Haunted

“Damn it,” I whispered under my breath, slowly turning to face Sheriff Stilinski. I put on a small smile and nodded, “Sir.”

“It’s a shame you had car trouble last night,” he sighed, shaking his head. “We almost had Hale. But, you know, I’ve been thinking lately… it’s about time we get you a squad car, Mia. You’ve been exceptional the past few months since you moved here – a real blessing to the department, I’d say – and I believe it’s time we make this official.”

A wide, real grin spread across my face and, for the first time in quite a while, I was excited. “Wow,” I murmured to myself but nodding in agreement. “Thank you so much, Sheriff. I – I’d be honored.”

Sheriff Stilinski gave me a warm and highly parental smile, “It’s the least we could do. Plus, since you’ve been helping Stiles with his homework his grades have really improved. So I owe you for that one, too.”

“Oh, it’s no problem, really,” I laughed. “Stiles just needs to focus and apply himself a little more, that’s all.”

“Well, regardless,” he chuckled and shook my hand, grasping the back of my hand with his free one. “Also, I – uh, wanted to ask you another small personal favor?”

My brows furrowed slightly but I nodded, shoving my hands into the pocket of my leather jacket.

“Do you think you could drop by the house and bring Stiles some food or take him to get something before his game tonight? I left in a bit of a rush after talking to him, and – “

“It’s not a problem, sir.”

“Are you sure? Mia, you’re a lifesaver, thank you so much,” he said earnestly, grasping my shoulder for a moment before turning and heading towards his own cruiser. I exhaled slowly in relief and bound over to my Jeep, hopped up, and set out towards the Stilinski’s.

♦♣♦

“Stiles!” I shouted upon walking through the door and kicked it shut. I heard a loud thud from upstairs, halting me only for a moment, before I continued on up to his bedroom. My hand was poised, about to knock, when the door swung open.

“Hey, Mia, hi, uh – what’re you doing here?”

My eyes narrowed incredulously and I arched a suspicious eyebrow. “Your dad sent me and I know Derek’s here.”

Stiles visibly relaxed as he slumped against the frame, kicking the wooden door fully open for me. “How’d you know he’s here?”

“Doesn’t matter, I brought food,” I replied, placing the large paper bag on his desk. My eyes flickered between the duo briefly. “I didn’t know what exactly you liked on your burgers, so I just got two triples with cheese and bacon.”

“Mia,” said Stiles, a look of pure awe on his face. “You are the absolute best sister I never asked for.”

I rolled my eyes and tossed the aluminum – wrapped burger that Stiles hadn’t snatched up to Derek, who caught it without blinking.

“There’s a fuck ton of fries in the bag too,” I said indifferently, plopping down on the bed. “Help yourselves but by all means, don’t stop the conversation on my account. It was obviously pretty important.”

Stiles had dug in to his food, but Derek gave me a wary stare.

“It’s food, Derek,” I said in exasperation. “Either you can eat it, or I’m sure Stiles will.”

He didn’t answer me but glanced back over to Stiles, “As you were saying, this other idea of yours…?”

“That night when we were trapped at the school, Scott sent a text to Allison asking her to meet him there,” he said, popping a couple fries into his mouth. I rolled my eyes and wrinkled my nose; Stiles was such a messy eater.

“So?” asked Derek, slowly unwrapping his burger.

“So it wasn’t Scott!”

“Well… can you find out who sent it?”

“No, I can’t but I think I know someone – “

“I can,” I volunteered, looking up from my phone screen. Both men turned to face me, doubt written across all of their features. “I’m a fucking cop, guys. Really?”

“I don’t know,” Derek said slowly, shaking his head. “I don’t want to drag you into this any more than you already are.”

“We can try my guy, and if he doesn’t… then she can?”

Dereks gaze flashed to Stiles briefly before shrugging in defeat. “Fine, get him here.”

♦♣♦

“That’s… My cousin, Miguel,” said Stiles.

I glanced up from my book to look at Stiles, much like Derek, before rolling my eyes.

“And her?” asked his friend, Danny. Stiles hesitated before a wicked grin spread across his face.

“That’s, uh, Zoe – his fiancé.”

This time my gaze slowly drug up from my book to Derek, who was looking at me the same way I was him.

“They don’t seem very, uh… fond of each other.”

“Yeah… you should have seen them a bit before you got here,” muttered Stiles under his breath, before he cleared his throat and looked over at us. “Hey, uh… Zoe, you got a little… uh, something – “

He made a motion to just above the right corner of his lip.

“And your hair is a bit, um…. Y’know.”

For a split second, I thought he was being serious and glanced desperately at Derek for help. He ever so faintly shook his head.

“Thanks, Stiles,” I said, my voice acid sweet. Stiles grinned in response, turning back to Danny who had just inquired about the blood on Derek’s shirt. “Yeah, uh, he – well, he, uh, gets these horrible nose bleeds – “

I snorted, rapidly apologizing when the boys turned towards me, and blamed it on a hiccup that got caught in my throat. There was a flicker, a small upward twitch on Derek’s lips that made me grin.

“Hey, Miguel…I thought I told you you could borrow one of my shirts?”

I tried to stifle my giggle, judging by Dereks’ expression that not laughing was in my best interests. I couldn’t help but stare a bit when he hopped up and pulled his long sleeve shirt over his head, exposing all of his rippling back and shoulder muscles.

“Um, Stiles…”

The boys both spun around, Derek shaking the shirt in front of him. “This, no fit.”

“Well try something else,” said Stiles, and I bit down on my lip to contain my smile. Derek cast a dark look at Stiles before turning around to rummage through his top drawer again.

Derek pulled out a burnt orange and blue striped v-neck and inspected it for a moment, looking towards me for confirmation. I merely shrugged; I wasn’t concerned with his clothing choice anymore, that flew out the window when his shirt first came off.

He smirked a bit at me, and that’s when I realized he knew. He fucking knew how damn fit and attractive he was, the smug bastard. I zoned out, watching him pull the thin shirt over his head and down his stomach.

“Right, Mia?”

My head snapped to Stiles, who had a smirk not unlike Derek’s brief flash of one, as he looked at me. “What?”

“I was just asking if you thought the shirt looked nice…”

“Oh,” I grumbled, rubbing the back of my neck as I looked over at Derek. “Uh, yeah, looks fine.”

“It’s, uh… not really his color,” said Danny, to which Derek glowered even more at Stiles before he practically ripped the shirt back off.

Just when Danny and Stiles had gone back to the computer and I to my book, Derek was barking again. “Stiles! None of these fit.”

I fell back onto the bed and covered my face with my hands, unable to hold back a giggle any longer. I could feel the gazes of all three men on me, but I ignored them all.

*

Hours later found the three of us piled into my Jeep, sitting across the street from the Beacon Hills hospital. Stiles had complained the entire time about being forced to sit in the back.

“You’re not gonna make it,” I said, tapping the steering wheel. I glanced into the rear-view mirror at Stiles reflection and he sighed.

“I know.”

“And you didn’t tell him about his mom either,” chastised Derek, cue another sigh from Stiles.

“I know. Not till we find out the truth,” he muttered.

“Oh, and one more thing – “ said Derek, and grabbed a fistful of Stiles hair. He slammed Stiles’ head into the center console of my Jeep, and I howled with laughter.

“What was that for!”

“You know what that was for! Go!” roared Derek, only adding fuel to my laughter. When Stiles began to protest, Derek only repeated himself in an even more stern voice. Stiles hobbled out of the vehicle, stumbling a bit when he landed. “God, that kid.” Swore Derek under his breath.

I chuckled softly, “it’ll be alright Derek.”

“Yeah,” he scoffed, shaking his head. I rolled my eyes and opened the door. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Going in after him – the kid is utterly defenseless,” I retorted, sliding out before Derek could protest. “Be back in a few!”

I danced across the lot after Stiles, who let out a shrill cry when I playfully elbowed his arm.

“Fuck, what’re you doing!?”

“Coming with you, duh,” I said, slipping through the door ahead of Stiles. “Go ahead and call Derek, it looks a little… barren in here.”

Stiles nodded, fumbling around with his phone for a few moments before I heard his end of the conversation. I tuned him out for the most part, peaking around corners and inside rooms.

Something about this just didn’t feel right. The chemicals overwhelmed my senses, making it almost impossible to pick up on any scent other than the sterile hospital. There wasn’t a single nurse in sight – nor a single patient. The Long Term Care facility was beginning to look like the beginnings of a horror movie.

“We can’t find anybody,” I heard Stiles say into the phone as I turned the corner, freezing just inside the doorway of Peter Hales room.

“Stiles – he’s not here,” I said quietly, looking over at Stiles horror stricken face as he repeated the news to Derek. A flicker in the shadow down the hall caught my attention and my eyes went past Stiles, widening slightly at the figure standing just a few feet away. “He’s the alpha,” I whispered only moments before Derek came to the same conclusion.

Stiles flinched as if he was going to move, but I grabbed ahold of his jacket and pulled him slightly behind me.

“You must be Mia and Stiles,” Peter said softly. Stiles floundered away, out of my grasp and turned behind us. I had heard the nurse approach when I caught her scent, but I ignored her. She wasn’t a threat – Peter was.

“What’re you doing here? Visiting hours are over,” she said sternly.

Stiles looked between the two of them rapidly, pointing here and there. My gaze remained fixed, unwavering. Peter smiled sickly sweet at me, so light and charming that I feared I would vomit at the sight. Stiles stuttered around a few moments before coming to one conclusion, “Oh, my God… I’m gonna die.”

Derek stepped up then, knocking the nurse out and to the ground. I pulled Stiles closer to me and pushed him against the wall – my eyes still never leaving Peter, but I had known Derek by his scent.

“That’s not nice,” he spoke slowly. “That’s my nurse.”

“She’s a psychotic bitch helping you kill people,” Derek spat. “Get out of the way.”

I pushed Stiles to the ground by his head and flattened my body against the wall.

“You think I killed Laura on purpose? I’d kill my own family?” mused Peter, moving slowly forward.

Dereks eyes flaired a vibrant blue as he growled and lunged at Peter. Derek was deflected and then thrown into the wall, falling to the ground.

“Get out of here,” I whispered forcefully to Stiles. I tossed my keys at him, glancing back up as Peter descended on Derek. I heard Dereks whimper and struggling and ushered Stiles on even more.

“what are you – “

“Just, go, Stiles!” I growled, and when his face registered complete shock I knew my own eyes had flared the same blue as Derek’s – only urging the younger boy even more.

“You – you’re – yo – you… “

“Go,” I growled, my fangs extending as I whorled around.

I jumped, my shoulder making contact with the side of Peters ribs while he was mid- rant and dragging Derek – who fell to the marble floor gasping for air. Peter tossed me like I was nothing but feather weight and I landed a couple feet away; the sound of his dark chuckle and a loud snap that was most likely from my arm filling my ears. While he was distracted by me, Derek leapt to his feet.

“You want forgiveness?” he snarled and then threw a hard punch quickly followed by a move to kick – one that was easily deflected as a combination was thrown right back at him. Derek was stumbling back as I finally stood again, the bones in my left wrist having repaired themselves, and sent tumbling back down as Peter delivered a swift kick to the gut.

“Do you have any idea what it was like for me those years?” asked Peter as he advanced slowly forward. My eyesight blurred red, tuning out the rest of Peter’s monologue, when I saw the blood Derek was spitting out before he was on his feet again, swinging left and right. But Peter dodged them all. He caught one of Derek’s swings and began breaking all his knuckles, forcing him to the ground again. A warning growl ripped through my throat, masking whatever words Peter just uttered, but the growl turned into a full roar once Derek was thrown – tumbling through the glass and over the desk.

Peter turned to me then and smiled gently, “Ahh, Mia – the darling little deputy, trying to protect my nephew. How tragic, how romantic, how – “

I had heard enough and ran at him, throwing punch after punch after kick. I had been raised by martial arts – I was quicker, more effective than Derek, but still no match for Peter. He caught my leg mid-kick and twisted sharply, putting me into a harsh spiral and snapping several more bones before he released me.

I rolled onto my back as he leaned over me, elbows digging into his thighs and his face centimeters from my face.

My eyes flew wide but it was useless – Peter delivered a swift kick to my ribs and then I was back in his grasp, being thrown into the nearest wall.

“Because I know who and what you are,” he whispered, breath fanning across my face when he leaned over again. “I’ll spare you this time.”

His words echoed in my mind as the black tunnel began slowly closing in, the rest of the hospital fading out along with any other outside noises.

Fading, until it was all gone.

Fading, until all I could grasp onto were Peter’s words.

I know what you are…