The weekend had passed without incident. Leah avoided Stiles, not leaving her house or engaging in conversation with him. But it wasn't like Stiles tried anyway. She knew he was mad at her for bailing on their group date, so she figured she would give him the weekend to be mad and try to talk to him about it on Monday.

While Leah avoided her problems, Connor tried to help solve some. Since Derek was turning more teens, he admitted to Connor that Jackson was supposed to be his first beta. Derek continued by telling Connor that Jackson's body rejected the bite. But there had been no other incident - Jackson was still standing, alive and well.

Over the weekend, Connor had spent most of his time with Deaton, going over possible outcomes. From what Connor was told, it didn't seem like there was cause for concern, but it was still odd that both Lydia and Jackson somehow survived the bite and didn't turn.

Once Monday rolled around, Leah caught up with Stiles as he walked out of their Chemistry class. They hadn't talked all morning and Leah knew she had to be the one to apologize, which Leah was never good at, especially when it came to apologizing to Stiles. Plus, deep down, Leah was still pretty embarrassed at what happened that night, even if Stiles didn't know about it. She was grateful Scott didn't tell anyone -the last thing she needed was people fretting over her.

"Hey," Leah put a hand on Stiles's arm, getting his attention, "Can we talk?" She asked, raising her eyebrows at him. Stiles swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded, letting Leah lead him into an empty classroom.

She walked ahead of him, putting some space between them before she turned to look at him. Stiles was looking down at the floor, not sure if he was supposed to say something or not. Tangling her fingers together, Leah took in a breath, "I'm sorry." She quietly managed out. Stiles glanced up at her, surprised to hear those words coming out of her mouth.

Leah took two steps forward, closing the space between them as she reached out to Stiles. Her hands went to his arms and she looked up at him, giving him a serious look,

"I know you think I forgot, but I swear to God, I didn't."

"Then what happened?" Stiles asked, causing Leah to roll her lips in and look away from him,

"It's...hard to explain." She settled on brow furrowing a bit as she thought back to what happened at the ice rink, "But, it was a side effect of the wolfsbane." Stiles's brow furrowed as he looked at her, "I swear." Leah pressed, almost like she was trying to get Stiles to believe her so she could make it ok to herself.

Stiles took in a breath and stepped away from her, nodding as he went, "Okay, yeah."

"You're pissed." Leah slumped down a little.

"Yeah, kinda." Stiles looked away from her, "I mean, I planned the whole thing for us and then you went and invited Scott and Allison -"

"They're our friends." Leah cut him off. "And you didn't really plan it." Leah made a face, having talked to Kyle over the weekend about how he had helped.

"Maybe I just wanted to spend some alone time with my girlfriend!" Stiles raised his shoulders up, flailing his arms out. Leah took in a breath and closed her mouth.

"You're right." Leah said, surprising Stiles. He was ready for an argument, but it seemed like Leah had gone the opposite route, "So sorry I tried to be a nice person and invited our friends out with us." Leah snapped. Stiles let out a huff, knowing he should've seen her dig coming,

"That's not what I meant." Stiles paused before gesturing to her, "And since when do you care about other people? Like Lydia?"

"Oh my God!" Leah rolled her head back, "You got to spend a whole evening alone with her, why are you complaining?!"

"Because I wanted to spend the night alone with you!"

Leah stopped short, mouth opened slightly; she was ready to deliver a comeback, but Stiles caught her off guard. She licked her lips and nodded as Stiles let his arms drop. Leah crossed her arms over her chest, the two of them standing in silence.

"I just…" Stiles started, "I just wanted one normal night. Without blackouts or werewolves or worrying about who Derek was going to turn next." Stiles paused, "But all I got was Lydia screaming her head off and you forgetting about it...me...again."

"I didn't forget about you." Leah seriously, but quietly said, "And I hate that you're making me feel guilty."

"It's because you know I'm right."

"I know."

Stiles took in a breath and stepped closer to Leah, reaching out to her. Leah stepped into his arms, letting him hug her and feeling him take in a deep breath, "So the wolfsbane didn't work," Stiles started, "Something else will."

"I'm sorry I ruined Friday night." Leah quietly responded, "But I swear, I didn't forget." She picked up her head to look up at Stiles, who gave her a small smile. He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and nodded,

"I know."

Leah gave him a small smile and pushed up on her toes to give Stiles a small kiss, but Stiles quickly pulled back. He made a face at her as Leah raised her eyebrows at him, "Excuse me, I thought you didn't want to do PDA in school…" Stiles trailed off as Leah pushed out her lips,

"Mmm, can't recall." She made a face, obviously joking, and Stiles went along with it,

"Finally, something that works in my favor." Stiles joked back before pressing his lips against Leah's. He gave her exaggerated kisses, making Leah laugh and lean away from him, pushing him back.

"Ridiculous." Leah said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Stiles smirked at her as she walked by him, heading for the cafeteria,

"Did I tell you that Lydia thinks we're cute?" Stiles asked, catching up with Leah. Leah reached down to tangle her fingers through Stiles's, only he didn't understand what was happening so he tried to move away, but Leah stopped him, grabbing his hand and forcibly holding it. Stiles glanced down and then looked back at Leah, his mouth forming a small o.

"Wait, Lydia?" Leah asked, an amused smile on her face as she looked up at Stiles, "You talked to Lydia about us?"

"Uh, yeah, had to make sure she knew that I was off the market." Stiles raised his eyebrows at her, causing Leah to roll her eyes,

"Right cause she was soooo interested before." Leah teased with a smirk. Stiles gave her an unamused look as Leah rolled her eyes upward, "Anyway…"

"Anyway."

"Scott told me that Derek still needs one more for his pack." Leah changed the subject, "He's questioning Erica today, but I don't think he's gonna get very far."

"Yeah, I don't know who it could be." Stiles sighed as they walked into the cafeteria. For some reason, Stiles glanced over to Boyd's table, seeing that it was empty. His brow furrowed for a moment before he realized what it could mean, "Oh-" Stiles started, walking away from Leah, heading over to where Scott was sitting. Leah followed behind, but was intercepted by Allison, who grabbed Leah's arm and gave her an urging look. Understanding that Allison needed to talk, Leah walked with her friend out of the cafeteria.

"What's the matter? What happened?" Leah asked as her and Allison began walking down the hallway.

"I don't know." Allison shook her head, stopping her walk down the hall, "Nothing, I mean, something...with everything that's happening...I just feel like...a war is coming." Allison glanced to Leah, speaking softly. Leah took in a deep breath and set her mouth in a straight line.

She knew there was truth to what Allison was saying; she could feel it brewing. From Allison's father starting training sessions with Allison to Connor spending more and more time with Derek and his new pack, and with Derek rushing to build a new pack, hunters infiltrating every part of the town, it was only a matter of time before it all came crashing down.

"What are we gonna do about it?" Leah asked after a moment.

"I don't know." Allison repeated herself, sounding a bit defeated. Leah caught sight of Allison's grandfather walking out of his office, but he didn't see the two girls. Watching him walk into the men's room, Leah voiced a concern,

"Your grandfather doesn't know about Scott, right?"

"No, God, no." Allison swallowed, "But, uhm, I saw Erica talking to him earlier."

"What did she want?"

"I don't know." Allison shook her head, "She's with Derek and he needs a pack -"

"Scott's not going to go with him." Leah cut Allison off, "He's trying to prevent anyone else from turning."

"I know, I know." Allison nodded, "I just...wish he would," She took in a breath, "Not get involved." Leah looked over at Allison, who started to explain, "There's going to be crossfire and I can't risk losing him."

"You can't ask him to sit idly by." Leah pointed out, getting a nod from Allison. There was a pause as Allison took in a breath,

"I just don't know what to do." She settled on, "And I hate that feeling."

"Okay, so why don't we do something about it." Leah offered, "We could...I don't know, do something." Allison gave her a grateful smile, "Do you wanna punch something?" Leah asked, raising her shoulders up, "Or bake something or I don't know…"

"I could punch something." Allison grinned at Leah, nodding a bit. Leah laughed at her friend, rolling her eyes as they continued down the hall.

"What about you?" Allison reached out to gently touch Leah's arm, changing the subject, "Is everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah." Leah waved her hand in the air, playing it off, "Connor gave me some home remedy that didn't work, but," Leah rolled her eyes, "You know." Allison didn't know, but she went along with Leah's attitude, knowing Leah didn't want to get into it. "So punching something..." Leah trailed off, getting a small laugh from Allison, "After school? Your house?"

"Sounds good to me." Allison bobbed her head, looking a little more relaxed than she had earlier.


The rest of the school day passed and Leah barely saw Stiles. He was missing in her afternoon classes and there was no sign of Scott. She sent a text to Stiles, feeling like she was missing something, but she couldn't remember either of them telling her that there was something that needed to be done.

Settling into her music seat, Leah twisted around to look at where Danny was sitting with the brass section. She got his attention by waving her hand at him until he looked over and gave her a confused look. Realizing that she wanted to talk to him, Danny heaved a sigh and stepped down the make shift bleachers and headed over to where Leah sat with the string section.

"What's up?" Danny asked, standing over her

"Was Stiles in your math class last period?"

"No." Danny said, going to turn away from Leah and go back to his seat,

"Wait." Leah stopped him, "Have you seen him?" Danny sighed and looked back at Leah,

"It is not my job to look after your boyfriend." Danny dryly stated, looking bored.

"Woah, okay." Leah put up a hand, "First off, why the attitude? Second off, he-we're not-" Danny gave her a look and Leah sighed, "Yeah, okay, whatever."

"Sorry, Leah, I don't know where he is." Danny shrugged, getting Leah to make an annoyed face,

"Can you at least tell me what's eating you?" Leah asked, motioning to Danny. Danny sighed again,

"My boyfriend and I got into a fight, okay?" Danny raised his eyebrows at her, "Not everything revolves around you, LK."

"Actually it does, DM." Leah pressed a hand to her chest, obviously joking, "But, yeah, that's shitty, I'm sorry."

"No, you're not." Danny scoffed and shook his head, going to walk off. Leah let him, grumbling to herself. She knew Danny was still a little angry with her for not tipping him off about when Connor was going to be at the Jungle, but she didn't have control over that.

Either way, it was clear that Stiles had skipped the rest of the day. And Leah wasn't sure why he had ditched, but he wasn't answering her texts. Before her music class started, Leah sent a quick text to Scott, asking what was going on.

It wasn't like the boys to leave Leah out of a plan, well, not recently. Leah tried to wrack her brain, wanting to figure out if she had forgotten a plan or if the boys really didn't tell her. She was nervous that it was something involving the new betas or whatever new Argents had come to town. Instead of paying attention in class, Leah retraced her steps, trying to remember every conversation she had - jotting down key points in the margins of her sheet music and notebooks.

Luckily, she didn't have to fret over what she was missing for too long; as the final bell rang, Scott texted her back. Apparently after Allison and Leah left the cafeteria, Stiles and Scott figured out that Boyd was going to be the next one Derek was going to turn. The boys had split up, both searching for Boyd. While Leah was a little annoyed that the boys didn't involve her, she was relieved that she hadn't forgotten anything during the day.

"Hey," Leah caught up with Allison as they walked out of their last class, "Can we reschedule punching things?" Allison's brow furrowed as she nodded,

"Is everything okay?"

"I'll let you know." Leah raised her eyebrows at Allison before walking away from her.

Glancing around herself, Leah ducked into the front office, heading for Mrs. Richard's desk. There was no sign of the secretary and Leah looked over her shoulder at the closed doors of the principal's office to make sure Allison's grandfather wasn't around. Leah stepped around the desk and snuck into the back room where the student files were stored. She opened the drawers, flipping through the files until she landed on Boyd's name - "Oh it's his last name." Leah said to herself, making a face as she pulled out the file folder.

She opened it up and quickly took a picture of the address before shoving the folder back into the drawer and shutting the cabinet. Leah turned, heading out of the back room as the principal's office door opened. Freezing, Leah debated what to do, deciding to quickly dart around the desk and out into the hallway. She jogged down the hall, glancing over her shoulder to make sure Allison's grandfather hadn't followed her.

The coast was clear and Leah slowed down, heading for the locker room to grab her board before heading to Boyd's address. She plugged it into her phone, letting the map direct her towards the house. It was a lot further than Leah realized and a part of her thought she was going the wrong way, but then she saw Stiles's Jeep parked on the side of the street, in front of an unfamiliar house.

Stepping off of her board, Leah picked it up and shoved it into her backpack before lightly jogging up to the Jeep. There was no sign of Stiles inside of it and Leah moved around the front of the Jeep, figuring he was inside the house. She stepped up the front porch stairs, and quickly knocked against the door.

Moments later, an older woman answered the door, but kept the screen door in between her and Leah. Leah forced a warm smile on her face as she greeted the woman, "Hi, I'm looking for Stiles."

"Stiles?" The woman asked, brow furrowing. Leah looked over her shoulder at the Jeep and then back to the woman.

"That's his Jeep." Leah thumbed over her shoulder, getting the woman to look over Leah at the Jeep.

"Oh that's been parked here since I got home." The woman shook her head, "Haven't seen anyone around it all day."

"Huh." Leah's brow furrowed, "Is Boyd here?" She tried a new tactic.

"He already left for work, honey." The woman gave her a sad smile, like she was pitying Leah for just missing Boyd. "I can tell him you stopped by."

"Oh, no that's ok." Leah waved her hand in the air, "I can just catch him tomorrow at school." Leah played it off, giving the woman a smile, "Thank you."

"Have a good night." The woman bid Leah goodbye, closing the door on Leah as Leah waved goodbye.

Turning away from Boyd's house, Leah jogged down the front stairs, heading back to Stiles's Jeep. She opened up the driver's side door and climbed inside. His backpack and phone were on the passenger seat, causing Leah to pause for a moment. Obviously something had happened.

Leah figured she could get further in Stiles's Jeep than on her board so she reached up to pull down the sun visor, knowing Stiles had started keeping a spare set of keys in the Jeep after what had happened with Peter in the parking garage.

The ignition clicked a couple of times before shutting off and Leah paused for a moment before turning the key again. The same thing happened and Leah cursed Stiles under her breath for not taking care of his Jeep. Pushing out of the Jeep, Leah went around the front of Jeep, popping open the hood.

Furrowing her brow, Leah tried to see what was the cause of it before she dropped down into a crouch. She laid down on the ground and went under the Jeep, looking up. There was an empty space where the starter was supposed to be. Leah made a face, realizing that was the cause of the problems. Shimmying out from under the Jeep, Leah popped up and closed the hood of the Jeep, as she tried to figure out where Stiles could've gone on foot. She went for her phone as she looked around the empty neighborhood street.

Pulling up a webpage, Leah typed in the name of the mechanic that Connor was friends with. The number came up as well as the address and Leah clicked on the number, letting the call connect. She held the phone to her ear, hearing it ring twice before a voice came over the line,

"Armor Tire and Service Center, this is Tucker."

"Hey, Tucker," Leah started, letting her voice go up a bit to sound more polite, "It's Leah Kane, Connor Kane's little sister."

"Oh hey, what's up?"

"Listen, my friend's Jeep isn't starting - is there any way you could get a tow truck out here and help me out?" Leah played innocent, biting down on her lower lip as she waited for Tucker to answer.

"Yeah, yeah, of course." Leah grinned to herself, "Where you at?"

After relaying the address to Tucker and letting him know that Stiles would be with her, Leah hung up the phone. It would take Tucker a few minutes to get to the Jeep so Leah figured she might as well go find Stiles.

As Leah walked down the street, the sun lowered letting the sky get dark. The streetlights came on and Leah pulled out her phone to text Scott about Boyd, wondering if he had found him. There was no response and Leah turned down a side street, wanting to cover as much ground as she could before it got too late. She walked past a dumpster, only to double back at the sound of something moving around inside of it. Leah paused, letting her backpack slip off of her shoulder so she could grab her board, just in case.

Stepping closer, Leah raised her board, ready to attack as Stiles popped out of the dumpster, startling a yelp out of Leah. Stiles flinched at the noise, quickly looking at where Leah was and instinctively putting a hand up to defend himself.

"Oh my god." Leah sighed, slumping down.

"Jesus Christ." Stiles managed out, wincing slightly at his head wound. Leah put her board back into her backpack.

"Why are you in a dumpster?" Leah asked, taking in the whole scene. She tried not to smile as Stiles struggled to get out of the dumpster.

"Stupid bitch hit me over the head and must've dumped me in here." Stiles grumbled as a laugh escaped Leah's mouth. She quickly clapped her hand over her mouth as Stiles's head snapped up to give her an unamused look.

"Sorry." Leah said from behind her hand, obviously not sorry at all. She went to go help Stiles out of the dumpster and he fell into her, almost taking them both down with him. Leah gripped him and tried to steady them as Stiles flailed, trying to keep his balance. They managed not to go down onto the ground, but there was a moment of panic.

"You okay?" Leah asked, pressing her hands against Stiles's chest as he straightened up. He let out a scoff and tried to play it off,

"Yeah." He shrugged back from Leah, fixing his hoodie as he stepped back. Leah raised her eyebrows up at him, silently wondering who Stiles had upset to get himself thrown into the dumpster.

"Erica." Stiles waved his hand in the air, not noticing Leah's confused reaction, "She followed me here, I guess, and then hit me over the head with my starter."

"Oh shit." Leah reacted, making a face, "That's aggressive." She crossed her arms over her chest, "Maybe if you told me what was happening, you wouldn't smell like trash right now." Leah raised her eyebrows at Stiles, clicking her tongue against her cheek as Stiles rolled his eyes.

"We didn't really have time to come find you."

"You had literally all day." Leah waved her arms around, motioning to the dark sky.

"Oh my God." Stiles groaned, "I'm sorry, okay? You got left out of one thing that you probably would've forgotten about anyway-" Leah took in a sharp breath, cutting Stiles off and making him realize what he said, "Fuck." He ended, "That's not what I meant-"

"Whatever, Coleslaw." Leah waved her hand in the air, "Your Jeep is being towed to Armor Tire and Service." Leah turned to walk away from him, but Stiles stepped around her, blocking her.

"Hey, I'm sorry." Stiles reached out to her as Leah eyed him, "It's a knee jerk reaction." Leah made a face, tilting her head to the side as she rocked back on her heels.

"Still hurt."

"I said I was sorry." Stiles made his eyes wide and shoved his hands into his pockets, "Which-is an improvement, all things considering."

"Oh I'm considering all the things." Leah squinted at him and stepped around him. Stiles's sneakers made a noise against the asphalt as he turned around.

"Where are you going?" Stiles asked, walking to catch up with Leah.

"To make sure someone's there when Tucker comes to tow your Jeep."

"Tucker?" Stiles asked, pausing as Leah continued to walk, "Wait, do you know the mechanic?" Stiles started walking again, "Do you think you could get me a deal?"


"Since when do you have a deal with the Argents?" Connor asked as Rachel stripped off her rubber gloves. There was a slight chill in the vet's office and the only light was coming from the overhead lamp hanging above the examination table.

"I don't." Deaton seriously said, "They came to me. And in fact, this is helping us as much as it's helping them." Connor took in a breath and looked to the dead body that was on the table.

He and Rachel had pulled into Deaton's that night, only to see that the Argents were there as well. Waiting until the Argent men left, the pair stayed in Connor's car, Rachel asking who they were while Connor debated if they should or shouldn't go inside. He was curious as to what the Argent men wanted and why they were visiting Deaton. His questions were answered after the men took off in their massive cars. Rachel and Connor had gone inside to see Deaton standing over a body of a man, who had deep claw rips through his chest, and it looked as if Deaton was rather puzzled by what he saw. Maybe not puzzled, but interested.

The man's body was one of Argent's hunters, and it looked like whatever killed him was the same thing that killed Mr. Lahey. Rachel looked over the body to make sure the vet was right, asking questions as to why the vet had anything to do with what was going on and getting a very long drawn out history lesson.

"It's the same thing." Rachel tossed her gloves into the trash can, getting the men's attention. Connor's phone buzzed as Deaton continued to walk around the table, looking at the body as Rachel pointed out certain tell tale signs. Grabbing his phone from the counter, Connor answered Scott's call,

"What's wrong?" Connor asked,

"Where are you?" Scott responded, sounding sort of pained.

"I'm at the vet's clinic." Connor paused, "What happened?"

"Just... I need your help." Scott answered, blowing out a breath "I'll be there soon." And with that, the call disconnected.

Filling in Deaton about whatever killed the hunter took the time that it took for Scott to get to the animal clinic. Connor tried his best to explain what they knew so far, and mentioned Scott was headed their way. He knew that Deaton already knew about Scott since Connor had told Deaton about his employee before Peter was killed, but neither one of them knew what had happened to Scott.

The chime of the bell above the door signaled that Scott had entered the clinic. Connor walked around the table, wanting to meet him as he came in. He heard Scott mumble to himself,

"Why aren't you healing?"

And as he stepped into the light, Connor saw the claw mark across his abdomen. Scott looked up to see Connor and gave him a grim look as Connor looked from the injury to Scott,

"Who-"

"Derek." Scott answered. Connor pursed his lips, feeling his temper flare; time and time again Derek proved he didn't know how to handle his current Alpha status. He wanted to get more information about the injury but before he could ask, Deaton spoke up,

"Because it's from an Alpha." Deaton answered Scott's first question. Both Scott and Connor looked over at Deaton. Scott looked confused while Connor heaved a sigh, knowing Deaton was right. Deaton stepped up, pushing his hands into his pockets. "I think it's time we have that talk." Deaton seriously said, looking to Scott.

Connor moved to let Scott step into the room, going over to get some rubbing alcohol and a bandage to cover Scott's wound. Scott still looked like he was trying to wrap his brain around how his boss was involved, looking from Deaton to the dead mutilated body on the table then over to Rachel, who he had met briefly at the family dinner a week prior. Luckily Scott kept his shirt tugged up, letting Connor step up and dab at the wound with the rubbing alcohol.

"What is that?" Scott asked, flinching slightly at the feeling of the cold liquid.

"Rubbing alcohol." Connor stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "It'll heal, but it's better that it doesn't get infected." Connor motioned with the cotton ball and Scott nodded slightly before looking at Deaton,

"How do you know all this? Actually how do you know anything?" Scott doubled back on his question letting his shirt drop after Connor put a bandage on the wound,

"It's a longer story." Deaton quickly said, "But I can tell you, I know about your kind. Your kind I can help. This." Deaton glanced over to the body, "This is something different."

"Well, do you know what did it?"

"No."

"Do you?" Scott asked, looking to Connor,

"No." Connor shook his head, "But the Argents will. They have a record or book, that has these descriptions." Connor explained, talking with his hands, "Histories, notations, of all of the creatures they've dealt with and killed."

"All of the creatures?" Scott's eyebrows went up, "How many different things are there?" The door chimed again, getting Connor and Deaton to share a look. The Argents were back.

Connor quickly shoved Scott into a storage closet that was in the room before he could say another word. Stepping in after his little sister's best friend, Connor closed the closet door behind him, leaving Rachel out there with Deaton. Scott was smart enough to stay quiet as Connor turned to peer through the frosted glass window, watching as Argent stepped in, Gerard following behind him. Connor swallowed at the sight of the older man and Scott heard Connor's heart rate pick up in fear.

"Hello, Alan." Gerard greeted Deaton, who stepped away from the body he had been tending to, "It's been a while. The last I heard, you had retired." Gerard had an amused grin on his face. Deaton raised his eyebrows at the older man, pushing his hands into his pockets,

"Last I heard you followed a code of conduct." Deaton shot back, voice calm and serious.

"If you hadn't noticed, this body is one of ours." Argent spoke up, not even acknowledging that Rachel was still in the room. She stayed quiet, studying the men as Deaton talked.

"I also noticed the gunpowder residue on his finger tips." Rachel returned her attention to Deaton, "So don't assume I will be swayed by the philosophy just because I'll answer a few questions."

"He was only twenty four." Argent added, glancing to Rachel as if that fact should make them pity the fallen hunter,

"Killers come in all ages." Deaton seriously said. Rachel made sure she kept her face neutral, not wanting to react to Deaton's statement - knowing it was true.

"All ages, sizes, and shapes." Gerard clarified, "It's the last one that concerns us. How about you tell us what you found?" Deaton looked to Rachel, indicating that it was her turn to take over. The Argent men followed Deaton's look, seeing Rachel step forward and uncrossing her arms from her chest,

"This is Rachel." Deaton simply introduced the young woman, "She took part in examining the body of Mr. Lahey, who was killed in the same fashion." Deaton pushed his hands into his pants pockets, looking back at the Argent men, "She knows more about this creature than we do." Gerard gave her a knowing smile, one that Connor caught from his hiding place inside the storage closet. He silently cursed, knowing what that smile meant - Gerard was already planning a way to use Rachel for his own advancement.

What Connor didn't know was that Rachel was already aware of the way Gerard looked at her. She knew it from the moment he stepped into the room and she knew she could play it to her advantage, if she needed to. And she could play both sides, if she needed to. She wasn't nervous; she had plenty of experience being involved in meetings like this. After all, it was part of what she learned from her father, even if he seemed to think nothing was sticking with his rebel of a daughter. But she was much smarter than she led him to believe. From watching him, she knew how to handle powerful men, how to notice their reactions, how to negotiate and the most important thing: how to prove that she was needed and necessary - the only difference was what the meeting was about. The men gathered around the table as Rachel began to explain her findings,

"You see this cut?" She started, moving to the head and turning it over to expose the man's neck, "It looks like this was specific. Like it was on purpose." She looked up to see the men watching intently, "It's not what killed him, but it did have some sort of toxin that paralyzed him." Rachel's brow furrowed as she talked, still trying to figure out what creature could do such a thing, "Obviously, these were what killed him," She moved on, stepping down the opposite side of the table, moving to the chest area, "There's five for each finger-"

"Each claw." Gerard cut her off. Rachel glanced up at the older man and nodded a bit,

"It dug in, slashed up with eviscerating the lungs and slicing through the bone of the rib cage with ease." Rachel mimed the action, hovering above the body. There was a beat before Argent spoke up,

"Have you seen anything like this before?" Argent asked, looking to Deaton.

"No." Deaton answered as Rachel stepped back, knowing her time was over. She had been useful to the men and she knew when to stop talking. They would come to her if they needed more information. And Rachel was understandably a little wary; although she was still a stranger to the Argents, it was only a matter of time until they figured out her connection with Connor and then Derek. She could handle herself, she had done it plenty of times before, but there was something different about this time - mostly because of the supernatural aspect of it all.

"I can tell you it's fast, remarkably strong, and has the capacity to render its victims essentially helpless within seconds." Deaton got Rachel's attention as he continued to explain what kind of creature could do such a thing.

"You're saying we should be cautious? We get it." Argent sounded a little annoyed at Deaton's so called warning, but Deaton wasn't finished.

"I am saying you should be afraid. Be very afraid. Because in the natural world, predators with paralytic toxins use them to catch and eat their prey." Deaton paused, "This prey was not eaten. That means whatever killed him only wanted to kill him. In fact, killing may be its only purpose." Deaton let that statement hang in the air as Rachel subtly glanced to the closet, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned back against the counter.


A/N: Any questions, comments, concerns or cries of outrage?