Deaton arrive at the old Newman place and buzzed to be let in the gate. It swung open and he drove up toward the main house, as he did he could see that one of the garage's was opening and inside there was an empty spot. Damion had come to the main door and after a nod to confirm his questioning look he drove into it and got out.
Gathering his bags he turned to see Scott was standing next to Damion, he smiled to him as he walked over "The new boy just isn't as good as you Scott."
Scott looked a bit guilty "Sorry about that Dr Deaton, there was just so much that needed to be done. I didn't want to let you done by starting to be late or missing shifts."
Deaton had always like the responsible streak in him "Don't worry, you did the right thing, and I'm sure he will work out once he stops being queasy as the vomit. Magus it is nice to see you again."
Damion nodded "You too Dr Deaton, I just wish it could have been under more fortuitous circumstance. Thank you for your offer of aid. Scott here will take you bags down to the Apothecary; I have tea laid out in the Study if you would like to join me."
Deaton smiled and nodded "Tea sounds wonderful and civilised." He then handed the two bags of supplies over to Scott who took them downstairs.
They went into the study and Melissa was already seated and enjoying a cup, she looked over at Deaton as he came in and smiled "Emile nice to see you again."
Deaton returned the greeting and sat down in one of the chairs. Damion served him tea and offered a selection of afternoon cakes which he couldn't help but have one. "This is the sort of thing you miss after a while."
Damion raised an eyebrow "You studied in Britain?"
Deaton nodded "Yes for several years I was lucky enough to train under one of the Arch-druids. He had a fondness for afternoon tea and cakes as well."
Melissa cleared her throat "I believe that I owe you at debt of gratitude for saving Scott's life more than once." She stood and offered her hand to Deaton, he took it and covered hers with his other
"Not at all, he's a good boy that was placed in unfortunate circumstances. I wasn't aware that he hadn't told you, otherwise I would have contacted you so you were at least aware of what was happening." Melissa nodded her acceptance of that.
They sat down and Damion poured the tea and offered round the assorted cream cakes. Once they were settled they were talking for a few minutes where Derek appeared at the door looking uncomfortable. He walked over to Deaton and said "I made a mistake, and didn't investigate things fully." He held out his hand to Deaton.
Deaton looked at it and realised that this was as close as the Alpha could come to making an apology for his actions. He also understood from what Scott and Damion had told him how things had happened and what Derek's Uncle and Nurse had done. He took the hand and shook it. Derek nodded at this then left the room.
Melissa looked at Damion and said "Intense."
Damion shrugged in agreement "He does that sometimes."
Deaton smiled "I see now why you were the one to apologise, as the Alpha's mate it's your job ensure that stability of the Pack and with those they interact with. I hadn't realised that you were mated when we spoke last."
Damion blushed at that and Melissa laughed at his reaction. Deaton brought the conversation around to the matter at hand "I know that the hunters are gathering in force to assault your Pack. As I said I cannot fight, but I can provide help in medical matter. That is why I am here I feel that things will come to a head within the next forty eight hours."
Damion nodded "That's or belief as well. We would rather than no fighting was required either, but this group seems to be almost rabid in their desire to kill us. Even to the point where they have excised the more moderate parts of the local chain of command. We appreciate any help you can give us. I'm sure Melissa would lend you a hand as well?"
He looked to Melissa who agreed "Yes, I know that I wouldn't be much use in a fight, but I want to help as well, and if I can use what I know to keep these Pups and their crazy Alphas alive I'm going to do it. If I can help you with the medical knowledge I have I'm all for it."
Deaton accept this with grace "I'm sure that together we can make sure that none of them will suffer to greatly."
After the tea they made their way down to the Lair. Deaton was impressed with the setup and grateful to see that the Apothecary held everything that he could think he would need "A most well stocked larder." He commented to Damion.
"I like to make sure I cover any eventualities. Makes dealing with the un-known a bit easier." They looked out the supplies that would most likely be needed for the battle to come.
Melissa started to work on emergency bundles that could be used to triage anything till they got back to the Lair.
..oo00OO00oo..
The clarion call came as the sun was setting over Beacon Hills. Danny had spotted the transports leaving the industrial area. What was worrying was that in addition to the previous vehicles was a minibus that had to have been a local acquisition. Damion looked at the footage and then back at Derek "We have about half an hour. The extra vehicles got to put the numbers between forty and sixty hunters with equipment." He looked at Derek with a concern that was mirrored by his mate.
"It's going to make things harder but we have to go through with it."
Scott looked at Derek like he had grown another head "Harder he says, harder. It could be a slaughter out there, are you willing to risk the Pack on a slim chance of winning?"
Derek turned to Scott and looked at the Pup, he wasn't panicking, he wasn't dripping with fear, and he was looking to his Alpha to make the call knowing that he would follow it. Derek placed a hand on his shoulder "If we run now they are going to keep coming at us. Better to draw the line in the sand and send the message that it won't be accepted. We won't tolerate this pervasion and this bully boy tactics."
Scott gave Derek a half grin "Just wanted to hear you say it Boss."
Derek matched his smile and said "Dumb Ass" but there was no rancour in it.
Scott looked at the map and said "Can we place some sort of mine along the rise on the south east side of the valley. It would stop them from circling around and coming at us in a pincer." The room went silent and they all looked at Scott like he had now grown another head.
Stiles broke the silence "Dude that was like strategic planning, but from you. I mean when did you learn how to do that stuff?"
Scott batted at Stiles and grinned again knowing his reputation "Damion has been playing Chess with me and we got talking about some of the battles he's seen, and when he helped me with the History report I kind of liked reading about that stuff. If you remember I got an A on that paper."
Melissa couldn't help getting a little misty at her son's growth; Allison saw it and gave her a hanky with a grin.
Damion had pulled up the inventory of the armoury and was looking through it. "Ok we have some low yield anti-personnel mines. They're the same that are used on the grounds so flash bang stun variant. These are the standalone type so all you do is drive the spikes into the ground then you have thirty seconds to move three yards. Anything moving within a three yard circle will set it off. They won't get triggered by an explosion so they won't chain detonate."
Derek nodded and looked to Scott "Ok this is your part of the plan now, so take Jackson and Danny and get the mines placed on the rise. Allison goes with then and acts as spotter to make sure they aren't compromised."
Allison nodded. Damion lead them up the stairs as they went to get the charges, he was back within minutes "Their off, we had sixty in the armoury so they have taken them to set up a field." Derek nodded his acceptance of that.
Lydia was looking at the traffic feeds "They have hit the out skirts of the town, there still heading towards the easy access road. If they keep it within legal speeds, let see that would give us twenty five minutes to get to the car park." Damion nodded and started a countdown clock.
Stiles groaned "Like that doesn't make it less tense at all." Melissa and Deaton stood watch in the war room while the others went to prepare.
They each put on one of the arm guards and snapped their phones home into the dock. This would give them real time intel from the war room and allow them to communicate with each other through the headsets. It was shaped not interfere with the slashing fighting motion that the wolves preferred. Everyone that was going out was already wearing a light black outfit. It was a special weave and included Kevlar threads. It wouldn't stop a close range bullet but it would provide some protection.
They headed up to rendezvous with the four that were already out there. Scott and his team were already kitted out before they had left so it was time to seal the house.
In the back garden Damion tapped the ear piece and said "Lair this is Prime we are clear. Seal the house." Like the Hale house the Lair started to seal all the windows and doors with metal shutters. Soon the house was in darkness and sealed from intruders. The Pack made their way towards the woods and what the night might bring.
..oo00OO00oo..
The hunter arrived at the designated stopping point and the men began to disembark and gear up. They were charged and buzzing and itching to start killing, rational thought seemed to have become a secondary concern to them, all they cared about was getting the kills and being the first to shoot a mutt.
White sat in his SUV and savoured the chaos that was forming around his pawns. He didn't care if they lived or died tonight, all he cared about was that they were the first step in a larger game and he was going to fulfil his masters wished.
He had been secretly ramping up there adrenalin and aggression all day and the men were fit to burst, the number of fights that had broken our already showed they were on a hair trigger. Even if they didn't kill the Wolfs with bullets, his second play would decimate them, all the men were now carriers of his baby.
He always liked the classics and he had gone back to get the most classic plague of them all. This Black Death was different than the last one, it was more infectious and more deadly and more resistant to anything modern medicines could cope with. It stayed active for far longer than any other pathogen and was transferred by touch at the moment, when it reached a critical level it would become airborne.
The Wolfs healing factors would be counteracted by the dark taint he had inserted into the pathogen so they would be the second victims of it. If anyone survived they would pass it on, if not when the bodies were 'discovered' they men sent to examine and clear the site would be infected, within twenty four hours of that they would be dead and everyone they had touched would be new carriers. State troops would be needed for this massacre as would EMT's and doctors and other services.
Soon his baby would reach over the world and it would choke the life from it in glorious Chaos and his masters would be please. He stepped out the SUV and looked at the disgusting meat bags arrayed before him.
"Let's do this, I want them all exterminated before sunrise."
The answering yell was almost bestial. He indicated the nominal squad leaders to gather their troops and head in; they split into seven groups of seven men plus one to act as communications. Two groups were to head towards a rise and swept round to the side, the rest through the middle and towards the house they seemed to be using. As they approached the woods an evening mist started forming and grew thicker.
..oo00OO00oo..
They stood on the bluff looking down into the main woods, they could make out the voices of the hunters, and they weren't even trying to be subtle.
Derek looked at Damion and said "Now."
Damion nodded and he drew his locus from his chest then shaped it into the sword form. Danny had never seen that before made an astonished sound and Stiles smiled at him. Damion began to incant, his eyes changing to Black orbs, he then plunged his sword into the ground. The light mist that was in the woods began to intensify and from the sword more seemed to spill out and flood into the woods. Damion looked at Derek and nodded.
Derek looked to Jackson "Ok the mist will act like a fog to them and their night vision; our senses shouldn't be affected as badly. Take Danny, down the South east flank. The flash bangs will deter them but they will still try to come in that area. If you need help call, retreat and get help is better than losing either of you." Jackson and Danny nodded and the headed off.
"Allison you Stiles and Lydia set up here, the rocks will give you some cover and the sword will need protection to ensure the mist stays up." The three nodded and Allison began to set up her rifle as the other two released their loci and began to prepare.
Derek looked to Damion and Scott "We take the middle, straight up then fan out. Hit fast, hit hard. Signal for help if needed." The pair nodded and Scott shifted to his Beta form giving Allison one final look which she acknowledged.
Damion and Derek shifted to their Alpha form. Derek's was strengthened and enhanced by the Pack, in another time it would have been a site to wonder at, now it was for war.
Damion gave his mate a look and saw it was being matched by Derek's Blue eyes and then Damion shifted. His form mirrored Derek's in size and stature, but the eyes were crackling Red orbs, and the raven black wings that stretched down his back. He shook them out and with a huff from Derek to signal there advance they streaked into the forest.
..oo00OO00oo..
Jerry Rice was having trouble thinking he could tell that something wasn't right but he didn't know what it was. The two squads that he was leading towards the rise were barely holding it together. They were jostling and squabbling, that wasn't right for trained men.
His head hurt and when he rubbed his face it came away soaked with sweat. All he knew was that White wanted the wolves dead and that's all he could focus on, not the pounding head or the scratching in his throat or the wrongness that he felt. The rise was just ahead and he signalled the idiots he was forced to deal with to put on the night vision, no sense being jumped by the wolves.
He slammed his hand into the device several times, all he was getting was a ten or twenty feet and then it was like looking into a snow storm. He pulled the malfunction device off and snatched one from the other squad leader. The man looked like he was about to punch Jerry but jerry silenced it with a slam from his gun. He put on the night vision and it was faulty as well. He heard the rest of the team complaining.
He growled in frustration and threw the goggles at a tree where they smashed, he should do something now, what, report in. "Base this is Rice, I mean Squad three. Who ever got this shit needs to be shot, I mean equipment malfunction with the goggles."
He expected Peters to answer as he was comms but White himself answered "Yes Rice we are aware that all the goggles are inoperative, looks like some kind of Jamming. Carry on as planned; just use your common sense."
Rice nodded and signalled the men forwards. The first group had reached the rise and were moving along it. The second group were about to join them when there was a series of flashes and bangs like thunder than crashed round his head. He ran to check the men; five of them were down and out cold. The rest looked like they were shell shocked.
"Peters they mined the ridge we're turning back we have wounded"
White answered again "No Rice you are not. Leave them there and well deal with them afterwards, skirt along the bottom of the rise and carry out your mission."
Rice tried to object "But the m..."
He never got to finish Whites voice cut him off and it was like ice grating "DO IT NOW."
He signalled the men to leave the fallen, despite their protests and signalled them to move on. They skirted a large boulder when the first blur shot from the side and took out two men; they turned an opened fire and seemed to be trailing a ghost. A second blur came right at Rice and an unlucky man stepped in front of him at the last second and took the blow meant for Rice. In two passes the wolves had taken out four mean and they hadn't even gotten a hit. "Group up, back to back. Don't let them pick you off." The men struggled to do so, but they were down to just five from fourteen and it was showing, they were randomly firing at anything that was moving. Rice tried to co-ordinate them but it was too late adrenaline fuelled panic was feeding them.
Another blur and two more men went down; Rice fired at it and was pleased when the blur was knocked sideways as bullets connected. The wolf was a boy, barely old enough to be shaving with blond, brown hair. He was almost to pretty to be a boy. A snapping growl came from behind them and Rice turned in time to see a wall of fury race at them and the last three men went down.
Danny stood over Jackson and checked the wound on his shoulder. "It could have been worse, it looks like the fabric did its job and deflected the shot or that would have been in your heart."
Jackson winced and rubbed the area. "Yeah they were shooting wild at the end there, is it me or was that almost you know not as difficult despite me getting shot as I thought it would be?"
Danny nodded "Yeah it was like they weren't all here." He turned and lifted the man who had shot Jackson and sniffed at him, there was an underlying smell of sickness. "I don't think they're well."
Jackson agreed "Yeah, come on lets secure them and sweep round, we take out there support vehicles and pincer in as planned. My shoulder should be healed by then. It's a good thing they weren't armed with aconite otherwise I really would be dead right now."
Danny nodded another mystery to add to the pile. They began to secure the hunters with plastic ties all the time they smelt that odour of illness about them. They headed around towards where he Vehicles would have been parked, securing the mine victims as they went.
..oo00OO00oo..
Derek let rip with a mighty howl and slipped into the night. Damion shook his head at his mate's keenness to get the job done and with mighty sweep of his wings shot skywards.
Scott got caught in the gust from the back draft but shook it off and kept going. He glanced at the screen on his arm and saw where the others were and that Jackson and Danny were moving towards their assigned spot, if they did meet with any resistance they were to take it down then disable the vehicles. One way or another was ending tonight. As he ran into the deeper parts of the woods he heard movement ahead and his instinct said up. Before he would have fought it and resisted, but after all their training after all the work the Pack had put in he had finally found a peace with his wolf and was ready to head it. He sprang lithely up the tree in front of him.
A group of seven men came crashing through the woods, that was enough to perk Scott's curiosity, he knew it was an all-out attack but this was clumsy and brutish not the hunters he was used to, they were also arguing among themselves and cursing the equipment that they had been given. A smirk briefly settled on his lips as he saw the results of Damions enhanced fog.
He perched on the edge of the branch and waited for the right moment, a moment that was given to him by his mate. A sharp whistling sound shot past the tree and a man armed with a heavy machine gun was thrown sideways and he dropped as a fletched from Allison's rifle went through his weapons arms shoulder. Scott heard a click on his ear piece and he shielded his eyes as a second fletched this time armed with a flash bang struck the ground in the centre of the gathered men. It went off and as they stumbled in confusion Scott dropped from the tree and swept out with his foot knocking three of them down with one blow. As the others turned to the sound he crouched low and sprang forward bowling the others down. Three bone crunching thuds later those men were down. Two of the men he had swept were starting to get up, one pulling up his rifle and trying to bring it to bear, Scott leap forward again and cloths lined them both, the man with the rifles shots firing wildly into the air. Checking that they were all out and securing them with ties.
He took a moment to catch his breath he looked back to where Allison was and mouthed 'Thank You'. Then sniffed the air; there was an odd smell of sickness in the air coming from the men possible why they weren't on their game. Putting that aside for the moment he searched for another group and picking up movement to the south he headed out.
..oo00OO00oo..
Damion arced high over the woods, he could see several groups and Derek and Scott heading towards their targets. Choosing one that was ahead of him he streaked downwards. The men were moving as a unit, more focused that some of the others he had seen, but still more brutish in their actions than he knew the hunters were.
He folded his wings in and hurtled towards the back three, with a sickening crash he brought the men down, they were unconscious with broken bones. It was more savage than was strictly called for, but no one threatened his Pack or Mate.
The lead men turned and fired their weapons but ended up riddling their own men as Damion had moved to the side, using a tree as a spring board he launched himself back towards the other men and with a sharp cry of pain and crumpled thud another two were down.
One man looked at Damion and the fear oozed out of him and he turned and ran. The final man, possible the team leader pulled something from his vest and held out a grenade "Stop or I'll use this and well both get blown to kingdom come!" He yelled.
Damion looked at him and snarled "You don't want to do that."
The man panicked at the voice and the pin was pulled from the grenade. Even though Damion was at a distance from his Locus he could still tap into his hereditary powers, and in a flash of black lightning the man and the grenade were thrown away towards the fleeing hunter. The grenade went off and both men were no longer a threat.
He turned to one of the bodies and picked up. Something wasn't right here and the relative ease at how they were handling these men worried him. Sniffing the body, Damion sneezed as he caught the traces of something wrong with the men. He went to another and smelled it as well, the same thing. The adrenaline that was oozing from their pours and the testosterone was through the roof, also they were ill and in a bad way.
The levels of adrenaline he was getting would have kept them on their feet for a while longer but once it burned out these men's lifespan could be measured in hours. He felt for Derek and knew that he was heading back towards where Allison and the others were. Scott was also heading in that direction as well. Taking flight he pushed to get back there as quickly as he could as well.
..oo00OO00oo..
Derek sniffed the air and knew that his prey was ahead of him and coming towards him. He let the Alpha wolf in him loose and he howled as he headed towards them. Running through woods this was the first time that he had really loosed the full power of the Alpha and he was relishing it.
His Pack was in danger and he would not tolerate that to stand. The men were proceeding slowly and methodically as they moved towards their goal. Weapons drawn and sweeping for any activity. He saw them as a threat and he removed than threat. The team leader barely had time to register the blue eyes that leapt at him and his men. Claws slashed and teeth ripped into flesh and then there was stillness.
They were alive but some wouldn't survive the wounds that had been inflicted, the other might but they would never be whole. He sniffed the air and caught a whiff of decay and illness.
One of the men moved he thought it had been the one that had seen him, groaning he coughed up blood and was still. The smell of illness was heavy in the blood.
The Pack was in danger and that had to be stopped. Turning he headed towards the rest of the Pack. He felt Damion feel for him and knew that he shared his concerns as well. Something wasn't right here and he had to find out what it was.
..oo00OO00oo..
Jackson and Danny finished checking the trucks and other vehicles but apart from some case of ammo and boxes of equipment no one was here. They pulled the batteries on and went to dump then off to the side where they wouldn't be quickly found.
As they did the wind shifted slightly and the smell of death hit them both. Edging carefully to the side they saw a hunter in a foetal position on the ground dead and decaying before their eyes.
Jackson looked at Danny and said "That's just not right man."
Danny shook his head "He smells like those other men but worse, more advanced. This whole thing just doesn't feel right."
Jackson nodded and wrinkled his nose as the flesh began to putrefy on the corpse. Both of them turned and took off at speed towards the others.
..oo00OO00oo..
Allison saw the group of men as they come over the edge of the gulley that ran along the woods. They were moving towards their position and would be with them shortly, she took aim with her rifle and fired of a pair of flechettes that struck the lead men and knocked them down.
The other men reacted and dropped to the ground seeking cover they began to fire towards the three of them. Lydia concentrated and her eyes took on a silvery sheen as she cast a shield in front of them. The bullets slammed into it making a ringing noise like rain hitting glass.
Stiles also began to chant and his eyes became amber coloured. He made a sweeping motion and then brought his hands together then slammed both hands into the ground. The earth around the men began to tremble and shake and took on a consistency like water, and then either side rose up around them like twin tsunamis. The waves slammed together and settled leaving the battered hunters slump and unconscious.
Allison looked at Stiles then at Lydia "Guys that's incredible. You were amazing!"
Stiles grinned weekly and gave her the thumbs up. That was a one shot deal for him and had wiped his energy out for the moment.
Lydia smiled and sank to her knees "Man that really does take it out of you. I never realised how much energy it really took to cast something like that." She said.
Allison pulled a canteen out of the bag next to her and handed it over to Lydia who took several sips then handed it to Stiles who chugged down the contents. Allison smiled and suddenly straitened then rolled to her left as a shot sounded out, the bullet barley missing her.
..oo00OO00oo..
Derek was barrelling through the woods towards the other. He felt something happening ahead and saw the earth crashing down on a group of hunters. He skidded to a halt and turned in time to see a second set coming up the gulley towards him.
They tracked his movement and began to fire. The group seemed to be more together than the last one and their aim was much better. He barely had time to move as trail of bullets riffled where he had just been. He struck out and smashed down one of the hunters as he reloaded.
The other men were reloaded and already firing at him again, several bullets clipped him on his calf and he felt the burn as they passed through the flesh. It knocked his landing slightly, but he could feel the muscle knit together already. Spinning around he leapt at the men and landed in between them. Swiping out, he clawed down three of them with one hit.
Two men came running at him cattle prods drawn and he hurled one of bodies at them, it connected and the two men went down tasered by their own weapon. He turned and the final man had drawn a magnum pistol and was firing it at him. Fire ripped through his shoulder as he sprang at the man and with a crack he broke the man's neck. The wound in his shoulder was bad, but more than that it burning and spiking with pain. He looked down at it and saw the tendrils of purple smoke that indicated Wolfsbane. He tried shifting back to human form so he could treat it but the shift seemed to slip through his fingers, trying again he met with the same failure. He let loose a howl half in pain half in frustration.
Luckily Jackson and Danny were close and turned to their Alphas location. Jackson skidded to a halt at seeing Derek's condition and froze; Danny almost barrelled into him but managed to stop just in time.
Danny asked "What's happened to him?"
Jackson shook his head unsure, Derek looked at them and managed to say "Wolf's bane Bullet." But it was a struggle for him.
Jackson swore and raced forward, he started lifting weapons looking for the right one. Danny realised what was happening and ran to the nearest body and started to search it for a lighter. Derek growled over the pain jerked his muzzle at the man before him; Jackson nodded and saw the magnum by the corpses feet. Grabbing it he opened the chamber and only two bullets fell out. One had been fired the other looked the same as it and as Jackson touched it he felt the wolf inside him buck in pain and his eyes flashed steel.
Looking around for something flat he saw a flattish stone he pulled it over to Derek and asked "Danny any luck on the lighter?"
Danny turned towards him "No, nothing!" Looking around he snorted in frustration, and that's when he caught it under the pervasive smell of sickness, he turned and raced to one of the half buried bodies "Please be right"
Digging with clawed hands he unearthed the man and started to rifle through the pockets, in his back pocket was a crushed Pack of cigarettes and a steel lighter. He opened it and saying a silent prayer flicked the striker, after a couple of goes it lit. He rushed back to Jackson who was trying to get the bullet out of the case with his teeth.
Derek was watching them in pain, but he couldn't help feel so proud at their resourcefulness and competence in the face of so much happening. Jackson got it and banged the Wolf's bane head and the gunpowder into a pile. Danny handed him the lighter and he struck it alight.
Looking at Derek he said "This is gonna hurt!"
Derek huffed his acceptance of that and Jackson lit the pile, it flared in the darkness and wisps of the purple smoke flicked above the fire. Jackson gathered the ashes and turned to Derek who braced himself so that he wouldn't strike out and hit Danny of Jackson in the throes of what was to come.
Jackson pressed the ashes into the ragged whole in Derek's shoulder and held it in hard. The wound began to sizzle and hiss and Derek let out a roar of pain and bucked and jerked. As soon as the wound started to heal Jackson backed away and Derek felt the shift happening at last.
Soon he was in human form panting. He looked at Jackson and Danny, then placed a hand on Jackson shoulder letting him feel his thanks "Good job both of you, it looks like they have been working on the formula for that one."
Jackson smiles "Good job you made sure we knew how to treat that." Danny came over and the pair helped him to his feet.
..oo00OO00oo..
Allison rolled to her left and came up in her Beta state, she snarled and looked at White who was holding the magnum "Shame, I was going to give you a quick death, but seeing as you got away from me last time, maybe I can draw out your suffering a bit."
She snarled and leapt forward, White's hand snapped out with inhuman speed and he grabbed her by the throat and threw her towards Stiles and Lydia. "It seems that someone has been teaching you magic, if I had known that I would have brought bigger guns to deal with you. Though if the best you can muster is some basic earth moving and a shield and you're wiped out them maybe not."
Allison picked herself up and White spun around point the gun at her again "Please try, I will put you down. Now who has been teaching you whelps some magic? Hmm, you will tell me one way or another."
Stiles struggled to sit up "Dude, we wouldn't tell you your ass was on fire if it was. Let's be honest your ass being on fire right now wouldn't be a bad thing really."
White glanced at Stiles and Allison leapt. White fired and was genuinely surprised when the bullet stopped inches from Allison's head. Lydia was panting at the strain, her eyes flickering from silver to normal and back again. The bullet dropped and so did Lydia as she did a vision flashed through her mind.
White shook his head "Foolish little half breed, you use too much and it will kill you, didn't your teacher tell you that?"
Lydia smiled from the ground "Yes he did, but sometimes you just have too. By the way wave bye bye to your face because Scott says hello."
White looked at her questioningly and then turned as a growl came from the darkness. Scott flew from the shadows in full Beta form and swiped at Whites head. The man was spun around and Scott landed in front of Allison "No one threatens my Mate or my Pack."
Then he realised something was very wrong. He looked at his hand that had clawed Whites face and saw that the man's face was in his hand, it was also covered in a thick oozing puss. He shook his hand to get rid of it, a look of disgust on his face. Then Scott made a coughing noise and black blood came out of his mouth.
The sound of clapping made them all turn as White stood up and faced them, the rectus grin of a blackened skull that had a smearing of flesh and puss met there gaze "Well done I don't think I ever believed one of you mutts would ever really hurt me. But it doesn't matter; all you've done is hasten your end. Even now my baby is eating through your internal organs turning your inside to mush. Who knows, maybe I'll wear your face as a replacement, though I'm not sure about the hair."
Scott collapsed and Allison rushed to his side. Lydia and Stiles were too weak to help. He move towards the pair and went to grab Allison. Allison flexed her wrist and the contained sword slid out of its sheath and she sliced of Whites hand. Whites hissed in anger "Oh smart girl, I see I'll have to declaw you before I have my fun!"
At that moment a winged form slammed into the ground in front of the Pups and White "Attempt to touch my Pups again and I'll rend you into so many dimensions that you will exist in pain for eternity."
White took several steps back "Oh my, oh my, no wonder we have had so much trouble, a spell wolf. We never would have guessed there were any of you left. I think I'll hang your pelt on my wall." Damion growled and made to strike.
Allison called out "Don't his touch is poison!"
Damion nodded while he looked at White "That's ok; I wasn't going to touch him." He flexed his claws and his Locus that was still standing in the ground ripped itself free and flew to his left hand. The other hand began to glow with black light and the claws grew into talons of black energy.
White made a sneering noise "Let's see what you have."
He brought up his remaining hand with the gun in it and fired at Damion. Damion moved faster he was already in motion as the bullet soared past him barley missing him. With one strike from his claw he cleaved White from his crotch to his head, and then he swung around and separated the head from the body with his sword.
Whites head smacked into the ground with a wet slap where it separated into slices, his body remained standing for a moment puss spurting from where the jugulars would have been then it began to split and fall with a wet thudding noise. As they looked the remains began to hiss and bubble and decompose into putrid goo.
"Oh man that was both the coolest thing I have ever seen and the most disgusting thing I have ever seen." Stiles said.
Lydia was just staring at the remains.
Allison was holding Scott and trying to rouse him "Scott, Scott please wake up, Scott!"
Damion rushed over to her side and checking Scott and smelling the black blood he was coughing up he knew they didn't have long. Sealing his Locus and absorbing it, he then gathered Scott into his arms as Derek, Jackson and Danny arrived taking in the scene.
Damion looked at Derek "They were carrying some sort of infection, White was the originator. Scott's dyeing now, but we have all been infected. Get all the body's together here and then get back to the lair."
Derek nodded, and Damion took off towards the house holding Scott in his arms. Allison looked at Derek and Derek nodded. She took off towards the house as well.
Derek realised what they were facing and looked at Stiles. "Stiles phone your father and tell him that there has been hazardous spill at the preserve. Tell him he has to believe you now and that you will fill in the details as soon as you can. He need to make sure that no one leaves the area or comes into it, but don't call in the federal forces yet. Once you've done that get yourself and Lydia back to the lair. I hope Damion and Deaton can find a cure in time."
Stiles nodded open mouthed and then grabbed his phone from the holster.
Derek turned to Jackson and Danny. "We need to get all the hunters and their gear back to their vehicles." The pair nodded and the three of them ran off.
..oo00OO00oo..
Damion landed in front of the back door, he pressed the comms and spoke to Melissa "Melissa, it's over for now, but Scott's hurt open the shutters." The shutters began to retract and as soon as there was enough room he raced in and down to the lift. As the lift dropped he changed back to his human form. He checked on Scott's condition and noted with worry the dropping heart rate and the pallid feverish look on him.
Melissa was waiting at the doors to the lift and as soon as they started to open she rushed forward, Damion thrust his hand out "Stop, he's been infected with something that is killing him; if you get this infection it could kill you in minutes."
Melissa's hands went to her mouth "I thought you healed and were immunes to infections?" She moved back and Damion carried Scott to the Orrery room where Deaton was waiting
"Normally we do, whatever this is its corrupting our ability to heal it, were all infected." Almost to highlight the point Scott was racked with a coughing fit and more of the viscous black fluid splattered onto the floor.
Once in the room he gestured to the central column and one of the larger spheres descended, flowering open to reveal the table with the carved circles. He placed Scott onto it then started pulling various crystals and devices from other areas, while Deaton was examine him.
Damion gave his preliminary diagnosis "It seems to start with a fever and repertory problems, then it weakens the immune systems and causes a breakdown in the bronchial tissues, you can see his lymph nodes are already swelling. The only time I have ever seen something like this was the Black Death." He could hear Melissa sharp intake of breath but now wasn't the time to deal with that.
Deaton was nodding and using his own diagnostic methods "Yes I see what you mean; the fact that the infection has completely by passed all the Werewolves abilities to heal it would suggest a magical substrate to the primary infection."
Damion had returned and was inserting crystal rods into various holes and receptacles and placing several devices around Scott; he took out his glasses and put them on looking at Scott. He picked up Scott's hand that had slashes White and proceeded to scrape under the nails onto a glass slide. He pushed that into one of the devices and it projected an image into the air.
Deaton looked at it and sigh in resignation "It is the Y-pestus strain but look at the difference in the sheath and cell structure."
Damion enhanced the area on the screen and changed the filtering showing what looked like grafted structures "It's been spliced and strengthened. I'm also getting a mystical energy tracer from it as well. This thing is a destroyer."
Deaton nodded and then shook his head "It looked like it was created to resist antibiotics, see how it has encapsulated strands of RNA and the sheath almost looks like its re growing itself as it splits, almost armouring itself."
Deaton reached for a syringe and whispering something soothing to Scott he drew blood and then prepared a slide and handed it to Damion. He put it into the projector and the effects on Scott's system were shown. "It's aggressively attacking the antibodies and seems to be releasing a chemical retardant to stop the healing." Said Deaton "I'm not sure how he can survive more than a few hours being exposed directly to the source. If this got into the general population it would decimate a health person in twenty four to thirty six hours."
Melissa had been hanging back but wanting to tend to Scott, when she heard this she exclaimed "My God! That could lead to a Global pandemic!"
Damion nodded "Whatever White was I think this was his end game. Those men were as good as dead as when they arrived here. No wonder it was so one sided."
Melissa looked at the two "Can you stop it, can you save Scott?"
Damion looked at Deaton who replied "We will do our damndest."
Melissa steeled herself at the prospect of losing her boy. Damion nodded "We need to burn those bodies; we need to destroy anything that these men came in contact with. We need to put any left alive out of their misery." His face was grim at the prospects of what would need to be done.
..oo00OO00oo..
Deaton and Damion worked tirelessly to try and stabilise Scott and to look for some form of counter agent. Once Derek had been briefed on what could occur if it got lose, the Pack set to destroying the infection.
Melissa and Derek went to meet with the Sheriff to explain what was going on. Stiles had wanted to go as well but he and Lydia were working on a way to create a boiling mist that would sanitise the wood that had been drenched in the fluids from the men.
They drew up in Derek's car to meet with the Sheriff, he was at one of the road blocks, and looked confused and angry at the demands asked on his without any explanation. Seeing Melissa with Derek he paused then he strode up to them, as he came within ten foot Melissa held up her hand to stop him.
"Melissa what the hell is going on here, I get some half assed call from Stiles telling me I need to stop anyone coming and going from the preserve and from the old iron works area of the industrial area, then nothing at all. There are reports of gun shots from the preserve and I have men itching to go in or report to state level. Where the hell is Stiles and what the hell is going on!"
Melissa took a breath "Stan, I know this is going to be hard and I can't give you all the answers just now. Stiles is as ok as he can be, there are two groups of people one that our boys are involved with, the others are opposed to them."
Stan cursed "Melissa, I've know you a long time, tell me what the hell is going on now."
Melissa looked at Derek and he nodded "Ok let me say what I have to say. Scott and Stiles became involved in something far stranger than I have ever come across. Werewolves are real, so is Magic and who knows what else." Stan made to say something and Melissa held up her hand and pointed to Derek.
Derek looked to make sure no one else was watching and he shifted to Beta form and once Stan had seen it he shifted back.
Stan took a step back "Jesus!" He made to grab Melissa but she stepped back
"They are the good guys, or at least the ones in the Hale Pack. There is another group called hunters, they track rouge werewolves and they stop them. There was some sort of power struggle and the moderate element was ousted. The hardliners came for the Pack and they defended themselves, but something was playing a dirty game. The men were all infected with some sort of Plague their all dead or dying now, and... And were all infected as well. We have twenty four hours at best."
Stan looked horror struck "God Melissa we have to get you to the hospital and get CDC in her now!"
Derek shook his head "The disease is resistant to human medicines and it's so infectious that it would spread like wildfire. We are working on a way to contain and destroy it but you need to stop anyone coming into the area. It's not airborne yet but it may become so if too many people get it. We need to burn the bodies and sterilise the areas that they were in. That's the industrial area, and this part of the woods. Stiles is infected as well and were doing all we can to stop this."
Stan slumped "I can't lose him as well Melissa! He needs to get treatment!"
Melissa let her fears and her panic show. "Scott's dying right now Stan, has less than five hours left. My little boy is dying and I have seen enough to know that the best place for him to be is with his Pack. Trust me normal people can't stop this." The tears were rolling down her face as she pleaded with him. He saw the pain that coming to talk to him was causing her, and could be costing her.
He nodded "Alright. I can keep this under wraps for maybe another few hours, half a day at best. But after this is done I need answer, and if anything happens to my boy Hale, I will kill you."
Derek nodded at this and made his way back to his car, Melissa looked at Stan and said "Thank you." She turned and got into the car and it pulled off.
..oo00OO00oo..
Derek, Jackson, and Danny euthanized the barley living men and stacked their bodies next to the vehicles. Danny was shaking his head "This isn't how I expected this to go down I mean I know they had gone past the point of being able to be saved but having to do that..."
Jackson placed and hand on Danny's shoulder "I know man, I know."
They walked over to where Stiles was finishing rigging a compact cylinder about the size of small holdall. Jackson looked at it dubiously "Are you sure this will work Stiles?"
Stiles nodded and closing the panel he was working in stood up "Yeah this will work. It's what Damion told me what we needed to do, and Lydia and me set these up. When it goes off it will create a spherical zone of mystically enhanced plasma. That will burn up anything including the disease."
Danny looked at the woods "Are you going to set one of them of in there as well? We were all over there today."
Stiles shook his head "No for that were are doing a different take on the fog plan. We're going to saturate the area with a laced fog, then when its incanted it will flash to two hundred degrees for a second. That will sterilise the area and any infections, the magical reaction will burn out the mystical component of the bug." Stiles was looking tired and they knew that as a full human he was going to start showing the effects of the infection sooner than the others.
Derek came across from SUV's "We all set?"
Stiles nodded "Yeah were all go here. Lydia and Allison are setting the fog device in the woods, so we should be ready in the next twenty minutes."
Derek nodded and turned to Jackson and Danny "Danny stay with Stiles and get back to the Lair once your finished here. Jackson you and me will track the base they were using and plant the other plasma device." The Pups nodded and Jackson went with Derek and Stiles and Danny went to join Allison and Lydia.
..oo00OO00oo..
The Camero slipped through down town Beacon hills, they were racing sunrise and the coming to life of the town. It had been a hell of night so far and it wasn't over yet. Derek gunned the engine and speed towards the old Iron works. They had gotten past the barriers with the Sheriffs help and he had radioed ahead to let them in at the Iron works. Pulling up at the cranes just past the entrance Derek couldn't help flash back to the time he had escaped here after the Police had stopped him getting the Alpha when it had gone after Harris. Oh for those simpler times again.
They got out and Jackson got the Plasma bomb from the trunk. Derek shifted to Beta form and scented the air, detecting traces off illness in the air the pair ran towards the old shipping area. The building was secured, but it didn't take long for them to get in through a side fire escape. Looking around they could see cots and evidence of a large group of men bunking in the space.
It looked like fate might be kind to them on this one, they had arrived and kept to this one area, which would mean that they didn't mix with the town's folk or want to attract suspicion. A quick check showed only the assault had been planned here, but they took pictures of the maps and Jackson found an eternal flash drive which they also took.
Derek looked at his watch and growled "We better move."
Jackson nodded and they set the device in the middle of the storage and loading area. Derek set the timer on it and they ran from the building and back to the Camera.
As they got in the device triggered and the shipping docks were turned into a ball of red and purple plasma, it collapsed in on itself leaving steaming twisted metal remains of what had once been a building looking like it had been burning for hours instead of seconds.
..oo00OO00oo..
Lydia and Allison checked the sensor grid again and saw that no one was moving in the area that was about to get cleansed "I hope this works, I mean I know that we're still on the clock, but if it goes wrong at least everyone else will be safe." Allison said as she ran the scan once more.
Lydia nodded and brought up the remote for the fog device, she turned it on and it began to saturate the area in a think white fog. Danny and Stiles came down the stairs and joined the girls. After checking the links Stiles said "We should fire the Plasma device first, no sense them interacting."
Lydia nodded and pressed the fire button on the Plasma bomb in the car park. Again in seconds all the hunters and their equipment were flash fried into energized particles. Lydia monitored the fog levels and shortly they covered the preserve area that had been the site of the battle. She motioned for Stiles to set it off, and he pressed the switch.
The fog that sat unusually still and thick glowed brightly illuminating the woods like the midday sun, then it dissipated leaving only wisps of steam and vapour that had been superheated cleansing the woods of the disease. "If we had to do that to the woods, what will we have to do to this place to make sure it's clean?" Danny asked looking to Stiles and Lydia.
Allison also added her concerns "Can't flash fry this place or us."
"Were going to use a low level magical energy field, it's like using UV light to kill of bugs and bacteria. This will kill it off. The only thing is that it can only deal with any external contaminants." Said Lydia, what was left unsaid that if a cure wasn't forthcoming then a third plasma device would remove any chance of someone getting the disease.
Damion and Deaton were hitting a wall when it was coming to this strain of bug. "It's like it was engineered to be resistant to every attack or avenue of attack we could come up with." Damion said frustrated.
Deaton rubbed the back of his neck and stretched out a kink in it "The damn thing is persistent. I'm worried that Scott doesn't have much longer. The damndest thing is that it looks like his white cells are fighting the disease but it adapt and shred the attackers."
Damion looked at Deaton and thought about what he said. "What if they couldn't adapt..." He said thinking out loud "If we shorted the mystical component of the disease it would no longer be able to adapt to the white blood cells. They could then attack the disease and we could use the resultant antibodies as a basis for a counter agent."
Deaton nodded then frowned "He's so weak that it may be too late... Though if you were able to strengthen his response, enhance it then it would also enhance his regenerative abilities, and start to reverse the damage. Your Pack bond to him, you could funnel your strength into him."
Damion looked over at Scott and saw the same thing Deaton had, time was running out for the young Beta, and for them if they couldn't pull this off. "The ME field that we're going to use to sterilise this place, it could be used to counteract the mystic energy in the infection in all of us. Once it's gone our own bodies can deal with it with the antibodies from Scott." Deaton nodded and Damion grinned, for the first time in hours they had hope. "Stiles! Lydia! Get in here" He shouted.
The pair ran in Damion explained what was going to happen, they ran off to get the device and to calibrate it do what was needed. Derek and Jackson who had not long returned from their own mission came running in with the others. Damion explained the plan to the others and a look of hope and relief spread round their faces.
..oo00OO00oo..
The glowing crystals sat in the array frame that Lydian and Stiles had put together Lydia was calibrating the emitter and sat back on her heels "That's it, once on it will start to purge the energy from the infection. It will then start to cycle between that and the cleansing routing. If we're lucky we'll have about thirty minutes before it burns out."
Derek nodded and clapped a proud hand on both Stiles and Lydia's shoulder for the good work they had done under duress this evening. Melissa and the rest of the Pack were at the entrance to the Orrery room and were watching the two sets of people work. Damion and Deaton had done what they could to strengthen Scott as much as they could so he would be able to cope with the Pack link. Deaton had everything set up so that he could take a sample from Scott and to turn it into a counter agent for the others. It was going to be a quick and dirty process and they were using a combination of Druid and Atlantean sorceries to replicate and improve the cells.
Soon all the preparations that could be done were done, the Pack came into the Orrery room and arrayed themselves around Derek and Damion "Ok this is it folks, we either succeed or it was nice to have known all of you." He said with a touch of nervousness that was unusual for the two millennia old wolf.
He and Derek joined hands and placed the other one on Scott's shoulders, Allison and the others the placed there hands onto the Alphas back channelling their strength through him. Melissa sat on a stool at the foot of the table looking at Scott's face, the torture of not being able to hold him or help care for him killing her.
Damion nodded to Stiles and he activated the array, the crystals began to pulse and a blue light began to spread from it spilling over and through everything it touched, as it continued to spread it gathered speed and strength till the lair was glowing with the light. They all felt a tingling inside themselves like they were getting a small shock. Damion nodded to Derek and they began to channel the energies into Scott.
Minutes passed and Melissa began to pace as Deaton checked for signs of the antibodies they would need, Scott seemed to take on a new frailness in the eerie blue light. Stiles and Lydia came over to stand with Melissa each of them adding their own silent prayers that this would work. Stiles checked the countdown knowing the array was on a finite life span.
The Pack stood strong and funnelled everything into Scott even though they knew it sped their own decline to the disease. Finally with a sigh the crystals in the array cracked and gave up, the blue light faced and Melissa sat heavily on the stool thinking that that was it.
Deaton suddenly smiled as the indicators from his tests changed. He leaned forward and from the IV in Scott's arm he drew a large sample of blood and placed it into a crystal beaker. He placed that in the prepared ritual space and Lydia and Stiles joined him in casting the spells that had been prepared for the job.
The liquid in the beaker began to glow an amber gold colour and increased in volume, soon it was a honey coloured liquid that had a sparkling trace of gold through it. Deaton prepared a syringe of the mixture "Ok we have the counter agent, who wants to go first?"
Stiles held up his hand "I will, the wolves need to say with Scott and we need you to know if it will work." Deaton nodded and Stiles cringed as he injected the liquid. "Wow it feels like warm light." He said after the shot.
They waited several minutes and Deaton tested a sample Stiles blood "It worked. The counter agent is neutralising the disease." He prepared more syringes and Melissa helped him distribute it, they knew it would take time for their bodies to recover but at least they had that time now.
The only worry was that Scott was still fighting to recover from the ravages of the disease in his body, finally Derek and Damion broke the link with him and the others stretched from standing in one position for so long.
They all looked at Scott expectantly and they all broke into silly grins as he started to snore howl softly, Melissa and Allison went to his side holding his hands.