Eichen House | The next day

[robinonadderall]

Stiles	It came as no surprise to Stiles that he didn't get a wink of sleep last night. He didn't even bother to lie down, instead choosing to sit up on his bed and look out the barred window. Turned out what Oliver said was true; everything echoed in here. It hadn't been a good night.
Oliver	"Have you been up all night?" Oliver asked after waking up to find Stiles in the exact same spot he had been in the night before.
Stiles	"Yeah," Stiles said tiredly. "I can't sleep without my pillow."
Oliver	Oliver looked like he was about to say something, maybe mention that it was impressive that Stiles could voluntarily sit still for that long but he got caught up in a gross coughing spell instead.
Stiles	Stiles made a grossed out face. "You okay?" Please don't throw up in here.
Oliver	"I swallowed a bug the other day," Oliver croaked. "You ever do that? I keep coughing like it's still in my throat."
Stiles	... "That's disgusting, Oliver."
Oliver	Once the doors were unlocked and breakfast had been served, Oliver took it upon himself to show Stiles around. "Most of the people here are okay. The violent ones are in a closed unit--that's Hillary. She has OCD," Oliver said, pointing at said patient. "That's Gary, thinks he's Jesus Christ. Dan, also Jesus. That's Mary--"
Stiles	"Mary Magdalene?" Stiles guessed.
Oliver	"No, she also thinks she's Jesus. You would be surprised how many Jesuses we get."
Stiles	Stiles ignored Oliver (he really didn't want to know about all the crazy in here) and approached the pay phone slowly. Someone was using it, and Stiles could hear every word the person was saying.
Oliver	"Hey, how come you want to use the phone already?" Oliver asked.
Stiles	"'Cause after one night I've changed my mind about this place being safe for me," Stiles replied. "Or anyone ever."
Meredith	"No, no I think you're wrong," the girl on the phone hissed. Her shoulders hunched over more once she noticed Stiles. "I really think I should tell them. They're going to want to know the story. The whole story. I really think they should know." Her voice lowered even more. "Yes, I do. One of them is standing right behind me."
Stiles	Stiles was visibly shaken by the time the girl hung up and freed the phone. "Who was that?"
Oliver	"That's Meredith," Oliver answered. "She's a little weird."
Stiles	"You're a little weird, Oliver. She's a lot weird." Stiles picked up the phone and started dialing...only to find there wasn't even a dial tone. "It's dead."
Oliver	Oliver didn't look surprised. "Yeah, they turn off all the phones for 24 hours after a suicide."
Stiles	Oliver earned himself a glare for that one. "Why didn't you tell me that before?"
Oliver	"Why didn't you ask?" Unsurprisingly Stiles walked off after that. But Oliver followed. It wasn't like he had anything better to do. "What are you going to do now?"
Stiles	"I'm going to get out of this nuthouse." Somehow.
Oliver	"That's not really the appropriate way to describe a facility like this."
Stiles	Yeah, Stiles didn't really care. He walked away from Oliver, intent on figuring out a way to get out of here. He stopped, however, when he spotted a familiar figure standing in the courtyard. "Malia?"
Malia	At the sound of her name, Malia Tate turned around to face Stiles. She didn't reply, just gave him a blank look.
Stiles	Stiles had so many questions, namely how Malia went from a former werecoyote recently reunited with the last of her family to being a patient in the world's worst mental institution. "Hey. Stiles. You remember me, I'm a friend of Scott's?" he tried. "Remember we were the ones who helped you out---"
Malia	Yeah Malia responded to that with a punch to the face.
Stiles	And that would be Stiles hitting the ground hard. Turns out werecoyotes have super strength just like werewolves, who knew?
Brunsky	"Hey, Malia!" A big orderly grabbed Malia from behind and forced her to the ground. "More like this, Malia, and you're headed to the closed unit."
Stiles	Stiles found himself getting pushed to the ground face first by another orderly. "Hey, she hit me!" His face got pushed against some grating on the ground. Apparently this wasn't the friendly sort of orderly. "Wait, wait, stop, I didn't do anything! Stop!" Then a strange feeling overtook Stiles, making him hold still. He looked through the grates to the room down below to see a familiar looking basement. A flash of recognition entered his mind--the basement from the night he was sleepwalking in the woods. He had been there before.
Morrell	"Enough!" The crowd split apart to allow Marin Morrell through. Because of course she worked here. She crouched down next to Stiles, ignoring the surprised look on his face. "Stiles. You saw something, didn't you?"
Stiles	He nodded weakly. "The basement. I've been down there before."

---

Stiles	After that humiliating event, Stiles would have been happy to never see Malia again. But, no, he had group therapy with her that afternoon. Stiles sat in a chair in the little therapy circle, biting his nails and wishing he was in his room trying to figure stuff out. First seeing the bandaged man last night and now the basement he had been trapped in being here? It did not mean good things.
Morrell	If Morrell noticed Stiles' discomfort she didn't comment on it. She had a therapy session to lead, after all. For some reason. "I want to go back to the topic of guilt today. It might surprise you to hear me say that guilt is a good thing. It's a rather mature emotion," she said. "Malia, you said something about guilt the other day. You said it came with a visceral reaction."
Malia	Malia sighed. "I said it makes me sick to my stomach."
Morell	Morrell nodded. "Guilt often becomes physical. You feel it in your gut."
Stiles	Stiles tried to listen, he really did but he became distracted by movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head to watch a patient talking to a doctor behind him. The doctor had bandages covering his face. He whipped his head around and covered his mouth to keep from making a noise.
Morell	"How does guilt make you feel, Stiles?"
Stiles	Stiles jerked his head up. "I'm sorry, what?"
Morell	"Guilt," she repeated. "How does it make you feel?"
Stiles	"Nervous." He was feeling nervous right now, but not because of guilt. Seeing the nogitsune again, during the day, when he was positive he was awake was not a good sign.
Morell	"Like a sense of urgency?" she asked. "You feel an urgent need to make up for something you've done."
Stiles	To his immediate right, the person next to him seemed to have a bandaged hand. Stiles ducked his head down, not wanting to see if his face was covered as well. This could not be happening, not now.
Morell	"To apologize. These are healthy responses." Either she didn't notice or was ignoring the fact that Stiles was becoming increasingly twitchier. "Does anyone know what we call someone who doesn't experience guilt?"
Oliver	Oliver raised his hand. "A sociopath?"
Morell	"That's right, Oliver." She looked over at Stiles, who was hunched over, looking nervous and uncomfortable. But that wasn't what caught her attention. Several dark lines on his skin creeping out of the edge of his shirt was what did it. "I'm sorry everyone, but we need to take a break," she said, standing up. "Come with me, Stiles. I'd like to talk to you for a minute."
Stiles	Stiles did not expect to be taken back to Ms. Morrell's office and be ordered to pull up his shirt but here he was. There were dark lines expanding across his back and up his neck and they sure as hell weren't there before.
Morell	"It's called a lichtenberg figure," she said, gently touching the lines on his back. "Usually appear in lightning strike victims. The fact they're appearing on you after a shot of wolf lichen is both significant and strange."
Stiles	"By significant and strange do you mean hopeful and optimistic?" Yeah right.
Morell	"When the marks fade the nogitsune's grip on you will return." She backed away from him and went to one of her cabinets. After a few moments she tossed a pill bottle at Stiles.
Stiles	Stiles looked down at the bottle. "What are these, sleeping pills?"
Morell	"Amphetamines," she replied. "Sleeping is exactly what you don't want to do, you're vulnerable when you sleep."
Stiles	"So all I have to do is stay awake?" Didn't seem like a problem, he hadn't slept in weeks.
Morell	"For now," she said. "If your friends haven't figured something out by the time those marks are gone I'll come find you."
Stiles	That didn't sound good. "To tell me what to do?"
Morell	"No, to give you an injection," she said, pulling out a vial from the same cabinet she had gotten the pills. "Pancuronium bromide. Causes respiratory paralysis."
Stiles	"That sounds a lot like death." Almost exactly like death, even.
Morell	She nodded. "It's used for lethal injection, yes."
Stiles	"So when the nogitsune takes over you're going to kill me." This place had been a terrible idea. Worst idea ever. Next time he was listening to Derek.
Morell	"I'm going to do what I've always done," she said. "Maintain the balance." So yeah she was going to kill him.
Stiles	"Okay then." Fuck fuck fuck he needed to get out of here. "I missed our talks. Thanks for the illicit drugs."
Morell	"Stiles." Morrell gave Stiles a serious look when he turned around. "Stay awake."

[Taken from TW 3x20 "Echo House". Warning for a piss poor mental healthcare facility. NFI, NFB but OOC is fine]