Ho boy! This took a bit longer to write than I wanted it to. I've been trying to hash the plot out for this story so things make since in terms of both worlds. I changed my original villain idea, and various other things are soon to come. I hope ya'll enjoy this. Let me know if there are any spelling errors or mistakes and remember to review. Shout out to curry-llama for pointing out a spelling error I made. Keep it up guys.
TW- Post S5 DP-Pre PP. Rated M to make sure.
By the time Scott had reached his house and started charging his phone, it had already began to read 14 missed calls. 'All from Stiles.' Scott read the caller ID. Giving his phone time to charge, he headed to the kitchen to get more to eat. The quiet of the kitchen finally gave Scott a moment to think about last night's events.
'James', obviously not the kids name, was clearly hiding something. Perhaps the fact that he was most likely a runaway played a factor in all the fear and nervousness he'd displayed. Was James's home life that bad or was he homeless, there had to be something else to the kid. Scott's thoughts moved to the wound the young man had been admitted for. There was no hiding how fast the wound had healed, but how had he gotten that cut was another question.
Around ten o'clock, Scott heard the distant and familiar footsteps announcing the arrival of his best friend, Stiles.
"Scott!" thundering up the steps and wrenching the kitchen door open, Stiles was greeted by a grinning Scott and an offered pop-tart.
"Morning." Scott simply replied.
"Dude! Why weren't you answering your phone!?" Stile grabbed the pop-tart and began to eat it.
"It was dead, I ended up staying at the hospital last night."
That statement got his friend's attention, removing the pastry from his mouth he began to ramble quickly, arm flailing.
"You were hurt? What happen? Who did it?" The questions were fired off at such a rapid pace that Scott had to grab Stiles by the shoulders to get him to stop.
"I'm fine Stiles. No one we know is hurt either." He answered before his friend could get a chance to continue the questioning. "I was bringing food to mom when your dad came in with a kid that'd been hurt."
Stiles stared at Scott for moment. "You mean the John Doe? Dad said something about it when he came home. What's so important about this kid that you would stay the night at the hospital?"
Scott could see that Stiles was confused and understandably he even questioned why he had stayed too.
"Parrish thinks this kid might be involved with the supernatural somehow. He and your dad found green blood and it led them to the kid."
Stiles licked his lips taking in the information. "Okay, okay. So we need to get into the house to see this blood then. Did you pick anything up while you were at the hospital with him?"
"No, as far as I could tell. He's human, but," he paused.
"'But' what?"
"Any time we asked him questions that dealt with personal stuff, he would become defensive and nervous."
Scott could practically see the wheels turning in Stiles' head, "Runaway then." He concluded.
"Most likely."
They stood there for a while until Scott spoke up. "Parrish said he can get us into the house tonight to check it out. Maybe whatever is there can answer some questions. What's the normal procedure with runaway cases?"
Stiles fiddled with his fingers briefly, "Depending on how old the kid is he's going to end up with a social worker until they can find his parents."
It made sense. If this kid was near Liam's age then he would end up under in the custody of a state social worker. However, judging by how jumpy and guarded James had been, he might try to run too. If that happened Scott didn't want to have to deal with a supernatural teen that could cause more trouble than he wanted to deal with.
"What if he's involved in a case? He was found in someone's house." Scott asked.
"Then the worker is going to try and find a foster home for him nearby until the case is closed."
The conversation was interrupted by Stiles' phone ringing. Stiles fished his phone out of his pocket and answered.
"Hey dad…yeah I'm with him now, what's up? Okay, hang on."
He pressed a button on his phone placed it on the counter. "Go ahead Dad."
"We've been getting reports coming in for the pass four days. Sightings of animals like cougars, wild boars, and bears."
"Well, okay, that doesn't sound bad. We have that happen a lot, right?" Scott asked.
Being so close to a natural preserve, Beacon Hills was accustomed to wild animal sightings.
"It's not just that, the callers are claiming that the animals are deformed, glowing, or even green."
Stiles and Scott stared at each other, both processing the information given to them.
"Have any of these animals been seen near the town?" Stiles questioned.
"No, but…We had a body found this morning by a runner. Meet me at the hospital in half an hour, I'll see about getting you in to see the body."
"Alright, we're heading there now." Stiles said picking his phone up.
"Oh and Scott, bring some clothes for our John Doe, will you? He's going to need them." With that last request, the phone line went dead.
Not wasting any time, Scott went to his room and picked out a simple t-shirt and jeans he'd out grown, but had never gotten rid of. Making his way back down the stairs he grabbed his phone and met Stiles at the Jeep.
The two boys made their way to the Hospital with little effort and with time to spare.
"Doesn't look like your dad's here yet." Scott said.
"Yeah, want to wait till he gets here?" Stiles asked turning the engine off.
"Nah, I'll go see mom and give James these clothes."
Getting out of the Jeep and grabbing the bag of clothes, Scott made his way back into the hospital. They signed in at the front desk and made their way back to the emergency room. Melissa was nowhere to be seen as Scott approached the desk.
"Hey Nancy, where's my mom?" he asked.
Nancy smiled politely at Scott and Stiles and was about to answer when a loud "NO!" was heard. Scott recognized the voice and dashed to James' room with Stiles close behind him. Opening the door quickly revealed an angry Danny, who had back himself into a corner.
"Now James, calm down. I know you don't like it and neither to do I."
Melissa stood near him hands up to try and calm him down.
"Mom!" Scott said, bracing himself against the door frame to keep himself from falling into the room as Stiles ran into him.
"It's okay Scott." His mom assured him. "James come sit down and we can talk this over."
Danny who was in a defensive stance glanced back and forth from mother and son, and finally relented. He made his way to the bed, hands balled into fists. Scott came in to stand next to his mom while Stiles stood near the door, observing everything.
"Hey James." Scott greeted.
A mumbled "Hey." Was his reply.
Looking to his mom for further explanation of what had happened, Scott lifted the bag of clothes to show Danny.
"I brought some clothes for you James, I think they may have thrown your old clothes out, so here." Scott moved slowly to the bed and placed them there.
Danny looked over at the bag and then up at Scott. Blue eyes were filled with anger, fear, and calculation.
'He'll run the first chance he gets.' Scott thought, 'He's just waiting for it.'
"Thanks." Danny replied taking the bag. "Can I go change?" he directed toward Melissa.
Melissa nodded and watched as James walked to the bathroom. Danny paused at the bathroom door and looked back. Anger had been replaced by regret when he spoke.
"I'm…I'm sorry I yelled at you." And with that he walked into the bathroom.
Sighing Melissa rubbed her face, trying to rid herself of the fatigue she felt.
"Mom, what got him so mad?" Scott whispered. Stiles took this time to come up to them.
"He asked what was going to happen after the hospital discharged him, and I told him that the state would most likely send a social worker."
"And that he'll be a ward of the state, right?" Stiles supplied.
Melissa nodded just as Danny came out of the bathroom.
Danny was grateful for the normal, clean clothes. The hospital gown had been drafty and flimsy at best. He had debated on slipping out of the hospital and making a run for it, but then the feeling of guilt stopped that. Melissa, who had been kind to him and said nothing of his abnormalities, would end up in trouble for losing a patient. He wasn't happy with the thought of someone else getting involved with him and he had reacted bad. Standing at the bathroom sink he stared at his reflection, black hair a mess, and the bags under his eyes had begun to fade. Sleep and food had agreed with him, something he hadn't gotten a lot of in the past few weeks.
Sighing he splashed some water onto his face and straighten his hair out the best he could. Making his way out of the bathroom, he was greeted by worried eyes from Melissa, Scott, and the young man who had come with Scott. He fidgeted under their stares and sat back on the bed.
"James, I want to apologize too. I'm sure you have your reason for not wanting the social workers to come, but there is no other choice." Melissa said.
"I know," Danny replied quietly. "You're just doing your jobs."
Silence filled the room for a moment until Stiles finally spoke up. With one hand in his pocket, a cocky smirk on his face he waved his other hand at Danny.
"Hi there. Nice you meet you." He said rocking back on his heels.
Danny looked at Stiles and smiled at his antics, "Hi."
"Sorry," Scott said, "James, this is my friend Stiles."
"Stiles?" Danny questioned the odd name.
"Yeah, no one can say my actual name so I go by my last name." Stiles provided.
"Which is?"
"Stilinski." The Sheriff Stilinski said as he walked in. "Hey, sorry if I'm interrupting anything."
"Hey dad." Stiles said happily.
Danny watched as the older man came into the room. Narrowing his eyes he spoke up.
"I… I remember you."
Everyone looked back and forth between Danny and the Sheriff. Crossing his arms and standing next to his son, Stilinski raised an eyebrow.
"I'm surprised, you were pretty out of it." Addressing the others, he began to fill them in. "This young man here woke up briefly while in route to the hospital, scared the EMTs and fought them some. I managed to calm him down before he passed out again."
"I didn't hurt anyone, did I?" Danny asked.
"No son, you didn't. To be honest we were more worried you'd hurt yourself, with how large that wound was." The Sheriff said.
Danny sighed in relief. he didn't want anyone else hurt because of him.
"Look, um," Stilinski paused waiting for a name.
"James." Danny lied.
"James, I need to know what happen to you last night. Do you mind if I have one of my deputies come in and take a statement?"
"It's fine." Danny replied.
"Alright, he'll be in momentarily." The Sheriff turned to Melissa, "I know it's getting close to your shift ending, but can you hang around for a while.'
Without hesitation Melissa nodded. "Of course, I'll sit here with James while we wait."
"Good, uh, Scott, Stiles come with me please."
Leaving Danny to sit and wait for a deputy to arrive, Scott, Stiles, and the Sheriff made their way out to the hall toward the morgue. Making sure the area was clear of any other medical staff, they eventually made their way to the dark and cool room.
"They moved the body of the animal attack victim here earlier. The coroner hasn't had the chance to look at it yet, but I don't think you need a medical degree to tell something isn't right here."
John moved through the morgue toward one of the many doors, and unlocked it. With the sound of metal grating on metal, he pulled the rack out. Laying on top was a covered body, the white sheet was tinged pink by whatever blood had been left on the body.
Scott and Stiles moved closer as the Sheriff uncovered the body up to the waist. The body of a male individual lay there, his torso was shredded. The skin was flayed back, and the muscle and tissue beneath were just as badly damaged. The face had multiple lacerations and the neck was mauled even worse, Scot wondered how the head was still attached.
"He bled out in the woods. We're thinking bear attack, but the strange thing about this is that there are no other animal bites. Nothing was eaten or missing." He pointed to the torso. "Do you see just on the edge of the wounds here, the discoloration?" John pointed to the skin.
Scott and Stiles looked closer at the wounds. Visible just on the edge of the cuts green glowing ooze mingled with blood and tissue. Scott's eyes blazed red as he inspected the wounds more. While the ooze on the torso was more visible, Scott's wolf eyes could see where the glowing ooze was too dim for human eyes. The body was practically covered in it. Blinking, his eyes returned to their normal brown.
"Is this stuff like what you and Parrish found at that house?" Scott asked.
"Almost, but this stuff is more translucent than what we found at the house. We did a luminal swab test on that substance, but it wasn't very clear. On the off chance this kid's 'different' we haven't sent it off to the labs yet. You don't think James has a connection to this, do you?"
Covering the body and pushing it back into the cooler, the Sheriff locked the door.
"I don't know, but he came in with an injury, right? Were their wounds the same?" Stiles asked.
"No, this guy had multiple wounds, like a mauling. James's wound was a single laceration to the side."
Their conversation was cut short when Scott held up a hand to quiet them. Above them, Scott could hear his mother's voice call him.
"Scott, Parrish is here with the social worker."
"We need to head up, Parrish is here." Scott informed them.
The three of them headed back for the top floors. As they rode the elevator up, Scott laid out his plan.
"I'll contact Liam and Hayden, see if they can scout the woods for these creatures. Me and Stiles will go to the house tonight to see if we can find anything on James."
Danny sat on the bed staring out the window. Melissa had stepped out to do a few more things before her shift end, leaving him to think about his current situation. He'd been to California before all this. During that time, he'd been trying to keep the Gem of Fantasy from turning innocent kids into monsters, but never really got to see the state. He laughed to himself as he recalled that summer and the madness that had followed. Now he was just a transit kid running from his problems.
The slight squeak of the door and a light knock were Danny's warning as a deputy of walked in. He didn't look like anything Danny had expected. The deputy was young and had a boyish face that held a kind and friendly smile.
"Hi there I'm Deputy Jordan Parrish. Nice to see you're awake and feeling better." He held out his hand in greeting.
"Hey. You were there weren't you, at the house I mean?" Danny asked taking the offered hand shake.
"You're right, I was. You had a pretty nasty cut on your side if I recall correctly. How is it feeling now?"
Rubbing the back of his neck Danny answered, "Oh, um, it's fine now. They treated it and, uh, stitched it up."
Parrish smiled, knowing the kid was lying. He'd been told by Melissa that his wound was pretty much healed.
"It's okay, you don't have to lie. Melissa told me how it's healed up." Seeing the panic in the boy's eyes, Parrish quickly headed him off. "Don't worry, we've had a lot of weird things happen here in this town. The report will simply state that you were hurt, but not how badly."
Danny stared at the Deputy for a moment, confused by his words. Blue eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Why are you helping me?"
"Because there is no logical way to explain what happened to your wound and I'm guessing you don't want that ability to be public knowledge." Parrish said bluntly "However, I do need to know how you got hurt in the first place. If someone did this to you, we need to know and stop this person from hurting someone else." Parrish said seriously.
Danny avoided eye contact with the Deputy.
"It wasn't a person. I camped out in the wrong place and was attacked by a wild animal."
Before Parrish could ask any further questions a woman in a business suit walked in. She seemed tired and dragged down. Danny gave her a once over before a smirk flitted across his face as a plan began to form in his mind. Behind her walked in the Sheriff, Scott, Stiles, and Melissa.
'Let the party start.'