There's something wrong
With this plot
The actors here, have not got a clue
Baby, I'm howlin' for you
When Stiles finally came to, she could barely feel her hands or her shoulders; nailed and bent awkwardly as it was.
"...Stiles?" She blinked blearily at the worried face peering down at her, licking her dry lips and squinting at Scott, who seemed like he was a breath away from crying.
"I fucking told you so. Bitch." He slumped in his spot, rubbing his face and sniffling as she groaned loudly while someone on the other side of the tunnel snorted. "Someone knock me out again, for the love of God."
Stiles made another pained noise, loudly this time, trying to move forward so she'd rest on her elbows to at least release some of the strain from her shoulders and yelping when one of them popped back into place.
Oh, she had not noticed that it was still dislocated.
"Did-" Scott heaved, making an audible retching sound and pressing his fist on his lips. "Did your shoulder just-" Stiles sent him a seething look for the disgusting noise, even if Scott really looked like he was about to vomit.
"Cut it out." Derek bit out, approaching again to sneer down at the boy, who returned the glare while the green-eyed man crouched in front of Stiles, who only blinked at him and pointedly looked down at her hands. "Deep breaths."
"Wha-AH?!"
"What the hell?!" Scott screamed over his friend's shriek, who hadn't been given any warning before Derek had gripped both nails and ripped them off, leaving the boy gagging as Stiles sobbed into her arms, cradling her healing hands into her chest and flinching every time a bone set back.
"Y-you dick." She hiccuped, glaring at him through tears and receiving an unamused glare in response. "What the hell is wrong with you?! You could've warned me!"
"I did." The dry tone made her snort, returning to scowl at him when he raised his brows at the mirthful sound. "You have no control."
"Hey! I thought I did pretty well by the end-"
"After you almost killed me."
"But I didn't, and that's what's important, right?" Stiles finally sat up, flexing her hands and looking between the two boys, who kept silent, one sending her an unimpressed deadpan and the other avoiding her eyes. "Right? ...guys?"
Derek rolled his eyes, throwing the huge nails to the side and wiping her blood off his hands by rubbing it on his jeans before starting to undo her shackles.
"You had your moments."
Stiles smiled weakly at his conceding tone, tilting her chin up so he'd have a better access to the fucking collar.
"So, are you going to like, explain anything to us?"
There was a protesting noise from her side, and Stiles could only blink at the pure hatred shining in Scott's face and at how he was suddenly hovering over her protectively.
"He did this to us!" He spat with disgust, baring his teeth when Derek rolled his eyes again, sending him a scathing look while undoing the shackles on her ankles, swiftly rising to his feet and swiping back the leather jacket Stiles hadn't noticed was covering her.
"Scott, I seriously doubt that." She grunted and finally sitting up after a whole night sprawled out on the hard floor.
It was... weird.
Stiles remembered flashes of the night, of struggling against the binds, of snarling and wishing blood coated her tongue; remembers the pain that brought her back and how Derek had tried soothing her despite the fact she'd tried biting off pieces him with her teeth.
The girl raised a brow at Scott's betrayed look, shaking her head and flexing her hands to get rid of the aftershocks from it healing.
"But he-"
"Saved me from going on a rampage." She cut him off, sending an amused look at Derek's smug quirk of a lip before going for the water bottle one of them had set closer to her, barely noticing that it was warm when it felt that heavenly.
"Stiles, c'mon-" Dropping the bottle with a gasp, Stiles shook her head a little, barely noticing the glares they were sending each other. "He nailed your hands to the floor!
"I'm pretty sure I asked him to."
"Still!"
Derek scoffed loudly, rolling his eyes and sneering at Scott.
"Are you forgetting I saved your ass last night?" That caught Stiles' attention, who'd been scarfing down what was left of the sandwiches and tilted her head at them in a silent question. "Your little friend over there almost got captured by hunters."
"What?" She didn't remember anything like that, why didn't she remember anything like that? Did it happen because Derek wasn't there so help him? No, Scott was supposed to learn about Allison's dad like that, right? Shit.
"Yeah, bet he didn't tell you about that, did he?"
"Hunters?"
"Yeah! With crossbows!" When Stiles turned to look at Derek for answers, he simply wasn't there.
"Right, way to look innocent, Derek."
"Derek? That's his name?" Scott called for attention again after hearing her mutter, rising up to his feet as well while Stiles checked him over and picked up her things. "You know him?"
"Alright, I don't appreciate the accusing tone-" Her friend trailed after her when Stiles cocked her head for him to follow behind her. "And I knew of him."
When he only grumbled annoyedly, Stiles was hopeful he wouldn't grill her about something she couldn't hide.
It was only when he kept sullenly silent during the ride back that she started worrying, glancing at him worriedly while trying to remember the way to his house before Stiles finally caved.
"Everything alright there, buddy?"
"You know what actually worries me the most?" Stiles silently raised a brow, telling him to carry on. "Allison probably hates me now."
He looked so pitiful Stiles almost felt bad, as it were, all she could do was send him an annoyedly glare.
"Really, Scott? Not the hunters with the weapons or the loosing control and killing people, thing?" When he didn't seem to have heard her, Stiles rolled her eyes. "Unbelievable- look, call her and apologize. Say you had an asthma attack and that you're really, really sorry, or something."
"I- I can't do that! I can't lie like that-"
"So are you going to tell her you were turning into a werewolf?" His mouth opened and closed at her deadpan, face twisting and peering at her with those sad puppy eyes as an answer. "Tsk- We'll be fine. I'll- I'll figure something out, alright?"
And she really needed to figure something out.
Like why she was still there after the full moon, something she had been certain was going to send her back. It had made sense when she first thought about it, like she'd be expelled out of Stiles' body while she shifted, but... But it didn't happen.
It didn't, and because she didn't prepare, Derek had to keep her locked, which probably led Scott into a very bad situation.
That was on her.
Scott sent her a sad smile in response, looking a little hopeful before sinking in his seat, resting back with his head resting on the window and watching the tress pass by.
Yeah, she would... figure something out.
It was weird having classes again, and Stiles couldn't help but feel unnatural as she was able to pay attention without any tiredness that should've come from barely sleeping that weekend.
Half of the reason was that she was terrified of Peter controlling her while unconscious, the other half was that she was afraid of falling asleep and still waking up in Stiles' bed.
It was tiring to feel that way, and the dreams she was having weren't helping any.
Oh, part of her knew what they were. Could recognize the blurry images as Stiles' childhood memories; of punching a big kid who had been holding Scott's inhaler over his head when they were children, of a pretty woman with curly hair singing to her in a language she couldn't understand or of afternoons spent in strolls from the perch of the Sheriff's shoulders.
Memories.
Stiles' memories.
She didn't want to understand, to find meanings in it, to what it could mean that those wisps of memories were returning to her.
So she didn't.
She pushed the thoughts away and ignored how easy it was to accept a kiss to the temple from the Sheriff, or how it'd been natural for her hand to change shift when the jeep started making a noise she hadn't heard before.
Stiles just... kept doing her best.
It was a good thing that she was the only one in the lockers, as she could only blink at Scott stumbling inside and shedding his equipment instead of adjusting it.
"What the hell are you doing here?" The boy only leaned back dazedly against her own locker, staring ahead blindly and making Stiles wave a hand in front of his face, snapping her fingers impatiently. "Scott! What the hell happened?"
"I apologized to Allison." He mumbled, hardly flinching when she snapped her fingers at him again.
"Alright, and?"
"And she's giving me a second chance."
When her friend didn't elaborate, Stiles sighed tiredly and put down her equipment praying and hoping no-one saw Scott there.
"I'm going to need more than that as to why you risked getting here to talk to me, Scotty."
"Her dad shot me."
"Oh."
"With a crossbow." Stiles pursed her lips at his breathed out words, nose itching at the strong scent of his anxiety and despair he was releasing.
"Allison's father is a hunter." When Scott nodded slowly before starting to freak out, head moving up and down quickly along with his terrified breaths, Stiles cursed quietly and stepped in front of him to pat his shoulder harshly in order to bring him back, her gloves softening the smacks.
"Calm down, c'mon. Don't wolf out on me now-" He sent her a freaked out look, leaving her to sigh again before picking up everything he had discarded, handing it to him silently. "We'll talk about this after practice, but first, did it look like he recognized you?"
"Huh? N-no, I don't think so."
"Alright, did it look like she knew about it?"
"I don't know!" Stiles raised an unimpressed brow at him snapping at her, but let it slide when he went back to heaving out freaked out breaths. "What if she does? She's going to kill me-"
Oh, and now he was about to cry-
"I wouldn't let her." He sniffled and looked down at Stiles for reassurance, leaving her just a tad surprised that she meant it. Her resolve hardening at his misty eyes and how he hugged his equipment to his chest like a child, reminding Stiles that while she might be an almost adult on the inside and had knowledge of most things, Scott was a kid. Was he even 16? The bite aged him physically, but watching him cower at the thought of hunters made how young he was awfully clear. "I won't let them. No one is hurting you, Scott."
She reached out to squeeze the nape of his neck as Derek had done to her the night of the full moon to calm her down, feeling the shift in her eyes to mirror how his own flashed gold.
"We'll me alright, Scott."
Mostly.
The moment she stepped into the field, she could sense Derek around.
It was a weird thing, and she mostly felt like a dog sniffing the air and head swinging around in search of the man before shaking her head and walking to the line, hearing the Coach hype up the team as she stretched out.
Whether Derek was just checking up on them or making sure they wouldn't kill anyone, but either way, it eased a bit of her worries that if he had to, he'd help them.
Stiles jumped a bit on her feet, tightening her hands on the stick when the Coach whistled at her to move, rushing and deciding to use the opportunity to pull back her strength.
It was... harder than she expected to turn it off, dodging Jackson's vicious tackle at the last second instead of trying to work her human strength, still stumbling when he kicked his feet back to trip her.
She glared at him from behind her helmet when he stood up to sneer down at her while everyone cheered, returning his bare of teeth while the coach whooped in excitement, hyping him up.
"Jackass." Her growl had Scott tilting his head from afar, watching her rise to her feet and glare ahead. The blood was rushing through her ears, and it was only the feeling of Derek's sharp gaze on her that reminded Stiles she shouldn't be wolfing out in public.
"Are you alright?" Her friend muttered from somewhere in line, only receiving a sharp nod in response while Stiles tried thinking of anything that would calm her down. What could she use as a goddamn anchor?
Certainly not her parents, they didn't really mean much to her, and thinking about her best friends back home made her want to cry her eyes out and she didn't have any boyfriends or girlfriends to love-
So for that moment she focused on what was around her.
The grass was brittle and green, the protection pads were tight against her filling out body, white and red, her mouth tasted of spearmint from the gum she had earlier with a twinge of blood from biting her cheek, Danny smelt of Armani and sweat.
It wasn't perfect, but it was enough that she could ignore Jackson's face as she did her laps.
She finally found Derek standing at the side of one of the bleachers, hands in his leather jacket - a new one - and watching them blankly. He gave her a single nod when their eyes crossed, acknowledging that he knew she had been aware Derek had been lurking around.
The next series of events surprised her, and at the same time, didn't.
She knew there had been a moment where Scott had hurt Jackson, but for some reason, she had genuinely believed it'd been further into the show, not that soon.
It was not that Stiles didn't know of what happened during the first season, she did, she had just expected to have more time!
Feeling frustrated with herself, Stiles didn't give Scott time to explain himself before she was dragging him into the lockers, not being particularly gentle as she slammed him against the lockers to roar in his face.
The effect was instant as Scott stopped snarling and trying to fight against her grip, slacking back into the metal lockers with panicked huffs and wide eyes, flicking them around in confusion as she pinched her lips tightly to watch him come back to himself.
"...Ow." Stiles snorted at his reaction, stepping back when Scott brushed a hand down his face nervously. "What happened?"
"You tried biting a chunk out of me so I screamed in your face loud enough to pull you back." She cocked her head to the side a little with a shrug. "And I knocked you around, a little."
"That explains why I felt a rib pop back." His grunt made her grin teasingly, smile stretching when he glared half-heartedly at her. "Why did that happen?"
"You got angry."
"But it's lacrosse. Anger is like, the whole thing! It drives us!"
"Well, find something else to drive you." Stiles mocked, finally pulling out her gloves and dropping them by the bench by her side, looking up at her friend warily. "You can't lose control like that during the game."
"Me? What about you? I thought you were going to attack Jackson when he tripped you!"
"It wasn't half that bad, alright?" And it really wasn't. Yeah, he annoyed her and getting tripped had been embarrassing, but it wasn't like she truly cared about lacrosse. "And I wasn't the one that like, dislocated his shoulder!"
The way he snapped his head back down at her had Stiles flinching back in surprise, seeing his wide freaked out eyes. Crazy eyes.
Yikes.
"I did what?!"
"Oh, I don't- I don't really know, but it made a sound, so I'm just assuming!"
"Oh my God-"
She had to spend a few more minutes calming him down before going back to practice and being forced into ten laps around the field for almost ditching before the Coach decided to punish her further by putting her in the goal, since Danny had taken Jackson to the hospital.
At least, from what she heard, the nurse had said it wasn't dislocated, just separated. Which was definitely better, but it still left Finstock annoyed and worried about Jackson playing the game that Saturday, so...
Derek hadn't been around when she returned, and Stiles could only hope he wasn't terrorizing Scott in the lockers, but the lack of screams eased her enough to play her part despite Finstock screaming at her when she allowed a few to get in, forcing her arm not to move and catch half of them.
By the time she was home and cuddling Void to her chest on her way to her room, Stiles had already heard Derek shuffling around in her room. Honestly, she made no move to be faster, leisurely making something to eat while holding Void to her hip as if he was a child, not that the weird cat seemed to mind.
She glanced at him standing in the corner before sitting down in her desk after stepping into her room, turning it around to face him curiously while he just... stood there.
"Are you just going to lurk around, or do you have a message for me? Maybe something about how I have to-"
"Drop the game." He interrupted sharply.
"Yup, there it is." Swinging her chair back to the desk, she let Void jump from her lap to stumble Derek's way, his cast still giving him an adorable wobble and better yet, a reason to carry him everywhere, much to the Sheriff's amusement.
She had put too much sauce on her chicken salad, but still stuffed her mouth full of leaves and avocado.
Her chair was turned around violently, nearly sending her salad flying as Derek towered over her with a glare while she slowly chewed the vegetables, brows raised at the act and how he still had a hand behind her, staring at her from so close that the color of his eyes blurred slightly.
Were they green or gray? She couldn't really tell from so close.
"Drop. The. Game."
She finished chewing, much to his aggravation - which only made her take longer to answer, by the way -, enjoying watching the muscle of his jaw jumping annoyedly.
"Ask nicely and I'll consider it."
Stiles grinned when he flashed his blue eyes dangerously, shrugging at the way he growled lowly with narrowed eyes.
"This is serious. One of you could shift in the field and bring every hunter's attention!"
"Anyone ever tell you that you lack some faith?"
"You, a bitten werewolf with a week of powers almost killed me, while your little friend actually hurt someone during practice." Alright, so maybe they weren't as controlled as you'd expect but they only had a week of werewolfness under their belts.
Her expression must've been too stupid, because Derek was soon straightening up with a roll of his eyes and a disgusted scoff.
"So? We're still learning! Besides, weren't you on the basketball team when you were in High school?"
His face darkened, eyes narrowing in suspicion as she tried swinging back for another bite of lettuce, but Derek dragged her away when she was digging in, making Stiles protest sadly.
"How do you know about that?"
"Hell if I know, must've seen it somewhere." She looked at the dinner from over her shoulder longingly before slumping on her chair to glare up at him. "Look, I'm not dropping out- Scott isn't dropping out, no matter how much you threaten to hurt or kill us, which by the way, I don't believe for a second. So, how about instead of trying to stop us, you help us control our shift, huh?"
"You can't." When she raised her brows at his hiss, he crossed his arms and finally stepped back in frustration, sending her a withering glare and watching her pick her salad bowl while Void hobbled back to her, seemingly done with being ignored by Derek. "Not with so little time."
"We can try." She turned to look back at him, letting Void jump back on her lap and sniff her bowl while Stiles rolled her chair in his direction, again. "C'mon, how about we compromise, huh? You try to teach us control, if by Friday it doesn't work, I'll let you run us over with your car to send us to the hospital."
"You'd heal." Derek snapped shortly.
"We'd pretend- C'mon! Work with me a little, Derek!"
There was a moment of silence as the older werewolf studied her shrewdly, taking in her pleading face before exhaling slowly with a shake of his head.
"It's too risky, Stiles." He frowned, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jacket. "A game isn't worth dying for. There'll be other games."
"Well, good luck trying to convince Scott of that. He's still at work, so you can either stick around and read something," Stiles waved at her bookshelf, using the pause as an opportunity for another bite. "or you can go lurk in the darkness of his room and wait for him to go home, you know, like a creep."
Derek seemed to think for a moment before promptly turning on his heels to open her window, sliding out as she gaped at the act.
"You could've used the goddamn door!"
She was sure she heard a quiet snort, but decided that she simply did not want to know.
Well, she better get the assignments out of the way, since she had a feeling her week was going to be long.