Work Text:
1)
“Your heart sounds funny.”
The voice startled Stiles out of his focus. He looked up and saw a kid look at him in concern. The kid couldn't have been more than five, but Stiles wasn’t sure. He wasn't good with kids. Her dark hair was pulled back in a braid and she was wearing a bright yellow sundress. “Uh, what?” Stiles said, not really sure how to react.
“Your heart sounds funny,” she repeated. She tugged on the hem of her denim vest and inched closer. “Like it’s not workin’ right.” Her hazel eyes were fixed on his chest.
Stiles frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Hearts are ‘posed to be steady. Unless you’re lyin’ or runnin’. Yours is weird. Like, it goes really fast, then really slow, then it stops and starts and jumps and it doesn’t sound right.”
“How do you know what my heart sounds like?” Stiles closed his book and leaned forward a little.
“‘Cause I was listenin’ to it,” she huffed.
“Luna!” A man appeared scooping the kid up and pulling her away from Stiles. “I’m sorry. I looked away for a minute and she wandered off. She knows better than to bother strangers.” The man had the same dark hair and hazel eyes. He was sporting an attractive amount of stubble. He was just a little taller than Stiles and had easily contained the small child in his strong arms.
“Uh, no. Just chatting about heartbeats,” Stiles said, feeling a little stunned. The man, who had been scanning the child, looked up at him in alarm.
“His sounds funny,” the girl, Luna, proclaimed again.
“Luna,” the man sighed. “You can’t just say that to somebody.” The man paused and tilted his head. “Sorry about her. She’s got a big imagination. Recently, she’s been giving everyone ‘heartbeats’ in her head. Mine is apparently slow.” He grinned weakly.
“Bull,” Stiles declared. “You’re a bad liar.”
“Uncle Derek doesn’t like lying,” Luna said. The man glared at her.
“Good, because he’s bad at it,” Stiles smirked. “Now, I’m not sure exactly what’s going on, but I gotta say I’m a little worried about the heartbeat thing.”
“Don’t be. She’s just a kid playing pretend,” Derek insisted.
“Sure.” Stiles raised his eyebrows and stood up. He may have been able to break the other man if his phone hadn’t gone off. It was his alarm. Crap. “Fine. I have work. It was nice to meet you, Luna.” Luna giggled and buried her face in Derek’s shoulder. “Derek.” Stiles brushed past them heading to his jeep.
“Didn’t catch your name!” Derek called after him.
“I said it when you told me the truth,” Stiles called back. There was no response, but Stiles could hear Luna giggling.
2)
Stiles nearly tripped over a small child running down the sidewalk. He grabbed her arm before she could fall in the street. Then he realized it was Luna, and she looked up at him with a bright smile. “Funny heart man!” she exclaimed.
“Sure. Why not?” Stiles chuckled. “And you are Luna, the one who listens to heartbeats.”
“Not everybody’s. Just yours. And my family’s.”
“Yeah?” Stiles scrunched his eyebrows together. “Why’d you decide to listen to mine, then? Why not stick with family?”
“‘Cause yours is so loud.”
“Loud?”
“Yeah.” Luna nodded emphatically. “I could hear it all the way across the park. That’s why I went to find you. Uncle Derek’s the only other person who has a heartbeat as loud as yours.” Luna suddenly straightened up and looked around. Then she leaned in close and covered the sides of her mouth. “I think it’s ‘cause you’re the same. Just like mom and mommy.”
“Luna!” Derek yelled as he jogged down the street. “You can’t just run off like that!” Derek stopped when he noticed Stiles. Luna, however, was still caught up in her escape.
“Bye funny heart man!” she yelled darting past Stiles with impossible speed. Stiles reached out to grab her but she was gone before he could even process what was happening. Derek rolled his eyes.
“Uh, I’m not chasing her. Though I’m very curious as to why she thinks we’re the same.”
Derek frowned at him. “The same?”
“You should catch your niece,” Stiles said, brushing past Derek again. Derek let out a quiet growl and Stiles heard him jogging after Luna, heading the opposite direction as Stiles.
3)
The next time, Stiles didn’t actually see Luna. He was bringing his dad lunch and before he could even sit down, his dad was talking. “You will never believe what someone told me today,” Sheriff Stilinski said. Stiles raised an eyebrow as he divided the food. His dad looked at the vegetable medley with disdain but continued anyway. “I was at the elementary school giving the usual safety talk.”
“Ah yes. Stranger danger. Don’t do drugs. Kick out the tail light if you get kidnapped. Good old days,” Stiles sighed, falling into his chair.
“Stiles, I’m trying to tell a story.” Noah glared at him.
“Please, continue.” Stiles gestured broadly.
“Since you remember your elementary school days so clearly, I’m sure you remember that I stay until the room is empty before heading back here. Just in case somebody wants to ask me something.”
“I remember.”
“Well, there was a little girl who stayed back until most everyone else was gone and she came up to me. She signaled for me to get close. Then she whispered that I smelled like the funny heart man.” Noah grinned.
Stiles choked on his drink. “Oh my God. You met Luna.”
“Clearly you know what she’s talking about, but I had no clue who the funny heart man was. So I asked her to describe him, and do you know what she says?”
“No, but clearly you want to share it,” Stiles managed, voice coming out a little garbled as he continued to try and clear his throat.
“She said the funny heart man had dots all over his face and always wears a red hoodie. Plus he smells like me.” Noah took a bite of his sandwich. “Now, what exactly does that mean, Stiles?”
“I really have no idea, but I met her at the park the other day with her uncle because she said my heart sounded funny. She didn’t explain and her uncle lied to me, so I didn’t tell them my name. She called me the funny heart man the next time she ran into me, and I mean that literally. The smell thing is new though, but it does absolutely nothing to help explain things.”
“Well, she wanted me to tell you that Derek, who I’m guessing is her uncle, is worried about your funny heart. Whatever that means.”
“She didn’t comment on your heart?” Stiles asked.
“No, that honor is reserved for you,” Noah sighed.
“Weird.”
4)
The library was boring on a good day, but it left Stiles plenty of time to work on his books and kept him on a schedule, which was helpful for his ADHD. Normally, there were only a few people who stopped in the Library, and he knew all the regulars. A few times a year, the number of kids who came by would multiply because of school projects or programs the library was putting on during the summer. Today was Drag Storytime, which was one of Stiles’ favorite programs. He’d befriended all of the Drag Queens and they would always stop to chat on their way in. The kids also seemed to like the program and every month brought in more and more kids. This month, after the program was finished and Stiles was checking out the last of the kids he heard someone shout. “Funny heart man!” He looked up and spotted Luna parading up to the desk. Behind her was a very confused-looking Lydia Martin.
“Hey Luna,” Stiles said, ignoring Lydia for the moment. “Did you come for the program?”
“Yeah! Mom said that she used to hang out with Drag Queens in high school because of a friend of hers. So I wanted to know what a Drag Queen was and Mommy remembered the program here. Mommy’s busy, but Mom was able to bring me,” Luna said excitedly. She gestured behind her to Lydia, who looked a little stunned. “Mom, this is the funny heart man Uncle Derek and I met at the park.”
“I can see that,” Lydia said, smiling gently. “Why don’t you go grab that book you were looking at and we’ll check it out, ok?”
“But then I can talk to the funny heart man?”
“He’s working sweetie, but I’m sure he’ll help you check out your book.” Lydia’s voice was firm, and, clearly, Luna was well versed in Lydia because she just nodded and skipped back over to the children's section. “Stiles,” Lydia said, looking back up at him.
“So if you’re Mom, who’s Mommy?” Stiles asked.
“I didn’t know you worked here.”
“Part-time. My books are the main thing. Only moved back last summer though. Dad asked me to. He’s looking at retiring soon and can’t do as much as he used to,” Stiles explained. “Did you adopt or was it a surrogate thing?”
“Luna was from Laura’s previous relationship before we got married.”
“Very cool. So do you know why she calls me ‘funny heart man’ because I just can’t figure it out.” Stiles thought Lydia did a very good job hiding her concern as she pursed her lips.
“Luna can’t explain it very well, and Derek won’t,” Lydia said carefully.
“Right. I’m guessing Derek is Laura’s brother?”
“Yes.”
“I got it!” Luna announced reapproaching the counter. She placed it down and looked up at Stiles expectantly.
“Then let’s get you checked out,” Stiles smiled.
5)
Someone screamed. Stiles looked up from his notes and scanned the area, searching out the threat. All he saw was Luna running towards him with glowing gold eyes.
“Funny heart man!” she yelled as she jumped at him. Stiles dropped his notebook as he scooped her up.
“Hey, Luna. What’s wrong?” Stiles asked, ignoring the glowing eyes for the moment. Before Luna could respond, Stiles heard a roar from the other side of the darkening park. “I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that would be the problem. Hey, Luna, don’t let go. I’m gonna get you out of here.” Stiles readjusted her quickly and started for his jeep as fast as he could. There was another roar, though this one sounded different like it had come from someone else. Luna was crying into his shoulder, but Stiles didn’t allow himself to think about any of that. He focused on getting her to his jeep. He opened the driver’s side door and got in, thankful that Luna was clinging closely enough that they both fit. “All right, Luna, I know you’re upset, but you need to tell me what’s going on.”
“I wanna go home,” Luna whined, gripping him tighter. Stiles could feel little pricks where her nails, which were way too sharp to be normal human nails, were digging into his back.
“Luna, I need you to focus. We can’t go home until I know what happened.”
“Home,” she insisted. Stiles rubbed her back as another roar rattled the metal jeep.
“I’ll take you home, but can you answer just a few questions for me? You can just shake your head yes or no,” Stiles said. Luna pulled back a little, blinking red puffy eyes up at him. Then she nodded. “Okay. Were you here with your Mom?” She shook her head no. “Your Mommy?” Another no. “Your Uncle Derek?” She nodded yes. “Did someone attack you?” Another yes. “Will Derek be okay if we leave him here?”
“He-he said to fi-find you and go-go home,” she sniffed.
“All right. Can you get me to your house?” Stiles looked nervously back at the park. It was nearly sunset and the shadows were long. He could hear the sounds of a fight not far from where they were and he wanted to check on Derek, but he would not leave Luna alone. Luna nodded. Stiles eased Luna over into the passenger seat and got her buckled in, trying his best to ignore the noises outside the car. He was sure there was more he wasn’t hearing, based on the distressed sounds that Luna was making.
He kept talking, calm and low, trying to keep her from crying again. He went to pull out of the lot but was stopped by a snarling monster with red eyes who slammed into the hood of his jeep. He and Luna screamed. He forced himself to take a breath as the monster gathered itself up and looked at them hungrily. “Luna, get in the back.” He unbuckled her and reached for his metal bat, which was tucked up under his seat from a visit with his dad to the batting cages. Luna looked at him, eyes glowing gold again. “Go. Do what I say. I promise I’ll get you home.” The beast in front of them fixed its glare on Luna, who climbed over the seat with clawed hands. Stiles got out of the jeep. “Hey ugly!” He yelled. The beast looked at him and let out a low growl. “Leave her alone.” He swung the bat at its head as hard as he could. As he connected, he heard another roar and something leaped on the beast’s back, jerking it away from Stiles and his jeep. Stiles followed them, dodging claws and swinging his bat when he could. But he didn’t go far from the jeep where he could still hear Luna crying, terrified in the back seat of the jeep. The beast staggered to the ground and Stiles pounded its head one last time before it fell still. Unconscious, but not dead.
As he watched, it changed from the long-legged, furry monster into a shaggy-haired man with a burn scar twisting around his naked torso. Stiles stared at him in shock. Until he heard a growl and remembered the other thing. He looked up and saw it, standing on the other side of the body. Glowing blue eyes and sharp fangs on a distorted humanoid shape. But they were changing too. The sideburns faded and posture straightened until Stiles was looking at a bloody Derek, eyes still electric blue. “Where’s Luna?” Derek demanded. Stiles bolted.
He ran for the jeep and flung open the back doors. “Hey,” he breathed as Luna threw herself at him. “Hey, it’s okay.” Stiles gripped her tightly, letting her bury her face in his neck as she cried. Stiles was still panting as Derek slowly approached them. But Luna clearly knew he was there when she pulled herself away from Stiles and jerked towards Derek. Stiles let her go. He let himself drop into the jeep, shaking. Derek was doing some kind of weird smelling and growling thing with Luna, but Stiles was too distracted. His chest felt weird and he couldn’t catch his breath.
“Funny heart man?” Luna said. Stiles looked up at her, but he felt dizzy.
“Stiles?” Derek said. Stiles lost consciousness.
+1)
“It’s called Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy,” the doctor said. Stiles blinked at him in shock. “Most people don’t see symptoms until later in life or in stressful situations. It’s something we need to keep an eye on and I’m going to prescribe you a beta-blocker. If you have another severe event like this, we may need to look at other treatments. A pacemaker or internal defibrillator.”
“How did this happen?” Stiles picked at the IV in his hand.
“It’s a hereditary condition. According to our records, your maternal grandfather had it. It’s likely that your mother did too but never experienced any symptoms or had her symptoms attributed to her dementia,” she explained. She left him alone in the hospital bed and he just stared after her. He’d just seen two werewolves fighting in the park last night and somehow this was more shocking than knowing the supernatural existed. Someone knocked on the door but didn’t wait for him to respond before entering.
“Funny heart man!” Luna exclaimed. She jumped at the bed, only to be caught by a woman with dark hair and hazel eyes before she could land.
“Whoa, Luna. We talked about this,” the woman scolded. “You can’t jump on him. He’s sick. Just like we don’t jump on Mom when she’s sick.”
“She’s fine,” Stiles said, grinning as Luna wriggled in her mother’s grip.
“She still needs to be gentle.” But the woman let Luna onto the bed and Luna instantly wrapped her arms around his neck.
“I was worried about you, funny heart man,” Luna said. “Uncle Derek was worried too.”
“I’m okay, Luna,” Stiles said. Luna frowned at him like she didn’t believe him.
“We know when you’re lying, Mr. Stilinski,” the woman said. “I’m Laura, Derek’s sister and Lydia’s mate. I’m also Luna’s mother. She’s become rather fond of you these past few months. Derek too.”
“Yeah, well, I’m fond of them too. It’s nice to see them at the park or storytime. And now I know why she calls me ‘funny heart man’ so, hey, good day all around.” Stiles forced a grin.
“I heard.” Laura frowned again. “I wanted to thank you for protecting her and Derek last night. It’s been a while since someone has been willing to help us. It was especially brave since you didn’t know what you were facing.”
“Yeah, speaking of. Are you guys werewolves? I didn’t get a chance to ask before I had a medical emergency and was left at the hospital.”
Laura laughed a little. “Yes. We are werewolves. Lydia isn’t, but I’ll let her tell you her story in her own time. Derek’s waiting to talk to you, but I just wanted to say thank you. I’m sure we’ll get to know each other soon.” Laura smiled and her eyes flashed gold. “Oh, and my Mom wanted to make sure you stopped by once you’re out of the hospital. She'd like to thank you too.”
“Um, what?” Stiles frowned, but Laura didn’t answer. She just herded her child from the room. A few minutes later Derek stood in the doorway, just staring at him. Stiles rolled his eyes. “Come on. Don’t just stand in the door like a creeper.”
“I’m not a creeper.” Derek scowled, but he finally entered the room and closed the door. “I have your book.” He set the notebook down on the table beside the bed.
“Thanks.”
He was quiet for a moment, but Stiles just waited. “Are you okay?” Derek said finally.
Stiles shrugged. “I just found out werewolves are real, fought some kind of super wolf, and found out I have a heart condition all in the last twenty-four hours. Okay is relative.”
“It was an Alpha. Not a super wolf.”
“Whatever it’s called, it was big and trying to eat your niece. Please tell me someone took care of it.”
“My mom took care of him. He won’t be back,” Derek said darkly.
“Good.” Stiles let his head fall back against his pillow and it was quiet for a few minutes.
Then Derek let out a growl. “You should have run.”
Stiles sat up and glared at him. “I did run, but I wasn’t about to let that thing near Luna. Plus, I knew you were out there. I didn’t want you to get hurt either.”
“I heal,” Derek growled.
“I didn’t know that!” Stiles snapped. “But even if I had, I wouldn’t have done anything differently. Luna was in danger and I could do something about it, so I did.” Derek tilted his head, looking just a little confused.
“I don’t get you,” he said.
“What’s to get? I’m just the funny heart man,” Stiles huffed, crossing his arms.
“That’s not all you are,” Derek said quietly. “Luna only found you the first time because she was looking for me. She said that our hearts were the same.”
“I believe she was talking about volume there, Derek.”
“She has better hearing than most of us. Even Mom and Laura. That being said, she’s not just a werewolf. Her dad was a druid. He left Laura when he found out she was pregnant. Luna doesn’t hear heartbeats the same way we do. Our emissary says she’s hearing the soul more than the heart.” Derek let out a sigh. “When she said we were the same she didn’t mean volume or rhythm. She meant the same like harmony. I got her to explain it. As best as a five-year-old can.”
“So your niece is half druid, half werewolf, and thinks our souls harmonize?” Stiles raised his eyebrows. Derek shrugged. “You’ve got to know how that sounds.”
“It is not the weirdest thing you’ll hear around my family.”
“That makes it sound like you want me around your family.”
“Maybe. Or we could start with coffee.” Derek rubbed at his neck and his ears were bright red.
“I think you owe me lunch after the shit I’ve been through,” Stiles declared with a grin. Derek looked up, hazel eyes full of hope. “How about tomorrow?”
“Perfect.” Derek turned to leave.
“Don’t you want to know where?”
Derek smirked over his shoulder. “I’ll just listen for the funny heartbeat. It’s hard to miss.”
+2)
“Your heart sounds funny,” Luna said as she poked her head into the room. Derek rolled his eyes. She was seven now and had a lot better control. Despite that, she still tended to listen to everyone’s heartbeat. “It’s just Stiles. You’ve been on a thousand dates with him.”
“This is different,” Derek said. He took a seat on his bed and patted the spot beside him. Luna quickly joined him, briefly scenting his neck before settling down.
“What’s so different? Is that why you’re here and not at your place? Is that why Mom was planning a party for later? Is that why the Sheriff was here? Are you gonna ask Stiles to marry you?”
“One question at a time,” Derek chuckled.
“Fine,” she huffed. “Are you gonna ask Stiles to marry you?”
“Yes. And yes, that’s why your Mom is planning a party. Stiles doesn’t know so don’t say anything to him.”
“But if you surprise him his heart may get funny again.” Luna frowned. “I don’t want him to get sick if you surprise him.”
“A surprise won’t hurt his heart. But, if you're worried, you can listen for it and make sure he’s okay.”
“That’s your job, Uncle Derek.” Luna rolled her eyes.
“Is it?”
“That’s what it means when your heartbeats are the same. Like Mom and Mommy. Or Grandma and Granddad. Or Uncle Peter and Aunt Eliza. The other heartbeat is your responsibility.”
“Oh really?” Derek raised an eyebrow.
“They’re supposed to be the same and when one’s being weird the other is ‘posed to fix it. Like when Mom is having a banshee thing and Mommy has to calm her down. Or when Stiles’ heart gets funnier than normal and you get all protective. Then the beats go back to being the same,” Luna explained.
“I think that is the most adorable thing I’ve ever heard,” Stiles said. Both werewolves looked up to see him standing in the doorframe. “I’m also curious about this surprise, but I can assure you my heart will survive.” Stiles grinned at them.
“How’d you do that?” Luna asked, jumping to her feet. “How’d you make it so we couldn’t hear you?”
Stiles shrugged. “I wasn’t trying. Maybe you weren’t listening.”
“I always listen,” she pouted.
“Your Mommy was looking for you. Something about needing a taste tester. I’d hurry if I were you.” Stiles ran his hand through her hair as she ran past him. Derek smiled softly. “What are you smiling at?”
“Just listening to your heart,” Derek said. He got up and pulled Stiles in close. “It’s apparently my job.”
“I think that job goes both ways, big guy.” Stiles wrapped his arms around Derek’s neck and pulled him in for a kiss. “So you have to let me know if your heartbeat gets funny since I can’t hear it.”
“I think I can manage that.” Derek grinned and kissed him again. “My funny heart man.”