CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

"Oh my god what the hell is with all the porn?" Stiles yelped. His eyes locked on the scene in front of him. Damn sure it never happened.

"What…? Oh fuck!" Derek gasped, grabbing at the doors of the library, trying to force them closed.

"I'm certainly being." Stiles joked dryly, watching as Derek slammed relentless into him. His young pale body stretched out over the polished wood of Derek's desk. Around them shelves stacked with books and evidence that Leah had been in the room, from the scattering of paper and crayons on the carpet.

"Stiles, we…Stiles…" Derek grabbed at the boy's shoulder, trying once more to move him away.

"Fuck that's hot." the teenager groaned, his fingers tightening on the doors. In front of him, his other self let out a deep satisfied moan that went straight to his dick, making him echo the sound.

He inhaled sharply as he felt Derek's body move closer behind him. The heat scolding the both of them. "Is this your dream?" Stiles heard himself whispered.

Derek didn't answer straight away, he simply moved closer to the teenager till his body was pressed against him. "Maybe its yours?" he whispered against Stiles ear.

There was a breathy silence. Stiles shaking his head. His eyes fixed on the movement of Derek's body across the room. The play of his muscles. The way his tanned skin glowed in comparison to his own. The look on his other self's face filled with pure ecstasy. Making him wish he was it his place.

Stiles didn't realise he was pressing himself back into Derek's solid body, baring his neck to the man. Not until he felt Derek's arm snaking around his waist, pulling him in tighter. Till he felt the distinctive press of the man's arousal against his hip. Hot breath on the column of his neck. Stiles eyes drifted closed of their own accord. Giving himself over to the feelings rushing through him. Moaning as Derek's open mouth presses into his neck. Sucking. Biting lightly.

The howl that fills the room, loud and too near for comfort, had the pair pulling apart violently. Derek stumbling back as Stiles fell forward. Both of them breathing hard.

"Shit!" Stiles swore as he dropped onto his knees. Pushing himself up slowly. When he raised his eyes he found the library gone, replaced by open woodland. Damp leaves pressed against his palms. Scrambling to his feet he turned to find Derek gone too.

"Derek!" he yelled. Turning in a wide circle. "Derek!"

"Stiles!"

He released a breath and turned, only to freeze at the sight of the other Derek. Naked in the sunlight. His eyes glowing with lust. He took a step slowly backwards, his hands raised in defence. "Stay the hell away from me."

"You want me. You feel it, don't you? The heat. The pull to give yourself over to me." naked Derek said, moving closer.

"Really not feeling anything here man. So you can just go and find some clothes. 'Cause you really need to find clothes there man."

Derek simply moved closer still. "He's weak you know."

"Huh."

"He's always been weak. - If he wasn't he wouldn't have lost his family. He wouldn't have lost his pack." Derek growled. "His weakness is why Erica and Boyd are dead. - You know it."

Stiles shook his head. "That wasn't his fault."

"Of course it was." Derek scoffed. "You blame him as much as I do. - If he hadn't been so determined to ignore this…." he waved his hand between them. "….he wouldn't have walked into such an obvious trap. He would have listened to you. - I would have. I wanted to."

"No. - He…." Stiles sucked in a breath. "…he listens to me."

Derek tilted his head, his brow raised and a toothy grin curving his lips.

"I know what you're doing and it ain't gonna work, pal. I'm not becoming your mate so you can go insane and kill everyone."

The wolf took a step closer, his eyes burning into Stiles. "That would only happen if you leave, and you won't. He doesn't understand that. You want to be here. You want to be with me and you can."

Stiles took another step back, his back colliding with a tree. Derek's getting closer. In a blink of an eye the wolf was there, staring into his eyes. His body pressed into Stiles. His mouth hovering too close.

"He thinks he can let you go. He thinks he can watch you walk away and carry on." Derek scoffed. "He underestimates what we have Stiles. He underestimated my determination to keep what's mine."

Stiles swallowed hard. "T-that's why…." he sucked in breath. "….he'll win this fight."

Derek leant back to stare into the boy's eyes. "How so?"

"Because its not about possessing me." Stiles spat. "It's about me choosing, and I'll never choose you."

The wolf growled, pressing his body closer, his lips brushing the teenager's throat. "Maybe I'll give you no choice."

Stiles grinned angrily. "And maybe I'll give you this." he growled before bring his knee up between Derek's legs, making the wolf double over. Stiles used the distraction to bring his elbow across the man's jaw, his foot into his ankle making his collapse with a scream of pain. "Enjoy dick head!" he spat, before taking off into the woods.

~What's Best For Everyone, Isn't What's Easy~

Derek strolled through the trees scolding himself his own stupidity. Not only had he lost his control back there, almost giving in to his desire, but now he'd lost Stiles. A black hole opened up in his gut at the thought of him been out there somewhere. He knew where he was, or at least who he was with. The wolf's determination to claim Stiles had been an ever present weight on his shoulders since that first day. He'd felt drawn to the boy like never before, and he hated it. He hated not being in control of himself. So he'd ignored it. Going so far as to try and push him away. - Scare him off. He should have known it wouldn't work. That the kid wouldn't give in so easily. Stiles was a stubborn idiots who had no sense of self preservation. Which had only drawn Derek in further.

It had become a constant battle not to give in. Not to become that which he feared most. - Kate. It was that fear of screwing Stiles up so completely. Of destroying that bright spirit that had given him the strength to fight the wolf. To keep his distance. But it was becoming more difficult as time went on. As Stiles moved closer to being an adult. Derek knew eventually the threat of becoming Kate wouldn't scare him. That it wouldn't hold him. - or his wolf. - back. He feared the day when the attraction between him and Stiles, the scent of the boy's desire for him, would be just too strong to ignore. And when that happened they'd both be lost.

Maybe that was one of the reasons he forced himself to choose Alex. She was his shield against the hyper-active teenager. In hindsight he should have known it wouldn't work. That pushing Stiles away by force would only make his wolf's more determined to stake a claim on Stiles. As well as trigger Stiles own possessive instincts. He'd give the boy too much responsibility. Given him a position in the pack not realising. - or maybe he had. - that he'd practically already claimed Stiles as him mate. As least in front of the pack.

He hadn't expected to be affected the way he had. He'd heard tales of it. - Mostly told to his kid sister by his mom. Fairytales of soul mates and one true love. - But he's ignored them. Girl's stuff he'd scoffed. He'd never known any one who actually believed in it.

Of course he'd felt the strangeness in his attraction to Stiles. But he'd figure it was because he was a guy, and Derek had never been attracted to guys before. He figured it was just a reaction to that. He guess he might have put two and two together if Stiles had seemed drawn to him. - You'd expect that right. A mutual pull. - yet the teenager had always been reluctant to be near him. Sure Stiles had reeked of attraction and lust, but he'd been sixteen. That hadn't been practically telling. He probably smelt like that twenty-three hours a day.

A loud roar from the distance had his mind clearing in a instant, and running a split second after that. He skidded around trees and roots, his lungs burning as his blood raced through his body. For the first time in his life he knew what it felt like to be human. Really truly human. How does anyone live like this? He asked himself as he skidded to a halt and sucked in a breath. Trying desperately to get his bearings. It amazed him that he could get lost in woods he'd lived in all his life. Yet he couldn't place his position. Another roar filled the air and he was off again. Straining to hear and judge its direction. His lungs burning more and more. Sweat peppering his forehead.

Colliding with another moving object sent his reeling backwards. Thankfully not with enough force to knock him on his ass. But the impact was such a surprise it took him a few moments to figure out what had crashed into him. Mourning the loss of senses he'd never been without.

"Derek. You're wearing clothes."

Derek blinked at Stiles for a few seconds before answering. "Of course I'm wearing clothes. Why wouldn't…." he trailed off at the reminder his mind provide that told him, his wolf hadn't been. "Right. Yeah its me."

Stiles seemed to relax, his shoulders slumping forward. "Thank god. - Oh, and by the way for future reference, if you wake up with swollen balls you totally deserved me kicking you in them and I expect no ripping out of throats, no threats of said throat ripping. - In fact no bodily harm-slash-threats of bodily harm. You hear me…?" Stiles poked his finger into Derek's thankfully covered chest. "…Because you totally deserved my knee crushing your manhood back there!"

Derek stepped forward quickly, his hand on Stiles shoulder. "You alright? What did he…?"

"Nothing. He didn't get the chance." He waved his knee in the air. "Though I wish I could have done it before he started blabbing on incessantly. Man, considering you barely say a word from one day to the next, he has a lot to say. He makes me look like I've taken a vow of silence."

Derek smirked. "No one could do that." he huffed, watching Stiles fondly.

A ridiculous howling sound from the distance drew the pair from their lingering consideration of one another. Turning his head Stiles groaned, recognizing his own pathetic attempt. - Though it had been a fraction better than Scott's first howl. "Guess we should go look." Stiles sighed dramatically.

"After you." Derek huffed, shoving at the teenagers shoulder.

"You know the shoving me around kinda ruins the gallantry." Stiles grumbled.

"I wasn't trying to be gallant."

They strolled for a few minutes before they came upon a familiar scene. Stiles watching himself and Scott search the ground for his inhaler. It was three years ago. The day after Scott had been bitten. Before they'd realised just how drastically their lives were about to change. Stiles had joked with Scott about being bitten by a werewolf. He'd honestly meant it as a joke. Because seriously. Werewolf. - But there had been a little voice in his head that had said it wasn't quite a joke. That it was a possibility.

As the dream pair continued to talk and search. Stiles watched as Derek strolled creepily up behind them. Hands in his pockets. Jaw set in a hard unforgiving line. Stiles shook his head and turned to look at the older version of that man. "Two things. One: You realize that's the reason we thought you were a crazy serial killer right. With the creeping around the woods making no sound. Appearing out of nowhere like something out of a slasher movie. That my werewolf friend…." Stiles pointed to the other Derek. "….is why Scott never trusted you. Creepy, brooding and dressed in leather is always a bad first impression."

Derek - the other version. - stared at Stiles with a raised brow. "From the looks of it, my first impression wasn't all that bad."

Derek gaped at him. Opening and closing his mouth in an attempt to argue, but they both knew it was pointless.

"And….second…" he waved two fingers in Derek's face. "….what's with this…." he brushed his hand against Derek's cheek unthinkingly. But snapped his hand back the moment his eyes met the alphas. "I mean….did you lose your ability to shave in the six weeks following this meeting? Huh?"

"I had more important thing to do that worry about shaving. Besides I didn't exactly have easy access to water and electricity."

Stiles narrowed his eyes at the werewolf. "Huh uh….not burying it pal. That buddy is designer stubble you've been sporting for the past three years. If it had been about not having the time or care to shave you'd have a beard to rival Santa, but you don't. That's is designer stubble, which everyone knows takes far longer to perfect than….that…." he pointed to the clean shaven Derek Hale ten feet away.

Derek inhaled slowly. "Fine." he said on an exhale. "I grew it on purpose…." he continued, rolling his eyes and making his voice sound wary and bored. "…..because I smelt the pheromones rolling off you the first day I'd forgotten to shave and decided to keep it…..just for you." he added another dramatic eye roll. Perching his shoulder against the nearest tree.

Stiles stared at him. Really stared. He glanced back at the scene a few feet away, then back to Derek. "Oh my god! That's true." he laughed and gaped at the same instant. "You've been trying to seduce me with designer stubble." his mouth hung open as he watched Derek's amazing green eyes narrow with anger and embarrassment.

"Don't be ridiculous."

Stiles took a few steps closer. "You were. You were totally doing that!" he whooped. "That's…." he shook his head. Unable to figure out just what that was. Sexy? Hilarious? Adorable? Pathetic? Creepy? - Derek. Yep, it was just Derek. Stiles grinned. He took a step closer to the werewolf. His smiling bright eyes fixed on the older man. "You're such a freak, you know that." he whispered. Stepping even closer. His fingers itching to reach out and touch the rough jaw.

"Stiles." Derek whispered on an exhale. "We really should….not be…." his heart was pounding so hard in his throat he wasn't sure he'd get the words past it. "….this is a really bad…..I…."

Stiles was so close now they were practically one person. Sharing the same moment in time and space. His eyes flickering from the green orbs staring back at him, to the full lips calling to him. Begging to be kissed. All he had to do was take that one final step.

The sound of nails on metal sliced through the moment like a knife. The pair turned back to see the woods gone and the school hallway stretched out in front of them. Stiles frowned up at Derek. "Yours or mine do you think?" he whispered.

"Hard to tell." Derek replied quietly. His eyes scanning the dark hallway. "The night of Peter's attack maybe?"

"Could be." Stiles shrugged, his body still pressed against Derek so he could feel the man's breath on his face.

Derek turned to meet Stiles eyes. Their faces so close. "Maybe we should…."

Stiles lips curled at the corner. "I like it here? If there's one thing I've learnt being around you, its that nothing good ever comes from going in search of the monster." Stiles stepped forward again, flattening Derek against the lockers that had suddenly appeared behind him. His lips hovering closer.

"Stiles. You don't want this."

"Says who exactly?"

"You….me….Stiles." Derek cleared his throat, his heart pounding like a jackhammer in his ribs.

"Shut up Derek." Stiles huffed, closing the gap finally. His fingers curling into the fabric of the man's shirt.

The kiss was slow, lingering. Yet utterly consuming. Stiles slid his hands up to grip the back of Derek's neck drawing the man deeper. Derek fingers carded through the teenager's thick hair, clinging desperately. Tongues stroked together. Teeth nipped at bottom lips. In a breath Derek flipped them, pressing Stiles into the lockers, his hips pinning the boy to the metal. His knee parted the boy's legs causing a pathetic groan to tumble from the teenagers lips. After a few moments of sucking on Stiles tongue, Derek tore his lips away, dragging them along Stiles jaw and down his throat. Determined to hear another of those moans. He pushed his hands up beneath Stiles pale blue shirt to claw at delicate flesh with blunt human nails. Satisfied when Stiles gasped and moaned almost in the same breath. "I've w-anted this. S-so lo-ng I've wanted this." Derek growled into the column of delicate flesh.

"An-any time De-rek." Stiles panted, throwing back his head to give the man better access. "Y-you could ha-ve had me, anytime." he groaned.

Derek's nails bit deeper into Stiles back. "No." he shook his head against Stiles collarbone.

"W-why?"

Derek pulled back, reluctantly. Breaking all physical contract between the pair. He took another step back, creating a canyon of space between them.

Stiles head snapped down to glare at the retreating man. "Wh-what's wrong?" he asked; eyes wide with fear.

"I can't do this Stiles. Not to you." Derek murmured, shaking his head.

"What! Are you kidding?"

"You don't want this."

"Excuse me. Who do you think you are? I know what I want Derek! I'm not a kid!"

Derek growled and for the first time in their journey he sounded like the wolf he was. Shaking his head he took another step back. "That's exactly what you are. You're eighteen!"

"Exactly! Eighteen. - Well at least I will be in a few months. I get to make my own decisions. I get to go to college."

"Yes. You get to leave." Derek's eyes snap up to stare at the teenager. "You deserve better than this. You deserve to go to college."

Stiles stared into Derek's shadowed face. "This isn't about what I deserve dick-brain. This is about what I want! - And I want you!"

Derek shook his head again, not willing to accept the teenager's choice. Stiles opened his mouth to argue but a loud growl echoed off all the lockers, drawing the pair's attention away from each other. Stiles head snapped around to look down the dark corridor. "Peter?"

"Me?" Derek shrugged.

The pair waited, watched. A shadow a small distance away had them looking at each other. It was too small to be Derek's wolf. Or Peter. Stiles frowned at the shadowed figure came into the light of the hall way. Then he froze, his head shaking vigorously from side to side. His mind spinning dizzily out of control. His heart began to hammer into his ribs, and his hands were staking as he took a step back, his eyes darting around. A memory long forgotten coming to life in front of his eyes.

"Is that you?" Derek asked quietly, unsure why he was asking when he knew the answer. The little boy, no more than five or six, marched towards them. He recognised him instantly from the earlier vision of Stiles and Scott. - Though how he'd known the little boy then had been Stiles, he didn't know.

"Oh no. Not this. Not now. I….Please…No." Stiles murmured, taking another step away from the scene. He squeezed his eyes tightly closed. Hoping beyond hope that it would all fade away. "Wake up. Wake up. - There's no place home. There's no place like home."

"Stiles." Derek's warm hand landed on the teenager's trembling shoulder, grounding him. Staring into his crumbled face Derek watched the tears slip from beneath his long dark lashes. "What is it? - Stiles?" he asked, a second before turning to look back down the hall.

The loud growl echoed again. Louder this time. Making the locker doors shake and causing a young Stiles to freeze, looking back at the large double doors at the end of the corridor. A shadow passed over it and Stiles - grown Stiles. - made a broken whimper that had Derek's head snapping around to see pure terror on the boys face. A look he hadn't seen since that night almost a year ago when the Sheriff had gone missing. "Stiles?" he stepped forward, despite already being shoulder to shoulder with the boy. Cupping his face. "Stil..."

"Zacchaeus?"

Derek turned to see a woman, he recognised now as Claudia Stilinski - Stiles mom, walk out of one of a class rooms.

"No. No. No." Stiles was chanting once more beside him.

A roar and a flash of red told Derek what Stiles could not. His eyes locked on the scene. His own head a mess of confusion and fear. - And recognition.

"Zacchaeus. Go." Claudia said quietly, her voice a rush. "Go into the classroom and don't move. No matter what you hear, you stay in there, you understand." she pushed the young Stiles Stilinski towards the room. Pulling the door closed behind him. She looked back at the empty corridor. Then directly at him and Stiles.

"Paige?"

Derek's head snapped around in an instant to stare at the hauntingly familiar face.

Stiles following suit. "Isn't that….?" he asked with a tight wavering voice.

"Yeah." Derek looked from Paige to Claudia Stilinski.

"Ms Stanislaw?" Paige frowned. Her cello bow hanging from her fingers.

"Paige." Claudia waved her hand for the girl to come closer. "Quickly."

Derek watched the girl move forward only to freeze as another roar echoed throughout the school.

Then he was there. A few feet behind Paige. Red eyes glowing brilliantly in the dark. His face twisted. Stiles looked up at Derek with wide eyed panic but there was nothing he could do. This wasn't real. They weren't really here. It was a memory. A nightmare of a memory they were both going to be forced to watch.

In a blur Paige collided with the ground. Derek jerked forward to help but Stiles held him back, tears pooling in his eyes as his mother yelled and rushed forward. Stiles backed away, shaking visibly. Derek gripped his arms when his legs began to buckle. They watched in horror as the crazed werewolf sunk its teeth into Paige's shoulder. Its arm swing out to knock Claudia into the lockers with a loud bang. Paige's screams ricocheted off the walls.

Derek's head snapped around a split second before the door at the end of the hall flew open. Already knowing who would appear through them. Stiles followed his gaze to find a young Derek running into the school. The boy's eyes glowing bright blue in the darkness. Stiles waited. Expecting to see the teenager rush the crazed alpha. Expecting him to protect his girlfriend. But instead, the boy's head snapped to the right, his focus on the classroom doors. In the blink of an eye, teenage Derek was running for the classroom. The same one Claudia had shoved a young Stiles into. He glanced back at the alpha for a second before slipping inside.

Stiles head snapped around to see a confused and slowly dying Paige staring after her boyfriend. His mom getting to her feet in a vain attempt to save the girl. Then Stiles was being pulled away. Dragged towards the classroom.

"Der-ek?"

"Y-you don't need to s-see…." he pushed at the door and stepped through, dragging Stiles behind him.

Unlike before the room didn't fade away. The scene didn't chance. It was still dark. The heart wrenching, blood-curdling screams of Claudia and Paige echoing in from the corridor. In the far corner, a young Derek Hale sat cradling a terrified boy, rocking him back and forth. His lips pressed to the child's head. Tears glistening on both their faces. Stiles looked up at Derek confused, only to see sadness and regret on the older man's face.


A/N: Okay so firstly. I know a lot of fics have Stiles real name as Galim (or something like that) but really that wouldn't be all that hard to pronounce if you think about it. So I read through my sister-in-laws baby name book and picked one that looked a lot more difficult, at least at first glance. So for the purposes of this story Stiles real name is Zacchaeus, which according to the name book is an Aramaic name meaning 'innocent' or 'pure' (which I kinda think is fitting.) and is a variation of Zachariah. So I hope you won't all be too disappointed that I didn't keep to fandom.

Second: I loved the whole alpha attacking the school thing and killing Derek's girlfriend (thank you Jeff) so I kept that part but changed it a little. I merged it with my personal head-canon that Stiles's mom was killed by something supernatural and Stiles was there. But of course when he told everyone they didn't believe him because he's only six. And that's why he was so easily excepting of Scott's change and the whole werewolf thing. When most people would have freaked the hell out.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll have another up as soon as possible.