1. Anchors

Dexter was lying down in the couch of the Stilinski's living room, but he couldn't sleep. His heart was racing and he didn't know why. His hands were sweaty and cold, passing through the blanket that was around his body. His breath was heavy, like something was pressing his chest.

He turned, changing position and hoping he would become more comfortable. Since he told Stiles and the others about his father not being in town, he was living with the Sheriff. He knew something like that would happen, the man would never let him live by himself. Especially with all the warnings Deaton gave about the consequences of the sacrifice.

He thought about turning the TV on, since he couldn't sleep. However, when he saw the screen of his phone showing him it was past 4 am, he figured it wasn't such a good idea. If the Sheriff woke up and saw the device on, he would hear about it for three days straight, like it happened the last time.

He settle for look at the ceiling, searching for something that would make him sleep. It didn't help. His heart was still racing, his breathing difficult and his hands…

Dexter stood up when he heard a scream coming from Stiles' room. He ran the faster he could, climbing the stairs without worrying about falling down. When he got to the door of the friend's room, the Sherriff was already there, hugging his son, telling it would be okay, that it was just a dream. That was not the first time it happened. The Sherriff glanced at Dexter, who seemed as confused as the man did. There was something very wrong going on.

The next morning, when the Sherriff left his room to make breakfast, he found the kitchen full of food, the smell of coffee taking the whole place. Dexter appeared, putting the eggs in a plate and pushing it at the Sherriff's direction.

"I already told you don't have to make breakfast every day, Dexter." The man warned him again. He always felt bad when the boy did something to compensate the fact that he was leaving there, as if he was repaying a favor. The godfather never saw Dexter staying there like that.

"It's not a problem; I always wake up first anyway." Dexter sat in front of him, sipping the hot coffee.

"And also sleep after us." The Sherriff said, suspicion showing in his words.

Dexter shrugged. "Maybe I need less sleep? I don't know. I don't feel tired. I don't look tired, do I?"

The man stared at him, looking for dark circles under his eyes, paleness, anything that could indicate something was wrong. He didn't find any. Still, he asked. "And nightmares? Are you having them?"

"I'm not. I feel fine. I'm not going insane." He repeated as a mantra. "I have to tell you this every day. You, Stiles, Scott, Lydia, Allison. Deaton really shouldn't have said anything to you guys." He shook his head and took another sip of the coffee. "Isn't Stiles going to school today?"

The man stood up, taking a mug full of coffee with him. "I'll call him."

Less than an hour later, Stiles and Dexter were entering the school grounds. They haven't talk much in the way there, both of them worrying about the same thing, the nightmares Stiles was having. The boy saw when the druid started to search in his backpack for his headphones and putting them around his neck.

"What are you doing?" He said stopping next to the stairs.

"Putting some music." Dexter shrugged, surprised with the question.

Stiles opened his mouth for more questions, but he hold his tong when he saw an anxious Scott entering the school. He stopped the werewolf when he was almost ran over.

"Hey, hey." He said when Scott finally stopped and realized his friends were there. "Is everything okay?"

He took a deep breath before nodding. The others didn't believe it.

"No, it's not, we can see that." Dexter said approaching his friend.

"I'm fine." Scott insisted.

"Yeah, right." Stiles rolled his eyes. "Something is happening to you. You are seeing things, aren't you?"

Scott eyes widened, going from Stiles to Dexter. "How do you know?"

Stiles was about to answer when he heard steps behind himself. He turned to see Lydia and Allison walking towards them. They also had worried expressions in their faces.

"Because it's happening to all of you." Lydia said, making the boys stare at each other. Like they didn't have enough problems.

The three of them explain what they were seeing. Stiles' dreams, Allison's hallucinations with her dead aunt and Scott seeing himself transformed all the time.

"You sure you are not seeing anything?" Lydia asked Dexter and he just shrugged.

"I'm sure."

"Deaton said you would get the worst part in this, it's odd that you are not feeling anything." Allison said, apparently not believing what he was saying. Dexter couldn't do much to convince them, so he just kept walking.

"Well, well, look who's no longer the crazy one." Lydia said while opened the doors of the hall.

"We're not crazy." Allison replied.

Lydia stopped walking to face them. "Hallucinations? Sleep paralysis?" She shook her head. "Yeah, you guys are fine."

"We did die and come back to life." Scott reminded them and shrugged. "That's gotta have some side effects, right?"

The bell rang and they knew the conversation had to come to an end.

"We keep an eye on each other. Okay?" Stiles said for the two with the troubles and to Dexter. He always put Dexter in the middle of stuff like that. "And Lydia, stop enjoying this so much."

They went to their first class, which Stiles, Dexter and Scott took together. Stiles could see when Dexter put the headphones on, but didn't say anything.

Dexter barely heard the new teacher introducing himself. He said something funny, judging by the reaction of the others students. He laughed with them. He noticed when the teacher walked towards him.

"I need you to take off the earphones, Mr…"

"Coburn." He completed. "They are not working, so…"

"I can heard the music from here, Mr. Coburn. Next time I will have to send you to the principal's office."

Dexter sighed and took the earphones off. He wasn't excited with the class at all, having to fight his own mind to concentrate. He couldn't be happier when the class was over and he could leave the room and find his friends by their lockers.

"Nice way to make a first impression with the new teacher." Stiles said while he opened his locker.

"Shut up, Stiles." Dexter put the earphones again. "I just…" When he turned to look at Stiles, he noticed something weird with Scott. His eyes were red.

"Are you gonna change in the middle of school?" He asked. Scott seemed as confused as his friend was.

"What are you…"

Stiles stared at him too. "Your eyes starting to glow!"

"What do you mean?" Scott was getting more anxious by the second. "Now?"

"Yeah!" Stiles replied. "Scott, stop. Stop it."

He started to breath slowly, lowering his head so nobody could see his eyes. "I can't... I can't control it."

"All right, just keep your head down." Stiles said pulling his friends head and pressing it against his chest. He turned to Dexter, looking for a suggestion for what to do. The boy just pulled them to an empty room.

When they got in, Stiles let Scott go, the werewolf already more irritable and growling.

"Get back away from me." Scott said, losing control of his own body.

"Dex, do something." Stiles pleaded and the other just stared at him.

"You need to stop thinking I will solve everything just because I'm a druid. He is an Alpha, I can really stop it."

Dexter tried to get closer to his friend, but Scott pushed him away.

"I don't know what's going to happen. Get back."

Dexter saw his friend closing his hand, using his claws to penetrate his own skin and draw blood. He knew this technique, using pain to control the change. It wasn't really pleasant to see his best friend going through that. He barricaded Stiles, positioning his body between him and Scott. If any of them had to stop the turning werewolf, he had to take control. However, in a few seconds Scott dropped to his knees, his face turning back to normal.

Stiles and Dexter carefully started to approach and when Scott began to breathe normally again, they crouched to see how their friend was.

"Pain makes you human." Scott said.

"Scott, this isn't just in our heads. This is real." Stiles avoid the look of the other two. "And it's starting to get bad for me too. I'm not just having nightmares. I'm having dreams where I have to literally scream myself awake. And sometimes I'm not even sure if I'm actually even waking up."

Dexter faced his friend. "What do you mean?"

"Do you know how you can tell if you're dreaming?" Stiles explained. "You can't read in dreams. More and more, the past few days, I've been having trouble reading. It's like I can't see the words. I can't put the letters in order."

"Like even now?" Scott asked.

Stiles stood up and looked at the board behind Scott and Dexter. He turned to the posters and signs hanging on the walls of the classroom. "I can't read a thing."

It was hard to concentrate at classes after that. It got harder to concentrate in anything for Dexter. So, when the bell ringed and he thought he could finally go home, the smile that escaped his face wasn't small. It did disappeared, however, when Lydia pulled him by his arm telling him he needed to go with her.

She took him and Allison to the woods, not before going to the girl's house and getting her crossbow. About a mile in, she stopped Dexter and Allison and walked towards a tree, fixing a target there.

"Do you really think this is going to help?" Allison asked with the crossbow in her hand, not much belief in her voice.

"I know that if you think it's not going to help it definitely won't." She snapped, getting next to the friend.

"And what am I doing here?" Dexter asked.

"You are the other person that know how to use a crossbow. And I find it hard to believe that nothing is happening to you." She realized he was about to reply, so she stopped him and turned to Allison. "Get your head into it, shoot a few and see what happens."

Allison was shaking, her body not really obeying her commands. When she shoot, the arrow didn't even got close to the tree. She looked at Lydia, her head inclined and a disappointed expression. She got another one and was again unsuccessful.

"Maybe hold the string a different way." Dexter suggested. "Try the Mongolian draw."

She took an arrow, shoot and didn't get the target again. Lydia and Dexter looked at each other. It wasn't working.

"Take a second to close your eyes" Lydia approached her friend, touching her shoulders, "and imagine the arrow going into the target."

Allison obeyed and, for a while, she didn't move, taking deep breaths. Then she opened her eyes, all her muscles contained, gazing at something that was next to her.

"Did you see that?" She asked the two of them, who responded by staring confused at her.

"See what?" Lydia asked.

"You did, Dexter, you turned with me." She faced the boy, looking for something to confirm her suspicions.

"I didn't…"

"You did turn, Dexter." Lydia said. "I don't know if you saw something or not, but you did turn."

"I didn't. Really." He guaranteed. Did he really turned? He didn't realize that.

Allison crouched, taking one of the arrows that were in the ground. "Wait here." She said before begin to walk aimless.

"Are you serious?" Lydia had a frustrated frown.

"I'll be right back." The huntress replied without looking at them.

Lydia faced Dexter, who just shrugged. "She did not just say that."

They watched as the girl walked between trees, looking for something that wasn't there. They saw when she got an arrow, aimed the crossbow and stretched out the string. What they missed was when she turned to Lydia and shoot.

Dexter thrown himself on the red-haired, knocking her down. The arrow did scratched his arm and, when Allison came back to herself, she ran towards them. She could see the tear in Dexter's shirt and the blood running through his arm.

"My God, I…" She didn't know what to say when Isaac started to help put Dexter on his own feet. There was when they realize the presence of the werewolf.

Dexter put his left hand where his right arm was hurt, staring at Allison as shaken as Lydia was. He turned to Isaac. "What are you doing here?"

"I'll take you to Mrs. McCall, so she can treat this." He dodged the question, pulling the boy and walking with him.

At the McCall's house, Dexter explained what happened to the nurse while she cleaned his wound.

"Are you sure you won't just heal as we do?" Scott asked.

"No, I don't heal as fast as you guys do. Faster than humans, I think, but not as fast as werewolves." Dexter guaranteed.

"How do you know?" Isaac inquired.

"Well, I… tested?" Dexter shrugged and Melissa stopped working. She moved to face him and make sure he was looking at her.

"If I hear about you hurting yourself to find out what you can or cannot do, I will tie you to my leg and keep you at work all day, do you understand? I'm pretty sure the Sherriff will feel the same way."

"Okay." He nodded and lowered his head. "But I wouldn't know if I didn't try."

She organized her first aid kit and left muttering. "The things you have to hear from these kids with powers…"

Scott waited for his mother to leave the room before saying. "Ok, but I still don't understand why Allison shot you guys."

"Because she thought she was seeing her aunt." Isaac explained while Scott delivered Dexter's shirt to the guy. He helped his friend to put it on. "Whatever is happening to you, it's getting worse. If Dexter haven't jumped, Lydia would be dead."

"But what were you doing there?"

Isaac didn't need to answer. Scott already knew and, as a result to that, threw the beta werewolf outside the room. Dexter couldn't help the laugh. Especially when Ms. McCall started to yell at them.

Scott called Stiles to tell him Dexter would sleep there. He wouldn't be comfortable in the couch because of this arm, so he would sleep in Scott's bed while the friend would sleep in his mother's room, since the woman would be working.

In the morning, Dexter wasn't sure if he did sleep or not. He spent a lot of time rolling in bed, thinking about what was happening with his friends, how he could help. He didn't know what to do.

He was still thinking about it when he arrived to school. Allison was in the same class and spent the whole time watching over him, waiting for some reaction. He just focused in his earphones.

At lunchtime, they got together to exchange information. Dexter, Allison, Lydia, Stiles, Scott and Isaac were at the table.

"Okay, so what happens to a person who has a near-death experience and comes out of it seeing things?" Scott asked.

"And is unable to tell what's real or not?" Stiles added.

"And is being haunted by demonic visions of dead relatives?" Allison finished.

Lydia turned to Dexter. "Shouldn't you be the expert at this? You die every week."

"What is wrong with you? I died twice and I'm what now? A highway to heaven? How would I know what to do?" He turned to Isaac. "What do you think happens?"

"They're all locked up because they're insane." Isaac shrugged.

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Ha. Can you at least try to be helpful, please?"

"For half my childhood, I was locked in a freezer." Isaac reminded them. "So, being helpful is kind of a new thing for me."

"Hey, dude, are you still milking that?" Stiles turned to Dexter looking for support.

"You do need to come up with something else, 'cause it's getting old." Dexter shrugged before hearing a 'hi' next to them. They turned to see an Asian girl standing next to their table.

"Hi, sorry. I couldn't help overhearing what you guys were talking about."

Lydia looked at Dexter, with a not so hidden expression that could be translate as 'who the hell is this crazy person?'.

"And I think I actually might know what you're talking about." She continued, kind of uncomfortable. "There's a Tibetan word for it. It's called "Bardo." It literally means "in-between state." The state between life and death."

"And what do they call you?" The red-haired asked.

"Kira." Scott replied before the girl could. His friends turned to him. "She's in our History class."

"So are you talking Bardo in Tibetan Buddhism or Indian?" Dexter asked.

"Either, I guess." She looked for a place to sit and Dexter had to push Scott and Stiles to clear a sit. Stiles almost fell in the other side. "But all the stuff you guys were just saying? All that happens in Bardo. There are different progressive states where you can have hallucinations. Some you see, some you just hear. And you can be visited by peaceful and wrathful deities.

"Wrathful deities?" Isaac repeated. "And what are those?"

"Like demons." She smiled.

"Demons." Stiles repeated too, shaking his head. "Why not?"

"Hold on, if there are different progressive states, then what's the last one?" Allison asked.

"Death." Kira simply replied. "You die."

"And she says that with a smile. You are quite weird, Kira, have anyone ever told you that?" She stared at him looking confused. "I think I'm gonna like you."

She stayed for a little while, but the awkwardness made her leave. The six teenagers stared at each other not knowing what to say.

"I think we should talk to Deaton, see what he…" Scott started, but Dexter interrupted him.

"I'm not talking to Deaton."

"Can you stop running away from the guy?" Stiles complained, throwing his arms to the air. "This is kind of important."

"I know, but I don't want to be involved in druid stuff. I'm not going." He announced crossing his arms and putting his backpack on the table.

"Good. You can study to your chemistry exam, then." Lydia said, giving him a book. "And hurry because I don't have all day."

Scott and Stiles still complained a bit before actually give up and leave without Dexter. The whole time, the boy hide himself behind his book or Lydia, who was happy to provide the protection he needed at that moment. Allison didn't take long to go home too, allowing Dexter to studied the whole afternoon, Lydia going through some books, once or twice throwing a pencil at Dexter's face so he could concentrate.

"You are a horrible tutor." He complained every time it happened.

"Shut up and study."

He only closed the books when the Sheriff called, asking for help. The man stopped by the school with his patrol car and picked Dexter up, taking him to Deaton's clinic. They waited until Scott and Stiles left the building.

"I need you guys help." The man said approaching his son and friend. "Actually, your help." He pointed at Scott.

"Then why did you brought me here?" Dexter asked.

"Like you can get anything done without the three of you. If it's not you three, it's better not even try." He shrugged and the kids nodded.

"But what do you want?"

"Eight years ago, almost an entire family died in a car accident. One of the bodies, a young girl named Malia, was never found. There's enough evidence to have me thinking that... That a werewolf could have caused the accident, and then dragged her body away. If you could somehow get a lock on her scent if you could somehow help me find her body, it might provide the missing clue."

"But what if it was a werewolf?" Stiles asked

"Well, there's somebody out there who murdered an entire family. Someone who still needs to be caught."

Dexter didn't like the idea. He probably wouldn't do it for anyone else, he would try to convince the person otherwise. But since it was the Sheriff, there it was Dexter, Stiles and Scott breaking in the house of a widow who lost his entire family while a police officer talked to him in the other room.

Stiles opened the door without a problem, but making a little more noise than necessary. Dexter wanted to punch him, but it would just make more noise. He only cursed him in his mind. They got in quickly, so at least the noise could stop.

They started to throw teddy bears to Scott, anything he could sniff.

"I'm only smelling an animal." Scott said, putting the bears on the bed.

"What animal?" Stiles asked, still looking through the bears.

"Probably that dog staring at us there." Dexter said, pointing at the animal with his head.

"Hey, doggy." Stiles said to the enormous dog in front of them. He turned to Scott. "Do something!"

"What do you want me to do?"

"I don't know, glow your eyes at it, something, be the Alpha." Stiles complained while the dog kept staring at them, not that happy about the situation.

When Scott tried to approach him, he started to bark.

"Okay, let me…" Dexter stopped the friend and started to walk towards the dog. "I don't know if you heard," he started talking to it, "but we should be friends, you know? Me being a druid and all. Nature, animals, stuff like that." He had his hand less than half an inch from the dog when he started to whisper. "Please don't eat my hand." He touched the dog and petted him. The animal was so relaxed he laid on the floor. Dexter turned to his friends with a smile. "Who saved you asses now, bitches?"

They kept looking for stuff in the room, but the only smell Scott could get was from the dog. They gave up and left the house. A couple of minutes later, they met up with the Sheriff in the middle of the highway and told him about the unsuccessful mission.

Dexter didn't like to see the Sherriff looking so defeated like that. The man felt bad for putting the widow through that again, for putting all of them through it.

"How is your arm?" He asked Dexter before leaving.

"Better. I think tomorrow I can take the bandages off." The druid replied.

"All right, I see you at home, then." He got in the car and left.

"Well, that sucks." Dexter complained, leaning against Stiles' jeep.

"I think he really wanted to solve this now." Stiles leaned next to his friend, as disappointed as his father did.

"But why this is so important now?" Scott asked, staring at the two of them.

"He wants to solve one more while he is still the Sherriff."

"What you mean 'still the Sherriff?'"

Stiles explained everything and Scott wasn't happy about it. Dexter could see it would be one more reason for him to fight his father. Dexter didn't like the guy, but is was sad to see how his relationship with his son got worse by the day.

As soon as he got home, Dexter turned the TV on. Stiles said he would sleep, which was okay by Dexter. The guy did needed it. He was so distracted with the sappy romantic movie he found, he almost jumped when he heard the doorbell. He opened the door to find Scott with a flashlight and a determinate smile.

"How do you feel about looking for a dead body on the woods with me and Stiles?"

"When you guys went without me, you became a werewolf. Let's hope for a better outcome this time…"

They called Stiles and soon enough they were walking in the woods, Dexter pointing the way with the flashlight while Scott looked at his phone. Stiles, of course, was talking.

"If my dad is right, there is another werewolf in town we don't know about."

"I know." Scott wasn't paying much attention staring at the screen of the phone.

"If it turns out to be something like triplets that form into, like, a three-headed hound of hell, I'm seriously not up for that."

"That's a shame, Stiles, 'cause my nights aren't complete without a three-headed hound of hell chasing me." Dexter smiled wryly. He stopped walking for a bit and his friends turned to him. "Did you heard that?"

"What?" Stiles asked.

"Nothing." Dexter shook his head before start to walk again.

They stopped when they found the car they were looking for. That was shy Scott looked so much at his phone, it was tracking the GPS of the vehicle. They examined the place and found a doll. When Stiles squeezed it and she said "I'm hungry", the three of them jumped.

"I think I just had a minor heart attack." Stiles said, leaning against a big rock next to the car.

They heard the growl of something and bright blue eyes approaching.

"Please, tell me you are seeing this." Scott pleaded to his friends. They nodded.

"Yeah, I'm seeing this."

The animal started to run and Scott went after it. Dexter and Stiles didn't have a choice other than follow then. Of course, they couldn't run as fast and ended up behind. But when Dexter put his hands on his ears and ran slower than Stiles, the boy turned to his friend.

Stiles saw the pain expression on Dexter's face while the druid tried to run.

"Dexter, what is…"

"Remember when I said…" Dexter tried to put the words together, giving up running and dropping on his knees, "that I was fine? I lied."

He screamed, falling to the ground and pressing his hands even more on his head, trying to make all the sounds go away, keep his ears from working. Stiles approached, trying to get his attention, trying to talk to him, but all his friend could do was bend his body and scream.


There you go, guys. I hope you like it and come back for more. And don't forget about the 100 Teen Wolf Moments going on. it has some cool missing scenes from this fic too.