Summary: Jordan and Argent prepare to leave for Mexico. But when Lydia wants to join the mission, how will Jordan react?

Loosely inspired by episode 4x12

Music: To the Hills by Laurel

Chapter 21: To the Hills

After helping Argent climb into the passenger seat of his SUV, Jordan sat down in the driver's seat and pulled out his phone. He looked over at Argent. "Before we do anything, you need medical attention. More than I know how to give."

Argent shook his head, but Jordan stopped him. "No, I'm serious. I have an idea."

He pulled up Lydia's contact on his phone and pressed call. After several rings she picked up. "Lydia, I need your help."

"What's wrong?" she asked. He could hear the anxiety in her voice. "Parrish, is everything okay? Are you hurt?"

"No," he said quickly. "I'm not hurt, but Argent is. I'll explain everything later. Do you know where Scott's mom is?"

"Yeah, she's here with me. I'm at Scott's house because both he and Kira are missing."

"That's not good. Lydia, Scott's in trouble and we need your help before we can go after him."

"What do you need?" Lydia asked without hesitation.

Jordan turned the car on and buckled his seat belt. "Can you and Scott's mom meet me at my apartment in like fifteen minutes? Argent needs medical attention."

Once he was off the call, Jordan set his phone down on the console and shifted into drive.

He managed to help Argent into Jordan's apartment and onto the couch before Lydia and Melissa showed up. Jordan opened the door and motioned for them to come inside. "He's lost a lot of blood. I think we've minimized that as much as we can, but he really needs to be stitched up and honestly I don't trust myself to do that."

"How'd this happen?" Melissa asked, kneeling down beside Argent and lifting his shirt to view the wound.

"Peter ran him through with a piece of rebar and left him hooked onto a cement wall with it. That's how I found him."

Lydia looked at him curiously. "How did you find him? Where was he that you just happened to stumble upon him?"

Jordan shifted on his feet before answering. "I was following Peter." He looked Lydia in the eyes with a tender expression. "Ever since he walked out of that interrogation room, I've been following him in my free time. I knew he had to be up to something. Apparently he's been secretly meeting with Kate in the underground tunnels of the water treatment plant."

Melissa spoke up from her position disinfecting Argent's wounds. "So how did you get him free from the bent rebar?"

He shrugged feebly. "Adrenaline?"

"No," Argent whispered from the couch, startling everyone. "It was your strength."

Jordan furrowed his brows and moved closer. "What are you talking about?"

Lydia stepped in closer as well. "You mean supernatural strength?"

"Yes," Argent nodded slightly. "Your eyes…they were glowing orange."

"What?!" Jordan jumped back in shock. "But – what does this mean?"

"I dunno," Argent mumbled.

Jordan stood up slowly, his eyes glazed over, still in shock from the news. "I'm – uh, I'm gonna go pack a few things for our trip. I'll just be in the other room if you need me."

He walked back to his bedroom and closed the door. Stepping into the bathroom, he splashed cold water on his face before deciding to change clothes. His dark orange T-shirt was stained with Argent's blood and cement dust. As he pulled his shirt up and over his head, he walked back into his bedroom to grab a clean one. Jordan froze at the sound of the bedroom door opening. Lydia walked in and, seeing Jordan was shirtless, quickly looked away with flushed cheeks.

"Sorry," she said. "I should have knocked."

"It's okay." He slipped on a solid green T-shirt from his drawer and turned to face her. "What'd you need?"

She rubbed her arm nervously and looked away before answering. "I brought your jacket you left at my house…and I wanted to ask you about what happened. Down in the tunnels? You seemed pretty freaked out over what Argent said. Are you okay?"

Jordan took his jacket from her and sat down on the foot of his bed. "I guess it just made the whole thing seem more real, you know? Surviving being burned alive can be written off as lucky or a miracle. But glowing eyes? Now we're definitely into the supernatural."

"I have the feeling," Lydia started as she joined him on the bed, "that's not the only thing on your mind."

He looked up at her, searching her eyes curiously, before letting out a sigh and answering. "This time I used my powers to help someone. But we don't even know what my powers are. What if next time instead of helping, I hurt or even kill someone?"

"But why would you do that?" Lydia asked. "Why would you hurt someone?"

Jordan looked at her in confusion, causing her to take his hand in hers and look him dead in the eyes. "Parrish, you're not a monster. You're still you, just with supernatural abilities. You decide how you use those abilities. You just have to remember who you are and what you stand for." She squeezed his hand gently before releasing it with a smile. "I know you would never let yourself become a monster."

How is it possible that you believe in me more than I believe in myself? You're so incredible.

Lydia stood suddenly and Jordan realized how red her cheeks were. "I should go see if Scott's mom needs any more help."

He nodded, standing up beside her and offering a tender smile. "Thank you, for what you said. You're pretty amazing."

"No problem," she said with a smile, quickly looking away to hide her blushing face and scurrying into the other room.

After gathering a clean shirt for Argent, some food, and other travel necessities, Jordan reentered the living room to check on Melissa's progress treating Argent. "How is he?"

Melissa snapped off her latex gloves and closed up her first aid kit. "Well, he's definitely gonna need a more thorough examination later, but he should be okay for now. Those stitches should hold for a while."

Lydia and Melissa helped Argent sit up on the couch. "Parrish, can you grab me a glass of water?" Melissa asked.

"Sure." He returned moments later with the glass and handed it to her.

Melissa handed Argent the cup and a white pill. "Pain killer," she said simply. "This should help too."

Argent nodded slowly and downed the pill. He looked up at Jordan. "We need to go."

Before Jordan could answer, Lydia spoke up. "I'm coming too."

"No, you're not," he said firmly. "This mission is dangerous."

"I know," she retorted. "That's why I need to come. I'm a banshee, remember? And I'm already getting the feeling that someone's gonna die."

"Lydia, no. I'm not going to put your life in danger like this." Jordan folded his arms over his chest.

She looked him over and scoffed. "Fine, then I'll go with Stiles and the others, they're about to leave now. They wanted me to grab something for them from the high school anyways."

"And who's going to protect you, Lydia? Stiles? I don't think Berserkers are fazed by baseball bats. Derek? If you're right about him dying, I don't think he's well enough to defend himself, much less you. Now Scott could protect you, too bad he's the one missing."

"Exactly," Lydia spouted back, crossing her own arms in front of her. "Scott's missing. I don't care if it's dangerous, we have to find Scott."

Lydia led Melissa out the front door and slammed it before Jordan could react. He rubbed his palms up his face and looked over at Argent, who stood up at the slamming of the door.

"We should stop by my storage locker before we leave to stock up on ammo." Argent hesitated. "We're gonna need it."

Jordan nodded, picking up his keys and bag of supplies before walking out the door.