"Where's Stiles?" Scott looked around the hospital room, searching for the one person who should have been there, but wasn't. Surely their friendship hadn't fractured that badly?
"Nobody's seen him for hours," Liam said softly, clutching Hayden's hand. She squeezed back, still weak from her near-death, but managing to smile at him.
"But what if Theo came after him too?" Scott grabbed for his phone, pressing the speed-dial. Stiles didn't pick up.
"You were dead," Malia told him bluntly. 'That was more important."
"He should be here," Scott insisted. He tried again. Still no answer. He checked his messages, and saw one unopened voicemail from Stiles. Quickly, he pressed it, turning it to speakerphone so everyone could hear.
"Hey, Scotty," Stiles' voice came through, trying for lighthearted but too choked and wobbly to manage it. "I know you hate me right now, and if you delete this I wouldn't blame you, but please don't. For the pack, if not for me."
There was the sound of Stiles taking a deep breath, almost immediately dissolving into sobs. "I don't even know if you're alive," he whispered almost too low for the microphone to pick up. "I picked my Dad over you, and let Theo have you, and it didn't even do any good –"
Anything further was covered by the sound of sobbing, continuing for several minutes before slowing. "I betrayed you again! Just like with Peter, and with the Nogitsune, and every time I always hurt you! Always!" Stiles' breathing was growing faster and faster, his words barely intelligible. "Allison, Aidan, Donovan, all those people at the hospital and the station, my –" Stiles choked, nothing coming out but a low moan. "It's all my fault, all of them, and if I hadn't been here they would be alive. Please be alive, Scotty. I can't hurt you any more." His breathing slowed, no longer rapid pants but deeper, deliberate breaths. "I'm not going to hurt you any more Scott. I'm not going to hurt anyone any more. Tell–" another sob, quickly stifled, "tell everyone I love them, especially your mom. Tell Lydia she's still the smartest girl I've ever known."
Scott glanced over at Lydia, tears rolling down her cheeks to match his own.
"And Scott?" Stiles' voice was warm enough Scott could almost feel it, holding all the love and affection they rarely voiced. "I love you, man. You were the best brother ever. You need to survive this, the pack needs an alpha like you. But if it's too late? I guess I'll see you soon."
There was a thud, sounds becoming more indistinct as Stiles moved away from the phone. One final whispered sentence, right at the edge of Scott's hearing, was the last thing he heard before the message cut off. Scott turned to Liam, and from the horror and grief on the other werewolf's face he knew he'd heard correctly.
"I'm coming, Mom."