Title: Venom

Author: tmjohn72

Rating: T

A/N - This idea came to me after watching a few episodes of "I Should Have Died," which is about people that go through horrible situations and somehow manage to survive. I thought it would be interesting to see how the pack would deal with something so mundane. But of course they always expect the supernatural first, and the normal world second. It worked out to 4 chapters and I think it turned out well enough to post.

It's more like a short story in 4 chapters than one of my usual fics, so don't hound me about length. )

Stiles

Stiles was angry. He had listened to the pack's comments and finally had enough when they declared that he was to keep his distance from all of them with the Alpha pack in town. Stiles knew it was stupid, mostly because a human Stiles without werewolf protection would be an easy target for the enemy. He had even said so, but Derek had quickly changed the subject while simultaneously reminding everyone that his word, as Alpha, was law. Everyone avoided his eyes like the good little puppets they were, and he was pretty sure that he even called them that, before storming out and walking into the forest.

To be fair, he wasn't exactly in the best mood when he arrived to the meeting. His Jeep was back in the repair shop and receiving new headlights since the previous ones had been crushed when he drove into Kanima-Jackson. That meant he needed a ride to the pack meeting and Scott had been able to borrow his mother's car, so he caught a ride with him. He had tried to explain his annoyance to Scott and if anyone should understand not having a vehicle it should have been him. Scott had just ignored him and continued talking about what he was going to get Allison for her birthday which was still about four months away.

So he stormed off into the forest. He didn't have a car and he wasn't going to stick around and wait for Scott. Stiles walked and walked, for at least half an hour, traipsing through the overgrown foliage of Beacon Hills on his way home. He was headed in the right direction, he was sure, when he heard a noise that made him freeze. He looked down at his feet in time to see the Rattlesnake strike. Stiles cringed when he felt the snake's fangs pierce his shin and, almost immediately, a burning sensation appeared. His attacker slithered away into the protection of bushes and as Stiles cursed like a sailor, he continued walking as he tried to remember everything from his seventh grade first aid unit in Health class.

He knew rattlesnakes were venomous, as evidenced by the fact that his right leg felt like it was completely on fire. He remembered that exerting himself would just make the venom spread more quickly so he leaned against a tree when he was sure that he was far enough away from the snake to avoid a second strike. He slid his pants leg up to his knee and looked as the skin around the bite became red and puffy.

"Damn it," he said, as he reached into his phone. He was prepared to call Scott to come rescue him, which he knew would only show the werewolves that they were justified in benching him. Hell, if he couldn't survive a snakebite on his own even he wasn't sure he should be around the Alpha pack. When he found his pockets empty he experienced a brief moment of panic as he realized he had been checking his email when the meeting began. He placed it on the table and hadn't bothered to pick it back up when he stormed off.

He knew he was in trouble. If the pack hadn't come after him by now they weren't going to. He couldn't risk walking because that would just make the venom spread faster. He was already doing his best to keep the wound below his heart. Now he was faced with the possibility of actually dying from a rattlesnake bite. He really hated his life.

It was five minutes before he felt the burning sensation spread and the knowledge that the venom was spreading caused his stress level to skyrocket. His mind was going a mile a minute but his body was already feeling fatigued. Stiles was debating yelling for help, as if that would even work, when he felt like someone had pulled a meat tenderizer and was pounding it against his leg. He raised his jeans a second time and his entire shin was swollen. Blood and pus were leaking out of the wound and Stiles knew that he was completely screwed.