Stiles'. Scott's missing more and more trips to the park now, more and more walks around the block, more lazy, quiet nights on the couch. He's gone more, and when he comes back he's either with Allison or covered in Unfamiliar Scent that makes Stiles' fur stand on end. Even if he is alone, then he's usually tired or busy with homework, and their shared time, Stiles' entire life, is slowly slipping away.
He's sad, and Scott hasn't seemed to notice. No one has, really, not even Lydia and Jackson, and Stiles has known them as long as he'd lived on this block, in this neighborhood. Stiles is sad and tired and wants things to go back to normal.
But the months go by and they don't.
Soon, Allison moves in and never leaves. One day Stiles gets up and Allison is already there with a bunch of boxes that contain the Unfamiliar Scent and a variety of things he's not familiar with. She puts them with Alpha Scott's things and they never leave, and neither does Allison. Soon... well, soon it is just another part of Stiles' life, one that he's learning to take in stride, adjusting to the fewer walks, the fewer trips to the park or around the block.
He's irritable often now, and sad, and confused, and when Allison's sires show up one night for dinner, smelling of Unfamiliar Scent and something else that hurts Stiles' nose, he sort of loses it. He forgets the Rules, and in doing so, he breaks one on accident. To be fair, he'd tried to run away from Papa Argent, but the man had been persistent and had followed him, cornered him, in the entry hall against the door. Stiles didn't like him, didn't like how he smelled, and so when that huge hand had reached out and above his head, he'd panicked. The growling, snarling snap that he'd let loose rang through the house along side Papa Argent's startled cry and the pounding of feet that came running up to them. He was so scared that he'd tried to hide even further under the bench by the door, between the shoes and the lonely scarf dropped back there, until Alpha Scott's face came into view. His tail had only wagged twice before Scott had scruffed him and hauled him out, causing Stiles to yelp as he was unceremoniously tossed out the door, followed by a furious Scott, Allison, and Papa Argent.
Stiles knows that the Argents wanted him to go away. That they didn't want him around Allison anymore. He knew by their tone and their angry looks and how they shouted with Scott, that Stiles was a Bad Dog and that they wanted him to go away. Probably forever. And Stiles was scared, he was scared that Scott might do it. That he'd trade up Stiles for Allison and her weird-smelling kin.
When they finally ended up leaving, Scott didn't let him back in the house. Scott never left him outside overnight, he knew that Stiles didn't like the dark, that he always slept at Scott's feet on his side of the bed. And Scott didn't let him back inside. Stiles isn't too proud to admit that he'd cried for a bit beneath the bushes closest to the house for a good majority of his time outside.
That's where Lydia and Jackson found him the next morning, still curled tightly beneath the bushes. And even as Jackson opened up the conversation with some snippy remark about Stiles' lesser breed and care, Lydia was quiet. When Stiles didn't retort back with something equally witty or even start poking back at Jackson's equally questionable beginnings, even Jackson gave pause. When Lydia asked what happened, Stiles couldn't bear to tell her how he'd been a Bad Dog. Bad Dogs deserved what he'd been punished with, probably worse, and Lydia and Jackson wouldn't talk to him after they found out how bad he'd been. He'd snapped at -bitten- Papa Argent! Oh no, no, no, Alpha Scott was going to get rid of him...
Lydia had comforted him as best as she could while he'd laid there and sobbed, and even Jackson stood over them both soberly and quiet while Stiles explained what had happened, what he'd done. Neither of them had said anything as he'd haltingly explained what transpired, and even when he was finished, they didn't say a word. Didn't judge him. They just offered their quiet and solemn support while he poured his fears and concerns out to them. In that moment, Stiles had never been more happy to know Jackson and Lydia and call them friends.
After that, Stiles made sure to be on his very best behavior. Made sure to follow all the Rules. He came when he was called, no matter what he was doing, he waited patiently and quietly for Scott when he wanted him, he started sleeping on the floor next to the bed like Allison demanded Scott make him do, and he started being out of the house more often than not, with or without Alpha Scott. He was doing everything he could to make his Alphas as happy with them as he could and then some, but every day the fights between Scott and Allison over him increased. Despite not knowing all the words, Stiles knew that Allison didn't like him anymore, and so he stayed away from her as much as he could while sharing a home with her. But nothing gets better, and soon Stiles was going with Alpha Scott to work at the Vet's Office more and more, and Scott often leaves him overnight with Dr. Deaton when he can. Stiles sees less and less of Alpha Scott and Allison, less and less of Jackson and Lydia, and more and more of Dr. Deaton, his clinic, his helpers, and the other residence at the clinic.
In particular, a huge, massive, hulking black beast of a dog that Stiles isn't really sure is actually a dog, and his somewhat ragtag pack that seems to follow him wherever he goes. Dr. Deaton calls the big black wolf-dog-thing Derek, even though Derek doesn't answer to his given name, Stiles must admit that Derek is really impressive. And by impressive, he means terrifying and absolutely stunning. Derek has to be part wolf, part something absolutely wild and untamable, Stiles can tell, but he has the darkest black fur that Stiles has ever seen on any animal ever, with a few grey spots at his heels and ear tips. He's also got gleaming red eyes, Stiles is sure, but he can't be completely sure, completely positive, because he's never been up close to Derek, has never actually talked to him, and the sun might have been to blame for the gleaming bit from where he'd been hiding at the time. Deaton laughs at him when he tries to spy on Derek from behind the outside pens and buildings, because Deaton isn't afraid of Derek apparently, but that doesn't stop Derek from being huge and towering over Stiles in a way that not even Jackson can. Despite the fact that he's not standing anywhere near the fence or Stiles at all.
Derek, who Stiles is sure knows he's there watching him, never says a word. Never does anything but blink at him from behind the fence before walking off to wherever it is he goes when he's not eating out of Deaton's offered bowls of food. Derek's pack, however, always heckles Stiles from the fence line before and after they scarf down the food out there. Often throwing insults at him and calling him names he's never heard before loping off after their own Alpha. Now, Stiles sees them every other few days, because now Alpha Scott hasn't come back to take him home in over a week, and watching for Derek and his pack helps him pass the time. Thinking about what creative names Erica and Isaac would call him helped him to forget that Scott probably wouldn't be coming back for him again, and avoiding eye contact with Boyd turned into an agility game they both seemed to participate in. But the ultimate game, the best one, was waiting for Derek and trying to sneak around and stalk him without him noticing. Derek always seems to catch him. After a while, Stiles doesn't mind.
By now, Dr. Deaton has given Stiles his own run closest to the building doors, complete with the bed and the few toys that Alpha Scott had left with him, and a few blankets that Deaton had given to him to sleep with at night. Stiles sort of understands without really understanding that he's going to be staying here for a while, and tries to make the best of it. Alpha Scott hadn't said anything, but Dr. Deaton called it boarding, which doesn't sound nearly as scary as what he was thinking of as his abandonment. So he continues to play his games and keep himself occupied watching Derek and his pack until Scott decides to come back.
When he does come back to get Stiles, Stiles feels like he doesn't really know where that old Alpha Scott went to, the one after Allison moved in. He certainly doesn't know Mate Allison any better, who used to glower at Stiles but doesn't say anything when Scott brings him back inside the house, smiling and laughing and running after him as the two of them chase him around happily. It's like Stiles never left and Allison never came, except she did. Like nothing bad ever happened to his family, and Alpha Scott makes apology after apology as he tries to make up for that three week period where Stiles had been exiled from the house. They go for extra walks, play multiple games of fetch, and he gets to sleep in the bed again. Scott explains he'd just been having a rough patch with school and work and Allison; that her family had been pressing for something called euthanization, but that he could never do that to him, his best pal. And Stiles is happy again.
Stiles is so happy again its like nothing ever happened to begin with.
Except it did. And despite Alpha Scott's best efforts, Papa Argent doesn't stay away, and Allison tries to act as a medium, but it doesn't really work. So Stiles cowers and hides when he comes with Allison's Mother, lets Scott lock him away in the bedroom when they come to visit. Anything to protect what he just got back. Anything so that he doesn't have to go back to living Away again. Stiles thinks that the Argent sires are cat people and shudders. Lost causes for sure.
And the weird thing is, Stiles is almost certain that he's seen Derek down the street from his house waiting by the light post. Not once or twice, because he could blame that on the one big dog a few blocks over that sometimes walks this way, but almost every other day. And close enough that Stiles can tell that it is Derek. Close enough that he can see the red flickering in the dog's massive eyes. But just like before, Derek never comes too close, never says anything to Stiles, and Stiles pretends that their games just continued despite a change in venue. It gives Stiles something to think about anyways, whenever he sees him outside during his walks or yard time.
But about two months go by before something big happens again, leaving Stiles' head spinning and Alpha Scott gone with Allison. Something about needing a break, a vacation, and how they'd totally leave him with Dr. Deaton except they couldn't afford it after the last time. How Allison's sires had agreed to let him stay in their yard as long as Scott provided the dog house, his food, and enough supplies to get him through their trip duration. The Argents want nothing to do with him. So he's left outside with them, his lead staked securely into the ground by the big trees he's totally unfamiliar with, in an unfamiliar yard and neighborhood, while Alpha Scott and Allison finish arranging things with Papa Argent. When he finally sees the last of the Jeep at the end of the block disappear, Stiles gets the most intense stab of fear deep within his chest, like he'll never see them again. But he refuses to let himself think like that, and as long as he's outside and not inside with them, he'll be fine. Or so he thinks.
A few days go by without incident, he's well fed and watered, and despite being outside, he's comfortable. It's summer now, so the weather is pleasant, and he's got a dog house Scott had built for him just for this occasion which was filled to the brim with blankets and shirts that smell like Alpha Scott and his new mate. He's not exactly happy with the situation, but he's comfortable, and his family won't be gone too long.
Turns out, the Argents are indeed Cat People.
They have one sleek feline, a light brown in color with dark, dark stripes up and down her back, that wanders around the grounds whenever she feels like. Her name is Kate, and she scares the ever loving shit out of Stiles. Cats aren't to be trusted, every dog knows that deep down in their very bones, and this one is a shining example of just how far felines are from canines. She taunts Stiles just on the far side of his lead, not that he'd chase her or run after her or anything, and she steels his food when he's not looking. She also says the most horrible things about how Alpha Scott and Mistress Allison are never coming back for him, that they'll leave him just like they did a while ago. Stiles doesn't know how she knows that, but she does, and he tries not to let it get to him. Chasing Kate would break one of his Alpha's rules, and he won't ever do that again if he can help it. She can say whatever she wants.
He does growl at her though, whenever he can, and a few times he barks at her until she gives up and leaves. It isn't for very long, and it isn't very loud, but it seems to be effective. So when Stiles is at the end of his rope one day, he gives her the warning growls that he's been giving her every day for nearly a week, before he lunges at her and barks.
But instead of laughing and scampering off or yowling back at him, this time she screeches and cries out, falling over backwards in a pile of flailing limbs, and starts crying. She holds one of her front paws up and cradles it against her side and Stiles is completely dumbfounded. So he just stands there, starring down at her, until Papa Argent comes running out of the house, shouting at him to get away from her, to leave her alone. Stiles just looks up at him dumbfounded, because he didn't do anything to her, she's faking it, and he can't understand why she was doing what she was doing. Didn't she see that she was upsetting her Alpha?
He was yelling at Stiles now, screaming and waving around a news paper, threatening him as he stooped down to check on Kate. His face was beet red and he was fuming, and even Stiles knew when to retreat, the paper sailing over his head as he went. He didn't get too far when his lead was yanked back forcefully, one massive hand grabbing the fur at his neck and tugging hard. He yelped as he was drug towards an angry Argent, whose hand swatted him over and over. Hit him! Actually hit him! And it wasn't a little swat either, it was a full on smack, and it hurt. It hurt so badly and all he wanted to do was get away, get so far away from everyone here that it the need was nearly overwhelming. So he did what he'd said he'd never do again, he struck out and bit Papa Argent hard on the flailing hand.
The man shouted and recoiled, pulling his hand away rapidly, dropping Stiles so suddenly that he rolled and landed hard on his back, dazed for only a moment before he shot out and away from him. He ran until his lead snapped him back, jerking his whole body with the force of how hard he was running, and when he couldn't go any further, he started biting and gnawing on the leash and his collar, ducking his head to try to get it off from around his neck. He had to get out, he had to get away before Argent got up and came back!
Finally, the collar slipped free and pulled off, leaving him free to run. And run he did, as fast as he could, away from the Argent's home, away from Papa Argent, and away from their slick cat Kate. He had to get away, he just had too.
Stiles wasn't sure how long or far he'd run before he finally ran out of steam and slowed down, stopping to pant in a dingy alleyway filled with garbage and broken crates. He was completely lost, he realized, and nothing around him looked even remotely familiar. Beacon Hills was a larger town-grown-city, and even though he'd paid attention while Scott had driven him to the Argent's home, he still hadn't a clue where that house was from his own. Add in the fact that he'd run farther into the city in his panic, and there he was. Lost and alone in a city he hadn't the first clue about, collarless, desperate, and frightened. And despite Stiles' extensive intellect, he hadn't the first clue about how to go from here or what he should do in order to get back to Alpha Scott's.
In short, Stiles was boned.
Well, at least things couldn't get any worse, could they?
And that's when the deep growling started.
