If You're Going Through Hell

A/N: Hi all! I hope you enjoy the upcoming twists and turns. Let me know what you think!

Chapter 4: The Search Begins

Demon-Stiles let go of Derek's arm once they had passed through the seemingly solid stone wall separating the corridor from the cave where he had arrived earlier. Now that he was no longer preoccupied by trying to figure out what the Demon was and what was going on, Derek was hit full force by the smells surrounding him. It was overwhelming. There were the physical smells – sulfur, death, decay, mold, sweat, smoke, and so on – which were bad enough. But the emotions in the air made it that much worse – pain, fear, despair, anxiety. He could barely breathe.

"Derek, what's wrong?" Demon-Stiles asked, glancing back at him and noticing what was happening.

"It's…too much…the smell," Derek choked out, beginning to gasp for air.

"Hey, hey, hey…look at me." Demon-Stiles began, then faltered at the look on Derek's face, "yeah, I guess that isn't going to help much at the moment. Hold on," Derek watched, literally breathless, as the demon took a quick look around them to make sure they were alone and then transformed back into Stiles, much faster this time than he had back in Limbo Harris' classroom. "There, now look at me," Stiles said, placing a firm hand on each of Derek's shoulders and blocking out the rest of their surroundings. "just focus on me, on the sound of my voice and my scent. I know it's been awhile, but there has to still be traces of the Pack on me, find them, use them to drown out everything else."

Derek tried, he really tried, but it just wasn't enough. He couldn't focus with the sounds and smells and everything else in the cave. The color began to drain from his face. Stiles watched his friend in agony, before finally, on impulse, grabbing Derek's head and drawing him, nose first, into the crook of his neck. Derek took a few tentative breaths before finding the scents of Stiles, Scott, Lydia, and himself there. He could also smell Stiles' emotions – worry, a hint of fear, but also affection, determination, and just a hint of something else, something pleasant. It was comforting, it was Pack. It was a smell that he had spent months of his life longing to be around again, and after a few moments Derek calmed and his breathing levelled out. Eventually, he reluctantly pulled away, remaining just inside of Stiles' personal space but refusing to look him in the eye out of embarrassment.

"Sorry about that," Derek finally said, breaking the silence between them.

"Derek, look at me," Stiles said softly, and Derek found himself instantly obeying once more. He could see the concern etched in the young man's features and the truth of what he was saying in his eyes. "Don't be sorry. It's ok. This place has been an overwhelming nightmare for me, and I actually got here the normal way. I can't even imagine what it must be like for you to still be alive and brought here, with your supernatural senses. You're allowed to freak out about it. I totally understand and won't judge you for it."

"Um, thanks," was all Derek could say in return, but he visibly relaxed and Stiles seemed satisfied that he'd accomplished whatever his goal was.

"So, new plan," Stiles said, a contemplative look overtaking the concerned one from earlier, "I'll stay like this unless we get in trouble and need the demon's strength or powers. That's probably for the best anyway, since there's no way I'll be able to convince Scott or the others that I'm on their side looking like the Chernabog. We will have to be a lot more careful walking around Limbo though, because the other demons will be much more suspicious of us and, well, we'll be much more recognizable to any of our old enemies. But that's ok," Stiles added hastily, seeing the look on Derek's face, "we've beaten them before, and we can do it again if we have too."

"Just how many of our enemies are you expecting to meet down here?" Derek asked.

"Well…Monroe is still alive, right? So she's not here. Oh, and Mr. Douglass was taken by the Wild Hunt, so we won't be seeing him either," Stiles said, pausing as he tried to think of others.

"So, what you're saying is, we could end up seeing them all again?" Derek wasn't sure if he should laugh at the absurdity or just collapse then and there.

"I suppose so," Stiles said, nervously rubbing his neck, "but, once we get some reinforcements, it won't be that big of a deal. Like I said, we've beaten them all before."

"And lost to them before. Some of our friends are here because of that, remember."

"Come on Sourwolf, we're better than that now. Or, we will be once we have everyone else. And besides, some of them are our friends now," Stiles exuded confidence, but Derek could tell he was holding something back. He eventually decided to let it go, for now.

"Then I guess we should get back to searching, shouldn't we?" Derek replied. Stiles grinned at him with so much enthusiasm Derek was forced to join him.

"Are you ready to get going again?" Stiles asked after a moment.

"Yeah, I think so. I'm getting used to the smells down here, and it's not as bad when you're a human and I can smell our Pack on you. How does that work, anyway, since you aren't, well, you anymore?"

"I have no idea. To be honest, I didn't even know if I still had a scent or not," he shrugged, grimacing slightly.

"Stiles! You're impossible," Derek said, facepalming at his young companion.

"Yep," was the simple reply, "but that's why you all love me! Now, let's get going, we have an alpha wolf to rescue." Stiles began walking in the direction he had originally started in, remaining much closer to the cave wall this time. Derek just shook his head and followed, reluctant to let his friend out of his sight. They remained silent for about two minutes before it became too much for Stiles. "So, what's been happening up there since I've been gone?"

Stiles took a sideways glance at Derek, who had caught up to him and was now walking alongside him. Derek seemed to have been lost in thought and startled at the abrupt question, but he relaxed and answered quietly. "Not much, to be honest. After you and Scott…the hunters mostly left us alone. Lydia and I found a spot in the preserve that was secluded and basically turned it into our home. We kept debating what we should do next, but you summoned her to the Nemeton before we'd decided on anything."

They continued walking in silence for awhile after that, both lost in thought once more. It was Stiles who once again broke the silence, "Derek, I'm sorry."

"For what?" he asked, confused.

"For what you've been through," Stiles replied. "No wait, here me out," he continued before Derek could answer, "I'm not blaming myself or anything, although I know I did make life kind of rough on you when we first met." Stiles grinned at him while Derek scowled, "I'm mostly just sorry you've been forced to experience so much pain. You deserved better than that. And I want you to…LOOK OUT!"

Stiles leapt forward, shoving Derek behind him against the wall of the cave before he had a chance to even register what was going on. Derek righted himself in time to hear the snarls from another creature that had apparently managed to sneak up on them while they were talking. Stiles blocked him from view, positioning himself between his friend and the new arrival. Now that he was paying attention again, he could smell the other creature, a combination of the death and decay ever-prevalent in the cave and pure rage.

"I remember you," the creature snarled at Stiles, swiping his glowing blue claws at him, "you're part of Scott McCall's pack." He said it with utter contempt, and Derek could sense the anger intensifying in him.

"Stiles, stay back," Derek said, attempting to pull the other back or place himself in the middle instead. But this Stiles was surprisingly unyielding compared to the one he had known in life.

"Why hello, what have we here?" the creature asked, narrowing his eyes at Derek ominously as his fangs lengthened and his posture shifted, readying himself to attack.

Stiles, on the other hand, relaxed, lowering his arms to gesture between them as he spoke. "Oh yeah, you two haven't met," he said jovially, "Belasko, meet Derek, he's part of our pack too. Derek, meet Belasko, he tried to steal Scott's True Alpha powers with his talons. It didn't work out so well."

Belasko snarled at Stiles' comment, taking another swipe at the young man with said talons, but Stiles dodged it easily enough. "Where is your alpha now anyway?"

"Why? Are you that interested in failing again?" Stiles quipped, acting bored with the conversation. Derek watched the two closely, increasingly on edge as he studied their interactions. The new one, Belasko, was obviously a threat, Derek would have known even without Stiles' introductions. Stiles, on the other hand, was far too composed and vulnerable, leaving himself open to the attack that was surely coming at any moment, especially if he kept taunting the enraged beast in front of them.

"No!" Belasko cried, "I want to tear that murdering whelp to pieces for what he did to me!"

"What are you talking about?" Stiles looked genuinely confused at that, which did nothing to alleviate Derek's nerves, "Scott didn't kill you, or anyone else. I distinctly remember him letting you go." Stiles crossed his arms over his chest, obviously offended by the attack on his best friend's character.

"It…didn't…matter," Belasko was losing what little resolve he had, words coming out between growls. "The Doctors killed me anyway for failing them. It's Scott's fault I'm dead!"

This isn't going to end well, Derek thought to himself, slowly bringing out his fangs and claws while trying not to draw attention to himself.

"I'm going to get revenge for what he did," Belasko was practically screaming at this point, "and I'm going to start by destroying you two!"

Derek saw the almost imperceptible shift in Belasko's posture. "Stiles, run!" he cried, leaping forward as the creature took another, far more dangerous, swipe at his friend. Derek managed to get ahold of Belasko's wrist to stop him in time, but it left him vulnerable from the other side. Derek felt a searing pain in his side as his opponent stabbed him with the claws on his other hand. The attack was not serious, but it weakened him enough that Belasko was able to drag him, claws still embedded in his side, and throw him to the ground a few feet away.

"NO!" Derek snarled, knowing that Stiles would be the angry creatures next target. He jumped to his feet but was quickly stopped in his tracks. Stiles had taken the moment the others fought to shift into his demon form once more, and had grabbed Belasko by the neck, raising him into the air gasping for breath.

"What are you?" he choked out, swiping uselessly at the hand clutched around his throat and the torso within striking distance.

"I…am your new worst nightmare," Demon-Stiles said angrily. "And I don't like it when my friends get hurt." He drew Belasko in slightly, dangling him at eye-level as he spoke. Suddenly, the demon's wings unfurled and, with one mighty rush of wind, he took off, rising to the height of the cave ceiling in moments. Belasko swayed at the demon's side like a ragdoll, and Derek could only look on in wonder.

"Don't ever come looking for us again. I won't be as gentle next time," Derek heard Demon-Stiles say. Then, without warning, the demon hurled Belasko at the ground several hundred feet away. Derek heard the bone-crushing impact from a distance before the demon dropped back to the ground in front of him, shifting back to Stiles' form once more.

"Well, that was fun," he said, shrugging his shoulders slightly as he came closer. "Are you ok?" Stiles asked, tugging at Derek's shirt slightly to get a better look at the wound.

The older man was snapped back to reality at the touch, wincing slightly. "It'll heal," he said automatically. Then he did a double take, raising his shirt to get a better look himself, "Wait, will it heal? Do I still have my abilities if I'm in Limbo?" Derek watched Stiles closely, trying to mask the desperation in his voice.

"You should," Stiles said, wiping some of the blood from the wound. "You do," he said a moment later, "You've already started healing."

Derek let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding, then lowered his shirt back down. "Who was that?"

Stiles looked back in the direction he had thrown Belasko, though the shapeshifter was too far away to actually be visible. "Let's get moving again, in case anyone, or anything, else heard that. I'll tell you on the way." Derek nodded his head and they took off once more, continuing to follow the cave wall. They walked in silence for a moment while Stiles apparently gathered his thoughts. "That was Belasko," he said, idly playing with the hem of his own shirt as they walked, "He is, or was, a chimera, one of the Dread Doctors' experiments. His claws allow him to absorb the power of other supernatural creatures. He actually almost killed Parrish with them, and he tried to kill Scott. Scott and the Pack defeated him though, and Scott let him leave. I always kind of wondered why we never saw him again, but it makes sense that the Dread Doctors killed him for being a 'failure.'"

"He seemed powerful," Derek said, watching Stiles more than he was the ground he was walking on.

"I think he was," Stiles replied, "all of the chimeras were powerful creatures. We struggled quite a lot against them when we first started fighting them. Belasko almost took Scott down before the Pack got there and he got the upper hand."

"But," Derek continued, "you just took him out like it was nothing."

"Yeah, that was pretty awesome, don't you think?" Stiles grinned, obviously pleased with himself.

"Sure," Derek said, frowning slightly as he turned away.

"Hey, why is the Sourwolf making a comeback?" Stiles asked, pleased expression turning to concern again as he laid a hand gently on Derek's shoulder. They stopped once more, turning to face one another.

"I just…when you asked me to come here with you, I thought it was because you needed me…like before," Derek said, refusing to make eye contact and instead glaring daggers at a pebble on the ground.

"Derek," Stiles said gently, bringing his free hand up to rest against Derek's cheek, turning him to look him in the eyes, "I do need you." Derek scoffed, trying to turn away, but Stiles held firm. "Ok, so I can take care of myself now, I can protect you now the way you always protected me. I didn't bring you here for that."

"Then why?" Derek asked, expression stony and unreadable.

"There are two reasons actually," Stiles sighed, wearing his emotions on his sleeve. "First, I need you here to make it possible to send our friends back when we find them. The rituals Lydia and I performed split your spirit from your body. But, while you are alive, those two things cannot be truly separate from one another. Your spirit, down here, is still linked to your physical body on earth. They form a bridge, connecting this world and that one. That bridge is needed for our friends to cross back to the land of the living. So, while you are here, please let me protect you." Stiles was practically begging at this point, and Derek couldn't stand it.

"What's the other reason?" he asked, trying to get Stiles back on track.

"Oh," Stiles replied, blushing slightly, "that one's much more selfish." Derek arched his eyebrows while he waited for him to continue. Stiles sighed again, "I, uh, wanted to see you again. I know it sounds stupid, but I missed you and I wasn't willing to wait until you died to see you again." By this time Stiles' face was beet red. Derek chuckled slightly at the look, but was more struck by what the young man had revealed.

"Stiles, I didn't know you cared that much about me," Derek said, incredulously.

"What!" Stiles looked genuinely offended, "of course I care about you, Stupidwolf. How can you not have realized that?"

"I…don't know." Derek said sheepishly. "I guess I never figured you would. I know I'm not the easiest guy to get along with."

"All part of your werewolf charm," Stiles said, waving the suggestion off. "I, personally, see it as just a challenge to overcome, not a reason to not like you."

"I don't know what to say," Derek said, blushing slightly himself. Stiles began to close what little space there was between them. Derek closed his eyes, a million thoughts racing through his head, wondering what was about to happen.

"Derek, I…" Stiles began, but a loud screech from behind them interrupted him. Derek's eyes were wide open once more, but Stiles was now looking over his shoulder to see what was going on. "I think we need to keep moving," he said, dragging Derek along with the hand still clamped on his shoulder instead of waiting for a reply. "And we need to get that blood off of you."

They had apparently been following some sort of path without Derek realizing it, because all at once Stiles turned down what looked like a fork in the road and began heading in another direction. Derek remained silent for a while, until he felt the heat in the air intensifying. They were entering a dense fog, and his ears began to ring from the sound of something hissing or sizzling. "What are we doing?" he called out to Stiles in front of him, the young man now rather obscured by the fog.

"There's a stream of water here that empties into the lava river in the middle of the cave. We can use the water to clean you up, but watch your step, you don't want to get anywhere near the lava if you can avoid it." Stiles called back to him. "Take off your shirt," Stiles commanded, once they had reached the stream. The fog was now so thick that Derek could barely tell the other was still there with him, and the sound of the water instantly turning to steam when it hit the lava had grown tenfold. Derek did as he was told, handing the shirt over to Stiles as he stooped down to cleanse his skin of the remaining blood. The water was almost scalding hot to the touch, but it did its job. Stiles handed him the now soaking wet, but blood free, shirt when he stood back up. "Come on, let's get out of here and go find Scott," Stiles half-yelled, grabbing his hand and pulling him along.

By the time they escaped the mist, both men were soaked from sweat and the moisture in the air. Stiles had yet to release Derek's hand, which was slightly disconcerting to the older man. He would, of course, blame the redness of his face on the intense heat they had just left rather than his thoughts or feelings if anybody called him out on it. Eventually, Stiles let go as they came to another fork in the road, this time with three different paths they could follow. "Are you sure you know where we're going," Derek asked, pausing to consider for the first time how reliable the young man's knowledge of Limbo-world might actually be.

"Yeah," Stiles replied, "just debating on which route is least likely to bring us more unfriendly encounters." Derek relented, deciding that made a great deal of sense after the Belasko incident. And I really don't want to see what a non-Stiles demon is like. "Let's go this way," Stiles said after another moment, "it'll keep us close to the lava river. The heat will be horrible, but since most of the people here try to avoid being thrown into the lake of fire, we should be alone." Derek thought about asking if Stiles was being serious or not, then decided he didn't really want to know and followed his companion wordlessly.

Stiles had been right about the rest though. The heat from the lava burned at Derek's skin as they travelled the road a dozen yards from the river's edge. The hot air made breathing a little more challenging, and he was completely soaked in sweat almost immediately. We didn't need the detour to the stream, he thought ruefully, this would have washed away the blood just as well. They didn't meet anyone else on the road though, so that was a plus. They had walked what must have been two or three miles along the side of the lava river before Stiles veered away down another path leading back towards the cave walls. "Where are we going now?" Derek asked. Now that the heat was dissipating, his head cleared and he realized that Stiles had been uncharacteristically silent for some time.

"I want to check in with Lydia," he replied, "make sure that what Belasko did didn't do any harm to your body in the real world."

"Oh," Derek replied, wondering what might have happened.

"Here, this is a good spot," Stiles said after a few more minutes of walking. They had come to a steep hill that had been split down the middle, creating a narrow ravine. Stiles entered the ravine, with Derek following wearily. The rock walls deadened the sounds from outside while the narrow opening at the top let in just enough light for them to see what they were doing. Stiles paused somewhere towards the center of the split hill, stooping down to draw in the dirt on the ground. From his vantage point, Derek couldn't see what Stiles was drawing, but he assumed it must be some sort of Druid runes. It took the young man about 15 minutes to complete the project, by which point he and Derek were completely encircled by his drawings. Stiles began to chant in the same strange language he and Lydia had used to bring Derek here, and Derek watched in wonder as their surroundings began to change.

There was no pain or twisting or anything else like there had been when he had been brought to Limbo. Instead, he lost feeling in his body altogether as the air around him turned into haze. The rock walls surrounding them dissolved away into the mist, slowly being replaced instead by indistinct shapes much further away. As the haze let up, Derek could eventually make out trees, and when he looked down he gasped as he realized he was standing on the Nemeton stump. The gasp startled someone sitting close by, who quickly stood and turned towards them. Everything was still hazy, but Derek could basically tell that this was Lydia, hurrying over to them.

"Hi, Lyds," Stiles said amiably as she approached.

"Stiles, what is going on!" Lydia shouted, layering just enough banshee scream into it to make Derek's ears hurt.

"Ow, Lydia, not so loud," Derek said instinctively, trying to cover his ears before remembering that he couldn't feel his body.

"Derek?" she asked tentatively, much quieter this time, "are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here. What's going on?" Derek replied.

"What's going on?!" Lydia's voice began to rise again. "What's going on?! One minute, I'm sitting here listening to the radio and wondering if what we did was successful or not, since Stiles disappeared and I didn't hear anything from you guys. And then the next minute, your body has giant gashes in your side and there's blood everywhere. I didn't know what to do, or what was going on, and I tried to stop the bleeding as much as I could. And then, the wounds healed over and stopped bleeding and I was left standing here more confused than ever. Sooo, let me ask you. What is going on?!"

"I'm so sorry, Lydia," Stiles said quickly, "I meant to contact you sooner than this, but I was waiting until I had more to tell you….I should have come here sooner," he added the last part quickly, noticing the shift in her posture. "We, uh, ran into an old friend."

"What old friend?" she asked, eyes narrowing.

"Do you remember Belasko?" Stiles asked. Lydia gasped, hand covering her mouth, which was all the answer they needed. "Yeah, apparently he has a grudge against Scott for not rolling over and letting him suck the life out of him with those creepy talons of his. Which, he has them down here, and I don't know how that happened since the last I knew they were in a jar that Deucalion hid. Anyways, he attacked us, Derek got hurt, but he's all better now here. It sounds like what happens to one part, Derek's body or Derek's spirit, will happen to the other as well. That's good to know."

"Good to know?" Lydia replied, "you mean you didn't know what would happen?"

"Well," Stiles replied, "not entirely. I figured it would be something like this, but I didn't know for sure." She scoffed at him. "Hey, it's not my fault. As far as I know, we are the first people ever to succeed at doing this. No one knows what will happen for sure."

"That's not exactly helping your case," Derek chimed in.

"I know. But the good news is that you healed, both in the real world and Limbo. Has anything else happened Lydia?"

"No," she said, softening slightly, "it's been really quiet around here. I thought I heard someone approaching one time, but either I imagined it or our barrier sent them away."

"That's good," Stiles said, "hey listen, we're kind of not in the greatest place right now, so Derek and I need to get going again. But I promise I'll check in more often and let you know what's happening with us down here, ok?"

"Ok," Lydia said, expression unreadable.

"Take care of yourself, Lydia," Derek said as the haze began to return.

"And Derek's body," Stiles added cheerfully as she disappeared and was replaced by the solid rock walls of their ravine.

"That…was weird," Derek said, stretching his arms and legs as he regained feeling in his body.

"You're telling me," Stiles said, mirroring his movements, "try doing that for a whole week straight while waiting for your two friends to finally make their way to where you are."

Derek had no response to that, so he simply shrugged his shoulders and followed as they left the ravine and climbed the hill they had just sheltered in. "How much farther is it?" he asked as they neared the top.

"Not far," Stiles said, pausing at the peak. "Scott should be just over there," he added, pointing. Derek's jaw dropped once more.