A/N- I'm really glad so many of you are enjoying this fic! I'm pretty excited about it. Hopefully there is not burn out, right? But we've gotta get through the action and on to the Sterek at some point! XD

Impact

"Are you tutoring me or am I tutoring you?"

Stiles grabbed for his notebook, "No seriously, dude. I swear that doesn't make any sense!"

"That's what it says in the book. You said to ask the questions that are in the book because they'll be on the test. That's what it says in the answer key. Are you smarter than the book? No. Is your answer going to be on the test? No."

"Dude. I'm totally smarter than the book," he mumbled which he flipped through pages. "Look! Right here! That's what it says in my notes."

Derek handed him the book and pointed to the number they were on. Stiles took the book from him, read it carefully, then pulled out a red pen and circled the answer viciously and drew a frowning face next to it.

"You just defaced school property," Derek said, voice level.

"I liberated it. Ask me another." He handed the book back.

"Look, you clearly don't need this. This isn't even my subject." He stared down at the frowny face with its tongue pointed out at him.

"What is your subject?"

"…What?"

"When you were in high school, what were you good at?"

Derek thought about it. "English."

Stiles blinked and hummed.

"What?"

"I'm just surprised. I thought you were gonna say something like P.E. or tearing people's throats out." He grinned. "English. That's cool."

"You thought I was just a dumb jock in high school?"

"I don't know. I always thought there were a lot of similarities between you and Jackson."

"Really? Jackson? That's who you'd compare me to? You hate Jackson."

Stiles clucked his tongue. "I'm starting to understand where he's coming from. We're getting to more like friends. Slowly. When he's not an evil Lydia-stealing Kanima. We're like frenemies."

"Frenemies?"

"Friend-enemies."

Derek nodded and was silent for a while. He leaned back on the bed and set the textbook to the side. "I guess I was kinda like Jackson."

"But you excelled at English," Stiles tried to prompt.

"I just liked reading."

After another silent moment Stiles asked, "Did… you ever play Lacrosse?"

Derek grinned slightly. "Yes."

Stiles eyes lit up. "Do you wanna practice with me?"

Derek stayed bent back against the bed, feet flat on the floor. "I haven't played in years. Also you can't go out after dark."

Stiles was already on his feet, tugging on his tennis shoes. "It'll be fine if you're with me, right? And my stitches have practically healed. It'll be fun! I could use the exercise." He paused when Derek simply sat up but didn't move. "…Scott would do it."

"I'm not Scott," Derek reminded him.

"Good, because he's totally making out with Allison right now and I need someone to lob balls at," he replied, handing Derek his long stick from the corner of his room. "I can't climb out the window like this, so meet me at my car, I'm gonna sneak out the front door."

Derek held the stick in both hands. "I could just… carry you down."

"…What do I look like, Lois Lane?"

Derek looked him up and down like he was considering it. Stiles' shoulders dropped in a huge sigh. "I could just sort of lower you down if you'd prefer."

Stiles pointed at him excitedly. "Yes! That!"

A half hour later they were standing on the Lacrosse field, the headlights of Stiles' jeep gave them light and Stiles was chucking his third ball at Derek, which was promptly missed.

"I told you I haven't played in ten years!" Derek growled angrily when Stiles laughed.

"I know! I'm sorry, dude! You'll get the hang of it. It's like riding a bicycle. Now throw it back."

Derek scooped the ball up and positioned himself for throwing. "I've never ridden a bike."

"Never? Dude…" Stiles said as he caught the easy lob and tossed it back.

This time Derek caught it. He was standing closer to the Jeep's light, so Stiles couldn't see his face when he grinned. "I never needed to learn."

"Yeah but everyone's gotta learn how to ride a bike. We're teaching you one of these days I—ow!" he missed the ball completely and it hit him in the face.

Derek's breath caught. "Are you okay?"

Stiles blinked to make sure his vision hadn't been distorted. He should have worn his helmet. "Yeah, I'm good. Damn! Which way did it roll?"

He located the ball, which had really ricocheted off him and rolled over by the bleachers. It was just picking up the light from the Jeep, making it thankfully easy to spot. He trotted out to retrieve it.

Derek was twirling his stick in his hands, enjoying how it felt—just slightly familiar. He hadn't even held one since he lost his family, but he remembered liking it once. Then he started. He smelled it, heard the movement, and saw it at the same time.

In an instant a wolf, one of the alphas that he still recognized from the fight at the house, was right up against Stiles, fingertips pressing into his skull and fangs bared by his neck. She was walking him forward into the beam of light. Derek dropped the stick.

"Hi Derek," she cooed. "I've got your snack. Or is he pack? Doesn't smell like it."

"You must be Sissy," Stiles said, wincing hard. The way she was pulling him back so that his spine curved toward her was making his stomach stretch in exactly the wrong way. So much for being almost totally healed. He clenched his teeth.

"Ooh! Very good. You must have met up with our very own Simon and Garfunkel."

"Let him go," Derek growled, still across the field.

"Seriously? Those are their names?" Stiles asked, trying to twist so that he was in a more comfortable position. Her grip on his head was so tight.

"No, but they're the only ones who call me that."

"Did—didn't you have long hair?"

She made an approving noise. "Yes I did, how observant. Your little kitty is observant, Derek! Do you like it?" She shook her head to show off the cropped cut.

"Let him go!" Derek roared this time.

Aww! Puppy's throwing a tantrum over his plaything. I dunno, I think he likes me, Derek. Maybe if I give him a little bite…" She didn't even get a chance to lean down, whispering, "Hey kitty, kitty. You'll taste good," in Stiles' ear before Derek was on top of her, swiping hard and dislodging her from Stiles.

"Get in your car!" he bellowed to Stiles, bracing himself between him and the alpha.

Stiles could barely think to scramble in the direction of the blinding headlights. She'd applied so much pressure to his skull he was afraid it was going to crack. Everything was throbbing. The spot on his neck where her breath had touched felt like it had been smacked with an Icy/Hot patch and his stomach felt like it had been ripped open all over again.

"One on one is so boring, but what can you do? Do you know how hard it is to organize a bunch of hotheaded alphas to do anything? Oh, no, you couldn't. You can barely organize enough betas to stand their ground until the Argents rush in, can you, sweetie?" she laughed at him and bared her teeth.

Derek rushed forward, but after a short scramble, they pulled apart again and she inched toward the forest.

"You can't protect him forever, Derek. We know his scent. Your little boyfriend's going to be alone someday and so's the rest of your pack. And you know what? You're going to be powerless. You can't just take the gift one day and think that makes you an alpha," she snapped at him. "I'm not even going to have to come with numbers, Derek. Just you and me and I'm going to let him watch when I tear out your throat and shove it up your ass." Derek roared back. She backed away. "Until next time."

Stiles had reached the jeep. In a second Derek was at his side, hands on both his shoulders.

"Did she hurt you?"

"Nope, just smushed my brains," Stiles replied, blinking. "Do you guys know each other?"

"No."

Stiles looked up at Derek, swayed slightly, and grabbed both of his elbows. Derek's heart had been going at double pace through the entire encounter, but now it seemed to pause at the look in Stiles' eyes. His wolf features faded. Stiles face seemed to light up at the same time his calmed. "You are so fast!"

"…What?"

"You're like the fucking Flash! Seriously, how fast can you run?"

Derek let him go and stepped away. "That's what you got from all that? She could have killed you! She plans to kill you."

"Yeah, but you were like, halfway across the field and then Bam! You were right there! That was amazing! Can Scott run that fast?"

Derek sighed. "Stiles…"

"No, seriously. We have to find out how fast you can go. That was so cool, man! That was quite possibly the coolest thing you've ever done. We have to find out. Get in the jeep."

Derek waited till Stiles was in the car then went to pick up the fallen sticks and gather the balls. Stiles sat behind the driver's seat, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel. He'd lifted his shirt to check his stomach while Derek's back was turned. The closed skin was still intact. The stitches had pulled at the skin in places leaving angry red marks, but there was no bleeding, just some tenderness to the touch. He sighed in relief.

When Derek had finally loaded both the sticks and himself into the jeep Stiles turned to him, "You are so cool, you don't even know!"

"Where are we going?" Derek asked, trying to ignore the praise.

Stiles' eyes seemed to blaze for half a second. "There's one of those speed reader things over by the elementary school. You're gonna run past it!"