Chapter Text
“Hey big guy,” Derek cringed when he heard Stiles’ voice. After the talk with Allison in Derek’s living room, Derek had directed them to the guest room set up for Allison and while they walked up the stairs Derek heard Stiles mutter ‘the neck-sniffing incident.’ Knowing he wasn’t even close to ready to have the ‘mates’ talk with a veritable stranger, Derek went for a run. Two hours later, he walked back into the house hearing only one heartbeat. Derek hoped it belonged to Allison, but its erratic rhythm made him doubtful and the moment he entered the house he found Stiles’ lithe form sitting on the couch, phone in hand. A second after he saw him, Derek was once again hit with the powerful scent of mates, which was even better now that it was mixing in with the smell of pack permeating the couch.
“Earth to Alpha,” Stiles was snapping his fingers in front of Derek’s face, and Derek was a little concerned he had zoned out so thoroughly that he’d missed Stiles standing up and walking toward him.
“Yeah, sorry, I was thinking,” Derek shook his head and followed Stiles into the kitchen, noting how comfortable he looked, like he belonged there, not like he had just arrived at the house a few hours previous. Derek liked the sight.
“What are you thinking about,” Stiles asked, and Derek had to bite his tongue to stop the automatic you that wanted to spill out. Instead, Derek deflected.
“Where’s Allison?” Stiles rolled his eyes.
“You’re so obvious, just so you know,” Stiles smirked as Derek frowned at his words. Instead of elaborating or giving Derek a chance to respond, he said, “she went to the town, Isaac took her. He said he was one of your betas. That’s true, right? Oh god is he some crazy rogue werewolf? Is he gonna murder my best friend and then like, eat her or something?!”
“Isaac is my second, he’s a good kid, no he won’t hurt Allison, he could probably feel the pack lines form when she said she would stay.”
“Really? Even though she’s human? Sweet. Wait so does that mean Isaac knew I-“
“Stiles can you focus for a minute please? You were telling me why Allison went down to BH.”
“Oh yeah! She has to pull her money out of her college account and she didn’t know she could do it without her parents until Isaac told her how. She wants to have it all out before her dad notices she’s not answering his calls or staying at the hotel he booked in Pittsburgh.”
“But isn’t her dad just going to see that her latest withdrawal was from Beacon Hills if he checks her account? What if he comes here? As soon as he sees this town he’ll know I’m here and he’s going to think we kidnapped her or someth-“ Derek was starting to hyperventilate and Stiles was at his side in an instant.
“Hey, stop, it’s okay. Just breathe, Derek, you’re fine. No one is going to know we’re here, no one is going to come looking for us here, we have it all worked out, okay? Allison is safe now, you’re safe, I’m safe and your, no, our pack is safe…” As Stiles continued to speak softly Derek stopped paying attention to his words and let the voice of his mate soothe him. The panic that had seized him at the thought of Argents finding them so soon after losing Laura was slowly ebbing away and as he came back to his senses he realized Stiles had his arms wrapped around Derek where they were leaning against the fridge. Derek took a moment to wrap his arms loosely around Stiles and put as much of his scent on the boy as he could before stepping away and clearing his throat.
“Um, thank you,” Derek gruffed out.
“No problem, man, it was just a mild anxiety attack. I get them all the time.” Stiles offered Derek a small smile before walking across the kitchen and going directly to the cabinet with the drinking glasses in it. Derek briefly wondered if Stiles had gone through all the cabinets while he was running or if it had been a lucky guess.
“Lucky guess,” Stiles said, grinning sheepishly before moving to the fridge and pressing the glass against the ice machine in the door. A second later he filled it with water and turned to hand it to Derek.
“What do you mean lucky guess?”
“Knowing where your glasses were, I didn’t want you to think I went through all your drawers and cabinets while the house was empty. I may not have many boundaries but I’m also not completely inconsiderate.” Derek carefully sipped the water and put the fact that Stiles had picked up on his thoughts so easily at the back of his mind in the box marked coincidence.
“How did you know I was having an anxiety attack? That’s never happened before. That shouldn’t even be possible, I’m a werewolf. And how did you make it stop?”
“Anxiety is a mental thing, I’m pretty sure it isn’t covered by the whole werewolf super healing. I just told you the stuff I usually tell myself when I’m having one. I don’t usually have anyone to help me through them, so mine usually last a long time, but I was able to get you out of it pretty quickly. Drink your water.” Stiles gave him another soft smile and Derek drank the water. “We, Allison and I, have a friend from Pittsburgh, well he actually lives in Hawaii now, and he’s really ace with computers. I’m talking ‘hacked the CIA at 15.’ Like, I think he works for them now; either that or he was going to go to jail.
Anyway, I called him and he owed me a favor from the time I totally covered his ass in Finstock’s econ class and, anyway, he’s gonna change the info on Allie’s bank statements and make it look like the withdrawal happened in New York City. It should take her dad a while to realize she’s not actually there, and hopefully by then we’ll have a more solid plan. Danny also changed our names on the digital flight manifests and then had the false names added to another flight going from San Fran to NYC so we think all our tracks are covered.”
“Jesus, teenagers these days,” Derek mumbled.
“Please, you were a teenager, what, a year ago?”
“Try six years ago, smartass. I’m 25.” Derek enjoyed the look of surprise that crossed Stiles’ face.
“Oh, uh, you have a really young face, although, I can kind of see your six o’clock shadow and it’s only like noon. You should let your facial hair grow out, it would look good on you… I mean, if you want to look good to people who like facial hair or something, I don’t know, I’m gonna shut up now.”
“Wouldn’t that be a miracle. I don’t believe you’ve ever shut up in your life.” The hurtful words slipped out before Derek could even think about them and the look of sadness that flashed across Stiles’ face made him instantly regret them.
“Sorry you find the sound of my voice so offensive to your delicate werewolf ears,” Stiles tried to joke but Derek could smell the sadness and embarrassment floating off of him. The scent of his embarrassment was familiar for a second and his nose twitched as he tried to place it. “Oh what, do I smell bad, too?” Stiles scoffed in Derek’s direction as he pushed past him and went up the stairs. With him so close Derek was able to place the scent.
It was a memory of the BHPD picnic. Laura used to volunteer to patrol with the officers on Halloween and other busy nights throughout the year even though she was technically a park ranger for the preserve. Laura and Derek had been talking to the Sheriff about the upcoming re-election for his position when one of the other officers running against him approached. The man was new in town, he’d only been there for about a year, and most of the town was insulted that he was running against Sheriff Stilinski, who was well liked and had kept the town safe for over a decade.
“Hi there, Sheriff, trying to talk citizens into keeping you in office, I see.” Stilinski had tried to be courteous but his opponent wouldn’t let up, Derek remembered looking at the beer in the man’s hand with distaste. “I mean, can you really blame the town for wanting to vote you out as soon as any competition shows up? You couldn’t even manage to keep your crazy wife under control and she ran off with your kid!” Before Stilinski had time to react Laura had hauled the man forward by his shirt, her other arm pulled back, fist raised and ready to smash the man’s face in. Before she could release, the Sheriff but a hand on her arm and lowered it. He spoke directly to the man.
“My wife was ill, and I did every single thing I could to help her get better and keep our family together. She went off her meds and a week later picked our son up from school early and hitchhiked out of Beacon Hills. I searched for them for years, and I will continue to look for them, but you can bet that I won’t allow any of the good people in this town to suffer the way I did. I keep them and their families safe and I’ve done so for a long time. I have every intention of continuing to do so.”
The Sheriff had seemed so strong and confident, but Derek could smell the embarrassment oozing off of him and by the soft, sad look on Laura’s face, she could too. The scent he remembered was nearly identical to what he had just gotten from Stiles and suddenly an insane thought struck him. Derek launched himself up the stairs and after Stiles.
Derek barely knocked before opening the door, and he found Stiles clutching an old photo and sitting on the corner of the bed. The sad look on his face turned to anger when he looked up at Derek.
“You’re supposed to wait until I say come in after you knock, asshole.”
“What are you looking at,” Derek asked him.
“It’s my mom. All I have left of her. I told Allison I think she might have been from California originally.”
“Where is she now?”
“She died when I was a kid. She, uhm, she killed herself in a psych hospital. I guess when I was like five she kind of lost it and she took me away from wherever we lived. We traveled all over the place for a year or so, always with different people, always calling me different names. I don’t even remember my real name or where we came from. When we got to Pittsburgh she told me she loved me and walked in front of a bus.
She lived and they got her back on her meds but when they told her I had been put in foster care and she wasn’t allowed to see me she lost it again. She slit her wrists with a sharp piece of metal she pried off a rusted bathroom stall and died. She wouldn’t tell anyone my real name or hers, she always called me Stiles, so I became Stiles Smith and moved from family to family until I was 16 and landed with Sharon.
She had a too small house with too many kids and she wasn’t very nice, but she also wasn’t mean, she just didn’t care. I’ve stayed with her for the past two years.” Stiles voice was thick with emotion when he talked about his mother but he didn’t allow any tears to fall. Derek looked over his shoulder at the photo and gasped.
“I think you should come into town with me, Stiles. There’s someone you should meet.” Derek was careful not to put too much inflection into his tone but it was hard with the crazy thoughts swirling in his head. He gently tugged on Stiles’ arm until the boy stood up and moved toward the door. Stiles was looking at him with confusion but he must have seen the seriousness in Derek’s face because he went without question. Derek herded him downstairs, out the front door and into the camaro. Derek carefully drove them out of the preserve and into Beacon Hills, directly to the Sheriff’s station.
“What are we doing here, Derek?” It was the first thing Stiles had said since they left the house and Derek noticed he was glad when the boy spoke up, already far too used to the constant chatter.
“Like I said, I want you to meet someone. You don’t even have to talk to him, just meet him, okay?” Stiles nodded and followed Derek into the building. The desk officer, Tara, greeted him.
“Derek! We haven’t seen you or Laura in a while! How is she enjoying being back in New York?” Derek couldn’t breathe again and it was only Stiles warm hand on his shoulder that kept him together.
“I can’t talk right now, Tara, I- we really need to speak to the Sheriff.”
“He’s not back from lunch yet but he should be in the next few minutes, go on back and wait in his office, son.” Tara had picked up on the seriousness Derek was feeling and waved him and Stiles back with no more words. The duo walked into the Sheriff’s office and Derek held his breath while Stiles looked around, picking up the nameplate on the desk.
“Stilinski, huh, what a name. It sounds like it would be rare but I swear I’ve heard it somewhere before…” Stiles set the nameplate back down and wandered around the desk to look at the pictures on the desk. Derek was holding his breath. The sheriff had always made sure he and Laura were well cared for after the fire and he had spent a fair amount of time in this very office, looking at the very pictures Stiles was glancing at now. Suddenly Stiles head snapped to a slightly hidden frame and he reached toward it with a trembling hand.
“Derek, why does the sheriff have the same picture I have on his desk?” Stiles was looking at Derek with such a broken and lost expression, his mother smiling from the frame, a photo of a woman leaning against a blue jeep absolutely identical to the picture in Stiles’ wallet.
“Stiles, Sheriff Stilinski, I think he’s your-“ the door swung open and the Sheriff’s eyes locked on Derek, already talking.
“Sorry I’m late, son, some girl about had a heart attack when I was leaving the bank. She was with the Lahey boy, he said she was his cousin. She saw me getting into that old jeep of mine and kept going on about me being someone named Stiles’-“ the Sheriff’s eyes finally took in Stiles standing behind his desk, shaking violently and still clutching the frame.
“Dad?” Stiles voice wavered as he spoke, and Stilinski looked at him slowly before saying with absolute certainty,
“Genim! My son! My boy,” the Sheriff had tears in his eyes as he and Stiles ran around the desk to embrace each other. Stiles was openly crying and as Sheriff Stilinski hugged his son for the first time in twelve years a huge sob burst out of him.
“I didn’t remember, I didn’t remember, oh god, how could I not remember! They asked me who I was and where I was from and who my dad was a thousand times but I couldn’t remember! We moved so much dad I got confused, I'm so sorry, oh god I'm so sorry,” Stiles was sobbing and muttering a constant stream of apologies to his father while Sheriff Stilinski went back and forth from apologizing for not finding Stiles to promising forgiveness and reassuring the boy that it wasn’t his fault and that it was all going to be okay. Derek felt like he was intruding so he slipped out the door and closed it behind him. Tara was waiting to ask what was going on and when Derek whispered to her that he had found Genim and brought him to his father she wiped tears from her eyes and told him he had given the Sheriff the best gift a father could ever hope for and that his parents would be so proud of him.
Derek smiled and nodded at her, surprised to find moisture in his own eyes, and sat down at one of the empty desks to wait for the Sheriff and Stiles to call on him. His wolf was purring in his chest, ecstatic to have done something so good for his mate. Derek took out his phone and texted Isaac to bring Allison and meet him at the police station. The warmth in his chest felt incredible after days of cold emptiness without Laura and he knew wherever she was, she was happy that he had done this for the Sheriff.