The dark circles didn't go away. Even after the nogitsune was dead Stiles still couldn't sleep.

He would wake up from nightmares of killing Allison or Aiden. Or sometimes the others, imagining the threats that the nogitsune had made against his friends playing out at his hands.

He'd stopped screaming. He didn't want to keep bothering his dad with that and it was tearing up his vocal cords to start every day screaming until he could realize that it was just a dream. And then he would remember that Allison and Aiden weren't dreams. The pain he had cause his friends and their families was very real. And there was nothing he could do about it.

He considered ending it several times, but he couldn't do that to his dad or Scott. They'd both lost too many people already.

And he could hardly look at Scott after taking Allison away from him. Scott assured him more times than he could count that it wasn't Stiles' fault. That he didn't blame him. It was the thing inside of him that had killed Allison, not Stiles himself, but that didn't help as far as Stiles was concerned.

And people questioned the dark circles, the new found jumpiness, the quieter attitude, but with Kate being back they couldn't do much more than accept that Stiles was fine, just having some trouble sleeping. After all, everyone was having some trouble sleeping after what had happened. It just wasn't a problem every night for them like it was for Stiles.

When Kate tried to use him as a way to get the upper hand on the pack, Stiles refused to let her. He had been used too many times to hurt them, but she had gone for him because he was the human.

"I killed her, you know. Allison. Your sweet niece who you loved enough to keep coming back here. From what she told Scott, you two were like sisters."

"Shut up!"

"All it took was one sword right through her. And despite your efforts to keep them apart, she died telling Scott she loved him. Hell, she died protecting the creatures you hated." He sneered, knowing well how to rub death in someone's face having heard the nogitsune do it to him often enough.

"Shut up, or I'll kill you." She snarled, pressing her claws against his throat.

"You weren't there to protect her! You disappeared and now she's dead. I may be the one who killed her, but you left her here to be killed! And you know what? She was probably glad to see it happen. Her mother died. Her grandfather is suffering and dying. Her aunt was a psychotic bitch who couldn't even protect her, and she was stuck in a love triangle with two werewolves that her family would have hated her for."

"I swear if you don't-"

"And you haunted her." He hissed out, interrupting her. "Oh yes, you were her nightmare after you left her here. When we were hallucinating, it was you she saw. Coming after her for being in love with wolves. She thought you would kill her for that, but I beat you to it! I killed Allison Argent! I killed Allison fucking Argent! The girl who survived you, and Peter, and a kanama, and a dark druid, but she couldn't survive me! I watched the life drain out of her eyes and it was the most fascinating thing I had ever seen. I wonder if all Argent's die so tragically. With their loved ones watching, unable to do anything for them. All that pain. And her father! What will he do with his life now? His wife is dead. His daughter is dead. He thinks his sister is dead, and if the trend follows soon enough she will be. And then he'll be dead to, because he'll have nothing and no one to live for. And it will be because you couldn't protect his dau-"

And then the claws were in his throat. He could feel the blood draining. But it was okay. Because now she had nothing to use against the pack. She couldn't use him to hurt them now. He'd die protecting the people he cared about, and he was okay with that. It would all end, and maybe he'd get the chance to apologize to Allison.