part one / part two / part three / part four
stiles stiffens when he spots the mark down the back of derek’s collar.
a barbed triskelion. kate never really had a good reason.
i don’t know, puppy. maybe i just think it’s pretty.
or maybe that was just one more thing she was lying about.
“this would be such a funny time to find out that you’re a nazi.”
“what?” derek says, and stiles says, “but i know you’re not. you’re not, right?”
“no,” derek says. “why would you ask me that?”
“because that’s like a famous symbol?” stiles says. “for, for neo-nazis. i don’t remember where, but the picture sure sticks in the mind.”
and of course. of course it is.
it couldn’t have just been painful. she had to ruin him.
“so it’s, it’s just an ignorant tattoo.” stiles is nodding, and nodding. relaxing, again. “yeah. you could just remove it. or like, get it turned into… i don’t know. a weird radioactive symbol.”
“i can’t remove it,” derek says.
“oh,” stiles says. he’s starting to head back to tense. “because it’s, what, too sentimental?”
“because it’s a mark,” derek says, and he can’t believe he’s talking about this. can’t believe stiles hasn’t figured it out by now, on his own. “i’m sure emory put his mark on you—”
“fuck you,” stiles says, and then, “wait. what did you… what do you mean?”
his voice is so quiet. careful, like he already knows.
“someone did that to you?” he says.
derek’s already peeling his shirt off. just showing him, admitting it. it can’t be worse than what he already thinks.
“oh my god,” stiles says. touching the mark without thinking, and derek gasps.
“sorry!” stiles says. “sorry, oh my god. that’s an open freaking wound, why isn’t it closing?”
but marks don’t heal. they don’t close. it’s a message, and a warning.
a reminder. this is someone else’s property. stay away.
“this doesn’t make any freaking sense,” stiles says. “you’re the alpha.”
“am i?” derek says, and stiles goes pale.
it’s always good to be a disappointment. it’s a good reminder. who you are, really.
“but you’re a werewolf,” stiles says, and derek nods slowly. “and you, your eyes go…”
derek flashes his eyes obligingly.
“right, that!” stiles says. “exactly! that doesn’t mean alpha?”
“i’m an alpha werewolf,” derek says. “because my pack is dead. because i’m the last one.”
but there’s another word for that, too. even stiles should know that.
“omega,” stiles says. “you’re an omega.” and the rest of it comes to him easily. “that’s how you had blockers for me. you just had them, you didn’t have to find someone who could…”
moving back to the mark, carefully. he leaves his hand hovering over it, now.
traces the swollen skin around it.
“does it hurt? it looks…” some new shake in his voice, he’s horrified. “it looks like it’s poisoning you.”
“no, you’re not,” stiles says. “this is crazy.” his hand is tracing everywhere, now. down derek’s tensed spine, up his side. “is this even recent? how long…”
“eight years ago,” derek says, and stiles’ hand freezes on his shoulder.
it doesn’t matter. it’s not new, he’s used to it.
but the shake in stiles’ voice has him shuddering.
“sorry, i’m sorry,” stiles says, but he didn’t do anything wrong. he can’t help being shaken by it. finding out that his guard dog is nothing more than a disguised bitch himself. “oh my god, derek. it really never heals?”
that wouldn’t be any fun.
“i wanna get it off you,” stiles says, and derek nods. “right now, i want...”
and derek’s gonna cover it up, now that he knows. he’ll find some kind of paint that will cover it. or maybe he’ll just tear the rest of his back open, and let it all blend together for a while. rake his claws through the shape, force it unrecognizable.
“how about none of the above?” stiles says. he’s gone back to tracing. “how do you get rid of it? a mark.”
you don’t. that’s the short answer. nine times out of ten, it’s just done.
there isn’t supposed to be a way out of it.
“and the other one?” stiles says. “one out of ten. why wouldn’t you do that one?”
because—it’s not exactly better. and even in the best case scenario, you’re still gonna be owned by someone.
but say there was another alpha. he can mark over it, and make his claim. the first one should fade after that.
“do i wanna know what make his claim means?” stiles says.
derek says nothing at all.
“and that’s it,” stiles says. “the only way out of it.”
well. there is one other part.
the only thing keeping derek sane, when stiles’ eyes water, when he swallows. when even what derek can take isn’t close to enough, and stiles is sorry.
“when they die,” derek says. “that’s supposed to erase it, along with any other wounds they caused. as soon as emory’s dead, stiles? you’re not gonna feel a thing from him.”
“we’re not talking about me right now,” stiles says. “who am i killing to get rid of this? because i’ll do it.”
he probably would. or he’d try, and get caught again.
oh, puppy. you brought a new toy? for me?
derek’s vision goes blood-red at the thought. goes dark, and hollow, and he blocks stiles with his body before he can take a breath.
“i don’t want you anywhere near her,” he says, and stiles says, “so it’s a her, huh?”
“stop,” derek says tightly. it’s the worst version of his nightmares. everything else, and stiles.
her leaving stiles for him.
did you get my present? sorry to re-gift again. he just wasn’t my size, you know?
“that’s what happened to your pack, isn’t it,” stiles says. “some sick alpha, once you were chosen. like what emory did to my dad, before...”
derek says nothing. feels nothing, thinks nothing at all.
“you told me you killed eleven people.”
“stop it,” derek says. he means it harsh, but it comes out begging.
he goes back to tracing, but he stops that too when derek shudders again.
“i know you don’t think that i...” stiles says, and derek’s eyes burn. “you don’t think it’s my fault. even though my dad’s dead because of me.”
it’s not the same. it’s not, it’s not.
“yeah it is,” stiles says.
he covers the mark with his hands. like he can make it disappear, if he just concentrates enough. or tame the fire, make it die down for a while.
somehow stiles just trying makes it easier to breathe through. it shouldn’t, but it does. it should be worse, now, more sensitive the more stiles’ palms press close, make it angrier. it’s a punishment, it’s ownership. it doesn’t want anyone else’s hands on him.
but stiles sucks a sharp breath through his teeth, and then there’s—no fire, just a cool numbness. and then, not even numbness, or prickling. the lingering heat of her eyes on him, the sharp electric charge turning his muscles raw.
“what did you just do?” derek says, and stiles says, “i don’t know. i just… wanted it gone.”
stroking at the place where it was, now, soothing it. nothing about touch there should feel soothing.
“it’s better?” stiles says, and there’s nothing derek can say. that’s impossible. i know that’s impossible, its job is to make me regret my whole life.
and it works! it always works. and it feels wrong, not feeling it now. like i’m getting away with something.
it’s impossible to speak. it’s impossible, stiles still touching him.
still trying to make up for it. but there’s nothing there anymore.
“you did something,” derek says, finally, and stiles holds out his hand. tilts his wrist a little toward him.
“i didn’t know if i could,” stiles says. “i just... i had to try.”
it doesn’t make any sense, but derek takes stiles’ hand, looks at it. and at first, it just looks like the dark freckle next to it. just another mole scattered around his skin.
but it’s the mark. a shrunk-down, distorted version.
“it doesn’t hurt me,” stiles says. “i mean, it stings, but barely. it’s like a little mosquito bite.”
it’s impossible. impossible, but that’s not where the pain is.
and derek knows all his other wounds already.
“how,” derek says, and it’s hard not to go speechless again. “how did you…”
“i’ve done a couple of weird things before,” stiles says. “like... i can break mountain ash. not by hand, but kind of by... waving it apart. and, and believing that it’ll break open.”
“magic,” derek says, and stiles says, “that might be overselling it. and i couldn’t do anything when it counted the most, so...” scoffing, a little, swiping at his eyes. “still think my dad wasn’t my fault?”
“yeah, except you don’t know,” stiles says, and now his voice is getting rougher and rougher. “he was still alive when i found him. and i couldn’t... i don’t know, i couldn’t think at all.”
of course not. of course not, of course he couldn’t.
“i guess... i was just a little too light on the belief, in that moment,” stiles says, and derek says nothing, for a while. as stiles sniffs, and derek does the only thing he can think to do.
he takes his pain. touching his pulse points, wrapping an arm around him.
stiles slumps slightly, shuts his eyes against his throat.
dips his head a little further against his shoulder.
settling, slowly. but still trembling, and derek’s never been angrier.
holding him, drawing him closer.
stiles, that some alpha hurt stiles. stole him, and tore his family away.
made his dad into a lesson.
you with me, puppy? i don't think it’s worth fighting me anymore, huh? now that you understand what it’s gonna cost you.
no, that’s what i thought.
“i will kill him,” derek says. “emory. i promise you. slowly. and i’m gonna send you a video.”
“or we kidnap him,” stiles says. “see how he likes it. being an omega’s plaything.”
“two omegas,” derek says, and stiles looks up at him.
his eyes are impossibly warm.
“two of us,” he says, and sniffs again. “and then yours, too. no one gets away with it.”
he’s never liked the word before. omega. but it’s different with stiles this close.
with stiles this close, it’s the only thing he wants to be.
“and after yours, we’ll keep going,” stiles says, and derek nods. “have a nice revenge roadtrip. you and me.”
every alpha who thinks that they can do anything. that no one can stop them, that they’re safe.
“what’s the most poetic method for yours?” stiles says, and derek hesitates, for a second.
“count on it, then,” stiles says. “one nice, creative belt murder... and then we’re gonna burn it all down.”
“count on it,” derek says, and stiles presses his lips to his shoulder. covers the spot where the mark was, something sharp glinting in his eyes.
“they’re gonna regret it,” he says. “bringing us together.”