Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

She walks down into her basement, a dim light bulb flickering on as she walks towards her shelf. Setting down the trash bag she pulls a box off the shelf and opens it. Opening up the trash bag she pulls out the bones that still have yet to dry and places them into the box with the others. 

Soon she will have the tenth skeleton made from different peoples bones. Her son's first kill was an immense help and with a bit more training he’ll be able to kill without leaving a trace. Despite his messy kill she still proudly smiles at the thought of her beautiful boy now a man.

Closing the box she tosses the trash bag into a nearby trash can. Rubbing her hands onto a paper towel she freezes when she feels a puff of air on the back of her neck. 

There are no windows down here. 

She lengthens her nails and turns around in a flash but her hands are caught and she looks into the blazing red eyes of the werewolf standing before her. 

“Your son made a mistake,” the boy says, his voice calm and monotonous. 

She scoffs, he is not the first person to seek revenge nor will he be the last killed for it. She opens her mouth ready to tell him so but she is no longer looking at him as she sails through the air, she sees the ceiling and the shelf that had been behind her blood splattering into her eyes. 

It is the last thing she sees. 

It’s terrifying when Scott realizes what he’ll do for Stiles. What he’ll do to bring him back. 

But looking at the lady’s head rolling to a stop on the wooden floor he doesn’t feel that fear anymore. He hasn’t felt that fear in months.  

Walking up the steps he sits on the soft couch across from the front door. He turns onto the tv flickering through channels and stops on scooby doo. 

Scott watches the gang's high jinks, the show feeling somewhat familiar with past events in his life, as he waits for the rest of the family to arrive. 

They arrive one by one, a father and a son, and they fall as easily as the mother. Their bodies crumpled to the floor, weak when faced with the wrath of a werewolf but deadly to a human. 

Finally the one Scott’s been waiting for arrives. 

Joaquin enters the front door and pauses at the smeared blood across the floor his father still wriggling, his body pathetically hanging on. It takes Joaquin far too long for Scott’s tastes to look away from the bodies and at him. 

Scott cockes his head at the sight of Joaquin crying . 

“You cared for them,” Scott mumbles. 

He watches Joaquin’s grief be overhauled by anger. His claws extend and he leaps towards Scott, his body smacking into the wall with one lazy swipe from Scott. 

Getting off the couch he stands over Joaquin and watches a trail of blood come from his mouth. Scott’s mouth clenches and he can feel his eyes burn as they turn from brown to red. 

Such weak creatures destroyed everything. These pathetic nobody’s are the ones who ripped his heart from his chest when they took Stiles’s life. When he split Stiles open like it was nothing. 

Stiles had survived so much and this is what killed him. Scott wants to laugh and scream at the unfairness of it all. Stiles deserved so much better. 

He deserved life and Scott was going to give it to him.

Taking a moment he shoves every feeling but calm away and bends down to smack Joaquin awake. His eyes flutter open and he can only glare at Scott, his spine no doubt broken and leaving him unable to move. 

“What will you do?” He asks his voice thick with blood and spit, “Torture me to death to exact revenge?” He says mockingly. 

“No,” Scott says, standing up and wiping his hands onto his jeans. “You are a means to an end,”

“ ‘a means to an end’ is that a joke ? You killed my mother, brother, and my father and this is just a means to an end,” Joaquin spits.

Scott sighs, “I only killed your family so they wouldn’t get in my way,”

“In the way of what?”

Scott looks at Joaquin for a moment, “you don’t need to know when you’ll be dead soon,”

Grabbing him by the leg he drags Joaquin to the door and steps outside, rain coming down heavy. 

It all felt quite dramatic. 

Dumping Joaquin in the backseat of the car he drives until he enters the gates of the cemetery. Parking he drags him out and sets his duffle bag over shoulder and begins the long walk in the rain.

He stops and bends down in front of Stiles’s headstone, Scott touches the headstone, his fingers dancing across his name, “I’ll do better this time.”

Standing he grabs the duffel bag and pulls out a shovel and he begins to dig the rain helping to soften the dirt. He is so close he is so damn close.

He has the sacrifice, the spells, the ritualistic knife, he has the black box, and he was getting the bones. Scott diggs harder. He will see Stiles again soon he will open his eyes and his best friend will be there again.

“Scott!”

He ignores her already knowing who it is by the sound of her voice and the scent of the others as their cars pull up beside hers.

“Scott you need to stop now,”

He stiffens and stops the digging at her words. Turning to face her, his eyes burning again, the world taking on a red hue.

“ ‘I need to stop’ who’s going to stop me?”

He can hear Allison’s heart stutter and begin to beat rapidly while looking at him, “I-I will,” her voice comes out a whisper and her face twists into agitation and she stands up straighter, “ I will stop you ,” 

“ I’m trying-”

“I know what you’re trying to do, but you can’t do this,”

“Why!” he laughs with exasperation, “I said I would find a way and I did!” 

He can save his friend like he should have in the first place. 

“Scott,” Allison says firmly , “you are digging up his grave, his body. This is too much when you don’t even know if what your planning will work,”

“It will. It has too,”

He wonders how desperate he looks for Allison’s face to crumble like that. 

“Are you truly sure about this or is your confidence just desperation?”

“80% confidence the rest…”

Everything is still for a few seconds and then the rest of the pack steps out of the car and stands beside Allison. Scott drops his shovel and steps away from the hole his body taut.

“You got another shovel,” Issac asks.

Scott looks at them in confusion, “one,”

“Hand it over and let a expert show you how to do it,”

“Digging is just digging,”

“Is it,” he says, patting Scotts’s back as he passes to take it out of the duffle bag and tenses.

“Who the fuck is that?”

At Issac’s shout everyone turns to look and see Joaquin barely breathing on the ground dirt and rain trying to drown him but failing as he scoops it into his mouth and spits it away. It’s a gross yet hilarious sight, at least to Scott it is.

Scott grabs Joaquin by the back of the neck and lifts him, “this is the guy who murdered him,”

“Why isn’t he dead,” Liam asks, his eyes yellow and body barely restrained by Theo who isn’t trying very hard to actually hold him back.

“He’ll be dead when the ritual is done,”

“Good,” Cat says, “let's get this over with,”

WIth their help they manage to get to Stiles’s casket fast. Grabbing it by the sides they lift it out and attach it to the top of the car, tying it down with the ropes from the duffle bag.

Pulling out of the cemetery Scott drives to Stiles’s house, the others not far behind.

Scott takes his duffle bag and Jackson grabs Joaquin, Aiden and Ethan holding Stiles’s casket as they walk into the house. It feels empty and stale, the living room boxed up and the only smell is Stiles’s stale blood that didn’t disappear even after the crime scene was cleaned up.

Or maybe it did disappear and it’s just Scott who can’t forget the heavy smell.

He walks up the steps of the stairs remembering walking up the stairs so casually, irritated that Stiles hadn’t been answering the phone even though he was the one that kept pestering him to hang out because Scott kept rain checking.

He remembers suddenly being hit with the smell of blood the moment he stepped into the hallway even though he wasn’t using his werewolf senses. There was just so much blood that even humans could smell it.

He had run into Stiles’s room now aware that something was wrong. He had entered his room and saw that it was destroyed. Stiles was nowhere to be found, only a lone bloody converse sitting in the middle of the room. He had walked slowly to the bathroom scared to open the ajar door.

But eventually he did and found Stiles on the floor on his side, his face in a puddle of blood so wide there was probably no blood left in his body. Scott had sunk to the floor unable to realize what he was seeing because Stiles couldn’t be dead. He had survived so much, how could he be dead on his bathroom floor?

Scott had reached out to touch the illusion and it was warm and it hit Scott that this was real and it was his fault. He remembers screaming for help and picking up Stiles' body to run him to the hospital, hoping that he could live. But the moment he stepped into the hospital and saw their faces he knew they could do nothing. Doctors can’t bring someone back that resembles stripped ribbon rather than a human being. 

Scott doesn’t remember much after that. He just remembers the funeral, he remembers being in Derek's house with the rest of the pack there as they tried to figure out who killed Stiles.Him already having the spell on his mind as he considered what his plan would be to meet the requirements to do it but saying nothing to anyone about it. He remembers Peter being annoyingly sarcastic as always and Scott doing something about the asshole who should’ve died a long time ago.

That night ended with the horrified faces of his pack staring at him as he turned his back and ran from them and Beacon hills.

Opening the door to Stiles’s room it now tidied up but still untouched, Noah’s scent practically nonexistent inside the room.

“Put Joaquin in the middle of the room,” Scott orders.

He empties out the duffle bags. Grabbing the red candles he places them in three circles of seven around Joaquin. The witch had told him it was important it was seven candles. Scott doesn’t know why nor does he care as long as it works he’ll do it.

“Why do these candles smell like blood and decay,” Ethan asks.

“Because it’s made from blood and fat,” Theo answers before Scott can reply.

The pack looks at him questioningly.

“I know a thing or two about dark rituals,” he picks up the ritualistic knife, “and I know this is going to cut somebody up. The question is who?”

They look to Joquin and then to Scott.

“Me,” Scott answers.

“Why are you getting cut up when we’re trying to bring Stiles back to life,” Issac asks.

“Because we’re not reanimating the dead are we,” Lydia says.

“No, we’re going back in time,”

“What?!”

“Stiles shouldn’t have to remember dying so brutally and this isn’t just about bringing him back. What about all the people who died because we failed to get rid of the monsters that came into to town and just chased them away,”
Jackson snorts, “cut the shit Scott. We may not be best friends but I can tell when you're full of shit. You want to go back in time because you fucked up so hard with Stiles and you want a clean slate to be a better friend. You don’t give two fucks about anybody else,”

They stare each other down until Scott decides to speak, “true,” he says, turning away and going back to setting everything up.

He lights every candle and walks to the casket and opens it before he can back out. His senses are flooded with the decay of Stiles’s body that is now bones in a suit. Taking the knife he rips the suit and grabs the bones and quickly places them on the floor next to Joaquin.

Thank god he doesn’t need all of Stiles’s bones because that lady had so many in her basement Scott couldn’t be sure if he’d be able to find Stiles’s ribcage.

Opening the drawer he pulls out the book the witch had given him and flips to the page with the runes.

“I told you he had been here,” Allison whispers to Jackson.

Scott begins to carve the runes into Joaquins skin, ignoring the screams as he attempts to flail his paralyzed body. When he’s done he finally pulls out the black box.

He opens it and the room fills with gasps.

“That’s why you took Peter’s body with you that night,” Lydia says, “you needed his heart. You knew about this spell even then,”

“Yes, and I didn’t need just Peter's heart,” Scott says, pulling out six other hearts and placing them into a silver bowl. Seven hearts in total.

Six hearts from alpha’s and one from someone you know. Scott doesn’t get the point of any of this or the specifics he just knows he needs to do it.

He turns to the pack knife in hand, “before I do this I need to know if you’re going to do this with me,”

They share glances until Allison steps up, “what do we need to do?”

“Spill your blood into the bowl and say the spell with me,”

Scott puts the to his hand and cuts deep enough that the old hearts look as red when they were taken. One by one the others take the knife and follow suit. They all move around the candles until they make a circle around it and link hands.

“Repeat what I say,”

Scott begins to chant the others doing their best to follow along. The flame of the candles shoot up and connect into an arch, the connected flame beaming into the bowl of hearts and blood. The runes on Joquains body start to glow and he convulses on the ground, his body starting to flake awake as the runes get brighter and brighter the flames following suit. Finally the room fills with the white light and their bodies are flushed in the burning light.

But Scott doesn’t notice the pain when all he can think of is finally seeing his best friend again; he can’t help but smile at the thought.

He blinks his eyes blinded by the sun as it filters into his room. He groans as he rolls onto his side, his body stinging as he pulls up his shirt and sees a large bite mark in his side.

A bite like when I was turned.

Scott sits up, his heart suddenly going overdrive as he stands up and walks to his bathroom. He looks into the mirror and sees a face that hasn’t looked familiar in a long time. He’s sixteen again and Stiles is alive!

His alarm clock goes and stumbles away from the mirror and throws on clothes as he runs down the steps and outside. Getting on his bike he rides to school pumping the pedals as hard as he can.

He dumps his bike into the rack and looks around for the blue jeep to pull up. Soon Stiles pulls parks and steps out of his jeep. Scott missed those familiar honey brown eyes, fluffy brown hair and moles that cover his body . To say he is a sight for sore eyes is an understatement.

Scott collides with Stiles and pulls him into a tight hug. He buries his face into his neck the familiar smell of Stiles hitting him but not as strong as when he changed.

Stiles hugs him back just as tight, “What happened?”

Scott trying not to cry responds vaguely, “so much,”

That you’ll never know.

Chapter Text

Scott tells Stiles what happened after his dad sent him home. He tells him about the ‘animal’ attack and does his best to sound confused and as if he doesn’t know what happened that night.

“Do you think it was a wolf,” Scott asks.

“There hasn’t been wolves in Beacon Hills in years but then again there hasn’t been any animal attacks like that in years,” Stiles says.

“Whatever it is I’m sure animal control will catch it,”

“I hope so,” he throws a comforting arm around Scott as if to calm down his anxiety over the animal attack Scott doesn’t actually have.

Walking into the school Scott listens to the comforting ramling of Stiles, but his calm is disrupted when they walk past Issac who has a busted eye and Scott realizes not every one of them is having a good time being back in the past.

That most of the pack has come back to a time where they were human and powerless against bad people or still in an alpha back they no longer want to be with.

“Do you know that guy?”

“No, but he does keep popping up at school with bruises I’m starting to think he doesn’t get into fights all the time,”
Scott has always been aware that Stiles is capable of doing cruel and calculating things but because of his loyalty to the people he cares about he shifts his morals to theirs. The thing is Scott’s morals aren’t the same as before and he is more than happy to encourage Stiles to go wild and do the things he wants without fear of being turned on. He regrets the times he walked away from Stiles because he didn’t agree with the aggressive way he did things sometimes.

He watches a calculating look slide cross Stiles’s face as he goes into detective mode.

If anything Stiles is more of a rabid dog in the pack than the actual werewolves.

Stiles is curious. He’s curious about what happened last and he’s curious about what’s up with the curly blonde Scott has apparently been watching enough to notice bruises popping up. Stiles knows Scott and he is the most obvious person in the world so if he's watching somebody Stiles would know.

Like today when Stiles caught him staring, but Stiles hasn’t noticed it any other day. Either he’s been doing it when he and Stiles aren’t together or Scott is full of shit and knows something and for some reason is bringing it to Stiles’s attention.

How can he pass up this obvious clue and not figure what’s happening. Stiles chews on the edge of his pen Scott sitting next to him so close Stiles is starting to feel weirded out.

This used to be a regular occurrence between them. Them being so close it would make other people uncomfortable but Scott started pulling away from when they were fourteen claiming he needed personal space. Stiles pretended like he didn’t know Scott was noticing that their behavior was strange and was embarrassed.

“Scott,” he whispers, “you’re a little close,”

Scott looks at him his brown eyes looking empty and suddenly flickering back to life, “you didn’t use to care about that,”
“Yeah but you did,”

Scott smiles, “not anymore,”

“Why? Just yesterday you looked agitated when I sat too close to you at the lunch table,”

“Why do you have to question everything?”

“Why won’t you answer my question,”

Scott rolls his eyes and leans closer to Stiles as he whispers, “maybe I realized I want to be close to you like when we were younger again,”

Stiles’s heart stupidly flutters.

“ MHM are you two done whispering over there or would you like to continue in detention,” Mr.Harris says pushing up his glasses.

“Sorry,” Stiles says.

Mr.Harris turns to Scott, “And where is your apology?” he says snidely.

Stiles looks at Scott and freezes at the expression on his face or the lack of one. His eyes are burrowing into Mr.Harris as if he's been looking at paint dry for hours and is unbearingly bored.

“Sorry,” he says, his voice cold.

They stare at each other until Mr.Harris turns away and goes back to the chalkboard.

Stiles goes back to staring at the paper they're supposed to be doing his mind trying and failing to focus on anything but Scott’s strange behavior. He looks away when he feels Scotts hand closing in on his, Stiles squeezes back and smiles when Scott interlocks their fingers. He doesn’t know why this sudden change is happening but he doesn’t mind… mostly.

For the rest of class Scott won’t let go of his hand even if it makes doing the class work a little hard. Stiles is starting to get the feeling that for some reason Scott needs this contact with him, he wants to just enjoy this close contact with his friend but he is the kind of person to question everything. And Scott has been acting abnormally ever since the attack last night.

“Is that what this is,” Stiles says, letting Scott in on his theory as they walk to the next class.

Scott tugs his hand forcing Stiles to face him and leans in close, “stop questioning everything I do and trust me,”

“How can I trust you when you’re not acting like you?” Stiles says shakily.

Scott leaves his personal space and smiles, “I am me,”

Are you? Because Scott has never threatened him and his eyes have never looked so empty when he was looking at anything else but Stiles.

“Yeah,” Stiles says, “who else could you be?”

Scott shrugs, “let’s meet up at lunch,” he says changing the topic.

“Okay,” Stiles says as they separate to their different classes.

Trying to calm himself Stiles enters his classroom and sees the curly blonde sitting alone and slides next to him.

“Hey,” Stiles says waiting for the boy to look at him, “I’m Stiles,”

Curly looks over at him and stares at him for far too long.

“I know who you are,”

Why is everyone feeling so threatening today?

“Oh, how’d you know,”

“You’re hard to miss,”

“Thank you?”

“It was a complement,”

“Right.” Stiles feels awkward but right now is not the time for it he has an investigation to do.

“I heard we’d be having a partner project for the next few days. Do you wanna work with me?”

“Sure,” he says.

“Great, we can work on it after school. I’ll come to your house and you can just send me the address,”

Curly smirks as if he knows something, “sounds like a plan.”

For the rest of class they have some small talk, Curly finally tells him his name, but it’s mostly silent as Issac doesn’t talk a lot and mostly stares at him. But Stiles is happy that he’s got a way into Issac’s house and can truly investigate what the hell is going on with him and his bruises.

Leaving the classroom he waves goodbye and catches up with Scott at lunch who is sitting with Jackson and Lydia for whatever reason. He sits next to new girl Allison and sends Scott a questioning look who responds with a smile and no whispered explanation. 

He hopes this isn’t Scott's new thing where he smiles instead of explaining himself. 

“Hey,” He says, testing the waters of this newfound ‘friendship’ with Jackson and Lydia since they decided to sit here.

Jackson nods towards him and Lydia says hello. Stiles feels it’s a shame he’s so shocked at their behavior. Has he fallen into an alternate world?

“So uh what are you guys doing here?”

Scott sends him a look to shut up but Stiles sends him a small smile and turns back to Jackson and Lydia.

“We can’t sit here?” Lydia says.

“You normally don’t,”

“Things change,”

“Not without good reason,”

“Stop questioning everything Stiles,” she says parroting Scott’s words from earlier.

They smile at him in unison as if waiting for him to agree and shut up already.

There is no way in hell Stiles is leaving this alone now. Something is going on and he will find out what.

Chapter Text

Scott can admit that he isn’t doing the best job of being his past self, but he figures he can make up a good enough lie to explain it away. Maybe he can blame it on his new werewolf affliction. 

“Why exactly are you letting Stiles snoop around your house?” Lydia says, “you know you’re dad is an abusive piece of crap,”

“I know, but he can somewhat behave around others. And I wanna see what exactly Stiles will do when he figures it out before I report my dad,” Isaac says, spinning in his chair.

“Until then you’ll stay with me,” Scott says.

Scooting past Lydia's feet he gets off of his bed and grabs his phone when it dings.

“Is it Stiles?” Cat asks.

“Yup, he says-”

-I’m going to Isaac’s house to investigate like you oh so subtly asked me too-

“For someone who’s gotten better at lying you still can’t bullshit Stiles,” Cat says plopping next to Lydia.

“Aren’t you sweet,” Scott says blankly, “anyway you gotta run home before Stiles gets there,”

Isaac huffs, “You better become an Alpha fast so I can be turned again,”

“I’ll try. Maybe the whole True Alpha thing will pop out once I have control of this whole werewolf thing again,”

“It better,” he says, leaving the room and running outside.

“Now that that’s gonna be all figured out, what are we gonna do about Peter?” Allison says looking grave, “we can’t let him run around being a killer again,”

“We won’t he’ll be taken care of soon enough, but it won’t be easy considering I’m a newbie werewolf now,”

Jackson groans, “why does everything have to be so complicated?”

Stepping onto the porch Stiles knocks on the door only for it to be yanked open by a sweaty Isaac.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. I just went on a run,”

Entering the house Stiles follows Isaac to the kitchen and sets down his backpack on the ground next to the chair he sits in.

“So I didn’t realize your dad had been coach of the swimming team,”

“That was so many years ago only teachers who still work at the school remember. Seems like you’ve been researching me or him more accurately,”

Stiles laughs, “I have out of curiosity. I found it very interesting that your dad is manager of the cemetery,”

“Yeah,”

“Do you work there too?”

Stiles already knows that he knows a lot of the answers to questions he’s asking Isaac, but he has a point in asking this. Hopefully Isaac falls into his trap.

Isaac nods, “I’ve worked there since I was 14,”

“Harsh. You’re dad sounds like a strict guy,”

“No kidding, but all parents are like that I assume. At least yours should be being a Sheriff and all,”

“Yeah, I remember I got grounded for a month because I stayed out past curfew once. I even got a whopping,” Stiles says lying through his teeth.

His dad is relatively lax and has never laid a hand on him when he broke rules. He just got his comic books, tv, phone, etc taken for a looong time or grounded him and banned Scott from the house for weeks. His dad always aimed for where it would ‘hurt’ Stiles the most.

“I got a belt to the ankles one time for dropping all the groceries on the ground and breaking a few things,” he says, chuckling lightly.

“Jeez do you get whoopings like that all the time?”

“Only when I step out of line,”

“With strict parents the tiniest thing could be considered stepping out of line,”

Like getting lashed for a small accident with groceries.

Isaac’s face darkens and Stiles smiles at him and changes the topic.

“Anyway why haven’t I seen you on the lacrosse team even though you are on it?”

Stiles has been doing a shit ton of snooping and boy was he surprised when he found out Isaac was on the team.

“Most of my time is spent doing homework or working for my dad so I go home early a lot,”

“With your dad being a former coach I figured he would encourage you to focus on Lacrosse instead of working,”

“Some things are more important to him,”

“What about things that are important to you?”

Isaac shrugs, “I do what I can with what little time I get on my own,”

“I guess in that little time you decide to get into fights,”

“... I box,”

“Really!? Boxing, Lacrosse, a job, and school. No wonder you have so little time. Your dad must be proud,”

“Yeah he’s very encouraging ,”

Mhm didn’t he just say his dad cares more about him working in a cemetery than focusing on sports. And with the way Isaac said ‘encouraging’ Stiles is starting to put together a none too pretty picture of Isaac’s life.

Stiles shifts away from the topic of his dad to keep Isaac from closing up for now and they start on their school project. After about thirty minutes the man of the hour walks into the room and Stiles keeps his eyes on Isaac while they talk.

“You brought a friend over,” Lahey says to Isaac.

Isaac’s body is clenched as he answers his dad, his eyes flickering between the table and his dad's face, “There was a sudden group project today. Sorry I didn’t let you know earlier,”

Lahey stares at Isaac for a moment before breaking into a blank smile, “ it’s alright champ,” he says putting his hand on Isaacs shoulder, “even though you’re supposed to let me know things that are going on, mistakes happen. I’m not a strict parent you know that so don’t worry too much,”

Lahey turns to Stiles, “What’s your name?”

“Stiles Stilinski and before you ask yes I am the Sheriff’s kid,”

Stiles joyfully watches Lahey's figurative hackles rise. 

“Is that right. You must be a good kid then,”

“Yeah I’m a real stickler for the law and enforcing them,” Stiles say laughing emptily, “My pops taught me so well it’s like I have a special ability to sniff out criminals or bad people,”

“That's a great ability to have. You don’t sense any bad people nearby do you?” Lahey says laughing loudly a bead of sweat sliding down the side of his face. 

Stiles laughs in turn and doesn’t respond. 

“Who knew your dad could be so funny,” Stiles says to Isaac, “honestly I can’t wait for my dad to meet him,”

Isaac laughs if you can call it that it sounds more like someone's panicked laughing as they have no other way to react to a situation. 

“Speaking of which he’ll be here to come pick me up real soon and I was wondering if Isaac can spend the night at my place so we can finish the project since it’s due Wednesday,”

“That’s a very short deadline considering it’s Monday,”

“No kidding, but uh if Isaac staying at my place is uncomfortable for you I can stay here tonight,”

“No, no he can stay at yours tonight,”

“Awesome. You should go grab some clothes Isaac, my dad will be here soon.”

Isaac scrambles up from the table and scoots past his dad as he makes his way upstairs. 

Stiles packs his and Isaacs book bag and remains silent as Lahey stands there awkwardly. He wonders if he’s a terrible person for getting a kick out of it. 

Isaac comes back down a bag in hand. Stiles puts their book bags on his shoulders and thy walk to the door but before they can leave Lahey has to make one more thinly veiled threat towards Isaac. 

“Behave in their house Isaac especially around the Sheriff,”

“I will,” he answers as they step outside. 

And just in time Stiles’s dad pulls into the driveway and they head off to his house while making introductions on the way. The rest of the night is spent working on the project and introducing superhero movies to Isaac until he eventually falls asleep.

Carefully sliding off of the bed Stiles tip toes out of his room and is careful when closing the door. Walking down stairs he finds his dad in the kitchen.

“Hey can we talk?”

His dad’s shoulders tenses up and his face taken on a neutral expression, “Of course,”

Stiles tells him his suspicions about what may be going on in Isaac’s life, “Can you investigate for me?”

“Are you completely sure something is going on?”

Stiles nods, “whether it’s abuse or negligence something is up,”

His dad takes a breathe, “alright, but if I can’t find probable cause to properly investigate or any evidence promise me you won’t do anything reckless,”

“I promise,”

Saying good night to each other Stiles sneaks back into his room and settles on his bed. He sees Isaac’s limbs twisted in an unnatural position like when animals play dead. 

“I know that position is uncomfortable and I know you’re awake,”

Isaac shifts into a more comfortable position, his back still facing Stiles.

“Why’d you tell him that?”

“Because I’m worried,”

“What if there is nothing for you to worry about,”

“Then go downstairs and tell my dad that,”

Isaac doesn’t move an inch, “what if there isn’t enough evidence?”

“Can you trust that my dad will do his best to find something,”

“Not really,”

Stiles lowers his voice, “Then ask for my help Isaac and I’ll make sure something is found. You just have to say the words,”

It’s quiet for a moment, “I want you to make sure my dad can be put in jail,”

Stiles lets a smile spread across his face. This asshole is going to be put away real soon.

Isaac can feel his hands shake and tightens his grip on his bag as he walks down the sidewalk towards his home.

On Stiles’s instructions he had ignored his fathers texts and phone calls all day. He looks at his phone screen more messages popping up on it each ding feeling like another nail in his coffin. It’s 10:33 and he is an hour and thirty three minutes past curfew. The latest he’s ever been is ten minutes and that usually got him punched.

Isaac trusts Stiles it took time in their original timeline but he eventually did and it was well earned. Multiple occasions of Stiles coming out on top despite being human in a supernatural world caused Isaac to trust that most of Stiles’s plans turned out in his favor. He’s hoping this one that he’s been told little about will work out as well.

He stands on his porch and waits for the signal. His phone finally dings and he sees that it’s Stiles.

-Are you okay?-

Isaac puts his phone in his pocket and stares at the door to hell, takes a deep breath and opens it. The house is dark except for the light in the kitchen that makes things dim. Isaac steps towards the stairs and gets halfway up before he stops at the sight of his dad standing next to the banister.

His heart jumps out of his chest. If he had still been a werewolf he would have been able to hear his dad standing in the dark watching him walk up the steps. If he was a werewolf he wouldn’t be as afraid as he is now at least that’s what he likes to tell himself.

His dad moves from the side and stands on the first step.

“You ignore me all day and you ignore me when you get home. What the hell have you been thinking?!”

Isaac turns making sure his feet are properly on the steps and runs to his room loud stomps like thunder in his ears close behind him. He scrambles into his room, his dad's rage-filled face the only thing he is able to make out in the dark and slams the door shut, locking it quickly. 

He slides his desk in front of it and pulls out his phone doing his best to type with shaking hands. 

-my dad is really angry right now-

-do you think you can come over and pretend we still have to work on the project so he calms down-

-i really dont want to get punished again-

Stiles: -OMW-

Isaac slides down onto the floor and waits for whatever the next step in the plan is until he gets the signal to enact the last role he’s been given. 

-somethings up at Isaacs house come over asap-

He waits for the ‘read’ note to pop up and checks the time. It’s 10:40 meaning Stiles has five means to do this. Zipping up his hoodie he makes sure his taser is safe and tucked away. 

Grabbing the mask he slides it onto his face and walks to the back yard. He jimmies open a window and hopes that it made enough noise to distract Lahey away from Isaac. 

Crawling in he drops to the floor with a thud and knows for sure if Lahey didn’t hear anything before he sure has now. 

“Who’s there,” Lahey says coming down the stairs. 

4 minutes left

Stiles says nothing and runs straight for Lahey the moment he is off the stairs and sees him. He tackles him and they fall to the floor. 

Stiles is of course immediately overpowered by Lahey and takes a punch to the face and takes another to the gut. Hitting Lahey in the chin he slides from under him and flips a side table near the couch at him. 

Lahey shakes it off, “not only do I have to deal with Isaac but a burglar too,” he laughs, “you’re gonna regret this.”

Stiles stays still as Lahey comes towards him again and moves away at the last second taking a few hits as he tries to run. 

3 minutes left

Running up the stairs he runs full force at Issac’s door only managing to crack it. He groans and slows to the floor. 

Why did I put this in the plan?! Why did I make that the signal?! This better leave nasty looking bruises. 

He waits and hears Isaac knock over his desk and open the door just as Lahey comes up the stairs. 

2 minutes left

Lahey is about to take a swing at Stiles but Isaac gets in the way and takes a punch to the face. 

“What the hell are you doing!” Lahey shouts, shoving Isaac away causing him to hit the desk in his room and fall over it. 

Stiles pulls out his taser when Lahey gets close again and zaps him in the leg. Lahey shouts and begins to sink into the floor only to get zapped in the neck. Lahey drops to the ground, his neck making a sizzle sound as he lays there unconscious. 

1 minute left

Stiles can distantly hear sirens and stumbles onto his feet taking off the ski mask he shoves into the nearest hallway closet. 

“Isaac are you okay,” he asks, holding his side as limps towards the boy who’s sitting on the ground. 

“Is he unconscious?”

“Yeah and he won’t be waking up until some time after he’s arrested,”

“Good.” Isaac says. 

Not too long after that Stiles hears the door burst open and people running up the steps, their guns withdrawn. 

“Stiles,” his dad says, holstering his gun, “what the hell happened?”

Times up

Regina has worked with Noah as his deputy for a few years now and she’s seen him through a variety of emotions especially when having to deal with nasty no more faith in humanity kind of cases. But she has never seen him so angry and trying to hold it back so he isn’t taken off the case and can interrogate Lahey once he wakes up from his electric induced nap. 

“Sheriff,” she says grabbing his taut shoulder and forcing him to look away from his son for a few seconds, “I’m going to need you to sit in your office while we do this,”

“I-“

“You need to calm down enough to interrogate Lahey and you won’t be able to do that while we take pictures of Stiles and Isaac’s bruises,”

His jaw is clenched and his green eyes are burning, “let me know when it’s over.” he says walking away. 

Regina takes a sigh of relief and heads to the room where pictures are being taken. Stiles takes off his shirt and she inhales sharply at his battered side. 

He has large blotchy purple-ish red bruises on his stomach and a huge one on his side and arm. His jaw and eye is bruised and swollen, his busted lip added to the painful mix. 

She watches them take a bunch of pictures and once it’s over they take pictures of Isaacs bruised face. 

The poor kid looks shaken and his back has a long bruised strip going across it. Regina feels her heart twist at the idea this isn’t the first time for Isaac but hopefully these bruises will be the last he ever gets from his father. 

They are both given new shirts, their old bloodied ones put into evidence. 

Walking out of the room they sit in the chairs nearby and Regina walks towards them. 

“Hey,” she says quietly. 

When they respond she pulls over a chair and sits in front of them. 

“Are you guys okay to answer some questions or tell me what happened?”

Isaac shakes his head quickly looking like a chihuahua. 

“I can tell you what happened, but only once and you have to record it. I don’t want to go over what happened again and again,”

“We can do that,” she stands up from her seat, “follow me,”

“Um what do I do,” Isaac asks.

Before she can answer Stiles leans over and whispers something in his ear that seems to lessen the scared fish out of water look Isaac has. Stiles pats his shoulder and looks towards Regina waiting to be led elsewhere.

Leading him into the room she sets up the camera and makes sure the microphone is in order. Lieu walks into the room and hands her the phones zipped up into an evidence bag. Pressing on the phone she goes to Isaac’s messages.

She turns on the camera and begins. 

Chapter Text

On August 8th a victim of assault and battery gave his statement. 

A video begins showing a grey interrogation room where an Deputy Regina Ward, a 5’8 blonde woman, sits across from Mieczyslaw (Stiles) Stilinski, a 6’0 black haired minor.

On the table sits two phones in an evidence bag the phone of Isaac Lahey is on and it’s messages are open. 

Deputy Ward: Okay at 10:38 Isaac texted you that he was worried about his dad’s anger and didn’t want to be punished so he asked you to come over in the hopes his dad would calm down.

Mieczyslaw Stilinski nods. 

Deputy Ward: can you say that verbally.

Mieczyslaw Stilinski: uh yeah. Isaac texted me that. 

Deputy Ward: can you tell me what happened after that?

Mieczyslaw Stilinski: I went to his house to see if everything was okay. His dad had been suspicious earlier and some stuff Isaac had said about him made me worried, you know. So I went over there. 

Deputy Ward: what kind of things did Isaac say?

Mieczyslaw Stilinski: he just told me about times he was punished pretty badly for like really small things and wouldn’t let him do anything without supervision. It sounded more controlling than necessary. 

Deputy Ward: okay so you were worried and went to Isaac's house. What happened when you got there?

Mieczyslaw Stilinski: I heard shouting and I knocked on the door but nobody answered. I just heard Lahey screaming his head off but I didn’t go in until I heard what sounded like a whack. The door was unlocked so I went inside and Isaac was on the floor. Mr. Lahey was pissed and got angrier when I got in the way and told him to back off so he hit me too. I knocked over a table nearby to get in his way and me and Isaac ran upstairs to his room because Mr.Lahey was in the way of the front door. We locked the door behind us and slid Isaac’s desk in front of it. 

Deputy Ward: then what did Mr.Lahey do?

Mieczyslaw Stilinski: he started yelling that if Isaac didn’t open the door his punishment would be so much worse. Isaac looked really scared and started to open the door. I tried to convince to stop and wait for the police to come, but he was scared they wouldn’t do anything and once he was sent back home he’d be in even bigger trouble than he was then. So Issac opened the door and Mr.Lahey hit him again making Isaac fall against his desk. I got in the way again but Mr.Lahey slammed me into the bedroom door, hit me a couple times and I fell to the floor. I grabbed my taser while trying to avoid getting beat up and got him in the leg and then the neck to keep him down. After that my dad and the cops showed up. 

Deputy Ward: is that everything that happened?

Mieczyslaw Stilinski: yes ma’am.  

Deputy Ward: thank you for coming in to talk to me. Your dad should be outside.  

Stilinski leaves the room. Deputy Ward turns on her radio. 

Deputy Ward: Send in Isaac Lahey next. 

Isaac Lahey, a 6’1 blonde boy, enters the room and sits across from Deputy Ward. 

Deputy Ward: Hi Isaac. 

Isaac Lahey: hello .

Deputy Ward: are you okay to talk now?

Isaac Lahey: yeah but can-can we make it quick I don’t like small spaces. 

Deputy Ward: can you tell me why?

Isaac Lahey: my dad always locks me in the freezer box when I do something he doesn’t like. It’s really small in there.  

Deputy Ward: does he do that all the time?

Isaac Lahey: yes ma’am.  

Deputy Ward: alright then we’ll make this as quick as possible and if you need a break let me know. 

Isaac Lahey: okay . 

Deputy Ward: what happened after you texted Stiles?

Isaac Lahey: my dad kept yelling at me for being home past curfew and came into the living room where I was sitting. I tried to tell him why I was home late but it just made him angrier and he… he hit me. Sorry, can I get a cup of water? 

Deputy Ward: yeah the fountain is just outside of the room. 

Lahey leaves and re-enters the room 9 minutes later. 

Deputy Ward: you okay?

Isaac Lahey: yes ma’am. Um after that Stiles came in and got in front of my dad. My dad hit him too and we ran upstairs and I locked the door of my room. My dad started threatening me so I opened the door and he hit me again and I fell into my desk. Stiles and my dad started fighting until Stiles tased him. Then the cops came. 

Deputy Ward: alright Isaac I’m gonna ask you a few more questions and then you can go, okay?

Isaac Lahey: okay . 

Deputy Ward: has your dad hit you before? 

Isaac Lahey: yes . 

Deputy Ward: for how long?

Isaac Lahey: a couple of years now. 

Deputy Ward: he hasn’t always hit you?

Isaac Lahey: no it started after my brother left for the army. 

Deputy Ward: did he use to hit your brother?

Isaac Lahey: he said it was only to show some tough love because Camden needed it. I guess after Camden left my dad thought I needed some too. 

Deputy Ward: how often did your dad hit you?

Isaac Lahey: depended on the day. If it was a good day maybe once or twice with some threats of hitting me. On bad days I got hit a lot more. And on really bad days I got put in the box. 

Deputy Ward: how many really bad days were there?

Isaac Lahey: three to four a month. 

Deputy Ward: how long would you be locked in there?

Isaac Lahey: a day. He always made sure to do it on the weekends or right after school and would let me out the next morning. 

Deputy Ward: is there anything else you would like to tell me?

Isaac Lahey: not right now. I just want to sleep. 

Deputy Ward: if there’s anything else we need to talk about I’ll let you know but from the looks of things this is it.  

Deputy Ward stands up and Isaac Lahey follows. The camera is shut off. 

On August 9th a suspect of Assault & Battery and Child abuse is interrogated.

A video begins showing a grey interrogation room where Sheriff Noah Stilinski, a 5’9 dark brown haired man, sits across from Mr.Lahey, a 6’0 light brown haired man.

Sheriff Stilinski: What happened August 8th?

Mr.Lahey: What do you mean ‘what happened’ someone broke into my house. Why am I the one being questioned?

Sheriff Stilinski: This is standard procedure. Now what happened on that day, start from the beginning. 

Mr.Lahey: I was scolding my son in the living room right when he got home.

Sheriff Stilinski: why?

Mr.Lahey: he ignored my phone calls and texts all day and then came home hours past curfew.

Sheriff Stilinski: and what happened while you were scolding him?

Mr.Lahey: I was talking to him in his room when I heard a thud downstairs. I saw some guy in a ski mask in my kitchen and the guy suddenly tackled me to the ground. We fought, he ran upstairs and tried to break into Isaac’s room and I stopped him, but the guy tased me knocking me out. I don’t know what happened after that. 

Sheriff Stilinski: you said you were scolding Isaac in the living room, but heard the intruder break in through the kitchen from upstairs while you were still scolding Isaac.  

Mr.Lahey: Isaac went to his room while I was talking to him.

Sheriff Stilinski: you let him walk away from you?

Mr.Lahey: what can I say, kids are rebellious around his age.

Sheriff Stilinski: right . 

Sheriff Stilinski pulls out a few photos and places them on the table in front of Mr. Lahey. 

Photo 1- Isaac Lahey's busted lip. 

Photo 2- Isaac’s bruised eyes and cheek. 

Photo 3- Issac’s bruised back. 

Sheriff Stilinski: can you explain these photos? 

Mr.Lahey: isn’t it obvious that the intruder did that?

Sheriff Stilinski: you said the intruder tried to run into Isaac’s room but you stopped him. Are you saying Isaac was outside of his room? 

Mr.Lahey: yes. He was in the hallway.

Sheriff Stilinski: and the intruder punched Isaac twice while simultaneously running down the hallway to his room?

Mr.Lahey: No it was after I stopped him from going in. 

Sheriff Stilinski: you stopped him from going into Isaac’s room and then the intruder ran past you, stopped and started to hit Isaac.  

Mr.Lahey: Isaac got in the way.  

Sheriff Stilinski: why would he try to stop an intruder from leaving?

Mr.Lahey: I don’t know teenagers are dumb.

Sheriff Stilinski. So you fought the intruder who then ran upstairs past Isaac, tried to break into his room, was stopped, ran past you, beat up Isaac while you were there and then tased you. Is that right? 

Mr.Lahey: yes that’s what happened.  

Sheriff Stilinski: you want to know what I think?

Mr.Lahey:.. sure . 

Sheriff Stilinski: I think you’re the one that hit Isaac and tried to make up some story about an intruder. 

Mr.Lahey: what? I have never laid a hand on my son and why would I lie about out an intruder. Just because you guys didn’t manage to catch this guy doesn’t mean I hit my son.

Sheriff Stilinski: We do have the supposed intruder. 

Mr.Lahey: then why the hell are you accusing me?

Sheriff Stilinski pulls out photos of Mieczyslaw (Stiles) Stilinski. 

Photo 1- Stiles Stilinski’s bruised face. 

Photo 2- Stiles Stilinski’s bruised stomach. 

Photo 3- Stiles Stilinski’s bruised side and arm. 

Sheriff Stilinski: this is the supposed intruder you were talking about.

Mr.Lahey: what?

Sheriff Stilinski: he was the only other person beside you and Isaac in the house and he had a taser

Mr.Lahey: is this a joke?

Sheriff Stilinski: there was no ski mask

Mr.Lahey: he wasn’t there before he’s the intruder

Sheriff Stilinski: and your son as well as mine confirmed that it was in fact you who hit Isaac and Stiles and that there was no intruder.  

Mr.Lahey: this is bullshit. This-this is lies all of it I’m being set up.

Sheriff Stilinski: by who?

Mr.Lahey: I don’t know.  

Sheriff Stilinski: why would your son lie about this? Why would Stiles break into your house?

Mr.Lahey: I don’t know.  

Sheriff Stilinski: Mr.Lahey because you can’t come up with a good explanation for this and because you are suspected of child abuse you are under arrest. 

Mr.Lahey: I’m not guilty. 

Sheriff Stilinski: the court will determine that. 

Mr.Lahey: there has to be someone who can tell you the truth. There has to be a witness.

Sheriff Stilinski: we’ll see. 

Sheriff Stilinski stands up and handcuffs Mr.Lahey. 

Sheriff Stilinski: you will be put into a cell until the foreseeable future. You will then be sent to a jail where you will wait until your trial date where you will be determined as guilty or innocent. 

The camera is turned off. 

August 9th a witness came forward and gave his statement. 

A video begins showing a grey interrogation room where Sheriff Noah Stilinski, a 5’9 dark brown haired man, sits across from Jackson Whittemore, a 5’9 brown haired minor.

Sheriff Stilinski: can you tell me why you’re here?

Jackson Whittemore: yeah I heard what happened last night as well as other nights. 

Sheriff Stilinski: can you tell me what that means?

Jackson Whittemore: last night was not the first time I heard Coach Lahey hitting Isaac. I’ve even seen him do it a couple times. I was debating if I should report it until now. 

Sheriff Stilinski: how long have you seen Mr.Lahey hit Isaac?

Jackson Whittemore: a couple of months now. I wasn’t sure at first but I am now. 

Sheriff Stilinski: what did you see that night?

Jackson Whittemore: I was studying when I heard shouts and what sounded like furniture breaking. I took out my camera so I could have evidence that Coach Lahey hits Isaac. 

Sheriff Stilinski: do you still have the footage?

Jackson Whittemore: I brought it with me. 

Whittemore hands over a usb stick. 

Sheriff Stilinski: thank you. Now can you finish telling me what you saw?  

Jackson Whittemore: yeah I saw shadows running past the window and when I went outside to get a closer look all I heard was sounds of fighting and then you guys came. So I went back home. 

Sheriff Stilinski: okay, do you have any photos or anything of Isaac with bruises from his dad?

Jackson Whittemore: I have a couple of photos of Isaac walking into his house without bruises and then coming back out with a busted face. They're digital so they have the time stamp on them. They’re also in the usb stick. 

Sheriff Stilinski: Is that everything?

Jackson Whittemore: yeah . 

Sheriff Stilinski: alright thank you for coming in.

Sheriff Stilinski stands up and turns the camera off. 

“You seen the video and photos,” Noah asks. 

“Oh yeah. It all just about proves Mr.Lahey did it. My question is why would he make up that dumb story about a burglar breaking in?” Regina Ward says, taking a sip of her coffee. 

“Who knows. I’ve seen all kinds of guilty people come up with the dumbest excuses and alibis. This is no different,”

Regina shakes her head, “Did Isaac stay with you last night?”

“Yeah, Stiles demanded it. Said he would stay with Isaac if he couldn’t come over to our house,”

“Is it gonna be a permanent stay?”

“With the way Stiles is not so subtly dropping hints about it he just might,”

Regina snorts, “look on the bright side at least if he does stay you’ll have someone to tell you when Stiles is being sneaky,”

“Oh, I don't know about that. He’s gonna have that poor kid wrapped around his finger and Isaac will be another addition to the trouble making duo,”

“How is Scott doing now that you’ve mentioned him?”

“He’s been at my house too and refuses to leave. At least he and Isaac get along you know how Scott used to act when new people would come around Stiles,”

“Thank goodness he grew out of that by the 8th grade. I do not want to here you whinge about how he and Stiles may be codependent,”

“My worries were valid,”

“Were they?”

“I suppose not anymore but it definitely was back then,” Noah says looking at his from a text from Stiles telling him to hurry up. 

“Mhm. I’ll see you later Sheriff,”

They say their goodbyes and Noah gets into his car Stiles in the passenger seat. 

“Is Isaac hungry?”

“Yeah I just texted him,” Stiles says. 

“How’s your face doing?”

“It’s fine and so is my side. It’s just bruises they’ll go away,”

Noah sighs, “You said you wouldn’t do anything reckless,”

“I didn’t do anything reckless dad, I made a calculated decision and acted on it. It’s not that didn’t from what you do as a cop,”

“Except I have a license for it,”

“Then I’ll get one too when I’m old enough,”

“You wanna be a cop?”

“I think I’d prefer to be a PI,”

Noah ruffles his hair, “you’d make a good private investigator.”

Noah just hopes until then Stiles won’t have to make any more dangerous calculated decisions.