Bright But Solemn Eyed (Part Three)
Scott climbed off of his bike next to Stiles’ Jeep and met the other teen around the far side of it. “You don’t have to do this alone,” he insisted in a hushed whisper. “I could…” He gestured at the woods in front of them.
Stiles shook his head, “No you can’t. The plan will work.” He didn’t add on the ‘because it has to’ that was rattling around in his head. “I go from here to the house, touching as many non poisonous things as possible, and the Omega will catch the scent and track me. If he smells any of you then the gig is up.”
“I know,” Scott crossed his arms to keep from reaching out to his friend. “But that doesn’t mean I like the idea of you being out there alone. What if he gets to you before you’re close enough for us to help?”
“I can handle it,” Stiles insisted, wiggling his fingers in Scott’s direction. “You guys just be ready to… do whatever it is you’re supposed to be doing.” Scott nodded warily before heading back to his bike riding off before Derek appeared out of the twilight woods to take his place.
“You shouldn’t be joking about this,” he snarled quietly. “Mess up and you’re going to get yourself killed. You’re just human.”
“No I’m not,” Stiles reminded him, embracing the ache of the lightning inside that flared every time Derek was around to antagonize him. “If I was, I’d be dead instead of some college kid who went camping in the wrong spot.”
“Stiles…” Derek took a step forward.
“No, Derek, don’t you dare. I can take care of myself now; nevermind that I kept myself alive all through high school. Me, Derek, not you.” Derek grabbed Stiles wrist and hissed when the teen grabbed back, jolting the wolf hard enough to see a spark of red in his eyes. “You can’t stop me from ending this,” Stiles bit out, “so either help me or fuck off.” Derek stared into his eyes for a moment longer before nodding minutely and pulling away. Stiles let go reluctantly and pointedly looked away from the angry red mark circling the Alpha’s wrist.
Derek moved towards the woods again but Stiles heard a muttered “Be careful” before his disappeared. Stiles nodded at the deepening darkness and took a deep breath. His hands were still tingling with energy just under the surface, like the feeling of running stocking feet over rough carpet knowing that as soon as you try to open a door you’re going to feel a shock.
He moved slowly through the woods, partially to ensure the path was unmistakable for the Omega to follow and partially to calm his nerves. Every step that took him closer to the old Hale House took him closer to a confrontation he’d have rather avoided. He dragged his hands along trees as he went, trampling over foliage, snapping limbs, scorching fingertips into bark as he passed. By the time he reached the edge of a clearing he was sure a blind Boy Scout would have been able to follow the trail he’d left behind.
“So that was fun.” He took a deep breath before moving towards the tree near the house they’d decided to center the ambush around. The pack was spread out around him but he didn’t know where anyone was, partially to keep him from glancing in their direction and partially to avoid any tell tale heart rate jumps if the Omega questioned him. Stiles dropped down onto the ground to wait.
He’d almost dozed off when he heard a twig snapping at the edge of the clearing. The teen stood up quickly and stared at the Omega as the stranger stalked towards him.
“If it isn’t the little lightning bug,” the man snarled. “Where are your friends? The ones with the teeth?” He opened his mouth wide enough for the waning moonlight to glint off of his own.
“You are one walking, talking cliche,” Stiles snarked, backing up a bit until he felt the tree firm against his back. “Is there where you huff and puff?”
“This is where I rip your head off. I owe you for that bit of magic you pulled on me the other night.” The werewolf growled deep in his throat, eyes flashing blue as his snout elongated.
“Nothing magic about it.” The teen took a deep breath and brought his hands up, embracing the fear inside of him until they lit up like fireworks. “Just a little Stilinski mojo.”
The wolf didn’t say another word before he ran at Stiles, the teen moving to the side enough to push the man away with a hand against his neck. The Omega howled in pain, one hand raising up to cover the wound left behind by Stiles’ power.
He straightened up, dropping his hand away, before advancing on Stiles again, moving slowly and calculatingly. “That was a freebie,” he said calmly as he backed Stiles against the tree again. “It’ll take more than a burn to stop me from killing you. And I will treasure every second you bleed out.”
Stiles coughed out a gasp as the werewolf lunged again. He stood his ground this time, reaching forward with both hands and planting them right on the Omega’s face. The sound the werewolf let out as he collapsed was chilling, all whimpers and pain. Stiles moved around him, moving across the lawn until he spotted Derek moving towards him from the shadow of the house.
“He isn’t…” Stiles glanced back at the body still writhing on the ground.
“Not yet,” Derek agreed. He had come to a stop facing Stiles midway between him and the Omega. “We’ll take care of him but… you don’t have to be here.”
Stiles nodded slowly and then stopped before shaking his head. “I do,” he insisted. “I do have to be here.”
Derek opened his mouth to say something else but his words were cut off, eyes flashing red. He spun around just as the Omega took him to the ground in a running tackle. The Alpha fought back, claws ripping and teeth gnashing. Stiles felt something inside of him shatter when the Omega wrapped a hand around Derek’s neck.
He reacted without thought, taking every little piece inside of him and forcing them out. The lightning arced away from him, slamming into the rogue wolf, knocking him off of Derek in the process.
Stiles took several steps forward and did it again. Again. Again. Finally he was standing over Derek and the Omega was crumpled up across the clearing. He raised his hands to fire off again but was startled by a hand wrapping around his ankle.
“It’s fine, Stiles,” Derek breathed out. “It’s done.” The teen took several breaths before he was able to drop his hands and look down at the man at his feet. “It’s done,” Derek repeated. Stiles nodded numbly, Derek grounding him. He heard Scott call out his name even as he dropped down to his knees next to where Derek was sitting up. The Alpha rested a hand cautiously on the teen’s shoulder and Stiles felt everything fade away. All of the fight or flight. All of the power. Stiles was a teenager crouching in the darkness surrounded by monsters and he was utterly exhausted. He didn’t say a word as Scott pulled him to his feet again, Derek’s hand slipping slowly away.
“I want to go home,” he whispered finally as Scott lead him out of the clearing. His friend only nodded, wrapping an arm tighter around Stiles’ waist as they made their way into the woods.
Stiles sat on his floor in the darkness, knees pulled up to his chest. He felt hollow inside, like every thought just slipped away, leaving him with nothing but the memory of the Omega lying dead in the clearing and the hunger that had filled him when he’d unleashed on him. He’d sent Scott away twice already and was about to give into the exhaustion that seemed constant over the last few days when he heard the scrambling at his window.
“Dude,” he ground out as he pushed himself to his feet, “Did you forget about Dad and his special… bullets…” He watched the man coming through the window straighten up. “Hi, Derek.”
“Stiles,” the man nodded, glancing around the room quickly. The teen followed his gaze and rushed to pull the dirty boxers off of his desk, tossing them backwards over his shoulder as he toed more clothes under the chair. Derek only smirked when Stiles looked back at him.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Stiles asked quickly, shoving his fidgeting hands into his pockets. “Not that it’s a pleasure having you in my bedroom in the middle of the night or anything like… that…”
Derek’s smirk softened softly and he glanced down at the floor. “I wanted to thank you.” He looked back up and Stiles could only gape at him silently. “For the other night. I wasn’t paying attention and you…” Derek nodded slightly. “Anyway, thank you.”
“You’re… welcome?” Stiles pulled a hand out of his pocket in order to run in through his hair and then stopped midway, shoving it back in. “That’s not a question,” he says quickly. “You are actually welcome.”
Derek grins again before cocking his head slightly and looking at the floor again. “Your dad’s worried about you.” Stiles pulled a confused face when Derek met his eye again. “He’s on the phone.”
“Are you listening in?” Stiles sputtered, “Dude! Privacy!” He bit his lip for a second before more words rushed out. “Who’s he talking to? No!” he snapped when Derek opened his mouth. “Don’t tell me!” Derek look exasperated and the older man just shook his head before moving towards the window.
“Deaton’s back in town,” he said over his shoulder as he slid through it. “He wants to see you.”
Derek was gone before Stiles could say another word and all that he left behind was a warmth in the room Stiles couldn’t help but want to inhale and hold inside himself after days of feeling cold.
Deaton seemed more inclined towards random statements and fact avoidance than usual when Stiles met up with him the next evening at the animal clinic. “Once more,” he said calmly after Stiles had told him what had happened over the last few weeks. “But I want to know what you were feeling.”
“I’m pretty sure terrified sums it up rather well,” Stiles sighed.
“Fear is a powerful motivator,” Deaton agreed with his usual soft tone. “I don’t think it accounts for everything that happened. So, the final fight, one more time.”
Stiles took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “The Omega ran at me. I dodged and caught his neck with my fingers. That just pissed him off more which made him stupid so when he ran at me again I was able to get him right in the face.” Stiles paused as he remember the soft look on Derek’s face as the man placed himself between Stiles and danger. “I thought he was down and out but I was wrong. Derek got in the way.”
Deaton cut him off there. “Intentionally or not?”
“Intentionally,” Stiles admitted. “He had his back turned and…” He swallowed and cleared his throat roughly, eyes closed tight. “The Omega tackled him and they wrestled and I…” He hesitated and opened his eyes. Deaton was watching his hands and Stiles looked down to see them clenched in tight fists, light seeping between his fingers.
“What did you feel?” Deaton asked softly as he looked up again.
“I was afraid.” Stiles stared Deaton in the eye and the vet shook his head slightly.
“What did you feel?” he questioned again.
Stiles ground his teeth together before answering. “I was scared,” he insisted.
“For whom?” Stiles opened his mouth and then closed it again with a snap. He shook his head slightly and Deaton looked at him ever calmly. “Whom were you frightened for? Not yourself, I assume, since you were out of danger at that point.”
“I wasn’t…” Stiles shook his head again. His chest hurt and wanted to escape. “As long as the Omega was alive…”
“But he was focused on Derek,” Deaton continued, “and the others would have stepped in.”
“He had Derek by the throat. He was going to kill him and no one could get there fast enough.”
“Are you sure?” The question hung in the silence. Stiles turned his gaze to the floor and pressed a palm against the ache in his chest. Eventually he straightened up and saw that Deaton had turned his attention to several books that were spread out in front of him.
“Thanks for… Yea.” Stiles said weakly as he made his way to the door.
“Fear is a mighty motivator,” Deaton called after him. “But the greatest fear any of us face, the feeling more infuriating than anything at all, goes by a different name.” Stiles didn’t turn but nodded instead and hurried out.
Less than an hour later Stiles found himself out at the Hale House, staring at the spot where the Omega had been laying prone and unbreathing.
“He was buried in the woods.” Stiles jumped, startled, and turned quickly to find Derek walking towards him. “Far out. If it makes you feel any better.”
“It doesn’t,” Stiles snapped. “It doesn’t make me feel better.” Derek looked like he was about to unleash a torrent of platitudes and Stiles wasn’t ready to hear any of them. “Burying the body of the man I killed doesn’t make me less of a murderer or… it doesn’t help. It doesn’t just go away.”
“I know,” Derek said calmly, holding his hands out to the sides.
“No. You. DON’T!” Stiles tore at his hair. “You don’t know. You don’t understand. You were born into a world with a totally different moral code and you don’t know. I killed him, Derek.”
The older man took a step forward and reached out. “Stiles…”
“It’s worse, this time,” the teen continued, taking a step back. “Because this time I can’t even pretend it was self-defense. I could have run. I could have…” He took a shaky breath and shook his head in an attempt to clear it. “I could have done a hundred different things.”
“Name one alternative you knew of at the time.” Derek stepped forward again and Stiles stepped back, tripping over a root and going down. The Alpha dropped in front of him and reached out, wrapping a hand around his ankle as he tried to move away on the ground. “Stiles.”
“I could have…” he tried to take a breath but the air felt superheated around him. He closed his eyes tight enough to see spots. “I could have done… something…” His throat felt ragged and when he opened his eyes again all he could focus on was Derek’s hand around the sharp bone of his ankle.
“The Omega was a murderer,” Derek said calmly, still crouched close to the teen. “And had he not been able to kill you that night then he would have hunted anyone close to you. Scott. Your dad. He may have hunted every one of us down even if he’d killed you.”
“He may not of.” Stiles’ voice sounded weak in his own ears.
Derek shook his head. “You did what you had to do,” he insisted. “Stiles… listen to me. Take a deep breath… And another...” Stiles forced himself to comply, breathing in as Derek squeezed his ankle and letting it out as the grip relaxed. Derek put them into a rhythm and Stiles followed it. Once Stiles’ vision had steadied somewhat he looked up to find Derek watching him. “You did the right thing,” the man said slowly. “Morality doesn’t come into it. You killed him because he would have killed everyone. Do you understand?”
Stiles nodded slowly and took another breath. “I’m okay,” he said, pulling out of Derek’s grasp and climbing to his feet. “I’m okay. You don’t have to… coddle me or anything.”
“Coddle?” Derek was up in a flash and right back in Stiles’ face. “I wasn’t coddling you.”
“Of course you were!” Stiles insisted. “Why else would you have been…” He waved his hands between them. “I know I’m pitiful but I don’t need you...” There was going to be more to that statement but Derek’s eyes flashed red and Stiles felt the thunder rolling through him in an instant.
“I don’t pity you,” Derek growled between human teeth. “I just…” Stiles tensed up as Derek rushed forward, certain the other man was going to strike him. He was so keyed up that he didn’t even register Derek’s lips on his before he was pushing him away, lightning flaring between them and knocking the werewolf onto his ass.
“Shit,” Stiles breathed out. “Did you…? Did I...?” Derek climbed to his feet slowly and Stiles took a step forward to help him up. “I didn’t…”
Derek grumbled as he pulled away and brushed a hand over his shirt. “I’m sorry,” he ground out, not meeting Stiles’ eye. “I shouldn’t have done that.” Stiles gaped at him as the man turned on his heel and started to stalk away.
“Wait!” he called out after a moment, sprinting across the clearing to grab onto the man’s shoulder. Derek allowed himself to be spun around but his face was blank and eyes empty. “You should have,” Stiles insisted. “You totally should have.” He watched the understanding creep cautiously across Derek’s face.
“Don’t electrocute me,” Derek said as he leaned in again, slower this time.
Stiles muttered, “I can’t promise anything,” and then Derek’s lips were on his. They were dry and the movements were cautious but Stiles could feel warmth spreading out between them. Derek pulled away with a gasp, reaching up to run a hand over his reddened lips.
“Ow.” Derek’s smile drew Stiles back in and he reached up to grab onto Derek, fisting one hand in his hair and the other in his t-shirt as he pulled him into another kiss. This kiss lingered longer before Derek pulled away with a yelp, rubbing at the back of his neck when his fingers had trailed down.
“I’m sorry,” Stiles rushed out, pulling his glowing hands away from the werewolf. “I just…” he looked down and took a deep breath, picturing the storm in his chest settling before looking back up. “I think…” Derek reached for him this time, hands cupping Stiles’ jaw as they kissed in front of the ruins of his old home. Stiles held his hands out to the sides, closing his eyes as he let Derek guide the kiss. The thunder rolled within him but even the brightest lightning was no match for the spark of that moment.
Stiles shook his head, “No you can’t. The plan will work.” He didn’t add on the ‘because it has to’ that was rattling around in his head. “I go from here to the house, touching as many non poisonous things as possible, and the Omega will catch the scent and track me. If he smells any of you then the gig is up.”
“I know,” Scott crossed his arms to keep from reaching out to his friend. “But that doesn’t mean I like the idea of you being out there alone. What if he gets to you before you’re close enough for us to help?”
“I can handle it,” Stiles insisted, wiggling his fingers in Scott’s direction. “You guys just be ready to… do whatever it is you’re supposed to be doing.” Scott nodded warily before heading back to his bike riding off before Derek appeared out of the twilight woods to take his place.
“You shouldn’t be joking about this,” he snarled quietly. “Mess up and you’re going to get yourself killed. You’re just human.”
“No I’m not,” Stiles reminded him, embracing the ache of the lightning inside that flared every time Derek was around to antagonize him. “If I was, I’d be dead instead of some college kid who went camping in the wrong spot.”
“Stiles…” Derek took a step forward.
“No, Derek, don’t you dare. I can take care of myself now; nevermind that I kept myself alive all through high school. Me, Derek, not you.” Derek grabbed Stiles wrist and hissed when the teen grabbed back, jolting the wolf hard enough to see a spark of red in his eyes. “You can’t stop me from ending this,” Stiles bit out, “so either help me or fuck off.” Derek stared into his eyes for a moment longer before nodding minutely and pulling away. Stiles let go reluctantly and pointedly looked away from the angry red mark circling the Alpha’s wrist.
Derek moved towards the woods again but Stiles heard a muttered “Be careful” before his disappeared. Stiles nodded at the deepening darkness and took a deep breath. His hands were still tingling with energy just under the surface, like the feeling of running stocking feet over rough carpet knowing that as soon as you try to open a door you’re going to feel a shock.
He moved slowly through the woods, partially to ensure the path was unmistakable for the Omega to follow and partially to calm his nerves. Every step that took him closer to the old Hale House took him closer to a confrontation he’d have rather avoided. He dragged his hands along trees as he went, trampling over foliage, snapping limbs, scorching fingertips into bark as he passed. By the time he reached the edge of a clearing he was sure a blind Boy Scout would have been able to follow the trail he’d left behind.
“So that was fun.” He took a deep breath before moving towards the tree near the house they’d decided to center the ambush around. The pack was spread out around him but he didn’t know where anyone was, partially to keep him from glancing in their direction and partially to avoid any tell tale heart rate jumps if the Omega questioned him. Stiles dropped down onto the ground to wait.
He’d almost dozed off when he heard a twig snapping at the edge of the clearing. The teen stood up quickly and stared at the Omega as the stranger stalked towards him.
“If it isn’t the little lightning bug,” the man snarled. “Where are your friends? The ones with the teeth?” He opened his mouth wide enough for the waning moonlight to glint off of his own.
“You are one walking, talking cliche,” Stiles snarked, backing up a bit until he felt the tree firm against his back. “Is there where you huff and puff?”
“This is where I rip your head off. I owe you for that bit of magic you pulled on me the other night.” The werewolf growled deep in his throat, eyes flashing blue as his snout elongated.
“Nothing magic about it.” The teen took a deep breath and brought his hands up, embracing the fear inside of him until they lit up like fireworks. “Just a little Stilinski mojo.”
The wolf didn’t say another word before he ran at Stiles, the teen moving to the side enough to push the man away with a hand against his neck. The Omega howled in pain, one hand raising up to cover the wound left behind by Stiles’ power.
He straightened up, dropping his hand away, before advancing on Stiles again, moving slowly and calculatingly. “That was a freebie,” he said calmly as he backed Stiles against the tree again. “It’ll take more than a burn to stop me from killing you. And I will treasure every second you bleed out.”
Stiles coughed out a gasp as the werewolf lunged again. He stood his ground this time, reaching forward with both hands and planting them right on the Omega’s face. The sound the werewolf let out as he collapsed was chilling, all whimpers and pain. Stiles moved around him, moving across the lawn until he spotted Derek moving towards him from the shadow of the house.
“He isn’t…” Stiles glanced back at the body still writhing on the ground.
“Not yet,” Derek agreed. He had come to a stop facing Stiles midway between him and the Omega. “We’ll take care of him but… you don’t have to be here.”
Stiles nodded slowly and then stopped before shaking his head. “I do,” he insisted. “I do have to be here.”
Derek opened his mouth to say something else but his words were cut off, eyes flashing red. He spun around just as the Omega took him to the ground in a running tackle. The Alpha fought back, claws ripping and teeth gnashing. Stiles felt something inside of him shatter when the Omega wrapped a hand around Derek’s neck.
He reacted without thought, taking every little piece inside of him and forcing them out. The lightning arced away from him, slamming into the rogue wolf, knocking him off of Derek in the process.
Stiles took several steps forward and did it again. Again. Again. Finally he was standing over Derek and the Omega was crumpled up across the clearing. He raised his hands to fire off again but was startled by a hand wrapping around his ankle.
“It’s fine, Stiles,” Derek breathed out. “It’s done.” The teen took several breaths before he was able to drop his hands and look down at the man at his feet. “It’s done,” Derek repeated. Stiles nodded numbly, Derek grounding him. He heard Scott call out his name even as he dropped down to his knees next to where Derek was sitting up. The Alpha rested a hand cautiously on the teen’s shoulder and Stiles felt everything fade away. All of the fight or flight. All of the power. Stiles was a teenager crouching in the darkness surrounded by monsters and he was utterly exhausted. He didn’t say a word as Scott pulled him to his feet again, Derek’s hand slipping slowly away.
“I want to go home,” he whispered finally as Scott lead him out of the clearing. His friend only nodded, wrapping an arm tighter around Stiles’ waist as they made their way into the woods.
Stiles sat on his floor in the darkness, knees pulled up to his chest. He felt hollow inside, like every thought just slipped away, leaving him with nothing but the memory of the Omega lying dead in the clearing and the hunger that had filled him when he’d unleashed on him. He’d sent Scott away twice already and was about to give into the exhaustion that seemed constant over the last few days when he heard the scrambling at his window.
“Dude,” he ground out as he pushed himself to his feet, “Did you forget about Dad and his special… bullets…” He watched the man coming through the window straighten up. “Hi, Derek.”
“Stiles,” the man nodded, glancing around the room quickly. The teen followed his gaze and rushed to pull the dirty boxers off of his desk, tossing them backwards over his shoulder as he toed more clothes under the chair. Derek only smirked when Stiles looked back at him.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Stiles asked quickly, shoving his fidgeting hands into his pockets. “Not that it’s a pleasure having you in my bedroom in the middle of the night or anything like… that…”
Derek’s smirk softened softly and he glanced down at the floor. “I wanted to thank you.” He looked back up and Stiles could only gape at him silently. “For the other night. I wasn’t paying attention and you…” Derek nodded slightly. “Anyway, thank you.”
“You’re… welcome?” Stiles pulled a hand out of his pocket in order to run in through his hair and then stopped midway, shoving it back in. “That’s not a question,” he says quickly. “You are actually welcome.”
Derek grins again before cocking his head slightly and looking at the floor again. “Your dad’s worried about you.” Stiles pulled a confused face when Derek met his eye again. “He’s on the phone.”
“Are you listening in?” Stiles sputtered, “Dude! Privacy!” He bit his lip for a second before more words rushed out. “Who’s he talking to? No!” he snapped when Derek opened his mouth. “Don’t tell me!” Derek look exasperated and the older man just shook his head before moving towards the window.
“Deaton’s back in town,” he said over his shoulder as he slid through it. “He wants to see you.”
Derek was gone before Stiles could say another word and all that he left behind was a warmth in the room Stiles couldn’t help but want to inhale and hold inside himself after days of feeling cold.
Deaton seemed more inclined towards random statements and fact avoidance than usual when Stiles met up with him the next evening at the animal clinic. “Once more,” he said calmly after Stiles had told him what had happened over the last few weeks. “But I want to know what you were feeling.”
“I’m pretty sure terrified sums it up rather well,” Stiles sighed.
“Fear is a powerful motivator,” Deaton agreed with his usual soft tone. “I don’t think it accounts for everything that happened. So, the final fight, one more time.”
Stiles took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “The Omega ran at me. I dodged and caught his neck with my fingers. That just pissed him off more which made him stupid so when he ran at me again I was able to get him right in the face.” Stiles paused as he remember the soft look on Derek’s face as the man placed himself between Stiles and danger. “I thought he was down and out but I was wrong. Derek got in the way.”
Deaton cut him off there. “Intentionally or not?”
“Intentionally,” Stiles admitted. “He had his back turned and…” He swallowed and cleared his throat roughly, eyes closed tight. “The Omega tackled him and they wrestled and I…” He hesitated and opened his eyes. Deaton was watching his hands and Stiles looked down to see them clenched in tight fists, light seeping between his fingers.
“What did you feel?” Deaton asked softly as he looked up again.
“I was afraid.” Stiles stared Deaton in the eye and the vet shook his head slightly.
“What did you feel?” he questioned again.
Stiles ground his teeth together before answering. “I was scared,” he insisted.
“For whom?” Stiles opened his mouth and then closed it again with a snap. He shook his head slightly and Deaton looked at him ever calmly. “Whom were you frightened for? Not yourself, I assume, since you were out of danger at that point.”
“I wasn’t…” Stiles shook his head again. His chest hurt and wanted to escape. “As long as the Omega was alive…”
“But he was focused on Derek,” Deaton continued, “and the others would have stepped in.”
“He had Derek by the throat. He was going to kill him and no one could get there fast enough.”
“Are you sure?” The question hung in the silence. Stiles turned his gaze to the floor and pressed a palm against the ache in his chest. Eventually he straightened up and saw that Deaton had turned his attention to several books that were spread out in front of him.
“Thanks for… Yea.” Stiles said weakly as he made his way to the door.
“Fear is a mighty motivator,” Deaton called after him. “But the greatest fear any of us face, the feeling more infuriating than anything at all, goes by a different name.” Stiles didn’t turn but nodded instead and hurried out.
Less than an hour later Stiles found himself out at the Hale House, staring at the spot where the Omega had been laying prone and unbreathing.
“He was buried in the woods.” Stiles jumped, startled, and turned quickly to find Derek walking towards him. “Far out. If it makes you feel any better.”
“It doesn’t,” Stiles snapped. “It doesn’t make me feel better.” Derek looked like he was about to unleash a torrent of platitudes and Stiles wasn’t ready to hear any of them. “Burying the body of the man I killed doesn’t make me less of a murderer or… it doesn’t help. It doesn’t just go away.”
“I know,” Derek said calmly, holding his hands out to the sides.
“No. You. DON’T!” Stiles tore at his hair. “You don’t know. You don’t understand. You were born into a world with a totally different moral code and you don’t know. I killed him, Derek.”
The older man took a step forward and reached out. “Stiles…”
“It’s worse, this time,” the teen continued, taking a step back. “Because this time I can’t even pretend it was self-defense. I could have run. I could have…” He took a shaky breath and shook his head in an attempt to clear it. “I could have done a hundred different things.”
“Name one alternative you knew of at the time.” Derek stepped forward again and Stiles stepped back, tripping over a root and going down. The Alpha dropped in front of him and reached out, wrapping a hand around his ankle as he tried to move away on the ground. “Stiles.”
“I could have…” he tried to take a breath but the air felt superheated around him. He closed his eyes tight enough to see spots. “I could have done… something…” His throat felt ragged and when he opened his eyes again all he could focus on was Derek’s hand around the sharp bone of his ankle.
“The Omega was a murderer,” Derek said calmly, still crouched close to the teen. “And had he not been able to kill you that night then he would have hunted anyone close to you. Scott. Your dad. He may have hunted every one of us down even if he’d killed you.”
“He may not of.” Stiles’ voice sounded weak in his own ears.
Derek shook his head. “You did what you had to do,” he insisted. “Stiles… listen to me. Take a deep breath… And another...” Stiles forced himself to comply, breathing in as Derek squeezed his ankle and letting it out as the grip relaxed. Derek put them into a rhythm and Stiles followed it. Once Stiles’ vision had steadied somewhat he looked up to find Derek watching him. “You did the right thing,” the man said slowly. “Morality doesn’t come into it. You killed him because he would have killed everyone. Do you understand?”
Stiles nodded slowly and took another breath. “I’m okay,” he said, pulling out of Derek’s grasp and climbing to his feet. “I’m okay. You don’t have to… coddle me or anything.”
“Coddle?” Derek was up in a flash and right back in Stiles’ face. “I wasn’t coddling you.”
“Of course you were!” Stiles insisted. “Why else would you have been…” He waved his hands between them. “I know I’m pitiful but I don’t need you...” There was going to be more to that statement but Derek’s eyes flashed red and Stiles felt the thunder rolling through him in an instant.
“I don’t pity you,” Derek growled between human teeth. “I just…” Stiles tensed up as Derek rushed forward, certain the other man was going to strike him. He was so keyed up that he didn’t even register Derek’s lips on his before he was pushing him away, lightning flaring between them and knocking the werewolf onto his ass.
“Shit,” Stiles breathed out. “Did you…? Did I...?” Derek climbed to his feet slowly and Stiles took a step forward to help him up. “I didn’t…”
Derek grumbled as he pulled away and brushed a hand over his shirt. “I’m sorry,” he ground out, not meeting Stiles’ eye. “I shouldn’t have done that.” Stiles gaped at him as the man turned on his heel and started to stalk away.
“Wait!” he called out after a moment, sprinting across the clearing to grab onto the man’s shoulder. Derek allowed himself to be spun around but his face was blank and eyes empty. “You should have,” Stiles insisted. “You totally should have.” He watched the understanding creep cautiously across Derek’s face.
“Don’t electrocute me,” Derek said as he leaned in again, slower this time.
Stiles muttered, “I can’t promise anything,” and then Derek’s lips were on his. They were dry and the movements were cautious but Stiles could feel warmth spreading out between them. Derek pulled away with a gasp, reaching up to run a hand over his reddened lips.
“Ow.” Derek’s smile drew Stiles back in and he reached up to grab onto Derek, fisting one hand in his hair and the other in his t-shirt as he pulled him into another kiss. This kiss lingered longer before Derek pulled away with a yelp, rubbing at the back of his neck when his fingers had trailed down.
“I’m sorry,” Stiles rushed out, pulling his glowing hands away from the werewolf. “I just…” he looked down and took a deep breath, picturing the storm in his chest settling before looking back up. “I think…” Derek reached for him this time, hands cupping Stiles’ jaw as they kissed in front of the ruins of his old home. Stiles held his hands out to the sides, closing his eyes as he let Derek guide the kiss. The thunder rolled within him but even the brightest lightning was no match for the spark of that moment.