A Little Bit Of Momentum

Chapter Two: Rain On The Fire

By PDOTL aka costumevintage

Jackson was always the last one out of the locker room. It was a well known fact he was always the last one off the field and coach had given him a key to lock up after himself. That's why Danny was now headed to the locker room an hour after practice. Of course Stiles tagged along because apparently with Scott being extra cozy with Allison lately, Danny was Stiles' newest bro. Danny had accepted the honor eventually but when desperate times called for desperate measures Jackson was just the Stiles-repellent Danny needed.

Today was one of those days with Stiles trying to talk about comic book characters and how they'd translated to film. He'd watch the movies, but all that time and effort for floppy picture books was beyond him.

The moment they'd walked in Stiles had tensed. That was odd enough, but the hushed voice and rumbling growls coming from the last row were just eerie. Danny walked swiftly to where he knew Jackson's locker was located and stopped short. Stiles ran into him at his sudden halt, but said nothing as he surveyed the scene over his shoulder.

Jackson was glued to the lockers, blood dripping from his arm, and looking as if he wanted to melt into them, while a tall, muscular figure hovered over him, talking in short angry bursts and the occasional growl. Jackson seemed to be stumbling, panicked with his responses, cowering when the aggravated man punch the locker to the left of his head sending a loud noise that echoed through out the room.

"Uh, Derek, what are you doing?" Stiles asked in confusion from behind Danny, effectively snapping said boy out of his stupor. Derek and Jackson both turned in their direction. The twenty-something year old barely spared Danny a glance, instead looking at Stiles with an annoyed glare.

"Hey, what the fuck do you think you're doing?" Danny finally said aloud, moving purposefully towards his bleeding best friend. Jackson might have been acting shady and keeping secrets from him for the past few months but he always had his back no matter what.

"I think we're finished here," the menacing stranger said, stepping away from the teen as the tan goalie approached. They glared at each other for a brief moment before Stiles was at the dark man's side, tugging on his arm, trying to catch his eye again. Derek shrugged him off and started to leave. When Danny looked up from checking Jackson's bleeding bicep Stiles was standing frozen looking torn.

"You know that nutcase?" Danny asked with a glower toward the exit.

"That's Derek Hale," he simply replied, his arms flopping in a decidedly confused way. He looked like he wanted to follow the trespasser out, but was also looking at the blood in numb fascination.

"The guy who killed his sister?" Danny asked, his arm tightening protectively around Jackson's tense shoulders. The lacrosse star just stood there with a dazed look on his ashen face.

"He didn't kill his sister," Stiles practically shouted, much to the other boys' surprise. Jackson looked woozy and for once glanced at Stiles with something other than disdain.

"He's McCall's dealer, isn't he? He came in here all shot up that one time looking for Scott, almost tore my spine out."

Stiles scowled and crossed his arms defensively. "He's not a drug dealer, and he was poisoned that one time," he explained in frustration, ignoring the confused and disbelieving looks being thrown his way. "And Scott's not a druggie, okay? Kid's never had anything stronger than cough medicine in his life."

"Why are you defending that maniac?" Danny asked looking Stiles directly in the eye, seeing a shadow in its light brown depths. There was something he wasn't telling, something important if Stiles hadn't blabbed about it yet.

"He's really not that bad once you get to know him," Stiles avoided Danny's accusing gaze, but they both knew where they'd heard that before.

Danny stiffened and narrowed his eyes suspiciously, pulling away from his best friend to cross his arms. "Don't tell me that's the guy who you-who threatened to rip your throat out!" Danny burst out, remembering at the last minute that Jackson was still with them. The blonde simply looked at the two, wondering when they'd gotten so close. It sounded too familiar for them to still be just reluctant teammates.

"That sounds like something he'd say," Jackson piped in blankly, ignorant to the silent conversation going on between the two other boys.

"You're insane, Stilinski. Stay the hell away from that guy. I could tell within five minutes of meeting him he is bad news," Danny warned, a second away from trying to shake sense into him. Stiles frowned and shook his head stubbornly.

"Dude, there's a lot more to this than you know," Stiles said gravely before marching out. Jackson and Danny shared a look before leaping into action. Danny grabbed the first aid kit in the coach's office and Jackson cleaned off the blood making his skin a sticky mess.

"He must have really long nails," Danny observed as he disinfected the inflamed puncture wounds. Jackson nodded and looked darkly at the spot as it was bandaged.

"There's something weird about him. Something I don't like, and McCall and Stilinski know exactly what's going on." Danny looked up and saw his friend's face screwed up in an ugly mask of anger. There was definitely something weird going on, but it wasn't only about the crazy dude Stiles was questioning himself over.

"Stiles is too goofy to be in the middle of something like a drug ring. Whatever it is I think we're better off minding our own business," Danny muttered, taping the gauze to make sure it wouldn't slip. "No," Jackson practically growled. Danny raised an eyebrow and started to wonder how the blonde changed so much in so little time. "They're hiding something, and I'm going to find out."

"Why?" Danny asked, watching as Jackson pulled on a jacket and slammed his locker closed. He stayed leaning against the locker for several silent minutes, taking deep breaths and thoroughly freaking the goalie out.

"Danny, just leave," he finally said, his voice full of frustration and grinding teeth. Something in his dismissiveness and angry demeanor ticked Danny off, so he didn't bother to reply, he just left. He wasn't in the mood to play the understanding friend. It wasn't in Danny's nature to be patient and hold Jackson's hand when he had issues. In the end he was the most loyal guy you'd meet, but he wasn't a coddler. Jackson knew that, treasured both qualities and even banked on him still being there if he ever needed him. Right now Jackson didn't need anyone hanging off him, trying to figure out what was going through his mind. Truthfully he couldn't hold on to half the things that were, it was all fleeting emotions that rose and fell like crashing waves.

Danny felt like the day had just gotten out of hand. One minute he's trying to get rid of his parasite of a new friend, the next he's dealing with a crazy threatening his bro, and now he's stuck going home with Stiles being peeved at him and Jackson acting like a headcase.

He was just opening the door of his SUV when he heard the gravelly voice he recognized from the locker room. He crouched down instinctively, watching through his side door windows where Derek and Stiles were talking. Derek seemed to be in an agitated mood while Stiles was looking concerned.

"Assaulting high school kids in their own locker room. That's all I'm saying. It looks bad. If my dad knew-"

"So what, you're threatening me? Because you know Scott's-"

"No, no, no. Dude, I'm just saying you should be more careful. Whatever you think Jackson knows, he's not going to say anything, because clearly he's scared enough of you. I'm just saying you need to rethink your strategy. You're no good to us in jail." Derek didn't seem to have an answer to that because all he did was shuffle his feet a few times and huff.

"Listen," Stiles' voice sounded softer. Danny leaned in, breath fogging up the window in front of him. "Come over my house, I've got something to show you." Derek gave him an unimpressed look. Danny felt equally unimpressed. What exactly was Stiles' doing inviting him to his house? That sounded like just about the worse pick up line he had ever heard, magnified by the fact that it had come out of Stiles' mouth.

"Are you coming on to me?" Derek voiced after an awkward pause, he slowly crossed his arms and frowned. Stiles responded with a stuttering objection and a flailing of arms. Derek had to duck to avoid having his eye poked out.

"N-no! Why does everyone always assume I'm hitting on them?" Stiles looked genuinely unnerved. "I'm just saying I've been researching some news articles from around the time your sister went missing. I figure maybe they could tell us something about what lured her out here and clue us in to what big bad got to her. I know it's slow going and possibly useless to finding this guy, but without any recent appearances it's the best idea I could come up with."

Well that was interesting. So apparently part of the reason Derek was hanging out with Scott and Stiles was to find his sister's murderer. That didn't explain why they thought Jackson knew anything. A ringing started in Danny's head and he started to wonder why exactly Jackson seemed to be having a meltdown.

"You really are the Sheriff's kid," Derek replied dryly, pushing off of the Chevy he was leaning on. Stiles snorted and made a face. Derek paused and looked him directly in the eye, "Thank you for... this. I'll follow you there." Stiles watched him walk away, hands in pocket, leather covered shoulders slumped forward. "And by the way, I was only kidding." Danny caught the comical look on the brunette's face before he jumped into his blue jeep and wondered what was running through his head right at that moment.

Danny noticed the sun was starting to sink in the sky but stubbornly waited for the two cars to leave the parking lot before standing up again. Well, Jackson was right. There was definitely something fishy about the whole situation that had unfolded in front of him. Questions popped into his brain and he wondered faintly if he should tell Jackson about any of it. He fumbled with his keys and set his face in a determined mask.

Stiles had been completely honest with him more than once, had trusted him with one huge secret even when they were the farthest thing from friends. He'd covered for one of Stiles' secrets already, one more couldn't hurt. Danny wondered when he had started to feel in any way protective of the goofball. A headache was starting to form as the buzzing in his brain rose in volume. All he wanted to do was get home and slip into the jacuzzi, maybe watch some How I Met Your Mother. One more day until the weekend.

Author Note: I don't care, I love How I Met Your Mother. Neil Patrick Harris is flawless.

My Danny seems really nosy. No wonder him and Jackson are best friends. My Danny also doesn't put up with Jackson's mood swings. He'll leave the brunt of it to Scotty boy. Did this part even have a point? I kind of just wanted Danny to meet Derek in a unreassuring way and for Stiles shrug and be like "That's Derek for you, whatcha gonna do?" Hoped you guys liked.

The next part is giving me trouble, but I'll try to get it uploaded within a week. I feel like this fic is less plot and more character study/developing a slow friendship between Stiles and Danny. But don't worry, awkward Derek and Stiles scenes will be a must.