Work Text:
“Danny? Danny?! Come on, man, don’t do this to me!” His hands fluttered around his friend uselessly as he tried to call upon his spark. The sheer terror and anxiety choked him, as did the scent of blood that seeped in a crimson waterfall to the concrete below.
How could this happen? Danny had promised he would be careful, that he would stay safe. It would be so much easier if Stiles could feel angry at the other boy for breaking his promise, but he only had room in his heart for the fear that he might not live long enough to make up for it.
Finally, he managed to push through the ice keeping him from his power, and he let the warmth of his spark flow through him. His eyes welled up at the overwhelming sense of relief he felt before taking a deep breath and setting to work.
Now was not the time for tears. Now was the time for healing. He could fall apart later, when he was sure that Danny would be all right.
Three Weeks Earlier
Something vibrated against his butt like the wings of an agitated bee, and Stiles jumped before fishing out his phone. He grinned as he noted Danny’s picture on his screen, though his brow furrowed slightly in confusion. They had just finished practicing lacrosse an hour ago. Why would Danny call him so soon? They were becoming closer, thanks in part to Stiles’s attempts at matchmaking, but mostly because bonds tend to form between people after enduring the same life-threatening situation and then sharing deep, dark secrets about their hometown. That did not, however, translate into a compulsion to contact each other multiple times in the same day.
Curious, he hit ‘Accept’ and brought the phone up to his ear. “Danny, my man. What’s up? Did you leave something in the jeep?”
“Actually, yeah, but that’s not why I called.”
“Okay, then,” Stiles prompted when it didn’t seem like he was going to get anything else.
”Right, sorry. This is going to sound kind of crazy, but I just met our new neighbors, and I think they might be werewolves.”
Shocked silence reigned for several beats, and then Stiles demanded, “Are you okay? Did they say anything to you? Threaten you in any way?” He did not ask if Danny was certain. The guy was on the lacrosse team with three shifters last semester. He may not have realized what made them act different at the time, but now he knew more than enough to recognize someone who wasn’t completely human.
He breathed a long, heartfelt sigh of relief when Danny told him, ”No. No, they were actually really nice. In fact, I would almost say that they were a little too nice, you know?”
Thinking of Peter Hale, Stiles snorted. “Yeah, I know the type.”
”But listen, I had this idea-”
“Danny, why do I get the feeling I’m not gonna like where this is going?”
”Because you worry too much?” Stiles resented that. He worried exactly as much as he needed to, thanks very little. Still, he kept his irritation to himself. ”Anyway, they’re this family of five, and they have twins who’re our age. And one of them seems really - interested - in me.”
“Oh, hell no. No. Danny, this is a terrible plan-”
”You haven’t actually heard what the plan is-”
“And now I don’t need to,” Stiles told him firmly, “because the answer is ‘no.’ You are not using yourself as werewolf bait, or snooping in their werewolf business, or doing anything else that involves you in their werewolf lives.”
”Actually, I am. I just thought I should let you know what I was doing in case something went wrong. Which it won’t.”
“No, Danny -” Stiles didn’t get the chance to finish saying what he wanted, because the line had gone dead. He pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it, furious and scared and just a little bit hurt. They were supposed to handle all of this supernatural crap together now. That was something they had agreed upon as soon as Stiles was done explaining everything that had been happening in their town for the past year.
Gritting his teeth, he swiped his keys off his desk and headed out of his room and down the stairs toward the front door. If Danny thought he could just put his life on the line like that without taking any precautions, he was dead wrong.
He hopped in the jeep and headed back over to the Mahealani household. Mrs. Mahealani looked surprised to see him again, but she had her hands full with the toddler on her hip, and the five-year-old who had just spilled milk on the kitchen floor, so she simply waved him up to her eldest son’s room.
Things were tense when Stiles knocked on the door and then walked right in, but Danny didn’t look as though his showing up was unexpected, and he merely nodded when Stiles announced, “Okay, so since I can’t seem to stop you, I can at least make sure you’ve got some protection - for you, and for your family. And you have to promise me that you won’t take any unnecessary risks, and that you’re going to be okay. Okay?”
Danny watched him quietly, an odd look in his eyes, and then he promised.
Now
Stiles pictured the claw marks closing, imagined the internal organs whole and undamaged. Technically, he should not be capable of healing someone this way. His spark was meant to manipulate one element at a time, like when he manipulated the energy of the motel door or called up the fire to destroy Brad. But he was desperate, and he was stubborn to a fault, and as he knelt over his friend, he could feel his organs and sinew and skin mending, coming back together.
When he was done, he gazed down at Danny’s closed eyes, willing them to open. Maybe they did; maybe they didn’t. Stiles wouldn’t know.
He was too busy slumping over Danny’s chest as his own eyes rolled back into his head.