Chapter Text
“What are you looking at?” a voice behind him startles him, Laura is looking over his shoulder with a curious expression on her face, “Oh, him. Didn’t he used to be a regular?”
“Yes” he growls in response, he turns back towards the line of waiting customers. He doesn’t even know the guy's name, just that he goes by Stiles. At least, that’s the name he wrote on his cup last time. He started with saying Darth Vader when Derek first asked what to write on the cup, then he switched to The Chosen One and then stuck to having Derek write Spiderman on his cup for two weeks before giving him the name Stiles. When he had grinned in response, the guy had thrown up his arms in an exasperated gesture and cried out ‘Finally, a smile’ with a dramatic flair, making Laura giggle behind him. It had annoyed him in the beginning, until he’d found himself staring at the guy. His long fingers curling around the cup of coffee every morning, smiling at Derek as he handed him the cup as if he just saved his life. The sound of contentment he made every time after taking that first sip of coffee every morning. The idea that he made that sound over someone else’s coffee made him feel – well, something. He guesses betrayed was the most fitting word for it, although he couldn’t blame the guy. He’d been staring at him those last few weeks whenever he came in, having Laura snap him out of his daydreams on several occasions.
Stiles always came in during early morning, three times a week he’d take his coffee to go, other days he’d take a seat in the corner and pull out his laptop. He’d make phonecalls, sometimes he’d be joined by a friend. Sometimes he’d sit alone, make a lot of mysterious calls without saying any names and mentioning amounts of money. And every once in a while – after typing on his laptop for a few hours – he’d suddenly cheer out loud and get nasty looks from other customers. Those moments were Derek’s favorite, the way his eyes lit up in excitement and he’d be even more hyper than normal. The only downside to that was Laura giving him suggestive looks the whole time.
Stiles looked across the window, his laptop opened in front of him. He only came to the coffee shop in the morning, sitting there for two hours, working on his laptop and drinking too much bad coffee for three days before switching to tea – which was just acceptable - to keep an eye on his suspect. The owner had hired him through his add, stating that he didn’t trust his new employee, and suspected him to be stealing from the till. Someone beside him coughed, and he looks up to be greeted by a pretty red head. Although strawberry blonde would be more fitting, and a wide smile forms on her face, “I think you are addicted to coffee” she says, trying to sound strict but somehow sounding amused.
“You’re only now figuring that out?” he asks, getting up and giving her a hug, “Good to see you, Lyds. It’s been too long!”
“Hey, not my fault” she says, sitting down beside him and glancing at his screen. He has deepened himself in an article about Egyptian mythology and had three other tabs open on his browser on how to make wigs, first date conversation topics and history of the scarab.
“I take it you’re working” she says, not really a question as Stiles nods to the person in question.
“Yes” he says, the guy isn’t really paying attention to him, which is good, “You know me, always swamped.”
She orders herself a latte and makes a face after her first sip, “It explains why you’re here, instead of your regular place” she says quietly, putting the cup back down as she makes another face, “I love you and all that, but I’m so not staying here for coffee with you.”
She gets up again and he grabs her sleeve, pulling her close, “Can you bring me a cup, please?” he begs, “I’ll be out here in half an hour, bring it to the corner?”
“God, you make me feel like a drugdealer, Stilinski” she says, an amused smirk on her face, “But, yes. I will. Since I’m so goodhearted. And I want to ask you for a favor.”
“Let me guess” he says, letting go of her sleeve, “Jackson?”
“How did you know?” she smiles sourly, “If he thinks he’s getting out of the family gathering, he is deftly mistaken.”
“I got your back” he says, “Looking for blackmail material as we speak. You’re lucky Danny owes me a favour.”
She leans forward and kisses his cheek, “I’d be lost without you.”
“And don’t you forget it!”
Lydia smiles as she walks into her regular coffee place. Okay, it’s not really her regular place, it had become her regular place a while back when Stiles had asked to meet up there. Of course, it didn’t hurt that the barista was kind of cute, and when it turned out that the coffee was heavenly, she was hopelessly lost. She smiles at him, and he nods back – smiling isn’t really the guy’s thing, she’s only seen him smile once since she’s been coming there. She knew the reason Stiles decided to come here, she’d been with him the first time he had walked inside. She had noticed him, mentioned he was kind of hot, and he’d said the guy looked familiar, resulting in dragging Lydia inside with him.
“Your friend not with you?” he asks, a raised eyebrow, she grins.
“Sadly, no” she smiles, “Trust me, he’d be here if he could. I’m now officially his coffee supplier.”
He gives her a surprised look, glancing across the street where Stiles is sitting by the window and her phone buzzes. She pulls out her phone to find a text from Stiles.
Tell him to stop frowning and make my coffee. I’m dying out here.
She smiles at the screen and looks up, “Stop frowning and make him his coffee” she says, he raises his eyebrow, “His words, not mine." she shows him the text, "You know his order?”
“Yeah” he says, pulling out a cup and writing Spiderman on it out of habit, making both his and Lydia’s order.
She pays for the coffee and gives him a brilliant smile, “thank you, Derek” she says, taking the cups from him and watching as Stiles gets up, puts away his laptop and make his way to the corner of the street.
When she reaches him, he has his arms outstretched towards the cup of coffee, taking the cup in his hands and taking a sip from it as if his life depends on it – which it might actually do, if you ask Lydia – a wide grin on his face.
“What did McFrownyFace say?” he asks, Lydia rolls her eyes, “I guess he misses me like crazy, huh?”
“Of course he does” she says, “He’s probably wondering why you stopped coming. Why you’re suddenly sleuthing with the enemy.”
“You didn’t tell him, did you?” he asks, eyes wide as he looks at his friend, taking another sip from his coffee as they start walking again.
“Of course not” she sighs, “I know the importance of secrecy in your line of work. How is it going with your other case, by the way?”
“Okay, I guess” he smiles, “Tapped his phone. They’re meeting tonight, so I’m doing a stake out to get photographic proof.”
“Great” she smiles, “Don’t get high on sugar, or you’ll fall asleep again.”
“That happened once” he says, “And it was when I was still in college.”
“So?” she grins, “You’re lucky I was there to save your ass.”
“I would be lost without your powers of seduction” he says, placing another kiss on her cheek, “But I’ve got to run. I’m meeting Scott before my next job.”
~~~
“Okay” Laura says, startling Derek again, “At first it was cute, then it was creepy. Now it’s just sad and pathetic. You barely even know the guy. I get it, he’s cute, but he’s clearly dating the red head. They’re always together. And he stopped coming after she said something about you staring at him. Stop it before he gets a restraining order.”
Derek growls at her again and she sighs, “Yeah, okay. I get it, it’s difficult to get over a crush” she says, putting some supplies into the shopping cart. She might not have taken over the business, but she loved going shopping with her brother for supplies for the coffee shop. Maybe it had something to do with her love for math, saving money and coupons. He indulged her in her obsession for saving money, since it meant more profit for him. And she was glad to help, since it meant she’d get a very nice birthday and Christmas present from him.
“Scott! No” a voice from another ail comes, “I’m not spying on her for you. If you want to ask her out, just ask her out.”
“But what if she’s seeing someone?” he asks, whining.
“Then she’ll say no” he says pointedly, “Besides, have you seen her look at you? She’s smitten. Besides, even if I wanted to help you out, I don’t have any time.”
“Okay” his friend replies, “I guess the business is really taking off, huh?”
“It is” he grins, “After the last job, I got a lot of clients through word of mouth advertisement. I haven’t placed an ad in over three months, and I’m still getting requests every single day.”
“How do you find the time to do it all?” he asks, “I’m working full time at the vet’s, and I’m exhausted. You work all day, and then do nights too? When do you sleep?”
Derek rounds the corner with Laura, not surprised to find Stiles and a friend pulling some sugary cereal into their shopping cart as Stiles checks his watch.
“Well” he says, “I hope to get two hours when I get home, before going to my next job. Another allnighter.”
“God, how much do they pay you?” he asks curiously, Stiles grins wickedly.
“So much” he says, “I tell you, ruining marriages pays really good. If you ever need extra cash, I can always find you a little job.”
“Nah, I’m good” his friend replies, checking his watch, “We should get going, though. I got to operate on a cat in an hour.”
He doesn’t notice Derek, until they almost bump into him with their cart and he looks up. His friend has a doofy look on his face, and Stiles smiles.
“Hey, you’re from the coffee shop” he says, turning to his friend to explain, “This guy makes a mean cup a joe.”
“I thought you were trying to cut down on caffeine” his friend grins, raising an eyebrow and earning an elbow in his ribs, “Okay. I get it.”
“Haven’t seen you in a while” Laura says, Derek just stands there – lost for words. He’s been going there for supplies for over a year, and not once has he ran into Stiles before. Of course it has to happen now, with Laura next to him.
“Yeah, sorry” he grins, “I’m sort of busy, got a demanding client.”
“Work’s keeping you busy, huh?” she asks, nudging her brother with her elbow as if to say told you so, which doesn’t make any sense whatsoever, “What is it that you do for a job?”
“Sorry” he grins, “Can’t tell you. My job requires a lot of secrecy. Got some high end clients who count on my capacity to keep quiet –“ his friends behinds him snorts in laughter, “Shut up, Scott. I can keep quiet, when I have to.”
“Well, hope you’ll swing by again soon” Laura smiles, nudging Derek again who gives a nod in agreement.
“Sure will” he says, “Hopefully – “ he checks his watch again, “Anyways, gotta run. Nice seeing you, Laura. Derek.”
~~~~~
“Oh my God” Laura almost screams as she takes place in the car after loading everything into the truck, “It all makes sense.”
“What makes sense?” Derek asks, not sure what his sister – who is way too concerned with his personal life, to be honest – is talking about.
“He’s an escort” she screams – actually screams – this time, and Derek goes bright red.
“Of course he’s not” he responds, feeling a blush creep up his neck and to his cheeks, “That’s – ridiculous.”
“Oh, come on, DerDer” she says, teasingly, “Think about it. He works late nights, his clients want privacy. High end clients, so at least he’s not easy, right? And he gets paid really well. What other night jobs get paid well, huh?”
“I – “ he looks for a good reply, but he can’t really think of anything. Maybe Laura’s right, he thinks miserably, maybe the guy he’s been crushing on is an escort. It’s official now, Derek’s life sucks ass.
~~~~~
Scott grins as they get into the car after loading in his groceries.
“So, the guy from the coffee shop you’re crushing on is Derek Hale?” he asks, his smile almost immediately fades, “He doesn’t know, does he?”
“Of course he doesn’t” Stiles says, “How do you say something like that? Hey, I’m investigating my mother’s murder, and I think the murderer is also responsible for killing your entire family. Also, you totally had an affair with her. Wanna go out?”
“You can’t hide something like that” Scott replies, he supports Stiles one hundred percent, even if he didn’t like the danger it put him in, “How is it going?”
“I finally got a hold of Isaac and Chris” he says quietly, there’s so much he hasn’t told his friend about Allison’s death. Things he should probably tell him, but can’t. he’s moving on, finally in love again, even if he hasn’t made a move yet. Kira was adorable, they’d met at the supermarket, feeling up melons – Stiles still laughed when Scott told him the story, and had become immediate friends. They’d gone on dates, but Scott felt wrong calling her his girlfriend, since they hadn’t really kissed yet.
“Be careful, okay?” he says, “Promise me that, no matter what you do, you’ll be careful. Solving their murder doesn’t mean anything to me, or to your dad if it gets you killed.”
“How about the Hales?” he asks, “There were kids in that fire, innocent people died, Scott. What does my life matter in comparison to that? In comparison to justice?”
“It matters the world” Scott says, pulling his friend into a hug, “If you die, I’ll kill you. I swear to god, Stiles. You’re my brother. I cannot lose you. Don’t do crazy things, and if you must do crazy things, don’t do them alone.”
“Okay” he says, turning his key in the ignition.
“Promise me, Stiles” Scott says, placing his hand on his friend’s arm.
“I promise.”
~~~~~
It’s like a curse, Derek thinks to himself. He goes for months – months - without bumping into Stiles. And now, when he stops going to the coffee shop, Derek bumps into him everywhere. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think the guy was stalking him. Maybe he’d think Derek was stalking him, that’d be even worse. He walks into his street, towards his apartment, when he sees Stiles standing by a beaten up old blue jeep. He’s rummaging through the trunk, which is holding a lot of items, and cursing to himself before letting out a relieved sigh and pulling out a camera. It’s a canon, with a big lens. Derek doesn’t know much about camera’s, but it looks expensive. He pulls out a memory card, putting the camera back in the trunk and covering everything with a blanket before closing it again and pulling out his phone.
Derek can hear him talk to whoever is on the other side of the line “Got it” he grins, then a frown forms on his face, “Yeah, it’s just what you thought. You got the cash? Okay. Meet you there in ten.”
He hangs up, and when he looks up he sees Derek and smiles cheerily.
“Hey, coffee-guy” he says, walking towards him after locking his car, “I keep bumping into you. You’re not stalking me, are you?”
He says it as a joke, but Derek still feels his cheeks go red in embarrassment as he points upwards, “This is my flat” he says dryly in response.
“I know” he says, “I’ve actually been stalking you.”
Derek’s eyes widen and Stiles laughs, “Dude, relax. I’m joking. I might be weird, but I’m not a creep. I don’t stalk unless I get paid for it. Okay, and maybe that one time in high school when I had that crush on Lydia, but we’re pretending that never happened” he rambles, “Anyways, I got to run. You know me, busy, busy. Nice seeing you, coffee-guy.”
“It’s Derek” he replies, Stiles grins.
“I know” he says, turning around and taking off. Leaving Derek frozen for a second before he regains consciousness and makes his way to his flat to order pizza and wallow in self pity while watching Friends reruns.
~~~~
It takes another two weeks – two weeks of drinking tea – before he finally gets something on his suspect Matt Daehler. It takes a lot of digging, a speed course in computer hacking from Danny and a huge dept to Lydia to get it. But he slams the envelope down on his client’s desk with a pleased grin and a feeling of satisfaction he gets every time he solves a case. It’s a high he rides for days, and a feeling that has him grinning like a lunatic for a whole day before he starts worrying about his next case.
“What did you find?” he asks, Stiles smiles as he takes the offered seat.
“He’s been stealing, that’s one” he says, “photographic proof is in there. But that’s not all. And this is kinda awkward. But remember that girl – Anabella – you dated back in highschool? Yeah, sorry. She’s his mother. Apparently she has gone a bit crazy – totally dodged a bullet there – and has been telling her son some crack ass stories about her high school sweetheart. Not only has he been stealing, he’s been discrediting you to a whole bunch of people. No worries, I set the story straight. I also called your suppliers, who he had cancelled to make your life just a bit more difficult, and made sure they’ll still deliver.”
“Wow” he grins, handing him over an envelope of cash, “You work good and fast, Stilinski.”
“Thanks” he says, taking the envelope and getting up, “Tell your friends. And, sorry, but I think he messed with your coffee, because whenever he made my cup, it was real bad.”
“Thanks for the heads up” he says, Stiles nods and gives him a wave as he leaves the little office. The feeling of relief that he feels now he’s able to return to his favorite coffeeshop is immense. And it has little to do with the coffee, and more to do with a certain barista.
~~~~~
Derek almost sighs in relief when Stiles walks in three weeks later, early morning as if he never stopped coming. And by the time he gets to the register, Derek has his cup waiting for him, earning him a warm smile from Stiles.
“I swear to god! You’re my hero” he says, taking a sip and almost moaning, “God, I missed this.”
“Hey, your own fault” Laura – who is doing inventory – says behind him, making Derek jump up again.
“It was not” he shouts back, “I have a very demanding job.”
“Yeah, yeah. It keeps you tied up, I get it” she grins, and Derek feels embarrassed in her place, although Stiles seems to miss her innuendo completely as he looks around for an empty table and makes his place to one in the corner.
“Not to go, today?” Derek asks, raising an eyebrow, he shakes his head.
“Not today” he says, “Meeting my dad here. Haven’t seen in him a while. You know, keeping busy.”
“Oh, and you’re meeting him here?” he asks, Stiles blushes as he bites down a smile.
“I might have told him about how you make the best coffee, and he wants to test my honesty” he says, taking a seat and pulling out his phone – presumably to text his dad.
Stiles sits there for fifteen minutes, when a man wearing a sheriff’s uniform walks in, looks around and then envelops him in a hug as he spots Stiles.
“Three weeks” he says, sounding a bit angry, “If you ever leave me without word that long again I’ll kill you. You’re lucky Scott and Lydia informed me that you were still alive.”
Laura sneaks up behind him again, and he makes a slight jump as she whispers into his ear, “His dad is a sheriff? I wonder what he thinks about his son’s job” she says, sounding amused and shocked at the same time.
“Sorry” he sighs, “I got some bad news, about that, by the way.”
His father raises an eyebrow at him as he pulls away Stiles cup and takes a sip from it, “What is it this time?”
“I got a job” he says, “It’s big. Three weeks, out of town. I might have to pretend to be someone’s date for a while.”
“I thought you didn’t do that kind of package” his dad says, raising an eyebrow at his son in surprise, “That you didn’t like to get too personal.”
“Let’s just say the money is really good” he says, a wicked grin on his face that fades almost immediately, “And it’s a very intriguing case. And – uhm. It’s already personal. I was just hoping you could keep a secret. If I could tell you their identity, in case I go missing. At least someone should know where to look.”
“In case you go missing, Stiles?” his dad sounds concerned – rightly so, and vehemently shakes his head. “No way. You’re not doing it. You’ve got enough other clients, you’re not doing it. You are not!”
“Sorry dad” he smiles weakly as he signals Derek for another cup of coffee, “But the times of you bossing me around are long gone. Besides, if I find what I need, you’ll be able to close that case you’ve had on your desk for fifteen years.”
His dad’s eyes go wide, “What?” he seems baffled for a second before his expression is replaced with utter fear, “No. Stiles, please, don’t. it’s dangerous.”
“Oh, dad. Don’t worry. This is what I do, remember?” he grins again, “Besides, nobody is going to look at me. I’m just an escort.”
He winks at his dad as Derek sets down his coffee and feels something heavy in his stomach sink down. So Laura was right.
His dad sighs, looking up and noticing Laura behind the counter, “Is that why you wanted to meet here?” he asks, lowering his voice a bit.
“I’m so close to solving it dad” he says, “I swear. I’m so close. I can’t – I can’t walk away. Not now. You of all people should understand.”
His dad sighs, taking a sip from his coffee, “I understand son” he says, his voice heavy, “But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
~~~~~
Stiles is nervous, he shouldn’t be, but he is. And it’s noticeable when he walks in for his last cup of decent coffee for the next three weeks. The limousine is already waiting outside, and he’s wearing a fitted suit – compliments by his current client – as he walks into his favorite coffee shop.
He laughs to himself as he always does when he looks up to see the name of the shop “Caution, contents may be hot” and walks inside. Derek gives him a concerned look, “You okay?” he asks, “You look – nervous.”
“Yeah” he says, pulling out his wallet to pay for his coffee, “Demanding job, you know.”
Derek nods, handing him his change, and Stiles leans forward over the counter and takes Derek’s arms for a moment, “See you in a few weeks, Derek” he says, although he doesn’t really sound convinced about it.
“Stiles, are you okay?” he asks again, more stress on his voice, concern seeping through his words.
“I wish I could tell you, you know” he sighs, “I probably should. But I can’t. not yet. You’ll understand soon enough. I promise.”
“You’re not making any sense, Stiles” he says, raising an eyebrow at him and Stiles grins.
“I rarely do” he says, leaning over the counter and kissing Derek’s cheek, “But someday, I will.”
And then he leaves, leaving Derek frozen as he watches the man leave, a heavy feeling of loss settling in his stomach.
Stiles takes a seat in the back. This case hit a little close to home. Fifteen years. That’s when his mom died in a hit and run, right after the - . Stiles was seven at the moment, and even now when he’s twenty two, it still made his stomach ache with an emptiness that couldn’t be explained by anything but the pain of loss and missing someone important. Fifteen years ago when his mom decided to take on the Argents, an infamous family of hit men. Although there had never been any proof, there had been too many rumors to ignore, too many witnesses that went missing, and too many bodies surrounding the Argents. When going through the files, and doing his research he had made several connections. It started with stealing the file on his dad’s desk when he was fifteen, making him realize that his mom’s death hadn’t been an accident. When he was sixteen, his best friend had fallen in love with Allison Argent, a whirlwind romance that had ended with her death. He found a letter in his mailbox three weeks after her demise – a failed carjack in which she had been stabbed. A letter he had still stuffed in his wallet and had never showed to anyone else, in fear for what danger the knowledge would pose. The letter was too dangerous to bring with him now and was safely stashed in his vault. He didn’t need it, he had it memorized.
Stiles
This is weird, I know. You never told me about your mother, and I would never push you to tell me about her. As you know my aunt, Kate, came to visit last week. When I was snooping through her room I came across some clippings about your mother, it was strange. I did some research, asked my dad about our family and – I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t. my parents moved out here to get out of the family business, but my mother, she can’t let go. My aunt and grandfather, they tried to recruit me. The fire at the Hale house? I think my aunt was responsible for it, I know she was. I don’t have any proof. Well, I do have some things. I found some files, took some pictures. It’s on the memory card in this envelope.
Pass it on to your dad, and don’t tell anyone. My dad, he’s okay. But my mom, aunt and grandfather. I don’t think you’d be safe if they knew I told you this.
I don’t think I’m safe.
If anything happens to me.
Burn this letter.
Tell Scott that I love him.
If I’m fine, then ignore my sudden drama, and find some justice for your mother.
Love, Allison Argent.
Yeah, he’d been trembling when he read the letter. Still reeling with grief and anger and an emotion he couldn’t quite place. It was the first night since Allison’s death that he didn’t spend at Scott’s house. He swallows, glancing at the coffeeshop before they take off. Maybe him walking into the coffee shop hadn’t been entirely coincidental. Maybe a part of him was sick of not having any answers, not having any justice. It was time to find out what and why his mother was killed, and just why the Argents felt it necessary to not only kill Derek’s family, but to go after Allison, their own blood and family.
~~~
“I remembered” Laura says, as they’re closing up the coffeeshop and Derek’s placing the chairs on the tables to clean the floor, “I know why the sheriff looks so familiar.”
“You do?” Derek asks, cocking an eyebrow.
“Yes. He – uhm. He’s the one that – after the fire. He’s the one that broke the news to us” she says slowly, “He’s the one that asked us about the Argents.”
Derek feels a sting in his stomach at the mention of the name. Him and Kate hadn’t been a secret, it hadn’t even been a thing between them. A few hook ups. They’d met at his mother’s law firm, where she was doing an internship. But she’d been thirty at the moment, and he was twenty. It was not something he was proud of, especially after the police asked about the Argents after the fire. When he had told them about their – thing – the police had assured him that he was in no way responsible. That his mother was working a case on them, and that they probably felt threatened. He also expressed regret two months later, that he couldn’t make anything stick. He’d sounded so sincere about it, so heartbroken, that Derek suspected he had a personal vendetta against the family as well. The Argents had left town a month later, after the murder of Allison Argent, a cheery seventeen year old relative.
“Huh” he says, trying not to start up a conversation about the subject.
“Chris Argent adopted that Isaac kid, you know?” his sister says, “He and Allison were really close in the end. And then when his wife killed herself, they. Well, I don’t know what became of them after. To be honest, I never believed Chris was involved in the - you know.”
“Me neither” he admits, when Chris Argent had expressed his condolences he had sounded sincere, so had Allison. Victoria, not so much. But there was no evidence, and a hunch wasn’t enough to take a case to court.
~~~
This wasn’t as awkward as he had suspected, he thinks to himself. Isaac is sitting beside him, Chris argents is sitting across from him.
“So, why now?” Stiles asks, “And why me?”
“Because you’re good at your job” Chris says, “And there’s probably better out there, to be honest. But I can’t really let Isaac show up with someone ten years older if we want people to believe you two are engaged.”
“That explains the why me, now the why now!” Stiles says pointedly.
“You know my wife killed herself. I always believed she did it out of guilt for killing our daughter” he swallows, “however, some recent conversations have me suspecting that maybe he suicide wasn’t a suicide. And maybe my daughter’s death, wasn’t by her hands. That maybe, I can regain some of the sanctity our marriage had, before it all went to hell.”
“Okay” he says, “So what’s the plan?”
Chris Argents and Isaac fill him in.
~~~~~
Laura doesn’t recognize the number when her phone rings at 3 am. So for a second she’s not sure she should pick up, but then she figures that if someone’s calling her at that time of night, it’s probably important.
She picks up, sounding sleepily.
“Laura?” the voice sounds strangely familiar and slightly rushed, “It’s Stiles Stilinski. I need to ask you something.”
“Stiles?” she asks, suddenly wide awake and sitting up, “What is it? And why are you calling this time of night? How did you get this number?”
“I got it from my dad. I’m sorry, it’s important” he says, she can hear him typing on a computer in the background, “Two things. Derek, he. Uhm. He had an affair with Kate Argent, right?”
“I – “ she hesitates, not sure why he’s asking, and if she should tell him.
“Fuck. Sorry, it’s personal, I know. But I need to know. I need to know if there are any pictures of the two of them together. You don’t have to answer me, but find out. And if you find any pictures of them together, get them to my dad. You remember him?”
“Yes” she says slowly, scribbling down so she won’t forget, “Stiles, what is going on?”
“I don’t have a lot of time. I can’t explain right now” he says sounding agitated, “When you see my dad. Tell him to check my mail, I sent myself a memory card. Try to get to him as soon as possible, please.”
“I’ll do my best” she says, her heart suddenly beating faster as she tries to piece together what he’s trying to say, “Stiles, are you okay?”
“Yes” he swallows and she knows he’s lying, “When you see my dad – tell him to check my vault. Tell him it’s the date mom died. He’ll know. And – Laura. Tell him I love him, okay? And tell Derek – well, he probably knows.”
“Stiles?” she asks, there’s a thump as she can hear voices in the background, he dropped his phone and she can hear a scarily familiar voice in the background.
“Stilinski” the voice preens, “I knew I should’ve recognized the sheriff’s kid. God, this is almost embarrassing.”
“Hi there, Kate” he replies, Laura can hear that his voice is dripping with hatred and she suddenly fears for him, “You’re too late” he sounds pleased and he laughs, “You are going down. For all the people you killed, for my mom, for the Hales. For Allison. For Peter Hale” he laughs again, “He really had you twisted around his finger, huh? You had no idea he was using you, well, not until the end. He was good, though. Took me a while to find what he found.”
Laura feels an ice cold sensation in her stomach as the pieces slowly connect, rushing to her laptop to look up the sheriff’s number and picking up the phone to her landline, recording the conversation on her cellphone.
~~~~~
Stiles laughs, and Kate’s face goes frozen in anger.
“You can kill me, you know” he says, glancing at where he’s dropped the phone out of reach behind the desk, desperately hoping Laura is still listening in.
“I will, I will also take great pleasure in doing so” she says, a wicked grin forming on her face.
“But it’s still too late. As I told you, I know what Peter Hale had on you. I know how you worked your way into Thalia’s law firm, how you kept track of the case they were building against you. How you took out my mother. You were, how old when you killed her?”
“Twenty” she gets a look of fondness on her face as she recalls the murder, “She was my first, you know.”
“I do” he grins sourly, “She got too close, and your dad made you clean up, huh? He probably said he’d get sent to jail if you didn’t do it.”
“Was he lying?” she asks, it’s a rhetorical question and Stiles laughs again.
“How about the Hales?” he asks, “There were children in the house, everyone there was innocent.”
“It was an experiment” she admits with a casual shrug, “I wanted to test the effectiveness of fire as a murder weapon.”
“What were your conclusions?” he spits out the words, his voice full of disgust.
“Effective, but not enough control” she says, “But it is a good way to not leave evidence.”
Laure feels panic rising up in her throat as she hears a click, a click she recognizes all too well from all her time spent at the gun range.
Two seconds later she hears a gunshot, just as the sheriff picks up and the other line goes dead.
~~~~~
Sheriff Stilinski promises to let her know, as soon as he know something, but that his priority now is to find out if his son is still alive. He call the number his son left him, Isaac Lahey. He still remembers the shy kid from Stiles’ lacrosse team at high school, the kid that managed to escape his abusive father when he died in a freak accident. It takes three attempts before he picks up, and the first thing he says is “He’s alive, we’re taking him to the hospital. Kate Argent too” and the sheriff lets out a sigh of immense relief. He’s been getting text updates from the deputy he sent to Laura Hale.
Her brother arrived for moral support, she’s still shaking.
She told him about what she knows, now he’s freaking out too
She has the conversation recorded, I’m listening to it now
Kate Argent on recording, confessing to the murder of Allison Argent, the Hale fire and your wife’s murder.
Sheriff Stilinski doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry when reading the last message, so he does both. He might run a few red lights getting to the hospital Isaac texted him, he might have his sirens on when he’s not really allowed to, since he has no jurisdiction. He doesn't really care about that right now. The only thing he cares about is getting to his son.
~~~~
The first day after everything happens, Laura forces him to open the shop. It’s not that they need the money, but he needs to keep busy. He gets up at five, and fifteen minutes before he gets ready to leave his phone rings. He picks up without thinking about it.
“Derek?” the voice is all too familiar, and it sounds scarily weak, “Hi.”
“Stiles” he breathes out, he’d been told he survived, but hearing his voice is the confirmation he needed to actually believe it, “You should’ve told me.”
“I guess I should have” he says, “I should have told you a lot of things.”
“Yeah, me too” he says quietly, sitting down on his couch, his breakfast forgotten on the table.
“There’s going to be shit storm at the coffee shop” he says, “The media got wind of it. My name isn’t in the press, I’ll probably go under until the case goes to court in a few weeks. But you – just memorize one important sentence.”
“Which one?” he asks, not sure what to expect.
“No comment” he says, Derek laughs quietly, “I’m serious Derek, say it with me for practice. No comment.”
“No comment” he repeats into the phone, he can almost hear Stiles smile.
“Okay, let’s practice” he says, “Mister Hale, did you know she was responsible for the fire?”
“No comment” he says.
“Is it true you had an affair with Kate Argent?” he asks
“No comment.”
“Do you know the name of the private investigator that broke the case?”
“No comment.”
“You’re real good at this, Derek” he says, Derek can’t help but smile, “Okay, last one to make sure you got this. Ready?”
“Yes” he smiles again, biting his lip.
“Is it true you want to go on a date with this private investigator.”
“No comment” he says, deciding not to give in to him.
“You’ll be great. Talk to you soon, Derek” he says, “I got to go, physical therapy time. Hooray.”
“Good luck” he says, it’s quiet for a moment before he replies.
“Thanks” he says after a moment, “You too.”
Derek hadn’t expected another call after that, since he mentioned going under until the trial. He wasn’t surprised that Stiles didn’t call again, but he did. Only it was a week later.
“I saw you on TV” he says, a hint of pride in his voice, “You did so good!”
“I read your interview in the paper” Derek replies, “You – you did all that?”
“Kind of?” he says, “Look, I know it was crazy, and dangerous, but I – “
Derek interrupts him before he can finish, “Thank you” he says, “I knew she had something to do with it, I’m glad she won’t be able to hurt anyone else. So, thank you.”
“No problem” he says, “It was killing me, not getting justice for my mom. I can’t imagine what it was like for you, you lost so much more.”
“I don’t know either” he says, “I feel like I should feel so much about it, but since it happened… I sort of lost the energy to feel sad about it. Does that make any sense?”
“Yes” he says, “We grief in our own way. I’m not going to judge you for the way you deal with it.”
“Thank you” he says again, “Uhm. So you mentioned something about a date last time you called.”
“I did?” he asks, pretending not to know what he’s talking about, “Wow, must have been high on pain killers, huh?”
“Must have been” he says casually, trying to bite down his smile, “So you forgot you promised to take me out for coffee?”
“I did huh?” he says, “Well, I guess I’ll have to, then. I don’t want to break my word. Even if I don’t remember such a thing.”
“After the trial, then?” he asks, Stiles laughs.
“Yes, definitely” he says, a short pause, “And just to set the record straight, since I heard Laura talk about it. I am not an escort.”
“I know that” Derek says.
“I wasn’t finished” he says, “I’m not an escort. But you will so be paying for coffee. And I’ll pay for brownies.”
“Deal” he says.
“Deal” Stiles smiles widely, even though Derek can’t see it, “And Derek – I’m looking forward to it.”
“Yeah” another pause as he lets the idea of a date with Stiles sink in, a wide grin on his face, “Me too.”
The next time Derek sees Stiles, is three months later in a courtroom on a witness stand. It’s not a surprise, he’s been in a protection program until the case. His face has been kept out of the media, his name too. The only thing Derek knows is what he’s read in the papers, what the sheriff told him when he came over and what Stiles told him over the phone two weeks ago. They might not have been able to see each other, but Stiles had managed to get his phone number and called him every single day, right before opening the coffee shop.
They’d talked about everything. Stiles had told him about Lydia and Jackson’s wedding and how Jackson went into private security after busting his knee in lacrosse. How Lydia was so close to winning a fields medal. About his best friend Scott, who was now officially dating Kira Yukimura. He told Stiles about how he was terrible during his first month working at the coffee shop. How he’d looked for someone to help out for weeks before finally hiring Erica Reyes. He told Stiles about Cora, who died in the fire, and Laura, who had been his life raft after losing everything else. Stiles told him he missed Derek, that he’d been thinking of asking him out after two weeks, but that he didn’t feel right doing so while still working on the case. Derek tells Stiles he would’ve said yes, had he asked.
He finds out a lot of things about Stiles, and every little thing makes him like the guy even more. Stiles tells him he feels the same way. Stiles tells him he can’t wait for the trial to be over. Derek says he hopes Kate Argent burns in hell.
Stiles agrees.
Seeing Stiles walk up and take place at the witness stand makes his heart both sink and jump. He looks great in his suit, and as he takes place, swears the oath to tell the truth he looks around. He smiles warmly at Derek and then the attorney begins asking questions.
The trial takes three weeks. Three weeks of coming to realize the full extent of Stiles’ investigation. The research, the undercover work he’d done, beside posing as Isaac’s fiancé. The letter Allison wrote him. The evidence Peter had gathered and hid away safely, somewhere only to be discovered by Stiles when he visited his mother’s grave and found flowers he had not put there himself. Three weeks where not only Stiles, but the sheriff, Scott, Derek, Laura, Isaac and Chris give statements and testify.
Three weeks of watching Stiles walk into court, and leave under police protection. Three weeks. Three weeks that seem to last forever.
But they don’t.
In the end she’s found guilty, as is Gerard Argent and every other member of the Argent family who has connections to Gerard and Kate.
Isaac gets put into permanent witness protection along with Chris Argent, who testifies against his family in revenge for his daughter’s murder. Gerard confesses to killing her eventually, she was getting too close and she wasn’t pliant enough. He killed Victoria when she found out he killed her daughter. He shows no remorse, and Scott breaks down in a fit of rage and has to be escorted out of the court room.
Three weeks that get compressed into a few memories and some faded thoughts. And when they’re all sent away, Derek lets out a breath he feels he’s been holding ever since the fire.
He gets back to life, back to his coffee shop. And two days after the trial is closed, and the media is long sick of covering the story, Stiles walks into the coffee shop.
“The usual?” he asks, Stiles shrugs.
“Surprise me” he says, “And two brownies.”
“Something different, huh?” he asks, Stiles smiles weakly as Derek places the two brownies on the counter and then he takes Derek’s hand.
“I think I’m ready for something different” he says, giving Derek a meaningful look, “What do you think?”
“Yeah, different sounds great” he says, he looks over his shoulder to see Laura look at him with a hopeful smile on her face. “Cover for me?”
“I’d be happy to, little brother” she says, taking his apron from him and tying it around her waist, “You go have fun. It’s been long overdue.”