Lost Hope Chapter 11: The Bliss of a Trigger Finger, a trauma center fanfic

Disclaimer: Trauma Center and all related never belonged to me. Does it look like I'm trying to make a profit out of this?

A/N: So Greg and Sidney are identical twins and Greg came out of Mrs. Kasal's womb first... I see. Thanks Indochine Ramera and TCGeek for clearing that up a couple of chapters back (no worries, I give credit to EVERYONE in the end of my fanfics anyway; I'm just mentioning these two for now because this is the chapter I was referring to a while back). I Googled it too and you guys are right! =)

Haha, if only you guys knew just how lazy team PXLight has been getting... as we go along, there have been more and more grammatical mistakes and I'm starting to leave plot holes that I can't seem to find until AFTER it's up on the site. I'll probably edit it, but for now, you get to read Chapter 11 (Umm... for a second there, I forgot what chapter this is). I'll be honest, this was kind of hard to write because this is just about as dark as my plot will get (and by dark, I really do mean torture to Derek's metaphorical personality and stuff... not physical torture with snakes and blood and dirty rituals, k'? I honestly don't roll that way). This also, in my opinion, is just about as major as the climax itself (which was a plot twisted chapter, I know, but this is where I get to redeem myself ^^!)

Oh yeah, a lot of direct dialogue from the game is in this chapter, so feel free to completely skip that part (though you'll be missing out on a lot... that part takes up like half the chapter because so many parts are covered). And if you don't know who Yuri Lowenthal is (*gasp*), feel free to get DD!Tyler and have him perform Euthanasia on you! ;D

So there you have it... this time around, not too many spoilers for the game because technically, this is post TC:UTK2!
Hope you enjoy!

A simple recap on the previous actions...

Derek, Mercer, and Angie were never injured.

The Chief of Police held the walkie-talkie so it was hovering closely to his mouth, but out of Derek's sight range. He was hesitant in giving the command, but his love of country and the fact that the GUILT war needed to be stopped pushed him on.

"Fire."

However, that sniper barely had the chance. As the bullet was launched through the barrel, Derek's heightened senses and reflexes made him point his gun at the sniper he found and shoot first.

The sniper shot ended up missing by miles.
But Derek's shot managed to completely pierce his revealed leg.

The man screamed loudly, causing everyone unaware of what just happened or why Derek fired a wild shot to turn to the man who came tumbling down his point. Fortunately, his position wasn't too high and he lived through the event. However, the bullet had nicked an artery and he was losing blood fast. A pool of red had already formed in a matter of seconds.

Everyone couldn't help but watch in silence; they couldn't move due to Derek and they couldn't speak due to shock.

"I can't believe it..." Sidney thought. "He's hostile..." The Chief of Caduceus couldn't help but stare in disbelief in the newly changed surgeon. He just couldn't wrap his mind around how he could've changed so fast. It was as though it were only yesterday where he found out that Derek was unwilling to kill a fly. Now here he was, watching the harmless doctor shoot a bullet right across the man and not panic at all.

"Derek, how could you?" Angie exclaimed in tears. She tried to bite the brown-haired surgeon's arm, but to no avail. "How could you shoot a man and not say anything?"

But despite everything that has occurred, from the out-of-line attitude the crowd around him has showed to Angie trying to bite his arm off, Derek found that he was unable to neither speak nor show any feelings beyond the Daemon-style callous look. The normal Derek would still have never shot the sniper, even if he was at gunpoint. His mind was completely blank as though his brain wasn't allowing any inner thoughts or monologue to be formed.

In fact, it was as though for a moment there, he had lost control of everything.
And he doubted that he was going to get it back anytime soon.

The three continued to walk on, the gun in Derek's hands firmly pressed against Angie as the three walked until they were outside. However, it turns out that they were completely surrounded, this time with people he knew he couldn't persuade otherwise along with a few helicopters and police cars; their lights blazing their focus on him, Mercer, and Angie. There were so many lights in focus that it started to feel rather warm just standing there.

"Stiles, you're surrounded." Sidney declared from behind him. Derek turned only to find that everyone he left in the plant had run and caught up to him. There was no way he would be able to go back in to find another way out or escape the crowd.

Capture was inevitable.

"Derek, give it up!" Angie exclaimed. She didn't want to say too much in fear that Derek might shoot her next. She could still smell the burning gunpowder against her head.

The crowd that was in the plant shifted revealing several people that used to mean a lot to the brown-haired surgeon. It was Tyler, Adel, Heather, Cybil, Greg, Victor, Dr. Clarks, and Leslie. All of them took a step forward, along with Sidney and Hoffman, to face the three. All of them had strict and silent faces.

"Look at his eyes..." Tyler whispered to Leslie who was right beside him. "...He looks like a maniac. That just can't be Derek!"

"I know..." Leslie replied in a hushed tone. She moved closer so her partner was able to hear her. "...I feel so sorry for Angie. I wonder what kind of thoughts could be running in her head."

Derek had no idea what he should do. He never really made a good bad-guy in the first place. For that reason, he simply clutched harder to Angie and looked at the people before him with an unnatural calm.

"...What are you going to do now?" Derek said smugly. "It's clear I have nowhere to go, but you can't get to me without me killing your best friend here."

"That's where you're wrong, Derek!" Cybil exclaimed. "You see, we could just shoot you down! We don't care about worthless scum like you!"

Derek looked at her with a brow raised up in question, but still remained his composure. He then looked around and waited, but no shot came. "Poorly made bluff on your part." Derek smirked. He looked as though he was enjoying this, though in all honesty, playing the villain was torture.

Cybil sighed. "Well, at least I gave it a shot." she muttered incoherently. "You guys try to persuade him now."

Greg then stepped out. "Derek!" he called out. "Put the gun down now or I swear you'll find yourself out of a job living in a box in jail where the only food you'll be eating are leftovers the various rats in your cramped cell leave you due to utter pity!" He held his stare for three seconds, but after seeing no reaction from the doctor, he walked back to the others who were now staring at him in confusion.

"What is it with you two and threatening him?" Tyler gawked. "And Dr. Kasal... a box? Really?"

Greg began to rub his chin and chuckled. "Well, I probably wouldn't have gone that far, but..." He glanced back at his loving wife who was preoccupied with Derek. "...I guess Cybil is rubbing off on me."

Victor's turn was up next.
He stepped forward to get a better look at Derek, and then walked back without saying anything.

"Did you use your special brand of telekinesis or something?" Tyler joked. "But seriously... what the hell?"

"Don't question me, Chase." Victor muttered. "I got a lot more information out of that than you ever would while reading his diary as he told you his life story."

Tyler immediately shut up.
This was partially because he was intimidated by the head of R&D but also because it was his turn next.

Tyler stepped into the circle the crowd watching the events unfold formed. It felt rather odd because if the eyes weren't on Derek, they were on him. He could almost feel each individual's gaze bore into his skin like a drill. He honestly has never felt such intense stage fright before, but he figured that he should drag his attention away from his own feelings and back to the real task at hand: persuading Derek.

"Derek, you remember me?" Tyler called out to the doctor casually. Derek made no move to respond, but Tyler insisted on continuing. "So your memories had been wiped by the Foaly Method thus changing your personality drastically enough that you are now a completely different person... wow, have we changed you a whole lot then!"

Tyler looked into Angie's eyes to help relax her and Angie smiled. Her smile calmed him down too; at least there was something familiar in this peculiar situation. "Everyone at Caduceus helped moulded who we all know you as." Tyler continued. "You couldn't have become the incredible surgeon and person without coming to Caduceus. I, Angie, and everyone else over there... we all made a big impact on your life and helped you become the person you were... but now..." Tyler looked away from Derek. "...Now I don't even know you anymore! And I thought I was your best friend! Man, put the gun down, dammit! We all need you back!" There were tears in his eyes; his cheerful disposition had been shattered.

Tyler gazed up at Derek and realized that for once, his words seemed to have an impact on the doctor. Derek was looking away from the blonde-haired surgeon with a look of pain in his eyes. The sharp pain that always occurred when his mind was trying to remember something that was forcefully forgotten by the Foaly Method was becoming a lot stronger than usual. However, because Derek didn't know the true reason for the sharp pains meant that he just regarded this as some random sharp pain. All of these memories being kept down was stressing out on the GUILT-induced memory lock in his brain.

"Shut up..." Derek whispered. He figured that if everyone just stayed silent, the pain would go away.

Tyler was staring at the doctor confusedly. "...Excuse me?" he asked.

"...Stop talking or I swear I'll shoot your head off before hers."

At first, the blonde-haired surgeon didn't know how to make of this reaction from Derek, then... "I knew it!" Tyler exclaimed in his mind, even though technically he had just been winging it from the start and he only thought that to make his personal image look good. "Trying to get Derek to remember really is the way to go! That damn procedure's effects might wear off if I keep this up!" He looked back to the doctor with a renewed confidence. Everyone watching seemed to notice and remained silent to hear what Tyler had to say. "So Derek... even though you don't remember anything about Caduceus you do remember how to operate and such meaning that you probably remember the things that occurred in med school." Tyler chuckled at the memories that were coming up. "I'll be honest... you were never exactly the brightest bulb in the pack. Don't you remember how you would copy off the tests of some brilliant kid in your class? Well..?"

"...Yeah, I remember." Derek muttered. The headache managed to produce a foggy memory of doing just that, but he couldn't remember all the details.

"Do you remember who exactly this person was?"

"...I don't."

Tyler paused for a moment to add dramatic effect. "...You were actually copying off your best friend." he answered. "...And that very friend happens to be standing right in front of you. Your best friend was me."

Hearing Tyler say this, another sharp pain immediately shot across Derek's mind. He cursed under his breath and shut his eyes to try and ward off the pain. The sharp pain was brief but it left behind additional pain to the headache he was already having.

"Yeah!" Angie added on. She seemed to have figured out what Tyler was doing. "Don't you remember that little incident where a nurse screamed at you for not taking good care of a patient? He nearly died thanks to your incompetence!" Angie flashed back to her time at Hope Hospital, just before Derek gained his Healing Touch. "The nurse that snapped at you was me!" Once again, another sharp pain shot through Derek head, causing him to groan in pain. He clutched onto Angie harder; this time to try and divert his attention away from the pain but on something else.

Leslie soon realized what Tyler and Angie were doing. "You guys!" she shouted. "Shout out memories that you all had with Derek! It seems to be affecting him! We might be able to get his memories back."

And like a chain reaction, everyone started to scream out stories of them and their time with Derek whether it was medically related or something that left an impression on them for as long as they lived. The thought was moving as each story contained emotion and love; Derek truly has touched the hearts of everyone. Even though not every story had an effect, the ones of people he had forgotten had a huge toll on him. They also happened to be the only ones the surgeon could hear considering that they were closest to him. Derek was instantly paralyzed and stumbled to the ground, dropping the gun and finally releasing Angie to clutch his head in pain.

"Stop it!" he screamed, but to no avail. He could only watch through tears formed in his eyes the image of Angie running away into Tyler's arms, hugging him like there was no tomorrow. It felt as though something was slashing up his insides and he could do nothing to stop it. He could only see white as SWAT members closed in on Mercer and Derek and incarcerated them by cuffing their hands, then forcing their heads onto the ground. Derek could barely comprehend everything that was going on around him. He watched as Sidney walked up to the Chief of Police, talked to him about something, and walked away after successfully persuading the Chief of Police to do what he wanted.

"Mercer..." Derek whispered, knowing that his boss was right beside him. "..." He barely had the strength to say anything.

"Stiles..." Mercer replied. He knew what was going on, but he couldn't believe it. "There's nothing more for me, but for you... I'm sorry for getting you involved in my mess due to my own ambiguous ideas. It was wrong of me to—" Derek could hear him chuckle. It seems that Mercer could finally see the light of the matter; his head wasn't clouded anymore and he was finally thinking rationally. "Now that my Tracy's gone, I can see the fault in my doings, but for you... I'm sorry for what is to come..."

"...What are you talking about?" Derek replied. He was so weak that his speech was almost incoherent. To the SWAT members stating their rights to them, all they heard was insensible murmurs. "...What you did... your cause... was right. You helped me save everyone... These fools... are stupid to be unable to see the brilliance of your ideas..."

"... Stiles..." Mercer sighed. "...What have I done...?"

And that was the last he would ever hear from Mercer.

Despite the brilliant lights shining around him, Derek noticed his world to get darker and darker. He found black spots in his vision that only became larger until finally, he passed out due to exhaustion or how his body couldn't take any more pain.

"What wrong with him, Chief...?"

"...I'm not exactly sure. I'm still getting over the shock that he had faked his death to work for the HOA. Why did he think he needed to do that?"

"Well he seems to have amnesia..."

"Right. Caused by the Foaly Method... but he also seems to have lost his emotions too..."

"I agree... did you see the way he treated poor Angie? I know he doesn't remember any of us, but I still don't think the Derek we know would have done what he did to escape."

"Well, you know what they say... even the most docile creatures can turn fierce if backed into a corner."

"Yeah... but I think there is more to it than that. Could he be suffering from secondary Alexithymia?"

"...Excuse me?"

"It's where the amygdala... the part of your brain that controls emotional reactions and memories, shuts down due to an overload of feelings. Suddenly, the victim is unable to feel emotion, spare a couple or so."

"...That's terrible!"

"...But it fits Derek's description... Victor found information on a case involving Derek that was kept tightly under wraps in the HOA. It was about how Derek had managed to severely injure himself due to his drinking habit."

"—there's not a chance that's true. Dr. Stiles never drank alcohol in his life! There's no way..."

"...Angie..."

"He might have done so to compensate the feelings of being apart... the date states that this took place before the recording and his loss of memories..."

"Though you may have a point, Chase, I don't believe that's entirely the case. His loss of memory was caused by the Foaly Method and according to Angie and Adel, he was able to show sympathy, compassion, and courage while operating on the final Neo-GUILT."

"But wasn't he faking?"

"...I guess. Alright, I need CAT scans of Stiles' brain immediately! Check for amygdala functions; this is our priority! And Tyler... please watch over him. He had a heart attack a few hours ago... though we're sure he'll make a full recovery, we aren't completely positive."

"Yes sir."

"...Oh, and Tyler?"

"...Yes?"

"Once Derek does wake up, I need to talk to him... an interrogation is much needed."

"How about me, sir?"

"Oh Angie. I think you'll be fine being Derek's nurse. Just make sure not to sabotage anything."

...I can't believe you think that's funny."

Chapter Eleven: The Bliss of a Trigger Finger

Three days later...

Derek's vision was swimming when he finally woke up. He thought that his twenty-twenty vision that he had gained faded away, but as he blinked, his vision became sharper until they were completely normal. The light, however, was pretty bright.

"Am I dead...?" he thought to himself before he noticed that he was actually staring into a fluorescent lamp. This couldn't be Heaven (Heaven running on artificial light... wow) and considering what he did, he probably would've gone down under anyways. Despite his disorientation, he forced his body to co-operate and sat up to look around at his surroundings.

It seems like he was in a recovery ward. There were several instruments attached to him and he seemed to be on an IV as well. Thinking of the term "recovery", Derek mentally examined his state. Though he was a little sore, the pain in his head had finally faded off and all that was remaining was a serene peace.

"...Angie... Dr. Stiles is moving."

Derek looked to the other side where he found the blonde nurse and her partner surgeon checking on the other instruments on the side by the door. He hadn't even realized that he wasn't alone until Adel spoke up.

"You!" Derek exclaimed in utter disgust and confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"...Oh, you're awake." Angie replied in a cold turn in return. She still held a miniscule grudge over him after what had happened in Palmwood. "And what am I doing here... Well, I work here." She glared at the surgeon angrily and he could only glare back. "As did you before you 'died', Dr. Stiles!"

She spat the surgeon's name out while Derek continued to sit in silence. He didn't want to say anything that could compromise the situation any further.

Derek watched the duo examine the instrument readings and jot their notes down. It took a long awkward silence to get one of the three to finally speak.

"So how long was I out?" Derek asked. He was pretty sure that it couldn't have been just a fortnight.

"Three days." Angie replied as though the fact were completely nothing. "None of us were worried at all... some of us even hoped you wouldn't make it."

"...Ouch, that hurt." Derek chuckled sarcastically. "And to think all of you cared back at Palmwood. Now look at you. Which way is it really?"

Angie looked away from the brown-haired surgeon; her face beet red with anger. Derek knew it (because her ears went all pink as well) and laughed to himself.

"Don't be so rude, Dr. Stiles." Adel stated sharply, cutting off Derek's victory laugh. "We are all aware that you aren't yourself. At least try to stay polite, despite what has happened. It's all over... Mercer has been captured and now you are under custody of Caduceus. All we ask is for your co-operation" On the outside, Adel remained stern, but on the inside, he was smiling at himself, proud at how he was handling things. Derek sighed and nodded.

"That would be fair, I guess..." he replied in defeat, even if he thought that he was entirely his normal self. He then looked directly at the back of the nurse's head. "I'm sorry, Nurse." Derek replied with a tinge of actual sorrow.

Noticing this, Angie turned around and calmed herself. "It's fine." she muttered. "Just call me Angie from now on."

"Right, you told me that the last time I was here." Derek replied. He then looked deeply into the nurse's eyes and a wave of nostalgia hit him. He felt a little uncomfortable with just looking at her... then...

"Dr. Sadahiro!"

Suddenly, Timothy burst into the room, completely exhausted and frantic. At the sight of his mentor, however, he calmed before glancing back at the nurse on his tail, screaming at him to get back to his room and not escape once more.

The nurse was none other than Leslie Sears and when she ran into the room she saw Timothy run in, she noticed the people with him and perked up.

"Leslie, I'll take care of Dr. Grey." Angie stated. "You just go rest."

"Thanks Angie." Leslie replied. She looked towards the yellow-eyed Derek and sighed. "So you still don't know us?" After seeing the surgeon shake his head, she nodded in acknowledgment and walked out.

"Wait... what did that nurse mean by you not remembering them?" Timothy asked quizzically. "Do you have amnesia after what happened at Palmwood?" Timothy had overheard Leslie and Angie talking all about it a couple of days ago in the break room the last time he had 'escaped' the confinement of his recovery room. Timothy, as well as the others, knew that he was completely fine, but because the disease he had was GUILT, he had to stay in case further after-symptoms bubbled up.

"No, I remember everything, Timothy." Derek replied.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Adel asked.

"Yeah. Dr. Sadahiro was my professor and beloved mentor." Timothy replied. "A majority of the skills I have... he taught them to me."

"So you were still busy at the HOA teaching doctors..." Angie murmured sceptically. "Impressive... though I can't see you being able to stand simply teaching others. I thought you would want to stick to saving people on the field.

Before Derek had a chance to reply, Timothy answered for him. "No, he was a professor by day, but at night, he worked the OR's. He's an incredible surgeon... almost like a superhero!" He gave a wink to his mentor, but Derek only glared back.

"Timothy!" Derek exclaimed. "Let me answer myself!" He face-palmed himself to show just how embarrassed he was after Timothy described his work in that manner.

"Oh, sorry, Dr. Sadahiro." Timothy replied sheepishly.

"...Dr. Sadahiro?" Angie chuckled. "I still can't get over how that was the name you decided to go under, Dr. Stiles. I can't believe I didn't realize that the initials were the same too... I was so out of it."

"Wait... Dr. Stiles?" Timothy replied.

"Yeah." Angie replied. "I guess you don't know the full story yet. Your Dr. Sadahiro's real name is Derek Stiles."

"I still don't know how you knew that..." Derek muttered.

"You used to work here, Doctor." Angie sighed. "We all knew each other. Get over it." She looked at the doctor's disbelieving face and ignored it. He still looked like she was telling him that Santa was real or the ocean is blue because a giant barfed up blue vomit all over the Earth.

"Wait, wait." Timothy protested. He was getting confused and needed to verbally sort things out. "So Dr. Daemon Sadahiro was really a cover name. You mean my mentor was really the legendary doctor Derek Stiles?" Timothy glanced back at the doctor in surprise. "Wow, that's amazing! Your Healing Touch is really something too... just like I've heard! The real thing is a ton better than the artificial ones the HOA gave."

At the sound of his name, a sharp pain which was blunter than those he received in Palmwood crossed Derek's mind again. He put his hand to his temples to gently massage the pain away.

The PA then squeaked on in Derek's room.
It did nothing to help with Derek's recurring headache.

"Dr. Stiles, please meet in my office immediately." It was Sidney on the PA.

"Looks like they want to interrogate you, Doctor." Angie stated.

Timothy suddenly ran out of the room and returned three seconds later with a wheelchair and another screaming nurse behind him telling him to give her the wheelchair back. "I'll escort you there, Doctor." Timothy replied happily.

"Thanks, but I'm pretty sure I have legs." Derek replied. He got up without much of a hassle, stretched, and walked out. But then he walked back into the room and waved over Timothy to still come along with him. Dr. Grey happily obliged.

"Don't try escaping, Doctor." Angie called out. "There are armed guards all over this place. The Police still don't trust us to hold you here, so be careful."

"I wasn't dreaming of escaping rather than to somehow redeem myself through the interrogation." Derek called back. "Mercer's plan is over and I have nothing else; might as well try to get a job here so I can get back to saving lives."

Angie listened as the pair of footsteps walked away from the room and thought quietly. Even though Derek has no memories of everything that had happened between the two of them in the past five years, he still has that unending drive to save others.

Some things never change.

"C'mon Adel, we better get moving too." Angie waved to Adel to come with her and he obliged. They then walked away in the opposite direction Derek and Timothy were headed, wondering if Derek or Timothy knew the way to Sidney's office.

"I see you're back to your chipper self." Derek said kindly to break the odd silence. There was no need to stay mad around Timothy; he knew he could trust him.

"Yeah!" Timothy replied. "I feel a ton better after the GUILT was removed. It turns out that the thing giving us HOA doctors our Healing Touch was based on GUILT DNA and had rather dangerous side effects too. That was what was changing everyone's personality... it's rather preposterous, right?"

"So they removed Sige from you..." Derek murmured. "Can you still use the Healing Touch?"

"Nah..." Timothy looked down at his hands. "I tried it the moment I woke up. However, I learned several new techniques from you and I am pretty sure that I can still save lives like a doctor should. Don't you agree, Dr. Sada— er... Dr. Stiles?" Timothy looked up to his mentor who had more of a morbid look on.

"What's wrong?"

"...We're here."

Every inch of Derek's body was urging him to not enter the door right in front of him, but Timothy was blocking the way to get away from here, unbeknownst to him.

"...Wait. How were you able to find this place so fast?"

Derek looked back to his favourite student dumbfounded. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, technically, you were leading the entire time while I was simply following you. You also seemed to have familiar knowledge of the building. We didn't even stop for directions or anything and yet we still got to this place in a minute tops. How did you find your way?"

When Timothy brought the thought up, Derek shrugged. "...I don't know..." he replied. "...Instinct, I guess."

"Hmm... oh well. Good luck in there then."

And with that, Timothy retraced his steps to find that blonde nurse once more while Derek entered the office.

"Ahh... Dr. Stiles, please take a seat."

Derek walked towards the desk where behind sat Sidney Kasal. His older brother, Greg, was leaning against the same desk in front. There was a single chair in front of the two and Sidney was signalling for the brown-haired surgeon to position himself there.

He walked up to it, but was hesitant to sit.

"Is there something wrong?" Sidney inquired. "Would you prefer it if I called you Daemon instead?" Sidney remained calm with the idea of having to use Derek's alias, but Greg flinched; the thought hurt considering the relationship between the two.

"No..." Derek replied. "Since you are all intent on insisting that I knew you all in some distant pass, I will allow you to call me by my real name..." He thought for a moment, and then signalled to Sidney. "Do you think you could test this chair for me?" he asked.

Sidney looked at him quizzically, and then took his place on the chair. Greg gasped as his trap unfolded; braces came out of nowhere locking Sidney arms and legs together to the chair.

"Umm... April Fools?" Greg answered weakly as he hesitantly shook his arms in the air as though it were a surprise party. Sidney glared at his older brother.

"...It's October." Sidney muttered. "And get me out of this thing."

"...See, that's the thing." Greg replied softly. "I lost the keys and—"

"Here." Derek then grabbed a wire that he found in his pocket and used it to pick the lock. He succeeded quickly and the chair released Sidney from its captivity. Sidney sighed, fixed his composure, and returned to his spot behind the desk. "And before you ask, it was obvious. The chair didn't look normal."

"Fair enough." Greg replied. "I thought extra security would do us some good." Derek's mentor looked at the younger surgeon sceptically and Derek could tell what was troubling him and sighed in defeat. He took a seat on the chair for the hell of it and let himself to be chained up, allowing Greg to relax. Ever since marrying Cybil, he had been more alert than usual.

"We called you to ask you a few questions." Sidney stated.

"I figured. So shoot."

Sidney was rather surprised that Derek was taking it so nonchalantly. He signalled Greg to leave and his older brother obliged. He pulled out a file containing personality tests performed on Derek recently based on everything Timothy and Angie knew about Derek before he died and what he was like back in the HOA. Both of them apparently found it hard to complete this kind of exam considering how much he has changed. Timothy had the most trouble because in his short time knowing the surgeon, Derek had gone through major personality tweaks along with the rest of the HOA. However, Sidney suggested that he stuck with the most recent results and Timothy obliged.

The results were dramatic.

Sidney scanned the charts and looked at them dumbfounded.
It was as though the two tests were on completely different people.

"Is there something wrong?" Derek asked.

"No, please wait for a moment." Sidney murmured in reply.

He continued to gaze at the two charts describing what the person was like. He had seen the major difference, but he always seemed to deny what was right in front of him and referred to hard proof in ink.

Personality tests were based on five large categories that psychologists believe to be the most fundamental parts in personality development. In each category, one personality test result was the direct opposite of the other, save for the last category (neuroticism) in which both could be described as remaining calm in tense situations. As a whole, Sidney was sure that the results were accurate, but when compared to each other, it seemed as though the big change of heart was almost impossible.

The person in front of him just COULDN'T be Derek.
Just a guy with Derek's looks, but there is no way he is the same person.

Derek started to look at the man in front of him with much concern. He had been staring holes into the file he was holding in his hand as though the paper contained the prophecy of the end of the world or something.

"Mister... Hello?"

Sidney finally put the personality tests back into the folder and sighed. "Sorry about that, Stiles." he sighed. "It seems like I have to look at this from a different perspective than what I had previously predicted." He then pulled out a different file from the same folder. This one was the results of the test performed on Derek's brain. The CAT scan revealed nothing andamygdala functions were perfect. There seemed to be no problems with his brain that could have been causing the personality jump. Sidney muttered something to himself before putting it back.

Derek watched calmly. He was pretty sure that he wasn't going to be privy to the information running through the Chief of Caduceus' head anytime soon, so all he could do was sit back and relax while avoiding chaffing around his wrists and ankles.

"There's no way the personality jump could have ALL been caused by lack of memory of us." Sidney thought to himself. "Yet everything says that there could be nothing else. Even Dr. Grey, our reliable witness, told us that there had been a large personality jump a little after he was sure the Foaly Method took place..."

Finally, after intense muttering, Sidney moved to reveal a radio with the recording of what had occurred in the memory wipe.

"Stiles." Sidney then said after preparing the stereo. "My goal in this meeting previously was to find out what caused that personality jump and to try and get the old you back."

"And like I've said countless time, this is me. There is nothing to turn back on." Derek replied.

"However, you are wrong and though I still intend to prove it to you, I will use a different approach." Sidney pressed play. "I, along with Greg who is outside the door right now, will simply try to get your memory back. It seemed to have a great effect on you back at Palmwood; if we push it hard enough, maybe you'll remember everything."

The recording then began to play.
And through the entire time, only one slice of pain cut through Derek's thoughts.

However, this pain was different.
After the event, he seemed to be able to remember what occurred.

The memory lock was pushed past its limits back at Palmwood.
As of now, it was disintegrating.

"So this is what Mercer was talking about..." Derek thought. He remembered the meeting prior to the event and everything that took place in that room. Fear and anger bubbled up to the surface and he clenched his fists to hold the feelings back. It turns out that with every flashback came the feelings that it had coupled with the event.

"..." The radio clicked off immediately after the recording was finished. Sidney got up, unplugged it, and put it away, allowing Derek a few moments to let it sink in.

"...I d-don't remember any of i-it." he stuttered. He was still shaky from the flashback.

"You're lying." Sidney immediately replied.

"You have no proof." Derek protested. "I won't say anything."

"Fine. Unfortunately, you will have to sit here and listen to us as we do all the talking." Sidney replied. "We are going to find a trigger to get you to undergo a real instant memory recall." At that instant, Greg walked back in with a cup of coffee and a few more files. He locked the door behind him.

"Did you prep everything here?" Greg asked.

"Yeah, we can begin."

"Begin what?" Derek asked suspiciously. He turned his head back over his shoulder and watched Greg approach him. His eyes followed the man as he walked in front of him beside Sidney, giving half of the papers to him.

There was a long silence. Derek looked to the floor, suddenly self-conscious of what was happening, then...

"...Since I'm leaving, she's going to be your new assistant."

Derek looked up dumbfounded. He swore he just heard a voice that didn't belong to any of them. He looked up at the two men and both of them seemed to have not spoken yet.

"I was supposed to train her this afternoon, but... HR said that she was very reliable. ...I hope everything's okay."

"Sorry I'm late!"

Derek looked around the room. None of the men had spoken, yet there were voices of others around him. However, that last voice, he was confident that he knew. It belonged to that blonde nurse earlier.

Sidney could only smirk. Despite the luxury Derek claims he bathes in, he seemed to still be unaware of the wonders of technology.

There seemed to be the sound of a door opening, then her voice came back on.

"I'm Angie Thompson, the new nurse. I'll be starting here tomorrow. Is... Mary Fulton here? I'm ready to go over protocol now."

"It's very nice to meet you." It was the first voice again.

Derek figured that her name was Mary. The voice and name brought back nostalgic feelings that, instead of causing pleasure, caused pain once more.

"This pain... it must be my brain trying to... remember."

At the end of it, his mind revealed a foggy image of Mary back at a hospital. This conversation; it took place when she first came to Hope.

"...Fulton." The name slipped out of Derek's mouth. Sidney and Greg turned to the doctor. Unbeknownst to them previously, Derek had managed to free himself from his arm restraints, but made no effort to free his leg shackles from the chair. His hands were clasped together on his knees as though he were praying while his face was down, shadowing over his eyes. He seemed to be deep in thought.

"...I think it's working." Sidney whispered to Greg. "Tell them to move on to the next scene."

"Right." Greg replied. He then put his hands onto his earpiece secretly placed. "You can see what's happening right?" he hissed softly to avoid breaking Derek's train of thought. "It's working! He seems to be remembering things! Move on to the next scene!"

...

"Right!" Angie replied through her own headset. She, along with many other people who had been asked to come down to Caduceus, was in a private room. There were microphones set up in the room and the sounds that were created here were being played in the office where Greg, Sidney, and Derek were currently in now. This was the true plan; to try and re-enact certain memories that could be the trigger to break the memory lock Derek has.

If there was one thing about the Foaly Method, it was that the memories never are really erased but rather are placed under a lock of the mind created by dulling the imprints in the corneas of the eyes. If a trigger comes around (which is an event that closely resembles the markings previous memories have left on the back of the eyes), then the event, in theory, should be able to dig out these grooves and allow Derek to remember.

Already it seemed like it was taking an effect. The lock was greatly worn down back in Palmwood and it hasn't had a chance to recover, meaning that this was the perfect chance to try and help Derek regain everything.

"Great job, Ms. Fulton." Angie whispered over to the woman by her side holding a script in her hand.

"Thanks." she replied in a hushed tone. "I'll do everything in my power to help out poor Derek."

"That means a lot." Angie looked at the script and realized that the next scene had only Director Hoffman in it. "Alright sir, good luck."

The senior surgeon smiled. He then faced the microphone as soon as Angie left the area to go watch what was going on in Sidney's office. He glanced over the script one more time and then began to speak.

...

"...If you pursue this, yes you will become an unparalleled surgeon."

Derek looked up.
A whole new different scene was taking place.

He continued to look around hastily, trying to find the source of these voices. He was afraid that he may be going schizophrenic. However, he quickly calmed down in order to pay attention to the story the voices were telling. Somehow, it was all coming back to him.

"...But are you prepared for the pain that would bring you? Derek, a doctor's hands are heavy with responsibility. Patients depend on us, and they place their lives in our hands. Can you imagine how heavy your hands would be with the Healing Touch?"

Sidney watched quietly at Derek and realized that there seemed to be something going on. A little flicker of something fell from the brown-haired surgeon's face; a single tear fell from his eyes.

"There aren't many doctors who could endure such a weight...I'm only telling you this for your own good. Forget about that power and be a normal doctor...It's the only way for you to be happy."

"...I've tried forgetting it..." Derek murmured to himself. "The Healing... Touch..."After a long pause, he looked slightly upward. "...I... r-remember..." His vision was then engulfed in white as the first end of the spectrum of his memory loss was finally uncovered. He experienced a brief flashback of Hope Hospital just before meeting Mercer and all of the people involved. He remembered how he lost his Healing Touch and was still unable to recover it during that failed operation with Rain Delen and the Deftera.

"...I'd give up my life... my happiness... as long as I get to s-save people..." His mouth wasn't moving, but to Derek, the voice was loud and clear. It closely resembled his own voice, but it was in a more hushed tone that almost seemed like the source was moving around him like a ghost. "Without the Healing Touch... I c-can't do... it..."

"Derek, are you alright?" Greg asked worriedly. He had no clue what was going on. Derek remained silent. Assuming that their plan continued to work, he whispered the command into his earpiece to start the next scene.

...

"Tyler, Amy! It's your turn!" Angie exclaimed quietly as she dramatically signalled the two and scanned the script for scene three. However, it seems as though Derek also had a part in it.

But how would that work if Derek wasn't even allowed to know about this little production, let alone provide a voice?

"Okay, who was the dumb-ass who wrote the scripts?" Angie screamed, making sure the mute the microphones before doing so. No one responded, but Tyler became extra nervous. "Well, whoever did it, why the hell would you have Derek as one of the parts? How are we supposed to get his voice?"

"...Oh, sorry I'm late."

Suddenly, everyone turned to see a Caucasian male in his late 30's enter the room. He had a black jacket over a teal shirt and jeans on. In his hands held a script; the same one in everyone else's hands.

Tyler sighed in relief. "I'm glad you could make it, man!" he exclaimed as he walked away from the microphone and gave him a quick handshake. "I would have been screwed if you hadn't shown!" he hissed.

"Who is he and why is he here?" Angie asked with a dumbfounded look. Tyler turned on his heels and smirked.

"His name is Yuri Lowenthal and he's a really good friend of mine." Tyler explained. "His impersonation of Derek is absolutely perfect and I thought that we would need him for today, so I had him come and help out.

"Oh really?" Angie replied, a bit sceptical. "Alright, Mr. Lowenthal. Let's see what you've got."

"Right." Yuri replied. "And you can just call me Yuri." He cleared his throat and then glanced over the script for a certain part where he was supposed to play. "Let's begin the operation!" he exclaimed.

Everyone was taken aback.
He really did sound like Derek!

"You're in!" Leslie exclaimed happily as she too took her place by the microphones. She too had a part in this scene. "You'll know it's your turn when we come to it, so good luck."

Angie carefully turned the microphones back on gradually before finally cuing the four of them in.

"Go."

"...Hey Tyler."

Derek looked up once again in response to the third scene beginning after a long silence. Sidney and Greg both noticed that he was look a bit wearier than before. It looks like this method was actually having an effect on the doctor.

"How're you doing, Amy?"

"Not so good..."

"Oh, that sucks. Sorry I made you get up... Derek, this is my sister, Amy. She's been hospitalized here for two years."

"You mean she's been infected with GUILT?"

"Yeah..."

All three men were surprised, though Sidney and Greg were forced to keep it in. This was supposed to seem as though Derek was being delusional, so they weren't allowed to respond to anything that they heard because he was the only one who was supposed to hear it. However, the two brothers were still allowed to talk amongst themselves to make it so they weren't just standing there.

"H-How did they pull that off?" Greg hissed to his younger sibling. "I swear the voice sounded exactly like..."

"...mine." Derek had the same thought. "I'm in this memory." He closed his eyes, allowing the pain to form this time. He suddenly felt the urge to remember; it was almost like an addicting drug. He just couldn't keep his hands off of it.

He allowed the voices to fill in the sounds of his flashback.

"Amy's condition is the reason I came here in the first place."

Derek was now watching a blonde-haired surgeon speak. It was the same man whom he had encountered back at Palmwood, except in this flashback, he looked a lot different, but he was sure that he was the same person. "Amy, this is Derek Stiles. He's an old friend of mine. He's going to be treating you, so go easy on him, okay?"

His point of view then turned to a young girl with brown hair. "...Hee, okay."

"...Amy... C-Chase..." Derek said to himself. "She's... his sister... my old friend's s-sister... She had Deftera too, but I managed to save her despite his desire to perform euthanasia on her. I can remember her, but why can't I remember him though?"

Back in his flashback, himself and the blonde-haired surgeon walked out of the recovery ward where Amy and Leslie were and out in the lobby. The daytime Sun was shining brightly through the open windows of Caduceus. The surgeon in front of him had a sorrowful look on despite the peaceful weather and his normally cheerful disposition.

"You must be going through a lot, Tyler..." It was him again.

"Yeah, I guess it must be payback for what I've been doing, huh?"

"Huh?"

"...Look dude, I know you saw my paper and that letter... I've been practising euthanasia ever since I graduated. ...That's my deep dark secret..."

"Death Doctor..." Derek found himself whispering aloud. "...Tyler..."

"I'd heard rumours, but I never thought the death doctor could be someone like you... Why would you do that?"

"...One of the professors I had before we met had died of cancer. It was already too late when they found it... Professor Bonca told them that himself. All he had left to look forward to were a few weeks of suffering and painful treatments. Good people shouldn't have to go through pain like that before they die. ...So I gave him a painless death."

"But, that's—!"

"...Tyler Chase..." Derek looked up to look at the two people watching him closely. They seemed to be fully aware of the voices too. "You can hear them, can't you?" he then said.

"...What are you talking about?" Sidney asked. He was worried that Derek was onto them.

"...The voices of memories." Derek stated calmly, despite the pain that streaked across his mind at the word memory. He was admitting the fact that he was beginning to remember certain things, but he didn't care. "This was all part of your plan, wasn't it?" The tone and volume of his voice escalated with each word. "Somehow, these voices describing stories of the life I apparently had are supposed to make me remember, but I can tell you now that it's not working. You see—"Derek clutched onto his head; his head was on fire. His fingertips were dipped in sweat that was immediately created. The temperatures that were once fine suddenly became a lot hotter.

Something was happening.

"Stiles...!" Greg exclaimed. He moved to help him out somehow, but Derek slapped his arm away when he moved it forward.

"Ugh... get away and leave me be!" he exclaimed angrily, trying to fight off the pain. He wriggled around in his chair, trying to find a comfortable spot, but it was useless. All he could do was pretend that it didn't hurt even though it was searing. He tried his best to stay still, but the effort caused a tear to drip from his eye.

"We're almost at his breaking point!" Sidney exclaimed. He nearly screamed it out, but quickly turned the volume of his voice down, forcing himself to swallow back his excitement. "Greg, you have to get them to move on to the last scene!"

"But he looks like he's in pain, Sidney. Shouldn't we help him first?" Greg protested.

"This might be the effects of the trigger. This may be the only chance we have to regain his memories, so tell them to move on!" Sidney then glanced solemnly at Derek. "I'm sorry about this..."

"Derek..." Angie whispered. Everyone in the room watched the TV being fed by the short-circuit camera located in the office. They were witnessing everything occurring in Sidney's office. "Does remembering hurt that much...?"

"Angie, we have to move on." Tyler said softly as he placed his arm gently over her shoulder. "You heard what Sidney said; this may really be our only chance of getting him to remember. I feel that we're almost there." He then turned to the crowd behind him. "We're jumping to the final scene; the one I feel should be well-suited for this."

Kenneth, Angie, and Yuri then stepped forward. These three were the only ones who were in this last event.

"I'm sure this will get Derek to remember the most important part of his forgotten life." Tyler stated as he scanned over his script once more. "Professor Blackwell, will you be okay to do this?"

"If it is to save Stiles, then yes." Kenneth replied. "I have yet to pay him back for what I've done; if this is the way to do it, then so be it." He looked to his daughter whose expression was blank. He didn't know what was running through her head, but considering the scene, he could make a pretty accurate guess. "Are you okay, Angie?"

Angie turned to her father. "Yes, Father." she replied, and then proceeded to let out a deep long sigh. "This scene even makes me feel overcome with memories of my own."

"I'm glad it turned out this way though." Kenneth replied. "If it went the way I had intended to at the time, I wouldn't be able to do this." He then moved and gave his daughter a soft kiss. "Thank you."

"We have to start now." Angie replied. "And no problem."

Yuri smiled. He didn't know any of them, but the relationship between each of the people around him were helping the man piece together the entire story.

"Let's begin." Tyler declared. He then proceeded to turn up the microphones.

"...Professor?"

"Aww, dammit." Derek hissed to himself when the voice reached his ears. "...There's one more..." He shut his eyes tightly, bracing himself for the pain from the memory that was about to come. Then, like a speeding bullet, it came and pierced his head. The darkness that once covered his sight flashed white and engulfed his senses, once again throwing him back into the world of his forgotten self.

He found himself in an oddly coloured laboratory known as the Eidoth Research Lab. The place was messy which was unlike the normal conditions for the place. Around him were several computers and beakers filled with liquids and specimens. Beside him was the blonde nurse who he just realized always seemed to accompany him; Angie Thompson. He and this woman must have a tight bond. Before him was another man he seemed to be in great pain; Kenneth Blackwell.

Angie said nothing in response. To Kenneth, it seemed as though Derek was the only one here because he was the only one he could hear. The pain completely blinded him; he could barely see.

"Who...are you...?" The professor struggled to speak, let alone stand up and try to look at Derek in the face.

"I'm a doctor from Caduceus." Derek stated. "...You're going to be okay, sir. We need to operate immediately... Please don't resist."

To Kenneth, the idea of resisting was rather preposterous. He barely had any energy left to stay alive; with the GUILT he had implanted inside of himself, he knew that he was just on the brink of death. Even as he stood there, the Savato was draining away his life force with the webbing it had covered his entire heart with. Despite this, he stepped back. He didn't want this doctor to be interfering with the fruition of eternal peace.

"Heh... I think you're confused." Kenneth found a piece of himself to convert to energy and let out a weak and desperate chuckle. "But... no matter... it's too late."

"That isn't true." Derek declared in response. His face was strict and stern and, though he knew that they just didn't have time to be chatting like this, he remained calm and patient. "We saved your colleagues and we can save you." he continued.

"...Yes, I was disappointed by how quickly you stopped my GUILT..." Kenneth replied. "You found ways to treat all six strains... You've definitely proven your surgical ability. But... the GUILT inside me is unlike anything you have ever seen... Now that Savato is complete, this facility means nothing... So, I'm ending it all before Delphi can... Go...! A pathetic sinner like me isn't... worth saving..."

"...Sinner..." Derek whispered. All the information on the Sinners rushed back to him. The feelings that came along with the event came about as well, completely blinding Derek. Despite his sudden outburst of thrashing around in his seat, trying to break free of the pain, his true conscious was still locked in the flashback.

"I'm a doctor." Derek protested sharply. "Helping people fight off disease is my job. You can worry about sin after I save your life."

"...None of us are allowed to die... It's exactly what he said... But that doesn't matter... I've made my choice."

"Why did you create GUILT?" Derek turned to find that Angie had finally spoken up. Kenneth was surprised that there was a third person in the room, though he had suspected it from the start. The voice was familiar and he recognised it immediately; he knew it was Fate who made it so she was here before him. "You threw away your reputation, your life... even your family! Why, Father?"

"Angie... I was afraid that was you..." Derek turned to Angie's father who had spoken in response to Angie's outburst. He was already aware of the connection between the two, so he had been expecting something like this to occur. All he could do was back off and watch for a bit; only interjecting when he dubbed it necessary. "I wanted to die... so you never find out... about this..."

"Just tell me why!" Angie protested angrily.

"Angela Blackwell's father died... thirteen years ago... I'm just a ghost..." Derek noticed that throughout the course of this conversation, Kenneth's voice had been waning. His voice was a lot softer and he was breathing a lot heavier. A drop of sweat compiled on his brow and slid down until it fell off the professor's face. "Please... let me pass on..."

"You can't do this!" Angie exclaimed.

"...Is this the kind of father you WANT?" Somehow Kenneth managed to find energy to escalate his voice. Derek could tell that this was draining him. Another drop of sweat fell off his face, but as the brown-haired surgeon looked closely, he realized that this wasn't sweat this time; the professor was crying.

"It's my job to help people... and I do it proudly." Angie seemed to turn away, clutching onto her left arm with her right nervously. "I refuse to watch you die." she stated coldly.

"...As you wish..." Kenneth was close to submitting to his Fate. "But, you cannot defeat Death... it is not of this world..." Finally, he mercifully let down his guard knowing that he had depleted his entire energy resource.

Kenneth promptly collapsed to the ground.

"Begin anaesthesia." Derek said sternly. Angie placed an oxygen mask over her father's face and watched as his breathing slowed down as the medication did its work. "We'll start operating as soon as it takes effect... get ready, Angie."

"...And in the end, our heroes Derek Stiles and Angie Thompson save the day!" Derek clamoured with an almost joyful tone. He waved his hands in the air sarcastically as he chuckled like an idiot. His head still hurt like hell and he was chained to a frikin' chair that he himself had gotten into on purpose, but who cares?

All of these "memories" were gone now.
And he had no future to look forward to by the looks of things.

In other words, he was screwed.
But who the hell cares?

"...Stiles?" Sidney watched the doctor confusedly along with everyone else. "What's wrong?"

Derek stopped waving his arms and looked at Sidney in the eyes with the same ugly sneer he had on back in Palmwood. There was a thick silence before he spoke. "I'll tell you what's wrong, Sidney Kasal. Just about everything!" He slammed his fists against the armrests of the chair, not even minding the pain it brought. "This past these voices have shown me; I've already lost that. I have no job and I'm likely to go to jail right after this; I've lost my future too. I've got nowhere else to go... nowhere else to look to... I'm a ghost and THAT is why I am so damn SCREWED!"

He ripped off the HOA patch on his coat and fiercely whipped it across the room. The urge to crush and destroy something violently washed over him, but he couldn't move due to the shackles buckling him down to the chair. He tried to kick out of it, but the metal was thick and he was too blinded with fury to think straight. If he weren't in mass hysteria, he would've picked the lock and been free in three seconds.

He had finally lost it.

"Derek, calm down!" Greg exclaimed. "You'll hurt yourself!" He moved in to try and calm him down, but the surgeon pulled out a scalpel he had kept hidden in his sleeve all this time.

"Stop calling me that, dammit!" Derek screamed, making a wild arm gesture while doing so. He waved the scalpel around warily as a form of self-defence. "I'm not Derek Stiles...! I just can't be the same person in these memories! I mean, I look like him, I have the same voice, but I swear I can't be HIM!"

"Then who are you?"

"I-I... I don't know!" Derek's sneer turned into a look of panic and desperation. "Just shut up! Shut up or I swear I'll murder you in your sleep!" There was a crazed gleam in his eye and the way Derek held the scalpel made it seem like he really wouldn't hesitate to stab someone right in the neck and kill them if they so much as pissed him off.

For the first time, Sidney and Greg were actually afraid for their lives.

Suddenly, Angie and Adel burst into the office after sprinting from the other room, leaving everyone behind. As soon as they saw Derek snap, they bolted down here.

Derek turned and smiled at the two. "Oh, it's Adel and Angie!" he said in the cheeriest tone Angie had ever heard. The worst part was how it actually sounded genuine. "Hey, how's it going?"

"...Sidney, what's wrong with him?" Angie asked warily as she watched the doctor pick his teeth with the scalpel.

"We must have triggered mass hysteria." Greg replied worriedly. "I'm not sure what we'll do..."

"...We'll use this to our advantage." Sidney declared. Everyone turned to him with inquiring looks and Sidney sighed. "We can interrogate him now. He wouldn't speak before, but now... like I said countless times, this may be our only chance to find out the whole truth of the matter."

"...Alright Sidney, we'll go with your plan..." Greg sighed. "We'll have to be careful though... his mood is rather unstable..." He moved to speak to Derek, but the sight of the scalpel made him hesitant. "Someone want to go first..?"

Sidney sighed. He walked up in front of Derek who was watching him with a smile. "And what would you like, sir?" Derek asked.

"... Alright Doctor..." Sidney cut himself off; calling the surgeon in front of him Derek might snap him out of this mood. "...We need you to answer a few questions for us, okay?" Derek nodded slowly. Sidney signalled for Angie, knowing that she was probably the one who would be able to get anything through to Derek.

"Umm... Doctor..." Angie said hesitantly. "...Do you remember me...?"

"Of course I do. You're Angie Thompson." replied Derek. "You're the nurse that accompanied Derek in the majority of his operations."

"Yeah... that's me..." Angie replied. She was still trying to wrap her mind around how Derek was talking about himself in the third person and how his response didn't really say anything about him remembering her. "Did the... voices... help you remember everything?"

"Well... I guess..." Derek replied. "Not everything, but yeah, I did remember some things."

"Like what?"

"When you first came to Hope, Director Hoffman, Amy Chase..." Derek paused to try and remember the last part. "...And Savato..."

"Those are all of the scenes we did!" Angie thought to herself. "So they really DID help!" She looked up to the ceiling and pumped her arms up metaphorically in success.

"...Wait, how did you know about the voices?"

Angie turned quickly back to Derek in surprise. "What?"

"...Well, I thought I was the only one who knew about the voices." Derek replied. "Those two men over there didn't seem to be aware of them, but you weren't even in the room at the time and you know about them... how?"

"...Umm..." Angie turned to the men behind her for back-up, but they didn't know what to say. She sighed and turned back to Derek who was looking at her curiously like a little nine-year-old boy asking where babies come from. She sighed; she simply couldn't lie to him. "...The voices were part of our plan to help you remember your forgotten past. We all pitched in to voice the events."

"But then how did you play his voice? It sounded rather accurate..."

"Oh, some guy named Yuri came in. You can say hi to him later."

"Alright." Derek thought for a moment, and then turned to the Kasals who were standing side-by-side, which is a rare sight to see. "You two lied to me... why?"

"...Well, I'm sorry Doctor. It was the only way we could keep the illusion up and have our plan work." Sidney replied bluntly. Greg was about to interject and try to make it sound a bit more friendly, but sighed and gave up before even trying.

With the words, Derek's expression shifted from a content mood to a rather sad a mournful state; the equivalent to what he feels like right after operations that involved him using his Healing Touch.

"Next question..." Adel stated, completely ignoring Derek's change in mood. He then stepped forward, allowing Angie to relax for a bit; being put on the spotlight like that was rather stressful. Greg had suggested this question to him just before he stepped forward. "...What do you remember about Adam?"

"...Adam..." Just the name alone took Derek back in time. He remembered the siege of the Delphi base in the middle of the ocean. Feelings of anger and disgust came over him. "Sinners... how could he?" He then looked to Adel in remorselessly. "Yeah, I remember that bastard. He kidnapped children, and then implanted GUILT into them and used them as incubation."

Despite his angry fist clenching, Derek found himself involuntarily tightening the grip. The once unbearable pain instantly grew till it was twice the amount it was previously. The thoughts of Adam instantly brought with it memories that it was connected to like the entire GUILT war he fought off.

The trigger was humungous.

He shut his eyes tightly and before his eyes flashed various memories that seemed to just crash right into him all at once.

...

He suddenly found himself in an operating room. Everything was monotonous and those assisting him all had masks on; he couldn't even see their faces. He was just finishing suturing the entry wound on the third patient when suddenly another person bursts in with the grave news. She, along with another person, wheels in the final patient in the string of continuous patients, insisting that Derek save him.

A steady hum filled the room.

"Dammit, what's happening to the patient?" Derek cried out.

"Doctor, his vitals are critical!" the woman who burst in screamed. The world around him was suddenly blurred. He could see nothing else but the patient who was dying right before him. The only sounds he could hear were her voice, his own thundering heartbeat, and the droning of the flat-lining ECG.

"I-I don't know what to do!" Derek exclaimed. He was very confused in the situation. After all, he had JUST landed here in the middle of the chaos. "I—"

"The patient is undergoing cardiac arrest!" the woman stated hectically, only adding to the building stress in Derek.

"Get the defibrillator!" Derek finally declared. Someone brought him the paddles. Derek applied the gel onto the paddles and placed the pads on the patient. "Alright, charge it to 200!" he bellowed. The hum of the machine went right in harmony with the flatline. "Clear!"

The body jumped up with the shock.
But there was no response in the ECG.

"We've got no pulse!" the nurse exclaimed.

"Quick, charge it to 300!" Derek yelled back. His eyes were teary now. "Clear!"

"There's still no response!"

"360 now!" The whining of the machines around him along with the nurse's bickering all began to ultimately blend together until it was all just one sound to Derek. "Clear!" he screamed desperately. "Come back, dammit!"

"...I'm sorry..." The girl sighed in defeat. She, along with everyone, had already called it in.

"Let's try it again!" Derek refused to give up on the patient. "Clear!" Unfortunately, there was still no response whatsoever.

"Doctor! Stop it already!" the nurse cried out in panic. "It's been 10 minutes since he began to flatline! Give it up already! Let him leave in peace!"

"No way! I'm not giving up on you!" Derek protested. "I will save you!" He pressed the paddles against the patient for the umpteenth time. "Clear!"

"Doctor!" This time, the woman grabbed Derek's arms and pulled them behind the surgeon's back against his will. In the struggle, Derek ended up dropping the paddles on the ground. "Stop it, Derek!" she screamed. "...There's nothing we can do from here..."

"NO!" the brown-haired surgeon screamed hoarsely. It has now been fifteen minutes since the patient began flat-lining. "My Healing Touch—" He tried his best to get out of the nurse's grip, but it was futile.

"Dr. Stiles!"

"I won't believe it!" He was in a flurry of tears and his attempt to break free had weakened significantly. As his body came to the realization that it really was too late, the thought consumed all of his energy; even the energy produced from the adrenaline now coursing through his veins.

"Dr. Stiles..." The nurse let go of the surgeon. Derek slumped over the patient, and then began to pound on his chest a few times in a desperate attempt to revive him, though it was pointless. He stopped after three tries and sobbed. He had to hold onto the gurney to support himself; his legs forgot how to hold him up. "...It's all over..."

"EMILIO!"

"GAAAH!" Derek screamed out as the tremendous feelings broke out of his flashback and into reality. He began to sob; waterfalls were instantly formed in his eyes. "NOOOOO!" he roared out. The pain almost felt as though it engulfed him; it manifested everywhere.

The memories of his ultimate defeat; Emilio.
That was the final nail to the coffin.

The memory lock was shattered.
The GUILT was free.

"Dr. Stiles!" the four of them screamed in unison. They ran to his side; all that pain allowed enough energy to break through the thick metal shackles through brute force. Derek had fallen to the ground, dropping the scalpel as well. He was struggling to breathe; the pain was too much, yet it wouldn't let him mercifully enter the realm of unconsciousness.

But as soon as the memory lock shattered, everything to him flashed white.
And for a few moments, Derek Stiles ceased to exist.

...

The screaming suddenly stopped and there was a thick and powerful silence. No one dared moved, afraid that a single movement might trigger an apocalypse.

Finally, Sidney built up the courage to defy everything. "Stiles!" he exclaimed. He moved to check his pulse, assuming that he suffered a heart attack and was in desperate need of resuscitation. His fingers pressed down on the side of his neck, causing Derek's body to twitch. Sidney sighed as soon as he found a pulse, but the relief didn't last too long.

The surgeon began to move until he was sitting up on the floor, his eyes closed, laughing.

"Hehe..." The laugh sounded a lot deeper than usual.

"...Derek?" Angie asked sceptically. "...Are you okay?"

"...Why wouldn't I be?" the surgeon replied. "The gift of Bliss has finally come to fruition. Finally, I accomplish something no other man has done!"

Adel was the only one in the room who had never heard of the term Bliss. Everyone else was in shock after hearing what Derek had just said, mainly because they comprehended the full power of the term. "What is he talking about?" Adel asked. "What's Bliss?"

"...It's the eighth GUILT." Angie hissed back as she turned to face the Costigese surgeon. It was hard for her to take her attention away from Derek, even though every part of her body was glad that she turned away because it gave her a chance to pray that what she had just witnessed was all but a crazed fantasy. "It was one of Adam's prophecies for GUILT."

"So why is Derek mentioning it?"

"...I'm not sure." Angie replied. She finally turned to face Derek once more. "What are you talking about, Derek? Bliss isn't real!"

Derek gave her a dark glare. Angie noticed that his eyes seemed dull, lifeless, and almost seemed as though they were sinking into his face. His skin was a lot paler than usual. If he weren't moving, Angie could almost mistake him for a dead person. "Of course Bliss exists." He growled darkly. "As long as Life and Death exists, so will Bliss. It is only today does it arrive before humans."

"What nonsense are spewing out, Stiles?" Greg exclaimed.

"What I mean is that I am its avatar; the embodiment of Bliss!" he replied. "The Healing Touch... a gift from Asclepius... bah! GUILT gave me more and all throughout that time, it has never retaliated."

"What are you saying...? You have... GUILT...?" Angie thought about how this new piece fit in to this entire story. "...That would be the final piece of the puzzle..."

"That would explain his strange behaviour; especially now." Greg stated. "Right now, the GUILT in him is doing the talking. That's, in no way, Derek."

"He never was this entire time..." Sidney retorted.

"Ha! Now you see!" the surgeon scoffed. "Of course I can't be your innocent little Derek Stiles; master of surgery and overall nice guy."

"So is your name... Derek Stiles?" Sidney asked. "...Or Daemon...?"

The brown-haired surgeon rolled his eyes. He had thought that they had understood the concept by now. "...No." The surgeon gave them all a wide grin. "Derek Stiles is dead. Daemon never existed. My name is Evdaimonia."

All those watching were shocked. They have heard of GUILT manipulating other people's thoughts and actions, but this is the first case where the GUILT had its own personality and was actually talking. The GUILT, Evdaimonia, had full control.

"What did you do to him?" Angie exclaimed angrily.

"I gave him everything he wanted, that's all." Evdaimonia explained. "He wanted the Healing Touch and save lives again; I gave his ability back to him with three times its capable power. He wanted to forget his painful past; I repressed his memories for as long as I could. I enhanced his physical and mental capacities and gave him a life of luxury... everything a human could ever want." The GUILT paused for a moment. "And in return, he gave me a home. He loved me and I loved him back because we knew that we would be together forever."

"What? There's no way that Derek would love GUILT!" Angie protested. If the GUILT weren't wearing Derek's face, Angie wouldn't hesitate to brutally murder him right now. "You must've manipulated his feelings in some way!"

Suddenly, Angie was on the ground after being brutally kicked down by Evdaimonia. The GUILT had used the Healing Touch to slow down time and do what was needed before cancelling it out once the deed was done.

"Don't mess with me, Thompson." the GUILT growled.

"...Evdaimonia, please continue..." Sidney interjected. His twin brother bent down and helped Angie up, explaining that Sidney was simply trying to get more information.

"Thank you for taking interest."

Evdaimonia paused for a moment, and then abruptly became rather upset. "...But then I could tell that inside, he was longing for something I couldn't give him. The feeling came up every single time that doctor and nurse were together. Then, when we went to Palmwood and met up with you fools, the memories began to fight to break free from the lock I had created on them. The pain you all brought to him by trying to make him remember; he soon found himself wishing for death." Evdaimonia then made a large sneer. "...And I gave him that too."

"No!" Angie screamed. "There's no way in hell that Derek could be dead!"

"And yet, here we are." Evdaimonia replied casually. "In return of his death, I was able to finally take the reins like I was destined to do. I, Bliss, have finally come to light."

"No, that can't be!" everyone exclaimed.

"Why do you even want that poor fool back anyway?" Evdaimonia asked. "I mean, even without me, he can't even save live anymore and he's a threat to society otherwise. He wanted to forget all of you too... and let's not forget that he abandoned you all on his own accord... even before I met him." The GUILT-possessed surgeon placed one of his hands into a pocket and sifted through until he found Derek's glasses. He then placed them on and shifted them by the bridge in a manner where the light bounced off the lens, making it hard to see his eyes. "I mean, wouldn't I make a better Derek?" Evdaimonia joked. "I will save this patient!" He stretched his hand out in the same way Derek would.

"You bastard!" Angie exclaimed. She began crying after watching Evdaimonia mock her beloved friend. "We don't need you here!" she screamed, tears flowing freely from her eyes. "Derek's our friend; you're nothing but a wannabe... a sequel. And we all know that sequels are never as good as the original."

"Bring Dr. Stiles back!" Adel replied.

"Yeah!" Everyone else insisted.

"Why, you are all such kind people!" Evdaimonia chortled sarcastically. "It's a wonder why Derek wanted to forget about you!" After seeing the four people before him stop moving in response to what he said, he began to laugh hysterically, having to clutch onto his stomach because the laughing fit was huge.

Out of nowhere, the laughing fit stopped.
It was abruptly cut to an end due to a sharp pain around the magnitude of the ones Derek received when he was about to remember something. The surprise attack knocked Evdaimonia to the ground.

...

Evdaimonia's vision blacked out and before him stood flashing images of a man that looked familiar. The man was around his late 20's with a white coat that had the Caduceus emblem standing out. The black shirt and pants wrapped around his fit body. He had soft brown hair and healthy peach skin. His glasses sharpened the contrast of his chestnut eyes, which looked stern.

"I...never wanted... to forget..." the man stated softly.

"What?" Evdaimonia was suddenly in a panic with the sight of the man. "But I thought— I thought I finished you off! "

"We're... in symbiosis..." the man replied. "...The only way... for you to kill me... is if you kill... yourself..."

"There's no way!" Evdaimonia screamed. "I thought I severed the bond enough!"

"Unfortunately... that's impossible." The man then stepped forward and grabbed onto Evdaimonia's collar aggressively. "...Now give me my life back!" The man punched Evdaimonia right across the face, then drop-kicked him just to make sure that he was completely knocked out. He then allowed the light of life to engulf him...

...

They were surprised by the odd pause Evdaimonia had taken, only to be broken by his screaming. However, the voice wasn't as deep as before.

"...You... guys...!"

"Derek?" Angie screamed. She quickly noted that the voice had reverted back to its original tone. She looked at the pained surgeon before her. He was struggling to stay in the same hellish state he was in because it was the only way he could retain his life and consciousness.

"This is your chance! You have to operate on me now!" Derek yelled. "Save me... before... Evdaimonia comes back! I can't hold him back for too long!" He clutched onto his head in pain and continued to wriggle. Angie and Adel then stepped forward and pulled Derek's arms away and forced him to lay flat on the ground against his will. Derek tried his best to co-operate, but instinct had taken over a while ago and it was hard to revert back.

Suddenly, Tyler and Leslie burst into the room, wheeling in a gurney. "Place him here!" Tyler exclaimed. All four lifted the pained surgeon off the ground and onto the bed. Leslie immediately placed an oxygen mask over Derek's face, causing him to instantly calm down as the anaesthesia took effect.

"Dr. Stiles..." Angie whispered in her mind. She knew he was still fighting and she had to do everything in her power to support him through to the end. She watched as Derek's eyes closed to a peaceful state, not knowing that this was all his conscious doing too. They all sprinted down the halls together and barged into a vacant OR where they knew that they had to start now or watch Bliss come to fruition for good.

"We have no choice but to save him now!" Tyler exclaimed.

"I agree completely. " Sidney replied. "Get Victor on the case now! Angie, begin prepping! We will need to succeed... or face losing Derek Stiles forever!"

The true battle finally begins.

A/N: Oh geez... 14 000 words... and that's BEFORE the editing stage! Awesome, this is officially the longest chapter I've ever written! So is this climax part deux? In my book, "Bliss" is not the name of a GUILT strand but rather a GUILT condition where the strand has completely corrupted the host's brain (like in Adam and I guess Derek in this story). Anyways, so it's obvious that next chapter is going to be pretty short considering that all there is to look forward is surgery... it's a shame that I suck at describing said surgeries, so just telling you guys ahead of time...

And for those of you who didn't know (*DOUBLE GASP*), Yuri Lowenthal is the American voice actor for Derek Stiles in the games, so that's why he OBVIOUSLY has the same voice as our beloved brown-haired surgeon (he also happens to voice Ben in Ben Ten, Suzaku in Code Geass, and a bunch of other characters too... my fav VA fo' shoor).

And I apologize for using quotes directly from the games and not changing it up by too much; unfortunately, I used up all of my creative juices a long time ago. LOL . I'm a witness to someone who has experienced mass hysteria... VERY touchy mood swings and referring to oneself in the third person are just a couple of the many aspects and symptoms of it; I swear it was freaky... o_0

So yeah, I hope you enjoyed!
One more chapter! Then the epilogue! =)

Me: Oh yeah, and in case you never knew, "Evdaimonia" is the Greek word for Bliss. All of the GUILT names used in Second Opinion/Under the Knife were based on the Greek days of the week (Kyriaki = Sunday, etc.) so I decided to stick to the base language.
Derek: I never knew you were Greek.
Me: I'm not. I just have the power of Google Translate. =P

...

Angie: Wow Tyler. I never knew you were such a brilliant scriptwriter! How did you get this? I swear you weren't even present when these events took place, yet you have everything down to the point... except you made me look a bit naggy.
Kenneth: And wasn't too fond with how you made me seem like a bad guy in here too...
Tyler: That's business, my friends... we have to make it feel as dramatic and outstanding as possible to help Derek remember!
Angie: I don't think we'll need the script anymore though... we have to operate!
Tyler: Yeah, yeah... *tosses out script in trash*

A few moments later...

ATLUS employee: Oh hey, what's this...? *browses through script found in trash* Hey, these are pretty neat ideas! This would be a brilliant idea for a video game! I'll name it... "Trauma Center"! *walks away contently*

^
| ...And that is how Trauma Center was born.