Chapter Nineteen:
"So this is all we do, right? This is it?" Stiles asked looking down at Jane's submerged body.
As soon as the group had got the local veterinarians and explained everything to Deaton- the man had made a bath full of warm water, salts, herbs and mountain ash- making sure the wolves stayed at least three feet away due to the fumes the mountain ash in bath would make.
Jane had been unconscious and soaking in this bath for about fifteen minutes and Stiles was holding her head up from the water, because although they wanted to help her; they weren't really keen on drowning a nineteen year old barista.
The fumes were getting to Derek's head, and so was the fact that it was getting really late. Most of the time werewolves didn't really care about sleep deprivation; but Derek had been having late-nights the previous few days; investigating the prolonged and overly-cold weather.
Not many of the town residence had noticed the seemingly unending winter. It seemed like when something unexplainable happened around a human- they usually just ignored it, not bothering to challenge their own perceptions of life.
"Yes Stiles, we just have to wait it out." Deaton reassured from where he stood next to the teenager- looking down at the submerged girl with his typical calculating eyes.
Then, suddenly, Derek had a pressing thought.
"What about when she wakes up." He offered, not stating it like a question, but looking around for an answer anyways.
Stiles turned to look at him, "Ahhhh," the boy responded, his mouth handing open almost comically. Derek stared at it for a while, and then cleared his throat to distract himself.
"Because I hardly think someone would wake up in herb-infused water, in the local vet's office, at midnight without a little confusion." He continued and made sure to shoot Stiles one of his 'you're screwed Stilinski' stares that he'd perfected over the time they'd known each other.
"I-ahh, haven't thought that far ahead?" Stiles' voice cracked and he winced as he was talking- looking down at his friend with a comically horrified expression.
"Well she could wake up in an hour- or she could wake up in a second. So you better start coming up with an explanation." Derek tried not to be like his uncle sometimes, he really did- but the panic on Stiles' face in that moment gave the alpha a feeling of sharp smugness.
"I-um. Well, we're going to have to tell her aren't we?" Stiles spoke up, looking at Derek earnestly and a tad bit worriedly.
"Tell her what? That she's the victim of an incubus? Because that is super believable Stiles." Derek rolled his eyes at the teen and crossed his arms leaning back casually and waiting for the inevitable argument top arise.
Stiles didn't argue like expected though, instead he came out with; "We'll…we could explain werewolves to her first- like Isaac could wolf out; only Isaac because both you and Peter are marginally more terrifying than Isaac, who looks like one of those cherub things with the wings and bows. So yeah, we give her proof of the supernatural and then…after a long and healthy freak-out, we'll tell her about the sex demon."
Stiles smiled around at them all, waiting for praise on his idea.
"You want to trust a teenage barista with a secret this big?" Derek asked sceptically, frowning at the boy.
It wasn't like Stiles to trust someone; Stiles never trusted anyone without getting to know them better; Derek had learnt that the hard way. Scott was the one who gave his trust to anyone and anything that asked for it because everyone knew that Scott was made of rainbows and puppies.
"Well what else are we gonna do?" Stiles snapped, "Besides I am a teenage barista too you dickwad."
"That really doesn't help your case Stiles." Derek sighed, vaguely aware of Deaton, Isaac and Peter watching as the conversation played out- all of them staying silent and tense.
Stiles glared at him, "Dude she won't tell! She's a good person. If you can trust Jackson Whittemore with this then Jane is pretty damn safe."
"Stiles just because you think she won't tell anyone…just- you could be wrong okay?" Derek tried to soften his face up a tad, knowing for a fact that sometimes he tensed and glared without meaning too and that it sometimes just made Stiles never listen to a word he said.
"Well what else are we going to do? Convince her I'm not a freak that kidnapped her and randomly put her in a bathtub?! Do you not see how creepy this situation looks out of context Derek? She could press charges and since the whole Jackson restraining order thing- I already have a criminal record. Do you want my dad to get fired again? Is that what you want?" Stiles' voice was just above a harsh whisper, but his words got across pretty damn clearly.
Either tell the girl about werewolves, or face getting Stiles into serious trouble.
Derek sighed, "How well is she going to handle it?" He asked, resisting the urge to hide his face in his hands and escape the world the way an ostrich would.
This was another teenager he was going to have to deal with. ANOTHER ONE. And he'll be damned if Peter wasn't enough to deal with on a regular basis.
Stiles looked taken-aback, blinking at Derek for a moment and then outright grinning.
"Oh Jane will love it. She loves everything that goes bump in the night. She's planning on becoming a mythology/psych major once she saves up enough money anyway, so I'm pretty sure she'll be happy to know it's actually valid." Stiles looked fondly down at his still slumbering friend.
Derek frowned, "She's not one of those twilight fanatics is she? Because I don't know if I can tolerate that." Derek was dead serious. Three years after the fire Laura had come home raving about this movie her friend had just taken her to see; something about supernatural love and "really hot actors Derek". She'd gone so crazy that the next day she bought all the books- then proceeded to finish the series in a week. Derek had tried to see what the big deal was…but all he saw was an emotionally and somewhat physically abusive relationship between a boring high school girl and overly-emotional vampire.
Stiles shook his head frantically, "No, no, no! She got over that phase years ago!" Which didn't sound at all promising Derek.
"Just because she's interested in myths and legends doesn't mean that she won't give us up for a price." Peter butted in from the corner cabinets- being the first one since Stiles or Derek to talk for a while.
"No! She's totally loyal! Besides you guys can always heart-beat test her to see if she'll rat…and then if she will you can always take her memories? Right Peter?" Stiles looked up at the older Hale, oddly keen.
"I can definitely wipe her mind for you if needed Stiles." Peter smiled in that weird, creepy way that Derek had remembered all the way back to early childhood.
If not for the man being an uncle- Derek would have killed him for pure creepiness alone.
Just as Derek was contemplating ways to do that without the pesky man rising up again…There was a sharp inhale and then the tell-tale sounds of water being frantically splashed.
Jane had finally woken up.