He comes to his senses a little while after. He's alone and squints his eyes, for a moment not remembering where he is. The headache still feeling like it was trying to drill a hole in his brain. And then he sighs as reality floods in. Well, it was nice 'til it lasted.

He gets up slowly, knowing from far too many experiences of what will happen if he moves too quickly. He takes a few other steading breaths and finally goes to look for his friends.

When he finally finds them, Scott runs towards him "Hey, are you guys okay? What happened?" he asks looking between Stiles and Theo. Stiles reassures him and tells him what happened at the clinic.
Scott groans and runs a hand through his hair.

He's worried. Really worried.

Stiles knows, he reads it in every crease between his eyes as he frown trying to think of something, in every quiet tremble that Stiles sometimes catches going through Scott's arm, like he's keeping himself from punching something in frustration. And he sees it in his best friend's eyes, the fear of being too late and not being enough this time.

Stiles squeezes Scott's shoulder trying to convey as much reassurance and support as he can "We'll figure it out, some way or another" Scott's sighs and leans in to rest his head on Stiles' shoulder for a couple of moments. Stiles pats his back.

When he looks up Scott smiles at him gratefully "Are you really okay?" he then asks searching his eyes, Stiles tries to smile but he's sure it comes out more like a grimace.

"Well, actually I'm mourning for my jeep.." he says downbeat.

Scott's gives him one of his trademark puppy smiles and squeezes his shoulder "After all this is over, I promise I'll bring you all the duct tape I can find." He says solemnly.

Stiles snorts. He's pretty sure duct tape won't do the trick this time. But he knows what Scott's means. He said it, and made it sound like a promise, but he knew that it was more a wish. A wish to go back to the middle. Stiles wishes for that too, with all of his heart.

Scott had no idea how much Stiles wanted that, how much he wished he didn't have to lose his best friend after all of this was over.

But Scott doesn't need to know that now. So Stiles smiles and nods. "I'll hold on you to that." He tells him instead, and Scott nods. "Now let's find Liam." He says switching off the part of his brain that kept reminding him of how much his life sucked in that moment, and focuses on thinking of a plan of action.

Mason takes them to Cory, the other Chimera, aka the heart of their next Plan to find Liam and Hayden, hopefully still alive.

They spend the whole day going through all they have learnt and know about the Dread Doctors, about the visions that they had at the school and they try to come up with something that doesn't make them completely useless when they have to face them.

It's dark now, and they're all huddled together around Lydia's car, Scott, Stiles, Lydia, Theo, Cory and Mason too even if Scott would've much rather left him somewhere safe, knowing that Liam would've bitten his arm off as soon as he saw his best friend in possible danger, but there was no reasoning with kid, also because he was pretty much the only one that Cory really trusted, so they really didn't have a choice but to take him with them. They are all looking at the map of Beacon Hill's. There're specific places circled on it, all of them possible Dread Doctors' bases. Methodically deciding where to go first and working their way down to the farthest place from where they're now, in the parking lot of the High School.

And then it all goes to hell, when Cory starts to scream his head off and curl himself on the ground from what seems unbearable pain. Scott is at his side in a second, trying to calm him down. But then stingers are covering Cory's whole body and the next Stiles knows is that his best friend is heaving on the ground having what looks like a real asthma attack.

He has the inhaler in his pocket, keeping it there since the moment Liam told him about the accident at school, and he's reaching for it when Cory –or more Chimera now– shoves him aside making him hit the ground in a thump. Hitting his hipbone hard. Pain clouds his vision for a couple of seconds, in which Mason and Lydia are also shoved away. When he looks around again, Theo is fighting alone, but the Chimera is surprisingly too strong this time and throws him halfway to the other side of the parking lot. Scott is still having the attack and Stiles hands curl around his baseball bat as he gets up, inhaler still safely tucked in his pocket. He's just a few feet away when again the chimera takes a hold of his throat without him having a chance to do anything. The chimera holds him up, lifting Stiles' feet from the ground, his grip on the bat slackens as it's getting harder and harder to get air in his lungs. Cory has a deadly grip on his throat and he's tightening it until Stiles is certain that this is time is really it. He's going to die.

And then he hears it. The loudest, angriest and scariest growl he has ever heard.

The chimera is yanked back and forced to release Stiles' throat. He falls to the ground again on his side and wheezes finally gulping the air he had been denied until that moment. He hears the loud growl again and mentally cheers for his friend thanking God that Scott was okay and pissed off enough to make those scary growly noises, ha! Take that ugly chimera, my best friend is going to kick your ass! It's pretty childish of him probably… But give the guy a break he genuinely thought he was going to die.

When Stiles finally feels like he had breathed in enough air to function like a normal human again he leans on his elbow to try sitting up. And then his eyes falls on Scott, still on the ground still having an asthma attack. Stiles scrambles to his feet and launches himself towards his best friend, taking out the inhaler and bringing it up to Scott's mouth in shaking hands "Scott!" he yells taking his friend's hands and bringing them up to the inhaler "Breathe!" he urges trying to catch his friend's glazed eyes "C'mon buddy, Breathe!" Scott finally snaps out of it, and takes the inhaler in his own hands and finally finally breathes.

Then they both turn to the fight and whomever is emitting those scary growls and still battling the chimera. Scott jumps up on his feet "Stop!" he yells when he sees that the mysterious werewolf, who was giving them his back, about to smash Cory's head on the ground. "Don't kill him!" Scott thunders taking off to reach them. But just when he's just behind them, the werewolf hits Cory with a blow hard enough to knock him out of consciousness.

When the mysterious guy finally turns, Stiles watches as his world seems to be shifted off balance again.

He should have known.

He knew. Since the moment he had set eyes on those jet black hair, and that stupid stupid leather jacket. The back of his brain had obnoxiously chanted the name since the moment he had heard the growl really, but he didn't want to believe it. It was impossible. It didn't make any sense.

But there was no doubt of who was standing in front of Scott with the stupid trademark scowl.

Derek.

"Someone care to explain, what the hell is going on?" Derek asks gruffly, looking pointedly at Scott standing in front of him.

Stiles knows exactly what kind of expression his best friend is wearing by the little step back he takes, 1. Because, seriously, he's known the guy since forever, and 2. Because he's pretty sure Stiles' wearing an exact copy of that on his face.

"Derek?" Scott asks, and Stiles also knows that his best friend blinks a few time even if he cannot see it, just because he knows that that's what his friend does when he can't believe what he's seeing and who can blame him, Stiles is having a hard time connecting his synapsis too right now. "What are doing here?!" Scott sounds a little excited but also a little worried.

Stiles watches Derek shift on his feet and make a quick scan of the space in front of him, his eyes meets Stiles' just for a blink of an eye and then they set on Scott again "I… Doesn't matter right now, I am back." He says it like it's definitive. And something inside of Stiles jumps, catching his breath.

Derek points at the unconscious body behind him "What the hell is going on?" He asks again, his eyebrows raised. Oh, how Stiles missed those. He would never admit it out loud, but he did. He really really did.

Then Lydia is next to Scott and Mason standing a couple of steps back with Theo. Stiles lifts himself off the ground, but remains where he is.

"Well, there're a bunch of crazy-possibly-ancient doctors that are turning teenagers into supernatural creatures through science. They already killed a few, that's one of them" Lydia says pointing at Cory "Also, they took Liam and Hayden, Liam's friend who also happen to be a Chimera, that's what we've been calling them.."

"Crazy old Beacon Hill" Derek deadpans tiredly.

"Oh, it get crazier" Stiles can practically hear the sardonic smile in Lydia's voice "There's also another thing that keeps stealing the dead bodies of those Chimeras, we have no idea where it takes them or why, but right now it's not really a priority, we're trying to find the living first."

Derek nods "Something else?"

Uh, I killed one of the Chimeras.

The thought comes to him so easily that for a moment his gut twist in fear of having said it out loud.

"No, That's about it, for the moment, I think.." Lydia says looking at the others for confirmation.

They all nod, Scott the only one that looks a little distracted.

Stiles' pretty sure he's been staring with his mouth agape since the moment Derek had appeared, and maybe he notices because then Derek's looking pointedly at him. His brows a little furrowed, like he was trying to figure out something. Like why Stiles had not moved from the spot where Cory had left him when Derek had yanked him off Stiles. And then Derek's face does that thing where he looks at him with his fuckin' trademark brow raise, and Stiles has a sudden urge to cry, though he's not exactly sure why. "Hey, Sourwolf" he says weakly, and Derek rolls his eyes, but Stiles almost swears that he sees his lips turn upwards as he focuses on Scott again.