Chapter Text
It's raining cats and dogs, but humid enough in the office, even with the air conditioning on full blast, that Derek has to work hunched over Mrs. Bellingham's blueprints in just his wifebeater, his shirt and jacket hanging off the back of his office chair. When he thinks to check the clock, he blinks and curses to himself. The torrential downpour darkened the skies and Mrs. Bellingham's new basement apartment plan took up way too much time with it's eco-efficient designing, and now Derek's staring at the 8:43 PM on his clock and dreading Stiles' verbal discipline. He rolls the plans up and leaves them with her account folder, briefly considers putting his shirt back on but considers it too humid and tucks it into his briefcase and throws his jacket over his arm. He rushes to the reception area door, thankful for what the air conditioned stillness is kind of providing, and stamps himself out, flicks the 'OPEN' sigh off as he leaves, and locks the front door with 'Hale Engineering and Architecture' engraved into the glass. Derek then curses as he realizes he's without an umbrella and always parks the Camaro furtherest away from the front door. He rolls his eyes and curses under his breath before running for the Camaro.
Derek promises his baby that he'll treat her leather interior with his best polish as an apology for soaking her seats as he pulls up to the townhouse. The rain blurs his windshield but Stiles' bright blue jeep jumps out-parked haphazardly in the middle of the driveway. Derek curses again and wonders in he can squeeze past the older car and into the garage, but considering the space he has, he's not willing to risk buffing out any scratches. He cuts the engine and make another mad dash through the rain to the front door. He rings the doorbell 5 times, and with no indication that Stiles is coming, relents and pulls out his keys. It takes him 0.5 seconds to open the door and 0.51 to start yelling.
"Jesus Christ, Stiles! Stiles, why the hell is everything covered in mud?!" He carefully steps out of his boots and avoids the splattered mess on the-he going to murder Stiles-white Ikea rug he swears he over paid for.
"It's not everything, jerk!" Stiles whines from somewhere in the house, and Derek decides to follow the mud trail.
"It's damn near to it! What happened?" Derek can feel the heat in his body and contains his claws as he passes the kitchen and finds the sink caked in mud. "Stiles!"
"Oh my god, it's mud, you've been covered in blood and been less concerned!" Stiles' voice is now obviously drifting from upstairs and Derek takes them 2 by 2.
He's regretting his decision to get upstairs so fast, and really wishing he could travel back in time and tell himself to slow down, when he finds Stiles' red hoodie-the front coated in wet mud-hanging from the bathroom door.
"Stiles! Are you okay?" Derek asks as he bursts into the bathroom prepared to fight off an attacker.
"Chill! You're scaring her!" Stiles is sitting fully clothed in the bathtub, his long arms wrapped around a shivering puppy as the shower pelts them with water.
"What the ever loving fu-"
"Derek, I just found her, I couldn't leave her outside!" Stiles whines and turns his big amber eyes on Derek. His gives the puppy enough time to jump out of the tub and skid on the tiles. Her body tenses and Derek knows what's about to happen in his freshly renovated bathroom. Her head is just beginning to shake when Derek roars.
"No! Do. Not. Move." The puppy freezes and as Derek holds his gaze on her, she collapses and rolls to bare her stomach.
"You did not just use your alpha eyes on the puppy!" Stiles jumps up from the tub and splashes water as he gets out.
"Yes, I did. My only issue is they don't work on you." Derek bares his teeth but allows his eyes to fade back into their winter moon silver norm. The puppy on the floor whimpers and Stiles coos before gathering her into his arms.
Derek exhales heavily and suppresses his wolf's instincts as Stiles gleefully allows the puppy to lick at his neck.
"Where did you find it anyways? Should you be letting it lick your skin?" Derek can't help the growl underlining the sentence.
"I found her down the road. And since I just gave her a bath, I think we're safe." Stiles glares at him but when she licks his mouth he breaks into a wide smile. "Yeah, little girl. We're safe, yes we are..." He dissolves into baby talk and Derek appraises the puppy. Her coat is thick and shiny, a reddish, russet brown, long but well kept, and her ears flop around seeming almost too big for her tiny body.
"It looks good. So somebody probably lost it. Take it to Deaton."
"Deaton's closed. Because, you know, it's after 9:30 at night." Stiles' golden eyes narrow. "I expected you would know that, Mr. Late-Arrival." The puppy wriggles in Stiles' arms, seeking more attention, and Derek feels like a child caught-until he realizes something.
"Hey! You were late today too! Otherwise, the dog would have been clean already and at Deaton's." Derek gives a smug smile until Stiles squints accusingly.
"I was late because I was rescuing a puppy off the roads at night in the rain, and when I got here I fed her some burger meat before I attempted to bathe her."
"In the sink. You are cleaning that up." Derek rolls his eyes and prepares to leave the bathroom.
"But what about this little angel?" Stiles calls from behind him, and Detek turns to find the duo giving him their biggest, softest eyes. Derek knows exactly what's he's about to be asked.
"No."
"But Derek..." Stiles hoists the puppy closer to his face.
"I said no." Derek lets his eyes flash red and the puppy goes limp and whimpers in Stiles' grasp.
"Hey! Stop doing that to her..." He snuggles her close to his chest and pouts. "Okay, fine, but we were both late and Deaton's is closed, so can she stay just for tonight?" Stiles' amber eyes seem to grow wider like Boots from Shrek and Derek growls.
"It stays in the garage."
"We can't leave her out there alone! C'mon Derek, I know you have a heart." Stiles crouches to the floor and scratches behind the puppy's ear.
"Kitchen floor." Derek can feel himself slipping, Stiles is a con artist.
"Aw, c'mon Derek. She can sleep in our room. And after tonight I'll do that thing you like and-"
"Just tonight. It only stays tonight and it better not get hair on my clothes." Derek barks.
"Aw, thanks Derek!" Stiles gives him a self satisfied smirk. "Say 'thank you Derek', say it!" The puppy yips as Stiles rubs her stomach. "Good girl! Good!"
"She goes to Deaton in the morning, Stiles." Derek stalks out of the bathroom, knowing he just lost to a puppy.
Derek might kill Stiles when he wakes up to puppy breath in his face. The dog is sprawled over both of them, breathing deeply with its tongue lolling out.
"Stiles!" Derek rolls and gives a slight push to the puppy's snout.
"Hhhrgg?" Stiles leg straightens and sticks off the edge of the bed, tenses, and is followed by the next leg. "Wha?"
"The dog. It was all over me." Derek pulls a shirt over his head and heads for the en suite bathroom. He can hear Stiles' sitting up as the bed creaks and the dog yips.
"Aw, she loves you. Don't you girl? You love Derek?" Stiles croons and the puppy yips again. Derek exits the bathroom with a roll of his eyes to find the puppy pressing it's moist black nose to Stiles' cheek.
"Remember, she has to go to Deaton's today."
"You take the fun out of everything, don't you?" Stiles pouts and rubs the Doug's back. "Never mind, baby, don't love Derek anymore." Derek pulls his jeans and work shirt out of the closet with yet another roll of his eyes before marching back into the bathroom for a shower. He takes his time, the dog woke him up half an hour early, and when he gets out of the shower, Stiles is sitting on the bed fully dressed, probably just out of the other bathroom. The dog sits patiently at his feet, her tail wagging crazily fast.
"So, do you want to come with us? I already called in and Allison said she'll cover with my clients. I'm sure Scott and Isaac can handle some blueprints for an hour." Stiles asks.
"You know Scott right? I don't want him to get anyone killed after construction because of a miscalculation."
"It's an hour! Come on." Stiles flicks his puppy dog eyes on and Derek relents.
"Fine. An hour. Could you get me the ph-"
"I already called for you. Let's go!" Stiles jumps up from the bed with his trademark smirk.
"Um, breakfast?" Derek raises his eyebrows and notes the dog stands at attention to the word.
"I've got scrambled egg and bacon omelettes downstairs. What, do you think I'm stupid?"
"Is that a rhetorical question?"
"Hurry up, asshole." Stiles rolls his eyes and turns to the dog. "C'mon baby, we're going downstairs!"
"Stiles, Derek. I didn't expect to see either of you today." Deaton greets them with his usual air of omniscient knowledge hovering over them. "And who is this little beauty?" He bends to scratch behind the puppy's ears and she yips and licks his hand.
"Stiles found it last night, in the road. Just brought it in so the owner could find it." Derek grunts.
"I see, I'll give it a quick check." Deaton looks to Stiles who hands over the makeshift leash of rope.
"Yeah, she's really agreeable. You won't have any trouble with her."
"Thank you, Stiles. Do you want to come in with her or wait?" Deaton offers as she yips at his feet. Stiles opens his mouth but Derek answers.
"Do we need to wait? It's not even our dog."
"I do need someone to sign the papers for bringing her in, Derek." Deaton smiles gently. "Stiles?"
"Oh, yeah, I can do that!"
"Thank you. I'll be in the back. Come on, girl." Deaton leads the puppy through the gate at the side of the desk and disappears into the back. Stiles turns to Derek.
"You don't have to be so mean, she's just a puppy!"
"Not our puppy." Derek counters and Stiles' face droops. "I mean," he offers more softly, "Is what if her owners are searching for her right now?"
"I guess you're right." Stiles shrugs and sets himself to filling out the stray/lost dog form Deaton gave him in silence. After 15 minutes Deaton returns and the puppy yips before leaping into Stiles' lap.
"Well, she's perfectly healthy, but I can't find a tracker or tattoo on her. And no ones reported a missing Irish Setter puppy, so she's a real stray."
"She doesn't have owners?" Stiles tightens his grip on the wiggly puppy. "What does that mean?"
"You could leave her here, to be adopted, but since you found her and this is a small shelter, you get first dibs if you want her." Deaton smiles.
"Oh my god, really? Because-"
"Stiles." Derek interrupts. "Who is going to take care of it? I work every day except Sunday and holidays, and you work in an office."
"When Boyd and Erica got that kitten, Allison let her bring it to work until it got used to being home alone." Stiles whimpers.
"This is a dog. It barks. It needs room." Derek is trying really hard to let Stiles down gently.
"We could move back into the Hale Manor. Boyd is almost finished construction with his crew. It would only be a few months in the townhouse." Stiles pouts and the puppy yips conjolingly.
"Stiles..." Derek runs a hand through his hair and catches Deaton's slight grin. "Okay. Fine. And only because I feel bad working late."
"Aw yeah!" Stiles fist pumps the air, then one of the puppy's tiny paws. "And what's your name, sweetie?"
"I can get you forms for that. Excuse me." Deaton heads for the back.
"I can't believe you named an Irish dog after an American city." Derek drops the jeep's keys on the counter-no way the dog was scratching his leather interior-and huffs.
"It's a good name! I've always wanted to visit Manhattan, and my Mom grew up there." Stiles smiles softly at the though and Derek can't argue.
"Fine. I'll get the food out of the jeep."
"Thanks. C'mon, Manhattan, show me where you want your bed! C'mon!" Stiles jumps around in front of the puppy and she yips excitedly.
"You know, Manhattan is going to be a bitch to say. It's long." Derek half complains.
"I know. So I gave her a cute nickname." Stiles slaps his knees and beckons to Manhattan. "Come here, Hattie, come on!" She quickly taps across the hardwood and jumps at Stiles' knees. "Good girl! Good, Hattie!"
"Now she sounds like an old woman." Derek rolls his eyes and heads for the garage. Before the door slams behind him Stiles' voice rings out.
"Hey! Derek didn't call you an 'it'! Isn't that great, Hattie? Yes it is!"