The werewolf charged.
Stiles, acting on pure instinct, threw himself to the side. He could not even see the werewolf clearly, his eyes not having had a chance to adjust to the dark. It was nothing but a black bur in the darkness.
The wolf hit the closed door hard and crumpled to the floor. In a flash, it rose back to its feet and launched itself at Stiles once more.
There was no chance for Stiles to move. He knew the first dodge had been nothing but pure luck.
Before the wolf struck, though, it twisted himself in midair. He could have killed Stiles easily that time, he was sure.
The beast circled Stiles, sniffing the air. He whined and backed away, clearly in distress. After a moment, though, it became clear that whatever was initially holding the wolf back was overcome by its desire to attack.
Stiles eyes had adjusted again and he tried desperately to keep his wits about him. Just as the wolf leapt, Stiles stepped to the side and slammed into the wolf's ribs, sending them both crashing into the wall. He then wrapped both arms and legs around the wolf, trying to touch as much of the wolf's body as he could with his own.
Stiles felt the wolf's fur being to disappear and the man's bones re-form under his fingers. The sound and feel of the change was gruesome, but Stiles would not let go. Eventually, he held only warm human skin and solid muscle.
Stiles took a deep breath and smelled grass and dirt and fresh air. He had no doubt who he held. He then realized Derek was completely naked. Derek did not seem particularly bothered by this, but Stiles had his eyes screwed shut. Well, he might have peeked once. But he didn't think it fair for Derek to be forced to be both naked and gaped at by Stiles while locked in a research lab of a university. (For the record, no matter how well tailored the pants, they did not do Derek's ass justice. Stiles had to remember to tell Erica.)
But, Stiles reasoned, at least he isn't trying to kill me anymore.
Stiles could feel a rumble of laughter in Derek's chest. "Stiles, you can open your eyes. If we're going to get out of wherever we are, you're going to need all of your senses."
Stiles, seeing the logic in the statement, opened his eyes, hoping it was dark enough that Derek couldn't see the flush that must be covering his entire face.
Derek continued. "Where are we, exactly?"
"We're in one of the university research labs. It's the visiting researcher that's behind all the supernatural disappearances. You and your pack have become one of those, now." Derek growled at this statement. Stiles continued. "They have Laura hooked up to something called an exsanguination machine and I heard these screams. I think it was her. Derek, I think they may be torturing her to death."
Stiles always assumed if he were ever in a truly dangerous situation, he might cry or have a panic attack. At this moment, he mostly felt angry. Laura was one of his closest friends. One of the very few people who knew about his effervescence, but did not treat him differently for it. He refused to lose that.
Derek, at hearing Laura had been captured, became even angrier. Stiles wondered, not for the first time, if there was something more that connected the Alpha and rove socialite than a shared last name. He paused to take a breath.
"How did you end up in here with me?"
"I was put in this particular cell, because they wanted to check to see if I was really preternatural. I ended up kidnapped, because they chloroformed Laura's entire house trying to capture her when I visited earlier."
Derek had begun to rub Stiles's back in a comforting manner. This pushed Stiles closer to Derek. As he was already straddling him, this proved to be a bad idea. They had no time for things like that.
"Also, they have a kind of animated golem creature." Stiles was trying to keep focused on the task at hand.
"Yes, an automaton they're called," grunted Derek.
"You knew what it was and didn't tell me?" said Stiles indignantly.
"Hardly see how it matters to you. You would have gotten in the way anyway."
Stiles could hardly argue with this. Derek had taken to nuzzling Stiles's neck in between phrases, making it even harder to stay annoyed.
Finally Stiles punched him. "Derek, we have about an hour of time. Or we did when they threw me in here. I'm not sure how much time we have left. Then they are coming back and we are in danger. We need to think of something. I know the full moon makes you lose control, but I need you to get it back."
"An hour, how did you manage?"
"My BUR file doesn't say how long it takes my ability to work. I told them it takes an hour." Stiles grinned.
"And they threw you in here anyway?" Derek roared and jumped up, Stiles barely holding on to an arm.
"Derek!"
Derek finally calmed to a point and looked at Stiles.
"We need to make a plan," Stiles said. He produced the shard of glass he'd stolen earlier. Derek looked impressed despite himself.
"You're always resourceful. I have to say. I'm surprised you didn't find a baseball bat," Derek said.
Stiles glared. "I actually had one earlier at Laura's. One of her drones left it out."
Derek laughed. Stiles decided it was a look he wanted to see more on Derek's face – if they got out of here alive.
Suddenly serious, Stiles grabbed the back of Derek's head and brought him in for a kiss. "We have to get out of here. We have to get Laura out of here and your pack." Derek nodded.
Standing in the doorway, a backlit figure started slowly clapping.
Lightning-fast, Derek shifted Stiles around so Derek was between Stiles and the intruder. Derek held the shard of mirror out in front of him like a knife, even as the glass cut into his hand, which was unable to heal with Stiles touching him.
"Well, Mr. Stilinski, I never thought to see a werewolf Alpha in human form on a full moon. You do good work," said Blake from the door to the vault.
Seeing the knife, Blake stayed a good distance out of Derek's reach. Just then the wax faced man – the automaton – entered the room. It faked towards the right and then lunged left, grabbing Stiles. Stiles tried to fight back, but even when he landed a solid kick, the automaton did not flinch. Derek had lunged to the right, trying to strike the automaton with the glass and the lunge combined with Stiles's fighting effort brought them out of contact. Derek threw the glass at the automaton anyway, embedding it in the creature's back.
Derek immediately changed back into a werewolf as the automaton drug Stiles from the room. Although Blake had a group of people with her, it appeared they expected it to take just as long for Derek to change back as they believed it had taken him to change to human. Stiles hoped it would give him an advantage.
As Stiles was drug down the hall, he saw a disgusting black liquid dripping from the automaton. He briefly wondered why Derek had tried to injure the creature until he figured out Derek had been trying to create a trail. Realizing that there was not enough of the liquid, Stiles grabbed the glass and cut his own arm. His own blood, healthy and bright red, welled fast and dripped down the floor. The automaton did not notice.
Stiles, the automaton, and Blake, who the creature was following, entered another lab. Inside were three men, two Stiles didn't know, and one Stiles recognized as a fellow faculty member. The faculty member in question was a part of the biology department, not the supernatural department, though, so Stiles had had very little contact with him and did not even know his name. This at least explained how Blake had been able to get so much of the plan done in such a short time without the university realizing – help from the inside.
They men were moving between two figures lying on a pair of platforms. Stiles cried out. One of the figures wore a pink sequin dress stained with blood. She was tied down and both hands and feet crucified with wooden stakes. Stiles couldn't tell if she lay still because of the pain or because she could no longer move at all.
Stiles looked at Blake. "I am beginning to understand who is truly the monster here. What you are doing is farther from natural than vampires or werewolves could ever get."
"No!" Blake looked angry. "They are the real monsters. They overlook humans, they only care about themselves. But we outnumber them. We are stronger than they are. I am stronger than they are and I will teach these monsters that their monstrous actions will never be overlooked."
Stiles was starting to think Blake had moved on from zealot territory and into crazy, although he supposed the two weren't mutually exclusive. He wondered if some supernatural hadn't wronged her in some way in the past.
The automaton hauled Stiles over to one of the platforms and tied him down.
"Bring in a new test recipient," Blake ordered. One of the scientists scurried off.
Stiles twisted his head so he could see Laura. She was still lying silent and unmoving on her own platform.
Eventually one of the scientists turned on the machine and a white light ran up a tube attached to Laura's arm and penetrated her body. She jerked and writhed, pulling involuntary on the stakes impaling her body. She let out a scream of pain.
The scientist pushed a button and the light shifted to a tube attached to a comatose human on the platform next to Laura. The man's eyes opened. He also jerked and screamed. Ignoring Laura, all the scientists ran over to the man. They checked his pulse and his pupils. The man lay perfectly still.
Then he began to whimper. All of his muscles seemed to lock up, his bones stiffened, and his eyes bulged.
"Perfect!" exclaimed the biologist.
"A much more rapid and efficient result. Commendable progress," said Blake, smiling widely.
There was a loud knock on the door. Danny came in carrying the body of another man.
Upon seeing Stiles, Danny dropped the body and ran over.
"Stiles, I'm so sorry," Danny was wringing his hands. "If I had only known what you were, I might have stopped this. I'm sorry."
"Professor, shouldn't you test the extent of his abilities first?" Danny asked Blake. "Formulate a hypothesis, take a more scientific approach? If he is so unique, you can't take unnecessary risks."
Blake waived off his statements. "This is just a preliminary procedure. According to the vampires, he holds life in a different way than normal humans. He may not need any kind of electroshock treatment for revival at all."
Danny looked about nervously. "But what if my theory is correct and not yours?"
Blake grinned madly. "You'd better hope that I am right and not you, then."
The scientists started moving the equipment over towards Stiles.
Suddenly, something large, heavy, and very angry hit the outside door hard enough to splinter it.
"What the hell is that?" asked the biologist.
"It will hold," Blake stated, but not confidently.
At the second crash, the scientists all turned toward the door in a defensive stance. Danny quickly untied Stiles from the platform.
Stiles remained still and hoped nobody would noticed he was free.
The door caved in on the third crash and in charged a large, black wolf. The fur around his face was matted and clotted with blood and his eyes were red with madness and anger.
It took merely seconds for Derek to knock out all three scientists and start attacking the automaton. He had the automaton's neck in his teeth, trying to decapitate it. Whatever the skeleton had been made of was evidently too strong for a werewolf's teeth, though.
Blake grabbed a knife and quicker than Stiles believed possible, she was at Stiles's side and holding it just under his ribs. She started making her way to the door, forcing Stiles along with her.
Stiles really wished he had a baseball bat at that moment. Derek could make fun of him all he liked, but it was an effective weapon. Instead, he elbowed Blake in the stomach while simultaneously stomping on her foot. Stiles twisted away and Blake, more concerned about her own safety than anything else, fled.
The sound had the bad luck of drawing Derek's attention. He started toward Stiles, dragging the automaton, who now had a death grip around his throat. Stiles knew that if Derek touched him now, he'd be in danger.
"Rub out the word, Stiles," a hoarse voice cried out. From atop her platform, a pale and clearly in pain Laura lifted her head. "Rub out the word on his forehead."
Suddenly understanding, Stiles tried to dodge out of the werewolf's touch and reach the automaton's forehead. He missed nearly all of the letters so that JHVH became JHV.
The automaton stiffened and let go enough for Derek to shake him off.
Stiles leapt forward and wrapped his arms around Derek's neck. The change was a little less horrible and once again, Stiles had Derek's naked form in his arms.
"The automaton tastes like crap," Derek spat.
Derek then moved his hands over Stiles, checking for injuries. "Are you okay?" Stiles nodded. Derek noticed the cut on his arm, but before he could get angry, Stiles explained. "I did that to myself. You needed a trail to follow."
Derek grunted. Stiles supposed that was as close to approval as he was likely to get for injuring himself.
Derek pulled Stiles against him, kissing him deeply. Stiles pulled away after a moment.
"We need to help Laura," Stiles insisted. Derek nodded.
Suddenly, the man next to Laura sat up. Stiles had completely forgotten about him. Before the man could do more than look around stupidly with his fangs out, Stiles touched his hand, turning him human as well. Derek punched him had enough to knock him out.
"Was that really necessary?"
"It easier than making you hold on to both of us," Derek replied. Stiles saw the sense in it, but still thought it unfair to the man.
They walked over to Laura. "Derek, you'll have to do this. I'm afraid to touch her like this."
Derek nodded. "Well, princess," Derek said to the vampire. "Got yourself in quite a pickle this time, didn't you?"
"Oh, Dere-bear, you're one to talk. Normally, I wouldn't mind, but seeing as how it's you, shouldn't you maybe cover up or something?" replied Laura hoarsely. Derek blushed so red, it extended all the way down his neck and to his upper torso. Even if she sounded bad, if Laura was joking, she had to be alright. Stiles was also incredibly fond of the moniker "Dere-bear" and would be using it in the future.
Derek untied Laura and, as gently as possible, slid his hands and feet off the wooden stakes. The wounds should have closed. They remained gaping.
"I need blood. I do not think either of you will do," Laura said weakly.
Before a suggestion could be made, Derek jerked backward. Two hands were wrapped around his throat. The automaton had crawled across the floor and was trying to fulfill its last order – to kill Derek.
