Let Me In

Chapter 11

Outside the Vet Clinic the Pack and the Sheriff are waiting for him, the latter looking pointedly at Stiles snuggled up peacefully in Derek’s arms.

“So” Noah says “I'm on duty tonight so I take it he will be staying at the loft with you?” he enquires. Derek studies him quietly, trying to get a feeling on whether or not Noah is pissed at him for how he is the only one Stiles seems to have taken to. He carefully nods “if that’s ok with you Sir” he says quietly, “or I can take him to yours and stay with him there until you get home if you prefer?” Derek offers.

Noah smiles and nods towards the small bundle that’s now snoring away in Derek’s arms “its not about me son, its about where Stiles would feel safest and I think we both know that right now that’s wherever you are. Makes sense to me that you take him back to the loft, you can all be comfortable then and both you and the Pack, who I assume are all likely to stay over, can try to make progress on bonding with him when he wakes” he suggests, the Pack all nodding in agreement.

Derek sighs in relief, not wanting to have appeared to be taking over in any way, appreciative of the Sheriff’s words more than Noah knows. He smiles easily now “that sounds like a good idea, I think it will do everyone some good to have some quality Pack time and chill out too, so we will head back that way now, you are more than welcome to join us Sir” he prompts.

Noah nods his head smiling at Derek “I know son I know, but it looks like he is out for the count right now, so odds are he won’t be waking before I have to leave, I may as well let you all get settled and then head on over to you after I get off work to see how he is doing and see if I cant make some headway with him myself”.
Isaac had been watching the conversation perceptively, picking up on both men’s need to do right by Stiles but also wanting to be the ones to care for him, he moves to give the Sheriff a hug, “don’t worry Mr Stilinski we will take good care of him” Noah huffs a laugh and squeezes Isaac back. “I know son I know” he says, patting his back then turning to leave.

The Pack get back to the loft fairly quickly and Derek goes to settle Stiles in his room as the scent from his bedding will no doubt continue to soothe the fox whilst they make plans on what to do next. Setting the fox down on his pillow the animal keens slightly at the loss of Derek’s warmth, grumbling in its sleep. Derek, not wanting to risk the animal waking when he clearly needs sleep slips out of the jumper that Boyd had kindly supplied him with in the forest, then wraps it around the fox to help aid its continued sleep with the familiar warmth and scent. Stiles lets out a contented purr and snuffles back down deeper in the jumper. Derek gives a relieved sigh and turns to remove the jogging bottoms that Lydia had provided from her car. She luckily had had the foresight to suspect Derek may wolf out at some point and be stuck without clothes.

He changes quickly into his own clothes then re-joins the Pack in the main sitting area. The Pack had been busy in his absence, he finds that they have pulled together a mixture of blankets and other fabrics. Looking closely he spies one of Isaac’s scarves, Derek’s recently worn henley, as well as Scott and Boyd’s lacrosse jerseys amongst other things. He looks at the Pack in puzzlement when Lydia speaks “we wanted to create a nest of sorts for Stiles, so that when he joins us out here he has something comfortable he can nestle down in" she smiles "but we also wanted to try something that could help bring his memories of us back, so we added items that are personal to each of the pack, that also hold strong scents, in the hopes it will jog his memory” she says in a no nonsense manner “we have also put down some food and water for him so he has something available if he needs it. I know Deaton gave us some pre-packaged stuff he had at the Vets to tide us over in the short term but we will need to ensure he has access to the outside so he can get the food he needs. I have done a quick check online and it seems that Fennec Foxes eat small rodents, birds, lizards, insects and eggs, so that would definitely explain the various animal bones we found in his den like Deaton suggested”, Lydia finishes whilst Erica wrinkles her nose in disgust.