SELECT chapter 10 ↵ FROM union all

Isaac wasn't at school the next day.

No one noticed.

Well, except Scott and Stiles. Who noticed. Very much did they notice. It was as if a sucking void had appeared where once there had been a slim shadow that lurked on the periphery of their awareness. Isaac, it seemed, had shared plenty of classes with them.

It certainly put a damper on the whole day. His dad had come home late, and had spent most of the morning grilling Stiles on Isaac. Which had been a lesson in guilt because Stiles knew so very little about his classmate. Then he'd left with a dark look on his face and Stiles had felt like a poster child for Parental Disappointment.

Scott had taken a single sniff of him when he'd picked him up before school and winced. Wolves, it seemed, really disliked the people in their spheres being unhappy. Because for the rest of the day, Scott would try to touch him. Or feed him. It had been confusing at first, before becoming hilarious.

Their friendship had always been strong, but it had never been 'hug each other better' kind of strong. The discomfort on Scott's face when he handed Stiles a Kind bar between classes had finally cracked through the self hatred and made Stiles laugh.

It was Wednesday, so Stiles dropped Scott off at the vet and headed to the Brew and You cafe. His spot was wonderfully open, and the barista gave him his fancy coffee concoction for free. With a wink.

So he was already in higher spirits when he logged into Tails and a bot proffered up the fruits of his labors of two weeks prior. An email from Laura, to Talia, about the exorbitant amount of junk mail that Peter had been receiving this week. Apparently, even though it was only Wednesday, there were two, huge cardboard boxes full.

Stiles' shoulders shivered as he laughed silently, tears threatening to spill as emotions he hadn't realized he'd been bottling were threatening to spew out. There were no new alerts, the meeting with Chris seeming to have gone well. So Stiles left surprisingly early from the cafe, still giggling every once in a while when he thought about the junk mail arriving on Laura's doorstep.

The house was empty, and a note on the fridge let him know that his dad was out with Parrish. They were catching a movie together. His dad, objectively, knew how to text. In practice, however, he rarely did. Preferring face to face conversations, or notes. Which meant that they could go days without contact sometimes, unless the Sheriff was feeling particularly emotional. Then the man would whip out his phone and tap a few lines.

Stiles sighed and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, cracking it open by rote.

A loud banging from the back door startled him and almost made him choke on the water. Instant fear spiking through him like cold lightning. But the banging started up again, and he heard a voice. It was high pitched and fearful.

Wiping the water off his chin, Stiles jogged to the back door. A window in it let him see a sight he'd never have expected seeing. Isaac Lahey, eyes wide in fear, plastered against the door. Stiles rushed forward and opened it, the teen tumbling forward into his arms.

It was the yellow eyes and lack of eyebrows that really cinched it for him, though.

Because Isaac Lahey's fingers were tipped in very pointy claws, and if it weren't for the abject horror and fear etched into his face, he'd almost look frightening. Poor kid was a wolf.

A high pitched whine and Isaac wrapped himself around Stiles, tucking in close. That's when the smell hit him. The stench of blood. New fear rolled through him. Because to his knowledge, Isaac had been very human. Very, very human. Yet the whining and chuffing noises mixed with teeth, claws, and eyes, were spelling a very different story.

"Hey, man." Stiles said, haltingly. Isaac didn't respond. "Mind telling me what happened?"

Isaac shivered against him. "It's my fault."

The broken voice, distorted by fangs and emotion, was painful to listen to.

"What's your fault?" Stiles asked, looking out the back door once before leaning to push it shut. "Isaac? What happened?"

"I let it in." Isaac's grip tightened and Stiles could feel his bones creak. He grunted in Isaac's arms before awkwardly trying to pet him. He needed to get Isaac back to using full sentences. "It's my fault."

The last was whispered against his neck and Stiles felt goosebumps flush across his skin. Those fangs were very, very, close to his carotid. Jesus. Stiles could feel wetness seep into his shirt and pants and had a moment of dawning horror when he realized that it was probably blood.

"Buddy, pal, buck-o." Stiles said, voice high and a little reedy, trying to remember that wolves responded to fear scent. Trying to will his body not to spew it. His chest was hot and roiling, boiling. "Tell Uncle Stiles what happened, yea? Then maybe we can get you some new clothes or something?"

"I let it in. It killed Matt." Goosebumps bloomed once more across Stiles' skin at those words. Because Matt was Isaac's older brother. It could be a lot of things. But right now, there was only one thing that could make other people werewolves and also kill.

With creaking slowness, Stiles worked his phone free from his front pocket. Isaac not wanting to move back enough to let him get it. He chewed on his lips as he thumbed through his phone, coming on Talia's name and hitting the 'Call' button. It rang and went to voicemail, and he hung up and called again. She picked up on the second ring.

"I have another baby wolf." Stiles said, instead of a greeting, voice flat.

Silence answered him.

"And I think the thing killed this one's brother." Stiles continued. "Maybe. Or he killed his own brother. I don't know. Either way, I have another baby wolf. And the thing might be on the way here."

"Where are you?" Talia asked, voice tight. Stiles heard doors slamming and the rev of an engine echo down the phone line.

"I'm at my house." Stiles said, looking down at the shivering wolf that had yet to shift back. "I'm going to have to call my dad and tell him about the potential death."

"Send me the address." Talia said, hanging up. Stiles bitched at the phone for a second before awkwardly typing in his address for Talia to get to. Why she didn't know the address of the Sheriff's house was a wonder. Then he opened a browser tab and got the number for the movie theater that his dad and Parrish always went to.

The one rule of watching movies at a movie theater, was to turn off your phone. A rule that his father followed religiously.

"Regal cinemas, this is Fred, how can I help you?" Stiles closed his eyes and wrapped one arm around Isaac. He had to be the one to balance them, because Isaac was doing his level best to burrow under his skin.

"Hey Fred, what theater is showing Fighter's Promise?" Stiles asked.

"That would be theater 2, but I'm afraid you're too late to purchase tickets. It started 35 minutes ago." The man's voice was piercing and thin.

"That's fine, would you be so kind as to let the Sheriff know that his son called? He will be in theater 2. Probably center row right above the walkway." Stiles sighed, and let his head fall against Isaac's. The man on the other end of the line sputtered and tried to deflect. "Fred, I'm gonna need you to go get the Sheriff of Beacon Hills. So please do that right now."

Finally, Stiles was put on hold.

"Stiles?" His dad's voice was filled with worry. "Are you alright?"

"Hey, yea." Stiles cleared his throat. "Isaac is at our house covered in blood."

Silence greeted him.

"Yea, he said someone broke into their house and killed his brother."

More silence, Stiles swallowed thickly.

"Is he ok? Are you ok? Are the doors locked?" His father fell into 'disaster mode' and fired off questions too quickly for Stiles to answer. "Call 911, let them know. I'll come straight home."

"Yea, I will. I'm gonna hang up now."

Stiles hung up before his dad could say goodbye, thumbing in the emergency line.

"This is 911 what's your emergency?"

"Hello, this is Stiles Stilinski, I'm calling on behalf of my friend Isaac Lahey. He said someone broke in and murdered his brother." Stiles said robotically. Going on to answer the dispatcher's questions. An ambulance was dispatched to each residence and Stiles stayed on the line with the dispatcher.

Stiles' only warning that Talia had arrived was Isaac's entire body freezing. At least. He hoped it was Talia. "Hey, I need to put the phone down for a second. I promise to stay on the line." Stiles said, thumbing the phone to mute.

He'd managed to move them into the living room, but Isaac was still curled around him, huffing into his neck. It felt almost wet now from the moist air. Uncomfortable as hell, too. A knock at the door and Isaac broke into whining growls.

"It's Talia." A muffled voice called.

"Doors open!" Stiles replied, cursing that fact for himself. He'd have to start locking his damn doors.

As soon as Isaac got a visual on the Alpha he was bristling and growling and whining. Trying his hardest to tug Stiles away and back down the hallway to the back door. "Shit!"

Stiles kept a hold of his phone, barely. "What the fuck?!"

As soon as Isaac lost sight of the alpha he calmed somewhat. Stiles called around the corner. "Mind explaining what the fuck is going on?"

"You have a borderline feral wolf." Talia said calmly. "Who isn't reacting to my presence well. What happened?"

"Shit, I don't know." Stiles wheezed, Isaac was getting a little too squeeze-happy. "He showed up and said 'It's my fault, I let it in.' He's covered in blood and said it killed his brother."

"He 'let it in'?" Talia confirmed, voice coming around the corner and sounding way too calm for what he thought the situation called for.

"Yes, that's what he said!" Stiles grumbled, sighing and dropping his head against Isaac's. He was a glorified stuffed toy at this point. "I'll take 'What is the rogue wolf?' for 800 Alan."

"He's being triggered by my presence, so I'm going to have to leave so you can calm him down." Talia said. He wished he could get a visual on what her damn face looked like.

"I have to calm him down?!" Stiles squeaked. "Ambulances are going to be here any minute! I don't have the spooky wolfy juju to do that! Not to mention, what if the thing is outside?!"

"You have…" Talia listened. "Two and a half minutes, three if they are held up at the intersection of Roosevelt and Parker. Good luck."

With that, Stiles heard the snick of his front door shutting.

Fucking. Hell.

"Hey, yea, sorry, had to take a leak." Stiles said into the phone. Immediately putting it back on mute and hooking the pop socket around the back of his hand between two fingers so he could hold it and also pry Isaac's face from his neck.

With a deep breath, he forced the teen's yellow eyes to meet his brown ones.

His chest burned.

"Isaac." He said, serious in a way he rarely ever was. "Put those fangs away right now. An ambulance and cops are going to be here any second."

Isaac's face didn't change. Stiles closed his eyes and brought Isaac's forehead to his own. He took a deep breath and blew it out through his nose before trying once more. He tried thinking of something the baby wolf would want. Something tugged on him, and he went with the thought.

"Isaac, man. Come on, put the fangs away and I'll let you have one of my hoodies." Stiles didn't open his eyes, but he felt the change through his palms. He sighed and let Isaac's head drop back to his shoulder. His legs were tired from having to remain balanced with someone else leaning on him.

He flipped his phone back into his palm and hit the mute button.

The dispatcher asked a few more questions and he answered, letting her know that Isaac wasn't speaking. The sounds of sirens made Isaac whine until they cut off. It was a bad look to have them blaring in residential areas. Once again, knocks came at the door. Stiles thanked the dispatcher and hung up the call, calling for the officers to open the door.

The next few hours were awkward, exhausting, and tested Stiles' ability to form half-truths to the limits. Isaac kept one hand locked around Stiles' the entire time he was questioned. He only answered with nods and shakes of his head, eyes wide and scared. Stiles kept having to comfort the baby wolf who was so close to shifting the entire time, it was a miracle that he didn't.

His dad appeared shortly after the first officers and ambulances. His face had been a cloud of worry. But he'd taken the two boys into his arms in the first hug Stiles had gotten from the man in years. He tried not to think about the fact someone had to die for him to get one.

At first, CPS had been called. Isaac was still under 18.

One look at the kid had Stiles pulling out whatever cases he could remember of 17 year old kids winning estrangement from their parents and legal rights over themselves. Arguing with both his father and the officer who'd called CPS, until they were both nodding along with him.

The Sheriff, who retained the ability to keep Isaac under protective custody, would be able to house the kid. The CPS guy who showed up was pissed about it. Having essentially been called out only to be shooed away. The man got the sheriff's information and they agreed to speak tomorrow about any hoops they'd have to jump through.

Stiles was exhausted.

Isaac clung to his hand like a warped, grown up version of Isaiah.

"Do you think I can skip school tomorrow?" Stiles asked numbly in the silence that swept in when the officers, emts, and CPS had finally swept out.

"Sure." His dad said, collapsed in the recliner, before looking at the bloody teens. Stiles and Isaac's clothes had been collected for evidence and they stood in a couple of pairs of Stiles' old pjs bottoms. Isaac didn't have a shirt. They'd taken more photos. "You wanna go out tomorrow and get some clothes?"

Isaac nodded in response.

"Come on, let's get you into a shower." Stiles tugged on the hand that was now permanently attached to Isaac. The teen followed dutifully upstairs, but balked at being separated from Stiles. Even by a flimsy bathroom door.

S: Scott. I'm not going to be in tmrw.

Instead of a reply, Scott's name flashed across the screen.

"Are you ok?" Scott's voice was tight.

"Ah. You know how Isaac had that issue yesterday?" Stiles hedged, continuing when he heard Scott's grunt of agreement. "Yea. His brother is…gone, and he's over at my house."

They'd gotten confirmation earlier that, yes indeed, his brother was dead. None of the details about the scene were shared, but from the serious look of his father, it wasn't a pretty one.

Stiles shifted on the closed lid of the toilet. They'd compromised about the bathroom closeness. The sound of a wet body close to him was odd. Different. He'd never listened to someone else bathing, so it felt weirdly impolite.

"Holy shit." Scott breathed, and Stiles felt a little better.

"Yea." Stiles looked at the shower curtain. "I'm currently waiting on him to take a shower. But I just wanted to let you know that I wouldn't be in tomorrow."

" Sure, I'll get your work from class. I'll be over tomorrow after school." Scott invited himself over and Stiles snorted.

"Thanks, man. I'll see you tomorrow." Stiles hung up and dropped his head between his shoulders. Slow fingers of exhaustion were creeping up his nerves and hooking into the backs of his eyes. He rubbed at them absently.

The shower cut off and Stiles covered his eyes and waited for Isaac to get out. Then he led the other teen to his room and tossed him another pair of pjs and a shirt. They were clutched and sniffed before being discarded. Stiles watched with mounting horror as the baby wolf pawed through his dirty laundry and pulled on an old shirt and pair of sleep shorts that he'd worn a week ago.

Stiles dropped into a squat and stared at the floor for a long moment.

His world was very different than it had been three weeks ago.

The first threads of a panic attack were coiling their ways around his lungs when Isaac tugged him back up to full height. The baby wolf's eyes were yellow and he curled into Stiles. His head notching against Stiles' neck.

The otherworldliness wasn't lost on him.

"Fucking hell." Stiles muttered. "Fucking. Hell."