Canines and Felines

The Big Showdown

Derek had woken up to the pack standing in his loft, waiting. Waiting on him or for someone else, he couldn't tell. "Derek!", Issac exclaimed, after glancing at him in worry. The pack turned to him and rushed to his side.

The next few minutes consisted of a lengthy explanation as to what was going on, and then Derek telling them he knew, as Nick had monologued his entire plan to him. Villains are stupid. I guess unhappy childhoods don't leave much time for an education.

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Stiles and Nick walked in attached at the hip, and Stiles was giggling at something Nick had said. Giggling. Nick's face went paler than ever and his eyes flew open wide at the sight of a safe Derek Hale. Stiles followed Nick's gaze. "Derek?! But how? I thought you were dead!", Stiles exclaimed. Somehow, he was more surprised than worried. "I felt our mate bond break..." he added, becoming increasingly confused.

"That's because our time ran out, I never died! Nick had me locked up in his basement!", Derek explained. Nick's frightened gaze turned into a glare. "What are you talking about?! I didn't touch you! I looked for you day and night with Stiles!", Nick protested.

"Yeah, Nick would never hurt anyone!", Stiles defended. Something about Stiles' eyes shifted as he turned his head to gaze up at Nick. "Nick is the kindest, funniest, most handsome man I have ever met.", Stiles sighed. "And he helped me keep the bond between you and I connected while you were missing, so how'd it break if you didn't die? How do I know you're even the real Derek?!", Stiles accused, eyes shifting back as he glared at Derek.

Well, almost shifting back. Truth be told, Stiles' eyes seemed off the moment he stepped into the room. They were normal human- err- Kot eyes, but he had a look in his eyes...

Like he was entranced by something.

At that moment, Lydia and Danny stepped in from the shadows. They must've used magic to hide their presence from Stiles and Nick.

"Actually, he tricked you. What he really gave you severed the bond between you and Derek, and created one between you and Nick.", Lydia said. "He wants to steal your power, Stiles.", Danny added.

"No. You two are lying, you're not even real! Lydia and Danny are dead too! Stop lying to me!", Stiles hollered. He was really upset now, and his eyes began to water. Nick grabbed his face and turned him to look into his eyes. "Baby don't listen to them, they're trying to hurt me. We need to get out of here so we can get married like you wanted.", Nick said. Stiles eyes shifted again and the look came back as he nodded slowly.

"Stiles, no!", Derek yelled. Nick glared at Derek intently. "Nick has you under a spell! If you truly don't believe us, then there's no harm in letting Deaton try to break the spell! After all, you don't think there is a spell!", Derek reasoned.

"He's tricking you! He's not Derek, Derek died! You need to kill this imposter! Kill them all, they're imposters!", Nick yelled. "Stiles, please listen to us. We're your friends.", Scott pleaded, voice cracking and tears streaming down his face.

"I can't- how do I know they're really- I don't think I can hurt them...", Stiles whimpered, voice shaky and small. He was scared and confused, beginning to really cry now. Derek's heart broke at the sight. Even without the mate bond, he still loved Stiles. It wasn't magic that made him love Stiles, or fate, it was something stronger than that. Stiles just needed reminding.

"If you won't kill them, I will! Give me your power!", Nick demanded, eyes full of rage as he grabbed Stiles roughly.

Stiles stumbled back in fear, tears flowing from his eyes like a waterfall of confusion. "O- Okay.", he whispered. "No!", Derek yelled, rushing forward to attack Nick, the rest of the pack close behind. Love poured out of Derek in the form of tears as he attacked the man who tried to take Stiles' power.

Stiles was pleading and begging for Derek to stop attacking Nick as the pack held him back. Stiles sobbed uncontrollably, wondering why even now, he couldn't bring himself to attack Derek for hurting his mate.

And then it hit him. As Derek ripped the heart out of Nick's chest, killing him, Stiles' mind started to clear up. It was no longer filled with confusion and images of Nick, but now of memories of him and Derek together.

Stiles stopped struggling and the pack let go of him. He stood there, frozen and staring as Derek turned to face him. Heart in his hands, blood soaking his clothes, tears streaming down his silent expression. Stiles took an uncoordinated step forward. His arms were limp at his side and he could barely find the strength to breathe.

As his mind finally settled on one memory, when they had first met, he rushed forward.

Derek let go of Nick's heart and it bounced once before rolling away from him. He rushed forward to meet Stiles halfway and they attacked each other's lips ferociously. It was loving and passionate all at once.

The pack seemed to disappear into another room, dragging Nick's body behind them.

The world spun around them and air seemed unimportant to them as they desperately clung to each other, kissing like their lives depended on it.

Tendrils of pink glow and shimmer started to surround them and a connection began to form. One might call it a bond.

They broke apart, when they came to the sad realization that they needed air to survive. But they kept each other close, foreheads pressed together as they laughed and cried. There was an unspoken acknowledgment between the two of them, that their mate bond was back somehow. They could feel the warm, fuzzy feeling in their stomachs as everything but them seemed to melt away into irrelevance.

They drew back a bit to gaze into each others eyes. If someone saw them, they might think they were speaking telepathically as they laughed and nodded together, silently agreeing to always stay together and never let anything get in the way of their relationship, EVER again.

They pressed their lips together once more, kissing softly and slowly. They whispered sweet I-love-you's to each other and Derek spun Stiles around to show how glad he was to have him back.

The pack filtered back in to get their share of Stiles hugs. The entire pack swarmed him, and cried together. At last, everything was okay again.

They were all okay again.