Author's Note: I do not own Teen Wolf, its characters, or anything associated with the show!


Stiles woke with a start when his face unceremoniously hit the cement floor. Fuck if Kate wasn't done yet… With all the thrashing he'd done in the last two days-or were they even days? He didn't know anymore-he doubted he could take much more. Even his abs hurt. He waited for her crooning promises but it was silent, aside from Derek's breathing. Might as well look around…

When he weakly lifted his head, his stomach jumped into his throat and he couldn't breathe for a second. One of the legs of the bench had snapped and was now lying on the floor. Was that possible? It'd seemed so secure only hours before. Was this some elaborate game Kate was playing to feed her hunter instincts?

"Derek?" The breathing hitched and he knew from the tone that Derek was awake. "Derek, am I hallucinating?" A creak told him Derek was shifting on the cot to look.

"Shit, Stiles. Are you okay?" Awww. Derek's first thought was whether or not he was okay. Was there any chance this had brought them together? Who was he kidding? This had brought them together in a way nothing else really could and he was more than afraid he'd lose it. But he was even more afraid of Kate.

"It just… broke. Do you think it's a trick?" He felt Derek shrug-and he'd given up questioning how he could now feel and just know these things about Derek.

"If it isn't…" Stiles knew. If it wasn't a trick, this was probably going to be their only chance to get away from Kate. His hands shook in their restraints but the left felt looser-easier-and he tugged it free with only a bit of a struggle. Oh god. His wrist was actually free. Like.. he could move it. He rolled it in place and winced at the crackling pain that shot down his arm. How long had he been stuck like this?

"Derek… My hand is free." He could move his entire arm, actually. He hadn't moved this much since before Kate had gotten her hands on him.

"If you're joking, Stiles, I will kill you." But he wasn't joking and Derek knew that. With one hand free, Stiles reached for the other and was almost more surprised that he could reach it than he would've been if he couldn't have reached it. When his fingers closed around the cuff, he hesitated. For too long, he'd hated those cuffs for being just out of reach, never quite close enough to touch.

"Derek my hands are free." And suddenly they were. He hadn't even realized he'd unclasped the cuff on his right wrist but he had. Straightening on his knees, he rolled his shoulders and his neck with a groan that made Derek's breathing change.

"Are you okay?" Somehow, he hears his own voice saying yes and breathlessly beckoning Derek. For some reason, it hadn't quite sunk in. He was actually free. Holy shit he could actually get away from Kate. Suddenly, every ounce of adrenaline he had kicked in and he fought off the restraints on his ankles-breaking the bench boards in the process. His new found strength made him feel powerful. Like, if Kate walked in, he would sock her in the face and leave her bleeding the way she'd left him so many times.

"Stiles…" The breathless voice stole his attention and he remembered Derek. Before he could even speak, he was on the ground beside the cot and tearing at Derek's restraints. One arm free, Derek brought out his claws and began slashing at the cuffs on his ankles.

"Stiles, we have to hurry." He knew that. They both knew that, even if they didn't say it. Kate could come back any moment and trap them both again-they might never escape. Derek was free and standing. Derek was barely breathing beside him, half exhilaration and half fear, but Stiles was right there with him. As horrible as it was, he found himself frozen on the spot. What was he even supposed to do now? If Kate came back and found them out of their restraints…

"Stiles, come on. Don't freeze on me now." Derek's voice was like cough syrup-a gross, sticky, painful jolt that was somehow good for you. He startled and let Derek grab his arm, trying to ignore how much it felt like a restraint. Before he even realized, Derek had smashed through an egress window. No alarms sounded, but that didn't mean that Kate didn't know.

"Come on, Stiles." Deep breath; he followed, holding Derek's hand as he climbed through the window and pulled Stiles up through. Dang even with Kate's torture, Derek was strong. Strong enough that, when Stiles stumbled, Derek caught him. And half-carried him through the field they were suddenly in, barefeet crunching painfully into pine needles and sharp gravel.

It wasn't as bad as he'd thought it was. His eyes caught a glimpse of a house as they ran and Stiles realized they were in a rural sort of housing development.

"Derek… Shoes." They were bleeding, leaving bloody footprints in a trail that would lead Kate right to them. Derek just nodded and continued dragging him until they came across a back porch.

"Shoes!" He shuffled them over to the porch, beneath the window, and tossed a pair of work boots towards Derek. There were six pairs of shoes on the porch, actually, and two were child sized. Derek needed the men's shoe, he reasoned, because he was the one practically carrying Stiles, but that left Stiles with only one option-the hot pink flip flops. When he looked up, though, he was shocked to see Derek pulling on a grease-stained pair of overalls that he'd pulled from the railing.

"What are you doing?" Derek looked at him sideways for a moment.

"We can't walk out of here naked." It only hit him in that moment, how perverted he'd become. He hadn't even realized that naked wasn't their natural state anymore-that people would see that and think it was weird. In his mind, naked was the new normal. And when Derek seemed to watch this on his face, the man's expression deepened into a frown.

"Here, it's okay." Even if it was clearly somebody's old, oversized work shirt. The stiff way it lay told Stiles it'd been washed-probably with a hose-and left out to dry but, even still, the material was coated in sawdust and mud. Didn't matter, though. Derek tugged the shirt over his head, gentle and sort of taking care of him. It was actually… really nice.

"Are we going to make it?" Deep, stained-oak eyes locked on his and he forced himself to take a deep breath, watching Derek's pupils dilate in and out.

"We're going to make it, Stiles. I promise you we are going to make it."


Hope you liked it! Thanks for reading and I know it's short but I promise a longer chapter soon! As always, please review, follow, and favorite!