Hide of a Life War by etharei (NC-17)

[christycorr]

Fandom: TEEN WOLF
Pairing: Derek/Stiles
Length: 26,050 words
Author on LJ: etharei
Author Website: LJ masterlist, AO3 profile
Why this must be read:

Stiles is such a badass in this fic. Fics that highlight his relationship with the Sheriff and how painful it is for Stiles to keep so many secrets are often amazing, and this one delivers brilliantly.

The two of them end up thrown in a non-werewolf-related hostage situation, and the tension of it is absolutely nerve-wrecking; the fact that it's interspersed with casual flashbacks to how Stiles became what he is only render it even more powerful. I especially like the (probably not canonical, but who cares) idea of Derek struggling to achieve the full-wolf Alpha form, and how it's dealt with here.

[Fair warning: there's quite a bit of somewhat graphic violence in this fic.]

"Damn it, Stiles, the police already know we're here. What was so important that you had to go and sneak off with a cell phone?"

He swallows. Pulls his face into a grin, which hurts, lets him know where the bruises-in-progress are; he keeps it up because he deserves the sting for saying, all flippancy, "Baseball scores. Had to check if I've won a bet with Scott."

There's an in-joke there, about baseball bats and the McCalls, that anyone sufficiently involved in Stiles' life would have picked up on.

The look on Dad's face is almost worse than the pain in Stiles' body. It's not the first time Dad's stared at him as if seeing a stranger, but there's a new bleakness to it, like maybe he's starting to believe that they'd gone past the point of no return.

Like he can't recognize Stiles at all, and he's given up.

Hide of a Life War