Title: Thief of Hearts
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Pairing: Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Rating: G
Length: 1320
Content notes: canon AU, some angst
Summary: Stiles has his reasons for attempting this heist.



He's nervous, but he decides if he just channels the best thieves of his favorite heist movies he might have a shot. Stiles has never broken into someone's home with the express purpose of stealing a near-priceless item before and he needs all the luck he can cobble together. Pretending he's Danny Ocean or Parker from Leverage had better work.

He knows the Hales have the book. When he was looking for it, he got pointed to a specific antique book dealer and that dealer sounded sorry to tell him one of his best customers had snatched it up nearly a week before Stiles called him. Normally, people who dealt in this kind of thing were very tight-lipped about who had what, but this particular man seemed out of the supernatural loop and didn't recognize what he had. Stiles was able to wheedle not only the name Hale but the fact that the Hales collected odd books and had built up a library of such things.

Stiles knows it's a risk. He's betting on the Hales not having wards up around their library. Of not knowing anything about the actual supernatural world. If they are aware, Stiles is most certainly going to get caught, and that's not something he'd normally risk.

But this is for his dad's sake, and Stiles doesn't have another choice.

The party was a stroke of luck. There are people who are overlooked, like the server Stiles pretended to be to gain access to the house. It's a big place, but Stiles knows the library is probably on the ground floor, and that makes it easier to find.

When he finds it, he breathes a sigh of relief and closes the door behind him. Now he just has to find the right book and get out without being caught and then, maybe, hopefully, everything will finally start going right.

He doesn't risk turning on the light. The sun's gone down hours ago and if someone sees the window lit from outside and thinks to investigate, it's all over.

Instead, he takes his phone out and uses it for a flashlight. He swings it over the bookcases and groans. There are a lot of books and finding the right one is going to take forever.

"I was wondering what you were here for." The voice makes Stiles jump and his heart begins to gallop.

There's a click and a lamp turns on. Stiles turns slowly, his heart in his throat. A man stands casually against a desk, watching him with a smirk.

"I suspected a thief but you surprised me when you didn't go upstairs."

"What's upstairs?" Stiles immediately berates himself for asking, but his curiosity always gets the better of him.

The man raises an eyebrow and his words are bone-dry. "Let's leave it to your imagination."

"I'm not a thief," Stiles blurts. "I was just looking to borrow something… and I know that sounds unbelievable but it's true."

The man straightens and walks over. Prowls, more like, and Stiles has the sudden insight that the man isn't human.

"I'm sorry I broke into your house," Stiles says.

The man looks amused. "No, you aren't. You're sorry you got caught." He's really very handsome. His eyes, now that he's close and Stiles can see them well, are too blue to be believed. Ridiculously blue. Stiles thinks the man might have hypnotic powers because it's hard to look away.

"Who are you?" What are you, is what Stiles really means.

"So presumptuous. I should be asking the questions, don't you think?"

Stiles's face goes hot. "Oh. Right, yeah." He takes a breath. "I'm Stiles."

"Peter Hale," the man tells him. It's surprising that he doesn't immediately disparage Stiles's name or accuse him of giving a false one, because that's what Stiles is used to whenever he introduces himself. He's heard 'What's a Stiles' and 'No, what's your name really' and 'That's not a name' so many times that it stands out that this man, Peter Hale, just takes him as he is.

Stiles swallows hard and asks the question that's at the forefront of his mind. "Are you going to call the police?"

Peter's smile builds slowly. "I haven't decided."

Under any other circumstances, Stiles might find the man infuriating, or maybe just too goddamn attractive for his own good. He's being toyed with, and normally that might be fun. Now it's just scary, because it might mean very bad things. He waits to see what Peter wants.

"Why don't you tell me what you're looking for and why." It's spoken like a mild request but Stiles hears it as a threat.

Stiles had better have a good reason or he's going to jail.

"You won't believe me if I tell you." Stiles is almost a hundred percent sure of that fact. "It sounds like a sob story from an urban fantasy novel."

But Peter just smiles at the warning. "Try me."

So Stiles starts talking. He tells Peter about the dark magic users who tried to kidnap Stiles for his Spark. He talks about his pack fighting back without mentioning anyone by name. He tells Peter what happened when his dad got involved, how he was cursed, and how the witch who laid the curse escaped so killing the caster is an impossible solution. And finally, Stiles talks about the countercurse and how he tracked it down to a certain book in a certain town, and when he got to the antique book dealer a week too late to buy the book for himself.

Peter is quiet through the whole story, never interrupting. When Stiles winds down on the telling, he nods. "And you didn't think to contact us with a request to examine the book?"

"What do you mean?" Stiles asks.

Peter tilts his head to the side. "I can tell you're not stupid. I don't know why it didn't occur to you to pose as a fan of rare books. If your problem was you didn't think we would believe you, you could simply have asked to take a look at our collection."

Stiles has tears threatening now. He's so frustrated, and here this man is telling him all the things he's done wrong. "Excuse me for not thinking straight when my father is literally dying!"

"When's the last time you slept, sweetheart?" Peter asks.

Stiles blinks back his frustration and shakes his head. "What does it matter? Wait... Wait, you believe me?"

Peter's eyes glow supernaturally blue for a moment and Stiles's breath hitches in his throat.

"You're a werewolf?" Stiles thinks of what he's seen today, the large house with family living in it together — not just a couple with children, but extended family too. "The Hales are a… a pack, right? Shit. How did I miss this?"

"You've had a lot on your mind." Peter brushes past him and goes to one of the bookcases behind Stiles. He unlocks one of the glass fronts and pulls an old book from inside. "Is this the book?"

Stiles wants to grab it and run. He wants to cry in relief. He wants to give Peter Hale a kiss full on the mouth.

He settles for nodding silently.

"Have a seat. You may read it. You may take notes, or take pictures with your phone. But the book doesn't leave his room, understand?"

Stiles's eyes are wide when he nods again. His fingers itch to take the book but he forces himself to have patience.

"And of course I'll stay to keep an eye on you." Peter grins and Stiles can't help but smile back.

---

Other couples have stories about their first meetings, and sometimes they're even enjoyable to hear. But Peter knows he and Stiles have the best story, and he's always happy to tell friends about the night he caught the thief who stole his heart.