Help (i need someone)
This was supposed to be a few paragraphs of “i had a thought” so of course it ended up over 1k. Oops?
I might write this eventually, i sort of wrote this already, but it’s not!fic style, I’ll be expanding it in the next few days, but if you get inspired, feel free to run with it, just tag me please!
So, you know how animals will occasionally seek help from humans? Like, a momma cat whose kittens are stuck in a drain pipe, or a raccoon who gets its paw trapped in a pop can, etc?
Think feral Derek who gets injured (either just after the fire he goes full shift feral or after finding Laura, or a random thing whatever, just he’s a wolf and has been for sometime now) and he gets injured. Caught in a trap or maybe he finds an injured thing, or maybe he’s stuck in a plastic ring thing that someone left behind from a picnic and he’s kind of forgotten how to be human, so he needs a hand, and so he howls for help.
Stiles has been hearing a wolf howling for weeks now, but when he mentions it is just met with “There are no wolves in California” but, you know our curious boy is not going to give up. So he’s been walking through the preserve investigating. He’s pretty sure he’s narrowed down where the wolf is living now, so when he hears a particularly urgent sounding howl, he’s in his Jeep and on the road before the sound is even finished echoing.
When he gets close to where he wants to turn into the preserve he sees a huge, black wolf, limping (or trying to get his attention, depending on whether Derek is injured, stuck, or being a good boy, er, Samaritan…).
So Stiles stops the car abruptly and, unthinking, leaps out of the car and runs toward the animal, practically skidding to a stop as he drops down in front of it, asking “What’s wrong, big guy, huh?” And Derek. Derek is momentarily stunned because this human just all but launched himself at him and that’s… not normal? Also, he smells really good (and familiar, definitely the human that’s been walking through the woods on the edges of his territory) and his hands that are absently petting Derek’s fur and checking for injuries feel really nice, and it’s all kind of jumbled in his head because he’s been running mostly on instinct for a while, and what he really wants to do is push his nose into the human’s neck and scent him and then push him over onto the ground and curl up around him.
But. He had a reason for venturing out of the relative safety of the woods. He needed help.
So he manages to communicate to the boy whatever it is that he needs, and Stiles obliges (i don’t know what’s cuter, some ridiculous litter caught around him or him leading Stiles to some trapped kittens) and then Stiles convinces the big wolf to get in his car (not that it takes much, Derek really wants to go with him) and takes him home, gets him clean and dry, figures out how to explain it to his dad…
Stiles finds the wolf curled up around his pillow (you can’t blame Derek, it smelled so good, okay) and after unsuccessfully trying to convince him to move to the end of the bed, gives up and lies down next to him with a grumbled “listen dude, i know you understand me, you did everything else i asked you to do, even let me give you a bath, which even dogs don’t do calmly. You’re not a normal wolf, buddy” to which Derek replies with a huff and a nuzzle at Stiles’ hand demanding to be pet as he apologizes. As Stiles scratches Derek’s head lightly, the truth of what he said hits him: this is not a normal wolf.
As he falls asleep, he’s already thinking about what to research in the morning.
He convinces his dad he’s fostering the wolf-dog for Dr Deaton, Scott’s boss at the vet clinic, and John quickly grows to enjoy the giant “dog” he even encourages him to sit with him while he reads over case files and half watches the game. As the days pass and he spends more time with the incredibly obedient wolf, who responds and reacts more like a human than an animal, and he does more and more digging into lore and local history, he starts to think he’s got it figured out.
They’ve been arguing about names, because Stiles needs something to call him. So far, the wolf has grouched about all nicknames (dude gets an especially emphatic unhappy sound) and done a decent canine version of an eye roll at a series of popular dog names. After a couple weeks, Stiles sits down in front of the wolf and pets him, holds his face with both hands and scritches behind his ears.
“Hey pal. I think I’ve figured out what to call you, but i need you to promise you won’t get mad like when i suggested Balto,okay? And i need you to promise you won’t like, run away or rip my throat out with those impressively big teeth of yours, yeah?”
Derek tilts his head in the best unimpressed agreement he can muster as a wolf (and he’s been having a hard time staying as a wolf lately, he wants to know what Stiles’ hands he’ll like on his skin and talk to John about baseball. He’s starting to remember what being human feels like. He’s even woken up half shifted a few times, human arms wrapped around Stiles and the beat of his heart under his fingertips, a growing ache in his chest).
“I think,” Stiles sighs and bumps his forehead against Derek’s. “I think i should be calling you Derek.” Stiles holds his breath and Derek freezes then tries to pull away, shaking his head as he feels the wolf falling away. “Derek, please, please stay calm, it’s okay. I know what happened, i get it. Please. ”
And Stiles’ hands are splayed and there’s no stutter in his heart beat, and his voice is quiet and pleading, so Derek stops fighting, stops holding onto the wolf, lets the shift fall away until it’s just him, kneeling uncertainly on Stiles’ bedroom floor. He takes a deep breath before he can meet Stiles’ eyes, when he does they both gasp a little, each struck by the beauty of the other, and Stiles in awe at the transformation he’s witnessed: the confirmation of the supernatural overwhelming, but not as overwhelming as the man crouched in front of him.
As a wolf, Derek had become a best friend of sorts; a faithful companion and confidant, even as Stiles began to suspect his true nature, he still felt safe telling him all his secrets.
After a long moment staring at each other, a grin spreads across Stiles’ face. “Hi.”
Derek swallows hard and manages a rough sounding “Hi” his vocal chords no longer accustomed to the shape of words.
Eventually, after looking at each other with soft smiles, Stiles momentarily holding in a million questions, Derek growing used to the way his body and his mind feel when he’s human, they get up. Stiles moves close and reaches a hand up to feel Derek’s face, repeating a soft “Hi” around an even softer grin, Derek leans into the touch and it’s easy to drift together to the bed. Stiles gets Derek some pyjama pants and tries not to look as he changes before sitting beside him, their hands lacing together easily as they talk for hours, falling asleep briefly until the sound of John’s car wakes them.
Stiles tells his dad the dog had to go back to Deaton and they both mourn his loss, John starts talking about getting a new dog. After a couple days of hiding Derek, Stiles introduces him to the Sheriff as a human. They get along even better than before, much to everyone’s relief. (They probably spin a story about Derek’s apartment flooding or something a few days later to get John to offer the spare room, because hiding a full grown man is hard, and Derek isn’t ready to be a person around other people yet. When Stiles has visitors he hides)
It takes time, but Derek grows comfortable in his skin again, and after they’ve known each other many months as people, they go from being Derek and Stiles to DerekandStiles and it’s as easy as it ever was for them to curl around each other, whisper secrets and fall asleep to rhythm of one another’s heartbeat.
