Chapter 26
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Remy gripped Olivia's hand tightly. He felt sick to his stomach with the sense of Deja vu. The entire pack, minus Parrish, was once again gathered in Stiles' room. The hospital staff had been reluctant to let them all visit at once considering how unstable Stiles' condition was and a huge number of people would only get in the way, but the staff had agreed because none of them thought Stiles had much time left.
If this plan didn't work, they would all be right. If the Sheriff Stilinski couldn't get through to Stiles, then they were out of options. They would all be forced to stand and watch Stiles suffer, unable to do anything. This plan had to work, it was all they had.
Remy squeezed his sister's hand tighter. If it hurt her, she didn't complain. She would know that Remy needed to support right now. After all, this was all his fault. He was the one who had led his sister and Dawson to Beacon Hills. In his desperation for safety, he hadn't even thought about the danger he was bringing to their doorstep. He should have turned and run when he figured out that the Hunters were following them. He should have tried to lose them before heading to Beacon Hills.
He had been scared and fully unprepared to be in charge of two young werewolves. In his desperation, he had turned to the only person he could think of to help them. The true Alpha who was both kind and fierce. Based on his research, Remy had known that Scott would take them in and protect them. Remy hadn't even given a second thought to the collateral damage. He hadn't even thought about the fact that Scott had a pack of his own and it was that pack that would have to fight the hunters to keep the three omegas safe.
And never in a thousand years would Remy have thought that the collateral damage would include a fragile human who had so quickly carved out a place of fondness inside of Remy. Stiles' sharp wit and talkative nature had quickly won over Remy. In fact, Remy had quickly developed a fondness for the entire pack. He liked the life that they were starting in Beacon Hills. Remy wasn't sure what would happen if Stiles didn't make it. Scott had assured Remy that he didn't blame them for the Hunters and that the three of them were now a permanent part of his pack, but who knows how he would feel if his best friend died. Remy wouldn't blame Scott if he never wanted to look at any of them again. The thought of losing Stiles plus the rest of the pack and it being all his fault was almost too much for Remy to bear.
Sensing his distress, Olivia squeezed his hand and Dawson moved the tiniest bit closer to him. Remy knew better than to reach out to his friend. Dawson was more the suffer alone in silence type. He played everything very close to the vest. That's why Remy was really surprised to see how quickly Dawson had let his guard down around Stiles. After they had gotten over the whole "Hey I'm the werewolf who bit you" weirdness the two had hit it off immediately. Remy suspected that part of the reason Dawson had grown so comfortable around Stiles was his talkativeness. Dawson wasn't much of a talker, and with Stiles he didn't have to be. He could just relax, be himself, and let Stiles run the conversation.
"This better work," Dawson whispered so quietly that Remy could barely hear it. He nodded his head slightly and whispered back,
"It will." Dawson didn't acknowledge him but kept staring at Stiles. Olivia squeezed his hand again and he looked down into the worried face of his little sister. She held his hand in one hand and Liam's in the other, and she was gripping both tightly. "It's gonna be okay Liv" he tried to assure her, squeezing her hand back.
"I know," She said shakily, giving him a small fake smile that didn't reach her eyes. They fell back into silence. Remy caught Liam's eye. The boy looked every bit as young and scared as his sister. Remy turned away, unable to bear the begging look in Liam's eyes. A look begging for everything to be alright like Remy said it would be. Remy couldn't stand letting another person down.
God please let this work, he thought to himself desperately. He watched Scott line up his nails on the back of the Sheriff and Stiles' necks with a growing feeling of dread inside of him.
*****
Scott took a deep breath and pushed his nails in, instinctively closing his eyes. When he opened them back up he found that he and the Sheriff were in Stiles' room back when Stiles was a kid. The room was dark except for a small nightlight in the corner which illuminated the figure of Claudia Stilinski sitting on Stiles' bed.
"And what type of story would you like to hear tonight? One with princes or knights maybe? Or one with Wizards or Dragons or Racecar Drivers?" His mom asked and Scott couldn't help but smile, remember Stiles' racecar phase.
"Tell me the story of how you and Daddy met." The Sheriff drew in a sharp breath. Scott looked over to see him watching the scene with a guarded expression on his face.
"Alright, well I was in college, your father was attending the police academy. We happened to share apartments next to each other. They were these little tiny shacks, barely enough room for a person to live in, but it was all we could afford at the time. Anyways, one night I was desperately trying to bake cookies because my parents were coming up to visit for the first time and I wanted to impress them. Unfortunately, I had no idea how to cook at this point in my life and I ended up setting off the fire alarm...twice." At this young Stiles giggle. It was a wonderfully innocent sound that only a child could make. Scott saw that the Sheriff smiled slightly, either at the sound or the story or maybe both.
"Was Daddy mad?"
"Yes, he was furious. After we were allowed back into our apartments the second time he came barging through my door yelling about how he could tell it was my fault based on the smell of smoke. At this point, I was nearly hysterical. It was late at night and I had burnt dozens of cookies and couldn't seem to figure out what was going wrong. So I started yelling back about how I was only trying to impress my parents but I was a complete failure at everything. When I had finished your father didn't say a work. He merely went to the sink and started washing his hands. When I asked him what he was doing he told me that he couldn't very well have dirty hands while cooking."
"He was gonna cook the cookies for you!" Little Stiles exclaimed.
"Yes. He told me that he needed to get a good night sleep for an important training test the next day and couldn't afford any more fire drills. So we talked about our lives while he cooked. He also instructed me on how to properly bake the cookies. The conversation was so easy and natural, it was like we had known each other for years. When he had finished he took out beautiful cookies and I hugged him in joy. He laughed and told me that if I ever needed another cooking lesson he was just next door."
"What happened after that?"
"Well I proceeded to stop by his apartment for cooking tips. He would sometimes invite me over for a meal or bring me over some leftovers he had. One night I decided to cook for him using all the skills he had given me. Afterwards, he said it was the best food he had ever tasted. Then he asked if I would like to go out sometime to get some dinner that neither of us had cooked."
"Like a date?"
"Yes exactly like a date. And I told him that I would love to go on a date with him and the rest is history."
"I like that story."
"Me too kiddo, now time for bed."
"Okay mommy." Stiles said as he settled down further in bed and Claudia tucked the blankets around him.
"I love you monkey."
"I love you too mommy." Stiles says sleepily. His mom kissed his forehead and walked out the door, leaving it open just a crack. The Sheriff walked over to his now sleeping son.
"Sheriff, we have to go." Scott said, gesturing to the door. The Sheriff bent down to kiss Stiles on the head where Claudia had. He stood up straight and nodded at Scott to lead the way. The two of them walked out the door and into the next memory.
*****
Jordan sighed yet again as he shuffled paperwork around his desk. His coworker shot him an annoyed glance that he paid no attention to. His mind was someplace far away. His mind was in Stiles' hospital room with the rest of his pack. He hated not being there, but he also knew that someone had to be in the office. The Sheriff's continued absence was understandable, but to the outside world, Parrish had no reason to be spending all of his free time with Stiles. So to avoid suspicion here he was, holed up in an office pretending to care about the cases and paperwork that was crossing his desk.
Jordan looked over Stiles' case file once again. The official story was that no one had any idea who had taken Stiles or why. When he hadn't come home the Sheriff had put out an APB on the jeep. They had found it abandoned with the side smeared with blood (Parrish himself had taken care of smearing away the gruesome words of "We will kill you all" that had been written on the side of the car).
The story about how they had found Stiles was a little flimsy, but luckily no one had questioned it too much. The story went that the Sheriff had spent all of his nights driving around looking for Stiles and sometimes was joined by some of Stiles' friends. One night Scott spotted something on the side of the road. He pulled over and found Stiles unconscious and bleeding. He was alive but didn't stir at any of Scott's attempts to rouse him. Scott had immediately called the Sheriff and they had taken Stiles to the hospital.
Jordan sighed again and caught the eye of his coworker who raised an eyebrow. Jordan merely shrugged and looked back down at the papers on his desk. He tried not to sigh again as he thought about how complicated things would get once Stiles woke up. All he would be able to tell them would be that he was kidnapped and tortured and he had no idea why. They were also going to have to figure out how Stiles managed to escape his kidnappers.
Jordan's phone lit up, distracting him from his train of thought. He checked it and saw a text from Lydia, who was keeping him updated on the situation.
They just went under. So far so good. I'll keep you posted.
Jordan swallowed the wave of anxiety and bitterness that he couldn't be there and typed back:
Wish I was there. Any Banchee feelings yet?
Lydia's response was quick:
Not yet, but this time I won't keep them to myself.
Jordan set his phone aside and almost sighed again but caught himself. He picked up the first file off of the pile on his desk and opened it. If he was forced to be at work he might as well get something accomplished. Who knows, maybe a bit of busy work would help to take his mind off of things.
*****
"Stiles, come out come out wherever you are." Scott was surprised to hear his own voice as they entered the next memory. They were once again in the Stilinski household. This time it was daylight and they were in the kitchen. Young Scott came padding through, looking under tables and inside cupboards before heading to the next room.
"Hide and go seek?" Sheriff Stilinski asked. "Yep. Stiles was a pro at it. He knew every nook and cranny of this house. I'll bet you this is the first time I ever gave up. It usually took me forever to find him, but normally I did eventually. But this time I simply could not find him."
"Where is he hiding?" The Sheriff asked looking around.
"Wait for it."
"STILES I GIVE UP. YOU HEAR ME? I HAVE SEARCHED THIS WHOLE PLACE 4 TIMES. I. GIVE. UP." Young Scott yelled from somewhere. At that, a door of one of the cupboards above the counter opened up. A little Stiles wormed his way out of the cupboard and carefully lowered himself onto the counter. He then jumped off and went running in the direction of Scott's voice.
"HA! I BEAT YOU!"
"How did he even get up there?" The Sheriff said in wonder, staring at the now empty cupboard.
"Beats me, I couldn't even get up there to check the cupboards." Scott said with a laugh. "Ready for the next memory?"
"Let's do it." Sheriff Stilinski said heading through the door which Stiles had scurried out of moments before.
Notes:
Thank you all so much for reading my first fanfiction.
And thank you for sticking with me even through my lack of updating. :)
- N x
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