Look at that two chapters in one month, must be to make up for that fact that the next/possibly last chapter won't be ready for awhile due to life getting in the way, but hopefully not too long.
Enjoy!
On the road to the Shipyard, Stiles can't help but observe from the backseat of Lydia's car, "There's nobody on the roads." She glances out the window, wincing as she runs her hand down her stomach, "It's like they know it's going to happen tonight."
An uneasy silence falls in the car until Allison says, "I still don't know how to handle Gerard or Kate." She clenches her jaw slightly, "And sometimes I wonder if my parents would be frustrated with me for turning against what's left of my family." She sniffs slightly, "No matter how much they've wronged me...Or them."
"Well," Lydia says carefully, keeping her eyes on the road. "I think your parents would want you to do what you think is best. They've always had your interest at heart, code or no code."
Allison laughs lightly, "Remember how they threaten to shoot Scott or Isaac the next time they saw them?"
Stiles groans jokingly, even though the pain she has been feeling in her lower abdomen hasn't let up, "God, don't remind me. They thought your parents were serious and practically begged my mom to do a peace agreement with them and they agreed, remember?" She sits up as some pain depletes but remaining ever so lightly. "Your happiness was more important to them than any code, that's why they pushed for your happiness even further that night."
"Whatever you decide to do," Lydia tells her, sparing her a glance. "We've got your back. Remember that."
Stiles nods in agreement, but when she sits back, she feels a popping sensation, along with fluid slowly running down her leg.
Shit.
She is about to inform Allison and Lydia of the new development when headlights suddenly fill the car from behind. The girls don't need to look behind to know who it is.
Double shit.
Deucalion and Derek, the latter of whom has his eyes shut, are facing off under the catwalk in the shipyard. Deucalion appears to be unscathed while Derek has multiple lines of blood on his body from Deucalion's pointed needle at the end of his cane. One strike causes Derek to groan in pain when the cane hits him behind the knees, knocking him onto the ground.
Isaac, hating the sight of Derek being defeated by Deucalion, whispers, "Hit him!"
Derek's palms flatten against the concrete ground beneath him, and the vibrations he feels of Deucalion moving toward him allow him to identify where he is standing and dodge the next cane strike, barely missing getting hit in the face with it.
In one fluid motion, Derek reaches out, grabs the cane in his hands, and uses to pulls himself to his feet as well as pulling Deucalion to him so he can flip him onto his back on the ground.
Derek stands over Deucalion, who chuckles, clearly impressed by his student's quick work, "You might just survive this."
Derek opens his eyes and reaches down to help Deucalion to his feet when suddenly, Lydia and Allison come running at them frantically.
Scott frowns in concern as Allison and Lydia join them under the catwalk, "What are you guys doing here?"
"None of us are going to survive this!" Lydia tells them.
"They're coming!" Allison explains to them, "Monroe and more- and they have heavy firepower."
Derek frowns not only at the news but at the fact that someone is missing, "Where's-"
His question goes unfinished just as a hail of gunfire is shot towards them.
At least a half dozen of them hit Deucalion in the chest and abdomen from behind, and the shock of seeing him so seriously injured nearly causes the others to be shot at as well before they're able to take cover behind whatever support columns, dumpsters, and steel drums are nearby.
Deucalion's body falls face-first to the ground, and the others look over to find a wall of Hunters in front of them, many of which move to reveal that Monroe is standing behind them.
Gunfire continues to rain on the group as Derek and the others continue to stay hidden.
Derek, hiding behind a stone support column, tries to catch of glimpse of everyone's location, but he is only able to find Malia and Lydia who are ducked behind a nearby dumpster before he's forced to move back to avoid being hit by gunfire, which breaks the cement covering of corner he is just hiding behind.
Out in the open, Deucalion is desperately trying to crawl away to safety, while Isaac and Allison rush behind a steel barrel in hopes of it holding up better against the Hunters' ammunition.
Malia, still ducked down as far as she can against the front of a dumpster, tries to hold the metal container still so Lydia, who is covering her ears to minimize the trauma to her enhanced sense of hearing, remains safe.
It takes him a second to realize that someone from their group is missing, "Scott!"
His calling for Scott only gets the attention of a Hunter, who has managed to sneak up on him with an assault rifle that is about to shoot him, but before the Hunter can take the shot, Scott suddenly appears and punches the Hunter soforcefully he flies backward just as Stiles appears by Scott's side.
Derek, stunned, sees that her eyes have gone silver as she gives him a relieved-yet-exasperated expression before muttering the word, "Warriors…"
From her hiding spot with Isaac, Allison feels the strength of a powerful force go through her body. The humming she hears in her mind is strange, yet familiar. Isaac senses something is happening to her because when he spares a glance, he sees Allison's left eye briefly flickers from silver to red. The pair exchange knowing glances at each other before Allison steps from their hiding place and launches herself into the fray, with amazing speed and height, allowing her to easily take down two Hunters in midair.
Isaac moves along with her as he runs toward a pair of Hunters shooting at his loved ones and snatches one of their rifles out of their hands, using it to knock them out by hitting them in the head with the butt of it and repeating with the next one before snarling and moving on.
Behind the dumpster, Lydia seems to be having the same effect as Allison as she too feels a powerful force flow through her body. She hears the word "Warriors" echo in her head as her left eye flickers from silver to red. Sensing someone coming at them from the side, Lydia rushes from behind the dumpster cover, shoving Hunter against one of the stone support columns; though the Hunter blocks her first fist, she manages instinctively uses her other fist, landing a second one on his face kicking him to the side.
Just like with Isaac, Malia gets out of her hiding spot and rushes toward a Hunter, shoving him hard against the chain-link fence behind him. Without pausing, Malia, using her newly taught sightless acuity, senses another Hunter behind her and pirouettes before slashing him across the chest several times with her claws. Finally, Malia runs backward to kick the first Hunter in the head, easily knocking him out.
The second Monroe witnesses Scott, who has now joined in the fight, slams one of her men to the ground, she realizes the advantage that she had on the werecreatures is no longer available. The realization sparks, a slight tingling sensation overcome her, causing her to look to the middle of the fray where Stiles is watching her with a calculated glance.
She, once again, remembers the bond of an Alpha and a Beta.
In her office at Beacon Hills High School, Monroe has alerted her mentor about an incident that is currently going on out of her control, "The armory failsafe was triggered, and I can't reach anyone there."
The elder Argent doesn't seem at all worried about the news, "Don't worry about it."
She places her hands on top of the desk, "None of that sounds remotely suspicious?"
Gerard gives an unbothered impression, "None of it sounds remotely worthy of my time."
Monroe clenches her hand into a fist, seeming trying to keep her frustration in check, "What if it's Scott?"
"Well, of course, it's Scott!"
"Then what are we going to do?" She questions him.
Gerard sees that his protégé is eager to jump into action. He slyly passes a picture of Stiles across her desk, "Kill his Beta."
Monroe stares at the picture with some interest, "Then we take down Scott?"
Despite, showing some interest in the photo, Gerard knows that Monroe's sole focus is on Scott, "Do you have any concept of what the bond between an Alpha and his Beta is like?" He questions her, "I would say it's as strong, if not stronger, than the bond between parent and child. Imagine what would happen to the parent if I snapped his child's neck and dropped it at his feet."
Monroe seems to get the connection, "What about the rest of his pack?"
Gerard taps his finger on the photo, "When Scott falls..."
Monroe stares back down at the picture, "...It'll break all of them."
Thinking of Gerard's words, she runs toward her SUV with the rest of the Hunters who are conscious and not severely injured before they drive away.
Once the coast is clear of hunters, Allison and Lydia are hit with sudden exhaustion that nearly has them falling to the ground, but thankfully Scott and Malia have hurried to catch them. With each pairing making sure that their partner is okay, they move to join Derek and Stiles on the ground with Deucalion. A green aura emits from Stiles' hands as she tries her best to keep him alive, but the blind Alpha's breaths become more and more shallow.
Not wanting Stiles to waste her efforts on trying to save him, Deucalion gently removes her hands from his and instead touches her face with his hands, a trickle of blood starts dripping from his mouth as he smiles, "You're just like your mother." Stiles snorts a laugh at the comment but doesn't respond as he continues, "The very person Gerard fears that he can't beat, and he knows it."
There an expression of content on his face as his breathing stops, and his hand runs down Stiles' face and onto his body, confirming his death. Stiles, with tears in her eyes, exhales in disappointment, shakes her head in disbelief.
"It's really started, hasn't it?" Malia questions anxiously, shifting on her feet.
Her answer comes in the form of one of the radios, worn by the hunters buzzing to life, "Blood and destruction / And dreadful objects so familiar / All pity choked with custom of fell deeds / And Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge / With Ate by his side come hot from hell / Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice..."
"Ever the scholar," Allison mutters, clearly unnerved by the message Gerard is sending as she, Scott, Lydia, and Malia move closer to the downed hunter.
"Do you know the rest, Stiles?" Gerard questions, "Do you know your Shakespeare?"
Allison reaches down to answer the question, but she is intercepted by Derek answers, "Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war..."
"War, indeed," Gerard voices with some praise. "Good to see you haven't called it quits, yet Derek. Are you pleased with your newfound family?"
Derek can't help but roll his eyes, albeit with a grim expression on his face, before he responds over the radio, "Yeah, why don't you come join us, and I can thank you in person."
Gerard ignores this comment in favor of something else, "What if I told you that you have some old your old family left." At the newly founded Argent Arms International building, Gerard has a radio in one hold and is holding a taser baton in the other, "What if I told you someone like your little sister is still alive?"
The young woman who had been subjected to Monroe's determination from the night before glares at Gerard with fury as Gerard stares at her. "Say "Hello," Cora!"
Gerard jams the tip of the taser wand into Cora's ribs, and, though she does her best to resist showing her pain to Gerard, she is unable to completely hold in her groans as the electricity courses through her and screams in pain.
Back at the shipyard, Scott, Derek, Allison, Isaac, and Stiles look horrified by what they're hearing, and Lydia is stunned by the revelation that her dream was about Cora needing to find Derek, covers her ears as if she is unable to handle the young werewolf's cries.
Gerard finishes his electrical torture of Cora, who wastes no time threatening him. "Do it again, old man! Come a little closer," She yanks against her chains, "I'm gonna shove that thing so far up your ass!"
Gerard is not at all offended by this comment focuses back on the task at hand, "You can find her here with us at the armory, Derek." He grins slightly, "In fact, I'm going to tell you where to find all of them."
"Your new hellhound friend managed to get himself a position as a deputy. He met some interesting people while responding to a call from Eichen House."
At Eichen House, Parrish is walking slowly through the closed unit. It's clear he's uneasy about what he could potentially find here, as he cautiously grabs his sidearm just before he turns the corner. Right as he crosses the threshold to the next gate, he sees Gerard and three Hunters, including Deputy Ferrell, and sighs deeply.
Parrish, angry at himself for not seeing the trap and frustrated by the fact that his own deputies are apprehending him, decides to be taken without a fight, not willing to hurt any potentially innocent coworkers who may simply be influenced by the Anuk-Ite. Parrish is locked up in a cell, where Gerard turns on the freezer system to weaken his powers.
"Your US Marshall was on her way from San Francisco with the goal of entering the fight…But she didn't far.
At the Beacon County Sheriff's Department, Braeden is wearing her professional suit as she is roughly thrown into one of the holding cells by more of Monroe and Gerard's deputies. Braeden glares at the Hunters furiously as they lock her inside.
"You might want to tell Scott's mother to skip her shift at the hospital tonight." Gerard shares, "Liam and his friends are there now to recuse Derek's betas. Optimistic of them, but woefully ill-advised."
At Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital, Mason and Kira are keeping watch at the doors in the wing with an unconscious Boyd, Erica, and one unknown person lay in hospital beds, each with oxygen masks on their faces and IV drips of wolfsbane.
Liam is looking concerned as the lights out in the room flicker ominously. He's startled when suddenly, the electricity to the building is shut off, forcing the hospital to rely on its emergency generators to keep the bare minimum number of lights on. When Liam turns to face his friends, his eyes glow bright gold as he prepares himself for a fight.
"This is how you wage war, Scott." Gerard calls out as a reference to their talks in the sewer, "A strategic positioning of your army against theirs. Which is why you, Stiles will come to me. You will try to save as many as you can, and you might even save a few. But with your limited resources now spread thin, you will ultimately fail."
"The dogs of war, Stiles..." Gerard concludes. "They're coming for you."
"Just buy us more time," Scott instructs someone over the phone as he stands in the clinic. "Wherever Liam and the others are, get them out of there."
He hears the person sigh and Scott has no doubt that they're even having doubts, "Am I buying you time to come up with a plan, or to get help?"
Scott turns to see Lydia placing a cooling cloth on Stiles's forehead as she sits up on the examination table in the animal clinic. She is trying to keep her breathing steady. He considers themselves lucky that Stiles hadn't delivered throughout the shooting.
Beside her, he sees Derek holding her hand and whispering encouraging words in her ear, "Both," He answers just before ending the call.
Just as he enters back into the room, Allison is shaking her head as she gets another disconnected tone, "I can't get Melissa."
"You won't," Lydia tells them. "If she's at the hospital, they're probably using blockers to separate us from them."
Malia slightly panics at the information, "So, does anyone know how to deliver a baby?"
"I do," Scott tells them, earning himself interesting looks. "I did some research and confirmed with my mom on what to do and it's not that much different than me assisting in delivering a litter."
Stiles takes a gasping breath, "If I wasn't in labor, I think I'd kick your butt for that comparison."
Scott laughs, prepping himself for the delivery with gloves, "I know. Alright, this time is just for Derek and Stiles, everyone else waits in the lobby."
Stiles squeezes Derek's hand as she listens to Scott's instructions on how she should be positioned for when she pushes, but her surroundings start to fade when she and Derek lock eyes with each other.
Even his encouraging words and Scott's instructions start to fade and the only thing that remains is Derek's smile as he looks at the progress of his daughter's arrival.
The same smile is on his face, just like the day they found out she was pregnant. That day, Stiles made a promise to herself that she would give anything to see that smile again.
That's all she could see until a small cry, brings her back into focus.
She moves her head slightly, in time to see Scott, holding a tiny baby in his arms, but in a matter of seconds, she and Derek are cradling the baby to her chest, watching her relax as the baby girl finally calms, listening to the sound of her heartbeat.
She looks up to Derek, seeing him looking at the baby as well.
There is pride and hope in his eyes at the sight of his daughter.
Their daughter.
And as much as Stiles wants for this moment to not end, she says the dreaded words, "We need to get Cora out of the armory; Jordan out of Eichen, and get Liam and the others out of the hospital."
"Scott's not the Alpha," Monroe tells Gerard when she returns to the armory. Gerard is mildly pleased that Monroe has finally made the distinction, "But he's still the key in being their downfall."
Gerard nods, before taking a small black plastic case off a nearby shelf and holds it out to Monroe, "This is all the yellow wolfsbane we could find." Monroe gently takes the wolfsbane-laced bullet out of the case and holds it up to the light so she can see the yellow poisonous liquid inside, "Extremely rare... But enough to make one bullet."
"We all know that we're going to walk into an obvious trap," Derek tells the group as they gather back in the examination room. The introduction of his daughter to the others had to be short-lived, but he promised himself that once this is all over, they'd have more time.
He looks to Allison for guidance, "How do you want to do this?"
"Lydia and I will go to the Armory and rescue Cora," Allison decides. "The layout was pretty much the same as the old building and with her being there, there's only one place Gerard would have her, and I'd need the power of a Banshee to help. Isaac, head to Eichen and get Jordan, once you do get to Braeden," She looks to Scott and Derek, "And you two head the high school."
"That's where we're gonna find it?" Derek questions.
Scott shakes his head, "No."
He looks to Derek with a knowing glance, "It'll find us."
Allison glances towards her friend, "Stiles…"
"You don't have to say it," Stiles tries to tell her in a strong tone, but it comes out weak. The combination of using her Nemetonic power and giving birth has taken its toll. "I'll get us the Nemeton." She clears her throat and looks to Malia, who hasn't been given a part yet. "Malia, you have the most important job." She looks down at the baby, now sleeping in her arm, "Your job is to take this child and get the hell out of Beacon Hills as fast as you can."
"Wa-was-what?" Malia looking between Stiles and Derek for an answer. "You want me to run?"
"We want you to survive," Derek corrects her. "We know it's a lot to ask of you, but we couldn't think of anyone more capable of protecting this baby than you. There's a pack in North Carolina that would be willing to help you." He places an encouraging hand on her shoulder, "So what do you say?"
Malia takes in Derek's words, an expression of contemplation on her face. She glances around the room and sees her friends…No they weren't her friends.
She nods her head slowly, "I want my family to survive too."
At Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital, Kira, Mason, and Liam are still hiding in the ICU unit. "My phone's not working." Mason tells them, "I think they're using a cell jammer."
"So, what do we do?"
"We can't leave without them," Liam decides with absolution, "And we can't wait around for help."
"Then it's just the three of us," Kira decides.
Mason is slightly impressed by Kira's statement, "You want them to go against them?"
"Yeah," Kira answers without a second thought. "It's not like we don't have help of our own," She finishes, letting her eyes glow orange.
In the Armory, Cora's hands have been cuffed and chained to a pipe over her head. It at least is an improvement from how she was held in her captivity. Though she is still weak from Monroe's torture from the night before and Gerard's power trip, she still needs to get out of the armory and she has just enough strength to do one thing.
She eyes at the Hunter, who has been assigned to keep an eye on her. Though the Hunter, or should she say, amateur stares at her with a smug expression, while being armed with sniper-rifle, Cora smells the true emotions.
"You're afraid of me, aren't you?" She questions the hunter. The tensing muscle doesn't go unnoticed, "Did they tell you why you should be afraid of me?" The hunter doesn't move, but continues to act like Cora isn't there, "If you're not afraid, why don't you come a little closer?"
This provokes a response from the Hunter, "Shut up."
"Look at these claws," She encourages him. The man, however, is hesitant, "Come on, I'm practically defenseless thanks to your boss's display last night." This statement seems to be the encouragement the Hunter needs as he steps closer into Cora's space.
She waits until he's directly under the pipe before she uses the little strength she has, to bring the pipe down on his head.
Though it doesn't knock him out, she manages to get her cuffed wrists over the man's head, maneuvering the chains as well, as she bends her arms backward to ram the man into her back as she chokes him with the chain.
It's a struggle that lasts for about a minute before she feels the man's useless wavering arms fall to his side and she lets him drop.
Scott and Derek arrive at the high school, where they find a stoned body of a woman in the hall, "This isn't the same body from earlier," Derek claims as he examines the body. He frowns as he recognizes the body, "It's Lily." He focuses his senses, hearing a quiet heartbeat from the inside, "She has a heartbeat, but it's faint."
He's suddenly distracted by the sound of footsteps approaching them, "And we're not alone."
Scott wears a worried look as he looks at Lily up and down,"Scott...?"
Scott continues to think for a moment before he finally speaks, "I think I know how to catch it." He turns to Derek wearing an accomplished grin, "And trap it."
Cora, now free from her restraints but still covered in blood on her face, neck, and arms from being tortured, is slowly and quietly making her way through the armory, ducking behind corners to ensure she's not spotted, to avoid a fight.
She comes upon a steel door at the end of a hall and presses her head close to it to sense how many people are on the other side.
After hearing what sounds like three or four sets of heartbeats, Cora backs away from the door, taking deep breaths to prepare for another battle. She meant what she told Monroe, she doesn't plan on killing anyone, just her.
However, before she can take a run at the door, a groaning sound is heard before gunfire starts to go off.
Alarmed, she jumps back a step, only to hear the rest of the noises be covered up by a shrill Banshee scream. Before Cora can wonder what has just happened, the door is kicked open, revealing Lydia standing on the other side with her hands in front of her.
"Cora?" Lydia questions in a heavy breath. Cora is stunned speechless, but she does nod her head, "We're here to get you out."
"We?" Cora questions just as she steps through the door, only see Allison armed with a sniper-rifle herself, standing around fallen bodies. She immediately lets a low growl, "Argent."
Allison doesn't seem bothered by Cora's reaction to her presence, "Unfortunately."
Cora stares at her unease for a moment, before taking a glance at five different hunters who are lying unconscious with bloody heads, "You did that?"
Allison nods her head, "I did." She offers Cora a hand, "You wouldn't want to get the hell out of here, would you?"
Cora nods as Allison puts her arm over her shoulder to support her.
As the Huntress, Werewolf, and Banshee make their way through the armory, Lydia pulls out her phone when she hears it buzzing and answers putting it on speaker, "We just got Cora out and we're on our way."
"Cora?" Derek's voice comes through the phone.
"Derek?" Cora questions in awe looking at the phone, "Is it really you?"
"Yeah, it's me," Derek tells her. Even though he tries to keep his voice strong, the small waver in it, knowing that his sister is alive, can be heard. "We have a lot to catch up on, but right now, Scott says there's something you need to get first."
Mason, Liam, and Kira are still hiding out with Boyd, Erica, and the other unknown patient, "Think they'll be okay?" Liam questions his friends.
"Honestly, I feel like they're safer than us," Mason confesses. "Maybe we should split up?"
"Bad things happen when the group split up," Kira comments. "But I don't see how much of a choice we have."
"I'll go first," Liam decides. "I'll distract them and the two of you get out while you can."
As Liam expresses his plan, the unknown patient furthest from the door starts moving. He retrieves a gun from his bedding, revealing that he's not a supernatural creature being poisoned, but a Hunter as part of the trap.
However, he doesn't take a shot at the kids, just as a gray smoke, unknowingly wraps itself around his legs before violently tossing him through the double doors.
"Be careful," Mason tells him as the smoke retracts itself back into his body.
Liam gives an affirming nod and enters the hall to check on the downed man, just before he hears more guns cocking and turns down the hall, becoming alarmed when he sees Gabe and two other Hunters aiming guns at him.
Gabe, holding a shotgun-style assault rifle, stops his cohorts before they can move, "Wait- let me do it."
Liam's eyes widen in shock as Gabe takes aim at him, and he quickly walks backward toward the elevator, not wanting to turn his back and risk getting hit by gunfire.
"Go ahead, Liam." Gabe taunts, "Run. It'll be more fun that way."
Liam continues to frantically back up until he's nearly pressed against the doors of the elevator. Just as the Hunters are about to shoot, the elevator doors open, and a black-clad figure reaches out and wraps Liam in a bear hug before quickly spinning them both back into the elevator and out of sight, the doors shutting right when the gunfire breaks out.
Liam looks up to find a frazzled-looking, "Theo." He pants in surprise, "What are you doing here?
"I was just asking myself the same thing."
Liam looks at the elevator door, which is quickly being dented by all of the gunfire being shot at them.
Hunters continue patrolling the school. Hiding out of sight in a nearby stairwell, "She's still not answering." Derek informs Scott. "And I don't know how much longer we can wait. Lily isn't going to last like that."
"Oh, neither will we if that thing finds us too," Scott tries to remind him. "If I'm right, then we have to wait for Allison."
Derek gets from the floor and starts heading down the stairs towards the halls, "I'm not waiting here." Derek declares. "I told her, if I found a way to save her, I wasn't going to let our daughter grow-up without her mother and I mean it."
"Derek, hold on," Scott says, immediately following the Alpha. He expects Derek to ignore him, but instead, Derek suddenly stills in the middle of the hall and he sees the reason why.
Not too far from them, Monroe is holding a black handgun that she aims at Scott's chest. Just as she shoots, Derek shoves Scott out the way, making the bullet miss a center mass hit and instead lodges itself just below his right collarbone with so much force that he falls backward onto the floor.
Through the reaction, Monroe takes the chance she has and flees through some double doors, "Derek…" Scott says with worry.
"Nah, I'm okay," Derek assures him as Scott's right hand gripped into his own, and his left-hand supporting Derek's neck as he helps him into a seated position, which causes Derek even more pain.
When Scott removes his left hand against Derek's bleeding wound and he is alarmed when he sees that his blood is tinged with the yellow wolfsbane serum, "No, you're not okay." Scott tells him, "It's yellow wolfsbane." He informs the Alpha, "It's gonna kill you."
Back in the armory, Allison leads Cora and Lydia to a sliding steel door to a room. When she steps inside, she grimly takes note of the wolf and coyote skulls, claws, and fangs on display.
It's a damn trophy room.
"When this is over, remind me to burn this place to the ground," Allison says with a mix of disgust and anger as she spots what she needs.
She is about to lead them out when Cora senses something and holds up her hand, stopping them, "Someone's out there." She informs them, "Someone very angry and not human." She takes a deep breath, "They smell like you…but different."
"Kate," Allison realizes. She thinks for a moment before making a decision, "Get this to the others." She hands off a jar filled with a purple powder to Lydia.
Lydia gives her an understanding nod as she leads Cora in the opposite direction.
Scott manages to get Derek into one of the classrooms, "Okay, sit down." Scott orders him as he directs Derek to one of the stools, but the Alpha tries to fight against him, "Sit down."
"Scott, just go." Derek groans in pain, "Find Stiles, please."
Scott starts rifling through a nearby cabinet, "You know I can't do that." Scott tells him, "There's nothing I can do to stop her, but I can save you." He finds what he is looking for, "And there's only one way to get rid of this type of wolfsbane." He holds up a small, hand-held blowtorch in the cabinet and hits the trigger to make sure it works, causing a small blue flame to come out, "Burn it out."
Scott lights the torch and places the jet of blue flame against Derek's wound.
Derek grips Scott's free arm tightly, which Scott endures in order to keep him upright for as long as possible. As soon as the wolfsbane is out, Derek goes weak, and it takes all of Scott's speed and agility to drop the torch and catch him before he falls off the stool and onto the floor.
Scott gently lowers Derek onto the floor, tossing the stool out of the way, and looks relieved that Derek is okay, though he's now unconscious.
"At least I was able to save one of you," Scott whispers to himself.
He takes a calming breath just before he gets hit with the aura of fear inducement that the Anuk-Ite surrounds itself with, and though he doesn't exactly look afraid, it's clear that he's using all his strength to keep it together against the sensation.
Scott slowly rises to his feet, his Yellow Werewolf eyes and fangs out as he looks around and snarls in a warning.
Knowing Derek is safe for the moment, Scott leaves to investigate.
Jordan is kneeling on the floor of Halwyn's cell in Eichen House, shivering cold and turning blue from hypothermia while Deputy Ferrell and two other deputies stand to watch outside in the hallway, "Look at him," Deputy Ferrell comments as he looks in the cell through the window on the door, "Do you think he's dying?"
A voice answers his question, "Not likely."
Alarmed at the new presence, the deputies face the end of the hall and sees Braeden entering the hallway, no longer wearing her marshal uniform, but her mercenary outfit. She wears a smug smirk on her face as she approaches the deputies, all of whom are shocked and a little unnerved by the sight of her.
She points to the door, "It's not that easy to kill a Hellhound." The deputies spread out and keep their hands on their sidearms, unsure of what to expect, "You know that's what he's called, right? I mean, if you're going to wander into this world, you might as well have all the information."
Ferrell, concerned by what Braeden could do, pulls out his sidearm and aims it at her, "Nobody here wants to get hurt," He warns.
Braeden stops walking when she's only a foot or two away from Ferrell, not even fazed by the gun pointed at her chest, "I remember you," She tells him. "You're the one who tried to put his hands on me the other day at the station." She tilts her head in an acquiring manner, "Do you remember what I told you would happen if you do?"
Ferrell keeps his gun aimed at Braeden, while one of the other deputies has his gun aimed at the floor in case it's needed, and the other's sidearm is still in his holster, "We're not gonna let you take him out of here, either."
Braeden makes a face that indicates he's appalled by the suggestion, "Well, I don't know about that- there's only three of you."
Ferrell can't help but laugh as he holsters his weapon, "Listen here, Lady."
"Marshal." Braeden corrects him, "You'll refer to me by my proper title... Deputy."
Ferrell continues to be amused by Braeden's attitude, "Okay Marshal, tell how you got those scars." He even goes so far as to gesture at the three scars that run alongside her face.
Braeden shrugs, "A werewolf." She gives him a curious expression, "How'd you break your nose?"
Ferrell is confused by the question, "What's that supposed to...?"
The deputy's question goes unanswered as Braeden sucker-punching him right in the nose. The first unnamed deputy grabs Braeden by the shoulder, but before he can do anything further, she grabs his hand and twists his arm behind his head, kicking backward at the second unnamed deputy before he can even get close and hitting him in the gut. Braeden then slams down on the Achilles tendon of the man she has in an armlock and drops him onto the ground.
Ferrell then starts throwing punches at Braeden, who manages to dodge the first but gets hit in the face for the second attempt. This doesn't seem to affect Braeden at all as she kicks him hard in the stomach, tossing him back against the gate to the adjacent hall, and when Ferrell readies himself for his next move, Braeden once again kicks him so hard that he collapses to the ground.
All three deputies are groaning on the ground by the time the battle is over, and though Braeden did get a bloody nose in the fight, she's mostly just angry that it even had to occur in the first place. She walks over to the cell door and unlocks it before opening it and turning back to the deputies, "The three of you- help Deputy Parrish to his feet and get him out of there."
The three deputies, all of which are injured and clearly hurting, look at Braeden with both fear and respect. Ferrell, who, like Braeden, has a bloody nose, is the first to speak, "Yes, ma'am." She shoots him a glare, and Ferrell clears his throat, "Marshal."
Braeden nods and steps out of the way so that the three deputies can get Jordan up and out of the cell.
As they do, Isaac finally makes it to the cell, not at all surprised to see Braeden is there, "You good?"
Braeden wipes the blood, coming from her nose, "I've had worse."
Liam and Theo are still hiding in one of the hospital's elevators, where the gunfire from outside in the hallway seems to have died down. Theo looks concerned when he sees Liam focusing his sense of hearing on what is going on in the hallway, "They still out there?"
Liam nods when he hears several heartbeats outside. Theo becomes overwhelmed by what they're facing at the news and it doesn't go unnoticed by Liam, "What are you doing back here?" He questions him. "The last time I saw you said that I was an idiot for wanting to stay in a place that would slowly become a ticking time bomb and left me."
Theo huffs at the question, "We're doing this now?" He points at the door, "Those people outside are the exact reason why I argued for us to get out of this hellhole." He runs a hand through his hair, "Look, they killed Brett and Lori, who didn't have blood on their hands…And I-" Theo stops abruptly and takes a deep breath, "Look, I'm not dying for you."
Liam shrugs his shoulders, not at all surprised that Theo resorts to one of his old self-centered sayings, "I'm not dying for you, either."
One look from the other, tells each boy that the other is lying. Though their breakup hadn't been the best, the feelings between the two are still there, "But, I will..." Theo says, trying to find the right words to make things right between them, "Fight with you."
Liam seems to be somewhat relieved by Theo's declaration and sighs before smiling wryly, "Okay. Let's fight."
The bullet-riddled elevator doors finally open revealing the partially transformed Liam and Theo, who growl aggressively before they rush into the fray to begin the fight in earnest.
Despite their time apart, Theo and Liam work as a good fighting pair, with each of them running toward their respective walls, kicking off of them in order to gain momentum to slam the first two armed Hunters they come upon against the walls and knock them out. Theo goes ahead of Liam, sliding on his knees and tossing the third Hunter onto the floor while Liam slams the head of the second Hunter against the wall for good measure.
Just as Theo shoves a fourth Hunter backward, Liam takes advantage of Theo being bent over to do a barrel roll off of his back and kick the same Hunter in the face. One Hunter is left, and Liam lunges toward him, knocking his gun out of his hand before ducking so that Theo can leap-frog over him and punch him in the head before they both team up to shove him against the wall.
Panting from exertion, Theo and Liam share a relieved look when it appears that the battle has ended, but the sound of an injured Hunter sitting up and cocking his firearm causes them to freeze in fear. Fortunately, before they can even react, Mason appears in his smoke form, lifting the Hunter in the air before and throwing him into a nearby wall, neutralizing him.
When another begins to rise to his feet, Kira rushes through, picking up a nearby rifle that had been dropped on the ground, and hits him in the back of the head with the butt of it to knock him out.
Suddenly, Gabe appears behind Theo and Liam, who are too distracted by Mason and Kira's arrival to notice until it's nearly too late. Kira sees him first and yells, "Get down!"
Theo and Liam turn back to see Gabe aiming his assault rifle at them, causing Theo to waste no time putting his arm around Liam's shoulders and thrusting them both forward as fast as he can so they can duck. Gabe starts shooting round after round, which initially miss Theo and Liam, but which ultimately hit them in the back of where the right shoulder and arm meet and the back of the left calf, respectively. Both end up on the ground, clutching their wounds in pain as Gabe continues shooting.
Meanwhile, Lydia and Cora have just arrived at the school and are slowly approaching the doors to an entrance hall. Lydia leads her inside, quietly opening the double doors, both on high alert for the Anuk-Ite and/or the Hunters. As they make their way through the hall, "Remember, you can't look at it," Lydia reminds her. "You have to fight it blind."
"I'm not up for a fight just yet," Cora reminds her, holding her side. "So about we just find your friend and my brother and get the hell out of here."
Lydia sighs, "Works for me too."
Suddenly, the two of them are hit with the effects of the Anuk-ite's fear aura, which is so strong that all of them stumble to stay standing, as though it is affecting their sense of equilibrium and ability to see clearly while also making them immensely terrified, "It's here," Lydia warns as she continues to stare straight down the hall as her vision starts to clear slightly. Panic settles in her stomach as she reaches for Cora's hand, "Shut your eyes."
Lydia's tighten grip on her hand, doesn't help with Cora's fear, "Lydia-"
"Shut your eyes!" Lydia follows her own instructions and closes her eyes, preventing her from seeing anything.
Kate is in the armory, where she is frantically looking through every box and crate on each shelf, clearly in search of something, "Come on!" She becomes more and more upset with every second and lets it show by throwing the cases she's opened on the floor.
When she is unsuccessful in finding what she is looking for, she swipes her arm over an entire shelf and knocks its contents onto the floor with a roar. "Where is it?"
"You actually think I would trust you with the last few ounces of yellow wolfsbane?"
She freezes at the sound of Gerard's voice as he walks into the armory, looking at him with a mixture of hurt and calm fury.
"I'm your daughter," She spits at him. "I'm an Argent."
Gerard strolls toward Kate with his arms folded behind his back and a smug expression on his face, "But still one of them."
Kate looks at Gerard as though she can't believe what he's saying, "So you gave it all to her?" She questions, "You gave it to Monroe?"
Gerard continues walking toward her until they are a little more than arm's length apart, "Oh, I kept enough for one last bullet.
Before Kate can process this, Gerard reveals that the reason why he was holding his hands behind his back was to conceal a handgun, which he quickly aims at her and shoots her just below her rib cage. The bullet hits her with so much force that she's thrown backward and crumples onto the ground, "That bullet."
Kate, as a result of the poison, the gunshot, and Gerard's betrayal crawls toward a support column and has propped herself up against it in a seated position while she gasps for breath and glares at Gerard with silent fury.
"It's over now, Kate." Her father tells her, "Everything fell into place."
"Not everything," A voice tells him.
Gerard pivots around quickly and looks appalled by his granddaughter's appearance and likely interference in his plans. Kate seems to be especially glad that Allison is there, but Gerard feels the opposite and aims his gun at her as she saunters into the room, "It's time to put the guns down."
Gerard's expression is both curious and scared, but he keeps his gun aimed at her, "What are you talking about?"
Allison has a satisfied look on her face as she continues to slowly walk toward her family, she stops when she stands between Gerard and Kate, "It's time that we have a family reunion of our own."
Scott, his glowing eyes and fangs still out, has just stepped out into the entrance hall of the high school as he follows the fear inducement sensation from the Anuk-Ite. Suddenly, a familiar female voice is heard from around the corner, which shocks Scott so much that the yellow glow fades from his eyes, "Scott, is that you?"
Sure enough, Scott sees the shadow of the woman rounding around the corner and realizes that it is, in fact, Stiles, or at least an apparition of her. Knowing that the Anuk-Ite is about to mess with him, Scott immediately turns his back as he tries to keep calm.
"Scott, please help," Stiles pleads at him.
Scott, knowing that he's in danger, squeezes his eyes closed as tightly as possible and flicks his claws out, keeping his head down to avoid anything that could trick him into opening his eyes.
The Anuk-Ite comes around the corner under the illusion of a black bloodied Stiles, "I don't think it worked; my blood is black," She whimpers. "It hurts so much."
Stiles continues to walk slowly down the hallway toward Scott, who squeezes his hands tightly, causing his claws to pierce the palms of his hands, "Please…"
Scott growls under his breath and opens his hands again to reveal his fingertips are smeared with his blood. Stiles, now halfway down the hallway, "You're not real," Scott grunts out.
"Don't I sound real?" She questions, just close enough that Scott stumbles backward, nearly falling and clawing at the air in front of him just in case she's there. She grabs one of his wrists, "We all know what black blood means." She tells him, "I'm gonna die. Just like everyone else in my family."
It's that phrase that triggers Scott to hold out a little longer, before yanking his wrist free and giving him a chance to catch his breath, "I'm not falling for your stupid trick."
"Is this what you want to tell your goddaughter when she gets older?" The fake Stiles questions now serious, "That you let her mother die because you believed a trick rather than her?"
Despite his better judgment, Scott opens his eyes, causing the glowing purple of the Anuk-Ite eyes to be seen in their reflection. He gasps in fear before he, too, is petrified into stone-like Lily.
The Anuk-Ite takes one last look at its work before turning and walking away.
Derek has just awakened from having fallen unconscious, and though he's no longer poisoned, he has yet to fully recover from his wounds. He has just made his way into the library, where he hides between the shelves of books as he presses down on his wound to cut down on the bleeding, wincing in pain at the contact between his hand and his still-burned skin.
In another part of the school, Monroe and some of her Hunters have just come upon Scott's petrified body in the hallway of the high school, where they have stopped to examine it. Monroe slides her right index fingertip down the length of his face, surprised by the fact that the texture resembled that of granite stone.
Just then, a male Hunter speaks up on their two-way radios, "We've got another one here."
The Hunter has found a petrified Lily at the entrance. He continues his update over the radio as he circles around Lily's body to get a better look, "I don't know if she's dead... but she definitely looks vulnerable."
Isaac, Braeden, and Parrish, who has recovered from his time in the cell, have just returned to the station. Surprisingly, Ferrell is standing behind Parrish, suggesting that he has switched sides.
Isaac looks to Braeden, "What's the plan?"
"City-wide disarmament," Braeden instructs with conviction, "Anyone with a weapon issued by Gerard is going to relinquish it."
Jordan nods in agreement with the plan, "And we'll use force if necessary."
Derek is still hiding in an aisle of bookshelves at the high school library, where he's leaning against the shelf with his eyes closed, trying to ignore the pain of his still-healing wound. Suddenly, he hears footsteps approaching and opens his eyes out of reflex as he focuses his senses and ducks down out of sight.
"Hiding in the library, Derek?" It's the Anuk-Ite in the form of Kate, "Hiding from me?"
Derek, horrified but knowing this isn't real, immediately shuts his eyes in preparation for a possible fight.
He hears her slowly stalking her way through the library, "Open your eyes, Derek." Kate calls out to him, taking her time to create the most fear, "You think you can fight me, but you can't." She says with a minor sense of victory, "Your friends are gone." She continues taunting, looking around the library,
"They saw my face and it drove them insane." She scoffs a laugh, "They're gone because of you." She turns her head into the direction of Derek's hiding spot, "You failed everyone, Derek." She creeps down the aisle and curls her fingers around the corner just by Derek's head, "Just like you've failed your family."
She comes out of the aisle and into the seating area of the library, where she shoves a study table aside in hopes that the noise will cause Derek to open his eyes. However, Derek's training with Deucalion seems to have worked, as his eyes remain closed. Kate, now only a foot or two away from Derek, whispers dramatically, "Especially Stiles."
This is the last straw for Derek, who becomes so angry that he lunges for the Anuk-Ite, though she vanishes and causes Derek to swipe at the air. Although his eyes are still squeezed closed, he spins around in hopes of using his other senses to figure out where the Anuk-Ite is. Suddenly, the Anuk-Ite, in the form of the partially transformed Scott, leaps into the air and attempts to claw at him, "Open your eyes!" Derek hears Scott say.
Derek ducks to avoid Scott's strike, only for the Anuk-Ite to take the form of Malia, her eyes glowing blue and her fangs and claws out as she rears back to hit him, "Open your eyes!"
The Anuk-Ite's trick into having Derek think that Malia hasn't followed through their plan fails to work and he roars in frustration.
The Anuk-Ite briefly vanishes before replicating Lydia's Banshee scream, which causes Derek to double over and cover his sensitive ears with his hands as the Anuk-Ite telekinetically closes the doors to the library.
Exhausted, Derek lowers his hands and sighs until he's once again startled by the sound of Kate's voice, "Open them, Derek," She urges. "All you have to do is open your eyes."
When the Anuk-Ite realizes that its antics in getting Derek to open his eyes are failing, it transforms into someone, "You'll get to see me again," Stiles' voice rings in his ears.
Derek attempts to remain calm as the disguised Anuk-Ite approaches him, "Your fear is different, Derek. There's power underneath-"
The Anuk-Ite reaches out with a hand and mimes catching something with it, "Power that brings me freedom!" The Anuk-Ite quickly circles around Derek, who seems to sense it despite having his eyes closed and turns so that it no longer behind him, "I won't be trapped again. I won't be caught and caged ever again! Not ever!"
The Anuk-Ite lunges for Derek and grabs him in a chokehold, leaning in close to whisper towards Derek's face, "Open your eyes."
When Derek doesn't respond, she clutches Derek's throat even tighter and growls in a demonic voice, "OPEN THEM!"
Derek, with his eyes still closed, manages to speak in a croaking voice despite being choked, "I know how to fight you."
Suddenly, Derek uses his hands to break out of his chokehold and shoves Anuk-Ite Stiles backward behind the nearby study table and she watches in shock as Derek flicks out his claws and takes a deep breath before driving them into his eye sockets with a roar of agony.
When he finally removes his hands from his face, his eyes have been gouged to the point of blindness, and his clawed fingers are covered in blood as Derek breathes through the pain of what he's just inflicted upon himself, "And I know how to catch you," Derek finishes.
Out in the preserve, Stiles walks barefoot. Through the ground, she feels an instant hum run from her feet to her head. With each step, the hum becomes more intense and it's only a few more steps before she sees it.
The Nemeton, no longer a stump from what she remembers nor what Allison, Lydia, and Scott have seen, but rather a full-grown tree. Tears swell in her eyes as she steps closer and gazes upon it.
The vibration of the hum only gets stronger as she places a palm against the trunk and a glowing aura of yellow, red, green, and blue becomes visible.
She can't stop the smile spreading on her face as vines whip out from within and slowly start wrapping themselves around her wrist, as they also break into her skin.