Stiles wasn't sure how he got into situations like these. Well, he kind of knew, but it was still always a surprise when he did. It was just in his nature to be curious and he happened to live in a town with a lot going on. Some of it interesting, some of it exciting, and some of it bad. This was definitely in the bad category.

Stiles tried talking to Isaac on the drive to the hospital, but the guy had fallen into a panic attack and hyperventilated until he passed out. That hadn't helped Stiles' nerves and he almost drove off the side of the road before regaining control of the car. Being woken up in the middle of the night to drive a person the police were searching for wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Isaac still wasn't awake when he finally pulled up to the hospital, so he parked in front of the doors and ran inside, hoping to see a familiar face. Luck was for once on his side. Scott's mom was standing at the desk just inside the emergency room, filling out some paperwork. He had a feeling she was about to inherit a lot more.

"Hey Melissa," Stiles greeted as calmly as he could.

"Stiles! What are you doing here?" Melissa exclaimed, grabbing him by the shoulders and looking him over. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, but-"

"Scott? Your dad?"

"They are fine. They don't even know I'm here," Stiles assured her. He was definitely gonna get an earful from both of them, for wildly different reasons. "But I kind of picked someone up on the side of the road."

"Excuse me? Stiles, do you have any idea what time it is?" Melissa asked incredulously.

"Unfortunately." At least he didn't have to go to school in a few hours.

"And you thought it was a good idea to let random people into your car? That it was safe?"

"He's not exactly random. He goes to my school," Stiles mumbled. Should he have risked driving to the hospital just a bit out of town? Would they have known that people were looking for Isaac? With the state police sniffing around, probably. And that would've looked even more suspicious for Stiles.

"Are you telling me what I think you're telling me?" Melissa asked.

"Is there a reward for finding missing people? I may have a knack for it," Stiles joked. Melissa didn't respond, rushing past him and yelling for assistance as she went outside. Stiles hung back for a few seconds so he wouldn't be trampled by the stampede, then slid out the doors to watch them work.

Everyone was huddled around his jeep, calling out information to one another. Stiles stood on his toes to try to catch a glimpse of Isaac, but all the bodies were in the way. He wasn't even sure if he was awake or not, until he heard a panicked cry. Stiles shoved his way through the horde, needing to get back to the boy who'd been entrusted into his care. It was kind of ridiculous that he felt such a responsibility for someone his own age, but the guy was pretty vulnerable at the moment. Until he could advocate for himself, Stiles would do it.

"Isaac, it's okay!" Stiles said as soon as he was by his side. They'd gotten him on a gurney, but it looked like he'd started fighting when they tried to strap him down on it. That probably hadn't been the most pleasant way to wake up. "You're at the hospital. They aren't gonna hurt you."

"No," Isaac moaned, still trying to get up. He was strapped at the waist, but everything else was free.

"You don't really need to tie him down, right? I mean, you're only wheeling him inside, not taking him for a ride in the ambulance. He's not gonna roll off like a baby in a crib," Stiles said to the staff, hoping they would take pity on the guy and chill out.

"Stiles, it's for his safety," Melissa insisted, trying to pull him out of the way. Stiles grabbed onto the bar of the stretcher, holding on as tight as possible.

"I'm fine where I am. And I'll make sure he doesn't fall," Stiles argued. They got into a staring contest for a few seconds before Melissa blew out a frustrated breath and signaled for everyone to start moving toward the entrance.

"When we get him into a room, you're out," Melissa said firmly, trotting alongside the gurney as they pushed Isaac inside.

"See that? I got your back," Stiles bragged, trying to break the tension. It didn't work. Isaac was still groaning and trying to escape, but his movements were too weak to make any difference. Stiles tried hard to recall any time he'd seen the guy on the lacrosse field, to try to get an idea of what his strength was usually like, but he drew a complete blank. Isaac was tall and had a decent amount of muscle, but right now he was as weak as a kitten. And if Derek was right about how his home life was, this was not the position Isaac wanted to be in when he saw his father again.

"I'm seeing a lot of bruising here. Some of it old, some more recent," one of the staff called out.

"How long has he been missing?"

"Less than a week."

"Fever is through the roof."

"We need to cool him down, now."

"This is when you leave, Stiles," Melissa said, nudging him toward the door. Stiles tried to grab hold of Isaac one last time, but Melissa blocked his way. He really didn't want to leave him, but he couldn't get in the way of them making him better. And Stiles had a call to make.

"Check his kidneys."

"Excuse me?" Melissa asked, looking at him in suspicion.

"I had a project recently in school and had to read about kidney function and disorders and Isaac just so happens to be displaying some concerning symptoms," Stiles stammered, hoping he wasn't being too obvious. But he couldn't not say anything and risk Isaac getting worse. "Just call it classmate intuition."

"We're going to be giving him a very thorough exam, but I'll make a note to check his kidneys," Melissa agreed, pointing toward the door. Stiles stood on his toes to get one last look at Isaac, finding him silently crying as everyone moved around him. It made Stiles feel sick to his stomach.

"You'll take care of him, right?" Stiles asked. Melissa was practically family and he trusted her completely, but the others, not so much. And Derek would kill him if anything happened to Isaac that he could've prevented. That wasn't really fair, since this was all Derek's fault, but it was true.

"He's in good hands," Melissa assured him, pushing him the last bit out of the door. Stiles groaned, but admitted defeat. He took his phone out as he walked back to his car, needing to park it in a real spot before it got towed. It wouldn't be helpful, especially if he got another call to transport stolen goods. That probably wasn't the nicest way to refer to Isaac, but Stiles needed a little humor to deal with the stressful day. Stiles dialed his dad's number as soon as he was parked again, wanting to give the good guys the biggest advantage possible.

"Stiles, why are you calling me in the middle of the night from your bedroom?" his dad's groggy voice asked through the phone.

"Well, I'm not exactly in my room at the moment," Stiles replied hesitantly.

"And where are you?"

"At the hospital," Stiles mumbled. He heard his dad's sharp intake of breath and knew panicked yelling would not be far behind, so he started talking again quickly. "I'm fine! I'm not a patient, I'm just in the parking lot!"

"Then why are you at the hospital, Stiles?" his dad demanded. Stiles probably should've taken a few minutes to come up with a good story, but he had been a bit preoccupied before. He was just going to have to wing it.

"I couldn't sleep. I tried reading, surfing the web, doing homework, but nothing worked. So I decided to take a drive, so my restlessness wouldn't disturb you. And as I was driving, I kind of picked someone up," Stiles explained, hoping it didn't sound like complete bullshit. He'd stick to it no matter what though.

"You did what!" his father shouted, causing Stiles to cringe away from the phone. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I saw someone who needed help."

"Stiles!"

"It was the kid you're looking for!" Stiles said loudly, hoping to stave off the lecture his dad probably had ready to go. It wouldn't work anyway. "I found Isaac."

"Stiles, is this a joke?" he asked seriously.

"Curly hair, freakishly tall. Would kind of be a weird thing to joke about."

"I have to call this in."

"Wait!" Stiles said quickly, chewing on his lip. "I think you should handle this yourself."

"What are you talking about?"

"This is your town, right? So you should be handling stuff like this."

"Stiles, there is a chain of command that has to be followed."

"But if you take care of this, you'll prove that you didn't need those guys at all," Stiles argued. He couldn't say what he really wanted, about his dad getting to Isaac before Isaac's dad could. That was Isaac's story to tell and he didn't have enough proof or details to tell it. And if he gave too much away, they would know this wasn't just Stiles happening upon the guy randomly. Derek was kind of a dick, but he didn't want him to get in trouble. "You know, maybe I didn't find the right kid. This could be someone completely different. You should probably come and make sure, just in case."

"I know I'm not getting the whole story from you, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to make a concrete ID before calling this in," his dad sighed. Stiles breathed out his own sigh of relief. All Isaac had to do was tell him the truth about his home life, then things would be okay. "Either stay there or come straight home. No more driving around and picking up people you don't know."

"I'll be here," Stiles assured him. He probably wasn't going to be let into Isaac's room while everything was happening, but he wanted to be close by. It would be easier for him to keep up with everything that was happening if he stayed. And Stiles really wanted this to have a good outcome. Isaac definitely deserved it and Derek kind of did too. If this really had been about Derek trying to help, maybe it was proof that they were all going to get along better going forward. They all could use less stress these days. And maybe something would finally go right for once.