Baseball Bats and Sour Wolves

Chapter 17

They sit by Stiles' beside throughout the night, they don't talk, and when they do it's to share fond stories of Stiles. Which makes them all laugh, because Stiles is such a sarcastic little shit. The nurses come to do their rounds, and each time one of them takes Stiles' temperature, they look concerned.

Stiles temperature doesn't seem to be going down, and he continues to sweat heavily. Peter hears him mutter about fire through his veins, but doesn't completely know if Stiles is conscious, or not. Peter thinks the fever might just make him a bit delirious, but he's not sure. It would make sense with all the sweating and thrashing around, not to mention his screaming back at the loft, Peter wonders if he can pull the pain to help.

When he tries though, there's nothing to take. Stiles doesn't have pain to take, but he always moans about the pain, and the fire. Stiles is paler than usual almost all the time, he doesn't ever seem fully conscious either, he mutters and thrashes and then goes back under. When the heart monitor starts to beat like crazy Peter doesn't know what to think, but then Stiles begins to scream again.

Noah and Derek have been sleeping, but Derek snaps awake the moment Stiles' heart starts going erratic. As soon as the screaming starts Noah is awake, and blinking owlishly at his surroundings. The nurse on duty rushes in, she checks Stiles pupils and then calls for some help, the doctor comes in next. Stiles begins thrashing around, and clawing at his skin again, Derek and Peter rush to him to restrain him.

The doctor tells the nurse to sedate Stiles, the nurse pulls a needle out of her pocket along with a jar, with a sedative in it. She takes out the right amount and then places it in Stiles' IV, Stiles' body slowly begins to relax and he goes limp.

"This happened before didn't it?" The doctor inquires, and Noah nods with a sigh.

"Before we brought him in," Noah begins, he glances at Stiles and rubs his temples. "He screamed for 20 minutes straight, and we had to hold him down so he wouldn't hurt himself." The doctor stares at Noah and then turns his gaze on Stiles.

"The only time I've ever seen someone scream like that, has been people who have been in fires with sever burns." The nurse says, and Peter shudders, so Stiles isn't delirious at all.

Peter turns his gaze onto Derek and motions outside, Derek nods and they excuse themselves.

"It has to be the witch's doing," Peter mutters, Derek nods. "Earlier, Stiles was muttering about fire running through his veins. I thought it was the fever, but now I'm not so sure." Peter explains.

"The witch must be doing something," Derek states, glancing back at the door to Stiles' room. "Is it possible for a witch to connect to Stiles' spark?" Derek questions. Peter's eyes widen.

"Oh my god." He mutters, turning away from Derek. "Why did I think of this before, it all makes perfect sense." Derek frowns at his Uncle not quite understanding.

"Peter?" Derek questions, and Peter turns to him.

"The spark that Stiles has, it's a part of him, so if someone were to per say attack it; it's like attacking Stiles. So if someone tries to steal the power of his spark, it will feel like fire through his veins, he'll burn up as his body tries to fight off the attack." Peter rushes out, he grips Derek's shoulder tightly. "Don't you see, the witch is trying to take Stiles' spark, that's also why she wanted to know where he was." Derek's eyes widen.

"She created a certain bond with Stiles' magic, which is how she could access Stiles' body, use his eyes to see where he was." Derek adds, Peter snarls.

"We need to go find her now, Derek." Peter doesn't know what either of them will do if they lose Stiles.

"Damn right we do." Derek snarls in return.

______

Derek and Peter tell Noah what they've concluded and that they need to go find her and either have her cut the bond, or kill her. Noah wants to come with them, but they insist that Stiles shouldn't be alone, and so he stays with his son.

They take the Camaro, and Derek speeds to the crash site. The scent is faint, but still enough for them to pick up on and follow, they leave the car and go on foot. It's easier to track the scent without the other scents coming into the car to distract them, this witch must've been desperate to get power, she forgot to cover her scent.

Peter doesn't think he wants to give this bitch a chance to sever the bond with Stiles, he's perfectly fine to kill her where she stands for causing pain to Stiles. He will kill anyone that hurt Stiles, or Derek. Peter isn't too sure if Derek has forgiven him for killing Laura, but he isn't hateful towards him anymore, which Peter counts as a win. He hopes that one day, Derek will be able to forgive him, and maybe love him like he once did.

They track the scent through the woods to a river, the scent cuts off there and they aren't able to pick it back up. Peter retraces the scent, to see if it went in a different direction, he can't find one. Derek runs a hand through his hair stressed, and sighs. Peter isn't sure what they should do now, if they should head back to the hospital, or if they should try to pick the scent back up.

"Maybe if we go to the other side of the river, we'll be able to pick up the scent again." Derek suggests, and Peter wonders if that would work. Maybe the scent was just lost through the water and they'll be able to pick it up again.

"Do you really think this witch is that desperate?" Peter questions, and Derek frowns thoughtfully.

"I've never seen a witch who doesn't bother to cover their scent." Derek admits, and Peter sighs. "But if they really need power, than it might slip their mind. Unless they don't know that there are werewolves here." Derek proposes, Peter nods. 

"That would make sense. Alright across the river we go." Peter snarks, and Derek smirks at him.

They cross the river, and sure enough they catch the scent again. They follow it all the way to a small hut, Derek and Peter exchange a look.

"Guess she is that stupid." Peter laughs, Derek grins.