Chapter Text
“Veara… What are you doing?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know, weather boy?”
Stiles scoffed. Veara felt him kneel next to her and take off the wet rag she had laying over her eyes. Veara had laid down on the couch trying to get herself to make weapons out of her magic without looking at them. The only problem was she couldn’t keep her eyes closed. Solution? Wet rag over them. She liked to think it being wet helped.
“Hi.”
He smiled at her when their eyes met. Veara smiled back.
“Hi.”
Stiles stood up and went to hang the damp rag on their kitchen sink to dry. “Your training seems to be working. You’re faster at whipping out your magic when need be.”
Veara sat up giving him a teasing expression before walking up to him. “And I wasn’t before?”
“No. No, you were fast before just now you’re… I don’t know sharper with it.”
Veara wrapped her arms around Stiles’ neck bringing their bodies closer with his hands on her hips.
“Y’know in all the time we’ve been together you still don’t know how to compliment my magic.”
Stiles laughed, making Veara smile, and touched his forehead with hers, “What? My vocabulary is still limited when it comes to magic.”
“Bullshit, Stiles. You’ve fought the supernatural for who knows how long, you practice it, and you’re dating a dragon. Get a better excuse.”
Stiles chuckled, “Okay, okay, you got me there.”
Veara and Stiles stood there for a moment, savoring the quiet moment. Veara playing with the short hair on the nape of Stiles’ neck and Stiles rubbing soothing circles on her hips with his thumb.
The moment was broken when Stiles asked, “Hey, it’s been a slow week, how do you feel about a movie?”
Veara’s eyes lit up. “Popcorn?”
“Of course. I don’t think you would allow it any other way.”
“You know me too well.” She said kissing his cheek.
*TIME SKIP*
Veara was shoveling obscene amounts of popcorn in her mouth. It was honestly concerning. Stiles had made her some to munch on while she set up the movie they were going to watch. He had gone into their little kitchenette to make more but he hadn’t come back yet. Veara knew he hadn’t left cause the wards they had placed weren’t tripped but still it didn’t take that long to make popcorn.
“Hey, Siles!” Veara yelled.
No answer. Okay... concerning. Setting the bowl of popcorn on the table in front of her she walked over to the counter and was met with the image of Stiles standing in the middle of the little kitchen, popcorn and bowl on the floor where it looked like he had dropped it. Stepping around the popcorn Veara placed a hand on Stiles’ shoulder.
“Stiles?” She whispered, “Are you okay?”
He didn’t even twitch. Veara looked at his phone which he had in a death grip in his hand then back to his face. Shifting so she was slightly more in front of him she reached up and cupped his face with both hands, making him look at her. His normally toffee-colored eyes were glazed over. Veara had only seen him look like this when she first met him. He looked like a shell. Looking into his eyes Veara sent a little wave of magic towards him, asking for permission. When Stiles and Veara had met, after a couple of months she taught him how to block people trying to connect with his mind, mainly because Veara did it without thinking and because it was very dangerous to have someone you didn’t trust connect with your mind. So she brushed a hand against the walls of his mind, asking for permission to be let in. They wavered for a moment before he dropped them and she was able to connect.
Veara felt her eyes glow purple as she linked with Stiles and watched as his eyes turned purple as well.
‘ Are you okay? ’
‘ No. ’
She sent feelings of comfort down the link.
‘ What happened? ’
Veara could feel the heartbreak and guilt and panic from Stiles’ side of the link. He sent her a picture. Oh, oh, Jesus Christ. It was a picture of Isaac. He was beaten to a pulp laying on the floor. There was a message written on the floor next to him, written in his blood. ‘YOUR FRIENDS ARE GOING TO DIE’
‘ Oh my god. ’
‘ I know. ’
Veara was sure he could feel her shock. ‘ Do you know who sent this? ’
‘ No. ’ A new wave of guilt rolled off of him. ‘ Veara I don’t know. What am I supposed to do about this? How do people know that Isaac and I were friends? Is he dead? ’
‘ No. ’ Veara sent a wave of determination down the link to try and pull Stiles out of his panic. ‘ No, we don’t know if he’s dead. He’s a werewolf I’m sure he’s just fine. This isn't anything we haven't seen before. If you want we can go to Beacon Hills. Or we can see if we can help here, figure out who or what is doing this and why. Okay? We have options. ’
For the first time, Stiles moved. He wrapped his hand around one of her’s that was cupping his face, his eyes bouncing around Veara’s face.
“Okay.”
His voice was barely a whisper but it made Veara smile nonetheless. She pulled from his mind, the purple in his eyes retreating. She rubbed a thumb across his cheekbone.
“Okay.”
*TIME JUMP*
It took them seven hours to drive from their little apartment to Beacon Hills. Stiles drove most of the way tapping a nervous beat against the steering wheel. Veara had tried to make the ride as normal as possible, blaring her music through the speakers, feeding Stiles snacks as he drove. But she could tell that as they got closer how much this was weighing on him.
They were about two hours away from Beacon Hills when Veara made Stiles pull over onto the side of the road. They sat there for a moment, Stiles refusing to look at her and Veara drilling holes into the side of his head with her eyes. Stiles finally broke and turned to meet her gaze,
“What?”
“You don’t have to do this if you really don’t want to,” Veara spoke softly.
Stiles just chuckled and raised a hand to wipe his mouth, looking back out the window, “Yeah, right.”
Veara shifted in her seat and lightly tapped Stiles’ arm, “I’m serious! You don’t have to do this.”
“Well, what am I supposed to do Veara!” His voice slightly raised, staring at Veara with an exasperated expression. “Do you want me to leave them to die? This was aimed towards me and now they’re paying for it!”
Veara tried to keep her voice level as she spoke, “Stiles they pushed you out of the pack. They left you on your own for a year. You promised to put them behind you when we met. And now we’re racing towards them and you’re obviously not okay with that.”
He just huffed, “They’re my friends Veara.”
“No.” Veara said, gaze sharp, “They were your friends. They haven’t been your friends for over four years, because friends don’t do what they did. So you tell me right now, do you want to do this? We can turn back right now and go about our lives like this never happened.”
Stiles reached over and gripped Veara’s hand in his. They just sat there for a moment, Stiles thinking over what she said and Veara giving him the time to make his decision. Taking a deep breath Stiles looked into Veara eyes, willing her to see how much he meant what he was about to say,
“I know they did awful things to me. And I know I promised you, but I also made a promise to help people. And right now, if we turned around I don’t know if I could live with myself knowing that I just left them. As for me being okay? I’m terrified,” He said with a chuckle, before turning serious again, “But I’m not going in alone. I know you’ll be there for me every step of the way, not to mention you’re pretty terrifying.” That made Veara smile for a moment but she let him continue. “So we are going to offer our services to the McCall Pack and if they let us help then we will, and if they don’t, then we won’t.”
He offered Veara a little smile, as she nodded her head. Looking at their linked hands Veara huffed a laugh before turning to look back out the windshield.
“If anything you can catch up with your dad and I can give them a talking to.” She said with a smile.
Stiles laughed, “Yeah. Yeah, you can.” Before turning back onto the road and continuing on their way.
*TIME JUMP*
Veara and Stiles arrived in Beacon Hills at ten in the afternoon. Stiles pulled the car into the driveway of his old house and put it in Park. Both sat there for a moment, just breathing. Veara looked over at Stiles, catching his gaze, and seeing the nervous hesitance behind them. She didn’t say anything. Nodding once and taking deep breaths, both unbuckled and got out of the car.
Veara knew why Stiles was so nervous to see his dad again. After Stiles was kicked out of the pack he couldn’t stay in Beacon Hills so he convinced his dad to help him get out. It was hard for both of them to part and Stiles tried to stay in touch but as he got more depressed and lonely he slowly stopped responding to his dad’s emails and calls. After he met Veara and she helped him get back on his feet, he told her how scared he was to reach out again. So he didn’t. Veara could see how it ate him up inside but no matter what she did she knew it was his decision and that he just couldn’t. So almost three years without communication. Yeah, Veara knew why Stiles’ hand shook when he went to knock on the door.
Stiles hesitated, his hand hovering just over the door. Veara squeezed his other hand and sent him a reassuring smile when he looked over. Taking a deep breath he rapped on the door. There were a couple of seconds of baited breaths before the sound of the door unlocking reached their ears.
The door opened to reveal a disheveled Sheriff. There were dark bags under his eyes, prominent wrinkles on his forehead and around his mouth, his hair was mussed, like he just woke up, and Veara could smell a trace of alcohol around him.
Veara felt Stiles tense up next to her. She saw Noah’s eyes widen when he realized who was on his doorstep. His eyes drinking in his son’s appearance. His face twisted with shock and disbelief.
“Stiles?”
Veara saw tears well up in his eyes and the pure want in his voice made her breath catch in her throat. She could only imagine how he felt.
Stiles’ voice wobbled when he answered, “Hey, dad.”
“Oh my God.”
Noah shot his arms out to wrap his son in a fierce hug. Both men clung to each other as if they were scared that if they let go they would never see each other again. It was a valid fear. Veara felt a little out of place being so close so she took a step back, a wistful smile and sad eyes watching the moment. Veara could still make out the faint ‘Oh my God’ s coming from Noah and the ‘I’m so sorry’ s from Stiles.
Veara stepping back must have caught the Sheriff’s eye since his gaze snapped to hers. Both men pulled back with tears shining in their eyes. Noah cleared his throat after a beat of silence.
“You guys want to come in?”
The Sheriff stepped back, opening the front door so they could get through. Veara offered him a little smile as she passed. They all made their way to the dining room taking seats at the table, Stiles, and Veara on one side and Noah on the other.
The older man cleared his throat, setting his clasped hands on the table. Veara knocked her and Stiles’ knees together and sent reassurance down their bond.
“So… may I ask who you are?” Noah asked.
Veara stuck her hand out, “Call me Veara, Sheriff?”
Noah shook her hand, smiling a little, “Just about.”
Both pulled back. Settling into their chairs.
“So... Dad,” Stiles cleared his throat. “I… I wanted… to say I’m sorry.”
“Stiles you don’t need-”
Stiles raised his hand, silencing his dad, “Yes, I do. I’m sorry for leaving. I’m... I’m sorry for leaving you in the dark. And I’m… I’m just… Ugh, I’m just sorry, for everything I did- or didn’t do when I left.”
Noah reached to grab his son’s hands. Squeezing them in reassurance. “I understand, Stiles. I do. But you didn’t leave. You were forced out by your friends for something you had no choice in. But since we’re using our words, your apology is accepted.”
Both men smiled before Noah looked back at Veara. “Plus it seems you got someone to help you out.”
Stiles turned to look at Veara, affection shining in his eyes, “That I did.”
Veara smiled, “Yeah, I pulled you out of the mud, didn’t I?”
They all shared a moment of content.
“I assume you didn’t just come to catch up with me did you?”
“Sorry Dad, but no we didn’t.”
“Okay,” He leaned back in his chair, physically preparing himself. “Lay it on me. What supernatural bloodbath brought you back here.”
“Stiles got sent this picture.” Veara put in.
Stiles showed his father, the man gasped, and covered his mouth with his hand. “I didn’t know about this.”
“Yeah, we figured. But this was a direct threat to Stiles, so we came to help. Figure out who did this.”
“Okay,” The Sheriff was taking things better than Veara thought he would. “I guess you guys need a place to stay while you do your… whatever.”
“Yeah, that’ll be nice.”
“You don’t have to Dad-”
Veara hit Stiles’ arm and sent him a glare. “We will take your humble offering Sheriff.”
Noah chuckled at their interaction. “Haha, Stiles’ old bedroom is open if you two are comfortable with that. You must be tired.”
“Yes, thank you, Sheriff.”
Veara grabbed Stiles’ hand pulling him to his feet. Veara paused at the bottom of the stairs.
“Oh, and Sheriff?”
“Hmm?”
Stiles smiled, he knew what she was doing.
“I just thought you might what to know. I’m kind of a dragon.”
The Sheriff’s face screwed up in shock. “Wha…”
Veara giggled and bounded up to stairs with Stiles laughing behind her.