Chapter Text
Scott and Stiles – 8, Derek – 10
It was early afternoon and Scott and Stiles had rushed home from school to begin exploring the woods behind Stiles’ house. Mrs. Stilinski gave them each a kiss on the forehead and told them to be home before five, while ignoring Stiles’ protests that she was ‘totally unfair’. How was he ever going to get to have adventures if he had to stay at home? Harry Potter got to go to Hogwarts; the Pevensies went to Narnia. Stiles needed the woods.
But his arguments made absolutely no difference; pulling Scott out of the house, they'd jumped over the back fence and into the woods. They’d spent the last fifteen minutes walking while Stiles told Scott one unbelievable story after the other.
“Nuh uh, no way Stiles. You can’t die from picking your nose!”
“I saw it on T.V. last night. This kid put his finger too far up there and he picked out his brain, Scott,” Stiles said as he held his arms up in emphasis.
“I’m gonna ask my mom when I get home.”
“Don’t believe anything she says, dude. She won’t care if you do it, ‘cause you’ve got no brains in there to pick out!”
Scott punched his friend in the arm. “I do so. I got four points higher in that spelling test than you did. You’re the one with no brains.”
“Whatever,” Stiles said annoyed. He had totally known all the words the night before, but like always during the test he couldn’t stop thinking about why Superman was called ‘Superman’. And then that led him to thinking how there was a moment that all the superheroes had to sit down and design their costume and then...Mr. Harris had said pencils down and Stiles never finished the test.
“Hey! What’s that?” Stiles looked up to see Scott pointing to what looked like an old wooden shed. It was covered in leaves and vines and was…completely awesome. The two boys ran up to it and Stiles was about to open the door when Scott stopped him.
“What if there’s, like, spiders or snakes or a murderer in there? I don’t want to be murdered.”
“Good point,” Stiles said, taking off his backpack and pulling out two plastic cylinders. He handed one to Scott and then with a forceful flick of his wrist the tube extended into a fifteen-inch light saber. “Now we’re ready.”
Scott nodded his head and they both raised their plastic light sabers as Stiles carefully opened the door. There was a strong smell of dampness and stale air, but it was in a remarkably good condition for being in the middle of the woods.
“This is so going to be the best secret hideout ever!” Stiles said as he ripped through a spider’s web, using his very best Star Wars sound effect. Scott looked around at the assortment of bugs that scattered out of sight as they stepped over the slightly rotting floorboards.
“We’re gonna need some bug spray…and a broom.”
Stiles rolled his eyes. Scott was always so focused on the details.
*****
Derek was in heaven. The moment he’d found the abandoned shed in the woods he pumped his fist in the air – and then quickly shot a look in all directions to make sure nobody saw that expression of enthusiasm. He had a reputation to protect.
As Derek quickly pushed open the weather-damaged door, he jumped back in anticipation of any woodland creatures or creepy-crawlies that might not like their home being invaded. But there was nothing; he took a few deep relief-filled breaths. There had recently been a disastrous run-in with a squirrel that he was desperately trying to forget – if his horrible older sister would let him.
It was perfectly normal to be slightly freaked out if you’re lying in the backyard reading and suddenly a sharp-clawed rodent climbs up your leg. Unfortunately, Laura had been sitting on the back porch and had a front row seat to Derek releasing a high-pitched scream and running as fast as he could back into the house. Now, the Devil Hale had taken to taping close-up photos of squirrels in all manner of places – behind the bathroom door, on the back of the kitchen cupboard, on his bedside table – anywhere that provided the most shock factor for her poor brother.
Scowling at the memory, Derek took a wary step into the small room. It was surprisingly free of cobwebs, dirt and anything else he had expected to find in there. His excitement returned as he thought about how great this place was going to be for him. There would be no interruptions from annoying family members constantly bursting into his room; he would be able to sit and read all of his books – in peace. Derek pulled out his copy of Treasure Island and then used his bag as a makeshift pillow as he got comfortable on the floor.
He had managed to reach ‘The Black Spot’, when the sound of feet running through fallen leaves interrupted him.
“You did not just see Bigfoot, Stiles. There’s no such thing.”
“I did! He was waving at me. I never told you this, but my dad saved a Bigfoot from a hunter and now they look out for all us Stilinskis.”
Derek sat up as the voices reached the door of his secret hideout. When it opened, two kids burst in clutching beanbags to their chest and carrying backpacks on their backs.
“Get out,” he said in his – hopefully – scariest voice. Derek definitely didn’t want two babies trespassing on his turf.
“Who are you?” The dark-haired kid asked, while the brown-haired one said, “You get out! This is our place. Don’t make us fight you!”
Derek smirked. “What are you two nerds gonna do?
“My dad’s the Sheriff,” the brown-haired kid stated proudly. “He’s gonna put you in jail and make you eat worms.”
“I don’t think your dad would do that, Stiles,” the darker-haired one noted. The other kid – Stiles – shot his friend a ‘whose side are you on?’ look.
Hearing Stiles’ dad was Sheriff Stilinski did make Derek just a little bit worried. Only a little. He’d seen the Sheriff around town – with his jacket, sunglasses and gun, the guy did look scary.
“I’m Scott,” the kid said as he dropped the beanbag he’d been carrying and slid off his backpack. “We found this place a couple of days ago. Cleaned it up pretty good, don’t ya think? You shoulda seen the spiders!” He finished as he sat down.
“Don’t talk to him! He’s our enemy, Scott. We’ve got to get him to go away!” Stiles gestured wildly. Scott only shrugged his shoulders and reached into his bag for a candy bar.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Derek said as he fixed a determined glare on Stiles. After the excitement of finding this place, he was desperate not to lose it now. He really hoped Stiles couldn’t tell that Derek was silently playing, ‘Please don’t get the Sheriff, please don’t get the Sheriff’, on a constant loop in his head.
Stiles studied him closely for a few more seconds. “Whatever. Do what you want.” The kid settled into his own beanbag and opened a bag of Skittles. “Every superhero needs a bad guy, and you’re gonna be ours. We will defeat you.”
Derek shrugged his shoulders and went back to his book.
*****
“We are the coolest!” Scott said as he jumped over a tree root.
“I know! Derek is gonna be so jealous when he sees these,” Stiles puffed out as he ran beside his friend.
They had just come home from Jackson – crapface – Whittemore’s birthday party. A superhero birthday party. Stiles’ mom had made both boys a cape each – red for Stiles, blue for Scott – and they were the greatest things the two friends had ever seen.
Stiles and Scott ran through the woods, their capes flowing behind them until they reached their secret hideout. The door was open, so they knew that the older boy was already there.
Despite Stiles’ numerous schemes, he’d not been able get rid of stupid Derek Hale. He just wouldn’t go away. And Scott was no help, at all. Not to mention, his dad said he wouldn’t put Derek in jail. Stiles had then asked if he could at least make the guy eat worms; his dad just patted him on the head and went to work. No help, at all.
“Look at this, Derek!” Scott exclaimed as he spun around to show off his cape. “Isn’t it awesome?”
Derek looked up from his book – The Mysterious Island – shrugged, and went back to reading. Scott’s shoulders sagged.
“You suck,” Stiles said to Derek before turning to his friend. “Come on, let’s go outside and test them out.”
“What do you mean?” Scott said as he allowed himself to be led back out into the woods. Stiles pointed up to the shed roof.
“We’re gonna fly!”
“I don’t wanna do that, Stiles.”
Stiles ignored Scott as he looked for a way to get on top of the shed. There were enough grooves to climb up the window pretty easily, but getting to the roof was a little harder.
“What do you mean test-“ Derek started as he came out to see what the boys were up to. Stiles used the uneven boards of the shed wall to lever himself slowly onto the roof. “Stiles, are you stupid? Get down from there!”
Stiles stood up straight and held his arms up in front of him – Superman style. “No way. Just you watch, I’m gonna fly to that branch there…and then you’re gonna wish you had a cape too!”
“I’m gonna tell your mom,” Scott said, sounding scared.
Fine, Stiles was going to have to show them both. He took a few steps backwards, sucked in a deep breath and then bounded off of the roof. He heard the two guys below him shout out his name as he sailed through the air. It felt fantastic. Right up until he hit the ground.
“Stiles! Are you okay?” Scott shouted as he ran up to his best friend.
“You idiot!” Derek snarled as he rushed over as well.
Stiles felt like he hurt all over, but he was not going to let the other two guys see that. He was a superhero; pain wouldn’t stop him. But when he tried to put his weight on his right ankle, it collapsed under him and he fell back down to the ground.
“Your ankle looks lumpy,” Scott said as he leaned down to have a closer look. Stiles just nodded; he couldn’t speak. The pain that was shooting from his foot really, really hurt. More than anything, he didn’t want to cry in front of Derek.
“Idiot,” Derek said a little more softly as he studied Stiles’ face.
“Don’t worry, I’ll go and get your dad.” Scott jumped up and was about to run back to his house when Derek stopped him.
“It’s alright. I’ve got him.” Stiles felt Derek slip his arms around the back of his knees and shoulders, take a deep breath, and then heave him up.
“Woah! You are really strong,” Scott said in amazement as he watched Derek slowly carry his friend through the woods. Stiles remained silent – partly from the pain, partly from the fact that he’d gone from being Superman to Lois Lane in a matter of minutes.
*****
It had been a quiet couple of days for Derek; he’d had the secret hideout all to himself. Scott and Stiles hadn’t been back to the woods since the day Stiles had been an idiot and jumped off the roof.
A few hours after Derek had carried Stiles back to his mom, the Sheriff had turned up at the Hale house – to shake his hand. It’d been very weird, and Derek had felt especially awkward when Mr. Stilinski had said how proud he was of him for looking out for his son.
But that had been a week ago and Derek hadn’t seen either Stiles or Scott since then. He found that he kind of missed them. Maybe. He thought he would like the peace and quiet, but it was too strange. He’d grown used to the sound of crinkling candy wrappers and the constant movement that was Scott and Stiles.
Derek was interrupted from his thoughts by the creaking of the shed door. He looked up to see Stiles standing there, his sprained ankle still bandaged.
“What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be walking on that, idiot,” Derek said with little heat in his voice.
“I…uh…” Stiles shuffled into the room, limping slightly. “My mom said it wasn’t fair that me and Scott had one of these so she made one for you too,” he rushed out before practically throwing a piece of fabric into Derek’s arms.
Derek looked down at the ‘gift’. It was obviously supposed to be a cape, but it looked nothing like the ones the other boys had been wearing. The material appeared to have been crudely cut from what seemed to be a Spiderman bed sheet – two pieces of elastic had messily been stapled to what Derek assumed was supposed to be the neck. A large capital D had been scrawled in felt-tip marker on the back.
Derek glanced up to see the anxious and expectant gaze that Stiles was giving him. He looked back down at the worst-looking cape he had ever seen and decided it was his favourite thing in the world. “It’s really great, Stiles. Tell your mom I love it.”
Stiles’ cheeks flushed and he gave Derek one of his huge smiles that lit up his entire face. “Cool….Cool, I’ll tell her…I, um…I better go.” He didn’t wait for an answer before he awkwardly limped/rushed out of the shed.
Derek waited a few minutes before he stood up and loosely tied the elastic of the cape around his neck. Today was a really good day.