Beacon Hills Woods | Night

[robinonadderall]

Jack Priest	The California woods had a faintly different smell and texture to them from the ones on the East Coast or in Europe, which was information Jack put in his mental file labeled Useless Things I Have Learned Since I Became a Werewolf. The important thing was finding Stiles, not doing a census of rabbit by species. He sniffed the air one more time, getting the hint of human blood, and abruptly changed direction to go through a patch of low, thorny bushes. "Stiles?" he called. "Is that you over there?"
Stiles Stilinski	Getting dumped off in the woods by the Argents had been insult added to injury. Like it wasn't bad enough he had gotten beaten until he blacked out, now he had to wander around the woods without his phone or jeep nearby. He was pretty sure what he was spewing to Gerard about Scott knowing his scent wasn't complete bullshit so he hoped that someone would find him. He just hadn't expected it to be Jack's voice calling his name. "Jack?" Stiles called out. "I'm over here! Somewhere..." Look he had gotten hit over the head a lot his sense of direction was worse than usual.
Jack Priest	"Keep talking," Jack advised, following Stiles' voice and scent in what he hoped was the right direction. (It had better be, or he was walking through thorn bushes for absolutely no reason.) He took another step, and barely glimpsed a flash of red cloth straight ahead. "I can see you," he advised, then -- as he came closer -- "Oh, Jesus." He was still several meters away, but close enough he could tell Stiles was wrecked.
Stiles Stilinski	"Wow, you so have lost the right to give bad news to anybody," Stiles said, stumbling as he moved closer. The fact he was using sarcasm was a good indicator that he wasn't too seriously injured but he felt like he was barely keeping it together.
Jack Priest	"You would swear too, if you saw you," Jack said, undaunted, and moved faster so he'd be within grabbing range if Stiles fell. "What happened to you?"
Stiles Stilinski	"Gerard Argent happened to me," Stiles said. "Is everyone okay? My dad and Lydia?" He knew Scott was okay since Gerard had meant for Stiles to go to him.
Jack Priest	"Your dad is scared, and I don't think seeing you will make it much better," Jack said grimly. "Lydia's ... fine physically." He was trying to ease into the rest of the news.
Stiles Stilinski	Stiles so didn't like the sound of that. He unconsciously reached out to take a hold of Jack's arm because he was quickly losing the adrenaline rush he had been running on since the Argents dumped him out in the woods. "Tell me what happened."
Jack Priest	Jack shook his head, adjusting his arm so Stiles could lean on him if he had to. "Let's get to the car first," he suggested. "It's cold. You're hurt. There's nothing we can do until you get someplace safe, anyhow."
Stiles Stilinski	"They're not coming after me," Stiles said, taking up the unspoken offer and leaning against Jack. "They let me go."
Jack Priest	"What did they want from you?" Jack asked, stepping forward as he adjusted his gait to match Stiles. "Just distraction, or were they looking for information, or...?"
Stiles Stilinski	Stiles made a choked little laugh, like even he couldn't believe the answer to that question. "They didn't want anything from me, other than to beat the hell out of me. This is for Scott. I'm a message for Scott." Which was why it hurt that out of everyone in Beacon Hills, it was someone who had never been here before and didn't really owe him anything that found him.
Jack Priest	Jack felt a flash of anger, swallowed hard before it made him do anything stupid. Bad enough to beat someone, but as a way of getting at someone else it was even worse. "And the message is, we can beat up on someone with no powers," he said. "Scintillating."
Stiles Stilinski	"It's pretty insulting. You'd think I've done enough to get beaten on my own merit," Stiles said, laughing weakly. "Guess I'll just have to try harder."
Jack Priest	Jack smiled, also weakly, and laughed in agreement. They were almost to the road; he fumbled in his pocket for the keys to his borrowed car. "So I know I lost my right to break bad news," he said. "But -- there is one more thing you should know before we go back into town."
Stiles Stilinski	"Is it the reason why Scott wasn't out here with you?" Stiles asked, letting some bitterness creep in.
Jack Priest	"He wanted to find Derek," Jack explained, wincing at that bitterness and at what he had to say next. "Jackson killed himself at the end of the game, Stiles. I'm sorry."
Stiles Stilinski	Stiles went still for a moment while he tried to let that sink in. Jackson hadn't been his favorite person in the world and Stiles had been all for murdering him a few weeks ago, so the sadness he felt was unexpected. Or maybe it wasn't totally unexpected, he had felt quite a bit of pity for the situation Jackson had gotten himself into. "How did he do it?"
Jack Priest	"The best guess is that he clawed himself," Jack answered. "Scott's mother and Lydia tried CPR, but he was just gone." He barely knew Jackson, and to some degree he was relieved the kanima was gone and the bullet to Jackson's brain hadn't been necessary. But you could never feel too happy about a death.
Stiles Stilinski	Stiles nodded. "I'm glad he did it himself." Sounded horrible to say out loud, but it made Jackson seem a little more human. "So I guess this has pretty much put you off visiting me ever again."
Jack Priest	Jack snorted out a surprised laugh. "It won't be at the top of my vacation list, but I once made some guests deal with murdered prostitutes. I think this may be payback."
Stiles Stilinski	"I kind of want to know what dealing with murdered prostitutes entails but I doubt now is the time." Don't think he'd forget though. The shock of everything was slowly starting to fade and what was left was some muscles and a bruised face. Not to mention some emotional trauma that he wasn't quite sure what to make of at the moment. "Have I thanked you yet?" Stiles asked. "Because seriously thank you. I don't know what I would have done---I mean, there's no one else out here. What if you hadn't come?"
Jack Priest	"Later," Jack said. Talking about dead bodies -- more dead bodies -- really wasn't going to improve the day any. "And -- you're welcome, but you would have been fine. It's not that far to civilization." Farther than he wanted to walk, let alone injured, but not impossible. He glanced over again. "I'm sorry it wasn't Scott."
Stiles Stilinski	"Not your fault," Stiles said even though, yeah, it hurt. "I'm just glad someone was here."

[Once again preplayed with the awesome bitten_notshy. Post 3 of 3, I'm done spamming for the day. NFI, NFB but OOC is fine]