Chapter 2:

The trip back to the Hale house was silent.

Peter had borrowed the car from his sister, Talia, and was now driving the four back. Every couple of seconds, he would glance at Stiles, look confused, and then face the road again. They had just driven out of the housing areas of Beacon Hills and were following the wood surrounded road to the edge of town, so as to reach the Hale Residence, buried deep within the woods, when Stiles felt his patience fraying.

Peter glanced at Stiles again, and he snapped. "What, Peter!?" He angrily turned to face him from his place in the passenger seat. "Is there something on my face!? Just say so! Geez…" Stiles sighed, roughly drawing a hand over his face.

"Why do you smell like Derek?" Peter asked. "Who even are you? Why were at the school so late? And why did you have a jar of Mountain Ash? Are you a hunter?" a thump on the back of Peter's seat stopped his onslaught of questions. Stiles saw Derek giving his uncle a glare from his seat behind Peter.

Stiles took a loud breath in. "Let's see, I'm wearing one of Derek's shirts. My name is Stiles. Just because. It was in the bag. And no, I'm not a hunter." He replied.

"What else is in the bag?" Derek asked. "And why do you have one of my shirts? That's kinda creepy." He told him.

"Really?" Paige burst. "We're just ignoring the fact that, if it wasn't for Stiles, we'd most likely be dead?" She angrily looked between the two Hale's. "Stop interrogating him! If anything, you should be thanking him!"

Derek looked suitably chastised. "You're right, sorry." He told Paige, before turning to Stiles. "Thanks for helping, man. You were awesome." Derek said, a slight smile gracing his lips.

Stiles floundered a bit in the front seat. Shifting continuously to face forwards and then twisting to look back at Derek in amazement, before settling with controlling his gaping mouth enough to form some sort of reply. "Uh, yeah! No problem, you know? Just doing my thing~" He sang slightly. "Saving wolves in distress, and what not." He shrugged, smiling awkwardly.

Derek gave him another confused look. Stiles was beginning to miss Derek's 'you're pushing it' face. Much easier to handle than the looks of adorable confusion his younger self seems to favour.

As silence once again descended in the car, Stiles figured he'd better check what, exactly, Nortia had deemed he 'may need'. Pulling the bag from the floor between his feet, and up onto his lap with a slight huff of breath caught not only Derek and Peter's, but Paige's attention as well. Deciding to ignore the three for now, Stiles unzipped the bag and shifted the contents around more thoroughly, muttering aloud to himself as he did so. "Clothes, underwear, jacket, Mountain Ash… A book?" Stiles trailed off questioningly, before shrugging and stretching his neck in order to get a better look at the bag, despite the fact that it wouldn't improve his visuals any. "Toiletries, Oooh, flashlight!" Stiles grinned to himself as he pulled it out of the bag, testing the weight, and then putting it under his arm to hold onto. He reached a hand down to the bottom of the bag, grabbed a bottle which rattled as he pulled it up and paused. "Huh…" He grunted as he stared at the pill bottle in his hands.

"What is it?" Derek asked from behind. Stiles instantly spun to face Derek, noticing he had lifted up to try and see into the bag better. He slumped back sheepishly when he noticed Stiles looking.

"Adderall." Stiles said. "It's my medication." He further explained when Derek's face didn't show any understanding. "It helps me to concentrate."

"Oh." Derek raised his chin a little, more an aborted nod than anything.

Stiles turned back to the bag. "Aww…" Stiles cooed, a touched look covering is features. "She even put the picture of the Stilinski-McCall picnic in. How sweet." He smiled to himself before going back to shifting through. "Wallet, with cash and ID, and~" Stiles drew out as he pulled the last item up. "A box? With Derek's tattoo on it." Stiles tilted his head momentarily, before shrugging it off.

"That's a triskelia." Peter said from beside him.

Stiles looked up. "I know." Peter's jaw and hands tightened a minuscule amount before relaxing in a single flutter of motion. Stiles felt a slight smugness at getting under Peter's skin so quickly. With an agitated sigh, which Stiles relished, Peter turned into the Hale drive, winding up the path until the tall building came into view, looking better than ever. Stiles had just finished re-packing his bag when he noticed that waiting on the porch of the house were two women, both of which were brunette, stern looking and oozing authority.

"Is that," Stiles paused before glancing at Derek. "Talia and Laura?" He finished his question with a quick hand flick. Derek opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted.

"Damn…" Peter sighed. "We're in so much trouble."

"Learn to face the consequences." Stiles told them as he opened the car door and climbed out. The burning on his back let him know that Peter was glaring at him.

As everyone made their way to Talia and Laura, Talia straightened up and pointed into the house. "My office. Now!" She ordered. Peter, Derek and Stiles ducked their heads submissively, whilst Paige awkwardly nodded her consent. Stiles got a curious look from the Hale women as the four of them trailed pass.

Paige and Stiles followed the Hale boys as the Hale women pulled up the rear.

"So," Talia started as Laura closed the door. "What do you have to say for yourselves?" She demanded as she walked around the teens and Peter, making her way to the other side of the desk.

"I tried to talk him out of it, Talia." Peter started, earning an angry and confused look from Derek. "But he was adamant in having Paige turned."

Derek cut him off before he could continue. "What!?" He demanded, grabbing Peter's arm and turning him round. "It was your idea! You kept saying it was the only way I could stay with her!"

"Don't you think we should tell Mrs. Hale what actually happened first? Guys?" Stiles questioned, looking at the two male Hale's imploringly.

"Talia is fine." She informed them, gazing at both the humans in the room. "And I agree." She finished staring at Peter and Derek. "Explain to me, exactly what happened tonight."

When both boys opened their mouths at the same time, Stiles butted in. "Paige should explain!" He rushed out. Shifting uncomfortably at the combined weight off all the Hales' stares, he explained. "She's the one that everything happened to, right? So… She'd be the best person to explain…"

Talia nodded before looking to Paige. "Do you feel comfortable enough to explain tonight's events?" Even though it was a question, Stiles could tell there was also an order behind it.

Paige nodded briefly. "Mm, yeah." She started. "I can, I can do that." She assured. Talia inclined her head in order to show Paige she had her attention. "I got a note from Derek, saying to meet him at the school, and when I got there, I couldn't find him." She pursed her lips slightly, glancing at Derek from the corner of her eye. "I heard something from down the corridor, so I called out, but… it wasn't Derek. It was some huge guy with seriously bad facial hair," Stiles stifled his snort. "Huge teeth and, like, claws? His eyes were red, I think?" Paige thought for a moment. "Yeah, definitely red." She nodded. "And I turned to run." Paige tilted her head down slightly, looking up through her lashes. "As I was turning the corner, I knocked" Here she gestured to Stiles. "Stiles over, and then we were running together." Paige paused for a minute before turning to look at Stiles. "You know, it's funny. You yelled at me for being out, and you seemed to know about that guy. You called him Ennis, right?" Talia straightened up as she heard this. Stiles nodded. "And you said you were 'saving my ass' like you do for Derek."

Stiles swayed his head slightly from side to side. "Yeah~, in hindsight, that was not the best thing to say, considering."

"What's that even mean?" Derek asked. "And you're wearing a shirt that smells like me, but that's way too big to be mine."

Stiles floundered around for a bit. "Well…" He started before derailing into a mumbled mess of words and sounds.

"Enough." Talia stated. "We'll get back to that after. Continue explaining, Paige." She gestured towards the teenage girl, who nodded and did as she was told.

"Stiles told me to shout out for Derek, really loud and as if I'm in pain. When I tried to say it'd put Derek in danger, Stiles said Derek had a better chance than either of us did to beat him and that he'd be alright." Paige looked at Derek briefly. "So… I did. A little while later, I tripped, causing the both of us to fall and the guy," She looked at Stiles and bobbed her head. "Ennis, grabbed my ankle and pulled me back, but Stiles pulled me to him when Ennis let go to grab my arm. Derek came in as soon as Stiles had tried to cover me. I'm not completely sure what happened, but Derek got thrown into the lockers, Stiles yelled something to Peter and insulted Ennis and then pushed me towards where Peter was hiding. I didn't see what happened next, cause Peter took me outside."

Derek went to speak and explain what happened, but Talia cut him off. "Stiles." Her voice commanded.

"Yeah." Stiles' head jerked towards her.

"What happened next?"

"Ahh~, I hit Ennis with my bag, then Ennis took a swing at me," He gestured to his face. "That's where this beauty comes in." He explained. "I fell back, Derek jumped him, I grabbed a jar of Mountain Ash from my bag, told Derek to move, and trapped Ennis." Stiles shrugged. "He's… most likely, still there…" He trailed off with an awkward smile.

"We'll deal with everything one at a time." Talia told him. "Who came up with the idea to ask Ennis to bite Paige?" Talia raised her hand to silence the two betas. "Stiles. You seem to know things you shouldn't. Who do you think it was?"

There was no hesitation from Stiles when he answered. "Peter."

"Oh, come on!" Peter exclaimed. "We don't even know this guy, and he could be a hunter!" He was silenced by a glare from Talia.

When Talia turned her gaze to Stiles, he could have sworn they were piercing through him, reading his very soul. "Why do you believe it was Peter, and not Derek, who came up with the plan?"

Stiles gave her a look of disbelief. "You're joking, right?" At Talia's unimpressed look, he waved an arm between the two betas. "Compare them! Peter, the conniving, sadistic bastard, who likes to mess with people for entertainment, or Derek, the innocent, rough around the edges guy that just wants everyone he cares about to be safe and together." Stiles looked at Talia. "Really, who do you think is more likely to come up with this," He looked to Peter for emphasis on his point. "Terrible plan?" He paused before adding. "Derek also has terrible plans, but they're more stupid than terrible, you know?"

"Hey!" Derek protested quietly.

Stiles ignored his offended look and continued to look at Talia. The Alpha stared back, waiting for him to finish. Which he did. "Besides, neither Derek nor Ennis recognised the other, but Ennis did react when I called out to Peter. Which means Derek didn't even have a part in this other than asking Paige to meet him at the school, which could've also been Peter, had Derek not actually been there." Stiles gave an overly dramatic bow, whilst saying; "And with that, I rest my case."

Straightening up again, Stiles noticed that Talia was nodding. Turning to Peter, she asked "Anything to say in your defense?"

Peter just grunted in annoyance. "I was only helping Derek out. Is that really so wrong of me?"

"Are you listening to his heart? Can you hear his lie?" Stiles asked rapidly. "He's obviously lying. If he's a good enough liar to not be noticed, ask Derek. He's a seriously bad liar. He can't even lie to me." Stiles pushed.

Talia looked at him in amusement. One eyebrow raised and a faint smile on her lips. "I am aware of that, Stiles."

"Oh. Oh, okay. I'll butt out now." Stiles promised, hands raised and gave an awkward nod. "But seriously, Derek didn't do it. Kay I'm done now." Stiles backed up, coming to a stop next to Laura to show just how finished he was.

"Derek?" Talia asked.

"Peter came up with the idea and suggested we do it. He kept saying it was the only way I could be with Paige."

"He's telling the truth Peter." Talia turned to her younger brother, disappointment thick in her gaze, as she took in his defensive body language. Letting out a sigh, she turned to face the two humans in the room, focusing on Paige. "You'll need to be informed as to what we are, and sworn to secrecy." She paused to look at Stiles. "You already seem to know. I'll be talking to you in a moment." Stiles gulped, nervousness radiating from his form, unsure of what to say to explain everything. "Laura," Talia called. "Take Derek and Paige into the side room," Talia waved a hand towards the door at the side of the room, which Stiles had not previously noticed was there, due to the large bookcase blocking it from view. "Explain everything to Paige."

Laura nodded and stepped forward, walking up next to Paige and her younger brother. "Come on, you two. Let's go." With that, the alpha-to-be led the couple into the other room and closed the door.

"Peter." Talia spoke. "Go to your room for now. I'll give you your punishment later. Go." At his Alpha's command, Peter left the room with a disgruntled look.

Oh, crap. Stiles thought as he looked around the room. I'm alone!

"Stiles. Calm down." Talia told him gently. "You're not in danger. I just want to talk."