Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Well, fuck" Isaac grumbled from opposite him as the younger finally woke up and realised they were in a basement. 

Scott snorts, looking down at his own chains "Yeah, that's one way of putting it" 

"Don't swear, Stiles doesn't like it" Derek tells them both.  Scott feels himself smirking at the older wolf. Honestly, he was beyond happy for Stiles that he and Derek were so good together, but it was hilarious watching Derek change into a sappy obedient puppy when Stiles was around. One of those examples was Stiles's hatred of unnecessary swearing (which Derek was well past guilty of doing). 

Isaac meets his gaze, a similar expression on his face "Okay Dad. Alright, I'm assuming that we can't get out of the chains" 

Derek snaps his gaze to the blond, a look of pure annoyance showing (though Scott now knows it's less strong than he would have believed as a teen. It's hard to be scared of Derek when he lets Stiles boop his nose). The alpha sighs "Yes, Isaac. We tried." 

Isaac hums, a stronger anxiety painting his face causing Scott's instincts to flare. He needed to comfort his pack. But he can't, the stupid chains the hunters have them in are restricting their powers. When he had first woken up, he had looked around for anything that could help, but all he could find along the dark walls was a rat. A big fat rat that stared at him, and despite what Derek said, that rat was mocking him. 

In fairness, the room they were kept in wasn't the worst. It was dry and surprisingly warm. So compared to stories Stiles could tell him about his own kidnapping stories - each time Stiles opened up, exposing how Scott had failed to protect his friend in the past always managed to stir a fit of anger in him. At himself, at the people who thought about laying a hand on his friends, who did nothing to deserve it - this was alright. They didn't have to worry about freezing to death in the upcoming minute. 

He looks to Derek, the fellow Alpha looking tense. A calculating look flickers in his eye and Scott feels slightly bad for hating on the judgmental rat while Derek was trying to get them out, only slightly though. 

"How long have you been up?" Isaac asks. They are all chained to the wall, thankfully being able to stay seated.

"I woke up about ten minutes before Derek, so maybe about 30 before you" Scott answers "No one has come in here though, and I haven't heard anyone nearby but the chains are messing with my powers" 

"Do you think the others are here?" 

He would hope not, but he can't exactly remeber being kidnapped. "I don't know" 

Derek cuts him off "We'll get out Isaac, don't worry"

Isaac snorts "I wasn't" and lets just say that Scott didn't need his wolfy abilities to sniff out the lie. 

"Scott thinks the rat is mocking him" Derek tells Isaac, his voice slightly gentler than normal. It does amuse him watching Derek baby the pack, thought the man would deny it and protest that Stiles babied them. But, they were both equally guilty. Scott's pretty sure he's seen Erica go between them both, asking the other 'parent' when one of them tells her no. 

Isaac's eyebrows furrow "Rat? What, why would a rat be mocking you?" 

Scott throws a glare at Isaac, then Derek, then to the rat in the corner of the room "Look at the asshole, look at how it's glaring at me" 

"Scott, what the actual fuck?" 

Another hour of mindless chatter passes between them, they talk about Scott's college, and then Isaac's homework (when Isaac mentions that Stiles helped him study last week, a morbid feeling washes over the room), then they talk about the bird that Erica took a photo off and Lydia's latest plan to take over the world (Scott is a hundred per cent sure she could take over the world, should she wish).

But then Derek's head snapped up, turning to the door "Do you hear that? Heartbeats, I think two" 

He can't hear anything, no matter how he strains and it seems Isaac can't either "No? Are you sure?" 

Derek nods gravely "Yes" 

The mood shifts immediately. They all prepare for someone to enter, for a battle that never comes. The minutes pass, and each second makes Scott's heart faster in his chest. Every so often clanging will come from the wall nearest to Issac, soft sometimes and he hears clinking. There's also loud banging, like a body which would make sense if Derek heard two hearts. 

"Do you think they have another one of us?" he asks. 

He isn't comforted by how Derek's mouth twists uncertainly, but his panicking won't help any of them.

Isaac is the first to speak "Hey Scott-". A scream cuts him off. A scream he knows, he knows too well and it freezes his blood. It freezes him and twists his gut. It feels like torture itself as he's forced to listen to the sound vibrating off the walls. 

It's Stiles. His scream is raw, and ragged as he wails on. His stomach plummets, forcing a sickness as he listens to his best friend scream and scream and scream. The worst part is how loud it is, how loud Stiles must be screaming for them to hear it in the room. 

A wet gasp draws his thoughts to Isaac, the younger boy has tears in his eyes. He looks paralysed. Of course, he does, he and Stiles had bonded so much over the past few years. Everyone had with Stiles. 

Derek grows, tugging against his chains "Pieces of fucking shit" He tugged again, and again, and again and nothing happens, nothing moves and with a final grunt he collapses back "Fuck" he seethed. 

 The same sort of anger runs through his hot blood growing more as the screams continue. He doesn't want to think about what they are doing to Stiles, he doesn't think he can handle that. Scott has known Stiles since children, and never, ever has Stiles ever screamed when injured. Not even when he broke his arm as a child, not when his mother hit him in the hospital, not when Scott tried to kill him in the locker rooms. Stiles wasn't a screamer. 

It continues. The screams vibrate against the walls, over and over and over. Isaac shrinks into himself more, flicking between anger and fear. Scott can smell the anger on Derek, but he also is drenched in fear. Scott can't blame him, if it was Kira in Stile's place he can't imagine how he would feel. Don't get him wrong, Scott is terrified and angry, it's almost mind-numbing how he feels. 

At each scream, he wants nothing more but to take Stile's place, to keep his friend safe. Each scream reminds him how he had failed Stiles. How he failed Derek and the Sheriff. How he failed the pack. How he failed his mom. How he failed all these people who love Stiles. 

The screaming starts to make him go crazy after an hour in a sick and twisted way. 

By the second hour, Derek is forced to stop fighting the chains as his wrists are torn apart, blood dripping all down his arms and pooling on the floor. 

At the third hour, he starts begging. He begs for it to stop. He needs it to stop. Scott can't fathom how someone could do this to a human, Stiles, for hours. How can they stand there and torture their best friend and feel okay with themselves? How could they look Stiles in the eye and hurt him? The screaming only gets worse.

At the fourth hour, it stops. He should feel relief, but all he can feel is the overwhelming fear that Stiles can be dead. It's the only reason for stopping after so long. 

At the fifth hour, the door opens. Derek lunges for the masked person as soon as he can, eyes flashing red. Scott doesn't feel much more in control. At the fifth hour, they drop his body in the cell. 

At the fifth hour, Stile's body collapses on the floor. He doesn't move.