When Stiles was a kid, before the inevitable proof of alien life existed, she used to look up at the stars and wonder at the many other forms life could take. Little did she know that she was looking in the wrong direction. The aliens, when they did come, didn't come down from the sky descending in space ships with peaceful intentions. Instead, they rose up form the ocean. Great, giant monsters determined to destroy. Stiles was fifteen when the first Kaiju appeared on land in San Francisco.
Stiles had been out of town with her dad, the local sheriff, because he was called to some conference on police conduct in New Mexico. Stiles had begged and battered with her parents until they finally relented and let her go, accompanying her dad on the seventeen hour drive.
By the time all of the artillery the military could muster was able to bring the Kaiju down, it had been six days and 35 miles later. Over three cities were destroyed including Stiles' home of Beacon Hills. Thousands of people had lost their homes, their lives, their loved ones. The survivors mourned their dead, including the Stilinski's because Stiles' mother had died early on in the attacks, the world memorialized this wretched attack, and then, the world moved on. Until another attack happened. And another. And another.
It became clear that the attacks would continue until humanity put a stop to it. Humanity learned that they needed to create a new weapon to defeat this new enemy. The world came together as one, pooling its resources and throwing aside old, petty differences and rivalries for the sake of the 'greater good'. To fight the monsters that sought to destroy human kind, humanity created 'monsters' of their own. The Jaeger Program was born.
Stiles returned to a standing position above the fifth recruit she had taken down effortlessly. The score more than stood for how well a partnership would work between herself and Liam. Stiles helped Liam to stand and put her right hand on his shoulder as a show of camaraderie. He accepted her gesture, nodded in farewell and stepped down off the mat.
Stiles walked towards the edge of the mat closest to where Lydia and Derek stood to grab some water. Only Lydia could make her regulation jumpsuit look like it belonged on a fashion show runway. Stiles had met Lydia early on in the program. She was actually the one who welcomed her after she received the necessary vaccinations. Though their personalities differed greatly and offered no real reason, they became fairly close friends. They couldn't bond over clothes or tv shows because Lydia loved her creature comforts while Stiles leaned more towards the worlds of geekdom and fandom but they bonded over being strong, intelligent women who enjoyed taking the piss out of anyone who saw them as lesser. Lydia was in charge of recruitment, candidate trials, and the finer qualities of any Jaeger pilot's lives which included the bond that would form after the neural handshake. She stood tall and confident as she held her clipboard out in front of her. She looked vaguely disappointed and sighed as she turned her attention to me.
"Another?"
Taking a long pull from her water, Stiles nodded silently towards her. She returned her attention to the clipboard she had previously taken from Derek's grasp. He stood side by side with Lydia. He stood a head taller than Lydia but everyone knew that Lydia was definitely the one in charge. If anyone assumed wrong, they would undoubtedly be straightened out in no time whatsoever. Anyone who assumed that Lydia was Derek's help or that she needed Derek to render protection of any kind learned quickly, and often painfully, that they were in fact, mistaken.
Derek arrived at the Shatter Dome a mere month before Stiles. He held a high leadership position and was in charge of operations in the control room. He was just below Major Chris Argent in the leadership hierarchy. Despite his status in that pyramid, he enjoyed working with Lydia and supervising the candidates. At first, Stiles and Derek, much like the relationship between Lydia and Stiles, was mix matched due to their abrasive personalities. Stiles was loud where Derek was quiet, in a constant state of motion while the other was content in stillness. Eventually, they came to a mutual respect which grew organically into a deep, affectionate friendship. The largest reason for this change in status was when Stiles was paired with Isaac Lahey, her late co-pilot.
Shaking herself from her thoughts, Stiles returned her attention to the room when Lydia called out the next name: Aiden.
Aiden sauntered onto the training mat with his bamboo stick hanging low to the ground. His grip on the shaft of the weapon was loose, his cocky demeanor broadcasting to the assembled group of drift pilot hopefuls that he a) didn't feel threatened by Stiles and b) he felt that he had the whole fight in the bag even after watching her take down the five trained men before him.
Stiles took measured steps around the mat keeping her attention on Aiden the entire time—never turn your back on your enemy or allow them to distract you. Chris' advice whispered calmingly in her head, as his voice was apt to do ever since her rigorous training with him.
"Baby, why don't you come on over and wrap those long legs around me? When I win this, we can spend some time outside our Jaeger just as close as we will be inside it." Aiden's comments while annoying, they were nothing new. No one respected a woman Jaeger pilot until she either kicked their asses or until she had a ton of Kaiju kills under her belt—and sometimes, not even then.
Stiles officially had 8 kills under her built and held the title for best drops and kills within the Kaiju simulator. Her successes brought her much respect but it also invited many not-so-kind comments. She weathered them gracefully, or at least as gracefully as could be applied to her, but the comments that insinuated anything to do with her sexually seemed to really piss her off. She worked hard, she poured blood, sweat, and tears into her fights, and she has suffered devastating losses—she doesn't need the shit that everyone throws at her. But when they do, she knows just how to handle it: like a fucking lady.
Stiles stopped in place, standing her staff upright while she allowed the right side of her body to lean towards it which placed her body in what could ultimately be declared an 'enticing' manner. She lowered her voice, tilted her head, and asked, "You want my legs wrapped around you?" Catcalls and low whispers broke out from the gathered crowd, the noise even drawing others like fellow pilot Jackson Whittemore and her trainer-cum-Major Chris Argent over.
Stiles observed how Aiden took in her stance, eyes slowly making their way up and down her form. She heard a growl issue from behind her, knowing Derek and Lydia were there, she could easily guess who the growl came from, and the undignified huff which Lydia would totally have reamed Stiles out for if she had made, which she did, frequently much to Lydia's displeasure. Dismissing the noises, she continued to focus solely on Aiden and his actions. "Yes. Yes I do." He didn't even look up from where he was eying Stiles' chest which was heaving slightly due to exertion. In his negligence, he also didn't see Chris' smirk and the shake of his head, nor Jackson's which was surprising, but Stiles did.
"Well then," Stiles straightened slowly, "you'll just have to get me on my back a few times."
"Easy." Aiden adjusted his stance to a more grounded one but he still had a loose grip on his weapon. Stiles only smirked in response, then she moved.
Aiden came rushing in headlong, overly sure in his approach while Stiles sidestepped to the left of his advance, dropped into a lung on her right side which lowered her right arm holding her staff, hooked it around his ankle, and followed her movement through. Aiden flew across the mat and landed face first at the corner. Stiles sauntered up behind him and lowered her staff the back of his head.
"1-0." Intoned Lydia's voice from the sideline. Though she remained impartial in her duties and judgments, Stiles couldn't help but detect a slightly smug undertone, which made her own lips twitch into a smirk.
Aiden got to his feet and turned to face Stiles. His face no longer held the air of cockiness it did, instead he looked quite embarrassed if his red face was anything to go by. "Again."
"Of course. We still have a few rounds but how about a wager, you get me on my back in this next round, you get what you want. If I knock you down on your ass, you do exactly what I say and walk away." The hushed whispers of the crowd suddenly fell silent as they watched Stiles' easy stance and Aiden's face as he weighed the pros and cons of such an agreement.
"Deal. Question though, you said I get what I want. Does that mean I'm your new pilot or that I get my night laying between your thighs?" His smirk was skeevy and annoying and downright patronizing but Stiles could never walk away from a challenge—especially one she knew she would win.
"Both." Stiles turned to face the scorekeeper, "If that's alright with you, Lydia?"
She made a put upon expression but Stiles could clearly see that she was holding back a smirk on account of being 'impartial'. "Sounds good to me. It's not me he'll be dealing with."
Stiles returned her attention to Aiden and smirked playfully, "Deal."
Though Aiden's attitude towards his recognition of her ability to fight required he adjust his stance: his hand tightened around his staff, he adopted a more rigorous and grounded stance, and he circled Stiles while keeping her in his sights, his method of attack remained the same. He circled before abruptly rushing towards her. Stiles still dodged his attack and instead of pulling the same technique on him again, Stiles stepped into his fighting space which he obviously did not expect as he took a step away from her. Using her close quarters, she leapt on top of him, her feet landing on his thighs which allowed her to use him as a jumping off point to get her legs around his throat. With her legs secure around his neck, she threw her body weight backwards. Her weight and the power of gravity pulled Aiden down towards the ground with her. At the last second, she released the grip of her legs and landed in a crouched stance as Aiden's body made contact with the padded floor. Stiles could hear the breath rush out of his lungs as she stood above him. She suddenly dropped across his prone form while he attempted to pull in oxygen. Her left hand pressed down on his chest right at his sternum while her right knee dug into the cradle of his right hip next to his groin. Her right hand, still holding her staff was poised behind her, aimed towards his family jewels. She remained a steady, strong force above him.
His wheezing continued in the stunned silence that occurred after she had dropped him on his ass for the whole gym to see. Finally his eyes concentrated on Stiles where she knelt above him. "So, it looks like I won. Now, as per the terms of our deal, you're going to listen to every word I say then you're going to follow my instructions, and walk away. Clear?" Stiles tone was calm as though she was discussing the weather or the news while sipping her morning coffee. No one dared to break the silence; instead they held rapt attention on the pair.
Aiden coughs and acquiesces to Stiles' question. "Good. Now, you're going to apologize and you're going to mean it. And, if I hear another word or derogatory statement like the one you just threw at me," Stiles repositioned her staff so as to alert Aiden as to where it was currently located, making his eyes go large, "I will make sure you can't have any 'fun'. Are we clear?"
"Yes." He rasped out quickly.
Stiles waited but when the first part of her request went unanswered, she exerted pressure from her left hand to his chest which increased his labored breathing. "I'm waiting."
"I'm sorry, Officer Stilinski," He gasped out, "It won't happen again."
"See that it doesn't." Stiles shoved off of him and walked towards Lydia and Derek. She stopped though to turn and face the gathered crowd. Leaning once more on her staff, she asked, "So, does anyone else want my legs wrapped around them?"
Many of the recruits took a step back and hastily responded, "No, ma'am."
Pleased with the response to her query, Stiles resettled her attention on Lydia. "Who's next?"
Lydia's expression was torn between amusement and annoyance as she announced that Aiden was the last recruit from this batch. She said that another grouping was about to be sent in within the next few days. Stiles was peripherally aware that Aiden was attempting to stand behind her. Knowing that Chris and Derek were there as deterrents to any retribution Aiden might feel like taking, allowed Stiles to temporarily dismiss him and focus on Lydia's words.
Stiles was torn between being slightly disheartened to find that she would be without a new pilot thus removed from the rotation until one was found, and a sliver of relief—no one could replace Isaac, her former co-pilot. In the beginning, neither one could really see how they fit together, how they were drift compatible but after that first drift, everything clicked. They became a weird amalgamation of brother/sister and mother/adoptive son. The dynamic was weird to everyone but the two of them. They defended each other, protected each other, teased, and loved one another fiercely. Stiles barely survived Isaac's death, she still wasn't certain how she had lived through it anyway.
Chris' deep, resonating voice brought Stiles out of her head. "Actually, I want to try something different." He turned his attention slightly behind Stiles, "Hale. On the mat. You too, Stilinksi."
Stiles turned to face Derek. While his face remained stoic, Stiles could easily see by his green/hazel eyes that he was as confused as she was.
Stiles faced Lydia to see her reaction but only saw a calculating gleam in the expression currently residing on her friend's face. Stiles rolled her shoulders back and turned her attention towards the mat where Derek was currently standing in the center sans shoes while holding a stick and dressed in his regulation pants and a black wife-beater tank which certainly did some wonders for emphasizing his physique.
The crowd remained gathered because Chris never high jacked a candidate trial or deviated from Lydia's program. While they remained, their whispers did not. The silence would be suffocating if Stiles weren't hyper focused on her opponent.
Derek and Stiles circled one another. While they were friends, Stiles didn't know much about how he held himself in a fight. She had never seen Derek spar with anyone. She knows that he works out and she also knows that he has been watching her training since she arrived at the Shatter Dome. He has been there since Stiles has. He saw her test against multiple pilot hopefuls until she found a match in Isaac, he saw them train together, he watched their battles against the Kaiju, and he was there when she lost Isaac. He has seen almost every facet of her life. He knows her fighting style, her technique, her approaches, and she knows none of that for him.
Each stopping in front of one another, they take a stance. Stiles put her right foot forward and held her staff in front of her with two hands. Derek steps back with his right opening up his right side to an attack while lowering the staff in his right hand to his sand. Despite seeing the opening, Stiles knows not to go for the easy strike. Derek would never go that easy on her—it would be an insult. Stiles steps forward once to readjusts while keeping Derek in her sights. He maintains his position, which allowed her, after a brief weighing of pros, and cons to step forward while swinging her arms down, stopping the staff just above his head.
"1-0." Lydia's voice fades into the background.
Derek suddenly swings from the right which causes Stiles to step back, her arms don't respond fast enough and Derek's staff stays itself just above her own forehead.
"1-1."
Both Stiles and Derek take the time to readjust into another stance. Derek returns to his original stance except both hands go to his right side as though he was sheathing a samurai sword. Seeing her opening and his preoccupation, Stiles steps forward swiftly and 'lands' her blow to Derek's exposed left side.
"2-1."
Repositioning yet again, Stiles takes a step back and surveys Derek's movements. He remains steady in his last pose and instead of remaining at a stalemate, Stiles decided to test Derek's mettle. She wants to see his fighting technique. She wants the dance that should come with fighting, the push and pull rather than the stilted movements. She steps forward swinging her staff across her body. Derek moves suddenly, deflecting her blow and suddenly, they're moving—exchanging one movement of their staff for another. Dodging and blocking one hit after another. There seems to be no end until finally, Derek manages to find an opening between one of Stiles' next moves.
"2-2."
Both Derek and Stiles take a step back and settle into a lower-bearing position. Without preamble, both suddenly head towards one another exchanging blows which have the bamboo sticks echoing in the silent room each time they hit on another until finally Stiles finds herself on one knee with Derek's staff beside her face.
"2-3."
Derek and Stiles smirk at one another. This is the most challenge either one has had in a while and it's freeing and seductive in a way that is indescribable. From these positions, another attack is launched which ends when Stiles is able to roll Derek over her shoulder where he lands behind her, crouched, with her staff beside his head.
"3-3."
With nothing to lose, both immediately leap at one another, which resulted in the longest sparring of the entire trial, which was not lost on either of its participants. Both attacked wholeheartedly, ferociously, throwing themselves at one another, countering the others movements without thought only action bred of instinct, of knowing where the other person is and responding accordingly. The match ended in a draw, both Derek and Stiles were on one knee directly across from one another with their staffs raised to the other's head, frozen mid blow.
Stiles stared intently into Derek's ever changing eyes as he gazed back into her amber/honey ones. Their stares were broken by a slow clap that slowly approached them from Stiles' right. Chris had walked onto the mat with Lydia beside him. The crowd that had gathered had already begun dispersing. "Well that settles it. Stilinksi, meet your new co-pilot." Chris turns towards Derek, "Hale, good luck. She's a ball buster."
Chris quirked an evil smile that was echoed on Lydia's face as they both walked off the mat and out of the gym, leaving Stiles and Derek alone. Stiles looked over at Derek to see him smirking at her. She rolled her eyes. "Nice moves, Derek. You ready to be my co-pilot?" She asked while holding out her right hand.
Derek glanced at her right hand and without hesitation, wrapped his left palm around hers and squeezed tightly, sealing their bond. "It would be an honor."
Derek walked towards his bunk at a leisurely pace. His mind was still in the gym with Stiles. One second, he was standing beside Lydia observing Stiles take one recruit down after another until Aiden was called up next. Neither Stiles nor Derek liked Aiden. They liked his brother Ethan because their technician friend Danny was in love with him so they tolerated Aiden but neither one liked him. That dislike was only further confirmed after Derek heard the remarks Aiden hurled at Stiles.
Derek isn't proud to admit he was close to losing control and wolfing out on the asshole. Only Stiles' bored expression and calming heartbeat kept him steady enough not to leap. Aiden made it no secret that he wanted to sleep his way through the female population at the Shatter Dome. It also wasn't a secret that the two people he wanted to add as a notch to his belt were Lydia and Stiles. Lydia eviscerated him before he could even utter a word and he slunk away with his tail between his legs. Derek couldn't stop smiling that day.
One bad side effect though was how he began to approach Stiles. Learning from his failed attempt at Lydia, he didn't approach Stiles head on. Instead, hearing about her abrasive personality and penchant for sarcasm, he began to verbally attack her. Of course it was no where Stiles could hear or defend herself and Aiden quickly made himself scarce when he found himself within the company of Derek or Lydia. He spread rumors and dissention attacking Stiles' skills and not just her piloting skills but also her ability to 'be an effective woman'.
Aiden could never understand the bond between Isaac and Stiles—it wasn't sexual, it was a bond built on mutual loss and pain and understanding. Stiles got the little brother she never had and Isaac got the older sister he never had. They were two lonely people who found a family in one another. Isaac was always quick to defend Stiles but Stiles waved off the rumors. She always maintained that she wasn't at the Shatter Dome to win anyone's approval or find a 'suitable man' to keep her 'satisfied'. She came to the Shatter Dome to become a Jaeger pilot. She became a pilot to honor the death of her mother in the first attack, and the death of her father, the sheriff, in a later attack in Australia where he was supposed to be safe.
Derek watched as Stiles slid into the persona of the seductress that Aiden always envisioned her as and he watched as Stiles took him down a peg with her first attack. His hackles rankled when Stiles asked Aiden if he really wanted her thighs wrapped around him. He felt a surge of protectiveness…and jealousy. Derek really didn't appreciate when Stiles made the bargain to become chained to Aiden if she lost but he knew that Stiles could definitely take care of herself so he attempted to calm the wolf inside and he found great satisfaction in watching Stiles wrap her legs around Aiden just to throw him down to the ground. He also definitely enjoyed her threats to Aiden's person should he continue his attack on her and Aiden's apology. He watched as she asked any of the other people gathered if they also wanted a shot at her to which he immensely enjoyed how every new recruit stepped back with hands raised smelling of respect and slight fear.
When Chris had called Derek onto the mats with Stiles, he was definitely confused but also excited as his wolf answered the call of a challenge. At first the match seemed obviously unmatched because of Derek's innate knowledge of Stiles' fighting techniques, strengths, and weaknesses while Stiles possessed none of the similar knowledge on Derek. He shouldn't have worried though because they were perfectly in sync which was undoubtedly evident in the final round where they ended up with a tie—something that had never happened during a candidate trial, even in the first trial between eventual co-pilots.
Derek arrived at his room and sequestered himself within the medium sized space. Still in a daze, he kicked off his boots and arranged himself so he was laying on his bed with his hands folded under hid head so he could stare at the grey, riveted ceiling.
He lay there lost in thought for what felt like half an hour later; a knock came at his door. Looking at the clock by his bed, he saw that it was time for dinner down in the cafeteria. Wondering how two hours had passed so quickly and who was outside his room, he crossed to the door and opened it to find Stiles on the other side with two trays of food from the cafeteria in one hand with two beers in her other hand. "Hey Derek. Saw you weren't at dinner. Mind if I join?"
Derek nodded and moved to the side to allow Stiles entrance into his room. They had been within each other's rooms before so it wasn't a big deal despite the looks that they got upon exiting them. Derek closed the door and turned in time to see Stiles settle herself in the middle of his bed with her back against the wall. She set out the trays and the beers while leaving enough room for Derek to climb in on her left side. There was just enough room to sit comfortably next to one another with space in between. As the night wears on, the space will eventually disappear as, once they became friends and Derek revealed his nature to Stiles, they both crave tactile connections. Her head would eventually land on his shoulder and he would wrap his arm around her, pulling her closer and slouching down some so she could reach more comfortably.
Despite Stiles' propensity to fill every silence with near mindless chatter, she seemed to enjoy and thrive in the silence she found in Derek's room with him there as her companion. Derek and Stiles enjoyed their dinners in relative silence which eventually became loud and good natured debate as they cracked open their beers and discussed the wild ride they just went on with the candidate trial. They both rolled their eyes at Aiden and his many follies, they laughed when Derek retold how her takedown looked from his perspective, and they compared notes and good-spirited jabs at one another about their own 'trial'.
Stiles voice broke a moment of silence that descended on them after Derek revealed to her that their tie was something unheard of, "It didn't feel weird, you know? It felt…right. In a way. Like we were in sync."
Derek watched Stiles as she spoke. Her voice was measured and it was as though she was thinking out loud, revealing her inner thoughts to Derek's ears. Eventually, he broached the subject of Isaac without actually mentioning him, knowing that even though his death was three months ago, the wounds were still fresh on both of them. "Is that bad or good?" Derek continued to watch Stiles as her expression shifted from emotion to emotion until it landed on an indecipherable expression. Stiles lifted her eyes to Derek and just stared. She appeared as though she was searching for something, some kind of confirmation and she must have found it because all she said was a soft but strong, "Yes." Her admission, the way she was looking at him, and the surety with which she said her answer, made Derek's heart skip a beat.
They spent hours talking about nothing and everything, some subjects serious and some completely inane but the conversation never stalled. It never dulled. It had its lapses of silence but they were moments of reflection, of companionable silence.
Somewhere in the midst of one of their silent periods, Derek realized that Stiles had fallen asleep lying against his side. He considered waking her but knew that they would both have an early morning to meet Lydia for their first neural handshake and simulation, he instead maneuvering himself and Stiles' prone body to lie down with their heads cushioned on his pillows. To hell with what anyone would think happened. He drew the blankets on his bed around them until they were covered. He held Stiles' in his arms as she had shifted until her head was using his chest as a pillow while her right arm snaked around his waist. Derek hugged Stiles closer to his body and breathed in her comforting scent of honey, pine, old books, and a scent that was distinctly Stiles.
Derek didn't know what tomorrow would bring when they were both introduced to each other's minds—allowed to walk through the halls of one another's heads, peruse the secrets and the dreams and the fears of the other, to be bound so intimately to each other in a way that transcends any physical tie like sex—to belong almost wholly to one another. Derek didn't know what that would bring but he was willing to face it as long as Stiles was there by his side.