Disclaimer: Don't own TW. Only my OC: Zarina.

The room around me was bright white, pillars scattered around the space in an orderly fashion. I squinted as I glanced around the room, confused as to how or why I was there. I saw two figures standing together a few feet away from me.

I stepped forward to see who they were and as soon as I saw the familiar plaid and the gauze-covered head, I sprinted towards them.

"Stiles!" I cried out. "Get away from it!"

But he didn't turn or even show that he heard me at all. Instead, he continued to face the monster. Even though I was at full speed, I felt like I wasn't getting any closer to them at all. If anything, they were getting farther away. I stopped abruptly, hands on my knees as I tried to catch my breath.

"You're too late," the gauzed head turned to me, teeth bared. "You had your chance, Oracle. Now, the boy is going to help us destroy all of you."

"Get away from him. Please!" I pleaded. "I'll let you in, all of you, just leave him alone."

"You cannot stop us once we've begun," it replied cryptically. "Stiles is ours now."

I screamed as it grabbed Stiles, twisting him around so his back was pushed against its chest. It wrapped its arm around his neck and held him in place, but Stiles didn't even struggle.

"Come find us," it taunted. And just like that, the two were gone.

I jolted awake in my bed, immediately pushing the covers off my body and shoving a sweatshirt over my pajamas before bolting out of the house carelessly, grabbing my brother's keys on the way out.

I ignored the goose bumps rising on my shorts-clad legs and started the car up, making my way down the street to Scott's house. I drove past the speeding limit, but a ticket was the last thing on my mind.

The car screeched to a stop in front of the McCall house and I used the key hidden inside the flowerpot to get in. I sprinted up the steps and as soon as I reached the top, I ran into Isaac's chest.

"Where's Scott? Wh-where is he? Isaac, tell me!" I was frantic and he placed his hands on my shoulder firmly.

"Hey, hey, calm down. Scott's in his room. What's wrong? Did Stiles call you too?" he asked.

"He called you?" I faltered, but then remembered why I was so panicked. "Wait, no he didn't call me, but I- we…we have to find him, okay? We have to."

"We will," he assured me, squeezing my shoulders. "But how did you know he was missing?"

I looked up at him seriously, mouth twisted into a frown. "Just a feeling. A really bad feeling."

Isaac looked skeptical, but he nodded as Scott emerged from his room, looking both tired and worried. I hurried over to him and he hugged me warmly.

"What are you doing here? Did you find out about Stiles?" Scott murmured into my hair. I nodded.

"Please tell me you know where to find him," I let go of him, voice hopeful.

"I'm sorry, I don't know yet. But we'll find him. I promise," he told me and I nodded slowly.

My body was shaking and it was just because of my cold legs. The fear of what could've happened to him was overwhelming. Then, my phone rang from my hoodie pocket and I hurriedly pulled it out. My thumb quivered as I answered it, seeing Stiles' name flash on the screen.

"Stiles? S-Stiles is that you?" I stuttered out.

"Z-Zarina? A-Are you with Scott? Did- did he call my dad?" his voice was shaking in fear and it sounded like he was crying. It was making me feel worse than I already did.

I glanced over my shoulder at Scott and he shook his head. "No, no. He didn't call your dad. We're going to find you, okay? Do you think you can describe where you are?"

"It's a basement," he sniffled. "I think it's some kind of basement."

"One in a house, or a building?"

"U-um, it's something industrial. It's bigger. I think there's a furnace, but it's cold. I-it's freezing down here," his voice started to shake more. "I gotta turn the…I gotta turn the phone off. It's gonna die."

"W-wait, no! Please, Stiles, don't hang up; just stay on the phone. I have to know you're okay!"

"T-the phone's dying. I can't talk, Zarina. I have to go. I'm sorry," he was whispering.

"Stiles…w-why are you whispering?" my body went rigid.

"Because I think there's someone in here with me," his voice cracked and he sounded like he was going to start crying again. "Just f-find me."

"I-I promise, just stay put. We'll be there soon, Scott and I will be there," I assured him quietly as I held back tears. He didn't say anything and soon, the phone went silent, signaling that he'd hung up.

Scott wrapped his arm around my shoulders and rubbed my arm soothingly as I stood there, staring down at my phone wordlessly.

"We should start looking at Stiles' house. We can pick up a strong scent and work from there," he planned out and I nodded, blinking away the wetness in my eyes.

"I'll meet you guys there," I said simply before going down the stairs and getting into my brother's car.

I watched the two werewolves get onto Scott's bike before backing out of the driveway and heading straight for the Stilinski house. The entire drive, my hands gripped the wheel tightly, unable to push the guilt and worry out of my system.

Once I reached the house, my knuckles were white with exertion and I sat in the car for a lingering second. The revving of Scott's engine cut off my trepidation and I got out of the car, shaking the blood flow back into my hands.

The three of us burst into Stiles' room, but two people were already inside, inspecting the walls.

"What are you guys doing here? Did Stiles call you?" Scott asked them as we walked inside.

"I heard," Lydia informed us, eyes wide.

"Don't ask," Aiden added. "It gets more confusing when you ask."

"Not as confusing as this."

Lydia's eyes were locked on a pair of scissors stabbed into Stiles' bed, red yarn connected to the handles and leading towards different pictures on the wall. He must've done this to show he was technically connected to everything.

"He uses red for unsolved cases," I whispered, voice breaking. I bit my lip and looked away from the bed, unable to keep my eyes on it anymore.

"Maybe he thinks he's part of an unsolved case," Aiden offered.

"Or is an unsolved case," Isaac corrected, eyes darting around the walls.

"Hold on, is he still out there? You don't know where he is?" Lydia asked, appalled.

"We talked to him and he said he's in some basement. Scott and Isaac wanted a better scent before we going out to search for him," I explained.

"What else did he say?" Lydia questioned curiously.

"Something's wrong with his leg," Scott said. "It's bleeding."

My head snapped up to him, eyes narrow. "You never told me that. Scott, you never said he was hurt!"

"Tonight's the coldest night of the year," Aiden cut me off. "It's going to drop into the twenties."

"What did his dad say?" Lydia sighed.

"We kind of didn't tell him yet," Scott admitted. "He made me promise no to. We can find him by scent. If he was sleepwalking, he couldn't have gone far."

"Before I found out he was hurt, I would've agreed with you," I intervened. "But now that I know he's hurt and freezing, I don't think we can do this on our own. Scott, we need his dad's help. I know you promised not to ask, but we can't find Stiles alone."

"Wait, I can get more help. Derek, Allison," he listed off.

"Everyone except the cops. Great idea," Lydia scoffed.

"You guys do remember that she only gets these feelings when someone is about to die, right?" Aiden reminded us unhelpfully.

"He won't die!" I snapped.

The other occupants of the room looked at me in surprise. I ignored them as I twisted my hands together in agitation. Lydia pulled out her phone and started to dial the sheriff.

"Wait! You don't have to call his dad. It's five minutes to the station," Scott stopped her. The three of us went to leave the room.

"We'll catch up with you," Lydia's voice caused us to stop.

"Why? Is there more to this?" I asked, concerned.

"There's something here."

"Yeah," Isaac did another look around the room. "Evidence of total insanity."

I caught Scott's eye and the two of us shared a defeated look. Though, I couldn't keep eye contact for long. I knew what could be wrong with Stiles, but I didn't know if it was even real. I wasn't sure what was anymore.

I felt my heart clench as the sheriff's face contorted into terror and sadness with each second we spent explaining what happened to Stiles. I also didn't miss the way his grip on the table grew tighter and tighter as well. His eyes squeezed shut once we finished, composing himself.

"If his jeep is gone, that's where we start," he instructed and turned behind him to the deputy. "Parrish, let's get an APB on a blue 1980 CJ-5 Jeep. Cordova, I want a list of any kind of industrial basement or sub-level of any building he could've gotten into while sleepwalking."

He faced the rest of the officers. "It's the coldest night of the year so far. If he's out there barefoot, in just a t-shirt, he could already be hypothermic. Let's move fast. Let's think fast. The three of you, come with me," he finished, turning to us.

The four of us walked into his office and immediately he looked at us, door shutting behind him. "Okay, is there anything you need to tell me that you can't tell anybody out there?"

"Lydia and Zarina knew he was missing," Scott informed him.

"Well, can either of them help find him?"

"I'm trying to see if I can get an image of a possible location," I assured. "And Lydia's working on it right now."

"Anything else?"

"I called Derek and Allison for help," Scott said.

"Can you find him by scent?" the sheriff sighed out.

Parrish knocked on the door quickly before entering the room. "We got it, sir. We found the jeep. It's at the hospital. Only a few minutes away."

"Let's go," he nodded, relieved.

I followed the sheriff's car closely to the hospital and got out as soon as I parked, heading towards Stiles' jeep. The sheriff opened the door.

"It's dead," he announced. "He must've left the lights on."

"Why would he come here?" Scott questioned, puzzled.

"Maybe he had trouble sleeping again," I suggested weakly.

"Let's find out." The four of us rushed past the sliding doors and Melissa and my brother met us halfway.

"Security is doing sweep of every floor," Alex informed us, looking at me worriedly. I ignored him.

"Nothing yet," Melissa sighed.

"What about the basement?" the sheriff inquired.

"Follow us," Melissa and my brother led him around the corner. I watched them as they went, hoping he had at least left a sign of where he'd gone.

Scott grabbed my hand, pulling me up to the roof with him and Isaac. I kept up with his pace, slightly confused, but I didn't question it. Then, we found Derek observing the rooftop.

"He's not here," Derek said without even turning around. "Not anymore."

"You mean the whole building?" Scott asked.

"Gone."

"I'll go tell Stilinski," Isaac volunteered before rushing back down into the hospital.

Derek finally turned around and looked at me. "Are you going to be okay?"

"If we find him, I will be," I told him softly.

"When we find him," he corrected firmly. "Because we will. Scott, did you notice how strong the scent is up here?" He looked over at the Alpha. "Have you ever heard of chemo signals?"

"Chemo signals communicate emotion," he replied slowly. "Like when we sweat, it'll give off out anger, pain, or fear."

"Exactly. Take a deep breath and tell me what you feel," Derek instructed. Scott closed his eyes and took in the air, feeling for the emotions.

"Stress," Scott said after a second.

"Anxiety."

"What was he doing up here?" I pursed my lips.

"I don't know, but there was definitely some kind of struggle," Derek admitted, eyes wandering around.

"But there's no one else's scent up here, Derek," Scott argued.

"I know. He was struggling with myself," Derek informed him. My stomach clenched uncomfortably, but I shoved it away. "We need to split up. You two go with Stiles' dad. You can use his scent to find him. I'm going to check the high school."

The two of us nodded and went towards the door, but I stopped and looked over my shoulder at the older werewolf.

"Thank you," I said gratefully. "Be careful."

Without waiting for a response, I caught up with Scott in the stairwell and went with him to find the sheriff.

Once we found Stiles' dad, we told him about what we'd found out on the roof of the hospital and were going out to search for Stiles more. In the back of my mind, a familiar burning was present and I was able to see the image of a coyote's den. Malia's den. As soon as the image grew clearer in my head, I knew my abilities were kicking in.

"Lydia said she knows where Stiles is," Scott told me and the sheriff as we exited the hospital. "Something about Eichen House. We have to meet her there now."

"You two go," I told him unsurely. "There's something I have to check out. I might know where he is, but if Lydia's sure that he's at the institute, you two should go with her."

"But what if you're the one who's right?" the sheriff countered.

"If I'm right, I'll call you. We can't waste more time by blindly searching the first place I get a feeling about. There's a 50/50 chance that one of us will find him," I explained. "Plus, if something goes wrong, Lydia's going to need protection. I'll be okay."

"I don't know, Rina. You're never wrong about things like this," Scott replied, skeptical.

"And Lydia hasn't been to inaccurate, either," I argued. "Look, I swear I'll meet you there if I don't find anything. I just have to make sure."

"Alright. Good luck," Scott patted me on the shoulder and I nodded, giving the sheriff a tight smile before getting into my car and driving towards the woods.

As I drove, I silently prayed to anyone that I wasn't wrong this time. Or that at least Lydia was right and we'd find him soon. I parked my car at the entrance of the preserve and began walking through the trees, wracking my memory for the location of the den.

The trees thinned out as I entered the clearing where the den was located. I saw Melissa and Agent McCall already knelt down in front of the den and I ran towards them.

"Zarina? What are you doing here?" Melissa asked as I approached. The agent's head was inside the den opening and I bit my lip.

"I'm looking for Stiles. I had a, uh, a feeling," I put emphasis on the final word, implying that it was a supernatural feeling. She caught on and nodded, a small 'ah' escaping her lips.

"He's here!" the agent called out and in a flash, Melissa and I pushed him out of the way, looking into the cave. I felt my heart drop to my feet as I watched Stiles' shivering, unconscious form lay in the cave. His face was contorted in pain and fear, and I had a feeling I knew what or who was tormenting him.

The two of us each grabbed a leg and I nearly let go once his screaming began. He twisted and pulled at his body, hands trying to grip the floor to get away from us. Every muscle in his body tensed and he looked completely and absolutely terrified of whatever it was he thought we were.

"Wait! Wait! No! Wait!" he continued to yell as we finally got him out of the den. He kicked and struggled as Melissa pulled his back into her chest, cradling his body between her legs as he screamed, face red from lack of oxygen.

"Stiles! Stiles, baby, it's just us! Wake up!" I grabbed his wrists as I knelt in front of him, trying to get him to stop moving so much. I maneuvered my hands to his face and held him in place firmly, so he'd look at me. "Stiles! You're okay! Look at me. Do I look like I'm going to hurt you?"

Stiles finally stopped screaming and blinked, tears falling from his eyes. He looked around at the three of us tiredly as he finally came to the realization that he was just dreaming.

He leaned back into Melissa's warm embrace and she cooed soothing words into his ears as I kissed both of his ice-cold hands, trying to get warmth into them again.

Stiles looked up at me wide-eyed and I gave him a reassuring smile. His features seemed to relax once he convinced himself that he really was okay again.

I took out my phone and sent a quick message to Scott, relief bubbling in my chest.

We found him.

My leg bounced as we sat in hospital chairs, waiting for the sheriff to come back with news on Stiles. Once he did, we all stood, anxious.

"He's sleeping now and he's just fine," the sheriff informed him and my stiff shoulders relaxed. "He doesn't remember much. It's been like a dream to him. Thank you." He turned to Agent McCall, who simply shrugged.

"It was that repellent we sprayed in the coyote den to keep the other animals out. I couldn't go near it without my eyes watering. It's just a good thing he mentioned it on the phone."

"No, it was more than that. Thank you," the sheriff insisted.

"It was a lucky connection."

"McCall, can you shut up and accept my sincerest gratitude?" he sighed in annoyance, but held his hand out for him.

The agent took it, giving it a firm shake. "Accepted."

"Alright, you three have school in less than six hours. Go home," Melissa hugged her son and I before shooing us away. "Go to sleep."

I smiled at the nurse thankfully and followed Scott and Lydia down the hall. I glanced over at Lydia, who looked ashamed of herself.

"I don't know what happened. I was so sure," she whispered.

"Yeah, I wasn't much help either. Doesn't matter. He's okay," Scott reassured her.

"Don't beat yourself up about it. This is new for all of us, so don't think you haven't helped. Because you have," I persisted.

She pulled her lips in, but nodded reluctantly as we continued to walk. However, she stopped mid-step, eyes narrow, as she seemed to hear something.

"Lydia, do you hear something?" Scott questioned.

"No. I didn't hear anything."

Somehow, I'd convinced my brother to let me skip school and spend the day at the hospital with Stiles. He didn't like the fact that I was missing more school, but he seemed to accept that I was worried and didn't push me to go somewhere I didn't want to.

And that was how I ended up sitting in a hospital chair for nearly five hours, watching my boyfriend rest. I didn't mind it at all. It was a step up from seeing him nearly dead in a coyote's den, even if the guilt of everything grew heavier each time I looked at him.

"Have you been here the whole day?" Stiles' croaky voice brought me out of my blanked out state and I nodded, smiling lightly as he sat up in his bed.

"Couldn't go anywhere else without you," I admitted, shrugging. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Kind of," he bit his lip. "It's just…what's wrong with me? I'm scared, Zarina, I'm so scared."

I felt tears prickle in my eyes and I looked away form him, regretful. "I know. So am I. Oh god, I'm sorry, Stiles."

"Why are you sorry? You haven't done anything," he said slowly.

"If only you knew," I muttered, but he didn't catch it, so I changed the subject. "It's nothing, just…do you know what they're planning to do? The doctors?"

"An MRI," he informed me weakly. "Th-they're looking for what she had. Said there's a chance I could have it, too."

I looked back up at him and met his fearful gaze. "You can do this. You are brave and strong and I'm sure that you can get through this. Scott and I will be right there for you when you need us, so don't be scared."

I reached up and wiped a stray tear off his face with my thumb, tracing his cheekbone with it once I finished. Stiles gave me a tiny smile, one full of gratitude and love and so many other emotions that I didn't know a smile that small could possess. The door burst open suddenly and I stood up from my chair as the sheriff walked in.

"Stiles needs to, uh, get ready," he said vaguely and I nodded, sending one last smile in his direction. "Scott should be out there already."

I shut the door behind me and met up with Scott, each of us unable to hide our worry and fear. The two of us waited for a few minutes silently until Stiles and his father emerged, leading us into the MRI room.

The room itself was very plain. Only containing the machine itself and a one sided mirror for the doctor to look into the room. Stiles sat on the edge of the machine, looking at his arm nervously.

"I'm not sure I know how to pronounce this or if it's not actually a misspelling," the doctor confessed to the sheriff.

"Just call him Stiles."

The doctor nodded and approached Stiles, papers in hand. "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 the metal coils inside the machine. If you want, we can get you some earplugs or headphones."

"Oh, no. I don't need anything," Stiles responded politely.

The sheriff looked down at his son. "Hey, we're just on the other side of that window, okay?"

"Okay," Stiles smiled at Melissa and his dad, giving him a pat on the shoulder before they left the room with the specialist.

"You know what they're looking for right?" he began softly. "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." I knew he'd memorized every single fact about this disease. It was Stiles. He had to. "There's no cure."

The tears already streamed down my cheeks as I looked at him sadly, my heart breaking into pieces. "I'd find one. Hell, I'd make one if I had to. Now matter how long it takes."

"If you have it, Stiles, we'll do something," Scott paused, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "I'll do something."

Stiles looked up at him, weak, but nodded as the tears gathered. Scott embraced him in a hug and I felt the tears fall faster as the two gripped each other with strength and love that only the two of them had for each other.

After a minute, Scott patted his back one more time and left the room, understanding that I needed a second alone with him. I walked closer to him and stood between his legs, head tilted downward so I could look into his eyes.

"I love you," my voice cracked with emotion. "So incredibly, incomprehensibly much."

"I love you too," he muttered. "Ever since we were kids and you told me not to eat sand, but I did anyways."

We grinned feebly at each other and I bit my lip as the tears came again. I pressed my lips to his and he returned the kiss. It was soft and chaste, but it held more emotion and feeling than any words could have at that moment.

With one last peck, I pulled away from him and headed towards the door, shutting it with a small 'click' behind me as I exited out the other side.

Scott's hand was held tightly in mine as we sat in the chairs together quietly. No words could or had to be said as the tension of the situation filled the air. Shockingly, Derek arrived after a few minutes and took a seat in front of us, causing us both to sit straighter.

"You know the stuff you were telling us earlier about chemo signals?" Scott asked Derek to take our minds off things. "It reminded me of the time you were teaching me to use anger to control the shift."

"I think you ended up teaching me more about that," Derek admitted with a wry grin.

"Are you teaching me again?"

"Think of it more like sharing a few trade secrets," he corrected. "You two 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."

"Your dead mother? The one who is definitely 100% dead? That one?" I questioned, incredulous.

Derek chuckled. "The one and only. It's a long story, but she told me something that changed my perspective on a lot of things. She said my family didn't just live in Beacon Hills. We protected it. This town needs someone to protect it; someone like you." He looked straight at Scott.

"And someone like you to teach me a few trade secrets," Scott responded automatically. Derek's mouth lifted into a smile, but then, Scott shot out of his seat.

"What's up?" I looked up at him, eyebrow raised.

"He was trying to protect us. Stiles was trying to protect us."

Glad that someone had finally connected the dots, I agreed. "From himself. Exactly. Let's go."

I hurried to the rooftop with the two werewolves and started looking around. There had to be something here that caused him to fight himself, or whatever it was inside him, so desperately.

"What are we looking for, Scott?"

"I'm not sure. I think Stiles was also struggling not to do something."

My steps slowed as my eyes caught sight of a duffle bag on top of one of the wired cages. I climbed onto a wooden box and pulled it down, the heavy weight causing me to drop it on the floor.

There were tools in it, all used for electrical purposes. I looked back up at the wires above the cage and saw that one wire in particular had been tampered with.

I quickly stumbled off the box and away from the exploding wire. Sparks flew in the air and the three of us backed away to avoid getting hit. The wire twisted and flailed in the air freely at this point, dangerously dangling over the edge.

What did Stiles do?

AN: Feels. A lot of them. AYAYAYYAYAY. jk. But I hope this was okay. Eh, idk how I feel about it. My writing has been off since I got back from the tournament. Feels unnatural. But idk it'll be back soon.

Thank you for all the support and love. It means a great deal to me. Even the smallest review can brighten my day, so try and do that. wink wink.

Love you guys! Please review/fave/follow if you enjoyed.
Tumblr: sstuhlinski

xx.