The drive after the fiasco in Reno was uneventful. They passed Salt Lake City with no problems. The next stop that Stiles had to see was about 20 hours into the drive. Now before the boys got to Omaha, Nebraska Derek had a nap for about 4 hours on some cheesy motel/hotel that reminded stiles of the Bates Motel. Derek said it was fine for what they had planned and they both needed the sleep. The only reason the impromptu rest stop was due to two choices. Derek could either stop to eat and sleep or chock the living shit out of his mate. Since he was too tired to find a place to stuff the body, he opted for sleep. Climbing in to the bed with weird smells, Derek tried to shut off his 'wolfy powers' as stiles calls them but he couldn't. The boys were there for 8 hours and Derek only got 4 hours of sleep between the wake-up calls. He would finally fall asleep then be woken back up. The first time was because stiles sneezed. The second time stiles rolled over and elbowed Derek in the face. The final straw was when the car alarm went off because the owner hit the wrong button. After those three times Derek gave up on sleeping, instead he decided to check the oil and the liquids of the car. That is exactly how stiles found him at around 6am on Monday morning, upper body buried in the car.
After stopping for coffee and breakfast the boys finally hit the road. The next stop would be in Omaha, Nebraska. Stiles asked Derek if he wanted to stop at the caves in Omaha. They could go into underground caves at one of the theme parks. Derek decided that instead of arguing with the boy he would just agree. The first hour of the stop was okay, and then the sleeplessness started to work on the alpha's nerves. Derek on no sleep was ok in supernatural situations because his temper was shorter but when he is taking it out on his mate and other people in the vicinity it's not so good.
"Derek look the entrance of the cave is up here and we get flash lights, and a hard helmet. I wonder if we will see bats, oh what if an animal lives in the cave, do you think they check? Hey you smell any animals, Derek, Hey you listening," Stiles looked around for his wolf, Derek how ever was off having a staring contest with a lizard. After coaching his boyfriend back to the group, they geared up and started the excursion. Everything was going fine until about half way, Stiles got sidetracked and wandered off. Derek was too busy trying not to kill the newly-wed couple. Their constant yapping and kissing was getting on his last sleep deprived nerve. The voices were echoing off the wall and hurting his ears as well as the flash lights. So it took Derek a few minutes to realize the Stiles was missing.
Once the group entered the middle of the cave with a big opening, Derek looked noticed that Stiles was not behind him. Growling, which echoed off the walls, he started to head back the way they came. That's when the tour guide decided to try to stop him. "Um sir I can't have you go back that way," the tour guide, Don, emphasized. "Get out of my way, Stiles is missing," Derek growled. They go back and forth for a few minutes until Derek go fed up with Don. Pushing the annoying, stick to the rules, fucking teenager away Derek strode past him to search for his mate. Derek tried to listen for Stiles' heart beat but with 30 other people so close and sleep deprived he was having a hard time. So he opted to try to pick out his scent that was almost as difficult. Finally Derek decided to feel for him by their mate's bond.
Backtracking it took 5 minutes to find Stiles and he expected to find him panicking. The fact that Stiles was wedged in between two big rocks should have surprised Derek but it didn't. "Stiles what the hell," Derek growled. Jumping at the sudden noise Stiles stumbled over the rock to fall on his ass. "Dude what the hell, I do not need a heart attack at 21," Stiles said. "20 and you wouldn't have died but I might kill you for leaving the group," Derek snarled walking towards the boy. "Oh I had to pee, sorry man" Stiles said like he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Standing up, brushing off his pants Stiles went over to his mate, kissed him on the cheek and walked back to the group. The boys caught up the group as they were heading out of the cave. So the alpha managed to successfully waste 5 hours in a cave, loose his mate, and get a kiss.
They managed to get back in the car to continue on the other 20 hours or so of the drive. Now Stiles has gotten his adventure in for the day so he fell asleep soon after they got back on the interstate. Cracking up the radio to drowned out the noise on the road, Derek sped off into the day.
So to recap Derek: stabbed, lost his mate twice.
Stiles: Punched, banned from a casino, and wondered off twice.