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Scott stands just outside the MRI room, tapping his foot restlessly. He hates waiting; has always hated it. Anxiety tightens like a noose in his chest, threatening to suffocate him. A glance at the clock mounted on the wall points out that it's only 10:33, only two minutes later than when he last checked. He's almost positive that time has stopped or at least slowed down. Or maybe the clock is just broken. He glances at his phone. 10:33. Yeah, time has to have stopped.
"Scott, why don't you sit down?" Isaac gently suggests from his place on the couch. His face is lined with worry. Worry for Scott. Worry for Stiles. Too much worry for someone who recently turned seventeen. He shifts to one end of the couch and pats the empty spot beside him. "They said it takes forty-five minutes to an hour, right? It's only been three minutes so far. It'll be a while."
Giving him a slight shake of the head, Scott sighs. "I can't sit down," he whispers even though they're alone and he's starting to feel lightheaded. "I need to. . . I need to be doing something. At least I need to feel like I'm doing something." he can't explain why standing up and pacing is the only thing that's keeping him from losing his mind. It just does.
"So are you holding up the wall then?" Isaac asks. He stands up and approaches Scott carefully, almost as if he's moving towards a wounded animal rather than a teenage boy. His motions are slow, his touch gentle as he takes Scott by the arm and leads him over to the couch. "Come on. Sit down before you fall down."
Scott obeys, letting Isaac lead him. He sinks down, immediately covering his face with his hands. He can feel Isaac's hand rubbing easy, soothing circles on his back, whispering reminder to breathe. Closing his eyes, Scott takes a deep breath and lets it out in one long, shaky exhale. "Isaac," he hears himself say. He can't finish.
Silence. Silence because they both know the only reply is a lie. Neither of them know if Stiles is going to be okay. Isaac can't help Scott with his words so his presence has to be enough.
"We just got him back," muses Isaac, gaze cast downwards to stare at a stain on the carpet. His voice sounds strange so Scott glances at him. Tears glisten in his vibrant blue eyes and when he speaks again, his lower lip trembles. "I don't understand why this is happening. We deserve to be happy. Stiles deserves to be happy. Even if the first scan was just a trick the Nogitsune was playing and this one comes back fine, Stiles really isn't going to be okay, Scott."
That's the worst part of all of this. Either way, Stiles is screwed. It's just a question of how hard it's going to be for him. Of all people, Stiles deserves to be happy or at least catch a break. Even if this scan does come back clear, he's not going to be truly okay. Not after all that happened to him.
"At least. . ." Isaac trails off at first, hesitant to suggest false hope. "At least there is something we can try to help him with if he's not sick. you know what I mean? we can at least try to make it better. Maybe just a little."
"I know," Scott replies. Isaac is right. He's not just grasping desperately at straws. If the dementia was just another trick of the Nogitsune, then they can do something which is much better than nothing. Stiles will never be the same but Scott is more than willing to accept whatever part of him has survived. He doesn't care if the other parts are changed forever or gone completely, at least they, at least Scott gets to keep him. That's all he needs.
"It'll take time, but at least we'll have time," Isaac adds, trying to be optimistic eve as a lone tears makes it past the dam and slides down his face. He's trying his best to help Scott but it's obvious that he needs the reassurance just as much.
"Do you really think we'll be able to help him?" asks Scott, voicing his doubts. He can only ever admit his deepest fears to Isaac. His mom or Stiles' dad would just tell him he'd find a way, lying the way parents do. Allison or Lydia would just cry. Derek would blame himself. But Isaac doesn't tell him anything he doesn't know to be absolutely true.
So he's surprised whenIsaac actually smiles and then bumps him lightly with his shoulder. "I have no doubt that you'll be able to help him," he says. "And the rest of us will be standing by if you need us."
Scott chokes on a half laugh, half sob. "I have no idea how to help him though," Scott admits. his eyes burn and he squeezes them shut and reaches up to pinch the side of his nose."Isaac, I'm afraid that I'll take my eyes off of him for one second and he's terrified to be in the same room as me. The first time he got an MRI he let me hug him. He cried and was afraid to let go. I was that best friend that everyone tells me I am. This time? I looked at him, looked at him, Isaac, and he went pale and flinched away like i hit him. The worst part is that he's not even afraid of me. I could probably handle that. He's afraid of himself."
"You'll be able to help him because you're his brother," Isaac says simply. "You live for each other. It might take a little while, Scott. It might take a really long time. But I know that one of these days he'll let you back in. You need him and he needs you. Just don't change who you are or what you do. You're already perfect for him just the way you are. That's all he needs. His Scott."
His Scott. He can almost believe in him. Isaac's faith is unshakable. "I'm just worried," Scott tells him. "that I'm not enough for him this time. I'm worried that nothing I or anyone else does or says will ever be enough."
Isaac looks up at him, something in his eyes forcing Scott to hold his gaze. "Do you trust me?" he asks.
"I do," Scott nods. If nothing else he trusts and believes in Isaac. How could he not after everything they went through together? Isaac never left his side, not even for a second. He never questioned him. He followed whoever he went and led whenever his strength failed. They wouldn't have made it without Isaac.
"Okay well, I trust you and so does Stiles. He may not trust himself anymore but he absolutely trusts you. He always has and he always was. Nothing in the world could change that, Scott. That's how I know you'll be able to save him."
Save him. Not help. Save. Isaac's choice of words sends a shiver up Scott's spine. "You know, right after we got rid of the Nogitsune. . . I thought that we did save him. For a minute I thought it was all over and that everything was going to be okay. I wasn't thinking of the MRI or the aftermath of anything, Isaac. I just thought that we finally had Stiles back."
"Because that's part of who you are, Scott," Isaac says softly. "That's how we were able to save him in the first place. Because you believed in Stiles and you believed that there was still some good in this world that was worth fighting for."
That was then and this is now. Scott doesn't see any good in his best friend either dying without knowing who he was or having to live with the memory of being possessed by a demon. They might have Stiles but at what coast? "We're glad to have Stiles back," he says now. "But is Stiles okay with that?"
"He will be," Isaac says full of confidence. "He has you."
If only Scott could know for sure that he was enough.