Walking the halls of the school, he deliberately sought the one man he really disliked talking to. Unfortunately, they needed to talk and it had to be now. Scott was taking Kira back to her father and Malia…. his heart skipped a beat. Ramming those emotions down in the abyss he held deep inside, Stiles focused on the task at hand. He wasn't sure if it was good or bad that he found the man so quickly.

Purposefully striding up to the much taller FBI agent, he announced firmly, "We need to talk."

Rafael glared down at the teen with his usually stern expression and spoke, "Agreed."

So without preamble, the pair sought out an empty classroom down the hall and headed inside. Stiles led the way in and McCall closed the door behind them. Before Stiles could begin, his friend's father rounded on him. "What the hell is going on around here, Stiles? And why I am not surprised to find you smack in the middle of it – again."

"Wha – huh?" The teen stumbled over his words with his usual eloquence as his mind processed the questions.

"And don't lie to me. You know what is going on around here. Many of you seem to know what is going on and I am tired of being left out. It is hindering my job. And if I can't do my job then people get hurt. You don't want people hurt, do you?"

"What? No, no of course not." Stiles already harbored enough guilt for all the people who suffered under the Nogitsune's reign of terror.

But McCall wasn't finished with his rant yet. "Melissa, my wife, knows more about what the hell is going on than me. So you are going to tell me something Stiles or so help me I will drag you into the station and make you tell me. And don't think your father is going to save you, because I'm betting he knows too, which makes him an accomplice – withholding information would not go over well with everything else. I spoke up for him before but I can easily take my recommendation back if I don't get some answers."

The expression on Stiles' face abruptly changed at the threat. Oh he didn't care about the threat to himself, but McCall hit below the belt when he threatened his dad. "You leave my dad out of this," he hissed between clenched teeth. "You have no idea what you are asking for. Believe me, you really don't want to know, ok."

"Yes, I do actually. Melissa wouldn't explain anything to me. Yet you seemed to know what she was talking about. The vault and those mushrooms. You didn't hesitate. And assassins? God, Stiles, y-" Rafael was surprised when his chest and throat suddenly seized up when the scene played out in his mind again. His heart ached at the thought of losing this goofy kid. Startled, he wondered when he had grown feelings for the teen.

Just like that, the surprising change of emotion caught the younger man off guard. "I had to. I couldn't let them die."

"Who?" McCall demanded. Stiles just gave him a look that said –do you really need to ask? He decided to rephrase his questions, "Why did you think they would die? The other students are getting better or over it now."

"Trust me. If I hadn't…Running out of time… I couldn't let them die." The kid deflated, dragging gulps of air between phrases, as if realizing he had almost lost the ones he cared about for good.

For a moment, the hardened FBI agent watched his son's best friend. The kid looked wrecked - his face still pale and sweaty. His eyes looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. And there was something else, something he just couldn't put his finger on.

The scene played out again in his mind. After the Sherriff had suggested that other assassins could be involved, he quickly suited up and headed into the school. So as he was passing the locker room, his peripheral vision caught something he had feared. The instant he realized who it was, his blood ran cold.

The man had demanded to know where the others were. Old tricks were the best tricks apparently, because the man vowed to kill the boy if he didn't give the others up, then proceeded to place the gun to the boy's forehead.

McCall had never really liked his son's friend, in fact, the kid had infuriated him on more than one occasion. Despite his low opinion, he was shocked when Stiles not only turned to face the assassin head on, but stood there determined to not betray his friends, and waited for death. The goofy kid he had known for years was willing to die to protect his friends. He couldn't believe it. And if he had hesitated a moment longer from his shock, he wouldn't be in this room talking to the boy right now.

"And what if you had died?" His vocal chords decided to start working again, albeit tight and raspy.

The question snapped Stiles out of his own wayward thoughts. Immediately, he stood up and spoke quickly. "Doesn't matter. I had to protect them. And you can't tell Scott about it. Whatever you do, don't tell him what happened."

"What? Why not?"

"Just don't. Scott will… He just can't know. Please, please don't tell him."

"Stiles, Scott isn't dumb. You still have blood on your face and shirt," though he was loathe to point it out, "He's going to know something happened."

"Fine, but he doesn't have to know everything, ok? Just tell him, tell him that you saw the guy swinging his gun around and pointing it at a student so you took him down. That's it. No need for any details. Okay? Good?" Stiles seemed anxious now and the FBI agent couldn't understand why Stiles would want to omit the specifics.

"What you did back there; what you faced? That isn't something to take lightly, Stiles. It is definitely not something a teenager should have to go through. You faced it better than most adults in the same situation. Your friends should know what you did for them. You were a hero." Flinching at the compliment, the younger man turned away hugging himself. The odd reaction threw Rafael. He opened his mouth to say something encouraging but was cut off by a shaky whisper.

"No. I'm not." Stiles cringed inside. He wasn't a hero. Scott was the hero. Scott is the one who didn't give up on him. That went out of his way to save him from the Nogitsune when in truth he shouldn't have. So much destruction and death lingered and it was all his fault. He let the monster in. It was his face that caused the pain. And it would forever be his burden to bear. A burden that was crushing him slowly inside. He put on a good front, but deep down, Stiles believed he should never have been saved.

Mind you, he wasn't suicidal. He wouldn't bail on his friends that easily. He owed them that much after everything they did for him. But if death threatened; if it happened while protecting them; well, he could accept that.

But if Scott knew he had been mere milliseconds from death and Stiles had done nothing to prevent it, the werewolf would worry. In fact, probably freak out and go all papa Alpha on his ass and ask him what the hell he had been thinking then settle back on just worrying all the time. Stiles didn't want Scott to worry about him. They had bigger and badder problems.

Behind him, his best friend's father spoke softly, a hint of sympathy and concern in his voice. "Stiles…" He didn't like it.

Spinning back around, Stiles stared up at the man, begging, " Please, just please don't tell him. Okay?"

Staring at the glossy brown eyes pleading with him, Rafael capitulated. "Fine. I won't tell him. But, Stiles, you know Scott. If he knows there's something wrong, something he is missing, he is going to keep trying to find out what it is."

"I know, and I'll handle Scott. Just, please..."

Heaving a sigh, McCall agreed, "Okay."

The relief in the teen was palpable. Sagging back, Stiles uttered a quick thanks. Then slowly, he stepped around the agent and left.

Rafael stood there for some time going over everything in his head. Ever since the chaos that erupted in Beacon Hills when Sherriff Stilinski, Melissa and that Argent man had been kidnapped, the tension and danger seemed to have spiked in the area. Somehow their kids were tied up in it all. Both Stilinski's had a really bad patch there for a while, and they were both barely holding it together. All the funerals they attended over the past few weeks have taken their toll on both men. When their masks slipped, he noted the heavy weight of guilt in both of their eyes.

And now there were assassins in town? Worse, these assassins were killing families and kids, seemingly at random. Again, somehow their kids were caught in the middle of it. Rafael was sure of it. He just didn't understand how.

When he saw the silencer pressed up to Stiles' head, he couldn't believe it. He had to do something. Sighing, he knew there would have to be a review and he felt he would clear it without a problem. After all he had saved the Sheriff's son in the process. Still, he kept the memories fresh, repeating them over and over so he didn't miss a single detail.

"Where the hell did you come from?" The startled question was laced with confusion but even more than that; accusation. Why would….?

A cold, hard stone settled in his gut as realization hit. The undertone suddenly became clear, "Why the hell did you save me?" Stiles had not fought death because he felt he deserved it.

"Oh, God," he gasped. He had missed something vitally important. Something to do with those black samurai that they still have not been able to find. Stiles had looked horrible during those weeks. The Sherriff was losing hope and everyone else just seemed lost while Stiles crashed. He had to know what really happened.

Determined now, he decided that it was time he and Scott had a good long heart to heart. Right after he got back from the review, he would get answers. Information had been suppressed, silenced, withheld from him and he was done with it. He would learn the truth if it's the last thing he did.

- TW – TW – TW – TW – TW –

Well, I hope you all liked it. After I listened to Agent McCall's notes on the 'incident' and that he was looking at Scott (so it seemed) it looked as if he was trying to keep Stiles' name from it. Probably just to separate himself from the reality of it all, especially since he had known Stiles personally. But it also felt to me that he was trying to protect Scott from the truth. I started to wonder why.

And I'm sorry, as much as I love Stiles, I find it hard to believe that not only did he get away from everything the Nogitsune did in his name, he seemed remarkably accepting of the aftermath. I believe that Stiles would be hypersensitive to all the pain he caused as the dark spirit. And a part of him would feel such a deep sense of survivor's guilt that he would not be adverse to meeting death head on if it meant he saved his friends. But that could just be my feeling on it.

One more thing, I did not have a Beta – or even an Alpha or Omega – while writing this little ditty, so please forgive any mistakes. And I don't own anything Teen Wolf related. I fact, I had not planned on getting into another fandom, let alone this one - ever. Thank my daughter for that. But it's ok, I got her into Young Justice, so I guess we're even. Hehe.

Anyway, this story did not turn out the way I had originally envisioned it, but not bad either. I have a few ideas for some other stories. We'll see if I get to developing them. That kinda depends on my muse and how encouraged she is by feedback. So if you are still with me, a review or two or fifty would be awesome!

Thanks again for reading! (And reviewing, faving and alerting, too. ;) Much love for you all.

~Ari :D