"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Derek grumbled as the three of them walked through the doors.

"Oh no, Derek Hale is shopping in a Target, call the cool police," Stiles scoffed, rolling his eyes as he walked over to grab a cart. Isaac trailed after him, which was becoming a theme. After their lunch the previous day, Isaac had gone wherever Stiles had. He didn't look outright scared of Derek anymore, but he was still timid. Stiles was safer in his eyes.

Whenever Isaac needed something, he went to Stiles, although he barely asked for anything. And when it was time for bed, it was Stiles who convinced him to get into the bed again, after one more trip to the bathroom. Stiles slept in a chair in the room and Derek slept on the floor in the hall. It wasn't the worst place he'd slept recently, but it still wasn't ideal. Hence the shopping trip.

It was mostly about getting things for Isaac, but Derek was going to grab a few things for himself as well. Stiles had somehow procured an outfit for Isaac to wear out, but he needed a lot more than that. Derek couldn't remember the kinds of things little kids needed, but that was what Stiles was there for.

"Let's just get this over with," Derek grunted, stalking off in the direction of the children's clothing section. Stiles followed, with Isaac holding onto the cart as they went along. Scott, the lucky bastard, had to go to work, so he wasn't being subjected to all this.

"These are nice," Stiles commented, picking up a t-shirt from a stack and holding it up to look at the design printed on the front. "Dinosaurs are pretty cool."

"Isaac, do you like dinosaurs?" Derek asked, trying to figure out if he knew any of Isaac's interests. Obviously they wouldn't be the same as this version, but Derek wasn't sure if he truly knew anything about his Beta. He knew about the bad stuff, but did he know any of the good stuff?

"Yes," Isaac mumbled, staring down at his feet.

"Well, then we're definitely getting this one. And this one with trains. And can't forget the one with a tiger," Stiles babbled, tossing everything into the cart. Derek assumed he knew the right size to get.

"That about it then?" Derek asked hopefully.

"Oh, that's cute," Stiles smirked, giving him a pitying look. "He needs pants, socks, pajamas, underwear, a booster seat, shoes, soap-"

"Soap? You don't have soap?"

"Isaac needs gentle soap. And the shampoo that won't burn his eyes. Also pillows and blankets and toothpaste and-"

"I got it. We need one of everything they sell in this store," Derek grumbled, glad he had a credit card with a high limit.

"More than one, in some instances. You may as well accept your fate."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"I'll admit, seeing you suffer does bring me a bit of joy."

"Nice," Derek scoffed.

"Don't act like you don't deserve it," Stiles laughed, holding his hand out for Isaac. "Come on, let's go try on some shoes." Derek felt like a hostage as he followed them around through the different departments. He did not remember needing this much stuff when he was a kid. But Stiles was insistent that everything was necessary, even though they had no idea how long Isaac was going to be stuck this way. If they were lucky, they wouldn't have the time to use half of this stuff.

"Let's go to bedding next," Stiles directed, leading Derek with Isaac by his side. They had to walk past the toy section to get there and Derek noticed Isaac glancing longingly at the displays, before quickly looking at the floor again. Stiles hadn't mentioned toys on his list, but maybe grabbing a couple wouldn't be the worst idea. It would be a good way to keep Isaac occupied so they wouldn't have to entertain him constantly.

"Uh, what about this one?" Derek asked, grabbing a pillow off an endcap.

"Dude, that thing's bigger than Isaac."

"So?" Derek scoffed, shoving it into the cart. They were going to need more than one.

"Whatever. I'm gonna go figure out the car seat situation," Stiles said, making his way out of the aisle they were in. Isaac started to follow like usual, but Stiles stopped him gently. "Why don't you stay with Derek for a few minutes?"

"What?" Derek whispered, glaring at Stiles. It was definitely a glare, not panic.

"It'll be fine. You two can walk around electronics or something while I'm gone. It shouldn't take long," Stiles replied, patting Isaac's head before he left them alone. Derek looked around, wondering what the hell he was supposed to do now. Maybe he could take Isaac to the attached Starbucks and ply him with cookies while they waited. But then he'd have to deal with a kid who was hyped up on sugar. If it was even possible to hype Isaac up.

"Electronics, here we come," Derek muttered, gesturing for Isaac to follow him. They walked to the other end of the store and Derek was starting to wonder how big this place actually was. It seemed to never end. If he never came back here, it would be too soon.

They stared at the giant television sets and Derek briefly glanced at the movies, but he didn't have much interest in them. The places he lived didn't have TVs, so he wasn't really up to date on anything current. And he definitely didn't know anything about children's entertainment. Would it freak Isaac out to see the newer stuff, when he was used to stuff that was a bit less advanced? He knew it was only a ten year difference, but a lot could change in that time.

They walked through the video games and books, with Isaac staying as silent as ever. Was it weird that Derek was starting to miss Isaac's smart mouth a little bit? It had been annoying at first, when he and Erica would egg each other on. And he got quieter when they disappeared, but still threw out a little sass here and there. Derek wasn't expecting a little kid to roll his eyes and tell him to shut up, but anything was better than nothing.

He ended up in the outdoor section before he realized where he was walking and paused when he saw the shovels. Those might come in handy when he found the witch and killed her. Burying a body was a lot easier when you had the right tools. It was sad that he had experience either way. There were also some lawn games nearby, so he picked one up to consider it.

"Hey Isaac, does this look like fun?" Derek asked, looking down at his side to get Isaac's most likely nonverbal answer. But Isaac wasn't there. Derek whipped his head around to his other side, but Isaac wasn't there either. He was gone. "Isaac!"

Derek dropped the box in his hand, feeling dread flood his veins. How had he lost Isaac? He could've sworn he was right by his side just a second ago. Had someone taken him? Had the witch come back to mess with them?

Derek started to feel a little lightheaded at all the possible scenarios. If someone found Isaac and started asking questions, there was no telling what he would say. The truth was unbelievable, but might raise suspicion, especially if Isaac pointed them toward the Stilinski house or the vet's office. Unless that was already a moot point and Isaac's dead body was tossed in a dumpster.

Derek abandoned the cart and started racing around the store, looking down every aisle he passed. Did he stop an employee or something? Yell for Stiles to help him? This was supposed to be a quick, dumb shopping trip and now Derek had screwed it up completely.

He almost blacked out in relief when he ran by the book aisle and saw the familiar puff of curly hair. Derek had to rest his hand on a nearby pole for a second before he could move again. If he'd had more than coffee that morning, it probably would've been all over the floor.

"Isaac?" Derek said softly. The boy whipped around in surprise, before his face completely crumpled.

"I'm sorry!" Isaac wailed, shaking as he started crying uncontrollably. "I-I was looking at a book and then you were gone and I got scared. I didn't mean to!" Derek wasn't sure what came over him, but he rushed forward and stooped down, wrapping Isaac up into a hug. Isaac melted against him, tucking his face into his neck and quickly dampening Derek's collar.

"Hey, no. It's okay. It was my fault," Derek insisted, rubbing his back as the boy hiccuped sobs. "I'm sorry I didn't notice you weren't with me. I should've been paying closer attention."

"I'm n-not in trouble?" Isaac asked hesitantly between gasps.

"Of course not. I made a mistake, not you," Derek assured him, blowing out a few calming breaths. It was only a lifetime of control that kept his wolf from bursting out in these last few minutes.

He didn't think he was capable of feeling that scared anymore, since he'd already lost his whole family. Derek had convinced himself that his pack was important, but not enough that he wouldn't be able to separate from them if necessary. Jackson leaving without Derek giving it a second thought was supposed to be proof of that. But there were some nights that he sat awake thinking about Erica and Boyd. And he'd become pretty invested in keeping Isaac alive, since he'd accidentally become his guardian. Derek wasn't the heartless guy that he'd been presenting to everyone and that was starting to freak him out.

"Um, what's going on?" Stiles asked a few minutes later, pausing at the end of the aisle when he saw them in their prolonged embrace. Isaac lifted his head from where he'd kept it tucked, wiping his nose on Derek's shirt along the way. He didn't let it bother him. "Is everything okay?"

"It's fine," Derek forced out, clearing his throat.

"Where's the cart?"

"Stiles," Derek sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Okay," Stiles replied, dragging out the word. "I'm glad they let me leave the seat in customer service, so I don't have to lug the thing around. But you know this means we have to start over again, right?"

"I know where our cart is, so shut up," Derek huffed, finally standing back up. He felt another pang of unease in his gut at seeing Isaac away from him, even though it was less than a foot, so he stooped back down and picked him up, propping him on his hip. Stiles was staring at him, trying not to smirk, but Derek glared until his face went blank. "Grab those books."

"Which books?" Stiles asked.

"All of them," Derek shrugged, walking out of the aisle and back toward where he left the cart. He heard Stiles muttering under his breath as he gathered up the books, but Derek just grinned. This is what they were here for, right? Well, Derek was shopping.

The cart was right where he left it, so he set Isaac in the basket seat and started walking back to where they left Stiles. He was staggering down the aisle with his arms overloaded with books, dumping them in the cart gratefully as soon as he had the chance.

"Have any other requests?" Stiles scoffed.

"Now to the toy section."

"Toys?"

"Toys."

"Alright, let's get some toys," Stiles chuckled, waving at him to lead the way. "You better believe I'm getting the whole story later." Derek didn't reply to that, walking to the annoyingly colorful section. Isaac was still letting out the occasional sniffle, but his eyes perked up when he saw all the games surrounding them.

"See anything you like?" Derek asked, paying attention to where Isaac was looking.

"I can get one?" Isaac asked in wonder, not fully believing him.

"Whatever you want," Derek confirmed, although he might amend that if Isaac picked out something too loud. Isaac's eyes kept flicking toward the Lego sets, but he still didn't say anything. Derek grabbed a few and tossed them in the cart. Isaac's eyes widened like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

They kept on like that, with Derek picking up anything he noticed Isaac looking at more than once. He had action figures, board games, toy cars and more by the time they reached the end. Stiles walked off to get something he insisted Isaac needed while Derek was reaching up to grab a bubble machine off a high shelf.

"Well, aren't you two the cutest," an older woman cooed as she walked up to them. Derek stiffened, abandoning the item he was about to get. He moved so he was solidly in front of Isaac, trying to keep the annoyed look off of his face.

"Thank you," Derek forced out, hoping the woman would take the hint and keep on going. She didn't.

"And look at those curls," she sighed, reaching her hand out to touch them. Derek saw Isaac cringing back and that was all the signal he needed. He blocked Isaac with his shoulder, plastering the fakest smile on his face he could muster.

"If you want to keep that hand, I'd suggest you keep it to yourself," Derek said, raising his eyebrows a bit at the woman's shocked face. She snatched her hand back and hurried down the aisle, passing by Stiles who was staring and trying not to laugh.

"Dude. Threatening little old ladies now?" Stiles asked, walking over to them with his hands tucked behind his back.

"She had it coming," Derek shrugged, eyeing Stiles suspiciously. "What are you hiding?"

"When I saw it, I knew we had to get it," Stiles grinned, pulling a stuffed wolf from behind his back. He handed it to Isaac, who immediately hugged it to his chest.

"Cute," Derek scoffed.

"I thought so too," Stiles agreed. "Now, how about we get out of here before security kicks us out?"

"If I'd known that was all it took to cut this trip short, I would've done it a lot sooner," Derek smirked, grabbing the bubble machine as they finally made their way to the checkstands. This experience hadn't exactly gone to plan, but at least they were ending it in one piece. They hopefully wouldn't have to go anywhere else with Isaac like this, but he was going to keep a much better eye on him either way. Derek never again wanted to feel what he did when he thought Isaac was gone. And when he finally got his whole pack back, he was determined to be a better Alpha.