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Scott wasn’t book smart like Stiles, or Lydia. He couldn’t rattle off random facts about anything and everything just to fill a silence, making it less or more awkward, depending on the silence and the topic of the facts. For instance, one time, Stiles had walked in on a post-break up talk between Scott and Allison and, obvious sensing tense silence, started talking about an essay he’d written at the start of the spring semester about the male genitalia and it just... wasn’t appropriate, y’know? Not for the moment but it had done the job of breaking the tension so maybe Stiles was a secret genius.
Nah.
It wasn’t a secret that Stiles was a genius, he’d proved it often enough.
Scott wasn’t even werewolf smart like Derek. Well, what Derek was meant to be, considering his upbringing, with other werewolves. Derek knew things about werewolves that Scott had no idea about and Scott fully understood that. Even respected it. Stiles had often said to him, joking or not, that Scott was the worst werewolf ever, and he was, he didn’t want to become a werewolf, he’d have taken any out if there was one, all he wanted was a normal life with a normal girlfriend, a normal high school career with his goofy friend. Was that too much to ask?
He wasn’t genius smart like Lydia. He suspected no one was that smart. She’d probably end up at MIT or some other college on the other side of the country as far away from Beacon Hills as possible, she deserved to go - when she stopped letting herself down academically to save face, she actually shone more. It was something Scott admired about her, but she still scared him. Even if he had the strength in him to rip her to shreds, and he did, she terrified him into a messy puddle of weeping, fearful goo. Which was totally a thing, in case you were wondering.
He wasn’t even smart at making the right decisions, case in point, siding with Gerard to get the bite from Derek at the end of the last school year. No, he hadn’t been a part of Derek’s pack, at all, and he hadn’t wanted to be, but he should’ve had the sense to see Gerard for what he really was. It wasn’t even that he didn’t see that, but Scott’s mom was threatened and he’d do anything to keep his mom, she was all he had left. So he’d used Derek, tricked him, forced him to bite Gerard.
Then Stiles had blown up at him, behind closed doors, yelling at him until he was blue in the face about Derek being used over and over by people who only wanted to further their own agenda, how no one ever looked at Derek and saw a man, how Scott had taken the tenuous trust Derek had placed in him and had thrown it back in his face, because Derek didn’t trust anyone easily, not after Kate, not after losing his family in a fire. Scott knew he was right, he knew he deserved everything Stiles threw at him and more but he couldn’t apologise, because it was his mom. He did, however, feel bad about all the lying and manipulation.
Where Scott was at his smartest, he’s honestly proud to say, is where it counts. His smarts lie in his heart, in his genuinely good nature. He was a good guy, he knew it, Stiles knew it, everyone knew it. That’s who Scott was. He was the good one, he was the one that saw how actions affected people, how his actions either hurt or helped people. He wasn’t the most observant person on the face of the planet but he did watch, and since the start of the summer, since he took Lydia and Allison into the hospital to see Stiles, he saw what was going on with his best friend and the alpha he’d betrayed days earlier.
He hadn’t voiced his thoughts, from the smell of the room, neither of them realised exactly what was going on and Scott was a little grossed out if he were honest, but not so much that he openly objected. He saw Stiles leaning into Derek’s touch for support and it made Scott wince, thinking he should be in that position, he should be the one holding Stiles’ hand and comforting him after what Gerard had done. He was the best friend, they were brothers, they’d always been brothers.
Seeing Stiles in the hospital bed had been a hard blow to Scott, he could smell a lot of different scents that were confusing him because they were new and he couldn’t associate them with any particular act, but he felt pain from Stiles, and shame, determination and between Stiles and Derek he sensed something honest. So he figured he’d give Stiles this, for now at least, until the other shoe dropped - if it ever did. He could also sense Stiles slipping away from him in a pack sense.
He could still feel their bond, that would never break, he knew that and was secure in that knowledge - he wouldn’t ever lose Stiles over this, but that didn’t mean the thoughts didn’t rush around his mind at a hundred miles an hour, taunting him with possibilities. He saw the bonds of pack starting to form between Derek and Stiles and maybe they’d already talked it out, maybe they’d already had the big revelation talk and Scott hadn’t been invited, not that he could blame either of them. He’d never exactly been forgiving when it came to Derek. Saying that, Stiles hadn’t been very forgiving either, but he’d always taken and offered the help when it was needed or asked for, because that’s who Stiles was. He’d bitch and moan about it but he’d get the job done.
When Derek told him, before Stiles made it to the hospital but after he’d been attacked, that Stiles was in fact hurt, and laying low at Derek’s place, it had been Scott’s first instinct to go straight over, territory etiquette be damned, but Derek had held him back and explained that no, Stiles wasn’t ready to deal with the onslaught of feelings that a visit from Scott would bring up. The alpha had surprised Scott by putting emphasis on the fact that Scott couldn’t have done anything about the attack, he wasn’t in a position to help at all, no one was, and it wasn’t that Stiles didn’t want to deal with Scott, he just didn’t want to deal with Scott’s feelings of guilt and shame on top of everything Stiles was already feeling. Scott had stared at him, silent, for the longest time until the man had started shifting uncomfortably, arms folded tightly over his chest.
Scott finally agreed not to come by without one of them, not that it mattered, because a few days later Stiles was in the hospital under the tender care of Scott’s mother. He knew there was something they weren’t telling him about what happened, but a part of Scott didn’t think he could handle that on top of anything at that moment so selfishly, he didn’t ask, and probably to spare his feelings, Stiles didn’t offer the information either.
During the hospital visit with Lydia and Allison, Allison’s reaction confused Scott more than Stiles’, but he couldn’t focus on her in the face of his friend in a hospital gown. They’d had it out a little, regrettably, in the room with everyone listening, and yeah, Scott felt like shit afterwards. He didn’t want to put Stiles in the position where he had to choose, that wasn’t who Scott was. Stiles deserved more, and Scott said as much. When he left the hospital, it was with mixed feelings, conflicting emotions and a bit of a headache if he were honest, but if he was sure about something, it was Stiles and Derek were becoming more than whatever they’d been before.
He honestly tried not to let the pack division affect how he was with Stiles but Scott was a werewolf and having your best friend reek of another pack was always going to get some kind of adverse reaction. Scott was man enough to say he wish he’d have joined Derek sooner, but hindsight, as they say, is 20x20. Despite what Stiles seemed to believe, he wasn’t bitter he’d chosen Derek over Scott, Scott knew it was the smart choice - and Stiles was smart. Scott, or more precisely, the influence his wolf was having over him, was sulking. He didn’t blame Stiles, he was just beating himself up over the fact that he couldn’t be what Stiles needed.
When Scott had joined Derek’s pack on an excursion, he was there purely as Stiles’ last defense against the bad guys, and Scott was fine with that. He was happy to be included, even if he was limited, and when Stiles got hurt, he almost broke. He’d only had one job and he couldn’t even get that right, but watching the pack jump to Stiles’ defense made him stop short. He knew, theoretically, that packs were a few steps beyond regular family, he understood that, but what they did, how they reacted, was how Scott would have reacted given half the chance. For all Scott had kicked and sulked his way into this mission, he was glad to be there, if for nothing else, than for the time he got to spend with Stiles. That all went out the window though so he really wasn’t sure about anything anymore.
Scott had never been as scared as he was when he was knelt over Stiles, pressing his hand against the gunshot wound in his friend’s abdomen. He realised in that moment that he couldn’t lose Stiles, if he did, he’d probably lose himself.
You might expect this to be a turning point in Scott’s stance on joining the pack, but this alone wasn’t what swayed him.
He never told Stiles, probably wouldn’t until Stiles felt comfortable enough to bring it up himself, but he knew.
He’d made the connection between Stiles being injured after the whole Gerard thing, Gerard taking him, Erica and Boyd leaving... he made the connection with the scents when he was at the hospital one evening to give his mom some lunch because she’d landed herself with the late shift. While she was in with a sensitive case (she called them, because Scott knew what she meant but neither were willing to demean the patient enough by calling them anything less), he was waiting by the nurses station, chatting with Deanna, the newbie nurse fresh out of college, when he caught the scent of something not quite right. He saw a guy the scent belonged to walking in, heard him ask about a woman that had been brought in, saying he was a relative. Grace, who was behind the desk, told him to wait in the waiting area like everyone else and the man sat down. The man gave Scott the creeps but a lot of people did theses days - his nose was the first thing he judged a person on now and there wasn’t anything he could really do about it so he just dealt with it.
When his mom came out of the room, he could tell she was upset, even through her tired smile when she saw him, he could smell the despair on her, and when she was close enough for him to smell her, his eyes widened. He glanced back at the waiting room and saw the man still there, looking nervous but aggressive enough for others waiting to give him a wide berth. Turning back to his mom, he was frowning, and when she called him on it, he asked if the police were involved.
He’d never asked for details before and she just stared at him, confused. He tapped his nose and gestured back to the guy. Following his movements, she looked over and he saw her expression harden. She asked him to call the Sheriff quietly and 15 minutes later, the Sheriff was there, in plain clothes because for once, the man had been off duty. Stiles was with him, waving at Scott when they caught each others eyes.
He hadn’t heard about his mom’s sensitive case again, but the local paper wrote a piece on a serial rapist being arrested and sent up state to await prosecution in maximum security. His mom kept telling him how proud she was but all Scott could think about was Stiles’ scent, and how smelling the sensitive case on his mom had brought up memories of Stiles’ scent when he was in the hospital. At first he felt sick - no, that’s a lie. He started feeling sick and continued to feel sick throughout all subsequent feelings. What he felt during the first night after he realised exactly what his friend had been through, couldn’t be put into words. He had words, he had plenty of words he could use, but nothing seemed appropriate, nothing had the right severity, and in the end, all Scott could feel was an overwhelming sense of loss and a rage that terrified him.
So he went to see Derek.
Derek had been alone, thankfully, Scott had made sure of it before he made his way up to the new loft and when he walked in, the alpha was stood leaning against a table, arms folded over his chest, eyes glowing as if he was gearing up for a fight but Scott didn’t fight, he didn’t shout, scream, rage, or anything, what he did, was walk into the loft, closing the door behind him, and hovered by the railing at the top of the short flight of stairs, suddenly unsure.
Derek’s eyes dimmed back to their human colour and he raised an eyebrow, waiting.
“When,” Scott began. “You had all that... rage inside, after the fire, after Laura died, after we did the stupid shit we did to get you arrested and everything anyone ever did after to make you so damn angry that all you want to do is kill someone with your bare hands...” he wasn’t really paying attention, but he noticed that Derek’s stance had relaxed, like he knew he wouldn’t be getting a fight from Scott that night. “How did you let it go?”
“I didn’t,” Derek said after a long, silent minute and Scott sighed. “What do you have to be so angry about? Has something happened?”
Scott didn’t answer at first, choosing instead to walk down the steps slowly, looking around the open space of the loft.
“I didn’t think I could feel this much hatred before,” he whispered, staring at some cracks on a pillar as he walked by. “I didn’t think I was capable of being this angry.”
“I’ve seen you angry... you’re plenty capable, Scott,” Derek said, not unkindly and Scott gestured to the leather sofa, question in his eyes, not moving to sit down until Derek nodded, joining him moments later. “Does Stiles know you’re here?”
“No,” Scott replied. “I’m capable of anger,” he went on. “But that’s more the wolf and the moon... that’s not me-” he waved away the lecture Derek was just about to give him with frustration. “That’s not what I mean, I mean... its the influence of being a werewolf that heightened those feelings. This feels different. This is just me.” He looked up at Derek, focussing on a spot on his cheek just below his eyes. “It’s rage, its painful because I can’t let it out, it’s so overwhelming it’s taking everything I have to keep my cool right now and I’ve never felt so helpless in my life.”
“Why don’t you tell me why you’re feeling what you’re feeling...”
“Did you... did you hear about the rapist they caught the other day?” At Derek’s nod, he continued. “I was there... I put it together because I caught his scent, then my mom - who’d been working with the-” he paused, chewing over a word he could use until he just sighed, defeated. “The victim... she came out to get her lunch and I caught that scent and I don’t know what happened in my brain or if it can even be explained but it’s like I made this instant connection between the victim and the guy who was in the waiting room. The best way I can describe it is... I could smell her fear, on my mom, and on the guy... the biological smells were secondary to that fear and when I told mom to get the police, I called the Sheriff and he was there in like, 15 minute. With Stiles.”
“You did a good thing, Scott... Why are you-”
“Because the victim in the room isn’t the victim I’m angry about.”
Silence echoed through the entire loft and Scott lowered his eyes.
“Go on,” Derek’s tone didn’t leave much room for argument but Scott was really tired of arguing.
“When I came to the hospital that first time with the girls, I was an ass, I know that, but I could smell something strange on Stiles. I couldn’t explain it then because I didn’t have anything to compare it to, I’d never encountered that kind of scent before. It’s really distinctive, it’s like a mixture of different emotions, biologicals, actions... it’s so complex that it could only be one thing but at the time, I didn’t know what it could be so I focussed on being the dick that I was being instead of finding out exactly how hurt my friend was.” Derek remained silent and Scott finally looked him in the eye. He could ripples in his vision and realised he had tears in his eyes. He opened his mouth to talk, but choked, his throat closing up and he felt so open and raw that he screwed his eyes shut, covering his entire face with his hands as he tried to get himself under control. “My best friend,” he said almost two minutes later. “Was raped... and there’s nothing I can do about it. There’s nothing I could have done to stop it, nothing I can do to avenge him. I-” he looked up again, saw Derek’s face and almost gasped at how open his expression was at that moment. “I can’t even talk to him about it because he’s trying to spare my feelings...”
“The anger,” Derek said thickly after a while. “For something like this... I’ve known about it since he came hobbling into my hide-out, telling me my pack was in danger, and I still feel the anger. You never lose it, Scott... you just have to learn to channel it into something better, something worthwhile. You’ve been doing that all summer, with your studies and being a better son, so I hear, just keep at that. It’ll never be enough but you can’t do anything more. He’s gone, we just have to look after Stiles now.”
“It’s not enough,” Scott said firmly. “He’s so human,” he sighed and didn’t even glare when he saw Derek’s lips twitch. “He’s so fragile, all I want to do is keep him safely locked away somewhere - I don’t even care if he ends up hating me for it.”
“You do care,” Derek snorted. “You just need to keep him protected,” he shrugged. “Like we do.”
“He’s always with you guys, I’ve barely seen him all summer,” Scott sighed again and when Derek didn’t speak, it finally clicked and he couldn’t help but huff out a short laugh. “So you’re saying, the best way for me to protect Stiles, and anyone else I need to protect, is to become a member of your pack.”
“Hey, I didn’t say a thing,” Derek was laughing at him without laughing and Scott would’ve been irritated by this a few days ago but now... he just felt drained enough for it to sound funny. “Look, Scott, I know your potential. Believe me, I know what you’re capable of and I know what you’ll, eventually, manage to do, but yes, I do want you in my pack and when you do end up becoming an alpha, power and all, I don’t want us to be enemies - we can’t afford to be enemies. I want you to be pack.”
“But-”
“Logistics can be worked out later, Scott, you’re not an alpha just yet.”
“You just want an excuse to toss me around without having to deal with Stiles yelling.” Derek surprised him by letting out a bark of laughter.
“You two, I swear to God...” He didn’t, however, deny the accusation.
---
Stiles was predictably, happy that Scott was joining the pack. Isaac was pleased to have someone other than Peter to talk to now, Derek was happy because, first of all, Stiles was happy, and second of all - he could throw Scott around without Stiles bitching at him about throwing his best friend around like a rag doll.
When they were alone, Stiles asked Scott why he’d joined, he had his serious face on and because he was ranked relatively high within the pack, Scott felt a need to answer him with all honesty, but he held back everything, instead giving him the truth in its simplest form.
“Because it’s the best way I can protect the ones I love.”
And he would, with every fibre of his being.