The Lost McCall

A Good Man

- A tingle? - Deaton raises his eyebrows, and he's having a hard time keeping a straight face.

In his defense, the story sounds insane. A witch feels a burning tingle when she first meets a werewolf, they shake hands, which causes them both pain, and then the tingle goes away. It's a messy story, and it doesn't make sense.

The veterinarian and part-time druid is sitting on one of the chairs tossed around Derek Hale's loft, listening to Daisy and Isaac explain the events of last night. Scott, Derek, Theo, Stiles, Allison, and Lydia are also there, waiting expectantly. Alan is a two-sided coin, he can either be a lifesaver or useless, there's usually no in-between.

- Yes. It felt like there was someone was burning me with a lighter. - Daisy looks at her palms as if she can still feel the pain. - And the closer he got, the hotter it became. I've never felt anything like this before.

Not as far as she remembers anyway, but Deaton can read between the lines. He's been trying to find a way to bring back Daisy's memories, but so far the only solutions he found are too risky.

- Then what?

- I introduced myself. - Isaac explains, looking down. - Offered a hand for her to shake.

Daisy got a bruise on her hand throughout the night, although the tingling never came back, and Isaac feels guilty for it, even though he had no idea that was going to happen.

- And the injury? - Deaton calmly grabs Daisy's hand and analyzes the burn.

The wound covers about 75% of her palm and is filled with blisters, the blue veins standing out against the injury. It's like her skin was burned from the inside.

- I woke up and it was there. - Daisy pulls her hand back, still not fully trusting Deaton. - But it doesn't hurt that much. Really. It's fine.

She's saying this because she wants Isaac to hear, even though it's a lie. Isaac is a werewolf, so he can tell Daisy is lying, but he doesn't know she's trying to protect him. To a certain point, Daisy herself doesn't realize she's trying to protect him.

- Do you have any idea what it is? - Scott leans forward, putting his elbows on his knees.

- There are a few things it could be. I have an old acquaintance I can reach out to who knows more about witches and magic. - Alan picks up his backpack from the floor. - His name is Diego Velasquez, an old friend from when I lived in Chicago. He's a good man.

Daisy's head shoots up the second Deaton mentions the man's name, and all of the wolves in the room immediately pick up the increase in her heart rate. Allison and Lydia see Daisy's face turn white. Panic, as clear as day, even the humans in the room can tell. Everyone waits for Daisy to say something, or explain herself, but she's frozen on the spot, not moving a muscle.

- Daisy? - Theo calls out, jumping out of his chair and turning around so he can face her.

Daisy's eyes are lifeless, her heart beating is incredibly fast and there isn't a drop of color in her face. The only reason they know she's not in the same state she got when they left the Eichen House is the trembling of her lower lip and hands.

- What's wrong? - Stiles stands up and takes a step closer.

- Don't! - Theo yells but it's too late.

Stilinski puts a hand on Daisy's shoulder and within seconds he's thrown in the air, falling meters away from the others. Daisy didn't lift a finger, he was knocked out by the wind. Theo runs to his friend and kneels in front of her while the others run to Stiles.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened, but that doesn't make it any easier to deal with. Daisy gets stuck in her head sometimes, trapped in the memories of the past 4 years, and there's nothing anyone can do. The triggers for this seem random, Theo was never able to make a connection between them, but there's a certain event from Daisy's early life that freaks her out to this day. Even four years later, what happened that day haunts her.

Daisy is confined in a horrible memory as the other times, but on the outside, it just looks like she's sat very still.

Scott and Deaton help Stiles stand up and walk back to the couch area. Aside from a stain of blood on the floor and a gash on his forehead, he looks fine. The loft has almost no furniture, so Stiles hit the ground straight.

- What the fuck was that? - Lydia shouts, carefully touching the laceration on her boyfriend's head. - Why would you do that?

- Guys, I don't think she's listening. - Derek approaches and waves a hand in front of Daisy, getting no reaction whatsoever.

The despair on Theo's face gets worse with every passing minute.

- What do we do? - Scott looks around, both Deaton and Derek are clearly lost. - Theo?

- This just ... - He stutters, hands trembling. - I don't know!

It's easy to see Raeken is close to losing his shit, he keeps walking around the room but never gets too far from Daisy. Once, twice, Theo stops right in front of her and snaps his fingers, once again getting no reaction and becoming even more desperate.

- Has this happened before? - Stiles asks, stopping in front of him and holding his arms to force him to stop pacing. - Has she ever done anything like this?

- Yes, a few times. - Theo breaks free from Stiles' hold easily. - But bad like this only once. Daisy can usually snap out of it before it gets like this.

- What happened that one time? - Deaton's voice is weirdly calm considering the circumstances, but it's good one person in the room isn't panicking. - When she came back, what did she say?

- I asked if she knew how to draw runes and she froze. Just sat in a corner in the same position for a really long time. - He explains, sitting back on the chair. - When she woke up, it was like nothing happened.

- How long was she out for? - Deaton analyzes her pupils with a tiny flashlight.

- About a week.

- A week? - Horror leaks from Derek's tone. - Without food? Or water?

- I was there and part of me still doesn't believe it.

Silence fills the loft. Neither of them wants to approach Daisy and be the next to be hurled into the air, but they're all worried this might be her state for a week. Or longer. What if this was worse than the last time? Who's Diego? Why did his name cause such a reaction? Does it have something to do with the runes?

What could've happened that was so dark, so painful, it takes down a girl this strong just by making her remember it?

Of course Theo has an idea, almost a certainty, but this is the one thing Daisy refuses to talk about. With anyone. The first time the Doctors sent her out to get them something, the target was a man, a local heretic. A terrible man who used to practice all types of unnatural magic, regardless of how many people got hurt. Daisy never told Theo what happened that day, but she came back with what the Doctors wanted.

And covered with a lot of blood that didn't belong to her.