For one brief moment that felt like a thousand years, Stiles' room was quiet as the two boys struggled to figure out how to address the events of the past two hours (Has it really been just two hours?).

The uncomfortable silence was broken by Stiles' dad appearing behind Scott.

"How do you feel son?"

Stiles answered, "Hey dad, I'm feeling much better now actually."

"That's good, but remember to take your medicine in a couple of hours okay?"

Stiles just rolled his eyes, "Yes dad, I'll take it."

"Good." Noah said before turning to Scott, "Scott are you gonna stay over?"

"I'm not sure yet Sheriff. Maybe."

"Alright, I gotta head back to the station. I should be back in a few hours."

Noah waited until both boys assured him they would be alright before leaving the house. Jane Doe's body couldn't be examined until the next day because Dooley's body was considered a priority and there was nobody else to do the autopsy on the upper half of Jane Doe's body, but Derek Hale could be interrogated tonight and he intended to be there to get some answers. At the very least he could get the girl's name so he could inform her family of what happened.

As soon as the Sheriff left, Stiles and Scott looked at each other, wondering who would speak first.

"Derek Hale was arrested this afternoon." Scott said after a while.

"Yeah, I heard."

As if on cue, the police scanner in Stiles' room came to life and they heard dispatch say two deputies would be stationed at the Hale house to watch it for the night.

The reminder of the situation at the Hale house seemed to break Scott's silence.

"Stiles, I saw you with him at his house this afternoon. What were you doing there? Did you know he was the killer? Is that why you cut class? To confront him?"

Stiles took a moment before answering, he knew whatever answer he gave Scott this evening would change a lot about their relationship. Should he lie and keep Scott in the dark? Or was this his chance to tell him the truth, after all he was already planning on doing it, right? Scott's role in Derek's arrest shouldn't affect his decision, right?

In his head he was going over every pro and con that came with telling Scott about everything. The con list was long (and unsurprisingly, sounded like Derek). Scott was too close to the Argents, there was no telling how he'd react, Derek might kill him, it wasn't just his secret. There were so many reasons to keep lying to his best friend, but there was one very loud, convincing reason for him to say something. Scott was his best friend, his brother, and Stiles missed him.

"You're right. I did go to Derek's house to confront him about the killer." Stiles said, he decided to tell Scott as much of the truth as possible, just leaving out the supernatural side of things. He'll tell him about the werewolf thing when he was less likely to anger or scare and potentially lose his best friend. And with Derek's arrest still fresh in his mind and his worry about the game in a few hours, he wasn't sure he could keep his emotions in check.

"So you knew it was him." Scott said, "But then why did you leave with him and lie to your dad about it?"

"Because he's not a killer Scott. He's…"

"What?! Stiles we found a severed human body in his backyard. He killed the girl in the woods and buried her in his property like some dog!"

Stiles fought the growl in his throat at Scott's description of Laura. He didn't know her, but hearing Scott compare her to some dog angered him more that he thought it would.

"You're wrong Scott." He said, "Derek did bury the girl in his property but he didn't kill her."

"What?" Scott asked, confused and frustrated by Stiles' answers. "You didn't see her Stiles. Her eyes were still open, like she was condemning everyone for letting her be killed in such a horrible way. And yet here you are defending the man that did that to her and I don't understand it! How could you possibly stand by such a monster?"

"Because he's my friend Scott!" Stiles exploded.

"Stiles, I'm your friend!"

"Really? When was the last time you and I hung out together since Allison came into town? When was the last time we talked without fighting or feeling awkward around each other?"

Stiles watched Scott's expression change from frustration to one of shock, hurt, and a bit of guilt. Seeing this, Stiles sighed.

"Look Scott, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. You weren't the only one pulling away, truth is I'm not all that… comfortable around Allison."

"Why?" Scott asked.

Stiles gave up and sat on his bed, feeling tired of this conversation already. "I don't know. Maybe it's because she's new and we know nothing about her family. They just appeared out of nowhere and then suddenly there's a dead body in…"

Instantly he bit his tongue and stopped talking. He may have decided to tell Scott some of what's going on but he couldn't say he was suspicious of the Argents without giving him a proper explanation. He just hoped Scott didn't notice anything.

"Wait," The frown was back on Scott's face as he looked at his best friend, "Are you saying – do you think the Argents have anything to do with the dead body?"

Stiles cringed before he could stop himself and instantly Scott was fired up again.

"Why? The Argents are good people Stiles, they would never hurt anyone. How could you even suspect them of this? Is this because of Derek? Did he tell you it was them?"

"It's nothing personal Scott." Stiles replied, "I'm just trying to piece this all together and help my dad find the killer."

"They already did Stiles! He's already in jail and he can't hurt anybody anymore."

And just like that they were back to where they started.

"Derek did not kill anyone Scott!" Stiles defended.

"Why are you so sure of that? What could he have told you to…"

"It's his sister Scott! The girl in the woods is his sister. He came here to look for her and found her ripped apart in the woods so he buried her in their old family property with the rest of their family."

Stiles knew that Derek would not be all that happy with Scott finding out about his sister, but since Derek was about to give the same explanation to the deputies at the station, Stiles figured he wouldn't be too mad… hopefully.

OoOoO

Deputy Matthers was on hand to fill the Sheriff in when he arrived for the interrogation. He took him to the viewing room adjacent to the interrogation room Hale was in and they both watched the brooding man through the one way mirror.

He said, "No one's come to talk to him or even go in the room since he was put in there."

"Did he say anything on the ride over?"

"Nah, he's been pretty silent since his arrest. His only demand was that he speak to you as soon as possible. Guy didn't even ask for his lawyer."

At this, Noah frowned. He's been in the business long enough to know that a suspect buried under as much evidence as Derek Hale, not asking for a lawyer meant one of two things: either he was completely innocent and naively thought he didn't need a lawyer with the truth on his side or he was a cocky criminal who knows he's going to get away with murder no matter what evidence pops up.

Either way, he didn't like it.

"Do we know where he's been the past six years?"

"We're working on it Sheriff, but the guy is a virtual ghost. Other than a New York driver's license and some cash, we couldn't find anything else on him. Miller is already on the phone with the NYPD to try and find out what Hale's been doing up there."

Noah nodded, "Alright, I'm gonna go talk to him. Let me know if you find anything else."

Still trying to make sense of all this information in his head, Noah went into the interrogation room to find Derek Hale already looking at him. Hale's eyes followed him as he took the seat across the metal table from him and if Noah was a lesser man, the man's stare would have unnerved him.

"So, Mr. Hale, you wanted to talk to me?"

It took a full minute of silence and intense staring on Derek's part before he eventually started talking.

"I didn't kill her." He said.

"Really? Because I've got a room full of experienced police officers saying otherwise."

More silence. "They're wrong."

The silence and brusque answers were aggravating him and Noah snapped, "Then explain how they found a dead body in your backyard! Are you telling me you just happened to find a severed body in the woods and decided to bury it in your property?"

"Yes." Derek said calmly.

"Now why would you do that? Because you're such a good Samaritan?"

The silence that followed was longer and Derek's stare more intense. Noah wondered whether the silences and the abrupt answers were a sign of his innocence or guilt.

"Because she's my sister."

OoOoO

Stiles watched his friend process all this new information before giving him the same animal attack story that the rest of the town will get. He knew the guilt of all these lies would catch up to him, but for now his main priority was Scott's safety and getting Derek and Laura released from police custody.

"That's how Derek and I know each other." Stiles said after a couple of minutes, "He asked for my help looking for his sister's killer. He thought that being the Sheriff's son, I would be able to help him more than anyone. That's what I've been doing, why I've been keeping my distance, why I'm always busy."

When Scott still said nothing, Stiles continued, "I cut school to meet him because I found out something about the case." He swallowed before continuing, "It was a wolf that killed her. A great, big, brute of a wolf, the same one that attacked me the night we went looking for Laura Hale's body in the woods."

All throughout Stiles' explanation, Scott kept his eyes fixed on a spot on the floor. He listened to everything his friend said and tried to make sense of it all. Some of it he understood, like Stiles helping out a stranger in solving one epic mystery, it's weird and kind of stupid but definitely something Stiles would do. Derek being somehow innocent of killing that woman was also plausible no matter how unbelievable it was to him. Even Stiles being attacked by the same freak animal that killed that woman, who is apparently Derek's sister, didn't seem all that hard to believe.

What he was finding hard to understand, however, was the secrecy.

For as long as he could remember, he and Stiles were the closest thing any two friends could be. They did everything together, from video games to adventures likely to get them killed, he couldn't think of a single moment in either of their lives where one of them did something the other wasn't aware of. Have things changed so much in the past few days that Stiles managed to keep something this big from him?

"How come you never told me?" Scott asked after a while, finally turning to look at his best friend.

Stiles hesitated before answering. If he was being 100% honest with Scott, he could give him plenty of reasons why he kept quiet about the whole Derek situation.

Because he was too close to the Argents and Stiles found them way too suspicious.

Because he didn't think he and Derek would get along too well.

Because he didn't want to drag him down into the insanity that was his new life.

Because he was scared that if Scott knew he was a werewolf, he'd look at him like he was Jack the Ripper come again.

But since he couldn't tell him all that, Stiles just told his brother another lie.

"I don't know."

Compared to everything he's said to Scott, those three words should have been nothing, but instead it was the last straw. After hearing his reply, Scott scoffed, shook his head, and headed for the door.

"I don't know what's going on with you Stiles, and I know I've been more than a little preoccupied lately. But you've changed too and the worst part is despite all you've said tonight, I still get the feeling you're lying to me."

Stiles winced, he knew keeping his werewolf side a secret was causing a strain on his relationship with Scott but he never fully comprehended it until now.

Until he watched his best friend walk out the door and he realized he had no idea if they would be talking again.

OoOoO

Noah was stunned. Of all the things he expected Derek Hale to say, that wasn't one of them. If he was telling the truth then Jane Doe could only be Laura Hale. He remembered the two of them after the fire six years ago, Laura did most of the talking and told him that she would be taking his brother out of town as soon as the police cleared them.

"After we left for New York, she did her own investigation about the fire." Derek continued, "Few days ago, she got a lead and came here to share it with you and finally get justice for our family. When she stopped answering my calls, I came here looking for her and found her body in the woods."

He kept his voice robotic and monotonous throughout his explanation. He didn't want to let the Sheriff know just how vulnerable and angry he was feeling right now. Letting even a smidge of his anger and desire for revenge show in his voice would only aggravate the situation and get him to spend his life in jail for killing the only family he had left.

"If your sister was missing, why didn't you file a missing person's report?" Noah said.

"And trust the same people who let my family's killer get away by saying the whole thing was a tragic accident?" Derek scoffed, "I don't think so. I think I would have had more luck without you and your red tape holding me back."

His response stopped Stilinski for a moment. He could understand the man's frustration and distrust of the police force. Honestly, he even shared it sometimes. Six years ago, he tried to convince Sheriff Dooley that there was more to the Hale fire than a simple electrical mishap. He just didn't understand how none of the family survived. The fire happened at around ten o'clock and even if the fire spread too fast, someone should have noticed something and at least one person would have gotten out. It was almost as if the entire family was physically incapable of leaving. But there was no evidence of arson so the Sheriff didn't listen to him. Eventually, he just forgot about the case as new ones popped up.

But now, if Laura Hale has indeed found a lead to solve their family's murder and the killer found out. It wasn't too much of a stretch to assume that's how the eldest Hale died.

"If what you're saying is true." He said, "And your sister came here to find out more about what happened to your family, it's possible that her death could be connected to the fire. If that's the case, I'm gonna need you to tell me everything your sister told you about her investigation."

"Why should I trust you?" Asked Derek, "Your people already let my family's killer get away. How do I know the same thing won't happen this time?"

Noah took a moment to gather his thoughts knowing that he had to say the right words if he had any chance of getting the surly Hale survivor to help him find the person responsible for the arson case six years ago.

"I'm sorry for your family. And for your sister." He said, "I know you don't know me and have no reason to trust me. But I promise you, I will do everything in my power to find whoever hurt them and see to it that they pay for their crimes."

Derek just stared at him, gauging his trustworthiness, as Noah did his best not to flinch and trusted that the man could see his sincerity.

After a while, Derek spoke again.

"I'll need a pen."

OoOoO

Meanwhile in a police cruiser somewhere in town, a very important phone call was taking place.

"Hey Boss," Said the man, "You were right, the Hales weren't gone forever. Derek Hale just got back in town."

There was silence as the man on the other side of the phone responded.

"Yeah, the sister came back as well but she's dead. Some freak animal attack a few days ago."

The man tapped his fingers on the stirring wheel, in his head he was already counting the money he would be receiving for this particular piece of information. He was barely out of high school when he was first approached by his employer and told to keep an eye out for the Hales. The first few weeks the money was good, he was getting paid a thousand dollars a week for telling the man that Derek Hale was voted MVP and Cora Hale punched a classmate in the nose. Then the fire happened, the last two Hales left and he hasn't heard from the man in years. He was hoping that with the return of Derek Hale came the return of a thousand dollars in his pocket weekly.

"Wait seriously?" He exclaimed suddenly, "You're coming here? You don't have to come all the way here, I mean you could just wire me my…Right, sorry Boss. When do you get here? Do you want me to pick you up or…No, I was just…Sorry Boss. I'll keep watching Hale and let you know if anything changes."

He hung up the phone and took a deep breath. His Boss was coming back to town.

If he'd known the man would come back he might have reconsidered getting in touch with him. There's always been something – off about the man, something almost unnatural. He didn't know how to explain it but the terror he felt every time he was in his presence was enough to make sure he limited all face to face contact with the man. Phone calls and wire transfers were the M.O. and that worked for him. If he didn't see the man it made it easier for him to pretend there wasn't anything wrong, that he was just a highly paid mail man. He just hoped whatever happened, he could still say the money was worth it.

AN: It hurts every time I have to write Sciles drifting apart but damn it these boys won't cooperate.

In other news, we now have a mystery caller and a shady boss. Care to make a guess on either's identity?

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Updated: September 5, 2021