"Stiles?"

"Hm?"

"You want to tell me what you're doing on my computer?"

Stiles didn't even bother to look up from the computer, chin in one hand as the other mindlessly scrolled down the webpage, "There are a lot of weird ass things to be afraid of, you know that?"

Scott raised an eyebrow, "I imagine so, but I'm not seeing how that answers the question on what you're doing on my computer, looking up-" He paused, looked at the text on the screen, ""the fear of the outline of one's penis being visible through clothing.""

"Oh come on, every guy has medectophobia to some degree." Stiles huffed, scrolling down the screen more, "Some of these phobias make sense: like pnigophobia, the fear of choking or being smothered. I'd be scared of that too. But then you get some weird ones, like protophobia, the fear of rectal disease, or just straight up polyphobia, fearing many things. At that point, you're just straight up Chuckie Finster and you can't even leave the house because you're so scared, which is apparently agoraphobia…"

Taking a deep breath, Scott ran a hand through his hair, "I know there's a point to this Stiles."

Stiles pursed his lips, staring at the screen for a few seconds longer, "You know what weird phobia I haven't found yet? The fear of black cars."

Scott blinked, "Like a hearse? Because that makes sense, hearses are creepy."

"Agreed, and there's no word for that fear either, oddly." Stiles shook his head, "But no, I just mean black cars in general."

The two sat in silence as Stiles continued to scroll through the phobia database. Finally, Scott released a defeated sigh, "Alright, I'll bite-"

"Please don't, I like being human."

"-shut up." Scott rolled his eyes, sitting on his bed, "So what has you scared of black cars?"

Stiles shook his head, "Not me. Derek."

Mention of Derek had the Beta's attention piqued, "Derek?"

"Uh, yeah. Didn't stutter there."

Scott shook his head, "No way man. Of all the things Derek might be afraid of, I think black cars would be low on the list."

"Well you're not the one spending quality time with him." Stiles stuck out his tongue, "Seriously though, every time a black car passes by him he freezes for like half a second. And then he has to watch it drive by. Every single time."

"And you know this…because you're staring at him?"

Stiles didn't answer, but then again, Scott could take the silence as an admission of guilt. "Seriously Stiles?"

"Four words, Scott: "Username: Allison, Password: Allison.""

"Point taken." Scott shook his head. Being a werewolf was hard enough sometimes, but leave it to Stiles to make it weirder by becoming…whatever it was he and Derek had going on. Just because Stiles felt like the den mother to the teenage werewolves didn't mean he had to take it so literally. "So why are you going to confront Mr. Emotionally Constipated on his black-car-phobia?"

"Because that's what good mates do: uncover your fears and discover the tragic backstory behind it."

"Might I remind you that the last tragic Hale family backstory we dealt with nearly got us all killed?"

"Shut up, or I won't help you with the homework I know you forgot to do."

Derek had never intended to take a mate, and he had certainly hadn't expected his wolf to decide that Stiles Stilinski would be the best Alpha Mate for his budding pack. Honestly, the first few times Derek had come across the boy, it had been all too tempting to tear his throat out and be done with it.

But no matter how high his annoyance with the loudmouth boy had been, there had always been that quiet, but solemn warning that constantly lurked in the back of his mind. The Winchesters will always avenge human deaths. And even if Derek hadn't dwelled on the old Winchester stories in years, it was hard to shake the lessons taught from those horror tales.

In the end, Derek's annoyance with Stiles had waned, and his wolf instead took noticed in Stiles's devotion to the pack, even though he himself had not taken the bite. True, that devotion had stemmed from his friendship with McCall, but that made no difference to Derek's wolf. If Derek was absolutely honest with himself, Stiles reminded him (if only slightly) of his own father.

A human Alpha Mate surrounded by a family of werewolves, and often the one who had to keep a level head when tensions ran high, Grant Hale had always been one to take care of the pack. Even when Derek and his sisters got into trouble, he was always there to smooth things over with a kind smile and a few wise words. And while true, Stiles tended to handle things with spastic energy and no little dose of sarcasm, he fill the same role Derek's father had.

Derek snorted, shaking his head to clear any nostalgic thoughts from his mind. No sense dwelling on the past, when the present had to be dealt with. Specifically, trying to rebuild the Hale family home. But by the way the bureaucrats at City Hall were acting, one would think they would rather have a burned out hull of a building standing as a reminder of where an entire family had lost their lives, instead of simply approving Derek's building requests and allowing him the proper permits. It took all of the Alpha's self-control to not growl in annoyance (and the only reason he stopped himself was because he was aware of how close he would be to wolfing out).

Self-control or no, Derek might have shut the door to City Hall a bit more forcefully than necessary, though the satisfaction of slamming a swinging door was not as great as he would have liked. "Damn lawyers…"

As he walked down the sidewalk to where his Camaro was parked, his eyes would flick to the road every so often, checking the movements in the car. Derek wasn't sure when the habit started (probably after Peter had first told the story of the Black Car), but now Derek was always on the lookout for unfamiliar black cars. It didn't matter what size, shape, or year, if it was black, Derek had to check and count the passengers.

One- a guy who worked at the auto shop.

Four- a soccer mom with one, two, three kids in the back seat.

One- an off duty cop.

It was almost soothing when Derek would come up with too few, too many, or simply not the right passengers in the car. It reminded him that he was still safe.

Two- Chris Argent dropping off his daughter at the high school.

It was strange, but despite everything Kate and Gerard Argent had done to Derek in the past, Derek was still grateful for the Argent family presence. Because while Derek didn't know a whole lot about Hunter culture (other than the "Code" and the fact that Hunters liked to kill werewolves), he was pretty sure that Hunters would respect the territory of other Hunters.

So while Derek was on shaky terms with Chris Argent, he was still confident that the man wouldn't snap and kill them all. And if Beacon Hill was under the protection of a Hunter (even one who was swearing off the lifestyle), then other Hunters wouldn't waste their time.

But still, Derek kept watching black cars.

The wheels of the blue Grand Cherokee creaked slightly as the car made its way into the parking lot, almost sighing in relief as it found a parking stall and the engine cut off.

"I know how you feel…" The driver murmured, patting the dashboard, "That was a long drive…"

"You didn't have to drive it. I could have simply brought you here."

The driver brought his gaze to the rear view mirror, meeting the heavy stare of the passenger in the back seat. "Humans don't simply appear in one place or another, we have to find other means of getting around." He shook his head, "And I thought you didn't want to come."

A dark look crossed the older man's face, "I'm bound to you, remember? And I'm forced to aid you on this…quest of yours."

"Don't be such a drama queen." The young driver rolled his blue eyes, "We're cleaning up the mess that you started, so stop your bitching." With a sigh, he looked up at the building in front of him. "It's been a while since I was in high school…"

"And why are you wasting time at this…school, when we could be searching for—"

"Because unlike my brothers, I don't want to end up on the FBI's Most Wanted list." He smirked back at the rear view mirror, "No one will suspect a high school student of doing anything, and who knows? Maybe I can find out a lead, gossip can be helpful."

An irritated sigh came from the back seat, "I don't suppose I have much choice?"

"No. Now make yourself scarce, you're not supposed to be in my car, and I can't have people thinking I talk to myself on my first day."

Silence settled over the car, but the driver didn't have to check to know that his reluctant passenger had departed to…wherever he went. With one last sigh, the young man grabbed the backpack that was seated in the passenger's seat and got out of his car.

It was relatively easy to find the school's main office, which he was grateful for. The last thing he needed was to wander around like a lost freshman. And the lady at the front desk looked relatively helpful.

"Excuse me," He cleared his throat to catch the receptionist's attention, "Um, hi. I just got in to town, and my uncle said he enrolled me here…do you know if…?" He trailed off, hoping he wasn't laying on the innocent act too thick.

"If there's a New Student record of you?" The receptionist gave him an easy smile, no doubt to calm his non-existent nerves, "I'll check to see if we have your transfer files and your schedule here. What did you say your first name was again?"

"Adam."

So we have hunters again, even if it isn't the Winchesters we're used to. I couldn't help it, I love Adam too much and I feel like his character got dealt the short straw.