Say Something (Sterek)

Chapter 4

Isaac is waiting for Stiles when he arrives back at his house, the wolf's fingers drumming against the steering wheel of a beat-up old Honda. "Derek texted me," he explains, "said we're acting as mediators between the pack and the hunters."

"He didn't waste any time," Stiles leans against the driver's side door. "Does he want us to go talk to Chris right now?"

"I think that's mostly up to us? But probably."

"Fine." Stiles glances at his empty house, hopes that his father stays late at work, which would be typical and expected, except for all the recent trust issues. He crosses to the passenger's side of Isaac's car and gets in. "Let's make this fast, though."

"I don't want to be around him any more than you do," Isaac points out as he reverses out of the driveway. And yeah, Stiles thinks, probably true, especially as Isaac fulfills the role of the Argents' main prey perfectly.

Stiles rings the doorbell. Isaac stands behind him, and if Stiles were a werewolf he's sure he would smell the anxiety on Isaac's skin, in his exhales. As it is, Isaac is shaking pretty badly, and Stiles thinks he should probably sit Derek down and have a chat about sending wolves into places they're terrified of. Isaac stills when Allison opens the door.

"Hey, Isaac. Stiles." Her tone is neutral, but she raises her eyebrows at Stiles and he shrugs in response.

"We're here to see your dad," he tells her.

She waves. "Wait here, you don't want to come in right now."

"Or ever," Isaac mutters behind him, and Stiles attempts a comforting look over his shoulder at the wolf.

"Mr. Stilinski. Mr. Lahey? How can I help you?" Chris Argent pulls the door shut behind him and crowds Stiles and Isaac so they inch off of the landing to the steps below it

"Derek has agreed. Isaac and I are your contacts; we'll keep you informed, and you will keep us informed. You are allowed to call us, but none of the others. Likewise, we will talk to you, but ignore the rest of your hunters. We hope that's agreeable."

"If it's not?" Chris questions, although he doesn't look as if his unsatisfied with their plan.

"Then we will continue as we were." Chris looks from Stiles to Isaac. He nods and holds out his hand. "All right, then." Stiles shakes it. Isaac does, too, although he looks as if he'd rather touch a dead skunk.

"We'll be in touch," Stiles says, following Isaac to his car.

"Of course you will, Mr. Stilinski." Chris watches as they leave. Stiles feels unsettled.

"I don't like Peter," he tells Isaac, "but at least with him we're fairly certain he's on our side." He thinks about the way Peter was so gleeful with Derek's secret. "For now," he amends.

"You pushed Derek into this, didn't you?" Isaac turns down his street.

"Yeah, because the wellbeing of the town is worth more than the autonomy of the pack. The people here don't know what's going on; it wouldn't be right for them to get into the middle of a war between supernatural creatures."

"They'll still be in the middle of it." Isaac turns into Stiles's driveway, which is empty aside from his poor neglected Jeep.

"But at least we're doing everything we can to protect them. Chris doesn't want to be found out, either. His whole life has been geared toward killing werewolves in order to protect people. And maybe the protecting bit has sort of fallen away, especially for his family, but he's at least aware of it. So it makes sense to ally with him and his hunters, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it. And that definitely doesn't mean that we have to trust them."