Chapter Text
“Remember who you are.”
Those were the last words Eli heard from his father before he was burned alive by Parrish in order to kill the Nogitsune once and for all. Parrish had him. Why did his dad have to hold on to the monster? Why did his dad have to sacrifice himself? Why did his dad have to leave him?
Eli didn’t have the answers and instead he went to go find the only person that could help him answer these questions. He had the Jeep, the infamous Jeep that never could finally stop working and just bite the dust, the Jeep his father repaired, the Jeep his father hated.
“You know, I’m not sure how your dad would feel about me giving you the Jeep. But, um, something tells me it’s the right thing to do.”
“He hated that Jeep.” Eli stated.
“After my son left if behind, Derek towed it in, thinking it was probably beyond repair. But then he opened up the hood and he pulled off all the duct tape Stiles had stuck on it. And he managed to fix it.” He chuckled softly.
“That Jeep, no matter what’s been done to it, it just keeps running. He could never figure out why it wouldn’t break down and stay down. And I don’t think he ever realized that that’s exactly the way we saw him. I have never seen anyone take the kind of punishment that Derek Hale took…”
“And kept taking…”
“In order to protect the people he loved.”
Stiles. He needed to find Stiles.
***
Stiles was sitting at his desk in FBI headquarters hating the fact he hasn’t been given the chance to go out on the field. He had been gone for a few years now, leaving Beacon Hill to pursue his passion of investigation, getting frequent pictures from Derek documenting Eli’s life. It was a well known fact that Eli’s humor, sarcasm and whatever else there was all came from Stiles, the fun uncle, the Sheriffs rebellious only child, Scott’s best friend, Derek’s anchor and the packs only human.
“Oh come on!” Stiles shouted catching the attention of everybody in his office.
“Sorry.”
“Agent Stilinski!” His superior shouted.
“Yes boss man? You assigning me to the field?”
“No, you have a visitor.”
Stiles had no idea who could be visiting him, not while the rest of the pack were out living their lives. Lydia had ended their relationship so he definetly knew she wasn’t the one waiting for him in the conference room. He wasn’t a werewolf either so he had no chance of catching his visitors scent but what he did know was that something was wrong.
Stiles walked down the hall towards the conference room. He passed the large window and saw Eli siting in one of the chairs, legs propped up on the table, and an agent standing in the corner looking entirely annoyed to be in the same room as the kid.
“You’re good to go agent, I got it from here.” Stiles said as he walked into the room.
“Good luck this kids annoying.” He huffed. Eli’s eyes glowed yellow as he went to pounce on the retreating agent only for Stiles to step in front of him.
“Good to see you can shift now but please don’t attack an FBI agent in the FBI!” He scolded guiding Eli back to the chair. “Has your dad not taught you how to control it yet?”
There was an uncomfortable silence after that question and that’s when Stiles knew. He knew something was really and eerily wrong. Eli’s face said it all, something happened to Derek and it wasn’t good.
“What happened to Derek? Eli what happened?” He rushed out.
“He’s dead.” That was all Eli said before Stiles was sitting down beside him, processing the information. His friend, his protector, the only one who believed in Stiles the most was dead.
“How?”
“The Nogitsune.”
“The what?!” He shouted suddenly jumping out of his seat.
“The Nogi-“
“I know what it is, I was once possessed by it. How did it get out? What happened to the Triskelion? Who released it? WHY DIDN’T ANYBODY CALL ME!” He interrupted.
He was furious that nobody told him what was happening. How could his own pack hide the fact that the Nogitsune was back. That Derek was dead. That Eli fucking Hale was parentless and not a single pack member even bothered to let Stiles know.
“Parrish went all Hellhound on it and my dad helped him hold it down so he could burn it alive or something like that.”
“Burned alive? He was burned alive?”
“Yes Stiles, my dad was burned alive right in front of my eyes you know the same way he said his entire family was murdered only this time he was saving everybody. His eyes even turned red right before the fire finally took him so that’s something.”
Stiles stood there shocked at the information. Derek had finally became an Alpha, a True Alpha at that, it’s a shame that it only happened while he was dying. Dying in front of his own son.
“Why didn’t anybody tell me what was happening?” Stiles asked.
“Your dad said you had your own “fire to put out” or something like that after my dad said he should call you. Nobody else really bothered to try and reach you and I thought that was why.”
“I sit at a desk all day. I have no fire, I have paper cuts and the occasional leg cramps.” Stiles sighed as he sat back down. He needed to figure out why Eli was here other than to tell him about Derek.
“I guess you’re wondering why I’m here. So my dad is dead, Allison is alive-“
“Who?”
“Allison Argent. I guess-“
“Eli if you keep trying to explain these things to me I’m going to rip out your K9s. I know who Allison is. Did the Nogitsune bring her back?”
“No, Lydia did.” He stated.
“Eli. I’m going to feed you wolfsbane if you don’t add an explanation after saying something like that.” Stiles threatened.
“That’ll kill me.”
“That’s the point, now talk.”
“Well I don’t know how she did it all I know is that I followed her, Scott and Malia out to the woods and turns out they were looking for the Nemeton which I just so happened to know how to find and once they got there Malia sent me away.” He explained.
“She just stared at you until you got the hint didn’t she?”
“Yes.” He answered quickly.
“Who knows you’re here?” Stiles asked.
“About that.”
***
“Where’s Eli?” Scott asked frantically as he walked into the Sheriff’s office.
“Probably in the woods, his father’s dead Scott and he wants to get him back.” Sheriff Stilinski informed him.
“I looked in the woods, Argent looked, Allison looked, everybody looked and nobody has been able to find him. Not to mention the Jeep is gone.”
“Oh hell.” The Sheriff sighed.
“What?”
“Stiles.” That was all the Sheriff had to say before Scott was frantically dialling Stiles’ phone.
Ring
Ring
Ring
“Hey Scotty, what’s up?” Stiles answered.
“Hey Stiles, has Eli came to visit you?”
“Why would Eli come see me and why are you the one asking?”
“Derek asked me to watch him and now I can’t find him so I think he left Beacon Hills.”
“Well sorry buddy I have no clue, I’ve been working all day.” Stiles lied. Two could play at that game.
“Okay, well if he does end up there can you call me? Derek will kill me if he finds out I lost his son.” Scott sighed, hanging up the phone.
“Stiles hasn’t seen Eli.”
“And you lied to Stiles.” Parrish announced as he stood in the doorway.
“He doesn’t need to know, he has a normal life this will just bring him back here.”
“Stiles should know Scott. Derek was his friend. He was Derek’s anchor. Hell, Eli is a mini Stiles as horrifying as it is. Should I also mention the fact that Derek was the only one to ever really listen to Stiles?” The Sheriff informed Scott as the Alpha let out a defeated sigh. It was to late to call him back, now wasn’t the time, he had to find Eli.
***
“Why would Scott lie to you?” Eli asked him.
“So I wouldn’t return to Beacon Hills.” Stiles concluded.
“You’re the only one who can get my dad back. We need to go back to Beacon Hills.” Eli panicked, thinking Stiles wasn’t going back just like Scott wanted.
“Why me?”
“You and I are the closest to dad, he said if anything were to happen to him that I needed to find you.”
“The whole ‘If I die’ plan right?”
“Exactly, he said you would know how to solve the problem because you’re the problem solver, the smartest of us all.”
“Obviously. Who was solving all these problems while I was gone?”
“You mean in general or recently because only Malia, Parrish, Mason, Sheriff, dad and I live in Beacon Hill. Everybody else ditched us.”
“Recently, you imbecile.”
“Oh, Jackson.”
“Who now?”
“Jac-“
“That was rhetorical.” Stiles sighed as he covered his face in his hands.
“So are you going to help?” Eli asked. Of course Stiles was going to help, Derek was his friend, Eli was his family, Derek was everything.
“On one condition.”
“Okay,” Eli hurriedly answered. “What is it?”
“As soon as we get to Beacon Hills you take me straight to my Jeep.”
“The Jeep? I drove here in the Jeep.” Eli frowned. He was going to get his Jeep privileges taken and he knew it but at least he’d hopefully be getting his dad back.
Stiles was out of the conference room within the second, running through the halls of the FBI with Eli right behind him. It looked like Stiles was being chased by an insane teenager yet nobody bothered to help, they just watched the two run through the hall, down the stairs and out of the headquarters building.
“My baby!” Stiles shouted as he hugged the hood of his blue Jeep. The Jeep that got him through every obstacle, hit Kanima Jackson, hit a hunter, drove him and his friends through Mexico, and so on. There were so many memories inside this Jeep and Stiles was reluctant to even leave it in Beacon Hills but to be fair it was supposed to be Scott’s. Scott was supposed to take care of it, Scott was supposed to drive it, Scott was supposed to keep the seat warm until Stiles came back but just like everything else Derek was the one to take care of it.
“Dad fixed it all up, gave it new parts and everything. He said he hated the Jeep but he never got rid of it.”
“Every time he ended up in the Jeep he was either on the brink of death or I was threatening him, horribly but I still threatened him.” Stiles shrugged as he held out his hand for the Jeeps keys.
“Don’t you have to tell your boss you’re leaving?”
“Oh yeah. Start the Jeep. I’m driving so don’t even try anything.” Stiles warned as he walked back into the building.
“We’re going to bring you back dad. I know we will.” Eli whispered as he started the Jeep and waited for Stiles to return. “Stiles will save you, just like you always said he did.”
***
“So, you lost my nephew?”
“And my cousin?” Malia added. Peter has been keeping calm since Scott told him about Eli’s disappearance but Malia was handling it differently.
Malia’s relationship with Peter was complicated, they never took the time to bond and Malia was okay with that but Eli, her cousin, is the closest family she has. She’s known him since he was born, has been there for every birthday, all the times he collapsed from his transitions, every lacrosse game, she was his protector and right now she feels like she failed. She did fail.
“I’m going to kill you.” Malia growled as she walked towards Scott only to be held back by Peter.
“I didn’t choose to lose him Malia.” Scott argued.
“I’m going to gut you, scatter your parts throughout the woods and then I’m going to come back later and eat you.” She growled once again.
Ring
Ring
Ring
Malia paused her threats and pulled her ringing phone from her pocket. Peter released his grip and Malia was walking out of the door and as far as she knew she could go so the others wouldn’t hear her on the phone.
“What?” Malia snapped.
“Malia?” Eli tentatively asked on the other side.
“Eli. Where are you?”
“Hey Malia!” Stiles shouted in the background. A breath of relief came from her as she heard Stiles voice. Eli was safe, well as safe as he could be with Stiles.
“I’m sorry, I had to tell Stiles he’s the only one that could probably solve everything.”
“Will. Will solve everything.” Stiles corrected.
“Whatever.”
“Where are you?” Malia asked again.
“On our way back to Beacon Hills. Please don’t tell anybody where I went or what I’m doing or-“
“Just don’t say anything at all Malia.” Stiles interrupted.
“Yeah whatever, just get Eli back here unharmed and I wont kill you.”
“Listen here you were-coyote the person you should be worried about is me. ME. I’m more likely to die then mini me is.”
“I’m not a mini you.”
“Yes you are.” Stiles and Malia stated.
Malia hung up at the sound of footsteps approaching only to be disappointed that the person nearing her was no other then Chris Argent. She really felt like killing somebody tonight.
“Was that Eli?” He asked.
“No.”
“He’s on his way back with Stiles isn’t he?”
“No.”
“I found that boy before anybody found out he was gone.”
“Don’t say a word or I’ll rip out your throat.” Malia snarled.
“If I planned on saying anything I would’ve told the others already. Stiles is the only one smart enough to figure this out and I heard Scott didn’t even tell him Derek was dead, I know that if Derek’s favourite human died and wasn’t told he’d light the world on fire.” Chris stated matter of factly.
“I know.” Malia sighed as she walked back towards the house.
***
“Did she just hang up on us?”
“Yes.”
“Call her back right now, she doesn’t get to hang up first.”
“She won’t answer.” Eli stated.
“Like hell she won’t, call her back!” Stiles shouted.
“She won’t answer because somebody was outside with her, I heard a second heartbeat. Also stop being angry, you stink.” Eli gagged.
“Roll down the window then pup.”
“I’m not a pup.”
“Yes you are.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“No.”
“Yes.” Eli huffed, defeated.
“Idiot.” Stiles sighed, yet proud of his victory.
The two continued their journey to Beacon Hills. Eli looked over at the focused Stiles, his grip on the steering wheel constantly changing, he’d grip it tight and then loosen his grip and again and again he’d repeat the process. Stiles was angry but not because of Malia hanging up, he was angry because his friends didn’t bother to even tell him about the trouble they were facing, Scott lied to him and to top it off his friend, his closest friend was dead. Stiles had become closer to Derek throughout the years, while everybody was still weary about Derek, Stiles gave him a chance especially after everything they had already been through together, after Derek had saved his life on more than one occasion. He thinks it all started the day Derek saved him from Peter and the evil nurse, throwing himself at the Alpha and giving Stiles a chance to run, he didn’t but Derek still fought. Maybe it was when he was possessed and even though everybody wanted to save him Derek was the only one to truly keep from harming him. It may have also been when Derek was dying in an elevator after risking his life to save him and Stiles couldn’t leave him, he couldn’t leave Derek alone to die. That was probably the day he realized Derek was the friend he’d been missing all along.
Eli touched Stiles’ arm trying to pull him from his trance. “Stiles?”
“Yeah?”
“What was it like being possessed by the Nogitsune? Dad told me about it but he wasn’t able to tell me about your experience.” Eli asked the one question nobody else would. Stiles chuckled.
“It was terrifying, Aiden, an evil and dead ex-alpha, he was probably the only one who really believed I was the one possessed. Scott, Allison and I all went into those tubs, we all woke up the Nemeton so only the three of us could have been the Nogitsune. Your dad didn’t believe it at first, not until he put the pieces together and dragged Kira back to that electrical plant and found my metal bat. You know even though none of them wanted to kill me Derek was the only one that stayed true to that, Argent held a gun to me, Allison tried to tase me, maybe my dad too but anyways everybody at some point wanted to hurt me to get rid of the spirit but Derek, Derek would’ve rather taken a beating then harm me.” Stiles explained.
“Didn’t Scott try to save you?”
“Scott tries to save everybody, he trusts everybody, he believes anybody. I don’t remember if Scott tried to hurt me because my memories from that time have been pushed aside very deep in my brain. Any other questions?”
“Dad told me that one time you and Scott had a falling out. Why?”
“Theo Raeken. He fooled both of us, I didn’t trust him at first but Scott let him in almost immediately. It kind of hurt our friendship, even now we aren’t as close and trusting. After awhile though, well after Theo came back from hell I think it finally clicked. I didn’t trust him but I understood why he was the way he was in the end.”
“Kira put him in hell right?”
“Yes.”
“Where’s Kira?”
“Either in the desert or living her life I’m not entirely sure. Has your dad not told you about her?”
“Not really. He mentions names like Theo, Kira, Boyd, Erica, and Cora but I don’t know much about them, he only really gets as far as a name.”
“Theo is a chimera, an experiment so Mountain Ash doesn’t affect him. Kira is a Kitsune, a fox spirit. Boyd and Erica were your dads betas but a pack of Alphas killed them.” Stiles answered. He didn’t need to know that Derek was forced to kill his own beta.
“What about Cora?”
“She’s your aunt, she left Beacon Hills for her own safety so I’m guessing that’s why Derek never told you about her, to keep her safe.”
Eli simply nodded at that and looked outside the window trying to wrap his head around information his dad never told him. He just wanted his dad back. Right now all he could do was get stories from Stiles, dads favorite pack member.