Once in a Lifetime

31

The teens gathered at Scott's house and Stiles said, "My dad and Tabi's mom have got an APB out..."

"For a 5'8 16-year-old?" Kira interrupted.

Stiles smiled awkwardly. "I recommended nine-foot tall rampaging werewolf."

Tabitha glanced up at her boyfriend. "I told his dad and my mom not to use those words."

Liam looked between the couple. "It still might not be him. But Hayden's at the school looking."

"I can keep checking the woods," Malia said.

Scott walked into the room. "My mom can check all the hospitals in the county. We can find him."

"What happens then?" Liam wondered.

Tabitha gave him a small smile. "Then we figure out a way to save him."

Lydia nodded. "Okay. Where else could we look?"

"Let's ask Corey," Scott replied, clutching something with his hand.

Corey became visible and tried defending himself. "Wait. Wait. It's not my fault. They took him and I couldn't do anything. They took him..."

"Who?" Tabitha pressed.

"The Dread Doctors."

Tabitha made her way to the station with Stiles and Lydia. She held a huge grudge against Theo for what he'd done to Scott. He'd hurt her friend, and that was not something she was willing to stand for.

"Still nothing from Scott and Liam," Stiles informed.

"Are we really sure this is a good idea?" Lydia asked.

Tabitha shrugged. "It's a horrible idea, but it's the only one we've got."

The sheriff turned to his son. "But you're trusting Theo anyway?"

Stiles shook his head. "We're not trusting him. We're using him."

Lydia frowned. "What if he's using us?"

Tabitha met her friend's eyes. "He's definitely using us."

Stiles nodded. "Definitely. But, look, we're just trying to cover every place Mason could show up. Malia and Braeden are at Scott's house. Melissa's got the hospital. Hayden and Corey are at the school."

Robin let out a sigh. "Somebody's got to find him."

Tabitha pursed her lips. "And we better hope they find Mason and not the Beast."

Stiles fell asleep on the couch in the sheriff's office and Tabitha sat next to him. She noticed Lydia coming back and shook Stiles' shoulder.

Stiles jumped up. "Hmm? What? What happened? Who's dead?"

"No one. At least not yet," Lydia replied.

Stiles sat up and Tabitha took his hand, playing with his fingers.

She noticed his expression and asked, "Are you okay, Stiles?"

He nodded. "Yeah, just thinking. Still trying to figure out why Mason? I mean, he wasn't even on the genetic Chimera list."

Tabitha shrugged and Melissa and Micah entered as the former adult said, "He is now."

The witch grabbed a file and looked through the pictures. "Why now?"

"Mason was born with twin embolization syndrome."

Lydia nodded. "You mean fetal resorption."

"He had a vanishing twin in utero, which accounts for two sets of DNA," Micah said.

Stiles frowned. "Can someone please say it with words that have less than three syllables?"

Melissa and Micah turned to him and said bluntly, "He ate his twin."

"Oh, God," Stiles muttered.

"Did it help?" Tabitha asked.

Melissa shook her head. "I don't know. But it's just bizarre enough to sound like it might be something important, right?"

Tabitha let out a small sigh. "Maybe. There has to be something."

They looked at the ultrasound of Mason eating his twin and Tabitha's lip curled in disgust.