Work Text:
First Act
calikocat
Word count: 1859
XXX
It took him exactly three days to track down that smell. The one that had been all over Derek. Much to Tom Stilinski's horror...mostly because Stiles had gone out on his own to find the scent. Well he wasn't completely alone. He'd borrowed one of the department dogs to help him; glad that neither Laura or Derek had noticed that the shirt Derek had been wearing that day had gone missing.
When Stiles saw the pretty blond woman getting into her car, her personal scent and that icky perfume tickled his nose on the breeze. He barely kept the dog from baying, letting the world know she'd caught the scent of their target. Instead of following her he wrote down the license plate number. Then he went to his dad.
When he showed up at home with the dog the first words out of Tom's mouth were; “You're grounded.” Then next had been. “Why do you have Trixie?”
Stiles had responded with. “I know, and I needed Trixie to help me track the lady.”
“What lady?”
“The one that was all over Derek.”
His dad had been skeptical at first, then horrified when Stiles had told him how much of Derek had been covered in it and where her smell had been on Derek. Stiles had wanted to wash it all off...but the way Derek reacted to Stiles washing off his chest...he figured tugging down his pants would have gotten a much more negative response. He wasn't sure why, but it probably had something to do with him being too little to do practically everything. Seriously, being little sucked. When his dad was done making weird faces at that comment, and the whole licking thing, he got to work and did some digging.
His dad wouldn't tell him everything that went on with the investigation, and threatened to take away his Veronica Mars season one DVD set if he got involved, so Stiles waited. And waited. And waited some more. Surely it would help if he just...but he liked Veronica too much to risk her...and he wanted season two for his birthday.
Like two weeks later his dad came home, tired, exhausted really and collapsed in his recliner. “It’s done. Derek isn't happy about testifying, but Kate Argent will be going to prison for a long time.”
“For hurting the Hales?”
“I couldn't prove that, and she wouldn't admit to it.”
“I could check her heart beat.”
“Stiles, she can't know about you, her family can't know about you.”
“Why?”
“They're hunters, son.”
Oh. Stiles knew what hunters were...but it didn't make sense. “Why was she all over Derek?”
His dad had blushed and coughed and managed to sputter out; “I'll tell you when you're older.”
He hated being too little.
“You're still grounded.”
“I've been grounded for two weeks already!”
“Tough.”
“Argh! So not fair.” Then he bit his lip and gave his dad his best puppy eyes like Mom had taught him. “Derek's not hers though? He's still mine right?”
Another blush. “We'll talk about that when you're older too.”
“Dad.”
Tom sighed. “As far as I know, he's yours.”
“Good.”
xxx
He snuck out again that night, leaving his clothes behind, but put on a dog collar before he shifted. A puppy with a collar was less likely to get picked up, his dad's idea, and he definitely didn't want animal control to catch him, his dad would never let him live it down.
Derek and Laura were still staying at the motel, or so he'd overheard his dad say, but Laura's car wasn't in the parking lot...and Derek. Derek was sitting at an old picnic table across from the motel, a scowl on his face.
Stiles trotted out of the woods and across the lot, his claws clicking on the pavement, Derek looked up...and glared at him. The glare was so fierce that he actually stopped his approach, and felt unsure of himself, it wasn't something he'd felt before in Derek's company. Did Derek like the woman? More than him? Was Derek mad at him?
“I can't believe you did that.”
Stiles felt his tail start to droop, then his ears. Derek was definitely mad.
“I had to testify and tell everyone what happened, what Kate and I did. Laura...hasn't said anything to me yet...”
Stiles whined.
“Why couldn't you just leave it alone LA?” Derek's blue eyes were glowing and fierce...and broken? “We're still leaving. I'm not staying here.”
Stiles gave a nod...and then turned to walk away, back into the woods. When he reached the tree line the sound of shoes pounding on pavement was the only warning he had before Derek scooped him up and held him tight.
“You're just gonna walk away now?”
Stiles whined.
“Just say something LA.”
Stiles shifted back and glared. “You don't want me here. I was leaving.”
“I want you.”
“Then why are you mad?”
Derek stared down at him. “Do you know what happened? What Kate did?”
Stiles growled a little and knew his eyes flashed red; the light from them cast an eerie tint to Derek's face. “No. Dad won't tell me.”
Derek closed his eyes and sighed before putting him down. Then he shrugged his coat off and draped it over Stiles. “If anyone sees me out here with a naked ten year old I'll be arrested next.”
“Why?”
He blushed and looked away. “I'll tell you when-”
“When I'm older. Dad's always telling me that. I'm too little to do anything. I'm too little to know stuff, and I'm too little to take care of you.” He stomped his foot. “It’s not fair...and now you don't want to be mine.”
“I never said that.”
“Then why are you mad at me!” Stiles manfully ignored the tears that were running down his cheeks. Jackson must never know that he cried. Never.
“I'm not mad at you.”
“Yes you are!”
“No I'm not! I'm mad at-myself.”
Stiles blinked. “Why?”
“I got them killed LA. Kate used me to kill them...and Laura won't say anything.”
Stiles frowned. “She used you? Did she make you do bad things?”
“Sort of.”
“Did you kill them?”
“I might as well have.”
“You weren't at home. You didn't start the fire.”
“No. I was with Kate...and she told me my family was burning...and I couldn't leave. She had me trapped behind Mountain Ash.”
Stiles frowned...he had no idea what mountain ash was. “That's why you smelled like her.”
“Yeah.”
“What'd you do? Roll around without your clothes on? Her smell and icky perfume were all over you.”
Derek blushed harder than before. “Sort of.”
“This is one of those too little things isn't it?”
“Yeah.”
“I hate being little.”
“I should take you home.”
“I can make it. No one's gonna bother a puppy with a collar this time of night.” He started to take off the coat. “You really have to leave?”
“Yeah.”
“Tell Laura she has to be nice to you, at least until I'm done being little.”
“I don't think it works like that LA.”
Stiles pouted and flashed his eyes. “But you're mine?”
“Yeah...I forgot that for a while because of Kate. I won't forget again.”
Stiles tugged on Derek's shirt and Derek went to his knees. “When I'm done being little I'll take care of you forever.” He smiled and kissed Derek's cheek. “Promise.”
Derek finally smiled. It was tired, and Derek still looked broken, but it was better than a glare or a scowl. “I'll come back, and you can take care of me.” He barred his throat and Stiles latched on gently just above his collar bone. “Go ahead.” And Stiles broke the skin and then licked the tiny bit of blood away.
He sighed. “I have to go home now. Remember to tell Laura.”
“I will.”
Stiles kissed Derek's cheek again before slipping off the coat and changing back to a wolf pup. Then he disappeared into the woods.
He snuck back inside the house and his dad was none the wiser.
xxx
Derek was inside their room when Laura came home around dawn. His head felt fuzzy and he was too warm, and his vision was just a touch blurry. He had no idea what was wrong with him.
Evidently Laura did.
“Oh my god. Now? You're going into a heat now?”
He blinked at her, confused. “Heat? Only Epsilon's have heats.”
She sighed and sat beside him on the bed, using a tissue from the side table to dab at the sweat on his forehead. “No kidding genius.”
“I...how can I be an Epsilon?”
“We knew already, you just don't remember.”
“Remember what?”
“Your first heat.”
Derek felt his eyes go wide. “I've gone into heat before?”
“Just once.”
“When?”
“When LA went home.”
“...what?”
“The first couple of heats can be brought on by stress.” Laura sighed and leaned down to kiss his forehead. “Losing Paige...and then losing LA right after finding him brought on your first heat. Mom-” Laura choked on the word. “Mom had to keep you sedated in the basement for almost a week.”
“I don't remember.”
“I know...look...I need to go get some sedatives. I'll be back as soon as I can...why was LA even here?”
“He was worried...he said...” Derek cleared his throat. “He said you have to be nice to me until he's done being little...” His voice broke. “I'm so sorry Laura. It’s my fault.”
Her eyes closed and she pulled him closer so he could cry on her shoulder. “It’s not your fault, and I'm not mad at you. The only one I'm mad at is Kate.”
“You should hate me.”
“I can't. You're all I've got left...besides, there's a Little Alpha in this town that would scratch my eyes out if I didn't take care of you.”
He snorted and clung to her. “He's such a brat.”
“But he's totally got your number kid.”
“Shut up.”
She ruffled is hair. “I'll be back soon.”
He nodded and watched dazedly as she grabbed her cell phone before quickly leaving the room again, locking the door behind her. Then a tremor went through him, and he could smell his own arousal in the air and let the heat take him over, not letting himself think. He couldn't let himself think, his Alpha was way too young to be thinking about.
But before he blacked out, he wondered what LA would look like when he was older. The thought of an older LA made him whine, just as oblivion took him under.
XXX