Title: Insight
IX - The Situation
Author: tmjohn72
Rating: T
A/N - I ended up reworking a few points in this chapter during editing. It's essentially the same chapter but with a bit of a facelift. Enjoy!
Allison loaded up the bow with a Wolfsbane laced arrow. It was meant for Peter, though it would just as easily take out the Necromancer or his enslaved corpses. When they walked to within fifty feet of the building her possession ended and she remembered everything that happened. After Stiles learned that his father was safe he asked Jackson and Lydia to join them and the drive had only took them eight minutes. Now that their ranks were complete they were ready to move, but Stiles had a bad feeling developing in his gut.
Part of the issue was that they were still blocking his sensing abilities and it unnerved him. There was no question that they were inside. In fact, the werewolves were able to hear four distinct heartbeats and that raised the fear that there was a hostage situation. Stiles felt a slight pain when he tried to sense inside the building and he was annoyed that he had never considered the fact that the Necromancer would be able to do other type of magic as well.
"So do we move or wait for them to come out?," Boyd asked.
"We can't wait forever. The Necromancer will be able to summon more corpses if he has enough time to rest. We need to take him out before that happens."
"Then we move. Everyone head inside and be on guard," Derek said.
Once they moved inside they found Peter and the Necromancer plotting an escape route. Stiles was horrified to find both Morrell and Deaton in the building with them. They were bound and gagged and to make matters worse, the four of them were protected by a circle of mountain ash.
"They found us," the deputy said, and he pulled out his handgun and pointed it at Stiles. He had the instinct to raise his hands but he kept it at bay. Instead he focused on what needed to be done and the fact that protecting the town was more important than the threat of getting shot.
"Shooting him won't do us any good," Peter said, "but I won't stop you if that's what you want to do." Peter was smiling and when he looked into Stiles' eyes he could sense that Peter wanted him dead. Stiles felt sorry for Derek because he knew that Peter was his last surviving family member, and the plan was going to put Peter back in the grave.
"Let them go, Peter," Derek ordered.
"What can I trade them for? Oh, I know..."
"I won't relinquish my Alpha status to you. You're going to have to kill me if you want it."
Peter walked close to the edge and crossed his arms. Stiles could tell that he was doing his best to challenge Derek. "Stiles, can't you just deactivate the mountain ash and free them?"
"It would take some time."
"That is something that none of us have," the deputy said, "because we'll kill them if you try anything."
"Which would remove the only thing holding us back, not to mention that we'd be pretty pissed off."
Peter raised an eyebrow. "So it seems we're at a standoff. Oh, except for the explosives."
Stiles felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. The mention of the explosives was enough to activate his ability so that he could see the explosives planted all over town where their loved ones were. Stiles felt his confidence slip away.
"What are you talking about?," Allison asked, lacking the seer abilities to find out for herself.
"You didn't think I would let myself be taken as easily as last time, did you? I'm the rightful Alpha and you all know it."
"They planted bombs all over town. One's at my house and one is at the hospital."
"My mom is at work tonight," Scott said. Stiles felt his panic.
"At least she's close to a morgue," Peter said, winking at Scott to get him riled up. Scott responded with a low growl.
"Did you at least put a bomb at Harris' house?," Stiles asked. He didn't actually want him dead, though a good scare would have been adequate punishment for the teacher's cruelty over the last year and a half.
"No. When I'm Alpha he will get the retribution that's coming to him. Stiles, do you know where else we placed bombs?"
Stiles hid all of his emotions. "The Sheriff's Station."
"The Sheriff's Station!," Peter bellowed. "I didn't want you to feel left out and I know how your dear old father adores that place. It seems they'll hire just about anyone when the previous employees are gunned down by a maniacal teenager. This guy didn't officially exist a year ago and still they hired him and let him plant explosives all over the place."
Stiles felt Derek's eyes on him but he ignored it. Instead he focused on Peter. "So they're on a timer but you can also activate them remotely."
"Yes. So, Derek is going to rescind his status so that I can take my rightful place. I will allow you to warn your family and friends before I set off the bombs. If you don't agree to my terms then I'll be forced to kill everyone."
"We're going to stop you," Derek said.
Stiles nodded. "We are. And I know how."
Peter's eyes widened when Stiles walked up to the barrier and put his hands to it. He could feel it pushing exactly like it felt when he had been at the animal clinic. Stiles then pushed through and hit Peter with the strongest force he could muster. Peter was knocked back into the deputy who accidentally fired the gun. The bullet hit Stiles in the shoulder but he ignored the pain long enough to free Deaton and Morrell.
"Stiles, you don't have to do this alone," Morrell said, reading something in his eyes.
"Actually, I do. It's my job now."
He put his hand on Deaton and Morrell and walked them out of the inner ring of the mountain ash. "Stiles, what are you planning to do?"
"I'm going to teach them a lesson about the laws of nature."
Derek was by his side and lifting his shirt to check his injury when Stiles gently pushed him away and ran back through the barrier. Derek tried to follow but the barrier held him back. Peter looked up from the floor and started laughing. "What's so funny?"
"You are. You think that you can actually stop us."
"I can stop you. I've seen it."
"You're mistaken," Peter said, pulling a wooden sphere out of his pocket. He placed it on the floor and then broke the circle of mountain ash, pulling the Necromancer to the other side with him. Stiles felt the circle close back around him once they got outside and Stiles sensed what was about to happen. He turned back to Derek and gave him a sad smile. "We may have a problem."
"Stiles, get out of there!"
"I can't. The sphere is what set off the explosion that night in the forest. I was standing in the spot that night and my energy was still there, which is why the explosion happened."
"It was something I picked up when I was out of town. It's typically a reliable device," Peter said.
"Just step through," Scott said.
"I can't. If I step through then it will pass through the mountain ash and kill everyone in the building. If I stay inside the barrier then the mountain ash will contain the explosion." Stiles put his hand to his face and felt the moisture. He had been crying and didn't even realize it.
Peter laughed from the other side of the barrier and he helped the Necromancer to his feet. "What will it be, Derek? I can save him. All you have to do is allow me to take my rightful place."
"Derek, he isn't going to save me."
"We have to do something!," Erica said.
"There isn't anything we can do," Morrell said sadly. Stiles could see that she was crying too.
Derek shook his head and walked up to the barrier. "I'm not going to lose you, Stiles."
"We can't change our destiny. There's nothing that can be done. You need to focus on stopping them and saving everyone. Derek, I need you to save my father."
Derek looked over at Peter and then back to Stiles. "How much time do we have?"
"Less than a minute. It's drawing power."
"Kiss me," Derek said sadly.
Stiles leaned through the barrier, enough so that he was mostly still inside of the barrier. The kiss was passionate and quick. It was messy and awkward. It was meant to say goodbye.
