Everything felt so nice. His head was warm and stuffed of cotton, and his body was lying perfectly horizontal in a fluffy bed filled with feathers and sugar cotton and everything was fine and dandy.
Of course Stiles knew he was high as a kite. What he didn't know was why he was still alive, since he had given his life for a few minutes of ghost interaction with Allison and Scott. He was perfectly sure that Allison would not call 911 as to not alert Rafael of the fact that they had found their parents. Because Allison was a rational human being who would put logic and pragmatism before his own life.
No, of course she didn't. She called 911 and made Isaac save all of their parents. Which meant that now they had to deal with Rafael at some point. Hey, maybe Finstock was right and they were completely stupid.
Slowly and painfully he tried to open his eyes and at least move a finger or two. He didn't know the extent of the trauma he received because of the car accident and was afraid he may have lost more than just consciousness because of it. His vision was blurry but that was because his eyes were adjusting to the light and he could feel all ten fingers, although they were stiff as boards. He could also feel his throat dry, his voice raspy, and the weight of Scott on top of him when he was trying to hug him.
-Scott... breathing... breathing...!
Scott immediately let him go in order to go to the door screaming for his mom. His dad was scrambling himself together babbling questions about his health, and Allison, Lydia and Isaac were trying to make sure he was OK without overwhelming him. Even Derek and Cora were there, looming in the corner, brooding. As usual. Mrs. McCall entered the room and forced everybody to stand back while she checked his vitals, and for a moment he wanted to go to sleep again. He alerted Mrs. McCall and drifted away.
When he woke up again it was a very different story. The room was almost empty, only his dad and Scott asleep in the chairs. He didn't want to wake them up but wanted to drink a little water, so he clicked for the nurse and when he came in both males started fuzzing around him. He just took a sip of water, cleared his throat, told them he was fine and went back to sleep.
The third time he woke up he finally felt rested. And hungry. And no longer high.
-Dad, you need to shave.
The sheriff almost fell from his chair from the surprise. At that same moment Scott and Allison entered the room with coffe and they wanted to go hug him again, but his mouth had finally recovered his ability to babble non-stop. He asked if Scott's mom was going to take her vitals again and the Sheriff eyed him suspicious but went to get her.
As soon as they were alone he asked them if they felt like he did.
Like there was a shadow tugging at his heart.
They agreed.
Stiles told them that he felt it ever since they had woken up in the morgue, even when he was just a ghost wandering Beacon Hills. Neither Scott nor Allison had felt it at the time, but they assumed it was because of the emotional train wreck they had been going through. After settling down they both felt it, and it even compelled them to be nearby, and that's the reason why they were there in the first place. They hadn't felt that comfortable leaving him alone.
After Scott's mom had checked him he asked her when she could come back to her room so they could talk and Allison excused herself while she called her father. He even told Scott to contact Deaton, since he would also want to hear what he had to say. The Sheriff eyed them curiously but immediately understood that they were to come clean to them, that they just didn't want to repeat themselves. So for an hour he was just the dorky father Stiles loved and they joked and japed with Scott and Allison.
When Mr. Argent and Mrs. McCall entered the room and told them they had time, Stiles looked at his friends, and asked them what they had told them already. They had discussed Jennifer Blake and how she turned herself to the police. They had discussed Deucalion, Kali, the twins. Allison had discussed with them and Isaac about their rescue, and they ahd talked about Stiles being in the hospital after they had sent an helicopter to pick them up and take them to the ER.
He had been unconcious for 127 hours. For almost a week.
Scott told them about the fight, and how he had seen his spirit preventing him from killing Jennifer. Allison told them about seeing his ghost standing on top of the Nemeton. His own father finally told him the reason why he hadn't been with him when his mom had died, and how he had always clung to rationality when facing the supernatural. He asked him for forgiveness, and Stiles gave it to him immediately. He was his dad, he couldn't be angry at him.
Not after all that he had put him through.
Stiles begun with their sacrifice. All the parents were scandalized at Deaton for having even suggested it in the first place, and Mr. Argent took a position eerily similar to that of Finstock. Deaton didn't excuse himself or tried to defend himself, and they had to convince their parents that in the end it had been their decision. They had paid the price to try and prevent their death, even if it all had been Jennifer's strategy.
For a moment Stiles savored the fact that he was calling her by her first name. Her new first name, at least.
Then he told his story. He mentioned how he tried to get the police and was afraid of the FBI. How he had gone searching for aides at his house and found the ghost of Morrell. He told Deaton how his sister, even after dead, had complimented him about his intelligence, and insulted him about his lack of vision. Deaton smiled and cried, mourning his sister once more. He told his father how he realized he needed to help Scott and Allison one more time, and why he had taken the decision to do so.
He told Scott what Ms. Morrell had told him about himself.
Deaton agreed almost immediately, but seemed a bit surprised about the idea. There weren't that many documented cases about True Alphas, and he couldn't recall any that didn't rise from a preexisting pack or from when a pack was assembled from disabanded betas and omegas, where one of those could bring their own emissary. So, an emissary risen from a true friend was possible, but even rarer than a true alpha.
That made him feel special. And he was being completely sarcastic about that thought.
He finished and let them talk among themselves. Mr. Argent wanted to ask him about his experience as a ghost while Mrs. McCall wanted to confront both him and Scott about the idea of sacrifing themselves.
His father, on the other hand, started enumerating ways to ground him.
He let him talk. He even chuckled at Mrs. McCall planning common grounding systems for him and Scott, and how even Mr. Argent had decided to help them while grounding Allison as well. Apparently being stuck in a root cellar for a couple days turned them into best friends or something because they came with a whole system for the following weeks.
He was just glad to be alive.
They left him rest again. Even Scott and Allison left so they could catch some sleep.
Stiles didn't like that idea.
For the first time in a long time, Stiles didn't want to be alone.
The darkness in his heart rejoiced in the loneliness.
