28- Derek
He hated this.
Hated feeling weak. Hated having to rely on someone who didn't even trust him. Hated Stiles' driving.
Hated that Kori was terrified.
As much as she pushed forward, telling Stiles she was fine – she didn't have a smoking bullet wound in her arm – Derek knew better. His senses weren't up to par, so he couldn't smell her distress, but he didn't need enhanced senses. He knew her, better than anyone. And when she said "It's not like I haven't seen this before" to reassure her cousin she was handling it okay, Derek knew she was only barely holding it together.
Because, yes, they've both seen someone shot with a wolfsbane laced bullet. But, within 24 hours, if it's not treated, the result is death. And Kori knew that; she knew that right now, in this hour, they're okay. But…if Scott doesn't pull through, these will be some of their last moments together.
Derek will be dead; it'll be another person in a long list of people who she's lost. And he's terrified too, because he genuinely doesn't know if she'll be able to survive another major loss; this bond they have makes everything more unpredictable now. He knows they are tied very tightly together, he knows she is feeling some of his pain if the flinching and rubbing of her arm is anything to go by. When true mates lose one another, is the one that's left okay? Do they deteriorate, go insane after losing something that has become a part of who they are? He hasn't gotten that far in the research.
The three drive around for a while, waiting to hear something from Scott.
"God, is he rotting?"
Derek turns slowly, glaring at Stiles.
"Shut up!" Kori growls out from the back.
Derek flinches at the sound of Stiles' phone ringing; the boy pulls to the side of the road to answer. Kori reaches forward, squeezing Derek's arm. "Okay?"
His eyes are clamped shut, his face twisted in pain but he nods, laying his hand over hers; the contact does seem to ease the throbbing and not because Kori was trying to syphoning the pain from him; she had stopped trying after he threatened to jump from the moving vehicle.
"You want me to take him where?" Stiles asks, his voice tight and pitched high. He glances at Derek, holding the phone out to him. "You're never going to believe where he wants me to take you."
Derek snatched the phone from his hand with as much force as he can manage. "Did you find it?"
Scott sighs on the other end. "Not yet."
"You need to find that bullet, Scott."
"What if it can't?" the question comes out as a challenge.
"Then I'm dead and you need me to help you find the alpha."
Kori grabs the phone from Derek, speaking to Scott in an icy tone that Derek himself wouldn't want to have directed at him. "Scott," She starts, with a false sweetness in her voice. "If you don't find that bullet and bring it to the clinic in the next – oh say 2 hours – I will brust into the Argents house, tie Allison to a chair, gag her, and make her watch while I cut your balls off and shove them down your throat." Derek tenses, side eying Stiles who is staring straight ahead, stiff as a board with wide eyes. "Do we have an understanding?" Her question is met with silence. "Scott. I can't here you. I'll ask again; Do. We. Have. An understanding?"
"Y-yes…" Scott stutters softly.
"Good. See you in two hours."
Kori ends that call, shoving the phone in her cousins' face, who is still sitting paralyzed. She sighs and rolls her eyes, annoyed that he wasn't taking his phone back. "Here!" She snaps, jerking Stiles from his temporary catatonic state.
"Yeah." He breaths out, taking his phone as Kori settles back. "So…um…that was…"
"Necessary." Kori says sharply, daring Stiles to argue.
"Okay, okay. Just, seemed a bit intense to me but, yeah okay. Gives him…motivation? Everyone needs to be motivated sometimes."
"Just drive Stiles." Kori growled, cutting into Stiles' rambling.
"Right, yes. Driving again. Good. To the vet clinic…which is closed…with a werewolf. How is this my life?"
"Stiles." Derek hissed, eyes clenched tight. "Just drive, before I rip you throat out. With my teeth."
"God. Okay, Jesus. Why all the threats today?" Stiles mumbles, pulling back onto the road.
Silence falls in the Jeep as Stiles makes his way to the vet clinic. Derek met Kori's eyes in the mirror, she glanced away at the pale face looking at her.
"Kori." Derek says gently. "It's going to be okay."
She looks back to his reflection, deep shadows settling in under his hazel eyes. "What if it's not?" She asked, her voice cracking.
"You can't think like that, Kori." Stiles tells her. "Don't think the worst. Scott's is going to find the bullet and Derek's going to be fine. This is just a bump in the road."
"Pretty big bump."
"Okay, yeah maybe. But still a bump. Your dude here seems pretty tough to me, I don't think he's going to let one little bullet take him down."
"You don't even like him, Stiles. Why do you care?"
Stiles glances nervously at Derek. "I never said…look, I don't know him, okay? I don't know if I trust him, no offense, but you're my cousin and I love you. You've dealt with a lot of shit I just hate for you to add another thing to that list, a thing that isn't even a thing yet." Stiles looks over to Derek again, the wolf gives him a grateful nod in appreciation.
Kori nods, sliding forward in her seat again to squeeze in the space between the two up front. Derek shifts to his left, leaning toward her. She sets her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes as they begin to prickle with the threat of tears. Derek presses his nose into her hair, inhaling her scent to try and remember everything about it and help keep him grounded.
"I'm going to be fine." He whispers to her.
"Is that why you're scenting me?"
"I have a plan if Scott's too late. Don't worry."
"What's that?" Kori murmured, but Derek just rested his head against Kori's. "Derek, what's your plan?"
