Chapter 11: Tension

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Wolf. I only own Hope, this story, and any other OCs.

Hope was waiting by her brother's locker at the end of the day, so they could go home. She didn't mind the waiting because he was probably talking to Scott, and it also gave her time to think. Her and Stiles' fight the other night had consumed every single thought in her mind. It wasn't the fact that they had fought that bothered her, but it was what he said. She was just as much involved with this as the boys were. So far, she was doing better at getting information than they were. She knew Stiles was just worried about her safety, but Hope didn't care. The last thing she planned to do was stay out of it.

Stiles walked up to Hope and shook his keys at her, "Ready to go?" Hope nodded her head and they took off to his car.

They had made up from their fight, but it was still a little tense between the two. Scott had even asked them earlier if they were okay. For as long as Scott could remember, Hope and Stiles couldn't stay mad at each other for longer than an hour. When Stiles had told Scott about what happened the other night, he had expected everything to be fine. Now that it wasn't, he felt caught in the middle.

Hope and Stiles were pulling out of the parking lot to head home when, all of a sudden, a paler than usual Derek Hale stepped in front of the Jeep. The siblings jerked forward as Stiles slammed on his brakes.

Together, the twins said, "What the hell?!"

They exchanged a panicked look as they raced out of the car to get to Derek as he fell to the ground. They awkwardly glanced at the honking cars behind them before kneeling next to Derek.

Scott ran up to meet them, "What are you doing here?!"

Derek took in a deep breath, "I was shot."

Hope looked closely at Derek. He was a lot paler than he usually was and he was sweating bullets even though it was a relatively cool day out. Hope shook her head, "Guys, he doesn't look too good."

Scott looked around to see if anyone was coming over before turning back, "Why aren't you healing?"

Derek shook his head in pain, "It was a different kind of bullet."

Stiles leaned forward, "A silver bullet?!"

"No, you idiot."

Scott's face held a look of realization as he mumbled, "That's what she meant when she said you have 48 hours."

The injured wolf looked up, "What?! Who?"

"The one who shot you."

Suddenly, Derek's eyes flashed an electric blue as he clenched his teeth in pain. Hope flinched at the amount of pain showing on his face. She looked around as the boys tried to get Derek to leave. The sound of impatient drivers had increased and people were starting to get out of their cars. Hope felt her heart start to race as she realized they needed to leave now.

"Guys," she exclaimed, "we need to get him out of here right now." They all shared a panicked look before helping Derek into the Jeep. Hope climbed in the back to let Derek sit up front. Scott looked at Stiles, "Get him out of here."

Stiles started the car, "I hate you so much for this."

Hope rolled her eyes, "Just go!"

They pulled out of the parking lot just before anyone could make it close enough to investigate. They drove around town in an awkward silence for a few minutes before Stiles glanced at Hope in the rearview mirror, "Where the hell does Scott expect me to take him?"

Derek said through clenched teeth, "Just keep driving." Stiles groaned in frustration and continued to drive angrily. He passed his phone back to Hope, "Text Scott."

Hope silently took the phone and texted Scott asking him if he had found it yet. She looked back down at the phone to see Scott had responded telling them he needed more time. She told Stiles this who cursed and angrily sighed.

He looked over at Derek, "Try not to bleed on my seats, okay? We're almost there."

Derek and Hope looked up in confusion. Derek questioned, "Almost where?"

"Your house."

"You can't take me there."

Stiles looked at him bewildered, "I can't take you to your own house?!"

Hope leaned forward, "Stiles, he can barely stand up. What if someone attacks him?"

"You know what," Stiles pulled the car over onto the shoulder of the road, "What happens if Scott doesn't find the bullet? Are you dying?"

"Not yet. I have a last resort."

Hope looked at him confused, "What last resort?"

Derek pulled his shirt sleeve up to reveal his wound. The twins gagged at the sight and smell of the bullet wound.

Stiles shook his head, "Oh my god, is that contagious? You know what, you should probably just get out now."

Hope whipped her head to look at her brother, "Stiles!"

Derek sighed, "Start the car."

Stiles turned his body to face him, "I don't think you should be barking orders, okay? In fact, if I wanted to, I could probably drag your little werewolf ass out there right now and leave you for dead."

Hope looked at her brother in utter shock. She knew he didn't like the guy, but he was being a little extreme. Derek turned his head towards Stiles, "Start the car, or I'm going to rip your throat out. With my teeth."

Stiles stood his ground for a couple seconds before starting the car and driving off. Hope leaned back in the seat and laughed lightly to herself. Stiles looked back at her, "Not one word."

A couple of hours later, the three of them sat in Stiles' Jeep on the side of the road again. Night had fallen and Derek was only getting worse. Hope had found a rag in the back of the car and was currently using it to hold it to Derek's wound. The bleeding had gotten worse and Derek was getting weaker every second. Stiles had been trying to call Scott for five minutes when he finally picked up.

Stiles rolled his eyes, "What am I supposed to do with him?"

Hope could hear the slight sound of Scott responding through the phone. Her brother sighed, "By the way, he's starting to smell...like death."

She slightly flinched at her brother's brutal honesty. She was truly worried for the werewolf and she was not ready to watch him die. She looked up at Derek, "Don't listen to him. You're going to be fine."

Derek shook his head, "I appreciate the optimism, but I can handle it."

Stiles held the phone out to Derek, "You're not going to believe what he's telling me right now."

Derek immediately grabbed the phone, "Did you find it?"

He sighed at whatever Scott said, "Look if you don't find it, then I'm dead. Okay?"

Hope turned to Stiles as Derek continued on the phone, "Well?"

Stiles shook his head, "He wants me to take him to the clinic."

"What?!"

Derek tossed the phone back to Stiles, interrupting them, "Let's go."

They drove in silence to the clinic, none of them knowing what was going to happen. Hope kept taking worried glances at Derek as he visibly got worse in the five minutes it took them to get to their destination. Once they arrived, Stiles went ahead to open the door while Hope helped Derek make it over. She wasn't sure she was much help considering she's so much shorter than him, but he seemed to still lean on her for support. Once inside, he fell back on bags of dog food as Stiles got a text. He turned to Derek, "Does nordic blue monkshood mean anything to you?"

He held his arm, "It's a rare form of wolfsbane." He sighed in pain, "He has to bring me the bullet."

Hope looked at him, "Why?"

"I'm going to die without it."

Stiles and Hope exchanged a panicked look before grabbing Derek and pulling him into an exam room. Hope flipped on the lights as Derek and Stiles walked over to the exam table. Hope turned around to walk over when she noticed Derek had taken off his shirt. She felt her cheeks heat up as she looked him over. She was snapped out of her thoughts when Stiles tried to lighten the mood, "You know, your injury really doesn't look that bad. Nothing some aspirin and a good nights sleep won't fix."

Derek ignored him as he examined the wound, "If the infection reaches my heart, it'll kill me." He turned around and started to frantically look through cabinets.

Stiles watched him with curiosity, "You're really just not positive are you."

Derek continued to ignore him, "If he doesn't get here in time, we'll have to use my last resort."

Hope leaned forward, "What last resort?!"

Derek stopped as he grabbed something from a drawer. He turned around and pointed an electric saw at Stiles, "He's going to cut my arm off."

The twins stood in stunned silence until Hope shouted, "What the actual hell?!"

Derek slid the saw across the table to a still in shock Stiles as Hope continued to lose her mind, "Are you insane?! How do you expect him to cut off your freaking arm?! What if you bleed to death?!"

He started to tie his arm off, "It'll heal if it works."

"And if it doesn't?"

He ignored her and continued tying until Stiles finally said, "Look, I'm not sure if I can do this."

"Why not?"

Stiles scoffed, "Oh, I don't know. Maybe all the blood, the cutting through bone and muscle, and mostly the blood!"

Derek leaned on the table, "You faint at the sight of blood?!"

"No, but I might faint at the sight of a severed arm!"

Derek rolled his eyes and grabbed Stiles by his shirt and pulled him across the table, "If you don't do this, I'm going to die!" Stiles was about to answer as Derek vomited black blood onto the floor.

Stiles gagged, "What the hell is that?!"

Derek started to breathe heavily, "It's my body trying to heal itself. You need to do this now."

Hope looked back and forth between Stiles and the saw, waiting for her brother to make a move. When he didn't, Derek yelled, "Just do it!"

Stiles yelled back, "I don't think I can!"

In a rush of adrenaline, Hope reached forward and grabbed the saw before pushing her brother out of the way. Stiles turned around, "Oh god, I can't watch this." She exchanged a nod with Derek and turned the saw on. She put the saw on Derek's arm and took a deep breath. Just as she was about to start cutting, she heard Scott's voice, "Hope? Stiles?"

Scott ran in and saw the position they were in, "What the hell are you doing?!"

Hope let out a sigh of relief and threw the saw on the exam table. Stiles turned back around, "You just saved me a lifetime of nightmares."

Derek stood up and took the bullet from Scott. Hope looked at him, heart still pumping with adrenaline, "What are you going to do with that?"

He stumbled over his words as he tried to answer her before passing out, the bullet rolling away. All three teens cursed as they watched the bullet roll into a drain. Scott ran over to try to get the bullet back while Stiles and Hope tried to wake Derek up.

Stiles panicked, "Oh god, I think he's dead!"

The twins tried to shake him awake, but nothing was waking him up. They were about to give up when Scott jumped up with the bullet in his hand. Stiles looked down at Derek, "Please don't kill me for this." He drew back his fist and hit Derek hard, instantly waking him up. Stiles walked away rubbing his hand in pain while Hope helped Derek back up. He grabbed the bullet and pulled the top off with his teeth. He emptied its contents onto the exam table before lighting them on fire, causing them to spark and glow. The three teens watched in interest at Derek's actions. He put the contents of the bullet in his hand. He paused for a moment to take a deep breath before pushing the contents on the bullet wound. He let out an agonizing scream and fell to the floor. The teens ran to the side to see what was happening as Derek writhed in pain. Then, just as soon as it started, it was over. They all watched as the wound completely healed itself instantaneously. Silence fell over them until Stiles broke it, "That. Was. Awesome!"

Hope shot him a look before glancing down at Derek, "Are you okay?"

"Well, except for the agonizing pain."

Stiles crossed his arms, "I'm assuming the ability to use sarcasm is a good sign of health." Derek sent him a deadly look, causing Stiles to back off. Scott took a step forward, "Look, we saved your life which means you're going to leave us alone, you got that? And if you don't, I'm going to go back to Allison's dad and I'm going to tell them everything-"

"You're gonna trust them?", Derek cut him off, "You think they can help you?"

Scott threw his hands in the air, "Well, why not?! They're a whole lot freaking nicer than you are!"

Derek scoffed, "Yeah, I can show you how nice they are."

Scott looked skeptically at Derek as he started to leave. He turned back to the twins, "You guys should get home. I'll tell you what happened tomorrow."

They both look at Scott and nod before watching him leave with Derek. Stiles and Hope exchanged a look of disbelief before Stiles threw his arm around his sister's shoulder, "Let's go."

As they were driving home, Hope turned to her brother, "Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Did you punch Derek because you've been wanting to for a while and you knew that was your only opportunity?"

Stiles turned to her with an offended look. Dramatically, he said, "How dare you! I can't believe you would even think that! And after all we've been through?!"

Hope laughed, "You're impossible."

"It's a talent."

I can not even begin to explain how sorry I am. Hear me out first! So, for this story, I hit a serious writer's block. I can't even count the amount of times I tried to sit down and write this chapter. I don't know why it was so hard for me. However, recently, I've been working on my new story and then one day, this story just clicked. So, we're back in business! Please Review! I love you guys!