"…Derek?"

Derek's lips twitched. "Not quite." He flexed his hands. "This is a good body." His voice was flat—nearly robotic. And he held his body tall and straight but with the air of someone who felt too short for their own skin. He pointed to Stiles. "I'd like to have the seal now."

Lydia gripped Stiles' shoulder tight and pulled him onto the island.

"Don't do that." In a blink Derek was standing right before them on the platform they just jumped from. "I'm going to need the seal."

Stiles swallowed, trying to figure out what to say. But all he could focus on were Derek's black eyes. Lydia clawed into his upper arm. "I don't understand," Stiles finally said.

"You should give it to me before you all die." Derek loomed over them even though he was on the platform. Lydia pulled Stiles a step back. "If you want your friend back, I suggest you do as I say."

"You're planning to kill us," Stiles said.

"The demon is planning to kill you. Now give me the seal."

"What's going on?" Lydia asked.

Derek slowly looked at her. "There are things you do not know." He eyed Stiles. "You know only a little…but most of it is a lie told by the demon. He took possession of your friend in order to lead you here. He plays games, but he will be here to kill you if you do not give me the seal."

Stiles' gripped tight on the rock. "How do I know you aren't the demon?"

"I am the guardian of the seal. I possess some powers like the demon, but unlike the demon I cannot possess a man unless he is willing. Your friend entrusted his body to me."

Stiles frowned. "I don't believe you. I don't believe Derek would do that."

Derek's body went very still for a moment. "He says," the guardian began, "that you and he have not watched Iron Man 2."

Stiles' face turned bright red. "That doesn't prove anything." It only made Stiles more afraid. If this thing could possess a man and know his every thought…then anyone could be possessed and he would be none the wiser. Which…is what probably happened with Deaton—shit. He grabbed the necklace at his throat.

"That's keeping you awake," Robo-Derek said.

"Why would a demon give this to me?"

"He needed you to find the seal for him."

That made Stiles think. Why would a demon need Stiles to find the seal for him? It was sitting in Beacon Hills the whole time, and if he could find in a few hours then why didn't the demon do the same?

"It doesn't matter if you believe me or not. Those words," he gestured to the paper in Lydia's hands, "are nothing more than bullshit—as you say. There is nothing you can do except give me the seal."

Lydia and Stiles exchanged glances. Neither knew if they should believe Robo-Derek.

"You don't have to trust me. I know the power this body possesses and I will use it. But your friend will not like the both of you dead. So give me the seal." He stretched out an open hand.

Stiles hesitated. His heart pounded in his chest as he looked at the blue orb in his hand. But before he could make a decision, a cold wind rustled the trees. Robo-Derek pulled his hand back and straightened his back.

"He's coming," he said. "If you give the seal to me now, you may escape with your lives."

The water rippled, washing up to their toes on the little island. Lydia and Stiles took another step back, nearly hitting the little shrine behind them. Glancing back, he saw that the house rested on a small tree stump and the doorway had a tiny lip that led to the rim of the basin where a little canal had been carved in a spiral along the edge leading to the bottom of the bowl. And at the bottom, inside three little claws, there was a tiny insignia just like the one he'd seen on Deaton's map. Stiles looked at the sphere in his hand. It's dim inner glow allowed him to make out the markings on all sides. But one was larger than the rest and it matched the one in the basin.

He looked back at Robo-Derek who was significantly less composed since a second ago. His lip twitched in involuntary anger. His black eyes had fire behind them and the water around the stone in which he stood bubbled rapidly.

"Give me the seal before he comes."

Lydia glanced between Robo-Derek and the island. "Stiles, he can't step onto the island."

Robo-Derek's black eyes blinked out and Stiles was once again looking into Derek's pretty hazel ones. "Stiles, you have to give him the seal. It's the only way. He's coming."

Stiles clutched the sphere. Was that really Derek? He didn't know. He sounded like Derek, looked like Derek, acted like Derek. Stiles looked down at the blue surface again, willing it to give him some answers.

And then it did.

The symbols blurred in his eyes and the wind around them picked up even faster, rolling through his dark hair and flapping leaves into their faces. Lydia's grip on Stiles' arm tightened.

"What are we going to do?" she hissed. "Think of something."

Stiles squinted as the symbols began to rework themselves into something visible. And when they became clear again, he saw words in English.

"What are you doing?" Derek asked, voice turning edgy. His eyes darkened around the edges.

Lydia inhaled sharply. That definitely wasn't Derek. "Stiles."

But Stiles wasn't paying attention. He was turning the orb in his palms, reading the words as they appeared. The inner glow flared bright and Robo-Derek growled. His ears and teeth elongated and hair appeared along his jaw. And then, out of the woods five pairs of glowing eyes dotted into view. Lydia's muffled squeak broke Stiles' concentration. Slowly, the betas crawled from the thrush. More wolf than human, at this point, saliva dripped from their mouths. Dark blue veins crossed their faces and concentrated in the dark circles of their eye sockets.

"Derek," Stiles breathed, unable to take his eyes from his best friend turned monstrosity.

"He's here," Robo-Derek said. This time his voice was soft and quiet—like a snake, "and it's your last chance to give me the seal."

"You're the demon," Stiles said, looking into Robo-Derek's black eyes. He held up the orb. "There is no guardian. It says only humans can touch the seal. The only way you can possess it, is if I give it to you willingly."

At that Robo-Derek broke the charade. He composed himself. The water stopped churning and the betas paused at the edge of the pond, awaiting instruction. Robo-Derek didn't smile. He didn't have any expression at all. All was silent once more. And just as Lydia and Stiles were beginning to question their sanity, Robo-Derek spoke.

"Only humans may pass on the island," he said, "and only humans may touch the seal. This is true."

"Right so you can stop threatening us with the wolves," Stiles retorted. They had the upper hand here.

"These wolves can't hurt you, it's true. But they can hurt each other."

Stiles blood ran cold.

"They can hurt this body."

He was going to be sick.

"Give me the seal or they'll kill each other."

Lydia's lip trembled. "Stiles do something."

"I can't give it to him," he shot back.

Lydia tugged on his arm, giving him a sharp look. "Just give it to him."

"Lydia, I've seen enough movies to know that the bad guy is just going to kill us all once we give him what he wants."

"Scott," Robo-Derek said, "kill Jackson."

Scott pounced on Jackson.

Stiles panicked. Frantically he searched the orb for answered. He turned it around and on all sides, scanning quickly the new information that appeared.

Scott slashed Jackson's gut.

"No!" Lydia screamed.

Jackson fought back, though and managed to tear into Scott's throat with his teeth. They rolled across the grass, clawing and growling with blood spurting everywhere. Their wounds healed quickly, though, and neither of them could get a fatal blow.

"Boyd," Robo-Derek said, "help him."

And then it was two on Jackson.

"Do something!" Lydia shouted. Eyes wet with tears.

"I'm trying! I'm trying!"

Jackson was losing.

"Isaac, kill them all."

And then Stiles found it.

"Erica," Robo-Derek started.

"No!" Lydia shouted, tears sprouting in her eyes.

"One last chance," he said with a small smile to Stiles. "Give me the seal."

Lydia's hands trembled, and that's when she remembered what she was holding. Taking a breath she tossed the Robert Frost one to the ground and lifted the other. "This has to mean something, doesn't it?"

Robo-Derek lost his smile.

She read. "Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus…"

Derek's body went still except for his eyes. They were on fire.

Stiles took his chance then.

"…Infernalis adversarii, omnis legio…"

Carefully, Stiles lowered the glowing sphere into the basin so that the symbols slid together neatly inside the teeth. When it clicked into place, a bright blue light burst in a wave, blinding him. Lydia covered her eyes, temporarily broken from her chant. Robo-Derek, shielding his eyes, finished his command to Erica. Lydia cried out, squinted through the bright light, and read as best she could.

"Ergo draco maledicte et omnis legio diabolica adjuramus te!"

There was a loud, agonizing scream behind them that Stiles thought for a second that it was Scott. Fighting through the blinding light, he felt for the sphere again. He turned it until a sharp point pricked his palm. Hissing, he let his blood drip over the sphere. The light dimmed and then extinguished. Colored spots danced in his eyes and soon he was able to see again.

There were several clicking noises and then water poured from the lip of the shrine. It dripped down into the ridge of the bowl and swirled down into the bottom of the basin. It quickly filled up to touch the blood on the sphere. Instead of turning red like he thought, the water remained pure, bubbling over the top of the sphere and filling the rest of the basin. The lip of the shrine closed and no more water came.

It wasn't silent behind him. He could hear heavy, slightly broken breathing. But he could also hear the chirping of crickets and the hoot of the owls.

Swallowing, he turned around. The arena was gone. He glanced back there was no basin and no seal. Instead, he stood in the dark forests of Beacon Hills. Five bleeding—but healing—wolves were piled in a mess of leaves.

Derek was crashed at Lydia's feet. She crouched down and checked his pulse. "He's alive," she concluded. Once she concluded that Derek was okay, she ran over to the pile of wolves. Shoving everyone off, she found her Jackson and cradled his badly beaten head in her lap. It was only a few minutes before he looked about as handsome as ever. Stiles shook his head.

Isaac woke first, having sustained fewer injuries. He was confused but as soon as he saw Scott's mangled, bitten, and torn body he flew to his side. He checked all the wounds and when he concluded that he was alive and healing, he sat back, head in his hands. Stiles heaved a sigh, glanced at Derek, and then moved to crouch next to Isaac.

"Hey," he said. His voice was rough and tired. The adrenaline was rapidly wearing off and he didn't realize how much being in fight or flight response mode would take a toll on him. Now he did. Isaac looked up. Swallowing all of his pride Stiles said, "It's not your fault."

"I remember it though. It felt like a dream, but I remember it."

Erica woke up next and seeing the same thing Isaac had, she started crying.

"Well it's over." He looked at Isaac and Erica both.

Erica nodded, heaving still. She was going into shock. Boyd got up next and once he had ascertained that it was in fact not a dream went to Erica for comfort. Both of them didn't let go for a very long time.

Scott's eyes slowly blinked open. Groaning, both Isaac and Stiles touched his shoulder to keep him down. Isaac shifted awkwardly, stood up, and walked over to Erica and Boyd. Stiles made a mental note to thank him and let a small piece of his hatred from the crazy wolf chip away.

"Hey, man," Stiles muttered with a half-smile that wasn't as reassuring as he'd have hoped. "How are ya doing?"

Scott grimaced and took a minute to look around. "It wasn't a dream." His eyes were on Lydia and Jackson.

"It wasn't your fault. You were being controlled."

"I was…" He clutched his head, sitting up.

"It's okay…"

Stiles nodded reassuringly. Scott hesitated and then did the same. They sat for a few minutes as the last of his healing took place. And when Scott got a good hold on what happened he said:

"I'm sorry."

Stiles raised a brow. "You're sorry? No, man, I'm sorry."

"I treated you like shit," Scott said. He looked over Stiles' shoulder at the still unconscious Derek Hale. "I treated him like shit. But mostly you."

Stiles shook his head. "I treated you like shit."

Scott started to protest and then he cracked a smile. "Why don't we just call it even?"

"Does it mean that we can be best friends again?"

Scott grinned.

"That means you can't exclude me because I don't have super powers. And you can't pull the wolf card to patronize me."

"I never meant to do that."

"And if you're going to hang out with Isaac exclusively it better be because I'm out of the country or something."

Scott rolled his eyes. "I thought we were calling it even?"

Stiles bit his lip. "Okay I just needed to be clear here."

"Then I need to be clear. What's the deal with Derek?"

"Eeeerrrr ummmmmmmmm…. Well. I sort of like him. Like, like him."

He could see the disapproval in Scott's eyes, but it was more important what he said at that point. "Fine. I won't say anything bad about it. If you promise not to get jealous of Isaac. And to never stop hanging out with me."

"Done."

"Best friends?"

"Best friends." Stiles tackled him into a bear hug. A heavy weight lifted in his heart then. The loneliness and despair he'd felt for the last couple months was gone. He had his best friend back. "I feel like we should make out," Stiles said, "it's one of those moments."

Scott chuckled, slapping his shoulder. "I think someone else is waiting for a kiss from you."

That made Stiles flush bright red and pull back. "I can't kiss someone without knowing whether or not they want me to. There's usually a look involved, you know? He's asleep."

Scott snorted. "He's like Sleeping Beauty. And you're the hero of this story so you should totally kiss him awake."

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "You just want to see him freak out."

"Yes."

"I don't think that's fair. I think he's traumatized enough from being demon possessed. The guy values control you know. And I'm only partly hero. Lydia did most of the legwork."

"Damn straight," Lydia said, still clutching Jackson to her chest even though he was awake and well. He didn't seem to mind, though…

"Oh my God just kiss him," Erica interrupted, "I can practically taste his impatience from all the way over here."

That made Stiles blush bright red again. It was moments like these that he hated his complexion. Scott shoved his shoulder. Shakily, Stiles stood up and walked over to Derek's side. It was true. He was feigning unconsciousness. He could tell by the slightly annoyed twitch in his left eyebrow. Damn those eyebrows.

He kneeled down. "Sleeping Beauty isn't even a running theme in this entire plot," he muttered, "It's like a random thing that just came up because of circumstance. I mean really."

Derek's lip twitched. But Stiles couldn't tell if he was growing more annoyed or was going to break character and laugh. Weirdly, that gave Stiles confidence. Derek was clearly waiting for him to kiss him—and odd sort of development that he almost couldn't wrap his head around but still—and that meant he had a bit of power over the situation. He could milk this.

"Since you're asleep, I think I'll take the opportunity to tell you that you are one bootylicious motherfucker. I mean damn those abs. And damn those arms. And just damn your everything."

"We can hear you," Jackson said.

Stiles heard them all start to get up.

"Come on."

"Before it gets more disgusting."

"Should have known Stiles would be classy as hell."

"Cover your ears. And eyes." That was Scott.

"We need at least a hundred feet—"

"I actually want to see this."

"Gross, Isaac."

"What it's kind of cu—"

"Don't say it's cute. Just don't." That was Boyd.

And then they were too far away for Stiles to hear them. Rolling his eyes, he smiled mischievously down at Derek. "There are so many things I'd like to do to you. Blowsies in a parking lot is one of them—"

Derek was frowning.

"—But for right now, I'd just like to kiss you. Because I kind of like you. More than just carnal lusty desire. I like you despite your useless degree."

At that Derek quit. He sighed impatiently, opened his eyes, grabbed Stiles by the neck and pulled him into a long kiss. It was mostly pretty chaste. There was no tongue, but there was plenty of soft, curling lip action that made heat spread from his head all the way to his toes.

He only stopped because his neck began to ache from the awkward position. And even then Derek sat up to meet him again, pulling him into more soft kisses. He didn't even mind the slight scratch of his stubble along his chin and cheek.

Derek pulled an inch away. "I like you, too," he said half-breathless and half-annoyed like he was admitting some dirty little secret.

Stiles tried not too look so embarrassed. "Well…" He looked everywhere and then at Derek. "That…was my first kiss."

Derek looked away, cheeks turning a bit red. "I hope…it was okay."

"It was okay. More than okay."

Derek didn't meet his eyes. "I was supposed to let you kiss me. You are the hero after all."

Stiles rolled his eyes, sticking out his tongue. He was tired of this trope already. "Whatever. But if it makes you feel better—" He took Derek's face in his hands and one long chaste kiss. "And thus I rescued Sleeping Beauty from the evil demon and all of Beacon Hills woke from its slumber and was saved."

"Oh my God you are such a freaking nerd."

Fin

A/N:

Thank you guys so much for reading! All of your follows, reviews, and support mean so much to me! I've never actually written a fanfic before so this was amazing! I actually initially intended for this to be fluffy Sterek fic just for personal fulfillment but then it grew legs and a plot and I ended up running with it. Baaah.

Anyway, there is more to come. The main plot is done but I feel I haven't tied up all the loose ends. Those will be covered in the epilogue along with some…smut. Fair warning. I rated it M with a purpose. Go big or go home as they say.

I hope you liked the resolution, though? Any questions please ask so I may try to answer in the epilogue.

xoxo

-J