Side Effects

Knowledge is Power

Sam is more than happy share what Stiles wanted to know, he hopes him and Dean will be able to help see exactly why Stiles' hometown is such a hotspot and help in anyway they can. For all Stiles has been through, he could use the leg up if he runs into anything like Sam and Dean's usual cases.

Sam decided to start with the basics of being a hunter that anyone taking on this profession should know. Stiles grumbled about, "hunters and their homicidal tendencies", but was quick to concede that even if Stiles is facing against a hunter, it's better to know where their strategies are coming from. Hunters usually take the offense in a hunt since they purposely seek out what's been killing folks and handle it as swiftly as possible. The clues they follow are based on the "rules" they follow because of their own nature. Demons leave behind sulfur, sacrifices fuel witches and pagan gods, shape shifters' eyes reflect in cameras, djinns kidnap people to feed off them for several days, ghouls usually feed on corpses and can take the form of the person they eat (Dean mumbling "sick sons of bitches" in the background), etc.

Stiles' brain lit up with every new piece of information he received as Sam continued with his "Hunter 101" lesson. He thought it'd be a boring recruiter spiel made to scare him from learning more or an extremely prejudicial speech against anything and anyone that isn't human. But thankfully Sam kept it factual, and we confirmed the existence of several creatures that Still has only ever read about. Not even the Argent bestiary was this detailed or expansive. To think this is only the beginning is sparking excitement that Stiles hasn't felt in a while.

One the scariest parts of being trapped in his own mind with the Nogitsune was the complete lack of control and not knowing how to stop it. The only pieces of information the Pack had at hand was half of it at best and the rest was educational guesses with calculated risks all wrapped up with hope and desperation. What Sam is teaching Stiles is minimizing the risk of him and his loved ones being caught with their pants down and preventing numerous casualties and deaths.

The only knowledgable people left in Beacon Hills are Dr. Deaton, the most cryptic "my eyes only" type of dude there is and Peter Hale, a man Stiles doesn't trust as far as he can throw him. Sam and Dean were like encyclopedias on the supernatural and Stiles felt confident that if he couldn't commit every detail to memory during this trip home, Sam and Dean wouldn't mind repeating it or sending him materials. They know that being prepared saves lives.

Unable to contain all the new questions bouncing around in his mind, Stiles would take advantage almost every time Sam took a breath and ask him one or two. "But how do you decipher vague witness accounts, made by people that don't want to be known as the town crazy, into solid confirmation of what you might be hunting?".

Dean chimed in before Sam could get in a word, "No, kid, it's the opposite most of the time! Crazies and conspiracy nuts turn anything exciting in their small town into undeniable proof of their obsession and they go around calling it by the wrong name, like mandroids and aliens! And you're lucky if they aren't in your way trying to get more 'proof' for their web channel or whatever".

Stiles finds it hard to believe it's that common of a problem, but then he looks as Sam who is nodding with exasperation and wonders how many myths turned into modern day tabloid stories or reddit threads. Sam goes on to explain how eye witness accounts aren't too common anyway since attention is the last thing either side wants, both hunters and monsters depend on discretion to survive.

Sam goes on to explain that attention of any kind for hunters causes panic and even a spot of the FBI's most wanted list. It reminds Stiles of when he and Scott had to trap Jackson in the back of a stolen police van, and when questioned and unable to answer honestly, they were slapped with restraining orders and labeled as delinquents. It makes Stiles grateful he doesn't have to lie anymore because his dad is now in the know and can cover up anything that gets out of hand and would cause a headline. But he hopes his dad gets to retirement before anyone more competent than Rafael McCall at the FBI notices and reads any cover ups the wrong way, in an accomplice-to-murder way.

A lot of the trip continue with Sam's lectures going from hunter strategies and planning to the best sources for folklore and which lore is most accurate for the current United States, harder than other countries due to immigration over the years. Stiles tried to ask about religion-based beliefs and Sam skirted around the issue, Stiles wasn't sure if it was Sam trying not to blow Stiles' mind on what's true or not about the great beyond or if there's a much longer story buried there. Dean kept quiet then.

Dean would occasionally add his commentary, the most common being "dicks", when Sam explained a particularly nasty creature. He was mostly tuning it out and paying more attention to the low volume music, he lived everything Sam is explaining after all. But with Sam going into "professor mode" and Stiles being the most eager student he's ever seen, Dean had to impose breaks on these two. For everyone's sakes he ruled that there can't be any learning during meals, or when a particularly good guitar solo came on. There was some grumbling from both parties at the start, but it actually helped them get back into it with more vigor since they had a minute to remember more details or think of more questions.

Day slipped into night and into early morning without real notice. The brothers being used to long haul drives and Stiles feeling more energized than ever before, it wasn't as exhausting for the three as it probably should have been. When the Impala finally crossed into Beacon County, Dean mentioned stopping somewhere with a bed and everyone getting some real sleep before facing Beacon Hills. Stiles couldn't argue, he'd need all his strength to return to Beacon Hills with hunters at his side. But, somehow, the thought of going back didn't bring dread and resignation like it once did. It was a nice change for once.