Drama ahead. Chris and Derek have a late meeting to get rid of evidence. Melissa steps up and takes care of Stiles. They are waiting for news on Mr Stilinski. The other teenagers feel the need to have a normal evening. They don't know anything about what happened with the sheriff.
It wasn't that long ago since sunset, but the surroundings were significantly darker than usual. Every move he made, every breath he took, even the scream he emitted seemed to go on in slow-motion. There was blood everywhere.
While Stiles himself crouched down next to his father, he noticed that even if the the rest of the world had come to a halt, Derek moved with a speed that made the scene almost comical. Within a split second, he'd removed his shirt. With one hand, he used it to try to stop the bleeding from the sheriff's neck and with his other hand, he picked up his phone and dialed 911.
Even in the dim light, Stiles still noticed that his father's face slowly turned pale. He wondered how long it would take for him to bleed out. "Dad, stay with me!" His own voice sounded weird, as if it was on low speed as well. A little flutter in his dad's lashes told him that he was still semi-conscious. "I love you." The words seemed to take all the strength out of the sheriff, and Stiles wondered if that would be his last words on this earth.
He didn't know for how long Derek had yelled at him, but when he got a hard slap on his cheek, Stiles suddenly snapped out of this weird slow-mo state.
"Hold here!" Derek grabbed his hand and put it on the t-shirt that was partially wrapped around his dad's neck. "We have to move fast." Derek leaned over with his head cocked as if he was listening to something. "His heart rate is still somewhat steady, but it won't take long before..." A moan from the sheriff cut him off, and he stared at the guy.
Stiles watched as his dad opened his eyes slightly and grabbed Derek's wrist. "Derek, take care of him for me." Derek hitched his breath. "I will." The words were almost inaudible, but the sheriff must have heard. As he passed out there was a twitch in the corner of his mouth as if he tried to smile.
When Stiles heard the distant sound of sirens, he sighed in relief. He didn't know if it was too late, but as long as his dad's heart was still pumping, there was hope.
Derek got up and grabbed the guy splayed out on the pavement next to the sheriff. Stiles had completely forgotten about him, and he wondered what Derek would do with him. "I killed him, I need to get rid of the evidence. I can't take care of you from jail." He dragged the dead werewolf towards the side of the house and dumped it behind the trash cans. The darkness helped to cover it. "I'll deal with that later."
Seconds later, the ambulance turned into the street and Derek ran to the curb to guide them to the correct house.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
They were all gathered together in Allison's room. After the interview at the station, Scott and Allison had ran into Isaac outside. He'd been adamant about sharing a text he got from Boyd, but the two of them urged him not to. Reluctantly he'd followed them to Allison's place, where Lydia was already waiting.
They shared the information they had and tried to come to terms with it. Lydia was seriously pissed off because she hadn't gotten much of an explanation to everybody's weird behavior yet.
"So Derek and Stiles are sort of together?" She rolled her eyes. "I... Allison told me that, but.. really?" When Isaac and Scott nodded in unison, she threw a glance at Allison. "It wasn't that I didn't believe you. It's just..."
Allison just sighed and gave her friend a pat on the shoulder. "Don't even think about it. I have a hard time believing it myself, but I know it's true." She shook her head and sighed to herself. "I knew it before it was explained to me. I just couldn't believe."
A tap on the door made them all turn towards it. Allison's dad was standing in the doorway with a disgruntled expression on his face. "I can't protect you all. This is like... I don't know..." He sighed and turned to his daughter. "Allison! We can't have this. We know they're out there. You are not safe with them." Chris Argent shifted his gaze between Scott and Isaac. "Sorry guys, but I'm not gonna put my daughter's life into your hands."
Isaac got up. "Yes, Sir, I understand. We should leave." Allison rushed over to him, and pushed him back down to his seat. "No." She turned to her dad. "NO! We are stronger together." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Can't we just be normal teenagers tonight. Let's watch a movie, have some pizza, and pretend."
Chris Argent panned the room before he sighed heavily. "I suppose... Okay, I guess it's safe." He looked at Scott. "Make sure to keep your senses on alert. We don't want any surprises. You too, Isaac."
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Derek watched as the ambulance took off towards the hospital. After it had arrived at the house, a few of the neighbors emerged. While the paramedics took care of Mr Stilinski, Derek did his best to keep them away from the scene.
The streetlights were not lit, and Derek wondered if the werewolf had anything to do with it. Right now, he was happy about it. The darkness covered up all the blood effectively.
Stiles wanted him too to ride along. Derek could understand that, but he was happy that there was no room for him in the ambulance. He promised to come as soon as possible. He'd given Stiles' hand a quick squeeze. "I just need to take the trash out." Derek nodded towards the side of the house, and could see that Stiles got the point.
He wasn't sure how to get rid of the body, and wondered if he should call for help. The only one he could think of was Chris Argent. After the fight in the garage, Chris had taken care of the bodies. Derek had trailed the woods looking for the Alphas, and hadn't even caught a whiff of the dead ones.
He had no idea what Mr Argent had done with them, but he must have found a way to dispose of them without a trace.
As soon as the neighbors were gone, Derek pulled his car as close to the house as he could before he maneuvered the dead guy into his trunk. The guy was young. He'd made a stupid mistake. Derek was pretty sure that this was not their leader. Someone else was running the show, and he wondered if there were more of them than the six they had encountered in the garage.
The other guy who had fled through the window of the garage last Sunday, had not behaved like a leader either. He'd been strong, and as far as Derek could remember, he'd seemed more experienced. In spite of this, he still appeared as someone who would take orders, not give them.
After stealing a t-shirt from Mr Stilinski's closet, he grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair. He looked around for the key to the house, and had to dig through the pockets of the sheriff's jacket to find it. He locked up and drove towards the Argent house as he dialed Chris' number. Collaborating with a hunter felt weird, but even if they weren't friends, the two of them shared an understanding. They both wanted to keep the residents of Beacon Hills safe.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Stiles waited for news on his dad. He wanted to call someone. He wanted somebody to talk to. He wanted Derek to come and hold him tight, telling him that everything was going to be okay. He knew that it could take a while for Derek to show up. Stiles had no idea how to get rid of a corpse. Derek probably knew, but it had to be done properly. He couldn't just dump it anywhere, it had to be hidden.
The waiting area was surprisingly quiet. As soon as the ambulance had arrived, Mr Stilinski was taken to the ER. Shortly after that, a doctor came and told Stiles that his dad was brought to the operating room. "He was here for a minor injury last year, so we have all his data on file. It saved us some time. It could possibly save his life."
"Luckily, he didn't suffer any damage to the... Are you familiar with the terminology?" When Stiles shook his head, the doctor looked down for a second before she continued. "The heart kept pumping blood to his brain and that's a good thing, but the vein that leads the blood back was punctured." The woman took a breath. "He suffered an enormous blood loss. We are treating him for shock. He is responding, but I can't tell you if he'll survive."
It sounded so cold and clinical. After spending a few days in the hospital lately, Stiles knew they were just doing their job. He was also aware of the fact that bedside manners weren't necessarily on the curriculum at med-school.
When the doctor left, Stiles felt totally abandoned. He wanted her to stay. He didn't know her, but it would have been nice to have someone around.
Stiles looked at the clock on the wall. He had no idea how long he'd been sitting there, but it seemed like an eternity. He didn't bring his phone, so he couldn't easily make a call. At the moment, he couldn't remember any of his friends numbers, so using the pay-phone wasn't an option. Digging through his pockets, he realized that he didn't have any change anyway.
An orderly came through the waiting area. Stiles managed to get up from his seat and limped towards him. The guy stopped short and looked at him. "You need a doctor? What happened to your leg?" Stiles shook his head. "No, no, I'm fine. I need to call someone, my dad is..." He waved his hand in the direction of the emergency room. "He's in surgery and I need to call someone."
The guy took a step back as he panned the room. "I'll find somebody that can help you." He was about to walk away when Stiles grabbed his sleeve. "Oh, please. Can I just borrow your phone? It'll only take a second." He could see that the orderly got slightly bothered by the request, but then he shrugged and dug into his pocket. "Okay, but I'm in a hurry."
Stiles had no idea who to call. The only number he could recollect was to Scott's home. Hoping that his friend was there, he dialed it. "Hello!" It was Melissa's voice, and Stiles sighed in relief. "Hi, it's Stiles. Is Scott there?"
When Melissa told him that Scott was at Allison's, Stiles broke. He started sobbing uncontrollably. He didn't know how it was possible to make sense of the few words he managed to get out between the sobs, but Melissa obviously understood. "Hang in there, I'll be there in a few minutes."
When Stiles handed the phone back to the orderly, the guy seemed a little freaked out. "I, uh, I need to... I can't stay, but I'll find someone..." He patted Stiles' shoulder. "I'm new, it's my first shift, I..." Stiles looked down and shook his head. "It's okay, I'm okay. Thank you. Just go." He wiped his eyes and sniffled a little. "She'll come."
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Chris hung up and clenched his hand around the phone. He peeked into the living room at the teenagers cramped together on the couch. After a friendly bickering about what movie to watch and what pizza to order, they had settled down and seemed to have a good time.
The two girls were frowning a little watching the scenes on the screen. 'Jackass' was obviously not their idea of a good movie. He'd heard them give in on one condition, that they could choose the next one.
It had seemed like a good idea to let them relax this evening. These kids had had a hard time lately. They needed to be normal teenagers for a little while. Chris sighed to himself and decided not to let them in on the recent event.
He grabbed his shoes before he snuck through the kitchen. They would be busy for a long time. He'd already given Allison enough money to pay for the pizza they'd ordered, so he'd let them believe that he was busy in the office.
It was a possibility that Scott and Isaac could hear him, but Chris hoped that they were too indulged in the movie to pay any attention to his movements. He'd urged them to keep their senses on alert, but got a little startled when Isaac suddenly appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. "Oh, sorry. I heard a sound. I just wanted to check."
Chris smiled to himself. It was actually a good thing that the boy had reacted. "No worries. I just have something to do. I'll be back shortly." Chris gave him a smile, and gestured for him to go back to the living room. "You don't want to miss the movie. Just..." He opened the door to the garage and repeated: "I'll be back shortly. Keep them safe."
Not waiting for an answer, Chris just left. He wondered if anybody would notice that he didn't take the car. He shrugged a little to himself before he exited the garage through the side door. So maybe they'd wonder, but then again, he was pretty sure they wouldn't pursue it.
Outside, Chris hurried down the street to where he'd told Derek to wait. He didn't want him to come to close to the house. He jumped into the Camaro, and urged Derek to get out of the neighborhood as fast as possible. "I don't know how your senses work, but I have two werewolves at the house, so..."
Speeding out of Beacon Hills, Derek turned to him briefly. "Where are we going? How long will this take? I promised Stiles..." He sighed heavily. "I have to get back there to protect him." Chris looked at the guy and wondered a bit about the urgency in his voice. "Stiles is at the hospital with his dad. They won't attack him there; this will take a while."
Chris could see that Derek was trying to keep calm. He wondered about it for a second, but then their exit came up and he had to change the subject. "Next exit. We'll be there shortly." Guiding Derek through the narrow roads in the middle of nowhere was pretty easy. Even if they had left the streetlights behind, the guy seemed to see the curves long before the beams from the car hit them.
When they eventually closed in on a small lake, Chris told Derek to stop. "We are gonna burn the body. Get him out, I'll be right with you."
Chris ran to the spot where he kept kerosine. He had to dig into the cavity between the rocks with his bare hands. Regretting that he didn't bring any gloves, he grabbed one of the jars hidden in there.
He went back to Derek and without uttering a word, they moved the body to a pit surrounded by small rocks. It was already a couple of logs in there, and Chris found some twigs and dry leaves that he stuck under and around the body. After douching everything with the liquid from the jar, Chris pulled a lighter out. He lit the matches in a matchbook, before he threw it into the pit. The two of them watched as the body slowly got consumed by the fire.
It took a while. Derek started pacing, as he constantly checked his phone. Chris walked over to the edge of the lake and started to throw small stones into the water. "Will you tell me what happened?" He didn't turn to Derek but could hear that the guy stopped. "How could he get so close? He was after Stiles, right?"
The flickering flames from the fire disturbed his view somewhat as he turned around and stared at Derek. The guy looked down and kicked at some gravel next to the pit. "I, pfft. I had a drink with the sheriff. I was careless, I admit it, but I, we, he had a hard time dealing with everything, and he..." Derek sighed heavily and looked up. "There is a list."
After listening to Derek explaining everything that had happened the last few days, Chris could understand that the sheriff was a little thrown. He wasn't sure if he got it right, but in the story, Derek sort of implied that his and Stiles' relationship was more than just friendly.
The fire had died down, and together they removed all the remains of the dead werewolf from the pit. They placed it in a sturdy plastic bag before they buried it in the woods a few minutes walk from the lake. Chris decided not to ask Derek about Stiles. It was private. As long as this relationship didn't interfere with the main goal, Chris really couldn't care less.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Melissa came towards him with her arms stretched out. "How are you doing. I'm sorry I wasn't at work, I would have known. I... Come here." Stiles didn't hesitate for a moment. He dived into her arms and clung to her like a post-it note. "He can't die, I won't allow it." After uttering the words, tears welled up in his eyes. It was impossible to focus on anything, but knowing that Melissa was there made it easier to feel sane.
She stroked his hair as he cried into her shirt. "Let me check what's going on." Melissa tried to come out of the embrace, but Stiles didn't want to let go. He'd felt so lonely in there and didn't want to be left alone again. "Just stay with me for a little while longer," he sniffled before he continued. "I'm not sure I want to know."
Melissa didn't pursue it any further. She walked them over to the small couch and forced Stiles to sit. "It's okay. We can just sit here for a while." She sat down next to him and wrapped her arm over his shoulder. "Come on, I'll take care of you."
As time passed Stiles managed to control the tears. He was still exhausted and scared, but having Mrs McCall next to him made it better.
When Derek practically came crashing through the door, Stiles got startled and looked up at him. He looked like shit. His clothes were dirty and he had black streaks on his face. Even without werewolf-senses, the scent of burnt flesh was overwhelming to Stiles. Before he got a chance to move, he noticed that Melissa covered her nose before she jumped out of her seat.
"Get out of here!" she hissed, as she physically pushed Derek towards the door. "I don't know what you've been up to, but please." Stiles followed them outside and watched as Mrs McCall tried to rub away the ashes she got on her hands from touching Derek's jacket. "Go home, take a shower and get rid of those clothes. That smell will never come out."
As he reached his hand out towards Stiles, it seemed like Derek was about to say something. Melissa lifted a finger to her lips in an unmistakable gesture. "No! GO! I will stay here with him." She took a few steps to the side to get between them, before she grabbed Stiles' hand. "You stink of burnt flesh. GO!" Melissa threw a quick glance around. "Go before anyone else notices. I got this. I'll take care of him."
Stiles let himself be pulled back towards the emergency entrance of the hospital, as he felt a tear leave the corner of his eyes. "I, I'll be here, she's probably right, you really do stink." He tried to give Derek a smile, but he knew it was somewhat crooked. "Come back soon. Call me." Suddenly he remembered that he didn't have his phone. "Oh, no, my phone... it's at home. Oh, just come back soon."
As Melissa opened the door and practically pushed Stiles through it, Derek just stood there, but then he nodded and walked backwards towards the car. "I'll be back. Be careful." He lifted his hand and waved before he turned around and entered the Camaro.
Melissa squeezed Stiles' hand. "It's better this way. He'll be back, but that stench..." She stopped abruptly and stared at the doors at the other end of the room. The person coming towards them was probably a surgeon. His green attire was bloodstained; he looked tired.
"Stilinski?" His voice was without emotion, but he rubbed his forehead and looked down as if he didn't want to meet Stiles' eyes. "You're father... It's your father, right?" He looked up briefly and continued without waiting for an answer. "The blood loss was, is..." He cleared his throat. "We tried to control it, and we managed to stop the bleeding, but..."
Stiles started shaking. The serious look on the guy's face was very disturbing. Melissa wrapped her arms around him and sighed heavily. "Get to the point." She sounded strict, but there was an unmistakable tremble in her voice. The doctor turned to her. It was a flash of recognition in his eyes before he continued. "He went into cardiac arrest... We..."
The room started spinning. Stiles fell to his knees. If Melissa hadn't held on to him, he would have collapsed completely.