I found it extremely curious that there were no police on the scene when the ambulance arrived at the Stilinski-house. Maybe someone else got a little puzzle by this? I feel the need to explain. And for those of you who thought it was Derek that escaped at the end of ch32: I'm sorry, but I wanted it to be a little unclear.

Lydia is excited and embraces her role as a con-artist. The Sheriff's condition is improving, but Stiles is a mess. Allison tries to comfort him, but she knows that she's a poor substitute. Chris Scott and Isaac are out on a hunt and makes a startling discovery. Hester reveals part of her plan to Derek, and he tries to cope as best as he can.

Lydia was overly excited when she met up with Isaac and Allison on the other side of the hospital. She gestured for them to get in the car. "That was a thrill. Did you make it, Isaac?" She chuckled as she pulled away from the curb and headed for the Argent house. She looked at Isaac through the rear view mirror as he nodded. "Sure did. You are quite the actor."

When Allison called her to do them this favor, she'd been ready in a moment. She knew that she could pull it off. Knowing that Allison was ready to send an arrow through the guy's scull if needed, she didn't hesitate for a second.

It was actually quite fun. She tried to hide the excitement somewhat because of the grave circumstances. Sheriff Stilinski was seriously injured and everybody believed that Stiles was the real target for the attack.

Lydia had always had a soft spot for him, but he was so weird and unpredictable. She'd known him for ages, but it was only recently that they had become real friends. She liked the guy, but she couldn't possibly see herself as his girlfriend. She knew that he'd had a crush on her for years, and it was kind of sweet, but she could never reciprocate.

She was happy to learn that he and Derek were together. For Lydia it made sense. It was also a relief. Stiles was a kind of guy you wanted to hang out with, but doing so, Lydia had always been afraid to send out the wrong signals. That was not an issue anymore.

-o-o-o-o-

Chris was in the car waiting for Scott and Isaac. He could see the little dot on the screen moving south. The plan had worked out swimmingly.

When the guy didn't talk, they had two options: Kill him or let him lead them to his lair.

When Allison came up with the plan, Chris was proud of his daughter. She was a leader.

They had to find someone that the guy hadn't met before, and surprisingly enough, Lydia volunteered without hesitation. Playing the part of a stupid blonde came natural to her. They all knew she wasn't stupid, but she'd done that role for years already; so, doing it again was obviously just a piece of cake.

They had assumed that the guy had a vehicle near the hospital. If that wasn't the case, they would have had to come up with a new plan quickly. Isaac had been prepared to follow him on foot to the end of the world if needed, but if he suddenly just jumped into a car and took off, or if he got picked up, they had to be ready to track him visually.

Chris had tried to call Derek again, but there was still no reply. He had mixed feelings about this. Derek was a werewolf and a natural pray for a hunter, but the two of them had become friends and that had changed a few things in Chris' mind.

They had decided that Allison should stay behind with Stiles. Armed with a small arsenal of weapons and a few items from Dr Deaton's stash of werewolf-remedies, she was ready to take over for Scott as the protector.

Isaac had to take a quick trip to the loft to get a change of clothes. After running through the woods and crawling under the car to attach the tracking device, he felt the need to clean up a bit. Scott would pick him up on his way from the hospital, before the three of them hit the road to find the omega.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Allison knew that she was not Stiles' preferred company but under the circumstances, he'd just have to deal with it. Turned out it wasn't really a problem. With a shrug, Stiles accepted that Scott had to leave.

For a half hour, she just sat there by the door watching Stiles and the sheriff. It felt slightly awkward. It seemed like Stiles didn't even care.

"Ahem, I wonder..." She leaned forward a bit and managed to get his attention. "Are you doing the exam on Monday, uh? You know we have that English honors?" She knew it could be tough if they were going to sit there all night, but Allison was prepared and could probably pass the exam in her sleep.

Stiles lifted his head and turned to her. "I forgot. I guess..." He sighed heavily. "I guess I should try." Encouraged by the fact that he actually responded, Allison spoke again. "Even if you don't ace it, you should. It's the only one you have to do this year."

A faint 'yeah' was the only reply, and she decided to drop the subject for now. "How is he doing? He will survive, right?" This time she didn't get a response at all, so she sat back and picked up her phone. There were no magazines or anything in the room, so she found a game and played for a little bit. She had the sound off, because she thought it would be more appropriate.

Another half hour went by, before Stiles turned again. "Can you give me the crutches? I need to use the restroom." She followed his line of view and saw them in the corner by the door. "Sure." She got up and grabbed them before she handed them to him. "Do you need any help? I mean..." Allison had to smile a little. "I mean, I could help you get there."

Stiles got up from his seat a little clumsily as he shook his head. "No, it's okay. You should watch him." He nodded towards the sheriff. "I don't want him to be alone if he wakes up."

He was obviously in a lot of pain, and after taking the few steps to the door, Stiles was seriously exhausted. His shoulder was clearly bothering him, so using the crutches weren't particularly comfortable. "Stiles, wait!" Allison walked up to him and covered the exit. "I'll get a wheelchair. It's easier."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The curious incident with the dispatched officer.

It had been more than 24 hours since the attack and surprisingly enough, the police never got involved. There had been a series of unfortunate events leading to this. When the Derek called 911 and explained that they needed an ambulance, the dispatcher had also sent a squad car to the scene.

The officer receiving the call had been home arguing with his wife about some trivial shit. Not wanting to reveal that he was out of area – he lived a few miles from Beacon Hills – he'd taken the call and headed towards the address mentioned.

He was relatively new to the force, and didn't know that it was sheriff Stilinski's house. On his way, he'd hit a skunk and had to pull over. The animal was dead from the impact so he didn't have to do anything else than to get it off the road.

When he came to the house, the ambulance had left. If the officer had come from the other direction, he would have spotted Derek's car leaving the neighborhood. It wouldn't have made a difference.

He saw the blood on the driveway and knocked the door without getting an response. After talking to a neighbor, he'd learned that a man had been attacked by a dog or something and was taken to the hospital. The Stilinski name was never mentioned.

Cursing to himself, the guy headed towards the hospital but was sidetracked by couple of youngsters fighting in an alley. One of them came at him with a baseball bat, and the officer had to jump in the car and call for backup.

When he eventually was back at the station, he'd completely forgotten about the animal attack. When he later had to write a short report, he knew he should have called the hospital and checked what had happened, but he was too embarrassed about his own screw-up to do so. He filed it away as a harmless dog attack, and promised himself to check it out during his next shift.

At home he discovered that his wife was gone. She'd left a note about going to her sister, but the officer knew that this was more serious than that. Their marriage was in shreds already. He decided to get drunk and after sleeping it off, he had only minutes left before he had to be ready to go to work again.

It was with a serious hangover he pulled up outside the hospital and went in. Before he asked about the incident, he had to find out who lived at the address. It was a startling discovery to see that it was sheriff Stilinski's residence.

The sheriff had been taken off the murder investigation, and he was possibly also on suspension, so nobody had missed him at the station. This was just too fucked up. The officer knew he would get in serious trouble if anyone found out.

He asked around and learned that the sheriff was alive, although in serious condition. They also told him that even if the circumstances were a little shady, it had in fact been an animal attack. The officer decided to leave it at that for the moment. He left the hospital without checking on Mr Stilinski.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Chris decided to tell the two boys that Derek was missing. He had the the technology to track any cellphone, but it wasn't easy to do so while he was driving. They didn't know how long they'd be on the road, and Chris wanted to multitask.

Isaac and Scott had been slightly disturbed when they heard, and they both expressed their worries. "I don't know where he can be. He may not want to be found, but under the circumstances, I think we should try regardless." Chris had handed the computer to Isaac sitting in the backseat, and told him to keep calling Derek to try to triangulate his position. "He may have lost his phone, so it isn't exact science, but lets try."

They had been on the road for more than a half hour, and the little dot on the GPS screen kept moving south in a steady pace. The three of them hadn't exchanged many words during that time. "I think. WOW!" The exclamation from the back seat startled both Chris and Scott. Isaac leaned over between the seats and repeated: "WOW!" He pointed to the GPS screen and then to the computer. "If I didn't do this wrong, we are heading towards Derek's phone."

The news was surprising to them all. It could of course be a coincidence, but it made them all think out new scenarios on Derek's whereabouts. Chris pulled over for a minute to make sure Isaac was correct. He checked the program before he called Derek again. And there it was. Clear as day. The omega from the hospital was clearly closing in on Derek's location.

After getting back on the road, they decided not to call Derek anymore. His phone was not moving, and it would be impossible for them to pinpoint the location with more accuracy than they already had.

Another half hour later, they noticed that the little dot stopped moving. Comparing the maps, they could see that Derek's phone was not more than a half a mile away from the omega's position. Probably less. Probably very much closer. "There's always a fraction of error when tracking a cell phone, but I think..." Chris didn't continue. He could see that the boys got the point.

Maybe Derek had gone out on his own search for the pack. Maybe he'd found them, or maybe they had found him. With the little cross next to his name on the list in mind, they all feared the worse. There was also another concern. Hester and Derek were seemingly friends. If she was behind all this, Derek could have decided to join her, leaving Beacon Hills behind for good.

When Chris threw out the idea, both Scott and Isaac protested. "He wouldn't! He wouldn't just leave Stiles without... without..." Scott seemed to blush a little as he spoke. "I mean. Leaving his mate like that is..."

Chris nodded to himself. So he'd really got it right. Derek and Stiles were in a relationship. It was obviously serious enough for Scott to use the word 'mate'. Chris knew a few things about werewolves and one thing was for sure. They mated for life.

There were no time to ponder over this. They were now so close to where the omega had parked, that they had to be careful not to accidentally stumble upon him.

It wasn't a problem. They could see the house from almost half a mile away. It was big. They managed to get a little closer, but then they had to leave the car. There was nothing around to cover them. Isaac volunteered to try to get a better look at the place, and circled the enormous yard.

He was back within a few minutes. "Derek's car is here. I can't hear him or smell him, but then again, I was probably not close enough." He perched himself on the hood of the SUV and cocked his head. "So what do we do now?"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"We have to do some tests tomorrow, but it looks like this is going well." The doctor checking on Mr Stilinski turned to Stiles briefly. "He is still weak. He's going to be weak for a while. We can replenish the blood, but we can't force his body to produce new cells. It takes the time it takes." He shrugged and gave Stiles a lopsided smile.

Stiles just nodded and as soon as the 'posse' had left he resumed his previous position. He leaned his head on the bed and clung to his dad's hand. Sheriff Stilinski had been awake for the exam, but he was still woozy. He had managed to give Stiles a small smile, before his eyes fell shut again.

They wanted to move him out of the ICU; he wasn't in serious danger anymore, but they decided to wait until morning.

Stiles himself was so tired that he knew he could fall asleep any minute, but he wanted to stay awake. Allison being there wasn't much help. She'd tried to make conversation, and he'd wanted to have someone to talk to, but his mind wasn't really there.

The only person he wanted to have by his side at the moment was Derek, but he didn't come and he didn't answer his phone. There could of course be multiple reasons for it, but Stiles was seriously concerned.

Their last conversation had been weird. At that moment Stiles had been too concerned about what went on in his dad's hospital room to really notice, but in hindsight Stiles worried that it was a final goodbye.

'The slight desperation in Derek's voice.' 'The last little kiss.' Maybe it was Derek's way to say that he was not coming back. Stiles had spent the last few hours thinking through every little gesture and every little word. When he called again without a response, he couldn't stop the tears.

Allison noticed and jumped out of her seat to embrace him. It wasn't the arms he wanted to feel around him, but it felt good. It felt good having someone there who could ease the pain.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"I thought we were friends." Derek was staring at Hester as she came towards him. "Is this were you keep your boys when they misbehave?" He looked around in the cage – or kennel – or whatever she liked to call this prison cell.

Hester chuckled and turned on the lights, revealing the whole content of the dungeon in all it's glory. "Friends? Hm, I don't know what to call it." Her hand played with a set of keys. "I guess we could say that."

Derek did his best to play it cool. Creating a drama when he was caged in like that was probably not a smart move. "So, why am I here?" He threw a quick glance around the room. "What did I do to deserve this?"

She shook her head, before she panned the room herself. "Dear Derek, I really don't want to do this, but you know... You really belong in a pack. A lone wolf hanging with humans are weak." She bent down and put one of the keys in the lock. "I thought you might want to freshen up a bit. I have backup, so please don't try anything silly. Show me that I can trust you."

The cage-door opened, and Hester took a couple of steps back to let Derek out. He knew he could jump her and possibly get in a fatal blow, but what would be the point. He would never get out of this place alive if he tried something like that.

An alpha without a pack was weaker. Even if the others were only betas, they still outnumbered him five to one.

She led him through the room and opened a door at the other end. "You can use the restroom." She stepped to the side. "Go on, use the shower if you want. There's also a change of clothes in there if you care, take your time."

The bathroom was also like a dungeon. The black marble covering the floor and the walls absorbed a lot of the light and made it look gloomy. Derek wasn't sure if he should take Hester's offer, but after sitting in that cage for a few hours, a shower would be nice. He also wanted her to think he was pliable and decided to do as she wanted.

He took his time and after drying himself with the softest towel he'd ever held in his hand, he started to dress in the clothes she laid out for him. They weren't very different from what he'd been wearing before – Hester knew what she was doing – and they fit him perfectly.

As soon as he was out of the bathroom, Hester gestured for him to get back in the cage. "I'm so sorry, but I have to be somewhere. It won't take long." She seemed to measure him and her eyes gave clear evidence about that she liked what she saw. Then she hurried to turn to the cage again. "There's food."

Derek shook his head panned the room. There was equipment in there to tie up anybody securely in any position imaginable. The cage seemed to be the better option. The scent of meat hit his nose, an he could see that his present living quarters had had an upgrade. There was a couple of pillows and a small blanket in there. A small table was attached to the bars, and there was a plate of carpaccio and a basket of bread on it.

As Derek bent down and crawled into the cage Hester casually stroke his arm. "I'm expecting Alex back from Beacon Hills any moment now, so there will be two of my boys keeping an eye on you." Hester smiled a little shyly. "Sorry, but I don't really trust you... yet."

When she mentioned Beacon Hills, Derek startled and turned to her. He knew that the expression on his own face was telling. Hester shook her head and just before she closed the door she handed him a bottle of wine. "Oh, relax. He had clear instructions not to come near your precious human, Stiles." She smiled as she turned the key. "He is there to deliver a message. He'll be back shortly."

As she left him and started to ascend the stairs she turned to him, and casually threw out a few startling words. "They are not allowed to touch Stiles, because if need be, I will turn him myself."