Derek stopped for lunch on their way back to the pack house, sliding into the booth next to Stiles, letting their legs press together from hip to knees as they shared a menu.
They both ordered towering hamburgers, Stiles with a side of curly fries and Derek with a pile of haystack onions served with a spicy dipping sauce that Stiles swirled his curly fries through.
"I don't want to go back." Derek froze in mid bite, looking sharply over to where Stiles was shoveling another helping of fries into his mouth.
"You want to stay here? With me?" Stiles half choked on his mouthful, gulping down his glass of coke while Derek patted him on the back.
"I meant that I didn't want to go back to the pack house and deal with all the deaths that have happened and are going to keep happening if I don't find out where Jennifer is in this reality." Seeing the way Derek's face closed off Stiles reached over and rubbed his knee, his thumb caressing the inseam of Derek's jeans. "I'd love to stay with you but I have to get back to my father. This place is wrong in so many ways; I can't just shrug my shoulders and do nothing."
With a sigh Derek turned back to his meal. "From what you've told me, your reality is just as bloody as this one. Aside from your father, what do you have there that you can't find with me?"
Stiles opened his mouth to respond but Derek cut him off with a quick kiss that ended anything he had been planning on saying by short circuiting his brain. "Don't answer now. Think about it. You've been so focused on why you need to get back home that you haven't really begun to look at what you could have here."
The waitress saved Stiles from having to answer. She cheerfully asked them if they had saved room for dessert before handing Derek the check. Stiles lead the way out the door with Derek's hand resting on the small of his back, a warm weight that he found himself craving as soon as Derek removed his hand to open the passenger door.
Stiles could feel the tension in the Pack house the minute they opened the door. Derek stopped him, strong hand to his abdomen before entering the living room first, as if to protect Stiles from any harm.
Peter and the other betas were focused on the television. The news was opening to a major story playing up the sense of impending tragedy with a deep musical score. "What happened?" Derek asked moving slowly into Peter's range to sit on the edge of the couch. Stiles held back, one foot still in the entry, leaning on the archway so that he would have a better view of the television.
"The police have found two more bodies. There will be more information when they come back from the break." Peter's voice was calm but Stiles could see the line of tension that ran through him.
"I hate when they tease major stories. It's such a dick move." Derek widened his eyes at Stiles as if trying to get him to shut up but Peter had already noticed the young human and was motioning him to join the rest of the pack in the room.
"Definitely a dick move, as you say. I'm am eager to find out if it is your evil druid claiming more victims for her knots or is it is just some random, normal human killing."
"My life is so fucked up that I have to categorize killings into normal and supernatural." Derek shot him a small smile and patted the cushion next to him in invitation. Stiles squeezed in pressing closer to Derek in order to keep from brushing up against Rio.
Two car commercials later the smiling news anchor was back with the breaking story. "Two bodies were found at the Preserve this evening killed by what appears to be a wild animal attack. Police are baffled though by the damage done to the bodies post mortem."
Stiles' dad appeared on the screen, the lines around his eyes more pronounced which was a sign that he was feeling stressed. Stiles worried at the unusual pallor to his father's skin and wondered who, if anyone, was taking care of him in this reality.
"Deputy Stillinski, is it true that the bodies were found with flares forced into the eye sockets of both victims? Do the police think that someone desecrated the bodies after their deaths or that there is a predator out there using animals to kill their victims?"
"This is an ongoing investigation and the Beacon Hills Police Department has no comment on the deaths at this time." With a firm nod and a tight lipped grimace that could be viewed as a smile, Deputy Stillinski stepped off screen leaving the reporter standing in front of the dense woods that flickered with the red and blue lights of the squad cars.
"The bodies have been identified as Gerard Argent and his granddaughter Allison. This is not the first tragedy the Argent family has faced. Last year Chris and Kate Argent were found in this same preserve killed by what appeared to be an animal attack. I'm sure the police are starting to wonder now if it was truly an animal attack or some strange vendetta against the Argent family. Back to you Sadie."
Dark spots danced in Stiles vision and the room seemed to blacken. He could hear Derek's voice, tight and strained, from far away as he slipped further into darkness. Stiles staggered to his feet, trying to get out of the room, to find someplace where the death of his friends would stop haunting him but his knees buckled beneath him and he found himself slamming downward onto the thick carpet followed closely by Derek.
"I've got you. Just breathe Stiles." That was the last thing Stiles' brain processed before shutting down completely and sending him into darkness.
Stiles' brain rebooted. That's the only way he could really describe the feeling he had as he returned to awareness, as if he was slowly surfacing once again into the world. His face was pressed against Derek's stomach, the smell of the wolf a comfort as images of Allison lying dead in the forest wavered into his mental image.
He must have made a sound, a stressed whine or something, because Derek's hand was almost immediately running along his back and shoulders. The firm warm pressure centered him and Stiles took a deep, Derek scented breath before pushing himself up and blinking bleary at the room. The couch had been cleared except for Derek to allow Stiles to stretch out. All the other betas stood on the other side of the room watching, their eyes glowing in the dim light. Peter leaned forward from his chair and pinned Stiles with an intense stare.
"From your reaction, I'm thinking that what happened to the last of the Argents is something you are familiar with?"
"It's what Gerard did to Deucalion when he tried to make peace. It's what drove him to kill his own pack and become the leader of the Alpha Pack." Stiles looked at Peter who sat calmly in his chair as if they were discussion the latest game on TV. "Nothing like this happened before. I don't know what they are up to this time around; I don't know what he wants here. Before they wanted Scott because he would become a True Alpha but I have no idea what they want now."
Derek took a deep breathe when Stiles mentioned a True Alpha, eyes darting to Peter. "A True Alpha?" Peter hummed softly. "Remind me not to bite this boy; I wouldn't want to deal with the resulting power struggle."
"Revenge?" Rio rumbled from the far side of the room. "Could it be something as simple as that?"
"Even if they are just out for revenge, their being here is upsetting the local police force. The Alpha's activities combined with Stiles' dark druid are starting to call too much attention to the supernatural element in Beacon Hills. They are leaving us no choice but to react to their bout of violence. No matter how happy I'm to see another Argent put in the ground we can't let this go unchallenged."
"She's not Stiles' druid," Derek grumbled under his breath but Peter completely ignored him. Stiles gave him a small smile in gratitude but kept most of his attention focused on Peter. The look that crossed the alpha's face left him feeling as if he was standing too close to the edge of a cliff during a strong wind storm, precarious didn't begin to explain it.
"She's completed her virgin knot. Which set of three did she go after next, Stiles?"
"Warriors, she went after warriors next."
Peter nodded, "Then we need to keep an eye out for more people to start disappearing. I've mapped the currents and know where she needs to leave the bodies but she needs to make another kill before we can start to track her."
"We can't just wait for her to kill another innocent person." Derek sounded appalled and his eyes flashed in anger.
Peter rose from his seat. It wasn't any faster than he would have normally stood up but he completed the motion with his focus solely on Derek, eyes glowing with just a hint of red around the pupils. "Are you questioning me, nephew?"
"No Alpha," Derek swallowed and lowered his eyes. "But letting another person die just so that we can start to track a killer seems…" Derek trailed off at Peter's low rumble of a growl.
"You've always had a tender heart, nephew. If there was another way I would consider it but as of this moment, awaiting another death is our only safe option."
For once Stiles managed to keep his mouth firmly closed. He agreed with Derek, not wanting to wait for another death. He could feel the phantom blood of enough people on his hands and didn't want to add more. His mind wheeled with plans.
Letting his hand slip into Derek's, Stiles bided his time. Once they were alone he would fill Derek in on his plans. Peter may not be willing to do something to save an innocent from being the start of Jennifer's next knot but Stiles was more than willing to put his neck on the line.
Derek looked over, eyes widening as he read the resolve in Stiles' eyes. With a tilt of his head toward the stairs, he led Stiles upstairs and into his room, closing the door behind them.
"Whatever you are thinking, stop! Just stop! It's dangerous." Derek whispered against Stiles' ear.
"We can't just let another person die. I'm not a warrior so I'm safe."
"I'm not worried about the druid killing you. I'm worried about what Peter will do when he finds out."
Stiles smiled. "Then I guess we need to make sure he doesn't find out."