Summary: When Stiles wishes he'd never been born, the spirit of his mother shows him what Beacon Hills would be like without him. Friendship, family, hurt / comfort. Pre-Sterek. AU of "Master Plan."

It's a Wonderful Life, Stiles

Ch 1 of 8

Gerard's Prey

PenPatronus

Blood filled Stiles' mouth. He spit a cupful onto the concrete and then coughed the remaining drops out. Gerard towered above him, wincing at his right fist. "I think I bruised a knuckle on your cheekbone," he said. He flexed and stretched his fingers.

Stiles summoned all of his sarcasm. "Sorry to hear that," he whispered. "Guess we'll have to take a rain check on the torture."

An amused smile crawled across Gerard's pale face. "You think this is torture? This is a rug burn compared to what I am going to do to your friends." Gerard drove his boot into Stiles' stomach and forced the teen to roll onto his back. Behind them, Erica and Boyd struggled in their electrified bonds.

"They won't come." Stiles hugged his gut through his lacrosse jersey and gasped for breath. "Sorry, dude… but you kidnapped… the expendable one."

Gerard walked in a circle around Stiles – a vulture eyeing its prey. "Scott and Derek will come for you – their friend, the innocent human – and I will make them wish they'd never been born." He turned off the basement light and started to climb the stairs. "You won't be able to do a damn thing to help them. They're going to die because of you, Stiles." Gerard slammed the door shut.

"Because of me…" Stiles whispered aloud, only half conscious that the werewolves nearby could hear him. He coughed out the last of the blood in his throat and started to doze off into a pain-dense sleep. "Wish I'd never been born…" he muttered right before he fell asleep. "Then everyone would be better off…"

To Be Continued