Derek was arrested as soon as he got home. The cops were waiting for him with their handcuffs and probable cause that he didn't even make it inside his house before they were on him. He could have fought back or ran, hell he didn't even have to come back to his house after the Sheriff's phone call, but Stiles convinced him staying and getting arrested was for the best.
OoOoO
"You can't run." Stiles said, "If you do, they'll hunt you down and the whole town will know you're here, including the Hunters."
"So I'm supposed to let them arrest me for my sister's murder?"
"No. You're supposed to go with the cops to the station so they can question you. Right now all they have is that you buried Laura in your backyard, so tell them the truth. She was your sister, you came here looking for her and when you found her body in the woods you decided to give her a proper burial. I'll talk to my dad and get you out I promise."
When the older werewolf frowned and still looked unconvinced, Stiles boldly placed a hand on his shoulder, looked him in the eyes and said, "Trust me."
OoOoO
Much as it irritated him to surrender himself to the police like a common criminal, he knew Stiles had a point. Even though he was pretty sure the hunters already knew he was back, he couldn't risk them looking too closely and finding out about Stiles. He knew all too well that they wouldn't care how old Stiles was or that he hasn't hurt anyone. They would treat him like a murderer the minute they found out about him.
The ride to the police station was a great exercise of patience and self-control for Derek. First of all, the scrawny curly-haired boy was watching from the trees as he got arrested. He knew this was Stiles' friend, the boy who dug up his sister's body and had him arrested for her murder. Then there was the coroner's van driving in front of them carrying Laura's body. His inner wolf was screaming at him to get his sister away from the strangers, to get her back and damn the consequences. He constantly thanked whoever was listening that he managed to get a hold of his wolf enough not to rip their throats out. He just hoped he could keep the same level of control when the interrogations began and they all labelled him as a murderer.
OoOoO
While Derek was off getting arrested, Stiles put his lungs, legs, and newfound werewolf speed to the test. The minute his dad left for the preserve, Stiles jumped out the window and headed for the preserve as well. He knew that if Derek knew what he was doing, the grumpy old sour wolf would rip his head off for risking everything this way. But Stiles just had to do it. He wanted to know exactly what was going on at the Hale house and listen to what the deputies and Scott especially were talking about.
The preserve was about a fifteen-minute drive from his house and he's never run anything close to this distance. Before he was bit, he never would have even considered a run like this knowing that he would be on the verge of death about fifteen minutes into the run.
But now, something else happened. He didn't know if it was the adrenaline or the moon rising in the sky or something else, but it was like the wolf inside him came out for the run. His eyes turned into a blaze of gold, his claws came out, and he instinctively got down on all fours and just kept on running. He could feel the crunch of the leaves and twigs beneath his fingers, see and avoid obstacles without stopping. It was glorious and amazing and… different. Different from the other times he shifted.
Because this time, he didn't feel angry. He felt… glorious.
OoOoO
Matthers was right when he told Scott that the Jane Doe cut in half was the worst thing to happen in Beacon Hills for a long time. It brought out the morbid fascination in every townsfolk, hardly a day went by when nobody was discussing the case. Which is why on the day they found the missing half of the body and arrested Derek Hale, it seemed like every law enforcement officer in town was present.
The number of people trampling all over the crime scene would have made any normal crime scene investigator cringe and scream that the crime scene was being contaminated. One was busy yelling at one of the deputies to clear the area while they collected evidence. However, one man reacted differently. The one who leaked the news of Derek Hale's arrest to his fellow officers.
And while everybody else was busy doing their jobs and talking about the body and Hale, the man stood by and took pictures of Derek Hale in handcuffs.
OoOoO
Stiles has been on the Beacon Hills Lacrosse Team for a little over a year now, and even though he never really made it into the real team until a couple of weeks ago, he still participated in the drills. One such drill was joining the cross country team for a run through the woods. When Coach first told them of this, he remembered complaining a lot to Scott about how running through uneven terrain was dangerous, pointless, and likely to cost him his only running shoes.
Now though, as he ran through terrain even more perilous than the path the team took every other Saturday, on hands and feet no less, Stiles couldn't even remember why he hated it. Running like this just felt so…right. He couldn't explain it, it was like, like how he felt at his first ATL concert. The thrill, the excitement, the sheer belief that nothing could be better than this very moment were at the forefront of his mind despite knowing what Derek was going through.
The run to the Hale House lasted about thirteen minutes and all too soon for Stiles' liking, he was hiding behind a tree watching Scott talk to the deputies. He closed his eyes and focused all his energy on Scott's voice.
OoOoO
Watching Derek Hale get arrested was by far the scariest moment of Scott's life. It should have been rewarding or at least cathartic, but having a cold-blooded killer look at him like he was a wounded gazelle, made him feel like a wounded gazelle with a hungry wolf on his tail. Even after Derek was escorted into the cruiser Scott swore that he could still feel the man's cold, angry eyes fixed on him. He wouldn't be surprised at all if a pair of green eyes featured in his nightmares that night.
He got even more worried and scared when Stiles failed to return his calls and texts. He told Deputy Matthers about his friend and his worry that Derek did something to him, but he just told him that Stiles was with the Sheriff before going to speak with the coroner. Scott didn't know if Stiles being with the Sheriff was good or bad, was he at the station giving a statement? Was he hurt? Did he tell the Sheriff about his conversation in the woods?
Not even two minutes later, the Sheriff came and Scott rushed to his side in an instant.
"Sheriff! Where's Stiles? He was with Derek earlier and he's not answering any of my calls. Is he okay?"
"Scott he's fine." The Sheriff said, "He's at home sleeping off a small fever. I already asked him about Hale, he says he was driving him to the hospital after he grazed him with the jeep. Don't worry, he's getting punished for it."
After that bit of reassurance, Noah escorted Scott to the car not noticing the young boy's frown.
Scott already knew that Stiles lied to his dad. What he couldn't figure out was why he was lying. Didn't he know Derek was the killer? Stiles already had his suspicions, and by now Scott was pretty sure the police scanners were talking loudly about Derek's arrest, was it really possible that Stiles hadn't heard about it yet?
He was too deep in thought that he almost missed the Sheriff's question.
"So Scott, what happened here?"
"Umm – didn't your deputies tell you that already?"
"I got the brief from Deputy Matthers but what I wanna know is just how you ended up here instead of school?"
Scott gulped, "Oh, well I just saw Derek hanging around town. I thought he looked suspicious so I followed him."
"You skipped school to spy on Derek Hale, is that what you're telling me?" The Sheriff raised his eyebrows, his disbelief evident.
When Scott made that call to 911, he can admit that he didn't think exactly things through. He forgot that he was supposed to be in school and that he had no way of explaining anything without mentioning Stiles.
"Yes." He said because really what else could he say? "Please don't tell my mom."
Sheriff Stiliski sighed, maybe Scott has been spending too much time with Stiles, both of them were far too interested in his investigations than they should be. If this kept up, he knew the boys would get themselves into something they shouldn't and he would probably suffer a couple of migraines and heart attacks along the way.
"Scott, why would you follow someone you believe to be dangerous?"
"I just wanted to help." Scott said.
Noah sighed again as he started the car, "I know Scott. You and Stiles just can't help yourselves no matter how many times I tell you to leave the crime-solving to me. Now do you have all your stuff with you or do we have to stop by the school first?"
"Uhh, actually Sheriff could you take me to Stiles? I kind of need to talk to him."
OoOoO
Guilt was the primary emotion churning in Stiles' stomach as he listened to Scott repeatedly ask the deputy about him. The fear and worry in his best friend's voice were so strong that Stiles knew he was thinking up all the horrible ways that could have been happening to him. To say he felt bad about it was an understatement especially considering he was prepared to be angry and annoyed at Scott for calling the cops and getting Derek arrested. He never even considered that his best friend might have been worried about him, that he was waiting for him to return his calls (he still had no idea where his phone was and made a mental note to find it as soon as possible). He was just so focused on Derek and how to help him with his situation that he completely forgot about everything and everyone else.
He listened to Scott's conversation with his dad, feeling even worse when he heard Scott try his hardest to keep his presence at the preserve a secret. Stiles wondered if this was because Scott saw Derek shift. Was he scared of him?
When he heard Scott ask to be taken to him, Stiles cursed his bad luck and then he ran, hoping to outrace the cruiser on his feet, at night and with no traffic in sight.
He just hoped he made it.
OoOoO
Breathe in. Breathe out.
In
Out
In
Out
All the way to his house Stiles kept a steady stream of this 'mantra' going through his head. Well that and a consistent "Please, please, please". Hoping that someone was listening and his dad would never have to know he was out of his bed when he was supposed to be sick.
Lucky for him, his wolf was definitely listening and his animal instincts came out giving him the extra burst of speed he needed to beat his dad to the house.
He'd just jumped onto his window for the second time that day when he heard his dad's cruiser pull up the driveway.
"Stiles should be in his room." He heard his dad say.
He kept his ears on the conversation downstairs while he gathered his thoughts and tried to look less winded than he was. He fixed his hair, stashed the now ruined running shoes under the bed, and thought about pretending to sleep to avoid the upcoming conversation (argument) with Scott.
Stiles didn't really know how to deal with Scott right now. On the one hand, it would be good to know exactly what Scott heard and saw in the preserve. He was scared that Scott saw Derek's partially shifted form because that was only a stone's throw away from Scott finding out about him and he wasn't sure how to react if his best friend started seeing him as a monster.
But on the other hand, he wasn't sure he could talk to Scott without letting his true feelings show. What if the gut wrenching guilt he felt in his stomach forced him to blurt out his secret and caused Scott to be angry and fearful of him? What if the annoyance and anger he felt at Scott being the reason Derek was in jail resurfaced and caused him to shift uncontrollably and do something horrific?
He didn't know and it hurt a lot more because all the scenarios he could come up with ended with him losing Scott.
"You go on inside and check on him." His dad continued, "I'll be in in a second. Here, take this…check his temperature when you get up there, he was a little too warm earlier and I'm a little worried."
The out of nowhere request momentarily put a stop to his increasingly panicked thoughts. He remembered being confused when his dad said he was feverish but he was just so relieved he got a decent excuse that he didn't think to question it. But now, he felt his neck to check his temperature and was shocked at how hot he was, almost feverish! Was this another 'werewolf perk'? If the bite was able to raise his body temperature without him knowing, what else was it doing to his body without his knowledge?
He made plans to ask Derek about these as soon as possible. It was time he upped his werewolf lessons to more than just physical training and getting his wolf under control, he had to learn everything about what was going on with him.
By the time Scott made it up to his room Stiles still hadn't figured out how to deal with him.
"Hey."
"Hey."
AN: Looks like Derek is slowly, oh so slowly, coming to trust Stiles and we have a mystery stalker. One who seems very interested in Derek.
High chance that the stalker is a fan hahaha
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Updated: August 28, 2021