"Stiles! Stiles, you need to stop doing that!"

The boy in question fluttered his eyelids as he rose to consciousness, spurred by the half-exasperated, half-worried tone of someone he knew very well, though right now he couldn't name the person speaking.

"Hmmph?"

"How many times has my mom told you not to mix Red Bull and your ADHD meds? It's a good way to lead to your heart stopping!"

So is having your skin flayed from your bones over and over, he mused silently. The voice continued to berate him as Stiles slowly became more aware of his surroundings. The smells around him suggested somewhere clinical and sterile so most likely a hospital or doctor's office, but the starchy sheets beneath his fingertips and the upright bed definitely clinched the hospital angle. Next he sent tendrils of thought throughout his body and was relieved to note nothing more than a cramp in his left calf muscle and right foot, as if he'd seized up against some tremendous force. The feeling of his chest ripped apart and his lungs deflated faded, especially when he investigated the site with his hands.

"Are you even listening to me?"

No, Stiles admitted, though he wasn't sure if his interrogator could hear him or not. I'm just thankful I'm alive.

"Dude, I have stuff to tell you!"

"Cat's Cradle."

"What?"

"She was playing Cat's Cradle."

"Who's "she"?"

The little girl in the garden with the dead tree in the middle. She wanted me to play with her.

"Stiles! Stiles!"

Hot skin pressed against him, burning him through his t-shirt, and he yelled as he bucked backwards away from the awful touch.

"Dude!"

"Stiles?"

Brown eyes flashed open and stared into bright gold ones inches from his face. He probably should be scared of the inch long canine's extending past the boy's lips, but he wasn't.

Why aren't I?

Oh, I know him.

"Scott! What the hell man?"

Dark brows pulled into a worried frown melted into slight arches of relief.

"Are you finally back with me? Mom said you went unconscious about an hour and a half ago. She barely managed to get you here without anyone seeing."

The room she put him in was in the older part of the second floor, as evident by the dim lighting, vacant two occupant room (well, other than him), and grungy tile. Beacon Hills Medical Center had recently gone under renovation when a large sum of money was donated for that purpose. No one knew exactly who had given the money, but Stiles had an inkling of the parties involved.

"What happened?"

"I dunno dude, you tell me. Mom said you stopped by and discussed the bodies in the morgue and then you started to go home but collapsed in the hallway. You were out cold for a few seconds then snapped to it when she called your name, but were really out of it so she frog-marched you here to recover before returning to her post. As soon as she got you down, you were out again."

"Heather? What about -"

Oh. Yeah.

Face gray, lips blue, body slack. Throat slashed, hole in head, not wolves, something, something else. Think.

"What are you humming?"

"Hmmn?"

"You're humming, Stiles. You never hum."

Stiles looked away from the earnest face Scott was aiming his way and realized he was humming.

"Cat's in the Cradle."

"Huh?"

"The song I'm humming is Cat's in the Cradle by Harry Chapin. It was my mom's favorite."

Both boys froze at his offhand comment. Stiles didn't talk about the deceased Mrs. Stilinski any more than Scott spoke about his deadbeat dad, so it was startling how easy the words fell from his lips.

"Uh, uh, okay."

Scott fell silent, though his mouth opened a few times as he tried to pick his way through the verbal minefield and get their conversation back on track. Stiles still wasn't feeling wholly himself, but took pity on his befuddled best friend.

"So, what's up?"

There, that sounded normal.

"Uh, well, we ended up getting help from Allison's dad because we weren't doing so well tracking Boyd and Cora on our own, and we got them to follow us to Beacon High, where we trapped them in the boiler room -"

"Wait. We have a boiler room?"

"Yeah, I know right? Isaac knew about it."

"Of course he did," Stiles muttered, a little jealous of Scott's admiring tone. His ideas were often shot down by Scott and only turned to after everything else was exhausted. Of course, the last great idea he had ended up with Scott bitten and turning into a werewolf...so maybe there was a reason.

Stiles drooped and pressed back against the bed in a small funk.

Scott continued on, either ignoring or ignorant of Stiles' mood. "So, Derek and I were sitting there waiting for daylight, but then I heard a third heartbeat."

"What?"

He's get back to the whole "daylight" thing with him in a second. A third heartbeat? And Scott heard it, but not Derek?

"Yeah, our new English teacher Ms. Blake was down there."

"Why was she down there?"

"I guess that's where they keep the supplies for teachers."

"Okkkaaayyyy...but why was she down there tonight, er, last night? I mean, we've only been back a few days, so how come she's at school so late? We haven't even turned in any assignments yet."

Scott shrugged. "I dunno, but we had to open the doors. Derek went in there to get her and -"

"Let me guess, got ripped to shreds by Boyd and Cora."

"How'd you know?"

Stiles just looked at Scott, not even deigning to respond. Regardless of the weird body connection he now apparently shared with Derek, the young Alpha was constantly getting shot, stabbed, or drowned because he jumped in to save somebody. Of course, a lot of it he brought on himself, but the point was still valid.

"Yeah, it's a Derek thing. He held them back from attacking her. Isaac and I went in there once the sun started coming up and he was on his knees covered in blood, but it wasn't that bad actually."

Stiles remembered the feeling of raw shredded flesh hanging there, a moment when he could see his insides as clearly as he could see Scott now. It was a surreal and entirely terrifying experience – and Derek experienced it over and over in his short life. Werewolf healing was great and all, but it still didn't take away the knowledge your body was being torn apart. Little wonder the dude was so snarly.

"What significance does the sun coming up have?"

"Oh," Scott looked a little uncomfortable"Um, it's a werewolf thing."

"Yeah, I figured that one out." Stiles sighed theatrically then slowly straightened when Scott didn't continue. "Wait, are you not telling me because it's a werewolf thing and I'm human so I can't know?"

Scott's "No," was less than believable.

"Dude! Who's been there since the beginning? Who trained you when you wouldn't accept Derek's help? Who's had your back since the day we met?"

"Stiles -"

"No, don't Stiles me, Scott! I deserve to know. I'm human, yes, but that doesn't stop me from saving your werewolf ass."

"Dude, it's not like that. I just don't want you to get involved! I mean, look at you, you're overdosing on your meds again to stay up and research! I don't want you hurt."

The last bit was roared more than said, Scott's emotions overwhelming him to the point he wolfed out, the brown hair sprouting as teeth and claws elongated, distorting his face.

"Whoa, Scott. Buddy. Calm down."

Stiles knew Scott needed touch to anchor him when Allison wasn't around for him to sense, so he slowly put his hand out on his best friend's shoulder to settle him. Both drew back in shock when electricity seemed to spark between them, sending a small current down Scott's arm to his hand. Surprise revealed his human features as he stared at Stiles in consternation.

"What was that?"

"Damn static electricity!" Stiles chuckled nervously, aware he was being hypocritical by trying to deflect Scott from the truth rather than just saying it, but he needed to wrap his head around what was going on before he could explain it.

"Huh, weird."

"You okay buddy?"

"Yeah, yeah." Scott started pacing back and forth at the bedside until Stiles felt dizzy and anxious just looking at him. Closing his eyes, he slid off the edge and stood, relieved his shoes were still on.

"Look Scott, I know this is dangerous, but I've been in it since the beginning. Don't leave me out now. Please."

"Fine! Just, you just gotta promise me that you won't mess with your meds. I mean it."

It was an easy promise to make and keep because that wasn't what was going on, but damned if Stiles could tell him.

"C'mon, lets go to the morgue. I have some things I gotta show you. There is so much more going on than just the Alpha Pack, Scott. So much more."

A/N: I had intended to bring them to the morgue and have that scene play out, but ultimately I felt it was more important to give them a little moment together since they didn't really have any this episode. This is the end for my interpretation of this episode and will continue to the next.