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August 5th, 2025
11:15 PM
Beacon Hills, California
Present time
Derek walked into the bedroom as quietly as the old, squeaky hinges would allow. He paused between the door frame, steaming cup of tea in his hand. His shoulder hit the frame silently as he watched Stiles. Standing before the corkboard, he tapped a pen against his palm, staring at one of the photos. Derek nearly fell to his knees when he pinned Valencia's photo up there. They lost their best chance at getting a step ahead, and even worse, they lost a vital piece of their family.
"Stiles," Derek called softly, eliciting no response. "You should take a break, you've been at it for the past three hours," he said.
"Take a break?" Stiles scoffed, eyes still directed at the board. Derek pushed off of the frame, walking towards the other man, trying to see what he was seeing. "You take a break and someone dies. I'm not going to be sleeping while Valencia's dying."
"They aren't going to kill her," Derek said confidently. Stiles didn't have to be a wolf to smell the blind hope in that statement. "She was sure of that, and if there is one thing I've learned over the years, it's to trust Leni's gut." Stiles shook his head but he didn't argue to the contrary. Derek stepped to his left and finally saw what Stiles was staring at. In the middle of the board was a square piece of gray paper with a black question mark. Derek sighed, reaching out slowly, fingers brushing against Stiles' elbow, just barely introducing his touch. When he didn't draw away, Derek gripped him more firmly and turned him around. He handed him the tea, chamomile scented steam rising up between them. Stiles didn't meet his eyes as he took the cup.
"What if she was wrong this time?" He asked brokenly, eyes too tired to produce any more tears. Derek moved his hands to his shoulders, squeezing once before moving up to either side of his neck, brushing his thumbs along the underside of his jaw.
"Has she ever been wrong?" Derek asked. "Was she wrong when he said the fish told her the guy at the pizza place was the omega we were looking for?" he questioned with a little chuckle. Stiles didn't laugh but his lips pulled up a bit. "Did you find anything?" He asked carefully.
"Not much," Stiles shook his head, taking a slow sip from his tea as he angled his head towards the board, keeping his body towards Derek. "Evan Michaelson gave a statement when Lonnie was arrested, but he didn't testify and there's no clue that anyone knew about the affair. There's no reason why Evan would be the person we're after."
