Chapter 8: Visual Confirmation Part 1
AN: Prepare your little hearts. Here's the first portion half of Visual Confirmation.
~Carry On~
Thursday Night - 8 p.m.
Scott's Perspective:
"Preliminary notes on firearm discharge incident. Assailant armed with sound-suppressor equipped Walther P88... Having heard the perpetrator's threat and countdown, I made visual confirmation of the barrel of the weapon pressed to the potential victim's head. Determining the danger to be imminent, I felt no other choice but to respond with the use of deadly force." I overheard my Dad say into his recorder. He had asked me to come meet him at the station for a late dinner. When I got there, he was still working his report for the shooting that saved Stiles' life. The incident at the school had the whole town going crazy. The CDC just left this morning, and the school wasn't set to open until Wednesday, so the school could be thoroughly sanitized.
Dad looked up when he finished his recording and saw me through the blinds of his temporary office. He waved and start putting things away. He then grabbed his suit jacket and came out of the office.
"Thanks for waiting." He apologized.
"It's okay. It's not like I'm going to school tomorrow anyway." I joked.
"Unfortunately, I am going to have to drive to San Francisco after dinner. I'll need to do a review at the field office. But I'll be back as soon as I can." He explained before sighing tiredly, "I might have to miss the first game of the season."
"It's no big deal." I assured him. And it wasn't, I understood.
"It is to me. I'm keeping my promises this time." He swore, "What I did, it was necessary. Justifiable. You know that, right?"
I nodded.
"Have you done it before?"
"Two other times." He confesses, "It's not easy, taking a man's life, even someone who forces you to do it."
"How do you deal with it?" I asked him.
"You look at it logically. Without emotion. You compartmentalize."
Is that how Jameson and her brothers did it? Or Argent? Or the killers stalking this town? And how do they deal with it afterwards? Jameson and Argent didn't seem to regret killing the monsters they came across, but they still killed a living thing. Was that what gave them the haunted look in their eyes?
"How do you deal with it?" I voiced my thoughts.
"I used to do it by drinking." He joked darkly, he said slipping into his jacket, "One more thing. When I do come back, we need to talk about some stuff. You and your friends, especially your girlfriend, the way you handle things, it doesn't seem to faze you like it should. It's like you guys know something I don't. When I get back, I'd like to be in the know.
~Carry On~
Friday Morning- 2 a.m.
Stiles' Perspective:
"Stiles," a voice hissed, "Stiles."
I mumbled something sleepily in response before rolling over. I could feel myself slipping under again, when I felt a sharp jab in my side.
"Stiles," the voice returned, accompanied with another jab.
"What?" I asked grumpily, not even opening my eyes.
"Scoot over," Jameson ordered. I cracked open one eye and looked over my shoulder. Jameson was standing next to the side of my bed in a blue plaid button-down shirt fiddling with the buttons on her left cuff.
"What are you doing here?" I asked her, when I fell asleep, she was still at Lydias's.
"Just scoot over," she repeated. I sighed and flopped on my back before scooting closer to edge of the bed to make room for her. She lifted the sheets and slipped in. She turned on her side to face me, and I mimicked her movements.
"I'm okay." I told her, knowing that her refusal to answer my question was her avoiding dealing with her emotions.
"Right, I got that from the fact you haven't said much since Wednesday, you know when you had a gun held to your head, got covered in blood, and your girlfriend went into hiding."
"Yeah, well, alright those parts weren't exactly okay."
She nodded her head in mock sympathy. I chose to ignore it.
"How's Scott?" I asked, since the incident she had been splitting her time between hovering over me, hovering over Scott, and working with her Uncle Bobby to try and figure out who the Benefactor is.
"Fine, I left for Lydia's house not too long after he went to have dinner with his Dad. I spent most of the day trying and failing to keep Melissa from freaking out. I finally managed to get to her to sleep, by putting some poppy dust into her tea."
"You drugged her?" I hissed, trying not to wake up Dad.
"It was like a pinch, and it's totally fine. Dean and Sam used to do it to me all the time."
"That's not exactly comforting Jamie."
She just rolled her eyes.
"Have you heard from Malia?" She asked changing the topic.
I shook my head.
"She'll come around. It's not every day that you find out your father is Darth Vader—you know, without the crippling struggle between the dark and light side of the force. Come to think of it, maybe Darth Sidious is the better analogy."
I snorted.
"Yeah, that pretty much describes Peter."
A small smile flashed on her face, and then disappeared.
"We should have told her."
"Yeah," I said flopping on my back, "What are we going to do James, it's like everything is falling apart."
"We do what we always do, figure it out together," she said assuredly, "Besides I refuse to be killed by some mercenary, when I go out it's going to be in a blaze of glory. Like driving my car, that's rigged to explode, right into a Big Bad."
"Ah come on James," I complained about her blasé attitude about plotting out her death, "Let's not plan out your death when it's still a highly probable, okay?"
"Fine, we can then talk about my second favorite subject."
"Weapons?"
"No, that's a close third, I was talking about Derek."
"Derek?"
"Yeah, you know, about six-foot, gorgeous rippling muscles," she swooned, "And he-"
"Alright, alright, I get it. Please stop." I cut her off, "Geez, keep that up, and people are going to actually think you have a thing for him."
"Oh, I do, if I wasn't locked down right now, I would totally try to climb that tree."
"Ulck…ewww…God, what did I just listen to?" I asked no one in particular, James snorted and started laughing uncontrollably.
"You should have seen your face." She laughed.
"Wait…were you just…"
James continue to laugh at my expense.
"God, James…you're so…so…" I stumbled to find a word to describe my sister but fell short so I grabbed the extra pillow and hit her with it.
"Hey!" She protested, she tried to snatch the pillow out of my hand, but I just threw it across the room. Her eyes became slits before she hit my shoulder.
"Ow!"
"Oh, stop being a baby. Yes, I was joking about my lusting after Derek, our combined baggage would not fit in the same car." She said calming down, "However, we do need to have a frank discussion about the-."
"We can't give the money back just yet." I interrupted her again.
"Not where I was going, but I'll play. Why can we give Derek's money back to Derek, and don't say because of Peter."
I sighed, realizing that I got myself into a hole that I didn't even need to get into.
"How about we go back to what you wanted to talk about?"
Jameson propped herself on her on elbow as she narrowed her eyes.
"Stiles, why aren't we giving back Derek his money?"
I dragged my hands down my face and made a noise of frustration before flinging off the covers. I swung my legs over, and climbed out of bed making my way to the door
"Where are you going?" Jameson demanded. I looked over my shoulders to see her kneeling on the bed with an angry look on her face.
"Come on, there's something I need to show you."
The angry look turned pensive as she scrambled off the bed. I waited at the door until she got there before peering out into the hall. The room to Dad's bedroom was shut, and there weren't any lights coming out from underneath.
"Stiles?"
"Shh!" I hissed sharply, "Come on."
I motioned for her to follow me and we headed down the hall. We crept quietly down the stairs as I led Jameson to Dad's study. I twist the handle and keep a firm grip on it as I push the door open.
"Ooohh…rule breaking, you should have just opened with that Stilinski." Jameson whispered, before pushing her way past me, "So what are we looking for? Reports? Parrish's background check?
"Nope," I said crossing the room. I went over to the desk and reached into the filer on top where Dad kept all the bills. I flipped through them until I found the one that I wanted.
"What's that?"
"The reason why I'm not so sure we should give all the money back." I said handing Jameson the envelope. She raised an eyebrow but took the bill. She lifted the papers from inside.
"Eichen House?" She asked. I nodded. I watched her as she read the contents and knew the exact moment that she saw the amount. Her eyes went wide as she took it in, "Holy Shit!"
"I know."
"What is this? What could possibly cost this much?"
"Umm…some of the medicines they gave you, a therapy session, and probably for the trouble you caused. And that's not the only bill, Dad has one from the hospital for your MRI and stuff."
"Holy Shit!" She exclaimed again, falling into Dad's chair. She put a hand over her eyes, "Isn't there like insurance to cover this stuff or something?"
"That's after the insurance, James."
"Awesome." She said sarcastically, "Jameson Meets World."
"What?"
"It's just…I've never had a bill before."
"Again what? With how many times you were in the hospital, how could you not have a bill?"
"I don't know, we left town the moment the invalid could leave, Dean and Sam dealt with all the paperwork…I just thought things were taken care of. I mean, I knew hospitals cost money, I've seen multiple episodes of Dr. Sexy M.D., I just didn't know it was like this."
"Oh," I replied leaning against the desk next to her.
"Is there anything I can do?" she asked quietly, "I'm not even his kid-."
"Hey," I stopped her, "You are his kid, okay? Just like you're my sister, you are a part of this family, James. What's that thing your Uncle Bobby always says?"
"Family don't end with blood." She whispered.
"Exactly."
"So bro…what do we do?"
"I-I don't know."
"Awesome."
Silence fell between us for a moment, until I couldn't handle it anymore. Maybe I should tell her about Scott's plan-our plan-the one we came up with when she wasn't hovering. The one she will not approve. Or...I can distract her by her second favorite subject-Derek.
"So…you wanted to talk about Derek?"
"Never mind. That one… I know I can handle."
~Carry On~
Jameson's Perspective:
After realizing that bills were a thing, I couldn't go back to sleep, and the cops shows full of murder and crime-solving did not take me to my happy place like they normally did. I ended up spending the rest of the night plotting. Plotting out how I could get the money to help with the bills, plotting out what I was going to say to Derek about the money and his history of choosing psychotic women and how he should be really sure before making goo-goo eyes at the mercenary—again, plotting out how I could get Scott alone for some stress relief, and then I plotted out how to figure out what Parrish is. Then of course I had to figure out which one was the least stressful which ended up being The Mystery of Jordan Parrish, only, because Scott was going to want to discuss emotions and feelings and I wasn't up for that right now. I needed to keep busy, keep moving.
I changed out of Sam's plaid shirt into dark jeans, a grey long-sleeve deep V-neck, a red plaid shirt I had torn the sleeves off, and a jean vest. I slipped into a pair of hiking boot before fluffing my hair.
"Now for accessories," I said looking through a set of hunting knives. Determining what Parish was might get a little dangerous. I grabbed a few knives and slid them into my boots, before heading out of my room.
I rambled down the stairs and used the bottom banister to swing myself towards the kitchen. I headed straight for the coffee machine and grabbed the pot, so I could fill it up. I moved the water from the pot to the machine and started the rest of the preparations. I then pressed brew and got the go juice going.
"You're up early," the Sheriff's voice came from behind me.
"Well with the school being closed, Uncle Bobby's unsuccessful search for the Benefactor, and the realization that I needed to give the boys some space, I am going to get some things done on my to-do list."
"Doing what?" He asked suspicious.
"Oh, just some odds and ends, nothing of import," I said pouring us some coffee. I hand him his coffee and hide my face in my cup before asking him, "On a completely unrelated note, is my favorite deputy working today?"
The Sheriff pauses mid-sip. Keeping his eyes on me he finishes swallowing and lowers his mug.
"Why?"
"In case I want to bring the two best lawmen in the county some lunch," I said before quickly taking a gulp of the very, hot coffee.
"Jameson, do you remember our conversation about lying?"
"The one about reclining your body in horizontal position?" I asked demonstrating the position with my arm. With his free hand the Sherriff pinches the bridge of his nose.
"Just…am I going to have to deal with harassment charges?" he finally asks. I internally fist pump.
"It's only harassment if he doesn't like it." I answered smartly.
"Get out." He orders.
"Yes, sir!" I say saluting him. I leave my coffee not wanting to push it even more.
You are his kid, okay?
Stiles' words from earlier stop me short of the door. Guilt about messing with and lying to him start to eat at me. Making a face I turned slightly on my heel.
"I'm going to test Parrish to see what he is." I confessed my plan.
"And by test you mean?"
"Trick him into drinking coffee made of holy water, getting him to touch something silver and iron, wolfsbane and mountain ash might be involved."
"Is any of that stuff going to kill him?"
"Not in small amounts, it might burn him though."
"Just don't shoot my deputy, he's the best one I've got."
"Of course, nobody shoots the deputy there is a whole song about it."
He gave me a look that said he was not amused.
"Go." He ordered again. I saluted him again and walked down the hall. I had a feeling today was going to be interesting to say the least.
~Carry On~
Parrish's Perspective:
"Howdy, Deputy," a raspy voice greeted. I looked up from my paperwork to see the Sheriff's teenage daughter with a coffee cup in hand. She was smirking as she held out the cup for me to take. I looked around to see if anyone else was there, aside from Morgan across the room, we were the only ones in the bullpen. A perfect time to ask her more about what she had said the other night, and maybe even talk about that list Stiles and Lydia showed me.
"Thanks," I said taking the coffee, "What are you doing here so early? The Sheriff won't be in for another half hour."
"Exactly," she said in an exaggerated breathy tone as she took a seat on the corner of my desk, "I'm here to see you."
I choked on my coffee and a blush threatened to overtake my face. I hated when she said things like that, and from her soft snickers I know she does it on purpose. However, today she looked pretty serious as her eyes zoomed in on me.
"You okay there, Charmin'?" She asked in concern, but there was a suspicious undertone to it.
"Yeah, it umm…just went down the wrong pipe."
"Better take another sip, help wash it down."
I did as she said. The coffee went down smooth and surprisingly was just the way I liked it. I flicked my eyes back up, and notice she was studying me.
"What? Is there something on my face?"
"Just gauging your reaction, I experimented with the coffee this morning."
"By doing what?" I questioned, peering at the coffee.
"Cinnamon. I added a dash of cinnamon."
"Oh," I let out, and took another sip. The hint of the spice was definitely there, "It's good."
"Thanks," she replied, though her tone sounded disappointed. Ignoring her weird behavior, I set my coffee cup down and snuck a peek a Morgan. She had finished filing and was heading up front.
"Can we talk?" I asked her.
"I told you Deputy, I have a boyfriend and I don't think the Sheriff would appreciate you hitting on a minor." She teased, "Particularly, since you are his favorite deputy."
"Really? Wait—that's not—you know exactly what I want to talk about. There's some weird stuff going on in town, and you and your friends seem to always be in the middle of it. Then you made it sound like your family were killers or something, and then Stiles and Lydia show up with this list."
"Yeah, that sounds really interesting." She brushes me off and pulls a wooden box out of her pocket. Wait is she wearing a glove? When did she put that on? "Hey, I need you to take a look at something for me, can you check out the block inside I've been trying to figure out what kind of metal it is for weeks."
"Ahh…sure, then we'll talk?"
"I'm sure there will definitely be some talking after this."
I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to decipher her tone. But she was looking at me expectantly, and I could no longer put off opening the box. The wood itself had an interesting color, and I rubbed my finger along the edge.
"What kind of wood is this?" I asked Jameson.
"Mountain ash." She murmured with a frown.
"Mmhmm." I acknowledge, before lifting up the lid. A cloud of dust flew at me, I coughed and tried to wave it away, "What the hell was that?"
"Aaa…powder to help polish the metal."
"Oh, well take it easy next time."
"Will do." She replied, still sounding off. There was a hint of frustration and confusion. I hazarded a glance at her and saw her looking at me the way my mom did a difficult crossword. I wanted to know why she was acting odd, but I had a feeling I needed to finish her little "test" first before I would get anywhere.
I turned back to the box and looked at the block inside. It was covered in that dust she was using to polish the metal up, but it didn't seem to have done any good the metal was still dingy looking. I picked it up to wipe it off, and when my finger touched the center of the block it burned my skin causing me to drop the metal.
"Ow!" I hissed.
Jameson immediately jumped into action and grabbed my hand. She looked at the burning fingers with interest.
"Are you okay?" She questioned me as she moved her attention from my fingers.
"Yeah, that was weird."
"Yeah, it hasn't done that before." She said picked the metal up with her glove hand, "About where did you hurt yourself?"
"About here." I told her, pointing to center of the block.
"And are you allergic to any kind of metals?"
"Not really, though my skin gets irritated a bit when I touch the bars of lock-up."
"And what's the metal?'
"Steel mostly, but there's some iron mixed in."
"Iron…Yeah, I can run with that." She said returning the block and grabbing the box, "Thanks, Charmin'."
She started to go.
"Wait!" I called after her jumping up, "You said we could talk."
"No, I said that there will definitely be some talking after this," she said holding up the box, "I didn't say it was going to be between me and you. Ta-ta."
What the hell just happened?
~Carry On~
Scott's Perspective:
I called over Stiles, Kira, and Liam over to my house. I wanted to run through the plan one more time before tonight. We had a limited window to do so, I didn't know when Jameson would come over and I wanted to make sure this plan was full proof before I brought her in. I already knew she wasn't going to like it—not after last time. But I also knew she would do what had to be done to end this.
"Are we really doing this?" Liam asked nervously as we gathered around the kitchen table.
"We're doing it." I answered, "Tonight."
"But isn't it kind of dangerous?"
"Yep," Stiles jumped in before I could, "It's incredibly dangerous. And borderline idiotic."
He gave me a look that told me he still didn't like this plan.
"Have you guys done something like this before?" Liam pressed.
"Something dangerous? Something idiotic? Or something my sister is going to kill us for?"
"I'd say it's a yes to all 3." Kira sighed. Liam looked down anxiously, and I saw Kira grabbed his hand assuringly.
"You don't have to be a part of this if you don't want to." I reminded Liam.
"I'm not scared." He quickly denied.
"Then you're borderline idiotic." Stiles congratulated with a wink and a pat on Liam's shoulder, before turning to me, "If we do this, we don't know what's coming for us. You know that, right?"
"How do we even know something, or someone is coming?" Kira wondered.
"Because the tape from Garrett's bag said visual confirmation required." I told her.
"Simon said the same thing. He couldn't get paid by The Benefactor until he had proof that you all were dead."
"So, the idea is, what if you kill someone on the dead pool, but you don't have the proof?"
"You don't get paid," Kira followed.
"But how does that get us closer to The Benefactor?" Liam questioned me.
"He still needs to know if the target is really dead."
"Especially if it's someone high on the list." Stiles added.
"So, if he wants visual confirmation…" Liam tapered off.
"He's going to have to come get it himself." I finished.
"Great, so they're all clear on the plan and what they have to do. Can we call Jamie now?" Stiles demanded, "Maybe she'll kill us before we go through this ridiculous plan."
"Call her." I agreed. Stiles sighed in relief and pulled out his cell phone, he started to make the call and then suddenly stopped. His eyes flicked between Kira and Liam.
"You two might want to leave," he advised, "Since you guys can't feign plausible deniability you are going to have to go for distance. And it's probably best that you don't pick up any of her calls or read her text messages for 48 hours."
We all gave him a questioning look.
"A few months back I ate the last of the Moose Tracks ice cream and accidently deleted all of the Golden Girls episodes she recorded," He replied, shuddering as he remembered what happened, "It uhh…wasn't pretty."
Kira and Liam share a look and quickly exited the house. Once they were clear of the door, Stiles called Jameson. He placed the phone down on the table and pressed the speaker button.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
"Yo!" Jameson greeted, "Hey, now's not the greatest time. I'm on my way to Uncle Bobby's hotel, I have something that may help us figure out what the deputy is."
"Really what?" He asked. I hit his arm and motioned for him to get on with it, "Never mind that James, we think we have a plan to catch the Benefactor. I need you to get to Scott's right away."
There was a loud squealing noise on the other side of the phone. Stile closed his eyes and huffed.
"Was that an illegal U-turn?"
"Be right there, Boss." Jameson said cheerily before hanging up.
"If you don't get pulled over first." Stiles mumbled under his breath. He then looked up, "So you got this one pal?"
"What?" I asked.
"Look Scott, I can't be here—not after what happened last time that we did something like this. She's going to freak out and I rather not be in her line of fire. You'll be fine-you're practically indestructible and you're her Alpha-so, bye."
He shot off for the door, leaving me alone to face a were-bear.
~Carry On~
Jameson's Perspectives:
I arrived at Scott's house about 10 minutes after Stiles' call and was surprised not to see the Jeep was out front. Is he meeting us here or something? With a shrug, I shut off the car and walk up to the back door of the house.
"Scott, you here?" I called out. He appeared around the corner looking rather sheepish.
"Hey Jamie," he greeted coming over. He seemed cautious and the way he walked over to me was like an animal tamer approaching a temperamental inmate. He came in for a quick kiss, and his hand ran down my arm to my hand.
"Hi." I replied suspiciously, as he pulled me deeper into the room, "Where's Stiles?"
"He left a little while ago." He said, not quite meeting my eye. Something tells me this plan is not something I am going to like.
"Uh-huh," I drawled, "He's running, isn't he?"
Scott nodded. I took a seat at the kitchen table. I leaned back in the chair and crossed my arms.
"Go on, tell me this plan that made think Stiles the smartest thing for him to do was to be far from here."
~Carry On~
Scott's Perspective:
The slamming of the side kitchen door shook the whole house, and I had to jump away from it, or I would have gotten caught in the door. I opened the door and ran after Jameson.
"Jameson, please…"
"Please what, Scott?" She turned around roaring, "Please let you die? Please let you endanger everyone in town? Do you remember what happened last time you played dead?"
I looked down and didn't say anything.
"You couldn't wolf out, Allison was haunted by her not-so dead aunt, and Stiles was possessed by Nogitsune," Jameson continued, listing everything that went wrong, "Which jumped into me and I nearly killed all of you. Aiden is dead, Scott. Allison is dead. You would think losing the love of your life would make you less likely do something so completely idiotic and dangerous. If you wanted to live dangerously while simultaneously ruining the lives of everyone around you, you should have let me know. We could have invited a crossroads demon to come and play. God, Scott how could you be so incredibly stupid?"
"Jameson, if we don't do something more people are going to get hurt, like at the school."
Jameson shook her head, her features looking decidingly more bear like by the second. I needed to calm her down before anything else happened.
"I'm not saying that we do nothing, just not this. I swear if Stiles or anyone gets hurt I'll…I'—I really thought you were one of the good ones Scott but come to find out you're just like every other guy in my life- someone who always lets me down."
With that she turned around and ran into the woods behind my house. A few moments later I heard a loud roar. I plopped down on the steps and dropped my head into my hands. When did everything go so wrong?
~Carry On~
Derek's Perspective:
Once Braeden was released, I took her back to my loft, the doctor said she needed someone to watch her for a few days to make sure she took it easy. She fought me at first, but soon caved in when she couldn't even put her jacket on by herself. I got her in the car and after picking up her prescriptions we headed to my place. We had just pulled into the parking lot when my phone rang. I checked the caller ID, and didn't recognize the number, but it was local. I was tempted to ignore it, but considering what had happened the past few days…
"Hello?" I asked, answering the call.
"Derek," a shuddering voice replied, "Can you bring me some clothes?"
"Jameson?" I said, looking at Braden.
"Can you bring me some clothes?" She repeated a little more forcibly, "Please."
"Yeah," I said with a shake of my head, "Yeah, just let me call Stiles f-."
"No." She yelled, "Don't call Stiles, don't call Scott, don't call any of them."
"Yeah, okay, I won't call." I appeased her, sharing a confused look with Braeden, "Where are you? I'll come get you."
"Uhh…Ranger Station 12, I snuck in once the rangers left."
"Okay, I'm on way."
"Thank-you." She whispered.
"So much for taking it easy." Braeden said wryly. I gave her a look, before getting out of the car.
~Carry On~
Bobby's Perspective:
Garth and I were holed up in the hotel room pouring over research gathered from the lore, the police database, and accounts from some hunters we called. We had a long list of things to look into-the Benefactor, Kate Argent and the Berserkers, the deputy Jameson likes, the list just keeps growing.
I was making my 10th cup of coffee when I heard a knock at the door. Garth and I shared a look, before grabbing the nearest weapon. Garth was facing the door already and rested his gun along the bottom of the table. I set my coffee down and headed to the door, keeping the chain in place as I turned the handle.
"Argent?" I asked, once I saw the disheveled hunter on the other side of the door, "What the hell happened to you?"
"Can I come in?" He asked. I gave him the once over. He looked like he was in bad shape, he was holding his shoulder and I could see blood in between his fingers. I slowly nodded and closed the door to remove the chain.
"Thanks," he said, coming into the room, he nodded at Garth.
"What happened to you?" I repeated motioning to his arm.
"I ran into a group of headhunters," he replied, "looking for one Jameson Winchester. And after convincing them that, that would be a bad idea they "gave" me this."
He pulled out a manila envelope from the inside of his jacket with his good arm and tossed it to me. I caught the envelope and unlatched the top all the while keeping my eye on Argent. They always came with a catch, usually some kind of inherited craziness.
I dumped the contents on the bed-a cassette, and two folded pieces of paper.
"What's this?"
"Special Instructions."
~Carry On~
Jameson's Perspective:
I smelled him the moment he got out of the car-leather and Old-Spice aftershave. I uncurled myself from the ball I had twisted into and wrapped the coat I found around me tighter. I was reaching for the door handle, when he knocked. I pulled open the door to the sight of him and some clothes. He didn't ask me what happened, instead he just handed me the clothes.
"I'll be in the car." He said softly. I nodded and closed the door. I let the jacket slip from my shoulders before stuffing my upper body into Derek's shirt. Since Derek was like twice my size the V-neck was practically indecent, which normally would have amused me to no end, but now… I mechanically went through the rest of the dressing process. Socks next, then I rolled the waist and legs of Derek's sweats to fit better, huge-ass boots, and then a sip-up sweatshirt that I suspected was Isaac's by the size.
I put the jacket back where I found it, and then exited the ranger station. I clunkedly plodded through the forest underbrush to Derek's SUV, circling the back to the passenger seat. I climbed in and buckled up. I pressed myself against the seat, folding my legs up against me until my chin was resting on my knee.
"Where to?" Derek asked.
"The Beacon Hills Motel, my Uncle Bobby's there." I replied, not meeting his eye. Instead I opted out for the local scenery. I sensed his agreement, and he shifted the gears into DRIVE, and slowly pulled away from the Ranger Station. We travelled down the road in silence for five minutes before I turned to look at him.
I could tell he knew I was looking at him, but he kept his eyes on the road. There was a tenseness in his jaw, and I knew he was itching to asked me what happened but was refraining.
"Thank you." I whispered. He turned his head in my direction and nodded. I answered with a small smile and returned to the scenery. So maybe there's one man left who hasn't totally let me down.
~Carry On~
Bobby's Perspective:
Knock. Triple Knock. Knock…Knock.
Argent's head shot up, and I saw Garth and him inch towards their guns. I held up a hand to stop them.
"It's the kid," I explained, "She mentioned that she had some information on the young Deputy."
"Parrish?" Argent asked. I nodded.
"Apparently he's worth five million."
Knock. Triple Knock. Knock…. Knock.
I gave Argent a questioning glance, but he shrugged leaving the decision up to me. Well…I did just lecture her about keeping things from family. I sighed and opened the door.
"What the hell happened to you?" I asked her the moment I got a good look at her. She had a few twigs in her tangled hair and was wearing clothes twice her size, "And what happened to your clothes? And who's clothes are those?"
She rolled her eyes and ducked under my arm.
"Derek's." she replied once she got behind me, "What hell is he doing here?"
Seems she spotted Argent.
"Jameson," Argent greeted.
"Whoa, whoa, why are you wearing Derek's clothes?" I demanded, started to get tongue-tied by the thought running through my head, "I thought you-what happened to-Is he still here?"
I finally got out a full sentence, looking out the door for the way older werewolf.
"No, he's going to get my car." She threw over her shoulder, "I thought you swore off working with the crazy heads after what happened last time you worked with his Daddy."
"Nuh-huh, my questions first." I countered closing the door and turning around. Jameson was standing rather accusingly with her hands on her hips with betrayal in her eyes. I couldn't tell if it's because she hates the Argent family or if it was because she thought I didn't deem her capable enough to help out.
"Fine," she huffed, "The boy- He Who Shall No Longer Be Named and his cohorts went behind my back and came up with a stupid-ass plan. Proving that he he's like every-excuse me, like most of the men in my life. My "furry little problem" emerged, hence the clothes. I only like Derek now."
"And again, where is Derek now?"
"He went back to the house of the boy He Who Shall No Longer Be Named to find my clothes, my keys, and to get my car."
"You're letting him drive your car?" I asked incredulously. She had taken after Dean in overprotectiveness of her classic car. Wouldn't let anyone but her drive it, not even Dean come to think about it.
"Yes, I only like Derek now and I refuse to see He Who Shall No Longer Be Named!"
"And who is He Who Shall No Longer Be Named?" Garth ventured to ask, before going real quiet "You don't know a dark wizard, do you?"
"Is it that Twitchy kid?" I amended Garth's question, resisting the urge to hit upside the head and call him an idjit.
"No, he's the He Who Was Smart Enough To Run."
"Scott." Argent mouthed to me over Jameson's shoulder. Well then, that's why she was so upset.
"And what is this stupid ass plan of his?"
Jameson's eyes narrowed and jerked a hard thumb behind her.
"Why don't you ask him, seeing how he's part of the plan."
I sent Argent a questioning look. He held his hands up.
"I haven't heard from the kids all day," he replied. He then pulled out his phone and check the screen. "7 missed calls from Sc—the kids. One from 30 minutes ago, when I am assuming you ran off?"
"That says a lot doesn't it." James mumbled, before plopping down on the bed. She then perked up and set her accusing eye on my again, "So why is he here, if not to fill you in on the stupid ass plan?"
Garth, Argent, and I all share a look. Jameson let out a long whistle, reminding me of Dean.
"Well now you have to tell me." She said with some degree of apprehension. As much as I would hate to admit it, she was right. This did concern her. I grabbed the large envelope Argent had brought with him and handed it over to Jameson.
"What's this?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
"Special instructions from the Benefactor-about you." Argent answered for me. That piqued her interest, and she opened up the envelope and dumped the contents next to her on the bed. She picked up the cassette.
"Anybody got a Walkman?"
~Carry On~
Jameson's Perspective:
"Gentlemen, good evening." A man's voice began, "My sources had indicated that you have long held a grudge against the Winchester family. How would you like decrease their population? Now, that I have your attention here's my offer. The Winchesters have an annoying history of returning from the dead. Kill Jameson Winchester, you get two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Find a way to end her permanently and you will receive an additional 25 million from an anonymous donor. Kill her in her werebear form and you get the 25 million and her coat. Once you have killed her enter the IP address on the paper, you will be connected through a darknet portal to an untraceable bank. Once logged in, enter your account number to receive wire transfers. The IP address will deactivate with each transfer. You will be assigned a new IP address if you choose to continue down the list. Remember, visual confirmation is always required for payment. This time however, I will also need your location, so I can ascertain she's truly dead."
"Ho-ly shhhittt!" I drawled, before spewing out questions "Was that seriously a hit out on me? And what does he mean "anonymous donor"? More like anonymous coward—it's probably a Lucifer follower or an angel? Do they even have money? Who did we piss off with a lot of money? And my coat? Are you effing kidding me—now I'm being poach-."
"Whoa, little lady, let's pull back on the reigns." Garth interrupted, "Our horses can't keep up."
What was him and all these Western references? It was getting old.
"The anonymous donor isn't as important as who else got this tape." Uncle Bobby pointed out, "We need to know who's coming after you."
"Umm…how about every person with access to a computer," I said sarcastically, "Did you not see the evil science teacher? And I told you about The Mute, right?"
"Okay, fair enough, you can cut the attitude, missy."
"The men who had this tape were the McAllister brothers," Argent revealed, "Know anything about them?"
"Yeah, their sadistic sons of bitches who like playing with their food. I was ni…nine the last time I saw them. Dad, Dean, and I ran with them on a vamp case in Wichita. I found them playing with one of their catches. The damn things were preying on children, so they deserved to die…but what the brothers were doing to them…" I remembered with a shutter, "I shot the thing…put it out of its misery. Terry and Quinn got pissed and came after me. Terry had me pinned against a tree, but I got free enough to kick him in the balls and stabbed his leg. Quinn hit me, and then Dad came around the corner...phew…it was the first time in 2 years that I thought…. let's just say that they were not right after that. I mean…more not right than they were before."
"Anyone else like that?" Argent asked. I raised an eyebrow and looked at Bobby.
"He's kidding, right?"
"Does anyone stand out to you?" Argent amended.
"Meg, maybe, she was Lucifer's number one groupie. Probably would do it even without the cash. An angel or two. I don't really know. The last few years of my life have been all- "Oh no, we need to stop the Apocalypse," and "Shit, is that a kanima," "The Return of Cousin Dukey," and "You're a Werebear, Jamie." I haven't had much time to sit down and make a full list of my enemies—like the Calaveras. I pissed quite a few of them off before leaving Mexico. You know they have some money, so does Cousin Dukey, and I did shoot him in the dick."
"You did what now?"
"Did I not mention that in the recap we had?" I asked Uncle Bobby, motioning with my hands, "Huh, I'm quite proud of it, I'm surprised it wasn't the first thing I did say."
"You're not supposed to actually shoot someone in the balls, Jameson. It's just a threat."
"He killed my mother, I felt it was justified since they have me on that new Californian No-Killing Diet here."
Bobby rubbed his forehead.
"Okay, Garth, put Deucalion Dubois on the top of the list of donor suspects."
"Enough lists," I said rising from my seat, "A list is what got us in this mess, we need to be out there hunting them, we need a plan…"
Visual Confirmation…wasn't that the root of the stupid ass plan. To visually confirm that the top dollar supernatural on the list was dead…which was me right now. And didn't the Benefactor wanted to personally confirm I was dead for his anonymous donor?
"Kid?" Bobby asked.
"She's stewing something." I heard Garth say.
"I think it's time we stopped playing defense and start playing offense." I said coming out of my musings.
"How?"
"The stupid ass plan."
~Carry On~
Stiles' Perspective:
"You want to do what now?" I asked her, the pitch of my voice going really high.
"The stupid-ass the plan." Jamie repeated.
"The said plan which caused Stiles to tell us to run and hide." Kira asked.
"The said plan that had us looking for you the past hour." Liam added.
"The said plan that you called dangerous and suicidal. You want to do that plan? That plan?" I repeated. Part of me had been hoping she would squash this plan and make us do something else.
"With some alterations, ones that don't involve dying or inviting wrathful deities to town." She said with an accusatory glare in Scott's direction. Which is the most she acknowledged him since we all arrived at her Uncle's hotel room. Scott shrunk underneath her gaze, but then as quickly as Jameson looked at him her gaze was back on everyone else.
"What did you have in mind, Ms. Winchester?" Deaton asked.
"Look, you all heard the tape, there's a third-party person involved that wants me dead and is willing to fork over millions to see it happen. And because the anonymous donor wants a more accurate confirmation that I'm truly dead and not in some temporary stasis, the Benefactor is going to need to come personally to check the story out." Jamie reviewed the information from her personal hit tape, "Which isn't something guaranteed with the original stupid ass plan. I'm proposing we use a similar premise, Argent hunts me down. It's a believable story- a monster wearing my face killed his daughter, seeing me again triggered this desire…. this need to kill me. We're going to have to put on show for the chase—it's got to be believable that he actually corners me and gets me to turn."
"Why do you need to turn?" I asked.
"Her coat," Argent answered, "The value of a werebear coat on the underground black market is in the millions. There's not many of her kind left. Anyone going after her is going to provoke her turn for the fur alone."
"Exactly." Jameson seconded," After that he can drag me to one of his warehouses and wait for the Benefactor there. All of his warehouses have cameras and there should be decent vantage points for everyone to wait for the creep to show up."
"And what about you?" Liam asked, "He's going to know something's up if you're not dead."
"That's why Deaton's here."
Deaton quirked an eyebrow.
"I'm going to need something to keep me out, that makes me look like I'm dead."
"I think I can come up with something." Deaton said.
"Good," Jamie thanked him, "See here's a perfectly good plan where nobody dies."
"Except Argent will have to shoot you," I pointed out, "You're going to need more than one bullet mark.
"Not necessarily," Derek chimed in, "Argent's right about the value of her fur coat, most hunters would try to find a way to only shoot her twice at most, head and heart, if another option couldn't be found."
"He's right, even the McAllister brothers would save their sick habits until after they skinned me."
I looked at Jamie's Uncle Bobby.
"And you're okay with this?"
"Not really," he gruffed, "But it's the best plan and lead we have."
"The Benefactor isn't going to believe she went down without a fight," Derek came back into the conversation strategizing, "Or that she was alone."
"I will be alone when I go grab dinner tonight from the diner." Jamie countered, "I go at least once a week to pick something up for the Sheriff."
"Dad." I said snapping my fingers, "He's not going to like this."
"Did he like your "stupid-ass plan"?" Jamie questioned my reasoning. My hand slowly dropped to my side. Yeah, I hadn't exactly told him about that one. Jamie smiled smugly before turning to Derek and Argent, "Derek is right about one thing, it's not going be believable unless I go down swinging. The problem with that is when I'm the bear I'm really going to go down fighting. I can't control it yet."
"I'll meet you in the woods," Derek offered Argent, "I'll stay out of sight, but if thing get out of hand, I can help corral her."
I sighed; this plan just kept rolling. Admittedly, it was better than the previously plan since no one had to die. Yet, I felt more conflicted about this than I did when Scott was the bait, was it because she was my sister or was it the fact that she came up with all of this without me?
"Are you sure you two can handle her by yourselves?" Bobby asked.
"Between the two of us and some carefully placed emitters, she should be manageable." Argent answered.
"I'll be there too," Scott spoke up, finally joining us, "If things get out of hand, I can get her to shift back or stand down."
"Only my Alpha can do that," Jameson said coldly, so coldly I swear the temperature dropped 10 degrees, "And I don't have one."
Her word triggered something in Scott, and his eyes flashed red.
"Yes, you do." He said determinedly. His red eyes bore into Jamie's, she growled barring her teeth at him as she returned his gaze with orange glowing eyes.
"What's happening?" Liam whispered.
"She's challenging him, and his wolf doesn't like it." Argent said.
"Okay, you two break it up." Bobby stepped in, putting himself in front of Jameson. He faced her and kept his back to Scott.
"I don't know what happened between you two, but there are already enough 80s teen movie plots running around here without your Joanie Loves Chachi drama. If the pair of you can't keep it together, we can kiss our only chance to catch this guy goodbye."
"Fine." Jameson replied, "But I can't say the same for bear me, she'd probably maul him and I'm not that sure I'd be all that upset when I came to.
"So help me girl…" Bobby started before cutting himself short, "Fine. You don't have to see him, and he doesn't have to see you. But he's got the right idea, I would feel better if someone else was out there with you.
"I can do it," Garth offered, bringing everyone's attention on him, "I hunted a werebear before, up north. It turned out to be a real bear, but I became an expert in bear behavior."
"Awesome." Jameson drawled with an eyeroll.
"Alright, Garth you can go with them."
The man gave Bobby a huge grin.
"Cool." He said.
"We still need Scott and Liam, though," Argent put in, "Derek, Garth, and I will not be able to move her ourselves."
"Fine, whatever," Jameson growled, "Let's plan a show."
~Carry On~
Hope you all like the first part of this episode. The next chapter will deal with the "stupid-ass" plan in action. It's almost finished, and I hope to have it up before the end of the month. Then we will be officially past the point where I left off before removing all my stories.