Sleeping With Giants

In September, college classes start up. They're okay, at first. John doesn't have a major yet so he takes the basic classes - English, ethics, theology, intro to psych and art history. Zack is taking classes related to his physical therapy program and Kennedy is in the education program. So neither of them are in any of his classes, considering they have a specific, planned out schedule for the next four or more years and John is just...there. Sliding by. Which is what he does best if you ask him.

He moved into the pack house after his birthday. Alex was confused when John bitched about the fact that he was the only one not allowed to live there, claiming he never asked because he was never sure if John wanted it. John called him crazy - among other things - and was moved in to Alex's bedroom by the following afternoon. Alex might regret it - John is messy and sloppy and has a lot of stuff - but too late now. He's there for good. His mom was iffy at first - swore she didn't think John was quite ready for that kind of commitment - but finally gave in when she realized Alex was never going anywhere and she was basically stuck with him as a future son-in-law for life.

It's not until the end of September that anything out of the ordinary happens. Alex went for a run on Sunday morning, claiming he needed to clear his head and think about absolutely nothing for an hour, leaving John half conscious and dangerously close to the edge of the bed. John didn't question it, considering Alex has been stressed at work with some big project, and just rolled over to the middle of the bed and went back to sleep. He woke up again to Sierra shrieking downstairs, Tay yelling about bitches and assholes and someone banging on a table. Okay. That's not part of the normal day at all. Well, Tay yelling about bitches is. But still.

He leaves Alex's room in a pair of sweatpants that he has to keep pulling up because the drawstring is missing, standing at the top of the stairs on the second floor and finding all eight werewolves gathered in front of the front door. Alex is in the middle, chest heaving and eyes red and when John gets close enough, he sees the large rip in the side of his shirt, material dark with what has to be blood. Alex must hear his heart rate spike, or maybe he smells him first. Either way, he snaps his head up to look at John, his eyes still red.

"What happened?" John hears himself asking, "Are...are you bleeding?"

Alex’s face softens as John takes a step down the stairs, the others seeming to back up and letting him give an explanation as to why he’s standing in their doorway, bleeding and freaking out. “I’m not anymore,” he says, voice sounding a little rough, but his eyes are almost back to their normal color. He lifts his shirt and true to his word, there’s nothing there. It doesn’t surprise John. Werewolves heal much faster than humans do. But the fact that he was even bleeding in the first place is upsetting on its own. Who would want to hurt Alex?

“What happened?” he tries again, reaching the last step and stopping as Alex meets him there. “Are you okay?”

"Nothing, I was just-"

"Don't lie to me, Alex."

Jack laughs behind them and Matt kicks the back of his knee, causing him to nearly buckle to the ground. Alex sighs and puts his hand on John's arm. "Let's go upstairs and talk. I don't need seven immature children interrupting me."

They leave the others downstairs, Sierra looking concerned but none of the others seeming to be overly worried. Alex locks the bedroom door behind him and he sighs deeply, tugging the ripped t-shirt over his head

"I was attacked," he says, and he says it like he would say anything else. Like he would say he found a cool new restaurant or like he would say he had the best run of his entire life. He must pick up on how totally not okay with that answer John is because he smiles. "I know, it sounds bad. But I'm fine. I'm right here, aren't I?"

"Yeah but you were attacked. Why? By who? Will they do it again?"

"I don't know who it was. I can only assume they're a rogue werewolf - probably no pack. Probably felt threatened. I don't know. I wouldn't bet on it happening again."

John doesn't like that answer either but he can tell it's the best one he's going to get. He sighs and sits down on the edge of the bed, "You promise me you're safe?"

"Definitely safe," he says. He sits down next to John and puts his hand on his knee. "Things happen. I know that's not what you want to hear but it's okay. I did some damage to them too."

He knows Alex is strong enough to defend himself and he knows he wouldn't just go looking for trouble, but John hates feeling like this. He can't pinpoint it but he has a weird feeling. Like something is wrong here. Like this situation needs to be looked at and reevaluated and taken much more seriously. But Alex is the Alpha and if he says it's okay, then it's okay. John doesn't need to doubt that.

"Fine," he says, getting up from the bed. His sweatpants slip and he has to fix them once again so they're not sitting so dangerously low on his hips. "I have to work on my art history paper."

Alex pulls him back before he can get too far, pulls him so he's standing between his legs. He smiles up at John, tugs on the waistband of his sweats. "You have to put on different pants."

"No, these are my favorite-"

"They don't fit."

"Yeah, because the string broke."

"No, because they're mine," Alex tells him, "You are not walking around here wearing them. Cause if you do, I'm warning you now, I'm not keeping my hands to myself."

John blushes, tries not to think about the image Alex just gave him. He doesn't have time for sex. Or anything close to sex. He has a paper to write and he has to meet his mom for dinner later. So no. Not happening. "You can't tell me what to do."

"Except that I can."

John shrugs, "I ignore you literally all the time. So I don't think I'm going to-"

Alex grabs his wrist and John has about half a second to register the fact that he is an absolute idiot before Alex has him on his back on the mattress, both wrists pinned above his head. Alex's eyes gleam red for a second and if John hadn't been paying attention he would have missed it.

"Put on new sweatpants," Alex demands, his voice low and a little bit maybe slightly intimidating. John swallows and nods quickly, not wanting to provoke Alex even more. "And a shirt. Now."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

John rolls his eyes, "Okay, Alex."

Alex accepts it, climbs off of John and the next thing John knows, he's throwing a new pair of sweatpants at him. They land on his face and he hears Alex slam the dresser drawer shut before hearing the shower start in the bathroom. John groans. This is just his life now. Living with an overprotective, super bossy Alpha. And also dating him. Cool.



In October, he starts skipping classes. Not because he's sick or has other things to do. He just...doesn't feel like going. He gets lazy. And he swears he's totally going to go to every single class next week, he tells himself as he walks through the mall parking lot to his car. He is definitely not going to be a slacker and he's going to study for that make-up test and ace it. But today he's going to bring home this new Xbox and all the new games he bought and set it up in his and Alex's room so he can play while pretending to do homework. Because Alex totally thinks he goes to all of his classes. No need making him concerned when he never plans on skipping ever again. Really.

He's almost at his car when someone bumps into him. It's not overly crowded today so he's taken off guard, almost dropping his bag of very important and very expensive merchandise, before the person grabs a hold of him and steadies him on his feet.

"Woah, careful," she says, fingers tight on his arms and he squirms. She smiles, blindingly white and perfectly straight, and he's so well-versed in werewolves by now, he can tell. She is one. "You okay?"

John doesn't realize he hasn't answered her question until she raises one eyebrow, looking like she probably thinks he's mentally deficient. "Uh, yeah. Fine. Thanks."

"Gotta be more careful," she says, as he was the one who ran into her and wasn't watching where he was going. Which, when he thinks about it, is more than likely true. "Wouldn't want you getting hurt."

Ew. Okay. He shrugs out of her grip and turns around to start walking backwards to his car. "Yep, true, very true, thanks for the reminder."

She watches him as he navigates his way to his car fucking backwards, not continuing on her way until John opens the door. He slides in and dumps the bags on the passenger seat and locks the doors, resting his head against the steering wheel. Alex is going to flip. He's suddenly not all that excited about his new Xbox.

Before he leaves the parking lot, he texts Alex. He tells him he's on his way home and that some girl touched him and that he totally should not freak out too much when he gets there. Of course Alex sends a series of vaugely threatening responses about tearing the girl's throat out with his teeth (they need to work on his violence, it's going to be an issue) and then questions why John is at the mall and not in class. John ignores that one. That is totally not the issue right now.

Only Martin and Alex are home when John gets there, and Martin is in the living room, eyes focused on the TV. John's pretty sure he's being ignored, considering Martin doesn't look up or acknowledge his presence at all.

"Oh hey Martin. My day was good, thanks. Thanks for asking. And what about yours? I'm sure-"

Martin looks physically pained by John's constant rambling but at least he finally turns around on the couch. "Alex is waiting for you upstairs. I'm not supposed to delay your arrival so fucking go before he kills me because I'm preventing him from like, feeling you up or whatever."

"Oh."

"And yet you're still just standing here."

Right. Well, so much for warning Alex beforehand so he doesn't flip out too much. John sighs and starts heading up the stairs with his bags of video games. He really hopes he gets a chance to put them down before Alex starts freaking out over some weird random girl feeling him up in a parking lot. Actually, he decides as he stands outside their bedroom door, he should just leave them in the hall. Better safe than sorry.

He's in the middle of bending over to put the bags down when Alex pulls open the door, leaning over him in the doorway. "Get in here," he mumbles, and then he's gone, and John can only roll his eyes and hope his stuff is still here when he comes back for it.

"Okay," he sighs when he's closed the bedroom door, "Have at me, or whatever."

But Alex just stands there in the middle of the room, arms crossed over his chest and looking frozen in his spot. He furrows his eyebrows and stares at John's shoulder. "What did she look like?"

"Um. I dunno. Blonde hair."

"Very discriptive," Alex snaps, "Was she tall? She was a werewolf - did she look familiar? Did you get her name?"

Oh, great. This again. "No. I don't know her name. I've never seen her before in my life. She bumped into me, grabbed me to keep me from falling, and told me not to get hurt. What's your problem?"

"That's - I recognize her scent. She's the one who attacked me two weeks ago."

"Wait - really? Are you sure?"

Alex looks pissed at being questioned, but John can't help it. This is getting more complicated than he thought. "Well. She's at the mall. If I had known that she was one who did it I would have-"

"Would have what? I don't want you doing anything. I don't want you near her again. I'm going to kill her-"

"You can't just say things like that!"

"Well I'm going to, once I figure out where she is and why she's here-"

"You're going to kill her for attacking you?"

"For touching you."

Alex's eyebrows are still bunched together, making him look more confused than mad. John's not sure what's worse - Alex wanting to kill this girl, or Alex wanting to kill this girl because she touched John. They're both bad. But really, Alex's reactions need to be a little less violent. But John also knows it's a natural instinct kind of thing and Alex can't help it really. So he'll let it slide for now and not lecture Alex on the cons of killing people.

"Are you going to make me smell like you now or what?" He asks, laying down on the bed and kicking off his sneakers. He feels the bed dip a second later, Alex presses up against him and John sighs. It's not so bad, this part. Actually, he kind of likes it. But he won't tell Alex that or Alex will think it's okay to do it all the time. And when he says all the time, he means literally all the time. So he just relaxes into Alex's hold, let's him press his nose behind his ear and rub his hands along his arms. He doesn't expect Alex to talk any more about this girl, but he's wrong, as always.

"If you ever see her again, you need to call me," he says softly, "And don't go near her."

"She didn't do anything to me. And you said it yourself when it happened - she probably attacked you because she felt intimidated or something. What makes her dangerous now that I've come across her?"

"I just...I don't know. I feel weird about it. Just promise me?"

He gets it. Because even John felt a little off about the situation two weeks ago when Alex told him he was attacked. So Alex feeling like this is acceptable, for now. "Yeah, sure."

"And stop skipping class."

"Oh, bite me."



John gets a lot better about not missing class in November. He hands in shit on time and studies for tests and even lets Alex help him with homework. Because apparently Alex is a genius in disguise. Of course, the one day he decides to skip his art history class and go to the movies with Kennedy to goof off instead, everything goes wrong and he regrets not letting Alex give in to his stupid instincts and kill that girl from the parking lot last month.

He had stopped by his mom's house (it never got any less weird calling it that) to find a box of winter clothes he had packed away during the summer. He found it in his old room on the top shelf of the closet, filled with hoodies and beanies that he's going to need now that it's been getting colder. He probably should have taken this stuff with him when he moved out in August but he was too lazy to be bothered.

He puts the box in the trunk of his car and makes sure it's locked, planning on heading back inside the house just to leave his mom a note to let her know he stopped by. But when he turns around to do that, he freezes, finding the same girl who bumped into him in the parking lot standing on the front steps, waiting for him. Only this time she's not alone. The man next to her is huge - taller than Alex and Martin and Jack, even - and when John makes eye contact with him, it's obvious he's an Alpha.

"My mom's not home," is the first thing he thinks to say and alright. Not his best. "I mean. If that's who you're looking for 'cause, you know this is her house and I don't -"

"No we're here for you," the girl tells him, smirking as he takes a step backwards towards his car. He doesn't need to leave a note. He can just text her. That's more economical, anyway. Alex told him he needs to try and be more "green" so why not start - okay. Now is probably not the best time to think about recycling when two unknown werewolves are fast approaching him, one of which attacked his boyfriend.

"Listen, I think you've got the wrong person," he tries reasoning, even offers a smile when they're within ten feet of him. His back hits the car and now he's screwed. He's cornered. And nobody even knows where he is right now.

The Alpha grabs his arm, fingernails digging into his skin as he twists him around so his chest is pressed against his own car. "We definitely don't have the wrong person," he says, his mouth way too close to John's ear for John's liking. He pulls John's other arm behind his back and John thinks maybe his best option here is to just go with it. Alex has almost dislocated his arm plenty of times by mistake so this guy can definitely do much more damage if he wants to. John should not give him a reason to want to.

"Come with us willingly and we won't hurt you. Much," the girl says, and John can see her out of the corner of his eye. She's small. John could possibly maybe bruise her arm if he punched her. But other than that, he probably couldn't do much. He regrets declining Martin's offer for training.

"The car's two houses down," the Alpha says, puing John off the car, hands still tightly wrapped around his wrists. "Don't struggle."

"Fuck you," John spits out, going against everything he told himself. "Let me go!"

He tries pulling his arms out of the werewolf's grip but he doesn't even get an inch. The guy laughs behind him, twists his wrist in a way that his wrist should definitely not be twisted, and John cries out as the pain shoots through his entire arm.

"Like he said, don't struggle."



Alex is the Alpha. He's the one who protects the pack and forms allies and tells the lower ranked wolves what to do. And yet here he is, in the middle of the grocery store at four in the afternoon, having a minor crisis about what color grapes John likes more.

This is Tay's job. She's the one who takes care of making sure the fridge and pantry and Jack's personal snack drawer are fully stocked. But she's out with Matt, seeing a movie and getting dinner, and she sent Alex a text telling him he needs to take care of it instead. He'll get revenge for this. He swears he will.

The green grapes are on sale today so Alex grabs the red ones. He's positive John likes both kinds but will complain about the green ones tasting cheap if he finds out they were on sale. Alex smiles to himself as he pushes the shopping cart further down the produce section. He prides himself in knowing all there is to know about John. They've only been officially together for six months now but he's loved him for much longer than that. John was oblivious for so long, but that was okay by Alex because he was underage and Alex was totally not getting arrested for having sex with a minor.

Despite his concerns, Alex makes it through the grocery shopping in one piece. Self-checkout is a blessing from God and Alex didn't even have to converse with anyone at all the entire ordeal. He counts it as a win and puts all the plastic bags in the trunk of his car, ready to go home and relax with John and maybe convince Martin to cook dinner despite the fact that it's Alex's turn.

He checks his phone for any messages before leaving the parking lot. There's one from Jack, reminding him to get eggs (which yes, he remembered) and a voicemail from his dad about something to do with the accounts at work. There's nothing from John, which is strange considering John typically sends him a never ending stream of messages all day. But he only got three since this morning and he's kind of a little disappointed that there's nothing to read from him now. So he takes up the usual roll of clingy boyfriend and texts him a smiley face, because it's simple and John will ignore it and text him an entire recap of his whole day. Probably.

Except there's no new messages on his phone when he parks in the driveway and John's car isn't there either, meaning he's not home from the class that ended over an hour ago. Alex frowns, tries not to get worked up over something so simply explained, and gets out of the car to head inside.

"Get the bags out of the back of my car," he tells Sierra and Jack, who are sitting in the kitchen arguing over who did the dishes last night.

They obey instantly, but not quietly. Sierra mumbles about being used as a slave as she follows Jack outside. Alex leans up against the counter, stares down at his phone and glares at it, as if it's purposely keeping all of John's texts from him. Nothing happens, not like he expected it to, and Sierra and Jack are already back with all of the bags and he figures he has to at least help them put this stuff away.

"What's wrong?" Jack asks as he's putting the eggs into the fridge, "Why are you all...you know?"

"All what?" Alex plays dumb. "Nothing's wrong."

"You look constipated," Sierra points out, "Plus, you keep looking at your phone. And then at the door. And John isn't here. So obviously, you're wondering where he is."

"I'm not worried...concerned I guess. He's not answering my texts and he should have been home already, that's all."

"He's with Ken. They skipped class to go to the movies," Jack states, as if this is just common knowledge. "I probably wasn't supposed to tell you that."

"No, you weren't," Sierra sighs. "But really Alex. John's okay."

And Alex knows that already. Because there's no reason that John wouldn't be okay. Nothing's wrong and he's just really overly paranoid. He's been working on that. Because apparently, showing up at John's school in time for his class to get out just because he was concerned about the way John kept sneezing and coughing and generally sounding like death that morning was 'too much'. In John's opinion anyway. So Alex has backed off and tried to be a normal, non-overprotective boyfriend. Easy.

Except Kennedy comes home at five, and Alex hears him getting out of his car. His heartbeat is steady and he's coming up the front steps but John isn't with him. Nobody is. And Alex tenses up where he's been sitting in the kitchen, catching up on the news while Martin makes pasta.

"Has anyone seen John?" Kennedy calls out as soon as he's in the front door. "He's not answering my texts."

Alex's heart sinks and he grips the kitchen table, fingernails digging into the wood as Kennedy comes into the kitchen. He's alone, which Alex already was painfully aware of. "Everyone told me he was with you, skipping class to see a movie," Alex says, "So what do you mean he isn't with you?"

Kennedy stops walking, heartbeat quickening as he realized how pissed off Alex is. "I didn't...we were supposed to see the movie, yeah. But he never texted me so I assumed he didn't skip. I didn't think..."

And Alex swears he has good control. He's practiced for years and he doesn't flip out like he used to, doesn't act on his anger and do shit he'll regret when he calms down again. So it says a lot that he's barely holding it together, barely keeping himself from throwing Kennedy against a wall and asking him what made him actually think that anything about what he's just said sounded good.

"Alex, I'm sure he's fine!" Kennedy exclaims, holding his hands up in front of him in defense, "He's probably with his mom! He was supposed to get shit from her place anyway!"

Martin isn't cooking anymore, instead turning the stove off and grabbing his phone from his back pocket to call John's mom himself. His eyes are gold and he knows how serious this actually is, knows how close Alex is to actually hurting someone who might not even deserve it. He's been there, and he's seen it.

The phone call is short and doesn't offer any good news at all and even Kennedy starts to freak, his heart pounding as he hears John's mom over the phone explaining that John never showed up like he said he would. He always leaves a note for her, she tells Martin, always lets her know that he stopped by. She sounds nervous by the end of the phone call. Alex doesn't blame her. If his own pack has no idea where he is, she even knows that's not exactly a good sign.

"Where the hell would he go?" Jack asks, crowding into the kitchen behind Zack. Zack moves fast to Martin's side as he hangs up the phone, slipping under his arm and looking for comfort. Martin's hand goes to the back of his neck and he looks over at Alex. Alex who's been digging his nails into this kitchen table for the last five minutes, who probably has splinters in his fingertips, and who is probably going to have a conniption in two seconds if he can't figure out where to look for John first.

"Maybe Tay or Matt have heard from him," Zack suggests, and Alex can see him on his phone already, probably texting them to ask. But Alex knows their answer already. It's going to be no and they're right back where they started. The longer they wait to do anything, the more likely it is that something is happening to John. And John is human. He's not a werewolf and he can't defend himself the way Alex wishes he could and - he needs to start looking for him. He's not going to sit around and wait for info.

"We can split up," Martin says, pulling away from Zack and slipping his phone into his pocket again. "We have to. We can check all the places he could have gone today and go from there. Zack and I will check the school campus."

"I can check his mom's place," Sierra offers, "Maybe he did go at one point."

Kennedy decides he should check the movie theater, in case John did end up going there for whatever reason, and Jack ends up going with him. Alex goes with Sierra, because she's the only one he trusts driving his truck and he also knows she's the only one who will be able to calm him down enough to focus.

"His phone probably died," she says, reaching out and running her nails through his hair as she drives. "And he's probably running errands. You know what, he'll probably be back at the house, wondering where the hell we all went, and we can all take turns yelling at him."

It sounds okay in theory, but Alex can't accept it. His heart is pounding and it never does that. He's never so worked up that he can't focus or think or function like a normal person. Because this is his fault. He knew something was weird when he didn't get any texts. He shouldn't have brushed it aside. He shouldn't have convinced himself to step back and lay off and let John take care of himself. Because that's Alex's job. His job is to take care of John and look where he is now. Missing.

Alex can smell John before they even turn down his mom's street, but he also picks up two other scents and it's more than obvious they belong to two werewolves. Sierra picks them up too, but she doesn't know what Alex knows. That one of them is the same girl who attacked him in September and ran into John in October. Alex grips the door handle, barely resisting just jumping out and running the rest of the way just to let off steam. He should have known that girl was more trouble than they gave her credit for. He should have found her after she touched John. Should have interrogated her and asked her what she was doing here. Because it couldn't have been coincidence that she would run into Alex and then John as well. Coincidences don't happen to Alex.

"That's John's car," Sierra says as they pass by the neighbors house. Her voice shakes as she says it and Alex can see the way her knuckles are turning white from where she's gripping the steering wheel. "I'll check it out and let the others know. You go talk to John's mom."

The last thing Alex wants to do is talk to anyone, let alone John's mother. But he knows someone has to tell her that something is going on, and it might as well be him. She needs to know, and she might be able to help them out somehow. So Alex stays in the car for a few extra minutes after Sierra gets out, to calm down and get back in control so he doesn't freak his mom out too much. John would probably be pissed if he does that. And the thought of John almost has him loosing it again, nails digging into the dashboard of his car. No more thinking about what John would do. It's only going to set him back.

He tries to focus on the task at hand instead of the fact that he finds both stranger's scents by the front door when he knocks. He ignores the fact that that means they probably tried getting inside. He's hoping they didn't manage it. He doesn't need to worry about John's mother's safety on top of all of this.

"So what you're telling me is," she says when Alex has explained everything, giving her only enough detail to get worried, not panicked. "My son is missing. But he was here. And his car is here. So someone took him."

Okay, so she's definitely panicked. But Alex can't worry about that yet. He can't worry about anything other than the fact that John was taken from him without him even being aware that there could be the slightest chance of that happening. He's ashamed of himself but he can deal with that later.

"That's what we think happened," Alex tells her softly, hands clenched into fists. He can hear Sierra coming back to the house, running and calling Alex's name. She's coming through the front door before he can even take a step to meet her, waving her hand around, showing off the piece of paper she's found.

"This was on the front seat," she says, breathing hard as she hands the paper over. "It's an address. I looked it up and it's across town, by the high school. Martin and Zack are already heading over there and-"

He doesn't let her finish, crumpling the paper up in his fist and pushing past her to get to the front door. They left a location. They knew Alex would go looking for him.They want him to find John. John is just a way to lure Alex to them. He should have known this would happen. "Sierra, stay here," he tells her, and she frowns, eyes flashing gold as she contempates disobeying. But he gives her a harsh look, almost daring her to do it, and she sighs, submits without an argument. Sierra is always giving him trouble as far as obeying his commands, but she knows when to step down. She knows Alex is barely in his right mind right now.

He's sure he breaks the speed limit (by a lot) but he's lucky in that there doesn't seem to be many people on the road. The address isnt familiar to him but he knows the area and it should be easy enough to find. He hopes Martin is there already. He hopes he had the sense to call the police. He knows Martin is an intelligent guy but even so. He doesn't want John to think nobody cares where he is. He heart aches at just thinking about how long John's been gone for and how scared he must be. If he's hurt, Alex will never forgive himself. He's not even letting himself think that John is worse than hurt.

He ends up in the part of town that's undergoing a lot of rennovations. He doesn't need the address to find which house John is in. He picks up on his scent along with the other two, and it leads him to a house on the corner. The house is small and looks a little run-down and Martin's car is parked haphazardly out front, along with two police cars and Alex sighs and feels a little bit of relief at the sight. When he gets out of his car, he can hear John's heartbeat and it's much too fast for Alex's liking. Fast in a way that makes Alex even more anxious as he walks up to the front door of the house. It's open and he can hear Martin inside, talking about police stations and reports and his heart beat is fast, but somehow calm and that's a reassurance.

Zack is the first one he sees when he steps into the house, standing right there like he's been waiting for him, which is probably true. His eyes are wide and his hands have blood on them and now that he takes a second, Alex smells it. A lot of it. But not downstairs. "Where is he?" He demands, moving to walk past the younger boy, to push him aside so he can follow John's heartbeat up the stairs. "What's happening?"

"Alex, stop!" Zack cries out, pushing against him so he can't walk any further. Alex could push past him if he really wanted to, but he can tell he really shouldn't. "Don't go upstairs yet. Martin's dealing with it-"

"Dealing with what? I can deal with it myself - are they both up there? The girl too? I'm -"

"You're not going to be able to stop yourself if you see them," Zack warns, hands pushing on Alex's shoulders, "Let Martin handle it upstairs. There's three police officers up there. John's safe now-"

"I want to see him. You can't keep me from seeing him."

Zack bites his lip, putting more pressure on Alex's shoulders, but Alex thinks it's more to keep himself calm than to keep Alex in place. He can feel the concern and worry rolling off of him and that doesn't make him feel any better. "They called an ambulance. If you see John, you're not going to be able to control yourself. The last thing we need is you killing someone and getting arrested for murder when John's going to need you."

He's right. Alex knows he is. He won't be able to stop himself from killing that girl if he sees her, if he sees whatever she's done to John. He nods in defeat, let's Zack push him back away from the staircase.

"Trust me, Martin took care of both of them. I made him promise he wouldn't do any serious damage he'd get in trouble for but you know how he is. He said...he said who they really wanted was you. That they wanted to use John to make you hand over our territory. I don't think they expected someone else to find John first. But trust me. Martin took care of it."

"Okay," Alex nods, not liking the way Zack's heart rate spikes at the mention of Martin. He puts his hand on the back of his neck to comfort him, feeling the younger boy relax under his touch. "Did you get to see John?"

"He'll be alright," Zack promises, "Lost blood. Might need stitches, but he'll be fine. I can tell."

When there are footsteps coming down the stairs, and when Alex catches the scent of the girl and her Alpha - because he knows that now, knows he was here for Alex's territory - he keeps a tight hold on Zack, fingers pressing into his skin as he tries to keep calm and not do something he would regret almost immediately after. Zack doesn't let go of him until the only heartbeats Alex can find are those of his own pack.

"Go," he mumbles, lets go of Alex's wrist and Alex doesn't hesitate. He takes the stairs two at a time, finding Martin in the upstairs hallway, looking down at his phone.

"Calm down before you freak him out," Martin tells him looking up from the phone. "I'm going to go down to the police station. File reports and whatever else. Zack is staying here. The ambulance is on its way. Want me to just tell everyone to just meet at the hospital?"

"How bad-?" Alex cuts himself off, focusing more on the blood on Martin's shirt than he should.

"Bad but not as bad as it could have been," Martin sighs, "He's been asking for you. Barely conscious but enough. I tried to stop the bleeding as much as I could with my jacket and my belt but the paramedics will do a better job at it. But you need to calm down because going in there with red eyes and looking ready to murder someone is not going to help anybody."

He hadn't realized it, but being so close to John and John being in so much distress must have been too much for him. But he's not so far gone that he can't fix it, that he can't pull himself back in and collect himself. Martin smiles when he looks back at him, nods in approval and Alex sighs.

"Thanks Martin," he mumbles, and he would do what he did with Zack, touch the back of his neck and try to get across how thankful he is that way. But Martin is different - second in command as Jack always says - and Alex doesn't think he needs to do anything else. Martin already knows. And it's obvious now that Alex can depend on him more than he originally thought.

"Go," Martin nudges him towards the door across the hall, "I'll text you when I'm done."

The room he walks into is small. There's not much in it as far as furniture is concerned. Only a desk up against a wall. John is on the floor, Zack's jacket being used as a pillow and Alex's chest tightens at the way John is breathing, like it hurts him to even take a breath. His eyes are closed and Martin's jacket is wrapped around his upper thigh. Alex can smell the blood and it's taking everything in him to stay controlled. He wasn't here to protect John. John is hurt and he wasn't even here to help. He kneels down on the floor beside him, hands instantly reaching out to touch John's face, to let him know he's there.

John's eyes flutter open at the touch and Alex can't help but smile. "It's just me," he says, and he's not sure why considering it's obvious John has already comprehended that fact. He leans down and presses his lips to John's forehead, just to avoid actually looking at whatever damage they did to him. There's a cut above his eyebrow but it doesn't look like it's bleeding anymore, which is a relief. John sighs when he pulls away.

"I knew that," he says quietly, "I could hear your heavy breathing from the hallway."

"You're all bruised and bloody and yet still find the energy to make fun of me. I see how it is."

John reaches up with his left hand, runs his fingers over Alex's jaw. "I'm sorry I skipped class and didn't tell anybody where I was and ended up kidnapped and probably made your blood pressure spike and I really hope you don't have a stroke or something," he says, and it's hard for him to talk, taking deep breaths between every few words. He winces every time he inhales and Alex figures he has a broken rib or two. Or bruised, at the very least.

"Don't be stupid. This is my fault," Alex tells him, careful not to touch him too much. "I'm supposed to take care of you. And now look where we are. I promise I'll never let anything like this happen again. I'm not letting you out of my sight."

John groans, and Alex can't tell if it's from pain or just in reaction to Alex becoming a super over-protective boyfriend. Either way, Alex is just glad he's talking, that he's not so badly hurt that he can't. He takes it as a good sign and when Zack comes upstairs, followed closely by two paramedics, Alex tries not to get too possessive, too overprotective when they start touching John and checking all of his injuries. It pains him that he can't do any of these things, can't take care of John the way he needs to be, but he accepts it because he knows John needs medical attention, and soon.

The hospital is confusing for Alex at first. It's not like he ever needs to be here and he has no idea who he's supposed to be talking to or where he's supposed to tell the others to meet them. All he has is a map of the entire building that some nurse shoved into his hands before he himself was shoved out of John's hospital room. He's been pacing the hallway, texting Martin about his confusion and hoping that he might be able to shed some light on the whole thing, considering Martin wasn't bitten until he was sixteen and had spent quite a bit of time in hospitals as a teenager. Martin ends up being no help at all, sending back a series of questionmarks every time Alex asked him a question. Alex gives up, shoves the phone into his pocket and decides he can let the others find their own way to John's room. He tried. And failed. But still, tried.

Eventually (after five minutes of constant questions and pestering) the nurses at the front desk tell Alex he needs to just wait in the waiting room until a doctor comes to get him. He finds it easily enough, and not long after he's found by Sierra and Kennedy and John's mom, who looks too pale to be healthy.

"How is he?" She asks, immediately taking the empty chair next to Alex. "What happened?"

"He'll be alright," Alex assures her, "I don't really know what they're doing - one nurse said stitches and another one said a blood transfusion but I might have misheard them, I dunno. But he'll be fine."

His words don't do all that much to calm her down but Alex didn't really expect them to. Her kid's in the hospital. She's not going to calm down until she sees him and speaks to him and knows for a fact that's he safe and okay. Alex kind of feels the same way. Until he knows John has been taken care of and has everything he needs, he's still going to be on edge.

Only John's mom is allowed to see John at first, and she leaves the waiting room to see him and talk to the doctor. Alex is antsy, tapping his foot on the tiled floor and earning sympathetic glances from both Sierra and Kennedy. He leaves the waiting for for a short period of time to go investigate the gift shop, which according to the map is only a short distance from where they're waiting. He buys John a box of chocolate because John loves chocolate and Alex knows he's going to hate the hospital food. He also buys him a small stuffed animal. It's a wolf. Alex couldn't help himself. He pays for everything and heads back to see if there's any new news, only to find his entire pack taking over the waiting room.

"We brought you food," Jack announces when he sees Alex standing in the doorway. He waves around a bag of Doritos and Alex sighs contently, feeling much more relaxed now that every single heartbeat in his pack is accounted for. He can hear John's, hears it steady and much slower than when Alex first saw him and he's pretty sure he's asleep. Everyone is safe now and all he needs to really worry about is keeping them that way.



Alex has decided he hates hospitals. He hates the way the halls smell like bleech and the way the machines beep and the way the doctors and nurses ignore him. But he knows all of these things are good things - supposed to make him feel better about the level of care John is getting. But still. It's frustrating.

John is asleep. He has a broken wrist, three bruised ribs and a number of stitches in his leg and upper arm. He lost too much blood and he had to have blood transfusions and that might be the worst part about it. Because now John smells different - off, somehow. Alex can distinguish the hospital smell; the smell of all his doctors and nurses who have touched him; the now faint smell of pack. But now he has donated blood running through his veins and it's unsettling. Alex hates it.

"He needs that blood so please leave it in him," Matt says, feet up on the edge of John's bed and eyes focused on the crossword puzzle he bought in the gift shop. "The nurse already told you that you can get in the bed so I'm not sure what you're waiting for."

"I'm giving him his space," Alex snaps, fists clenched in his lap as he tries convincing himself that punching Matt is a bad idea. He really needs to get a grip on himself. He hates how he's been on edge all day, his violent side so close to the surface when it's always very well hidden. "If he wakes up and wants me near him then fine."

Matt exchanges a look with Tay who just shrugs and goes back to her phone. John's mom left for her night shift at the hospital across town and Kennedy and Sierra and Jack went back home. Martin got called out into the hallway by the same two cops he had spoken to down at the station to answer a few more questions. Zack is asleep, head in his arms on the end of John's bed, dangerously close to falling out of his chair. Alex would move him, or something, but he's too lazy and too tired. The only thing getting him out of his chair is if John opens his eyes.

"You guys should head home," Alex tells them, "Visiting hours are up soon and he's probably just going to sleep the rest of the night anyway. Might as well go home and sleep."

They're pretty easily convinced, the thought of sleeping in their own beds probably a welcome one considering the long day they've had. Tay tries waking Zack up the nice way, bending down and shaking his arm, but he just pushes her away, and she leaves the job to Matt, who scoops him up easily and maybe a little rougher than needed.

"Be careful," Tay scolds, "You almost just hit his head on the door."

They hang around in the hallway for a while, waiting for Martin to finish up with the police. He hears them laughing about something, but Alex tries not to eavesdrop too much so he's not sure about what. It's probably a joke at Zack's expense, knowing Matt. When Martin joins them, Alex thinks they'll just head home. But the door opens again and Martin comes in, looking worn out and ready to go home. But he smiles at Alex and sits down in the empty chair Zack left behind.

"I'm gonna go home with them," he says, keeping his voice low. "But you wanted to talk to me?"

Alex never told him that, and he never told the others to tell him that either. But he did want to talk to Martin about a few things and he's grateful Martin could figure that out without being told. "I wanted to thank you, mostly," Alex says, laughing a little as crosses his legs underneath him. "I mean, you saved him. And now you have to deal with all the questions and just. Thanks."

"You don't need to thank me for it. Not that I wouldn't have done it even if this wasn't true, but I owe you a lot, Alex. You saved me first, remember?"

It's not even something he could forget. He saved Martin seven years ago, found him after he was attacked by a group of guys on his way home, found him bleeding and barely alive and Alex bit him and he healed and was the first member of Alex's pack. But Alex doesn't consider that something that Martin even 'owes' him for. Not now that Martin is pack - family - and has done more than Alex even could have imagined.

"He doesn't know, does he?" Martin asks carefully, as if he knows that asking it is a little bit risky. "That he's your mate?"

Alex shakes his head, "No. I wasn't going to tell him, because he's young and he could have anybody and he could decide this isn't what he wants at all."

"But you can't have anyone. It's just him."

"I know. But I'll have to tell him now. He was kidnapped and harmed by other werewolves because they knew it would hurt me most. He needs to know. It's not fair to keep it from him."

"I don't think he'll change his mind. John is...he knows what he wants. He would have left already if this wasn't it."

Alex knows he's right, knows that John loves him and wants to be with him. But there's always that little bit of fear that something could happen and he could change his mind and want to leave. And after today...Alex wouldn't even blame him at all. He wouldn't blame him any other time but today especially.

"Just chill out," Martin advises, standing up to leave. "Don't think too much and try and get some sleep. You look like you're gonna pass out."

Alex tells him he will, even though he totally won't. He's not sleeping until he knows John is fine. When Martin leaves, Alex is left alone again. Zack had brought him a few books to read and got him a magazine from the gift shop and he has his phone for entertainment. But he just puts his feet up and leans his head in his hands and watches John, tries not to think about what he'd be doing if Martin hadn't found him so fast.

It's early in the morning when anything changes. Alex is half asleep in the chair and he thinks it must be after four at least when John's heartbeat picks up. It wakes him up instantly and the heart monitor is starting to beep a little faster, but John is still sleeping. Alex frowns. He doesn't seem like he's in pain but there has to be a reason for this.

The monitor doesn't seem to be a concern yet, considering no passing nurses give it a second glance but it's still making Alex nervous. John moves in his sleep, and he doesn't look nearly as peaceful as he did before. And then Alex realizes - he's having a nightmare.

Alex sighs and reaches out, taking John's hand into his own. He reacts to it almost instantly, heart slowing down to a normal pace and he mumbles Alex's name in his sleep. Alex smiles and presses his lips against the top of John's hand. "I love you," he mumbles, "More than anything."

A few seconds pass and Alex is starting to slip into sleep again, both hands holding John's and elbows leaning on the bed. He's going to be sore later with the way he's sitting now but he's too exhausted to care.

"Alex?"

Alex only grunts in response to his name, eyes still closed. If they need him that badly they can just keep talking and he'll decide if he needs to be conscious to acknowledge it.

"Alex."

There's a brief second when Alex really just considers pretending to be asleep and then this person will just go away and come back later when he's not practically out cold on his boyfriend's hospital bed. But then his brain registers that his boyfriend is the one saying his name and he's ignored him twice. And that second time sounded slightly threatening.

John is smiling at him when he finally looks up. His eyes light up when he realizes he finally has Alex's attention and he sighs as he settles against the pillows he's been sleeping on. "I was going to hit you but you've got my left hand held hostage and, well," he lifts his right arm a bit to show off the cast. "Can't do much with this."

"You feel okay?" Alex asks, moving his chair in even closer to the bed, "Want me to get a nurse or someone?"

John gets a concentrated look on his face, like he's evaluating whether or not he's got anything to complain about. Finally he shakes his head, "Nothing hurts right now. Is my wrist broken or...?"

"Broken. You've got some bruised ribs, too. And stitches. Lots of those."

John pouts and Alex resists the urge to kiss him. "I do everything with this hand. Literally everything."

"You also had to have a blood transfusion," Alex tells him, scrunching up his nose at the reminder.

John shrugs, "Cool. Why does that put you off so much?"

"You smell weird."

"That's rude to say to someone who's laying in a hospital bed," John teases, and then he yawns and rubs his left hand over his face. "I'm glad you're still here," he says with a sigh, laying his head back against the pillows.

"I can say the same about you."

"You can't get rid of me that easily. Although, there were many points throughout the whole ordeal where I thought I probably wasn't going to see you again. I'm glad I was wrong about that."

Alex lets out a shaky breath and takes John's hand back, squeezing it tightly. "I'm so sorry, baby. I'm sorry I let this happen to you. If I -"

John rolls his eyes, "You didn't let anything happen. It's not your fault. Some psychotic werewolves tried using me to get to you. You couldn't have predicted that."

"But you were alone for so long and I took too long realizing you were gone and I should have known. I should have-"

"You can either stop talking and get into this bed and sleep with me, or I can tell the nurses you're harassing me and send you home. Take your pick."

Alex doesn't need to be told twice. He kicks his shoes off and John moves to one side of the bed, letting Alex climb up next to him. It's a bit of a tight fit but Alex doesn't care. He manages to wrap his arms around John, avoiding all the wires and letting him settle against his chest. He's mostly on top of Alex and Alex hopes this isn't putting pressure on anything or giving him any pain.

"Tighter," John mumbles, squeezing his arms around Alex's chest. But then he whines and Alex sees him cringe in pain. He moves his right wrist so it's flat on Alex's chest and he flexes his fingers. "Just kidding. Just don't let go."

"Don't plan on it," Alex tells him.

He keeps his hand on John's back, keeping him gently pressed against him. John falls back asleep in a matter of minutes, breathing evening out. Alex takes a deep breath, inhaling John's scent and hating the way he smells like so many different people when it should just be Alex. He brings his hand up to run through John's hair, hopes that by morning his scent will change and start going back to normal. That's probably the least of his worries, but it is one of the few that he can fix right now.