Chapter 2: Police Station

Summary:

Stiles' first day on the job

Chapter Text

Stiles POV:

After getting back to the hotel yesterday, I crashed into bed, I did force myself to at least change clothes and brush my teeth, but I couldn't be bothered with a shower as I was too tired. However, I luckily woke up the next day refreshed and energized. It was my first good night's sleep in a long time. Though I did have a slight nightmare evolving the Kanima, after waking up and drinking some water, I was sleeping soundly after.

So I felt sort of refreshed, though. It was more so for the fact that I could sleep the whole night with no midnight calls telling me about a new monster or an emergency about my friends turning into supernatural monsters. No one died, and I'm not sneaking around outside with my life on the line. I didn't get woken up and dragged into a dangerous situation for once, nor was I tempted to drag someone else into one. I felt like this was a new start; maybe this summer vacation would do me some good, maybe give me some self-preservation...maybe.

Well, if we skip the events of yesterday's run-in with the were-lizard, I was doing pretty good for myself. And technically, that wasn't even my fault. And in retrospect, one little mugging by a were-lizard didn't even amount to a dangerous situation as compared to back home shenanigans.

So, all in all, I say I'm doing pretty well. I would say yesterday was okay and today was a really good morning. I woke up with the alarm, which thankfully worked even with the phone so busted. I took a quick shower, washing off all the fear I sweated out yesterday. I even put some gel in my hair to keep my newly growing hair in place. My dad also packed me clothes that were not mine. I mean they were my size, and they were from a brand I liked but not my style at all. Like if I were to be described, you would use the words red hoodies, flannel, and quirky t-shirts in colors with no thought of fashion. Not wool sweaters, tight-fitting shirts, and skinny jeans in a multitude of dark and beige colors. I looked like I went from a quirky, too-childish teenager to a proper little rich kid that was mature or something.

It was definitely not me, but it wasn't bad.

My dad at least had a sense of fashion, which was hard to tell when he wore a cop uniform almost every day. The only downside to the fashionably in-season clothes was that they were better for someone with a fitted physique, not the skin and bone body I had. So while I looked good, I also seemed to drown in some of the shirts. But with a little bit of layering, I looked completely different from yesterday.

I looked ready to work at an internship. I was presentable.

Actually, this fashion style reminded me of the Hales, more specifically, Derek. These were the kind of clothes that sour wolf would wear and look very good in, unlike myself. I was like a mini Derek, but with less brooding and anger on my face. Also, minus the six-pack and chiseled jaw, but good nonetheless.

Anyway, after getting dressed, I grabbed $20, keeping the money light once again. But I took more than yesterday because who would rob someone near or at a police station? I took my phone, and I was thinking about heading to a screen repair place on the weekend, so I didn't cut my finger every time I picked up a call. And I headed to the police station once again.

Security was the same as yesterday, horrible, and I was able to walk into the station unnoticed again.

However, this time I needed to actually talk to the captain as per my father's letter. He said that the captain would know about the internship and that I just had to talk to him. So instead of bothering the detectives, I caught the sight of an officer.

"Hello? Hi. Uh, I need to speak to the captain...uh, Renard." I asked, rereading his name off the paper.

"Ah, okay, what's the reason for the visit?" The officer asked as he was eating a sandwich.

"Oh well, I am here to be a part of an internship program...I was told the Captain would know." I said awkwardly since I wasn't sure about anything and had to follow this scribbled letter my dad wrote.

"Okay, how about you sit down in that chair over there while I go talk to the captain, and I'll call you over once I get the go-ahead." The officer said, smiling.

"Sure, no problem," I said, walking to the seat, and I sat down.

The sitting didn't fucking last a second, my ADHD kicked in, and I got up and walked around rather than sitting in the chair I was told to sit in. And I got the attention of those two detectives again by accident. I noticed soon though, and definitely made eye contact with them, which alerted me to them watching me, also for the fact that I was just pacing around and leaning over desks trying to snoop around a little. I was soon waved over with a suspicious look.

"Hey! Nice to see you guys again," I said in a happy but awkward tone.

"Uh-huh." The older detective said, looking like it was not nice to see me again, which was rude.

I pulled a spare chair up the young detective's desk as I tried to snoop while chatting.

"Comfortable there, kid? You know, as much as you want to be a cop, when you seem so calm and relaxed in a police station, it means you've been in one a lot, and that's no good for a future cop." The younger detective said, pulling his work out of my reach.

"Very comfy. And I can't deny that it's not the best thing to be relaxed in a police station. But also, juvenile records are sealed, so I'm fine." I said, laughing.

I was familiar with it as a child, playing in one every day, but as of recently, I was actually in one for the wrong reasons, so what they said is true. It's not good to get too comfortable.

"So what's the crime today? Mugged again? Or did you come here to look at case files?" The younger detective called me out on snooping.

"None of the above, actually. It was a pure coincidence with the mugging yesterday that I came here, but I actually have business here with the police captain." I said, chuckling at the events of yesterday.

"The Captain? What did a kid like you need the Captain for?" The older detective asked, looking doubtful.

"Oh well, my dad apparently signed me up for some police internship here. So here I am." I said with jazz hands.

"Oh, so the dream of becoming FBI is really in the works, huh?" The young detective asked.

"Yup. I mean, it'd be cool to be a detective like you guys too. I'm not sure just yet, but a police internship couldn't hurt, right?" I said, smiling.

"Nice; what got you interested in law enforcement, if you don't mind me asking." The detective asked as the other officer was taking a while to return.

"Oh sure, I wanted to be one since I was a kid; my dad's a sheriff in a small town in California. Kinda runs in the family, you could say." I said laughing

"I see, and you really were mugged yesterday, then." The older detective asks.

"Yup, just my bad luck, as usual. On my first day in a new city and I got mugged and almost murdered. I feel like I have almost experienced every tourist's fear of visiting a new place. Haa, but at least it all worked out." I said, sighing.

"Nick, did we have an internship program?" The older detective asks the younger one, now named Nick.

"I don't know, Hank. I mean, not really, ever since the last one ended horribly." Nick said.

"Ended horribly? What happened? Oh god, is this position cursed like in Harry Potter with the defense against dark arts job?" I ask.

Nick laughs, "No, it's not cursed unless something bad happens to you, I guess. Then we could call it cursed, right Hank?" Nick said, finding the situation funny at my expense.

"Great, so what happened to the last guy so I can prepare for my doom," I say, feeling uneasy.

"Well, unless you become a serial killing vigilante, we probably won't have this problem," Hank said.

I paused...oh no.

This place was weird too.

"Oh, it sounds like my hometown. Weird shit." I said, at least happy that nothing serious happened.

I mean, it was on him that he became a serial killer; it's not like I had any intention of killing anyone.

The two detectives looked interested and were about to ask about the weird shit... but the officer came back.

"Hey, kid. The captain will see you now. Hey Nick. Hey Hank." The officer said, leading me to the captain's office.

"Bye!" I shouted and waved as I followed the other officer.

As I walked with the other officer in uniform, he asked a question.

"Weren't you here yesterday?" He asked.

"Yep, I was here yesterday to report a mugging," I said plainly.

"That's right, the kid who brought a knife as evidence. Cool. Anyway, I checked it over with the captain about the internship because I was sure we weren't hosting that again." The officer said.

"Cause of the serial killer?" I said.

The cop gave me a weird look.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" He asked.

I pointed to the two detectives.

"Ah, makes sense. But yeah, I thought we wouldn't do that again for a few years, but apparently, a Sheriff called for you to be an intern; with that recommendation, I think it was a helpful shoo-in since we weren't looking for interns. But hey, good luck. My name is Wu." He said, shaking my hand.

I smiled and returned the shake as we walked into the captain's office.

Well, isn't it interesting that my dad called, so was the intern program fake? It seems I'm not the only one with secrets. We walk into a nice office; I guess a police captain is different from a Sheriff in a small town if the amenities are anything to go by.

Wu, the cop, introduces me.

"Kid, this is Captain Sean Renard, have fun." He said, leaving after.

The captain guy seemed stern and unfun by the looks of his face.

"You're Stiles, right? Your father said you wanted to be a cop or even a detective. But he's a friend of my mother and an old friend of mine, so I told him I'd let you intern here. If you're anything like your father, I'm sure you'll do great." The captain said, which was a total switch from his stern face.

My dad must've made a good impression, yet he never mentioned him. Well, my dad never really talked about his life before he met mom, so I don't know what he got up to.

"Thanks, so there was no internship program then? It's fine. I am just confused about some things, but I'll just ask my dad. Anyway, what will I be doing?" I ask.

The captain fixes his tie and sits down,

"No this is a favor to your father. I won't beat around the bush, he told me you were hanging with the wrong crowd and wanted to give you a better environment, and since I owed him a few favors, I agreed to set up an internship. It will be paid, so you don't spend your summer with no pocket change. But I wouldn't expect too much involvement in dangerous cases. Since you are here to keep out of trouble. But that being said, it won't be boring. I'll have you shadow some cops; I saw you talking to detectives Burkhart and Griffin; since you're acquainted, you can follow them to crime scenes when they allow you to, but in the meantime, I'll let Seargent Wu show the ropes." He tells me.

Well, that's actually more than I thought I would be doing. It's actually not that bad; it seems like my wish to deal with actual cases will actually happen. I guess I won't be the errand boy as much as I thought. Plus, I'm getting paid, which I wasn't expecting at all. I guess this may be worth it.

"Okay, cool, so what now?" I say, leaving it open and waiting for him to tell me what he wants.

He stood and called Seargent Wu again; he reiterated what he told me, and off I went.

The first day wasn't really eventful; the two detectives left for a murder case but wouldn't let me come. Saying that I had to earn that privilege by doing everything Wu said, and if I did it all correctly, then they would give me the green light to come on their next case. And sergeant Wu took up the helm of a teacher pretty quickly, but it wasn't boring or menial. He gave me the paperwork and piled it on, but he left me to my own devices after showing me the proper way to do everything.

Though I did know most of it, being a bigger station and not in the state of California, it had some differentiating rules and information I had to use, which I was quick on the uptake after a few demonstrations by the sergeant. He also let me clean up the detective's desks, and I got to take sneak peeks at the case files as I rearranged them. I could skim pretty quickly from all the times I sneakily read my dad's files.

I read through some of the files, and I was getting a bad feeling. Most of the files on the detectives Nick and Hank's desks were closed cases that they just needed to write the reports for, but they didn't seem closed. Like the suspects were mostly found dead after they were shot by either Nick or Hank, and the murders or assaults were all weird, and I don't mean like sick and twisted weird, but unexplainable weird. Like supernaturally so.

I was gonna look further into it when the guy who mugged me got dragged into the station. Two uniformed officers were forcibly dragging the dude into one of the interrogation rooms. I was shocked. I mean, I did report the mugging, and I did hand the knife in as evidence, but I didn't expect them to catch him. I can't believe they actually caught him, honestly. I hope it's not for a bad reason, like him mugging someone else or something worse.

While he was being dragged through the station, I didn't move or get up as I wanted to see where this was gonna go before letting him know I was there, but that was futile as he was angrily yelling at the cops and was looking around for someone to speak sense to when his eyes landed on little ole me, who was hunched over Nick's desk making it neat. Our eyes met, and he blanched, looking scared, and immediately stopped fussing and let himself get pushed into the room.

I frowned; I wasn't exactly happy with that reaction.

I mean, what did I do to him?

Wu tapped my shoulder,

"Hey, don't worry, kid, he can't hurt you. We caught him with your police sketch. One of our officers saw him this morning in a deli, and while he did run, he tripped with the help of a good samaritan, and we ended up getting him into custody. We've got him on with a felony for first-degree fleeing from a police officer, and with your mugging, it would be a misdemeanor assault with a knife, or we can bump it up to another felony since he ran. But since this guy hurt you, you can make that decision." Wu offers.

Wow, this guy has almost as much bad luck as I do. But it's not like he robbed me, and I didn't really get hurt with the knife, and I technically need him to talk to me and not be pissed while he does it. So him going to jail would derail some plans.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I turned to look at Wu and frowned; I made an innocent face and tried to put on some puppy dog eyes emulating Scott as best as possible.

"Well, I feel like it wasn't so bad. I mean, in reality, I didn't even get hurt, and nothing was taken. Plus, couldn't we just give him a warning? Or a fine? I feel like two felonies are harsh. Maybe if we warn him and talk to him, he'd turn his life around." I said with a hopeful smile.

Wu chuckled, buying my act.

"Your too nice, kid. But since this is your decision, I'll try my best." Wu said, putting his hand on my shoulder reassuringly.

I smiled and added, for good measure, "I think a sincere apology would suffice. That way, I get closure, and he'll be reminded to live by those words." I said, smiling innocently.

Wu smiled, "Heh, okay, kid. That's sweet. Too much for this guy, but since you've been doing such a good job, we'll go with your wishes. No jail time, but the fines will make up for that."

"Hey Wu, can I watch the interrogation? It should be fine if I'm behind the glass, right? I mean, I want to hear his explanation for why he did what he did, you know." I asked after I successfully fooled Wu with my acting.

Wu seemed to contemplate it, "Sure, why not, but let me know if it's too much. Some bastards could be just real jerks. And hey, if he gets on your nerves, just let me know, and I'll add the jail time back." Wu said, smirking and walking away to go deal with my attacker.

I follow with a smirk of my own.

Wu leads me to the second interrogation room where the mugger who attempted to mug me sat. Wu showed me to the other side of the room with the one-way glass that blocked the mugger's view of me but let me have clear vision of him. Apparently, in the e time I was so caught up with the mugger and Wu, the two detectives made it back and were currently in the room with the suspect. A bit of good cop and bad cop was happening, and just plain old, somewhat empty threats. Basic interrogation tactics.

The suspect just folded; he even started to tear up a little. I felt hella bad for him. He confessed to the crime immediately and said he needed money and then repeated to apologize profusely. He seemed like a soft dude; maybe he needed the money for something important and innocent. Even the detectives looked bad by the end.

Once they left to discuss outside of the interrogation room with Wu, I took that as my first opportunity to go talk to him while he was in front of me. I mean, there wasn't a better time than now. And while it may have been risky in retrospect, I was always reckless at heart; not much was going to change in two days.

I quietly snuck past the detectives and Wu, who was in a heated discussion about what to do with him since he confessed. Once past them, I opened the door and slid through the small opening I made, and silently closed the door behind me. I turned around, smiling. But I was met with a look of horror. If this guy wasn't chained to the table, he'd probably be crouched in the corner.

I frowned, sitting across from him, "Can you stop looking at me like I'm gonna kill you? I mean, your the one who mugged me, dude." I said, folding my arms.

It's like I'm a monster or something. He has no right to judge with his shifted face; he made me have nightmares of the Kanima last night, which sucked a lot.

The guy looked even worse.

"And listen, I apologize about getting you arrested, but you did try to mug me, so you reap what you sow. But hey, I asked them not to send you to jail, so let's drop the frightened looks and any anger you have, okay?" I suggested.

But instead of a 'thank you' or a simple 'okay' I'm met with a stuttering response.

"W-w-w-why are you here? I-I didn't mean to mug you. It was an a-a-accident, I-I swear. If I knew what you were, I-I would never have approached you. I'm s-s-sorry, p-p-please don't kill me. O-o-h god, p-p-please." The man said on the verge of tears pulling on his chains and trying to get away from me.

I was absolutely dumbfounded. What was going on? Me? Kill him? Huh? What the heck is this dude on? I mean, has he seen me? Like I'm not intimidating in the slightest. Is it cause he thinks I'm a cop? But cops don't kill... What the hell is happening here?

"What? Why are you even-? I'm not gonna kill you! Why would I? I just wanted to know what you were. Are you like a were-lizard or something? I've researched a lot, but I've never seen something like you before."

The guy looks startled; he stops stuttering and looks surprised.

"You don't know what you are?" He whispers like he can't believe what he just said.

I laugh, "What am I? Dude, I'm human, as far as I can tell. You're the shapeshifter. But seriously, what kind of creature are you? Is it like a were-lizard? Or maybe a new form of the Kanima? Please don't be the latter, no offense, Kanima's are a nightmare. So what are you?" I ask again, earnestly curious.