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Danny had a list.
It wasn’t a particularly lengthy list, but it was important. Incredibly important. Less for the fact that it highlighted potentially fucked up facts about the guys and girls he would class as almost friends, but not quite, and more for the fact that it held clues to the answer to the question he’d never really gotten a solid answer on.
Why had Jackson left Beacon Hills without a fight?
Danny knew, from being Jackson’s best friend for years and from knowing him inside and out (though not physically, there were friendship lines you just didn’t cross in certain circumstances), that Jackson’s relationship with his parents wasn’t a particularly good one. They tolerated Jackson. Oh Danny was sure they loved him, to a point, but as he grew up and began to form his own opinions, despite those opinions falling in line with their own, Jackson’s parents hadn’t been very forgiving, for anything. A minus grade, a below A+ grade, anything below perfection was noted and they were sure to make Jackson feel the brunt of their ire. They wanted the ideal, all star, ivy league son. Jackson had worked for years to provide that for him but during their sophomore year when Scott McCall suddenly started getting really freaking good at Lacrosse, Jackson’s life just went downhill.
So Danny had a list.
First on the list were names. Names of people he perceived to be ‘in the know’, so to speak, about whatever the hell had been going on in their sleepy little town that wasn’t quite as sleepy as they’d like it. The murders, the attacks, the curfews... the names on Danny’s list were the people he believed to know the reason behind everything, but for whatever reason, were holding back from the police. Which was curious, because the second name on the list was the Sheriff’s kid, Stiles.
Stiles, Danny admitted to no one but himself, was hot. Danny would be the first to admit that he had a bit of a type, and the pre-junior year Stiles with his buzz-cut, didn’t really do it for Danny but he could appreciate the other guy’s body in the locker room, and often had. When he caught site of Stiles around town a few weeks into summer, he’d stopped and stared a little, intrigued more tahn anything else, because Stiles was sitting with number four on Danny’s list, Derek Hale, talking about something that looked very serious, though Danny himself couldn’t hear. Stiles had grown out his hair a little and it was hot. It made Danny look twice, then a third time, and a fourth, until Stiles had actually noticed him and had smiled, waving briefly. Danny had flushed (not that Stiles noticed from that distance) but waved back and went about his business, noting with interest the scowl being sent his way by the Hale guy.
The reason Stiles was on Danny’s list was because he seemed to be the person everyone (on the list) went to to talk, exchange meaningful looks with, publicly kidnap (don’t ask, Danny has zero idea), and treat generally as a fountain of knowledge. Not publicly, but Danny had caught more than a few hushed conversations he probably shouldn’t have been able to hear and he’d heard a bunch of words that made his head spin. Stiles knew it all; but he was only number two.
McCall was number one. He didn’t seem as aware of specific information, he was more... muscle? Danny wasn’t sure. But something had changed in McCall at the start of Sophomore year and that something had made him a thousand times better at lacrosse, amped up his stamina, his endurance, he could go for hours longer than he used to which, considering he has (or had) Asthma, Danny was positive was a damn miracle of sorts. Scott knew what was happening in Beacon Hills because something had happened to him that threw him, and by association Stiles, into the middle of it.
Late out of the shower after one practise, Danny overheard Stiles trying to persuade Scott to stay off the field for the next game, saying it was dangerous, something about a full moon, anger, issues. From what he heard, Scott threw a tantrum and Stiles, while unharmed, was so shaken that he hadn’t noticed Danny was even there as he walked out of the locker room minutes after McCall had disappeared. He saw them react to each other around school for the next few days and their friendship had seriously cooled; Stiles was giving Scott the Arctic of cold shoulders and Scott was acting like a kicked puppy, facial expression to match. Jackson found the whole It thing hilarious.
Number three on Danny’s list was Allison Argent. Other than being Scott’s girlfriend, he wasn’t really sure how she fit into everything, but she always seemed to be a part of those hushed conversations. He’d seen her dad around town too; Jackson told him Mr Argent had stopped to help him once when his car broke down in an empty lot on the edge of town. It had shaken him up a bit until Scott and Stiles had shown up, offering him a ride. Argent had done something that made the car start again though and Jackson left. It meant, after a little thought, that Chris Argent was number six on his list. He didn’t really have any other evidence on Allison’s dad but he knew he had information.
Numbers seven, eight and nine were really, really weird in Danny’s opinion, because they were like, overnight makeover success stories. Well, Erica Reyes was; Isaac Lahey and Vernon Boyd had their confidence boosted. They stood a little taller, shoulders pushed a little back, they projected an air of dominance that sent shivers down Danny’s spine and during Biology one day, Isaac had been his lab partner and they’d spent the entire lesson, flirting shamelessly with each other. Danny couldn’t explain why or how Isaac had changed, but it had made the other guy open up like Danny always suspected he could were it not for the shitty homelife (something Danny had the unfortunate honour of accidentally witnessing during the summer before). So the confident, self-assured Isaac was a pleasant change... until Danny had seen him on the field, and then he realised that whatever had happened to McCall, had happened to Isaac too, and Boyd, and Erica.
Lydia didn’t make the list until the very end of Sophomore year after her temporary insanity. Although to be fair, Danny had been distracted with Matt, who was a posthumous addition to the list. Lydia knew something, Danny was certain. She had taken to talking with Stiles, Scott and Allison during lunch, they sat together in class, talked constantly, it was like a secret society. The talking happened after the start of junior year, Danny had to admit, but she knew something.
They all did.
---
The next part of his list contained words, phrases, points of conversation, bits and pieces he’d heard... things like full moon, wolf, alpha, anchor, beta, pack, wolfsbane, magic, spark, mountain ash, fire, Hale, Argent, Laura; Kate Argent started the Hale Fire, Peter Hale was an alpha, Hale dead, Hale alive, attacked Lydia, Lydia acting weird, McCall, Stilinski, argent acting like bodyguards for Lydia; Isaac, Boyd, Erica acting weird/bullies almost...
The list went on and on and filled more than a few pages of Danny’s notebook.
When he came to read them all over, he attempted to translate the most important parts and came up with something like;
Derek Hale, Peter Hale, Laura Hale, Scott McCall, Isaac Lahey, Vernon Boyd, Erica Reyes - werewolves?
Side note: sudden power influx went to Isaac/Boyd/Erica’s heads and they went on a power trip. Not sure if good or bad.
Stiles Stilinski, Lydia Martin, Allison Argent - know about werewolves(?)
Kate Argent - murdering psychopath who probably deserved what she got but also wtf?
What’s a Spark? Something to do with magic (research)
What’s the significance of mountain ash? Deters werewolves(?) (apparantly)
What’s the significance of Wolfsbane? Deters werewolves(?) (stock up?)
What was the lizard thing in Jungle? Kanima? (Heard someone say it)
What happened to Jackson? Was he a werewolf too? Was he the lizard thing?
Why did Jackson leave?
Why does no one else seem to care that Jackson left?
And more recently...
Where are Erica and Boyd?
Boyd’s back, where’s Erica? Is she okay? Alive?
He stared at the list and took a deep breath to calm his nerves before pushing the door to the diner open and walking inside. He looked around and saw Stiles sat in one of the booths by the back window. He couldn’t see anyone else he knew in the diner but that didn’t mean anything. If what he’d been able to come up with was true, they could be across the street and could hear everything. A look behind him onto the street confirmed his suspicions as he saw Derek Hale’s Camaro parked about a block and a half away.
“Danny,” he turned back around and saw Stiles looking at him, giving him a welcoming, friendly smile.
“Hey,” he said as he saw down. “Thanks for meeting me.”
“No problem dude, figured it was long overdue.” He sounded relaxed, almost relieved they were actually talking. “Needed to wait for you to come to me, y’see.”
“Couldn’t risk dragging some innocent bystander into the clusterfuck that is the nightlife of Beacon Hills?” Danny tried, eyebrow raised and Stiles grinned.
“Got it in one, Danny boy. Now, show me what you got... I’ll try fill in some blanks.”
“Just like that?” Danny frowned, unable to believe it had actually been that easy.
“Did you expect some kind of initiation?” Stiles’ lips twitched and Danny had the good grace to blush.
“Not so much as I expected a little evasion, at least attempt to keep up appearances that you don’t actually know anything and whatever evidence I’ve accumulated is entirely circumstantial...” he paused. “Well, there’s all that, and there’s the fact that you never told me you were gay.” It was his turn to grin as Stiles blushed. “So this meeting is really two-fold.”
Stiles scratched the back of his head and chuckled. “You got me there,” he smiled. “So, tell me about this evidence.”
“Well...” and Danny spent the next half an hour telling him everything he knew, what he suspected, what he’d deduced, his opinions, making sure to mention more than a few times about how pissed he was at being left out of the loop about Jackson, and also Miguel? Stiles blushed again.
“It sounds like you have a pretty solid understanding about what’s going on,” Stiles started. “To clarify though, Laura Hale became the alpha after the Hale fire. When she came back last year, Peter Hale killed her so he could become alpha. Derek killed Peter and became the current alpha.” he made sure no one was around to hear him say anything, Danny noted, he actually seemed very conscious of it. “Not that he stayed dead, he’s a creepy zombie wolf and Derek doesn’t believe me when I tell him Peter’s the start of the zombie apocalypse.”
“I can’t think why,” Danny drawled, mildly amused as Stiles scowled.
“You need to meet him to believe it, bro, just saying. Anyway, last year was fucked up on so many levels. The Argent’s are wolf hunters, but they have a code - they hunt those that hunt them. But only Chris and Allison seem to follow it because Gerard went on a rampage and obvious Kate did what she did... Gerard kidnapped Erica and Boyd, and me after our last game of the season. Tortured them, tortured me, only I healed at, y’know, a human rate. It was annoying.”
“Only annoying?” Danny asked.
“I’m trying to downplay it so you don’t freak out and flee?” Stiles tried but Danny shook his head.
“I won’t thank you for keeping something from me if I find out later on the hard way.”
“Fine,” he sighed. “It hurt like a bitch; I was...” he paused, ringing his hands together and he shifted in his seat a few times, checking and rechecking no one was near.
“Stiles-” Danny reached across and put his hand on both of Stiles. “Calm down, okay? No one else is here.”
“I know, De-” he stopped and licked his lips. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t secure, but it’s just difficult to talk about. I haven’t even told Scott, I’m never telling my dad... Only Derek, Isaac, Peter, Erica , Boyd, Allison and Chris know. Derek, Isaac and Peter only know because I went to Derek’s for help after. Erica and Boyd know because they were there... They saw...”
“Stop,” Danny said lifting his hand from Stiles and holding it up, palm showing, stopping Stiles from talking. “I’ve been around awhile, okay? I mean on the scene,” he made a vague gesture and Stiles nodded. “I’ve heard stories and the way you’re talking, it sounds like, and correct me if I’m wrong here but, Gerard Argent - who kidnapped you three, tortured you all, but he went... further, with you?” When Stiles nodded, Danny inhaled sharply. “And you didn’t tell your dad...”
“What’s the use? He couldn’t do anything about it.”
“But, Argent is human. I can understand the wolves not being governed by human laws up to a point, but Argent is. He still has to follow the law. No one is above the law, Stiles... and your dad wouldn’t exactly believe him if he was told some cock n bull story about werewolves, would he?”
“That’s not the point, I don’t want my dad in any of this. I can’t risk him, Danny.” His voice was as firm as his resolve if his expression was anything to go by. “He’s all I have left, I won’t give him anything else to worry about if I can help it.”
“Okay, okay,” Danny nodded, though he didn’t like it. I could barely get his head around the fact that Stiles was- How could something like that happen and Stiles just be... Stiles? The question must have been on his face or something because Stiles gave him a wry smile.
“I’m dealing with it slowly,” he answered. “Having the pack helps, their support whether they know what they’re supporting or not, it helps. Derek’s been amazing, Isaac’s been brilliant too.” They sat in silence for a minute before Stiles cleared his throat. “Jackson,” he said, and Danny straightened. “I can’t tell you why he left, or why he let his parents take him away, the Jackson I knew would’ve fought tooth and nail, but he changed last year. He became the Kanima, he was used by too many people for too long, he became the proverbial supernatural punching bag of Beacon Hills, and he didn’t even remember any of it when he turned back into a human - that’s why he came to you and asked you to look at the camera. Matt, who was controlling him at first, had him try kill us so many times; that was after he had him kill a few other people for something that happened when he was a kid.”
“Where does Lydia fit into all this?”
“Lydia...” Stiles sighed. “Lydia can tell you her own side of things, but as for what I can say... all I can really tell you that she saved him. She brought him back to being a human after Gerard - who had taken over controlling him after Matt died - kicked the bucket, so to speak. She saved his life, and then he left her. He got what he wanted from the beginning though - he finally got to become a wolf.”
“So unless he answers one of my emails and tells me why he left, I’ll never really know?” he slumped in his seat, jumping when Derek Hale suddenly stepped up to their booth, giving Danny a long, considering look, before sitting down beside Stiles.
“We didn’t handle Jackson as well as we could have,” he said. “Or probably should have. But we did our best with what we had, and it wasn’t enough. I’m sorry you lost your friend in this without any explanation at all, but like Stiles said at the beginning, you had to approach us. I absolutely did not want another human involved that didn’t understand the risks, that didn’t have the brains enough to figure things out for themselves.”
“Um,” Danny blinked. “Thanks for me being smart?” he said and Stiles grinned while Derek snorted.
“Something like that,” the man drawled.
“So what now?” Danny asked. “I mean, I know everything... well as much as I need to right now. You can’t exactly wipe my memory.” He paused and stared at them both as their faces blanked. “Wait, you can’t, can you?” He was contemplating bolting when Stiles broke and started giggling into Derek’s arm. “You’re a horrible person,” he said, echoing his own words from the year before.
“You have options,” Derek was still smirking. “There isn’t really a safer option, just one that provides more protection, and one that doesn’t. You can be a part of my pack; under my protection, meaning myself and my betas would protect you to the best of our abilities. As a part of the pack though, you’d be required to come to meetings whenever you could, help wherever needed... recently its been strategising.”
“Sounds relatively simple,” Danny mused. “What’s the other less safe option?”
“You don’t become a part of the pack, you just know about us. We might ask for your help every now and then if we need it but we won’t include you in any pack business; you’re obviously welcome to socialise with the pack if you or they want, but I won’t go out of my way to treat you like a member of the family.”
“That said,” Stiles interrupted. “He wouldn’t go out of his way to not treat you like a member of the family... think indifferent older brother of a friend, there but doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.” Danny nodded.
“In my position, what would you do to help you decide?”
Derek’s whispered ‘I like him,’ wasn’t as quiet as the alpha might have wanted it (or he might have wanted it to be heard, Danny wasn’t sure) and Danny blushed lightly, focussing on Stiles.
“I’m neurotic, I have a pathological need to know everything about something I’m involved in. How’d you think I ended up here?” he grinned. “But in your position, I’d go with the option that would help keep me, my family and my friends as safe as possible. The group bonding is just a bonus.” Danny nodded.
“Can I ask... about you two?”
“Derek and I...” Stiles was suddenly very hesitant. “We’re very slow going, for obvious reasons.” Danny nodded again, barely holding back a wince.
“We’re what wolves call mates. We tend to mate for life, so this is a lifetime thing for both of us. We can afford to take our time,” Derek clarified.
“Okay, I just needed that clarification in my head.”
“That’s fine, most do,” Stiles smiled. “The pack gets confused sometimes; we’re very affectionate but we haven’t... there’s no sex smells but the ones who know, know enough to direct conversation away so it’s helped.”
“That’s... good. I’m glad you have that support network,” he smiled and Stiles returned it easily. “How do you become an official member of the pack then?”
“That’s your decision?” Derek asked. “You want to become a pack member?”
“I think it’ll be the best option for my personal safety, and I won’t go mad with not knowing what’s going on in the world of the Supernatural... and,” he paused, sighing. “I have other friends, but Jackson left this huge hole when he left town and at the risk of sounding corny, filling it hasn’t been anywhere close to easy. I don’t mean that I want to replace him with you guys, I just want... I don’t know, some stability maybe?” he shrugged but Derek was nodding in understanding.
“I know what you mean,” he said simply. “If you still want it by 8 tonight, Stiles will pick you up and you can come over to mine. The pack will be there; they need to give formal approval but as I’ve already decided, it’s just a formality. The thing that you might be a little uncomfortable with is...” Derek made a face as he tried to word it right. “I need to bite you. Nothing that will turn you, but once you submit to me, by showing me your neck, I need to mark you as a part of the pack. It’s scenting but on a deeper level. Then the pack’ll get their turn,” his grin was light by that point and Danny blinked.
“They’re all gonna bite me?” he asked, eyes going wide, and Stiles cackled.
“Not unless you ask them real nice like,” he winked. “No, scenting is just cuddling, kinda. You’ll see. You’ll get used to it too and it’ll become second nature. I’ll go over specifics later on but after you’ve been sworn in, so to speak, we’re gonna spent the night watching movies and being generally lazy, unless something happens, which we hope it doesn’t because that would totally ruin my plans of making everyone watch the new Hobbit movie.” Danny’s eyes lit up at that.
“Pack or not, I’m there,” he grinned and Stiles laughed.
When Danny got home half an hour or so later, he looked down at the list and shook his head, dropping it into the trash can in his room and burning it, dousing the flames when the paper was ash.
He wasn’t sure what to expect with being a part of the pack, even with all the information Stiles and Derek had given him, but he was sure his life would certainly be more interesting.
For the first time since Jackson left, Danny let himself feel happy and optimistic about the future.