by pebble/scifipony
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Characters: Scott McCall, Alan Deaton
Words: 675
Tags: Animals, Pain-Taking, Werewolf Culture, Friendship, Vet!Scott
Warnings: None
Author's Notes: Written for the Fandom Empire challenge on Dreamwidth. Originally posted to SquidgeWorld on March 9th, 2025.
Scott shook his head, though his hands never let go of the dog’s paw. “It’s not working. I can’t get it.”
On the other side of the examination table, Deaton nodded patiently. “You will.”
The dog whimpered lowly and flicked its tail in a half-hearted wag. It was almost as if the canine was adding its own form of encouragement. Scott moved one of his hands to pat it on the head.
“Remember, you’re not limited to your human senses anymore,” Deaton said. “You can tell what a person is feeling by smelling their chemosignals. You can tell when they’re anxious or sick by their heartbeat and breathing. You can hear lies in the trembling of their breath.”
“How does that help with taking his pain?” Scott asked, confused.
Deaton gestured towards the dog with his head. “Use those senses. When you touch his leg, reach out and don’t merely sense what he is feeling — feel what he’s feeling. Feel his pain and draw it into yourself.”
The words didn’t do a whole lot to actually explain the process. But it at least painted a visual for Scott to follow. He was willing to try, at any rate.
Silence settled in the room as Scott focused on his task. He took the dog’s leg in both of his hands again. Closing his eyes, he tried to follow his boss’s advice. He focused on what he could sense of the dog’s emotions and pain. That part was easy. By now, he’d had plenty of practice with those abilities. Using the information his wolf senses were telling him, he could easily build a picture of what the poor animal was dealing with.
The sedative was keeping it calm, but it was still mildly upset and confused by the absence of its owner. The local anesthetic they’d given it was also doing its job. The dog wasn’t in nearly as much pain as it would be otherwise, but Scott could still sense the lingering pain and discomfort that the drugs couldn’t completely erase.
Sadness welled up in Scott as he processed everything the dog was feeling. The poor thing had no clue what was happening to it, only that it was hurting and wanting to be home. He wished so badly he could explain to it why it needed to stay here and that they were going to make it better. He just wanted to help it feel better.
A deep, bone grinding ache shot through his hands and carried up his arms. Scott’s eyes flew open in surprise. He could see black tendrils snaking up his arms, following the path of his veins. His hands shook as the pain increased, but he held on and forced himself to keep going.
Within seconds, he could feel the dog’s discomfort vanish. It let out a relieved sigh and relaxed against the table, finally able to rest.
Scott let go of the dog’s leg. The ache in his own arms was slowly fading, his wolf healing making it short-lived. He could feel hot tears streaming down his cheeks, but didn’t bother to brush them away.
“That was… that was incredible,” he said softly, looking up to meet Deaton’s eyes.
The veterinarian smiled warmly. “You did good, Scott.”
He looked down at his hands. They were a little shaky, but he had a feeling that had nothing to do with any physical cause. His gaze shifted to the dog. The animal that had been so confused and hurting was now peacefully drifting off towards sleep.
Images of every time his mom or Stiles had been hurt flashed through his mind. He thought about Allison and Lydia almost being injured multiple times since all this new craziness had entered their lives. He remembered sensing Derek’s pain after Kate had tortured him. Danny and Jackson being injured during lacrosse practice.
“Can I do that for people, too?” he asked. “Could I take their pain the same way?”
Deaton’s smile softened. He put a hand on Scott’s shoulder and squeezed gently. “Yes, you can.”
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