A/N: Hey all! Sorry this took a little while longer, I was taking a break during the festive period, and when I wrote this chapter I just wasn't happy with it, so I left it and came back to it. I really hope that you are all still enjoying the story, and please feel free to leave a review, they make my day! Stay Classy, Icepoppy

"How long do you think he's going to be?" Isaac drawled, leaning lazily against the wall opposite the stairs. Although he acted aloof, both Liam and Scott could smell the anxiety on him. Shifting uncomfortably where he stood, Scott did his best to comfort his pack,

"I told him to come back as soon as he found her, so it should be any minute now." Even as he said the words, he knew they didn't hold much merit. Stiles almost never obeyed instructions, especially when they came from Scott. Throw Lydia into the mix and he was just about as likely to follow orders as he was to walk on water. Stretching his neck to look over his shoulder, he peered down the dimly lit staircase. "He'd better hurry it up though." Liam was biting his nails, pacing back and forth across the hall. Each time he came to a wall, he swivelled on his heel before stomping towards the next one. Soon the only sound filling the space was the 'pat pat pat' of his feet on the floor and the cracking crunching noise each nail made as he gnawed on it. All three of them were listening intently for any sign of trouble. Scott mainly focussed on downstairs, while the other two kept a look out on the corridors around them. Scratching his head in an attempt to appear casual, Scott walked to the top of the stairs."Maybe I should just go down and make sure he's okay?"

Coming to an abrupt stop, Liam stared at him with his voice growing faster and faster with every word he spoke. "Scott, no. You can't go down there, not after how weak it made you last time, think about it- don't you remember?"

"Of course I remember!" Scott snapped, turning to face a rather shocked looking Liam as he spoke, "But Stiles is like my brother, I can't lose him again, I just can't." Although clearly trying to remain angry and motivated, Scott's face fell, shoulders sagging as he bowed his head. He felt as though all of the strength had been drained from him, and he wasn't sure how long he could keep fighting. He knew one thing for certain, if he lost Stiles, that would be the end, he wouldn't be able to carry on. He just couldn't keep losing people. Alison. Ethan and Aiden. Derek. The Sherriff. Lydia. He just couldn't lose Stiles too. The thought frightened him so much that it sent twinges of energy down his lolling limbs. Suddenly he couldn't resist the urge to move, to act. Anything that would prevent this plan from failing. Jumping into action he started pacing a similar pattern to Liam. They were just about to collide when Liam slowed to a halt, eyes closed and brow furrowed in concentration.

Isaac was the first to notice the change in behavior, "What is it, Liam?" His voice breaking the tense silence caught the Alpha's attention, and Scott looked first at Isaac, and then at the youngest of the three.

Breathing in deeply, Liam opened his eyes, "I think... I think someone's coming." His focused expression changed to one of frozen shock as he looked over Scott's shoulder. "Scratch that, I know someone's coming, and there's more than one of them." The three of them all stared for a moment as a group of burly security guards stomped towards them, an older orderly at the head of the group.

"Just what are you three doing here? This is a restricted area!" The little old man had a surprisingly deep voice, the ghosts of cigarettes pulling at it as it left his throat.

Thinking fast, Isaac looked around and plastered an innocent, confused look on his gaunt face. "Is it? I'm sorry we got lost trying to find the telephone."

Scrutinising him, the orderly twitched his nose in suspicion, "This is a long long way from the phones, it's almost impressive just how lost you've got." His bloodshot eyes bulged in their sockets, as though desperate to get a closer look at the three. His gaze shifted from Isaac to Scott, who stood in the middle of the staircase, blocking any access. "And why are you guarding that so intently, boy? Is one of your nasty little friends down there?"

Scott jumped, stammering to answer, "What? No!" He knew it wasn't convincing, glancing nervously first at Liam -who had hit his face with his palm- and then to the orderly and his guards. The old man twitched his nose again, rubbing at the few straggly white hairs that clung onto his chin.

After a moment of silence, he waved a commanding hand, "Take them to solitary." The trio stepped closer together as the guards advanced on them, ready to defend themselves in order to buy Stiles as much time as possible. As the first one –a large and intimidating woman- reached the group, Scott moved in to attack her. She grabbed his shoulder and a wave of bristling hot electricity erupted down his spine and up into his skull. Stunned, he collapsed to the floor. Eyes hazy, he watched in confusion as Liam and Isaac were met with the same fate.

Groggily he tried to understand, "What? How did- huh?"

The twitchy man laughed, hobbling over to stand above Scott, "Once we started getting an unusually high amount of shall we say, unusual visitors, we had to make the decision to employ some- gifted –workers. Anita is very clever with her electricity, wouldn't you agree?" He exposed worn out teeth as he parted his flakey lips in a grin. Groaning, Scott turned to watch as a couple of the guards hurried down the staircase towards an oblivious Stiles. Most of them had remained behind, setting about picking up Scott, Liam and Isaac. As he was dragged to his feet he heard the distant shouts of Stiles quickly followed by a yelp of pain. Unable to speak, Scott simply groaned his dismay as he was carried away.

"WHERE IS STILES!" Scott yelled at the wiry orderly that sat outside of the cell he was currently in. Frustration licked at his bones, making his whole body ache and shake in vain. His anger was growing so strong that he could feel himself starting to lose control. Each breath he took sent a shudder down his skin, his nails itched to grow into claws, his hands desperate to pull the bars confining him out of the way. Liam was in the cell next to him, and although he was out of sight, he must have picked up on Scott's rapidly deteriorating mood. He spoke in a quiet voice, so only the werewolf would hear him.

"Scott, it's going to be okay, just calm down. Breathe."

The Alpha stood still for a moment, eyes still fixed hungrily on the orderly standing guard. But then, he seemed to find himself again. Screwing his eyes shut he breathed deeply, relaxing inch by inch as he felt each muscle rid itself of any supernatural urges. It was like this great heat inside of him was slowly retreating, moving away from the surface and back down into the depths of his chest. Once he was sure he felt calm enough, Scott opened his eyes. He slumped down onto the floor, sitting cross legged behind the gate to the cell as he fixed the orderly with a much more kindly gaze. "Would you just tell me where he is, please?" Scott implored, using his best puppy dog expression on the young man outside his cell. The orderly stared at him for a moment, expression calculating and perhaps a little pitiful. They held eye contact for what Scott counted to be eight seconds before the man looked away, shaking his head as he spoke:

"I can't tell you. I'm sorry." Crossing his arms, the man faced away from Scott, refusing to look him in the eye any more.

Sighing, Scott rubbed his temples as he tried to figure out a plan. Stiles always made the plans, it was just how they worked, Scott was no good at plans and Stiles was an expert. Every escapade and successful adventure they had enjoyed had been down to one of Stiles' plans. Then again, this whole ordeal was the result of one of his best friend's plans, so perhaps he wasn't as brilliant at it as Scott once thought. Smiling to himself, he thought that maybe he would be able to concoct an idea, so long as he adopted the same logical and energetic enthusiasm that Stiles usually applied to plan making. Everything depends on this guard here, he thought, I just need to convince him to help me somehow. Okay let's look at him- he's pretty weedy, probably gets bossed around by all the other workers. I bet no one ever talks to him like an actual person in this place. Breathing in deeply he caught a strong scent of remorse wafting off of the man in front of him. Quirking an eyebrow, Scott formed an idea. Shifting slightly closer to him he could see what name was printed on his name tag. 'DR. RONAN KELLY'. Speaking gently, Scott sat with his back against the dusty bars. "I know you can't, but you want to, right Ronan?"

At hearing his own name, Ronan jumped slightly. Cautiously turning to face Scott once more, he scrutinised the teenager and put his hands on his hips, "And what makes you think that?"

Head leaning against the bars, Scott turned slightly so that he could look at him, "I know you aren't a bad guy, Ronan. In fact, I bet you're the one holding this place together, it's just no one else notices right? And I think you know that I'm not trying to cause any trouble here. I'm just trying to help my friend." His voice wavered slightly towards the end of his statement. There was no acting required, Scott was on the verge of a breakdown not knowing the fate of Stiles. They had been through so much together, friends since childhood. Guilt was clawing at him from all angles knowing how loyal a friend Stiles had always been to him, even when he hadn't even noticed. Scott knew he had been cruel to Stiles about Donovan, about his dad, and he would do absolutely anything and everything to make it up to him. He would be the most loyal friend that had ever existed, and if that meant tearing apart Eichenhouse to get him back, then so be it. Listening carefully, he could tell that his two other friends were in the cells either side of him, but he could not catch a trace of Stiles anywhere. Ronan sucked on his teeth, scratching the back of his neck before crossing his arms. He remained still for a very long time.

All of a sudden he bolted into action, moving with such spontaneous movement that it made Scott jump. Climbing to his feet, Scott stood with his hands wrapped around the bars, watching Ronan's movements intently. The man darted to one end of the corridor, then the other, and finally buzzed back towards Scott. "I am gonna get in so much trouble for this." Scott tried to apologise, but the man just held up his hand, "Save it. The guards took Stiles to the restricted floor. They're going to keep him there. As for you three, they're making us forcefully discharge you by noon, as they can't find anything wrong with your mental stability. They reckon you're just a bunch of teenagers playing a prank or a dare."

Scott gaped at the man, mouthing silently before croaking, "There's nothing wrong with Stiles either!" Even as he said it, he knew that he wasn't sure if he was right. Stiles had been through a lot, had done a lot of things that would drive any normal person to insanity. But Stiles wasn't normal, he was Stiles! "There is nothing wrong with him."

"Not according to them. Look kid, the best you can do for your friend is leave and let him get better." Ronan ended the conversation with a quick nod, turning to face the end of the corridor as the same jumpy old man from before appeared around the corner.

"KELLY!" He yelled, hopping and hobbling towards them. "What the hell are you doing?" Ronan gulped, glancing guiltily at Scott before turning back to stare in trepidation at the old man. "Stop standing around like an idiot and get to work, these three are meant to be discharged immediately!" He came to a halt right in front of Dr Kelly, standing on his tiptoes so that his bulbous nose was nearly pressing against the pointed one of the younger man.

Breathing very lightly, Ronan gulped, "Yes Sir."

Giving the same toothy grin of approval as before, the man rounded on Scott pressing his face right up to the bars of his cell. Scott stepped back, no longer trying to hide his disgust. "And as for you. If any of you three ever try and set foot in here again without genuine reason, I will not hesitate to call the police. Stupid pranks and dares are just a waste of our time."

Wick burning dangerously short, Scott growled, "You know there's nothing wrong with Stiles, he's not gifted-" he spat the word at the man, "or insane, so why are you keeping him here?"

The man recoiled in shock before glaring over his shoulder at Dr Kelly, who in turn shot Scott an exasperated look. The boy didn't care, all he was interested in was answers. After spitting and muttering in anger for a few moments, the older man slinked closer to the bars of Scott's cage, wrapping long bony fingers around two of the metal struts."Stiles might not be a werewolf, that's true. But he certainly is gifted. Don't tell me you haven't noticed? He's the key to all of this, he's like a catalyst for the supernatural, it gravitates around him. Haven't you ever wondered why?"

Taken aback, Scott stared blankly at the man. He had never thought about it like that, he had just always assumed that it was Beacon Hills that drew things to them, but looking back on it, everything could be connected back to his best friend. Standing in awe, he listed off all the little incidents that Stiles had seemed to initiate. The night he got bitten, it was Stiles who had taken him out into the woods, Stiles who had been dragged away from the scene only moments before the attack happened. Scott wondered that if the Sherriff hadn't taken him away, maybe it would have been Stiles who was bitten. He always seemed to know who the villain was, before everybody else: Peter, Matt, even himself. He had figured out Scott was a werewolf, he had figured out Lydia's powers and he had taught both of them how to control it. Malia had been inexplicably drawn to him, she had absolutely no reason to want to talk to him after they changed her back, in fact she had hated them both. So why did she suddenly switch to being obsessed with him. When the Nogitsune took over, it could have chosen any one of them, but for some reason, it chose Stiles. The canima, the oni, the dread doctors, the chimeras, even Theo- especially Theo- every single one had some weird interest or draw towards him.

Scott found himself questioning just how well he knew his best friend, was there something Stiles had been hiding from him? He didn't have much time to dwell on it, as in his daze he hadn't noticed the door buzz open to let two guards clamber in and drag him out. Still rather shocked and confused, he allowed himself to be pulled off the premises, closely followed by Isaac and Liam.

As they were chucked out of the large black gates, Isaac and Liam shuffled closer to Scott. Isaac was the first to speak, "What the hell was that, do you know something we don't?"

Liam had a worried look on his face, glancing between Scott and Eichenhouse, "We shouldn't have left him there, he's terrified of that place!"

"Scott? What's going on?" Isaac pressed him.

Shaking his head Scott blinked in bemusement, "I have no idea."