By the time they arrived at the lake, John was convinced that he would find Stiles at the shore or in his cabin, shredded by claws. Not that he really thought that Agnes would do something like that but his mind insisted on the most gruesome picture it could come up with. And it wanted a drink. If they didn't find Stiles soon, he would need something to calm his nerves. Something to bring him through the day.
If Stiles didn't show up today Mark would have to haul John's hungover ass out of bed again tomorrow. John felt sick at that thought but he knew that it was true.
"There's nobody in the cabin," Mark said before John could even try the door.
"It's scary how you just know," John said over his shoulder and tried the door nevertheless. It was locked but he knew where Stiles hid the key. He just had to check.
The cabin was exactly like they had left it the other day, it didn't look as if Stiles had been here at all.
"I better not tell you that I know that there hasn't been anybody in here since we left, then," Mark joked but had a look around as well.
"Do I want to know how you know?" John muttered. Under other circumstances, he would be curious but at the moment he was worried about Stiles. The rational part of his brain knew that Stiles just hadn't come up yet, that he was still in the lake with Derek, the not so rational part ...
It was peaceful down there, Stiles had said and that it was easy to lose track of time when he was with Derek. By now Stiles had lost half a day, though.
Stiles had left his phone on the table and his clothes over a chair. For a brief moment, John wondered if he'd put on swimming trunks or if he was skinny dipping. Either way, there was nothing out of the ordinary.
John took out his phone and sent Stiles a message, telling him to contact him as soon as he read it. The phone on the table buzzed when the message arrived.
"Stiles said that he might be down there for a while," Mark reminded him.
"I know, I was there." John rubbed a hand over his mouth. "I just don't like it."
"We can check again after our shift," Mark offered. He went outside and John followed him a second later. He didn't like it but there was nothing else he could do. Besides, they were on duty, they should go back to work.
John locked the door and put the key back when suddenly Mark straightened up.
"What?" John asked, scanning the shoreline in search of Stiles.
"There's somebody over there." Mark took off running.
Damn, he was fast. John couldn't keep up with him and a second later Mark disappeared between the bushes. John followed as fast as he could.
"What happened?" Mark asked somewhere ahead but it took John long seconds before he caught up with him.
When John broke through the bushes to a grassy patch of shore his mind needed a second to comprehend what he was seeing.
They had found Stiles. He was naked except for a dripping wet pair of underwear and he was giving mouth to mouth to a girl.
"Nancy?" Mark dropped to his knees on her other side. "Oh shit, Nancy."
Stiles glared at him but he was too busy keeping Nancy alive to say something to Mark.
"What did you do?" Mark growled at Stiles. His eyes flashed blue, the growl became more animalistic because of the fangs, and when he lunged at Stiles, it was with claws.
"Get away from her!" Mark slashed his claws across Stiles' bare chest and sent him flying.
Stiles landed in the water with a scream. He clutched his chest, blood running down his front from deep gashes, while Mark stood protectively between him and Nancy.
Nothing of this was helping Nancy who most likely still wasn't breathing on her own.
"Hey!" John yelled but Mark's focus was on Stiles. He was protecting a pack member from an enemy and not thinking rationally. At least that was the explanation John came up with in the split second he allowed himself to analyze the situation while he picked up a branch as thick as his arm.
He didn't hesitate when he brought it down on the back of Mark's head.
Mark went down in a roar but he wasn't knocked out. On his knees, he was holding his head but John didn't have time for this, he dropped the branch and fell to his knees next to the still unconscious girl.
She wasn't breathing.
"Snap out of it!" He yelled at Mark before he gave Nancy a breath. He expected the werewolf to lash out at him next but at the moment all that mattered was to keep this girl alive. They could deal with the rest later.
To his surprise, Mark did snap out of it.
"She has a heartbeat," Mark said with an almost human voice. "Keep going, I'm calling an ambulance."
Mark radioed it in and then he was just hovering over John who kept breathing into Nancy's mouth. John didn't allow himself to think about anything else than the steady rhythm of breaths. It felt like he'd been doing this for hours when finally Nancy took a breath on her own. She coughed weakly and John hurried to roll her to her side. She coughed up water and she was breathing shallowly but she was breathing.
John sat back on his heels and wiped his mouth, still watching her closely but it looked like she was back with them.
"Nancy?" Mark cradled her head in his hands.
"Hey," he said softly when she blinked at him. "Stay awake, help is on the way."
"Is she one of yours?" John asked but it was obvious that Mark knew her personally, they were pack.
"My cousin's daughter," Mark confirmed. "But she's not … you know … she could have died."
"She's okay now," John felt the need to say. She was not all the way there and her breathing sounded labored and wet but she was breathing.
"Stiles?" Only now John dared to take his eyes off the teenager, she had to be twelve or thirteen at most, to check on Stiles.
"Been better," Stiles grunted. He was still sitting up to the navel in the water, his chest shredded. John couldn't make out what was beneath the waterline but the blood clouding the water told him that this was bad.
"An ambulance is coming," John said and crawled over to him to have a real look at his injuries. "I'm not a doctor but I think you need stitches." He tried to joke but it came out flat.
"No, I'm going under before they arrive." Stiles looked over John's shoulder to where Mark was taking care of Nancy. If looks could murder, Mark would be done for.
"You sure?" John eyed what was not covered by Stiles' hand. It looked as if Stiles was physically holding his flesh together. "This looks bad."
"It is," Stiles confirmed in a cold voice, eyes still fixed on the werewolf behind John. "I should go before I pass out."
With the amount of blood he was losing, he didn't have much time. John felt sick in the stomach but there was nothing he could do.
"Can you tell me what happened?" John asked when suddenly something broke the surface behind Stiles. Derek's head and shoulders emerged out of the water but he was far enough out to not get noticed right away. John only caught him because he happened to look in that direction but Mark behind him was too focused on Nancy to notice the Nöck in the water.
Derek silently watched them for a long moment before he disappeared under the surface again. Which was probably for the better, John didn't want to find out how Mark would react to him.
"She went into the water," Stiles answered his question with a delay. He needed his free hand to brace himself otherwise he would just fall sideways into the water. "I was down deep so I didn't notice. Only when Derek suddenly left. I could tell. He feels different when he goes after somebody."
Stiles paused to catch his breath. All color had left his face and the blood on his chest stood in stark contrast to his pale skin.
"Dunno why she went into the water." The words came out slurred now and Stiles seemed to have problems focusing. "Not suicidal, I wouldn't have been able to get her out of Derek's grip if she was suicidal. Got her out of the water but she wasn't breathing. You know the rest."
With his bloody hand, he waved at the situation in general and promptly lost balance. Stiles fell backward into the water and didn't even try to come up again.
"Stiles!" John hurried to haul him back upright, he didn't want him to drown right in front of him. Which was ridiculous. Stiles couldn't drown. His solution to a serious injury was to go into the lake.
"Stiles." Suddenly Derek came out of the water just a few feet behind Stiles. "Come."
"I would love to but I think I need a little help here," Stiles said, now on his side, braced on one elbow with only his head and shoulder out of the water but apparently that was not deep enough for him to go under.
"You!" Suddenly Mark leaped over Stiles and landed in the water between him and Derek. He fell into a fighting stance, claws out, and even if John only saw his back, he knew that he was wolfed out again.
The water reached Mark's knees. John prayed that it was not deep enough to trigger Derek's instincts.
Derek just stood there, not in the slightest intimidated but the werewolf right in his face.
"I need to get to Stiles," Derek said calmly while his eyes misted over. With eery blue eyes, he looked at Mark.
"Mark!" John grabbed his partner by the shoulder and tried to drag him out of the water but he stood like a brick wall.
The werewolf didn't budge. He growled deep in his throat and under his hand, John felt the muscles working, Mark was ready to lunch at Derek.
For a second, John was tempted to just let it happen. He wanted to see how a fight between these two would turn out but he knew that that was a very bad idea.
"Mark!" John stepped around him to get between them. Which was most likely the stupidest thing he'd ever done. The water was above his knees now, John was very aware of that fact and he didn't like that he had to almost turn his back on Derek to face Mark. At least Derek just stood there and wasn't doing anything.
"Mark," John tried again. He hadn't seen a werewolf like this up close before. Mark did look like something out of a horror movie. His face was not human at all and his electric blue eyes went past him, not acknowledging him in the slightest.
"I'm going to hit you again." John threatened but the branch was at the shore and John knew that he didn't have time to get it. So he just grabbed Mark by the shoulders and tried to shake some sense into him. With no success. Mark just growled and swatted him away like an annoying fly. John stumbled backward but kept his balance. He did almost step on Stiles, though.
Stiles did the only thing that had a chance to defuse the situation. He crawled into the lake. Painfully slow and barely conscious but he was dragging himself towards Derek. Sometimes the water already closed over his head for a second.
"Get his stupid ass back on dry land," Stiles said and the next time his head dropped below the surface, he didn't come back up.
John hurried over to him but Stiles was gone. Traces of blood were floating in the water but they got washed away within seconds. When John looked up again, Derek was gone as well.
"We need to get out of the water." John waded over to Mark and this time the werewolf did let him drag him back to the shore. "Nancy needs you."
That did the trick. Mark shook his head and his face melted back to human.
"Nancy." With that, he turned on his heel and hurried over to the girl.