Little Red and the Sourwolf - One Shots

Fountain of Familiar

"Is that him? Is that Derek?"

"Um, Sort of."

The voice sounded so familiar that Derek picked his head up. Hazel green met amber, and the fastest heart beat Derek had probably ever heard thundered in his ears, drowning everything else out. There was something magnetizing about this kid that Derek couldn't put his finger on. He couldn't figure out why those amber eyes could be so concerned, Derek had never even met this guy before. And yet there was something about him that prickled in the back of Derek's brain. Like a dream he couldn't quite remember.

Things were so hazy and confusing, but he's pretty sure he heard them call the amber eyes kid Stiles. 'The fuck was a Stiles?' But this Stiles had the magnetizing heart rate and something about his scent made Derek feel safe. Without realizing it, Derek's feet were following Stiles to the beat up blue jeep. He climbed into the passenger seat, ignoring the unsubtle glances from the drivers seat and leaned his sweaty forehead against the glass. This Stiles seemed to care an awful lot about Derek and it was kinda weird. But also, nice in a way. He almost reminded Derek of Paige. Paige. Derek ran a hand through his hair with a whimper.

A warm hand landed on his shoulder, heavy with unspoken words and suddenly Derek saw a flash of a face and the feeling of being drenched. But he didn't flinch away from the touch of this stranger. He glanced over at Stiles who had his eyes on the road, his other hand steady on the wheel. Derek started to lean into the warmth when Stiles squeezed twice and dropped his hand.

Derek shook his head to clear away the memory. The deputy that had arrested him at the site of his torn down house eyed him warily. His house had been burned, he had no idea where his family was. The only thing that had stopped him from losing control and tearing those cops apart was the ghost of a memory. 'No wait! Derek, stop!'. He glanced up to see Stiles watching him through the glass of the Sheriff's office. They broke eye contact when Stiles turned to the sheriff who was talking animatedly. He tried to listen in to the conversation but all the commotion of the station had him rattled. His control was slipping, he couldn't focus enough to get full sentences. He locked his jaw and closed his eyes trying to picture his anchor. His family. Alpha, beta, omega. The bullpen got louder and Derek couldn't breathe.

Claws began to prick his palms and he couldn't figure out why his anchor wasn't working. Panic began to sit heavy in his chest. He couldn't lose it in front of all these people, but he couldn't run either. He started to curl in on himself, trying not to gasp for his air. His fist was moved to a chest before hands covered his ears. The hands didn't completely mute the sound around Derek, but they muted them enough for him to hear a too fast heartbeat. The chest against his fist breathed in and out with a rumble, like the person was talking to him. Derek drew in a full breath of warm printer ink and then another. He still couldn't open his eyes, but he didn't need to. He felt safe, and he felt more in control with every breath of Stiles' scent that he took. He slowly opened his eyes to meet amber ones that shimmered with a question.

"I'm ok." Derek found himself whispering.

Stiles slowly pulled his hands from Derek's ears, and pulled him off the bench towards the sheriff's office. Derek refused to look at anything other than Stiles' back. Stiles sat him in a chair and grabbed some tissues. Without a word he crouched in front of Derek and coaxed his hands open to wipe away the blood on Derek's hands. Stiles' movements were practiced and deliberate, like he had done it before. Scott, the alpha, is standing there talking to him about the amount of memory that he's lost. But there's a lot of things that he isn't saying. Derek could feel his patience going out the window.

"Where's my family?" Derek demanded, eyes glued to Scott's instead of looking at Stiles.

"There was a fire and.." Derek inhaled sharply, "But they're fine!"