Riddled Part Two:
My parents, Scott, Lydia and I were all gathered in the corridor outside Stiles hospital room as we waited for the Sheriff to come back with news on how his son was doing after being found in Malia's coyote den by my father. My head jerked up from looking at the floor when I heard footsteps approaching us and I saw John walking down the corridor with a tired expression.
"He's sleeping now. And he's just fine. He doesn't remember much. It's a bit like a dream to him." He informed us all in an exhausted voice as he ran a hand down his face with a sigh and then turned to face my father with a sincerely grateful expression. "Thank you."
"It was that repellent we sprayed in the coyote den to keep other animals out. I couldn't go near it without my eyes watering. It's just a good thing he mentioned it over the phone." Dad stated modestly as he shook his head slightly and I clasped my hands together in front of me where I sat on the uncomfortable plastic chairs.
"No, it was more than that. Thank you."
"It was a lucky connection."
"McCall, can you shut up please and accept my sincerest gratitude."
"Accepted." Dad relented after a tense moment of silence as he held out his hand and John shook it with a nod of his head.
"All right, you three. You've got school in less than six hours. Go home. Go to sleep." Mom ordered Scott, Lydia and I sternly as she rounded on us with her hands on her hips and I nodded in agreement as I slowly pushed myself to my feet with a yawn escaping my lips. I gave John a quick hug, mom a kiss on the cheek and nodded towards my father before following my brother and friend towards the elevator.
"I don't know what happened. I was so sure." Lydia murmured quietly to herself under her breath as she shook her head slightly and I placed a soothing hand on the small of her back.
"Yeah, I wasn't much help either. Doesn't matter, if he's okay." Scott assured her softly as he placed a hand on her elbow and I hummed in agreement as I nodded absently. The strawberry blonde suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway with a confused expression on her face and I paused in front of her with a concerned frown with Scott right next to me. "Lydia, do you hear something?"
"No. I didn't hear anything."
"Are you sure?" I asked her in a worrying tone as I placed a hand on her arm and she just nodded mutely with a tight smile as she strolled past me. I let out a small sigh as I watched her walk over to the elevator and Scott touched my arm as my gaze drifted at the retreating figure over his shoulder. "I'll be right back."
"You sure?" my brother asked me warily as he followed my gaze down the hallway and I nodded absently as I brushed past him with a determined expression plastered on my face. I rushed down the hallway after the dark haired man and quickly followed him as he turned the corner into another corridor.
"Dad!" I called after him as I slowed down to a walk and he spun around to face me with a surprised look on his face. I breathed in sharply to prepare myself for what I had to say and my father furrowed his eyebrows together in confusion because I hadn't started a conversation with him since he had been back. "I just wanted to say thank you for finding Stiles."
"I was just doing my job." Dad muttered modestly as he shook his head slightly with a baffled expression still plastered on his face. I rolled my eyes at him in exasperation as I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest.
"Did you not learn anything from your discussion with Sheriff Stilinski?! Just take the damn gratitude."
"Right. Well, you're welcome." He said softly as he smiled at me slightly and I nodded back at him with a smile of my own. He opened his mouth to say something else but hesitated a moment before snapped his mouth shut with a frown. He nodded once with a sad smile as he slowly turned around and started walking down the hallway towards the exit. I exhaled sharply as I bit down on my lower lip and tried to ignore the almost guilty pit in my stomach as I watched his retreating back.
"Wait!" I called out after him loudly as I rushed forward a few more feet and he turned back around to face me with his eyebrows raised in question. "I-I know you probably think I hate you. I know that I've been acting like a total bitch since you've been back. But I don't."
"You don't?"
"No. No, I don't. I don't necessarily like you all that much but I don't hate you." I told him honestly as I took a slow step forward and he glanced down at the ground to hide the small amused smile playing on his lips. "I remember the night before you left." I said quietly as his head shot up in surprise and I saw the guilt swimming in his dark brown eyes. "I was six. And you came home late, drunk off your ass again, you and mom started fighting, loudly. It was so loud that it woke me up. I came out of my room at the same time as Scott and we both walked over to see what the hell was going on. Scott asked what was going on and you grabbed him by the wrist. He pulled back and he fell. I watched my twin brother tumble down the stairs. He was unconscious for probably 20 seconds and when he woke up, he couldn't remember a thing."
"Your mom told me to be out by the morning. That was the last time I ever had a drink." Dad informed me quietly as he ran his hand through his hair and I blinked in surprise as a small smile spread across my lips at his comment.
"You haven't had a drink in over 11 years?"
"Uh, no. I haven't."
"That house is full of accidents. The stairs? Maybe it was an accident. Maybe it was worse. But Scott healed. Just like he healed from the broken collar bone he got when he got his first skateboard and slid right into the edge of the window sill. Just like I healed from the broken hand I got when I was eight and I tried on mom's high heels and fell down the stairs. We don't need your apology, dad. We need you to be here. We need you to want to be here." I told him earnestly with unshed tears in my eyes and he studied my expression with sorrow filled eyes.
"I know. I know, and I'm going to be. I promise, Sophie."
I hesitated just outside the MRI room at the hospitable the next day as I nibbled my lower lip and wrung my hands in front of me as I shifted nervously on my feet. I could hear the quiet hum of the machinery, coupled with the soft voices of Stiles, John, Scott and my mother inside the room. I took a deep breath to steady my racing nerves as I slowly reached for the door handle and opened the door with a fake smile plastered on my lips as everyone in the room turned to face me. Stiles' was sitting on the edge of the MRI in a hospital gown and everyone else stood around with grim expressions.
"Hey." I greeted them with faux-brightness as I flounced into the room and linked my arm through my mother's as they smiled at me weakly. Before, anyone could say anything else the door opened once more and a middle aged male doctor walked into the room with a small smile.
"Good afternoon, Mr Stilinski. I'm not sure I know how to pronounce this. Or if it's not actually a misspelling." The doctor said in greeting as he glanced down at the clipboard in his hand and I stifled a chuckle with my hand as Stiles rolled his eyes.
"Just call him Stiles." John told him in an exhausted voice as he ran his hand through his hair and I slipped my hand into his in silent support as the doctor nodded slowly.
"Stiles, just to warn you, you're going to hear a lot of noise during the MRI. It's due to pulses of electricity going through metal coils inside the machine. Uh, if you want we can get you earplugs or headphones."
"Oh, no, no, I don't need anything." Stiles denied with a shake of his head as he swung his legs slightly and I gave him a small smile as he looked at each of us in turn.
"Hey, we're just on the other side of that window." John told him firmly as he brandished a finger towards the one-way glass window and Stiles nodded at him with a small smile on his lips. I watched as the Sheriff stepped forward and wrapped his son in a tight embrace. I felt my chest tighten at the sight of the pair and I turned my head into the crook of my mother's neck as she rubbed soothing circles on my back. I heard footsteps heading towards the door so I lifted my head and saw John standing in the doorway as mom slowly followed him. Both the adults exited the room as Scott wrapped a supportive arm around my waist and I leaned into him with my head resting on his shoulder.
"You crying?" Stiles asked me softly with amusement in his voice as he jerkily nodded in my direction and I forced out a scoff as I picked up my head from my brothers shoulder.
"No. I'm not crying. God!" I muttered in a strained voice as I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand and both of the boys chuckled weakly at me as I crossed my arms over my chest.
"You know what they're looking for, right? It's called frontotemporal dementia. Areas of your brain start to shrink. It's what my mother had. It's the only form of dementia that can hit teenagers. And there's no cure." Stiles informed us in a voice so quiet that I almost didn't hear it even with my supernatural hearing. I let out a raggered breath I didn't know I had been holding and I looked down at the ground so that the boys wouldn't see the tears that were burning my eyes.
"Stiles, if you have it, we'll do something. I'll do something." Scott said softly in a hard tone as I rested my hand on my cheek and I saw Scott discreetly wipe away a tear as he stared at Stiles meaningfully. The realisation of what he was talking about was clear in my mind and I knew that Stiles also knew that Scott was talking about giving him the Bite if it came down to it. Stiles held his gaze with understating written all over his face as he nodded slightly and I watched with my eyes blurry with tears as the two boys embraced tightly. I covered my mouth with my hand to stop the heart-wrenching sob that was creeping up my throat and I ran out of the room without looking back as the tears started to flow uncontrollably.
The mere thought of Stiles dying was almost as unimaginable as Scott dying. He was my brother. He was a part of me. I couldn't picture a world without him in it.
I rushed down the hallway without actually seeing where I was looking and my peripheral vision blurred into messy streaks of colour. My breathes were coming out in sharp huffs as I jerked to a stop in front of the closed elevator doors and rapidly pressed the 'up' button with my finger. I tangled my free hand into my hair as I squeezed my eyes shut against the tears burning my eyes and the sighed in relief when the double doors slid open to reveal an empty room. I stepped inside the elevator as I hit the closed door button and the doors slid closed as the elevator car jerked in motion. I felt a small prick in the side of my chest as I struggled to breathe and I covered my face with both of my hands as I started to hyperventilate. I stumbled forward to hit the red emergency stop button at the control panel so that the doors didn't open and I cringed at the shrill alarm that started blaring as I stepped back so that my back was against the back wall. I slowly slid down the wall as the tears I was trying to hold back started to fall from my eyes and I let out a strangled sob as I bent my knees up to my chest like a child. My whole body shook with my broken sobs as I cried uncontrollably into my knees and the aching in my chest slowly started to ease as I let all the pent-up angst out into the world.
Stiles. No. Stiles. Sick. Stiles. No. Stiles. Can't happen. Stiles.
No, I couldn't do this. I couldn't break down right now. I needed to be strong. For Stiles. For John. For Scott. For my mom. For Lydia. I needed to be strong enough to help them through this.
I took a deep breathe to calm my racing heart rate as I tilted my head back against the wall with my eyes closed and I inhaled through my nose as I straightened my legs out in front of me.
"Okay. Okay. I can do this." I murmured to myself under my breath as I slowly pushed myself to my feet and I wiped the tears that were streaking down my cheeks with the heel of my hand. I flicked my hair over my shoulder as I plastered a fake smile on my lips and I pressed the emergency button again as the elevator jerked to a start. The elevator doors slid open to reveal an empty hallway and I walked out with a small smile on my lips as I strolled to the waiting room where Scott was sitting with his head in his hands.
"Hey. You okay?" Scott asked me in a small voice as I sat down next to him in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs and I nodded with a twitch of my lips as I slipped my hand into his for comfort.
"Scott. Sophie." I heard Derek say softly from the doorway and my head shot up in surprise as I looked at the green eyed werewolf. "We need to talk."
"What's going on?" I asked him in confusion as he walked over to the opposite wall of seats and sat down with a sad expression on his handsome face.
"I think I know what's going on with Stiles." he explained quietly as he looked in between the two of us and I frowned at him in confusion as I leaned back in my seat. "I think Stiles is the Nogitsune. William Barrow used Kira's foxfire to jumpstart the power of the Nogitsune so that it could take over Stiles."
"You think Stiles, skinny, defenceless, Stiles is the Nogitsune, a powerful dark spirit?"
"It was your boyfriend's idea actually. But, yeah, I think it's using Stiles' body as a host." Derek admitted sadly as he clasped his hands in front of him and I stood up from my seat abruptly as I pressed my lips together in a tight line.
We all sat in complete silence for a few minutes as we thought about the consequences of Stiles being the Nogitsune and I paced back and forth as I tried not to lose my mind with concern for my adopted brother.
"You know the stuff you we're telling me about chemo signals earlier? It reminded me of the time you we're teaching me to use anger to control the shift." Scott told Derek softly with a small smile on his lips as he leaned forward in his seat and I stopped pacing to seat down next to my brother with a sigh.
"I think you ended up teaching me more about that."
"Are you teaching me again?"
"Think of it more like sharing a few trade secrets." Derek replied easily with a slight grin as he looked at us and I kicked off my heels to get comfortable because knew this was going to be a while. "You know, I took Cora back to South America, right? It's where she spent most of her time after the fire. But that's not the only reason I left. I needed to talk to my mother."
"Talia? Your dead mother?" I asked him sceptically in surprise as I raised my eyebrows at him and he glanced at me with a smile as he nodded in clarification.
"She told me something that changed my perspective on a lot of things. She said that my family didn't just live in Beacon Hills. They protected it. This town needs someone to protect it. Someone like you two."
"And someone like you to teach us a few trade secrets." Scott pointed out in amusement with a serious undertone and Derek ducked his head modestly with a smile on his lips. I chuckled a little as I nodded in agreement with brother and Scott abruptly stood up with a look of realisation on his face.
"What?" I asked him in confusion as my eyebrows scrunched together and Derek raised his eyebrows at my bother in question.
"He was trying to protect us. Stiles was protecting us. From himself." He explained in a hurry as he looked in between the two of us and my eyes widened in realisation as I stood up from my seat at the same time as Derek. Scott grabbed my hand as he started pulling me towards the stairwell that lead to the roof and Derek rushed after us with the same realisation on his handsome face.
"What are we looking for?" Derek asked Scott curiously as we rushed onto the roof in the cool night air and we split into different directions looking for something to tell us what Stiles was trying to do.
"I'm not sure, but I think Stiles wasn't just up here struggling with himself. I think he was struggling not to do something."
"Sounds like Stiles." I murmured to myself quietly as I discreetly sniffed the air to get a taste of the different chemo signals and smelt anxiety, stress and fear. I followed the trail to the middle of the roof where a metal cage was constructed around a structure and found Scott and Derek standing near the gate as I offered them a helpfully reassuring smile. Scott reached up on to the roof of the structure and pulled down a duffel bag of electrical equipment that fell open as it landed on the ground. My eyes widened in surprise as I bent down to touch the pair of pliers that had fallen out of the bag and I shot my head up to look at the boys with a panicked expression because we had to find out what the Nogitsune had done. I stood up from my crouch as I looked around at the wires connected to the panel inside the gate and I blindly hit Derek's stomach to get his attention when I caught sight of a frayed electrical wire. The three of us stared up at the damaged wire with horrified looks and I jumped in surprise when a transformer box exploded in a mess of flying sparks. Derek pulled me back into his chest as he covered my head from the sparks and I cringed into him as we all stumbled back so that we wouldn't get hit. One of the live power lines started whipping around wildly as we stared in horror and watched helplessly as the sparkling wire flew towards the edge of the roof.