Derek stared. He couldn't help it really. As a teenager, Stiles had been too quirky for his actual appearance to register, especially hidden behind flannel and graphic tees. Yesterday at their meeting, Stiles had looked grown up in dark blue jeans and a dark gold shirt. Today, dressed in a tailored black suit with a dark purple dresser shirt, with a waistcoat, Stiles looked elegantly dangerous.
A giggle snapped Derek from his thoughts as the little Korean girl, Marci, leaned against Stiles's shoulder, peering at Derek from around Stiles's head. "I think you broke him."
"Derek?" Stiles said, tilting his head over to bump Marci. "Nah, he's fine. Probably a little stunned, but fine."
Derek cleared his throat, "I'm fine," he said, stepping forward and letting Danny come into the apartment. "I didn't realize this was a formal event."
"We're just getting ready," Stiles said.
"Stiles."
This was Karyna, dressed in a black pantsuit and looking as elegantly dangerous as Stiles.
"I know we haven't been introduced yet, I'm Karyna Walsh."
"Derek Hale," Derek said. He looked to Stiles, "Danny said you had information?"
"More than that," Karyna said as she headed into the living room. "Have a seat, Mister Hale. We've got a lot of ground to cover and not much time."
The living room was half-unpacked, with boxes neatly stacked in one corner, a half assembled entertainment center against the stairs and a couch with two chairs. Derek settled uncomfortably on one of the chairs as Stiles and the two women sat on the couch. Marci, Derek noted, was dressed almost identically to Karyna, save where Karyna had her hair cut short and curly, Marci had long, black hair that was tightly braided.
"Derek," Stiles said, "I'm going to say a sentence twice. Tell me where the difference is."
"Okay," Derek said.
"The banshee is ours," Stiles said. He hesitated until Derek nodded. "The Bean Sidhe is ours."
Derek frowned, running the two sentences through his head. "In the second one, you paused in banshee."
"Not exactly," Stiles said. "The funny thing about the word banshee? Its origin is Bean Sidhe. Sidhe, not 'she' like a girl."
"As in, the Fae," Karyna said.
Derek glanced at her for a moment. "Yeah," Stiles said, fidgeting a little, "they know. I kind of forgot they didn't and now they're getting the crash course."
Marci bounced a bit, "This is all kind of cool. I always thought there was something up with my high school basketball coach. She used to work out with us and one day, I went back to get a book I'd forgotten in the weight room, and she was bench pressing three times what we'd ever seen her lift before. I never told anyone though."
Stiles gave Marci a fond smile.
"You're saying that a Fairy Court took Lydia," Derek asked.
"I'm saying that Lydia was claimed by an Unseleighe Court," Stiles said. "I met a Seleighe Knight once, long story, but he told me that Bean Sidhe belong to the Unseleighe because of their nature. Violent death, pain, destruction, chaos, those are the hallmarks of the Unseleighe." He nudged Karyna, who passed him a book. "You can read this if you want, it's the best resource on the Sidhe that I have, but I have a plan and I need your help."
"How can I help?" Derek asked. For a moment, he remembered the old Stiles, who would have flailed around, possibly tripped, and taken three times as long to get to the point. He missed that Stiles, but thought that getting to know this quiet and contained man would be worthwhile.
"Three things," Stiles said. "First, we'll need a representative of the Pack, and I want it to be you since you can actually fight your way out of a wet paper bag. Second, we need Scott and whomever he chooses at the door to cover our exit, especially if we're in a hurry. Third, no matter what happens, once we have Lydia, you get her out. It's probably going to come down to a fight to get away, and I need you focused on Lydia."
"What about you?" Derek asked before he can stop himself.
"If it's so bad that you have to leave me behind I'm probably already dead," Stiles said, "if I'm not, that's why Karyna and Marci will be there. Derek, I need to know that Lydia is safe, and I know you can do that. Will you?"
Derek took an uneasy breath. He looked at Marci and Karyna, and then at Stiles, wondering what lay behind those deep, whiskey-colored eyes. "What's the plan?" He asked finally.
Stiles's grin was demonic and sly.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSS
"I don't like it," Scott said.
They had gathered at Derek's loft to discuss the situation. After nearly two years of dealing with the hole in the wall, Scott and Isaac had started working together to clear out the place, wearing Derek down as they went until the loft, while still industrial in nature, looked more like a home than a post-apocalyptic bunker, as Stiles had once called it.
Now, Scott paced over the stained concrete mindlessly.
"We don't have any other options," Derek said, "I looked at Stiles's book and we both talked to Deaton."
"But what about those girls," Scott said, "How do we know we can trust them?"
"Because Stiles does," Isaac said. "We all trust Stiles right?"
"I don't," Malia said. "If he ran once, he could do it again."
Derek wasn't surprised to see Scott's eyes glow red, "He came back, Malia. That's the important part."
Malia, perched on the upper balcony, shrugged as if saying if you say so. Even six years later, Malia was more coyote than human. While this tended to perplex outsiders, Derek found it almost refreshing to have someone else whose first reactions weren't human. With three bitten wolves and a human-raised Kitsune, the pack was more human than Derek had ever experienced, and even after so long he had trouble adjusting to the differences sometimes. At least he'd managed to tone down his first reaction of violence and death somewhat.
"And Stiles's plan is for us to wait around in the woods?" Scott said.
"He wants someone to keep the forest side open," Derek replied. "If the door closes without an anchor, we could be down there for years, if not centuries without even realizing it. He also wants to make sure we have a safe exit."
"We can do that," Scott said, "I want volunteers for this."
"I'm in," Isaac said, "I've got nothing to do today."
"I'm in," Malia said.
"I'm in," Kira said, "this is so exciting!"
Everyone stared at the girl on the spiral staircase.
"What?" Kira asked, "Stiles is back and he brought friends who are girls. That means we're finally gender-equal and Lydia and I don't have to bribe, blackmail, and beat you guys into submission over movie choices with few to no explosions."
"But you like explosions," Malia said.
Kira gave Malia a disgruntled look and Derek saw Scott smile fondly. He knew the Kitsune and the Alpha were planning to get married after college, even with Mrs. Yukimura didn't entirely approve.
"So we're going to help," Danny said.
"We're going to help," Scott agreed.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Marci shivered a little as they got out of the SUV. The preserve here was old. She could feel the strength of the trees and the power, a little. Mostly because of her link with Stiles. There was water about, underground and above, and Marci let the familiar, cool blue feeling sooth her nerves.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Stiles asked with a smile.
"It's very old," Karyna replied.
A motorcycle engine roared into hearing and they turned to see a pair of motorcycles pull up in the parking lot. The first driver was a man with short cut, brown hair, an uneven jaw line, and a worried expression. The second was a girl with lighter brown hair and a predator's smile. Moments later, a pickup pulled in as well. Derek was driving, and he had two passengers. The first out was a man with sandy blond curls, wearing a dark blue t-shirt and blue jeans, the second was a Japanese girl who carried a katana.
"Stiles," the guy on the bike said, "you remember Malia and Kira."
"Of course I do," Stiles said easily, he bowed, "It's good to see you, ladies."
"Stiles," the girl on the bike said.
"I'm glad you're back," the Japanese girl added. She bounced forward, and then hesitated, stepping back.
"Hug?" Stiles asked her.
She smiled brightly and jumped forward to hug him tightly. "I'm really glad you're back."
"I'm not so sure about that," Stiles said. He eased out of the hug, "Karyna, Marci, the guys are the other werewolves, Alpha Scott McCall and Isaac Lahey. The ladies are Maia Tate, who is a werecoyote, and Kira Yukimura, a lightning Kitsune."
Karyna bowed slightly, so Marci followed suit.
"Pack, this is Karyna Walsh and Marci Rhee." Stiles clapped his hands together, "Now there's one more thing we need to do before we start." Marci ducked around the car to grab the map and unroll it on the hood of the SUV.
"What's that?" Scott asked.
Stiles let his divining crystal drop from his hand to hang from its chain, "We find the door."