Chapter 10 – One Door Closes and Another Opens

Two Years Later

Stiles heard his phone ring and groaned, reaching out a blind hand to grab it and bring it to his ear.

"Hello?" he answered, voice rough with sleep, and he heard a chuckle on the other end.

"That is quite the greeting, Stiles. If I didn't know better I'd think my nephew and your brother would have to worry about your intentions." Peter teased, and Stiles rolled his eyes.

"Ha. ha. Why are you waking me up at this ungodly hour?" he asked, and at that moment he felt the heavy arm wrap around his waist and pull him in, the stubble on Derek's chin itchy against his shoulder as the alpha cuddled him.

"Because I thought you would like it brought to your attention that there are some witches in New Orleans that seem to have a bone to pick with Klaus. Something about his protege wreaking havoc." Stiles was awake the moment he heard the information and turned to see Derek was awake now too, listening attentively.

"And? Do we know anything more than that?"

"Apparently they want your brother, and by extension your family, to come and deal with the problem, or else."

"Or else what?"

"I don't know, Stiles, do I seem like the type to care about whatever these witches are threatening?" he asked, sounding bored, but Stiles knew better.

"Does Nik want to go?" he asked, and though the hesitation was barely there, Stiles still heard it.

"He's – worried." Stiles frowned, and then heaved a sigh.

"You know what, fine. I'm getting up. Meet us in the kitchen." he grumbled and then hung up, turning to look at Derek. "Why does everyone insist on calling everyone else when we're in the same building?" Stiles demanded, and Derek just rolled his eyes, pulling him in closer and practically wrapping around him like an octopus.

"I don't think we should get up yet." he said, scenting along Stiles' throat, and Stiles just rolled his eyes again.

"And risk your creepy uncle and my creepy brother trying to walk in on us? No thank you." Stiles said firmly, and he could feel Derek scowl against his skin but he didn't disagree. "Come on, let's get this over with. Maybe we can just send Nik and Peter to deal with it." he said hopefully, and Derek gave a noncommittal grunt, watching Stiles get out of bed and start to get dressed, dragging on pants and grabbing the first t-shirt in sight. Derek was not so secretly pleased that it was his own, and he showed this appreciation by grabbing Stiles and pushing him up against the door to kiss him senseless. Stiles groaned into the kiss but then slipped away, darting out the door at vampire speed so he wouldn't be caught again.

"Come on. Get dressed and meet me in the kitchen." his eyes sparkled with mischief as he turned to go down the stairs. "The faster we get this over with, the faster we can get back to that." Stiles promised, and it had Derek staring after him, fighting a smile of disbelief. The bloody vampire had grabbed his shirt on purpose.

When Derek reached the kitchen, he was immediately handed a cup of coffee by Stiles and turned to scan the room. It was a large kitchen, and Derek remembered with pride when Boyd had finally shown him his sketches under the prompting of Elijah and Klaus. It had pushed him and Peter to rebuild the Hale house into somewhere they could all live together, and they could not have made a better choice. He found Boyd at the table with Erica sitting in the chair next to him with her legs tossed over his lap and her forehead against his shoulder dozing off. Across from them was Kol and Jackson, and Derek watched in what had once been resignation and was now amusement as Kol hooked an arm around Jackson's waist as he tried to pass and yanked him down into his lap, pressing a kiss against his jaw. Jackson glared at him, but he didn't bother trying to move when the original locked his arm in place, and Derek didn't miss how the wolf actually relaxed into the original. Though he hadn't expected it, he couldn't deny that they were a couple he could understand. Lydia, Rebekah, Allison and Scott were on the far end of the table, and even taking only a look at them Derek knew that still wasn't something he wanted to try and figure out, something Stiles teased him about mercilessly. Over by the coffee machine was where Isaac stood, and when Elijah appeared in the room looking as perfectly pressed as he always did, he went immediately to Isaac's side, accepting the coffee that Isaac was drinking and taking a sip before pressing it back into the wolf's hands with a smile, showing affection with a press of lips to his temple. He grounded Isaac, and Derek was grateful for it because he remembered how worried Isaac's lack of an anchor had made him in the past. Finally his gaze turned to rest on Klaus and Peter who stood together in the doorway now, effectively blocking them all in. Derek rolled his eyes at the idea and Stiles grinned at him, clearly having had a similar thought. As he looked at Klaus and Peter he was once again reminded of two years earlier, when he'd found out they were mates, and been a bit uncomfortable with the fact that he and his uncle were mates with two brothers. Of course, Stiles had then mocked him for it considering how old he and Klaus were, and Derek had dropped the subject. However, looking at his uncle and his mate, he couldn't help but be wary of what they entailed. Neither seemed to have any qualms about violence, and while he and Stiles would stop anyone from trying to hurt their pack and destroy them for it, Peter and Klaus were fond of preemptive actions of such kind, preventing attacks before they could even happen. Of course, that created a lot of bad blood and the likelihood for bloodier confrontations. Unfortunately again, neither Peter of Klaus seemed to mind that at all. Derek shook his head, turning his gaze to meet Stiles'. His relationship with Stiles was another thing that had changed over the last two years. After defeating Mikael and Esther and nearly dying in the process, Derek had recognized Stiles as his mate, but despite having recognized it, things had still been bumpy. Of course, most of that bumpiness was because they were both so stubborn, but it couldn't be help. Derek reached out, rubbing a thumb across one side of Stiles' collarbone. Despite their stubbornness, it hadn't taken either of them long to admit they loved each other, and they'd fought hard over the fact that the confessions didn't mean that they needed absolute protection from everything. As their bond had strengthened, so had Stiles' connection with his magic, and Derek could only feel the warm bubble of pride in his chest when he thought of how well that was going and how much it proved they were going well too.

He realized Stiles was smiling at him when he came over and turned so he could lean against him, his back pressed against Derek's chest, and he realized it was meant to comfort both of them in their nearness. Derek responded by pressing a kiss to Stiles' hair before they both turned their attention on the pair in the doorway.

"So, what's this about witches?"

That's it guys! That's the end! Huge thanks to everyone who has been reading.