Just as a reminder to all those reading: When the text is written in bold and italicized lettering "like this," that is the part of the conversation in sign language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf. I also have no claim on any pop culture references I may use throughout my writings. I only own my OCs. Enjoy the read.

(o.o)

Chapter 2.16

After my conversation with Derek about needing to help Stiles, I made him promise to make sure he wouldn't let Argent do anything irreversible to Stiles. The idea of having a werewolf hunter hunt Stiles made me sick to my stomach, even with Allison's reassurance that her dad wouldn't take it too far.

The sheriff, Allison, and I went to the hospital, hoping he'd be going back to someplace he'd already been as the Nogitsune. Someplace familiar.

When we arrived at the hospital, Allison shoved something resembling a cop's nightstick in my direction. I hesitated, not wanting to hurt Stiles, but she'd insisted before dropping my concern altogether. I sighed before taking off after her and the sheriff into the hospital. The plan was to first check the basement and then work our way up to the roof for any sign of Stiles. We'd boarded the elevator, Allison and I on either side of the older man, and I could see the grave look on the sheriff's face in the reflection of the metal doors.

I twisted my hands around the nightstick. "Sheriff? You okay?"

The sheriff's shoulders fell as he shook his head. "I don't know how you guys do it." He looked over at Allison, but I kept my eyes on his reflection to see what he was saying. "You're all so strong."

Allison's body language gave her away to me, though, as she tucked her hair behind her ear nervously.

"You're fearless," He turned to me. "Hell, you even manage to keep your grades up."

Allison raised her brow. "I am failing Econ."

Yikes. I thought. How can you fail Econ? There had to be more going on with her than just the Nogitsune.

Sheriff turned back to Allison sharply. "Is that Coach's class?" He asked, getting a nod from Allison. "Well, I'll have a talk with him."

I studied Allison closely in the reflection of the metal doors. Her eyes welled with tears. "Allison?"

Sheriff looked my way but quickly turned towards her. He saw how distraught she looked and immediately flipped the emergency stop on the elevator. "Hey, are you okay?"

I kept my distance from her, but let her be aware that I was still there. Allison didn't seem the type to want to be babied. I respected how independent she was at times. Even if Allison didn't feel strong at the moment, I knew that she would bounce back.

Allison shook her head at the sheriff's question. "I'm not… Fearless," She shook out her hands. "I'm terrified," Her eyes met mine in the reflection, but she quickly looked away. "I'm always terrified. I act like I know what I'm doing, but I don't. I don't know if Isaac is dying right now."

Shit, Isaac. I had completely forgotten about him being in the hospital.

"I don't know if I made a mistake with Scott. I don't know what my dad is thinking. I don't know if we should trust Derek. I don't know," Allison sobbed. "I don't know anything."

The sheriff stepped towards her to comfort her and I couldn't do anything but watch the reflection. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders. I've had that hug before. Gosh, his hug could cure just about anything. It's where Stiles got it from: His all encompassing, all comforting hug.

The pair had an exchange that I couldn't catch, but I didn't need to. Stilinski pulled her away, but still held her at arm's length. "You're gonna be okay."

Allison nodded, but looked towards me.

I turned, meeting her eyes. "Everything's gonna be okay. All of it. And even when it's not, you've got us."

The girl nodded more confidently this time and the sheriff knew he could pull away to start the elevator again. The second he did, a confused look came to his face and he pulled out his phone.

"Sheriff?" I questioned.

"What's that?" Allison asked as we gathered around his phone to look at it.

"Someone's breaking into my house." He pushed a few buttons to go to his security app. "I had some security precautions put in. Motion sensors. Cameras."

"That's Stiles's room," I pointed out, heat coming to my face.

The Nogitsune stared into the camera, waving his fingers individually.

"We've gotta get there." I said, pressing the up button to go back to the lobby. We practically ran to the police cruiser and the sheriff drove the three of us to his house. When we arrived, however, the Nogitsune was gone. I had a feeling he'd leave, but I figured that there would be something left behind. A clue as to where he actually might have gone.

Why he would have us traipsing all over town, I'll never know. I just wish he'd give us something other than games. I wanted Stiles back.

Derek and Argent arrived shortly after us and joined us in Stiles' bedroom.

I walked up to Derek. "I'm still in one piece." I told him. "How are you doing?"

"Good," Derek said, glancing towards Argent.

I followed his line of sight, my eyes narrowing on the older man as he studied the room. He was looking for anything out of the ordinary, but I couldn't help but be suspicious of his actual intentions. I tapped Derek's arm to regain his attention. "He doesn't plan on killing him, does he?" I signed, keeping this conversation between the two of us.

Derek shook his head, but after a moment of hesitation. Derek's wariness of Allison's father was enough for me to realize that I shouldn't trust Argent with Stiles' survival.

Argent stopped, eyes landing on Stiles' chess board. "What is all this?" He questioned as the five of us zeroed in on the board. "What are the sticky notes for?"

"This is what Stiles used to try and explain to me about all of…you," The sheriff shared.

"Maybe it's a message from Stiles." Allison suggested. "The real Stiles."

I shook my head. "I don't think that it is."

"You want to elaborate?" Derek asked.

"Stiles spent the last few months teaching me how to play with this chessboard. I helped him pull these off." I poked at one of the names. "They're on different pieces now."

Argent picked up one that was off the board. It had the sticky note with Isaac's name attached to it.

"Isaac's off the board."

"Do you think there's any reason why my name's on the king?"

My eyes shot to the piece, studying the rest of the board. The pieces were in the same position they were in during my vision in the closet. The things that the Nogitsune was pulling from Stiles' mind were almost hard to believe. I'd told Stiles to find another way, just before the Nogitsune pulled me out. Had I really been there? My heart beat hard against my chest, and I tried to ignore it as I focused on the sheriff.

"Well, you are heavily guarded. Though, I guess the alarming detail is that you're one move from being in checkmate."

"CJ's right." Argent insisted. "It's not a message from Stiles. It's a threat from the Nogistune."

Allison agreed. "He's at the loft. That's what he's trying to tell us."

"And he wants us to come there."

"Night's coming up quickly," I reminded everyone. "Which means the Oni will be on his tail soon."

Derek looked up at the others from his pensive pose. I just wish he'd ignore my loud heartbeat. "This couldn't sound any more like a trap."

Sheriff shook his head. "I don't think it is."

"I think your opinion might be slightly biased, Sheriff." Argent said.

"Hear me out," Sheriff said, holding out his hand, asking for his patience. "What we're dealing with here is basically someone who lacks motive. No rhyme, no reason, right?"

"Meaning what?"

"Our enemy is not a killer. It's a trickster. The killing is just a by-product."

"If you're trying to say that it won't kill us, I'm not feeling too confident about that." Derek shared.

"Well, I am. I know I'd feel it." I said, quickly making my words almost incessant towards Derek. "If I have to have this conversion with you again, I will. The Nogitsune wants to play a trick. It thinks this is funny and just a game to play," I furrowed my brow for a moment, thinking. "Like chess." I realized, looking up at the sheriff. "We just have to figure out his move before he makes it so we can beat him in the next round." I looked to Argent for his approval of my words.

Argent stared at me for a second, hopefully starting to agree with me and the sheriff. He moved his gaze to the sheriff. "The sun is setting, Sheriff. What do you have in mind?"

(o.o)

In the car on the way to Derek's loft, I kept noticing that the sheriff would glance over at me. I chuckled to myself at what seemed to be his hesitation in talking to me. "You do know I'm not blind, right? Just deaf."

The sheriff sighed when I looked over to catch his gaze. "What we're walking into might get violent."

"I know." I said, matter-of-factly. "Deadly, even. That doesn't mean I'm not going in."

"I don't think it's a good idea." He said with a shake of his head.

"I've already talked to Derek about this. If you would just hear me out, I might have a reason for why I need to be there."

After a moment of thought and another sigh, the sheriff gestured for me to continue my explanation.

"I might be able to tell whether or not it's really Stiles." I shrugged. "I've got a knack at figuring it out without him even saying anything."

"Can you do that without touching him? That's how your thing works, right? You have to touch them?" He questioned, making sure he understood. "I can't risk you getting hurt."

"I think so," I said even though I wasn't sure at all. I continued anyway. "If I go in with you while the others stay back, I can signal you which Stiles we're dealing with."

"It's dangerous."

"It's Stiles. I know that you know your son, Sheriff. But I think I have some sort of advantage here. The Nogitsune is going to die and I can feel it. What I feel is not for nothing." I felt something, but still couldn't read what. Fake it 'til you make it though, right? Whatever confidence I had went to trying to convince him. "I can tell the difference."

Stilinski glanced over at me while he drove, but eventually he nodded. "You hide if things take a turn for the worse."

I nodded. "I will."

"You promise?" He asked, but I hesitated, giving a small nod. The sheriff noticed. "When we get Stiles back, I don't know if I'll be able to explain how something would have happened to you."

"I could say the same thing about you." I countered. "Nothing is going to happen to either of us, okay? Nothing can. Because it's Stiles."

Sheriff grinned from one corner of his mouth. "I don't know where you get your positivity."

My heart filled. "My brother, I think."

"You know, after we went to see Doctor Mathis, I did a little search on your brother."

"Like 'background check' search?"

Sheriff chuckled. "No, that would be a little too intrusive. I looked into newspapers, yearbooks. Co-Captain of the basketball team, alongside Derek Hale." He nodded. "One of my deputies noticed and she said she knew him. That they'd been on a couple dates back in the day. Clark."

I furrowed my brow, recalling the name. "Valerie Clark?"

"I'm surprised you didn't realize. She's a new deputy so she's been doing front desk duty for a while."

"I typically don't stop to chat with the front desk. It's hard enough to communicate." I shrugged. "I remember her, but Carter never really brought her around the family."

"Well, the point is, everything I found out all said the same thing. That he was a great kid, and a good man. Smartest in his year."

"Valedictorian." I nodded, remembering his speech. The feeling that gripped my heart tight when I noticed he had signed the entire thing, so that I could hear it. "After that we moved away because I couldn't bear to be away from him. He went to college, and John's Hopkins so that he could study to be a doctor. I didn't know then why he made the choice. We all thought he was going for animal medicine."

"Really?"

"He was working for Deaton, believe it or not. All through high school." I admitted to him. Something I hadn't even told Scott. "When I lost my hearing though, I think something clicked for him. He thought he would be able to figure it out. Carter thought he could learn how to realign the nerves or something…" I trailed off, not really knowing what could be done.

"That's a tall order."

"I hadn't asked him to do it. I never really had a problem being deaf. It's been a struggle, but nothing I haven't grown from." I swore not knowing if I was trying to prove that I felt that way. "None of it probably would have mattered anyway. Losing my hearing was supernatural. I don't think modern medicine can fix it."

"I wish I knew him. Anything like you, he'd have made a hell of a doctor."

I blushed, recognizing the building that the Sheriff pulled up to. "He would have." The dread quickly coating my throat as the words came out. Upstairs, hopefully, was Stiles. Realistically, it was the Nogitsune. All that was left was a slow elevator ride to the top floor. I pushed myself out of the SUV and walked around the car meeting the sheriff.

"Okay, it'll be 'yes' if it's Stiles, and 'no' if it's not." I said, showing him the two signs. "Got it?"

"I think so," the sheriff said, unsure.

I signed yes for him. "Stiles." Then pinched my fingers together. "Not Stiles."

"Got it. And you'll run if I say so."

"Yes," I ensured, wishing that I hadn't agreed to it. We went inside and rode the elevator up and stopped outside Derek's large sliding door. I took in a deep breath, opening up every piece of myself that I could. I figured that the more I did so, the better my chances were I'd be able to sense Stiles.

Maybe.

I didn't even know if it would work, but I needed to try. Given that the sheriff was going against his own gut for me to be in the room with him, I had to prove it.

When the door slid open, we saw Stiles standing by the large window with his back to us. A chill ran down my spine and with the hand closest to the sheriff, I pinched my fingers together.

This wasn't Stiles.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his head nod, just slightly.

I let out a breath I'd been holding from before the door opened. It didn't seem like I was doing much, but I felt like I overexerted myself trying to find out which Stiles stood before us.

The Nogitsune slowly turned around. "Hi, Dad," It said.

My eye twitched at the words the imposter used calling the sheriff Dad. I looked towards the sheriff as he and I inched our way into the loft.

The sheriff dropped one of the cuffs he had hooked on his finger, revealing that he had them.

"You want to handcuff me?" The Nogitsune questioned, his head shaking.

I had to hand it to the monster. He was doing a great job trying to convince us that he was Stiles.

"If my son is still here, if there's still a part of him standing here in front of me," The sheriff paused, putting a hand out for me to stop where I was.

It took everything in me not to groan in frustration. I could only see one side of the conversation from where I was.

Stiles' eyes flashed towards me with the Sheriff's last step forward. Except that it wasn't Stiles. My insides shook and wanted to surge forward and punch the Nogitsune in Stiles' face. Instead, I slowly circled around the room so that I could see both of their lips.

When the Nogitsune glanced back up at the sheriff, it was like he'd put his mask back on, pretending to be Stiles again. He held out his hands side by side for Stilinski to cuff him.

Noah approached carefully and locked the handcuffs into place.

Stiles' eyes were down in shame, but as he lifted his head, a terrifying glare peered like it was going to go through the sheriff's head. The Nogitsune tilted his head.

The sheriff took a step back. "You're not my son," He accused.

Stiles shook his head once and broke the handcuffs with no more than a shake of his wrists.

I looked back towards the entry just as Allison, Derek, and Argent strolled in, revealing themselves as backup.

Allison raised her taser, firing the shot, but Stiles caught the wires, pulling the weapon from Allison's hand.

Derek growled, baring his wolf and took a step forward. His arm was raised, but the Nogitsune caught it easily, twisting it behind Derek's back.

I gasped as Stiles knocked Derek's head into a column behind him like the wolf had weight nothing at all. "Derek!" I shouted, trying to go for him.

The Nogitsune stopped me with a glare. The corner of his mouth turned up and it looked like he was going to turn to me next.

The elder Argent raised a gun though, distracting him. The action seemed to intrigue the monster. Had it expected us to have lethal weapons? I hadn't. Neither did the sheriff.

Noah put a calming hand out towards Argent, wanting the gun lowered from his son's face. When Argent didn't, the sheriff raised his own firearm towards Argent.

This wasn't it. Stiles wasn't going to die. In all the visions I didn't want to admit that I'd seen, I had never seen this. At least not yet. I glanced around, there wasn't anything I could touch; no moment of solitude for me to try and see this outcome. I hadn't seen it end this way and I didn't have time to check. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes, finding my own focus. I could though. It was too much. Too chaotic.

A breath woke me from my thoughts. "Chaos." My eyes went to Allison's.

Allison caught my stare. "Strife." She looked towards the window just as the sun finally set. "Stop! Stop it! This is what he wants. This is exactly what he wants." Allison shouted to the grown men.

"Not exactly," Stiles said, his head tilting to the side again. "I was kind of hoping Scott would be here. But I'm glad you all have your guns out, because you're not here to kill me." The Nogitsune turned around to the wall of windows as the shadows came to life.

I shivered. "Oni," I breathed, looking towards Allison.

Allison made a fist with her hand, shaking it to remind me of the nightstick she'd given me.

I looked down as it hung loosely through my belt loop. I grabbed the handle and pulled it free, feeling a button that I hadn't noticed before. Pressing the switch, the nightstick expanded quickly into a large staff. I chuckled with a grin. "Now this, I can work with," I said aloud, spinning it expertly in my hands. Years of field hockey immediately changed the use of the weapon from foreign to second nature.

I glanced back up, watching as two of the Oni shadowed behind everyone by the elevator, blocking the exit. I took hurried steps forward, standing defensively next to Allison. I stopped an attack from getting the brunette, but Derek didn't get as lucky. A slice grazed the back of his shoulder.

The fighting was over just as quickly as it started. The Oni fled, disappearing into the darkness. The Nogitsune was gone, too. "Shit." I cursed, realizing Stiles was gone. Again.