Morningstar

52

The entrances to the Argent bunker were sealed and Lydia said, "The tunnel gate's locked. Everything's locked."

"Think it'll hold them off?" Malia wondered.

"Probably not," Scott said.

Luci shook her head. "Hard to say, but I'll keep you all safe."

Malia looked to her friends in panic. "You guys aren't hoping I'm gonna be the optimist, are you?"

Luci looked at Malia. "Well, someone has to be."

Scott nodded and walked towards the human-sized machine in the room. "So, how cold does this thing get?"

"Cold enough for a Hellhound," Lydia replied. "It's not the ice bath you gave Isaac, but it can lower your core temperature past anything a human can survive."

Malia frowned. "So what does freezing our asses off have to do with our memories?"

"It'll slow your heart rate, and put you in a trance-like state."

"Like hypnosis," Scott realized.

"Hypnotic regression," Lydia corrected. "If we can figure out how to work it."

Malia reached her hand forward and brushed a hand down the machine, stopping below a bright green button. "This says "start", so, maybe it's not that complicated."

Scott noticed the other knobs. "It's complicated."

Malia sighed. "So, optimistically, how much time do you think we need to do this?"

Scott shrugged. "As much time as Liam and Stilinski can buy us." He opened the machine."

Malia pressed the green start button and the machine made a whirring noise. "Okay, it's doing something." She turned to Scott. "You ready?"

Scott pulled off his shirt and nodded. He stepped into the machine and softly closed the door behind him. Lydia looked at him. "Remember, this will get cold enough to kill you. So if something feels wrong or like, it's not working..."

"It's going to work," Scott said, cutting her off.

Lydia frowned. "I hope you're saying that because you think I know what I'm doing."

"I'm saying that because I know you can figure it out."

Lydia began twisting and turning dials and levers. Scott wrapped his arms around himself. "Oh, okay, all right, yeah, that's cold. Really cold."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Malia asked. "Talk to him? Help him remember? Wait til he turns into a werewolf freezy pop?"

Lydia offered her a reassuring look. "We need to guide him. Keep him focused." She turned her attention back to the werewolf. "Scott. You have to think about him. Concentrate on Stiles. Try to picture him in your head. Think about what he looks like, things he said."

Scott started groaning and winced. His eyes closed and he lifted his head towards the ceiling. Malia frowned. "I don't like this. Something's wrong."

"Wait. Give it a few more seconds," Lydia said.

He let out a grunt of pain and pressed his hand against the door. Malia reached for the lever. "I'm getting him out of there."

Lydia grabbed her wrist. "Wait!"

Scott looked at them, revealing his werewolf eyes. He relaxed and closed his eyes again. "Scott... Can you hear me?" Lydia asked as Scott's eyes opened and closed repeatedly, drifting off. "Scott, don't fall asleep. You have to keep your eyes open."