Well the plot! OMFGGGG the plot! I'm pretty excited for this... I guess reveal. If you haven't already figured out what exact creepy crawly is tormenting poor Stiles, it's about to be pretty plainly spelled out. Kudos to those who did! I enjoyed reading the comments and people's theories. Speaking of which, drop one. Did you guess it? Did you have a different theory? I seriously think it's interesting to pick at everyone's brains.

And reviews are love. ^_^ -LF

It was not supposed to be like this.

Stiles had been gone for nearly two hours. Derek searched the house, called out endlessly, and had even tried using his senses to track them, with no luck.

The former Sheriff had been less than happy to hear that his son had gone missing. Again. Even more so when he learned that the last known person to be seen with him was none other than Derek Hale, the man who'd allegedly 'found' him the first time, and then disappeared, only to reemerge when Stiles finally started to show some improvement. Things didn't look good for Derek, but that was the least of his concerns. He'd been the one to call Stilinski with the news. He didn't have immediate leads, and his father was probably already worried. Of course, he'd hung up on the sheriff the moment the man had started shouting about the FBI and exactly how many years he was planning to put Derek away for. Obviously calling the man, even out of good gesture, had been a mistake. Not that he didn't understand John's worry, but having the police on his tail was just another problem he did not need on top of it all. His top priority was to find Stiles.

Thinking that there might be no other way to save his reputation with Stiles' father, Derek resorted to desperate measures.

This is why the sheriff was hiding behind his own, overturned kitchen table, a half empty gun in hand while Derek gathered his breath on the other side of a shot-up couch. Of course it wasn't normal to just accept it when a man comes in, claiming that he's a werewolf and that the disappearance of your only son was not his fault because of this. He didn't exactly expect a warm, welcoming hug or anything. But bullets seemed unnecessary.

"John! I didn't hurt Stiles, I swear!" Derek called from behind him shelter.

"Sure! And this crap about being a- what? Werewolf?!"

Derek ducked down just as the sheriff fired another bullet at the couch, stuffing flying out in a puff. "It's true!"

"Bullshit!"

Another few shots were fired off before the gun started to give out empty clicks every time Stilinski tried to pull the trigger. He swore under his breath and forced the clip out of the handle. Derek stood up from his hiding spot, taking the opportunity, "I can prove it!"

"Oh yeah?" The sheriff yelled back, pulling another clip from his belt and peeking over the edge of the table to see Derek start to move closer.

He flipped back into his shelter, first assumptions being that Hale had some sort of close combat weapon. He obviously came to the house to kill John. Tie up any lose ends in his kidnapping of Stiles. Well, John saw right through his game!

There was rustling behind the table as Derek called the sheriff's name again. Hale was right behind his cover now. John snapped the clip into place and inhaled deeply. Then, in a swift movement, he hauled himself up onto a knee, arms straight out over the brim of the kitchen table, gun ready to fire, one eye shut, and-

Thump.

His gun bumped right into a large, heavily breathing, chest. At first, Stilinski didn't move. He stared up at red, luminescent eyes with a feeling of dread and horror, watching as the beast's pointed ears and muzzle twitched in unison. Claws gripped the brim of the table in close proximity to the sheriff's outstretched arms. He was so close in fact, John could feel hot breath huffing from the wolf's nose. All he could do was mumble as the beast before him waited in anticipation.

"H-H-Hale?"

"Stay calm."

"Oh my god! What are you?!" the sheriff cried, flinging back onto his ass with a loud thud of noise, dropping his weapon in the process. "Y-You really are a? A?"

"Werewolf."

"Good god..."

Derek calmed his nerves. The truth was out now. His claws retracted and the growl in his throat deflated. As he returned to normal, he watched as the sheriff kept a keen eye on him the entire time, eyes looming over his form as his fur practically disappeared. John seemed to slowly process the information, still eyeballing the gun on the floor beside him. Because that would be a smart decision in his situation. Try shooting up the werewolf with possible leads to your son. He definitely won't overpower you, and if you do kill him, your son's as good as dead. Solid plan.

He muttered a few more incoherent swears before shaking his head, "What in the name of all things holy..."

Derek frowned and offered a hand towards the sheriff, "A bit the opposite." he gestured towards his open palm with his head, "Can we go find Stiles now?"

The sheriff's eyes narrowed, "You do realize this only makes you look all the more guilty?"

Derek let out a frustrated huff, "If I kidnapped him why the hell would I come to you? Asking for help? Tell you I'm a werewolf?"

"Maybe you wanted to throw me off the sent." The sheriff gave a puffed laugh, "Pardon the pun."

"John." Derek grumbled, a bit more instant in reaching out his arm, "If we don't find Stiles soon I don't know what might happen. Are you going to help me or not?"

Finally giving in, Stilinski took his hand, being hauled up to his feet, "Say I did believe you weren't guilty, what would I do against another werewolf?"

"Stiles wasn't taken by another werewolf."

"Then-?"

"He was taken by a... strange other kind of creature."

The sheriff gaped, "You mean there are other kinds of freaks out there?"

Derek shrugged off the sheriff's unintentional insult and gave a short nod. He searched the room around them, "Do you have a computer?"

"A computer?" Stilinski huffed, watching as Derek made a beeline for the stairs, "My son is missing and you wanna surf the web?"

Derek groaned with frustration. Why had he enlisted this man again? Stiles room would have a laptop. He sniffed the air before finding Stiles' scent, the emitting smell concentrated behind one door. Stilinski seemed surprised when Derek walked right into Stiles room, a door placed oddly among the hall. It obviously hadn't been a guess. "Stiles used to always do this stuff..." Derek muttered, searching out the laptop and propping up the top, "evidently lore can be easily found online."

"Lore?" John repeated.

"To find out exactly what took him."

John huffed before taking a seat beside him, watching as Derek started throwing key words into the search bar. He examined Derek carefully as he started to browse, "Stiles used to do this?"

Derek's eyes softened a little, "Back in Beacon Hills he was involved with us. He would help us find out whatever it was we needed. He's pretty smart."

"You don't need to tell me." the sheriff smirked, "I swear, that boy teethed on a calculator."

A tired grin tugged at Derek's lips before he fell into silent concentration. John couldn't help thinking about it more. The absurdity of werewolves, other creatures, and most importantly, his son being involved with them. "Now..." he began, "When you say my son was involved..."

"He's not a werewolf." Derek blurted. Assuming where the sheriff's prodding was going.

With a frown, "Then how did he get involved?"

Derek clicked a few links and scanned through them quickly, looking for things that sounded like they creature they'd encountered. "Scott." he replied, with a short snap. "He is a werewolf."

The sheriff nodded, but seemed really out of it, lost in his head which was quite obviously teeming with questions. The answers, however, would have to come later. Derek clicked a final link and tapped the screen, "Got it."

John frowned deeply, "That's the thing that took my son?"

"It's called a Nogitsune."