Cole had been running for two minutes, trying not to think about who she could run into.
When Cole finally tracked down Scott and Stiles' scent, she'd rushed into the ER reception. The permeating smell of alpha's, and fear made the hair's on her arms rise as she crept through the gap between the heavy wood door and the frame.
All she found was Stiles.
He sat cross legged on the floor against the massive wood desk. He barely spared a look as the floor creaked with her approach.
Cole whipped her head around in confusion, searching for any signs of other people. When she returned her attention to his hunched form, she realised something was terribly wrong. Tears fell from his hung head, disappearing into the thick flannel covering his arms.
"Stiles…"
"You know, I actually used to be the one with the plan. Well, at least a plan B."
His voice sounded empty. Like an echo.
"What happened? Where's Scott?" Cole tried to keep her tone calm as she approached. If he heard her, he didn't show it.
"Now I don't know." He continued lowly. "Now I'm thinking maybe Cora was right. You know, maybe... maybe we are pretty much useless. Maybe all we really do is show up and find the bodies."
Cole dropped to her knees in front of him, beginning to get scared too. Where had Scott disappeared? There were no signs of struggle. No smell of Jennifer. Had he..?
"Stiles…" She repeated, more forcefully now. He looked up at her when she hit the linoleum, his hazel eyes meeting her glowing yellow ones. His voice cracked, even though it barely came out a whisper.
"I don't want to find my father's body."
Her heart broke at the words. He looked so tired, so hopeless. Cole had know tragedy her whole life. She couldn't begin to understand Stiles' fear. His father was his only family as far as she knew. His mother had passed somehow. He had nobody else. There was no one to take care of him. Cole reached out, placing a firm hand on his shoulder.
"We'll figure this out. Do you trust me?"
Stiles seemed to come back into himself for a moment, looking taken aback when she asked the question. He stared at her for a moment, brows furrowed. She held his gaze.
Finally, he nodded slowly. Cole released his shoulder, and rose to her feet. She reached a hand out to Stiles, who's eyes never left her. He took it, tentatively, following her up. She released his hand with a reassuring squeeze.
"We should get out of here. Did Scott.."
He looked away then, his tone still low as he confirmed her fear.
"He went with Deucalion." Stiles uttered. "He said he could find his mom."
Cole refused to let her feelings break though into her expression as a range of emotions moved over her. They'd been misled. Clearly guardians was a more general description than originally thought. The witch had done more than just get away. It made more sense that Scott left now. He didn't really believe in Deucalion, he just thought he was out of options.
If they got Mellisa back, they'd get Scott back.
"Deucalion doesn't just want an Alpha pack. He wants perfection. That means adding the rarest of alphas to his ranks." Cole started suddenly, looking at Stiles' defeated frown. The boy turned to eye her with furrowed brows, his eyes narrowed.
"A true Alpha." She finished, his eyes watching her like a hawk.
"What's that?"
She gave him a small smile.
"The kind that doesn't have to steal his power from another. One that can rise by the force of his own will."
Stiles' eyes seemed to catch a bit of light then, his expression softening to more confusion.
"Scott?"
She nodded, as he stared at her, gears in his head turning.
Cole felt a vibration in her left front pocket of her torn jeans. She slid her phone out, flipping it to see who'd messaged her. Mara.
Where are you
Clearly they were safe now, and had spoken to Leila.
With Stiles. Melissa was taken. Scott went with Deucalion.
There was no response right away. Cole assumed Mara was sharing the information with their alphas.
"Melissa's gone. So is Scott." Mara bit, still staring at the grey text bubble. She heard a growl of annoyance from her nephew, but to her surprise, her husband was silent.
Mara looked up to meet Peter's eyes. The raging ocean blue stared back at her, eriely still. She eyed him curiously.
"Clearly that's of no interest to you."
He narrowed his eyes the slightest at her tone, but replied far too casually.
"We have to find the Sheriff and the witch anyways. It doesn't change anything."
She scoffed at him, knowing what he meant. It doesn't change HIS plan.
Whatever he'd been stewing on all night, ever so quietly. He'd clearly worked everything out in his head, and by his reaction to the news, he'd figured it out pretty well. Then her expression quickly became a scowl.
"You knew she would take Scott's mother."
She didn't ask. He'd been much too calm the entire time. Even when fighting the twins. He'd clearly known exactly how the night was going to end.
"I knew it was a strong possibility." He corrected with his brows raised, irritation showing through. "It still doesn't change anything."
"Would have been nice to know." She hissed back, looking down to her phone once more. She ignored the roll of his eyes. The whining sound of sirens could be heard in the distance now.
Cole received her response a few minutes later, though it wasn't what she'd expected.
Cops are close.
She scowled at her phone, before her eyes were drawn to Stiles. They needed to get out as fast as possible, unless they wanted to get stuck answering a bunch of questions.
Get out of here. We'll catch up to you.
She shot her response back, before shoving the smartphone back in her pocket. Stiles was looking at her now.
"We gotta get out of here. Cops."
Stiles didn't argue, following her out of the Er office. To her dismay, they could already see the flashing lights in the ER parking as soon as they pushed open the door. She turned to look at him once more.
"We were in the elevator the whole time." She said firmly, her brow raised as she waited for a response. Stiles was quick to nod, holding her gaze. She gave a small nod of her own, before continuing towards the bright lights. She was stopped short by Stiles' hand on her arm. When she turned back to him, he was pulling off his oversized worn blue flannel, and she eyed him bizarrely. He held it out to her.
Cole realised he was looking down now, and she followed his eyes towards her body. Her tight black tee was slashed across the front left shoulder, all the way to her stomach. She was glad she'd decided on a bra that morning.
The wound was only grazing, but blood still oozed from her side where Kali had jammed her disgusting foot claws.
She took the offered shirt, wrapping it around her bloodied form with a muttered thanks. She shuddered as they moved forward, the warmth of the heavy shirt making her realise how cold she felt.
They were blinded at first as they pushed the heavy metal doors open. As they clicked shut behind them, Cole began to scan their area. Five cop cars all flashing their light sat scattered around the entrance. Surely the others were covered now too. She hoped Mara had gotten them out. At least Derek, considering his history.
There were a few black unmarked SUVs hanging around she didn't recognize. Almost as soon as she noticed them, one of their occupants began towards her and Stiles.
The man was fairly tall, taller than anyone she knew. He wore a dark suit, and an annoyed scowl as he stalked over. His dark hair tousled in the harsh wind, much like her own. Cole pulled the flannel tighter around her.
Something about the guy was very familiar, but she couldn't place it. She doubted she knew him. The fancy clothes and nice cars screamed feds. They'd never had any run-ins with the FBI, thankfully. Derek however did.
His attention seemed to glaze over her, and focus on the boy beside her. It seemed to catch Stiles attention too, as he looked up in the man's direction, a similar scowl overtaking his expression. Cole realised they must know each other as Stiles let out an uncharacteristic hiss.
"Oh, just perfect."
The man had reached them now, barely taking notice of Cole as she eyed him scrutinously.
"A Stilinski at the centre of this whole mess. What a shocker. Think you can answer some questions without the usual level of sarcasm?"
Cole was taken off guard by the immediate hostility. A low growl emitted from her throat, but Stiles was clearly prepared.
"If you ask the questions without the usual level of stupid." He bit back at the man, his arms folding over his chest. The man took it in stride, continuing. Cole remained very uncomfortable with the way he seemed to loom over them.
"Where's your dad, and why's no one been able to contact him?"
To her surprise, Stiles' expression remained hard. He seemed completely oblivious as he snapped back at the agent.
" I don't know. I haven't seen him in hours."
"Is he drinking again?" The man prodded. Stiles rolled his eyes, his anger rising. Cole swore could feel it coming off in waves. His eyes flitted towards her for a moment, then he sighed with irritation before replying.
" What do you mean, again? He never had to stop."
The agent rolled his eyes as well, specifying.
"But he did have to slow down. Is he drinking like he used to?"
Cole knew the man had crossed a line. She could feel it. Stiles clearly didn't enjoy speaking about such things, let alone with an audience. She couldn't blame him. Her hand reached out on it's own, blocking Stiles as he stepped forward to her surprise, tone becoming more unhinged.
"All right, how about this?" He snapped, arms gesturing wildly. "Next time I see him, I'll give him a field sobriety test, okay? We'll do the alphabet, start with "F," end with "U.""
The man backed down a bit when Stiles jerked in his direction. Cole put a hand on his shoulder once more, trying to bring him down a notch.
"How about you just tell me what the hell happened here?" The agent replied, tone less antagonising, but Cole didn't relax. Stiles seemed to consider yelling at him once more, still holding his gaze without fault.
Eventually he exhaled, and kept it together, to her relief. As if they needed to worry about him getting arrested for assaulting an FBI agent.
"I don't know what happened here. We were stuck in the elevators the whole time." He replied instead, tone still cold. Cole nodded. That seemed to peak the agent's interest, his brow cocking as he looked back and forth between them.
"You didn't put the name on the doors, did you?"
Cole's blood ran cold as she returned her full attention to the man at his words.
"What name?" She asked slowly, drawing his interested expression.
"Argent." He replied absently, finally taking in her presence. She scowled fiercely at his scrutinous expression. Stiles cut in, breaking the staredown.
"Unless we're under arrest, we'll be going now."
Cole happily took the opportunity to get the hell away from the dick. It seemed he was done with them for now as they walked away without any argument on his part.
They briskly made for the other side of the building, where their cars were parked.
"Scott's dad's kind of an ass, huh?"
The almost joking statement completely took Cole off guard as she whipped to look at Stiles. He looked ahead still, but she caught the slightest bit of amusement in his expression at her shock. Her brows began to unfurrow as she processed the information. She faced forward once more, muttering to herself.
"How did Scott end up so nice?"
