Allison met them at the door to the Argent's apartment. She opened it and turned, walking down the hall. "This is everything non lethal I could find", she stated as they followed her into Mr Argent's study. On his desk were an assortment of items. Rope, chains, cuffs, bottles of knock out drugs. Baby wrinkled his nose at it all. Kinky.

"Let's take all of it", Argent stated with a sigh as he grabbed a empty bag.

"What's the plan here?" Sheriff Stilinski asked.

"Our best shot right now is for Derek to pick up Stiles' scent at Eichen house. Especially if he went through something stressful there".

"Should all five of us be going to the same place?" The sheriff stated.

"Shouldn't I have gone with Derek?" Baby asked. "Vampires are good witch scents too you know".

"No. We need you here with us. You are our advantage. If the nogitsune has some sort of connection to you then you need to be here. Where else has stiles been showing up?"

"The school, the hospital"- Alison started.

"Hold on", Derek interrupted. "We did this already. He disappeared and we started looking for him. Then walked right into a trap at the hospital".

"He's getting us to repeat the same moves", Argent grunted.

"So what do we do? Wait for him to come to us?" Allison frowned.

"We can't. Not if the oni find him when the sun goes down", Derek voiced.

The sheriff sighed. "Scott's working on that right now with Kira".

"That's the problem", Argent muttered. "We're all trying to out fox the fox".

"The school and the hospital aren't the only places he's been", Baby spoke up. "The nogitsune went to my house once too. I don't know why". They all looked at him for a silent second.

"Listen", The sheriff sighed. "I'll understand if anyone wants to back out".

"I won't be the first Wolf to run from a fox", Derek huffed. He grabbed a taser from the table and stuffed it in his pocket.

"Apparently I'm carrying a light saber", Argent raised an eyebrow.

"Dad it's you and Derek at Eichen house", Allison ordered. "Sheriff, it's you and me at the hospital. Baby checks his home and see is he can catch any scent in the town. We all meet at the school".  They all nodded and turned to the door.

"You not bringing any weapons?" The sheriff asked as they all strode to the door.

Baby shook his head, fangs lengthening. "I don't need weapons. I am one".

——

The lift was tense and slightly awkward. Allison and The sheriff were stood facing the doors while Baby leaned against the wall behind them, eyes closed as he thought. He could smell the worry and fear permeating the small room as the lift moved downwards. Then the sheriff let out along sigh and shook his head. "You know what", he voice broke the silence. "I don't know how you guys do it. You're all so strong. You're fearless. Hell, you even manage to keep your grades up".

"I am failing econ", Allison said slowly. Baby snorted behind her.

"Is that coach's class?" The sheriff asked. Alison nodded, pausing her lips.

"I'm failing math", Baby added. "Danny has been tutoring me when he can. Stiles was helping too".

"Well I'll have a talk with coach", Sheriff huffed. "Not sure what I can do about math though. Tricky subject". Baby let a slight smile cross his lips. He heard the shuddering breath Alison took before the sheriff did. The man turned wind saw the wetness in her eyes and quickly flicked the switch on the control panel. The elevator stopped with a slight jolt.

"Hey", he turned to her. "Are you okay?"

Alison gave a slight shake of her head. "I'm not fearless", she sniffed. "I'm always terrified. I act like I know what I'm doing but I don't. I don't know if Issac is dying right now. I don't know if I made a mistake with Scott. I don't know what my dad is thinking. I don't know if we should trust Derek. I don't know", she burst into tears. "I don't know anything".

Baby was stepping forwards before the Sheriff could react. He held out his arms wordlessly and Alison fell into them with a slight sob and a relieved look. She wrapped her arms around him and Baby hugged her. His hands rubbing soothingly on her back in a way that reminded him of all the times he had to comfort his sister. Before she had died. "It's okay. I don't know anything either", he muttered. "You're not alone. I'm terrified too but we can get through this". Allison gave a sniff.

"You know what's funny", The sheriff voiced. He laid a hang on their shoulders. "You sound just like a cop". Alison chuckled through her sniffles. Baby let her go and she looked between them, her tears had stopped and she rubbed them from her cheeks. "You're both going to be okay", Noah smiled at them. Baby smiled slightly back as he and Alison nodded.

That was when the Sheriff's phone started vibrating. He fished it out of his pocket and frowned. "What's wrong?" Baby asked.

"Someone is breaking into my house". He unlocked the phone and flipped over to a app. "After stiles started sleep walking I had some security precautions put in. Motion sensors, cameras". On the small screen, a image popped up. A familiar darkened bedroom.

"Is that is room?" Alison asked. Baby nodded, stepping forwards to get a closer look. On the screen, a shadowed figure was sitting on the bed. His eyes on the camera. The three of them watched as Stiles held up a hand and waved slowly at the lens, eyes seeming to watch the, through the screen.

"That's not stiles", baby muttered.

"That's void", Alison stated. "He's void".

——

By the time they got to the Stilinski house, stiles was gone. His bedroom empty. They all looked around but the only thing out of place was the chess board. Small sticky notes had been stuck to the pieces. Names labelling each one. "What is all this?" Argent asked. "What are all these sticky notes for?"

"This is what stiles used to explain to me, well all of you", Noah explained.

"Well maybe it's a message from stiles. The real stiles", Allison suggested. Argent looked down at all the pieces. The board was in mid game. The players spread out and some already off the board. One of the pieces lying on the side of the board had been labelled Issac.

"Any reason why my name is on the king?" Derek asked. Around the king piece were two bishops and castle. The bishops were labelled Ethan and Aidan, while the castle was labelled Peter. Baby looked across the board and found his own name.

"Well you're heavily guarded", Noah pointed out. "But I guess the alarming detail is that you're one move away from being checkmated".

"It's not a message from stiles. It's a threat from the nogitsune", Argent stated.

"He's at the loft. That's what he's trying to tell us", Alison spoke.

"And he wants us to come there". Derek didn't sound pleased.

"It's a trap", baby muttered. "Nights falling".

"I don't think it is". Noah shook his head.

"I think your opinion might be slightly biased sheriff".

"Hear me out. What were dealing with here is someone who lacks motive. No rhyme, no reason right. So what we're dealing with here is not a killer but a trickster. The killing is just a by product".

"He's Machiavellian", baby nodded. "He doesn't care that people happen to die along the way. He just wants to cause pain and chaos for the fun of it".

"If you're trying to say that it won't kill us, I'm not very encouraged by that", Derek scoffed.

"It won't", Noah stated. "It wants irony. It wants to play a trick. It wants a joke. All we need to do is come up with a new punchline".

"Well the sun is setting sheriff", argent pointed out. "What do you have in mind?"

Baby looked down at the board again. His name was labelled on a castle. A piece with wide range of movement across the board. There was a term in chess that when you've knocked out your opponent's piece, you technically 'capture' the piece. Baby sighed, not speaking up about the fact that his piece, the castle with his name on it, was one move away form being captured. It sent a shiver up his spine.

Unedited