Voices sounded around him, but he couldn't make anything of them; everything muffled as if he were in a vacuum. He was brought back by a hand on his shoulder-nolan. The boy had staggered over, face pale, hands shaking as his knees buckled. He had gripped the other teen's shoulder for support, accidentally putting pressure on a bullet wound.

The chimera hissed, wrenching his shoulder out of the boy's grip, causing him to jump back with a squealed 'sorry!'

Theo looked back at Gabe, something vile brewing in his gut, clawing its way up until the tang of bile hit the back of his throat, sending him running to the nearest trash can. He leaned over it for several minutes, shoulders heaving and knuckles white from his steel-like grip of the bin.

His veins still stung from taking the boy's pain, burning lowly beneath his skin, the image of crawling, black lines crawling up his arms still fresh.

A hand rested gently on his back, pain slowly draining and nausea subsiding. His knees buckled and strong arms wrapped around his middle.

"I've got you" Liam's voice was soft as the chimera was lowered to the ground, arms sliding away, Theo resting against his legs.

"You get hit anywhere?" Theo nodded, stilling when he felt Liam's fingers prodding his shoulders, trailing along the fabric until they reached the drying blood patch. A soft punch of air exited the chimera as he nodded.

"This all?" Spikes of pain trailed down his spine and ended at his hip, the burning slowly spreading from their entry points. A soft shake of the head was all the werewolf needed to haul the chimera up and help him over to Melissa.

He tried not to flinch as she dug the bullets out of him, hands as gentle as she could. Liam's touch was grounding, grip tightening every time Mrs. Mccall pulled a new bullet out.

When the torch came out, Theo hissed, clawed fingers digging into his palms, earning an eye roll and scolding from the nurse. She softly unhooked his claws from the flesh of his palm, wiping over the skin to clear it of blood.

"Both of you boys should head home; Lydia called, said it's finished."

Theo nodded, standing up and rolling his shoulders, muttering a thank you before heading towards the stairs, pausing a moment to look at Gabe's body.

He knelt down beside him as he'd done before, avoiding the near-catatonic Nolan.

Gabe could've been him-Gabe was him. It had almost been a selfish act, taking his pain, he could admit that, but he couldn't help but feel grief at the boy's loss.

He looked so weak, his lanky frame pale and a stark contrast to the deep smattering of crimson covering half of his body.

With a hard swallow, he shook his head and strode toward the stairs, taking two steps at a time until he was out by his car, hidden behind some trees.

He supposed he could take camp anywhere that night. Hell-he could probably leave Beacon Hills altogether.

Lost in thought, his thumb moved over one of the bullet holes in his truck-that really was going to be a bitch to get out. He didn't even hear the footsteps approaching.

"Can I get a ride home?" He nearly ripped a bigger hole in his car, turning around, surprised.

Liam stood there, exhaustion rolling off of him in waves, hands shoved deep in his pockets.

"What?"

"Can I get a ride home? Mason and Corey already left...and I don't want to see Nolan...not now, at least."

Theo ran a hand over his face, subtly checking his gas. Half a tank could surely be enough.

"Fine, but you're paying for my gas."

It was a testament to how tired the teen was when he took out his wallet and slapped a $20 into Theo's hand, sans argument, before walking over to the passenger door, hand resting on the latch, waiting for the older boy to unlock it.

With a raise of his brows, Theo unlocked it, opening the door and sliding into the driver's seat, waiting for Liam to get in before starting the car.

The ride was silent, although he could feel the other boy's gaze on him more than a few times, a confused scent filling the car. He tightened his hands around the wheel, nerves starting to fray.

He was tired, hurt, and whatever he did to Gabe opened a dam of emotions, suffocating him, impossible to tamp down.

The car stopped a bit harshly in front of the werewolf's house, idling as Liam made no move to get out.

"We're here." Theo attempted a faux cheery voice, but all that came out was something choked.

"Do you want to-" Liam started, before cutting himself off, staring hard at Theo, before shaking his head and unbuckling himself, mumbling a thanks before stumbling out of the car, slamming the door behind him.

Theo kept him in his peripherals, making sure he got in safely, before pulling out onto the road.

—

That was a month ago.

Beacon Hills had seemingly forgotten most of  the supernatural overnight-things returning to their usual steady normal. Monroe was still on the run, as was her following, although the occasional dead wolf showed up on the outskirts of town, usually riddled with bullet holes.

Theo's truck stayed parked in the reserve, hidden from sight. He'd taken to walking down to the store, only getting some essentials and rationing the hell out of them. Clothes were washed in the creek now, draped on a makeshift hanger to dry in his truck, windows down. He bathed in the stream or the occasional gas station shower whenever he could afford. The chimera took on jobs that paid in cash occasionally, either for food or supplies, sometimes to fill up his tank.

He'd dropped some weight-his food supply limited; his hair had grown longer than he'd wished, and lack of sleep seemed to pull his eyes into an exhausted droop.

Theo tried to keep in his full shift half the time,only returning to normal so he wouldn't be stuck as an animal; although he'd considered it more than once. He'd hoped it would keep the nightmares at bay, but taking pain from another had seemingly opened Pandora's box. Most nights had him bolting up out of his shift, naked and sweating profusely.

Tara's face twisted into Gabe's, Tracy's, Josh's, his parents. Memories came flooding in, ones he never remembered, each punching a hole in his resolve.

Blood permeated every inch of his body, reaching his bones. Nothing about him was clean from what he'd done. And what he'd been forced to do.

Hands reached into him, rearranging his organs to a way that was pleasing to the doctors before he was sewn back up. He could hear the cries of other chimeras, begging to be spared before they were shot up with Mercury.

Failure.

Theo had never had the word directed at him; he was the perfect puppet for the doctors.

Failure.

Usually followed by anguished screams, sometimes directed at him. He'd learned to not react to them at a young age, the punishment too painful to bear.

Theo screamed as electricity surged through him, over and over again.

"Theodore, what have we learned?"

He gritted his teeth after a moment, "they're better off dead than failures."

"Correct."

Night after night, his chest felt as if it were caving in, guilt settling deeper into his ribs, filling up the cavernous hole left each time after Tara took her heart back.

Soft whines fell from his lips, agony racking his body that had him curling into himself most days.

—

Tara sat with him most days, drenched and staring at him, her gaze hollow. Her touch was cold like the metal of the morgue drawers. He had to keep reminding himself he was in his truck and not back in hell. Theo wished the pack had just killed him instead; it would've saved him a lot of trouble. But he supposed he deserved it. Eichen house was looking nicer each day he was out, but he couldn't just lock himself up there-not when Scott was gone and Liam was left to his own devices.

If it wasn't for Theo, Liam would be dead six times over by now. The younger teen had a knack for getting himself into situations by playing the hero with his stupidly big heart and loyal streak. Theo couldn't let him.

If it weren't for Liam, Theo would have been dead six times over by now. He squeezed his eyes shut, pushing down the rising affection for the other boy that liked to pop up at the worst moments. He had wanted to rip that down when he'd come to Beacon Hills, destroy everything good. Now all he wanted to do was keep the werewolf alive. He owed him that much.

—

Black veins coiled around his arms, traveling up higher and higher until they wrapped themselves around his neck, pulling tight until he was gasping for breath.

He was pulled out by a pained howl close by, followed by harsh shouts. The overwhelming scent of terror enveloped the area, so thick that Theo had to cover his nose with his shirt.

A body hit the side of his truck, claws scratching at the door. Theo shoved the door open, pushing the body to the side and coming face to face with three young hunters, guns and crossbows aimed at him. A small whimper came from beside him.

The chimera slowly raised his hands, stepping out of his car, glad he'd slept in his clothes that night.

"Looking a little shaky there." His voice was creaky from underuse, but he spared the hunters one of his signature smirks. "Holding it all wrong too-you new to this?" He chanced a glance at the person beside him.

It was a boy, maybe Liam's age, if not a little older, wolfed out and shaking like a leaf. He smelled familiar underneath the terror, but Theo didn't have a chance to think about it too much before the hunters turned off their safety.

"You must be new to this." Within seconds, he had disarmed them and knocked two out, gripping the third by the collar, a sickly, slimy feeling of his old self resurfacing.

"You need to do your research more on who you deal with." He caught her hand as she reached for her knife, gripping it hard enough to hear cracking, drawing a scream from her.

"You'll get out of here, or it won't just be your hand I break next time" he gritted, before pushing her back, letting her land on the ground before shoving the boy into the backseat and shutting the door after. He hopped into the drivers seat and peeled out, not sure exactly where he was going.

Now he could place why the boy smelled familiar.

"You with Mccall?"

The young werewolf nodded jerkily, his hands stalling from where they had gripped the door.

Theo sighed, "you need a ride back?" A small nod, "you know how to control your shift?" The boy shook his head. He couldn't return him in the state he was, especially if he was staying with Melissa.

The boy whined as his fangs sliced through his lips, hands coming up to dislodge them, only slicing his face more.

Theo stopped the car at the edge of the preserve and turned around.

"No mantra or anything?"

The glowing eyes filled with tears as the werewolf shook his head.

The chimera huffed; this kid must have been recently turned to have such a loss of control.

"How long have you been here?"

"Three Days" the kid garbled through his teeth, wincing as his lip split again.

"You need to find something to calm you down. Is there anything you have that calms you down? Anything at all?"

The wolf whimpered.

"Ok, ok, just, focus on my heartbeat for now, see if you can match it, ok? Can you do that? Close your eyes if you need to. Just get your heart rate down."

It took him a good twenty minutes, but eventually the boy was able to calm down enough for his teeth and claws to retract, his lips quickly stitching themselves back together. His eyes stayed the glowing gold.

"Texture" he said suddenly.

"What?"

"Certain textures calm me down."

"What kind?"

"I used to have a worry stone but I lost it-" Theo had found a small pebble in his cup holder, probably from the river, and placed it gently in the kid's hand.

"This'll do for now-"

"I'm Alec, by the way-"

"Alright. I'm going to start the car again, rub the stone if you need it."

He heard a soft grunt as the car roared back to life, but there wasn't any more new blood he could smell, and the terror had subsided to something more tame.

Theo almost wished Alec was back to his scared state since the teenager babbled the entire way back, only stopping once Theo had pulled to a complete stop in front of the McCall's.

"This it?"

"Yes. Thank you-I never got your name."

"S'alright. Probably won't see me again anyway-"

"But-"

"I'm sure they're worried about you. You should get back." He made a vague motion.

Alec shoved the rock in his pocket before yanking the door open, flailing as he nearly faceplanted on the pavement (which he didn't, thanks to Theo's grip at the back of his shirt).

"Thanks. Again. Thank you." Alec babbled again after Theo had set him down on the ground.

"You're welcome. You should get going." Alec nodded and shut the car door, glancing back at Theo for a second before hurrying to the front door.

Theo waited for him to go inside before he pulled his truck back onto the street, screeching to a halt almost immediately as a figure stepped out in front of his car. A smile spread to the chimera's lips before he could stop it.

Liam.