Turn It Up To Eleven 2/2

[bloody_hellfire]

Derek shifted and went for a run. He knew that he smelled like Stiles and that he had to get rid of it but he was only halfway through his run when Laura joined him. She refused to look at him. They ran for a long time until they came to a small creek in the woods. Derek knelt in front of the water and splashed some on his face and neck. Laura crossed her arms and looked down at him and he was reminded of the Laura he knew in his world, his alpha, and how she was always meant to be a leader. She was staring at him and waiting for him to admit what they already knew was true.

"Are you really so convinced that this isn't real that you're willing to let us die?" Laura said. Derek froze and could not turn around. "If you keep seeing him something bad is going to happen. Are you still going to see him if Mom dies? What about Dad or Uncle Peter? You're not just going to get yourself killed, you're going to get all of us killed. They've almost done it once they will do it again." Laura knelt down next to Derek and took a drink from the creek. He watched his sister and wondered if she was right, if this was the real world and what it would do to him if he let someone he loved die. This wasn't the real world though, Derek was pretty positive of that, but that did not mean he wanted to see someone he loved die again even if it was just an illusion. "Promise me that you're going to stay away from him."

"I promise," Derek said and the lie was obvious to his own ears. Laura look up at him and Derek knew that she had heard the lie but she said nothing. She just stared at him for a long time until she splashed some water on her face and began to walk back to the house. Derek hated lying to her but there was no possible way he could stay away from Stiles. Not when every time they saw each other his feelings got more and more intense. Derek stood up and walked back to the house. His family was waiting for him and his mother pulled him into a tight hug. They said nothing but they seemed to know that he was going to see Stiles. They looked so worried and Derek hated seeing them like that. It made his heart ache.

Derek spent the day with them again and began to forget even more. The only thing that reminded him that this was not real was when he thought of Stiles and how he felt the night before. Despite how real this world was beginning to feel, Stiles still felt different from all of it. There was something about him that made him different from everyone else in this world, even someone he knew that was alive in his world like Laura, Stiles was stood apart. The night could not come fast enough, yet as it got later and later someone was still with him. They would not leave him alone or let him go to bed.

"Laura, I'm tired, can I please go lie down?" Derek said around ten because he did want to grab an hour of sleep before he left to go see Stiles.

"Come on, what are you, fifty? Even Mom and Dad don't go to bed this early," Laura said waving him off.

"Laura, I want to go to bed, so I'm going to bed," Derek said. He turned and began to walk up the stairs but Laura took his arm.

"Don't forget your promise," she said. Derek nodded and she let him go upstairs. He closed his eyes and let himself drift in and out of sleep for an hour or so. The rest of his family went to bed and Derek listened until all of their heartbeats were even. This time he had no choice but to go out his own window. Derek jumped and landed easily on his feet. The muscles in his legs were going to be sore for a bit but by time he got to the fence they were healed. It was nearly midnight by the time he got to the area where they had met the last two nights but Stiles was no where to be seen. It was not like him to be late and the area smelled like him. Derek looked around and found Uncle Peter's journal that he had given Stiles the night before on the ground. There was a new piece of paper sticking out of it and Derek pulled it out.

We're done. I don't want anything else to do with you.

It said nothing else and it was not signed. This made no sense There was no possible way Stiles would give up on getting them back to their world. There was no way Stiles would accept that this was their reality, there was just no way, but the handwriting looked like Stiles' handwriting and the paper had his scent.

"Stiles? Stiles, where are you?" Derek called out. There was no answer and he made his way toward the demon territory line. "Stiles, we need to figure this out. We need to figure out how to get back to our world." There was no answer and the fence was lined with mountain ash. He could not step over it if he wanted to. Derek thought about calling out to Stiles over the fence but there was no telling what was on the other side that could come after him. Kate was still alive in this world and the thought that she might have done something to Stiles made Derek see red. If Stiles had done this against his will he would have left some sort of clue. Blood, a code, something to tell Derek that this was not his choice, yet here he was holding a note that said they were done. He felt abandoned and he felt like an idiot for believing that Stiles ever cared about him. "You're a coward." Derek was not sure if Stiles was listening or would ever hear him but he said it anyway.

Derek made his way back to his territory line and hated himself instantly when he saw Laura waiting for him. She did not look angry though, she looked a little sad, and she smiled briefly when she saw him.

"They don't care about anyone but themselves, little brother, it's the same for all of them," she said when Derek jumped over the fence. "Your boy wasn't any different from the rest of them. I know you thought he was but he isn't. Do you believe me now?" Derek did not answer. He was not sure if he did believe her. Stiles was different, he was sure of that, but that did not explain these actions. Laura put an arm around his waist and they walked through the woods back to the house. Derek expected Laura to say 'I told you so' but she said nothing. She just kept an arm around his waist and walked with him.



Stiles could hear Derek making his way back toward the wolf territory. It was annoying to think that Derek called him out on the fact that he was a giant coward. Leaving a note was not the way he wanted to do this but confronting Derek was not the best idea either. Derek would be able to tell that he was lying and Stiles did not want to tell Derek that Kate was threatening them. It was not that Stiles was doubting that this was not his reality but the thought of making Derek watch his family die again made Stiles feel sick to his stomach. He was sitting high in a tree and swung his feet back and forth. He blinked, looked down, and watched as Lydia appeared.

“You're doing the right thing,” she said and somehow managed to sound patronizing which was impressive.

“Doesn't feel like it,” Stiles said. “In fact the more I think about it the more I think it's a terrible idea considering we need to get out of this place.”

“Are you still convinced that this isn't real?” Lydia heaved a sigh and Stiles did not need to see her to know that she was rolling her eyes.

“I'm convinced because I know it's true,” Stiles said.

“I know you're lying so don't bother. If you really believed that then you wouldn't let Kate bully you into staying away from the wolf. He would be the only one you'd have to protect and that wouldn't be too hard.” Lydia paused and looked up at him. “No.”

“I didn't say anything.”

“You're about to agree with me you complete idiot.” Lydia let her eyes flash red and that was interesting she was a crossroads in this universe even if she was not King. “I did not just say all of that to convince you to be a moron. She is going to make things so miserable for you and you know that.”

“Yup, sure do, and I'm pretty sure I really don't give a shit either.” Stiles jumped down from the tree and landed easily on his feet. “There is nothing Kate could think of that could be worse than anything I've suffered in the Pit and you know that.” Stiles didn't wait to see what else Lydia had to say and made his way for the territory line. She was following him, he was not surprised, and Stiles could feel her judging him. It was not until Stiles was within walking distance of the wolf line that Lydia grabbed his arm.

“They are going to tear you apart, how are you this stupid?” she said.

“It's a good thing that claws can't kill me then, so no worries,” Stiles shrugged. Now Lydia was giving him the 'I can't believe you are being this stupid' look that she did so well. “I'm a big boy and can take care of myself, Mom, scouts honor.”

“Don't patronize me,” she snapped. “That alpha will make it as painful as possible. They might decide to just hang onto you for awhile and see how much fun they can get out of you. How does that sound?”

“Like a holiday compared to the Pit. I'm going and I'm going to get in contact with him. That's the end of it and if you want to stop me you're more than welcome to try.” Stiles knew that she outranked him in this world and was probably more powerful than he was. Stiles also knew that he had stared down those infinitely more terrifying than Lydia and was willing to do it again. Lydia's jaw didn't quite drop, but it was a close thing.

“How hung up on this pup are you?” she said. Stiles didn't dignify that with any sort of response. He pulled his arm free and knelt down in front of the fence. Now that he knew there was some sort of trigger to the security it was much easier to spot. Stiles knew the moment that Lydia vanished and that eased a bit of the anxiety he had. He was not sure he really had it in him to fight Lydia in this world and he was not too keen on finding out either. It took some time but Stiles managed to find all of the traps and deactivate most of them. The wolves would not know he was on their land right away but it would not take them very long to find out. He had to get his message in a place that Derek would find it fast and get back across the border.

Stiles pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled a message on it. If Derek came then he came and if not then Stiles could focus on getting them out of here alone. Either way Stiles was not going to let a stupid send off sit between him and Derek. It was irrational and the more he thought about it the more it scared the crap out of him. Things in this world were intense and he was not sure what the world was and what was real. That did not really matter though, not right now, now he had to find a place that Derek would go.

Stiles jumped the fence and moved quickly through the woods. There were plenty of things that felt like Derek but he needed to pick a place that Derek would go after receiving a message like the one Stiles had sent. Stiles came upon a creek where it felt like Derek might like and looked around. There was a tree facing the direction of the demon territory and that seemed like a good place. Stiles pulled out his knife, his only weapon, and attached the note to the tree with it. Stiles could feel Derek through the bond that they still had not discussed, it was a two way bond but Derek was not aware of it yet. This was not how Stiles wanted him to find out but it was not like he had a lot of options.

He reached out for Derek and tried not to be too obvious about it. If it took Derek by too much of a surprise then someone in his pack could notice. Stiles brushed again the edge of Derek's awareness and left a suggestion that checking out this location would be a good idea. Derek seemed surprised but did not react too strongly. The wolves seemed to know something was going on and Stiles ran back to the territory line fast as he could. By the time he jumped the fence he could feel the wolves mobilizing to check it out. Now he just had to wait and see if Derek came.

Stiles headed back to the demon line to pick up more research on tricksters



It was like getting subtly punched in the face. Derek was sitting with his family one moment and the next he could feel Stiles reaching out to him. They were connected and how had he never noticed that before? Instantly everyone in his family stared at him because they knew something had happened. They all seemed to be waiting for him to explain but this was not something any of them needed to know. In fact there were about five hundred ways Derek could think of off the top of his head that it could go poorly. Derek flashed his best smile and they all seemed to think that was enough to make everyone go back to what they were doing. Derek knew that he needed to go to the creek and see what Stiles had left. Logically Derek knew he should ignore it but the note was such an odd thing that he wanted some sort of explanation even if it was a bad one.

Laura was not so keen on letting him leave alone though. On three different occasions Derek tried to leave the house and she followed him. It was several hours later that Derek managed to slip away and get to the creek. He could feel Stiles the second he got close and his smell lingered despite hours passing. Derek looked around and saw the knife in the tree. It was the only weapon Stiles had on him and Derek mentally chastised and congratulated Stiles for it. He knew that Derek would feel obligated to return the knife so Stiles was not unarmed. Derek knew he would have gone anyway just because he wanted to know what was going on.

Derek wandered the woods by himself for most of the evening. Every few hours a family member would creep by but never close enough to talk to. They never confronted him. They knew that he would not talk about it. Derek made sure that he got home late enough that he missed dinner and could take it upstairs. His mother gave him the stink eye but let it go. Laura, however, was not that kind.

“Okay, you can't let that son of a bitch get to you,” she said without stopping to knock.

“Hi Laura, great to see you, thanks for knocking,” Derek deadpanned.

“Oh like anyone has privacy in this house,” she said.

“I don't want to talk about this,” Derek said and held up a hand when Laura opened her mouth. “I said I don't want to talk about it so don't ask me. I think that's fair. Let it go.” Laura glared at him and left the room. Derek thought about how it would be easy to stay in this place, live with this family, and how real they all felt. The more he thought about the more his world began to feel like a dream that was slowly fading. It scared him how real all this felt but there was one thing Derek realized as he lay there in his room alone. He didn't want this to be reality because it meant that he couldn't be with Stiles. These feelings were not normal, they were not things he had ever felt before, and they were wrong. Derek found that he did not really care that they were wrong and that was not how they did things but the feelings felt real enough. The bond the two of them shared was real.

The night fell and if Laura was worried that he was going to sneak out again she did not show it. Derek made sure that she was asleep before he snuck out of the house. He jumped the fence and made his way across the field until Stiles came into view. He was sitting cross legged on the ground chewing on his thumbnail and reading a book. Stiles looked up when Derek got closer and smiled. Derek pulled out his knife and tossed it to Stiles. He caught it effortlessly.

“Kind of a dirty move,” Derek said.

“Which one?” Stiles said as Derek approached.

“Both of your notes and leaving your knife so I would have to come so you wouldn't be unarmed.” Derek said and Stiles stood up. There were papers and books spread out all over a blanket. “You're taking this research thing to a new level.”

“I want to get us out of here,” Stiles shrugged. “And the knife wasn't a dirty move. I just wanted you to know who it was from.” Derek raised an eyebrow. “What? Don't give me that look.” Derek opened his mouth to say something but Stiles yanked him into a rough kiss. It only stayed rough for a moment before it descended into something much softer, something that was not them, and Derek relished in it. He was pulling Stiles closer when Stiles suddenly broke their kiss and ran his fingers violently through his hair. “Fuck, Derek, I don't know what's going on. Everything in this world feels like it's turned up to eleven.”

“Is that why you told me to stay away?” Derek said gently. Stiles looked like he was about tear a chunk of his hair out.

“No, I told you to stay away to keep you safe, and I couldn't even manage that for half a day,” Stiles said bitterly. “And because I doubted whether or not this was real.”

“So let's sit down and figure this out.” Derek gestured to the piles of papers and books on the blanket. Stiles seemed to visibly calm down a little, nodded, and they both sat down to go through the papers. The moon and stars were still bright enough that they could read easily. They were shoulder to shoulder and despite there being lots of information, there did not seem to be anything that said how they could break the illusion themselves. Stiles groaned and flopped back on the blanket rubbing his eyes.

“This is so annoying,” Stiles grumbled as he stretched out his long limbs.

“We'll find something,” Derek said as he lay down next to Stiles.

“This feels familiar,” Stiles said after a beat of silence. “We've done this before, in our world, I'm sure of it.” Derek rolled onto his side and propped himself on his elbow so he was looking down at Stiles. “You like to bathe in the moonlight. You're such a cliché.”

“And here you are lying with me so what does that make you?” Derek said.

“I am a powerful demon, Mr. Wolf, so don't you mess with me.” Stiles wagged his finger in Derek's face but he was smiling brilliantly. Derek snatched Stiles' hand so he would stop having Stiles' finger in his face. A moment passed and he still had Stiles' hand in his and that brilliant smile was fading. Derek kept his gaze fixed on Stiles as their hands moved. It felt like the bottom of his stomach was dropping out as their fingers slowly became entwined. When they were palm to palm, holding hands, Derek looked at Stiles who looked just as stunned as he did.

“This doesn't feel familiar,” Derek said softly.



Stiles stared at his hand with Derek's and tried to get his heart under control. He meant what he said about everything in this place feeling enhanced from the sheer crushing feeling of reality to the way being around Derek made his heart pound. Stiles had never reacted to anyone like this before and it was terrifying. It made Stiles' head feel like it was going to split in two and there was nothing he could do about it.

“Tell me about the bond,” Derek said hesitantly.

“What do you want to know?” Stiles asked. He was trying not to focus on their hands but it wasn't working.

“How did it happen? When did it happen?” Derek said. Stiles sighed.

“When I went back to the Pit the second time one of my terms was that your soul was put on a black list,” Stiles explained and Derek tightened their hands just a little. It felt grounding. “You were the last thing I thought about before I went a little out of my mind.” Stiles looked back at the sky and tried not to think of burning flesh, broken fingers, a throat ripped to shreds from screaming, anything. “They knew how attached I was to you. I mean, I was willing to make it worse for myself to put you on that list so it wasn't hard to figure out, but they liked to remind me of it. They said that the attachment made me weak and that weakness was the reason I was on that table again. So you were my last conscious thought and you were a topic of mocking when I was on the table. So I thought about you a lot and we were already linked because I held your contract. The Pit just amplified it and now we have a bond.” Stiles blinked and realized he was using Derek like a lifeline almost crushing his hand. Stiles loosened his grip to separate them but Derek would not let him go. Stiles was not sure what to say, if he could say anything, but Derek did not give him a chance.

Derek closed the distance between them and this was not familiar. This kiss was fueled with something very different. Stiles was not sure he had a word for it but it made him run the fingers of his free hand through Derek's hair. Stiles shifted and now Derek was a warm line of heat alone his entire body. Derek opened his mouth and their tongues met. This felt familiar, this is something they did, and Stiles licked into the heat of Derek's mouth. Derek removed their hands and rolled so he was on top of Stiles. That was not something Stiles was quite willing to give up just yet. He used his considerable strength and speed to flip them so he was straddling Derek's waist and staring down at him.

“Who said anything about you pinning me down?” Stiles said, smirking.

“Sorry Mr. Strong-and-Powerful-Demon,” if Derek’s hands were not busy slipping underneath Stiles' shirt Stiles was sure Derek would have done the finger quotes. Stiles chuckled and they kissed again, harder this time, and with purpose. Stiles smiled against Derek's lips and he could feel Derek smiling back. Derek sat up and let Stiles push his leather jacket off of his shoulders. The tone of everything between them shifted and suddenly Stiles could not get to skin fast enough. It took a lot more effort than Stiles was willing to admit to break away from Derek's mouth long enough to throw off his plaid button down and t-shirt. Derek tossed his shirt aside and latched onto Stiles' neck.

“You and your neck kink, doesn't anything else turn you on?” Stiles said surprised at mouth breathless he sounded.

“Yeah, there's something that gets me,” Derek bit down nearly hard enough to break skin. Stiles' hips jerked against his own accord and he was 100% sure the wolves could hear how loud he moaned. Stiles took a handful of Derek's hair and pulled him back into a bruising kiss. Were they human this would have been hard enough to hurt but Stiles didn't have to pull his punches with Derek. Stiles was in the middle of working on the buttons of Derek's jeans when something dawned on him.

“They're going to be able to smell this,” Stiles said against Derek's mouth.

“Are you talking me out of having sex with you?” Derek was biting on Stiles' lower lip. “I don't care about them or what they think. I want you” moved Stiles' hand so he was cupping Derek's rather obvious erection “and I want you now.” That was really all the motivation Stiles needed to finish opening Derek's pants. They didn't have any supplies so they could do this properly but there was no way Stiles was going to turn back now. Stiles pressed his forehead to Derek's and they were not quite kissing but breathing the same air. Stiles slid his hand into Derek's underwear just as Derek was touching him.

It was like everything else in this world related to Derek. Everything was too intense. It stole all of the air from Stiles' lungs and made the world narrow down to where they were touching. Stiles opened his eyes and saw Derek staring back at him with a similar expression of shock. It was almost comforting to know he was not alone in this. Derek twisted his wrist in a way that made Stiles see stars and he retaliated by sweeping his thumb the way he knew Derek liked. Stiles was not sure who pulled whom into another kiss but as soon as their lips touched it the thing that pushed them both over the edge.

They were lying on the blanket and Stiles did not remember any time when they had just exchanged lazy kisses after sex but this was different. He wasn't sure how it was different or why but it was. Derek shifted, put an arm around him, and rested his head on Stiles' chest. Without thinking about it too much Stiles began to card his fingers through Derek's hair. Now they were cuddling and that was not something they did.

“This doesn't seem familiar,” Stiles whispered.

“I don't care,” Derek said. Stiles didn't either but he didn't say that out loud. He tugged on Derek's hair a bit and Derek retaliated by poking him in the ribs.



Derek did not remember falling asleep but the next thing he realized was that Stiles was poking him and saying that he needed to go back to the house. Stiles was jabbing him in the ribs over and over again and Derek was about to throttle Stiles to get him to stop. Somewhere around the twentieth time that Stiles poked him Derek grabbed Stiles' wrist and pinned it down. Derek sat up and glared down at him and Stiles looked far too amused.

"I'm just trying to be responsible," Stiles argued though he looked anything but innocent.

"Right," Derek said. They sat up and began to get dressed. Derek was going to have to find somewhere to clean up because right now he smelled like sex and Stiles. There was no hiding something like that and he mentally winced at the chastising his family would give him for this. Only that wasn't his family, this wasn't real, and it was becoming harder and harder to tell the difference. Stiles had admitted that he was having a hard time as well and for some reason that worried Derek. Stiles tried to play off that he took everything in stride but Derek knew that he was a lot less grounded since he came back from the Pit a second time. There was no way Stiles would ever tell him that but Derek was sure of it. Stiles pulled on his flannel over shirt and buttoned it, they had used Stiles' t-shirt to clean up their mess which Stiles said he was never going to let Derek live down, and messed with the sleeves. His hair was a mess, spiked in all directions and there were a few pieces of grass in it, his cheeks were still a little flushed, and he looked more relaxed than Derek had seen him in a long time. These feelings for Stiles were different but they didn't feel wrong. Maybe they were always headed in this direction and this place just helped them get there. Maybe this place was changing them but Derek didn't care. He cared even less when Stiles smirked and pulled him into a kiss.

"We'll meet again tonight and we're going to find something. Be careful," Stiles said softly.

"Same to you. Stay in this neutral zone just to be safe," Derek said. Stiles grinned, bit Derek's lower lip gently, and shoved him back toward the werewolf side. If Derek spent the entire time walking back snickering to himself well no one was around to see it. He jumped the fence and he began to pick his way through the forest looking for the stream to wash off in. He was hoping there was a chance that he could get rid of the smell but it didn't seem likely. Mentally, Derek began to come up with some sort of excuse that would keep his family at bay a little longer.

He was so lost in his own head that the sound of footsteps behind him took Derek by surprise. Someone was coming for him and they were coming fast. It dawned on him a second too late that it was not a member of his family or even a werewolf at all but by then a knife slid into his ribs.

"And here I thought you were going to guide me the entire way," Kate said smoothly. Derek tried to throw her off but she was far too strong. "Naughty, naughty, can't have you getting away just yet." Kate twisted the knife and Derek could not speak. His lungs were filling with blood. Derek grasped her arm, his claws digging into her skin, but Kate did not seem to notice. "If your boyfriend made it over the fence, what makes you think I couldn't get over your security?"

"Stay away from them," Derek said.

"Who are you talking about? Your family or your boy? He wasn't smart enough to stay away from you like I told him to and now you get to pay the price." Kate ripped the knife out and kicked him back. Derek stumbled and pressed a hand to the wound on his side that wasn't healing. "The knife is laced with wolfsbane, of course, do you really think so little of me?" His legs could no longer support his weight as the poison rushed through his veins and Derek fell to his knees. Kate tilted her head to the side, knelt down in front of him, and pulled the demon killing knife off of his hip.

"Give that back," Derek said through his teeth but Kate stood up as she looked over the blade.

"Stiles would let you have one of these, silly boy, he must trust that you won't slit his throat. I was just going to send him back to the Pit but I think I'll use this instead." Kate smiled as she twirled the knife in her hand. "Then I think it's time I finished what I started with your little wolf pack." Derek wanted to attack her, rip her apart even, but the wolfsbane was making his entire body go numb. The world was beginning to darken around the edges and Derek knew he about to pass out but there wasn't anything he could do.

Derek fell unconscious to the sound of Kate laughing.



Stiles knew the instant that Derek was hurt and was halfway across the field before he managed to stop himself. There was no way that Derek's family was happy about the two of them. There was a chance that his dad had gone all alpha on him, maybe even punished him, and that was not something Stiles could interfere with. He clenched his fists at his sides and struggled to hone in his protective instincts. Charging over the fence and getting himself torn to shreds by Derek's family was not high on his bucket list. Plus he would have to fight back and Derek had experienced enough trauma as it was. Stiles turned on his heel and walked back to his pile of books that he had near the fence. He narrowed his eyes were he saw Lydia waiting for him.

"How can I help you?" Stiles said.

"I'm going to assume you're not going to let this" she gestured to his research "or him go."

"We've been over this already," Stiles replied. He blinked and suddenly Lydia was throwing him to the ground, pinning both of his wrists by his head, and staring down at him. Her eyes were glowing red and for half a second Stiles thought she was going to try and make him leave. "You going to use your feminine wiles to get me to stop?"

"No," the 'you idiot' was heavily implied. "I was just going to ask if I feel real to you. Can you look me in the eye and tell me that you think I'm just some hallucination?" Lydia asked and Stiles swallowed down the lump in his throat. She felt real, she looked real, but there was only one person that he was sure of and that was Derek. Lydia narrowed her eyes and seemed to read his mind because she let go of his wrists and stood up. "I won't protect you."

"I never expected you to," Stiles said without getting up. Lydia nodded sharply and walked away. Stiles sighed and walked back over to his reading. If Lydia was warning him again that meant that Kate was going to do something soon. They were out of time.



There were voices but they sounded very far away. Derek couldn’t make out the words and he could barely feel the tips of his fingers. It was slowly coming back to him, seeing Kate in the woods and the knife in his side, the way the wolfsbane burned through his veins, and he remembered. Derek remembered the way Kate spoke about killing Stiles, killing his family, and it made him panic. There was movement around him, people speaking softly, and they sounded much closer now.

“It sounds like his heart is about to beat out of his chest,” Laura said.

“What he needs is more rest,” Mom said. “We were lucky we found him in time. Those demons would have killed him.” The voices get further away as Derek forces his heartbeat to slow down. There were too many things out there that could hear heartbeats and he knew how to control his. They seemed convinced that he was not awake and just dreaming. They were further away but if he strained Derek could still hear them.

“I went back to the borderline after we found Derek,” his Dad said. “There was some demon in the neutral area just sitting there reading.” Derek had almost all the feeling back in his body and his senses were sharp again but the mention of Stiles made him tense up.

“It’s the same guy Derek is obsessed with,” Laura said sadly. “Derek smelled overwhelmingly like him. He must have been the one who crossed the border and attacked him.”

“They’re declaring war,” Mom said. “We can’t wait for Derek to get better. They won’t wait for him, that boy certainly won’t, so we need to strike first.” The years of experience of keeping his physical reactions stable were the only reason Derek did not panic right there. His family was going to attack Stiles and there was no way Stiles would hurt his family. He would stand there and let them hurt him. Laura and his father agreed that it was time to stop being passive and they walked further away from the room. When they were on the other end of the house Derek opened his eyes. Waking up felt hard and his body protested when he sat up but Derek was not about to lie around and wait for Stiles and his family to try and kill each other.

His parents, Laura, Uncle Peter, and the rest of the adults in his family were loudly arguing and Derek knew this was going to be his only shot at getting out of the house without them noticing. Derek almost ruined everything when he almost fell out of bed but he managed to get on his feet and out the window. He didn’t wait to see if anyone was following him before taking off into the woods. Even if he could only give Stiles a few minute head start it was better than nothing.

The wolfsbane was still in his system. By the time he jumped the fence Derek was out of breath. It felt like his lungs were about to seize up by the time he got to the middle of the field.

“Derek!” He heard his name, looked up, and saw Stiles running toward him. Familiar hands caught him when Derek’s knees finally gave out and he had not seen Stiles that afraid in a long time. “What the fuck happened to you?”

“I’ll be fine but you need to go,” Derek replied though he did not sound fine. “My family thinks you did this to me and they’re coming after you. They’re going to send you back to the Pit.” Stiles was suddenly so tense Derek thought he would snap.

“She did this,” Stiles said after a moment.

“It doesn’t matter,” Derek snapped and Stiles blinked as if surprised. “We don’t know what would happen if they tried to exorcise you here and I’m not letting you go back there.” Derek knew that Stiles was affected by his second time in the Pit a lot more than he was letting on. He saw the way Stiles went pale at the mention of it and the flashbacks. They were close and Derek knocked his forehead against Stiles’ gently.

“This is adorable,” a voice said. They were both standing within seconds but Stiles was standing in front of Derek a hand out to stop him. Kate was walking up to them, grinning, with two minions flanking her on either side. “I knew Stiles was far gone on you, Derek, but I never imagined it was mutual.” The demon killing knife was in one hand and a sword that smelled like mountain ash and wolfsbane in the other. The weapons that the two men behind her had were the same.

“I’ll hold her off. You need to run,” Stiles said softly.

“I’m not letting you martyr yourself for me, not again,” Derek hissed. Stiles glanced over his shoulder for a brief second, nodded, and when he turned his attention back to Kate his eyes were totally black. Derek could feel the power coming off of Stiles in waves and it nearly knocked the wind out of his lungs. Kate’s smirk fell just as Stiles flicked both of his wrists out. Kate and the two other demon’s flew back and smashed into the fence. Derek heard bones snap but did not have time to linger on the thought long. Stiles took his hand and they both began to run toward the Hale fence. “It isn’t safe here either.”

“Safer,” Stiles said. They skidded to a stop in front of the fence as Stiles began to look over the protection. Derek could feel his strength returning but it was not fast enough. He was still weak from the stab wound from Kate. Stiles released their hands and had just stepped a few feet away when a blur of a body tackled him to the ground. Stiles did not move away in time and Derek had to watch his mother sink her claws into Stiles chest.

“Mom!” Derek pulled her off as Stiles held a hand to the wounds.

“What are you doing, Derek?” she snapped as his father, Laura, Uncle Peter, everyone save for the kids joined them. “He tried to kill you.”

“He’s not the one that tried to kill me. He wouldn’t hurt me,” Derek tried to explain.

“Oh look, the entire Hale family, just what I wanted,” Kate said as she joined them. There were pieces of wood in his hair and blood on her mouth. She looked furious. “I can finish what I started all those years ago.”

“You need to run, now,” Stiles said as he pushed himself to his feet. The wounds on his stomach looked more or less healed but there was still blood on his clothes.

“We won’t run away from them, never,” Laura snapped. “We’ll just have to finish this.” Kate smiled and a terrible feeling settled into Derek’s stomach. He knew his family and they did not run away from anyone. They were proud of who and what they were and they were going to fight. Stiles did not give them time to change their minds before he charged Kate and the rest of his family jumped into the fight. Derek only hesitated for a second before he let the change take over his body and rushed toward three demons armed with weapons that could kill him.



Stiles knew that this was going to be bad but the sheer degree to which everything went wrong was astounding. Derek’s family were a group of extremely well trained werewolves but they were not nearly as fast as Kate and her minions. The two men sliced through Derek’s family with tainted weapons. Stiles did his best to keep Kate’s attention on him but she was faster than him. She had Derek’s knife in hand and made sure that every blow she landed on him came with it. Kate cut Stiles deeply across the chest and kicked him back. Stiles looked up and watched as members of Derek’s family fell to the ground. They were already dead or dying and Stiles hated everything for making Derek see all of this.

Derek was on the ground nearby reaching for Laura but she was not moving. Stiles could see the ugly veins of wolfsbane poisoning and he knew that Derek was dying as well. There had to be something he could do but the wounds from the knife were too much and Stiles could barely see straight. It was too quiet and Stiles saw that everyone save for Derek, Kate, and himself were dead. Kate was covered in deep wounds and she looked weak, but she still had the sword and the knife.

“I must admit that your family had more fight in them than I thought they would, Derek,” Kate said. Derek bared his teeth but he saw Stiles watching him. Kate was going to kill them and just because there was a chance that this was not real didn’t mean they weren’t going to die. Stiles refused to let Derek face that alone and he ignored his wounds to crawl across the bloodbath. Derek saw him coming and began to move too, skin pale and sweating beading on his forehead, like he didn’t want Stiles to face death alone either.

“Look at the two of you,” Kate said twirling the blades in each hand. One was going to kill Derek and one was going to kill Stiles. “Crawling toward each other in the end like it’s going to make any difference.” Stiles wanted to tell her that it made all the difference but it was taking every ounce of Stiles’ strength to reach Derek. Stiles was going to pass out from blood loss soon and Derek did not look much better. They were within arms reach when Stiles could not move another inch and just put his hand out. He was the one that got Derek involved in all of this again, he was the one that pulled Derek back down the dangerous hole of hunting more than just the occasional ghost, this was all on him, and it hurt more than any other wound on his body.

Their fingers touched and Stiles immediately felt a little better that they were going out together. Kate was approaching them, weapons in hand, and they were going to die anyway so he didn’t really see the point in holding back anymore. He had been through too much in his many, many years of being alive to die without saying this.

“I love you,” Stiles whispered barely loudly enough for anyone but Derek to hear. There was black blood on Derek’s lips and he didn’t even look surprised.

“Love you too,” Derek said. They clasped their hands and Stiles squeezed his eyes shut to wait for the killing blow.

That never came.

“What an interesting word that is.” Stiles opened his eyes and managed to scramble back from this new voice. Derek still held his hand like a lifeline but their wounds were not as terrible as they were a moment ago. If anything it looked like they were healing. The bodies of Derek’s family were gone, Kate was gone, and now someone new was standing in front of them. He was an unassuming man with straight brown hair and dull brown eyes. He didn’t look like anyone Stiles recognized.

“You’re the trickster,” Derek said.

“Bingo,” the trickster said smiling. “I have to wonder though, you two, about that word you just threw around. ‘Love’ was it? Did you just tell each other that you loved each other right before you thought you were going to die? That’s adorable, really.”

“Why did you do this?” Stiles asked through his teeth, He wanted to tear this man apart for forcing Derek to watch his family die again but he was still too weak.

“It’s just that everything in this world is amplified,” the trickster continued as if he had never spoken. “At the same time I can’t conjure feelings out of nowhere so now I have to wonder, how much of what you two feel for each other right now is from my world and how much is real?” The thought this was all one big manipulation made an ice settle into Stiles’ stomach. He glanced at their hands and then back to Derek who looked just as terrified. “Why don’t you think on it,” the trickster said after a moment and the entire world went white.



Derek sucked in a deep breath and coughed. The air was far too hot and it took a minute for him to realize that he was back in his car. None of the windows or doors were open and he had no idea how long they had been locked in there. Stiles seemed to be awake too and they were both struggling to open the car doors to get out of the oppressive heat. Derek sucked in the cool air and immediately felt a little better. That didn’t stop him from lying on his back and staring at the sky for a moment. The images of Kate ripping his family to pieces were going to feature in a lot of his nightmares from now on. Logically Derek knew that none of it was real but that was not going to stop any of it. Stiles walked around the car and offered Derek a hand.

“Are you okay?” he said.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Derek’s voice was hoarse like he’d been screaming for hours. He took Stiles’ hand and was pulled to his feet. They didn’t release each others hands and stood a little too close. Derek could feel his heart begin to pound as he thought about what they had said to each other and what the trickster had said. “What I said--”

“Right, about that, what I meant --” Stiles cut himself off and sighed. “I don’t want things to be weird between us.”

“Right. We’ll be distracted and something will kill us. Can’t have that,” Derek reasoned.

“It was just a dream, a fantasy, none of it was real?” Stiles said though for some reason Derek thought it sounded like a question.

“Yeah, the trickster said that his world amplified everything, so of course our partnership here would change in there.” The words didn’t sit right on Derek’s tongue but they didn’t quite taste like a lie either. They were partners and they couldn’t let some dream get in the way of this. What they were doing was too important.

“Just a dream then,” Stiles said and they released their hands. Derek nodded and forced himself to relax a little. They were fine, everything was going to be fine, and that’s what mattered. “I don’t know about you but I really don’t want to sit in the car anymore.”

“Stop at the next town?” Derek said.

“Please and thank you.” Stiles grinned and Derek smiled back. They climbed into the Camaro, rolled down the windows, and drove the short distance to the next town they could find. Stiles watched him carefully as Derek inhaled two full diner meals and Derek kicked him from under the table. Stiles laughed easily and the tension slowly began to fade. Derek felt infinitely better after the food and the two of them spent the day going over articles to see if there was any indication where the trickster could have gone. “They aren’t usually dangerous,” Stiles said. “but we could have suffocated in the car if we were in there much longer.”

“Plus it makes zero sense why he threw us into that fantasy. Warring creatures, sworn enemies, borderlines, it sounds like something out of a grocery store romance novel,” Derek said.

“Ah, me sir, I think I might swoon,” Stiles mocked and Derek rolled his eyes. Something looked promising the next town over and they decided that the next day they would look for the trickster. Derek checked into a motel and got a room with one bed without thinking about it too much. It was not until they were getting ready for bed that Derek realized that sleeping in the same bed might be weird. There was a tense line on Stiles’ shoulders but Derek didn’t ask him about it. They climbed into the same bed and lay side by side without saying a word. Derek closed his eyes and hoped that the morning would make things a little less awkward.



Derek had nightmares all night and woke up nearly screaming countless times. Every time he jerked awake Stiles would say ‘just a dream’ and while that didn’t quell the fear it did make things a little easier. They left early in the morning and Stiles didn’t ask about the nightmares. Instead he seemed to make sure the subject was anything but family. He didn’t even comment when Derek pulled aside and made a quick call to Laura just to make sure that she was all right. She sounded worried and he promised to visit her soon. They made it to the next town and began to look around for the trickster. It was well into the night and Derek wanted to give up.

“Look,” Stiles said putting a hand on Derek’s arm. It was the same image of the man that had appeared to them in the fantasy. He stopped short, turned, and waved to them. The street was crowded so they could only follow him until they were alone. Derek snatched the man by the shirt and slammed him against the wall.

“Oh, jeez, boys, calm down,” he said laughing.

“Why did you do this?” Derek demanded.

“Would you believe me if I said I just wanted to have a little fun?” the trickster said. Derek growled and let his eyes turn blue.

“I’d take that as a ‘no’ if I were you,” Stiles said. “Now, you should tell us why you did this before Derek decides to sharpen his claws on your spinal cord.” There was a tight edge to Stiles’ voice that Derek didn’t hear often, the dangerous one, and the trickster must have heard it too because the smile faded.

“Everyone out there thinks you two are in love with each other and wanted to see if it was true. I was approached and asked to see if it was true. If it was, you could be manipulated,” he explained calmly as he looked between the two of them. “Looks like it didn’t work though.”

“What do you mean?” Derek said.

“You aren’t in love with each other. I wanted to see if I could get you to admit it in the real world but it looks like you aren’t, so I failed.” The trickster shrugged and smiled again. “On that note, have a lovely day.” The trickster moved faster than anyone Derek had ever seen; he slipped out of his grip and took off running down the street in a blur.

“It’s not worth it,” Stiles said when Derek went to chase him. “He wouldn’t tell us who hired him anyway.” Derek was exhausted down to his bones. The thought that something out there wanted to manipulate him and Stiles, that they were willing to force Derek to witness his family dying again right in front of him to get it, made him feel sick. Stiles nodded and they walked back toward the bed and breakfast where they were staying. Derek fell into the bed and closed his eyes ready for more nightmares. “I hate that they made you see that again.” Stiles said into the dark what felt like hours later.

“We’re not playing the blame game. We’re both too good at it,” Derek said without opening his eyes. “They’re just nightmares.”

“I told you that having you around helps with the flashbacks, keeps me grounded,” Stiles said after a moment and Derek opened his eyes to look at him. “do you want help being grounded?” Derek blinked and felt something catch in his throat. Stiles shifted and moved Derek so he was lying on his side. Stiles laid back down as well and turned so his back was to Derek’s. Derek was confused for a moment until Stiles took his hand and pulled it over Stiles’ body so they were back to front just like they were when they woke up in the fantasy. Derek could feel how tense Stiles was and he had to force himself to relax. He pulled Stiles closer and breathed in the mix of human and sulfur that lingered on Stiles’ skin. Derek closed his eyes and began to drift off. “Maybe he wasn’t so...” Stiles started.

Maybe he wasn’t so wrong, Derek thought as he fell into a dreamless sleep.

<-- back masterpost -->

Follow me on tumblr