Chapter Text
*Scott*
It was odd that Stiles didn't stick around after he checked on Derek. When Scott asked him later that night, Stiles just said he had some homework to finish up and that he had to make dinner for his dad. He didn't really question any further, because it didn't seem like he was lying or seem out of character for Stiles. Derek's loft was oddly quiet without him there, though.
It was also odd on Monday that Stiles entire demeanor changed around Ms. Blake. He glared at her all through class, and Scott couldn't help but notice the smell of hurt and anger coming off of him in waves. But Scott ignored this, too, because Stiles was probably in one of his moods after what happened over the weekend. He really couldn't blame him, since he was the cause of a lot of that stress.
However, it wasn't until Isaac and then Boyd said something that he started to worry. "Hey, man, you okay?" he asked after practice.
Stiles looked up at him distractedly as he finished getting out of his cross-country gear. "What? Oh, yeah, dude. I'm fine."
"You sure? I mean, you just seem a little off, is all..."
Stiles slammed his locker closed and picked up his backpack, swinging it around his shoulders. "Yeah, no. I'm good. Really. I've just got a lot on my mind is all."
"Oh, right. Of course." Scot finished packing up and slammed his locker shut. "You coming to Derek's later? We were all gonna meet and see if we can come up with a way to beat the Alphas."
"No, I can't. My dad's home tonight, and I promised we'd spend some quality time together. Plus I'm pretty much the only one working on the whole darach thing, you know?"
"Yeah, dude. I totally get it."
*Isaac & Boyd*
Derek was moping. That was really the only word for it. Well, actually, pining was good, too. But pining for what?
Isaac, always the sensitive one, was the first to approach the Alpha. "Hey, Derek? Are you okay?"
Derek sighed. "Not really, Isaac." And that was how the beta knew something was really wrong. Derek hardly opened up about what he was feeling, although with the search for Boyd and Erica over the summer, he had started opening up to him. But now it seemed something else had shaken him.
"Well, you know I'm here if you ever want to talk, right? I'm a pretty good listener."
Derek smiled at him a little sadly. "I know. But I don't think this is something you can help with." The Alpha went back to staring out the floor to ceiling windows.
The next day, when Isaac and Boyd noticed Stiles' strange behavior, neither made the connection with Derek's strange behavior.
"Scott." Boyd pulled the teenager aside just before practice, and Isaac was right there with him. "What's up with Stiles today?"
"I don't know. He's been really quiet all day and he was acting really weird around Ms. Blake."
"Ms. Blake?" Isaac asked. "Why would he be weird around her?"
"I don't know, but he was glaring at her like I've never seen him do to anyone before. I mean, he didn't even look at Jackson or Gerard like that."
Just then, Coach Finstock yelled at them to get their butts in gear. As Isaac and Scott ran off, Boyd yelled after them. "Hey, we're meeting at the loft later, don't forget!"
*Peter & Cora*
The betas filed into the loft one-by-one, starting with Cora around lunch time, and ending with Scott after he'd dropped off dinner for his mom at the hospital. Peter, of course, was the one to comment on the one person that wasn't there.
"And where is that annoying human that always has a plan?"
Derek shot him a glare - which wasn't that unusual - but pointedly didn't look around the room for Stiles - which, considering Derek's recent need to know where everyone was, was unusual. Peter narrowed his eyes at this nephew as Scott said, "He's hanging out with his dad tonight, and he and Lydia are trying to figure out who the darach could be."
The subject of Stiles' whereabouts were dropped quickly in favor of plans to stop Kali, and later as Peter was leaving for his own apartment, Cora pulled him aside.
"What's wrong with my brother?" she growled, her eyes flashing.
Peter glanced up to see Derek back to staring out his giant window forlornly. "How would I know? He and I aren't exactly on the best speaking terms."
"Look. All I know is when I came over earlier, he was doing the exact same thing, and he didn't move for hours. When I talked to Isaac and Boyd, they said he was like this last night, too. So what the Hell changed between the fight Friday night, and last night to make him all... lost puppy."
Peter looked up and scrutinized Derek again. "I don't know."
The next night was a lot of the same. The betas throwing out ideas, and either Derek or Peter shooting them down at the sheer absurdity of some of them - though, it was mainly Peter because Derek was still quieter than was normal even for him. Stiles - and Peter grudgingly accepted that the human came up with the best plans, his hyperactive mind able to quickly think of most of the pros and cons - was missing once again, claiming homework and a 'study session' with Lydia to research the darach.
By the third night, it was getting ridiculous. Isaac suggested going to Ethan for help: "Well, he's the one who warned us in first place", and Scott was preaching his usual: "Can't we come up with anything else that doesn't involve killing?". Peter and Cora shared a look of exasperation because through every bizarre suggestion, Derek didn't say a word. Instead of even pretending to pay attention, the Alpha spent his time looking out the window and glancing at the metal door as if he expected someone to walk through at any moment. At first, Peter assumed it was him being hyper-vigilant about the looming threat, but he caught the tail end of a conversation between Scott and Isaac about Stiles.
"I don't know, dude. He's being really quiet, and he's getting super focused on this whole dark druid thing. But mostly it's the quiet that's freaking me out. It's like the canary in the coal mine, you know? I feel like something bad is gonna happen."