Chapter Text
Laura let out a loud sigh the second she flopped into the seat across from Derek, arms settling onto the table and fingers interlacing.
"Derek," she began tentatively. Derek looked up from his laptop, fingers resting lightly on the keys and the cursor flashing patiently on his essay. He quirked a brow, waiting for her to inevitably begin talking.
After a beat, Laura said, "I'm thinking about getting a druid."
"A druid," Derek echoed, narrowing his eyes. "For...?"
"Uncle Peter," she looked down at her nails, picking at the corners of her thumb. "I know we just brought him home last week, but the cost of a caretaker is almost as much as keeping him in the hospital. If we took in a druid, we could get them to watch Uncle Peter."
"Druids are dangerous." Derek reached out to shut the lid on his laptop, scowling. "There's a reason they're all in facilities. They could kill Peter--could kill us."
"I looked into it," Laura shook her head, "the government will pay us to take one in. They've got a bunch of precautions that will keep us safe. It's kind of like fostering a kid or something."
"Only instead of a kid, we're going to take a strange adult into our house to take care of our vegetative uncle while you're at work and Cora and I are at school."
"God, you're so fucking negative," Laura sighed.
"I'm the cons to your pros," Derek supplied helpfully. Laura gave him an exaggerated eye roll, the corner of her lip quirking up. Derek shrugged, though, and gestured to his sister. "You're the alpha," he reminded her, "whatever you want is what we do."
Shaking her head, Laura picked at a piece of tape stuck to the table. "This is your decision, too. You're my second, and I can't make this decision alone."
"Okay," Derek pursed his lips. "Why a druid?"
"I... I don't know. Financially, we're okay, but I'm worried about the long run. Peter's life insurance isn't going to last forever, and I don't know how long he's going to be like this. At least with a druid we'll have someone here with him who can read to him and change his sheets, and just be there when we can't. I've read up some stuff online and I think they're not as bad as people make them out to be."
"You're sure about this?"
"I made an appointment with the DCC to visit today. I wanted you to go with me. If we see one we like, we can get one, but we don't have to. Just tell me what you think and I can cancel right now if you think this is a bad idea."
Derek sat back in his chair, crossing his arms. The DCC was the Druid Care Center, where they were kept and cared for until families adopted them in. Derek knew there was one not too far away, just in the next town over, but that was the extent of his knowledge. The most he ever really saw of druids were the occasions when the news talked of rogues who had caused mass deaths or had even gone so far as to take down entire buildings. Part of him knew that not all druids were like that, but it was hard to shake that belief when the only time he heard about them was when there was a massacre involved.
Another part of him couldn't help but remember being a child and sitting scared in his room as his parents argued downstairs over whether or not the Lycaon Detainment Act was going to pass. For months building up to the vote, his entire family had been terrified at what could happen if the bill had passed. The only reason that it had been a potential law was because of omegas who had gone on killing sprees. Druids weren't much like werewolves, but, for once, Derek could really understand what Laura was getting at.
"It wouldn't hurt to try," he finally settled on saying, shrugging a little. Laura settled, nodding curtly and then glancing at the time on her phone.
"We might as well head over. The appointment's at four."
-
The DCC was a plain brown and white building a good mile into the country, surrounded by tall, electrified fences. Derek knew the second they drove through the gate, hair standing on end and body twitching with the smell of electricity in the air. They pulled into the parking lot, heading inside to the lobby so Laura could talk with the receptionist.
Derek was staring at a giant poster listing the reasons why a druid was a great addition to any family when a nurse came out from the back. She greeted them with a smile and a nod before turning to lead them down a few hallways and into a small room.
"If you'll just wait here, we'll bring the candidates in shortly," she said, smile fake and wide. Laura thanked her and Derek took a seat on the stiff, plastic chair near the door.
She left, and Laura took in a deep breath before letting it out through her teeth. She turned, giving Derek a tight smile. Derek crossed his arms, shrugging. Neither of them had any idea what was going on, so there no point in putting up pretenses of joy or excitement.
When the door opened again, six people shuffled in wearing matching gray outfits, each of them with a thick metal and wood band around their throats.
There were two orderlies flanking the back of the line, large and imposing from their sheer presence. Derek could tell one was human, but the other was a werewolf just like Laura and himself.
None of the druids looked up, their gazes focused blankly at the wall or floor as they were pushed into a straight line so that each of them faced Laura. Derek stood, walking up next to his sister while she paced in front of them, scowl deepening. He could sense her agitation, his own skin crawling at the near-lifeless way that the druids stood there. They were human, once, before their powers manifested. Derek wasn't sure there was any humanity left behind.
Finally, Laura spun on her heel, staring down the nurse who had led them into the room in the first place. She was holding a stack of folders, clicking the pen in her hand obnoxiously. "Are all of them supposed to be this dead-eyed? We wanted a caretaker, not a bunch of vegetables," she snapped, setting a hand on her hip.
Derek caught the sound of fabric shifting, and when he glanced back to the group, a young man with brown hair and a lanky frame was staring at her. When he realized he'd been caught, he quickly glanced away, eyes unfocusing back onto the wall once more.
Laura must have seen it too, because she was over to him in a heartbeat, reaching out to pull up his nametag and squint her eyes at his name. Derek stepped closer, double-taking at the foreign mash of letters that must have been his first name with the last name of Stilinski.
"Look at me," Laura commanded. The druid remained still, but Derek could see the way his lip twitched and his heart beat picked up just the tiniest bit. Laura dropped the name tag and grabbed at his chin, forcing his head up. "Look at me."
At first, there was no response, a split second of hesitation, and then the druid's eyes came up, ghosting over Laura's face for a moment and then focusing on some distant point past her ear.
"Good enough." Laura muttered, letting go and turning to Derek. "Get this one," she snapped, facing the nurse. "Is there any paperwork?"
The nurse nodded, sifting through the stack of files and then approaching Laura to hand her what must have been Stilinski's folder. Laura passed it to Derek before gesturing at the woman to lead the way.
Another caretaker, one who had been hovering in the corner, came over with a smile. "His first name is hard to pronounce, but his nickname is Stiles, if that's easier for you."
"Stiles," Derek muttered, flipping the folder open and glancing over it. "He takes medication?"
"They all do," the caretaker answered elusively. "If you'll look, there's a record of his past medications and current ones, though I'd suggest keeping him to what he's been prescribed."
"Adderal," Derek muttered, scanning down to when the prescription changed two years prior. "Abilify? He starts on an upper and you change him to a downer?" Derek might not have been planning to major in psychology, but he knew enough that such a change was a little drastic.
Instead of an answer, though, the caretaker just gave him a tight smile and a nod.
Derek let out a soft sigh, wanting desperately to roll his eyes at the man. Instead, he kept flicking through the paperwork. No loud noises, allergy to shellfish, suffers from RLS. Derek skimmed over the list of behavioral patterns, eyes falling on the history section.
"Nineteen, formerly from the McCall pack in California--he's a werewolf, too?" Derek looked up.
The caretaker shook his head. "No, a human packmate--well...he was once a human packmate."
Stiles' barely-there flinch said the rest.
Derek snapped the file folder shut, gesturing at Stiles. "So do I just take him or what?"
The caretaker stepped forward, reaching out to curl a hand around Stiles' shoulder. Stiles didn't react, gaze unfocused at the wall, and the caretaker gave Derek another fake smile. "We'll get his things ready for you and bring him to the lobby in a few minutes."
With that, Derek was practically ushered back out into the entry where Laura was standing at the reception desk and filling out the last of the paperwork. Derek pulled his phone out, opening a text to Cora and sending her a quick be home soon, got a surprise for you, and trying not to grin at the idea of Cora's reaction when she realized what the surprise was going to be. It would serve her right after pranking him the week before by taping a bunch of pull-string poppers to his toilet seat and nearly making Derek wet himself when he tried to go to the bathroom.
Laura was sitting down next to him on the small lobby couch when the door finally opened and Stiles emerged with an orderly. He was in a pair of soft cotton pants and a white shirt with slip-ons covering his feet. The only other thing he wore was his collar--which looked like it had been changed into something bigger and meaner looking. Laura got up first as the nurse from before walked into the lobby with a small bag.
"Here are his things," she said, handing it over. "His medication is in there with instructions, and I made sure to add a few pamphlets on what druids are and whatnot so you can be prepared for just about anything. There are also some packets of herbs that you can use on him if he starts to act up, and here is the remote to his collar."
The look of disbelief on Laura's face was apparently not enough to stop the nurse from plowing on as she started to point out the buttons. "This one is to shock him--don't worry, it's just a little zap in case he misbehaves--and this is for injections...just get one of these packets out and there's a little syringe in it, see? All you need to do is put it into the slot on his collar and hit that button and it'll calm him down and numb any powers he might be trying to access. The other button is to tighten or loosen the collar, and this last one is to give him a little poke, in case electricity is not your thing and you need to get him back in line."
The more the woman talked, the sicker Derek felt. Stiles was unresponsive, looking blankly out one of the windows while the nurse prattled on to Laura.
"He needs to come in once a week to keep with his training, so make sure to call us in a few days to discuss a set time and date."
"Training?"
"Of course. It's to prevent any possible incidents in the future from occurring. We do the work for you, no effort involved on your part with keeping him from accessing any of his abilities."
Finally, his sister had enough and she took everything from the nurse, interrupting her with a fake smile and a rushed, "I think we've got it. Don't worry, I'm sure we can figure out everything else on our own. I need to get back home to take care of our uncle."
Derek let Laura continue to try and end the conversation with the nurse, going over a few last-minute details about contact information and hotlines, and approached Stiles. "Let's go," he said, gesturing towards the door. Stiles didn't react and Derek reached a hand out to tentatively press it to Stiles' arm. Stiles blinked, shifting his eyes to stare at Derek's cheek. It was better than nothing, and Derek gave Stiles' arm a gentle tug. "Come on."
Stiles allowed himself to be led out the doors, shuffling quietly behind both Derek and Laura. As soon as he was out and into the fresh air, he took in a sharp and sudden breath that had them glancing back. There was no expression on his face, but his hands were trembling just the tiniest bit.
Laura ushered Stiles into the back of the car while Derek got into the passenger seat, and as soon as she started to drive, Laura was instantly ranting.
"Can you believe that?" she cried, "Shock collars? Is he some kind of dog? What is this crap?" Sucking in a deep breath, Laura let out a noise of anger. "I mean, we go in there and it's like we just relived the 1940s and the flippin' discovery of lobotomy! Does he even talk? I wanted him to read to Peter! How is he going to read when he can't even talk! Did I just waste our time, Derek? I couldn't leave him there, could you? He was the only one who wasn't totally brain dead. Should I have left him there?"
Derek glanced up into the rearview mirror, intending to just take a peek at Stiles and almost forgetting to breathe. The druid was curled up into a ball against the corner of the back seat, shoulders hunched and body language screaming with the desire to hide himself.
"Laura," he said quietly. Laura kept talking, one hand steering and the other waving about as she went on a rant about creepy nurses deserving of their own horror films. Derek reached out, settling a hand on his sister's arm and repeating her name. Laura quieted, taking a second to control her breathing, and then glanced up into the rear mirror.
She must have seen the same thing Derek did, because a pained look crossed her face before she gritted out a soft, "sorry," and focusing her attention back on driving.
Turning a little in his seat, Derek glanced back at Stiles, watching him stare out the window for a second before asking, "Have you kept in touch with your old pack?"
Stiles, at first, remained still, but then turned to stare lifelessly at Derek, blinking slowly. Derek was pretty sure in that instant that Stiles must have hated him by association, if only because of the cruel things that had come from his sister's mouth.
Usually, Laura wasn't so abrasive, but Derek had a feeling that part of it was due to the fact that they'd just moved Peter into the house and the recent stress of trying to find a decently-priced car for Cora (who had been pestering incessantly about having one of her own so that she didn't have to share with Derek all the time) were starting to get to her.
Derek turned around, settling back into his seat as Laura let out a huff of air and started to talk again. "Okay, kid. You're with us because you're going to take care of our uncle. You have to help him eat, change his clothes, all that jazz. We're all busy and that's why you're here. I really hope you know how to fold clothes because you'll be doing a lot of that, too."
--
When they got back home, Laura tossed her keys on the counter, snapping a curt, "make dinner," to Cora and heading down the hallway towards Peter's room. Cora got up from the couch, tucking her phone away and running over to Derek with a smile.
"What's the sur--what is that."
"Surprise," Derek gestured to Stiles, who was standing next to him and staring off into the distance. "We got a druid," he adds helpfully.
"Derek!" Laura called from Peter's room. "Find somewhere to put him!"
Normally, Derek wouldn't have an issue obeying his alpha--except that they didn't have any spare bedrooms to put Stiles in. Cora had moved in with Laura to make room for Peter because they only had three rooms in their apartment.
"Dude, you suck," Cora hissed at him, making sure to give him a mean punch to the shoulder as she walked by on her way into the kitchen.
Derek frowned, watching Stiles' unfocused stare at the wall, wracking his brain for ideas. Did he put Stiles on the couch, or did he try to fit him into their laundry room? Derek had no idea how big the laundry room even was because half the time Laura just ended up washing his clothes when she got sick of the piles of dirty laundry he usually kept in a heap on his floor.
Derek headed for the laundry room first, opening the door and staring inside. The washer and dryer were stacked on top of one another, and there was a half-empty basket in the corner with some sheets and towels sitting in it. He took a second, mentally trying to imagine Stiles sleeping on the floor, and then frowned upon realizing that it was too small of a space.
He turned, freezing at the sight of Stiles hovering behind him, like he'd been compelled to follow. Derek didn't want to look like an idiot for trying to see if he could fit Stiles in their teeny washroom, so he turned back around and spent a good minute shoving the sheets into the washing machine and starting a load.
Heading back into the living room, Derek pointed to the couch. "Sit."
Stiles shuffled past him, stiffly taking a seat in the corner and watching Derek's general area with a wary look.
"Stay." Derek said, and headed down the hallway to talk to Laura.
He found her changing Peter's sheets, and waited a second before blurting, “Where do I put him? He doesn't fit in the laundry room."
Laura froze, standing up straight and staring incredulously at Derek. "Why did you put him in the laundry room? Does he look like a towel?"
At a loss, Derek shrugged.
"He can stay with you," Laura shook out Peter's comforter, laying it across the bed. "Sharing space won't kill you. Get over it."
Derek wanted to point out that sharing space with a creature that had the potential to decimate a seven story building could kill him, but he had a feeling Laura wouldn't appreciate the commentary. Instead of voicing his opinion, Derek just let out a pained sigh, making sure to roll his eyes hard enough that Laura would be sure to see it, and walked back out of Peter's room.
He detoured to his bedroom, kicking around all of his dirty laundry until it was piled over by his hamper and then tossing it all in. He shuffled towards the bed, lifting it by the frame to kick more stuff underneath of it. After his floor was relatively cleared, Derek made his way to the hallway closet to fetch the air mattress.
After pumping the mattress and putting some sheets on it, Derek headed back into the living room to see Stiles still in the exact same spot he’d been in for the past half hour. Derek gestured, "Come on," and waited for Stiles to follow.
When they got to his room, Derek let Stiles take a few steps in before saying, "this is my room. That's your bed."
At first, Stiles didn't react, but then he glanced around slowly and said in the tinest, most tentative voice, "What about clothes?"
As far as Derek knew, the facility hadn't provided them with any other clothes for Stiles. He stared blankly, waiting for the druid to elaborate. All Stiles did, though, was purse his lips and look away with a soft, "okay," before slipping off his shoes and climbing into his bed.
Derek had no idea what to do or even say, so he turned and left the room. Stiles didn't come out for the rest of the afternoon or at all that night. Derek made sure to bring up Stiles' lack of belongings to Laura over dinner, to which they both decided to get him a few things in the morning.
When Derek went back into his room after a few hours of studying, he was surprised to see Stiles laying in the same position as before, eyes open and unseeing. Part of him was concerned, but the greater part of Derek was far too creeped out to really do anything about it. Instead, he changed into a pair of sweats and climbed into bed, already mentally calculating a list of things he'd need to buy in the morning and how much it would cost them.
He fell asleep to the sound of Stiles' steady heartbeat and perfect, even breaths.