You know, when he was lying unconscious on Scott's couch, the nogitsune didn't look that harmful. That is to say, he looked like Stiles again, and all the harm that did cause was purely emotional.
The sheriff saw me averting my gaze as I walked across the room towards him. "Personally, I can't stop looking," he said as he handed me a cup of coffee. "I'm finding it difficult to believe that that's not him."
"It is, somewhere. I think the possession can only push Stiles' spirit aside, not out. He would need somewhere to go." I sipped my coffee. "Anyway, don't you have your hearing coming up in a few hours?"
The sheriff sighed. "Don't remind me."
"Comment withdrawn," I said, just the doorbell rang. "Oh great," I muttered, putting down my coffee and making my way over to Stiles. As Scott ran down the stairs, I put my claws back into the nogitsune's arm. I used my other arm to give Scott a thumbs up. Scott opened the door and let Lydia and Aiden in.
"Sorry we're late," Lydia said as she walked in. "I drove to Eichen House by mistake. I heard the GPS give instructions, but apparently it wasn't even turned on."
"It wasn't," Aiden added.
"I almost took us there a second time, but then the GPS suddenly stopped." She sat down next to me with a sigh, grimacing when she saw my claws in Stiles' arm. "Gross."
"It's real fun for me too," I said, frowning as I looked at the arm. The set of claw marks next to where I'd just taken them out looked way better than they should. "Shit, that looks like it's healing."
The sheriff immediately came over. "Isn't that good?"
"Not if it is healing that fast. That's…" I sighed, "Not human."
"Well if we're not going to kill him, can't we at least tie him up in big chains?" Aiden asked, just as Deaton came walking down the stairs.
"I might have something more effective," he said, holding up a vial. "Kanima venom. Paralysing, but harmless. I'm not sure what the effect of repeated doses from Lorraine's claws are, so this is the safer option." He unscrewed the top of the vial, which was attached to a dropper, and let venom drop into Stiles' mouth. "That should work for at least an hour."
With a sigh of relief, I took out my claws and let them grow back. "Thanks, doc. But what do we do next? Change the body of the host, but it's not like we can make the nogitsune go into someone else."
"I could bite him," Scott offered, though he didn't sound too sure himself, "but he's never asked to be a werewolf."
"And he might not survive," Deaton added.
Lydia, who had moved to the back of the room to do something on her phone, stepped forward. "I might know someone who could help…" she had a pained expression on her face, "Peter. His memories got taken, but he now knows he has a daughter. He doesn't know who. I do."
We all looked at each other in silence. Eventually, the sheriff sighed. "If you think he can be trusted and he has another way…"
I frowned at Lydia. "Who is his daughter?"
"Malia."
~o~
Peter was more than willing to help once Lydia promised him the name of his daughter. "Scott is going to try and dig through pale and sickly evil Stiles' mind to unearth pale and sickly real Stiles," he said with a sly smile, "then guide him back from the depths of his own subconscious. But he's not going to do it alone."
"What do you mean?" Scott asked.
Peter's gaze turned to me. "Somebody needs to go in with you."
I shrugged. "Fine by me." I sat down on the couch next to not-Stiles. He had woken up by the time Peter got to Scott's house, but the kanima venom worked just fine. He could only move his head, and his mouth had tape over it.
Scott moved to stand behind us, claws out. "What do we do if we find him?"
"You're going to have to guide him out somehow," Peter said, moving Scott's claws to my neck. "Try to give him back control over his mind, his body."
Lydia was nervously pacing the room. "Could you elaborate on the somehow? It's not feeling very specific at the moment."
Peter put Scott's other hand at Stiles' neck. "Improvise," he said with a shrug, before stepping back and folding his arms.
"How do we know that this isn't going to be just another trick?" Scott asked.
Peter shook his head in exasperation. "When are you people going to start trusting me?"
"I meant him," Scott said with a nod to Stiles.
"Oh."
"Scott," Deaton said, "We're running out of time."
The feeling of Scott's claws piercing through the back of my neck was painful, but quickly overshadowed by the sensation of what I can only describe as being pulled out of my own body. When I regained control, I found myself lying strapped to some sort of hospital bed. I turned my head and saw Scott laying in the same position on another bed.
Shivers ran down my spine as whispers echoed around us, coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once. I pulled at restraints around my arms and legs, but they wouldn't budge. The band going over my chest was not helping, I couldn't get up enough to get my wings out. I wasn't much stronger when shifted, but it did help a bit. Especially with the pain.
Scott wasn't having a much easier time, but eventually I heard a grunt and the sound of leather breaking. He came over and undid my restraints. "What now?" he asked.
I looked around the room. The window to the outside had limited view due to an absurd amount of fog. There was one door leading outside. "I suggest we try the door." I put my hand on the handle and stopped for a second before reaching my other hand out to Scott. He frowned, but clasped his hand in mine. "This might be Stiles' mind, but a trickster spirit is ruling over it. Best not to get separated." He nodded, and I pulled at the door.
As soon as we stepped through it, the opening disappeared. The scent in the air sent my heart into a panic, and Scott used his free hand to cover his nose. It wasn't even a harsh scent, or it wouldn't be to anyone human. It was metallic, like blood, but mixed with something acidic.
"What is this place?" Scott asked, his voice slightly muffled. "It smells like…"
"Death?" I asked, my voice thin. "I know."
A scream sounded in the distance, echoing through the bare concrete hall. I felt myself being pulled away, as if I were falling asleep. Then I felt something grab my hand, and my attention was pulled back to Scott.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"This was where I received my… training." Torture was a more fitting word, but Scott nodded and started gently pulling me along. Several times I heard or saw something that pulled me away, but Scott had a tight grip on my hand.
"It's a trick, okay? Just a trick."
But my feet froze to the ground when I looked back to see a figure striding towards us from down the hall. Its image flickered, from Cassandra to someone else, wrapped in bandages and wearing old military clothes. Scott's voice faded away. I couldn't move, I couldn't think, I… just stood there. Terrified.
"Lora!"
Lydia's voice came over me like a bucket of ice cold water. I could register Scott's voice again, his hand in mine, and his other arm around my waist, trying to pull me along. I stopped resisting, and we ran through the door at the end of the hallway.
"Thanks," I muttered as I took in our new surroundings. It looked like we were in some sort of parking garage, but everything was white and smooth, the white LEDs over our heads almost blinding.
"Don't mention it," he said, out of breath as he looked around. The door behind us had disappeared, and there were no other doors in this place. In the middle of the room, which was still a good distance away, were Stiles and the bandaged man, sitting on the nemeton's stump. From where we were standing, it looked like they were playing some sort of board game. Scott and I looked at each other and tentatively let go of each other's hand. We started running towards Stiles, but it was like running in a dream. No matter how far we ran, we couldn't get closer.
"Stiles!" Scott yelled, and I joined in. No response, he didn't even look.
Out of breath, I leant on my knees, panting. I half-heartedly smacked Scott on his shoulder. "Try howling."
"Howling?" he said with a frown.
"You're the alpha. It's how pack members find each other." Over on the nemeton, the bandaged man had turned its head towards us. "Now we've got some attention."
Scott smirked and turned into werewolf form. I was just in time plugging my ears, or I'm sure I would've burst an eardrum with the giant roar he let out seconds afterwards. It sounded nothing like a wolf's howl, but for the first time Stiles looked away from the game in front of him and towards us. He looked back at the board and threw all the pieces into the air. The nogitsune let out an infuriated roar as Stiles scrambled off the nemeton and ran towards us.
Scott and I awoke with a gasp. Stiles didn't move.
