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"I could easily get out of these, you know," Derek says.
"So could I," Chris says. "But I'm not interested in being a fugitive from the law."
Chris watches a deputy passed by them, aware that Derek is still examining his cuff. The deputy passes by without a glance. They aren’t worried. According to all the deputies surrounding them, both he and Derek were chained to a bench. But Chris doesn't need to be a werewolf to feel the restlessness pouring off of Derek. That is making him worried.
"Well, I'm not interested in being a victim to a seventeen-year-old possessed by a psychotic fox," Derek says.
And while Chris is in agreement, he is aware that moving hastily is a dangerous game when one is facing an opponent as unpredictable as the fox.
"Just give me a few more minutes." He isn't ordering but he isn't asking either.
Derek ignores this though and drops his head to take up testing the strength of the cuff again.
"Derek!" Chris hisses.
He is ordering now and is pleased to get an immediate reaction.
Derek jerks back and puts his hand flat on the bench. He sighs, looking very put upon but he is listening to Chris. Listening enough anyway.
"Okay, fine," Derek says. "If something happens, don't expect me to risk my life trying to save yours."
Derek looks away from him at that and Chris lets him. He ignored Derek. He didn't need the young wolf to lash out at him to know he was unhappy being here. Chris resumes his watching of the police station.
Really, he is surprised it was so easy to get the wolf to obey him. Derek has never cared what the Agrent has had to say before unless it was one of his pack Chris was helping. There's no pack here (at least, Chris is pretty sure there's not) so he expected to have difficulty controlling Derek.
So far this was the first time he'd had to push at him. That was refreshing, to know that Derek could be patient. It was even more refreshing to know that all Chris had to do was use his dad voice and he could make Derek heel.
Though he had no idea how long Derek would sit for even under the threat of Chris's parent voice. He needs to figure out what they were doing here.
The cuffs were still around both wrists but Derek was getting more fidgety. It was distracting both from the constant movement beside him and because he didn't know how long he had until Derek grew too impatient and scared and broke free.
The police station rabbles on before them as usual and Chris is getting more confused about what the point of them being here is. Until the phone is slammed down. Several phones are slammed actually and then it's chaos.
Deputies begin to run to and forth. Chris has no idea what they are accomplishing but something has them stirred.
He looks over to Derek but the wolf looks just as confused and a little frightened.
A deputy scrambles up to him and wordlessly unlocks his cuffs. Now Chris is a little bit frightened.
"What's happening?"
The deputy looks at him and Chris is not encouraged by the complete look of fear he receives.
There's so much noise he can't get a clear read on anything. He knows that Derek is probably just as lost in the disorder but he turns to him anyway. Derek has a better chance of hearing what the disturbance is. Chris hopes pushing him again will garner as positive a result as the first time and starts yelling at him for answers.
"What's happening?"
Derek's wondering eyes gain a sharper edge. He twists to look into the office behind them. Chris follows his gaze but there's nothing there.
The Wolf's green eyes met his and Derek has something figured out. Chris stares steadily back, expecting an explanation.
"Get down!"
The words have barely reached his ears before Derek is shoving away the deputy. Chris ducks his head on instincts. Flinching when a solid mass hits his back. And then the explosion happens. It's deafening. All the air is ripped away from him. His lungs can’t hold any air against it. Force pulls at him, the pressure against his back slips away. It pulls him to the ground.
But the worst of it is over. Slowly he uncurls himself. The bench has survived but everything that’s where his head would have been is simply gone. Blown to pieces and then projectiled into the surrounding room. Several officers are already dead, more are going to follow.
Chris's brain is screaming at him to get up and help. He knows there are pieces of wood and glass in him somewhere, can feel the pain but not the location, but he is not dead or broken.
On his hands and knees, he sees booted feet in front of him. Not the work boots of the officers, but stylish boots he'stoo old for but likes anyway. Derek.
Forcing himself to his feet, he sees the werewolf is already standing but swaying.
"Derek. Derek." Chris grabs his arms in a tight hold before he falls and holds him steady.
"I'm okay." The wolf breathes.
Chris barely hears him, a flash of light catches his eye and he pulls Derek towards him to get a better look at the back of his shoulder. It was glass that caught his eye but how many pieces of glass are in Derek, Chris couldn't say. His shoulder and back look like a mosaic of glass and wood chips. It pins his leather jacket to his back. Glass has pierced straight down to his shoulder blade and Chris's fingers loosen.
Derek slowly straightens away from him.
"I'm okay." He repeats but Chris isn't listening. He stares at the young wolf in bewilderment. Derek's eyes are struggling to stay open and there unfocused. He is clearly not okay. And even though he didn't die he's suffering a back full of glass and wood chips. A thing that Chris wouldn't have survived.
"You saved my life."
Derek doesn't respond, is staying upright with Chris helping steady him.
Off to the side, Chris hears the Sheriff. "Go, go, go."
Chris looks over to see Scott beside a dead man and winces. Scott may be a werewolf but this is too much for any kid. Chris looks back to Derek and knows he has to take the Sheriff's advice as well. Derek shouldn't have to see this either. And if they don't leave and someone sees Derek miraculously survive the full brunt of an explosion it will not be good.
He steps forward and slides his hands up Derek's arms. Keeping a hold on him, least the kid fall and bury any glass further, but getting one hand up to grip the front of Derek's shirt. The other hand to lift Derek's arm on his uninjured side.
He ducks under and drops Derek's arm down across his shoulders. Switching hands, he tries his best to avoid the glass and grabs Derek's belt and the other to hold Derek's arm tight across his shoulders.
He shuffles them forward, his own hitchhiking glass hurts somewhere. Derek is attempting to help, shoving a foot forward but more often tangles up Chris than actually helps.
"I got it." He mumbles.
Derek huffs in reply and continues to try to walk.
"Derek, stop it. You're making this harder." Chris snaps at him.
There is no reply from Derek. Chris assumed he is sulking as he could see the wolf doing in his mind's eye and ignores him.
"This is being injured, get over it." He says, pushing his feet out of the way.
The weight in his arms got heavier as Derek wasn't supporting any of his own weight now but his path was clearer. Everything else became a secondary concern to getting away before someone came far enough out of the shock of what happened to put them in a holding cell. Really, Chris was fine with a holding cell, once he got the glass out of Derek.
The glass that was meant for his face. The glass and woodchip daggers that would have killed him. Maybe would have killed him instantly but Chris doubts his luck on that one. He probably would have been blinded but alive. At least for a few minutes of agony and then he would have been dead.
Allison would have been an orphan.
The thought shoots across his mind leaving a burning trail in its wake. He would have been gone.
Chris has faced death so often in his life that it stopped feeling real a long time ago. But this felt more than real.
A ragged breath in and Chris has to force his brain to remember how to breathe. Derek was dead weight in his arms. The young wolf's head was down and Chris had a perfect view of how much Derek saved his life.
He said it before but the ugly truth of it was going to hit him harder than a couple of words. Derek had saved him, saved his daughter.
He needed to focus. Putting away the scary thoughts of what could have been for a later moment. A calmer moment where he could take out all the fearful thoughts he had and pull them apart slowly. Dissect them until he was certain they hadn't happened. Reality was not his fears.
So, he compartmentalized. The important thing now was getting the glass out.
Chris looks down to see Derek try to lift his head but fail. The wolf's eyes keep sliding closed, even open they were heavily hooded. Derek is getting heavier but the wolf is still awake. Getting closer to dragging both of them down though. No doubt the pain was keeping him human.
Chris was directing them away from the hordes of people but now he started to look for the locker room. It would be empty.
The precinct was in shambles. All the desks were shoved aside and every small thing in there had been thrown somewhere else. The room from a few minutes ago looked like it had never existed now.
Chris was startled by a door crashing open to their left. He was far away from the chaos now and didn't expect anyone to be there.
The sudden thought that they would look like they were trying to escape had him pushing Derek's shoulder into the nearest door. Stumbling through it, Chris saw he had found the Women's locker room. No cameras, no people, good enough.
Derek suddenly pulled to the side and Chris is forced to drop him before he takes both of them down.
"Derek! What-" The question stops cold in his mouth upon seeing the brilliant blue of Derek's eyes.
The wolf tries to stand but wobbles too much and falls again to his side. Chris didn't move a muscle and yet Derek being unable to stand seems to scare him more.
He scrambles away until a wall blocks his path. His hand comes up and pushes along the wall, he looks at it in confusion.
Chris's shoulders fall and he sighs. Derek's fall has pushed the glass further into him.
Derek's eyes were back to normal, unable to hold a transformation against the pain, but he looked as feral as ever. Growling at Chris, body tense and ready to spring at him.
Chris blinks. One second Derek is fighting to stay awake. Next he is acting like a cornered animal. The door swings shut behind them. Chris is in full hunter mode now and only risks a small glance at the door to be sure they are alone.
The sight of blood on the door gives him pause. He looks back at the werewolf in front of him. A young wolf, pup really, who was barely hanging on to consciousness while in the arms of a hunter. Chris feels like Victoria is shaking her head somewhere. Chris had pushed the door open with Derek's injured shoulder, no doubt driving the glass in deeper scaring the wolf into thinking Chris was attacking him.
It's odd, Chris thinks. Before Allison forced wolves into his life on a personal basis, he would have always imagined Derek as an animal driven by instincts. But now. Now he sits down on his heels. Shock quietly rolls around somewhere in him. Not at the vicious creature, he's currently watching from a few feet away but at how much he wants Derek to calm down. At how bad he feels for scaring him. The feral snarl looks out of place on the young man he had just sat with and used his dad voice on. Derek had listened then and now Chris is rethinking why.
Because now he is certain that Derek is growling at him because Chris scares him. After Derek listened to him he’d been happy. Now he felt like he’d kicked a puppy.
They’d been better but Derek's and his truce was too shaky and new for him to rely on.
And Chris couldn't blame him there. Couldn't defend himself either. The things that his family had done to Derek and his family. It made too much sense for the last living member of the Hale Pack to be scared of a member of the family that was responsible for him being the last survivor. (Except for Peter but who knows what he was now from day to day, much less where he belonged in the pack.)
Chris put his hands up in front of him, empty and open. He slows his pace as Derek jumps a little at the movement from him.
"Derek, I didn't mean to hurt you." He says.
It's not surprising he doesn't receive a reply but still disheartening.
There is no training for this. They are trained as soldiers to kill all threats to human life. He has never classified Derek as a threat. Sure, the young wolf was aggressive at times. An unfortunate combination of a stupid young man's energy and learned fear of people made him difficult to handle but never a threat. At least not until he was threatened first.
Chris quietly lowered himself to the ground, keeping one leg up and bent at the knee, the other he tucked under. Now eye level with him, not towering over him, he sees the flickering doubt in the pup’s eyes.
Derek watches him with wide eyes and a snarl. Chris is somberly amused by that. The snarl is all that other hunters, like Chris's father, would see. But Chris barely acknowledges it's there. Because the rest of the Wolf is not following the dangerous tone.
He's in a ball, pushing against the wall. As far from Chris as possible but he can see the tremor going through the boy. His eyes are their normal green and filled with fear. An innocent look on an innocent wolf.
Chris drops his head. Taking his eyes off the wolf is breaking every instinct he has but he doesn't want Derek to see the grief in his face. And he is certain Derek is too injured to make a fast move right now.
When Kate had first gotten involved with Derek, Chris had wanted her to stop. He never thought she would do anything like what she did. He had wanted her to stop because there was no point to it. The Hale's were more interested in stopping other supernaturals from doing anything to attract attention than harming anyone. Even before Chris had a family of his own he understood it. And now he understands it like a deep chill that reaches to his bones. Talia had had children to take care of. She hadn't wanted a fight with anyone.
Kate had destroyed a peaceful pack. Gerard had continued that destruction. And all the while Chris was left to stand out by himself and try to figure out why no one was listening to him. He had been right that Kate shouldn't have messed with Derek. Derek was innocent. He had been right that Gerard shouldn't have messed with Scott and the rest. All of them were innocent.
And Victoria. Thus the grief. She had been wrong too. Wrong to hurt Scott and wrong to take her own life.
Derek hadn't bitten her to kill her. He'd done it to protect a teenager. To protect a kid against a hunter like he hadn't been protected.
Chris sits and waits for Derek because in Derek's world Chris is the monster.
Time presses against him. It will only be so long before trained professionals in law enforcement pull themselves together. They will notice them missing. But he ignores it for now. Choosing to give Derek the chance to come to terms with being injured and needing Chris's help.
Chris didn't know what training wolves have their children do but he could guess that it only involved getting away from a hunter when injured. Derek didn't have that option. Chris could forgive the minutes Derek is wasting trying to figure out what to do now.
Raising his head to look at the scared wolf in front of him, he watches Derek scan the room. Eyes flashing back to Chris every few seconds. He knows that Derek is intelligent and very good at evading people. Derek will see that there's no getting past Chris.
It's what he decides to do about that that has Chris wishing he had his gun. Not to kill Derek but to subdue him.
He did not doubt that Derek could have gone on to be as smart and sharp as his mother. But the scars he has put an end to that future. Now Chris could count on Derek leaping without looking. Not for lack of intelligence but a lack of trust.
The first time he saw Derek since coming back to Beacon Hills, he approached the wolf intending to get him angry. When simple intimidation and jabs at wounds didn't work, he tried a little property damage. Had his men smash the window of Derek's Camaro. Still nothing. The wolf hadn't moved but the one time to clench his fist. But even then he showed no claws, no growl. Chris had been more than satisfied that Derek was harmless and a little impressed with his control.
Even after that, he never changed his opinion that Derek moved to violence when someone else gave him no choice. Even after Victoria.
What did change was his understanding of what Derek considers someone giving him no choice. He was quick to see a threat and even quicker to respond to it. He reminded Chris of his first hunt. When everything had gone to hell and he had no idea what else to do but shoot the thing in the face.
It was pure luck that it worked. No thought behind it. Pure fear driving his actions. A kid acting on instinct to stay alive.
Chris waits because he gets what’s happening now. Derek is making the same mistake. A dumb kid trying to stay alive. For Chris, it was to shoot and hope. For Derek, it's to bring out the wolf. Both acting on survival instincts.
Derek's breathing was coming down from the reckless pace it had been at, and Chris smiles a little at it. Derek's eyes gain a wary look to them.
Derek acted on fear. And Chris understood it. Before Gerard showed up to take his wife, take his daughter, he may not of. But now he understood the fear that comes with being alone.
Add to that Derek's past and it's little wonder that he doesn't want Chris here. Chris is having trouble wrapping his head around how Derek managed to let himself be arrested and sat down next to Chris. How he listened to Chris's command to stay.
Derek was never a threat. He was only ever trying to protect the people he cares about. And trying to get away from the people who scare him.
And he was doing it wrong because he was barely older than Allison.
Still a kid. Still lost. Still alone.
He hides it well. When Chris threatened him and broke the window of his Camaro it hadn't crossed his mind how young Derek is. It's all he can see now. This is a kid. His chest aches with the thought of all he has put Derek through. And he did it all because Derek is a wolf. Not because Derek ever showed any signs of being dangerous, being feral, hunting humans.
Chris has spent so much time lately yelling at his fellow hunters to follow the code. We hunt those who hunt us. He snorts at that now. Where was the code for him when he went to Derek intending to hurt him? The only reason he hadn't moved to physically hurting him is Derek had stayed in control.
He'd stayed calm surrounded by people who would kill him. Chris doubts he would have pulled that off himself at Derek's age.
He hopes that Derek can do that again now. He doesn't want to hurt Derek. But the wild look in his eyes is not promising. Chris didn't have a gun but Derek was weak and not thinking clearly. Chris could push him down and hold him but getting the glass out would be difficult. Not to mention it was going to hurt and Derek was unlikely to react well to that.
Derek is shifting his feet under him, working his jaw, and looking more and more like he was going to test his luck against Chris. Just like he was testing the strength of the cuffs. He was thinking about running.
Chris had needed him to leave the cuffs alone so he'd yelled at him. Given him a command without even thinking. The wolf had listened and that’s all Chris had cared about. Now knowing he had frightened him he saw what Derek had done. Covered his fear with the promise not to save Chris. Pointing out that he was stronger and more durable than Chris. It had worked. Chris had moved on from the threat because he was used to that. He was less used to evaluating a wolf as a person and thus had missed the obvious. Derek had jerked back from the cuffs like he was burned. Had sighed to cover the sudden intake of breath. He'd seamlessly pushed Chris away from realizing that he'd gotten under Derek's skin. He'd made the wolf listen. And it wasn't the first time.
Derek knew what Chris was doing that night at the gas station. He'd known the hunter was challenging him. But he was challenging him to prove that he wasn't dangerous. That he could control his darker nature. He challenged him to back down and Derek did.
Derek is up straighter now. A single spring away from fighting Chris and this situation getting a lot more complicated.
Chris could feel how little he wanted to be Derek's monster to the pit of his stomach but if this turned into a brawl they would be discovered.
"Derek. Stop." His voice a perfect fit for either giving an order or stopping a tantrum.
He half expects Derek to leap into action at that. But he doesn't. Instead, he recoils back like Chris had slapped him. He looks just as confused too.
Chris keeps his movements slow and deliberate as he rises from the ground and moves towards Derek. Forcing all the tension out of him he tries to approach Derek like he has everything under control, matching his tone of voice. That had been a command. And Derek had followed it whether he intended to or not. Chris needs him to see that fighting wouldn't end well. Like he had that night at the gas station.
Derek starts to move but it was backward. There is no place left though and he only digs the glass even deeper into him.
"Stop," Chris says.
Derek does growl at that. And Chris hesitates. He had been going forward off the hope that Derek would be snapped out of it and recognize Chris as an ally but that apparently wasn't going to happen.
Feeling both very out of his depth and somehow used to this, he tries again. "Derek, stop pressing against the wall."
Derek stops. Looking angry about it but that was fine. Chris knew he would be angry but there would be time to deal with that.
"Stay." Chris felt stupid giving him a dog's command but it was working.
Chris sits on his knees. Derek slinks back and into himself. But he kept his back off the wall so Chris keeps going. He puts a hand on the ground and pushes himself forward.
Reaching him brings a small feeling of triumph. It's quickly squash by the death glare Derek is giving him. Derek is going to bite him if he touches him. Chris already knows it. The fact that he let Chris this close isn't going to stop him from defending against something as scary as touch.
Chris was walking a tight rope. He'd set himself up for it and he hates it. Using Derek's fear of him to control him had now left him with the trouble that Derek was about to become too scared of him.
What did he expect? It's all still true. Chris may have a scary voice that gets Derek's attention but he is still the monster.
Yet, the doubt is hanging on in his eyes and in the fact that he hasn’t torn Chris up. He could save this. There's a blood smear on the wall where Derek is shuffling away from him that Chris will have to clean up. It gives away the fact that Derek is partially listening and partially still has his back on the wall. Still trying to get away from him.
Sitting slowly down on his heels, Derek twitching, showing teeth that aren't fangs yet, Chris looks on at the mess he created. Derek had looked confused before. Now it's replaced by anger. He looks like he did at the gas station. Back then he had been trying to get Derek to attack; give him a reason to put him down. Now he would do everything he could to not hurt him.
"Derek," Chris says. "I'm going to get the glass out of you and then we are both going to walk into a holding cell."
Upfront seemed like a good way to be. Derek stares back a minute but his glare dampens a little. That seems like a win to Chris so he shuffles closer. And is stopped by Derek's growl.
"No." Chris snaps.
Derek shakes his head like he has water in his ears. Chris imagines he might think he does, how else to explain that he heard a hunter scolding him like a child.
"No," Chris says a little softer. "Don't growl, that will be too difficult to explain if someone hears."
He takes all his confidence and scoots closer. He doesn't get a growl. Worse. Fear flashes across Derek like lightning. His hands shoot up, palm out. Warding Chris off. He's shaking. The arm is barely held level with Chris's face.
The cuff is still around his wrist. In the confusion right before and after the blast, Chris hadn't realized that Derek was never released from his cuff. He released himself.
Getting an idea, Chris slowly reaches into his boot and finds the paper clip stuffed in there. Derek pulls his hand back but Chris shows the harmless paper clip and he stops moving.
Feeling like Derek might let him help him, Chris bends the paper clip. He starts to reach out for Derek's hand but hesitates. It would be easy for Derek to pull Chris to him and kill him.
Chris meets Derek's eyes. There's anger there, that sour face, but it's a thin cover for his hurt as always. Derek doesn't want to kill things, never has.
"Don't bite me," Chris commands. He feels a little more confident as Derek squints at him first then gives a slow nod.
Nodding back to emphasize they made a deal, Chris shows his bent paper clip. "Do you want the cuffs off?"
It’s a long moment before Derek looks at the paper clip. His eyes snap back like he is afraid Chris was trying to distract him from an attack.
But Chris hadn't so much as twitched. The wolf seems wary but there's a small amount of tension released from his face.
Chris reaches a hand out to Derek, silently asking for his hand. He feels more relieved than he'll admit when Derek finally places his hand in Chris's.
Chris holds his hand lightly, not grasping or trapping only keeping it steady, and quickly gets the cuff off.
Derek's hand is out of his grasp as fast as the cuff is off.
Chris puts his hands out. "See? All good."
Again he puts his hand out, palm up.
He stays still under Derek's searching gaze until finally, Derek gives him his other hand. The injuries to his shoulder don't let him reach far. Chris moves closer to him to comfortably take the cuff off.
The cuff is discarded to the side of Chris with its partner. He'll have to get rid of them later. Now he focuses his eyes back on Derek's.
"Can I get the glass out now?" He asks mildly.
There's a moment of nothing, then Derek nods. The feralness is gone and the wolf seems to be more aware of who Chris is.
"Derek?" Chris asks.
The wolf suddenly won't meet his eyes and nods his head.
Chris struggles to not release a huge sigh of relief. Derek is still shaky and doesn't need to know that Chris is too.
Instead, Chris nods and moves with confidence he doesn't feel. He gets beside Derek on his injured side and surveys the new extent of the damage. It doesn't appear all that much worst but a closer look shows that there are pieces of glass that have gone so deep they are no longer holding the jacket to him. Chris worries about being able to get them out at all with his fingers alone.
"Okay, start with the easy ones." He says, more for himself but Derek should probably get some kind of a warning as well.
The wolf is tight in every muscle. His head is ducked low, looking away from Chris. He's pulled himself up into a ball. Not much different from the position he's been in this whole time but now his face is tucked in and away from Chris.
Beside him now, Chris looks down at him in sympathy. Everything has to hurt and he's making it worst with how he's shaking from the tension.
"Derek, you gotta relax," Chris says.
Unsurprisingly, it doesn't help. His voice seems to make Derek tense up even more.
Chris could have slapped himself. Of course, that makes Derek more nervous. He's only gotten this far because Derek is afraid of him.
He wishes he could go get the Sheriff. Derek seems to like the Sheriff or at least he seems to want the Sheriff to like him. But he doubts the chaos of the explosion will wind down any time soon and the Sheriff has far too many other people to care for, his own son and Scott among them.
Chris is going to have to rip the glass out.
Eyeing a piece that stands out amongst its brethren as the largest, Chris gently places one hand on Derek's uninjured shoulder. He keeps it there as the wolf jumps under the touch and waits for him to settle and accept the hand being there.
It takes a minute but finally Derek's muscles go back to being ready to jump out of his skin but not actively attempting it. Chris takes that as his cue to minutely increase his grip strength. Derek jumps again but not as badly.
"Ready?" Chris asks. He wants Derek to not be surprised but he also wants to know the wolf is still with him. Derek isn't letting him see his face. His body language is as aggressive as ever.
The dark head nods once.
Chris pinches the glass in his fingers and pulls.
It pulls free easily, a stream of blood following it. The wolf's healing kicks in with alarming slowness.
Chris swallows. He is left to hope that once the glass and pain are gone, the healing will speed up.
With one piece of glass out successfully, Chris steels himself and pulls another. Derek tenses even more but lets it happen.
They sit on the floor. Derek in his ball turned away from Chris. Chris up on his toes with one knee on the ground. Glass periodically hitting the floor.
"So, what happened there?" Chris asks.
Derek hasn't relaxed at all. His shoulders are still pulled up high to his head but seem to attempt a shrug anyway. "You're a hunter."
Not unexpected and Chris merely nods, not pausing in his glass removal job.
"Haven't hunted in a while." He says.
Another little shrug. "Still a hunter."
All the wood chips had a harder time getting through the leather jacket. But with every one he pulled it hung on. Chris has his fingers on the last one. He tugs. Derek whimpers and Chris winces. It will only hurt worst if he has to attempt this a second time. The hand he has on Derek’s shoulder grips with all his strength. And he rips the wood free. The young man screams. Chris closes his eyes and drops the wood to the floor.
Derek quiets quickly but under Chris’s hand, he is shaking. His breathing quick and shallow. Pain is still rippling through him and causing his frame to shutter.
He grips the shoulder under his hand, tightening and then releasing on a slow path up to his neck and back. Shushing him without thinking. The kid is in pain.
Derek takes a deep breath through his nose and steadies. Chris pats him. Now he was pretty sure the jacket could come off.
"Alright," He sat upon his heels. "Gotta take the jacket off."
Derek starts to move without complaint. Chris hesitates to help. He doesn't want to drive him back to whatever foggy state of pure survival he'd been in before. But Derek only manages to slide the jacket slightly away from his neck. He can't reach either hand over to pull it off but he tries anyway. He twists around enough for Chris to see his face. Its pinched in pain and biting his lip. There's blood squelching up out of the jacket onto his neck with every minor motion the wolf is struggling to make. The red contrasting with the paleness of the wolf's face.
Chris can't just watch, for time's sake and his own. He puts his hands up, above Derek's shoulder.
"I got it." He says.
It's not quite a question but he doesn't move anyway. Meeting the wolf's eyes, he waits.
Derek stares at him a moment before he drops his gaze. His whole body sags with it and he nods once.
Gripping the jacket, Chris pulls slowly but firmly, pleased when it slides off without incident. No glass pops off with it and causes pain. It hits the floor with a wet slap.
Derek's shirt is torn to shreds by the glass. Not worth trying to save in Chris's mind.
"Shirt, too," Chris says.
Again Derek nods.
The whole shoulder is shredded. Chris grips the blood-warm fabric and tears from one of the glass holes. The collar is tougher to work through but Chris doesn't dare draw a knife on Derek's back. With some effort, he gets through it without jostling Derek too much.
He slits the shirt down the back and lets it fall to the sides. He'll get it later. But Derek moves anyway and drops his arms. The bloody shoulder slips down and off. The other shoulder he shrugs out of.
Derek stays with his shoulders tight and doesn't move.
Seeing the muscle now, Chris feels his back twinge in sympathy. Even stressed to the max his back is not that tight.
The last of the glass is small Chris will have trouble getting it out. It's what he feared before. His fingers feel infinitely too fat to get a good enough grip.
Starting in the easy pieces, Chris thinks about how he might get at the small pieces. If he could use his knife to pinch them against it might be doable. Using a knife is difficult since the wolf hates him. Is scared of him. But he is sitting still now. He has some small amount of trust in Chris that he'll stay when he wants to run. Using that fear had gotten him to sit with Chris all this time.
Blood makes the glass hard to grip and Chris pauses as his hand slips for the fourth time on the same piece. Derek is hardly moving to breathe but as Chris pauses his breathing pauses as well. It’s a long moment before he takes a slow quiet breath.
He'd scared him then too. Gotten him to prepare for an attack. And all he did was stop moving.
And wasn't that fair? Derek was a puppy. An orphan who Chris terrorized. Of course, he'd be scared now that defending himself is going to be hard for him. Getting him to accept a knife was going to be work.
Holding back a sigh, Chris grips the glass and removes it.
All the glass Chris can grip is out. Throughout the process, Chris hadn't realized that Derek had slid farther away from him. He is about to slide off the wall completely.
Chris put a hand up. Derek flinched. So, Chris goes slow. Placing his hand on the back of Derek's neck, loosely needing the skin. When he isn't met with teeth or the attempt at teeth, he slides his hand forward a little, over Derek's good shoulder. He repeats the motion several times, smooth actions.
Derek sighs. It is so low Chris about misses it. The motion so contained it doesn't reach his shoulders at all. Chris takes it as his go-ahead though and on his next pass down Derek's shoulder, he goes further. Hand on his chest he pulls Derek back up to a sitting position.
Derek grimaces, making a keening sound before shutting his mouth.
"Sorry," Chris says. He works his fingers around Derek's neck and into his hair in apology.
The wolf eyes Chris a minute, like he isn't certain he wants to sit still for Chris anymore. Again Chris is surprised he's been calm this long. Minus the whole clearly wanting to eat him part.
He needs a distraction. He’s pretty sure a distraction would help Derek not decide he doesn’t want Chris’s help. The wolf feels like he is moving away.
"I'm sorry about your car," Chris spits out.
Confusion floods Derek's eyes.
"I broke the window on it," Chris says. It's already out there. No point in not finishing the apology. "You didn't deserve it."
Derek blinks. He looks to understand for a moment then he turns to let Chris see all his face and looks even more confused.
"I forget," Chris says. "Sometimes."
Derek waits but Chris doesn't finish the sentence. He keeps his hand moving on Derek, soothing and slow. Running up behind the wolf's ears and down as much of his back as he can.
He wants to talk. Tell him he had nothing to do with destroying his life but he knows that’s not true. Knows that in all the things that happened he has blame in there somewhere. Derek has had enough done to him without Chris using him to relieve his own guilt. What he needed now was for Derek to know that he knew he was responsible and that he was sorry.
"I'm sorry we targeted you. We had nothing to say that you were a danger to humans and yet that didn't matter."
"Okay," Derek says.
He still looks confused. And blank-faced.
Damn.
"I forget how young you are," Chris says. "All the things I did to you… the things Victoria did. The things Kate did. I didn’t know but I should have.”
Chris swallows thickly. The air has gotten staler in the last few seconds. It makes his throat dry but he needs to continue now that he’s started this.
“I’ve—” He clears his throat. Confident voice back in place, he continues. “Known for some time that I’m alone in my holding to the code. However, it's recent that I’ve realized I wasn’t following it either. All of my family failing you paid the price for. You shouldn’t have had to. Should have to still be paying.”
He needs to breathe but the breath stings. “You aren't much older than my daughter."
Derek looks away from him, wariness in every line of his body.
"I-" Chris stops himself. He wants to say it again. Derek doesn't deserve the things the harsh life he's had. But he can see that Derek isn't accepting that from the former hunter.
But he hasn't moved from Chris's touch yet. Has still deemed that acceptable. Or maybe it just felt good. Chris has said his piece what Derek does with that is his choice.
Chris switches to run his hand from shoulder to shoulder. Derek is is still so Chris risks pushing a little harder. It meant scare him but it will feel better if he lets it. Derek accepts and leans into it. Chris grins.
Words aren't either of their strong suits so Chris stops talking. Instead, he focuses on soothing the hurts Derek took to save his life. Derek is still eyeing him but Chris ignores it.
He repeats the slow, strong motions over and over until Derek's shoulders fall and his breathing relaxes. The wolf starts to slump. Tiredness invading him which isn't surprising given the trauma his body has gone through. It's helpful honestly. Derek's eyes are half-closed. Chris moves closer to catch him, an arm around his chest. He jumps a little at having Chris so close but doesn't move away. A moment more and he’s breathing normally again.
He holds him like he used to hold Allison on rough days. Any minute someone is going to find them but it won't be as bad now. At least, that’s what Chris tells himself because he doesn't want to disturb Derek. His green eyes are glassy and he looks close to passing out.
More things Allison has brought into his life. Realizing that werewolves can be people, young, broken, scared people. And realizing that he wants to make up for being what has broken and scared them. And right now he is responsible for putting the wolf in panic mode which has led to his exhaustion. He needs to keep him safe and finish this.
The wolf in his arms is boneless, held up only by Chris.
"Derek?" He says softly. "There's still glass."
Derek groans. "Okay."
"No, there's glass that’s too small for me to get. I need… I need help."
Derek raises his head, but his eyes struggle to open. "How? I don't think I could reach."
"No, it would need to be me using my knife."
Derek jerked up like he was electrocuted.
"Not the sharp end," Chris hastens to add. "The flat of the knife to pinch it against."
He kept his hands moving the whole time and didn't stop now. After a moment, Derek nods and Chris's lungs start working. He pulls Derek up a little then takes back the arm that had been under his chest. It's with that hand he grabs his knife from his sleeve. His other hand he threads through his hair and down his neck.
Taking everything like he doesn't have a station of sheriff deputies right outside the door, he sets to work.
The first piece of glass he pulls is rough. Mostly because he is keeping half his attention on the glass and half on Derek. It would be so easy for the wolf to feel threatened and snap.
This time though his eyes stay normal. His back and shoulder are still a mess but Chris is finally starting to see that healing is happening.
Once he has the last piece out he shifts around to look at Derek's back with all lighting angles; nothing flashes. Satisfied he got everything, he pats Derek on the neck. He stands, knees popping and stifling a groan. He gives Derek another pat on the shoulder.
"Stay here." He looks down into surprisingly alert eyes. Derek is healing, good.
He takes a shuffling step forward and is stopped. Derek's hand shoots out and wraps around his ankle.
Chris is about to ask what is wrong but Derek reaches forward and pulls a piece of glass out of Chris's leg. Chris stares at it bewildered. How he managed to move around, sit down, get back up multiple times and shuffle around without feeling it? Or knocking it free? More than that why doesn't it hurt now?
The wolf tosses the shard into the pile and lets go of Chris's leg.
Pain hits him. Staggering but still on his feet, he looks down. The black, ropey vines are retreating into Derek.
He stares at the pup. Derek drops his head and leans back down into a comfortable position against the wall.
A moment ago he was in so much pain he couldn't heal even to stop the pain. Now he's taking Chris's pain.
"Stay here." He says again. It comes out with a thick thread of command in his voice. Derek’s disregard for himself had raised his hackles. Derek frowns and curls his feet towards him. "Please," Chris adds, softer with more concern. Satisfied his tone has been accepted when Derek nods, he steps away to search the locker room.
It takes seconds to find a clean-smelling towel and return.
Derek doesn't appear to have moved at all. But his eyes follow Chris back to him.
Kneeling, Chris carefully starts to clean the blood away. There's solid skin underneath. Derek is much more awake. His shoulders are still down and he appears relaxed even with Chris close by.
"Thank you," Chris says.
Derek stares at him. "You're thanking me?"
"For being a liar," Chris says. "And… for somehow not wanting my head full of glass courtesy of a seventeen-year-old possessed by a psychotic fox."
Derek huffs.
Chris goes back to cleaning. Derek pretends to look away but Chris can see him glancing back. There's a puzzled look on his face. He opens his mouth then closes it several times. Chris decides to save him the indecision.
"Yes?" He stops and holds Derek's gaze.
"Just, " Derek shakes his head. "Thank you. For the glass, getting it out."
Chris pats his own thigh. "I could say the same to you."
Derek huffs again and looks away.
Chris sets the bloody towel down onto the glass. He scoops it all up and hides it in a locker. He’ll tell the Sheriff about it later. Now he places a hand on Derek's shoulder. The wolf looks at him.
"Holding cell. Both of us."
Derek blinks at him, not bowing to the light command in Chris's voice this time. "Why? We already know the fox meant to kill us. That’s why we're here, why stay?"
"Because," Chris kneels beside Derek, knees, back and thigh protesting. "I'm still not interested in being a fugitive from the law."
"Oh, right."
Chris shakes his head. Keeping his tone from getting too harsh as Derek has zero self-preservation, he puts a hand under Derek’s good arm. "Let's go."
The hand is stared at for a moment. Derek’s arm slightly raises but not pulling away from Chris. Then the puppy turns big green eyes on him. "I hate holding cells."
Chris is blank for a moment, working through what's happening. Then he smiles. Allison hasn't tried the big eyes trick on him in years. It's nice.
"Get up, Derek."
The speed at which Derek goes back to glaring is impressive.
He starts to shuffle up and Derek grudgingly follows. Chris using his grip to steady him. He can stand but Chris can feel him shaking. Chris’s other hand comes up without thinking and grips the back of Derek’s neck. The wolf settles in against it as Chris guides him out; Derek leaning heavily on him.
On the way out, he sees the blood on the door. He’ll have to remember to tell the Sheriff to clean that up too. Then again the Sheriff will catch it on his own. He would have known to be more careful not to hurt Derek and save them both a scare. But Chris is learning and Derek had calmed down. They might learn to survive together yet.