robinonadderall | Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital

Stiles	When Stiles' dad approached him about his symptoms and running some tests...well, he hadn't been surprised. If anything, the only thing he was surprised about was that it had taken this long for someone to suggest an MRI. So here he was, sitting on the machine, Scott on one side of him and Derek on the other, getting ready to see if he had a life threatening disease or not. To say that he was nervous was an understatement. But he kept a brave face for his dad.
Doctor	The doctor who would be running the whole thing was running some things by Sheriff Stilinski before they got started. "I'm not sure I know how to pronounce this," he said, looking at Stiles' file. "Or if it's not actually a misspelling."
Sheriff Stilinski	Sheriff Stilinski was less than amused. "Just call him Stiles."
Doctor	"Okay. Stiles, just to warn you, you're going to be hearing a lot of noise during the MRI. It's due to pulses of electricity going through the metal coils inside the machine," he explained. "If you want we can get you some earplugs or headphones..."
Stiles	Stiles shook his head. "No, no I don't need anything." He wanted to be completely aware of his surroundings, no matter how annoying it was.
Sheriff Stilinski	Sheriff Stilinski gave Stiles what he hoped was an encouraging smile. "Hey, we're just on the other side of that window. Okay?"
Stiles	Stiles nodded, patting his father on the arm. He watched him leave the room with Melissa and the doctor, leaving Stiles alone with Derek and Scott. He took in a shaky breath. He wasn't ready for this.
Derek	Derek glanced from the retreating form of the Sheriff to Stiles, then over to Scott before settling again on Stiles. Only then did he reach over to grab for Stiles' wrist to give a quick squeeze.
Stiles	Stiles put his hand over Derek's, trying to keep him close for as long as possible. He knew everybody would be behind the window and not far away from him, but the room still made him feel very isolated. "You know what they're looking for, right?" Stiles asked Scott. He already knew that Derek knew what they were looking for. They had that conversation after Claudia had visited. When Scott didn't answer Stiles kept on going. "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. There's no cure."
Scott	Scott had the feeling that was what they were looking for. It was still hard to hear it from Stiles though. "Stiles, if you have it, we'll do something. I'll do something." He had never wanted to give the bite to anybody, but it was between that and Stiles dying a slow, painful death, well, there really wasn't anything to think about.
Derek	Derek tensed at that, eyes on Stiles for only a moment before looking away before he could see a response to that. "I'll check on your dad," he muttered.
Stiles	Stiles didn't really have a response to that. It wasn't something he really wanted to think about at the moment. Instead he sighed at Derek's reaction before pulling Scott into a hug after he left. He could at least appreciate Scott's gesture. He let go of Scott after a few moments and shooed him off so he could lay down on the bed of the MRI and get ready for this.
Sheriff Stilinski	Sheriff Stilinski was doing his best to look calm but it was obvious he was fraying at the edges. He looked up at Derek when he saw him, offering a small, nervous smile. "Um Eric, your brother is out in the hall. Wants to talk to you and Scott. You've got a few minutes before we start, I'll get you when they're ready." He knew from previous experience how much time this all took.
Derek	Excuse him while gave one last glance back at Stiles before nodding at that. "I'll be right back." Because seriously now.
Derek	Hey, you know what, Derek didn't want to play up this whole Hale twin thing more than he had to either but this was important. But not so important that Derek couldn't take a second to be weirded out by looking at himself.
Scott	"This is the creepiest thing I've ever seen." See, Scott agreed.
"Eric"	"Is there a point to this?" Derek asked, totally not having this weird him out. Much. "Because I'd really rather be in there."
Derek	Well that was a quick way to turn Derek's facial expression into a scowl. Good work, other!Derek. "I think Stiles is the nogitsune." Why beat around the Japanese demon possessed bush?
"Eric"	Dereks did that. It was a thing they did. "Why?" Derek asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
Derek	"The blackouts, the 'sleepwalking', the fact that Scott and I could smell that Stiles was conflicted with himself on top of the hospital roof." Derek really wanted to cross his arms over his chest but he refused to be accused of copying...himself. "And the Oni haven't marked him as being himself yet." It's not like he wanted Stiles to be evil but the evidence was there. "The nogitsune got into Stiles' head after he sacrificed himself to the nemeton and Kira's foxfire jump started it in his head the night Barrow died."
"Eric"	Derek inhaled sharply at that, not exactly surprised as he should have been about this. Because their lives. Oh god, their lives. "We need to get back in there."
Scott	"Go without me," Scott said. "I'll stay out here with Derek." And please don't judge him for not being able to watch this
Doctor	When Derek came back in they were just about to start. The doctor was going over a few last minute details with Stiles. "Okay, Stiles, this is going to take about 45 minutes to an hour. Now remember try not to move." He sighed when the scan was still moving. "Even just a little bit, Stiles." "Stiles, you're going to hear that noise now. It's like a loud clanging. Kind of like a hammer hitting an anvil."
Stiles	Inside the machine Stiles lay as still has humanly possible (an impressive feat for him). The noises were bad, but nothing he couldn't handle. At the moment.
Derek	"Sheriff." They needed to discuss potential possession... things.
Sheriff Stilinski	"Whatever it is, Derek, it can wait." Famous last words right there.
Doctor	The first images were coming through and as they became clear to the doctor it probably wasn't hard to smell the nerves and sadness off of him if you had the ability to do so. "See this?" he said, pointing at reddened areas on Stiles' brain. "This tissue here and there? Both of those spots are showing signs of atrophy."
Sheriff Stilinski	"Atrophy," Sheriff Stilinski repeated weakly.
Derek	Which would be why Derek grabbed his arm. "Sheriff, we really need to talk."
Stiles	Stiles couldn't hear any of the commotion outside of the loud clanging noises of the MRI machine. While tolerable at first, it was now becoming unbearable. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to will away the sharp grinding noise surrounding him. When he opened up his eyes again the noise was gone. He wasn't even in the machine anymore, but outside it, dressed in his street clothes instead of the hospital gown. Stiles knew something wasn't right. He couldn't see his father or Derek but he knew he wasn't alone in here. He kept catching movement out of the corner of his eye, but he couldn't see who it was at first.
The nogitsune	Hey, it's okay, the nogitsune wasn't shy. He just liked dramatic room placement, which was why he didn't speak until he was directly behind Stiles. "Have you figured out my riddle yet? If you answer correctly we might consider letting them go."
Stiles	"Letting who go?" Stiles asked, afraid he already knew the answer.
The nogitsune	"Your friends. Your family. Your boyfriend," he said. "Everyone who ever meant something to you. We're going to destroy all of them, Stiles. One. By. One."
Stiles	Stiles blinked back tears. He was so confused and scared--what had happened to make this happen to him? What was happening to him? "Why are you doing this?"
The nogitsune	"Everyone has it but no one can lose it. What is it?" Oh yes, it was this riddle again.
Stiles	"I don't--I don't know!" The more he thought about it the more a wall seemed to keep him from getting to the answer. He was panicking and it was keeping him from thinking straight.
The nogitsune	"Everyone has it but no one can lose it. What is it?" He wasn't going to stop until you figured it out, Stiles. And the longer you took the more he was considering killing everybody you loved, so...
Stiles	Stiles put his hands over his ears, this time whispering "I don't know" to himself over and over again. Please be a dream like the last time, please. He fell asleep in the machine, it happened to people all the time.
The nogitsune	The nogitsune brought his hands up to his face, unwrapping the bandages around his head. "Everyone has it but no one can lose it! What. Is. It." "What is it?!"
Stiles	"I DON'T KNOW!" Stiles screamed. But wait...he did know. The answer came to him like it had been sitting there on the tip of his tongue all along. He brought his hands slowly away from his face, feeling like his heart was dropping down into his stomach. He turned shakily towards the man who had been tormenting him for days now. Only now he was face to face with himself. "A shadow."
The nogitsune	The nogitsune smiled. Stiles' subconscious had known for awhile, had even sent him dreams warning him about the door in his head. Hell, he had subconsciously tried to kill them both with his little sleepwalking stunt in the woods. But that wasn't going to happen again. Now that Stiles--all of Stiles--knew he was there, he would be too afraid to fight back. Not for himself, but for the lives of his friends and family. It was that fear that would keep the nogitsune in control.
The nogitsune	When Stiles opened his eyes again he was back in the MRI machine. Only now it wasn't Stiles in control. He tilted his head to the side, looking at the machine with interest. Then the lights went out.
Doctor	Yeah that wasn't normal. That wasn't normal at all. The doctor remained still while the lights were out, not wanting to fall or run into anybody while in the dark. Luckily the hospital had backup generators so the darkness only lasted a few seconds. "What the hell was that?"
Melissa	"Sounded like a power surge," Melissa said, looking concerned.
Derek	Derek cursed under his breath, moving for the door to get into that stupid MRI room. He had to get to Stiles before... Well, before he was gone. Which, you know, was already what happened. And that would be why he was cursing again, louder this time. "We need to find him."