Chapter 25

3rd POV

Stiles found himself in the boys locker/changing rooms rummaging through his locker as he climbed into his lacrosse uniform next to his best friends Nico and Percy, this morning's events still playing through his head as he saw that "himself that wasn't him" in the mirror. It had been on his mind all day and was confusing him as to what it could be, he's never seen something like that before but he wasn't going to let it scare him as much as it already has been.

His thoughts were broken by a loud ringing from the coach's whistle, causing him to stop what he was doing. Stiles walked closer to hear the coach talk, although half the time they never really listened, as it was just some speech taken from the Independence Day film. Stiles couldn't focus on the coach's words, instead looking around the room before wandering over to the showers.

He made his way to the sinks and pulled his jersey off throwing it over his good shoulder as he cupped some water in his hands and splashed it on his right shoulder. After clearing a wound that wasn't there, he slid his jersey back on and making his way back to the group. But they was gone. Stiles shrugged and made his way out the locker rooms, the corridors being rather empty for his liking as he made his way out to the back of the school and onto the lacrosse pitch.

"What...the..." Stiles exclaimed as he was greeted by darkness and the lacrosse pitch lights illuminating certain patches of the grass where bodies were scattered, slashed, and bleeding out.

Stiles begun to run closer to examine what the hell was happening, it was morning a minute ago and now it's pitch black and some sort of slaughter scene. He looked around ferociously for help and tried to yell but his voice was drowned out and unable to be heard. He could feel tears forming in his eyes from the fear as he begun to run again, falling to his knees from exhaustion landing in a patch of light next to a body. He opened his eyes to see his father's body, laying limp, slashed open and injured in many places. Stiles' eyes widened in fear, he screamed as loud as he could but again no sound came out. He gripped hold of his father's body, pulling it close to his chest as he let the tears burn through his eyes, falling on the ground below him as he squeezed his father tight. Rocking back and forth as he tried to make as much noise as he could, screaming, crying, and kicking his feet for anyone to hear him.

"Stiles!" He heard being yelled, it was like someone was underwater and yelling his name.

"Stiles!" He heard it again; he looked down seeing his father looking up to him. Stiles stumbled back, dropping his father from his arms as he tried to crawl away.

"Wake up Stiles!" His father yelled, before quickly snapping back into reality. Stiles begun to yell in fear again, tears streaming from his eyes as he gripped onto the nearest thing close to him in fear shaking furiously and his breathing, and heart speeding up rather quickly.

"STILES! IT'S ME!" Percy yelled in a panic, feeling Stiles's tight grip on his arm.

Stiles opened his eyes seeing he was back in the locker room, sat on the floor and his back against the wall surrounded by his lacrosse team and his coach all with concerned looks on their faces, as Nico placed his hand on Stile's arm making sure he knew he was okay.

Stiles was unable to speak, he was confused, terrified, in fact he felt every emotion right now. On the bad side of course. He was still gripped onto Percy's arm, terrified to let go in case he slipped back into the darkness that he just experienced. He pulled himself to his feet with the help from Scott as the others begun to ask if he was okay. He could feel his own sweat dripping off of his forehead as his vision was blurry and the sounds blurred out from his ears no longer feeling a grip on his arm, feeling the panic again.

He quickly fell, blacking out as he hit the floor with a thud. Luckily Percy and Nico were able to catch his head before it hit the floor.

4 hours later at the hospital

Stiles POV

"Okay, what happened after that?" A woman spoke, her voice sweet with a hint of concern.

"H-He just collapsed, he woke up screaming. I don't know what happened. We just found him on the floor, and then he woke up screaming and absolutely terrified." Another voice explained, their voice sounding more concerned than the female.

"Is he going to be okay?" He heard another voice, but this time a different tone of a male voice, older. He'd heard it before.

"He's fine, he just passed out from fright as it seems from the story we're being told. If you hadn't have caught his head before the fall he could've suffered severe damage to the head. Right now he's asleep and should be waking up any time soon from his dose of pain relief, as soon as he wakes up I want you to let us know okay?" The woman's voice was heard saying again.

"Why? Can't we just take him home?" He heard a man say.

"Once he's awake we're going to have to ask him some questions, figure out what happened in his point of view so we can connect pieces together." The woman explained again, placing a gentle hand on Stiles arm, he felt the warmth of her skin before she disconnected her hand and left the room.

"Thanks Mom." He heard someone speak, still trying to identify who was speaking.

Stiles was still struggling to open his eyes, every time he tried they just wouldn't budge. He was tired, and felt so weak but desperately tried to open his eyes, fighting the darkness. He managed to move a hand, a few fingers at least before feeling someone take his hand and grip onto it.

"Stiles?" He heard someone ask.

Stiles opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out but air before coughing and letting out a groan, suddenly being granted access to opening his eyes for a couple of moments, seeing whose voices he was hearing; His father, and his best friends both of which looking very concerned in his direction. Stiles's father gripping onto Stiles' hand as he sat beside him letting out a sigh of relief; glad his son was okay. Stiles felt a wave of relief overcome him, glad he's with three of the people he trusts most in the world, and whom he knows can keep him safe. Still terrified from what had happened, but not as much now he's surrounded by family. He drifted back to sleep.

3rd POV

Percy still looked very concerned, he'd never seen Stiles in such a frightened and literally scared for his life moment. Whatever it was it'd clearly scarred Stiles for life, and could tell by how Stiles refused to let go of his father's hand even when his father was sat beside his bed. Sure, it could just have been some normal daydream that got out of hand but Nico had already ruled that out, as he had talked with Morpheus. Percy speedily turned his back against Stiles, and Sheriff Stilinski grabbing hold of his mobile and typing in Derek's number to send a text about the current events that just happened. So that way, Derek was aware of his pack-mate's condition.

Percy quickly sent the text and was disturbed by the presence of Sheriff Stilinski approaching him from behind and tapping on his shoulder.

"We need to notify your mom that he's awake." Sheriff Stilinski said to Scott, who was also in the room as he crossed his arms.

Percy interrupted them "sheriff, this might be something from our world. So Nico and I will jump right on this. And Scott, if this is what I believe it is, you need to join up with Derek." Percy finished as he and Nico headed out the door.

"Sounds like he just had some daydream." Derek explained to Scott and Sheriff Stilinski but facing Stiles's father.

Sheriff Stilinski let out a small sigh as he pushed slightly past Derek to enter back into the hospital room quickly to sit beside Stiles again. The whole situation reminding him of when his wife had died. He wasn't there when his own wife passed, Stiles was there all by himself. He wasn't going to leave Stiles by himself again; not ever. (Remember that the Sheriff doesn't know that his wife was Bellona. He still has no clue.)

"That's it?" Scott commented as he realized Sheriff Stilinski was gone and Derek was about to sit himself down.

"That's all you can find? A freaking daydream? Derek. We live in a world with Werewolves, Banshees, everything else and you call this a daydream." Scott spoke again, quickly sitting himself beside Derek already reading the expression on Derek's face for answers.

"Scott, calm down." Derek spoke, his voice gentle on the situation.

Scott took a deep breath before turning his head back to Derek, his eyes wondering for answers as he sat silently.

"We don't need to cause a fuss for the Sheriff right now. Let him be with Stiles. Listen, I'll look at some things. Find some facts before I can clarify everything going on. I'm not a scientist Scott, it's not done by the snap of a finger." Derek explained turning his head to Scott who he could tell was intrigued.

Derek parted himself from his chair and walked down the corridor; going to do what he had promised and find every last piece of information he could to back his thoughts. Scott watched him walk off before stretching his legs out a little and looking around at the other people waiting and being seen to and spotted his mother behind the desk seeming rather; un-busy. He got up and made his way over giving her a small smile as he told her that Stiles was awake. He knew she saw Stiles as practically a son to her, so a smile grew on her face when she was told.

His mother grabbed a notepad from the desk and a pen that was inside her pocket on the hospital uniform she was wearing and made her way over to Stiles' room, letting herself in as Scott followed behind. She turned around and held her hand out to block Scott in his path.

"Wha- Mom..." Scott stuttered trying to walk past her.

"I need to speak to Stiles, alone." She explained before turning her head to Sheriff Stilinski also, gesturing for him to leave also.

Melissa sat beside Stiles with her paper and pen giving him a warm smile to make him feel safe, he looked so tired and his movements were slow. He clearly had barely any energy left and just wanted to sleep, she almost felt bad for having to ask him these questions but, she explained to him first why they're asking him them and before she knew it they were exchanging questions and answers.

A hour or so passed and Melissa had finally finished asking Stiles questions, she slid the small notepad into her pocket on her t-shirt along with the pen she'd grasped from earlier and took Stiles' arm placing her hand in his and giving it a small squeeze.

"Get some rest Stiles, you need it." She spoke softly, lowering him gently as she continued to smile.

He nodded slowly not even denying the fact he's being lowered back into his bed, he was so incredibly tired and was going to pass out any minute. He let a small smile grow on his face before closing his eyes inches before his head hit the pillow letting out a soft moan as he was comfy and grabbing the covers, pulling them over himself as Melissa helped him.

She turned his light off and made her way out the room to come face-to-face with an impatient Scott, and a tired Sheriff. She closed the door behind her before being bombarded with questions.

"Is he okay? What did he say? Is he still awake?" Scott spoke quickly, too fast for his mom to catch up.

She ignored his questions and made her way over to Sheriff Stilinski who was slumped in the old hospital chairs leaning on his arm as he tiredly yawned. It had been a long day. She sat beside him and placed a kind hand on his arm brushing her thumb against his coat for a few seconds before feeling Scott's presence beside her as he sat down also. She smiled sweetly before talking.

"I've asked him some questions and the answers came out different from what I expected. But he's resting right now, so please don't wake him. He needs rest; a lot of it, and it looks like you do too. He's incredibly tired. But..." She explained before turning her head to Sheriff Stilinski as he looked at her before continuing.

"We might have to give him an MRI scan, just to be sure." She spoke, this time her voice being filled with sadness as she was almost whispering; Sheriff's eyes widening. "What do you mean?!" He exclaimed rather loudly, shocking them all and even himself before he quietened down.

Half-a-day later

The silence in the room sickened everyone, the smell of hand sanitizer roaming in the air as the silence deepened around them with the constant beeping of the machines around them. Stiles fiddled with his hospital gown feeling rather cold and for the most part; bored. They were waiting in the MRI room for the doctor to come in to give the results. The MRI scan was quick but loud, the sound leaving a small ringing sound in everyone's ears. Stiles admitted he was pretty terrified of what they were going to find, everything was still a blur to him. His father sat beside Scott's mom as the waited in the wooden hospital chairs while Malia and Percy pacing slightly.

"Let's go get a coffee." Melissa whispered quietly to Sheriff Stilinski; giving Stiles some time to talk to Percy and Malia.

Sheriff hesitated for a moment, not wanting to leave Stiles as he lifted his tired head to look at his son sat on the MRI table a small frown on both their faces before Stiles abruptly nodded.

"I'll be okay." He spoke, showing a small smile to his father.

Sheriff stood up along with Scott's mom as the exited the room and went to get coffee; Percy still pacing inside as Stiles cleared his throat a little.

"You know what they're looking for right." Stiles spoke not even saying it as a question, he already knew from his mother.

Percy turned his head to Stiles as the silence was broken, a little startled at first. He shook his head slowly but responded anyway, "no I don't. But if you know me, then I'm going to find out what it is on our side before any decisions are made. Got it?" Percy asked sternly to him.

"It's called frontotemporal dementia." Stiles explained, his voice breaking a little from the fear of what he'd just admitted.

Stiles was explaining, but Percy couldn't concentrate. Stiles took a deep breath and hesitated a little before taking another deep breath and continuing. "It's the only form of dementia that can hit teenagers. And there's no cure." He spoke slowly his voice being filled with sadness, dipping his head as he fiddled with his hands.

Malia reaches out with her hand; placing it shakily on Stiles' shoulder taking a deep breath for himself. Stiles lifted his head a little but still averted his eyes to the floor. And Malia wiped away the tear that'd broken free from his eyes; her only reaction was to walk closer to Stiles and pull him into a tight warm hug squeezing as much as she could to save the moment. Stiles wrapped his arms around Malia also, letting his head perfectly slot into the side of her neck as he broke down in tears; the tears dripping onto her t-shirt as they both stayed in silence.

Then after a couple of minutes, they separated and Percy brought Stiles into a tight hug. He whispered into Stiles's ear "if need be, I will fix this. You are part of my family, and family sticks together no matter what."

Sheriff Stilinski and Melissa made their ways back but stopped in their tracks; looking through the hospital door window to see someone who they consider a second son, hugging Stiles. She smiled as she stepped aside to give Sheriff a view; he smiled too. Something he'd not done in a while. Both their 'sons' comforting each other, they both considered each other brothers anyway. And quite rightly so.

Stiles and Percy parted from their hug; both of them wiping tears away as they both felt slightly better. Their heads turned as they heard the door open seeing both their parents walk in as they sat themselves back down with their coffees in hand as they handed Percy a sandwich and Stiles also. Stiles placed his sandwich beside him for now; not really hungry. The doctor opened the door, peeking his head inside before stepping in and closing it behind him.

"Please sit down Sir." The doctor ushered towards the seat in front of him; as the doctor sat down at the desk in the room.

"First off; I think it's pretty obvious your son has anxiety. The constant panic attacks he's been having as a side effect from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. You said he'd been sleepwalking right? And having brief episodes of night terrors causing Insomnia." The doctor spoke hitting them all with these words and diagnoses.

Sheriff quickly nodded as he watched the doctor stand up and walk over to a small table, flicking a switch which turned a light on. Percy, Malia, Melissa, and himself crowded around the table. The doctor begun placing the scans they'd taken down on the table; showing Stiles' brain. Sheriff was already shocked; seeing the scans. He knew something was wrong.

"What we've found was unexpected." The doctor spoke quietly; almost a whisper. He took a deep breath before facing Sheriff Stilinski. "The scans show your son is showing early stages of frontotemporal dementia." The doctor explained to them. His voice was still shaky; like he was almost afraid to say it.

They were all speechless; absolutely shocked in fact. Malia quickly brought her hand over her mouth as she gasped, a tear falling from her eye before a few more trickled along. Percy turned to her; pulling her into a comforting hug as he looked over to Sheriff Stilinski who was hugging Melissa. He was silent. Dead silent. He was having trouble taking it in, why his son? Why now?

What happened to Stiles to get him to this point? And why Stiles? Percy turned around.

"Hey…guys, where is Stiles...?" Percy spoke as he turned on his heels revealing Stiles was gone.

"Where is my son?!" Sheriff yelled; turning back to the doctor presuming this was his doing and they'd already transferred him.

Percy quickly ran outside the room looking around the hallways; they were empty. He took a left, running as fast as he could as he made his way to the front desk of the hospital which was yet again, empty. He was panting and catching his breath a little as he turned his head to the front doors of the hospital which were wide open revealing the dark skies of the night. Percy rushed towards them stopping himself as he grabbed onto the door handles and looked around outside as he was hit by a gush of wind.

"Stiles!" Percy yelled out into the air his voice being carried by wind before disappearing into nothing. He then howled out, letting his friends know that something was wrong.

Malia immediately fumbled to her pockets; grasping her phone as she scrolled through contacts calling up Stiles' phone. It rung five times; the suspense killing her before it was answered. "Stiles?" Malia questioned eagerly.

"Malia?" She heard on the other end of the line, but it wasn't Stiles. It was Derek.

"Derek. Why the hell do you have Stiles's phone?!" Malia almost yelled; looking around cautiously.

"I don't have his phone, I just found it in the woods. Ringing." Derek explained; confused.

"Have you seen Stiles? Where are you?" Malia questioned.

"No. Stiles is with you." He replied.

"He's not. He's gone." Malia spoke.

30 minutes later…

They split up into teams. Derek, Scott, Percy, and Nico on one team.

Jackson, Lydia, Ethan, Aiden, Allison, and Allison's father (Chris Argent) on another.

And Melissa with Sheriff Stilinski and the police team along with dogs.

At the Alpha group

The radio cracked numerous times feedback being heard and then the gentle sound of breathing.

"P-Percy...?" Stiles' voice spoke, very quietly in a whisper.

Percy's arm had never moved so fast, he quickly pulled the radio to his mouth pressing the button to answer back.

"Stiles, are you okay? Where are you?" Percy asked eagerly, relieved but also terrified.

"I think-" Stiles started before going quiet for a few seconds.

"A basement." He finished a few seconds after, continuing to whisper.

"Why are you whispering?" Nico spoke; standing beside his mate.

"B-Because I don't think I'm alone and..." Stiles whispered in reply before the radio was shut off.

"Stiles?" Derek questioned.

"Stiles!" He yelled into the radio.

Time had passed; Derek still researching at his house, as Percy and Nico were speaking with Hecate at their house on what it could be. Derek was disturbed by a knock on his door which he found rather odd seeing as everyone normally lets themselves in. He placed the laptop beside him and made his way to his door bracing himself for anything on the other side as he grabbed the doorknob and swung the door open.

Stiles was stood there; pale, cut, bruised, and simply alone. He looked like a lost little boy with no-where to go. He didn't say a word; just stood there with a sad look on his face.

"Stiles?" Derek questioned incredibly shocked by what he was seeing.

Stiles fell limp and was caught in Derek's muscular arms, Peter had noticed the situation at hand and made his way over to grab a hold of Stiles also as they closed the door behind him, helping him inside as they sat him down. Derek quickly turned to Peter and without words Peter already knew what he was going to say. Peter merely nodded before rushing out the house and doing what he was told where-as Derek crouched in front of Stiles, handing him a fresh glass of water.

"Stiles, what happened?" Derek questioned; addressing the situation as calm as he could.

Stiles shook his head having no energy to speak, as his hands shook a little.

"Stiles do you have any idea where you were?" Derek questioned again; trying not to press too much.

Stiles made no noise; his face expressionless as he sat there. Haunted by what'd happened to him. Derek decided not to push any longer, normally he would but he can see Stiles is clearly traumatized by his 'experience' of what happened to him. Sheriff Stilinski arrived straight away, as soon as he heard word of his son being okay he sped as fast as he could to Derek's so-called 'house' with the direction of Peter.

"He's inside." Peter yelled towards the Sheriff who was already jumping out of his squad car and rushing inside the house.

Sheriff Stilinski made his way inside faster than no other, rushing to his son who was sat down on Derek's couch. He knelt before his son and placed a hand on his neck to make sure he's real, Sheriff Stilinski begun to tear up; as did Stiles. Sheriff pulled his son closer as he rested his forehead on his and muttered under his breath how silly Stiles was for running away, but also thanking everyone for the return of his son. Derek turned away from the men as he went to exit the room.

"Thank you Derek." He heard from behind him; the Sheriff.

Derek turned in the Sheriff's direction and gave him a nod before exiting the room and sitting on the steps beside Peter allowing the father and son to communicate and make up lost time.

"Where, where you son?" Sheriff questioned, his voice breaking a little with emotion.

Stiles broke down in tears rather quickly, his head dipping and slipping perfectly onto his father's shoulder and into the crease of his neck. Sheriff was shocked as he quickly wrapped his arms around his son whom he hadn't hugged in a while, squeezing him to reassure he's okay. Sheriff rested his chin on Stiles' head, hearing his own son cry and feeling the tears trickle down his back is something any parent hates and leaves them wondering why someone hurt their child.

"It's okay son. You're safe." Sheriff reassured again still feeling his own son shake in his arms as he raised his arm and placed it on the back of Stiles' head and began stroking it gently like Stiles' mother used to do when Stiles was sleeping sometimes.

Updated: 01/05/2018