To PrimeMegaloden, LioPyro7890, and NinjaFang1331: Thank you all so much!
Disclaimer:I don't own Teen Wolf
When Loki awoke, she was no longer on the elevator floor. Groaning in pain, she sat up, trying to make sense of her surroundings. Opening her eyes and blinking to dispel the blurriness, Loki was able to make out Ethan's smirking face hovering above her. She was lying on the couch in the penthouse.
"Morning, sunshine," he teased her. She scowled at him, swinging her legs off the side of the sofa.
"Yeah, yeah." Loki got to her feet, stumbling slightly as her vision tunneled. Ethan put his hand on her back, steadying her. "Ugh," Loki groaned, swiping a hand across her face and taking a deep breath. She winced as her inhale tugged painfully at her still-healing ribcage. "I'm really starting to hate that woman," she griped, gently massaging her side.
"Tell me about it," Aiden muttered from behind his brother.
"Loki." Kali entered the room. She eyed the younger female with something akin to concern in her eyes. "How are you?"
"Angry," Loki replied, eyes narrowing. "What's our move?" Kali smiled devilishly.
"Glad you asked."
Loki ran through the woods, her paws hitting the ground silently. She'd shifted completely in order to track Morrell better. She paused for a moment, and howled as she caught the scent of the emissary. Picking up pace again, she loped after the woman. Despite the fact that Loki was by far faster than the older woman, Morrell's head start and adrenaline rush kept her just out of reach of Loki.
The werewolf could hear the twins behind her, their footsteps echoing through the silent forest. As Loki pursued Morrell, the woman broke into a clearing. Loki snarled, baying in delight as the Druid came to a standstill. Failing to notice the mountain ash barrier until it was too late, Loki leapt at the woman. She hit the barrier hard and fell to the ground with a whimper of pain. The harsh impact against the ground sent a twinge of pain through her sore ribcage. The injuries inflicted by Jennifer seemed to last slightly longer than most others. Shaking herself out, Loki got to her paws, snarling.
The twins and Kali broke through the trees, surrounding Morrell's in a tight circle around the barrier as Deucalion and Scott came from the woods on the opposite side.
"How did you know, Marin," Deucalion called conversationally. "That we'd come for you?" Morrell's chest was rising and falling rapidly as she responded.
"Because Jennifer and I are the same," she said. "And I know you've always been suspicious of us. Of what we can do."
"With good reason," Kali snapped back, pacing in front of Aiden. "We know you sent that girl. The one who helped Isaac." Loki's lip curled over her fangs as she remembered the salty iron scent of blood, and the stench of panic and fear from the girl.
"What was her name?" Deucalion asked, sounding slightly bored. Scott was tensed beside Deucalion, clearly wary of them attacking his guidance counselor.
"Braeden," Morrell spat out. "And I sent her to do what I've always done. Maintain balance." Loki growled, growing impatient. She could have shifted back to human form to interrogate Morrell herself, but she knew better than to interrupt Deucalion and Kali. Luckily, Kali took the hint.
"What do you know about Jennifer?"
"Nothing more than you know," came Morrell's quick answer. Then, turning to the only Beta werewolf, she began to speak to him. "This isn't you, Scott. Go back to your friends."
"He can decide what's right for himself," Deucalion chided. Loki glanced at Scott. She knew that he could never really join the Alpha Pack. He was too good.
"Not without all the information," Morrell shot back. "Have you told him everything you've done?" She demanded, glaring at Deucalion. "How you've piled up bodies in a narcissistically psychotic effort to form your 'perfect pack?' Bodies, that include Ennis,' by the way." Loki tilted her head, whining in confusion. Deucalion wouldn't really have killed Ennis, would he have? "My brother saved him," Morrell insisted. "He was alive when Deucalion went in to see him. He wants you to go after Derek, Kali. To force his decision. If Derek joins the pack it paves the way for Scott." Loki kneaded her paws into the ground, confused.
"The lies people will tell when they're begging for their life," Deucalion said dismissively. He didn't sound the least bit concerned, but Loki was still unconvinced. Morrell's heartbeat had been fast, but that was likely from fear. It hadn't sped up as she was speaking, leading Loki to believe that she was telling the truth. But still…
"Ask him," Morrell said, raising her chin. Deucalion's eyes narrowed, and before anyone could ask him anything, he whipped the blade from his cane out, throwing it at Morrell. The sharp point embedded itself in her shoulder, and she cried out in pain, stumbling backwards. Loki reacted quickly, springing at the injured woman. But before she could make a move, violent or otherwise, Scott was there, holding his arm up.
"Hey! Back off," he ordered. Loki did as he asked, and wasn't surprised that the twins did as well. She was, however, shocked when Kali obeyed Scott. The Beta placed one hand on Morrell's uninjured shoulder and the other on the shaft of the cane sticking out from her wounded one. He carefully pulled the blade out, and Morrell shrieked in pain as he did so. But once he tossed it aside, she gasped in relief, breath rattling as sh griped the wound.
"I'm not going to let them kill you," Scott reassured her softly. "But if you know something, if you know where they are – " Morrell cut him off.
"The Nemeton," she wheezed. "If you find that, you'll find Jennifer. Find the Nemeton."
Loki stood by Kali's car, pulling an oversized sweatshirt over her head.
"Loki." The teenager turned towards Deucalion, slipping a pair of running shorts onto her bare legs. "Follow Scott." Loki turned, frowning. She saw the boy disappearing into the woods and nodded. Taking off into a light jog, she tailed the other werewolf, staying a safe distance away from him so that he wouldn't see her.
As she ran, she heard an odd noise, one that didn't belong in the woods. It was the rumbling of an engine, an old one at that. Scowling in confusion, she slipped slightly from the cover of the trees just in time to see an old Jeep pulling into the clearing that Scott had stopped in. Leaving the lights on, the driver and the passenger climbed out of the car. Loki saw that it was Stiles and Deaton.
"How'd you guys find out?" Scott asked, walking to meet them.
"Lydia," Stiles responded. "You?"
"Morrell," he said. "None of the other Alphas know where it is either." Loki assumed by 'it,' he meant the Nemeton.
"So if this works, are you going to tell them?" Stiles asked. Scott let out a trembling breath, shrugging and shaking his head.
"I can't stop Jennifer without them," he pointed out, sounding resigned.
"How about we concentrate on finding your parents first?" Deaton suggested. His eyes moved from Scott to the trees and he raised his voice. "Loki, we'll need you for this, so you might as well come out now." The Alpha's eyebrows flicked up in surprise. Although she hadn't been actively trying to hide, she was still astonished that the Druid had noticed she was there. Stepping into the light of the Jeep's high beams, she raised her hands in a 'Ta-da' fashion.
"Need me for what?"
"I'll explain in greater detail later. Essentially, Scott, Stiles, and Allison will become surrogate sacrifices for their parents." Scott's eyes widened.
"We die for them?"
"But he can bring us back," Stiles said. Then, glancing at Deaton, he added. "You – you can bring us back, right?"
"Remember the part where I said it was dangerous?" Deaton asked rhetorically, sounding grim. "If it goes right, the three of you will be dead for a few seconds. But there's something else you need to think about. This is a dangerous thing for more reasons than one. You'll be giving power back to the Nemeton, a place that hasn't had power for a long time. This kind of power is like a magnet. It attracts the supernatural, the kind of things that a family like the Argents could fill the pages of a Bestiary with. It will draw them here. Like a beacon." Everyone let that sink in for a couple seconds before Stiles spoke.
"That doesn't sound like anything worse than anything we've already seen." Loki scoffed, and all three males looked at her.
"You guys would be surprised at how much you haven't seen," she said. Scott looked at her, eyebrows wrinkled, and she answered his unspoken question. "Let's just say, my pack is far from the worst thing I've encountered."
"Is that it?" Scott asked, sounding very calm.
"No," Deaton answered. "It'll also have an effect on the three of you. You won't be able to see it, but you'll feel it. Every day, for the rest of your lives. It'll be a kind of darkness around your heart. And permanent, like a scar." Scott looked over at Loki as Deaton said this. He had long since guessed that she had her own sort of darkness around her heart. And all it took was a half-second crack in her composure for him to be sure. As Deaton spoke, Loki's careful shell broke down, every so briefly.
That quick fracture had been enough for Scott, however, to sense the full onslaught of her emotional pain. For a fleeting second, Scott could smell her chemo signals. He could almost taste her sadness and her pain, her anger and her self-disgust. But even as she broke down in front of him, her eyes were as calm and steady as always, her facial expression neutral. She'd learned to cope. Scott was sure that he could learn to deal with the darkness too, if it meant saving his mother.
And, he realized. Maybe the pain wouldn't be like a scar. Maybe, even if it was permanent, he would be able to look back at the meaning of it – him saving his mom and his town. Maybe, despite the pain of getting it, it would mean something to him later. Maybe, instead of a scar it would be like –
"Like a tattoo."
Loki leaned against the wall of the animal clinic, watching as Deaton and Lydia readied the tubs of water. Besides ice, Loki also recognized mistletoe floating in the water, which automatically set her on edge.
"Alright," Deaton said, walking around the tubs to where Stiles, Scott and Allison stood. "What did you bring?" Stiles turned the object in his hands, a rather battered looking star.
"Um, I got my dad's badge," he said, voice husky. "Jennifer kind of crushed it, in her hand, so I tried to hammer it out a bit." He swallowed hard. "Still doesn't look great."
"It doesn't need to look good if it has meaning," Deaton said reassuringly. Stiles nodded, pressing his lips together and closing his fist around the badge. Loki's eyes had been drawn to the object that Allison was fiddling with. She opened her mouth to voice a question, but Isaac beat her too it.
"Is that an actual silver bullet?" Allison hummed affirmatively.
"My dad made it," she said, voice almost a whisper. "It's kind of a ceremonial thing. When one of us finishes learning all the skills to be a hunter, we forge a silver bullet as a testament to the code." She smiled slightly, but it was rueful.
"Scott?" Deaton asked, gently. The werewolf opened his hand, revealing a watch.
"My dad got my mom this watch when she first got hired at the hospital," he said. "She used to say it was the only thing in her marriage that ever worked."
"Okay," Deaton said. "The three of you will get in. I need to be able to conduct this, make sure everything goes right. Lydia, Loki, and Isaac will each hold one of you down until you're essentially…well, dead. But it's not just someone to hold you under. It needs to be someone who can pull you back. Someone that has a strong connection to you, a kind of emotional tether." Lydia started to head over to Allison, but Deaton stopped her. "Lydia. You go with Stiles."
"Are you sure?" Allison asked. "I mean, Scott and I both have to go under." As she spoke, she looked at Isaac, and realization dawned on her. She looked from Isaac to Scott, and then to Loki. Scott looked at Allison and an understanding passed between them. It was okay.
Scott glanced towards Loki. She seemed causal, leaning against the wall with her eyes half-closed, but her entire body was tensed, her posture almost rigid. As Scott walked behind one of the tubs, she followed him. Loki watched as Scott climbed into the water, gasping as it made contact with his skin. As he slowly lowered himself into the tub, his face contorted with discomfort. Deaton allowed for a moment for the three sacrifices to acclimate slightly, and Stiles took that opportunity to talk to Scott.
"By the way, uh, if I don't make it back and you do, there's something you should know." Scott looked at his best friend, and Stiles smiled regretfully. "Your dad's in town." Scott's eyes widened with disbelief, and he exhaled rapidly, eyes glistening. Deaton stood opposite the teenagers and he nodded, once. Loki stepped forward and put a hand on either of Scott's shoulders. He took a minute to place the hand that wasn't gripping the watch to place it on top of Loki's, squeezing it reassuringly. Loki nodded to herself, taking a deep breath as though she was the one who was going under water, and pushed down.
Loki was curled up against the wall of the animal clinic, knees drawn up to her chest. Her eyes were closed, ears strained for any sound from any of the three tubs. As she listened, she heard the faintest hint of – something. Pressing her eyes shut further to concentrate, she focused hard. A smile spread across her face.
"I hear a – " before she could say the word heartbeat, all three teenagers exploded from underneath the previously calm waters. Lydia, Deaton, and Isaac leapt to their feet and Loki pressed her hands to her face, sighing in relief.
"I saw it, I know where it is!" Scott exclaimed. Stiles nodded rapidly, climbing out of the tub.
"We passed it. There's this – this stump. This huge tree. Well, it's not huge anymore, it was cut down, but it's still big though, very big!"
"It was the night we were looking for the body!" Scott said.
"Yeah, the same night you were bit by Peter," Stiles added. Only Scott and Stiles would go looking for a body in the woods at night before knowing anything about the supernatural, Loki thought with amusement.
"I was there too, in the car with my mother," Allison said, panting. "We almost hit someone." Scott blinked and nodded like that made sense.
"That was me. You almost hit me!" Allison shook her head in mild disbelief, and Scott continued. "We can find it." Scott insisted, looking at the others with wide, hopeful eyes. Loki exchanged a glance with Lydia, pressing her lips together in concern.
"What?" Allison demanded. Isaac shrugged.
"You guys were out a long time," he explained, scratching the back of his neck nervously. Stiles stared at the curly haired boy in shock.
"How long is a long time?" He demanded to know.
"Sixteen hours," Deaton said. Scott stared at his boss, shocked.
"We were in the water for sixteen hours?" Loki nodded, glancing at the darkness outside.
"And the full moon rises in less than four."
"No, dude, you are not going back with them," Stiles said, nixing Scott's idea of returning to Deucalion immediately. He glanced warily at the Alpha present in the room. "No offense, Loki." She shrugged.
"I made a deal with Deucalion," Scott said.
"Does anyone else think that sounds a lot like a deal with the devil?" Stiles asked. Loki scoffed.
"Not far off," she muttered, but no one paid attention to her.
"Why does it matter, anyway?" Isaac asked. Scott wasn't looking at any of his friends, instead focusing his attention on the ground in front of him.
"Because, I still don't think we can beat Jennifer without their help." Loki picked at a loose thread in her sleeve. She was doing her best to stay quiet, not wanting to either draw attention to herself or influence Scott's decision in either way.
"He trusts you more than anyone," Allison begged, looking at Deaton. "Tell him he's wrong!" Deaton shook his head.
"I'm not so sure that he is," Deaton admitted. "Circumstances like this sometimes require that you align yourself with people you'd normally consider enemies." Isaac snorted, sounding unconvinced.
"So we're going to trust him. The guy that calls himself 'Death, Destroyer of Worlds,' we're gonna trust that guy?"
"Trusting him is a bad idea," Loki broke her silence. They all looked at her, and she glanced the ground. "Deucalion will kill anyone or anything that gets in his way. He'll help you, we all will, but that doesn't mean you should trust him." Loki paused, and then added reluctantly. "Or any of us." Scott reached out to her, taking her hand.
"I trust you," he said. Loki shook her head. Suddenly, she tensed. She could hear footsteps, a heartbeat – a familiar one. One of the twins.
"Ethan," she sighed, breath hissing in relief. Sliding off the table she was sitting on, she walked into the main lobby. Sure enough, her friend was there. She pushed through the door, going to stand next to him. He squeezed her shoulder in a quick sign of affection and concern, but his eyes were guarded as the others came out of the treatment room. When Scott saw the two of them together, he was hit with a sharp pang. He realized that no matter what, Loki would pick Ethan and Aiden over him, every time.
"I'm looking for Lydia," he said. The teenage Banshee appeared, stepping slowly out from behind Deaton.
"What do you want?" She asked.
"I need your help," he said. Loki looked to him, confused. What is happening?
"With what?" Stiles called, nosy as always.
"Stopping my brother and Kali," Ethan replied. Loki's shoulders tensed. It was the full moon. She could guess what was happening. Ethan's next words confirmed what she thought. "From killing Derek."
Lydia, Loki, and Ethan stood opposite Derek, Peter, and Cora. Derek's arms were crossed, and he looked increasingly stubborn as Ethan explained why the three of them were there.
"We know about the lunar eclipse," Ethan said. "So don't think Kali's going to be sitting around, waiting for it to level the playing field. She's coming." Ethan blinked nervously. "And my brother's coming with her." Peter nodded.
"Good enough for me," he said. "Derek?" The werewolf scoffed slightly.
"You want me to run?" he asked.
"No," Peter said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "No, I want you to stay and get slaughtered by an Alpha with a psychotic foot fetish. Of course I want you to run. Sprint. Gallop, leap your way the hell out of this town." Derek still didn't look convinced.
"If you want to fight and die for something," Cora spoke up from the shadows behind her two male relatives. "That's fine with me. But do it for something meaningful."
"How do you know I'm going to lose?" Derek asked, sounding annoyed.
"We don't," Peter agreed. He inclined his head in Lydia's direction. "But I'd bet she has an idea." All the werewolves looked towards the Banshee. "Don't you, Lydia?"
"I don't know anything," she said.
"But you feel something, don't you," he pressed, stepping closer to her.
"What do you feel?" Derek asked. Lydia's face was very pale as she spoke.
"I feel like I'm standing in a graveyard." Derek's face closed up, and he nodded once, inhaling deeply. His arms fell to his sides. Loki's phone buzzed.
Scott: Need you, now. Meet us at the Argents.
Kali kicked the blaring alarm off the wall. "Where is he?" Lydia snapped her fingers, purposely acting clueless.
"I think he said he was…" she turned to Ethan, frowning in mock confusion. "Heading out to do some shopping." She turned back towards Kali, shrugging. "Run a few errands… the usual," she cleared her throat, "werewolf afternoon." Kali growled, baring her teeth at the Banshee.
"Who do you think you're talking to?" she snapped.
"Someone in desperate need of a pedicure?" Lydia responded. "I'd be happy to give you a referral." Kali stepped closer to Lydia, and a growl rumbled in Aiden's chest. Kali turned around to face Aiden. He didn't back away, glaring at her.
"Oh, really?" Kali asked, sounding bored. Aiden growled again, wordlessly warning her to stay away from Lydia. Kali stepped closer to Aiden. "Did someone take their little assignment too seriously?" She asked with false sympathy in her voice. Aiden didn't answer, didn't flinch as Kali encircled him. He kept his eyes forward, on his twin and Lydia. Years of being the underdogs of the Alpha Pack had taught him, Ethan, and Loki to refrain from acting scared, even if they were.
"She is not the problem," Aiden said as calmly as possible. Kali scoffed.
"Maybe the problem is where your loyalties lie," she snapped. "And not just yours." Kali glanced at Ethan pointedly. "And I notice Loki isn't even here. With Scott, I assume?"
As Loki slid through the unlocked door of the Argents apartment, she heard talking. The voice was masculine, and unfamiliar.
"I'm not going to lie, I'm a little disturbed here. Not only by the number of missing parents, but the fact that it's Stiles' father, your father, and your mother." Loki slid her feet across the floor as quietly as possible. She leaned around the doorframe, looking carefully into the office. She could see Isaac, Allison, and Scott sitting in front of the desk. Three FBI agents were behind it. Isaac raised his hand.
"Mine are both dead," he offered. Loki chose that moment to step in.
"Same here," she said, stepping into the office, and crossing her arms. The FBI agent who had been talking looked up. He looked mildly surprised by her presence.
"You must be Loki," he said. "And I'd appreciate it if both of you saved the clichéd teenager apathy for your high school teachers. All of you know more than you're saying. And I'm fully willing to keep you here all night if I have to." Allison looked over at Scott nervously, but Scott's attention was on the desk. On the three arrowheads sitting directly in front of him – flashbang arrowheads.
"You can't keep us here," Scott said. His voice was eve, but he was clearly struggling to remain calm - every word held tension.
"Not without some kind of warrant," Allison agreed.
"I've got a desk full or probable cause for a warrant," the agent said drily, motioning to the desk full of weapons in front of him. Allison got to her feet.
"My father is a highly respected private security consultant and federally licensed firearms dealer," she told the agent coolly. "That means he has to own a few weapons. Like this one-hundred and seventy-five pound draw tactical crossbow, or this carbon steel marine combat knife, .50 AE Desert Eagle." The huntress pointed out the weapons as she named them. "Hm," she said, picking a canister up. "Smoke grenade with pull ring igniter." She stared the agent down, and without warning, pulled the ring out and tossed the smoke bomb behind the desk. "Go," she ordered her friends, running out of the office. Loki, Isaac and Scott followed her, racing out the door and down the stairs.
Loki followed Scott to his motorbike, and he tossed her a helmet. She climbed on after him, and he peeled out of the parking lot just as the three agents burst out of the building.
Scott and Loki tailed Allison and Isaac in the car all the way to forest's edge, where Scott cut the engine.
"Are you okay?" Allison asked, getting out of the car.
"I didn't know what to say to him," he responded, ignoring the question. Scott was grinning. "I couldn't come up with anything. But what you did – that was awesome!" Isaac came up to the other teenagers, looking at his phone.
"I still haven't gotten anything from Stiles," he said, sounding concerned. "You?" Scott shook his head slightly, looking confused.
"I don't get it," he said. Isaac nodded briskly.
"Alright. Well, we can't wait for him. Come on." Scott hung back, checking his phone. Loki stayed with him.
"Scott?" She asked. He nodded, casting one last glance over the empty road.
"Let's go."
Scott, Allison, Loki, and Isaac paused at the overhang of a cliff. Loki could hear the familiar whooshing sound of Deucalion's cane over the leaves.
"Cutting it a little close, aren't we, Scott?"
"We got delayed." Scott looked around, frowning. Loki peered behind Deucalion, frowning.
"Where are the others?" She asked. She wondered if Kali and Aiden had gotten to Derek. She'd left before he and Cora had, so she had no way of knowing if they were alive. Deucalion looked at her and shrugged.
"Occupying themselves with other pursuits," he replied, seemingly uninterested. Loki rolled her eyes. Helpful. Scott sighed.
"So it's just the three of us," he motioned to Loki, himself, and Deucalion. "Against her?" Deucalion smiled.
"I think you'll be surprised at what a good team we'll make," he said smoothly. Scott swallowed hard. He turned back to his other friends.
"Okay, get Stiles," he told them softly. "And then get to the root cellar, okay?"
"We'll keep Jennifer away long enough for you to get them out of there," Loki assured Isaac and Allison. She let her voice return to its persuasive and charming tone in order to keep the two teenagers calm.
"How are you going to do that?" Isaac asked. Scott looked at him, eyes steady.
"I have a plan."
Loki followed Deucalion through the woods. Thunder crashed in the sky, and wind whipped dust and leaves up, making visibility poor. More than once, Loki let her eyes flash red in order to make sure they were going in the correct direction. She shouldn't have worried, however, because before long the three werewolves arrived at the distillery. As they reached the doorway, Deucalion stopped, and Loki and Scott turned to him.
"Scott, you said you had a plan," the Alpha prompted. Scott nodded.
"On the first day of class, Jennifer sent all of us a message," Scott replied. "It was the last line from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. I got a message of my own to send her." Apparently, Scott meant literally. He took out his phone and opened the camera app. He recorded a video, giving away their position to Jennifer. Soon enough, she appeared out of the swirling dust and fog outside. But she wasn't alone. Derek was with her. Strangely relieved that Kali and Aiden had failed in their quest, Loki closed her eyes.
"What are you doing?" Scott asked his friend. Derek looked at Jennifer, and then at Scott.
"This might be hard to believe, but I'm actually trying to help you," he responded drily.
"Ooh," Deucalion said, as though his interest had been piqued. "Like brother against brother. How very American this is." He began to fold up his cane. "Are you ready, Jennifer? Hm? Did you…gather your herbs, pray to your ancient gods and your oak trees? Slit a baby's throat, perhaps?" Deucalion stepped forward, voice growing in intensity. Should we show them why you needed to sacrifice nine innocent people just to face me?" As he spoke, his voice deepened into the timbre of a growl, his face becoming more monstrous. "Or is it twelve, now?" Loki caught her breath, residual fear of Deucalion rendering his motionless. For the first time ever, Jennifer looked truly scared.
Derek whipped his head back and forth, shifting. His eyes glowed blue, and he launched himself at Deucalion. The older man easily grabbed both of Derek's hands, forcing them down to his sides. Loki could hear him chuckling. Jennifer walked up slowly, her face once again contorted in a sneer. She whipped her hand out. Loki could feel a sharp wind fly over her as Deucalion acted as a buffer. Jennifer's face dropped with surprise, and Deucalion laughed again. He grabbed each of his enemies by their throats, lifting them up.
Derek was knocked aside, hitting a crate and falling to the ground. He lay there, stunned. Deucalion pulled Jennifer up, holding her by the nape of her neck. He walked over to Scott and Loki, forcing Jennfier on her knees.
"Kill her," he ordered, looking at Scott. Loki stepped in front of him. If Scott killed Jennifer, his potential for being a True Alpha would be destroyed.
"Deucalion," she said, her voice a low growl. He snapped his teeth at her and she snarled back. Growing impatient, Deucalion roared. Scott winced, falling to the ground and shifting. Loki didn't fare much better. Her eyes glowed red and her fangs snapped out as she howled back. Deucalion hit her aside. Loki's back hit a metal beam and she gasped for air, rolling onto her back and groaning.
Distantly, she could hear Deucalion egging Scott on, ordering him to kill Jennifer. But her ears were ringing, and the inside of her chest hurt like hell. She tried in vain to force herself up.
Deucalion snarled.
"Loki, get up." The command was hard to ignore. Loki staggered to her feet, holding her ribcage as she growled at her Alpha. He clicked his tongue. "I am sorry about that, dear," he said, not sounding the least bit sorry. "You know how impatient I get." Loki growled. "Hold her down."
Loki tried to ignore Deucalion, but his willpower was intense. Stumbling over to where Jennifer lay, she flipped the woman onto her back, pinning her there. As Deucalion led Scott over, holding his claws out, she looked at him.
"Scott," she gasped. "Fight it." Scott hissed, straining against Deucalion's strength.
"I forgot to tell you something," he gasped out. "Something that Gerard told me." He reached into his pocket. "'Deucalion…isn't always blind.'" Loki realized what he was about to do a half-second before he did it. She dropped Jennifer's arms, covering her eyes. Even as she closed them, the pain seared through her eyelids, and fireworks went off in her brain. And then, suddenly, she could see. But everything was different.
Looking down at her hands, she saw that her claws were gone. The entire distillery was filled with a golden light.
"The eclipse," Deucalion gasped. "It's started." Loki turned around, still wincing. Jennifer was gone. In her place stood the Darach. Almost before she knew what was happening, the Darach shrieked in her face. She picked Loki up by her shirt collar, and threw her back, into Scott. The two powerless werewolves tumbled to the ground, and the Darach turned on Deucalion. Loki could hear the sounds of bones cracking, could smell blood. Deucalion was dying. More specifically, Jennifer was killing him.
"Jennifer!" Derek shouted. The sounds ceased. "He doesn't know," Derek said.
"Know what?" The Dark Druid snapped back at the werewolf.
"What you really look like," Derek said, sounding breathless. Loki realized what he was doing. He was playing onto Jennifer's victim mentality. She didn't know exactly why, but she was sure he had a reason Loki sat up, kneeling. Derek looked at her, eyes flashing with annoyance. You have a tongue of silver. Use it.
"Jennifer," Loki rasped. She cleared her throat, and softened her voice. "He knows the cost of bringing Kali into his pack, but he's never seen the price you paid."
"No. No he hasn't." She knelt down, covering Deucalion's eyes with one gloved hand. He whimpered, and then shrieked – in terror or in pain, Loki wasn't sure. But when she took her hand away, Deucalion's eyes were healed. He blinked rapidly. "Turn to me," Jennifer ordered. The powerless Alpha did nothing. "Turn!" She shrieked. Breathing fast, Deucalion turned his head, briefly seeing the full damage of Jennifer's face.
But as the scarred Darach raised her hand to deal the killing blow, her face returned to the pretty brunette of Jennifer Blake, and she fell. Derek caught her.
"What is this?" She rasped.
"Healing him made you weak," Derek responded. "Just like healing Cora did me. You won't have your strength for at least a few minutes."
"Then you do it," she urged him. "Kill him." Loki rose to her feet fully, ready to defend Deucalion from Derek if she needed to. Part of her was unsure as to why she cared.
"No," Derek said. Jennifer stared at him in horror.
"What?"
"Like my mother used to say," Derek said softly. "I'm a predator. But I don't have to be a killer." He wrapped his hand around Jennifer's throat. "Let them go." Loki watched as the two struggled, and she turned her attention to Scott. Without his healing powers, he seemed to be finding it difficult to get up. Since Loki had fallen on top of him, he'd gotten the bulk of the blow. She helped him sit up, and as she did so, the lunar eclipse ended. Loki felt strength pour back into her veins, a feeling that she hadn't felt since she'd killed the Alpha in the basement over ten years ago. Scott got to his feet, running over to Jennifer. She tossed a handful of mountain ash up in the air, and Scott skidded to halt inches in front of it.
"Like I told you, Derek," the woman spat. "It's you or the parents. Well, I guess I'll just have to take them, now. In a few minutes, they'll be dead, and I won't need a lunar eclipse, even to kill a demon wolf." Scott put his hand up on the barrier, staring Jennifer down. She smiled patronizingly. "You've tried this before, Scott. I don't remember you having much success."
Loki watched as he persisted, fighting the barrier. She saw Scott's eyes glow golden, and she saw them bleed red. He placed his foot over the line of mountain ash. Grimacing, he put his other foot beside it, and the barrier broke, a gust of power thrown Jennifer to the ground. She crawled back, looking terrified.
"How did you do that?" She asked.
"I'm an Alpha now," Scott responded. "Whatever you're doing to cause this storm, make it stop. Or I'll kill you myself. I don't care what it does to the color of my eyes."
"It won't change the color of mine," Deucalion growled from behind him. "So allow me." Without waiting for a reply, he stepped forward, slashing her throat in one clean motion. Jennifer gasped, raising a hand to her throat and clutching the wound. Her eyes were wide as she fell to the ground limply.
Scott was talking on the phone to Stiles. Loki was sitting on a crate, staring at the ground. Derek had filled her in on what he had seen when he was at his loft, just before he'd left with Jennifer. He had told her with surprising gentleness that Kali and the twins had been killed. Her entire pack, her friends…they were all dead. All except Deucalion. Loki looked at him now, anger coiling in her stomach.
"My mother told me you were a man of vision once," Derek told the Alpha. "We're letting you go because we hope that you can be that man again."
"But if you're not," Scott said warningly. "Then having your eyesight back won't matter. Because you'll never see us coming." Derek and Scott turned to leave, but the True Alpha turned back for Loki. "Are you coming?"
The girl looked up finally. Her eyes were shining, and she blinked. She looked at Deucalion, who had given her life a purpose, who had for a short time given her a family – even if it was a mostly dysfunctional family. Then she looked at Scott, who had given her the only unconditional safety she had ever known. Loki stood, and she walked over to Deucalion.
She heard Scott's breath catch behind her, and she spoke.
"I'm won't be going with you either way," Loki told the man in front of her. "But I need to know, for sure. You killed Ennis, didn't you?" Deucalion stared at her for a long, heartbreaking moment. And then he turned to walk away, and over his shoulder he called back to his last standing pack member.
"Feel free to keep the penthouse."
He never answered her question. But, Loki thought dazedly, as Scott walked over to her and took her by the arm, gently leading her away. With Deucalion, innocent till proven guilty had never been the case. His silence was answer enough.
Scott kept his hand on Loki's shoulder as she stumbled through the woods. She wasn't crying, but somehow the empty, shut down expression was more terrifying than tears would have been. Every time he tried to talk to her, her eyes would flick over to him, and the lost expression in them made Scott want to sob. When they reached the Nemeton, Derek blinked, an odd expression coming over his face.
"It's strange to be back," he said softly. He headed over to the root cellar. Scott was itching to run after him, but first he turned to Loki.
"Wait here, okay?" He told her. She looked at him. "I'll be back. I promise." He squeezed her hand, pressed his lips to her wrist, and he left.
For a short time after dawn had broken, Loki was sure that her life was ending. All of her friends were dead. But as she stood by the giant stump of the Nemeton, her phone buzzed. It was a text from Lydia.
The twins are alive. Animal clinic. An emotion so powerful crashed down onto Loki. She couldn't even call it relief – it was too strong.
She took off running, forgetting to tell Scott where she was going. As soon as she reached the animal clinic, Deaton was there, beckoning her in. Loki entered the treatment room. The twins were there, talking quietly. There was no signs of any wounds on their body, although she did notice that they seemed weak, like they were bracing themselves in order to stand. Loki inhaled deeply, calming herself. And then she threw herself at her friends.
There was a knock on the door to the loft. Derek got up from where he was packing, sliding the door open with a frown. Loki was there. Scowling harder, Derek backed away.
"What do you want?" He asked. Loki glared back at him. Any semblance of friendliness they'd had since they'd last seen each other was gone, and hostility had set back in.
"I think you know what I want," Loki said, voice cold. "Where's her body?" Derek didn't answer verbally, but he inclined his head back ever so slightly. Lying in the middle of the floor was what Loki assumed to be Kali's corpse. It was covered by a white sheet. Catching her breath, the Alpha knelt by the covered body. Loki flipped the sheet back, looking down at her deceased friend. Kali's face was relaxed, but her fangs were still poking out over her mouth. There were pieces of glass sticking out, all over the left side of her body. Blood had soaked into her clothes, and pooled underneath her. Loki took a deep breath to steady herself, and winced as the smell of death washed over her. She slid Kali's eyes closed and covered her back up. Derek watched as the teenager bent over the dead body, and felt sympathetic for a half a second. Then he remembered who the body was.
"She deserved it." Derek's voice was hard, and Loki knew he was thinking of Boyd and Erica.
"Be careful of how you speak of the dead, Derek." Loki sounded tired. "Kali's fault was that she loved too much." In a twisted way, it was true. She'd joined the Alpha Pack for Ennis, hadn't killed Jennifer in the first place because she loved her, and had gone after Derek because she'd believed that he'd killed Ennis. All for love. "Besides," Loki continued. "She and you are not as different as you'd like to think you are." Derek's muscles tensed.
"What do you mean?" The Alpha braced her arms around her dead friend, lifting the woman up. She turned around, looking at Derek.
"Ennis remembered you," Loki's voice softer now, almost sympathetic. Derek's face slackened, and grief crashed down on him, as fresh as it had been when he was fifteen.
"Leave," Derek ordered, turning away from her and heading up the spiral staircase. But his voice had no venom in it, no anger. There was only sadness. As Loki opened the door to the loft with some difficulty, she glanced back. There was a hole in the glass ceiling, and shards of glass and blood covered the floor.
"Sorry about the mess," she said, not really meaning the one in the loft. Her voice echoed around the empty room, and the sliding door slammed shut behind her.
Loki backed awkwardly out into the parking lot of Derek's building, glancing around briefly. She didn't want anyone to see her carrying a dead body - that would lead to some difficult questions that she didn't want to answer. Fortunately enough, the only people around were the twins. They headed over as soon as they saw her.
"I told you guys to stay put," Loki sighed.
"Too bad," Aiden replied. He reached out to take Kali from her, but Loki shook her head.
"You guys are still healing," she said. "I can take her." Ethan's eyes were dark and sad, and Aiden's shoulders were slumped. "We'll bury her next to Ennis," Loki told her friends, voice heavy with emotion. It was the only thing that Loki knew now was the right thing to do.
Scott pushed through the double doors of school. He could feel the after effects of dying on his heart. The heavy feeling, the darkness that Deaton had described was there. And whenever he felt it, whenever it felt like it was too much to bear…he looked for his friends.
He spotted Aiden and Lydia by the lockers. The redhead turned her head away from the werewolf, pretending to be irritated, but she was fighting a smile. Ethan and Danny came out of a classroom, holding hands, deep in a conversation. He saw Isaac and Allison heading down the stairs. They were laughing. Stiles came up from behind Scott, throwing an arm over his shoulders and clapping him on the chest. The only person missing was Loki.
Scott looked across the hallway. A teenage girl was standing by the lockers there. She had curly hair and tawny brown skin and her head was cocked to the side slightly. She was very pretty, and frighteningly familiar. When she saw him looking at her, her lips parted and she smiled broadly at him.
Scott smiled back.
cheesy ending is cheesy. soz.
also i sort of touched on this at the end of this chapter, but am i the only one who finds the parallel between kali and derek interesting? i mean it's sort of vague, but they both did something they didn't want to do (kali killed her entire pack, derek got ennis to bite paige), because they were convinced by a dangerous person (deucalion/peter) so that they could be with the person that they loved forever (ennis/paige). then there were two people, each a person that one loved who were dying and in a lot of pain. the only difference is that derek found the strength to kill paige and kali couldn't bring herself to kill jennfier/julia.
idk maybe i'm the only one who sees it, but yeah, i think it's interesting.
see you guys for reason 3b soon :)
As always, please leave a review and lmk what you think !
thanks!