A/N: Wow. This is the first fic that I've written in one go, start-finish-publishing within a consecutive 24 hours. I must say I'm impressed. That being said, there'll probably be some editing to this one (mainly because I'm a control freak and a perfectionist) but nothing big.

Summary: Set after 3x16 Illuminated. That's the episode where the Oni make their appearance and starts "targeting" everyone. Isaac's the first one to be targeted, in Allison's room, and Mr. Argent brings him back to reality by repeatedly hitting him to trigger his change. Afterwards, Argent feels like they need to have a talk.

I didn't want to do it. Allison had told me about the kid's upbringing – and even if she hadn't, just one look at him was enough for me to sense it. I recognized a pray when I saw one. But at the same time, I knew it had to be done. We needed to know what had happened, what we were up against, and he was erratic, uncontrollable. It was the right call. Still, I couldn't get his face out of my mind, the way he had looked at me, completely without recognition, a mixture of disbelief and pure horror on his face. Like he couldn't believe what he was seeing, or rather, who he was seeing. And I had a pretty good idea who he had seen, hovering over him with a fist raised. Then he blinked, and I knew that it was over, that he was back with us. I questioned him, rather harshly, now that I think back on it, but it was necessary. Everything that I did had been necessary. I could tell that he had still been in some kind of shock, and the way he silently told us what had happened, as if to himself, told me that there was a part of him that was someplace else – though I didn't dare think of where.

After that, everything is something of a blur. I busied myself trying to figure out a game plan for how to best handle the Oni that I, at the time, thought were after me. For a long time (at least it felt like half an eternity) I didn't see him. Sure, we met fleetingly in relation to the foreboding attack, making plans and trying, and failing, to be one step ahead of them. At those times, Isaac was hiding behind his usual mask of indifference, acting as if nothing was wrong, though near everything was. He kept shooting me these strange glances, and though it took me a while to recognize it for what it was – there were simply too many other things to think about – I finally saw it; trepidation. I might have brushed it off as something that was related to our current assault from the Oni, we were all on edge, especially since the whole situation with Stiles kept escalating, but there were other things as well. The way he would tense up as soon as I entered a room, the slight flinch he'd make whenever I spoke, as if he was expecting me to start throwing punches, and how he just wouldn't look me in the eye. Though it really shouldn't have come as a surprise, it still made me feel bad for the kid.

I needed to talk to him, explain why I had acted the way I had that night. I knew that none of this was really my fault, this kid had been broken a long time ago. There was nothing I could do to change that. But his edginess around me was my own doing, and I just knew that that hurt, apprehensive look in his eyes was going to haunt me if I didn't try to make him see that I had taken no pleasure in it. That it hadn't been personal, only necessary.

For many days, we couldn't seem to catch a break, but eventually I saw an opening. He stood outside of our apartment complex with Allison, probably talking about our enemies' latest move and discussing a counter attack. He was doing that a lot more, following her home, making sure that she was safe. I respected him for that, and I was grateful – though I still didn't really approve of the idea that my little girl was dating. Especially supernatural creatures. But considering everything, I was mostly just glad that she had friends that looked after her.

I made sure to make a lot of noise when I walked out of the building and towards them, him standing with his back at me, to forewarn him of my presence.

"Isaac?" He visibly tensed – though it was impossible he hadn't heard my coming – and turned around to face me, blue eyes luminescent in the moonlight. It didn't matter that he tried to hide it, all of his emotions were on display in those eyes, uneasiness currently the dominant one. His gaze was guarded, eyes darting between me and the nearby forest as if he was ready to make a run for it at the smallest sign of a threat. I put my hands up in a placating gesture.

"Relax kid, I just wanna have a word with you." I kept my voice light and tried not to look like a hunter who had been raised all my life to kill his kind.

Allison put her hand on his arm and he seemed to relax, although not much. She leaned in and whispered something in his ear, and though he didn't seem pleased with her words, he nodded in defeat. She squeezed his arm before heading inside, giving me a look that clearly said 'Be gentle' in passing. The door clicked shut after her and then there were only the two of us.

I approached him slowly, carefully, like I would a wounded animal, and it occurred to me that, in many ways, that's what he was. He eyed me uncertainly from under his bangs, shifting a bit where he stood, and I suddenly realized that I hadn't really planned what to say. I cleared my throat, deciding to be blunt.

"Isaac, we need to talk."

"What about?" That relaxed, half-smirk was there, but it seemed forced. I could tell that he was trying to appear much more calm and in control than he felt.

"About what happened the other night, with the Oni."

His smile quickly dropped, and he frowned in confusion.

"I told you everything I remember, there's nothing more to say."

"That's not true, Isaac" I said calmly.

"I didn't leave anything out, I swear" he started to object, but I put my hand up to silence him.

"I know that" I assured. "But I'm not talking about what happened during the attack, but what occurred after, and what has been occurring ever since."

He tensed again, but there was still enough confusion evident in his eyes that I knew he didn't fully understand where I was going with this. I sighed and rubbed my eyes tiredly, trying to think of a good way to go about this.

"Do you remember how we brought you back?" I finally asked.

I could see realization dawning on him, although the frown still remained. He opened his mouth, just to close it again, seemingly unsure of what to say.

"Not really" he admitted after a while. He was quiet for some time before muttering, somewhat bitterly, "I felt it afterwards though."

"That I hit you" I confirmed. He immediately tensed, and I knew that we had just passed the point of no return. I felt the sudden urge to step closer, to put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but I knew that he wouldn't react well to that. And honestly, we weren't even that close. So I stood my ground.

His eyes were fixed on something to the right of me, but they were vacant, unfocused, and for the second time since I met him I knew that he wasn't really present but had been pulled back into a memory. And from the way he was shivering and his fists clenching and unclenching, it wasn't a pleasant one (though I doubted that he had many pleasant memories). The thought gave me an inexplicable desire to shoot that sorry excuse of a man who had done this to him, though I knew that he was already dead, and had been for some time.

"Isaac?" I asked tentatively, actually risking taking a small step forward. This hadn't been my goal when I had decided to talk to him, I did not want to be responsible for sending him back to a time where all he had known was misery and fear. "Hey, Isaac."

He winced and then met my eyes, and I was taken aback by the vulnerability in them. He looked no more than a frightened little boy. Then, as fast as they'd crumbled, his walls were back up again and he looked away.

"You did what you had to do" he said quietly, clearly ill at ease with the subject. Truth be told, I was far from comfortable myself. "I understand." He swallowed, hesitated before adding, "I'm just glad you snapped me out of it."

I shook my head, sighing.

"I didn't want to do it like that, though" I said. "But it was the fastest way, and the only one I could think of."

He shrugged, refusing to meet my eyes. I waited for a while, but it was clear that he wasn't about to say anything, so I simply said, "I'm sorry."

His head snapped up and he stared at me, wide-eyed, and I wondered if this was the first time someone had apologized for mistreating him. Oddly enough, the thought made anger flare up inside of me. He studied me silently, as if he was trying to figure out what game I was playing. I quietly held his gaze, waiting. Eventually he looked down, confusion written all over his face.

"Isaac…"

"It's fine" he interrupted, clearly unsure of how to act. "I've had worse. It's fine. Really."

I chose not to comment on the 'I've had worse' –part, but only nodded.

"Still, I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry" I said earnestly. "It won't happen again."

He offered me a small smile, but the suspicion was still present when he lifted his gaze to meet mine, and I knew that he didn't quite believe me. Didn't trust me. Not that I blamed him, he had no reason to. For someone like Isaac Lahey, trust didn't come easily.

He shifted from feet to feet.

"Was there anything else?" he asked, giving the forest a quick, longing glance. I couldn't quite help the sad smile that pulled at my lips at his obvious unease.

"No, that's it" I said, nodding my head slightly. "You can go."

He was off faster than I could blink, soon absorbed by the darkness of the trees. Probably putting as much distance between himself and me as possible. I let out a heavy sigh and rubbed my neck. I didn't know if that had gone exactly the way I had wanted it to, chances were he'd be even more anxious around me after this. But I had tried, and something had happened here tonight, something that made me determined to keep trying. I gazed into the woods, although I knew that he was long gone by now.

"See you around kid."

Then I turned around and walked back inside.

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/Linguam