~Chapter Nine~
Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or Teen Wolf.
~a few hours later~
The pack sat in the hard plastic chairs in the hospital waiting room, fully recovered from their brief exposure to the wolfsbane smoke. Sam and Dean sat next to them, quietly conversing.
Finally, Mrs. McCall came up to them and smiled at their eager faces.
"He's going to live," she announced, and the waiting room filled with the teenagers' enthusiastic cheers. A couple passing nurses and doctors smiled a little at their antics before Mrs. McCall shushed them. "We've notified his father and he said that you can visit Stiles, but try not to put too much pressure on him all at once, okay? Two at a time."
Immediately, the pack looked to Derek, who shook his head a little. "I'll go last," he said. Scott eagerly bounced to his feet, and, holding Allison's hand, followed his mother in the direction of Stiles' room. The rest of the pack resumed muttering to themselves, or, in Lydia's case, worrying at her nails and snapping at Jackson.
"Hey man, you okay?" Dean asked Derek, who was sitting next to him staring at his hands. "I thought you'd be the first one in there."
"Why do you care?" Derek snapped at him. Dean raised his hands in surrender, backing off. "Sorry, it just looked like you cared for him a lot."
"I do, but...it's my fault he's in this situation in the first place, and I can't face him after all that," Derek sighed.
Dean scoffed. "Dude, have you seen that kid? No-one makes him do anything."
Derek looked like he was considering that, and then he nodded slightly in agreement. "Thank you for helping us get him back," he said.
Dean shrugged with a small smile. "It's what we do." He took a piece of crumpled paper out of the pocket of his jacket and tore off the edge, hurriedly scribbling down a phone number. "There. You can call us if you need anything."
Derek nodded and accepted the paper. In all honesty he'd been very reluctant to work with hunters at first, his past experiences with them being less than pleasurable. But the Winchesters definitely had managed to earn his respect especially after going after a fellow hunter without hesitation.
"I know Stiles will definitely want to keep in touch," he joked.
That earned a laugh from Dean and Sam. "We'll go say goodbye to him, then," Sam said. "See you around, Derek." They exchanged a short (and slightly uncomfortable) hug, then Dean went up to him and gave him a very manly bro-hug before they walked down the hall in the direction of Stiles' room, stopping by the nurses' station to ask for directions.
"Man, I wish we never took this job," Dean sighed as they walked towards Stiles' room. "It's jacked everything up."
"What do you mean?" Sam asked.
"Think about all the hunts we've gone on, our whole lives, Sammy," Dean said.
"Okay?" Sam nodded, a little confused.
"What if we killed things that didn't deserve killing? You know? I mean, the way Dad raised us…" Dean trailed off meaningfully.
"Dean, after what happened to Mom, Dad did the best he could."
"I know he did. But the man wasn't perfect. And the way he raised us, to hate those things; and man, I hate 'em. I do. When I killed that wolf in the woods I didn't even think about it; hell, I even enjoyed it," Dean said.
"Honestly, I'm glad," Sam said. "If we weren't there, Gordon would've slaughtered that entire pack of innocent teenagers and then some. And instead of thinking about all the things we've done in the past, we should try to think about all the things we could prevent from happening in the future."
"Geez, Sammy, you sound all philosophical and shit," Dean tried to joke.
Sam caught his brother's attempt to lighten the mood and change the subject, and he went along with it. They walked in silence for a few more minutes, checking the room numbers for Stiles'. When they found his room, the door was open and they could hear Scott and Allison talking eagerly and Stiles' weak voice responding. Dean knocked on the door frame, catching the attention of all three teenagers.
"Mind if we say a quick goodbye?" The hunter asked. "We're heading out."
Scott and Allison glanced to Stiles to get his OK, then walked out of the room. Scott shook both the hunters' hands and said a quick goodbye, and Allison gave both of them short hugs, beaming at them. "Stay in touch," she ordered firmly, then she and Scott walked back down the hallway hand-in-hand.
"Hey, kid," Dean said as they walked into Stiles' room and took seats in the uncomfortable hospital chairs Scott and Allison had previously been occupying.
"Hey," Stiles said back. Even though his body posture screamed that he was exhausted, the sparkle in his cinnamon-brown eyes was still there. "Thanks for helping get me out of there."
"It was mostly you and Derek," Sam put in. "You were pretty impressive back there for someone who'd lost a pint of blood. If you ever wanted to join the hunting business, you'd fit the bill."
"I think I'll stick to Beacon Hills for now, but thanks," Stiles said, giving them a smile.
"If you ever run into trouble, just call," Dean told him. "Derek has our number." He couldn't explain it, but he felt a fiercely protective feeling for this kid he'd just met rise up in his chest.
"Thanks," Stiles said. "If I fall down the stairs, you're on speed dial."
Sam chuckled. "See you around, kiddo," he said, carefully wrapping his arms around Stiles and making sure he didn't jostle any of the cuts. Stiles gingerly embraced him, suppressing a wince. Dean followed suit. Just as the brothers were about to leave, Stiles grabbed Sam's arm. "Just be careful out there, okay?" He said seriously. The two nodded, and with one last glance at Stiles, walked out.
~o)0(o~
Stiles let out a wide yawn. He was completely, utterly exhausted. He'd been up all night except for when he'd been unconscious while the doctors wrapped his cuts and injuries, and he'd spent a major part of the day recieving visitors and having nurses come in for regular check-ups. Mrs. McCall had informed him that his dad would be arriving late the next morning, and he felt a little guilty his dad was missing whatever important conference he'd been at for Stiles, but the guilt didn't last for long because he was excited about seeing his dad again.
Still, he didn't want to go to sleep yet. One person still hadn't visited him, and that was Derek. After the werewolf had fought off wolfsbane poisoning and tackled an armed, bloodthirsty hunter for him, Stiles figured that he'd at least pop in to say hello. But there hadn't been a word out of Derek all day, and Stiles was starting to get worried.
He yawned again, shifting a little to get more comfortable. He hissed a little when his cuts protested painfully. His eyes could barely stay open. Maybe Derek's visit would have to wait…
Just before he was about to allow his eyes to close, he caught sight of a dark shadow standing in the doorway.
"Derek?" He mumbled.
The shadow shifted a little, confirming Stiles' suspicion. "What're you doing?" He asked sleepily.
Derek came closer and sat down next to Stiles' bed. A warmth encircled Stiles' left hand as Derek took it in his own. "I wanted to come check on you before I had to leave," he said.
"Thanks," Stiles said, trying to keep his eyes open. Derek chuckled a little at the human's struggle.
Stiles' jaw dropped. "Was that a smile?! Did I just see Derek Hale smile? Amazing!"
Derek laughed openly, then his face quickly grew serious again. "I just wanted to do one thing before your dad gets here and I can't visit anymore." He leaned down, cupping Stiles' face with his free hand and gently pressing his lips against the younger boy's. Stiles let out a soft gasp of surprise-this was the last thing he was expecting-but then as he felt Derek pulling away he returned the kiss, pressing against Derek's lips hungrily.
"You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that," the werewolf breathed as they broke apart reluctantly.
"Same," Stiles returned, sleepiness all but forgotten. They sat together in the dark hospital room, holding each other as they washed away the memories of their painful weekend and replaced them with new ones.
~o)0(o~
Gordon tried to reach for the discarded knife on the ground once again, but failed. He angrily pulled against his bonds, but they were tied too tightly and expertly. Goddamn those Winchesters and those werewolves and especially that idiotic human bastard! He sat back against the chair, chest heaving in pants as he silently seethed.
He was going to get free, and he was going to kill them all.
Every. Single. One.
FIN
A/N: Okay, I know the dramatic ending just screams "SEQUEL!" but I doubt that's going to happen because I can't think of any interesting ideas for a sequel. Onnnn the other hand, I'm working on another SPN/TW fic but it wouldn't have anything to do with this one, just because the timelines and all that shit wouldn't work out. But I also have an idea for an Ereri fic, and what with that and school being a bitch, I can't make any promises, sooo...don't get your hopes up, to say the least.
Thank you all for your support throughout the writing of this fic! Please read, review, favorite, follow (well not really anymore cuz the story's over) and...yeah. Hope y'all enjoyed & will come back for more. ;)
