When he finally gained the courage to leave Scott's house, Stiles made his way to Hale Auto and luckily for him, Malia and Parrish were waiting for him, Eli at Malia's side. He was the only one who offered him a slight wave, but Stiles could see the gravity of the situation on both Parrish's and Malia's faces.

'Now or never.'

So he shut off the jeep, made sure both the keys, the evidence bag containing the claw, and the dagger were secured in his pocket, and exited the vehicle before turning to Eli and telling him to lead the way; Those three words were all it took for the group of four to start making their way into the woods towards the Nemeton.

"I get why they're here, but why am I here?" Malia questioned, breaking the thick silence with her voice as they walked

"Because I don't know what's going to happen, and I figured that having a were-coyote who has mastered her powers would be helpful," Stiles explained, getting a satisfactory nod from Malia before Parrish spoke up.

"So what's the plan?"

"Get to the Nemeton, go through with the ritual, save Derek, and go home."

"What about the Nogitsune?" Stiles couldn't stop himself from cringing from Eli's question; he had been hoping that no one would bring it up. "What's the plan with that?"

"Best case scenario, it isn't trapped in Bardo with Derek. If it comes back too, I've got a parting gift from myself and Allison before Parrish burns it in hellfire again." He explained before slipping the dagger from his pocket, getting an approving nod from Eli before he spoke up again.

"So why isn't she here? Or anyone besides us three?"

"Lydia and my dad are watching Rowe but are ready to alert Melissa if banshee predictions start flying off the rails, and Scott and Melissa are standing by at the hospital."

"And Allison?" Parrish asked.

"She said the wounds are still too fresh from what it did to her mind. Which also means that if it's going to try and possess again, she's the easiest target." 'End the conversation right now before you have a panic attack in the woods.'

"Aren't you an easy target then as well? Since it's been in your head?"

Stiles' mouth went dry when he was supposed to answer; he knew that he was a likely target as well, and he'd be stupid to not be fully aware of that fact. But if he said it out loud, he knew he would stop where he was in those woods and turn around. Go back to Virginia with his daughter and never look back at the town he once considered home.

But, Stiles continued to walk silently while hearing Eli say something about his dad making him give back the jeep when he was back; at least, he tried to, until Malia grabbed his upper arm and effectively stopped him in his tracks. He tried to protest by telling her that they were losing them but she just shook her head, still holding onto him tightly until finally asking.

"Are you sure about this?"

"He's not going to get in my head again." He tried to assure her even though he knew he couldn't be sure in his statement, and he could see that she didn't believe him by the look on her face.

"What if he already is? The nightmares, the self-doubt, the heightened anxiety? It sounds a little too familiar, even if I'm the only one who's noticed."

"I'm fine," he tried to reassure her before having to cut her off by saying his name, "but if I don't do this now, I'm not going to do it. We're so close to getting him back, Malia."

"Derek? Or the Nogitsune?" She questioned while letting go of his arm with her nostrils flared and he had to swallow back any anger he had from the question; she had a right to question if he had already been taken over again between the last experience and what had happened just a few weeks ago in these very woods.

"Derek, Lia." He insisted, using the pet name that he had used in the depths of their romantic relationship to try and calm her nerves.

"I just…" she trailed off, looking down at the dried-out grass under their feet before looking back up at him, "I'm worried. I'm not like Lydia, but I have a pretty damn good gut, and I have a really bad gut feeling about this."

"We're gonna be fine, okay?" He insisted, letting his hand reach up to gently squeeze her shoulder, "this time is different."

"But what if it's not? This thing killed Derek, it killed an innocent kitsune, it killed Allison. It possessed so many people both times. And it nearly killed you. I cannot lose anyone else. Especially you, not when I just got you back."

The tears pooling in her eyes made Stiles want to call off the whole thing and take her home; they'd come back tomorrow, and he'd bring Scott with him instead. Her old wounds had been ripped open anew like everyone else's with Allison, but because it involved her family, he couldn't let himself hurt her more.

'Derek is her family. She needs him back too.'

"We're saving Derek tonight, okay?" He spoke softly, moving his hand from her shaking shoulder to her cold hands, "you have Eli, you have Scott, and you have me and we may not be your mom and sister, and we can't change Corrine or Peter, but you have us."

The only sound in those woods was her sniffling as she gripped onto his hands like a landline and the sound of cicadas in the trees until she finally looked back up at him with determination fiery in her eyes.

"I trust you, you know that. Right?" She questioned and all it took was him nodding before she nodded and said, "then let's catch up with Jordan and Eli."

It didn't take long for them to catch up with the two thanks to Malia's sense of smell and Stiles didn't have to worry about keeping up due to how hard she was gripping his hand, only letting go when the sight of Parrish, Eli and the Nematon came into view.

Stiles swallowed harshly as he pulled the evidence bag out of his pocket before opening it and pulling it out; it felt like a long, rough fingernail in his palm but holding it felt wrong to him and he didn't know if it was the chance of bringing back the Nogitsune that plagued him or the feeling that they should let Derek rest.

'He's in Bardo, his soul is not at peace and if the Nogitsune is there as well, he's probably being tortured. You have to bring him back.'

Stiles grabbed a fistful of the ash that was surrounding the tree in his other hand before laying it on the stump, setting the nail beside it, and backing away, his hand slipping into Malia's open one of companionship as he started to mutter under his breath with his eyes squeezed shut.

"Please work, please work, please work…"

Aside from his pleas to the Nematon though, the forest had gone silent once again, including the cicada songs that had filled it previously which made Stiles' stomach twist violently inside until Eli finally spoke up.

"Guys?"

Stiles opened his eyes and that's when he saw what Eli had drawn his attention to; one single spark coming from the claw. They started to multiply rapidly, growing on themselves and stacking together to form an outline.

But not just any outline, the outline of a tall, muscular man. 'Derek.'

And when the sparks settled, Derek Hale was standing in place of the claw and ash, examining his hands as his chest heaved heavily; Parrish had done the smart thing and brought a shock blanket with him and walked forward to quickly cover him up but the man's eyes focused at a point to the left of Stiles and Malia before he spoke.

"Eli?"

"Dad?" Eli questioned back and Stiles turned to look at the teen while Parrish helped Derek to solid ground; he wasn't even surprised to see tears already running down both of their faces as Eli ran forward and they engulfed each other in a tight hug while shouting, "Dad!"

As they continued to hug, Stiles watched as Derek lifted his head from where it was resting on his son's shoulder and mouthed two words. "Thank you."

Stiles nodded before letting out a long deep breath and letting go of Malia's hand before turning to her with a smile to let Eli and Derek reunite without an audience. "Thank you for helping."

"Thank you for being right." She responded and hugged him; he hugged her back and hoped Parrish wasn't trying to glare a hole into the back of his skull. They stayed in the hug for longer than either of them had intended, but it was still short-lived by Malia shouting.

"Stiles, watch out!"

Before she was pushed to the ground and long, silver daggers of fingers were wrapped tightly around his neck and the Nogitsune was grinning right at him.