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Stiles felt it the minute the bullet pierced his abdomen. All the breath in his lungs was punched out of him, escaping his lips as his eyes met Derek's. The wolf had his claws embedded in the hunter who'd fired the gun, eyes bright red and a roar fading from his throat.
"Stiles!"
He hit the ground as the voice reached his ears. The pain was blinding, robbing him of his senses until there was nothing but the searing wound. It felt like fire where the bullet was wedged into his skin, cutting through the muscles there. Then there was a hand on his shoulder taking the pain and he could see again.
And what a sight it was.
"Stiles..." Derek looked broken. His eyes were wide and panicked in a way that Stiles had only seen a handful of times. God he was beautiful. "What..."
"Der." Stiles choked out, his vision going spotty again. This time he knew it wasn't from pain- he was bleeding out. The bullet must have nicked somwthing important- veins? Arteries? Stiles didn't know.
"It's okay Stiles." Derek whispered, more to himself than Stiles. "We just need to-"
"Der." This time the wolf met his eyes. "Need to tell you someth'n."
"No." Derek said, eyes misty but still wide, still full of fear. Stiles felt bad that he'd put that expression on his face. "No last words, remember?"
"When have I ever been able to resist talking?" He did remember though. It was a pact they'd made the last time one of them was teetering on the brink of death and it had stuck.
"Conserve your energy." Derek muttered, keeping one hand on Stiles' shoulder to leach the pain away and the other in his hair. Stiles shook his head stubbornly.
"Shut up." Stiles choked out, unfortunately not a metaphor. It was getting harder to breath and entirely too hard to speak. "Need to tell you..."
"Tell me what Stiles?" Derek's voice was breaking and goddammit if that didn't send Stiles straight to hell for causing it. The wolf ran his hand down his cheek. "Stiles? Please, Stiles. Don't..."
"Der." Stiles whispered and the darkness took him under, unwavering even as a devastated howl broke through the night.
---
Stiles didn't wander into consciousness. He fell into it. Or rather, he was jolted out of the dark and into- well, more dark.
He opened his eyes and sat up, surprised to find he was still in the Preserve. Everything seemed muted and too quiet, like the in-between state that existed between dreams and waking. Stiles ran a hand over his side, shocked to find it un-injured.
"Stiles?" The voice didn't sound familiar but once he laid eyes on the dark hair and unfairly perfect features he knew it had to be-
"Laura?" The woman raised her eyebrows and extended a hand to him. Once he was up and facing her she folded her arms over her chest. Classic Hale move, his brain supplied uselessly. "Um, you know my name?"
"Yes, Stiles. I know your name." She said hotly, leaving him more than a little confused.
"I think this might be a record! I've known you, what, 30 seconds? And you're already pissed off at me." He said in what he hoped was a casual manner. "Must be those Hale genetics."
"Shut up." She said, eyes glowing red. Stiles did. "What the fuck are you doing here?"
"Well I'd venture to say the bizarrely precise embedding of a bullet in my side would be the root cause of this." He waved a hand between them. "I'm going to assume I'm dead."
"No."
"No?"
"Listen kid, my baby brother has been through an incredible amount of shit in his life. He sucks at dealing with feelings and people and the fact that he trusts you whole heartedly means a whole hell of a lot to me." Laura answered fiercely. She pointed a finger at him. "He loves you, but he's-"
"An emotionally constipated idiot who can't use words on a regular basis?" Stiles supplied and Laura's lips twitched.
"Yeah. He's finally healing and moving on because he's found someone who makes him feel like he deserves it. So imagine my absolute surprise when my hike gets cut short because I'm getting yanked over here to deal with you and your near-death experience!"
"Near-death?" Stiles sputtered. "You mean I'm not dead yet?"
"Not yet, though I have half a mind to finish you off myself." Laura said, even as she stepped forward and put her hands on his face. "You make my brother whole and happy. That's all I ever wanted for him, and you seem perfect for the job. But you don't get to make my brother sad. Sorry Stiles."
He saw her reel back a fist and thrust it forward, squinting his eyes and bracing himself for the pain. It hit him like a train, slamming into his chest and shoving him right back into his body. His eyes flew open and he sucked in breath like he hadn't before.
"Stiles?" Derek's voice broke as amber eyes met his. He looked down to see a bullet in Derek's bloody hand.
"Der," Stiles coughed. "Laura's got a mean right hook.
"What?" Derek choked.
Stiles could have sworn he saw a mess of long brown hair over Derek's shoulder, but when he blinked it was gone. Instead of investigating he put a hand on the Alphas cheek.
"I love you. Like big, gross, hold-your-hand-in-the-car and cuddle-up-with-movies-on-rainy-days love. I've never told you and now that seems kind of stupid so here it is. You now have all the information and can make an informed decision, hopefully not too influenced by the nature of the situation-"
Lips silenced his and he sighed into it, hand moving up to his hair and running through the short black locks. His other hand fisted in Derek's shirt, trying to get as close as possible. When he pulled back to breathe he rested his forehead against Derek's.
"So, the verdict?" Stiles asked.
"The- what?" Derek asked weakly.
"Well I confessed my feelings for you after a near death experience-"
"And I shut you up with my mouth." Derek supplied and there was that Hale judgment in his tone. "I thought that was a sufficient response."
"Eh, for you?" Stiles grinned. "I think that'll do."
He pulled Derek in again, slotting their mouths together softly. He heard a whistle as the rest of the pack finally found them.
"Hey, this doesn't warrant a howl." Jackson said. "What the fuck happened?"
"Oh. I think I died. But I'm fine!" Stiles rushed to reassure them, hands up placatingly. "I'm super fine."
"You what?" Scott yelped. Stiles waved a dismissive hand.
"It's okay Scott. I'm good." He looked at Derek, eyes soft and loving. "I'm really good."
"Ugh, barf."
"Shut up Erica."