Not Okay
Steve went to Stiles' house the next day to take him back to his Jeep. The ride back to the school was silent, although Stiles had seemed to calm down a bit. "Call me if you need anything," Steve said as he pulled up next to the Jeep. Stiles turned towards him and nodded before getting out of the car and into the Jeep. They went separate ways after leaving the parking lot.
The rest of the weekend passed by without incident. Stiles didn't call, and Steve didn't want to over step by just showing up. When Steve took a break from working on his homework, he drove passed Stiles's house to listen in and make sure everything was all right. Stiles had stayed home the rest of the weekend. Most of the times the house was silent, a few times he had heard music playing faintly through headphones. The sheriff wasn't home for the majority of the daytime hours, and Steve didn't notice any of the other pack members coming by. Stiles was coping with Friday's events alone, but appeared to be managing it, as Steve never noticed an increased heart rate or heavy breathing.
Monday finally came and Steve entered the already bustling school. He didn't see the Jeep and figured that Stiles was still at home recovering from what had happened. He paused at the first intersection as a group of students sprinted down the hallway. The front doors opened behind him, "The Dread Doctors by T.R. McCammon," he heard Lydia say as she was walking towards him.
"What?" Malia asked when Lydia slowed. Steve turned around to face them.
"I don't know. There's something about it." Lydia responded.
"Good morning," Steve commented causing Lydia to look up from a book. Steve stole a quick glance at the cover and recognized the three men in black suits and masks from the club. His eyes narrowed as he looked back up at Lydia.
"Has anyone actually read it yet?" Lydia asked as the three of them resumed walking through the school.
"Just me," Malia answered. "And I didn't understand any of it."
"We should probably all read it." Lydia muttered.
"Kira's working on that."
"What do you mean?" Steve asked as they turned a corner.
"She and Scott are making copies in the library."
"Okay, I'll see you guys later," Steve waved rushing towards the library. The other two continued on their way to class, raising an eyebrow as Steve ran off.
"Think about it. They killed Tracy and walked away. They killed Lucas and walked away. Why would they leave and come back to take the bodies?" Steve heard Scott saying as he came up to the library doors.
He walked in and saw Kira and Scott coming down the last set of steps. "Someone else has to be taking them," Kira said.
Steve looked around and saw the scaffolding from last night was still sitting in the library, an oscillating fan was running to help some paint dry. He stepped over to the shelf, picked up a book, and began to flip through it listening to the conversation.
"But the bodies aren't just bodies. They're," Scott paused to think, "They're failures."
"So, if the chimeras are all failures, what's a success going to be?"
"Bad, probably really bad." Scott answered as they reached the door. Scott froze as he held the door open. Steve saw that the fan had passed over the scaffolding, blowing the air at Scott.
"What's wrong?" Kira asked. Steve quickly pulled his finger along on the edge of one of the pages.
"I thought I smelled blood," Scott answered searching the library.
"Sorry, paper cut," Steve said holding up his healing finger as he put the book back.
"Oh," Scott said still looking around. Steve jogged up to join them.
"Is that the book?" Steve asked pointing to the stack of papers in Kira's hands as they left the library. "I ran into Lydia and Malia while they were talking about it this morning. I heard you guys were all going to read it," Steve answered when the two stared at him confused.
"Uh, Yeah. We just finished making copies of it," Scott replied.
"Would it be okay if I joined you? I haven't heard of these 'Dread Doctors' before and wouldn't mind getting some more information on them.
"I think that would be okay. I guess," Scott answered slowly, Kira nodded next to him.
"Thanks, I'll see you around," Steve said has he headed in the other direction to his class.
Steve kept an eye out for anything that stood out the rest of the day, focusing on the library. Fortunately, the pack hadn't gone in there since making copies. They had also left the school as soon as the bell rang which was unusual. He was heading back to his house when his phone vibrated in the cup holder.
"We are going to Eichen House to talk to someone who may have been involved with writing the book. You can join if you want." Stiles had messaged him.
"What's Eichen House?"
"It's an insane asylum. Meet at my house in an hour."
Steve pulled into his home to drop his school stuff off and eat a quick dinner before getting back into his car and driving to Stiles's. He let himself in after there wasn't an answer.
"What was that?" he heard Lydia ask from upstairs.
"What was what?" Stiles responded after a moment.
"You winced."
"I have a bad elbow," Stiles muttered.
"It was your shoulder," she said pushed.
"Pain radiates. It does that," Stiles said dismissing the subject.
Steve showed up in the doorway as Lydia moved to block his path "You guys ready to go?"
Lydia turned to face him, "Stiles is hurt. I don't think he should go."
"You are not going without me," Lydia turned back to face him. "You remember what happened to Deaton when he talked to Valack?"
"Scott and Kira are going to be there."
"Okay, I'm not going to let you go to a place where one of the orderlies almost killed you."
"He almost killed you, too," she protested.
"And we're both still alive, see? Teamwork," Stiles moved past Lydia and Steve and headed down the stair.
"He's not hurt too badly, I ran into him on accident and he hit his elbow off the wall," Steve tried to reassure her
"He winced when he moved his shoulder, his elbow is fine," she said as she turned to glare at him.
"Maybe its pain displacement," Steve shrugged. Lydia huffed before pushing past him. Steve followed her down the stairs. "I need to talk to you," Steve mouthed to Stiles when she had her back to them to open the door. Stiles nodded and they headed out the car.
"We'll meet you there. We're going to ride together to save gas," Steve told Lydia as the two moved for the Jeep.
Lydia stopped at her car door. "Why don't we all ride together? Besides my car is much more fuel efficient that either of yours." She said smirking.
"Um, yeah. Good thinking," Steve nodded. Stiles got in the passenger seat and Steve sat in the back.
Lydia pulled out of the driveway and headed for the edge of town. She turned towards Stiles after making a right turn. His elbow was on the door handle with his face resting on his hand. "That doesn't hurt?" She asked.
"What?" He asked. Steve rubbed his forehead in the backseat. Stiles looked down at his arm. "Oh, a little, but it's bearable." He tried to cover.
"Right," Lydia said glancing at Steve in the rear view mirror.
They pulled into the parking lot as the sun had finished going down. Scott and Kira arrived a few minutes later. Scott looked over at Steve confused as to how he knew to be here while Kira walked to the intercom with Lydia. "Hello?" she asked after pressing the button, "Anyone there?"
Scott waited for the door to open before turning back to Stiles and Steve who were still by Lydia's car. "Are you going to be okay in there?" he asked Stiles.
"Yeah, why?" Stiles answered casually.
"You seem a little off," Scott told him sparing a quick glance at Steve. Steve gave a half smile before stepping forward to join the girls, keeping his ears on the conversation.
"I think we're all a little off."
"Maybe some of us more than others," Scott said turning to make sure Kira wasn't paying attention.
"Wait, what happened?" Stiles asked.
"When the other chimera, Lucas. When he came after us, I heard Kira say something in Japanese."
"Well, that doesn't sound too bad."
"She doesn't know any Japanese."
"Still not terrible."
"I also think I might have stopped her from killing Steve, after he had gotten in between her and Lucas."
"Okay," Stiles muttered looking over at Steve who shrugged slightly. "So, she was trying to kill Lucas?" Scott nodded. "Wasn't he trying to kill you though? Sounds like self-defense."
"It was more than that. She nearly took off his head."
"Maybe she had no other choice. There's gotta be a point where self-defense is justified. Tracy killed her own father. And Lucas would've killed you."
"They're not the bad guys," Scott said shaking his head. "They're the victims. We shouldn't be killing the people we're trying to save." Steve heard Stiles' heart skip a beat. Steve looked over and saw the boy's head facing the ground.
Steve went to move towards him but there was a buzz and the gate popped open. The pack looked at the gate before looking at each other. After a moment, they moved in to the facility. The gate grinded shut behind them and sealed with a bang that caused them all to stop and turn. They continued up the steps towards the facility.
Once inside a man tossed a plastic box onto the desk in front of him. "Please empty your pockets into the container," He said.
"We're here to see—" Scott started.
"Please empty your pockets into the container," the man interrupted. Scott looked around before everyone pulled out their keys, phones, and wallets and set them in the container. Lydia placed her purse in the box. "Please remove your belt and place it into the container," he said staring at Kira.
"I kinda need the belt. I mean it's crucial to the outfit," she replied quickly.
"Please remove your belt which patients will attempt to take from you and try to strangle either themselves or others."
"Right, got it," she muttered as she took off the belt.
The man's mouth opened slightly and Steve could smell lust coming from behind the desk. He followed his eyes to Lydia before turning back to glare at the man. He heard Stiles' heart rate increase drastically. Steve turned to stop him from attacking the orderly when he noticed Stiles staring into the box. Steve turned back and saw a small metal pin sitting on top of Stiles' wallet. He reached back and gently patted Stile's arm to draw him away from the memories.
A door opened to the side of the lobby causing them all to face the older man that had just come in. He gestured towards them and they followed him out of the lobby and into a stairwell. "I'll remind you, I'm only doing this as a favor to Doctor Deaton. And against my better judgement," the man said as the group descended the stairs.
"Hey, what's the etiquette for, uh, talking to this guy? I mean do you ever look at the other eye?" Stiles asked.
"I wouldn't. In fact, while you're down here, try not to make eye contact with anyone or anything." They rounded the corner and headed down the long basement corridor.
Scott, Kira, and Steve froze in the middle of the hall while Lydia and Stiles continued to follow the man. He went to open the door at the corner when Stiles and Lydia realized that half the group had stopped following them. "You didn't think you were all going did you?" the man commented.
"It's mountain ash, isn't it?" Scott asked.
"Everywhere, but heavily concentrated down here," the man answered. Steve felt the wall and could feel the barrier radiating out from it. The man held the door open. "Valack's cell is the last one at the end of the hall."
"We'll be right here," Scott told the Stiles and Lydia, who were still looking back at them. They turned to enter the sealed hall.
Steve focused his hearing to follow the bend. After a few seconds, he could no longer hear Stiles or Lydia moving. He noticed Scott was doing the same thing. "I can't hear anything," Scott said, "Must be the mountain ash."
"I've never heard of that effect before. Maybe it's because of the concentration?" Steve commented as he moved to test the wall again. Scott leaned against the opposite wall next to Kira.
"I feel it too. To be honest, I feel a little weak," Kira commented nervously.
"Yeah, it's like being sedated."
"This was a bad idea, wasn't it?"
"Nah, they'll be okay without us. Those two, they're pretty good together," Scott said.
"Yeah, they are," Kira added.
"No super strength or samurai swords, but they stay alive."
Kira giggled slightly, "He still likes her, doesn't he?"
"Yeah, but it's different now. I mean, you should've seen the way he used to be around her."
"Was it bad?" Kira sounded better, but was still weak.
"It was kinda obsessive," Scott laughed. Steve chuckled slightly, turning his attention to the couple. "But not all bad. You know, Lydia used to pretend not to be smart?"
"Our Lydia?" Kira asked shocked.
"Yeah, Stiles was the only one who knew."
"How?"
"He paid attention. He listened to her. He remembered."
"They're both observant," Steve chimed in. "That's their superpower." Scott looked over smiling slightly and nodded.
The lights began to flicker and the wolves drew their attention to the ceiling. "Did you see that?" Scott asked facing the way they came in.
Kira began to buzz and had lightening arc across her fingers. "Uh, Scott." Steve said taking a step away from her.
"No, but I am seeing this," she said at the same time. Scott turned and stared at her hands. The arcs began to spread up her arms and bounced slight off her body.
"Kira, whatever you're doing, please stop," Scott told her taking a step back.
"I'm not doing anything. It's just happening." Kira said starting to panic. The arcs began to radiate from her, hitting the walls before returning to her. Scott and Steve continued to step away from her.
"Kira, try to calm down," Steve urged.
"I can't," she screamed. The lights exploded, sending out sparks. Steve and Scott shielded their eyes from the blinding light. Once the lights went out, they looked down and saw Kira laying on the floor.
"Kira?" Scott asked. Electricity arced across her body in response.
Scott moved forward to grab her. "Scott, no," Steve said as he moved to stop him. A arc shot off Kira hitting both of them in the chest, sending them flying back to the door.
Steve's eye glowed red as the pain cause him to transform and he saw the same fox aura from Friday night standing over Kira's body. The fox's eyes were directed at Steve. He quickly got to his feet waiting, preparing to be attacked again.
The man that had led them down returned through the door behind them. "Are you alright?" he asked kneeling down to check on Scott.
"Something's happening, and I think she's causing it," Scott answered. Scott stood and looked at Kira nervously.
"We need to get her out of her right now," The man shouted.
"Yeah, but how can I move her if I can't even touch her?" A thud came from behind them. Steve turned and saw the Dread Doctors standing behind the door, one of them had an impaled head at the end of his staff before yanking the staff out of the man. The Doctor stood and stared at the three in the hallway. A mixture of buzzing and clicking emitted from them as they moved towards the door.
"I think you better run," the man said.
"I can't leave her," Scott answered.
"I can," the man ran through a side door.
Steve growled at the man, but turned his head when he heard Lydia's scream. "Scott, we need to go!"
Scott ran back towards Kira as the Doctors opened the door. Steve stood in between them preparing to fight the three men in black. He heard Scott groan in pain as electricity shot into the lights. Steve turned back and saw him carrying Kira.
Steve threw open the door for Scott, "Let's go!" he shouted over the crackling. They ran down the hallway until it forked. Scott paused for a moment, "Go! I'll wait for the others," he shouted and the two split at an intersection. An alarm went off, filling the halls with a high-pitched siren. Steve inhaled deeply through his nose to find the scent of the other two and headed down another side corridor. He heard the buzz from The Doctors and froze. Once the buzzing had past he opened the door to an examination room and saw Stiles clutching Lydia.
Stiles held his free hand to his lips shushing Steve. "They went that way," Stiles whispered, pointing out the other door on the other side of the room. Steve moved over to the wall and waited with them. After a few minutes, the siren stopped and the lights turned back on.
"I think we're okay." Lydia muttered. Stiles still held her tightly. "Stiles!" she whispered.
"No, it's not okay. All of this. It's on us. Everything that's happened, everything that's gunna happen it's our fault," Stiles said.
"It's our responsibility."
"What do you mean?" Steve asked.
"We activated the Nemeton. It's a beacon and it's drawn the Dread Doctors back here," Lydia answered him.
The three stood there for a few more seconds, collecting themselves, before they headed to the stairs to leave. After grabbing everyone's belongings from the orderly at the desk, they stepped out of the building, and immediately noticed Scott and Kira starting to pull themselves off the ground. The two still had black marks showing where the lightening had burned them but the wounds had healed some time ago.
"Kira!" Lydia yelped as she ran towards her friend.
"I'm okay now," Kira said as Lydia was checking for any serious injuries.
"You alright?" Stiles asked as he walked up to Scott.
"Yeah, just a little shaken up," Scott nodded at Stiles. "Thanks, by the way," he added looking at Steve.
"For what?" Steve asked. He hadn't done all that much.
"For not abandoning us down there and for staying in there to find Lydia and Stiles."
Lydia looked back at Steve nodding solemnly before returning her attention back to Kira. "It's no big deal. I'm just glad we all got out safely."
Lydia stood, helping Kira up. "Let's get out of here," she stated and the group headed back to their cars.
Lydia pulled over outside Stiles' house. The ride had been mostly silent. Every now and then one of them would break the silence with a quick question. As Steve was about to get out Lydia held out her hand. "Phone," she ordered. Steve pulled his phone out of his pocket and placed in on her palm. She began to input her contact information. "This isn't for booty calls," she stated as she handed the phone back.
Steve smirked, "Well, I might as well delete it then." Lydia narrowed her eyes slightly, letting a small smile creep out after a bit. The tension of the car ride was only broken for a few seconds before the three fell silent again.
Stiles opened his door first. "I'll see you tomorrow, Lyds," he stated as he stepped out.
"Thanks for the ride," Steve added as he followed Stiles out.
"Bye, boys," she waved slightly as she pulled away.
Steve started for his car while Stiles headed towards the house. "Hey, what did you want to talk to me about earlier?" Stiles asked when he reached the porch. He gave a slight nod towards the door to have Steve follow him.
"I just wanted to see how you were doing," Steve answered as he closed the door behind him. The two were alone in the house.
"I've been coping. I guess." They headed up to Stiles' room. Once there, Stiles began to update his board.
"Are you going to tell Scott?" Steve asked after Stiles had worked for a few minutes. Stiles' hand jerked down, leaving a line hanging from the "t" in doctors.
"I don't think I can." Stiles said grabbing the eraser to remove the line.
"Stiles, you have to tell him. He'll figure it out eventually. And Lydia is suspicious about where your injury came from. You're a horrible liar, to be honest."
"No," Stiles said still facing the board. "No." He turned to face Steve. "You heard him tonight. We aren't supposed to kill the people we are trying to protect. Donovan was another victim of the Dread Doctors. And I killed him."
"Stiles, what Scot was talking about is completely different from what happened to you. I had Lucas pinned to the wall, returned to normal. He had stopped fighting us. That's when Kira moved to kill him. Not in the heat of the moment. Not by pulling a pin and causing a freak accident. What happened with you was self-defense in every sense."
"No, I knew what this pin held." Stiles stated pulling the pin out of his pocket. "I knew that there were sharp poles being held up by this tiny pin. I wasn't just trying to escape and accidently pulled the pin. I wanted to hurt him.
"There is a big difference between wanting to hurt someone and wanting to kill someone. He was going to kill you, Stiles. Wanting to hurt him so you could get to safety is a normal reaction."
"It's not a normal reaction. Not for us. They all stand there and defend themselves. Taking near fatal blows to protect others, but never seeking to hurt the other person." Stiles' voice started to rise, his face turning red as he tried to fight back tears. "Maybe it's only normal to people who murder others. Like people who murder their own alpha."
"Stiles." Steve growled slightly before quickly pulling back his own anger.
"You don't get it." Stiles took a step forward shouting. "Our pack doesn't kill people. Because that's not what good people do."
"Good people don't go out to kill someone, but there are circumstances—."
"That's not how we see it," Stiles walked to look out the window. "That's not how Scott sees it." He whispered the last part. In the reflection, Steve saw Stiles' face return to its normal color, but his eyes remained red.
Steve started to get annoyed. Though he wasn't sure if it was at Stiles' stubbornness or if Steve was starting to believe that Scott would be so caught up with someone being killed that he wouldn't understand the circumstances. "So, Scott is the kind of alpha that would rather have you die than for a steel bar to impale someone else by chance?" Stiles' eyes narrowed and Steve instantly regretted what he said.
"You need to leave," Stiles said in a dry voice without turning around.
"Stiles, you know he wouldn't want that," Steve tried to explain.
"Leave." Stiles repeated turning to face Steve. His face red with anger again as tears started to roll down his face. Steve opened his mouth to apologize, to explain that he was just trying to get Stiles to see that Scott wouldn't want that. "Go!" Stiles chucked the eraser at Steve before he could get any words out. The eraser bounced of his chest and landed on the floor in between them. Steve looked at it for a moment until he heard a car door shut in the driveway. "Get out," Stiles choked.
Steve looked up and shook his head slightly. "I'm sorry." Stiles pointed at the door and Steve moved towards it slowly. The door closed right behind him.
Steve went downstairs. "Oh," the sheriff said as he opened the front door, almost knocking Steve over. "Sorry."
"It's fine," Steve mentioned quickly, letting the sheriff pass.
"How was the visit to Eichen? Is everyone alright?" The sheriff asked.
No. "Yeah, we made it out in one piece," Steve stated, "I'm heading home right now though."
"Drive safe," the sheriff waved goodbye as Steve shot out the door.
"Make him question his worth in the pack and insult his alpha, good job," Steve muttered on the way to his car. He punched the wheel before starting the engine. He looked back at the house. The light in Stiles' room was off. He could still hear the rapid pounding of Stiles' heart but no other sounds came from the room.
A/N
The last section is an interpretation on what I thought Stiles was feeling based on everything that had been said throughout the later episodes in the season as well as the series. For a while I couldn't figure out why Stiles didn't want to tell Scott since Donovan's death had seemed like a freak accident/clear self-defense to me. Let me know if you have other ideas as to why it took so long for the Sciles moments.