she can't remember anything either. it's like she's only herself when i'm myself.

[ 3.19 ]

It had been two days of silence. No Oni sightings. No Stiles. No Willow.

That night at the hospital, before Kira absorbed the electricity from the cut wire that was dangerously flying around the parking lot, Isaac was badly injured. The entire right side of his body was burned and he wasn't healing. The werewolf had momentarily stopped breathing, but the hospital staff managed to revive him. Things weren't looking good, and if he didn't heal soon, he might not make it.

Willow was the only one that could help him and she was nowhere to be found.

She and Stiles disappeared in the jeep from the hospital. Everyone was searching for them, though it was as if they fell off the face of the earth.

Derek, in particular, felt like he was losing his mind. Willow was out there somewhere, all control ripped away as the Nogitsune used her own powers against her. He barely ate and slept, spending every free moment out looking for her.

Scott spent his free time looking as well, but he couldn't put everything on hold. He still had to go to school to make sure Stiles and Willow didn't show up. He had to check on Isaac throughout the day, making sure that he wasn't getting worse. And he kept contacting Deaton, who was out of town and trying to find a way to stop the Nogitsune.

On the morning of the second day, Scott walked into the kitchen to see his mother sitting at the table, staring at it, deep in thought. She was thinking about what they all were. Stiles and Willow.

"Any news?" Scott asked, hoping that they could've been found while he was asleep.

"They're still looking for them," she told him. "It's past the forty-eight-hour mark, but I guess if anyone's going to be missing for two days and turn up just fine, it's Stiles. And he wouldn't let Willow get hurt."

"What about Isaac?" Scott questioned.

Melissa smiled sadly, not having any good news. "Maybe we should go by the hospital before school," she told him.

Maybe if Scott took some of his pain, he could start healing. It was worth a shot.

☽︎

School was horrible. Almost everyone was talking about the two missing teenagers. Willow Worthington, in particular, wasn't the type of girl to disappear, which made many people worry, even if they didn't know all the supernatural details.

In the boys' locker room, while everyone was changing for cross country practice, Coach walked out of his office to make an announcement. He blew his whistle so loudly that it had the boys flinching.

"Listen up!" he shouted. "Anybody catches the slightest glimpse of Stilinski or Worthington, you contact the first available teacher. Got it? GOT IT?"

"Yes, Coach," the team responded immediately.

"There's a card on my desk for Isaac Lahey, and every one of you losers is not only going to sign it, you're gonna write a personal message so profound and deep, it's gonna bring a tear to Coach's eye! Who's first?" Coach asked. Danny jumped up and grabbed the pen from him. "Ah, Danny! That's how you do it, buddy! Keep it PG."

At the back of the locker room, Ethan and Aiden were talking with Scott, trying to figure out what to do.

"No Stiles, no demonic ninjas," Aiden muttered.

"Things are getting too quiet," Ethan said, feeling uneasy. While most everyone was just worried about Stiles and Willow, the twins, in particular, were just worried because Stiles had control of someone that could use her mind control on any of them.

"Yeah, I know," Scott said, sighing. "Yeah, it's making me nervous, too."

Suddenly, a high-pitched noise hit Ethan's ears. "Do you guys hear that?"

Scott strained his ears and frowned when he heard the familiar sound. "It's an emitter. One of Argent's."

The three werewolves rushed from the locker room, following the sound. "It's coming from the basement," Ethan detected.

As soon as they reached the basement, they spotted two figures standing in the shadows, one with an emitter in his hand. His other hand was intertwined with Willows.

Stiles quickly turned around, an innocent look plastered on his face. "Okay, I know what you guys are thinking, but it's me. I swear to God, it's me."

Ethan and Aiden didn't seem fooled for even a second. The two betas growled lowly before rushing toward Stiles, ready to attack.

Willow quickly dropped his hand and stepped in front of him protectively. "Stop!" she ordered, eyes glowing pink.

The twins had no choice but to freeze, letting out displeased snarls as they did. Willow took in a deep breath and looked over them to Scott, who was watching Stiles carefully.

"Scott, it's him again," she said.

"It's me, Scott. I swear it's me," Stiles told him. "I don't know where I've been the last two days, or what I've been doing, but this is me. I promise."

"You know what happened at the hospital?" Ethan asked angrily.

"I know more than that," Stiles mumbled. They watched as Stiles crouched next to a duffel bag that was full of supplies. He pulled out a folded-up piece of paper. "You see this? It's a blueprint of the hospital's electrical wiring. You see all these markings in red? That's my handwriting. I know I did this. I caused the accident."

Stiles looked at Willow, an apologetic expression on his face. "I - I took Willow. But she can't remember anything either. It's like she's only herself when I'm myself."

"Willow," Scott said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You really don't remember?"

"The last thing I recall was being at the hospital and waiting on the MRI results," she said. Her heartbeat, which Scott was listening to, was as steady as ever.

"And everything in this bag? It's all stuff that could be part of something bigger," Stiles told them.

The others leaned over the bag, looking at the alarming contents. "What the hell have you been up to?" Ethan asked.

"I think it's something worse," Stiles mumbled. "A lot worse."

Scott quickly grabbed the bag and lifted it onto a table. They began pulling out all kinds of things — rope, duct tape, chains, bolt cutters.

"What the hell were you doing? Building a Terminator?" Aiden asked as he pulled out an electric screwdriver.

"Thank you for that," Stiles muttered sarcastically under his breath, not appreciating the commentary.

"Guys, this is a map," Scott said, unfolding a piece of paper. He spread out the map and they all looked at the path that Stiles drew in red marker.

"Isn't that the cross-country trail?" Ethan asked.

"It is," Willow mumbled, knowing the trail like the back of her hand.

"That's the Tate car," Scott said, pointing at the other side of the map, where Stiles had also circled. "Where Malia Tate's family died."

"You mean, that's where her father put the steel-jawed traps," Stiles said, glancing at Willow's ankle that had almost been lost to one. Then he looked back at Scott in alarm, all of them suddenly realizing Stiles' plan.

☽︎

In the jeep, the five of them all raced to the preserve where they had just missed the cross-country team running off. They all scrambled out of the jeep, catching Coach Finstock's attention.

"Coach!" Stiles yelled as they ran up to him.

"Stilinski?" Coach questioned, not quite believing they were there. Then he placed his hands on Willow's shoulders, manhandling her as he spun her, checking for injuries. "Worthington, I've been worried sick!"

"Coach, you have to listen," Willow said, gently pushing his hands off her. "Listen to Stiles."

Though Coach was skeptical, he let them all run out on the trail to round everyone up, not wanting anyone to step on a bear trap. The werewolves took the lead, making sure that no one got by. Willow, Stiles, and Coach soon caught up to the main group, getting everyone to slow down.

"Stop, stop, stop! Everyone, stop!" Stiles shouted. Scott, Kira, and the twins came over, keeping everyone back.

They watched with bated breath as Stiles spotted the end of a chain. He carefully picked it up and pulled on it. Only when he lifted the end out of the tall grass, there wasn't a trap on the end. There wasn't anything.

"Congratulations, Stilinski," Coach said, clapping sarcastically. "You found a length of chain. Can somebody now please tell me what the hell's going on?"

Scott spotted the tripwire a second too late, Coach having already taken a step forward. "Hey, Coach—"

An arrow suddenly flew through the air, seemingly coming out of nowhere before landing in Coach's stomach. Willow screamed and covered her mouth as Coach fell back, the arrow sticking out of him.

"Oh, crap," he muttered as everyone crowded around him. While Stiles, Scott, Willow, and Aiden crouched around him, Coach began screaming. "Get it out of me! Get it out of me!"

"Coach—"

Ignoring Stiles, he kept panicking. "Get it out of me! Oh, my God, I'm gonna die! Get it out of me! I'm gonna die!"

"Coach, you're not gonna die—"

"I'm gonna die!" he insisted, his eyes wide.

"It will hurt less if you stop moving, Coach," Aiden said, trying to put pressure on the wound. But that was hard with Coach squirming around.

"Get that thing out of me!"

"Stay still, Coach. An ambulance is coming," Aiden instructed.

"Get it out! I'm gonna die!"

"Get back! Get back!" Aiden then yelled, waving for all the students to move. Ethan and Kira worked to push them away. "Give him some room! Get back!"

"Scott," Willow said, her voice wavering as tears welled in her eyes. "Can - can you help with the pain?"

Scott nodded and took Coach's pain. It took some time, as he had already done it once for Isaac at the hospital. But eventually, Coach went still, his head going limp in Willow's lap.

"I think he just passed out," Aiden said.

"I could have killed him," Stiles said anxiously. He stared down at his shaking, blood-covered hands. "I could have killed him, right? What if it was his head? Or his throat?"

"But it wasn't, and he's going to be all right," Scott told him. He didn't want Stiles to think this was his fault.

"I think I just heard an ambulance coming," Aiden said, knowing that help was on the way.

Stiles looked up, hearing the sirens. "And my dad."

☽︎

Scott watched from the side as Noah embraced Stiles and Willow, pulling them into a long and tight hug. Then he looked from them to the ambulance, which had just finished loading up Coach, ready to take him to the hospital.

"Scott?" Ethan called. He and Aiden were digging through Stiles' jeep, checking for more clues. "You better look at this."

Scott came around to the trunk to see them holding up wrapping paper and a bag of screws. "This is the same wrapping paper we used for Coach's birthday present," he explained.

"Wasn't that William Barrow's thing? A bomb made from nails and bolts, all wrapped up in a birthday present?" Ethan asked. "Where did it go off?"

Scott glanced back at Stiles as he thought, watching as Willow helped clean the blood from his hands. Then the answer hit him, fear coursing through his veins.

"On a school bus."

Everyone acted quickly, and the school buses, which were about to leave for the day, were emptied right away. Well, almost emptied. A boy named Jared was unfortunate enough to have picked up the box left behind by Stiles.

Once word spread that there was a bomb, students ran screaming from the campus. A perimeter was set up so that no one would be caught in the explosion if the bomb did go off.

Though the official bomb squad had yet to arrive, Deputy Parrish was trained in the army to deal with them. So he volunteered to go on the bus and make sure that it really was a bomb they were dealing with.

Willow stood in between Scott and Stiles, all of them anxiously waiting as Parrish got on the bus. Only two minutes passed before he was speaking to Noah over the radio.

"It's not a bomb, Sir, but there is something in the box," Parrish said.

Then they watched as Parrish walked to the front of the bus and pressed something up against the windshield.

Sheriff Stilinski's nameplate from his desk.

"My God," Noah realized. "There is a bomb, but not here."

☽︎

The bomb went off before they could stop it. By the time Noah, Scott, Stiles, and Willow arrived, there were multiple officers injured and dead.

While Noah called for an ambulance, Stiles ran to the side of a dying officer. He called out for Scott, begging for him to help in some way. To take his pain to make it easier.

While that all happened, Willow set her sights on Derek. Glass shards were sticking out of his bloodied back while Argent held him up, both having barely survived the explosion. Derek seemed out of it from the pain, but he became much more alert when he spotted Willow, who rushed over to them.

"W - Willow?" he said in disbelief. He carefully cupped her cheek, needing to touch her and make sure she was real. "I was - I was so worried."

"I'm here," she said, smiling softly. Then she glanced at his shoulder, spotting a shard of glass sticking out of it. "That looks like it hurts."

"I'll be okay."

"I'd give you a kiss to make it better, but I don't think he'd like that," she said, biting her lip shyly. "He gets a little jealous."

Derek grew tense, his eyes studying her seemingly innocent expression. This wasn't Willow, he realized — not his, at least. Chris realized as well, moving to grab a weapon.

"Stay right there," Willow said, looking at Chris sharply. Her eyes glowed pink, as did his, and Chris couldn't move. Then she looked back up at Derek. "Sorry about the whole getting you arrested thing, but we just couldn't have you getting in the way."

"This isn't you, Willow," Derek said, gritting his teeth. His grip on her waist tightened, not planning to let her get away. "He's controlling you."

"Maybe I like being controlled," she said, her fingers dancing across his chest as she looked up at him. "You remember how much I liked it when you took control, right?"

A low growl left his lips before Derek spotted Stiles across the station. He was leading Scott away, but his eyes met Derek's for a moment, and he only smirked.

"I've got to go, Derek," she said, smiling sweetly. "I'd ask you to come, but you have to stay here. Wouldn't want to be a fugitive again?"

Derek was helpless as she took control, taking away his will with her Charmspeak. Then as the glow of her eyes faded, she slipped out of his arms, running after Stiles and the blissfully unaware Scott.

Just as Willow reached them, Kira ran up to them, having returned from spying on her mother. "The Oni — they're coming."

"Stiles, we gotta get you out of here," Scott said, pulling him away.

Back in the jeep, Stiles sped down the rainy streets as Scott instructed him to drive to the animal clinic. Kira was the only one confused by the decision.

"It's an animal clinic?" she asked, not understanding why it was so special.

"Yeah. The place is lined with mountain ash, just like my house," Scott explained. "It will buy us some time."

"But they can still get through," Willow reminded him, worrying for Stiles' safety.

"Eventually," Scott muttered.

"Nobody's got any better ideas?" Stiles asked, clearly frustrated. "Okay, sure. Animal clinic."

Once they arrived, the four of them rushed to the back entrance. Just before Scott could unlock it, three Oni arrived, appearing in shadows behind them.

"Stiles, get inside!" Scott instructed, tossing him the keys. He turned back around to fight off the Oni.

Stiles rushed to unlock the door, shoving Willow inside. Then he glanced back at Kira, who stepped away.

"Hey, Kira! Get inside! Kira!" Stiles shouted.

But Kira seemed just fine on her own. In fact, she was better at fighting the Oni than Scott, who was down and injured with a katana sticking out of him. Kira grabbed a long metal pole and wielded it like a sword, fighting off the Oni all on her own.

Then when there was an opening, Stiles rushed back outside to grab Scott. Kira helped him lead Scott back to the building. "All right, come on. Get him inside. Get him inside!"

Once inside, the three of them took Scott to the operating room. He leaned weakly against the table and groaned as he looked down at the sword in his stomach.

Kira placed her hands on the hilt, getting ready to remove it. But a painful grip on her wrist interrupted her. Kira let out a pained whimper as Stiles lifted her arm before slamming her head against the table, knocking her out. Willow stepped to the side, letting Kira's body drop to the ground. Scott looked from her to Stiles, the realization washing over him.

Stiles walked over to Scott, eying the end of the sword. As he approached, he drummed his fingers along the hilt playfully before grabbing it.

"You okay?" Stiles asked, voice dripping with fake concern.

"Please, don't," Scott whispered. Stiles only smiled before digging the sword in further, twisting it inside of him. Scott let out an agonizing scream.

"It's okay," Willow cooed, squeezing Scott's hand comfortingly as if he was getting a flu shot.

"Does it hurt?" Stiles asked him. He placed a hand on Scott's shoulder, angling his head toward him. "Hey, look at me. You should have done your reading, Scott. See, a Nogitsune feeds off chaos, strife, and pain. This morning, you took it from Isaac, then you took it from Coach, and then from a dying deputy. All that pain — you took it all. Now, give it to me."

Stiles grabbed the side of Scott's face and began siphoning the pain. Black veins crawled from Scott's cheek to Stiles' hand and down his arm, who let out a groan of pleasure. Scott gasped helplessly as it all went to Stiles, making him stronger. 

"You really have to learn, Scott," Stiles said, chuckling. "You really have to learn not to trust a Fox. Know why? Cause they're tricksters. And I've been turning sweet little Willow into quite the trickster."

Stiles looked at Willow, smirking once more. Then he nodded his head, signaling for her to join him. With one hand still on the sword, the other brushed her hair to the side as Stiles ran his nose along her neck before kissing it. Then he took Willow's hand and guided it to the hilt of the katana so that they were holding it together.

"You know I can feel her, right?" Stiles asked, still talking to Scott. "Deep inside, there's all this pain and sadness and guilt over what she's doing. Guilt because she wants to do it."

"Because you want her to," Scott grunted out.

"Well, I think that's the same thing at this point," Stiles said, tilting his head. "Give it a go, little Charmer."

Willow slowly twisted the sword inside of Scott, making him cry out. He wanted to collapse, but Stiles was keeping him standing.

"My girl did so well today," Stiles murmured, resting his chin on her shoulder. "Fooled everyone so well — you, the twins, Stilinski, Derek. Having her play Derek, now that was a good trick."

"Did I do good for you?" Willow asked, looking up at him over her shoulder.

"You were perfect," he praised, using her hand to twist the sword once more. "Quite the trickster in the making. You'd better learn from this, Scott. Tricksters will fool you. They'll fool everyone."

"Not everyone," Deaton said, appearing behind them. Stiles turned just as Deaton injected something into his neck.

"No!" Willow shouted, lunging forward to catch Stiles, keeping him from crashing to the ground. She started shaking as his eyes began to shut. Slowly, she lowered him to the ground, holding his face. "No, no, no."

Willow was too preoccupied with Stiles to stop Deaton from pulling the sword out of Scott.

"What was that? Was that a cure?" Scott asked. "Is he okay?"

"The Fox is poisoned but it's not dead," Deaton said, glancing down at Willow and Stiles. "Not yet."

Willow had been frantic, but then as soon as Stiles fell completely unconscious, the medicine taking effect, she tensed up. Deaton and Scott watched her carefully.

Slowly, she looked away from Stiles and examined her surroundings. It was like the fog in her brain had been lifted. Panic set in, as well as horror at what she had done the last few days.

Willow crawled back on her hands, looking from Stiles to Deaton to Scott. The two of them were watching her warily, not sure how the poison would affect her. But it seemed that it undid the Nogitsune's control over her.

"Willow?" Scott called slowly.

More and more memories over the past three days played on a loop in her mind. Coach getting shot. The bomb. Hurting Scott. Framing Derek. Kissing Stiles.

With glassy eyes and a wobbling chin, Willow looked up at Scott. "W - what have I done?"