look, you didn't hear this from me, but something happened between stiles and willow at that party.
[ 3.18 ]
The night quickly descended into chaos as Scott got a panicked call from Stiles. He was missing, trapped somewhere cold and dark, claiming to be bleeding. Desperate to find him, Scott gathered Isaac and called Derek, demanding he meet them at Stiles' house for help tracking his scent.
When they arrived, the three of them ran down the hall and spotted Aiden and Lydia there already, staring at Stiles' closed bedroom door.
"How did you know?" Scott asked Lydia in surprise. He hadn't texted either of them about it. "Did he call you, too?"
"I heard it," Lydia said, her voice barely above a whisper as she stared at the door.
"Don't ask," Aiden instructed, seeing their confused faces. "It gets more confusing when you ask.
"Okay," Isaac muttered. "Let's go grab a scent."
Scott pushed open the door and they all piled in while Aiden reached for the light switch. Immediately, their eyes were drawn to two things, both on the bed. The first was Willow, who was sleeping on the left side, only wearing one of Stiles' shirts. The other — and more alarming of the two — was the pair of scissors stabbed into the mattress on Stiles' side. There were at least twenty pieces of red yarn tied to it, connecting to his board for unsolved cases.
"Stiles," Willow groaned, shoving her head in the pillow. Scribbles, who was curled up by the headboard, let out a tired mewl as well. "Turn the light off."
"Willow," Derek called. He tried to keep his jealousy from seeing her in Stiles' bed wearing only his shirt and underwear at bay. They still had to find Stiles.
Willow sat up, hearing Derek's voice. She looked at all of them crowded in Stiles' room in alarm. But then her eyes caught sight of the scissors next to her.
"Where's Stiles?" Willow asked, glancing back at them with wide eyes. "What's happening?"
"We don't know where he's at," Scott told her. "He called me. He's trapped somewhere and he's injured, but he doesn't know where. We all came here to try and find a clue."
"And we've only got one really confusing clue," Isaac muttered, eyes still on the red thread.
Willow got on her knees and ran a finger along the yarn, staring at the side of the bed where Stiles usually slept. "He uses red for unsolved cases."
"Maybe he thinks he's part of an unsolved case?" Aiden guessed.
"Or is an unsolved case," Isaac suggested.
"Hold on," Willow said, scrambling off the bed. Scott's words finally processed in her tired brain. "Is he still out there? You don't know where he is?"
"He said that he was in an industrial basement somewhere," Scott explained.
"We came here to get a better scent," Isaac added. "And Lydia's banshee thing brought her here."
"What else did he say?" Lydia asked, who also hadn't been filled in on the phone call.
"Something's wrong with his leg — it's bleeding," he said.
"And he's freezing," Isaac stated.
"Tonight's the coldest night of the year. It's going to drop into the twenties," Aiden said, surprisingly worried about him.
"What did his dad say?" Lydia asked.
"We kind of - we didn't tell him yet," Scott mumbled.
"Stiles is bleeding and freezing and you didn't call his dad?" Willow asked angrily. She was in the middle of throwing on a pair of Stiles' sweatpants and a hoodie, prepared to go out and find him.
"He made me promise not to!" Scott exclaimed. "We can find him by scent. If he was sleepwalking, he couldn't have gotten far, right?"
"You didn't notice his Jeep is gone, did you?" Aiden asked them.
"You promised you wouldn't call his dad. I didn't," Lydia said, pulling out her phone.
"Wait, Lydia! Hold on," Scott said. "I can get more help. I can call Allison and—"
Lydia cut him off with a scoff. "Everyone except for the cops. Great idea!"
"You guys remember she only gets these feelings when someone's about to die, right?" Aiden reminded them.
"You don't have to call his dad," Scott said, sighing. "It's five minutes to the station."
Willow rushed out of the room, sprinting to her room to grab some shoes. The rest turned to follow, but Lydia placed a hand on Aiden's arm, keeping him in place.
"We'll catch up," Lydia said.
"What? Why?" Scott asked, knowing they'd need everyone. Willow came back, her feet stuffed in a pair of sneakers.
"There's something here," Lydia said, looking around the room.
"Yeah, evidence of total insanity," Isaac muttered.
"Unless you're gonna be helpful, shut up!" Willow snapped, narrowing her eyes at Isaac.
All of them looked at her with wide eyes. Willow had never spoken to Isaac — or anyone — like that, in such a rude tone. Though, could it even be considered speaking? Given that her eyes were glowing, it was really a command.
"We can figure out what's wrong with him after we find a way to keep him from freezing to death," Scott said, eyeing Willow cautiously.
"Go," Lydia told them. "We'll be right behind you."
Scott, Isaac, Derek, and Willow rushed to the police station. As Scott explained everything to Noah, he leaned weakly against a desk, trying to keep himself together.
"If his jeep is gone, that's where we start," he decided. Noah turned to Deputy Parrish, the newest hire at the station. "Parrish, let's get an APB out on a blue 1980 CJ-5 Jeep. Cordova, I want a list of any kind of industrial basement or sub-level of any building that he could've gotten into while sleepwalking. It's the coldest night of the year so far. So, if he's out there barefoot in just a t-shirt, he could already be hypothermic. Let's move fast. Let's think fast."
Then Noah looked at the four who had brought him the bad news. "The four of you, come with me." Noah led them to his office, where he shut the door for privacy. "Okay, is there anything you need to tell me that I can't tell anyone out there?"
"Lydia knew he was missing," Scott told him.
"Can she help find him?" he asked hopefully.
"Well, she's working on it," Isaac muttered.
"Anything else?" he asked.
"I called Allison for help," Scott said. Though she didn't pick up, he was hoping that she and her father were already on the way.
"I don't - I don't think this is a supernatural thing," Willow said quietly. "Stiles has been having a lot of issues, Scott. He's not even told you half of it."
"Can - can you find him by scent?" Noah asked the three wolves. Even without Willow listing Stiles' recent symptoms, he had a good idea of what was happening. He had already been through it once before.
Before they could answer, Parrish knocked on the office door, sticking his head in. "We got it, sir. We found the jeep."
☽︎
Every available officer rushed to the hospital. The familiar blue jeep was abandoned in the parking lot, Stiles nowhere in sight.
"It's dead. He must have left the lights on," Noah informed Scott as he and the others came over.
"Why would he come here?" Scott asked, looking at the hospital.
"Let's find out," Noah said, heading inside to search the building.
While the police and hospital security searched each floor and the basement, the werewolves let their noses guide them. Derek reached the roof first, and Scott, Willow, and Isaac showed up a moment later.
"He's not here. Not anymore," Derek said, eying the area.
"You mean, the whole building?" Scott asked.
"Gone," he confirmed.
"I'll go tell Stilinski," Isaac said, heading back inside.
"And see if you can find Allison," Scott told him before he could leave. "She's not answering her phone."
Then Scott walked over to Derek. Willow remained on her own, eying the area of the roof with access to the electrical wiring for the whole building.
"Notice how strong the scent is up here?" Derek asked Scott. "Ever hear of chemo-signals? Chemical signals that communicate emotion. And just our sweat can give off anger, fear, disgust."
For only a second, Derek's eyes traveled to Willow. "Doubt or feelings for others."
But then Derek focused back on teaching Scott, not wanting to think about whatever was going on between Willow and Stiles.
"Take a deep breath and tell me what you feel," Derek instructed.
Scott took a moment to smell the air. "Stress?"
"And anxiety," he confirmed.
"What was he doing up here?" he questioned.
"I don't know," he said. "But there was definitely some kind of struggle."
"With who?" Scott asked.
Derek frowned, glancing back at Willow once again, who hadn't stopped staring at the power station. Staring at it like she knew something they didn't.
"Himself."
☽︎
It was another two hours before Stiles was found, and that was after Lydia led them to Eichen House on a wild goose chase. In the end, it was Rafael McCall who found him in the middle of the woods in Malia's abandoned coyote den. His mind had convinced him while sleepwalking that he was somewhere he wasn't.
While everyone piled into the hospital to make sure he was okay, Derek and Aiden pulled up Derek's car next to the jeep to give it a jumpstart. There wasn't anything else useful they could do until they knew what was wrong with Stiles.
"So, you think he was just sleepwalking, or is there something more to it?" Aiden asked after starting Derek's car.
"In this town, there's always something more," Derek muttered, beginning to connect the jumper cables.
"What if I told you I know something more?" Aiden asked. He earned a curious look from Derek, who raised an eyebrow. "I kind of overheard — Well, I listened in on Stiles talking to Scott and Willow. How he thinks he was the one who wrote that message in the chemistry room. The message telling Barrow to kill Kira."
Derek scoffed in disbelief. "You think Stiles — skinny, defenseless, Stiles — is the Nogitsune, a powerful dark spirit?"
"I'm not the only one thinking it. I'm just the only one saying it," Aiden told him, shrugging. "Especially with Willow involved."
Derek grew tense at the mention of Willow. She had clung to Stiles the moment they brought him into the hospital. "What about Willow?"
"Look, you didn't hear this from me, but something happened between Stiles and Willow at that party," he told him. "Stiles left early, but before that, he was with Willow. And the way she was letting him touch her — the places she let him touch her— well, I've not even seen you touch her like that in public."
Aiden watched as Derek clenched his fist so tightly that his claws dug into his skin. "I know she's close with Scott and Stiles, but not that close," Aiden continued. "Like Argent said — the Nogitsune can manipulate her. I think it has been for a while now."
Willow wasn't cheating on Derek with Stiles, as he had suspected. But perhaps the truth was just as hard to swallow. The evil spirit possessing Stiles already had Willow in its clutches, manipulating her emotions and feelings.
"I don't understand," Derek muttered. "I mean, why Stiles? This thing wants to possess someone and chooses Stiles? Why wouldn't it take someone bigger? Stronger? Someone with a little more... power?"
Derek trailed off, looking at the jumper cables in his hands. He carefully pressed the clamps together, setting off a round of sparks.
To find out if Stiles really was possessed, he needed to find a certain Kitsune.
☽︎
Scott, Willow, Lydia, Melissa, and Rafael all stood in the hallway outside Stiles' room at the hospital, which Noah just came out of. They looked at him expectantly.
"He's sleeping now and he's just fine. He doesn't remember much. It's a bit like a dream to him," he informed them. Then he looked at Rafael. "Thank you."
"It was that repellent we sprayed in the coyote den to keep other animals out," Rafael explained. "I couldn't go near it without my eyes watering. It's just a good thing he mentioned it over the phone."
"No, it was more than that," Noah said, shaking his head. "Thank you."
Rafael shrugged him off. "It was a lucky connection."
Noah sighed exasperatedly. "McCall, can you shut up please and accept my sincerest gratitude?"
"Accepted," he said with a genuine smile.
"All right, you three," Melissa said, turning to Scott, Willow, and Lydia. "You've got school in less than six hours. Go home. Go to sleep."
"I'm staying," Willow said as Scott and Lydia got ready to leave.
"Will, you need to get just a little bit of sleep," Melissa told her.
"I'm not going to school. I'm not leaving Stiles," Willow said, crossing her arms. "I won't leave him while he's here."
Melissa glanced at Noah, then shared a look. Willow didn't miss school for anything, which showed just how worried and scared she was for Stiles. But the two adults weren't going to argue with her.
"Okay," Noah said, nodding. "You can go on in his room. I'll call the school when they open and let them know you won't be there."
☽︎
Scott, though at school, hasn't been present mentally. All he could think about was Stiles, who he had yet to hear from since he was admitted to the hospital. As he walked out of the locker room, he tuned out all the noise around him as people in the hallway rushed past.
He also tuned out Kira, who had called his name.
"He's a little preoccupied," Derek said, walking up to Kira with purpose. "But I can help you."
"Why would you want to help me?" Kira asked anxiously. To her, Derek was a stranger that she hardly knew.
"Because I want you to tell me everything that happened at the power station with William Barrow," Derek told her. "Actually, I want you to show me."
☽︎
Willow hadn't been lying when she said she wasn't leaving Stiles' side. She had crawled into the hospital bed with him and slept through the night. They kept him fairly sedated for most of the day, thinking he needed the rest. Willow remained curled up next to him, not wanting him to wake up alone.
Melissa and Noah were standing outside the opened door, unaware that Willow was awake too as they began talking. With her head pressed to Stiles' chest, she focused hard to listen in.
"It was the other day," Melissa said quietly. "I asked him some questions. Just symptoms, and, um..."
When Melissa hesitated, Noah let out a defeated sigh, understanding what she was getting at. "Yeah, it's okay. I think, I, uh, I think I know what you're talking about." Though Willow couldn't see, Noah handed Melissa his notebook where he had been tracking all of Stiles' symptoms. "I've been writing these down for the last two weeks. I think we need to do some tests."
In his sleep, Stiles pulled Willow closer. She frowned and burrowed her head into his chest, worried about whatever the tests would be looking for.
☽︎
Despite her wish to never return, Kira led Derek all the way back to the substation. Derek looked around, picking up on all the smells and damage left behind.
"It was around here, I think," Kira muttered. She couldn't remember the exact spot in the large room that Barrow had tied her up at. "But everything kind of looks the same now."
But there was one thing that was out of the ordinary. Derek spotted the aluminum bat that was stuck to the front of a metal fuse box. Kira followed as he walked closer to inspect it.
"What is that? Is that a baseball bat?" Kira asked.
"It's Stiles' bat," Derek muttered. He grabbed the bat to remove it, only to find it was nearly impossible. It took several tugs with his werewolf strength to get it to come off. "It's magnetized."
Derek took a step back and glanced at the ground, seeing a long scrape mark that led to the fuse box. Following a hunch, he placed the top of the bat at the beginning of the mark.
An impossibly strong invisible force pulled the bat and Derek forward, inch by inch until the bat was completely dragged back to the fuse box. Not even Derek could overpower it as he was dragged along as well. He stepped away and looked at it in alarm, realizing that Stiles had been dragged to the fuse box during the electrical explosion.
"Kira," Derek said, "I'm going to need you to tell me everything you know about foxfire."
"You think this has something to do with Stiles and the Nogitsune?" Kira asked hesitantly. Could this have been her fault?
"It would explain everything — Stiles' erratic behavior, the Oni coming after our pack specifically, Willow clinging to Stiles."
Kira bit the inside of her cheek. "Are — is there a chance that Stiles isn't possessed? I mean, could you just be projecting your insecurities onto him because Willow might be falling in love with him and out of love with you?"
For the first time, Kira Yukimura was on the receiving end of one of Derek's infamous glares. It was truly terrifying, and for a moment, she thought he was going to sprout fangs and claws in anger.
"Never mind," she squeaked out. "It's probably definitely the evil spirit manipulating her. Definitely not that other thing."
☽︎
In the MRI image room, Stiles was surrounded by his father, Melissa, Dr. Vandenburg, Scott, and Willow. He had a hospital gown on and was sitting down, ready to start the brain scan.
"I'm not sure I know how to pronounce this," Dr. Vandenburg muttered, looking at Stiles' chart. "Or if it's not actually a misspelling—"
"Just call him Stiles," Noah interrupted impatiently.
"Okay," he said. "Stiles, just to warn you, you're going to hear a lot of noise during the MRI. It's due to pulses of electricity going through metal coils inside the machine. Uh, if you want, we can get you earplugs or headphones."
"Oh, no. No, I don't need anything," Stiles said, shaking his head.
"Hey, we're just on the other side of that window, okay?" Melissa told him, letting him know they'd be there the whole time.
"Okay," he said as the adults walked out of the room. It gave Stiles a moment with Willow and Scott. "You know what they're looking for, right?"
Scott stared at the floor while Willow squeezed Stiles' hand.
"It's called frontotemporal dementia. Areas of your brain start to shrink. It's what my mother had. It's the only form of dementia that can hit teenagers. And there's no cure," Stiles explained, his voice void of emotion. He sounded dead already.
"Stiles," Scott said, wiping a stray tear off his cheek, "if you have it, we'll do something. I'll do something."
Stiles nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. Then the two best friends embraced, neither holding back their tears. Before he left the room, Scott squeezed Stiles' shoulder comfortingly before going to stand by the door, waiting for Willow.
Willow had been sitting on the imaging table next to Stiles, but she slid off it, knowing she couldn't stay in the room. She turned to leave, but Stiles caught her wrist and pulled her into him, not wanting her to go.
"You're gonna be okay," Willow whispered, hugging him tightly. Her voice trembled as she cried into his chest. "You're gonna be okay."
"I'm scared," he admitted. Willow pulled away from the hug only to press her forehead against his. She used the sleeve of Stiles' sweatshirt that she was wearing to wipe the tears off his cheek.
"I'm the crybaby, remember? Not you," she said softly. "And no matter what happens, you're always gonna have me, Stiles."
His hands rested on her waist. "Because you love me?" Stiles asked. Just like that night in his bedroom when he confessed his feelings for her. Willow hadn't responded then.
"Because I love you," Willow whispered, leaning closer. Then Stiles' breathing hitched as Willow kissed him softly, hands affectionately cradling the sides of his face as he managed to kiss her back briefly. And Stiles' wide, mesmerized eyes followed her lips when she pulled away. "We're just on the other side of the wall."
Scott, who had been watching the entire intimate interaction, hid his surprised expression as Willow joined him, both leaving the room. The kiss between the two wasn't what he had been expecting when Willow took her moment alone with him. But Scott certainly wasn't going to be the one to tell Derek about it. That wouldn't end well for anyone involved.
☽︎
Speaking of Derek, he had just pulled up in the parking lot with Kira. And he was more convinced than ever that Stiles was the Nogitsune. Now he just had to warn Scott and Willow, while also getting Willow away from Stiles before anything bad happened.
"I don't know if I should go in," Kira said, hesitating to follow Derek inside. He turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow. "You're going to tell Scott that Barrow might have used foxfire — created by me — to jump-start the Nogitsune's power inside Stiles."
"Yeah?" he questioned, still not understanding her hesitation.
"Basically, that I helped a dark spirit take control of his best friend, who is also emotionally manipulating his other best friend and your girlfriend," Kira summarized. "Who is on the brink of leaving you for said dark spirit."
Derek clenched his fist, the truth of her words hitting him. Considering Derek had definitely been mad at Kira for a little bit, it was understandable that she wouldn't want to be around Scott when he found out too.
"You should probably wait here."
☽︎
"Okay, Stiles," Dr. Vandenburg said, speaking to Stiles through the PA system in the room. "This will take about forty-five minutes to an hour. Now, remember, try not to move — even a little bit."
Willow and Scott shared an amused smile, knowing how difficult that would be for Stiles.
"Stiles, you're going to hear that noise now. It's going to be a loud clanging — kind of like a hammer hitting an anvil," Dr. Vandenburg explained.
When the MRI started, there wasn't much to do except wait in nervous silence. Willow opted to stand by the door, watching through the window on it instead of the large viewing area that the others were standing by.
She didn't want to be in front of the computer when the results came in.
Shortly after the process started, Scott had moved to Willow's side, whispering in her ear. "Derek wants us. Says it's important."
Willow shook her head, still not pulling her eyes off Stiles. "I'll talk to him later."
"But he said to bring you—"
"I'm not leaving Stiles."
Scott let out a defeated sigh, knowing he couldn't drag her out of the room with the parents and doctor there. So, he went to find Derek, who was about to tell him that Stiles was fighting a losing battle in his mind against the Nogitsune.
Scott never returned, and eventually, more and more images began transmitting to the computer. Willow didn't look at them, but her ears were sharp, listening to the doctor go over them with Melissa and Noah.
"See this? The tissue here and there? Both those spots are showing signs of atrophy."
Willow clenched her eyes shut, a few more tears escaping. How were they supposed to tell Stiles this when he came out of the machine?
"Atrophy?" Noah asked quietly, already knowing what it meant. It was exactly what he didn't want to hear.
Dr. Vandenburg sighed sympathetically. "I'm sorry."
As Dr. Vandenburg continued to show more and more scans, the lights in the hospital began to flicker. They all looked up at the light fixtures, wondering what was causing the flickering, which was followed by a loud, crackling sound.
"What was that?" Melissa asked. She worked in the hospital every day and never heard anything like that.
"It sounded like a power surge," Dr. Vandenburg stated.
Noah was the first to glance back in the MRI room, spotting the empty imaging table. "Where's my son?"
Melissa then noticed the fourth person who was missing from the room. "And where's Willow?"
☽︎
Back in the room he was admitted in, Stiles was pulling on his clothes, changing out of the hospital gown. Willow was on her knees, tying his shoes as he pulled on a shirt. Then she slowly rose, glowing pink eyes never leaving Stiles'.
"Is it time to have fun?" Willow asked, leaning in close as she recalled his promise from a few nights ago.
With a dark smirk on his face, Stiles gripped her chin roughly. "We've got work to do."
Willow let Stiles lead her from the room, no one sparing them a second glance. They were all too preoccupied with the hospital losing power and the catastrophic scene in the parking lot, courtesy of the Nogitsune's tampering on the roof.
The hallway grew empty as the elevator doors opened. Stiles spotted the woman inside of it and walked forward, looking more intrigued than worried by her arrival.
"You know me," Kira's mother, Noshiko, said. Stiles only nodded. "Then you remember that I won't be deterred by your choice of host. Even if it's an innocent boy."
Stiles tilted his head, his voice low. "Are you threatening us?"
Then two Oni appeared behind Noshiko in the elevator. Willow grew tense, worried for Stiles. But he merely looked amused, which calmed her down.
"Now I'm threatening you," Noshiko said. "You'll let the girl go."
"We're not really afraid of your little fireflies," Stiles told her. Then he slid a hand down Willow's wrist before grabbing her hand. "And I don't think she wants me to let her go. What do you want, little Charmer?"
Willow's eyes glowed brighter as the Nogitsune's hold strengthened. She couldn't leave. He didn't want her to leave him, and so she wouldn't.
"I want to have fun," Willow said, a mischievous smile on her lips that looked out of place.
Stiles turned his back on Noshiko and the Oni, knowing they wouldn't attack with so many people around. Not with Kira handling the electrical problem outside.
"If the Oni can't defeat you," Noshiko called, "I know someone who will."
Stiles paused and turned his head, giving her one last look over his shoulder. A dark smirk formed, not deterred by her comment. Not when he had an Incantator wrapped around his finger like a vine.