It was too quiet in the hallway. Danny did not like it. Even with the odd nurse or hospital staff rushing by doing their duties, the hallway was too quiet. Lydia sat across the way from Danny, wringing her hands in her lap as they waited for any news on Allison's condition. Danny still did not know exactly what had happened; he had just gotten a text from Jackson saying that Allison was hurt and that Lydia should not be alone. So, he had made his way quickly to the hospital, asking no questions along the way. Melissa was with Allison, while everyone else was heading to Deaton's or something like that. Danny was blurry on those details as well.

All the while, he found himself worrying about Stiles. He could not help but worry about where the other teen was or how he was faring. Worse was the thought of how Stiles would react after they got him back to himself and he realized what had been done. Danny did not blame him, and he knew the others did not blame Stiles. That did not mean that Stiles would not blame himself.

"A shadow," Lydia suddenly mumbled across the hall, causing Danny to look up at her with a frown and a furrowed brow. She slowly looked up at Danny and wet her lips. "There was a riddle on the wall at the school. 'Everyone has it and no one can lose it, what is it?'. A shadow, the answer's a shadow."

"How does that help us?" questioned Danny, crossing his arms and resting his elbows on his knees.

"It's a clue. We know that there's... something that is causing Stiles to be... well, not himself. That's what it is, a shadow."

Danny nodded slowly in vague understanding of Lydia's words. He did not fully understand, but that was okay, he guessed. None of them really did. Lydia pulled out her phone, sending a text to Scott about how she had finally figured out what the riddle was. The text was quick and to the point, though a part of Lydia still wondered if it would truly change anything. Maybe the riddle was just that; a riddle.

"A shadow," Scott said without looking up from his phone while they all stood around an examination table there in Deaton's clinic. Everyone looked to Scott as he read and re-read the text from Lydia, even as he finally put the phone away and looked up. "At the school, there was a riddle written on the wall."

"In someone's blood," input Jackson with a slight nod and a wince. "It said something about having it and not losing it or something."

"It said 'Everyone has it and no one can lose it, what is it?'. Lydia just figured it out." Scott nodded a little, running his hand over his head several times. "No word on Allison, yet." Alan Deaton stood at the head of the table, mouth pinched into a firm line as his hands rested on each corner of the table. "What is it?"

"A shadow could be many things," the town veterinarian explained with a slight sigh to his voice, looking around at the group that stood around the room. "There are many things that live in the dark, but..."

"But...?" urged Linden Stilinski, brow furrowing as Alan crossed the room to a shelf full of inconspicuous books without titles on the spine.

"This one seems to enjoy playing games. That does narrow the field a little." Alan nodded once as Scott took the book from the man, opening to the table of contents. The teen's eyes darted over the chapter titles as his boss continued speaking. "These are a type of... being that I believe could be responsible for what is happening to Stiles."

"We can help him, though, right?" questioned Scott, turning to the first chapter of the book in order to start reading about demons. "Holy god."

Scott's last comment was mumbled to himself as he glanced over the drawings in the book. He closed his eyes after a moment, taking a deep breath as he looked up to Alan Deaton. "I don't know."

The silence in the clinic became deafening then, and Scott frowned as he looked around the room at all of the people who were there to try to help. Stiles was in serious trouble, and none of them knew what to do. It was not uncommon for them to be lost, but usually Stiles was the one to figure out what they needed to know. Scott remained silent as the others started tossing around ideas, thoughts on what it could be from what very little information Deaton could give them. After several minutes, Scott set aside the book still in his hands and quietly made his way toward the front door. Once he pushed it open, he stopped and held it there, looking back to see Derek standing next to the counter that divided the back of the clinic from the waiting room. "I can't just stand here, Derek," Scott explained. "He's my best friend, and he's out there somewhere."

Derek nodded a little, letting out a heavy sigh. "Go. We'll see if we can't figure this out. Be safe. Let us know if you find him."

Scott nodded with a faint smile then, and he took a moment to steel himself to leave, only to stop again. "Hey, Derek. Thanks." The two werewolves shared a faint smile and a nod before Scott finally left the clinic, determined to find Stiles, wherever he was.

Meanwhile, at the hospital, both Danny and Lydia stood up quickly when Chris Argent came out into the waiting area, looking somber but relieved. "She'll be okay," Chris announced with a nod only to sit down on one of the chairs while running a hand over his face. "It's not as bad as they had thought. She'll heal with minimal scarring to her legs."

Lydia let out a heavy sigh and nodded as she slowly sat back down in her seat. "That's... that's good, I mean..." she said, smiling faintly when Chris gave her a grateful smile.

The man looked between the two teens then, running a hand over his face once again. "You should probably get home. It's late. You don't need to be here."

"Yeah," agreed Danny, nodding his head before shaking it with a faint smile. "But, we're not going anywhere unless we have to."

Chris smiled thankfully at the two teens before he offered to go get them all coffee from the cafeteria. Danny passed, but Lydia thanked him with a smile and a nod, requesting extra sugar in hers. Once the two teens were alone again, the hallway fell into quiet once more. Danny idly bounced his knee, checking his phone every few moments with hope for some kind of update, while Lydia used her own phone to text the good news to everyone else. "Danny?" Lydia questioned after several minutes, pursing her lips slightly as he looked up at her. "Are you okay?"

No. Danny was not okay. There were werewolves, and demons, and the one boy he should want nothing to do with was possibly one if the text from Jackson was anything to go by. Danny remained terrified for Stiles, wondering what was going to happen to the boy and how they were going to get him back. "We shouldn't have to be handling this," Danny said quietly after several moments, idly wetting his lips as he glanced up to look at Lydia again when his gaze dropped to his phone. "We're just teenagers."

"Scott will find Stiles, Danny," insisted Lydia with a nod, brushing her red hair back out of her face. "We'll figure this out. We always do."

Danny could not help but laugh bitterly at that, smiling a little as he gestured over to where Lydia sat. "That's my point; you shouldn't have to."

Lydia nodded sadly, idly playing with her own phone. "I assume other towns still have some sort of adult leadership, like Beacon Hills used to. Talia Hale used to protect the town, leaving her kids out of the problems until they were adults. Now, though? Derek's the adult and we can't let him do this alone."

"Even if it means you could die?"

At that, Lydia smiled sadly, nodding though Danny almost missed the gesture. "We might die anyway, Danny. At least this way, we won't just be sitting on our hands when it happens."

Danny, Lydia, and Chris were dozing off in Allison's room when Danny's cell phone started ringing shrilly in the otherwise quiet room. It made all three of them jump, and Danny groaned as he fished his phone out of his pocket and held it up to his ear with a groggy, "Hello?"

"Danny," it was Scott, sounding slightly out of breath. Danny could practically see the worried expression on the other teen's face, even without Scott being there. "We found Stiles. We're at his pl-"

That was all it took to have Danny up out of his seat, mumbling a quick explanation to Lydia and Chris before he was out the door. Lydia rushed after him, apologizing to Chris on her way, and met up with him just outside the hospital. Neither teen said a word as Lydia climbed into Danny's car with him, and they made their way across town to the Stilinski residence. There were several cars out front and all the shades and curtains were closed in every window of the house. Danny was sure all of the lights were on, though, by the faint glow in every window.

Neither he nor Lydia said anything as they rushed into the house, Lydia closing the door after them. "Where is he?" Danny asked, looking around the living room where Linden, Derek, Scott, and Jackson stood. Isaac's jacket was on one of the chairs, but the curly-haired teen was nowhere in sight.

"Downstairs," answered Linden tiredly, frowning as his eyes darted over to where the basement door stood in the kitchen. He sounded just as broken as he looked and Danny could not help but frown. "Melissa and Isaac are with him."

"Is he okay?" Lydia questioned when she finally found her voice, wringing her hands in front of herself until Jackson took one of them in his own, squeezing gently.

Linden nodded a little, running a hand over his face. "Sort of. He's... alive; but, he's not always... him."

Danny nodded in understanding, saying nothing else as he made his way toward the door that led to the basement. His heart clenched painfully in his chest at the thought of Stiles having to be kept locked up in the basement, as if he was some kind of threat. It was Stiles; he was only a danger to himself, after all. Once in the basement, Danny had to pause for a moment to adjust to the dimmer lighting coming from a single bulb off to one side. Melissa and Isaac looked over at him from where they stood talking, the nurse smiling tiredly at the teen. "Hey, Danny," Melissa said quietly before nodding over to a cot in the corner of the room. "He's over there, asleep now thanks to a sedative from Deaton."

With a heavy sigh, Danny walked over to where Stiles lay, the other teen on his side facing the wall. Danny carefully sat down next to Stiles, resting a hand on his back, the other idly brushing over his arm. Stiles seemed to tense a little in his sleep, before letting out a heavy sigh as he relaxed into the touch, leaning back against Danny's side as he continued to sleep. He could hear Isaac muttering something about it probably being a bad idea to be so close when they did not know what Stiles would be like when he woke up. Danny did not care, though. He was not going anywhere.

It was Scott and Linden in the room with him, his fingers running idly through Stiles' hair when the teen began to stir as the sedatives started to wear off. Scott had a syringe at the ready should it be needed, tensing a little as he watched his best friend. "Danny?" Stiles mumbled in a tired, scratchy voice as he blinked his eyes several times. In an instant, Stiles was sitting up with a gasp, eyes widening as his hands began to shake and the events over the previous few days washed over him. He felt sick to his stomach and like the room was spinning.

"Stiles, breathe," Danny insisted, reaching up to rest a hand on the back of Stiles' neck, rubbing small soothing circles against the skin there. "It's okay, everyone's okay."

"Al-Allison?" He practically choked on the word, wet eyes darting between Danny and where Scott stood across the room.

Scott attempted a weak smile, nodding as he said, "She'll be okay. I was just with her."

Stiles nodded several times, his hand moving forward on its own accord to grip the side of Danny's shirt near his waist as his breaths continued to come in harsh, shaky movements. "What is wrong with me?" Stiles' voice seemed small, shaking with the fear they could all see on his face.

Danny wasted no time in scooping Stiles into his arm, hugging him close. A small sob escaped Stiles as he let go of Danny's shirt to simply wrap both arms around him, offering no protest as he let Danny pull him as close as possible. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Stiles repeated over and over as he pressed his face into the top of Danny's shoulder.

Linden and Scott waited with baited breath as Danny continued to hold Stiles close to him, fingers running through the broken boy's hair as his lips brushed against Stiles' temple. They were sure that for the time being, Stiles was just that, Stiles. However, none of them were sure how long it would last, what triggered the changes, or just how they would stop it from happening again. Lydia was upstairs with Melissa and Jackson, pouring over different books in order to figure out just that. There was a palpable tension in the air, one that made even Lydia struggle to breathe at times. A part of her could not help but wonder if they would ever figure it out, or if Stiles Stilinski would be their undoing.