John had to admit that it was tactic on his side, at least partly, but when Agnes asked him what had happened out at the lake, he started with that he'd been worried about Stiles. That after his talk with Mark Stiles hadn't come up and that John had wanted to check on him.

John told Agnes what had happened without leaving out anything, he even told her that he'd hit Mark over the head with a branch. Agnes let him talk without interrupting, she just asked a question here and there to clarify a point.

"What a clusterfuck." Agnes slumped against the back of the bench.

John hmmed to that and took a sip from his by now lukewarm coffee.

"Is Stiles going to be okay?"

"He thinks so," John answered. "I hope he's right. It looked … it looked pretty bad." John swallowed around the lump in his throat.

"I can't believe it." There was barely concealed anger in her voice. "We talked about truce, about trusting each other and the very next day he tries to murder one of us."

It took John a second to realize that she was talking about Derek.

"He wasn't out, looking for a victim," John reminded her, maybe a bit harshly but she hadn't seen Stiles. "Nancy came out there, she went into the water. Something you promised to prevent."

"Greg did get a reminder out yesterday," she defended herself. "He enforced the we don't go there and he backed it up with what happened to those teenagers."

"That worked out well," John couldn't help but say. How old was Nancy? Twelve? Thirteen? "Kids take something like that as a challenge."

"I have two kids, believe me, I know." She was still vibrating with anger but John wasn't so sure any longer if it was directed at Derek.

"I've met Peter." He tried to lighten the mood. "I think you know way too well about that concept."

"You have no idea." She chuckled. "You think she was out there on a dare?"

"We'll have to ask her but it's the likeliest explanation," John agreed. "Mark says that there have been others with her. They took off before we arrived."

"I want to hear what she has to say." Agnes stood and gestured for John to follow her. "And I'm going to have a word with Mark, losing control like this is not acceptable."

"What are you going to do with him?" Suddenly John had an uneasy feeling in his stomach. Had he made a huge mistake by telling her about that?

"Relax, we're not animals." Agnes picked up on how uncomfortable he was. "A stern talking-to and maybe some control exercises should do."

They found Mark alone in the waiting room. Nancy had a room by now and her parents were with her.

Just like the others, Agnes went straight for a fierce hug. It seemed to be a pack thing. John stood back while she and Mark hugged it out.

"John told me what happened but I'd like to hear your version as well," Agnes said once she was up to date with Nancy. Her doctor wanted to keep her overnight just to make sure but she should be good to go in the morning.

John left them to that and went in search for that helpful nurse to get some official information. They would need Nancy's statement for their report as well but that had time. What he really wanted to know were the names of Nancy's friends who'd sent her into the water on a dare and had taken off the second she was in trouble.

By the time John came back to the waiting area, Mark was done with his report and now he just looked miserable. And John doubted that he'd even gotten his stern talking-to yet.

"We should see if Nancy is up for her statement," John said to not let Mark dwell in this for too long.

This was official police business so Agnes had no reason to tag along and she didn't even try. John didn't doubt that Mark would tell her everything later, though.

Nancy's parents were at her side when they came into the room and they were watching John like a hawk. Mark introduced him properly but John stayed back and let Mark do most of the talking. Since Nancy knew him, she was more likely to open up to him.

The girl was still in shock, looking small and too pale in the big hospital bed. She looked up at Mark with big eyes.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Mark tried gently and sat down in a chair at the side of the bed to not loom over her.

Nancy glanced over to her parents before she shrank deeper into the pillow.

"We found you at the lake." Mark tried to jog her memory. "Do you remember how you got there?"

Another glance at her parents.

"Maybe we should do this tomorrow." Her mother stepped in. "She's not up for this yet."

"Something dragged me under," Nancy suddenly spoke in a low voice. "I tried to come up again but I couldn't. I tried but I couldn't." Her voice broke with tears.

"That's why you shouldn't swim in that lake," her father said maybe louder than intended. "You know that there's an undercurrent that drags you under."

John got that he was upset, he'd almost lost his child today, but all his harsh tone did was to let Nancy curl into herself with a whimper.

"Shh, it's okay." Her mother was at her side in an instant, stroking her hair and talking to her in a low voice. "We're not mad at you, we're just glad that you're okay."

Nancy sniffed and took the tissue her mother offered her.

"Do you remember how you got out of the water?" Mark asked.

John held his breath for that answer. They had dismissed Derek for an undercurrent but everybody in Beacon Hills knew about that. If she remembered Stiles they had some explaining to do.

Lucky them, Nancy shook her head.

"I remember you," she said to Mark, and then she pointed at John. "And you, you were there too."

John shifted uncomfortably under the sudden attention, he'd only done his job. At least the moment was over quickly when Mark asked who had been with her.

It took a bit of coaxing but in the end, Nancy admitted that after their parents had warned them about the lake, Nancy and three of her friends had decided to see for themselves what the fuss was about. They knew about the recent drownings which made them even more curious. At the lake, things had led to things and it ended with Nancy going into the water to prove that she wasn't afraid. She'd been supposed to swim out a little distance and return to her friends. She hadn't made it back.

John and Mark thanked her and her parents and left the room with three names.

"What do you think?" Mark tapped his notepad before he put it in his pocket. "Want to make some kids very uncomfortable?"

"Absolutely." John nodded grimly. It had been a stupid dare, he got that. Kids tend to do stupid things like that. What he was mad about was that her friends had taken off, leaving her to die.

Making those kids uncomfortable wasn't as satisfying as John had imagined it.

Her friends had been sure that Nancy was dead so it came as a relief that she was alive and would make a full recovery. There were a lot of tears and shocked parents who couldn't believe that their little girl would do something like this. John and Mark let the respective parents figure out how to punish their kids before they headed back to the station for their report.

The whole thing had kept John busy over the day but when he stopped for groceries on his way home in the afternoon, he stocked up on alcohol as well. Today he needed it and he kept telling himself that he'd earned it.

When he put away the groceries he found the lunch he'd kept for Stiles yesterday. He doubted that he would show up today so John reheated it and ate it on the couch with the TV running. Today he could stand the silence even less than usual. He hadn't eaten much over the day so his body was demanding food but he was just shoveling it into his mouth without really tasting anything. He had two fingers of whiskey for dessert.

John zapped through the channels in the faint hope to find something that caught his interest but his mind was too loud for that. While he'd been busy with work it hadn't been a problem but now there was nothing to distract him. He couldn't stop thinking about Stiles. And Mark.

He'd been working with Mark all day as if nothing had happened but now he wasn't so sure any longer if he could go on like that. Mark had lost control. He'd injured an innocent person. Even if Stiles fully recovered from this, and John had his doubts about that no matter what Stiles said, it didn't change the fact that Stiles had been trying to save Nancy's life and Mark had almost killed him for that.

John poured himself another drink.

He was about to knock it back when he heard noises coming from the kitchen.

"Stiles?" John scrambled to his feet and almost ran into Derek in his haste to get to the kitchen.

"Derek? What are you doing here?" He tried to glance around him to see if Stiles was also there but it seemed like Derek was alone. "Where's Stiles? Is he okay?"

"Stiles is in the lake," Derek said. If he thought something about John's obvious worry for Stiles or about the drink John hadn't bothered to put down and which he was now trying to keep out of sight Derek didn't show it. He just stood there as if he wasn't sure what he was doing here either.

"He's worried about you," Derek said after a long moment.

"About me?" John hadn't expected that answer and suddenly the glass in his hand felt way too heavy. "I'm fine. He's the one who got shredded to pieces."

However, the fact alone that Stiles was able to worry about him told him that Stiles was fine. Would be fine. Hopefully.

"Sit," John ordered and gestured towards the couch.

Derek sat down in the same spot as the other day, at least he wouldn't ruin more of John's furniture. He'd covered the water-strain with a throw pillow but still. He probably should invest in some plastic chairs. Or in one of those ugly plastic covers for the couch.

"How is Stiles?" John repeated his question. "Why isn't he with you?"

"He can't come up just yet," Derek explained. "He needs time to heal and recover. If he came up now, he would be in pain."

John would have liked to see him with his own eyes but not if it caused him pain.

"But he's going to be okay?"

"Yes." Derek locked eyes with him as if he wanted to make sure that John understood that point. "He needs a day or two but he will be fine."

"Is he in pain?" John asked. He doubted that they had painkillers at the bottom of the lake.

"No. There is no pain with me," Derek said and John believed him. It was still a strange concept and John couldn't even start to imagine what it was like to be with Derek down there but he believed him when he said that Stiles was healing and wasn't hurting.

"He's worried about you," Derek repeated. "He was supposed to come by for dinner and he didn't. He's worried what you might do if he doesn't show up for another day or two."

John glanced at his drink on the table.

The update on Stiles helped, a lot, but he was not kidding himself, he would finish this drink and maybe a few more after that.

"That girl," Derek changed the topic. "Stiles says that she might have survived?"

Now it was Derek who was looking for reassurance.

"She's fine," John hurried to say. Had Derek been thinking that he'd killed her? "She's in the hospital for observation. She can go home tomorrow."

John had never seen much emotion on Derek but now he visibly relaxed.

"Thank you."

"Anytime." John leaned back in his seat. This had been one hell of a day. But then he remembered something. "Dean Winchester wanted to talk to you."