If You're Going Through Hell

A/N: Hi everyone! A special thank you to kkalphwolf for your kind review! We are now officially at the halfway point of this story (I think)! My current outline has forty chapters, with some potential for follow-up stuff if there is any interest. That's a ways down the road yet though. In other news, a friend of mine read through the story recently and had a few questions. I figured I'd take a moment and answer them here, in case you were wondering about these as well. If not, feel free to skip down to the actual chapter. And if you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

Q: Why didn't Derek become an alpha when Scott died?

A: I wanted to stick as close to canon as possible (though obviously I've made a few tweaks here and there). Scott's "true alpha" status supposedly cannot be taken from him except by a beta of his own making (or Belasko's claws, maybe, idk, at this point I think the writers weren't giving much thought to what they were doing). I went with the assumption that, if it can't be taken from him except by his own beta, then it can't be inherited by a beta he didn't personally create either. In this story, Liam and Hayden both die before Scott, and he hasn't created any other betas, therefore the alpha power simply died with him, making Derek an omega wolf.

Q: What happened to Alec (the kid Scott saves in the final episode)?

A: That's one of the things I tweaked. For this story, Monroe and her forces didn't fall apart quite as much as they did at the end of season 6, hence she is able to kill them off back in chapter 1 with relative ease over the course of about a year after the show ended. Scott and Co. never regained enough footing to go on the offensive, and so they weren't around to help Alec. I haven't given him much thought, to be honest, but presumably he is dead by now, and running around Limbo somewhere. Who knows, maybe he'll show up sometime, though I doubt it would happen in this story (maybe the potential sequel, it would make more sense there).

Q: What is Stiles hiding from Derek and the others?

A: Can't answer that one; at least, not yet. I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise.

Q: Why is Nolan so attached to Stiles (since I have him frequently either near to, or hiding behind, Stiles)?

A: So, this one just sort of happened on its own, but there are a couple of reasons why I think it would make sense. Logically speaking, of the Pack members that Nolan knows, Stiles is the one least likely to hold any real grudge or animosity towards him. Presumably they would have known each other before Stiles graduated (going to the same school, being on the lacrosse team together), though not very well obviously. Then Stiles was gone while Nolan joined forces with Monroe and fought the others. By the time Stiles returns, Nolan has switched sides, so Stiles has no reason to be upset with him apart from his usual suspicious nature and secondhand offense based on what the others tell him. Nolan died before he could do too much reconciling/making amends, so things are still pretty awkward on that front. Stiles also meets the needs that Nolan is trying to fill throughout his appearances in the show (namely friendship and protection), so Nolan likes being around him. The others could do that for him too, but he's still wary of the wolves, given his past experiences. Nolan's never fought a demon, so while the demon form Stiles takes puts him on edge, I think he's still more comfortable with that than the werewolves.

Chapter 20: The Fox's Last Stand

What does it say about you, when it doesn't actually bother you to be in Hell, fighting a Japanese demon-spirit while the man you…care for…who, incidentally, can turn into an actual demon, is trying to use his Druid powers to summon silver to kill said Japanese demon-spirit's conjured henchman? How has this become my life? Or afterlife? Except, I'm not dead, at least not yet. So…life, temporarily displaced. Everything was so much simpler before Scott and Stiles, before all this other stuff took over. But, at the same time, I wouldn't trade this life for something else either. Not now. Not after everything we've been through. Not when there is still so much I want to…do…with him. Not when I can hear him calling my name off in the distance.

"Derek?"

Stiles, why are you so far away? You should definitely come closer.

"Derek!"

There, that's much better.

"Derek! No, no, no, no, no, please, come on, you have to be ok!"

Stiles, why wouldn't I be ok? You're here.

"Come on, Derek! You gotta wake up!"

Wake up? But I'm not asleep. Am I?

"Scott! I'm not getting any response here."

"Keep trying!" That's Scott's voice. "I don't know how much longer I can hold them off." Wait, what's going on?

"Derek? Alright, listen buddy, you gotta wake up. I need you here!"

Stiles? "St…Stiles?" Derek slurred, groggy, his mind reeling as he tried to sit up.

"Derek! You're alive!" Stiles threw himself around the older man in a fierce hug, before quickly pulling back and recovering his composure. "Well, as much as anyone in Limbo can be anyway."

"Stiles, what happened?" Derek asked, his vision and hearing refocusing to take in his surroundings.

"You took a bad hit from one of the Oni. For a moment I wasn't sure if you survived. But you did, thankfully, and now we really need to get you back on your feet." Stiles wasted no time, interrupting whatever comment Derek was about to make by placing his hands on the wolf's chest, chanting another brief incantation, and stepping back after his eyes flashed silver and they both felt an electric shock.

"Whoa, what did you just do?" Derek fumbled, reaching to feel the area of his chest that stung a bit from the contact.

"I gave you an energy jumpstart. I won't be able to do it again, so use it wisely. We need you back in this fight," Stiles said grimly, pulling him to his feet in the process.

"What's happened?"

"Lori's injured, she was cut by an Oni's blade, and the wound seems to be getting worse. We're outmatched here. I've been trying to get us some silver, but I don't think I can. There just isn't any here in the Underworld for me to draw to us, at least not any that's close enough to this spot for me to reach it. We're rapidly running out of options," Stiles spoke while transforming back into demon form and moving to rejoin the fight alongside Scott and Nolan. Derek glanced around, seeing the battle-weary packmates scattered across the field. Only Noshiko seemed to still be fighting at full strength, the bright aura of light shining off her, illuminating their battles far more than the ever-present drab gray glow of Limbo.

Off to one side of the clearing, a bloodied and weary Isaac fought alongside an even worse looking Theo against a lone Oni. Though they had the numerical advantage, they were clearly outmatched, the Oni's movements every bit as precise and calculated as always against the quickly failing strength of the wolf and chimera. Not too far from their battle, Jackson and the twins were still holding their own against two Oni. It was obvious all three were tired, but they worked seamlessly together, managing to keep their opponents at bay. On the other side of the clearing, Brett and Lori were not quite so fortunate. Lori's wound from earlier had seemed to be just a light a scratch, but as time wore on it worsened, growing into a much deeper cut and nearly paralyzing her arm. Brett struggled to both protect her and fight the Oni. Sweat poured down his face and arms as he continued to slash at the creature, but to little avail.

Derek clambered to his feet and took in the remaining battle. With Demon-Stiles joining them, Scott and Nolan began a new attack on their pair of Oni, driving them backwards with a non-stop assault of fangs, claws, and fists. They seemed to be winning, but for the fact that the Oni almost effortlessly parried every blow before it could find its target. We can't win this fight, Derek thought to himself. All of the searching, the planning, the preparation…its all going to end here. And before I even had a chance to tell him that…I…love…NO! It's not going to end here! We've fought too hard, lost too much for this to be where our story ends. Spurred back into action, Derek launched himself forward into the battle with his alpha and his…whatever Stiles is. "We are going to win this fight!"

Demon-Stiles glanced at him briefly, a bit of a smirk on the terrifying face as he nodded his head slightly and pounced once more onto the Oni in front of him, breaking away from the main battle to go toe-to-toe with the creature. Derek, Scott, and Nolan, left with only one Oni, quickly gained the upper hand, driving the creature back yet further into the chaos near the center of the clearing.

Void-Stiles scrambled away from Noshiko for a moment, surveying the scene around him. The field had devolved into chaos, something he took immense pleasure in. He sighed, breathing it in and letting the pain and confusion bolster his own strength. Noshiko knocked his Oni bodyguard to the ground, darting past to try to catch the Nogitsune, but she was a second too late. Rejuvenated, he spun back around to catch her blade in midair with his hand, using a speed she did not know he possessed. She refused to react apart from allowing her eyes to widen slightly, pausing just a moment before wrenching the katana out of the dark spirit's grip and spinning to counter a blow from the Oni she sensed behind her. She allowed the fox-fire surrounding her to increase a little more, giving her the necessary strength to meet this new challenge before throwing herself full force into her battle once again.

Another scream tore through the field, wrenching its way through the hearts of every pack member. They turned almost as one to see that Brett, fighting valiantly against the Oni with his injured sister, had been stabbed through the abdomen with a sword. The Oni withdrew the weapon quickly, a sickening squelch accompanying it just before Brett fell to the ground and Lori jumped between them, tears bristling in her eyes as she swiped menacing claws at the face of the demon before her. "Get away from him you monster!" Her injured arm hung limply at her side as she stared the creature down.

"Derek, go! We've got this!" Scott called out. He was halfway across the battlefield before the alpha could even finish the command, leaping across the bodies in the center and charging at the Oni with a roar. No! We are not losing anyone today!

The Oni were relentless, forcing the others to turn their attention back to their respective battles. The fight wore on, the weariness catching up to them all. It's only a matter of time before one of us falls for good, Derek thought to himself as he sunk his fangs into the Oni's arm just moments before it could run Lori through the way it had her brother. And we are powerless to stop it from happening.

-o-

Corey and Mason stared around the clearing, confused and concerned by the lack of response and the complete absence of the two women they had left behind. "Hello? Is anybody here?" Mason called out, letting go of Corey's hand to return to visibility.

"Oh, thank God, you're back!" Melissa said, stepping out from behind a makeshift tent made of very worn tarps. "We've been so worried about you both!" She ran forward, dragging Mason into a tight hug that left him reddening in the face.

"You were?" Corey asked, letting go of his invisibility to seemingly materialize out of thin air, a puzzled look on his face.

"Of course we were, you boys are part of the family, and we could hear sirens wailing and who knows what all else going on out there," Melissa replied, letting go of Mason enough to wrap Corey into her vice-like embrace as well. Neither of them seemed to mind though.

"Were you able to find something that belonged to Nolan?" Lydia asked, also stepping out from behind their tent and approaching at a more leisurely pace.

"Um, yeah, we were," Mason replied, pulling away still slightly embarrassed by the fuss and drawing Lydia's attention to the backpack he held up. Corey waited for Melissa to let go before joining his boyfriend, his arm lingering just a moment as though he couldn't quite bring himself to lose the contact yet.

"We found Nolan's backpack," Corey said, somewhat unnecessarily.

"Are you positive it belonged to him? We only get one shot at this," Lydia asked, frowning as she leaned in to inspect the bag in question.

"Yes, we're sure. We remember him wearing it, and when we found it there was some more of his stuff inside. We decided to take it out, though, and fill it instead with stuff we can actually use," Mason added, unzipping the bag and beginning to pull cans of food out to show them. "We figured, if the whole pack is going to be here soon, we needed more supplies than just what you have here."

"That…was actually really smart of you. Consider me impressed," Lydia said, before taking the bag from Mason's grip and unceremoniously dumping its contents onto the ground. She turned on her heels and began walking away.

"What was that for?" Corey asked, mildly insulted after everything he and his boyfriend had just been through.

"There's no time to waste," Lydia called over her shoulder, "I need to get this marker set up as quickly as possible. We haven't heard anything from the guys down below for a while, so we have no way of knowing what's going on or when they're going to need this. I don't want to be too late when we have a chance to save somebody." She stooped down on the ground, arranging the backpack to sit a short distance away from the keys to Stiles' jeep, the last marker they had set up.

"You're right, that makes sense," Mason replied, dragging Corey over to watch with Melissa following quickly behind them.

"Are these markers very difficult to set up?" Melissa questioned, pausing to survey the ones closest to her in the pale light of the morning sun gleaming through the canopy above them.

"Not difficult…more tedious, I'd say. The runes Stiles described have to be very precise in order to function properly," Lydia answered, frowning in concentration as she grabbed a fistful of the mountain ash/wolfsbane medley Stiles had taught her to create.

"We'll leave you to it then," Melissa said, grabbing the two boys and beginning to drag them away. "Come on, you two can help me make breakfast."

"Yes, ma'am," Mason and Corey said in unison, stealing stray glances at Lydia as she worked while following Melissa's instructions at the campfire.

It took close to an hour for both breakfast to be ready and Lydia to finish her intricate rune-making. Just in time, Lydia thought to herself, though she wasn't entirely sure why. She decided to let the thought pass, content to, for the moment, enjoy the company of her friends as they shared a simple meal together. Talk quickly turned serious as they watched Derek's body. Though it remained completely still, large numbers of cuts, scrapes, and injuries began spontaneously forming all over his exposed skin. Blood seeping through his shirt told them that many more of these injuries were appearing under his clothes as well.

"Um, how much of that can he take before he…you know," Mason started before tapering off, afraid to voice what he was thinking aloud.

"I don't know," Lydia answered, stepping forward to watch as Melissa began inspecting the damage more carefully.

"What does this mean? Are they in trouble in the Underworld?" Corey asked.

"I don't know that either. He's gotten injured before while down there, but never this badly. Whatever is going on, it can't be good," Lydia replied, a faraway look in her eyes.

"He seems to be healing alright, as far as I can tell," Melissa interjected, though her voice shook slightly as she spoke. "But I don't really know what to do here," she continued, turning to Lydia, "do I treat his wounds like a regular werewolf patient, hoping the enhanced healing will take care of it? Do I treat him like a human patient, knowing that his healing will probably take care of his injuries before I can even get to them? How do I tell what to work on and what not to?"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. McCall, but I don't know that either," Lydia said, turning to stare at the older woman with a haunted expression. "But I have a very bad feeling about whatever is happening down there."

"You mean, like someone is getting hurt even worse than Derek?" Corey asked, clutching Mason's arm as he spoke.

"No, like someone is about to die and be lost forever," Lydia said ominously. "Maybe even more than one."

-o-

Brett is down, a giant gaping wound in his abdomen that refuses to heal continuing to pour out blood. Lori is still fighting, though being hampered by her wounded arm has left her open to receiving several similar injuries across her body. She struggles to stand, struggles to keep breathing, keep going, but she refuses to give up and die on this battlefield.

In a lot of ways, that refusal, that determination, is the only thing keeping the Pack going. A quick glance across the battlefield shows the rest are faring little better. Derek, though untouched by the Oni's blade, has cuts up and down his arms from being thrown to the ground in his attempts to defend the siblings. He is exhausted, and it shows. Off to the other side, Isaac and Theo have resorted to taking turns fighting their Oni one-on-one in order to give each other a minute or two to catch their breath. Jackson and the twins are arguably doing the best, fighting three against two, but their punches have likewise begun to lose their force and their movements are becoming increasingly sloppy and erratic. Nolan, only human and still favoring the ankle that Stiles healed, struggles just to keep up with Scott and the Oni. He puts in a valiant effort, providing enough of a distraction to give the alpha wolf an occasional opening to sink his claws into. But even then, the futility of these battles is made all the more clear. The Oni is unfazed by the attack, uninjured and unhindered by such things as breath and stamina.

The one exception to that rule seems to be the Oni fighting their Stiles. In his demon form, the young man packs a far greater punch, and his opponent appears to falter here and there, almost as though wounded. That is strange, she thinks to herself, they've never shown weakness before, to anyone. She cannot afford to dwell on the thought, though, as she is engaged in her own, ridiculous battle. The Nogitsune, still wearing Stiles' face like a mask, and his bodyguard (her own strongest Oni) fight on relentlessly. They struggle to keep up with her speed and strength, but, like the rest, her attacks seem to do little damage, and she knows the fox-fire she has called upon will not last indefinitely. It is no longer truly hers to command, and it will return to where it came from when it so desires. This battle will, one way or the other, end soon.

"What happened to you?" she calls out to the Nogitsune, pausing for just a moment to take in his confused expression. "Why are you like this? What tragedy caused you to turn to this way of existing?"

"I don't know what you are talking about, now stop babbling and fight me!" Void-Stiles responded with a shout as he charged forward. Noshiko parried the attack, countering it with her own before continuing.

"I know well how a nogitsune comes to be. A kitsune must feel extreme pain and loss to become one who feeds on it. What happened?" Noshiko persisted, drawing her katana into a neutral stance. Silence feel between them, the Nogitsune contemplating her with an odd expression on his face as the sounds of the various battles around the clearing continued on.

"I am surprised you have not already guessed, dear Noshiko. There is, after all, a reason it was I who answered your call for revenge all those years ago and not another spirit. We are more connected than you think," Void-Stiles finally replied, an evil grin alighting his face as he swept his eyes back over the field around them and inhaled deeply.

"No, you can't be…" Noshiko responded, true fear in her eyes as she took a step back. Void-Stiles nodded his head in response as he turned once more to pierce her with his stare.

"My family was hunted down, slaughtered one by one. We were a peaceful clan, we desired to harm no one. We were not wealthy, we were not royal. We were but simple farmers. But that did not matter. It never does. These fools you've aligned yourself with are proof of that. The more things change, the more they stay the same. We were different, and they were afraid of us, afraid of our power. They were relentless. They took my mother, they took my father, they took my brother and his family. Next, they came for me. They tore me to pieces, ripped me limb from limb and kept me alive only so I could watch as they tortured and killed my wife. I swore in that moment, that if I survived, I would not rest until I had hunted each and every last one of them down and slaughtered them the way they had my family. I would make them suffer, as I had suffered. I would make them feel all the pain I had felt, and I would enjoy every last second of it! They made a mistake. I passed out shortly after my wife was killed. They assumed I was dead. After all, how could anyone possibly survive what they had done to me? They left me behind in order to chase after my twelve-year-old daughter, the only member of our family to have escaped their brutality unscathed," the Nogitsune drew steadily closer, a mad gleam in his eye as he told his story.

"No, you cannot be him. He died that day, we buried him along with my mother," Noshiko's voice shook as she attempted to deny what the Nogitsune said.

"That much is true, you buried the body of your father, my body, alongside that of your mother. In my rage, I discovered we kitsune have the power to possess another's body, and so I did. As fate would have it, the first body I claimed was that of an actual fox. It sustained me until I was able to retake a human form. When I had, I sought out those who had taken everything from me, and I was every bit as brutal as they had been. I got my revenge, and oh how sweet it was. And I did it all for you, my Noshiko, to protect you from them," Void-Stiles reached out a hand, placing it gently on the face of the woman in front of him, an almost caring expression on his features. But Noshiko could see through to the madness below, and she pulled away.

"My father died in that battle. Whatever you are, regardless of where you came from, you are not him," she replied. The Nogitsune's glare turned furious. He roared in anger before diving headfirst into battle once more. It quickly became obvious he had been holding back earlier, his movements now much more precise and strong. The Oni, apparently fueled by their master's rage, redoubled their efforts as well, quickly driving the already exhausted Pack to the ground.

Another scream tore through the field, and Noshiko spared a quick glance to see the devastation around them. This time the victim was Nolan. Time ground to a halt as every eye turned to watch, the Pack in horror and their adversaries in pleasure or indifference. The Oni yanked his blade out of Nolan's stomach, where it had run clean through the boy. Nolan grasped at the wound, choking as he fell, almost in slow motion, to his knees.

"NOO!" Demon-Stiles cried, flinging his opponent to the ground before flying across the field to catch the injured boy before he could collapse completely. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, hang on, stay with me Nolan, I'll fix this, I will, I promise," Stiles stammered as he gently helped his friend to lie down while simultaneously returning to human form. "You just gotta stay with me, ok?"

"It is time for this to end," Noshiko called out, turning her gaze to fix on Void-Stiles while drawing the attention of everyone else to her.

"Oh really?" Void-Stiles replied sarcastically, "And how do you propose to do that, daughter?"

She ignored him, instead turning to Scott. "Find Kira, Scott. Find her, take her away from the Skinwalkers, and help her return to the life she deserves to live. Promise me," she commanded, eyes boring into him.

"Um, yeah, of course, but why are you…" Scott began before she cut him off.

"I lived for over 900 years," she said, turning her attention back to the Nogitsune. "I survived wars, famines, plagues, prejudice, and more. And I did it because I knew my father was a hero, one who had died to protect me and give me that chance at life. I will not allow you to take that away from me, Nogitsune." She paused for a second, allowing her fox-fire power to flare up, nearly blinding the occupants of the field.

"No! You wouldn't dare!" Void-Stiles called out as a gale-force wind began whipping around them. He struggled to stay standing, unable to move in any closer.

"I'm trusting you Scott. Do not let me down," she shouted, before jumping in the air, a string of Japanese words flowing seamlessly on the air currents around her. She hovered in midair as she continued to chant, the fire blazing all around her shifting colors as the heat became more intense. Finally, with a last strangled cry, she plummeted back to the ground, driving her katana deep into the earth and watching with contentment as cracks quickly began to spread out from it.

"I hate you," Void-Stiles managed to say before one of the cracks extended to him, sucking him into the ground and then closing up over him. The other cracks quickly spread out to the Oni dotting the landscape, avoiding the Pack and dragging the demon-spirits below as well.

Noshiko took one last look out across the field, only now recognizing it as that battlefield from so long ago when her life was changed forever and her parents were taken from her. Her eyes clenched in pain momentarily before she opened them and smiled at the group around her. "I'm glad I was able to get to know you. And I will rest peacefully knowing Kira is safe, and alive, with you as well. Farewell," she said, voice strong but quiet. For a moment the field was still. Then, suddenly, Noshiko disintegrated before their eyes, becoming dust that blew away on a gentle breeze.

"Goodbye, Noshiko," Scott whispered, watching the pieces scatter and become lost. Another moment of quiet passed, and then a familiar blinding flash of light struck them and they all felt themselves cascading backwards once more.