I want to make it very clear that I had a whole other plan for this chapter and how this scene, in particular, was going to go. Then Stiles went and said "nope" to my plans and this happened. Why did he have to ruin my timeline? God knows. Am I going along with it anyway? Bet.
September 19th, 2009
Stiles' Saturday starts with an obnoxious ringtone that is not, surprisingly, his alarm. He reaches blindly at his bedside table until his hand closes around his phone and brings it up to his face that's still smushed against the pillow. He twists and turns with a groan into a better position to check who's calling, eyes squinting at the light of the screen, at least until he sees 'Baby Gilbert' written on it - which is how he saved Jeremy's contact after a couple of exchanged messages - and immediately picks up the call.
"Sup?" he greets in the sleepy voice of someone that was just rudely woken up.
"Stiles? Did I wake you up?" Jeremy at least had the decency to sound somewhat apologetic.
"Yeah, 's fine," he assures, "mornin'."
"Barely," the kid chuckles and Stiles holds the phone away from his ear for a moment to check on the time only to realize it's nearly noon, "so, about teaching me how to punch…"
"Hm?" it takes him a few seconds to remember his offer to Jeremy the other night, but he nods to himself once he does, "Sure, I'm down, just let me grab a bite and I can pick you up."
"Really? I mean- cool." Stiles chuckles at the surprised tone but doesn't take any offense, he's not nearly awake enough for it to matter.
"See ya in like… an hour," he warns before hearing Jeremy's confirmation and hanging up.
After a quick shower and changing into something comfortable to exercise in, he stops by the kitchen for some scrambled eggs on a bagel and forgoing the apple crumble tea they'd started taking in the mornings and having some juice instead before quickly putting together a gym bag and rushing out the door. Aunt Liz was already gone, probably off to work, and Caroline had yet to wake up so he leaves a post-it on the fridge saying he was out with baby Gilbert before mounting his Jeep and driving off to Elena's. It takes a little longer than the path to the school, but it's still a small city so he ends up parking in front of the correct house soon enough, pulling out his phone to let Jeremy know he's there.
Stiles(12:44p.m.): here.
Baby Gilbert(12:46p.m.): aunt blocking door.
Stiles(12:46p.m.): omw.
Stiles turns off the engine and walks up to the door of the house, ringing the doorbell. It barely takes a second for it to spring open, revealing Jeremy's aunt looking very surprised to see him on the other side of it.
"Told you," Jeremy quips from behind her.
"You're not going off to get high, are you?" Jenna narrows her eyes at him and Stiles can only balk at the question, "he has schoolwork."
"Aunt Jenna!" Jeremy protests, pushing his way past her and to Stiles' side.
Stiles hasn't seen much of Jenna in the past few years, the last time was the Gilbert funeral, and the time before that was over three years earlier, so it's not a complete surprise that she isn't completely sure what to make of him, but drugs are one assumption he hadn't quite expected.
"We're going to the gym," he tells her, letting Jeremy walk over to stand behind him and ignoring the – slightly justified? – glare the kid is throwing at his aunt, "I'll bring him back before five if that's alright?"
"Fine," she huffs out before sighing and plastering a slightly tired smile over her face, "good to see you, Stiles."
"You too," he replies before turning around and ushering Jeremy toward the Jeep.
"This yours?" The littlest Gilbert asks, taking a moment to look at the car before climbing into the passenger seat.
"Yep. Jeremy, meet Roscoe," he grins and pats the steering wheel affectionately before starting the engine, "was my mom's, but I got to fix it after getting my license."
"Nice," there's a longing undertone to Jeremy's voice that they both choose to ignore for the time being, "we're actually going to the gym?"
"Obviously, I don't carry punching bags in my back pocket," Stiles points out. He hasn't actually gone to the local gym on his own before, his self-defense training usually taking place with his aunt or one of her deputies, but he's been to the building enough times before to know his way around.
"Alright," Jeremy replies in a placating tone.
"Did you take anything, either last night or this morning?" Stiles can't help but ask. If Jenna thought he was going out to get high, it was probably a common enough occurrence.
"Not you too," the kid groaned in annoyance, turning to look out the window.
"Listen, as long as you're being careful I don't really mind, but mixing drugs and exercise can be lethal and I'd rather not bring you back to Jenna on a body bag," Stiles points out, even though he doesn't think Jeremy is showing any signs of being high at the moment, at least none of the ones he's learned to look out for.
"I didn't take anything," Jeremy says finally, something in his tone telling Stiles he doesn't expect to be believed. Lucky for him, Stiles is pretty sure he already has enough people nagging him in his life and he doesn't plan on being one of them.
"Ok then," Stiles nods, considering the subject closed, before parking by the gym a moment later.
"That's it?" Jeremy asks incredulously as they climb out of the car, "No preaching?"
"Dude, I'm not your parent," he rolls his eyes, "you're still alive, that's good enough for me, just keep it that way."
"Huh," the kid hums and follows him into the building.
It's a two-story building, each floor approximately half the size of the Mystic Grill. The main floor holds most of the machines while the upper floor is an open, padded space with scattered punching bags, ropes, weights, and other amenities. A quick talk at the front desk gets Jeremy a free trial access - since Stiles gets his access via having police friends, yay nepotism - and Stiles guides Jeremy to the second floor, dropping the gym bag in a corner and walking over to a metal shelf to grab some tape.
"Here, gimme your hand," he asks Jeremy once he walks back over and is quickly obeyed, starting to wrap the kid's hand "This is so you don't split your knuckles punching stuff. You don't have to use it, but I figured you've bled enough recently," he teases in reference to the fight with Lockwood and earns an eye-roll for it. "The other one."
"Where'd you learn this stuff?" Jeremy asks as Stiles starts wrapping his other hand.
"I got kidnapped once," he tells him as he works the tape around the kid's wrist, "so after they got me back, my dad put me in self-defense classes," after Tara and some other deputies suggested it, at least. Most of the families of police officers get some training after all. "Some deputies did a couple of one-on-ones with me over the years too, and Aunt Liz thought it was a good idea so I got to train here once a week every break with her and Care."
"Caroline can fight?" Jeremy asks incredulously, poking at his taped knuckles once Stiles lets go of his hand.
"She's got a mean kick," Stiles warns, speaking from experience. Painful experience. "Alright, punch me."
"Wha-" Jeremy only stares.
"Punch me, I need to see what I'm working wi-" he's interrupted by the kid's fist coming at him, but it's almost too slow, maybe he's afraid of actually hitting Stiles? Either way, he easily catches Jeremy's fist in his hand. "Nope. First of all, hit anything harder than foam like that and it's bye-bye thumb," he moves to untuck Jeremy's thumb from the center of the closed fist, positioning it the right way instead. "Second, you don't just throw your arm forward, you punch with your whole body. Here," Stiles waves him over to a punching bag, "watch me."
He squares up to the bag, emphasizing a little the bend on his knees and how his whole body moves along with his arm as he throws the punch. His unwrapped hand meets the bag and he can immediately tell something's wrong, though it becomes entirely obvious when the bag flies back with much more strength than he's ever been able to generate, nearly ripping itself out of the chain, and swings right back with just as much force. Stiles doesn't have time to think about ducking and instead grabs the bag when it swings back at him, again with much more ease than should be possible.
What the hell?
He realizes his thoughts aren't the only ones saying that when Jeremy echoes them out lout a moment later, with a rather empathetic "What the fuck?"
"I- is it the right bag?" Stiles can't help but ask, but a closer look shows that the center of it is dented where he punched it, pouring out a thin stream of sand, "how-"
"Dude!" Jeremy gapes at the tear on the bag once Stiles lets go of it, lightly punching it and then again, only for it to remain motionless, "How'd you do that?"
"I've no idea," Stiles looks down at his knuckles, they're not even red from the impact. "Adrenaline, maybe? I'm- let's just ignore that."
"But-" Jeremy must see something in his expression because the kid reluctantly leaves the subject alone.
Stiles tries to wrangle his scattered mind back into focus, ignoring the sudden reminders of other strange things that have been happening to him recently and instead focusing on correcting Jeremy's stance and showing him the movement he should make with the punch, watching the kid let loose on the - now taped over - punching bag with increasing energy as if the first few punches were all he needed to let go.
He remembers the first few self-defense lessons, Tara had been the one to take him aside and explain the need for it, and he'd insisted on her teaching him. She'd taken him to the gym that partnered with the precinct and told him to hit her. She was holding up a pair of those focus mitts for boxing, and he'd been so angry - and scared - after being kidnapped that he'd just let loose and punched those things until he could hardly breathe from the exertion. Then he'd cried on her for half an hour before Tara ruffled his sweaty hair and took him out for a milkshake and curly fries.
He doesn't expect Jeremy to do the same thing, but the kid definitely needs a better outlet for his aggression than picking fights with Lockwood of all people. Not that the mayor's son doesn't deserve a major ass-kicking, but violence is never the answer… well, not the first answer at least, maybe option three, right after an honest talk and a bit of blackmail.
"Ok, I think you've got a handle on how to punch," Stiles calls out a while later, "come here, lemme show you where to punch."
He still refuses to do any physical demonstration for the rest of the lesson.
Sudden bursts of strength
'Adrenaline. The hormone adrenaline makes your heart and lungs work faster, which sends more oxygen to your major muscles. As a result, you get a temporary boost of strength. It also helps by sharpening your vision and hearing.'
What increases adrenaline?
'Exercise increases levels of adrenaline temporarily. Most people are exposed to stressful situations on occasion and so most of us are familiar with the typical symptoms of adrenaline release, such as rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure, anxiety, excessive sweating, and palpitations.'
Can you get random bursts of adrenaline?
'Excess stress can give you too much adrenaline. Anything that makes you anxious also triggers a release of adrenaline. With anxiety conditions, you'll get a burst of adrenaline anytime you're in a place or situation that makes you anxious.'
What causes quick healing?
'Healing speed depends on numerous factors, including oxygenation, lifestyle, nutrition, and wound location. Injuries in places with higher blood circulation generally heal faster, while wounds in areas that move may require more healing time.'
What causes faster healing?
'Wounds heal faster if they are kept warm. Try to be quick when changing dressings. Exposing a wound to the open air can drop its temperature and may slow healing for a few hours.'
Can Spider-Man powers happen in real life?
'The researchers said that the web-slinging hero could never exist in real life.'
Well, that's lame.
What has super strength and quick healing?
'Top 10 Superheroes with Healing Factors (Marvel and DC)'
Oh man, I wish! How about…
Getting super strength and healing after a bite
'A wolf spider bite is rarely dangerous and does not usually require-'
Nope.
getting super strength and healing after a wolf bite
'werewolf_physiology [Briggsverse Wiki]'
Werewolf? Am I really thinking about this?
…Who am I kidding, of course I am.
The temptation to use the "I always hear 'punch me in the face' when you're talking, but it's usually subtext" quote was incredibly strong but I managed to resist, just wanted it to be known lol.
This was supposed to be the only chapter before we got back into canon but because of Stiles, y'all get another one (with extra Damon maybe) before the Founders Party.