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Lacy here with the next emotional rollercoaster for Effie! As we all know, at this point, the third name has been cracked for the deadpool list and it's Derek. Time for Effie to be informed. And she doesn't handle it well, at all. Add on top the school doing into lockdown by the CDC and a shooting at the hospital, Effie's ready for a break. Too bad it's not coming any time soon. Read on!

Disclaimer: I own Effie.

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~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

"No," Effie shook her head as she paced the hospital hallway, phone in hand. "Stiles, no. Do not sit there and tell me my boyfriend is the third name. Allison and Aiden are dead! Derek is alive. Very much alive."

"Effie," Stiles gripped his phone. "I wish I could tell you this is all a lie or one big joke but you know Lydia doesn't get these things wrong."

"No," Effie fell back against the wall, sliding to the floor. "I can't lose him, Stiles." tears welled in her eyes. "I can't."

Stiles watched the other kids head into the school. "I so wish you hadn't taken the PSATs with Lydia freshmen year. I hate that I can't help you."

Effie choked back a sob. "Trust me, I hate it, too." she heard Derek coming and sniffed. "Go take your test. I'll see you after." she hung up and smiled as best she could as Derek came around the corner. "How is she?"

Derek frowned. "Why are you crying?"

Effie bit her lip, hard. "Please don't ask me that."

Derek squatted in front of her. "Effie, what's wrong? Is it Stiles or your dad?"

Effie shook her head. "Lydia cracked the third key." tears slipped down her face. "It was your name, Derek."

Derek stared at Effie, his mind whirling. He moved, sitting beside her and pulling her nearly into his lap. Effie went, clinging to him.

"Banshees predict death." Derek exhaled. "Lydia just predicted my death." he held Effie tighter as she sobbed. "We knew it was a possibility, Ef. Especially with my powers vanishing as fast as they are."

"I can't accept that I'm going to lose you," Effie cried. "I barely survived the last time I thought you were gone."

Derek sighed, shutting his eyes. "I almost wish we hadn't done the mating ritual." he ran a hand through her hair. "I don't want you dying with me."

Effie sobbed again but couldn't speak any more. The fact that Derek sounded so resigned to his fate, to dying, broke her heart more than anything ever had. She knew he didn't want to leave her, but he also seemed to know there was no way around it. And deep down, Effie knew it, too. Knew that she was going to be spending the rest of her life, without her mate. And the thought was paralyzing.

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It was all too much. The CDC had quarantined the school, no one knew where Scott, Stiles, Malia and Kira were. The virus was caused by yet another assassin and Derek was dying. And now, she was staring at another dead member of Satomi's pack.

"It's a variant of canine distemper." Deaton explained. "A few years ago, an outbreak in Yellowstone killed forty percent of the wolf population."

"What's it gonna do to our wolf population?" Melissa asked.

"Well, it's been altered to infect quite a bit faster." Deaton said.

"You mean it's been weaponized?" Derek questioned.

"It infected my whole pack." Satomi said.

"Everyone except for you." Deaton pointed out. "That's the real question. Did you not get infected? Or are you immune?"

"If your pack was infected," Derek said. "then who was doing all the shooting at the entrance to the woods?"

"Apparently another assassin." Satomi said. "Personally, I'd rather face a gun than a variant of smallpox."

"Sounds like you're gonna get plenty of chances." Melissa said.

Satomi stared at Derek, apologizing when he noticed. "I just noticed how much you remind me of Talia. I used to visit her a lot, you know. Do you remember me?"

"I remember the tea." Derek said. "You always brought that tea that smelled terrible."

Satomi laughed. "I brought that tea as a gift. Your mother loved it."

"What kind of tea?" Deaton asked.

"What?"

"The tea with the smell." Deaton said. "What kind was it?"

"Reishi." Satomi said. "Wild purple reishi. It's very rare."

"It's also a very powerful remedy for sickness." Deaton said. "Satomi, you didn't get infected because you've been inoculated."

"Okay, okay," Melissa said. "How rare is it? Can we find it?"

"We don't have to." Derek said. "My mother kept some of it. It's in our vault."

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Effie and Derek raced through the crowds of kids and parents, looking for the pack.

"Guys!" John spotted them and motioned them over. They met him near the doors. "They're coming out now. They had to get rid of the evidence that it affected them more."

Effie sighed, sagging against Derek. "But they're all okay?"

John nodded. "All of them. Malia's already left."

Derek frowned. "Without Stiles and the others?"

"Yeah," John licked his lips. "I think something happened down there. She wouldn't even look at me."

"She saw the list." Effie looked up at Derek. "She found out."

John looked between the two. "Found out what?"

"She's Peter's daughter." Derek answered. "And we didn't know how to tell her."

John ran a hand over his face. "Ah crap."

"Dad! Effie!" Stiles came running over to them, blood spatter on his face and shirt.

"Stiles," John grabbed him. "what happened?"

"Mr. McCall got the assassin." Stiles gasped as he clung to his father. "He was gonna-" he shook his head. "His gun was right here." he touched his forehead. "But then, he was dead."

Effie looked around, trying to find Rafael. She found him easily, hugging Scott with Melissa. He saved her brother. No matter what he'd done in the past, Effie was pretty sure that earned him a free pass.

"Are you guys okay?" John asked Effie and Derek. Both looked a little worse for wear.

Effie exhaled, exchanging a look with Derek. "Let's just say, it'll be nice when we finally get this all sorted. My dodging skills need work."

John frowned but Stiles put a hand on his arm.

"We so don't wanna know, Dad." he said. "Just let it go."

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Really John, stop questioning Effie and Derek. It's not helping your blood pressure any and they'll give you more grey than Stiles ever will. So, there's not a lot I can say at the end of this. Effie is definitely spiraling and it's going to get worse before it gets better. Sorry? Let me know what you think, flame policy stands and thanks for reading!

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