Gut Instinct (Teen Wolf)

2:7 You Can't Break Someone With Physical Pain

Warning: fight, injury, mentions of dementia, slightly confusing chess references, demons, loud yelling, I think that's it

"Sorry, but I can't let you leave with this. It's way above the legal voltage limit," Parrish told Argent. He held the stun baton that was on Argent when he and Derek Hale had been arrested for murder. The charges had recently been dropped so the two were collecting their belongings.

"I only use it for hunting," Argent replied. Derek shot him an exasperated expression.

"Yeah well I'm pretty sure you could use it to jumpstart a 747," Parrish retorted.

"This property belongs to me and the charges were dropped," Argent reminded the deputy. "Although I'm not exactly sure who's responsible for that."

"I am." All three males turned to look in the doorway to see the recently returned sheriff and his daughter standing there. Noah walked over to the desk. "I'll take care of this Parrish."

"Stilinski- I'm not kidding, this thing's a few watts away from being a lightsaber," Parrish stressed.

Vic straightened from where she was in the doorway and walked over to the males. "I didn't take you for a Star Wars fan, Parrish," she said. Parrish just shrugged.

Noah took the stun baton from his hands and leaned over the counter. "I said, I'll take care of this," he repeated. He motioned for all of them to follow him into his office.

Derek elbowed Vic slightly. She turned to look at look at him as they walked. He raised his eyebrows. She let out an a puff of air and turned away. Derek patted her back in comfort. All four of them walked in her dad's office. Vic closed the door, making sure the blinds were drawn and closed. She then sat on the arm of the couch.

"The specialist in LA told me the same thing every doctor tells me when they're wanna avoid a lawsuit," Noah began as he leaned against his desk. "'We can't say for sure.' And then I spoke with Melissa." He pulled out the brain scans him and his daughter had gotten from the office not even an hour before. "These are brain scans, my wife and Stiles's." He handed the two scans to Derek who then handed them to Argent. "I knew they were similar but those are the same. Exactly the same."

Argent placed one scan on top of the other. They were perfectly similar. Every line and curve were exactly the same.

"And I'm guessing that's not possible?" Derek asked.

"Not unless you're a trickster spirit trying to fool a few people and cause some chaos," Vic spoke up.

"So the trickster is still playing tricks," Argent concluded. His eyes still studied the scans while they talked.

"But why this trick?" Derek asked.

"You can't break someone wiht physical pain," Vic said. The men all turned to look at her but she was looking outside the window. Her gaze was unfocused, like she was looking at something a thousand miles away. "You do that with emotional pain."

Noah nodded. "When I was in the army, an officer told me, 'If you want to defeat an enemy, you don't take away their courage. You take away their hope.'"

"You don't look like someone who gives up hope easily," Argent observed.

"With this disease, Stiles might," Vic said. Her hands played with the loose strings on the couch's stitching. "This was the disease that killed out mom. Stiles knows everything about this. He knows it's genetic. He might've broken with the thought that this sickness might've gotten to him too."

"You know he's left people severly injured," Argent pointed out.

"And others severly dead," Derek added.