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Stiles Stilinski x Original Character (Reader)

Olivia Martin is a semi-orphaned teenager with werewolf relatives and a serious case of RBF. There’s no way she’s surviving high school without a few scratches. 

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ive been reading anchor and i just got caught up its so well written i love it ur amazing

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45. The Trickster

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Stiles Stilinski x Original Character

Episode: 3x21; The Fox and the Wolf

Word Count: 5,673

Warning(s): Mature language, canon violence + gore

Author’s Note: Tax season is over, which means that I finally get to write again! Let me know what you think! Make sure to reblog + like. 

Masterlink in Pinned Post!

When Olivia had gotten a call from Scott, begging for her to come over, she had not been expecting to see Malia Tate restlessly sitting on the couch in the McCall residence. It was by no means an unwelcome surprise; she had worried about Malia in the few days since the Nogitsune recovered in Stiles' body and escaped Eichen House.

"Malia, hi," she blinked a few times before shooting Scott a questioning look; Scott shrugged.

Malia stood when Olivia had entered the room; when she did, a tether started burning in Olivia's mind, a new one, shaded in a lavender color, only slightly lighter than her own. Olivia probably should have been concerned about how quickly she seemed to attach to Malia as part of her pack, but with everything going on, she couldn't really afford the time to think on it.

"Hi," Malia nodded back at her. "Look, I'm here for two reasons. In Eichen, Stiles mentioned that the two of you could help me change back into a coyote."

Scott raised an eyebrow, looking at Malia like she was crazy. "You don't want to be human?"

"Well, I definitely didn't ask for you and your friends to change me back."

"We were trying to save your life, you know that right? Your dad would have killed you otherwise," Scott was almost as defensive as Stiles would have been, were he included in this conversation. It made Olivia's lips quirk dimly, amused at Scott acting as impulsively as his best friend in his absence.

Malia's tether quivered as she narrowed her eyes, but Olivia quickly stepped in before the situation could escalate. "We can help you," she promised Malia. "I mean, we can teach you how to control your change and then it'd be up to you if you want to live as a coyote or as a human."

Scott sighed and nodded in agreement when Malia lifted an eyebrow at him. "What was your second reason?"

Malia quickly started to explain what had happened at Eichen House. She and Stiles made an alliance, along with Stiles' roommate, Oliver, and schemed to get into the basement at Eichen House, going as far as staging a fight with Oliver about trepanation. At first, they failed badly. Stiles was caught trying to sneak into the basement and ended up in an isolation cell, sedated. It was there that Malia found him, suffering from a nightmare, and broke him out, leading him to the basement through a different wing of the building. In the basement, Stiles showed her what he was sensing, the kanji for self, carved into the wall. It was there, before everything went down with Oliver and the Nogitsune (which Olivia had witnessed for herself) that they found a body. According to Malia, the body had a head wrapped in old bandages and was wearing a military jacket.

Olivia sucked in a short, shallow breath. In the visions she had seen of Stiles and the Nogitsune, she knew that it had to be the last body that the evil spirit had inhabited.

"And these were on the body," Malia finished her tale. First, she picked up a sword that Olivia hadn't even noticed from the couch and handed it to Olivia, who wrinkled her nose as the smell of mildew that wafted from it. Next, she pulled out a small, but very old picture that she passed to Scott.

Scott took one good look at the photo and gasped in disbelief.

"What?" Olivia asked immediately. Scott looked like he wanted to pass out from nerves. "Let me see."

As she reached for it, Scott held it high above her head. "Listen, Liv, I don't want you to freak out."

"Why would I freak out?"

"By freak out, I mean please don't murder anyone."

This whole thing was making her irritated. Obviously something important was on the photo, and it must have been connected to the Nogitsune, otherwise the picture wouldn't have been given to them. "Jesus Christ, what is it, Scott?"

"Don't get mad," Scott hesitantly lowered the picture, too slow for Olivia's liking.

"I'm already halfway there. If you don't give me that picture right now, I will stomp on your foot," she hissed at him, and stood on her tiptoes, ripping the photo from his hand. "Oh, what the hell?"

The man in the photo looked like any other soldier from World War II, but it was the woman, who he was staring at so lovingly, that was the huge shock. She looked just like Kira, almost identically.

Although Olivia liked Kira a lot, she was immediately suspicious. She felt like she was pulling a Stiles with how her mind raced to fill in the missing pieces of their situation, which seemed like it was leading back to the Yukimura family. Their family had shown up around the same time as everything with the Nogitsune and the Oni started happening. Although Kira had shown to be a kind girl who just wanted to help, what if it was just the trickster side to her being a Kitsune? And, most importantly, why was this picture of Kira in the jacket of the body that the Nogitsune last possessed?

She inhaled deeply, aware of Scott's and Malia's eyes on her. "I'm not mad," she choked out. "I am, however, very suspicious. We need to talk to Kira right now."

Scott didn't disagree with her, which she was rather grateful for. While he moved away to text Kira, she turned to Malia.

"Thanks for bringing this stuff to us and thank you for helping Stiles," she smiled at the taller girl. "Did you heal quickly after what happened?"

Malia nodded. "I'm fine. Stiles, though, he's that demon thing again, isn't he?"

"Unfortunately."

After a minutes, Scott came back to find the two girls chatting quietly about what Malia last remembered before Oliver had knocked her out under the Nogitsune's influence. When he announced that Kira was waiting on them at her house, they quickly said their goodbyes to Malia, promising to get in touch with her after everything had calmed down.

Talking to Malia had admittedly made Olivia feel a little bit better about everything, especially knowing that Stiles had someone on his side during his stay at Eichen House. Honestly, she just felt comforted by Malia's presence in general and though she didn't know why, she wasn't going to complain about feeling normal for a few seconds in her presence.

-

"This looks just like me," Kira said from her spot on the end of her bed, staring at the photograph in shock. Scott sat next to her patiently, but Olivia stood still, eyes narrowed in on Kira's face to watch any emotion that showed on her face. So far, there was just shock, but realistically anyone could fake that. "This has to be my grandmother."

"You remember what I told you about Malia Tate?" Scott told her; Kira nodded. "She's the last one who saw Stiles at Eichen House. This picture and that sword," he gestured to Olivia, who held the sword safely in her hands. "they found them with a body buried in a wall. The same backwards five that the Oni put on us was on that wall."

"It sounds like this all goes back to your family," Olivia spoke up, suspicion dripping from her every word. "Your grandmother, your mom...you."

To Kira's credit, she wasn't insulted at Olivia's unspoken accusation. She had gotten to know Olivia pretty well and knew how protective she was of her pack, especially Stiles. Though she didn't know what was going on with this picture and her grandmother, she understood that this was all very concerning.

Before she could say anything, her phone started to buzz. Olivia and Scott stared at her while she read the text message she had received from her mom, eyebrows furrowed.

"What is it?" Scott asked.

"My dad."

-

Though confronting Kira didn't go quite as Olivia planned, she still had questions so she decided to follow Kira and Scott to the high school where Mr. Yukimura was in trouble. The three of them ran through the history hallway and into Mr. Yukimura's classroom where he was on the ground, gasping and choking for breath while Mrs. Yukimura held him close to her.

She looked up when she heard them run into the room. "Kira, did you bring it?"

Kira thrust the small jar that she had carried all the way from her house into her mother's hands. "You going to tell me what it is?"

"Reishi," Mrs. Yukimura responded as she took some out and forced it into Mr. Yukimura's mouth.

"You're not seriously giving Dad magic mushrooms?"

"Reishi is a powerful healing aid in nature," Olivia quietly corrected Kira while Mr. Yukimura started gagging. "Especially when it comes to the supernatural."

Kira glanced at her, wide eyed, but then turned back to her dad as he coughed up a dead fly into a tissue that his wife had given him. He stood up with some help and sat on the edge of his desk weakly.

"Are you okay?" Mrs. Yukimura asked him. He nodded.

"Stiles did this?" Scott wondered, staring at the man worriedly.

"Okay, Stiles did not do this, the Nogitsune did," Olivia said indignantly. She was tired of people not making the distinction. Stiles was not doing any of this, he was not in control of his body, and with his tether still fizzled out, she didn't even know if he was aware of anything going on.

Mrs. Yukimura stared at her thoughtfully for a second before looking back at Scott and Kira. "He wanted the last Kaiken." She pulled a sharp, black knife out of her coat. "I've kept this near me ever since your friend disappeared."

Okay, Olivia thought narrowing her eyes at the woman, she did that to piss me off.

Olivia stiffened and straightened her posture protectively. It was a clear threat, though Olivia—and frankly, everyone else in the room—knew that she wouldn't do anything. As far as she knew, Mrs. Yukimura was human and Olivia's abilities didn't work on her. And though she was getting pretty skilled at using ring daggers, thanks to Allison, she hadn't thought to bring them when she went over to Scott's house.

Kira glanced at her worriedly and then turned to confront her mother. "Mom, you need to talk to us about everything."

Scott held up the photo that Malia had brought from Eichen House. Mrs. Yukimura's eyes widened when she saw it and practically ripped it from his fingertips.

"Where did you get this?" she demanded.

"Is it Grandma?"

Mrs. Yukimura gave Kira a grim look. "No, it's me."

Olivia raised her eyebrows at her. So, it looked like Kira inherited her Kitsune genes from her mother. She wondered if Mrs. Yukimura and Kira were the same kind of Kitsune.

"If that's you, then you'd have to be, like, ninety years old." Scott stared at her with wide eyes.

"Closer to nine hundred," Mrs. Yukimura glanced at Kira to see her reaction.

"Okay, sure. Why not?" Kira blinked and then turned to her father. "Dad, how old are you?"

"Forty-three," Mr. Yukimura answered simply. "but I've been told I look mid-thirties."

Kira laughed breathlessly in disbelief and then asked Olivia for the sword. Olivia handed it over without a word and watched as Mrs. Yukimura took it from her daughter. She held the sword over Mr. Yukimura's desk and pulled the sheath from the hilt. At least twenty-five pieces of various sizes came out and settled on the desk. The sword was in pieces, but why?

"The blade shattered the last time it was used."

"When was that?" Kira asked her mom.

"1943, against a Nogitsune."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek, irritated, and glanced at Scott, who's tether flared shortly in alarm.

"All this, it's all happened before, hasn't it?" he stared at Mrs. Yukimura with hard, but curious eyes.

"Yes."

Adding on to his wife's confirmation, Mr. Yukimura added a quote, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

"Where did it come from?"

"It was an internment camp during World War II," Mrs. Yukimura answered her. "In Oak Creek, not too far from here."

"Hold on," Olivia interrupted, recognizing that name. She looked at Mr. Yukimura and said, "You told Allison and Isaac that there was no internment camp at Oak Creek."

"Allison's family has a certain history of violence," Mr. Yukimura admitted. "I didn't know if she could be trusted. There was a camp, yes. But all the records were erased; they covered it up. When I was a grad student, my passion project—actually, more like an obsession, was trying to dig up the truth on Oak Creek." He glanced at Kira. "It's how I met your mother, Kira."

Olivia's phone vibrated in her back pocket. Keeping her attention on the conversation, she took a quick glance at the text message she received. It was from Derek.

Derek: You know I'm being released at 4, right?

Ollie: I'll be there soon!

"So, where did the Nogitsune come from?" Kira asked.

"Isn't it obvious yet?" Mrs. Yukimura's voice shook. "It came from me."

Honestly, that was all Olivia needed to hear. She was glad that Kira hadn't known about any of this and was actually being truthful in her friendship with the pack, she really was because she really enjoyed Kira's company. However, she couldn't stand around and waste time listening to what she thought was going to be a sob story that led to the Nogitsune being released the first time.

"I'm going," Olivia told Scott and Kira. "I have to pick up Derek at the station and I've heard all that I needed to hear."

Scott and Kira gave her nods and before Olivia left, she sent Mrs. Yukimura the nastiest glare that she could muster. She couldn't let the older woman's mistakes ruin Stiles; they had to come up with a plan to get the Nogitsune out of him now.

-

Deputy Parrish was very easy on the eyes, and from what Olivia had heard of him, from both Stilinski men, she knew him to be a hard working and kind. That was great, the world needed better cops who were into protecting rather than killing. But, right now, as he picked up Mr. Argent's electric baton and squeezed the button, racking electricity through it, he was wasting everyone's time.

"Sorry, but I can't let you walk out with this," he told Argent. "It's way above the legal voltage limit."

Almost simultaneously, Derek and Olivia looked over at Argent with pointed looks. Mr. Argent grimaced.

"I only use it for hunting," he told Parrish, ignoring how Olivia and Derek's stares turned into glares.

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure you could use it to jump-start a 747."

"This property belongs to me and the charges were dropped," Mr. Argent hesitated for a moment and shared a look with Derek. "Although, I'm not exactly sure who's responsible for that."

"I am," Sheriff Stilinski told them as he walked over to the desk. "I'll take care of this, Parrish."

"Sheriff, I'm not kidding," Deputy Parrish insisted. "This thing's a few watts from being a lightsaber."

Olivia raised an eyebrow at him. Look, she loved Star Wars just as much as the next person but she didn't understand how people like Stiles and Parrish just put references into every sentence they said. She wasn't judging by any means, if anything she wished she had their creativity.

"I said I'll take care of it," Sheriff Stilinski took the baton from Parrish and passed it to Argent. With the quirk of his hand, he had them following him into his newly built office.

Other than a few messages here and there, Olivia hadn't seen Noah Stilinski since the night she went to tell him that the Nogitsune had taken over Stiles' body again. She sat with him all night and when he got a little drunk, she helped him upstairs to his room to go to bed. She knew in Stiles' absence the number one person he'd be concerned about was his dad, so she took care of him. She dropped off food for him at the station's front desk a couple of times, though he was busy looking for Stiles and dealing with Agent McCall, and cleaned the Stilinski house. It actually made her feel a lot better, having something to do while they looked for Stiles and waited for the Nogitsune to make his move. Stiles was a lot like his dad and it comforted her having a piece of him around. It helped that she truly adored Noah Stilinski.

Even though she knew that he had slept since then, he still looked utterly exhausted as he closed his office door and walked around his desk to address them, tapping his fingers anxiously. "The specialist I saw in LA told me the thing that every doctor says when he's trying to avoid a lawsuit. We can't say for sure."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek, which was sore from weeks of worrying. This was not good news, but before she could worry more on it, he went on.

"And then I spoke with Melissa," he picked up two MRI scans that had been resting on his desk. "These are brain scans; my wife's and Stiles'."

Olivia took them from his outstretched hand when he offered them. She studied both films with furrowed eyebrows and then stacked them. The pattern of disease was the exact same.

"This isn't even remotely possible," she muttered as she passed them over to Derek, who looked at them with Mr. Argent. So, that was one problem taken care of. Stiles didn't have dementia; she knew that he would be so relieved.

Sheriff Stilinski nodded in agreement. "They're the exact same."

Mr. Argent tossed the films back on Stilinski's desk.  "So the trickster is still playing tricks."

"But why this trick?" Derek wondered.

"When I was in the Army, an officer told me, 'If you want to defeat your enemy, you don't take away their courage, you take away their hope.'" Sheriff Stilinski shared.

"You don't look like a man who gives up hope easily."

"But Stiles might," he shook his head hopelessly "If this thing inside him, if it's using his mother's disease as some sort of psychological trick, then this isn't just a fight for his body—"

"It's a fight for his mind, too," Olivia hummed, finishing his thought. Noah nodded solemnly.

"You know, he's left people severely injured," Argent reminded him.

"And others severely dead," Derek added. Olivia nudged his side sharply with her elbow; unfortunately, Derek didn't feel a thing.

"That's why I need you guys," Sheriff Stilinski said, looking at all three of them. "Olivia, you know Stiles better than anyone and you two," he addressed Derek and Argent. "you guys are experienced in this kind of thing. I need you to help me stop him."

"And by stop him, you mean trap him," Argent assumed.

While Noah nodded and handed him the baton , Olivia stared at Mr. Argent, her mind racing. She knew that if it was down to Mr. Argent, and even people like Scott and Allison, the greater good came first. Yes, Scott and Allison would try to save Stiles with all their being, but if too many innocent people were dying, they'd pull the metaphorical plug. Olivia wasn't like that. She was selfish and she wouldn't stop fighting until Stiles was okay, no matter what.

That realization should have scared her, but she had known long ago that once she formed an attachment to someone, that never faded for her. Perhaps she loved too strongly, but she wouldn't let Stiles or anyone that she loved die for the "greater good". The whole world could burn and she would only care about the people in hers.

With a suspicious look toward Mr. Argent, Olivia reached for her phone and started texting Allison, sharing her fear of what he could do to Stiles.

-

Olivia loved Allison Argent with all her heart and Allison loved her just as much. They had a mutual understanding of each other that others may not get, considering the drastic difference between their childhoods, family legacies, and even their personalities. Who would have thought that a Hale and an Argent would be so close?

Olivia knew Allison so well that when she opened the door to the Argents apartment to let them in, all Allison had to do was nod at her to let her know that she had gathered only the non-lethal weapons for Stiles' sake—and Olivia and Noah's too.

Allison led them into Mr. Argent's office and motioned to the weapons on his desk. "This is everything non-lethal I could find."

Mr. Argent sighed heavily as he studied them. "Take all of it."

Everyone hurried to take some weapons that they knew how to use. For Olivia, that happened to be the set of Chinese ring daggers that Allison handed to her with a proud smile—she was always going on about how much of an accomplishment that she taught a member of the Hale family to use a weapon—a bundle of rope, and a taser gun, identical to the one Allison pocketed.

"What's the plan here?" Stilinski asked.

"Our best shot right now is for Derek to try to pick up Stiles' scent at Eichen House," Argent declared. "Especially if he went through something stressful there."

"Should all five of us be going to the same place?"

"Where else has Stiles been showing up?"

"At school and the hospital..." Olivia spoke up, trailing off when she couldn't think of anywhere else but those three places.

"Okay, hold on," Derek interrupted. All eyes went to him. "We did this already. He disappeared, we started looking for him, and then walked right into a trap at the hospital."

"He's getting us to repeat the same moves," Argent realized.

"So, what do we do?" Allison asked. "Wait for him to come to us?"

"We can't," Derek shook his head. A bubble of appreciation blossomed in Olivia's chest at her cousin's willingness to help Stiles. It wasn't just for her, she knew that he had come to care about Stiles, even if he considered him as a very annoying little brother. "Not if the Oni find him when the sun goes down."

"Scott's talking to Kira's mom right now," Olivia said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"That's the problem," Argent said thoughtfully. "We're all trying to outfox the fox."

They all hesitated for a moment, thinking about what that meant for them, and for Stiles.

"Listen," Noah looked around at every one of their faces. "I'll understand if anyone wants to back out."

Olivia immediately shook her head and gripped Allison's hand tightly when it nudged against hers. Allison squeezed her back in unspoken agreement. "It's Stiles."

Derek nodded, indicating that he wasn't going to back out either. "I'm not gonna be the first wolf to run from a fox."

Mr. Argent picked up the electric baton. "And apparently I'm carrying the lightsaber."

Allison gave him a weak smile. "Dad, you and Derek hit Eichen House. Sheriff, it's you, me, and Liv at the hospital. We all meet in the school."

-

When Olivia, Noah, and Allison got to the hospital, they decided to split up. Noah would check the first and second floor, Olivia would do the third and fourth, and Allison would do the fifth, six, and the roof. Allison and Olivia went to the stairs and climbed together to the third floor.

They had just gotten to the second floor when Allison looked at Olivia thoughtfully. "Are you scared?"

Olivia paused mid step for a second, her eyes flashing over to her. "What? No," she lied. Maybe it was the current situation, but she just couldn't be vulnerable to tell the truth. "No, I'm good."

"Really?" Allison's voice was, admittedly, skeptical. Olivia nodded, looking down at their feet as they continued up the stairs. "I'm scared."

"You are?" Olivia stopped on the third-floor landing.

"Surprisingly, I'm not fearless," Allison snorted, her laughter faltering into a frown. "I'm scared about a lot, actually." She took a deep breath; Olivia could see tears shining in her eyes. "I'm failing Econ and my dad's gonna kill me. I'm terrified that Isaac's dying. I'm scared that I made a mistake with Scott. I'm afraid that someone's going to get hurt..."

When Allison's voice hitched at the end of her speech, Olivia pulled her into a tight hug. Though a little hunched due to their height difference, Allison buried her head into Olivia's shoulder and stayed there for a moment, letting the few tears that fell from her eyes dry.

"I lied," Olivia whispered. "I'm terrified. I just don't like sharing those types of feelings."

Allison chuckled and squeezed her for a second. "I know. It took you way too long to realize that you loved Stiles and I don't think I've ever seen you cry."

"It happens once and a while, just a few days ago, actually," Olivia pulled away from the hug so they could see each other while they spoke. "I have a hard time being vulnerable, especially when Stiles is in trouble. It's like I can't focus on anything else, or I'll feel too much and then I'd really be useless."

"You're not useless," Allison sniffed once and nudged her arm. "You're smart, you're powerful, and you can kick ass, thanks to your talented best friend."

"Hey, I really appreciate you taking time to teach me."

"As long as you can protect yourself, it's worth every minute," Allison assured her. "We're gonna be okay, Liv. Even if we are a little scared."

"I really hope so, Al."

With that, they promised each other to meet on the first floor after they were done with their floors. Allison continued up the stairs and Olivia entered the third floor. Unfortunately, there was nothing suspicious on the floor, nor was there anything that the Nogitsune seemed to have touched. The only thing that stood out to her on the fourth floor was some mean old lady that threw pudding at her.

It seemed that Noah had finished his floors quickly and was getting antsy, because he met her at the elevator on the fourth floor. "You okay?"

Olivia grumbled about the old lady and tried to wipe the pudding off her shoes onto the floor. "I was attacked by some psycho."

Noah studied the brown substance on her shoes and grimaced. "That's not poop, is it?"

"Thankfully, it's pudding," Olivia shuddered, counting her blessings that it wasn't fecal matter.

When the elevator opened, the two of them got on. For a second, Olivia was quiet, thinking. During her rounds of the two floors, she thought a lot about what she and Allison talked about, as well as how ruthless she knows she could be if someone she loved was in danger.

It scared her, what she would do for love. Her father didn't love anyone but himself, and he acted like a completed lunatic sometimes. What would happen to her, someone who gave and received love? Would she turn into a bigger monster than Peter?

"Are you okay?"

She hadn't even realized that she was crying until Noah asked her if she was alright. She huffed softly and quickly wiped away her tears. "Yeah, yes, I'm fine. Thank you."

In a manner just like Stiles, Noah raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "I'm gonna be frank with ya, kiddo. You don't look fine. What's going on in that head?"

More tears filled her eyes until she couldn't see straight. Maybe she needed to be vulnerable, just for a minute or two. "I miss Stiles," she admitted, looking straight at the elevator doors so she wouldn't see his reaction. "I feel like I can't breathe without him, like I can't be myself, or be anyone good without him. And that scares me because Stiles isn't really Stiles right now, but I would still do anything for him."

"That scares me too. I don't...I don't think about innocent lives the same way you, Scott, and the Argents do. I'm glad that you think of them, don't get me wrong, but when it comes to Stiles, or Lydia, or Derek and Isaac, and all the people I love, the whole world can burn as long as they're safe," she was on the verge of a panic attack now, the second one that she's ever had and she still didn't look at Noah. "My father is a monster. He never loved me, he never loved my mother. He ruthlessly killed people and mentally broke my cousin until she brought him back to life. But, if he's a monster, what would that make me? Because I would do all of that for the people I love."

She released a hard sob as Noah touched the back of her head and slowly pulled her into a comforting hug. "I don't want to be like him. I don't want to be a monster."

Noah shushed her and rubbed her back while he let her cry it out. And, yes, she had Derek growing up and he was the best big brother/cousin and father figure that she could ever ask for, but this was the first time that she had known what having a dad was like. Just sharing how she felt and letting someone listen to her feelings without judgment took a huge weight off of her shoulders. She hugged him back tightly, her panicked breathing slowing as she pulled herself together with Noah's help.

"You know how I know that you're not a monster?" Noah asked when they finally pulled away. Olivia shook her head and wiped her tears. "Because you don't want to be one. You will never be a monster because of that, Olivia. And, yes, you would do a lot for the people you loved, but so would a lot of people and that can be a bad thing, but it also could be good. Life is not black and white, contrary to popular belief, and when it comes down to that moment when you have to do something to protect the person you love, you could be surprised on how it turns out."

Olivia nodded and whispered a thank you before falling quiet. While he started the elevator again (she hadn't even noticed when he stopped it) she soaked in his words. She would think on them even as they left the elevator and met up with Allison at the nurse's station.

"Anything?" Allison asked them.

Just as they were about to answer, the sheriff's phone started to buzz wildly.

"What's that?" Allison wondered, her and Olivia glanced over at his phone while he unlocked it and loaded up an app.

"Someone's breaking into my house," once he pulled up the app, he loaded into the cameras. "After Stiles started sleepwalking, I had some security precautions put in. Motion sensors, cameras, that sort of thing."

Olivia raised her eyebrows in surprise when he pulled up the camera feed in Stiles' room. The Nogitsune sat on Stiles' bed and waved directly at the camera, mocking them.

-

By the time that they had called Derek and Mr. Argent and got to the house, the Nogitsune was long gone. Stiles' room had been cleaned up since the incident with all the red string and scissors, but now it was messy again. Clothes were strewn across the floor, the desk chair was on its head, and the mirror was covered in marker. What caught her attention the most was the chess board. Usually Stiles treated the chess set as gently as he would a newborn baby, but today the board was splayed out, with chess pieces of both colors randomly set up across it. Attached to each piece was a sticky note with someone's name on it, just like it had been when he was explaining the supernatural to Noah for the first time.

The five of them surrounded the board, studying it carefully.

"What is all this?" Argent asked. "What are these sticky notes for?"

"This is what Stiles used to try and explain to me about all of you."

"Well, maybe it's a message from Stiles," Allison suggested. "The real Stiles."

Olivia twisted her lips. She didn't agree, but she didn't yet know why the board and its setup bothered her so much.

"You think there's any reason my name's on the king?" Derek wondered.

While Stilinski answered him, Olivia's mind raced. That's it, she realized, zoning in on the King. Stiles, though he begrudgingly respected Derek, never saw him as leadership material. If it was really him giving them a message, he would have made Scott the king piece.

"...you're one move from being in checkmate..."

Olivia, who had been bending over the board for some kind of insight, quickly stood up. "This isn't a message from our Stiles," she told them. "It's a threat from the Nogitsune. He's at the loft and he's daring us to come for him."

Allison nodded, eagerly agreeing with her. "That has to be the reason. Look at all the pawns surrounding the king. That's us."

Derek crossed his arms. "Night's falling."

"This couldn't sound any more like a trap," Argent worried.

"I don't think it is," Noah immediately disagreed.

"I think your opinion might be slightly biased, Sheriff."

"Hear me out," Noah argued. "What we're dealing with here is basically someone who lacks motive. No rhyme, no reason, right?"

"Meaning what?"

"Our enemy is not a killer, it's a trickster. The killing is just a by-product."

Derek seemed on the fence. "If you're trying to say it won't kill us, I'm not feeling too confident about that."

"It won't," Noah assured him. "It wants irony. It wants to play a trick. It wants a joke. All we need to do is come up with a new punch line."

Almost simultaneously, Olivia and Allison turned to their respective family members, pleading for them to at least go along with Noah's quasi-plan. Derek conceded with a nod after he and Olivia had a staring contest, in which she won, and Mr. Argent glanced out the window before turning to Noah.

"The sun is setting, Sheriff. What do you have in mind?"

With no time to lose, the five of them schemed.

(Gif is not mine)

[tw-anchor]

44. 25 Hours

Anchor

Stiles Stilinski x Original Character

Episode: 3x20; Echo House

Word Count: 12,242

Warning(s): Mature Language, canon violence + gore

Author’s Note: Here’s a long one. Enjoy. 

Masterlink Pinned in Post!

Olivia—30 minutes before admission...  

To be clear, Olivia was not afraid of Stiles. No, she hadn't seen him since she was collected at the animal clinic by Lydia and Allison and yes, she hadn't seen him in the twenty-four hours since, but that didn't mean she was afraid of him. She loved him and she knew that he wasn't to blame for the nasty mark on her face, or the blue bruises around her wrists. That wasn't him, she knew that.

She wasn't afraid of Stiles, but she was terrified of the Nogitsune.

Her stomach twisted with guilt when she thought about how she didn't go see Stiles since the events of the night before. She should have been by his side the moment that Dr. Deaton poisoned the Nogitsune, but she just...she couldn't. And she didn't go when Scott asked her that morning, either, and now...and now Stiles was being admitted into the Eichen House.

She uncomfortably adjusted her grip around Scott's waist as he turned his bike into the driveway that led up to the mental institution, following the Sheriff's car. They came to a stop and parked right as Stiles and Noah got out of the car, and they hurriedly climbed off of Scott's bike in order to talk to them.

Olivia's eyes first landed on Stiles as they turned to look at them, studying his body language and the tired expression on his face. His tether was back like normal, just like him for the moment, but between everything, she could tell that he was tired and scared. Her stomach churned again; she had no right to feel so scared when she wasn't even the person being possessed by the Nogitsune.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Scott confronted the Stilinski men, eyes darting between them.

Olivia slowly walked up to their group, hardly hearing Scott's question, and grabbed Stiles' hand, threading their fingers together. She watched as Stiles looked at her, hesitation and fear pouring out of him. Setting her own aside, she smiled softly and brought their joined hands up to her lips, kissing the back of his hand gently.

I'm here now, she wished desperately that he could read minds. I'm sorry I wasn't.

The corners of Stiles' lips hesitantly lifted into a small smile and he squeezed her hand.

"Because we wanted to avoid something like this," Noah answered Scott.

"It's only seventy-two hours," Stiles added.

"This is the same place where Barrow came from, the guy who had a tumor inside him filled with flies," Scott reminded them before directly addressing Noah. "You don't know everything yet..."

"I know enough," Noah returned. "Nogitsunes, kitsunes, Oni, or whatever they're called..." he paused to make sure he was correctly pronouncing the new supernatural creatures they were now involved with.

Olivia smiled slightly as Stiles nodded, "Wow, that was actually all surprisingly correct."

Noah rolled his eyes good naturedly at Stiles and then looked back at Scott. "Scott, I saw an MRI that looked exactly like my wife's, and it terrifies me. I'm headed down to LA tomorrow to talk to a specialist."

"Then why are you putting him in here?" Olivia spoke up. Her voice wasn't defensive or angry, but almost desperate. Even just standing outside in the parking lot, she could tell that Eichen House was no place for Stiles.

"He's not," Stiles answered her. "It was my decision."

"Stiles, we can't help you if you're in here."

"And I can't hurt you." His eyes darted to her cheek, where make-up was covering the bruise the Nogitsune gave her.

Olivia wanted to shout at him, to tell him to reconsider, but the look on his face and the sadness in his voice made her mute. He didn't want to hurt her, or anyone else. Even if the Nogitsune was dealt with at the moment, it didn't mean that it would last and who knows what it would do then. He was condemning himself, just to protect everyone else. It was infuriating, but it was Stiles.

She lowered her chin slightly in a nod, telling him that she understood. However, Scott was not done trying to bargain with him.

"Deaton's got some ideas and Argent's calling people," he told Stiles. "We're gonna find something. And if we can't—"

Stiles interrupted him, letting go of Olivia's hand to get closer to Scott. "If you can't..." he lowered his voice to a whisper so that his dad couldn't hear. "If you can't, then you have to do something for me, okay? Make sure that I never get out." Olivia's chest ached as she watched him step back and move to his dad's side. "Come on."

"Wait, wait!" she called out, stopping him before he could leave. When Stiles stopped to turn to her, she didn't hesitate to jump at him. He caught her as her legs wrapped around his waist and she dug her face into his neck. "I love you, sweetcheeks."

"I love you." She treasured the way his fingers soothingly swept through the ends of her hair. "And I'm sorry."

"Don't say sorry, nothing is your fault," she whispered in his ear, pressing a short kiss under it. She reluctantly pulled back and kissed his lips, savoring the way he kissed her back. When their kiss ended, she let go of him. "We're gonna find something, okay? Stay strong."

Stiles nodded, but elected not to say anything else. As he and Noah started walking up the long sidewalk to Eichen House's entrance, Olivia turned away. She didn't want to watch him go in, she was just too nervous. When her eyes met Scott's, she knew that the anxiety this was causing her was not just her own.

-

Stiles—Admission...

The first thought he had when he walked into Eichen House was that he regretted not giving Livvy some well-thought-out speech that would make her cry, then laugh, then cry again. Yeah, she'd probably hate it years from now, but this was, like, the one time he was ever going to get away with such a sappy speech and damn, he should have taken it. Maybe it would have given her happier memories of him, other than the Nogitsune using his body to slap the shit out of her.

He gritted his teeth at the memory of it.

His second thought as he entered the lobby of Eichen House and saw a bunch of patients just sitting around—one of whom was in a wheelchair, just facing the wall and staring at nothing—was that he did not want to continue on. He hated scary movies for a reason, and yet here he was, just waltzing in on the set for the newest horror film coming next summer.

Oh fuck, did wheelchair guy just turn to look at him?! Yeah, nope, he couldn't do this.

"Hi, I called earlier," his dad told the receptionist. Damn, he was too late. "Stiles Stilinski."

Immediately, the door to the left opened and a nurse came out. "Mr. Stilinski? This way, please."

Stiles and his dad followed the nurse through the door and down a hallway to a small intake office. The nurse sat down behind the desk and opened a file, pulling some pages out of it. As they sat down, she pushed the papers over to Noah to sign.

"First seventy-two hours, there's no phone calls, no e-mails, no visitors," the nurse informed them while Noah read over the contract he was signing. "We will be taking you from here to a brief physical. In the morning, you'll be assessed by a staff psychologist, speak to a social worker, and attend group therapy."

Stiles nodded absentmindedly, his focus taken away as his dad squirmed around in his seat. He watched as Noah turned around to look at the open door and then back to him. "I feel like we're forgetting something."

Stiles couldn't answer him because the nurse was steamrolling on, placing a pair of beige slippers on the desk in front of him. He knew that if Olivia saw the slippers, well-worn and more than likely reused because of poor funding, she'd protest. He didn't care about that kind of stuff, honestly. He expected he'd be wearing some kind of shoes without laces. He'd done his research on mental facilities in the moments before they left home.

"You will be wearing these, Stiles. No laces allowed. You don't have a belt, do you?" he shook his head at the nurse and she continued. "And please empty your pockets in here."

She slid him a small container and after he pulled his wallet and phone from his sweatshirt pockets, he placed them in it. He had pulled his foot onto his seat and started to unlace his shoes when Noah abruptly turned to him.

"Your pillow!" he remembered stressfully. "We forgot your pillow."

Shit. "Dad, it's okay."

Really, it wasn't okay. Stiles could never sleep without his pillow. He brought it everywhere with him if he wasn't sleeping at his own house for the night. There were multiple times over the summer where he had to take a short drive back to his house from Olivia's just so he could pick it up for a sleepover. He'd been doing it for years for nights at Scott's, too, as well as vacations, field trips, and hospital visits. His pillow was just another limb to him. He couldn't live without it.

"No, no, it's not okay. You're never going to be able to fall asleep. We...we got to go back."

Still, he didn't want to prolong this process for his dad. Noah was clearly starting to freak out about this decision.

"It's fine, Dad. I don't need it."

"I can't believe I forgot it," Noah lamented, shaking his head. "I mean, every time that we've ever stayed in a hotel, the first thing you pack is your pillow."

"You can bring it tomorrow," Stiles told him calmly. He finished slipping off his shoes and then handed them over to the nurse. "It's all right."

A faint buzzing came from behind the door and it was probably just a receptionist letting a night worker back for their shift, but the sound of it seemed to set his dad off. Noah jumped up from his seat.

"Okay, you know what? Stop, stop. Enough," he declared, staring down at Stiles sternly. When he continued, his voice waivered with emotion. "Stiles, get your stuff. I'm not checking you in here if you're not gonna get one good night's sleep."

Fuck, he really loved his dad.

"Dad," Stiles stood up and placed his hands on Noah's shoulders, patting them in reassurance. "I haven't had a good night's sleep in weeks."

With that, he pulled his dad into a hug and held on tightly for a few seconds. With his face smushed into Noah's shoulder, inhaling his dad's familiar cologne, he didn't let go until a few seconds after Noah hugged him back. He gave his dad once last half-hearted smile before following the nurse out of the intake room.

-

Stiles—30 minutes after admission...

After the physical, in which he was thankfully allowed to keep the sweatpants, t-shirt, and hoodie he was wearing, the nurse who did his intake met him by the door. In her hands was the duffle bag that he had packed—he had left it with his dad so she could go through it, per the institution's rules—and she silently waved for him to follow her down the hallway to a stairwell.

They had just climbed onto the third-floor landing when he saw a familiar face. Malia Tate, the werecoyote that Olivia had transformed back into her human form after eight years, was walking down the hallway. He paused for a moment to see if she recognized him, but she just entered another room without acknowledging him.

Fair, he thought. She probably didn't realize it was me.

"Stiles?" the nurse called for his attention after she noticed that he wasn't following her. "This way, please."

Stiles glanced back at Malia's hallway one more time before following her once again. They started climbing the stairs to the fourth floor; he looked up to see how many more floors they had to go, when he saw someone standing against the railing of a landing a few floors up from him.

A male patient, dressed in his pajamas, was frantically tying a ripped sheet around the handrail. "I'm part of the bird that's not in the sky," he muttered quickly. "I'm part of the bird that's not in the sky."

"Hey, do you see that?" Stiles asked the nurse, nodding above their heads at the patient. How didn't she see him? "That guy up there?"

The nurse stared at him blankly and it infuriated him. He quickly passed her, climbing the stairs more quickly in order to get to the guy before he killed himself.

"Stiles, wait for me!"

"I can swim the ocean, yet still remain dry," the patient continued over and over again as Stiles tried to get to him. "I can swim in the ocean, yet still remain dry."

"Stop!" Stiles shouted; the guy had finished tying the sheet around the rail and draped the other part around his neck. "Somebody stop him!"

The patient climbed onto the railing and then promptly stepped over. His body dropped but the sheet caught his neck, snapping it quickly. The nurse screamed and Stiles stared in shock, his mouth open, as the patient's feet dangled right in front of him.

Stiles heard more gasps; he looked down the stair well and saw more patients and some staff looking up at the body and gossiping. He was about to look away when he saw a figure wearing a leather jacket, his head wrapped in gauze.

The nurse didn't let him stay to see what the institution staff did with the body; she grabbed his upper arm and quickly pulled him down the hallway of the fifth floor. That was okay; his heart was racing after spotting the body that the Nogitsune had used to visit him in his dreams. If he was here, waiting in Stiles' head to just take over, maybe staying in Eichen House wasn't the best idea.

Shit, shit, shit...Okay, he needed to call Scott.

"Okay, I know there's the whole seventy-two hour thing, but I really need to use the phone," Stiles urgently told the nurse as they came to a stop outside of a room.

"The accident that occurred is being taken care of," the nurse replied calmly.

Stiles raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "You're seriously referring to that as an accident."

The nurse unlocked the door. "Incident."

"Slightly better, but I still need to use the phone," nevertheless, when the nurse held open the door for him, he walked into the room. "Look, just five minutes," she stared at him with raised eyebrows. "Three minutes, please. A three-minute call."

"Would you like to go to sleep, Stiles, or would ou like to be introduced to our five-point restraint system?" the nurse asked dryly.

"I would go with sleep," a voice called from behind him. Stiles turned to the noise and saw a guy his age tied to the bed with leather restraints. The kid waved at him with just his fingers, unable to use his whole arm.

Apparently this was his roommate.

While Stiles was distracted with the guy, the door snapped shut. He quickly looked back and threw himself at the door, trying to open it by twisting the knob. The door was locked.

"Hey, wait, wait!" he knocked on the door, but there was no response. The nurse had obviously walked away.

He exhaled heavily and glared at the door. If he had anything with him to unlock the door, he would use it. Unfortunately, he didn't bring anything to pick the lock and if he had, the nurse would have probably confiscated it.

"I'm Oliver," his roommate called.

"Stiles."

"There was a suicide, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Is it Monday? There's a much higher rate of suicide on Mondays."

Stiles glanced back at Oliver, noticing how nonchalant he was about everything, and cursed himself. "Okay then..." he faced the door again and raised his voice, trying to get an orderly's attention. "Hey, can someone just please let me out of here? Someone, anyone?"

There were no footsteps to indicate that anyone heard him and they were on their way to let him out of the room.

"I heard it, by the way," Oliver spoke again; Stiles turned to face him. "It happened in the stairwell, right?"

"Yeah, how'd you know that?" giving up on someone letting him out, he walked over to his designated bed and sat down.

"I heard the echo."

"What do you mean?"

"It's this place," Oliver explained slowly. "Something about the way tha it was built. Everything echoes, eventually. That's why thy call it Echo House."

-

Olivia—11 hours after admission...

She could feel Allison staring at her and it was beginning to annoy her.

They sat silent together in Allison's car, waiting to pull up to the first window of the McDonald's drive thru. The radio had been turned down when Allison ordered their breakfast and it hadn't returned to its former volume after they drove away from the speaker. It was a bit unnerving.

And now Allison was staring her and her freaking hair wouldn't cooperate and everything was annoying.

"Please stop," she sighed and pushed the stubborn hair that refused to stay in a clip back behind her ear. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

Remember when Allison used to not be so blunt? She spent too much time with Olivia and Lydia.

"You don't look great, either." Olivia shot back at her.

It was true. Allison had spent the night at the hospital with Isaac before she picked her up that morning. But before she was at the hospital, she was visiting Mr. Argent in jail, where he and Derek were currently being housed. They had been arrested by Agent McCall for murdering Kakashi—who turned up dead out of nowhere, but all signs pointed to the Nogitsune.

Olivia, herself, had been at the jail to visit Derek the day before when she was avoiding Stiles. He was all healed up, but angry that he was stuck in a cell when everything was going on. She didn't tell him what the Nogitsune had done to her, but she guessed that he could tell anyway. He was agitated, more than usual, and kept on glancing at the bruises she sustained. Luckily she kept him busy asking about the charges and what lawyer to hire for him. According to Derek, it wasn't her business and he and Peter were taking care of it. Apparently, she just needed to focus on Stiles.

She never thought Derek would say that.

"Thanks," Allison snorted softly and pressed on the gas when the car in front of them pulled up. She gave the window attendant their money and then pulled up again. "So, did Stiles say anything to you?"

"Just that he was sorry and that he didn't want to hurt anyone else," Olivia admitted. "I told him it wasn't his fault. It isn't."

"It's not going to make him feel any better about it."

"No, it isn't," she agreed with her friend. They paused their conversation long enough to receive their breakfast. As Allison pulled out of the McDonald's parking lot, she continued, "Nothing's going to make him feel better."

"Except maybe getting that thing out of him," Allison stated. She took a sip of her orange juice. "Hopefully Deaton or my dad will know something or someone who does."

"Hopefully."

They had finished their breakfast by the time Allison pulled into the animal clinic's parking lot. Scott's bike was already there, parked in its usual spot next to Dr. Deaton's shiny, black Mercedes. Within minutes they had walked inside, exchanged good mornings, and were talking to Mr. Argent over speakerphone.

"Did you have any trouble with Ikeda?" Mr. Argent wondered.

He was referring to Dr. Deaton's trip to Japan earlier in the week. He had poisoned Ikeda's—a Japanese mafia boss—wolf with kanima venom in order to steal the lichen that he used to poison the Nogitsune. The fact that he had gotten home in time to save Scott and Olivia was mind blowing—they could have been dead if not for the amazing timing.

"Only minor," Deaton answered him. "The white wolf was exactly where you said it would be. But we have two problems now. First, the lichen is not a cure. It'll wear off in a matter of days."

"But while it does work, the Oni won't got after Stiles, right?" Mr. Argent asked while Olivia, Scott, and Allison exchanged worried looks.

"I hope," Deaton said. "Eichen House has an unusual history. It might not be all that safe for the Oni there as well."

"What's the second problem?"

"I checked with your contacts in Japan. The Yakuza boss you saw killed by the Oni never found the scroll."

Scott perked up, confused. "What scroll?"

"A Shugendo Scroll," Dr. Deaton told him. Olivia narrowed her eyes, trying to think if she had ever heard of it; she wasn't too knowledgeable in Japanese culture, though. "The Shugendo were the ascetic mystics of Japan."

Interesting. Despite the serious nature of the conversation, Olivia found the brief description of the Shugendo fascinating. She made herself a mental reminder to study about it later.

"The scroll had information on how to exorcize a Nogitsune," Mr. Argent added from the phone.

Olivia inhaled sharply. "So, we need to find the scroll."

"Exactly," Deaton nodded at her before addressing Mr. Argent again. "And I did get a name of the man who last purchased it. Kincaid."

"He was with Katashi," Allison recognized the name, eyes widening slightly. "He's the guy who met with Isaac to buy the gun."

Dr. Deaton eyed her thoughtfully. "Sounds like Katashi wanted the scroll for himself."

"But Stilinski already told me nothing like it was found among his things," Mr. Argent said. "And a paranoid like Katashi would keep it close. It was probably on him at all times."

"What does a Shugendo scroll look like?" Allison wondered, her eyebrows furrowed. Olivia could tell by the look on her face that her mind was racing.

"Something like this."

Dr. Deaton stood from his seat at his desk and turned around, opening one of the drawers behind him. He pulled a large scroll from it and turned around, handing it to Allison. She studied it for a brief second.

"Do these come in different sizes?"

"Any size."

The corners of Allison's lips quirked, almost grimly. "Then I think I know where it might be."

-

Stiles—11 hours after admission...

He didn't sleep a wink. All night, he sat in his uncomfortable bed, springs digging into his butt, and thought about everything that was going on. He thought about the Nogitsune. He thought about how it was his hands that hurt Scott and Olivia. He thought about all the people he killed—good people, who he knew for years because they worked for his dad. He thought about the guy who committed suicide earlier that night. And he thought about his pillow.

Honestly, he was lucky that he had so much experience losing sleep. If not, he was sure he'd be feeling horrible right now. A lot of people got really sick if they didn't get enough sleep. Olivia was one of those people; if she didn't get at least five hours of sleep, she'd have achy muscles and stomach nausea the whole day.

Finally, the sun came up and Oliver started to stir.

"Have you been awake all night?" he asked when he noticed Stiles' position on the bed.

"Yeah, I can't sleep without my pillow," Stiles didn't look away from the window until Oliver coughed heavily. "You okay?"

"I swallowed a bug the other day," he answered, his breathing pattern disturbed slightly. "You ever do that? I keep coughing, like it's still in my throat."

"That's disgusting, Oliver," Stiles grimaced and then glanced at the doors. "You don't have any idea when they unlock the doors, do you?"

At that moment, they heard footsteps come and go as the lock on their door twisted.

"Now."

Oliver was okay, as far as roommates at a mental institution went, Stiles supposed. He showed Stiles the cafeteria and what table was the best to sit at, and he introduced him to the nicest lunch lady, who gave him an extra sausage link. After they ate, they had a thirty minute break before group therapy where they could spend time with each other, play games, or read. Oliver took that time to show Stiles around the free area, which expanded into the courtyard, and promised to take him to the phones that patients could use.

"Most of the people here are okay," Oliver told him as they walked around the courtyard. "the violent ones are in the closed unit. That's Hilary," he pointed to a girl sitting on a bench by herself. "She as OCD. That's Gary," he gestured to a guy with long hair who walked past them. "He thinks he's Jesus Christ. Dan—also Jesus. And that's Mary—"

"Mary Magdalene?" Stiles guessed bitterly.

"No, she also thinks she's Jesus," Oliver said as they stopped near the phones. A girl was already talking to someone on one of them, so Stiles just waited for his turn. "You'd be surprised how many Jesuses we get."

"Not really."

"Hey, how come you want to use the phone already?" Oliver wondered, glancing at the girl talking on the phone.

"Cause after one night, I've changed my mind about this place being safe for me," Stiles paused, remembering the suicidal patient and the Nogitsune from the night before—he was sure that it was related. "Or anyone. Ever."

"No!" the girl who was talking on the phone raised her voice, catching his attention. "No, I think you're wrong. I really think I should tell them. They're going to want to know the story. The whole story. I really think they should know. Yes, I do."

Stiles was going to turn and give her more privacy—she seemed to be in an argument with whoever she was talking to—until he heard her whisper loudly, "One of them is standing right behind me."

Stiles whipped around to face her again with furrowed eyebrows, bewildered. Okay, was this girl crazy or did she have something supernatural going on with her?

The girl hung up the phone and didn't look at him once while she walked away, despite the mild glare he was sending her way.

"Who was that?" he asked Oliver as he took her place by the phone.

"That's Meredith," he answered dutifully. "She's a little weird."

"You're a little weird. She's a lot weird." Stiles picked up the phone and dialed Olivia's number. When he held the phone to his ear, he heard nothing. "It's dead."

"Yeah," Oliver said like it was obvious. "They turn off all the phones for twenty-four hours after a suicide."

Stiles' clenched his fist tighter around the phone, trying not to punch his well-meaning roommate. "Why didn't you tell me that before?"

"Why didn't you ask?" Stiles slammed the phone back onto its receiver and stormed away from Oliver. Unfortunately, his roommate followed him. "What are you going to do now?"

"I'm getting out of this nuthouse."

"That's not really the appropriate way to describe a facility like this."

Stiles ignored Oliver and stopped when he saw that familiar face again. Now that he knew what he knew about her, he could see the resemblance between her and Olivia. Malia was a few inches taller than her half-sister, around Allison's height, and her eyes were brown, but you could tell that they were closely related. Once again, Stiles cursed Scott for telling him what Lydia found out; he had promised to not tell either Olivia or Malia, in case something went wrong with Peter.

"Malia," he called; from her spot against a pillar, she turned around to face him. "Hey, it's Stiles. Do you remember me? I'm friends with Scott, Olivia's boyfriend?" she was still staring at him blankly, so he continued to explain how she knew him. "Remember, we were the ones who helped you out with—"

He was abruptly cut off when she swiftly stepped forward and decked him in the face. He fell to the floor under her super werecoyote strength and within seconds, some orderlies were on them. One of them got to him, turning him over so he was laying on his stomach with his hands behind him on his back, while there were two of them to restrain Malia.

"Hey, what the hell?" he complained as the orderly sat on him. "She hit me."

"A few more like this, Malia, and you're headed to the closed unit," he heard a man say while he squirmed under the orderly's grip.

If Malia was committed to the closed unit, he didn't want to follow after her. And the way they were treating him when he was the one who was punched made him think they'd send him too.

"Wait, stop, I didn't do anything," as he protested, he wiggled. It wasn't until he was tightly pressed upon a grate in the floor by the orderly that he stopped, his eyes catching something below.

"Enough!" a familiar voice cut through the arguing. "Enough!"

Stiles inhaled sharply, still looking through the grate. The basement, he'd seen it before. When he was dreaming about the Nogitsune, when he thought that he was being held in a basement, his foot caught in a coyote trap....Wait, didn't Olivia tell him that Lydia thought he was at Eichen House that night?

What the fuck is going on?

He was brought out of his thoughts when the orderly let of him. When he glanced up, to his shock, Miss Morrell, who had left her position at the school shortly after the business with the Alpha pack concluded, was standing in front of him, studying him intently. She knelt down to be on his level; with her intense stare, it felt like she was reading his mind.

"Stiles," she greeted him evenly. "You saw something, didn't you?"

"That basement," he breathed shakily. "I've been down there before."

-

Stiles—12 hours after admission...

He was baffled. One moment, Miss Morrell was helping him to his feet in the courtyard, and the next, he was ushered inside. It was officially time for group therapy, which left no time to ask Morrell if she knew about anything going on with him, or time to think over the Nogitsune and its connection with Eichen House.

Morrell had introduced Stiles to the group he was in, which included Malia and Oliver, and then they were on their way, talking about normal topics typically discussed in a group setting of therapy.

"I want to go back to the topic of guilt today," Morrell spoke clearly to the group. "It might surprise you to hear me say that guilt is a good thing. It's a rather mature emotion."

Stiles locked eyes with Malia and quickly looked away when she glared at him, mouth pressed awkwardly.

"Malia, you said something about guilt the other day," Morrell turned to Malia, as did the eyes of the others. "You said it came with a visceral reaction."

"I said it made me feel sick to my stomach," Malia stated blankly, like she had been forced to contribute to the conversation many, many times before.

In the chair beside Stiles, Oliver coughed.

"Guilt often becomes physical. You feel it in your gut..."

Stiles ducked his head and closed his eyes, horrible memories flashing against his lids. Even though he couldn't control his body, he was very much aware of what the Nogitsune was doing to his friends and to his town. He couldn't stop the bomb from blowing up his father's place of work, killing and injuring the people who worked there. He couldn't stop the Nogitsune from twisting that sword in Scott's stomach, he couldn't stop him from slapping Olivia, tying her up, and abusing her physically and emotionally. He wished he could do something to forget it all, but then it'd somehow be worse.

Shakily, he reached back and scratched the back of his neck. It felt like someone was staring at him, making his stomach twist and churn under his gaze. His mind itched. He slowly looked behind him; the Nogitsune was standing behind the group, dressed in a medical coat. He was talking to an orderly, head still wrapped in bandages, and as his head slowly turned toward him, Stiles' heart began to race.

"How does guilt make you feel, Stiles?"

The call of his name snapped him back to attention. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Guilt," Morrell repeated patiently; everyone in the group stared at him, Malia's gaze still angry, and waited for him to respond. "What does it make you feel?"

"Nervous," he admitted quickly.

"Like a sense of urgency?" Morrell prompted softly. "You feel an urgent need to make up for something you've done. To apologize. These are healthy responses."

After a couple of years as his counselor, Morrell knew him well. Did she know that the Nogitsune was playing with him right now? That he was actually sitting next to Stiles?

"Does anyone know what we call someone who doesn't experience guilt?"

"A sociopath," Oliver answered Morrell's question.

"That's right, Oliver." Stiles scratched at the back of his neck again. "I'm sorry, everyone, but we need to take a break."

Morrell slapped her binder shut and stood up, walking over to where Stiles sat. "Come with me, Stiles. I'd like to talk to you for a minute."

Stiles didn't question her, but stood up and followed her out of the room. When they were locked in her office, she requested that she look at the back of his neck, where he had been scratching. Confused, Stiles lifted the back of his shirt so she could take a look.

Her fingers gently traced over his back, exactly in the spots where his skin itched so bad that he wanted to tear it off. Was there a mark or something? There had to be, right?

"It's called a Lichtenberg figure. They appear in lightning strike victims," she told him; he put his shirt down in place and turned around to face her. "The fact that they're appearing on you after a shot of Wolf Lichen is both significant and strange."

So, she knew everything, huh? She figured that Deaton would have talked to her, especially after Scott told him about Stiles' admission into Eichen House.

"By significant and strange, do you mean hopeful and optimistic?" he gestured anxiously.

Morrell didn't answer his question, though he knew it was because he already knew the answer. Instead, she turned to the medicine cabinet in the corner and shuffled through numerous bottles.

"When the marks fade, the Nogitsune's grip over you will return," she picked out two bottles and closed the cabinet, walking back over to him. She gave him one of the bottles and he shook it, hearing the rattle of pills.

"What are these? Sleeping pills?"

"Amphetamines," she corrected him. "Sleeping is exactly what you don't want to do. You're vulnerable when you're asleep."

"So, all I have to do is stay awake?"

"For now. If your friends haven't figured out something by the time those marks are gone, I'll come find you."

Stiles perked up, hopeful for advice. "To tell me what to do?"

"No, to give you an injection," she held up the other bottle that she took from the cabinet. "Pancuronium bromide. It causes respiratory paralysis."

His hope faded away swiftly. "That sounds a lot like death."

"It's used for lethal injection, yes."

"So when the Nogitsune takes over, you're going to kill me?" A part of him was relieved. With him dead, he couldn't hurt anyone else. But he didn't want to die and he certainly didn't want to suffocate to death because of his formal guidance counselor/therapist.

Was it bad that he wanted to live? If you thought about the greater good and all that, yeah, he didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. But he never claimed to want for the greater good. He was a selfish creature, like any other human being, and he wanted to live. He wanted to live a long time, actually, and do a lot of things. What he wanted to do now was get this ancient Japanese demon the fuck out of him and then somehow destroy it before it could destroy anything or anyone else he cared about.

Morrell's face didn't shift at the anger his face and body language gave off. "I'm going to do what I've always done: maintain the balance."

Okay, yeah, he was done with her. If she couldn't help him beyond death, she could fuck off.

"Okay, then, I've missed out talks," he muttered sarcastically as he turned around and waltzed out of her office. "Thanks for the illicit drugs."

"Stiles," Morrell called out before her office door shut behind him. "Stay awake."

Stiles flipped her door off, hoping that it would somehow come to life and pass on the message to her. Then he kept walking down the hallway, hoping to find some sort of map so he could navigate the huge building. He needed to find the basement door.

It took fifteen minutes, five of those memorizing an old slab on the wall that gave vague direction, before he could figure out where the door to the basement was located. The door was white and unassuming against the other doors in the hallway and when he twisted the knob to see if he could open the door, he discovered that it was locked.

"What are you doing?"

"Gah!" Stiles jumped and turned around, gasping loudly at the sight of Oliver. Once he settled his racing heart, he said, "I need to get through here. To the basement."

Oliver smiled slightly. "Doctors don't even have a key to this door. Only Brunski."

An eyebrow quirked at the name drop. "Is that the head orderly?"

Oliver nodded. "He's got keys to everything in here."

"Does he keep them on him all the time?"

"If you want them, you'll probably have to figure out a way to trick him," Oliver suggested helpfully.

Stiles turned back to the basement door, his expression grim. "Well, a part of me is getting very good at playing tricks."

-

Olivia—16 hours after admission...

Stiles' tether lit up for just a second, but it was enough to freak Olivia out. He'd been hurt, and by the way her face tingled, she knew that he had been punched. Who the hell was punching him in a mental facility? Was it a nurse? Because she had read many articles about patient abuse and she was not about to let her boyfriend get abused by some orderly who thought that he was hot shit.

Her nerves were so shot about the situation that Lydia volunteered to call Eichen House, herself. Unfortunately, that only made matters worse when they found out they couldn't speak to him because of a patient suicide. Luckily, Lydia was able to charm the receptionist, who let them know that Stiles had been going to therapy all morning, so even if they could talk to him, he wouldn't have time.

A heavy knock at Allison's door made her jump. Both Lydia and Allison, who were sitting next to her on the couch gave her concerned looks. It was not normal for Olivia to be like this; Stiles was usually the visibly anxious one of the couple and usually Olivia could hide her anxiety quite well.

"I know," Olivia waved them off, jumping to her feet in order to pace. "I think I have to get anxiety meds or something, I swear."

Allison grimaced in sympathy and stood up, heading over to answer the door. Lydia stayed by Olivia and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly while they waited in the hallway. When Allison opened the door, Scott, Ethan, and Aiden were behind it like expected. Olivia wasn't even bothered by their five-minute tardiness, she was so occupied by her anxiety.

"My father said all of the Katashi evidence is being moved to a Federal Lockup by armored car tonight," Allison informed the boys as they entered the apartment. "Probably within the next few hours."

As Allison came to a stop next to Olivia and Lydia, Ethan gave them a weary look. "We're going to rob an armored car?"

Lydia smiled wryly. "Well, we're gonna try."

They all retreated to Mr. Argent's office to lay out the plan. According to Sheriff Stilinski, Deputy Parrish would be driving the armored car with a guard. The best time to get Katashi's prosthetic finger would be before they could even leave the parking lot. How they would do this was still up to debate. Ethan and Aiden wanted to beat them up, but Scott wasn't down for that. Olivia thought that distraction could be a powerful tool—and Allison agreed with her—but Lydia pointed out that Parrish wouldn't be by himself and therefore, distraction probably wouldn't be possible. Lydia's plan was to use stealth, but none of them were really good at that except for Allison and that couldn't leave all of the execution of the plan up to her.

In the end, they decided that combining all three ideas could be worth something.

Scott groaned. "This is a really bad plan."

Lydia, who was staring very intently at Scott—and yes, Olivia was going to hold that over her cousin's head—tried to reassure him. "It's not that bad."

"It's not that good," Ethan took his place next to Olivia on one side of Argent's desk, staring down at the road map of Beacon Hills. They didn't know what route the armored car would take out of town, but they did know that all of them crossed the bridge that led out of Beacon Hills. "None of us know the route they're going to take."

"But, if Allison can get one of her dad's GPS trackers on the armored car, then we can follow it," Olivia stated.

Allison nodded and pointed at the bridge drawn on the map. "So, when it gets here—"

"We attack them?!" Aiden exclaimed from his seat in one of the armchairs facing the desk.

Really, Aiden's idea wasn't that bad, Olivia could admit. The only reason she was annoyed that he kept bringing it up was because Scott and Lydia kept on shooting it down. They weren't able to move forward and actually plan because he was still stuck on it.

"No," Lydia gave him a stern look. "Your bikes will be in the middle of the road, looking like you guys got into an accident. And when the driver gets out to help—"

"We attack," Aiden repeated.

"No!" Lydia and Allison exclaimed simultaneously.

"You'll distract him and Scott will break open the back door," Olivia finished, sending him a glare.

"I hope," Scott cocked his head, confused.

Lydia pressed her lips together. "And you'll get Katashi's finger."

"It's not his actual finger, is it?" Ethan wondered, crossing his arms over his chest.

Scott, who looked at Ethan when he began to talk, quickly glanced back at Lydia for an answer. It was obvious that he was wondering that as well.

Jesus Christ.

Lydia sighed. "We are so out of our league."

"Why aren't we just going to Stilinski for help?" Ethan asked.

They'd been over this as well. "Because," Olivia glared at him now. "if he gets caught, then it's the sheriff tampering with federal evidence. Then Scott's asshole dad can get him fired like that," she snapped her fingers and then looked at Scott apologetically. "No offense, Scott."

"None taken."

Ethan ducked his head, conceding.

"Guys, this is going to work," Allison spoke up, trying to rally them all together. "We can do this. We're losing Stiles, my dad's in jail for murder...We need to do this."

Even though none of them had complete faith in their plan, they all nodded in agreement.

-

Stiles—17 hours after admission...

After almost falling asleep in the mushy spaghetti that the cafeteria served for lunch, Stiles decided to make use of the pills that Miss Morrell gave him. Even though he didn't like her, or her plans all that much, he knew that she was knowledgeable about the supernatural and that she was probably right about being vulnerable while asleep.

He managed to get away from Oliver by asking his roommate to take care of their lunch trays and quickly walked into the men's bathroom on his floor. He could hear water running somewhere throughout the room, but he ignored it in favor of getting to the sink. Turning on the faucet with one hand, he uncapped the meds with the other and popped a pill in his mouth. Then he cupped his hand and placed it in the water before bringing it to his mouth to swallow down the medicine.

Stiles turned off the faucet and stared at himself in the mirror. "Okay, just got to stay awake, Stiles. You gotta stay awake..."

In the reflection of the mirror, he saw a movement in the steam of the shower. For a brief second, he spotted a girl's naked back and quickly turned in shock. Malia glanced back at him in just time to see him spin around and cup a hand over his eyes.

"Don't worry, Stiles, you didn't just accidently walk into the girls' room," she called loud enough for him to hear.

"Thank god!" he cleared his throat awkwardly. "Um, okay, so what are you doing in the boys' room?"

"Showering."

Okay, you know what? Even if Scott hadn't told him about Malia being Olivia's half-sister, he bet that he would have figured it out just by her answer right then. It was just so Olivia—or maybe a Hale thing—that he would have recognized it immediately.

"I can see that." Shit, that's not what he meant to say. He didn't see anything except her back, really, and he didn't want to see anything else, so... "I mean, I saw that. Well, actually I didn't see anything really. There was a lot of steam, so...I didn't and I mean, I'm glad...I have girlfriend, who I'm very happy with...Not that I mean any offense to you—"

"Stiles, I don't care," Malia took pity on him, her voice flat. "In the woods, there was no boys' and girls' room. And if you really need to know, they keep the water temperature in the girls' room too low. It's much hotter in here. Ever since I turned back to human, I just can't seem to get warm."

"Oh, maybe you just have a low core temp," Stiles suggested. "Or you could be sick or—"

"I used to have a fur coat."

"Or it could be—yeah, it might be that, it's probably that," he said hurriedly. He heard her turn off the water and then her footsteps in the water. After a moment, she cleared her throat; he opened his eyes and lowered his hand to see her staring at him expectantly, towel covering her body. "Oh, good. You're covered up. Hey! I was kind of wondering why you punched me?"

Malia crossed her arms over her chest, staring at him with hard eyes. "Did you think I was going to thank you?"

"No," he answered too quickly, intimidated. "Well, maybe. We did kind of save your life."

"You're right, Stiles. Thank you. Thanks for invading my home, for putting me on the run. For getting your girlfriend to turn me back to human so that I could look at my father every day and try to figure out who to explain to him that the reason my sister and mother are dead is because I almost ate them on a full moon. Thank you so very much."

Well, shit, none of them ever thought of that...

His stomach turned and his neck itched—there's that guilt again. "We were just trying to help."

"You want to help me?" Malia raised an eyebrow. "Find a way to change me back."

"You want to go back to being a coyote?" After her heartfelt speech, he wasn't that surprised. Sure, Scott or Derek could probably help her learn to shift back into a coyote, but what about Olivia? Maybe she would want to get to know Malia. He knew she already liked her because Olivia had told him about the way that her abilities seemed to latch onto Malia immediately after she shifted back to her human form. They both had been confused about the connection between the two girls, but now that Stiles knew they were sisters, it was clear why it was there.

Malia saw his eyes shift; she grabbed his arms firmly. "What do you know?"

His mind raced. He felt bad about it, but what if he could get her help in order to change back to being a coyote? "I might know somebody who could teach you how to change..."

Thankfully, Malia's mind went the same route as his. "Okay, what do you want?"

"I need to get into the basement," he told her. "Which means that I need to get the keys off that orderly. The big one."

Malia nodded. "Brunski."

"You help me, and I'll help you."

-

Stiles—19 hours after admission...

With a promise to connect Malia to Scott, Stiles and Malia were able to come up with a plan to take the keys to the basement from Brunski. First, they got Oliver in on their plan, and then they waited for their next designated hour of free time. It was then that Malia would confront Oliver, telling him that the doctors were going to give him a lobotomy. Oliver was supposed to fight back and cause a scene large enough to get Brunski involved.

Stiles had to admit, Malia and Oliver were doing a great job. Currently, Oliver had Malia on the floor after tackling her out of her seat, and Malia was fighting back enough to cause a scene, but not enough to hurt Oliver. Oliver was screaming in her face while she fought and it wasn't long before three orderlies were on the scene, Brunski being one of them.

Stiles only moved from his spot in the corner of the room to go help Malia once Oliver was dragged off of her by Brunski and his goons. She sneakily passed him Brunski's keys while he helped her up and they both watched as Oliver nodded at them in satisfaction.

"You okay?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yeah."

Stiles waited for the orderlies to drag Oliver off—the whole time he was screaming about lobotomies—to leave the room. He quickly maneuvered himself through the building to get to the hallway where the door to the basement was located, and luckily, he wasn't caught.

Taking Brunski's keys out of his sweats, he went through each key, trying to unlock the door. One by one, each of the keys wouldn't fit into the lock. He shook with frustration and he felt his cheeks heating up with his temper. One of these fucking keys had to work after all the trouble they went through.

"Come on, come on," he hissed to himself. "I thought this guy had a key to everything."

A hand came down on his right shoulder. "I do," Brunski grabbed his hand and tore the keys from his grip. "but nobody has the key to that room."

He was pulled away from the basement door, ushered down the hallway, and up a flight of stairs where he and Brunski met with more orderlies. While he was searched, they found the bottle of pills Morrell gave him; that automatically got him in a secluded room, even if trying to break into the basement didn't.

The whole time Stiles' anger got worse. Now, he usually had a temper and was quick to mouth off, but he felt the Nogitsune's presence in his mind really made it worse. Normally, he'd spout some sarcastic comment, and yeah, it was coming, but now he really just wanted to kill every one of those orderlies.

He was dragged to the secluded wing on the second floor, where Brunski unlocked one of the rooms with the keys that he took from Stiles. "Into the quiet room, little man," the orderlies walked him into the room but didn't let him go. Brunski held up the pills. "Want to tell us where you got these?"

"A vending machine," Stiles spat.

Brunski laughed sardonically. "I always love the sarcastic ones," he handed one of the orderlies a shot of medicine. "Give him five of the Haldol."

Shit, shit, shit...I can't go to sleep!

"Wait, what is that? Is that a sedative?" he asked quickly. Only one orderly held him now but he was strong, because he hardly flinched when Stiles started trying to squirm out of his hold. "Okay, hang on. Hang on! I can't go to sleep. Okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry! Get off me, man!"

He continued to struggle to no avail. The needle was stuck in his neck and the medicine injected into his bloodstream. The orderly holding him let go and he immediately fell to his knees, the medication working quick. His vision became blurry and the only thought he had before his eyes shut was,

I have to stay awake.

-

Stiles—22 hours after admission...

He was in a locker. It was tight and small space that had his claustrophobia—which didn't really exist until right now—going wild. It reminded him of the night that they were stuck inside of the school with the alpha but he was more scared now than he was then. Because right now, he wasn't in the school fighting a huge supernatural animal that turned out to be his crush's dad. Right now, he was fighting a Japanese demon inside his own head and he was losing.

"Hey!" Stiles pounded against the locker door, the only light coming in through the three vents at the top of the door. "Hey, let me out! Let me out!"

He should have expected it, but he was still surprised when he saw the Nogitsune. He was wearing his usual leather jacket again, not the doctor coat from before. From research, Stiles knew that the jacket came from the World War II era. His head was still wrapped in bandages with only a hole for a mouth, where sharp teeth stuck out visibly.

"Let me in," the Nogitsune was not right in front of him, but a few feet away, walking by a long row of lockers. His hands, also bandaged, dragged against them as he slowly made his way to Stiles.

Stiles inhaled shakily and pressed his hand to the locker door. "What...what do you mean?"

"You know."

The long, drawn-out whisper that came from the Nogitsune infuriated him. "Okay, screw you and your stupid riddles!"

The Nogitsune suddenly appeared in front of his locker, his fist banging on the metal. Stiles jumped back as far as he could. "No riddle this time, Stiles," now he was back where he was a second ago, dragging his hand down the lockers. "You know what it means."

"Let me out." Stiles pushed against the locker. "Just let me out. Let me out."

He was frantic now as he beat against the thin metal. "Let me out! LET ME OUT!"

The Nogitsune's face pressed against the locker vents. "LET ME IN!"

Stiles woke up with a start, feeling fingers wrap around his wrists. He jerked against whoever had him in their grip. "No!"

"Shh!" it was Malia that shushed him. For a second, when he opened his eyes, he thought that it was Olivia rescuing him. "Hey, hey, hey, shh! Shut up!"

Stiles quieted down when his brain woke up and started working at normal speed. He glanced around, noticing that he was still in the secluded room. "How did you get in here?"

"I broke the lock," Malia told him matter-of-factly. "If I concentrate, I can be pretty strong," she pulled on his wrists insistently. "Get up. There's another way to the basement, through the closed unit. It's where they keep the real psychos."

-

Olivia—23 hours after admission...

Olivia was very envious of Lydia right now. Her redheaded cousin got to stay home this plan and honestly, Olivia wished she could have as well but she had to be here in case her powers were needed. It was a good idea, really, that she came with them, but as she sat, squished between Allison, Kira, and Scott behind a car, while they waited for Allison to finish searching out the armored car with her periscope, she wished she at least would have picked a different hiding place.

Finally, after observing no movement for more than a minute, Allison gave the all-clear. She turned to Kira, who had been given the tracker. "You're up."

Kira inhaled shakily and stood up, jogging over to the armored vehicle. She pressed the tracker to the underside of the back bumper and stopped to smile back at them. Within a second she had to hide as the door to the sheriff station opened and Deputy Parrish stepped out. They watched as he opened the passenger door, stopped for a second, and then pulled out his gun to search the area.

"We have to do something!" Scott hissed at Allison and Olivia. As Parrish stepped in front of the back doors of the armored vehicle, they opened. A huge man appeared and jumped on him, quickly knocking him out. "Wait, who the fuck is that?"

Allison lowered her crossbow, answering grimly. "Kincaid."

Well, shit. They had competition for the finger, that was very clear as Kincaid ruffled through a case in the back of the vehicle, finally pulling out the finger prosthetic that once sat on Katashi's hand. While he admired it, Olivia, Scott, and Allison had a conversation of nods and pointed glares that decided that they'd calmly approach Kincaid and ask him for the finger. If he refused, then things would get messy.

"We need that finger," Scott announced their presence, Allison by his side with her crossbow aimed at Kincaid, and Olivia behind him, a hostile glare on her face.

Kincaid's eyebrows rose as he turned to them. His voice sounded like he came straight out of a cartoon and was the main villain character of the series. "Why should I give it to you?"

"There's a briefcase in there with $150,000 in it," Allison replied calmly.

"The scroll inside this prosthetic finger is worth three million," Kincaid countered, holding up the prosthetic so they could see it.

Clearly, this would turn into a fight.

Scott stepped forward, his features forming into a glare. "Give me the finger," he paused as an amused smirk started to form on Kincaid's face. "You know what I mean."

From above, atop the armored vehicle, Kira jumped onto Kincaid's shoulders. It would have been pretty badass if he didn't immediately throw her to the ground.

Kincaid's wolf features appeared as he growled, "I guess negotiations are over."

Allison acted first, shooting him in the arm with an arrow, as Olivia backed up, warned that she should use her power from far away from the fight, lest she get hurt. Kira and Scott attacked right after, not allowing Kincaid time to pull the arrow out of his arm. The two were easily flung to the side, so Olivia stepped up. Her vision turned purple as she located Kincaid's tether on her map, grabbing onto to it. Through the purple haze, she could see his strength wavering, but it renewed when he was able to pull the arrow out of his arm.

Allison was quickly pushed out of the fight after hitting Kincaid with another arrow, and Olivia went down with her when she was knocked right into her. Both of them hit the wall, and for a second Olivia's vision blurred from the blow. She could barely hear Scott fighting Kincaid through the swooshing sound coming and going through her ears, but she could feel his tether glowing brightly. Every once in a while, while she recovered, he got in a few licks, but mostly, Kincaid was beating his ass.

"You have the eyes of an alpha," Kincaid acknowledged when Scott fell to the ground. "but where's the strength?"

"Up here!" Aiden called from atop the wall that Olivia and Allison had been knocked into. Ethan was by his side as they snarled and showed Kincaid their icy blue eyes and sharp canines.

Between the twins and their combined experience, Kincaid really didn't stand a chance. When Olivia finally pulled herself together to finish off the rest of Kincaid's strength, it was quickly over. Even when Kincaid stopped fighting, the twins didn't and it was very concerning to Scott.

"Ethan, Aiden, stop!" he commanded.

Aiden showed him his teeth. "You want him to come after us?"

Ethan, who was usually the calmer of the twins, backed Aiden up. "Scott, we've seen guys like this. Trust us. He's dangerous."

Scott shook his head. "So are we," he glanced at Kincaid meaningfully. "And he looks smart enough to remember that."

It was not a call that Olivia would make, personally, but that was why she wasn't alpha. She gave him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe Kincaid, moved by Scott's graciousness, wouldn't return. Maybe it would work this time.

"We're here to save a life," Scott reminded them, his eyes darting from the twins to Olivia, who must have been frowning. "not end one."

She nodded back at him. With the scroll now in their possession, they were one step closer to saving Stiles.

-

Stiles—24 hours after admission...

The first thing that drew Stiles' attention in the basement was the kanji sign carved into the wall. The backward five that meant self—it matched the one behind Olivia's ear, the mark that everyone in his pack except him and Allison had etched onto their skin.

Oblivious to what Stiles was staring at, Malia glanced around the basement. "Do you know what you're looking for?"

Stiles slowly crossed the room to where the marking was carved. "Something to do with that."

Malia followed him and knelt down beside it, tracing the carving with her fingertips. "What does it mean?"

"Self."

His dry, bitter voice made Malia curious. "Maybe you should tell me more."

Stiles shook his head grimly, eyes still on the mark. "You might not like me if you know any more."

Malia snorted and stood, crossing her arms over her chest. "Try to remember that I'm a werecoyote who murdered her own family. I won't judge, I promise."

And so he told Malia everything. First, he started with the Nemeton and the sacrifice that he, Scott, and Allison made. He told her about the affect it had on him, and how he thought that he was fine, before the thing with Barrow happened and he started having nightmares again. He told her how he figured out it was him who wrote Kira's name on the board for Barrow to find and kill her. He told her about the Oni and how they came after his whole pack, including him. He told her about his sleepwalking incident, where he thought he was actually trapped in the basement that they currently stood in. He told her about the Nogitsune and its hold over him. He told her about everyone the Nogitsune killed with his body, and how he hurt Scott and Olivia. Finally, he told her about admitting himself into Eichen, how he hoped that it would help when in reality it was just making everything worse.

The whole time, Malia didn't judge him, even though he kind of wanted her to. In the end, all she did was sigh and say, "Wow, that's a lot."

Stiles snorted and then glanced at the mark again. "There's nothing here."

Malia cocked her head thoughtfully. "Maybe..." she knelt down again and slid her hands over the marking a few times. Finally, she knocked on it. It made a hollow sound; something was in there. "Stiles, do you hear that?"

Stiles nodded and turned all about, trying to see if there was something to use to break the wall. Luckily, only a few feet away from them was a crowbar. He grabbed it and used it to smash the wall where the marking was carved. When the wall around the hole was cleared and the dust faded away, they peaked inside the opening he made.

Inside was a body dressed in a leather jacket, its head bundled up with bandages. It was the Nogitsune.

"This is him."

"The Nogitsune?" Malia asked, eyeing the body wearily. When Stiles nodded, she reached into the hole and opened the pocket on the jacket's breast. Stiles didn't expect anything to be in there, but to his surprise, she pulled out a picture. She handed it to him. "Do you recognize them?"

Stiles studied the picture, instantly recognizing Kira's youthful face next to a man that he didn't know. "One of them," he stood up slowly. "I have to get this to Scott."

All this time, Kira was involved with the Nogitsune?

He felt the shock forced into his body first, the pain radiating from his hip to his limbs and then back in again, before he heard the crackling of a stun gun. He slumped down onto the floor, the electricity flowing through his body rendering him unable to move, and saw that it was Oliver who had stunned him.

"You took Brunski's keys, I took his stun gun," Oliver pressed the stun gun into Malia's stomach, long enough that she wasn't able to fight back. As she slid to the floor, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a needle, stabbing her in the leg. "I also got his Haldol."

When Malia passed out from the medicine, Oliver turned away and walked over to the tower of boxes leaning against the wall opposite the room. "Like I was saying, Stiles. I heard they used to do trepanation here..."

"Oliver," Stiles groaned weakly, still shaking from the stun gun. He watched as Oliver opened one of the boxes and dug through it. "What are you doing?"

Oliver pulled out a drill and showed it to Stiles. "I'm going to let the evil spirits out."

-

Olivia—25 hours after admission...

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek while she watched Dr. Deaton undo the Shugendo scroll that they retrieved from Katashi's finger. It took a couple of minutes for him to read it, unfortunately, which made Olivia and Scott share several nervous looks.

What if this was all for nothing? What if the scroll didn't tell them anything? What if they couldn't help Stiles?

Dr. Deaton sighed heavily. "There isn't much here, unfortunately."

Scott gulped nervously while Olivia bit her cheek so hard it was starting to bleed. "Does it say anything?"

"My Japanese isn't great," Deaton admitted. "But it appears to say that one method of expelling a Nogitsune is to change the body of the host."

"Change the body?" Olivia echoed thoughtfully. Did that mean...? See, the only thing she could think of to change Stiles' body was the bite. The two of them had talked about the bite before, but that was if Stiles had the same dementia that his mother had. Would he still want it?

"Which begs the question, how do we change Stiles' body?"

Scott was clearly thinking the same thing as Olivia, though he and Stiles hadn't talked about it. "By turning him into a werewolf."

Olivia didn't hear if Dr. Deaton replied to Scott's answer. Her heart started racing as Stiles' tether lit up almost black instead of it's normal whiskey brown. When she reached out to it, her hearing left her and it almost felt like she was underwater. Stiles' tether was acting lifelike; it latched onto her own and pulled her in until her vision left her and she was no longer in the animal clinic.

Olivia found herself standing in some kind of basement and within seconds she figured that she was in Stiles' head, because the Nogitsune stood a hair's breadth away from her, staring ahead. She followed his gaze and saw two beds, both with people restrained in them, and a boy her age, pacing back and forth. She reared forward when she saw that it was Stiles and Malia who were restrained, wishing that she could just move and untie them. She couldn't, not when it was the Nogitsune who brought her into Stiles' tether and showed her his game.

A low groan came from Stiles' body as he slowly woke up. The boy who had been pacing stopped to stand over him, staring at him blankly. "I borrowed a few pointers from the five-point restraint."

Olivia watched as Stiles glanced down at himself, becoming aware of the situation he was in. Her heart raced and her tear ducts ached as he struggled against the restraints, trying to free himself.

"Oliver, stop this," Stiles begged. The boy—Oliver—just coughed harshly, hand over his mouth. When he pulled his hand away, there was blood pooling in his palm, a dead fly floating in it. "Oliver, listen to me. Stop."

Oliver wiped his mouth and to Olivia's horror, held up a drill, the kind that doctors used in surgery. Olivia screamed when he slowly brought the drill up to Stiles' head, and the noise prompted the Nogitsune into action, his head ticking in her direction.

"Start with her," he ordered Oliver, gesturing toward Malia.

Stiles was now able to spot the Nogitsune, though he couldn't see her. He glared at the demon venomously. "You. You did this. You got into his head."

Olivia shivered when the Nogitsune suddenly appeared behind her, his breath making the hairs on the back of her neck raise. "Every Dracula needs a Renfield."

Olivia turned to look at Oliver at the same time as Stiles. He was by Malia now, walking around her body to place himself next to her head. Olivia's tether map shook and within a second whispers started in her head.

Malia, Malia, Malia...Stiles, Stiles, Stiles...

"Let her go," Stiles whispered.

At the same time as Olivia spoke directly to the Nogitsune. "I know you can hear me. Let them go."

The Nogitsune only replied to Stiles. "Let me in."

Olivia closed her eyes and centered herself, hoping if she grouped all her energy in one place, she would be able to somehow communicate with Stiles. "Fight, Stiles," she whispered, clenching her fists together. "Please fight."

Stiles' tether flared slightly and Olivia could hear him tugging on his restraints, grunting with effort. "You can do this, Stiles."

"Stiles," the Nogitsune hissed; Stiles' tether trembled. "Do you want her to leave here alive? Do you want us to leave? We can walk out of this place."

Olivia shook her head and kept her eyes shut, as she fought to get Stiles' attention. "Stiles! Please, please listen to me."

She didn't know what to do. She couldn't save him, she couldn't save Malia. She couldn't do anything.

"Just let her go, please." Stiles whispered.

Olivia opened her eyes; she watched as the Nogitsune slowly walked to Stiles' side. "Let me in," his whispered voice slowly grew louder as Stiles sobbed and thrashed against the restraints holding him, absolutely crushing Olivia's heart. "Let me in. Let me in. LET ME IN! Let me in and I'll let her live!"

Stiles, Stiles, Stiles...

"STILES!"

His tether pulsed brightly before extinguishing all together. As a sob left Olivia's lips, she came back to herself. She was back in the animal clinic and there were hands on her shoulders. It was Scott who was in front of her, slightly shaking her out of her vision of Malia, Stiles, and the Nogitsune. Dr. Deaton stood just behind him, looking at her with concern.

"Olivia, what just happened?" he asked calmly.

"The Nogitsune, he pulled me into Stiles' head. I mean, I think it was his head," she tried to explain through her sobs. She wasn't usually a crier, but her heart just positively ached and she couldn't quite find relief. "He's got Stiles again and..." she paused, reaching out for Stiles' tether, only to find it still gone. "he's not there. His tether's not there!"

And without Stiles' tether, Olivia felt weak, like she was just floating through the air. Her chest ached, her breathing quickened, and she felt like she was going to pass out. She must have stumbled, because next thing she knew, Scott was pulling her into a tight hug. She squeezed her eyes shut and clung to him tightly, not even bothering to stamp down her cries. She didn't have the will to, unfortunately.

For the first time, Olivia understood what it felt like to live without an anchor.

(Gif is not mine)

[tw-anchor]

43. Fool Everyone

Anchor

Stiles Stilinski x Original Character

Episode: 3x19; Letharia Vulpina

Word Count: 6,253

Warning(s): Mature language, canon violence + gore

Author’s Note: Sorry for such the long time between updates. I had a college degree to earn! Let me know what you think about the chapter. Hope you enjoy!

Masterlink in Pinnned Post!

Allison Argent smelt like cherries even after spending the most of two days sitting vigil in a hospital. She had left only to go to the bathroom; otherwise Olivia brought all her meals, a change of clothes, and a stick of deodorant. Olivia, herself, had been in and out of the hospital, running herself ragged as she split her time between making sure that Isaac was still alive and searching for Stiles. Isaac was still alive, though completely comatose, and there had been no sign of Stiles—as himself or the Nogitsune.

On the third day of Isaac's hospitalization and Stiles' disappearance, the nurses and doctors still would not let Olivia or Allison into Isaac's room because they weren't family. It didn't matter how many times that Olivia raised her voice, Allison glowered, or Derek insisted; no one was getting in unless they were blood related. It absolutely infuriated all three of them and it was the first time that Allison and Derek ever agreed on anything.

So, Olivia and Allison found themselves resting on the bench outside of Isaac's room, where they had been for what seemed like eternity. It was close enough for Olivia to feel Isaac's faint tether and to know if anything was going on with his health. Currently, he was not healing and not reacting to any stimuli, though he did still have brain activity—thank God.

Olivia sighed and burrowed her head deeper into Allison's bony shoulder. When Isaac wasn't at the forefront of her mind, it was Stiles. She couldn't believe that she missed that he was possessed by a Japanese demon. He was her boyfriend, she loved him, and she still didn't realize until it was too late. She wanted to cry just thinking about what Stiles was going through at the moment.

Was he awake? Did he know what the Nogitsune was doing? Did he have any control? Does he know that none of this was his fault?

This was going to destroy him if they ever got him back. He may be a sarcastic bastard sometimes, but ultimately, he loved and wanted to protect people. Knowing that the Nogitsune used his body to kill two people and harm another—one of his pack—while at the hospital would ruin him.

Right now, Olivia couldn't focus on her own fear about Stiles. To keep herself together, she had to focus on finding him. Derek was out looking for him—along with a special task force of police and Allison's father—and once in a while, Olivia would try to use her mental map to locate him. Each time, his brown tether was nowhere to be seen. The only reason she knew he wasn't dead was because she recognized his presence in a sparkle near her own tether, bouncing around in agitation.

"I'm so tired," Allison whispered, her cheek squished against the crown of Olivia's head.

"If you want, I can stay while you go get some sleep," Olivia offered, though she knew Allison would refuse.

"No, I want to stay here," Allison repeated for what seemed to be the hundredth time.

Olivia nodded in acceptance and fell silent once more as Allison drifted off to sleep. Isaac's green tether pulsed slowly, mimicking his heartbeat, and she found comfort from the reassurance he was still hanging on.

The ding of the elevator caught Olivia's attention. Scott and Melissa walked out slowly, frowning when they spotted the bench where she and Allison had been napping on and off for the past few hours. She sent them a tired smile and nudged Allison awake.

"Have you guys been here all night?" Scott wondered, softly placing his hand on Allison's shoulder to announce his presence.

Allison nodded tiredly. "Yeah."

"They won't let us see him because we're not family," Olivia told them, standing up to stretch. "We told him that he doesn't have any—well, blood-related, anyway..."

"Well, blood-related or not, he's got us, and I've got a keycard," Melissa held up one of the keycards that would get them into Isaac's room—the perks of being a nurse. She swiped it through the lock and waited until it buzzed. "Be quick."

The monitor beeped in tune with Isaac's tether as they walked into the room. The whole side of his face where he fell into the electrified water was still scarred bloody and black as he remained unhealed. Olivia's breath stuttered for a moment before she exhaled loudly, her heart aching at the sight of one of her best friends laying in the bed, unconscious.

She quickly walked to the left side of his bed and took his limp hand, missing the way that Allison gripped onto Scott's arm tightly. Together, they slowly made their way to his other side.

"I thought he'd be healing by now," Allison said softly, eyes watery as she took in Isaac's pale face and his injuries.

"So did I," Scott agreed.

"Do you know if he's in pain?"

"He is," Olivia spoke up now, hot tears glazing over her eyes. Now that she was touching him, she could feel exactly how much pain he was actually in and it broke her heart.

How did they get here? Hadn't she promised to protect Isaac?

Scott laid his hand on Isaac's burnt right arm; sensing what he was doing, Olivia let go of Isaac and watched as black veins lit up his pale skin and transferred onto Scott's hand. Scott inhaled sharply as he transferred some of Isaac's pain onto him, his eyes clenching tightly together as he got through it. Just as his red tether lit up, Scott gasped frantically and let go of Isaac.

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek worriedly, eyeing Scott to make sure he was okay. He gave both her and Allison a reassuring look.

"It won't heal him, but it helps with the pain."

Allison brought her hand up to her mouth, chewing on the outside of her thumbnail. "Did Stiles really do this?"

Olivia knew that Allison wasn't attacking Stiles, but she got defensive anyway. "The Nogitsune possessing him did."

Scott nodded in agreement.

Allison gave Olivia an apologetic look. "Okay, so how do we get the Nogitsune out of him?"

"I'm working on it," Scott focused on Olivia. "I'm going to talk to Kira. Do you want to come with?"

Olivia nodded; if anyone knew about the Nogitsune, it would be her, right? They had already gotten as much information out of Katashi as possible and since Kira was a kitsune, she had to know some things.

-

"The thing is, in all of the stories, kitsune are tricksters," Kira spoke quickly as she accompanied Scott and Olivia down the stairs of school, all of them heading toward the locker room. "They're mischievous. They don't really get caught up in the right or wrong or even understand it."

"What's that mean?" Scott asked, slightly frustrated. "It's just doing this for the hell of it?"

Kira shook her head. "No, there was something else I found. If you somehow offend a Nogitsune, it can react pretty badly."

Olivia sighed. Of course the Nogitsune was offended. Why not? "How do you offend a Nogitsune?"

"I don't know, but if it's doing something this bad, then someone really, really offended it."

Kira slipped into the locker room in order to get ready for cross-country practice, leaving Olivia and Scott standing in the hallway to discuss what they just learned.

"How are we supposed to figure out who offended a thousand-year-old Japanese demon?" Olivia huffed.

"And how are we supposed to protect them against said demon?" Scott added, eyebrows furrowed. "How are we even supposed to get it out of Stiles?"

"I have no idea and I'm guessing hiring a priest wouldn't do anything..." Olivia paused when Ethan and Aiden pushed their way out of the locker room. "What could you possibly want right now?"

She was grumpy, so what? She didn't have time to be delicate when her boyfriend was possessed and missing and one of her best friends was on his death bed.

"Woah, calm down there, Liv," Aiden raised his hands while cocking an eyebrow. "We wanted updates."

"We heard what Kira told you guys," Ethan said. "So, we got nothing, huh?"

"No Stiles, no demonic ninjas..." Aiden started.

Ethan finished, "Things are getting too quiet."

Scott sighed heavily. "Yeah, I know. It's making me nervous, too."

Nervous had to be an understatement.

A dull ache started up in Olivia's eardrums at that moment. She would have thought that she was getting an ear infection but at the same time, Scott, Aiden, and Ethan all winced heavily, covering their ears. Clearly, something was going on that only werewolves could hear.

"You guys hear that?"

"Is it an emitter?" Olivia put the puzzle pieces together.

"One of Argent's," Scott confirmed as he looked around, trying to find where the noise was coming from.

Ethan found it first. "It's coming from the basement."

Ignoring the threat of missing cross-country practice—for the boys—and homeroom—for Olivia—the four of them took off to the stairs. It didn't take long to get to the basement to see what was going on. Naturally, as the slowest of the group, Olivia had been at the back. When Scott, Aiden, and Ethan all stopped to stare at something in one of the storage rooms, she couldn't see the reason until she elbowed her way to the front.

Stiles' familiar silhouette was outlined in the dull glow of the room's overhead lights. In one of his hands was the emitter that the werewolves had heard. Olivia's chest clenched just at the sight of him.

"Stiles?" she breathed unsurely. Was this actually Stiles or was it the Nogitsune?

Stiles slowly turned around and held up his hands defensively. "Okay, I know what you guys are thinking, but it's me," he said hurriedly. "I swear to God it's me."

Olivia faltered, still unsure, and in that moment, the twins pounced on Stiles, growling fiercely. The emitter was harshly thrown to the floor as they worked together to grab Stiles and pick him up by his shirt, bracing him against the wall. While Scott rushed at them, shouting at them to stop, Olivia quickly turned off the emitter and calmly placed a hand on Ethan's shoulder, willing him to calm down.

Ethan was extraordinarily easier to calm than his twin, his regular brown eyes blinking into focus. He let go of Stiles and stepped away with Olivia's hand still on him, breathing heavily. Aiden hadn't given up and it took Scott roaring at him in that alpha tone of his for him to back off.

Aiden hastily let go of Stiles and cowered away, his blue eyes flaring for a moment before turning brown. Olivia let go of Ethan to grab Aiden, pulling him away from Stiles, who was giving Scott an appreciative look.

"Stiles?" Olivia's whisper got his attention and she watched as his brown eyes softened at the sight of her.

"It's me, Livvy, I swear," he rushed her into a tight hug, wrapped his arms around her so snug it was difficult to breathe. At the moment, Olivia didn't particularly care; she was too wrapped up in his warm presence, glad to see him in one piece. "I don't know where I've been the last two days or what I've been doing, but this is me. I promise."

As Stiles let go of her, Ethan stepped up, arms crossed over his chest. "You know what happened at the hospital?"

"I know more than that," Stiles glanced at Scott meaningfully. He passed him to pick up a bag, where he took out a roll of building plans, laying them out onto the table nearby. "You see this?"

Olivia, Scott, Aiden, and Ethan surrounded the table, looking down at the building plans. It was the hospital, marked with different colored lines, and there were little notes written in Stiles' handwriting all over them.

"This is a blueprint of the hospital's electrical wiring," Stiles elaborated, pointing out the red lines. "You see all these markings in red? That's my handwriting. I know I did this. I caused the accident."

Olivia inhaled deeply and glanced at Scott, trying to read his face. Scott was staring at Stiles, slight curiosity and distrust in his eyes as he reached toward the duffle bag at his side.

Stiles continued. "And everything in this bag, it's all stuff that could be a part of something bigger."

Ethan reached into the duffle and pulled out a small power saw; Olivia inhaled through her nose at the sight of it. "What the hell have you been up to?

"I think something worse," Stiles admitted guiltily. "A lot worse."

Immediately, Olivia's brain went whirling, curious as to what the Nogitsune had planned. He wouldn't have just let Stiles go, right? He had to have planned something deadly in order to let him go, enough to satiate his amusement and move on to the next person he wanted to possess—if evil Japanese fox demons even worked like that.

First thing first, they had to figure out what exactly the Nogitsune had planned. Slipping on her "Stiles" hat—which she observed during their nights spent watching Criminal Minds and having him solve every crime before Spencer Reid could even stutter—she turned to their biggest clue.

Stiles.

"We need to search the bag," she advised, nodding at the duffle. Stiles, curious, turned to look at her. "You're our biggest clue as to what the Nogitsune wants, right? We need to know what's in the bag and whatever you can possibly remember to figure out what he's planned."

"She's right," Scott agreed while Stiles continued to stare at her; Olivia turned away from him, slightly confused as his tether shivered in some negative emotion she couldn't quite place, and grabbed the bag, setting it down on one of the tables in the room next to them.

Ethan and Aiden quickly got to work taking things out of the duffle while Scott, Olivia, and Stiles smoothed out another map that Stiles had with him. This time, it wasn't the hospital, but a detailed recording of the Preserve. Duct tape, telephone cord, rough rope, heavy chains, and a heavy-duty dog chain were steadily piled onto the table as the bag emptied.

"What the fuck were you doing," Aiden glanced at Stiles, who paced anxiously behind where Olivia and Scott stood. "building a Terminator?"

"Thanks for that," Stiles answered sarcastically.

"Hey," Olivia quickly cut in before an argument could ensue. She gestured at the map that she and Scott had been studying. "Guys, this is a map of the Preserve."

Ethan instantly reached forward, tracing a red line on the map. "Isn't that the cross-country trail?"

Scott nodded and as Ethan's finger passed the marker for the Looking Point, he added, "That's the Tate car, where Malia Tate's family died."

"You mean that where her father put the steel-jawed traps," Stiles said moodily as he leaned against the table, hands gripping the edge with white knuckles.

Olivia and Scott exchanged looks with Ethan and Aiden. Cross-country practice was happening currently, the boys having already missed the bus out to the Preserve. They had to get there because any one of their classmates could lose a foot within a second.

-

By the time Stiles' jeep screeched to a stop behind the parked school bus in the Preserve, only Coach was present, watching his phone while occasionally checking his watch. Stiles ripped the keys out of the starter and the four of them jumped out of the jeep, the three werewolves heading straight to the trail. Olivia and Stiles ran over to Coach, who looked bewildered at the sight of them.

"Coach!"

"Stilinski, what the—"

Stiles interrupted him swiftly. "Coach, listen close. We have to get everyone off the trail now."

"Why on earth—Where have you—Stilinski!" Coach couldn't focus, still shocked at Stiles' presence.

Olivia understood, but they didn't have the time to be gentle and patient. "Coach, a guy who lives close by put down a hundred coyote traps," she informed him urgently. "Including the trail, so we have to get everyone off now."

Coach's eyes darted between Olivia and Stiles for a second. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go!"

Coach led them to a shortcut to the halfway point of the trail that the team was running. Luckily—or unluckily, really—the same spot was marked on the map in Stiles' pocket, which meant that the Nogitsune had put a trap somewhere around there. When they got there, Scott and Kira were speaking in hushed tones and a group of students, led by Aiden, were a hundred or so feet away.

Stiles started running toward Scott and Kira. "Scott! Stop, stop, stop!" he slid to a stop, as did the students who had caught up to Scott and Kira. "Everyone, stop!"

Olivia and Coach, who had been left behind when Stiles started running, finally caught up and watched as Stiles rummaged around in a leaf pile. There was the sound of clinking chains as he picked up a metal ring; they all watched with bated breath as he pulled the chain out of the leaves, only to find it a few inches long.

A snort left Coach and he started clapping slowly. "Congratulations, Stilinski," he griped sarcastically. "You found a length of chain," he walked toward Scott, eyes determined. "Now, can somebody please tell me what the hell is going on?"

Olivia watched as Scott's widened, but she didn't know what had shocked him until he yelled, "Coach, watch out!"

It was too late. Coach's foot snagged on a trip wire. Within seconds, faster than Olivia could keep up, an arrow had shot from a trap a few feet away and impaled itself into his stomach. Several students gasped, including Olivia and Kira.

"Oh, shit..." Coach went down like a sack of potatoes, blood staining the stomach of his gray sweatshirt.

Everyone went into action. Olivia knelt by Coach's head, Aiden hovering behind her, as she tried to wake him up. Scott was on his left, trying to shake him awake, while Stiles pressed his hands to the wound, trying to staunch the bleeding. Others around them started gossiping, but luckily Danny had enough common sense to call 911.

Coach woke up very suddenly, screaming loudly and scaring Olivia and Aiden half to death at the sheer volume.

"Get it out of me, get it out of me, get it out of me!" Coach struggled now, the blood on his stomach spreading rapidly. Scott and Aiden now had to hold him down because he was wiggling so much from the pain and Olivia held onto the sides of his head, concerned that he might have hit his head on impact. "Oh, my God, I'm gonna die!"

"You're not gonna die, Coach," Olivia's voice was soothing; unfortunately, Coach was not a werewolf and those Anchor powers of hers didn't exactly work on him. "Danny's calling 911."

"They're sending an ambulance," Danny's voice came from somewhere behind her. "And police."

Every reassuring word fell on death ears.

"I'm gonna a die! I'm gonna die! Get it out of me!"

It was very clear that Coach's frantic shouting was getting on Stiles' nerves. His hands pressed harder onto his stomach and his voice had an edge to it as he repeated Olivia's sentiments, "Coach, you're not going to die."

More screaming.

"It'll hurt less if you stop screaming, Coach," Aiden advised, now taking the burden of Coach's struggling as Scott and Stiles had a conversation with their eyes; Stiles nodded at Coach's stomach meaningfully and Scott reciprocated, gripping Coach's arm tightly. Aiden and Olivia caught on quickly, as did Ethan and Kira.

"Get back!" Ethan ushered their classmates away so no one would see. "Get back, give him some room!"

"An ambulance is coming, Coach," Olivia repeated, watching as black veins showed up on Scott's hands, transferring Coach's pain into him. He grunted in pain until, finally, Coach exhaled, relaxed and pain-free, and fainted again.

"He passed out again," Olivia informed them.

Scott let go of Coach's arm but Stiles' shaking breathing got their attention. He had removed his hands from Coach's injury and held them up in front of him, shaking furiously.

"I could have killed him," his voice broke; his tether flared slightly in Olivia's mind. "I could have killed him, right? What if it was his head or his throat?"

"But it wasn't," Olivia crawled away from Coach's head to Stiles' side in order to take his place and compress Coach's injury. "And he's going to be alright."

Scott nodded at Stiles encouragingly and went to him, helping him to his feet.

"I think I just heard the ambulance coming," Aiden informed them, still kneeling beside Coach's shoulder in case he woke up and started flailing around again.

As if on signal, a police siren whooped from a distance.

Stiles sighed heavily. "And my dad."

-

Olivia leaned against the hood of Stiles' jeep, watching as Stiles and Sheriff Stilinski hugged and reunited for the first time in days. Scott stood next to her, watching the same scene, both of them quiet as their minds raced.

Olivia didn't know what Scott was thinking about, but her mind was on Stiles and his random appearance after days of radio silence all the while being possessed by the Nogitsune. His tether was acting strangely; it wasn't nearly reactive as it usually was, and it felt more negative than usual too. Did that mean that some presence of the Nogitsune lingered, like a virus or cold?

And still, the question of the Nogitsune's plan haunted her. An arrow to the stomach of a high school lacrosse coach couldn't be the only thing going on. They were missing something. No, they were missing a lot of things and it was driving her insane. How many people would get hurt like Coach if they didn't fix this?

"This doesn't feel right," she whispered to Scott; he glanced over at her thoughtfully.

Before he could respond, Ethan called for them. "Guys, you better look at this."

Olivia and Scott walked around to the back of the jeep, where Ethan and Aiden had the door opened and looking through the junk that had accumulated since Stiles last cleaned his vehicle. Another duffle was on top of some blankets and empty water bottles; it was full of screws, nails, and other hardware. Next to it was a roll of wrapping paper.

Horror dawned on Olivia when she realized where she had last seen that paper.

"This is the same wrapping paper we used for Coach's birthday present," Scott had realized the connection as well.

"Wasn't that William Barrow's thing?" Ethan asked. "A bomb made from nails and bolts all wrapped up in a birthday present?"

Scott nodded, speechless.

"Where'd it go off?" Aiden prodded.

"On a school bus."

-

Lydia: Hey, where are you? You're missing class

Lydia: I just caught mom talking to Peter. Get ready for either uncomfortable questions or hard denial of the supernatural

Lydia: Allison and I are going to talk to Peter, wanna come?

Lydia: Guess you're busy...

Lydia: Okay, heard about the bomb threat at school. Be safe, love you.

Olivia sighed as she read the build-up of missed texts from Lydia. Lydia's day did not seem as strenuous as Olivia's, but she still had her own set of problems—and that included explaining Peter's unnatural healing to her aunt, who probably already had her suspicions about the supernatural and her daughter's involvement.

Still, that had to wait for now. After informing Sheriff Stilinski about the bomb in the school bus, time seemed to go quickly. A heavy team of police force were sent out to the school, where they did, indeed, find a present wrapped in the same paper as the roll in Stiles' jeep. Deputy Parrish, who Olivia learned from Stiles had just moved to Beacon Hills and had been on a tour in Iraq, had experience with bombs, so he suited up to check out the present.

He came back with what was not a bomb, but the sheriff's name plate. It came straight from his desk at the station.

So now, the emergency lay a mile or so ahead of them, as Olivia, Scott, and Stiles sped through town in Stiles' jeep. Just as they turned the corner onto the street where the station was located, they saw a small explosion come from the wing where the sheriff's office was. A shriek left Olivia's lips as Stiles' jeep swerved in shock; Derek's tether lit up brilliantly. He was in the station and he was injured, but he wasn't dead. It didn't stop tears from welling up in her eyes as she felt the relents of her cousin's pain.

They had to wait impatiently for a few minutes while the initial flames were put out by the fire department, who had already been called but arrived at the same time as them. Noah didn't protest as they entered the station after him and his deputies, too busy trying to find his men to scold them.

"Get me an ambulance here, at the sheriff's station," Noah rambled off into his radio. "We've got an explosion. We got multiple officers down. Multiple officers down. We need an ambulance ASAP!"

Using her map of tethers and following Derek's, Olivia wandered off to where Noah's office had been. She found Derek on the floor, covering Mr. Argent. She rushed toward them, gently rolling Derek off of her best friend's father.

"Are you okay?" she asked both of them, but mostly Derek, who was staring off in space whilst blinking rapidly. "Derek? Derek?!"

He blinked and gasped sharply, jerking away from her and almost falling to the floor. While Olivia gasped and reached forward, Mr. Argent was there first, steadying him. "Derek?"

"I'm okay," Derek said between gasps of pain, leaning slightly into Olivia's touch.

She could now see his back, which was covered in shards of glass piercing his skin through his coat. It was obvious that he had took the heat of the blast and covered Argent, saving his life. That...that was shocking, but Olivia knew Derek. He wouldn't let anyone die who didn't deserve it. Mr. Argent was a good man and what Derek had done was pure instinct. Protect the good.

Clearly, Mr. Argent was shocked at the turn of events as well. "You saved my life..."

"Derek," Olivia got her cousin's attention. "Are you sure you're alright? What are you guys even doing here?"

"It's a long story—" Mr. Argent started to say, but was interrupted when Kira, of all people, ran over to her. She hadn't even known that Kira was at the station; how did she get there?

"Olivia, the Oni are on the way. We need to find Scott and Stiles."

Feeling guilty about leaving Derek so soon after injury, she found Stiles and Scott kneeling at the body of a recently deceased deputy. Her hands instantly found Stiles' arm while Kira explained to Scott that they needed to go. She needed him to ground her for just one second. She needed her person to let her know that everything was alright. She needed her anchor.

Instead, Stiles slid his arm out of her hold and took her hand tightly. She didn't think about how odd his action was, she didn't have time to think. He held her hand and dragged her out of the station, where the four of them got in and started to move. They were headed to the animal clinic, where hopefully they'd be able to hide out until sunrise.

"It's an animal clinic?" Kira asked skeptically when Scott told her where they were going.

Scott nodded. "Yeah, the place is lined with mountain ash, just like my house," he told her. "It will buy us some time."

"But they can get through," Stiles reminded them needlessly. They all remembered when they were marked by the Oni.

"Eventually," Olivia whispered. Maybe Dr. Deaton's mountain ash would hold up better than the McCall residence.

"Eventually," Stiles repeated flatly. "Nobody's got any better ideas?" There was no answer. "Okay, sure. The animal clinic."

It had started raining when they left the police station, but by the time they got to the animal clinic, it was pouring buckets. All four of them were immediately soaked when they got out of the jeep at the back of the building. Olivia had taken the spare key from its hiding place and was unlocking the doors with shaking hands when three tethers within her map lit up—one of them being her own.

"Scott, they're coming!" she shouted over the loud rain. She finished unlocking the door and pushed it open forcefully. "Stiles, get inside!"

Olivia didn't need to tell Scott that the Oni had arrived to kill Stiles. His back had already been turned toward the dark shadow ninjas as loud rattling made his ear quirk. "Go, go!"

Seeing Stiles hesitate at the sight of Scott starting to fight the Oni, Olivia grabbed his arm and used all of her strength to pull him inside of the mountain ash barrier. She didn't stop to see if Kira followed them into the main exam room.

"Okay, you stay here," she could hardly breathe from the anxiety welled within her chest; her hands fluttered around Stiles' shoulders, her eyes quickly looking him up and down for injury. His hair was soaked, smacked flat against his forehead and he was paler than usual but there was no sign of injury or blood, which was good. It needed to stay that way. "I'm going to see if I can help Scott."

She went to leave, but a cold, wet hand wrapped itself around her wrist so tight, she knew she was going to bruise. She looked back toward Stiles and reared away in panic when she saw his cold, cold eyes and the wicked smirk on his lips.

"Actually, I think you're going to stay here, my little Anchor," he purred almost maliciously. He grabbed her other hand in quick succession before she could fight back and his grip was so strong it made her flinch.

Realization dawned on her; this was the Nogitsune, not Stiles. It hadn't been Stiles all day.

All at once, she started struggling against him, using his hold on her to kick him in the leg with all of her might. He hardly flinched, but his smirk widened as twisted her around, arms bent uncomfortably behind her.

"Are you going to behave, sweetheart?"

The pet name infuriated her, and so did his condescending tone. Using some defense moves that Allison taught her, she bent forward and ducked out of his hold, slamming her foot down on his at the same time. His hold on her broke, but before she could even think of another defensive move, the palm of his hand had smacked her right cheek so hard that she was thrown to the ground.

She yelped in pain, her eyes tinting purple. Not only was her own tether going off, but Scott's was blinking madly.

"C'mere," the Nogitsune grabbed her roughly, his superior strength stark against her weak struggling. He hoisted her onto one of the chairs pressed against the wall and held her still with one hand while rifling through the cabinet next to him. First, he balled up a cloth and shoved it in her mouth to stifle her shouting, slapping some medical tape over top, and then he quickly tied her up with some of the restraints that Deaton used on his patients.

Finished, the Nogitsune stepped back and admired his work. Olivia was restrained in the chair, unable to move, unable to speak, and raging mad. He smirked; he'd been alive for thousands of years, had possessed many people, and torturing their partners always brought him some of the greatest satisfaction.

"You look so pretty all tied up like that," he crouched to be at her level and touched her face, slowly dragging the tips of his fingers against the cheek he didn't hit, flushed in anger. Muffled sounds came from between her lips, but he didn't care. "Now, be quiet while I kill Scott, hmm?"

And Olivia watched, unable to move or help as the Nogitsune walked back toward the door. "Kira!" he shouted. "Get inside!"

Scott's tether flared crimson as a pit grew in Olivia's stomach. He'd been injured; she tried to shout his name, but nothing came out thanks to the cloth and tape blocking her mouth.

"Get him inside, get him inside," Stiles ushered Kira and Scott into the exam room.

A sword was impaled in Scott's stomach, so Olivia didn't blame him for not noticing her tied up just a few feet away. Before Kira could even try to pull the sword out of Scott's stomach, the Nogitsune had grabbed her hand and pried it away from the handle before knocking her head on the table. She fell to the floor, unconscious.

Scott stared from Stiles to Kira in shock, before his gaze slowly drifted over to Olivia, who screamed from behind the makeshift gag. He looked back to Stiles, slowly realizing that his best friend wasn't actually himself.

The Nogitsune possessing Stiles moved his body in a way that was very different to Stiles' usual movements. Stiles was all jerky nods and spazzing hands, vibrant and bright with various expressions, sarcastic looks, and attitude. In contrast, the Nogitsune slowly tilted his head as he studied Scott's injury, his eyes assessing everything around him. There was no emotion in his eyes.

He slowly stepped toward Scott, his hand reaching out to the sword still in his stomach. His long fingers danced on the hilt like he was playing the piano. "You okay?"

"Please don't," Scott was still in shock. "stop."

"It's okay," the Nogitsune wrapped his fingers around the handle of the sword in a flourished movement. With his other hand, he grabbed onto Scott's right shoulder to brace himself and then pushed the sword in deeper. Scott groaned and shouted in pain while Olivia closed her purple eyes, trying to do something to help her alpha.

"Does it hurt?" the Nogitsune asked as he twisted the sword all the way around. "Hey, look at me." Scott looked at him reluctantly. "You really should have done your reading, Scott. See, a Nogitsune feeds off chaos, strife, and pain." He fiddled with the sword some more; Scott grunted loudly. "This morning, you took it from Isaac, then you took it from Coach, and then from a dying deputy...All that pain, you took it all..."

The hand that gripped Scott's shoulders moved to his face, holding it tightly. Olivia gasped at the absolute evil that emitted from Stiles' body; she shook within her restraints—not only feeling her own terror, but Scott's horror and pain as well.

"Now give it to me."

Scott's face went lax as dark veins started popping up all over his skin. Olivia watched for the third time today as pain was transferred between two people. More black veins started crawling up Stiles' arm while the Nogitsune shuddered in pure pleasure and ecstasy. It was over in a few seconds, but for Olivia and Scott, that moment seemed like years.

"Whoo!" the Nogitsune let go of Scott quickly and turned around, heading toward Olivia. He brushed some of the hair that had escaped from her ponytail away from her face and traced the bruise that was already forming on her cheek with a heavy fingertip. "All day long, you didn't even notice, Olivia," he hummed, low and long, gripped her chin and forcing her to look up at his face. "You really have to learn not to trust a fox, sweetheart. You know why?" he didn't wait for Olivia to respond. "Cause they're tricksters. They'll fool you. They'll fool everyone."

Olivia had never before been scared of Stiles. In fact, he was the best part of her life and she loved him with all she was. She looked forward to seeing his beautiful face every day. Now, with a hard grip around her chin and a throbbing bruise on her cheek, she had never seen him look so terrifying. In that moment, she never wanted to see him again.

"Not everyone."

Olivia's recognized Dr. Deaton's voice, and she had never been so grateful to see the vague veterinarian that Scott worked for. A needle was swiftly pierced into Stiles jugular, the plunger pressed, and the Nogitsune went down, dropping at Olivia's feet, his eyes rolling into the back of his head.

When it was clear that the Nogitsune was no longer a threat at the moment, Scott and Olivia let out simultaneously breaths of relief. Dr. Deaton tended to Scott first—which Olivia was glad, he had a sword sticking out of his abdomen, for crying out loud—and when the werewolf was healing up, he undid her restraints and ripped the makeshift gag out of her mouth.

"What was that?" She asked, nervously looking down at Stiles' body. "Was it a cure?"

"Will he be okay?" Scott added desperately.

Dr. Deaton's face was grim, and it didn't give the two teenagers much hope. "The fox is poisoned, but it's not dead," he informed them. "Not yet."

(Gif is not mine)

[tw-anchor]

42. A Shadow

Anchor

Stiles Stilinski x Original Character

Episode: 3x18; Riddled

Word Count: 8,040

Warning(s): Mature language, canon violence + gore, blood, hospitals, angst

Author’s Note: Hey there! I’m so sorry for the large gap between updates, life has been so crazy. I hope you enjoy! Please like, reblog, and comment!

Masterlink in Pinned Post!

The ground was cold beneath her feet. The skin on the bottom of her feet, pampered and soft, had never been outside for so long in freezing temperatures; long had the iciness dulled into an ache that never left, buzzing through her heels, arches, and toes. She was thankful for the softness beneath her feet; it had been a miracle that she hadn't stepped on a sharp twig or even a piece of glass laying on the forest floor.

"Olivia..."

Olivia rapidly turned toward the whisper, his familiar voice caressing her ears. No one stood before her; for a hundred feet or so, there was nothing in front of her except for a fallen tree, some bushes, and ferns, untouched by everything except for the frost in the air. The wind blew slightly, brushing her hair across her back and rustling the leaves on the trees around her, but other than that, there was no movement. She was alone.

"Livvy...please..."

It was Stiles again.

She turned once more and strode forward, following his voice. She ignored her numb toes in her determination and when she caught sight of a tall frame with messy hair, hiding just behind one of the large trees in front of her, she sped up her pace. She hustled toward the tree, her heart beating wildly.

"Stiles?"

He wasn't there. She could have sworn that he was.

She whipped around, impatiently brushing her hair out of her face, and searched the area nearby. Waiting for a few seconds, she inhaled sharply when she saw familiar blue, plaid-patterned pajama pants. Stiles quickly stepped out from behind the tree he was hiding behind and turned back to her with a worried look.

"Livvy?"

"Stiles!" she hurried after him.

But Stiles kept walking away from her. The worried look was gone, and though she couldn't see his face, his whole body had tensed, like he was ready for a fight. No matter how quickly she sped up, he outran her.

"Olivia."

His voice came from behind her now, even though she could still very clearly see his form in front of her. She turned again. Stiles stood in front of her now, only inches away from her face, staring down at her with cold eyes. He was no longer wearing his pajamas but a black-and-gray striped hoodie and dark jeans, his hair matted flat against his head. It was the shadows that bruised his eyes that worried her the most. They were worse than the other day when she sent him to the hospital.

"Stiles?"

The Stiles in front of her slowly smirked. It sent a chill up her spine.

"Run," someone, something, in her head told her to go. By now, she knew to listen to that voice.

She fled, but there was another Stiles. He was in his pajamas once again, and he was trapped against a tree, tied up with strong ropes and some kind of metal trap that encased his left ankle. His head popped up from its resting place against his chest, his face red and wet from frantic tears. He looked absolutely miserable and so, so frightened.

"Livvy, please help me," he whispered to her.

"You can't help him." It was the other Stiles she had come across and his tone was cruel as he slowly stalked around her. A wicked smirk made his lips tilt as his eyes went back and forth between her and the pajama-clad Stiles, full of mischief and strife. "He's mine now."

Olivia snapped her teeth together, fear and anger pulsing through her veins. "Who are you?"

Stiles' evil twin laughed mockingly. "I'm Stiles. Stiles is me. We're one," his voice changed until he was almost singing; she clenched her fists, heart racing. "There's nothing you can do about that, little Anchoram."

His voice echoed in her head, harmonizing with the familiar whispers that had haunted her mind ever since her father bit her.

There's nothing you can do about that...He's mine...He's mine...He's mine...

-

The buzz of a phone reaching his sensitive ears woke Scott up from a deep sleep. His tired eyes ached as he squinted at the time on the screen; he'd only been asleep for an hour.

Like many nights before in the years of his teenage-hood, Stiles was calling him in the middle of the night. For some reason, though, this call felt off—and he hadn't even answered the phone yet. Stiles had been having a hard time sleeping for almost a month now and even then, he had insisted on not bothering him with his nightmares. He didn't mind being woken up—come on, it's Stiles—but it was worrying that he started up his habit of midnight calling after a few months of radio silence.

Scott picked up his phone and quickly pressed the green button. "Hey, man, what's up?" there was no answer, just heavy breathing. He was familiar enough with Stiles to know that it was him on the other line; he just didn't know why he wasn't saying anything. "Stiles? Stiles, you there?"

Finally an answer. "Scott?" Stiles' voice was as hoarse as it was quiet and he could hear the utter fear encased in his words.

"Yeah, I'm here," Scott sat up in bed, his concern for his best friend growing. Was his night terror so bad he was calling while still asleep? "Are you okay?"

"Scott, I don't—I don't know where I am," Stiles whimpered. "I don't know how I got here. I think I was sleepwalking."

"Okay, um, can you see anything? Just, you know, tell me what you see."

"Ah, it's dark. It's hard to see,. I think there's something wrong with my—"

Abruptly, the line disconnected.

Scott inhaled sharply and pulled the phone from his ear, hurriedly redialing Stiles' number. The room around him seemed to spin as he waited for Stiles to answer the call, and he stood up from his bed to ground himself.

"Hey!" came Stiles' voice; unfortunately, it was his voicemail. "This is Stiles and you missed me. Leave a message!"

Scott pressed the 'end' button and then redialed again. "Come on," he hissed to himself, hoping that he'd get an answer. "Come on, Stiles."

"Hey! This is Stiles—!"

He hung up. "God, come on, come on, come on..." before he could redial again, a phone call from Stiles popped up on his screen; he quickly answered. "Stiles?"

"Scott," Stiles was still whispering and breathing heavily. "I don't think I can get out of here. I can't move."

"Where are you?"

"I don't know, I don't know," Stiles repeated helplessly. "It's too dark. I can't see much and something's wrong with my leg. It's stuck on something and it's—I think it's bleeding."

Shit, this is not good. Sleepwalking is one thing. Sleepwalking and injuring yourself is another.

"How bad?" he asked, bracing himself. "Stiles, how bad is it?" there was no answer; panic shot through Scott's veins. "Stiles, are you there? Can you hear me?"

Stiles inhaled sharply on his end of the line. "Ah, there's some kind of smell down here. Something smells terrible. It's brutal, my eyes are watering."

"Okay, listen, I'm gonna call your dad—"

"No, no, no, no, don't," Stiles insisted, his voice cracking.

"But your dad—"

"Don't," he interrupted him. "Just please don't call him. Promise you won't. He already worries about me too much...Scott, please."

"What if I can't find you? Stiles, I can't make a promise like that."

"No, no, no, just please..." Stiles paused, sniffling. "Please, don't call him. Come find me. You can do it. He doesn't have to know. Scott, you can find me."

Scott let out a desperate gasp, his heart clenching anxiously. "I don't know if I can do this."

Stiles sniffed again and let out a long, shuddering breath. "Oh, I gotta call you back. I have to turn the phone off."

"What? No, hey, wait—"

"I'm gonna call you right back—" the line cut off.

"Hold on, Stiles wait! Hold on, man," Scott paused his desperate pleads and turned away from his phone in order to get Isaac's attention. "Isaac! Isaac, get up, I need your help! Isaac!"

While he waited for Isaac to get out of bed, he hurried to his dresser, turning on the lamp as he went. He grabbed some jeans and a hoodie just as his door opened and Isaac appeared, hair ruffled from sleep.

"What's wrong?"

"It's Stiles," Scott grabbed the extra bike helmet he kept on his dresser and tossed it to him. "Get dressed."

"What's wrong with Stiles?"

"I don't know."

"Should we call Liv?"

"I don't know!" Scott answered a little too harsh. He frowned at the meek look on Isaac's face. "Sorry, sorry. Uh, yeah, we should call her."

Isaac nodded and retreated from the room, presumably to get dressed. Scott fumbled with his phone and pressed on Olivia's phone number, pressing the device to his ear while he waited for her to answer. The ringing never stopped and after a moment, her voicemail message started.

"Hi, you called Olivia. Leave a message."

All the air in his lungs swooshed out. Olivia should have known that something was going on with Stiles...Did she try to look for him without help? Did she get caught up in whatever was happening to Stiles?

He stomped out of his room at the same time that Isaac entered the hallway. "Liv's not answering her phone."

"She didn't answer me either," Isaac blinked rapidly as he tried to figure out what was going on. "She would know, right? I-I mean..."

"That's what I was thinking," Scott placed a shaky hand on Isaac's shoulder and tried to be reassuring. "She might be sleeping. Come on, we gotta go."

Isaac nodded and followed him through the hallway and down the stairs. By the time they entered the front room, Scott's phone was ringing. He had hoped that it was Olivia, but he was glad to see Stiles' name on the screen, nevertheless.

"Hey, Stiles," in his haste to answer, he dropped his helmet to the floor; Isaac swiftly ducked, picked it up, and handed it back to him.

"Did you call him? Did you call my dad?"

"No, just Isaac. We're coming to find you," Scott informed him. "Can you figure out where you are? Try to find something and tell us where to look."

"It's a basement," Stiles spoke shakily. "I think...I think I'm in some kind of basement."

"In a house?"

"No, it looks bigger, like industrial. I think there's a furnace but it's cold. I-It's freezing down here. I-I gotta turn the—I gotta turn the phone off. It's going to die."

"Wait, wait, wait, what else is there?" Scott asked hurriedly. "What do you see?"

"The phone's dying, I can't talk," Stiles' voice lowered into a quiet whisper. "I have to go...Please just—"

"Stiles, why are you whispering?" dread grew in his belly.

There was a long silence. "Because I think there's someone in here with me."

-

When Scott burst into Stiles' room, Isaac right on his tail, he had expected that Lydia might be in there. He had seen her car parked at the curb in front of the house and he knew that if her banshee abilities were anything like that side of Olivia's powers, he guessed that she had felt Stiles' disappearance...or heard it.

"You knew," he breathed, relieved to see her. Her presence calmed him down long enough to straighten his back and look around the room, eyes widening at the clumps of photographs and red yarn pinned all over Stiles' room. "He didn't call you, did he?"

Lydia nodded, answering his unspoken question. "I heard it."

"Don't ask," Aiden, who, up until that point, Scott was trying to ignore, spoke up. "it gets more confusing when you ask."

Scott held back his eye roll. It wasn't confusing to him.

"Okay..." Isaac drawled, eyes darting between Scott, Aiden, and Lydia. "Well, Liv's not answering her phone."

"I think she's out there," Lydia's lips trembled, the dimple in her left cheek appearing. "I think she knew that he was in trouble and she tried to find him, but now I think she's lost too."

"So, we have to find both of them, okay," Scott nodded quickly and tried not to panic. It would have been so much easier to find Stiles if Olivia was around. If he factored in his own worry for her, he'd probably have a breakdown. And he couldn't do that; Stiles and Olivia depended on him. "He uses red for unsolved cases," his eyes trailed over the room again.

"Maybe he thinks he's part of an unsolved case?" Aiden suggested.

"Or is an unsolved case," Isaac added, shrugging.

"Did he give you any hint about where he could be?" Lydia asked Scott.

"He said he was in an industrial basement somewhere. We came here to get a better scent."

"What else did he say?"

Scott filled Lydia and Aiden in on the rest of what they knew; his leg was bleeding and he was freezing.

"Tonight's the coldest night of the year," Aiden voiced his concern. "It's going to drop into the twenties."

Lydia blinked slowly; Scott could hear her heart racing nervously. "What did his dad say?"

"We kind of didn't tell him yet."

"Stiles is bleeding somewhere and my cousin is missing. Both of them are probably freezing to death somewhere and you didn't call Sheriff Stilinski?" she asked sharply. "Scott, Stiles took his Jeep!"

Scott lowered his head. He hadn't noticed that. He was preoccupied with his thoughts of Stiles missing and the presence of Lydia's car and her banshee abilities to notice. They wouldn't be able to find his scent because he hadn't walked out of the house.

Shit, shit, shit, shit...

He made a quick decision. "Okay, we need more help. Lydia, you call Derek and tell him about Stiles and Liv. Isaac, you get ahold of Allison—"

"So, we're getting everyone but the cops to help?" Lydia interrupted him, frustrated. "Great idea."

"You do remember that she gets these feelings when someone's about to die, right?" Aiden reminded him.

"I know," Scott shot him a glare before looking back at Lydia. "And I was gonna say that I'm going to the police station to tell Stiles' dad. It's five minutes away."

Lydia pressed her lips together in approval, nodding slowly. "We'll catch up."

"What? Why?"

"There's something here," Lydia looked around the room again.

"Yeah, evidence of total insanity," Isaac commented, taking one last look around the chaotic room.

Scott's stomach swooped again. "We can figure out what's wrong with him after we find a way to keep him from freezing to death."

Lydia waved at them hurriedly. "Go, we'll be right behind you."

-

She wasn't in the woods anymore. Instead of stepping on damp leaves, the soles of her feet met smooth concrete, still cold to the touch. Olivia had no idea where she was or how she had gotten there from the woods, but she was scared. The echo-y cries that reached her ears sounded just like Stiles. The screams haunted her.

"Stiles?"

Olivia continued walking down the concrete hallway with no lights to guide her. She just followed the screams and used numb fingers to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

Come find me. Come find me. You're almost there. Keep going. Stiles, Stiles, Stiles...

Abruptly, Olivia walked straight into a wall. Her face was so numb she could hardly feel the sting from the impact against the rough surface, but there was still a little ache there. She was just reaching up to rub her nose when she heard a voice—Stiles' voice.

"Who's there? Who are you?"

"Stiles!" she called out to him, hoping he'd hear her.

Instead, he started speaking calmly in Japanese. When did he learn Japanese?

"What?" it was Stiles again. Was he talking to himself? "I don't—I don't understand!"

He spoke again in Japanese and then translated for himself. "Not who are you, Stiles. Who are we?"

Olivia slapped her hand on the rough wall. "Stiles, can you hear me? Stiles!"

"It's getting colder, Stiles," he continued to speak, having a two-sided conversation with himself. "Did you notice that we've stopped shivering?"

She paused, having not noticed that herself. Long gone were the small tremors that wracked her body, but in its wake was a stinging cold that left her almost numb.

"Do you know why that's a bad sign?"

"Hypothermia," Olivia whispered, answering the question he seemed to be asking himself. "Our bodies are trying to conserve energy."

Soon, their speech would start to thicken and then would come the fatigue and confusion. They were going to die if she couldn't get to him.

"Stiles!" she yelled now, hoping to get his attention. "Stiles, let me in!"

She pounded her fists on the wall again and again, yet it held firm. She could feel the skin on her knuckles starting to break, could feel the warm blood slip down her numb fingers, but she ignored it.

"Stiles, please!"

It felt like ages that she had tried to get through the wall. Stiles continued to talk to himself and either he couldn't hear her screams or he could hear them and he was ignoring them.

"Do you know any riddles, Stiles?" he whispered a reply, hardly loud enough for Olivia to hear. He was getting tired, probably. "What gets bigger the more you take away? What gets wetter the more it dries? When is a door not a door? Everyone has it, but no one can lose it?"

"I don't know."

She could hear Stiles starting to panic. "Stiles!"

"What is it, Stiles?!"

"I don't know."

"Everyone has it, but no one can lose it."

"I DON'T KNOW!"

More tears slipped down Olivia's face as Stiles screamed, pure agony and fear heavy in the way his voice trembled. She leaned her forehead against the wall and sobbed, feeling utterly useless. How was she supposed to save him? How was she supposed to be an anchor and yet be totally and irrevocably worthless?

"Stiles...please...Stiles..."

-

There was no one on the hospital roof when Derek got there. Stiles' scent lingered, some type of spicy cologne and sweat, but the teenager was nowhere to be found. Even more concerning, Derek couldn't find any hint of Olivia anywhere. There was no cinnamon or apple to create that mix of Stiles and Olivia that Derek had begrudgingly gotten used to since they started dating.

Slowly, Derek walked away from the door, following Stiles' scent to the large generator caged within a twelve-foot square of expensive wire. He faltered, almost weighed down by the emotion hidden within the smell of Stiles; whatever Stiles had been doing on this roof was important but he didn't know why.

The sound of rubber soles against concrete came from behind him. Scott and Isaac had caught up, it seemed.

"He's not here," he told them without turning around, his eyes glued to the generator in front of him. "not anymore."

"You mean the whole building?"

Isaac quickly followed Scott's question with his own. "What about Liv?"

"She wasn't here and he's gone," Derek answered.

Isaac excused himself to go tell Sheriff Stilinski about Stiles and when Scott asked that he find Allison, he easily agreed. Once he was gone, Scott walked over to Derek's side, pausing when he took in the absolute headiness of Stiles' scent.

"Notice how strong the scent is up here? Ever hear of chemo signals?" when Scott shook his head, he continued, "Chemical signals that communicate emotion. Just our sweat can give off anger, fear, or disgust...Take a deep breath and tell me what you feel."

Scott inhaled deeply...within seconds, he felt something take hold. "Stress."

Derek nodded. "And anxiety." That wasn't a new chemo signal that Stiles gave off, but this time it felt different. Like he was fighting something...

"What was he doing up here?"

"I don't know but there was definitely some kind of struggle."

"With who?"

"With himself," Derek didn't know what that meant for Stiles. Was he struggling to wake up? Was he having a bad dream? Or was something else going on here?

-

It was an hour later by the time that Derek had cleared the high school and the Martin house looking for Olivia and Stiles. Olivia's scent in her bedroom was hours old and when it led out to her backyard and then the preserve, he quickly lost it to the natural habitat that grew there.

A low growl escaped his throat but he didn't allow himself to be caught up in his emotions any further. He had experience with that; when the time was right, he could conduct himself almost clinically, prioritizing others' needs before his. Tonight was one of those times. Olivia and Stiles were counting on them, on him, and he couldn't freak out like an inexperienced teenager.

Derek inhaled deeply and hunkered down, trying to find Olivia's apple pie scent. He slowly walked deeper into the preserve, following his nose and sometimes changing his direction in order to catch something. He must have walked a mile, chasing something that wasn't there, when he became aware of Peter's presence.

A little late, he mused to himself. He called Peter over an hour before with news of Olivia and Stiles' disappearances.

"Find anything?" Peter's expression was abnormally serious. It surprised Derek; this was the most emotion that Peter had spared toward Olivia since his resurrection. He had always just assumed that his barely-there fatherly instincts were burned away by the fire with the rest of the good qualities of his personality. Maybe his was hiding his instincts under a thick layer of narcissism, vindictiveness, and arrogance.

"I'm trying to catch a scent. No luck so far."

"Then we keep going."

Derek didn't need to voice his agreement; the two started walking again, trying to find anything that would give them a hint of where Olivia and Stiles went. A half-hour of nothing went by before they came across one of the Preserve's parking lots, near the spot of woods where Olivia turned Malia Tate back into a human after eight years of being a coyote.

To their surprise, a black SUV pulled into the lot soon after. Derek walked over to it, recognizing both Melissa and Agent McCall, while Peter paced, still scenting for the two missing teenagers.

"Derek," Melissa acknowledged him with raised brows. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Looking for Olivia and Stiles," he glanced uncertainly at Agent McCall. "And you?"

"Rafael had a thought," Melissa paused and Derek had to keep himself from making a snarky remark about the seven-foot-tall asshole. "He thinks Stiles might be sleeping still."

"And that led you here?"

"In the transcript of Scott's conversation, Stiles mentioned his eyes stinging from some sort of smell," Agent McCall stated. "It made me think of the coyote den where we found Malia Tate's belongings. We sprayed so the coyote wouldn't come ba—"

Before he could finish, Peter was calling his name. A slight breeze had drifted by them and it had Peter's hackles raising immediately, sensing both Olivia and Stiles nearby. "They're here somewhere."

Derek took off, following the scent. "They're at the coyote den!"

It didn't take long to get to the cliff where the coyote den was snuggled between humongous rocks, forming a cave only a few feet in circumference. Near the mouth of the den, passed out on the rocks, was Olivia. She had bloody hands and feet and her lips were starting to turn blue from the cold.

Derek instantly got down on his knees next to her, ignoring the sharp pebbles digging into his kneecaps, and checked her pulse. Sighing in relief when he felt her strong heartbeat, he wrapped his arms fully around her in order to start warming her up.

"Peter, is Stiles in the cave?"

Peter tore his eyes off his daughter and dipped his head into the coyote den. "He's here."

"Melissa!" Derek raised his voice so the McCalls, who had been straggling behind them, could hear. "They're here!"

Within a minute, Melissa and Agent McCall arrived at the den. They didn't even pause to catch their breath before Melissa was crawling into the small space; Stiles started screaming as she grabbed him and started pulling him out, begging her to leave him alone.

Derek wasn't an emotional man and he didn't much like Stiles, but it hurt his heart to hear the utter fear in Stiles' voice. It was worrying, then, that Olivia didn't even stir at all of the commotion. Stiles sobbed and screamed, only quieting when he woke up from his nightmare, and still, she hadn't woken up.

This is all very, very wrong.

Two hours later, after Stiles and Olivia were checked into the hospital and on the mend, the thought was still on Derek's mind. Even as he pulled his car into the spot next to Stiles' jeep so that he and Aiden could jump it, he couldn't think about anything else. Never had he felt so disturbed about something that he was missing; and they had to be missing something about this whole thing.

Aiden climbed into the driver's side of the jeep and unlatched the hood. Derek quickly opened it and attached the jumper cables to the battery, nodding at him to turn the engine over. Once it had started, Aiden jumped back out to start a conversation while they waited for the battery to boost.

"So, you think he was just sleepwalking..." sometimes Derek just wished the kid would shut up. "or is there something more to it?"

Unfortunately, Aiden happened to be right. "In this town, there's always something more."

"What if I told you I know something more?" Aiden prompted as Derek detached the cables and closed the hood of the jeep, engine still running. He raised his eyebrows, curious. "I kind of overheard—well, I listened in on Stiles talking to Olivia and Scott. He thinks he was the one who wrote that message in the Chemistry room, the message telling Barrow to kill Kira."

It didn't even take a second for Derek to get what Aiden was hinting at. "You think Stiles—skinny, defenseless Stiles—is the Nogitsune? A powerful, dark spirit?"

"I'm not the only one thinking it," Aiden defended himself. "I'm just the only one saying."

Still, Derek didn't want to believe it. "This thing wants to possess someone and chooses Stiles? Why wouldn't it take someone bigger or stronger? Someone with a little more power..."

Even as he denied Aiden's claim, his mind was overworking. There was a possibility it could be Stiles, after all. Stiles wasn't a weak guy by any human means—just supernatural—and power didn't only have to come from physical strength. As much as Derek hated to admit it, Stiles was one of the smartest people he knew—barring Olivia and Lydia, of course—and arguably the glue of the McCall pack. If a dark spirit wanted to possess someone at the heart of the pack, it'd be him.

He needed to talk to Kira to find out exactly what Barrow did to her at the power station.

-

-

Olivia hated being confined to a hospital bed while everything was so screwed up. Her hands and feet—scraped up, scratched, and bloody upon arrival—had been cleaned and bandaged with only one set of stitches needed on her left hand. She was slowly warming up thanks to the warm blankets covering the entire length of her body and the IV pushing fluid into her veins. She was practically at full health, yet there she was, playing patient when her boyfriend was in much more trouble than she was.

She chanced a glare at Melissa once again, but the nurse caught it and just shook her head. "You're staying the rest of the night and most of tomorrow, Olivia. Doctor's orders."

"Well, the doctor doesn't know anything," Olivia grumbled. Already she had sent away Natalie, Peter, and Derek—her cousin helping out by jumping Stiles' jeep, left dead in the parking lot—and soon after, Lydia and Scott had come into her room to wait for news on Stiles. Half an hour later, both of Scott's parents had joined the group, none of them even having the energy to glare at Agent McCall just for his existence.

"Please, just relax, Liv," Lydia whispered, eyes tired and red.

Olivia couldn't relax, though. If she relaxed, she'd fall asleep. And if she fell asleep, she wouldn't get news on Stiles.

Any moment now, Noah would come to her room—Scott had been nice enough to let the sheriff know about their whereabouts—and tell them how Stiles was doing. The only news they had gotten so far was from Melissa, who let them know that Stiles was going through a psychiatry consult while he warmed up from his long night in the cold. Why that took two hours, they didn't know.

Thankfully, at that moment, Noah stepped into the room.

"He's sleeping now," he told them somberly. "and he's just fine. He doesn't remember much. It's a bit like a dream to him."

Olivia knew she should be relieved that Stiles didn't remember the traumatizing night, but that left more questions on what had actually happened. She only remembered bits and pieces of her walk through the woods, trying to find Stiles, and she was pretty sure she was gonna go crazy before all of it came back to her.

Still, Stiles was all right for tonight. He was safe at the moment.

"Thanks," Noah held his hand out to Agent McCall to shake.

"It was that repellent we sprayed in the coyote den to keep other animals out," McCall explained. "I couldn't go near it without my eyes watering. It's just a good thing he mentioned it over the phone."

"No, it was more than that," Noah insisted. "Thank you."

"It was a lucky connection—"

Noah cut him off, irritated with the agent's avoidance. "McCall, can you shut up, please, and accept my sincerest gratitude."

"Accepted."

As the two fathers shook hands, Olivia and Scott exchanged an annoyed eye roll at the latter's "gene donor", as he so elegantly put it days before. Only would Rafael McCall be so annoying while the father of an injured teen thanked him.

Now that the awkward handshake was over, Melissa turned to Scott and Lydia, who were sitting in the loveseat on the left side of Olivia's bed. "All right, you two. You've got school in less than six hours. Go home, go to sleep."

Lydia immediately turned to Olivia. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

Olivia smiled. "I'll be fine, Lyd. Promise. I'm tired, so I'll probably just go to sleep right away, anyway. Besides, I need you to get my notes for tomorrow."

"Only you would think of school at a time like this," Scott grinned weakly at her. "Sleep well."

"You too."

As Olivia watched everyone leave the hospital room, she hoped that whatever happened that night wouldn't haunt her when she closed her eyes.

-

The slope of Stiles' nose always fascinated Olivia. It was perfect and she could even calculate the angle using some algebra formula that she didn't bother remembering at the moment. In conclusion, Stiles' nose was too cute—cuter than she had ever thought a man's nose could be.

His nose wasn't the only perfect feature on Stiles' face. Though some girls might have thought that Stiles looked nerdy—what the fuck were they on, this man was gorgeous—she knew how beautiful he truly was. His jawline was ace, his lips were slightly too big, but proportional to the rest of his face, and the moles that formed constellations on his skin made her feel like she was staring at the night sky. Everything about Stiles was memorable. She couldn't look away, she didn't want to look away.

Olivia sat still in the seat next to Stiles' bed, waiting for him to wake up. After an enormous amount of begging to Melissa, and a promise to stay under a blanket and hooked up to her IV, she was able to take her spot by Stiles' side. She had been watching him sleep for a while now, long enough for Melissa and Noah's conversation to ebb and for her to think about what they had whispered to each other, hoping that she couldn't hear.

Frontotemporal Dementia was what was whispered between them. It was the disease that Claudia Stilinski was eventually killed from, the one that Stiles reluctantly spoke to her about when they had the conversation about their dead mothers. It was the only form of dementia that was able to appear in younger people, including teenagers. She could remember him whispering to her that he was afraid that he'd end up like his mom one day.

Oh, how Olivia wished that he was wrong; she wished that he never had to worry about that. Unfortunately, it was a very real fear, especially now with his symptoms that had shown up out of nowhere. Symptoms that matched Claudia Stilinski's.

Olivia had never met anyone that had Dementia or Alzheimer's, but she had obviously read about it. It was said to be one of the most painful of diseases to die from, though it was easier for the patient than their loved ones. Families watched the people they loved most slowly disappear right in front of them, and there was no cure. It ate and ate at a person until there was nothing left but an empty shell.

What if Stiles ended up that way? What if she had to watch as he faded away until he wasn't even Stiles anymore? Because if he did have it, there was no way she could leave him. If there was dementia housed up in that brilliant brain of his, she would be by his side the whole way. God, it would hurt. It would hurt a lot, but she'd do it because she loved him too much not to.

Olivia wasn't really a believer of God, but sometimes, she knew that things happened for a reason. At that moment, she knew that it was no coincidence that she ended up being so interested in science. One day, she'd cure Alzheimer's and Dementia.

Stiles' perfect nose twitched as his face twisted into a grimace. Olivia sat up, relieved to see him waking, and watched as he blinked rapidly and slowly set his weary, brown-eyed gaze on her. "Livvy?"

"Hey there, sweetcheeks," she smiled as convincingly as she could. "I think you got more sleep than I did."

It was true. It was already two in the afternoon. Within an hour and a half, Scott would be arriving so he could give Stiles his support during his testing. An MRI was scheduled, and that was only the beginning.

Stiles quickly grabbed for the remote that controlled the bed, television, and nurse's button; the bed slowly came up until Stiles was in a seated position. He squirmed around for a moment, getting comfortable with the pillow against his back.

"Yeah, sorry. The nurses wouldn't let your dad bring your pillow."

"The nurses here are too strict," Stiles rolled his eyes. "Are you okay? Dad said you were admitted too."

"I'm fine, just a few scratches," she waved him off, not wanting him to worry about her. "How are you feeling? Still tired? Are you hurting anywhere? Are you hungry? I think they had chocolate pudding in the cafeteria, I can ask Melissa to get you some. They might still have some leftover food from lunch, but it was pretty gross and I don't want to subject you to—"

"Babe, I don't think I've ever heard you ramble before." He swiftly cut her off, a small smile playing at his lips. "I'm okay. I'm not hurting or anything like that, though I am a bit hungry. Do you think Scott would stop by the diner on his way here?"

She didn't scold him for the pet name. He was in a hospital bed, he could call her anything he wanted. "I can ask. Let me—"

"No, no, wait," he grabbed her hand before she could attempt to get up, eyeing the IV hanging off the pole next to her chair. "Stay with me, please."

"Okay." She intertwined their fingers, noticing that his hands were cool and dry. "I think you need some lotion, Stiles. You're getting scaly."

Stiles snorted. "Cool, I'll be like a dragon."

"I can work with a dragon," Olivia smiled weakly. As long as he was there.

Her line of thinking must have shown on her face because his tentative smile dropped. Her stomach turned; she didn't know if Stiles knew about the testing he'd be doing later, but either way, she wanted to be strong for him. She hadn't done a great job so far.

"You know about the testing?" he asked quietly.

"I overheard Noah and Melissa talking about it," Olivia inhaled deeply. "but everything's going to be okay. If you do have it, we'll figure something out."

"Neither of us are optimistic, Livvy," Stiles sighed heavily. "There's no cure. If I have this, and I'm ninety-nine percent sure I do, there's a chance I'll be gone by the time I'm eighteen. Eighteen."

Olivia scooched forward in her chair so she could be closer to his bed, tears already stinging her eyes. "Please don't talk like that, Stiles. Please," she rested her forehead against their combined hands, pressing her lips to the space between his thumb and index finger. "I can't—we'll do something. Scott, he can—"

"There's no guarantee that the bite can heal me."

Stiles' voice was almost a grumble; it made her look back up at him. "If it did, would you take it?"

"Do you mean, would I become a werewolf?" Stiles asked, eyebrows cocked. When she nodded, he did too. "Yeah. If it means staying alive, I'd do anything. I don't want to leave my dad, or Scott, or you."

"You're not gonna leave us," she assured him with a whisper. Getting to her feet, she leaned over him and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. "Everything is going to be okay, Stiles. It has to."

-

If this was any other circumstance, Olivia would have laughed at the baffled look on the doctor's face. Currently, he was staring down at Stiles' chart with wide eyes, his mouth forming shapes over and over again as he tried to sound out Stiles' legal name. Olivia didn't see what was so hard about Mieczyslaw. It was easy for her to pronounce.

Then again, this particular doctor was an idiot.

"I'm not sure I know how to pronounce this or if it's not actually a misspelling," he muttered, glancing at Noah unsurely.

"I'm sure you've seen a Polish name before," Olivia rolled her eyes at that man, enjoying the way he bristled in offense. She didn't feel bad for him, if he could pronounce some of the wacky medicines they used in the medical field, he could say Stiles' name without any difficulty.

While Stiles and Scott laughed freely at Olivia's comment, Noah held back a laugh and stared at the doctor unimpressed. "Just call him Stiles."

"Okay, Stiles," he emphasized, turning to Stiles, who sat on the MRI table, Scott standing next to him. "Just to warn you, you're going to hear a lot of noise during the MRI. It's due to pulses of electricity going through metal coils inside the machine. If you want, we can get you some earplugs or headphones."

"Oh, no," Stiles shook his head, unbothered, and scratched his temple. "no, I don't need anything."

"Hey," Noah got his attention. "we're just on the other side of that window, okay?"

"Okay." Stiles patted Noah's shoulder when he hesitated, but soon the sheriff was walking out of the room with the doctor.

"If it was me, I would have chosen headphones," Olivia joked just so she wouldn't cry. This was it; they'd find out soon if Stiles had dementia. Stiles smiled weakly back at her and accepted the hug and kiss she gave him. "I love you, sweetcheeks."

"I love you."

Olivia gave Scott a pointed look, one that said to meet her in the waiting room. Unfortunately, only so many people could be in the booth with the doctor, and Melissa had already volunteered to wait with Noah, so they were stuck in the waiting room for news.

She quickly left the room and waved at Noah through the booth's window, indicating where'd she'd be. A thumb's up later, she was stalking through the hallway to the almost-empty radiology waiting room. Derek was there, waiting for her.

"You okay?" this was the first time Derek had seen her that day, but she didn't mind. She wasn't in any kind of delicate medical condition where he needed to be by her side all day.

"I'm okay," she sat in the chair next to him. "Stiles? Not so much."

Derek's face fell. "I'm sorry, Ollie."

"Do you think—I mean, if he does have it...Would the bite fix him?"

"I think it would. It helped Erica's seizures..."

There was no guarantee, though. She caught what he didn't say.

Olivia sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Ollie, I have to talk to you and Scott about something..."

She raised her head, staring at him with wide eyes. The look on his face was telling tales of his emotions, something that Derek wasn't known for. There was fear and anxiety and reluctance. Whatever he had to tell her and Scott, it wasn't good news.

"What?" it was not Olivia who asked, but Scott. He walked into the waiting room, wiping his cheeks from the emotional encounter he had with Stiles seconds before.

"Remember when I took Cora back to South America?" both Olivia and Scott nodded—yeah, she remembered, considering she had to hire Braeden to rescue him and Peter from the Calaveras. "Well, that's not the only reason I left. I needed to talk to my mother."

Olivia inhaled sharply. "You spoke with Aunt Talia?" that explained sewing Peter's finger back on; he obviously did the alpha ritual on Derek, but she had been so busy that she never asked him what he found out.

Derek's lips quirked only a little in confirmation. "She told me something that changed my perspective on a lot of things. She said that my family—our family—didn't just live in Beacon Hills. They protected it. This town needs someone to protect it; someone like you two."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek. Lately, she hadn't been feeling like she could protect anyone. She didn't check on Derek and Isaac when they were marked by the Oni, she couldn't stop them from getting to Lydia. She couldn't help Stiles with frontotemporal dementia—she couldn't do anything. How the hell was she supposed to protect Beacon Hills?

"And someone like you to teach us a few trade secrets..." Scott smiled at Derek but it quickly faltered. He stood, his face full of recognition. "He was trying to protect us. Stiles was protecting us from himself."

"What are you talking about?" Olivia stood along with Derek, squeezing her hands together anxiously.

"When we were looking for you, I checked the hospital. I found Stiles' scent on the roof and his chemo signals told us that he was fighting something. We didn't know what it meant," Derek quickly explained.

"We need to go to the roof," Scott declared.

The three of them walked out of the waiting room, quick with determination. Olivia was still a little confused with what exactly was going on, though. She knew what chemo signals were, and how they affected one's scent, but she didn't know what Scott was inferring to when he said that Stiles was protecting them from himself.

Scott and Derek sped up as they got to the stairs heading to the roof, but as soon as Olivia took one step onto the first stair, her whole world slowed to a stop and became bright with purple.

Stiles, Stiles, Stiles...

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

She found herself in the same MRI room that Stiles was currently in, though he was sitting up and fully dressed. He was wearing a striped hoodie that looked familiar, though she knew he had never worn it before.

"Have you figured out my riddle yet?"

On the other side of the room was a man's figure, his head wrapped in dirty bandages. He wore some kind of military jacket, but it didn't seem recent by any means. He spoke with an accent, but Olivia couldn't make out what kind.

Stiles whipped around, glaring at the man with scared eyes.

"If you answer correctly, we might consider letting them go," the man paced closer to Stiles. From his close proximity, Olivia could see that he had sharp teeth poking out of the mouth hole of his bandages.

"Letting who go?" Stiles whispered shakily.

For a second, the man stared right at Olivia. It was strange because she knew she wasn't really there and Stiles obviously didn't know about her presence...so how could he see her? "Your friends, your family, your girlfriend. Everyone who ever meant something to you. We're going to destroy all of them, Stiles..."

Olivia's eyes stung as she bit the inside of her cheek, remembering a tidbit of what happened the night before. Stiles had been talking to himself, but it wasn't really him, was it? The Stiles that taunted her had told her that they were one. Was that why he now called them 'we'?

"One...by...one..."

"Why?"

It physically hurt Olivia to hear Stiles cry, but there wasn't anything she could do. The horror of the situation dawned on her, she couldn't do anything in the physical world—where she was probably still in the stairwell—or this world, which must have been Stiles' head, or something like that. She had to watch as this dark spirit—the Nogitsune, she finally realized—took Stiles and hurt him.

"Everyone has it," the Nogitsune whispered instead of answering. "but no one can lose it. What is it?"

Stiles scoffed, shaking his head in annoyance as the Nogitsune turned around. "I don't know."

"A shadow, Stiles." It was no use, he couldn't hear her.

"Everyone has it, but no one can lose it. What is it?"

"I don't know."

"Everyone has it, but no one can lose it!" the Nogitsune shouted, causing Stiles to rear away from him. Olivia watched, horrified, as it started to unravel its bandages; Stiles held his hands to his ears as he cried, trying to block out the screams. "What is it?! What is it?!"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Stiles screamed as the final bandage came undone.

Olivia gasped. Stiles' beautiful, perfect face was no longer just his. The Nogitsune stared back at her and Stiles with his face, smirking wickedly. Chills made their way across her body, she had never seen him smile that way before.

"What is it, Stiles?" the shadow-Stiles whispered one last time.

Stiles took his hands away from his ears and whipped around toward the Nogitsune. "A shadow."

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Olivia gasped as she came back to herself, purple bleeding away from her vision. She was still on the stairs, but Scott and Derek obviously hadn't noticed she had an episode, because they were no where to be seen. She had to tell them what she saw inside Stiles' head, she had to.

She started up the stairs once more, but quickly had to stop when loud clanging filled her head, giving her a horrible migraine.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Stiles is gone...Stiles, Stiles, Stiles...

Someone's going to die! Your pack is going to—

The power surged. Isaac's bright green tether lit up brightly, making her go blind for a second.

"ISAAC!"

[tw-anchor]

41. Demonic Ninjas

Anchor

Stiles Stilinski x Original Character

Episode: 3x17; Silverfinger

Word Count: 7,055

Warning(s): Mature language, canon violence + gore

Author’s Note: Sorry for the long wait. I hope you enjoy! Please make sure to reblog, like, and tell me what you think!

Masterlink in Pinned Post!

"His eyes were glowing."

Mr. Argent stared at Scott, though he didn't seem to be seeing him. The glint in his blue eyes made it look like he was traveling through time, recalling long-buried memories. "There was something almost ritualistic about it," he agreed with Scott as Allison continued to mop the blood pouring from the cut above his eyebrow. "Like it was looking right into his soul."

"That's the same thing it did to me," Isaac murmured, sitting in the chair on Olivia's left.

"That's what it did to everyone," Allison added.

Scott shook his head. "Not everyone, they only came after the werewolves."

Olivia clicked her tongue in disagreement. "They went after Lydia and me, too, remember?"

"Anyone with a connection to the supernatural," Mr. Argent said knowledgably.

"Then who was the guy they went after in Japan?"

Finally, someone asked the question that Olivia wanted to ask but had the patience to wait. She and Mr. Argent weren't the best of friends by any means, but they had a considerably better relationship than the end of sophomore year when he helped get Stiles away from his evil father. That was thanks to his actions that night and how close she, Allison, and Lydia had gotten. She respected the man—so if that meant waiting for answers until Allison could finish patching him up, she was fine with that.

Apparently those weird demonic ninjas had attacked Isaac the night before when he was visiting Allison for a late-night...chat. Olivia didn't know the specific details—though she would definitely pry them out of Allison later—but they did to Isaac what they did to Lydia and Aiden only hours before. Mr. Argent had found familiarity in Isaac's description of his attackers and had asked him and Allison to wait to say anything until he did some digging.

His digging led him to the Japanese mafia and from there...well, he was a bit bloody at the moment, so things did definitely not go as well as he would have hoped.

"A Kumicho," Argent answered, having already filled them in on the beginning of his story; when he first saw those demonic ninjas years ago. "A Yakuza boss. It was my first gun deal, I was only eighteen and it was supposed to be a simple exchange. Except Gerard left out the minor detail of the buyers being Yakuza," he scoffed and shook his head bitterly. "He wanted to see if I could adapt in the moment, testing my ability to improvise."

"Or your ability to survive," Allison murmured, her distaste for Gerard very apparent.

Mr. Argent didn't disagree with her but instead, chose to continue his story. "The moment the sun went down, they just materialized out of the shadows. They had swords, not curved like katanas but straight, black steel. Like ninjatos."

Olivia raised her eyebrows, mentally making a note to study Japanese weaponry when she had the chance. "What did they want?"

"To get to the Kumicho..." Mr. Argent paused for a long moment, more memories haunting his eyes. "They cut down every living thing in their way."

Isaac reached for his ear, running his fingertip over the marked skin behind it. "Did they mark him like they did us?"

Argent dipped his chin gravely, careful not to mess up Allison as she finished stitching him up. "Not exactly."

Well, they all knew what that meant.

"What was he?" Scott asked somberly.

"I don't know, but there might be someone who does," Mr. Argent revealed just as Allison finished up bandaging his stitches. "There were a few others who survived that night. One of them was a man named Katashi. They called him Silverfinger because of an unusual prosthetic."

Olivia's lips curved; if Stiles was there, he would have been gushing over a fake finger made out of silver.

"It looked like he was getting ready to take them all on himself," Argent continued. "I've known for a while Katashi was in the country; I spent yesterday tracking him down."

Isaac winced, gesturing to his forehead. "Didn't really look like he wanted to be found."

"Not particularly, no."

Scott glanced at Olivia and she cocked her head in response, both of them thinking the same thing. "Do you think he knows what they are?" Scott asked Argent. "Or what they want?"

"Maybe."

"What if he doesn't want to talk?" Allison brought up a good point; Argent had already been injured by Katashi's men. "What if he doesn't even remember you?"

Mr. Argent stood from his desk chair and approached an ornate wooden box settled on the side of his desk. "He'll remember this," he pulled off the lid, revealing a silver mask broken into four separate pieces. Scott immediately reached for a piece. "I know I didn't kill it, I'm not sure you can. But I slowed it down long enough for us to get out of there."

Scott held the mask piece out to Olivia; taking it, she asked Argent, "What was behind the mask?"

"Darkness," Argent answered grimly as she studied the heavy metal. "Absolute darkness."

-

Olivia was going to kill Aiden Steiner.

She didn't get any sleep that night, thanks to the demonic ninjas and the talk at the Argents' apartment, but thankfully, she did have time to stop by her house and change her outfit. It was then that she first crossed paths with Aiden, who had come over to make sure Lydia was all right. He had been weirdly cheerful as he greeted her and then followed her all the way to her bedroom. She had ignored him and thought he would go away while she changed; unfortunately she was wrong.

He waited for her outside her door and then followed her down to the kitchen, watching with her with a creepy smile on his face as she scarfed down a quick bowl of cereal. When he had asked her for a ride to school, she put the pieces together. Aiden was following her for some insane reason and she did not like it one bit.

Olivia did not make it a priority to spend time with Aiden—in fact, she could say that she went out of her way to avoid the first half of the former alpha twins. After spending five minutes with him alone, she realized that she had been right to; how Lydia could stand to be in his presence for more than a minute blew her mind. He would not stop talking, chatting about anything that caught his eyes on the drive to school. And then, when they finally got to school and she exited her car, he proceeded to follow her into the building, all the way to her locker.

"Why are you being so annoying?" she hissed at him as she dialed her locker combination. "I don't want you around me, I don't want you following me."

"I'm protecting you," Aiden insisted, leaning against the locker next to hers. "Listen, I don't want to be here, either, but Ethan decided that I was stuck with you."

"Stuck with me?" Olivia gaped at his audacity. "You're the one following me around like I'm Lydia."

"I wish I was stuck with Lydia."

"I can't stand you."

"Aw, the feeling's mutual."

Olivia clenched her fists, trying to have some control and not punch him in that ugly mug of his. It was hard, she wasn't going to lie, but at least Scott walked up to her, distracting her from her violent tendencies. Of course, Ethan was right behind him. "Ugh, you got one too?"

Scott wasn't pleased with his bodyguard either. "Yep," he sighed and stared at the twins. "You guys going to be doing this all day?"

Ethan nodded. "All day."

"All night," Aiden finished.

"Is this about being in our pack?"

"This is about you two being the target of demonic ninjas," Aiden refuted.

Ethan looked over at his twin, raising his eyebrows mockingly. "You mean the demonic ninjas that pulled swords out of their chests and completely kicked our asses?"

"Yeah," Aiden pointedly glared at Olivia and Scott. "Those demonic ninjas."

Olivia glanced at Scott and narrowed her eyes at him, silently telling him that he needed to take care of this. Scott inhaled deeply and told the twins, "We don't need you to protect us."

"They were looking at the both of you when the sun came up."

"And then they disappeared," Olivia reminded them. "Allison's dad thinks that they only come out at night. Last I checked, the sun's shining, boys."

Ethan didn't humor her. "Since this is our first experience with demonic ninjas, we're thinking we should play it safe."

"All day," Aiden insisted.

Olivia groaned and shared an annoyed look with her alpha. "And all night."

Scott shook his head. "Fine, whatever," he gave in reluctantly, knowing that while he had some chance against said ninjas, Olivia would need some protection that the former alphas could provide. "First, Liv and I have to talk to Stiles and let him know everything that happened last night...and that needs to happen without you."

"No," Aiden instantly denied while Olivia took out her economics book and shut her locker.

"Yes," Scott emphasized as Olivia rolled her eyes. "And I don't want you listening in, either. No wolf hearing."

"How would you even know?"

Olivia raised an eyebrow at Aiden, and fibbed just a little. Hey, if it would get the twins away from her and Scott, she didn't mind lying. "He's a true alpha," she pointed out. "You guys have no idea what he can do."

Her statement was firm and would have been so badass if Scott had kept his mouth shut. Instead, he sounded like a fourth grader when he boasted, "Yeah!"

Olivia gave him a deadpan look and grabbed his wrist, tugging him away from the twins in order to meet up with Stiles at his locker.

Stiles was already waiting for them, anxiously tapping his fingers against the metal lockers he leaned against. He looked like he hadn't slept in three days and Olivia inferred from the dark circles under his eyes that he probably hadn't. He was bundled up in a too-large hoodie and gray t-shirt that made his paler-than-usual skin contrast sharply.

His appearance honestly worried Olivia. When she had seen him at the rave the night before, he looked much livelier and healthy. He looked so sick now, and worse than that...panicked.

"There you are," he said, almost urgently, when they were close enough to him. "Olivia, do you remember those keys yesterday?"

"Yeah," Olivia said, worried about how serious he was.

Stiles nodded and started walking away; Olivia and Scott hurried after him. "Okay, and do you remember how you were kinda drunk and we were dancing and stuff and then we got something to drink?"

"What's going on, Stiles?" she sped up her walking so she could hold his hand; his skin seemed so clammy that it worried her even more.

"I just need to show you," Stiles brushed her off, letting go of her hand, and turned down the science hallway. He headed straight to lab where the message to kill Kira was written down, the one with the closet full of chemicals. "All right, so, you were talking about phosphors and the key having chemicals on it, remember? So, that made me think of the chemistry closet and the fact that someone had to let Barrow in."

Olivia paused for only a second as Stiles opened the classroom door and held it open for her and Scott to come through.

"It's gone..." he murmured, sounding utterly devastated, when he glanced at the board, noticing that the message about Kira was missing. That devastation was gone in an instant, replaced once more by urgency. "Okay, it doesn't matter, though, it doesn't matter. I still have the key."

Her mind raced as he tore off his backpack and searched for his keyring...Was Stiles saying that he was the one that let Barrow into the closet? It scared Olivia at how out of sorts he seemed, digging through his backpack like his life depended on it. Stiles finally found his keyring and all but ran to the chemical closet, pausing when he couldn't find the key he was looking for.

"What the fuck?" he swore at himself very angrily. "I had it. I had it here," he turned to Olivia and Scott with wide, frantic eyes that broke their hearts. "I had it here this morning. I swear to God, I had it this morning."

His hands were shaking so badly that Olivia couldn't sit still. She stepped toward him and took them between her own, holding them against her collarbone and pressing her lips to his fingers. It did something in the way of calming him down, making him slump into her until his head was resting on her own.

"This is the key you were talking about last night, right?" Scott asked skeptically, causing Stiles to look back over to him.

"Yeah," instantly, that bad energy was back inside again, bouncing around his body. "I showed it to you, right? Didn't I show you?"

"No, you just told me about it," Scott shook his head hesitantly. "I never actually saw it."

"But I did, remember?" Olivia was quick to remind her boyfriend when it looked like he was about to have a mental breakdown right in front of them. "You showed me. I remember it."

"Okay, but it's not here now," Stiles ripped himself away from her and stumbled toward the clean blackboard. "I was here a couple of hours ago and the message left to Barrow spelling Kira's name was right there on the board. It was in my handwriting and I had the key to the chemistry closet."

Okay, so, yeah...Stiles genuinely thought that he was the one to sent Barrow to kill Kira. Olivia bit the inside of her cheek worriedly as she stared at him. This all had to be the lack of sleep, right?

"So, you unlocked the chemistry closet so Barrow could hide in it from the cops, and then you wrote him a message to kill Kira?" again, Scott sounded skeptical.

It had Stiles whirling around on him in defense. "I know how it sounds, but look at this," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled ball of paper. It was an article about Barrow's initial crime. "This is the news report that came out about Barrow when they caught him, okay? About the shrapnel bomb that he used. See this? See what he did? He used nuts, bolts, and screws and then he hid the bomb and the detonator in a box that he wrapped as a birthday present..."

A trembling hand covered Olivia's mouth when she realized what exactly he was getting at.

"What does that sound like to you?"

Scott inhaled quietly, uneasily. "Coach."

Stiles nodded. "The joke we played on Coach," he confirmed shakily. "That was my idea, you remember? That was my idea. That's no coincidence, it can't be!"

Honestly, Olivia didn't know what to think. Yes, Stiles had compelling evidence, she wasn't going to deny that, but Stiles wouldn't do this. He wouldn't let Barrow into the school in order to hide from the cops while also leaving him with instructions to kill Kira. This was Stiles Stilinski, the man who cried during The Empire Strikes Back and who was ultra-ticklish under his chin. There was no way he would work with a shrapnel bomber to kill the new girl—one that he didn't even know.

From the hesitant look on Scott's face, it was clear that he agreed with her. "I don't want to sound like I'm trying to tell you that you're wrong," he said carefully, aware of Stiles' fragile state. "but I don't think you're trying to kill people either."

Stiles stared at him for a second before he looked back at the board, almost dejected, crumbled up the article once again, and whispered, "It was here. It was all here."

Olivia's heart positively ached. "Sweetcheeks," she pried the article out of his hand and intertwined their fingers in order to get his attention. "are you feeling okay? You look so tired."

Stiles blinked down at her. "Yeah, I'm fine," his continued whispers did nothing to assure Olivia of anything. "I just haven't been sleeping really."

Scott gave him a pitiful look. "Why don't you go home? Take a sick day or something."

"I'll go with you," Olivia offered. When Stiles nodded, she wrapped an arm around his waist and started leading him out of the classroom. They were halfway to the door when his legs almost gave out; if it hadn't been for Olivia, he'd be on the ground. "All right, nope, we're going to the hospital."

Scott gathered the rest of Stiles' weight, wrapping his other arm around him. "I'll help you take him to your car."

Stiles didn't argue about the hospital, which told them that he was really feeling bad. It broke Olivia's heart to see him like this—she decided then and there to talk to Noah and see if she could sleep over for a couple of days so Stiles would feel safe enough to sleep. She couldn't stand to see him so sick.

-

Melissa had been understandably concerned when Olivia and Stiles walked into the hospital when they were supposed to be in the middle of study hall. Once Olivia was able to assure her that there were no emergencies, involving them or Scott, they were able to get to business. Things were going well with trying to get Stiles in to see a doctor, until Melissa broke the news to them.

"Dr. Gardner's not back until next week," she said apologetically. Olivia sighed, knowing that Stiles wouldn't want to see any other doctor, especially one he didn't trust. "Do you want to try waiting for one of the urgent care doctors or..."

She trailed off when Stiles unwrapped himself from around Olivia and stumbled a few steps away from her. He looked like he was going to collapse or faint at that very moment. Olivia hurriedly took action, supporting most of his weight within seconds.

"Stiles?" Melissa hurried around the desk to take the rest of his weight. "Are you all right?"

"I don't know," his breathing picked up anxiously and he sounded so confused. "I guess—I guess not really."

Olivia's eyes stung when Melissa looked at her; it killed her that she didn't know what was wrong with Stiles. His tether was resting calmly in her mind, indicating no sort of trouble. What if physical sickness didn't manifest danger in that way, though?

"All right, kiddo, all right," Melissa nodded calmly, putting on a reassuring smile for both Stiles and Olivia. "Come with me, it's okay."

She led down the hallway and to one of the empty ER rooms, letting Stiles get settled in while she officially checked him in to the hospital as a guest. Olivia didn't know what to do as they waited for her to return; she settled herself by wrapping a warm blanket around Stiles and tucking it in tight, making sure he was all covered up. She must have seemed like a worried mother, but Stiles didn't say a word and instead, let her dote over him.

"All right," Melissa returned with a brand-new folder, already pre-filled with Stiles' medical information. "tell me what's going on."

"Um, I'm having blackouts, but not for that long. Sleepwalking, which I used to do a lot as a kid," Stiles listed slowly, tiredly. Melissa dutifully wrote down his symptoms, eyebrows just as furrowed as Olivia's. "I'm having some really bad anxiety."

"Panic attacks?"

"Yeah, a couple," Stiles confirmed while brushing his thumb over the back of Olivia's hand. "Oh, and I temporarily lost the ability to read but that might have had more to do with this giant magic tree and whole human-sacrifice thing."

Olivia's lips ticked up faintly while Melissa chuckled and nodded. "I recall something vaguely about that, yes," she moved on. "How many hours of sleep are you getting?"

"Eight."

Melissa raised her eyebrows at that. "A night?"

"The last three days," Stiles let go of Olivia's hand so he could count using his fingers; her breath had left her at his answer and now her heart raced as he shakily raised his fingers, probably too tired to count without them. "Yeah, definitely eight."

Olivia looked away from Stiles and watched Melissa as her expression contorted worriedly. She turned away from Stiles' file to walk over to the medicine cabinet, quickly unlocking it and pulling out a vial of medicine and a syringe.

"Been feeling irritable?" Melissa wondered, coming back to the table next to the hospital bed Stiles sat on.

"Yeah, possibly to the point of homicide."

"Inability to focus?"

"No, the Adderall's not working."

"Impulsive behavior?"

"More than my usual?" Stiles glanced back at Olivia, who put on a smile for his benefit. He clearly saw right through it, taking her hand in his once again. "Hard to tell."

"Vivid dreams during the day?"

Stiles turned back to Melissa, suspicious. "Okay, basically all of the above. Do you know what this is?"

"I think so," Melissa snapped on some plastic gloves and ripped the syringe from its packaging, filling it up with the medicine she brought over.

Stiles gulped as she approached him. "Uh, what's that?"

"Do you trust me?"

"When you're not holding a needle," Stiles answered swiftly, reminiscent of his regular self.

Melissa chuckled. "It's Midazolam."

Olivia recognized the name. "A sedative?"

Stiles looked at Melissa for confirmation. "Why are you giving me a sedative?"

"Because," Melissa carefully, yet swiftly, pressed the needle into Stiles' arm, injecting him with the sedative. "you, Stiles, are one profoundly sleep-deprived young man. You need rest and you need it now. Lie down."

Melissa gripped his shoulders and as she slowly guided him into a laying position, Olivia hurried arranged the pillows to Stiles' liking. She stood next to his head and stroked his hair, mostly free of its usual styling gel. In response, Stiles tried to scoot closer to her, though didn't get very far due to his quickly draining energy.

"Okay, how long's it take to—" he paused as his eyes started fluttering shut. "Oh, not long at all..."

Melissa smiled in amusement and carefully laid another warm blanket around him, tucking in the edges slightly. "Get some rest."

"Thanks, Mom," Stiles muttered sleepily, not even realizing what he had just done.

Olivia smiled sadly at Melissa when she faltered, staring at Stiles with wide eyes. With a comforting squeeze to Olivia's arm, Melissa slowly retreated from the room to give Stiles some privacy.

"Sleep well, Stiles," Olivia gently kissed her boy's pale cheek, ready to take Melissa's lead and let Stiles sleep. "I love you."

Stiles cold fingers wrapped around her wrist, tethering her to him. "Stay," he murmured. "Stay with me."

Olivia knew that she shouldn't but she couldn't resist Stiles when he was like this. He was vulnerable and how many times had he stayed with her when she was in his position? She couldn't leave him now. She didn't want to.

"I'll stay with you, always."

-

In the hours since Stiles fell asleep, Olivia's phone had been blowing up with text messages.

First, it was Scott. He told her that he was pretty sure that the demonic ninjas were after Kira too. She had no idea how he got that idea, and had told him so—so, Scott let her in on what happened the night before with Kira. Apparently she had some kind of aura around her that looked like a fox and because the ninjas were after anyone with a supernatural ability—no matter how unknown that ability was—he figured that they were after her, too. He wanted to protect her and Kira, so he told her the plan that he and Kira had to go to his house after school to outwait the night and the ninjas.

Olivia had to admit that it was a good idea. Recently, Dr. Deaton had put ash wood boards around the McCall's house. Melissa would be able to make a mountain ash barrier at the door that would put the house on supernatural lock-down, not letting anything out or in. She quickly agreed to head over to his house before the sun started to set, promising that she'd be careful in the meantime.

And then it was Derek who called for her attention, then. He had been splitting his time trailing her and Scott throughout the whole day and had overheard Scott's plan with Kira. He was just making sure that Olivia was going to be safe, and suggested that she get a ride home with Melissa from the hospital. Lastly, Aiden had somehow gotten her number, scolding her for going to the hospital without him or Ethan—she promptly sent him the middle-finger emoji and blocked his number.

She didn't want to leave Stiles but she knew that it was for the best. If those ninjas went through everyone to get to her, that meant Stiles was in danger by association. Without her around, he wasn't going to be targeted. He'd be safe. So, with a gentle kiss to the forehead and whispered promise that she'd be back when it was safe, she left with Melissa.

Olivia didn't know if Melissa was tense because of the danger that Scott faced or if something else was bothering her. Either way, the older woman looked incredibly stressed, her hands gripped tight around the steering wheel, and though she and Olivia were friendly, they weren't close enough that Olivia could just outright ask her what was up—no matter how much she wanted to.

Unfortunately, Olivia never had the time to gather her courage to ask Melissa what was wrong. As soon as they were pulling up to the McCall house, Melissa was swearing under her breath. To Olivia's slight amusement, she was cursing her ex-husband, who's car was parked out front.

"Jesus Christ, what's going on now?"

Never one to miss out on drama or hot gossip, Olivia hurriedly followed Melissa into the house. It was there that they discovered Agent McCall arguing with Scott while Kira stood to the side, looking like a wounded puppy. Olivia instantly went to stand by her, giving her a questioning look, but Kira just shrugged, wide-eyed.

"No, you're a gene donor, I got my hair color from you," Scott told his father calmly. Olivia was impressed; if she was in this situation, she would have been spitting fire. Then again, her father tended to get a lot more violent than Agent McCall. "And that's all I got. So, you're not allowed to play tough dad with me."

"Hey," Melissa greeted them cautiously, shutting the screen door behind her. "What's going on?"

Agent McCall turned to Scott and Kira with a stern look. "Maybe one of you should explain."

In all honesty, Olivia wanted to know what was going on as well, but now really wasn't the time. The sun was going down, and with it, their safety was in trouble. "Scott..." Darkness fell over the house and Olivia shivered, red and purple tethers lighting up her mental map. A slight shuttering sound, like some kind of bug, came from behind them—she didn't have to turn around to know that it was one of those ninjas. "Scott!"

It was then that Agent McCall spotted the shadowed figure. "Who the hell is this?"

He was pulling out his gun and stomping toward the ninja without waiting for a response. Scott yelled at his dad to stop and keep away from it, but the bastard was too stubborn to listen. In a swift move that went by far too quickly, the ninja pulled out his sword and impaled it into Agent McCall's shoulder.

"Dad!"

Olivia winced while Kira screamed and Melissa darted into action. She hurried over to where Agent McCall's body fell onto the floor and was dragging him out of the living room in an instant, bringing him to the hallway where she could keep pressure on the wound without being disturbed. The back door opened at the same exact time and Derek rolled in, his wolf features already on display as he growled at the imposing shadow figure.

"Liv, the ash! Do it now!" Scott shouted at her while he and Derek leapt toward the ninja.

Olivia ignored the ferocious growling and ran from the room, grabbing the jar of mountain ash that had been sitting on the table, waiting to be used. She got to the screen door quickly, pouring the ash out into a neat, straight line, before running back to the back door, creating a whole other barrier. Unfortunately, that was when the twins decided to jump through the windows in order to join the fight—that meant that she had to make a barrier around the broken glass and debris.

"Liv!"

"I'm trying!" Olivia shouted, pouring the rest of the ash out just as Scott, Derek, and the twins pushed the ninjas out of the house.

She ran back to the dining room, eyes on the screen door, just as one of the ninja's pressed its hand against it. The barrier held firm, repelling its touch with light blue energy that crackled against it. She inhaled deeply and made her way over to Derek and Scott, where they were staring at the back door, another ninja waiting just outside.

"All the baseboards are ash wood?" Derek asked Scott.

"Yeah, it was Deaton's idea," Scott confirmed before raising his eyebrows. "Where the fuck did you come from?"

"I've been following you," Derek answered like it was the easiest question in the world.

"For how long?"

"Since Ollie took Stiles to the hospital," again, Derek's answer was simple. When Scott looked over at Olivia for help, she just shrugged and went to her cousin, wanting a hug. Physical affection was not something that she and Derek dealt with often, but right now, she needed to feel safe and warm. She needed someone to hold her and be there for her while she was being strong for Stiles.

Derek wordlessly wrapped her into a hug. She didn't have to say anything, her chemo signals were more than enough to tell him what was going on. Still holding her, he led her back to the dining room where Ethan and Aiden were standing with Kira while Scott went to check on his mom and dad.

Kira stood at the screen door where Olivia had previously been standing, studying the way that the ninja was kept out of the house with the mountain ash barrier. Aiden stood next to her, staring down at her with a mischievous smirk.

"It's Kira, right?" Kira nodded silently. "You going to tell us what you are?"

"What?" Kira asked quickly, confused. "What do you mean?"

Aiden reached for her arm, smirking at his twin over her shoulder, and raised it. "Aiden..."

"Just watch," Aiden warned Ethan, his eyes flashing to Olivia, who went to take a step forward to rescue Kira. He abruptly pushed her hand against the barrier, watching as it pushed her flesh away, keeping her inside just like all other supernatural creatures—other than Olivia and Lydia. "See that? She can't go through it either."

Ethan hustled to his twin's side, glaring down at Kira. "So, what are you?"

Olivia sighed; she didn't know exactly Kira was—Scott hadn't made her privy to that detail—but she wasn't going to let the twins antagonize her like that. Sure, she didn't really know Kira that well and yes, she was some unknown creature, but Scott liked her and she got a good vibe off of her, too. Besides, compared to Ethan and Aiden, what harm could Kira possibly do?

Before she could speak up in her new friend's defense, Derek intervened. "She's a kitsune, idiot. Use your eyes, you can see it all around her. The younger ones give off an aura. She just hasn't learned how to conceal it yet, she probably doesn't know what kind she is, either."

"A kitsune," Olivia hummed, at least what Scott said about a fox aura made sense. She had read about kitsunes in the Hale bestiary—which, in her humble opinion was far more vast than the Argent's—and they interested her greatly.

There were thirteen different types of kitsunes but only a couple Olivia knew from the top of her head—celestial, wild, ocean, thunder, and air were the few she had studied more in depth. She found it interesting that there were so many types of the same supernatural creature, so many powers they held. Most were considered dangerous and powerful and while she could sense that Kira had the same kind of energy under her skin, she knew that she had hardly used it.

Like Derek had mentioned, Kira probably didn't even know what kind of kitsune she actually was. She doubted that Kira even knew she was a kitsune until very recently.

Kira glanced between Derek and Olivia with wide eyes before hurrying out of the room. Olivia briefly heard her call Scott away from his mom and dad before focusing back on her cousin and the two former alphas.

"Try to keep your hands to yourself," Olivia narrowed her eyes at Aiden. Even though she had only known Kira for a couple of weeks now, she trusted her far more than the twins—especially Aiden.

"I wasn't going to hurt her," Aiden retorted; Ethan, Olivia, and Derek all gave him skeptical looks.

"Not yet, you weren't," Derek replied snidely, firmly on Olivia's and Scott's side of the Kira argument. He trusted them, so he trusted her—end of story.

Aiden's lip curled. "Why do you think we're here, guys? For a study group?" he tried to convince Olivia and Derek of his Ethan's good intentions. "We're here to protect you and Scott, Olivia."

Ethan quickly added, "We're trying to fight for you."

Olivia twisted her lips and lowered her eyes. She recognized that the twins were fighting for them...but that was one good deed. It didn't compare to any of the bad things they had done, killing Boyd on top of the list. Boyd was her packmate, her friend, and she wasn't going to disrespect him by letting Ethan and Aiden into her life. She tolerated their presence for Scott's and Lydia's sake—that was it. That was all they were going to get from her.

"I'm sure you are," Derek spoke, stepping in front of his cousin in a protective stance. "I'm sure you'd kill for them. But are you willing to die for them?"

Olivia didn't want anyone to die for anyone, even the twins. Sure, she didn't like them at all, but she wasn't an evil person, she didn't want them to die. And certainly not while protecting her or Scott, because then she'd feel guilty about it and she didn't want to feel anything but hatred for the former alphas.

And Derek? Well, she especially didn't want him to die. It scared her that he was willing to do that to protect her or Scott, or even any other pack member. She couldn't imagine a life without Derek and she never wanted to—the thought of it caused her chest to physical ache. For the past seven years of her life, Derek had been more than a cousin to her; he'd been an older brother, her protector, a father figure when her own was off turning people into werewolves and murdering arsonists. He was one of the two most important men in her life, and with the other hardly sleeping and seemingly having a mental breakdown, she needed Derek to stay safe and at her side at all times.

She wished she hadn't become so paranoid. But, if she learned anything throughout this crazy year of her life, it was that people were never guaranteed a long and happy life. Erica and Boyd were proof of that.

Olivia turned away from the twins when they went silent and exchanged uncertain glances. Sensing her discomfort once again, Derek wrapped an arm around her shoulders and lead her into the living room.

"You're gonna be okay, Ollie," he spoke to her quietly yet reassuringly. "I won't let anything happen to you."

"I know you won't, but things aren't okay, Der," Olivia swallowed harshly, squinting her eyes hard enough that her head started to ache. She didn't want to cry—she wouldn't let herself cry. "Stiles—Stiles is in the hospital because he's so worn out, probably because he sacrificed himself to that stupid tree. We have demonic ninjas out to get us, you and Lydia already got hurt...We're not okay, nothing's going to be okay—"

"Hey," Derek shifted so he was grabbing her shoulders with both hands, forcing her to look up at him. His face was serious yet heartfelt and she was so lucky to have a brother that made her feel so safe. "Everything's shit right now, I get it. I know. But you're a Hale. You're strong. You're gonna get through this—we all are getting through this."

Olivia wanted to believe that, she really did. "Okay."

Maybe agreeing with him would manifest it into the universe.

Derek nodded and pulled her into a tight hug, pressing her face into his warm Henley. His familiar scent was comforting and eased her worries, though Stiles was still there, at the back of her mind, his tether doing nothing to suggest the actual danger he was in.

All of a sudden, the house shook. It wasn't an earthquake shaking the house, but it was, as they discovered when they went back to Ethan and Aiden in the dining room, one of the ninjas. It was banging on the barrier, trying to break through like Scott had once done against Jennifer.

Scott was a true alpha, one of the rarest creatures in the world, and he was strong, but for some reason, Olivia had a feeling these guys were stronger.

"What are they doing?" Scott asked as he and Kira rushed into the room behind her and Derek.

"Testing for weaknesses," Ethan answered, his eyes firmly held on the ninja.

As if the ninja though Ethan was daring it to do more, he once again banged on the barrier with his sword. This time, however, his buddies joined him. The house shook violently, dishes falling from the shelves and crashing onto the floor in the kitchen.

Knowing that a fight was about to break out, Olivia left Derek's side and went to Kira, taking a hold of the girl's hand. Kira didn't hesitate to squeeze her hand tightly, more than nervous about what was going on. Olivia waited for the moment the barrier fell and Derek, Scott, and the twins started the inevitable battle.

The ninja in front of Ethan held its sword against the ash barrier, slowly carving out a hole in the invisible forcefield. "Guys," he called, as if none of them were watching the ninja stick his hand through the hole. "we have a problem."

Scott glanced at Olivia. "Call Allison."

Olivia didn't hesitate, reaching for her bag on the table and ripping her phone out from inside. She tapped on Allison's contact and as soon as the ringing stopped, Allison answering her call, she didn't bother to greet her. "Allison, please tell me that you have something. They're here and they're trying to get in. They're strong, I think they'll be able to break through the barrier."

"Okay, okay listen," Allison's voice was strong and calm, putting Olivia a little at ease. "They're Japanese demons. They're called the Oni. They're looking for someone possessed, someone with a dark spirit attached to them. It's called a Nogitsune."

Scott, able to hear the call from his place next to Derek, looked over at Olivia sharply. "How'd she know that?"

"Know what?" she asked, confused.

"Liv, you there?"

"Sorry, Al. Yeah, what else do you know?"

"Okay, they won't hurt you. They know you're supernatural but once they do this check, once they realize that you're not carrying with you this dark spirit, then they won't hurt you," Allison spoke quickly. "I promise. All they're looking for is the Nogitsune."

Kira turned to her, eyes wide and fearful. "They're looking for me, aren't they?"

"I gotta call you back, Al," she hung up the phone and addressed Kira and Scott, thoroughly confused. "What are you guys talking about?"

"A Nogitsune," Kira explained quickly. "It's a dark kitsune. I'm a kitsune!"

Scott quickly walked over to them before Olivia even had a chance to react. "They're looking for a dark spirit," he corrected Kira earnestly. "And I know it's not you."

The house shook again and when Olivia glanced over at the screen door, she saw that the barrier was all but broken through. "Scott," they could talk about this later. "we have to decide what we're gonna do."

Scott nodded seriously and then turned to Ethan, Aiden, and Derek. "Don't do anything."

Aiden glanced at Derek. "Is he serious?"

"I said don't do anything," Scott repeated firmly and then addressed Kira and Olivia. "We're gonna be okay. Trust me."

Olivia nodded; she trusted Scott and she certainly trusted Allison. They wouldn't steer her wrong; Derek, Isaac, and Lydia had survived these Oni. So, why wouldn't she? She wasn't possessed, she wasn't a dark spirit. She was gonna be okay.

Olivia glanced at Derek and he nodded ever-so slightly, silently telling her that he agreed with her and Scott's decision. The barrier broke, the Oni stepping into the house one-by-one, and he stood still, his eyes following them as they walked over to her, Scott, and Kira.

As one of the Oni approached her, eyes blazing like a firefly, she felt frozen. She couldn't close her eyes, she couldn't breathe...all she could do was stare into its glowing eyes. As it reached its gloved fingers toward her ear, a burning sensation scarring the delicate skin behind it, her vision slowly faded to black.

(Gif is not mine)

[tw-anchor]

Hi I just started anchor and I’m a Little confused. How can Olivia be Lydias snd dereks cousin at the Same time ? Wouldn’t the whole hale family be related to the Martin family then ? Thanks :))

Hi, so liv’s dad is Peter and her mom is Lydia’s paternal aunt

[tw-anchor]

40. Unusual Halloween

Anchor Stiles Stilinski x Original Character

Episode: 3x16; Illuminated

Word Count: 8,199

Warning(s): Mature language, canon violence + gore, sex scene (18+ only!)

Author’s Note: Hey guys, sorry I haven’t updated lately. This has been the busiest--and worst--season of my life, so I haven’t felt up to writing much. Unfortunately, it will probably be a while until I update again because I’m starting my new job full time next week while going to school full time as well. Wish me luck! I hope you enjoy the chapter and please make sure to tell me what you think, reblog, and like!

"So, when did you get there?"

If Olivia had to stare at Agent Rafael McCall for another five minutes, she was gonna punch him in the face. She wouldn't be at fault, either; how could she be responsible for her actions when she just went through something as traumatic as a teenager could go through? A serial killer kidnapped her new friend and they all rescued her, but they were the ones being questioned? Where was the justice in the world?

Yeah, if she did end up punching Scott's dad in the face, she would totally blame it on her stressful night. It wasn't because she couldn't stand the smug son of a bitch; even if he wasn't a dick when they first crossed paths, she still wouldn't be able to tolerate him—especially because of what he was doing to Noah. And now, after he ushered in Olivia, Stiles, Scott, Kira, and Lydia into Noah's office, he was asking repetitive questions about their experience.

Hey, Olivia was all for justice and all that—but what exactly could the FBI do about a bunch of werewolves, a banshee, an anchor, and whatever the hell Kira was? Barrow was after kids with glowing eyes and as far as the up-tops were concerned, no such thing existed. They put Barrow in the Eichen House for a reason.

To put it simply, she was not in the best of moods. Kira was some kind of supernatural creature that could absorb electricity, Stiles and Scott were almost electrocuted to death by Barrow, and Isaac was at the Argents, his tether recovering from what had happened to him, even though she had no idea what that was. She did not want to be at the police station at midnight, squished into a small couch with Stiles, Scott, and Kira—Lydia was the lucky one with the armchair—while the jolly green giant questioned them.

To her left, Stiles responded, "At the same time."

"At the same time as who?"

"At the same time as me," Scott told his father.

"By coincidence?"

"What do you mean coincidence?"

Things were not helped when Stiles decided it was time to be a sarcastic little shit. It was well known that Stiles hated Agent McCall—she had heard many, many rants about his best friend's dad—so everyone knew what he was doing. Answering questions with questions, offering sarcastic quips that answered nothing, and silent smirks were what they've been having to deal with since their questioning started. Olivia loved Stiles Stilinski, she really did, but he was wasting their time, precious time where they could be sleeping. He really lived up to his mischievous name.

"That's what I'm asking you," Agent McCall gestured to Stiles and Scott. "The two of you arrived at the same time. Was that coincidence?"

Scott's face twisted in confusion. "Are you asking me?"

"I think he's asking me," Stiles mused.

"I think he's asking the both of you," Lydia said dryly, as annoyed with the boys' antics as Olivia was.

"Okay," Agent McCall interjected sternly. "Let me answer the questions."

Olivia rolled her eyes at him, completely unimpressed with his sense of professionalism, and glanced at Stiles. His lips were pursed ridiculously, like he was taking a selfie with the terribly cliché duck face; she had to admit, it did make her want to laugh, especially when she caught sight of Noah holding back his own laughter.

Seeing the amused faces staring back at him, Agent McCall realized his mistake. "Let me ask the questions," he corrected himself. "Just so I have this absolutely clear: Barrow was hiding in the chemistry closet at the school. Someone left him a coded message on the blackboard telling him to kill Kira. Then Barrow took Kira to a power substation and tied her up with the intent of electrocuting her, which blacked out the entire town."

He closed his notebook, where he had been writing down the information they gave him, with a final snap.

"Sounds about right," Stiles sighed; with his right hand, he idly played with the ends of Olivia's ponytail.

"How'd you know he'd take her to a power station?"

"Well, cause he was an electrical engineer," Stiles scratched his temple with his free hand. He shifted his other away from Olivia until it was folding over his stomach. "Where else would he take her?"

There were a billion other places that Barrow had taken Kira, but they couldn't exactly tell Agent McCall that they knew they were at a power station because of Lydia's newfound banshee abilities. Then they'd be shipped to Eichen.

Agent McCall raised a dubious eyebrow at him. "That's one hell of a deduction there, Stiles."

"Yeah, what can I say? I take after my pops, he's in law enforcement," Stiles swiftly smirked, winking at his dad from where he sat behind McCall.

Noah audibly snorted, amused by his son's answer, but covered it with an awkward cough when McCall gave him a glare. "Stiles, just answer the man."

"We made a good guess," Stiles said finally, wrapping his arm back around Olivia's shoulders. She closed her tired eyes and rested her head in the crook of his neck, inhaling and relaxing at the scent that was pure him. Stiles always smelt so good, like sandalwood and musk and minty gum.

Agent McCall set his sights on Scott and Kira. "What were the two of you doing?"

"Eating pizza," Scott answered at the same time as Kira spoke, "Eating sushi."

Olivia rolled her eyes but didn't bother opening them; couldn't they have gotten their story straight before McCall started questioning them?

Scott and Kira glanced at each other awkwardly and cleared their throats.

"Eating sushi."

"Eating pizza."

Jesus Christ.

"Eating sushi and pizza," they finally said together.

Olivia opened her eyes just as McCall looked back at Noah in disbelief. "Do you believe this?"

"To be honest, I haven't believed a word Stiles has said since he learned how to speak," Noah spoke candidly, ignoring the offended gasp Stiles gave in response. "But I think these kids found themselves in the right place at the right time and that girl sitting there is very lucky for it."

"Kira," all heads turned to her when Agent McCall addressed her. "is that how you remember it?"

At once, Stiles, Olivia, and Lydia leaned forward to stare at Kira, giving her their own keep-your-mouth-shut looks. Kira only hesitated for a second before she answered him. "Yes...Could I get my phone back now?"

The police hadn't taken the rest of their phones, but apparently Barrow had started videoing Kira while in the power station. It was officially evidence. Which meant...

"Sorry, but no," McCall refused her as he stood from his seat on Noah's desk. "All right, I think that's it for now. If I have anymore questions, I'll get in touch with you. Kira, a deputy is going to take you home but we'll need you to fill out some paperwork first."

Olivia sighed in relief once they were ushered out of Noah's office. Sticking close to Stiles and Lydia and as they exited the police station, she pulled out her phone. She needed to call Isaac and see if he was okay. Because while Scott and Stiles were in danger with Barrow, Isaac had some other trouble that he had gone into.

-

There was no electricity pulsing through Beacon Hills unless it came from a generator. Despite this, the students of Beacon Hills High still had to attend their regular classes. Though the sun provided some light in the dark hallways and classrooms, everyone was still bathed in shadows and had to resort to their phones for flashlights if it was too dark for them.

Thankfully, Olivia's house had a generator that ran long enough for the food in their refrigerator to stay fresh and their phones to stay charged. She didn't want to be one of those people, but she would be seriously lost without her phone.

"Class starts in five minutes," Coach boomed through his trusty megaphone as he walked past Stiles' locker where he and Olivia stood before classes started. "Just because there's no power don't expect there to be no school."

Olivia looked up from her phone to narrow her eyes at him, knowing that something was off with that sentence.

"That was a triple negative," Stiles called out as he dug through his locker. "Very impressive, Coach."

"Copy that!"

Olivia snickered and shifted so she was leaning on her side at the lockers next to Stiles'. "Your relationship with Coach is so intriguing."

Stiles chuckled at her, smirking. "What, like how madly in love we are?"

"Exactly," Olivia laughed while pointing a manicured finger at him. "So, am I considered the side chick, or...?"

"Actually, you are," Stiles nodded seriously. "By the way, on a completely unrelated note, I have to cancel tonight's plans. I'm busy..."

"You're gonna Netflix and Chill with Coach? Damn..."

Stiles' amused face immediately creased into one of disgust. "Okay, gross. We took it too far."

Olivia laughed, her heart racing when Stiles gave into his amusement and chuckled along with her.

"Speaking of tonight," Olivia said when their laughter died down. "I'm kinda, sorta, throwing a party?"

Stiles blinked at her in shock. "You hate parties."

"But I don't hate Danny and every year he throws a Halloween party," she explained. "Jackson's not here to help him out and now with the power out, he doesn't have a place, so Lydia and I offered our house because we have the generators."

"At least I'll finally be invited to one of Danny's parties," Stiles paused and looked down at her with wide eyes. "I am invited, right?" when Olivia teasingly grimaced; Stiles' jaw dropped in offense. "Livvy!"

"Of course you're invited, sweetcheeks," Olivia rolled her eyes at him and shifted closer to him in order to wrap her hands around his right arm. "I was just teasing you."

"I have a fragile heart, you can't tease me about that kind of stuff," Stiles ducked down so he could whisper in her ear, his lips grazing against her skin. Olivia shivered and tightened her grip on him. "You know, unless we're alone, hopefully in a bed, though I wouldn't be against a shower or the back of Roscoe..."

Olivia held back her gasp but biting her lip. "But your fragile heart...?"

Stiles chuckled and quickly pressed his warms lips against the sensitive spot behind her ear. "You caught me. My heart's fine, it just beats really fast in your presence so I thought I might have a heart condition."

"You're so fucking cheesy, Stiles Stilinski," she giggled and lightly pushed him away from her. In the process, Stiles' backpack brushed against his locker, making his keys fall to the floor. "Oops, sorry."

"It's fine—and you love my cheesiness, by the way," Stiles winked at her and then bent to retrieve his key ring. He paused when he noticed a key that he didn't recognize. "Hello, where did you come from?"

"What, the key?" Stiles nodded at her; Olivia shrugged. "Maybe your dad put it on there. Oh, there's Scott."

Stiles, who was about to disagree with her about the key, turned around to see his best friend stepping into school. He waved at him, but Scott's focus was not on Stiles or Olivia. No, Scott was staring at Kira, who was at her locker down the hall. Before Scott could even take another step in her direction, Stiles quickly intervened.

"No, no, stop, stop," he directed Scott over to Olivia by his locker.

Scott gave him a disgruntled look. "What? I need to talk to her."

"No, you need to remember someone left a coded message telling Barrow to kill her," Stiles corrected him.

Olivia sighed. To be honest, she was with Scott on this one. Kira had a serial bomber go after her and try to kill her, and though she was mysteriously able to survive an astounding electric blast, Kira was a sweet girl and they needed to check up on her. It was out of the norm for her, she was fully aware, but since Kira was like them—at least, she was supernatural—maybe she needed friends, or a pack, to help her along. Olivia and Scott were willing to extend that olive branch.

"That's why he needs to talk to her, Stiles."

Stiles gave her a betrayed look. "Don't take his side!" he looked at her and Scott sternly. "Guys, until we figure out if she's just another psychotic monster that's going to start murdering everybody, I vote against any and all interaction."

"Stiles, she uses an elephant backpack, for crying out loud," Olivia rolled her eyes. "Does that seem psychotic to you?"

Stiles cocked his head, seriously considering her question. Before he could answer, Scott spoke, "What if she's like me?"

Scott's comment seemed to make up Stiles' mind. "That girl walked through 1.21 gigawatts of electricity," he pointed out, annoyed, and slammed his locker shut. "She's not like you."

Olivia turned her head toward Kira's locker. Kira seemed nervous, as though she could feel their eyes on her, as she rummaged through her locker. Quickly, she grabbed a textbook, shut her locker, and walked away, glancing back at them only once.

"Maybe Stiles is right," Olivia gave in, looking over at Scott. "Werewolves can't take that level of electricity. So...until we find out what Kira is, maybe you need to give her some space."

Stiles gave her a proud look while Scott sighed and shook his head. "Fine," he finally agreed. "Let's go to class."

Together, they walked to physics class. Today was the first day that Olivia's aunt, Natalie, would be taking over Mr. Harris' classes. Olivia was very proud of her aunt and excited to be able to learn from her, as she usually didn't have time to sit down and discuss the sciences with her whilst at her previous job at the local television station. No longer would they have subpar substitute teachers trying to teach them about higher levels of science—if Olivia was going to be challenged for the rest of the year, she needed a real science guy and Natalie more than fit the bill.

"Scott, Stiles," Natalie greeted the boys when they passed her to find their shared table. "Olivia, sweetheart, can we talk?"

"Sure, Aunt Nat," Olivia stepped aside to allow her classmates to walk into the room. "What's up? Are you nervous for your first class? Because you don't have to be. You're gonna be amazing."

Natalie smiled gratefully. "Well, thank you, Liv, but that's not what I wanted to talk about. I know we discussed the party at the house tonight, but Sherry's house doesn't have power, so I was hoping we could have book club at our house. We're the only ones with working generators..."

Olivia smiled to hide her disappointment. "Don't worry about it, Aunt Nat. I'm sure book club will be fun. I have to go talk to Danny, though..."

"Of course," Natalie nodded. "I have to pass out these worksheets anyway."

Olivia gave her aunt one last smile before scurrying over to the lab table where Danny was seated. Usually she and Lydia were lab partners and Danny shared with Aiden, but they could handle a switch for one day. She clambered onto the lab stool next to Danny, and gave Lydia, who was seated at the table in front of them, a significant look. Lydia could read her easily and since she knew about the party plans, she was able to realize that something was going on.

"You're my lab partner today, huh?" Danny gave Olivia a confused look.

"It's because I have bad news. We can't use my house tonight, my aunt's having book club."

Danny visibly deflated. "So we have no venue?"

"Do we know of another place that's big enough for a party and has generators?" Olivia mused. The only other place that she, personally, could think of was Derek's loft. Derek would never go for it, would he? "Wait a second..."

Every Halloween, since Derek was around fourteen, his mom, Talia, would take him and Laura to a showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It was very shocking that Derek enjoyed such an event, but he never failed to go each year, even after Talia died. Olivia had been with to the show with her cousins once, and though she liked the movie, she didn't much enjoy being surrounded by strangers who sang louder than the actors or threw stuff at the screen.

Yes, she was entirely aware that she was a party-pooper, thank you very much. The point was that Derek wouldn't be at the loft, as the nearest showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show was an hour away. He'd be gone all night and would be none the wiser of a party.

Danny perked up, seeing the scheming look on her face. "You have a plan, don't you?"

"I know a place where we can have your party."

She pulled out her phone to text Derek.

Ollie: Are you still going to Rocky Horror?

Derek: Yeah, why?

Ollie: Jw. Have fun and be safe!

-

When Stiles thought about how his Halloween was supposed to go, he certainly hadn't thought of today's events. He'd been expecting a scary movie marathon with Olivia by his side, allowing him to hide his head in her neck at the scary parts. He'd been expecting them to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters that stumbled upon the Sheriff's house because the Stilinski's always gave out the best candy in their neighborhood.

He wasn't, however, expecting a rave at Derek's loft—that Olivia helped plan, by the way—or helping Scott and Kira break into the police station.

When Scott had approached Stiles, asking for help get into the police station, he had immediately said no. Agent Jackass McCall was already trying to get his dad impeached, and there was no way he was taking part in any plot that could get Noah into even more trouble. Unfortunately, he felt obligated to change his tune when Scott told him exactly why he and Kira needed to break into Agent McCall's office.

Apparently Kira had already known that something was off with her before the Barrow incident. She had taken a picture of herself and found a sort of aura around her, one that definitely couldn't be explained if you didn't know about the supernatural happenings in the world. Now that McCall had Kira's phone, he had access to that picture and they absolutely could not let him know about the supernatural side to Beacon Hills, let alone his son's current nature.

So, instead of helping Olivia, Danny, and the twins set up the rave at Derek's loft, he was stuck playing sidekick. Fun. Yeah, it was totally what he wanted to do on Halloween.

Bitterly, he chewed up the rest of the Snickers bar he had been snacking on and threw the wrapper away in the small bin he kept in the backseat of his jeep. When he turned back, facing the front, he saw Scott and Kira pull up on Scott's bike.

All right, here we go.

It wasn't that Stiles didn't like Kira—honestly, he didn't know enough about her to like or dislike her—but he certainly didn't trust her. After everything they went through since Scott was bitten by Peter, how was he supposed to trust anyone new? Especially when she happened to be immune to electricity and instantly took a shining to Scott.

Stiles grabbed the station keycards that he had sneakily copied from Noah and handed them to Scott one by one. "Okay, this one will get you into all of the perimeter doors," he passed another one. "this one into the evidence room, and this one's for my father's office."

Scott looked at him, alarmed. "You didn't steal these, did you?"

"No, I cloned them using the RFID emulator."

It was clear that Scott nor Kira had no idea what he was talking about. "Is that worse than stealing?"

Stiles rolled his eyes; the two of them had done a lot worse than stealing before. "It's smarter."

Scott nodded, his lips quirking up, impressed by Stiles' actions but he was quickly pulled away by Kira. "Scott, can I ask you something?"

Stiles narrowed his eyes at her. That wasn't suspicious at all. "Okay, I'll just...wait here..."

Luckily, Kira and Scott's conversation was brief. They joined him back at the jeep, Kira smiling widely up at him. "Okay."

"Okay," Stiles mimicked her, raising his eyebrows as he glanced between her and Scott. "So, now almost everybody's out dealing with the blackout, but there's always somebody at the front desk, dispatch and usually a night shifter or two," he pointed at the only door in the alley where he and Scott parked. "You guys are gonna use the service door entrance by the dumpster, all right? Nobody uses it."

Scott and Kira glanced at the service door and nodded obediently.

"Now, I'll text you if anyone comes out," Stiles continued. "But, Scott, if you get caught, I can't help you. My dad's under investigation for an impeachment because of your dad, so if anything happens, I will run and leave you both for dead."

Kira blinked and smiled nervously at him while Scott nodded, knowing how serious he was. "I got it. Seriously, dude, thanks."

Stiles pressed his lips together and nodded. "I'd ask my dad, but you know..."

"No, I know," Scott assured him earnestly. "I get it."

"All right, just, uh, hurry up," Stiles waved them off. "Be careful."

Scott and Kira scurried off and once they were inside, Stiles let a big sigh of relief. Hopefully they'd have no trouble and get in and out after deleting the pictures on Kira's phone. However, a part of him knew that it wouldn't be that simple. When were they ever given the easy way out? The answer was that they didn't; they had notoriously bad luck.

Stiles waited silently, impatiently fiddling with his key ring. He tossed them round and round his index finger until he caught sight of the key he had noticed earlier at school. He didn't know what it was for and he knew the purpose for all of his keys. He had his house keys, his jeep keys, his dad's car keys, Scott's house keys, and even Olivia's house keys...but this key? Well, he had never seen it before and it was bugging him out. How could he not remember putting a new key on his key ring? How else would it have gotten there?

Bright headlights seared his eyes for a moment as a vehicle pulled into the alleyway behind the station. He didn't know who it was that had parked there until the headlights went off and the man got out of his car; Stiles would recognize that tall, lanky figure anywhere.

Fucking asshole, he cursed to himself as McCall rounded the front of his car. Fuck, Scott, where are you? Come on. Oh, fuck it. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Despite telling Scott upfront that he would leave him and Kira, he couldn't do it.

"Fuck," he opened his door and jumped out as McCall entered the station. "I'm go going to regret this."

He quickly ran around the building, entering only a few seconds after Agent McCall flashed his badge to the deputy at the front desk.

"Hey, hey!" he called, waving to the workers at the desk before catching up to McCall. "Wow!" he exclaimed when the agent turned to face him, confused. "Thank God you are here. Oh, boy! Thank the lord!"

As always, Agent McCall was not impressed with his antics. "What do you want, Stiles?"

Shit, now he had to come up with something to talk about. "I was...I was just...I was thinking on the case," he blurted out nervously, his absentminded thoughts taking over for him. "I was thinking I should clue you in on my thinking. Here's my thinking, I was thinking this..."

He grimaced at the annoyed glare McCall was giving him. "I was thinking that Barrow, right...I was thinking that Barrow received the information about who to kill at the school, right, you know that?" he was fully aware he was rambling but the more his brain worked, the better he felt about this excuse of a conversation. "So, I was thinking that maybe the person who gave him that information—check this out—might actually be someone at the school."

Agent McCall raised his eyebrows and Stiles laughed awkwardly, poking his chest. "And that's, uh, my thinking."

McCall hummed for a moment, eyeing him suspiciously Stiles honestly thought that he was caught and he had just given him the very reason to fire Noah, but then the older man spoke. "You're right."

"I am?!"

"Yeah, we, uh...we started looking for links between Barrow, faculty, and students last night," McCall informed him.

"So you already, then, know that stuff?" McCall nodded at Stiles' question. "You already thought of that."

"Your dad did," McCall shared, his mouth twisting into a disapproving smirk. "His one useful suggestion."

A storm cloud of rage bubbled in Stiles' gut as McCall went to enter the bullpen. He was so fucking sick of this man coming around and ruining everyone's lives just because his sucked so bad. McCall made his bed and instead of laying in it, he was destroying everyone else's.

Without thinking, Stiles firmly grabbed McCall's arm, stopping him from entering the bullpen. "You know, this attitude that you have toward my dad? You can dress it up to all the professional disapproval that you want, but I know the real reason you don't like him."

McCall chuckled sarcastically, sending Stiles deeper into his silent fury. "Is that so?"

"Yeah," his voice lowered threateningly, his nostrils flaring angrily. "because he knows something that you don't want him to know. And guess what?" his whisper took on a sing-song tune before quickly diving into a hard whisper. "I know it too."

McCall swallowed uncomfortably and a thrill went through Stiles as he congratulated himself on being able to intimidate an FBI agent who was trying to fuck up his dad's life. "Go home, Stiles. There's a curfew."

Stiles smirked as McCall pulled himself from his grasp and stepped around him, clearing his throat awkwardly as he entered the bullpen. Without another word, he left the police station, riding the high that the whole interaction had caused him.

He waited only a few minutes by his jeep until Scott and Kira ran out of the building, huge smiles on their faces.

"We did it," Scott told him enthusiastically. "All the pics are deleted."

"That was awesome!" Kira crowed, bouncing in place. "I mean, terrifying, completely terrifying...but kind of awesome! I've never done anything like that before. Have you guys?"

Stiles snorted and shared an amused look with Scott. "Yeah, once or twice."

Scott grinned back at him and then sighed, looking to Kira. "I guess I should take you home."

It was very clear to Stiles that Scott didn't want to stop hanging out with Kira. They were obviously having a good time and, really, what trouble could they get up to at a party? Olivia liked Kira, too—as much as he could like someone that she hadn't really hung out with—so it wasn't like Kira would be unwanted at the rave.

"Hey," he patted Scott's shoulder pointedly. "Don't forget, Livvy's throwing that party at Derek's loft."

"Oh, yeah," Scott perked up and glanced back at Kira. "You wanna go?"

Kira smiled shyly—that was all the answer the boys needed.

-

Olivia was only a little tipsy.

She was being responsible tonight—well, as responsible as one could get while throwing a party at your cousins loft while they're out of town—and not drinking as much as Danny. He needed to have fun and relax a bit, and while Olivia wanted to have fun too, she didn't need alcohol to do so.

The only reason she was drinking at all was because Lydia had begged her to take a couple of shots with her and it seemed socially unacceptable to not drink a beer at your own party.

So, yeah, she was feeling a little bit buzzed but not enough to feel it in the morning. She knew her limits and she wasn't the type of person to go over them.

All around her, people were dancing, drinking, and having fun with neon paint dripped all over their bodies. The black lights that she, Danny, Ethan, and Aiden put up around the loft made everyone glow in the dark and with the pumping of the loud music that the awesome deejay that Danny hired played, it was enough to make anyone excited. She didn't even like most parties and she was having a great time. Besides, after what Beacon Hills went through with stupid Jennifer and the million human sacrifices, they needed a time to let loose.

So, even though she normally couldn't stand Aiden—or Lydia spending time with him, for that matter—she couldn't help but smirk when she saw him and Lydia dancing up on each other. No doubt Lydia was trying to keep her mind off of Scott and his newfound crush on Kira by focusing on the former alpha. It wasn't the best way to deal, but who was Olivia to tell Lydia how to live her life? Lydia was completely capable of taking care of herself.

"I cannot believe that Olivia Martin threw a party," her attention was caught by Allison as she and Isaac walked over to her. "at her cousin's loft, no less."

Isaac laughed and added, "I'm guessing Derek can never know about this?"

"Maybe in a couple of years," Olivia quickly wrapped her arms around them in a short group hug. "How are you doing, Isaac? You never got back to me."

She didn't like the way that Isaac and Allison immediately shared a loaded look with one another, as if debating on how to answer her question. She wasn't dumb, she knew they were hiding something. Why, she didn't know.

Isaac knew that she wouldn't give up and though he knew he owed her some sort of explanation, he had promised Allison and her dad to keep his mouth shut for twenty-four hours. "Enjoy the party, Liv. I'll tell you after."

"Promise, both of you?" Olivia gave the two of them a serious look.

Allison grinned while Isaac nodded, both of them speaking together. "Promise."

"All right, fine. Why don't you guys get something to drink?" Olivia glanced around the group of dancing bodies before pointing out where the bartender was set up. "Oh, and get painted up, too."

"Yes, ma'am," Isaac hooked Allison's fingers with his and pulled her away, pointedly ignoring the amused look their friend sent their way.

Olivia shook her head, eyes following Isaac and Allison as they slipped into the crowd. She should have known something was going on there, but she guessed she had been a little preoccupied with everything else going on in their lives. Still...Allison and Isaac? Yeah, she could see it. Allison was badass and strong and she was the firm ground of support that Isaac needed and Isaac was light and funny and could definitely get Allison to let loose. They complimented each other, they were cute.

They didn't need her approval whatsoever, but they had it anyway.

Out of nowhere, a sharp pulse came from Derek's tether before fading away. Olivia paused, her hand on her chest, and focused in on him. He was fine now, but it was odd, they way he lit up and went dark so soon after. Right now, it didn't concern her. Maybe he almost missed a red light or something...

Thoughts about Derek slipped away as she spotted the loft door opening. She recognized the neon-striped t-shirt that Stiles had worn to school earlier that day, and was instantly on her way toward him. She was tipsy, she wanted to have fun, and her hot-ass boyfriend had just entered the premises. There was no way she was just going to stand there and wait for him to come to her.

She made her way through the jungle of her drunk classmates, her eyes never leaving Stiles. As she got closer, she heard Scott—who was with Kira—asking him about leaving so they could figure something out. Before Stiles could respond, she was grabbing his arm, turning him and standing on her tiptoes so she could kiss him on the cheek.

"Happy Halloween, sweetcheeks," she purred into his ear, giving him a seductive look before letting him go.

"It can wait, it can wait!" Stiles shouted at Scott over the music. As Olivia began to slip away, he grabbed her hand so she would take him with her. "See ya!"

Olivia smirked knowingly when Stiles tightened his grip on her hand and abruptly pulled, swiftly turning her to face him. "Look at you, baby."

She was fully aware of what her outfit would do to him. Other than the fact she thought she was hot, she knew that her short, flowy shorts, and neon orange bralette would turn him on. And the body paint brushed all over her, well, that was just a bonus. "You like?"

"I love it. You're so fucking hot," he pulled her closer to him, their fronts pressed together; Olivia instantly grabbed his biceps, not fighting when he smashed their lips together.

It had been about a month since Olivia and Stiles had sex because of their busy lives. Of course, they did other things when they were in the mood but they never had time to go all the way again. Both of them were feeling the strain; they were crazy in love and so terribly attracted to one another, so of course, hormones were always pulsing through them. That night, they reached a pinnacle of tension that they couldn't ignore.

Within minutes, Olivia and Stiles found themselves upstairs in the bedroom Olivia used when she stayed over at Derek's loft. The both of them completely ignored the full-sized mattress in favor of the back of the door that Stiles pressed her up against, the wood soothingly cool against her back.

Stiles' hair was a mess under Olivia's fingers as she lost herself in his mouth, tongues wrestling together in a fight that neither of them wanted to lose—or win, for that matter. Stiles' palms were hot against her thighs, pushing her up until her legs wrapped around his waist, and when they moved tantalizingly slow to her ass and squeezed her cheeks, she gasped and arched her chest against him.

"Shit, Stiles!"

"Mmhm," Stiles moaned against her lips as her movement pressed deliciously against his cock. Slowly, he kissed away from her mouth and down her jaw to her neck, sucking harshly against the smooth and silky skin he found there. He loved the way she reacted to him, pushing herself against him again as she groaned under his demonstrations. "Livvy."

An indescribable warmth curled in Olivia's belly as she and Stiles rubbed up against one another. Letting go of his hair, she moved one hand down the length of Stiles' body to the band of his jeans. She easily popped the button and took a second to play with the wiry hair of his happy trail, knowing that it would lead her right to paradise.

"Mm...want you, baby," Stiles abruptly pulled away from her neck to stare at her with blown eyes. "Can I have you?"

Olivia didn't need to think about it. She wanted him just as much as he wanted her. "'Course, babe."

A wickedly sexy grin split Stiles' lips and Olivia's head nearly hit the door with how forcefully he kissed her. She was so caught up in their kiss that she didn't notice Stiles using one hand to pull her bralette down, freeing her breasts; it wasn't until he pulled away from the kiss and wrapped his lips about her right nipple when she realized. She moaned loudly, the pitch arcing higher when Stiles pushed his left thigh between hers to take some of her weight so she could grind down on him.

"Fuck, Stiles."

Stiles playfully bit at her nipple in response, prompting a pleasured sigh that turned more intense when he sucked at her. Shit, he felt so fucking good.

"Please..."

Stiles pulled away from her breast, licking his lips, and smirked up at her. "Please what, baby?"

Olivia's chest heaved as she breathed, "Please fuck me."

In a rapid succession of movements, broken up by awkward giggles, loving kisses, and whispered promises under their breath, Stiles and Olivia stripped from the rest of their clothes. The heat turned back on once Olivia's panties were officially out of the way and Stiles took it to his advantage, playing with her clit with the pad of his thumb.

Olivia moaned and ducked her head into his neck, her mouth finding traction between his neck and collarbone.

"Ready?"

"Mmhm."

Both of them moaned together as Stiles slipped into her with one single thrust. Quick to find a rhythm, they moved their hips together, taking pleasure from one another that was freely given.

"So fucking good, baby," Stiles groaned into her collarbone, gently nipping the skin there. By now, some of the neon paint on Olivia's body was starting to rub off on him and boy, did he not mind. They were like some kind of sexy painting together, they could totally be in a museum. "Love you."

"I love you," Olivia returned, arching back when he hit a particularly good spot inside of her.

She gasped when he licked from her collarbone all the way up to her chin before uniting their lips. Pressing her up against the door so most of her weight was resting on it, Stiles moved one hand to hold her jaw, keeping her lips on his, and the other to her clit, rubbing it firmly.

"S-Stiles..."

"You gonna come for me, baby? Huh?" he dragged his lips over to her ear, whispering to her with hot and heavy breaths. "C'mon, baby. Come with me."

The coil of pleasure that had been starting to build since she first kissed Stiles that night was wound too tight. Even though it felt so, so good to stay on the edge while Stiles thrust in and out of her and played with her clit, heading over the precipice would be even better. That's just how orgasms with Stiles went: pleasure, pleasure, and more pleasure.

Moving her right hand from where it was attached to the firm muscles in Stiles' back, she grabbed the back of his head and pulled her back to her lips. Their moans harmonized together as they reached their peaks, coming within just seconds of each other with sharp sighs.

Ten minutes later, after waiting out their aftershocks and post-orgasm bliss, they cleaned themselves up, shared a few more kisses, and went back downstairs where the party was still going strong.

Reminiscent of their first dance together, Stiles pulled Olivia onto the dance floor. They made fools of themselves as they danced crazily together, pulling out silly dance moves from the blue. The goofy grins on their faces told outsiders how madly in love they were and the warmth inside their chests proved it to themselves—not that they had any doubt, either way.

Before long, Stiles mentioned how thirsty he was, so they scored a couple of beers off the bartender and went to sit down.

"Let me see your bottle opener," Olivia held her palm out to Stiles expectantly, knowing that he kept one on his key ring.

"Oop," Stiles rummaged through his jean pocket and pulled the key ring out, handing it over to her. "Here ya go."

"Thanks," she detached the caps from their bottles and paused, her eyes lingering on his keys when she went to give them back to him. "You know, your key has phosphors on it."

Stiles furrowed his eyebrows. "Phosphors? What the hell is that?"

Olivia rolled her eyes and smiled patiently at him. "It's any substance that luminesces," she told him. "It's in your teeth and your fingernails, laundry detergent, this paint," she brushed her thumb against his lips, where some of the leftover lipstick she had one glowed against his flesh. "this..."

Stiles cut her off, urgently smashing his mouth to hers. Her stomach flipped pleasantly as she kissed back. After a few seconds they pulled away, both of them inhaling deeply.

"It reacts to the UV light," she finished, breathing heavily. "that's why it glows."

"How would I get phosphors on my key?"

"Probably lots of ways," Olivia shrugged carelessly. "You could have touched them after chemistry class, or after you washed your clothes..." she trailed off when she saw the frown playing at his lips. "Stiles, are you okay?"

Stiles forced a smile. "Yeah, yeah...um...I'm sorry, I just thought of something and I really have to go."

"What?" Olivia was understandably confused. "Stiles, what are you talking about?"

"I want to stay, I really do, cause I love you and you're so fucking beautiful," Stiles rambled quickly, standing up and setting his beer bottle down on the floor. "but I need to go see something, so you stay here, okay. I love you. Drink a bottle of water, okay?"

"Stiles, wait—"

"Love you, be careful!" he called, slipping away before she could stand and go after him.

"Stiles!"

Olivia wanted to follow him, she really did. She knew something was bothering him and she wanted to know what it was so she could help him. But before she could chase after him, Lydia's tether flared brightly and disappeared just like Derek's had before. Just like Isaac's had the night before, which could not be a coincidence.

Worriedly, she dived into Lydia's tether and looked for her. In a daze, she started walking, not even noticing when Danny had started to follow her, worriedly calling out her name.

"Liv, what are you doing? Olivia!"

Lydia, Lydia, Lydia...

She opened the door that led to Derek's balcony and paused when she saw her cousin laying still on the ground, her fingers seizing lightly. "Lydia!" she rushed to her and knelt down, finally noticing Danny. "Go get Aiden, hurry!"

"I'm so sorry, Lyds," she murmured, using all her strength to pull Lydia into her lap. She wrapped her arms tightly around the shivering red head and dug her head into her neck. "It's gonna be okay. You're gonna be fine."

What the hell happened to Lydia? What had attacked her and left her freezing on the balcony, unable to move or call for help? Whatever it was, was this the thing that got Derek and Isaac?

It was only a minute before Aiden and Danny rushed back out to her and Lydia.

"What happened?" Aiden asked as he knelt down next to the girls.

"I have no idea, but she's freezing," Olivia's eyes stung, feeling helpless, as she helped transfer Lydia to Aiden's warm arms. "I think she's hypothermic. We gotta get her inside."

Aiden nodded seriously and got to his feet, lifting Lydia with ease. "Let's go."

"Over here," Danny pointed to the nearest wall as they passed him to go back into the loft. "there's a heating vent!"

"Thank you, Danny," Olivia placed a grateful hand on his shoulder before following Aiden.

The former alpha set Lydia down in front of the heat register—thankfully the building used propane for heat, so the lack of electricity didn't affect it—and held her tightly, rocking her back in forth in order to get some heat back inside of Lydia. Olivia immediately started rubbing Lydia's bare legs, hoping that friction could offer some heat too.

"I'll try to find a blanket," Danny volunteered.

"Upstairs, the first door to the right," Olivia told him; he nodded and took off into the crowd. "Lydia," she called loudly so her cousin could hear her over the music. "Lyds, what happened? Can you tell me what happened?"

Lydia stared at her, wide-eyed, and gasped, "They came out of the dark."

"Who?" Aiden asked. "Who came out of the dark?"

"Lyds?"

"They—they looked like n-ninjas," Lydia stammered, her teeth chattering. "I—I couldn't scream, it took my scream."

Olivia and Aiden shared a dreadful look, both of them thinking the same thing. Shit.

Then, Olivia heard it, the ferocious growl that filled up her whole mental map. Derek's tether lit up brilliantly as he called out for her and Scott. It was then that she realized that she had horribly screwed up, ignoring his tether earlier. She could have done something if she just took her warnings of Derek and Isaac's injuries seriously. She was a horrible person.

"Derek!"

Aiden looked at her sharply. "This happened to Derek too?"

"I think so."

Danny quickly came back with a blanket and draped it over Lydia's shoulders. Though the redhead was still kind of out of it, she was slowly warming back up to the point where Olivia felt a little better about her health. Just as she was about to suggest they move Lydia to her room, the music was abruptly cut off.

"GET OUT!"

Yeah, that was definitely Derek. Olivia was so fucking screwed.

At once, the crowd started running for the door. Olivia helped Aiden get Lydia to her feet and let Danny take some of her weight. "Can you take her home please? I'll deal with this."

Danny nodded, giving a very angry Derek a wary look. "Yeah, okay." And with that, he towed Lydia out of the loft, leaving only Olivia, Derek, Aiden, Ethan, Scott, Allison, Isaac, and Kira.

Well, there were the dark shadows that appeared out of nowhere, too. Just like Lydia had described them, they looked like ninja assassins, with silver masks and glowing yellow eyes draped in black robes.

In unison, the robed ninjas took a step toward Aiden and Olivia, their glowing eyes glaring at them.

"Guys," Aiden called to the rest of the pack, reaching for Olivia to move her behind him. "Guys, they're looking at us. Why are they all looking at us, guys?"

"Ollie, go!"

Olivia didn't hesitate, taking Derek's warning. She ran away from where Aiden stood toward Isaac, Allison, and Ethan, who was leaning heavily against them. At the same time, Derek and Scott attacked, turning as they went to fight the dark ninjas.

Olivia focused on Derek, watching with a grimace as she realized that the ninjas were much better than him and Scott at combat. Sure, Derek had experience and strength, but these guys that came from the shadows seemed unbeatable. At one point, Derek had even snapped one's neck, only for it to pop back in place.

Derek was not doing well in his fight, his tether pulsing brightly, and neither was Scott. Once they were both on the floor, tapped out, Isaac stepped in, sharpening his nails into claws as Olivia took the rest of Ethan's weight to help Allison.

Isaac growled at one of the ninjas but the being did not look at all intimidated. In fact, he pulled a long, sharp sword from the middle of his chest and held it out toward Isaac, swinging it around threateningly. Smartly, Isaac stepped back—protecting Aiden, of all people, was not worth the sword to his stomach.

The ninja turned away from Isaac, facing Aiden like the others.

"Someone do something!" Allison called out, looking between Scott and Derek.

It was too late. Two ninjas grabbed Aiden's arms and held him still while a third stood in front of him. He looked into the former alpha's eyes and cocked his head, reaching up to grab a hold of his ear. A rattling noise came from its chest as it used one strict flick to make a mark behind Aiden's ear; Aiden immediately collapsed onto the floor, looking much like Lydia had when Olivia had found her.

Another step and all the ninjas were looking at her.

"Oh, shit."

Scott raced in front of her, Ethan, and Allison, growling fiercely at the beings. Before any of them could take a step forward, the sun began to shine through the large window. With only a touch of the rays against the ninja's, they disappeared in a black mist.

Finding his strength, Ethan left Allison and Olivia's grasp to run across the room to his brother. At the same time, Olivia went over to Derek, helping him up from the floor and wrapping an arm around his torso to keep him upright.

"What the hell were those things?" Scott asked, looking around the room for any answer.

None of them knew...except maybe Allison and Isaac.

Isaac stepped forward, glancing at Allison. "Your dad's twenty-four hours are up."

(Gif is not mine)

[tw-anchor]

39. Trust Your Abilities

Anchor

Stiles Stilinski x Original Character

Episode: 3x15: Galvanize

Word Count: 6,559

Warning(s): Mature language, canon violence + gore, dramatic Stiles, Peter’s severed finger

Author’s Note: Y’all I have had the worst luck these past couple of months. I must have broken a mirror or something without knowing. Please enjoy! Make sure you reblog, like, and tell me what you think!

Masterlink in Pinned Post!

Peter was lucky to have Olivia and Derek. Most people wouldn't help someone who had murdered and injured more than one of their family members. In fact, if Peter wasn't her father, Olivia wouldn't even be in the same vicinity as him, let alone help Derek sew his finger back on.

But, that's where she found herself. She hovered behind Derek as he and Peter sat at the table in Derek's loft; Derek had taken upon himself to sew Peter's finger back on after the Calaveras' head honcho cut it off. Thankfully, Peter put the finger on ice once Braeden got the two of them out of the hunters' grasp.

Olivia wasn't afraid of blood, but even the sight of her cousin sewing on her father's finger caused some nausea. Thankfully, it was over soon; Derek worked quickly, ignoring Peter's complaints in a way that Olivia couldn't. If she hadn't known the year Peter was born, she would have thought he was six years old. Peter Hale could dish out the pain without a problem, but he certainly couldn't take it.

"Ow," Peter hissed as Derek finished up his almost-perfect sutures. "Don't you have any anesthetic?"

Derek gave him a blank look, setting the small pair of medical scissors on the table next to him. "Yep."

Olivia snickered. "You know, I really thought you'd have a higher pain tolerance,"

Peter rolled his eyes at her. "Shut up," he turned back to Derek and with a whine to his voice, asked, "Are you at least going to tell me what I risked life and digit for?"

"Yeah, actually, I'd like to know that, too," Olivia added, crossing her arms over her chest. "And, you know, why I had to hire a mercenary to get you guys out of there..."

"I'm going to show you," Derek got up from his seat and took only a minute or so while he went up to his room and came back down. He carried a cylinder box made out of some sort of wood, with a triskele carved into the lid; he opened it and carefully slid out its contents. "After the fire, that's all that was left of her."

Talia Hale's claws clattered onto the table and Olivia almost flinched. Even though Talia was long dead, she could still feel power radiating off the claws. And that power? It felt like her Aunt Talia. It wasn't necessarily a tether like her pack members, but there was a slight glow to them on her mental map that caused her pause.

That's why Derek went, she realized privately.

Peter's eyes narrowed in recognition as he looked at his sister's claws. "Talia. I can't decide if that's touching or morbid," he raised an eyebrow at Derek. "I guess the real question is, what are you planning on doing with them?"

Derek hesitated before answering. "I have to ask her something," he finally revealed. "and from what I've heard, this is the only way possible."

Realization dawned on Peter's face. "You gotta be kidding me."

"Why do you think I sewed your finger back on?" Derek's lips turned up slightly into a smirk.

Olivia wrinkled her nose. She hadn't known what Derek was going to do with Talia's claws, but from context clues, she figured it out. Peter would connect to Talia's claws and then do the alpha ritual on Derek, where he peaked into Derek's subconsciousness through his spinal cord. It was a painful procedure and each time Olivia witnessed it, some part of her heart ached.

Even though she did want to know what Derek spoke to Talia about, she couldn't watch him go through with the ritual. It honestly didn't matter much, either way, because she had to get going in order to fetch Stiles from his house so they could get to school on time.

"That's my cue," she patted Derek on the shoulder before heading to the door. "I'll call you later, Der."

"Have fun at school," he mumbled in reply.

Much to her surprise, when she got to her car, Isaac was waiting for her in the passenger seat.

"What are you doing here?" she wasn't upset about his presence, but merely curious.

She slid into her seat and buckled her seatbelt, starting her car. She pulled away from Derek's building and took a left, heading into town so she could pick them up some breakfast. It would butter Stiles up to Isaac's attendance.

Isaac shrugged. "Scott took his bike, so I thought I'd get a ride with you."

"You walked all the way to Derek's loft from Scott's house to get a ride to school?" Olivia laughed.

"Well, any opportunity to annoy Stiles, and I'm there," Isaac chuckled with her.

Olivia shook her head in amusement. Only Isaac...

After a quick stop at the McDonald's drive-through, Olivia was pulling to a stop at the curb in front of Stiles' house. Isaac clambered into the backseat, almost hitting her in the face two separate times with his long legs, as Stiles bounced out of the front door and made his way down the sidewalk.

"Good morning, beautiful!" he was very cheerful today and Olivia knew it wasn't because it was from his lack of nightmares—because he certainly had one. No, he was happy because today was Mischief Day, the day before Halloween. "Mwah!"

The placement of his lips against her cheek with a noisy kiss made Olivia grin. "Morning, sweetcheeks."

"Good morning!"

As soon as Stiles heard Isaac's voice, he deflated. He whipped around and faced the backseat, a scowl on his face. "Ugh, what are you doing here?" he complained; as he reached for the handle of his door, Olivia locked the doors and pulled away from the curb. "Livvy, let me out. I'll drive myself."

"No, you won't," she said firmly. "Wednesdays are my days to drive."

"Well, why'd you bring Isaac?"

"I brought myself," Isaac told him smugly. He reached into the McDonald's bag and pulled out Stiles' breakfast sandwich amongst the wrappers from his biscuit and Olivia's bagel, tossing it at him. "Breakfast."

"Thank you," Stiles grumbled at Olivia as he turned to face the front once again. He unwrapped his sandwich with a grouchy look on his face. "Now Mischief Day is ruined."

"No, it isn't, Mr. Mischief," Olivia rolled her eyes. "If anything, Isaac riding with us is mischief..."

"That doesn't make me feel any better."

"Oh, get over yourself," Isaac rolled his eyes; Olivia caught the action through her rear-view mirror and tried to hide her grin.

"You get over yourself."

"No, you get over your—"

"Okay, both of you, shut it," Olivia interrupted their ridiculous argument. "I don't want to hear another word from either of you until we get to school."

"But—"

"Shush."

"Yes, Mom."

"Isaac Lahey."

Olivia wasn't as annoyed as she portrayed herself. It was actually kind of amusing to see Isaac and Stiles fully chastised for their little spat. Nevertheless, the only noise throughout the rest of the drive to the school was some alternative song that Stiles had turned on

"Look," Isaac spoke as Olivia was parking. "the twins are here."

Olivia and Stiles followed his gaze and saw that he was right. Ethan and Aiden's bikes were parked neatly in the two spaces next to Scott's. Scott had already abandoned his bike and was talking to them, looking affronted.

Stiles' face hardened and in that moment, he and Isaac had something to agree on; they both could not stand Ethan and Aiden.

Stiles and Isaac rushed out of the car and Olivia briskly followed them, making sure that her car was locked securely.

"You're back in school?" they heard Scott ask the twins.

"No, just to talk," Ethan answered him.

"Oh, that's kind of a change of pace for you guys," Stiles snarked as he came to a stop on Scott's right; Isaac joined the alpha's other side. "Usually you're just hurting, maiming, and killing."

Aiden chose to ignore Stiles, keeping his eyes on Scott. "You need a pack, we need an alpha."

"Yeah, absolutely not," Stiles answered for Scott. "That's hilarious, though."

Aiden narrowed his eyes at Stiles while reminding Scott, "You came to use for help. We helped."

"You beat him up, two to one," Olivia spoke up, her voice hardening. "And then when he was down, you had to be stopped by your brother."

"Yeah, in my opinion, that was actually counter-productive," Stiles added as he took her hand, intertwining their fingers.

"Why would I say yes?" Scott asked, though he looked to be humoring the twins, more than actually considering them as pack members.

"We add strength, we'd make you more powerful," Aiden pitched. "There's no reason to say no."

Stiles rolled his eyes, Olivia scoffed, and Isaac sneered at them, "I can think of one. Like the two of your holding Derek's claws while Kali impaled Boyd." Olivia nodded in agreement with Isaac, her heart aching at the thought of her dead pack mate. "In fact, I don't know why we're not impaling them right now."

Aiden growled at them, his eyes glowing ice-blue. "You wanna try?"

Olivia couldn't believe his audacity. She held out a firm hand, sending her own purple-tinted glare at him. "You need to back up," she ordered firmly, allowing her voice to shift and take control of him.

Aiden's eyes dimed back to their normal brown, but his glare stayed.

"Sorry, but they don't trust you," Scott glanced between Ethan and Aiden, his gaze lingering on the latter and his wicked temper. "And neither do I."

The four of them walked past the twins without another word—though, Isaac did send them a triumphant smirk as he passed.

As soon as they walked into the school, Stiles was decked in the face with a roll of toilet paper.

"All right, that's my fucking face!" he growled as he whipped the roll back at Greenberg. He patted Scott on the chest as they continued on to his locker. "Hey, dude, good decision, buddy. Good alpha decision."

Scott winced sheepishly. "I hope so."

"No, you know so," Olivia loved Scott, but he wished that he would see people the way they were, not the way he hoped them to be. Ethan and Aiden had a large part in Boyd's death, like Isaac had just mentioned, and they were also part of the pack who killed Erica. Sometimes, people couldn't be redeemed.

"Exactly," Isaac pointed at her in agreement.

Stiles, who had successfully closed the door to his mind after Malia's transformation back to a human girl, easily dialed his combination and unlocked his locker. He started unpacking his very full backpack, unloading his various Mischief Day pranks.

Scott nudged Olivia while Stiles was focused on his bag. "Hey, what did you say her name was again?" he nodded down the hall and Olivia saw that he was looking at Kira, who was at her own locker.

"Kira Yukimura," she informed him. "She's really sweet. Why?"

Scott shrugged. "Just wondering."

Isaac and Olivia exchanged an amused look. "Right, okay."

Stiles glanced at them. "What are you guys looking at?" he followed their gaze, saw Kira, and then looked back at Scott, "You looking at her?"

Scott immediately looked away from Kira, flustered. "Her? Who her?"

"Her-her," Stiles rolled his eyes. "Kira. You like her?"

"I thought you were into Lydia now," Isaac mentioned idly; Olivia smirked when Scott's eyes widened in shock.

"What? No!" he shook his head quickly. "I mean, may—no! She's okay, they're both okay...Kira's new."

Stiles shook his head and carefully placed a carton of eggs into his locker. "Yeah, that made a lot of sense, buddy. Just ask her out."

"Who, Lydia?"

Olivia rolled her eyes. "He meant Kira, Scott."

"Now?"

"Yes, now," Isaac encouraged him.

"Right now?"

"Right now," Stiles slammed his locker shut after grabbing his econ textbook and turned to face Scott head on. "Scott, I don't think you get it yet. You're an alpha. You're the apex predator—"

"Please don't call him a predator while trying to convince him to ask Kira out," Olivia interjected with a gentle shudder.

"Makes sense," Stiles nodded at her before going back to Scott. "My point is, everyone wants you. You're like the hot girl that every guy wants."

Scott raised his eyebrows, confused. "The hot girl?"

"You are the hottest girl," Stiles poked him in the chest with a wink.

His words must have finally gotten through to Scott, because the alpha nodded with a small, but cute smile on his face. He looked up at Isaac and announced, "I'm the hot girl."

Isaac nodded seriously. "Yes, you are."

Scott giggled cutely before walking away.

Olivia watched him go, shaking her head. "You three are the oddest people I've ever met."

Isaac laughed at her and followed Scott while Stiles scoffed, "Says you," he grabbed her hand as they walked down the hallway to her locker. "Aren't you the teenager whose favorite ice cream is vanilla?"

"You know I don't like ice cream that much," they reached her locker and she swiftly unlocked it. "Now, should I be jealous that you called Scott the hottest girl while I was standing right next to you, or...?"

"No," Stiles leaned against her neighbor's locker, smiling down at her. "Want to know why?"

"Why, Stiles?"

"Because hot doesn't even begin to describe you, Livvy," he cooed sweetly, making her giggle.

"You're lucky I love you," she poked his cheek. "otherwise, you'd be too cheesy for me."

"You like cheese."

"On my pizza," Olivia shut her locker with a laugh, cradling her econ textbook in the crook of her right arm. "Now, did you want to catch the show are you gonna sit around all day and miss it?"

Stiles' eyes lit up at the reminder. Last night, or early this morning, Stiles and Scott had come to the school to prank Coach. It was his birthday and apparently the best friend duo had been pranking him on Mischief Day since they entered high school. It was a sort of tradition for them and Stiles said it was always good fun, but Olivia had never witnessed one of these pranks herself.

She would never tell Stiles, but she was kind of excited about it.

"Yes!" he grabbed her free hand and started pulling her down the hall.

When they entered Coach's classroom, Stiles had insisted on sitting in the front row, so he had a good seat for all the chaos that he and Scott had reined upon Coach. Olivia sat behind him and when Lydia and Scott came into the classroom together, a moment or so later, they sat next to them. The bell rang and there was still no sign of Coach—but then, they heard what was going on next door.

What sounded like furniture collapsing to the floor came from Coach's office. Not a second later, they heard him shout, "Son of a bitch!"

Stiles broke out into a round of snickers, his whole body shaking, and Scott grinned in amusement. Olivia let a smile appear on her lips as she glanced at Lydia, who shook her head, an expression that somehow held both annoyance and amusement painted on her face.

The door that connected Coach's office and the classroom was forced open and then slammed quickly as Coach entered the room. "Mischief Night, Devil's Night," he grumbled, glaring at the students as most of them laughed. "I don't care what you call it. You little punks are evil. You think it's funny that every Halloween my house gets egged?"

The general consensus was yes, everyone thought that Coach's house getting egged was funny.

"A man's house is supposed to be his castle! Mine's a freakin' omelet..." Coach turned to his desk and spotted the wrapped gift that Greenberg had deposited before he took his seat. "Oh, this? We're gonna do this again? I don't think so!"

Coach whipped the present onto the ground and stomped on it. A surprised look flashed onto his face when he heard glass breaking; Stiles' laughter increased into a small roar.

Coach picked up the present, a mug with his picture on it, which was now broken, and glanced at the card. "Happy birthday," he read. "Love, Greenberg."

The slightly chastised look on Coach's face made Olivia laugh. Her giggles died down when Lydia's tether pulsed. She turned to her cousin and saw her on her phone, swatting the air around her head.

"Lyds, what are you doing?" she leaned over to her desk and whispered.

"There's a fly," Lydia mumbled in response.

Olivia narrowed her eyes and looked around; she didn't see any flies.

-

-

When Stiles had gone to get his wallet out of his backpack so he could buy his lunch, he definitely didn't expect the police to walk into the school. Many of the deputies were led by his dad, while some of the suited agents walking around were brought by Agent McCall. Even more shocking than the force's appearance was the reason for their visit.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Stiles rushed after Noah after being given a distracted response about why they were at the school. "The William Barrow? The shrapnel bomber? He was spotted nearby?"

Noah turned and stopped, giving the students who were on their lunch break and surrounded the hallways a nervous look. "A little closer than nearby, actually," he corrected Stiles, lowering his voice.

Agent McCall walked by them, the vice-principal at his side. "How do we get down to the basement? I need to know where every entrance is. I don't want anybody coming in or out of the school."

This was more serious than Stiles thought.

"Dad," he looked at his dad with wide eyes. "what's really going on here?"

It didn't take long to discover what was happening. Noah quickly explained that William Barrow had come into the hospital for surgery but had instead escaped. They followed him to the school and they were trying to find him before he ended up killing more people. The scariest part about William Barrow was the fact that he went after kids with glowing eyes.

That meant that Olivia, Scott, and Isaac were in trouble.

He quickly found his friends at the table in the cafeteria where he left them and ushed them out of the overcrowded room. Scott wasn't with them, but he told Olivia, Lydia, Isaac, and Allison what was going on and what—or who—William Barrow was after.

"Barrow went after kids with glowing eyes?" Isaac repeated in disbelief as the five of them wandered along an empty hallway on the second floor of the school. "He said those exact words?"

"Yeah," Stiles squeezed Olivia's hand, assuring himself that she was safe next to him. "and no one knows how he woke up from anesthesia. Just that when they opened him up, they found a tumor full of live flies—which, in any other circumstance, would be all kinds of awesome."

"Maggots coming from the body is a thing, but I've never heard of flies in the stomach," Olivia muttered thoughtfully.

Lydia stopped walking abruptly. "Did you say flies?"

The rest of them stopped with her.

"Lydia?" Allison prompted an explanation from the redhead.

"All day I have been hearing this sound," Lydia explained, pressing her lips together in frustration. "It's like this...buzzing..."

Olivia frowned in realization while Allison asked, "Like the sound of flies?"

That's why Lydia's tether lit up in econ, Olivia realized in dismay, her banshee powers were picking up Barrow at the school.

Lydia nodded grimly. "Exactly like the sound of flies."

It was quickly decided that they needed to split up and find Scott, since he was missing in action. With three floors to search, Allison and Isaac took the top, Lydia and Olivia took the second, and Stiles took the floor level. While they were trying to find Scott, they also had to avoid the police, who were doing their own search for Barrow.

Five minutes before the lunch period was over, Stiles found Scott outside of Mr. Yukimura's classroom. "Hey, dude, where the fuck have you been?"

Scott opened his mouth, but didn't get to answer, as Olivia and Lydia came storming up to them.

"The police are leaving," Lydia told them. "Why are they leaving?"

Scott winced in surprise. "The police?"

"They must have cleared the building and grounds, which means he's not here," Stiles told her.

Olivia shook her head in disagreement. "No, he has to be here," she insisted, her eyes traveling to her cousin. "Tell him, Lydia."

Stiles gave the redhead an expectant look.

"The sound, the buzzing I've been hearing? It's getting louder."

Stiles heart sank. "How loud?"

Olivia's eyes flashed purple. "Loud enough that I can hear it."

Yeah, okay, Stiles glanced between them, that's pretty loud.

Within minutes, Stiles found himself chasing his dad and Agent McCall—along with other deputies and FBI agents—to the parking lot. "Dad, Dad, you can't leave yet!"

"We got an eyewitness that puts Barrow by the train station," he dad explained.

"Let's go, Stilinski!"

Noah went to follow McCall, but Stiles stopped him.

"Dad, please...Lydia said that he's still here."

Noah's eyes widened slightly. "Did she see him?"

"Not exactly, no," Stiles grimaced; he hadn't exactly told him what Lydia was yet. "Well, not at all, actually. But she has a feeling. A supernatural feeling."

Noah turned his eyes away from Stiles in order to look at Olivia and Lydia, who had followed Stiles out of the school. While Lydia looked away, acting like she wasn't listening to their conversation, Olivia slapped on a sweet smile and waved at him.

He waved back at her and then looked back at Stiles. "Lydia wasn't on the chess board."

"She is now."

"Kanima?"

Why did his dad think everyone was a kanima? "Banshee."

"Oh, God."

"I know how it sounds, but basically, it means that she can sense when someone's close to death," Stiles explained rapidly. "And you know what Livvy is, okay, and she's got a bad feeling, too."

"Do these feelings tell them that I'm about to kill you?" Noah retorted, raising his eyebrows.

"I don't know," Stiles looked back at Olivia and Lydia, and this time, it was Lydia who waved at Noah.

"All right, look," Noah leveled him with a calm, yet stern, stare. "I'm not saying I don't believe, but right now, I'm going with eyewitness over banshee and anchoram. We're leaving the deputies here. The school's on lockdown till three o'clock. Nobody come in, nobody comes out. Buddy, that's the best I've got right now. That's the best I can give you."

"You're leaving me here," Stiles objected as Noah turned and ran away from him, joining McCall and his agents. "That is not—that is the worst!"

Betrayal, in its purest form. That's what he was feeling at the moment. How dare his dad just leave him here, ignoring his warning about Barrow? Why didn't he just drop him off at the firehouse when he was an infant? It was the same type of abandonment!

Okay, he was being dramatic, but still...

Well, finding William Barrow was up to them, now.

-

-

Olivia, Stiles, and Lydia met with Allison in an empty classroom. While Scott and Isaac, along with Ethan and Aiden, would search the basement and floor level, and Olivia, Lydia, and Stiles would search the upper levels, Allison would be sneaking out of school in order to go home and search through the Argent's bestiary for some kind of explanation on Barrow's stomach flies and ability to wake up from full-blown anesthesia.

"The bestiary is literally a thousand pages long," Allison stated as she opened one of the windows leading to outside. "if I'm going to find anything about flies coming out of people's bodies, it could take me all night."

"If you go to the find button in the word document, you should be able to search for flies," Olivia pointed out.

Lydia nodded in agreement. "And remember, the word in archaic Latin for fly is musca."

"Got it," Allison climbed out the window.

Lydia turned to Olivia and Stiles. "Where do we start?"

"Upstairs," Stiles answered. "Let's go."

An hour later, after searching the second floor for any sign of Barrow, they moved onto the third floor. The drawing room was the second room they searched on the floor, right after the room that was reserved for painting.

Olivia soon received a text message from Isaac, informing her that he and Scott were moving onto the floor level while Aiden and Ethan finished up the basement.

"Are they still in the basement?" Lydia asked her.

"Scott and Isaac moved on, but Ethan and Aiden are," Olivia answered, slipping her phone back into her bag. "The twins had to search the boiler room and then they're meeting up with Scott and Isaac."

"Fuck!" Stiles' sudden curse caught Olivia and Lydia's attention. "All the wolves, the majority of the students with glowing eyes are either in the basement or the first floor. An engineer could use a boiler room to blow up the whole fucking school."

Olivia cocked her head and disappeared into her mental map. There were no whispers warning her about her or her pack mates, no names floating through her head. Every tether on her map was safe, other than the slight pulsing from Peter and Derek's—which she assumed was because they were either still doing the alpha ritual or they were recovering from it. So, they were safe from Barrow, right?

But Lydia was still hearing that buzzing. She could hear it, too, if she dived into her cousin's tether. Barrow was still in the school, somewhere, but her powers weren't warning her about anything...

Why aren't there any warnings? She thought, almost frantically. William Barrow is here.

While lost in her head, Olivia missed the significant look that Lydia and Stiles shared. "We have to get them out," Stiles proclaimed. "We have to get everyone out."

"How do we do that?"

Like any other problem in their very problematic lives, Stiles had an answer. Within the next few minutes, he had pulled the fire alarm and was caught by Coach, who claimed that if he was younger, he would have punched him. He had also earned himself a week full of detention.

School ended while students piled out of the building for the drill, which meant that the lockdown was over. Olivia, Stiles, and Lydia joined Scott, Isaac, Ethan, and Aiden near the parking lot to see if they found any sign of Barrow.

"We didn't find anything," Aiden reported.

Scott nodded in agreement. "Not even a scent."

"It's three o'clock, so school's over," Stiles sighed. "If there was a bomb, wouldn't he have set it off by now?"

"I've got nothing," Olivia clenched her jaw, wishing that her abilities were giving her something to work with. "I'm not getting any warnings..."

Ethan raised his eyebrows. "Does that mean everybody's safe?"

"That's what she means," Isaac snapped at him in Olivia's defense. He then glanced at Lydia, thoughtfully. "but if you are hearing the flies..."

Lydia shook her head, just as lost as everyone else. "I don't know," she said sadly. "I just don't know."

-

Sirius knew that something was wrong with his girls. Lydia was hiding in her room and Olivia's face was snuggled into his fur as the two of them laid on her bed. The way her dog squirmed underneath her ear gave Olivia the hint that her anxiety was rubbing off on him. It made her feel bad; she rolled away from Sirius and onto her stomach, resting her chin on her forearms as her eyes landed on her boyfriend's figure across the room.

Stiles had opted to come over to her house instead of his, even though he would have been more comfortable in his house, with his own walls made up like a crime board. Even though Olivia had objected at first, it hadn't taken much coaxing for Stiles to convince her to allow him to set up a brand-new crime board on the large corkboard of her wall, which usually held pictures of her friends and family. She just couldn't resist the weirdo, especially when he pulled out four different balls of colored string—blue, yellow, green, and red—out of his backpack.

"Do you always keep those in there?" she had asked him. He had blinked back at her, almost innocently, and answered, "Yeah, why?"

So, now she watched the love of her life in his element; solving cases was what he was best at. Like her own personal, sexy Sherlock Holmes—she much preferred him to Benedict Cumberbatch.

"Okay, so green is solved, yellow is to-be-determined, and red is unsolved," Olivia hummed as Stiles pinned yet another piece of red string to connect a picture of William Barrow and one of the Eichen House. "What does blue mean?"

There were about three pieces of blue string that hadn't made much sense to her. The rest, she could somewhat follow.

"Blue is pretty," Stiles turned and winked at her. Her heart warmed, remembering the last time he told her that—his favorite color was blue, like her eyes.

"Well, yeah," she smiled as he sauntered over to her, plopping down onto the bed beside her. Sirius scurried off the bed, unnerved by the bounciness of the mattress. "but what does it mean in term of the investigation?"

"Nothing really," Stiles admitted. He leaned closer to her and brushed his lips on her forehead, just above her right eyebrow; her heart started racing. "It's different for each crime board. Today, it's the same as red."

Olivia pressed her lips against his, pulling back quickly. "You only have red on the board."

"Yes," Stiles rolled his eyes and laid on his back with a sigh. "I'm aware of that, thanks, baby."

Olivia shuffled closer to him and shifted so half of her body leaned against his. "I don't get it," she admitted, resting her chin on his chest as she studied his face. "Lydia felt Barrow at the school. And I did, too, it's just...I feel like my powers weren't working."

Stiles frowned and brushed his thumbs over her flushed cheeks. "What do you mean?"

"The tethers, none of them were giving any hint of trouble. When I looked at them, I knew that everyone in the pack was safe. Yet, when I dived into Lydia's, I could hear the flies buzzing. Just like her," she sighed in frustration. "It's so contradicting, it's maddening. And we didn't even find any physical proof of Barrow being there."

"Livvy, you've been right about this kind of stuff before. So has Lydia," Stiles comforted her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to pull her closer against him. "and maybe the fact that you weren't feeling anything and Lydia was is a hint."

"What do you mean?"

"You know if your pack members are in trouble...What if someone who's not in the pack is who Barrow was after?"

Olivia cocked her head thoughtfully. "That makes sense," she mused. "but still, if he was at the school, the wolves didn't scent him."

"What if he didn't smell like himself? What if he changed his scent somehow?" Stiles bounced another idea off of her. "I mean, you said yourself that Lydia was right. Barrow was there. What if he, fuck, what if he changed into someone's gym clothes. Or he used some girl's perfume...What if he—"

Olivia sat up, her eyes widening in realization. "The chemistry lab. He could use chemicals to completely hide his scent. If they were strong enough, it'd be like he never stepped foot into the school."

Stiles grinned widely at her. "We are geniuses," he pecked her on the lips and then patted her butt. "Get Lydia. We need to go to the school."

-

Since Mr. Harris' tragic death, there hadn't been a science department head. If he was still alive, getting into the large closet of the school's chemicals would be infinitely harder because Harris was known to stay late after school. Now, though, with Stiles' lock-picking skills, it was easy to break into the senior chemistry lab where the closet was located.

Now, Mr. Harris was a dick, but he was the only science teacher who knew what he was doing at Beacon Hills High School. With science being Olivia's favorite subject, he had been her favorite teacher, of sorts—she purely respected him for his knowledge, not his attitude. For the first time since his death, Olivia didn't mind that he was gone.

Yeah, she knew how horrible that sounded. Ultimately, though, Mr. Harris had helped Kate Argent set the Hale house on fire—who went around telling random women ways to get away with arson? —and the fire led to most of the things that had gone wrong in her life.

"So, what are we looking for?" Lydia asked as they entered the room. Though Stiles and Olivia had brought her up to speed on why they were going to the school, some of the details were still kind of lost on her. She watched as Olivia frowned at the chemical closet and opened it, the key already in the doorknob. "That's supposed to be locked."

"Yeah, exactly," Stiles muttered, walking into the closet. "Notice anything else?"

Lydia inhaled and studied the closet. "It smells like chemicals," she realized. "You guys were right, they wouldn't have been able to catch his scent."

Olivia hummed and pulled out her phone, turning on its flashlight and pointing it at the floor. The three of them flinched when they saw the small puddle of blood on the floor; Stiles even got a little green around the gills, which wasn't surprising due to his slight fear of blood.

"Gross," he groaned quietly. "He was here, preforming very minor surgery on himself."

"Lydia, you were right," Olivia reached for her cousin's hand, squeezing it lightly. "Your instincts were right."

"Then why don't I feel good about this?"

"Probably because he was here to kill somebody."

"Kids with glowing eyes," Olivia mused. "but they're not part of the pack. Which narrows it down it down to..."

Lydia shrugged. "I have no idea."

"We gotta figure it out," Stiles decided. "Spread out, start looking for anything."

The girls did as he said, leaving the chemical closet. While Stiles started on one side of the classroom, looking through some of the lab tables, Lydia walked toward the teacher's desk, and Olivia searched some of the cabinets that held the lab equipment.

"Lydia," Stiles noticed that Lydia drifted toward the chalk board absentmindedly and saw that she was staring at a set of three numbers. "what are those?"

19. 53. 88.

"Atomic numbers," Lydia answered as he and Olivia moved to her side.

"Is it a formula?"

"No," it was Olivia who spoke this time. "Nineteen's Potassium. Fifty-three is Iodine. Eighty-eight is Radium. The first two make Potassium Iodide."

Olivia picked up a piece of chalk and started writing the atomic symbols next to their corresponding numbers.

19—K

"Potassium is K?" Stiles interrupted her writing.

Olivia nodded. "From Kalium, the scientific neo-Latin name."

53—I

"What's Radium?"

88—RA

"RA."

KIRA.

"Kira," Olivia breathed, her heart starting to race. "That's why none of the tethers were giving me anything."

"Guys," Lydia spoke up, giving them a horrified look. "Scott went to Kira's house for dinner."

-

When they got to Kira's house, Scott was knocked out, laying on the street next to his bike. Kira was no where to be found and when Stiles was finally able to wake Scott, he confirmed their suspicions.

"Barrow, he took Kira!" he exclaimed breathlessly as Stiles and Lydia helped him to his feet.

"We know. He was after her the whole time," Stiles patted him on the back. He glanced at Olivia, who had been talking to Isaac on the phone to see if he and Allison found anything in the bestiary. "What'd he say?"

"They didn't find anything," she reported, ending the call. "Just some stuff about flies and the dead. Nothing else."

"Well, we have to think of something," Scott said nervously. "He's going to kill her."

"I knew he was there," Lydia's voice deepened when it shook from the anxiety she was feeling. "How did I know that?"

"You heard the flies," Stiles said. "What do you hear now?"

Lydia was silent for a moment, listening, before she shook her head. "Nothing," she scoffed, disappointed in herself. "I feel like I can do this. But I don't know what to do. It's like it's on the tip of my tongue, and I don't know how to trigger it. I just—I sweat to God, it literally makes me want to scream."

Screaming, the most known way of communication from a banshee. "Then scream, Lydia," Olivia urged her. "Scream."

The scream that burst from Lydia's lips was the loudest any of them had been yet. While Olivia covered her ears and flinched back, she mused that it might have been because it was the first time Lydia was actually cooperating with her abilities. Despite the pain that being a banshee could bring her cousin, she was proud of Lydia for using her powers for good.

Lydia's tether flared and shook, but it held strong. Lydia was strong.

A full minute later, Lydia's screamed died down. The redhead didn't move, still turned away from Olivia, Stiles, and Scott. A noise caught her attention, the buzzing noise. She followed it, looking up at the streetlight hanging above her. She quickly turned around, causing Stiles to flinch.

"It's not flies," she told them. "it's electricity."

As Scott looked up at the light, Stiles twisted his lips. "Wait a second," he thought aloud. "Barrow was an electrical engineer. He worked at a power substation."

"What substation?"

He squinted, trying to remember the information from some of the papers he pinned to the crime board in Olivia's room. "The one by the Iron Works."

-

Scott drove ahead of them on his bike, arriving at the power substation in the Iron works couple minutes before Olivia pulled up with Stiles and Lydia in her car. Scott had already run into the building and Stiles was jumping out of his seat the second Olivia shifted into park.

"Okay, wait here," he told Olivia and Lydia. "Just wait for the cops to come."

"Stiles, I'm coming with you—"

Stiles cut Olivia off before she could protest more. "I have only one bat, Livvy. Please, please just wait."

Olivia felt her heart starting to ache from the panic pumping through her. "Stiles, if you die, I'll kill you."

Stiles only winked at her before running off into the building. Lydia climbed into the passenger seat while they waited, tightly squeezing her hand. It wasn't long before Scott's red tether was pulsing painfully and seconds later, Stiles' and Isaac's started up, too.

Scott, Stiles, Isaac...Scott, Scott, Scott...Isaac, Isaac, Isaac...Stiles, Stiles, Stiles...

There was an explosion; bright lights came from the inside of the substation and then everything went black.

"SCOTT? ISAAC? STILES?"

(Gif is not mine)

[tw-anchor]

38. Yes, Werecoyotes Exist

Anchor

Stiles Stilinski x Original Character

Episode:  3x14; More Bad Than Good

Word Count: 6,132

Warning(s): Mature language, canon violence + gore, panic attacks

Author’s Note: Introducing Malia! I freaking love my girl and I can’t wait to write about Olivia and Malia’s relationship. I hope you enjoy the newest chapter! Make sure to tell me what you think, reblog, and like!

Masterlink in Pinned Post!

When Scott had waltzed into Stiles' bedroom and said, "We're going to find a dead body," Stiles had expected the night to go much like that one night, not so long ago. Thankfully, his best friend was the alpha in this situation and Scott definitely wasn't going to bite him. Also, this time, the dead body was not one of Olivia's relatives—which he considered a blessing. She'd be so pissed if she knew he was looking for one of her dead relatives.

Actually, she'd probably be pissed that he was going to look for a dead body at all. He could picture it; she'd have a lecture all set and ready for him, but he'd get distracted by her beauty and then distract her. And then, well, what happened next would be private—for no one but him and Olivia.

The sharp snap of a stick under Scott's shoe brought him out of his fantasy of a night spent between Olivia's thighs. Yeah, he should probably be paying attention to where they were going.

"You know, if my dad's right, that means there's another werewolf in town that we haven't met yet," Stiles brought up the elephant in the room—er, woods. The only reason they were coming out to look for a dead body was because Noah thought that the accident that killed the women of the Tate family had been caused by a werewolf.

The theory had some substance; after all, the accident took place on the night of a full moon.

"I know," Scott was paying more attention to the GPS on his phone, but Stiles didn't mind. They had to get to the site of the wreck somehow and neither of them knew the woods that well.

"If it turns out to be something like triplets that form into, like, a fucking three-headed hound of hell, I'm seriously not up for that."

"Yeah, me either," Scott sighed in agreement. "Especially if I can't even control my own transformation anymore."

Eventually, they came across a ravine, close to where the accident should have been. They would have to climb down a few feet of stone and dirt, but it was doable for the both of them. It wasn't like it was Mount Everest or some shit.

A howl echoed through the air, making Stiles flinch. He flinched so violently that he accidently bumped into Scott, causing the phone—and GPS—to go flying out of his friend's hands, into the ravine below. It was just their luck that it had recently rained, because the phone had sunk down into a puddle.

"Fuck, sorry, dude," Stiles grimaced, looking from the phone and the puddle to Scott's annoyed face. "I hate coyotes so much. They always sound like they're mauling some tiny, helpless animal."

Amused, Scott scoffed and jumped down into the ravine. While he grabbed the phone from the puddle, Stiles got to work on following him down. He slipped and slid a little on the way, but he managed to get into the ravine no problem. Yeah, it was nothing like Mount Everest.

"It still works," Scott informed him, showing Stiles his phone, which was apparently waterproof.

Stiles only glanced at the phone, as the beam of Scott's flashlight had caught something that intrigued him. He grabbed the flashlight from Scott's hand and crept forward, following the light to where an old car lay, upside down and ultimately destroyed.

"I think we found it."

Scott walked over to him, looking at the wrecked car in confusion. "Uh, why wouldn't they move it? Isn't it evidence?"

"Probably too much of a pain in the ass to tow out," Stiles studied the vehicle. Its windows were long gone, probably from the crash, the tires had been scavenged, and thankfully, there was no blood from the accident. There was, however, claw marks scratched down the car, imprinting the metal. "Look at this. See those?"

Scott nodded and shifted closer to the car. He put his own hand on the marks, surprised that they were a match in width and height.

"Animal claws would be closer together, right?" Stiles prompted. "A lot closer."

"It was a werewolf," Scott agreed.

"So my dad was right."

A hint of pride bubbled in Stiles' gut at the thought of his dad taking all of this supernatural shit in stride. He just wished that the reason wasn't because Agent McCall was out to get him impeached from his job. Still, at least his dad would know that this case was closed, even if it meant that a werewolf had decimated a family.

Stiles dropped to his stomach and flashed the light through one of the windows so he could see into the vehicle. He just wanted to make sure that there was nothing wrong going on down there. It wasn't until Scott kneeled down next to him and pointed something out did he see something.

He pulled the doll out of the vehicle and got to his feet, Scott following. They stared at the doll, a basic one that most little girls would have to play with, when out of nowhere, it spoke.

"I'm hungry!"

Stiles shouted and threw the doll away from him, so scared that he lost his balance. Scott stared at him in shock, but Stiles felt vindicated. There was no way he wouldn't have screamed from that fucking doll speaking out of nowhere. It was out of a fucking horror movie.

He inhaled deeply and pressed a palm against his chest. "I think I just had a minor heart attack."

Scott sighed heavily in agreement before pausing. Stiles saw the dangerous look on his face and stood still, his heart starting to race when he heard the low growl come from the other side of the car.

"Stiles," Scott reached for Stiles; he shakily joined his friend. "Please tell me you see that."

Stiles stared in the direction where Scott was, spotting the coyote within seconds.

Shit, shit, shit, he cursed himself. Oh, we are so fucked.

He didn't voice his fear, though his voice did shake when he answered Scott, "I see it."

And then Scott was off, chasing after the coyote.

"Wait, hey, Scott!" he yelled after his best friend. "Scott, wait!"

What was the fucking point of running after a fucking coyote?! If anything, Scott needed to stay by Stiles' side as they left, so he could protect them. Without Scott around, who knew if another coyote would come around and eat him. And also, Scott could get hurt as well. If he couldn't control his transformation, how was he supposed to go up against a fucking coyote.

God, I hate coyotes so fucking much.

He couldn't just stand there and wait for Scott to come back—if he came back at all. He supposed he should at least take a look around the area to see if he could find any hint that Malia Tate had been killed around here. The sight of a coyote by the wreck almost confirmed her death. Though her body wasn't found with her mother and sister's bodies, she couldn't have survived for long out in the woods by herself, with coyotes around. It was sad, but it was the truth.

He walked slowly and with purpose as he aimed the flashlight in front of him. He slowly made his way to the opposite side of the ravine, secretly hoping that Scott would come back soon so they could get the hell out of there, and tried to find anything that stood out. He was about to leave and head back to the site of the wreck when the flashlight caught a shadow of an opening in the stones in the ravine wall.

He raised an eyebrow in realization; a coyote den.

He didn't want to explore the den without Scott, so he made his way back to the wreck. He was halfway back when he crossed a tree and ran smack dab into Scott. There may have been some frightened screaming on both sides, but they would never mention it to anyone.

"I think I found something," Stiles blurted out once he was sure he wasn't going to die of a heart attack.

Scott nodded. "So did I. I think that coyote I followed is Malia."

"Malia Tate? Come this way," Stiles led Scott toward the den. "The girl who wasn't found..."

"Exactly," Scott nodded. "She's like me—well, not like me, because I don't change into a wolf."

"Maybe it's like Derek's mom," Stiles suggested, his mind racing a mile a minute as they walked. "She could turn into a four-legged wolf. Maybe werecoyotes can too."

"I can't believe werecoyotes are a thing now."

"Me neither."

Together, they climbed up the ravine wall and entered the den. While Stiles hadn't known that the coyote was Malia, it didn't surprise him to see an old jacket that would fit a nine-year-old girl, as well as a couple of shoes, a scarf, and a patterned blanket. They were all dirty from age and time in the den, but still recognizable.

"You see this?" Stiles picked up the blue jacket. "This is Malia's. Remember, it's the same one she was wearing in the photo."

Scott nodded, recognizing the garment, before hesitating. "We shouldn't be here."

Stiles gave him a look of confusion. "What do you mean?"

"She's not going to come back now," Scott explained. "We just invaded her home. Our scents are gonna be everywhere."

"Shit," Stiles sighed in realization, his eyes landing on an old teddy bear. "Well, if she's not going to come back here, where's she going to go?"

"I don't know."

"Can you track her now?" Stiles asked Scott, his eyes still wandering around the den. "You think you got her scent?"

"Maybe, but I'm better at this when I'm a full wolf," Scott sighed. "And I'm still worried that if I do it, I won't be able to turn back."

Stiles remembered what Deaton had told them earlier that day; when the three of them underwent the sacrifice, they had opened a door to their minds. That was why he, Scott, and Allison were having such a hard time with things.

"The door's still open," he stated; Scott nodded. "Well, what if Olivia helps you?"

Scott nodded. "And if that doesn't work, I'll ask Derek if he can help," he sighed heavily and looked around the den. "This is basically a crime scene, right? I think it might be a little out of Deaton's league."

"And more my dad's," Stiles finished his thought.

Yeah, he already dreaded trying to get his dad to understand what had happened to Malia Tate.

-

-

"How much are we talking here? I'm not doing it for any less than ten."

"Ten thousand?" Olivia hissed into her phone, eyes narrowed.

"And if you want the older one alive, I'm thinking fifteen."

"You want fifteen thousand dollars to rescue Derek and Peter?" Olivia lowered her voice when the girl who had the locker a few feet down from her gave her a weary look. "Did Morrell give you this much to get to Isaac?"

"I don't talk about previous contracts," Braeden, the girl who had rescued Isaac from the alpha pack at the beginning of the school year, snapped through the receiver. "And we're talking about the Calaveras here. I'm not going in for under fifteen."

Well, when she put it like that...

"All right, fine," Olivia sighed, digging into her purse for the checkbook she kept on her. Luckily, Peter had decided to start giving her child support and had given her access to his bank account. She rattled off his account information while glancing at the clock on the wall; she had two minutes to get to class. "If it doesn't go through right away, it'll need Peter's approval."

"That's hardly getting paid upfront," Braeden argued.

"Well, I don't have fifteen thousand dollars in my bank account," Olivia rolled her eyes. "Peter's good for the money, he just might have to authorize the payment. Are we gonna do this or not?"

It was silent for a few seconds on Braeden's end. "Fine," she finally decided. "I'll head there now. I'll make contact when I pick up the packages."

Olivia furrowed her eyebrows. "Why are you talking like a UPS worker?"

Braeden sighed. "Goodbye, Olivia."

"Bye."

Olivia slammed her locker shut and rushed toward her history class, cursing Braeden for getting back to her right as the warning bell rang. She slid into the classroom with a minute to spare and headed right into the back corner of the room where Stiles, Scott, and Allison were huddled around Stiles' iPad.

"Here's where we found the den," Stiles pointed out to Allison as Olivia walked over to them. "It's right in the middle of the hiking trails."

"Well, that could narrow it down," Allison said thoughtfully. "Coyotes travel in fixed trails. But, I think you're right about her not going back to the den. Coyotes don't like wolves."

"And they're really smart," Olivia piped in; she didn't know what they were talking about, but she never brushed off a time to show off her brilliance. "If they don't want to be heard, they actually walk on their toes."

Stiles gave her a surprised look. "Coyotes tiptoe?"

Olivia shared an amused look with Allison. "Yeah, they tiptoe."

"Wow."

The bell rang, announcing the start of class.

"I got to go," Allison said hurriedly. "but send me the pinned location."

Stiles nodded and she ran off, hurrying to her class. Once Scott had started to head to his seat, Olivia confronted Stiles, still a little confused about what he and their friends had been talking about.

"So, what was that about?"

"Okay, so, you know how I told you that Scott's dad is trying to get my dad fired?"

"No."

He hadn't said anything about that, in actuality. Agent McCall was trying to fire Sheriff Stilinski? How was that even possible? She was pretty sure the FBI didn't have jurisdiction over local police forces—or they did, and she just didn't know about it.

"Right, sorry, I forgot," Stiles winced. "Anyway, McCall is trying to get my dad impeached, so Dad's been going through old cases. Since he knows now, he figured a set of fresh eyes might do some good. He found a case, this family had died in a car accident on the full moon and he thinks a werewolf did it."

It was a lot to take in at once, especially since Stiles was speaking a million miles per hour, but somehow, she managed. "So did a werewolf do it?"

"Not exactly," Stiles whispered as they took their seats. "it turns out that their oldest daughter, Malia, is a werecoyote."

Olivia blinked slowly. "A werecoyote."

"Yes, and she accidently caused the accident," Stiles finished up his story. "So, Scott and I went out to the wreck last night and Scott found Malia."

"...but as a coyote?"

"Yes, exactly," Stiles nodded excitedly. "So, now we're trying to find a way to get Malia to turn back into a girl."

"Oh, my God," she sighed. "You found this all out in one night?"

"Yeah," Stiles smiled casually. "What'd you do last night?"

"I had a dream about Derek and Peter, so I hired a mercenary to find them."

Stiles blinked at her, bewildered. "Excuse me? What?"

Before Olivia could elaborate, Mr. Yukimura was calling the class to attention. "All right, everyone. Let's get started."

Stiles turned and sat properly in his desk while Olivia straightened up her notebooks. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Scott at his desk, going through a huge bundle of paper. "Scott, what is that?"

Scott glanced back at her. "Kira printed this off for us. It's about that Bardo stuff."

"Huh," she hummed, impressed. She turned toward Kira's desk and smiled at her, earning her a shy grin back, before looking back at Scott. "That was nice of her."

"Yeah, it was."

"...We were just talking about internment camps and prisoners of war," Mr. Yukimura continued. "There's a passage in our reading that I'd like to go over in more detail. Who would like to come up and read aloud for us?" there was no volunteer, so Mr. Yukimura picked a random student. "Mr. Stilinski, how about you?"

Olivia's eyes cut to her boyfriend, watching him wearily. He couldn't read at the moment.

"Oh, uh, maybe someone else could," Stiles excused himself.

Mr. Yukimura wasn't having that. "Everyone participates in my class, Mr. Stilinski."

"Okay," Stiles sighed and got out of his seat, heading over to the podium where Mr. Yukimura's copy of their textbook rested.

Seeing someone you love struggle is never fun. Physically feeling someone you love struggle was even worse. Stiles' tether pulsed in sync with his quickening breaths as he stood at the podium, glaring down at the textbook. Though she was trying her hardest to help through her tethers, she just wasn't reaching him.

Olivia knew the signs of a panic attack, especially on Stiles and he was there; his rapid breathing, his glazed-over eyes, his tight-knuckled grip...She needed to get him out of there.

"Stiles," she popped out of her seat and rushed over to him, gently grabbing his arm. "It's okay. J-Just, just hold on."

Scott, who had followed her to the front of the classroom, glanced at Mr. Yukimura. "We should take him to the nurse's office."

Honestly, they didn't wait for Mr. Yukimura to agree. They had already started helping Stiles walk out of the classroom. It was only when they were freely in the hall that Stiles moved on his own accord, ripping away from Olivia and Scott's grip on him. He stumbled, breathing heavily, into the closest room, which happened to be the boys' bathroom.

"Stiles, look at me, man," Scott was almost as panicked as Stiles; he hadn't seen his best friend like this before. "What's happening?"

"It's a panic attack," Olivia told him as she hurried to Stiles' side. Her attempts to grab his arms and help him sit down were pushed away as Stiles gripped onto the sink.

"It's a dream," he mumbled frantically, tears slipping down his cheeks. "it's a dream. This is just a dream."

"Stiles, this isn't a dream," Olivia's voice was soothing, gentle. "This is real. You're here with me and Scott."

"It's okay, Stiles," Scott's eyes fluttered, afraid for his best friend. "What do you do? I mean, like, how do you tell if you're awake or dreaming?"

"Fingers," Stiles gasped out. "Y-You c-count your f-fingers. Y-You have e-extra fingers in d-dreams."

"How many fingers do I have?" Olivia immediately held out both hands so Stiles could see them. "Stiles, hey! Look at me, look at my hands and count my fingers. Come on, sweetcheeks."

Scott grabbed Stiles' arm and forcefully turned him away from the sink in order to face Olivia. Stiles inhaled and exhaled far too quickly to be safe, but he set his blurry eyes on Olivia's hands, counting her fingers one-by-one.

"One, two..."

Scott nodded in encouragement. "Keep going."

"Three, four..."

"Five," Olivia put the first of her thumbs down and gave Stiles a heartfelt smile. "Good job, babe. Keep going."

Stiles exhaled shakily. "Six, seven..."

"Eight," Scott supplied as Olivia put her last middle finger down.

"Nine..." Stiles inhaled and finished counting breathlessly, "Ten."

"Ten fingers, Stiles," Olivia encouraged. "I have ten fingers. This is real. You're not dreaming."

The weight of what that meant seemed to fall on Stiles all at once. He collapsed, his back hitting the wall, as he slid to the floor. Ignoring how dirty the floors in the boys' bathroom were, Olivia didn't hesitate to get on her knees and kneel next to him, grabbing his clammy hand to press a loving kiss to the back of it.

"What the fuck is happening to me?" Stiles cried out in frustration, knocking his head back against the wall. It broke Olivia's heart to see him like this, so frustrated and helpless.

"We'll figure it out," Scott joined Olivia and Stiles on the floor. "You're going to be okay."

Stiles scoffed in disbelief. "Am I?" he raised his head to look Scott in the eye. "Are you? Scott, you can't transform. Allison's being haunted by her dead aunt. I'm straight up losing my mind. We can't do this. We can't—we can't help Malia. We can't help anyone."

"Stiles, don't say that," Olivia shook her head, squeezing his hand. He lazily looked at her and went to disagree, but she cut him off. "No, seriously, don't. Can't is not in your vocabulary, Stiles. If anyone can do anything about anything, it's you, sweetcheeks. You are the one who figures things out. You are strong—you always have been, and you always will be."

"Babe..."

"And even when things are tough, we don't give up," Olivia insisted, her eyes starting to sting. "We try. We always try."

"Liv's right," Scott agreed, nodding proudly. "It's not in our nature to sit by and do nothing. We're doers, Stiles."

Stiles sniffed and nodded resolutely. "You're right," he agreed, straightening up as he looked between his girlfriend and his best friend. "We can do this."

-

-

The rest of school did not get any better. By the time Stiles was feeling better, class had already been let out and people were headed to their second period. However, there was one person who wasn't headed to their next class and that had been Kira. The nice girl she was, she had picked up the bags that Olivia, Scott, and Stiles had left in the history classroom and went to return them.

Unfortunately, Malia—yes, the Malia who was also somehow a werecoyote—had attacked her in the boys' locker room. No one had any idea how a coyote was able to get into the building, but apparently doors didn't deter her when Stiles had something of hers in his backpack.

Scott had saved Kira, thankfully, and the animal control and the police had shown up for the aftermath. The situation went from bad to worse, when Stiles admitted that he had brought the baby doll from the Tate's wreck with him to school at the same time that Mr. Tate walked onto the scene.

He went off the handle at Stiles and then was caught with a gun by Sheriff Stilinski. Fortunately, Mr. Tate left before things could get even more heated, while promising to find the coyote and kill it. He did all of that without realizing that said coyote was actually his daughter—not that anyone would just know that.

So now, the pack had to group together and save Malia from her own father. It was the how they were going to save Malia that was the problem. With Scott and Allison out of commission, they didn't have much options in the way of muscle.

Which led them to Dr. Deaton's animal clinic.

"Xylazine," Deaton set three vials of medicine on the stainless-steel counter in the middle of his exam room. "It's a tranquilizer for horses. For a werecoyote, expect it to work within seconds. I only have three, so whoever's shooting needs to be a damn good shot."

"Allison's a perfect shot," Scott was quick to say.

No, Olivia disagreed privately, she was a good shot.

Isaac voiced what she didn't. "She used to be."

"She can do it," Scott insisted.

Olivia shared a skeptical look with Isaac; Scott hadn't been there when Allison accidently almost shot and killed Lydia. They had. Ever since the sacrifice, Allison wasn't the marksman she used to be. She was so shaky nowadays that she could hardly write with a pen.

"If we manage to find the thing," Isaac muttered pessimistically.

Stiles was not happy with Isaac's negativity. "Okay, what is the point of him?" he pointed at the blonde werewolf. "Seriously, I mean, what's his purpose? Aside from the persistent negativity and the scarf? What's up with the scarf anyway? It's sixty-five degrees out."

Olivia sighed, tired of the back-and-forth between Isaac and Stiles. "Stiles, cut it out."

Stiles shot her a betrayed look as Isaac crossed his arms over his chest, irritated.

"Look, maybe I'm asking a question no one here wants to ask," he pointed out blankly. "How do we turn a coyote back into a girl when she hasn't been a girl for eight years?"

"I could do it, if I could keep myself in control," Scott said thoughtfully. "But...Liv, you could do it?"

Olivia pointed to her chest, confused. "Me? How am I supposed to do that?"

"Yeah, how is she supposed to do that?" Stiles echoed curiously.

"Well, you remember what Deucalion told you, right? About your abilities?" Scott prompted. Olivia's mind raced as she thought back to the night of the lunar eclipse. "He said you could turn a werewolf back with..."

"With a call of his name," she finished. "Yeah, I remember now."

"Is that true?" Isaac asked Deaton.

"Yes, it is," Dr. Deaton confirmed, studying Olivia with peculiar eyes. "You've already done something like that, haven't you?"

Olivia nodded. "With Ethan and Aiden."

"And Deucalion," Scott added.

"So, if you can make three alpha werewolves transform back to their human selves, you can do it with a werecoyote," Stiles encouraged Olivia, a proud smile playing at his lips. "It'll be a piece of cake for you, babe."

"We don't know that," Olivia disagreed. "I have no connection to Malia, I've never met her. Scott, you ran into her, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but I can't transform."

"So, we make a second plan, just in case Livvy can't get Malia to change back," Stiles clapped his hands as he started scheming. "We need a real alpha, though. You know, one that can get it up."

Scott sighed, embarrassed. "I'm an alpha with performance issues."

"It's okay, Scott," Olivia patted his hand. "You just need to practice. Unfortunately, Derek and Peter are somewhere in Mexico right now."

"Which leaves the twins," Isaac hummed.

"They're not alphas anymore," Dr. Deaton informed them. "After what Jennifer did, almost killing them? It broke that part of them."

Olivia didn't see how that was even possible, but okay...

"Yeah, but they still know what it's like to be alphas," Stiles pointed out. "Nobody's seen them in weeks, though."

Olivia winced; she had walked in on Lydia and Aiden one too many times in the past two weeks to say that no one had seen the twins. She knew what Aiden's ass looked like, much to her chagrin. Lydia was taking this I-don't-like-Scott thing to a whole new level by sexing it up with one half of the ex-alpha twins.

"That's not totally true," she spoke up reluctantly; Lydia was going to kill her. "Lydia may or may not be in contact with them...especially Aiden."

Stiles raised his eyebrows at her. "Still?" she nodded. "Ew..."

-

-

They were set. A plan had been made, with hopes that they wouldn't have to use their back-up plan. Scott could control his transformation again, but they were still counting on Olivia to turn Malia back into her human self. It was the easiest route to go since they knew that Olivia could change were-creatures back into their human selves.

All they had to do now was implement the plan. The six of them would be splitting up; Allison and Lydia would try to shoot Malia with the tranquilizer in hopes that it would slow her down, Isaac and Scott would chase Malia and get her to the site of the car wreck, and that's where Olivia and Stiles would be waiting so Olivia could change Malia back. It was a fairly simple plan, but anything could go wrong.

They arrived at the preserve in three separate vehicles; Stiles' Jeep, Scott's bike, and Allison's Toyota. Olivia, Stiles, Lydia, Scott, Isaac, and Allison gathered in a circle, ready to go over their plan once more.

"Anyone else think we might be doing more harm than good?" Lydia asked reluctantly.

Olivia twisted her lips together and glanced at Stiles, gripping his hand tightly. He didn't say anything to her, but his actions did their job in assuring her that everything was going to be all right. He squeezed her back and lifted their intertwined hands, wrapping his arm around her shoulder in assurance. She snuggled into him, the warmth of his shoulder defrosting her chilled cheek.

"We're trying to keep a father from killing his own daughter," Scott rationalized for all of them.

"Actually, we're trying to keep a guy from killing a coyote who is actually his daughter, who we don't know how to change from a coyote back to his daughter," Isaac corrected him bluntly.

Despite the situation, Olivia couldn't help but chuckle. She could always count on Isaac to tell it like it is. It was one of his many charms and why she considered him such a great friend—and there was also the fact that before she grew a heart and fell for Stiles Stilinski, she was just as blunt as him. In a way, that was kinship between them.

"And again with the not helping," Stiles shot a glare at the tall blonde.

Scott rolled his eyes and turned to Allison, who had stayed silent until then. "Did you bring it?"

"Yeah," Allison walked to the trunk of her car and opened it, pulling out her family's tranquilizer gun. "All ready."

As if the universe wanted to ruin their plan, a gunshot echoed through the woods. For some odd reason, they all realized what that meant; Mr. Tate had taken his coyote situation in his own hands and was out gunning for Malia.

Scott and Isaac made to take off, but Olivia quickly stopped them. "Wait, wait!" she shouted "Stick to the plan. Get her to the wreck."

Scott and Isaac only made noises of agreements before they were running off with Lydia and Allison trailing after them. Olivia and Stiles started their own journey to the site of the car wreck and when they were halfway there, Stiles received a call from his father.

"It took the doll again?" Stiles exclaimed, frustrated, once Noah told him that Malia broke into Tate's house to take the baby doll. "What the hell is so important about this doll? Why would it go all the way to the school and then all the way back to the house just for a doll?"

Stiles had ended his call with Noah now, and muttering under his breath as they continued toward the wreck.

"Well, you found the doll in the car wreck, right? Not the coyote den?" Olivia mused; Stiles nodded. "Okay, so, what does the doll even look like?"

"I don't know," Stiles quickly, a little snappish. "It's a doll, you know. It's got little arms, a big baby head, and dead, soulless eyes that scare the fuck out of you...Actually, I took a picture..."

Olivia hovered over his shoulder as he unlocked his phone and found the picture he took of a photo of Malia and her little sister. The older girl in the picture, Malia, wasn't even holding the doll; it wasn't her doll, it was the sister's.

"That's not Malia's doll, Stiles," she pointed out.

"It's her younger sister's," Stiles caught on quickly. "I know what she's doing. It's like taking flowers to a cemetery."

"She's heading to the same place we're going, the wreck," Olivia realized. "We have to get there, now."

They picked up their pace, practically running through the woods to get to the ravine where the wrecked car stayed for eight years. No one else was at the ravine yet, not even Malia, so they slowed to a walk to wait for everyone.

And then Olivia felt it. Isaac's tether pulsed painfully and before she could react, a pained shout echoed through the woods.

"Isaac?" Olivia turned quickly, facing the direction where the shout came from. It was when she took a step that she stood on hard steel which clicked with her weight. "Oh, my God."

It was a trap. A trap that was meant for Malia, but somehow caught Olivia instead.

"Livvy, don't move!" Stiles shouted from behind her. She stared at him with frantic eyes, her heart racing a mile a minute, as he slowly approached her. "I'm gonna look at the warning label, okay? Just stay still."

"W-Warning l-label?"

"There's instructions on how to disarm it," Stiles kept calm for her, though he wanted to vomit from the nerves pooling in his chest. "Animals can't read, so...fuck..."

Olivia swallowed thickly. "Stiles?"

"I can't read, either," Stiles' tone was heavy with anger, though not at her.  He was angry with himself for being unable to help her. Livvy was on the verge of losing her leg, and possibly dying, and he couldn't fucking read. He couldn't get her off the trap safely.

Fuck, fuck, fuck...

"You don't need to read the instructions," Olivia pulled together all of her courage to get herself and Stiles out of this mess. Everyone was counting on them. "You never read the instructions, remember? It's annoys the shit out of me."

Stiles chuckled wetly, wiping the tears from his cheeks.

"You don't need the instructions because you're smarter than them," Olivia recalled something that Stiles had actually told her on one of their date nights where they attempted to put together a Lego set. "You can figure it out, sweetcheeks...You can do it."

There were only two seconds until Stiles responded. When he did, Olivia drowned peacefully in relief. She believed in Stiles. He could do anything.

"Okay, okay," Stiles settled himself on his knees and carefully grasped the wheel that would disarm the arm. "Here we go. Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"I love you."

"I love you, too. Just do it."

"Okay, here we go," Stiles twisted the knob. All at once, the jaws of the trap snapped open, Olivia jumped out of it, and Stiles grabbed her and pulled her away from it. He let out a large sigh of relief when the trap snapped shut and she was unharmed. "Oh, my God. Thank God. You're all right. You're all right."

Olivia was hardly able to lift her head before he was pulling her into a dizzying kiss. She would have stayed in his embrace and celebrated her safety and his success for days if she could, but she couldn't.

Scott's tether was going off and one glimpse at her map told her that he was making his way toward them with Malia. She hurriedly pulled away from Stiles, muttering about Scott and Malia as she did so, and started sprinting toward the ravine.

She held out her hands, envisioning her power conforming to her palms. As soon as she saw Scott round a tree a hundred feet ahead of her, a coyote on his tail, she was pushing that invisible energy out. On her map, she had already located Malia as a navy blue tether; she attacked the tether with her purple energy, commanding Malia's attention.

She inhaled deeply and then:

"MALIA!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Scott collapse to the ground under the weight of her scream. In her map, she felt Isaac's tether strengthen and heal from whatever trouble he had gotten himself into. All she could really focus on, though, was Malia.

The coyote fell to the ground and right before Olivia's eyes, started shifting. Before long, a naked girl, around her age, laid where the coyote had dropped. She had dark brown hair, the same color as Olivia's, and somehow, it wasn't as messy or as wild as Olivia had expected it to be after eight years as a coyote.

She ignored Stiles' call of her name and ran toward Malia, shifting out of her peacoat as she did so. Malia stared at her, stunned, as she carefully wrapped it around her bare body.

"Hi, Malia," she greeted the girl in a gentle whisper. "I'm Olivia. Are you okay?"

"Y-You--I-I?" Malia seemed shocked that she was not her normal coyote self and that she could actually talk.

"You're okay, now," she didn't know why, but Olivia felt so protective over Malia already. "Everything's gonna be okay."

Shockingly, Malia seemed to believe her. Despite having been an animal for the better half of a decade, she still seemed to remember some human actions. Without a word, Malia wrapped her arms around the shorter brunette and buried her face into her soft hair.

Olivia smelt like family, like home.

(Gif is not mine)

[tw-anchor]

37. Nothing Good

Anchor

Stiles Stilinski x Original Character

Episode: 3x13; Anchors

Word Count: 6,537

Warning(s): Mature language, canon violence + gore, hallucinations, nightmares

Author’s Note: I’m sorry for my absence. My grandma died, so I haven’t really had the motivation to write. However, I’m back with Season 3B and I’m so excited because I freaking love this season. I hope you all enjoy! Make sure to tell me what you think, reblog, and like!

Masterlink in Pinned Post!

"Okay, so, you go like this," Stiles instructed Olivia, a nimble string of blue yarn twisted between his fingertips. He flipped one bit of the yarn over the other and made a loop, quickly tying it into a knot.

Olivia copied him, rolling her own yarn, a deep emerald green, into a knot.

"Now you slip the needle in like so," Stiles demonstrated with Olivia following his movements. "Good and then you do this," he slipped the yarn through the fingers of his other hand and looped it through his first loop. "No, not like that. Like this..."

Olivia sighed in frustration. "Why do I even have to learn how to crochet, Stiles?"

"Because I know how to crochet."

"Why do you know how to crochet?"

"Because it keeps my hands busy," Stiles informed her as he kept working at his yarn. "Plus, you know we have to get these mittens ready for Cornelius before winter comes otherwise his toes will get cold."

Olivia turned away from Stiles, where he was sitting on his couch, and looked out the window. Out in the backyard, sat the T-Rex that had imprinted on Stiles like a baby duck, knocking around a soccer ball with his tail. Cornelius was gentle for his species, but when Olivia told Stiles that he should get a pet, she had expected him to pick out a dog so Sirius could have a friend to play with.

Unfortunately, all Cornelius wanted to do with Sirius was eat him.

"Don't let them in."

Olivia turned back to Stiles. "What?"

"Don't let them in. Don't let them in!"

Before Olivia could even begin deciphering Stiles' words, the doorbell rung.

Giving Stiles a bewildered look, Olivia stood from the couch and wandered into the Stilinski's foyer in order to answer the door. She was pleased to see that it was Allison.

"Al, come on in," she said happily.

"Thanks, Liv," Allison grinned back at her. "Do you mind if Kate comes in, too?"

Dark storm clouds rolled in over the horizon as Allison walked into the house, revealing Kate Argent behind her. The older blonde smirked evilly at Olivia as lighting crackled just a few hundred feet in front of the house, followed quickly by a deep roll of thunder.

"Goody," Kate wrinkled her nose in delight. "Another Hale."

Heart racing, Olivia quickly slammed the door in Kate's face. She stumbled away from the door, pivoting so she could run and tell Stiles about Kate, when the door rang once again.

"Don't let them in, Olivia!"

For whatever reason, Olivia didn't listen to Stiles. She turned back to the door, as if forgetting about Kate's presence behind it, and opened it. This time, it wasn't Kate at the door, but, instead, Scott. Crimson red eyes gleamed at her while the true alpha waited to be let into the house, a dribble of thick blood falling from his lips.

"Hi, Liv," Scott greeted her innocently; when he went to wave at her, she saw that his sharp claws had replaced his blunt nails and his palms were covered in more blood.

Olivia stared at him wide-eyed, her eyes darting behind him. On the sidewalk leading up to the Stilinski's house, laid Kate Argent. She was dead; her throat had been ripped out, along with most of her intestines. Her blue eyes were wide open and glazed over, staring at Olivia as if she was still alive and begging the anchoram to help her.

"Scott, what did you do?"

Thwack!

Scott didn't get to answer her; an arrow sank into his chest from behind Olivia. Scott roared, his werewolf features blinking into appearance. She felt like she was moving in slow motion as she turned and spotted Allison, her crossbow gripped tightly in her grasp, pointing the tip of a new arrow straight at Scott.

"Get away from him, Olivia," Allison commanded, voice controlled and calm. "he's a monster."

"Olivia!"

Olivia's head whipped toward the living room, where she heard Stiles scream. She wanted to go to him, to run and get him out of there, but she couldn't. It was like her feet were glued into place.

Scott's growl caught her attention. He leapt at Allison, but didn't get far. Practiced and precise, Allison let go of her arrow; as soon as the sharp tip impaled itself into Scott's forehead, Olivia was passing out.

...

She woke at once when the bed jostled violently and Stiles sat up from his pillow, panting frantically. She rubbed her eyes and blinked for a few seconds, trying to clear the blurriness in her vision, and rolled over to his side of the bed.

"Stiles?" she murmured quietly, worriedly, as she reached for him. Even though she couldn't see his face, she could feel the dampness of his sweat on the bare skin of his pale back. "Are you okay?"

When he didn't answer right away, still trying to catch his breath, she sat up and curled her arm around his waist. His skin was clammy and his face was pale, the usual redness underneath his mole-speckled cheeks absent.

"Sweetcheeks?"

Stiles sighed shakily. "Yeah," he grabbed her free hand and brought it to his mouth, kissing her knuckles gently. "I was just dreaming."

Olivia frowned. "What kind of dream?"

Stiles hesitated as he grimaced, the paleness of his skin stark against the pinkness of his lips. "It was weird," he said finally. "It was like a dream within a dream."

"A bad dream," she assumed.

He let out another shaky breath. "Yeah."

Olivia frowned and leaned forward slightly, kissing his shoulder blade. "I'm sorry."

"Not your fault," Stiles said quietly as he turned toward her. His eyes narrowed at her suddenly, confused. "Wait a second...Livvy, what are you doing here?"

Olivia furrowed her eyes, ready to remind him that this was the bed they shared. It was then that their door creaked open. Stiles was immediately distracted by it, his body stiffening as he nervously glowered at the door.

He let go of her hand and then slipped out of her hold, stumbling off the bed.

"Stiles, where are you going?" now he was confusing Olivia.

"I'm just gonna close the door."

"You should leave it. Come back to bed, Stiles."

"No, no," Stiles brushed off her concern. "I should close it."

"Stiles, don't worry about it."

Stiles kept walking toward the door. "What if someone comes in?"

Olivia shook her head. "Like who? Sweetcheeks, you need sleep."

"No," Stiles denied her vehemently. "What if they get in?"

"What if who gets in? Stiles, just leave it. Please, you're scaring me!" he kept walking. "Stiles, no! Stiles, please don't go in there! Stiles, don't, please!"

He wasn't listening to her and it was maddening. He couldn't go through that door. He couldn't!

"Stiles, don't!" she begged loudly. "Stiles, wake up. Wake up!"

"STILES!"

Olivia's mouth clamped shut, teeth snapping together roughly, when Sirius yipped nervously, rousing her from her nightmare. She inhaled deeply when the hinges of her door quietly squealed open and Lydia rushed into the room

"Something's wrong," she breathed as Lydia crawled into bed with her. She didn't dare look at her cousin's concerned green eyes, she kept her own peeled to the ceiling. "Something's wrong with Stiles, Scott, and Allison."

Olivia wasn't a psychic, she couldn't see the future. However, some part of her, some anchor part of her, knew that something was going on with three of her packmates. Her nightmare had freaked her out to her core, but it was just telling her something that she already knew. Something that she had known for two weeks. Dying, and subsequently coming back to life, had affected Stiles, Scott, and Allison more than they let on.

Their three tethers—Scott's had changed to a deep red, Stiles' stayed his beautiful caramel-whiskey the same color of his eyes, while Allison's glowed a comforting pink—seemed like they were always pulsing. She didn't specifically know what was going on with Scott, but she did know more about the effects on Stiles and Allison. And with the dream she had, more was coming to light.

Seeing Stiles struggle broke Olivia's heart to the core. He was constantly having nightmare after nightmare, and what's more, was his sleep paralysis. She had never gone through sleep paralysis herself, but she had done some research after that first night that Stiles experienced it. It was supposed to be horrible and terrifying, knowing that you're awake but you can't physically move your body. It left Stiles tired and traumatized, though he tried his best not to show it.

Allison, like Stiles, was having terrible visions—just without the sleep paralysis. She would blink and suddenly she'd be in a different place. And what haunted her the most was her aunt, Kate Argent. Allison had told Olivia and Lydia that Kate would appear out of nowhere, stalking, or taunting Allison until she grabbed her nearest weapon to fight back. It was terrifying for her, and the person who would come face-to-face with whatever weapon Allison kept stashed close to her.

And Scott was afraid of himself, his alpha self. While not nearly as terrifying as Stiles and Allison's issues, it was still a big deal to Scott. Scott had learned control fairly quickly for a bitten werewolf and his transition to alpha had screwed with his head. He constantly thought that he would turn into a monster like Peter and that he had no control over his transition. It scarred him; he wouldn't even try to make his wolf features appear in fear of not being able to turn back.

And though Stiles, Allison, and Scott bore the brunt of the sacrifices, Olivia was affected too. Every time Stiles had a nightmare, she'd have one too, and would wake up hearing his screams. Whenever Allison was pulled into one of her hallucinations, her tether would vibrate and Olivia was forced to stop what she was doing to check on her best friend. And while Scott's visions weren't as violent, they made his tether light up like fireworks on the Fourth of July; and, infuriatingly, when Olivia offered her help, he refused it.

More and more her concern for her boyfriend, best friend, and alpha began to grow. If the darkness that they earned from the sacrifice was this bad now, how much worse would it be in a few months, years?

She had to do something about it. She couldn't just sit by while her friends went certifiable.

-

"Like this," Olivia held out her left arm, where the plaid sleeve of her blouse was carefully rolled up, and then her right arm, where the fabric stopped prettily on her wrist. "or like this?"

Lydia pursed her lips together, her index finger on her chin, as she seriously contemplated her cousin's fashion choice. "Hmm...you should roll the sleeves," she said finally, eyeing Olivia's bottom half, which was covered by a khaki-colored skirt, dark tights, and heeled ankle boots. "it'll contrast all the business-casual down here."

Olivia glanced at her skirt and then shrugged, knowing what Lydia meant. Carefully, she rolled up her right sleeve until it matched her left and then turned to Lydia expectantly.

Lydia nodded in approval. "Good."

Olivia turned to her locker, a smile quirking her lips. She reached for her textbook for history—where'd they would be introduced to Mr. Westover's replacement—but stopped before her fingers could grip the hard cover.

Allison's tether was glowing brighter than usual, the neon pink blinking on and off. She turned her head, following her instincts (which were, by now, mostly those pesky whispers in her head), toward the set of double doors down the hallway. She was on the move before they swung open and when they did, she was able to catch Allison.

The taller brunette's breathing was frantic as she looked around with wide, confused eyes. It was obvious that she did not remember driving to school, let alone arriving. Olivia squeezed Allison's hands soothingly and pushed some calming effects toward her tether.

"Hey, Al, it's okay," she said softly; she didn't notice as Lydia came over to them, giving Allison a worried look. "You're all right. I've got you."

"I-I was at the morgue," Allison restlessly gestured to the doors. "And Kate, she...she..."

"You're at school and you're safe," Olivia informed her calmly. "Kate's not here. You're okay."

It took a second for Allison to respond, her brown eyes nervously shifting around the hallway. But, finally, she nodded. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Olivia was firm; none of this was Allison's fault so there was no point in apologizing. "We just need to—oh, shit..."

Olivia's gaze tinted violet as Scott's tether caught her attention. It was blazing frighteningly and she saw him moving quickly, right into Stiles' tether.

"It's happening to Stiles and Scott, too," Olivia told Allison as she came back to herself. She glanced at Lydia and added, "We need to find them. They're out front."

The three of them turned and left the school, using the same doors that Allison had stumbled through. With Olivia's abilities, it didn't take long for them to find Stiles and Scott. It seemed that it was Stiles who brought Scott out of his hallucination, as his hands were still gripping his shoulders, holding him into reality.

"I'm okay," they overheard Scott assure Stiles.

"No, you're not," Stiles said knowingly. "It's happening to you, too. You're seeing things, aren't you?"

Scott blinked at Stiles, who had let him go. "How'd you know?"

Olivia, Lydia, and Allison were close enough to the boys now that Olivia felt safe speaking up.

"Because it's happening to all three of you," Stiles and Scott turned at the sound of her voice. "frequently, might I add."

Scott deflated slightly. "You can feel it?"

"Every time," Olivia confirmed while slipping her arm around Stiles' waist; it was against their PDA rules, but she didn't care as long as it calmed him down. It did; he pressed a grateful kiss to the top of her head. "There's the nightmares and the visions, of course, the periods of lack of self-control."

Lydia smirked and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, well, look who's no longer the crazy one."

"We are not crazy," Allison disagreed firmly while Olivia shook her head at her cousin.

"Hallucinating? Sleep paralysis?" Lydia listed as evidence to the contrary. "Yeah, you guys are fine."

She readily ignored the glare that Stiles was sending her, in order to give Scott and Allison an I-told-you-so look.

Scott sighed, agreeing with her slightly. "We did die and come back to life," he admitted. "That's gotta have some side effects, right?"

The bell rang; they had five minutes to get class or they'd be counted tardy.

"We keep an eye on each other," Stiles spoke up, his tone final. "And Lydia, stop enjoying this so much."

Ignoring Lydia's offended look, Stiles and Olivia walked away. Olivia's grip on his slipped from his waist to his hand as they walked and it was taking all of her self-control not to keep staring at Stiles. She couldn't help it; she was worried about him.

"You know, Livvy, I like when you stare at me, I really do, but only when it's, like, the sexy kind of stare, you know?" Stiles joked, clearly trying to lighten the mood. "Or when it looks like you're daydreaming about me. Honestly, when those are combined, that's when I'm happiest—"

"You're such a perv," Olivia laughed but then sobered up. "But, okay, I get it. I'm sorry for staring."

They entered the school once more and walked through the hallway, heading to their history class.

"I just don't want you to worry about me," Stiles sighed. "It's just a couple of nightmares."

"It's not just nightmares, and you know it," Olivia disagreed as they entered Mr. Westover's old classroom. "and I'm gonna worry about you, even when you have your happiest days. You know why?"

Stiles raised an eyebrow at her while sitting in his seat. "Because you've turned into a worry-wart?"

Olivia sat in the seat behind him. "No," she rolled her eyes, sending Scott a smile as he sat in the seat next to Stiles, before looking back at her boyfriend. "it's because I love you, sweetcheeks."

Stiles made a show of rolling his eyes and muttering unhappily, but the way he gripped her jaw and pulled her close for a kiss told her that he appreciated her and the way she cared about him. The tip of his tongue brushed against her lower lip, nibbling on it gently, and when she opened her mouth to receive him, he pulled away with a beautiful smile.

"Love you, baby," he gave her a quick but searing kiss on her flushed cheek. "and another point for Stiles."

A huff came from Olivia's lips as she took in his words. They had been playing a game recently, because Stiles loved games—especially games that annoyed the pants off of Olivia. It all came down to his hate of their PDA rules and he was being so pathetic about it (pathetically cute, much to her chagrin) that she agreed to make a game out of it. If Stiles got her to break one of her rules, he got a point. The more points he got, the better the prize—a prize in which they had yet to set.

Damn him!

"I hate you," Olivia scowled at him, though she had to fight to keep the expression on her face.

"No, you don't!" Stiles sang with a chuckle.

Rather than stroke his ego, Olivia gave her attention to the front of the class. Their new teacher, Mr. Yukimura, had entered the room and had just finished writing FDR's famous Pearl Harbor quote on the board. She had high hopes for Mr. Yukimura, as she had met his daughter, Kira, in her free period and she seemed quite nice.

The bell rang once more as Mr. Yukimura set his piece of chalk down and clapped the dust off of his hands.

"Good morning, everyone," he greeted the class pleasantly. "My name is Mr. Yukimura and I'll be taking over for your previous history teacher. My family and I moved here three weeks ago. I'm sure, by now, you all know my daughter, Kira...or you might not, since she's never actually mentioned anyone from school...Or brought home a friend for that matter."

A loud sigh came from a couple seats behind Olivia. The whole class turned to look as Kira, dressed in a black crop-top with her hair in beautiful waves, slammed her head against her desk. Olivia smiled slightly as the new girl looked up and gave everyone a sheepish smile.

She usually didn't like people—her friends, obviously, excluded—but when she met Kira, she instantly felt a connection with her. Kira was bubbly but shy and awkward and it made Olivia want to take her under her wing and into her group of friends. They had an awkward friend—Stiles—but now they needed a shy one and Kira fit that bill.

Olivia waved at her and smiled in satisfaction when Kira returned her action shyly.

"Now, let's begin with American History at the turn of the twentieth century..."

-

-

"Maybe we need a little more time to get back to normal."

Stiles quietly scoffed at Scott's words. Leave it to Scott McCall to be optimistic even when they were going crazy. He grabbed his combo lock and started fiddling with the knob, reciting his memorized combination as he twisted and turned it to the right marks.

"Yeah, try not to forget we hit the reset button on a supernatural beacon for supernatural creatures," he frowned and narrowed his eyes when his lock did not open. He tried his combination again, though the numbers on the lock were far from normal. "There's a pretty good chance things are never going back to normal."

He tugged on his lock, frustrated. Long gone were the usual numbers; in their places were symbols. Symbols that he had never seen before. His skin prickled with irritation and fear as he stared them down, trying to make sense of them.

"Yeah," Scott sighed in agreement, missing out on Stiles' frustration.

With a grunt, Stiles let go of the lock and turned to Scott, ready to rant about his sudden inability to read. However, he stopped point blank when he saw that Scott's eyes were his alpha-red, not his normal chestnut-brown.

"Oh, dude, your eyes."

Scott gave him an alarmed look. "What about them?"

"They're glowing," Stiles said hurriedly and Scott ducked his head. "Like, right now. Stop, Scott. Stop it."

Scott's breathing picked up as a wheeze as he raised his hand over his red eyes. "I can't," he panted, panicked. "I can't control it."

Stiles grimaced, wondering where Olivia was, and grabbed Scott. "All right, just keep your head down," he advised, looking around at the classrooms on either side of the hall, trying to remember which one was empty during third period. "Okay, come on. Keep your head down."

He led Scott into freshman history classroom and slammed the door shut behind him. Scott ripped away from him, grunting loudly as he tried to gain control, and tore out of his jacket.

"Get away from me," he growled at Stiles when he tried to help him. "Stay back."

"Scott, it's okay."

"I don't know what's going to happen," Scott insisted thickly, through his fangs.

Though Stiles wanted to ignore his friend's warning and just grab him and tell him that everything was going to be okay, he didn't. He stayed back, not only for his safety, but to respect Scott's wishes. After all, what if Scott couldn't control himself and ripped Stiles into pieces? That'd be a disaster, for both of them.

The door swung open and Olivia rushed into the room only a second after Scott started digging his claws into the flesh of his palms. Stiles stayed back and let her do her thing, watching as she kneeled in front of his best friend and grabbed his forearms.

"Scott, Scott, listen to me," her eyes were glowing purple under her ministrations. "You're going to get control of yourself now, all right?"

"Pain—"

"Pain makes you human, I know," Olivia agreed with Scott, nodding empathetically. "All right, so focus on that pain. Let it ground you. That pain is an anchor."

Stiles knew that this was serious, he really did. But between his fear and anger at the situation he, Scott, and Allison were in, his heart couldn't help but melt. Olivia had really come into her own as an Anchor. She was empathetic and gentle and though he loved her as she was previously—self-deemed the Ice Queen—he only grew more and more in love with her with each passing day.

God, I'm so fucking lucky to have her.

Olivia and Scott were sitting on the floor now, blood covering the alpha's arms and the Anchor's hands. Scott was back to his human self, back in control, but Olivia continued to give her support, holding onto Scott until she felt he no longer needed her. Stiles plopped down next to them and handed them some tissues he snagged from the teacher's desk.

"This isn't just in our heads," he admitted as Olivia let go of Scott and started wiping her hands of his blood. "This is real and it's starting to get bad for me, too. I'm not just having nightmares. I'm having dreams where I have to literally scream myself awake...And sometimes, I'm not even sure if I'm ever actually waking up."

Olivia swallowed thickly, giving her boyfriend a concerned look. "What do you mean?"

"Do you know how you can tell if you're dreaming?" Stiles looked between Olivia and Scott, watching as the latter shook his head. "You can't read in dreams. More and more, the past few days, I've been having trouble reading. It's like I can't see the words. I can't put the letters in order."

Stiles focused on Scott so he didn't have to see the heartbroken look on Olivia's face.

"Like even now?"

Stiles looked around the room, focusing on the posters taped to the brick walls. They were history posters, obviously, but he couldn't make out the words. All the letters on each and every one were mixed around, like he was suddenly dyslexic. The only thing he could make out was a picture of Lincoln's memorial—but there weren't words on that one. He couldn't read.

"I can't read a thing."

-

-

Things had not approved overnight. Allison in particular was having difficulties, so Olivia stuck to her side like glue. After she left art class, where Allison was having trouble holding her brush still, to help with Scott's control, things had not gotten better for the hunter. According to Lydia, Allison spaced out after getting red paint on her canvas and was close to a panic attack.

Lydia, being the strategist she was, suggested that Allison practice with her bow after school. The three of them went out to the woods behind Olivia and Lydia's house and set up a target for Allison to shoot. However, Allison's shaky grip on the paintbrush was much like her grip on her bow. She couldn't stay still, no matter which way she held the string and launched the arrow.

In the end, their little experiment had been a disaster. Allison ended up having a hallucination of Kate—one that Olivia could not bring her out of, no matter how hard she tried—and tried to shoot Lydia. She would have killed the redhead if it wasn't for Isaac's newfound crush on the hunter. If he hadn't been following them and hadn't caught the arrow heading right for Lydia's head, she would be dead.

It had been a restless night of sleep for Olivia, courtesy of the nightmares keeping Stiles awake, and things only got worse when she went back to school the next day. After sleeping through the first two periods in the nurse's office—Olivia was her favorite student and she was often able to escape there during class if she already knew the lesson for that day—it had been Coach's class.

Having gotten a nap in, Olivia felt fine. She was taking notes along with Coach's lecture and had answered a question or two when she was called on, when she felt it. Stiles tether almost ached as it lit up the map of her pack. In the desk in front of her, Stiles was still awake and writing furiously in his notebook but he wasn't reacting to anything she sent to his tether to calm him down. It was like he was asleep, but he wasn't—his eyes were wide open and he kept writing the same phrase over and over again in his notes.

Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.

Coach, who had been trying to get his attention, had enough of his ignorance. He blew sharply into the whistle, causing Stiles to jump high in his seat, completely shocked.

"Stilinski!" Stiles glared at Coach, wide-eyed. "I asked you a question."

"Uh, sorry, Coach," Stiles apologized, centering himself. "What was it?

"It was, 'Stilinski, are you paying attention back there?'"

Stiles grimaced. "Oh...Well, I am now."

Coach pressed his lips together unhappily. "Stilinski, stop reminding me why I drink every night," he turned away from Stiles. "Does anybody else want to try the question on the board?"

Stiles sighed in relief now that Coach had turned his attention to someone else, and turned to Scott and Olivia. She knew that her face must have shown how worried she was, because Stiles was quick to assure them that he was okay.

"I'm okay, I just fell asleep for a second."

Olivia glanced at Scott and then at Stiles' notebook, looking over his handwriting. He was writing to himself, telling himself to wake up, and he hadn't. Not until Coach used his whistle to get his attention. So, physically, he wasn't asleep, but he thought he was?

What the hell is going on with him? Olivia worried to herself.

"Dude," Scott nodded at Stiles' notebook. "You weren't asleep."

Stiles glanced at his notebook, his eyes growing wide with confusion. At once, he grabbed it and slammed it upside down so he didn't have his own handwriting haunting him.

Soon, class ended with the ring of the lunch bell. Olivia, Stiles, Scott, and Lydia—who also had economics class with them, but sat on the other side of the classroom with Danny—went to the courtyard to eat. Allison and Isaac met up with them and though they all had brought food, eating was the last thing on their minds.

They compared stories about what was going on with Stiles, Scott, and Allison. The more they heard, the more they knew that they had to do something. They just didn't know what.

"Okay, so what happens to a person who has a near-death experience and comes out of it seeing things?" Scott asked, bringing them back to the start of the conversation.

"And is unable to tell what's real or not," Stiles added grumpily.

Allison nodded, "And is being haunted by demonic visions of dead relatives?"

"They're all locked up because they're insane," Isaac answered, idly throwing a potato chip into his mouth.

"Ha," Stiles laughed sarcastically and sneered at him. "Can you at least try to be helpful, please?"

"For half my childhood, I was locked in a freezer," Isaac reminded him. "So, being helpful is kind of a new thing for me."

"Hey, dude, are you still milking that?"

"Yeah, maybe I am still milking that."

"Guys, I mean this in the nicest way, but shut up," Olivia interrupted them, grabbing Stiles' hand that rested on her thigh and squeezing to the point he winced. "Turning on each other is not gonna help us."

"Hi!" a new voice chirped and Olivia looked up to see Kira standing at the end of their table. "Hi, sorry. I couldn't help but overhearing what you guys were talking about and I think I actually might now what you're talking about."

They all stared at her expectantly.

"There's a Tibetan word for it," she explained as she took the empty seat next to Scott and across from Lydia. "It's called Bardo. It literally means in-between state."

Lydia narrowed her eyes at the newcomer. "And what do they call you?"

Scott gave Lydia a reproachful look as Olivia spoke up, "Her name's Kira. I told you about her, remember, Lyds?"

"Right," Lydia nodded, giving Kira a once-over. Olivia didn't know if her cousin felt threatened by the fact that Kira knew something she didn't, or because Kira was sitting close to Scott. "the new girl."

"Yeah. So, Kira," Olivia caught their new friend's attention. "are you talking Bardo in Tibetan Buddhism or Indian?"

Kira shrugged. "Either I guess. But all the stuff you guys were just saying? All that happens in Bardo," she nodded confidently. "There are different progressive states where you can hallucinate. Some you see, some you just hear. And you can be visited by peaceful or wrathful deities."

"Wrathful deities?" Isaac repeated skeptically. "And what are those?"

"Like demons," Kira grinned. Olivia knew that if Kira knew they weren't just talking hypotheticals, there wouldn't be a smile on her face.

"Demons," Stiles scoffed, frowning at Olivia, who smiled sympathetically. "Why not?"

"Hold on," Allison spoke up. "if there are different progressive states, then what's the last one?"

"Death," Kira answered casually. "You die."

Olivia, Stiles, and the rest of the pack shared at look, one thought on each of their minds.

Shit.

-

-

The crackle of electricity was unmistakable, especially when they were being held in such a small room. Olivia found herself chained to a fence, her toes unable to reach the rough wooden floors, between two familiar men. Derek was on her left with a stubborn expression on his face and Peter was on her right, scowling in pain. Both of them were shirtless, but Olivia was still fully clothed in the pajamas she changed into at Allison's apartment while they studied.

Derek glared past her, his pale-green eyes spewing hate at Peter.

Peter noticed. "Why are you looking at me like this is my fault?"

"Because it is your fault."

Derek's statement was followed by a sharp shock rocking through their bodies. Olivia gasped in pain and clenched at the metal fence, her fingers practically molding the material around them.

"It's all your fault," she added when the electricity cleared.

"Yeah," Peter sighed. "you're probably right."

There was another crackle and Olivia's body shook from current that ran through her. She knew that she should have been dead by now, that she should have died from electric shock and from the sheer pain that came with it, but she wasn't. For whatever reason, she was still alive and held captive with her father and cousin.

"You see this equipment?" the man who had been controlling the electric current spoke up from where he sat by an old, rusty transmitter. "Very old. The settings are not quite accurate anymore. So, it's hard to tell just how far to turn the dial."

Olivia's teeth rattled together in her mouth as Peter grunted, "I think it's a little high."

The man didn't like the way Peter spoke to him. He grabbed the knob that controlled the strength of the current and turned it higher. A scream forced its way out of Olivia at the fresh wave of electricity and Peter growled, but Derek merely grunted.

"I've seen some crack their teeth, others? They just shake and shake even after their heart stops," the man laughed as he looked back on Olivia, Peter, and Derek. "Sometimes we don't even know they're dead," he cut the electricity and laughed again. "but nobody wants to play a guessing game. So, why don't you just tell us. Where is la loba?"

The man walked away from his station and took root in front of Olivia, Peter, and Derek.

"We don't know where la loba is," Derek answered strictly, trying to catch his breath.

"Yes, you do," the man disagreed. Derek stayed quiet. "Well, we have our methods of persuasion. So, one of you gets cut in half, the other talks."

Olivia grimaced just at the thought of a hemicorporectomy. Those reminded her of Gerard Argent and she couldn't stand that old asshole.

"I would love to be the volunteer, but we really don't know what you're talking about," Peter spoke up. And then, just because he was Peter, he barbed, "And honestly, isn't bisecting people with a broad sword a little medieval?"

The man chuckled. "Broad sword? We're not savages," he nodded at one of his men and the man picked up a chainsaw, revving the engine. "We all wonder how far your little healing trick goes."

Olivia saw the man with the chainsaw position the rapidly-moving blade at Derek's arm before she clenched her eyes tightly shut.

"What do you think?" the main man asked. "Can you grow back an arm? We're pretty sure you can't grow back your head."

"Boys," a sharp, feminine voice cut through the buzz of the chainsaw.

The electric tool's power was cut immediately and when Olivia opened her eyes, she saw a tiny woman enter the room. She, like the men they were with, was Latino in heritage and spoke with a heavy accent when using the English language.

The woman spoke to her men in her native language as she walked further into the room. Both men rescinded away from Olivia, Derek, and Peter and stopped to watch the woman do her work.

She stopped in front of the three Hales, giving them a once-over.

"No hablo Espanol," Derek said curtly, lying through his teeth. While Olivia only had two years on Spanish on her belt and wasn't quick to the take when people spoke it around her, Derek was. It was one of his best subjects in school.

The woman clicked her tongue. "You speak many languages, Derek Hale," the woman spoke in her native language, though this happened to be a statement Olivia could translate. "You know exactly what I'm saying and you know who we want."

The woman pulled something out of the pocket of her cute old-lady sweater. Olivia could see that it was a blade of some sort, maybe curved to cut something specific. The woman took slow steps toward them, holding the blade out threateningly.

"Where is the she-wolf?"

Was she talking about Cora? That was the only female werewolf that they knew now. But what did these people, these hunters, want with Cora? She hadn't done anything wrong.

Even if they were asking about Cora, Derek wasn't going to give his sister away.

"We don't know any she-wolf."

The woman pressed her lips together and nodded. "I know you won't talk, lobito," she turned, completely bypassing Olivia, and stood in front of Peter. "This one will talk. This one loves the sound of his own voice."

"You should hear me sing," Peter said sarcastically.

The man, the main one who was in change of the electrical current, smirked viciously. "We want to hear you scream."

Peter shook his head and glanced at Derek. "No one ever wants to hear me sing."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Peter."

Peter faced the woman again as she spoke, "What could we do to persuade you, hmm?" she lifted the blade against Peter's temple and drew it down his face; Peter winced as his fingernails sharpened into claws and blood dripped down his chin. "Where is the she-wolf?

This time, Peter kept his mouth shut.

The woman didn't like that. Quickly, she whipped the blade away from his face and brought it down on his hand. Peter's ring finger on his left hand was chopped off swiftly, blood bursting out all over his chest as he screamed.

"Oh, my God," Olivia breathed, her stomach turning.

"Think about it," the woman called, from where she had turned around. She studied the severed finger in her hand. "I'm only going to ask you nine more times."

And with that, she dropped the finger, and walked out of the room.

Olivia inhaled deeply as she sat up, her palm sloped against her racing heart. The dream—no, the nightmare—she had been having felt so real. Much more so than the dream she had of Stiles, Scott, and Allison the other night. No, what had happened in her dream had really happened, though it was obvious that she wasn't there. Derek and Peter were in trouble, trapped by hunters in Mexico, and she had to do something about it.

A sharp gasp came from next to her. Olivia watched as Allison jumped awake from her restless sleep. Placing a calming hand on her friend's shoulder, she tried not to panic as Allison pulled a ring dagger out from under her pillow.

Yeah, none of this was okay.

(Gif is not mine)

[tw-anchor]

36. The Anchor and the True Alpha

Anchor

Stiles Stilinski x Original Character

Episode: 3x12; Lunar Ellipse

Word Count: 8,373

Warning(s): Mature language, canon violence + gore, stupid Jennifer Blake, moron Deucalion, true alphaness, badass anchor, awkward Derek

Author’s Note: Here’s the 3A finale! I hope you enjoy. Please make sure to let me know what you think, reblog, and like!

Masterlink in Pinned Post!

"Okay, like this?"

Allison giggled at Olivia, enjoying the way she held the Chinese ring daggers that the shorter brunette had insisted that Allison teach her how to use. Right now, Olivia held them loosely, the tip of the blades closer to cutting her wrists more than protecting herself.

"Stop laughing at me!" Olivia called her out with amused eyes. "I'm trying to be a badass like you!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Allison choked down the rest of her laughter. "Let's start over."

Olivia nodded and put the daggers back to the starting position that Allison had taught her. "Okay, now what?"

"Now, you twist them like this," Allison demonstrated the move with the set she was using. "and then you flip your wrists up and raise your arms like this."

Olivia did as Allison told her, wincing at the slight bruises starting to form around the base of her fingers. Chinese ring daggers were no joke and now she understood why Allison came to school with bandages around her fingers for a couple of weeks the previous semester of school.

She did the move sloppily, nowhere near as sharp as Allison's, of course, but that was expected. Allison nodded in approval, a small smile forming at her lips. "All right, keep practicing that," she said encouragingly. "Once you tighten that up, we can move onto the next move."

"Considering that I'm not athletic whatsoever, I think that went okay," Olivia breathed as she slipped the daggers off of her fingers.

Allison laughed. "Does that mean you want to try the crossbow?"

"Don't even think about it, Al!"

-

Olivia walked through the woods surrounding the old Hale House. They were training Jackson about control before he headed off to London, England. To say that he was being a bitch about it all would be an understatement. He was taking his temper out on her and Scott—he was upset about what he had done as the kanima, his brush with death, and the fact that his parents had found out what happened and were moving the family to London for no other reason than to get him away from everything supernatural.

Olivia could take his temper and his snide comments because she had seven or eight years to get used to it. Scott, however, did not. Too many comments about he used to suck at lacrosse and cheated the whole semester, how he used to have only Stiles as a friend, his mom's income, and Allison breaking up with him had gotten to Scott.

He stomped away with golden eyes, leaving her to deal with Jackson on her own. Since she was still harnessing her own abilities, she just sent Jackson home for the day and then proceeded to go and find Scott. She found him by a small creek, sitting on the bank.

"Hey," she called as she walked over and sat down next to him. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," he told her quietly. "Just lost control for a second."

"Anyone would have. Jackson's a dickhead. I don't know how he has more two friends," she huffed out a laugh. "Other than me and Danny, I think the rest are just afraid of him."

Scott's lips quirked into a half-smile. "Probably," he hesitated. "Have you, uh, have you heard from Allison?"

Olivia frowned as she thought of her friend. "A couple of nights ago. She's not doing too well. I think Gerard messed her up just as much as her mom's death."

"He's a psycho," Scott agreed. "Did she ask you about me?"

She hesitated, not wanting to hurt his feelings—how had she become this empathetic person? "I'm sorry, Scott, but no," when Scott ducked his head, she reached for his hand and took it, trying to give him as much support as he needed. "I know it hurts but she's going through a tough time. And you're both different people now, you've both changed."

"So does that mean she won't want to get back together?" Scott asked miserably, lifting his head to look at her with wet eyes.

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "But, Scott, listen. I know you love her, I know you do. And what you had was amazing and odds-defying. But sometimes relationships don't last. It doesn't mean that those people don't love each other, but sometimes circumstances can alter the path of the relationship."

Scott frowned and looked back at the creek. "I really love her."

"I know," she squeezed his hand. "but sometimes love isn't enough. Then again, I can't predict the future. Allison may come back from France and want to get back together, she may not. I just want you to be ready for whatever she decides, okay?"

"...Okay," Scott said after a minute and then attempted to smile at her, changing the subject only slightly. "Are you a love guru or something, Liv?"

Olivia laughed. "Nah, I'm not so good at love."

"That's not what Stiles says."

"Hey," she slapped is arm playfully. "You guys talk about me?"

"A little too much—ow, Liv!"

-

Derek sighed reluctantly as he sat Olivia down on her bed, taking a seat in the armchair a few feet away. "Okay, I didn't want to have to do this, but you and Stiles—"

"Oh no. Oh, God, please don't do this," Olivia pleaded with her cousin, her cheeks warming up. "Derek just walk away."

"No, I have to get this out," Derek insisted. "You have no one else to tell you."

"Uh, yes I—"

"Obviously, you and Stiles are in a serious relationship," Derek interrupted her. "and with a serious relationship comes...personal relations."

"Personal relations?" she looked at him in disbelief. "What are you, eighty-five years old?"

"Fine, sex," Derek glared at her. "You and Stiles will start having sex."

Olivia sighed and though she appreciated that he was there to give her advice and take care of her, Natalie had given her and Lydia the typical parental sex talk when they were eleven and twelve and they got their periods around the same time. Then, a few years later, Lydia gave her an actual sex talk after her experiences with some boys and then Jackson—the kind of talk that was rated R and too inappropriate for parents to talk about with their kids.

"Now, you probably won't experience this, because I'm tempted to rip off Stiles arms if he doesn't keep his hands to himself, but," Derek winced, looking more uncomfortable than she felt. "but sex...is...natural."

"Derek, please..."

"Just let me get this out before I lose my nerve," Derek cut her off; Olivia nodded, her lips twisting in amusement. "Under no circumstances are you to have sex without a condom. Only when you're married and want to have a family is when it's accepted to go without."

Olivia hid her smile to nod seriously. "Okay."

"And never, ever do anything you're uncomfortable with," Derek continued. "If you say no, Stiles will stop if he's a good guy. If not, I put pepper spray on your keys and a rape whistle in your purse."

"Oh, God..."

Stiles was not a guy who would put his hands on anyone without their express permission. Usually he was a nervous wreck anyway if they did something sexual. And he was always respectful of her. But, if he was out of his mind or crazy enough to force her into relations—as Derek called it—than she would kick his ass. And then break up with him. She loved him but she loved herself too and she was not going to put up with that.

When Olivia nodded her understanding, Derek cleared his throat. "Now..."

He paused to pull something from behind his back. Olivia's mouth fell open when she saw what he had. "Oh, my God...please tell me that's not a banana and a condom, Der! Oh, my God, it is!" she winced and buried her burning face into her hands. "Please don't do this Derek."

"I want you to learn how to put on a condom."

"I didn't want to say this, but Derek, I've already had this talk, two different times, okay?" her voice was muffled by her hands, but Derek got the gist; he looked horrified. "Lydia even taught me how to put on a condom."

She almost added that she knew how to do it multiple ways, but Derek looked like he wanted to die from embarrassment from what he had already heard.

He glared at her. "Why did you let me ramble on?!"

"I didn't let you ramble on, you kept interrupting me!"

"You're grounded!"

A genuine laugh spilled from Olivia's lips. "You can't ground me!"

"Well, I just did, so there!"

-

"Top five favorite ice creams. Go."

Olivia blinked in surprise from Stiles' random prompt. They were on the beach, laying on their towels and trying to tan after a dip in the ocean. She raised up onto her elbows—she was laying on her stomach—and looked down at Stiles, from where he was laying on his back, hair halfway grown out and the black ray bans she gave him as a gift on the bridge of his nose.

"I don't like ice cream very much," she told him.

"There's not way you don't like ice cream," Stiles disagreed; she shook her head. "Come on, you don't even like chocolate-chip cookie dough?"

"I don't like raw cookie dough."

"Unbelievable. I'm in love with a heathen," Stiles joked. "So, not one ice cream?"

"I have two that I usually get if I actually want ice cream," she confessed. "I like vanilla and mint."

Stiles looked up at her in disbelief. "Vanilla and mint?" when she nodded, he scoffed. "Sorry, nope, I'm not dating a heathen, I'm dating a senior citizen."

"Hey!" she gently slapped his toned abdomen in offense. "I'm younger than you."

"Your favorite ice cream flavors are vanilla, which is the most basic out of all the flavors, and mint—without chocolate, by the way—which only adults eat. No offense, babe, but you need to live on the edge sometimes."

Olivia pinched his side because of the pet name and laughed. "Living on the edge is eating different ice cream flavors? Wow, what a life you live, Stiles."

He poked her in the cheek. "At least I don't have the personality of an old lady."

"Ouch, that really hurt."

"Hey, I'm just saying," Stiles put his hands up defensively. "All right, how about the worst five moments of your life?"

Olivia raised her eyebrows. "What a serious change of topic."

"Here, I'll pick a new one—"

"No, it's okay," she assured him. She leant toward him more and rested her head on his stomach, facing him. "Number five would be my very first day of school."

"Really?" that surprised Stiles. "You love school, though."

"I do now. Before I started school, I hung out with either Lydia, or Cora, Derek, and Laura," she shared with him. "They were all my heroes and my best friends. And I'm a year younger than Lydia and Cora, so I didn't start school with them and it made me so upset that I threw a fit."

"You, having a tantrum? Wow, I didn't expect that," Stiles commented sarcastically.

"I really was an angel," Olivia went along with him and then went back to the story. "Anyway, my mom started teaching me stuff because she was in college studying to be a teacher. By the time I went to preschool, I was too advanced and I was miserable because Lydia and Cora weren't with me."

"So they let you skip a grade."

Olivia nodded. "I tested out of preschool and went right to kindergarten."

"We had class together," Stiles remembered. "You were quiet."

"And you were weird," Olivia returned with a laugh.

Stiles joined in with her laughter. "All right, what about number four?"

"Number four was when I was seven years old and I realized that I wasn't able to draw," at the look Stiles gave her, she defended herself. "In my defense, I wanted to be an artist back then. And I was not good at art. At all. I was always jealous of Lydia's ability to do anything, especially draw."

"You shouldn't compare yourself to Lydia," Stiles scolded her quietly. "You're perfect, even with all your flaws."

Olivia smiled gently, touched by his words. "Thanks, Stiles."

They kept going with her worst moments in her life. Her third worst moment was when she and Cora got lost in the woods outside of the old Hale House when they were five or so. She had been really scared and Cora hadn't yet mastered her enhanced sense of smell, so they were stuck out there for four hours—when Talia and Peter had found them, they were grounded for two weeks. Her second worst moment was the night of winter formal, when Peter had bitten Lydia and herself.

"The worst moment of my life was when I heard about the fire," she said quietly, tracing the pattern of Stiles' freckles on his stomach. "Everyone but Laura and Derek were in the fire. They came to me and told me what happened. Our whole family was dead, my mom was dead, and my dad barely survived."

Stiles brushed his fingers through her hair; he knew what it felt like to lose a parent and he couldn't imagine what it was like to lose two at the same time—because she had lost Peter, too, even if he wasn't dead. He just turned into a psychotic alpha who wanted revenge without carrying about those closest to him.

"I was lost for a really long time," she admitted quietly. "Derek and Laura left for New York and I was suddenly living with Lydia, Uncle Thomas, and Aunt Natalie. But I eventually got better."

"Yeah, you did," Stiles gazed at her with soft, loving eyes. "and you're the strongest person I know."

"I'm not strong," she denied, avoiding his eyes. "I'm a coward. I hide my feelings away deep down inside of me. I act like a bitch to anyone I don't care about. Most of the time I'm an emotionless robot."

"No, you're not," Stiles sat up and simultaneously adjusted her until she was sitting in his lap. "The people who say you're emotionless don't take the time to pay attention to you. I'm sorry, Livvy, but you're actually very easy to read."

Olivia gaped at him, unsure if she should be insulted or relieved. Maybe it was a little bit of both; she was a little insulted because her emotionless robot mask was a comfort to her and not to mention, something to push away all of her negative feelings. On the other hand, it was special to her that Stiles was able to read her so soundly. The only other people who had been able to were Lydia and Derek but Stiles being able to, the boy she loved...that was amazing.

"I love you."

"I love you, too," Stiles emphasized his words with a quick but loving kiss. "Okay, that's enough seriousness for now."

"Mmm, I agree," Olivia smiled at him.

"So, how about...your top five pizza toppings?"

"Well, number one is pepperoni..."

"Ah, what a classic."

-

-

Olivia woke up eight hours after Stiles, Scott, and Allison had fallen unconscious. Lydia and Isaac were sound asleep but Dr. Deaton was awake and there to greet her when she woke up. She was disoriented, the memories with Allison, Scott, Derek, and Stiles going through her mind like flashes.

She didn't tell Deaton about the memories, but instead thought on them. It didn't take long to realize that one of those memories were unlike the other. Derek hadn't been in the ritual like the others, so why did she see him?

It worried her. It worried her so much that she excused herself from the exam room and called Derek. It was Cora who answered the call, shockingly—she had no idea how Cora was better but boy, was she glad that she was. She told Cora that she was worried about Derek and in return, Cora told her just how she hadn't gotten better. Derek had given up his alpha status to heal Cora; he was now a beta again and very, very weak at the moment.

Olivia checked her tethers and she saw that Cora was right. Derek's tether was bright blue again, like the color of his eyes before he killed Peter and became an alpha. It was strange, but it was more worrying than the memory she had. Kali and the twins were supposed to come for Derek before the lunar eclipse and not only was he not an alpha anymore, but he was tired from healing Cora. He was screwed.

She told Cora that she would call back soon before hanging up. Then, she cried. She cried for Derek, she cried for Stiles and Allison and Scott, for Noah, Melissa, and Argent, and finally, for herself.

The whispers in her head were loud and they were pressing. She could no longer focus on anything but the names of her loved ones and the pain that filled her heart from her loss, even if Stiles, Scott, and Allison came back. She had the potential of losing the boyfriend she loved, two friends, and Derek, her protector, guardian, and father-figure for all intents and purposes.

It was not okay. None of this was okay.

Stiles, Allison, Scott...Derek, Derek, Derek...Stiles, Allison, Scott...Over and over, came the whispers until a migraine grew and she fell asleep once again.

She woke up only three hours later, more collected. She stayed seated in between Isaac and Lydia, who had now woken up for the day, and they all listened to assurances from Dr. Deaton that Stiles, Scott, and Allison would be okay. There was worry in his voice but somehow, his words comforted them. Olivia had the feeling that the man could give someone the worst news of their life and still be a comfort.

It was eight hours after the first time Olivia woke up, sixteen hours after they first fell unconscious, when Stiles, Allison, and Scott all woke, sitting up out of the water with loud gasps. Olivia, Lydia, Isaac, and Deaton rushed over to the tubs, the ice long gone, and handed the three of them towels.

"I saw it, I know where it is!" Scott claimed, taking the towel that Lydia held out for him.

Stiles nodded. "We passed it," Stiles confirmed as he climbed out of the tub soaking wet. "There's—there's a stump, this huge tree. Well, it's not huge anymore, it was cut down. But it's still big, though, very big."

As Olivia wrapped a towel around him, Scott added, "It was the night we were looking for the body."

"Yeah, the same night you were bit by Peter."

"I was there, too, in the car with my mother," Allison was still sucking in huge gulps of air. "We almost hit someone."

"It was me. You almost hit me," Scott told her; Allison gasped in amazement while he turned to the others. "We can find it."

Olivia, Lydia, and Isaac all exchanged worried looks. It didn't go unnoticed by Allison, Scott, and Stiles.

"What?" Allison asked them.

Isaac was the one to answer them. "You guys were out a long time."

"How long is a long time?" Stiles wondered, glancing between the three of them and then over to Dr. Deaton.

"Sixteen hours," Deaton broke the news.

Scott's eyes widened in shock. "We've been in the water for sixteen hours?"

Dr. Deaton nodded. "And the full moon rises in less than four."

Scott sighed heavily and sat down on the rim of his tub. "I have to go back to the alpha pack."

Olivia gulped uncomfortably and spoke up, "I think I should go with you, too."

Scott looked at her with an understanding expression and nodded slowly.

"No, dude, you are not going back with them," Stiles told Scott firmly before pointing to Olivia. "And you, don't even think about it, all right?"

"I made a deal with Deucalion," Scott reminded him. "And he wants Olivia, too. A lot."

Stiles scoffed. "Does anyone else think that sounds a lot like a deal with the devil?"

"What does it matter, anyway?" Isaac piped up from his seat next to Allison.

"Because I still don't think we can beat Jennifer without their help."

Allison shook her head at Scott's answer and turned to Dr. Deaton pleadingly. "He trusts you more than anyone and Liv is obviously going to agree with him. Tell them they're wrong."

Deaton glanced at Olivia and then Scott. "I'm not so sure they are," he admitted. "Circumstances like this sometimes require that you align yourself with people you'd normally consider enemies."

"So we're gonna trust Deucalion?" Isaac shook his head in disbelief. "The guy that calls himself death, destroyer of worlds? We're gonna trust that guy?

"I wouldn't trust him, no," Deaton advised and gestured to Olivia and Scott. "But you guys could use him to your advantage. Deucalion may be the enemy, but he could also be the bait."

They all paused as they heard the door to the lobby open. Deaton went out first, and when they heard Ethan's voice, Olivia, Lydia, Stiles, and Scott joined him.

"I'm looking for Lydia," he told them.

Lydia looked at him expectantly. "What do you want?"

"I need your help."

Olivia gave him a suspicious look. "With what?"

"Stopping my brother and Kali," he paused only for a second. "from killing Derek."

Olivia lifted her chin, all of her concern for Derek coming back into focus. Stiles, Scott, and Allison were all right, but what about Derek? His tether was still shining bright blue and although it wasn't enough to take all of her focus, his name was still floating around in her head.

"You should go, Lydia," Olivia cleared her throat. She had never liked Lydia's relationship—if anyone could even call it that—with Aiden, but there was at least one benefit from it, other than Lydia's happiness. And it was that Lydia had a hold over him. If she could convince Aiden to not kill Derek, then maybe he had a shot at surviving.

Lydia looked at her like she was crazy. "Are you sure?"

"All day, I've been hearing warnings about Derek," she confessed, glancing at Ethan. "I don't know if he's going to survive or not, but if you can convince Aiden, maybe..."

"We'll turn against Kali," Ethan spoke up in agreement with her. "We won't let her kill Derek."

Lydia didn't think it over very long, but that was Lydia; she was brave. "Okay," she agreed and gave Olivia a quick hug. "Just be careful."

"No, you be careful," Olivia insisted; Lydia smiled at her and when she walked out the door with Ethan, she turned back to the others. "Okay, what's the plan?"

-

"Just grab anything," Scott told Stiles through the phone as he, Olivia, Allison, and Isaac got out of the elevator in Allison's building and headed to her apartment door. "Stiles, I'm not smelling your dad's boxers. Socks? Okay, I'll smell the socks."

He ended the call and as Allison unlocked the door, Isaac asked, "What about me?"

"See what you can find in my dad's closet," the door opened and they all filed in. "Anything with the strongest scent."

Allison opened the door to her dad's office and stopped in her tracks, making Olivia, who was right behind her, slam into her. In the office was Agent McCall and two deputies, waiting for them at the desk.

"Quite the arsenal your fathers got here, young lady," as McCall spoke, Scott came up behind Olivia and stared at his dad in shock. "Scott."

Scott carefully squeezed past Olivia and Allison to enter the room. "What are you doing here?"

"Following one of the only leads I have," McCall stood from Mr. Argent's desk chair. "Now, since I don't know where you've been, why don't you have a seat and we can talk? You too, Isaac."

Isaac, who had been hiding in the hallway, came and stood next to Olivia. "How do you know my name?"

"Your name's one of the few things I know," McCall told him. "To be honest, the rest of what's going on around here has be stumbling in the dark, even over the smallest clue."

"If you're trying to tell me that you don't have a clue, I learned that a long time ago," Scott glared at his dad.

"I'm really hoping to avoid the embarrassment of dragging my own son into an interrogation room," McCall said firmly, meaning business. "Really hoping."

Olivia, Allison, and Isaac entered the office. Scott and Isaac let Olivia and Allison take the chairs and stood behind them. None of them were taking this very seriously; Isaac was eating some Icebreaker mints, for crying out loud.

"I'm not gonna lie, I'm more than a little disturbed," McCall admitted. "Not only by the number of missing parents, but the fact that it's Stiles' father, your father, and your mother."

Isaac shut his case of mints, popped one more into his mouth, and said, "Mine are both dead."

"Mine too," Olivia added, though, technically, that wasn't true. As far as anyone outside their little supernatural circle knew, Peter had disappeared from the long-term care unit in the hospital and had never been recovered.

"Save the cliché teenage apathy for your high school teachers," McCall glared at them. Olivia narrowed her eyes at him. What a dick. "The four of you know more than you're saying and I'm fully willing to keep you here all night if I have to."

"We don't know anything," Scott emphasized. "Stiles already told you that."

"And you can't keep us here," Olivia glared at the giant McCall, recalling some of the information her Uncle Thomas told her about his job. "Not without some kind of warrant."

Agent McCall gestured to the desk full of weapons. "I've got a desk full of probable cause."

Allison scoffed quietly and stood from her chair. "My father is a highly respected private security consultant and federally licensed firearms dealer. That means he has to own a few weapons," she told them as she stepped toward the desk. She pointed to a large crossbow and then a huge knife. "Like this one hundred and seventy-five-pound tactical crossbow or this carbon steel marine combat knife," she then poked at one of the handguns. ".50AE Desert Eagle..."

She stopped for a moment and hummed before picking up a smoke grenade. "A smoke grenade with pull-ring igniter," she pulled the ring and threw the grenade toward McCall and the deputies. "Go!"

Olivia, Scott, and Isaac all scrambled out of the office after her, ducking to avoid the smoke currently choking up McCall and the others. Olivia, Allison, and Isaac got into Allison's car and Scott sat on his motorbike and drove away from the apartment. They only stopped when they reached the woods, where a sign prohibited entrance to the preserve after dark.

As Olivia got out of the car, a scream ripped its way out of her throat. She didn't even notice that Isaac and Scott immediately covered their eyes, too focused on the feelings that overwhelmed her. Not only had Stiles gotten hurt—and she didn't know how, which worried her all the more—but Lydia was screaming and she felt everything her cousin felt. Someone was dead, more than one person was dead.

"Olivia, what's wrong?" Allison grabbed Olivia's hands, which were covering her ears, and pulled them away from her head as she stopped screaming. "Olivia?"

"Stiles is hurt," Olivia croaked, her throat now in horrible pain from the combination of the garrote and the loud scream that had escaped her. "And Lydia, she screamed. Someone's dead."

"Is it Derek or Stiles?" Scott asked worriedly.

"No, I would have known if it was," the tether that connected her with Derek wasn't lit and Stiles was, though it wasn't a dangerous feeling that came from it. "It's someone else. Maybe one of the alphas."

"I'll call Stiles and you can call Derek," Isaac offered.

Olivia nodded in agreement and pulled out her phone, quickly pressing on Derek's contact to call him.

"Ollie, what's wrong?" Derek answered a hint of panic in his voice. "We were on out way out of Beacon Hills when we heard Lydia scream."

"I think one of more of the alphas are dead," she told him. "Are you okay? Did you get out in time?"

"We did," Derek confirmed. "but we're heading back to the loft now to check on Lydia. I'll call you, okay?"

"Okay, be careful, both of you," Olivia bit the inside of her cheek. "Love you."

"Love you, Ollie," both Derek and Cora chorused before ending the call.

"I didn't get anything from Stiles," Isaac walked up to her side, giving her a worried look. "Did you get Derek?"

"Yeah, he's okay for now. He and Cora are going back to the loft to check on Lydia," Olivia told him as Scott and Allison walked over to them. "What if Stiles...?"

"He's not," Scott tried to comfort her. "I don't get it, though."

"Well, we can't wait for him," Isaac decided. "Come on."

They all turned away from the vehicles, only to come face-to-face with Deucalion. "You're cutting it a little close, aren't we, Scott?"

"We got a little delayed," Scott informed him. "Where are the others?"

They knew that one of them, if not all three of them, had died. When Deucalion spoke, he only confirmed it, unbeknownst to him. "Occupying themselves with other pursuits."

Olivia inhaled deeply and steeled her nerves, speaking up, "Well, I've come with Scott to join you. If you'll still have me, of course."

God, I can't believe I'm sucking up to a blind, psychotic, alpha werewolf, she lamented privately.

"Of course, you're still welcome," Deucalion said pleasantly. "You, Scott, and I will made a good team."

Olivia exchanged a nervous look with Scott before he turned to Allison and Isaac. "Okay, get Stiles and then get to the root cellar, okay?" he told them. "We'll keep Jennifer away long enough for you to get them out of there."

"How are you gonna do that?" Isaac wondered.

"I have a plan."

-

"Sir," Olivia spoke up uncomfortably. "Uh, Mr. Deucalion."

"Please, just call me Deucalion, Olivia," he chuckled pleasantly as they walked through the woods, heading to an unknown location.

"Deucalion, right," she corrected herself, ignoring the half-amused look that Scott was giving her. "I just wanted to know why you wanted me as part of your pack. I mean, other than the fact that I'm an anchoram."

"Anchorams are rare, as you likely know. But what you may not know, is that they are immensely powerful. You've harnessed most of your powers, yes?" he glanced at her, even though he most likely couldn't see her (Scott had told her what Gerard told him about Deucalion; he wasn't always blind).

"Some. I can calm a werewolf down if they're losing control, or use that same ability against them during a fight," Olivia shared her progress. "I know when my pack members are in danger or close to death and I know how to locate them."

"But's only for your pack mates," Deucalion said knowingly. "One day, when you master those abilities, you'll go on until you've unlocked them all."

"What do you mean?"

"At the height of your powers, you will be able to locate any supernatural creature in the world. You'll be able to use their strengths against them, like you do for werewolves now. You can physically make a werewolf lose their lycanthropy, making them human again," Deucalion listed, the most recent ability making Olivia and Scott shared a look of shock. "And, of course, using the banshee side of you, you will be able to predict the death of anyone you hold dear to your heart, not just your pack mates. Every anchoram is different, though."

She could hardly believe the magnitude of her abilities. In all honestly, it sounded like a lot. Maybe too much. "How do you know all of this?"

"My great-great-great-grandmother's mother was an anchoram," Deucalion told her. "Her name was Marguerite Richardson, nee Hale."

Olivia looked at him in surprise. "We're related?"

"Very distantly. I used to be great friends with your aunt."

"Wow."

She honestly didn't know how to react to that.

She and Deucalion fell silent and the three of them continued walking. The storm got progressively worse the more they walked on. The wind was strong, the rain felt like glass against their skin, and it was so dark Olivia was having trouble seeing, using only the outlines of Scott and Deucalion to keep going.

Finally, though they entered a distillery. The one that Derek and Paige used go when they wanted private time.

"You said you had a plan," Deucalion reminded Scott once they were under the protection of the metal roof.

"On the first day of class, Jennifer sent all of us a message. It was the last line from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness," Scott told him. "I got a message of my own to send to her."

He proceeded to take out his phone and gave it to Olivia so she could film him. He stood in front of the revenge symbol that they all had seen many times before, and Olivia started filming.

"See this symbol?" he pointed at the swirl all the while glaring at the camera. "It's a symbol of revenge. You talk about balance, about saving people? We know what you really want...And now, you know where to find us."

Olivia stopped filming and handed the phone back to Scott, who sent the message to Jennifer right away.

"And now, we wait," Deucalion sighed.

They only waited ten minutes until they came. Yes, they; Derek was with Jennifer. It confused the hell out of Olivia. Was Jennifer forcing him onto her side? Was he actually on her side? Was he acting like he was on Jennifer's side to catch her off guard while he was really on their side?"

"Derek," she breathed. "what are you doing?"

"This might be hard to believe, but I'm actually trying to help you both," Derek eyed her and Scott meaningfully.

He was fooling Jennifer, he was actually on their side—not Deucalion's, Olivia's and Scott's side.

"Ooh, like brother against brother...and sister," Deucalion commented, almost tiredly. "How very American this is," he faced Jennifer as he brought together his seeing cane. "Are you ready, Jennifer, hmm? Did you gather your herbs, pray to your ancient gods and your oak trees, slit a baby's throat, perhaps? Should we show them why you needed to sacrifice nine innocent people just to face me? ...Or is it twelve now?"

Deucalion's eyes glowed red and his wolf features appeared on his face. Surprisingly, Derek was the one to make the first move. He swiped his arm at him, but Deucalion simply grabbed the arm, and then the other one. With Derek trapped, Jennifer went up to the plate. Using whatever powers she had, she threw them at Deucalion, expecting them to work.

Except they didn't.

As Scott slipped something into Olivia's hand, she closed her eyes and brought up her tether map. She found Deucalion easily this time, in between Derek's bright blue and Scott's orange tethers. It didn't surprise her, since Deucalion was clearly the most powerful werewolf she'd come across—it made since that he was easy to find. What would be hard, however, was fighting to use his control against him.

She heard grunts and groans from Jennifer and Derek as she focused on Deucalion's deep red dot, which was also larger than her the other werewolves she had come across. Despite how tired she was, both physically and mentally, she used all the power she had left to hit his dot with her bright purple blasts. She hit him but he actually was able to push back against her, forcefully making her take a step back.

She gritted her teeth and raised her hands toward him. She felt her power build within her and she projected it toward him. For a second, just a second, his features started to fade, long enough for Derek to knock him over. Then he was back up and throwing Derek across the distillery and then stomping toward Jennifer and lifting her up by the neck.

He forced her down on her knees in front of Scott. "Kill her," he ordered Scott, his voice demonic. "Do it."

Scott didn't move, though, and that pissed Deucalion off. He roared loudly, so powerfully that Olivia had to fight to stand and Scott dropped to the floor, his wolf features out on display.

"Now kill her," Deucalion demanded once again. "Your parents are dying. That storm you hear, she's burying them alive. It's her connection to the telluric currents. Kill her and it ends."

"It won't end," Jennifer objected forcefully. "Not with me. He'll have you kill everyone you love. It's what he does."

"They're dying, Scott," Deucalion tried to get Scott back on his side. "Your mother and the parents of your best friends. Kill her now and it's over. Become the alpha you were meant to be. Become a killer."

"Scott."

The firm way in which Olivia said her friend's name made him stiffen. She knew that she had given him some control over the shift that Deucalion forced upon him. They both knew that if Scott killed Jennifer, he would no longer be a true alpha. And that was exactly what Deucalion wanted from him.

Scott glared at Deucalion. "They're not dead yet."

"Who's going to save them? Your friends?"

Scott shook his head and said determinately, "My pack."

Deucalion looked at him for only a moment before he threw Jennifer to the side and raced over to Scott, snarling furiously. He grabbed one of Scott's clawed hands and held it up, forcing him to hold it out.

"Maybe you just need a little guidance," he gritted through his teeth, guiding him over to Jennifer.

At once, Olivia had her hands up again, the arrow tip that Scott had given her, which he snagged from Allison's apartment, in one hand. She pulled together her power. Her anger and fear and all that anxiety that had piled up inside adding to it.

She screamed as her power blasted itself into her tether map and right at Deucalion's dot. His grip on Scott immediately faltered so much that Scott managed to free himself and he staggered, blinking rapidly. \

"Scott!"

"I forgot to tell you something," Scott spoke loudly over the grunts that Deucalion forced out of his lips while he struggled to fight off Olivia's attack. "Something that Gerard told me. Deucalion isn't always blind."

At the same time as Scott, Olivia threw her arrowhead at the concrete by Deucalion's feet. Both of the arrowheads were flash bolts; they lit up at contact and Deucalion practically fell on the floor. Olivia winced at the bright light, obviously effected by the bolts, but not like Derek, Scott, and Deucalion were, and dropped her hands, more than a little tired out.

It didn't help that the lunar eclipse had started. Like werewolves lost their power during the eclipse, it appeared that she did too. She leaned one hand against the wall as Derek ran over to her, allowing him to steady her.

On all three werewolves, their features had gone away.

"The eclipse," Deucalion stumbled to his feet. "it started."

They all noticed that Jennifer was gone at the same time. As they all looked over to the entrance of the distillery, Scott whispered, "Oh, no."

Jennifer dramatically entered the distillery, her disguise of a beautiful face gone. She was also wearing a completely different outfit from before, which was pretty weird. Olivia didn't know how she changed within a minute and she had to admit she liked the outfit Jennifer was wearing before more than the one she was wearing now.

She shrieked as she held a handout to Scott and threw him against the wall. She didn't make a move toward Olivia, which had to do with the fact that she was leaning against Derek, but went straight to Deucalion. He fell to the floor and Jennifer was there beside him within a second, grabbing his head and bashing it against the concrete repeatedly.

Blood had started pouring out of the wound at the back of Deucalion's head and his eyes rolled back into his head before Derek interfered. "Jennifer!" she stopped and looked back at him. "He doesn't know."

"Know what?" she growled back at him.

"What you really look like," Derek told her. "He knows the cost of bringing Kali into his pack, but he's never seen the price you paid."

Jennifer paused for a full minute. "No. No, he hasn't," she said finally before turning her attention to Deucalion. She placed her hand over Deucalion's eyes and she must have healed them because he started to scream in pain. When Jennifer released him from her grip and stood up, she ordered him, "Turn to me. Turn to me!"

When Deucalion turned to face Jennifer, his blue eyes were no longer cloudy. Honestly, he didn't react too badly to Jennifer's real face. It didn't seem to be therapeutic for Jennifer like she thought it would be. She changed back to her fake face and pulled her right arm back to finally kill the alpha.

But instead, she faltered. Derek let go of Olivia, gesturing over at Scott to take his place since she didn't have much of her energy back, and walked over to Jennifer and caught her.

"What is this?" she asked weakly.

"Healing him made you weak, just like healing Cora did to me," Derek informed her. "You won't have your strength for at least a few minutes."

"Then you do it," Jennifer's voice broke. "Kill him."

"No."

She looked at Derek, surprised, while Olivia smiled proudly. "What?"

"Like my mother used to say, I'm a predator. I don't have to be a killer," Derek moved his hand from her back up to her neck, squeezing it tightly. "Let them go."

Jennifer struggled with his grip and gained enough of her strength back to throw Derek a few feet away from her. He landed against a random bale of hay and raced to him, punching him forcefully in the face, two times, then three times.

Olivia threw herself out of Scott's arms and into the line of fire. She pushed Derek away, knowing that the eclipse would end at any second, and received the blow that was meant for him to the face. Her head reared by from the hit, but she managed to kick Jennifer away from her.

At that moment, Olivia felt her powers rush back into her body. It felt like a vibration. Something that she had gotten so used to being there, she hadn't noticed it. The eclipse was over and Derek and Scott had their powers back—and so did Deucalion.

Derek flew through the air and hit Jennifer, holding her against the floor. "Your fifteen minutes are up."

Jennifer managed to get up and dodged the attack that Scott gave her. Before either of them do anything else, she had taken some mountain ash from her pocket and threw it around her, creating a barrier that would protect her from Scott, Derek, and Deucalion.

"Like I told you, Derek, either you or the parents," Jennifer said nastily. Apparently all of her "love" for Derek was gone. "Well, I guess I'll just have to take them now. In a few minutes, they'll be dead and I won't need a lunar eclipse, even to kill a demon wolf."

Derek and Olivia exchanged a horrified look. By the time they looked away, Scott had stormed over to the circle of mountain ash and held his hands up, pushing them against the supernatural barrier between him and Jennifer.

"You've tried this before, Scott," Jennifer taunted him. "I don't remember you having much success."

Scott pushed harder at the barrier, his body leaning further and further into it. Blue light streaked past his body as he broke into it, getting a hand through. The more he pushed through the barrier, the brighter his tether looked in Olivia's head, until finally, it turned a deep, alpha-werewolf red.

The barrier fell apart. Scott was an alpha.

Jennifer had fallen to the floor from the small eruption that occurred when the mountain ash barrier broke. She frantically crawled away from Scott, looking up at him with horrified amazement. "How did you do that?"

Scott glowered down at her. "I'm an alpha now," he said powerfully. "Whatever you're doing to cause this storm, make it stop or I'll kill you myself. I don't care what it does to the color of my eyes."

"It won't change the color of mine, so allow me," Deucalion growled as he strode past Scott. With one swift move, he threw his clawed hand forward and slit the length of Jennifer's throat. She choked on her own blood and she slumped down onto the ground, dead. Olivia was not reluctant to admit that she was glad to see Jennifer dead.

As soon as Jennifer's heart stopped, the storm above them ceased. Olivia slowly reached for her pocket, the blood loss from the blow she received on her face from Jennifer making her sluggish, and called Stiles, hoping that he and everyone else was uninjured and safe.

"Olivia?"

"Hi," Olivia sighed in relief from just hearing his voice. "are you okay?"

"Yeah, we're okay," he confirmed. "We're all okay. What about you and Scott, are you okay?"

Olivia glanced at Scott and Derek, who stood close together discussing something. "Sort of."

"Do you think you and Scott could come and get us?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Great," Stiles huffed out a laugh. "And, uh, bring a ladder."

"I'll get right on that," Olivia giggled. "Hang tight. We'll be there soon."

Derek walked over to her as she ended the call, bent down, and helped her to her feet. He wrapped an arm around her and let her lean all of her weight against him while they walked over to Scott, who was standing in front of Deucalion with a stern look on his face.

"My mother told me you were a man of vision once," Derek told Deucalion, his voice strong. "We're letting you go because we hope you can be that man again."

"But if you're not, then having your eyesight back won't matter," Scott threatened him. "because you'll never see us coming."

With that, the three of them turned around and left the distillery.

-

Unfortunately, Olivia ended up in the hospital once everything was over. Because of Jennifer's strength, she had a concussion and the bruising around her neck was worse than she, or anyone, thought. She only stayed for one night and by the next morning, she was itching to get out of there. She wasn't a fan of hospitals, especially Beacon Hills Memorial—no offense meant to Melissa.

That morning, only two hours before Natalie was supposed to come and get her checked out, Derek and Cora interrupted her and Stiles' conversation. Just by the looks on their faces, she didn't like what they were going to tell her.

Yeah, she really didn't like it.

Cora was the first to speak. "Ollie—"

"You're leaving again, aren't you?" Olivia interrupted her, recognizing the guilt on her face.

"I am," Cora confirmed with a slight nod. "With Derek no longer an alpha and Boyd gone...I can't stay. I don't really...get along with your friends."

Olivia frowned but ultimately, she knew Cora had found a good life down in South America where she had been living for the past six and a half years. She was going to miss her fiercely, especially since she just discovered that she was alive, but she had to let Cora go so she could be happy.

"You'll call, right?" Olivia asked finally.

"Of course I will," Cora leaned forward and gave her a goodbye hug. "I love you, Ollie."

"I love you, too," she said as Cora pulled back. She looked at Derek and added, "Let me guess, you're going with her."

"Just dropping her off," Derek corrected her. "Peter's coming too."

"And you're coming back?" she checked, a little worried that they wouldn't be back and she'd lose her Hale family members all in one go.

Derek heard her heart start to race. "We'll come back," he confirmed taking her head and squeezing it. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

"How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you," Olivia finished the quote, thanking whatever supreme being that was out there for Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, and the friendship that came out of Captain America: The First Avenger. "I love you, Der."

"I love you, too, Ollie," he promised. "We'll send Stiles back in. Remember what I told you—"

"Wear a condom, yeah I got it."

"Actually, I was going to remind you about the pepper spray and rape whistle."

"Get out of here!" Olivia took the paper cup she had been drinking out of and threw it at Derek, who caught it easily.

Derek laughed and he and Cora left the room, giving her one last goodbye. Her smile slipped from her lips as she watched them walk away, but she wasn't able to be sad for long. Stiles had waltzed right back into the room and took his seat on the chair next to her bed.

"So," he grinned at her. "We defeated Jennifer and Deucalion is no longer his evil self. You know what that means?"

"No, but I bet you're going to tell me," she smiled back at him.

Stiles chuckled. "I am. It's time to get engaged."

"Ha! Very funny, sweetcheeks."

(Gif is not mine)

[tw-anchor]

35. Emotional Tethers

Anchor

Stiles Stilinski x Original Character

Episode: 3x11; Alpha Pact

Word Count: 7,880

Warning(s): Mature language, canon violence + gore, human sacrifices, Scott’s asshole dad, 

Author’s Note: I’m updating with a new chapter today because I’ve been gone for a while and I need to play catch up. My grandma died, so I haven’t been very motivated lately. I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please let me know what you think, reblog, and like!

Masterlink in Pinned Post!

"Derek?!" Stiles shouted and he sounded so terrified it broke Olivia's heart. He slapped his hand down on Derek's cheek to stir him awake. "Derek, come on!"

Olivia shook her cousin's body while Stiles kept on hitting him. She didn't know if it was because Stiles was scared or taking his anger out on Derek for Jennifer's disappearance, but damn, he was putting all of his strength into his blows.

"Derek, wake up," Olivia shook him again. "Derek!"

Stiles curled his open hand into a fist and reared back, ready to punch Derek awake. Just as his arm reamed forward, Derek lifted his hand and caught it. Olivia sighed in relief and placed a chaste kiss on Derek's sweaty forehead before helping him up into a sitting position.

Derek looked around the elevator, bewildered. "Where is she?"

"Jennifer? Gone with Scott's mom," Stiles answered, his voice still panicked.

"She took her?"

"Yeah, and if that's not enough of a kick to the balls, Scott left with Deucalion, okay?" Stiles informed him. "So, we gotta get you out of here. The police are coming right now and we gotta get you the fuck out of here."

Olivia and Stiles both worked together to get Derek to his feet. "Woah," he stumbled slightly. "What about Cora?"

"She's with Isaac and Peter," Olivia told him. "They should be in the parking lot with the Argents."

"Olivia and I will hold the police off," Stiles added. "but you have to go right now."

Derek glanced at Olivia worriedly. "Be careful," he touched her cheek for a second and then brushed a thumb over the small cut just under her temple from where she hit the wall earlier. "and get that cut cleaned."

"I will," she assured him. "Go now."

Derek took off toward the parking lot and Olivia and Stiles made their way to the Emergency Wing's lobby. They sat in chairs right next together; Olivia laid her head on Stiles' shoulder while he grabbed her hand and locked their fingers together.

"I'm sorry all of this is happening, Stiles," Olivia whispered; there was something about the silence in the hospital that made her want to not disturb it.

"S'not your fault," Stiles kissed the top of her head. "Babe, you almost died last night. There wasn't anything you could do to stop Jennifer from taking my dad or Melissa."

"I know," and she did know that; she didn't blame herself for what was happening. None of them knew that Jennifer was the darach until she tried to kill her and Lydia. "but that doesn't mean that I can't feel sorry for the pain you and Scott are going through. How are you feeling?"

"Not great," his hold on her hand got a little tighter but he made up for it by playing with her fingers; it made her smile. "Maybe Cora was right, you know? We're only finding the bodies," he sniffed, a single tear making its way down his left cheek. "I don't want to find my dad's body."

Olivia gently detached her hand from his and wrapped her arms around him, her chin resting on his left shoulder. "We're gonna find him, Stiles, okay? We're gonna do everything we possibly can."

"How? We don't have a plan," he shifted so his face nuzzled her neck, his fingers pressing firmly into her back. His voice was absolute miserable and it made tears sting Olivia's eyes.

"We'll come up with one. I'll get Allison, Lydia, and Isaac and we'll come up with something. We're all smart, we can do it. Even if I have to join Deucalion, I will do that for you."

Stiles shook his head in protest and whispered. "Don't. I need you by my side."

Olivia stroked the back of his head. "Okay. I won't leave your side. Not even to go to the bathroom."

Her little joke coaxed a smile out of him, she could feel his lips quirk against her skin. He was about to reply when loud sirens alerted them to the fact that the police had arrived. They separated as the police officers and numerous FBI agents stormed into the hospital.

Stiles spotted a man that Olivia didn't recognize and sighed heavily. "Oh, just perfect."

Olivia gave him a questioning look but was unable to ask him what was up, because the man—who had to be a giant—walked over to them.

"A Stilinski at the center of this whole mess," the man stopped in front of Stiles, glaring down at him. "What a shocker. Think you can answer some questions without the usual level of sarcasm?"

Olivia started to protest—she was pretty sure Stiles was allowed a lawyer with him while being questions, or something like that—but Stiles had already spoken up, very sarcastically, "If you ask the questions without the usual level of stupid."

The smile smiled just as sarcastically. "Where's your dad?" he asked Stiles. "And why has no one been able to contact him?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen him in hours."

"Is he drinking again?"

"Is that question appropriate for this investigation?" Olivia glared at the agent.

The man gave her a firm be-quiet look and turned back to Stiles. "Answer the question."

Stiles sighed heavily. "What do you mean, again? He never had to stop."

"But he did have to slow down," the man prompted. "Is he drinking like he used to?"

Stiles licked his lips and glared up at him. "All right, how about this? Next time I see him, I'll give him a field sobriety test, okay?" his voice hardened. "We'll do the alphabet, start with 'F' and end with 'U.'"

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek to hold back her laughter. Stiles totally made the agent look like a fool.

The agent smiled tightly. "How about you just tell me what the hell happened here?"

"I don't know what happened here," Stiles exhaled heavily. "Olivia and I were stuck in the elevator the whole time."

"You're not the one who put the names on the doors, are you?"

Olivia and Stiles shared a confused look. "What name?"

"Argent."

-

"The word is guardian, Allison," Mr. Argent said as he opened the door to their apartment, Allison, Olivia, and Stiles piling in after him. "More than anyone, you know that's a role I haven't exactly lived up to lately."

"But she took Scott's mother and Stiles' father," Allison pointed out as they walked through the apartment and into Mr. Argent's office. "That's not a coincidence."

"Yeah, I'd also consider the fact that someone put your name up in large block letters on the elevator doors," Stiles added. "That kind of felt like a warning to me."

"I think it was Ms. Morrel," Olivia stated, remembering how the guidance counselor told Scott about Deucalion wanting them in his pack. "She knows everything about the alpha pack and she knew Jennifer before. I think she might be trying to help us."

Stiles scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, she needs to get on that a lot faster, okay? Seeing as how the lunar eclipse is less than two freaking nights away."

He sat in one of the chairs in front of Mr. Argent's desk; Olivia went to him, putting a calming hand on his shoulder.

Mr. Argent gave him a kind look. "Stiles, don't give up hope."

Stiles ducked his head. "They could already be dead."

"I don't think so," Mr. Argent disagreed. "There's something about Jennifer's tactics. It's like she's still positioning, still moving pieces into place."

"And you're one of them," Allison reminded her father.

"Then let's not wait around to see the next move," Mr. Argent grabbed the map of Beacon Hills and the telluric currents and flattened it on his desk. "Everything she's done has been on a telluric current, so Melissa and the sheriff have to be somewhere on one of those currents, right?" he paused when he saw that Stiles hadn't followed Olivia over to the desk. "Stiles, if we're gonna find them, we need your help."

"You're seriously want to go after her?" Stiles didn't stand up, bracing his elbows on his knees. "I mean, what if she just takes you like the others, huh? No offense, but what's the difference between you and them?"

Mr. Argent reached for one of the drawers in his desk. He pulled it open and Olivia watched in shock as he pulled out a huge handgun. She inched closer to Allison, who gave her a reassuring smile. She had never been shot, but there was something about seeing Mr. Argent hold a gun in front of her that made her itch.

"I'm carrying a .45," Mr. Argent told Stiles bluntly. "Maybe she can heal from a shot to the leg and a few slashes to the face, but personally, I'd like to see how she holds up with half her skull blown off."

Olivia looked back at Stiles and quirked her lips, her expression telling him 'he's got a point.'

Mr. Argent set the gun back on his desk. "We've got one priority right now and that's to find Melissa and your dad," he said firmly. "We've got a map and every clue we need to figure this out. The only thing we don't have is time, which is why I need all three of you."

Stiles sighed and stood up. "Where do we start?"

Mr. Argent pulled out his blue light so they could see exactly where he had marked the telluric currents, the places where the victims were kidnapped, and the places where their bodies were found.

"The place where the sacrifices have been committed have usually been different from where the bodies have been found. I think the placement has to do with the strength of the current," he held the light over the map, hitting three different places. "So, there's the school, the animal clinic, and the bank."

"Wait, hold on," Olivia spoke up thoughtfully, her eyes studying the map. "You don't think she would use the same place twice, do you?"

"Only if she didn't succeed the first time," Mr. Argent hit the light against the mark at the bank.

"Scott's boss," Allison realized.

"Deaton," Mr. Argent confirmed. "It was her only failure. That could mean something."

"That's just one place so far," Stiles grumbled. "We're gonna need a lot more help."

Allison looked at Olivia. "What about Lydia?"

Mr. Argent looked at the girls, confused. "Lydia? What can she do?"

"She's a banshee, a harbinger of death," Olivia told him. "She's been finding the bodies without looking for them. Which, now that I think about it, might not be the best thing. Because if she can find Ms. McCall and Sheriff Stilinski, that means..."

No one said anything as her sentence trailed off. They all knew what that meant.

"We can still bring her in," Mr. Argent decided; Olivia nodded in agreement. "What about you? Are you able to locate them?"

"I can try. They're not considered official pack members, but their relation to Scott and Stiles might give me something," she glanced at Stiles, who gave her a small smile.

Mr. Argent nodded. "All right, good," he glanced at Allison. "Let's get ready then."

Olivia and Stiles watched as the Argents pulled out their weapons. Mr. Argent went down to the basement of their apartment building where they had a storage locker full of weapons, while Allison went around the apartment and pulled out the ones they kept with them all the time. Guns—big and small—bows and arrows, Chinese ring daggers—those were harder than they looked to use, Olivia knew because Allison had been attempting to teach her the ropes—more knives, smoke grenades, and anything else that would help defeat Jennifer, and/or the alpha pack, were laid on the desk.

Stiles looked at the collection of weapons with wide eyes. "Woah," Mr. Argent cocked his gun into place. "I thought you guys were retired."

"Retired, yes. Defenseless, no," Mr. Argent set the gun back on the desk and then turned to face Olivia and Stiles. "Make sure both of your phones are on. If either of you hear from Scott, let us know immediately."

Stiles checked his phone, where there were no messages or missed calls from Scott, and frowned. "Yeah, I'm thinking that's gonna be kind of unlikely."

Mr. Argent glanced at Allison, seeing the frown on her face. "All three you, try to remember he's just doing what he thinks is right," he advised them all.

Allison's gaze was already on the door; Olivia, Stiles, and Mr. Argent turned to see Isaac standing within the door frame. "I can't shoot a gun or use a crossbow, but..." his claws slipped out of his nail beds and he held them up. "Well, I'm getting pretty good with these."

-

The one thing she had not expected when she stepped a foot into her house a half-hour later, was Natalie rushing up to her. She pulled Olivia into a tight hug—a very tight hug—and held the back of her head, as if assuring herself that Olivia was alive and relatively okay.

Olivia should have expected it. Natalie might not be her mother, but all intents and purposes, she was. She watched over Olivia for six, going on seven, years, she fed and sheltered her, and she loved her and cared for her just as much as Lydia. Her stomach dropped when she realized that she hadn't gotten in touch with Natalie after the whole fiasco that she and Lydia went through with Jennifer. She had been too caught up with the events happening in the hospital and she knew that Lydia was okay, only because of her tether to her.

"I was so worried about you," Natalie sighed into her hair.

"I'm sorry," Olivia apologized sincerely but then had to lie about where she had been. "I was at Derek's. He took care of me."

Natalie frowned and pulled away from the hug to get a good look at her. "Your neck. God, I'm going to kill whoever did this to you two."

If only that was possible.

"I'm okay," she assured her aunt; and as if the universe hated her, her voice squeaked like she was a male going through puberty. She cleared her throat, having gotten used to the pain, and asked, "How's Lydia?"

"The poor thing has a concussion and a couple of stitches by her hairline," Natalie sighed sadly and reached up to Olivia's forehead, thumbing over the cut she had cleaned up at the Argents' apartment. "I'm so glad you two are okay."

"Me too," Olivia took her hand and squeezed it quickly. "If it's okay, I'm gonna go see Lydia."

"Of course, honey," Natalie nodded encouragingly. "How about in ten minutes, I come up there and help you get ready for school? I know you don't like to miss it."

"Thanks, Aunt Nat. I'll see you in a few."

Olivia left her aunt and climbed the stairs, heading straight to Lydia's bedroom, only a door from her own room. She knocked gently and waited until she heard Lydia's permission to enter, before going into the room. Lydia was sitting at the end of her bed, dressed in pajamas, flipping through pages of an old photobook. Olivia recognized it; it was the one from their first year in middle school.

She looked up and smiled at Olivia as she padded over to her bed. "Hey."

"Hey, how are you feeling?" she sat next to the redhead.

"My head hurts a little bit, but other than that, I'm fine," Lydia studied the bruise on her neck. "How about you?"

"Just a little bruise."

Lydia pressed her lips together sadly. "What happened last night?"

Olivia described everything that went on last night. She told her about confronting Jennifer with Stiles, Scott, and Derek, about how Jennifer had poisoned Cora with mistletoe and that was why she wasn't healing. She explained how they went to the hospital and the alpha pack showed up, the many ways they tried to thwart them, and the plan that they eventually came up with. Finally, she told Lydia about Jennifer taking Melissa and Scott joining Deucalion and the rest of the alphas.

"I don't believe it," Lydia shook her head with a sigh. "Scott can't really be with them. He can't be."

"He's doing it for his mom and the sheriff," Olivia frowned; more and more, she was thinking that Scott had made the right decision. And she should have done it with him. If making a deal with the devil was the price she had to pay to make sure Noah and Melissa were safe, she'd do it. "And the look on his face..."

"Okay, so what can I do?" Lydia immediately volunteered to help them, making Olivia smile thankfully at her. "I know I'm supposed to be some human Geiger counter for death or something, but you told me that I could maybe save some people. I don't know how to turn it on and off yet, but..."

When she hesitated, Olivia bit the inside of her cheek. "What?"

"Remember what Jennifer said when she was going to kill me after you?" Lydia reminded her. "She said I knew too much."

"You're right. She didn't know you were a banshee."

Olivia's mind raced. Jennifer tried to kill Lydia because she knew something about what was going on, but what was it? She thought back on how Lydia had been acting since the school year started, and other than finding the dead bodies and that stint at the Motel Glen Capri, she couldn't think of much else...Except, wait. There was something. The day before, when they were in English class learning about idioms, Jennifer had commented on Lydia's drawing.

"Your drawing," she said aloud to see if it sparked something in Lydia. "The one you always draw, the tree."

Lydia looked at her confused, "What are you talking about?"

"The tree you always draw," Olivia got up from the bed and rushed over to Lydia's desk, picking up one of the notebooks there. She opened it up and on the very first page, was the tree. She showed it to Lydia. "This tree. You've been drawing it everywhere, Lyds."

"What?" Lydia asked, horrified. She ripped the notebook out of Olivia's grasp and flipped through the rest of the pages. Over and over, on each page, a drawing of the same tree was there in various sizes. "What the hell?"

"She knew that you knew something about the tree, but she didn't know what," Olivia pointed out. "Do you know what the drawing means?"

Lydia shook her head. "No, I don't. I mean, I talked about it with Ms. Morrell once in one of our sessions, but—"

"Ms. Morrell knows?" Olivia cut her off urgently. "About the drawings and stuff?"

"Yeah, why?" Olivia didn't answer her as she pulled out her phone and started messaging Stiles. "Liv?"

"Sorry, sorry," Olivia turned back to her cousin. "Okay, Stiles and I are gonna head to the school and talk to Ms. Morrell. Do you think you can try to get ahold of Aiden and see if he or the other alphas know anything about Jennifer that we don't?"

"I can try," Lydia seemed bewildered at how flustered Olivia was. "Are you all right, Liv?"

"Yeah, yeah, I just need to go," Olivia rushed to the door before stopping and turning back to her. "Hey, do you think I should cover this," she gestured to her neck. "up?"

"No," Lydia said firmly. "You survived Jennifer's attack. You don't need to hide that."

Olivia inhaled deeply, feeling herself get emotional, and smiled softly at Lydia. "Okay, thank you. I love you, Lyds."

"I love you, too, Liv."

-

After getting dressed and throwing her hair into a topknot—she had not had time to shower, which was unfortunate, because she was pretty sure she still had blood in her hair—Stiles picked her up and they rushed to the school. As they started heading over to Ms. Morrell's office, Olivia got a text message from Lydia.

Lyds: Aiden's not texting me back

Liv: All right. Just keep trying, okay?

Lyds: I will. Be careful

Liv: You too

While she was texting her cousin back, she saw a message come in from Isaac. She ignored it for just a second as she looked up at Stiles and informed him of what was going on with Lydia, "Aiden's not texting Lydia back," she paused and saw that he had stopped walking in the middle of the hallway, his phone in his hand. "Are you okay, Stiles?"

Stiles continued to look at the phone, his face crumpling.

"Stiles, what's going on?" she asked cautiously. She walked over to be by his side and saw that Stiles had gotten a text message from Isaac as well. "What does it say?"

"Jennifer, she t—" he inhaled shakily, his hands shaking. "she has Allison's father. She took him. "She's got all three now."

Olivia's heart started racing in her chest but she somehow found words. "There's still time," she focused on that; Jennifer couldn't do anything until the lunar eclipse started. "We still have time, Stiles."

Stiles didn't respond. His hands shook terribly as he put his phone back into his jeans pocket, he was pale and sweaty, and she didn't need to have enhanced hearing to hear how shaky his breath was. Not only did his tether—his was her favorite, a light brown like his eyes when the sun hit them just right—start flashing, different than it did with the werewolf tethers.

"Stiles," she stood on her tiptoes to place the palm of her hand against his cheek, grounding him for a second. "Stiles, are you having a panic attack?"

Stiles struggled to breathe as he nodded, his eyes wide with panic.

"Okay, it's okay, um..." she looked around the hallway and thanked God that Ms. Morrell's office was close to the boys' locker room. "Okay, come on, Stiles."

The frantic gasping that came from Stiles was scary, she wasn't going to lie. However, she needed to be there for him. She had never experienced a panic attack, but she had read about them. And because she knew Stiles had anxiety, she had learned multiple ways to help people who were experiencing panic attacks. Even though everyone was different and so were reactions, she hoped one of the techniques would help him.

Olivia helped Stiles take a seat on the floor, his back leaned up against one row of lockers, and then kneeled down in front of him. Stiles was really beginning to worry now, his face had lost all color and his breathing had turned into hyperventilating.

"Stiles? Stiles, look at me," she gently grabbed his face and tilted it upward so he could look her in the eyes. "I know you're scared right now, but you have to calm down. Can you breathe with me?"

Stiles nodded, breathing heavily.

"All right, here," she picked up one of his hands and pressed it against her stomach where he would be able to feel how she breathed. "and breathe slow like this. Slow inhale, slow exhale."

She demonstrated the breathing for him. Stiles tried to copy her actions but his thoughts must have gone to his dad again, because he went through two or three cycles of breathing before it picked up again.

"Liv-Livvy," he gasped out, his eyes boring into hers, panicked.

"Okay," that didn't work. "um, okay. Tell me five things you see in this room right now."

He gave her a bewildered look. "I-I can't."

"Yes, you can," she insisted as she stroked his cheek with her thumb. "Right now, Stiles. Please."

"O-Okay," he panted, his eyes quickly tracing the room. "Okay, u-um, my locker."

"Good, good. What else?"

"Y-You're wearing—you're wearing a blue shirt. Blue is pretty."

"Yeah, it is," Olivia smiled at him. "Okay, three more things. You're doing great, sweetcheeks.

"The, uh," his breathing was better but not totally okay yet. He gasped quickly and then continued, "the regional ch-championship trophy."

"That's great, Stiles. Two more."

Stiles eyes darted behind her, where the sinks were lined up on the wall. "The leaky faucet. It's, uh, it's the third one."

Olivia glanced behind her and smiled when she saw that he was right. "Good. One more," his breathing was much calmer now. The gasps were gone and each breath he took was less wheezy. "You're doing great, Stiles."

Stiles' eyes went back to her face, searching it intently. "You're wearing that lip balm you like," he said finally. "it's pink and it tastes like strawberries."

"Yeah," she gazed at him fondly. He inhaled deeply and exhaled, his breathing back to normal. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," Stiles took the hand of hers that was on his face and kissed her knuckles. "How'd you know how to do that?"

"I, uh, I knew you had anxiety, so I looked up some methods that might help with panic attacks," Olivia answered him sheepishly. "I have a few more. You can name some colors or hold your breath, and you can even distract yourself with something funny that you like. Like for you, it'd be—"

Her rambling was cut off but Stiles pulling her in for a loving but passionate kiss. Of course, she returned the affection. She loved Stiles so much and she was very happy to know he was feeling better.

When he pulled away from the kiss and stared at her. And he was so damn cute, staring at her like she was the most wonderful person in the world. "You really did that?"

"Of course I did," she stroked his cheek again once she moved it back to his face. "I would do anything for you, I love you."

"I love you, too," Stiles pressed his lips to hers again and pulled away before she could react. "I love you so fucking much, Livvy. One day, after all this is over and we graduate, I'm gonna marry you. And then we'll go to college and get an apartment next to Scott, and we'll have however many dogs you want—because I know you secretly love them so much—and then we'll have a family and we'll—"

"Okay, okay, settle down there," Olivia giggled and gave him a bright smile. The only way she could describe how she felt at his words was that there were a hundred butterflies in her stomach who were just as overjoyed to hear him say that as she was. "We have to get your dad, Melissa, and Mr. Argent back first. We'll see about the rest then, okay?"

"Okay," Stiles nodded with a grin. After Olivia climbed to her feet, she brought her hand down for him to take. He took it gladly and she helped him up. "We should get to Ms. Morrell's office now, huh?"

"Yeah."

After leaving the locker room, they rushed down the hallway and stormed into Ms. Morrell's office. Ms. Morrell wasn't there at her desk like they thought she would be, but there was a student waiting for her. She looked kind of familiar, but Olivia just couldn't place her face at the moment.

"Are you here for Ms. Morrell?" Stiles asked her.

"No, I thought this was gym class," she snarked back at him.

"Okay, listen, we're not in the mood for unneeded sarcasm," Olivia put up her unfeeling mask she used for her classmates and the other students—and teachers—at the school. "Do you know where she is?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be waiting her for twenty minutes," the girl huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "So, how about you two lovebirds back out the door and wait your turn?"

"We're here for a session," Stiles told her.

"Well, I am, and I've got some serious issues to work on."

"Woah, hold on," Olivia studied the girl's face, finally realizing where she had seen her before. "You were at Heath's birthday party. Uh, it's Danielle, right?"

"We've had class together, but sure, I was the girl at Heath's birthday party," Danielle rolled her eyes. "I was his best friend and you and your cousin stopped hanging out with him. That's what Morrell and I have been working on three times a week."

"Wait, did you say that Morrell's twenty minutes late?" Stiles interjected.

Danielle nodded. "And I don't know why, either. She's always on time.

Stiles nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I've been seeing her since freshman year," he looked at Olivia. "She's never late...so, she must be missing."

Olivia gave him a knowing look. "What if we're not the only ones who think she knows something?" she mused. "Aiden wasn't answering Lydia, remember?"

Stiles nodded and glanced at the filing cabinet behind Ms. Morrell's desk. "Then let's find out what she knows," he knelt down in front of the filing cabinet and pulled out a lock-pick kit that Olivia had no idea he had. "You said Lydia's been seeing her since the start of the semester?"

"Yeah."

"What are you doing?" Danielle asked, affronted, as she watched Stiles break into the cabinet and sift through the files. "Those files are private."

"We're looking for my cousin's file," Olivia told her. "She gave us permission."

Danielle didn't look impressed but she didn't stop them or go to tattle on them, either.

"Find it!" Stiles stood up and tossed Lydia's file onto the desk.

Olivia opened the file and went through the various papers that Ms. Morrell had collected on Lydia. There were no notes like there would be if Morrell was a normal guidance counselor. Instead, it was full of Lydia's drawings, each one of them a tree just like the ones that filled her notebook back at home.

"Wait, wait, stop," Stiles caught her hand as she went to pick up another paper. "Look at that."

The paper he had pointed to had the tree on it like the others. However, this one was different. It was upside down compared to the other ones, making the tree look more like roots, and at the bottom, it was labeled. In Ms. Morrell's writing, it said, 'Nemeton.'

"Oh, my God," Olivia breathed in realization. "It's the Nemeton. That's where she's keeping them. It has to be."

Stiles nodded in agreement. "That's where Derek brought Paige, right?" Olivia made a noise of confirmation as they rushed out of the office, leaving Danielle behind. "Okay, so—"

"Stilinski!" the agent from earlier, who Stiles had told her was Scott's father, shouted for him as he stomped down the hallway.

"Fuck," Stiles cursed under his breath. "All right, you should go to Derek and ask him about the Nemeton and its location."

"I will," Olivia glanced behind him and bit the inside of her cheek when she saw that Agent McCall was only a few feet away from them now. "Be careful."

"You too."

Olivia walked away as Stiles confronted Agent McCall and swiftly turned into a different hallway, the one where her locker was located. She didn't leave like Stiles wanted her to, she had a few phone calls to make.

She took a deep breath and dialed Dr. Deaton first.

-

-

"Did you know your dad's car is in the school parking lot and has been since last night?" Agent McCall asked him. He was sitting on Coach's desk while Stiles sat on one of the students' desks right across from him. He felt like he was in the worst detention he had ever experienced. Scratch that, Mr. Harris' detentions were the worst.

Stiles ducked his head, staring at his fingers and he nervously wringed them together. "No. What does that mean?"

"It means he's officially missing," Rafael told him. Stiles stayed quiet: Tell me something I don't know. "Stiles, why am I getting the feeling you know something that could help us find your dad?"

Stiles lifted his head and narrowed his eyes at his best friend's father. "If I did, why would I not tell you?"

Probably because you, nor the FBI, know anything about what it's really like in Beacon Hills. You don't know about the supernatural, you don't even know that your son is a werewolf, a fucking true alpha, he thought bitterly.

"If it meant helping your dad, why wouldn't you?"

Stiles gave him a look that clearly asked the agent why he was being so idiotic. "So, you're asking me to tell you what I wouldn't not tell you?"

"First, I have no idea what you just said," Rafael said calmly. "Second, how about you just help me help you?"

"Well, I don't know how to help you help me tell you something that would help you if I don't know it," even Stiles was confused about his words, but he stuck to them.

Rafael furrowed his eyebrows. "Are you doing this on purpose?"

Stiles sighed. "I don't know anything, okay? Can I just go?"

Rafael shook his head. "Where are your other friends?"

"You mean Scott?"

"I mean Scott," McCall took out his handy-dandy notebook and listed off all of Stiles' friends, excluding Olivia—he knew where she was—and including some that weren't his friends. "I mean Isaac Lahey, Allison Argent, Lydia Martin, these twins Ethan and Aiden," he shut the notepad and put it back in his jacket. "I've been told your whole little clique didn't show up at school today."

Stiles rolled his eyes. "I don't have a clique."

Especially not one with Ethan and Aiden and...Well, I guess Isaac's part of our pack of friends...

"Stiles, come on," Rafael sighed, wishing he would just say something. "There's been a pretty disturbing amount of violent activity in this county in the last month, several murders tied to this school. I don't know what's going on here, but it's serious."

Stiles ducked his head again. McCall didn't have to tell him about what was going on. Stiles knew more about it than he did.

"And hey, your dad is missing," Rafael caught his attention; he lifted his head but didn't say anything. "Fine. But I don't want you going home alone. You have someone you can stay with tonight?"

"He's with me," a new, familiar, voice spoke up. Stiles and Agent McCall both looked over to the door where Deaton was standing, Olivia behind him. "Come on, Stiles."

Stiles eagerly jumped off the desk he was sitting and threw Agent McCall another glare before following Olivia and Dr. Deaton out of the classroom.

-

-

Olivia, Stiles, Allison, Isaac, and Lydia had all gathered in the exam room at the animal clinic with Dr. Deaton. Lydia had gone to see Derek and Peter, at Olivia's insistence, and asked them about the Nemeton, but according to them, Talia had taken those memories from them. That left them with no new leads on Jennifer or a location of the Nemeton, and the sun had already set. They had twenty-four hours to figure everything out.

"It has to be on a telluric current," Stiles declared, leaning against the stainless-steel cart in the middle of the room. "or maybe even at the axis of two or where they all intersect..."

"We just know that Derek took Paige to die there," Olivia finished.

"My dad and Gerard were there once," Allison told everyone from next to Olivia. "but Gerard said it was years ago and he couldn't remember where it was. And my dad obviously isn't here to tell us now."

"Yeah, mine either."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek, and comfortingly rubbed Allison's back with one hand and Stiles' back with the other. She didn't know if it was comforting but she wanted to show her support for them anyway.

"Then how do we find this place?" Isaac spoke up.

The five of them looked over to Dr. Deaton, who had been pacing with a thoughtful expression the whole time they spoke.

"There might be a way," Dr. Deaton said finally. "but it's dangerous. We're going to need Scott."

Olivia immediately set to work on finding Scott's location. After only two minutes—she was getting much better at locating her pack members—Stiles and Dr. Deaton went to go find him. While she and the others waited for them to bring Scott back with them, she pulled herself into her map and tried to find Sheriff Stilinski, Ms. McCall, and Mr. Argent.

The whole thing was trickier than expected but she didn't care. Knowing that she was most connected to Stiles, she started with his tether. First, she dived deep down into it—while trying not to disturb Stiles, where he and Deaton were—and stayed there for a few seconds, getting used to the feeling of it. She pictured Noah and Stiles together, using one of the memories in which she had gone over to their house for pizza one night so Noah could get to know her better. She focused on them and their bond. Although Stiles and his dad didn't look much alike, their personalities were damn near the same, with a little less sarcasm on Noah's side. They really loved each other, and each one was the last family that the other had.

Once she was comfortable with both Stiles and Noah, she moved onto Noah by himself. Something about Noah just screamed green to her, but that was nice. Green was warm and comforting and that fit him. And when she saw a faded green dot in front of her, she knew that it was him. The thing was, the dot was dull and blurry—she couldn't see him properly. She tried going further toward him but she couldn't move. Something was keeping her back.

She cursed under her breath as she opened her, realizing what was happening. Lydia, Allison, and Isaac were all looking at her expectantly, wanting to know if she got anything. "Jennifer," she scowled. "I think she's blocking me somehow."

"Then we will have to go through with the plan. It's our last choice," Dr. Deaton entered the exam room, followed by Stiles and Scott.

"Yeah, what exactly is this plan?" Lydia asked curiously. Dr. Deaton and Stiles had left before the former was able to explain the plan.

"Essentially, Scott, Allison, and Stiles need to be surrogate sacrifices for their parents," Deaton explained.

"They're going to die for them?" Olivia asked, furrowing their eyebrows. She wouldn't be able to handle that. Stiles was the love of her life, Allison was one of her best friends, and Scott was a friend to her as well. Three members of her pack, three people that she loved and cared about would be gone.

Stiles, it seemed, could read her mind. "He can bring us back," he assured her, crossing the room to pull her into his side. He glanced at Deaton to make sure, "You can bring us back, right?"

Dr. Deaton pulled a half-grimace. "You remember the part where I said it was dangerous?" everyone nodded. "If it goes right, the three of you will be dead for a few seconds, but there's something else you need to think about. This is a dangerous thing for more reasons than one. You'll be giving power back to the Nemeton, a place that hasn't had power for a long time."

"This kind of power is like a magnet. It attracts the supernatural, the kind of things that a family like the Argents can fill the pages of a bestiary with," he said seriously, finishing up. "It will draw them here, like a beacon."

Olivia wondered if the Nemeton was the reason that their town was named Beacon Hills in the first place. If it had been a long time since the Nemeton had power, it might have been. The Hales had always been a prominent family in Beacon Hills for over a century, so it was entirely possible if they had named the town themselves.

Stiles shrugged. "Doesn't sound any worse than anything we've already seen."

Deaton shook his head. "You'd be surprised at what you have yet to see."

"Is that it?" Allison asked, folding her arms over her chest.

"No, it will also have an effect on the three of you," Deaton answered her. "You won't be able to see it, but you'll feel it every day for the rest of your lives. It'll be a kind of darkness around your heart and permanent, like a scar."

"Like a tattoo," Scott mused thoughtfully.

Stiles, Scott, and Allison were allowed to leave the animal clinic to head back to their homes to grab a token that represented their parents. While they did that, Olivia, Lydia, Isaac, and Deaton got to work on setting things up for the ritual.

The set-up was much like the one that they used for Isaac's when they were trying to find Boyd and Erica. There were three large tubs this time and each one was filled to the brim with water, ice, and herbs that Dr. Deaton had mixed for them. While Lydia and Isaac continued working, Dr. Deaton pulled Olivia aside.

He told her that, unlike Isaac's ritual, she wouldn't be able to help with this one. When Olivia heard his explanation, she agreed. Because Stiles, Allison, and Scott would be dead—at the minimum for a few seconds—she wouldn't be in the best shape. Deaton even told her that she may be out of it for a period of time while they were gone, if they were gone for more than a few seconds or even minutes. Honestly, it scared Olivia. She felt the whole in her heart desperately when Boyd died. It was undoubtedly going to be worse when the ritual started.

When Stiles and Scott came back, followed shortly by Allison, Olivia went straight to Stiles and wrapped her arms around his waist. He had to know that she was nervous about the whole thing because he wrapped his arms around her, too, and whispered soothing words into her ears.

"All right," Dr. Deaton said once the tubs were ready to go. "What did you bring?"

Stiles unhooked one arm from around Olivia and dug his hand into his jacket pocket. "Um, I got by dad's badge," he told everyone, staring at it sadly. "Jennifer kind of crushed it in her hand, so I tried hammering it out a bit. Still doesn't look great."

"It doesn't need to look good if it has meaning," Deaton assured him.

Stiles nodded and pressed his lips together.

"Is that an actual silver bullet?" Isaac spoke up, looking at the token that Allison was holding.

Allison nodded. "My dad made it. It's a kind of ceremonial thing," she explained. "When one of us finishes learning all the skills to be a hunter, we forge a silver bullet as a testament to the code."

"Scott?"

Scott held up a dainty watch. "My dad got my mom this watch when she first got hired at the hospital," he scoffed lightly. "She used to say it was the only thing in their marriage that ever worked."

"Okay," Dr. Deaton started to explain what they needed to do. "the three of you will get in. Olivia, Lydia, and Isaac will each hold you down until you're essentially...Well, dead. But it's not just someone to hold you under. It needs to be someone who can pull you back, someone that has a strong connection to you, a kind of emotional tether."

Olivia quickly looked up. "Did you say emotional tether?"

When Deaton nodded, Olivia and Stiles shared a knowing look. Stiles was the only one she told about her knew system of keeping track of her pack and how it worked much better than before. The fact that Deaton was mentioning an emotional tether like the ones she used couldn't be a coincidence.

Had she been led to start thinking of her attachments to the pack as tethers for a reason? The answer seemed to be yes. Olivia didn't know if she be freaked out or relieved that she was understanding her abilities better.

"Lydia," Deaton called out the redhead's name when she went to stand by Allison. "you go with Scott."

Olivia and Stiles shared another look, both of them shocked at the turn of events. Olivia looked back at her cousin with a questioning look but Lydia steadfastly ignored her as she went to take her place by a very surprised Scott.

Scott...and...Lydia? What was going on here?

They'd be cute together, though, Olivia admitted to herself.

Allison looked between one of her best friends and her former boyfriend, confused. "Are you sure?" she asked Deaton. "I mean, I have to go under, too. And Isaac—"

"Isaac will go with you," Dr. Deaton told her. "Olivia, you'll be with Stiles."

Well, that wasn't a shock. Isaac and Allison and Scott and Lydia, though? What a plot twist.

Before the ritual began, Olivia made sure to take Stiles aside for a second.

"If you stay dead, I'm gonna kill you," she warned Stiles, making him laugh through his nerves. "I'm completely serious, Stiles."

"I know you are," he smirked down at her. "It's gonna be fine, though. I love you, baby."

Olivia didn't object to the pet name. He was going to be dead for a few seconds, so she'd let it slide. "I love you, too, sweetcheeks."

They quickly kissed and Stiles placed an extra one on her temple, his lips quirking into a knowing smile. Olivia may be hard to read for other people, but it was easy for him to figure out what was going on in that stubborn head of hers.

They both made their way back into the exam room. Olivia squeezed Allison's hand meaningfully and smiled at Scott, wishing them a good luck without words. Then, they all lined up at their respective tubs.

Allison was the first one to step in, deeply inhaling at the freezing cold water. Scott got into his tub as well. Stiles looked back at Olivia before he got into his tub and she gave him the most reassuring smile that she could. It worked for him, though; he stepped into the tub fearlessly.

They were all having trouble breathing from the freezing cold water as they fully submerged themselves. A second later, Olivia took her place behind Stiles with her hands on his shivering shoulders; Lydia and Isaac did the same for Scott and Allison, respectively.

Teeth chattering, Stiles looked to his left to speak to Scott. "By the way, if I don't make it back and you do, you should probably know something. Your dad's in town."

Tears slipped down Olivia's cheeks as she pressed down on Stiles' shoulder at Deaton told them to begin. Stiles kicked and struggled underneath the water, but she kept going, knowing that this was what he wanted. It was just a little heartbreaking to keep him under.

Stiles, Scott, and Allison all stilled at the same time. Olivia didn't even have to let go, she collapsed under the weight of their nonpermanent deaths, slipping into nothingness.

(Gif is not mine)

[tw-anchor]

34. Guardians

Anchor

Stiles Stilinski x Original Character

Episode: 3x10; The Overlooked

Word Count: 6,474

Warning(s): Mature language, canon violence + gore, kidnapping, major injuries

Author’s Note: We’re gonna be seeing Olivia use her powers in battle! I hope you enjoy! Make sure to reblog, like, and tell me what you think!

Masterlist in Pinned Post!

Derek took one look at the bruising around Olivia's neck as she walked into his loft and ran over to her. "What happened to you?" he demanded, his eyes darting to Stiles and Scott and then back to her. He tilted her chin up in order to get a better look at the dark bruise on her neck. "Who did this?

"It was Jennifer," Scott told him. "She's the darach, she's the one killing people."

"And she took my dad," Stiles added angrily. "Yeah, and that was after she tried to kill Livvy and Lydia."

Derek's eyes widened only slightly as he looked back at Olivia. "Is it true?"

"It is," Olivia confirmed, her voice hoarse from the damage done to her neck.

Derek shook his head angrily and then sighed when Olivia winced in pain. He placed his hand on her cheek; Olivia stiffened as she felt some of the pain around her bruise disappear, and then saw it darken Derek's veins as he absorbed it.

"Thanks."

"I'm sorry, Ollie," he pulled her into a hug; he looked over her head at Stiles and added, "Sorry about your dad. Now that we know that Jennifer is the darach, we have to start planning."

"We sorta already came up with one," Stiles crossed his arms over his chest. "We figured that she would come to you and try to give you some story about tonight. The three of us will hide and when we come out, Scott will throw mistletoe on her and—"

"And we kill her," Derek finished.

"No," Scott said pointedly. "We'll tie her up or something. We need to know where Noah is."

Derek reluctantly agreed. Not long after, he and Scott heard Jennifer making her way up to the loft. Olivia, Stiles, and Scott hid behind the freestanding wall with a huge hole in it just as the loft door slid open.

"Derek?" Jennifer called, stepping into the loft. "Derek, where are you?"

"Right here," Derek walked out of the kitchen where he had hidden to be inconspicuous.

"Thank God," Jennifer sighed heavily and ran over to Derek, wrapping her arms around him. "Something happened at the recital. At the school..."

Yeah, you tried to kill me and my cousin, bitch, Olivia snarled in her head.

"...Okay, I need to tell you before you hear it," Jennifer separated from Derek to look him in the eyes. "before you hear any of it from them."

Olivia could feel Derek's tether starting to pulse angrily, trying to stay in control. She had to give her cousin props, though. He was focusing on his anger, like he usually did, and took control over it. In fact, his face didn't slip from 'concerned boyfriend' at all.

"From who?"

"Scott, Stiles, Olivia," Jennifer listed, and there's where she made her first mistake; she shouldn't have mentioned Olivia at all. Olivia had to fight to keep Derek in control, closing her eyes to concentrate. "They're gonna tell you things. Things you can't believe. You have to trust me, okay? You trust me."

Jennifer must have been more stupid than she looked. Why on earth would Derek trust her, someone he only met a month ago, over his own family. He wholeheartedly trusted Olivia—and even Stiles and Scott—and he saw the fucking bruise on Olivia's neck. Why would they lie about any of that?

Derek swallowed down his anger, his control much higher now that Olivia was helping him. "What is it?"

"Promise you'll listen to me."

"I promise."

Olivia grimaced as Jennifer smashed her lips against Derek's. The kiss didn't last long before Jennifer pulled away, looking at him suspiciously. Derek must not have responded to her kiss, which Olivia respected him greatly for.

"They're already here, aren't they?" she asked him darkly; Derek looked over to Olivia, Stiles, and Scott as they walked out of their hiding place. "So, they told you it was me? That I'm the one taking people?"

"We told him you're the one killing people," Scott spoke up, his voice firm.

"Oh, that's right," Jennifer chuckled mockingly. "Committing human sacrifices? What, cutting their throats? Yeah, I probably do it on my lunch hour. That way, I can get back to teaching high school English the rest of the day. That makes perfect sense."

"Where's my dad?" Stiles asked her, so angry and worried about his dad's kidnapping that he had tears in his eyes.

"How should I know?" Jennifer glared at Stiles before looking back at Derek. "Derek, tell me you don't believe this."

Olivia scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You're honestly the biggest idiot I've come across if you think that Derek would believe you over his family, his pack," she sneered angrily. "Where is Stiles' dad?"

Jennifer didn't even turn to Olivia while she spoke, staring up at Derek instead.

"Do you know what happened to Stiles' father?" Derek repeated Olivia's question.

"No," Jennifer answered firmly.

"Why'd you try to kill Olivia and Lydia?"

"This Olivia?" Jennifer pointed a thumb back at Olivia. "and Lydia Martin? I don't know anything about that."

"What other Olivia would I be talking about?" Derek raised his voice. "What do you know?"

"I know that these kids, for whatever misguided reason, are filling your head with an absurd story," Jennifer told him while glowering back at Olivia, Stiles, and Scott. "And one they can't prove, by the way."

Stiles angrily lunged toward her but at the last second, Olivia caught his arm, holding him back—which was very difficult because he was stronger than her. She did want to see Stiles rip Jennifer apart, but logically she knew it wouldn't be possible. Jennifer had already demonstrated her powers at the school and she had won.

"Other than bruise from the garrote you used to try to kill me, we have other proof," Olivia glared daggers at her, all the while trying to calm Stiles down. "Scott, show her."

Scott held up the large vial of powdered mistletoe that he got from Dr. Deaton. Jennifer faltered. "What is that?"

"My boss told me it's a poison and a cure," Scott explained while unscrewing the cap. "which means you can use it and it can be used against you."

Jennifer narrowed her eyes and snarled, "Mistletoe?"

Scott shoved the jar throwing, throwing out its contents. The mistletoe flew through the air, and it seemed like it was drawn to Jennifer because it mystically headed straight for her. Not a speckle of it hit the floor. Jennifer grunted and groaned at the affect the mistletoe had on her; her pretty face turned into something grotesque and scarred, like the Phantom of the Opera but much, much worse. Her groan turned into a high-pitched snarl before the mistletoe wore off and she turned back to her normal appearance.

She went to run, but Derek was faster than her. His claws appeared as he grabbed her by the neck and raised her in the air, her feet more than a foot off the floor.

"Derek, wait, wait!" she begged. "You need me!"

"What are you?" Derek's voice came out as a growl.

"The only person who can save your sister," she choked out; Olivia stiffened, wondering what she was going on about. What did Cora have to do with this? She had been injured by Aiden. "Call Peter. Call him!"

"Derek," Olivia called his name; when he looked over at her, she nodded. He couldn't kill Jennifer anyway, not when Sheriff Stilinski was out there and they had no clue where he was. "I'll call him."

Derek nodded back at her while she took out her phone and called Peter. He picked up the call quickly. "Hey, how's Cora?"

"Not good," Peter reported worriedly. "She's in and out of consciousness. She's vomiting up black blood, along with one other alarming substance..."

"Mistletoe," she assumed, glaring over at Jennifer.

"How did you know that?"

Olivia didn't answer; she hung up the call and watched as Derek, who had heard every word of the call, started squeezing Jennifer's throat. They could audibly hear the bones starting to crack.

"Derek, Derek, what are you doing?" Scott asked frantically.

"Her life," Jennifer gasped for breath. "it's in my hands."

Derek raised her higher into the air, causing Stiles to yell, "Stop, Derek, stop!"

"Stilinski, you'll never find him."

Although Olivia would love nothing more to see Derek kill Jennifer, they had to put a stop to it. Cora was sick, almost on the brink of death, and Noah was missing. "Derek, stop," she hurried over to her cousin and grabbed his free arm. "You can't kill her."

Derek snarled at Jennifer and let go of her, throwing her onto the floor.

"That's right," Jennifer said tauntingly, not even taking the opportunity to get her breathing back to normal. "You need me. All of you."

Bitch, Olivia thought before she stormed over to Jennifer. She formed a fist, reared her arm back, and swiftly brought it forward, decking Jennifer in the cheek. Surprisingly, the hit was strong enough that Jennifer's back hit the floor and a red mark appeared on her cheek.

"Shut. Up."

-

"You know, something feels wrong about this," Stiles mused quietly to Olivia and Scott as he pulled the Jeep into the hospital's parking lot. "We proved it to Derek but she still had this look like it didn't matter. You know, like it was all still going according to plan. You guys saw it, didn't you?"

Scott nodded at him while Olivia spoke up from the backseat, "Yeah, I did."

The hospital was pretty much evacuated due to the storm, so there were hardly any cars in the lot. Stiles drove up straight to the emergency entrance and parked behind Derek, who was under the overhang. The three of them got out and were immediately soaked by the downpour of rain. While Olivia and Scott hurried to the doors, Stiles grabbed something from the back of the Jeep and ran to catch up to him.

Scott eyed the bat in his hands. "What's that?"

"Well, you got claws, I got a bat!"

"What do I have?" Olivia asked him as they entered the hospital.

"You have me," at his words, Olivia shook her head fondly and nudged him with her elbow, earning herself a nudge back.

The three of them followed Derek, who had a tight grip on Jennifer, through the lobby of the emergency department. There were nurses scurrying around, packing up files and anything important for their patients to take with them to the hospital helping them out, and the last of patients' visitors leaving. They were just about to turn down the hallway and head to Cora's assigned room when Melissa ran into them.

"Scott, what are you doing here?" she asked her son worriedly. "The hospital's evacuating."

"We're here for Cora."

At Scott's answer, Melissa eyed Stiles, Olivia, Derek, and Jennifer. "What, all of you?" she paused when she saw what Stiles was holding. "Why does Stiles have my bat?"

While Stiles glanced awkwardly at the bat, Scott got his mom's attention. "Mom, just trust me on this. You need to get out of here, right now."

Melissa took a beat, realizing that something more serious than a storm was going on. "The building is supposed to be clear in thirty minutes," she told them somberly. "We've got two ambulances that are coming back. One's ten minutes out, the other's twenty. Cora needs to be on one of those. They'll be picking up in the basement garage."

Scott nodded. "Got it."

He joined the others once again and they kept walking. They made their way down the hallway and entered the elevator to head to the third floor.

"You don't have to keep me on a leash, Derek," Jennifer spoke up once the elevator doors closed. "I'm going to help."

No one spoke. Jennifer turned her head and glanced at Scott, who was giving her the evil eye, and then to Stiles, who was holding his bat threateningly while glowering at her. She rolled her eyes and faced the doors again.

The elevator dinged, the doors opened, and they walked out onto the third floor. Cora's room was the first on the right, but there was no one in there. All there was a large spot of black blood with mistletoe that Cora must have thrown up. There was little dribbles of blood, though, that trailed out of the room and down the hallway, stopping at a set of double doors.

They weren't able to take a step before they heard grunting. Then, out of nowhere, it seemed, Peter came flying head-first through the doorway, landing with a painful groan at their feet. "We got a problem," he told them, lifting his head to look down the hallway where he had come from. "Big problem."

Down the hallway, Ethan and Aiden had formed into Voltron-Wolf. They growled angrily at them and flexed their arms, showing off their combined form. Derek and Scott's wolf features popped out on command. Derek was the first one to move, growling as he raced toward the twins.

He smashed into them, head ducked down so he could hit their torso, but the twins slammed one of their elbows into his back. Derek hurriedly got out and rose to his full height, hitting a blow to their face. The twins didn't like that; they grabbed him from around the neck and started punching him in the head, over and over.

Scott took the twins' distraction as an opportunity to attack. He roared as he raced toward them, climbing up on the wall as they threw Derek to the floor, and jumping on them. While they fought, Olivia turned to Stiles.

"Get Peter and go get Cora," she told him. "I'm gonna help Derek and Scott."

"Livvy—"

"Just do it!"

While Stiles helped Peter up off of the floor, Olivia closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, bringing up her tethers to her pack in her mind. It was like a map which got better and better the more she developed her powers. Right now, her pack members' tethers were lit up around her in a circle. Scott's and Derek's were glowing brightly in gold and red, respectively, which meant that they were in their wolf forms. In between the tethers, there were two more red dots, almost on top of one another; Ethan and Aiden. Those were the lights she needed to hit.

In the middle of a circle, there was a purple sphere which represented her. She gritted her teeth and concentrated, hoping to blast the twins' dots with her purple light. Vaguely, she could hear Scott pleading with the twins and the twins responding back in their deep and almost electronic, Voltron-Wolf voice.

The purple light only got halfway to the red dots when they were on the move, running away from Scott's. She opened her eyes just as they passed her, running toward the elevator where the doors were closing with Jennifer inside.

"Ollie, let's go!"

Olivia glanced back at the twins only briefly before she ran toward Derek and Scott. The three of them caught up with Stiles and Peter, who had Cora thrown over his shoulder. Together, they all started running again, pushing through a set of doors that opened up to the morgue.

"Don't stop, don't stop!" Derek urged from the back, glancing behind him to see the twins only a couple feet behind them.

They were about to leave the morgue when Stiles stopped and held up his bat, hiding near the other set of doors where the twins would come through any second. Olivia and Scott called his name frantically, but he stubbornly stayed where he was. When the twins burst into the morgue, Stiles swung the back at them with all of his strength, only for the bat to splinter into pieces as soon as it made contact with the twins' head.

"Oh, fuck."

"Stiles, let's go!" Olivia waved him over frantically while the twins roared at him.

Stiles scurried away from them, his back basically up against the wall as he made his way toward the others. In order to distract the twins, Scott jumped up to the ceiling and grabbed one of the light caps, forcefully pulling it down so it would hit them in the head.

The lights flickered as they ran away from the alphas again, eventually turning off. Fortunately, only moments later, the generator buzzed to life and the lights blinked on.

Once their group were a few hallways away in the operating wing, they stopped in one of the rooms. Peter laid Cora, who was still unconscious, down on a table and Olivia hurried over, hovering over her cousin nervously.

Her hand shook as she reached for one of Cora's hand, hoping there was someway to help her, and Peter took it to steady her for a moment. While he did so, he asked Derek, "Where's the big guy?"

"He's not far," Derek answered, shutting the doors firmly behind him.

"What about Ms. Blake?" Stiles asked Derek; Derek could give no response and Stiles automatically knew that something was wrong. He turned to Scott for answers, who shook his head. "What do you mean? What does that mean? Like, she's gone? Scott, are you fucking kidding me?"

Olivia winced as Stiles voice rose in anger, knowing that he was taking it out on the wrong people. When Derek hissed at him to shut up, things went from bad to worse.

"Me, shut up? Me, huh?" Stiles confronted Derek, eyes glaring daggers at him as he got up in his face. "Are you telling me what to do now? When your psychotic, mass-murdering girlfriend—the second-fucking-one you've dated, by the way—has got my dad somewhere, tied up, waiting to be ritually sacrificed?"

Scott hurried over to them and tried to calm Stiles down. "Stiles, they're still out there."

"And they want her, right?" Stiles retorted. "Which means now we don't have her either, so my dad and Cora are both fucking dead!"

"Not yet, Stiles," Olivia let go of Peter's hand and walked over to Stiles, grabbing his hand tightly; Stiles only deflated a little as she turned her head back to Peter. "Is she really dying?"

Peter shook his head grimly. "She's definitely not getting any better."

"There has to be something we can do," Scott stated. "We have to help her."

The doors they entered through burst open and Jennifer dramatically walked in. "You can't," she declared. "I can save her and I can tell you where Sheriff Stilinski is but there is a pack of alphas in this hospital who want me dead. So, I'll help you but only when I'm out of here and safe. Only then."

There was only a second of silence before Derek was grabbing a cart near him and harshly knocking it to the floor so he could get at Jennifer. Scott was right there, grabbing him and pulling him back. "Derek, wait!"

"She was trying to get out!" Derek pointed at Jennifer furiously.

"I was trying to keep from getting killed," she defended herself. "You can't blame me for that."

Olivia shook her head and gritted her teeth. "If you want to make us think you're one of the good guys, then heal Cora."

Jennifer shook her head. "Not until I'm safe."

"I'd like to volunteer a different method of persuasion," Peter spoke up as he stared at her harshly. "Let's torture her.

Stiles pointed at Peter. "I'm down with that."

Cora nodded in agreement and Derek added, "Words for me."

Scott held Derek back once again as he tried to lunge at Jennifer. Only a second later, the overhead speakers squeaked on and Melissa started to speak.

"Um, can I have your attention," she sounded scared, which worried them all. "Mr. Deucalion...excuse me, just Deucalion...requests you bring the woman calling herself Jennifer Blake to the ER reception. Do this, and everyone else can leave. You have ten minutes."

The overhead system cut out and Jennifer shook her head. "He's not gonna hurt her."

Derek glowered at her. "Shut up."

"He won't!" she insisted. "Scott, you know why. Tell them it's true."

Realization dawned on Olivia, she knew what Jennifer was talking about. Earlier that night, Scott had told her that he was going to be a true alpha and that was why Deucalion wanted him in the alpha pack. He wasn't going to hurt Melissa and jeopardize having Scott on his side of this war.

Derek looked at Scott for an answer. "What does she mean?"

Scott didn't answer, so Jennifer did. "You're not the only one he wants in his pack," she told Derek. "Deucalion doesn't just want an alpha pack. He wants perfection. That means adding an Anchoram and the rarest of alphas to his ranks."

Stiles squeezed Olivia's hand tightly and Derek gave her a worried look as Peter spoke up. "A true alpha."

Stiles hadn't heard of a true alpha before. "What's that?"

"The kind that doesn't have to steal his power from another," Peter explained to him. "One that can rise by the force of his own will. Our little Scott."

"It doesn't matter," Scott said firmly, not liking the hungry way in which Peter was looking at him. "We still need to get her out of here."

Stiles pressed his lips together hesitantly. "Scott, your mom..."

"My mom said there's one more ambulance coming in twenty minutes," Scott stated, resolved in getting Cora to safety. "And I don't think we've been here that long, so if we can get down to the garage, get to the last ambulance, we can get out of here."

"The twins aren't gonna let us just walk out," Peter pointed out.

"I'll distract them."

Derek gave Scott a look of disbelief. "You mean fight them."

Scott shrugged. "Whatever I have to do."

"I'll help you."

"Um, sorry, but I'm not going anywhere without you, Derek," Jennifer interjected stubbornly.

Olivia rolled her eyes. They were helping her at the cost of not only their lives, but Melissa's life, and she had the nerve to be picky about who was going to escort her to safety. The audacity this bitch had.

"I'll do it," Peter volunteered. "But I'd prefer to be out there with an advantage."

"An advantage like what?" Stiles glanced at him. "You mean like a weapon?"

"Something better than a baseball bat."

The group—other than Cora and Jennifer, the lazy bitch—spread throughout the room to look for something that Peter could use to his advantage.

"Hey, wait," Stiles picked up some shock paddles and held them up. "What about these?"

Derek gave him a flat look. "Do you know how to use those?" Stiles shook his head. "Put them down."

At the medicine cart, Scott pulled out a huge needle full of clear medicine. "Epinephrine?"

"That's adrenaline," Olivia informed him. "That will only make them stronger."

Peter paused from his place next to Olivia at the shelves holding medical equipment. "How strong?"

"With that much, strong," Olivia told him and then paused, realizing what he was getting at. "It would help you. And with me out there with you and Scott, we might actually have a chance."

Scott nodded and passed the needle injection over to Peter while Derek protested, "You're not going out there, Ollie."

"I've forced the twins out of Voltron-Wolf once before," Olivia reminded him of the fight where they thought he and Ennis had fallen to their deaths.

"What if you get hurt?" Stiles was the one to speak then, giving her a worried look.

"I'll keep out of the way," she assured him. "We don't have time to argue about this. Peter, take the shot and let's go."

While Peter forced the huge needle into his chest, Stiles hurried over to Olivia and took her face in his hands, giving her a passionate kiss. "Be careful, please."

"I will."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

Once the adrenaline had started its wonders and Peter was staggering from its affect on him, Derek and Stiles took Cora, with Jennifer following them, out of the other set of doors. Peter, Olivia, and Scott left through the ones they came in from and faced the twins, who were down the hallway.

"All right, boys," Peter raised his voice. "Let's rumble!"

Peter ran at them first, only to be joined by Scott in the next second. The twins easily threw Peter into the wall but then took a blow from Scott. Scott ducked as they fought back and he was fine, but then they swung again and he hit the floor. Luckily, Peter was up by that point and fighting once more.

A purple sheen fell over Olivia's eyesight as she brought up her tethers. She could see Scott immediately, his tether more orange now than gold—a hint of his upcoming true alpha status, she guessed—but Peter was a bit harder to find. As horrible as it sounded, she didn't think of Peter as pack. He was more of an absent father who came around only for his benefit or to make sarcastic comments—but, she had to give it to him, he had been around more for his family lately.

After two seconds of adjusting, she was able to find Peter, a blue dot on her map. Next to him were the red dots that represented Ethan and Aiden. She focused in on them and got to work, metaphorically blasting them with a sense of control over their wolves. They took a few hits but Olivia could still hear them fighting Scott and Peter, so she used more energy. She held up her hands in order to mock her energy spearing into them and the power she felt inside of her started to swell.

"ETHAN! AIDEN!"

Voltron-Wolf fell to the ground and within seconds, Ethan and Aiden were disjointed. Olivia and Scott took the few seconds to help Peter up from the floor and book it away from the twins. It wouldn't be long until they could control their transformation again.

"That shot didn't last very long," Peter breathed heavily, still not back to his regular werewolf strength and agility. "Those twins are really starting to piss me off."

The generator was turned off at that very moment. The hallways were pitch black and Olivia panicked because she didn't know how she was going to help Scott and Peter if she couldn't see in the dark like they could. It took a few seconds before the emergency lights came on but they eventually did.

"How they hell are we supposed to get past them, Kali, and Deucalion?" Scott breathed.

"I have no idea," Olivia answered. "It was hard enough controlling Ethan and Aiden's shift. I wouldn't be able to do it to the others. Oh, go here."

The three of them pushed into the cleaning staff's room and let Peter rest against one of the shelves. "Personally, I think if we keep letting them beat the living shit out of us, they'll tire and give up."

"Yeah, that's a great idea," Olivia gave her opinion sarcastically. "We need to get out of here before they're able to change back."

"I have an idea."

Olivia and Peter followed Scott's stare to where a laundry chute was nestled into the wall. Olivia and Scott let Peter go down the chute first. They didn't wait very long after they heard him drop into a laundry cart; Scott went first and then Olivia went soon after.

Peter groaned from their combined weight on top of him. "You couldn't have waited, like, ten seconds?"

Olivia's phone vibrated in the pocket of the hoodie she borrowed from Stiles as she tried to get out of the cart. Once she was steadily on her feet, she pulled the phone out and saw that it was Derek who had messaged her.

Derek: Jennifer and I are stuck in the elevator in between floors

Olivia frowned and texted back.

Ollie: Okay, don't move. We're on our way

Peter sighed at the look on her face. "They didn't get out, did they?"

"They stuck in the elevator," Olivia told him and Scott. "Okay, we should get Peter to Stiles and Cora so he can get some rest."

"And then we'll go find Derek and Ms. Blake," Scott nodded in agreement.

Once Peter and Scott were out of the laundry cart, they left the room, which happened to be in the basement, and made their way toward the ambulance that was still there. As they got to the door to enter into the garage, Olivia stopped them. She quietly explained that she could feel Ethan and Aiden walked around in their Voltron form. They waited until it was clear and then rushed toward the ambulance.

Olivia slapped her hand on the window in the back door and saw jump at their abrupt arrival. "Stiles," she urged. "open the door!"

Stiles hurriedly opened both of the doors and Scott asked him to help get Peter into the vehicle. Stiles reached for Peter and pulled him into the seat next to him before asking, "Where's Derek and Jennifer?"

"We have to go back for them and my mom," Scott told him.

"Okay, two problems," Stiles licked his lips nervously. "Kali's got the keys to this thing and I just saw the twins, like, thirty seconds ago."

As soon as he stopped talking, there was a loud bang that came from behind them.

"Okay, stay here," Scott ordered him before turning to Olivia. "Let's go."

Olivia and Scott took off once more, a lot more quickly than when they were dragging Peter around with them. Once they were back in the hospital, they slowed to a walk. They went up a level of stairs and started heading to the Emergency lobby to look for Melissa.

All of a sudden, Ethan and Aiden came out of nowhere. They forcefully pushed Olivia into the walls and grabbed Scott around the neck, placing him up high against the wall.

"Where is she?" they growled at them. "We're trying not to hurt you."

"Yeah, you say that but I'm pretty sure you just gave me a concussion," Olivia griped as she stumbled to her feet and leaned against the wall so she wouldn't pass out. "And you're currently choking Scott, so..."

"Yeah, try harder," Scott grunted, his hand trying to rip theirs away from his throat."

"Hey!" Melissa shouted as she sauntered on over next to Olivia with shock paddles in her hands. "I'd like to try something."

She shoved the paddles into Voltron-Wolf, making the twins' body shake the large amount of electricity making its way through their body. They fell to the floor and separated from each other.

Scott looked up at his mom in amazement, but Melissa didn't waste time to gloat about how cool she was. "Sweetheart, get up! Come on, both of you."

Olivia, who had gained her balance back, scrambled to help Scott to his feet. "That was so badass, Ms. McCall," she gushed as they all started running. "Oh, my God, you're my hero."

"Thanks, Liv, but I'm freaking out," Melissa said breathlessly.

"What did Deucalion do to you?" Scott asked worriedly. "Is he coming back for you or something?"

"No, he just let me go," Melissa told him as they slowed to a walk again. "said it was a gesture of goodwill. No other reason."

"He had to have a reason," Scott insisted. "I don't think he does anything without a reason."

"Well, if that means I should continue to be profoundly terrified, then don't worry about it. I got that covered," Melissa huffed anxiously.

Just as they were about to turn a corner, Scott stopped them. He took the lead as he cautiously inched forward—Olivia and Melissa right behind him—only to come face-to-face with a gun. Both their party and the gun owner's party relaxed; it was Isaac, Allison, and Mr. Argent.

-

"So, then, they're essentially trapped?" Mr. Argent asked as Scott finished telling him, Allison, and Isaac what exactly was going on. The six of them all walked into an exam room and hurdled around a table.

"Yeah, right," Scott confirmed.

From in between Olivia and Allison, Isaac spoke up. "But there's no way of getting them out without turning the power back on?"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait," Melissa hurriedly interjected. "if the power's back on, they're gonna hear the elevator moving, right?"

"Then they'll be on Jennifer and Derek as soon as it stops," Scott added. "We can't get int a fight with them."

"You've got us now," Mr. Argent assured them.

"It's too much of a risk," Olivia crossed her arms over her chest and bit the inside of her cheek. "They want her dead and if she dies, there's nothing that we can do for Stiles' dad or Cora."

Chris sighed and conceded her point. "I don't even think I know which teacher this is."

"She's the one with the brown hair. She's kinda hot," Isaac tried to describe Jennifer. When he got disgusted looks from the others, he backtracked. "No, it's just—just an observation."

Allison shook her head at him and faced back in front of her. Olivia saw her looking in the mirror across from them and studying her reflection intently. "I've got an idea."

Allison's idea turned into a plan, in which everyone would pitch in. It was simple; because of her likeliness to Jennifer, she would take the woman's shoes and run throughout the hospital before leaving through the emergency entrance. Mr. Argent would be waiting there for here with his gun and Allison's bow, which they would fire at the alphas when they followed her out. Olivia and Isaac would use the Argents' car and wait until the alphas passed a certain part of the hospital before going to the basement garage to get Cora, Stiles, and Peter out of there. Meanwhile, Melissa and Scott would go to the roof and turn the power back on, allowing Derek and Jennifer to exit the hospital safely.

"Okay," Olivia locked her phone after messaging Derek and slid it back into the sweater she was wearing. "Derek know about the plan and they're getting ready."

"All right," Scott nodded determinately. "let's do this."

They all took their leave, splitting up in different directions for their parts of the plan. Olivia and Isaac went back out into the storm to get into Mr. Argent's car. Isaac would be driving while Olivia would be looking at the feed on his phone to see when Ethan and Aiden would run past Allison's in the hallway.

"You ready?" Allison asked Isaac as Olivia held the camera up to his face.

"Yeah."

"You're not nervous, are you?"

Isaac sighed heavily. "Do I look nervous?"

"No, not at all," Olivia smirked at Allison's voice. It had the same tone she always used when she was lying.

Allison set her phone down in the hallway where she and Mr. Argent were currently sat up in.

"Did he look nervous?" they heard Mr. Argent asked.

"Terrified."

Isaac clicked his tongue, annoyed. "Yeah, I can still hear you very, very clearly."

"Just go as soon as you see them, okay?"

"We got it, Al," Olivia assured her. "Be careful."

"You too."

Just then, their group chat dinged with a text message from Scott. They were ready to go.

Allison started running around the first floor while Mr. Argent went to the emergency entrance. She doubled back around and not long after she passed the phone, Ethan and Aiden did as well.

"Isaac, go!"

Isaac pressed forcefully on the gas. They sped through the small parking lot by the basement entrance and into the garage, squealing to a stop right outside of the ambulance. Both of them hurried out of the vehicle and ran to help Peter, Cora, and Stiles.

"All right, come on, come on," Isaac urged them as soon as the doors opened. "Come on!"

Peter heaved Cora into his arms and ran to the car with Isaac opening the door for him. As she slipped her in, Olivia looked back at Stiles. He was reading something on the ambulance doors, a horrified look on his face.

"Stiles?" Olivia called for him.

He turned to her, almost panicked. "It's guardians, as in parents," he told her. "We gotta tell Scott."

Olivia nodded her head and then looked back at Isaac. "Go! Stiles and I are gonna go get Scott and Derek!"

Isaac nodded and slid into the driver's seat, driving away before Olivia or Stiles could take a step.

They sprinted through the hospital, passing through the emergency wing quickly. They had just turned into the hallway with the elevator when they saw Scott pause by it, staring at something. Stiles called his name but Scott took off again, entering the stairwell.

"Scott! Scott!"

Olivia paused when she saw that it was Derek in the elevator, passed out with no Jennifer in sight. Before she could think of what that meant, Stiles was grabbing her wrist and urging her to follow him up the stairs.

They made it to the roof, where Melissa was supposed to be, just in time to hear the monologue that Deucalion—who was on the roof alone, with no Melissa—had seemingly prepared.

"Guardians, Scott," he said as he gripped his seeing cane. "If you and Olivia were with me, I could have told you what it meant. I could have warned you. Let me help you two. Let's help each other. You and Olivia help me catch her and I'll help you get Ms. McCall and Sheriff Stilinski back."

Olivia glanced at Stiles, wondering if she should go with Deucalion for his and Scott's benefit. Their parents were taken by Melissa and she was willing to make a deal with the devil if it meant that her boyfriend and friend's family was safe.

Stiles shook her head at her and held her hand firmly before looking back at Scott. "Scott, don't do this," he called to his best friend. "Don't go with him."

Scott turned around to face Stiles and Olivia with tears in his eyes, absolutely devastated. "I don't know what else to do."

"No, there's got—Scott, there's got to be something else, okay?" Stiles pleaded with him, squeezing Olivia's hand tighter. "We always...we always have a plan B."

Scott shook his head. "Not this time," he declared. "I'm gonna find your dad. I promise."

"No!" Stiles shouted. "Don't do this Scott! Scott!"

But Scott had already made up his mind. He had joined the alpha pack.

(Gif is not mine)

[tw-anchor]

33. Olivia and Lydia vs. The Darach

Anchor

Stiles Stilinski x Original Character

Episode: 3x09; The Girl Who Knew Too Much

Word Count: 7,103

Warning(s): Mature language, canon violence + gore, attempted murder of main character, kidnapping, sacrifices

Author’s Note: Sorry for not updating in a while. My Gram is in hospice and I haven’t been into writing. I hope you enjoy the chapter! Please make sure to reblog, like, and let me know what you think!

Masterlink in Pinned Post!

Olivia had only been to Peter's apartment downtown once before, and that was to bring over a polite welcome-home casserole that he probably didn't eat. Now, she had business to attend to. She had questions for Peter. Questions about herself and Lydia.

Only a half-hour before she made her way downtown to talk to Peter, she left Lydia in her bedroom after a couple of bad hours. Lydia and Olivia had been going out for ice cream with Allison before they went back to their house for a girls' night, when Lydia drove them to the school. Not only had Lydia been drawn to the area—just like she had the night she found the body at the pool—but Olivia, herself, had felt the same thing as Lydia.

She just didn't know if it was because she and Lydia shared abilities or because she was so connected to Lydia due to their shared DNA or relationship. Her only option for answers was to go to her father.

"All right, tell me again what happened," Peter blinked the sleep out of his eyes; it was around one in the morning when Olivia knocked on his door and woke him from a deep sleep.

"Lydia found another dead body," Olivia repeated herself. "What ever your bite did to her, it led her to the body and I felt it to. Now, I know you bit Lydia for a reason. That's why she was able to bring you back with that ritual. I want to know what she is and how it's affecting me."

Peter sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead, exhausted. "Okay."

"I want the truth," she said firmly before he could begin. "No changing the story this time."

"All right, fine," he agreed. "To start off, you have to know what your mother was. Grace was eighteen when she inherited her abilities. She was a banshee."

"A banshee," Olivia repeated in slight belief; she hadn't known that banshees were a real thing. They weren't even in the Argent bestiary.

"A wailing woman, harbinger of death, same thing. They're not really like the Irish myths. They don't attach themselves to a family line, and their echoes don't cause death, either" he informed her. "Only females can be banshees and their abilities are inherited from their bloodline."

Olivia knew what he was getting at. "So, Mom got her banshee abilities from Nana Lorraine and because Uncle Thomas is a male, he passed it down to Lydia."

Peter nodded. "Exactly. The only reason you're not a banshee is because the werewolf genes you got from me. Anchorams are rare, very rare, but there have been two recorded instances before."

"As results of a banshee and werewolf union," Olivia assumed.

"Yes. You're neither werewolf nor banshee, but instead you have some abilities of both," he crossed his arms over his chest. "Instead of predicting just anyone's death, you're connected to your pack—that's the werewolf part of you. That's why you knew Boyd was going to die."

Okay, that made sense. It also explained the screams that came out of her when her pack members were in deep trouble, like when Erica had her seizure from the kanima venom or when Mrs. Argent was trying to kill Scott. It was the banshee side of her.

"So, that's how I'm connected to Lydia."

"Banshees are drawn to each other. And you're related to Lydia, which gives you two a deeper connection. On your own, you wouldn't have felt the dead body tonight, but because you were with Lydia, you did."

"But I can hear her scream even if I'm far away," Olivia pointed out. "That night when Boyd and Cora were out of control, I could hear her scream from the public pool. I screamed with her."

"It might have been because it was the first time her powers really came through," Peter said thoughtfully. "I mean, other than the time when I got into her head."

Olivia narrowed her eyes at him, wishing he hadn't brought that up. It still infuriated her that he took advantage of Lydia when she was in such a delicate place.

Peter rolled his eyes. "Sorry," he apologized without meaning it. "Everyone is different, though, and since you're, what, the third Anchoram in history, some things we're gonna have to figure out as we go."

Olivia nodded. She realized that. It was just hard to comprehend. She hadn't even gotten to the bottom of her collection of abilities, and already she had a lot. It was a little daunting to know that she had more to learn to learn about her abilities, along with honing them.

"Okay," she said finally. "Can you tell me more about banshees?"

"Sure thing, sweet pea."

"So, I can find dead bodies," Lydia scoffed as Olivia pulled into the school's parking lot. "You know what, I can already tell that this banshee thing is gonna be a pain in the ass."

"You can do more than that, though," Olivia reminded her while parking next to Stiles' Jeep; it was empty, but she knew—thanks to his text message—that he was going to eavesdrop on his dad, who was supposed to be talking to the principal before school started. "You'll experience something like me, like the whispers or the warnings in your head."

"Yeah, and you handle those so well," Lydia grumbled.

"I know I don't, but they also help," Olivia stated firmly. "I know when my pack is in danger and it helps because most of the time, I have a warning and we can stop whatever is supposed to happen. You'll know if someone's dying, Lyds. What if you're able to stop it?"

They got out of the Olivia's new car—courtesy of the insurance company and Peter, who wanted to spoil her instead of being a good parent—and started making their way up to the school. Olivia was supposed to meet Stiles by the main office but she wanted to make sure Lydia was okay before she left her.

"I guess you have a point," Lydia conceded finally. "It's just a little..."

"Scary?" Olivia offered; Lydia nodded. "I know. But I'm gonna be there for you, Lydia, I swear. You don't have to go through any of this alone."

Lydia sighed and pulled Olivia into a tight hug. "I love you," she rubbed Olivia's back; Olivia awkwardly patted her back, making Lydia laugh. "I know, I know. No PDA."

"It's okay," Olivia assured her as they parted. "I love you too, by the way."

"I know you do," the corners of Lydia's eyes crinkled as she studied her cousin and the awkward face she was making. "You know, the fact that you can only be lovey-dovey with Stiles is really disappointing."

"That's not true," Olivia said adamantly. "I'm lovey-dovey with you, too. I just don't like showing my affection for people out in public."

"It's the Hale in you," Lydia shook her head with a smile. "All right, you're released. Go on and meet Stiles."

"Thanks," hurriedly, Olivia kissed Lydia's cheek and ran away from her, waving teasingly. "Love you!"

She knew that her show of her love would amuse Lydia. It was the only reason why she did that. She had to make an exception for her person.

Outside of the main office, Stiles hid behind a pillar. His eyes were sharp and his ears were perked as he spied on his father, one of his deputies, and the principal. Unfortunately, he couldn't hear much. In fact, the only thing he did hear was Noah excusing himself from the conversation when he locked eyes with Stiles.

"Hey!" Stiles frantically pulled his backpack up over his head as he rushed to get away from his dad; unfortunately, Noah was pretty quick for a man in his forties. "Hey, hey, hey, back it up," he sighed and turned to face his father. "I know what you're thinking. I know you've got all these ideas about patterns and people dying in threes—"

Stiles cut him off. "Dad, they were murdered," he then corrected himself. "Sacrificed, actually."

"I've got half the state, including the FBI coming in on this," Noah told him. "They're not getting away with killing one of our own."

Stiles almost deflated at his father's words. Up until then, he hadn't thought about just who was sacrificed. It was Deputy Tara. She had been Noah's right-hand woman ever since he was elected to be sheriff, and she was a big part of Stiles' life after his mom died. She used to bake him cookies and helped him with his homework when he was having trouble. She was a good woman.

"Dad, they killed Tara," his voice was shakier than he cared to admit. "You know, how many times did she help me with my math homework when I had to wait at the station for you?"

Noah inhaled deeply and Stiles could see the sadness in his eyes. "Just, uh, get to class, okay?" he nodded behind Stiles and greeted Olivia, who Stiles hadn't even noticed had walked over to them. "Hi, Olivia."

"Hi, Sheriff," Olivia waved at him politely.

Noah went back to his conversation with the deputy and the principal, leaving Stiles and Olivia to themselves.

Olivia gave him a sympathetic look. "How are you feeling?"

"Not the greatest, but I'll live," Stiles took her hand and locked their fingers together.

"Well, if you need to talk, I'm here," she promised him, letting go of his hand and ignoring the pout he sent her to wrap her arm around his waist.

"What happened to no public displays of affection?"

"I'll think I'll make an exception for just today."

"Just today?" Stiles stopped walking and when she tilted her head up to look at him, grinned down at her.

"Just today."

"Well, then I better make the most of it," he remarked before ducking his head and slamming his lips to hers in a passionate kiss. She easily returned his affection but when he attempted to slip his tongue into her mouth, she pulled back. "Sorry, too much."

"A little," Olivia laughed. "Come on, we have English and I don't want Ms. Blake to tell on me to Derek."

"Would she really do that?"

"God, I hope not."

-

"Idioms, analogies, metaphors, and similes; all tools the writer uses to tell their story," Ms. Blake stated as she walked around the classroom. She paused in between Olivia and Lydia's desks, glancing down at Lydia's drawing of a tree. "Lydia, I wasn't aware you had so many hidden talents."

"You and ever guy I've ever dated," Lydia smirked up at her, causing Olivia to snicker.

"Oh," Ms. Blake was surprised by her reply. "um, well, that was an idiom, by the way. Idioms are something of a secret to the people who know the language or the culture..."

Olivia did not like the meaningful look that Ms. Blake gave her, Stiles, Scott, and Lydia. They all knew that she knew about werewolves—she was there when Boyd died, after all—but they didn't need her to act like an amateur and blow the big secret by acting nervous.

"They're phrases that only make sense if you know key words," she continued. "Saying 'jump the gun' is meaningful only if you know about the starting gun in a race, or a phrase like 'seeing the whole board.'"

"Like chess," Stiles offered.

"That's right, Stiles," Ms. Blake smiled down at him. "Do you play?"

"Uh, no," Stiles shook his head. "My father does."

Ms. Blake smiled at him again and faced the rest of the class. "Now, when does an idiom become a cliché?"

Olivia raised her hand to answer and Ms. Blake gave her the go-ahead.

"When you say the idiom too much," she reported. "It's like saying, 'it's raining cats and dogs,' Eventually it'll catch and more people will say it. It's an overused idiom."

"Great answer, Olivia," Ms. Blake grinned at her and then went on with her lesson.

Once Ms. Blake was far enough away that they could whisper to each other, Scott leaned over in his seat to speak to Stiles and Olivia. "I think I can get to Ethan. I'm pretty sure I can make him talk."

Olivia scowled at the mention of one-half of the alpha twins while Stiles asked, "What do you want to do that for?"

"The druids are emissaries, right?" Scott pointed out. "What if the Darach was an emissary to the alphas?"

Olivia pressed her lips together in agreement. "You've got a point."

"Thank you," Scott grinned at her and then turned to Stiles to wait for his response. "So?"

"So, I can't believe that we've gotten to the point where a sentence like 'what if the Darach was an emissary to the alphas?' actually makes sense to me," Stiles huffed. "Second of all, we're gonna have a huge problem getting to Ethan."

"What's that?"

"Going through Aiden," Stiles stated matter-of-factly. "Ever since he's been back at school, they're always together. How are we gonna separate them again?"

Eyebrows furrowing, Olivia tried to think of something that would distract Aiden. She didn't like the guy whatsoever, so the only thing she knew about him was that he liked to hook up with Lydia in Coach's office.

Wait.

"I have an idea," she spoke up. When the boys looked at her curiously, she nodded toward Lydia, who was still concentrating on her spooky drawing of the tree.

Feeling eyes on her, Lydia looked up at them and sighed, "What now?"

-

Just staring at Ethan's face made Olivia want to slap the shit out of him. Normally, she would think that she'd be somewhat friends with Ethan. But with the situation they were in now, she doubted that she would ever want to be. She didn't see what happened with Boyd, but Isaac had given her some details. She knew that Ethan and Aiden had picked up Boyd's electrocuted body and dropped him onto Derek's claws. She knew that they watched as Derek's claws ripped up his internal organs, and she knew that they walked away without a care that they had left a teenage boy dead behind them.

However, at least she wasn't joining Stiles and Scott in order to talk to Aiden. She didn't know if she could even look at his stupid smug face without attacking him. She didn't even care if he was ten times stronger than her. Ideally, she'd be able to calm his ass down and then Stiles or Allison could get the drop on him. Lord knows that Scott wouldn't.

"Why are you even talking to me?" Ethan asked, his eyes flitting between the three of them. "I helped kill your friend. How do you know I'm not gonna kill another one?"

Olivia gritted her teeth at his words and when he looked at her toward the end of his question, she stiffened. Stiles did, too. In fact, his temper flared at the way the alpha talked about Boyd and how he had the audacity to look at Olivia, like she hadn't been affected by Boyd's death.

"Are you look at her? Are you threatening her?" he snapped at him, standing up straight and stepping closer to Olivia. "You know what I'm gonna do? I'm going to break off an extra-large branch of mountain ash, wrap it in wolfsbane, roll it in mistletoe, and shove it up your fucking ass, you absolute dick—"

"Okay, Stiles," Scott cut him off nervously, while Olivia gently grabbed his arm and reached through their tether to calm him down. She loved that he was willing to stand up to an alpha to protect her, but she didn't want him to get hurt. "Woah, we get it."

Stiles gave Scott an irritated look and wrapped his arm around Olivia's shoulders, exhaling deeply as his anger started to concede.

"Look," Scott looked back at Ethan, who had been staring at Stiles blankly throughout his whole rant. "We're talking to you because I know that you didn't want to kill Boyd. And I think that if something like that happened now, you wouldn't do it again."

Ethan shook his head shortly. "You don't know what we owe them, especially Deucalion," he told the three of them. "We're weren't like Kali and Ennis when we met him. We weren't alphas."

"What were you?" Scott asked.

"Omegas," Olivia frowned at Ethan's answer; he and Aiden really didn't deserve any sympathy but she was going soft and couldn't help but feel a bud of it. Being the type of omega that had a pack—not ones who chose to be by themselves, like Derek had been—was said to be horrible. "In actual wolf packs, omegas are the scapegoat; the last to eat, the one who has to take the abuse from the rest of the pack."

Stiles raised his eyebrows. "So you and your brother were, like, the bitches of the pack?"

Olivia hid the smirk that threatened to spread her lips and nudged Stiles as Ethan gave him an annoyed look. "Something like that."

"What happened?" she spoke up instead, wanting to know how he and Aiden managed to make it into the alpha pack.

"They were killers," Ethan shook his head in disgust, which Olivia found to be ironic. "I mean, people talk about us as monsters. Well, they were the ones who gave us the reputation. And our alpha was the worst of them."

"Why didn't you guys just fight back?" Stiles brought up a good point. "Form Voltron-Wolf, you know, and kick everyone's asses?"

"We couldn't," Ethan stated flatly. "We didn't know how to control it back then."

"Deucalion taught you," Scott realized.

Ethan nodded. "And then, we fought. We took down the whole pack, one-by-one," his voice got a little vicious. "and by the time we got to our alpha, he was begging for his life. We tore him apart, literally."

"What about your emissary?" Ethan shook his head at Scott's question. "They're all dead? Kali and Ennis' too?"

"All of them except for Deucalion's," he confirmed.

"You mean Ms. Morrell?" Olivia gave him a pointed look and then paused as her mind seemed to leave her body and then zap right back into it. "Oh, my God."

Cora...Cora...Cora...

"Livvy, are you okay?" Stiles asked as Ethan grunted in pain.

"What's going on?" Scott asked both of them.

"My brother's hurt," Ethan answered at the same time as Olivia told Stiles, "Something's wrong with Cora."

It didn't take long for Stiles to put the pieces together; Cora and Aiden were obviously fighting somewhere nearby. "Where are they?" he asked as her eyes flashed back in forth between purple and blue. "Babe, you gotta focus."

"I...I," she stammered before she was able to pass through into Cora's tether and find out where she was. "They're in the boys' locker room."

The four of them took off into the empty hallways, trying to get to the boys' locker room before any more damage was done between Cora and Aiden. Luckily they weren't far from Coach's office and they made it to the locker room just in time to see Aiden whip Cora in the head with a fifty-pound weight.

"Stop, stop!" Olivia shouted as Scott and Ethan took a hold of Aiden on each of his arms. She didn't bother visualizing the anchor that she put on him, she was too angry about him hurting her cousin that it came easy to her.

Aiden's wolf features immediately melted away, calming down in his brother's hold.

"You can't do this," Ethan reminded Aiden as Olivia and Stiles knelt down by Lydia beside Cora's injured body.

"She came at me!" Aiden shouted. He would have growled, but Olivia's hold was still over him.

"It doesn't matter! Kali gave Derek until the next full moon. You can't touch him, Cora, or Olivia."

Stiles placed his hand on Olivia's back and glared up at the alpha twins. "Get the fuck out of here."

It looked like Aiden wanted to argue but Ethan wouldn't let him. Without a word, the twins left the locker room. Olivia hardly noticed, she was too focused on her cousin and the huge wound on her head that was pouring blood.

"She's really hurt," she said softly. She looked at Stiles and Scott and asked, "Can you help me get her up?"

Once Cora was up on her feet, Olivia escorted her over to the sinks. She got some paper towel and dampened it in order to wipe the blood off of her face. Cora was not pleased with her cousin's hovering and grunted a few times when Olivia cleaned the wound.

"Stay still," Olivia got some antibiotic cream from her bag and gently smeared it over the wound. "You're such a bad patient."

"Shuddup."

"Are you okay?" Scott asked Cora.

Lydia scoffed. "She doesn't look okay."'

Cora gave Lydia an irritated look and carefully pushed Olivia away from her. "I'll heal," Almost immediately after she took a step away from the sink, her legs weakened and she faltered. She would have fallen if Scott wasn't there to grab her and keep her steady. "I said I'm fine."

"Stop being so stubborn," Olivia sighed and wrapped an arm around her waist. At least Cora would let her help.

"Do you realize how suicidally crazy that was?" Stiles pointed out sternly. "What were you thinking going after them?"

"I did it for Boyd," Cora snapped back at him. "None of you were doing anything."

Olivia sighed. "You know that's not true, Cora."

"We're trying," Scott added.

"And you're failing," Cora addressed all her ire at Scott, Stiles, and Lydia. "You're just a bunch of stupid teenagers running around, thinking that you can stop people from getting killed, but all you do is show up late. All you really do is find the bodies."

"Cora, shut up," Olivia's voice had hardened as she turned and carefully dragged her cousin out of the locker room, not hearing Stiles' comment about the both of them definitely being part of the Hale family. "I know you're grieving and you're angry and hurt, but you can't say things like that to them."

"Why not? It's the truth."

"You shouldn't say it because we're trying our hardest to figure this out," Olivia stated, annoyed. "And I get it, I can feel Boyd's loss, too, but you can't take it out on people who are doing their best to help you and the whole town."

Cora let out a drawn-out sigh and winced when a flash of pain went through her head. "I'm not apologizing," she said stubbornly.

"That's fine. Just give them some slack."

"Hey!" they heard Stiles call from behind them; he was soon at their sides. "Do you need a ride?"

"Um, yeah," Olivia nodded. "I can leave my car here and pick it up later tonight."

"Sounds good."

Halfway to their journey to Derek's loft and after three attempts to make contact with Derek, Allison called them. She informed them that she and Isaac had been searching her dad's desk and found a Celtic knot that was labeled with each group of the sacrifices. She listed the groups of sacrifices that had already happened and then the two that had yet to come.

"Philosophers?" Olivia asked in surprised. What exactly did that mean? There were a lot of occupations or people that could easily fit into that category. It would be someone like Plato, or a teacher, or a scientist, or even a really smart person. But, at the same time, how did Deputy Tara fit in that category?

"And guardians," Allison added; that made more sense in Tara's case since she was a police officer. "which after last night, has to mean something like law enforcement. Stiles, you have to tell your dad. Tell him whatever you need but you have to get him to believe. Tell your dad, warn him."

"Okay, okay, okay," Stiles said quickly, his mind racing a mile a minute. "I know."

Olivia ended the call and looked at her boyfriend, seeing the anxious look on his face. "You're gonna tell him right?"

"I have to," Stiles nodded. "but I'm gonna need both of your guys' help."

Olivia nodded and took his hand from the steering wheel, squeezing it tightly. "Whatever you need."

-

Olivia watched from Stiles' bed as her boyfriend paced back and forth, trying to come up with something to tell his dad. Personally, she had never gone through telling a parent about the supernatural world and because she was pretty sure that Natalie had some sort of knowledge about it—and she was in deep, deep denial that Olivia and Lydia were a part of it—she wouldn't really need to. She couldn't put herself in Stiles' shoes properly and it annoyed the crap out of her because she wanted to be there for him like he was always there for her.

"Okay, okay, okay," Stiles murmured under his breath. "Yes, okay...No, no..."

"Stiles?" Noah cleared his throat.

Stiles quickly faced his dad. "Dad, I'm sorry. I'm just...I'm trying to...I'm just trying to figure out how to start here."

"Hey," Noah said sternly. 'I don't have this kind of time."

Stiles blew out a heavy breath, causing Olivia to speak up encouragingly, "Stiles, just start with the cases."

"Right, right, the cases," Stiles nodded jerkily and looked back at Noah. "Okay, um, for the last year, you've had all these cases that you couldn't figure out, right? I mean, all the murders involving Kate Argent, and then Matt killing all the people who drowned him, and all these murders right now. It's like...it's like you've been playing a losing game."

Noah stared at him, unimpressed. It was clear that he didn't know why Stiles was going through his "failed" cases. "Stiles, the last thing I need right now is a job performance review from my own son."

Stiles rubbed his forehead in frustration. "I know," he looked over at his dresser in order to pull his thoughts together and spotted the chess board he and his dad would play with from time to time. "Okay, see, but that's—that's just it, Dad."

He hurried to his dresser and grabbed the chess board, which folded into a case to keep all of the pieces together, and then set it on his desk. "The reason that you're losing the game is cause you've never been able to see the whole board," he opened the game and tossed out all the pieces. "I need to show you the whole board."

While Stiles carefully labeled each and every chess piece with sticky tabs, Olivia let Cora lean against her. She made sure that she didn't fall asleep, but soon she was swept up into an episode. She could hear Lydia screaming and it took all of her control—and biting down on the inside of her cheek—to make sure she didn't scream too (she didn't realize that it would have helped Stiles convince his dad that the supernatural life was real until afterward).

Noah did not look over at her—and therefore, did not see her purple eyes—because he was too concentrated on watching Stiles label and explain each supernatural creature and the names of his friends that matched up with them. By the time Olivia was pulled away from Lydia's tether and back in control of her mind, Noah was sufficiently caught up.

Well, kind of.

"Scott and Derek are werewolves," he said flatly, looking across the desk at Stiles.

"Yes."

"And Kate Argent was a werewolf?"

"Hunter," Stiles corrected him, pointing to the piece where he labeled Kate with a purple tab. "That's...Purple stands for hunter."

"Allison and her dad are hunters, too," Olivia told him, leaving out the part where they were supposed to be retired. If Mr. Argent and Allison were retired, then normal grandparents would be working overtime.

"Yeah," Noah gestured to Dr. Deaton's piece. "and my friend, Deaton, the veterinarian, is a kanima?"

"No, no, he's a druid, okay?" Stiles stated. "Well, we think."

Olivia and Cora exchanged a look. They didn't really think that Dr. Deaton was a druid, they were 99.9% positive that he was one. Then again, Olivia could see why Stiles said what he said, Noah could only handle so much.

"So, who's the kanima?"

"Jackson," Olivia responded, thinking of her friend; she missed him.

"No, Jackson's a werewolf."

"Jackson was the kanima first, and then Peter and Derek killed him and he came back to life as a werewolf," Stiles explained. "Now, he's in London."

Noah frowned. "Who's the da-rack?"

Stiles corrected his pronunciation. "It's da-rock."

"We don't know who the darach is," Olivia piped in.

Stiles pointed at her in agreement. "We don't know yet."

Noah blinked at them. "But he was killed by werewolves?"

"Slashed up and left for dead."

"We think."

Stiles pointed at Olivia again. "We think, yeah."

Noah sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest. "Why was Jackson the kanima?"

"'Cause sometimes, the shape that you take reflects the person that you are."

"And what shape would an increasingly confused and angrier-by-the-second father take?"

"Uh, that would be more of an expression like the one you're currently wearing," Stiles replied nervously.

"Yeah," Noah heaved himself off the chair and started toward the door.

Stiles scrambled out of his, too. "Dad—Dad, would you wait?" he begged his father. "I can prove it, okay? Cora's a werewolf and Livvy's an anchor. You ready?" he asked Olivia and Cora; they nodded and Olivia helped Cora stand. "All right, Dad, just watch this, okay?"

Olivia didn't know if Noah managed to see any sign of their supernatural nature or not. Cora's name popped up in her head and she was dragged down to the floor when Cora collapsed.

-

"I wished you would have answered my calls," Olivia muttered to Derek as they sat side-by-side in the hospital waiting room while Cora was being examined and placed in a room.

"I know, Ollie," Derek replied softly. "I'm sorry."

"I don't understand why she's not healing. She should have healed by now."

"We'll find out why she's not," Derek assured her and squeezed her hand. "I already called Peter. Hopefully he knows something we don't."

"Hopefully," Olivia sighed; her phone started vibrating in her hand. When she was that it was Scott, she excused herself from Derek and walked over to Stiles, where he was talking to Melissa. "Hey."

"Hey, is Stiles with you?"

"Yeah, hold on," she waved to Melissa silently and grabbed Stiles' arm, pulling him into an empty hallway; she put him on speaker. "Okay, you're on speaker."

"All right, it's philosophers as in teachers," Scott told them hurriedly. "Allison and her father just found Mr. Westover."

"That makes sense," Stiles glanced at Olivia. "Tara, she wasn't always a cop. She used to teach middle school."

"Then the last one's gonna be another teacher."

"There's close to a hundred teachers employed at the high school," Olivia pointed out worriedly. "There's even more at the middle and elementary schools."

"And they're all headed home," Stiles added.

"No, no they're not," Scott said after a few seconds of silence. "They're all going to the recital."

"Fuck," Stiles cursed in annoyance. "All right, I'm gonna go talk to my dad."

"I'll borrow Derek's truck and head over there now, Scott," Olivia took the call off speaker as Stiles walked away to find his dad. "I'll only be a couple of minutes."

"Okay, but Liv..."

Her eyebrows furrowed at the worry in Scott's voice. "What's wrong?"

"I talked to Morrell. She told me that the alpha pack wanted me because I'm supposed to be a true alpha."

"A true alpha?" she repeated in disbelief. "Wow, Scott."

She was impressed; true alphas only came around once in a while and the fact that their own Scott was going to be one was special.

"Yeah, but that's not the only thing she told me," Scott sighed; Olivia braced herself for more news. "She told me that the alphas want you, too. She said that anchors are rare and you have powers you haven't even untapped. Deucalion thinks you be a good addition to the pack."

Shit, shit, shit, shit...Olivia cursed herself. Why did I have to be a rare species?

"Well, that is not good," she breathed nervously before collecting herself. "but we can deal with it later. We need to stop the darach before someone else dies."

"Yeah, we do," Scott agreed. "All right, I'll see you in ten."

"Okay, be careful."

"You too, bye."

The recital had already started by the time Olivia arrived at the school. A storm was brewing overhead and the faint music she could hear coming from the auditorium made the environment even more eerie. She ran through the parking, wishing that she hadn't worn heels that day, and rushed into the building.

She got to the lobby but stopped right in her tracks outside the main part of the auditorium, her gaze taking on a purple tint. An indescribable feeling flashed through her body and then she moved, letting whatever the feeling was take her where she needed to go. It was like the time that Derek had been shot with the wolfsbane bullet and she was led on autopilot throughout the school until she found him.

Lydia...Lydia...Lydia...Lydia, Lydia, Lydia...

She found herself in the English hallway, automatically making her way to Ms. Blake's classroom in a daze. She stopped just outside of the classroom when she heard Lydia and Ms. Blake talking.

She didn't take time to listen to what they were saying. She stormed into the classroom but was immediately airborne. Her back hit the wall painfully and she was risen until her feet were a couple feet off the ground. She was stuck and she was useless.

"Glad you joined the party," Ms. Blake—no, fuck that, I am not giving her any respect by calling her anything but her stupid first name! –smirked at her. "I was wondering when you would come for her."

"Let her go," Olivia snapped at her, her eyes darting to Lydia, who was terrified and staring at her with wet eyes. "What do you even want with her?"

"Nothing special," Jennifer shrugged. She flicked her hand toward a chair and Olivia flew to it, slamming against the hard, wooden back. "You, on the other hand..."

Olivia was unable to move as Jennifer used duct tape to secure her hands and legs to the chair. When she was finished, she picked up a small wooden dowel and started wrapping a length of strong cord around it. She was making a garrote.

"What are you doing?" Lydia whimpered, still fighting off unconscious from the hard hit she took from Jennifer when she first walked into the classroom.

"What's necessary," Jennifer stated. "I'm still surprised none of you seem to get that. You call them sacrifices but you're not understanding the word," Olivia rolled her eyes at her dramatic monologue. "It's derived from the Latin 'sacrificium', an offering to a deity, a sacred rite. A necessary evil."

"Oh, shut up," Olivia groaned, hoping to get her attention away from Lydia. "I'm pretty sure that killing fifteen innocent people isn't necessary."

"You know, on the outside, you appear so tough, emotionless," Jennifer stood from her crouched position in front of Lydia and sauntered over to Olivia. "but I know you're afraid right now. I know you're afraid all the time. This shell?" she poked Olivia in the cheek. "Well, it's all an act."

"Who cares if it is?" Olivia hissed right back at her.

"Oh, I don't care. I was just taunting you before I kill you and your precious cousins. The useless ones, I mean," Jennifer grinned maliciously. "I think I'll keep Derek around."

Olivia harshly snapped her jaw together, speaking through her clenched teeth, "Stay away from them."

"I would but I won't," Jennifer giggled. "See, you were my target. Deucalion wants you and you're powerful. If I kill you now, he won't be able to use you against me."

Olivia's heart started to race and her own name was starting to be repeated over and over in her head. Scott had to know that Lydia had disappeared and that she never made it to the auditorium. She had to stall so he could get there. "So, you're doing this to go up against the alpha pack?"

"Correct. Let's just say that you don't know the alphas like I do," Jennifer twisted the garrote in her hands and stepped behind Olivia. "And because they currently don't know my plan, I think Lydia is going to have to go, too. She knows too much. First, she can watch you die."

"No, no, no," Olivia said frantically, locking her scared eyes on Lydia, who stared fearfully back at her.

"Stop!" Lydia whimpered. "Stop, stop!"

Jennifer didn't stop. Before she could fully press the garrote against Olivia's throat, she forcefully tore the duct tape around her right hand and slipped it between her flesh and the cord. She gasped as the cord dug into her fingers. "Lydia!"

As if they had rehearsed, Lydia let out the loudest scream that had ever passed through her lips. Olivia screamed only a second later, unable to fight the urge that came from Lydia's tether. It was kind of weird, warning people of your own death.

Olivia's scream died out first and then a couple seconds later, so did Lydia's. Jennifer dropped the garrote from her hands, letting it hang on Olivia's neck, and walked over to stand in front of Lydia.

"Unbelievable," she gasped, studying Lydia intently. "You're a banshee. A wailing woman, right before my eyes. You're just like me, Lydia. Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it."

"She's nothing like you," Olivia spoke up fiercely, her voice hoarse.

Jennifer shrugged, the comment not bothering her. "It's too bad, though, and too late," she walked back over to Olivia, taking her place behind her and picking up the garrote. The garrote pulled tightly around Olivia's neck, making her choke. "One last philosopher."

Olivia couldn't breathe. There was no room for her trachea to move, causing her to suffocate. It was almost as if she could feel her throat being crushed, causing her to panic and squirm around in the chair, kicking her feet to try to fight back.

Olivia...Olivia...OLIVIA, OLIVIA, OLIVIA!!!!

"Stop, stop!" Lydia shouted frantically, choking on her tears as she watched Jennifer pull out a knife from her person and hold it up to Olivia's throat; the second part of the three-fold death.

"Drop it!" a new voice joined Lydia's.

With Jennifer sufficiently distracted, the garrote dropped from Olivia's neck. She took in a deep breath, her throat sore inside and out. Something urged her to look over at who had interrupted Jennifer, but she recognized the voice. Noah had ran into the classroom, gun cocked and aimed right at the darach.

As soon as she laid eyes on her boyfriend's father, Jennifer whipped the knife that was going to be used on her at him. It lodged itself into his shoulder so forcefully that it splayed him flat on his back. Noah wasn't technically in her pack, but he was someone Olivia cared for very much; that meant that she knew he was in danger, but he wasn't going to die. She couldn't explain it, but there was a different between the whispers that warned her of a pack member in danger and then the ones that warned her of the pack member's death. Noah was okay, for now.

Jennifer turned back to Olivia, intending to finish what she started, but a roar filled the room. Scott had arrived, his werewolf features fully on display as he snarled at Jennifer. He lunged at her, but Jennifer easily dodged each of his blows. She was more powerful than him and the way she sent him flying across the room and into a pile of desks proved it.

Olivia didn't know exactly what Jennifer did to him, but it was obvious that she did something else to him. Scott was spitting up blood and hitting desks that didn't weigh much didn't seem like it would do something like that to him.

She whimpered through the pain in her throat, "Scott!"

Her attention was dragged away from Scott as Jennifer slid her desk across the room and right into the door, slamming it closed. Before she could even wonder why Jennifer had done that, she saw Stiles' head pop into view from the small window at the top of the door. He was slamming his whole body against it, but with the weight of the desk, it wouldn't budge. He couldn't get into the room.

With Stiles and Scott taken care of, Jennifer focused on Noah, who had grabbed his gun, got to his knees, and aimed it at her.

"There was a girl," he said tiredly as Jennifer took slow steps toward him. "years ago. We found her in the woods, her face and body slashed apart. That was you, wasn't it?"

Jennifer glared at him. "Maybe I should've started with philosophers with knowledge and strategy."

She closed in on Noah and he pulled the trigger, shooting in her in her right thigh; Jennifer simply shook it off and continued on to him. "Healers," she grabbed him by the knife in his shoulder and held him high in the air, the blade slicing through the fleshy part of his shoulder. "Warriors..." she ripped his badge off of his shirt and crushed it with her fingers. "Guardians...Virgins..."

"God, leave him alone!" Olivia shouted to the best of her ability as Jennifer placed a wet kiss against Noah's mouth. Jennifer's face warped into a horrifying figure and screeched while she grabbed Noah and flew toward the windows. "No!"

Jennifer had disappeared with Noah. Scott had woken up from whatever daze Jennifer had put him in and the force that was shoving the desk against the door had disappeared. While Scott had rushed toward Lydia—on Olivia's insistence; the redhead was unconscious from the blow Jennifer had landed on her—Stiles rushed into the classroom and to the windows.

"Dad?" there was no answer to Stiles' call and it hit them all like a punch to the gut. "Dad?!"

(Gif is not mine)

[tw-anchor]

32. The Tragedy of Derek and Paige

Anchor

Stiles Stilinski x Original Character

Episode: 3x08; Visionary

Word Count: 3,809

Warning(s): Mature language, sad stories, grief

Author’s Note: I will never stop saying that Derek deserved better. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Make sure to reblog, like, and tell me what you think!

Masterlist in Pinned Post!

Olivia hadn't been home in two days. Fortunately, Natalie didn't ask any questions about her sudden desire to sleep over at Derek's house, and Lydia also covered for her when she did start to get suspicious. She was glad that she could stay with Cora, Isaac, and even Peter while mourning Boyd. She and Cora supported each other through their loss of a packmate and friend, while Peter, surprisingly, took care of them.

Honestly, Olivia wasn't doing so great in the aftermath of Boyd's death. With Erica's death, it didn't affect her as much—she had a suspicion is was because Erica and Boyd had left Derek's pack at that point, and after Erica died, Boyd joined the pack again which led to a better connection. But's Boyd's death really hurt. Losing a pack member really did feel like losing a part of yourself, and the added guilt about helping with the plan that eventually was a part of Boyd's death didn't add any relief.

After all that Boyd had gone through, he deserved way better than what he got.

But grief wasn't the only thing going on in her mind. Olivia was the anchor of the pack and that meant that she had to live up to the name. Her mind was constantly distracted, bouncing back in forth from Isaac's mind, to Cora, and then all the way to Derek, who was grieving by himself in the distillery just outside of town. They weren't in danger of turning because of their sadness but she was able to help anyway, sending out calming vibes through the tethers that connected them to her.

Currently, Isaac was the hardest to calm down. Due to his upbringing, he was more emotional than Derek or Cora were and he had been friends with Boyd since elementary school. She kept close to him, wanting to help him however she could, and after a night full of restlessness, he was finally napping on the couch, his feet laid in her lap.

"...Peter brought Derek to a cellar in the woods," Cora was finishing up the story of when Peter and Derek had to hide from the Argent hunters years ago. "They were there for two days, waiting, hiding. That's what we're taught to do when the hunters find us—hide and heal."

"Okay, so is two days standard then, or are we thinking Derek's on, like, some extended getaway?" Stiles asked Cora from his seat next to Olivia on the couch.

Despite his impatience about Derek and his leave of absence, having Stiles at the loft helped Olivia more than he could know. It was like he was her anchor. He gave her strength to stay strong for the pack.

Cora turned away from the rain-splattered window and narrowed her eyes at him. "Why do you care?"

"Why do I care?" Stiles repeated sarcastically. "Let's see...because over the last few weeks, my best friend tried to kill himself, my girlfriend has been going crazy trying to keep all the werewolves calm, Scott's boss nearly got ritually sacrificed, Boyd was killed by the alphas...I—do you want me to keep going?" he raised an eyebrow at her. "'Cause I can, all right? For, like, an hour—"

"All right, Stiles," Olivia murmured, resting her head on his shoulder.

"You think Derek can do anything about that?" Cora asked grumpily.

"Well, since he's the one everyone seems to be after, it's more like he should do something about it, yeah."

Olivia wished Stiles would give Derek some slack. Yeah, Derek needed to step up and help out, but he was also going through something horrible. He had just lost two betas, one which he killed with his own claws—which wasn't his fault, but Derek wouldn't see it that way—and the alpha pack was also trying to kill him. That was more than the average person could take. Maybe Stiles wasn't very sympathetic because he couldn't feel what Derek was going through, but Olivia could. And if she was going through what Derek was at the moment, she wouldn't be able to get out of bed each day.

"I don't know," Cora mused, walking over to the table full of books. "There's something different about him now. He wasn't like this when I knew him."

That's because you skipped out and made everyone think you were dead, Olivia remarked mentally. And Derek shouldered the guilt of the Hale House fire—even though Kate Argent raped and manipulated him into giving out the house's whereabouts and members of the pack—taking care of himself, visiting Olivia every few weeks with Laura, taking care of Peter's medical care, Laura's death, and Peter's time as a crazy alpha—not to mention everything that went on before the fire, including what happened with Paige.

"What was he like?" Stiles asked.

The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs caught their attention. Peter slowly descended from the second floor and answered, "A lot like Scott, actually," he walked over to stand by Cora as he elaborated. "A lot like most teenagers—unbearably romantic, profoundly narcissistic, tolerable really onto to other teenagers."

"So what happened?" Stiles looked at Peter expectantly. "What changed him?"

"Well, the same thing that changes a lot of young men," Peter answered. "A girl."

Stiles scoffed. "You're telling me some girl broke his little heart?" he asked in disbelief. "That's why Derek is the way he is?"

"She wasn't just any girl," Olivia gently picked up Isaac's feet and got up, laying them back down on the couch. She wandered over to her father and cousin, Stiles following shortly after.

"Mm," Peter nodded in agreement before addressing her and Cora, "Do you remember Derek before he was an alpha and had blue eyes?" Olivia nodded; it had only been half a year since Derek became an alpha. Peter turned to Stiles now. "Do you know why some wolves have blue eyes?"

Stiles shrugged, shaking his head. "I just always thought it was, like, a genetic thing."

"If you want to know what changed Derek, you need to know what changed the color of his eyes," Peter declared. "You know the story, don't you, pumpkin?"

"Some of it," Olivia twisted her lips.

"I'll fill in in some places."

"Okay," Olivia inhaled deeply and started recalling everything that Derek had told her from that part of his life.

Derek was a sophomore when he met Paige Krasikeva. He was popular, one of the younger members of the varsity basketball team whilst being one of the stars. He was different back then. Derek had a charming personality and he used to be one to tell jokes and make friends with everyone.

One day, while Derek was missing around with his friends in the hallway with a basketball, they disturbed Paige's cello practice. According to Derek, Paige was sassy and quick-witted despite her shy nature and when she stormed over to confront them, Derek was immediately intrigued. He showed off with the basketball, doing some tricks he had picked up on the court, and when Paige was unimpressed, Derek gave her an offer: if she could get the basketball away from him, he'd bring the ball and his friends elsewhere.

Paige took the dare, but was unable to get the basketball away from her. He happened to show off even more in the process. His cockiness unimpressed Paige and she ended up walking away. Still intrigued by her, he followed her back to the music room and apologized. She brushed him off, but it didn't discourage him; he ended up asking her name. After a little tack, in which Derek had to play a triangle for whatever reason, Paige ended up sharing her name with Derek.

"Okay, so if Derek was a sophomore back then, how old was he?" Stiles asked when she came to a natural pause in the story. He pointed at Peter and added, "How old were you? How old are you now?"

"Not as young as we could have been, but not as old as you might think," Peter answered; Olivia's lips twitched as she rolled her eyes.

"Okay, that was frustratingly vague," Stiles sighed, exasperated, and turned to where Olivia and Cora were sitting. "I know Livvy's sixteen. How old are you?"

"I'm seventeen."

"See, that's an answer," Stiles pointed at Cora. "That's how we answer people."

Cora burst his bubble, hiding her smirk. "Well, seventeen in how you'd measure in years."

"Are you serious?!"

"They're messing with you," Olivia told him with an amused smile. "Peter's thirty-five, Cora's seventeen, and Derek's twenty-five. He was sixteen when he was a sophomore."

"Okay, I take back my previous statement," Stiles gave her a grateful look as he threw his arm over her shoulders. "That is how we answer someone."

"Says the king of sarcasm," she told him with a light laugh.

"Don't bring me into this," Stiles nudged her head with his own. "Okay, so, what happened to Derek and the cello girl?"

"Her name was Paige."

"Right," Stiles stated after Olivia corrected him. "What happened with Derek and Paige?"

"What do you think happened?" Peter raised his eyebrows at Stiles. "They were teenagers. One minute, it's 'I hate you, don't talk to me,' and then the next minute, it's frantic groping in any dark corner they could manage to find themselves alone for five minutes."

Olivia and Stiles glanced at one another; they knew what that was like.

Peter continued, narrowing his eyes at Stiles. He may not be overly protective of his daughter but he didn't want to know what she and her hormonal little boyfriend were getting up to in their private time. "Their favorite dark corner was an abandoned distillery outside of Beacon Hills."

Olivia turned away from Stiles to give her a father a questioning look. Why on earth would he know Derek and Paige's make-out spot?

"All right, hold up," Stiles interjected, thinking along the same lines as Olivia. "How do you know all this? You just said that they were alone."

Peter leaned forward at his seat next on the couch, bracing his elbows on his knees. "Back then, I wasn't just Derek's uncle. I was his best friend, his closest confidante. That's how I know."

Peter filled in some of the blanks where Olivia hadn't known the details. Mostly, she didn't know about these because Derek either forgot or he didn't know what was going on behind the scenes.

One day, while Derek and Paige were having alone time in the distillery—the same distillery where Derek was hiding now—they had to leave because Derek caught the scent of some unknown werewolves. Peter explained that it wasn't just any random werewolves, but they happened to be three different packs—Ennis' pack, Kali's pack, and Deucalion's pack—along with the adults in the Hale pack. They had gathered together to discuss one of the werewolves in Ennis' pack who was murdered by the Argents.

The three packs argued with each other, mostly on Kali's side—which didn't surprise Olivia—until Laura spoke up about working together. Deucalion sided with the Hale pack—apparently he was a sort of peace keeper back in the day—especially when Talia Hale, the Hale pack's alpha and Derek's mother, stepped in. The four alphas discussed what they were going to do about the Argents, and Ennis insisted on war. He declared it with a swirl—the mark for vengeance.

"Our mark for vendetta," Peter, who had walked over to the steamed-over window, drew the swirl, much like he had down when he was an alpha.

"Man, you guys really take that revenge thing to, like, a whole new level, don't you?" Stiles commented, folding his fingers together while he watched Peter skeptically.

"It's not just revenge," Cora told him firmly. "Losing a member of your pack isn't like losing family. It's like you lose a limb."

Stiles looked over at Olivia for confirmation and visibly softened when she nodded in agreement with Cora. He unfolded his hands and took one of hers, squeezing it tightly. It was a silent apology, one that Olivia instantly forgive. How was he to know what it was like? He wasn't a werewolf or, in her case, an anchor.

"They wouldn't even let Ennis see the body," Peter informed them. "Some deputy had to escort him out of the hospital."

"I don't get it," Cora shook her head. "What does this have to do with Derek?"

"Everything," Peter turned away from the window and walked back over to them. "It's never just a single moment. It's a confluence of events. Personally, I looked at Ennis' circumstances and I saw a profound loss. Derek saw something different. He saw opportunity."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek. Peter wasn't just telling Derek's story now, he was elaborating. A lot. Derek had told her himself that it was Peter who gave him the idea to have Paige take the bite, not him. Peter was lying, manipulating himself into someone better than he was.

"Opportunity?" Stiles wondered. "To do what?"

"To always be with her," Peter told him. "The thing was, he had this constant fear. He was obsessing over it. Thinking about it all night, all day, always on his mind."

Although Peter gave Stiles and Cora his version of the story, Olivia knew better. Derek had told her how Peter had shown up to his school and spoke to him about Paige. Peter told him that Paige would run away from him if she found out lycanthropy and manipulated him into turning her so they could be together forever.

"I kept telling him not to do it," Peter said passionately; Olivia looked over at Stiles and Cora, hoping that they weren't falling for his shit. Luckily for her, she had a smart—and hot—boyfriend, who glanced at her and rolled his eyes, mocking Peter behind his back. "Every day the more he thought about it, the more convinced he became."

Having dramatically turned away from them, Peter faced them again. "You know teenagers," he acted like he was sad. "I bet he even blames me. He's probably convinced himself the whole thing was my idea."

Again, Peter gave his side of the story. He left out the fact that he had gone to Derek's basketball practice and told him about the werewolf who died in Ennis' pack. He spoke about the opportunity Derek had, where Ennis could turn Paige and she be in his pack.

After that, Peter moved on. He shared the story of how he, Laura, and Talia went to the animal clinic to meet up with Dr. Deaton, Deucalion, and his second-in-command. They spoke about Ennis and his frowned-upon decision to wage war against the Argent hunters. Deucalion wanted to extend a treaty of peace, but Talia and Dr. Deaton warned against it, citing that the Argents had a matriarchal chain in command and that Gerard Argent was a psychopath. Deucalion didn't listen to them, and instead set up a meeting between his pack and the Argents.

"Hold on," Stiles interrupted. "What's an emissary?"

"They go back to when werewolves just started shifting," Olivia explained. "It was thought that druids knew how to shapeshift and could help the werewolves turn back to their human form. They give the alpha advice, knowledge, and keep packs connected to their humanity."

"They're a secret in the pack, though," Cora added. "Sometimes only the alpha knows who the emissary is. We had no idea about Deaton."

"Or his sister, Morrell," Peter tacked on.

"She's an emissary, too?" Stiles raised his voice, totally shocked about Morrell. Olivia, herself, was shocked; she knew about Morrell being Deaton's sister, but she hadn't know that she was an emissary.

Peter nodded. "For the alpha pack."

Olivia's eyes widened in surprise while Stiles' voice became even louder. "Our guidance counselor?" he burst out; Olivia rubbed his back to bring him some comfort; the poor guy had spent an hour a week with Ms. Morrell since he started high school and he was bound to be betrayed. "Why the hell don't you people tell me any of this stuff, huh? I shared some really intimate details with her."

"And did she give you good advice?" Cora prompted, looking unimpressed with his outburst.

Stiles paused. "Actually, yeah."

"That's what they do," Peter reminded him. "That's what Deaton used to do for Talia."

Stiles sighed in frustration, just wanting to get the rest of the story over with. It wasn't that he was bored, he didn't want to admit it, but the story was actually interesting when Peter wasn't putting on a show that all of them could see through. "Okay, so what happened with Paige?"

"I went to Ennis on Derek's behalf and told him about a girl interested in the bite," Peter stated.

"Ennis?" Cora asked with pursed lips, disappointed with Peter's choice of alpha. "Why would you choose him?"

"Why not?" Peter countered. "Ennis needed a new member for his pack. Paige was young and strong. Doing a favor for Derek meant that Ennis would be in good with Talia. Back then, everybody wanted to be in good with her.

"He doesn't remember it was Ennis, does he?" Stiles spoke up.

"I don't know," Olivia said with a small shrug of her shoulder. "I didn't even know until Peter told us that he was the alpha to bite Paige. If he does remember, he kept it to himself."

"So, then what happened?" Stiles looked between Peter and Olivia for an answer. "Did he turn her?"

"Almost," Peter was the one to speak; all Olivia knew was that Paige didn't take to the bite—much like Jackson didn't before he turned into the kanima—and that she was in so much pain at the end that Derek had to kill her to make it stop. "They were at the school at night and Ennis came for her. Derek heard her struggling and came at Ennis. A fifteen-year-old boy against a giant. There was no reason for him to fight. She'd already been bitten."

"So, did she turn?"

"She should have," Peter told Cora. "Most of the time, the bite takes. Most of the time."

Stiles perked up, remembering what Peter had told him right after he bit Olivia and before he offered to bite him. "When you offered it to me, you said, 'If it doesn't kill you.'"

"If," Peter nodded in confirmation. "Derek took her to the Nemeton, the cellar where Derek and I hid from the hunters when Ennis' beta was killed. I went to them and he asked me what was happening to her. He knew the answer, though. It didn't matter that she was young and strong. Some people just aren't made for this."

"She fought, though," Olivia said sadly, thinking about the utter sadness on Derek's face when he recalled the last moments he had with Paige. "In the end, though, she was in too much pain. She begged Derek to help her."

"You mean...?"

Olivia nodded at Stiles, making him press his lips together in empathy.

"I remember taking her body from his arms, into the woods, and to a place where I knew that it would be found..." Peter did seem genuinely sad about how Paige's life ended. "another in a long line of Beacon Hills animal attacks."

Olivia blinked back tears as Cora asked, "And what about Derek?"

"Taking an innocent life...it takes some from you as well. A bit of your soul, darkening it, dimming the once brilliant, golden yellow to a cold, steel blue," Peter explained. He flashed his werewolf eyes as an example. "Like mine."

-

Olivia played with the fingers on Stiles' free hand, rubbing her fingertips over his nails, down the knuckles, and to the freckled back of them. She kissed his palm every so often, her mind swirling around in a dark place.

She thought about Derek and Paige's story and how she would act if she and Stiles were in their place. If she was in the exact same situation as Derek was in—the Hale pack was still alive, her mother was alive, the war against the Argents, and if she had been an actual werewolf and not an anchoram—maybe she would have done the same thing. The thing was, Derek didn't mean any harm to Paige. He loved her so, so much.

Her heart hurt for her cousin. He had to mercy kill the love of his life and honestly, she didn't think she would survive if she had to do the same thing with Stiles. Derek was one of the strongest people she had ever and will ever know. He was basically one of the people she admired the most because of his strength.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Stiles asked her as he stopped at a red light.

"Derek and Paige," Olivia murmured, looking over at him and just...she was so lucky that she loved someone like Stiles. He was so funny and sweet and handsome and smart—he was everything she would ever want.

"I was thinking about them, too," he admitted. As the light went green and he pressed on the gas to move forward, he added, "I don't believe Peter. I mean, you know how we're reading Heart of Darkness in Ms. Blake's class?"

Olivia nodded and hummed.

"It's in first person, it's Marlow's perspective," he expanded, though he knew she already knew what he was talking about. "The thing is that he's an unreliable narrator. You know the details of it have changed, you know, just because of his perspective."

"I know what you mean, and you're right," Olivia informed him. "All that stuff about how Derek was adamant about turning Paige? It wasn't true."

Stiles raised his eyebrows at her, glancing at her quickly. "Derek told you?"

"Yeah, I was eleven or twelve and I asked him why his eyes were blue," she shared. "He told me about Paige and how she died. Peter was the one to orchestrate the whole thing, he manipulated Derek. He and Derek were hardly close."

"Your dad's a dick," Stiles scowled. "I mean, I'm not Derek's greatest fan, but Peter takes the whole fucking cake."

Olivia laughed lightly. "Yeah, I know," she hesitated and continued, "I know Derek's not helping out as much as he should, but he's going through a hard time. He lost Erica and Boyd, and everything that happened reminded him of all the pain he went through with Paige."

"All right, I'll cut him some slack," Stiles gave in, only for her. "but only because if we were in that situation, I'd be devastated."

"Me too," Olivia pressed her lips to his palm once again. "I love you, Stiles."

"I love you, too."