This is the beginning of the FBI Sterek AU. I'm kind of really nervous about it?? And I have no idea when/if I'll finish soooo, this is just an excerpt to a much bigger and more complicated fic.
Stiles was bored. Like, really bored. His torso was sprawled across his desk as he swatted at his dangling magnetic pens. He’d been both ecstatic and daunted when Field Director Chris Argent had approached him with the Doctor Death case, but right now he wasn’t so sure he was glad he accepted. Granted, he knew that there’d be a lot of idling for the first week, but it had been two and he wanted to claw his eyes out in frustration. Posing as a guidance counselor at a Los Angeles high school had its ups and downs, and today was one of the downs.
He almost envied Isaac, who was back at the apartment they were sharing for the duration of the case. Isaac was trawling through past and current cases that were similar and attempting to find a connection, a lead, anything. He was also doing interviews at the other schools and talking to the parents of the victims. As far as the media knew, Isaac and their media liaison Kira were the only federal agents on the case; Stiles was undercover.
Redondo Union High School lost three students to suspicious drug overdose in the last four months, putting them at a higher risk than the other schools that reported almost identical incidents. Chris had managed to pull some strings for Stiles to substitute for the usual guidance counselor, Marin Morell, so Stiles could keep an eye out for anyone suspicious. Nothing yet, though, and both Stiles and Isaac were worried that they missed their opportunity to catch the culprit. Stiles felt horrible for thinking it, but he wished that there’d be another body so they could have fresh evidence.
There was a knock on his door and Stiles snapped to attention. “Stiles?”
“Yeah!” He winced at the sound of his voice – a little too high and overenthusiastic. It wasn’t the first time he wondered if Isaac should’ve been the one undercover instead.
Erica Reyes entered, looking immaculate as always, her blond hair falling over her shoulders in long rivulets. One hand rested on her very pregnant belly and Stiles couldn’t help but smile.
“You seem to be hard at work,” she said, a smirk on her lips.
“Oh, y’know,” he said, grinning. “Here to talk to teenagers about their feelings and what they want to do with the rest of their lives when it’s the absolutely last thing on their minds.”
Erica huffed, shaking her head. “Well, I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be on maternity leave starting next week, so I won’t be seeing you again.”
“Oh.” His face fell a little. He only knew Erica for two weeks, but it felt much longer than that. They had immediately clicked when they met, and if Stiles was honest with himself, if she weren’t happily married and about to start a family he would’ve tried to make a pass at her. Though he doubted anything would’ve come out of it. They were fast friends, though, and Stiles was sad to see her go. “You and the hubby all prepped for the baby?”
Erica smiled and rubbed her tummy. “Yeah, everything’s ready for her. And honestly, I can’t freaking wait. I’m so over being pregnant."
Stiles laughed. “I have no idea what to say to that without sounding mildly insulting.”
She snorted. “Sure, Stiles.” Erica waddled closer to his desk and he stood, prepared to give her a hug. She didn’t disappoint, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest.
“You take care of yourself, okay?”
“Of course.” She pulled away and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek. “It was great meeting you, Stiles. Don’t miss me too much,” she teased, giving him a wink.
“I will absolutely miss you,” he said, sincere. “Whoever’s coming in to sub for you won’t compare, guarantee.”
Erica leered, “Oh, I don’t know about that. He’s single and gorgeous.” Stiles raised an eyebrow, curious. “He’s a good friend of mine and he owes me a favor, and quite honestly,” she looked him up and down, “You’re totally his type.”
“Really,” he said, skeptical.
Her smile widened. “I think you two will get along swimmingly.”
Stiles chuckled, “We’ll see, Erica.”
“I’ll let you know when the baby comes,” she said, making her way back to the door.
Stiles perked up at that. “You will?”
Erica rolled her eyes, “Duh, Stiles.”
She left, shaking her head but with a smile on her lips.
Stiles stretched his arms above his head and glanced at his watch and almost whooped for joy. It was past four and he was so ready to get out of here. He pulled out his phone as he shoved haphazard piles of random papers into his messenger bag and checked his messages. There was one from Isaac and one from Lydia. He opened Isaac’s first.
LAPD found another body. I’ll pick you up at the school ‘round 4:30 to check out the crime scene.
Oh. Stiles winced, feeling guilty; hadn’t he just wished there was another body so they’d have fresh evidence on the case? But that just meant another life lost. Stiles sighed and sent Isaac back a quick text before he opened up Lydia’s message.
Isaac told me there was another body. Make sure whoever’s in charge of toxicology checks for PMMA and MDMA.
Stiles smirked and sent back, Will do my strawberry blonde goddess.
Go do your job, Stiles, was the immediate response.
He snorted and slung his bag over his shoulder before leaving the office, locking the door behind him. It was always tough love with Lydia, but he adored her and he knew the feeling was mutual. Their closeness had always been a subject of contention whenever either of them dated, but their relationship was completely platonic and if whoever they were dating didn’t believe it or couldn’t handle it then, well . . . they weren’t worth it. Because there was no way in hell either of them would choose a date over a decade of friendship.
Stiles headed to the front of the school, so absorbed in his phone that he almost ran into someone while he skipped down the stairs.
‘Almost’ being the relative term.
He full on collided with him, sending his phone and some of the loose papers in his bag flying. Stiles was reeling from the impact and he was pretty sure he’d have massive bruises tomorrow. He groaned as he held his head in his hands. “I'm so sorry,” he said, his words muffled.
“Who even does that,” a smooth tenor voice said, sounding annoyed.
“I – ” Stiles looked up and his entire body tensed up, his heart clenching painfully in his chest.
It was like he was doused in a bucket of ice water, he was so shocked and numb that he just stared with his mouth agape. Every instinct in him was telling him to run, run away but he was frozen in place. Ten years was a long time, but Stiles would never forget someone like Derek Hale. “What the fuck are you doing here?” he blurted.
Derek turned to him to retort, but before he could Stiles saw sudden recognition in his expression before his face shut down, a mask of indifference replacing his surprise. “I could ask you the same thing.”
Stiles scowled. His ass hurt, his head hurt, and he really did not want to deal with this. “Fuck you.” He started to gather the papers around him and retrieved his phone a few feet away. There was a small dent in the case, but it was still functional.
“What?” he snapped, as he poked at the screen, willing Isaac to appear to save him from this awkward situation.
“Are you even qualified to have that?”
Stiles growled and spun around to face Derek. “FBI,” he hissed. “I am abso-fucking-lutely qualified.” In his peripheral, he saw Isaac pull up to the curb. Thank the lord for small mercies. “And if you so much as attempt to sabotage this case, I swear to god, Derek, you will regret it.” He turned and stalked away with as much dignity he could muster with a mess of papers in hand and a slight limp. He managed to bundle himself into the car without dropping anything, before he let everything cascade onto the floor. Stiles buckled in and leaned back into the seat, refusing to acknowledge Derek’s stare boring into the side of his head. He turned to Isaac who was giving him a curious look, but Stiles shook his head and said, “Drive.”
Isaac obeyed and he only talked about the case the entire ride to the crime scene.
