"Hi." Stiles stumbles into the police station at midnight, knowing that Jordan's shift just ended. "Hear me out - I know you're probably tired, but...we've gotta figure this thing out, okay? With the deadpool gone, let's figure out what you are. We finally have time."

"What?" Jordan looks at Stiles, confused.

"We have this book, it's like...a glossary sort of, but of, you know, supernatural creatures, and we're gonna figure out what you are." Stiles smiles at him. "I'm the research guy, that's sort of my thing, and since I assume that you're dying to know…"

"Let's go." Jordan nods, because if anyone can help him figure out how the hell he survived almost being burnt alive, well, he's damn well gonna take the chance to figure out what happened, what he is...and why his name was on a list, his head worth 5 million dollars, when he doesn't even know what abilities he has.

"Great."

They get into Stiles' Jeep, and the ride home starts.

"So uh…" Stiles bites his lip, turning down the main drag of Beacon Hills. "Thanks, for, you know, saving my life. And Lydia's."

"Oh." Jordan shifts, because yeah, maybe it wasn't the easiest thing that he's ever done, but it sure as hell won't be the last time he has to do something like that, he's pretty sure. And it was definitely worth it. "I'm just glad that I got there in time."

"Oh, trust me," Stiles says. "So am I."

"You seem weirdly unphased by all of this."

"Jordan, buddy," Stiles smiles, but it isn't full of joy the way that a smile should be. "If I let every near death experience get to me, I'd never be able to function. That's just the life we walked into."

"What?" Jordan frowns.

"You know...the supernatural and the people who love them." Stiles shrugs as he pulls into the Stilinski driveway. "There's no rest for us."

"Couldn't you walk away from it all?" Jordan asks.

"What?" Stiles frowns as he parks the car.

"Couldn't you just leave all of this behind? You're not a target, you're, you know...human."

"And leave everyone in that I love in the lurch?" Stiles shakes his head. "That's not an option."

"You ever considered being a cop?"

"All the time." Stiles nods, getting out of the car, and leading Jordan into the house.

Jordan feels strange at first, being in his boss' house, but Stiles just heads right up to his bedroom, like it's nothing, and pulls the bestiary up on his laptop.

"That's not English," Jordan points out as Stiles brings the laptop down from his desk and sits on the floor, his back resting against the bed so that they can both look at it.

"Yeah, I know, but it's sort of the best we got, and there are pictures, see? So I think if we just go through it, find anything involving fire, and then just go from there, we should be okay."

"Okay." Jordan nods, because hey, he's not really sure what the guidelines for this sort of thing are, but he doesn't have a better idea, and he really, really wants to solve this mystery, wants to know why he was drawn here, why he was brought here, when it doesn't make sense to him at all.

There are thousands of pages, thousands of options, and naturally, they only get through about the first 200 before they're both asleep, leaning on each other on Stiles' floor, Stiles laptop lying forgotten on the side of the bed.

When Stiles wakes up, Jordan is gone, but there's a note on the laptop.

Had to go home and prepare for my shift. Let me know if you find anything. -JP

Tiredly, Stiles pulls himself up, and gets ready for school, taking every chance he gets to weed through the bestiary, but he doesn't get very far.

That night, Jordan comes over again, and they spend the time close together, combing over all of the options. They've got a small list going, but they're not sure about any of it, because they're not sure how to be sure about any of it.

"So the only symptom you've displayed is the whole...not getting fried alive thing?"

"Symptom?" Jordan frowns, looking at Stiles. "You're talking about it like it's a disease."

"Oh shit, no...I'm so sorry." Stiles sighs, setting the laptop down, scrubbing his hand over his face. It's close to 4 AM this time, and he's exhausted, delirious, almost, from going through all of this. "That's not...not how I meant it at all, let me...is it the only supernatural trait you've displayed?"

"As far as I know." Jordan nods.

"Cool. Great. That gets us absolutely nowhere, Phoenix, Fire Salamander…"

"I think I'd know if I had wings, or, you know, turned into a lizard."

"You'd be surprised," Stiles quips. "First off, the whole wings thing isn't totally how it works. Necessarily. Scott doesn't go all full wolf, you wouldn't go full bird, I don't think, and second...we've had someone turn into a lizard without knowing before, so…" He gestures, shrugging, because really at this point, anything is possible, and he's not sure how to narrow it down at all. It's just too much, too many options, and he's not sure how to weed through them without Jordan displaying, well, more.

"Look, if you can't figure it out, that's okay," Jordan states.

"Hey now, we're not done yet," Stiles says, hoping that it sounds more reassuring than it feels. "Maybe we'll turn the page, and there will be a picture of someone who looks JUST like you, and it will solve all of our problems."

"Sounds likely," Jordan says sarcastically.

"Hey now," Stiles frowns. "Sarcasm's my thing. Back off."

"Right." Jordan smiles. "My bad."

Stiles just nods, and reaches for the laptop again, but Jordan grabs his wrist, stopping him.

"Stiles, it's late. You're exhausted."

"I said I'd help you," Stiles argues.

"And you are, but you still need your sleep, okay?" Jordan smiles. "I can go another day without knowing. Get some rest."

"You sure?"

"Positive." Jordan nods, and grabs the laptop, closing it, placing it on Stiles' desk. "You slept on the floor because of me last night, you'll sleep in the bed tonight."

"Pushy, pushy." Stiles yawns as he pulls himself to his feet, going for his pajamas. "Try again tomorrow?"

"I'm off at 6. I can bring takeout around 6:30."

"It's a date," Stiles says without even thinking about it.

Jordan doesn't correct him.

He shows up the next night with more Chinese food than the two of them could ever possibly eat in one go, and they sit down, spending the night going through the rest of the bestiary. Around 11, they move back up to Stiles' room, to what has become their usual place on the floor, leaning against his bed.

They don't figure it out. Sure, there is a list of options about 10 things long, but without any further abilities or actions, it's just too impossible to narrow it down any further.

"You've never done anything strange? Did you ever make anything happen that you couldn't explain, when you were angry or scared?" Stiles asks, closing the laptop.

Jordan snorts with laughter.

"Nope, and you quoting Harry Potter isn't going to change that."

Stiles smiles, glad that his reference had been picked up by the other man.

"Ice cream?" Stiles asks, setting the laptop aside.

"It's 2 AM," Jordan points out.

"And we have just finished a long and strenuous search that turned up nothing," Stiles points out. "I think that warrants ice cream."

"Fair enough." Jordan smiles, and waits while Stiles goes downstairs and grabs a pint of Ben & Jerry's and two spoons from the fridge.

"So," Stiles says, digging in. "Why'd you get out?"

"Get out?"

"Of the military."

"Oh." Jordan shrugs. "My time was up, and I just sort of felt like the war I was fighting wasn't something I really believed in. I'm not saying it was wrong, and maybe this is weak, but I didn't want to be putting my life on the line for a situation like that."

"Doesn't sound weak at all." Stiles shakes his head. "For what it's worth, I'm glad you're here."

"Oh yeah?" Jordan tilts his head to the side. "Why's that?"

"Well for one, you look after my dad on the job," Stiles points out. "And for another...you saved my life." He shrugs. "That kind of thing sticks with a person."

"I thought you said you don't worry about near death experiences."

"And you believed that?" Stiles snorts. "Sure, maybe they're pretty common for me, and it's easy to front tough about them when they just keep happening, but…" he looks down at the ground. "That doesn't make it any less scary, and every time it happens, it's like one more narrow escape, you know? Like when am I gonna run out of good luck, like Boyd, or Erica...or Allison?" He bites his lip, because it's still so hard for him to include her in the list of the dead.

"Everyone's afraid of death, Stiles."

"No, I know." Stiles nods. "But it's like...I know I'm gonna die young. I'm far too involved in all of this shit to be lucky forever. I've had too many close calls already. "There's only so many times that can happen before...you know…" he trails off, weakly shrugging his shoulders.

"Hey, come here." Jordan grabs the ice cream and sets it down, putting his arm around Stiles.

Stiles, down in the slump that he created himself, leans against Jordan, seeking the comfort, needing it. He's sort of surprised about how comfortable Jordan is to rest on, and he's not really sure how it happens, but he falls asleep, leaning against the other man.

It's 2 in the morning.

These things happen.

When he wakes up, he's in his bed, in the clothes that he was wearing the night before, minus the shoes and socks, and when he rolls over, he realizes that Jordan is still there, sleeping on the floor of his room, using his rolled up uniform jacket as a pillow, no blanket.

"Hey." Stiles gets out of bed, shaking him awake. "Did you sleep there all night?"

"Mmmm, guess so." Jordan nods, sitting up. "What time is it?"

"A little after 8, do you have work?"

"I'm off today." Jordan yawns, stretching his arms.

"Why didn't you go home?" Stiles asks.

"I put you to bed, and then I was going to leave, but I remembered what you'd said, about defying death, and being scared, and I thought maybe you'd feel safer if I was here." Jordan shrugs. "It doesn't make much sense by the light of day, seeing as you were already asleep and wouldn't even know I was there, but...it made sense last night."

"You...stayed to protect me?" Stiles asks, his face twisting into some emotion that Jordan really can't place - maybe because he's still waking up, or maybe because he's never quite seen it before. He's not sure which.

"Yeah, I guess I did." Jordan smiles. "I don't want you to have to be afraid all the time."

Without really thinking about it, Stiles leans in, kissing Jordan right on the lips.

To his surprise, Jordan returns the kiss, reaching up to cup Stiles' cheek as he does so.

It's not a long kiss, it's short, but it's sweet, and when they pull away, Jordan keeps his hand on Stiles' cheek.

"Next time you stay to watch over me," Stiles says softly. "Why don't you sleep in the bed."

"Alright." Jordan smiles, and leans back in to kiss Stiles again.

And that's how it starts. Maybe they didn't figure out what Jordan is, and maybe there is still a lot going on, but it's easier for Stiles, having Jordan there. There's some strange comfort in knowing that he's got the Sheriff down the hall, and a deputy in his bed. Sure, he knows that, in the long run, there's not much their service weapons could do to protect him if something supernatural came at him, but between the mountain ash, and everything else...he feels pretty safe in his own home. Especially when Jordan is there with him.

They don't have sex - not yet. Stiles is still underage, and Jordan has a duty to uphold the law...and, well, Stiles dad is the Sheriff, and his boss. That is a road that he does not want to travel down. That doesn't stop them from cuddling, and kissing, and getting closer and closer by the day.

A couple of months go by, and Stiles is almost actually happy again, so of course, that's when Peter makes his move.

Or rather, when Peter and Kate make their move.

It's a big, epic battle, full of blood, and screams, and fighting, and no one's really sure of what's going on, but it's Peter Hale, Kate Argent, and the two Berserkers vs, well...everyone else. It's a fight the McCall pack should be able to win, and they're on the brink of doing so when, just like that, one of the Berserkers stabs Stiles.

It retracts the sharp spike almost immediately, turning to chase after Kira, leaving a gaping hole in Stiles' left side, and Stiles falls to his knees, sputtering in surprise and pain.

There's so much else going on around them that Jordan is the only one who sees it, and he rushes to Stiles' side, all concern for himself gone. He catches Stiles as he falls farther to the ground, holding him in his arms.

"It's okay, you're gonna be okay," he whispers, reaching down, trying to apply pressure to the wound, but it's big. The spike ran deep inside Stiles' body, and he's not like the others.

He doesn't heal.

"I...I g-guess my luck finally ran out," Stiles gasps, blood starting to redden his lips, the metallic taste filling his mouth. His voice is soft, quiet, and he's more still than Jordan has ever seen him, even when he's sleeping.

"No, Stiles, don't say that," Jordan whispers, tears stinging at his eyes. "It's okay, you're gonna be okay."

"H-hurts," he manages, wincing as Jordan shifts him, and there's nothing he can do. Even with pressure applied, blood is still pouring from the open wound.

"Stiles, please." Jordan gulps, his throat tight. "It's too soon, you're too young!"

"I'm o-only h-human," Stiles manages, and it seems like every word is a struggle. He's in so much pain, and Jordan can sense it.

He grabs for the wound again, trying as hard as he can to take away the pain, hoping that if he wills it enough, he'll find that ability within himself like Scott, like Derek, but it's just not there.

"I'll get Scott," Jordan promises.

"N-no." Stiles shakes his head. Scott is still battling Peter, fighting him off, and it's clear that Peter's aim is to kill him. "He-he'd die." And it's true. Scott would drop everything, rush to Stiles' side, drop his guard trying to take Stiles' pain away, and die with him.

Stiles knows this, because it's exactly what he would do if the tables were turned.

"What do you want me to do?" Jordan asks, as though he's desperate for something to do, for some way that he can help.

"J-just stay w-with me," Stiles whispers, gripping to Jordan's shirt as tightly as he can - which admittedly, isn't very hard.

"Okay." Jordan gulps, tears streaming from his eyes as he holds Stiles tightly in his arms.

"I'm s-scared," Stiles whispers.

"Don't be." Jordan shakes his head. "Don't be scared."

"But what...what if there's just...nothing?" Stiles asks, quiet tears trailing slowly down his cheeks. "What if this is it?"

"It's not." Jordan sniffles, not even trying to hold back his own tears anymore. "It's not. It'll be great, and you'll be with your mom again, and your friends. It's gonna be okay, Stiles. It's gonna be okay."

"T-tell my d-dad and Sc-Scott…" He gasps in pain before he can finish the sentence.

"I know." Jordan nods. "Tell them that you love them. I will, Stiles, I promise."

"Y-yeah." Stiles chokes the word out, but it's hard. His breathing is more than hitched, and there's blood all around them.

"Stiles," Jordan whispers, tears falling into Stiles' hair, his arms, everywhere. "Stiles, just - Stiles?" Jordan whimpers as Stiles' eyes drift shut, and the body in his arms goes limp. He feels around, trying to find a pulse, but it's weak, and getting weaker. "Stiles, no...please…" He curls himself around the young man, his body shaking with sobs.

His vision is so blurred, his focus so one-way, that he doesn't notice the gash in Stiles' side slowly closing up.

He doesn't notice as Stiles' eyes flutter open.

"Ph-Phoenix," Stiles whispers.

Jordan's whole body freezes, and he lifts his head up, looking into Stiles soft, hazel eyes for just a moment before they close again.

But it's not like the last time. His body doesn't go as limp, and Jordan finds a pulse almost instantly, and it's a strong one.

He doesn't focus on the word that Stiles says at all, just that he said something. That his heart is beating.

When Stiles wakes up, he's in a hospital bed, and he recognizes that almost immediately. He pulls himself into a sitting position, groaning as he does so, though his head hurts more than anything else.

He looks around, and his dad and Scott are asleep in chairs, and Jordan is leaning up against the wall, looking like he's trying as hard as he can to stay away.

"H-hey," Stiles says softly, not wanting to wake his father or Scott.

"Stiles." Jordan stands up, instantly walking over to the bed. "You're awake."

"Yeah." Stiles nods. "Thanks to you."

"I...I have no idea what happened," Jordan admits. "You were dead, or dying, at least, and then…"

"You saved my life," Stiles whispers.

"What? I didn't do anything."

"You cried."

"What?" Jordan frowns in confusion.

"You really don't get it?" Stiles asks. "You read Harry Potter, you should know this."

"I...just saw the first movie," Jordan admits.

"Ch-cheater," Stiles smiles. "But...you really haven't figured it out?"

Jordan shakes his head.

"You're a phoenix, Jordan," he says, as though it's the most obvious thing in the world. "You rose from the ashes, and your tears healed me." He reaches for Jordan's hand. "You saved my life. Again."

"I...are you serious?" Jordan asks, climbing gently onto the bed next to Stiles.

Stiles nods.

Sure, maybe he's not a thousand percent sure, but what else could explain what happened? It makes a lot of sense, and he's sure that he's not wrong, not this time. He can feel it.

"I think," Stiles says, shifting to lean against Jordan. "You're my good luck charm."

"That works for me," Jordan says, though his voice is strained, and Stiles isn't sure if it's just relief, or exhaustion, or what, but he looks like he's about to cry again.

"Me too." Stiles snuggles against him. "I ran out of breath, out of words," he says softly. "I didn't think I was going to get the chance to tell you that I love you."

"What?" Jordan looks down at him, surprised.

"Yeah." Stiles nods. "I tried to tell you, but...it got too hard, and I needed my dad and Scott to know…"

"No, I get it, I do." Jordan rushes to excuse Stiles' choice. "I understand completely, I was there, they weren't, they needed to know that they were on your mind."

"Thank you." Stiles presses a soft kiss to Jordan's clothed shoulder.

"I feel the same way, you know," Jordan says softly, his hand moving to link with Stiles', lacing their fingers together. "I'm in love with you."

Stiles doesn't say anything, he just looks up at Jordan and smiles. He's too weak, too exhausted to do much else - his wound may have healed, but he still lost a lot of blood, and that's okay with Jordan.

Stiles is alive. He had another close call, but he pulled through, and as he leans against Jordan, closing his eyes to get a little more rest, he thinks that, as long as he has his phoenix by his side, he's going to be alright.

A/N Alright, so of course, I do NOT know that Parrish is going to be a Phoenix, but it worked well for this story, and I wanted it. I hope that you guys enjoyed this little oneshot! Thanks so much for reading!