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He had driven out to the preserve early in the morning. He needed to get out, run, mess around, get some energy out. Scott had offered to come with but Stiles felt like running around a bit on his own today. He'd made Scott promise to not tell any of the others, they would only make fun of him for being a fox, a fox! If he now had the unfortunate luck to get bitten, couldn't he at least have gotten to become something that could help? He was as useless as ever, he heard better and all that but he was the size of a lapdog, a large cat even. He'd get snapped like a twig. He kept hold of his baseball bat instead. Yupp, baseball bat and his baby jeep, they were his superpowers. He was a bit confused as to why none of the others figured it out, like sniffed it on him or something. He knew something was strange his first full moon when nothing happened, like sip, he just sat there waiting for things to go weird and getting very supernatural. Scott proposed that maybe he wasn't a were? Since he also changed fully. He didn't care, he kind of liked it, were or not, he wasn't stronger or faster, but he could run around being goofy in the woods, he liked that. Cute girls wanted to pet him and as the Casanova he was he let them. Got them ladies hooked. He wasn't planning on that this morning though, he just needed to get out and run and it was as good as a fox as with two human legs. Really it was more fun, he wasn't as clumsy and animals wasn't scared of him, unless it was rabbits, he guessed that had something to do with fox eating them and all. He liked chasing them but he couldn't bring himself to kill them. He just got a burger on his way home or something.
He was tripping, yes tripping, no small animal walked, they tripped like they were floating. It wasn't easier to maintain focused as a fox, harder actually because all of a sudden chasing butterflies and mice was more fun than getting exercise and the ADHD didn't make it better or easier for him when there were so many things he could do now that he couldn't before, all the places he could crawl and all the animals he could sniff. Some things he did he figured was because they were fox-instincts or something, he had never wanted to sniff on things before. Or chase mice. But it was fun so what the hell. The first time he turned he almost had a panic attack, he obviously knew that something would happen, being bitten and all and having so many werewolves in your lives really made you believe, but he somehow hadn't been able to grasp it. He just stood in front of his mirror freaking out, mostly because he didn't know how to change back, but also because he knew supernatural things were oh so real but they weren't supposed to happen to him! HIM! He was human Stiles, the boy who couldn't fight, who was somewhat suicidal since he went with the rest of the pack to fight anyway, they boy who was normal. Except for the fact that his best friend and his crush were werewolves. Ughh. At first he had thought it was some kind of twist sense of faith, that it was all because of the nogitsune and everything but it probably wasn't, no more evil spirits. But he couldn't help thinking that it had something to do with it, he had after all had a fox-spirit living inside of him slowly turning him mad, maybe it was his spirit animal.
Today he wound up chasing some animal he didn't even know around a in a grove in the middle of the preserve, he had since long abandoned his plans for exercise and training and just enjoyed the things the nature could supply, he had without doubt turned into a middle aged woman with a spiritual religion fetish. He'd promised himself he'd stop if it ever got as far as to him dancing naked under the moon. He lay down for a while under a enormous tree, if it was because he was small or because it was actually humongous he didn't know, but it was big and threw a decent shade in the warm weather. He must've fallen sleep because all of a sudden he felt hot breath against his face and ended u staring right into a dogs mad eyes. Mad because they were screaming: I want to eat! Which was pretty scary. He had just snapped out of it and started to run as the very much bigger dogs jaws snapped closed where he had just laid. Nope! He was not ready to be eaten by a dog! A dog! That was a new low! Oh holy shit he was so stressed he couldn't even change back. He ran through the woods and tried to not enjoy it as the, probably, rabies infested dog chased after him barking like mad. He could hear himself snicker, well whatever foxes did that sounded like snickering. He both panicked and enjoyed the chase that made the wind flow through his fur. Ha. Fur. He'd never get used to that!
All his enjoyment stopped though when he ran deadpanned into what he presumed would be the dog's owner, and boy if what he had on his shoulder didn't look a LOT like a rifle. This was a preserve, you couldn't hunt here, right? Before he could scurry of and change back to his human skin somewhere he could hear another person coming up just as the dog stopped behind him, ragged breath that Stiles could feel on his neck. The dog seemed to notice the sound of the footsteps at the same time that he did and started barking. As usual his curiosity got the best of him and the second he turned his head towards the sound the dog had him pinned down. Ah dammit. He had never thought, EVER, that he'd die as dog food, he also knew that he with high probability would turn back to human once he was like, you know, dead! That would be some kind of cruel justice for the hunter, thinking you shot a fox and whoops, nope. Human. Ha. Jailtime dipshit.
He was in a very awkward position as he could feel the jaws of his new archenemy dig, through his skin, into his back. He felt like a cub being picked up by his mother but a bit too aggressive for his taste.
"Hey! You can't hunt here!" A husky, annoyed voice spoke, Stiles couldn't really look up, being pinned to the ground by a dog, a golden retriever, oh my god he was to be eaten by a family dog.
"Who's to say?" Just by the voice stiles despised the guy, he had no idea who he was he had never seen him before so he probably wasn't from around here at all.
"It's illegal, this is not hunting grounds." He knew that vice. Oh lord, he had dreamt about Derek Hale saving his ass, preferably mano el mano, alone. But hey he could live with this.
"I can't help what he plays with, I'm not going to shoot it." The hunter said and huffed. Like hell, he could feel teeth sinking into his body and it hurt. Not as much as he anticipated but it hurt, and he could feel the teeth sinking further and further in.
"Yeah, you're just playing Buck, yes you are!" He said to his dog, Buck, what hell of a name was that. But Buck just responded by clenching his jaw together, and that hurt for real, Stiles let out a yelp as he could hear Derek growl to the dog. A bit late if you asked Stiles but 'Buck' let go and winced as the alpha made him step back. Stiles didn't move, didn't want to.
"Get out of here before I call the cops and have you arrested for trespassing!" Derek growled.
"Trespassing? Ain't nobody living here!" The hunter scuffed as Buck covered behind him. Ha take that Buck!
"I do, so get. The. Hell. Out." He almost roared. Ah nothing like animal cruelty to get Derek going, Stiles liked it though, not only because he was saved by Derek's soft heart but because it made him a tad bit sexier. Just a tiny bit.
"Fine, he's dead soon anyway, you keep him!" What? No Stiles wasn't fucking dying? Hell no. Nope. Was not. He was going to deny that for as long as he lived. Ironically enough.
"Just drive on out of here, if I ever see you here again I'm on a first name basis with the Sheriff." He said making the hunter and 'Buck' scurry along a little faster. First name basis, oh was he now?
"Hey little guy." Derek said as he started to walk towards him, he was a bit confused to why he was moving so slow and was almost crawling, but then it hit him, a real fox would probably be even more terrified than him and would try to run off. He was not going to do that. What he wanted to do was change back, but he didn't really want Derek to know just yet, plus if he was going to get to spend some time in Derek's embrace he wasn't going to pass up on that. No sir.
"I'm not going to hurt you." He said as he slowly placed a hand on Stiles bloody fur. No shit he wasn't. Once he realized Stiles wasn't going to run off he slowly lifted him up.
Nope, place me down, set me down, this is not comfortable. At all. Stiles thought as he laid awkwardly in Derek's arms, his spine crying for him to lay down straight on the ground again. He winced as Derek started to walk with him. He knew Derek had drawn some of his pain out the moment it happened because all of a sudden it all felt alright.
When they got back to the house, the old Hale house, now restored and majestic, Derek took him inside. Stiles had never been inside, no one had. At least not anyone he knew, which ruled out pretty much everyone Derek knew. The kitchen which he was now being carried into, was gigantic, two walls covered in workspace and cabinets and a large kitchen island in the middle of the room, a nice kind of shabby chic dining table was placed just by the huge window at the far end side, the view staring right into the deep forest. It was amazing, Stiles had no idea why he all of a sudden started to take detail to Derek's kitchen but it beat having to think about how his back was looking.
Derek carefully placed him down on the kitchen island after strategically placing a towel beneath him.
"Let's see little guy, if we can patch you up." Stiles didn't protest, he wanted to get the hell better.
"You really are a weird little guy, not scared at all are we?" Derek asked as he walked off towards the sink, knowing he wouldn't get an answer. He came back over with a wet cloth, he gently dabbed it on Stiles' back.
Derek worked in silence and Stiles was starting to feel real tired. Reality hit him, and it hit him hard, if Derek hadn't shown up when he did, he might either have turned to dog food or just been a cruel example of animal cruelty, and what if Derek had decided to let him be, he was only a fox after all, they died all the time, then he would just lay out there in the heat, dying. He must've started panting, because a reassuring hand stroked him over the head, it felt nice, intimate and personal in some way. Not like when he let hikers in the preserve pet him from time to time.
"I need to get you to a vet my friend." What? No, it couldn't be that bad!? He wrapped the cloth around Stiles' tiny body and lifted him up grabbing him in one arm and a blanket in the other. They went out the backdoor into a garage, and it suddenly hit Stiles, he was about to ride in the camaro, shame he was dying, he might've enjoyed it otherwise. Derek started the car up and of they drove. He lay in the passenger seat all curled up on the blanket, the damp cloth around his torso keeping him from bleeding on the seat. To much.
Somewhere about halfway there he felt his eyelids getting heavy, sleep didn't sound like a bad thing.
"Hey, little guy, stay awake!" Derek said as he glanced at him from the driver's seat, he was so lucky Derek's heart was made out of marshmallows or he'd be dead by now.
"Hey, listen to me." Derek said when Stiles closed his eyes, he jerked them up again realizing he probably shouldn't close them. "Oh my god, I am talking to a fox to keep him awake. Well, at least it's working" he muttered as he drove on. Stiles couldn't help but to grin. "Are you grinning?!" He sounded shocked. Stiles just lay there facing his rescuer hoping he wouldn't drift off again. "Smug little shit." He said when Stiles grinned again. "You remind me of a guy I know, well a friend really or maybe not, I'm not sure, I really like him anyway, but don't tell him that." Stiles perked his ears up, it was story time, and even on the brink of death he needed to know details about stuff that wasn't his business. "He'd grin just like that if he was here. That sarcastic peice of shit" Derek laughed shook his head at Stiles sudden interest, but he smirked, he smirked! Victory! "He's really annoying, witty and actually kind of smart." Ha! That was him, Derek was talking about him. He snickered again and Derek scuffed as he shook his head, like he couldn't believe he got response from a fox on his weird story. About Stiles. Derek was sooooo in love with him. Totally.
"I think he is the only one who I know who isn't scared of me in some way." He continued. Stiles huffed, he was scared of him, terrified of how he felt towards him mostly but he scared Stiles, because he made him feel. "You don't believe me? I don't know if he's crazy for not being scared like everyone else or if he just sees through it like the wall it is." He said and gripped the steering wheel tighter. Stiles almost felt bad for him, the others weren't that scared of him were they? They respected him and they were maybe a bit intimidated but scared?
"Hey, hey, stay with me here." Stiles hadn't even noticed that he'd slipped his eyes closed until he forced them open again. "I need you to listen to me and stay awake when I call the vet, alright?" Stiles huffed, he didn't have to talk to him like a child and if he knew how to roll his eyes as a fox he would've, he'd put it on his to do list when he was better, learn how to roll eyes as a fox. That'd sure scare the shit out of people.
"Scott! Is Deaton in?" Derek spoke rapidly into his phone. "Good, tell him I am on my way over now, found a wounded little fellow in the woods on my premises. Yeah, that'd be great. Thank you. " he hung up the phone and threw it on the floor by the passenger seat where Stiles lay breathing heavy. Oh he was so weak, yeah no he was never gonna join his fellow weres in a fight. Ever. He couldn't even stay alive from a bite of a golden retriever. Off all the things that could kill him, werewolves, kanimas, nogitsunes, kitsunes and even hunters, a golden retriever delivered the final blow to Stiles Stilinski. "Why are you huffing little guy?" Derek asked, and he really waited as if he'd get an answer. Irony at it's finest that's what I'm thinking about. Stiles thought.
"Okay we are almost there, take it easy and you'll be alright little man." Derek's voice was smooth and reassuring. It was going to be real interesting to see what happened when Scott saw Derek carrying him over the threshold. He twitched a little when he felt a surge of pain rush through his lower back and up to his neck, but Derek's hand was on him within seconds, draining the pain away. Stiles wondered if his heartbeat fainted slightly because there was no doubt about it; Derek sped up as he got closer to Deaton's practice. Before he could even react he was up and in Derek's arms once more, he'd left a bleeding trail on the seat of his camaro, well if this didn't kill him Derek sure would when he realized just who had been bleeding on it. Great. Derek almost ran in through the doors with him. Deaton was standing in the main hall, probably waiting for him.
"A dog got him, he's pretty hurt." Derek said as Deaton made his way over.
"Scott, can you get the room ready?" Deaton yelled through the building. Scott's yelled back though it sounded faint to them. Or him, he had no idea how the blood loss affected him and his hearing and all things else for that matter. Derek's arms were nice and comfy as they carried him to a back room.
"Stay awake little fellow." Derek reminded him as he put him down on the slab. Deaton started to shuffle around and prep for god knew what. Ugh, Stiles hated hospitals and this wasn't much better.
"Stiles?!" Scotts voice echoed through his head. He tried to lift his head up but he admitted himself defeated.
"What?" Both Deaton and Derek asked or stated more or less in unison. Shocking.
"Oh my god, that's Stiles, no doubt about it, what the hell happened?!" Scott exclaimed. Ten points to Scott for figuring that one out.
"Wait what, that’s Stiles?" Derek asked and pointed at him. Stiles grinned again, or well at least he tried to.
"Have you ever seen a fox grin!? Of course it's Stiles!" Yeah yeah, now could they hurry up and save him?
"I want an explanation on this later." Deaton said and shook his head.
"So do I." Derek growled at Scott. Scott just nodded.
"Now, Derek please wait in the lobby, Scott tend to the reception, and I'll try to get our little friend here, or Stiles, better." Both Scott and Derek did as told and left the room.
"Now Stiles, I need you to stay calm, I will give you a really bad tasting herb to begin with, I can't have you turn human on me when you're unconscious, this will keep you from changing back." Deaton explained as he pressed a twig of something real nasty into Stiles mouth. He chewed it up with much disdain towards Deaton, it tasted horrible. "Now, I'll sedate you and make sure you don't die on us and when you wake up you have some explaining to do, like why you never told us you got bitten, alright?" Stiles tried to nod but he was quite sure he failed, miserably. It took about ten seconds for Deaton to plunge the needle in him and then it was all black and nighty night.
He woke up to the faint sound of voices, ugh headache.
"Stiles?" Scott screamed into his ear, at least it felt like he screamed.
"Deaton, he's awake." Derek spoke, calmly but oh so loud.
"Stiles, you won't be able to change back for at least another hour or so, so don't panic, It'll come. If you're stressed you will not be able to change back, but I have a feeling you know that by now." Deaton said or screamed, Stiles still didn't know. "So try not to get riled up, I recommend you take a nap and I'll come wake you later when you should be good to get back to your normal self." Deaton the good guy, stiles thought dryly, he was though. He needed to remember to thank him later but right now the nap sounded like a really good idea.
"Stiles, wake up." Deaton's voice were soft and reminded him of his dad's when he woke him up before he slipped off to work. When he blinked himself awake Deaton threw a pair of sweatpants on him and turned to walk out. Stiles got the message but he spoke anyway, "change back and get dressed, we'll wait outside. Don't be alarmed if you feel discomfort in your back, and you'll probably have scar tissue since you didn't heal for some reason, which is very strange." Stiles just laid there waiting for him to get out, he'd already seen to much for Stiles liking. As soon as Deaton was out of there he tried to change back to his more usual self. It took him a few tries but then he sat there, his back hurting, his skin very much human and pale and covered in moles, just the way he liked it best. This had been a close call he realized as he jumped into the sweats, tying them to hold them up on his lanky body. He kind of didn't want to go out there yet, and as if Derek had somehow read his mind he came into the brightly lit room and closed the door behind him.
"Scott told me about you, so, werefox?" He asked, no, wondered.
"Probably not, I don't speed heal, I don't rage out on a full moon and no super strength, I just see better, hear better and like to run around chasing small animals and bugs more. Well, not more since I didn't do it before this happened" he gestured towards his body "but yeah, so that's new. Sorry for bleeding on your seat man." Stiles babbled on and flailed. Deaton must've given him some kind of pain relief because he felt more talkative than earlier.
"Actually I'm just glad you're alright." He said and actually smiled at Stiles. Another victory point for Stiles! Score.
"Ahh, you're not getting rid of me, especially not now!" not now that he knew that Derek actually didn't dislike him, but rather the opposite. Derek snickered.
"I almost left you there, didn't really think it would be a problem. I'm really glad I didn't." Derek said and placed his hands over Stiles' while making a pained face.
"Dude, so am I!" Stiles said and grinned. "So, you have some unresolved feelings huh?" he asked and looked down at their hands.
"Shut up Stiles." Derek growled. As usual Stiles didn't and he wasn't scared, not even for the things he felt towards the older man.
"I like you too you know. Maybe I'll buy you flowers!" Stiles said and once again; grinned.