Work Text:
Pools of Black
Chaos was the new pastime.
Strife was the new black.
Pain was the new normal.
Stiles sat against a large tree, surrounded by the dark woods. The pain was blooming on his neck where Scott had bitten him.
Pain was everywhere.
He squeezed Scott’s hand, clinging to life. Holding on to a life that hadn’t been his for a while. For the first time, the forest was silent. It was a stillness that sent a chill up Stiles' spine. This wasn’t right. Nothing was right.
He felt colder than ice, but the pain burning inside him felt like fire. Stiles wiped away the liquid coming from his nose and mouth with the back of his hand. It felt like the worst nosebleed ever. He looked at the blood on his hand and his heart almost stopped.
This blood wasn’t red, but instead pure black.
The bite was supposed to be the hero in all of this. It was supposed to save Stiles.
But the bite had been a lie.
It was his fault that all this had happened. Stiles was the one who let it in, who gave the demon the key to his body, stating that it could do whatever it desired. The contract to his soul.
It was all because of him.
Stiles was the Nogitsune.
Now he knew how Paige had felt the night that she had died, young in Derek’s arms, or how Allison’s grandfather felt when he was tricked. But Gerard deserved that. He was ruthless and was willing to kill anything and anyone to get what he wanted.
Stiles supposed he deserved what he was experiencing now, too. The Nogitsune and Gerard were no different, after all. They had both wanted the same thing.
Power
He had done terrible things, stood by as people died, watched as everyone he loved was hurt. Granted, it was the dark spirit in him that made him do it, but it had still been Stiles’ body. The worst part was that Stiles had seen every single thing that his possessor had done, yet he had no control over his own body.
This- this was the end of the road for him. What sucked was that nothing that he had ever accomplished had mattered in this world. He was still going to die, and nobody would stop it.
It didn’t matter that he was 17. It didn’t matter that he had saved countless amounts of people. Nothing mattered anymore. It didn’t matter that he was the only family his dad had left. God, he had almost forgotten about his dad. He had never gotten the chance to say goodbye.
Nobody ever had time to say goodbye.
Not even his mom. No, she had left without a word, without a goodbye, too. His dad had always said they were a lot alike.
It was getting even harder for Stiles to breathe. He guessed it was because breathing was only a luxury for the living. And pretty soon, Stiles wouldn’t be. His eyes began to slowly shut, but he was jolted awake by the pain again. He had never thought much about his death, though he certainly never thought it would be this painful. Stiles was in so much pain that it felt like his insides were liquefying. Hell, they probably actually were.
No matter how much pain Scott tried to take away, it wasn’t enough.
It would never be enough.
He looked up at his best friend, who he just realized was crying. Stiles let out a slow breath. “It was all my fault, Scott... wasn’t… wasn’t it? The Nogitsune got in because I was too weak.”
Scott let out a shaky breath but didn't speak for a bit. “S-Stiles, no it’s not. This- this wasn’t your fault. The Nogitsune-“
“Did this?” Stiles cut in. He weakly put a hand on his chest. “Let’s not forget that it was my hands that killed all those people. My body. Me.”
Scott put his hand on Stiles’ shoulder. “No! It wasn’t you Stiles and- and you know it!”
Just for the sake of his friend, he nodded.
But he didn’t feel innocent.
“I'm scared, Scott,” Stiles whispered as he pushed the knot forming in his throat. That was all he could do.
Scott winced as he took away more of the pain from Stiles. “It’s going to be okay, Stiles. I promise.”
“Is it, Scott? Because-” Stiles shuttered as the pain intensified, gripping his stomach as more black liquid spilled from his lips and onto his shirt. “Ah, God!”
“Help is coming Stiles. Just hold on.”
Stiles ground his teeth. “I don’t know how much longer I can hold off.”
“I know-“
“Do you Scott? Cause I don’t think… I don’t think you do. The bite worked on you. So don’t tell me you know. And don’t tell me you know how much pain I'm in.”
“I'm sorry,” Scott whispered. “I thought I could fix this, I could fix you .”
“No….don’t apologize.”
Scott wiped away his own tears. “I shouldn’t have bitten you.”
“You did the right thing, man. Everything good that’s happened to me has been because of you. By biting me, you expelled the Nogitsune, and that was always the plan. I can now die with my dignity.”
“No, Stiles, don’t talk that way.”
“You just have to accept what is. I’m going to die. Derek said that the bite either changes you, or it kills you.” A cough ripped through Stiles and more black liquid made its way down his chin. “In a way… it’ll do both. Guess I’m just that lucky,” he said with a smirk.
He wished nothing more than to be in his own bed, in his own room, lying on his trusted pillow, instead of trying to cling to a life that he was about to lose.
He wished a lot of things were different. He wished his dad wasn’t a single parent. He wished his mom was still alive. He wished he didn’t have to leave his best friend.
Stiles lowered his already quiet voice and Scott had to lean in more to hear him. “This is it.”
“Stiles-“
“I’ll never be able to finish high school. I’ll never go to college, or drink. Hell, let me write off having a girlfriend, having sex, or even getting married.” Stiles managed a slight smile at the last part. “It’s crazy, the things you think about when you’re dying. God, everything hurts, Scott.” He took a deep breath.
“Here, let me-”
“No, I don’t want you to take any more pain away. I think I'm ready, Scott.”
“But help’s coming… I- I promise. They can do something... they- they have to be able to do something.”
“Dude, don’t make promises… you can’t keep.” Even in the moonlight, Stiles could see Scott’s face pale. “Nobody can help me now.”
“No, I promise… I just- give them a few more minutes. Please, Stiles.”
With a smirk, Stiles said, “Do you remember how it was before, just you and me?”
“Yeah?”
Stiles gave Scott the biggest smile he could muster as a tear rolled down his eyes. “I want you to remember those times. Because, Scott, you’re my brother and I love you.”
Stiles felt Scott’s arms wrap around him. “I love you too.”
Before everything turned black, Stiles could hear Scott as he wept for his friend…
His brother…
His blood…
Like he had never wept before, and like he’d never weep again.