Chapter 5: Book Shops

Summary:

Days and weeks pass by and Stiles is life progresses as well.

Daniel apparently owns a bookstore and has his own collection of Supernatural books.

Which he extends the option to read to Stiles and so the story continues.

Chapter Text

Stiles POV:

I didn't end up getting a text for the rest of the day. I was prepared to hack the database and stalk him until I found him then I was going to question him until I was satisfied. But luckily I didn't have to go down that route. While he didn't text me yesterday he did call me today. I was snacking on a sandwich. I was still in the precinct and I was chilling at Wu's desk getting crumbs everywhere. I was taking an early lunch because everyone was out on a case. As I was contemplating breaking the law I got a phone call from an unknown number. I was curious who it could be, but anyone besides Scott, my dad, and Wu would be an unknown number at this point.

"Hello," I said, but the word was muffled by my half-chewed-up sandwich still inside my cheek.

"Hey, it's Daniel." Was the curt response from Daniel.

"Oh hey. You actually called, I almost broke the law cause I thought you weren't gonna call me. Haha nevermind. This is your number yeah?" I ask, already saving it to my phone as 'Daniel the Were-lizard'.

"Yes, it is my number. Are you free? I'd rather get this over with now and be done with it. No offense but I don't want people to know I've talked to a Grimm and didn't kill him the first chance I got." Daniel said seemingly wanting to get rid of me.

"Ah well no one really saw me take a lunch break, I guess I can take another one. Where should I meet you?" I asked, I was sad that he wanted nothing to do with me but I was curious anyway.

"There's a cafe close to where I almost mugged you. I'll be there." Daniel said hanging up.

Well, this will be interesting. I quickly shot Wu a text saying I'm going off to lunch and that I'll be back in 30 minutes.

I navigated my way back to the alley where I was almost mugged and saw a tiny cafe, it was run by an older woman who smiled when I walked in. I saw Daniel but grabbed a coffee from the counter before heading over to him. He was at the back of the place in the seat farthest from the entrance. It was the most secluded area in the whole joint which was good for this kind of conversation. Though Daniel was fully blacked out with his hood up and he was constantly looking around. He was looking suspicious as hell.

"Sup!" I said sitting down with a large smile on my face.

"Right what do you want to know," Daniel said cutting over my greeting not wanting to be friendly.

"Yeah, I guess there are no thanks for not pressing charges and no greetings, I see how it is....fineeeeeee," I said sighing.

Daniel looked at me like I was crazy so I took that as my cue to start asking questions.

"Okay. I know some stuff; I know about the supernatural and even about hunters. But I've never heard someone call me a Grimm before nor have I ever seen something like you before. Well, I saw a Kanima but it was waaaaay scarier, no offense." I said.

Daniel sighed, "I still don't understand why you don't ask the other Grimm or why you seem to trust me more but like I told you before a Grimm is a hunter, they hunt wesen and cut off their heads."

"Ew...a bit barbaric no? I mean I saw the body of someone who got cut in half by a long sword but I've never seen someone beheaded before. Well do all Grimm's have to chop heads and hunt...uhhh...what did you call it? Wesen?" I asked remembering he said that word a few times but I never knew what it meant.

"You're weird you know. And I don't know much about Grimms. I only heard stories before, I never thought I'd meet one, or rather two. Nor did I think I'd still be alive after the fact. You guys are legends told as scary stories to wesen children to not go against the status quo lest a Grimm comes to chop your head off. And a wesen is me, or us I guess. That's what we call ourselves collectively." Daniel said.

"Huh...so we are rare...hmmm interesting. I wonder why Derek never said I was a Grimm before...hmm this is weird." I said out loud thinking to myself.

"Well, you must've just become a Grimm, since you know nothing about it. What's your surname?" Daniel asks.

"Oh uh, I guess I never introduced myself really, I'm Stiles, with Stilinski from my dad's side," I said curiously as to where this was going.

"Hmm, I don't recognize it. What about your mother's side?" Daniel asked.

"Ah her maiden name was Gajos, but I was told that it was changed when she was younger but she never got the chance to tell me why or what it was originally," I said.

I remembered my mother told me that her maiden name changed because she had some family problems or something. I can't remember. I know she said her last name started with an 'N' but I can't remember what she said seven or so years ago. Honestly, I think she just didn't say anything because I was a kid and it was an 'adult problem' or something like that.

"Hm, I don't know that one either. Were you adopted?" Daniel asks looking completely serious.

"Can I ask why you asking? And no I'm not adopted." I ask confused about what any of this had to do with my dad or mom.

"Well some Grimm's become famous, well rather feared. Their surnames are spread around wesen circles to watch out for. But I never heard of either of those names before. Either your parents were really well hidden or you were adopted. I heard being a Grimm is hereditary." Daniel said.

WHAT? So either my mom or my dad was a Grimm.....haaa? Or the off chance I'm adopted which is very unlikely. Hmmmmmm. I wonder if it was my mom, I mean I don't know her surname and she passed before she could tell me anything. But if it's my dad, well I don't know how I'd feel about that.

"Right...okay...uh let's move on before I get a headache. Wesen, you said it is a way to call your kind collectively...what exactly are you? Not a were-lizard I guess."

"No. I don't know where you got were-lizard from but no. I'm called a Skalengeck. A type of lizard, yes, technically. I guess you could classify us as such. And there are more than just me. There are so many different types of wesen I couldn't name them all." Daniel said looking like he wasn't too sure either.

"Okay, I understand sort of. I have another question, you said my eyes showed you I was a Grimm, what did you mean by that?" I ask.

"Oh when I woge your eyes turn pitch black, but like a different type of darkness, the all-encompassing kind. Really freaky looking and something that proves you are a Grimm." Daniel said seriously.

"Huh, cool. Heh. Ah, and woge?" I ask hearing another new word.

"The physical change," Daniel said motioning to his face.

"Ohhhhh you call it woge but it's like shifting. Okay, I got it." I said to myself though Daniel looked more confused.

"Oh, I am curious about something else I noticed. In the interrogation room, when you shifted and I saw the change and Nick, the other Grimm, saw the change why didn't Hank, the other cop, seem to see anything? It's like he didn't see the change at all?" I ask.

"That's what makes Grimm's so dangerous. Wesen has two forms of woge, the one that anyone can see and the one that only Grimm's can see. I can purposely woge so that everyone can see it. But when my emotions are high I will accidentally woge and Grimm's can see it even when Kehrseite's can't." Daniel said throwing in another new word.

"Kehrs...huh?" I say messing up the word entirely.

"Kehrseite, normal people." Daniel clarifies.

"Oh. So Grimm's can find you even when you don't want to be found. I see. Well, I guess I can see how that is dangerous. Humans are dangerous around things that are not normal. Well, this definitely helped me grasp some things. I still don't know how I feel about loping off body parts wesen or no wesen. I don't think I'll be that kind of Grimm." I declared.

"Sure," Daniel said sarcastically under his breath low enough that I missed it.

"What's with all the German words for everything?" I ask as an afterthought after realizing they all sounded non-American.

"Well everything is said to have started in Germany but that's an old old old myth. But I guess the German words just stuck. I honestly don't know." Daniel said.

"Hmm well, I wonder what I should do now?" I said quietly to myself.

I was stuck in a hard place. I wanted to find out more about Grimm's and wesen but I didn't want to hunt wesen and murder them just cause they are wesen. I mean that's fucked up honestly. I mean if they are hurting someone or doing really bad things maybe it's justified but who am I to play judge, jury, and executioner. But I guess that's kind of what Grimm's seem to do. Haaaaaaaaaaaa.

"I'm curious are werewolves considered wesen?" I ask.

Derek nor the Argents have ever mentioned wesen or Grimm's. So are they the same thing?

".......Werewolves...." Daniel said it slowly.

"You mean Blutbad, right? Cause there is no such thing as werewolves. That's just the dramatized Hollywood story of the Blutbad." Daniel said.

I paused, "Huh? No....what?"

I was confused. This is weird.

"More German right? But what's a Blutbad? I ask.

"Red eyes, wolf-ish old-world wesen. On the more dangerous side. Maybe you mistook the Blutbad for a werewolf, I mean it's based on Blutbad's so I can see the confusion. And now I see why you said were-lizard." Daniel said connecting dots and I was losing them.

"Uhhhh no. I've met multiple werewolves who've said they were werewolves, not Blutbad. Maybe their not wesen. Hmm, I'll have to ask when I go back home." I said the last part to myself.

"Hey, Daniel how do you know so much? Is it like passed down in your family or is there a wesen library or something? I'd love to learn more but I doubt Google will help me this time around." I asked as I was looking forward to a good ole research sesh.

Daniel seemed to be fighting with himself before he finally said anything.

"I actually do, I mean lots were passed down in my family as well of course. But I own a bookstore and there is a small wesen only kind of section. I mean it's not a lot." Daniel said backtracking.

"Wait if you own a business why'd you mug me?" I ask.

Daniel looks like he'd wish I never said anything.

"Don't ask more. I was having a bad day, okay." Daniel said looking uncomfortable with the whole thing.

"Okay...I guess. Where's your book store?" I ask planning to come over all the time.

Daniel sighed, "Two shops down."

"Oh really cool. I'll be over a bit just letting you know ahead of time." I said smiling with a cheeky shit-eating grin.

"Oh joy," Daniel said standing, "As long as you don't chop my head off and you don't bring that other Grimm around, feel free to use the store."

"Easy deal," I said watching him leave.

Well, that cleared up a lot and also confused me a lot. But at least I got access to research material now. I wonder if it's like the bestiary, and if they are in other languages, or maybe they have a nice English version. I doubt it, but it'd be nice to think about it.

After finishing my coffee I headed back to the police station thinking all about Grimm's and wesen and this whole new world I was dropped in since coming to Portland.

Since that day, life went on as usual as I could ever get it to be. I worked on an abundant amount of paperwork with Wu and I got swamped for a few weeks. I tried to go to the book store for a bit but in the end, I didn't end up seeing Daniel or the bookstore for about a week and a half. I got really really busy as the station became super hectic. There was a string of murders, people's heads were cut off and there was a symbol at the scene which was a 'G' imprinted on the victims. I had people give me shifty eyes all week. Also, I felt like I was being followed so I stayed far away from Daniel and his small little book store besides just being busy. I later learned that there was an intern before me, said intern was a serial killer, so of course, I got a bad rep for it. But those who looked at me eventually went away and the stalker I picked up also disappeared when they found out the murder was someone else, but it did leave me to consider that maybe it had something to do with Wesen's and Grimm's.

I mean the missing heads and the 'G' was proof enough but I wasn't allowed to be involved with that case, and I wasn't even given the chance to look into the files. Whatever was going on it made me distrust Nick more and more. If these were Grimm killings then were it possibly Nick who was doing it or someone trying to frame him. But I never did find out because after two weeks of searching for the killer Hank and Nick come in bloody and beat up saying that the case was over and that the suspect was shot and killed when he tried to attack them. It was suspicious as hell, but Wu handled that paperwork and I never got to see anything else about it. And no one else questioned it and so it all died down and life went on as if nothing happened.

It took a little while to get used to this kind of hectic lifestyle but I adapted quickly. I mean after dealing with Beacon Hills it's no wonder I adjusted fast. After about three weeks of living in Portland, I finally got into the flow of things where I could manage the job and have some free time for what I wanted to do. At first, I got so wrapped up in the internship every day that ended up not seeing Daniel and his books for a while.

But soon enough I found the time to go to the shop. The book shop was an older-looking brick building. On one side there was a shoe store and on the other was a barber that went out of business. The location was a bit hidden but the bookstore was several times larger than the other stores on the block, it must've cost a lot of money to rent it unless he owns it, but either way, Daniel has to have a lot of money, or he inherited it. Which in retrospect made the mugging even more stupid and weird, but anytime I tried to bring it up to Daniel, he avoided that topic with a ten-foot pole. So I just eventually summed it up to a bad day like he said and moved on.

One day after work I noticed I got off really early compared to the rest of the week and I decided to head to Daniel's. Daniel was used to me showing up later in the day when the shop was almost closing so he was surprised to see me.

"Hello!" I said walking in like it was my house.

Though the fact that I spent more time here and at work than in the hotel it kind of was like a home. And even though Daniel seemed uneasy at first I think he started to like me a bit. I mean even if I stay past closing he never kicks me out. And one time when I fell asleep in the middle of reading a book I woke up the next morning with a blanket on. Also, Daniel's changed since when I first met him. He no longer talks like he hates me and he talks a lot more than you'd think. He's as chatty as I am if not more and he's very knowledgeable when it comes to wesen.

He has lots of books and I mean lots. He originally told me that his family had a bit of a passion project on wesen history but this was more than a bit. It was too small to be called a museum but not by much. And he let slip one day that this collection was nothing to what he had at home. I wanted to ask him to show me but I thought he probably wasn't too chummy with me enough to let me in his house. While he was definitely more open and friendly he was still cautious. But after reading some of his books on Grimm's I can see why. Years and years of killing wesen, whether good or bad, lopping off limbs and heads with no digression, I would be terrified too. Hell, I am terrified, I mean is that going to be my future too?

One day I was in the book store just relaxing in the little nook I carved out for myself. Not a lot of people came to read, most just bought what they were looking for and then moved on. I mean the wesen section was open to the public and even less of these books were for sale. (edit ends - continue from here)

I was reading a bunch of books not concentrated on one subject but more so like 13 different subjects. It talked about how wesen aspects swayed history, and it named some political and historical figures of which were wesen. There were a few books talking about a group of people who fought against the royal families. I was just learning about the royal families. I can't really wrap my mind around it so much so that I didn't even want to talk about it with Daniel for like two days because to think that there's a royal family who can control most of the wesen happening all around the world kind of blows my mind. But then it also kind of makes sense considering hierarchy in animals.

Like how I read in one book that there was a pig type wesen called the Bauerschwein and that wesen is known to be bullied/murdered, I guess, by the wolf wesen, which Daniel told me was Blutbad and not werewolves. There was so much to learn. And I was absorbing all of it like a sponge. How could you not when you're faced with such a vast variety of information that pertains to stuff that you thought was true, but now you know it's completely different. It kind of shakes up your world but it kind of makes you want to dive deeper, like your curiosity is striving you forward to find out more. Because whether you like it or not, it's your world now, and you're involved. Especially so when you're a Grimm.

I still can't get over the fact that I'm supposed to be a hunter of sorts and that it's somehow in my blood. I don't want to think that it has to do with my mother. But then it could also be with my father. Because I read in one of the books even though it was a small passage it was still information, that Grimm's can skip a generation. So if it were to skip my father and then on it went on to me he might not even know. Or it could have been the same with my mother and it could have skipped a generation and passed on to me as well. I didn't even want to think about the fact that either one of them knew and didn't decide to tell me. I didn't want to think about it because that was an ultimate feeling of betrayal.

If it was my father and he didn't tell me it would be even worse because how could you not see what was going on in Beacon Hills and not think that it was some Supernatural related problem if you were in the know. That's partially why I don't think my parents knew about it. I think it may have skipped a generation or so and they have no clue. At least I hope they have no evidence. I don't even want to think about it if they did.

In a few days, my worlds crashed around me. Like finding out about werewolves was nothing compared to this. Finding out about the Supernatural, and that it existed was life-shattering sure, but finding out that you're a Grimm and that you can now see wesen and you're going to be targeted by them, and you have a duty to stop them. It was just too much for little ole me. My brain could barely grasp it. That's why when I first dived into the books at Daniel's shop, I went home after that day and called in sick to work the next day and just laid on the bed examining life and how fucked up it was. But then I thought about it and decided that it's not like you can quit being a Grimm. The only way to do that would be to die, and I wasn't looking to die anytime soon. I had so many questions but the books can only do so much. If it wasn't for Daniel, I think I would've gone crazy.

Anyway, today was like any other day I'm in Daniel's shop. Daniel was "working" in front of the shop. More so, he was standing in the corner of the shop and every now and then looking back to see what I was doing. Normally I was just sitting at a little desk that he let me have surrounded by tons and tons of books. He normally do you have too many customers. He had a hard time parting with books, which I don't understand if you're going to own a bookstore, why would you..., never mind.

Anyway, he was a reluctant seller, so to say and so can you have too many customers. The few people who did come here just came here to read books since there were some chairs and stuff. It was almost like they were treating it like a library, which is what I was using as so same difference. But the day was different; today, three buff dudes walked in. I didn't see them walking in because I was in the back, but I heard them walk in. Frequently when people came in, it was quiet footsteps trying to treat the atmosphere of a bookshop in a library as quiet. But no, these people had thundering footsteps oh, so loud and heavy that they shook the bookshelves themselves. When I noticed the shaking, I look back curious as to who would come into a bookstore like that. But it was answered soon enough when Daniel came in the wesen only section with a slightly anxious look on his face.

The three men who enter the bookshop followed after him with mean looks on their faces. They were about to go off, and I'm assuming yell at Daniel, but then they noticed me. I tried to duck my head down as to not draw attention to myself but it was already too late. The guy in front and the most muscular looking guy was flanked by two nondescript looking men I'm assuming leader and bodyguards, or maybe henchmen. The leader looks at the section of books I was reading and raise an eyebrow. Probably from none of them relating to each other but all of them having to do with wesen.

"Who's the kid?" the leader asks.

Daniel look like he was trying to avoid answering that question as much as possible. But he seemed to realize that that wouldn't be a good idea, so he just came up with something on the spot, and I'm pretty impressed it was a pretty good cover story even though I don't know what half the words you said means. It seems I have to read even more.

"He's a friend of mine he likes the history stuff, so he's reading up and learning a bunch of stuff."

The leader frowned end to sniff the air. I haven't seen what kind of wesen he is yet, and I'm assuming, for now, that's probably a good idea. "What kind of wesen is he? I can normally tell," he said, looking at me and then looking at Daniel.

But Daniel just waved him off,

"No he's not wesen; he's a Kehrseite-Schlich-Kennen."

The leader looked kind of pissed off at the fact that I was whatever he just said.

"How did he get in the know?" The leader guy asks.

Daniel seems to be weighing his options but goes for semi truth that since he won't say I'm a Grimm. And my trust in Daniel has risen profusely. Because what do I offer him to gain his trust from him? I can't really think of anything. I mean, I'm not strong; all I've got is that I'm supposedly a Grimm. And that's not much in my eyes.

"I accidentally woged in front of him, and he just kept hounding me for information. He said he wouldn't say anything he's fin- ow." Daniel said after the leader guy whose name I do not know, punches Daniel in the head.

I stood up not knowing what I could do, but I still stood up because Daniel was a friend at the moment.

"Hey! Don't hit him." I said, pulling Daniel away.

Daniel's face just gave me a, please don't do this, just shut up Stiles kind of look.

"Shut up, kid! Get out of here. This is grown-up business." The leader guy said.

The fact that he was treating me like a kid made me wanna punch him in the face, but I know better to avoid conflict, but I still didn't want to leave.

I was getting into some good books, and this guy barges in. But from the look on Daniel's face, I obliged. Not happily and not without some resistance, but I did eventually leave. The next time I see him, I'm going to have to ask him what that was about. Nothing else to tell me, but I could be annoying when I want to know something