Keep Walking
especially if the road is strange
One second they're actually bitching about Harris and his completely unfair treatment of Stiles, and the next Scott has gone utterly still, listening.
There's a howl, and it makes the ends of Stiles's hair stand on end, because it's frightening.
"That's Jackson" Scott whispers just as there's an answering howl, just as loud as the first, and Stiles doesn't really have the time to question how or why Scott knew that, because Scott's phone starts to ring. The boy answers it quickly, then looks at Stiles when he hangs up, "Derek told me to go to Jackson's, something's happened. I'll call you when I know more" he says, and runs out.
Yeah, sure, because Stiles is actually going to stay home when his mate, even if he's still pissed at him, is howling like that.
What if Jackson howled like that because of him? Of something he did without knowing? He hates the guy's guts, but he doesn't want him dead, that's the whole point of them fighting all the time, isn't it?
He runs to his Jeep, driving to Jackson's as fast as he can – he knows he won't be as fast as Scott running, but he'll take what he can get. When he gets there, the front door is unlocked, and Derek and Scott are looking at something at the backdoor – Derek is actually kind of wolf-whimpering or something. It's a weird noise, distressed and furious and quiet, all at once.
Jackson seems to sense his presence as he enters, because the blond turns to him so fast Stiles barely registers it, and then Jackson runs at him, and hugs him tight.
"Jesus Christ" the blond teen says, and Stiles is at a loss. When he looks around the room, he notices Danny sitting on the couch, his head between his knees, and Isaac over him, saying something in a calming tone.
"What is going on?" Stiles asks, trying to get disentangled from Jackson's arms – he's still pissed at him.
Derek and Scott turn to him and turn their back on whatever they were watching outside. Peter comes from outside too, and he sighs, staring at Derek for a moment, before the Alpha nods.
The older man doesn't really answer him as much as he gestures to the door, and Stiles goes over, extricating his arm from Jackson's grip with a glare.
Oh, boy, did he wish he hadn't.
It's Boyd. He's bloody, and thinner, and his skin is covered in blood. His freaking heart is missing, and the arrow is stuck on his chest cavity, and… he turns around and tries very hard not to throw up.
"Oh my God, what did that? Who did that? Hunters?" he asks a bit crazily, not even noticing when Jackson guides him back to the couch, sitting him beside Danny.
Stiles looks at Scott, because there's an arrow, and the last time he saw Boyd he was hanging by wires at Allison's basement, and she has arrows all over the place.
Peter is shaking his head though.
"No. That wasn't the work of hunters. They favor cutting the wolf in half, not taking their hearts out. That was the work of the pack of Alphas who's lurking around Beacon Hills."
There's silence when he finishes, and Stiles stares at the man for a bit. He hadn't even noticed Jackson was sitting on his other side at his side, his hands tightening and loosening by his side, as if he's trying very, very hard not to grab Stiles again.
"So we can be pretty sure that Erica…" he starts, and Derek does the weird noise again, his eyes flashing red.
"She's probably gone too. Or on her way to be dead, unless we find out what they want and how to kill them in the next few minutes" Peter answers, looking at the body again.
It's different, this thing. This having Peter on their side and being a single pack thing.
The threat feels… even more dangerous. Because before they were dealing with the unknown, sure, but it was one thing. It was the psychotic Alpha, and then the crazy lizard killer – both of which are actually on their side this time. Now it's a whole pack, and they are beginning their game with two of their… acquaintances down.
He won't call Boyd or Erica friends – he kind of really disliked Erica for a while there, and he's pretty indifferent about Boyd – but they were a part of his pack, and not they're dead.
"I need to call my dad" he ends up saying, standing up, and everyone, including Danny, stares at him as if he's crazy, "What? You don't think Boyd's family deserves to know where he is? You think the Police don't deserve to know where the hell are the teens they have search parties for? If there's one good thing that came out of this mess Jackson made, is that I can be honest with my dad. So I'm going to call him, and we can find a reasonable explanation that doesn't involve any of us getting arrested, ok?" he takes in a deep breath, and shakes his head, "Plus, the last body we dealt with is kind of standing near the door. So we'll let the Police do it this time."
Danny looks a bit freaked out by Stiles's last sentence more than the body, eyeing Peter as the man smirks at him. Stiles gets his phone out, and calls his dad on his cellphone, not wanting to risk calling the station.
His dad answers on the first ring, which means he's either so busy he wants to get the call over with, or the day is so slow he has the time to be playing on his phone.
"What happened?" he asks right away, and Stiles sighs – sometimes it sucks that his dad is kind of always right to guess when he's in trouble.
"Look, something really, really bad happened, and we kind of really, really need your help. We're not in any danger right now, I'm fine, but we need your help. I'm sorry" Stiles says, and hears his dad getting up, the sound of keys clicking together coming over the phone.
"Who's this we you're talking? You and Scott, you and Jackson?"
"We, the pack" he answers carefully, and his dad is silent on the other side, "We're at Jackson's, I'll tell you everything when you get here, just…" he doesn't say anything else because he doesn't quite know how to.
"Yeah, I'm coming" his dad answers and they hang up.
"And now we wait" he says grimly. Peter is staring at him speculatively, and Derek doesn't look happy, but then again, he never does.
"You are all way too calm about this" Danny comments after a few moments in silence, and Stiles, Scott and Derek snort in unison.
"We're not calm, we're just waiting for the shit to really hit the fan before we completely freak out. Which will be soon. You shouldn't even be here" Stiles says, looking at Danny with a new kind of fear, "You don't need to be in the middle of this, this is not why I told you everything!" he turns around to stare at Jackson, and actually hits the blond on the shoulder, "What kind of friend are you that you didn't send him home?"
Jackson can only stare at Stiles, not even answering, but Peter answers him anyway.
"I don't think that'd be wise. Jackson smelt them leaving the body here, they certainly knew there was at least one human here, and they know it's not you. They know a non-pack human would be here, and they left the body anyway. It means they know of Danny, which means he's in just as much danger as the rest of us. So sending him home is really not an option."
"I'm so sorry" Stiles says, looking down. He didn't mean to bring Danny into the crazy, he just wanted to get Jackson into trouble.
"I think I'd actually rather know the dangers to not knowing what the hell is going on" Danny offers, trying for a smile and not quite achieving it.
"Half the time we don't know what the hell is going on either" Scott comments and no one answers, because all the wolves look to the front door. Isaac is the one who opens it, and the Sheriff is coming up the driveway. Peter gets in fully, and closes the door to the garden behind him, hiding the body temporarily.
Stiles is up in a second, actually pulling his dad into a hug when he gets to the man, and the Sheriff is even more concerned looking when his son lets him go.
"What is happening?" he asks, looking around bewilderedly.
Derek takes a step forward and nods briefly to the Sheriff in greeting.
"We were home not even an hour ago when Jackson howled in distress. I came here, and called Scott, who told Stiles to stay home" he says, looking at Stiles disapprovingly for a second, before focusing in the Sheriff again, "When we got here, Jackson and Danny were staring out the door, where our… current enemies had left us a message."
"What message?" John asks, looking like he really just wants to ask about this current enemy thing first.
"Boyd's body. He ran away from Gerard Argent the day of the final game, he and Erica were supposed to be gone looking for a new pack, but they left half their things in the forest, and we didn't hear from them again. Now we know they are dead."
"The missing kids? They are dead?" the sheriff asks, looking around the room a bit frantically.
"Yes, they are" Peter says, opening the door behind him, and John walks to him, looking outside. Stiles stares at his dad's face, and he sees his expression turn grim and defeated as it always did when someone so young lost their lives.
"Who did it? And do you have any idea why?" he asks, trying to sound professional, and then frowning when Derek looks like he doesn't want to talk, "Son, if you want my help, you'll have to explain this. I'm not saying now, because I think that young man's family takes priority right now, but we do" he glares fiercely at Derek, who finally nods.
John looks outside again, and then he looks at Stiles when the boy coughs, trying to get everyone's attention.
"Before anyone says anything can I just say how very, very bad it'll look when everyone is here about the body?" he asks tentatively, "After last year's troubles, we can't afford to be in the middle of this shit again, at least not publicly. Boyd wasn't killed here, the blood on his chest is mostly dry, we don't even know how long ago he was killed, there's no reason for him to be found in here. No reason to implicate Jackson in this mess, and no reason for Derek or Isaac or Peter to be around when someone officially finds Boyd" he says, and looks around the room, expectant.
"You're telling me you want to what, drop this boy' body in the woods, and hope for the best?" his dad asks him indignantly, and Stiles shakes his head fast.
"GOD, dad, NO! I want Derek and Scott to take Boyd's body somewhere else, where someone who hasn't been brought into any kind of investigation in the last year will then call the department and you guys can handle this. If there was any kind of clue or trail about where his body was before it was dropped here one of the guys would have picked it up, and they didn't. There's no trail. Boyd's body being here is a threat, but it won't help any in the investigation if he's here or anywhere else. And to be honest, I really think that the police not knowing anything else is for the best, because we don't need any more officers killed after Matt."
Jackson looks down at the mention of Matt, and Stiles feels bad for bringing it up, but he has to. They can't be in the middle of this again.
John stares at his son for a long moment, and then at Derek, who hasn't said anything – which is a clear sign he agrees with Stiles, otherwise he'd have let his disagreement show by the way of a growl, or, if they're lucky, words.
"Fine. Who's going to find him and where?"
Scott offers to find Boyd's body in the woods opposite the Hale property, near the end of town. Peter and Derek leave with him, helping carry Boyd, and Isaac goes to clean the outside of the door. Jackson and Danny are still completely silent, and Stiles has the sneaking suspicion that they aren't quite ready to deal with this level of shit yet.
Well, neither was he when Peter was crazy and hunting them, but what can you do?
John stays with the boys, silent and angry, because he doesn't like that they are breaking about fifteen different kinds of laws right now, but he knows what Stiles said was true: if anyone had a chance of dealing with this successfully it wouldn't be the humans.
When his phone rings he answers shortly, and tells the deputy calling he's on his way.
His story is that he was talking to Jackson and Stiles about their relationship, and that's why he was out.
"You go to our place and stay put, all of you" he says clearly when he's leaving, staring at the four teens in the living room, "And no funny business" he glares at Jackson and leaves.
Slowly, all of them shuffle into Stiles Jeep. Jackson doesn't say a word when they get to the car and Isaac gets to shotgun before him, sitting beside Danny in the backseat silently. They don't talk on the ride over to Stiles's either, and the boy gets more and more nervous, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel to some weird rhythm.
They get to the house and Stiles guides them to the living room, where everyone sits in various states of awkwardness. Isaac is quiet and silent, glaring at Jackson as though the blond is personally offending him with his mere presence, and Danny is looking down, seemingly a bit lost.
Jackson is stiff and quiet and he looks like he wants to disappear. Stiles, for the first time since he left Jackson's a few hours ago – was it only hours? It feels like a century or two – actually looks at Jackson, and he isn't looking much better than he was then.
"When did you last shower?" he ends up asking, looking at the blond sideways, "Seriously, no wonder Isaac is glaring at you, you must reek."
Jackson doesn't answer, he looks at Stiles with a glare that is only a ghost of what he's used to get and Stiles sighs.
"Look, this thing is going to take a while, and we all have to be here for when Derek and my dad get back so your dear Alpha can explain everything to my dad. Go upstairs and take a shower. You can borrow some of my clothes if you want."
Jackson just stares at him, and Stiles tries very hard not to notice the way Isaac and Danny are staring at him.
"Are you sure?" the blond eventually asks, and Stiles nods.
"Yeah. There're some clean towels in the bathroom, under the sink. You know where my room is, just go and get whatever you want, I'll make us all something to eat while you shower, ok?"
They stare at each other for a few moments, and Stiles feels that they are doing more than simply dealing with a hard situation – they are kind of trying to measure the other, see if they are actually trying to do this, for real this time, not hiding behind grudges and make-believe excuses. Trying to decide if the other is honest in their gestures and words.
They are measuring up their will to make them work.
They are.
It only took one of their pack to show up dead at the back of a house for them to see they not only have to make this work: they can make this work.
Jackson nods, finally, and goes upstairs, brushing his hand on Stiles's briefly as he passes the other boy, and they stay in silence until they hear the shower running.
"How are you doing this?" Danny eventually whispers, looking terrified now that Jackson isn't around anymore. Isaac snorts, and slouches on the armchair he's in, closing his eyes.
"Doing it" Stiles says eventually, "We just… do what needs to be done. It was hard the first time, and the second time was worse, and something tells me that whatever is coming now is going to be the worst of all, but we deal with it because we have to deal with it. At least now our enemy isn't one of our friends or a family member. That has to count for something."
Danny doesn't answer, and Isaac looks to be sleeping – he isn't, but it's probably easier to ignore all the awkward rolling around like that.
Eventually, Stiles gets up and goes to the kitchen. He's not a great cook or anything, but he can make something for the pack to eat while Derek fills them in in the whole Alpha Pack business, seeing as Stiles was out in a huff when he told the rest if the pack a few days ago, and his dad needs to know what, exactly, he's breaking the law for.
He's just putting a pan full of water to boil to make some pasta when Danny comes into the kitchen.
"What did you mean before? I'm assuming that family is that creepy Peter guy, but friend? Did one of the other guys get crazy before?" he asks, and Stiles just stares at him, leaning on the sink.
"It's not my story to tell" he answers eventually, and Danny looks suspicious.
"Look, this hasn't been my favorite day so far, ok? You and Jackson getting together was weird enough, but that is a kind of weird I can handle. Add the werewolves and I got a bit freaked out, but it's Jackson, and he's stuck with me through thick and thin, so I will find a way to deal – but… bodies in the woods, Stiles? The way you just… took over for a cover story, and a way not to implicate any of our friends in it, and how that Derek guy just went with it – not to mention your father – which makes me think this is not the first time you've been dealing with this, and now you pretty much tell me one of our friends was killing people and you don't want to tell me? What the hell? Who was it?" he demands, his voice firm and almost angry.
"It was me" says a voice from the doorway, and they turn to see Jackson leaning on the doorsill.
Won't that be a cheerful conversation?
I'm so sorry for the delay, but I'm a teacher, and finals are a bitch to prepare and correct. Thank God we're only three weeks away from the break or I would end up killing someone.
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