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When Scott first called him to tell him about Danny, Stiles was driving to Derek’s place. After stopping himself from nearly driving over the side of the bridge into the river (thanks, Scott) he sent Derek a message and u-turned so he could head straight to the hospital. His conversation with Scott when he first arrived was, while enlightening, very strange. His subsequent conversation with Ethan was stranger still.
“If he’s not who you think is important to us, why are you still with him?” Stiles asked, staring at Mrs McCall through the glass of the room Danny was currently laid up in. She was setting him on some medication and giving him fluids and he just stared, unable to look away until he knew Danny was stable. “Why stay with him? I mean, you know you’re going to break him eventually, right? You know you’re going to fuck him up so bad that it’ll take him a while to come back from, don’t you?” he heard Ethan sigh behind him but didn’t turn.
“You believe that I didn’t hurt him, right?”
“The fact that there was mistletoe involved helped in that belief,” Stiles replied quietly.
“I... I like him, okay? I don’t want him to get caught in the crossfire between the two packs, but he’s in your pack so it’s inevitable unless I can afford him some protection from my end.”
“Leaving him alone now, while you have the chance, will afford him some protection.” Stiles was tired. Tired of everything. “It isn’t standard practise for the mate of an alpha and another alpha to talk like this, so openly and without reservation, I know that,” he sighed. “I guess you could call me an idealist - I try to see the best in people, which is probably why I haven’t fought too hard against you and Aiden with Danny and Lydia, though I think I really should start to. Because one way or another, you’re going to hurt them.” he turned away from the window to stare at Ethan when Melissa gave him the thumbs up, telling him Danny was stable at last.
“Not him,” Ethan seemed to promise and Stiles raised an eyebrow.
“Do you honestly think Deucalion will allow Danny to live when he finds out you feel for him the way you do? Like a potential mate? I know the signs, Ethan, I’m the mate of an Alpha. And hey, Danny might be your one and only, but if Deucalion finds out he won’t let him live and should that happen, you better pray you’re already dead.”
“Why do you care so much?” Ethan asked. “People die, it happens. I’ll protect him as best I can but if it happens, it happens.”
“He’s my pack,” Stiles shrugged. “What would you do if someone went after your brother the way you’re going after Danny? Underhanded, behind the backs of the pack, using him to kill everyone else. I won’t presume to think you actually care about your pack as much as I care about mine but I understand the primal instincts there...”
“Don’t presume anything,” Ethan hissed, eyes flashing deep red but Stiles didn’t look the least bit impressed.
“Don’t pretend to care when all you care about is getting one over on my alpha,” he shrugged, turning back to Danny.
“I didn’t hurt him,” Ethan swore, growling almost.
“Never said you did, only said you would.”
“I won’t let anything hurt him.”
“For your sake, I truly hope you don’t. Now, if you don’t want a confrontation in the next five minutes, I suggest you leave. My alpha’s about to get off the elevator.”
When Scott called him again five minutes after Ethan had left, Stiles grumbled, ran a hand through Danny’s hair as his friend lay unconscious and left, pressing a kiss to Derek’s lips in apology. Could he just not get a freakin’ break?
Muttering to himself, he made his way down to the parking lot where he met his dad, pulling up in the cruiser and caught sight of Ethan’s back as he left the scene. Scott didn’t seem phased by the disappearing act so he figured Ethan was in the clear.
The whole druid sacrifices thing was irritating, and disruptive, and it wasn’t doing his dad’s heart any good. Beacon County suddenly stepped up a few places on the number of homicides per county list of America and it was reflecting badly on him as a Sheriff, which in turn reflected badly on the department, and the town. What Stiles found most annoying though was the last of endgame. He couldn’t for the life of him figure out what the Druid’s endgame was.
Did it have anything to do with the wolves? Did the Alpha’s bring him to town? Was it Scott and his true alpha potential? Was it the Hale pack itself? Was it Lydia? Stiles had no clue and it was driving him insane. Lydia had taken him suspecting her with a pinch of salt, admitting she’d suspect him too given the circumstances but while he wasn’t completely ruling her out, he wasn’t putting her at the top of his list either.
With confirmation that Isaac and Scott would watch over Scott’s mom during the night, Stiles went back into the hospital to check on Danny before heading home.
---
“Are you kidding me? You’re kidding me, right? Tell me you’re joking because I did not just hear you suggest mixing water, electricity and three members of my pack. No, I did not-”
“Stiles! It’ll be fine!” Isaac stressed, resting his hands on Stiles arms just below his shoulders. “We’re going to be insulated, we’re not gonna step into the water, It’s for Kali, okay, we know she’s barefoot all the time, she won’t be insulated. It’ll stop her transforming and we can take her out...”
“Do you honestly think she’ll be alone?” Stiles asked, aghast, and the pups gave him patient looks like they were humouring him and his over-protective ways. In the end, he just sighed, begged them to be careful, smothered them in hugs and affection that even Boyd, though he wouldn’t admit it out loud, enjoyed. “What’re your excuses for school?” he asked when the pair stepped back and Boyd just rolled his eyes while Isaac gleefully told him, making him laugh and finally send them on their way.
If there was one thing Stiles absolutely did not want to do, it was bring his dad into this... life. Well, no, that was wrong. He wanted to bring him into everything, he wanted to share everything with his dad, just... when things were calm, when they were at peace, when no stupid freaking packs or druids were trying to kill them all systematically. That, he could live without. He didn’t think he could live without his dad.
He sighed, frustrated, because that wasn’t true either. He just didn’t want to even think about the possibility. His dad’s heart was already stressed, he was overwhelmed, the supernatural was having an impact on him even if he didn’t know it was exactly supernatural. He hated how it made his dad so exhausted, how it kept him away from home all hours of the day and night, if something happened. If something happened to his dad, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself, because it’d be on him. He kept everything from his dad, he made that choice, the blame lay with him and the only way he saw to keep him safe as he possibly could was to not tell him.
Sadly, however, his sense of rational thinking wasn’t renowned for nothing and he begrudgingly saw Scott’s perspective. Deaton helped them, he was like a father to Scott, he was a good guy who knew a lot, who know enough to help them when others would’ve given them up as lost causes, Stiles knew that feeling. He knew how much Deaton meant to Scott, and he knew he had to tell his dad everything to give him the best chance possible of finding the vet alive before it was too late.
He didn’t know whether to shout at Ms Morell or kiss her in thanks for buying him some time when she gave them a lead to use Lydia. If he were honest, he’d not even thought of using her, it just never occurred to him but, he could see the merit in it, the possibilities.
They just had to find out what she was.
Finding her wasn’t too difficult, spying Aiden leaving a store room gave him a pretty strong lead. What made him stop short was Cora slipping inside just as Lydia was walking out. Sighing in frustration, he made his way through the adjoining classroom, thankfully empty due to the fire alarm - no doubt expertly pulled by the little minx herself - and opened the classroom entrance to the store room.
“Let go,” he heard and rounded the corner, eyes narrowing when he caught sight of Cora grasping Lydia’s arm tightly. “I said-”
“Let go,” Stiles said out loud, firmly, walking towards them. Cora gave him a strange look he couldn’t quite place. “She said, let go,” he repeated and finally, the beta released Lydia’s arm. “We let you into this pack because you’re Derek’s sister and he’s running low on family. I want it to work, I really do, but when you start attacking pack, then I start taking issue. And if it happens again, you won’t be dealing with me, you’ll be dealing with your alpha. Not your brother, your alpha, got it?” he stared hard at the teen and watched as she tried to stop herself from tilting her head in deference. When she finally settled on a terse nod, he nodded and turned back to Lydia, holding a hand out for her to take, which she did. “You okay?” he asked gently, inspecting the skin which was thankfully, bruise free, but he wasn’t sure it was going to stay that way.
“I’m fine,” she said, glaring at the werewolf still stood there. “Can we go out now?” she huffed.
“Not quite,” Stiles sighed. “Got a few tests to run. We’re going to try and find out exactly how your... magic... is channeled, okay?” Looking like someone who really didn’t have a choice no matter what she said, Lydia nodded and the three of them left to find a classroom.
He... actually had no words. Nothing at all. No words to speak of that could describe perfectly, succinctly, with the ease, pretentiousness and grace of many adjectives, just exactly how, frustrated he was. NO WORDS!
Nothing worked. Nothing at all. Not the ouija board, not the psychometry, not the writing - all she did was draw. Draw a tree. A stupid, leafless, tree. He was going insane.
His pack was driving him insane. And he was already insane to begin with!
“I don’t see why you’re wasting your time with me anyway, when it’s obvious you should be focussing on Danny,” Lydia mused as she drew and Stiles literally wanted to rip his hair out.
“Wait? What? Why Danny?”
It truly amazed him how well their timing was. Seriously, they could be actors or something. TV Gold!
“Because last night he was a target,” Scott walked into the room holding his shoulder and Stiles frowned. “But he wasn’t a sacrifice.”
“Oh my God,” Stiles clenched his hands into fists trying not to pull his hair out. Again. In as many minutes. Oh God. “I swear,” he said, pointing a finger between them all. “If we all survive tonight, I’m putting you all up for adoption.” Cora just snorted, Lydia didn’t pay him any mind and Scott’s lips twitched. “You drive me insane!” he cried dramatically.
They all left school together, Scott heading over to Allison’s because she’d found something important while Stiles took Lydia and Cora to the hospital, emerging a few minutes after he’d entered with a paper that Danny had been working on for Mr Harris on Currents.
And suddenly, Stiles found himself in an episode of Charmed, but Beacon Hills was the Halliwell Manor and it was sitting on top of a veritable nexus of energy. Cora managed to put it together, seeing the maps laid out in front of her, she figured out that Deaton was being kept in the bank vault she’d been kept in with Boyd, Isaac and Erica. As they were heading out, Cora got a text that made Stiles’ heart stop.
The plan.
Their stupid, ridiculous, moronic plan had backfired. The power had been cut, the water was useless until it was back on again and Kali was there with his pack, probably with backup. He was taking deep breaths to calm himself down but he could feel his heartbeat rising.
“Stiles!” Scott was there, in front of him, hands grasping his face gently but firmly, eyes meeting as he talked him down, voice calming until Stiles was breathing normally again. “You good?” he asked.
“No,” Stiles said, but calming down nonetheless. “I need to go,” he said, staring at Scott, who was nodding his head like he understood, and he probably did understand, Stiles just didn’t think he understand quite how much Stiles needed to go to Derek at that moment in time. He couldn’t. But he let him, instead of insisting he go to Deaton.
“Okay,” Scott said. “You three head to the loft, I’m going to the bank. I need... Stiles... I need to find him.”
“It’s fine, I’m good. We’re good,” he said, straightening. “Go, let me know what’s going on when you can.”
And then they left.
The first thing they did, the obvious thing, turning back on the power and then Stiles ran. He didn’t stop even though he could feel Cora and Lydia behind him, he just ran. Something was wrong and it was making his stomach churn. It didn’t take them long to reach the loft and his eyes widened when he saw Kali walking out, the twins behind her. She looked satisfied, almost smug, and the twins... Stiles took a moment, a moment he didn’t have, to examine the almost resigned look on Ethan’s face. Their eyes met across the corridor and there it was.
Regret.
“Derek,” he breathed, eyes wide and sped up. Ethan disappeared, but not before Stiles saw him try to hide a wince.
“No!” Cora cried out and Stiles -
He watched her leap down into the water, the electricity shorted and he followed, coming to a stop behind Derek and for once, being unable to anything more than rest his hands on his mate’s shoulders, offering that small slither of support.
Cora grieved, she was sobbing over Boyd’s lifeless body.
Derek was numb. He didn’t fight or argue when he felt Stiles at his back, didn’t fight after ten minutes when Isaac approached them both and tried to get them moving. Neither of them fought being led away, but neither of them looked away from Boyd until they had no other choice.
Boyd was gone.
Another member of his pack was gone.
---
“It’s not your fault,” Stiles said quietly. They were in Peter’s flat, all of them. Derek and Stiles were curled up in the centre of one of the many spare mattresses Peter kept in his spare room - Stiles suspected they were kept in the hope that he would become trusted enough to partake in sleepovers. He’d wager Peter never thought the sleepovers would be precluded by a death in the pack. “They used you, Derek, it’s not your fault,” he repeated, running his fingers through Derek’s hair.
Isaac whimpered, his arms wrapped tightly around Stiles from behind, fist clenched in Derek’s t-shirt and for all Derek was numb, and unresponsive, the alpha in him reached out and combed his fingers through Isaac’s curls, calming the beta down as much as he could given the circumstances. Behind Isaac, Scott snuffled, clutching Isaac tightly, his hand gripping a fistful of Isaac’s shirt. Cora and Peter were settled in behind Derek, offering their silent support as best they could, as best a family of wolves could. Lydia hadn’t be able to stay, but she said she’d stop at the hospital on her way home and let them know how Danny was doing.
“Derek,” Stiles whispered, desperate, and Derek opened his eyes. “Do you understand me?”
“I’ll never not blame myself, Stiles,” he said eventually.
“I know,” Stiles sighed. “But none of us blame you. They used you, okay? They used you like someone would use a gun, like a weapon. You were outnumbered.”
“I took his power, Stiles,” Derek’s voice cracked. “I felt it. It was like I was becoming an alpha all over again,” he squeezed his eyes shut. “It’s my fault,” he whispered. “It’s all my fault.”
The pack seemed to close in on them more and Stiles heart ached desperately. All he wanted to do was make Derek believe him, but how could he do it? How could he make that happen?
“I don’t blame you,” Stiles murmured against Derek’s ear. “You’re my alpha, he was my pup, and I still don’t blame you. No one blames you...” he continued to speak until he felt Derek’s breathing even out and finally, he let himself slip into what would prove to be a very troubled sleep.
---
Getting up through the night was tough, very tricky, like an obstacle course, but he really needed the bathroom so he made it happen somehow.
Seeing his phone flashing made him frown though and on the way back to bed after he’d taken care of business, he read the message from an unknown number with two words.
I’m Sorry.
The only thing that stopped his phone from meeting the wall was Peter catching it mid-flight and putting it safely back on the bedside table. The beta’s eyes shone bright blue in the darkened room, assessing Stiles as he made his way back to the bed.
Stiles shook his head and slid back between Isaac and Derek, praying they could have at least that night.