the fall | stiles stilinski

chapter four

(A/N: this is kind of a filler chapter, my apologies. But it gives you a bit more of an insight of Max's past and abilities.)

Possible Trigger warning: talks about near death, overdosing, etc.

The morning sun bled through the opaque windows, stirring Max out of her sleep. Hesitantly she opened her eyes, slowly adjusting to the bright light and her surroundings. Her throat was painfully dry and naturally, her head was throbbing like crazy. However, she propped herself onto her elbows, sitting up even though the room was still spinning. She felt a restraint as she tried to sit up and found a couple of wires attached to her. Carelessly, she yanked them out, slightly wincing at the pinch on her skin. Her usual baggy shirt and jeans were replaced with a blue gown and the far too familiar chemical scent filled her nose.

She was in a hospital.

She threw her legs around the side of the mattress and pulled the nasal cannula over her head, taking a deep breath. She reached down to place her bare feet on the floor but as soon as the weight rested on her bottom half, she toppled over on the floor with a loud thud. Her body felt extremely weak and she hovered over the ground on her elbows, slightly wheezing. Not even a second had passed before Scott ran into the room with a worried expression.

"Woah, hey! What are you doing?" He shouted as he ran over and effortlessly lifted the girl up, laying her back down the bed. Liam and Kira ran in shortly after with the same looks on their faces.

"Leaving," Max mumbled, relaxing her head back down on the soft pillow. She had to admit it was quite comfortable. Another older man walked in, after Kira and Liam. He was bald and kind of short, but nevertheless intimidating. He watched carefully from the corner of the room, but Max's eyes never left the foreign man.

"Why am I here?" she asked.

Scott, Liam and Kira exchanged a look, swallowing hard before facing her again.

"You almost died..."

Max stared at him with a blank expression. She had no idea how she almost died, why the strange man was here, and why any of this concerned Scott and the others.

"Who's he?" she asked, nudging her head towards the man.

"Hello Max. My name is Alan Deaton." 

"Are you a doctor or something?"

"I'm a veterinarian. But I happen to specialize in knowledge of the supernatural world. If it's okay with you, I'd like to ask you some questions." he politely informed. Max looked between him and Scott. They knew, they definitely knew. But how? was her question.

"Why do you need to ask me questions? Why not Scott or Liam?" she faltered.

"Because you, my friend, are something rather extraordinary. Mages are quite rare, wouldn't you say?" He smiled. Max cussed at herself in her head, mentally scolding herself for not being careful enough.

They all knew.

_

Deaton had asked everyone to clear to room which Max was internally grateful for. Except Scott, who had insisted to stay, presumably because he was the leader of his pack. He pulled up a chair next to her and she shifted, so she was sitting up in a polite manner.

"Now my first question to you is, are you on anything?" Deaton questioned with a raised brow.

"Excuse me?"

"Drugs. Prescriptions. Anything of that sort."

"Well.. I've been on anti-depressants for the last 3 years." Max muttered, awkwardly. She tried to ignore the look of pity from Scott, she didn't need it. Deaton pursed his lips, nodding his head deep in thought.

"Max, you were injected with a lethal amount of morphine. Do you remember when or where this could have happened?"

Her face fell and she furrowed her brows, racking her brain. The last thing she remembered from the night before was yelling at the groups of girls and then getting a drink...

"the drink..." she thought out loud, "It was that kid! He gave me a drink and I drank it all and that's the last thing I remember."

"Do you remember his name? Or what he looked like?" Scott asked impatiently. Max shook her head and her eyes darted around the room, it was on the tip of her tongue but she just couldn't quite place it.

"He was freakishly pale and his hair and skin were like the same tone and erm.. I think his name was um Gilbert?" she fretted, "Wait no! Jared! His name was definitely Jared!"

His name was Garrett.

For a second, Scott thought of bringing up the deadpool but then shot the idea down as he realized all of this information at once would be too much.

" I see. Thank you for that." Deaton responded, looking at Scott who gave him a nod. All Scott needed to know was who it was and why.

"Now if you don't mind, could you tell me more about your abilities and how they work? I've read about mages but I've never heard of them in beacon hills. Let alone seen one"

"Okay well, um I think it's probably just easier if I show you," Max said, searching around for object and then settled on Deaton's pen which was resting on the bed. She raised her hand and the pen levitated easily with the same purple energy around it.

"Energy manipulation?" Scott asked, fascinated.

"Yeah I guess so," Max mumbled as she dropped her hand and Deaton caught his pen, propping in back into his pocket.

"How do you get your powers? Do you have an alpha or get bit? Like Lydia and Jackson had?" Scott asked both Max and Deaton. She had opened her mouth to answer, but Deaton beat her to it.

"No, I believe it's inherited, which is evidently what makes them so rare. Correct?" Deaton smiled and Max nodded in response.

"Yeah, my mom was a mage and my dad was human,"

"Where is your mother now?" Deaton questioned.

"Dead" Max deadpanned. Almost as soon as she had answered she had to refrain her laughter from how pointblank she was. Scott gaped at her with a sad expression and Deaton held a solemn look.

"And your father?"

"Also dead" she choked out laughing and both the doctor and Scott stared at her with a baffled expression.

"No, it's fine really. I mean, it's actually hilarious if you really think about. Almost everyone in my life is dead. My dad died in a car accident, which wasn't really anyone's fault, to be honest. And then my mom lost her fucking mind whining for him to come back. Then she started taking it out on me, telling me that I killed my father and that these powers were a curse. So yeah, it is pretty fucking funny." Max laughed, darkly. Her eyes were watered up but she wouldn't let the tears fall out, she was stronger than that.

Deaton and Scott were occupied with other things. They glanced around as multiple small equipment pieces were now levitating up, including the pen from his pocket.

Max hadn't noticed as she rubbed her face with her hands, sighing. "That wasn't fair of me. I'm sorry if I've made you uncomfortable," she mumbled into her hands.

Suddenly the equipment dropped, a few items shattered, making Scott wince. Kira and Liam rushed back in and stared strangely at some of the broken items. This time they refused to leave. 

Scott found it strange to see this side of Max. The vulnerable side. A part of him now understood why she was so defensive but another part of him admired how she was still so self aware of the things she said, putting another's before herself. Powers or not, one thing he knew for sure was that he wanted her in his pack.

"You know, all the myths and rumours say that a mage is not an enemy you want to have and I understand that now. Your powers run based on your emotional status. You have no control over yourself when you're in touch with your negative emotions." Deaton spoke, carefully.

"So?" Max asked, dragging her hands down her face.

"So, that's exactly what makes you the most lethal creature in the entity of the supernatural."