This is it. The last chapter. I'm so sorry, again, that it took so long between chapters. I am a terrible person.

Derek and Scott pulled up in front of the old bank Deaton had directed them to. Derek had every intention of figuring out a plan first instead of just barging in on who knows what. Plans tend to change when you hear a blood-curdling scream. Derek took off without Scott and ran as quickly as he could towards the sounds of Stiles' pain. He had his gun drawn and the safety off before he even entered the building.

Stiles' yells drew him to one of the vaults deep inside the bank. Derek slowed long enough to peer around the corner and assess the situation. Stiles was on the ground on the far side of the room. Something was clearly hurting him but Derek couldn't see what it was for the life of him. In front of Stiles, with her back to the door, stood a woman that Derek had to assume was the psychopath they had been searching for all along.

"Turn around and put your hands up." Derek demanded, stepping fully into the doorway with his gun raised. The Darach made no sign that she had even heard him. In fact the only change in the room was Stiles' screams getting, if possible, louder. "I won't ask again. Turn around and put your hands on your head or I will shoot."

He gave her one last chance to surrender and then with little remorse he tightened his finger on the trigger and watched as the bullet hit the Darach. He expected to see her stumble, fall to the ground, react in some way to the fact that she had just been shot. He expected that to be the end of it. Instead he stared in horror as the wound healed itself over in seconds.

She turned to him with annoyance on her face and started casually walking closer. Stiles' screaming had stopped finally though Derek wasn't sure if it was because the pain had stopped or because he was dead. Stiles had to still be alive. Derek wouldn't allow himself to think of any other possibility.

He fired another shot at the approaching woman but she hardly flinched. Her eyes flicked to something to the side of him just as Derek felt someone shove him out of the doorway. Scott flung the contents of the jar at the Darach and with a hiss she vanished into thin air leaving behind a few wisps of black mist.

"Deaton said it wouldn't kill her," Scott mused, "Which means she's still out there. Take care of Stiles while I try to figure out where she went. I'll meet you guys back at Deaton's soon." With that, Scott was out of the bank and Derek was left staring into the dark vault with the slumped over form of the man he loved.

In that moment, unable to even see if he was still breathing, all the lies Stiles had told seemed so stupid a thing to be mad about. What did a few lies matter compared to the thought of losing Stiles forever? Sure, Derek was still unhappy about having secrets kept from him, but he would rather Stiles keep everything in the world a secret if it meant him living. He had to keep living. That pale form crumpled on the floor had to still be alive.

Derek approached Stiles slowly, searching desperately for some sign of movement. The fear of what he might find was wrapped around his chest; suffocating him. His heart leapt when he got near enough to see the shaky rise and fall of Stiles' chest. He crossed the remaining distance swiftly and knelt down beside his partner. Stiles let out a low groan of pain as he opened his eyes to look at Derek.

"Remind me not to get kidnapped again." Stiles forced out. "That was really unpleasant. I don't recommend it at all."

Derek let out a sigh of relief and resisted the urge to roll his eyes in exasperation. If Stiles was making jokes already he would probably be fine. Still, Derek winced at the sharp intake of breath Stiles took when he pushed himself to a sitting position.

Quietly, trying not to sound panicked, Derek asked, "What the hell just happened Stiles?"

"I got attacked." Stiles brushed off with a wave of his hand. "It happens."

"Stiles, what was she doing to you? How the hell did she heal from a bullet wound in less than five seconds? How did she disappear?" Derek kept his voice soft and his hands were gently running over Stiles, checking for any sign of physical injury. Pleadingly, Derek whispered, "I know you don't expect me to believe any of that was normal."

Stiles sunk in on himself a little and he whispered sadly, "No. I don't. I really don't. I know you're not stupid and that you've probably figured out a hell of a lot more than I ever wanted you to know." He looked Derek in the eyes and tried one last time to implore Derek not to pry. "Don't you understand? I got attacked because I knew too much. How could I possibly put you in the same position by telling you everything?"

"Because I'm going to keep trying to find out. I'm going to keep trying to protect you from whatever the hell is happening. At this point I think I am in more danger because I keep barging in on things that I know nothing about. Besides, shouldn't it be my decision? You have more than thoroughly warned me about the risk I am taking – hell, I just watched a woman recover from a bullet as if nothing had happened, I think I am aware that there is danger – and I still choose to know what is going on."

"Werewolves." Stiles blurted out.

"Stiles, I'm being serious."

"I know." Stiles said, rubbing a hand across his tired eyes. "You're right. You need to know. I shouldn't have kept it from you this long. The answer you are looking for is werewolves." Stiles held a finger up to stop Derek's protests. "No, I'm not joking around. You want to know the secret? That's it. Scott's a werewolf, Jackson's a werewolf, Isaac's a werewolf… The town is overrun with werewolves. The wolves seem to draw in other wolves and apparently now a Darach. The sacrifices she was doing were real magic. Deaton is a druid, but a good one. I'm training under him, so I guess that kind of makes me a druid too. Allison's dad, Chris, is a hunter. He used to hunt all werewolves but lately he came to a truce with Scott's pack and they leave each other alone." Stiles stopped for breath and Derek blinked owlishly at him.

"You're serious?"

"Afraid so. The random attacks that were happening? Rogue werewolf. He killed my last partner and he bit Jackson. Turned Jackson into even more of a moody asshole than he already was. Scott got bit when we were in High School and we've been fighting the supernatural elements of Beacon hills ever since. It gets ugly in this town, but someone has to be willing to fight for Beacon Hills and somehow it ended up being me and Scott. Everyone else just got dragged along with us."

Derek leaned back a bit as he absorbed all the new information. He connected all the bits and pieces that he had wondered about and saw how they all fit into this new knowledge. Stiles' back injury was a scratch from a wolf. The conversation he had overheard at Jackson's so long ago was Stiles and the Sheriff trying to control Jackson's werewolf. It seemed crazy but every piece of it made sense.

"You alright, Derek?" Stiles asked softly. "I know it's a lot to take in."

"Yeah," Derek murmured dazedly. "I'm fine. What about you? What was she doing to you? Are you going to be okay?"

"It was just an attempt to kill me." He casually waved off Derek's concerns. "No big deal. I was lucky that she really hated me. If she had wanted to kill me quickly I'd have been dead. I only lived because she wanted to draw it out. No permanent harm done though. She didn't have nearly enough time for that." Derek still looked at him with worry in his eyes so Stiles made a point of standing up and looking at Derek with a raised eyebrow. "See? I'm fine."

Derek just looked at the stubborn man in front of him and he felt something inside him melt. He supposed this is what it felt like to forgive someone. The lies that had built up between them were gone and the anger faded with it. He had almost lost Stiles today and that was more than enough to make Derek regret ever pushing Stiles away. In fact, all he wanted to do was pull him closer now.

Stiles stiffened briefly when he felt Derek's arms around him but he quickly wrapped his own arms around the older man. For just a brief moment everything was alright. Derek reassured himself that Stiles was alive and in his arms. He was warm and breathing and the sound of his screaming was just an echo in his mind.

The moment was over when Stiles murmured, "I imagine we're supposed to go to Deaton's? There's mistletoe all over the floor and that means Deaton helped you. Which probably means he wants to lecture me about being reckless."

Derek chuckled. "It's a lesson you still very much need to learn."

"Never going to happen." Stiles grinned. "Now, we should go."

"I couldn't catch her. I don't know where she went." Scott said as he met them at the door when they arrived at Deaton's. "Stiles, do you have any ideas? You always have ideas." There was a brief pause before Scott said, "Why is Derek looking at me like I've grown a third eyeball?"

"Spend a minute thinking about it and I'm sure you'll figure out the answer." Stiles replied, patting Scott on the shoulder lightly as he continued into the vet clinic.

The werewolf's face scrunched up in thought and Derek chose that moment to ask, "So do you turn into an actual wolf or is it more a cross between human and wolf?"

A look of realization crossed Scott's features followed by a bright grin. "He finally told you." Scott beamed at Derek for a moment before answering his question, "It's a cross between wolf and human. Though some werewolves can turn full wolf. Never mind that though, how does it feel to finally know about us? I am going to be so much happier now. You have no idea how many times I nearly told you something on accident. I've spent too many years around Stiles and his habit of thinking before speaking has kind of worn off on me."

Deaton's annoyed voice drifted out to them, "If you could all get around to actually coming into my office, there is the rather important matter of planning how to take care of the Darach."

Sheepishly, Scott grinned at Derek. "Now I've gotten us in trouble. My bad." They made their way back to where Stiles and Deaton were deep in conversation.

To Derek's surprise Scott stopped dead and growled – literally growled – out, "No. Stiles, don't be an idiot. That isn't an option."

Stiles glanced up, annoyed, at his best friend. "It's not really your call is it?"

Derek looked between the two of them and then to Deaton who looked frustrated. "I'm missing something here. What are we suddenly all so angry about?"

"Stiles is suggesting that he be used as bait to get the Darach to reveal herself." Scott ground out between clenched teeth. Sharp clenched teeth. That was going to weird Derek out for a while.

"She'll come back for me." Stiles insisted. "She wanted to kill me for knowing too much before and I know even more. There's no way she'll be content to let me live when I know who she is. If we can figure out how to defeat her then we can stop her when she comes to kill me."

Derek glared at Stiles, "I'm not letting you be bait."

"How is it any more your decision than it is Scott's? I may be wrong here, but I'm pretty certain the only one who has a right to decide what I do with myself is me. If you have any other ideas for how to draw out the Darach then I am all ears."

"You still haven't fully recovered from earlier. Why the hell would you throw yourself at her again? She really will kill you this time."

"I'm fine. Honestly the pain wore off on the drive over. Besides, she'll come after me regardless. I'd much rather have a trap waiting for her when she arrives instead of being completely unprepared."

"Good," Deaton interjected. "That's all settled then. Now here's the plan."

Stiles slid into the car next to Derek and they headed to the warehouse that they had chosen for their trap. It was well hidden from prying eyes. Derek glanced over at Stiles as he drove and saw a fierce determination burning in him.

"Are we going to be able to pull this off?" Derek asked quietly.

"We're going to kick Ms. Blake's ass." Came the reassuring answer. Stiles grinned at him and then grabbed Derek's free hand in his own. "We're going to be fine. Both of us."

Derek gently squeezed Stiles hand in response as he made the turn onto the winding dirt road that led to the warehouse. Stiles busied himself with making sure that they had everything they needed before they arrived. He also did his best not to freak out about bringing Derek into a potentially dangerous situation with a crazy, dark druid.

Derek searched for a spot to park that was well hidden from the entrance to the building, Stiles hopped out of the car before it had even come to a complete stop. In his hand he clutched the bag Deaton had given him and he immediately opened it and started sprinkling the contents around the perimeter of the warehouse. Scott pulled his police cruiser in behind Derek's Camaro and he started following after Stiles double checking that the line of powder was unbroken. His werewolf eyes were far better equipped to see the smallest gaps in the circle.

Derek leaned on the hood of his car wishing there was something more he could do at this point. Waiting seemed like torture and he kept worrying that the Darach would show up to kill Stiles before they were ready for her. He shuddered at the memory of Stiles' screams and the thought of just how ineffective a bullet had been against her. Which was no wonder really now that he knew she possessed real magic.

Magic. Werewolves. Druids.

He had to admit he did not see that coming.

He didn't even know if the plan was a good one because he had no idea how these sort of things worked. All he knew was that Stiles was in danger and he didn't like that. Though Stiles had made a good point when he said that he would be in danger regardless. It was better to be prepared.

So here they were at an abandoned warehouse – seriously why did this town have so many abandoned buildings? – preparing a trap for a powerful dark druid. What could go wrong? All they had to do was time everything perfectly and somehow all stay alive.

Stiles hopped up to sit in the hood of the car next to Derek. "You look awfully grumpy over here." He joked.

"Grumpy is my default state. Hadn't you noticed that yet?"

"You make a fine point." Stiles grinned back at him. He had obviously finished pouring most of a circle of whatever that concoction was Deaton had given him around the building. There was a small gap right at the entrance to the warehouse that Derek could see even from the Camaro and he once again found himself wondering if this would really work. What could dust do against a powerful druid? Then again, if Deaton was telling the truth, Stiles was a pretty powerful druid himself. Looking at the pale-skinned, fragile man next to him it was hard to picture Stiles commanding any sort of powerful magic.

Scott joined them both a minute later after going carefully over Stiles work and making sure it was solid. Now all they had to do was wait.

"Oh my god I am so insanely bored." Stiles yelled from inside the warehouse. "Can someone just kill me now and do the Darach a favor?"

Derek frowned and Scott started laughing. Scott and Derek were in the Camaro which was as hidden from the view of the warehouse as they could make it. Stiles, however, was sitting in the building all by himself and the string of curses and complaints about boredom had been going basically non-stop.

So far Stiles had resisted the urge to just stand up and leave which was good. His impatience was not overpowering his logic yet. It was absolutely crucial that he be in the warehouse when the Darach arrived.

After over two hours of waiting nervously for the entrance of Ms. Blake, she appeared. Quite literally out of thin air with nothing but the tell-tale wisps of fading black mist to show what had happened. Stiles squeaked in surprise and stumbled back a step because really she was far closer than he wanted her to be.

"I bet you are wondering why I called you here today." Stiles said to her in a joking tone.

Scott perked up instantly from the seat next to Derek. His keen ears listened intently for the second part of their code.

"Sorry, I've just always wanted to say that." Stiles laughed.

Scott leapt into action. He grabbed the bag of fine powder Stiles had given him earlier and he darted as quietly as he could to the one part of the circle Stiles hadn't drawn. With quick movements, he sprinkled the last of the dust on the ground and closed the circle. He had told Stiles to give him 60 seconds and it had taken him less than 40. Now he just had to hope his friend got out as planned.

"You know, saying that always seems so much cooler in the movies." Stiles continued to ramble. "I'm pretty sure it would have helped if I had a spinning chair. Then I could have turned slowly around to face you while I said it and I would have looked like the cool villain in basically every movie ever. Course, you're the villain here so it might not really be my place to take that spot from you." As he talked Stiles counted in his head to make sure Scott had enough time to finish. As soon as he hit 60 he started backing towards the door as casually as he could manage. "Do you prefer to be called a 'villain' or 'villainess' or should I just use the blanket term of 'evil'? I mean, I don't want to offend you by calling you the wrong kind of evil."

With a murderous look – which was really quite fitting seeing as she was there for murder – Jennifer lifted her hand into the air. Stiles found himself being thrown against the wall of the building and he gasped as the air was driven out of him. He crumpled to the ground breathing heavily and trying to convince his heart to stop beating so hard.

"That," He panted, "was not nice at all. I was trying to be a polite sacrifice and you just throw me into a wall? What the hell?"

"I was hoping it would shut you up." She smirked back at him.

"Well that would have been a good plan." Stiles said as he dragged himself to his feet. With a swift movement he darted to the door and threw it open, "The only flaw is that you got me closer to where I needed to be. Thanks for that."

"It won't do you any good to run." Jennifer shouted after him. "I'll just track you down again." She strode to the door and was surprised to find Stiles still standing just outside of it. Behind him stood Scott and even further back was Derek. Jennifer tried to take another step closer to Stiles but she found she couldn't reach him. He grinned wickedly at her and pointed at the dirt in front of her. A fine line of white powder decorated the earth and she knew instantly what had happened. "When I get out of this damn barrier," She snarled at Stiles, "I will kill you as slowly as possible and I will enjoy every second of it."

He just sauntered away with a smug smile on his face.

Scott came closer he glared at her.

"So, what is your plan now wolf? You have me trapped, but you can't keep me here forever and you certainly aren't planning on letting me go."

"Don't worry." Scott bit back at her, "We know what we're doing."

Jennifer turned away from the werewolf angrily. She stalked back to the center of the building that had become a prison and she started pacing around the perimeter. Derek joined Scott at the door and the two watched in silence as she muttered to herself. An idea seemed to strike her and she sat down cross legged and started drawing shapes into the dust on the floor in front of her. Her whispered words reached Scott's ears but the language made no sense to him. He shot a nervous glance at Stiles who was sitting on the ground beside Derek's Camaro. He was also drawing symbols in the dirt and muttering.

Derek also looked between the two and then he looked at Scott and shrugged. "I'm new to this; I have no idea what the hell those two are doing."

A tense silence settled over the wolves and humans as everyone waited to see what would happen next. Scott was the first to move. He turned his head to look out into the trees as he heard the unmistakable sound of someone, or something, coming towards their small little group. He took a deep breath in, searching for the scent on the wind that would tell him what to expect. When his mind finally processed the fact that he smelled another werewolf he grabbed Derek without explanation and dragged him over to Stiles.

"She's somehow calling the rogue werewolf to her." Scott said in a rush. "We have to defend Stiles from it long enough for him to finish the spell."

Understanding and determination crossed Derek's face and he planted himself solidly between Stiles and the line of trees. "Tell me how to take down a werewolf." He commanded Scott.

"Well," It was obvious Scott hadn't really thought that far ahead, "you would need special bullets. I don't carry any because I just fight with my claws and teeth. "He flashed a pointed canine to prove his point.

"I've got some." Stiles interjected. "My gun is loaded with silvers. Take it, Derek."

"Shouldn't you be paying attention to what you're doing and not to us?" Derek asked in exasperation at the same time that he leaned down and took Stiles' gun from its holster.

"Multi-tasking. If I wasn't capable of it I would have died a long time ago." He replied as his hands continued to flow in intricate patterns through the dirt.

Scott stiffened beside Derek as the werewolf came into view. The older detective raised the gun and trained it on the fast approaching enemy while Scott crouched low and let out a fierce growl. Derek shuddered at the sound; werewolves would definitely take him a bit of getting used to once this was all over. They stood firm as the creature barreled towards them and they stared in confusion as it ran right on past. It hadn't even glanced at them on its way.

They spun to watch it as it instead approached the building with the Darach still trapped inside. The wolf bent down but by the time any of them realized what he was doing it was too late. The rogue dragged a claw through the fine line of powder surrounding the warehouse and a wave of power crashed out of the circle as it was broken. The force of it threw the wolf across the clearing where he hit a tree with a sickening thud. Derek and Scott were knocked off their feet and they scrambled back up as quickly as they could. Stiles still sat cross legged on the ground and seemed to have not even noticed the surge of power. The only change in him was the speed with which he was working on the spell.

Stiles took a few precious seconds away from chanting to whisper, "Stall her," under his breath. He trusted that Scott had heard him and he returned dutifully to his work.

Moments later Jennifer came striding out of the warehouse with a radiant smile on her face. "I knew he would come in handy at some point." She mused to herself as she took in the crumpled werewolf at the base of a tree. "Shame that breaking the spell seems to have killed him. Looks like I will need a new one." She focused on Scott and asked, "You interested? I would make you the same offer I made him. I will give you the power of ten Alphas if you will serve me."

"Even if I was interested in that kind of power, which I'm not, I would still turn you down. I don't get the feeling you are the kind to keep your word."

"Oh, but I do. He had all the power he desired. If anything, he had more power than I promised him. Truly the only thing I lied about was what exactly it meant to serve me. I may have implied that he would still possess some semblance of free will. Of course, if he had free will he would have never been willing to break a powerful spell like that. Really free will is a pesky thing to allow your servants to have."

Derek spoke up then, "If he had no free will at all then why has he been going around attacking people?"

Jennifer laughed, "It kept you all busy didn't it? I had your silly police force running all over town trying to track down two different criminals at once. Better yet, everyone went to great lengths to keep you in the dark about a lot of things so they expended a lot of energy maintaining their lies. Energy they should have been focusing on finding me. It's touching that Stiles didn't want you involved, but stupid really, because all he did was give me the opportunity to kill more people."

"Scott." Stiles murmured so quietly that only the werewolf would hear it. "I need you and Derek to get out of the way in 3..." The smell of Stiles blood hit Scott's nose as the young mage dragged a knife across his palm. "2…" Ms. Blake's eyes narrowed and she took a step closer as she tried to figure out what Stiles was up to. "1..." Jennifer cursed under her breath and threw a wave of power directly at Stiles. "NOW!"

Scott dove towards Derek, flinging them both to the ground. Stiles slammed his bleeding hand down onto the rune patterns that decorated the earth surrounding him. Energy crackled in the air and as the Darach's attack reached Stiles he let out a relieved smile. Her power collided violently with his and within seconds everything she had thrown at him was engulfed in Stiles' own swirling vortex of energy. The space around Stiles pulsed with light and he softly whispered a few words into the air and with a final brief hand motion the light started to dim until it faded away completely.

Derek stared open-mouthed at the display. Stiles sat in the dirt, legs crossed and dirt smudged on his face – looking young and innocent – and yet he had just filled an entire clearing with magic. The air still crackled with leftover energy all around him. It wasn't the first time Derek had seen proof of Stiles' strength and bravery, but it was certainly the most obvious example.

"I don't know what you think you just did," Jennifer snarled, "But I assure you it won't work a second time."

"It doesn't have to." Stiles answered. "You are already defeated." With a quick nod to Scott, Stiles stood up and brushed the dirt of his pants.

Scott cautiously approached her, still wary that she may have more power left than Stiles thought. When she tried to fling him into the side of the warehouse and all he felt was a light breeze, Scott became more confident. He pulled his handcuffs from his belt and snapped them onto her wrists with finality.

"What did you do?" She screeched at Stiles.

"I drained all the extra power you stole by killing people. You are now as weak as you were before your first murder. In fact at the moment you are even weaker than that because you used so much power trying to attack me. You are completely and utterly drained. Given time, you will get stronger again, at least to the point that you were before you slaughtered any innocent people, but you will be in a cell long before that happens. Not just any cell. Deaton is down at the station right now drawing up plans with my father for a special cell. The walls will be laced with mistletoe with a few other choice ingredients to keep you contained. The same ingredients in fact that we used in the barrier. Of course, this time they will be imbedded in solid concrete so it will be a bit more permanent than some dust." Stiles smiled sweetly at her as Scott led her towards his cruiser.

Once she was situated in the back-seat, Scott waved to Derek and Stiles and called out, "I'll see you guys back at the station."

Stiles watched the car pull away and start the trek back down the winding dirt road.

"You're still bleeding." Derek said quietly as he came up behind him.

"Huh? Oh, that." Stiles glanced down at his hand unconcerned. "It's nothing."

"It's covered in dirt. You'll get an infection."

Stiles stared into space for a moment with confusion on his face. He seemed to slowly connect the dots in his head until he turned to face Derek with a smile, "You're worried about me." He said with certainty. "If you're worried about me it must mean you haven't decided to hate me for keeping all this from you." He gestured around the clearing to indicate everything that they had just witnessed. The dead werewolf still slumped over just outside the tree-line made his point all the more clear.

Derek met Stiles' eyes and replied him, "Did you think I was going to hate you? I'm not happy that you lied to me, but I understand why you did it. If I had a secret like this, one that I knew could easily get you killed, I would have lied about it to you in heart-beat."

Derek realized then how closely they were standing. He felt the heat radiating from Stiles and he could feel his breath brushing across his face. Stiles seemed to realize their proximity at the same time; his eyes widened and he quickly backed up a step as his face turned red.

"Sorry." He breathed out. "I didn't mean to get all up in your personal space. Actually I'm also sorry about holding your hand on the way here. I think the near-death experience kind of freaked me out a bit. I know you said you didn't want to be with me like that. Which makes sense. I totally get it. I lied to you a lot. I am doing my best to respect that you don't want a relationship with me. You've had enough lying in your life to be pretty fed up with it by now and you shouldn't get involved with someone you can't trust. Not that I'm planning on lying to you again or anything. I'm just rambling now and I'm sorry about that too. I'm sorry about a lot of things. You can just get a new partner if you want. I'm sure if we talked to my dad he would let you work with Isaac and I could work with Scott. Just, please don't leave Beacon Hills because things are awkward between us. Don't leave just because your partner was stupid and untrustworthy."

"Stiles," Derek interrupted. "I would trust you with my life."

"I know, I'm a horrible person. I'm sorry I messed everything up. I'm sorry I made you hate me. I'm sor- wait what?"

"I told you I couldn't be with you because of all the lies. Now, I finally know what you were hiding from me and I truly do understand why you chose to hide it. Looking back, honestly, I could have handled everything better. You were clearly already pressed beyond your limits in every way and I came in demanding answers and pushing you away because I was angry that you wouldn't give them. Then you got captured, you almost got killed, and I thought that I had lost you." Derek was quiet for a moment as he remembered the fear lancing through him as he had approached Stiles in the bank, still unsure if he was alive. "I realized then that I really didn't care about the lies as long as you were still alive. Then you told me the truth anyway and I was left wondering why I had tried so hard to ignore my feelings. I don't know if you still want me, but if I haven't completely shoved you away I want you to know that I am in love with you."

Stiles gaped at him. "Are you serious?" A huge grin split his face when Derek nodded. "Hell yes!"

Derek stumbled back a step as Stiles' weight crashed into him when the younger man propelled himself at him, wrapping his arms around Derek happily. Derek smiled softly as his own arms came up to wrap around Stiles. Warmth swelled in him as he finally let himself relax and acknowledge that they had all survived. Stiles had survived.

He pulled away from Stiles just far enough that Stiles looked up at him curiously. Comprehension dawned on him as Derek leaned closer, slowly, non-verbally asking permission from Stiles before he made the final move.

Stiles made it for him, he crossed the gap between them and met Derek's lips with his own. Derek wasn't sure what he was getting himself into by starting a relationship with Stiles, but something told him they were going to be just fine.