Witching Hour (Stiles Stilinski)

Things Fall Apart

"My asthma's back," Scott confessed, feeling a weight place down upon his shoulders at the confession. "I'm not sure how, but it came back. Just as bad as it used to be. So now I keep my inhaler on me all of the time, just like I used to. And it's been five days. We haven't seen any new chimeras, and we haven't seen the Dread Doctors.

"We all go to school, pretending like nothing's happened. But everyone seems to know. You just walk down the halls and no one's smiling, no one's laughing. You get the feeling that everyone can sense that something's coming. They just don't know what it is, or how bad it's gonna be. Every time I feel like I should do something about it, I find myself reaching for my inhaler. Like, I'm gonna take a hit of it and - and come up with some brilliant solution on how to save everyone.

"But I don't know what to do. I don't think anyone does. Maybe that's why no one's really talking to each other. Sometimes we don't even notice each other. But I think some of us are okay with that. Because not talking makes it easier to keep secrets."

"No one's talking to each other?"

Scott paused, tilting his head, "Well, I know June's trying. Sometimes I think she's the only one pulling all of us together at this point. She still keeps up a good attitude, and goes out of her way to talk to everyone. Well - um - except for me. You know, I was a total ass to her the other day when we were trying to find Liam and Hayden. I guess I was just angry. Angry at myself for failing them."

*****

June had wrenched the sketchpad and pen from Scott's grasp just after Lydia identified the pipes he had drawn as the pipes in the water treatment plant, and Scott looked over at her. There were only so many times he had seen that expression on June's face, and the last time was when June figured out the rest of the pack had kept the secret of her parents' death warrants from her. In short it was the look of well contained fury.

"Scott," She handed Corey several tissues as he examined the back of his neck. Scott's claws having just been embedded there was sure to cause some damage, and like always, June was prepared. "You have to slow down. We need to think about this."

Scott shook his head, "There isn't any time. I'm going." He raced out of the room and down the hall to the stairs. Not surprisingly, June was hot on his heels.

"I don't mean to be rude or anything but you're not thinking this through properly," She ushered, "You have to consider all the options."

"What's there to consider, June, huh? Liam and Hayden are down in those tunnels with the Dread Doctors. Who - who knows what's happening to them right now, okay? We can't just sit around and do nothing."

"It's not doing nothing, Scott. It's making sure that we don't put anyone else in danger either. We can't just gallivant around Beacon Hills while there are forces out there beating us every single time we try and do something. We have to be smarter about this. We have to think-"

"I'm done thinking!" Scott yelled, and everyone following the pair took a step back, save for June. "No one else can die because of the Dread Doctors. We save people, and most of the time, it's not done by standing to the side and thinking about our next move. June, it's Liam and Hayden, this is my fault that they were taken, and it's my responsibility to get them back. There's nothing to think about."

"I'm just saying that maybe this wouldn't have happened if we thought to tell Liam and Hayden about the whole plan, about Hayden being the bait. Maybe we wouldn't be in this situation if we had thought any of our plans through."

"Like you were any help these last couple of days? After your little meltdown in the hospital, you were MIA. You were the least helpful person when your all of this happened, so excuse me for not fucking listening to you when you suggest we should've done something else. You can't tell me what to do when you haven't even been here."