Isaac elected to stay with Scott that night. He didn't voice his intentions, but when Scott went home and found that Isaac had come with him, he didn't question his presence. If he had, Isaac would have said that he wasn't sure if Derek wanted him back yet, he was too lazy to haul his stuff back there tonight even if he did, and Derek had Cora with him, anyhow. Two and two was safer than three and one.

Not having been called upon to explain, though, Isaac curled up in his sleeping bag on Scott's floor in silence, and tried hard to forget what Boyd's voice had sounded like.


Stiles pattered up Scott's stairs, two at a time, but quietly. He didn't want to wake Ms. McCall. Which would have been easier to avoid if he had been able to just call Scott, but his friend's phone was dead. Funny how Normal People problems sometimes sneaked into their supernaturally screwed-up lives; funny how he sometimes forgot that Normal People had problems. Despite technically being one. A 147-pound Normal Person in the land of Supernaturally Screwed-Up. Awesome.

He took half a moment to compose himself when he reached Scott's room, hoping for coherency in what was sure to be a lightning-fast explanation, then flung the door open. Three things happened at once: Stiles began, "Sc-", the door struck something soft but heavy which stopped its opening more than a foot, and an inhuman snarl erupted from a bundle on the floor. Isaac was all claws and teeth and eyes and half-way out of his sleeping bag by the time Stiles yelped, "Hey, hey, hey-hey-hey, it's me! It's me! Calm down! It's me." He realized in the beat of silence that followed that his hands were raised in surrender. At least Isaac didn't have a baseball bat.

Isaac blinked then panted out a breath of relief; dropped his head as his lupine features dissolved.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

Stiles desperately wanted to ask what he was doing on the floor right in front of the door, but now was not the time. And he thought he knew, anyway.

Instead he directed his attention to Scott, who had snapped awake during the commotion and was slipping off the bed. He had slept in his shirt and jeans, and on top of the covers.

"They found another body," Stiles breathed. "I tried to call you but your phone is dead-"

"Mr. Harris?" asked Scott, opening the door fully as Isaac disentangled himself from his sleeping bag and got out of the way. Stiles shook his head. "I dunno, maybe. Or maybe they went after another healer to replace Deaton. I-"

Scott's eyes widened and flicked in the direction of his mom's room, but Stiles dispelled the panic with, "She's fine, I checked."

Both werewolves relaxed a bit.

"But we've gotta go check this thing out; I know the location but if we wanna see anything before they remove the body, we've gotta be quick." Stiles was fairly vibrating with urgency. "I didn't want to go without you, so c'mon, let's go!"

They were in the Jeep within two minutes. Isaac had slept in his clothes as well, so the boys were in need only of shoes (and a sweater in Isaac's case) before they were flying down the front steps and piling into the car. Scott checked his phone as they pulled out onto the road, confirmed that it really was dead, and slipped it back into his pocket with a sigh. Isaac broke the ensuing silence.

"So how did you know?"

"Know what?" asked Stiles, glancing at Isaac in the mirror.

"About the body, the location. Did your dad tell you?" He looked nothing more than curious, sitting casually in the back seat.

"Well, not exactly- OK, no, not at all. He got a call and I overheard it."

"It's three in the morning."

"OK, so I was listening, or eavesdropping or whatever, but I'd say with very good reason; I mean, he doesn't know what's going on here, we don't know what's going on here- no one knows anything! We don't know who the Darach is or who his next targets are gonna be. They could be cops, or, or dads, or, I don't know, only remaining family members-"

Scott pursed his lips in instant understanding and sympathy.

"I'm just keepin' an eye out, here. And I think you get that."

Stiles glanced in the mirror again and saw Isaac nodding. Isaac understood; he'd been sleeping right in front of Scott's door. Scott understood; he had slept in his mom's room, recruited Isaac to help. And somewhere, Derek and Cora were doing the same thing, keeping watch, protecting. They all understood.

They were all scared.

But at least they all had each other.