A/N: I'm back!

Now, remember that this is a Teen Wolf AU that incorporate elements and characters from the Dark Angel universe, rather than it being a full crossover. Thus, it doesn't follow the canon of Dark Angel particually closely. Meaning certain Dark Angel plot-points will not match up, and some characters may be OOC. – (I really did try to make the two work without changing too much, but found I couldn't.)

Some Assembly Required

Stiles sat up with a gasp, sweat clinging to his bare flesh, his heart pounding as he blinked the dream he couldn't quite remember away. He startled when a cool rough hand brushed over his back, and he looked around to see a sleepy Derek staring up at him.

"What's wrong?" Derek muttered quietly, gaze flickering over Stiles sweaty face.

Taking a deep breath, Stiles shook his head. "Just a bad dream." He exhaled, allowing Derek to guide him back down to the mattress. He rolled closer, settling his head on the Alpha's shoulder, his arm falling across the man's ribs while he buried his nose into the crook of Derek's neck.

"What to talk about it?" Derek asked into his hair, the man's fingers trailing along his shoulder.

"I can't...remember." Stiles whispered, his heart continuing to hammer.

Derek pressed his lips to Stiles head, and gently said, "Well you're safe. I've got you." He tightened his arms around Stiles.

With a satisfied sigh, the teenager let his eyes drift closed once more. Comforted by his boyfriend's words.

The bright glaring lights had Stiles flying up on the hard bunk, the thin mattress doing little to keep the metal from leaving a mark across his back. Groaning, Stiles dropped his head into his hands, elbows digging painfully into his thighs.

Reality crashed back down on him like a lead weight and Stiles cursed his mind for taking him back to Beacon Hills, and Derek's arms. Throwing the sweat dampened sheets aside he twisted to set his feet on the cold concrete of his cell floor, closing his eyes once more while taking a calming breath through his nose. "497." he whispered into the silent isolation, "Just 497 days."

Admittedly it was somewhat ridiculous to keep counting down the days when there was every chance he was never going to see Derek, - or the pack. Or his dad again, - but it was the only thing that had kept him from going crazy.

From the moment he'd woken up strapped into an MRI machine, Stiles had been clawing to keep from totally losing his mind. It had failed him that first time, causing him to have a seizure and pass out. Something he wasn't at all proud of. When he'd dragged his eyes open again, he'd hoped, as he'd done every morning since, that it was all a big bad dream. That he'd wake wrapped in Derek's arms, just as he'd done the morning this whole nightmare started.

As it was, he'd woken surrounded by thick grey concrete, cold clinging to his bones. And that was that. That had been his life for the past two months.

Just like every morning, Stiles pushed himself off the small uncomfortable bed, flinching as his bare feet touched the cold floor. He stretched out his back, moaning loudly at the pop of his spine, then he padded over to the small toilet in the corner. Ignoring the ache of his arousal, Stiles emptied his bladder, eyes fixed on the stone wall.

With that done, he returned to his seat and waited. A few minutes later, the small letterbox on his steel security door slid open, and an aluminium tray was shoved inside. Stiles let it rest on the shelf until he heard the little door slide closed, then he was on his feet.

Back at the beginning, he'd refused to eat, a mix of stubbornness and sorrow, and maybe a little desperation. A small tiny part of his brain foolishly thinking that it would get them to let him go. All it ended up doing was leaving him half-starved and unconscious on his cell floor. What he'd experienced after that he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy. He'd been dragged along to the medical wing, strapped down to another bed and forcibly fed. He was pretty sure their decision to use the old fashion tube down your throat trick had more to do with punishment and deterring him from trying again, than because it was the most effective method. – Whichever it was, it worked.

Taking his tray over to the put-up table, Stiles dragged the stool closer and begrudgingly tucked into his breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast; taking short sips on his orange juice. It would be all he'd get to eat or drink until lunch, so he made it last as long as possible.

Less than twenty minutes later, the letterbox opened again and an irritated voice demanded the tray back. Swallowing the last of his juice, Stiles carried it over and gave it his now customary shove through the gap. His only reply was that of the letterbox slamming shut.

Sighing, he shoved the stool back into the corner of the room and dropped down to the concrete. He hadn't really been one for exercise before; that was more Scott and Derek's forte. Honestly, he liked being 147 pounds of flesh, blood and sarcasm, it had served him well. But the boredom of being locked in a cell 24/7 was going to drive him crazy if he didn't do something.

Not for the first time, Stiles wondered what Derek would make of his new body. He'd developed some much defined muscle across his arms and chest. Not quite to Derek's standard, but certainly enough to gain him more than a few second glances at school.

He was just doing his hundred and tenth push-up when he heard the now familiar sound of his cell door disengaging. Taking a deep breath, he leapt to his feet and turned to await the guards. The door opened to reveal the now familiar face of X5R-494. Stiles preferred to refer to by his actual name though. "Hey Alec." He grinned nonchalantly. "How are we this morning? How the wife and kids?"

It had taken a few weeks before the guard had relented and given Stiles a real name. Mostly, so Stiles would stop calling him Captain America.

He'd been reasonably decent to Stiles in the weeks they'd been acquainted, more so than his colleague. They'd even traded the odd snarky comment. Oh yes, he was a thousand times better than Tom, who barely even looked at Stiles, let alone spoke to him, and a billion times better than Dick, who had epic wandering hands. Stiles thankfully hadn't seen Dick since the jerk had tried a little more than just copping a feel, forcing Stiles to break his face on the solid stone walls. To Stiles eternal surprise, he hadn't been punished for that, in but rather had found a couple of energy bars on his tray for the next few mornings.

The man, who looked to be in his mid-thirties, huffed out a noncommittal greeting and waved for Stiles to step out, a hint of amusement in the man's eyes that always put Stiles at ease. Alec was certainly his favourite guard.

"So what is it today?" Stiles asked lightly as he stepped out of his cell, "The swimming pool, gym or theatre." Despite his easy tone, Stiles prayed it wasn't the latter, his stomach twisting at the mere prospect of being laid out on an operating table and having his bones broken for the…what was it now? Twentieth time? He felt the bile already beginning to rise up in his throat and he angrily swallowed it back down.

"Classroom." Alec answered quietly and Stiles couldn't help but grin, even as he frowned.

He hadn't been taken to a classroom before. "What's the lesson?"

Before Alec could answer, a loud furious yell echoed from behind him, and he turned to see a guard come flying out of one of the cells. It's back hitting the walls so hard Stiles couldn't help but flinch. There was a rush shove at his back, and he turned back around. He'd barely taken three steps before a shot resounded behind him and Stiles stopped, spinning around horrified, only for Alec to wrap his hand around his upper arm and shove him.

"Keep walking." The guard said firmly, already dragging a reluctant Stiles down another corridor.

They carried on in silence for a few minutes, Stiles mind playing over what he'd seen and heard. In all the weeks he'd been at the base, he hadn't seen anyone but his guards and the doctors, leading him to believe that he was alone, which in hindsight was rather a stupid assumption. There was no way they were going to power an entire base to house one lone individual. Which meant there were others being held behind the thick walls. Were they all like him? He knew his mother had escaped with a dozen other X5s, though he had no idea if they were all women. If they were, had they also been pregnant?

Then the memory of Henry Tate filled his mind, he'd been looking for his daughter. Was she there?

"How many of us are there?" Stiles eventually asked, not really expecting an answer but needing to voice the question out loud.

"It doesn't matter." Alec muttered in reply, sounding resigned to his fate. "Just focus on yourself, kid."

Stiles over at the man, frowning. "Is that what you do?"

Alec straightened, pressing his lips into a thin line, refusing to answer.

"There's no one you care about? No family?"

Alec's head snapped around to stare at him, just as they reached a door. "Behave yourself in there." With that he shoved open the door and nodded for Stiles to step inside. When Stiles didn't instantly move, Alec gave him a rough shove, causing him to stumble into the room, then closed the door firmly behind him.

Stiles scrambled to find his balance before he face planted the ground, his hand shooting out to grab hold of a nearby desk. When he was steady, he straightened and looked around, startled at the sight of an older man sat behind a desk. The man was staring at him, assessing him and Stiles instinctively straightened to his full height.

"X6-007" The man announced, eyes flickering down to a file open in front of him.

Stiles bristled at the designation, "I'm not a number, I am a man." He smirked, moving to perch his ass casually on the edge of the table.

The man looked at him, eyes hard and unamused. "Sit down, 007."

Stiles sniggered at the moniker, "I'm fine just here." He replied rebelliously, shuffling back more securely on the desktop, kicking his feet up onto the back of the chair in front of him and folded his arms. There was something about the man that grated at his nerves, the kind of cold authority that always made Stiles want to hit back, any way he could. – Usually with his mouth. – He kind of reminded him of Harris, only…well, there was an air about him that Stiles had to admit, was a little more…scary. But like hell was he going to be intimidated by this man. He ran with werewolves for Christ sake. "So who are you, then?"

The man pushed back his chair in the same way John Stilinski did when he was seriously pissed, and Stiles swallowed thickly. "My name is Lydecker. I run this facility." He announced, moving around his desk and marching closer to Stiles.

"Nice place." Stiles remarked, trying to calm his frantically pounding heart, "Though I think the rooms could do with an upgrade. You're never gonna get that fifth star with those shitty beds." He smirked smugly.

Lydecker narrowed his eyes at Stiles. "Your file lead me to believe that aggressive indoctrination wouldn't be necessary," He announced coldly, "but it seems we may need to transfer you to neuropsychology before we can proceed."

Stiles froze, "What?"

Lydecker didn't say anything more to Stiles, he turned on his heels and returned to his desk, "494!" he called. The door opened and Alec marched in, back straighter than usual.

"Sir?" He saluted.

"Take him back." Lydecker grumbled, closing the file violently and tossing it aside. "Bring me 009." He ordered.

"Yes, Sir." Alec nodded sharply, marching over and grabbing Stiles arm in a firm hold, before dragging him off the desk and out the door.

Stiles was dragged back down the corridors, his whole body beginning to tremble as fear and panic began to grip him. Half way back to his cell, Stiles legs gave out, but before he could crumple to the ground, an arm snaked around his waist.

He was distantly aware of being dumped unceremoniously on his bunk. His vision had gone black and a cold sweat had begun to take over his body. The sound of a door closing echoed in the room and he flinched inwardly. Then he felt a hand on the back of his head, lifting it off the flat pillow.

"Here, take these." Alec's voice was gentle in his ear.

Stiles tried to see what the man was giving him, but could only feel the familiar press of a capsule against his lips. He tightened his lips together, turning his head away.

"It's fine. It's safe. Stiles, take it." Alec ordered firmly, a hand behind Stiles head.

At the sound of his name, he opened his mouth and allowed Alec to set it on his tongue. There was no water, so he was forced to swallow it dry, causing him to cough and choke.

"I told you to behave." Alex muttered, voice strained.

"W-what a-are y-you…?" Stiles stammered over the questions, eyes blindly locked on where Alec's voice was coming from.

There was a long moment of silence, then the sound of movement. "You should get your rest. You're going to need it."

There was another resounding bang as the door closed a second time, and then the familiar sound of the electronic lock engaging, leaving Stiles alone with his fear.

_(*o*)_/

Stiles woke to the deafening scream of alarms. He shot up on his bunk, vision still blurry from sleep. The room was bathed in red, and outside there was the sound of rushing feet and yelling. Getting up, he padded carefully over to the door and inhaled sharply when he found it unlocked. Swallowing his racing heart he pushed at it, peering out into the corridor. He could smell smoke drifting down from both directions.

Despite being confused, and still suffering the after effects of his earlier panic attack, Stiles took the chance and cautiously stepped out of the room. Turning, he glanced along the corridor to find his door wasn't the only one open.

Listening out for guards, Stiles snuck along the corridor to the next cell. Pulling the door open and peering inside. What he found was a dark haired girl, strapped down to her bunk. Her dark eyes turned to him pleadingly. In an instant he was at her side, yanking angrily at the straps. As he did so, he kept looking up at her face, frowning. He was sure he recognised her.

Once the last strap fell away, she scrambled off the bed and headed for the door. Stiles chased after her, grabbing her arm. "Wait."

She turned, ready to attack. Luckily, Stiles was able to fight her off, eventually pinning her to the nearest wall with his body, arm at her throat. "Just wait." He said again. "If we're going to get out of here, we need to work together."

She looked ready to argue, but then she relaxed in his hold, her previously furious gaze flickering over his face. "You're… You're Claudia's son."

Stiles straightened, staring at her with wide surprised eyes, his racing heart clenching painfully in his chest at the mention of his mom. "Yeah."

With his brows still pinched tightly, eyes roaming over her features for a long moment. "Let's get the others." He eventually sighed, taking a step away from the girl. Pushing all his questions to the back of his mind. They needed to focus on getting out of there.

"Others?" The girl said.

Stiles nodded to the other open doors, "We're not the only ones here." He took off before she so much as blinked, rushing to the next room.

Yanking the door wider, he squinted into the darkness and found another teenager. He was maybe a couple of years younger than Stiles, sat on the bunk, back pressed into the corner, looking scared and confused. "Hey." Stiles greeted with a warm grin. "Want to get out of here?"

The boy didn't move, and Stiles took a careful step into the room, hands up. "I'm Stiles. Look, we don't really have time to like….freak out right now, cause they're gonna realise the doors aren't locked and come running, so if yeah wanna get the fuck out of this place, then you need to get moving."

The kid looked at the door behind Stiles, then back to Stiles himself. Then he was scrambling off the bunk.

Grinning, Stiles turned, rushing out after him. In the corridor he found the dark haired girl half dragging an Asian girl out of her cell by her arm. She looked clearly terrified and Stiles shook his head, even as he hurried past them. "No time for introductions now," he said with a tight smile as he passed.

The next cell was empty, so they carried on to the next. There they found a small boy, no more than four or five. He was huddled in the corner, face buried in his knees, shaking like a little frightened kitten. Stiles chest clenched at the sight, and he hurried forward, scooping the kid into his arms. "Hey, buddy. I'm Stiles. I'm gonna look after you, okay. You're safe now." With that, he spun around and rushed out of the cell.

Together they ran away from their cells and the sound of shouting. The smoke grew thicker, but they fought through it. As they turned the corner, the doors at the end of the passageway flew open and bright light blinded them for a second. They skidded to a halt, staring with squinted eyes, but all they could see were the silhouettes of three men. It wasn't until they heard the man's voice that they knew it was Lydecker.

"Return to your cells. Now." The man ordered, his voice misleadingly soft.

Stiles swallowed, glancing over his shoulder at the others. He shifted the kid in his arms so that he could hang off his back where he wasn't in the men's line of sight. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the younger teen move to head back the way they'd come, only for the girl Stiles rescued to clamp a restraining hand on his shoulder, holding him in place behind Stiles. Turning back to Lydecker, Stiles fixed a smile.

"I think we'd like to check out now." Stiles said with false bravado, "and I wouldn't expect a good review on trip advisor if I were you. I mean, the hospitality here sucks." He scoffed, fixing his feet to the ground and twisting his body towards the window to his left. From what he could see they were pretty high up, but it was their only option.

"Get them back to their rooms." Lydecker ordered the soldiers at his side, "Shoot them only if necessary."

Stiles watched as the two guards raised their weapons and took a couple of steps forward.

Stiles was about to dive for the window, when gun fire went off and he turned horrified to see one of the guards shooting the other. Lydecker looked equally as shocked, just before the guard shot him too.

Stiles took a step back as the guard turned toward them. "This way." He said, and Stiles relaxed slightly at the familiar voice.

"Alec?" He frowned, surprised.

"We don't have much time. Let's move it!" he ordered with a yell, waving them all towards the door.

Stiles ran forward, calling for the others to follow him.

Alec led them through the corridors and down several flights of stairs, into the basements of the building.

"Were are we going?" Stiles demanded, shifting the kid on his back.

"There's one more person we need to get." Alec called back over his shoulder, picking up the pace.

Stiles glanced around at the others, giving them a reassuring smile. "So, I uh, guess we could be introducing ourselves, I'm Stiles. Stiles Stilinski."

"Malia." The girl he'd found tied to the bed replied, and like that Stiles remembered where he'd seen her face. So much for identic memory. He scoffed to himself. "Right, hey. Your dad's looking for you." He told her, and Malia previous stalwart features crumpled a little.

"K-Kira." The other girl muttered quietly, looking between them.

"Liam Dunbar." The nervous teen announced in a shaky whisper.

"Nice to meet you all," Stiles grinned, "What about you, little one? What's your name?" The little boy looked up at him, tears still clinging to his lashes. His reply was whispered into Stiles ear. "Well, everyone, this is Case."

The other three all muttered a gentle hello to the boy, before focusing back on their jog along the dark basement corridor.

"What about him?" Malia said, "Are you sure we can trust him?"

Stiles stared at Alec's back and shrugged. "Well, he did just shoot his boss, so…I'd hope so." His instincts said they could, and Derek had always said he had great instincts. He wasn't sure why Alec was helping them, but Stiles wasn't getting that twisted knot in his gut that he usually got around bad guys, so he'd give the guy the benefit of the doubt. – At least until proven otherwise.

Ahead of them, Alec drew to a stop and pressed his back against the wall, waving for Stiles and the others to do the same. Which they quickly did. Stiles watched as Alec then stepped calmly up to the door and knocked. Casual as you like. There was a muffled voice on the other side of the door, clearly asking for a password.

"Chimera."

There was a tense moment and then the door slowly opened. Stiles and the others flinched as yet more gun fire rang out, then Alec was rushing into the room. Too curious to wait, Stiles hurried down the corridor and into the room, stumbling to a halt when he saw a tall man shackled to the ceiling, his head turned to watch Alec fumbling with the locks.

Once he was released, Alec hurried over to the tall man, lifting his head, "You okay there, buddy?"

Stiles heard a gasp behind him, as they all stared at the man. Stiles himself did little more than narrowing his eyes curiously.

"Isaac?" the man asked, his voice rough and quiet.

"I'm sorry, Joshua. He's not here."

Joshua let out a pained whine, like a kicked puppy and Stiles felt a wave of pity flood through him. Tossing the shackles aside, Alec turned back to Stiles and the others, "Okay, let's go. This way." He said, nodding to the back wall. "Joshua, you think y'can help me?"

The tall man nodded, moving over to join Alec against the far left corner. They pressed their shoulders against the stone until it eventually gave way with a loud cry of protest. Stepping back, he waved the teenager's forward, "Okay, kids, move out. Quickly." He ordered.

"More tunnels." Stiles complained with an amused sigh, rolling his eyes as he rushed down yet another dark passageway. He jerked Case up on his back as he jogged. "You okay back there, kiddo?"

Case muttered an affirmative, tightening his arms around Stiles throat and buried his face into Stiles neck.

Eventually they reached the end of the tunnel, where a ladder led up to the surface. Alec went up first, grunting with frustration as he shouldered the large metal cover open. When it did give way, they were greeted with a flurry of snow. Stiles felt Case shiver against his back, and he tightened his fingers around the youngster's legs.

At the top of the ladder, Alec stared down impatiently at them. "Come on."

Stepping aside, Stiles waved for the other's to go first. Kira was quickly followed by Liam, then Malia. Stiles turned his head to meet Case's gaze. "Hold on tight." He ordered, setting his foot on the run.

The second Stiles head emerged, he inhaled a deep lungful of cold winter air. Alec reached to take Case from his back, only for the boy to grip Stiles tighter, almost choking him.

"It's okay buddy, he's one of the good guys." Stiles encouraged. "I need you to let go, just for a few minutes, so I can get out, okay?"

There was another few seconds of hesitation, before Case allowed himself to be removed from Stiles back. Instantly Stiles scrambled the last few inches and clambered over the edge of the exit. His bare feet landing with a slap against the snow. He dropped his eyes, frowning. He'd completely forgotten he was barefoot. As were the others, except for Alec who wore heavy army boots.

The sound of sirens erupted from the distance, and they all turned in the direction. "We need to move. Now." Alec said desperately.

Joshua dragged himself with a groan over the large concrete plinth that surrounded the exit, slamming the door closed behind him. He glanced around, marching over to lift a large rock. He let out another whimper of pain and Alec shoved Case back into Stiles arms, then hurried over to help the tall man.

Then they were off again, running through the snow covered woods that surrounded the base. When they reached the perimeter, they hurried to climb over, constantly aware of the approaching sound of men and dogs.

"You'd think they'd have electrified it." Malia grunted as she scrambled up the chain-link fence with ease.

Stiles grunted in agreement, "But let's be grateful they didn't."

"They did." Alec said as they landed with a crunch of snow on the other side. When Stiles frowned at him, Alec clarified with a sigh. "There's been a blackout."

"What about the emergency power? You can't tell me that there's no emergency power in a place like this." Alec met Stiles gaze and shrugged, causing the teenager's frown to deepen at the revelation. A terrible feeling beginning to pool in his stomach. He lifted his eyes to the sky and stared at the brightly shining stars, a small voice in his head whispering that something big had happened, and it wasn't good.

"We're not safe yet." Alec announced, waving for them to head further into the trees.

A/n: So that's it, the first chapter. How are we all doing? Always eager to hear what you think. I don't know how often I'll be posting chapters, as I'm currently having issues with my internet provider, meaning I have to use either the public library, or hike to my aunts to borrow hers. So this may be slow going, until everything is sorted out. Sorry.