!WARNING! VERY MINOR GRAPHIC VIOLENCE AHEAD. If you want to avoid that, skip to the next page break. Just know that Sheriff Stilinski finds the body of former Sheriff Dooley and the crime scene is bloody. It's really very minor violence but just to be safe.

OoOoO

Sirens woke up the still sleeping residents of Beacon Hills as three police cruisers raced through the streets. Fifteen minutes ago, the Sheriff's department received a frantic call from the former Sheriff's ex-wife saying that her ex-husband was dead.

All the patrolling cars who got the call from dispatch broke protocol to go to their former Sheriff's house. And the current Sheriff led the way.

Noah's first thought was that Dooley had a heart attack or his body just shut down after he played online poker the entire weekend without rest, something which he was known to do. Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw.

On the outside, it looked pretty normal, the door to Dooley's house was open and his ex-wife sat on a tree stump crying her eyes out. But inside was a different story.

It looked like an actual battle was fought inside the house. The furniture was in various states of destruction, Dooley's computer lie broken on the hardwood floor, and the walls were dented, punched through, and covered with blood.

And right in the middle of all this was Spencer Dooley twisted in an unnatural position, swimming in his blood.

"What the hell happened here?" He asked no one in particular.

He tried to move. To start his investigation into what happened but his eyes kept coming back to Dooley's dead body. It was so surreal he almost expected the old man to jump up and yell at him for being so gullible.

The coroner had Dooley on his side and was looking at the bloody mess that was his back.

"Another animal attack?" He asked.

"I don't know about that Sheriff but who or whatever did this left with a souvenir."

The coroner pointed at what used to be Dooley's back and it was then that John saw something that almost made him lose his breakfast.

"His spine?" He gasped, "They took his spine?"

OoOoO

"What do you mean you can't play the game on Saturday?" Coach said as Stiles followed him into his office.

Stiles took some time to look around the Coach's office and the first word that popped into his head was, 'man cave'. Seriously, Coach Finstock's office was like his own personal sports cave away from home. There was a dartboard on the back of the door, though the target was filled with old receipts. Pride of place went to a blown-up picture behind the messy desk of a much younger Coach Finstock wearing an old Beacon Hills lacrosse jersey and wielding a lacrosse stick. Smaller pictures like that were scattered all over the room, some were of him posing with other men in sports jerseys. Trophies, medals, and sports flags were everywhere too. Then he saw something that really shouldn't have surprised him. In front of one of the biggest trophies in the office was a picture of Coach Finstock with an arm around a teenage Derek Hale. Derek was holding up the trophy in the picture and he was smiling in a way the adult version has never done.

It was almost surreal to see his werewolf mentor be this happy and carefree. Now, Derek was burdened by grief and loss and loneliness that may not ever go away.

"Exactly that Coach. I can't play the game on Saturday." Stiles sighed. He knew that being a werewolf would have its problems but he never would have thought that playing Lacrosse would be one of them. Even Michael J. Fox was able to play basketball in that ridiculous werewolf movie Teen Wolf! But he knew he had to do it so he wouldn't end the night washing blood off his claws.

"You mean you can't wait to play the game on Saturday."

"Coach I'm not playing," Stiles said.

Coach Finstock narrowed his eyes. "You're messing with me. Is this another one of those Senior pranks you delinquents thrive in? Because if it is, it's not funny."

"Coach I'm not playing and by the way, I'm not even a senior." Stiles said, "I just want to focus on my studies for a bit."

"Why?" Coach asked him.

"Because I am a student Coach. You know, from the root word study. It's kinda why I go to school." Stiles continued.

Coach looked extremely baffled that someone would prefer studies over lacrosse.

"Listen Stilinski," Coach stood up looking at Stiles with the most serious look he could muster, "Part of being first line is taking on the responsibility of being first line. And if you can't shoulder that responsibility then you're back on the bench until you're ready."

"So if I miss this game, you're taking me off first line?"

Coach shrugged his shoulders as if to say it was out of his hands.

"Well then I've always kinda loved the bench, you know. I even carved my name on it. I have a designated bench." Stiles grinned. His own father couldn't bribe or threaten him, Coach Finstock was nothing.

Shock was written all over Coach's face, clearly not expecting Stiles to back down that easily. Stiles dared to pat Coach's shoulder before leaving his office.

"Good talk Coach. See you on the bench."

He'd just made it out of Coach's office when the older man called after him.

"If you don't play, McCall's joining you on the bench."

This made Stiles stop and turn around sporting the look of shock that was on the Coach's face less than a minute ago.

"You're benching Scott if I don't play?"

Now Coach Finstock was the one with the self-satisfied grin. It was the first game of the season and there was no way he was losing one of his surprise talents especially with Jackson partially out of commission.

Stiles wanted so badly to yell 'So what?!' to at least get Coach to wipe that stupid grin off his face, but he couldn't because not only would Scott be devastated he was out of first line, but he might hate Stiles as well for being the reason he got benched. He couldn't do that to him but he also couldn't play until he got his wolf under control.

He didn't even answer Coach, he just left the locker room and headed for class his head filled with the different choices he had to make.

OoOoO

The whole thing at Coach's office made Stiles uncomfortable. The main reason he hasn't told Scott about his 'condition' was so his friend wouldn't get sucked into the werewolf mess that was now his life. He wanted Scott to stay away from all this stuff so he could live a normal life. But now, thanks to Coach's ultimatum, Scott was already a casualty of his werewolf curse and he didn't even know about it yet!

Stiles sighed. Maybe this was a sign, maybe it was time for him to tell Scott about everything. Maybe with the help of his best friend, the two of them could come up with a way for him to not play on Saturday without letting it affect Scott's spot on first line.

The previous night Stiles waited for Scott on his front porch to tell him about his plan to skip the first game. Scott, of course, asked him why and tried to convince him to reconsider but Stiles wouldn't budge and eventually, Scott agreed to help him. They talked about what Stiles could say to get Coach to let him skip this game but of all the scenarios they pictured, neither of them thought Scott could even be remotely affected by his choice.

After leaving Coach's office, he saw Scott in the hallway flirting it up with Allison again. Since finding out the truth about the girl's father, Stiles has been watching her to figure out how much she knew but so far she seemed clueless about his father's exploits. Truthfully, he still believed that Allison was clueless and as much a threat to his secret as a bunny rabbit, but he couldn't take that risk. Last night, he was plagued again by that nightmare of being in a burning house and it strengthened his resolve to keep his family safe even if it meant getting Allison as far away from Scott as possible. He just hadn't quite figured out how to do that without losing Scott in the process.

Pushing thoughts of werewolves and manipulative coaches out of his mind for the moment, Stiles focused his attention on the couple by the stairs. Scott really did look happy and apparently, Allison was happy with him as well. He knew he shouldn't use his 'powers' to listen in on other people's conversations, but he was kinda curious about Scott's ability to talk to girls. Before Allison, the most that either of them have spoken to a member of the opposite sex for romantic reasons was freshman year when Stiles started out trying to ask Lydia to the movies and ended up giving her and Jackson the movie tickets he bought.

He still had no idea how that happened!

So shamelessly, Stiles tilted his head and focused his hearing on the lovebirds.

"No, no. It's just my mom, just nothing." Allison looked worried and possibly wondering why Scott would refer to his mom as nothing.

"I mean it's nothing." Stiles snickered, this was definitely the boy he grew up with, "Uhh, I'm never busy for you."

Stiles didn't know whether to laugh or thank Scott for still being a proud member of Dorkville along with him.

"…I wanted you to know that I'm coming to see you play tomorrow."

And there it was. One more reason why Stiles couldn't just let Scott get benched. It would be his first game where his mom and his girlfriend would be able to watch him play. He'd be wrecked if after all his excitement, he would just show up to Coach telling him he was benched for the entire season because of his best friend.

"You are?"

When Allison said it, Scott's insecurities were wiped away replacing it with a smile so wide it lit up his entire face, Stiles felt like a real interloper. It was such a tender moment, one that made the dark cloud of guilt press down on him even further because he was planning to take that away from him.

But he had to protect his family. To keep them safe from the Argents.

"And we're all going out afterward. You, me, Lydia, Jackson. It's gonna be great. Tell Stiles to come to."

Before either Scott or Allison could turn around and see him, he bolted and ran the other way. Of all the things he would be worrying about on Saturday, the group date thing just had to be one of them? And worse, he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to say 'no' to Scott if he asked him. How could he when things between them were rocky enough as it is?

Gaah! Can't a family of beavers just eat the school to save him from all this misery?!

OoOoO

The discovery of former Sheriff Dooley's body caused the entire Sheriff's department to be blanketed with grief. It wasn't just that this was one of their own, someone they all remember as a mentor at the station or a friend at barbecues and sports fests. No, it was what his death after the Jane Doe in the woods meant. Both bodies were mutilated and found in the woods. Was it a serial killer? Beacon Hills' very own Buffalo Bill? Or were the animal attacks spiking up again?

Sheriff Stilinski knew he had to figure this out fast. Thus far, the circumstances around Dooley's death has been kept out of the news but he knew it wouldn't be long before the media found out, and when they did he would have a terrified Beacon Hills on his hands and macho idiots marching into the woods looking to kill any animal they found.

He had a meeting with the Mayor scheduled this afternoon and he was hoping to have more information by then. So Noah got up and drove to the only Vet Clinic in Beacon. None of his deputies found this curious, for as long as he could remember, Dr. Deaton has been an unofficial consultant to the department in suspected animal attack cases.

"Hey doc." He greeted the affable man.

"Sheriff," Deaton smiled, "I hope you're here for a pet for Stiles."

"Afraid not doc, we got another animal attack. Well, what we think are animal attacks. I'm hoping you could tell me if it is."

He took out crime scene photos of Jane Doe's body and Dooley. Deaton carefully studied each picture, his face schooled to not show any emotion. But when his eyes caught the tattoo on Jane Doe's ankle, a brief pass of emotion threatened to leak through. Thankfully, he was able to keep the good Sheriff from noticing. He kept his focus on Dooley's body instead.

"Interesting." He said, "This could certainly be an animal. Various claw marks and bites. And you said he lived in the woods?"

"That's what I thought too, then we found out his spine was removed."

Even Deaton couldn't quite hide how surprised he was.

"His spine?"

"Yeah, tell me doc, can an animal do that? Just rip it clean off?"

Deaton thought about it. "I suppose. But animals usually go for the soft tissue first, like the eyes or tongue. This is most unusual."

"So this is an animal attack?" Noah checked.

"Have you done a full autopsy yet Sheriff?"

"Rollins is on it but I'm meeting the Mayor after this and I need to tell her something."

Deaton collected the crime scene photos and handed them back to the Sheriff.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you much more Sheriff." Said Deaton, "Until you can find more information, I don't feel comfortable condemning an animal for these crimes."

Noah frowned, not at all satisfied with the answer but he knew it was all he could get. He gathered his things and headed out, lingering by the doorway for a moment in case Deaton had something else to add.

Of course, Deaton knew this wasn't an animal attack, more than likely, this was a werewolf that's found its way to Beacon Hills. But why would the spine be removed? Was it a token? An accident?

All he knew was that this surely involved the last surviving Hale and that meant he would have to stock up on his herbs again.

OoOoO

With all the stuff going around his head Stiles wasn't at all surprised when his head started throbbing. His head was slumped down on his desk when the bell rang and the sound of stomping feet and excited chatter followed the teenagers leaving the history classroom.

Even knowing he would be late for his next class Stiles couldn't bring himself to get up. He was just so tired. Maybe he could just skip English and go sleep in his jeep.

He was seriously considering this course of action when he felt someone's tentative hands nudging him awake.

"Stiles?" A girl's voice was saying.

Stiles only grunted in response.

"Stiles, wake up."

When the girl wouldn't stop and the warning bell rang Stiles was forced to face reality and get up. He now only had ten minutes to get to his next class. He looked up and was surprised when he saw who woke him up.

"Erica?" She had her hair up in a messy ponytail and was wearing a striped blue sweater.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were still in the hospital."

Stiles didn't realize how rude he sounded until the smile vanished from Erica's face and she hugged her books closer to her chest.

"No, uhh. I didn't mean it like that." Stiles said, "I just meant I was planning on going to the hospital after school to see you. I didn't think they'd let you go back to school so soon."

Erica didn't smile again but her guard wasn't as high up as two seconds ago.

"They only kept me for a couple of hours to check me over and the doctors say as long as I took me medication, I should be okay to come back to school."

Stiles was about to ask more questions about that before Erica cut in and asked him why he was sleeping in class.

"I'm waiting for the next class to start."

"Isn't English your next class?"

Stiles looked at her curiously, "How did you know my next class was English?"

Erica blushed and hid her face, Stiles could sense how uncomfortable she was so he dropped the matter for now.

"I've been trying to catch up on some sleep. I got a lot to think about."

"Like how you're missing the big game on Saturday?"

"How'd you – "

"It's kind of all over the school next to Jackson's injury."

Stiles wasn't shocked for too long. Beacon Hills High School was worse than TMZ when it came to gossip.

"Is it true?"

Stiles sighed, "It's complicated."

Erica looked conflicted for a second then she took a deep breath and said, "Well, maybe it would help if you told me on your way to English."

"Don't you have this class?"

Erica shrugged and said, "It's fine. They won't notice me anyway."

Stiles was so shocked by her confession that he didn't even notice Erica walking out the door. Quickly gathering his things, Stiles followed the upset blonde.

"Hey, listen – "

"Why won't you be playing anymore?"

Stiles wanted so badly to ask her what she meant in the classroom about people not noticing her. He could practically feel her sadness as she said those words. He couldn't explain it; it was almost as if her sadness was an actual tangible feeling in the air.

But he didn't want to push her and upset her further so he went along with her change of topic.

"You could say I'm having – " He paused trying to think of a good excuse that wouldn't make him sound stupid.

"Ummm, aggression issues. Right and I'm not sure how well I can control my temper out on the field."

It was clear to Stiles that Erica didn't believe him, who could blame her? Anybody who knew him would find it extremely hard to believe that he had issues with aggression.

"I read somewhere that people who get stage fright get over it by not thinking about what they're doing."

"Huh?" Stiles frowned

"Maybe if you thought about something else while playing it could help. You could sing a song in your head."

As they walked to the library, (Stiles decided to skip his next class since by now he was already late and Miss Collins liked to embarrass late students) Stiles thought about Erica's suggestion. It sounded plausible enough, a psychological problem will more than likely have a psychological solution. Derek had already told him about anchors and how they help keep werewolves in control even on a full moon. Maybe Erica's song thing worked the same way?

OoOoO

"An anchor can be a person, a memory, or a feeling. Something that will calm your heart and connect you to your humanity."

"Okay, so I just say it out loud or think about it."

To Stiles, it sounded like the calming technique he used whenever he had a panic attack.

"It's up to you. So long as it can calm you down, it'll work. But finding an anchor isn't easy. Now," Derek stood up and beckoned Stiles to get into a fighting position. "You have two seconds to catch your breath before I come at you. And remember, the goal now is not to shift."

"That… that includes you, right? Neither of us shift, right?"

Derek half-shifting before him was his only answer. Stiles sighed hoping that his muscles were ready for another round.

OoOoO

The two students spent the next period studying in the library. They would occasionally ask each other a question or two but for the most part, they just sat together. By the time the bell rang for the next class, Stiles was fully considering Erica's suggestion.

Stiles was putting his stuff away when he remembered something. He grabbed a CD from his bag and gave it to Erica.

"I was supposed to stop by the hospital to give this to you but since you're here now, here you go."

Curious, Erica accepted the CD and smiled when she saw what it was.

"Star Wars?"

"I told you I was making it my duty to get you to watch this and I meant it. Besides if I could convert someone in this school I might be tempted to actually come here early."

Erica blushed immensely and Stiles smiled at his new friend.

AN: So we have a killer ripping out spines and Consultant Deaton.

Thoughts on #Sterica ?

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Updated: July 18, 2021