(Take Away This) Ball and Chain 6/6
Epilogue
Derek went back to Illinois to see Laura. She hugged him tight enough that she literally bruised a few of his ribs. She then proceeded to yell at him for a full half hour about everything that had happened in the last few weeks. Apparently the rumors were flying about him and Stiles and people were calling her looking for him. There was literally no one else in the world he trusted as much as Laura so he told her everything. He told her about Stiles and about everything the two of them did over the last few weeks. Derek kept some of the more graphic details to himself. She seemed a little sad for him.
“You said you trusted him, right?” Laura asked as they sat on the front porch.
“Yeah, I did,” he replied.
“And he just left like that. You feel a little betrayed by that and you should but he let you go so I can’t hate him.” Laura rested her head on his shoulder and they sat side by side without saying a word to each other for a long time.
Derek ignored most of the calls on his phone and he heard Laura directing others away. They were people that were probably calling for his help. Laura seemed to know that he was waiting for something and just watched him very carefully. The first two times Derek tried to leave alone she insisted on going with him. It was irritating, but he went along with it. By the third time Derek was convinced that Laura was trying to keep him from leaving again. So he slipped out of the house while she was asleep and walked to the nearest crossroads. It had been a month since they had killed Saul and Derek had not seen or heard from Stiles since. He was not sure if he had been expecting anything but he at least wanted to even things out between them.
Derek idly wondered how many times he was going to bury something at the crossroads in his life. This was the third. The first hour that passed he thought that maybe it was just a busy night, but after two he was unsure someone would come at all.
“Sorry we appear to have a backlog thank you for--oh it’s you.” Derek spun around and saw Lydia standing a few feet away. She was not who he was expecting but she was looking at him like she had seen this coming a mile away. “What do you want now, Derek?”
“I need to talk to Stiles, can you tell him to come here?” Derek asked.
“Sorry, I can’t, and I don’t take messages either. If that’s all, I have people who actually need me,” Lydia said twirling a lock of red hair around her finger.
“Why won’t you? I helped him kill Saul and I didn’t hurt him while he was vulnerable. You know I’m not going to hurt kill him or anything like that.” Derek narrowed his eyes; she was hiding something from him. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Pretty sure I don’t answer to you, wolf boy.” Lydia narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips.
“Lydia, why won’t you just go get him for me? Why are you making this difficult for no reason?” Derek asked his voice getting a little louder.
“Because I can’t get to him you moron!” Lydia practically screamed. Derek stared as she took a few breaths and swallowed.
“What happened to him?” Derek asked gently taking a few steps toward her.
“You happened, you, this is all your fault.” She clenched her fists so tightly they were knuckle white. “As you might expect supernaturals don’t often make deals. The few that do have souls don’t usually get sick or get hurt so the Higher Ups were thrilled when they found out that Stiles had made a deal with you. A werewolf soul would make a furious demon, they make legends, and all I heard was how excited they were to get you in ten years. Then Stiles turns around and breaks your deal. They did not take it well.” Lydia looked upset and it made Derek very nervous but he got close enough to touch her arm despite every instinct telling him it was a bad idea. “You can’t see him, Derek, because he’s being taught a lesson in the pit. You know, I’ve wanted this job for years, I’ve always wanted to be ‘King’, but I didn’t want it this way.”
“Is there--”
“There’s nothing you can do,” Lydia snapped cutting him off completely. “The best part is that you somehow made it worse and you weren’t even there. Since he was such a high rank they basically told Stiles he could have a last request but to think of that request carefully because it would affect his punishment. And like the idiot that he is Stiles asked for your soul to basically get put on the blacklist. No demon can ever make a deal with you and the degree to which he made things worse for himself is so horrible I don’t even want to think about it.”
“Lydia, I didn’t know, I never asked,” Derek cut himself off as she took a step back from him.
“Don’t call on us again, Derek, and try not to get yourself killed. Otherwise his suffering will be all in vain.” Lydia vanished before him and Derek had to close his eyes to smell of the sulfur.
+++
Two months later Derek was in a motel room in the middle of Kansas. There had been some sightings of what people thought was a monster but it turned out to be a rather large wild dog that had rabies. Derek put the dog down anyway because it was still attacking people but the entire enterprise left him feeling a little bit empty. A few days after his conversation with Lydia he had left Laura behind again. She once again yelled at him for thirty minutes but in the end she understood that he really did like making a difference with hunting. The chaos of hunting kept his mind from wandering too much. Derek was no stranger to guilt but the idea that Stiles was being tortured in hell for him made his stomach turn.
Someone was walking toward his door, Derek could hear their heartbeat and their footsteps, so he was not surprised when there was a knock on his door. Checkout was not for another hour and there was a ‘do not disturb’ sign on the door. Derek sighed and opened the door ready to chew out whomever was on the other side but his jaw dropped when he saw Stiles standing in front of him. He was wearing a grey t-shirt with a grey plaid over-shirt and loose jeans. His hair was a little longer and his hands were in his pockets just like when they had first met each other.
“Holy shit. Are you going to rip my throat out?” Stiles asked with wide eyes. Derek did not think before he grabbed Stiles by the shirt, yanked him into the building and slammed him into the door.
“When we first met you had something of mine that you gave back, what was it?” Derek asked because he had to make sure this was Stiles and not some shapeshifter messing with his head.
“Your high school ID,” Stiles replied without hesitation. Derek stared for a moment breathing deep because it felt like Stiles and it smelled like him but that made absolutely no sense. “And judging from the way you’re looking at me you must have spoken to Lydia at some point.”
“Yeah, I did, about two months ago.” Derek released Stiles shirt and took a step back. Stiles wandered into the room and it was like three months ago, where it looked like he was taking in all of the details, but to Derek it looked more like he was trying to confirm it was all real. “She made it sound like you were going to be there for a long time.”
“Yeah, well, turns out I do still have some friends who gave me a few hundred boosties to get out of the pit. Lydia held onto the body for me because she knows that I’m really attached.” Stiles replied.
“So you’re just a normal demon now?” Derek took a step forward as Stiles turned around. His eyes bled black and then returned to their normal amber. Derek wanted to thank Stiles for everything he had done for him, but it did not feel right. Stiles did not want to hear those words and bringing up hell seemed in bad taste.
“So I just wanted to swing by and tell you not to kill me while you’re hunting,” Stiles said shrugging.
“I wasn’t planning on it.” Derek paused because there were about fifty ways this could backfire on him and this was probably the worst idea he was ever going to have. “I go on hunts and people ask me where my Peter is.”
“Peter and the Wolf,” Stiles said smiling.
“We actually made a pretty good team too,” Derek said walking into Stiles’ personal space. “And a hunter should always have someone they can trust at their back.”
“You trust me? Still?” Stiles asked but he was not moving away from Derek.
“Yes and I know you still trust me otherwise you wouldn’t have let me get this close.” Derek placed his hands on Stiles’ hips and pulled them so they were pressed against each other. “What do you say?”
“Two monsters hunting monsters?” Stiles asked, but he was wrapping his arms around Derek’s neck their mouths inches apart.
“Please, we’re way scarier than monsters.”
<-- back
Derek went back to Illinois to see Laura. She hugged him tight enough that she literally bruised a few of his ribs. She then proceeded to yell at him for a full half hour about everything that had happened in the last few weeks. Apparently the rumors were flying about him and Stiles and people were calling her looking for him. There was literally no one else in the world he trusted as much as Laura so he told her everything. He told her about Stiles and about everything the two of them did over the last few weeks. Derek kept some of the more graphic details to himself. She seemed a little sad for him.
“You said you trusted him, right?” Laura asked as they sat on the front porch.
“Yeah, I did,” he replied.
“And he just left like that. You feel a little betrayed by that and you should but he let you go so I can’t hate him.” Laura rested her head on his shoulder and they sat side by side without saying a word to each other for a long time.
Derek ignored most of the calls on his phone and he heard Laura directing others away. They were people that were probably calling for his help. Laura seemed to know that he was waiting for something and just watched him very carefully. The first two times Derek tried to leave alone she insisted on going with him. It was irritating, but he went along with it. By the third time Derek was convinced that Laura was trying to keep him from leaving again. So he slipped out of the house while she was asleep and walked to the nearest crossroads. It had been a month since they had killed Saul and Derek had not seen or heard from Stiles since. He was not sure if he had been expecting anything but he at least wanted to even things out between them.
Derek idly wondered how many times he was going to bury something at the crossroads in his life. This was the third. The first hour that passed he thought that maybe it was just a busy night, but after two he was unsure someone would come at all.
“Sorry we appear to have a backlog thank you for--oh it’s you.” Derek spun around and saw Lydia standing a few feet away. She was not who he was expecting but she was looking at him like she had seen this coming a mile away. “What do you want now, Derek?”
“I need to talk to Stiles, can you tell him to come here?” Derek asked.
“Sorry, I can’t, and I don’t take messages either. If that’s all, I have people who actually need me,” Lydia said twirling a lock of red hair around her finger.
“Why won’t you? I helped him kill Saul and I didn’t hurt him while he was vulnerable. You know I’m not going to hurt kill him or anything like that.” Derek narrowed his eyes; she was hiding something from him. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Pretty sure I don’t answer to you, wolf boy.” Lydia narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips.
“Lydia, why won’t you just go get him for me? Why are you making this difficult for no reason?” Derek asked his voice getting a little louder.
“Because I can’t get to him you moron!” Lydia practically screamed. Derek stared as she took a few breaths and swallowed.
“What happened to him?” Derek asked gently taking a few steps toward her.
“You happened, you, this is all your fault.” She clenched her fists so tightly they were knuckle white. “As you might expect supernaturals don’t often make deals. The few that do have souls don’t usually get sick or get hurt so the Higher Ups were thrilled when they found out that Stiles had made a deal with you. A werewolf soul would make a furious demon, they make legends, and all I heard was how excited they were to get you in ten years. Then Stiles turns around and breaks your deal. They did not take it well.” Lydia looked upset and it made Derek very nervous but he got close enough to touch her arm despite every instinct telling him it was a bad idea. “You can’t see him, Derek, because he’s being taught a lesson in the pit. You know, I’ve wanted this job for years, I’ve always wanted to be ‘King’, but I didn’t want it this way.”
“Is there--”
“There’s nothing you can do,” Lydia snapped cutting him off completely. “The best part is that you somehow made it worse and you weren’t even there. Since he was such a high rank they basically told Stiles he could have a last request but to think of that request carefully because it would affect his punishment. And like the idiot that he is Stiles asked for your soul to basically get put on the blacklist. No demon can ever make a deal with you and the degree to which he made things worse for himself is so horrible I don’t even want to think about it.”
“Lydia, I didn’t know, I never asked,” Derek cut himself off as she took a step back from him.
“Don’t call on us again, Derek, and try not to get yourself killed. Otherwise his suffering will be all in vain.” Lydia vanished before him and Derek had to close his eyes to smell of the sulfur.
+++
Two months later Derek was in a motel room in the middle of Kansas. There had been some sightings of what people thought was a monster but it turned out to be a rather large wild dog that had rabies. Derek put the dog down anyway because it was still attacking people but the entire enterprise left him feeling a little bit empty. A few days after his conversation with Lydia he had left Laura behind again. She once again yelled at him for thirty minutes but in the end she understood that he really did like making a difference with hunting. The chaos of hunting kept his mind from wandering too much. Derek was no stranger to guilt but the idea that Stiles was being tortured in hell for him made his stomach turn.
Someone was walking toward his door, Derek could hear their heartbeat and their footsteps, so he was not surprised when there was a knock on his door. Checkout was not for another hour and there was a ‘do not disturb’ sign on the door. Derek sighed and opened the door ready to chew out whomever was on the other side but his jaw dropped when he saw Stiles standing in front of him. He was wearing a grey t-shirt with a grey plaid over-shirt and loose jeans. His hair was a little longer and his hands were in his pockets just like when they had first met each other.
“Holy shit. Are you going to rip my throat out?” Stiles asked with wide eyes. Derek did not think before he grabbed Stiles by the shirt, yanked him into the building and slammed him into the door.
“When we first met you had something of mine that you gave back, what was it?” Derek asked because he had to make sure this was Stiles and not some shapeshifter messing with his head.
“Your high school ID,” Stiles replied without hesitation. Derek stared for a moment breathing deep because it felt like Stiles and it smelled like him but that made absolutely no sense. “And judging from the way you’re looking at me you must have spoken to Lydia at some point.”
“Yeah, I did, about two months ago.” Derek released Stiles shirt and took a step back. Stiles wandered into the room and it was like three months ago, where it looked like he was taking in all of the details, but to Derek it looked more like he was trying to confirm it was all real. “She made it sound like you were going to be there for a long time.”
“Yeah, well, turns out I do still have some friends who gave me a few hundred boosties to get out of the pit. Lydia held onto the body for me because she knows that I’m really attached.” Stiles replied.
“So you’re just a normal demon now?” Derek took a step forward as Stiles turned around. His eyes bled black and then returned to their normal amber. Derek wanted to thank Stiles for everything he had done for him, but it did not feel right. Stiles did not want to hear those words and bringing up hell seemed in bad taste.
“So I just wanted to swing by and tell you not to kill me while you’re hunting,” Stiles said shrugging.
“I wasn’t planning on it.” Derek paused because there were about fifty ways this could backfire on him and this was probably the worst idea he was ever going to have. “I go on hunts and people ask me where my Peter is.”
“Peter and the Wolf,” Stiles said smiling.
“We actually made a pretty good team too,” Derek said walking into Stiles’ personal space. “And a hunter should always have someone they can trust at their back.”
“You trust me? Still?” Stiles asked but he was not moving away from Derek.
“Yes and I know you still trust me otherwise you wouldn’t have let me get this close.” Derek placed his hands on Stiles’ hips and pulled them so they were pressed against each other. “What do you say?”
“Two monsters hunting monsters?” Stiles asked, but he was wrapping his arms around Derek’s neck their mouths inches apart.
“Please, we’re way scarier than monsters.”
<-- back