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Things have been fairly quiet in Star City recently giving Team Arrow the chance to focus on other things. For Oliver, that’s usually performing his duties as mayor but currently he is training with Roy, Diggle, and Dinah while the rest of the team are out. Felicity has been dividing her attention between watching the others and updating software on the computers. She’s about to go ask the others if they want some food when her phone chirps, notifying her of a new text message. She smiles when she sees it’s from her cousin Stiles.
“Can you call me when you have a minute? I need your help with something.”
Felicity doesn’t hesitate before dialing Stiles’ number.
“Felicity, hey. I wasn’t expecting you to return my call so fast. Figured you’d be busy doing whatever it is you do.”
“I have some down time right now.” She smiles “What exactly did you need help with?” Stiles hesitates and Felicity can hear him having a whispered conversation with someone. “Is everything okay Stiles? Are you in trouble?”
“Well…. not trouble per se. I need your help with something but I can’t say what it is over the phone. I was wondering if you had any free time to come here? If not, it’s no big deal. I’m sure I can figure something else out.”
“Stiles it’s fine. I’m sure I can find a way to make it there.” Oliver walks up beside her, raising an eyebrow at her words “Just let me figure a few things out and I’ll let you know when I’m coming, okay?”
“Thanks cuz, hopefully I’ll be seeing you soon.”
With that they hang up and Felicity turns to Oliver who is still watching her. “Your cousin?”
Felicity nods “Yeah. He said he needs help with something but couldn’t discuss it over the phone. I need to go there Oliver.”
Oliver nods “Of course. I’ll get us a plane.”
“Us?”
“Yes. You didn’t really think I’d let you go off into what could possibly be a dangerous situation alone did you?”
Felicity sighs “I can’t really see Stiles getting mixed up in anything too bad, but fine.”
Felicity is worried about sort of situation Stiles has found himself in but she’s also excited to see her cousin. They had been close growing up but after Stiles’ Mom had died her mother couldn’t bear to be in Beacon Hills anymore so they left. Stiles had stopped in to see her a few years ago when he started college but after that they hadn’t seen each other. At least not in person. They still talked all the time though. At first it was through letters then through email and now they text constantly and try to chat on Skype at least once a month. Still, she knows there are parts of his life that he keeps hidden. Just like she hides this part of hers. She has a feeling that this reunion will reveal at least one of their secrets, if not both.
XxXx
In Beacon Hills, Stiles is impatiently waiting to hear from Felicity about when she’ll be arriving. He paces around the living room of the pack house feeling Scott’s eyes on him the entire time. When Derek had returned to Beacon Hills he had repurchased his family’s land and built a house pretty close to where the old one used to stand. Some members of the pack had moved in with him including Isaac, Erica, and Boyd and then Stiles when he had returned to Beacon Hills after finishing college. Scott lived with Allison while Lydia and Jackson lived together. Malia just stayed wherever she felt like staying on that particular night. While Kira would stay at the Hale house whenever she was in town.
Stiles hadn’t wanted to involve Felicity but he needed someone with excellent computer skills and with Danny being MIA now he reached out to the only person he knew could help. At least she already knew about the supernatural world. He’d come clean a while ago when she came to him with questions about magic and he had to tell her what he knew about it. He still didn’t tell her everything. She knew supernatural creatures existed but didn’t know he was running around with a werewolf pack. He’d have to explain when she got here. He couldn’t involve her in something that could possibly be dangerous and not give her all the details. He’d hid the truth from his father to protect him and that just wound up putting him in danger. He wouldn’t make that mistake again. He just hoped she didn’t freak out too much.
Scott has been watching Stiles pace around his room for 10 minutes before he finally has enough and stands up, leading Stiles over to the couch and forcing him to sit down. “It’ll be okay, Stiles.”
Stiles’ knee bounces, still too nervous to sit still “What If it’s not? We barely know anything Scott. We just know Derek is missing. But we don’t know why or who took him or even if he’s still alive. And now I’m dragging my cousin out here in hopes that her computer skills will by some miracle be able to help us locate Derek.”
“Stiles, breathe. We’re going to find Derek. We always do.”
Stiles laughs, bitterly “The fact that Derek has been through so much bullshit that you even have to say that we always find him is messed up man.”
Scott doesn’t get a chance to respond because Stiles’ phone beeps with an incoming text from Felicity.
“Getting the plane ready. Leaving in 2 hours. See you soon!”
Two hours? That’s a lot faster than he expected her to get here.
“What does she mean getting the plane ready? Does she own a plane?” Scott asks when Stiles shows him the text.
Stiles shrugs “I know she works for some big company and knows a lot of rich people so maybe she’s borrowing one. It doesn’t matter though. She’ll be here soon and then we can get down to finding Derek.”
XxXx
It’s around 8 p.m. when there’s a knock on the door alerting Stiles to Felicity’s arrival. He had offered to drive over and pick her up from the airport but she just said she’d rent a car. He opens the door to see Felicity smiling at him.
He doesn’t have a chance to speak before she’s throwing her arms around him hugging him “Stiles! It’s been so long! I missed you!”
“I missed you too, Felicity.” Stiles offers a small smile of his own, only then noticing that she’s not alone. Very much not alone. There’s a group of 4 other people with her.
Felicity notices where his gaze has gone and pulls one of the men forward “Stiles, this my boyfriend Oliver. Oliver, this is my cousin Stiles.”
The man sticks his hand out to Stiles, smiling “It’s nice to finally meet you Stiles. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Likewise.” It’s not a lie. Felicity had told Stiles all about a man named Oliver that she has been dating. She just left out how they met or what he did.
Stiles stands back, letting the group into the house. He sees Scott, Lydia, and Isaac watching them warily. Erica, Boyd, Jackson, and Allison had wanted to be there but Stiles had thought it would be too much at one time. Maybe he was wrong. He looks at each person as they enter the house but his eyes widen at the sight of one person in particular. He’s not the only one that notices.
“Jackson?” Lydia asks, sounding a mix between confused and annoyed “What are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay with the others.”
The man in question looks around confused, as do the others in the group. “Who’s Jackson?”
“What do you mean…?” Lydia starts but stops when she sees Stiles shake his head. Sure, the man looks exactly like Jackson but after studying the man more closely Stiles realizes there’s no way this guy could be Jackson. For one, Jackson would never be caught dead in a bright red hoodie.
He catches Felicity looking at him with her head tilted to the side, a silent question as to what’s going on. “We know someone named Jackson who happens to look almost exactly like your friend here.”
“No almost about it.” Lydia mutters “If it wasn’t for the clothes I’d still swear it was him.”
“I assure you I’m not Jackson.” The man says “My name is Roy. And I’ve never even been to California before. At least not since I was born. So, there’s no way I could be the man you’re talking about.”
“So,” Stiles says looking around the room “We’ve got Roy and Oliver, who are the others?”
The other two in the group introduce themselves as Thea, who is Oliver’s sister, and John Diggle. After they’re done introducing themselves Scott, Lydia, and Isaac introduce themselves.
Scott pulls him aside as the groups start talking amongst themselves, looking worried “Are you sure you still want to involve Felicity in this? It was one thing when it was just her but now there’s this whole group of people.”
“Everything okay Stiles?” Felicity asks, walking up to them.
“Yeah it’s just…” Stiles pauses when the sound of the wolves in the room growling draws his attention “Scott? Isaac? What the hell?”
“There’s someone out there.” Isaac says around his fangs.
That’s certainly a way to break the news to his guests. To their credit none of them react much, except Diggle draws his gun and Oliver, Thea, and Roy pull a bow and some arrows out of their bags. Which, what?
“We’re going to talk about this later.” Felicity says, looking worriedly around the room. “Because I haven’t had a chance to tell them any of this exists.”
All Stiles does is nod, grabbing his baseball bat from beside the door. Scott steps up and tries to open the doors but Stiles stops him with a shake of his head. This could be nothing. The last thing he needs is his neighbors to see a werewolf running out his front door. When Stiles opens the door it’s not to see some monster or hunter, but Danny standing on his porch looking slightly uneasy.
“Hi.” Danny waves “I uh… Jackson got a hold of me and told me you might need some help?”
Stiles sighs, dropping the bat and letting Danny in “Yeah man. We need all the help we can get.”
Danny looks around the room before focusing his eyes back on Stiles “What’s going on?”
“Derek’s missing. And we need help finding him.”
After that there’s a whole lot of explaining. Stiles explaining how Derek’s been missing for a week and no matter how hard the pack has looked there hasn’t been a trace of him.
Then explaining to Felicity’s companions about the existence of werewolves and other supernatural creatures. They all take it in stride, the only one to make a comment being Diggle.
“I thought I saw it all with metahumans and magic, but now you’re telling me there’s werewolves too?” He says, shaking his head “What’s next? Vampires? Witches?”
“I don’t know about vampires and witches,” Stiles says “At least not the kind you’re probably thinking of. I’m what you’d call a spark, which is a certain type of magic. Just different than what you dealt with.”
Oliver turns to Felicity with a grin “You’re not going to tell me you’re magic too, are you?”
“Nope. Pretty sure I’m just human.” She says, but doesn’t sound too confident about it after everything she’s just heard.
“That you know of.” Stiles says “I thought I was just human too until I found out about werewolves and then about my spark.”
“Well great. That would be just one more weird thing on the list of weird things that have happened so far today.”
“Wait,” Oliver says looking between Stiles and Felicity “What did you mean different than what we’ve dealt with? How do you know we’ve dealt with magic?”
Felicity looks at least a little guilty when she turns to look at Oliver “I may have told him. I knew he did a lot of research on that sort of thing so I wanted to see what he knows.”
“That’s not really important right now.” Stiles says, cutting in. He would feel guilty but they’ve already wasted enough time. “What’s important is that Derek is out there somewhere going through who knows what and we, I need your help finding him.”
Felicity nods, taking Stiles’ hand “I’ll do whatever I can to help you Stiles.”
“Me too.” Danny says from his spot next to Lydia. He’s still shooting Roy confused looks, even though they had explained to him Roy wasn’t Jackson.
Stiles looks between the two of them, feeling hopeful for the first time in days “You two are the best hackers I know. With your brains combined I have no doubt you can find him. Or at least what happened to him.”
Scott suggests that they get some sleep so that they have a clear head in the morning and can focus better. Stiles reluctantly agrees. Or at least agrees the others should get some sleep. He needs both Felicity and Danny at their best if they’re going to have any chance of finding Derek. The house is big enough for all of them to sleep but only the members of Team Arrow stay over. Scott goes home to Alison and Isaac goes with him while Lydia goes to find Jackson, bringing Danny along with her. Stiles thinks the rest of the pack are probably sleeping elsewhere, waiting for Stiles’ word that it’s okay to come back.
Even with other people sleeping here the house feels a little too quiet. Even at night he’s used to hearing some noise. With it being so quiet Stiles has nowhere else to focus his thoughts so of course his mind drifts to Derek. That’s not a new thing. It happened often even before Derek got taken. Now though Stiles’ thoughts are laced with worry about whether the man is okay and what state they’re going to find him in rather than Stiles agonizing over his feelings for the man.
Stiles puts his face in his hands, groaning. They were doing to find Derek. They had to. He’s so wrapped up in his thoughts that he doesn’t notice someone else walk into the room until there’s a hand on his shoulder. Acting purely on instinct Stiles jumps up and whirls around, grabbing the closest thing he could use as a weapon. Which unfortunately for him is just a spatula.
Luckily the person in the room wasn’t a hunter or monster but a very startled looking Felicity, who is holding her hands up placatingly “Sorry, Stiles. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Stiles nods and sits back down. He listens to Felicity move about the kitchen for a few minutes before she sits down across from him with a cup in her hands, another one is placed in front of him. He picks it up and smiles gratefully as the taste of warm lemon tea with honey hits him. His Mom used to make it like this, he imagines her Mom probably does too.
“Couldn’t sleep?” She asks, taking a sip of her tea.
Stiles shakes his head “No. I’m too worried. And…” he trails off, wondering if she should voice his next thought. He hadn’t told anyone yet. Too afraid of the pitying looks he’d get. But this is Felicity. “Part of me is hoping that he’ll still come walking back through the door. I know that’s probably not going to happen. But I still want to be awake just in case. I need to know he’s alright.”
“Because you love him.” It’s not a question. More of an observation. The two of them had talked about Derek before. He’d admitted a while ago that he had feelings for the man and she’d listened to him ramble on and on about it. In turn, Stiles had listened to Felicity talk about the highs and lows of her relationship with Oliver. They’d had problems but he was glad to see that they’d worked everything out.
Stiles is still startled by her words though. The truth of them hitting him hard. When he speaks, his voice comes out raw, filled with all the emotions he’s been trying to hold back. “I do. I love him so much. And I never told him. I was too afraid. Now I might never get the chance too.”
“You can’t think like that. Don’t you think if he was dead that whoever it was that took him would have left his body somewhere for you to find?”
Stiles thinks about it and realizes she’s probably right. Especially if it is a hunter they’re dealing with. They’d probably want to leave his body somewhere as a message to the wolves. It only makes Stiles feel a little better. Derek might be alive but there’s no telling what sort of pain and torture he’s enduring. The thought makes Stiles’ blood boil. The next thing Stiles knows the cup in his hand is exploding sending tea and bits of glass all over him and the kitchen. Stiles curses and starts to stand before realizing he’s barefoot in a kitchen now covered in sharp pieces of glass. Just great.
He hears movement and looks over to see Oliver running down the stairs, bow and arrow in his hand. He pauses when he takes in the scene in the kitchen, lowering his weapon when he realizes there isn’t a threat.
“I heard something shattering so I thought someone might be breaking in.” Oliver says looking at where the glass and tea are all over the floor “Now I see that’s not the case.”
“Nope.” Felicity says with a small smile in his direction “The only thing breaking is a teacup.” She glances over at Stiles before looking back to Oliver. “Would you care to grab my shoes so that I can find the mop, broom, and a dust pan?”
“I’ll take care of it. Just point me in the direction I need to go.”
Stiles points to the small room located behind Felicity “Everything you need is in there.” When Oliver walks off Stiles looks down at himself and sighs “I can’t believe this happened. I usually have pretty good control of my Spark but ever since Derek has been missing, it’s like my control has been slipping.”
“Maybe he’s your anchor.” Felicity says, much to Stiles’ surprise “You told me wolves have anchors to help them keep control so maybe the same can be said for sparks. It would make sense since you said your control started slipping when Derek disappeared.”
Stiles nods but doesn’t say anything. Felicity lets him think, talking to Oliver when he comes back into the room and starts cleaning up the glass and tea. Stiles has never really thought about it before but now that he is he realizes Felicity is probably right. Stiles always felt more calm and in control when he was around Derek. Derek was there with a calming presence and encouraging smile when Stiles was still learning to use his spark. He kept him grounded in a way that nothing else could. Holy shit. Derek is his anchor.
XxXx
After cleaning up the glass and sending Stiles off to take a warm shower Felicity and Oliver head upstairs to the room they’re using while they’re here. Felicity sighs and curls up next to Oliver on the bed, resting her head on his chest while he runs a soothing hand up and down her arm.
“You’re worried about him.”
“Of course I am.” Felicity says “I’m pretty sure I jinxed this whole situation.”
“How so?” Oliver asks.
“Remember how I said I couldn’t imagine Stiles getting mixed up in anything too bad? Well this is beyond bad. And by uttering that one single sentence I may have made it worse.”
Oliver chuckles softly “You didn’t cause this to happen Felicity. How could you? I’m pretty sure Stiles was mixed up in all of this long before you said that.”
“That’s true. I just hate that he’s dealing with this. I’ve heard the way he’s talked about Derek, Oliver. I don’t think he’d be able to handle losing him.”
“Then we’ll just have to make sure he doesn’t.” Oliver says, like that’s the easiest thing.
They’re quiet for a few minutes before Oliver speaks again, a smile in his voice “You know what I’m looking forward to?”
“What?”
“Seeing Roy and this Jackson person meet. If they look so much alike that people kept mistaking Roy for Jackson this is bound to be interesting.”
Felicity can’t help but smile at the thought. Tomorrow was certainly going to be an interesting day.
XxXx
Stiles wakes early the next morning after maybe getting three hours of sleep, if that. He just couldn’t seem to shut his mind off so he spent most of the night tossing and turning consumed by his worry. He’s in the kitchen trying to decide what to do for breakfast, having already put the coffee on, when he hears a commotion in the entry way. Lydia’s voice carries from the front of the house into the kitchen.
“I’m telling you this is a bad idea. You were supposed to wait for Stiles to say it’s okay.”
“I don’t care.” Stiles hears Erica say “I want to know what’s happening.”
“He might not even be up yet.”
“He is. I can hear his heartbeat in the kitchen. And smell coffee.”
It’s only a few seconds later that Erica and Lydia appear in the kitchen, followed by Boyd, Jackson, and Danny. Boyd looking resigned to be here and Jackson just looking annoyed.
That’s nothing new though. Danny just looks far too chipper for how early in the morning it is, in Stiles’ opinion.
Lydia sets some bags and boxes on the table, smiling over at him. “We brought donuts and some pastries for breakfast. I figured that would be better than having to cook for everyone.”
Stiles gives her a small smile, grateful that someone at least thought about breakfast “Thanks Lyds.”
She looks around the room while Erica turns her head towards the stairs “I’m guessing everyone else is still asleep them?”
“It’s only 7:30 in the morning.” Stiles says “Of course everyone is still asleep.”
“I called Scott on the way over.” Lydia says, taking a seat at the table and grabbing a pastry from one of the bags. Stiles can only imagine how that went. Scott was not a morning person. “I told him to meet us here with Allison and Isaac. We’ll see if that actually happens.”
Erica’s visibly perks up, directing her attention towards the stairs. Stiles knows someone must be awake. Sure enough, a sleepy looking Roy comes into view followed by Thea. Stiles just stands there while Erica and Boyd gape at the man. Lydia and Danny still looked surprised, but less so than they were the day before. Jackson though. Jackson just stares with his mouth hanging open as the two enter the kitchen, oblivious to the other people’s reactions.
Thea’s the one that notices first. Looking from Roy to Jackson with wide eyes. “Holy shit! You weren’t kidding.”
It’s then that Roy lifts his eyes from the donut he was eating, looking around the room before his eyes settle on Jackson. When he sees him, he jumps back, the donut falling from his hand and hitting the floor. No one notices the donut, too wrapped up in the scene playing out in front of them.
It’s Jackson that finally speaks. “What the hell? What the hell is this?”
He looks to Lydia for answers but she just shrugs “I told you we met someone who looks almost exactly like you.”
“You were right when you said there was no almost about it.” Thea says, looking between the two of them “They could be twins.”
Danny tilts his head, staring at the two of them “Maybe they are. You were adopted Jackson. Who’s to say you didn’t have a brother?”
“But that’s… that’s not possible. I would know if I had a brother.” Jackson says, but he doesn’t sound convinced.
“Would you though? You didn’t even know you were adopted until a few years ago man.”
“We can’t be related.” Roy says, finally having recovered from the shock “We don’t even live in the same town. Or state.”
“But you said you were born in California.” Felicity says, surprising everyone. No one had even noticed her and Oliver enter the room. “It shouldn’t be that hard to figure out. I could look into it. I mean, obviously after we’ve found Derek. That’s the priority right now. But after that I could do it.”
“I’ll help.” Danny volunteers, looking to Jackson for his approval.
Jackson just shrugs, looking at Roy warily. Roy looks just as wary but nods his head.
“I told you this would be interesting.” Stiles hears Oliver say to Felicity, who just swats his arm.
XxXx
Even with Felicity and Danny working together tirelessly to find any sign or clue about Derek it still takes 3 days before they get a lead. After that first night, barely any of them get much sleep. Boyd, Erica, and Isaac come back to the house and return to their rooms and Lydia, Jackson, Scott, Allison, and Malia sleep over as well. On day two the Sheriff had shown up with pizza, claiming he wanted to see his niece, and hugging Felicity tightly. The Sheriff stuck around for a bit, offering to help in any way he could.
It’s the middle of the night on day three, the members of the pack and Team Arrow are sprawled around the living room, except Stiles, Felicity, and Danny who have taken over the kitchen table with their computers. They’ve been hacking into traffic and security cameras trying to see if they can spot any sign of Derek. Danny keeps nodding off while Felicity keeps typing furiously at her computer.
“I have something!” Felicity shouts, startling Danny awake.
Stiles shoots up out of his seat and looks over Felicity’s shoulder at her laptop screen to see what she’s found. She rewinds whatever video she was looking at and Stiles’ breath hitches when he sees what’s on screen. In the video is Derek, unconscious and cuffed at his hands and feet, being dragged and then thrown into a van. Stiles leans closer to the screen trying to see if he can get a glimpse of one of the kidnappers faces. When he does he growls, startling even the wolves in the room.
“Who is it?” Felicity asks “A hunter?”
"That's not just any hunter," Stiles spits out "That's Kate."
“Kate? Who’s…oh!”
Felicity trails off. She doesn’t need to ask. Stiles may have drunkenly ranted to Felicity about all the shit Derek’s been through and how he deserves better. So yeah, she has a pretty good idea about how bad this is. Oliver gives Felicity a confused look but she just shakes her head. It’s not her place to say anything.
Stiles starts pacing around the room, his fist clenched at his sides. “We need to find out where she took him. There’s no telling what that bitch has been doing to him.”
“We’ll find him Stiles.” Scott says, going to lay a comforting arm on his shoulder but jumps back as if he was shocked.
Stiles glances down at his hands to see he’s got sparks coming out of his fingers, so yeah Scott probably was shocked. He needs to calm down. He needs control. Losing control isn’t going to help them find Derek. He takes a deep breath and thinks of Derek. Not Derek in trouble. But Derek when he’s happy. How he’s always been able to calm Stiles down. He feels himself relax, not completely but enough.
Walking back over to the table he looks between Felicity and Danny “Use the license plate. See if you can trace it and find out where she’s keeping Derek.”
They both nod and start typing at their computers again. It’s only an hour later that Danny looks up, smiling. “I found it.”
After seeing it's Kate and that has Derek and figuring out where she’s keeping Derek Stiles finds it hard to wait it out. Which is why when they're staking out the building Stiles runs in, ignoring the pleas from the others. They saw the other hunters Kate was with leave so Stiles knows it’s just her inside. He has the earpiece Felicity had given him earlier so he'll still have contact with the others. Stiles still has the sense to stay out of the sight, peeking around corners until he finds the room Derek is in. What he sees makes him shake with anger. Derek is chained to a chair with his head hanging limply to the side. That is until he scents the air and his head snaps up, meeting Stiles eyes. Kate doesn't notice. Too busy playing with her weapons. Probably deciding which one and wants to torture Derek with next. The thought makes his blood boil. Stiles finds himself stepping into the room before he can think better of it. Derek looks like he's panicking, shaking his head for Stiles to go back.
Stiles doesn't listen though, instead directs his attention towards Kate "You're going to stay away from him."
Kate whirls around with a smirk on his face "Oh look who came to join the party. And all on your own."
Kate moves to take a step towards Derek causing Stiles to take a step of his own "I said to stay away from him!"
"What could you possibly do stop me. You're just a human."
It's Stiles' turn to smirk "Not completely"
Stiles has been feeling his spark running through him, begging be set free so he lets it. Directing the power towards Kate, who’s too surprised to be able to do anything to stop it. The force of it sends her into a wall where she then falls unconscious into a heap onto the floor.
Derek is looking at him with eyes when Stiles moves to unchain him "Where did you learn to do that?"
Stiles shrugs "I didn't. I was just angry and wanted to protect you. My spark agreed."
"So you just came charging in here alone, without back up, to protect me?"
Stiles hears Felicity saying something in his ear but ignores it. They could get into that later "I wasn't technically alone. Scott and the others are right outside."
"But you still came running in here without them."
Stiles nods "I could hear you screaming, Derek. I just needed to get you safe, and some part of me knew I could do it. So, I didn't think, I just did."
"You idiot."
Any comeback Stiles could have made is lost when Derek pulls Stiles to him and kisses him. It's hurried at first, a lot of teeth and tongue, the two of them putting everything they're feeling into the kiss. Then Derek brings a hand up to Stiles cheek, slowing it down.
"Really, you guys? Is now really the time to admit your undying love for each other?" They pull apart to see Scott, the betas, Oliver, Diggle, Thea, and Roy standing in the doorway.
"Did Stiles just kiss Derek? Did that finally happen?" Stiles hears Felicity ask
He sees Oliver smile "I think it was the other way around but yeah it happened." When Felicity whoops excitedly Oliver groans out a "Felicity!" but he's still smiling and it sounds more fond than anything.
Stiles turns to find Scott and the others eyeing Kate. Erica walks up to her and kicks her hard with her boot. Kate groans but doesn't wake "She's not dead, too bad."
"Erica!" Scott warns.
Erica just shrugs and turns to grin at Stiles "Great job in here, Batman."
"Yeah." Thea pipes up "You didn't even need our help."
“Not this time at least.” Stiles says but doesn’t take his eyes off Derek.
Derek who has been through hell and looks like he was used as a carving board but ii looking at Stiles like he’s something precious. “About that admitting our undying love for each other.”
Stiles smiles “You really want to do this hear, in front of everyone?”
Derek shrugs “Usually I would say no, but after everything we’ve been through I think it’s time to stop being afraid. Life’s too short to not go after what you want.”
“And you want me?”
“I do. I love you Stiles, in case you hadn’t figured that out.”
Stiles takes his earpiece out so he doesn’t have to listen to Felicity and then waves everyone off before kissing Derek again. His lips, his nose, his cheeks, his forehead. Speaking in between each one. “I love you too. So much. I was so worried when I found out you were missing. And then I was losing control of my spark because you weren’t there to keep me grounded.” Stiles pulls back to look at him, grinning “You’re my anchor, by the way. Apparently, sparks have them too.”
Derek smiles, running his thumb along Stiles’ cheek “You’re my anchor too. You have been for a while.”
He looks over Stiles’ shoulder to see the group standing by the door. “We should probably go.” He goes to stand but doesn’t make it very far “I’ll probably need some help.”
Scott’s there at Derek’s side before Stiles can even think to ask for help. When Stiles goes to help Derek though, Oliver waves him off.
Derek looks at Oliver and then at the other new additions before shaking his head “I was going to ask who all these people are but it can wait.” He does look over at Jackson and
Roy and then over at Stiles, frowning “I just have to be sure though. Are there two Jackson’s suddenly or am I seeing things?”
Stiles laughs “You’re not seeing things. That’s Roy. We’re not completely sure why him and Jackson look alike but we’re going to figure it out.”
Derek just nods and lets himself be led out of the building and into Stiles’ jeep. Oliver says their team can handle Kate and Stiles doesn’t question what that means. The rest of the pack stay behind in case the other hunters return while Stiles drives him and Derek home, doing his best to keep his eyes on the road and not on Derek. It’s hard though. Partially because he can’t believe him and Derek are finally together. And also because he wants to be sure that Derek is really there, safe. He’s a little beaten up, physically and probably mentally, but he’s safe. And Stiles will be there to help Derek heal, whatever way he needs him to.
XxXx
Together, Felicity and Danny are able to dig up some information on Jackson and Roy. Turns out they are in fact twins. While Jackson was adopted by the Whittemore’s and lived in Beacon Hills, Roy went to live in Starling City aka Star City. There isn’t some emotional reunion since neither one of them knew the other existed. And its Jackson, who is king of repressed feelings. Second probably to only Derek. Then again Derek has been getting better so Jackson probably takes the lead. The two do agree to talk and get to know each other though, so that’s something.
Team Arrow stick around for a few more days, wanting to make sure everything is in the clear. This leads to Derek and Oliver working out together after Derek is feeling up to it.
Which only takes a day thanks to his werewolf healing.
Felicity looks at the salmon ladder Derek had put into the basement with a grin on her face, her eyes lighting up. “Well this should be fun.”
Stiles gives a grin of his own, watching Derek walk up to the salmon ladder in nothing but a pair of sweatpants. “Oh, definitely.”
Derek throws a smirk over his should at Stiles, who just winks in return. Scott sighs, sitting down next to Stiles “You two are going to be insufferable aren’t you?”
“As if you would have room to talk. Not with how you and Allison behave.”
Derek of course excels at climbing the salmon ladder, but Oliver certainly gives him a run for his money.
When Scott leaves them alone Stiles glances at Felicity before letting his eyes drift back to Derek “So, you guys are heading back to Star City tomorrow?”
Felicity nods “Yeah. We have our own city to look after.”
Stiles nods “Of course you do. With Oliver being the Green Arrow and all.”
Felicity swings her head around to look at Stiles, eyes wide “How do you know that?”
“I’m the master of research Felicity. You have a masked vigilante who goes after bad guys using a bow and arrow. You show up with your boyfriend who just happens to use a bow and arrow. On top of that, you bring a whole gang of trained fighters with you. My only guess is that Diggle is Spartan, Thea is Speedy, and Roy is Arsenal.”
Stiles looks proud of himself when Felicity just sits there, speechless. She quickly recovers and looks at him with pleasing eyes “You can’t tell anyone.”
“Of course I won’t.” Stiles says, looking offended that she even had to tell him that “You kept my secret and I’ll keep yours.”
XxXx
The next day as the members of Team Arrow are preparing to leave Oliver comes up to Stiles, shaking his hand “It was nice to finally meet you Stiles. You’ll have to come by Star City sometime and visit.”
“Please do!” Felicity says from next to Oliver “I missed you. We can’t go that long without seeing each other again.”
Stiles smiles, giving his cousin a hug “I’d love to come visit.”
Felicity grins and goes over to Derek, hugging him as well. He hesitates a moment before hugging her back. “You’ll need to come visit as well Derek.”
Derek odds, offering up a smile of his own. “Of course.”
Felicity gives Stiles one last hug before getting into the car with Oliver following behind her. Stiles waves as they drive off before taking Derek’s hand and walking back towards the house. They watch Erica and Isaac fight over the remote to the TV, which winds up flying across the room to land at Lydia’s feet.
The betas groan when she picks it up with a smile on her face “My pick.”
Stiles makes his away across the room, taking a seat on the couch, pulling Derek down next to him. Derek’s quick to wrap an arm around Stiles, kissing the top of his head with a smile on his face. Stiles pulls his phone out of his pocket when his phone goes off. He looks at it to see a text from Felicity. In it is a picture of Stiles and Derek, sitting together similar to the way they were now. The only difference is Derek has his eyes closed, a small smile on his face with Stiles watching him wearing his own smile.
The message reads “You have a good one, Stiles. Keep him close.”
Stiles smiles, looking from the picture up to Derek who is watching him. “I plan to.”