Derek was done with Stiles, done with trying to keep his stupid promise not to call Scott. He had picked up Stiles in his arms, and was alarmed to find that Stiles weighed almost nothing. When was the last time Stiles had eaten anything? The thought pushed him to run faster through the woods.

As soon as Derek reached the road, he checked his phone, and found that it had signal. He called Scott, and Scott picked up on the third ring.

"Hey Derek" Scott said "is everything alright? Did you find Jennifer?" Derek wasted no time in getting to the point.

"Yes, we found Jennifer, but that's not the point" he panted.

"What'd you mean that's not the point?" Scott sounded confused.

"The point is that Stiles is hurt. The idiot crashed his jeep into a tree on the way to the Nemeton." Derek started to explain, but was interrupted by Scott.

"He WHAT?" Scott yelled.

"Shut up Scott. I don't think he's eaten anything since his dad went missing, and not to mention the ice bath he took, which you conveniently forgot to tell me about" Derek shouted. Derek could almost hear Scott wince over the phone.

"Shit. Okay, Derek, I'm coming, and I'll bring my mom." Derek nodded, and then remembered that Scott couldn't see him so he said

"Okay, hurry" and hung up. Derek sighed, and sat down on a nearby tree stump, gently placing Stiles' head in his lap. He waited impatiently, straining his ears for the sound of a car engine.

When he finally heard Melissa McCall's car screech down the road, Derek stood up, and gathered Stiles in his arms. Scott and his mom got out, and Melissa bent down to examine Stiles. Derek was silent while Scott's mouth hung slightly open. Melissa's face was grim as she signaled Derek to carry Stiles into the car.

"Is he going to be all right?" Scott asked anxiously as Derek lay Stiles down in the back seat. Melissa pursed her lips.

"He will be once we get him to the hospital" she replied. Scott's eyes widened as he shakily got into the passenger seat. Derek let out a sigh, gently lifting up Stiles' head and slipping into the back of the car. They drove in silence, Melissa going as fast as she could without calling any attention to the cops.

Stiles was deathly pale, and his skin was cold to the touch even with Derek's jacket on. Derek reached down and took as much pain as he could from Stiles, surprised at how much the boy was hurting.

"God Stiles, why do you have to do this?" he muttered, not really expecting an answer, but Stiles stirred in his arms, eyelids fluttering a bit before opening.

"Derek?" Stiles asked weakly. Derek's gaze snapped down to Stiles, and Scott turned around in his seat.

"Stiles! You're awake!" Scott said, relieved. Stiles groaned.

"Derek, my head hurts" he whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut.

"You'll be okay, Stiles" Scott whispered softly. Derek stayed silent, but took more pain from Stiles.

"Derek, I keep seeing shadows. Make them go away! Please, Derek? Make them go away" Stiles whispered, not seeming to have heard Scott. By now, Derek was beyond worried. In fact, he was terrified. The fact that Stiles was only human had slipped through his mind these past years.

"We're on the way to the hospital, Stiles, so relax. The shadows aren't real" Derek soothed, fighting to keep his voice calm. He expected Stiles to accuse him for calling Scott, but he didn't.

"The shadows are real to me, Derek" he muttered, and his eyes dropped shut, heartbeat slowing considerably.

"Stiles!" Derek yelled, his eyes going wide. As if that would help. He shook him a bit, but Stiles did not respond. Scott shot a worried glance in his mother's direction, and Melissa pushed her foot slightly harder on the gas.

Finally, the hospital came into view, towering ominously over them. Derek leapt out of the car, gathering Stiles into his arms. Melissa ran ahead to get the stretcher ready while Scott bounded worriedly after Derek.

"Lay him down gently, Derek" Melissa instructed, gesturing to the stretcher. Derek laid Stiles down just as the sheriff came racing in.

"Where's my son?" he demanded in a panicked voice. "Is Stiles alright?" Derek could hear the sheriff's heart pounding in his chest. Melissa walked over to Sheriff Stilinski, gently pulling the concerned parent away to talk to him. Derek sighed, and collapsed into a chair. To his exasperation, Scott came and sat down next to him.

"What happened to Stiles, Derek?" he asked in that accusing tone of his. God, why did Scott always think everything was Derek's fault? Because it is said a voice in his head. Derek hastily tuned it out.

"We were looking for Jennifer, and we found her. I killed her, and Stiles passed out. When he woke up, he told me he had crashed his jeep into a tree, and drowned himself before that. He made me promise not to call you, and we started walking back. Once we reached the Nemeton, he had a panic attack, and after I had calmed him down, he passed out again" Derek finished wearily. He could see the gears turning in Scott's head, and he knew that Scott was going to be pretty pissed at him once he had processed all that information. Sure enough, Scott was livid.

"Are you serious, Derek? You didn't call me just because Stiles made you promise not to?" he yelled, so that a few nurses glanced in their direction. "Of course Stiles told you not to call me, he's so damn selfless like that! God, Derek, you're so stupid! You should know by now that that's what Stiles does! He pretends that he's okay when he's really not, and then he ends up in the hospital!" Scott screamed.

Derek wanted to bow his head, and tell Scott that he was absolutely right. It was Derek's fault. Everything was Derek's fault: the fire, Boyd and Erica's death, Jackson becoming the kanima, everything. But Scott was a teenager, and Derek took shit from nobody.

"You think I don't know that, Scott?" Derek yelled back. "Of course I know what Stiles does, but if I had called you then, he would have had a worse panic attack than he had at the Nemeton. You didn't see him, he was hurt and delirious, Scott! And since when have you cared about Stiles anyway? You ignored him and put him in danger just because you had a girlfriend or something better to do!" Scott glared at him, and would have said something back if Melissa hadn't appeared then.

"What the hell are you boys doing?" she asked. Scott opened his mouth to answer angrily, but Derek interrupted.

"How's Stiles?" He asked. Melissa's expression turned from irritation to something else Derek couldn't put his finger on.

"He's going to be okay" she said with a smile, and Derek relaxed a bit. "He has a concussion, mild hypothermia, is totally sleep deprived and dehydrated, and two panic attacks in 24 hours didn't exactly help him, but he should be waking up soon. As soon as he regains consciousness, you guys can go see him, but for now you'll just have to wait." Derek sighed in relief, and sat back down. Scott sat down too, but didn't say anything. After a few minutes, the sheriff came and joined them both. They all sat in silence, too anxious to start a conversation. For now, all they could do was wait.

Derek must have fallen asleep at some moment, because the next thing he knew, Melissa McCall was shaking him awake.

"Hey honey, sorry to wake you, but I just wanted to tell you that Stiles is awake."

Stiles woke up to bright light. The first though he was am I dead? God, he really hoped he wasn't dead. But then his hearing came back to him, and he heard beeping. He groaned, wondering vaguely where he was. Maybe he was dead. Maybe the darach had gotten him...but the darach was Jennifer, and Jennifer was dead. And just like that, the memories of the past few days came rushing back to him. his dad being captured, drowning themselves, crashing his jeep, rescuing his dad, going off with Derek. His eyes snapped open, and he gasped, trying to blink the bright light away.

"Take it easy, kiddo" said somebody on his right. He turned, and he saw Melissa McCall standing there, smiling over him.

"What happened?" he croaked. His voice was hoarse, and his chest was still tight, the way it was after a panic attack. Melissa sighed.

"You have a pretty bad concussion, not to mention the hypothermia" she said.

"Oh" Stiles responded. "Where's my dad?" he asked. Suddenly the longing to see his father was almost too much. Melissa smiled at him.

"I'll go get him" and she left. Stiles stared at the ceiling, suddenly bored. He realized his head wasn't hurting anymore, probably because of the painkillers. He fiddled impatiently with the hospital blanket as he waited for his dad.

"God, Stiles, you are in so much trouble" said a voice from the doorway. Stiles' head snapped up, and he saw his dad, grinning at him from the doorway.

"Dad!" he cried, and almost flung himself out of the bed. His dad rushed to his side, hugging him tightly.

"Don't ever do anything like this again, Stiles, or I swear you'll be grounded for life" the sheriff said. Stiles just buried his dead deeper into his father's shoulder. They broke apart, Stiles examining his father.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Sheriff Stilinski laughed.

"Am I okay? You're the one with the concussion" he joked. But Stiles didn't smile.

"I'm pretty sure you got stabbed, dad" he pointed out.

"I'm fine, Melissa patched me up" the sheriff said. Stiles smiled, a sudden wave of exhaustion hitting him. He tried hiding his yawn, but his father saw it anyway.

"I should go" he said "the others want to see you before you fall asleep." Stiles didn't want his father to go, but he also really wanted to see Scott and Lydia, and Derek.

"Okay" Stiles said, and his father ruffled his hair and left. Scott came running in like an excited puppy a few seconds later.

"Oh my god, Stiles, are you okay? I can't believe you crashed your jeep!" he said. "I'm pretty sure the jeep is fixable, though" Scott added after reading the worried expression in his friend's face. Stiles broke into a grin.

"So you're I heard you got some red eyes now? What happened, yellow wasn't your color?" he asked, desperate to get the conversation off himself. Scott frowned.

"Yeah, I guess so" he sighed. An awkward silence fell over them.

"Where's Derek?" Stiles asked suddenly. An expression of hurt crossed Scott's face, but it was gone as fast as it had come.

"He's outside, I'll call him" Scott said, and after patting Stiles on the shoulder, he was gone. Stiles twitched nervously, unsure of what exactly to say to Derek. The last thing Stiles remembered was passing out with Derek frantically calling his name. He was staring at the door when Derek walked in.

"Hey Derek" Stiles said nervously. A series of emotions crossed Derek's face. Surprise, relief, happiness, irritation, and then rage. Stiles bit his lip, knowing what was coming.

"What the hell, Stiles?" Derek yelled. "Can't you care about yourself for once? Why did you have to come with me? You should have gone straight to the hospital!" Stiles sighed, and rubbed his forehead.

"I've had concussions before, Derek. I didn't think I needed a doctor" he argued. Okay, that was a total lie, he had totally needed a doctor, but Derek didn't have to know that.

"It wasn't just a concussion, Stiles! It was hypothermia, malnutrition, and sleep deprivation" Derek scolded. Stiles scowled.

"Well, I'm sorry if I couldn't sleep away the fact that my father was taken by an evil druid" he snapped. Derek looked like he had been slapped, and Stiles instantly felt bad. "Sorry" he muttered. Derek sighed.

"It's okay" he said. There was an awkward silence.

"So," Stiles said, "do you know when I can leave this place?" he asked. Derek shrugged, and Stiles yawned.

"I'll let you rest then" Derek said.

"Yeah" Stiles replied, and they both stared at the ground for a few seconds. "Could you get me some water before you leave?" Stiles asked, testing his luck. Derek snorted.

"Yeah right, I'm not your servant, Stiles" Derek said. Stiles tried for a convincing smile.

"Please?" he asked. Derek rolled his eyes, and went to get him some water. By the time Derek returned, Stiles was half asleep, and slightly delirious.

"Thanks, Derek" he said, taking the glass from the werewolf. Derek just sighed in return.

"No, Derek, I mean it. Thanks for saving me, and not leaving me out there to die, and thanks for helping to save my dad" Stiles said.

"Well, I couldn't just leave out there to die, Stiles. Scott would have killed me" Derek smirked. Stiles grinned.

"And you owe me. I did save your ass too many times to count."

"Yeah, sure" Derek smirked. And then he smiled the first, genuine smile he had smiled in a long time.