What do I want, Peter wondered at Stiles' question. He'd thought about that question for hours and he still wasn't sure.
"I want Isaac out of the line of fire," Peter answered after a long moment. At Stiles' questioning look, he added: "Deucalion is targeting him now to get to me."
"What the fuck, man?" Stiles slumped into the chair, that was probably not the answer he'd expected.
"The only reason I didn't leave New York days ago is Derek." Peter knew that he had to be honest here. "I don't need New York, my focus is on the west coast and Europe, I only came here to see Derek. See if we could reconnect. Didn't expect him to welcome me with open arms." Peter couldn't help a smile. "And you. Absolutely did not expect you."
"I have that effect." Stiles flashed him a grin but sobered up instantly.
"If it weren't for you two I would have told Braeden to pack up and we would have just left, fuck Deucalion and his hurt ego or whatever is keeping him on his path of revenge." Peter still didn't get it. He was not keen on weapons, wasn't even trading them, but in this line of work, people got hurt. People made stupid decisions and they paid the price. Or it was just a wrong place wrong time kind of thing. Shit happened. Peter did not expect to die of old age and it was just more true for Braeden.
But Isaac didn't deserve this. He was not part of this and it was not fair that he'd gotten dragged into it.
He could still pack up and leave but he doubted that Deucalion would leave Isaac alone. Peter had done a lot of things in his life he was not proud of, and a few months ago he might have just left Isaac to Deucalion but now he didn't want to do that.
"If Derek or you tell me to get lost after this you'll never see me again," Peter promised. It hurt, he didn't want to lose Derek, not again, same for Stiles if he was honest but he would leave. "But I need to know that Isaac is safe."
Stiles studied him for a long moment.
"Okay," Stiles said. "I'll help you. For Isaac."
"That's all I'm asking." Peter raised his hands in defense.
"As for you …" Stiles gave him a hard glance, making Peter swallow in discomfort, he knew what Stiles was about to say. Derek had almost cut ties with him for roughing up Isaac, this was a whole new level of fucked up and it was Peter's fault.
"I know." Peter accepted his fate. "I won't bother you ever again."
"I was about to say that we'll see about you after we've saved Isaac," Stiles corrected. "Derek has been close to inviting you for dinner tomorrow. He wants this, he wants you in his life. You're the only family he has left."
"That was before I put Isaac in danger," Peter reminded him but it warmed his heart that Derek had been willing to forgive him.
"You just gained points by making this all about Isaac," Stiles told him. "You and your girlfriend are the main targets here but you're only asking me to help Isaac."
"Braeden and I can manage." Peter shrugged. Deucalion was a big shot here but Peter only had to move a few miles inland and he would be out of his reach. "And she is not my girlfriend."
Stiles had been joking, Peter knew that, and it did help to put him at ease but more importantly, Stiles was willing to help.
"Okay, first I need to know what exactly is going on." Stiles rubbed his hands, ready to dive into this. If Peter was not mistaken, he was enjoying this. "What happened, who is involved, who have you talked to? Tell me everything."
Peter started with how he'd bought out Coach's backroom but he only managed to get two sentences into that before Stiles interrupted him.
"Damn, I shouldn't have said no to the snacks." He looked wistfully at the empty table.
"What do you want?" Peter reached for the phone to call room service. It looked as if this was going to be a long evening, some snacks and a few drinks sounded good. Non-alcoholic drinks, though, they were planning crime here.
"The canapes were good."
Peter placed the order and while they waited for the food to arrive, he brought Stiles up to date with the situation. He didn't leave out the part where he'd thought that Isaac was working for Deucalion or maybe Allison and how he'd had his little chat with Isaac to see where he stood.
"Not my best moment," Peter admitted.
"Understatement," Stiles agreed but a second later he admitted: "But understandable. I would have thought the same."
They shared a glance. They were not that different. Peter wondered if Derek knew about this side of Stiles. With the hints he'd been dropping lately, he probably did know but Peter would not be the one to remind him that his husband was not averse to getting his hands dirty.
The food got delivered and the atmosphere became more relaxed after that. Mainly Peter spoke while Stiles stuffed his face with the canapes. He asked a question here and there but for now, he let Peter talk.
"What's your feeling about Kali?" Stiles asked once Peter had finished.
"Not sure." Peter reached for one of the few remaining canapes. Stiles had eaten most of them in record time. "She doesn't agree with what her boss is doing but I don't know if she's willing to openly go against him." Peter had spoken to her only a few times, he didn't know her well enough to know what she would do but he had the feeling that she was ready to take over if Deucalion fell. If she would actively do something or if she would just wait and see, he didn't know.
"You mentioned Satomi." Stiles accepted his assessment of Kali and moved on to the next player.
They talked for hours, assessing the situation and trying to find a long-term solution. Stiles was quick to offer his place for Isaac to stay for the time being which fed into Peter's suspicion that Deucalion had backed off from Derek once he'd realized who his husband was.
When Peter mentioned that line of thought to Stiles who tried to brush it off, though.
"You were not only the guy who knows a guy, were you?" Peter narrowed his eyes on him, trying to figure him out.
"I was," Stiles defended himself. He threw his whole body into those two words. "It's not my fault that it escalated from where to get weed or company for the night to I might have a dead body I need to get rid of. Help?" His voice toppled over when he mimicked whoever had asked that question.
"And you just happened to know the right guy for that job." Peter nodded in understanding. Stiles had never been actively involved in anything but he knew about all the dirty little secrets.
"You know where that body is now," Peter concluded. "You know who killed him."
"Maybe?"
This was just one example of many. Stiles was an observant guy and he wanted to know everything. Stiles most likely knew more about New York's skeletons in the closet than anybody else. Even with years out of the game, Stiles still had connections. Half of New York most likely owed him a favor.
"Do you have proof?"
"Please." Stiles rolled his eyes at him. "My dad's a sheriff, I know how to cover my bases."
"So if anything happens to you …"
"Let's just say that a lot of people don't want that anything happens to me." Stiles grinned at him and stuffed the last canape into his mouth.
"Did Deucalion apologize to you for taking those pictures?" Peter wondered. The idea painted an interesting picture in his mind.
"He came to power after my active time in the scene." Stiles shook his head. "Like I said, I heard about him but I never had the pleasure."
"Too bad, things would be easier if you could just call in a favor." Peter leaned back, he had a lot to think about.
"I'm not your fairy godmother." Stiles glared at him.
"I'm not expecting you to miracle all my problems away." He was not. If Deucalion hadn't thrown Isaac into the mix he would have never even asked Stiles for help.
Stiles promised to make a few calls in the morning and to clear with Derek if Isaac could hide at their place for a few days.
"You think that's okay with him?" Peter asked. It had been clear right from the beginning that they wanted to keep Derek out of this. Hell, Peter had never intended to drag Stiles into this. But back then he hadn't known that Stiles was more involved in New York's underground than Peter.
"Are you kidding me? Derek has basically adopted Isaac," Stiles said. "They are going to talk about stars and astronomy all day. They have a weekend at Derek's favorite star-gazing spot planned."
"He's not going to replace you with a student," Peter felt the need to assure him.
"He's going to indulge in his hobby and I can't go out and have some fun." Stiles pouted at that.
"As you said, we're not exclusive …" Peter wasn't sure where this was heading. Or where he wanted this to be heading. When he looked over to Stiles, it was with different eyes. He didn't expect him to jump him like a horny teenager but maybe next Saturday?
"Going out to that club is what started this whole mess," Stiles pointed out.
"I like how it turned out."
"Isaac begs to differ," Stiles countered but when he looked at Peter it was with a glint in his eye. "Let's make sure that he's safe, we'll see about the rest later."
They talked for a while longer, their conversation drifting from the original topic to various other things. Stiles didn't drop names but this was probably the first time he could openly talk about the antics of New York's bad guys. Not everything was grim with a dead body as the punch line.
Stiles had arranged last-minute candlelight dinners for tough guys who had forgotten their anniversary. Or late-night shopping on Christmas Eve.
"Don't get me started on all the flowers and chocolate on Valentin's Day," Stiles groaned. "I had three florists on call for that day alone."
It was strange picturing Stiles dealing with mundane things like that. But there were also the stories Peter had expected.
"The trouble you had with your driver?" Stiles asked. "Would not have happened if you'd called me. You know, not present me but past me. I knew people who would drive anything for you. No questions ask and guaranteed delivery. Think Transporter style. Just don't try to get a woman in a bag delivered." Stiles cracked a smile at that joke. For some reason, Stiles' brain jumped on that train of thought and a minute later Peter got an in-depth review of that movie.
Peter got more comfortable on the sofa and just listened to Stiles. Things were looking up. He would bet money that next Saturday they would be sitting exactly here again but with way less clothes on.
As for Derek, Peter was optimistic that they could talk this out. According to Stiles Derek wanted him to stay and even this new mess with Isaac didn't seem to be that big of an issue. At least he hoped so. Peter might have to grovel for a while, and he deserved it, he had no illusions about that, but they could fix this.
They got interrupted by Peter's phone.
"Braeden." Peter read the name on the display. "She's keeping an eye on Isaac."
Over the day she had texted him little updates but nothing so far had warranted a call.
"They tried to kidnap him," Braeden said the second Peter accepted the call.