Chapter 20: Alpha Pact

Stiles didn't know how long he stayed there on that roof, staring at the spot where he saw his best friend walk off with Deucalion. He was breathing very heavily as his eyes stayed focused on that spot. Then, suddenly, everything started coming down on him. He could hear noises from all around the hospital. Smell everything within his vicinity as well. It was all so quickly and loud that he fell to his knees and started to pull on his ears and shut his eyes to try and block it out. It was so…overwhelming. Everything, all of it. Stiles then raised his head up and let out a hard roar into the sky. His eyes turned gold and the whites went dark giving his eyes the full appearance of a wolf. A bunch of sparks then shot out from the generator nearby and illuminated him making a shadow appear behind him for a moment. A shadow that had the look of a hulking bipedal wolf beast.

Away from the hospital, Scott was still walking away from it with Deucalion when his ears stiffened as he heard the roar. He stopped to look back at the building with a sad look on his face but Deucalion's arm went to Scott's shoulder, turned him around and forced him to keep walking.

Kali and the Twins spotted the speeding car carrying Isaac, Peter and Cora and were about to chase after it when the roar made its way to their ears too. They spared a look towards each other before they turned around and headed the opposite direction.

But Stiles stopped in his roar as, suddenly, one of the sounds that hit him, distant police sirens, settle his eyes and made them revert back to their normal beta gold. His breathing slowed and his posture calmed. This all too familiar sound, one he always coupled with his father, seemed to be giving him his focus back as well as get his mind to be back on track. He stood up and looked out at the distance. The sirens were getting closer, and Stiles could tell that it was from more than one cop car. They seemed to be heading right for the hospital.

Stiles broke into a run down the stairs and got off at the floor where he had last seen Derek. He ran for the elevator to find that Derek was laying in the exact same spot that he left him. "Wake up!" Stiles shouted at him. But Derek just lied there, unconscious. Stiles flashed back to the last time that Derek was out like this and went and slapped him, screaming Derek's name but the guy didn't wake. Stiles then curled his hand into a fist and gave Derek a good punch, but he still stayed unconscious. "Derek, get up!" Stiles braced his hand back and prepared to punch him even harder when Derek's arm shot up and caught him by the wrist.

Derek started looking around for a moment before looking up at Stiles. "Where is she?"

"Jennifer? She's gone, with Scott's mom," he hurriedly spat at him.

"She took her?!" Derek gasped out.

"Yeah, and if that's not enough of a kick to the balls, Scott left, with Deucalion. Okay, so you got to get out of here. I heard sirens. The police are coming and you can't be here when they show up."

Stiles then moved to pull Derek to his feet but he stopped half-way. "Whoa, what about Cora?"

"Scott said that Isaac and the Argents got her out. But Derek, she's not looking too good. She stopped breathing once and Peter said that she doesn't have much time."

At that, Derek quickly got to his feet and broke into a run leaving Stiles there staring after him, to be alone in the hospital.

Isaac stopped the car around the corner from the hospital and looked back. "You see the Twins?" he asked Peter.

Peter was also looking back and was shaking his head. "No," he said before looking to the front. "But, I see the Argents."

Isaac turned to see both Allison and her father step out from a parked ambulance looking a little winded. Chris and Allison had heard the car pull up from not too far and had ran towards it. They stopped when they noticed a howl sounding off. It wasn't a roar, but a call.

"What is it?" Allison asked her father.

"A retreat?" he said not sounding too sure of its meaning himself. Why would the Alphas pull back now?

Back in the car, Isaac was rubbing at his chin. "Uh…not to bring up uncomfortable memories but, wasn't the last time you saw them when you killed Kate and they burned you alive?" he asked remembering what Scott and Derek had told him. Isaac looked back and saw that the back door was open and Peter was gone. He then got out of the car.

Allison quickly spotted him. "Where are the others?" she asked him.

Isaac shook his head. "I don't know. Scott never came back with Stiles or Derek and Jennifer. I couldn't wait for them and had to get Cora out."

But then the three of them turned when they spotted Derek's van pulling up. For a moment, they assumed that it was all of them but Derek came out of the car all by himself.

"Where's Scott and Stiles?" Allison asked him.

"Stiles is still at the hospital. He's going to hold off the cops for us." He went in and took Cora out of the car into his arms. "We have to go right now," he said to Isaac.

Chris narrowed his eyes. "What about Scott and Melissa?"

Derek went and placed Cora into the back of his van. "Jennifer took Melissa."

That made Allison, Chris and Isaac freeze in shock.

After a moment, Allison managed to ask, "What about Scott?" Derek just froze and stared off at the three of them. "Derek, where's Scott?" Allison asked him more fiercely.

Over at the hospital, Stiles was sitting over close to the entrance as one of the officers told him to wait as a FBI agent was going to want to talk to him. Stiles just sat there, trying to keep himself calm as he let his eyes wander a bit. They wandered to the door when he saw that the fed was now there. But the sight of him made Stiles' eyes widen. The man noticed Stiles too and his eyes narrowed at the sight of him.

Stiles huffed. "Oh, just perfect," he mumbled to himself. As if the night wasn't horrible enough he had to run into someone that he preferred never to see again for the rest of his life. Scott's, for lack of a better term, dad.

He walked over and stopped in front of Stiles and smirked down at him. "A Stilinski at the center of this whole mess, what a shocker. Think you can answer some questions without the usual level of sarcasm?"

Stiles just stared at Agent McCall blankly. "Depends, can you ask the questions without the usual level of stupid?" he said back to him blankly.

That only made Agent McCall give him an empty smile that faded as quickly as it formed. "Where's your dad and why isn't anyone able to contact him?"

Stiles just shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't seen him in hours."

"Is he drinking again?" he asked him not skipping a beat.

Stiles just narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean, again? He never had to stop."

"But he did have to slow down," he cut in. "Is he drinking like he used to."

Stiles clenched his right hand into a quick fist to try and push down the desire to hurl this man into the opposite wall. "You know what, how about the next time I see him I give him the field sobriety test. Make him recite the alphabet. Start with F and end with U."

Agent McCall just kept his game face on with him. "How about you just tell me what the hell happened here?"

But Stiles just shook his head. Even if he wanted to talk about it, Scott's dad wouldn't be remotely in his list of people to talk about it with. "I don't know what happened here. I was stuck in the elevators the whole time," he said dropping his head.

Agent McCall's expression fell. "You're not the one that painted the name on the doors, are you?"

Stiles raised his head back up to look at him. "What name?"

Over at the elevator doors, the name Argent was spray painted there in red.

Over at the loft, Cora was laying on a cot, struggling for air. The tips of her lips were smeared with black blood and she was covered in a layer of cold sweat. The sight of her made Derek's insides go cold as he was watching her. And he wasn't the only one watching. Isaac was standing off to the side while Peter was sitting off by the steps.

"She's dying, isn't she?" Isaac asked.

"I don't know," Derek barely said audibly.

"So, what are you going to do?" Isaac asked him.

Derek watched his sister before he shook his head. "I don't know," he repeated.

Isaac then paced a bit before his eyes fell into a small glare. "You want to figure something out? Because while Scott and Stiles were out there, trying to help people from being killed, you were here, rolling around in the sheets with the actual killer!" he spat angrily at him. "Do you get how many people she's killed? Erica and Boyd are dead. Cora is dying, and you are doing NOTHING!" But Derek just kept his gaze on his sister. Isaac then started shaking his head, fighting to push back the tears that wanted to fall from them. "Why did you do this to us Derek? Was it all about the power? Were you bored?" He then moved to kneel at Derek's side. "Were you lonely?"

Derek finally tore his eyes away from Cora to look at him. "Maybe." Isaac then stood up and began to move for the door. "I told Cora I wouldn't leave," he said after him. "I'll help the others after I figure out how to help her."

But that just made Isaac explode. "There's no time! The full moon's coming. The Sheriff and Melissa are going to be dead so I'm going to try and help them," he said as he pulled the door open. "You can sit here and perfect the art of doing nothing." He then slammed the door shut behind him.

"I wouldn't take it personally," Peter said from where he sat before starting getting up and walking down them. "Anger is just a tool. He's using it to excuse shifting allegiance from one Alpha to another. From you to Scott."

Derek gave Peter a look before looking back at Cora. "Scott's not an Alpha yet."

"But he's well on his way, isn't he?"

Stiles was finally released from the annoyingly watchful eye of Agent McCall and he found himself pushing into the front door of his home. Stiles moved to the kitchen and checked underneath his sink for his dad's toolbox. He opened it and brought out a hammer. He then sat down over at the table where he reached into his pocket and pulled out a clump of metal that used to be his father's badge. Jennifer had completely crumpled it up into a near round mess. Stiles went and pulled on the edges of the badge until it somewhat resembled it's former star shape. He then took the hammer and started to pound on it to flatten it back to normal. After a few minutes of him hammering, there was a knock on his front door. Stiles stood up and then slowly made his way over to the door with his eyes narrowed. He stopped just in front of it, his stance ready to pounce. He began to move for the doorknob.

"Stiles," Isaac's voice sounded from the other side making him jump up a bit. "It's me, open up."

Stiles let out a frustrated breath before he went and turned the knob to open the door and see Isaac standing there in wait. "Isaac, what are you doing here?"

"I was going to head back to Scott's…but then I remembered there was no one there. I, want to help, however I can."

Stiles nodded and then moved to let him in. "How's Cora?" Stiles asked as they made it to the living room.

"Not good," Isaac mumbled. He then sat down and brought his knuckles to his lips to try and quell his nerves. "She's…it doesn't look like she has much time." Stiles dropped his arms to his sides and clenched his hands into tight fists. His breathing intensified and some growling even escaped his throat. Growls that made Isaac look up from his despair at him and narrowed his eyes a bit. "Stiles?" he said to him but Stiles just stood in place and didn't move any muscle. The sight made a chill rise in Isaac's spine for some reason. "Stiles?!" he said a little louder to him.

Stiles blinked and then shook his head a bit. "Sorry," he breathed before he put pressure on his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "It's just…been a long night," he said before he threw himself onto the couch.

Isaac gave a nod before he looked back at him. "So…what are we going to do now?"

Stiles let out a hard breath. "We find my father and Scott's mother. Jennifer took them but she won't kill them, I don't think." 'I hope,' he added silently. "She knows they're the only thing that is keeping the rest of us aside from the Alpha Pack from killing her." Stiles narrowed his eyes. Jennifer thought she had the upper hand but Stiles promised that the next time, Scott wouldn't be there to be holding anyone back. She wouldn't be holding anyone's lives over their heads like before. Next time he saw her he would be personally adding new claw scars to match her face and wouldn't stop until she told him exactly where they were and saved Cora. And, if anything happened to any of them, he would rip out her heart or whatever it was that was beating in her chest. "She needs to keep them alive," he told both Isaac and himself.

"Until she finds a third sacrifice," said Isaac bringing him out of his savage thoughts. "Allison said that she and her father were going to study the telluric currents to try and narrow down where she might be keeping them."

"Yeah," Stiles straightened himself up. "About that, I think I already know who she has in mind for the third sacrifice. Allison's father."

Isaac's face paled. "What? How do you know?"

"At the hospital, she went and spray painted the name Argent on the doors of the elevator that she was stuck in with Derek."

Isaac stood up. "I have to warn them."

Stiles stood up too. "And, I'll check with Lydia?"

"Lydia?"

"Yeah, maybe she can help me find them. However or whatever she is. I mean, she's something. Hopefully it's something that can help." Isaac gave him a momentary look before he went for his front door. "Isaac," he called after him making him stop. "I notice that you've been spending a lot of time with Allison lately. During and outside of school."

Isaac quickly looked sheepish. "Uh,"

But Stiles held up his hand. "Look, I'm not trying to judge you or anything. Let me just say, be careful. There's been a history of werewolves trusting and falling for Argents and that history has never ended good for the werewolves involved. Just, keep that in mind. Okay?"

Isaac looked at him for a moment before he went and went out the door.

Derek had been at Cora's side all through the night and had steadily watched as her condition worsened. Now, with the morning sunlight, he could see how much more paler his sister had become. She was now barely moving and could hardly move her eyelids. He was holding onto her hand and felt how cold it was. He bit back a growl as he reached down, as deep as he could, and started to pull out whatever pain from her that he could get his claws into.

Peter was watching as Derek was trying to siphon off as much as he could from her. "Careful," he said urgently to him.

Derek kept his hold for a few more seconds before he let her go. He pulled his hand back and took a moment to get some feeling back into it. "Don't worry," he said to his uncle. "I know. Going too far could kill me."

"Uh, that's not exactly what I meant."

Derek eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that if you use too much of your strength now, you won't have any left to use to actually heal her."

That made Derek fully turn around to face him. "What are talking about?"

"I've heard it's something only an Alpha could do, and with good reason."

"Which is?" Derek pressed on.

"Well, you know that normal wolves never abandon an injured member of the pack. They care for it, bring it food from a kill, regurgitate it into the mouth of the injured wolf. They even give it emotional comfort by intensely grooming it. In a way, they could do more than just ease pain. They could be instrumental in healing their own."

Derek then moved so that he was directly in front of him. "If you're trying to tell me that I can save her, just tell me," he growled at him.

Peter held up a halting hand. "I'm telling you, I heard it's possible."

"How?"

"It's that spark of power that makes you an Alpha. When you take her pain she draws on that power that provides you with those special gifts. The power that heightens your senses, your strength, the power that transforms your body. As an Alpha, you have that bit of extra, that spark which intensifies the color of your eyes from a bright yellow to a searing red."

Derek was starting to understand where Peter was going with this. He was understanding…what would happen. "If I could save her-

"If," Peter cut him off. "If. I didn't say that it works every time." Peter then looked away from him and went to the window. "Could just as easily kill you."

But Derek took a look at his sister, and his choice was clear. "How do I do it?" Derek didn't see it but Peter's eyes narrowed as he let loose a small smirk. "By taking her pain?" he asked.

"And then some," Peter answered him. "There is a cost."

Allison and her father were in his office with cases spread out all over the room. They were opening some of them and bringing weapons out to pile them on the table. They locked and loaded the guns. Chris took a handgun and aimed it out as he tested his grip on it. Then, he suddenly turned around and aimed it for the door of his office to find Isaac there with his hands raised.

"The door was unlocked," Isaac said to them.

"Isaac," Chris let out an annoyed breath as he went and pocketed his gun.

He stepped inside and eyed the arsenal they were laying out. "I thought you were retired."

"We are," Chris told the boy. "But not defenseless," he said casting a look towards his daughter.

Isaac nodded. "Well, I might not know how to use a gun," he said before bringing out his claws. "But I'm getting pretty good with these."

"What happened with Cora? And with Stiles?" Allison asked him.

"Derek's keeping Cora at his place. But Stiles told me something that I think you guys should know."

Isaac then laid out everything Stiles said about how Jennifer took them, the Guardian sacrifices and that Ms. Blake had chosen Allison's dad.

"Our name, on the elevator doors?" Allison asked him getting a little pale. "Are you sure?"

He nodded. "That's what Stiles told me."

"Me, a guardian sacrifice?" said Chris. "Well, I haven't exactly been much of that lately."

"That doesn't matter," Allison nearly shouted as panic started to set in. "If she's after you then we need to keep you safe."

"Don't worry sweetheart," he said before he went and grabbed another gun. "I won't be like the others she took."

"Really? Because Stiles' father also had a gun and it didn't stop Ms. Blake from taking him," she argued.

"That's why I'm taking more than one," he said pocketing another.

They then went to spread a map of the town with the telluric currents on them. "If she is holding Stiles' father and Scott's mother alive then it has to be along the telluric current."

Isaac narrowed his eyes at the map. "But where? There's too many places to look."

"Well, we won't be looking at the places that she's already used. That significantly narrows down our choices," Chris told him.

But Allison caught her breath. "Hey, what about a place she wanted to use, but didn't work?" She then pointed to a spot on the map.

Isaac knew the spot. "The bank vault?"

"That's where she was trying to sacrifice Deaton."

"But Scott and the Sheriff saved him," Chris said catching on.

Allison shook her head. "She can still use it."

Lydia was at the mirror, looking solemnly as she rubbed at the bruises on her neck with her mother right beside her.

"Okay sweetheart, this is not a problem," Ms. Martin said reassuringly. "Having gotten my share of hickies in high school I developed some patented cover up methods." She went for a makeup kit but Lydia raised her hand to stop her. Ms. Martin's face fell a bit. "If you don't want to go to school honey, you don't have to."

But Lydia shook her head. "That's not it. It's just…someone tried to strangle me…and I survived." Her face became resolute. "I don't need to hide that."

That made her mother smile a bit. She then went and put the makeup kit down and started to rub at her daughter's hair. "No, no you don't." She then went and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. "But, we're still going to do your hair, right?"

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Of course we're doing my hair. Duh."

That made both of them laugh with each other. Lydia's phone beeped and her mother, who was the closest to it, reached for it as Lydia reached for a brush.

"You got a message." Ms. Martin said.

"Aiden?" she asked as she ran the brush down her hair.

"No. Stiles."

That made Lydia freeze in mid brush.

Isaac went with the Argents as they looked through the bank. They quickly, but carefully, headed for the bank vault. Isaac tensed as he stepped inside the place that he knew Erica and Boyd were kept by the Alphas for months. Chris stepped further inside as Allison stayed alongside Isaac.

She looked and noticed how he was and realized why this place wouldn't be good for him. "You okay?" she whispered to him.

He spared her a look before he turned away. "Yeah. I'm fine."

Allison knew that wasn't true but nodded nonetheless. She then started to step off a bit. "It's empty," she said to her father.

"Be careful anyway," Chris said before he reached for his electric rod and charged it up.

Isaac's eyes followed the light from the electricity it was firing out. "I thought that you only used those things on werewolves?" he asked him. He didn't know why but he got a chill going up his spine.

Chris stopped moving. "I do."

There was no warning when he went and jammed it right into Isaac's chest. The electricity poured into him and stunned him stiff before he fell motionless to the floor. Allison gasped and covered her mouth in shock as her eyes followed Isaac's drop. Chris used that moment to go to her and quickly cuff her wrist to the bars near the wall.

"What the hell are you doing?" Allison shrieked at him.

He gave her a somber look. "I'm sorry, but you're just gonna have to trust me on this." He then moved to bring out his gun and stepped away from her. "I knew for a long time that she just didn't operate on the currents, she was in sync with them." He then dropped his gun as his eyes fell on the vault door.

Both Allison and Isaac looked over to it to as Jennifer Blake started to step inside and she smiled savagely at Chris.

"Now this is a sacrifice," she said happily.

Allison gasped as she watched Jennifer move in and then take her father before her very eyes with her powerless to stop it. Allison leaned against the wall, shaking her head as she shut her eyes and let some tears fall. Her father was gone. Taken, just like Stiles' dad and Scott's mom. He was all she had left of her family and he was gone.

Isaac started crawling for Allison, fighting through the effects of the shock that her father gave him. He could sense her sadness and pain and it made him grit his teeth. He pushed himself to stand on his feet again and move for her. He finally reached her and took her hand. She didn't seem to notice him there. Isaac then pulled on the cuffs until the snapped the chain and the force nearly made them both fall over.

She finally opened her eyes. "Why did he do that?" she asked when she regained her balance.

He shook his head. "I don't know. We need to go," he said softly. "Okay? We need help." But before he could move, Allison went and reached for his hand as she just stayed firmly in the spot where she last saw her father. Isaac told hold of her. "Allison," he said to try and gently shake her out of this. "We have to go."

"They're all going to die…aren't they?" she asked him in a cracked voice.

Isaac let out a pained breath as he went and took Allison into a tight hug. She cried into him as he rubbed that back of her head and back to try and calm her down. They stayed there, with her soft cries echoing through the dark vault.

Lydia was sitting in her living room as Stiles stood opposite her and told her everything that had happened over at the hospital last night. Lydia just shook her head at the end of it.

"No, I don't believe it," she told him sternly. "Scott can't really be with them. He can't be."

But Stiles slowly shut his eyes. "You didn't see the look on his face. It was just…"

Lydia narrowed her eyes. "Then, what can I do? I mean, I get that I'm some sort of human Geiger Counter for death but, I don't know how to turn it on and off yet. All I know is that she tried to kill me because of-" But she froze.

Stiles tensed. "Because of what? Lydia, what?"

"When she called me a Banshee…she was surprised by it. What if that's not why she tried to kill me?"

"Wait," Stiles said as he straightened himself up. "The last time she tried to kill someone but not sacrifice them was-

"Danny," Lydia mumbled.

Stiles nodded. "Because he knew something. The telluric currents which she was using to sacrifice those people on and scatter the bodies."

"Ms. Blake said that I wasn't a sacrifice. I was just a girl who knew too much." Lydia then started shaking her head. "But, I don't know what that is…and if we're going to get your dad, Scott's mom and Scott back, then that's what we need to find out."

Stiles wiped at the bottom of his chin in thought. "Then we need to go and find someone that does."

At the loft, Derek stared at his sister and he thought on what was about to happen. He was about to sacrifice his position, his power of an Alpha. It didn't seem like a great loss to him, especially if it could get Cora back. It wasn't like he was ever a great one, after all, he had to lie and deceive Scott in order to get the chance to even become an Alpha in the first place. From the moment that he had become an Alpha, nothing seemed to go right. He couldn't persuade Scott or Stiles to be a part of his pack. He had to manipulate three lonely teens to even get them to agree to join him and they followed him for only a short while before they were ready to leave him. Scott and Stiles had to move in to help and try and save them when he, their Alpha, couldn't even protect them. He remembered Stiles' words at the hospital. He was a terrible Alpha…and a terrible brother. He could live with being a total failure of an Alpha, but he couldn't as a failure of a big brother.

Derek was moving to prepare to heal Cora but Peter moved a hand to halt him. "I can understand not seeing a downside to this as you haven't been Alpha of the year, but think about what else you'll be losing," he said trying to reason with his nephew.

Derek's eyes didn't move away from Cora. "I don't care about power. Not anymore."

But Peter scrunched his eyes up at him. "What about the power to fight back? Correct me if I'm wrong but Kali's ultimatum still stands. The full moon is tomorrow night and if you couldn't beat her as an Alpha how do you think you'll fair as a beta?"

That got Derek to turn away from Cora and look at him. "I don't care."

"Maybe you should care. Don't forget, Kali isn't the only problem. Deucalion is out there and has Scott in the palm of his hand. And, you might have been knocked out to fully hear and sense it, but this town's new Beast is starting to seriously rattle a certain Stiles shaped cage. Chances are, his power will fully awaken by the full moon, and Deucalion will be right there to see it and then take it. Who's going to stop him? What if….this is exactly what Jennifer was hoping for all along? She would know that the only way for you to save Cora was for you to give up your power? You heard Stiles say to her that she wouldn't heal her because she was the only leverage against you. Maybe she was planning on you healing her yourself all along."

"Why?"

"So you wouldn't be able to face the Alphas without her," Peter practically spat at him. "For you to know that the only option left to stop Deucalion and Kali was for you to join her. It's all part of her little seduction and she is still seducing you. She needs you on her side."

Derek spared a moment to consider his words before he looked back at his sister.

Chris started to twitch as he slowly came to and gasped as he found himself to be tied up to a wooden beam in a dark place.

"You okay over there?" Chris turned to see Sheriff Stilinski tied up himself a little further down.

Across from the Sheriff was Scott's mother Melissa. "Chris?" she said. "It's Chris right?"

Chris nodded before he started to look more closely at their surroundings. He saw that it was a cellar and his eyes widened when he saw the roots of the tree.

That didn't go unnoticed by the Sheriff. "Is it me or has someone been here before."

"Years ago," Chris muttered. He then brought himself back to try and loosen the bindings on his hands enough to try and move them as he angled his foot to them.

"Uh, hate to disappoint you but we watched her take your ankle knife," the sheriff told him.

Chris moved again but Melissa shook her head. "And the knife that's in your sleeve."

He began to move again but the sheriff spoke again. "And the switchblade in your other sleeve," he slurred out.

Chris let out a grunt of aggravation just before the cellar doors opened and Jennifer started to step on inside. "And the taser in your jacket pocket." She then got to the landing and started to circle him. "Argent, the French word for silver." She then bent down with a washcloth and moved it towards where Chris was bleeding at the top of his head. He tried to move away but she lightly gripped his chin to make him face her. "Interesting how truth can get altered by legend," she said to him as she dabbed the cloth to wipe off some blood. "When it's not actually the metal silver that kills werewolves but the family. What's the Argent code again? We hunt those that hunt us. I hope you don't mind if I borrow it for a little while since I've been hunted myself."

"Don't pretend that we're the same cause," Chris muttered to her with a bit of a glare. "I don't kill innocent people."

But that only made Jennifer glare at him. "That's why they call it a sacrifice. I wish it were another way, but think about what you're doing. What the three of you are doing. You are helping to make this town, this world, a safer place for your children." Then she looked over at Melissa. "Well, most of them." Melissa went to glare at her but Jennifer quickly looked back over at Chris. "And don't pretend that you are somehow better than I am Chris. You might not kill innocent people…but unlike you I don't enjoy torturing them." She then looked over at the Sheriff. "I'm sure his boy could attest to that."

Chris spared the Sheriff a look and saw the man glaring slightly at him. A look he had seen before on another's face a couple of months ago.

Stiles took Lydia to school with him in his jeep and the moment they stepped out, they went on the prowl for Aiden. They hoped he might have a clue that could tell them what made Lydia so special, since, he had gone after Lydia per Deucalion's request. But, after an hour of scouring the halls, there was no sign of him.

Lydia looked at her phone and hung up after the fourth attempt to call him. "Aiden's not picking up or texting me back."

Stiles was looking about. "I'm not picking up his scent anywhere either. Ethan's neither. It doesn't look like they showed up today." Stiles then just stopped in the middle of the hall, completely deflated.

Lydia gave him a look. "Okay…well, maybe we could just go over there and-"

But Stiles got a message on his phone and quickly went for it. He hoped that it was Scott, but he saw that it was from Isaac. He hoped that he and the Argents were able to find something. But he then opened it and his eyes twitched at what was written.

Lydia noticed it. "What?" She then noticed how Stiles tightened his grip on his phone. That seemed to tell her enough. "Oh god, what is it now?" she mumbled.

Stiles twitched again. "It…it's from Isaac. Jennifer, she, she has Allison's father. She took him. She has all three now." Stiles' hand was shaking so much he was barely able to put his phone back in his pocket.

"There's still time," Lydia quickly said. "We still have time, right?"

But Stiles looked at her and saw that his vision was starting to blur. His head was starting to get light and he was feeling his chest start to clog up. He could vaguely hear Lydia talk to him, asking him what was wrong. Everything around him seemed to be acting up. Some things seemed to freeze in motion, others seemed to speed up. He was having a little trouble breathing and was starting to shake where he stood. He looked back at Lydia and her eyes widened when she saw a flash of gold travel across his eyes.

"I think I'm having a panic attack," he choked out.

At that, Lydia took Stiles by his arm and dragged him off into the locker room, which thankfully was empty right now. "Hurry," she said as she closed the door behind them.

Stiles dropped his bag and pushed himself away from her as he stumbled inside and then fell to his knees. He then fell on his arms as he his breathing started to quicken. Lydia tried to go to him but he went and pushed her hand away. "Get away," Stiles coughed out as he started to try and separate from her. He got half way up before he stumbled and fell into the opposite wall. He then moved to sit up against it as he moved to hold onto his chest.

Lydia moved to sit down beside him and noticed that the tips of Stiles' fingers were now sporting claws. His head was bent down but she could see that his ears were starting to get pointed. He was shifting, right there. "Stiles, calm down. You're shifting. I thought you knew how to control it."

"I…I can't," he gasped. Stiles had always had firm anchors. His dad and his best friend. He always had a least one to keep him from completely losing it. But now, for the first time, he didn't have either one of them. His dad was captured, and for all he knew dead or dying right now. His best friend Scott, was now with Deucalion, the one that wanted to kill him.

Lydia saw that Stiles' eyes were glowing gold again but it didn't look like it was going away. "Uh, just think of something," she said to him quickly.

"Like what?" he puffed out.

"Uh, think of your friends. Family." That made Stiles let go of his chest and grip the floor. "Okay, not family," she said realizing her mistake. She saw Stiles' claws start to dig into the floor as his breathing quickened. "Try and slow your breathing."

"I can't," he cried. "I can't. I can't!" he all but roared the last part.

"Stiles, look at me." Lydia then moved to grab onto Stiles' face. She saw that the gold in Stiles eyes were starting to burn brighter and she could make out the whites of his eyes start to darken. Sideburns were starting to form in front of his ears and his breathing intensified more. "Stiles," she said softly before she went and pressed her lips to his.

Lydia felt the sideburns around his ears start to fade and could feel that Stiles' body started to settle down. She then slowly pulled away from him to see that the gold in his eyes was starting to dim out until they were back to their original honey brown. His breathing was starting to slow and his shoulders seemed to relax.

Stiles was just staring at her. He had lost track of how many times he visualized his first kiss with Lydia Martin. This kind of scenario never made close to what had just happened. Ever since he made his mind to finally try and get over her, the amount of times he imagined this moment started to get further and further apart. He also realized that while he did feel warm and content inside, it wasn't as fulfilling as he always thought it would be.

He then noticed that his panic attack was gone and he was starting to have control of himself again. "How did you do that?" he asked her.

"I, uh…read once that, holding your breath can stop a panic attack. So…when I kissed you, you held your breath."

Stiles widened his eyes. "I, I did?"

Lydia nodded. "Yeah, you did."

Stiles then nodded too as his eyes began to shine a bit. "Thanks. That, was really smart."

The both of them started to calm down and began to feel a bit awkward about how and where they were. They moved to both sit up straight.

"I just read it somewhere," Lydia said to him. "And, if I was really smart then I would tell you to sign up for a few sessions with our guidance counselor."

Stiles let out a breathless snort before his eyes narrowed. "Morrell," he muttered before looking straight up at her.

Lydia's widened as she looked back at him. How could they had forgotten? There was someone else that might have the answers that they needed.

They then grabbed their things and broke into a run for the guidance office. They entered the room but found that only a student was there in front of an empty desk.

"Are you here for Ms. Morrell?" Stiles asked her.

"No, I thought this was gym class," she sassed at him.

Lydia gave her a look. "Sweetheart, we're not in the mood for funny. Do you know where she is?"

The girl held her arms out at the table. "If I did then I wouldn't be waiting here for twenty minutes. So, how about you two back out the door and wait your turn?" she sassed at them again.

"We're not here for a session," Lydia sassed back at her.

"Well I am and I've got some serious issues to work on."

"Whoa, wait," Stiles said holding out his hand. "You're Danielle. You're Heather's best friend," he said recognizing her from her birthday party.

Danielle fell back into her chair and her eyes dropped a bit. "I was Heather's best friend. We've been working on that issue three times a week," she said a little sadly.

But Lydia shook her head. "Hold on, did you say that Ms. Morrell was twenty minutes late?"

"Yeah, and I don't know why either. She's always on time."

Lydia turned to look back at Stiles. "I was seeing her the beginning of the semester, she was never late."

Stiles narrowed her eyes. "Then she's not late. She's missing."

"What if we're not the only ones that think she knows something?" she asked him.

Stiles took a look over at her desk. "Then I want to know what she knows." He then moved to head for the drawers of her desk.

"What are you doing?" Dannielle asked him.

"Trying to find her," he answered.

"Those files are private," she tried arguing with him.

"Uh, yeah, she's kind of right," Lydia said agreeing with her.

But Stiles pulled out a file. "That one's yours."

"Let me see that," Lydia said grabbing it.

She set it down and opened it to reveal some papers. One of them was a drawing. Stiles looked up and noticed it too. One he recognized from back when he and Cora had tried to get her to help them with finding Deaton when he was taken.

"Wait, Lydia that's your drawing," he said.

Lydia shrugged. "Yeah, I know. It's a tree."

Danielle moved to take a look at it herself. "Yeah. Good too."

Lydia smiled at her. "Thank you."

But Stiles shook his head. "No, Lydia, that's the same one though."

"The same what?"

"The same one I always see you drawing in class."

"It's a tree. I draw trees," she said feeling a little defensive.

"No, it's the exact same one," Stiles said before moving over to her. He then moved to reveal another one. "See? Give me your bag." He then went and pulled out Lydia's notebook and opened it next to the drawing where there was another drawing of the same tree. "See?"

Stiles then turned the pages of her notebook to reveal that page after page had the drawing of the same exact tree in various sizes. But they were the same one, down to the smallest detail.

Danielle's eyes widened at that before she shook her head. "Okay, you can have my session," she said going for her bag. "You've got bigger issues." She then left, leaving the two of them alone.

"What is this?" Lydia said feeling a little freaked out now.

"This tree," Stiles mumbled. "Yesterday, in class, I felt Ms. Blake get mad…and scared. She was looking at you. No, she was looking at this tree. That's why she went after you."

"Over a tree? Why?"

Stiles dropped his eyes a bit as his mind raced. It had to be something relating to the sacrifices. Stiles couldn't remember hearing anything about a tree during any of this. But…he did hear about something else tree related. Stiles took the drawing and slowly turned it around where it didn't look like a tree anymore, but a tree stump and roots. Then Stiles remembered stories that he and Scott heard not too long ago involving a place with roots.

"I know where they are," he breathed out.