AN: I am so sorry that this took so long to update. School got in the way and then finals came followed by graduation. Life has been so hectic these past few months and I hope that you guys can forgive me for the lateness of this new chapter. I have no idea if anyone is reading this anymore, but I hope that anyone who is enjoys it :)

Thank you in advance to everyone who reads, reviews, favorites and/or follows.

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Wolf.

Over My Dead Body

Week Two, Part Two – War

Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.
Revelation 6:4

Stiles sped down the dark streets of Beacon Hills, unsure of where he was going. Lydia sat next to him, her fingers flying across the screen of her phone as she sent texts out to Allison, Isaac, and Derek, letting them know what was going on.

The two were silent the entire time, but he was sure that she wanted to say something. Stiles knew she would eventually voice whatever was on her mind, even if he had to coax it out of her first.

They drove around for over an hour before Lydia's phone lit up and buzzed with an incoming text.

"Who is it?" He turned onto his street and idled in front of his house. His dad's cruiser was parked in the driveway and the flickering screen of the TV lit up the front windows. He could see him moving around in the kitchen, opening and closing cabinets looking for something to eat. Stiles looked away and turned in his seat to face Lydia.

She unlocked her phone and opened the message. "Allison. She wants to meet up with us."

"Tell her to go to Derek's," he instructed before pulling away and speeding off down the street.

The silence this time ate at Stiles. He didn't like it. It was like having an itch that he couldn't scratch. Without taking his eyes off the road he reached over to take Lydia's hand in his own. He threaded their fingers and lightly squeezed in reassurance.

"It's going to be okay." He didn't even believe his own words.

Lydia must not have either because she scoffed. "When has it ever been okay, Stiles? Last week you were dead and this week Scott is being controlled by one of the Four Horsemen! And don't even get me started on all of the crap that just happened last month."

She felt a little hysterical and it was justified. The sacrifices. The darach. The alphas. Conquest, and now War. It was all catching up to her again. That short little two week reprieve in between was barely enough time to relax and put the nightmares behind them.

"I don't how we're going to survive until graduation," she confessed.

Stiles gripped her hand tighter. He didn't know either. They just barely scraped by with their lives as it was. How long was it going to be until he had another brush with Death?

The rest of the drive was spent in tense silence, both lost in their thoughts. Eventually Stiles pulled up to Derek's building. He parked next to Allison's Toyota and turned the ignition off on his Jeep.

He knew that she still wanted to say something to him. It was obvious in the way Lydia kept fidgeting in her seat the entire drive and the way she kept biting her lip. Stiles turned in his seat to face her and reached over to take her hand in his.

"What's wrong, Lydia?"

"I just have a really bad feeling about tonight, like I'm going to lose you," she whispered, meeting his gaze.

He frowned and cupped her face with his free hand. "You won't. I'm not going anywhere for a very long time," he promised before leaning in to press a kiss to her lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and lost herself in his warmth and comfort.

Suddenly someone dropped down on the hood of Stiles' jeep and they jumped apart like they had just been electrocuted. Lydia let out a shriek when she saw the dark hulking figure move toward them. The shadowed figure slowly looked up at them and familiar, humor-filled glowing yellow eyes peered at them in the darkness before leaning in toward them, the moonlight revealing the grinning face of the young werewolf.

"Are you two just going to sit here and makeout all night, or what?" Isaac teased them, back flipping off the hood.

Stiles shoved his door open, grumbling to himself about teenage werewolves, and jumped out before helping Lydia. He slipped a hand into hers and they followed Isaac inside. The three of them rode the elevator up and a few minutes later they were standing inside Derek's loft.

"You can't be serious," Derek deadpanned, glancing around at everyone. "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? All of them? Here in Beacon Hills?" He sounded skeptical.

Stiles coughed. "Yeah, no. Just War. Conquest left last week after he took pity and let me live."

Derek glared at him before crossing his arms. "And where does Scott fit in all of this?"

"Well, I'm glad you asked, Derek. Scott is War's target and she is somehow using some Jedi mind tricks to control him. He friggin' attacked Aiden today and almost killed him." Stiles flashed back to earlier and flinched at the memory. He had never seen Scott like that before and he hoped he never had to again.

Lydia squeezed his hand in reassurance as she stared up at him with her big green eyes. He hid behind his sarcasm and snarky comments to cover up his fear and panic but she knew the truth. She could see it in the tightening of his eyes and the stiff way he held his body.

He met her gaze and squeezed back, giving her a quick smile of thanks, before focusing back on the former alpha.

"And now he's missing," Derek surmise. He glanced around at the teenagers. "Do any of you know what the Horseman wants with him?"

Allison shook her head. "No. We still don't know what Conquest was trying to accomplish by killing Stiles. As far as we know he was following someone else's orders."

"And War has done just as much damage as Conquest if not more," Lydia added.

"What's this I hear about the Four Horsemen?" Lydia bristled at the sound of the unwelcome voice and scowled as she watched Peter slither down the stairs.

He smirked as he glanced around at the teenagers, coming to a stop at the landing. "You kiddies should be afraid of them. When one of them wants something, there's no stopping them. Especially if she's the one that's dishing out the orders," Peter warned, his smirk widening ever so slightly. "And you should be careful," he said, pointing at Lydia. "She's probably already angry that Conquest failed to kill you, Stiles. Imagine her wrath if War fails." He mock shivered before letting out a little laugh.

Lydia's scowl deepened and she glared at him with hatred seeping from every pore. She made to say something, but Stiles' grip on her wrist held her back.

"So you know who they're working for?" Isaac asked from where he stood near the windows.

Peter grinned at him. "Oh, we all know who she is. We've met her several times this past year and Miss Martin is attuned to her much more than we are." He glanced over at her. "Aren't you, Lydia?"

"Don't talk to her," Stiles spit out, pushing her to stand behind him.

"How cute," he drawled out mockingly. "Little itty bitty baby Stilinski protecting his banshee girlfriend from the big bad wolf."

Stiles upper lip curled and he glared at Peter but didn't say anything.

Derek rolled his eyes to himself and shook his head. "Enough. We should be focusing on looking for Scott. Where do you guys think he would have gone?"

"We don't have any idea, Derek. We spent the entire week trying to figure out where War hides. Isaac and I tried following her twice, but both times it was like she just disappeared into thin air," Allison answered, glancing over at the younger werewolf. He nodded once in agreement. "It's like War only comes out when she wants to."

He nodded, thoughtful. "What about-" Derek cut off mid-sentence at the sound of long claws scraping against the door. The noise put the werewolves on alert and they immediately transformed into their alter egos.

It was silent for a beat before the loud howl of the alpha rattled the door and made the windows shake. Stiles jumped in his skin in surprise and groped at Lydia's hand. He really hoped it wasn't Scott but he knew it was him. There was no mistaking that roar.

The front door to Derek's loft suddenly slammed open and Scott stood ominously in the doorway. His red eyes glowed in the darkness like two beacons of evil.

"I think that's my cue." And Peter scurried back up the stairs like the rat he was, leaving them to face against their alpha.

Scott stormed into the loft, his eyes wild and filled with rage. He glared around the room, focusing on each face for a fraction of a second before settling his gaze on his best friend.

Stiles gulped and felt a cold sweat build on his brow. "Um, is he looking at me? Please tell me he's not looking at me because I don't like that look on his face. Someone tell me that I'm not next on his hit list," he rambled, quickly spitting out the words as his heart raced in his chest.

The feeling of Lydia's hand in his squeezing his fingers tightly in a vice grip shook him from his shocked stupor and he glanced down at her. Scared bright green eyes stared up at him and he knew that he wasn't just seeing things.

War was controlling Scott and had manipulated him into killing his best friend.

The others took notice and Derek and Isaac moved into defensive positions in front of Stiles. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Allison reach into her pocket and slowly pull out one of her Chinese ring daggers. She subtly shifted her body, blade tightly gripped in her hand, and focused on Scott. Stiles saw the hesitation in her eyes but knew that she would strike if she had to.

Everything suddenly moved in slow motion. Scott let out a vicious snarl and charged into the loft. Derek went left while Isaac went right and they both collided with their snarling alpha.

Scott growled and then made quick work of his betas. He slashed Isaac across his abdomen, drawing blood and forcing him down to his knees. Too fast for Derek to do anything Scott had already brought his foot up and kicked Isaac square in the chest, sending him flying across the loft and hitting the wall with a sickening thud. Scott immediately turned on Derek and backhanded him. Derek went sailing through the air and hit the far wall, his head cracking painfully on impact. The former alpha crumpled to the floor limp and unconscious.

"Now, who's next?"

Stiles shared a frantic look with Lydia. He had barely given them the chance to strike before knocking them out of the fight.

"Allison, don't!"

But Lydia's plea was too late.

Allison surged forward with her blade raised and met Scott in the center of the room. He growled at her and they slowly circled each other, looking for that opening for the first strike.

"You should have listened to her," he murmured. "I'm going to take him either way. You can't stop me."

She scowled, but didn't say anything.

Scott smirked, a wicked glint in his eye. "Do you know what I'm going to do to him, Allison? I'm going to finish what Conquest started," he taunted. "He was supposed to die, Allison. Don't you understand?"

A strangled squeak came from the back of Stiles' throat at his best friend's words. It was clear now, so very, very clear. That was what War wanted Scott for.

She wanted the strong alpha werewolf to kill the poor, defenseless little human that Conquest spared to finish whatever scheme that was brewed up by their mysterious ringleader.

Stiles gripped Lydia's hand tight in his own and swallowed hard. He was going to do something that none of them, especially Lydia, was going to like.

She met his gaze and must have seen in his eyes what he was planning because her lower lip started to tremble and tears threatened to spill. "No," she whispered. "Stiles, no. I won't let you."

He gave her a watery smile. "If handing myself over to Scott will get War to back off, then I'll do it," he whispered with his forehead pressed against hers and a hand buried deep in her strawberry curls, the other wrapped securely around her waist. Stiles loved her so much and if it meant sacrificing himself to keep her safe, he would do it in a heartbeat. Twice.

"No! You died once already, isn't that enough for them? I just got you back, Stiles. I'm not going to lose you again," Lydia cried grasping at the hideous plaid shirt he wore with fisted hands. She wanted to smack him, shake some sense into him. Make him see that this wasn't the way that it was going to end.

A loud, deafening roar ripped through the air and rattled the windows a split second later. Stiles and Lydia froze and watched as Allison and Scott fought. It happened so fast that it was hard to tell who had made the first move.

Scott charged, claws out, and madly swiped at Allison. She quickly dodged and lithely rolled to the side, still keeping Stiles and Lydia shielded behind her. The enraged alpha charged again and this time the huntress kept her position.

She quickly spun the dagger in her hand until the blade ran parallel to her forearm and waited. Once he was close enough Allison curled her fingers tightly around the ring. A beat passed and she struck.

Their alpha reared back in pain, grasping with a clawed hand at the sliced skin of his chest. Seeing her chance Allison brought her arm back and quickly sliced open more of his skin, letting the red blood spill from his wounds.

Scott let out an angry roar and, too fast for anyone to comprehend, knocked the ring dagger out of her grip. It landed with a clatter by the staircase, far out of reach. Slowly, he began to stalk toward Allison, red eyes flashing sinisterly in the dim light of Derek's loft. She backed away from him, looking for a way out of the situation. But eventually her back hit the windows and then he was suddenly there, with his body pressed dangerously close to hers and his arms raised on either side of her head, effectively caging her in.

A whimper escaped her lips and Scott gave a dark chuckle. "You shouldn't be afraid, Allison, I'm not going to hurt you," he cooed, pressing his cheek softly, placatingly, against hers. "I promise."

Tears flowed freely down Allison's face. She felt powerless, weak.

This wasn't the Scott that she loved. He wouldn't do this to her. He would never hurt her, never make her feel this way.

She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away from him. She imagined that she was somewhere else, in a happier place far, far away from here. A place where there the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse didn't exist.

Someplace where it was just her and the Scott she was in love with, not this dark version of him.

Stiles couldn't take it anymore. He wasn't going to let Allison be the one to suffer when it was him that War really wanted.

"I love you," he whispered, staring into Lydia's tear-filled eyes.

She shook her head defiantly, holding on to him tighter. "No. Don't do this. There has to be another way."

He shook his head regretfully, painfully prying her away from his body. "Tell my dad I love him," he murmured.

"Stiles!"

He ignored her and stepped toward where Scott still had Allison pressed up against the windows, whispering words that brought tears to her eyes and for a whimper to escape her lips.

"Stop. I'll go with you if you let her go."

Scott's head snapped in his direction at his words and a slow smile curled on the alpha's lips. Automatically he released Allison and stepped away from her. Her legs seemed to give out on her and she slid down to the floor in a heap, curling in on herself trying to make herself as small as possible.

"Good." That was all he said before Stiles was snatched up and dragged out of the loft.

The last thing he heard was Lydia's unmistakable blood curdling scream.

OOOOOO

Lydia and Allison sat side by side with their backs pressed against the windows, silent.

The men in their lives were both gone, missing without a trace. One was ready to sacrifice himself in the name of love and friendship and the other was being controlled and manipulated by a supernatural being.

This was seriously what their lives had turned into and Lydia didn't like it one bit. They were only juniors in high school and they have already faced some pretty nasty stuff, most of which she wishes they never have to again. A chill ran down her spine at just the thought of having to spend the rest of her life constantly looking over her shoulder for the next big bad to come rolling into town.

When this was over, what would be next?

Ghosts?

Fae?

Zombies?

Or the stereotypical one – vampires?

She didn't want to know.

She just wanted to survive.

Lydia glanced around the loft and watched as Derek tended to the gaping wound on Isaac's head. There was a red stained bandage wrapped around his abdomen and it looked like the skin around his shoulders was starting to bruise from when he hit the wall earlier.

"This is going to take longer to heal since it was Scott," Derek warned.

Isaac nodded and grabbed the clean shirt his former alpha gave him, gingerly putting it on with a wince. "Figures," he muttered low. "Does anyone even know what War wants with Stiles?" he asked louder.

Lydia looked away and blinked back tears. Once she was sure that she wasn't going to break down crying, she met Isaac's gaze. "She wants Scott to finish what Conquest was supposed to do."

"Why? That doesn't make any sense. I thought she just wanted Scott."

She shrugged helplessly and shook her head. She only knew just as much as they did which was next to nothing.

Peter's sudden appearance at the bottom of the stairs sparked something in her. He knew something. He kept teasing them with information earlier, telling them everything and nothing at the same time. Derek's uncle may be crazy and psychotic, but he knew things that they didn't.

Things about the Horsemen.

"You," she said, pointing at him. Lydia braced her hands against the cool glass of the windows and pushed herself up to stand.

He pointed to himself with a raised brow, surprised. "Me?"

"You," Lydia repeated. "You're going to help us find where War is so that we can stop her from making Scott kill Stiles whether you want to or not."

He smirked condescendingly and crossed his arms across his chest. "And what do I get out of this little arrangement, mmm?"

Lydia leveled him with a cool stare. "Nothing. You get absolutely nothing. Only whatever little satisfaction that warms the cockles of your cold, dead heart from saving two lives tonight."

Peter stared at her with open curiosity for a beat before all emotion was wiped from his face. He glanced around at the others who were beaten, bloody, and almost down for the count. He must have seen something in them because he nodded. "Fine. I'll help you."

"Good."

OOOOOO

"Where's Stiles' Jeep?"

Lydia scanned the area with a scowl. "They must have taken it," she said, crossing her arms. "But where would they have gone?"

She, Allison, Derek, Isaac, and Peter were standing beside Allison's car. The night was still and quiet. There was nothing to suggest that there was any foul play, no skid marks on the ground, no blood, and no soft voices that carried on the wind. She didn't like it one bit and it made Lydia's mind race with other possible scenarios of what could have happened out here.

"What do you know about War?"

The others turned to look at Peter as he held a hand up to his chin, thoughtful. "She's impulsive, willing to do anything to achieve her goals…and a little demonic at times. War'll pretty much do anything for her older sister, considering that she's the youngest of the Horsemen. She's willing to please." He trailed off, glancing around them some almost as if he expected War to appear out of thin air before continuing. "We can find her in places of high anger, pain, chaos, and strife. War isn't the most dangerous of the four, you have to remember that. She can't hurt you because she's more spirit than physical being. The only ones that can hurt you are those she is controlling." Peter paused again to glance at Allison. "In this case, Scott."

Lydia nodded absent-mindedly, letting all of the new information sink in.

Anger.

Strife.

Pain.

Chaos.

The entire town was filled with all of those things. How were they supposed to find War? It was going to be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

"We should split up," she blurted out, interrupting whatever strategic planning session Derek and Allison had started.

Allison stared at her in disbelief. "You can't be serious, Lydia."

"I am. Every time War shows up and does something she's surrounded by people, except for when she somehow got to Scott and did whatever it was that she did to control him. When she showed up when it was just me, Stiles, and Scott, she did nothing. By splitting up, she won't attack," she explained.

Isaac glanced around them, almost as if he was expecting War to suddenly appear, too. "But then how are we supposed to find her and Scott?" he asked, gingerly crossing his arms across his chest.

"Think about it. What's the one place in Beacon Hills right now that is full of chaos, pain, anger, and strife?" Lydia murmured.

"The sheriff's station," Allison gasped, thinking of all of the arrests that had happened during the week. "Didn't Stiles say that his dad told him that everyone that had been arrested just got worse? More angry and volatile than they had been when they got picked up?"

"If that's true, then War should be somewhere nearby. All the anger and rage that naturally rolls off of her is causing those people to be just a little more…unstable than others," Peter said.

Derek crossed his arms across his chest. "Then we go there and take care of War."

His uncle leveled him with a dispassionate, sarcastic look. "You don't just take care of War, Derek. We have to do this carefully. If we just outright attack her she'll send one of her minions to take care of you. Maybe it'll be Scott if you're lucky."

Lydia frowned and stepped in between the two Hales before they tried to kill each other. "Okay. So we know where War is, but it still doesn't change the fact that we don't know where Scott and Stiles are," she reminded them. "I want to go to Stiles' house before we look for War. I think there might be something in his research that could help us."

Fifteen minutes later Lydia and the others were standing in front of the Stilinski residence. The windows were dark and the house was locked tight with the sheriff's cruiser no longer parked in the driveway. He must have been called away some time after she and Stiles had been here earlier.

The reminder that he was with her just three hours before made her heart clench painfully but she brushed it away and turned to face Peter. "You're coming inside with me."

He dramatically brought a hand to his chest and smiled sarcastically at Lydia. "I feel so honored," he mocked.

Allison quickly shook her head and fingered the trigger of her crossbow, prepared to shoot the older Hale. "I don't think that's a good idea, Lydia." She distinctly remembered the last time her best friend was alone with Peter and look at what happened.

"There might be something in Stiles' research that we missed that he can help us with since he knows more about them, Allison," Lydia reasoned. She trusted Peter about as far as she could throw him, but if there was a slim chance that he could see something that she and Stiles hadn't she was going to take it.

"She's right and you know it," Peter smirked when Allison didn't reply right away.

The huntress glared at him but nodded at Lydia. "Fine, but I'm going with you."

Derek and Isaac stayed back incase War decided to show up while Lydia led the way to the front door. Without missing a beat, she reached up and grabbed the key from under the eave and opened the door. Allison and Peter followed her up the stairs and into Stiles' room.

It was the same as when she was here the night before. The bed was still unmade, clothes and shoes were haphazardly strewn about on one side of the room while the other was covered with printouts from the Internet, open books about the supernatural were on the desk covered in brightly colored sticky notes with Stiles' messy scrawl mingling with her own neat handwriting, and lengths of red yarn covered everything. Being here made Lydia tear up some, but she held them back and pointed towards the wall that was covered in pictures and even more sticky notes with the little pushpins that connected all of the red.

"This is everything that we've been able to come up with so far, but nothing's stood out yet."

Peter nodded absent-mindedly, gazing critically at every piece of information on Stiles' murder wall. He hummed every now and then to himself as he continued to look on, consulting one of the open books when something didn't make sense.

Lydia watched him for a few minutes before moving to stand in front of the window that overlooked the front yard. Just last week Stiles had been standing in this very spot looking out at the invisible Horseman. Now it was her turn to stand there, but the only thing that she could see was Isaac leaning against the door of Allison's car and Derek standing almost in the shadows, both on high alert. She turned away, sighing to herself as she went to the ensuite bathroom to splash some water on her face. But she froze as soon as she opened the door. A cold chill ran down Lydia's spine like a whisper and she tightly clutched at the door handle before releasing it from her grip.

Nothing is wrong. It's just in your head. Lydia pushed the dread away before flipping on the light switch.

Her heart stopped for a beat at what she saw and Lydia let out a high pitched scream. She felt her legs give out and she was suddenly on the floor. The world around her slowed down as she stared at the dark red pool of blood on the floor in front of her. Vaguely, Lydia could hear her name being shouted, but she ignored them as she stared at the blood.

Hands were on her shoulders, shaking her, and she wondered who was screaming before belatedly realizing that it was her and forcing herself to stop before the Stilinskis' neighbors decided to call the police. Suddenly it was quiet, so quiet that the only thing that Lydia could hear was her own shallow breaths.

And then she heard it.

It was just barely a whisper but she knew she heard it and there was no mistaking that voice.

Lydia shrugged off the hands that were trying to hold her back and leaned toward the pool of her boyfriend's blood until her ear was just hovering over it.

"I don't know if this is even going to work, but I've got to try…Lydia, you need to find me. I don't know where Scott is taking me, but solve the riddle I've left for you and follow the trail. I know you'll figure it out. Just follow the trail."

She sat up and quickly looked around the tiny bathroom before focusing on the mirror above the sink. Lydia scrambled to her feet, careful of the blood and stared.

"What just happened?" she heard Isaac hiss into the deafening silence. No one replied.

Lydia read the riddle written in Stiles' blood three times to herself, confused as to what he wanted her to do.

"Everybody has some. You can lose some. You can gain some. But you cannot live without it," Peter read.

She glanced at his reflection at her shoulder in the mirror before focusing on the message again. "The answer is blood if it wasn't obvious enough for you," Lydia murmured.

"What did you hear, Lydia?"

"Stiles," she said after a minute. "I heard Stiles. He wants me to find him."

Peter brought a hand up to cup his chin and stared at the riddle in the mirror thoughtfully. He looked somewhat impressed. "I've got to give the boy credit. He's smart, leaving a message for a banshee in his own blood. But personally, I would have just written one on paper."

Lydia glared at his sardonic reflection. "He told me to solve the riddle and follow the trail. I think he left a blood trail for us to follow." She spun on her heel and gave him a sickly sweet smile. "And you're going to help me follow it."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Of course I am," he sighed.

OOOOOO

Lydia pulled the strap of her purse over her head and rushed to keep up with Peter's fast pace. He paused to sniff the air at the intersection before motioning right.

"This way," he told her, glancing over his shoulder once to make sure that he hadn't lost the banshee somewhere along the way as he continued down the street.

She eyed him critically, perturbed by his sudden change in demeanor. Peter was being helpful for once. He had stopped complaining and making sarcastic comments that were designed to hurt. Not once had he tried to plant seeds of doubt or try to convince her that their quest was pointless.

It wasn't normal, but then again, nothing in her life was ever going to be considered normal again with the way things were going.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked abruptly breaking the tense silence.

Peter slowed his gait until they were walking side by side on the deserted road. "Doing what, Lydia?" he sighed, avoiding the scrutinizing look she was giving him.

"Helping me, us. Scott. You haven't run off and ignored us."

She watched his shoulders stiffen imperceptibly as a look of regret and sorrow etched its way onto his face. He sighed tiredly and gave her a thoughtful look.

"You remind me of someone I knew once. She was headstrong, confident in everything she did," Peter whispered, his voice taking on a decidedly serious tone. "Willing to fight for what she wanted and fearless of the consequences. Even if it meant death." He trailed off in silence after that, his eyes suddenly taking on a faraway look.

Lydia watched him from the corner of her eye as they continued down the street. "You loved her," she said after a beat. It was a statement rather than a question. It was obvious that whoever this woman he was talking about meant a lot to him if the look on his face was any indication.

His head tipped slightly in her direction at her words. "I did…" he murmured softly before adopting his normal smug, sardonic tone that was somehow still serious as he continued, "But I'm helping for another, more selfish reason, too, though. I'm under the impression that the appearance of the Horsemen is just a precursor to something…bigger. Badder."

Just the thought of something worse made her skin crawl and the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. It didn't even occur to her that this was just the proverbial calm before the storm when the dark rain clouds were gathering and thunder and lightning was assaulting the sky moments before the worst of it.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because of how small the blast radius is," he told her as they passed through the doors of Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital.

Lydia stared at him in shock, her mind racing. She must of hesitated a beat too long because Peter was suddenly standing in front of her. His hands, surprisingly gentle, gripped her shoulders and he forced her to look at him.

"Lydia. Don't think of that now. It's not important. Just think about Stiles and Scott."

She nodded and forced her feet to move as she followed Peter. Spotting Mrs. McCall behind the main desk, she made a beeline for the woman.

"Hi, Lydia," Melissa greeted, a soft smile gracing Scott's mom's face as she looked up from the desk. Lydia watched her smile slip away and be replaced by a stormy expression once the older woman caught sight of the person standing at her shoulder. "What's he doing here?" Brown eyes searched her face for signs of distress. "Sweetie, are you okay? Are you in danger?"

Lydia grimaced guiltily but shook her head. Scott's mom didn't need to know that it was really her son that she should be worried about. "No, I'm fine, but have you seen Scott and Stiles? They ran off earlier. Scott said that he might come see you though, so I thought he might have told you where they went." She smiled reassuringly at Melissa and leaned against the high counter.

"I wish I could help, but I haven't seen either of the boys tonight. Sorry."

"It's okay. Thanks, though."

Melissa nodded before leaving them at the desk after being paged over the intercom.

"Well, that was helpful," Peter drawled once she was out of earshot.

Lydia rolled her eyes and scowled at him. "You're being real helpful right now too," she ground out, glaring at the older Hale. "What are we doing at the hospital?"

"The blood trail led here, but I lost it due to the antiseptic."

She nodded and they started to methodically search the hospital. Peter would occasionally catch the sharp, metallic scent of Stiles' blood before the trail would go cold again. The only place that he was sure he had caught Stiles' scent was in the elevator.

Eventually they found themselves standing on the roof of the hospital. The low murmur of whispers touched Lydia's sensitive ears and she forced her way past Peter. Looking around, she caught sight of drops of blood staining the ground, leading away from where they stood at the door. She followed the trail with her eyes before rushing toward the furthest corner of the roof and dropping to her knees.

Tentatively, she leaned over the small pool of dark blood until her ear just hovered over it and listened. After a beat, she stood up and walked back to Peter's side.

"Beacon Hills Preserve."

OOOOOO

After securing her quiver tightly to her back, Allison grabbed her bow before slamming the trunk closed. She quickly made her way over to where Isaac and Derek stood behind one of the parked cruisers in the lot.

Allison watched as Isaac awkwardly rubbed at the back of his neck while he glanced around them with sharp eyes, his shoulders tense. "So, how are we going to do this? Find War?" He rocked back onto his heels and shoved both hands into his pockets, suddenly anxious. "Are we even sure looking for her is the right thing to do?"

"What else are we supposed to do, Isaac?" Derek asked. "Our only option right now to help Scott is to find War and stop her."

Allison glanced around the deserted parking lot before eyeing the main entrance to the sheriff's station where she spotted Deputy Parrish standing with his back turned to them just inside the doors attempting to console a hysterical woman. She watched as he patted the woman on the shoulder and tried to offer her a tissue that was automatically shoved away. "We're going to have to make this quick before Parrish or someone else comes out those doors," she said, reaching back to grab one of her arrows and load her bow.

"We should start looking for the Mustang a-" Derek started before he was cut off.

"That won't be a problem, Derek! Look out!" Isaac yelled out.

The now familiar cherry red Mustang came careening into the lot, lights off, and clipped the young werewolf. Derek grabbed Allison and forced them both down between two cruisers just as Isaac was thrown up into the air.

They watched with wide eyes as the car came to a screeching halt just as Isaac landed nimbly on the roof before back flipping off the car a few feet away. The door suddenly flew open and War stepped out. Her red eyes flickered like a raging fire as she glowered at them.

"I thought I made it quite clear what was supposed to happen!" War roared. Her hair turned to pure flame and it seemed like the longer they stared at her, the more that her image began to flicker too.

Not liking where this was going, Allison quickly nocked back three arrows in her direction. She watched in openmouthed horror as War twisted her body into impossible positions, catching each one and snapping them. Derek snarled and went in to attack her next. War simply smirked at him before thrusting her arm out and landing a solid blow to his chest.

Allison barely spared him a glance as he went flying and nocked back a couple more arrows while Isaac tried to go head to head with the Horseman. The arrows bounced off of her and only seemed to make her more irritated. Her face flushed with rage and seemed to slowly spread down her body. With an inhuman roar War grabbed Isaac by the arm and quickly twisted it behind his back. She brought her foot up and kicked him square in the chest.

Suddenly she threw her head back and let out a vicious snarl that rattled the windows of the cruisers surrounding them. Flames started to lick at her feet and begin to crawl up her body, and to Allison it looked as if War's skin had become a sickening dark red color, almost like the color of blood. She stood frozen as she watched as War let out another roar, her hair lifting off her head like a raging fire. The flames surrounding her suddenly engulfed the Horseman and Allison had to shield her eyes from the sudden brightness. When the light dimmed, Allison regretted not fighting Lydia on not going with her and Peter to track Scott and Stiles.

Standing in all her horrifying glory was War.

She was no longer in human form, but rather in the demonic one that Peter had alluded to. All visible skin was a dark, bloody red. Her hair was completely made out of flame and had lost all semblance of looking natural. Her eyes were black and instead of an iris and a pupil in the center was a glowing red and orange flame. Anything that had once made the Horseman have any semblance of being human had been wiped away and replaced with what could only be described as pure anger. War's entire visage screamed rage.

Suddenly Allison was being dragged behind a cruiser by Derek. "What are we going to do?" she frantically hissed at him. "I don't think anything we can do will be able to stop her!"

Derek gave a quick jerk of his head. "You're right, but we've got to at least subdue her for a little while."

A sharp whistle pierced the air from behind them and Allison and Derek shared a look before standing from their crouched positions to face War.

"Surrender to me and I'll let him live." War had Isaac in her clutches, her front pressed to his back. She had a large sword with an ornamental hilt pressed to his throat.

Fear was the predominant emotion on Isaac's face and Allison didn't like the situation one bit. In less than a minute War had gained the upper hand. They needed to find a way to be in control again, be on the winning side.

Derek must have been thinking the same thing because he leaped over the cruiser and landed next to War's Mustang. He dragged a clawed hand against the side of the car and then slashed at the tire closest to him. Allison quickly caught his drift and quickly took out the back windshield.

She nocked an arrow and aimed for another window. "Let him go!"

War let out an inhuman scream of outrage and spun Isaac around in her arms, keeping the blade tight against his throat. "I'll set him on you like the dog he is, the same way I set your alpha Scott on the boy. He'll kill you for me, spill your guts and gather your entrails to add to my trophy case!"

"How about we make a deal, War?" Derek bargained. He nodded for Allison to stay on the car as he placed himself between her and the raging demon. "She won't shoot if you let him go."

War's upper lip curled in disgust but she nodded before shoving Isaac away from her. "You'll regret this. If you had just played the game right, this wouldn't have happened. I don't understand why you can't just follow the rules! Tell her about any of this and I'll tear out your hearts!" she snarled before getting into her ruined Mustang. She slammed the door and revved the engine before speeding off into the night.

Allison rushed forward and helped Isaac up from the ground. She gave him a quick hug before looking him over. "Are you okay?"

He nodded, rubbing at his neck where the sword was pressed against it. "Yeah."

Derek glanced around them and saw a couple deputies push their way out of the sheriff's station and begin to make their way towards them. "Come on, we need to go."

OOOOOO

Peter shoved the door to the loft open and stepped aside to let Lydia pass. It was just after sunrise. They had been out all night following the blood trail and the few clues Stiles had left for Lydia in his blood and they were exhausted with nothing to show for it.

No Stiles.

No Scott.

Not anything.

Lydia just wanted to her Stiles back. Was that really so much to ask for?

Dead on her feet, Lydia made it the few feet to the couch and collapsed. She forced her eyes to stay open and looked around the loft for the first time since getting back. Allison was curled up on the other side of the couch, fast asleep. One arm was hanging over the side and her crossbow was loosely gripped in her hand. Glancing around, she didn't see Isaac or Derek.

Unable to fight her fatigue, Lydia let her eyes flutter shut but wasn't able to fall asleep. She shifted slightly to get into a comfortable position and listened as Derek greeted his uncle.

"What happened?"

"We spent the entire night following Stiles' blood and once we got to the preserve it started to send us back into town. Looked like Scotty-boy got smart and realized that Stilinski was leaving behind clues," Peter said.

The floorboards creaked as someone walked across the loft. "Did you guys at least see them?" Derek asked.

"No, not once. Lydia and I ran around the town a couple times, backtracking when the trail began to overlap, basically everywhere. The trail led to the preserve again and ended at the Nemeton where we found Stiles' next clue, which then led us to the old house and another clue that sent us to the high school. Once we got there the trail went cold." There was a pause followed by the sound of the floor creaking again. "Between me and you, Derek, with the amount of blood that Stiles has lost, I doubt he's going to last much longer. Lydia knows this, but I don't think she'll admit to herself that we might end up finding his body in a ditch…Then again, considering what's happened to these kids, what's a little blood loss in the grand scheme of things?"

Derek and Peter fell silent and sleep finally claimed Lydia soon after. She slept fitfully, dreaming of finding Stiles somewhere in the preserve dead with Scott hovering over his limp body and War standing off to the side with a self-satisfied smirk on her face.

Hours later Lydia was lightly shaken awake followed by the sound of her name being called.

"Lydia. Lydia, sweetie, wake up – it was just a nightmare," Allison murmured. "C'mon, Lydia, you were just dreaming."

Lydia sat up and quickly looked around. She spotted Derek standing at the bottom of the stairs and saw Isaac standing off to the side behind Allison.

"What time is it?"

"Just after ten," Isaac supplied.

She nodded, glancing out the windows at the sun that was now high in the sky rather than skimming the horizon, before focusing back on Allison's concerned face. "I'm okay, Allison. It's nothing."

"Are you sure?"

Lydia nodded before really looking at the three of them. "Are you okay? What happened to you guys last night?"

"We had a run-in with War at the sheriff's station," Isaac told her, absent-mindedly rubbing the column of his throat. "And she, um, threatened to kill me." She raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

Allison sat down beside her and ran a hand through her hair tiredly. "We might have pissed her off a little, too. She threatened to turn Isaac into one of her soldiers like Scott."

"I changed my mind – I don't want to know." She brought her hand up to her mouth and stifled a sob. "I just want Stiles back."

"I know, Lydia, we want that too," Allison murmured softly, lightly rubbing her back.

Derek stepped away from the windows and joined them by the couch, speaking for the first time since Lydia had woken. "We need to find a way to stop War if we want to get both Stiles and Scott back."

"Say we do figure out a way to stop her, Derek, how are we going to find her or Scott? War isn't going to go back to the sheriff's station after last night," Isaac pointed out.

"War let something slip when she was threatening us before she left," Derek started. "She said that if we told a her about what was going on that she was going to kill us."

Lydia pursed her lips and stared at him. "I think she's going to do that anyway, Derek."

"No, wait," Allison said, thoughtful. "You're right, she did say that. But who could she have been talking about?"

All heads turned to look at Lydia. She glanced at them and shook her head, giving them a thin, humorless smile. "She couldn't have been talking about me, I saw her with Stiles last night after Scott attacked Aiden." She looked away, suddenly thoughtful. "But she could have been talking about Scott's mom. Peter and I saw her last night at the hospital and I didn't have the heart to tell her what's going on."

The sudden revelation sparked something in them and they planned what they were going to do to lure War out before splitting their separate ways to get some more much needed rest.

OOOOOO

It was just after sunset when Isaac and Lydia pushed their way through the doors of the hospital.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lydia watched Isaac nervously finger the scarf around his neck. She frowned at him but shook her head and said nothing. He had already made his reservations about the plan and it was too late for him to back out now so that either Derek or Peter could take his place. Lydia could understand his hesitance about facing War after what had happened to him last night, but he needed to suck it up.

Their alpha and her boyfriend were compromised and they needed their help.

Mrs. McCall spotted them almost immediately a minute later. She smiled at them, propping the patient chart in her hand against her hip. "Hi, kids, what are you guys doing here?" she greeted.

Lydia gave her a tight, forced smile. "Last night when I was here with Peter, I was more than just looking for Scott and Stiles. I was actually trying to track them down because of something that happened yesterday after school."

Melissa's brow furrowed in confusion as she looked between the two teenagers. "What do you mean? What happened?"

"Remember what happened to Stiles last weekend? Him being sick because of one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?" Isaac asked her, now tugging at the end of his scarf and anxiously glancing around them.

She nodded slowly, not liking where this was headed. "Yeah…"

Lydia ground the sharp heel of her shoe into Isaac's foot, completely ignoring his yelp of pain as she spoke. "It's Scott, he–"

Suddenly it seemed like the temperature had risen by twenty degrees in the room they were standing in and a hot sweat began to build at the nape of Lydia's neck. The door blasted open and War stood in the doorway. She let out an inhuman snarl and Lydia felt Isaac flinch behind her.

"Nooo!' she roared. "You're ruining the game again! You aren't supposed to tell her!"

Brave, Lydia stepped toward War, feeling her own anger bubble to the surface. "Tell her what, War? That you're controlling her son, making him into your willing soldier with your influence? That you're commanding Scott to kill his best friend?"

"If you had just followed the game like you were supposed to, you would have ended up back where it all started!"

"Thank you for telling us that," Lydia smirked.

War's eyes widened in rage. "That's not fair!" she snarled.

"All is fair in love and war," she sneered. "Especially when you play with the hearts of a banshee and a hunter." War snarled at them one last time before running off in a flurry of flame.

Isaac pulled out his phone and hit speed dial. "The school. They're at the school, Allison."

Melissa tugged lightly at Lydia's arm, turning the girl to look at her. "What was that?"

She pursed her lips and shook her head at the older woman. "You don't want to know. You really don't want to know."

OOOOOO

Allison perched from her roost at the top of the school and quickly scanned the vacant parking lot, waiting for the blue Jeep to appear. She was beginning to think that she didn't hear what Isaac said right. Maybe he said pool instead of school. But what sense did that make? War didn't cause any trouble at the pool as far as she knew. And besides, Lydia had once mentioned that War was a creature of habit, that she eventually repeated her actions over time as history had documented.

She closed her eyes and steeled herself for what she would have to do. If they were unable to save both of them, she would have to do the unthinkable, whether she wanted to or not.

Her eyes snapped open at the low rumbling of an engine and she watched as Stiles' Jeep slowly drove into the lot and roll to a stop. The driver's side door opened and Stiles came tumbling out, quickly followed by Scott. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him. He was all red eyes full of anger and rage and sharp teeth and it made Allison's heart ache that all of that anger was directed at his best friend.

She watched as he roughly manhandled Stiles to walk in front of him and then slowly backed away from the edge of the roof.

"Allison," Scott suddenly called out. "I know you're here. I can smell your fear." Cautiously, she made her way back toward the ledge. Scott was turned away from her but she could plainly see that he had one sharp clawed hand held up to Stiles' throat. "If you don't come out from wherever you're hiding, Allison, I'll kill him and then it'll be your fault that he's dead," he threatened.

Before she could do anything Lydia's car came skidding into the parking lot. Lydia tore out of her car and sprinted across campus with Isaac hot on her heels only to stop short when she saw the boys. Derek and Peter came out from the shadows behind Scott at the same time, claws and fangs out. Scott growled menacingly at them in response, halting their approach.

"Stiles!" she screamed before running toward him. Allison leaped up to stand on the ledge, her bow loaded with a flash bolt, and shakily aimed at Scott in case he decided to hurt both Lydia and Stiles.

"Lydia," Stiles gasped, struggling against Scott's tight grip, trying to get to her. Isaac raced forward and grabbed Lydia before she got too close and held the banshee tight to his chest.

Out of the corner of her eye Allison saw the now familiar flash of fiery red that was War and saw her come down the stairs near the cafeteria. She was now wearing tight red pants and a leather jacket and had a tight grip on the hilt of her sword.

"Attack, my child," she hissed. "Kill the boy and then them and you will have won this battle, alpha. There is nothing that these fools can do to stop you."

A cry of anguish tore from Lydia's mouth and she struggled even more in Isaac's arms, desperate to get to Stiles. "No!" she moaned. "NO! Stiles!"

Scott ignored them all and again called out for Allison. "Come down and join our friends so that you can get a front row seat for Stiles' death."

Allison felt her tears streaming down her face as she pulled her arm back. This wasn't her Scott. This was some sick perversion of him.

"Allison, don't. Don't take the shot!" Stiles yelled to her.

At the same time Lydia thrashed in Isaac's arms, trying to get him to release her. "Please! Please just let him go! Let Stiles go, Scott! Please!" she begged.

"Kill me. Kill me and end this. Just let them go, Scott. Kill me and let Lydia and the others live," he yelled over her.

"Nooo!" Lydia shrieked.

Allison couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't listen to this, couldn't listen to Stiles sacrificing himself for everyone else, couldn't listen to Lydia's desperate pleas.

So she did the only thing that she could.

She quickly drew her arm back again and aimed at Scott's feet. Unblinkingly, she nocked the flash bolt back.

A split second before the flash ignited Scott dove out of the way, using Stiles as a human shield to protect himself. Almost immediately Peter and Derek moved in closer but Scott was already on his feet and had his hand back on Stiles' throat, tightening just a little bit more with every step they took until they stopped.

War stepped closer, ignoring the growls of the other werewolves. "Do it already," she snarled. "Kill the boy!" At her words Lydia started screaming at the top of her lungs and Allison felt her eyes begin to blur with tears, clouding her vision.

Knowing what she had to do to finally get all of this to end, Allison scrubbed her tears away against the sleeve of her jacket and pulled out a steel tipped arrow from her quiver. Blinking away the last of her tears she loaded her bow with shaky fingers. She took two deep, calming breaths before pulling the string back.

"I love you, Scott," she whispered before letting the arrow fly.

OOOOOO

At the sound of her voice time froze.

Scott released Stiles and closed his eyes and let Allison's soft words wash over him like a soothing balm. He blocked everything going on around him and listened for one specific sound until he found it. The steady beating of Allison's heart surrounded him in all directions and erased all of the pent up anger and rage that had fueled his actions over the past two days, breaking the hold that War had over him, and anchoring his mind once again.

But then the spell was broken and time restarted again.

His eyes snapped open and he gasped in equal parts shock and pain as the arrow pierced his shoulder, tearing through skin and muscle. Scott looked down and idly watched as the blood oozed and gushed from the wound.

He blinked sluggishly and dropped down to his knees, suddenly exhausted.

A shrill cry of outrage jolted him and he forced himself to pay attention. Scott looked to his left where the shriek had come from and watched as War became engulfed in flames, her sword already raised as she charged forward.

He blinked again and looked away at the sound of a different cry, this one full of relief.

Scott blinked through bleary eyes and saw Lydia break from Isaac's hold and rush forward. She dropped to her knees beside Stiles' slumped form and pulled him close. Lydia cradled his head tenderly in her arms and pressed kiss after kiss on his face.

The sounds of fighting shifted his focus again and he witnessed as Isaac, Derek, and Peter fought against War. They took turns brutally attacking her, but she was always there to counter or block their blows with her sword.

He blinked and kept his eyes closed this time.

"Scott."

At the feeling of two soft hands on either side of his face, he opened his eyes and suddenly found himself staring into familiar warm brown eyes.

"Scott," she sighed again, slipping her arms tight around his neck in relief.

He wound his arms around her waist and buried his head in the crook of her neck, breathing in the familiar soothing vanilla scent that was just so Allison.

"I love you, too," he whispered, squeezing her tight against his chest as her heart started to beat just a little faster.

She pulled back just enough to look him in the eye. The corners of her mouth curved upward and her eyes lit up. Her eyes slowly slid closed and she leaned in. He met her halfway and they shared a sweet kiss, pouring all of their relief and their love into the one simple act.

An agonizing howl of pain tore them apart and Scott and Allison watched in shock as War sliced diagonally across Isaac's chest with the sharp blade of her sword. He groaned in pain again and dropped down to his knees, fingers clutching at the open wound on his chest.

Derek growled and lunged at War claws first. She kicked him square in the chest and sent him flying.

"You're going to have to do better than that, wolf," she sneered unimpressed.

"How about this?" Peter snarled and he ensnared War in his arms from behind. There was a wild look in his bright blue eyes that made Scott question the man's sanity again and make him wonder why he was taking all of this so personally, like it had been him that had been controlled by War.

His fatigue and exhaustion returned and Scott fought against it. A wild shriek of pain and anger forced him to focus and he saw that Peter had sunk his fangs into War's neck. She writhed violently in his grip as the blood oozed and her fire dimmed as her sword fell to the ground.

Through heavy lids he watched as the Second Horseman suddenly froze and then turn to ash.

Relief flooded Scott's body and the last thing he remembered before slipping into unconsciousness was the feeling of Allison's lips pressed against his forehead.