Chapter 16: The Chains

The bouts of pain came rolling through the whole night. Jimmy helped her into his guest bedroom, hoping she could get some sleep in-between the seizures. Sometimes it could go hours until it started again, a sophisticated form of torture that left Joe wide awake, praying fervently that it was over.

No hospital. Jimmy refused to take her — he claimed they would not be able to find anything physically wrong with her and suggest it to be a mental breakdown. Best case, they would just turn her away. Worst case, she would be locked up. When her mind cleared long enough at a time, she hated him for that. She theorized he was the one doing this to her. Every time it happened, it had been in his presence. She screamed at him, cursed him, begged him to stop. Just please make it stop.

Eventually, she drifted off due to complete exhaustion. She woke to voices, speaking in hushed tones around her.

"...just didn't know who else to call..."

"...made the right choice..."

"Doctor Deaton?" Joe murmured and tried to blink her eyes open. It was hard and he slipped in and out of focus. Sweat laid heavy on her skin, coating her face and chest. She thought she saw Doctor Deaton smile at her in a calm manner.

"Rest now, Joe. You need to recover," he said and her eyes rolled backwards, either sleep or some kind of sedative forcing her back into darkness. Doctor Deaton turned to Jimmy again and she only caught a few words of the conversation. "...mountain ash...not much time...find Derek."

Derek. Find Derek.

Joe slipped into an uneasy sleep. She knew she was sleeping; she knew she was dreaming. No pain here, no hurt, no fear. Just...Derek? Her brows furrowed. His head hung limp towards his bare chest, slumped forwards, only held up by his shackled arms. Trapped, like an animal, and put on full display. This was a dream, she knew that, and still she tried to look around. What was this place? Low ceiling, no windows — underground? Cage. Dungeon. Basement?

Dream-Derek jolted awake at the sound of a slamming door. Someone was coming. His eyes opened, bright, ready, wary, staring over Joe's shoulder. She tried to turn around to see who was doing this to him, but she could not look away from Derek. His eyes were...glowing. Not like when he stood in the afternoon sun and the light hit his eyes to make them glitter, but like he had literal laser beams coming from inside his skull. At the sound of the newcomer walking into the room, he opened his mouth too and roared.

Joe bolted up in the bed with a harsh gasp. The unfamiliar bedroom panicked her, before she recognized the minimalistic style of Jimmy Carter. She clutched the bedsheets to her chest, but should not have bothered —they clung to her sweatslick skin like glue. The whole bed was damp and she guessed it was lucky Jimmy lived above a laundromat.

In a chair next to the bed sat Jimmy himself, head tilted backwards in a deep slumber. He'd pulled one of his armchairs from the living room in here. Jimmy always looked mildly dishelved, but now he looked like a complete mess. His hair and beard both stuck up at odd angles and dark circles made his face look hollow. How much time had passed since she...since the first episode? The curtains were drawn shut, leaving the room in complete cool darkness.

Her body ached, like she had climbed a mountain. All that involuntary flexing of her muscles probably. Gingerly she got out of the bed, borrowed Jimmy's bathroom and then tip-toed back to the room to wake him up.

"Aah!" was his response when she tapped his shoulder and he flailed around in the chair. "AA- oh, you're up." He gave her a wary look. "Are you done screaming at me?"

"Yes," she said and rubbed her face. "Yes, I'm sorry, I don't know...I don't know anything. Thank you for helping me."

Jimmy just nodded. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Sort of," she mumbled. Physically she felt nothing out of the ordinary, other than the assumed DOMS. Mentally was another story completely. To cope, she pushed away all the questions, theories and vivid memories for now. The image of Derek Hale strung up in some kind of torture chamber refused to go away however. She licked her lips, parched and dehydrated from sweating and crying throughout the whole night and probably most of the day. "We need to find Derek."

Jimmy agreed with her plan that they needed to find Derek. It was easier said than done though. The police had been trawling the entire county for weeks now looking for him without turning up as much as a tire track. No known address, no next of kin, no convenient paper trail giving up his location. After much harassment from Jimmy, after he had exhausted his probable police source for any updates, she even called Scott. It took several tries, but she eventually got hold of him through Stiles' phone.

"If I've seen who?" he asked through the phone in a shaky voice. "Derek? No, not since...uh, not since the night at our house. Uh, have you seen Derek?"

Joe paused and weighed the pros and cons of revealing Derek's afternoon visit the other day. On one hand, she hated lying to Scott. On the other, it had been a weird visit and her chest filled with embarrasment just thinking about it. He hadn't wanted anything but to talk about their connection, and she was not willing to discuss that with her male teenage cousin.

"No," she said eventually, holding her fingers crossed behind her back. "No, I haven't either."

"If you see him, can you let me know?"

Joe's brows furrowed. "Why?"

"Uhh..." Improvising was not Scott's strongest point. She heard someone whisper in the background and could imagine Stiles trying to give Scott the clues for stringing together a believable story. "He's wanted by the police?"

"Then I should call the police if I see him. Not you," she pointed out and the same half-silence followed, as if Scott had put his phone to his shoulder and conspired with Stiles again. "Listen, Scott, worry more about that dance you're going to instead of Derek Hale right now."

They ended the phone call on an awkward agreement that neither of them should actually look for Derek. She let Jimmy know it had been a dead end. The only other person she could imagine knowing something about Derek's location was his uncle, and even if she knew how to contact him, she really did not want to. Groaning, she leaned forwards over Jimmy's dining room table and let her forehead thump against the polished wood. How did you lose a 6 foot, 200 lbs man in the first place?

Jimmy seemed to make endless cups of tea in times of chrisis and Joe's mood had not improved when it turned out he did not even have instant coffee in his apartment. Something about avoiding substances that stimulated his central nervous system. He stirred some honey into his cup, the clinking of the spoon the only sound in the kitchen. "Can I implore you for another round of an open mind?"

"Ugh," Joe grunted and thumped her head against the tabletop again. Not looking up, she relented. "Fine."

"You and Derek are connected-"

"Bleh."

"- as made evident by the events of last night. You are feeling his pain. I've been thinking and — please shut up," Joe had made another disgruntled noise, "and the reason you're feeling his pain, and presumably vice versa, is to alert each other of the other's situation. You're feeling his pain so that you know he needs help. You're supposed to help him."

Joe let out a slow breath. "Open mind is due to close in ten seconds."

"Can you at least give it a try? Try to strengthen that connection, establish a link with him. Just...try and feel if you can sense something, anything, about his location."

Her groan lasted for as long as she pushed herself back up from the table. Jimmy sipped his tea with a raised eyebrow, daring her to start an argument again. As much as she hated to admit it, she knew deep down he had nothing to do with the pain riding her body like its own personal plaything. In fact, he'd done what he could to make her comfortable and keep her safe. He might not have taken her to the hospital, but that was because he really, really believed the source of her ailment was something that normal medicine could not explain. He had called Doctor Deaton instead, claiming him to be an insider — insider to what she never got full explanation of — and he'd given her a shot of something that would dampen the pain for a little while.

Joe blew her cheeks up and let out the air in a long breath. "Fine."

"Thank you," said Jimmy tersely and watched her through the steam of his fresh cup of tea.

Connection. Connection to Derek. Derek Hale. Derek 'Hell, he's fine' Hale. Derek who seemed to go to great lengths to avoid making her uncomfortable, but failing so explicitly miserably at it each and every time. Derek Hale who stole her car to have it cleaned. Derek Hale who caught her from falling into an open grave. Derek Hale who forced her to slow down to avoid hitting a full pack of deer.

Joe scrunched up her face, concentrating so hard on Derek Hale to the extent where she forgot to breathe. Finally, her body let up and she sucked in a loud breath. "Nope, nothing."

"Were you really trying or just pretending?" Jimmy demanded with a scoff and Joe shrugged excessively.

"I don't know the difference!"

Her phone rang and put an effective stop to the rest of the conversation. She briefly glanced at the unknown number before answering — a California-registered cell phone as far as she could tell.

"Hello, this is Joe speaking."

The voice on the other end came bright and friendly, sending shockwaves of terror down her spine. "Joe! Hey, this is Chris Argent calling."

Jimmy must have caught her panicked expression. He put his tea cup down and leaned forwards, mouthing. "Who is it?"

"Uh...hello?" she answered, while her head reeled at how he even had her number. She got her answer immediately.

"Hey, hope you don't mind, I got your number from your aunt." He sounded so insincerely happy, contrasting wildly with the dark scowl he usually sent her whenever their paths crossed. "Listen, I was wondering if you'd seen Kate anywhere? I know you and her...uh, I know she talked about seeing you. I've not been able to reach her and I was worried something was wrong with her phone."

Missing Kate Argent. Missing Derek Hale.

Apparently she spent so long thinking about it that Chris Argent prompted her again. "Joe? You still there?"

"Uhm, yeah," Joe said and rubbed her face with her palm to alleviate the stress wrinkles. "Err, sorry, I haven't seen her in a few days. I've been swamped down with work and...stuff." Scouring her brain for what normal innocent people would say in these situations, she came up with: "Did you check with her magazine? Maybe she got called in for a last-minute gig."

"Magazine," Chris Argent repeated slowly. Another lie from Kate, probably, another cover story. "Yeah, of course, that's probably it. Thanks, Joe, I'll give them a call."

"I'll let you know if I see her." Joe's voice sounded thin and hollow. Hopefully he wouldn't be able to notice it through the phone. "Hope nothing's happened..."

"No, no, don't worry about it. Sometimes her cell phone has really bad reception, it's this provider she's got through the...magazine. She's probably on her way back by now. Thanks again, Joe, really appreciate it. Sorry for bothering you."

"No problem," Joe managed to say before returning his good bye. Her hand clutched the phone to her chest after terminating the call. Jimmy stood on the other side of the counter, obviously waiting for an explanation. "That was Chris Argent. Kate's MIA."

"Argent! Of course!" snapped Jimmy, stalked over to his mood board and returned with the drawing of the crest. He slammed it on the counter top and tapped his finger harshly at the chains underneath the wolf. Chains equals capture, not killing. "You said it yourself, she was after him at the iron works."

Joe's mouth moved, trying to find words in a sea of horrible thoughts. "And what, she's got him chained up somewhere, torturing him?"

He shrugged. "You tell me. Does she seem like the kind of person who could do something like that?"

She quickly recalled all her encounters with Kate Argent, all the good-natured winks, the flirty smirks, the innocent questions laced with dark intentions. The shotgun in her face, the groping, the mocking. Apparently her silence was answer enough to Jimmy.

"We find Kate Argent, we find Derek," he said and dashed over to get his laptop. "She's probably not on foot. You got her registration plate number?"

Joe did, and then was forced to go into the bathroom while Jimmy called his police contact to check if anyone had reported seeing the silver colored KIA Soul anywhere. Joe rolled her eyes, but heeded his request, and spent the time trying to get herself looking somewhat presentable. She washed her face and tried to wrangle her curls into submission using water, but it frizzed up even more. Her usually tan skin looked pale and sick now, and the freckles Peter Hale commented on were starting to pop out.

She scrubbed harder, as if she could scrub them completely off, and left her skin pink instead. Needing a shower, but not comfortable borrowing clothes from Jimmy, she settled for trying to shut down her sense of smell. Presentable? No, but it would have to do.

Staring at herself in the mirror, she did the same exercise she had done a million times. Her nose and jaw was from her father's side. The eyes and mouth from her mom. At least that's what she assumed, she hadn't even seen a picture of the woman who (presumably) gave birth to her. There was some studies that suggested a child would resemble the parent that raised them the most, and it might hold some truth, because she looked a lot like her dad.

Her dad that she hadn't even talked to in over two years. Their relationship had been strained since Joe was in high school, but it had blown up completely when she went to college. Aunt Mel still had regular contact with him, but she respected Joe's wishes to keep him out of her life. At his insistence, she had memorized his phone number several years ago, so she would always be able to call him for help. She wondered if it was still the same. Two years was a long time.

Would he even pick up if she called?

Jimmy knocked on the bathroom door. One of the patrols had reported a lone vehicle in the Preserve that matched the description of Kate Argent's car. It was within walking distance from the Hale House.

"You realize we're trying to get Kate arrested for murder and kidnapping, not picking her up for a date?"

Jimmy did not even look up from stuffing a wad of purple flowers into his tactical backpack. While Joe opted for a taser, night vision binoculars and the trustworthy flashlight, Jimmy went with a few alternatives that did not make much sense to anyone but him. Purple flowers, an old dusty book, a silver cross, a necklace he claimed to be a 'werewolf amulet' and, finally, a taser like Joe. He scoffed at her insistence that this was a stake-out, not a vampire slaying.

"You ready to go, Buffy Summers?" she asked and he hefted the apparent heavy backpack onto his back with a grunt. Joe did not exactly frequent the gym these days, but at least she knew what they looked like from the inside. Jimmy had as much upper body strength as a pre-schooler. "Really? We're going for the camouflage paint?"

"I don't have to help you, you know," Jimmy pointed out while smearing dark grease paint around his eyes. With his dark beard and hair, it made him look like a literal bear.

"You've been working to bust this arson case for half a decade." Joe leaned against his counter while he was getting ready. "No way are you going to miss the chance of getting the truth out."

He glared at her, knowing full and well she was speaking the truth. Whatever Doctor Deaton had given her, it seemed to do the trick. No rounds of mind blowing agony and trembling on the floor. Somehow it was a little disconcerting. If — and this was a big medically impossible if — she shared the pain of Derek Hale, this meant she did not really know if he was still being tortured in a gruesome manner.

They chose Jimmy's car, figuring Kate would have the least chance of recognizing it, and drove the dark roads to the Preserve. Jimmy seemed to know his way around and chose a backroad that would take them close to the location of Kate Argent's car. They bickered the whole way over — Jimmy did not agree with Joe's plan of getting Kate arrested.

Creeping through the nighttime forest, Jimmy's face obscured by the night goggles, they found Kate's car sitting desolately in the middle of nowhere. They were half a mile away from the Hale house. Joe had them stay in a thick underbrush and watch the car's surroundings for a while, until they were sure they weren't walking into an ambush.

"Looks clear," she finally concluded and they skulked forwards. Jimmy dropped to his knee next to the car, scouring the leaf-covered ground. Joe raised her eyebrows, impressed. "You know how to track?"

"Uh, no," Jimmy admitted and she rolled her eyes. "I can't see shit with these goggles."

"You're just messing up your night vision," said Joe. It wasn't even that dark in the forest, even with the moon almost waned to nothing. She had him follow her to the Hale house, on the assumption that there was nothing else out here. When they reached the looming ruin of a building, they crouched down at a safe distance. She breathed out an admission. "I really hate this place."

"This used to be a mansion," Jimmy mumbled, keeping his voice low, and checking over his shoulder all the time. "The Hales were really rich."

"That's a motive right there," Joe murmured and took up her binoculars. No movement, not even wind fluttering the remains of curtains. "I think it's empty."

"Doesn't make any sense to keep him here either, the cops are bound- hey, hey, what are you doing?"

She ignored Jimmy's hiss and crept towards the house. Not that she would ever admit it to him, but she was getting this feeling that something was off. As she reached the front door, she let her fingers trail the old construction. Several new holes in the woodwork. She used her fingernails to pick at one of the holes and a small metal bullet fell out into her palm. Assault rifle, not shotgun.

Jimmy kept hissing at her to get back, but she went inside anyway, taking a deep breath outside first. The air inside still smelled of smoke and...something else. Derek's lingering scent, but it was faint, and not that noticeable compared to the metallic tang of blood. Her night vision adjusted slowly, but she could make out some dark stains on the walls and floor near the stairs. Turning on her flashlight, she studied the sticky substance. It felt like blood, but was almost completely black...like the goo she had slipped in at the vet clinic.

The bloodstains smeared towards the back of the house, a dripping trail, as if the wounded had been running. It could have been Derek, but...but what, Joe? The blood didn't smell like Derek? God, this was so messed up.

"Joe, come look at this."

She followed the sound of Jimmy's voice to the front door again. He had a smaller flashlight trained on the ground. Kneeling, she let her fingertips touch the disturbed earth. It looked like drag marks.

"Don't need to be a tracker to follow that trail," Jimmy said and Joe agreed. Kate was not that much smaller than Derek, but he was still a hefty size. If she had ambushed him here, as evident from the bullet holes in the door, she would have struggled to transport him and settled for dragging his lifeless body away.

"She couldn't have gone far," Joe said and stood back up. Her car was still here, so wherever she had Derek, it was nearby. "And she's probably alone."

Kate knew better than to leave a trail like that if she could help it, Joe thought. Unless it was a trap, of course.

In unspoken unison, she and Jimmy turned off their flashlights. A last glance at the deserted remains of the Hale house before they walked slowly to avoid losing the trail. It took a special kind of twisted mind to trap a man in the same house where his family burned to death. Judging by how the trail went in a wide turn and ended in an overgrown grate, the underground location was somewhere directly under the house itself.

"Keep quiet," Joe whispered to Jimmy, who seemed to be trembling in anticipation. "We get proof, then we get out! She's armed and probably hostile. No engagement!"

Jimmy nodded frantically and brandished his phone with the video camera ready. Joe's dumb phone was less useful, but still not useless.

The gate opened with a faint squeak that made her wince. They both froze and waited anxiously for the sound of footsteps. Nothing. Inch by inch, they snuck inside the dark tunnel. Jimmy put his goggles back on, while Joe just fingered the taser in her hand and tried to get used to the darkness.

Drops of water hit the back of her neck, condensation from the temperature difference between the tunnel and the earth around it. Their breath came out in small fogs when they went further inside. No sound of anything yet, just her own heartbeat thudding in her ears and gentle shuffling of their feet.

Their slow progress made it feel like an hour had passed when they finally heard voices. Or a voice. Kate Argent's husky words drifted down towards them.

"...if you're not gonna talk — I'm just gonna have to kill you."

The playful tones sent chills down Joe's spine. She gestured at Jimmy to move even slower, to keep quiet and out of sight above all else. He nodded in the dark next to her. Joe's pulse was so fast and powerful she worried Kate would hear it. Her voice grew stronger the closer they got — up ahead they saw a small sliver of light peeking through a doorway.

"So say hi to your sister for me. You did tell her about me, didn't you? The truth about the fire? Or did you? Did you tell anybody? Oh, sweetie — that's just a lot of guilt to keep buried."

She cooed at Derek, presumably, while he did not make a noise. At least not that they heard. The words cut shards into Joe's heart. At her side, she saw Jimmy mouth the words: "Mister X."

Tears in her eyes, she struggled to see anything, but crawled forwards. Proof, they needed proof! Kate was a full-blown psychopath and there was only one way to stop her. Jimmy seemed frozen in his tracks — she thought she saw streaks in his camouflage paint, also crying at the insane mocking. Joe grabbed his cell phone and crept even further, trying to hold it to the doorway to get footage. She pushed her taser into Jimmy's hands instead, asking him to cover her.

"Is that ironic? Is it — ironic — that you're inadvertently helping me track down the rest of the pack — again? Or just a little bit of history repeating."

Her wrists burned from spending so long on her hands and knees, but she persisted and pushed the phone to the doorway. It caught the glimpse of Kate stalking around the dimly lit room and the shirtless Derek Hale hanging by his arms in chains. Just like her dream. It looked just like her dream. His head turned sideways, away from Kate's mocking face.

Kate's footsteps echoed as she strolled over to some sort of device on a small table. Wires connected the machine to a patch stuck on Derek's torso. Lightening...it had felt like lightening. She was basically electrocuting him! Joe's breath came harder and harder, if Kate turned the knob, she would shock Derek again. The pain he felt, she could not let him go through it again. No one deserved that much pain!

Fortunately, Kate paused instead of turning on the device. "History repeating. It's not Jackson, is it?" She abandoned the machine and went back to stand too close to Derek who tried to turn even further away. "Oh, no, no, no, he's got a little scratch on the back of his neck, but...he's not in love with Allison." The next words made Joe want to throw up. "Not like Scott."

Too much in shock and terror to even think, Joe missed the warning that flashed on Jimmy's phone. 'Memory full.' It ended the video tape on its own and she just noticed when the built-in playback function kicked in.

Kate's tinny voice rang out in the hallway: "...if you're not gonna talk - I'm just gonna have to kill you."

"Shit," Joe hissed under her breath and pounded on the stupid phone to stop it. Too late.

With a loud creak, the door next to her slammed open. Kate Argent, illuminated from the lights inside the room, stood above her with a thick baton in her hands.

"Jimmy!" Joe shouted before rolling to the side to avoid Kate's first strike. The baton hit the ground instead and she saw the flashes erupt. That was not a normal baton. Behind Joe, Jimmy fumbled with the taser gun, and Joe cried out again. "Hurry!"

He finally got the taser aimed at Kate and fired. Time seemed to move in slow motion — Joe saw the two strings shoot out and Kate bending away. It missed and the two probes embedded themself in the doorframe.

"Well, if it isn't Nancy Drew and her useless side-kick," Kate said with a laugh. "Speaking of kick." Joe cried out as Kate shot her boot-covered foot out and hit Jimmy straight in his mouth.

Inside the room, Derek roared at Joe to get out of there!

Jimmy's head snapped backwards at the impact, a trail of blood hanging in the air behind him. Joe sprang up, grabbed Kate's arm that held the charged baton, and slammed it against the wall with both hands. Two times, three times, until Kate's wrist gave up and the taser wand clattered to the floor. Kate snarled and used her other forearm to hit Joe in the face.

Flashes erupted behind Joe's eyes, her nose spurting blood. She let out a harsh noise and dodged Kate's next blow, her knees protesting at the fast movement. Using the momentum, she shot back up and planted her fist squarely in Kate's left eye.

Kate grunted while small bolts of lightening embedded into Joe's arm from her fingers. Kate recovered too fast, caught Joe's attempt at a left hook, forced Joe's block wide open and slammed an upper cut straight to Joe's chin. On her way down, Kate's knee hit her windpipe before the other foot swung around to take care of her shins.

Joe landed on her back, knocking the last air of her lungs out, and Kate laughed wildly above her. No strength to get up, Joe groaned and tried to crawl, something Kate quickly put a stop to. "Oof." Kate pushed her boot onto Joe's sternum, holding her in place by applying pressure. Joe gritted her teeth to avoid crying out, but somewhere above her, Derek let out a harsh grunt.

Kate's head snapped up — blood from her forehead plastered strings of hair to her face. "Now that is interesting." The pressure on Joe's chest increased and Derek could not hide his obvious pain, even though he seemed to try. "Aww, would you look at that?" Kate kicked down with her heel and both Joe and Derek coughed at the blunt throb shooting through Joe's rib cage as a bone snapped.

"Is that not downright romantic?" Kate's voice had a deranged loudness, losing the calm mocking edge she had taken with Derek. Joe's eyes squeezed shut as Derek let out a furious roar in response, the chains rattling, but holding. He was not coming loose. Kate smirked. "Ah, ah, ah!" She pretended to kick Joe again and Derek fell back, snarling, trembling of rage.

"The innocent schoolgirl coming to the rescue." Kate sniggered and bent down to take Jimmy's phone out of Joe's hands. "Oh no, such incriminating evidence." She held the phone over Joe's face to show that the video was being deleted. Joe breathed hard and bit back a reply, not going to waste air on calling her a bitch, however tempting. "Aww. It's gone. Sorry."

Kate pocketed the phone, tossed her hair back and rubbed her temple. "I gotta say though, I'm impressed." She wiped off some blood of her forehead and popped the thumb in her mouth, letting Joe watch her lick it off. "You throw a solid punch!" Kate leaned forwards and gave Joe a wink. "Where'd ya learn to fight, Berkeley?"

"Juvie hall," said Joe, grabbed both hands around Kate's knee and twisted. Kate screamed and stumbled to the side, giving Joe space to get up. She sprang at Kate, throwing herself at the woman, and they both crashed into the the table.

There was only two rules to street fighting: Go all in and if you get your opponent down, don't let them get back up. Joe let out inhuman shrieks, landing hits with her elbows and knees where she could, not giving Kate a chance. Most martial arts relied on keeping distance, if Kate got that, Joe was dead.

Joe pushed her knee into Kate's abdomen and used both her hands as a sledgehammer to slam down on Kate's face, chest, wherever she hit. Joe did not know how to fight, she just knew how to survive. No technique, no strategy, just relentless punches, kicks and jabs.

"Get me loose! COME ON!" Derek roared somewhere behind her, through a cloud of her own labored breaths and Kate's painful gasps. She turned to look at him — Jimmy was back in business, struggling with the shackles on Derek's arms. Her brief lapse of attention gave Kate a chance.

In a heartbeat, Kate had them flipped on the floor. They writhed like an organic mass of flying fists and jabbing elbows, screaming and snarling at each other. Joe got a full hand of Kate's hair and yanked hard.

"You fight like a girl!" Kate barked while Joe forced her head backwards. Kate hit Joe in the broken rib with her elbow to get loose. Joe saw white and red spots dance in front of her vision, gnashing her teeth together at the insane agony, and Kate crawled on her stomach towards the fallen taser wand.

Derek growled darker and shouted at Jimmy to undo his chains!

"Oh no you don't!" Joe flung herself ontop of Kate's legs and climbed until she sat on her back. Kate tried to flip them again, but Joe was ready this time and ended up on her back instead of her stomach. Her knees squeezed around Kate's torso and their arms wrestled for control. Joe tried to get Kate in a choke hold, but Kate broke her grip.

Instead, Joe closed her arms around Kate's left one, pushing her knee behind Kate's shoulder and pulling with everything she had. They both screamed, Kate from pain, Joe from effort, until Joe heard the sickening pop of Kate's shoulder dislocating.

The shriek Kate let out echoed inside Joe's skull. Thinking it was over, that Kate would be down, Joe loosened her grip — a mistake. Kate somehow kicked her leg up and hit Joe in the mouth. Joe swore, her lip splitting open, while Kate struggled out of the hold. Joe barely saw Kate's good hand close around the electric baton before she struck Joe in the abdomen with at least 50 000 Volts.

The shock felt the same as it had before — her body jerked uncontrollably, teeth mashing together, eyes rolling back. When the current stopped, Kate was gone, her footsteps bounding from the hallway.

"Is she..."

"Joe!"

The sound of the two panicked men — Derek Hale and Jimmy Carter — brought her somewhat back to consciousness. Every breath came with a fight, her muscles protesting at the incessant abuse. The light disappeared and Jimmy Carter's head popped up in her vision, the grease paint spread down into his beard, mixing with his own blood.

"Joe, are you okay?"

Instead of trying to say something, she gingerly put up both her thumbs. The movement rubbed against her broken rib and she winced again.

Derek's roar prevented her from blacking out: "Get me down now!"

"Can't you see that she's hurt?!" Jimmy shouted back, prodding at Joe's swollen face, checking for any more fractures.

"Of course I see that! But you need to get me down! There's another hunter!"

"I'm okay," Joe croaked at the ashen Jimmy. "Just gotta catch my breath real quick."

An understatement of the year, but it left Jimmy free to go back to Derek. They argued about the chains — they were strong enough to hold Derek in place, and Jimmy could not seem to find any keys. Hissing through her broken lip, she squirmed to get her phone out of her pocket. The old Nokia had of course survived any onslaught and it showed that the phone call was still active.

"Her name is Kate Argent," she spoke into the microphone. "A-R-G-E-N-T. She drives a silver KIA Soul with Washington plates." The effort to speak strained her lungs and she took a small break. "Last seen at the Hale house in the Beacon Hills Preserve. She will be armed." Aware that Derek had shut his mouth to listen to her, she grimaced at the last part she had to add: "So, uh, anyways. Call me when you get this. Again, this is Joe. Bye."

She ended the long voice mail to her dad and slumped back on the floor again.

You guys! I'm blown away by all the reviews on the previous chapter! You are seriously amazing and I love love love hearing your thoughts and feedback. It seems like the general consensus is wanting more Joe and Derek-interaction and it's coming! Just gotta, you know, save the day first before they get a little breathing room for the next season.

What did you guys think of the fight scene? I love writing action, but sometimes I find myself writing in more of a script-format than prose, because I have the scene so vividly in my head, but I'm not sure how it translates to readers who are not, unfortunately, in my head. Too vague? Too descriptive? Too technical? Please let me know and if you have any other feedback, I'm so open for it it's ridiculous!

The reviews are inspiring me to spend almost all of my free time writing now and I have as many chapters written as I have posted, just so you know the story's not over just yet!