An Alpha's Scratch

((Set sometime in the beginning of season 3))

Stiles sat up against Scott's bedroom room banging his head into it at a steady, slow rhythm. He was annoyed by the fact that almost all of his Saturday nights ended up with him lounging around Scott's bedroom dying of boredom. Stiles stood up, "Are we going somewhere or not?!" He yelled as he flailed his hands frantically in the air.

Scott shifted focus from his computer screen to Stiles and sighed loudly. "Can't we jus—"

"NO! No we can't just sit down and play video games. Not again. Actually, not ever again as a matter of fact. That's all we've done for the past five weekends…So get up, we're going." Stiles gripped onto Scott's shoulder dragged him to the front door. Stiles jumped and let out a small yelp as he opened the front door. The brief glimpse of a silhouetted body with flashing red eyes was something straight out of a horror movie. For a moment Stiles wanted to scream and slam the door shut but he quickly realized it was just that creepy, ominous alpha that never seemed to leave them alone. Derek stumbled in through the door frame and fell down against wall while he attempted to catch his breath.

Stiles threw his hands above his head in sheer aggravation. "…Well there goes another Saturday night! I'm raiding your fridge Scott…you know, for the third time tonight!" Stiles walked sluggishly into the kitchen leaving Scott and Derek alone.

"What the hell Derek? You're bleeding."

Derek winced in pain before standing back up. "I'm aware!"

"Well…what did this to you? Why aren't you healing?" Scott attempted to pull up Derek's shirt to look at the bleeding wound but Derek forcefully grabbed his hand and twisted it. "What do you think did this?!" Derek sneered.

Stiles walked back into the living room uncaringly as he chomped away at an apple. "I'm placing my bet on anyone in Beacon Hills. I mean, when I look at Derek's face I want to do that to him too." Stiles just looked down at the ground to avoid Derek's glare.

"The Alpha pack did this smartass." He turned back to look at Scott. "And wounds from other Alphas heal at almost human speed. I need somewhere safe to stay while I heal." Scott shook his head no. "Well you can't stay here! My mom is coming home soon. You gotta find somewhere else to stay Derek!"

Derek didn't seem to care as he ignored Scott's response. Scott groaned as he took hold of Stiles' shirt sleeve and dragged him into the privacy of the kitchen. "You need to take Derek back to your house and keep him there."

Stiles choked on a bite of his apple as he responded quickly. "W-what?! No! It's his fault he got all torn up. He's the alpha anyways. Isn't he supposed to take care of himself?" He paused for a second just for a dramatic effect before he continued. "And he asked you. Why can't you watch him?"

Scott just stood there with an expression plastered on his face as if Stiles was supposed to know the answer to his own question. "Uh, the alpha pack is going to eventually come and find Derek. I can't have them breaking in here while my mom is here."

"Yeah that totally makes sense. You know cause' my dad doesn't care if a pack of werewolves breaks into his house." Stiles spoke in a monotone voice intensifying the sarcasm that stuck to his words. "That was sarcasm dumbass. You're not the other person with a parent Scott! Plus your mom knows about you and the whole werewolf stuff. My dad doesn't, so Derek stays here."

"My mom comes home in 30 minutes Stiles! Your dad doesn't come home until five in the morning. I can't let my mom get hurt by the alphas. Just please keep Derek until at least five." Scott pleaded.

"What am I supposed to do after my dad gets home? Tell me that Scott! Am I supposed to just throw Derek out of my house where the Alpha pack can tear him to pieces?"

Scott stood there trying to process Stiles' answer. It almost sounded as if Stiles cared for Derek's well being. It was odd due to the fact that Derek had done absolutely nothing but push Stiles into things and call him mean names.

"…Since when do you care what happens to Derek?"

Stiles scoffed as he bit into his apple. "I could care less about what happens to Derek. If fact I can care even less than less. Yeah, what I actually care about is how I'm going to explain the red blood paint job our front yard receives when I throw Derek out to the alphas to my dad."

Scott stood there staring at Stiles. This was the way Scott normally persuaded Stiles do something he didn't really want to do. It worked when they were kids and surprising enough, it worked as teenagers. Stiles rolled his eyes. "Ugh! Fine! But you owe me."

Scott put his hand on Stiles' shoulder and began walking out of the kitchen until Stiles stopped him. "If I'm wasting my Saturday night for the third time this month, then you're paying off your debt now…thirty bucks." Stiles held out his hand, gesturing for Scott to put money in it.

"Are you serious right now?"

Stiles snickers. "Yeah I am. Thirty bucks right now or you get to explain to your mom why Wolfie the accused mass murderer is having a sleepover. Actually don't pay me. I want to see how you tell your mom the news—"

Scott slapped the money into Stiles hand rolling his eyes. "Now hurry and get him out of here before my mom drives up."

"Okay..okay.." Stiles walked out of the kitchen and stared at Derek. Derek was sitting against the wall breathing heavily and sweating. A small puddle of blood was pooled on the side of his thigh as it continued to leak from his stomach.

"Let's go Der Der. Say bye bye to Uncle Scott." Stiles spoke in a tone as if he were speaking to a small child rather than an alpha werewolf. Derek shot Stiles a piercing glare as he walked out of Scott's house.

They walked to Stiles' jeep which had been parked across the street of Scott's house. Derek trailed behind Stiles, but was walking slowly due to his injury.

Stiles got into the jeep and scoffed yelling out the window "If you're not in the car by the time I count to 3, you're grounded." He laughed. Derek however didn't find it as hysterical as Stiles did. He was being slowly drained of his agility. He could barely even walk in a straight line and Stiles was sitting there practically taking everything as a joke. Stiles buckled his seatbelt as Derek slowly got into the passenger side of the jeep.

"That was 20 seco—"

Derek had gripped Stiles roughly by the throat and forced his head against the driver's side window. "You're pushing it Stiles. I don't have the patience to deal with your stupid ass comments. If you say even one more thing, I swear I won't be the only one with a gash to the stomach. And guess who will be the one who gets to heal?"

Derek's threat felt like a stab to Stiles' chest. Derek had threatened Stiles plenty of times before, but something was different about this one. It was almost like he meant it. Almost like Derek was slowly losing his grip on control. Suddenly everything seemed more serious to Stiles.

Stiles started up the jeep and drove off to his house.

…

Stiles turned on the light in his bedroom and sat down at his desk. He powered up his computer and began mindlessly clicking around on different things. Derek found his way to the chair in the back corner of Stiles' bedroom. He remained clutching his side as he looked up at the ceiling trying to focus on something other than the intensifying pain. He was sweating horribly and panting in short breaths. Derek pulled up his shirt slightly to check on the deep cut to his abdomen. He swallowed hard at the sight of it. Something was seriously wrong. The cut had gotten larger.

"Som…something's wrong…" Derek managed to speak out. His voice was almost inaudible but Stiles heard what he had said.

"What do you mean—" Stiles shot up from his chair quickly gesturing to where Derek was sitting. "Dude! You bled out all over my chair!"

Derek shook his head with anger exhaling loudly. "Did it matter?"

"Yeah it did as a matter of fact. That's a 200 dollar white chair that is now painted red. Thanks Derek."

Derek slowly stood up using the wall as balance. "I need to get to the animal clinic. There has to be some sort of…some sort of…." Derek lost his train of thought. His body was shaking and he could barely talk properly.

"Some sort of medicine?" Stiles offered.

"Yes. There's a form of wolf's bane. It can help. Give me the keys to your jeep." Derek demanded. Stiles shook his head in disagreement.

"No way. You can barely walk Derek. You're not driving my car. I'll go and get it."

Derek began walking towards Stiles' bedroom door determined to leave. "You'll get it wrong. You always get it wrong."

Stiles grabbed Derek shoulder trying not to injure the alpha any more than he already was. "If you push your body farther than it can go, where the hell does that leave you? You're not indestructible. You're broken."

Derek just stood there not even looking at Stiles. He just stared at the door handle before he started talking. "I'm not staying here."

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Fine, but I'm coming with you." He walked out the door and walked to his jeep along with Derek.

…

They arrived at the animal clinic. Only to find it closed for the night.

"Damn." Stiles took out his phone and dialed Scott's number. He waited for Scott to answer which felt like an eternity. When Scott finally answered Stiles practically spoke a mile a minute.

"Okay, we need some sort of medicine for Derek's cut and the animal clinic is close. Do you know where your boss is?"

Scott stayed silent. "Uh…I think he's at some Veterinarian banquet in town…" He didn't get to finish replying before Stiles hung up and got back into the jeep. He drove straight into town and looked for the most crowded restaurant in sight. We he finally stumbled upon one, he sped into the parking lot, parked and hopped out. He began walking towards the front entrance when he heard the slam of his car door.

He turned around to see Derek stumbling towards him.

"Woah, woah woah. What do you think you're doing? You can't just walk in there with a blood soaked shirt. They'll think you murdered someone."

Derek didn't seem to care. "Yeah well, in a minute I am about to murder someone." He looked directly into Stiles' eyes fiercely before walking slightly forward. Stiles stopped him again.

"No. You need to go change."

Derek rolled his eyes. "Into What?!"

Stiles ran his hands through his hair, annoyed on how persistent Derek was on making everything more difficult. Stiles took off his button down flannel shirt and gave it to Derek.

"You're lucky, I wear layers of shirts. Now put it on."

Derek took off his bloodied shirt slowly, trying not to rub against the cut on his stomach. He buttoned up Stiles' flannel shirt. It was way too tight on Derek's torso. It looked as if it were going to burst if Derek even began walking. The two walked into the restaurant only to be greeted by a waitress.

"Good Evening…"

"We're here for the banquet." Stiles spoke impatiently at the woman who looked stunned.

"Dinner has just started, right this way." She walked towards two giant glass doors and smiled.

Stiles and Derek walked into the room. It was dimly lit, with a large table in the middle and a lit fireplace in the corner. Stiles scanned the room looking for Scott's boss but noticed something else. A large banner was spread out across the wall farthest away from them. It read out "LGBT couple's banquet." Stiles shot a look at Derek. He was about to burst out laughing but got serious when he realized Derek wasn't having any of it. Stiles turned to the waitress.

"Uh…we're here for the veterinarian banquet…"

The waitress' eyes widened with embarrassment. "Oh, my sincerest apologies. You two…just…." She stopped herself from speaking and pointed to the opposite side of the restaurant.

Derek pushed him towards the door. The two entered the room and everyone looked at them immediately. Deaton rose from his chair and walked up to two while gesturing to the group of people to keep eating. As they did, Deaton began asking questions.

"What are you two doing here? What do you need?" He looked down at Derek's shirt which was now starting to stain with blood.

"He needs some sort of wolf's bane antibiotic." Stiles suggested as he tried to speak quietly.

Deaton nodded. "Come out to my car." The three left the room and went back to the parking lot. In the trunk of Deaton's car were test tubes of different things. He pulled out one and handed it to Derek.

"Aconitum ferox, the most deadly of all forms of wolf's bane. The poison from this will counteract with the bacteria from your wound cancelling everything out. You know the effects. It will be the worst pain you'll ever endure. You'll probably shift for a brief second. Then it causes drowsiness like no other. Make sure you do this somewhere safe. Good luck."

The two walked back to the jeep and drove back to Stiles' house.

…

Once in Stiles' bedroom, Stiles pulled out a chair for Stiles to sit on. He was too focused on making a comfortable place for Derek to sit, that he didn't hear Derek going through his dresser drawers. He heard a loud ripping sound and turned to look.

Derek had pulled one of Stiles' shirt apart with his teeth.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Stiles yelled out.

"I need something to tie my hands up with."

"But why my shirt? I mean come on man!"

"It's either this shirt I tear up…or you."

Stiles nods as Derek took off his shirt and tied up his hands. He sat down on the chair that Stiles had pulled out and told him to get the test tube.

Stiles poured out some of the wolf's bane onto a towel and looked at Derek. "What do I do? Just dab it on or…"

"You're going to push it into the wound and hold it there for two minutes. If you don't, it won't work."

Stiles nods. "Okay. Ready?"

Derek clenches his fists bracing himself for the impending agony that was ahead. Stiles dug the wolf's bane laced towel into Derek's cut.

Derek's eyes immediately flashed red. He began growling loudly and grinded his teeth together. The veins in his neck popped out as he thrashed around on the chair. His body was shaking with extreme tension.

Out of what seemed like complete randomness, Stiles put his left hand softly onto the side of Derek's face while keeping pressure on Derek's cut with his right hand.

"Calm…calm down Derek. Don't freak out. It's fine, you're fine, it's almost over….." He paused for a moment"….and….done."

He removed the bloody towel from Derek side to see that the cut was almost gone completely.

Stiles stood up from his kneeled down position and threw the towel to the garbage can. "See. It's fine now. And you didn't even turn all the way." He let out a sigh of relief and laid down on his bed looking up at the ceiling.

Derek sat in the chair. His eyes were getting heavier and his heartbeat was slowly going back to normal. He was falling asleep, but it was okay because he knew these were the effect of the wolf's bane.

"I…I'm sorry for yelling at you about the chair earlier. You were in pain, and bleeding, and just trying to figure out what was happening. I was being a jerk because my Saturday night wasn't going the way I wanted it to." Stiles continued to stare up at the ceiling trying to figure out what to say next.

"I—" Stiles began, but stopped when he heard the faint sound of snoring. He sat up to see Derek slumped over in the chair sleeping soundly. It was a weird sight. Stiles knew everyone slept of course, but to see someone who was always so coarse being so peaceful was a rare sight to see.

It was late by then and Stiles was tired too. He changed into his pajama pants and a t-shirt. Stiles put a small blanket on the arm of the chair just in case Derek woke up and wanted one. He turned off his side table light and fell asleep.