Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The silence at the small kitchen table felt like it was going to swallow him whole. Like any minute it was going to just engulf him entirely and he was going to disappear. Which he supposed wasn't too far from what was actually going to happen, eventually. How soon was anyone’s guess. The doctor had given him three years if things went well. He let out a breath as he stared down at his now soggy cereal, grimacing a little at how it clumped together.

He looked over to where his dad sat, looking like he’d aged ten years overnight, and Stiles’ chest tightened. He’d known for a long time that life was terribly unfair, because he’d watched his mom get sicker and sicker, to the point she didn’t know who he was, and he’d watched her die when he was eight, held her hand even as her skin got colder. And now his dad was going to relive that entire nightmare.

“You uh -- you working today?” he asked quietly, trying to grasp onto any kind of normalcy that he could for the time being. And a conversation with his dad about work was about as normal as it got for the Stilinski’s, really.

The Sheriff glanced up from his cup of coffee at his son’s voice. He contemplated the question for a moment. “I’m thinking I might take the day...get some of that stuff done in the house that I always say I’m going to do, but never do.” He responded his voice gruff. His hand tightened on his mug, knuckles going white at the pressure of his grip. He still couldn’t quite grasp onto the reality of the doctor’s results.

His 16-year-old son was dying. Dying. How did something like that happen? How could this be happening? His chest tightened and he swallowed hard. Things had to be different this time, they would be. He wasn’t going to bury himself in work. He was going to spend as much time with Stiles as he could, do everything that they’d ever said they would do together. He was going to be by his side, for as long as they had. “What about you? Feel like playing hooky with your old man?”

“Like go through all those boxes of photographs and put them into photo albums?” he asked, hint of teasing in his voice as he thought about the boxes in the attic. They were all wrapped in plastic just in case the roof leaked. His dad had always worried about the pictures being damaged if that happened. He shifted in his chair, flickering to his dad’s pale knuckles as he clutched tightly onto his cup of coffee, like it was his life support at the moment. His chest tightened painfully and he looked down.

“I have a history exam fifth period,” he answered vaguely, moving his spoon around his cereal bowl. He remembered when he was younger how he’d pretend that his spoon was a shark and he’d scoop up the cereal like it was tiny fish the shark was going to eat for lunch. He was now the tiny fish, waiting for the sharp-toothed shark to devour him the same way it had devoured his mother. He drew in a breath and let it out slowly.

“Maybe we could catch a movie or something after school?” He chewed his thumbnail.

Michael swallowed hard and nodded, “We can do that.” He said lifting his mug to his lips and taking a long sip. He didn’t know what to say. Should they talk about it? Probably. He could see Stiles didn’t want to though and if he was being honest, it wasn’t exactly his idea of a good conversation either.

He reached up with his free hand and scratched the back of his neck. “If you’d rather stay home today, you can.” He offered.

“As tempting as it is to blow off a history test with parental permission, I kind of...I want to keep things as normal as possible for now. You know?” For now, while normal was still somewhat of an option. With the rate that he’d been declining already he had a feeling that his ‘normal’ time was going to be more limited than he wanted it to be. And Scott didn’t even know yet.

He’d left the hospital the previous night before the doctor had come in to tell his dad the results. And while he was fairly certain that Melissa McCall knew, his dad had asked her not to say anything to Scott just yet. He’d known Stiles needed to be the one to break the news. He thought then, about what Scott had said. That if he was sick, they’d do something. That he’d do something.

Stiles already knew what Scott was thinking about. He was thinking about the one thing that he could do that might save Stiles’ life. The one thing that an alpha werewolf could do to save someone’s life.

The Sheriff pursed his lips, but nodded, “Of course, yeah.” He cleared his throat. “Eat your breakfast,” he commented, “Don’t play with it.” He pointed to the spoon Stiles was moving around before pushing his chair back and getting up. “I think I’m going to grab a shower...but I’ll see you when you get home. I’ll be here.” he reassured his son, his hand pressed down against the table.

His lips tugged upwards involuntarily at his dad’s voice, wondering how many times over the years he’d had to say those same phrases to him. He wondered how many times he’d still be able to say it in the future. He nodded when his dad spoke again, more an automatic reaction than anything. “I’ll see you then,” he said quietly, watching as his dad headed out of the kitchen. He exhaled and looked down at his cereal bowl, making a face before carrying it across the room and dumping it down the garbage disposal.

He really wasn’t at all hungry anyway.

______

Scott sighed as he slipped his book into his locker, the sound of Isaac’s voice irritating him. The thought immediately made him feel guilty, but his friend would not stop asking him questions, all of which he couldn’t answer because he just didn’t know.

Isaac leaned against the locker beside Scott’s. “Have you heard from Stiles today? What about Lydia, they’re close do you think she’s heard from him?” He asked turning his head straight forward and watching as students walked around heading to their classes. “Maybe--”

“Isaac!” Scott said his name with force and slammed his locker door shut, the stress of the last day or so finally catching up with him. “Look I know you’ve got questions, but I just don’t have the answers right now. So just...cool it. As soon as I know anything I’ll tell you.”

Isaac stiffened and straightened up. He gave Scott a sharp nod, “Yeah, okay sorry. I was just...I mean after what we saw last night...I figured we’d want to see where his head is at and stuff. But you’re right it can wait.” He said with a wave.

Scott sighed yet again, his irritation deflating when he saw how tense Isaac got. He clamped a hand over his shoulder. “Just relax, let’s try to get through this day.” It was something he’d repeated all through yesterday and last night. But it was hard. Stiles had been by his side constantly since they were younger and being in school without him yesterday had probably been one of the worst experiences of his life. Plus he hadn’t heard from his best friend after his tests at the hospital and oh yeah, he and Derek were pretty sure Stiles might be possessed by the Nogitsune. Life was just great.

Stiles made his way down the crowded hallway slowly, feeling worn out, which made sense considering his severe lack of sleeping lately. At least there was a reason behind it, even if the reason was pretty shitty. At least it was an answer. He was going crazy, but it wasn’t related to the ritual, to the Nemeton, like he’d thought. In a way that was a relief because the path he was walking was definitely dark and it wasn’t something he wanted for Scott or Allison.

He heard hushed whispers all around him as he walked, but he didn’t care enough to stop and try to make out what they were saying. He wasn’t even sure if he should have been driving at this point. What if he wound up blacking out while he was behind the wheel? He had so many thoughts and questions about everything that he was having a hard time thinking straight.

He rubbed the back of his neck wearily as he made his way toward his locker, his book bag feeling extra heavy today even though it held less books than it usually did. He spun the lock on his locker, blinking a few times and leaning his head against his locker as he realized he couldn’t read the numbers again. Awesome. Wonderful way to start the day. He supposed he didn’t necessarily need anything from his locker that couldn’t wait until after second period. He had his books for first period and second period was gym.

Stiles pushed himself away from the metallic box, turning and spotting Scott and Isaac talking quietly at Scott’s locker. Scott doesn’t know. It was the only thought that was ringing in his mind. Scott doesn’t know. He and Scott had always told each other everything. They were more brothers than friends, and had been since they’d become friends in kindergarten. It was probably why the thought of telling him what he needed to tell him already felt so bad.

Scott was in the middle of saying something to Isaac when he paused a frown pulling at his lips. He tilted his head, the sound of a frantically beating heart sounding from his left. He turned his head and spotted Stiles. He dropped his hand from Isaac and turned closing the distance between him and his best friend fast. “Hey,” he said quietly. “I tried calling you last night, what happened? You disappeared.”

He stared involuntarily even though he’d seen Scott approaching, nodding when his best friend spoke. “Sorry. I uh -- kinda blacked out and when I woke up, I was at home,” he admitted, not quite meeting Scott’s eyes. “I didn’t check my phone til this morning and then I just kinda figured I’d see you here.”

Scott nodded even though his friends words made his heart clench, “Yeah, no it’s cool. I just wanted to check in.” He swallowed hard and rubbed the back of his neck. “So, last night...did you,” he paused, “Did the doctor’s say anything?” He asked quietly not sure he actually wanted the answer.

Stiles exhaled, looking down at the floor for a long moment. “Yeah,” he said just as quietly. “Yeah, they did.” He looked back up at his friend again, falling silent and knowing Scott was going to get it without him actually having to say it. It was just how they were. They’d known each other that long and so well, that in some situations, words just weren’t really needed.

Scott swallowed heavily trying to keep the utter look of devastation off his face. His chest felt tight and his stomach clenched. Scott felt like his oxygen was being cut off. He could feel a lump form in his throat and he wondered if this was what it felt like when Stiles was having a panic attack. But he focused on using his other senses and controlling his response. The last thing his friend needed was for him to freak out.

That wasn’t helpful. He reached out and gripped Stiles shoulder. “We’ll fix this,” he said his voice hoarse not caring that there were students milling about the hallways probably glancing over at them. He knew Isaac was close too, but all Scott cared about at the moment was Stiles.

Stiles’ chest tightened painfully and he tried to smile but didn’t quite manage it. He knew how badly Scott was going to take this and he hated that his best friend was going to hurt because of him. That was the last thing that he wanted. His gaze shifted to where Isaac stood, looking stoic as he looked back at Stiles and Scott. He was going to have to get to the point where he accepted Isaac. For Scott’s sake. Because when Stiles was gone, Scott was going to need him.

“Why uh -- why don’t we all blow off English and grab some donuts and coffee?” he suggested voice stronger than how he felt.

Scott was about to protest, but decided against it. At least if they were out and away from prying eyes they could talk. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.” He glanced back at Isaac briefly, “We’ll be back soon okay?” He asked not wanting Isaac to think he was leaving him behind, but also needing some time with just him and Stiles.

Isaac just nodded, his gaze drifting to Stiles. He sent him a tight smile and turned around heading to the other end of the school to see if he could find Allison.

Scott turned back to Stiles and smiled, though it didn’t come anywhere near reaching his eyes. “Ready?”

“You don’t want Isaac to come with us?” he asked, almost confused when Scott told Isaac they were leaving. He watched the other man head down the hallway and away from them, and then caught the look on Scott’s face and all the air left his lungs.

He could see the despair all over his best friend’s face and it killed him. “Scott…”

The smile left Scott’s face at the sound of Stiles’ voice, but he ignored it for the moment. “I thought we could go just us,” he paused, “Unless you want me to invite Isaac. I can go get him.” He was trying to keep his voice calm, but it was hard. Just thinking there might be a day where Stiles wasn’t around was unacceptable.

He tried to read his friend’s expression, but couldn’t. “Nah, it’s fine,” he said, forcing a smile onto his face and clapping his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Let’s just get out of here for awhile.” He was worried about Scott, worried that he wasn’t going to be okay when all was said and done.

Scott returned the smile. “Yeah, hey after we grab some donuts why don’t we head up to the woods?” He sent his friend a sideways glance, “You know the place we used to build forts? I don’t know about you, but I could use a break.” Scott said keeping his voice light.

“Sounds like a day well spent to me,” he agreed, feeling a moment of guilt that his dad had asked him to play hookie and he’d turned him down in favor of a history test, and now he was going off with Scott to skip school. He was a terrible son. He swallowed hard, following Scott down the hall and digging his keys out of his pocket and holding them out to his best friend. “Why don’t you drive?”

Scott hesitated before reaching out to take the keys from his friend, “You never let me drive the jeep.” He said trying his best not to wince. Why did he care if Stiles wanted him to drive? He didn’t it was just different, which was apparently the theme of the day. “Which donut shop do you want to go to?” He asked as they walked in the direction of Stiles’ jeep.

He didn’t, usually, let anyone drive his jeep. It was maybe the only thing Stiles felt a strange possessiveness over. But it was going to be Scott’s one day, provided he was able to keep it running. “Whichever. No preference. I’ll accept donuts from any place that sells ‘em,” he said lightly, not wanting his friend to be weighed down as much as he knew he was going to be.

Scott arched an eyebrow, “Then I vote for the place that has those weird bacon donuts.” He said as he tried to pull open Stiles’ car door and frowned when it wouldn’t open. It took him a minute to realize he had to unlock the door. Scott sent his friend a sheepish look, “This is why I drive a bike,” he joked before pulling the door open and getting in.

Stiles chuckled, then reached out, grabbing onto the door for support to help him hoist himself into the passenger seat. “Bacon donuts. Sounds like a heart attack on a plate if you ask me.” He made a face. He liked his bacon plain, and his donuts dunked in milk, usually. But if that was what Scott wanted, well. Werewolves probably had a higher tolerance for high cholesterol than humans.

Scott situated himself in the seat and pushed the keys into the ignition. He started the car, but didn’t pull out of the spot. Instead he turned in his seat so he was facing Stiles. “Are we going to talk about this?” He asked quietly. Scott couldn’t ignore it, he wanted to, but that just wasn’t going to happen.

He pursed his lips and shifted so he was facing Scott, too. “Yeah. We can, if you want to. I mean, I’m not trying to avoid it.” There was no sense in that. There were a lot of things that they needed to talk about, and he was on a time clock.

Scott ran a hand through his hair, “What did the doctor say? Did they...I mean...how far along are things?” He asked his voice quiet. Scott hated that question. He hated this conversation, but he would keep it together because Stiles needed him to be strong.

“I didn’t actually...my dad filled me in on what he said.” He chewed his thumbnail for a moment, looking troubled. “It’s not great. Estimated that if everything went well...about three years.” He looked down for a moment. In one way it seemed like an eternity. The reality was that it was barely a drop in the bucket of eternity. “At least I’ll probably graduate high school.”

Scott’s eyes burned. He swallowed heavily and glanced forward, his hands curling around the wheel. “That’s not enough time. How can you be okay with this?” He asked, but the second the words left his mouth he felt bad. “Sorry,” he said quietly.

Stiles reached out and put his hand on Scott’s shoulder. “I’m not. I’m scared, Scott. I’m scared for what’s gonna happen to you and what’s gonna happen to my dad.” His voice was thick and he turned his head to look out the windshield. “You don’t...don’t be sorry. Not enough time for that, okay? Better things to do than be sorry.”

Scott felt a tear slid down his cheek and he brushed it away angrily. “No,” he replied trying to keep the utter devastation out of his voice. “We can fix this…I can fix this.” He told his friend finally meeting his gaze again. “Please don’t just give up.” He said looking away, needing a second to calm the emotions that were threatening to overflow out of him.

“Hey.” He tightened his grip on Scott’s shoulder. “I’m not giving up.” He just knew the odds weren’t in his favor by any means. He was quiet for a moment. “And I know what you’re thinking and that’s a lot of weight on your shoulders that you really don’t need, man.”

Scott pursed his lips. “It’s one bite,” he said quietly. “We wouldn’t have to worry about all of this. You’d get better.” And he’d be around for as long as Scott. A part of him wondered if he was being selfish, but he couldn’t help it. Stiles was his best friend, they’d grown up together. It couldn’t end this way, he wouldn’t let it.

Assuming the bite took, he knew Scott was right. But something within him still wanted to resist and he wasn’t sure he could ever really explain that to his best friend. His best friend, who happened to be a werewolf because Stiles had dragged him out into the woods one night because he’d been an idiot. Maybe this was all some kind of karma for him. His penance. “I’ll think about it, okay?” His voice was soft.

Scott wanted to ask what there was to think about, but he fought the urge and nodded instead. “Yeah, okay.” he cleared his throat and put the car into gear, “Have you talked to Lydia?” Scott asked looking at the review mirror as he pulled out, slow, incredibly slow not wanting to hit anything out the way out of the spot.

He watched out the rearview mirror, noting how cautious Scott was being with his jeep and smiling a little. They’d spent a lot of time in this jeep together, driving all over Beacon Hills and rescuing people and getting into insane amounts of trouble. But at the mention of Lydia, he looked out the window, leaning his arm against it as he stared out. “No, I haven’t.”

Scott finally had the car backed out and so he put it in drive and started away from the school. “Are you going to?” He asked quietly.

Stiles rubbed a hand over his head tiredly. “Not really much of a choice, is there? She’s gonna figure it out sooner or later if I don’t tell her, and I’d kinda rather not have her hate me or be pissed off at me.” Especially now.

“She was worried.” He told his friend, eyes on the road as he pulled out of the school lot. “She thought she found you in the industrial basement. But uh, we got there and you weren’t there...Now that I think about it she seemed pretty freaked that she was wrong.” Scott said. Come to think of it he hadn’t seen Lydia since he asked if she wanted to visit Stiles in the hospital.

Stiles' eyebrows furrowed at the mention of an industrial basement. Why did that sound familiar to him? Something about it clicked in the back of his mind but he couldn’t quite figure out what it was. “Lydia was looking for me?” That part was confusing, too. Why would she have been looking for him in a basement?

Scott winced, “Uh, it’s not really important,” he said with a shrug. “Banshee stuff or whatever. I don’t really know how that all works and Lydia didn’t seem up to talking about it.” He explained as he took a turn leading them to the road the donut shop was on.

“No, wait. It might be important,” he murmured. “She did her banshee screaming thing?”

Scott made a face, “I don’t know if she screamed. She heard things, but she was wrong.” Something that had worried Scott at the time, but since Stiles was back he guessed it all turned out alright.

“Scott, she’s never wrong,” he whispered, raking a hand through his hair. “What industrial basement?”

Scott frowned, he never should have brought it up. The Sheriff said everything was like a dream to Stiles and it was fading he should have left it there. “Well she was this time, I was there okay and she was wrong.” He said pointedly not meaning to be so harsh. He sighed. “She was looking for something and she was positive you were there, but you weren’t. Okay? Let’s just let it go.” He told his friend calmly.

Stiles turned his head to look at it. “Something feels wrong about this, Scott. Like really...off.” He didn’t know how to explain, but the words industrial basement kept ringing in his head.

“What do you mean?” Scott asked, “What feels wrong?” he steered the car into one of the spots not sure if he was supposed to mention what actually happened the other day.

“I don’t know. Just something about the whole industrial basement. Like it’s familiar.” He tried to ignore the anxiety that was starting to build up within him. “Somehow.”

Scott put the car in park and then shut it off before considering his friends words. He’d already told him a lot accidentally. He might as well put what really happened out there. Scott turned in his seat so he was facing Stiles. “Look, if I tell you something can you maybe not mention that I told you?” He asked with an arched eyebrow.

“Uh, who am I not supposed to tell that you told?” he asked uncertainly, confused by Scott’s question. He wasn’t sure if he meant from his dad or from Lydia, or both.

“Your dad...my mom,” Scott added, “It’s just if they didn’t mention it maybe they didn’t want you to know since you didn’t remember,” he said quickly, “But I don’t feel right about keeping it from you plus I already kind of you know...messed up.” He told him sheepishly while running a hand through his hair.

“I don’t think you’ve messed anything up.” Stiles took his seatbelt off and turned to face him on the seat. “But if it’ll make you feel better, I promise I won’t say anything to my dad or ou -- your mom.” He inhaled sharply, rubbing a hand over his face. Your mom, he reminded himself. “So spill.”

Scott’s chest tightened at Stiles slip and he reached out and squeezed his friends shoulder. “I think you were right the first time.” He said quietly before clearing his throat. Scott pulled his hand back and rubbed the back of his neck. “The other night you called me, freaking out telling me you didn’t know where you were and you thought you’d been sleep walking.” He explained.

“You said it looked like you were in some kind of industrial basement. So Isaac and I were going to look for you. When we got to your house Lydia and Aiden were there. Apparently she was at the school and she heard you really upset saying something about coming to find you.” He explained.

“She was the one that made me tell your dad...you asked me not to when you called. Then Lydia said she figured out where you were and we went there, but you weren’t there. She was wrong.” He explained hesitating, “You were asleep the whole time man. My Mom and the gene donor found you in Malia’s cave freezing.” Scott had been incredibly relieved when they called him to let him know they found Stiles.

“I brought Lydia to the hospital, we couldn’t see you but they told us you were okay and resting it off. She seemed...off when we left the hospital. I asked her what was wrong and if she was still hearing things, but she seemed kind of closed off and she wouldn’t talk to me.” He hadn’t seen much of her since.

Stiles managed a tense smile when Scott squeezed his shoulder. “Yeah, Dad told me I’d gone sleepwalking, but he didn’t really give me many details.” His eyebrows furrowed as he listened. He’d called Scott in a panic while he’d been sleepwalking. That definitely was a detail his dad had left out. All he remembered about the night was waking up in Scott’s mom’s arms as she rocked him, telling him it was okay, that it was just a dream and he was okay.

Except he wasn’t okay. He wasn’t okay in epic ways, but he didn’t mention that. “Wait. Lydia actually heard me?” Like the day that she’d heard electricity when they’d ran into the warehouse to save Kira from Barrow. His head was starting to pound a little and he grimaced, rubbing one hand over his right temple.

Something wasn’t right. What was it? It was like it was just out of his grasp, just outside of his mind’s eye where he couldn’t see it. “Scott, wait, back up. Lydia thought she found me somewhere. You didn’t say where. Where did she think I was?” he asked, trying to focus his attention as much as he could. This was the detail that felt like it was the most important.

Scott frowned not liking the way Stiles rubbed his head. What if he was making things worse by telling him all of this? Scott knew if he was in Stiles’ situation he’d want to know though. “The institution that Barrow was in. She brought us there, your dad too. She led us right to the basement and when you weren’t there...” Scott let his voice trail off. He and the Sheriff had pretty much jumped down Lydia’s throat, but he knew she didn’t take it personally and the Sheriff had apologized right away feeling guilty.

The institution that Barrow was in. That was the missing piece. He leaned back in his seat for a moment, silent, as his brain began trying to fit it with the rest of the pieces. “What if...I was there?” he whispered. “What if I was there first? It would make sense. Why she thought that’s where I was. And -- it can’t be a coincidence that Barrow was there not that long ago.”

Scott opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He honestly hadn’t even thought about that. “I guess it’s possible, but how would you have gotten there? Your jeep was at the hospital and it’s not like it’s so close you can walk back and forth...I don’t know. But what I do know is that you were in the woods, that’s where you were found.”

“I don’t know, Scott. But it’s too weird of a…” He shook his head, trying to think of the word that he wanted to use, and feeling frustration build up when he couldn’t. “I wrote that message on the board in the chemistry lab. I had that key,” he whispered.

Scott didn’t want to point out that he hadn’t seen the message or the key, because he knew Stiles already knew that. His chest was tight, “Stiles, I’m not saying that this stuff didn’t happen, you know I will always believe what you’re telling me and I’ll look into anything you want me to...But maybe we should take into consideration that this might be...something else.” He whispered.

Stiles' stomach twisted into a knot at that. Scott thought that he’d hallucinated the key. That it was because he was sick. But Lydia had seen the message. It was real. It had been there. And she’d thought he was in the basement of that institution. He chewed his thumbnail. “I know you have a point and maybe you’re right, but...it doesn’t explain Lydia’s role in what happened. I mean, if that was -- if none of that was real, Scottie, why would she think I was there?” The way his nickname for Scott slipped out so easily spoke volumes about how worried he truly was. He hadn’t called him Scottie on any kind of regular basis since they were nine. Occasionally it happened, but it was rare.

Scott didn’t miss the nickname and he closed his eyes for a minute. “I don’t know, Stiles. And we don’t know how Lydia’s feelings work. She was wrong about Barrow being at the school, I mean sure he was there, but he wasn’t there when she said he was. Maybe she doesn’t know how to control it yet and that’s okay, we’re all still learning,” Scott said.

“But I don’t know,” he said again. “If this is something you want to look into I’ll look into it with you, I’m not, I trust you Stiles. If you feel that strongly about it then we can look into it.” He told his friend.

“Maybe I should just try talking to Lydia first,” Stiles murmured. There was something he was still missing but he didn’t know what it was. “Maybe we’re missing something here, you know?” He held his breath for a minute, then exhaled slowly.

“And Scott...she’s trying. And you may have to...I don’t know, like, assure her that you trust her. That she can do it. She’s gonna need that. I know she’s confident about basically everything else, but this is new, you know?” And Stiles wasn’t going to be around forever to be the one to tell her he believed in her.

Scott pursed his lips. He didn’t like the way Stiles was talking. “Lydia has you and she knows I’m there if she needs something. I tried to talk to her, but she just pushed me away. She doesn’t respond to me the same way she does to you Stiles.” Scott’s words were quiet, but true.

Stiles looked at him for a moment, and he couldn’t help the incredibly selfish thought that he was glad their situations weren’t reversed. The very thought of Scott dying was enough to send him into a panic attack on a good day. “I’ll talk to her,” he said quietly.

Scott nodded. “Okay,” He sat there silently for a minute his body tense. He had the overwhelming urge to roar, but obviously the middle of the day on the side of a street probably wasn’t a great place for that. So, he clenched his hands on the wheel for a minute before releasing it and pulling the keys from the ignition. “Ready for that donut?” He asked trying to salvage their trip.

Stiles felt like he should say something, address the fact that Scott was already in stage one of the grieving process. But then Scott was asking about donuts and he figured maybe that was a conversation they could have another day. They’d already been serious for too long today.

“Definitely ready for sugary goodness,” he said instead, reaching for the door handle.

______

Lydia sat on her bed, different size papers spread out in front of her. She was pretty sure it was early afternoon, but honestly Lydia wasn’t sure. She hadn’t gone to school that day, really she hadn’t left her room much of the day, so time wasn’t relevant at the moment. Not until she figured this out. Lydia touched the print out of the institution Barrow was at, the same print out Stiles had in his room. Her hand glossed over the picture and she worried her lip between her teeth.

Stiles was supposed to be there...he had somehow reached out to her and she’d failed him. She hadn’t been able to find him and she needed to know why. She needed to know what the noises in her head were. The sound of machines were finally gone, but every once in a while she heard voices, whispering that she couldn’t quite make out.

But one thing that came through clear whether she was awake or sleeping was the riddle. The damn riddle just kept repeating itself in her head. She didn’t understand, but it had to be important didn’t it or why would she keep hearing it? Everyone has it, but no one can lose it, the voice reverberated through Lydia’s head and she closed her eyes. “Stop,” she whispered. “Stop,” this time her voice was louder.

Lydia pushed herself up from the bed knocking the papers out of order, some of them crumpling to the floor as she gripped both sides of her head begging the sounds to go away again. It sounded like dozens of people whispering, but she couldn’t understand it. It was just noise...everything but the riddle.

She walked over to the stereo in her bedroom and flicked it on. The music began softly, but Lydia quickly turned it up trying to drown out the sounds in her head. It wasn’t working. She cranked it up until the she could feel the base in her bedroom, the song carrying through her the room.

Lydia shut her eyes again, a tear sliding down her cheek as she gripped the sides of her head again. It didn’t happen all the time and it usually only lasted for a few unbearable minutes, but it kept coming back and that had to mean something didn’t it? No...it couldn’t or she would have been right about Stiles. Lydia kneeled down near her bed, her bare legs biting into the carpet of her floor as the whispered voices overwhelmed her. She could feel it building in her throat again, the scream was coming, but she didn’t want to let it out. She couldn’t. Why is this happening to me, the thought disappeared inside her head as more tears slipped from her eyes.

______

 

He and Scott had spent the morning together and he was relieved when the rest of it had been relaxed and laid back. Like everything was normal even though things were far from normal. It was nice to pretend for awhile, though. He took his history test and considered skipping out on the rest of the day, but hadn’t. He’d told his dad he wanted to keep things as normal as possible, and he’d meant that. So he’d finished out the school day, served his detention for skipping the first four hours of the day, and then headed out to his jeep.

Lydia hadn’t been in school. That worried him because she rarely missed school. He knew how much getting her education meant to her, knew how damn smart she was. And she wouldn’t miss unless she was either very sick, very traumatized, or if something had happened.

He supposed that his vanishing act counted as something happening. When he knocked on the front door, Lydia’s mother greeted him with a small smile, apparently getting used to seeing him show up at the door to see Lydia by now. Don’t get too used to it, he thought gloomily, then forced the thought out of his head. He had to be calm and logical about everything because that was what Lydia was going to need.

He thanked her mom and made his way down the hall to her bedroom, grimacing at the loud music blaring from her room. He knocked loudly on her door, not even sure she was going to hear him over the music. He was going to have to remind her that listening to music that loud was really bad for her eardrums.

Lydia didn’t hear the door. All she heard was music and the incessant whispering of voices that made no sense in her head. She wanted them gone. Her hands slid around to the front of her face covering her eyes as she focused on breathing. Maybe if she calmed herself down they would go away.

Lydia squeezed her eyes shut, wincing every time something sounded too loud around her. A bang in the song, the thump of her textbook that had apparently just fallen beside her. The urge was back again. She didn’t want to do it, she didn’t want to scream...something wasn’t right, but her mouth opened as her hands went to her ears, a loud cry sounding from her throat.

When she didn’t answer, Stiles hesitantly turned the door handle in time to see her covering her ears, her eyes closed tightly. Tears were rolling down her cheeks even as she cried out and for a moment, he felt like his heart had stopped. This was definitely not good. He quickly closed the door behind him and moved to her side, kneeling down in front of her and grasping her shoulders.

“Lydia. Hey, hey, look at me,” he urged, not even sure she could hear him over whatever else she was hearing and the loud music that was still blaring from the stereo. His eyes were wide as he tried to get her attention focused on him.

Lydia sucked in a sharp breath. It took her a minute to realize there were hands on her shoulders. Her eyes fluttered open and confusion settled onto her features when she spotted Stiles kneeling in front of her. Was she dreaming? No...that wasn’t right. Lydia reached out hesitating before resting her hand on his arm. He was definitely there and it was then she realized the voices were gone, for the moment anyway.

Relief crossed her face and she let her body relax as she pulled Stiles into a hug wrapping her arms around him. She didn’t say anything or bother to turn down the music just yet. Stiles was okay, he was out of the hospital, the voices were gone and she was okay. Everything was okay.

Stiles was a little caught off guard by the hug, but he didn’t resist or try to pull away. He wound his arms around her, too, closing his eyes and burying his face against her hair. He didn’t know what was going on right then, but she definitely seemed like she was relieved to see him. Though if she had been looking for him the night before, the relief made sense.

Stiles pulled away after a long moment, looking at her with worried eyes. She was more upset than he’d seen her in a long time and it bothered him to think it was because of him. He gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze before moving to her stereo and turning it down low enough that they could hear each other talk, but still hear the music, too. He moved back to sit beside her on the floor. “What’s going on?” he asked quietly.

Lydia opened her mouth, but shook her head, “Nothing.” She said her voice hoarse most likely from a mixture of crying and screaming. That was the second one in two days and Lydia wasn’t sure what that meant. She sent Stiles a sideways glance, her red-rimmed eyes taking him in. “Scott said the doctors were keeping you for some tests. I’m glad everything’s okay though,” Lydia responded quietly.

Stiles felt his stomach twist at her words and he looked down at his hands for a moment, and then looked back at her. “I talked to Scott. He told me about what happened. At least, some of it. Can you fill me in on the rest? I feel like I’m missing pieces of the puzzle.” And right now she was his best shot at figuring things out.

Lydia frowned, “What did Scott tell you?” She asked as she pushed herself up off the floor, grabbing some of the papers that had fallen and wiping off her skirt.

He watched her gather some things and climb to her feet. “He told me that you heard me asking to come find me. That you and Aiden showed up at my room to look for clues.” Which of course meant that not only had Aiden -- whom he loathed -- been in his house, but he’d gotten an up close and personal look at Stiles’ walls of weird and unsolved mysteries. It made him uneasy but he wasn’t going to say anything about it. “And that you thought I was in the basement of the asylum where they were keeping Barrow.”

Lydia pursed her lips and nodded. “I was...there were voices talking and when I touched the string that lead to the picture of the asylum on your wall...I knew you were there.” She paused, “Or I thought you were. I was so sure, but then you weren’t and-” her throat closed up and she turned away from him focusing on putting all the papers together in a pile. “But Scott’s mom and dad found you thank god.” She said quietly still not sure how she’d gone so wrong in trying to find him.

The whole ride back to Stiles house after the asylum Aiden was telling her it was fine and it wasn’t a big deal, but it was to her. Stiles had needed her, the one person who always believed in her had needed her help and she completely let him down. He could have died. Lydia finally finished piling the papers together and she turned back to face Stiles who was still on the floor. “Scott called not long after to let me know they found you and I had Aiden drop me off at the hospital...but we couldn’t see you, they wouldn’t let us.” She explained.

“I don’t think you were wrong, Lydia,” Stiles murmured. “I think somehow I was in that basement. Not when you guys got there, but I think I’d been there.” He had no clue how he’d managed to sneak into a heavily guarded asylum without getting caught or noticed, but it wouldn’t have been the first time he’d done something of that caliber. Really that was an old habit at this point.

He rubbed a hand over his head, wincing as it began to throb again, the way it had when he’d been talking to Scott about the same subject. He drew in a breath and exhaled slowly, looking up at her. “You can’t give up on yourself like that.”

Lydia arched an eyebrow at him, “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said quickly as she watched him. “Is your head hurting?” She asked changing the subject noticing how he winced. The frown was back on her face. “You don’t look alright.” She commented as she sat on her bed.

Truthfully, he felt ready for a nap. Stiles looked up at her. “It’s fine. Just a headache.” He shrugged, wincing at her words. You don’t look alright. No, he guessed he probably didn’t. “I’m still kind of worn out.” But he wasn’t going to let her get by with her 'I don’t know what you’re talking about' comment. He hoisted himself off the floor and sat down beside her.

“You do know what I’m talking about. Scott said you avoided him after everything and then you didn’t come to school today.”

Lydia studied Stiles for a minute before looking away from him. “He didn’t believe me.” She said finally. “He might not have said it, but after,” she hesitated, “after you weren’t in the basement, I guess I can’t blame him.” Lydia played with a string on her comforter. “And Aiden wasn’t much help.” She admitted. He hadn’t wanted to go back to Stiles’ house, but she insisted. If it had been her Stiles wouldn’t have given up until he found her. She was quiet for a minute, “I’m sorry,” she said softly.

Stiles let out a breath, looking down at the floor, thinking for a long moment. “Lydia, I can’t put my finger on it yet, but I’m working on figuring it out. I don’t think you were wrong,” he said again, turning his head to look at her. “There’s something…” He shut his eyes. “You remember the message on the chalkboard, right? In the chemistry room?”

“Yeah, the numbers, we figured out it spelled Kira by using the abbreviations from the periodic table.” Lydia said matter-of-factly, “You think that has something to do with the sleepwalking?” She asked trying to follow his train of thought.

“Something like that,” he murmured. “Because I’m pretty sure that I was the one who wrote it in the first place. It was my handwriting.” He swallowed hard, waiting for her reaction. “And I don’t remember a damn thing about it.”

“You think you wrote the message that sent Barrow after Kira?” Lydia asked making sure she’d heard him right and when he inclined his head she took that in and sent him a thoughtful look. “Why? What would be your motivation to write that even if you did it while sleepwalking?” She asked still not understanding why Stiles thought he’d do something like that, but not saying it didn’t happen because if anyone knew about doing things without remembering or without being in control it was Lydia.

“I’m almost 100 percent sure that I wrote it,” he whispered. “And I don’t know why. But I had a key to the chemistry lab, Lydia.” He looked at her, eyes troubled. “I have no idea why I sent Barrow after Kira, but it was me. I feel it all the way down to my bones.” He rubbed his hands over his face tiredly. “And that’s why I think I was in the basement of that asylum like you believed I was. Because it fits. I mean, I’m still not seeing the whole puzzle, but it’s another piece to it.”

Lydia could see the struggle on his face and she reached over to the pile of papers. “I’ve been doing some research into Barrow,” she admitted. “I heard you ask me to find you that night,” Lydia said softly, “And the voices haven’t stopped,” she admitted, “It’s weird. I think it’s connected to Barrow and you I guess.” Honestly Lydia wasn’t sure.

“It’s hard to explain and then when you were in the hospital there was this loud clanging noise and it wouldn’t go away. It lasted for about forty-five minutes and I couldn’t figure out what it meant or why it was happening and I don’t know,” she said in a rush of words. “If you think you’re doing this...I believe you. We can look into Barrow, maybe retrace your steps from what you told Scott on the phone,” she suggested. “There has to be a reason the voices haven’t stopped...right?”

Clanging noise. That sounded an awful lot like… “Lydia, the clanging noise that lasted for forty five minutes. Did it sound -- like metallic plates shifting around?” He swallowed hard, a new thought dawning on him, and frankly he didn’t like it any more than he liked the other one. “And the voices. You’re still hearing them? Can you hear what they’re saying?”

Surprise crossed her face, “Yeah, sort of.” She tilted her head not sure she liked the look on his face. “I was hearing them right before you got here. I tried drowning the voices out with music, but nothing. I can only hear one of them.” Her brows drew together and she took a deep breath. “It’s a riddle...the voice says ‘everyone has one, but no one can lose it.’ It just keeps getting repeated like I’m supposed to know what to do with that.” She said with a roll of her eyes.

“It’s ridiculous, but I feel like it’s connected somehow, but how am I supposed to trust what I’m hearing when every time I have a feeling I’m wrong?” She asked throwing her hands up in the air.

Stiles rose to his feet and drew in a breath, letting it out slowly. “The metallic clanging that you heard. Was it at like, 6:30 last night?” he asked, turning to look at her with arched eyebrows. He knew he was asking a lot of questions, but that was just how Stiles worked when he started putting things together.

“I-I don’t know. Maybe...yes, I think so. I wasn’t looking at the clock. I was in my car and,” Lydia hesitated, “I screamed.” She whispered.

Well, that definitely wasn’t good. He shut his eyes, leaning against her desk. He thought about the other part that she’d said. The riddle. Everyone has one, but no one can lose it. Why did that feel so familiar? What was the answer? What did everyone have that no one could lose? His eyebrows furrowed as he wracked his brain. For some reason he had a feeling that the answer was more important than the fact that Lydia had apparently been hearing the MRI machine in her head last night.

“Stiles, what’s going on?” Lydia demanded though her voice was more shaky than angry. He was asking a ton of questions, which typically meant he had some kind of idea or thought about what was going on and he needed to share it with her. They were a team lately and they worked better that way.

“The uh -- the metallic part. I had an MRI last night,” he said quietly, not looking at her. “Right about the time you were hearing the metallic sounds. I don’t know if you’ve ever had one done, but uh, they’re really loud. And these metallic plates apparently slide against each other inside of it.” He rubbed a hand over his face, trying to smile but not quite managing it. It was strained, at best.

Lydia arched an eyebrow, “But why would I be hearing your MRI? That doesn’t make any sense. That’s-” Lydia stopped talking, “Why were they doing an MRI? I thought, I mean is it because of the sleepwalking?” She asked, but as she said the words she felt the familiar feeling of anxiety creeping up inside of her.

Stiles swallowed hard, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “That factors in, yeah,” he said softly. “Also the insomnia, the hallucinations, the blackouts, and the irritability and impulsiveness.” He was quiet for a moment. “My dad thought it might be a good idea because of uh...family history.” He folded his arms across his chest, staring down at the floor.

Lydia was silent. It took her a minute to categorize the symptoms in her head. Individually she supposed they weren’t so bad, but together...together it could be a lot of things and none of them were really good. “What family history?” She asked her voice soft, one of her hands curling into a fist at her side. She shifted her hand behind her body as she waited for his response suddenly feeling sick.

Stiles looked down at his hands for a long time. “Frontotemporal dementia,” he said softly. “My mother had it. It’s uh -- it’s the only kind of dementia teenagers can get.” He looked up at her once more, his chest tight as he watched her digest that information.

It took everything in Lydia to keep her expression neutral. Her chest was tightening more and more by the second and she felt unsteady. Just because teenagers could get it that didn’t mean Stiles had it. But one look at his face confirmed exactly that. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. When she tried again her words were useless, “Did you get the results back?” She asked not able to hide the slight quiver of her voice. This was not happening. It couldn’t be happening.

Lydia pressed a hand to the mattress behind her and sat down. Her legs felt weak, like they couldn’t support her. She couldn’t lose Stiles.

Stiles shut his eyes for a moment, nodding. “Yeah, we got the results,” he said quietly. When he opened his eyes again, they were full of guilt. Regret. He knew it wouldn’t take her long to realize why she’d screamed at the same time. To draw the same conclusion he already had. He chewed his lower lip and pushed away from the desk, moving to perch beside her on the edge of her bed.

Lydia felt the bed dip with Stiles’ weight and before she could even say anything a soft sob broke from her throat. She lifted her hand to cover her mouth and turned quickly keeping her back to Stiles. She had screamed for him. Stiles was sick. He was…dying and it wasn’t something she could change or fix with extra time. Then why had screamed to begin with? Why warn her about something she can’t change? To give you time, a voice in the back of her head said.

Silent tears streamed down her cheeks, shoulders shaking as she cried quietly. Her expression was pained as her heart clenched inside her chest. This isn’t happening. Lydia repeated the words over and over again in her head as she squeezed her eyes shut, though that didn’t stop the tears.

Stiles swallowed hard, not having anticipated that kind of reaction from Lydia Martin of all people. “Hey,” he whispered, reaching out and resting a hesitant hand on her back. “Lydia, hey." When she didn’t respond and her shoulders shook, he felt sick. He shifted on the bed, wrapping his arms around her from behind and pulling her against him, resting his forehead against the back of her neck.

“Listen,” he whispered. “It’s gonna be okay. Everything’s gonna be alright.” He rocked her gently. “I know it might not seem like it right now, but it will be. You’re gonna have to trust me on that.”

Stiles words just made Lydia cry harder. She couldn’t help it. The past few days had been hard and now this...She never said it, but Stiles was her rock. He had been ever since Jackson left. He’d somehow managed to worm his way into her world and her heart and a small part of her hated him for it. Lydia hated him for making her care, for making her rely on him and need him. A lump formed in her throat.

And even though that small part of her hated him...it wasn’t really hate. It was something more complicated. Something she didn’t know how to admit. Something she wasn’t ready to admit. Not now...maybe not ever. Lydia felt Stiles’ arm tighten around her and her tears continued flowing down her cheeks. “It’s not,” she said between tears, “It won’t be, stop lying.” She demanded though the only thing in her tone was sadness.

Stiles shut his eyes tightly. Yeah, he really hadn’t been prepared for this kind of response from her at all. He figured she’d be kind of sad, maybe inquire about possible treatment options, and express her sympathies. He didn’t know what to say to this kind of reaction. Didn’t know what to do. So he fell silent, just holding her close. He knew what it was like to lose people that he loved, people that he cared about. It always hurt. He still missed his mother as much as he’d been missing her since he was eight.

He still felt guilty and grieved for Erica and Boyd and Heather, even though the first two hadn’t really counted him among their list of friends. He and Lydia had gotten closer the last several months, and maybe he should have figured she’d take the news a little harder than he normally would have anticipated. “Lydia,” he whispered. “We’ll get things figured out. We have time.” Granted, not a lot of it. But time nonetheless.

A new emotion blossomed in Lydia’s chest. Guilt. Here he was attempting to comfort her when he was the one who was...she couldn’t bring herself to finish the thought. “How much time?” She asked her voice barely a whisper as she sniffled, her tears slowing, but not stopping.

“Probably three years at least,” he said, forcing his voice to sound more positive about that then he actually felt. “So don’t worry. I’m gonna be around to bug you for awhile still,” he teased.

Lydia didn’t laugh. She was silent for several minutes, still not facing him. She moistened her lips, “Do you remember the night I came to your house before I knew what was going on with everything. I was upset about Jackson and I wanted you to take me to him...Do you remember that?”

Stiles blinked a couple of times, thrown by her question. He tried to figure out where she was going with that question, because of course he remembered that night. How could he forget that night? “Yeah. I remember,” he said softly.

Lydia covered one of his hands with hers. “Do you remember what you told me?” She asked the tears back in her eyes, “Why you didn’t want to get me involved?” She asked her voice just as quiet as his.

Oh. His heart sank a little and he shut his eyes for a moment. “Yeah. Because you didn’t care if you got hurt or not. That death doesn’t happen to you, it happens to the people around you.” His shoulders slumped.

Lydia swallowed hard, “Not that,” she whispered. “You told me...you said ‘if you...die, I will literally go out of my freaking mind.’” Lydia closed her eyes. “I get it now. I didn’t then, I do now.” Lydia swallowed heavily, “Stiles...we’re going to find a way to fix this. I don’t care what doctors say. We’ll talk to Scott...or Derek. They can fix this,” she said quietly as possible solutions ran through her head. Lydia didn’t need to ask about medical procedures. She knew what Frontotemporal dementia was. There were no cures, that was evident by his Mother’s death.

Stiles was surprised that she remembered his words considering how crazy that entire night had been. First with the lacrosse game and Jackson appearing to drop dead, and then Gerard had kidnapped him and Erica and Boyd, and then Gerard had released him so he could be a message to Scott. Then Jackson had miraculously come back to life and...the whole thing made his own brain spin, really.

He drew in a breath and nodded slightly, exhaling slowly. “I’m not giving up,” he assured her softly.

Lydia nodded. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She did it two more times and then broke the silence in the room. “So we’re looking into Barrow then?” She asked her voice strained, but steady.

“We’re looking into Barrow,” he agreed, reluctantly letting go of her.

Lydia finally shifted back around so she was facing him, her eyes red and watery, lingering tear stains on her cheeks as she met Stiles’ gaze. “Okay, I can show you the information I’ve got so far,” Lydia suggested.

Stiles felt his insides twist at the sight of her tears. He still wasn’t sure that Scott wasn’t right -- that the whole Barrow thing wasn’t part of his illness rather than something else. But he wanted to know for sure. They had to get to the bottom of the truth one way or another. He just hoped they could figure it out quickly.

Chapter Text

If possible, Stiles was more wore out the next day than he had been the previous one. Even he had to admit that his color wasn’t good. He was paler than usual and considering how pale he was to start with, it made him grimace every time he saw himself in the mirror. His eyes were duller than usual, too, and he could tell that his dad had also noticed. And considering the way that Scott had been hovering around him basically all day, he knew his wolf powers were on full alert.

They were both scared. Of him or for him. He wasn’t sure there was that much different in this kind of situation.

He fell asleep in second period economics, and considering that Finnstock hadn’t so much as given him a dirty look or woken him, he knew someone had tipped off the teachers. He sighed. It was going to make keeping things normal pretty difficult if he couldn’t even get in trouble for falling asleep in class.

Lunch time rolled around and he made his way slowly toward the cafeteria, feeling kind of nauseated as he looked down at the plate of food on his tray. A burger, curly fries, an apple and a carton of milk. None of which sounded the least bit appealing. He paused in the entrance of the cafeteria when he spotted Scott and Lydia and Allison and Isaac at a table toward the back...with Aiden seated comfortably beside the pretty strawberry-blonde.

To say he wasn’t excited to be sharing eating space with the guy was a serious understatement. The guy was a douche and a half, and considering how much he hadn’t liked Jackson, for one tiny moment, he wished he was there instead of Aiden. He blinked a couple of times, startled at the thought.

“Well this is gonna be a pleasant lunch,” he mumbled, taking note that Isaac looked about as happy with the situation as Stiles felt. Annoyed, he made his way to the table, setting his tray down beside Scott and across from Lydia.

Scott did his best to keep the worry off his face as he greeted his friend; he could already see Stiles getting annoyed with all his hovering. “Hey man, I was starting to think you weren’t coming,” he said as he shifted over and made more room for Stiles.

“It was touch and go for awhile,” he said, casting a glance at Aiden and then at Scott, arching an eyebrow at him. He wasn’t really annoyed with Scott’s hovering. He was pretty sure if their situations were reversed, he’d be doing the same thing. He figured Scott would probably back off in a day or two when he realized Stiles wasn’t going to just drop dead out of the blue from his disease.

Scott’s gaze followed Stiles’. He knew his friend wasn’t exactly a fan of Aiden’s, but he couldn’t exactly tell the guy where to sit. Plus he was there with Lydia, so again it wasn’t like Scott could just make him leave. “How’s your day going?” He asked catching sight of Lydia glancing in their direction.

Stiles shrugged. “It’s a day,” he said, voice devoid of any emotion. He glanced at his best friend. “How about yours?”

Allison sat quietly on the other side of Lydia, taking a bite of her apple and looking at Isaac with an almost pained expression.

Lydia watched as Isaac reached out and placed a hand on Allison’s leg squeezing gently. She sighed and glanced away from them pushing at her food on her plate. It was too quiet. No one was really talking and it was making things incredibly tense. “How’d you guys do on the history pop quiz?” She asked glancing around the lunch table.

“I actually studied for it,” Allison informed her friend, glad for the sake of a normal subject. “So I think I did okay. What about you?” She could still hear Lydia’s voice in her mind when she’d called late the previous night to tell her that Stiles was sick. Not just sick, he was dying. Her friend was smart -- genius level smart, really -- but she wasn’t sure how well Lydia had been able to concentrate on history after the last couple of days.

Lydia scrunched her nose, “Not as well as I usually do,” she admitted, “But it’ll be fine.” She said glad that there was at least some normal conversation going on. She poked at her pasta salad again, but didn’t really have too much of an appetite.

“I bombed it,” Scott offered with half a shrug, “I’ll do better next time,” he said as he lifted the burger to his lips and took a bite.

Stiles shrugged, taking a bite of his apple and leaving the rest of the food on the tray. “Bombed it probably.”

Aiden arched an eyebrow at Lydia and then at Stiles. “Well considering your crazy sleepwalking antics I’m not surprised.” The words weren’t harsh, just matter-of-fact.

Lydia frowned, “Play nice,” she said as she met Aidan’s gaze and arched an eyebrow. She didn’t know what his problem was lately, but ever since she’d taken him to Stiles’ house he’d been snarkier than usual.

“What? Just being realistic,” Aiden said innocently.

Stiles studied him without saying a word, simply taking another bite of his apple, completely unphased by his commentary as he chewed and swallowed, a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. He turned his attention to Lydia. “I’m sure you did better on the test than you think you did.” He winked at her and took another bite.

Lydia’s expression softened, “You’ve got too much faith in my ability to know all the answers...though I typically do so maybe you’re right.” She said returning the smile before finally taking a bite of her pasta.

“You do typically,” Stiles agreed. Even if she wasn’t so great at picking boyfriends, he thought distantly. “Hell the teachers usually use your tests to grade everyone else’s tests, so I have a feeling you’re gonna be fine.”

Allison smiled a little at the exchange, reaching down and covering Isaac’s hand with her own.

Isaac threaded their fingers together and a slow smile spread across his face as he took in the look on Aiden’s face as he watched Lydia and Stiles interact. He tilted his head towards Allison speaking softly, but knowing any werewolves at the table would hear. “Stiles is the only one who can get her to smile like that,” he said casually his voice low.

Aiden scowled, shooting Isaac a nasty look and then turning his gaze on Stiles. The little shit wad was intentionally trying to get under his skin and he damn well knew it.

“Hey, Lyds, you think you might have a little time after school to help me out with a chemistry problem?” Stiles asked.

Lydia glanced up and nodded, “Sure,” she said pushing around her food again, “We can work on history too; I need to read the next few chapters. Your place or mine?” She asked watching Scott lean back in his seat.

Scott could feel the tension growing thicker around Aiden. He was getting better with learning how to read emotions in the air and it wasn’t looking pretty for the former alpha. He glanced over Stiles head towards Allison and Isaac.

Isaac grinned before turning back to Allison and Scott just shook his head. At least it seemed like Stiles and Isaac were finally on the same page about something.

“My house if that’s cool. My dad’s doing the day shift so he should be home. I thought I’d make some dinner for all of us and we can study and work before and after.” Stiles set his apple down on the tray, pushing it away from him a little. His stomach felt kind of unsettled just from the few bites that he’d eaten. His gaze flickered momentarily to Aiden, whose eyes were now narrowed as he glared at Stiles.

“I love when your dad is home,” Lydia said with a grin, “He always does a nice job of pretending to be impressed when I talk,” she said with a smile. The sheriff was actually incredibly nice on most occasions and Lydia often found herself wishing her parents cared about her the way Stiles’ dad cared about him.

“My dad’s pretty great,” he agreed, nodding. “But I think you actually do impress him, so there’s no real acting involved.” He grinned at her.

Scott frowned, “Why don’t I ever get invited to these dinners?” He glanced at Stiles a pout very close to forming on his lips, “You don’t cook for me anymore,” He frowned at Lydia, “Is this why you don’t eat with me and Mom anymore...and Isaac now too?” He asked trying to keep his pouting to a minimum. Being an alpha that pouted probably wasn’t all that intimidating.

Isaac called out from the other side of the table, “Personally I’m okay with him not coming for dinner, more food for me,” he said, but the joke was clear in his voice. Stiles glanced at Scott sideways. “Easy there, Scott. You can come over too. Open door policy.” He patted his friend’s shoulder.

“Actually I kinda thought you and I had plans for dinner tonight, Lydia,” Aiden spoke up, leaning forward on his seat. “You know dinner and a movie. Friday night plans?”

Lydia tilted her head, “Did we?” she asked not remembering them making those plans, but she didn’t think he’d lie. She tapped her finger against the table briefly before resting a hand on his arm, “I should probably help Stiles if he did that bad on the quiz. Can we postpone until Saturday? It’s a better date night anyway.” She told him with a smile.

His jaw tightened ever-so-slightly, but he smiled anyway. “Of course. The guy needs as much help as he can get.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek.

Stiles arched an eyebrow and glanced at Scott sideways. “I think he’s just jealous I didn’t offer to bring him home to meet my dad.”

Isaac chuckled, but stifled it when Aiden turned his glare on him. Scott didn’t like that Aiden kept taking cheap shots at Stiles, but he kept his temper in check for the moment.

Lydia glanced at Aiden and placed a hand on his leg, “You’re being rude.” She said quietly as she met his gaze.

Aiden held her gaze for a moment and pursed his lips. “I was just trying to fit in. The guy likes to make jokes.”

“Your jokes aren’t very funny,” Allison said, not looking at him.

Aiden’s gaze flickered over to Allison, “And his are?” He asked holding back the annoyance in his voice.

Isaac shrugged, “I think the problem is we don’t actually like you however we do like Stiles,” he said with a smirk.

Scott sighed, “Isaac,” he warned, though it was halfhearted. When Isaac glanced at him, Scott just shook his head.

Lydia rolled her eyes at Isaac, “How about everyone just stops talking to each other?” she said squeezing Aiden’s leg to reassure him.

Aiden covered her hand with his own, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“I should probably get an early start in study hall anyway,” Stiles announced, grimacing as he stood up, picking up his tray. “See you in a bit, Scott.” He winked at Lydia, then nodded in Allison and Isaac’s direction. “Catch you guys later.” He dumped the contents of his tray in the trash can before heading back out of the cafeteria and into the hallway.

Aiden watched Stiles walk away and he glanced at Lydia, “I’m going to start heading to class too, but I’ll see you later,” he leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to her lips before getting up and taking off down the hallway. He spotted Stiles and pursed his lips.

“Hey, jackass, wait up,” he called as he closed the distance between him and Stiles. “What the hell is your problem?”

Stiles was spinning the combination lock on his locker and he glanced up to see Aiden approaching. “What, you can fire the first shot, but you can’t handle the backlash? Interesting.” He pulled his locker open and started shifting his books from his bookbag to inside the locker, looking for the ones he’d need for his afternoon classes.

Aiden sneered, “Oh that’s rich coming from a guy who’s madly in love with a girl who doesn’t even know he exists.” He snapped. Aiden was tired of playing nice with Stiles.

He pretended that Aiden had shot him right through the heart. “You got me. That must be why she’s spending the evening with you and not me.” He paused, cocking his head and smirking. “Oh wait. She’s not.”

Stiles shifted the last of his books into his bookbag. “Let me give you a friendly piece of information that apparently hasn’t sunk in for you yet. You’re not good enough for Lydia. And you’re not good enough to be in Scott’s pack. They’re basically the exact opposite of you and everything you stand for. It’s not gonna work.” His tone was casual, but matter-of-fact.

Aiden glared at Stiles, “Oh, is that so? Let me guess, no one’s good enough for her but you right?” He asked shaking his head and laughing. “Please, it’s pathetic the way you moon after her. Let’s not forget, I’ve been inside your head,” Aiden cocked his head to the side, “Or as close as I ever want to come to being inside your head. There are traces of her all over your room. Trinkets, books, pictures of stupid trees.”

He took a step closer to Stiles, “You’re never going to be that guy. You’re always going to be the friend. So while you’re sitting there listening to her cry, I’m marking her as mine...everywhere. Here at school...in her car, on her bed.” Aiden’s voice lowered, “Lydia might have the best intentions, but she’ll always pick a guy like me over one like you.” He said with a smirk and a shrug.

“You know she told me not long ago that she didn’t want to be with a bad guy...So I helped throw that stupid black light party and I helped her when the Oni attacked her. And apparently that was good enough for her because not two days later she was writhing beneath me crying out my name. Tell me Stiles, has she ever cried out yours?” Aiden asked cocking his head to the side, “Yeah, I didn’t think so.”

Aiden pressed his hand on Stiles locker and slammed it shut nearly catching Stiles hand. “Back off. Lydia is mine.” He said the hint of a growl clear in his voice.

Stiles’ jaw tightened when the guy slammed his locker shut, nearly catching his hand inside.

Stiles chuckled but it was a sound devoid of humor. “You’re making all the wrong assumptions, which doesn’t surprise me because your brother’s the one that actually has a functioning brain.” He arched an eyebrow. “I’ve never believed I was going to be that guy. I’m okay with being her friend. Because I actually respect her.”

He looked at Aiden, his expression darkening a little. “You say you’re marking her as yours, but let’s be real here, Aidan. The only person Lydia will ever belong to is herself.”

“I’m gonna make it my personal mission in life to get all of them to see what kind of guy you really are,” Stiles informed him. “Lydia, Scott...I mean it won’t be that hard because Isaac hates your guts and Allison doesn’t trust you. How long do you really think this little game is gonna last?” He smirked. “And if Scott doesn’t trust you -- and believe me, he really doesn’t -- you won’t last with Lydia either, because Lydia is part of his pack. So enjoy it all while you can, because this isn’t permanent.”

Aiden’s jaw clenched, his hands balling into fists at his sides, “You can have whatever idiotic mission you want to have. I’m not the same guy I was when I came to this damn town. I care about Lydia, and you’re just throwing your little man tantrum because you don’t like that she has me in her life.” He said pointedly.

“You’re not nearly as important to her as you think,” Aiden said with a smirk.

Stiles’ smirk widened. “Really? You must disagree or you wouldn’t be so threatened by me, would you?”

Fury filled Aiden’s eyes as he stared at Stiles.

Lydia was walking with Allison, books in hand as they made their way down the hallway heading to their next class. She had been in the process of asking Allison something about Isaac when they turned and Lydia paused frowning. She got an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach and as she opened her mouth to call out to Stiles, Aiden reared back his arm and slammed it forward.

“STOP!” Lydia’s scream echoed in the hallway, but Aiden’s fist had already connected with the side of Stiles’ face. It was like everything happened in slow motion. Lydia dropped her books beside Allison and closed the distance between her Aiden, and Stiles faster than anyone would have thought possible in her heels.

Stiles hit the ground, wind knocked out of him and he lay on his back for a second, brain not processing the fact that Lydia and Allison were approaching.

Allison’s own eyes widened as she saw Stiles hit the floor from the force of the blow and her jaw tightened as she followed her best friend down the hallway, reaching into her purse for her taser just in case. “Back up,” she ordered Aiden, glaring at him. “Now.”

Stiles hadn’t really seen it coming but in retrospect he probably should have. He was the one goading a werewolf with serious anger management issues. But better him than someone else finding it out later, like Lydia. “Well that was just uncalled for,” he mumbled, struggling to sit up.

Lydia was on her knees beside Stiles before he was halfway sitting, “Are you okay?” She asked her tone breathless as she reached out gently touching his face ignoring her best friend and Aiden for the moment. She would deal with him next.

He winced, cheek already beginning to bruise. Damn werewolves. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m all right. It’s nothing.” He resisted the urge to say that Aiden hit like a girl, because that was insulting to girls and pissing the angry wolf off even more probably wasn’t the best plan, especially considering Lydia and Allison were there now.

Lydia swallowed hard and shifted slowly pushing herself to her feet as she turned to Aiden, anger clear on her face. Her eyes narrowed, “What the hell was that? Are you out of your mind?” She snapped.

“Don’t take his side without knowing the whole story,” Aiden said defensively, shaking his head. “You didn’t hear the things that --”

“I don’t care,” Lydia cut him off. “Nothing he could possibly say would have deserved that. You’re not just some guy getting angry Aiden. You could have hurt him, badly.” She said one of her fists clenching at her side. “And there’s no excuse for that.”

“Lydia’s right.” Allison stepped beside Lydia, glaring at him, too. “You need to walk away now.” There was no room for joking in her voice.

Stiles looked up at the girls, and then over at Aiden, slowly rising to his feet and picking up his bookbag. He arched his eyebrows, suppressing the tiny smirk that was trying to creep onto his face. He just gave Aiden a knowing look.

Aiden glared, this couldn’t have gone better if Stiles had planned it. “You little shit,” he growled and took a step forward only pausing when Lydia was suddenly in front of him.

“Back off.” Lydia said her voice hard. “I don’t know how I ever thought you could change.” She leaned forward, “This thing, this distraction we had going on, it’s over. We’re done.” She said holding his gaze, her hand stretched behind her resting lightly against Stiles arm.

“Don’t make me use my taser,” Allison warned.

It really couldn’t have gotten any easier even if Stiles had actually planned it out. Give an idiot enough rope and they’ll eventually hang themselves with it, he heard his dad say once. Apparently that was accurate in Aiden’s case. “I’m okay, Lyds,” he murmured when she touched his arm. “It’s fine.”

Aiden pursed his lips, “I’ll go for now, but we need to talk about this,” he said to Lydia, but before she could answer a new voice sounded from behind them.

Scott stood arms crossed over his chest the crowd around them growing. “No, you don’t. Leave now, before I get angrier.” He said, his eyes flashing red. He and Isaac had been on the other side of the school when they heard Lydia scream and he’d gotten there for the end of the Lydia’s words.

The only reason Aiden was still standing was because there were too many people around for him to knock Aiden around. “I’ve tolerated you because Lydia liked you and because it seemed like you were trying to change. But if I see you come within ten feet of Lydia, there won’t be a place in Beacon Hills you can hide.” He said his voice low and hard.

Aiden looked from Scott back to Lydia and then finally at Stiles. He pursed his lips and turned on his heel heading down the hallway to the double doors. Lydia watched as he slammed them open so hard they shook and then he was gone. She let out a breath and leaned back into Stiles slightly.

Allison watched him go, too, and shook her head, tension radiating from her in waves. She turned to look at Stiles. “Are you okay?” There was worry in her voice.

Stiles nodded in answer to Allison's question. And when Lydia leaned back into him, he reached out and put a hand on her arm, squeezing it gently. “I’m fine,” he said, despite the fact his cheek was throbbing painfully. He was just glad that Aiden hadn’t broken his nose or knocked out any teeth. That would’ve sucked. He pursed his lips, looking at Scott silently.

Scott stepped forward and Lydia shifted the tiniest amount to give him some room. “You really okay?” He asked some of the anger dissipating from his face and replaced with worry. He knew how hard Aiden could hit and he knew it most likely wasn’t pleasant.

Stiles nodded, exhaling slowly and shifting his bookbag so that it was on his back. “Yeah. I’m okay. Seriously. I’m fine.” He didn’t like the way they were all looking at him, like they were waiting for him to keel over any second.

Isaac’s eyes were on the doors where Aiden had vanished. He looked back over at everyone else and grinned, “This means he’s definitely not joining the pack right? You can’t hit Stiles and stay...that’s like a deal breaker, right?” He asked.

Scott opened his mouth to say something, but he just laughed and shook his head. “You have absolutely no verbal filter...do you?” He asked with a smile as he reached over and patted Stiles on the back.

Lydia huffed and rolled her eyes finally loosening her grip on Stiles and shifted to his side.

Stiles suppressed a smile. “I should head to study hall.” He glanced to the doors ahead, looking unsettled.

“You should probably get some ice first,” Allison advised. “Your cheek’s already bruised.”

He could feel that much was true and he gave her a faint smile, nodding. “I’ll swing by the nurse’s office first.” He let out a breath, a wave of exhaustion suddenly washing over him. He did his best to ignore it, glancing at Lydia for a moment before leaning in and whispering into her ear, even though he knew Scott and Isaac could hear him. “You can do so much better.” He squeezed her arm before heading off, patting Scott on the arm on his way past.

Lydia watched him go and she felt her eyes starting to burn, the pressure in her chest growing heavier. She turned away from her three friends quickly dabbing at her eyes and took a deep breath trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. “I should go too, class.” She said softly as she went to walk away, not even realizing she didn’t have her books.

Allison glanced back to where Lydia had dropped her books, quickly moving to retrieve them and then following her friend down the hall. “I’ll walk with you,” she said as she caught up with her, waving at Scott and Isaac.

“You don’t have to, I’m fine,” Lydia said trying to brighten up her voice, but she felt like any minute the dam was going to break and that couldn’t happen. Not here, not again. She hadn’t allowed herself to get so emotionally worked up since Stiles told her about being sick.

Sure you are, Allison thought as she followed her friend. “You forgot your books, Lydia,” she said softly. She put a hand on her friend’s arm and steered them into the girl’s restroom.

Lydia went willingly, not like she had another choice. When they were inside she turned to face Allison, “Thanks, I’ll take them.” She said holding out her hands as she glanced around the bathroom looking anywhere, but at Allison.

“Lydia.” Allison’s voice was full of worry. “Are you okay? I mean, really?” Lydia had referred to Aiden more than once as a distraction, but she wasn’t sure there wasn’t more to it than that.

Lydia finally looked at Allison, “Am I okay? Of course I’m not okay.” She sucked in a sharp breath and pressed her lips together hard.

Her eyes were sad, chest tightening at the look on her best friend’s face. “Right, of course not. It’s been a really bad few days.” She looked down for a moment. “None of this is your fault. You know that right?”

“I’m sorry,” Lydia said quietly. She knew Allison was just trying to help and yes, there was a part of her that was upset that Aiden couldn't be the guy she thought he could be. But mostly her heart just hurt at the thought that someday Stiles might not be around. It was silly because there was no way they weren’t going to find a way to help him, but still. Just the thought that there would come a day where he wouldn’t be there...well Lydia didn’t like to think about that.

“Of course it’s my fault. None of you liked Aiden and I should have...I should have respected that and hung out with him on my own time. He’s been acting funny for a couple of days and I don’t know why. Ever since the night we thought Stiles was kidnapped,” she admitted with a shrug. “I don’t know what was going through his crazy werewolf head today.”

“You try to see the good in people, Lydia. There’s nothing wrong with that.” She pursed her lips, leaning against one of the bathroom sinks. She was quiet for a moment. “It sort of seems to me that...Aiden feels like Stiles is a threat to your relationship.” She watched Lydia closely to try and gauge her reaction. “Is there any grain of truth to that?”

Lydia tightened her grip on her books, but rolled her eyes and sent her friend a bored look. “Aiden is an idiot; I don’t know where he’d get an idea like that.” She said matter-of-factly, which didn’t exactly answer the question.

“Well, you and Stiles have been spending a lot of time together lately,” Allison pointed out, taking note of her friend’s tension despite her eye roll and bored tone.

“Stiles and I always spend a lot of time together.” Lydia said, “A lot of men and women spend time together.” She added, “Look at you and Isaac,” she paused, “Bad example.”

A smile tried to tug its way onto Allison’s mouth, but she didn’t allow it. Of all times for Lydia to start falling for Stiles, she thought sadly. It really wasn’t fair. But life wasn’t fair. It never had been. “Okay.”

Lydia arched an eyebrow, “Okay,” she said. She hadn’t expected Allison to give up on her little questioning spree so soon, but she was glad she had. “Okay...Can we go to class now?” She asked.

“We can. The bell’s probably about to ring and I really don’t want detention.” She smiled faintly, deciding to let her best friend off the hook for now. She didn’t want to be the cause of Lydia crying at school.

______

Stiles stood in the kitchen, trying to remember what had brought him down there from his room, but it was like there was a blank space in his mind. He rubbed his hands over his face, wincing as his fingers brushed over the bruise there. “Why did I come down here?” he mumbled, looking around in hopes that something would jog his memory, but to no avail. He sighed heavily, leaning back against the counter.

He heard the front door open, realizing his dad was finally home. He’d called earlier to say he was going to be late and not to hold dinner. He moved to the fridge and opened it, pulling out the chicken and noodles he’d made for dinner earlier and setting the container on the counter. He got out a smaller container to heat the food up in for his dad, keeping his back to the kitchen entrance for the time being. “Hey. How was work?”

The Sheriff shrugged off his jacket slinging it over one of the backs of the chairs and then unholstered his gun with a grunt. “Long,” he said as he glanced in his son’s direction. He stood there watching him and his chest grew tight. He pushed it away though not wanting to bring the mood down knowing Stiles wanted to keep things as normal as possible. It was hard, but he could indulge his son.

“How was school? Anything interesting happen?” He asked while pulling out the chair and sitting down.

He almost snorted. Interesting was one word for how school had been that day, but he didn’t say that. “It was okay,” he said instead, even though he wasn’t going to be able to hide what happened from his dad for long. “I made chicken and noodles. Lydia’s upstairs studying. We have a chemistry test on Monday. Kinda been struggling with that class.”

The Sheriff pursed his lips together at his son’s words. Lydia Martin had been spending quite a bit of her time in the Stilinski household lately and he wasn’t sure what to make of that. So he decided to broach the subject with his son. “Lydia’s been spending a lot of time here lately.” He commented leaving the statement open.

“Not like that,” he said without hesitation. He couldn’t exactly explain it. He didn’t think that telling his dad, Well, Dad, I think it’s because she was my anchor in an ancient druid ritual that I died in to make sure you stayed alive and we’ve become close friends since then would go over very well. “She’s trying to figure out things with her abilities and...I don’t know, I guess she needs someone to listen sometimes.” He sighed softly.

The Sheriff heard something in his son’s voice that he couldn’t quite place. “It seems like if she needed someone to talk to she’s got other friends too,” he observed. “She comes to you though, maybe there’s more to it than you think.” The Sheriff had spent many nights with the two teenagers and he was hardly blind, though he was starting to think his son was. Unless...unless there was a reason Stiles refused to acknowledge there might be something there, like the fact that he might not be around long enough to explore it. The Sheriff shut his eyes briefly trying to force back the emotion that was pestering him.

“She has a boyfriend, Dad, so I don’t think that’s really…” He shrugged a shoulder, turning to glance at him without really thinking about it as he heated up the food in the microwave. Granted, she may have broken up with earlier after Aiden had decided to plow his fist into Stiles’ face, but whether it would stick or not, he really didn’t know. As much as he loved Lydia, both as a friend and more than a friend, he knew she had a bad habit of letting people who were unworthy of her time and attention back into her life. Exhibit A: Jackson Whittemore.

The Sheriff was up and out of his seat in a matter of seconds. “What the hell happened to your face?” He asked gripping his son’s chin and turning his head carefully to get a better look.

He grimaced. “Got into a fight in the school hallway.” He was lucky he hadn’t ended up getting detention again. Fortunately no teachers had been around at the time.

“A fight?” He frowned, “About what, what could you possibly be fighting about?” He sighed as he let go of his face and shook his head. “I take it you didn’t get in trouble since I didn’t get any calls today.” He said as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Stiles winced at that, guilt washing over him. He tended to do a lot of stupid, impulsive things and he forgot sometimes how hard it was for his dad to deal with his son’s stupidity. “No, no trouble,” he promised. “I’m sorry.” He turned back to the microwave and pulled out the heated up dinner, carrying it over to the table and setting it down for his dad. “What do you want to drink?”

The Sheriff saw Stiles wince and he immediately felt bad. “It’s not a big deal,” he said quietly. “I just worry. That looks like it hurt. Have you iced it?” He asked as he walked over to the refrigerator to get a drink not wanting Stiles to have to wait on him.

“I know you do. That’s why I’m sorry,” Stiles said quietly, tired in ways that weren’t just physical anymore. “I had some ice on it earlier at school, yeah.” He sat down in the chair across from where he’d out his dad’s food, foot bouncing on the floor almost immediately. “I’m okay.”

The Sheriff arched an eyebrow as he walked back over to the table with his water and sat down. “You keep saying that and yet...you seem a bit jittery. Is something wrong? You know you can tell me if there is,” he commented lightly as he took a sip of his water. “This looks good, thanks son.”

“I’m always jittery,” he pointed out, shrugging and looking down at the table. Then, “I may have started the fight.” His voice was hushed.

Stiles dad lifted some of the noodles on his fork, “That doesn’t seem like you,” he said giving his son a chance to talk. They used to talk more often, but things get in the way. He was hoping that could change now though.

Stiles wondered if that was really true. Maybe once upon a time he’d been a good kid, the kind of kid that while was hyper, didn’t actually tend to cause trouble. All he did these days though was cause trouble and maybe he felt a twinge of bittersweet sadness and relief at the thought that his dad wouldn’t have to deal with that forever. “It was with Lydia’s boyfriend.” He ran his fingers over the smooth tabletop, tracing nonsensical patterns there and not able to meet his dad’s eyes. “He’s kind of an asshole.”

The Sheriff frowned, “An asshole how?” Lydia was opinionated and sarcastic, but she was a good girl at heart and he saw the way she was with his son. They cared about each other and if someone was hurting her or being mean to her, he wanted to know about it.

“Just in general.” His jaw tightened as he remembered the day that Boyd had died. The way that it hadn’t affected Aiden at all, like he hadn’t just helped brutally murder another kid. He wanted to tell his dad about that, but his fear that his dad would wind up hurt going after a werewolf, which even though he knew about werewolves now, he wasn’t really prepared to deal with, kept him from filling in a lot of the blanks. “He reminds me a lot of Jackson, only I think I liked Jackson more.” And that should actually tell his dad a lot about his feelings toward Tweedle-Dumb.

The Sheriff winced, “Jackson was an ass,” he said gruffly as he scratched the back of his head. He took a bite of his dinner and swallowed contemplating his son’s words. “Does Lydia know about the fight?” He asked.

Stiles nodded silently, then sighed, leaning back in his chair, desperately needing to explain why he’d goaded Aidan into a fight, but not wanting to burden his dad with that. “I guess I just wanted her to see what an asshole he really is.”

Realization hit the Sheriff, “You antagonized him on purpose,” he responded, shaking his head. Sometimes his son was too smart for his own good...and incredibly protective of the people he loved. “And...did she?”

“I think so. I just don’t know if it’ll last,” he admitted quietly.

The Sheriff was quiet for several minutes, his arms leaning on the table as he watched his son struggling with things he probably didn’t even know about. But he was glad Stiles was opening up to him. “Have you told her?” He asked quietly, trying not to let the pain show on his face, though that was pretty much impossible.

He didn’t have to ask what his dad meant by that. He gave a short nod of his head, pursing his lips. “She knows. She didn’t...take it very well.” He chewed his thumbnail.

The Sheriff let out a short laugh though there wasn’t much humor in it. He glanced at his son arched an eyebrow confusion on his face, “Did you expect her to?” He asked not sure why his son was stating such an obvious thing. Of course she wouldn’t take it well. He can’t imagine anyone who cared about Stiles taking it well.

Stiles was silent for a long time, staring down at the table. “What if...there was a way that…” He waved his hand between him and his dad. “That this could all go away?” He went back to chewing his thumbnail.

The Sheriff’s head popped up, “What do you mean?” He asked realizing that his heart was suddenly pumping heavily in his chest. “There’s no cure son...you do know that, I mean there are treatments, but” The Sheriff swallowed hard, “But there hasn’t been much success.” He said quietly his chest tightening.

Stiles almost wished he hadn’t brought it up at all, because it isn’t a great solution, but it might be a solution. He swallowed hard at the hope that he watched flicker over his dad’s face and that was all it took for Stiles to realize that he was going to have to let Scott try. Or maybe not Scott. But someone. If it didn’t work, he wasn’t sure Scott could deal with that kind of guilt. “A bite from an alpha werewolf,” he said uncomfortably.

The Sheriff opened his mouth and then shut it promptly. Scott. He was the only alpha in town as far as they’d told him. “You want to be like Scott?” He asked quietly, but didn’t give Stiles a chance to answer. “I don’t understand that world. I know you’ve tried to explain it to me, but it’s hard for me.” he paused and then reached out placing his hand over Stiles’.

“That being said, if this alpha bite...if it can save your life and that’s what you want. I will support you all the way. No matter what you are, you will always be my son.” He moved his hand and gripped the back of Stiles head. “I will always love you, werewolf or human.” At this point the Sheriff was willing to move heaven and hell to keep his son from suffering the same way his wife had.

“Want is kind of an overstatement if I’m being honest.” And apparently he was being more honest than he’d initially intended. “And it’s...not a sure thing. It doesn’t work for everyone, Dad.” His voice was quiet. And if it didn’t work, he’d die a lot sooner than three years, depending on when he took the bite. “But I am considering it.” Tears flooded his eyes when his dad spoke and wordlessly he hugged him, burying his face in his dad’s neck. He hadn’t ever, before, really.

He knew there were plenty of advantages of being a werewolf, of course. Super strength and hearing and sight and smell. Super speed. Like a furry Superman, in a way. It just came back with all those drawbacks like having hunters on your ass all the time, and dealing with things like alpha packs. And then of course there was the fact he’d have ties to an alpha and if he was being honest, the only alpha he would ever actually listen to at all would be Scott. He just wasn’t sure that he could ask that kind of thing of his best friend. It was a lot, even if Scott had been the one to bring it up initially.

But at least he knew now where his dad stood on the issue.

The Sheriff rubbed his hand over Stiles back not sure he understood that the bite might not work and what that meant, but they could talk about it another time. “It’ll be okay Stiles,” it had to be. He wasn’t sure he could go through losing Stiles the way he lost Claudia.

He pursed his lips, nodding tiredly and letting his eyes close for a moment. “Yeah,” he said quietly, reluctantly pulling away. He hesitated. “I should...probably check on Lydia. She’s probably wondering where I went.”

The Sheriff nodded wiping his eyes slightly, “Good idea,” he said and as if she had known they’d been talking about her Lydia’s voice echoed in the hallway.

“Stiles Stilinski, I send you downstairs for some water and you think you can dawdle just so you don’t have to study?” She called out stepping into the kitchen and pausing at the sight of Stiles and his Dad. “Oh, I’m sorry.” She said immediately anxiety gripping her when she saw their faces. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. Hi, Sheriff.”

Stiles’ dad waved her off, “It’s fine, we were just talking. But we’re done.” He said with half a smile as he brought his hands back to his fork and moved it around in his pasta before taking another bite.

Lydia glanced at Stiles and hesitated, “You alright?”

Water. Right. That was the thing he couldn’t remember he’d come downstairs for. He offered her a small smile. “Yeah, everything’s fine,” he assured her. “I just got sidetracked when my old man got home.” His voice was joking and he patted his dad’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze before moving away and pulling down a couple of glasses from the cabinet.

Lydia walked over to Stiles and placed a hand over his before he could fill up the glasses. She shifted, reached up and cupped his chin in her hand turning his head slightly so she could see the angry bruise on his face. “We should ice this again,” she said softly as she carefully brushed her thumb over the purpling skin. “I’ll grab some.”

“Thanks, Lyds,” he said softly, managing not to wince even from the light touch. He glanced over to where his dad was watching them with a faint smirk. He could practically hear his dad’s thoughts. Just friends. Yeah, right.

Lydia went to one of the drawers, pulled it open and grabbed a ziplock baggy, “I still cannot believe he hit you.” She shook her head as she walked over to the freezer her heels clicking loudly. “He’s lucky I didn’t take my heel and shove it right up,” Lydia paused peeking over at the Sheriff, “Um places…” she turned back to the freezer and pulled out some ice putting it in the bag. When it was halfway full she closed the freezer and then the bag before grabbing a paper towel and walking back over to Stiles.

Lydia paused in front of him and tilted her head. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. She wasn’t sure she’d apologize for Aiden’s behavior earlier, but with the evidence right in front of her it was hard not to. This was just another thing to add to the list of stuff that was her fault.

Stiles tried to ignore the guilt that swept over him. He’d manipulated Aiden like a pro, and sure, he’d gotten a giant bruise as the result, and Lydia had broken things off with him like he was hoping. But had his reasons really been as simple as protecting her from someone who wasn’t good enough for her? Or were they more selfish than that? He rubbed the back of his neck, then reached out and caught her arm. “Don’t. It isn’t your fault,” he said sincerely.

“I shouldn’t have forced you guys to spend time with him...especially after what he did to Boyd.” Lydia said quietly. She wrapped the paper towel around the bag and carefully held it up to his cheek. “You’re right...I do deserve better.”

The Sheriff watched their interactions out of the corner of his eye and something tightened in his chest.

Stiles winced slightly, but exhaled softly. “Yeah. You really do.” Even if it would never be with him, Stiles wanted her to find someone who would treat her the way she deserved to be treated. “But no one’s upset with you, Lydia. For the record.” Actually Isaac might have been upset with her, but he’d get over it. Even if Stiles had to talk to him about it.

Lydia held Stiles’ gaze for a couple of minutes, silence surrounding them as she held the ice to his face. But when she felt the familiar burning sensation in her eyes, Lydia broke their gaze and looked away. “We should probably finish studying.”

Stiles' chest tightened at the look in her eyes, gently taking the bag of ice from her. “Yeah, you’re right. Chemistry test Monday. Gotta get on that.” He wanted to reach out and put a hand on her shoulder, but he was afraid that it would be too much and she’d breakdown again.

Lydia nodded, “And we certainly can’t have you failing, not that you ever do.” Stiles was smart, a lot smarter than people gave him credit for. “I’ll just-” Lydia frowned, “Did you hear that?” She asked. But then she heard it again a little louder this time. A fork dropped and Lydia winced. Oh god, they were back.

“Lydia?” When she faltered, he reached out, resting a hand on her shoulder with a troubled frown, shooting a worried glance at his dad before focusing on her, setting the bag of ice on the counter. “Lydia, hey. What do you hear?” His heart began to pound harder in his chest.

Lydia closed her eyes when the voices grew louder all whispering at the same time. She lifted her hands covering her ears like that would somehow make a difference.

The Sheriff scraped his chair back concern on his face and Lydia winced jerking back at the sound. “Stop,” her voice held a frantic note to it. “I don’t understand...I don’t understand,” she said again, but the voices just got louder.

Lydia pressed herself back against the counter her face screwing up in pain. “Please stop,” she whispered not even able to find Stiles voice through the massive cranium attack she was currently having. The riddle was back, the one voice deeper, harder. And then something new, flashes. Darkness, flashes of faces, but nothing distinct. Whoever it was felt familiar, but Lydia couldn’t concentrate as the voices continued to whisper sounding like white noise in her head.

Her legs felt weak as a scream built in her throat. It was like something was trying to overwhelm all of her senses at once. Lydia continued pleading for them to stop, slow down, she didn’t understand as her legs shook, her hands still pressed hard against her ears, eyes screwed shut.

Stiles didn’t know what to do other than wrap his arms around her tightly when he saw her knees start to buckle, like she was going to fall. His eyes were wide. He shot a frightened look at his dad, not sure if he was more worried about his dad witnessing what was happening or more worried about what it meant that she was having another episode so soon.

“Lydia, Lydia,” he whispered, mouth close to her ear. “It’s okay. Let it out. Scream, Lydia.” He swallowed hard, looking at his dad. “Cover your ears.”

The Sheriff’s eyes were wide as he watched Lydia; she looked almost identical to Stiles when he had nightmares. He stood off to the side not sure what to do. It was a truly frightening sight. Confusion crossed his face but he did as his son said and placed his hands over his ears.

When warm arms came around her Lydia released one of her ears and clutched at Stiles shirt, and then his voice was warm by her ear, comforting and she grabbed on to the sound trying to block out everything else. Her mouth opened and a shrill scream sounded, louder and longer than any before it. The glasses on the counter beside them shattered and then everything was silent and Lydia felt herself slipping, mentally and physically exhausted.

Since his arms were busy holding her up, Stiles couldn’t cover his own ears and he winced as the sound reverberated loudly in his eardrums. He held onto her more tightly burying his face against the back of her shoulder and squeezing his eyes shut until she stopped screaming. He hadn’t even heard the glass breaking but it was the first thing he saw when he lifted his head up to look around. He exhaled slowly, pretty sure he was the only reason she was still upright considering how limp she was in his arms.

Stiles carefully eased her down onto the floor, but away from the glass that had splintered and gone everywhere. He moved quickly, grabbing a wet washcloth from the bathroom and bringing it back to her, pressing it to her face. “Can you hear me?” he asked anxiously.

The cool cloth made Lydia wince. Her eyes fluttered open a hint of confusion in them when she glanced to her left and noticed she was on the floor. “What happened?” She asked voice hoarse. “Why am I on the floor?”

The Sheriff came over to help bending down and resting an arm behind Lydia to help her sit up. “Does this happen a lot?” He asked his son.

“Ugh, my head,” Lydia winced while reaching for Stiles.

Stiles sat beside her on his knees, looking from Lydia to his dad. “Too much,” he murmured. Especially lately. He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “You screamed, Lydia,” he told her, brushing some hair out of her face. “Do you uh, do you hear anything now?”

Lydia leaned into the light touch. “No,” she said relieved. She glanced over at the Sheriff who was squatting near her and Stiles. “Sorry about that Sheriff.” Lydia’s voice was soft as she glanced down self-consciously.

He wasn’t sure if it was good or not that she wasn’t hearing anything now. The last time she’d screamed it had clarified things to the point she’d been able to direct them to the building where Kira was when she was in trouble.

A phone ringing sounded in the quiet room, and then another from farther away. Lydia’s brows drew together and she sighed, “Do you think they heard?” She asked.

It took him a moment to realize she meant the ringing phone from upstairs. Hers. He grimaced. “Yeah. Probably so. Sensitive werewolf ears and everything. I’ll go get your phone.” He rose to his feet, patting his dad’s shoulder on his way out of the room.

Lydia watched Stiles go before glancing at the Sheriff. He sent her a warm smile and offered her his hand. She took it gratefully and he helped her up. “I’m sorry about the glasses, I...that’s never happened before.” She said swallowing hard.

The Sheriff watched her as she spoke and he could see the trepidation on her face. He placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, we can get new ones, but my son only has one of you,” he joked, “So try to stay in one piece will you.” He said concerned.

Lydia’s heart warmed at the concern she saw on his face and before she could stop herself she reached out and pulled the Sheriff into an impulsive hug. Not sure what had come over her. “Thank you,” she said softly.

Stiles was heading back into the kitchen just in time to see Lydia hugging his dad and he held his breath, swallowing hard. He hung back, not wanting to intrude on the moment. He couldn’t help but wonder how many more like it he’d actually get to see.

Lydia released the Sheriff and stepped back looking sheepish. She brushed a piece of hair back from her face. “Sorry,” she said quickly.

The Sheriff smiled, “Don’t be. I haven’t mentioned this before, but I’m glad you and my son are friends. He needs someone like you.” He said quietly.

Lydia’s expression wavered and she shook her head, “I think you have that wrong. It’s me who needs someone like him.” She admitted quietly before clearing her throat. “I should clean up this glass,” she said her voice a little too bright as she shifted away from the Sheriff to find a broom.

Stiles’ chest tightened at the exchange, feeling guilty for having witnessed it. He hesitantly stepped into the room. “It was Scott,” he said softly, holding the phone out to her.

Lydia took the phone from him with a smile, “Thanks.” She watched as the Sheriff excused himself and went upstairs to change before going to grab the broom, but she froze halfway there. “I saw something,” she told him turning back around. “There were the same voices again and the riddle, but then, there were images,” she told him her eyes wide as it came back to her. “Stiles, I think I saw the asylum...the one Barrow was at. And I saw someone here, someone familiar, but-” she frowned and shrugged helplessly, “I don’t know. I didn’t understand.”

The asylum again. “Someone here? Like here, here?” His eyebrows furrowed, glancing at his dad with worried eyes, his heart skipping a beat.

Lydia shook her head, “No, sorry, there. He was there. I don’t know who...But it felt like I knew him,” she said even though her tone held a hint of question to it.

“We’ll figure it out,” he assured her with a small smile, relieved that no one was going to be invading his house and going after his dad. “We always figure it out, remember?” He reached out and squeezed her shoulder gently.

Lydia nodded. She glanced around. “Where is your broom?” She asked realizing she didn’t know.

He rolled his eyes. “You just had one of your moments. Go sit down, Lydia.” He gave her a look before moving to get the broom out of the closet so he could clean up the mess.

______

It was sometime around one in the morning that found Stiles shimmying through one of the basement windows of the asylum. As plans went, he knew it wasn’t his best, really, and he knew it. But he knew that Scott thought that Lydia didn’t know what she was doing, and that Stiles was just hallucinating things, and he needed to find evidence that would prove to his best friend that neither of those things was true. He needed his best friend to believe in him, and so did Lydia.

He’d taken Lydia home hours earlier after Scott and the others had made a half-hearted attempt to see if anything had happened around town, but had come up empty-handed. Lydia had been incredibly upset and he’d spent over an hour reassuring her that they were just overlooking something. That’s all it was. It had to be.

He shone his flashlight around the dark basement, heart beating fast in his chest. The place was cold, damp, like a basement right out of a bad dream. “Come on,” he whispered. “What am I looking for?” he mumbled, creeping farther into the room. He moved slowly, his eyebrows furrowing at the vaguely familiar surroundings. He’d been here. He had been. He was sure of it.

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end as he spotted something familiar on one of the walls, behind some kind of large machine. He’d seen that symbol before, the backwards five, except it wasn’t really a backwards five. It was a Japanese letter. It was what the pack was marked with behind their ears.

Everyone except for him.

He moved forward, placing his hand against it as he stared, putting the pieces together in his mind. He had been there before. It was Lydia had thought it was where he was. And something terrible had happened here, in this room.

What was it? Before he could think anything else, a voice across the room sent chills down his spine.

“You’re back,” the figure moved out of the darkness, a scraping sound moving with it. “We were hoping you wouldn’t come back here…but we knew you would,” the voice hissed, the sound reverberating through the empty room. “Tell us Stiles, do you like riddles?”

And that definitely felt familiar. He turned toward the sound, backing away and trying to see the figure in the dark. “Not really, no. I’ve always been more a fan of the Joker and not the Riddler,” he said uneasily.

The figure stepped out into the light, his bandaged face covering everything but his mouth full of sharp silver teeth. “You got away from us before, and we let you go...Not this time.” The voice was raspy when it spoke and he closed the distance between him and Stiles slowly. “Tell us, what does everyone have, but no one can lose?” His head tilted to the side making his bandaged face look even more hideous. He wasn’t far from Stiles now, just a few feet.

Stiles backed away as much as he could, reaching into his pocket and fumbling with his phone. If he could just press his speed dial button, he’d have Scott on the phone and he’d be there in no time. But his hand was shaking too badly and his phone fell from his pocket and onto the ground. “Just stay away from me,” he ordered, voice stronger than he felt.

He tilted his head, “You shouldn’t have come back here Stiles, this time you’re staying with us.” He said before rushing forward and knocking Stiles into the wall. “We’re going to destroy everything you love,” his face was beside Stiles’, rancid breath filling the air. “And you’re going to help us.” Bandaged hands come up to Stiles head gripping it tightly. “You should have never come back,” he repeated before the lights flickered around them and a surge of power went from his hands into Stiles.

Stiles screamed.

And then the world went black.

Chapter Text

Scott sat on the bench outside with Lydia, Allison and Isaac as he scrolled through his cell phone. “They said the fire started in the basement and in fifteen minutes the entire building was engulfed in flames...Can you believe that?” He asked looking away from the phone and shaking his head.

Isaac popped a potato chip into his mouth and shook his head. Sometimes he wondered why he was the only one of his friend who actually ate during lunch time. “Did they get everyone out?” He asked before eating a fry.

Scott looked back at the article on his phone. “Mostly, there was one casualty.” he said sadly shaking his head. His gaze drifted to Lydia and he frowned at the look on her face, “What’s wrong?”

Lydia glanced up from her cell phone, “Has anyone heard from Stiles? I called him twice and he didn’t answer...Not my texts either.” She said worry furrowing her brow. Stiles  always  got back to her usually right away.

Allison frowned at that, because she knew how unusual it was for Stiles not to respond to Lydia almost immediately. “Maybe…” She hesitated, looking down. “Maybe he wasn’t feeling well.” She looked troubled, and glanced from Lydia to Scott. “Should you call his dad? Check on him?”’

Scott frowned and he nodded, “Yeah, I’ll call now,” he said bringing up the screen and dialing the sheriff’s number. He hadn’t even thought that something might be wrong. The call went to voicemail and he left a message for the sheriff to call him back. “He’s probably working,” Scott said as he slipped his phone into his pocket, his brows drawing together. “You’re sure he didn’t get back to you?” Scott asked knowing it was weird for Stiles not to answer Lydia’s calls. After all it was Lydia.

Lydia arched an eyebrow at Scott, “Yes, I’m one hundred percent sure he didn’t answer the phone,” she said a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Isaac shifted uncomfortably, looking troubled. “Okay not to alarm anyone, but uh, you know who else I haven’t seen in school today?”

Allison quickly shifted her attention to him, eyes widening. “You think Aiden went after him?”

Scott glanced between them. “He wouldn’t dare.” Scott said, tension creeping into his body. Just because neither of them were in school, it didn’t mean Aiden had gone after Stiles. He glanced at Lydia. “Can you call Aiden? See if you can find out where he is?”

Lydia nodded reluctantly. She had a bad feeling, but she didn’t think it involved Aiden unfortunately she couldn’t say the same thing about Stiles.

“It just seems like a weird coincidence after yesterday,” Isaac said, looking down at the table.

Allison looked around at her friends, not liking this.

“Why the long faces?” Stiles casually dropped into the seat beside Lydia, setting his bookbag down on the floor behind him. “It’s like someone died or something.” His tone was curious but not overly interested, either.

Relief filled Lydia’s face and she put her phone down. “You’re here,” she said surprised, “We were worried,” she rested a hand on his arm, “What happened to you this morning I called twice, everything okay?” She asked.

He shrugged, glancing down at her hand on his arm. “Lost my phone. I don’t know what happened to it.” He looked across the table at Scott, eying the tuna sandwich he was eating and making a face. “Why were you trying to call?” he asked, turning his attention back to Lydia.

Scott followed Stiles gaze and then looked back at his friend a frown forming on his face.

Lydia arched an eyebrow, “Since when do I need a reason?” She asked, “I mean I had one, but,” she paused realizing she was rambling. “The asylum, the one we were talking about last night caught fire...it went up in flames.” She explained her hand still on his arm.

“Why were you guys talking about the asylum?” Isaac asked from his seat beside Allison.

Scott’s frown deepened. He was curious about that too. He wondered if maybe they thought it had something to do with Lydia’s scream last night.

“Maybe that’s what your whole…” He motioned to her vaguely, shrugging. “Maybe that’s what it was about. Anyone die?” He picked up his fork and stuffed a mouthful of green beans in his mouth.

Isaac frowned a little at the very casual tone to Stiles’ voice. He knew the guy was known for his sarcasm and wit, but an entire asylum had burned to the ground, and he didn’t seem very concerned about it. He shot a glance at Scott, who looked equally worried.

“One person,” Allison told him, frowning, too.

“Bummer.”

Scott’s eyes were on Stiles watching as his friend ate, practically shoveling food into his mouth, something he hadn’t done in days. Scott had noticed his friend’s lack of appetite lately and it seemed odd that it was suddenly back. But the weirder thing was the attitude. He’d been so concerned about Barrow and the asylum the other day when he made Scott tell him about what happened the night he was sleepwalking and now no interest at all. Something wasn’t right.

Lydia’s brows drew together and she squeezed his arm gently, “Are you sure you’re alright?” It wasn’t like Stiles to refer to her that way or to not care that someone died. A slight shiver ran up her spine and she swallowed hard. Something wasn’t right.

Stiles glanced at Lydia sideways. “What could possibly be wrong?” he asked, arching an eyebrow. “I lost my phone and then overslept. Shouldn’t you be happy that I actually managed to get some sleep for a change?”

Allison shot Scott a look, raising her eyebrows. Maybe this was part of the illness talking. She wasn’t sure, but it was definitely unsettling. It was like he’d changed overnight and was an entirely different person. But she hadn’t had a chance to do any research on frontotemporal dementia yet. Was this what it was going to be like?

Lydia opened her mouth, but before she could say anything Scott spoke. “Lydia, I was hoping you could help me with some Science,” he pointed to the book by his side. “Why don’t you come over here? We can take a look at it really quick before class.” He said keeping his tone light.

Isaac arched an eyebrow; maybe they were both going crazy because now Scott was acting weird too.

Lydia wanted to protest, but there was something in Scott’s eyes that made her comply, which didn’t happen often. “Sure,” she said slowly letting her hand slip from Stiles’ arm and getting up.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at Scott momentarily, watching as Lydia moved over to sit down beside him. Then he popped a piece of his roll in his mouth, glancing around the cafeteria like he was looking for someone.

“Stiles?” Allison looked at him with concern. “Who are you looking for?”

He shrugged. “No one specific.”

Isaac glanced around the table and finally put his food down. “Alright, you guys are seriously creeping me out, what the hell is going on? You’re ruining lunch; it’s my favorite period of the day.” He said while balling up a napkin.

“Lunch is over soon anyway Isaac,” Scott’s voice was calm, but low. “Didn’t you say you had something you wanted to show Allison earlier?” He asked glancing over at his friend, “Why don’t you take her now, I’ll get rid of the garbage for you.” He said lightly an easy smile pulling at his lips though he felt anything but at the moment.

Lydia pursed her lips as she listened to Scott talking. Something was definitely going on and either he didn’t feel like sharing or he couldn’t. She felt another chill go up her spine and she frowned. She glanced up and saw Stiles watching her. Lydia swallowed hard. Something was different about him, but she couldn’t seem to pinpoint what it was.

“Don’t pout,” Stiles told Isaac. “It’s unseemly to the ladies.” He glanced at Allison with a faint smirk.

Allison was officially creeped out. “Right. Yeah we should probably head out,” she said to Isaac, reaching out and tugging on his arm as she rose to her feet. “See you guys later.” She pulled him away from the table before he had a chance to respond to Stiles’ comment. “I don’t know if this is because he’s sick or if it’s something else.”

Isaac went willingly, “I have no idea what’s going on. I feel like we walked in, in the middle of a movie,” he said as he threaded their fingers together. “Hopefully we can get Scott alone later and talk to him about it. We don’t really know a lot about what’s going on with Stiles’ sickness,” He said trying to reassure Allison as he glanced back at the table briefly hoping Scott was alright.

Scott tapped his finger gently on the table top. “Hey, I was thinking if you were free tonight we could head up to our old camping spot, maybe campout for the weekend, we haven’t done it in a while.” He suggested watching Stiles as he spoke.

Stiles took a drink of his soda, tension obvious in his shoulders as he looked at Scott. “Sure, why not? I don’t have any plans.” His gaze slid over to Lydia momentarily, and then he looked back at Scott once more.

Scott smiled, “Cool, you don’t mind driving right? I can’t get my bike up there with gear and the both of us. You know how it is.”

Lydia sat beside Scott her body tense as she watched them talking a sick feeling in her stomach.

“I could pick you up,” he suggested, taking another drink. “Better for the environment.”

“Great, come by at five we’ll head out then.” He said as he grabbed his books and stood. “Come on Lydia, I’ll walk you to class.”

Lydia hesitated; a part of her didn’t want to leave Stiles. Something was obviously wrong and he was always there for her when she needed him, but another part of her couldn’t wait to get away and that made guilt turn in her chest. “Stiles and I have class together next period, I can wait,” she said to him. “If you want.”

Scott pursed his lips, “Lydia,” he said quietly.

He looked between the pair, eyes searching intently. “No, it’s cool. We’ll have plenty of time to walk to class together in the future. It’s not like I’m dying or anything,” he said casually, shrugging.

Lydia’s face paled at his comment and Scott gripped her arm and practically tugged her out of the seat. He met Stiles gaze, his eyes hard. “I’ll see you later.” He said as he gently tugged Lydia along with him away from the lunch table.

Lydia opened her mouth, “My books,”

“You’ll get them later; don’t say anything else right now.” He said as he brought them back into the school. He paused and took a deep breath. “We need to call a meeting can you do that? Can you get everyone together? I need to call Derek.” He said finally releasing Lydia’s arm and running a hand down his face.

Lydia pursed her lips together as she watched Scott, the anxiety clear in his demeanor. “It’s Stiles,” she whispered, “He’s-”

“He’s not right. Something’s going on and I think until we figure it out everyone should stay away from him.” He caught Lydia’s gaze, “Especially you, got it?”

Lydia didn’t like being told what to do, but she could see Scott was in frantic mode so she nodded, “Got it.” She told him quietly.

He inclined his head, “Text me and let me know what everyone says okay?”

Lydia nodded and Scott squeezed her arm gently before walking down the hall leaving her standing there and suddenly she was wondering if she should have tried harder to figure out whatever those voices were trying to tell her.

 

______

 

Derek stood in front of the windows arms crossed over his chest as he waited for Scott to come inside. Isaac was sitting on the couch with Allison and Lydia was behind him glancing out the window. Scott had called him while he was in school saying they needed to have an emergency meeting about Stiles. He didn’t give him details over the phone, but Derek was pretty sure he didn’t need them. At this point it was pretty clear what was going on.

The sound of the loft door opening pulled Derek from his thoughts. He spotted Scott and Kira walking in and gave him a tight smile. “We ready?”

Scott nodded his chest tight. He kept Kira’s hand in his pausing when he was standing near Isaac and Allison. “I thought it was important for us to all meet up here because something is wrong with Stiles...outside of what’s already wrong with him,” Scott added.

“What do you mean?” Allison asked immediately, her eyebrows furrowing as she looked at him, and then at Isaac. Because dying of a terrible disease wasn’t enough already?

Kira shifted uneasily, squeezing Scott’s hand as a guilty look crossed over her face. She looked over at Derek, realizing he hadn’t told Scott what was going on. She swallowed hard.

Isaac noticed Kira’s sudden change and he arched an eyebrow. She looked like she knew something was up with Stiles, too, which was kind of weird since Stiles hadn’t really liked her very much according to Scott.

Derek sent Kira an apologetic look. “I actually have a theory, that I didn’t get a chance to run by you the other day at the hospital,” Derek said. He glanced at Kira and then at Scott.

“I think that Barrow used the foxfire from Kira to jumpstart the Nogitsune that hitched a ride in Stiles when the door inside him was opened after the ritual. The dark spirit inhabited his body, but wasn’t able to take control of it until what happened at that power plant.” He explained.

Scott pursed his lips, his hand tightening on Kira’s, “The Nogitsune,” he repeated, “That makes sense,” he said quietly. “The way he was acting today...it just wasn’t right. There was something about him that didn’t fit and I couldn’t place it.” He explained shaking his head. “How do we stop it?” He asked Derek.

Derek shook his head, “I don’t know.” He said honestly.

“I’m really sorry,” Kira said earnestly, looking up at Scott. “I didn’t mean to do anything to Stiles.” Her eyes watered and she blinked rapidly to keep the tears from falling.

Scott turned to Kira brushing a thumb beneath her eye. “Hey, I don’t blame you. You didn’t even know what was happening.” he said as he cupped her cheek. “We’re going to figure this out and get Stiles back and then everything will be fine.” Then again who knew how much damage this Nogitsune was doing to Stiles’ already unhealthy headspace.

Allison nodded agreeing with Scott’s words. “Kira, we know that,” She told her quietly, taking it all in. “It isn’t your fault.” She looked down at the floor for a long moment, then over to Lydia. She walked over to the plate glass window reaching out and resting a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Or yours. So stop. No one’s to blame here.” She drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “I can start going through my family’s bestiary. I may need some help with the translations.”

Isaac got up and followed Allison over to Lydia resting a hand on the small of Allison’s back rubbing circles into it as he spoke. “I can help translate...even though I don’t know the language.” He said lightly.

Scott glanced at Lydia. She’d been silent since he pulled her away from Stiles at school and he wasn’t sure what to do to snap her out of it. “We all have our parts to play. Allison talk to your dad too see if he’ll help. Kira and I will look into the Kitsune legends and see if we can find more information about the Nogitsune. Derek maybe you can work on finding a way to stop the Nogitsune?”

Derek nodded, “I can handle that,” he said matter-of-factly.

Scott nodded, “Good...Lydia maybe you can help Allison with the translations.” He suggested.

Lydia glanced over at Scott and just nodded. Of course that was what she was going to help with. It’s not like she could do anything else right. She’d screamed three times in the last couple of days and they were all for Stiles, they had to be. That was the only thing that made sense and it killed her that she’d missed that.

Kira looked around, and then up at Scott. “My parents have a library with a lot of Japanese mythology. We should start there.” She hesitated, then looked around. “I’ll do whatever I can to fix this.” She sounded anxious.

Allison smiled, but it was faint and she reached out, taking Isaac’s hand. “All right. We can head back to my place and get started.” She looked over at Lydia.

Isaac squeezed her hand gently as he followed her gaze to Lydia, who looked a little out of it and slightly more frazzled than usual. He hesitated, “Lydia, we’re going to go now.” He repeated Allison’s words.

Lydia glanced over finally realizing they were talking to her. She swallowed hard, “I--I’ll meet you guys there. I need to do something first.” She said.

Scott kept Kira’s hand in his. “Lydia, remember what I said...keep your distance from Stiles.”

Lydia met Scott’s gaze, “I heard you.” She snapped.

Scott sighed; this was going to be harder than he thought. “Kira I’m going to drop you off at home and then I’m supposed to be going camping with Stiles.” He told them, “He’s meeting me at my place.”

Scott glanced at Derek when Lydia walked over to the table where her purse was. He stepped closer to the other werewolf and lowered his voice. “Would you mind keeping an eye on her for me.” He asked quietly.

Derek’s gaze drifted to Lydia and then nodded as he glanced back at Scott. “I’ll make sure she’s okay, you guys go.” He told him.

Scott sent Derek a tight smile, “Thanks. Alright guys let’s head out.” He said walking back over to Kira.

Kira couldn’t help but overhear the quiet conversation between Scott and Derek and she was relieved that Derek would be keeping an eye out for Lydia. She was pretty sure that Lydia didn’t like her, and she didn’t blame her for that, considering. She just wanted to fix things for Scott and his friends, because she genuinely liked them and wanted to be part of this group. She squeezed Scott’s hand as he led the way to the door a moment later.

She just hoped they could find a solution quickly because if Stiles really was possessed by the Nogitsune, he was in a lot of trouble. She’d read stories about the kinds of things possession did to a person, both physically and mentally. She wanted to get this over with before the damage was irreparable.

 

______

 

Lydia sat silently in the passenger side of Derek’s car, her gaze focused worriedly out the window. Her stomach was twisted in knots and her hands kept clenching and unclenching in her lap. She was filled to the brim with anxiety and guilt and something she couldn’t quite understand. At some point she was going to need to apologize to Scott. She knew he was hurting just as much as she was and yet he had to step up and be a leader. Lydia shouldn’t be giving him such a hard time.

She let out a soft sigh and leaned back against the seat trying to get herself to relax. But it was practically impossible. All she could think about was Stiles.

Derek glanced at Lydia out of the corner of his eye as he made his way to the Sheriff’s station. Her pain was practically palpable in his car. It was suffocating and he wasn’t sure what to say to her. Lydia Martin was an odd girl. The picture of perfection to all who saw her and yet, she felt things more deeply than most.

Derek knew a lot of it had to do with the fact that she was Banshee, but he also knew she didn’t really understand what that meant just yet, and yet she was still trying to help. Lydia wasn’t nearly as shallow as he’d first assumed. He cleared his throat, “We’re almost there, a couple more minutes.” He paused, “I’ve seen Scott do a lot of things in the past three years that people thought weren’t possible,” Derek commented casually, “If anyone can find a way to help Stiles, its him...and you.” He told her quietly.

Lydia turned her head in Derek’s direction and studied him for a minute. “I think that’s the most you’ve ever spoken to me...or anyone.” She said her voice monotone as she rested her hands on her knees to keep them still.

Derek’s lip lifted up at the corner, “I’m working on my growth as a person. Step one, engage in human interaction. Step two, buy curtains.”

The absurdity of his comment made Lydia chuckle softly as she shook her head. “Derek Hale ladies and gentlemen, making strides in werewolf-human interspecies communication one shopping trip at a time.” She quipped.

The grin stayed in place on Derek’s face as he pulled into an empty spot outside the Sheriff’s office. He parked the car and turned off the ignition pocketing his keys.

Lydia unhooked her seatbelt, the expression on her face once again serious as she stared at the lights inside the building. “How am I supposed to tell him about Stiles?” She asked quickly, “After everything he just found out...I just...I wish Stiles was here he’d know what to do. He always knows what to do.”

Derek pursed his lips. “It’s okay to be upset...to care. The two of you are close.” He commented his voice gruff, not used to trying to comfort people. That wasn’t his ball game. “But I have a feeling he needs you...so you need to do the hard stuff so that you can get him back and if you’re willing to do that, then in the end we’ll make sure it works out.” He hoped.

Lydia glanced at Derek, “You’re not nearly as sour as Stiles thinks you are,” she said with a weak smile before pushing open the door and getting out of the car. Lydia heard Derek following suit as she made her way into the station in hopes of finding the Sheriff.

Sheriff Stilinski was in his office, trying his best to focus on the paperwork he’d been staring at for the last hour and a half. The asylum had been burned down to the ground sometime early that morning and initial reports were indicating that foul play was suspected. Arson. The last arson case he’d investigated in Beacon Hills had been the Hale family fire.

Needless to say, this wasn’t bringing up any good memories for him. That fire had been devastating, and he hadn’t known who’d been involved with that until a few months ago. It had been an unsolved arson case for nearly a decade. He didn’t like things going unsolved. Not only because it meant that there was no peace for the victims left behind, but because it made him feel helpless.

Now he was a lot more aware of the kinds of things that went on in the town, and while he didn’t necessarily understand all of it, he was at least more knowledgeable about it than he had been.

Someone had died in this fire, too. A young woman who’d resided there for the last couple of years who had hidden under her bed when the chaos broke out at the place. His chest hurt when he’d read that she was only seventeen. The same age as his own son.

Despite the case, it still wasn’t quite enough to get his mind off the fact that Stiles was sick, dying from the same disease that had killed Claudia. He’d watched her suffer, unable to really do anything because there was nothing he could do. Was he going to have to watch his son suffer that same fate.

Stiles had mentioned that Scott could turn him into a werewolf, but he hadn’t missed his son’s hesitation about that. He knew that becoming a werewolf would be a huge change for both of them to deal with, but if it kept him alive…

Michael wasn’t going to pressure him though. He wouldn’t force him or try to convince him to walk that path because he knew that wasn’t an easy path to be on either.

He sighed, sitting back in his chair and pinching the bridge of his nose as he felt a headache coming on.

It didn’t take Lydia long to finagle her way past the deputies, though a few of them were watching Derek closely. She rolled her eyes and came to a stop outside of the Sheriff’s office. Her stomach flip flopped, but a strange feeling inside of her propelled her forward. Lydia lifted her hand and knocked on the door, the rapping insistent, but not too hard.

“Come in,” Sheriff Stilinski called as he looked up and saw Lydia through the glass, smiling softly and rising to his feet. “Lydia. Is everything all right?” He spotted Derek behind her and he grew still. That wasn’t good. Something was wrong.

Lydia shook her head, her heart pounding heavily in her chest. Derek closed the door behind him as Lydia spoke. “I know Stiles told you about the different things in this town, but we’ve got some new things here now and I know you’re not going to completely understand this, but Stiles...Stiles isn’t himself right now,” she explained her hands tangling together as she spoke.

“There is something called a Nogitsune, it’s a dark spirit, a type of kitsune. Someone--we think it’s taken over Stiles. We don’t know how or why, but--I needed to come here and tell you. I just got this feeling like you should know...I mean you should know but I,” she paused swallowing hard. “I had a feeling.” Lydia looked down knowing her feelings meant very little to the Sheriff and pretty much everyone else since she couldn’t seem to get anything right.

“A dark spirit,” he echoed, thinking back to his chess-board talk with his son several weeks before. That definitely hadn’t been part of the talk. There hadn’t been anything about spirits or ghosts, though he wasn’t exactly surprised to hear about it now. “A kitsune?” He tried to make sense of what she was saying.

“...Lydia, are you telling me that my son is possessed by this spirit?” His eyebrows rose and he stared at her. She appeared to be completely serious. He thought back to his last interaction with his son. He’d left for work before Stiles had gotten up that morning, so the last time he’d seen Stiles was the night before.

“I know how it sounds and I know these names weren’t on the chessboard,” Stiles had told her about that not long ago saying it’s how he explained things to his dad, “But it’s real. Do you remember when we were in here after the power outage? With Kira? Well that was when the Nogitsune got into Stiles, I guess...it’s been sort of slowly taking hold I mean I don’t--” Lydia paused her face paling as her heart jumped in her chest.

Derek frowned and took a step forward when he heard Lydia’s heartbeat jump. “What’s wrong?” He asked his brows drawing together.

Lydia glanced between Derek and the Sheriff, “I screamed...I screamed the night Barrow tried to electrocute Kira it’s how we found her. And I screamed the night Stiles was in the hospital. And then last night, last night was the worst.” Lydia’s chest tightened.

Sheriff Stilinski nodded when she mentioned the power outage, grimacing as he remembered the oh-so-pleasant conversation with Agent McCall that had taken place in his office later that night. He hadn’t noticed anything different about his son that night. He’d been his smart ass self, mocking the FBI agent much to his own delight.

Lydia pursed her lips. “I knew about the Nogitsune I just I didn’t understand what the voices were saying, I didn’t get it,” she told them her tone elevating as guilt built in her chest. This was her fault. Michael frowned “But if you hadn’t screamed that night, then Kira might be dead now,” he said slowly.

Derek sighed, “No, she wouldn’t. Kira is a Kitsune, not the bad kind,” he added quickly. “We think that Barrow used Kira’s foxfire to jump start the Nogitsune’s power in Stiles. We think it’s been in him since the nemeton ritual.”

Lydia winced, “Derek,” she said his name and he arched an eyebrow at her. She sighed. “Sheriff, there’s a lot of stuff to explain, but I’d feel more comfortable if we talked about it somewhere else...I’ll tell you everything. But...we should go.”

“Nemeton ritual?” he echoed, shaking his head. He had no idea what Derek was talking about at all, but he already didn’t like the sound of it. He looked down at his desk, still stacked with paperwork, but it was going to have to wait until morning. This was about his son and his son came first.

“All right. My house?” he suggested, picking up his car keys as he looked between the pair standing in front of him.

A wave of anxiety rolled in her stomach and something inside Lydia shifted unsettling her. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end and she swallowed hard. “We need to go now...we have to leave.” She reached for the Sheriff, “Get out of the office,” she said.

Derek glanced around not sure what had Lydia so worked up. He blinked shifting partway so he could have a closer look at the room his eyes. The heat coming from the Sheriff’s desk wasn’t natural. His eyes widened and he turned, “Get out now, tell everyone to get down.”

Lydia tugged the Sheriff forward to the door, her only goal to get Stiles’ dad away from harm.

“What’s going on?” Sheriff Stilinski asked in confusion as he allowed Lydia to lead him toward the door, shaking his head and looking back at Derek with worried eyes. “What did he --"

Before he could finish his sentence, the room rocked, glass exploding as he used his body to cover Lydia’s to shield her from harm even as Derek tackled him to the ground.

Pieces of glass and wood flew all around them some slamming into Derek, but he stayed where he was making sure the Sheriff and Lydia were covered. His ears buzzed and after a few minutes that felt a lot longer than they were, there was a deafening silence, smoke billowing around them. And then in seconds there was a flurry of activity people calling out yelling, calling for the Sheriff and other officers.

Derek pushed himself up grunting in pain as he noticed the piece of plywood sticking out of his side. He pushed aside some of the debris near the Sheriff and Lydia before gripping the plywood in his side, gritting his teeth and yanking it out. “Come on, we need to go.” He said reaching out to help them up.

Sheriff Stilinski looked at Derek worriedly as he watched him yank the plywood out of his side. He knew that Derek was a werewolf -- he was on the chessboard, of course -- and he knew from Stiles that werewolves healed very quickly unless something like wolfsbane or mistletoe was used against them. He didn’t understand, though, how someone had managed to get in to the department and plant a bomb. It didn’t make any sense.

Derek heard the Sheriff groan and he followed the other man’s gaze. “We don’t have time for him,” he said.

Lydia stood on shaky legs, “Turn around and go out the back,” she said as she looked away from Scott’s dad. “We can lose him in the crowd outside. There’s a door that leads to a side entrance,” she said.

Derek arched an eyebrow at her and Lydia cleared her throat, “Stiles told me,” she said shifting on her feet, “Guys hurry come on,” she said gripping each of their arms and shifting them forward in the opposite direction of Scott’s dad.

Sheriff Stilinski lifted a brow as he wondered just how many times Stiles and his friends had utilized that door. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer. He led the way out the door, pausing when he caught sight of a familiar figure outside a few yards away. “Stiles?”

Lydia sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of them. Derek moved slowly around the Sheriff stepping in front of him and Lydia and glancing at Stiles. He let his eyes flash, “There’s nothing here for you.” He called out keeping himself in front of Lydia and the Sheriff.

An unnatural smile twisted onto Stiles’ face. “You think you can stop me, Hale?”

It looked like his son. It sounded like his son. But the boy that stood there, smiling like he was proud of himself wasn’t his son. It couldn’t be. Stiles didn’t have that kind of evil within him.

“I think you’re going to walk away,” he said his fists clenching at his sides. “I don’t want to hurt you Stiles...but in the long run if it’s to protect the people you care about I will.” He said and it was true. Derek wouldn’t hurt him severely, he’d most likely find a way to restrain him, but that thing inside of Stiles didn’t need to know that.

Lydia took a step forward, “We’re not afraid of you.” She said holding herself beside Derek though he didn’t look happy about it. “You need to go, you don’t belong here.” Not like this, not when that thing was looking at her with Stiles face. Her heart clenched, but she held her ground.

“You’re right. I do have other plans.” He grinned at them. “Gotta go camping with my buddy Scott.” He winked at Lydia. “But I’ll catch up with you later, Babe. I think we need to have a little chat, too.” He shifted his gaze back to Derek. “But you are wrong about one thing, Beta.”

Sheriff Stilinski felt sick as he listened to the thing inside his son taunt his son’s friends.

“Stiles doesn’t live here anymore.” He lifted his hand, making a shooting motion with his fingers. “See you around, Pops.”

A wave of rage filled Lydia and she took a step forward, but Derek’s arm was around her in seconds, holding her back, “Let him go, now’s not the time.” He said quietly.

Lydia watched his retreating form and she couldn’t stop her mouth from opening, “You’re a liar!” She screamed. Stiles was still there...he had to be.

He simply chuckled as he turned his back to them and headed away, disappearing from sight.

Derek swallowed heavily, the image Stiles left in his head disturbing. He released his hold on Lydia and turned to the Sheriff. “I would suggest an alternate living situation at the moment. Preferably somewhere that has some kind of supernatural protection.” He said his tone calm.

Lydia pressed a shaky hand against her stomach. “We need to get some mountain ash from Deaton. It kept out the Oni, it should keep out the Nogitsune.” She said her voice low.

“That thing said Stiles was gone,” Sheriff Stilinski whispered. “But he’s not. He’s still in there, somewhere.” He looked from Derek to Lydia. “My son is not gone.”

“I know that,” Lydia said quietly. “It’s lying. We’re going to get Stiles back; I will not let that thing keep his body.” She said her voice hard.

Derek shifted and winced. “I should get you home Lydia...Do you know where you’re heading Sheriff?” He asked the pain in his side throbbing slightly, but not too bad.

Michael rubbed a hand over his face, feeling overwhelmed. “I should give Melissa McCall a head’s up about what’s going on, unless Scott already has.” He paused. “He said he was meeting up with Scott.” There was alarm in his voice. “Scott knows what’s going on, right?” The idea that the thing that had hijacked his son’s body would go after and harm Scott pained him. Stiles would never forgive himself if he managed to hurt his best friend in any way. Stiles looked at Scott like a brother. The two had been inseparable since they were children.

Lydia nodded, “Scott knows. We all have things to do. Allison and Isaac are looking through her family books to see if there’s any information in there about the dark spirit. Kira is going to look through her family stuff too since she’s a Kitsune, Scott is meeting up with...the Nogitsune and I needed to see you, to tell you.” She said softly

Derek rubbed the back of his neck as she listened to them talk, wondering if this was the beginning of how bad it was actually going to get.

Chapter Text

The Nogitsune had waited for so long to be free from where he was trapped in the other world, not alone, but not powerful either. He had longed for the day when the door back into the actual world would be opened once more and he could emerge from his forced exile. And then it had. Opened by three young, naive teenagers in a ridiculous self-sacrificing ritual, and he had been freed, only to be trapped once more in the body of one of them -- the most useless of the group, really. He would have preferred to inhabit the body of the alpha, but the alpha didn’t hold as many deep-rooted insecurities and fears as the boy. He hadn’t been able to slip in.

Much to his own surprise, taking control of Stiles Stilinski hadn’t been as easy as he’d believed. What the boy lacked in actual physical strength and ability, he made up for in other ways -- fierce determination to protect the people he loved the most. It was sickening. The only time he’d been able to take any kind of control of Stiles was when the boy slept, because his nightmares were so twisted that he literally couldn’t tell the difference between dream and reality. The Nogitsune pointed Barrow in the direction of Kira Yukimera while Stiles sleep walked his way into his jeep and then into the chemistry lab one night. Stiles still hadn’t figured that one out yet.

Fortunately for the Nogitsune, the foxfire had allowed him to take temporary control when the boy wasn’t sleeping. His hold on Stiles had become stronger, even if the child was fighting him harder than the Nogitsune had ever anticipated. His resistance was strong, but it wasn’t stronger than the Nogitsune himself. He worsened the nightmares in the boy’s head, breaking him apart a little more at a time, every single night, forcing him to see terrible things that no child should witness. Images of his father bloodied and broken, of his best friend cut in half, of his beloved Lydia with her throat slashed, eyes frozen open in horror.

Little by little, Stiles’ mind began to fracture, enough that Nogitsune could convince him to sleep walk at will, to drive him toward the literal edge of his sanity and threaten to let him fall over. The beauty of it all was that Stiles literally remembered none of his subconscious’ battle with him.

He’d grown almost fond of the boy’s wit and determination despite how weakened it was becoming. He knew that eventually he’d have to find another host body. Eventually his presence would wear through Stiles’ entirely. Until the Nogitsune was powerful enough to manifest in his own physical form, he would have to do what he could, though he didn’t relish the idea of starting all over. Perhaps if he proceeded quickly enough, if he took the right combination of lives he would be able to maintain himself in the teenager’s body before it killed him.

The alpha would be a wonderful starting place for that. Particularly since he was a true alpha. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, really, which was why he stood on the front porch of the McCall’s house shortly before five that evening. Of course Scott was going to show, and of course he was already aware that Stiles was no longer Stiles, but Scott loved the boy deeply and the Nogitsune was going to use that against him in every way possible.

He reached out and rang the doorbell, cold smile on his face.

Melissa glanced at her bedroom door at the sound of the bell. She hesitated in her doorway before stepping out into the hallway and making her way slowly down the steps. There weren’t many people who would be ringing her bell at the moment, not with what was going on. She still couldn’t believe that there was a demon inside of Stiles, as if things weren’t bad enough recently.

Scott had called after school filling her in quickly and telling her he would explain more once he was home. Melissa stepped off the last stair and reached for the door, unlocking it and pulling it open. The sight in front of her literally made her heart throb in her chest. “Stiles,” she said her voice light, “I thought you and Scott were meeting up at five,” she said keeping the door open wide as she smiled at the thing on her porch. Anyone who knew Stiles would clearly be able to see that was not him. Whatever it was held himself differently, and the smile on his face was anything but nice.

“I didn’t figure you’d mind me stopping by a little early,” The Nogitsune told her, gaze trailing to the ground where a line of mountain ash prevented him from simply walking inside. Clearly he’d underestimated Scott a little and his lips twisted in a grimace as he heard Stiles’ voice inside his head. You thought it was going to be that easy? Scott isn’t stupid.

He would simply have to try other tactics. He looked up at Melissa again. “If you think that a little bit of dust is going to keep any of you safe, none of you have thought this through very well,” he told her with a smirk. “After all, it didn’t keep the Oni out for long, did it?” He cocked his head, studying Melissa with interest. “You might as well let me in. I will get in one way or another. The other option will simply cause a little more damage to this body.” He could hear Stiles again, yelling for her to ignore him, not to listen to what the Nogitsune was saying.

Melissa studied the thing in Stiles body for a minute before crossing her arms over her chest. “You didn’t think it would be that easy did you?” She asked with an arched eyebrow as she gripped onto the door her voice calm despite how disturbing it was to see Stiles like this. “That boy you’re inside of has a lot of people who love him. So I hope you aren’t getting too comfortable. You won’t be in there long.” She told him with an air of confidence.

The Nogitsune grinned, toothy and wide. She really had no idea. “I’ve been here a lot longer than you even realize,” he informed her. “Learning everything about all of you. Everything I need to know. Your son, the true alpha. Isaac his loyal beta. Stiles really has an issue with that one. So jealous, afraid he’s lost the only real friend he’s ever had. It got worse when Isaac moved into your house, you know. He’s always thought of you as a second mother and he knows he’s been replaced.” His voice was casual and he smirked when Stiles tried to shut him up. “It was so easy to take him.”

Melissa swallowed hard and took a step closer to him, making sure not to cross the barrier. “There isn’t a damn thing in this world that could replace Stiles. He is one of a kind and I love him like a son. Scott and Stiles are my world and I will do anything to protect either one of them. So, you could have been here for years and it wouldn’t matter.” She told it her voice hard.

“If you’ve been here for so long watching, then you should know my kids are terribly underestimated all the time and you’re making the same mistake. But you don’t have to believe me. You’ll see in the end.” Her chest was tight, but she knew Stiles had to be in there somewhere or he wouldn’t have fought so hard before.

Melissa held his gaze. “Don’t give up.” She said directly to his face, but she wasn’t talking to thing looking at her, she was talking to Stiles wherever he was. “You’re family needs you and we love you.” She said putting all of her heart into the words knowing that deep down Stiles would hear her.

The Nogitsune narrowed his eyes at her. “You really think that’s going to --” His words cut off mid-sentence and for a moment the expression on Stiles’ face was completely blank. And then it contorted in fear. “Don’t let Scott come after me,” he said urgently, eyes welling with tears. “It wants to kill him! It wants his power.” He backed away, stumbling backwards and falling back down the porch stairs. He winced. “Please, don’t let him come after me!”

Melissa’s eyes widened, “Stiles,” she stepped over the barrier and moved down the stairs reaching out for him. “It’s going to be okay, do you hear me? We’re going to fix this. Everyone is out there working together to find a way to get him out. You just need to hold on.” She said as she cupped his cheek hating the fear she saw on his face.

Tears careened down his face and he shook his head, knowing he didn’t have much time. He was so tired, so drained. He had to get away from here, away from Scott’s mother, away from his house before Scott came back. “I have to go.” He scrambled backwards, away from her, struggling to his feet and running for the jeep. “Don’t let him come after me!” he said again, distraught as he slammed the driver’s side door shut, shifting the vehicle into gear and putting his foot on the gas pedal.

“Stiles! Be careful...You know Scott isn’t going to listen to me and I’m not going to make him. We love you. We aren’t going to let this thing win; you’ve just got to hold on for as long as you can...please.” She called back to him knowing he didn’t want to hurt anyone. But they couldn’t just leave him like this, they loved him too much.

______

Allison had been staring at the computer screen for so long that her eyes were starting to water and her head was starting to pound. She wasn’t having any luck so far as she combed through her family’s bestiary and after another hour had crawled by with no word from anyone, she looked at Isaac, who’d dozed off in the chair beside her. Involuntarily she smiled, shaking her head slightly and reaching out to gently brush some hair off his forehead. She hesitated a moment, then kissed his temple, closing her eyes. When she pulled back she realized he had opened his eyes and she blushed, ducking her head shyly and moving away. Her relationship with Isaac was odd. It often wavered back and forth between a kind of shy awkwardness and a bold desire that made her do things like pull her shirt off after declaring she had no desire to kiss him.

It never quite made sense to her, but she was trying not to analyze it too much. She liked Isaac, cared for him more deeply than she really wanted to admit. She looked back at the computer, sighing softly. “I’m not having any luck. I haven’t heard from any of the others either. It’s been hours. What do you think is happening?”

Isaac sat up, his head still warm from her kiss. He ran a hand through his hair ruffling it slightly as he stretched out his back. “Honestly, I have no clue. But at least we know everyone is safe.” He commented, which was something. “Maybe Kira will have better luck than us,” he figured since this whole thing sort of started with her the information from her family would probably be the most helpful.

“Yeah, I hope so.” She was quiet for a moment, letting her eyes close. “I like Kira. She seems sweet.” She didn’t really understand exactly what a kitsune was if it wasn’t the evil kind and she definitely didn’t seem to be evil. Then again she never would have guessed that Stiles was possessed by some kind of spirit, either.

Isaac stood up, his shirt rumpled from the way he’d been laying. He walked over to Allison, stopping behind her and placing his hands on her shoulders, pressing down gently as he glanced at the computer screen. “Are you worried?” he asked quietly. He was. Isaac knew how close Scott and Stiles were and he wasn’t entirely sure how his friend was taking things.

She leaned back into him, exhaling. “Yeah, I am. Because even my dad doesn’t have any idea how to get the Nogitsune out of Stiles without killing him.” She pursed her lips. “Do you think he’s the one who burned down the asylum?” Her voice was hushed.

Isaac was silent for a minute. “I do,” he said his voice low. “He’s got a connection to that place. It’s where Lydia thought he was the night he went missing and I’m starting think maybe she was right at the time.” He said letting his hands rub her shoulders slowly. “This is crazy,” he shook his head, “I kinda feel like this is one big nightmare.” Isaac was quiet for several minutes before finally breaking the silence in the room. “What if we can’t find a way to get it out of him?” He asked quietly voicing the fear he’d had since they’d realized what was going on.

She didn’t want to think about what would happen if they couldn’t find a way to get the Nogitsune out of Stiles’ body. She leaned her head against his arm. “Katashi said there wasn’t a way to save the host,” she whispered. She hadn’t dared utter that in front of Scott or Lydia. She wanted to believe that Katashi was wrong. That there was another option. “I just...I’m hoping that he was wrong because I don’t think that…” Her voice trailed off. “I don’t think that Scott or Lydia would recover from that,” she admitted, voice growing more quiet. “And I’m not sure that Stiles’ dad would either.”

Isaac sighed. “I don’t like to be pessimistic, but...I feel like this isn’t going to end up going our way. While we’re looking for a way to save Stiles, we also need to look for something to help us if we can’t.” He hated to say it because even though he and Stiles hadn’t been getting along lately he didn’t dislike him. He was a good guy. Stiles helped when needed and he was Scott’s best friend. End of story.

“Maybe this thing isn’t as evil as everyone thinks and we’ll have some time to search deeper into things. I still think our best shot is Kira.” He admitted.

He wasn’t wrong. If they couldn’t get the Nogitsune out of Stiles, they still had to stop it from killing people. One person was already dead. She couldn’t imagine how Stiles was going to feel even if they did end up saving him and he knew he’d been used to do something like that. “He wouldn’t want to hurt people,” she whispered. “He’d want us to stop him. The same way I would. He’d want us to have a Plan B.”

Isaac nodded. He slid his hands down until he was gripping the armrests of the chair. He spun the chair around until Allison was facing him. “He would. I’m pretty sure Stiles is the kind of guy who’d rather hurt himself than his friends,” he said stiffly. Isaac was silent for a minute, “Are we really talking about this?” He asked, his voice so quiet that it barely sounded around them. It was a frightening thought, talking about fighting someone they knew and cared about.

Tears prickled at her eyes and she blinked rapidly to keep them from falling. “I don’t want to be talking about this. I don’t even want to be thinking about this.” She swallowed hard, her chest tight. “But I’m not sure we have a choice. Scott and Lydia aren’t going to even consider this and if he’s out there killing people…” God, how was this their lives? They were seventeen years old. They were supposed to be worrying about things like dances and parties and getting grounded, not stopping one of their possessed friends from killing people.

Isaac squatted in front of Allison so they were about eye level. He reached up and slid his hand over her skin cupping her cheek. “A last resort.” He said his voice hushed. “We won’t talk about it anymore, not until there’s no other way, okay?” He asked. Isaac didn’t like seeing her so upset and he wanted to be there for her anyway he could.

Allison leaned into his touch, meeting his eyes and nodding in agreement. “Last resort,” she whispered, reaching out and cupping his cheek, too.

“I’m not interrupting anything am I?”

She jerked her head up, startled to see Stiles standing in the doorway, leaned against it casually like he was there just for a chat. She quickly rose to her feet, grabbing Isaac’s arm. “What are you doing here? What do you want?”

“Well, I want a lot of things. Right now I just need a little more energy. Mine -- well, his really…” He looked down at himself. “It’s wearing a little thin.” His eyes focused on Isaac.

Isaac stood slowly putting himself between Allison and Stiles. “Well then maybe you should give Stiles a rest and go back to wherever it is you came from.” Isaac could feel himself tense, his body preparing for a fight. His nails grew longer, eyes flashing a golden yellow.

A smirk spread across Stiles’ face and he pushed himself away from the doorframe. “Afraid I can’t do that, little beta. Such a good lapdog. Not my first choice, but...guess we don’t always get what we want.” He moved forward and Allison found herself morbidly fascinated by how not Stiles like his movements were.

Isaac hunkered over slightly a growl leaving his throat as he felt himself shift at the threat, his instincts kicking in. He was coming way too close to Allison. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said as he took a few steps in front of Allison blocking her from view despite the fact that he knew she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. “But it doesn’t mean I won’t,” Isaac said his senses on high alert as he waited for the Nogitsune to make its move.

A deep chuckle escaped their friend’s throat. “You can certainly try. I think I’m going to enjoy this.” He reached out; grabbing Isaac by the throat before Isaac even had the chance to react. His eyes were dark and narrowed as he lifted him up in there with one hand, tightening his grip.

“Isaac!” Allison cried, moving and grabbing the letter opener off the desk.

The sound of his daughter’s cry sounded through the house and Chris was off the bed, crossbow in hand in seconds. He rushed the door slamming it open, his booted feet hitting the ground in hard thuds as he rushed to his office where the two teenagers were researching. Chris came to a halt in the doorway, weapon raised, but when he got close enough to see what was going on he hesitated for the briefest of seconds.

“Put the wolf down,” he said his voice hard. “I know what you are...we’ve met before.” He said, his aim never wavering. As he saw the horror on his daughter’s face and Isaac’s feet hanging a couple of inches off the ground.

The Nogitsune turned to look at him, smirking but not letting go of Isaac. He tightened his hold on Isaac’s neck. “You were much younger then, weren’t you?” He arched an eyebrow.

“Dad, he can’t breathe!” The despair in Allison’s voice was obvious, tears in her eyes as she approached the pair from the other side.

“Do not move Allison,” He heard Isaac struggle for breath and he glared at the thing in Stiles body. “You should have headed my first warning. I only give them once.” Chris took aim, his fingers tightening on the trigger and squeezing off one arrow. It sailed through the air and imbedded itself into the arm that was holding Isaac’s neck.

Chris quickly loaded another one, “This next one isn’t going to be as strategically located,” he warned.

The Nogitsune scowled, letting go of Isaac involuntarily because of the injury. He glared at Chris, reaching out and yanking the arrow from his shoulder and discarding it on the ground. “I won’t be bested so easily, Argent. All you’ve done is damage to the boy.” He smirked again, heading for the window and leaping out of it, right through the glass, and disappearing into the night.

Isaac coughed loudly when air hit his lungs, the burning sensation in his chest fading as his wolf receded. He sucked in a sharp breath his hand lifting to his neck as the dizziness faded. “Jesus,” he wheezed, a deep bruise already forming on his neck.

Chris walked over to them setting the cross bow down and pausing by Isaac, “You okay?” He asked quietly.

Allison knelt down beside him, as well, looking at his neck with worry and then looking at her dad fearfully. “Why was it after Isaac?” she asked, shaking her head.

Isaac nodded at Chris and then reached up gripping her arm gently, “You’re okay?” he asked his voice hoarse as he let his eye roam over Allison.

“Isaac, I’m fine.” She reached down, grasping his hand in hers and daring her dad to say anything about it.

Christ watched them for a minute before speaking, “The Nogitsune needs power to keep him strong. He needs to absorb that power. Stiles is only human, eventually his body will give out and the Nogitsune will have to find a new host.” He explained.

She swallowed hard as she listened to her father’s words. “And he absorbs power by killing or causing pain and chaos? So he went after Isaac because he has more power than a regular human.” She looked back at Isaac. “We need to warn Scott and Derek.”

Isaac nodded, “Let’s call them now,” he said as he sat up wincing slightly. His gaze shifted to Allison’s dad, “Thanks for that.” he said with half a smile.

Chris nodded, as well, his expression not changing as he got to his feet, offering his hand to help both teens up, as well. He didn’t like that he’d had to shoot Stiles, but if that was what it was going to take to stop him, he’d do what he had to do.

Outside the apartment Scott lifted his hand and knocked on Allison’s door. He had just come from home where his mom told him that Stiles was able to break through the Nogitsune’s control for a little bit. It was the first piece of good news they had since all this happened. He glanced to his left at Lydia who seemed to be slightly better since the news from his mom. “We’ll let them know what my mom said and maybe we can figure out another way to bring Stiles forward.”

Derek nodded, “It’s worth a try,” he said pausing. His head tilted to the side, “Do you smell that?” He asked with a frown.

Lydia arched an eyebrow, “I don’t smell anything.”

Scott looked at the door. “I do,” he was quiet, “Blood.” He felt adrenaline rush through his body. His foot jerked out slamming into the door making it fly open. Scott rushed inside. “Allison! Isaac!” He called out while rushing into the apartment followed by Lydia and Derek bringing up the rear.

Allison had barely gotten to her feet when she heard Scott’s voice yelling for them. “We’re back here,” she called, shooting a worried look at Isaac and then her dad. She moved toward the door, eyes wide. “Did you see him out there? Are you all okay?”

Isaac followed her to the door, glancing at Chris worriedly. A quick glance at Scott and Lydia, then at Derek and he felt confident they were all unharmed. “He was just here.”

Scott frowned, “Stiles?” he asked with a frown.

Derek surveyed the mess his gaze traveling between Allison, Isaac, and Chris. He tensed beside Scott when he didn’t see any blood on them.

Lydia stepped out from between Scott and Derek her gaze drawn to the broken window. “Did he jump out of there?” She asked eyes wide.

Scott inhaled deeply, “We smelled blood...but none of you are hurt.” he said as he caught Allison’s gaze. “What happened?” His voice was low, quiet and not entirely pleasant.

She shut her eyes. “He was trying to kill Isaac,” she whispered. “He picked him up with one hand and he was choking him.”

Chris folded his arms across his chest. “I shot him with an arrow,” he informed them, not the least bit intimidated by the werewolves in the room. “It was either that or let Isaac die.”

Isaac rubbed his neck, swallowing hard as his gaze flickered from Scott to Lydia, not sure if even he could hold back the two of them if he needed to.

“You shot him?” Lydia’s voice was shrill, “Stiles is still in there!” Worry crossed her face and she turned to Scott, “You need to track him you need to find him…” Her words cut off and Derek reached out tugging her gently away from Scott. He watched the younger wolf very aware of the struggle going on inside of him.

“Take a deep breath Scott.” Derek’s voice was calm, “Let it out slowly and push the anger out. You control it, it doesn't control you, remember?”

Scott let out a heavy breath. He needed to be rational. He needed to focus. He didn’t want any of his friends to get hurt or worse die. “You could have knocked him out,” Scott said finally before glancing at Isaac, “Are you alright?”

Chris’s gaze flickered to Scott, keeping his eyes trained on him.

“Yeah.” The bruises were already fading from around his throat. “But there for a minute…” He looked down, then over at Allison. “I thought I was a goner.”

“We need to have a serious discussion about what we’re dealing with here,” Chris said, voice quiet but firm. “This isn’t like dealing with a werewolf. It isn’t even like dealing with a kanima.” His gaze shifted momentarily to Lydia. “This is something none of you have experience with. I’ve seen firsthand the kind of damage the Nogitsune can do. How quickly.”

Derek pursed his lips and held his hands behind his back. “Stiles is fighting the Nogitsune,” he said as he glanced around the room.

Lydia nodded. “He went to Scott’s house earlier and something Mrs. McCall said brought Stiles back out. She said he had control enough to get in his jeep and leave. He’s trying...but he needs to know where fighting for him.” She told them not able to help the glare she sent in Allison’s father’s direction.

“Well he definitely isn’t in control anymore.” Isaac said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Scott stayed silent, the pensive look on his face as he processed what everyone was saying trying to keep himself calm as he thought about his best friend out there bleeding in the middle of nowhere all alone, even if he wasn’t technically his best friend at the moment.

“That may be true,” Chris agreed, gazing at Derek evenly. “But like Isaac said, he isn’t in control now.” He shifted his gaze to Lydia. “We have to face the fact that we may have to stop the Nogitsune however we have to, as terrible as it’s going to be.”

Isaac flinched at that, folding his arms across his chest and staring down at the floor.

“I don’t like it, but we can’t let this thing run loose hurting people and worse.” He looked at Scott.

Scott met Chris’s gaze and held it for a minute before speaking. “I understand what you’re saying,” he paused, “And a part of me probably understands your point of view. But if you hurt Stiles again, we’re going to have a problem.” He said his fists clenching at his sides as he focused on keeping his anger under control. Everyone was scared, people were getting hurt and emotions ran high when things like that happened.

If Scott was going to be a leader he needed to keep his head on straight.

Derek crossed his arms over his chest. “Scott’s right. We are not killing Stiles. That’s out of the question.” He said his voice hard.

Lydia shook her head, “I can’t even believe any of you would suggest it.” She turned her gaze on Allison’s father. “Stiles helped save your life.” She could feel her eyes burning as she struggled to keep her emotions in check.

“It isn’t like that, Lydia,” Allison whispered. “None of us wants to see Stiles hurt, let alone…” She couldn’t bring herself to say the words. “But Stiles would hate himself if he was hurting people. And he’d hate us if we just let him do it. We can’t just ignore the possibility.” Tears burned in her eyes, too.

Isaac reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently but remaining silent, a deeply troubled look on his face.

“I think we may be at an impasse here,” Chris said calmly, resolve in his voice.

“We’re more than at an impasse,” Said Derek.

Scott glanced at Allison and Isaac before his gaze traveled to Derek. He sighed and shook his head turning away from them. “Let’s go,” he said to Lydia and Derek. He paused and glanced back over his shoulder at Isaac, “I’m glad you’re okay. Call when you’re coming home, the house is surrounded by mountain ash and we need to break the line so you can get in.” He said before heading for the door.

Lydia sent one last look in their direction a single tear sliding down her cheek as Derek urged her to turn and follow Scott out the door.

______

Michael stood in the McCall kitchen reaching into one of the cabinets for glasses. It had been two days since the explosion at the sheriff’s station and things in town had just gotten worse since then. He hadn’t seen his son in days and knowing that Stiles was the one causing all this grief killed him a little inside.

Michael put the glasses down and glanced at Melissa. He had been staying with Melissa and Scott since the explosion. The house seemed to be protected for the moment and outside of researching and searching for Stiles, Scott, Lydia and surprisingly Derek Hale were constantly at the house.

Michael didn’t know where Allison and Isaac were, but from what he’d gathered from the three inside there was some kind of disagreement. “Is there enough food there? Should I order something?” He asked leaning against the counter in his civilian clothes.

Melissa glanced around at all the food they’d made, and shook her head. “I think we’re okay.” She reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. “Really. Why don’t you sit down and I’ll finish getting things ready?” Her eyes were full of worry. She was also tired. Needless to say with everything that had been happening, she hadn’t been getting much sleep.

She was too worried about her son, about Stiles being out there, alone, trapped inside himself. God, he’d been so lost when she’d last seen him two days ago that it hurt to think about. If she hurt as much as she did, she could only imagine what Michael Stilinski was feeling.

He sent Melissa a grateful look, “I need to keep myself busy,” he admitted honestly. All he could do was think of Stiles and what was going on. “And thank you for letting me stay here...I just wish I knew where he was.” He said quietly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Melissa nodded in understanding, her heart hurting for him, too. She looked toward the living room where Scott, Lydia and Derek were watching the news. “You’re welcome to stay as long as you need to, of course. I wish I knew where he was, too, Michael,” she murmured.

Michael turned to face her noticing that she looked just as tired as he felt. He walked over to where she was standing and placed a hand on her back. “I don’t think I’ve mentioned how much everything you’ve done for Stiles over the year’s means to me. My son loves you so much and it means a lot to know there’s someone else out there looking out for him.” He swallowed hard. “We’re going to get him back.” He said trying to reassure her and himself at the same time.

She met his eyes and laid a hand on his arm. “I love Stiles. And I feel the same way about you, with Scott. Those two…” She looked down for a moment. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Most actual siblings aren’t even as close as they are. I haven’t talked to my sister in six weeks. I can’t imagine them going that long without seeing each other, much less without speaking.” Melissa nodded. “We will get him back. I know we will.” There was no other option in her mind, period.

Michael could feel moisture gather in his eyes as he nodded. “I haven’t either. Those two...I’ve never seen anyone fight for each other the way they do. Always. I was so happy when they met.” He admitted. Michael’s gaze shifted to the living room. He could see Scott sitting on the couch, a hand resting low on Lydia’s back as she stared at the television. It looked like she was trying not to cry.

And Derek, he stood to the side of both of them like some kind of body guard, his face a mask of calm that he couldn’t possibly be. “I’m worried about them,” he motioned towards the living room. “Has Scott spoken to you? How’s he doing?”

She squeezed his arm again, following his gaze to the living room to where the other teens and Derek were. She wasn’t sure what was going on with Isaac, but he’d called to let her know he was staying with the Argents temporarily. She knew he had feelings for Allison, which had of course, complicated the relationship between him and Scott, but she’d thought they were closer to resolving that. Scott, for his part, seemed to have grown an interest in a new young lady she’d yet to meet.

“He isn’t talking much,” she admitted. It scared her. How solemn Scott had become the last two days. She understood, of course, because it was Stiles, whom had always been his rock. The one he depended on as much as he depended on her, and she knew it worked the opposite way just as much. “I’m so frustrated that our children are caught up in all of this.” Her voice was strained for a moment and she picked up the knife she’d been using to chop vegetables and began doing that once more, an effort to focus on something other than her fears and frustrations. She felt so helpless, though, to actually do anything about it.

Michael nodded, “Believe me, I share the sentiments,” he said blowing out a breath. “I wish they could just be normal kids...have normal problems.” He pinched the bridge of his. “They deserve better than this,” he said quietly.

There was a soft clearing of a throat and the sheriff glanced up spotting Lydia in the doorway. She sent them an apologetic look. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you, I was just...um, my mom is out of town again and I was wondering if maybe you wouldn’t mind me staying just for the night.” Lydia hadn’t been sleeping well and the bad feelings that came in wave after wave were constants lately.

She didn’t feel like being home alone. Really all she wanted was to be back in Stiles room with him studying or playing with strings. God, she missed him more than she thought possible and the only time it wasn’t tearing her apart was when she was with Scott because he knew exactly what she was feeling without her having to say it.

Melissa turned her attention to the young woman, sadness in her eyes as she moved over to stand in front of Lydia. She knew how much Stiles cared for Lydia, and had for a very long time. She could even remember how when he was much younger, he and Scott would be talking about girls and the only girl he ever talked about was Lydia. She reached up and cupped Lydia’s cheek in her hand. “Sweetheart, you can stay here as long as you need. You’re always welcome,” she said sincerely.

Lydia felt her eyes tear up and she nodded doing her best to keep them at bay. She hated being constantly emotional. It wasn’t her. But with everything going on lately and whatever was inside of her making her feel things so much more strongly, it was hard not to be. “Thank you,” She swallowed hard, “I’m just going to go back inside. I’ll see if...the guys are hungry.” Lydia blinked a few times before turning and heading back into the living room.

Michael pursed his lips. “Seeing her always chokes me up a bit,” he admitted gruffly. “I’ve watched them spend time together...she reminds me a lot of Stiles Mom,” he said quietly, “Before she got sick.”

Melissa watched her go, feeling heavy-hearted as she turned back to Michael. She rarely ever heard either of the Stilinski’s talk about Claudia, though Michael had mentioned her several times recently for obvious reasons. She didn’t want to think about the fact that even when they got Stiles back, he was facing a dark path. It really just wasn’t fair. “She’s not at all what I’d expected when he first talked about her,” she confessed.

Michael chuckled, “She is an enigma. That girl surprises me every time I see her. She can be ruthless at times and others I’ve seen her be one of the most selfless. I think they’ve all grown in their own ways.” He told Melissa before clearing his throat, “Now come on, there’s got to be something here you need my help with.” He said while rolling up his sleeves.

She watched him for a moment, smiling faintly. “All right, Mr. Stilinski. You can work on chopping the rest of the vegetables.” She patted him on the back fondly, eyes full of warmth as she moved to check on the food that was cooking in the oven already.

One advantage to being a werewolf was the ability to pay attention to what was happening in multiple places at the same time. For example, he was both focused on the local news on TV in front of him, and he was also listening to his mom and Stiles’ dad talking quietly in the kitchen. Talking about him and talking about Stiles. He stared ahead at the television screen, eyes burning with unshed tears.

Never in a million years had he thought something like this could happen. Not even when he’d been bitten by Peter Hale. Stiles had always been right there at his side, through all of it. Christ, the guy had stepped into a pool of gasoline while Scott had been out of his mind and holding a lit flare in his hand. He drew in a breath and let it out slowly, his jaw tightening as Lydia vanished from the room long enough to ask permission to stay there for the night. He smiled faintly at his mother’s response, not surprised by it in the least.

Stiles was out there somewhere, and the thing that had taken over his body was forcing him to do terrible things if the news was any indication. Not only that, but he was injured thanks to Chris Argent. And Chris and Allison and Isaac were on Team Stop Stiles However Necessary and he was not okay with that. He did understand Chris’s thinking but this was Stiles. And none of them had the kind of connection to Stiles the way that he and Lydia did. He felt hurt, betrayed by Allison’s decision to stick by her dad for this.

They had to find him first. They’d been looking, of course, and researching, in increments. So far Scott felt like they were far away from any kind of solution and every time another idea fell through it killed him a little inside. He listened closely as the news reporter on the screen talked about the explosion at the sheriff’s station two days ago, about the fire at the asylum, and speculated whether the two were connected in any way. And his dad.

No, his gene donor had to be eating this up. Relishing in how much easier his job had suddenly become due to all the chaos in Beacon Hills that was going down. He wanted to hit something. He took another slow breath, darting a glance at Derek, who looked far too calm for what was happening.

“I can feel you looking at me,” Derek said his voice calm as he watched the news. It had taken him years to perfect the kind of outward composure that he was exhibiting at the moment. Derek was used to the pain, used the guilt and suffering, but what he wasn’t used to was caring so much. He wanted to help Scott. It was clear that he was not okay and no one least of all, Derek expected him to be okay. And Lydia...he had the oddest urge to pull the girl into his arms and hug her. The thought alone made him shiver. Derek was not a hugger.

But most of all he wanted to find Stiles and bring him home. He didn’t understand where the protective urge came from. It wasn’t like he and Stiles were great friends. But as much as he picked on the human, Stiles was a loyal friend and Derek respected the hell out of that. Stiles had saved his life several times, he’d helped his sister when she was sick and he was there when Boyd was murdered offering Derek comfort though he didn’t deserve it.

That entitled him to Derek’s help. “What’s going through you head?” He asked quietly.

“We have to find him first,” he said very quietly. “There are no other options. If we can find him, do you know of any place where we can contain him until we figure out how to get the Nogitsune out of him?” He didn’t even like the thought of locking his best friend up, and the thought that they wouldn’t get there first was too terrible to contemplate.

Derek finally met Scott’s gaze, “We will get to Stiles first. I’ve been thinking about that. While you guys are at school tomorrow I’m going to check and see how the place beneath my old house is holding up, the one that Kate had me in remember?” He asked, “If it’s in good condition maybe I can fortify it and we can keep him there until we figure out how to get rid of the demon.” He said rolling his neck.

He shifted and walked over to the couch sitting on the arm of it. “Have you talked to Deaton about all of this?” He asked casually.

Scott rubbed a hand over his face. It was actually kind of unbelievable that despite everything that was happening he still had to worry about going to school. He couldn’t care less about school. Not when his best friend was out there needing his help. “He’s out of town at a veterinarian's conference until Wednesday. I left a message on his voicemail, but I don’t know how often he checks it.”

Derek nodded, “He knows a lot about things like this, so he might be able to help us with a solution,” he explained. “What about Kira? Have you heard anything from her on the mythology of the Nogitsune? Anything about its weaknesses or vulnerabilities?” Derek’s brows drew together. He knew he was asking a lot of questions, but by the look of things going on around town, they were running out of time.

“She texted earlier to say she thought she may have found something but she wasn’t specific. She said she needed to do some more research and she’d call as soon as she found what she was looking for.” He looked at Lydia, who was staring blankly at the TV screen and rested his hand on her back again. The two of them had never been particularly close, but he felt close to her now, because she was as upset as he was about everything that was happening.

Derek nodded, “That’s good,” he said as his gaze followed Scott’s to Lydia.

Lydia had been listening to them talk since she got back in her seat, but half of her thoughts were on Stiles. She couldn’t help wondering where he was, if he was okay, and what that damn Nogitsune was doing to him. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, Scott’s hand on her back mildly comforting. They weren’t like Stiles’ hands though. When he touched her, even just a light brush it was like he’d somehow make everything better.

He made all the confusion go away and now he was gone and her best friend was trying to hunt him down. Lydia’s heartbeat picked up speed as she thought about how stupid she’d been lately and how she never appreciated Stiles enough because she always just thought he’d be there. And now people in town were getting hurt, buildings were blowing up and all Lydia wanted was to see Stiles’ stupid grin or watch him awkwardly flail around his chair at school. She felt her chest tighten, another wave of something clenching in her stomach as her heartbeat continued thumping rapidly in her chest.

“We’re going to find him, Lydia,” Scott whispered. “I swear to you, we’re going to find him. And we’re going to get this thing out of him and he’s gonna be fine.” He swallowed hard, looking at Derek once more, his gaze intense. The problem was, this thing, this monster inhabiting his best friend’s body likely had access to all of Stiles’ thoughts. His memories. Everything. And Stiles was smart. He was brilliant, really, and if anyone could get by with the things the Nogitsune was making him do, it was going to be Stiles. It made the situation all the more terrifying, and he was sure he wasn’t the only one who realized those same facts. He rose to his feet.

“I’m going out to start looking again.”

Lydia reached out gripping his arm, “Don’t...not right now. I-” she paused, “I have a bad feeling,” she whispered, “Let’s wait until it passes and then we’ll go.” She told him.

Derek pressed his lips together, “Maybe you should stay here Lydia, get some rest. Scott and I will probably be quicker alone.” He said gently.

Lydia frowned, “I want to help.”

Scott held his breath, remembering what Stiles had said in the jeep before this thing had taken over. That she was going to need someone to reassure her. That she didn’t have confidence in herself when it came to her abilities. He looked down at her hand on his arm, reaching up to cover it with his other hand. “If you have bad feeling, then we’ll wait,” he said quietly.

“We’ll eat dinner, and we’ll wait until your feeling passes. Okay?” He smiled, but it was faint and didn’t reach his eyes.

Surprise crossed Lydia’s face as she glanced between Scott and Derek, “Really?” She asked uncertain.

Derek looked at Scott and then back to Lydia, “I watched you save the Sheriff a couple of days ago with one of your feelings,” he commented, “You don’t have to convince us to trust you Lydia. Stiles has always trusted you, that’s good enough for me.” He said with a shrug.

Lydia glanced at Scott when Derek was done speaking trying to gauge his reaction to the other man’s words.

Scott nodded slightly, squeezing her hand gently. “Come on. I think my mom made lasagna, and it’s some of the best lasagna you’ll ever have,” he told her, holding his hand out to her to help her off the sofa. “We need to keep doing things like eating, too. It’ll keep us going.” And as an alpha, he had to make sure that everyone in his pack was taken care of. His chest tightened at the thought of Allison and Isaac out there, cut off from the rest of them, hunting another member of the pack.

Lydia looked at Scott’s hand and again she couldn’t help but think of Stiles. But Scott was right if they were going to go out looking for him tonight they needed to keep their energy up. Lots of carbs, it was cold out. Lydia took his hand and let him help her off the couch. She glanced over at Derek, “You too, come on you need to eat. You’ve been standing there like a Paladin all night long. We need you to take care of yourself too, not just us.” Lydia told with half a smile.

Her words warmed him. Derek sighed as if her insistence was annoying and followed them into the kitchen.

They would do this. They would eat dinner, and then they’d go back out there and work on tracking Stiles down.

There was nothing else they could do. And Scott wasn’t going to give up on Stiles. He knew that Lydia and Derek weren’t either. Because Stiles had never given up on any of them. And they were going to return that favor by finding him, getting the Nogitsune out of him somehow, and making sure nothing ever hurt him again.

Chapter Text

Lydia walked down the hallway, her heels clicking loudly against the floor, Chemistry books in hand. The halls seemed quieter even though she knew that wasn’t the case. Things had been going wrong all morning and the administration had been running through the hallways like bats out of hell. Lydia honestly couldn’t believe school was still in session; then again at least it was a distraction.

She, Scott and Derek had gone through the woods by Derek’s old house and all the surrounding areas. They were out there for hours and nothing. Though, they had seen flashlights a few times in the distance. Lydia knew Mr. Argent had called the hunters back to town and they were out in full force. But Scott and Derek had something those hunters didn’t have, a keen sense of smell and desperation.

Derek had fallen asleep on Scott’s couch last night when they got back from looking for Stiles and Ms. McCall had covered him with a blanket saying when he slept he looked like a kid. Lydia couldn’t help but agree. She had spent her night on Scott’s floor oddly enough with him lying on the floor too. She hadn’t been able to sleep so he spent some time telling her stories about him and Stiles from when they were younger. It had been the first time she smiled in days.

Lydia shook the thought away and sighed as she pushed the door open to her classroom and stepped inside. She took a few steps and then paused frowning when she realized no one was in the room. “What the-” she glanced around, her long hair whipping back and forth. She pressed her books against her purple sweater and brushed a hand over her pleated black skirt as confusion settled on her face.

And then a shiver slid down her spine and she took a step back. She felt anxiety building inside of her and her stomach clenched. The feeling was back. Lydia turned quickly and rushed to the now closed classroom door. She gripped the knob and turned, but it was locked. She frowned, her heartbeat slamming hard against her chest as she pulled harder trying to get the door open.

“I thought it was time for us to have that little chat,” a familiar voice said, except the voice wasn’t right. It wasn’t really his. It was the thing inside of him that was using his body, his vocal chords, and not actually him at all.

The Nogitsune stood right behind her, not touching her but so close she could feel his breath hot against her neck. He had to take care of this one, even if it wasn’t right now. This one, this girl, was dangerous to him in more ways than one. He reached out, pulling a lock of hair out of away from her neck with a tenderness that contradicted all of the terrible things it had been doing in the last few days. He watched her turn around to face him.

“Hello, Lydia.” It smiled at her, but it wasn’t Stiles’ smile. It was darker, eyes devoid of any emotion at all except hunger. Hunger for the things that would allow it to manifest itself outside of Stiles’ body: chaos, pain, strife. Tragedy.

Lydia swallowed hard and stepped back making her hair slip from his fingers. Her gaze darted to his arm and from what she could see it looked okay. “Well at least you’re taking care of his body,” she said straightening up refusing to cower in front of the Nogitsune. “I hear you ran into an angry Argent,” She responded arching a perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

A low chuckle escaped from him. “Unfortunate for him. Doesn’t really affect me that much. Argents don’t really scare me, babe. Actually nothing really scares me. He on the other hand...well.” He shrugged a shoulder. “What doesn’t scare him?”

Lydia pursed her lips, “Fear is healthy. Only a fool lacks fear,” she said with conviction her gaze hardening, “What a person does in the face of their fear is a different story. And Stiles has proven time and again that his fear does not control him.” Lydia took a step forward.

“And for the record while you might not be afraid of harming this body you might want to stop showing off and jumping through windows. There are some of us who like Stiles’ body,” Lydia paused, “That didn’t come out right...but either way the point remains the same.” She said realizing her heartbeat had picked up speed slightly.

The Nogitsune cocked his head, studying her intently. “I can see why he likes you so much. So fiery. Full of spirit.” Humor made his lips tug upwards. “And he has no idea that you feel the same. Humans are so pathetic.” He shifted forward, backing her up against the closed door and putting his hands on either side of her head. “He’s getting weaker in here. At the beginning he was screaming all the time. He hardly screams anymore. Almost like he’s...vanishing entirely.”

Lydia’s grip tightened on her books as she sucked in a deep breath pressing herself back against the door as far as she could go. Her chest tightened at his words, her heart slamming even harder against her chest as she swallowed heavily. Lydia kept the anger on her face though. “Or maybe he’s just lulling you into a false sense of security waiting for us to get our hands on the key to destroying you.” She said matter-of-factly. “You don’t scare me,” she said her voice hard. “Stiles isn’t yours to keep...he’s mine.”

The Nogitsune grinned, a sick, dark smile. “You don’t understand how this works, do you, babe?” He moved his face closer to hers. “By the time I’m done, there won’t be anything left. It’s a shame really. I’m almost….fond of him.” He looked down at his body and then back up at her. “Too bad you missed your chance, really. Although I suppose we could remedy that if you really wanted to. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind much.” He winked at her.

Lydia reached out with her free hand and gripped his shirt tightly, her gaze boring into his. “I will never forgive you Stiles Stilinski if you give up. Never.” She said her voice full of emotion. Lydia felt her stomach clench and she blinked and started to let go of his shirt so she could shift back again.

For just a second, his eyes flickered before turning cold again, his grin turning into a sneer. “Your loss, sweetheart.”

Lydia watched him for a minute and then something inside of her stirred. She could feel the scream building in her throat. She never took her eyes off of Stiles as her mouth opened and she let out a shrill scream, the sound echoing around the small classroom. And then there was silence and Lydia blinked her body wavering between the door and the Nogitsune briefly.

The Nogitsune blinked, seeming thrown by her sudden screaming. “Well that was just unnecessary,” he informed her, narrowing his eyes. “For the record, it’s not time for you. Yet.” Its gaze flickered to her mouth, then down, sweeping over her body before meeting her eyes once more. It leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers, surprisingly tender but seeking.

Lydia’s eyes widened at the feel of his lips against hers. His mouth was warm and soft and she couldn’t seem to help the way she responded to the light touch. She moved her mouth beneath his parting her lips all too willingly so she could deepen the kiss. Lydia shifted forward her hand coming up to Stiles cheek, her thumb brushing against his skin, and it was in that moment she realized what she was doing.

After a long moment, the Nogitsune pulled away from her a knowing smirk on his face. “It’s kind of ironic, really. You finally like him now that he’s controlled by something a little...darker. You really do have a type, don’t you, Lyds?”

Lydia stumbled slightly as she moved away from him shaking her head, “No, I. That’s not, I wasn’t kissing you.” she said, her lips tingling as guilt settled in her chest. Her mouth parted but before any words could leave it the classroom door slammed open making Lydia jump.

Scott’s eyes were glowing red as he made his way into the classroom. He’d heard Lydia scream from his classroom on the other side of the school and got there as soon as he could. Scott glanced between Lydia, who looked like she was going to be sick, and Stiles who was smirking and a hint of guilt sparked in his chest.

Stiles would never forgive him if he let something happen to Lydia. He turned slowly stepping in front of Lydia as he stared at his best friend’s body, a deep ache filling his chest. “I’m surprised you’re here.” He said finally.

“Half the people I wanted to see are here, Scottie. Where else would I be?” The Nogitsune grinned at him, this time using Stiles’ trademark smile though his eyes were still devoid of any warmth or emotion. “Don’t worry. Lydia and I were just having a little chat. She really has very interesting taste in men, don’t you think? Jackson, Aiden.” He glanced at her. “Me, now. Too bad you interrupted. I probably could’ve gotten to second base at least. Would’ve been his dream come true, don’t you think?”

Scott’s gaze hardened as he saw Lydia wince. He caught the tears in her eyes and his chest tightened. “I think you should make this easy on yourself and come with me. I don’t want to hurt Stiles, but that doesn’t mean I won’t do what I have to, to save him.” He swallowed hard. “I know you’re still in there man, I need you to fight this asshole, Stiles,” he paused trying to get through to him like his mom had. If he could just get through to him they could knock him out and get him somewhere safe away from the hunters and stop him from hurting people. “You don’t want to do this...you don’t want to hurt us,” he motioned between him and Lydia.

The Nogitsune cocked his head arching one eyebrow at him. “He kind of does, actually,” he said, voice cold. “You did after all, try to kill him how many times, Scottie? And then as soon as Isaac came along...well he wasn’t so important anymore, was he? He knows that. He does kind of want to hurt you for that. For putting his dad’s life in danger so many times…” It tsked. “But he’d never admit it. He blames himself for the monster you’ve become.”

Scott felt like he’d just slapped him. His chest was tight, hands curled into fists. “That’s not true. Those times were an accident, Stiles knew that, I never meant to hurt him, he’s my best friend...my brother.” Scott’s voice grew thick, “No one is more important than him, Stiles knows that. He’s family.” He said shouting, his eyes flashing again, but a part of him couldn’t help but think maybe the nogitsune was right. Not that Stiles wanted to hurt him, but that he felt bad.

The feel of a small hand curling around his arm drew his attention from Stiles. “Don’t let him get into your head Scott, Stiles loves you. There isn’t a person in the world he cares about more outside of his dad...you know that. Don’t let that,” she glared angrily at the nogitsune, “thing make you question that.”

The Nogitsune winked at her. “Guess you’ll never know if you’re right about that or not, Babe.” It grinned at Scott again. “You’ve tossed him aside so easily, so many times. Allison, Derek, Isaac, now Kira. No wonder it was so easy to take control over his mind, really. So much easier to possess the damaged and broken. I should really thank both of you for making that easier for me. But don’t worry. By the time I’m done, there won’t be any broken pieces left to pick up.” He casually headed for the door. “See you both again soon.”

Scott closed his eyes, a tear escaping out of the corner and sliding down his cheek. Lydia’s grip tightened on Scott and she glanced over her shoulder watching him walk away. Lydia spoke to his back. “We’re going to kill you and when we do we’ll get Stiles back and you’ll just be a forgotten memory.” She said her voice hard, but still shaky.

He simply chuckled, lifting a hand in a wave as he left them alone in the room.

Lydia shifted and stepped around Scott so she was standing in front of him. She hesitated before resting her hands on his shoulders, “Are you alright?” Lydia knew it was a stupid question, it was clear he wasn’t okay. But she didn’t know what else to say or how to make it better...not without Stiles.

He didn’t look at her right away, and he reached up, brushing the tear from his cheek. No. He wasn’t all right. He wasn’t all right at all. None of this was all right, and he couldn’t be all right, and wouldn’t be all right until Stiles was all right. And he was starting to think that wasn’t going to happen. He just shook his head, meeting her eyes, seeing his own pain reflected back to him in her face. “We need to end this,” he whispered.

“I know,” Lydia whispered, “We need to talk to Deaton, Scott. We need to figure out how to end this. Stiles...he’s still in there,” she said swallowing hard, “But...I think he is getting weaker. Today after school we need to sit down with Derek, Kira, and Deaton if we can get in touch with him. It’s time to start formulating a solid plan.” Lydia said her voice a lot more confident than she felt.

Scott looked at her, nodding and reaching out to take her hand. “I’ll call Deaton, and if he doesn’t answer, I’ll take off and drive up to LA and track him down.”

Lydia nodded. “Scott, we’re going to get him back. We just need to stay focused and you need to remember that no matter what that thing says, Stiles love you, you’re like his brother...you are his brother. He’s told me how much you mean to him. Try not to question that.” Lydia said quietly squeezing his hand.

“I just...I haven’t paid as much attention as I should have been. I haven’t -- he’s not…” He was frustrated and upset when he couldn’t find the words he wanted to say because he also knew the Nogitsune had planted some of that guilt firmly on Lydia’s shoulders. He hated this so much. “I need to call Deaton. Can you call Derek?” He forced himself to take a deep breath.

Lydia could see Scott struggling and she knew how he felt. “Yes, I’ll call him. We can meet up at the loft and if you need to go get Deaton, then I’ll hold down the fort until you get back.” She said simply.

“Just be careful. Try to stick close to Derek, okay?” He looked at her with worry. As much as he wanted to believe that Stiles would stop the Nogitsune from harming Lydia physically, his confidence was wavering.

Lydia nodded, “I will,” she saw the uncertainty in his gaze and her chest tightened. “Scott, listen to me. I know how hard this is. I go from wanting to cry, to wanting to scream, to wanting to throw something in a matter of minutes. There’s so much that I never…”

Lydia paused, “I’ve wasted a lot of time.” She told Scott simply. “But the minute you and I start giving up on Stiles, it’s the minute we won’t get him back. I don’t think anyone believes we can...outside of surprisingly Derek.” Lydia pressed her lips together, “He needs us not to lose hope. So promise me you won’t, please. I’ve seen you do some crazy things that people didn’t think you could do. Stiles too. I need you to be that guy. I need you to help me get him back because…” Lydia looked down. “Because we need him back.”

Emotions flickered over Scott’s face and he held his breath as she spoke, and he wondered when exactly it was that Lydia Martin had begun to return those kinds of feelings for his best friend. He wasn’t sure but he needed to help be the one to make sure they got their chance together. Wordlessly he moved forward, wrapping his arms around her in a fierce hug, his promise a silent but determined one. They’d get Stiles back. They had to.

______

He had never felt so tired before. He thought he’d been tired, but it was nothing like the way he felt now. He couldn’t feel his physical body anymore at all, really, but his mind was so tired. He’d tried to guide the Nogitsune to the Argent’s place where Isaac was, because he knew that Scott would never have it in him to take a life, especially not a life that was wearing the face of his best friend. It hadn’t worked. Chris Argent hadn’t taken a kill shot, and if he had, this would have been done with already.

Stiles was forced to watch every terrible thing that the Nogitsune did. Forced to watch as it burned down a mental asylum filled with people, knowing that people were going to get hurt because he’d been too weak to stop it from happening. Watched as it taunted and hunted the people that he cared about.

He’d been so close earlier when it had been talking to Lydia. So close to being able to emerge, but the Nogitsune was using his own pain against him. It was feeding him.

Stiles didn’t want to feel anything anymore at all. Maybe then it would wear his body out, would stop hurting people. Causing so much suffering. He didn’t care if it killed him anymore. He just wanted it over with.

Even now, he watched and listened tiredly as the Nogitsune went about the school day like nothing was out of the norm. Listened to it say and do things that Stiles would never utter or do in a million years. God, the look on Scott’s face earlier, on Lydia’s face...they weren’t going to get past this if he survived. There was no going back.

It was plotting now. But what? It took such a focused amount of energy to push his way into the space of his brain that the nogitsune was occupying, to get an idea of what he was planning. Sometimes it sensed his presence there and mocked him. Other times it managed to push him back out somehow.

It was so focused though, on this plot, that he was able to press through the cracks and into the subconscious of the thing’s thought process, horrified by what he found there.

No. No, that couldn’t happen. He couldn’t let that happen.

He had to stop it.

His body was running now, and he felt the thing smirking as it pretended to ignore the distrust, pretended to ignore the suspicious looks it was getting from people. From all of them that knew what it really was. God, he had to get their attention somehow. Had to stop them from going much farther. But how? How?

There were people all around him as he jogged down the path heading out into the woods with his gym class. Scott could feel the Nogitsune’s eyes on him, Isaac’s too. But he ignored everyone and kept running, pushing himself further. He hated that this thing was walking around in Stiles’ body, but there wasn’t anything he could do in front of all these people.

Plus, what exactly would he do without hurting his best friend? Scott sighed as he followed the path angling to the left and then continuing down, his feet hitting the ground at a steady pace. He knew he wouldn’t break a sweat like everyone else. He never did. This wasn’t really a workout for Scott.

Lydia’s words from earlier sounded in his head, he needed to hold on to the little hope he had left or getting Stiles back was going to be even harder. Scott shifted and moved out into the small clearing his classmate’s right behind him.

Move, Scott, Stiles willed him silently, feeling familiar panic welling up within him as Scott approached the trap the nogitsune had laid the night before. Please. You have to move. But Scott didn’t move. Scott had no idea what was about to hit him. Just a few more steps and the thing would be triggered and no, NO, he couldn’t let that happen.

He screamed inside his own head so loudly that Lydia would have been proud and nearly wept with relief as he regained control of his body, speeding up and tackling Scott to the ground seconds before screaming began all around. God, had he been hit? He moved, forcefully rolling his best friend over to make sure, eyes wild with terror. There was no arrow, no blood. Tears prickled at his eyes as he stared down at Scott.

Scott’s breath rushed out of him confused and when he glanced up and saw Stiles above him his eyes widened, “Stiles?” He reached up and gripped Stiles’ shoulder, the sheer terror on his friends face making his heart hurt. “Dude, hang in there, Lydia and I are going to get it out of you.” Scott was so focused on Stiles he didn’t even realize what was going on around him until he heard Isaac.

“SCOTT!” Isaac screamed his name from the ground beside Allison.

Scott’s head jerked to the left and everything came into focus. Students were screaming as others lay on the floor crying. He frowned, “What the hell?” Scott looked back up at Stiles and squeezed his shoulder. “Are you still with me?” He asked searching his face.

Stiles shuddered at the sound of Isaac’s scream, his gaze immediately going to the girl who lay on the ground, his gut twisting as Scott directed a question at him. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered, scrambling backwards, onto his back, elbows propping him up. “Help her, please.” God, why hadn’t someone stopped him? Why wouldn’t someone just stop him?

Scott sat up pressing his hand against the ground as he stood, “Stiles…” He could see the pain on his friend’s face and the last thing he wanted to do was add to it. “I promise, I’m going to fix this.” He said not wanting to leave him there, but Isaac was already screaming his name again.

Scott sent Stiles one last look before running over to where Isaac was on the ground his eyes going wide when he saw who was on the ground beside him. “What happened?” he asked as he knelt down near Allison, “How bad is it?”

Isaac’s face was already stained with tears and his gaze trailed to the arrow that was lodged inside Allison’s chest, blood stain quickly spreading. His hand was on her opposite shoulder, veins turning black as he drained her physical pain, not even caring if anyone else saw or not.

“No one panic. Greenburg, call 911,” Coach Finnstock ordered. “Don’t try and remove the arrow. It might cause her to bleed out!”

Stiles backed away from the scene, face drained of all color.

Scott looked at Allison and swallowed hard. He blinked and leaned back on his knees as everything shifted into slow motion. He glanced up watching as scared students ran around the forest heading back towards the school. He heard the coach yelling for people to head back to the school and help anyone injured on the way.

Scott could smell the coppery tang of Allison’s blood and he reached over pressing a hand to Isaac’s back, “I’m sorry,” he said quietly and he was. He was sorry this was happening and that people were getting hurt, but it wasn’t Stiles’ fault and it wasn’t fair to punish him for what the demon inside of him was doing. “I’m going to stop this…” he glanced at Allison, “I’m going to make sure no one else gets hurt.” He swallowed hard.

The coach came over to them, “The ambulance is almost here, just a couple more minutes,” he said quickly.

Scott nodded and glanced around again pausing when he spotted Derek near the edge of the woods. He blinked and then motioned behind him with his eyes.

Derek followed Scott’s line of vision and spotted Stiles on the ground. He shifted forward and moved faster than anyone could see until he was standing beside him. “Stiles?” He asked, not entirely sure what Scott wanted him to do and if Stiles was actually Stiles at the moment.

Stiles looked up at him, nauseated. “You have to stop me,” he whispered. “Please.” His voice was strained.

Derek pursed his lips and gripped the back of his shirt, “Come on, get up,” he said tugging him as he spoke. “I’m going to take you somewhere, where you can’t hurt anyone else. We’re close to figuring this out...You’re not dying today Stiles.” He glanced over at Scott, but his attention was on Allison and the paramedics who had just shown up. “We need to go,” he said tugging him away from the crowd.

He didn’t fight Derek when he pulled him to his feet. He looked over his shoulder, trying to see what was happening with Allison. God, what had he done? What if she died? What if it had been Scott? And then he felt the tug inside of him, a strangled sound escaping his mouth. Without warning he felt himself shoved down into darkness.

The Nogitsune wasn’t pleased. He wasn’t upset that Allison had taken the shot meant for McCall, of course, but it wasn’t the same, either. He reached out, grabbing Derek’s arm in a strong grip. “No, Stiles isn’t dying today,” it agreed. “But I can’t say the same for you.” He twisted the older man’s arm, hauling him up and throwing him several feet away.

Derek let out a sharp cry as the bone in his arm snapped and then he was sailing through the sky. His back slammed hard into a tree knocking him to the ground. He stumbled, rolling over the uneven terrain. “Dammit,” he growled.

He reached down to his arm and winced. He took a deep breath, grabbed his arm and twisted it back into place another growl leaving his throat as pain seared through his side. Derek struggled to stand and glanced several feet away where Stiles was standing. He took a step forward rolled his neck and when he looked back forward he was transformed. He glared at the thing in Stiles’ body. “I can’t let you go back there.”

It flashed him a grin. “You can’t stop me, Beta. But for the record, I’m through here.” It winked at him. “Don’t worry.”

Derek moved forward his speed cut off by an arrow sailing into his chest. He fell to his knees and glanced down at his chest noticing he recognized the arrow. “Fucking Argents,” he grunted before his body fell back.

The Nogitsune arched an eyebrow. “That’s my cue to exit stage right. See you around, Derek.” It grinned, backing away and disappearing into the treeline.

______

Isaac sniffed the air, his heartbeat still elevated as he moved through the woods quietly, claws elongating as his eyes took in everything that moved. Allison was on her way to the hospital, they wouldn’t let him go in the ambulance. He glanced to his right and saw Aiden staring into the forest the same way he was. If someone had told Isaac that he’d willingly be walking around with Aiden of all people he would have laughed, but not today.

Seeing that arrow fly into Allison knowing there was no way he’d be able to reach her in time with how far away he was, had killed him. He liked Stiles just fine, but this couldn’t stand anymore. Scott was blinded by the fact that Stiles was his best friend, he couldn’t do what was necessary, but Isaac could. “Do you see anything?” he asked suddenly.

“No,” Aiden said shortly, not particularly thrilled to be there working with Isaac, either. But he knew they had to be careful. He’d been stalking these woods the previous night, had seen the hunters setting various traps in the farther parts of the forest. They weren’t that close to those right now, but he was kind of hoping that Stiles wasn’t going to get that lucky. He’d be okay if Stiles got caught in one of the traps long enough for Aiden to catch up to the bastard. He was hoping to be the one to snap his neck. Or maybe he’d just rake his claws along the smartass teen’s stomach and watch in satisfaction as his entrails spilled out.

He knew what a risk he was taking considering Chris Argent was definitely out in these same woods, along with a lot of his hunter buddies, but for once they were all on the same side. Still, it was a risk nonetheless because a hunter was a hunter and his experience with hunters wasn’t the best. But it was one he was willing to take if it ended that asshole’s terror streak. Truth be told he might not have cared that much if it had been someone other than Stiles Stilinski. The kid had eyed his girlfriend way too often and gotten too close. She’d broken up with Aiden and taken Stiles’ side when the shithead had been goading him intentionally. He deserved what was coming to him.

Isaac’s steps paused when he saw a flash of something moving out of the corner of his eye. He whipped his head around and a growl built in his throat. “This way,” he said taking off in the direction he saw movement. He could smell Stiles, though it wasn’t his regular smell. He was close, Isaac could feel it. He powered forward running with all the speed and strength he could muster up.

Isaac came to a clearing and pulled himself to a stop, “I know you’re here!” He yelled into the clearing. “Come out!”

And there he was, stepping out in front of them with amusement clear on his face. “It’s cute. The new lover boy coming to avenge his fallen love.” His voice was full of sarcasm but it was darker than Stiles’ usual brand of sarcasm. “The trap wasn’t meant for Allison if it’s any consolation. But it was sufficient for what I needed. No hard feelings, right?”

Aiden circled from behind, keeping his eyes on Stiles as he was focused Isaac.

Isaac glared, “I’m done letting you run through this town like your own personal playground,” He said anger in his voice, “And I do take it personally,” the second the words left his mouth he rushed forward toward Stiles at the same time Aiden rushed him from behind.

He chuckled, reaching out and catching Aiden around the neck, lifting him and hurling him into Isaac, sending both werewolves tumbling to the ground. “And what exactly do you think you can do to stop me, Isaac?”

Aiden grunted shifting onto his back and off of Isaac. He was up on his feet fast, claws sliding from his hands.

Isaac pushed himself to his feet too. “I’m gonna kill you,” he said the words quietly, not exactly proud of them, but this had to be done. People were dying...Allison could die. His face hardened and he lifted himself up and stepped forward again.

Aiden moved in front of Isaac. “No, he’s mine.” He said his voice hard. “You and me, we’re gonna throw down.” He said with a growl before charging Stiles again.

He stepped out of the way easily. “Someone’s mad that I kissed his girlfriend earlier,” he said, tone cheerful.

Aiden growled and watched him as he shifted, circling the nogitsune, “You think some stupid lie is going to distract me?” He asked before smiling, “It’s not. You won’t be the first person I ever killed.”

Isaac was torn he moved forward giving Aiden his moment for now, not sure he’d actually be able to do what needed to be done despite wanting too.

It grinned at him. “Oh, I don’t have to lie about this one. You know the kind of guys that Lydia goes for. And right now this body is exactly her type. And let’s face it; you should have seen it coming. I mean, she clearly had feelings for Stiles even when she was screwing you. Look how fast she dumped your ass when you injured him. So come on, Tweedle-Dumb. Show us what you’ve got.” He motioned for him to come forward.

Aiden’s eye’s glowed, anger surging through his body. He heard Isaac’s voice in the background defending Lydia saying she wouldn’t do that to Stiles and that only made him angrier. He took a running start, arms moving at his sides, adrenaline pumping in his veins, feet digging into the dirt as his mouth opened wide, fangs glistening in the light.

He collided with Stiles slamming him to the ground grin on his face, “Lydia could never like this pathetic excuse for a human and she certainly wouldn’t like someone who’s trying to kill her friends. You know, I’m glad I get to be the one to kill you, maybe I’ll even get a little reward,” he mocked right back.

Isaac stepped forward when he saw Stiles hit the ground...maybe Aiden was going to do it after all. He swallowed hard and took a few steps forward in case the other werewolf needed any backup.

If the impact had any effect on the Nogitsune, it couldn’t be seen by the naked eye. He chuckled, reaching up and grabbing Aiden by the throat, flipping them so he had the advantage. “Hate to remind you of this, Ken-Doll, but she still went for you after you killed Boyd.” He shrugged, even though there was blood seeping through his shirt over the shoulder area where Chris Argent had shot him a few days before. “And let’s face it. Nogitsune trumps werewolf every time.”

He smiled down at Aiden, then glanced up at Isaac with a feral grin before reaching down and shoving his hand into Aiden’s chest. He smirked at the werewolf on the ground. “Ever wonder what it was like to pull someone’s heart right out of their chest?”

Aiden tried to suck in a sharp breath, but the pain radiating in his chest wouldn’t allow it. His body shook as he grabbed onto Stiles’ hand trying to yank the offending appendage out of his body, with no luck. He could taste the coppery tang of blood in his mouth as his nails dug into the skin of Stiles’ arm.

Isaac’s eyes widened, “Stop!” He yelled as he ran forward grabbing the Nogitsune from behind trying to pull him off Aiden. He didn’t like the guy, but he couldn’t stand there and watch him die, that wouldn’t be right.

He felt Isaac’s claws digging into his flesh even as the Nogitsune yanked Aiden’s heart out, enjoying the sounds of Stiles and Isaac both screaming in horror. “Yes,” it whispered.

A deep, rumbling roar sailed through the forest, shaking the very ground they stood on. Isaac stumbled back and grabbed his head as he fell to his knees.

Scott appeared from behind the trees fully transformed, eyes gleaming red. “Get back,” his voice carried power and the anger in his tone was clear. His gaze was on his best friend’s bloody hands. His chest tightened as he met Stiles gaze. “You’re done here. Leave, now.” He needed to make sure Isaac was okay and try and figure out how to handle what just happened and how Stiles was probably taking it. God he hated that this was happening.

The Nogitsune arched an eyebrow. “You’re not our alpha,” it informed him, rising to his feet. He squeezed the heart in his hand, letting it fall to the ground back beside the dead former alpha werewolf. “And it’s not like anyone’s going to miss him. Well.” He paused, cocking his head. “I guess his brother might a little. Oh well. Don’t look so down, Scottie. He saved your life earlier. Won’t happen again, of course. But there’s always a bright side.”

Scott did his best to ignore the taunt, guilt filling his chest when he thought about Ethan. “Stiles is in my pack, therefore I’m his alpha, besides there’s nothing left here for you. And if you won’t go, we will.” He turned and walked over to Isaac, helping his friend up off the ground praying that he would just go.

“Always so diplomatic. Not like your own alpha.” It grinned, wiping his hands on his jeans and then his shirt, blood now all over him. “Definitely not like Derek either. Guy really should’ve listened to Stiles when he had the opportunity.” It looked down at Isaac, whose face was pale as he simply sat there in shock. “Be careful in the woods, boys. Traps and hunters all over the damn place.” He winked and headed away.

Scott had run into Derek on the way out to find Isaac and Aiden, he’d texted Lydia letting her know where Derek was asking if she could get him. They should already be out of the forest and heading back to his house.

Scott glanced at Isaac, “Are you okay?” He asked quietly.

“No,” he whispered. “No, I’m not okay.”

“I meant physically,” he admitted as he helped lift Isaac up off the ground. “Come on, let’s get you to the hospital, I know Allison would want you to be there.” He needed to head home so they could regroup and he needed to tell Lydia about Aiden. Scott sighed; this whole thing was turning into one big nightmare.

______

Scott wasn’t looking forward to this conversation, but he knew it had to be done. Better it coming from him than from some news report when one of the hunters found Aiden’s body, if they’d even have the decency to report it to the authorities. He felt nauseous. Stiles was in there still, apparently witnessing everything that was happening. And the Nogitsune had ripped Aiden’s heart out of his chest. He couldn’t even imagine how badly this was going to damage Stiles’ psyche when they got him back.

He didn’t even realize he was crying until a tear landed on his hand. He quickly reached up to wipe away the rest. This was so unfair. Stiles, the guy who’d never done anything to harm anyone, who ran around doing crazy, impulsive shit to save other people’s lives considering how very mortal and breakable he was, was now so utterly trapped in his own body, a puppet being used against his own free will.

He laid his head in his hands, trying to imagine what kind of hell his best friend in the world was going through. It was terrifying. Stiles was strong, but to overcome this? He didn’t even know if that was going to be possible.

He heard footsteps approaching and he swallowed hard, wiping his eyes quickly and turning to look at Lydia as she stepped into the kitchen.

Lydia paused when she spotted Scott, bloody gauze and tape in her hands. “Hey I didn’t realize you were back,” she stepped forward getting a good look at Scott’s face. Lydia moved forward, “What is it? Are you hurt?” She asked her brows drawing together as she gave him a once over.

Lydia knew Scott could protect himself, but there was a lot going on out there and Lydia needed to take care of Scott for Stiles. She knew if anything happened to Scott, Stiles would never forgive himself.

“No. I’m okay,” he assured her, swallowing hard. His gaze shifted to the bloody gauze she was holding. “Are you all right?” He glanced over her quickly but saw no signs of injuries, so he wasn’t sure whose blood it was.

Lydia followed Scott’s gaze and she shook her head. “I’m okay. Those are from Derek. For someone so growly he really is a big baby,” she said with a sigh. “What happened out there Scott? People were coming into the school screaming about arrows and bear traps?” She asked as she tilted her head to the side.

“They even said someone was shot with an arrow…” Lydia couldn’t even fathom it, sure she saw werewolves and other supernatural beings getting shot all the time, but people never.

“Lydia.” He rose to his feet, reaching out and gently taking the things from her, moving to discard the bloodied gauze. “You should probably sit down, okay?” He placed a hand on her shoulder, guiding her over to the nearest kitchen chair, the one he’d just vacated. He shut his eyes. God, how was he supposed to tell her that not only was her best friend in the hospital, but her ex-boyfriend was dead, heart literally ripped out of his chest because of the demon that was possessing their mutual friend?

Lydia let Scott guide her to the chair, a nervous flutter starting in her stomach. He looked terrible, haunted. Lydia’s heartbeat picked up speed and she swallowed heavily, “You’re scaring me Scott,” it wasn’t something she admitted often, but at this point it was just silly to pretend.

Scott’s expression was pained at her admission, but it wasn’t unexpected. “There was a trap in the woods,” he said softly. “Triggered by an invisible cord.” He looked away, taking a deep breath. “I’m pretty sure it would have hit me right in the heart if Stiles hadn’t tackled me to the ground. It was a trap that the Nogitsune laid.”

Lydia reached out and gripped Scott’s arm, “Stiles saved you?” She asked softly a hoarse laugh falling from her lips. Lydia was almost convinced she’d never hear laughter again. “This is good Scott, he’s still trying, we can get him back. It’s not too late.” She responded not sure why Scott didn’t seem more happy about this.

“Yeah, he did,” he said quietly. “But uh, it hit someone, Lydia.” His chest tightened. “It hit Allison,” he whispered. “It missed her heart, but they took her to the hospital by ambulance.” He swallowed hard. “I talked to my mom. She’s still in emergency surgery. So far they know she has a collapsed lung for sure.”

Lydia gasped, “Oh my god,” moisture glistened in her eyes, “How long ago was that? Do we know anything else? God, I should be there...I” she paused, “I’ve been selfish,” Lydia whispered. She was so worried about Stiles and making sure no one hurt him that she hadn’t thought what it had been like for Allison to see Isaac getting hurt or what it was going to be like now when Mr. Argent found out about Allison. “I should go to the hospital...They’re going to double their efforts on Stiles,” she said quickly as a few tears slipped down her cheeks.

“An hour, maybe a little less. It’s all I know right now about Allison.” He swallowed hard, eyes apologetic even as his watered, too. “Lydia...Aiden’s…” He looked down, shutting his eyes. “The Nogitsune killed him.”

Lydia opened her mouth, “What?” her voice was barely a whisper. “No...you have to be wrong. He can’t, I mean he’s like you. He’s a werewolf, I don’t understand.” Logically Lydia knew werewolves could be killed, but they were stronger than humans capable of healing from things normal people couldn’t.

Lydia closed her eyes tightly, this couldn’t be happening. The Nogitsune killed Aiden...in Stiles body. With him right there. A soft sob broke from her lips but she pressed them together hard, shoulders shaking slightly from her tears. Guilt filled her chest. She shouldn't have been so terrible to Aiden, he was far from perfect but he had been trying for her. And Stiles, god how was he supposed to be okay after hurting Allison and killing Aiden?

Lydia couldn’t seem to stop the onslaught of tears, it was everything after another and whenever they took one step forward they took two back. How were they ever supposed to repair what’s been broken. They couldn’t go back, not anymore.

“I’m so sorry, Lydia,” he whispered, pulling her into a hug. He shut his eyes. He was a terrible alpha. Stiles was possessed, Allison was in the hospital, Aiden was dead. Isaac was traumatized and not talking even as he waited at the hospital. Chris and his hunter friends were hunting Stiles down and there was no way there was anything he could say or do that would talk them out of it.

Lydia returned the hug, but it took a while before the tears finally stopped. She sucked in a few quick breaths and let them out slowly. But she didn’t release Scott just yet. “We need to talk to Deaton,” Lydia told him her voice shaky. “We’ve got to stop this before it gets worse...This is going to break him,” she whispered. Lydia was having trouble thinking straight though. She hadn’t been sleeping well, which combined with everything else going on meant she wasn’t at her sharpest.

Hearing his own fears spoken aloud made him squeeze his eyes tightly, still holding onto her. “I know,” he admitted just as quietly. “We just...we have to do one step at a time. I got a hold of Deaton. He’s gonna meet us tomorrow after school lets out.” He pulled away to look at her, taking a deep breath.

Lydia nodded. She was silent for a long moment, “I just want this all to be over.” She said softly. Lydia studied Scott’s face for a minute before speaking, “This can’t be easy on you either,” she commented, “I know asking how you are is a ridiculous question, but I’m here if you need to talk or vent, or just I don’t know.” She said in one long breath.

“I know,” he said quietly, nodding. “I appreciate it.” He exhaled slowly. “Are you uh -- are you gonna head to the hospital?”

Lydia was quiet for a minute before nodding. “I need to make sure Allison is okay, no matter what we’re going through right now, she’s still my best friend,” Lydia paused, “And I need to call Ethan, god he’s going to be devastated.” She whispered her chest tightened and she took a slow, deep breath to control the emotions that were once again welling in her chest.

She didn’t have the luxury of giving into those emotions right now. There was too much going on. “Kira called,” Lydia said breaking the silence in the room, “She’s got some information for us about the Nogitsune.” Lydia told him as she rested a hand against his arm. “She’s going to come by tomorrow with the books.”

The McCall house had become their base of operations. Between her, Derek, Kira, and the sheriff who was currently out trying to reign in some of the chaos in town, the house was full. They’d been lucky that Scott’s dad hadn’t come by yet, but Lydia supposed it had been pretty busy with everything going on. “Are you coming with me?” She asked softly not sure if Scott planned on heading to the hospital with her.

Scott reached out and squeezed her shoulder gently. “I’ll talk to Ethan.” His own chest tightened. “You just go be with Allison, okay? I’ll talk to Ethan and then...I’ll meet up with you guys to talk to Deaton.”

He backed away from her, heading toward the refrigerator. “Have you eaten? Because you should probably eat something. It’s lunch time.”

Lydia wondered briefly why Scott didn’t want to come to the hospital, but she figured he probably had his reasons. A thoughtful look crossed her face, she couldn’t remember if she’d eaten today or not, but the truth was she wasn’t all that hungry. “I don’t think I can eat right now,” she said as she sat in the chair at the table, her nails scratching lightly at the wood. “Where’s Aiden’s--where is he?” She asked not able to actually say the words.

“He’s in the woods,” Scott said quietly, looking down. “I’m gonna...go back out there.” He rubbed the back of his neck, shutting his eyes. He looked up again, grimacing. “We’re going to get him back, Lydia. He’s still in there. He’s fighting,” he whispered. If he hadn’t been fighting, Scott was pretty sure he’d have ended up seriously injured.

Lydia swallowed hard, “I know we will, there isn’t any other choice.” She was silent for a minute glancing down at the table intently. “I let him kiss me,” she whispered, “I...I kissed him back.” Lydia’s heart was beating rapidly in her chest. “What kind of person does that make me?” It had been bothering her all day. What he’d said to her...was that really what Stiles thought? Is that how he saw her? Worse was he right?

“Jackson...I loved him you know. I know he was terrible, to me, to other people, but I always thought I could save him...that I could make him better than he was. I didn’t like him because he was mean I liked him in spite of it,” she explained quietly. “And Aiden...he saved my life you know, he turned his back on Kali and the rest of the pack for me. I never forgave him for what he did to Boyd, but we were trying to get past that...in the long run I know I wouldn’t have been able to, but I felt like I owed him a second chance.” Lydia finally glanced up at Scott. “And Stiles….” she let her voice trail off and shook her head. “Do you think he’ll forgive me?”

Scott’s gaze was sympathetic. Not the least bit judgmental. “I know you loved Jackson, Lydia,” he said softly. He hadn’t ever understood why really, because Jackson overall, was kind of a douchebag. He hadn’t been on team Kill Jackson, but he wasn’t a fan of the guy’s either. Then again up until recently he hadn’t been a huge fan of Lydia’s either. Sometimes things did change.

“And as far as Aiden goes...Lydia...I don’t think that you have to do anything for someone because you feel like you owe them,” he said gently. “You know?” He was quiet for a moment. “I don’t think that Stiles is going to hold it against you. I mean...you’re you.” He tried to smile but couldn’t quite manage it. Not with everything that was going on.

“This thing inside Stiles. It feeds off of pain. Strife. Chaos.” He looked down, shaking his head. “It wanted to hurt you because it’s getting something from that pain.” Scott met her eyes. “It’s not Stiles. Stiles would never…” He shook his head. “Not ever.”

Lydia nodded, “I know,” she responded quietly and then sighed. “I-” she hesitated, “I don’t think I’ve ever really realized how much time we spend together. You know? Like, lately it’s been a lot, but I didn’t realize how much...until now. It’s like there’s something missing.” Lydia pressed her lips together and then looked up at Scott embarrassed by the admission. She didn’t exactly do the whole touchy feeling thing and when she let her guard down it was only ever with Stiles. Lydia cleared her throat and pushed herself up, “I should probably go to the hospital.”

Scott didn’t have that particular problem. He was well aware of how much time he’d spent with Stiles, even if it had been less lately. One more thing to feel guilty about. Maybe if he’d been around more, he would’ve seen the whole thing coming. Maybe he could have found a way to stop it. He simply nodded in understanding, reaching out and squeezing her arm. “Let me know how she’s doing?”

Lydia nodded, “I will.” She told him trying to send him a reassuring look. She turned around and saw Derek in the doorway. Lydia arched an eyebrow, “Back in business already?” She inquired with a tilt of her head.

Derek grunted, “Yeah,” He glanced at Scott, “I’ll help you with Aiden,” he said his voice calm, “I’m pretty sure after what happened today even more people are going to be looking for Stiles. We’re going to need to step up our efforts.” He explained.

Scott shifted his gaze to the older werewolf. “Yeah, you’re right,” he said quietly. Chris Argent had probably already called in more reinforcements. If they got to Stiles before he and Derek did…

Lydia glanced between them and took a deep breath. She reached out and squeezed Scott’s arm gently. “Be careful out there,” she said pointedly, “I don’t want any more injuries tonight.” She stepped back, grabbed her purse off the table and walked over to Derek; she reached out and pressed a palm against his chest.

Derek grunted and Lydia arched a brow. “That’s not fully healed. You be careful too, please. When I come back later I want you both in one piece. Got it?” She demanded.

Derek nodded, “Yes,” he said confused as to why she even cared. He wasn’t used to people caring.

“Good, I’ll see you two soon.” Lydia walked out of the kitchen and to the front door so she could head to the hospital and see Allison.

______

Isaac sat in the surgery waiting room, slumped in a chair and blood on his clothes. His face was pale, and he just felt...numb. He’d been there for an hour now and so far there wasn’t any news on Allison other than she had a collapsed lung. He wasn’t really aware of what was going on around him, but when he heard the familiar clack of high heels on the floor, he sat up a little, glancing up when he saw Lydia.

He shifted in his seat, guilt in his eyes and on his face. He quickly looked down. If he hadn’t been going after Stiles with Aiden in the first place, then maybe Aiden would still be alive.

Lydia stopped in front of Isaac, her eyes darting around the hospital before settling on him. “How is she?” Lydia asked worry etched into her face. She hated hospitals; they always reminded her of what happened with Peter.

“Not really any news.” His voice was weak. “Collapsed lung. Still in surgery.” He looked up at her, swallowing hard. “Did you uh -- did you talk to Scott?”

Lydia pursed her lips and glanced down slipping her hands into her jacket pocket. “Scott told me about Aiden.” She glanced up, her chest tight, eyes glistening. “I’m sorry.” Lydia responded quietly, “I know you guys don’t think Stiles can be helped and you probably think it even less now,” Lydia’s voice caught in her throat. She paused controlling her emotions. “I just don’t know why he’d go after him.” She whispered.

Isaac exhaled shakily, rubbing his hands over his face. “We went after him. If we hadn’t been, he probably…” His voice trailed off. He shook his head, not looking up at her again, shoulders slumped. “Aiden wanted to be the one to…” He winced.

“What?” Lydia’s body went rigid. “You two hunted him down and what, Aiden was going to kill him?” She asked her tone angry. This wasn’t the place to fight, Lydia knew that, but she couldn’t believe they’d been so stupid. Okay, she understood why Isaac had gone after Stiles, she could excuse that, he was head over heels for Allison. But Aiden? Why had he gone after Stiles, this had nothing to do with him.

Isaac couldn’t bring himself to look at her. “He had just shot Allison okay? She might not even…” His voice broke and his jaw tightened as he struggled not to cry. “Aiden said he wanted to help and I wasn’t excited about it but I figured two of us had a better chance than me by myself.”

Lydia stepped forward and rested a hand against Isaac’s shoulder. “I know why you did it. I understand why. Allison is going to be okay, she’s strong, she’ll get through this.” she told him. “But why did Aiden offer to come with you? He sought you out?” She asked with a frown.

“He was in class when it happened. They wouldn’t let me come in the ambulance with her. He suggested it,” he admitted, finally looking up at her, stricken. “I just wanted to stop him. It’s not like I want Stiles dead,” he whispered.

Lydia’s chest tightened and guilt filled her. She bent down awkwardly and wrapped her arms around Isaac. “I know. I know this is just one big crap pile,” she said in one quick breath. “I don’t want to fight with you or Allison, I just want everyone to be okay.” Lydia explained releasing him before he could even really hug her back.

Lydia shifted into the seat beside Isaac and took his hand in hers. “I’ll wait with you and if they don’t come out and tell us soon, I’ll grab Melissa and she’ll find out what’s going on for us.” She told him matter-of-factly.

One big crap pile was definitely a good, solid definition of what was happening. He couldn’t imagine any way that this was going to end well for anyone. He looked down at his hand when she took it, almost surprised by the gesture. After a moment, he squeezed it gently, leaning his head back against the wall and closing his eyes.

Everyone being okay was all he wanted, too.

______

Melissa glanced down at the chart in her hands, flipping through it twice to make sure she was reading it correctly. She frowned, closed the chart and made her way down the hallway towards where she knew Isaac was waiting. Melissa glanced at the clock near the nurse’s station, it was already close to ten at night and she knew he’d been there all day waiting on an update.

Melissa turned the corner and spotted Isaac sleeping in a chair with Lydia beside him reading a magazine, looking just as put together as always. Melissa honestly wasn’t sure how the girl did it, especially since she was certain on more than one occasion she’d heard the young girl crying herself to sleep at night.

It seemed Lydia was just as bad off as Scott and honestly Melissa didn’t know what to do to help her son, or Lydia. She sighed as she walked up to them. “Hi, Lydia sweetheart, has he been sleeping long?”

Lydia glanced up and closed the magazine immediately. “Hi Ms. McCall, about an hour and a half,” she said glancing over at Isaac.

Melissa nodded and walked over to Isaac brushing her hand through his hair before rubbing his arm gently, “Isaac sweetie, Isaac wake up.”

He startled when she rubbed his arm, jerking his head up and off Lydia’s shoulder, blinking a few times. “Ms. McCall?” His eyebrows furrowed for a moment, then he realized where they were and remembered what had happened. “Allison. Is she okay? Is there any news?” he asked anxiously, sitting up straighter in the chair, heart beating fast in his chest.

Melissa nodded placing a hand on his shoulder. “Allison came through the surgery okay. She’s in recovery now and everything is looking good. She’s going to be here for a while but as soon as things are settled and she wakes up from the anesthesia I’ll see about getting you in to see her,” she said softly with a tired smile.

Melissa glanced between them, “They found something on the arrow that hit Allison,” she said quietly glancing around them before speaking again, “Wolfsbane.”

Lydia sat up, “Oh my god,” she whispered. Stiles. “Stiles saved Scott. The arrow was for him and Stiles tackled him to the ground that’s when it hit Allison,” she explained. Stiles knew it would have done a lot of damage to Scott and he’d controlled the Nogitsune long enough to save his best friend. It gave Lydia hope.

“Wolfsbane is poisonous to humans, too, though. Is Allison going to be okay? I mean are you sure?” Isaac said, eyes wide.

Melissa nodded, “Yes, we were lucky. They realized it within the hour of her getting here and were able to do a gastrointestinal decontamination with activated charcoal and once she was out of surgery they gave her some atropine.” She said as she slid the chart under her arm. “But this is serious. If she had gotten here any later...there was a lethal dose on that arrow.” She told them, her chest tightening.

“It would’ve kille--” He stopped himself, swallowing hard and rubbing his hand over his face, looking at Lydia. It wouldn’t have just done damage to Scott. It potentially could have killed him.

“Stiles is still in there...he’s still trying to protect us. We just need to protect him too,” Lydia told them glancing between Ms. McCall and Isaac.

Melissa reached out and rubbed Lydia’s arm. “Nobody’s going to hurt Stiles,” she reassured.

Lydia winced; she and Scott hadn’t told Ms. McCall and the Sheriff about the hunters looking for Stiles. “Yeah…” She said letting her voice trail off. “I’m going to call Scott and let him know that Allison is going to be okay, I’ll be right back.” She said before getting up and moving down the hallway.

Melissa watched her go and then glanced at Isaac. “How are you holding up?”

“As long as Allison’s okay I’ll be all right.” He rubbed a hand over his face. He sighed and looked up at her. “Do you have much longer on shift? Want me to have Lydia take you back home or something?” he asked uncertainly.

Melissa smiled at his concern and touched his cheek gently. “I’m going to stick around here for a while and monitor Allison for bit and I’ve got my car, but thank you,” she said sincerely. “Now you just relax for a little bit, eat something and then I’ll see what I can do about getting you into see Allison.”

Isaac hesitated a second, then slid his arms around her, burying his face in her shoulder. “Thanks, Ms. McCall.” He wasn’t hungry in the least but he’d try to find something he could choke down because she’d asked him to. “I’ll run down to the cafeteria. Do you uh -- do you want me to bring you anything?”

Melissa’s heart warmed and she wrapped her arms around him, running a hand down the back of his head gently. “That would be really great, thanks sweetie.” She pulled back enough to get a good look at Isaac and her chest tightened; she cupped his cheek and patted it gently. “Everything is going to be okay. We’ll all get through this.” She told him quietly her tone motherly and reassuring.

His eyes watered involuntarily and he blinked a few times, nodding so she knew that he heard her. “Thanks.” He managed a tiny smile. “I’ll bring you something halfway edible. Promise.”

Melissa smiled, “Okay.” She said giving him one more squeeze before taking the folder out from under her arm and heading back to the nurse’s station.

Chapter Text

They were coming. His heart pounded hard in his chest. Hurry, please, he thought, trying to maintain control. If he could just keep the darkness at bay for a little while. Just a little while. They were already out looking for him. If he could just hold on…

When he woke up, he’d found himself in the middle of the woods. It was dark and he couldn’t see much of anything. But there was blood all over him. All over his hands. His clothes. God, there was so much blood. He felt it.

Aiden’s blood. A soft sound escaped him and he pressed his forearm to his mouth as a wave of nausea overwhelmed him. He’d thrown up, hands digging into the dirt and grime, mixing with the blood that already caked his fingernails.

He’d ripped Aiden’s heart out of his chest. What the hell kind of monster did something like that? It didn’t even matter if it was him or the thing inside of him. The Nogitsune was going to keep doing this, keep killing and maiming and causing chaos. More people would get hurt. Allison might be dead because of him. A sob wracked his body as he pressed his back up against one of the trees, squeezing his eyes shut tightly.

He could’ve killed Scott. Could’ve killed any of them.

He just had to hold on a little longer. He could hear voices off in the distance, knew they were getting closer to him. He’d texted his exact coordinates and he hadn’t moved from his spot since. His body was shaking, teeth chattering in his head as he waited. Hurry, he thought, desperation clinging to him, a real thing that felt like it was sitting heavily on his chest.

Just freakin’ hurry.

Stiles saw lights bobbing in the distance and he held his breath, squinting as one shone on him, and then another. He was nauseous again.

“Be careful. It could be a trap,” a familiar voice said.

Chris shifted his head taking in the area before moving forward, fingers curling tightly around his crossbow. “You two go to the left, you men to the right. I want a circle around the entire area and be careful.” He said voice hard.

Chris had given Scott a chance to take care of this, but after he got the call from the school, he was done waiting. Whether they liked it or not this was getting taken care of tonight. He lifted his crossbow, positioning it in front of him as he moved slowly looking at the ground every so often to avoid traps as he approached the coordinates that were sent to him.

He spotted the figure pressed against a tree. Chris paused, shining his light in that direction spotting Stiles right away. “Over here!” He called out to his men as he stepped closer to Stiles. He paused several feet in front of him. “So what is this? Another one of your tricks?” He asked keeping the cross bow trained on Stiles.

Stiles looked up at him but couldn’t quite meet his eyes. Was Allison still alive? Was she dead? Had he killed her? He wanted to ask, but he couldn’t form the words. He simply shook his head jerkily, shivering in the cold. “I just...I woke up out here.” His voice was barely a whisper, guilt-ridden. “There’s no trick.”

Chris’s jaw hardened, “And I’m supposed to believe that?” He sneered, “Oh I just terrorized the town and then took a little nap in the woods and woke up all better.” he said sarcastically. “I don’t think so.” He motioned to the hunter behind Stiles, “Tie him up,” he barked the order before glancing back at Stiles’ face. “You’re coming with us.” He said matter-of-factly.

He couldn’t, and didn’t, blame Allison’s father for his skepticism. Or his anger, for that matter. “I’m not better,” he said shakily, wincing as the man behind him jerked him to his feet, yanking his arms behind him none-too-gently. “It’s why I called you.” He didn’t try to pull away from the hunter who was now binding his hands with wire that cut into his skin. He didn’t understand why they were tying him up. Why they weren’t just going to get it over with here, in the woods, before he had a chance to lose control of the nogitsune inside of him.

Chris lowered his crossbow and nodded to the hunter beside him. “Go clear us a path down to the drop-off by the river.” He said his gaze never wavering from Stiles. He could see how tired he was, how beat up and a part of him felt bad. Stiles didn’t ask for this, but no one ever did. “We’ll make it quick,” he said as he moved forward and grabbed the wire attached to the back of his hands dragging him along following the hunters leading the path.

Stiles grimaced, trying to ignore the pain that shot through his shoulder that was still far from recovered from the arrow that Chris had shot him with before. He didn’t protest, didn’t make a single sound as he walked along the path, less like a death row inmate facing his execution and more like a lost boy who was just too tired to keep going anymore. He just wanted it over and done with. The walk wasn’t long, the river not far from where Chris had initially found him in the woods.

He stared at the rushing water, tears blurring his eyes. “Wait just...my phone.” He swallowed hard. “It’s in my left pocket. I need you to give it to my dad. Please,” he whispered.

Chris stopped walking when they reached the edge. He glanced at Stiles and his chest tightened slightly at the tears he saw there. He cleared his throat and reached into the younger boy’s pocket to grab his cell phone. Chris took it out and slipped it into his pocket. “I’ll make sure he gets it.” He said as he glanced over Stiles head and motioned for the two hunters behind him to head out. Chris put the crossbow down and reached behind him in his pants and pulled out his gun.

“Thanks,” he said, shutting his eyes, his heart pounding hard in his chest. “Is Allison…” His voice wavered as he choked on the question. “Is she…”

“No,” Chris’ voice was hard. “She’s alive, though the wolfsbane almost killed her in the middle of surgery,” he said his heart clenching. “She’s a survivor though, she’ll get past this.” He paused, “I’m sorry I have to do this Stiles, it might not seem like it, but I can’t let you hurt anyone else...you understand.” He said as he shifted a few paces back so he was standing directly in front of Stiles as he cocked his gun.

He flinched at the angry tone, nodding and slowly sinking down his knees, the blood rushing in his ears. At least he hadn’t killed Allison, too. “I know.” At one time he would have called Derek for this purpose, but Derek wasn’t acting like himself anymore either. He’d tried to convince Derek to kill him earlier and he hadn’t, and if he had, Aiden would still be alive. “Just do it.” His voice was barely audible.

Chris swallowed heavily, lifted his arm aiming at Stiles’ head, and started to pull his finger back on the trigger when the sound of another hunter screaming sounding in the quiet forest and then the guy was flying through the air and smacking into a tree.

Scott let out a loud, angry roar as he ran over to the next hunter fully transformed. He reached up grabbing him by the throat and tossing him aside. He glanced over and saw Derek working on taking out the other two hunters. They had been searching all night for Stiles and finally caught his scent a few miles back.

Stiles’ heart sank when he heard the roar because he knew that roar. He didn’t want Scott to be here for this. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, feeling sick all over again.

Scott stepped forward, a growl building in his throat. “Get away from him.” He growled his voice hard as he continued walking towards Chris.

“I can’t do that, Scott,” Chris informed him, keeping his gun trained on Stiles’ head. “You know I can’t. You know why I can’t.”

Fury filled Scott and he was having trouble controlling it. His eyes glowed in the dark of the night and he felt Derek coming up beside him meaning the other hunters were taken care of for the moment. Not dead, just knocked out. Scott glanced between Stiles and Chris, his eyes going to the gun. “If you shoot him, you won’t make it out of these woods.” He threatened something he never did. But Stiles was his best friend and he didn’t deserve this end.

“Scott, don’t,” he whispered. “Don’t.” His voice was pleading. “I called him here, okay? I called him.”

Chris kept his finger on the trigger, eying Scott warily from the corner of his eye and keeping the other trained on Stiles in case he tried anything.

Scott’s gaze turned to Stiles, “I’m not letting him kill you, I promise I won’t let you hurt anyone else. We have plan...Lydia called. She and Kira know how to get rid of the Nogitsune without killing you.” He said taking a step forward. “You don’t need to die, Stiles please,” his voice broke and Derek stepped forward glancing at Chris.

“Give us a chance to fix this...enough people have died. We don’t need to add anyone else to that list.”

A tear slid down Stiles’ face, and then another. “I could have killed Allison, Scott. I could’ve killed you,” he said, voice raw. “I know you want to, but you can’t stop this thing. You saw what I did. I ripped Aiden’s heart out of his chest! I don’t want to do that again! I can’t!” He turned his head to look at Scott. “You have to go now. Please.”

Chris held his breath, stomach tightening a little. “You found a cure?” he echoed, uncertain.

Scott nodded, Lydia didn’t give him exact details, “Yes,” he said with conviction. Scott transformed back, letting his wolf recede. He took a few steps forward as he slid his hand into his pocket and pulled out a syringe. “Letharia Vulpina,” he said, “Deaton says this will poison the Nogitsune inside of Stiles long enough for us to get it out. Lydia and Kira are on their way, we just need to tell them where we are. And then this will all be over.” He explained.

Derek stood beside Scott keeping an eye out for the hunters in case any of them woke up.

“No,” Stiles pleaded, crying in earnest now. “No, Scott. What if it doesn’t work? What if it doesn’t work? What if I kill you? What if I kill Lydia or Kira or Derek or --”

Chris grimaced, lowering his gun. “Do it.”

Relief crossed Scott’s face. He looked to his best friend and what he saw and heard made his heart clench as agony tore through him. “Stiles...give me this, if it doesn’t work,” he paused his eyes closing; “If it doesn’t work then we can do it your way. I just...please,” he said his voice choking up, eyes burning. “I need to try this, I need to fix this. Please.”

Wordlessly, Chris reached out and took the syringe from him, stepping closer to Stiles and plunging the needle into the side of his neck, wrapping an arm around the boy’s middle as he started to collapse. He looked back at Scott, shaking his head. “He’s not in his right mind, Scott.”

Scott rubbed a hand down the front of his face as he silently stared at Chris for a minute his throat tightening, “Thank you.” He said his voice quiet.

Derek lifted his phone out of his pocket as they were talking and his brows drew together when he checked it. “That’s Lydia,” he said reading the text message, “She said we need to go somewhere with electricity.” He shook his head, “Everywhere has electricity,” he commented as he walked passed Scott and over by Chris to lift Stiles up off the ground.

Chris frowned at the words. “Somewhere with electricity.” He paused, an idea formulating in his mind about why they needed that. “The basement of your old house.” It was secluded enough that if this plan didn’t work, there would still be time to do what he needed to do to ensure Stiles didn’t harm anyone else.

Derek grunted, “Oh yes, I love going back there,” he said with a sigh. “When this is over not only are Stiles and I even, but he owes me,” he commented lightly while tugging him over his shoulder. “Well, let’s go, someone text Lydia and tell her where we’re going, my hands are full of teenager at the moment,” He told them as he turned and started heading in the direction of his old house.

Scott took his phone out and told Lydia to meet them at Derek’s before falling in step with Chris as they walked behind Derek. Scott sent him a sideways glance, “I’m sorry about threatening you,” he said quietly.

“We’re both just trying to do the right thing,” he said after a moment. He hadn’t wanted to kill Stiles. He hadn’t spent much time with the kid, but Allison had always talked highly of him, and he knew that she considered him a good friend. If there was any possibility that some method aside from killing him would work, he had to give that a shot first. For his daughter’s sake. She’d lost so much already. Her favorite aunt. Her mother. He didn’t want to be the one who added to that list unless there was no other way. And he wasn’t convinced that this would work anyway. “I’m coming with you, you know that right?”

Scott glanced at him, “Well I figured since you’re you know...following us.” He said as he scratched the back of his head nervous. Lydia hadn’t given him many details over the phone. She just said that she and Kira talked to Deaton and they found the solution. But what if--No he wasn’t going to let himself go there. They were going to do this and it was going to work. There was no other option.

Chris simply nodded, falling silent as they walked. He just hoped whatever plan these kids had come up with was a hell of a good one. Because they were going to need it.

______

Lydia pulled the car up to the rundown old Hale house. She parked the car and turned it off swallowing hard as she sat there for a minute still digesting everything that Deaton had told her. She let out a slow breath and glanced at Kira. “When we go in there, you know what I’m going to need you to do right?” She asked turning slightly in her seat.

Okay, so Lydia hadn’t exactly explained things to Scott, but that was because she knew if she did he’d be hesitant to follow through and she couldn’t let that happen because they didn’t have any other options left.

“Yeah, I know.” If Kira sounded nervous, it was because...she was nervous. She was really nervous. But it had been her that had started this whole mess to begin with, however unintentional it had been. She swallowed hard, looking at Lydia sideways.

Lydia sent her a reassuring smile, “It’ll be fine, you just make your fireworks when I tell you and this whole thing will be over.” She paused hesitating, “Thank you for helping,” Lydia knew she hadn’t exactly been nice to Kira since she started at Beacon Hills, but when this was over maybe they could start over or something.

“Well, it’s...sort of my fault so.” She looked down. “I didn’t mean to cause all this trouble, Lydia. Not for Stiles or Scott or anyone.”

Lydia’s expression softened, “It’s not your fault okay? It was an accident. Blaming you would be the same as blaming Stiles for everything that’s happened. It’s a terrible thing, but it’s not your fault.” She told the other girl, her gaze drifting back to the house. “Now that we’ve got that out of the way, we ready?” She asked nerves filling her.

Kira looked over at her once more, nodding, looking more resolute now. She reached out and grasped Lydia’s hand for a second. “We can do this,” she whispered, eyes bright.

Lydia smiled, “We can,” she said as she pushed open the car door closing it behind her and making her way towards the house. She spotted Scott waiting outside for them and she sent him a tired smile, “Sorry it took us a little bit, we’re ready though. He’s here?” She asked lightly.

Scott didn’t look nearly as hopeful as Lydia did, but he nodded. “Yeah, he’s downstairs. What’s the plan?” He asked anxiously.

“I’ll fill you in when we get downstairs,” Lydia said as she started to walk past Scott and into the house.

Scott watched her go before turning to Kira, “Hey,” he said quietly, “Thanks for being here.” He told her as he met her gaze.

Kira offered him a quick smile. “You’re welcome. I want to help.” And she was hoping that the plan they’d come up with was going to work. She really cared for Scott and she didn’t want to see him lose his best friend. Not like this, and not anytime soon, or ever. She hesitated, then held out her hand to him.

Scott took Kira’s hand without hesitation threading their fingers together. He knew he was going to need the support. He tugged her gently into the house following the way Lydia had gone back to the basement. Back to Stiles.

Stiles was half-standing, half-slouching over in the chains that Derek had bound him with to the wall. He was also only half-conscious, slowly beginning to wake up. As soon as he realized he wasn’t dead and rotting in hell, his chest tightened with anxiety. His heart began to pound more quickly than before, and he lifted his head, spotting Derek a few feet away, watching him, and Chris standing on his other side, doing the same. Chris’s hand rested on the handle of his .45.

Why were they drawing this out? Why were they doing this? Feeling ill, he heard footsteps approaching the room, which he didn’t even recognize to begin with. It was dark, and it was cold and momentarily he wondered if he was just buried so far inside of himself that he was dreaming and none of this was actually happening.

Lydia made her way carefully into the room, the whole place giving her the creeps. She stepped inside and frowned, “Does he have to be tied up like that?” She asked her heart clenching at the sight of him.

“It’s just in case the drug wears off,” Derek explained, glancing over at her with troubled eyes.

She felt like it had been forever since she’d seen him. Lydia hesitated glancing between Derek and Mr. Argent before closing some of the distance between them. Lydia reached out and brushed her hand against his cheek, “Stiles?” She asked softly.

He flinched, pulling away from her because he was a monster and Lydia shouldn’t be touching him. “Don’t, please.” His voice broke. She shouldn’t be anywhere near him. He’d murdered her boyfriend. Almost killed her best friend.

Lydia stepped back, her eyes prickling at his response, but she swallowed hard and forced herself to push her emotions aside. If she was going to do this she needed to stay calm. Deaton told her she had to concentrate only on her intention when Kira initiated the foxfire and Lydia didn’t think it would help if she was overly emotional at the time.

Scott cleared his throat making everyone glance in his direction. He squeezed Kira’s hand gently, “Okay, we’re all here now what?” He asked looked between Lydia and Kira.

Kira’s eyes widened and she looked at Lydia nervously. She wanted to help, but she wasn’t sure she could really explain to Scott what the other girl wanted to do.

Stiles shut his eyes, tired and feeling drugged and half out of it. He didn’t want to know the plan. Whatever it was, it wasn’t going to work. He just had no faith that anything was going to be able to save him now. Not after everything.

Lydia straightened up, her voice calm, “Now Kira is going to use foxfire on Stiles again.” She said holding off on the other part of it for the moment. “Is there an open electrical wire that she can draw from?” She asked glancing over at Derek and Mr. Argent.

“You’re -- what?” Derek’s eyes widened a little, caught off guard. This wasn’t the plan he’d been expecting at all.

Chris pursed his lips, not looking at all phased or surprised by this information. “One on the far wall,” he told her, nodding toward it.

Scott frowned, “Wait foxfire, but isn’t that what woke the Nogitsune up in Stiles in the first place? Why would we be using that?” He asked his gaze falling to Kira.

Lydia studied Scott for a minute, “Because that’s how we’re also going to draw it out of him.” She told him matter-of-factly. Her gaze went back to Derek, “Can you help me with this wire?” She asked not giving him a chance to answer as she started walking toward it.

He followed her slowly, his gaze watching her closely. When they got over by the wire he glanced over his shoulder towards Scott and Kira and then back to her. “What’s going on?” He asked keeping his voice low.

Lydia sent Derek a sideways glance. “Promise me something?” She said as she fiddled with the outlet.

Derek grunted. He did not like the sound of that. “What?” He asked his eyes narrowing.

“No matter what happens, don’t let Scott stop it.” she whispered as she met his gaze. “Not until it’s over.” She demanded.

Crap. Now Derek really didn’t like the sound of this. He glanced over at Kira and Scott, who were talking quietly which meant he probably wasn’t paying attention to Lydia right now. “Lydia-”

“Promise.” She said again.

Derek dropped his head forward slightly. “I promise. But I want you to know I’m promising under duress.” He pointed out.

Lydia nodded and glanced over at Scott and Kira, “You ready Kira?” she called out.

Kira looked over at her. “Yeah.” Ready as she’d ever be anyway.

Stiles looked up at Lydia’s voice and looked around, realizing she was holding an electrical wire. It only took him a second to realize what they were about to do. Oh god.

“I think this is a terrible plan,” he said anxiously, struggling against the chains that held him in place. Not only was it terrible, it was reckless. They didn’t know for sure what kind of effect this might have on any of them. What the Nogitsune might do in retaliation. “Lydia, don’t.”

Lydia closed her eyes momentarily, focusing her mind on one thing and one thing only. Getting that thing out of Stiles. She looked at Mr. Argent, “You and Derek need to go stand by Scott.” She told him before stepping aside so Kira could come near the open outlet. Lydia made her way over to Stiles, “I’m sorry,” she whispered waiting for Kira to get in position.

Chris knew she was right, and moved over to stand beside Scott, eying Derek when he did the same. This was either going to work or it was going to be a tragedy. There wasn’t really room for anything in between. Not this time.

“Lydia, listen to me. Don’t do this,” Stiles said urgently, casting a frightened glance at Kira. “I know what you’re doing and I’m telling you not to!”

Lydia took a step closer to him. “I’m not going to lose you. This is going to work. You need to trust me,” she said her words soft, but her voice was thick with emotion. “Stiles,” she paused, “Trust me.” She repeated grabbing onto him tightly. Lydia glanced at Kira, “Make sure you give the syringe to Scott. The second this works tell him to give it to me.” She said before nodding her head, “I’m ready.”

Lydia’s words made Scott’s eyes widen. “No,” he said quietly. Stiles would never forgive himself if this didn’t work. It would kill him. “Stop!” He said as he took a step forward.

“Kira now!” Lydia said louder this time knowing they needed to do it before Scott tried to stop them.

Shooting a worried look at Scott, Kira prayed that Lydia and Dr. Deaton knew what they were talking about. She grabbed the live wire, the room lighting up with electricity.

Stiles tried to protest, but before he could get out another word, pain shot through him and he screamed, his entire body shaking violently from the shock.

Chris flinched, reaching out and resting a hand on Scott’s arm, pulling him backwards instinctively and shielding his eyes from the sudden brightness that lit up the otherwise dark room.

Derek was on the other side of Scott doing the same thing making sure he didn’t run forward and jump in the middle of things.

Lydia’s hand clenched around Stiles, as heat seared through her body. Pain ripped into her and she threw her head back and screamed, the sound carrying through the entire room. She felt a ripple of emotion from Stiles and then the damn broke, all the pain, chaos and strife the Nogitsune had created slammed into her when it invaded her body.

Lydia screamed again, but it was different this time. Her grip released Stiles as she grabbed her head, dropping to her knees. “Ahhhhhhhhh,” the emotions were overwhelming inside of her and she could hear it taunting her. Lydia shook her head. She needed to remember Deaton’s words. What was she supposed to do?

She felt sick, her head hurt, no...what did she have to do? She forced the thought to the forefront of her brain. She needed to scream. Lydia closed her eyes focusing all her energy on the foreign presence inside of her body, jerking her head back and taking a deep breath. Seconds later Lydia screamed, the sound so deep and loud it shook the room, glass breaking as Derek and Scott both fell to their knees with the force of it.

Chris covered his ears as she screamed, the loudest, longest scream he’d ever heard in his entire life, face filled with alarm. What the hell was that? he wondered, stunned.

But her scream didn’t stop, not yet, there was still more to get rid of inside of her. And then several minutes later, Lydia’s screaming came to an abrupt halt. Silence filled the room as her body gave out falling to the ground in front of Stiles.

Chris’ ears were still ringing even as he moved forward to where she’d fallen, reaching out and placing his fingers against her throat to feel for a pulse. He exhaled, shutting his eyes for a moment in relief when he found one.

He looked back over his shoulder at Scott and Derek with an expression that clearly stated he wanted answers in the realm of SOON.

Kira looked over at Scott, then at Lydia, then up at Stiles who was now hanging in his chains, limp and unconscious. “Did it work?”

Scott scrambled to his feet and ran over to where Chris was, “Is she…” His breathing was heavy and when Chris shook his head, relief crossed his face and he moved over to Stiles, glancing briefly at Kira. “I don’t know...how do we know if it worked? What’s supposed to happen?” He asked.

Derek came over, wiggling a finger in his ear and making a face. “Well?” He glanced between an unconscious Stiles and then to an unconscious Lydia, “What’s the verdict?”

“Dr. Deaton said that...it needed to be Lydia. Because she’s his tether?” Kira sounded uncertain because she still wasn’t exactly sure what that meant. “And because the Nogitsune couldn’t occupy the body of someone who was already occupied supernaturally. And that her scream would destroy it.”

Chris stared at Kira for a long moment, then looked down at Lydia. “She’s a banshee,” he mumbled. The wailing woman. But he didn’t know what Kira meant by Lydia being Stiles’ tether. That part didn’t make sense to him either. Tether to what he wondered.

Scott started undoing the chains from Stiles, “So then...it worked. She screamed,” he said quietly carefully lowering Stiles to the ground, “The nemeton is what let the Nogitsune in. When Stiles, Allison, and I sacrificed ourselves to save you guys,” he said glancing at Chris, “Deaton told us we’d be letting darkness inside of us.” He swallowed hard as he laid his best friend on the floor listening to his heart, making sure it sounded okay.

“Allison and I were able to close the door inside our heads...Stiles wasn’t.” He explained. “When we did the ritual we had a tether linking us to this world so we didn’t get lost. Isaac with Allison, Lydia with Stiles, Deaton with me.”

Derek bent down beside Scott. “We should get him cleaned up and changed. Maybe get your Mom to look at that arm,” he mumbled mostly to himself.

“When you did what?” Chris asked in disbelief. “When you sacrificed yourselves to--” He rubbed a hand over his face. “Christ, Scott.” He wondered if his mother and Stiles’ father had any idea.

Kira moved over to Scott’s side, laying a hand on his shoulder and then kneeling down beside Lydia and carefully brushing some of her hair out of her face. Scott was tossing out a lot of unfamiliar words like Nemeton and she wasn’t quite following along, but she’d ask him about it later. “We should probably get them to the hospital,” she said hesitantly.

Scott nodded, “You’re right.” He said as he started to lift Stiles off the ground.

Derek stood, “I’ll grab Lydia,” he commented moving over by Chris and lifting the limp girl into his arms. He straightened up, “Someone grab a car,” he said.

Scott was the next up with Stiles in his arms. Still not able to believe it was finally over.

Chapter Text

Everything in his entire body hurt. And not just a little bit. It felt like he’d been run over with a semi-truck -- twice. His brain was muddled, too, like he’d been drugged with the strongest sedatives ever made and it took him several long moments just to open his eyes. All he could see was a white ceiling. Where the hell was he? His eyes drifted shut again as he tried to remember why he felt so damn terrible.

It took his senses a few more minutes to realize that the antiseptic smell invading his nose meant he was in the hospital. A slight groan escaped him and he rolled his head to one side, the heart monitor he was hooked up to beeping a little faster with his movement. He lifted one hand -- bandaged for reasons he couldn’t remember and brought it up to his face, feeling the oxygen tube on his nose and pulling it off without really thinking about it.

Michael sat straight up at the sound of his son groaning. “Stiles?” he asked as he leaned forward swallowing hard. It had been a long few days of sitting in uncomfortable plastic hospital chairs and Michael knew this probably wouldn’t be the last time either. He and Melissa had been switching off who stayed with Stiles since they both still had a lot of work to do helping clean up the town. So much had been destroyed with explosions and freak accidents, but at least that was all over now.

“Scott he’s awake,” he called out to the teenager on the other side of the bed who had somehow managed to fall asleep in said chair.

Scott grunted, scrunching his nose as he shifted, his eyes blinking open lazily confused as to what was going on for a solid minute before he saw Stiles blinking in the hospital bed. Scott sat up fast a grin pulling at his lips, “Dude, you scared the shit out of me.”

Michael shook his head as he leaned forward resting a careful hand on his son’s arm. “How are you feeling?” He asked his brows drawing together.

Stiles looked at his dad, then rolled his head over to look at Scott, confusion furrowing his eyebrows. “Like I got hit by a truck,” he mumbled, trying to sit up and wincing as pain shot through him. “Oh my god. Did I get hit by a truck?” That would really suck. He groaned again, giving up the idea of sitting up and rubbing a hand over his face. “How long have I been here?”

Scott frowned and glanced over at the sheriff, “Did the doctors say he wouldn’t remember?” He asked worried already taking over the relief he felts moments before seeing his friend awake again.

Michael shook his head, “They weren’t sure. No one’s ever been brought in alive after such a bad electrocution, let alone two people.” He explained before glancing at Stiles and squeezing his arm gently. “No,” he said with a tired smile, “You weren’t hit by a truck. I’m going to go get Melissa really quick, she’s going to want to know you’re awake and give you a once over,” the sheriff stood and leaned down pressing a quick kiss to Stiles forehead, “You have no idea how happy I am that you’re okay.” He didn’t know the whole story about what happened, but he knew his son was no longer possessed and that was what mattered.

Stiles was more than a little confused at his dad and his best friend’s conversation. He’d been electrocuted? How the hell had that happened? He watched uncertainly as his dad headed out the door, then he turned his head to look at Scott, mild anxiety beginning to take hold. “I was electrocuted?”

Scott’s eyes widened, “Uh,” he glanced around the empty room, but there was no one there to tell him what he was allowed to say and what he shouldn’t say. He rubbed the back of his neck and scraped his chair closer to Stiles, “It’s a really long story man...you don’t remember anything?” He asked quietly, maybe that was for the best, thought Scott.

Stiles watched him, could practically feel his hesitation. Whatever had happened, had been really bad. Scott never hesitated to tell him what was going on. Not in the entire time they’d been friends. But at his best friend’s question, he closed his eyes, trying to remember the last thing he’d been doing before he’d woken up in the hospital moments ago. “I remember...uh, studying with Lydia at my house?”

Confusion crossed Scott’s face for a few seconds before realization kicked in, “You mean when you asked her at lunch to help you?” He asked his chest tightening. When Aiden was still alive, and Allison wasn’t in the hospital recovering from an arrow laced with wolfs bane, and Lydia was still awake. He sighed. This was not good.

His gut churned at the look on Scott’s face. “Scott, what the hell is going on?” His voice was a little louder now and he grimaced as he put his hands behind him, fire shooting through his shoulder as he forced himself to sit up.

Scott stood up and pressed a hand to Stiles chest, “Please don’t get up,” he said quietly gently pressing his friend back into the mattress. “Stiles...you’ve been out for about three days. You’re missing a lot of time, but I don’t want to overwhelm you with things. It’s been--you haven’t really been yourself lately.” He finished lamely. Scott didn’t think telling him about the Nogitsune right now was a good idea.

It wasn’t like he was strong enough to resist werewolf super strength on a good day. And this definitely wasn’t a good day. He’d been unconscious for three days? And he’d been missing time? He stared at his friend, heart beating harder in his chest. You are suffering from dementia, his brain suddenly reminded him. He shut his eyes, rubbing his hand over his face again. But he’d been electrocuted. Wait. His dad had said two people had been electrocuted.

Stiles opened his eyes again. “Were you hurt, too? Electrocuted? My dad said there were two of us.” But no, that didn’t make sense. Scott would probably recover from that more quickly on his own than in a hospital anyway. That left out Isaac and Derek, too, though he couldn’t really fathom the latter had spent any time around him lately. “No. Not you. Who?” he asked worriedly.

Scott pursed his lips, “Stiles...now’s probably not the best time,” he said letting his voice trail off as he glanced toward the doors wondering where the hell his mom and the sheriff were. He really didn’t want to be the one to tell Stiles about Lydia, then again maybe now was a good time since he didn’t remember anything else about what happened. Scott pondered the thought for a minute before glancing at Stiles, “Do you need some water or anything? I can pour you some,” he suggested.

“Scott. I need you to tell me what’s going on.” If there was one thing Stiles didn’t deal well with, it was being kept in the dark. “Please. Come on, man. It’s me.” He looked at his best friend with pleading eyes.

Scott sighed, sat back in his chair and shifted closer to Stiles, taking his friends hand in his. “The other person is Lydia,” he said quietly. “Stiles...to make a really long and crazy story short, you were sort of possessed by the Nogitsune.” Scott said the words like some kind of joke, but it wasn’t. It wasn’t anywhere near a joke. “A lot has happened in the past couple of weeks.” He squeezed his hand. “And it’s really not good man.”

Stiles stared at him, suddenly feeling nauseated. The Nogitsune. The thing they’d been looking for. It had been him all along? How was the possible? How hadn’t he known? And more importantly, what the hell had he done? “Lydia -- are you saying. Oh god. I hurt her?” His voice was barely audible, horror written on his face. “Is she okay? Where is she?”

“Relax,” Scott said holding up a hand. “You didn’t hurt her. She’s sort of the one who electrocuted you...both of you.” He sighed and leaned forward his face serious. “I swear I didn’t know she was going to do that or I would have stopped her. I tried...Derek and Chris held me back. But she was right Stiles. She was able to get the Nogitsune out of you.” He gave his friend a halfhearted smile, “She saved your life.” Scott whispered.

The fact that he hadn’t hurt her only made him feel a fraction better. She was still hurt because of him even if he hadn’t actually done the hurting. And the fact that his best friend hadn’t told him if she was okay or not didn’t make him feel any better either. “Scott, is she okay? Is she gonna be okay?”

Scott nodded, “Yeah,” he said carefully, “Lydia’s okay, she just, she hasn’t woken up yet. But you just woke up now,” he said rushing on, “So I’m sure she’ll be waking up soon too. I can go check on her if you want. I think Derek is with her right now or maybe Isaac, we’ve all been taking shifts between everyone.” He said as he reached back and rubbed his neck.

There was more that he didn’t know and he was too afraid to ask. He swallowed hard, squeezing his eyes shut as his head started to hurt. “Yeah you...should probably go check on her,” he murmured tiredly.

Scott frowned, “Are you sure? Because I don’t mind staying here...I” he paused glancing down, “I’ve really missed you man.” His voice was quiet and Scott couldn’t seem to stop the burning in his eyes.

Stiles recognized that slight waver in Scott’s voice and his stomach tightened again, opening his eyes to look up at him. He reached out and put a hand on Scott’s arm. “Whatever happened...I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Scott glanced up and met Stiles gaze, he nodded. “You don’t need to apologize, we don’t blame you. I don’t blame you...Lydia doesn’t. It’s going to be okay.” Scott felt his gut clench, “I’m sorry for not figuring things out sooner, but I never gave up on you, you’re my brother, I’d take down anyone who tried to hurt you,” he swallowed hard, he almost had. “But you’re going to get better now and things will get better,” eventually, he added silently wiping away the tears the slipped from his cheek.

Stiles had a feeling that all of this would make a lot more sense if he could actually remember whatever it was that he had done. He swallowed hard, trying to bury the sense of unease. If Scott was this upset, this distraught, he must have done some pretty terrible things. He shifted slightly on the mattress. He squeezed his friend’s arm, trying to will himself to believe Scott’s words. “Okay,” he whispered, chewing on his lower lip.

Scott sent him a halfhearted smile right as his mom walked in.

Melissa walked over to Stiles and brushed his hair away from his forehead, “Don’t ever do that to me again,” she said matter-of-factly, “I was worried out of my mind.” She told him softly as she brushed her thumb against his cheek. “How are you feeling?” She asked as Michael moved into the room behind her.

A faint smile touched Stiles’ mouth as he turned toward her, closing his eyes as she gently brushed her fingers across his face. “I have a feeling it could be a lot worse?” he tried.

Melissa nodded, “You were lucky,” she said quietly moisture prickling at the corner of her eyes. She cleared her throat, “I’m just going to take your vitals and see how you’re doing,” she glanced over her shoulder at her son, “Scott why don’t you and Michael go grab something to eat while I do this,” she suggested.

Scott swallowed hard, nodding and reaching out, squeezing Stiles’ arm lightly. “We’ll be back.” He moved over putting his hand on Sheriff Stilinski’s shoulder and guiding him out of the room.

Stiles looked from her to the retreating figures of his dad and best friend. “It was really bad, wasn’t it?” he whispered, voice strained.

Melissa watched Stiles for a minute as she hooked the stethoscope around the back of her neck. “It was pretty bad,” she told him softly, “but Stiles, we love you. We love you so much and if and when you remember what happened,” she paused, “remember that we will always love you. We don’t blame you and we are so happy you’re back.” She leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to the corner of his head. “Can you do that for me?” She asked knowing that once his memory came back things would probably get worse.

Scott had basically just told him the same thing and both members of the McCall family telling him that in such a short time span made his chest tighten. He swallowed hard, afraid of finding out what he’d done, afraid of remembering, afraid of everything. He nodded, but it was shaky and his eyes were burning now. He closed them, forcing himself to take a deep breath and exhale. “Lydia? Is she really okay?”

Melissa smiled as she reached out brushing Stiles hair back again. “Lydia is a very special girl. I didn’t understand what the fuss was all about when you boys were younger,” she admitted, “But I understand now.” She told him softly. “Physically Lydia seems to be doing just fine. She had less injuries than you, but that’s to be expected.” Melissa explained. Lydia hadn’t been running around the woods lately being shot by Argents and jumping out of glass plate windows.

“But she hasn’t woken up yet, which is a little troubling, but her stats are all good, so hopefully she’ll wake up just like you did.” Melissa said with a smile. “According to Deaton it might take her a little longer because of what she is,” not that Melissa knew what that meant.

Stiles relaxed as she stroked his hair, his heart aching at the soothing touch. Like Mom’s, before she had gotten sick. “I need to see her,” he murmured. “Can I see her? Can you take me to her? Please.” He didn’t know what good it would do, really, except Stiles needed to see her and make sure with his own two eyes that she was still breathing. That she was going to be okay.

Melissa hesitated, “Sweetie, it’s going to be really hard for you to get out of bed right now, you’ve got a lot going on,” she motioned to his body. Melissa paused at the look on his face. Her heart clenched and she sighed. “You’re in a double room right now alone...What do you say I see if I can get you a neighbor in here?” She asked lightly.

His heart sank until she mentioned bringing Lydia to him. “Yeah?” he asked hopefully. “That would be really awesome.” He wasn’t sure how Lydia would feel about it when she woke up, but right now he just needed to see her. He’d deal with her anger later. Hell, he’d be happy to see her angry. It meant she was awake and okay.

Melissa nodded and patted his hand. “I’ll see what I can do. I’m going to get the doctor now,” she said squeezing his hand before walking out of the hospital room in search of the doctor.

______

Scott placed a card down carefully on the pile on Stiles bed, “How does crazy eights work again?” He asked as he threw out yet another card, not sure if he was supposed to keep it or not. It was just after six at night and Stiles had woken up again about an hour ago. It felt weird to be sitting there playing cards after everything that had happened, but a part of Scott felt like he needed this, like they all needed this. Something normal and mindless even if it was just for a couple of hours.

The sound of the small television overhead traveled through the room, the volume low, some kind of old show on, Scott didn’t know what it was, but Derek seemed to be watching it from the other side of the room across from Lydia’s hospital bed, which Scott’s mom had brought in earlier in the day.

“The eights are crazy,” Derek deadpanned. “You’re matching suits and eights make the other player put down whatever suit you want,” he explained, eyes never leaving the television as he sat arms crossed over his chest in the small chair.

Stiles arched an eyebrow at that, glancing at Derek and then Scott. He hadn’t really figured Derek to be a fan of crazy eights. Or cards in general, for that matter. Stiles looked over his cards, and then down at the Queen of Hearts that Scott had laid down. “Dude you never discard the Queen of Hearts.” He shook his head, tossing down an eight of hearts.

“Why not?” Scott asked Stiles, “What’s so great about the Queen of Hearts? What suit do you want?”

Stiles looked back at Scott. “Because the Queen of Hearts is the luckiest card of the deck. You never give away your queen.” His gaze drifted over to where Lydia lay in bed, still and silent, unconscious. He swallowed hard.

Scott arched an eyebrow and followed his best friends gaze. His chest tightened and he reached out and squeezed Stiles’ arm before changing the subject trying to take that look off his friends face. “Maybe we should have Derek play with us,” he joked glancing briefly behind him before looking back at the pile of cards.

Derek huffed, “I don’t play cards anymore,” he commented his gaze shifting briefly towards Scott and Stiles. His chest tightened slightly. He hoped Stiles never remembered what he did, Derek had a feeling if he did the next game the two friends played wouldn’t be for a very, very long time.

“Why not?” Stiles asked Derek, looking over at him with a frown. He sensed a story there. Or maybe Derek just didn’t want to play with them. Frankly he was surprised Derek was there at all. He didn’t actually understand that part very well.

He considered Stiles question not sure if he wanted to answer it, but figuring he might as well. “I used to play with my Mother,” he commented.

At that, Stiles’ chest tightened and he nodded, feeling bad that he’d asked at all. He wasn’t sure he’d want to play a game that he’d last played with his mom either. Especially with people he didn’t actually like that much. “We could play something else,” he offered, glancing over at Derek again.

Derek paused and looked back over at Stiles. The difference between the last few weeks and now was astronomical. Stiles looked like the old Stiles again and surprisingly Derek was glad. The gesture he’d just extended was incredibly nice of him and Derek knew it came from the common ground they shared. They had both lost their mother’s way too soon. He was silent for a minute before he stood up slowly and walked over to where he and Scott were.

Scott’s eyes followed Derek’s movements curiously as the other man approached Stiles.

Derek clasped a hand on Stiles shoulder, “I’m glad you’re back.” He said briefly before stepping back from them. “I’m going to get some coffee. I’ll be back. If either of you want anything text me.” He said not giving them a chance to answer before he was gone.

Stiles blinked in surprise when Derek had clasped his shoulder and then headed out, looking at Scott with confusion. “Okay, seriously, man. What…” He shook his head, speechless, which rarely ever happened to Stiles Stilinski. He looked toward the door where the older man had vanished.

Scott chuckled. “I think as much as he doesn’t want us to know it, he cares.” Scott admitted quietly. “He helped a lot when you...weren’t you. He stayed with Lydia when I couldn’t…he even saved your dad and Lydia at one point.” Scott told his friend with half a smile. He hesitated, “Derek’s not so bad.” He said with a shrug as he glanced down at his cards.

He even saved your dad and Lydia at one point. The words echoed in Stiles’ mind. Saved them from him? Had he done something that had put his dad and Lydia in danger? He shifted on the mattress, looking over at Lydia again, his eyes troubled. Why couldn’t he remember anything? He chewed a thumbnail. “I guess I owe him a thanks,” he murmured. Scott shook his head, “I wouldn’t do that, you know how he gets.” He told him, “I just...I thought you should know.” He said with half a smile. Scott’s eyes shifted to Lydia briefly worry filling his gaze and he swallowed hard before turning back to face Stiles and tapping his fingers gently against the bed. “My turn or yours?”

“Yours,” he answered distractedly, gaze flickering to the television up above.

Scott nodded and put down a card before following Stiles’ gaze to the television. Derek made his way back into the hospital room and took up residence in the same seat he’d just vacated. “I saw Allison and Isaac heading in this direction,” Derek commented his tone holding an underlying hint of tension.

Scott straightened up, “I didn’t know they’d taken Allison out of intensive care,” he commented briefly. Derek gave an answering grunt and turned his gaze back to the television.

Stiles sat up in bed, wincing immediately. “What? Allison was in intensive care?” There was alarm in his voice and he looked from Scott to Derek and back again, fear in his eyes now. What the hell?

Scott pursed his lips and Derek shook his head, “You’re an idiot.” He said with a sigh.

Scott held up a hand, “Please lie back down,” he said quietly. If this was going to be Stiles’ reaction to everything, not that he blamed him in the slightest; he hoped they didn’t let him out of the hospital anytime soon. Scott would hate to think what would happen if Stiles saw the state of Beacon Hills right now.

“Calm down. There was a mishap with an arrow, It caught Allison, but she’s doing a lot better,” which apparently no one felt the need to tell him about.

A mishap with an arrow. Something just didn’t seem right. If that’s all it was, why had they kept it from him to begin with? He must’ve been involved in some way. But he was pretty sure he didn’t know how to shoot a bow and arrow. He wasn’t even sure he had the arm strength to shoot one. Unless it was some kind of crossbow. He stared at Scott. “Did I…” He looked over at Derek. “Was I involved?”

Scott glanced at Derek and he gave a one armed shrug. Scott sighed. “The Nogitsune set a trap for me in the woods. He laced an arrow with wolfsbane and, but you broke free of the Nogitsune’s control and tackled me to the ground so the arrow wouldn’t hit me, but Allison and Isaac were behind us and Allison didn’t get out of the way in time.” Scott explained quietly watching his friend’s face closely for his reaction.

Horror flickered over his features. “I -- Scott.” He laid back in bed, his face draining of all color. He’d tried to kill his best friend. And he’d ended up almost killing his best friend’s ex-girlfriend instead.

Scott could hear the beeping on the monitor speed up and even if he couldn’t his friend’s heart was beating loudly in his chest. “Stiles calm down. It’s okay. I’m okay and Allison is okay now too. I know it’s a lot to take in, but...it was the Nogitsune.” He insisted as he reached out and squeezed his friend’s hand.

It wasn’t okay. How could it possibly be okay? He’d set up a trap with a wolfsbane-laced arrow and had tried to kill Scott with it, and got Allison with it instead. How the hell was that possibly okay by anyone’s standards? He rubbed his hands over his face, trying to fight back the sudden nauseated feeling that he had. “I’m gonna throw up,” he muttered, body twisting in the bed as he reached for the garbage can beside him.

Scott helped him reach the garbage so he didn’t hurt himself before glancing at Derek, “Where did you see them?” He asked quietly.

Derek tilted his head, “They’re coming down the hallway now,” he said his brows drawing together when he saw Stiles being sick.

Stiles gripped onto the garbage can tightly as he threw up the very small amount of jello he’d eaten earlier that day. He willed for Allison and Isaac to get sidetracked. How the hell was he supposed to face Allison after he’d nearly killed her? How was he even supposed to look at Scott? His anxiety amplified with the thoughts and he threw up again, his body shuddering violently with the effort.

Worry filled Scott and he glanced at Derek. The other man stood and put down his coffee. “I’ll tell them now isn’t a good time.” He said straightening to his full height as he walked towards the hospital room door, pausing briefly before pushing it open and stepping into the hallway.

He spotted Allison and Isaac and made his way down the hall a few feet, stopping in front of them. He gave Allison a once over, “Nice to see you vertical.” He commented gruffly.

Allison arched her eyebrows at him. “Believe me; I had to fight with him about not bringing a wheelchair.” Her voice was guarded, but civil enough. “How’s Stiles? How’s Lydia?”

“That’s because you should have a wheelchair,” he said pointedly. Isaac shook his head, she could pull stitches or sprain something or get hurt even worse, but no Allison had to do things her way, he sighed...but that was one of the things he lo-liked about her.

Derek hesitated, “Stiles isn’t really up for company at the moment,” he said glancing between Isaac and Allison. “Lydia hasn’t woken up yet...we’re still waiting.” He said quietly trying not to focus on the fact that, that actually bothered him. Lydia had been nice to him. She had taken the time to care for him while he was injured, she hadn’t sent him away when he said he wanted to help...and she’d put her trust in him, which not many people did nowadays, not that Derek blamed them.

“Is he okay?” Allison asked, eyebrows furrowing as she looked at Derek, then at Isaac. She knew that he was awake because Melissa McCall had come to visit her and filled her in. She knew that he was talking, even if he wasn’t supposed to be up and around for awhile. She’d also known that Lydia hadn’t woken up yet, and she didn’t know exactly what had happened, but she knew it involved Kira’s powers.

Isaac winced, “He’s throwing up.” He said using his hearing to listen in. “Is he still sick?” Isaac asked tightening his arm around Allison.

Derek shook his head, “Lydia killed the Nogitsune,” he told them as he rested his arms over his chest. “Stiles is sick because Scott just accidentally told him that he was the reason you got shot with an arrow.” Derek explained, “He doesn’t remember anything that happened.”

Isaacs’s eyes widened, “Nothing?” Derek shook his head.

Allison looked toward Stiles’ room worriedly. “But he knows I’m okay right? I mean it wasn’t Stiles. I know that.” Guilt washed over her as she remembered how she’d chosen her dad’s side on the whole issue. She pursed her lips. “Maybe I should just...come back another time.” When he was ready to see her. She was pretty sure Isaac wasn’t the problem, after all.

“I’m not leaving you,” Isaac said quickly.

Derek let his hands fall, “I think giving him some time is a good idea. We did tell him you’re okay, he just...he’s not ready to face what he did.” Derek said quietly.

Isaac could understand that. “Okay, we’ll come back then. Maybe tomorrow,” he said lightly, “Okay?” He glanced at Allison.

“Yeah, okay,” she agreed softly. She looped her arm through his, not liking that she needed to use him for support but the walk had taken quite a bit out of her. She looked up at Derek, hesitating. “Tell him I’m not upset?”

Derek nodded, “I’ll deliver the message.” He said simply.

Isaac nodded as he wrapped his arm more tightly around Allison and started guiding her back down the hallway.

Derek watched them go before turning around and heading back into Stiles’ room.

Scott glanced up, “How are they?” He asked anxious.

Derek nodded and went back to his seat. “They both look good,” he glanced at Stiles, “They’re worried about you. Allison wants you to know that’s she’s not upset and she doesn’t blame you.”

Stiles shut his eyes, lying back against his pillows. “Thanks,” he mumbled, shifting so he was lying on his side, arm wrapped around his stomach.

Scott pursed his lips as he watched Stiles for a minute. “Is there anything I can do?” He asked quietly, desperately wanting to fix whatever he could for his friend. Scott felt so useless and he hated it.

Stiles shook his head, not looking at him. “I think I just...need to sleep for awhile,” he mumbled. “You should go visit with Allison and Isaac.”

Scott swallowed hard. “Yeah...okay.” He reached forward and squeezed his friends arm gently before standing and shifting forward. “I’ll be back soon.” Scott said hesitating one last time before stepping out of the room and doing as Stiles asked.

Derek watched Scott go and he stood running a hand down the back of his neck before walking over to Lydia’s hospital bed and blinked, his eyes glowing as he gave her a once over checking everything, listening.. But like last time everything seemed fine, outside of the fact that she wouldn’t wake up.

“She’s gonna be okay, right?” Stiles’ voice was barely audible, but he knew Derek was still in the room, had heard him approach Lydia’s bed. He wasn’t sure exactly how Derek would know one way or another, but maybe his wolf senses could pick up on something that the doctors couldn’t.

Derek didn’t turn around, “I hope so,” he said quietly hesitantly placing a hand on Lydia’s arm for a brief moment, before pulling his hand back and walking back to his seat. “Her vitals seem to be good. Strong and steady.” He commented, “I’m not sure why she isn’t awake.” Derek told him honestly as he sat down in his chair.

Stiles squeezed his eyes shut more tightly. “Is she in any pain?” He knew that he’d know the answer to that. He knew how it worked.

Derek glanced at Stiles, “Not any physical pain,” he said thoughtfully. “It’s like...she’s just sleeping.” He said a hint of confusion in his voice, “Which is why I don’t understand why she’s not awake yet.”

Stiles forced himself to sit up, knowing Derek wasn’t likely to rush over and make him lie back down the way Scott kept doing. He gave himself a moment to breathe before gritting his teeth together and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, looking over at Lydia with worried eyes. He still felt nauseous, but he didn’t feel like he was going to throw up again. “Are we sure that the Nogitsune didn’t...just jump from me to her and stay there? How do we know for sure?”

Derek pursed his lips and motioned to Stiles, “This whole thing where you’re getting up and trying to move probably isn’t a great idea.” He said ignoring the other man’s question for the moment, “I probably won’t drag you off the floor if you fall on your face.” Derek told him matter-of-factly before turning his gaze on Lydia.

“It’s definitely out of her, trust me. As someone who was there when it happened, her scream nearly made us all deaf. But it was more than that,” he paused trying to figure out how to explain it, “It’s a feeling, she felt like Lydia afterwards the Nogitsune inside of her was gone.”

Stiles ignored Derek’s pointed comment, but he didn’t try standing up for the time being. His gaze was locked on Lydia’s prone form on the next bed. “Did I feel like me when it was in me?” He didn’t look at Derek.

Derek shook his head, “Not after it took possession of you, no. Even before it had you fully, Scott and I realized what was happening, but not soon enough,” he explained.

There was another, more pressing question on his mind and he was struggling not to ask it. It wasn’t easy, but he knew it wasn’t one he could ask Scott, either. “Why didn’t you stop me, Derek?” he whispered. It wasn’t accusing, he just didn’t understand why Derek or Chris Argent hadn’t killed him. Surely there had been opportunities.

Derek took a heavy breath and let it out slowly. “You didn’t deserve to die like that.” He glanced at Stiles, “You’ve saved my life on more than one occasion and most of those times I didn’t deserve it. Had this happened a year or two ago, I probably would have killed you.” He told him not at all apologetic.

“But I’m not the same person as I was and as strange as this sounds you and I are a lot alike.” He paused, “Loyalty is a hard quality to find, but you have it in spades and you never let Scott down, not once. You’re like a brother to him and he couldn’t lose you.” Derek said simply, pausing for a moment before continuing.

Stiles was starting to wonder if that was exactly what he deserved. Sure, he’d saved Derek’s life a couple times, but it wasn’t like they were actual friends. Hearing Derek say they were a lot alike kind of caught him off guard. Not because it wasn’t true, but because he figured Derek would find it insulting to be compared to him in general.

Stiles chest tightened at the mention of Scott being like his brother. Yeah. He was like Scott’s brother who’d set a deadly trap and almost gotten him killed at least once while he’d been on some kind of rampage, apparently. He’d just gotten really lucky that the wolfsbane arrow had hit someone who wasn’t Scott. Yeah, really lucky for Allison. He rubbed a hand over his face, feeling tired.

“It wasn’t you, and no one blames you for what happened. The people who care about you most risked their lives for you. Scott wouldn’t let Chris kill you,” he said quietly, “But in the end he helped us cure you.” Derek pursed his lips and scratched the back of his neck. “And Lydia...she wouldn’t let anyone touch you. She chose you over everyone else.”

The knowledge that Lydia had put her own life on the line for him wasn’t unexpected. When it came down to it, Lydia Martin was one of the bravest people he’d ever met. It was unsettling though. No. Upsetting. He simply nodded at Derek’s words, eyes drifting shut.

Derek walked over to Stiles’ hospital bed, “Don’t fall asleep sitting up,” he said quietly, “Come on, lie down.” he carefully guided him back into the bed. “I’ll never hear the end of it from Scott if I let you topple over out of bed.” He said.

He wasn’t going to topple over, but he didn’t have the energy to argue. He let Derek push him back against the pillows and he sighed heavily. “Thanks.”

Derek nodded, “Sure.” He stepped back and studied Stiles. “Don’t be too hard on yourself,” he said knowing it really only got worse from here. What would happen when he found out he killed Aiden or when he finds out he tried to kill his dad.

Derek took a step back from Stiles, “Get some rest, I’ll keep an eye on things while you sleep.” He told him.

“Yeah. Okay.” Stiles curled up on his side, facing Lydia and closing his eyes. He just hoped he didn’t have any dreams. He fell into a restless, troubled sleep within moments.

______

“I just don’t think I’m ready yet.” Stiles didn’t look up at his dad or at Scott as they sat in chairs at the end of his hospital bed. He’d been in the hospital for a week and while he had gained a couple of pounds back that he’d lost the last few weeks and that was enough to satisfy the doctors, there was one very large issue that made him want to stay. And that reason was still lying unconscious in a hospital bed across the room.

The bandages on his hands were off now, but the marks from the wire that the hunter had tied him up with were still there, just more faded. They were probably going to scar. A permanent visual reminder of the terrible things he’d done. And he had a feeling he didn’t even know the half of it yet.

They hadn’t been letting him watch the news or read the newspaper. They hadn’t even brought him his laptop. He was also missing his phone. He had no idea what happened to it. He literally had no access to the outside world to find out what the hell he’d done that he couldn’t remember, aside from getting Allison shot and almost getting Scott killed.

Stiles still didn’t feel well, mentally or physically. He was still tired all the time, like the Nogitsune had literally sucked most of his life force right out of him. Maybe it had. But his sleep wasn’t restful when he managed it. He wasn’t dreaming, though and he was glad for that at least. He had a feeling he never wanted to dream again. He also rarely felt like eating even though he was managing to choke down little bits of food here and there. Apparently being possessed really screwed up your body all the way around.

As awful as he still felt, he was a lot more worried about Lydia. The doctors couldn’t figure out why she was still unconscious, as there wasn’t any physical trauma to her body aside from some burn marks on her hands from the electrocution. They had no idea what was wrong with her and Stiles was starting to think the only doctor that might have an idea was actually a veterinarian.

The sheriff sighed as Scott rested his hands on his knees. “Son, right now home is where you need to be. You’re healed enough that you can finally sleep in your own bed again...Don’t you want to come home?” He asked quietly. Michael still didn’t know why Stiles didn’t remember what happened, but he was grateful. His son was the kind of person who felt everything, and somehow he didn’t think Stiles would process everything that’s happened being the Nogitsune’s fault. He would take it on himself and the sheriff didn’t want that, not for his son.

Scott leaned forward, “Your dad’s right and I’m gonna hang out for a bit too, spend a couple of nights like we used to do when we were kids,” he said with a smile. Derek had gone to surprisingly help Chris take care of some last minute things like making sure there were no more traps in the woods or around the school.

Allison had been released from the hospital two days prior and Isaac had gone home with her, but mentioned that he’d be coming back home probably the next day, which Scott’s mom was glad about. Scott knew they had yet to address the issue of him and Allison siding with Chris and trying to hunt down Stiles, but he just didn’t have it in him right now. He was too tired.

Stiles wanted to go home. That wasn’t even a question. He just didn’t want to leave Lydia. He swallowed hard, looking over at her silently and then at his dad, expression pained. “I don’t want her to be alone, okay? She’s here because of me and she shouldn’t have to be alone.” Even if she wasn’t awake. He raked a hand through his hair, not even noticing the way his limb shook with the movement. He’d gotten used to the trembling. Plus he knew that Scott needed a break, even if he was acting enthusiastic about staying over at the Stilinski household. He’d barely left the hospital since Stiles had been in there. He knew if their situations were reversed he wouldn’t have left either, but his best friend needed some sleep. Actual sleep that didn’t involve a plastic chair.

Michael pursed his lips. He had figured that was what his son’s issue was, but he was hoping he’d get him to go anyway. Michael was immensely grateful for what Lydia had done. Scott said she’d saved Stiles life, putting her own at risk in the process and there was nothing that he could do that would ever show his gratitude. “We can visit Lydia any time you want Stiles,” He said the words softly.

Scott pursed his lips, “I can stay with her if you want...or I can call Derek. He won’t mind and she won’t be alone.” He told his friend. “Lydia would understand Stiles...I promise you she would.”

He shut his eyes, struggling to come to a decision. He knew Scott was right --- Lydia would understand. He had to weigh his dad and his best friend’s health against his own instincts to stay with her by any means necessary. What if she was in there for the unforeseeable future? What if she never woke up? He felt the nausea building at the thought and he swallowed hard, forcing himself to take a deep breath. Dammit, why couldn’t anything ever just be easy?

“Call Derek,” he said quietly.

Scott nodded, “I’ll call him now,” he said as he stood slipping his hand into his pocket and pulling out his cell phone and moving into the hallway.

The sheriff watched him go and then turned back to Stiles, “Lydia is going to be okay son, she’ll wake up, Melissa has been watching over her and she’s doing better.” He said quietly.

“There’s nothing physically wrong with her,” he told his dad, not looking up. “So whatever is wrong with her is probably supernatural and that is my fault. She did this for me. To save my life.”

Michael sighed, “Stiles, this isn’t your fault. Scott was there when it happened so he knows more than me, but from what I heard,” which hadn’t been much, “You begged her not to save you. Not to help you because you were worried about her.” He paused, a lump forming in his throat. “But she did it anyway because of how much she cares about you.” He was silent for a second, “It’s rare to find two people with the kind of connection you and Lydia have. I always thought...well I never really understood her appeal for you outside of the obvious.” Young teenage boys liked pretty girls.

“But after these past few weeks I can understand better why she means so much to you. Lydia obviously thought this would work and it did,” he pointed out, “Trust her judgment.” He said quietly.

Stiles felt the tears beginning to sting his eyes the more that his dad said, and he felt terrible that he even knew any of this to start with. That he knew that Stiles had apparently begged Lydia not to try and save his life, that his dad, whom he’d tried for so long to protect from the insanity that surrounded his life, was now as wrapped up in said insanity as the rest of them. He nodded, quickly brushing the back of his hand over his eyes. “Can we just...can we wait until Derek gets here to leave?”

Michael nodded; “Of course.” he said patting him on the arm. He stood up, leaned over and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “I love you, Stiles.” The words were whispered before he straightened up.

Stiles squeezed his eyes shut. “I love you, too,” he whispered almost inaudibly.

Scott made his way back into the room seconds later slipping his phone into his pocket. “Derek’s on his way and he’s bringing Deaton to look at Lydia.” He said with a tight smile before sitting back in his seat.

He looked over at Scott, chest tightening. He was glad that Scott and Derek had apparently read his mind about Deaton being a good choice to try and figure out what was going on with Lydia. “Thanks, Scottie.”

Scott swallowed hard trying not to think of the last time Stiles had called him that. “Any time. Derek figured it would be a good idea since we’re still a little unclear about what he told Lydia. She forgot to share,” he said his eyes darting to the bed.

“Not surprised about that,” Stiles said, glancing over at Lydia’s bed, as well. Somehow he had a feeling if she had shared; she wouldn’t be lying in that bed. Because someone would have stopped her, surely. If not Scott, then Derek or Chris.

Scott looked down, clenching his hands together.

Michael glanced between the boys and cleared his throat, “I’m going to go find Melissa and fill out all the discharge paperwork while you boys wait for Derek,” he said before heading for the doorway.

Scott glanced up watching him go before looking back at Stiles. He was silent for a minute, “I’m sorry I didn’t stop her. I promise once I realized what she was doing I tried.” He told his friend quietly.

Stiles swallowed hard, watching his dad head out the door and then turning his attention to Scott. “Don’t, Scott. It’s not your fault. If there’s one thing I’m sure about right now, it’s that none of this is your fault, okay? I don’t blame you for anything.”

Scott’s chest tightened, “You shouldn’t blame yourself either,” he held up a hand, “and I know what you’re going to say, but Stiles we know you. Never in a million years would you have done the things that the Nogitsune did. We don’t blame you and,” Scott paused swallowing heavily, “we’re all sort of afraid if and when you remember you’re going to blame yourself...but Stiles, man, it wasn’t you.” He wanted to make sure his friend knew that he didn’t see him any differently...and he didn’t not really.

It was easy for everyone to say that it wasn’t his fault, that he wasn’t to blame. But they weren’t the ones who’d had their body literally used against them and against the people that they cared about. They weren’t the ones who were apparently so mentally weak that they ended up possessed by evil demons. “I’m not sure if not knowing and imagining what I did is worse than knowing and just living with it,” he admitted, not quite meeting Scott’s eyes.

Scott hesitated, “I think your dad just wants to give it some time and let you heal up before we fill you in,” he explained. They knew they had to because well, how else would they explain what’s been going on around town? They couldn’t. “We just want you to keep getting better that’s all.”

Stiles understood the reasoning behind why they were keeping it from him. He just wasn’t sure he liked it. He wasn’t sure if his imagination was more horrifying than the reality and he was scared to find out the answer. So he simply nodded, exhaling slowly and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. At least he could get up and move around some now, even if the doctors advised he take it easy for awhile still. He glanced at Scott momentarily, then moved over and sat down on the edge of Lydia’s bed, hesitantly reaching out and laying his hand on top of hers.

Scott’s heart clenched as he watched his best friend. He could see the pain on his face mingled with confusion and guilt. All Scott wanted was for this to all go away, for the bad things never to have happened so his friend wouldn’t need to deal with the fallout.

Before he could open his mouth to ask Stiles a question there was a knock on the hospital room door and without waiting for an answer it was pushed open. Derek made his way into the room Deaton following behind him.

Scott sat up straight, “Hey guys.”

Stiles picked up Lydia’s limp hand and held onto it silently, turning his head to look at Derek and Deaton as they entered. He sure as hell hoped Deaton had some answers about Lydia and what was going on because he sure as hell didn’t.

“Scott. Stiles.” Deaton nodded at them. “Stiles, how are you feeling?” There was concern in his voice.

“I’m fine,” he answered without hesitation. “Just worried about Lydia right now.”

Derek scratched the back of his neck. “That seems to be a common thing,” he said lightly and Deaton glanced over his shoulder at the older werewolf a hint of amusement in his gaze despite the situation.

“Yes, it does seem quite a few people are worried about Miss Martin, would you mind if I come over there and take a look?” He asked Stiles.

Stiles shook his head, pursing his lips and reluctantly letting go of her hand and moving away to give Deaton room to check on her. He stood silently beside the chair where Scott was sitting, glancing at Derek and wondering when he and Deaton had started becoming more friendly. Then again from what Peter had told him and Cora a few weeks ago, Deaton was technically Derek’s pack’s emissary. Maybe Derek was finally coming around and realizing he couldn’t do everything himself.

Deaton walked over to Lydia’s bed glancing at the girl resting almost peacefully in it. He slipped his hand into his pocket taking a penlight out and flipping it on. He leaned forward raising Lydia’s eyelids one at a time and flashing the light in them. The response from her pupils was immediate. Deaton slipped the light back into his pocket and pressed a hand to her arm focusing on her body.

“Scott, can you tell me what happened the night Lydia saved Stiles?” He asked not taking his eyes off the young woman.

Scott drew in a breath, shutting his eyes for a moment. It wasn’t a memory he really had any desire to relive but if it was possible it was going to help Lydia, he’d do it. He glanced up at Stiles, not sure he was ready to hear about it. Then he shot a look at Derek before he started to speak.

“We took him to the Hale house basement. It was Chris’s suggestion.” He pursed his lips, looking down at the floor. “They chained him up just in case that stuff wore off. And it did, but it just woke Stiles up. The Nogitsune didn’t wake up again. Lydia and Kira got there and Lydia asked about a live wire that Kira could use to channel her powers.”

He sighed, looking up at Deaton. “So Lydia wrapped her arms around Stiles and Kira…” His voice trailed off. “Stiles passed out almost immediately after he screamed, and Lydia fell down before she started screaming.”

Deaton pursed his lips. “Was she breathing after the scream ended?”

Derek arched an eyebrow. “Of course she was breathing or she wouldn’t be here right now,” he said gruffly motioning towards the bed.

Deaton shook his head, “Not true, that being said, I told Lydia this might happen.” He said as he glanced between the three boys. “When using the foxfire to take the Nogitsune into herself she essentially stopped Stiles heart for a minute. The Nogitsune cannot live in a dead host. Drawing it into herself wasn’t the challenge, once it was inside of her she had to keep her sense of self long enough to destroy the Nogitsune with her scream,” he explained.

“Banshee’s are an incredibly complex creature, because the voices inside of her are made up of other Banshee’s she’s technically already got a passenger if you will in her body and two entities cannot latch on to one person.” Deaton explained calmly. “So her banshee side casted the Nogitsune out, but sometimes when you do that you can lose yourself a bit.” Deaton explained with a frown.

“I told Lydia that if she didn’t hold on to her purpose and think of nothing else...she could be lost within her own mind,” Deaton paused giving them a minute to take that in, “Derek mentioned you don’t remember what happened Stiles...I believe that’s because your memories are in there with Lydia.” He stepped back from the young woman and once again glanced between the boys in the room. “When she took the Nogitsune into her, she took everything of that timeframe. I believe once she finds herself again she’ll wake up.” He said simply.

Stiles was livid. He was tired, but now he was pissed, too. “So you told her to do this. You gave her all this information and you allowed her to do this incredibly dangerous thing that could have fucking killed her!”

Scott’s eyes widened and he pursed his lips, his body tensing. “Stiles I don’t think it’s that simple. Lydia...Lydia wasn’t really in the right state of mind; she wasn’t thinking clearly.” He told his friend. Scott was almost positive she would have done just about anything to save his life. And the truth was, so would he.

Derek arched a brow crossing his arms over his chest. He was with Stiles on this one. He didn’t dislike Deaton, but Deaton had a way of not telling people everything at once. He felt people should figure some things out themselves and while that was probably true it was also dangerous.

Deaton cleared his throat keeping calm in the face of the young man’s angry words. “Actually I advised against it.” He said calmly. “I explained the process and how it works, but I expressed concern that she might not be advanced enough in her own abilities to accomplish the entire process successfully.” Deaton pursed his lips.

“Lydia didn’t take kindly to my interference and while Kira is a sweet girl, she wanted to help Lydia because she felt responsible for what happened to you, Stiles, and so, was I supposed to not give them what they needed before leaving? They were going to do it anyway so I offered what I could. The poison and the process.” He explained. “What happens now depends on Lydia. She’s still alive so she’s fighting to come back. If she’d lost herself for good she would be dead already...give it time, have a little faith in the girl who pulled you back from darkness.” Deaton said quietly.

Stiles rubbed his hands over his face, trying to calm down his nerves, and let go of his anger. It was easier said than done though, when the girl he’d loved since third grade was lying unconscious for no reason in a hospital bed. He tried to reason with himself that Deaton didn’t know Lydia that well, that he wouldn’t know how she’d react. But the vet had this habit of keeping information to himself until it suited him to bring it forward. It was frustrating as hell. At the end of the day, he knew there was exactly one person who was responsible for Lydia’s condition: himself. And as much as he didn’t want that to be true, it absolutely was and he was going to have to find a way to deal with it and not blame Deaton or anyone else for it.

“I’m gonna go get dressed.” He moved away from the group, just needing to get away from all of them for a few minutes, to try and get himself under control, to pull himself together. He headed for the bathroom, grabbing the bag his dad had brought to the hospital and disappearing inside the smaller room.

Scott opened his mouth, but closed it a few seconds later as he watched Stiles close the door behind him. He sighed and glanced at Deaton, “You’re sure Lydia is going to wake up...right?” He asked worry on his face not just for Lydia, but for Stiles. If she didn’t wake up Scott was positive his best friend would never forgive himself.

Deaton nodded, “I believe if she wasn’t going to make it she would have already succumbed to death. Right now it’s just a matter of her finding her way back, which can take time.”

Derek pursed his lips as he crossed his arms over his chest. “How much time?” He asked quietly, “Are we talking days, weeks, months...longer? And what kind of damage is that going to do to her body?” He asked.

“It’s sort of all up to Lydia, really,” Deaton explained quietly. “It’s all in her hands. As long as her body is nourished with food and water, she shouldn’t suffer any real side effects provided that she wakes up in the near distant future. After that, we’re looking at possible muscle weakness when she does wake up.”

Scott nodded and scratched the back of his neck, “Okay,” he glanced at Derek, “You’re sure you don’t mind staying here? Stiles doesn’t want Lydia to be alone.” He told him.

Derek nodded, “I don’t mind. I’ve got a book.” He motioned to his back pocket. “We’ll be fine.”

Stiles emerged from the bathroom a few moments later, his expression totally drawn and guarded. He moved over and sat back down in the chair beside Lydia’s bed, tossing his bag onto his own bed. They were leaving soon, but while he was still there, he was staying by Lydia’s side.

Chapter Text

Melissa stood in front of the oven stirring the rice in the large pot at the back of the stove. She shifted stirring the smaller pot of vegetables before putting both spoons down and shifting back so she could open the oven and check on the chicken and lamb chops. It was just after six and she’d had the early shift at the hospital that day so she could make sure she was home for dinner. She could hear Scott playing video games with Stiles in the distance and her chest tightened slightly.

It had been just over a week since Stiles came home from the hospital and every day was still a struggle, not that she thought it would be any other way. He seemed sad and depressed and every time Melissa saw him all she wanted to do was hug him and tell him how much she loved him. She knew he was upset about what little he knew and about the fact that Lydia still wasn’t awake.

If Melissa was being honest she was starting to worry about that too. Derek stayed faithfully by Lydia’s side whenever Stiles wasn’t there. Melissa only ever saw the older werewolf leave when Stiles came into the room, most likely to give him privacy. Derek was a godsend. He stayed strong for everyone and helped Scott in any way he could. His loyalty seemed unbreakable and Melissa was glad her sons had someone like that in their lives.

She always made sure to bring Derek leftovers from the house, and checked in with him before leaving the hospital. Too many nights she’d covered him while he slept in a chair beside Lydia’s bed. And Stiles...Stiles was beside himself. With everything and it killed Melissa seeing him so hurt.

She sighed softly as she closed the oven and straightened up. Michael had just gotten home from the sheriff station not long ago, which worked well since dinner was almost ready. He was trying to be around more, but it was hard while trying to put Beacon Hills back together. Melissa and Michael had worked out their schedules though so that one of them was always around if Stiles needed them. She’d been at the Stilinski household since earlier that afternoon and she’d most likely stay until the boys went to bed before heading home to Isaac.

Melissa grabbed a towel and wiped her hands as she called out loudly, “Boys! Dinner in ten minutes, wash your hands and come set the table!”

Stiles didn’t hesitate to put his video game controller down when Ms. McCall called for them. They’d been playing Call of Duty for what felt like hours and his heart hadn’t been into it from the get-go. He was doing his best to pretend he cared about it for Scott’s sake. For everyone’s sake. He’d caused enough trouble and heartache to last an actual lifetime. “Smells good,” he commented to Scott as his friend paused their game. He rubbed the back of his neck. It did smell good. He just wasn’t hungry. He headed down the hall toward the bathroom, closing the door and moving to the sink and turning the water on, sticking his hands under the faucet.

He backed away as the liquid came out red, rushing red water. No. Not water. Blood. A startled sound escaped him as he looked down at his bloody hands and he shut his eyes. When he opened them again there was nothing there. The water was normal once more. Swallowing hard, he washed them quickly, not taking his gaze off his hands. All the color had drained from his face and he felt half nauseous when he looked at himself in the mirror. He wondered, idly, if this was how Jackson had felt when he’d tried to look in the mirror when he was the kanima.

He headed back out of the bathroom, leaving the light on for Scott as he moved down the hallway.

Scott watched Stiles move down the hallway looking paler than before he’d gone into the bathroom. His brows drew together and he stepped into the bathroom washing his hands quickly, before turning off the water. Scott didn’t bother wiping them on the towel; instead he shook them out and wiped them on his pants before walking back down the hall in the direction that Stiles had gone.

Melissa heard the sound of footsteps and she turned with a smile only to spot Stiles, looking a little worse for the ware. She stepped closer to him and tilted her head back, god when had he gotten so tall? They were growing up so fast, she thought as she cupped his cheek, “You okay sweetie?” She asked her gaze worried.

The gentle gesture from Ms. McCall made his eyes burn for a moment, but he blinked rapidly, nodding. “Yeah. I’m okay. It smells really good. You really didn’t have to go through all this trouble.” Except she’d done it for him and he knew it. Because she was worried. He’d been around her enough to recognize that. “Thanks.”

Melissa smiled despite the fact that she could see in his eyes he wasn’t okay, “Honey, you know it’s no trouble. I like making dinner for my boys,” she said as she brushed her thumb over his cheek wishing she could say more to make him feel better. Melissa studied Stiles for a minute before pulling him into a gentle hug and rubbing her hand down his back. “If you ever want to talk, I’m here, you know that don’t you?” She asked softly as she watched Scott make his way down the stairs pausing when he saw them.

Stiles swallowed hard, shutting his eyes when she hugged him. He laid his chin on her shoulder, hugging her back more tightly than he should’ve. “I know,” he murmured. “I’m okay. I just need Lydia to wake up and everything’ll be fine.” He didn’t, of course, actually believe that. He didn’t really believe things were ever going to be fine, or the way they had been, ever again. He didn’t know how they possibly could be.

Melissa squeezed him tighter. “She’ll wake up soon,” Melissa responded, “And when she does I’m sure she’s going to be incredibly happy to see you.” She pulled back and gripped his cheeks, “Things will all work out eventually,” Melissa told him before pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. “Now come on, dishes.” She pointed to the table where Scott was already starting to put out the dishes.

Stiles swallowed hard, managing a faint smile and then moving over to help Scott finish setting the table. He gathered some silverware, putting a spoon, fork and knife at each setting and distantly wondering if Isaac was spending another evening with Allison. They hadn’t really come around him, and he really couldn’t blame them. He knew they’d tried the day he’d woken up, knew that Derek had played intercept and said he wasn’t ready. He wasn’t sure he was ever going to be ready.

He tried to push all of those thoughts aside as he followed his best friend around the table, setting up the places nice and neat, something Ms. McCall had taught him how to do a long time ago. He set the glasses out while Scott took care of the plates and the bowls. He glanced toward the hallway when he heard footsteps and he saw his dad approaching. He quickly smiled. “Hey Pops.”

The sheriff was in the process of rubbing the back of his neck when he heard his son’s voice. He glanced up and smiled. It was good to have Stiles home. “Hey,” he walked into the kitchen and glanced around with a grin, “Wow, what’s going on in here? Is that dinner? Man, a guy could get used to coming home to this,” he teased as he placed on hand on Stiles shoulder and the other on Scott’s. “How’re you boys doing?”

Scott grinned, “Good sheriff,” and it was mostly the truth. Things were definitely better than they had been. He knew Stiles was humoring him with things and that his worries ran a lot deeper than Lydia, but Stiles also knew that Scott was there if he needed him.

“Good. Played Call of Duty with Scott all day and Ms. McCall fixed us dinner.” Stiles smiled, looking at his dad and then motioning for him to sit down. “How was work?” he asked, because he always asked how work was, and even though his dad wasn’t telling him much of anything because no doubt his dad was pretty much going around and cleaning up his messes right now, he knew they both needed that normalcy in their lives. Because there wasn’t much else that was normal about their lives.

Michael glanced briefly at Melissa meeting her gaze before turning to Stiles, “It was a long day,” he commented, “But things are looking up.” He said with a smile. It wasn’t a lie; things were a lot better than they had been a week ago. But they still weren’t up to par just yet.

Scott pulled out a seat his mouth practically watering. “I’ve been smelling the food for over an hour,” he said with a smile as the sheriff took one of the seats on the other side of the table.

Despite the way his heart sank at his dad’s words It was a long day, Stiles managed to keep the smile on his face as he sat down at the table next to Scott, where he always sat whether they had company or not. And lately they’d had a lot of company. Stiles was never by himself unless he was in the bathroom, really. Scott was spending all of his free time there, although he knew his best friend had to be getting tired of not being at home, and not doing other things. And usually either Ms. McCall or his dad were home too. He just wished the togetherness was for a better reason than his recent terror-streak around town.

Melissa shut off the stove and oven before grabbing a serving dish and platter from the cabinet. She made quick work of adding the rice to the bowl and then putting the chicken and lamb chops on the serving platter. She grabbed a couple of smaller bowls for the vegetables and brought those to the table first. “Okay boys, we’ve got rice, chicken, and lamb chops. Do not forget to eat the vegetable,” she said pointedly glancing around the table before turning back to the counter and grabbing the rice and meat.

Once Melissa had placed everything on the table she took the last chair between the sheriff and Scott and across from Stiles. She sent a sideways glance to Michael, “You Mr. get chicken, less salt, more protein. You’ve got to watch the blood pressure.” She commented casually.

Scott chuckled lightly as he reached for the lamb chops.

That was the first thing that actually made Stiles smile for real since he’d woken up two weeks before. It made him love Scott’s mom a little more than he already did. If something happened to him, he felt secure in the knowledge that the McCall’s would take care of him. Scott had promised that much. It just felt like a lifetime ago that they’d had that conversation. He waited until Scott and his mom had filled their plates before he dished some vegetables onto his plate with some rice and the smallest of the lamb chops. It all smelled great, but he wasn’t sure how much of it he was going to be able to force himself to eat. He had less of an appetite now than he ever did as an Adderall side effect.

“See, Dad, I keep telling you. Be sure and eat more of the vegetables than the rice, too.”

Michael reached for the rice and rolled his eyes, “The rice has vegetables in it,” he said as he scooped some onto his plate.

Melissa arched an eyebrow, “You better take some of those vegetables Michael. Set a good example for the boys, I made sure I didn’t make the rice too salty.” She told him as she glanced at Scott and chuckled, “Honey, slow down. You’re acting like I haven’t fed you in days.”

Scott glanced up from his food, mouth full as he worked to chew and swallow sending her a sheepish look, “I don’t know why I’m so hungry,” he admitted.

“It’s because you’re an alpha,” Stiles informed him, taking a tiny bite of rice. “And your body hasn’t really adjusted to it yet. You have to eat more because you’re potentially a lot stronger than you were as a beta.” When the table fell silent, he paused and looked around at all the eyes on him and shifted uncomfortably. “I talked to Derek about this stuff while I was in the hospital and you were sleeping.”

Scott arched an eyebrow, “Good to know. I haven’t really had a chance to talk to Derek about all the in’s and out’s of being an alpha yet.” He said with half a smile, “You guys seem like you’ve been getting along,” Scott commented, his mother watching as they spoke.

Stiles shrugged a shoulder, reaching out and taking a drink of his water. “Yeah. More than before. He’s different.” And a lot less scary than he’d once been. For a long period of time, Stiles had been terrified of Derek Hale. He wasn’t sure anything was going to be scary anymore now and he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

“But different is good, right?” his dad asked, and Stiles looked over at him.

“Well Derek wasn’t...actually the killer we thought he was at one point, but he was still kind of a jerk for a long time. His life pretty much sucked though, so I guess he gets a pass for that part. But yeah, different is good I think.” At least in Derek’s case.

Melissa smiled, “He’s a very polite young man,” she commented.

Scott snorted, “Mom,” he shook his head and grinned. Only his mother would call Derek Hale a polite young man.

“What? He is. Always saying please and thank you. And he never leaves Lydia’s side. I could have sworn I caught him reading to her one night.” She said as she pulled a forkful of rice into her mouth. “I’m glad you three are getting along.” She told them.

The sheriff nodded, “I’ve gotta say I agree with Melissa, Derek isn’t who I thought he was.” He said as he tried to steal a piece of lamb chop, but Melissa’s hand snuck out and slapped his hand gently away. Michael grunted and went back to eating his chicken.

Stiles had also noticed Derek’s use of manners, especially around Scott’s mom. He wondered if that meant that he was choosing Scott as an alpha. It was kind of a weird thought. Sure, he knew that wolves were stronger in packs, but it was still weird to think that Derek Hale, who had been a werewolf his entire life, might accept Scott McCall, who’d been a werewolf just under two years, as his alpha. It definitely didn’t fit the image that Stiles had in his head of Derek. But Derek had definitely changed in the last few weeks and months.

Then again, who hadn’t, really?

Stiles’ focused on his plate, tuning out the conversation going on around him -- something he never used to do. But he’d changed, too. His gaze darted up every once and awhile and when he wasn’t being watched, he moved some of the food around on his plate while eating small bites, mainly of the rice, but managing to eat a little of the lamb and a couple mouthfuls of vegetables, as well. His gaze moved to his dad’s plate and he was pleased to see that he was eating as Ms. McCall had advised -- chicken and vegetables with a little bit of rice.

“You know, I bet a small piece of lamb wouldn’t hurt,” Michael said glancing at Melissa with a small grin.

She watched him for a minute before sighing and rolling her eyes. Melissa cut a small piece from her plate and put the piece of meat on his plate. “That’s it. Don’t make me cut you off from dessert.” Melissa said pointedly.

Scott head perked up, “There’s dessert?” he asked glancing towards the refrigerator. “Can I have more lamb chops...and some chicken.” He asked reaching for the dish. He glanced briefly at Stiles and noticed his friend was pushing around his food. His brows drew together, “Not hungry man?” He asked turning to face him.

Stiles nearly jumped at the sound of Scott’s voice beside him trying to get his attention and he quickly looked up. “No, everything’s really good,” he assured his friend, casting a quick glance to his dad and Ms. McCall. He quickly stuffed a bite of lamb into his mouth and grinned brightly. Too brightly, probably.

Scott pursed his lips as he watched Stiles, worry coloring his features. “Are you sure you’re alright, Stiles?”

Michael paused and glanced at Stiles with a frown. It was clear that everything wasn’t okay, but Stiles kept saying he was fine. Michael wished his son would just tell him what was going on in his head.

Melissa smiled, but worry still filled her eyes. “Thanks sweetie, I’m glad you’re enjoying it.” She said as she pointed to the vegetables, “Don’t forget to eat them all okay?” Melissa knew things were hard for Stiles and she didn’t expect everything to go back to normal right away, but it worried her that he wasn’t talking to anyone.

Yep. Definitely too bright of a smile because he clearly wasn’t fooling anyone at the dinner table. His chest tightened involuntarily and he nodded at Scott’s question. “Yeah, I’m okay, guys.” This time he didn’t look at his best friend, he just shoveled a big bite of broccoli and rice into his mouth at Melissa’s request. He willed it to stay down tonight. Throwing up was gross. Throwing up regularly was terrible.

He could feel their eyes on him and it was stressing him out more than he wanted to admit. He knew they were worried, but he wasn’t sure if it was because they were worried that he was going to do something crazy or terrible, or if it was because they were worried for him. Either way, it made his heart start beating a little faster and the supreme desire to sink into the floor and vanish was very present.

Melissa could practically see Stiles shrinking into his seat and she cleared her throat. “Scott finish up your food.” She told him pointing to his plate before shifting her gaze on Michael, “How’s the rebuild going at the office? Everything almost done?” She asked drawing Scott’s and Michaels’ attention off Stiles.

Michael nodded, “I’d say about another two weeks until it’s done...maybe three. But they’re being quick about it,” he told her with a tight smile, “Which I’m grateful for.”

Stiles grew still at that. Why the hell was his dad having to have the sheriff’s office rebuilt? He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer, but he stared at his plate, forcing himself to take bite after bite simply so he wouldn’t worry them anymore by not eating. If he threw it up later, that would be his own secret and his own problem to deal with. He could still feel Scott’s gaze on him and he reluctantly looked at his best friend, shaking his head ever-so-slightly.

Scott swallowed hard and finally looked away from his friend giving him some space or trying to. “I was thinking after dinner maybe we could go visit Lydia,” he said lightly sending a sideways glance in his best friend’s direction as their parents talked softly in the background. “Derek could probably use a break to change or whatever and I know it’s been a day or two since you’ve seen her.” He commented. Scott could feel how uncomfortable Stiles was and he didn’t want his best friend to feel that way.

It had been a day. And he’d spent most of today wanting to ask someone if it would be okay to go again, but he’d been afraid to. He didn’t want to upset anyone or cause any problems, so he’d just stayed there and played video games with Scott. He nodded. “Yeah. Sounds like a good plan to me,” he agreed without hesitation. He needed to see her, to make sure she hadn’t faded away. He’d watched one woman he loved do that already and if he had to see it happen again, he wasn’t going to survive it.

Scott nodded, “Cool,” he said sending his friend half a smile before finishing up his chicken.

Melissa watched the exchange and she could see some of the tension leave Stiles’ body at the suggestion to go visit Lydia. At least there was that. She could see he was probably feeling a little suffocated by them, but they just wanted to make sure he was okay and she knew a part of him knew that. She cleared her throat, “Well, if the kids are going to head over to the hospital, why don’t you and I attempt to do something?” She glanced at Michael.

He needed a break just as much as Stiles did. “How about a movie?”

Stiles raised his eyebrows, gaze sliding from Ms. McCall to his dad. “Like a theater movie?” Like a date? he wondered, glancing at Scott sideways.

Scott returned Stiles’ gaze before also shifting his attention to their parents’ conversation, curiosity on his face. “In the theater?” Scott repeated

Michael ignored the two chuckle heads across from them and glanced at Melissa and smiled, “You don’t need to waste your time babysitting me,” he said good naturedly.

Melissa arched an eyebrow, “Maybe I just want to go see one of the new movies that just came out.” She said lightly as she watched him for a minute reaching over to rest a hand on his shoulder. “You could use a break.” She suggested.

Michael seemed to calm at her touch and he watched her for a minute not able to resist returning the smile she offered him. “I’ll check the times; we’ll go when the boys leave for the hospital.” He told her before shaking his head, a smile still on his lips.

Stiles looked at Scott again, eyes a little wider than before. He was pretty sure that his dad and Scott’s mom had just made plans for a first date right in front of them. And for some reason that felt like the best thing that had happened in a long time. Stiles didn’t quite know what to do with that though.

Scott glanced at Stiles trying to hide the huge grin on his face, but it was incredibly hard. His mom was going to a movie with Stiles’ dad. They were going to go somewhere alone together...for fun. Scott had to keep from bouncing in his seat. When they were younger a while after Stiles’ mom had passed away they used to want their parents to get together so they could live in the same house and always play. But now...well Scott was still on board with it. He wondered if Stiles remembered how much they used to want that.

Stiles definitely remembered wanting that, but so much time had passed that he thought they’d both kind of abandoned any thoughts they had about it. It was clear from the look on his best friend’s face that he was remembering the same things that Stiles was remembering. He smiled, ducking his head and quickly finishing off his plate of food.

Scott grinned and finished up his food as well. He cleared his throat, “Why don’t Stiles and I clean this up and get the dessert?” He suggested, “That way you guys can decide what movie you want to see.” Scott honestly didn’t care what movie they went to see, he was just glad they were spending time together outside of being with him and Stiles.

Michael glanced at Melissa, “I can check real quick while the boys clean up...any preferences?” He asked angling his head in Melissa’s direction.

“Maybe a comedy?” she suggested, smiling softly at him.

Stiles rose to his feet, picking up his empty plate, realizing he’d finished the whole thing, mildly surprised about that. He hadn’t been hungry, but he’d been so distracted by his dad and Scott’s mom talking about going to the movies together that he ate it all. He moved out of the dining room and ducked into the kitchen, rinsing the plate and placing it in the dishwasher. “Dude.” He looked at Scott with arched eyebrows. “Okay did that actually just happen?”

Scott gripped his shoulder, “My mom just totally asked out your dad,” he whispered not able to hide the glee in his voice. He bounced on the balls of his feet slightly, his eyes widening. “They’re going to the movies…together. I feel like this is a really good thing.” He paused his eyes stretching open even further, “Dude...do you think, what if they date and get married, then we’ll be like brothers...legally.” He said not able to help being excited about the slightest possibility of something they’d wanted since they kids.

Stiles drew in a breath. “Okay, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I mean people go to the movies without it being a date all the time, right?” Or not. He really had no idea. It wasn’t like Stiles went on dates. Ever. He’d never actually had a date at all. “But they do seem like they’re closer?”

“They definitely seem closer.” Scott agreed, “They’ve been spending a lot of time together,” he admitted. But Stiles was right, he was jumping from one extreme to the next. “...Do you think it’s a date?” He asked glancing back toward the dining room as he put the dishes in the sink.

“I don’t know,” he admitted, glancing toward the other room, too. “It sorta felt like it might be a date? But maybe we’re just reading into things because we want it to be a date.”

Scott frowned, “Dude, I really want it to be a date.” He scratched the back of his neck, “Is that weird?” He asked somewhat amused as he walked over to the refrigerator to grab the dessert.

Stiles leaned back against the counter, thinking. “If it was anybody else it would probably be weird.” He was pretty sure there was no other woman he’d be okay dating his dad. He chewed on his thumbnail, figuring that went double for Scott because that was his mom.

“I really like your dad,” Scott said quietly. “He’s been there for me a lot over the years...you know when my dad wasn’t.” He commented as he pulled out a tray of pudding with whip cream. He placed it on the counter and kicked the refrigerator shut carefully before meeting Stiles gaze. “I don’t think I’d be okay with anyone else dating my mom. But your dad...well he’s kinda like an almost dad to me too.” Scott told his friend as he shifted on his feet. “You know?”

Stiles’ chest tightened at Scott’s admission because neither of them had ever actually voiced that sentiment before, but it held true for both of them. “My dad’s pretty great,” he said quietly. “And so is your mom. I think we both know how much your mom’s done for me over the years, too.” He chewed his thumbnail again. “And my dad would adopt you in a second if he could, so.”

Scott swallowed hard, “My mom with you too,” he said quietly before taking a step forward and gripping Stiles’ shoulder. “I’m really glad you’re back man...I was kinda lost without you.” He admitted giving his friends shoulder a squeeze.

Stiles really wished that every nice word these days didn’t make him feel like crying. It was getting annoying. But he stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Scott and closing his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

Scott wrapped his arms around his friend returning the hug. His brows furrowed. “For what?” He asked as he kept his arms around Stiles not ready to let go just yet.

“Just in general,” he admitted tiredly. “Pretty sure I was kind of lost, too.”

Scott squeezed him a little tighter. “Well I’m here now and so are you. Let’s not let demons come between us again okay?” He joked lightly.

“I really agree,” Stiles informed him.

“What is taking you boys?” Melissa called as she moved into the kitchen spotting her sons embracing. Her chest tightened. “Are you guys hugging in here without me?” She asked eyebrow arched.

Stiles turned to look at Ms. McCall as she stepped into the room. “We are but you can always join us.” He smiled a little, breaking away from Scott with one arm and extending the other toward her.

Melissa grinned and walked over to them wrapping her arms around both Scott and Stiles, hugging them to her chest. She pressed a kiss to both of their heads and sighed. “My boys…” she shook her head, “What am I going to do with you two?” She asked.

Scott just grinned nuzzling into her slightly. “Best mom ever.” He told her with a grin.

Stiles buried his face against her shoulder as he hugged her back, chest feeling tight but somehow warm at the same time. They might not be an actual family by blood, but they were his family in every other way that mattered. And he wasn’t sure what all he’d put them through yet, but when he figured it out; he was going to find some way to make things up to them.

He didn’t care how long it took. He’d find a way. It’s what he did.

______

Lydia felt like there was something she was supposed to remember. But for the life of her, she just couldn’t figure it out. Everything around her felt dark and mildly foggy like she was floating through some kind of epic eternal fog. Nothing felt real. It wasn’t until recently that she’d started hearing a familiar voice dragging her out of the recess of her own mind.

There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive.

Lydia knew the words. She knew the deep voice, recognized it, but why? She listened and a part of her wanted to hear more, but the other part missed the blissful silence that she’d been living in. Everything was too loud the closer she got to the surface. The next time she heard the voice the words were different.

Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak. The greatest victory is that which requires no battle.

The thought of battle made emotion stir in Lydia’s chest. Emotion that she didn’t like, didn’t want to feel and she lost the will to focus driving her further back into her head than before. That’s what it was, she was lost. Lydia was lost and couldn’t find her way back. She had tried grasping at random memories that made no sense and words she couldn’t understand, but nothing. It was too hard. It wasn’t until tonight that the urge to find her way back home became overwhelming.

I don’t know if you can hear me...I’m not even sure why I’m talking to you right now. Stiles and Scott just left, they were visiting you...they always visit. Lydia, you need to wake up now. Stiles, he’s not doing so well and I think it would do him a world of good if you just opened your eyes. Just wake up. He misses you...Scott does too. I mean I even, I don’t know. You should just wake up. Stiles needs you.

Stiles. His name brought everything rushing back and Lydia’s head filled with noise. Flashes of the last few weeks filled her head. Her memories and oh god Stiles’ too. It was all slamming into her too fast. Pain filled her head and she felt her body jerk. Lydia could feel it building in her throat and then suddenly her head jerked back, her eyes shot open, hand clenching around the larger hand holding hers and she screamed.

_____

Across town, Stiles lay in his bed, eyebrows furrowing as he slept, heart beginning to beat a little faster in his chest as his body broke out into a cold sweat. His hands clutched at the sheets that his body was twisted in, a rush of images assaulting his unconscious mind.

Kissing Lydia in a classroom where he’d trapped her. She’d been afraid; he could see it on her face.

Setting up a trap to kill Scott in the woods and getting Allison with it instead.

Setting up a bomb that exploded at the sheriff’s station.

Stiles whimpered in his sleep, shifting restlessly, knuckles turning white as he gripped the sheets more tightly.

He watched himself in the woods as Aidan and Isaac prepared to attack, recoiled in horror as he ripped Aidan’s heart from his chest with his bare hands.

And that’s what jerked him awake. Stiles sat up in bed, his scream traveling throughout the house.