#atdf

Something about that silver bat made Derek uneasy. Something about the way it shimmered in the sun. But more how it shimmered at night. Like it was soaking up the moonlight and casting it out again, as if the bat itself was creating the light. Derek was sure he was missing something. Sure that this something was probably completely obvious. But anytime he got near it, Stiles moved it away. He did so subtly, gently. Like he had just decided to move it in that moment. Derek was sure that if he could just get his hands on it, or even smell it, he could figure it out. But all he could smell so far was blood. The coppery smell filled his nose whenever he tried to smell anything else so he gave up. But tried to keep the bat in view at all times.

Stiles made that easy for him. He was constantly letting Derek walk a few paces behind him. He’d mentioned something about Derek having his back. His voice flippant, that sly smile reaching his eyes as he turned away from Derek. Derek was glad. It made him feel useful. Even if Stiles was just joking an excuse.

~***~

Derek walked behind Stiles, his mind not on the bat, but on the sky. The moon had been growing every night. Tomorrow was the full moon and Derek was more worried than he had been since he was kid. He’d been alone since this all started. The moon felt stronger now. Like it was beating down on him and him alone. Like it was challenging his wolf to come out and play. Derek didn’t like to think about his wolf playing with Stiles. Or what Stiles would do if he knew. That Derek wasn’t a man. At least not completely. And least of all tomorrow night.

He remembered how afraid people had been at the end of it all. When the wolves couldn’t hide anymore. There weren’t enough people left to blend in. People figured it out quick once the dead began coming back to life. It was like a veil lifted. If the dead could walk, then all sorts of other things could be hiding in the dark. Everything changed. The humans’ eyes were opened and they couldn’t be closed. The few wolves Derek knew disappeared fast. And Derek? Derek just ran. He ran and ran and ran. Right into Stiles.

And now he had to decide if he needed to start running again. Or if he could stay with this odd human. This boy who kept a bloody silver bat on his back and who often smelled sad when he smiled.

 ~ Stiles’ POV ~

Stiles had been thinking about the moon a lot. And what it meant for the man he was sharing his days with. It was affecting the wolf more the he seemed to realize. Stiles had woken in the night to see Derek curled in on himself, his claws digging into his own arms as he struggled with whatever was going on in his head. Stiles wasn’t exactly sure how to bring it up. He knew the guy thought he didn’t know. Had seen him trying to hide things several times. But if helping Scott with his wolf had taught him anything, it had taught him to see things that wolves didn’t want him to see. His father had informed him all his life of just how annoyingly perceptive he was. Stiles smiled at the memory and made a hasty decision.

“Let’s stop for lunch man I’m starving.” Stiles said, walking a few more paces and then tossing his pack on the ground, his bat ringing when it struck a rock. Stiles kicked his things to the side gently and threw himself on the ground. Derek sat down gently across from him. Stiles was happy to see that he’d come a bit closer still today. He been sitting so far from him at first, Stiles had felt like he had to yell to be heard. Even though he knew Derek could hear him perfectly well.

He handed Derek some of the Jerky he’d had stashed in the bottom of his bag and they passed Stiles’ water bottle back and forth. They’d been looking for more supplies for Derek, but hadn’t come across any good scavenging yet.

“Are you gonna be okay tomorrow night?” Stiles asked, blunt as always. He watched the man freeze. His arm frozen in the air as he’d been handing Stiles back his bottle. He said nothing. Just stared at Stiles. Stiles reached out slowly, his fingers brushing against Derek’s, making him flinch. Stiles lifted his other hand, palm out, in a calming gesture, as he took the bottle slowly and set it down.

“Maybe I should clear the air?” Stiles raised his eyebrows. He watched Derek’s throat move as he swallowed hard, and then watched him nod. Stiles nodded back.

“Okay. I know you’re a wolf. And I’m not gonna hurt you. But I need to know if you’re gonna hurt me. Only when the moon is full, I mean. I know you won’t hurt me when you’re in your right mind. You’ve proven that. But the moon, it can really fuck things up.” Stiles widened his eyes for emphasis, Derek nodded again, his eyes wide, he looked years younger.

“Yeah. So I need to know. Are you gonna be okay tomorrow night? Or do we need to make a plan?” Stiles took another bite and chewed slowly, not staring back at Derek. He didn’t want to intimidate him. He wanted him to feel safe. He deserved that much at least.

“How did you-“ Derek’s voice cut off and he coughed.

“Your eyes were glowing when I pulled you out of the trap dude. Your claws were out too. There have been… other things. But those were the dead giveaways.” He smiled sadly and shrugged.

“The whole time? You’ve known the whole time?” Derek sounded winded, like he’d just run a mile. Or farther. Probably farther, Stiles had run miles with him and never heard him this winded.

“Yeah. I didn’t know how to tell you. And I didn’t know if you’d trust me if I just came out and started talking about you being a werewolf. And I wanted you to trust me. I think I needed you to.” Stiles said, his brow furrowed. He hadn’t meant to say that much but it was all on the table now.

Derek was silent for a long time. Stiles stared at the ground.

“I trust you.” Derek said, well, whispered. Stiles barley heard him, but he did. And his body relaxed at the words, letting go of a tension he’d been trying not to show. He looked up and Derek was staring at the ground now.

“Good. Derek look at me.” Derek shook his head. Stiles sighed.

“Derek, please?” Derek didn’t move. Stiles nodded to himself.

“That’s okay. Just listen then. Cuz I need you to hear me. Okay? I need you to really hear me.” He took a deep breath, Derek was still staring at the ground but Stiles could tell he was listening hard.

“I trust you too.” Stiles said. Derek’s eyes moved up finally, he was looking at Stiles like he wasn’t sure what to make of the man in front of him. Stiles snorted.

“Yeah. I get that look a lot. Or… I used to, anyway.” He shrugged, took a bite, and looked away again. He was watching the leaves sway in the breeze, the sun shining down through them hurting his eyes a bit, but he couldn’t look away. He could feel Derek looking at him and he didn’t want to look at that either.

“How do you know about werewolves?”

There it was. The questions Stiles didn’t want to answer. But knew that he had to. The question he’d really been avoiding all along. Because that question led to other questions. He sighed again and looked into is lap.

“Derek…”

“Please?”

Stiles looked up at the sound of his voice. He looked wrecked. And confused. And Stiles knew he owed him at least this.

“My best friend was a werewolf. He got bit by an alpha our freshman year of high school. We went through a lot of shit after that. Hunters. Druids. Banshees, though she was on our side. Just a bunch of supernatural shit.” He picked up a stick and broke it into little pieces.

“Ya know how people say high school is supposed to be the greatest years of your life? Well I always thought that was bullshit. And then I was actually in high school and I was right. High school fucking sucked.” He picked up the little stick pieces and tossed them into the trees to the right.

“Hunters?” Derek asked, he looked…worried, Stiles was pretty sure that’s what that look meant. Stiles took a deep breath, and nodded, his body tense. That old ache in his shoulder pulsing. He rubbed at his shoulder, pressing his fingers into the ache, harder than he should, making it worse probably. The pain kept him calm.

“Yeah. Hunters. There were a lot of them in our town apparently. Or maybe they just congregated there after shit went to hell. But they were there. Before the end, and after. They were always fucking there.” Stiles sighed and rubbed his hand across his mouth, hung his head low, and waited for the question he knew Derek was gonna ask next.

“What was their name?” his voice was hollow. Stiles closed his eyes, his past beating against his eyelids as the sun shown through them, and shook his head. He stood up quickly and shoved his things back in his bag.

“It doesn’t matter.” He threw the pack over his shoulder, grimacing a little, and tried to walk away. Derek was on his feet before Stiles could blink, his hand wrapped around Stiles’ arm, holding him back.

“It does. What was their name?” he sounded frantic now.

“Argent!” Stiles screamed. His chest was tight and he felt Derek’s hand fall away from him.

“Their name was Argent.” He watched Derek fall apart and then force himself back together in the span of a few seconds. Stiles’ hands were shaking. He couldn’t make them stop. Never could.

“What happened?” Derek’s mouth barely moved.

“What do you think happened?” Stiles asked, not able to keep the venom out of his voice.

“Same thing that always happens when there’s Argent’s around.” Stiles huffed and took a few steps before turning on his heel and looked at Derek. He could feel the tears stinging his eyes.

“Everyone died.” He said, lifting and dropping his hands, palms out. He smiled as the tears fell and turned and walked into the trees.

He walked for a long time. No sound at all behind him. He knew he could have handled that better. But he hadn’t talked about it. To anyone. Well, he’d talked about it with one person. And they’d betrayed him in the end, so he wasn’t exactly a stable person, so sue him. He was lost in his head when he heard the footsteps behind him and stopped.

He waited for Derek to catch up and started walking again only to be stopped by Derek’s hand on his shoulder. He looked at Derek’s hand and then moved his eyes up to his face, his bight eyes shining through all the dark hair covering his face.

“I have one more question, and then I won’t ask anymore about it.” Stiles swallowed hard. He was scared. He didn’t know what Derek was going to ask. And he wasn’t afraid of Derek. But he knew what the Argents had done to the Hale family. He’d done his research. And so he was scared. Scared that whatever Derek asked, he wouldn’t be able to give him the answer that he needed.

He nodded.

“Kate Argent. Was she there?” his voice shaking just as hard as his hand on Stiles’ shoulder. Stiles felt the tension and fear leave him at once. He nodded slowly. Derek didn’t ask. Not out loud. His eyes widened. His hand clenched tighter on Stiles shoulder.

“She’s dead.” Was all he said. At first. Derek just stared at him, eyes wide. Like he couldn’t believe it. And Stiles didn’t blame him. She’d taken everything from Derek. Stiles didn’t blame him for needing more. In that respect Derek was lucky. Because Stiles had more to give.

“I killed her.” His voice was quiet, he’d never told anyone this. And it wasn’t like he hadn’t killed other people, he had. But this one. This one was the worst. Because he could have let her live. He didn’t have to kill her. But he had. Because he wanted to. No more complicated. No more simple. He’d been full of rage, and he’d killed her.

Stiles reached behind him, pulled his bat out slowly and let it rest across his palms gently in front of Derek.

“Allison Argent made me this. She was one of the good ones. Her dad too, Chris. She made me this, at the end, because she said she knew I’d make it, and that she wanted me to. To make it. So she gave me a little help. I don’t let you touch it because it’s silver. And it’s engraved with wolfsbane and mistletoe. That’s why it shines like it does. She didn’t make it so I could hurt innocent creatures. She made it so I would be safe against the ones who aren’t so innocent.” Stiles’ voice was shaking, the bat nearly vibrating in his hands. Derek stared down at it.

“I watched Kate and Gerard Argent and all their little lackies… kill, all of my friends. One. By one. They moved through our town like a plague. Killing everyone. Anyone who got in their way. Human. Werewolf. They didn’t care anymore. They took them all. I only made it because my dad was the Sheriff. He locked me up. But I’ve always been good at picking locks.” He smiled and wiped at his face.

“They left me alive. Kate seemed to think it was funny. Leaving me there. Surrounded by the dead. And undead.” Stiles sniffed hard. His chest felt like someone was standing on it.

“Long story short, I caught up with her later. She was by herself. Stayed behind to pick off the stragglers in the town they’d just decimated no doubt. All I had to do was talk to her. I said one word and she was mine. She just needed to know I was there. I lured her into a trap. And I killed her.” He looked up at Derek. Looked at him hard. He slid his bat back into his pack and moved his hands to the sides of Derek’s neck.

“I cornered her. I wounded her. And then I beat her to death with the bat that her niece made for me. I hit her over and over until my arms were burning and then I hit her some more. Kate Argent is dead Derek. I made fucking sure of it.” Stiles pressed his hands harder against Derek and then let him go. He nodded, he wasn’t sure if he was nodding at Derek, or if he was nodding at himself. It didn’t matter. Not really. He bit his lip and stepped past Derek. He held his breath, waiting for Derek to stop him again. Waiting to hear Derek running the other way.

He felt nothing. And heard nothing. And then Derek was following him. The leaves crunching beneath their feet as they walked further away from their past. Stiles didn’t know if Derek was trying to escape his past as much as Stiles was. But it didn’t matter. Derek was with him now. And if he hadn’t run from what he’d done to Kate Argent, he wouldn’t run at all. They walked as the sun fell behind the trees. And then walked a little longer. Stiles’ eyes once again wondering to the sky, beside him, Derek’s did the same.

Breathe with me.

He didn’t say it. He couldn’t. Not with a swarm of dead still walking past them, too close to speak. But he didn’t have to say it. Stiles didn’t need him too. He nodded and closed his eyes again. Focusing on the rise and fall of the chest beneath his palm. His breathing evened out quickly. The burn in his lungs eventually falling away, the tension in his chest breaking. He relaxed and fell against the side of the tree. The man swayed to follow him, his hand still resting gently on Stiles chest. Stiles opened his eyes and gave the man a nod, dropping his hand to his side. The man nodded back, once, and stepped back. Out of Stiles space. He didn’t go as far as before. He stayed close. And Stiles once again felt glad that he hadn’t left the man behind.

They stood there in silence for what seemed like hours. Listening to the groaning mass of bodies pass them by slowly. Stiles skin itched. He just wanted this to be over. Wanted them gone. He wrapped his arms around himself, fingers digging into his ribs, and he waited. The man stepped closer. Pressing his shoulder to Stiles’. Stiles didn’t move away.

Eventually the sounds died down. They listened to the last few stragglers pass. Ones too slow to keep up, even moving downhill. A few of them stumbling and slowly pushing to their feet again. Stiles listened to the last one pass and counted to 100, then he climbed out of the tree trunk and back into the sunlight.

 ~ Derek’s POV ~

Derek followed the boy back into the light. His hand still tingling from the contact with his chest. Derek wasn’t sure he’d ever heard anyone’s heart beating that fast. He’d been worried the boy was going to pass out. Or his heart was going to stop. He wasn’t sure how he would react to touch in that moment, but he’d taken the chance. He’d felt a pull in his gut, telling him to help. So he had. And it had worked. The group of dead had passed and they were safe again. Safe as they could be.

The boy turned and looked at him. He wiped his hands on his jeans nervously, then blew his hair out his eyes and sank his teeth into his lip. His eyes never leaving Derek. He smelled nervous. He looked like he was thinking hard about something. Derek was worried that maybe he didn’t trust him. Even though this kid had been the one who dug a trap for him, and Derek should be the one not trusting here. But he’d pulled him out of it. He hadn’t left him to die. And judging by the scars Derek could see on the little skin that was showing, this kid had reason not to trust people. So he stayed quiet, and he stayed still, and he waited for him to finish sizing him up.

A few moments later the kid licked his lips and nodded once. To himself, Derek guessed.

“You gotta name?” the kid asked, his voice once again startling Derek with how deep it was. Derek nodded but said nothing. The kid’s eyes widened and Derek swore he saw his lips twitch up a bit, the start of a smile maybe.

“You uh… you wanna tell me what it is?” he prompted.

“Oh. Right.” Derek said, his voice rough. He cleared his throat.

“Derek. Derek Hale.” His fingers twitched, he wanted to reach out, but he wasn’t sure if handshakes were still a thing in this new world. The kid nodded and stepped forward, extending his hand. So handshakes were still good, with this kid anyway. Derek took it and shook it once.

“Stiles.” The boy said. Derek raised his eyebrow.

“Stiles?” he said, sounding skeptical. The kid nodded again and did smile this time. He dropped his hand again, Derek’s once again tingling at the human contact.

“Stiles Stilinski.” He said.

“That’s a mouthful.” Derek said dryly. The kid, Stiles, snorted.

“You don’t know the half of it.” He said, almost under his breath. Then he turned and started walking. Derek watched him go. His chest aching as he watched the only human he’d seen in months, walk away from him. Stiles turned around then, and gave him a strange look.

“You comin or not?” he asked, wiping sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. Derek nodded again and fell in step beside him.

~***~

They walked in silence for a long time. The sun was falling beneath the trees when they finally stopped. Stiles setting up his small amount of supplies and whipping up a small fire faster than Derek could really comprehend it. He sat on the ground and watched Stiles cook. Neither of them talking still. Derek just sitting and feeling the presence of another person wash over him. Stiles handed him a bowl of something gross looking. Derek made a face as he stirred it.

“I know right? I promise it tastes better than it looks.” Stiles said, settling himself on the ground a few feet away from Derek. Derek nodded and took a small bite. Stiles was right. It was better than it looked. He couldn’t really pin down the taste, but it was better than anything Derek had had in ages and it was gone faster than he’d care to admit.

After they were done eating Stiles used some leaves to clean the bowls and then wiped the rest out with an old looking shirt before putting them back in his bag. Stiles put out the fire soon after that. Then he and Derek just lay there, silently, looking up at the stars.

“I think we should stick together.” Stiles’ voice startled him. Derek looked over at him. Stiles turned his head and looked back.

“For survival.” He said, blinking at Derek. He looked like he was waiting for an answer so Derek nodded. Stiles nodded and then turned back to face the sky.

“For survival.” Derek whispered into the dark.

He walked through the trees silently. He heard the branches over the hole snap and smiled to himself. He took three more steps and then he heard something else. A sound he should be used too. A sound that he heard almost every day. A sound that still turned his stomach and made his fingers itch as they tightened around the handle of his bat. The moans echoed through the trees. The wind carrying them to Stiles and making him shiver. He took a deep breath, listening to the sounds. They were heading this way. Getting closer and closer to the trap Stiles had set.

He growled in his throat, tucked his bat back into is bag, and turned on his heel, sprinting back toward the hole as the groaning dead closed in.

 ~ Derek’s POV ~

He thought he’d finally gone crazy. It had been months since he’d smelled anything like it. Something human. Something alive. The wind had been heavy that day, the trees around him swaying and snapping back into to place, dancing in the wind like feral ballerinas. The scent hit him like a wolfs bane bullet to the stomach. He stumbled backwards and blinked hard, nearly losing his footing on the dry ground. He stood completely still for almost five minutes. Waiting. The wind barreled back through the trees and the scent hit him again. He felt his eyes glow blue, his claws extending, his heart beating fast in his chest. It wasn’t bloodlust he was feeling, it was excitement, longing, a pulse in his chest telling him that he didn’t have to be alone anymore.

He scrambled through the trees after the scent recklessly, stumbling over roots and rocks and anything that wasn’t flat ground. His claws tore through tree bark as he pushed himself forward. His body literally clawing towards the scent of another living person. He needed that. Needed someone. He’d been alone for so long. His pack destroyed and torn apart by whatever it was that had ripped through the world. And he’d been left standing. Alone.

He’d finally caught up to the scent after a few days. He’d stayed back. Not wanting to startle them. Or push his presence on them. He had to fight himself to stay away, every fiber in his being telling him to go forward, push further. Just BE with them. But he dug his claws into his palms and stayed back. Stayed away. But not too far away.

He’d only caught glimpses of them. He was sure it was a man. Though man might be too strong a word. He seemed young. Maybe just out of his teens. His hair was shaggy. Derek had seen it once when he’d finally pushed his hood down off his head. The boy was wearing a red hoodie and a very worn pair of jeans, his shoes were red too. Derek had smiled when he’d seen them kicked up on a log when the boy had been resting for a few moments, dirty red converse, like the ones Derek had worn when he was in high school. He had a silver baseball bat. The end of it had a rusty red tint and Derek pushed away any thoughts about that being human blood. Living human blood, anyway. It was definitely human. Derek could smell it. But he pushed the thought away. Hoping beyond hope that he’d come across a good person. Not some crazy with a bat.

~***~

The ground gives out beneath his feet and he’s falling. His feet hit the bottom and he immediately readjusts his perception of the kid. He was clearly a crazy with a bat. He extended his claws, getting ready to climb out when he heard it. The telltale sounds of the dead. He looked up to the sky and closed his eyes, listening. There had to be hundreds of them, he’d never heard them so loud. He could hear their feet dragging and stumbling across the ground toward him. But he could hear something else. Another pair of feet on the ground. Fast ones. Running toward him.

He heard the boy crash to the ground and was sure he’d fallen until his head popped over the edge of the hole. He looked down at Derek, his eyes wide. Then his hand sprang forward, reaching out to Derek.

“Gimme your hand.” He said, his voice deeper than Derek had been expecting, he was breathing heavy. Derek blinked up at him dumbly.

“Give me your hand! Right now! Come on!” the boy yelled, shaking his hand at Derek, his fingers splayed out wide as he reached for him. Derek blinked again and then shot his hand out and grabbed the boys forearm. The boys’ fingers wrapped around his own arm and he started pulling. He had more strength than Derek was used to in humans, he nearly pulled Derek off his feet with one tug. Derek dug his claws into the dirt wall in front of him and began climbing out. The boy toppled backwards as he pulled him out, then sprang to his feet and looked at Derek.

“We have to go. Now!” he said, his voice frantic. He started running, Derek fell into a run at his side.

They ran through the trees side by side. Sticks cracking, leaves crunching beneath them as leaves swayed in the wind above. Derek ran side by side with this boy who had trapped him and then come back to save him. They ran and ran and ran, hearts pounding in their chest as they flew through the trees.