Heart Lines

The more broken your heart, the more vulnerable it is. Or so the witches in town say. Every member of Scott's pack is damaged, but Derek's loved and lost and suffered more than anyone. He needs a little love to save him tonight. SterekWeek2015. SterekSongs.

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The prompt was 'Songs to Fall in Love To' – "Think of songs with powerful lyrics that remind you of Sterek, and create something inspired by it." I picked 'Me and My Broken Heart' by Rixton.

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"These are really nice."

"Oh I like this one. Look at the frayed edges!"

It was incredibly disconcerting to hear someone talking about your heart like a piece of jewelry on display. It was worse when there was nothing you could do about it.

Derek was on his knees, the almost dry mud soaking into the fabric of his jeans slowly. The moon was shining above them, newly risen, light breaking through the scattered leaves of the canopy. Stiles was next to him, bent over with his hands on the ground and gripping the detritus litter like he was in pain. Scott was on Stiles' other side, trying to keep his eyes red with power but failing. Lydia, Kira, Liam, and Malia were also scattered around them, splayed in various positions against the roots of the surrounding trees and bushes.

The reason all of them were on the ground, the reason Derek couldn't move, the reason Stiles was letting out half choked sounds of discomfort, was the three witches standing in front of them.

They were all redheads, sisters of various ages, with medium dark skin and bright eyes. Hanging in the air before them were seven strands of silver light. Each strand twisted around and down until they connected with each of the seven members of Scott's pack. Derek didn't know what exactly the witches had done, but one moment the pack was talking, telling them to leave town or else and the next the eldest sister had her hand raised and they were all on the ground. Then the lights were pulled from their chests and they lost the ability to move beyond simple twitches.

"They are quite lovely little heart lines," the eldest sister agreed, pulling a glass globe the size of a baseball from her purse. "Let's see what they're worth, hm?"

The globe lifted from her hand and all seven lines connected to it seamlessly, appearing to melt directly into the glass and fill it with glittering lights.

"I like that one," the youngest sister said, pointing at Liam.

The middle sister laughed once. "We're looking for damaged hearts, not cute boys."

"I can multitask," the youngest sister teased in return with a bright grin.

Then the air in between the witches and the pack was full of those glittering lights. Scott let out a whimper that fit a hurt dog more than a person and then his heart line shivered and the glitter formed images.

Before Derek's eyes, he saw a tall man with dark hair walk out the front door, and then saw how a boy grew up watching that door, sending emails and phone calls and receiving no reply. Then he watched his uncle attack someone from the perspective of the victim. He watched Scott, for it had to be Scott, as he fought the control of the Alpha, as he failed to cure himself, as he dealt with people getting hurt and dying around him. He watched Allison die through Scott's eyes.

It all happened incredibly fast, only a few minutes passing before Scott's heart line dimmed to the same low glow as the others and the images faded to glitter once more.

"Well that last bit was especially heartbreaking," the middle sister said quietly. She reached out and touched Scott's heart line with gentle fingers. Scott let out a half sob of pain. "It's beautifully damaged, like a work of art."

Stiles' hands twitched almost violently, shifting a few inches toward Scott. From the angle of his head, he couldn't have seen more than half of whatever appeared in the glitter, but Derek could smell the anger on him as clearly as the pain. Derek itched to reach over and steal some of that pain away. They were only a few scant inches from each other. In any other circumstance Derek could've done it, could've helped him. Then again, he probably wouldn't have, since Stiles probably would've realized how much Derek cared about him when he did.

The youngest sister trailed her fingers through the air around Lydia's heart line without touching it. "What about our fellow redhead? It's pretty roughed up as well."

Lydia's heart line got brighter, accompanied by Lydia's unhappy moan, and the glitter took form again. Derek saw flashes of Jackson, of empty plates at dinner tables, of being attacked on a football field. He saw his uncle, the way he'd appeared as a teenager, luring Lydia in and using her, saw how he'd mentally abused her, terrified her, even after he was alive again. There were countless bodies and flashes of images that made no sense – random lives, words rushing around like living things, strings vibrating, a record player. Derek watched as Lydia felt Allison's death, as she arrived just a moment too late and had to watch Aiden die as well.

The glitter dispersed again. Lydia, from what Derek could see and smell and hear, was trying to force her body to move. There was a glare on her face, an embarrassed flush on her cheeks, and her fingers shook against the bark of the tree she'd fallen into when the witches made their move.

"A banshee," the eldest sister commented in interest. "We haven't had one of those in awhile. That could be nice."

"Powerful too," the middle sister agreed. "Desiree has a good eye."

The youngest sister, Desiree, preened under the compliment. She frowned a moment later when her eldest sister said, "And yet neither of you have commented on the most damaged hearts of the bunch."

Derek could see what they meant. Liam's line was sleek and perfect, Kira twisting more but similar to Liam's, and Malia's looked like a hair with mild split ends here and there. Scott and Lydia shared a frizzy texture to their lines, Lydia's with a few minor hairline fractures in it. But Stiles and Derek's, even just at a glance, were much worse. Stiles' line was cracked all throughout, like thin ice on a frozen pond right before it shatters and drags you under. His line wasn't frayed so much as internally damaged. Derek's looked like someone had taken a vegetable peeler to it, bits and pieces curling away where they obviously weren't meant to, and fuzzy all over like an angry cat's tail.

All three sisters gathered near where Stiles' and Derek's lines attached to the globe, inspecting them like fish in the market.

"Lots of internal damage here," the middle sister commented on Stiles', mirroring Derek's thoughts. "A few outer wounds, but by and large the injuries aren't on the flesh. I haven't seen a heart line like this in almost a century." And Derek wished she sounded a little less like she'd just discovered a diamond mine.

Derek could imagine what they meant. Even as he watched he swore he saw a shadow creeping along the cracks in Stiles' line. The Nogitsune. They'd all assumed Stiles was okay after it was gone, or at least dealing with it, but this line was wrecked.

He was pulled from his thoughts when a bone deep ache shot through his entire body, causing him to give a deep groan and return his eyes to the witches. The eldest was fingering his heart line like the bow of an instrument, and every note she played hurt him all over.

The glitter acted up again. Paige's face swam in the air and now Derek was hurting for an entirely different reason. He relived running down that hallway, to stop Ennis, and being too late. He relived hiding in the root cellar and killing Paige. Then Kate, and his house burning down with him and Laura arriving to every board already devoured by flames, and having to bury his sister. The moment he realized Peter was the alpha and had been killing people. Killing his uncle. Being told he was a failure as an alpha and having proof of it shoved in his face. Finding out Erica was dead. Nearly losing Cora. Killing Boyd. Hearing that Jennifer was the Darach. Seeing Stiles cry because his dad might be dead.

"This is my favorite," the eldest sister whispered as they watched the scenes whip past, too fast to really see but the witches somehow understanding everything. "So much betrayal, so much heartbreak. I'll get a lot power from it. This one is definitely mine."

Cora leaving. Failing at being a beta to Scott. Smelling the pain on Stiles grow throughout the Nogitsune trials. Aiden had just fallen in the images when suddenly it all collapsed. The glittered crashed like waves on a shore and disappeared into the globe once more. Derek felt like he could breathe for the first time since the heart spell had been cast.

"What?" the witches gasped, looking down at the globe for the problem.

Derek's heart line had turned gold instead of silver. They followed it with their eyes, Derek did too, and found a hand wrapped around the line near Derek's chest. It was Stiles' hand. Stiles, shaking and panting like he was exhausted, had forced himself up off the ground. His face was red from exertion and all he'd managed was to sit up on his knees and reach over to grab the heart line.

He was glaring at the witches. "Stop it."

"A-Amrissa," Desiree stuttered out, looking incredibly frightened with wide eyes and dropped jaw. She bat at her eldest sister's arm without looking away from Stiles. "How's he doing that?"

"You don't get…to shuffle around in our memories, our worst memories…like they're a shoe store," Stiles gasped out. "You don't get to rip…all that shit open again…or spill our secrets."

There was a sensation running into Derek via his heart line. It was warm, protective, strong. And it had to be coming from Stiles because there was no way it was coming from the witch's globe.

"How are you doing that?!" the middle sister shouted now, taking a step back behind her sisters.

Derek would later remember that they smelled as terrified as they sounded and looked, but for the present, he couldn't focus on much more than Stiles and how Stiles' touch didn't hurt. It actually felt nice, like Stiles was soothing all the rough edges back down on his heart.

"I don't know," Stiles admitted with a breathy laugh. "Maybe it's because I'm…human. Maybe it's….because I…"

"Love."

Amrissa was looking down at Derek's heart line. The parts that had been peeled away before were curling back into place before their eyes. After a few moments, Amrissa lifted her gaze to Stiles, whose chest was still heaving.

"You're human?" she asked, disbelievingly.

"Yeah," Stiles puffed. "What of it?"

She snapped her fingers and Derek's heart line detached from the globe. Stiles actually lost his balance for a moment when the light vanished under his fingers, as if it had been something physical he'd been leaning on. Derek had to hold himself up on his hands for several moments, just breathing and getting used to having control of his limbs again.

He heard the others making gasping noises and looked up to see that their lines had left the globe as well. Only Stiles' was still attached. A glance at Stiles showed that he wore a determined but accepting look.

He was prepared to be the one they killed if it meant the others were safe. Derek felt his strength and breath return in one big sweep at the realization.

"Stiles," he growled. "No."

The glitter left the globe again, but it didn't form images. Instead it wobbled, formed an amorphous, undefined shape, then turned ash grey. Amrissa put her hand nearer the globe, frowning. The ash rushed outward at the sisters, pushing them back several feet, then exploded in dozens of sparks of light and vanished. The glass globe fell to the soft earth floor of the forest, dark like a stone rather than clear as it had once been.

Desiree was up on her feet faster than her sisters. She shook her head. "Nevermind. I don't need a broken heart. I'll just buy a face cleanser," she rushed out, then made a motion like she was pulling a blanket over her shoulders and vanished into thin air.

"Desiree!" the middle sister snapped, but it was too late.

The pack was free from the spell now. Malia was the first to growl, bare her teeth, and lunge. She knocked the middle sister onto her back while Liam and Kira let their eyes flash and readied to back her up.

Amrissa drew a symbol like a triangle in the air and then pointed at Malia. A gust of wind bowled Malia over and away from the witch. "Jazz, get out of here."

Jazz didn't need telling twice. She stood up and repeated the motion her sister had, disappearing under an invisible blanket. Amrissa now faced the pack alone – one witch versus three wolves, a banshee, a coyote, a kitsune, and a human that broke her spell. Surprisingly, though she reeked of fear, Amrissa appeared perfectly calm.

"We should have come at you one at a time," she noted, and her expression barely twitched at the growls from every canine in the pack. "I forgot that only a little bit a love can save a broken heart."

Scott took a step forward. "If you ever come near my friends again-" he started, but Amrissa cut him off.

Looking only at Stiles, she commented lightly, "Your heart would've given us such power. What a spark."

Then, with a self depreciating smile, Amrissa vanished. She didn't even make the same motion her sisters had. She was simply gone.

For a moment no one moved. Then, "Do you think they're really gone?" Liam asked.

Scott sniffed the air but it was Malia who answered. "I don't smell them anymore."

"Then let's regroup somewhere with electricity," Lydia said, more order than suggestion even though she sounded exhausted.

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The whole way to Scott's house, they kept an eye out for a return visit from the witches who had been haunting the town for the past few days. There wasn't a single whiff of them anywhere. They were all still unsteady on their feet as they exited their vehicles and headed for the front door and Scott's mom's soft couch cushions.

Derek put a hand on Stiles' shoulder to stop him before they got inside. Stiles looked at him curiously.

"You saved me," Derek said bluntly.

A shrug. "Of course I did." There were shadows under Stiles' eyes. Fighting to get up and stop their perusal of Derek's memories must have really taken it out of him.

"The eldest sister. She said the reason you could do it was-"

"Love," Stiles interrupted. He scratched his cheek. "Yeah. I know."

He couldn't meet Derek's eyes.

"Stiles," Derek started. His own heart was running a marathon in his chest and he was glad Stiles only had human hearing. "Do you love me?"

Brown eyes snapped up to meet hazel, but it was still a few infinite seconds before Stiles said, "Yeah."

Derek felt lighter than he could remember feeling in years. He'd felt better after Stiles touched his heart line, and he felt like he could float now. A small smile made its home on Derek's face, making Stiles' eyes widened slightly.

"I'm glad, because it'd be awkward to be the only one that felt this way," Derek teased.

"Come again?" Stiles stuttered, looking wrong footed. "Are you saying-"

Derek lifted an eyebrow at him. "Stiles, one of my 'damaged' moments was you crying, even though I was in a relationship at the time. I thought you were smarter than this."

Stiles shook his head. "Dude, you're blowing my mind. Gimme some time to adjust. Are you seriously telling me you love me too?"

His only answer was a nod. Then Stiles was beaming. He threw his arms around Derek's neck, pulling him the inch or so down into a hug so tight Derek could barely breathe. Then Stiles backed up, a blush on his cheeks but still grinning.

"Come on, let's go discuss witches. The sooner this is over, the sooner I'm taking you to dinner," Stiles said with a wave of his hand.

Tonight, Stiles had both metaphorically and literally touched Derek's heart. He'd saved Derek from the witches with his love, and then done the same with his love for the pack. And now he was making Derek feel like everything would actually work out, with just a smile and a hug. Amrissa was right. It only took a little bit of love to start to heal a heart.

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Fin.