Not Quite The Same (Hiatus)

Chapter Three

They had him hooked up to a machine.

To the machine.

His metal arm was out on display.

Doctors were around him.

They were poking and prodding at him.

Their Latex gloves smelled like death.

They were doing a check up.

Not out of kindness.

They were going to send him on a mission.

He remained silent as the doctors injected something into his neck.

It hurt.

He said nothing.

Just stared blankly at the wall in front of him.

He remained silent as they opened up his metal arm.

Nothing was heard as they fixed a few wires.

They cleaned away any rust.

They repaired any flaws.

They walked away as they prepared the machine.

He remained silent as the machine went over his head.

Multiple tiny needles went over a part of his temple and head.

A mouth guard was put in his mouth.

He tended to grind his teeth.

The machine was activated.

He couldn't remain silent as the electricity ran through his head.

He screamed through the mouth guard.

Pain ripped through him.

Thoughts: Gone.

Feelings: Gone.

Tiny memories: Gone.

Everything: Gone.

Obedience stayed.

Training stayed.

Pain stayed.

The machine worked for another 5 minutes.

Though it seemed to last forever.

The machine was taken off.

The pain stayed.

The mouth guard was taken out.

Sweat trailed down his face.

His mind was blank, but he knew what he needed to know.

The Commander was there.

"Żołnierz."

Soldier.

He acknowledged the name.

"Mamy nową misję dla ciebie."

We have a new mission for you.

He had to respond.

"Gotowy do wykonania."

Ready to comply.

~*~*~

It was the second day in the anniversary week.

Scott and the others had spent most of the day watching movies. They had watched all of the Star Wars movies, and everyone knew why. It had been one of Stiles' favorite movies. He had always made references to it, and used to tease Scott for never seeing them. Scott only wished he had been able to see the movies with him.

Even though the atmosphere was sad, they laughed when the movie was funny, they groaned when Leia kissed Luke, they cheered when Hans Solo said 'I know,' they suffered through the prequels. Though, every time Yoda came on the screen, they all blanched. Scott remembered Stiles telling him, "Your Yoda I will be," when he was first struggling with how to control himself on the full moon and just his werewolf abilities in general. Though the memory was a happy one, but it also brought him pain once he remembered that comments and remarks like that weren't around anymore.

When it became close to midnight, they had fallen asleep watching Star Trek: The Next Generation. Everyone was asleep... Well, everyone except Derek. No, he was walking around outside Scott's house. Just taking a short stroll around the neighborhood, trying to clear his head. There was one thing running through it: Stiles.

He couldn't deny his feelings for the human. Sure, Stiles was annoying, obnoxious, weak, hyperactive, and all around defenseless, but he was a lot of other things too. He was funny, sarcastic, witty, smart, kind, strong minded, courageous, and selfless. And while Derek denied it to his friends, they all knew, including him, that Derek had fallen for the boy. He didn't know if Stiles had returned his feelings, and he knew that he never would know. He sometimes, like now, thought what would've happened if he had admitted his feelings to Stiles before he had gone missing. Would Stiles have rejected him outright or would he have let him down gently? Or would he have returned the feelings? Derek knew that if he did, it would've made the disappearance a lot sadder... But Derek didn't want to experience that. He already found the fact that Stiles was dead, by law, upsetting and sad.

Derek walked mindlessly along the sidewalk. His body moved but his mind was elsewhere, like most of the time. He hadn't realized how far he really was from the house until he noticed that he was nearing the woods perimeter. He sighed and began to make his way back. His thoughts were still on Stiles, and though he would never say it aloud, he really missed him. He missed the 'Sourwolf' teasing, and the idiotic yet funny things Stiles would say or do. He missed the glances Stiles would toss his way when he thought Derek wasn't looking. He missed the odd relationship he had with the boy, the way they protected each other when needed but hated and were at each other's throats during the rest of the time.

He missed that, too. The bickering, and those moments where he was able to see just how far he was willing to go to help or save his friends. Where he was able to see that there was more to Stiles than it seemed, that he wasn't completely defenseless, that he had more courage and bravery than any of them. But it was moments like those that also terrified him. To see that this boy, this boy who had fallen for, was willing to die for his friends, as shown multiple times throughout his life. He was willing to do so many things to save his friends, it worried him sometimes. When Stiles was still around, Derek and the others would sometimes worry what would happen if Stiles ended up getting himself in a situation that could only end in death?

They always said that they would protect him, but it looks like they spoke too soon.