hope is the thing with feathers

"Did they finally give you that security clearance you've been after?" his dad asks.

Stiles snorts. "No, and they aren't likely to give it to me. Though…." He trails off and sighs. He should have thought about what to say before he called.

"Yes?"

"I can't talk about it because it's better if you don't know."

His dad pauses. Stiles can hear him breathing over the line as he thinks. "Better so I'm not implicated in a crime, or something else?"

Stiles swallows hard and holds his phone tighter. "I'm not doing anything illegal. But someone else might be. Or... " Frankly, since werewolves aren't in the lawbooks, he's not sure if their imprisonment and torture count as illegal. But if he looks at them as just… people, then yes. So. "I can't tell you about it."

His dad's voice goes serious. "Does anyone know you know?"

Right to the point. "Yes and no?"

"Listen, Stiles. It's not your job to protect me. It never has been."

Except that's where he's wrong. Stiles has always looked out for his dad. And he's not about to put him in a position where he knows something like this, because John Stilinski is all about law and order and this isn't something that can be solved by a police investigation. Stiles isn't sure how far up the conspiracy goes, but ArgentCo's research is government-funded.

"Are you in danger?" his dad asks when Stiles doesn't answer.

Stiles lets out a shaky breath. "I think so, yeah."

"What do you want from me?" Peter asks.

Stiles smirks. "What do you want to give me?"

It has to be more than sex. Peter's smart enough to know that. Old, powerful entities do not plot and plan for years beneath someone's bed just so they can get their dick wet.

Peter licks his lips. His heart is pounding. His dick is throbbing again, and they haven't even touched. "Just… just tell me."

Stiles tilts his head and smiles. "But games are so much fun. You like games too, don't you, Peter?"

"I like games I know I can win," Peter says honestly.

Zhao Yunlan laughs bitterly. "He's running himself ragged, cleaning up your mess. And then he comes here and tries to connect with you. To make you… better, or something, I'm not sure. He loves you too much to abandon you. And it's killing him."

That's enough of that. Shen Wei walks in and stands in front of Ye Zun, facing Zhao Yunlan. "What are you doing here?"

Zhao Yunlan looks at him suspiciously for a moment, an expression more suited for their early days than now. Then he smiles. "I came to have a chat with Ye Zun. Obviously."

Shen Wei narrows his eyes. "You do not need to tell him anything." Nothing like what he said, anyway. The situation is in no way as dire as Zhao Yunlan paints it.

"Gege," Ye Zun whispers.

Shen Wei stiffens and turns around. His heart starts beating faster. "You-"

"Tell me you aren't letting my situation affect you so much." His brother looks worried.

Shen Wei tries to smile. "He's being dramatic."

"I'm not the dramatic one in this room," Zhao Yunlan mutters.