"Okay buddy," the sheriff said after a few hours of sitting in the office with Derek in his lap. "It's time to go home."

He rose from the ground, trying not to wake the kid up. He carried him to his car. Buckled him up and drove home. He left Derek in the car to go talk to Stiles.

"Hey." He said, making Stiles look up from his laptop.

"I called Melissa to ask if you could stay the night. She's cool with it, so I hoped that you are too."

Stiles nodded silently.

"Derek's gonna sleep in here. You don't mind, do you?"

Stiles shook his head and the sheriff breathed out and nodded.

"Thank you."

"Yeah, whatever he needs." Stiles smiled. "I'll just grab my stuff real quick."

The sheriff nodded gratefully.

"Drive safely. I love you."

"Love you too."

The sheriff waited with getting Derek from the car until Stiles had left. He gently rubbed Derek's cheek.

"Hey, buddy?" He called out. Derek stirred awake. "You wanna come inside?"

"Where are we?" Derek croaked out.

"My place. You can stay for as long as you'd like."

He guided Derek inside and showed him Stiles room. He said that this would be his space for now. That he's being him some food if he wanted some. That he'd call Peter later. Derek just nodded a little.

"Hey," the sheriff said, making Derek meet his kind eyes.

"I know it's not a lot, but I'm here for you. I'm gonna take care of you."

Derek nodded a little.

"I'm thankful for that sir, please don't get me wrong, I just.. I-I'd like to be alone for a while."

The sheriff nodded.

"I'll check on you later," he said and went downstairs. He warmed some microwave dish and sat by the table. Grabbed his phone and searched the database for Peters number. He called it.

"Hello?"

"Hello, this is Sheriff Stilinski, Beacon Hills County. Am I speaking with Peter Hale?"

"Yes."

"It's about your nephew Derek. I'm sure you know my kid Stiles? He and his friend found Derek somewhere de-aged and confused. And he just recently found out about the Hale House Fire."

"De-aged? How de-aged?"

"He's 15." The sheriff said.

"Shit," Peter swore.

"He's at my place. I think he'd appreciate it if you could pick him up."

"I'm out of town." Peter said. "I'll head back immediately but it'll be a few days."

The sheriff nodded.

"He's not doing so good, you know?"

"I know. I'll do my best to be there as soon as possible. Take care of him until then will you?"

"Absolutely."