Angel with a shotgun(Destiel)(Sterek)

Snapping

Stiles washed the blood from his hands. He avoided looking into the mirror that sat above the sink, taunting him. He knew he looked like hell and these meaningless hunts were doing nothing to help ease his anxious mind. He and Derek had been looking for Gabriel for right at a week. There were no signs of any kind of trickster business. Stiles insisted they pick up cases along the way, mostly to keep his hands busy. The most recent hunt had been a couple ghouls, easily taken care of.

"You okay, Stiles?" Derek asked stepping into the doorway of the bathroom.

Stiles looked up his eyes meeting Derek's in the mirror. They were soft and slightly concerned.

"Fine," Stiles nodded. The two of them worked well together, which Stiles was relieved by.

Derek frowned slightly, "You sure? You went a little ham on that ghoul."

It was true, Stiles had opted for the baseball bat over the machete. It was common knowledge that taking off the head of a ghoul killed it, but Stiles also knew that bashing it's brains in was just as effective.

"Just needed to get out a little frustration," Stiles shrugged. Derek reminded him of Sam and Dean in a way. He was headstrong and determined like Dean, but he had a kindness and patience to him, like Sam.

"We'll find Gabriel. Bobby's got every hunter on the look out for any kind of trickster activity, they know to call you immediately," Derek offered gently.

"What if he's not playing trickster anymore? I mean, why was an archangel playing trickster anyway?" Stiles huffed before peeling his shirt off. It had been decorated in Ghoul brains, so he tossed it in the trash, it wasn't worth trying to salvage.

"I wish I had an answer for you," Derek sighed. He could see the way this task was wearing on Stiles. He barely slept and when he did, it was restless. He continued to take the drops Derek had given to help drown out the angel's voices, but Stiles was getting tired of dealing with that as well. He worried for his brothers and he was getting more and more reckless on hunts.

Stiles laid on one of the hotel beds not bothering to respond to Derek.

Derek knew well enough not to push Stiles, so he left him alone. He pulled out his laptop and decided to check for any news articles that might lead them to Gabriel. The sooner they found him, the sooner Stiles could relax a little.

It took maybe twenty minutes for Stiles to fall into a restless sleep. He tossed and turned harshly in the bed with a frown embedded into his features.

Derek didn't want to wake the hunter, but he worried that sleep was only exhausting him more. Stiles phone lit up on the table next to him. Derek picked it up to see a text from Dean.

You good? Is all it said.

Derek debated calling Dean and letting him know how Stiles was really doing. The youngest Winchester had been dismissive of his brother's worried texts the past few days. Always assuring them he was fine, when in reality, he was snapping.

Derek stepped out of the room so as not to wake the restless hunter.

"Stiles?" Dean's voice spoke worriedly into the receiver.

"Uh, no, it's Derek," Derek answered glancing at the door behind him as if expecting Stiles to come out after him.

"Derek," Dean's voice grew even more worried, "What's wrong? Where's Stiles?"

"He's fine, er well, asleep anyway," Derek said in a reassuring tone.

"Okay..." Dean waited for Derek to continue, it was obvious Derek had called for a reason.

"Umm, maybe it's not my business to be telling you this, but I thought you might want to know and maybe you could tell me what I could do to help him, Stiles is...well...for lack of a better term, snapping," Derek said in a voice that told Dean he wasn't even sure what was wrong with Stiles.

"Snapping how?" Dean demanded, his tone no less full of worry.

"He's barely sleeping and when he does he's tossing all night. The angels voices are more frequent now and still giving him headaches. And tonight, we took out a couple of ghouls, but...he was more aggressive than usual. And normally I wouldn't care, but he used a baseball bat, like he chose a baseball bat. I have a dozen different types of blades he could have picked, but he wanted the bat. He's been more and more reckless, and I'm just worried it's gonna get worse. I've tried talking to him, but he insists he's fine," Derek explained quickly.

"Son of a bitch," Dean huffed out, "Alright, we'll be there as soon as we can, text me where you are."

"Dean, no," Sam's voice spoke up then. Derek must have been on speaker.

"You heard what he said, Sam," Dean snapped.

"Yes, but showing up isn't going to help. Cas told us specifically not to see him," Sam objected.

"I don't care if God himself said it, he's our brother and he's losing his shit," Dean barked.

"Dean, there's nothing we can do that Derek can't, alright?" Sam said in a calm tone.

"He'll talk to us," Dean countered.

"Like he talked to us about the headaches? Or the dreams?" Sam pointed out, "Derek may have the advantage of not being his brother."

"What can I do?" Derek asked, willing to do whatever was necessary.

"Try to get him to take it easy on hunts, if he's being reckless he's gonna get himself killed," Dean spoke.

"I don't think that's an option, he'll likely leave me behind to hunt on his own. He says it keeps him from going stir crazy," Derek shook his head, though the brothers couldn't see.

"He's right, Dean, he's like you in that regard," Sam agreed. "You said he wouldn't talk?" Sam asked, directing the question at Derek.

"No, he just says he's fine. When I mentioned the ghouls tonight, he said he was letting out some frustration. I'm not sure it did any good though. He fell asleep a bit ago, but he's thrashing like a damn fish out of water," Derek sighed out. He glanced at the motel door again.

"Have him try a sleep aid," Sam suggested.

"Get him drunk," Dean offered at the same time.

Derek laughed.

"He was so much easier to deal with when he was younger. We used to take him mini golfing," Dean snorted at the memory.

Derek grinned at that.

"I'm guessing there's been nothing on Gabriel?" Sam asked then, changing the subject a bit.

"No. He's worried about you guys, he said he's not used to being away from both of you for so long. I think that's part of it. I wish I knew how we could find this trickster faster," Derek ran a had through his hair.

"Yeah, we haven't had much luck on our end either," Dean huffed out. He sounded as tired as Stiles did.

Derek wondered if it had been a mistake calling them, he likely only worried them more.

"I'll keep my eyes on Stiles, you two just stay safe. Knowing you're both okay seems to help keep him going."

"If he gets worse, call us, I don't care what time it is or where you are? You hear me?" Dean's voice had an underlying warning that Derek understood perfectly.

"Course," Derek agreed. He doubted Dean would hesitate to take him out if he didn't look after his brother, not that he could blame him. He knew what it was like to be protective of family.

*AN*
Here you go, sorry it's been a while!