Danny was starting to get really tired of being so out of the loop by the end of the week, the last day of finals. Stiles looked as though he was going to snap on someone, and Scott could barely keep his eyes open. Allison looked as though the only thing that was keeping her awake was the 5-Hour Energy that Danny had seen her chug as she walked into the school. Lydia seemed like she was struggling to keep it together, and Isaac seemed seconds away from jumping out of his skin. They stood near the end of the hallway, where their shared homeroom was. Allison and Isaac were talking quietly while Scott leaned against Allison. Stiles' hands shook as he blinked at the floor, obviously not paying attention to a word that Lydia was rambling to him.
Stiles was the first one to look up as Danny walked over to them, a frown folding his features as his brow furrowed. He knew what Danny wanted, but was still unsure as to whether or not telling the goalie would be a good thing. It could make him safer, or put him in more danger. Stiles did not want to put him into more danger. He opened his mouth to say something to Danny, only to freeze when both Scott and Isaac suddenly perked up and their attentions snapped to the front doors of the school. "What?" Stiles asked in a quiet voice that neither one seemed to be able to hear, though Danny did.
"What the...?" mumbled Isaac before the front door burst open and Jackson came striding through as if he had not been missing all year.
Everyone in the hall stopped to stare, several of them (Lydia included) dropping their books, as they watched Jackson make his way toward the principal's office. Jackson saw the little group at the end of the hall and simply raised a brow at them as he turned into the office and then shut the door behind him. The murmuring filled the hallway almost instantly, people trying to figure out why Jackson was back and just where he had gone. Danny felt sick. He was not entirely sure why, but something told him that if Jackson was back, no good would come from it.
Danny's attention then turned back to Stiles, whose brow was furrowed as he clenched and unclenched his fingers in an attempt to keep them from shaking. "Stiles?" Scott asked before Danny could even get a word out.
"I'm fine," he replied with a tired sigh, running both hands through his hair. "Didn't sleep well last night, but I'm fine." Stiles nodded a couple of times, wincing as the bell rang for class, sounding louder than it needed to. "Can we just go to class, now?" Stiles started to lead the others toward homeroom, but stopped when Danny gently grabbed his arm. Stiles turned to look at the other teen with a soft sigh. "Yeah?"
"Can we talk?" questioned Danny with a slight frown. He would definitely be talking to Jackson later, but he also wanted to talk to Stiles.
Stiles absentmindedly wet his lips, glancing over to where the others disappeared around the corner. "Yeah. Tonight, come over so we can finish that stupid project and we can talk then."
Danny seemed to be contemplating something as he wet his lips absentmindedly before he shook his head slightly. Stiles' brow furrowed a little and Danny let out a heavy breath while Stiles' friends watched them from the doorway further down the hall. "I'm tired of not knowing what the hell is going on here, Stiles," Danny said, quiet enough that any of the passing students could not hear him, but he knew Stiles could. "You can either tell me now, or I'll figure it out on my own." He already knew where to start looking. After all, Stiles had stolen that report out of his backpack for a reason. He was not entirely sure what he would find if he delved a little deeper into his assignment, but it was a start.
The other teen ran a hand through his hair a few times, brow furrowing a little as he glanced over to where Scott and the others stood. Scott shook his head a little, but Allison nodded while Isaac lifted his shoulders in a shrug. Stiles almost laughed at the complete lack of help, but he simply sighed once again and he grabbed Danny's forearm, gently pushing him toward the door to start to lead him out. "Let's go then. School is not the place for this conversation."
"This is the Hale house," was Danny's first comment when he finally realized where Stiles had taken him. Stiles simply looked over his shoulder and nodded before continuing into the house. Danny let out a heavy breath, staring up at the windows before finally going up the steps and following Stiles inside. "Why are we here Stiles?"
"Kate Argent was killed here," Stiles explained from another room while Danny stopped and bent down to examine what looked like claw marks on the floor. Danny reached down to run his fingers over the lines before quickly pulling his hand away and straightening back up. "Eight Hales were killed here by Kate; and, Peter Hale was left lost inside his head until our sophomore year."
Danny's brow furrowed a little as he followed the sound of Stiles' voice into what looked like it used to be the living room. There were broken pieces of furniture and wood everywhere; some of it did not look like it was because of the fire that everyone knew about. "Stiles, does this have a point?" Danny asked, looking around the room a little more before his eyes settled on Stiles.
The other teen looked even more pale and exhausted than he had looked at the school. Stiles was idly toying with a small blade with weird symbols etched into the side of it. It scared Danny that Stiles seemed so relaxed with it. "Kate and the Argents, they're supposed to follow a code. We hunt those who hunt us; but, Kate, she didn't care. She used Derek to destroy the Hales simply because they existed."
"Stiles, you're not making any sense," sighed Danny with a shake of his head.
Stiles let out a heavy breath and lifted his shoulders in a tired shrug. "You're going to think I'm crazy."
"I already think you're crazy. What's going on Stiles?" Danny's voice was curt and exasperated, but Stiles seemed undeterred and not likely to speed up his explanation.
Instead, Stiles just seemed to watch Danny for several long minutes. "Werewolves," Stiles said in a steady voice that practically sent a chill down Danny's spine. "Scott, Isaac, Derek, Cora, Jackson, Ethan, Aiden... they're all werewolves. So were Erica and Boyd. Allison and her father are hunters, but they've adopted a new code. We protect those that cannot protect themselves. Personally, I prefer this code." Danny said nothing. He just stared at Stiles as Stiles continued to toy with the blade in his hand. "At the beginning of the semester, Julia Baccari... who we knew as Jennifer Blake, made several human sacrifices to make herself strong enough to destroy a pack of werewolves. She was going to kill my father, Chris Argent, and Melissa McCall.
"Allison, Scott, and I couldn't let that happen. So, some magic crap happened and we died sorta but came back and now there's a beacon lit for all the supernatural to come here. We're not exactly the same anymore. Something about a door, or a jar, or whatever and needing anchors in the darkness and I just... Well, yeah, no that's my personal struggle now and not anyone elses' business. But, yes, werewolves, hunters, kanimas. You'll have to ask Jackson about the whole kanima thing."
Danny just kind of stared dumbstruck at Stiles still. He wanted to call Stiles out on his shit, to comment on how ridiculous that all sounded. However, before Danny could say a word, Jackson came stalking into the room. "Stilinski, what are you doing?" Jackson demanded as he took the knife out of Stiles' hands despite the other teen's protest. "What did you tell him?"
"What he deserves to know," Stiles snapped with a glare, shoving Jackson away from him. "Just because you're all fang-y now doesn't mean you get to boss me around, Jackson. You're still just a beta."
Danny swore that his best friend's eyes flashed a cold, brilliant blue just then with a scowl on his face as he stared at Stiles. "Beta or not, it's not your place to decide what Danny knows."
"No, it's Danny's place! He wants to know, so I'll suck it up and tell him unlike you." Stiles did not so much as flinch when Jackson let out a low growl that had Danny tensing in fear, his flight or fight response starting to kick in. "I've kept quiet for this long because he's your best friend; but, if you're going to continue to leave him here, in the dark when things could kill him because he's unaware, then... I'm not going to just sit idly by and let that be my fault."
As much as Danny wanted to laugh in Stiles' face, to tell him that he was crazy and to ask Jackson what was really going on, there was a bitterness to Stiles' voice, a tone that led Danny to believe without any doubts that Stiles was trying to tell him the truth. Werewolves were a thing. That was. No, that actually made a lot of sense when he put it into perspective. "Right, so, are you two done fighting now? Because I'd really like to get back to this whole werewolves are real thing," Danny said after clearing his throat, making both Jackson and Stiles look toward him as he rose his brow a little.
Jackson turned to glare at Stiles again, who simply shrugged and stilled the knife in his hand. "Yeah, so, that's the big secret," Stiles said with a slight shrug and a tired sigh. "There's more to it than that, some stuff that Jackson needs filled on as well because things happened while he was hiding away in London."
"I wasn't hiding away," Jackson growled lowly through clenched teeth, his eyes flashing blue once again.
"Right. Whatever. Coping at a distance. Who cares, you were gone and we could have used your help, dude. Everything's fucked up. Something's coming. Something bad." Stiles seemed to shudder a little at the words, and his brow furrowed as he tightened his grip on the knife's handle. Danny wanted to ask why Stiles had the knife out in the first place; but, then, he guessed what with all Stiles had managed to share so far and the completely ominous feeling the house gave, it was not completely unwarranted to want protection.
Jackson rolled his eyes and huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest. "What did I miss then, Stilinski?"
Danny listened quietly as Stiles started to retell about Jennifer, or Julia (whatever her name was), and everything that had happened since Jackson left. He told them about how Lydia was a banshee and Scott was a "true alpha" (whatever that meant). He talked about Kali and the alphas, Ethan and Aiden killing Boyd and Erica. Danny thought he was going to be sick. He remembered what Lydia had told him about Ethan's role in being terrible to Isaac, but that was nothing compared to the fact that he had helped kill some of the kids that Danny had gone to school with. "Oh, my god," Danny breathed out, closing his eyes for a moment as he ran a hand over his face, which made him completely miss the worried look that Stiles sent his way. "And none of you thought to tell me this sooner?"
There was an edge to his voice that made Stiles flinch as Danny lowered his hand again, scowling as he looked between the other two teens. "It was supposed to be Jackson's call," Stiles replied in a small voice that made him seem even younger than he already looked. "I didn't want you to get involved more, to get hurt. You weren't... they weren't going to hurt you because they figured out you had nothing to do with us, not really. You were safer that way."
"That's why you were asking questions about Ethan on that cross country trip." It was not a question, more of a realization. Danny felt so blind seeing as everything had literally been right there in front of him the entire time. He had just chosen to not see or believe it. "Something caused Ethan to freak out that night, didn't it? Something not normal?"
Stiles nodded a little, worrying at his lower lip while ducking his head a little. The usually talkative teen then quietly explained about the wolfsbane in Coach's whistle, how it had made all the werewolves hallucinate. He explained that Isaac had hidden from whatever he had seen, and how Boyd had tried to drown himself. He told them about how they managed to stop Ethan from cutting himself in half; and, then how Scott had tried to ignite himself. Stiles explained about Lydia saving him and Scott, and how all of them had slept out on the bus afterward because they'd felt safer outside and together. "We're stronger together," Stiles concluded with a slight nod, "as a pack, humans too."
"Sophomore year?" Danny asked after several long moments of silence, which made Stiles seem to relax a little at the change in subject.
The other teen wet his lips before nodding at Jackson, who remained stiff where he stood and quiet. "That, I think, Jackson should tell you."
Jackson let out a sound that almost seemed wounded as he shook his head and took a step back. "I can't," Jackson said in a voice that was broken and so unlike the confident tone that Danny was so used to. It made Danny take a step toward his best friend, but Jackson just took another step back before he ran out of the Hale house without looking back.
Somehow, Danny found himself at the Stilinski residence after the big reveal out at the Hale House. Danny was not completely sure that he was not in shock, but he seemed to be okay. Sort of. He still felt a little disoriented and sick to his stomach about everything that he had learned. A part of him was mad that nobody had told him before, but at the same time, a part of him understood. Danny and Stiles did not say anything as Stiles moved around the kitchen, making enough dinner for three while Danny sat at the table. The silence was not awkward or tense, more thoughtful. "Thank you," Danny finally said after Stiles was nearly done with making dinner. Stiles' brow furrowed as he turned to look at Danny, tilting his head slightly to one side. "For finally telling me."
Stiles' mouth made a small "o" of understanding before he nodded and turned back to what he was doing. "Someone needed to," was all Stiles had to say by way of explanation with a heavy sigh. He reached up with one hand to ruffle his hair before starting to make some chamomile tea, something he had taken to making of late. "We can work on our project while you're here, if you want."
The goalie started to nod in agreement, but changed his mind mid-way to shake his head as he said, "No." Stiles' hands stilled as he turned to look at Danny again, that confused and questioning expression on the other teen's face again. "No homework tonight. I could use something non-supernatural related to focus on, though."
"Oh, well... we could watch a movie or something." Stiles shrugged a little, though his brow was still slightly furrowed in confusion as he messed with his hair once again. Honestly, Stiles was not sure what to make of that. Then again, he kind of wished he'd had someone to help distract him and get him to adjust to the whole werewolves are real thing. He'd had to do that on his own, however.
"No werewolves. Or witches. Or vampires," Danny said by way of agreement, nodding a little with a slight smile that Stiles could not help but mirror.
That was how several minutes later, the two teens were sitting on the couch with bowls of the spaghetti that Stiles had thrown together, watching one of the newest Disney movies (Stiles shamelessly owned them all, okay) when the sheriff came in from work. Linden Stilinski stopped at the doorway to the living room, mid-shrug to remove his coat, when he spotted the two teens. "Hello, Danny. I didn't know you were coming over today," Linden stated, though not unkindly at all. He was honestly just surprised to see Danny there for something other than school work (though Linden was still glad for Stiles attempting to make other friends).
"Hello, sir," Danny said with one of his well-known, friendly smiles as Stiles said, "There's food in the kitchen, Dad."
Linden chuckled as he finished removing his jacket, and he shook his head a little before he went to change. Once he was, he grabbed himself a bowl of spaghetti and joined the teens on the couch, sitting on Stiles' other side and leaving his son in the middle. "Rough day at school?" Linden questioned when he realized the animation on the screen had to belong to a Disney film from the style alone. He did not believe he had seen whichever one it was yet, but with his son's tendency to use them as movies to watch when he was feeling sick or too stressed, he was sure he'd see it several times eventually.
"You could say that," Stiles said, his voice a slight mumble as he took a bite of his food. Stiles just shrugged when his father shot him a pointed look, which made the sheriff sigh with a shake of his head.
Danny set his bowl down on the arm of the couch next to him, idly twisting his fork with one hand as he said, "Stiles let me in on the big secret." He only said something because from what Stiles had explained earlier, it seemed that the sheriff already knew about the whole werewolf thing. Otherwise, Danny would not have had explained in fear of telling someone Stiles had not wanted to know. Just because he had gotten Stiles to tell him did not mean everyone else had or would.
Linden sighed heavily and nodded a little as he sank down on the couch a little more, lifting his feet to rest them on the coffee table after crossing his legs at the ankle. "Welcome to the club, kid," Linden replied, though his tone was tired.
The three of them continued sitting there watching the movie, putting in a second one (one of the Star Trek movies, which had made Linden groan though Stiles just smiled and said "C'mon, Dad, it's a great movie and you know you love it." Danny was sure Stiles was right from the smile Linden had tried to hide), when Danny felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Pulling it out, he did not even look at the text he had gotten as he set it on the coffee table next to his empty bowl. Later, he would read the text from Jackson. Can we talk?