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“You’re all fucking idiots.”
It’s the first thing Stiles says when he sees the pack again. He’d finally gotten through to his father, after calling him in a panic about a hundred times. His dad had sounded tired on the phone, but alive. That stymied his anxiety, but not his anger, not after his dad explained everything that had happened. Stiles was at the airport getting a flight home before he and his dad even ended the call. He only got angrier during the 6 hour flight, and the hour long drive from LA to Beacon Hills.
Now he stands in front of the pack, who are all shockingly, alive. He glances at Allison, who gives him a small smile. Despite his anger, he returns it. He and her will have a lot to talk about, after this.
They’re all piled into Derek’s living room, most of them tracking mud and leaves across the floor. Malia has a twig in her hair, and both Derek and Parrish are singed around the edges and covered in ash.
Eli has tear stained cheeks and keeps subtly trying to wipe at his face when he thinks no one is looking.
“Did no one think to call me, during all this?” He glares at his dad, who looks sheepish. “Well, I was going to, but right as I took my phone out the nogitsune-” Stiles holds up a hand to stop him.
“Every single person in this room has access to a cell phone. I could have helped. Do you understand that if Derek hadn’t become a true alpha- which, congratulations by the way -he would have died .” He pauses to let that sink in. “Permanently, guys. Forever. Allison’s case is a freak incident and we are all so happy to have you back, but fuck! Do you guys ever use your brains, or are they just taking up space in your skulls?”
Scott looks angry now, “What was I supposed to do, Stiles? Of course I would do anything to bring Allison back-” Stiles scoffs and interrupts, “Dude. This isn’t even about Allison. This is about you, the Alpha of this pack, allowing Derek to do his stupid martyr bullshit and sacrifice himself by burning to death in front of his teenage son. What the fuck is wrong with you all?” He directs the last sentence at the entire group, and everyone looks away, unable to meet his eyes.
Stiles sighs, pinching the space between his eyes before looking up with a strained smile, “I love you all dearly, but you’re all idiots. Now everyone who doesn’t live here, go home. Tomorrow we’re having a fucking pack reunion and we’re going to catch up, but for now you all look like shit. Go take showers and sleep.”
No one argues with him, thankfully, and everyone files out of Derek’s front door. “And someone call Isaac!” He shouts at their retreating backs. Lydia is the last to leave, gripping his arm affectionately and giving him a smile. “Go easy on him, okay? He did just almost die.” Stiles pats her arm and lets her go, turning to Derek and Eli as soon as the front door clicks closed.
“Eli, nice to meet you. Your dad has told me absolutely nothing about you, or that you even exist.” Stiles raises an eyebrow at Derek, who looks like he wishes he was anywhere but in his living room.
Eli smiles shyly, “Uh hey, you’re Stiles, right? I like your jeep.”
Stiles grins, “Yeah? Roscoe’s awesome. We’ll have to talk about that more, maybe tomorrow, but right now I have to yell at your dad a bunch. Mind going to your room and listening to some music for a bit?”
Eli smirks at Derek and shrugs, “Sure.” He walks out of the room and Stiles knows he will be listening the entire time, but it’s better not having him in the room directly.
Stiles turns to Derek, finally. “What the fuck, man.” It comes out more tired than angry, because Stiles is suddenly exhausted. “What if you had fucking died, Derek. What would Eli have done? What about my dad?”
Derek stares at Stiles defiantly, “Scott would have taken care of him, he’s an alpha. Eli would have been fine-” He’s cut off by the look of horror and rage on Stiles’ face.
“Dude, are you actually insane?” Stiles hisses, “Scott can barely take care of himself, let alone raise a teenager, for one. Secondly, you of all people should know that watching his family burn to death in front of him, does not a fine teenager make!”
Derek winces and Stiles will feel bad about it later, but Derek needs to hear this. “He would not have been fine, an alpha is not a replacement for a dad, you fucking idiot. Now I’m going to assume that he’s used to your self sacrificing bullshit and won’t hold this against you for the rest of his life, because you were doing what you thought was best for everyone including him, but you are so lucky to still be alive right now because if you weren’t I would have resurrected you and killed you again myself.”
They stare at each other in silence for a moment before Derek’s shoulders drop and he sighs, “I know. You’re right- don’t give me that look, I’m not the same man who can’t admit when he’s wrong that I was when you were 17.” Stiles shrugs and keeps looking at him smugly, gesturing for him to continue. “We’re kind of useless when we don’t have you around to neurotically plan for every outcome.”
Stiles smiles finally, and his voice is fond as he replies, “You guys are kinda hopeless without me, huh?”
Derek shrugs but he’s smiling too. After a moment he says, “You’re here now, which means I probably should tell you about Eli.”
Stiles nods, “Yeah, I would love to know why you are raising a teenager that looks and talks and dresses exactly like me. Who is obsessed with Roscoe, apparently. Whose name is the middle three letters of my name, backwards.”
Derek, to Stiles' complete fascination, flushes bright red, and grumbles, “Of course you would notice his name immediately.” Stiles raises an eyebrow, waiting for Derek to continue. “I… Missed you. When you left.” He can’t meet Stiles' eyes as he goes on, “A lot. I started the garage and I kept your jeep, thinking I could maybe fix it properly. That maybe somehow if I got it working and kept it working, you’d… Come back for it, or something. It was dumb. But you didn’t come back. So I kept… missing you. And one day I was walking through the Preserve and I heard a baby cry. So I followed the sound, and it led me to the nemeton. There was a baby laying on the center of the stump. I took it to Melissa and she said he was just a few years old. Him being 15 right now is kind of a guesstimate.”
Stiles takes a few steps back and falls solidly onto Derek’s couch. “You missed me so much that the nemeton magic’d a baby for you… That looks like me. And you. Us. Together.”
Derek puts his face in his hands and groans, “Yes.”
They both pause as there is a not so subtle thump from the direction of Eli’s room, like he dropped something. Derek’s head shoots up and then tilts, listening to what Stiles can’t hear. Derek rolls his eyes, but then looks back at Stiles.
Stiles’ eyes do not leave Derek’s face as he pulls out his phone and calls his supervisor. She answers the phone with a, “Hello?” and Stiles just starts talking. “ Hey, it’s Stilinski. You know that family emergency I had to come home for? It’s maybe going to be a sort of permanent kind of deal. I’m gonna need you to pull some strings for me so I can get transferred over here.” There’s silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds before she replies, “sure thing,” and hangs up. Stiles shoves his phone back in his pocket.
Derek is looking at him, incredulous. “You’re staying?”
Stiles stares at him like he’s an idiot, “You magic’d an us baby and then didn’t tell me for 15 entire years of his life. I’ve missed 15 years, you’ve made me into a deadbeat dad and I didn’t even know about it.” At Derek’s silence he continues, unsure, “Unless you don’t want me to… be in his life?” Stiles tries to push back against the bile that rises in his throat at the thought that Derek didn’t tell him about Eli simply because he thought Stiles would be a bad father.
Derek looks flabbergasted and reaches out both arms, “No! No, I want you to be in his life, in… in our lives. I just didn’t think you’d want to stay. I thought you’d be, I don’t know, mad? Or at least weirded out.” He drops his arms to cross them over his chest defensively, but he meets Stiles’ eyes before continuing, “If you’re staying, you should probably know I’ve been in love with you for an embarrassingly long time.”
Stiles grins, which seems to surprise Derek. “Derek, do you really think the nemeton would have given you a baby with the combined DNA of someone who didn’t love you ?”
Derek’s eyes widen, “But- What about Lydia?”
Stiles’ smile turns a bit wistful, “I do love Lydia. I always will. She likes to tell herself that she left because of her premonitions, but it wasn’t working out before that happened. Years of teenage infatuation isn’t actually a solid foundation to build a relationship on. She’s my best friend. That’s all we’ll ever be to each other.”
Derek nods, “So where does that leave us?”
Stiles leans back against the couch, smiling, “Well, I’d be open to dating. I think we have a lot to catch up on. We should get to know each other again. And I’d like to have some one on one time with Eli, though that’s really up to him.” Stiles sits up suddenly, “Oh my god, Derek what if he doesn’t even like me?!”
Derek smiles fondly, “I’ve told him a lot of stories about the adventures we used to get into. I think I accidentally made him think you’re a lot cooler than you actually are.”
Eli takes his moment to walk back into the room, going toward the kitchen. “Just getting a soda, don’t mind me!”
Stiles rolls his eyes, already fond. “You know he’s been listening the entire time, yeah?” Derek nods, exasperated, as Eli makes a big show of getting a soda from the fridge and then sipping it slowly while standing in the kitchen.
“Eli, come here.” Derek points at the chair next to him, and Eli sets his soda down to warily cross the room and sit down. Derek takes a deep breath and says, “Eli I want to meet… your other dad, Stiles.” Stiles smiles at Eli, whose face lights up. “Does this mean I get to keep the jeep?”
Stiles bursts out laughing as Derek scowls, “We’ll have to talk about it. Maybe some driving lessons to start.”
Eli grins, looking between the two of them, and Stiles feels a sense of calm settle over him that he hasn’t felt in a long time.
“C’mere, kid. I’m gonna hug you.” Eli stands, and Stiles shoots out of his chair and pulls Eli in by the shoulders. After a few moments, he feels Eli’s arms circle around him, and he meets Derek’s eyes over Eli’s shoulder. He’s smiling, but his eyes are round, like he’s in disbelief at what he’s seeing. Stiles winks at him and grins, hugging their son tighter.
It’s good to be home.