A/N: Here is my second chapter to this piece. This one fills in some background for Stiles and Derek.
Just fourteen hours after barging into the Hale family home and pulling one of his most elaborate pranks yet Stiles found his self surrounded by the Hale family once more. None of the other pack members from last night were around and it was this that made Stiles feel out of place. This was a gathering where only one bound by marriage or blood should be present.
"Why don't I just go? It's Derek you wanna talk to anyway right? So I'll go and Derek knows how to find me when he wants to", Stiles rambled as he headed for the front door just two minutes after arriving. Before he reached the door however he found Cora and Derek's older brother Sam blocking his exit.
"Not so fast Stiles", Sam smirked. "Yeah we want to talk about Derek's time away from Beacon Hills but you are a big part of that too. Plus you must have some dirt on my brother that I can use to tease him. And only you can give me that", Sam finished with an evil grin as he met eyes with his younger brother.
"Stiles won't tell you anything. Will you?" Derek asked uncertainly. Stiles threw back his head and laughed while fighting a grin.
"Besides Stiles", Cora said as he she moved forward to grab his shoulder. "Mom already told you last night that you are family. Also I would like to get to know my brother's boyfriend just as much."
Stiles sighed softly before nodding to the youngest Hale and resigned himself to follow her away from the door. Cora led Stiles into the living room where the rest of the family were making themselves comfortable. Sam, Talia and Oliver were in the same positions as yesterday. Sam sat beside Oliver while Cora leapt into the small gap between her parents. Peter was in his arm chair again but had shifted it so it sat beside the sofa. That left the arm chair that Derek was sitting in. Though Stiles would happily have gone to sit on his lap like yesterday his mischievous nature had other ideas. Holding out his hand the red bean bag next to the fireplace raced its way across the room to him. On its way it may have clipped Peter' head but that was purely a coincidence. He was prepared to swear it even if the incident made him smile widely. Setting the bean bag just to the right of Derek's feet he sat down resting his head on Derek's lap. This was almost as good as sitting on Derek's lap plus less chance they would distract each other.
"Don't start without me", called Carl from the kitchen. Carl was Laura's husband, he had been unable to make the pack meeting due to work so Stiles and Derek had only met him this morning. The younger Hales, namely Laura's children were being entertained by the pack members so the Hales could interrogate Derek. Carl came hurrying in with a tray of tea and coffee. Setting it on the table he took his place on the smaller sofa that had been moved in, with his wife beside him.
Silence spread throughout the room as everyone waited for someone else to start. "Mom", Laura spoke when the silence became too much for her. "Why don't you and dad start? You must have a lot to say to him after ten years. Maybe some questions you want to ask."
Talia looked at her eldest daughter gratefully before she spoke, "Derek, we are so glad to have you home at long last. You know you are always welcome here right? That hasn't changed." Derek nodded to show he understood and smiled at his mom. "But you've got to tell us what happened. You were right when you said we knew why you left. We let you go though it was painful for us because we understood that you needed space. But we've missed ten years of your life. Won't you tell us about it?"
Derek drew a deep breath and exhaled it before he felt ready to start. The question his mom asked was a loaded one but it was exactly what he had expected her to ask. "Okay well I guess I could start by telling you that after I left Beacon Hills the first three years were the worst. I did a lot of things I am non too proud of. Things that I know you are not going to like hearing about." Derek paused hoping that his parent's might tell him to not tell them then. No such luck. "Okay so I told you yesterday that I was travelling and that was true enough. I moved from one place to another, never staying in one place more than two weeks at a time. There were a few reasons for this that I am sure will become apparent soon. I didn't handle being on my own as well as I hoped. I took to drinking even though I was vastly under age."
"You started drinking at age fifteen?" Oliver asked shocked to hear his son admit that. "How did you get hold of alcohol at that age? And why? It's not like you could get drunk."
"Yeah fifteen and drinking. Sometimes I managed to persuade people to buy it for me and give them the money, other times I stole it. Sort of. I mean I left the money for what I took so it wasn't really stealing", Derek admitted. "And I did it so I could get drunk. I discovered pretty quickly that I couldn't get drunk and that pissed me off. However I got shot by a hunter and managed to escape alive. The bullet barely grazed me so the wolfsbane that got in my system wasn't lethal. It was then that I discovered with a little wolfsbane in my system I could get drunk." Derek looked at his family seeing the look of horror on their faces. All except Peter.
"You were poisoning yourself with wolfsbane so you could drink?" Talia gasped in a high pitched voice. Derek nodded shamefully.
"Not that I recommend it but there are other herbs you might have used less dangerous to get your fix nephew", Peter added quietly.
"Peter!" Talia screamed at her brother. "Do not give him ideas. Derek you don't still take wolfsbane and drink, do you?" Talia asked her twenty four year old son seriously.
"No, I've been clean of wolfsbane for six and a half years", Derek looked his mother in the eye.
"Well that's good. Any that's the worst of it right?" Oliver chipped in as he rubbed his angry wife's shoulders in an attempt to calm her.
"Forget what I said earlier Stiles Derek is giving me gold here", Sam laughed.
"Samuel!" Oliver barked. "This is serious. Grow up would you you're twenty seven."
Derek coughed so he could bring attention back to him. "Actually there is a bit more that is bad but not as bad. I got into a lot of fights for stupid reasons. I just used it as a way to vent my anger and frustration."
"Well I'm guessing the police were one of the reasons you could never stay somewhere more than two weeks then", Laura whispered in her best superiority tone.
"Yeah that was one. The other was every time I used a card to pay for something Deaton's guys would turn up and try to bring me home. I wasn't ready so it was either fight or flight", Derek confessed.
"And you lived this sort of life for three years?" Cora asked as she stared at her brother with sad eyes. Derek nodded to her.
"What changed? Why did you stop doing all the crazy crap?" Carl asked genuinely interested. Carl was a psychologist at Beacon Hills memorial hospital. Any time he felt he could learn something more about his field he became excited and fidgeted.
Derek smiled for the first time since starting the conversation as he ruffled Stiles short hair. Cora and Stiles locked eyes and shared a grin. "Stiles is what happened. Although it didn't happen instantly. It took me a couple of years to stop completely. The fighting was the first thing that stopped", Derek admitted looking guilty. "I slowed down with the wolfsbane and the drinking but when a rough day hit I gave into it."
"Stiles before we go any further can I thank you for making my brother see how stupid he was", Laura smiled at the immortal boy.
"Y0u're welcome. It was my pleasure. Besides I didn't do it for you. That was just a nice bonus", Stiles smiled shyly.
"Okay, Okay. Enough all ready. Derek tell us how you first met", Cora thrilled as she bounced excitedly in her seat. Talia couldn't help the smile that crossed her face as she realised Cora had been waiting for this moment patiently. She was after all the romantic of the family.
"Well that happened three years after I left Beacon Hills. I was down in Texas at the time and stopped in this diner because the food there smelt the most edible. I walked in and liked the place since it had low lighting and wasn't one of those where the tables are so covered in grease your elbows slide of the table. Taking a corner table furthest from the crowd of customers I was doing my best to ignore everyone else there. Suddenly I hear them all laughing like demented fools and looked over to see what the fuss was all about. Apparently the comedian here had just finished a hilarious story that had all the regulars and the waitress in hysterics. I wasn't too happy about the noise but I locked eyes with him and glared. It was enough to break up the rabble", Derek muttered.
"So the waitress tears herself away long enough to come and take my order after doing a round with the regulars, during which time I kept stealing what I assumed were covert glances at him. While she was taking my order I couldn't help but ask about him, making sure she knew my extreme dislike. She was polite enough and told me what she knew of him. Hinting that maybe I was doing the whole 'pulling pig tails' thing", Derek continued.
"Ha ha ha", Stiles chortled. "You should have seen him. He was sitting there open mouthed when she left after insinuating he was interested in me. And his covert glances weren't so covert at least three other customers told me the brooding guy in the corner had been checking me out", Stiles laughed even harder. "Of course they also noticed me looking over at him. One of them warned me against my interest in him. The others encouraged me to go talk to him."
"Wish I had a picture of his face after the waitress admitted she thought he was gay. That would have been priceless", Sam smirked. Derek gave a low growl but otherwise ignored his older brother's comment.
"So she came back and gave me my order whispering to me that this Stiles fella seemed interested in me too. Unfortunately that was it for my restraint and I let the whole diner know my true feelings quite clearly. Anyway so the waitress backed off and went back to her little cliché. I ate moodily and when I finished and asked for the check she told me it was already paid for. Stiles had gone and paid her for my order including a generous tip to compensate for my rudeness. The moment I made my feelings clear to those diner customers they all turned against me. All except him", Derek carded his fingers through his boyfriend's hair lovingly as he told the story.
"Ah, the poor diner customers were shaking with fright when sourwolf here came and demanded to know why I paid for him. I explained it was meant as a friendly gesture and to think nothing of it. Without another word he stormed from the diner to the rear parking lot. Ignoring the warnings of the regular patrons I followed him out and caught up with him. Do you remember what happened next?" Stiles asked with a mischievous grin as he turned to look at Derek.
"I'm disgusted to admit I do", Derek breathed while something close to pain filled his face. "Well he started talking to me and I lost my temper. I let the wolf out", Derek whispered as he hid his face in his hand.
"You attacked him?" Laura and Cora cried simultaneously in horror before looking at each other and smiling. Laura was a big softy under it all.
"Yeah I attacked him. He came out and commented on my rudeness in a completely opposite fashion to the one he had adopted inside. Caring and good natured in public but outside he was like another person. I was on him before he finished speaking and was punching him full force while it was pouring with rain. Think horror movie setting for a murder and you would be close to it. I continued punching him until my fist grew sore before I switched to slashing him with my claws. Sometime after I started slashing him I realised this wasn't normal. A human, hell a werewolf wouldn't have been able to take a beating like this. I stopped pretty much as soon as I realised he must be something terribly powerful. I hadn't smelt anything so the sudden thought that I could be in danger made me pause. I started to walk away but that was when he spoke again. He knew just how to push my buttons. 'Is that all?' he said. 'I should have known. You're weak'. Well I turned around and began round two", Derek declared.
"Oh Derek how could you?" Talia looked disappointed. Derek looked up at her before he dropped his gaze and continued.
"His simple smartass comment enraged me enough that I was clawing him again while he laughed and kept whispering I was weak. After what felt like hours I stopped from sheer exhaustion, collapsing to the wet concrete. He stood and offered me a hand up. Before I could say anything he was gone", Derek mumbled. "And that was how we first met. Aren't you glad you asked?"
Cora looked horrified; instead of the blissful romance she had been expecting her brother had told her a horror story.
"So when you said last night that you want to get rid of him when you first met you really meant it literally", Peter mused quietly.
"Wait a minute though. Stiles you followed him out were a complete jerk for some reason and then laughed as he savagely attacked you?" Laura asked. "Why?"
"How about we save that answer for later? Once you hear more I think you will understand", Stiles answered. Laura was unhappy with the answer but accepted it.
"So what happened next?" Carl breathed.
"Well we didn't see each other for another week. I was out in the woods running when he started walking towards me. He was smirking and I heard him say 'Maybe she got what she deserved. Maybe Paige deserved to die. Huh, Derek?' Well I hadn't got over her death yet and once again I went savage and attacked him. This time I made sure to tear a chunk from his neck, much like you did last night sis. I thought that would be the end of it but as I walked away I heard him start to laugh again and I turned to see him leaning against a tree without a single scratch on him. This time I was truly terrified because I was alone and it was clear he was something no lone wolf could ever hope to beat. But he just whispered 'until next time' and took off again", Derek told them. He looked at his spell bound family and waited for someone to react.
"Damn it Derek. Tell us what happened next", Oliver gasped. His dad had always been a sucker for a good story.
"Well the next day I left the town, in fact I left the state of Texas hoping that I could lose him. It didn't work though. It never worked. For the next year he would appear almost weekly in random secluded places and bait me. He played on every fear and insecurity I knew I had and he even helped me discover a few extra. Every time it was exactly the same he would taunt me, I would fall for it and attack him mercilessly. I became inventive in my methods to kill him because I feared he was a personal demon sent to torment me. After about eight or nine months of this though I felt something change inside me. I felt lighter, happier almost. He still kept coming but it took him longer to draw me into a fight I knew I would lose. Also he seemed less sinister. It's hard to explain but it felt as if was there to help me rather than torment me. We passed another few months with me attacking but breaking out of the haze much quicker. The last of those times that I attacked him he defended himself. He moved so fast, faster than I had seen him move before and suddenly he was behind me with his arms locking my hands to my side", Derek paused.
Stiles took over the narrative which caused the Hale family to start slightly, "I whispered 'Well done' in his ear before I released him. I offered to buy him a drink but he refused. So I offered him the one thing I knew he couldn't resist." Now it was Stiles turn to pause because he was enjoying the attention.
"What? What did you offer him? It was sex was it?" Laura quizzed. It took her a moment to realise everyone was giving her a funny look. "What? I don't think that is too much to assume."
"No Laura it wasn't sex. I offered him answers. He had so many questions about me and my constant confrontations that served no purpose", Stiles said in a strange tone.
"But they did serve a purpose didn't they?" Carl asked eagerly hoping he was right.
"Yeah they served a purpose. I could tell after eight or so months that he had begun to heal; to recover from his loss. I plagued him with my presence and drew him into those so called pointless confrontations so he could release all his anger, his sadness and his pain. I continued for a few more months because of two reasons. First he was still healing. The anger at her death and its circumstances hadn't fully dissipated. He had merely accepted it. Also by now I was kind of infatuated with the guy and I couldn't see us hanging out then once a week have him try to kill me. It just wouldn't have worked", Stiles sighed. "So I hung around in the only capacity I could."
"So Derek went with you to get the answers he craved and that is when you two got together right?" Cora asked.
"No", Stiles answered shortly.
"But you just said that was the last time you baited him into a fight", Cora whined.
"Well it was but I didn't know how to deal with all the information I got that night", Derek replied swiftly. "I told Stiles that I needed some time and space to come to terms with it all and though it was difficult he allowed it. Three weeks later..."
"Three weeks?!" shrieked Cora. "You took three weeks to get back to him?"
Derek gave his little sister a disapproving look before he spoke, "Do you want to keep interrupting or do you wanna hear the rest?" Cora pretended to zip her lips and throw away the key so Derek took that as a sign he was safe to continue without her interrupting again. "So three weeks later and I still hadn't decided how I felt about the whole situation. I was still in the same town after three whole weeks which I knew meant something even if I wasn't ready to admit it. I was out in the forest on a full moon and I came across some hunters. The moment they saw my eyes they were all for killing me. I watched as the head hunter aimed his crossbow at my heart. They had me at their mercy since I was caught in their trap. He fired and I closed my eyes waiting for the inevitable. When I didn't feel the bolt pierce my chest I opened my eyes. Stiles was standing in front of me and he spoke in such a calm voice while twirling the bolt around absently, that I saw the hunters shiver. After seeing him pluck a bolt from the air with ease they knew he was someone to fear. He told them 'This wolf is under my protection. Leave or deal with me first'. Most of them were shaken badly enough to heed his warning or maybe they just had more sense. However one of them turned a shotgun on Stiles and fired. Stiles looked at the hunter amused before he threw the bolt at him, impaling him in the stomach. Well that was it the other hunters retaliated and Stiles incapacitated each with a single blow." Derek paused as he saw his family flinch as they imagined Stiles doing just that. "Turning to me he reached down and snapped the trap like the metal was kindling. I was wounded and couldn't run so he put me over his shoulder and ran. Back in town he apologised like the goofball he is for interfering. I mean come on he saved my life. I told him it was fine, I thanked him and before my brain even thought about it my mouth was inviting him to travel with me."
"Ahh", sighed both his sisters.
"Well we travelled for a few months as friends but I already realised even in those months that it was something more than friendship. Bless him, Stiles was so patient with me. I don't know what I would do without him", Derek breathed as he gently leant forward and squeezed his boyfriend's shoulder. Stiles rested a hand on top of Derek's lovingly.
"Okay but that covers three maybe four years", Oliver pointed out. "There is still another six years at least to account for. I mean Deaton only sent guy's after you at your mother's request. But after five years he came and told us that he couldn't any longer because you were no longer using the family money. How did you survive with no money son?"
"Dad there are more important things than money", Derek chuckled.
"Yes there are but I'm still curious", Oliver admitted.
This time it was Stiles turn to laugh, "I have money Mr Hale. And those other six years were rather ordinary we continued travelling but not just America. Since money was no object we travelled the world. Seriously did you expect an immortal not to learn ways of making money?"
"Oliver not, Mr Hale", Oliver replied. "And I guess you are right an immortal would have rather unique insights into making money."
Stiles was about to reply when everyone turned their head to the doorway and he followed their gaze. A large well built African American gentleman stood in the doorway. "Sorry to interrupt I was just hoping to have a private word with Laura quickly", the stranger spoke politely. "Sorry we haven't been introduced I'm Alan Deaton advisor to the Hale pack."
"Nice to meet you Deaton. I'm Stiles the immortal", Stiles grinned at the man in a devilishly handsome way.
"Oh really. I must apologise for my surprise but there are many varieties of immortal and very few that reside in this realm endlessly. Even fewer of those are morally acceptable. I hope we can get to know each other better soon", Deaton replied. Deaton moved away with Laura out of earshot for even the wolves.
"Don't mind Alan. He can be a bit paranoid about visitors to Beacon Hills. Once you get to know him he really grows on you", Talia said into the sudden quiet. Laura walked back into the room just as her mom finished speaking.
"It was nothing. Deaton was just hoping we might start a patrol around Beacon Hills. His sources warn of a descending darkness", Laura told them. "We can deal with it later."