Not Robin All the Time: Love Be Afraid (Season One)

by AkinaSky

Canon retold from Stiles and Derek POV, this is an eventual Sterek with a slow build friendship and confused people with weird emotions. All the great moments and some new ones. What happens when Stiles just needs something to think about other than the anniversary he just made it through again, and he asks his best friend to come into the forest to find a dead body.

10. Another Hospital Stay

Chapter Ten: Another Hospital Stay

Author's Note: Almost all caught up on this website, I am just going to give you an influx of chapters but please understand that after these are uploaded I am actively writing so give me time to get them to you. Its been a little wonky getting them all on due to no internet at home now

Hope you enjoy!

Stiles watched as Derek ran off into the woods, hoping he would keep an eye out for Peter and not stray too far since the alpha would still be gunning for all of them. The beta ally disappeared into the trees just as Stiles's dad ran around the corner of the building to see the group of antsy and disheveled teenagers. Stiles looked at all of them in turn, "It happened so fast. It was too dark. Nothing specific."

Lydia nodded, tears having run her mascara a little even though she somehow managed to look alike a fallen angel. Jackson mulishly glared at him then gave one singular nod. Scott didn't need to be told and Allison was standing, holding her hands over her stomach, the jacket obscuring the marks on her stomach indecipherable in the dark pattern of her blouse, Derek would have smelled the blood but she could hide it. She looked scared and miserable and Stiles could empathize but if Derek was even a little right then she needed to not say anything to her family about this. And she didn't look convinced of anything and they were running out of time.

"Allison, you need to keep quiet when you go home too, about everything. About seeing Derek and the man that attacked you. You need to keep your mouth shut about Scott too otherwise your father is going to kill them all. And if you do turn, if Derek is right, you are going to forfeit your own life."

Allison shook her head.

Stiles took a couple limping steps towards her, his eyes on her face and intense, "Do you trust your parents to love you more than they hate werewolves?"

"Werewolves!" she squeaked in confusion.

"Yeah? Do you trust them with your life? Your aunt?"

She nodded but it was hesitant, maybe she'd seen enough miscommunications or outright lies to play it safe.

His dad was bearing down on their position, they had seconds left. Stiles had seconds before the adrenaline kicked off and he landed on his ass too. He needed to protect his pack! Scott looked broken and he wasn't going to handle the fall-out from this, Stiles could tell already. He was going to have to be the one that held them all together and with his injuries, he was going to end up separated from them. They needed this out now!

"Don't you fucking say anything about Scott! Do you hear me?" Stiles hissed out and she finally nodded, tears sticking to her lashes and turning her brown eyes luminous because she would of course be beautiful when she was crying too. Then the Sheriff was close enough and Allison broke into hysterics and Stiles wondered how much of it was so she wouldn't have to talk at all. He didn't really care as long as she did was she agreed to. He watched as she subtly zipped her jacket and threw herself at Lydia's embrace who just caught and held her friend.

Sheriff Stilinski staggered up to them and looked around for a second before heading straight for Stiles and gripping his shoulder, "What happened son?"

"Something attacked us," he returned with a shudder that he didn't have to fake at all. All he had to do was think about Peter out there somewhere, leading Scott to kill his friends and making more werewolves in a bid to kill anyone in town that may have had something to do with the fire. He killed Laura, probably for her Alpha abilities but what if he decided he wouldn't keep Derek around because the beta would know how to take the power, how to be the alpha. Derek was a good man; he wasn't the monster that Peter was and he would threaten Peter's plan until he was dealt with. Suddenly the idea of the born beta being out there by himself sounded like an awful idea and Stiles wished he could call him back. Then he thought about the dead, cold and deadly look on Scott's face as he came at them in the hallway and shudder again, listing a little as his dad watched him.

"Hey now," his dad crooned gently as he helped to steady Stiles.

That walk, Scott had moved in the smooth methodical walk of a predator that knew he was going to catch his prey and he would kill it. The moment was burned into his mind's eye and had felt like a bad sci-fi novel, when the hero sees his best friend and realizes it's not who he thought it was. When the hero realized that the creature in front of him was only wearing his best friend's face and he was going to have to kill it, only killing it would kill Scott for realsies because this wasn't fiction at all. Stiles had been absolutely sure that he was going to have to damage and kill Scott, his best friend and brother. There had been no way around it. Only running, letting the werewolf hunt them had presented as a different choice. Heading to the Lacrosse field had been as far as they got before Scott was done chasing. He kept circling, swiping at Stiles who'd been determined to protect Jackson and Lydia to his dying breath, not because he liked them or that they deserved to live more than Scott but he couldn't help the idea that killing someone would mean the end of Scott and Stiles.

"Stiles?" someone called, confused and concern but the teenager couldn't seem to grasp who the person was in the midst of the replaying of the awful night.

For whatever reason Scott had been ordered to play out this sick little game with the others, maybe the final point had been to kill them but not before Scott played with them a little bit. Stiles had struck out at Stiles, hitting him with the bat as often as he needed to keep the werewolf away from Lydia and Jackson but he'd taken a beating for his trouble. Everything hurt and all he wanted to do was go to sleep but it was too risky, Peter was still out there and Derek was alone and Scott needed someone to stick around and help him through this. Both being their second attacker as well as the fallout with Allison. Jackson would need help and Lydia needed to understand what she'd seen, put it into the bank of the believable and Allison, struck thrice by this one night would need just as much support as the rest of them. If she was willing to let them be that support.

At this point the only good news was that after the attack, he wasn't going to school tomorrow and then it was Friday and the weekend. For now all he could do was make sure everyone here stayed safe. And to do that he was going to have to stay standing. He needed to make a plan—he wavered and heard someone shout at him again. He had to keep them together, the thought kept circling in his mind and it felt like the moment before the fall and staying awake and alert became a force of will, a fight that Stiles was losing second by second. He didn't want to lie to his dad anymore, he just wanted to be held and heard and protected.

"Stiles?" his father asked again and it finally got through. Stiles suddenly felt the quavering in his body, the quickened breath of a rising panic attack. With self-awareness came the choice to use some of the tools he'd learned when he was a kid and he grabbed his dad and used them now.

"Dad?" he whispered, his voice breaking. He shuddered forward into a desperate hug, his father answering the need easily. He grappled with the back of his dad's jacket, trying to keep a hold on it, worried abstractly that he was getting blood on his dad's uniform then apologized for it.

"Sorry," he muttered and tried to pull away.

His dad refused his retreat, "Don't you dare apologize to me about some weird thing right now. You're hurt, again and everyone is going to the hospital. We'll take statements there."

Stiles nodded and his dad wrapped a comforting arm around Stiles's waist as they walked. Stiles looked around hoping to see a flash of brilliant supernatural eyes in the dark because knowing that Derek was close would help to see Stiles to the hospital. He couldn't be the cornerstone of this ragtag team right now. Instead all he saw were red eyes and they were looking right at him. Stiles swallowed and moved a little slower before reaching out for Scott to help him.

"You okay buddy?" his father asked.

"You gotta do your Sherriff thing Dad, Scott can help me to the ambulance," Stiles whispered and there was a moment when he thought that Scott was going to deny him, looking shattered and scared before Stiles nodded and he walked over to take Stiles's weight against his side. Stiles sighed as Scott's hand snuck into the back of his shirt and started seeping some of his pain away. Enough that he could think. The Sherriff nodded when he was happy with Stiles being taken care of then walked out in front to start determining how they were getting everyone to the hospital and start making calls to parents.

"Hold up a second Scott," Stiles whispered.

"I'm so sorry Stiles," Scott whined, the sound almost canine and full of anguish.

"Shh for now man, that's not what we're doing right now."

Scott nodded though he still looked fucking guilty. Stiles took a deep breath then spoke out as strongly as he could, knowing the alpha would hear him, "You're not taking them or me. I would never accept the Bite, knowing what you are. You're never going to get Scott by making him hurt his friends and he's not alone. I am never going to let him turn into you so just knock it off!"

Scott was silent, sucking in a sharp breath and says, "He's laughing. Saying 'We'll see Stiles. I like you and I have every intention of keeping every single one of you.' Not creepy at all huh?"

Stiles shrugged, Peter being creepy is just par for the course they were on, it wasn't surprising and he wasn't going to stop fighting just because the crazy alpha thinks he can scare a bunch of teenagers with his weirdness.

Then his dad was calling out to him, directing Stiles and Scott into the nearest ambulance. He shifted painfully forward, Scott having to take more and more of his weight as his body started to drag. It was like lead had suddenly been injected to each of his legs and his arms were having trouble doing as he asked. Scott just took his weight easily, got his hurt best friend into the back of the ambulance and the door closed them off to the world. Stiles sat down on the edge of the cot back there and watched as something shifted out of the woods and came closer. The door closing just as Peter, shifted into his monstrous form attacked one of the ambulance attendants.

"No!" Stiles screamed echoing the sounds coming from outside the rig, "DAD!" just as the door slammed shut and they took off in a flurry of activity. Stiles shifted and fought to get up, to throw himself back out of the ambulance, to demand that Peter pay for the crimes he's committed.

Scott held him down, "Stiles, listen to me! Listen!" he shouted and Stiles quieted for a second, breathing in deep and trying desperately to calm his breathing enough to listen to his friend, even as his blood boiled in his veins, pounded in his ears.

"I heard your dad get into his car, he was heading out to meet us at the hospital. He should be fine but we won't know until we get to the hospital. Take heart, Peter must know that killing your father won't endear you or me to him. Remember that!"

Stiles shook his head, not sure at all if he believed what Scott was saying or if his friend was just doing his part to get Stiles to safety especially after being the one to hurt him earlier but he had to have some hope.

"I can't lose him too Scottie," Stiles whispered, his voice hoarse from the screaming and the adrenaline spike after thinking they were all safe enough. He hoped that Lydia and Jackson were in the other ambulance and they were on the way to the hospital. He thought about Peter, attacking people now that had nothing to do with the deaths of his family and sighed. This was just going to get worse.

Stiles looked around, thankful that they were alone in the back and whispered, "We're going to have to kill him. It's the only way to stop this."

Scott nodded, pressing his cheek to the top of Stiles's head and holding his frail human friend close until they got to the hospital and there was Melissa to take Stiles and check him out. She leaned down and pressed a hand to his shoulder and spoke gently to him, "We're going to take care of you."

"My dad?" Stiles whispered, grabbing Scott's hand to try and keep his best friend close even as Melissa wheeled him towards one of the intake rooms.

Scott moved along next to him and kept looking around for the sheriff and the others, "I don't see him yet Stiles but he's coming. I promise he's coming."

"The others?" Stiles asked weakening even as he tried to force himself up and to look around the hospital for the other three they came here with. Melissa held him back in the wheelchair, Scott helping her and Stiles struggled a little though he didn't have the strength to fight his way free. "I need you to find him Scott, find them! Please help me Scott!"

His best friend nodded, "I will Stiles."

"I can't lose my dad, please?"

"I know buddy, Mom?" he whispered to the nurse and she reached down and scrubbed a gentle hand over Stiles's hair and down his neck.

"I got you Stiles, Scott is going to stay here and wait for your dad so he knows that you are being well cared for."

Stiles shook his head, "I gotta stay awake, please? Mrs. McCall, I can't sleep till I know everyone is safe. Please?"

"Honey I don't think you're going to have a choice in the matter. You're crashing but I am going to tell you something sweetie. You have to listen okay?"

Stiles nodded as she came around the wheelchair and squatted down in front of him. Melissa took Stiles's hands and held his gaze, "I know what you're up against and I am not going to let anything happen to you or the others. I got Scott, I know who to keep an eye on and your dad is going to be here soon and he's going to kick my ass if you aren't being taken care of."

Stiles nodded and finally relaxed enough to let her get him admitted. He would just have to trust the others to get his dad to him as quickly as possible. He would have to trust that Scott wasn't going to go off on his own and that Melissa would be there for him as well as her beloved screw up son because right now was about the time that Stiles's willpower ended and the real exhaustion kicked in. He groaned as the aches and pains resurfaced in the release of tension and he ended up holding his hands around his stomach. Melissa started speaking to a couple of the other nurses and Stiles just sank and hoped they would all still be alive and human in the morning.

The next time he opened his eyes there was a needle sticking out from his hand and he had that floaty feeling that undoubtedly meant drugs. Good drugs. All the good drugs! He looked up at the ceiling for a second, taking stock before sitting up. He blinked a couple more times, trying to get his bearings and looked at the room he was in, much like all the other hospital rooms in the joint. Thankfully he had a private suite, something like his mom had been in near the end, Scott was there at the end of the bed with his head on the mattress next to Stiles' legs. Jackson was sitting in a chair in the farthest corner of the room with Lydia curled up on his lap, they were both asleep. Allison wasn't there but Stiles didn't really think she would be after everything that happened. He hoped that Derek was overreacting about her family's response to Allison getting bit. She didn't deserve to die for that.

Stiles shifted his hand a little and touched the edge of Scott's curly black hair, running his fingers through his best friend's mop of hair and he snapped up and looked over at the head of the bed to see him awake. "Stiles! You're awake!" he whispered excitedly.

Stiles grinned then winced when he felt a cut on his lip pull a little, wondering when that had even happened. He shifted on the bed, trying to take an inventory of his wounds, but there wasn't much more than a feeling of tightness where the scratches were. He was bandaged over the shoulder, and the stomach. He knew there were marks on his legs as well though it wasn't as obvious. "Scott, my dad?"

Scott nodded a little and Stiles wanted to ask for clarification on that but Scott immediately started talking and he couldn't interrupt. "We're all okay, as you can see Jackson and Lydia decided to stick close to us. Allison," Scott paused and took a deep breath, "She was released to her parents and went home. I was worried about you. You took the hits," Scott said and then he gulped and whispered brokenly, "You didn't let me talk earlier but you let me hurt you. Why would you do that, for them especially? After the way they have treated you since forever. Why Stiles?"

Stiles nodded because this had been coming for weeks now, "Not because I wanted to but I needed to protect you. I couldn't let you go. I couldn't let you lose yourself because Peter's a fucking coward and a manipulative douchebag! Are you going to tell me what happened to you?" He coughed a little, though he doesn't know why, he didn't remember anything causing trouble in his throat but maybe it was just the drugs and unconsciousness. Everything was still a little loopy but he wasn't going to go back to sleep when they had to get a plan in gear for the next couple of days until the full moon. Stiles needed to know that Derek was okay.

"I don't know, I realized that he forced me to do his bidding and I think I know why."

"And?" Stiles asked, gesturing wildly and pulling at the IV in his hand a little so he resettled his hands at his side. He gestured to Scott a little and there was something, confusion and desire in his friend's gaze then Scott scooted as close has he could get and Stiles started rubbing his shoulder a little. After working out some of these things with Derek, it suddenly wasn't hard to offer physical comfort to his friend, knowing that Scott maybe wouldn't even know he needed it. When Scott sighed a little under Stiles's touch he gestured for the teen wolf to continue as if the touch was nothing new or interesting.

Scott continued. "He wants me in his pack, loyal to him but that means I have to get rid of my current pack, or they have to belong to him too."

Sties frowned because yeah Derek had been trying to get them to be a pack but Derek wasn't the one being attacked by Beta!Scott the night before, "You clearly don't mean Derek, so what pack?"

"Jackson. Lydia. Allison. And you. My pack. And he wants me to kill all of you."

"And you wanted to, that was the whole point. That's what happened on the field, until you heard Allison."

Scott nodded and they fell silent for a few minutes then, "Stiles?" he whispered.

"Huh?" he responded unintelligently, still reeling from the fact that Scott had been told to kill his best friends and he'd wanted to though Stiles didn't stop rubbing along the back of Scott's shoulder and neck. He wouldn't leave Scott to deal with this alone, they weren't going to be alone anymore, he would make sure of it. He scrubbed his hand up into the back of Scott's hair for a second and thought about the almost intimate contact, something they had never ever done before and he knew there was nothing for him here and he was glad for it. He wanted to always have Scott in his life and he was pleased that no matter what was happening with his sexuality, he wouldn't lose Scott to some weird unrequited love thing. This touching thing though, it wasn't about sex or romance it was about giving Scott the closeness he needed when he needed it. It was about pack and in this moment between pack-mates, Stiles got it. Scott was going to need him always; Stiles was always going to feel the same so he would keep sticking close.

"You're not Robin all the time, I don't think you are Robin any of the time."

Stiles kept eye contact with Scott because he'd forgotten that Scott was going to speak at all and he hadn't expected that. He shrugged because otherwise he was going to blush and stammer. He didn't have time to stammer, he needed to figure out what the hell they were going to do next but first he needed to know for sure.

"Scott, where's my dad?"

His friend shrugged sheepishly, "I haven't seen him much, as far as I can tell he was taking statements then he had to deal with the ambulance attendant being attacked and let me tell you, everyone is freaking the freak about that."

"Have you seen him?" Stiles asked, heart hammering in his chest at the implication that he'd asked Scott to be sure his dad was okay and he hadn't.

"Not exactly," Scott whispered and Stiles groaned.

"Are you kidding me Scott! I need to know my dad is okay!" Stiles hissed and they both watched as Lydia and Jackson shifted a little at his tone. Stiles pulled his hand away from Scott's shoulder and scrubbed at his own head for a minute. It wasn't Scott's fault, he said that the sheriff was out doing sheriff things and a teenager, even his son's best friend wasn't going to make Sheriff Stilinski do anything other than his duty.

"Do you have my phone still?"

Scott nodded and handed it over, there were an embarrassing amount of texts and calls to Allison that had gone unanswered and he shared a look with Scott who looked down at his hands, and shrugged as if to say 'what could I do…'. He went back to the phone and found a couple of messages from Derek that had been left alone and Stiles was strangely warm and comforted by his best friend. He respected Stiles and Derek enough to leave them alone even if they were nothing more than updates, he couldn't explain why that little red number was so pleasing to see. Derek was alive somewhere and he'd thought about Stiles enough to text him.

First he needed to be sure about his dad, he called the number and waited with baited breath. He needed to hear his dad's voice and on the second ring he picked up and he blurted out, "Dad?"

"Hey bud, you're okay?"

"Yeah," Stiles whispered, sobbing a little at the sound of his dad. He wasn't taken, he was alive. "You're all right?"

"Of course son, I wanted to be there when you woke up but I had to take care of this attack, clearly the mountain lion wasn't the problem. We will talk about it later when I get to the hospital okay?"

Stiles nodded then chuckled, "Of course dad, I love you okay? Be safe."

"I will son. Stay with your friends and get better buddy."

They hung up the phone together and he turned to Scott who was sitting in the chair still, one hand casually on Stiles's knee and the other rubbing his face. Stiles went back to rubbing his friend's shoulder before he opened the first message, 'Hey, I didn't stick around long enough to get Peter. I couldn't fight him. I'm sorry. I wasn't brave like you were.'

Stiles frowned because Derek had been plenty brave and him not being able to kill his uncle did not make him weak or whatever he was thinking. Stiles would talk to him about it later, first he opened the second one, 'I can't stay at the warehouse anymore. Before the school thing, Kate found me there. I didn't get a chance to tell you because of Peter. Let me know where you land when you aren't in the hospital. I don't want you to be alone, not with Peter on the loose. I'll come to you.'

Stiles nodded though he didn't know why he was nodding, Derek couldn't see him. He watched as the screen of his phone started wavering and realized his hands were shaking and he didn't know at the moment if it was about what happened or the relief in knowing everyone was alive or if it was the information the werewolf imparted so easily. Derek was out there and Kate had found him and Stiles burned like hot with rage as it simmered and bubbled inside him, wondering what Kate said or did. He wanted to put her in the ground even more than he wanted to beat Peter or at least hurt the alpha. In fact, he was desperate for it at the moment. He pushed the blanket back and started to get up, making all the machines he was hooked up to throw a fit as his heart rate sped up and his I.V. pulled uncomfortably against his skin. Scott stood up but he was on the other side of the bed so when he tried to grab Stiles the first time, he missed. He asked, "Whoa man where do you think you're going?"

"Scott we can't just sit here. I need to find Derek and make sure he's safe. I need to see that we are all safe. We need to get our bearings and I need to see him! I need to see my dad too! Kate knows where he is, there isn't a place in town that is safe for him while she's here and breathing, we need to get to him."

Stiles dropped his bare feet to the floor, a shock of cold that zipped up his spine and made him more than a little aware that he shouldn't be standing at all right now. He flopped back down on the side of the hospital bed just as Scott got around to him, pressing a hand to his shoulder. Stiles gripped his friend's wrist but he didn't know if it was to push him away or pull him close. He took a couple of deep breaths and tried to stand again with a groan as Scott grappled with him. He felt as the continued movement pulled at the healing scrapes on his upper thigh and moaned and before he could grab a hold of anything, the pain enveloped him and the pain killers could not live up to the challenge and he cried out. The cry shifted into a groan while Scott gripped his shoulder gently, under the sleeve and started the pain drain which just made Stiles feel dangerously floaty when he wanted to make sure that Derek was safe. Feeling floaty wasn't a good thing since he needed to get out of here and find the werewolf. He tried to shove Scott off just as Melissa rushed into the room and started checking his leads and talking to him in that mom voice and Stiles closed his eyes and sobbed.

He didn't know what had shifted, didn't know how to stop the fear and the tears. All he knew was that they were trapped, unsafe in the safest building in town, surrounded by grown-ups who didn't know enough to keep any of them alive. He knew that Scott would have to keep fighting for his self-will while Peter was alive and using the power of the alpha against the teenager. He knew that Jackson was going to turn and they were going to have to walk him through this, Allison might be in more danger because of her family and he just wanted to know Derek was safe and Peter was in the ground alongside Kate.

All of it true and none of it he felt capable of doing anything about and that reality came crashing down and Stiles broke, his chest tightened and his breath shortened imperceptible in the precursor to another panic attack.

Then Melissa was just holding him, "What's wrong with him?" Scott demanded even as he continued to rub Stiles's shoulder in comfort. Scott's mom just kept holding Stiles, trying to calm him with her comforting presence but it just ratcheted up the fear and panic, she knew after all. Melissa McCall, the only other mom he'd known for the past eight years and she was going to die like the rest of them! She was going to die and Scott was going to turn and they were all going to face the end of days. Stiles knew logically that none of this was real, that his anxiety and fear were ratcheting up to a horrible degree where the worst was real and he couldn't do anything about it.

He didn't want to die. He didn't want anyone else to die and he was just a kid, he shouldn't have to be thinking about this. Stiles shouldn't be the one trying to keep everyone alive. He wanted his dad, Stiles thought and didn't realize he'd said it out loud until Melissa responded, "He's going to be back later kiddo. You just have to keep breathing with me, okay?"

Stiles tried, he really did, but there was almost an old snap as something broke inside of him and the sobs only got worse. He could feel when Scott left, when Melissa asked a low question and then there was nothing but the broken disaster of his tears and sobs in the room and he wished he could make it stop. He just wanted it all to stop.

Stiles remembered again that he didn't want the Bite, he wanted to be normal. He wished his best friend could be normal but that ship has definitely sailed and here they were. Now there were others and Scott alone had been almost to much for Stiles, now the others had been unceremoniously dragged into this world and there was no undoing it. Melissa's hands were comfortingly holding him at the back of his neck and across his back, holding him still on the bed even though Stiles didn't have enough power to fight if he wanted to. He just gripped at the back of her scrubs and the panic ebbed just enough for another sob to burst free.

"It's going to be okay Stiles, your safe here honey."

"NO no nonononono," he shifted between a shouted bark to a whispered frenzy, sounding more insane by the second then flushing as he tried to calm down enough to continue, "None of us are safe and I can't change that. I need Derek," he husked. "I need to know he's okay. He's the only way we're all getting out of this!" Melissa shushed him and Stiles did mostly because he couldn't seem to stop the sobs that were making words difficult and he wished that the energy it took to ball his eyes out would end so he could stop then sleep. Sleep didn't seem like a likely thing at the moment though. His mind just started spinning again, helpless stupid human and his friends were in danger. Derek was in danger, all the work he did to keep Derek safe was for nothing! He needed to know what happened with Kate, he wanted to know if Allison was okay and no one here was going to be strong enough to fight Peter, even here in the hospital and the alpha was just about crazy enough to come for them where ever they were. He was so close, if he was still maintaining his cover in the long-term care ward.

Then Melissa nodded, the movement telegraphed through Stiles's body then she took a step back and Stiles growled and whimpered. The sound morphing sickeningly into a pained keening sound that made the teenager hate himself and the lack of control he had over his response. Then someone else had a hold of him. The arms were stronger, muscular and wrapped in worn leather and a body that was warmer than Stiles has been expecting. Stiles took a deep breath and knew that scent, took comfort in the smell. He burrowed deeper into Derek's neck, taking the warmth into his skin and soul when Derek's arms came around him. Stiles couldn't stop it when his legs wrapped loosely around the back of Derek's thighs, trying to keep him as close as possible. He flushed at the intimate position they were in but didn't really care because as Derek held him, saying nothing at all Stiles started to calm down.

"That's right," Derek whispered gently, "You're not alone. Not anymore."

"I'm sorry," Stiles gasped out, thinking about the awkward position he was putting the werewolf in, and the snot and the fingers digging into whatever skin he could find on Derek. The werewolf said nothing, just shushed him and kept on holding him until finally after an indeterminate amount of minutes the exhaustion won out over the fear and circumstances.

He took another shuddering breath, slumping into Derek's arms and slipped his hands into the werewolf's jacket and tried to burrow deeper into the warmth and hoped that they weren't going to be separated anytime soon. He couldn't do this on his own, not now and not anymore.

"Sourwolf, what are you doing here?" he whispered when he had barely enough breath to speak, he would get to the begging and the pleading in a minute but for now, sarcasm and pithy remarks were always the safest defense for him.

"I didn't want to leave you alone for too long and then I come in here to find you have a small mental breakdown because you didn't know where I was. Flattering but I came to make sure you didn't get yourself killed or hurt worse because of me," Derek returned as he pressed a palm into the side of Stiles's neck. The warmth calms Stiles further and finally his legs flopped to the side and Derek is able to guide him back down to the bed. The calming teen looked around the room and noticed that everyone else was gone, wondering when that happened. "Scott? Jackson and Lydia?"

"They weren't in the room when I got here, Melissa left she passed you over to me," Derek shrugged.

"We need to stay together, Derek you have to keep us together," Stiles whispered and his heart rate spike again and Derek immediately started rubbing a soothing rhythm into Stiles's skin, over his heart.

"We'll find a way Stiles; you don't have to do this alone."

Stiles sobbed out a breath and wrapped his fingers around Derek's arms, keeping him close. "Please don't leave me again Derek; I can't do this without some help and apparently, Scott isn't going to help me!"

Derek nodded causing Stiles to deflate further into the bed and they stayed still and quiet for a few minutes. "How are you feeling now Stiles?"

He shrugged because he was too tired now from the freak out to even say and he needed to know something else even more. "What happened with Kate?" Stiles whispered, keeping a hold of Derek's arm so he felt the flinch even though it was minimal. He slid his thumb back and forth on the skin he had a hold of and hoped it comforted Derek at least enough to let him know that Stiles wasn't going anywhere either.

Derek shook his head then settled more fully next to Stiles on the hospital bed. The warmth from his thigh radiated into Stiles side and his hand reached down to the side and gripped at Derek's thigh and when he didn't pull away Stiles sighed and listened, "She followed me, I was stupid and took the Camaro back with me to the warehouse. She slipped inside as I was closing the main delivery door. She shot me full of buckshot and put her hands on me." Stiles's grip on Derek's arm changed, hardening as his eyes sharpened. The information was sobering him up pretty quickly so Derek just soothed him for a minute with his presence and one hand on his chest. The werewolf pressed his other hand to Stiles's head, scratching gently at his buzzed scalp until the teenager relaxed again.

"She touched you how?" Stiles gritted out because he needed to know.

Derek flinched and Stiles knew. It wasn't like he knew all the details of what she did to the werewolf when he was younger but he could imagine and it was enough for Stiles to see red. He tried to get up again but Derek just easily pressed him back down again with that large and comforting weight and power. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Well Sourwolf, I may not be capable of putting a dent in Peter but I can shoot that perverted bitch! My dad is the sheriff so I can get a gun and he'll find a way to get me off. He won't even question me about it really."

Derek smiled a little, the expression so alien to what Stiles was used to on that face that he paused a little in his desperate attempt to escape the hospital bed. His heart skipped a beat, he'd never really understood that phrase until this second in time because he'd never seen Derek smile and it was enough to stop him in place and his heart knew that it would be forever changed. Stiles would find ways to make the smile happen again and again, until the werewolf understood that he deserved to be happy even with the grief. It was powerful and Stiles didn't know what to do about it except experience it, wondering how he'd ever thought what he felt for Lydia could have compared to what he felt now for this sad half broken but good man.

The smile stuck around for a moment while Derek kept one hand on Stiles's chest like he knew that the teenager was going to lull him into a false sense of security then leap out of bed. Stiles couldn't really blame Derek for thinking that because despite his wounds, he sincerely meant what he'd said. He didn't think that he should want to kill someone as much as he wanted to kill Kate but he did. Derek knew enough about Stiles that he was well aware of the teenager's wily ability to by cunning enough to get what he wanted no matter what it took. After a couple more minutes of actively holding Stiles down, Derek spoke.

"I appreciate the offer but it's unnecessary. I don't want to see you get hurt again, she won't care that you're human only that you're with me and the others. She didn't care back then that she started a fire in a home with children and humans in there. She wanted all of us and our 'supporters' to die in the most awful of ways. She won't stop from killing you, I can't let that happen, not to someone else I care about."

Stiles ignored the warmth in his belly, huffing a sigh and speaking because what else was he going to do since Derek wouldn't let him go play the crappiest Knight in shining armor story ever; "Good then I won't have a problem claiming self-defense because I am going to bait her into taking the first hit which is going to suck and hurt but probably not kill me outright. Sounds like it won't be too difficult to get her going, maybe I should just talk about how much I love werewolves?" he waggled his eyebrows at the older man.

Derek laughed out loud, it was more of a bark then anything with longevity but Stiles smiled because it didn't matter anymore. He could sit here for a long time that Derek could still laugh, that he helped Derek Hale just enough that he could laugh. That was enough.

He didn't think he was going to be okay until he had Kate's throat under his hand or Peter was in the ground but right now he was good because Derek was here and safe and he was laughing. Stiles didn't want that to stop but they couldn't just bask forever here even though he wanted to. This moment was proof that underneath the bitter, angry and hurting man was someone who wanted his life to not be over. He was someone who didn't want to be alone, he'd stayed alone because he figured it was what he deserved or what he was going to have. Stiles was even more determined to show Derek that they were going to have more, he was going to have a pack again even with a sarcastic genius human as a sidekick. He looked down and saw that Derek's hand was still on his chest, over his heart which had steadied during the conversation. Stiles' hand was wrapped around Derek's wrist and they were so close and something inside Stiles settled, like falling into a warm bed with his favorite pillow, knowing he hadn't screwed the pooch on this thing that didn't really have a name. And maybe that was the best thing for both of them, to remain nameless, stop forcing it to be something with a name. This was good for Stiles, great even and he was good as long as Derek didn't leave again.

Stiles took a deep breath sobering to the next step, "What are we going to do? Jackson's going to turn. Allison got bit last night. The full moon is only a few days away; Peter is out there just waiting. They can't be alone, none of us should be alone. We need to help them."

Derek nodded accepting the change in subject easily though Stiles wasn't done talking about the different ways he was going to hurt Kate Argent, "They won't be alone Stiles. I'm more worried about Allison; the hunter families have a proven method of dealing with their family members or minions who get bit."

"And?" Stiles asked, heart rate picking up again while Derek's hand tapped in a soothing rhythm that Stiles' heart started to follow without his say so! This was getting ridiculous, the connection he had with the werewolf wasn't something Stiles had any sort of experience dealing with or any possible way of controlling.

"Knife to the heart, overdose on pain killers, carbon monoxide poisoning or a gun to the head. I guess it's not the method that's been across the board, just the intent. It would be better to be dead than be a werewolf. Argent is one of the longest running families of their kind. There cannot be an Argent werewolf it would be a stain on the family name and they can't let that happen. They're going to kill her or worse, make her believe that killing herself is the best option."

Stiles sighed tiredly, "We need to figure out if she's going to turn, get her out of harm's way if she going to turn. No matter how it happens, even if we have to kidnap her. I can't let her die because of me, because I was stupid enough to need an answer so I could have an excuse to talk to you. I pitted myself against Peter and didn't take into account that he was crazy or that he would use the situation to get revenge on the people who destroyed yours, but especially the Argents. So stupid to not at least consider it what he would do if I got in the way."

Derek tutted, shaking his head a little while his hand continued to stay on Stiles's chest though the other one was back in his lap while Stiles pulled his hand back to scrub at his face but he heard when the werewolf whispered, "Stop it."

"Stop what, it's true! I was so desperate to be more than human, more than a liability to you and even Scott. I followed the alpha in the woods, part of me hoping that he would bite me and it would be all over, I wouldn't be weak. I wouldn't need to be protected."

"Stiles, just stop it," Derek grumbled gently though his frown spoke volumes to his annoyance of the subject matter and maybe that Stiles was forcing him to use his words. Either was possible with this guy, "You were never just a human. You kept Scott from getting caught more than once, you convinced me to stay and try to start making something of my life than what I had. I didn't have anything but Laura when we left. You helped me remember what it was like to have a pack again even now. You are so exasperatingly brilliant I could choke you. You knew more about werewolves in two nights than I knew in months and I grew up with werewolves, and you were smart enough to know what was bullshit and who to ask when you didn't know the answer. You were brave enough to ask me even though I never gave you any reason to believe I was anything but a murderer and a monster."

Stiles chuckled at that, rubbing his free hand over his face to try and hide flush that was happening because of the person Derek was describing was definitely someone else. It couldn't have been him plus the guy did have a point about looking and acting like a reclusive murderer. "I totally thought they were going to find my body after that night on the road."

Derek smirked before he continued, "And you figured out it was Peter, you refused to be cowed because I thought you should leave it alone or walk away. You refused and yeah, things went badly but not because you're weak or a liability. Goddammit Stiles, you stood between a werewolf—your best friend—and people you barely call acquaintances willing to hurt your best friend for them for the simple reason that you didn't want him to be destroyed by his actions and the guilt he would have to live with after. You convinced all of them to protect each other and me in the time it took for your father to walk from the parking lot to the lacrosse field. When I said that you were human and breakable that is only your body, not your spirit. You carry the spirit of a wolf and don't you forget it. I would want to protect that either way whether or not you were a werewolf."

Stiles covered his face and muttered, "Shut it Hale. I am never gonna stop blushing now." Every single word had been delivered in that monotone/neutral tone that Derek did when he didn't want others to know how affected he was and the problem with that was that Stiles actually believed him because it wasn't some soap box speech to make a spastic teenager feel better about himself. Derek didn't coddle teenagers, he didn't kowtow to his needs and Stiles liked that about the guy, but it also meant that when Derek said something in that tone, he meant it and Stiles couldn't argue it. Well he couldn't argue it out loud and he wouldn't for now even though he wanted to, he didn't want to be brave and smart. Right now he wanted to be Scott, capable of those big puppy eyes and moral high ground because the guy seemed to have gotten all the fun shit about being a werewolf while his human best friend had gotten the crappy side effects.

Derek snorted even as Stiles's thoughts rolled around in his head. He wondered if Derek had meant it when he said that Stiles didn't have to do this alone anymore. He didn't want to be the go-to guy for everything, all the decisions and the hard shit that had to be done. He didn't want to do any of that!

"Stiles," Derek said with a weary sigh.

"Sorry," he muttered back.

"No need," Derek said with a shrug.

"What does it sound like when I start spinning? What can you smell?" Stiles asked because he was curious how Derek always seemed to know the right moment to interrupt, even when that meant that Stiles was going to go back to jabbering in his ear.

Derek took a deep breath and closed his eyes, "Your heartbeat picks up, I can hear the hitch in your breathing when you are about to go off in your head. I don't like to interrupt it every time because honestly I can't always be there and you need to know how to deal with it but there's a part of me that doesn't like the scent of anxiety on you, there is also this feeling I get, like bugs under my skin."

"When I start freaking out?" Stiles asked with a frown.

Derek shrugged, "Just some secondary sensation attached to the instinct."

"What instinct?" Stiles asked in a tired whisper, the conversation doing enough to calm him into letting the pain killers start to work again, he must have just gotten a dose because he was starting to feel a little floaty then he looked down and noticed the slightly darkened veins in Derek's arms and chuckled, "You don't need to do that."

"I do."

"Why?" Stiles asked just as his eyes started to droop. They fell silent and Stiles figured Derek didn't want to talk anymore so he just let the silence reign. The comfort of Derek's hand never moved away from his chest, his thumb rubbing back and forth a little with Stiles's hand over the top of it.

The physical contact carried no pressure or weirdness, Stiles felt secure and safe in Derek's presence and sleep came over him quickly.

He kept a tight grip as long as he could, even in sleep though it eventually settled and released and he was left hoping that Derek would be there when he woke again, but the next time started to surface the werewolf wasn't there when Stiles's hands started to flop around. He sighed unhappily though after another moment he realized that Derek hadn't gone far. Stiles could hear the werewolf's growling grumbling tone though it had a rarely heard tone of respect to it and Stiles frowned, eyes still closed and feeling fuzzy, until he heard his father as well. The Sheriff wasn't happy but he was here and Stiles didn't care that he was angry because he was alive!

"You were there, weren't you?" the sheriff asked Derek and Stiles wondered for a second how this conversation got started, had Derek still been sitting next to Stiles when he came into the room and now they were having a Sherriff-Father with a shotgun moment. The Sheriff knew that Stiles had declared that Derek was a friend though he didn't know how much his dad believed him about the older werewolf.

There was no response and Stiles tried to open his eyes, figuring that nap time was over. He needed to derail this conversation before the two grumbling men got into a ridiculous fight over Stiles of something. Then he realized that his eyes weren't lifting, his limbs felt too heavy to move and he took a shaky breath. Obviously, there was something wrong, his pain meds were off or something, and he took another breath but there was nothing he could seem to do. He wanted to cry out, he needed to cry… but he couldn't. His fingers weren't even moving anymore. He couldn't shift on the bed, he didn't feel anything and his arm, the one with the I.V. in it was starting to feel frigid. He took a deep breath, trying to scream or cry or groan or something but it just sputtered back out through his nose when his mouth insisted on doing abso-fucking-lutely nothing! He kept trying even as his dad spoke again.

"Look son, I know you care about him but this is my only boy and all I have left of my wife. Stiles is the most important part of both of us. I am still in charge of what he does sometimes, who he sees especially someone several years older than him to which I don't really understand the friendship of anyway."

"Don't threaten me please," Derek said with a subdued growl, Stiles was glad to hear the werewolf was still being respectful even if he was making demands. The teenager kept trying to come out of his drug induced catatonia while he considered that it wasn't that long-ago Stiles had been the annoying kid that was a part of Scott McCall's introduction to the supernatural and now it was a threat to him to possibly be told he wouldn't be able to be friends with Stiles because of his dad. Derek spoke gravely after a moment, "I promise you on the graves of every single one of my family members that I will make sure that Stiles is as safe as possible whenever I'm around. He's my friend and he's important to me Sheriff… Sir."

Stiles tried again to drag himself out of the drugged slumber, frustrated that it felt so heavy inside his body. Even as it thickened, his breathing wouldn't even ratchet up. Everything was forcing him down and he didn't understand why. Why hadn't the machines picked up anything in his heartbeat? Why hadn't Derek? Unless his heart was slowly too? That thought came with a desperate need to keep fighting. He thought for a second, there was no way Peter could have gotten to him here. No way! Derek was here, Scott was here and Melissa, his dad and the others. The only people in and out would have been—fuck—Stiles thought: medical professionals i.e. doctors and nurses… Peter had a nurse on his side, Derek and the others wouldn't have known and now this was happening right under all of their noses!

He tried to listen to the conversation, the voices of his father and his friend were enough to keep him fighting, keep him trying.

"Then how did he get hurt?" the sheriff was demanding.

"Because I left him alone," Derek said and Stiles heart picked up speed suddenly, causing Derek to call out, "Stiles?"

He could hear as the two man ran into the room, dull thudding coming towards him and his dad whispered, "Stiles? Are you awake buddy?"

Stiles tried to open his mouth, open his eyes and do something. He was still trapped in his own skin and screaming inside. He could feel his body moving but it wasn't, there was nothing but darkness and he wanted out.

"Sheriff, there's something wrong here? His heart is erratic, calm one second then racing the next, I know his rhythm. Get someone in here, someone you trust," Derek whispered and Stiles was surprised that Derek had offered that much information, as far at the teenager was concerned Derek wasn't checking his pulse points so he must sound weird or idiotic at best, crazy at the worst. And maybe, just maybe it was a proclamation of the supernatural.

"How can you tell?" his dad asked and Stiles wanted to shout at his dad to just listen even though he didn't think that Derek should be talking about this stuff to someone not in the know, especially the sheriff. On the other hand, he desperately wanted his dad to just realize that Derek only wanted to help and there was nothing they could say right now to explain it anyway.

"I can hear it and I can smell something is wrong which means a nurse or doctor had to do it to him, no one else has been in here. I think you know what I mean by that," Derek whispered the last and Stiles wished he could frown because that sounded a lot like a freaking secret! Derek and his dad had secrets? How the hell could they have secrets? Had they ever spoken about anything besides Stiles like once or Laura twice?

"I don't know what you're talking about," the sheriff growled then was shouting for Mrs. McCall while Derek didn't move. In fact, he pressed a hand to Stiles's chest and it was like when he was sleeping and contact took time to get down to his consciousness. Stiles could barely feel Derek's hand on his chest! What the hell was happening to him?

"Stiles we're here, not going to leave you. We're going to figure out what is happening," Derek promised and he desperately wanted to nod, to let the werewolf know that he was in here and he wasn't going anywhere either. He wasn't going to die in the goddamned hospital like his mother!

He screamed in his head, calling out to Derek and his father, calling out to Scott and his mother and just screamed, shaking only to realize that he'd never made a sound or moved even an inch. He could see the shimmering lights behind his lids, his mind raging suddenly with sights and his ears cuffed with sounds over and over, leaving him desperate for a way out. Anyway way out.

"Stiles, I don't know what this is going to do to you but it's the best we can do without knowing what's going on," Mrs. McCall was saying then a couple of seconds passed while Stiles kept screaming in his mind, struggling against the pressure then suddenly the sound of his own shouts shocked him into silence. He opened his eyes, breath heaving uncomfortably and his heart racing. Everything was sore, all his muscles tight and aching as he looked up at the ceiling, someone was holding him down and Stiles started shoving at the heavy weight.

"Get off! GET OFF!" he screamed then rolled off the bed and fell to the ground, shouting in renewed pain, curling in a ball on the ground at the sensation of wrenched muscles impacting with the ground and he settled, panting and exhausted.

"What—the—hell?" he whispered after a couple of minutes while the others circled him but didn't touch or move him.

"Stiles?" his dad asked gently, "Can we help you back into bed son?" he whispered.

"Daddy?" Stiles choked out and made grabby hands in some direction then his father was on his knees next to Stiles and dragging him upright enough to hug. Stiles pressed his hands around his father's shoulders and let the man help him back into the bed though he didn't help much and he wouldn't let anyone else touch him until he was sitting up on the bed and shaking, afraid to look around the room after that little display.

"Stiles?" Mrs. McCall asked, "I need to check you over. It looks like the epinephrine was just enough to knock you out of the catatonia but we are going to need to take a drug panel and figure out what was given to you and maybe when."

The teenager nodded but kept holding onto his dad's hand as Scott's mom easily shifted into Nurse McCall mode. She ran a couple of tests, took blood and then in an embarrassing circumstance, his dad helped waddle him into the bathroom for a urine sample and so he could relieve himself. He'd had to sit down on the toilet which he hadn't done since he'd been potty trained as a toddler before his dad helped him back to the bed.

Hs arms and legs still felt heavy so he leaned into his father heavily until he was safely ensconced into his bed again then noticed that not only his dad and Derek were there as well as Lydia, Jackson and Allison. Stiles frowned at the Hunter Princess in surprised, "You're here?" he whispered, his voice raw from the screaming.

She nodded but said nothing, the pretty brunette was standing as far away from Scott as she possibly could while being in the same room but she was here. Stiles smiled at Lydia and Jackson, the jock just crossed his arms and glared at Stiles.

He turned back to Derek and dad, "Thank you."

"You scared us kiddo," his dad whispered, pressing a kiss to the side of Stiles's head and rubbed a hand over his buzz cut. Stiles leaned into the touch slightly, feeling vaguely like a cat pressing into a human's hand but didn't care.

"Sorry Dad," Stiles murmured then shifted his gaze back to Derek.

"I have to get out of the hospital, he's too close here," he said to the beta.

"Who? What the hell is going on?" the sheriff demanded.

Derek shook his head, "We can't talk here, it's not safe after all. I'm sorry, I didn't think he would be willing to go this far."

Stiles shook his head then winced when a headache bloomed at the base of his neck and sparked up to his head. He shuddered as he attempted to bring his arm up close enough to rub at his eyes but couldn't do it.

"Dad?" Stiles whispered forlornly.

"Yeah Son?" he returned, sounding a bit choked himself.

"Everything still hurts," he mumbled back, feeling feeble and not at all like Batman. He wasn't brave or strong enough to be anything as cool as a superhero. He was barely more than mediocre, especially standing next to Derek who had retained a good spirit despite the things that happened to him, his dad who constantly gave everything to the safety of this town and Scott who was becoming strong enough to fight for those who couldn't fight for themselves.

"Stiles," Melissa said gently bringing him out of the spiral suddenly surprised that Lydia and Jackson weren't there anymore and his dad was staring at him in shock. The teenager frowned, "What happened?"

"I think you blacked out for a little while," Mrs. McCall stated calmly.

"Excuse me?" Stiles squeaked, making Scott snicker inappropriately which just made Stiles feel better about the whole dang world. Scott who didn't know what to do in these kinds of situations was still in there, Stiles hadn't gotten hurt for nothing then.

"Scott!" Mrs. McCall chided then refocused on Stiles, "It probably has to do with the just barely non-lethal dose of ketamine that's being flushed from your system at the moment. The toxicology report came back. We are trying to figure out who gave it to you but it's going to take a little time for it to wash out completely. Give it time and we aren't going to leave you alone, I am going to be the only nurse and I have a doctor coming in who wasn't here at all until we figure out what happened. The hospital is on the line for attempted murder on the Sheriff's son and no one wants that. They are sparring nothing to figure out what happened."

Stiles nodded though he needed to get out of here so they could all talk candidly because it was Peter's nurse and though he'd been over to the long-term care unit, he didn't remember the name of the nurses, he'd been focused on finding out about Peter.

Then again there was information in his room but it had been illegally appropriated and he didn't think that was going to help the situation. "Is this room monitored?" he asked quietly.

"Sadly no, otherwise we would be able to tell you who the possible suspects are."

The Sheriff frowned at his son, "Stiles?" He looked around and took stock that Mrs. McCall, his dad, Scott and Derek were in the room who were the main parties that he needed and wanted to talk to about this. Allison was gone as well as Lydia and Jackson but he didn't need them in here for this. He needed to talk to his dad, try to convince him of werewolves and the alpha.

"Close the door, we need to talk about all the details of this case that we haven't been able to talk about," Stiles said. Scott stepped up next to him and pressed his hand into Stiles's wrist and though Stiles wondered how much of what he heard when he was trapped in his body was real he needed to deal with the fact that his father believed Derek's medical advice because of something he'd heard and smelled.

"Are you sure you want to do this now? Here?"

Stiles nodded, "We don't have a choice, we're all a part of this now and if he's willing to attack me under the guard of the sheriff and Derek and Scott then he's clearly more unhinged than we originally guessed."

Mrs. McCall nodded and walked towards the door to close it when it slammed open and Peter strode in. Stiles shouted a warning, watching as Peter's claws flashed, his brilliant red eyes flashing into the room as the Sheriff turned and empty his hastily drawn gun into Peter's chest but it didn't stop the werewolf from slashing towards Stiles's father. The teenager scrambled, trying to get out of the bed and go to his father while someone held him down, someone was shouting his name for some reason.

"No, save my dad! Let me go now!" he screamed but the arms holding him down refused to let go as Peter's claws slashed across the sheriff's throat, his body spinning towards Stiles with blood bursting from the slashed artery and he fell, with his eyes open and shocked. "No, no no nonono Peter stop this! Don't do this!"

"Stiles!" Derek shouted, there was something in the words, a power that Stiles had to listen to and didn't know the beta had. It was enough to shake him loose from the sight of his dad on the ground with an ever-growing pool of blood around his head, "You're seeing things Stiles, your dad is fine."

Stiles snapped upright and shook his head at that, looking again to see his father was standing next to him, Stiles flopped forward to hug his dad with an unavoidable sob, "What's happening to me?"

"Hallucinations," Mrs. McCall said as she locked the door and Stiles looked around but didn't see Peter anywhere, he sighed in relief. "Lovely side-effects of the ketamine, I didn't know what the epinephrine would do to you but we had to take a chance to wake you up. I could actually get into a lot of trouble for doing it but we're flushing your body with saline but some of this you are just going to have ride it out. Thankfully it seemed like whoever did this wanted to hurt you and scare you, not kill you but that's not going to change the attempted murder that they are going to get charged with."

"You're going to get into trouble?" Stiles asked quietly, saddened by that for some reason even as he curled into his dad's shoulder who just kept holding him. The Sheriff didn't even question the sudden cuddle-fest, proving that the man had been scared.

"Don't worry about that now Stiles," Mrs. McCall said as she walked back over and sat down on a nearby chair. "What did you need to tell us?"

"First of all, Peter Hale is the one committing all these murders," Stiles said and the only one looking around in confusion was of course, his father. Then he looked over at Derek who nodded forlornly, wincing a little in the face of his uncle's actions.

"He's no longer catatonic in the long-term unit?" the sheriff asked.

"I'm surprised that you know about that," Stiles exclaimed though he didn't know why it surprised him. His dad tried to keep up with a lot of old cases, the survivors and victims. It had never been in a way that kept him for long periods of time away from his family or anything but the Hale fire had been one of those cases that stuck with everyone in the precinct, Stiles knew that from being there all the time as a child.

"Kid, I knew where Laura and Derek ended up in New York for a long time because they were the emergency contacts for Peter and I kept an ear out for anything because of your mother's love of the family. Just because I didn't agree with Talia Hale or trust her, didn't mean that I shut them out of everything in this town and in my job."

"No, just your son's life," Stiles snipped and everyone shifted to look at him. "Sorry, that was unnecessary."

"It wasn't," the Sheriff said after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, "You and I have a lot to talk about and I have a feeling we are both going to get angry before the end. So, is Peter still in his room officially?"

Mrs. McCall answered, looking down at something on her phone, possibly a way to communicate with other nurses on the floor or whatever. "He isn't in his room, no one noticed when he left and he's been reported missing and a person of interest."

"You can do all that from here?" Stiles asked excitedly.

Mrs. McCall rolled her eyes at him and ignored his question. Stiles turned back to Scott and Derek before he looked at his dad, thinking about what happened when he was trapped.

"You were talking to Derek before I woke up," Stiles stated and his dad nodded.

"You heard?"

"Yes," Stiles responded. "You and Derek have a secret and I want to know what the hell it is!"

Derek and the Sheriff looked at each other in surprise, then looked at Stiles who was sitting impatiently waiting while they thought it over all the while looking ridiculously guilty. Derek stumbled around until he could sit down at the foot of the bed and took a couple deep breaths then spoke, "What your father and I know that you don't, its private and awful. I will tell you someday but not today and not with all these people around. I didn't even know until recently that there was something else going on, it wasn't until you told me about your mom being friends with my mother. There was a woman, whose husband was a deputy, I didn't even hear their names and I didn't really think about it very much. He was the one who found me after something bad happened and he suspected something about us but it was never an issue. That's all I knew. I didn't know that deputy was Sheriff Stilinski until very recently."

"I don't understand," Stiles said, to be fair he didn't think anyone could have understood that because it was ridiculously vague and Stiles understood and remembered that there was something in Derek's past before the fire that hurt him, which sent him into Kate's arms as it were but he didn't know any more than that. He didn't understand what that meant about his dad.

"What Derek is trying really hard to say without saying anything at all," the Sheriff said with a quick roll of his eyes, "Is that, I don't know much but I am aware of the supernatural and that the Hale family is something different, something more than human."

Stiles stared at his father in shock, mouth hanging open in a great picture of a guppy. Scott reached out and pushed his chin up and his teeth snapped together with an uncomfortable grind. Didn't matter since it just fell open again and he immediately snapped, "You laughed at me when I tried to come to you! What the fuck was that all about?"

"Language Stiles," his dad said as he rubbed his head tiredly. "You have every reason to be angry about that, I didn't know what to say because the thing that Derek doesn't know that happened at the same time, another long story is why I didn't trust Talia Hale or the supernatural. It's not necessary to this conversation right now."

"It's a necessary conversation later Dad, I mean it!" Stiles hissed, pointing his finger in his dad's face. His dad just grabbed his hand and put it down on his lap. Stiles kept glaring at him for another minute then heaved a sigh as his body settled back on the bed feeling tired.

"You okay?" Derek asked, pressing a hand gently on Stiles's knee and the teenager nodded. He wanted to reach down and touch Derek but he didn't, not with so many people around. Whatever they had was odd and unexplainable, they didn't even have a name for it for crying out loud, there was no reason to force it at the moment. The contact was enough to help steady Stiles mentally and physically.

He took a deep breath and started again, "Okay without the excitement of introducing my dad to the supernatural, this becomes slightly simpler. Peter Hale is the alpha that bit Scott, he attacked us at the school and he has at least one nurse on his side. I am guessing that's who dosed me. I am the wild card to Peter, someone who is willing to fight him, able to mentally figure him out and I won't take the Bite. Of course, that means that I am going to apparently end up in the hospital."

"Not if we stay together," Scott said.

Stiles stared at his friend then reached up and touched the wrap that was covering the scratches on his shoulder where Scott had cut him. His best friend had the decency to look down sheepishly, "You are going to train with Derek before the other night happens again because it will."

Scott nodded and everyone frowned between the two of them, Stiles didn't want to make it publicly known to his dad and Scott's mom at that the sweet little Scottie McCall is the main reason that Stiles was in the hospital to begin with but that didn't mean who wouldn't use it to make sure his best friend learned control, learned how to deny access from the alpha.

"Okay so its Peter Hale killing people? Why?" the Sheriff asked.

Derek visible swallowed, cleared his throat and spoke, "The fire, undoubtedly someone must have known who was responsible for the fire, what happened that day. Uncle Peter found out his targets and started killing them. I remember my uncle as a manipulative beast but he'd never been like this but that day he lost his wife, his mate, and their unborn child. That would change anyone but a werewolf, too much loss like that can and will simply destroy one of us. And he almost died as well, he is desperate to build another pack but one that he can control, so he can fight the hunters and gain vengeance for the death of his family."

"But Laura was his niece?" the Sheriff asked and Stiles watched his dad because the man was much more plugged into the Hale family than he'd ever been aware of. What the hell happened before the fire that his dad doesn't want to talk about. Derek said there was something that happened, the reason his eyes were blue instead of gold, like Scott's eyes but Stiles knew that he was going to have to wait for that story. The second he had his father alone though, he was getting the man to talk—about everything.

"She was an alpha he knew, she would have fought him," Derek coughed, tilting his head down to hide whatever uncontrollable emotion was on his face. Stiles reached out before he could consider what he was doing and pressed a finger to the edge of his shoulder, asking for permission and Derek nodded so Stiles pressed his hand over the werewolf's shoulder and into his collarbone for a second. He squeezed the muscle and sinewy under his hand then rubbed along the back of his neck, letting Derek find his never-ending control and continue. He ignored the burning gaze of his father, he knew it was there but Stiles didn't have time for it right now.

They were undoubtedly going to have a father-son conversation that would put all others in the history of the world to shame so he would deal with it then, for now Derek needed support which he has allowed Stiles to give—a support he had allowed from only Stiles.

"Laura was strong but she didn't want to have a pack, one built by her. She was okay with just the two of us, I didn't know anything about how I felt or should feel so I followed her. She was my older sister and she was all I had for a long time. Uncle Peter needed the power and apparently, he was okay with bringing her here and taking it from her. I don't know what happened there but maybe he offered to let her stay as a beta if she would will the power to him but all we know is that she's dead and he's an alpha."

"How do we stop him?" the sheriff asked, quickly getting to the crux of the matter.

Derek looked over at Scott then Stiles, the teenager knew what he was thinking, well maybe he did. Scott, Jackson and Allison needed an alpha which means they had to take care of Peter, they couldn't just turn the werewolf over to the hunters and let it be done and then there was the hunters. Stiles knew that with Kate in town, Scott and Stiles, plus the others were all on death row, just waiting for the needle. All Kate apparently needed was confirmation of the supernatural before she would kill them.

"What?" the sheriff demanded.

"We have to take care of Peter before the hunters find him, Scott and the others need an alpha," Stiles blurted out then slapped a hand over his mouth.

"What others? What hunters?"

Stiles winced and Derek glared at him. He turned back to the sheriff and spoke respectful and not at all growly which was still surprising to the teenager because mostly Derek just growled at all of them really, "Sir, this is a dangerous conversation and one we can't truly have here or anywhere else we could be overheard. We need to get the others out of here, especially Stiles. He's in the most danger here. We need to stick close to Lydia, Jackson and Allison as well. We all need more information, to be on the same page but it can't be here."

"So be it, I need to speak to the doctors about Stiles and make a plan," the sheriff pointed at Derek, Scott and Mrs. McCall consecutively and stated, "Don't leave him alone."

They all nodded and then he walked out of the room and closed the door. Mrs. McCall checked a couple of things, then walked over and let in the other three who walked over to the bed, "Are you okay? We heard you shouting?" Allison asked, all sweetness and dimples.

Stiles waved them off, "Don't worry about it, just the utter joy of being drugged."

"Drugged?" Lydia asked, crossing her arms and looking amazed and annoyed at the same time somehow. "How could he drug you here in the hospital?"

"He had help, duh," Stiles responded and Scott snorted because Stiles had never said anything like that to Lydia ever and Stiles knew this must be a change from the Stiles-loves-Lydia routine he'd been witness to for so long. She glared at him them Jackson coughed and it took a minute for them to actually turn to see if he was okay and when they did, he had a little trickle of something coming out of his nose.

Lydia gasped, "Jackson, what is that?"

In a flurry of movement, Jackson rushed out of the room with Allison and Lydia right behind him, Scott walked across the room and turned back to Stiles, "I need to find my mother, she needs to be the one to talk to Jackson about whatever is happening."

"Go, keep him out of trouble," Stiles order and Scott nodded and then he was gone too. It was just him and Derek, Stiles looked back to his werewolf friend who was staring at him in bewilderment. "What?"

"Scott listens to you, they are all listening to you. You could help them, give them some leadership," Derek whispered.

Stiles frowned, "I don't know what you mean." He shifted off of the bed, grabbing some clothes that his father brought for him and immediately started pulling them on. He was a little sore still, making his movements slow and juddering but Derek just let him keep getting dressed on his own, they were both faced away from the door when it snicked open and Stiles turned to greet whoever was there when something came down at him and struck him hard across the face and everything went black.

His last thought being, 'Seriously? What the hell?'.