Cora called for a rental car before they got on the plane. Derek gave her a smile when he saw it. "You know it's not the same car", he told her. "It's not Laura's."

She shrugged. "Yeah, I know." She held the keys out and shook them. "Doesn't mean you can't have fun with it."

He shifted gears on the Black Camaro and sped as fast as he could to Deaton's office. Scott was waiting for him outside, and Cora held him back. "We can't go in there. There's mountainash in the entrance."

"There's a back door", Scott told him.

"That negates the purpose of protecting the place from werewolves", she said, rolling her eyes.

"Why isn't he in the hospital?" Derek asked immediately. "He's not one of us, Scott. He should be in the hospital. Did you call his father?"

"The Sheriff's here", Scott told him as they walked around the building to the side door. "Hasn't left his side."

"Stiles is a human", Derek said, opening the door. "He needs human treatment, medicine. He doesn't need spells and enchantments. He needs to stay away from all of that."

"It's not a human problem", Deaton called out. "Derek, thanks for coming. Cora, nice to see you again."

"Yeah, some help you've been", Cora bit out.

Derek held her back and nodded. "What happened?"

"The three of us- Allison, Stiles and I- we did a self-sacrificing ritual to save our parents from Ms. Blake", Scott explained. "Deaton said that there would be a darkness surrounding us that we would feel for the rest of our lives. It looks like it's having an effect on Stiles somehow."

"And he just collapsed? Out of the blue? No explanation?" Derek asked

"He hadn't been sleeping", The Sheriff explained. "I didn't think it was that serious, that it was just a side effect of the life that he was leading, the things that he had seen."

"He hadn't been sleeping at all?" Derek asked. "Not even a couple of hours here and there? He never fell asleep to take a nap somewhere?"

"I don't know", Scott said softly. "He looked tired, but he never took a nap anywhere."

"Isaac", Derek said, turning his head. "Did you notice anything different about him?"

Isaac stood straight instead of his leaning position against the wall. "I don't know", he mumbled, stepping forward so he was next to Scott. "He just looked tired."

"We all made quick decisions that day, but we wouldn't have changed them", Scott told him.

Derek nodded. "I made my own quick decisions that day, but there are consequences, there always are."

"I felt a darkness", Scott explained. "But it was a hollow numbness."

"Everyone interprets trauma differently", Cora said. Derek felt her tugging him back. He hadn't even noticed that he was inching closer to Scott.

"What do I have to do to help him?" Derek asked Deaton, not taking his eyes off of Scott and Isaac.

"We're going to need to send electrical pulses to your brain, get both of your wavelengths at the same level so that when you try to heal him, you'll find the place he's trapped in", Deaton explained. "You won't be able to stay in there very long, so we might have to do this a couple of times."

"What happens if I'm in there for too long?" Derek asked

"We might lose you both", Deaton told him.

"This is a horrible idea", a voice called out from nowhere. Derek turned around. It was Peter. "Derek, nice to see you. Cora, you're looking well."

"I'm assuming you weren't able to help?" Derek asked. "You were able to look into Isaac's mind when the Alphas took his memories."

"It's obvious to me that the only one who he'll let in is you."

The heart monitor suddenly spiked, his blood pressure elevated, and Derek turned to Stiles. "What's happening? What's going on?" Derek asked Deaton, who had rushed over to the body.

Suddenly, Stiles' vitals settled, and there was a chiming noise coming from Derek's phone. He pulled it out of his pocket, and looked at the screen before looking at Stiles. It was a blank text message.

"How is he doing that?" He asked Deaton

"He must be using a spark of energy to send you warning messages", Deaton explained. "He's creating a connection so that you can help him. How long have you been receiving them?"

"Since we left town", Derek answered. "He must have known that something was wrong, that there was something different that nobody else could see. Why didn't any of you see it?"

"I know my son", The Sheriff interrupted.

Peter cleared his throat. "Obviously that's not the case, since he's been keeping his real life quiet for a year."

"Peter", Derek said, turning to face him. "Shut up."

"You complete me", Peter replied sarcastically.

"Are we going to do this or what?"

Deaton walked over to a drawer and pulled it open, taking out a handful of wires and producing another table for Derek to lie down on. "We'll be monitoring your vitals, and we'll pull you out if you're in there for too long."

"How are you going to do that?" Derek asked

Deaton pulled out the pen that he used to painfully bring him back after Lydia forced him to bring Peter back from the dead. "Remember this?"

"Vaguely", he answered as Deaton hooked him up to machines and attached electrodes to different parts of your body. "I'm going to kill you both for this later", he said to Scott and Isaac.

"You're both going to be fine", Cora told him, holding his hand. "I'll be right here when you wake up."

"Yeah", he nodded.

"Sorry, one question. How is this my fault?" Isaac asked

"When I first changed you, what was the absolute first thing that I taught you all?" Derek asked

"Stiles is a human caught up in a life he shouldn't be living in", Isaac recited. "Protect him, no matter what it takes."

"You didn't do that very well, did you?"

"I thought he was fine", Isaac told him.

"But you didn't know, did you?"

The next thing Derek felt was the shock travelling through his body. He winced, and the next thing he knew was darkness.

He was carrying a flashlight, which was fortunate, because without it, he would have no idea where he was going.

"Stiles?" He called out. "Stiles, where are you?"

Derek walked around for twenty minutes, calling out his name and feeling ridiculous when he saw a small light. He ran towards it. "Stiles?"

There was a small figure that was so skinny it was mostly skin covering bone. He was curled in a fetal position in front of the fire, his sleeves were rolled up, and his arms were covered in small cuts and bruises.

"Stiles", Derek touched his shoulder and gave him a little shake. "Stiles, it's me."

He lifted his head. "Derek?"

"Yeah", Derek let out a sigh of relief. "Come on, we've got to get you out of here."

Stiles crawled back away from him as fast as he could. "Whatever you are, get the hell away from me."

"Stiles, it's me", he answered, trying to step forward. Stiles reached in his pocket and pulled out a gun. Derek froze in place. "Stiles?"

"You're not Derek", Stiles replied. "Derek and Cora died two months ago. You're not real. This is just a test."