Turn It Up To Eleven

Derek was sleeping in the dirt and that made no sense. Granted he was a hunter and that meant that he slept in odd places every now and then. He was also a werewolf so this was not the first time he had woken up in the dirt but this was the first time he had woken up and was unsure how he got there. His head did not hurt so no one had hit him recently and there was a warm presence in front of him that said he was not dying anytime soon. Granted things had been odd since Stiles had become his partner. Stiles had been a crossroads demon that held Derek's contract but had broken it when they worked together to kill the demon that burned Derek's house to the ground and killed Stiles when he had been human. Recently Stiles had escaped out of hell and returned as a regular demon. Now they were working together as partners and for some reason being a werewolf and a demon hunter just seemed to attract more trouble than it did when Derek was working alone. Now it seemed like every other thing they had to hunt knew about them and found them entirely too amusing. It was annoying.

Derek shifted as the world came into focus and he realized that Stiles was the warmth he felt. They were having sex but they had never cuddled like this before. Stiles' back was pressed against Derek's front and they were wrapped around each other. Stiles was breathing softly, his heartbeat steady, which was not a good sign. Stiles rarely slept. Derek sat up and looked around. The sun was high in the sky. It was probably the middle of the afternoon. It was a clear day and it looked like they were in the middle of a large field. The grass was uncut and wild like no one had ever taken care of it before. When he shifted Stiles seemed to wake up. Stiles rolled onto his back and blinked up at Derek like everything was coming into focus for him too.

"Derek? Why are we lying in the dirt?" Stiles asked.

"I have no idea," Derek said. He was almost leaning over Stiles and for some reason it made his heart beat a little faster. The reaction terrified Derek. It that had never happened before. "I remember stopping the car on the side of the road."

"Yeah, you smelled something weird," Stiles said frowning. "So we got out of the car and went to check it out but I don't remember anything besides that. It's just blank."

"Did we get hit with something?" Derek asked and Stiles shrugged. The smell was gone but other things seemed to be missing too. Derek stood up and pulled Stiles to his feet. The field was large and stretched in all directions. There were woods to on the horizon line to the East and West but the field seemed to stretch to the horizon line interrupted to the North and South. The demon killing knife was on his hip but the gun he had brought with him was gone, along with his cell phone. "Stiles, where's the car? Better yet, where did the road go?"

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto," Stiles muttered.

"That was a well placed pop culture reference and an excellent dog joke," Derek deadpanned. "How do you know the Wizard of Oz?"

"I catch on," Stiles grinned. "I was serious though I really don't think we're in the same place we were before we went to sleep. This feels different. It makes my skin crawl." Derek nodded. It was like there was a haze over this world that he could not quite see through, it made the edges of his vision fuzzy, and his senses felt dulled. Derek concentrated on the world around them. Stiles was a low hum of energy but there were other things to the East and West in the woods that felt strange but familiar.

"Let's go East," Derek said. Stiles nodded and they began to pick their way through the field. It was not that hard to make their way through though. The world felt unnaturally flat. The more they walked the more Derek began to feel like he was in some sort of painting. The woods slowly began to come into view and the closer he got the more he could smell. When he realized what it was Derek put a hand out and stopped Stiles.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Werewolves," Derek said and Stiles tensed. Werewolves were not keen on their partnership and Laura had recently thrown holy water in Stiles' face. Derek did not expect anyone else to understand why he trusted Stiles with his life. When Stiles had broken their agreement his superiors had thrown him back into Hell. Stiles seemed to be suffering from PTSD like symptoms with flashbacks though he refused to talk about them. Lydia, Stiles' second in command and now his successor, told Derek that Stiles was being tortured. Derek was not sure he would ever know what Stiles went through for him so the least he could do was trust him. Stiles healed but he also felt pain and having to deal with werewolf claws in his body was probably not fun. "There are eleven of them. We could go check out the other side if you want." Derek could see Stiles visibly relax and throw up that bright smile that he seemed to think Derek could not see through.

"Nah, we're right here, let's just ask the wolves," Stiles said. He shoved his hands in his pockets. Derek could see that Stiles was clenching his fists. Stiles tried not to act different but Derek could see the cracks in the facade.

"All right," Derek said and they continued across the field. As they reached the edge of the woods Derek frowned when a fence came into view. It was roughly four feet high and made of wood. It stretched across the forest and vanished into the distance. It looked like something he would see in a backyard of a suburban family, but it was still odd. The smell of the wolves was stronger now and there was something about it that made his stomach clench. Stiles frowned at the fence, his head tilted to one side, until he shrugged and climbed over it easily. Derek hopped over and within seconds of his feet touching the ground he felt a wolf running toward them quickly.

"Someone is coming so be ready." They had stepped into another pack's territory and now Derek was going to have to do some fast talking to sort the drama that came with dealing with other packs. The wolf that was running at them, however, was using speed that he had not seen in a long time. As they got closer and Derek could smell them it felt like all of the air was punched out of his lungs. Stiles must have noticed something and looked like he was about to ask something when a body crashed through the wood and into Stiles.

Stiles had excellent reflexes and was quick on his feet so he managed to avoid getting his throat torn out by the wolf. The wolf did not give Stiles a chance to regain his footing as they went after him again. It was all so fast that Derek barely saw the wolf abandon their pursuit of Stiles to shove him away from the battle. Derek fell back against the ground. The wolf had shoved him hard enough to take him off his feet. Stiles twisted and kicked the wolf's feet out from underneath them. Stiles pulled the knife he kept around his ankle out and put it to the wolf's throat.

The wolf he had pinned down was a woman, middle aged, with long black hair, golden eyes, and prominent cheekbones. She was slowly turning human underneath Stiles, but Derek could not breath because it was not possible, this was not possible, there was no possible way that he was seeing this.

"Derek, she looks like--" Stiles began and that was enough of a distraction that she got a foot on his stomach and kicked Stiles back. She moved in front of Derek, shielding him from Stiles. He could not handle this.

"Stay away from my son you hell spawn," his mother said. It looked like her, it smelled like her, it felt like her, but she was dead. Derek knew that she was dead because he had witnessed it. He had seen bodies found and how she was among them yet there his mother was, standing in front of him, protecting him, from a threat. Derek managed to stand on shaking legs. He was afraid to reach out and touch her out of fear that this would fade away into some horrible nightmare. Stiles glanced at Derek and stayed on the ground.

"Mrs. Hale?" Stiles said and his Mom bared her teeth at Stiles. "Look, I'm not a threat here, I promise you."

"All of your kind are a threat," Mom spit out. "What are you doing coming into our territory? And what the hell are you doing with my son?" She was angry and Derek could not let this escalate, but he was frozen in place. Fortunately, Stiles seemed to realize this too.

"Okay," he said showing his hands. "I'm putting my knife back around my ankle and I'll go back over the fence. No one needs to get torn apart or anything messy like that, okay?" Mom growled, but Stiles moved slowly putting the knife back around his ankle and slowly backing toward the fence with his hands in the air. Mom kept an arm in front of Derek like she could keep him from going anywhere near Stiles. "I'm going to turn my back to climb over the fence and I'm going to trust you not to rip my spine out." Stiles did not wait for Mom to respond before he turned and began to climb over the fence. Mom moved as if she was going to attack while his back was turned, but Derek touched her arm. She was warm, alive, she felt real. She glared at him as Stiles dropped back down to the ground his hands in the air again. "See? No problem."

"Next time I won't be so forgiving," Mom warned. “Not after what you tried to do to my family.”

“I don’t believe we’ve ever met, Mrs. Hale,” Stiles said.

“Your kind. The way you used that woman to almost burn us to the ground in our own home. If we hadn’t realized what was happening we would have died,” his mother said. “So I won’t hesitate to send you back to hell.” Derek could see the way Stiles paled at that threat, the way his amber eyes got wide and frightened, and if this disagreement was as bad as Mom was making it sound then he had to stop this. They did not know where they were and if Stiles ended up in the Pit Derek would never see him again.

"Mom," Derek said and his voice did not sound right. “It's all right. I don't think he was going to hurt me. I think we were both in the wrong place at the wrong time." It was a blatant lie and he was too shocked to really conceal it. Mom stared at him like she could tell he was lying. She looked back at Stiles and glared.

"Stay off of our land and away from my son," she said.

"Yes ma'am," Stiles said, but he was looking at Derek. Stiles' hands were still in the air and his left pointer finger twitched, followed by his right pointer and middle fingers, then he pointedly looked at the ground. He was trying to tell Derek something and over the last few months they had gotten fairly good at non-verbal cues. He was saying '1-2-here' which translated to '12 here.' Stiles wanted them to meet back here at midnight. Derek was standing behind his mother so he nodded and thankfully she could not see.

"Let's go Derek," Mom said. Derek hesitated for only a moment. He wanted to stay with Stiles because this was obviously wrong and there was something going on, but this was his mother. Her scent, being around her, it felt real and he wanted to be with her again. Derek glanced back at Stiles one last time, his hands still held in surrender, and followed his mother into the woods.

Derek was not sure what to make of this. On one hand the woman felt like his mother, looked like an older version of her and even smelled like her. On the other hand though, she was dead. Yet here he was walking through unfamiliar woods with her as if it were normal. Every now and then Derek would have to look back at her. It was unnerving. There was something wrong with this entire situation. The world still had that haze that Derek could not quite shake and the woods that they were walking through were not the one’s he grew up in. The trees looked too familiar and there were not any sounds of animals around.

“Why are you staring at me, Derek?”

“I’m not,” Derek said. She stopped and stared him down in a way that made him feel ten years old again.

“You are. What were you doing out here?” she said.

“I was on a walk and he was just jumping over the fence. You got here right when I did,” Derek said.

“That’s a lie,” Mom said. “You smell like him.” She winced like the smell of Stiles was personally offending her. “It smells like you’ve been around him for months. He smells like you too, but that’s not possible. I just saw you this morning.” Once again Derek felt like someone had just pushed him into a frozen river.

“You did?” Derek asked before he could second guess himself. His mother’s eyes widened and she cupped his face with her hands. She studied him and Derek had to hold himself back from pulling her into a hug. This was too much for him to handle. She was dead, she was supposed to be dead, how was she here?

“Oh sweetheart, what did he do to you?” Mom said softly.

“Mom, you can’t be here,” Derek said. Mom jerked back away from him like she’d been hit by something. “You died, everyone died, that fire happened and everyone died.”

“What are you talking about, Derek? The fire happened, yes, but it did minor damage and that demon ran off before we could do anything,” Mom said.

“No, it was just me and Laura who survived, and then I became a hunter and something is wrong about this.” Derek was trying to explain how this was wrong but all his mother could do was shake her head.

“They’ve gotten into your head again. They did it with that woman and now they’re doing it again with that boy.” Mom put a hand around his shoulders and walked with Derek through the woods. “Let’s go home.” Home, as it turned out, was the same home Derek had grown up in. Mom kept an arm around his shoulders the entire way but was quiet. He could see the anger in her though. It was the same anger that he saw the first time he came home smelling of Kate when he was a teenager. The day right before the fire, she stared him down and asked him what was going on. Derek had lied and said that there was nothing.

The next day the house was burned down and when Kate's body was found he had no idea what had happened. He called on Stiles to make a deal with a demon for his family, but Stiles turned him down saying that he did not deal with children. Derek did not find out the truth about Kate and how she was possessed until six years later. Now he was walking into a clearing that not only had the house that, last Derek had seen, was barely standing, completely fine but he could also feel his entire family. His father was his alpha and Derek could feel it in his bones. It was a different feeling from Laura and it made Derek want to run away. The door flew open and Laura raced down the stairs. It made him feel a little better seeing her because she was the constant in his life.

"What the hell did he do this time?" Laura asked.

"He's talking nonsense," Mom said before Derek could defend himself. "Try to get him to explain while I go talk to your father." Mom left him with Laura outside the house and vanished to go find his dad. Laura crossed her arms and crinkled her nose.

"You smell like you've been rolling in rotten eggs," she said. "Want to tell me what's going on?" Derek tried to explain but Laura cut him off halfway through. "The fire never happened, Derek. I don't know what you're talking about. Do you need to come inside to see for yourself?" Derek was not sure he could handle walking into that house and seeing it like it had been when he was a child. Something was wrong though and running away from these people was not going to make it better. He had hours to kill before he was going to meet Stiles so it seemed logical to get a look around. If nothing else, Derek knew he needed to know the exits of this place.

"Yeah, maybe it will," Derek said. Laura offered him a hand and they walked into the house.

Stiles kept his hands in the air until Derek was out of sight with the wolf that was apparently his mother. If Stiles had been suspicious that something was wrong now he was sure of it. While Stiles had not met anyone else in the Hale family besides Derek and Laura that did not mean he did not recognize the signs of family the minute he got a look at her. Derek had once told Stiles that his mother was the fastest wolf he had ever seen. She had really given Stiles a run for his money. He was not keen on sending Derek out alone, but the threat of being sent back into the Pit was pathetically crippling. Stiles cracked his neck and started across the field to the other side. Mrs. Hale had mentioned that this side was wolf territory and that meant that the other forest was someone else's territory.

As Stiles suspected there was another fence that stretched across the forest to the West. This time Stiles took the time to examine it and he could smell mountain ash and wolfsbane. This was a barrier designed to keep wolves out. Stiles climbed over the fence and hopped down. No one came running at him this time so he took this as a sign that it was okay to explore a little. The woods were strange, like someone made a copy of a few trees and spread them for miles in all directions. He found a few small traps that would have caught him were he not paying attention. Instead Stiles stayed alert until he felt something familiar.

Lydia was in the middle of the woods doing her nails. She looked like the Lydia he had known for a long time and she even gave him that same 'oh great it's you' look that she had mastered when they worked together. That look did not stay long because her eyes went wide and she was in his personal space in seconds.

"What happened to you?" she said touching him everywhere like she was looking for wounds.

"Easy, easy, what are you talking about? What's with all the touching?" Stiles asked slapping her hands away, but he froze when he realized just how scared she looked. "What?"

"The Pit," Lydia whispered. Stiles hated himself instantly for the way he tensed up but he knew she noticed. Lydia noticed everything. "You've been there again but I just saw you a few hours ago."

"We haven't seen each other in months," Stiles said slowly. "Not since I got demoted and you took my position."

"Something isn't right," Lydia said. "Explain to me right now what’s going on because I just saw you a few hours ago. A few hours is way longer than it would take to get in and out and it wouldn't have left these kind of scars." Lydia yanked him down to the ground and glared at him until Stiles talked. He told her about being King, about the Hale fire, and he was about to tell her about turning down Derek's deal when she held up a hand to silence him.

"I wasn't done yet," Stiles said.

"No, but I've heard enough. You mentioned the wolves and that's all I need to know. You smell like a wet dog and you really need to get over your obsession with them." Lydia rolled her eyes and sighed. "I don't know what kind of joke you're pulling this time, but I don't want to hear anymore. Like most of your jokes, it’s not funny." Stiles was about to argue that he is always funny when he heard someone laugh behind them.

“Maybe we do need to work on that sense of humor,” a woman’s voice said. Stiles turned around slowly and saw a beautiful woman with long, blond hair and a sharp smile watching him. That was not just who he saw. He also saw someone that he knew all too well, that sharp smile echoing various times over his mortal and immortal life, and it made him see red. Stiles had never seen the body that Saul had used to burn down Derek’s home and kill his family, but he knew about her. Stiles had dealt with Saul once, he had killed that shadow that seemed to haunt him, and now he was staring at it again.

Stiles was on his feet before he could think twice and charging towards her, at Saul wearing that woman Kate’s body, and pulled the knife attached to his leg. Derek had the knife that killed demons, but that did not matter. Stiles was more than willing to just cut her up anyway. Kate (or Saul, Stiles was not sure what to refer to her as in his head) grinned and side stepped his attack easily. She laughed at him as she knocked the blade from his hand. Stiles ignored his lack of weapon and tried to punch her if only to get rid of that smirk, but Kate stopped his fist with her hand like it was nothing. Stiles tried to jerk it away but she slowly began to crush the fingers in his hand. It was like the Pit all over again and it stole the air from his lungs as he crumbled to his knees.

“Stiles, Stiles, I thought we were past this,” she said.

“Why would we be past this, Saul?” Stiles gasped through his teeth. She was crushing his hand.

“Please, I don’t go by that name anymore, just call me ‘Kate.’ We moved beyond this years ago and I’m sad that you’ve decided to bring it up again.” Kate released his hand and Stiles held it to his chest. He was fairly sure that the bones knitting themselves together hurt more than them breaking. Kate punched him hard enough that Stiles heard the bones on his cheek shatter and he bit through his lip to keep from crying out in pain. He refused to “Let’s not do this dance again.” Stiles did not need to look up to know that she was gone. In the back of his head this made sense. The Hales were alive so of course Saul, Kate, would be as well. Lydia knelt in front of him and shook her head.

“You forgave her a long time ago,” she said. “I think you need to tell me what’s going on again and this time much slower and as coherently as you can.”

Derek spent the rest of the day with his family. It set his nerves on edge. His entire family was there and they all looked at him like they had just seen him earlier that day. They did not feel like doppelgangers or some sort of shapeshifter yet here was his family alive and well. Even if there was some sort of creature playing a terrible joke on him, it did not explain the house. Every detail from it was perfect. There was not a single thing that was out of place from the basement to the attic. Derek looked for something, anything, that could prove to him that this was not the house that he grew up in but the more he looked the more evidence piled up that this really was his house.

Dinner made things worse. They all insisted that they have a family dinner. That meant sitting around the table with his parents, Laura, cousins, Uncle Peter and his wife, and they all seemed to know that something had happened with Derek and the demons again. They kept bringing up Kate and Derek wanted to correct them and tell them that it was not really Kate. That the demon that wore Kate's skins name was Saul and Derek had slit his throat earlier that year with Stiles at his side. He wanted to defend Stiles when they talked about how horrible all demons were, that they all had blood on their hands, but that felt like a lie. Stiles did have blood on his hands and probably more than Derek wanted to know about. They could all hear any lie he told so he said nothing. Derek just ate his Mom's cooking, avoided his Dad's eyes, and went to bed early. Derek watched the sun and tried not to panic too much.

Derek had mastered sneaking out when he was seeing Kate as a teenager and it seemed that things had not changed much. All it took was carefully avoiding the loud areas of the floors and he was out the window on the far side of the house. About a half mile away from the house Derek stopped and listened to see if he was being followed. There were next to no natural sounds in the forest so when he did not hear anyone Derek was fairly confident that he was on his own. He found the fence and jumped over easily then waited again to see if anyone was coming. When it seemed clear he walked toward the middle of the field until he saw Stiles waiting for him. It was not a full moon but it was bright enough that there was plenty of light even without his wolf eyes. Stiles had one of his hands in his pockets and the other had a small book and he looked up when Derek got close. He looked a little pale and Derek could smell some blood on his clothing that had not been there earlier. It made Derek run up to him a little faster and he wanted to touch and make sure Stiles was not injured.

"What happened?" Derek said.

"Well, I've been trying to figure that out, but I might have something that can help," Stiles said waving the book around a little.

"No, someone hurt you, I can smell the blood," Derek said.

"It's not important," Stiles said waving him off. "What I have here is like a version of your Uncle and Father's journal that you normally have only it's made by a hunter family that is rather well known." Stiles sat down and began to look over the book. Derek wanted to pester him to make Stiles tell him what had happened, but the way Stiles looked on edge. Derek sat down next to him and they began to flip through the book. Most of it was in Latin and Derek could pick up on a few phrases here and there but nothing that stood out.

"They don't feel like shifters," Derek said. "My parents smell like my parents, the house looks like my house, I don't think someone could recreate that."

"Maybe none of this is real," Stiles said as he flipped through a bunch of pages. "'A 'trickster' is a demigod-like creature that thrives on creating mischief and mayhem. With the power to make objects materialize out of thin air, the Trickster accomplishes its destructive feats via unusual and often humorous methods.' I fail to see anything humorous about this though. If this thing got in our heads though, it would know exactly what your family felt like. None of this is real."

"If it isn't real, how are we supposed to get back? Are as asleep and we just need to wake up?" Derek said.

"None of this is real but that doesn't mean we're asleep either," Stiles said. He closed the book and seemed to think on all of this for a moment. "We can get hurt though and this isn't sunshine and rainbows either. Your family is alive but that also means someone else is too." Derek frowned until he remembered his mother had mentioned that the demon got away. That meant Saul was still in Kate's body when she tried to burn down the house. Derek was overwhelmed with a burning desire to protect Stiles that he had not felt in a long time.

"Saul, he's here, in Kate's body," Derek said softly.

"He's taken her name, so I guess it's just Kate for now. Packs a hell of a punch too." Stiles touched his cheekbone and grimaced. Derek touched the place where Stiles had been hurt with his thumb but jerked his hand away a second later. That was not something that he and Stiles did and Derek did not understand where the impulse came from. "I'm fine, Derek, don't worry about me."

"You know I will anyway," Derek said. They stared at each other for a moment and then both stood.

"We need to remember that this isn't real," Stiles said. "We have to keep a distance from this. That thing is messing with our heads and I have a bad feeling something will happen if we get lost here."

"And you need to be careful," Derek said. "Saul--Kate, she's a psychopath and she won't hesitate to make you miserable. She’s gotten into both of our heads now. We can't let it happen again." They were standing oddly close and Derek could feel the heat coming off of Stiles. There was something about this world that made Derek want to protect Stiles even more. There was something else though, something that made a lump form in his throat that had not gone away since they had arrived, and now it sounded like they were going to go their separate ways. Derek wanted to kiss Stiles, which was strange. He had always found Stiles attractive but he had never wanted to kiss Stiles just for the sake of kissing him. It felt strange, but it did not feel wrong.

"I will be. We should meet back here again tonight though," Stiles replied. His eyes were a little wide like he was fighting something too. Derek watched as Stiles' gaze flicked toward his lips and it made his stomach drop when he realized that Stiles wanted to kiss him too. It shouldn't be strange though, they kissed all the time, so why were they hesitating now? Derek did not have much time to obsess about it because Stiles leaned forward and kissed him. This was strange too though. Normally when they kissed it was rough and hard like they were fighting. This time it felt soft, tentative, and it took a lot of self restraint pull away. "Just keep reminding yourself that none of it is real."

"I will and we'll meet back here tonight. Try to stay out of Kate's way," Derek said. Stiles nodded and they both walked toward their territory lines. Derek kept repeating in his head that this was not real. Everything in this world felt hazy, except Stiles.

Stiles jumped the fence and tried to keep himself from freaking out too much. Wanting to kiss Derek should not be worrying him this much. This world that they were in, none of it was real, so why should he trust anything? At the same time Derek was real so perhaps that was the only thing he could trust. It made sense that they were a little more co-dependent than usual. Stiles ignored the way he was freaking out and tried to focus on the fact that he needed to figure out a way to wake themselves up. There was nothing funny about this and Stiles did not see how bringing back the dead was going to teach them anything. This trickster was different and whatever they were doing seemed lost on Stiles for now. Even if this world he could feel the moment Lydia got close and Stiles smiled to himself.

"You know I can tell the second you get close," he said.

"Good," Lydia said as she emerged from the shadows. "then we don't need to waste time with me jumping out and scaring you. We can get right to the part where you're being an idiot."

"I'm always an idiot. I don't see how this is any different," Stiles said.

"You're going to make Kate angry with this obsession with the wolves and your ranting about how this isn't real. She's going to do a lot worse than crushing your hand and punching you and you know that," Lydia said. Stiles did know that, he could only imagine how much this was going to piss Kate off, and he did not care. There was no way he was going to leave Derek alone in a world where someone was playing with the memories of his family. Derek did not deserve to face that by himself, not when he had someone who could help, but Stiles also knew that he was being selfish. He needed Derek too and he needed to get them out of here.

"I need to see every book you’ve got," Stiles said. Lydia glared at him but gestured for him to follow her.

Derek shifted and went on a run. He could still smell Stiles on his skin and there was no doubt that his family would be able to smell it as well. Derek did not mind smelling Stiles on him, it seemed like their scent had mingled almost and become one over the last few months, but they would not be happy to know that he was still seeing a demon. He did not blame this version of his family for hating demons but he wished he could find a way to explain to them why Stiles was different. They did not believe him that this was not real and he could not figure out a way to show them how he knew Stiles would never hurt him but the words died on Derek's tongue. If he had lived in this world, if it had been a demon that had used Laura and almost set the house on fire, he would not have wanted to hear anything about them either. There was no way he would have trusted a demon either.

Derek shifted back and could feel his family start to wake up as he approached the house. There was a slightly elevated heartbeat and Laura was waiting for him outside. She looked angry and a little resigned like she already knew exactly where he was. Stiles' scent still lingered so she probably did.

"You said that this world isn't real," Laura said when Derek sat down next to her. "You said that in the real world Mom, Dad, everyone died in that fire and it was just the two of us."

"Yeah, in the real world it's just the two of us," Derek said.

"I refuse to believe that this is some sort of elaborate fantasy. That the person I am right now isn't real and I can't believe that you're willing to accept something as terrible as that world," Laura snapped. "And do you know what confuses me even more? If you're so convinced that this isn't real and that a demon killed our family, how can you be around one like it's no big deal?"

"Stiles is different," Derek said.

"He's really not." Laura stood up and glared down at him. "He's going to betray your trust because that’s his nature. No matter what you think you know about him, you're wrong. He's using you for something just like she used you to get to us. I just can't understand how you can trust one of them when in what you think is the 'real world' they killed our entire family." Laura walked back into the house and left Derek sitting on the front steps. He felt like he had some sort of reason why he trusted Stiles as much as he did but Laura had a point. Derek should not have trusted Stiles but he did. Derek felt the rest of the pack waking up and he went inside to see them.

Derek spent the rest of the day with his family. He played with his younger siblings and his cousins, chasing them around the forest and pretending that he did not see them coming when they tackled him. He spoke with Peter about all of the creatures in the world that were listed in the notebook which existed in this world. Peter seemed surprised that he was so interested in everything that was out there and they spent hours going through page after page. When Peter walked out of the room Derek put the notebook in his jacket. He spent time with his parents and it made his heart feel a little less heavy when they both hugged him tightly. He could not imagine leaving them and that was when Derek realized that he had forgotten that this was not real. Over the course of the day there were times where he thought that this was real and he had no where else he needed to be. Derek closed his eyes and repeated to himself that this was an illusion, it was not real, it couldn't be, but a little voice nagging in the back of his head pointed out that the world felt sharper. The haze that seemed to linger over the world was fading and it all looked real. It was almost like coming out of an extremely detailed dream.

Derek clenched his teeth and reminded himself that no matter how real any of this felt it was fake. He could remember the fire and everyone dying. He remembered the shift of power and when Laura became his alpha. He remembered being a hunter and being Stiles’ partner. Derek focused on Stiles. He was the thing that was different. Stiles was real and that was what he needed to focus on. Thinking about Stiles made his heart speed up a little and when Derek opened his eyes Laura was staring at him. Derek did his best to ignore the way she was looking at him like she knew who he was thinking about.

He snuck out again that night and looped around the forest a few times to make sure that no one was following him. There was no doubt in his mind that Laura knew he was meeting with Stiles and Derek just hoped that she would not involve herself. The Laura in the real world only tolerated Stiles because Stiles broke their deal and went to Hell for him. This version of Laura in this world had no reason to tolerate Stiles and Derek did not want to break up a fight between the two of them. Derek jumped the fence and found Stiles in the same spot as the night before. Only this time Stiles was surrounded by several books and he seemed to be reading them at break neck speeds.

"Find anything?" Derek said as he sat down next to Stiles. He did not mean to sit as close to Stiles as he did. They were shoulder to shoulder and hip to hip. If it bothered Stiles he did not show it. If anything he smiled a little to himself and leaned a little into Derek.

"Our books are always so long winded," Stiles snapped the book closed. "Demons seem to think they are above the rest of the world so the only lore we seem to focus on are the things that can kill us."

"So you talk a lot about other demons and angels," Derek said and Stiles nodded. "Well maybe this can help." Derek pulled out Peter's notebook and when Stiles saw it his eye lit up.

"Oh I hope your uncle in this world is as big of an obsessive as the one in the real one. His notebook was brilliant," Stiles said. Derek opened the book and they flipped through the pages until they got to a section on tricksters. There was a lot of information but nothing that helped them. They were not asleep so their physical bodies were still in danger but there was no way of proving whether or not they could die here. The more Derek read the more he began to realize that there might not be any waking up from this until the trickster decided that they had to.

"Stiles, there's something I need to tell you," Derek said after they spent several hours going through Peter's notebook and the books that Stiles had brought with him. They were still sitting close but they had broken apart a little. Stiles blinked and looked up from the book he was reading.

"Did something happen?" Stiles said and there was an odd edge to his voice. It was an edge that Derek had heard before when someone was threatening his life in front of Stiles. It was the edge that came out when Stiles was going to get angry and do something to protect him.

"Not what you're thinking. No one tried to hurt me or anything. It's just that there were a few times today where I forgot that this wasn't real," Derek confessed. "The world used to feel really hazy, dreamlike, but now it feels sharper and there were a few times where I forgot that the family back over that fence isn't my real family."

"There's no telling what will happen if we get lost here," Stiles said. "If the trickster is trying to convince us that this is reality and we accept it as reality we could be trapped." Stiles closed the book and moved closer to Derek. "We can't forget that this isn't real no matter how it might feel. You're real and I'm real. Everything else is just our memories being used against us. What brought you back? What made you remember that this wasn't our world?" Stiles' eyes were wide and worried, he was a little scared even if he never would admit it, the thought of being trapped in this world scared him, and it scared Derek too.

"You did. Thinking about you reminded me that this isn't real," Derek said. "So I need a memory of you to remind me." Derek was reaching for Stiles before he could think twice about it and Stiles was moving forward until they were in each other's space. While being around his family felt good it was only around Stiles that he felt relaxed. Stiles smirked until he was practically in Derek's lap.

"You need some sort of memory of me to remind you that this world isn't real?" Stiles said when they were chest to chest.

"Yeah, you got any ideas?" Derek wrapped his arms around Stiles' waist.

"I can think of a few." The kiss was soft, barely there, and it still seemed to steal the breath from Derek. He pressed his forehead to Stiles' and took a deep breath taking in every detail of Stiles' scent. The undercurrent of sulfur that never went away and the way he smelled a little human and a little like a wolf. They had barely touched and it already felt too intense. Derek opened his eyes and found Stiles staring back at him. He looked surprised too, like he was not expecting all of this to be too much to handle, and it made Derek feel a little better that he was not the only one affected.

"I'm going to need more than that," Derek managed to ground out. He barely recognized his own voice.

"As you wish," Stiles said grinning. This kiss was heavier and Stiles seemed to open up for him. Normally Stiles did not like to yield to him but he must have been able to sense just how much forgetting had frightened Derek. He did not protest when Derek bit his lower lip and he did not fight when Derek rolled them so Stiles was on his back and Derek was looking down at him. Stiles barely let him catch his breath before pulling Derek down into another wet and dirty kiss. Derek had to force himself away from Stiles' mouth and kissed his way along his jawline until he got to Stiles' neck. "You and your neck kink."

"Don't even try to deny that you don't like it," Derek said. Stiles scoffed and Derek bit down on Stiles' pulse point grinning when he felt Stiles arch against him swearing. "I told you not to deny it."

"You're terrible," Stiles mumbled. He took a fist full of Derek's hair and pulled him away from his neck. "I don't know why I put up with you."

"I could say the same about you," Derek said. Stiles chuckled and pulled him down for another kiss. Derek wanted to stay exactly where he was and kiss Stiles until one of them stopped breathing, but it was getting late. If he was not home when his family woke up there was no telling what they would do. Derek broke the kiss and looked down at Stiles. "I need to head back."

"I know," Stiles said but neither of them moved to untangle themselves from each other. Derek could tell that Stiles did not want to move anymore than he did. It took a lot of effort to pull away from Stiles and help him gather all of the books. "Do your best to remember that this isn't real. I'll keep looking into tricksters and see what I can find. If you can try asking your uncle about it without tipping him off."

"Be careful," Derek said. Kate was still out there and it made him nervous that he was not there to help Stiles if he needed it.

"You too," Stiles said. They stared at each other for a moment before Derek decided that fuck it and he kissed Stiles one last time. "Needed some more material to help you remember?"

"Yes," Derek lied. He was not sure how Stiles would react if he knew that Derek wanted to touch him, kiss him, all the time now. Even if sex was off the table Derek would be fine by lying together and that was not how they worked. It terrified him but Derek also found it grounding. Stiles was the only thing in this world he could trust and if he started to second guess that Derek was sure he would be lost here. "Again tonight?" Stiles nodded and they went their separate ways. Derek thought about how it felt to touch Stiles, how it felt right, and how everything around him was an illusion.

Stiles stashed all of the books he had stolen from Lydia under a tree and smiled to himself as he jumped over the fence. It was a little silly that he was smiling simply because he has just spent time with Derek. The fact that they went from being around each other all the time to only a few hours at night was probably what made the difference. That was why everything felt different, why he wanted to be around Derek more, it was their bond being kept apart. Stiles decided that he was not going to seek anyone out and spend the night alone. There was no telling when another demon was going to get angry at him for some stupid reason. It would not be the first time that had happened and it would not be the last either. Stiles just wanted to get away from this nightmare and go back to the real world where he and Derek could hunt monsters. Stiles blamed no one but himself for being so lost in thought that he only realized someone was running at him at the last second. He ducked just as someone was about to kick his head clean off.

"Maybe you aren't totally useless," Kate said grinning. "Then again maybe you are." Stiles did not have time to make a snappy remark before Kate charged him again. She was outrageously fast and it took all of his skills to avoid getting hit by her. Her knuckles grazed his side in a punch that would have broken something internally. Kate laughed and landed a sharp punch to his stomach. Stiles coughed and bent over instinctively which allowed Kate ample opportunity to throw her knee into his nose and knock him back. Stiles could taste the blood as it ran down his throat and it reminded him of Hell, of choking and drowning on his own blood, being torn apart, and voices laughing when he gave in and let them see how much it hurt. "I was expecting better. Maybe I should go play with your wolves and come back later. Then you might be ready for a fight." The mere mention of the Hales made Stiles forget about his wound. He stood up.

"You aren't going to touch them," Stiles said. He spit some blood on the ground and was proud when it got on Kate's boots. She did not look too happy about that.

"Is that all it takes to get you wound up? You're so predictable." Kate charged him again and despite his wounds Stiles managed to land a few blows on her. He felt satisfied when her nose broke under his fist but Kate responded by throwing him into a tree. She pinned him there by his neck and her sharp nails reminded him of Derek's claws. "I'm going to kill that boy of yours and his little pack. I'm going to make sure it is slow and there won't be anything you can do about it."

"I'm not going to let you touch them ever again," Stiles said through his teeth.

"I won't touch them if you stay away from them like I told you to," Kate snapped. "Rumor is that you don't think any of this is real. Are you sure about that?"

"Of course I am," Stiles said without hesitation.

"Are you willing to bet the wolves lives on that? Are you willing to let me kill your boys entire family because they aren't real? Are you that confident?" Kate asked. Stiles felt his heart speed up as he thought about how Derek would have to watch them die, watch Kate kill them, and how much it could hurt him. He thought about how the world did feel sharper like Derek said. Like the dream was fading and everything felt real here. Stiles was doubting and he hated himself for that. "That's what I thought." Kate released his throat and took several steps back. "You want to keep those wolves safe? Then stay away from them. It's as simple as that. I don't want anymore issues with that pack when the territory lines are working just fine. Stay away or we'll get to see just how fake all of this is." Kate vanished and left Stiles alone in the woods. His wounds were healing but he could still taste the blood. He slid down the tree to the ground and hit his head against the trunk a few times.

"God damn it."

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.