TRIGGER WARNING: Rape mention

Everyone except for Stiles was asleep.

His friends lay across the couch, the chairs, and Theo had even decided to take a nap on the floor.  Everyone looked so peaceful when they slept, Stiles couldn't help but admire his friends. (Aside from Theo, who still looked suspicious.) Scott looked so young, like when they were just starting high school and their biggest problems were whether they'd make the lacrosse team. Lydia looked beautiful as always, and somehow still looked intelligent in her sleep as her hand rest on the open Dread Doctors book. Malia didn't look as angry as always. She looked like she was at peace. Every one looked like there were no problems left in the world.

But, unfortunately, there were still a lot of problems in Beacon Hills.

Earlier that night, they had decided to read the Dread Doctors book.  The story haunted Stiles, and he knew the effects of reading it would haunt him even more later. Even before he knew about the supernatural, Stiles was used to death.  His father was the Sheriff in one of the most murderous towns in America, after all. 

But, this book made chills run down his spines. The murder. The experiments. The scariest part was that it was all true, and that it would be happening all over again.

Stiles lightly drummed his fingers against the arm of the couch.  He was trying to sort out everything that had happened to him in the last few weeks. The Dread Doctors. The spiderwebs. The anxiety attacks. The advanced senses. He had seen and dealt with a lot of crazy stuff in his lifetime, but nothing compared to this.

Stiles stared down at his wrists, rubbing circles where the spiderwebs would shoot with his thumb. "Maybe I'm just crazy," Stiles whispered to himself.

A gust of wind from the open window hit Stiles in the face. He could hear the wind soaring through the air.  Whoosh. That one sound came crashing into one ear, and flew out the next. He put his hands up to his ears to try to block out the noise, even though part of him knew it wouldn't help. It never did.

Now is not a good time to start acting up, he thought to himself, trying to control his powers. But, he was no expert on control.  Now he could hear everything ten times louder, smell everything ten times more.

Lydia's gentle heartbeat.

Kira mumbling words he couldn't understand under her breath.

Scott's deep breaths.

Damn it, Stiles thought, running a hand through his hair. Not now. Not now.

Birds cooing in the distance.

The wind rustling leaves.

Stiles couldn't take it. These were things that wouldn't bother a person with normal hearing, but, for someone like Stiles... It was maddening.

Stiles abruptly stood up, letting the Dread Doctors book drop to the floor, landing next to Theo. He stepped over his body (resisting the urge to kick him in the face) and walked towards the kitchen. He opened the cabinet, looking for a glass.

Water, he thought to himself. Water will help.

His shaky hands rummaged through the glasses as he heard them clanking against each other. It sounded like explosions banging against his skull. He could feel the spiderwebs trying to force themselves out of his body, and Stiles had to use every bit of his strength to keep them from coming out.

Stiles found a glass and put it over the sink, his shaky hands trying to find the knob.  The sounds were getting louder, and, in his mind, he heard a cluster of thumping heartbeats, deep breaths, footsteps from outside, and birds wings flapping in the trees.

When the water began to rush, the sound was unbearable. Stiles put his hands up to his ears instinctively, accidentally dropping the glass. Not being able to control himself anymore, his body slumped to the ground, his back against the cabinets. A piece of glass jammed cut into the bottom of his calf.  It was nothing serious, he wouldn't have to go to the hospital or anything like that.

The worst part was having to hear the sound of the glass ripping his skin.

This obviously woke a few people up. He could hear Lydia's eyelashes fluttering open and Scott move around in his seat.  He could hear their whispers.

"Was that Stiles?" Lydia asked.

"I don't know," Scott replied. His heartbeat was racing against his chest. Kira sucked in a deep breath as she woke up.

"What was that?" She mumbled.

Scott shrugged. "I'll go look." Scott stopped for a moment. "It's Stiles. He feels... Anxious. Scared. Worried. But I don't think he's in any danger." His head turned to face the girls, including Malia, who was now moving around on the chair, awake and listening.

"I can smell it too," Malia said, sniffing the air. "He's reeking of anxiety. Fear." Malia sniffed again. "Wait. I smell blood."

Scott stood up. "You guys stay here. I'll go. He is my best friend, after all."

Lydia and Malia both began to protest, when Scott cut them off. "I got it. If it was something life threatening, we would've heard him."

Stiles ran his hands through his hair, and let out a groan of pain. He could smell the stench of blood leaking from the wound in his leg. He focused his senses on Scott's footsteps. He could still hear the hushed whispers between Lydia and Kira, built he focused on Scott's footsteps.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Within a few seconds, Scott was standing right above Stiles, shock etched onto his face. "Stiles!" He said, rushing over to him, kicking shards of glass out of the way. He placed a hand on Stiles' shoulder. Stiles wanted to look up at him, but he couldn't. His voice was too loud. It made Stiles' skull feel like it was about to crack.

"What happened?" Scott asked, his eyes darting around the kitchen. "Are you hurt?"

Stiles didn't answer. Instead, he focused his senses on one sound: the running water. This was the first time he had ever been able to focus on one sound. A small part of him was happy that he was getting at least a little bit more control.

"I smell blood," Scott said.

"It's..."  Stiles mumbled, the sound of water rushing flooding his brain. "It's fine. Just a cut."

"What happened?"

Without even realizing it, Stiles stopped focusing on the sound of the water and started focusing on the sound of Scott's voice. The voice he heard so many times before. The voice he had grown up hearing. The voice of his best friend.

Suddenly, the other sounds drowned out. Everything was back to normal, just like that. And all it took was the sound of Scott's voice.

Is Scott my anchor?

Stiles wouldn't be surprised. He was his best friend, after all.  But, he was a little bit confused. Back when they had to activate the Nemeton, Lydia was his anchor. Did something change? Could he have more than one anchor?

Stiles didn't know the answer.

"Stiles, what happened?" Scott said, squeezing his shoulder.

"I..." Stiles knew he had to lie. "I was going to get glass of water, when I slipped. I'm just... Really clumsy, that's all."

Scott squinted his eyes. "Are you sure?" His eyes glanced his body up and down. "No offense, but, you've seemed a little off lately. I wasn't going to say anything, but..."

Stiles shook his head. "Scott... I'm fine. I just need some fresh air."

Scott slowly nodding, squeezing his shoulder again. "Okay." He stood up, then reached out a hand to help pull him up. Stiles gratefully took his hand. "Just... Tell me if you need anything, alright? I'll clean this up, don't worry about it." He took a deep breath. "I can smell the anxiety on you. You should outside."

Scott clapped Stiles' back as Stiles absentmindedly nodded. He mumbled a 'thanks.' He slowly walked to the front door, where he began to inspect his wrists.

For once, there were no spiderwebs.

Stiles opened the door, and leaned against the wall. He took a few deep breaths, listening to sound of the wind rumbling the trees' leaves. He stood in the silence, trying to calm himself. And, for a while, it was working, until he heard footsteps and vocies.

There were two people walking down the street a few houses down. Anyone listening could their voices, but to Stiles, their voices were sharp and clear, and he could tell all the little things about what was happening.

"C'mon, Princess." Whoever said this was a man in his late twenties. "One night with me and I'll make you forget about every other man you've ever been with."

"Please." Whoever said this was a teenage girl. She was scared. "Stop following me."

Stiles immediately pushed himself off the wall. Stiles has seen a lot of shit, but he hasn't had to deal with terrifying human problems in a while. Stiles moved towards the voices, staying light on his feet so that they wouldn't hear him. He wasn't one hundred percent sure what he was going to do, but he anything would be better than just sitting and listening.

"Listen, sweetheart," the man said. Stiles couldn't quite tell, but he assumed the man had grabbed her, judging from the girl's small shriek. "I don't take no for an answer."

No, Stiles thought firmly as he began to pick up his pace. No way in hell am I gonna let that creepy old man do anything to her.

He saw them, and, his assumptions about them were right. She was a young teenage girl, probably only a year younger than Stiles. She was being held by a tall, muscular, grown man in his twenties. He could smell the alcohol coming out of his breath.

Stiles didn't know what to do, but, he knew he didn't have time think it out. Don't fail me now, webs, Stiles thought, then shot a spiderweb at the man. It didn't do much besides shock and him. "Hey, asshat! Let her go!" He yelled out.

The man immediately let her go, observing the spiderwebs on his skin. "What the hell?" He cried out as Stiles ran towards them.

Stiles briefly made eye contact with the girl. "Run." He said.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" The man asked, staring at Stiles. "Are you one of those wolf creatures? I've seen 'em -"

Stiles didn't have time to listen to him blabber. Stiles took his fist and slammed it into the man's face, with more force than he expected. The man stumbled backwards, his back hitting a lamp post.

The man took his fist and swung it towards Stiles. Stiles ducked it, then took his fist and slammed it into the man's gut. The man stumbled backwards. "What the hell?" He slurred. This man was easy to beat down because he was drunk, but Stiles was still a little bit worried that his powers would betray him.

Luckily, they didn't. Stiles used his spiderwebs to attach the man to the lamppost outside of the teenage daughter's house. She was cowering in the bushes.

The man tried to break free, but he couldn't. Stiles' spiderwebs were stronger than he thought. The man began to spew profanities, but Stiles ignored him, flashing him his middle finger. Stiles then walked over to the girl.

"Did he hurt you?" Stiles asked.

The girl shook her head. "N-no. How did you... Thank you... But how did you..."

Stiles ignored her questions. "Is this your house?"

She nodded quickly. Stiles placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. She immediately flinched, so Stiles took his hand away. "I want you to go inside and call the police. They'll be sure to have this guy taken it, alright?"

She nodded rapidly. Stiles began to turn away, his heart racing at the speed of sound. Scott uses his supernatural powers to fight the supernatural, Stiles thought to himself. Maybe I can use my supernatural powers to fight the human evil.

"Wait!" The girl cried out. "Who are you?"

Stiles thought for a moment. "I'm... I'm just some kind of spider-man."

Then he ran off

---

First of all, I'm so so sorry for not updating in forever! I was really busy, and, now that school's starting back up, I probably won't be updating as much either. But I'll try my hardest because I love you guys!

Also, I'm sorry if these last few chapters have been kinda boring and repetitive. BUT I have big plans for the next chapter. And, it's gonna be a tear-jerker, so get your tissues ready.

And, I know a lot of you have been wanting the spidey suit, well, don't worry my friends! It will be coming around within the next two chapters - I promise!

Have a good day! You guys are amazing - thank you for the continuous support!

- Holli