Bravely Courageous

65

"He nearly killed you too," Maggie reminded him.

Stiles gave her a small smile. "And we're all still alive. See? Teamwork."

"You're impossible."

"And you love me for it."

She pursed her lips a moment before nodding and a hint of a smile crossed her face. "Yeah, I do. I'm coming."

"Fine, but be careful."

---

They arrived at Eichen House and while Kira and Lydia buzzed in, Maggie remained back with the boys. Stiles was still rubbing his shoulder.

Maggie frowned. "Stiles, tell me what's wrong. Please. What happened to you?"

He sighed. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"Don't worry about you? You're my friend. Of course I'm going to worry about you!"

Scott noticed Stiles' discomfort. "Are you gonna be okay in there?"

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"You just seem a little off. Maybe some of us more than others."

Stiles suddenly seemed incredibly interested. "Wait. What happened?"

"When the other Chimera, Lucas, when he came after us, I heard Kira say something in Japanese."

Caleb shrugged. "That doesn't sound too bad."

Scott glanced at her. "She doesn't know any Japanese."

"Still not terrible," Stiles said.

"I also think I might have stopped her from killing Lucas."

"Okay." Stiles paused. "Wasn't he trying to kill you, though? I mean, that just sounds like self-defense."

Scott sighed. "It was more than that. I mean, she nearly took his head off."

Caleb was silent for a moment. "You know, maybe she didn't have a choice. That's the whole thing behind self-defense, right? To protect yourself against attacks?"

Stiles nodded, glancing at him. "Tracy killed her own father. And Lucas would have killed you."

Maggie's brow furrowed once again as she studied Stiles. Something was different and she would find it out, whatever it was.

Scott frowned. "They're not the bad guys. They're the victims. We shouldn't be killing the people we're supposed to save."

The gate buzzed and opened. The pack walked through the entrance. At the front desk, an orderly instructed, "Please empty your pockets into the container."

"We're here to see..." Scott began.

"Please empty your pockets into the container," the orderly repeated. They did as he asked and he glanced to Kira. "Please remove your belt and place it into the container."

"I kind of need the belt. I mean, it's crucial to the outfit," Kira protested.

"Please remove your belt which patients will attempt to take from you and use to strangle either themselves or others."

"Right. Got it." She nodded and took off her belt, placing it in the container.

They followed another orderly down the hall. Without turning around, he told them, "I'll remind you that I'm only doing this as a favor for Deaton. And I'm doing it against my better judgment."

"Hey, what's the etiquette for talking to this guy?" Stiles asked. "I mean, do you ever look at the other eye?"

The orderly shook his head. "I wouldn't."