Begin Transmission
Lacy here and so it begins. Stiles disappearing and reappearing and the horrible hospital scene where he thinks he has what his mother did and it hurts. It so hurts. And it's a lot of emotion for Effie and there's yelling and crying and revealing of a childhood nickname for Effie. And, yeah. Read on!
Disclaimer: I own only Effie and her nickname.
End Transmission
~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~
Effie shifted restlessly in her sleep, her eyes moving rapidly under her lids, her breathing coming in short pants. As she gripped the sheets tightly, her head turned sharply towards the wall that separated her room from Stiles'. Her eyes flew open, the irises glowing lilac.
"Stiles."
Not even blinking, Effie tore her blankets back and sprang from her bed. Moving fast, she raced through her open door and down the hall. Shoving Stiles's door open, she froze as she found the room empty with nothing but a pair of scissors stuck into the mattress, red strings tied to it, going to different places on the walls. She shifted without conscious thought, sniffing the air, trying to figure out where her brother had gone.
When she couldn't find anything, her cell vibrating in her room registered and she ran to grab it, thankful her father was on shift for the night. She saw Scott was calling and answered.
"Where's my brother?" she demanded.
"I don't know." Scott wasn't surprised by Effie's questioned. "He called me, terrified, says he doesn't know where he is but he's stuck and in some kind of basement. He thinks he was sleepwalking, Ef."
Effie ran a hand through her hair. "I didn't hear anything. Normally I hear him when he does that." she moved to her dresser. "Come get me, I'm gonna help."
"We're coming to you first." Scott told her. "See if we can track the scent from the house."
"I just tried." Effie informed. "There's no sign of his scent leaving his room, forget the house."
"Maybe I'll have better luck." Scott suggested.
Effie nodded. "Good point. I'll be waiting."
"Okay, and Effie?" Scott's lowered his voice. "We'll find him."
Effie swallowed. "We have to."
~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~
Hearing someone approach the front door, Effie charged down the stairs and flung it open. Lydia and Aidan were standing there.
"You heard it." Effie said without guessing.
Lydia nodded. "What's going on?"
Effie shook her head, leading the two upstairs. "No idea. I woke up, just knowing that Stiles was missing. I raced to his room and found this," she opened the door. "He called Scott, said he was stuck or trapped and couldn't get out. He and Isaac are on their way to us."
Lydia heard the edge of hysteria in Effie's tone and rubbed her arm. "It's gonna be okay, Effie. Have you called your dad?
Effie gave a shaky exhale. "Uh, no. I actually didn't even think of calling him. My mind was just so focused on finding Stiles." she turned her head towards the door. "Scott and Isaac are here."
~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~
Effie took one look at her father when she, Isaac and Scott arrived at the police station and dove right into his arms. She felt them tremble as he held Effie tightly and kissed her head. Scott and Isaac stayed silent, knowing the two needed a minute to find stable ground before talking was an option.
"If his jeep is missing," John finally spoke. "that's where we start." he turned to Parrish. "Parrish, let's get an APB out on a blue 1980 CJ5 Jeep. Gordova, I want a list of any kind of industrial basement or sublevel of any building he could have gotten into while sleepwalking." he turned to the whole station. "It's the coldest night of the year so far, so if he's out there barefoot in just a t-shirt, he could already be hypothermic. Let's move fast. Let's think fast." he looked at Scott and Isaac. "The two of you, come with me."
Effie didn't let go of her father as he directed them into his office. Once they were all inside, he shut the door and faced them.
"Okay," he said. "is there anything you need to tell me that I can't tell everybody out there?"
"Lydia knew he was missing." Scott filled in.
"Can she help find him?" John asked.
"She's working on it." Isaac answered.
"Anything else?" John questioned.
"I called Derek and Allison for help." Scott said. He didn't have to tell John why Effie didn't call her own boyfriend. She was shaking just as badly as her father.
"Okay," John released Effie to Isaac and crossed his arms. "can you find him by scent?"
Before they could answer, Parrish knocked and entered.
"We got it, sir." he said. "We found the jeep."
~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~
Effie sat in her brother's jeep, hands resting on the lower half of the steering wheel. Her tears were dried, her shaking had stopped. Now she just wanted to know where the hell her brother was. The entire jeep smelled of panic and anxiety, just like Scott and Derek said the roof of the hospital had. But he wasn't in the hospital, he wasn't in his jeep, he wasn't anywhere and she was close to losing it.
Pulling her white sweater coat closer, Effie sat back with a soft sniff and closed her eyes. Deaton was constantly telling her that she and Stiles were connected through their Spark. And she was trying so hard to reach out to him, so hard, but, damnit, she didn't know what she was doing. She'd already tried painting, but she'd just stared at a blank canvas for nearly an hour before putting her claws through it.
Screaming in frustration, Effie slammed her hands against the ceiling of the car, startled as lightning ran through her arms, into the metal frame.
"Effie,"
Effie turned quickly, finding Melissa standing at the door. "I-I can't-"
Melissa opened the door. "Come on, sweetie. I'm off shift, why don't I take you home?"
Effie shook her head. "I can't just sit at home. I can't do nothing. I have to help find Stiles."
"Then come with me." Melissa coaxed. "I'm gonna go to the station, see if there's anything I can do from there. It's better than sitting in the cold in Stiles's jeep."
Effie swallowed as she allowed Melissa to help her from the vehicle. "I want him back, Melissa."
Melissa stroked Effie's hair back, her heart breaking for the girl she saw as a daughter. "I know, honey. We'll find him, I promise."
~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~
Effie watched the EMTs and Melissa lead the stretcher holding Stiles into the hospital. She was doing everything she could to hold it together but seeing the state Stiles had been in when they found him and finally managed to wake him up, she was at the end of her rope.
Feeling a familiar pull from behind, Effie turned without looking and accepted Derek's arms tightly around her body. Her shoulders shook and her chest heaved as she released the sobs she'd tried so hard to fight back. She could finally break, Derek was there to catch her.
Eyes closed against the pain he could feel running through Effie, Derek held her close, his lips pressed against her hair, one hand stroking her neck while the other held tight across her waist. Ever since the call came from Scott about Stiles being missing, Derek's only instinct was to get to Effie, to comfort his mate and make sure she was okay. But he also knew the best way to comfort her was to find her brother, her twin. So that's what he focused on. He knew Scott, Isaac and John would watch Effie until he could give her his full attention.
Now Stiles was found, safe, if not mentally then physically, and Derek couldn't fight the need to be there for Effie any longer. So he didn't. He stood still, holding Effie tight and waited for the storm to pass, even if only for a little while.
~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~
Effie sat at Stiles's bedside, holding his hand tightly in her own as he slept. She could see and hear Melissa and her father talking just outside the door. Her efforts to drown them out wasn't working and she heard every word.
"It was the other day, I asked him some questions, just symptoms," Melissa started. "and, um, he, uh," she was struggling.
"It's okay," John whispered. "I think I, uh, I think I know what you're talking about. I've been writing these down for the past two weeks." Effie shut her eyes, shaking her head against what her father was saying. "I think we need to do some tests."
"No." Effie choked out, standing to go face her father. "No. It's not the same. It's not happening again. It can't happen again, Dad."
John looked at his daughter, tears in both their eyes. "Ef-"
"No!" Effie shouted. "I can't lose him!"
Melissa watched, hand over her mouth, as John gathered Effie into his arms, holding her even as she rained down punches on his chest and shoulders.
"No Daddy," Effie whispered. "please."
"I'm sorry, baby." John whispered back. "I'm so sorry."
~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~
Standing with Scott as Stiles sat on the bed for the CAT Scan, Effie focused on her shoes, not quite able to meet her brother's eyes. Either of them.
"You know what they're looking for, right?" Stiles said to the two. They both gave small, barely noticeable nods. "It's called Frontotemporal Dementia. Areas of your brain start to shrink. It's what our mother had. It's the only form of dementia that can hit teenagers and there's no cure."
Effie was so tired of crying but the defeat in her brother's voice was almost too much. And seeing Scott wipe his own away nearly broke her once more.
"Stiles, if you have it," the alpha spoke. "we'll do something." he looked Stiles in the eye. "I'll do something."
Effie watched the two brothers acknowledge what Scott meant before hugging each other tightly.
"Come here, Mimo," Stiles said, holding an arm out for his sister.
Effie smiled through her tears. "You haven't called me that in years."
Stiles returned the smile. "I know. Time to bring it back."
Effie surged forward and both boys pulled her into the hug. She held to her brothers, feeling almost as safe as when she was in Derek's arms. And she didn't want to leave.
"We'll get through this." Scott whispered, his tone sure and strong. Their alpha was speaking. "All of us, we will get through this."
Effie felt Stiles tighten his grip and knew, if only for a little while, he believed what Scott said. So she did too.
~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~
"Why mimo?"
Effie looked at Scott, his question making her smile. "Mom called me her mini monkey when I was a toddler because I was constantly hanging from things. Her and Dad's backs, the banister. Anything I could. Stiles decided since he had his nickname, I needed one too, so he shortened it to Mimo."
"When did he stop using it?" Derek asked.
Effie nuzzled her nose into his shoulder before answering. "After Mom died. Dad asked Stiles to get me for dinner, said, 'Call Mimo down.' He freaked out on Dad, said we weren't allowed to say that name anymore."
"I like it." Scott decided.
Effie smiled. "Yeah, me too."
"Derek," Scott spoke to the former alpha. "you know that stuff you were telling me about chemosignals earlier? It reminded me of the time you were teaching me to use anger to control the shift."
Derek smirked a bit. "I think you ended up teaching me more about that."
Scott smirked as well. "You teaching me again?"
"Think of it more like, sharing a few trade secrets." Derek clarified. "You 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?" Scott asked. Effie bit back a smile. Yeah, that was her reaction, too.
"She told me something that changed my perspective." Derek admitted. "On a lot of things. She said my family didn't just live in Beacon Hills, they protected it. This town needs someone to protect it. Someone like you."
Scott gave a small laugh. "And someone like you to teach me a few trade secrets." he frowned. "He was trying to protect us." he stood up. "Stiles was protecting us."
"From himself." Derek connected.
Sharing a look with Effie, even if she didn't understand, the three shifters tore from the waiting room to the nearest elevator. It took no time to reach the roof and they split up.
"What are we looking for?" Derek asked.
"I'm not sure." Scott answered. "But I think Stiles wasn't just up here struggling with himself. I think he was struggling not to do something."
Effie looked around, trying to find something. Looking over at the main power station on the roof, she saw a bag on top. "Over there!"
The three raced over to it and Scott yanked the bag down. Tools of all kinds fell out of it. They looked around again, glancing up and saw a wire had been cut, not completely, but enough for it to be sparking. Dangerously.
"What do we do?" Effie asked.
"Alert the hospital." Scott said. "We can't risk trying to fix it ourselves."
They started away from the area, only to turn back when a loud hum filled the air. Before their eyes, sparks flew and a large wire came loose, flying over the edge of the roof, right towards the front entrance and the parking lot.
"Oh god," Effie breathed.
~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~
Begin Transmission
I'd apologize, but it gets worse. Gods, there have got to be so many people sick of seeing me type those words. But I'm good at emotions. A little too good, some might say. Alright, everyone might say it. Let me know what you think, flame policy stands and thanks for reading!
End Transmission