All of the Stars
Keeva flinched as thunder ripped the air apart and lightning split the night sky making it day for a few short seconds. The wind howled against the windows and the hospital was in chaos. Nurses and doctors flurried throughout the halls and voices were raised against the noise outside. Patients were being transferred to a hospital across town due to the ferocity of the storm and the understaffed workers of Beacon Hills Memorial.
Ambulances and nurses scurried around outside placing patients in emergency vehicles and making sure that their medication was in the proper hands. Mrs. McCall stood in the front entrance of the hospital, giving directions. Everyone jumped when a tree branch punched through a waiting room window, spewing glass across the tile floor and showering families and nurses alike with glass.
Keeva turned her back and paced around the corner, entering Cora's room and licking her lips nervously. Peter was dabbing at her sweaty forehead with a warm washcloth. He glanced over his shoulder when she entered. "Power's out in three neighboring towns and Hill Valley's under a flood watch." She informed him. He scoffed and shook his head.
He stood up straight and looked at the open double doors of Cora's room. "Anyone want to tell me when they're getting my niece out of here?" Melissa entered the room, her eyes focused on the clipboard in front of her. "Sorry, nobody knew…" She trailed off when her eyes landed on Peter he sank into the shadows, hiding his face.
Melissa's eyes grew wide and Keeva could hear her heartbeat quicken. "You're supposed to be dead." She whispered. Keeva rolled her eyes. Peter shrugged noncommittally. "I get that a lot actually." Keeva snorted and stepped up to Cora's bed just as she snapped her eyes opened and leaned over the bed. Black vomit sprayed across the floor and Keeva could see mistletoe scattered throughout the egregious waste that Cora had purged. She glanced up to Peter and they shared a worried look.
.
"Derek! Derek, where are you?" Stiles flicked his eyes up to Scott's when they heard Jennifer Blake enter Derek's loft. Luckily, they'd beaten her to him and had time to explain what was going on before she got to him.
After Lydia had been strangled, the group had gone their separate ways. Keeva headed to the hospital to check on Cora and Scott and Stiles made their way to Derek's loft while Allison and Isaac and Argent headed back to the apartment to try and gather more vivid detail of who Jennifer Blake really was.
"Right here." Derek responded. "Oh, thank God." She said. They heard her heels click along the cement floor as she made her way towards Derek. Stiles straightened and took a deep breath, preparing to appear around the corner. He fingered his father's bent police badge in his pocket.
"Something happened at the recital, at the school. I need to tell you everything before you hear it, before you hear it from them."
"From who?"
"Scott, Stiles. They're going to tell you things. Things you can't believe. You have to trust me okay? You trust me."
"What is it?"
"Promise you'll listen to me?" Stiles rolled his eyes.
"Promise."
It was silent for several seconds. Stiles took a deep breath and turned his head to face the archway. He couldn't see anything. A flash of lightning lit up the room. "They're already here aren't they?" Scott nudged him and they walked around the corner.
She had her back to them when they entered but she quickly turned around when she heard them coming. "So, they told you it was me? That I'm the one taking people?" She turned to Derek like he would save her life. Stiles scoffed internally at her audacity. "We told him you're the one killing people."
Jennifer sneered and nodded. "Oh, that's right. Committing human sacrifices while cutting their throats? Yeah, I probably do it on my lunch hour that way I can get back to teaching high school English the rest of the day. That makes perfect sense." She laughed. Stiles drew his eyebrows together and felt tears burn the backs of his eyes. "Where's my dad?" His voice cracked and he didn't even bother to wipe away the single tear that trailed down his cheek.
"How should I know?" She almost looked sad. Almost. She turned to Derek and his face was unreadable. "Derek, please tell me you don't believe this?" Derek took a deep breath and flicked his eyes up to Scott and Stiles. Scott looked angry. No, he looked beyond angry. He was livid and seemed truly insulted that Jennifer would try to deny he was telling the truth. Stiles looked devastated, like his entire world was being torn apart around him and he could do nothing to stop it.
He looked back at Jennifer. "Do you know what happened to Stiles' father?" Jennifer shook her head. "No."
"Ask her why she almost killed Lydia?" Scott ground out through clenched teeth. She whirled on them, suddenly angry. "Lydia Martin? I don't know anything about that." Derek felt an intense anger suddenly well up inside of him. "What do you know?"
"I know that these boys, for whatever misguided reason, are filling your head with an absurd story." She turned to Scott and Stiles, her face full of sadness and guilt that insulted Stiles to his very core. How dare she look at him like that, knowing that she was responsible for his dad's disappearance? "And one they can't prove, by the way."
Scott held up a jar of mistletoe powder that he'd gotten from Deaton. "What if we can?" Her face suddenly and she finally looked a little bit frightened. "What is that?" Scott stepped forward and began to unscrew the cap. Derek took a few steps back from Jennifer. "My boss said it's a poison and a cure. Which means you can use it," He tugged the cap away from the jar. "And it can be used against you."
Jennifer stared to breathe heavily. "Mistletoe?" She ground out. Scott tossed the contents of the jar at Jennifer and she held up her hands in surrender. As the fine powder surrounded her, she whirled away, her features rapidly changing from that of a beautiful young woman to those of a disfigured, unrecognizable monster.
Derek stared wide eyed at the creature before him, no longer recognizing the woman he thought he knew. Stiles sighed in triumph, their message finally getting across. Scott stared in astonishment, seeing, for the first time, the true face of the monster that killed twelve people.
When she was back in her outside form, Jennifer glanced at Derek before trying to escape the apartment. Derek wrapped a hand around her neck and began to lift her off her feet. "Derek! Derek wait! You need me!" She gasped. "What are you?" He growled. "The only person who can save your sister. Call Peter. Call him!" Derek glanced at Stiles and nodded. Stiles pulled out his phone and dialed Keeva.
.
She jumped when her phone rang. She pulled it out, watching in rapt attention as nurses bundled Cora into her regular clothes and onto a stretcher. "What?" She whispered. She heard muffled shuffling before her cousin addressed. "What's wrong with Cora?" Keeva glanced at Peter before handing him the phone. He narrowed his eyes and pressed the device to his ear. He listened for a few minutes before responding.
"It's not good. She's in and out of consciousness, she's vomiting up black blood along with another alarming substance."
"Mistletoe." Peter looked over at Keeva, confused. "How did you know that? Derek? Derek!" He cursed and tossed the device to Keeva.
.
"Derek? Derek, what are you doing?" Scott demanded. Stiles watched in muted fascination as Derek tightened his grip on Jennifer. "Her life, it's in my hands." Jennifer wheezed. Derek lifted her completely off the floor and Stiles finally took action. "Stop, Derek, stop." Jennifer glanced at him and smirked.
"Stilinski, you'll never find him." Stiles' face fell and Derek looked over at him. "Derek. Derek!" He unceremoniously dropped her to the hard ground. Thunder clapped throughout the room. "That's right. You need me. All of you."
.
"I don't know something feels wrong about this." Stiles said. He was going as fast as he felt comfortable in the storm as they followed Derek to the hospital. "We proved it to Derek but she still had this look like it didn't matter. Like it was all still going according to plan." Scott looked out the window and nodded. "You saw it, didn't you?" Stiles asked. He looked over at his best friend. His face was shrouded in shadows so he couldn't make out his look.
They pulled up to the hospital and as soon as they stepped out of the car, they were soaked through with rain. Stiles clutched his bat tightly in his hand. Scott looked at him skeptically. "What's that?" He yelled. Stiles shrugged. "You've got claws, I got a bat." They raced up the hospital steps and entered the quiet lobby.
Derek drug Jennifer through the halls and all four walked with purpose to Cora's room. "Scott, Scott!" Melissa called her sons name. He turned and waited for her to speak. "What are you doing? The hospital's evacuating." Scott took a deep breath. "We're here for Cora." She drew her eyebrows together. "All of you? Why does Stiles have my bat?"
Stiles looked down at the aforementioned weapon and back at Melissa. "Mom, just trust me on this. You need to get out of here." She blinked and glanced quickly at all the faces in front of her before nodding. "The building needs to be completely evacuated in thirty minutes. There are two ambulances on the way. One's ten minutes out the other is twenty minutes out. Cora needs to be on one of those. They'll be picking up in the basement garage."
Scott nodded and memorized the details. "Got it." She nodded and watched the four of them head down the hall towards the elevators. Derek shoved Jennifer inside before pushing the button for Cora's floor. She gasped and put her hands on her knees, winded. "You don't have to keep me on a leash, Derek, I'm going to help."
She drew her eyebrows together and glanced at Scott. He had his arms crossed over his chest and a firm scowl was directed at her. She shook her head and turned to face Stiles who had his baseball bat raised, ready to attack. She shook her head and rolled her eyes, huffing when Derek pulled her from the elevator.
They stopped, frozen by the empty room that once held Cora. Scott glanced down at the floor and saw a trail of black blood. "Derek." They turned to stare at the closed double doors in front of them. They heard a mild scuffle before two bodies were thrown through the doors. Keeva landed with her head at Scott's feet and Peter landed on his back between Derek's.
Scott quickly helped Keeva up while Derek stared, dumbfounded, down at Peter. "We've got a problem." The oldest Hale declared. He lifted his head and stared at the double doors. "A big problem."
The combined form of the twins roared at the group and they all took a collective deep breath. Derek quickly wolfed out and roared back at the twins. He ran at them and engaged in a not so evenly matched hand to hand fight. He was quickly taken down but Scott was there, ready to defend. He ran at the twins and bounced off the wall, attacking them head on.
Stiles glanced down the hall and saw Cora, lying prone behind the fighting pair. He took Keeva's hand and crouched down beside Peter. "Help me." The three managed to bypass the twins and Scott and hover around Cora, helping her up off the floor and around the corner. "Ethan, Aiden, stop!" Scott wheezed. Keeva turned to the sound and watched.
The twins shook their head. "All we want is her." Their voice was deep and terrifyingly distorted. When she turned to face Jennifer, she watched her disappear into the elevator. She gasped and pushed at Stiles' back, moving around the corner and away from the fight.
They pushed through a set of double doors and kept going. "Don't stop, don't stop!" Derek ordered. Stiles stilled and turned around, listening to the twins' swift approach. "Stiles!" Keeva shouted as he stood beside the door. Scott wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her from following.
When the twins stepped through the door, Stiles swung his bat as hard as he could across the back of their head. It shattered into sawdust and the twins turned their enraged eyes to Stiles. He trembled and pressed back against the tiled wall, stumbling back towards Derek and Scott and pushing Keeva out the double doors and around the corner.
She pushed him hard against the wall. "What the fuck, Stilinski?" He hushed her and pulled her to him, pressed her face against his neck. She gripped the front of his shirt until her knuckles were white. He felt her tremble but quickly pushed his concern aside in favor of keeping them safe. "We have to move." They pushed off the wall and found Peter with Cora in another double doored room.
She looked up when the power went and the backup generators kicked on. Scott and Derek pushed through the door and Derek held the doors to make sure they didn't make noise when they closed. "Where's the big guy?" Peter asked as he carefully arranged Cora's head on the table. "He's not far behind." Derek informed.
Keeva stepped up to Cora's side and tenderly brushed her hair back from her forehead. "What about Ms. Blake?" Stiles asked. Keeva looked up and watched Scott shake his head. Stiles' eyes grew wide. "What does that mean?" He asked, exasperated. "She's gone? Scott, are you kidding me!" He shouted. Keeva went to him and wrapped a tight arm around his waist, quieting him.
"Quiet!" Derek hissed. Stiles rounded on him. "Quiet! Me be quiet! Are you telling me what to do now when your psychotic mass murdering girlfriend, the second one you've dated, by the way," Keeva elbowed him in the ribs but he either couldn't feel it or chose to ignore her. "has got my dad somewhere tied up waiting to be ritually sacrificed." Keeva tightened her arm around his waist and wrapped her other arm around his neck, splaying her hand across the side of his face. "Stiles." She whispered.
He glanced at his best friend and stared at him, accusing. "They're still out there." Scott said. He nodded. "And they want her, right?" Stiles turned to Derek. "Which means now we don't have her either. So now my dad and Cora are both dead."
"Not yet." Scott whispered. For some reason, that didn't make Stiles feel any better. He sagged and Keeva felt him relax slightly in her arms. Scott turned to face Peter who was hovered over Cora. "Is she really dying?" he asked. Peter sighed. "She's definetly not getting any better." Scott looked over his shoulder at the other three occupants of the room. "There has to be something that we can do. We have to help her."
They all turned when the doors were pushed open. Keeva felt her heart leap out of her chest for a split second. "You can't." Ms. Blake stated. "Only I can. I can save her and I can tell you where Sheriff Stilinski is. But there is a pack of alphas in this hospital who want me dead. So I'll help you but only when I'm out of here and safe. Only then."
Keeva couldn't believe she would demand something of them like that but they had no choice. The only way to save everyone was to help her, no matter how much their morals demanded them not to.
Derek suddenly stormed towards her but Scott held him back. "She was trying to get out!"
"I was trying to keep from getting killed, you can't blame me for that!" She threw back. Derek was blowing out steam as he stared at her. "If you want to show you're one of the good guys, then heal her." Stiles tossed out. Jennifer smiled at them like she had a secret. Well, she did but that was beside the point. "Not until I'm safe." Peter glared.
"I'd like to volunteer a different method of persuasion. Let's torture her." As much as she didn't want to, Keeva agreed with her uncle. "Works for me." Derek pushed Scott's arm away from his chest but everyone froze when the intercom crackled. "Um, can I have your attention?" Keeva gasped when Melissa's voice filled the room. Scott looked, terrified, up at the speaker. "Mr. Deucalian, excuse me, just Deucalian. Requests you bring the woman calling herself Jennifer Blake to the ER reception. Do this, and everyone else can leave. You have ten minutes."
The speaker cut off and Scott looked away. Keeva closed her eyes and buried her face in Stiles' neck. He tightened his arm around her waist. "He's not going to hurt her." Jennifer provided. Derek snapped his gaze to her and pointed threateningly at her. "Shut up."
"He won't!" She demanded. She turned her eyes to Scott and licked her lips. "Scott, you know why. Tell them it's true." Derek swallowed thickly and looked at Scott. "What does she mean?" Scott glanced over at Stiles and Keeva huddled together across the room before turning his eyes to Derek. Jennifer scoffed. "You're not the only one he wants in his pack." Derek flicked his eyes to Scott's and Scott sighed.
"Deucalian doesn't just want an alpha pack, he wants perfection. That means adding the rarest of alphas to his pack." Peter's eyes widened and he nodded absentmindedly. "A true alpha." Keeva straightened and Stiles felt her arms tighten around him. "What's that?" He asked. Derek stared hard at Jennifer and licked his lips. "The kind that doesn't have to steal his power from another. One that can rise by the force of his own will. Our little Scott." Peter declared, jealously underlining the current of his voice.
Scott glared at Peter and shook his head imperceptibly. "It doesn't matter." He turned to face Jennifer. "We still need to get her out of here." Stiles pulled away from Keeva and moved towards his friend. "Scott your mom."
"My mom," his voice trembled. "Said there's one more ambulance coming in twenty minutes and I don't think we've been here that long. So if we can get down to the garage and get to the last ambulance, we can get out of here." Peter shook his head. "The twins aren't going to let us just walk out." Scott sighed heavily. "I'll distract them."
"You mean fight them." Derek stated. Scott cocked his head to the side and flicked his eyes to Jennifer and back. "I'll do whatever I have to do." He said. Derek nodded. "I'll help you."
"I'm sorry. I'm not going anywhere without you, Derek." Jennifer said. Peter stared hard at Jennifer and took a deep breath. "I'll do it." Derek and Scott turned their head to stare, doubtful, at Peter. "But I'd prefer to go out there with some kind of advantage." Keeva turned to Peter and blinked. "What kind of advantage?" She whispered. Peter gazed at her and licked his lips, cracking his neck. "You mean like a weapon?" Stiles asked.
Peter turned to Jennifer. "Something better than a baseball bat." He said. They were all in motion at once. They riffled through drawers and emergency carts, looking for anything that could give Peter an advantage. "Hey, what about these?" Stiles held up paddles. Derek and Peter both turned to him. "You know how to use those?" Derek asked. Stiles stared at the paddles and shook his head. "No."
"Put them down." Derek said. Stiles returned the paddles to their rightful place. They continued to search. "Epinephrine?" Scot asked as he took the plastic case off of the needle. "No, that'll only make him stronger." They all froze and turned to face Scott. "How strong?"
.
Peter stepped through the double doors, his eyes wide and the empty syringe protruding from his chest. He turned wide eyes to the needle before pulling it out. He and Scott turned to face the twins. "Alright boys, let's rumble." He roared and they rushed the twins.
Stiles poked his head out the door and jerked his head to the side, indicating for Derek to lead Cora and Jennifer out of the room and around the corner. Keeva tugged on Stiles' hand and followed her cousin around the corner. They took the elevator to the basement and followed the signs to the garage. "It's still here." Stiles said as they rushed the ambulance, its lights coloring the walls red and blue.
Stiles pulled the doors open and helped Derek pull Cora inside, stretching her out on the stretcher. "Derek, over here!" Jennifer called. Derek peeked his head around the side of the ambulance and disappeared around the vehicle. Stiles gaped and looked down at Cora, searching her person, making sure she was okay. Keeva peered around the interior of the ambulance.
"Julia." Keeva snapped her head to the door of the ambulance when Kali's voice rang out throughout the garage. Stiles peered up at her and quickly pulled the doors of the ambulance closed. Keeva watched as Derek and Jennifer raced for the doors. She flinched when she heard Kali roar. She lowered herself from her perch between the two front seats and sat close to Stiles. They exchanged a quick look before turning their eyes to Cora.
Stiles examined the doors and pulled, making sure they were locked. "Okay, okay, we're okay. We're okay." Stiles turned to face Cora and stopped. "Why do you look like you're not breathing?" Keeva snapped her head to the front. She leaned her head over Cora and held her ear over her mouth. "Because she's not breathing." Stiles gaped and stared at her.
"Okay, okay, we can do this." Stiles pushed up his sleeves and Keeva pushed Cora's head back gently. "Tilt the head." Stiles placed his fingers on Cora's chin. "Fingers on the chin clear the throat." He opened Cora's mouth and looked down the back of her throat. "Great. Nothing, I see nothing." He took a deep breath and looked once at Keeva who stared back at him with terrified eyes.
"Alright so just pinch the nose and blow." Stiles bent forward and started CPR. Keeva trembled. He pressed his ear to her chest and looked back at her face. "Aren't you supposed to like, press on her chest?" Keeva asked, her voice shaking. Stiles shrugged and did mouth to mouth again. "Come on, Cora." He pressed his ear to her chest again. "Come on, Cora. Breath." He did CPR twice more before she took a deep breath.
Stiles sighed audibly and leaned back against the wall, Keeva wrapping her arms around his and pressing her face to his shoulder. "Oh, my God."
They sat in silence for a few minutes, just listening to the sound of Cora's breathing, hoping to God she didn't stop again anytime soon. "You know I used to be the one with the plan." Stiles said. Keeva lifted her head and looked up at him. His eyes were unfocused and far away. "At least a plan B. Now I'm thinking she was right. We are pretty much useless. Maybe all we do is show up and find the bodies."
She felt his chest tighten and his throat work furiously as he tried to calm down. She saw tears gather at the corners of his eyes and his brow furrow. "I don't want to find my father's body." He whispered. She pressed her forehead to his temple and tightened her arms around him. "We'll figure this out." She whispered.
They looked over when the low rumble of a growl echoed throughout the garage. Stiles peered forward and saw the shadow of the twins pass by the wall. He slowly sank back against the side of the ambulance, taking Keeva with him, as they watched the twins pass the ambulance.
Stiles looked over at her and then quietly pressed his ear to the wall behind them. He looked over at the door and began to reach for the handle when two faces appeared in the window. Scott tugged frantically on the handle. "Stiles, open the door!" Stiles pushed on the lock and Scott deposited Peter inside the ambulance. "Where'd Derek and Jennifer?"
Scott gasped for breath and Keeva arranged Peter on the bench across from them. "I have to go back for them and my mom." Scott said. Stiles nodded. "Okay, two problems. Kali's got the keys to this thing and we just saw the twins like thirty seconds ago."
Scott looked over his shoulder when they heard something crash behind them. He turned back to Stiles. "Stay here." Stiles opened his mouth to protest but Scott was already gone.
.
Stiles looked down at his phone when it vibrated in his hand. Peter snapped his eyes open and glanced at Keeva. Stiles looked up. "They have a plan." He pocketed his phone. "Help me get her up." He wrapped an arm around Cora's waist and hoisted her up off the gurney.
No sooner had they gotten her in the air Isaac was swinging the car around to the back of the ambulance. Keeva pushed the doors open and watched them load her in the backseat. "Let's go!" Isaac called. Stiles reached for the ambulance door and stopped suddenly. "Stiles, let's go!" Isaac called.
He snapped his gaze to Keeva and she drew her eyebrows together. She pushed the car door closed and took a step towards him. "Keeva." Peter warned. She licked her lips and looked back at her uncle before turning to her mate. He was staring, fixated on something on the door of the ambulance. He looked over his shoulder before back at the car. He took off in the opposite direction. "Stiles!" Isaac yelled. Keeva's eyes widened and she took off after him, ignoring the cries of Isaac and her uncle.
They rounded the corner to the first floor and saw Scott disappear up the stairs. "Scott, wait!" Stiles shouted. Keeva gasped when she noticed Derek, prone and unmoving on the floor of the elevator. She dropped to her knees beside him and cradled his head in her lap. She looked up, tears in her eyes, just in time to see Stiles disappear after Scott. "Stiles!" She croaked.
She sobbed and stroked Derek's hair. "What's happening to us?" She whispered. Derek didn't respond.
.
Stiles burst onto the roof to see Scott approaching Deucalian. "Scott." His best friend stopped moving and turned 180 degrees to face his friend. Their faces mirrored each other. Their eyes were full of sorrow and their foreheads were wrinkled in fear. "Scott, don't do this. Don't go with him." Stiles croaked.
"I don't know what else to do." Scott choked. His eyes were swollen with unshed tears. "Scott, there's got to be something else." Stiles shook his head, tears clouding his vision and changing the timber of his voice. "We always have a plan B."
Scott shook his head and turned to face his friend fully. "Not this time." He turned back to Deucalian and Stiles' shoulders sagged in defeat. "Scott." Scott turned around but continued to walk backwards. "I'm going to find your dad. I promise." The determination was barely heard in his voice. He just sounded broken and tired.
Scott turned away, for good, and left the roof with Deucalian. "Scott." Stiles attempted one last time. He watched his best friend disappear into the mist with the demon wolf while their world fell to shambles around them.