"What are you doing here? Where's Jackson?" Derek demanded. Well, there went the softer, more understanding Derek from two seconds ago. It was nice while it lasted.
"I dropped him and Lydia off at her house. They're gonna lay low until they can figure out what to tell everyone about his resurrection," Stiles explained, walking further into the room. He glanced down at the table covered in black goo and blood and shuddered. "Is that what I think it is?"
"Wolfsbane," Scott confirmed, carefully climbing off the table and rearranging Isaac so he was laying flat on his back. He stirred a little, but didn't wake up.
"Would've been nice to know before I got here. Your texts saying you were headed here because Isaac was hurt were a bit vague. I'm sure my nightmares about almost cutting off Derek's arm will be back in full force," Stiles snorted. "What even happened? Can Jackson shoot out wolfsbane from his fingertips too? I gotta say, he is ridiculously overpowered. Like, it's not even fair."
"No, it wasn't Jackson," Scott said quietly, keeping his eyes pointed away from Allison.
"Gerard? Why doesn't that surprise me? After kidnapping and assaulting teens, poisoning seems right up his alley," Stiles grunted, flicking his eyes up to Chris. "No offense, but your dad really sucks."
"Stiles."
"The murdering business must be really lucrative, judging by this house. It's nice to be able to see more than just the basement this time."
"Stiles, Gerard didn't- wait, what? What are you talking about?"
"Oh yeah, we haven't had a chance to talk since everything happened," Stiles winced, poking at his busted lip with the tip of his tongue. "I was helpfully escorted from the lacrosse game by none other than Grandpa Argent."
"Why am I not surprised?" Derek growled, glaring at the remaining Argents.
"I ended up in the basement with Boyd and Erica," Stiles continued, shooting a regretful look in Derek's direction. "I tried to get them out, but the electricity stopped me. Then Gerard's fists. Are they still here? Are they okay?"
"Chris let them go before we got here."
"So he says. He had plenty of time to dump their bodies," Derek snarled.
"Why did Gerard take you?" Scott asked.
"Apparently to send a message to you. But his plan didn't even work, since you had no idea," Stiles huffed, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "So he took Boyd and Erica to mess with Derek? How does an old guy find the time to do all this?"
"I don't know," Scott mumbled, noticing Allison's heartbeat get a little bit faster.
"Was Isaac a message too? Man, Argents really enjoy their torture," Stiles smirked. Scott sucked in a sharp breath and Stiles noticed. "What was that? Am I missing something?"
"That's usually a safe assumption. Although this time, you were pretty much spot on," Derek smirked, turning to face Allison. "We shouldn't be surprised though, should we? It doesn't take much influence for Scott's girlfriend to turn on people."
"Watch it," Chris warned. Scott could feel the tenuous partnership slipping away.
"All it takes is a few words from the right people and everything falls away. Kate, Gerard. At least your mother's influence is gone now too," Derek taunted.
"You asshole!" Allison hissed, slipping a hand in her back pocket and flinging a blade toward Derek's face. Thankfully Scott was standing in the right position to catch it before they were forced to smear wolfsbane into Derek's skull.
"Whoa!" Stiles shouted, clutching his bat again.
"Enough!" Scott demanded. Isaac sat up and looked around wildly, apparently roused by all of the noise. His gaze landed on the knife in Scott's hand and he winced.
"Is Allison trying to stab me again?"
"Again!" Stiles shouted, staring at Allison in shock. "I've really missed a lot, haven't I?"
"There's not going to be any stabbing or biting or clawing or anything! We're all going to talk this out without violence," Scott declared, looking sternly at everyone in the room. "That's how we keep ending up in these situations and I for one am tired of it. No one talks to each other and instead of working together, we make things worse. A few of us almost died tonight because of it and I'm not willing to lose anyone else. There's been enough loss." Derek and Allison still looked angry, but they didn't argue. Maybe they would finally start to see reason.
"Wow," Stiles said, clapping his hands slowly. "Great speech."
"Stiles, why don't you take Isaac and go home?" Scott sighed.
"What? Why? I could be a good mediator," Stiles argued, cocking his hands on his hips.
"Stiles."
"And why do I keep getting stuck with the naked werewolves? First Jackson, now Isaac."
"I'm not naked," Isaac protested, wiping at some of the leftover blood and black goo on his chest.
"I don't want that all over my seats," Stiles whined.
"Stiles, please."
"Fine," Stiles grumbled, pointing a stern finger at Scott's face. "But I want the whole story later. Like, start from where you think the beginning is, then go back a few more days."
"Yeah, okay," Scott agreed, helping Isaac off the table, even though he was mumbling under his breath that he was fine. He was still pale and shaky, but his heartbeat was strong and Scott was hopeful that he would be back to normal after a few hours and some rest.
"Where am I taking you?" Stiles asked, cringing away as Isaac walked over to him.
"I don't know. I'm kind of homeless," Isaac shrugged.
"Naked and homeless. What has my life become?" Stiles groaned, shaking his head in disappointment. "Come with me before I change my mind."
"Whatever," Isaac sighed, shuffling after Stiles as he left the room. Scott waited until he could hear them at the jeep and Stiles' last threat to Isaac to at least keep his pants on before he turned back toward the rest of the group. He hoped that the brief intermission with Stiles had lightened the mood a bit, but Derek was still seething and Allison looked two seconds away from tossing her dad to the side and charging the werewolf. This wasn't going to be easy.
"Maybe we should move to somewhere more comfortable for this talk?"
"Did you have something to do with how my Betas ended up in your basement?" Derek demanded, ignoring Scott's suggestion.
"Derek."
"Think about it, Scott. Gerard was busy at the lacrosse game with you. Can't be in two places at once."
"That doesn't mean-"
"Did you know Stiles was here as well?" Scott froze. Allison couldn't have known. Stiles was a friend and she wouldn't do that to him.
"Allison?" Scott whispered.
"Is that the line, Scott? Everything else she did is fine, as long as she didn't hurt your precious Stiles?"
"Neither of us knew Stiles was here. If I had, I would've put a stop to it," Chris said firmly.
"That's right. The code," Derek said mockingly. "Erica and Boyd didn't break your code."
"And I let them go."
"After you brought them here in the first place!"
"Allison, say something," Scott pleaded. He wanted her to say something that would make all of this make sense. Something that would make it all better somehow. Something that meant they could go back to the way things were and be happy.
"They aren't even your friends, Scott," Allison said quietly, looking at him in confusion. "After everything, you're taking their side?"
"There aren't sides!"
"There were sides when they were trying to kill Lydia!" Allison shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Derek. "There were sides when he killed my mother!"
"He was protecting me!" Scott yelled back, deflating as Allison jerked away from him in disbelief.
"Protecting you from what?" Allison whispered. Scott was the one with the ability to sense a lie, but it felt like Allison was staring into his soul.
"She was killing me, Allison."
"No. No. She wouldn't do that," Allison denied.
"Allison."
"She wouldn't do something to hurt me like that!"
"She found out we were back together and wanted to keep us apart for good. I'm sorry."
"I don't believe you," Allison muttered.
"How was she going to do it?" Chris asked seriously.
"Dad!"
"Wolfsbane to look like an asthma attack," Scott said quietly. Chris let out a deep sigh, scrubbing a hand down his face.
"Like Stiles said, torture is the Argent family business," Derek added, boring his gaze right into Allison. "Scott was incapacitated when I came in. She could've killed him at any point before that, but chose to drag it out as long as possible. Your mother wanted him to suffer. Sound familiar?" Derek gestured to the table, where Isaac had almost met a similar fate. Even if it was unknowingly, Allison could've sentenced him to a slow, agonizing death.
"I can't deal with this," Allison muttered, rushing off toward the staircase. Scott listened as she headed up to her room, flinching a little when he heard the door slam. They needed to finish this talk and it would probably be better if they were alone for it, but he didn't exactly feel comfortable leaving Derek and Chris together. Even if he somehow made things right with Allison, all that progress would go out the window if Chris and Derek tore each other apart.
"You can go up, Scott," Chris said evenly, nodding in the direction of Allison's room. Scott still hesitated, glancing between him and Derek. "We'll be able to control ourselves."
"Are you sure?" Scott asked, asking Derek more than Chris.
"Just go," Derek scoffed, rolling his eyes. "And make it quick. I may not like you, but I'm not leaving you alone in a house with them." That was unusually considerate of the man, even though the words were sort of harsh. Although Derek had taken him to Deaton after the wolfsbane attack and stayed until he was awake and okay. In fact, Derek had always been willing to fight on his side, when the occasion called for it. Scott was starting to feel a bit bad for what happened at the warehouse between them and Gerard, but that would have to wait for later. Right now, he needed to make things right with his girlfriend. If he could even call her that anymore.