threeisapattern | maybe the real supernatural magnet was Stiles all along

maybe the real supernatural magnet was Stiles all along

The thing about kanimas is that they're supposed to be super-rare, maybe one-in-a-generation. Most people, if they get the werewolf bite and their body rejects it, they die. It takes a special kind of mental unwellness to turn into a kanima instead. And Stiles has already been there, done that when Jackson transformed into one back in Beacon Hills.

So someone explain to him why he's staring one down in the middle of an otherwise deserted park. (So he was practicing some soccer drills on his own and it got late. So sue him if he kind of doesn't want to suck when he has a cute guy and the cute guy's family in addition to his dad vowing to watch him play.) For a second, he genuinely wonders if this is some kind of waking nightmare, and he glances down to count his fingers as a check (ten, no more and no less). In that time, it gets in way too close, and Stiles straight-out sprints for his bag to grab his phone and the little vial of emergency mountain ash he keeps with him at all times.

He has Billy's number dialed and his thumb on the top of the vial to flick it open when he feels a slash against his back, meaning he has a few seconds before his body stops responding. He hits the call button and throws the opened vial in the air as his muscles go slack and he drops to the ground. He doesn't think anything breaks, but he lands on his shoulder painfully hard and that's something he's going to have to deal with if he survives the next few minutes. Through some miracle of luck, desperation, and probably magic, the ash lands in an unbroken circle around his body, and he squeezes his eyes shut and believes with all of his might that a handful of wood ash has the power to protect him from the supernatural.

It works. The kanima hisses as it slashes at the barrier a couple times, and as Stiles watches it, he realizes that there's a voice trying to talk to him from his phone. It landed about a foot from his head and he must've managed to hit speaker before he dropped it, thank god, because there's absolutely no way he could pick it up right now.

"Hey, Billy? I really need your help right now, like - SOS."

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In theory, it sounded like a good idea. Stiles would practice his sports, without Billy watching, despite his insistence, and Billy would try to do some homework. It’s not like he was trying to fail, but it was hard to pretend to care about anything other than Stiles and magic when all he really could think about was Stiles and magic. (Heavy on that first one)

So when Stiles called him, he barely hesitated to pick up the call, English essay be damned. What he was not expecting was to hear a horrible scream of agony as soon as the call connected.

Billy was up and out of his seat before he really thought about what he was doing, his feet basically levitating for how quick he got up.

”Stiles, are you okay? What happened?”

He can hear the sounds of something hissing and the harsh breathing of Stiles but not much else. No noise to tell him what’s happening, no sounds to clue him in to where Stiles might be. He knows he said he wouldn’t read Stiles mind, but it’s hard to resist when he has no clue where he could be.

It isn’t until Stiles speaks that Billy says “fuck it” and dials into his Stiles Channel, if for no other reason than to find his location. He closes his eyes, trying to make out any kind of landmark. He sees claws, and dirt? on the ground, and by some miracle, sitting a few feet away, Stiles sport bag.

The park.

”I’m on my way, just hold on.” He doesn’t even know if Stiles can hear him, but he says it anyway, hoping it makes it through.

The sad thing is, this isn't even the worst situation Stiles has been in with a kanima stalking him. Swimming for his and Derek's life until Scott finally got his shit together and found them? Also pretty fucking bad. The top one was probably at the station with Matt because Stiles was also terrified that his dad would get hurt. But this is pretty fucking bad because - fun fact - kanima venom just stops you from moving your muscles, it doesn't numb your body.

He grits his teeth and stares at the kanima as it circles him, looking for some weak spot in the protective circle. "So there's this thing called a kanima," he says to the phone, and it would almost sound casual if it wasn't for the harsh edge of pain in his voice. "Basically a were that didn't take to the bite correctly. So the person changes, but they don't remember it and they're not in control when they're changed. And I'm pretty sure I'm looking at one right now."

He takes the car, because even though he could fly (can he fly?) he doesn’t feel confident enough to really do that long distance. Also he hasn’t really discussed the whole super power thing with his parents and he’s pretty sure they would notice him jumping out of his window.

Even with the car, he swears there is some kind of magic going on because every light he gets to is green and every car just happens to move out of his way when he gets close enough. It’s not like he’s trying to control traffic, but he’s also not going to complain. Not when every pained breath out of Stiles makes him press the gas pedal down harder, pushing the limits of the law to make it to the park.

”I’m sure I’ll be super interested in all of that later, but I don’t need to know it’s name to fight it. Does it have a weakness? How do I beat it?”

He’s really not trying to be rude, he’s super thankful that Stiles is talking at all but if he thinks Billy is going to remember any of that, he’s crazy.

When he finally gets to the park, he leaves the car by the curb, hops out and throws his phone onto the seat, his feet barely touching the ground before his hands are moving, his magic swirling and twisting and lifting him into the air. He doesn’t even realize his clothes have changed until he feels his cape flapping by his legs. From up here he can scan the whole field, from up high he can try to find Stiles.

In his defense, he’s doing his best under the circumstances, given that part of his brain is focused on his shoulder and another is keeping the ash circle active. Also, he would’ve killed for some of this information the first time they dealt with a kanima.

“It has paralytic venom, so don’t get too close.” Not a weakness or a way to beat it, but still. Stiles would really love to be able to move right now. “Fuck, okay, uh. It might not even know what it looks like - Scott got one to freak out and run before when it saw itself in a mirrored surface. Uh, yellow wolfsbane? I don’t think there’s any around. If I had more mountain ash, we could trap it in a circle, but I used up what I had putting one around me.”

While Stiles knowledge is impressive and apparently vast, none of it is particularly helpful. (What even is yellow wolfsbane? He really needs to read that book.) And he can feel himself getting more anxious by the minute.

When he finally does see Stiles, on the ground, he doesn’t really think before sending a blast of magic at whatever that creature is. It’s not a perfect solution but it does throw it back enough that Billy has a few minutes to try to come up with a better protection solution.

”Stiles!” He touches down and runs towards where he is lying, only to jump back in pain when something stops him, almost like a shock.

”There’s something in the way, is this you or him?”

Kneeling down, Billy tries to get more level with Stiles eye line, the anxiety and distress clear on his face. He tries to figure out how hurt Stiles is without being able to touch him.

“It’s me. Mountain ash circle - stops supernatural creatures from crossing it. Stopped from getting any closer.”

Apparently witches are included in that list, which Stiles hadn’t realized and will be more interested in exploring when they’re not in danger. His gaze flicks to where he last saw the kanima fall because they absolutely do not want it sneaking up on them at all before going back to Billy. “I, uh - I can’t really move.”

Right, the mountain ash, Billy does remember Stiles telling him about that, the seemingly one good thing Stiles old friends did for him. At least he’s protected, even if it frustratingly keeps Billy out as well.

”Why can’t you—“ Paralytic venom. Before he can work himself into a further panic, his mind helpfully reminds him that Stiles told him that. He frowns further at the idea that Stiles could be scratched or bit or bleeding.

He turns when Stiles looks behind him, making sure the being is still far enough away. Despite not giving a single care about that thing right now, it wouldn’t do Stiles any good for them both to be paralyzed.

“I can keep it away, but we need a plan. Preferably one that doesn’t involve a bunch of stuff we don’t have access to right now.” It’s fine, he’s fine. They can do this.

“Yeah. A plan.”

Why is this his life again? It was not supposed to keep being his life. Coming here was supposed to mean no more bullshit were danger.

“It’s really fucking resistant to damage, but I mean, knocking it out would be good. I don’t know what offensive spells you’ve got.”

“I haven’t really been practicing fighting. I didn’t think it was going to come up so soon.”

Probably an oversight on his part, especially considering who he is dating. He just never really saw himself as the aggressor in a situation. Protection, maybe even defense, sure, but not this.

It’s not like he really has time to think about it though, not with the way the kanima is coming towards them. So he decides to not think and instead feel, letting the anxiety and anger and fear come to the surface so he can use that to pull on his magic. This time when he blast the kanima he sends it flying across the field, taking most of the grass and dirt in it’s path with it.

Admittedly, that might have been too much.

Kanimas can take a lot of damage and still get up, but at least this time it’s stunned enough to stay down for a second. Stiles strains himself trying to see what happened, but unfortunately his neck is still not responding to commands.

“I mean, uh - you have raw power. Guess you could just keep hitting it til it stops moving.”

He hasn't had a chance to test his endurance yet, now is as good a time as any.

"Great, so our plan is to see which one of us gets tired first?"

The kanima is still shaking itself off from the last push back, so Billy risks turning around again to look at Stiles. He really wishes there was more he could do about that, at least to make it more comfortable.

As soon as he thinks that, the ground underneath Stiles changes, becoming softer, almost like he's lying on a mattress. Billy smiles slightly, that will never not be cool.

"How long until you can move again?"

The ground does kind of feel more comfortable all of the sudden, which is weird as hell but Stiles definitely isn’t complaining.

“I mean, we kind of defeated the last one with the Power of Love by having his girlfriend break through to him enough to partially transform him back. I don’t see that happening here - “

Well. Wait. Billy’s abilities extend beyond throwing magic around.

“Wait, can you hear its thoughts? Or get in its head?”

"You hear how it sounds when you tell me stories, right?"

Now probably isn't the time to roast Stiles about the absolute insane past he's had, but he also can't really help it when the stories sound like that.

"Oh! Yeah, yes, or, I think so."

He turns around again and takes a deep breath, he can feel Stiles, but he can basically always feel him. He searches further, watching as the kanima gets closer again. Come on, Billy. Look faster.

The kanima keeps moving, he looks pissed, or maybe he just always looks like that. Maybe creepy half-were-beings aren't able to look happy. Billy puts his hands up, ready to blast him if he gets close. He's not going to be able to do this. Why does it work with everyone else, when he doesn't even want it to? This is his fault for not practicing harder, how could he think he doesn't need to fight? What was he thinking? He closes his eyes, breathing out in frustration.

And all of a sudden he's looking at himself. He can feel himself running, breathing heavy, growling. Oh my god. He did it!

Stop! A few inches from Billy and Stiles, the kanima suddenly stops moving, midstride, upright, still snarling, frozen perfectly where he is.

"This is so weird. Like even for me this is weird. And gross. Did your friend look like this?"

He hadn’t expected Billy to be able to actually take over the kanima, though he guesses it makes sense. The kanima seeks a master or whatever - it just found one. At least temporarily. (If the connection continues, that’s a problem they can deal with later. At least Billy’s not going on a murder spree.)

“Yeah? Yeah, pretty much. They’re not pretty.”

Emotional turmoil, ugly-ass manifestation, whatever. He takes a deep breath now that the situation’s under control and hisses it back out because his shoulder still fucking hurts.

“Okay. Do you think you can force it to change back to human?”

Hearing Stiles hiss in pain makes Billy look back, the kanima's eyes moving to look at Stiles as well. Splitting attention, not the best idea right now. He can't help anyone until they deal with the situation at hand.

"How do I do that?"

So far the most Billy is getting from this kid is that he could seriously use some therapy. Angry parents, fighting at school, girlfriend trouble, it's all horribly cliché, like watching one of those teen dramas.

"Listen, everyone has a shitty life, do you really want to end up killing someone over it? I feel like we can probably fix this." He mostly says it in his head, their head? But the out loud bit is so Stiles can follow along.

"How is this our life?"

Is that helpful? Absolutely not, but sometimes you just have to acknowledge that your life sucks and is completely batshit insane. "I don't know, I just - " He squeezes his eyes shut and takes another deep breath. "Can you loop me in or something? Maybe I can talk to it."

"Probably."

Honestly, he has a lot more confidence than that, that he can definitely loop Stiles in. Most of the time it takes more effort not to read his mind than to read it. But that also means letting Billy have access again. Hopefully everything else going on means they won't have to worry about that right now.

"Don't think about anything you don't want me to see."

Billy shuts his eyes because this is a little more difficult that just one person, his hands glow blue, his feet lift, deep breath.

The effect is immediate. The rest of the world disappears, everything going quiet and bright. Billy opens his eyes to a white room, he turns to his left and sees Stiles standing next to him, then turns to the right, but doesn't see the kanima.

"Maybe we have to find him?"

The wildest fucking thing is that this isn't the first time he's been in a shared mindspace like this. It's not dissimilar to the last time, except there's no Nemeton to be found or Nogitsune battling him for control of his mind. Just a pretty plain white space stretching out as far as the eye can see, and (thank god) the illusion of movement. His shoulder still hurts, but the pain is further away, muffled somehow.

Stiles grabs hold of Billy's arm and tugs him in close to wrap his arms around him and kiss him. Is that necessarily the first thing he should be doing in this situation? Absolutely not, but he's been having a rough time. "Thanks for coming for me."

It's not that he didn't think Billy would, if he could, but Stiles is unfortunately intimately aware of the fact that other people have lives, and Stiles' crises have slipped through the cracks before.

Considering the last time Billy and Stiles shared a mind, that wasn't exactly the reaction he was expecting. But he is really not going to complain. He keeps his arms around Stiles for a few moments longer. It's not like they are on a timeline here, he's pretty sure time moves differently in his head than in the real world. They have a minute for this.

"You didn't even have to ask...I mean obviously you did, so I would know you needed help but--uh, always. I'll always come for you."

Hopefully the point gets across, he's still just a little bit flustered.

Given that they’re basically in each others’ heads, it would be impossible to hide the pulse of gratefulness at Billy’s words. It’s nice to hear, even if he knows that Shit Happens sometimes. Stiles gives him one more squeeze in his arms before letting go.

“Uh, so I know it’s going to sound insane again, but I’ve kinda been in a situation like this before. I mean, in a weird… mind space. I think we just kind of turned up near what we were looking for? So maybe if we just focus on it and start walking, we’ll find the kanima. Or whoever’s inside it.”

"I'm just glad one of us knows what's going on."

On top of everything else Stiles has experienced, it doesn't surprise Billy he's already been here, or a place like this. He files it away for later to ask Stiles about the other mind readers he's been in contact with.

"Okay, focusing on the kanima." He takes Stiles hand before they start walking. Stiles might have been here before, but he's still not really sure what might happen and he doesn't really want Stiles getting lost somewhere in his mind.

"In your experience, is this like a safe space or are people still dangerous here?"

“Still dangerous,” he says, thinking of the Nogitsune. “Maybe not, like, murder dangerous. But keep an eye out.”

He nudges Billy’s shoulder with his own as they start walking. “Have you done anything like this before?”

"Well if he's still dangerous here, then so am I."

If he's going to be a superhero, he might as well have the quips to go with it.

He smiles, "What? Dragged other people to a place that I entirely made up with my own mind? Shockingly, this is a first for me."

“I know my stories somehow usually sound more insane, but figured I’d ask.”

It’s not like this is the first time Billy’s ever used his mind powers, after all. “Yeah, Mr. Dangerous? Is that why you’ve got the superhero outfit going on?”

"I didn't exactly know what I was going up against, I wanted to be prepared."

And it gives him the added bonus of being able to show off in front of the guy he really likes. Win-win.

As he turns forward again, he notices in the distance, a tiny speck that shows up against the white. A person, or being, still far away from them, but getting closer.

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