Chapter 27 - A Chaotic World, A Chaotic Mind

"I'm still not sure how any of this is going to help him." Malia admitted as both girls quietly made their way through the empty halls of Eichen.

"Shh, you're supposed to be listening for footsteps." Avery reminded her as she looked around to check their surroundings.

"I am." Malia sighed closing her eyes for a second to refocus her hearing.

"Stiles said he needs to get into the basement, he thinks there's something in there that will help him." Avery whispered.

"From the evil spirit possessing him…" Malia remembered their conversation from the prior day as she wrapped her arms around herself in the thin long sleeved shirt she was wearing.

The blonde tucked her hair behind her ear and sped up her pace realizing how late they were to meet up with Stiles, but they couldn't sneak out of their room until the last rounds were done on their hallway and the orderlies had been several minutes late.

"He should have been here." Avery said her forehead lining with concern and confusion as they walked up to the door leading to the basement, but Stiles was nowhere to be found.

"Maybe they were late on his floor too?" She breathed as she leaned against the door and looked around.

"Or he got caught." Malia shrugged as she faced her.

"Don't say that." Avery sighed, then said, "I'm really wondering why I agree to even let you tag along."

Either not hearing her or not acknowledging her statement the brunette said, "Wait… if he did get caught, I know where they took him. Come on."

As the girls carefully snuck down the stairs to the floor below them Malia came to a stop with a confused expression and put her arm out bringing Avery to a stop as well.

"What?" She whispered.

"I… I hear something, I hear him…" Malia breathed as she looked around and then briskly started for a room and tried the door but it was locked.

"It's locked." She stated looking at Avery who rolled her eyes and said, "Open it!"

"It's locked!" Malia exclaimed louder than before.

"And you're a werecoyote… you have superhuman strength, break the damn lock. Just concentrate." She urged her as she took a deep breath and tried to keep herself in check.

After a slight struggle with the door, the girls both rushed into the room where Stiles was laying on the floor whimpering and mumbling, "Let me out. Let me… let me out!" Over and over again.

"No, no, no!" Avery gasped as she dropped to the floor and started to try and shake him awake.

"What's wrong?" Malia asked, as she could feel the air in the room change when Avery grew increasingly upset with every failed attempt to wake the teenage boy.

"He's not supposed to sleep." She helplessly said before she flipped him onto his back and slowly laid her hands in the center of his chest, closing her eyes and focusing.

Jumping, Malia looked up to the ceiling as the lights started to flicker as she asked, "What is this? What's happening?"

But Avery didn't respond, and within a few moments Stiles lunged forward wide awake as he shouted, "No, let me out! No, no!"

"Shh, you're okay." Avery said cupping a hand over his mouth as Malia commanded, "Shut up!"

He looked between them and breathed a sighed with relief, "How did you guys even get in here?"

"She broke the lock." She said nodded to Malia who felt the need to explain, "If I concentrate I can be pretty strong."

As both girls pulled him to his feet Stiles explained, "Brunski… he caught me, he took his keys back."

"Damn it." Avery whisper-yelled under her breath, feeling like all hope was lost.

But the mood was lifted slightly as Malia raised her head and realized out loud, "There's another way to the basement… through the closed unit, where they keep the real psychos."

~()~

They'd been in the basement for nearly an hour, looking through old case files and boxes of history on the building, including information on several barbaric procedures that used to take place within those walls.

But Avery's attention kept being drawn towards the doorway they'd come in through, leading out into the basement hallway.

As she saw someone with blonde hair pass in front of the small window on the door she gasped and stood up, causing the other two to look up at her startled.

"I, uh, I'll be back." She stuttered out as she started for the door, pausing when she realized Stiles and following her, "Relax, I've just got to use the bathroom, I'll be right back."

She didn't even look back over her shoulder as she stepped out into the hallway and shut the door behind her.

Feeling an unnatural cold chill in the air, she wrapped her arms around herself and took slow, apprehensive steps deeper into the basement until she came into a room where she saw a girl, her same height dressed in Eichen clothing staring at the wall.

"Hello…" Avery managed to choke out, as she stepped closer to the stranger, growing colder by the second.

The girl didn't respond, just continued to face the wall with her back to the rest of the room.

Letting out a shaky breath, Avery walked forward and right as she reached out to grab the girls shoulder, she screamed and jumped back when the other blonde started to violently hit her head against the wall.

Every cell in her body was terrified, telling her that she didn't want to know or understand what was happening. Logic told her to scream out for Stiles, or run from the room. But for some reason her legs wouldn't move, she was frozen.

"Stop it, just stop!" Avery yelled as she finally grabbed the girl and spun her around, stopping the girls self-harm.

But Avery gasped and backed away as the blonde girl facing her with blood trickling down her pale face, was herself.

"This isn't happening… it's not real. You're not real!" Avery whimpered hitting her head a few times and hoping the nightmare would pass. Now was normally when the twisted reflection of herself would taunt her, torment her with her own worst fears.

But not this time.

This time, the longer Avery stared at the spitting image of herself, the blurrier her face got. At first she thought it was her eyes, but then she realized nothing else in the room was hard to focus on, just the fading features of her own face.

She needed to turn away, stop looking at the now almost faceless girl but she couldn't. All she was able to do was watched as every last feature disappeared until there was a faceless image of herself standing in front of her.

Tears rolled down her cheeks and she shook her head back and forth as the terrifying, faceless teenager started to walk towards her.

The longer she stared at her, the more Avery could feel herself starting to slip away with the realization that this terrifying, faceless, ghost-like creature in front of her wasn't a nightmare –it was herself.

Inside she was slipping away, losing the hold on her control and she didn't even know who she was anymore.

She'd tried, but it was impossible to hold onto the person she was before everything happened, but that girl just wasn't there anymore.

She was an empty shell now, she had nothing to lose now because she'd already lost the important thing; herself.

Swallowing hard she realized she might as well have really been walking around faceless because she wasn't herself anymore, she had no identity. Slowly, day by and day and piece by piece she was fading away, she was becoming nothing.

Falling to the floor she grabbed onto her head as more tears ran down her face, until her finger grazed over the kanji for self that the Oni had left behind her ear and slowly she raised her head to see her faceless image was turned back to the wall, again repeatedly hitting her head against it.

Still rubbing the slightly raised backwards 5 on her skin, she thought of how much she was hiding, how much she kept locked away in her own head.

~()~

When Teagan finally came to, she realized she was back in the small room she was in before, the one she was in when Deaton entered earlier to talk to her. She was laying on the small bed off to the side, she figured someone must have placed her there after getting the shot to knock her out.

With a groan she lifted her head, then groaned louder when she saw her mother sitting across the room in a chair watching her.

"What do you want?" Teagan moaned, as she sat up in the bed, rubbing her eyes, trying to get her bearings.

"This isn't the life I wanted for you, Teagan." Lisa said, as she stood up from the chair. "I gave you a perfect life. One before we moved, before I died. You were with Jackson, Avery was normal and not the monster she has become, but you had to keep pushing. You had to go against me."

"This isn't my life. No matter what you do, this would never be my life." Teagan pointed out.

"Well, now, this is going to be your life. Locked up right here, in your own mind." Lisa said, as she folded her arms. "This is what you made me do."

"What happened to you, Mom? What happened to the woman who raised me; who believed in love and be loved." Teagan questioned, as she stood up. "This is not you, Mom. You would have never told me to kill people I love. What made you this cold, this mean, this hateful?"

"Death." Lisa stated. "You think life is hard? Life is a cakewalk compared to being dead." She shook her head, as she continued,"And if you keep going the way you are, you are going to end up exactly like me. History will repeat itself."

"You don't know that!" Teagan exclaimed. "You couldn't possibly know what is going to happen."

"I know more than you think." Lisa argued.

"Even if that is true, even if I lose my life the way you did, at least I know I tried." Teagan pointed out. "I never turned my back on anyone; I was there for my friends, I loved someone with all my heart. To me that is a full life."

"You're a child. You don't know anything!" Lisa snapped. "But it doesn't matter, cause right now, you're stuck. Right here in this tiny room." She smirked, as she added,"No one can save you, no one can pull you back."

"Isaac will." Teagan said, standing up to her mother. She knew he would do whatever to get her back.

"Didn't you hear?" Lisa questioned. "Listen..." She began to say, as she titled her head to the side.

Teagan's eyes widen when she could faintly hear machines beeping repeatedly before she heard the machine flatline, signaling someone passing away.

"There goes the monster boyfriend. Even if you did go back, he won't be there, but here... you two can be together. I can make him human, he can be normal and you two can be together for however long you want. Your life can be perfect." Lisa stated.

"No! No, he's not gone. You're lying." Teagan yelled.

"Am I?" Lisa questioned. She clicked her tongue, as she said,"Guess you'll never know, cause either way, you are stuck here. No one to save you."

"I know you're lying." Teagan said, as she walked closer to her mom. "He's there, he's waiting for me and I'm going back to him, cause there is one thing you didn't think of."

"What?" Lisa asked.

Teagan smiled as she remembered what Melissa told her, that sometimes she needed to save herself. "I can save myself."

Lisa chuckled, as she said,"You can't fight me, Teagan. I am stronger than you, I am your mother. You will listen to me!"

"Not anymore!" Teagan screamed, as she shook her head. "I will wake up, I will get back to Isaac, I will save myself."

"In your dreams." Lisa snarled, as she took a step toward her. "You can't beat me, Teagan. You're too weak, you can't-"

"I can save myself." Teagan repeated. "I CAN SAVE MYSELF!" She screamed before pushing her mother backwards.

Teagan snapped her eyes open with a gasp. She glanced around, taking in her surrounding as she realized she was back in Isaac's hospital room. She breathed out a sigh of relief, as she realized she did it, she pulled her self back. She saved herself.

"Teagan?" She softly heard, causing her to turn her head toward the bed. A huge grin broke out on her face, as she saw Isaac's slowly opening his eyes.

She jumped out of her chair, rushing over to the bed and throw herself on him. She let out a soft chuckled when she felt him wrap an arm around her. He was weak and still had more healing to do, but he was awake and that was a dream come true to her.

"You came back." Teagan whispered, as she laid her head on his chest.

"I would never leave you." Isaac softly said, his voice faint, but it was still the best thing she ever heard.

Teagan lifted her head, looking at him, then leaned forward to softly kiss his lips. He slowly raised his hand, intertwining his fingers in her hair. He quietly sighed against her lips as he whispered,"I missed those lips."

Teagan pulled back, smiling at him, as she lightly caressed his cheek, then said,"And I missed those blue eyes."

Isaac gave her a small smile back, as he said,"I love you."

"I love you too." Teagan said, as she laid her head on his chest again. A smile still on her face, as she whispered,"It's you and me."

"Always." Isaac whispered back, as he kissed the top of her head before letting out a content sigh.

~()~

"Oh my god… Avery!" Stiles exclaimed as he jumped off the couch leaving a shirtless Malia to pull her shirt back on over her dark blue sports bra.

She looked between them, thinking that she'd been in another room across the basement, fighting for her sanity and they'd been making out –obviously she'd been more worried about Stiles then he'd been about her.

"I, uh… I'm sorry." Stiles apologized as Malia stood up, her eyes going down the blonde's body to where she was holding part of a heavy metal pipe.

Her voice was numb, emotionless as she reasoned, "Whatever, it's fine… things have been over between us for a long time."

"Still…" Stiles started to apologize, but stopped as Malia nudged him and motioned to where Avery was holding onto the pipe like it was a weapon.

"I don't care." Avery harshly breathed rolling her eyes, "Kiss –make out, whatever, I don't care. But I just don't think that right now is the best time to be doing this."

Stiles took a cautious step forward, swallowing hard as he realized the look on her face didn't even look like her, it was like he was talking to a stranger, and when she snapped her gaze to him he jumped, surprised at the level of fear he was feeling from the presence of his friend.

"What are you doing with that pipe?" Malia finally asked, as the hair on the back of her neck stood on end and she shivered.

"Don't you get it?" Avery yelled at them. "It's a cover! You think you're yourself because it's there, but you're not and it's a lie. It's hiding… it's hiding something behind it."

"What?" Malia breathed looking around the room, as Stiles said, "Avery… I don't know what you're talking about."

"I didn't either… " Avery snapped as she hit the side of her head with her hand several times, the same side the kanji was on as she tried to explain, "But now I know… I thought I was me, but I'm not… I'm faceless."

Malia's eyebrows pushed together as she stared at the teen who was starting to seem like maybe she belonged in a place like Eichen after all.

"Faceless…" Stiles breathed out, as he started towards her but stopped when she pointed the pipe at him.

"It's here… it's been here the whole time. We just need to get inside of it." She said shaking the pipe then felt the kanji behind her ear with her finger and whispered, "We just need to get behind it."

Without another word to them she rushed across the room, using the pipe to bust through the section of wall where there was a large backwards 5.

Both Stiles and Malia ran towards her, using her werecoyote strength, Malia managed to get the piece of pipe away from her and Stiles pulled Avery back, pinning her arms as she started to hit the side of her head again.

"What are you doing?" Stiles finally asked as Avery stopped fighting against his hold on her.

She stuttered out some inaudible noises until Malia dropped the pipe to the floor, then looked over and said, "She's not crazy… there's something in there."

"I told you." Avery said shrugging out of Stile's arms as she rubbed the kanji behind her ear again, and he walked forward to where Malia was pulling more of the wall apart.

"Stiles… there's something in here." She brunette repeated again, nodding towards the pipe on the floor, so he could help her.

Avery took a few stumbling steps backwards as the teen continued to destroy the wall until they saw the bandaged remains of someone inside the wall.

"This is him." Stiles said, as he dropped to his knees.

"The nogitsune?" Malia questioned him, then glanced over to where Avery was watching them.

When no one answered her, she leaned into the broken section of wall and pulled an old photograph from the corpses' pocket and handed it to Stiles, asking, "Recognize them?"

"One of them…" He said confused as he showed the picture to Avery who immediately recognized one of them looked like Kira.

"Avery look out!" Stiles tried to warn her, but he didn't get the warning out in time as Stiles' roommate Oliver, pressed a taser to her side and her body crumpled to the floor, convulsing from the currents. Upon her head's impact with the floor, everything went black.

Oliver proceed to tase Stiles, once he was also on the floor helpless, Malia backed against the wall behind her and stared at him with fear in her eyes.

"You took Brunski's keys…" Oliver stuttered out then admitted, "I took his stun gun."

He stepped closer to Malia, then used the stun gun on her stomach until she slid down the wall and he knelt down in front of her as he said, "I also got his Haldol." He kept his eyes on her as he pushed the needle into her leg and emptied the syringe.

It was a while later when Avery slowly opened her eyes, she groaned in pain and tried to move an arm to hold onto her sore head, but wasn't able to.

She could hear Stiles pleading with Oliver, but their voices sounded almost mechanical and far off in the distance.

As the panic of not being able to move grew, and she slowly became more alert, she could focus on their voices more.

"Wait, what are you doing?" She heard Stiles ask.

Looking down her blurry eyes focused on the restraints on her arms.

"No!" She gasped as she struggled against them.

"You did this… you got into his head." She heard Stiles say, looking over she saw him staring off towards the wall, talking to someone or something she couldn't see.

"Stiles… what's happening? What do you see?" She asked, her voice dry and hoarse as she continued to struggle in an attempt to break free.

"Leave her alone!" Stiles shouted, growing increasingly panicked as if he were being tormented.

Avery looked up to see Oliver now standing above the chair she was strapped down too.

His voice started to crack as he desperately pleaded, "Just let her go, please."

"What's happening?" Avery shrieked as she saw the drill in Oliver's hand.

"He… he wants me to let him in." Stiles admitted, on the verge of tears from what was happening.

"No! Don't let it in, whatever happens you can't let it in!" She screamed as she tried even harder to break her restraints.

She jumped as Stiles screamed out in frustration and slammed against his chair, but it was no use the restraints were stronger than he was.

Tears rushed down her cheeks as her entire body shook with terror at what was happening, she heard the drill click on and Oliver placed a hand on the top of her head, holding her still.

"Let –let her go! Please, don't hurt her. Just let her go." Stiles shouted louder than before, letting out another exasperated scream.

Oliver held Avery's head to the side and she swore she could feel the air on her face from the drill bit spinning, then it occurred to her that was the only thing she could hear.

"Stiles… you have to stay awake!" she cried out, pinning her eyes shut and trying to brace herself for what was going to happen.

She hoped it would be a quick death, but with someone drilling into her brain, she doubted it would be quick or remotely painless.

Then a voice she didn't recognize said, "Oliver!"

He stopped the drill and took a couple steps backwards.

Avery opened her eyes and saw Stiles pulling the wrist cuffs off, but she knew the moment she looked at him that it wasn't really Stiles; not anymore.

Quickly grabbing the drill from Oliver he knocked him out with it, dropping the machine on the floor he turned and face Avery who struggled against the restraints that bound her.

"S –Stiles…" she whispered, in sheer terror as he gave her a sinister smile.

"Not anymore." He admitted, as he walked up to her and looked down. Placing his hands over her arms that were bound to the chair he leaned in until his face was just inches away from hers as he slowly cocked his head to the side and watched her.

"We're going to win…" She whispered, as her entire body shook from fear, "We're going to kill you and get Stiles back."

"How are you going to do that?" He questioned smiling wickedly at her as the dark circles became more apparent around his eyes.

"You're just some amped up parasite… my friends, they'll figure something out." She said, her words surprisingly confident.

He laughed and licked his lips as he leaned in closer to her face and said, "To kill the parasite, you have to kill the host… and we both know that's not going to happen."

She tried to lean back, to put space between the nogitsune and herself, but being restrained to a chair she had no place to go.

"You can't save Stiles… you can't even save yourself." He pointed out as his grip tightened on her arms, causing her to squirm not only from the painful squeeze on her arms but from his words.

"All of this… pain you're in, all the time…" He said, as he squeezed even tighter onto her arms and she leaned back, gasping in pain as he somehow managed to bring every painful experience in her life to the front and center of her mind. She looked down to see the veins in her arms were dark and pressing up against her skin, looking the same as the ones appearing on the back of his hands.

Her eyes widened as she saw his eyes start to flutter and roll back, feeding off her pain as every memory brought up put her in agony. Any trace of hope or light left was being pulled right out of her, and there was nothing but pain. She had no control over her thoughts; she was helpless.

Breathing heavily he stared into her eyes as he said, "A nogitsune feeds off chaos, pain and strife."

"Let me go…" She pleaded, as tears streamed down her face and her lips quivered.

"And you Avery…" He laughed as he let go of her arms and held onto the sides of her face, he was so close his lips brushed against hers as he spoke, "That's all you are…"

"Don't!" She yelled trying to pull away, but he smashed his forehead against hers and said through gritted teeth, "You're full of pain and strife… and your head is nothing but chaos… I want it."

She whimpered, fighting harder than before against her restraints but she couldn't break them, his face was against hers as he said, "And you're going to give it to me…"

A loud pained noise escaped her lips as he continued to feed off all the chaos in her head, off of every single painful memory she'd kept locked away, and off of her strife; her internal struggles she faced every day.

"P –please stop…" She whined, not only was she in agony but with every passing second she was changing, growing darker and just like she'd feared before she walked in Eichen, that if she did make it out of the building –she wasn't going to be same person who walked in.

His uneven breathing rushed over her face, his eyes rolled back again and small noises and groans left his lips. She had no idea how long the entire thing lasted, possibly only minutes but it felt like days as the nogitsune continued to feed from her, making her relieve traumatic events over and over in her own head. Locking her in a state of nothing but turmoil, until he finally stopped and took a step back.

Leaving her shaking and crying in the chair, she was so weak she couldn't even raise her head to look at him, not that she'd want to now. Briefly she wondered if he'd kill her now that he'd fed and taken what he wanted from her, but when she heard the door to the room close she knew he left.

~(A few days later…)~

Teagan shifted in the hard chair and let out a quiet sigh, as she tried to get comfortable enough to catch a quick nap. She had been in the same chair for so long lately, she felt like it was now a part of her, but she refused to leave Isaac's side much.

He was getting better, but still had some healing to do. But the fact that he was off the machines, awake at times and breathing on his on was a step in the right direction.

She had only had her eyes closed for a few minutes, when she gave up on trying to sleep. Between the horrible imagines still hitting her, the uncomfortable chair and her worry for Isaac, sleep was impossible.

She slowly opened her eyes, staring across the room for a moment, before she raised her head from her hand. She dropped her arm from the arm of the chair, then turned her head to look over at the bed. She softly smiled when she saw that Isaac's eyes were open and he was watching her.

"Hi." Teagan whispered.

"Hi." He croaked out. "Come here." He softly added.

"Is everyone okay?" Teagan asked with a worried look, as she stood up from the chair and walked over to the bed.

Isaac didn't answer, as he reached out to light grab her arm, pulling her toward the bed, as he said,"Lay with me."

"I'm not sure if that is a good idea." Teagan said, as she shook her head. She wanted nothing more than to lay with him, be in his arms; she missed that, but he was still healing and she didn't want to hurt him. Which is what she told him.

"I'm doing better." Isaac pointed out, as he pulled her toward him again.

"But you still got a lot of healing to do." Teagan argued.

Isaac let out a soft sigh at her comment. He locked eyes with her, as he said,"Babe, I'm okay. You're not going to hurt me, but I haven't had you by my side in what feels like forever, please just lay with me."

Teagan blew out a breath, she was still worried about hurting him, but when he looked at her the way he was; pleading with her, she couldn't say no. Besides just as much as he needed to hold her, she needed to be held.

"Are you sure?" Teagan questioned, just wanting to make sure.

Isaac let out a small chuckle, as he said,"Yes. Now get in this bed or I'll pull you into this bed."

"Okay." Teagan said with a laugh, as she sat down on the hospital bed.

Isaac scooted over and rolled over to his side, as she laid down in front of him, her back pressed against his chest. He tossed an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him, as he laid his forehead against the back of her head.

He took a deep breath, her scent calming him, then closed his eyes planning to take a nap. Even if he was feeling better, there was still healing that needed to be done, and as his body worked hard to do that, it left him feeling tired and drained.

He was close to falling asleep until he felt her shifting around in front of him. He ignored it the first time, but when she began to do it again, he cracked an eye open, as he asked,"What are you doing?"

"Trying to get comfortable. Sorry." Teagan softly said, as she looked over her shoulder to glance at him for a second.

He closed his eyes again, until she began to move around again. He bit his bottom lip, holding back a moan, as her butt hit his most sensitive area a couple of times. He breathed out a sigh of relief when she stopped moving again.

But once she started shifting around for the third time, he couldn't hold it back any longer. He let out a groan, as he breathed out her name and tighten his arm around her.

"I'm sorry." Teagan quickly said, as she turned her head to look at him. A worried look on her face, as she asked,"Did I hurt you?"

"No, I'm okay-" He began to say, then thought about it a little bit. Thinking about how badly he was turned on now and knew he couldn't do anything about it. "Actually, on second thought, yeah you are."

Teagan was worried that he was serious, until she saw the smirk on his face and knew what he meant. She softly chuckled, as she shook her head, then said,"Is sex all you think about?"

"I have my hot girlfriend rubbing her ass against me. It's hard to not think about sex." Isaac pointed out, as he gave her lips a quick peck, then rested his forehead against her shoulder.

Teagan smiled at his words, before saying,"Well you're going to have to stop thinking about it. We can't do that right now."

"I know." Isaac said with a sigh. When she shifted a little without meaning to, he raised his head and moved it close to her ear, as he whispered,"You have to stop moving, babe. I'm serious."

"I'm sorry." Teagan said with a giggle. "I really didn't mean to do it that time." She turned her head to look at him, as she shot him an apologetic smile.

"It's okay." Isaac said, as he flashed her a smile. "Let's just lay here, very still, not moving at all." He added.

As she turned her head back, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying not to think about the things he wanted to do to her. Trying not to think of what having her body so close to his was doing to him, but the more he tried not to think about it, the more he did think about it, which only made him even more turned on.

Teagan's eyes widen for a moment, before she turned her head to look at him again, before saying,"Maybe I should just turn around. I think I should turn around."

"I think- yeah, that's probably a good idea." Isaac said with a nod, knowing that she could feel how turned on he was at the moment.

He rolled over to lay on his back, as she rolled over to her other side, now facing him. She looked down at him for a moment, as she suggested,"Maybe you should roll over too."

"Are you trying to make me the little spoon?" Isaac asked with an amused look on his face. "I'm too big to be the little spoon." He pointed out.

Teagan bit her bottom lip, as her eyes glanced down for a moment, checking out a certain area on his body. Catching her looking, he chuckled, as he said,"Now who's thinking about sex."

"I'm-I'm not..." Teagan began to stutter, as her face turned red.

"Liar." Isaac said with a smile. He lightly grabbed her arm, pulling her toward him, as he said,"Just lay here." After she laid her head on his chest, throwing a leg over his and cuddled against him, he playfully added,"Not moving."

"I won't move a muscle." Teagan said with a chuckle, as she laid her hand on his chest.

"Good." Isaac said, as he kissed the top of her head.

The two silently laid there, just enjoying being close to each other after having to be apart while he was hurt. She felt tears fill her eyes as she thought of all the times she sat beside him, hoping and praying he would come back to her. She was trying so hard to be strong and positive, but there were a few times she feared moments like this would never happen again, that their story would end before it really began.

"You okay?" Isaac asked, as he lifted his head to look down at her, when he heard her sniff. He saw her quickly wipe at her eyes, before she looked up at him, but he knew she had been crying, he could smell the salt from her tears.

"Teagan, what's wrong?" He continued, as he wiped away a tear from under her eye.

"Just thinking about how close I came to losing you; how close I came to never doing this again." She began to say. "Just laying here with you, feeling your arms around me and hearing your heart beat. I came so close to losing all of that, but I am so grateful to whatever brought you back to me."

"I'll always come back to you, Teagan. Somehow, someway, I'll always come back." Isaac said, as he laid a hand on the side of her face. "Your love will always bring me back, your love saves me."

Teagan smiled at his words, as she said,"That's what my dad said when he visited. He told me I couldn't give up, that you needed me and that you would come back."

"Your dad was here?" Isaac asked surprised.

Teagan nodded her head with a smile, as she said,"Yeah, he came to check on you. So did Scott, Melissa, Avery... A lot of people came here for you." She softly touched his face, as she whispered,"You are so important to so many people. My life isn't the only one that you have changed, you've made everyone's life better. You have a lot of people who care about you, Isaac."

Isaac smiled at her words, then laid his hand on the back of her neck, pulling her toward him to softly kiss her lips. He never thought he would have this type of life. A life filled with friends who cared, a girl who loved him with all her heart. It's a life he always hoped to have, but never thought he would be lucky enough to have. It's a life he never wanted to lose.

"I love you." Isaac mumbled against her lips.

"I love you, too." Teagan whispered back. She laid her hands on the side of his face, as she added,"Thank you for saving me by the way. I love you for that, but I hate knowing I was the reason you were here."

"I'm not." Isaac said, as he shook his head. "I would do whatever to save you a million times over, Teagan. I will always save you."

She glanced down for a moment, laying her hand on his chest, as she quietly asked,"Were you in pain the whole time?"

Isaac shook his head, as he said,"Not the whole time. Most of the time I was out of it, like I wasn't even in my body anymore or something. I don't know, it's hard to explain, I guess."

"Where were you then?" Teagan questioned.

"Looking for you." Isaac answered. "Most of the time I was searching for you. One time I was at school and I found you in the bathroom." He smiled, before continuing,"I guess that's our place or something, but I found you there, then I don't remember what happened after that. Next thing I remember is being with you at the hospital, but then you disappeared so I was looking for you again and I-" When he saw the look on her face, he paused, as he asked,"What? What is it?"

When he saw her take a couple deep breaths and heard her heart racing, he laid a hand on the side of her face, as he added,"Teagan, babe, talk to me."

"It happened. I-I don't know how it happened, but it happened." She mumbled.

"What happened?" Isaac questioned.

"While you were out, I had a nightmare." Teagan said. She explained to him about the alternate type world she was in, and how they found each other, only to lose each other again. She told him about being in Eichen House and worried she would not making it back to her real life. When she explained how she stood up to her mother and made it back on her own, he smiled.

"I knew my girl was a badass." He said, still smiling. "I knew you were stronger than her, babe, I know you can fight her, no matter what; you have to keep fighting her."

"I'm trying, but it's hard." Teagan admitted. "And standing up to her, just made her madder. I took her by surprise, but I won't be able to do it again." She said, repeating the words her mother had been yelling in her head since she woke up.

"You can do it, Teagan." Isaac said, as he grabbed one of her hands, intertwining their fingers. "We'll do it together, she won't know what hit her."

Teagan softly smiled at his words, she wished she could believe in that like he did, but she knew he believed enough for both of them. Either way, she was grateful.

She leaned down, pressing her lips against his for a gentle kiss. She felt him laid a hand on the back of her head, pulling her closing, as he tangled his fingers in her hair. The two quickly got lost in each other, neither one hearing the door open until Avery called out, getting their attention.

"Should you two really be doing that now?" Avery joked, as she walked further in to the room. Even if she was joking with them, Teagan noticed she didn't seem like herself. She didn't know what happened to her at Eichen House, but whatever it was, it couldn't have been good.

Teagan opened her mouth to ask Avery if she was okay, but before she could say a word, Avery looked over at Isaac, as she said,"It's good to see you awake, Isaac."

"Thanks." Isaac said, as he smiled at her. "I hear I also need to thank you for helping out in the parking lot." He added. Teagan had told him what Avery did for him before he was wheeled inside the hospital. He was grateful she saved him, but was worried what something like that did to her. Even he could tell she didn't look like the same old Avery.

"No need to thank me." Avery said. She knew how important he was to Teagan, she knew how badly her best friend needed him. Teagan needed her anchor to keep her grounded. If anything happened, she at least needed to know Teagan would be left in good hands.

"Besides we would all be lost without your awkward comments." Avery pointed out, as she gave him a smile, one that they both noticed didn't fully reach her eyes.

"Awkward comments? When do I make awkward comments?" Isaac questioned, as he looked at Avery, then over at his girlfriend, waiting for one of the girls to answer.

"When don't you make awkward comments." Avery said back.

"But I love your awkward comments." Teagan added, as she gave him a quick kiss before chuckling at the expression on his face.

"Well, thanks, I guess." Isaac said with a shrug. He smiled at both girls, then pulled Teagan closer toward him.

As Teagan laid her head on his chest, Avery turned her head to look out the window, her mind going back to Eichen house. She wrapped her arms around herself, remembering what the nogitsune did to her. The pain and suffering he took, the memories that she tried so hard to push away, now no matter how hard she tried she couldn't push them away like before. All she could do was relive them over and over again.

"As happy as I am to see you, A. I have a feeling there is another reason why you are here." Teagan spoke up, getting her friend's attention.

Avery nodded her head, then explained about how they needed a scroll and with it they should be able to help Stiles. She paused for a moment, then told them how they needed to get the scroll, by stealing it.

"So you all are going to rob an armored car?" Isaac questioned, as he looked at Avery.

"Yeah and we can use all the help we can get." Avery said, as she looked at Teagan with no emotion on her face.

"What? Me?" Teagan asked, as she pointed to herself. She looked over at Isaac, then back at Avery, unsure about what she should do. She wanted to help her friends and she definitely wanted to help Stiles. She knew what it felt like to have someone inside you, forcing you to do things against your will, but she also just got Isaac back and hated the thought of leaving him.

"You should go." Isaac said, as he grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze.

"But-"

"It's okay." Isaac interrupted her. He leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers, as he whispered,"I'll be right here waiting for you."

"I'll come back. I promise, I'll be right back." Teagan whispered back.

"I know." Isaac said. He pulled back to look at her, softly kissing her lips, as he mumbled out,"It's you and me."

"It's you and me." Teagan whispered back.

She gave him one more kiss, then stood up from the bed. She followed Avery to the door, glancing behind her to look at Isaac one more time before walking out the door. She hated leaving him, but deep down she knew she was doing the right thing. She knew she needed to help her friends.

"I know you didn't want to leave." Avery said, as the two walked down the hall heading for the exit.

"No, but we need to do this. We need to save Stiles." Teagan said back.

"I just hope we're not too late." Avery mumbled, as she thought back to what happened with the nogitsune. She looked into his eyes, not seeing Stiles anymore, but an empty void. She hoped there was still enough Stiles inside to save.

"A.." Teagan began to say, as she stopped then reached out to grab Avery's arm; pulling her out of her thoughts and causing her to jump for a moment in surprise. Her reaction just worried her even more.

"A, what happened at Eichen house?" She questioned.

"Too much." Avery answered vaguely before she turned and began to walk down the hallway again without another word.

Teagan shook her head in concern, then rushed down the hall to catch up. The two friends heading down the hall side by side, as if they were ready for battle, and in a way it was, they were in the middle of a battle to save one of their friends. A battle neither girl wanted to lose.

~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~

A/N – Thank you all for reading! We both really hope you liked the chapter and would like to take a moment to thank all of you who have been so kind to leave us reviews! ^_^ And thank those of you who have added this story to your favorites and/or subscribed for update alerts. We both really appreciate the support!