I wrote this months back, but felt like it needed more, I just couldn't figure out what. Today I looked at it again and it suddenly felt finished, so here we are. Enjoy!

Sins of the Father

Stiles would like to think that very few things would surprise him, after everything he'd been through in the last year. He'd like to think that, but the fact of the matter was, he was still totally shocked when fairies showed up in town. But really, fairies? And apparently fairies had sharp fangs and drank the blood of other supernatural creatures to stay alive. What the hell?

So, while he would like to think that nothing could surprise him, he found that a lot of things actually could.

Like coming home to find someone other than his father sitting at the dining room table.

He did a double take. "What are you doing here?"

Chris Argent smiled as the Sheriff appeared from the kitchen.

"Stiles. Hi. This is Chris Argent. Chris this it-"

"Stiles," Argent smiled. "We've met. He's a friend of my daughter's."

"Right," his dad nodded. "Of course. Stiles, we're just finishing up here, but give me a few minutes before dinner?"

"Uh, yeah," Stiles nodded. He looked back and forth between the two of them, still confused, while his dad gave him an expectant look. Right. That was his cue to scram. He ran up the stairs two at a time, dropped his things in his room, then quietly snuck back down the stairs to eavesdrop. He couldn't hear every word exchanged, but he felt a pang as he heard his mother's name "Sarah", and then "Victoria". Right. Bonding over dead wives, maybe. Dead wives, and somewhat unbalanced teenaged children, and, hey, the Sheriff even had a deranged sister that they mostly didn't talk about. Granted, she wasn't homicidally deranged, but crazy nonetheless.

Lost in his thoughts, he almost missed the sound of chairs being pulled out from the table and feet shuffling. He scrambled to stay out of sight as his father and Argent moved from the kitchen into the foyer, but Argent spotted him and gave him a half creepy smile before exiting the house. The Sheriff closed the door behind him and turned to Stiles' hiding spot, but Stiles didn't budge.

"Stiles," he said. "I know you're there."

Stiles stood up and smiled innocently. "Hi, dad."

His dad rolled his eyes and walked into the kitchen. Stiles hurried after him.

"What was he doing here?" he asked, trying not to sound to disgusted. Argent was not a bad guy, after all. He'd come through for them more than a few times, and one might even say he was on pretty friendly terms with the Hale pack. He still made Stiles feel on edge though.

"He manufactures weapons to sell to law enforcement. I'm law enforcement. You can see where our careers might intersect."

"The Argent's have lived here for ages, and you're just now meeting with him?"

"I've met up with him numerous times before now, Stiles."

"Oh."

"Why are you acting so weird?"

Stiles tapped his foot anxiously and shrugged. "I don't know. I just have a weird feeling about him."

"Well, you should probably get over that. He's a decent guy."

"Right." Stiles nodded and moved into the kitchen to start dinner. Yeah, Argent was an okay guy, but he still made his skin crawl, and it would probably be a while before that changed.

It was weird, seeing his dad 'hanging out' with Allison's. Maybe it shouldn't have been, maybe that's what parents did, and they did have a lot in common, he supposed. But no amount of rational though made it seem normal, and no amount of rational thought made it not weird to run into the in town, like that was something they did, like they were normal people or something. But they weren't normal people. Argent was a weapons manufacturer by day, and a werewolf hunter by night, and his dad was Sheriff pretty much twenty-four seven. Stiles doubted that left a lot of time for a social life for either of them.

Come to think of it, the last time Stiles could recall his father having a social life was back when he was a deputy, back when mom was still alive. So yeah, it was weird.

And it was even weirder when Scott commented on the fact that the Sheriff kind of smelled faintly of Argent.

He wasn't going to touch that one with a ten-foot poll.

There was one night when Argent came home with his dad, and they sat in the kitchen talking for a while, before Argent finally left. Stiles didn't try to eavesdrop, because he knew how well that always worked, but he didn't hesitate to dash down the stairs the moment he heard the door shut.

"Hi, Stiles."

"What was that about?"

"Nothing important," he said. "Just chatting."

Stiles eyed him suspiciously. "I don't trust Argent," he said. "He's sketchy. And kind of a jerk."

"You should try to be a little nicer to him," the Sheriff said. "And maybe call him Chris."

"Chris?" Stiles repeated. "Why? It's not like you're dating him."

"Stiles."

Stiles blinked a few times while his brain processed that tone and two months of friendly chatter.

"Oh. My. God. You are."

"Stiles."

"You totally are! How could you not tell me something like that?!"

"There are plenty of things you've been keeping from me."

"Dad!"

"Fine. I didn't tell you because I knew you'd react like this-"

"Like what?"

"Freaking out. And I didn't want to make a big deal about it until it got more serious."

"Just how serious is it right now?" Stiles asked, eyes bulging. Before his dad could answer, his mouth was running again. "Oh god, does Allison know? Of course she knows, because her dad isn't worried that she's gonna freak out on him, because she's not a freak-"

"Stiles! You're not a freak, and Allison doesn't know. And yes, it's getting serious."

"Oh my god!"

"You okay?"

"I don't know."

"Take your time."

Stiles blinked several times again, then nodded. "I'm gonna… go sit in my bed and… process."

His dad nodded, a worried look in his eye. Stiles slowly walked up the stairs, his mind reeling. When he finally reached his room, he fell into bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.

An hour later, the Sheriff climbed the stairs after him, and knocked lightly on the door. In that time, Stiles hadn't budged an inch, but when he heard the knock, he shot upright.

"You okay?" his dad asked.

"Do you really like him?"

His dad smiled a little. "Yeah, I do."

Stiles sighed. "I don't trust him."

"Stiles… Is this about your mom?"

"What?" Stiles asked in surprised. It was somewhat of a shock any time he brought her up, but he really wasn't expecting it now. "No. It's not that-"

"Because I get it, if that's it-"

"No, dad, it's really not. I'm not that kid who wants you to live the rest of your life alone rather than find someone else."

"I know you're not. But that doesn't make it any less hard. I love your mom. I always will."

"I know, dad. I know."

"Then if it's because he's-"

"No! I don't care about that either. It doesn't matter if it's a man, or a woman, or a puppy-sized elephant. I don't care, I just want you to be happy."

"So, do you think you can find a way to be okay with this?"

Stiles took a deep breath. "I want you to be happy," he repeated. "But I don't think you'll be happy with him."

"Stiles-"

"No, hear me out. He's hiding things from you, dad. He's lying to you. How can you be happy with someone who's keeping secrets from you?"

"You're keeping secrets from me."

Stiles bit his lip and nodded. "Fair enough."

"And what makes you so sure that he's keeping something from me?"

"Because he's keeping the same secret I am."