(EMMA'S POV)

"So, when did you get there?"

"At the same time," Stiles replied. I leaned against the wall across the room, bobbing Charlie in my arms. Somehow Scott, Kira, and Stiles all made it out alive. I had walked outside to join Lydia just as the cops arrived. Of course, we all needed to head down to the station for statements.

I lied, though, and told the men that my boyfriend had to go to work so I needed to go home and get Charlie first. Thankfully, they agreed. The power's out to the whole town, meaning that the baby monitor stopped working. But Charlie was still asleep when I got there.

"The same time as who?" the Agent asked. As in Agent McCall with the FBI. Yeah…and he's Scott's dad. I'd think that was a conflict of interest, but that's just me.

"At the same time as me," Scott said.

"By coincidence?"

"What do you mean coincidence?" Stiles asked.

"That's what I'm asking you. The two of you arrived at the same time. Was that coincidence?"

"Are you asking me?" Scott asked him.

Stiles looked at Scott. "I think he's asking me."

The Lydia chimed in, "I think he's asking both of you."

"Okay," Agent Guy said. "Let me answer the questions." He paused, as everyone realized his flub. "Let me ask the questions," he corrected. I smiled. They were getting on his nerves. "Just so I have this absolutely clear. Barrow was hiding in the chemistry closet at the school. Someone left him a coded message on the blackboard telling him to kill Kira. Then Barrow took Kira to a power substation and tied her up with the intent of electrocuting her, which blacked out the entire town."

"Sounds about right," Stiles said.

"How'd you know he'd take her to a power station?"

"Well, 'cause he was an electrical engineer. So where else would he take her?"

"That's one hell of a deduction there, Stiles."

"Yeah, what can I say? I take after my pops. He's in law enforcement." And then he winked at his dad, who was sitting at his desk behind Agent Guy. I sighed. I might as well get a lawyer while I still can.

Agent Guy looked at me. "And what's your story? How'd you get into all of this?" All eyes in the room were instantly on me.

"I was out for a walk when I saw sparks at the station," I said.

"Do you always take walks at night, outside power stations in jeans?"

I glanced at my clothes. "Well, I'm not training for the Olympics, but yeah, sometimes."

"To which part?"

"All of it."

He sighed, twisting to look at the Sheriff. "You believe this?"

"To be honest," the Sheriff said, "I haven't believed a word Stiles has said since he learned how to speak. But I think these kids found themselves in the right place at the right time and that girl sitting there is very lucky for it."

Agent Guy looked at the others. "Kira, is that how you remember it?"

Now, all eyes were on her. She nodded. "Yes." I think everyone breathed a sigh of relief. I know I did. It meant we were able to go home, now. And I did. I tucked Charlie into bed and then climbed into mine. And by climb, I mean that I stood at the end of the bed and fell forward, doing an exhausted belly flop.

I closed my eyes as my head hit the pillow and that's how I wanted them to stay. I was thankful that no one asked me why I bailed on them at the last minute. I didn't want to have to lie to them. A floor board creaked and my eyes shot open, my pulse quickening.

I listened. There was a heart beating in the living room. Young. I slowly pushed myself off the bed, trying not to make any noise. Then I tip toed to the door. I had left it cracked so I could better hear if Charlie woke up. I slowly pulled the door open, listening. The heart remained in the same place.

I fully opened the door and peeked my head out into the hallway. I swore under my breath. I could see Joy standing in the living room. I stomped down the hall toward her. "What are you doing?" I asked, angrily. She wasn't wearing clothes, so I knew that she had to sneak away again to see me.

"My job," she replied, sternly. "How about you?"

"I still have time."

"But we don't."

"Why? What's happened?"

She sighed. "He knows you're gone. He's not stupid, Emma."

"I know, but what's he doing?"

"He took control of the town."

"What?!"

"And, he's put your mom and sister in the county jail until you return or he decides to kill them," she said. "My guess is the latter will come first."

"When did this happen?"

"Yesterday. So, if you value their lives, you'll come home."

"And be his slave?"

"He'll kill them, Emma! Someone else can find a way to stop them; it doesn't have to be you."

"You know why I can't come back."

"Really?" she scoffed. "And that's more important than your family?"

"That's not fair, Joy."

"None of this is fair. That word has no meaning. You do what they want or die like the rest of the Pride." She took a step closer. "If you stay, you're damning us all."

I closed my eyes and dropped my head. I sighed and then looked at her. She was pleading with me with her eyes. "I'm sorry, Joy," I said, as tears came to my eyes. "Before I left, my mother told me that if I couldn't find Kit, I wasn't to return." Tears were streaming down my cheeks. "I can't risk it, now, not even for my sister."

She stepped back. "You'd let them die?" I didn't look at her, wiping away the tears. "Wow. Well…" she looked around. Then her eyes met mine, and they were like daggers. "I hope you have fun playing house. And, I hope that-" she pointed at my stomach "-was worth it."

(KIT'S POV)

"Were you following me?"

"No," Aaron said. "Just let me explain. After you left, Emma told Scott and Stiles who then told me that you had left."

"And this is the first place you came to?"

"No. I was just guessing when I decided to come here."

"Aaron," I sighed with frustration. "It took me days to find this place…how'd you know where it was?"

"Uh…? Lucky guess?"

I crossed my arms. "That's not good enough."

"Okay, fine. I asked Argent to help me."

"How'd he know where it was?"

"I don't know! What's with all the questions?"

"I just want to know why you're here," I said.

"Because I was concerned about you."

"And, how'd you know I'd come looking for the Nemeton?"

He sighed. "It's simple, Kit. You want your memories back."

"I don't know. Being who I am doesn't…it doesn't feel right. But being her, the girl you all say I am-"

"Is ridicules," he finished. "I know. That's part of why I came."

"I thought you went back to Oregon."

"I did. But I realized that was stupid. I realized you need me."

"To do what?"

"To help you find a happy medium," he said.

"Why? Why are you doing this?"

"You were my sister long before we knew we had the same father. Whether you remember me or not, you're stuck with me."

I looked past him and at the Nemeton. I walked up to it and held my hand out. I wanted to touch it, see what would happen. So I did. And, I'll tell you what happened…nothing. I slid down to a crouch, my hand still on it. "Why didn't it kill me?"

"It was trying to. But Sam healed you," Aaron said.

"And, where's he?"

"He's with his pack, in Oregon. Of course, his pack consists of four people, including him. But that doesn't change the fact that they don't have an Alpha anymore."

I looked at him over my shoulder. "Why'd he give it up for me?"

"I thought Scott and Stiles told you all this."

"They did." I stood and faced him. "But I want to hear it from you."

"Sam feels the same way about you that I do. You're family, you're our sister."

"But I'm not related to him."

"No, not by blood."

I looked back at the Nemeton. I'm not sure I knew what I was hoping for when I touched it. But nothing happened. I sighed and started walking. Aaron quickly followed, walking beside me. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"In one of my…vision things, I saw you. We were talking in a bedroom. I think it was mine, but not at the house I live at right now."

He thought. "Must have been the room you stayed in at Dad's place. What were we talking about?"

"We were talking about how Lydia's scream was making me shift? Does that sound familiar…?"

"Yeah. I know what you're talking about. You were the Kirin when Peter bit Lydia, therefore, you saw it. But at that time, you and Derek had been kidnapped by Kate Argent. She was drugging you with a version of Kirin's bane, the kind that'll kill you and not just take your powers away."

"How do you know all this?"

"You told me," he said. "After that, whatever Kate did to you, caused you to lose your powers for a while. Like, all of them. You were human. When they came back, Lydia's screams started forcing you to turn into the tiger against your will."

"Did we find out why?"

"Yeah. We think it was because of Peter. After Lydia brought him back to life, her screams stopped affecting you." He stopped talking and so did I. I wasn't sure what to say. "Do you want me to drive you home? Or, we could keep talking…?"

I looked at him. "Keep talking." He looked at me and smiled. And something told me, I could trust him.

Aaron and I talked for hours. He even took me to the house where Ben, our dad, used to live. He took me up to the room I stayed in while I lived with Ben. I recognized it from the vision, but nothing else. I think Aaron was expecting me to remember something by being there.

I felt bad when I didn't. But he assured me that he wasn't expecting anything, and that it didn't matter. He also had with him that photo album he had previously showed me. We flipped through it and he told me the tale behind each photo. Turns out, a picture really is worth a thousand words. We talked forever.

We spent the night there. And then he took me home, after another day of talking and showing me things. For some reason, everything is just so simple with him. And he's so easy to talk to. I feel like Scott and Stiles are always judging every word I say, trying to match it up with the version of me that they know.

Aaron and I walked into my house. Emma quickly came from down the hall, eyes wide when she saw me. But she looked different. More tired than she was when I left. "You're back," she said.

"Yeah," I nodded. "Where's Charlie?"

"In bed," she crossed her arms.

"Um…" I glanced at Aaron. "This is my half brother, Aaron." They just kind of nodded toward each other, neither said anything. I know it's late, but I don't think that's what her problem is. "Is something wrong?"

"No."

"Then why do you look like someone died?"

She didn't reply for a minute. Then she sighed. "I'm just glad you're back."

"Well, I have an idea," Aaron said. "Something that can lighten the mood and cheer everyone up."

"I don't need cheering up," Emma said.

"Clearly."

I looked at Aaron. "What's your idea?"

"Stiles told me about a black light party tonight."

I looked at Emma. "Em?"

"You want to go to a party?" she asked.

"Why not?"

"Uh, we're adults."

"It'll be fine," Aaron said. "No one's going to care."

Emma sighed. "Why would we go?"

"Because, Em," I rolled my eyes. "You might have fun."

She eyed me funny. "Did you find what you were looking for? Is that where this new found attitude is coming from?"

"Kind of. I found what I wasn't looking for, can't find what I lost, and am now trying to find something new."

"That didn't make any sense."

I turned her around and pushed her down the hall. "Let's change. You're coming." We quietly snuck into my room and tried to find some clothes. Neither of us wanted to wake Charlie. I wasn't too impressed with what the old me had to wear. Like, was I an old lady? What's with all the blouses?

But we managed to find some things that were more our age. Emma wore short shorts and a black, lace crop top. It was basically the top of a string bikini with lace that came down from it, hugging her skin, and stopped just before her belly button. I noticed that her stomach seemed slightly more extended than mine.

But I just chalked it up to us being different people who have spent the last fourteen years apart. I wore skinny jeans, and then I found a black, sheer, see through crop top. The end band that went around my waist and arms, curled. It also had a sequin pineapple over each boob, that was supposed to be the only thing making it so you couldn't see EVERYTHING.

But I found that the Pineapples weren't quite big enough, not that I wanted to wear it like that anyway, so I wore a small, black bra under it. Aaron looked about ready to tell me to go change. But he shut his mouth and nothing else was said. He knows I'm trying to find what works for me. So I guess he figures I have to find that out for myself.

We got into the pickup, with Aaron driving. I sat in the middle with Emma pouting next to me. We knew Charlie would be fine, so I knew that wasn't her problem. Maybe it was me leaving? I don't know. But something's different about her. She's…sad.

It wasn't until we arrived at the place that she spoke again. "Hang on," she said, leaning around me to look at Aaron. "This is Derek's building."

"I know," Aaron said.

"Isn't he still gone?"

"Yep." He nodded and then got out of the truck.

Emma went to leave, but I grabbed her arm to stop her. "What's wrong with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did something happen while I was gone?"

"I…" she sighed. "I'll tell you later." She then pushed her way out of the truck. I scoffed. She hesitated. She was going to lie to me. I got out of the truck, trying to ignore it. We are most definitely talking about this later. Aaron led us inside and up to the top, to Derek's loft. The sounds coming from the loft got louder and louder with each step we took. Aaron grabbed the door and slid it open, revealing a sea of gyrating bodies.

Emma scoffed. "No." She turned to leave, but I grabbed her forearm. She stopped, but didn't turn around to look at me.

"Can't you just forget about whatever's bothering you for like…I don't know, an hour?" I asked. She turned around and looked at me. And with a huff, she walked into the crowd of people. I sighed and looked at Aaron. He smiled and I laughed. "What?"

"Nothing." His fingers intertwined with mine. "Come on." He pulled me into the loft, down the couple steps and into the crowd. There were more colors here in this one place than I think I've ever seen before. He led me safely around the bodies and to a table with bottles of paint all over it.

The girl behind the table, seeming to be in charge of it all, looked at me and smiled. "Nice pineapples." She had to kind of shout over the music.

I looked down, seeing the pineapples on my shirt glowing. "Oh, wow." I looked up just as Aaron was looking at my chest. "I didn't know they did that." He began laughing. He then pulled off his shirt, tossing it, and told the lady to paint him. I eyed him. Based on his face, I'd never guess he had anything close to a six pack.

He caught me staring and smiled. "Sam taught me a few things while you were gone."

"Clearly." While he was getting painted, I looked over the crowd. I saw Scott and a girl disappear up a metal, spiral staircase. I saw Isaac and Allison with their hands all over each other, dancing with everyone else. Then my mind wondered. I tried to picture this place without all the people and the noise.

And then, in the blink of an eye, it was all gone. The people, the lights, the music, all of it. The room was empty, except for a few random pieces of furniture. "Okay, you see this? This is how they got in." I knew that voice. I looked to my right. Stiles was standing at a table with a few other people. Scott, Me, Aaron, Derek. And one other guy. I feel like I should know him.

Stiles was pointing at some papers on the table, where everyone was looking. "It's a rooftop air conditioning vent. Leads down inside into the wall of the vault, which is here. Okay?" he continued. "One of the robbers was lowered into this shaft. Now, that space is so small, it took him about twelve hours to drill into that wall, which is stone, by the way. Then throughout the rest of the night, they siphoned the cash up to the guys back on the roof through that one little shaft in the wall. Boom."

I walked closer, hesitant. We were all listening closely to what Stiles had to say, but I wasn't sure why. "Can we fit in there?" Scott asked.

"Yes, we can. But very, very barely. And they also patched the wall, obviously, so we're also gonna need a drill of some kind. I'm thinking maybe a diamond bit-"

"Look, forget the drill," Derek said. I walked around the table, with my back to the large glass window. I wanted to be able to see their faces. They looked older than the last time I saw Scott, Stiles, and Derek together. And I'm standing right next to Derek, completely calm.

"Sorry?" Stiles asked.

"If I go in first, how much space do I have?"

"What do you—what do you think you're gonna do, Derek? You gonna punch through the wall?"

Aaron sighed. He was standing next to the other me. "This is crazy."

"Yes, Stiles, I'm gonna punch through the wall." Now Derek and Stiles were facing each other. Derek crossed his arms. But Stiles wasn't going to let it go. Why would he?

"Okay, okay, big guy. Let's see it," Stiles said. "Let's see that fist. Big, old fist. Make it, come on. Get it out there. Don't be scared." Now, Stiles is just being ridicules. But Derek held up his fist anyway. "Big, bad wolf. Yeah, look at that. Okay. See this?" Stiles held his hand up just in front of Derek's fist. "That's maybe three inches of room to gather enough force to punch through solid co-"

Derek thrust his fist forward, hitting Stiles' hand. Aaron burst out laughing. Stiles hit the table and then grabbed his arm. "Ah." Stiles walked out into the main room. "Ah! He could do it."

The other me looked at Derek. "Was that really necessary?"

He gave me a daring look. "I could've hit him in the face."

"Oh. That was great." Aaron smiled.

Derek looked at Stiles. "I'll get through the wall." Then he leaned into the table and looked at the rest of us. "Who's following me down?"

"Don't look at me," the other guy said. I looked at him. He was sitting across the room on the spiral staircase. "I'm not up to fighting speed yet, and honestly, with Isaac out of commission, you're not looking at very good odds for yourself." What's wrong with Isaac?

"Thank you," the other me scoffed and then looked at Derek. "I'll follow you down. And I can help you break the wall." Derek nodded. So, I know this guy sitting on the steps…but I don't know his name.

But the guy spoke again. "You're going to go down there, with Tobias lurking around any random corner? Not to mention the rest of them."

"The more of us going down there the better," the other me countered.

"Why? Why risk it? For a couple of Betas no one liked anyway? One of them is already dead."

"We don't know that," Derek said. My eyes went from the guy to Derek. There was something about the way he said that.

"Do I have to remind you what we're up against here?"

"Thought you weren't helping," Aaron said under his breath.

"A pack of Alphas. All of them killers. And if that's not enough to scare your testicles back into your stomach, try to remember that two of them combine bodies to form one giant Alpha," the guy said. He must mean Ethan and Aiden. "I'm sure Erica and Boyd were sweet kids. They're gonna be missed."

"Can someone kill him again, please?" Stiles asked, looking at everyone. And then it clicked. Peter. The guy on the stairs is Peter Hale.

"We'll take a vote," Aaron said.

"No one's killing anyone," the other me said. "That's the whole point of this: to prevent death on our side." I crossed my arms. "Even if it's just me and Derek, we can't let whoever they have stay there and be killed. We know they have Erica and Boyd, but what about the other two people they have? What about the lives they'll be leaving behind, should they die?"

"And, if you run into Tobias? What then?" Aaron asked. Tobias. Charlie's father, my ex fiancé, the man I almost died trying to kill.

The other me shrugged. "I can't avoid him forever."

"I'll go," Scott said.

Aaron nodded. "Yeah, me, too."

Derek looked at him. "I don't remember anyone asking you."

"You're staying," I said. Wait. Derek was just looking for all the help he could get. Now he's telling Aaron to stay? Why?

"Oh, come on," Aaron sighed.

"Aaron," Scott said. "You're not ready yet." Scott, too? Why are they all protecting Aaron? I know Aaron told me they all babied him, but I didn't think he meant like this.

"Not to mention," Peter said, "tonight's his first full moon." The other me sighed, like she'd forgotten that. I looked at Derek to see if he had any ideas. He just shrugged and shook his head.

"I'll do it," Stiles said. "I'll watch Aaron, help him with the full moon."

"Seriously?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. Why not?" He said. "I helped Scott during his first full moon."

"Yes, I was there. Remember how that turned out?" I looked at Aaron. He looked unsure. I sighed indecisively and looked at Derek. "Thoughts?"

He thought for a second and then looked at me. "Well, he's not dead, yet."

"Thanks," Stiles scoffed.

Peter stood. "Now, this is crazy."

"Hey!" Aaron's voice cut in and the party came back. I shook my head and looked at him. "You okay?"

"Fine." I looked him over. He had neon yellow lines, like lightening, going all over his face, chest, and torso. "Nice."

"Thanks. You want to get painted?"

"Uh, no." I smiled. He chuckled and then took my hand again. I'm sure he doesn't want to lose me. Which is good, since I don't want to lose him either.

Aaron and I danced with the rest of the crowd. As far as I can remember, I've never really been to a party or danced. So this was all new. But Aaron didn't look like he knew what he doing either. Actually, he looked ridicules. I think I spent most of the time laughing at him and not paying attention to dancing.

He looked as bad as Stiles, when I caught a glimpse of him earlier. I also saw Emma a couple of times. Last I saw her, she was going somewhere with two shirtless dudes who were all painted up like Aaron was. I knew she wasn't going to leave, so I tried to pretend like I wasn't concerned about where she was.

Suddenly, the music cut out and a loud crash filled the air. "Well, well," Aaron said, looking past me. "Enter the dragon." I turned around, my eyes landing on Derek. I wasn't sure what do to. I didn't even know if he knew I was here. What are you supposed to say to the guy you don't remember being in love with? I felt Aaron's hand grab mine. Derek had yelled for everyone to get out. So the crowd was quickly leaving. Very quickly.

I think Aaron grabbed onto me just so he wouldn't lose me. And then that's when Derek saw me. He looked surprised to see me, yet relieved at the same time. We both stood there, frozen. Like the rest of the world was still moving, but ours. But something didn't feel right. I broke our stare and looked around the room

The people were leaving, but dark figures remained still, like statues. Emma and the two guys I saw her with returned with Lydia slung over their shoulders. Okay, something's not right. And then Isaac and Allison walked in with a boy draped over their shoulders.

I then realized that Isaac and Allison had one of the twins and the other one was with Emma. A different boy took Lydia and led her out of the loft with the last of the crowd. That's when I noticed that Scott and the girl he was with had returned. Now all that remained in the loft was us and the dark figures. There were five of them. Men in dark clothes with silver masks of their faces. I'm not sure where they came from. But something told me that this wasn't good.

All of them then turned and faced Emma and the twin. "Guys, they're all looking at us," the boy said. All of the men took a step forward. "Why are they all looking at us?" Then they took another step. I looked around, judging faces. I was trying to see what I was supposed to be doing here.

But I felt Aaron tug me back. As soon as Scott moved so did Derek, both guys attacking the masked men. Aaron growled beside me before joining the fight, even though I tried to stop him. I watched as the three of them tried to fight the men. And I say tried because they weren't having much success.

Scott mainly deflected blows, until he was struck in the chest and flew back into the wall. Aaron didn't have the finesse that Scott did, but he was the first one on the ground. One of the men picked him up and tossed him into the stand the DJ was standing on. It cracked under his weight and he hit the ground.

Derek had a little better luck. He had the upper hand for a minute, snapping one of their necks. But the masked guy snapped it right back into place. He didn't die! It then flung Derek into one of the building's support columns, and he hit the floor. All three of them appeared to be on the ground in pain.

Then the masked men all looked at the twin and Emma again. The twin looked nervous. But Emma looked afraid of them. Isaac passed the other twin off to Allison and then stepped forward, claws out and ready to fight them. One of the masked men reached into his chest and pulled out a sword, swinging it around before going back to being motionless.

Isaac stepped back, clearly not even wanting to try that. I don't blame him, but this is stupid. Two of the men grabbed the twin and held him while another stood in front of him. It put it's hand on the side of his head as it stared at him. A few seconds later, the twin dropped.

That's when I noticed that Emma was no longer standing over there. She had snuck away and helped Scott up. Who just so happened to be the person they looked at next. She quickly backed up, coming over to me. The girl Scott was with stood motionless behind him as he backed up, growling at the approaching men.

My eyes glowed as I stepped forward, ready to help Scott. The sun came up, as it was now morning, and the men vanished. Literally, they vanished. Turned to a black smoke. Scott and I both relaxed, our eyes turning back to normal. I looked around the room. They were just gone.

"What were those things?" Scott asked.

Aaron sat up, still in between the halves of the table. "I guess you've never seen ninjas before?"

"Right," I scoffed, walking up to him. "'Cause you have." I reached a hand down and he took it. I helped him up, not hearing his next words as my eyes went across the room to Derek. He was on his feet, looking just as confused as the rest of us. Then he looked at Emma. The two of them shared a weird glance. It didn't seem good, but no one acted on it.

"Your dad's 24 hours are up," Isaac said. I looked at him and he was talking to Allison. What is that supposed to mean?

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: the flashback scene is from Chapter 5: Artifice; of Guardian: This Might Hurt (Bk 3a)