Scott's POV

Stiles' swollen hand made my eyes widen, not to mention the major discoloration throughout his hand. When I went to take his pain, it took all of my willpower not to pull away because of the pain. What did he do this time?

It was silent for several minutes before he pulled himself together to speak. During that time, Liam, Hayden, Mason and Corey returned downstairs and tried their best to remain silent. It worked until Liam tripped down the few remaining stairs, but he stood up with such a Stiles kind of smile that we couldn't do anything but roll our eyes. Stiles speaks so lowly that many had to lean in to hear him. "Deucalion's pack is here, and they have my dad." As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he broke down once again. Not exactly knowing what to do, I carefully take his head and place it in my lap.

I feel Maddie's glares in my back, but I pretend not to be bothered. I mean, he was my best friend before they became a thing. Just saying.

But what would Deucalion want with the Sheriff? I mean, besides the obvious fact that he was Stiles' father, the man is , well no offense to him but, old, and human. There really isn't a lot to go off of here. But knowing Deucalion, he has a reason.

"Hey Stiles?" I ask gently when his breaths come slightly more even. He gives a small sound in response to show that he was listening while he hid his face in my lap. I run a hand through his hair. Lydia makes a move to come closer, but I shake my head at her to still her movements. I didn't want to crowd him, and I definitely didn't want to startle him, so it was best for her to stay back until it was clear. "Do you have any idea why he would take your Dad?" I try and be as tender as possible to keep him calm. My other hand strokes his back softly, ghosting over his protruding spine.

His body stiffened a bit before he abruptly sat up, making Lydia jump back a bit. Her mouth was open ajar as she studies Stiles' rigid movements. He was digging through his pockets mumbling incomprehensibly under his breath as he dropped everything out of his pockets until he uncovered a crumbles piece of paper. Looking up at me with empty eyes, he places the paper in my hand. "He thinks I still have my powers, and he knows that I wouldn't give it to him willingly, so he took him." Stiles stutters over his words as if they were in a foreign tongue.

I carefully unfold the frayed paper, and Derek slowly approaches from behind to read over my shoulder. The rest stay back, wanting to keep Stiles as calm as possible. Malia, as her nosey self, wanted to read it, but Isaac's hand kept her still. Stiles carefully shifted to lean against the wall, all the while keeping his knees up to his chest. His head falls on his knees as his hands turn white from the grip he has on his shins. The grip in one of his hands is lesser to prevent shooting pain, but his knuckles were still white. My heart ached for him, but I knew that the paper in my steady hands had to come first. I temporarily made eye contact with Lydia long enough for her to go over there and do her best to comfort my best friend.

Finally I shift my gaze down to the paper, and I acknowledge that it's a letter.

Stiles,

You know I'm really not for letters, and most kids these days aren't. However, you can track emails, but you can't track paper. Anyways, by now you've probably noticed the absence of your human father. All you have to do is meet me at Beacon Hills First National Bank alone. It'll be a peaceful trade. All I want is your powers, and you can have your father. Midnight, or you might never see him again.

The New and Improved Alpha Pack

It wasn't long, but it got the point across. I looked at Stiles, and it didn't take a genius to know that he wasn't going alone, especially not in his current mental state.

"What time is it?" Derek asks for behind me, and I couldn't help but jump. My thoughts were only on Stiles at the moment, and Derek brought me back into reality.

Mason looks at his watch. Seriously, who wears watches anymore? Come on Mason. "Almost eleven o'clock. Why?" The remainder of the pack gives me and Derek curious looks, and Derek looks at me.

He gestures toward them. "Go on Alpha. Why don't you tell them?" Really Derek? The Alpha card?

I brush of his slight mocking tone and comply. "Look's like we're stopping by the bank," I say and stand from my crouched position. Confusion hits the pack like a tidal wave as questions come flooding in.

"What?"

"Why"

"What happened"

"Are you sure?"

"Where's the sheriff?"

"Guys! Calm down!" Nate snaps, and Stiles' head whips up so fast, it wouldn't be shocking if he got whiplash.

Maddie stands from the ottoman she was sitting on with a huff and pushes past Lydia. Lydia looks up at her with narrowed eyes, almost daring her to challenge her. I clear my throat urgently to keep a fight from breaking out, and Lydia gives a sigh in defeat before skeptically making her way over to me. Maddie leans next to Stiles and takes a seat in the same position, but she takes his good hand in hers.

Lydia leans in so that her hair is brushing my ear before whispering, "If she does anything to him, I'm going to show her what a female banshee sounds like." I turn to face her with wide eyes. Who is this and what have they done with Lydia Martin? Lydia would never intentionally hurt someone unless they had directly harmed someone she cares for. But then I smell it: jealousy. Oh shit. This just got real.

Maddie begins to speak softly, and all noise stops to listen to their conversation. I wouldn't call it nosey, just curious.

Well, curiosity did kill the cat.

Sometimes I hate myself. I mentally facepalm and direct my attention back to the dysfunctional couple.

"You know, I could always give your powers back," she whispers, drawing circles on the back of his hand. "You could be the Stiles that you changed to be, and you've been happier."

Stiles looks up at her, searching her eyes. Maybe they're not as dysfunctional as I thought. "But we don't have fourteen hours to do it," he stutters, and I can hear his heartbeat pound rapidly against his ribcage.

She sighs and nods. "I found a way to speed up the process when I was helping Deaton the other day. It would only take a couple hours and probably twenty times worse than the worst pain you've ever felt," she explained bluntly, and Stiles flinched a bit from the thought.

He takes his other hand and begins absentmindedly playing with her fingers. "But here's the thing: I'm not sure I want them back," Stiles confesses and casts his eyes downward.

Connor comes and takes a seat across from Maddie, but looking at Stiles. "Hey, supernatural or what, we are going in there and coming out with your dad, alright? So how about we get up off of our lazy asses and get back Papa S?" He gives a small grin to Stiles, who hesitantly returns it.

"Well, as inspiring as that was, Connor, we want to make sure that Stiles is comfortable with this. Are you alright, Sti?" Emily asks with worried eyes, ones that I've seen my mother display a numerous amount of times.

Stiles smiles and nods, then looks at Nate to join their little circle on the floor. He gives an overdramatic sigh before taking a seat beside Emily. Kira comes up behind me and wraps her arms around my waist and lays her head on my chest. I smile softly and wrap an arm around her as I watch their pack work.

In a way, I wish my pack worked in that kind of harmony instead of always being miserable (mostly Derek), or constantly jumping at violence (Malia, Isaac, and Liam), and always pulling everyone in different directions. They were always there for each other, no matter what, and I almost envied them. They seemed so comfortable in their own skin, and they were pulling their own weight. They didn't have problems presenting their opinions, and their astronomically different personalities work together to form more than a pack, but a family. Our pack is so dysfunctional that it could barely qualify as a pack. Sure, everyone was there for each other, but there was something about the way The S Pack worked that was astounding.

"Stiles, I know for a fact your dad is going to be fine. Now, we know what to do." Nate reassures his pack before they gracefully stand and turn to face our misshapen pack. "So, Maddie is going to cast a spell that diminishes our scent so we can remain undetected. The spell lasts for about three hours, so that should give us enough time. We'll station ourselves around the bank until Stiles gives us a signal, and then we attack. We might not need to, which would be great, but we need to prepare for the worst," Nate explains, making eye contact with each of us.

Emily turns toward Lydia. "Now Lydia, do you sense anything? Anything that's giving you a banshee kind of feeling?" Maybe she just wanted to make Lydia feel included, but it felt like it was more than that. Possibly a chance that Nate couldn't see everything?

Lydia's cheeks redden at the seemingly spontaneous request. Nonetheless, she closes her eyes for a moment before opening them and shaking her head with a small smile. "I think we're safe," she concludes, and Connor grins.

"I sure hope so. I haven't gotten to try all of the ice cream flavors in the world yet," Connor pouts as if he were a toddler with a broken toy.

Stiles rolls his eyes and shoves his friend's shoulder. "Alright, you freaks, let's get this show on the road."