Chapter 36: Scenes You've Seen Before
A/N: Yeah, so these are mostly from the scenes you've seen before, just thrown in to add clarification or with our new characters in the conversation. They could've been cut, but seeing as they're important factors and the season aired so long ago, I thought the refresher might be beneficial. Skimming is totally allowed.
"I can't take waiting around like this, you know? It's nerve-racking. My nerves are racked. They're severely racked. Ra-cked." Stiles shook out his hands.
"I could beat you unconscious and wake you when it's over."
"Leave him alone," Elena glared at Peter from her spot on the couch.
"You think Erica's really dead?" Stiles frowned, glancing from the vampire to the werewolf.
"You think I really care?"
"I'm sorry," Elena sunk into the couch next to Stiles. "I couldn't tell who it was. But we'll know soon."
"Yeah, we'll know 'cause we're stuck here, doing nothing to help, because we can't. Well, technically, he could," Stiles jerked a thumb at Damon and then Peter, "him too. And let's face it, you're pretty badass yourself, even after nearly re-dying and ice baths and Peter poking around inside you - which is a sentence I will never say again."
"Can we go back to the beating him unconscious idea?" Damon raised a hand.
"Hey," Elena smacked Stiles' leg with the back of her hand. "You got us the blueprints to the building. Figured out how to break in and get our friends out. I'd say you did a lot more than nothing."
"Could'a done more," Damon huffed, glaring at the human.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Elena squinted at her boyfriend and then the boy.
"Nothing," Damon grunted.
"Yeah," Stiles sighed, staring down at his hands. "It's nothing."
"What?" Derek paused outside the bank when he felt Scott hesitate.
"There's just something I can't get out of my head."
"The moon's rising, Scott. What is it?"
"Risk and reward."
"Which means what?"
"We're not measuring the risk with enough information. We don't know enough."
"We know time's running out."
"Yeah, but think about it. They put the triskele on your door four months ago. What have they been doing all this time? Why wait until now? And why didn't they ever kill us when they had the chance?"
"We don't have the time to figure out every little detail."
"Okay, but what if this detail, the reason why they waited...what if it's the most important one?"
"Then we do nothing. And Boyd and Erica are dead. I know what I'm risking. My life for theirs. And I won't blame you if you don't follow me."
Damon watched as Stiles flipped through the pages, skimming the small words. A moment ago, the boy and Peter had been bickering, and Damon had been considering which one he would kill to shut them up first. Now, there was a sharpness to the previously apathetic werewolf's tone, a worry in his eyes that anyone else might have missed. Anyone else that wasn't Damon and well versed in hiding any emotion that looked weak - looked human.
"There, that's it." Stiles jabbed a finger at the paper.
"Hecatolite." Peter read aloud and groaned.
"Is that awful? That sounds awful."
"Damon," Elena sat up straighter, "why does that sound familiar?"
"Moonstone," Damon mumbled and then cursed. "It's why none of the locator spells worked."
"It's more than that. Get 'em on the phone." Peter ordered. "Call them. Now!"
"Okay, why?" Stiles fumbled his phone out of his pocket, already dialing.
"'Cause Boyd and that girl aren't gonna kill each other. They're gonna kill Derek and Scott."
Jackson caught Caroline's arm as he hung up his phone.
"Did you not just hear that? If we go in there, we'll be trapped and your boyfriend and whoever else is in there will try to rip us apart."
"Tyler has control. Unlike you, who's about two seconds away from breaking my arm." She glanced down at his hand. "And if you do, I'll break both of yours, by the way. So I suggest letting go."
There was a tense moment where Jackson didn't readily obey and Isaac took a step back. Finally, Jackson released the vampire with a roll of his eyes.
"Even if he does have control, Erica doesn't," Isaac shook his head, "if it's even her in there. Whatever other werewolf is inside might not have control either. We should just wait out the full moon and then get them out."
"You heard what Deucalion said. They're going to die, tonight. If they don't kill us, or we kill them, or whatever his sick game is, he'll probably just kill them. That's how psycho killers work."
"Right you are."
The trio spun around as the blind Alpha grabbed the vampire by the throat.
"Smart girl. I can see why Derek likes you. But you're only right about his wolves. I need your little friend for something - else." The Alpha smiled almost pleasantly. "Now, goodbye ."
Five sharp claws sank into the vampire's neck while five more buried themselves into her stomach. Caroline felt her body lose gravity, tumbling down the air duct that they had just opened. Her aborted scream echoed against the tight walls as she landed hard and fast in a heap.
Stefan stiffened as he turned the corner of the bank.
"What is it?" Jeremy tightened the grip on his crossbow.
"Caroline."
Before the teenager could speak again, the vampire had disappeared.
"Nice," Jeremy shook his head and then whirled around as a crash erupted just behind him.
The wolves were young, teenagers like him, and wild. Feral and practically foaming at the mouth. He recognized the boy as Boyd from the missing posters, but the girl was a stranger. Not that it mattered. In their state, they weren't missing kids, weren't teenagers. They were monsters.
The former hunter leveled his weapon at the werewolf pair, firing and landing an arrow in the girl's knee and the boy's thigh. They stumbled, but didn't slow. Jeremy ducked as the girl lunged toward him, gripping her ankle and pulling her to the ground. The other werewolf was already disappearing into the woods as she shoved him into the side of the building and ran. Jeremy fired off another arrow, hitting a tree, but startling the girl enough that she moved to dodge and ended up running in a different direction than her counterpart. Jeremy cursed and pushed himself off the wall, sprinting after her.
