Chapter 3
Stiles was still shoving clothes into bags an hour later when his dad walked in looking sad and slightly sobered up.
Stiles stayed silent and continued to pack, ignoring his father until he spoke softly. "You're leaving aren't you?"
Stiles paused in his packing, swallowing tightly. "I can't stay here anymore dad. I just can't. I feel like I'm being dragged down this hole and that I'll never be able to climb out of it. This is my chance to get away from people who treat me like I'm either made of spun glass or I could explode any second."
The Sheriff was silent for a moment before he sighed deeply. "You're eighteen so I can't stop you and to be honest, with everything going on around here right now, I'd rather you not be here to get swept up by it. But where are you going to go? Do you even have a plan?"
Stiles shrugged. "Tony offered me a job and a place to stay after he and his friends have dealt with the dread doctors. He's on his way over right now."
His dad blinked at him for a moment. "You just assembled the avengers to get rid of the dread doctors?"
Stiles blinked right back, realizing how crazy, what he had said, sounded. "Well, technically I guess I did. Tony offered. He said he wanted me to take my job offer when my head was clear and that we wouldn’t leave my hometown in danger."
The Sherriff looked surprised for a moment and then impressed. "That's actually a lot more responsible than I would have given him credit for."
Stiles scoffed. "He hides behind his snark but there's a reason he's a superhero. I think he just uses it as his crutch to keep people away."
His dad Smiled softly. "Sounds a lot like you son. I'm proud of you and know you will do great. To be honest I think it's a good idea for you to get away from here. The last thing I want is for the next dead body we find to be yours. At least Stark saw your potential and can get you away from all this weirdness. Just make sure you get your G.E.D. Even if you have a job now, no one will look twice at you without at least a high school diploma. If you’re in a position in the future that you need another job, you don’t want that to be the only thing holding you back. And remember to call your old man every few days, Alright?"
Stiles didn’t hesitate to wrap his father into a tight hug with a soft huff. "I'm going to be working for Tony Stark, trust me, I'll be flying you over anytime you have a vacation to come visit your me and I'll teach you how to skype so we can video conference. Who else is going to make sure you're eating properly?"
The Sheriff laughed gently, refusing to let tears flow. "You got it, kid. Need any help packing?"
The two continued to pack until Stiles phone vibrated and he read the message and looked to his dad. "Their landing at the Lacrosse field in five minutes. Any chance you want to give me a lift?"
His dad patted him on the shoulder with a soft smile. "I’ve sobered up but not enough to drive. Tell you what. You can drive; I’ll even let you use the Sirens to get us there, how’s that for breaking the rules."
Stiles chuckled. "Only if I get to use the radio."
The Sheriff raised a brow, trying to look strict but the quirk of his lip causing him to fail. "Just get in the car kid."
Stiles did get to turn the Siren on and even got to alert the station that they were on their way to the Beacon Hills Lacrosse field to receive the Avengers and requesting escorts.
Deputy Parrish confirmed, sounding amused, asking if Stiles had won a bet with his dad in order to get to use the radio.
Stiles chuckled as his dad replied back, telling the Deputy to do his job or he'd stick him on desk duty again.
They arrived at the field just in time to see the Quinjet descend and land. Tony, suited up in the Iron man suit, the first one to come down, shaking hands with Stiles dad and giving Stiles a grin and a gentle backslap, causing him to fall forward, Captain America stopping him from falling to the ground. "Tony, what did I tell you about backslaps in that suit. You're lucky if the kid doesn’t have bruises."
Tony shrugged his apology. "Sorry, Kid. The suit needs a bit more calibrating."
Stiles chuckled rubbing at his sore shoulder and wincing but shrugging it off. "Can't be as bad as when I got Derek to punch my hand."
He then suddenly realized that he was being held up by Captain America and flailed nearly falling once more if not for said superhero once again holding him up.
Tony burst into laughter. "I've seen people swoon and flirt but I've never seen anyone react so violently about being in Cap's arms before."
Stiles turned bright red, muttering at Tony to shut up but Cap just smiled a golden retriever smile full of rainbows and kittens and let Stiles go, once he knew the teen wouldn’t fall over. "I'm just glad you didn’t injure yourself. I'm Steve Rogers, by the way. Since Tony doesn’t seem to have any form of manners."
Stiles shook hands with the superhero and then stood in awe as he continued to introduce him to the rest of the team. "This is Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton. The man in the in the back is Doctor Bruce Banner and last but not least Thor Odinson."
Stiles nodded his hello to everyone who waved or signaled their hello in their own manners from a two finger salute to a soft spoken hello. "I'm Stiles Stilinski and this is my Dad, Sheriff Stilinski."
More greeting were exchanged as the rest of police cruisers arrived, the deputies exiting their vehicles with looks of awe on their faces.
The sheriff became all business, organizing his deputies getting everyone ready to escort the avengers to the station, when they heard it.
A loud roar of pain from the high school.
Stiles was the first to start running, The Sheriff ordering all of his deputies, except for Parrish to stand their ground and guard the cars and the Quinjet.
The avengers were right behind Stiles as he burst into the Library in time to see Theo standing over Scott's dead body
Something in him snapped at the sight. No matter how angry he was with Scott, he was his brother.
With a scream he launched himself at Theo, knocking the boy off of Scott, rolling with the boy, snarling just as much as any wolf.
They tumbled, struggling to one up each other, Stiles surprisingly holding his own, rage surging through his veins, but in the end Theo pinned him down, feral grin spread across his lips. "I should have figured you would be stupid enough to do this. I killed Scott, now I get to kill you."
His hand raised, claws extended, ready to rend as Stiles stared back, accepting the fact that he was going to die.
Stiles waited and waited but the strike never came, a sharp "Twack" leaving Theo's eyes to widen in surprise before the werecoyotee fell on top of a shocked Stiles, the Sheriffs screams echoing through the library. "Are you out of your friggin mind, Barton!? That's my son you could have shot!"
Stiles laid there in shock, blood spatter on his face, trying his hardest not to hyperventilate as his father stood nose to nose with Barton as the man tried to placate him. "Relax Sheriff; I wouldn’t have taken the shot if I thought I would have missed."
Tony was the one to push Theo off of Stiles and gently lift Stiles to his feet, letting him lean on his suit as Stiles fought to compose himself, the world whooshing around him in bursts as he fought his panic attack.
What brought him back was Melissa screaming at Scott as she performed CPR, while his dad was telling her that it was too late, that he was gone.
She growled at the sheriff. "I refuse to give up in him, He's a true Alpha and he is NOT dying like this!"
She kept at the chest compressions, tears rolling down her face, until she couldn’t anymore, sobbing over her son's body
Stiles swayed, tony the only thing holding him up as his shoulders shook, fighting back tears that refused to be held back.
The avengers stood solemnly watching over them as minutes passed.
It was Thor who stirred and noticed first, sensing something none of the others did. "My lady, please step away from the boy."
Melissa shot to her feet to argue with the god when Scott's eyes opened, and he sat up, an ear shattering roar escaping him, causing many of them to clutch at their ears.
Melissa quickly wrapped her arms around her son, who looked around in surprise before his eyes fell on Theo's body and then meeting Stiles gaze, frowning. "Did you do this Stiles? First Donovan, Now Theo?"
Stiles froze, shock making him unable to react as the Alpha, stood and continued. "We don't do this Stiles. If we kill, we are no better than them! I can understand Self Defense but Theo told me how you did it. I would have thought you had more control than that."
Stiles saw red, fist clenching, ready to launch himself at the teen. "How I did it? Scott! I was climbing up Scaffolding as he tried to drag me down. He told me he was going to kill me and leave me as a message for my dad before killing my dad himself! Even then I was just trying to get away. I was trying to grab on to something and knocked the rebar, loosening his hold on me and he fell, impaling himself onto a piece that had already been laid out. How does that have anything to do with my control and how can you even take anything he said as truth when he tried and succeeded in killing you at least temporarily?"
Scott and the Sheriff both frowned in confusion, the Sheriff speaking first. "I approached Theo about the incident and he told me the exact same story, only he said he was the one who killed Donovan."
Scott was hesitant before speaking. "He told me that you lost control and kept hitting him over the head repeatedly and bashed his head in."
Stiles finally lost it, getting right into Scott's face. "That is how Theo killed Josh on the rooftop of the hospital. He blackmailed me into not telling anyone else because he hadn’t told anyone else about Donovan! We've been best friends for years Scott! You're like a brother to me and you’d believe him over me?"
Scott remained silent, which enraged Stiles even more. "You say that you don't blame me for Alison’s death, that it was the Nogitsune's fault and yet I notice the looks you give me when you don't think I'm looking. You say that you trust me and yet time and time again I find you not believing what I've said. You trust everyone, yet won't even trust your best friend! I'm done Scott. As soon as the Dread Doctors are dealt with, I'm out of here. You can deal with your own stuff from now on. I’m tired of dealing with the stuff that you don't want to deal with and getting flack for it. You can ruin your own pack without me."
Scott opened his mouth to speak but then noticed the group of people watching and his eyes widened. "You called in the avengers!?"
Stiles scoffed. "I called Tony and he called in the avengers."
Tony put a gentle hand on Stiles shoulder, his face plate opening to reveal his face. "Kid, let us handle this. Remember what I told you about friends who don't appreciate you."
The sheriff piped in his agreement. "Let's get you home kid, the Avengers can deal with everything else."
Stiles shook his head. "They need to know what’s going on before they can tackle it."
Scott scoffed. "Seriously, Stiles? You're just going to tell them everything?"
Stiles scoffed right back. "Of course I am. They have a chance at keeping us all safe! How many more teenagers do you want to see dead as we blunder around trying to figure out how to even touch them? They run on telluric currents, Scott. They got into Eichen house. We need all the help we can get."
Scott opened his mouth to argue but the sheriff cut him off. "He's right Scott. We can't handle this. We need all the help we can get."
Thor stepped forward to stand next to Stiles. "Am I to understand that these Dreaded Doctors are using Telluric Currents to travel?"
Stiles nodded. "Apparently Beacon Hills is a point where the currents connect."
Thor nodded sagely. "It is how we Asgardians travel through your world. There must be a connection. Tell me everything you know."
Stiles, Scott and the Sheriff proceeded to tell the group, everything they knew from the beginning, including the story of the Nematon and the Nogitsune, the telluric currents, and the disappearing teenagers who would return changed and then die, bodies missing.
It was as their story was ending that the Sheriff noticed something, his head craning from one area to the other, frowning. "Where the hell is Parrish?"
Thor was the one to answer, confused. "The Garmr that entered the building with you?"
Everyone eyed him confused and he shrugged. "The man is clearly a Garmr, a Hellhound. My father, Odin often hunts with them."
Scott gaped and Stiles flailed before yelling out. "Are you kidding me!? We've been trying to figure out what he was for months now and you could make him with just one look?"
The God Shrugged. "Garmr let out a specific kind of aura that is unmistakable to Asgardians. It is what makes them known to us and allows us to use them in hunts."
Stiles hummed thoughtfully. "Are you able to track him? He's been taking the Chimera bodies."
Thor nodded. "Garmr are have often been used to hide our existence as well as the Supernatural from Humans. They are servants of Asgard, therefore I am able to track him."
The Sheriff finally spoke up. "Alright, Stiles you get home, it’s not safe out there. Let the professionals deal with this."
Stiles balked, refusing that answer. "Dad, it’s not safe out there. If I'm going home, so are you."
Stiles father scoffed. "Kid, it’s my job to keep this city safe. Your job is to get home and finish your homework."
Tony chuckled. "He's right kid. I'd go home or else we have an interrogation room in the Quinjet, I guarantee you can't get out of."
Stiles stood his ground, refusing to be cowed. "I can help; Besides, I don't have my jeep anymore. I have no way to get home."
The billionaire turned to the Black Widow, seemingly unmoved by Stiles argument. "Want to give the kid a ride home, Nat?"
Natasha Romanoff smirked at the boy, causing Stiles to shift nervously, feeling like prey being sized up. "Sure, I'd love to drive the kid home. Hope you don't mind riding on my bike, Stiles."
Stiles shook his head vehemently. "Nope, I'm not scared of bikes; Scott has driven me around with his dirt bike before."
Tony snorted. "Get ready for the ride of your life kid. A dirt bike has nothing on Nat's bike."
Stiles was let away by Natasha's hand looped into his arm as he heard Melissa dragging Scott away, ordering him home, where it was safe.
He was reluctant to move as she dragged him towards the Quinjet, the Deputies all eyeing the redhead dragging the Sheriffs boy away but saying nothing and looking respectfully fearful.
Stiles tried not to look too wide eyed as she led him to the front console, pressing a button that had the hydraulics whooshing and her bike appearing from a open door on the floor of the carrier.
She sauntered over to her bike and grabbed one of the helmets, throwing it to Stiles who caught it with an Oomph, before straddling the bike, smirk still firmly in place. "Put that on and hop on, kid."
Stiles huffed. "You know I have a name. It's Stiles. I really don't know why you and Tony refuse to call me by my name."
She laughed lightly. "Most of us are a lot older than you can even imagine. So you're a kid to us for a while yet. Now put the helmet on and make sure you hold on tight."
Stiles reluctantly slipped the helmet on before straddling the bike and putting his arms loosely around the woman, feeling like he'd get eaten alive if he tried to squeeze.
Natasha huffed grabbing his arms and wrapping them tighter, her voice echoing inside his helmet. "Kid if you hand on that loosely you will fall off the bike when I start driving."
Stiles wrapped his arms around her a little tighter as she started the bike and shot out of the Quinjets ramp, letting out a startled high pitch scream that as he nearly lost his grip on Natasha and redoubled his hold, latching on like a spider monkey as the deputies rushed out of her way as she sped out onto the road.
She could hear a few chuckled echoing through his helmet and groaned. Of course everyone would be listening in.
Tony's voice echoed through the helmet, highly amused. "Don't feel bad, Kid. Should have heard Banner's scream the first time he rode with Nat."
He heard the others laugh as Banner groaned. "You said you'd never mention that again, Tony."
Natasha piped in, tone surprisingly flirty. "Don't worry Bruce, I still think you're manly."
Banner sighed before answering with a soft. "Thanks, Nat."
The line went silent afterwards as they zipped through the streets of Beacon Hills, Stiles initial nerves finally leaving him, allowing him to enjoy the ride, laughing breathlessly as Natasha showed off by taking sharp turns, where Stiles felt his head was actually going to touch the cement.
When they arrived, stiles was not surprised to find that she knew exactly where he lived. He passed her the helmet which she stored before taking her own, small smile still in place. "Alright, go in and don't try to sneak out. We'll keep your dad safe, we’ll most likely just send banner to the station with him for help getting files or some other excuse and then deal with the issue ourselves. Just stay home and let us deal with this. If you turned up dead I think Tony would kill us all, or at least try. I'm not sure I'd enjoy trying to hide from Jarvis, he's able to access to all the planets satellites."
Stiles felt something ease inside his chest, for the first time feeling like he could let someone else handle the situation. The fact that they hadn’t just pushed aside his worry for his father, might have factored into it but he didn’t argue, just smiled and waved goodbye to Natasha, who stayed where she was until he was in the house and had locked the front door.
Only then did she put her helmet back on and drove off back towards the high school.
It didn’t stop Stiles from pacing his bedroom, completely ignoring homework, staring at his phone, wanting to text his dad or Tony but then throwing the phone onto the bed, only to dive for it once more, over and over again for hours.
The long text from Tony came in at three in the morning, setting Stiles wracked nerves at ease. "Dread issue dealt with, everyone is safe. Gave all the details to your dad, he can debrief you. Heading back to NY thanks to SHIELD. Their having some kind of emergency they absolutely need us for. Giving you a chance to reconsider the move. If you still want to move in a week, the team has decided on the perfect job for you and I'll have a plane ticket waiting. Don't text me until then, Nat's rule, not mine. Apparently you need to make your mind up without my bad influence."
Stiles couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face as he heard his dad come in, calling his name, having already seen the light on in his room. "Stiles? I'm home, safe and not dead."
He snorted at the last comment and headed down to meet his dad, hugging him tightly. "Tony says you're going to give me details."
The sheriff shook his head, looking both impressed and bemused by the last few hours. "We found Parish at the Nemeton, he somehow brought all of the Chimeras back to life. I still don't know how he did, even with Thor's explanation. Donovan is back in custody, though with the avengers since we don't have the cells to keep him incarcerated. Scott now has a much bigger pack, than I'm sure he was expecting, He'll be meeting with them tomorrow. They managed to track the dread doctors thanks to Thor and took them out using something Tony rigged up and Thor's thunder. Apparently they were Asgardian Scientists, doing unorthodox experiments. He also did some weird thing that supposedly is going to calm down the Nemeton, which should quiet down all the supernatural activity going on. I have no idea what he did to be honest. Though the department had some job keeping the population away when people found out the avengers were in town. I was about to shoot Tony when he started dropping your name around as the reason they all came down to save the day. You may be popular around town tomorrow, kid. I can keep you home if you to skip school."
Stiles was still for a moment, contemplating before he shook his head. "If Lydia faced the school after wandering the woods naked, I can face the school for being someone associated with Superheroes."
His dad gave him a look, as if he was waiting for him to react, which confused Stiles.
He knew he was being much more relaxed about everything than he normally would have.
It wasn’t until the following day at school, that he realized he must have been in shock.
He had been hounded all day by students and teachers, asking him questions about the avengers. It wasn’t until lunch that he was finally triggered as one of the head cheerleaders asked him what it was like to fall into Captain America's arms after he told the group about Cap stopping him from falling flat on his face.
He just stood there for a moment, blinking in shock before his inner monologue started.
"Oh my god."
"Oh... My....God!"
He walked away from the group that had been trying to pry every little tidbit they could about the avengers from him, his heart going a mile an hour but for once not due to a panic attack.
Malia was the one to find him in the boys locker room, asking him what was wrong and he finally exploded in a pile of flailing limbs and fangirling. "I was actually held by Captain America, had his arms around me and drove on a bike with the black Widow! I actually had my arms around her and got to cling to her for dear life! I'm actual friends with Iron man and he wants to offer me a job to work with the avengers!"
He looked excited for a moment before complete and utter horror washed over his face. " I own Captain America boxers and have a whole box full of avengers t-shirts. Half my wardrobe is superhero t-shirts! What is my life! I can't even, Malia! I'm losing my shit right now! I need to go unpack half the clothes I packed because If I ever have to take my pants off in front of any of them, I will never hear the end of it!"
Malia looked at him confused. "Why would you need to take your pants off in front of any of the avengers?"
Stiles threw his hands up in the air. "Like I know? You know the weird situations I end up in!"
Malia shrugged. "Your geek t-shirts are part of your charm Stiles, I wouldn’t change who you are just because you’re going to be around superheroes. Besides, I think it would amuse Tony."
Stiles looked at Malia, surprised for a moment before a thought crept into his mind and an evil grin spread across his face. "I'm going to literally only wear avengers graphic shirts while around them. See how long it is before Tony bans me from wearing them at work."
Malia raised a brow, only her eyes showing her sadness. "So you're still leaving?"
Stiles nodded, sighing. "I need to get out of here. I just can't do this anymore. And with the pack growing so fast, it would be even worse."
Malia was silent for a moment before nodding. "I'll miss you. Make sure you email me. You taught me how to use it so I can do it now. I'm sure Lydia can teach me how to Skype as well."
Stiles smiled before nodding. "It's a promise."
For the first time in a long time, Stiles actually felt excited about something. He waited impatiently for the week to finish and when midnight passed on the seventh day the first thing he did was text Tony. "Job offer accepted, awaiting a plane ticket. Better be first class, I know you can afford it."
Not even a minute later his phone buzzed and it was a text from Tony. "Welcome aboard. Check your email. Your ticket is booked, don't drink any Champaign, you're underage."
Stiles snorted, feeling a zing of excitement as he opened his email to see his first class ticket to New York booked for tomorrow.
He ran downstairs, wanting to spend as much time with his father as he could, knowing his dad would be too busy to visit him for a while.
His father seemed both sad and happy for him. "I'm proud of you son. I'm going to miss you but this is really for the best. You need to get out of this town; it's the only way you'll heal properly."
Stiles couldn’t agree more. Tomorrow was the start of a new life for Stiles and although he would miss his dad, He couldn’t wait to see what Tony had in store for him.