A/N: Sorry for the wait on this one… I actually had it written but didn't get to edit it until today. Life has a funny way of throwing curve balls every once in a while. Join me on Tumbr… and please leave a review if you feel so inclined…. I rather like reading them =) Chasechick

Chapter 8

Sounds Like A Party

The cacophony of all the voices, of everyone trying to talk over each other at the news made Stiles's head spin. He zoned out entirely staring vacantly at a spot on the blanket until Lydia's voice pulled him from his reverie.

"Whatcha thinking?" Lydia asked him quietly as the others brainstorm what ifs as if he wasn't sitting right there.

"That it's probably not safe for anyone I care about to be around me." Stiles answered her in a defeated voice.

"Not safe to be around us you mean." He snapped his eyes to hers. He expected to find her trembling and worried but instead her eyes were calm and her thick lips are forming a gentle smile. "Deaton said it had set its sights on us. Don't go writing me out of this so soon." She laid her hand back on his and they intertwined their fingers together. He's wasn't sure what they he and Lydia had become, friends or something more, but she's right. They were in this together and for a moment he doesn't feel so terrified or alone.

The voices have faded down and most of them look at each other and shrug as if they have no idea what to do. "So what do we know about demonic possession?" Stiles directed his question to Deaton.

"Well it depends on the type of demon, they all manifest differently. They gain power by death, pain and fear. It is also usually easier for them to enter their choice hosts when their guard is down, like sleeping or drugged for example."

"So was the nero just possessed then?" Melissa asked.

"It's possible but not likely. More than likely he is a spark attempting to summon him for his own benefit, or a person compelled into doing so I won't know which until I touch him." Deaton answered in his annoyingly calm demeanor.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Scott asked clearly out of his element.

"I'll know one way or the other when I touch him. What concerns me more is that if there is one there could be others attempting to get this demon a physical body. And by physical body I mean…"

"Me." Stiles answered without any hint of emotion.

Deaton smiled at him with a shrug of his shoulders apologizing for bringing bad news. "Is there any way to fight him off… some kind of spell or…?" Lydia asked.

"Other than getting off the narcotics and not sleeping… you already seem to defy him but his physical manifestations of anger will only grow stronger. I'm not sure how much you will be able to sustain before he wears you down." Deaton answered.

"So surgery is out of the question Stiles… at least until this is over." Melissa stated very matter of fact. It shouldn't have made Stiles feel better but it did, he hadn't been looking forward to surgery at all.

"That also means you are unplugging me from this drip with the drugs in it and getting me my clothes. If I'm going to be fighting demons I don't want to be doing it in my underwear." He said putting on a stoic face and bringing back his sarcastic shield.

Lydia giggled and it brought a smile to his face. "Okay then. Other than Stiles not streaking around the hospital what's the plan?" Sheriff Stilinski asked.

"Well I think it would be safer to move Stiles somewhere else where he isn't easily accessible. Keep Lydia with him. Keep up a patrol on wherever we keep him. In the meantime Scott and I will try and get a feel for the good doctor. Allison and Isaac are scouring for information with her father in his libraries. And the twins can continue to keep guard." Deaton listed everyone off.

Sheriff Stilinski' s phone began to ring and he sighed heavily and stepped over to the corner to try to take the call. Everyone else sat quietly as he took the call gleaning for any more information.

He hung up and turned up his eyes heavy. "They found a body. It was the first student to disappear. He looks cooked." He hung his head, "I have to go inform a family their child is gone." He choked out and nodded before walking out.

"That's demonic in nature by the sounds. This can only mean this demon is growing in strength. Stay alert Stiles… he's inevitably going to try for possession again as soon as you drop your guard. Melissa why don't you see if you can alter the hospital records for Stiles and cover our tracks as best we can, make him disappear? I think you should stay with him and Lydia, perhaps my office would be a safe haven of sorts." Deaton answered as he moved to make his way to the door.

Scott approached his mother and gave her a hug. "I'll have Aiden pull your car around to the drop off in ten minutes. You three get in it and head straight to Deaton's office, no detours. The twins will follow and then keep guard at the office." Scott gave Stiles a nod before following Deaton out the door.

"Alright then I need to go see if I can make you disappear in the computer." Melissa said before moving to the cupboard and removing Stiles's clothes and shoes. She moved over the monitoring equipment and began flipping it off and unhooking it expertly. She grabbed some gauze and tape from a drawer and gingerly pulled the IV needle from Stiles's hand. She was so quick Stiles hardly had time to flinch before it was over. "Lydia help Stiles get dressed and then I'll meet you back here and we'll head to the car." She said as she quickly fled the room, clearly a woman on a mission.

"Awkward." Stiles laughed dryly.

"Oh please, nothing I haven't seen before. It's not like you're naked." Lydia retorted. She peeled the hospital gown off the rest of the way and tossed it over on the chair. She took in his form and bit her lip as she observed his injuries. "You really are a mess aren't you?" She asked trying to inject humor in her tone but falling flat. She slid his pants on and over his hip, and once again Stiles was thankful he'd had the foresight to wear athletic pants instead of jeans. She slipped his shoes on over his socks and tied them quickly before stepping back and trying to decide how to put a shirt on him.

"I think I need to slip off the sling and then we can put it back on. " Stiles said laying his good hand on her arm. She jumped at the contact and then gave him a nervous smile. She shakily undid the clasp and let the tension out before slipping it over Stiles's head. He bit his lip but never made a sound as the sling came off. She pulled the t-shirt over his head and then eased his bad shoulder through causing Stiles to hold his breath until his arm was through the shirt. When he was finally dressed Lydia eased his arm back into the sling and readjusted it.

She picked up Stiles's phone and slipped it in her bag before pulling his jacket loosely around his shoulders. "Ready to go?" Melissa asked breathlessly as she stopped in front of him with a wheel chair. Stiles looked at the thing as if he were about to argue but the look on Melissa's face made him think better of it. Stiles shakily eased into the chair and they snuck quietly out of the door and down a mostly deserted hall.

True to his word Scott had the car waiting for them. Melissa and Lydia helped Stiles into the back seat and Lydia hopped in the front, her eyes nervously scanning their surroundings. Melissa reappeared and hopped into the driver's seat and wasted no time throwing the car in gear and heading towards Deaton's office.

Stiles could see in the back of the SUV as they sped under street lamps, it looked like someone had went shopping in the supply closet and Stiles couldn't help but admire Melissa's thought for the future.

By the time they had arrived at Deaton's Stiles was really starting to feel the ache, the drugs having all but nearly left his system by now. With no wheelchair to carry him he leaned heavily on the girls as a very grumpy looking Aiden opened the door for them. The only seating options available where the operating tables and a rickety old couch in Deaton's tiny office, they opted for the couch.

"Sorry but that table reminds me too much like something in the morgue." Stiles puffed out as he finally laid down on the couch on his good side and curled up slightly. He was covered in a thin sheen of sweat and feeling worse by the minute. Someone had brought all the goodies from the car in and Melissa set about at once getting things in order.

"You doing okay?" Stiles asked Lydia.

"I should be the one asking you that." She said perching on the arm of the couch and running her fingers through his sweaty hair.

"It's just probably uncomfortable with your boyfriend hanging out right here… I'm sorry you got pulled into this Lydia." He let out a shaky breath trying to keep his composure but the stress and anxiety of everything was weighing heavily on him. The familiar crushing sensation was returning.

Lydia kneeled in front of him and took his face in her hands. "This is not your fault Stiles. Remember Deaton said it set its sights on both of us. And I don't have a boyfriend… not anymore." She looked away and returned to her perch on the arm of the couch.

"What do you mean you don't have a boyfriend anymore?" Stiles asked his heart pounding for a different reason than fear.

"We were never officially together, and I told him today that I didn't have feelings for him. I had feelings for someone else." Lydia said, "Besides, that's not important, we have far greater things to be worried about at the moment."

Melissa returned and broke their moment by fussing over him. She tucked a blanket around his legs, checked his shoulder and looked him over. "How's your back?" She asked as she leaned behind him and raised his shirt.

"The same." Stiles said still half smiling at Lydia's announcement a moment earlier.

"You probably really should be lying flat on one of those tables. It'd be better for your back, you can't lay flat on this old thing… but I guess for now I'll let it be but if it gets worse that's where you're going."

Stiles simply nodded in agreement. Lydia's bag began ringing and she slipped inside to see that her phone was ringing, "It's Allison." She said before accepting the call.

"Hey Alliso… what? Oh um… okay. I'll see you in a few minutes." She hung up and shakily put the phone back in her bag. Both Stiles and Melissa were staring at her waiting for her to say something. "Allison and Isaac and Mr. Argent are all on their way here, they found something in one of the archaic books. She said Deaton and Scott are on their way over here too."

"Sounds like a party then." Stiles joked but both women just glared down at him. "Or not then."