Liam woke with a start; Eichen house closing in around him as he struggled in his restraints. A wave of nausea bubbled up as he felt a tight band around his head. He choked on bile he couldn't expel, gasping for air as the band was stripped away, and turned his head to spit it out, coughing until his mouth burned and throat stung.
Brett appeared above him, face slowly deteriorating on the left as the skin was stripped away to reveal metal beneath, a blue light in substitute where his eye was. Metal glinted between the various cuts slowly appearing on his body, gunky with silvery blue coagulated blood. A sickly grin stretched far too wide across his face, corners nearly reaching his ears.
"You've been a bad patient, Liam." A metallic clang echoed behind his voice, morphing into something inhuman.
Liam tried to turn away, only to have his chin gripped, and pulled harshly back, Brett mere inches from his face. His eyes glowed red as he regarded his patient, breath ghosting over Liam's face, reeking of burnt flesh and metal.
Liam couldn't help but choke on the fumes, his stomach betraying him again as he expelled bile into the orderlie's disfigured face. His jaw was gripped harder as he started to glitch.
"Maybe I should dig out that fucking chip myself. Save everyone the trouble." A searing pain bit into his temple as two metal fingers pressed into his head with a crackling, squelching noise, his vision going white as they yanked themselves away from his skull.
-
Liam woke with a scream, bolting up on the table. He patted around, he was in different clothes, and it was warm. He turned and retched off the bed, nearly falling out in the process. Hands kept him from falling off, pulling him back by the hood. He turned to see his savior.
Mason stood next to him, still clutching his jacket in hand.
Liam made a weak, choked off sound, before flinging himself around his friend, arms winding tightly around his waist and head pressed into his shoulder. Sobs wracked through his frail body as he struggled to get closer to the other man.
"It's ok, you're ok. You're here. You're far, far away from that place. We've got you." The man muttered into his hair, rocking him back and forth, hands soothing through his hair and back.
"Thank you" Liam's voice was barely audible from where it was muffled against his shoulder.
After he calmed down, he pulled back, and with shaky hands, he held his friend's face in his hands, thumbs stroking along the stubbled skin of his jaw. Liam's bottom lip wobbled, as he took in every detail of Mason's face. He brought his face closer, and pressed his forehead against the other man's.
Mason trembled slightly, fighting tears that threatened to spill. Liam leaned up to press a kiss over his friend's brow, and found himself being engulfed in another hug, Mason crying this time.
"You're here. You're here!" Mason kissed his hair, smoothing the freshly cut locks down.
They stayed like that until someone cleared their throat behind them. Liam looked up to see an older man with a tired smile.
"Dad?"
Dr. Geyer stepped into the room, eyes shining with tears.
Liam pulled away from mason, and slowly approached the man, only to be swept up in another hug, his father holding him to his chest, apologizing profusely.
"It's ok it's ok it's ok"
"No it's not. You're-" David cut himself off, before pressing another kiss to his hair, lingering for a moment, before letting him go.
"You should eat, even if it's something small. I'll get you something, go rest. You've been through a lot."
Mason guided him toward a cot on the side of the room and helped him into it.
"Stay?" Liam hated how weak he sounded as he loosely grasped Mason's wrist.
"I don't want to disturb you-"
"Please don't leave me alone." Liam pleaded, making space for his friend, "it'll be like our old sleepovers. Plus, you can tell me more about your gadget."
Mason gave him a soft smile, before climbing in, their shoulders touching, and laid on his back, holding his hand up, the small, metallic disc shining under the fluorescent lights.
"I know it can do two things, but I recall you saying it was capable of ten."
"I said I thought it was capable of ten."
"Show me" Liam smirked at him, before returning his attention to the disc.
"Ok, so, you can do this" he broke the disc in half before balling his fists up and balancing the halves on his knuckles. Slowly, the metal seemed to melt into his skin, re-emerging moments later with spikes protruding through his knuckles.
"Dude" Liam looked at his hands in awe, "that's awesome"
"There's more" Mason gave him a grin and tapped the spikes together twice, the halves rematerializing and falling from his hands. He continued to show Liam what other things it did, until he felt his head rest on his shoulder, soft puffs of air rustling his shirt. He smiled, and pulled the covers to both of their chins, letting his eyes also drift closed.
-
Liam woke to someone nudging him gently. His father stood next to the bed, two bowls of soup on a tray.
"Hey" he smiled softly, ruffling Liam's hair.
"Hey" Liam smiled back, looking over to see a still sleeping mason.
"I brought you boys soup."
Liam nudged Mason away, chuckling when the man bolted upright
"What?"
"Soup"
"Soup?"
"Drink up." Mason greedily took one of the bowls from the tray and gulped it down fast, while Liam took unsure sips from his. He flinched as his father reached out to hand him a spoon.
"Sorry."
"Not your fault." Liam's hand twitched and he clutched it to his chest. Mason gently settled a hand on his back before rubbing it gently.
"You're ok." He rested his temple against Liam's, and Liam nodded, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. His father ran his fingers through his hair again and Liam relaxed under their touch, a comfort he hadn't felt in so long.
-
When theyd finished their meal, Scott and Stiles came in, both smiling.
"Hey Liam" Scott sat at the end of the bed, soft smile on his face, "how're you feeling?"
"Better than I have in a while...did you help get me out?"
"Yeah, Stiles, Mason and I-we got you back here. When we saw you hurt your ankle, we didn't have much time to do much but-"
"Throw you in the car and hope we didn't break anything" Stiles finished, frowning when Scott gave him a light shove, "that's what happened though."
"What do we do now? That I'm out? What do we do?" Liam asked.
"We get that chip out of your head-"
"What about the tracking-" Liam went to feel his arm for the bump, only to find a bandage in its place.
"Had to take it out in the car. Was gruesome, but they shouldn't be able to track you. We checked for other chips in case we needed to take any out. You're all clear." Stiles gave him a tired grin, "had to swap out with mason for a moment so I didn't faint at the wheel."
"No, you just fainted in the passenger seat." Mason chuckled.
Liam went to laugh, but a sharp twang rang through his head, his hands coming up to clutch at it.
"What's going on?"
"Feels like a glitch is coming soon." Blue liquid started to drip from his nose. Mason rushed to grab tissues to stop the flow, Scott reached for an iv.
"How frequent have those been?" Scott asked, hooking his arm to the iv bag, encouraging him to lay back.
"More than usual. Used to be months in between. Now it's shortened to weeks, sometimes days."
Stiles gave Scott a worried look, shared by Mason and David.
"That's not good-"
"I feel like I've got a literal ticking bomb in my brain."
"That might not be too far from the truth." A new voice cut in, they looked up to see Deaton strolling in, slapping an image over the light board, "things could get tricky if not removed soon. And properly-"
"How long have I got, doc?" Mason facepalmed.
"Liam-"
"I know, I know." His hands fisted themselves in his sheets, "you can take it out, right? That's what you guys do...right?" He pressed, looking at them with hopeful eyes.
"Liam, if we had the ability to do that, it would be out already."
Liam's stomach dropped, "what do you mean-"
"It means, we can't-"
"Then what am I going to do?!"
"Just because we can't, doesn't mean we don't know somebody who can. We don't have the skills or tools. But we know somebody who does-Or at least knows the way to them."
"That's comforting-"
"Deaton...tell me you didn't-"
"It was Scott's idea, actually."
Stiles turned to Scott, whose hands were shoved into his pockets, looking determinately back at Stiles.
"Why would you do that-? To yourself-to everyone?" His face was crestfallen.
"We don't have a choice. We have a bigger chance of saving him this way...and it's a favor-"
"So you're just going to forgive him-"
"If he does this. Possibly."
"You trust him?"
"No."
Liam narrowed his eyes at the two, "and you want him to take me to get this shit out of my head?!"
"He's good at what he does. He can get you there fast and unseen. And he said he wanted to make it up to me...this is how he can."
" So what exactly is wrong with my brain?"
"The section the chip is implanted in could deteriorate if not taken out quickly or safely. It's honestly a surprise it's still as 'healthy' as it is now. With all the trauma it's shown to have gone through." Deaton motioned to the blue still trickling from Liam's nose.
"You can thank Eichen for that." His blood boiled, fingers gripping his sheets as he squared his jaw.
"What did they do to you-"
"I-" Liam choked out, trying to mouth the words but no sound came. He pressed back in his bed, trying to sink deeper and away from the memories.
"You don't need to tell us now-" David cut in, "hopefully, when you feel comfortable, someday you can-I know it's hard-"
Liam cut his dad off with a growl.
"You don't know anything!- what they did-you let me rot in there for years-just like mom!" he snapped.
David stood up, calmly, "I-excuse me." And walked out of the room. It was silent for a moment, Liam's shoulders still heaving, until the guilt started to settle in.
"We did all that we could, Liam. We needed your escape to stick-" Scott started. Liam's lip wobbled as he turned to bury his head in Mason's shoulder, arms wrapping tightly around him, body shaking.
"He should be here soon. I'll go gather some things for you. You rest while you can." Deaton spoke calmly, before exiting the room.
-
Deaton opened the door to his office to see David sitting in a chair, hands covering his face, body shaking.
"David?" He sat in the seat across from him.
It took a few long moments before the other man looked up, cheeks stained with tears, eyes red-rimmed.
"I-"
There was a long pause, before he spoke.
"I've failed him...like I failed his mother...my-Jenna."
"You've done all you can for him. You did all you could for Jenna-"
David sighed, wipining at his cheeks.
"I just feel like I could've done more. Maybe he wouldn't be so..."
"So...what?"
"Hurt."
Deaton pressed his lips into a thin line.
"And I didn't stop it-"
"You tried-"
"It's just never enough, is it?"
"It's out of our control-It's always been out of our control. All we can do is ease the symptoms. And he's out for now-we're getting him help. There's nothing else we can do." Deaton rested his hand on top of David's.
"You're doing what you can."
David clenched his fist, "I'm going to make sure he makes it through."
"I have no doubt about that."
—
Deaton came out with David, duffel bag in hand.
"Mason, I assume you'll be going with him?"
Mason nodded, starting to get out of bed, "I should pack, shouldn't I?"
"Yes. Your guide will be here soon. And he doesn't like to be kept waiting..."
"About that..." Scott turned to Liam, "I feel like we should prepare you a bit for him."
"Why?"
"He's...not quite like us-" Scott started, cut off by stiles.
"Mentally or physically. Almost inhuman, some would say."
"He's just...very...modified..." Scott chose his words carefully, regarding Liam, who had stiffened on the bed.
Brett's face smirked a wirey smile at him as he appeared in the doorway., his eyes flashing red.
"Liam, you've got a new orderly. Hayden has been...discharged."
What? But she was so nice to him.
"Brett's here to give you...a better experience."
"Liam?"
"Hm?"
"You listening?"
"Sorry...he's...modified?"
"Lots of spare parts, kind of looks like a Frankenstein-" Scott elbowed Stiles.
Liam's brows raised, "and...that's why you're warning me about him?"
"No. He's just a little-"
"Evil?-"
"Harsh-"
"Tricky-"
"Manipulative?-" other voices chimed in around the room.
"I was going to say blunt." Scott sighed, "manipulative also works."
"You said you didn't trust him earlier...why?"
"He tried to kill Scott once-"
"And again-WHY are you making me go with him?"
"As I said earlier...he wants to make it up to me...and we don't really have much choice otherwise."
"Either that, or-"
"Let me die. I get it."
A loud thunk sounded outside, Liam's vision darkening for a second. Scott gave him a sad look, before turning to Deaton.
"Speak of the Devil..." stiles mumbled, as Deaton checked the camera outside, and, seemingly pleased with what he saw, started pressing a series of buttons and pulleys before the heavy scrape of the metal doors opening sounded down the hall.
Heavy boots stomped down the hall, each step booming until they stopped in front of the closed doors.
"Well..." a low, gravely voice-almost metallic-spoke, "are you going to keep me waiting?"
Stiles scoffed as Deaton unlocked the door, revealing a man, shrouded in dark clothing, hat covering half his face, and metal hand glinting under the fluorescent lights. He lifted his head to reveal a metal jaw, heavily scarred grin, and a flashing red eye.
Deaton stepped forward.
"Hello, Theo."