Chapter 78: The Storm IV
If you don't trust me, trust your instincts.
There are five stages of sleep deprivation. Stage one occurs after twenty-four hours and most people experience that sometime in their life. You feel 'off', basically. Drowsy, irritable and with heightened stress levels that could cause — Joe glanced down at her hands, one of which held her old phone — slight tremors.
Finally, the screen of her phone flashed with Scott's name, and Joe answered with the most neutral tone she could muster. It wasn't a long call.
"Okay, got it. Thanks for the update. Be careful."
Swallowing, Joe put her phone down. As she'd hoped, Scott never questioned why she'd texted him from her old number.
Stage two of sleep deprivation sets in after thirty-six hours without sleep. You got all the symptoms from stage one, only intensified. Different parts of the brain stops communicating with one another. You're likely to experience impaired decision-making, behavioral changes and an overwhelming urge to sleep. In theory at least, Joe had never felt more awake than now.
"They're heading for the hospital." She focused on Deucalion, even though she had no idea how much he could tell. "All of them."
"Not unexpected," said Deucalion with that slight half-smirk always on his lips. Always ten steps ahead, nothing took him by surprise it would seem. He held his arm out to Kali. "Shall we?"
"Let's," said Kali and allowed Deucalion to use her for guidance towards the penthouse front door.
No other orders were necessary. The twins followed without hesitation — even if Aiden gave Joe a leery smirk when he passed her. He made a show of rolling his arm, the same one she had broken earlier that same day. Not healed, Joe noticed and filed the information for later. With a brief sigh to herself, she followed the others.
All of them marched into the elevator without saying a word.
Based on her estimations, Joe had reached stage three. Forty-eight hours without sleep and it was now technically extreme sleep deprivation. Hallucinations — check. Depersonalization — check. Increased irritability — Joe glared at the back of Aiden's head, not caring a bit if the werewolves could smell her anger — check. While he didn't have the balls to question her presence directly, most of the communication in the Alpha pack happened non-verbally. He did not trust her.
As of now, they had a common enemy though. The Ex-Emissary; the Darach; Miss Blake or Baccari; whatever you wanted to call her had tried to kill Lydia Martin during some sort of recital at the high school. She had then stolen away with Sheriff Stilinski, according to Scott's quick update, and managed to kill the final philosopher. Somehow, Scott and Stiles had exposed her and were bringing her to the hospital so she could heal Cora.
It was a complicated web of events, but Joe had no doubts Deucalion could weave them through it successfully. Which meant Joe had to weave in between that again to stand a chance of winning this dangerous game. It was probably not one she should play with decreased cognitive performance, but what choice did she have?
"Weather's picking up," Deucalion commented drily when they reached the streets. It was an understatement as a heavy fall storm was coming over the city. The kind that left the roads littered with fallen tree trunks and threw garbage bins into windows.
No one said a word as they walked. Deucalion had given his orders in the penthouse — he had not seemed perturbed by Joe's presence the slightest, quite the opposite in fact. Joe could not help but wonder how many philosophers Deucalion had sacrificed in his time or if he had always been like this. On that note, she hoped Jimmy was okay. He was probably okay. If anyone could talk their way out of a cop-killing murder charge with damning evidence, it would be him. Or he had smack-talked the interrogators until they got sick of him and locked him up somewhere, but he would be fine.
She hoped.
With the rain pouring, Joe was glad she had taken the time to braid up her hair to lay tight to her head. It was like when she played high school soccer or like Allison had offered to do when they were heading to fight the Alphas. It kept it out of the way. Sneaking a glance at Deucalion and Kali ahead of her, Joe could not help but notice how much easier this was. Easy being the one chasing instead of fleeing. Apex predators, no natural enemies, just prey.
Joe pursed her lips — no natural enemies, but there seemed to be an abundance of supernatural ones.
It did not come as too much of a surprise when they saw ambulance after ambulance leave the Beacon Memorial — built in the sixties, it had never upgraded its electrical system and the staff must worry about a power failure. She risked another glance at Deucalion — had he known? Did he plan for this? An empty hospital would be easier to navigate than a full one. Even the Alphas preferred to keep their business away from the public eye. Now she thought of Professor Kane of all people; what would happen if people found out about werewolves? What always happens. Lynchings and mob executions.
She hoped the near-empty hospital meant Aunt Mel had left too.
"As young Josefina here has posed an ultimatum," Deucalion said in the same even tone she imagined he would discuss golf results and he nodded towards the twins, "you two go get the girl."
"She's on the second floor," Joe supplied, but shifted uneasily when watching the twins conjoin themselves. Not just because it looked uncomfortable, also because she didn't trust them an inch. "I thought I was-"
Deucalion smiled and kept heading for the main entrance of the hospital. "You have a different role to play. Come along."
No one had told her what her different role would be. Only Kali had said something, before the other Alphas returned: "If you're not ready, bring her to me. Follow your instincts."
Somehow, Kali and Deucalion entered the hospital nearly dry. Joe suspected their basal body temperature simply evaporated the rain before it hit them, because Joe was soaked to the bone, her dad's FBI-jacket dripping onto the floor. The hospital looked to be on its last leg of evacuation as most of the high-strung people running around was staff employees.
Joe tried to walk as calmly as Kali and Deucalion, seeming to have all the time in the world and wordlessly took the same turn around a corner.
At the end of the new hallway they emerged, the elevator dinged.
Joe had no way of knowing how Deucalion knew exactly where to go. The elevator doors opened to reveal pretty Miss Blake, not in a pencil skirt for once, but dressed in all black with a pair of open-toed heels.
She took two steps out of the elevator before noticing them. Joe was about to pull out her gun when Kali gave her a small headshake to make her stop.
How they communicated was beyond Joe, but Deucalion, in a swift motion, uncapped the end of his walking stick and threw it with both a strength and accuracy that any Olympic spear thrower would envy. It embedded itself deep in the wall next to Miss Blake's head and the fear — the look of unconditional panic — on her face gave Joe a tingling feeling in her stomach.
The hunt was on.
The tingle made her miss how Kali took off running, sprinting down towards the elevator where Miss Blake had jumped back in and pressed the button hurriedly. Based on the angle of her arm, Joe knew which button she likely pushed. Joe knew this hospital as the back of her hand after all.
The doors slid shut, but not before Kali reached them and forced both hands in. She must have missed the automatic sensor, because the doors continued to close, fighting against Kali's werewolf strength.
Her growl echoed, but was cut short when Kali flew back. Something, like an invisible force, tossed Kali back towards them. She landed hard on her back in the hallway and Deucalion gave a small sigh, as if this was unfortunate, but not unexpected.
"I know what floor she's heading for," Joe said and without waiting for approval, took off towards the stairs.
With the storm raging, the elevators seemed like a risky bet anyway. The staff had marked all the doors on the second floor with a red X; fully evacuated. The hallways looked and sounded deserted, at least to Joe's ears. Without heightened senses, Joe did have another trick up her sleeve. Joe paused and for the first time in months, inhaled through her nose, filtering for that specific trace of... Derek. He was up here. Looks like Kali was right. Miss Blake — the Darach — would not stray far after all.
Her wet shoes squeaked over the floor, and Joe leaned down to take them off. Just then, the lights flickered, and the hospital fell into a deep silence as the ventilation system cut off. Strange how you sometimes never notice a sound until it stops. She left the boots in the hallway and flexed her bare toes. Now when she walked, she could only hear her own breathing.
A slight hiss and the back-up generators must have kicked in. Lights flickered on again, but only the essentials, leaving the whole hospital in an eerie glow. Joe wondered if she was calm because things were going by plan or if general fatigue just left her numb. Forty-nine hours and counting. Still, no Kate now, which was a small blessing. Just her own steady heartbeat and serene walking down the hallway, following the trail that grew stronger and stronger.
Even if she hadn't heard the echoes of voices, she would have found them.
"She was trying to get out!"
Lo-and-behold, Derek was angry. Must mark this occasion in the calendar, like every other day in existence. Joe walked slowly down to a set of double doors to a medical stock room.
"I was trying to keep from getting killed."
Joe had a tingling sensation in her body, like she was weightless and floating. That voice... It was the first time she had heard it, if you didn't count the desperate scream when Joe had shot Derek in the chest. Good times.
"You can't blame me for that. The Alphas are after me, if they find me-"
It was more fun being the predator than the prey. Joe took a moment outside the doors, knowing they would see her silhouette.
Stiles' nervous voice sounded from inside: "I think they just did."
Showtime. Without ceremony, Joe pushed the doors open and stepped inside. They were all there. Stiles over by the wall, Derek, Scott and Peter bent over Cora's still unconscious body laying on a stretcher and her, standing closest to Joe, tense and wide-eyed.
Scott sounded equally confused and relieved, and Joe had to smother the growing guilt. "Joe?"
Ignore him for now. Focus on the prize.
"Hi, Jennifer, right?" Joe said with a large smile, like she was at a networking event, like she did not have the urge to just pull out her 9mm and shoot the other woman in the face. The other woman who had that delicious panicked look on her face. Joe took another step forwards while Jennifer Blake backed up. "I don't think we've ever been officially introduced. It's Jennifer, right? Or do you prefer Julia?"
"Who?" Scott asked, but Joe kept ignoring him.
"I'm not usually a fan of deadnaming people, but I'm not sure of protocol here since you didn't technically die. Unfortunately. That's your 'real' name, isn't it though? Julia Baccari?" Joe's smile grew as Julia/Jennifer looked as sick as Joe had been earlier. The other occupants in the room seemed confused, but no one felt inclined to say anything yet. Joe could feel her own smile turn stiff, less friendly and more sharp. "I won't bother to introduce myself, you know who I am."
Jennifer swallowed and had taken another step back. Her voice shook and Joe loved it. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Really? That's what you're going for? Feigning ignorance? I gotta say, that's disappointing. But hey, leaves me more room for monologuing!"
"Joe," Scott came forwards with widened eyes, "what are you doing here?"
Folding her arms, but not looking away from Jennifer, Joe answered: "Same as you, I'm here for Cora."
She kept smiling, because for once, she felt in control. Even more so when there was a flicker over Jennifer's face, a crack in her facade; mouth quivered, her eyes filled with fear — or was it hate? Hard to tell. Maybe both.
"You know," Joe said conversationally and leaned on one hip. "First, I didn't get it, why would anyone want to poison me and Cora." She shrugged theatrically — she'd been serious about that monologue. "Then I remembered that one word that I'm really starting to hate," Joe tilted her head, glancing briefly at the guys behind Jennifer, "leverage. And you did just sacrifice three philosophers for strategic insight."
As no one said anything, Joe laughed and nodded towards the room in general. "I gotta say, I'd ask for a refund on those sacrifices if relying on these guys to get you out of here was what you came up with. Seriously? These guys? Who don't have a single plan that's ever worked out between them?"
"Okay, that's," Stiles cleared his throat, "strangely hurtful."
"Agreed," said Peter, eyes shifting around.
"So, what are you gonna do, Delgado?" Jennifer finally found her voice and now Joe knew she was definitely more filled with hate than fear. She seemed to cling onto the innocent teacher-act as she tilted her head. "Are you going to shoot me too?"
Joe stopped smiling, returning Jennifer's stare evenly. "At this point, I'd shoot you just for messing with my coffee. All the other stuff? I simply don't have the vocabulary to explain what I'd do to you."
Peter gave a knowing smile from where he stood next to Cora. "Hell hath no fury-"
"Oh shut up," Joe cut him off and rolled her eyes, not even acknowledging the guilty expression crossing over Derek's otherwise stoic face. This was not about that, not yet. Still looking at Jennifer, Joe nodded towards Cora. The young Hale seemed to be in fever-throes, but still completely out of it. "Heal her."
"Not until I'm safe."
"Heal her," Joe said slowly and reached back for the 9mm, "or I will shoot you."
"You think a bullet's gonna kill me?" Jenifer asked and crossed her arms. Joe focused on her, almost a tunnel vision, the other guys in the room irrelevant. Especially the look on Derek's face. She could not allow herself to lose focus.
"I hope sixteen of them's gonna hurt, yeah." Joe held the gun by her side and fought to keep her voice neutral and flat. "Or I'll have to move on to other stuff." She observed Jennifer, looking for tells. "Like salt. Silver. Iron."
Gotcha. Jennifer had flinched on her last word. It was discreet though and her nostrils flared; she recovered quickly. "You won't. I know you." Her voice turned hard as if this was the greatest insult she could think of. "You're too much like your father."
"Don't worry," Joe tilted her head to the side, not breaking eye contact, still keeping the gun down for now, "I'm my mother's daughter too."
The pale realization on Jennifer's face was better than anything Joe had ever felt. She laughed.
"What, you thought I didn't know? I'll admit, it's not my favorite thing to think about. I mean, I went twenty-three years with a specific image of my mother and it kinda took its toll when I learned the truth. Disassociation, I think it's called. I don't know, I'm not a psych-major."
On the bench, still unconscious, Cora moaned, and the sound made something in Joe break.
"Funny thing, though. I didn't connect all the dots until the mistletoe only made me throw up instead of rendering me like that." She nodded towards Cora. "Because that was part of your plan, wasn't it? What about you, Jenny? Figured it out yet? Doesn't look like your plan's going all that well. Almost like someone messed up the first philosopher-sacrifice."
Joe could live long on that expression, when the woman forgot she was supposed to be all innocent and sweet and let a wash of hatred fill her eyes. It seemed to make her at a loss for words.
"Gotta see the whole board," Joe continued and clicked her tongue. "Past, present, and future. It's all connected like you druid assholes like to say. I've built up a tolerance, and you only got yourself to thank."
It gave her that same tingle to practically see the wheels turning behind Jennifer's eyes. It tempted her to drag this out further, but Cora did not look like she was getting better by this whole exchange.
"So, what was it? A little berry every day with the prenatals? A sprinkle in the lactation supplement? Specially made mistletoe-smoothie delivered each morning?"
Stiles blinked, slipping out of his anger for a second as he looked at the other guys. "Is anyone else completely lost with this conversation?"
For a while, Joe feared Jennifer wouldn't take the bait. Or that she had it wrong. She needed to know. That was why it was extra sweet when Jennifer finally spat:
"I knew if you were human she'd never bother with you."
"There you go," Joe whispered and couldn't help the smile stretching out her face. Overhead, the lights flickered, the generators struggling with the storm.
"I am still lost, in case anyone wondered," Stiles added, but neither Joe nor Jennifer paid him any attention.
"She'd just become Alpha when she found out." Her face drawn in anger of bitter memories, it was pure unadulterated hatred when she looked at Joe. "She did not need that kind of distraction."
She seemed to mean it as an insult of sorts, but Joe only kept smiling and tilted her head. It felt good to be right. Smiling in the face of someone who looked so angry filled her with a warm buzz. Better than coffee. Better than sex.
This was probably baiting the potentially powerful evil druid too much, but she couldn't help herself. And, Joe figured, she was severely sleep-deprived and deserved a little fun.
Activating her eyes, knowing they shone a deep dark red with a thick black ring around the outside of the iris, Joe said: "Turns out there were a lot of things Kali didn't need in the end."
They both moved fast. Jennifer took a step forward, arm raising, but Joe already had her gun up, aiming square at the woman's chest.
"That hit a sore spot?" Joe's smile widened when Jennifer's nostrils flared, obviously restraining herself. "I can imagine. Marin said she warned you, but you didn't believe her. Why is that? I mean, it can't be because of her tenderhearted nature, she'd killed José years earlier." There was something, a glint, a hard set to Jennifer's jaw, something sad in her expression that made Joe narrow her eyes. "You thought you were special, didn't you?"
"I was." Her nostrils flared as Jennifer bit out: "More than you or your dad."
"Sure about that? If she thought he poisoned her, why'd she never come after him?"
"Okay, what are you guys talking about?" Stiles did a double-take with his entire body as if the other guys in the room should have answers for him. "What? Just- what? Kali? The toenail lady?"
It was difficult to make out expressions with the eyes activated, so Joe dimmed them back to her regular brown. Jennifer looked enraged, positively livid, and probably too angry to even say a single word. At least she didn't have an answer to Joe.
"Kali?" Scott almost whispered and his mouth hung open. He looked at Jennifer with his brows pulled together. "You were her Emissary, weren't you? And she's your..." he stared at Joe, more surprised than disgusted just yet, "what?"
Did Derek look surprised? Yes, he did, eyes flickering uncertainly to Joe as if he was adding up facts in his head and realizing he should have known it sooner. It hurt to look at him right now, and Joe could not allow herself the distraction. Not yet. Weaving between Deucalion's plans, she had to function, but it was hard, because she wanted to kill.
As usual, Peter was ahead of the rest. He sighed and looked at Joe with narrowed eyes. "Whose side are you on exactly?"
"I haven't decided yet," Joe said with a shrug, taking the gun away from Jennifer slowly to cross her arms, mimicking Peter's stance. "The others made a very compelling argument."
Stiles looked uncertain, only halfway recovered from Joe's revelation. "They'll rip her apart."
"Yeah, I know. That was literally the whole argument. Very compelling." They'd wasted enough time and Joe nodded towards Cora again. "Heal her. Or I don't see any compelling arguments of keeping you alive anymore."
"I told you," Jennifer's voice shivered, a tasty combination of fear and anger. She looked at Derek, eyes widening, possibly trying to invoke his protective side and Joe narrowed her eyes, "not until I'm safe."
"I'd like to volunteer a different method of persuasion," Peter said lightheartedly. "Let's torture her."
"Works for me," Derek said instantly, but neither of them got two steps before the PA-system sounded.
"Um, can I have your attention?"
Recognizing the voice, Joe felt a hard pit form in her stomach. Shit. Shit shit shit. Deucalion, that bastard, was as usual ten steps ahead. First strike, Delgado. You messed up.
Scott, who had jumped forward to stop Derek, turned his focus towards the speaker on the wall, face falling. It was a slight consolation that Jennifer did not seem to approve of this message either.
"Mr. Deucalion," Aunt Mel said over the loudspeakers. "Excuse me, just Deucalion," she corrected, and the fear layered in her voice was not as delicious as Jennifer's, "requests you bring the woman calling herself Jennifer Blake to the E.R. reception. Do this, and everyone else can leave. You have ten minutes."
"He's not gonna hurt her."
Realizing they'd said the same thing, both Joe and Jennifer glared at each other. Derek only pointed his finger at Jennifer though, business-like when telling her to: "Shut up."
Joe narrowed her eyes again — he seemed angry, but not enough. Not like she knew him. Was it an act?
"He won't!" Jennifer insisted while Joe went to lean against the doorway. Jennifer looked at Scott, trying to appeal to the calmest werewolf in the room. "Scott, you know why." She gestured back at Joe. "Even she knows! Tell them it's true."
"He won't," Joe grudgingly had to supply, hating to agree with this woman on anything. "It's just a reminder," to her surprise, she found Scott nodding slightly in understanding, "for what's at stake."
"You're seriously on their side?" Stiles asked with the disbelief plain on his face. He looked worn, Joe noted now. Dark circles under his eyes and thinner than usual, emphasized by the wet shirt still clinging to him. "That Stockholm Syndrome thing wasn't that far-fetched after all, was it?"
"I'm not brainwashed, kid. I'm radicalized. Two different things." Not perturbed by Stiles' outburst, Joe shrugged. She knew their reaction wouldn't be pleasant. She'd known since she first went to Kali of her own volition. "Duke's an asshole, but he's not stupid. He won't hurt her."
"Because of you?" Stiles asked with raised eyebrows.
"Partially, but mostly because of Scott."
"What does she mean?" Derek asked Scott, the simmering anger so very dangerously close to the surface. That was the Derek she knew. Faced with a situation you can't resolve, fight blindly because at least you're doing something. It didn't slip by Joe that he addressed Scott when the question should have been posed to her. Coward.
"You're not the only one he wants in his pack," Jennifer explained, sounding like a different person when talking to him than any of the others. "Deucalion doesn't just want an Alpha pack. He wants perfection. That means adding the rarest of Alphas to his ranks."
Again, the fastest one to catch on, Peter nodded to himself. "A True Alpha."
"What's that?" Stiles asked, while Derek's face swiveled to look at Peter.
"The kind that doesn't have to steal his power from another." Peter let his gaze travel from Derek to Scott, who stared hard out into the air. "One that can rise by the force of his own will." Hard to tell if he sounded jealous or proud. "Our little Scott."
Derek and Scott looked at each other while the latter one shook his head and said: "It doesn't matter." Making up his mind, he faced Jennifer again. "We still need to get her out of here."
It was hard to tell if he meant Jennifer or Cora. Stiles pushed forwards. "Scott, your mom-"
"My mom," Scott cut him off, "said there's one more ambulance coming in twenty minutes. And I don't think we've been here that long, so if we can get down to the garage, get to the last ambulance, we can get out of here."
Scott looked away from Derek and the others, eyes pleading when facing her. "Joe, I need to know you're on our side."
Before Joe could answer, Stiles supplied in a tight voice. "She... she has my dad."
"As a Guardian-sacrifice," Joe said evenly and saw how Jennifer stiffened, "meaning she won't touch him until the lunar eclipse."
"You sound so sure," Jennifer said, turning around with a curl in her upper lip. "Are you?"
Joe sighed, fatigue setting in more now. "Yeah, I'm sure, because that's when the sun, moon and earth are in synch and balance, which you guys have such a massive hard-on for." Seeing all the confused faces, she wondered just exactly how little everyone else had found out. Everyone else didn't have Jimmy though. "And when they're in balance, you can use the solar, lunar and telluric currents' energy to fulfill your oh-so-original quest of revenge."
"Lady, if you'd shown up a few months earlier you'd probably have your very own kanima to boss around," Joe said with another shrug. "Like everyone else we've been up against, you want revenge for nearly dying, right?" Now she looked at the guys behind Jennifer. "Like Peter," who gave a tight smile, "like Matt, like Kate and probably like Gerard sooner or later. And this is just a side-note to the room in general, we gotta start making sure people actually die, because this is getting ridiculous."
Joe looked at Jennifer again and knew she sounded nearly bored. "I know you used the crows as a sacrifice back in 2003 to survive. Then the crows a month ago to change your appearance, which I gotta admit, was a stellar improvement."
To her credit, Jennifer did not flinch or react to her words. This just meant Joe could keep going.
"I know that's not what you really look like. I know you're spending half your energy all the time just looking like that." She swallowed and pushed off the doorway, taking a step towards Jennifer. "Because you failed at getting the werewolves at the motel to kill themselves for you, that would've made it permanent, right?"
"Got it all figured out." Jennifer had fake happiness in her voice. "Such a good little detective."
"I'm getting there," Joe said evenly and found she desperately wanted a fight. She wanted this bitch to pay. She wanted this bitch to know that Joe knew everything. "Took me a while to figure out the virgins though. Motive and all." Her voice was sharp as she leaned in to whisper. "Because I thought: someone going through all that trouble just could not be that pathetic."
Hard to tell who moved first, but Jennifer raised her arm while Joe pulled out her gun.
"I'll empty the clip in your head," she said with a steady aim to Jennifer's face. "Might not kill ya, but it's gonna take a while to heal."
"You need me."
"No, what I need is Jimmy, who you just got arrested. That means I lost that last tether I was hanging onto and I'm spiraling fast, lady. Look at my face, Jules, and tell me I'm lying. Tell me I don't want you dead."
"Joe!" Scott shouted, not daring to move forward in case Joe's trigger discipline slipped.
"She won't," Peter drawled. "Her instincts are to protect Cora. As her Alpha, right?"
"Sure," Joe said, not dropping the gun an inch or looking away from Jennifer. "My instincts that I'm so in tune with."
Her voice must have been hard and her heartbeat steady as Peter hesitated. "Oh sweet little Josefina," he drawled. "What did they do to you?"
"These eyes didn't come cheap if that's what you want to know," Joe said, watching Jennifer intently if she made another move. She'd used some kind of power, reminiscent of Professor Kane actually, when pushing Kali away from the elevator just before. She looked innocent, helpless, but Joe had to remember it was all an act. A glamor.
"And you'll still hand me over to her?" Jennifer asked in a shaking voice. She held her hands up in surrender, unarmed, like that mattered.
"Kali's broken every single bone in my body twice," Joe spat, the memories too painful to keep the hurt out of her voice, "to undo what you did. What you did to both me and her and then you had the audacity to blame my dad for it all. So yeah, bitch, I'll hand you over to her in a heartbeat."
Trigger finger off the trigger, she repeated internally and avoided looking at Scott or Derek, both with so guilty expressions it made her want to shoot them instead. Her eyes fell to the unconscious girl on the bench and she struggled with her instincts.
Nostrils flaring, Joe lowered the gun. "But, Peter's actually right for once, so..."
For a second, no one said anything, but then Stiles shifted, blinking at her with despair in his eyes: "Joe, this isn't you. The Alphas got you under some sort of trance or something, this isn't... Scott, tell me this isn't Joe."
Scott remained quiet, just looking at Joe. Probably seeing the dark circles under her eyes, the frizzy hair framing her face, the uncaring expression. "How many hours?" He took a step towards Joe with his hand up, as if to calm a startled animal. "Stage two? Three?"
"What?" Stiles whispered, glancing around to see if anyone had any answers. "What are you-"
"Forty-nine and counting," Joe drawled and tucked the gun back in her waistband, grinning at Scott who tried to work this out. She held up three fingers. "Stage three."
He nodded slowly. "Hallucinations?"
"Oh yeah. Lots."
"Bad ones?"
"Yup."
"What's that mean?" Stiles used his whole body to ask the question, glancing between Joe and Scott. "Stage three hallucinations don't sound good. Scott, bud, what does that mean?"
Without looking away from her, Scott answered Stiles. "It means that this is Joe, but it's Joe who's missing forty-nine hours of sleep. She has a tendency to, uh, become slightly delusional and, uh, very mean."
Stiles looked stricken. "So, what, we can't trust her?"
"I wouldn't," Joe interjected with a shrug. "But you probably shouldn't listen to me."
"As worrisome as that is, I'm sensing not everyone in this room is as willing as I am to subdue Josefina," Peter gave a pointed look to both Scott and Derek, "so what choice do we have?"
Joe just shrugged and leaned back against the doorway. Did she have an actual plan? Not that she could remember anymore. Not beyond getting Cora to safety. Follow her stupid instincts. If this was through Jennifer or Kali remained was yet to be determined. It was a minor comfort that Derek looked to be equally worried as Scott and Peter. Mostly he looked confused. Conflicting instincts too? Maybe.
Or conflicting feelings? Because as much as she wanted to believe Kali about the spell, as much as she wanted to believe the texts Derek had sent her were real, one thing still nagged her. The emotions when she felt him having sex with Little Miss Pencil Skirt. The intense sensation of a deep connection. It did not feel like a seduction spell; it felt like love.
There were no rules against being under a spell and in love. Technically, Joe was, even if she hated it.
But Derek was nothing if pragmatic and could prioritize his problems. "The twins aren't gonna let us just walk out anyway."
"I'll distract them," Scott said instantly.
"You mean fight them."
"Whatever I have to do."
Derek nodded and held Scott's even gaze. "I'll help you."
"Um, sorry," Jennifer said and Joe narrowed her eyes just from the sound of her voice, "but I'm not going anywhere without you, Derek."
At that, Joe's eyebrows rose and Jennifer must have felt her staring as she turned to stare back over her shoulder. What was her deal with Derek? Was it just to antagonize Joe or did she have feelings for him too? They held each other's eyes for a few seconds before Joe admitted: "I just don't think you're gonna be as fun to hallucinate when all of this is over."
"I'll do it," Peter said, ignoring Joe and Jennifer for the time being. "But I'd prefer to be out there with an advantage."
"An advantage? Like what?" Stiles asked, shifting from one foot to another. He did not have his usual edge to his voice. "You mean like a weapon?"
"Something better than a baseball bat," Peter said and Joe found herself at the center of attention.
"You can have the gun," she said easily and Peter looked pleasantly surprised, "over my dead body."
Derek, for the first time this evening, gave her a regular angry sigh. It was the first one in a while and if she hadn't been so tired, she might have relished it more. "Are you gonna help us fight them?"
"Probably not," Joe admitted, if only to see his irritation grow. She wanted to see the real him.
"Really?" Stiles asked and his annoyance shone on his face. "You're just gonna let your cousin Scott, age seventeen, handle it? You don't care if he gets hurt?"
"What are you so worried about? We're talking about the same twins here, right? Ethan and Aiden What's-Their-Face?" Joe gave Scott an encouraging smile. "Come on, they're the weakest Alphas you're ever gonna face! They've never absorbed any of their betas' power, they got the least experience, so if you separate them," she glanced at Derek who looked away, "they're just like any other Alpha without a pack." Joe grinned at their expressions and added: "Weak."
"Isn't Scott," Stiles sounded unsure, "technically an Alpha without a pack?"
"Oh, yeah." Joe hadn't thought about that. "Okay, uh, pro-tip: they tend to favor opposite arms — Ethan's always on the left, Aiden's on the right. Ethan's got a habit of telegraphing his hooks by rotating his shoulders," she demonstrated with her own body, "and Aiden's right elbow still isn't fully healed since I broke it this morning. Uh, what else... Okay, they're under orders not to kill you, but Aiden's probably a sociopath so keep an eye on him. You'll be fine, kid. One-on-one even Erica could take them. Easy-peasy."
Peter cleared his throat. "And what about me?"
"What about you?" She blinked when the room as a whole stared at her in part-shock, part-awe. "Okay, fine, jeez. I'll split them for you, but that's it."
Stiles looked disgusted. "You'll what?"
"Nevermind that," Scott interrupted them, cast a last glance at Joe, and looked around the room. "There's gotta be something in here we can use to gain the upper hand."
While the guys split up to search through drawers and cabinets, Joe kept her position by the door, glaring at Jennifer just because she could. She really had undergone an extreme makeover from how she looked both from Joe's Polaroid and the medical files. Darker brown hair, slimmer face, bigger eyes — eyes that now glanced over at Joe periodically. There wasn't anything left of the mousy brunette. She was pretty now, Joe supposed, but not really her type. She looked familiar though, like Joe had seen her before.
There were still missing puzzle pieces. Why had Jennifer tried to make Joe human? Why not kill her? And why blame Joe's dad? Hopefully, after she saved Cora, she could ask Jennifer this. Just the two of them, having a private girl talk. As if Jennifer could sense her thoughts, she glanced over at Joe. Despite her dark fantasies, Joe smiled.
"Hey, wait," Stiles said and held up a pair of defibrillator pads. "What about these?"
"Do you know how to use those?" Derek asked from where he rummaged through a cabinet.
"Well, no."
"Put 'em down," Derek ordered and Stiles did so without question.
"Are ya seriously that worried about the twins?" Joe asked, shifting her weight from one foot to another. It was easy to ignore the fatigue when something was happening, but just standing around like this made her eyes heavy. Joe vaguely noted how much of her old accent slipped back, the one she had toned down when getting into Berkeley. "Why don't we just throw Peter out as bait and take off in the opposite direction?"
"Why do you always insist on being completely out of it," Scott asked with an annoyed frown as he tore through some drawers, "whenever there's gonna be a serious fight?"
Without hesitating, Joe snapped back: "Someone always insists on poisoning my coffee, Scott."
"Just out of curiosity," Stiles asked from further back in the room, "you two worked that out, right? You're not still holding a grudge or anything, are you, Joe?"
"Come on, guys, you know me. Do I seem like someone who would harbor a grudge?"
Stiles stared at her. "You went years without even talking to your dad!"
"That is true. But, really, why would I hold a grudge against my only cousin who drugged me against my will and indirectly enabled a psychopathic killer to attack and violate me and then didn't apologize until after learning I'd been locked in a vault for three months? If anything, I should be holding a grudge against the guy who, also after learning I'd been locked in a vault for three months, figured it wasn't that serious actually and asked me to deal with it instead of telling Aunt Mel where I'd been. Oh wait, that was Scott too."
"And this is why," Scott murmured. "You get mean when you don't sleep."
"Oh, you think I'm being mean? Right now I'm just delusional. Free-falling. Balls-deep in crazy."
"Whatever," Scott said distractedly and seemed to find something of interest in the cabinet. "Just keep your shirt on please."
Again, without hesitating, Joe unzipped her jacket and let it drop. The noise attracted too much attention, and she scoffed. "I'm wearing a sports-bra, guys, relax. Besides, someone's gotta show a little skin." Joe turned to Jennifer again. "Did you not get the memo of the obligatory low neckline for evil villains? Look, the top's cute and all, but you gotta have some cleavage." She nodded towards Peter's low V-neck sweater. "See? Uncle Creeper gets it."
"This is gonna be a long night," she thought she heard Derek mutter, but it might have been Scott. Either way, Scott had found whatever he had been looking for and held up a hefty syringe with a long thin needle.
"Epinephrine?" Scott asked.
It was basically pure adrenaline and to Joe's surprise, Derek seemed to know this as he shook his head. "That's only gonna make him stronger."
Interest piqued, Peter glanced over. "How strong?"
Sensing they were finally getting a move on, Joe straightened up and stretched her limbs. Kate, who had been sitting on one of the cabinets, hopped down as well. "Gotta be careful here, babe. Don't like that look on her face."
Julia/Jennifer was watching the guys make a battle plan, trying to calculate how long the adrenaline would give Peter the necessary boost. Kate had a point. There was still something serene in Jennifer's face, even though it evaporated every time she looked at Joe.
"Poisoning Cora was leverage for Derek. Poisoning you was probably a double whammy, for both Scott and Derek," Kate continued with a detached voice, like this was just a helpful suggestion. "She always targets one more victim than she needs, remember? So double for Derek, but not double for Scott? Sounds fishy. Who's the last one?"
About to answer, Joe noticed Scott waving his hand at her. He looked over to the empty cabinet where Kate had been. "You weren't kidding about those hallucinations, huh?"
"Nope," Joe said and pulled out her 9mm. Derek had Cora over his shoulder with Stiles and Jennifer nearby, ready to leave when Peter and Scott had distracted the twins sufficiently. "Everyone on board?"
"Wait, Ethan favored his left, Aiden his right?" Peter asked and Joe nodded. "How do I know who's who?"
"Easy. Ethan's the gay one. Are we all set?"
"When you are," Peter said and allowed Stiles to stab the needle straight into his heart. Either the sting or the adrenaline rush made him instantly tense up and huff air out his mouth. "Okay."
His muscles tensing up, he waddled out the door, needle still sticking out of his chest. Not even thinking about it, Joe followed Scott the same way. The hallway lights blinked on and off, but two familiar shapes were down at the end.
"All right, boys," Peter said unsteadily, and every vein protruded from his neck as he tore the needle out. "Let's rumble."
The twins, already shirtless, let out a roar and walked in synch towards them. Swallowing, Joe put both hands around the pistol. She could feel Kate's hands on her waist, smell the perfume and then hear her voice as she whispered: "You gotta wait until they're nearly together. Gotta find that sweet spot."
A missed hit costs twice as much as one that lands. Time slowed down. Joe brought her left foot forward, toes pointing towards the twins and her right foot canted forty-five degrees out. Almost like a boxer stance. Kate corrected her arms. "Don't extend your gun arm fully, don't lock your elbow, there you go." Other arm she bent to another forty-five-degree angle. "Push with your right arm, lean with your left. That's it."
The twins were halfway down the hall before Aiden reached into his brother's neck and they began merging. "Breathe, baby. Just breathe."
In-between breaths, just as the twins' heads pulled together — always the last — Joe fired right into the center.
"That's it," Kate cooed as both twins leaped to the side, red eyes glaring enraged down at her. Aiden looked particularly furious and Joe grinned. It cost them a lot to join together, they wouldn't try for at least a while now.
"Which side are you on?" Aiden roared and Joe shrugged theatrically.
This was Scott and Peter's signs to roar and dash ahead. They'd hold them for a while, but not forever, and Joe rushed after Derek and the others who snuck out of the room behind her.
"Okay," Stiles said with an insecure grin to her as they ran. "You split them. Nice."
No time to answer, Joe just ran ahead to push open the doors to the stairwell for Derek. Not for Derek, really, but for the girl he carried over his shoulder. She let him and Stiles past her and then kept close to Jennifer.
"You should know," Jennifer's voice echoed as they ran down the stairs and Joe could hardly believe her ears of what came next, "why I did what I did, Josefina."
"Are you talking about feeding my mom mistletoe when she was pregnant," Joe asked as she jumped over several steps, "killing eleven innocent people-"
"It's twelve now!" Stiles corrected as they turned a corner and continued down.
"-getting Jimmy arrested or poisoning Cora?"
"Listen to her voice," Kate said as she slid down the banister with a wink. "Listen how sweet she sounds." Kate was right. Jennifer's voice was now cloyingly sweet, like she was talking to Derek. She could not be trying to seduce her, right? Or maybe she was, who knew how that thing worked.
"You might hate me," Jennifer continued and Joe wanted the ability to growl, so she could show her annoyance better, "but I wasn't the one who lied to you. I wasn't the one who left you."
Joe rolled her eyes and followed close on Stiles' heels. "Bitch, shut up."
"And you have to believe me-"
Just one set of stairs left and Joe picked up the pace, hoping the footsteps would drown out the voice behind her.
"-I didn't know about you when I and Der-"
"Oh my God!" Joe's voice echoed now, and she jumped down the last steps to land in front of the door to the basement. "I don't care!"
Ignoring Derek to the best of her abilities, she kicked the doors open just because she could.
"Still here!" Stiles said with relief as the ambulance still stood with its lights blinking and backdoor open.
It was the last one, the garage otherwise empty. They raced forwards and Stiles jumped in to heft Cora's body fully onto the stretcher from Derek's shoulder. Jennifer went to the side of the ambulance, but Joe paused.
The ambulance should not still be here, she thought, and sure enough, Kali stood leaning by the front with a Cheshire Cat-grin. She tilted her head at Joe in a question and Joe nodded. If nothing else, it would allow her time to reason with Kali, if the only way to save Cora was through Jennifer after all.
Speaking of, Jennifer's shrill voice rang out. "Derek. Over here!"
With another nod, Kali stalked in front of the ambulance, and Joe went around the back. With a warning glare to Stiles, she quietly shut the doors. Finger to her lips. Shh. He nodded in pale understanding.
"Julia..."
Kali's singsong voice echoed in the garage. As Joe went out on the other side of the ambulance, Kali emerged while twirling the ambulance keys on her finger. In front of Derek and Jennifer laid a bleeding-out paramedic and that made Joe's stomach twist. Collateral damage in Kali's mind, but an innocent human being in Joe's.
Follow your instincts. Come on.
"It is you," Kali said in a warm voice, looking at Jennifer who had taken a step back to hide behind Derek. Warm as in the way blood was warm. Or a still-beating heart, ripped straight from someone's chest. Even if Joe knew the truth, it was hard to face when thinking of what kind of person Kali really was.
"Derek..." A sixth sense must have made Jennifer turn around to spot Joe and Joe could imagine her expression was not as pretty as it could have been. "You can't beat them on your own."
And finally — finally! — Derek looked at Joe as well. Not a brief glance, but a long hard stare like he was afraid of what he would find. Finally — finally! — it occurred to him that she could betray him just as he could betray her. Finally, he must have realized he would have to fight back.
And instead of doing that, of giving her that fight she craved, of showing Joe his true self, he said: "That's why we're gonna run."
"Are you kidding?" Joe hissed while Kali leaned forward to roar. Joe jumped and used the ambulance to push off, kicking herself into their path. Her bare feet skidded across the wet floor, as Derek had dodged. "Asshole!"
She and Kali went separate ways, Kali hoping to intercept them further down the hallway.
Joe, however, knew she was just as fast as Derek and dashed after them, hitting the doorway they'd just emerged from. She saw the edge of his foot disappearing into the elevator and Joe span around on the wall, throwing herself inside before the doors closed.
Something, probably Kali, banged against the doors with a growl. It didn't register, as Joe's action had flung her straight towards Derek. Or, onto Derek.
She landed with both legs around his waist and for a brief half-second, they stared at each other in shock. Or he did, while she pulled her fist back and punched him.
If nothing else, he understood body language. This wasn't her Derek. Her Derek wouldn't run!
He threw back his head with a snarl, blood flying in the air. Joe locked her legs, squeezing him tight both to keep him in place and to cut off his air supply. She punched him again and again, hard as she could and he stumbled back into the wall. Derek's face morphed into full wolf and he roared so the elevator shook around them.
Aware of his claws, she grabbed one wrist that came for her, then the other, both locked away from their bodies. They struggled against each other. He was strong, but so was she!
His jaw opened and the lengthened teeth glittered as he snapped at her. Finally! Finally a fight!
With her still around him, he dashed forwards, flinging them both into the other wall. Joe hit it with her back, but the recoil landed them back in the middle of the elevator. The pain glimmered in her skull, but she refused to let go of his wrists.
Instead, she unhooked her legs and pulled them in front, sprinting up his body to spin herself backward, the air a quick rush in her ears. She used the momentum to effectively fling him overhead and smash into the floor.
Joe flipped up first, already somersaulting with her foot out, but he rolled to the side, leaving her foot crashing into empty space. Both up, they were on either side of the elevator, Joe baring her teeth and Derek snarling, baring his fangs.
Then the lights went out, and the elevator stopped, jolting them all off balance. As the emergency lights flickered on, Derek's face was back to normal. And in synch they both turned their heads to the side, remembering the last occupant in the elevator who had pressed herself into the wall.
"If you're gonna fight," she whispered, breath shaky, "can you wait until you're not in an enclosed space with me here?"
"Shut up." Rolling her eyes, Joe dropped out of her stance and stretched her neck where it had snapped from hitting the wall. Enclosed space with Derek and his lover was not how she'd anticipated this evening to go. "Who takes an elevator during a storm?"
"Someone who's trying not to die," Jennifer said carefully and Joe gave her a pointed look, signaling that was definitely still on the table. With a huff, Jennifer turned towards Derek instead. "You still need me to save Cora."
He seemed to be through with listening, but he gave Joe a wary glance before going over to the elevator doors. Was he protecting Jennifer or was this his way of saving Cora?
Derek forced the doors open maybe fifteen inches, the maximum emergency opening in case of shutdowns. Didn't matter as they were between floors and just stared into gray concrete except a tiny sliver at the top no one could fit through.
With a raised eyebrow, Joe watched him stalk over to the middle of the elevator, glancing upwards. Jennifer must have caught on as well.
"If you're thinking service hatch, they bolt it from the outside, so you'd have to break it." She sighed when realizing that this did not pose a problem for Derek. "All you'd end up doing is creating a lot of noise, telling them exactly where we are."
Throwing a dark look towards Joe, Derek said: "Kali already knows."
"Not necessarily. She saw that we got in, but she might not know that we didn't get out."
Noticing Derek's second suspicious glance, Joe shrugged and leaned into a corner as far away from the two of them as possible. "I don't think Kali owns a phone and I'm certainly not telepathic."
"Yeah, well, if I get through, then we can go to another floor."
"Or you'd end up fighting them alone in an elevator shaft, with this one," a gesture towards Joe, "as an obvious wildcard." She sounded genuinely heartbroken as Derek went back to the doors as if looking for any other way out. "They'll rip my head off before you even have a chance to land a punch."
Joe scoffed. "How is that a bad thing?"
"You need me to save Cora!"
"Oh my God, broken record much?"
"If you want me dead," Jennifer said in a low voice, sounding more sad than angry, "why don't you just kill me yourself?"
"That's a good question." The fatigue burned inside of Joe now and huddled into the corner. "You were right, you know, I'm a lot like my dad. Nature versus nurture and all. So the truth is, I'm just waiting for the hallucinations to get so bad I'll think you're someone else. That's the only way I can go through with it. The hair's wrong, so it might be a few hours."
The other occupants in the elevator stared at her, and Joe shrugged, resting her head back against the wall.
"That's your deadline for saving Cora. Tick-Tock."
"Then someone needs to get the backup generator running again," Derek proclaimed and fished out his phone. Joe realized her was still in her jacket, now left behind up in the supply room. "So we can actually get to Cora."
"Look at us," Kate said from where she had taken up the same stance as Joe in the opposite corner. "All of Derek's girls in one place. Okay, we're missing one, but who's to say she's not here in ghost form? Think we should try a seance?"
"Oh shut up," Joe said, not caring about the disturbed looks Derek and Jennifer sent her. She shrugged. "Hallucination. Stage three, don't worry. Stage four is where it gets bad. And five is disastrous."
The only comfort, as the ventilation dropped to nothing with a low hiss, was that Derek looked as uncomfortable with the situation as she did.
Now she definitely heard the heavy sigh and muttering of: "This is gonna be a long night."
I don't know exactly why, but this is one of my favorite chapters, even if Derek has like...two lines? I love giving Joe a good monologue.
Hopefully, this chapter answered some questions and there's gonna be more in the next one, because now Joe, Derek, and Jennifer are trapped in an elevator and have the chance to talk. Does not sound like a recipe for disaster, not at all.
Anyway, thank you for the feedback on the last chapter! We're getting closer to the season finale and I'm excited to wrap this one up and start on the sequel 😊
Thank you for reading, as always, and please let me know what you think! Next chapter's up on Friday ❤