Stiles didn't like it that Derek was alone at the hospital and they wanted to follow him as quickly as possible. They could tell that it was the same for Kira. However, her mind must be more on Laura.
Stiles just hoped that Laura was still alive. They didn't want to know how Derek would react to losing her. Not well and that was an understatement.
Either way, Stiles wanted to be with Derek but for now, they were stuck with talking to the police. Not that they could say much about what had happened, only that they had found Laura on the floor with Kira over her, giving her CPR. They left out the shocking her back to life part, though. They did, however, point the officers to Beacon Hills. Kira didn't know Kate so she couldn't tell for sure if she had been the attacker but it would be one hell of a coincidence if somebody else came after the Hale siblings like this.
"My dad is the sheriff, he's working the case. Talk to him," Stiles told the two officers and made sure that they did note it down.
They would have to come in for a real statement, Derek as well, but for now, Stiles and Kira were free to go. Together they almost sprinted out of the apartment, they needed to get to the hospital.
On their way to the car, Stiles didn't have theirs with them so they would take Kira's, they ran into Boyd and Erica.
"Stiles!" Erica caught them in a tight hug. She had a case of bed hair and both of them looked as if they had fallen out of bed and hadn't bothered with getting dressed properly.
Stiles tried to breathe through the hug. An anaconda had nothing on Erica. In the end, they desperately tapped her shoulder until she got the hint and let go of them. Stiles drew in a much-needed breath which ended in a cough.
"I think you cracked a rib." They held their side.
"Sorry." Erica gave them a sheepish look. "I'm still not used to …" She made a vague gesture with a glance at Kira.
"What happened?" Boyd stepped closer and for a moment Stiles expected him to hug them as well but in the end, Boyd just settled for standing close enough for their shoulders to touch. "We woke up with … I don't even know how to describe it."
"It feels wrong. In here." Erica pointed at her head. "Is something wrong with Laura?"
"Get in, we can talk in the car." Kira urged them to get going. Boyd and Erica didn't even ask where they were going, they just got in the car. Stiles had the feeling that they would follow them anywhere right now. They looked like lost puppies and for some reason, they were looking at Stiles as if they knew what they were doing. Which they were not.
Get to the hospital, find Derek, hope that Laura was alive. That was the plan for now and Stiles refused to think farther than that. They felt the what-ifs lurking in the back of their mind and they knew that they would spiral into worst-case scenarios if they let those run freely. So they used the ride to update Boyd and Erica.
"Derek is the alpha now?" Boyd asked.
"Who cares about that?" Stiles snapped. That was the last thing they were worried about. Was Laura alive? Where was Kate? How was Derek? Those were the questions on their mind. They couldn't care less who the alpha was. Through the rearview mirror, they glared at Boyd but when they caught his expression, their anger vanished.
"For now," Stiles said. "He's the alpha for now."
Boyd and Erica were freshly turned werewolves. It had been traumatic for both of them. Boyd had almost died the other day. This was all new and frightening to them, they needed their alpha. Stiles got that. They were not a werewolf but they were pack, they felt it too. It was one of the reasons they wanted to see Derek.
They found Derek alone in the waiting area. He was sitting hunched over in a chair, elbows on his knees, and head bowed. It almost looked as if he was praying. He looked lost and broken but when his pack approached him, he pulled himself together. Stiles watched him with Boyd and Erica and they could almost feel how something in their mind snapped into place.
Derek was their alpha.
That part in Stiles' mind felt right again. Something in them loosened and they could breathe again.
A doctor came over with the news that Laura was out of surgery and on her way to the ICU. Derek was allowed to see her a few minutes later.
"I hate waiting." Stiles groaned and let their head fall back against the wall. Boyd and Erica had taken the chairs to their right. They were holding hands but Erica sat close to Stiles, their knees were touching.
On their left was Kira who looked even more lost than the rest of them. She wasn't pack, Stiles realized. The three of them were a unit, seeking comfort in each other, but Kira was not part of that.
"Laura has to make you pack as soon as she wakes up," Stiles said and made a point of reaching over. They gave her time to object but then they placed their hand on hers.
"We talked about that." Kira gave them a watery smile. She turned her hand to hold hands with them properly. "We wanted to wait until Erica has settled in."
"Pack or not, you're part of this," Stiles decided. "You saved her life."
"She would have done the same for me." Kira blushed and with her free hand, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Yeah," Stiles made. They fell quiet, there was nothing to say to that.
They thought of Laura, of good food and trashed kitchens. Of video games and banter between siblings. Of running through the woods with a pack of wolves, of pack piles in front of the fireplace. They refused to think about Laura lying on the floor, choking on her own blood.
For now, they could only wait for Derek to return to them with hopefully good news.
Instead of Derek the two officers from earlier came around the corner. They looked serious.
"We spoke with your dad." Officer Parrish didn't waste time with pleasantries while Officer Martin got her phone out to show Kira a picture.
"Is this the woman who attacked you?" She asked.
The way Kira paled was answer enough but she nodded and confirmed it with a"yes" nevertheless. Stiles only caught a glance at the screen but they knew what the officer was showing Kira. A picture of Kate Argent.
"We have reason to believe that this woman is responsible for a house fire in Beacon Hills as well," Officer Parrish said.
"Have you figured that out yourself?" Stiles muttered but they knew how the police worked. They had peeked into police work often enough with their dad to know that one shouldn't just jump to the most obvious conclusion.
"It looks like she has it in for the Hale family," Officer Parrish continued, ignoring Stiles' comment. "Where is Derek Hale?"
They were just about to go looking for him when Derek joined them. For some reason, he had Isaac in tow.
"She did what?" Stiles yelled when Isaac said that somebody had broken into the office and had attacked Coach.
"Is he okay?" Erica asked.
"Says he had worse." Isaac shrugged but he wasn't fooling anybody. He was worried about their boss.
"You probably want to show that picture to him, too." Stiles pointed at the phone still in the officer's hand.
"If somebody could tell me what the hell is going on here, that would be great." Isaac had to raise his voice to be heard over the others discussing the new information. Stiles pointed him over to Boyd and Erica who got the hint and took him aside to clue him in while Stiles stayed with Derek. He needed them more right now.
They were talking about police protection for him and Laura. Derek was more than okay with an officer at Laura's door but he didn't like the idea of an officer following him around.
"Since we don't know if my place is safe we can crash at Boyd's and Erica's place," Stiles suggested. They doubted that the betas wanted to be alone and for sure Derek needed his pack. "You can park a patrol car outside. Would that work?"
It would.
Officer Martin stepped aside to make a call while her partner left with Isaac to find Coach.
The second Derek was free, Boyd and Erica took him in the middle. They sat down in three chairs but they could have worked with one with how close they stayed to Derek. Erica who didn't know boundaries anyway was all over him but even the more reserved Boyd made sure that their shoulders and legs touched. Stiles couldn't help a ping of jealousy, that was their boyfriend the betas were crawling all over but that was exactly the point. They were betas and they needed their alpha. Stiles felt it as well, not as strong as the werewolves but they were pack too.
They just knew that they would sleep in a pack pile for the foreseeable future.
While the wolves were busy with bounding with their alpha, Erica had her nose in the hollow of Derek's neck, Stiles turned to Kira who stood a little lost at the side.
"How are you holding up?" They asked.
Kira wasn't pack and she had the common sense to not intervene, she stayed in the background, but now Stiles had a closer look at her. She was shaken, that much was visible, but so far she'd been holding it together.
"Been better." She gave them a shy smile. "I'll feel better once Laura is out of the woods." She looked over to where the werewolves were lost in their own world. "You think that I can see her?"
It took Stiles a moment to follow her train of thoughts. Kira was Laura's girlfriend and she had saved her life but she wasn't pack. This was all still new to Stiles as well but they knew that werewolves kept to themselves. Especially in times like this, they retreated into the safety of the pack. Letting a stranger in was dangerous. Even without Kate being out there, Stiles knew that Derek wouldn't just let anybody see his sister.
"He knows that you're not an enemy, quite the opposite," Stiles said. "I think he would feel better knowing that you're at her side." They made a cage with their fingers as Kira had done earlier. There were no bolts of electricity flashing between their fingers but they got the point across.
They were interrupted by Officer Martin who'd ended the call and came over to them.
"If your boyfriend is ready," she said with a pointed look at where Derek sat with Erica basically in his lap. "I can drive him over to get a few things out of the apartment. I don't recommend going there alone."
Stiles left with Derek, they didn't want him to be alone right now and the way Derek held them close with a hand on the small of their back told them that they were right with that conclusion. Derek wanted to return to Laura as quickly as possible but for now Kira took his place at the side of her bed. Looked like the hospital could make an exception to the family-only rule when the police were involved.
Boyd and Erica had only reluctantly let got of Derek but they were more than on board with the idea of the whole pack crashing at their place. Well, except for Laura but Stiles didn't want to think too much about that. Instead, they kept their mind busy with what she might need at the hospital and if they would be able to get some food into Derek before he returned to her side where he would stay for the rest of the day. Stiles didn't even try to talk him out of that.
Officer Martin kept glancing at them through the rearview mirror, probably still trying to figure out their dynamics to which Derek made a point of keeping Stiles even closer.
"No-one is going to steal me," Stiles said but leaned more into him. Derek had lost his whole pack before, it made sense that he wanted to have them close now.