Disclaimer: "I do not own Teen Wolf. The show, the characters, and any quotes from the show belong to Jeff Davis and his amazing team of writers. I only own Nixie, and anything I make her do or say."

Chapter 12: Episode 4x12

As Malia and Peter are driving down the road, right in front of the transport van where Liam, Derek, Stiles, and Braeden are; Peter is trying to convince Malia that it might become necessary to take a life. Malia looks at him and says plainly, "Scott says we don't kill people." Peter offers a small grin at that, and then asks coyly, "Do you think that Scott would kill to save Kira? Or would you, kill to save Stiles?"

Malia simply gives him a hard look, and then glances out the window at the moon. When Peter asks what's wrong, and she tells him it's the moon beginning to affect her, he says, "Good. You'll need that power." Malia doesn't respond, so Peter returns to his earlier question, about if Scott would kill if it meant keeping a member of his pack safe.

Slightly annoyed now, Malia says, "I don't know." Peter nods to that, backing off a little bit for now. But he pauses when Malia concedes, "But Nixie would. She'd burn the whole city to the ground, if it meant saving us."

And Peter can't help but feel rather smug inside. Nixie was the pressure point he would have to push on, in order to convince Malia to kill someone. And he considered it a wonderfully terrible kind of irony, that Nixie would be the thing that helped him convince Malia to kill their beloved Scott McCall.

Nixie's mind was trying to betray her… play tricks on her. Thoughts that she would've never had on her own, suddenly started slowly easing their way into her brain. Thoughts of abandonment… of being left here while the others went on their way home after finding Scott and Kira. Thoughts of not being missed. Of simply being forgotten.

The other half of her mind knew it was stupid, and Nixie was struggling for dominance over this other presence that she suddenly felt within her. It wasn't a new or foreign thing. It was something that had always been a part of her, living within her. But… as fear took hold of it, as the seeds of doubt started sinking in, the supernatural side of her suddenly took on a more apparent presence. In her mind, suddenly it actually seemed like a possibility; that her friends weren't looking for her just as fiercely as she would've been looking for them if she could.

Gritting her teeth, she says to herself, "They are coming for me. They're coming. I'll be fine."

And Nixie knew what the berserker's purpose was for remaining in the room now. Any time he thought she was gripping tightly to hope again, he hurt her. And when no one came to try and stop it, doubt seeped in again. The cut on her thigh was a small taste of what he was willing to do. He'd also punched her in the gut, sides, and face… all in an attempt to wear her further down.

Now, upon hearing her verbally say she would be fine again, he steps forward. Hand clamping down over her mouth, he then takes one of his bone claws and begins carving into the other side of her stomach. Now she had another crescent shaped scar, this one on the left side, and larger in size than Peter's. Still not as bad as Peter's. That scar had gone deep, and the cut was crude and meant to be difficult to patch up.

But the berserker wasn't trying to kill her with his claws. He was simply trying to reinforce her doubt. So the scar on the left side was more shallow, and cleaner.

Didn't mean it hurt any less. Hence the hand covering her mouth, so as to muffle the scream that left as he slowly carved the shape into her skin.

Nixie makes a mental note that if she doesn't speak her hope aloud, the berserker is likely to leave her alone. So she would have to try and not verbalize it very much.

Which was going to prove hard to do, if she couldn't get a freaking grip on her supernatural half.

As the berserker pulls back from her, Nixie pants and glances down at herself. Her vest had been removed long ago, making for easier access to hurt the rest of her. And as blood trickles down her camisole and to her jeans, Nixie glares at the berserker, who is back to his post against the opposite wall. Snarling almost, Nixie says, "You're going to die very badly." "We shall see."

It was apparently the only phrase this one knew how to say. Maybe he was the only berserker that could speak at all. Nixie doesn't know. She doesn't care. Closing her eyes tiredly, she is left with no choice but to return to her thoughts, which brings no rest. The mental war within her own mind is actually much more exhausting than the physical battle she is facing on the outside.

The voice of doubt creeps in, still very much her own… but at the same time, very unwelcome as it thinks, "They're not here." Nixie grits her teeth and shouts back at herself, "They're coming!" "But it's been two days." "We don't know that. And even if it's true, it just means that they don't know where I've been taken yet. But they are working on it, I know. They are coming." "But Kira is already here. We heard her earlier. And she's not here for us. She's here for Scott." "She was kidnapped along with Scott. Which means she probably doesn't even know we're supposed to be missing yet. When the others arrive, they'll tell her, and they'll find us… me."

Sighing, Nixie says to her doubtful side, "We will be fine." "We're going to die down here. We're going to die alone and forgotten." Nixie huffs and says, "If you would just use logic and reason, you'd know that I'm right." "If we had become one, I could do so. But we cannot, and we shall never be, because we are going to die here." "Oh, shut up! We're going to be fine. Just shut up!"

Doubt subsides slightly. The supernatural half of her settles for a bit, like a berated child who had been put in timeout. But Nixie knows it won't last. She's done this all night and all day, ever since she'd gotten here and Kate had left her alone with the berserker. And every time she wins that small victory… the timeframe in between that battle and the next one approaching, keeps getting smaller and smaller. Eventually, she wouldn't be able to convince her other half to just be patient.

Perhaps she was a dragon. Nixie didn't really want to rely on the word of Kate Argent. It felt all kinds of wrong. But… she couldn't deny that what Kate had said… it was happening. She could feel the thoughts of abandonment, of loneliness… she could feel hope fading and being replaced with those things. She could feel her body and mind trying to turn on her, the supernatural half trying to give up, when the rest of her was nowhere near ready to do so.

In some way, maybe this explains why she always wanted to know where everyone was, at all times. She wanted that information so that, within a moment's notice, she could be with them, and they wouldn't be alone. Maybe she had always felt that way, because in her subconscious, she knew what being alone could do to her. Even if none of her friends were in danger… she had never enjoyed the idea of them being alone for too long. And as a consequence… Nixie had never been alone for long, because she had always ended up with them. And maybe this was why.

Maybe it all boiled down to the fact that, deep down, in her subconscious… Nixie had always known what would happen if she spent too much time completely and utterly alone. Maybe she'd always known, on some level, that it had the potential to kill her, ridiculous as it may sound to the rest of her mind.

As a tear slips from the corner of her eye, a weariness settling into her body, Nixie hears the berserker against the wall say again, "We shall see."

When Jordan later realized that they weren't heading for 'La Iglesia' right away, he'd wanted to get mad and demand that Chris simply tell him how to get there. They needed to get to Nixie, and they needed to get to her immediately. Things were getting worse for her, he could feel it.

But he took a moment to remember that he wasn't the only one here who cared about Nixie. They all did, and they all wanted her back alive. So if Chris wasn't guiding him to the church first… then there had to be a good reason. So, rather than yell, he asked what that reason was.

Chris took a moment to simply look over at him, and then the first thing he said was, "Nixie was right. Your patience is something else." Jordan grins a bit at that, and then Chris says, "As for why we're heading here first… because we need more firepower. And earlier in the year, when this was all getting started, the Calaveras approached me. As hunters, we have a code, kind of universal for all of us. It says, 'We hunt those, who hunt us'."

Looking out the window now, Chris says, "They came to try and remind me what that code was and what it meant. And it's not a bad code, when enforced properly, as the Calaveras have always tried to do."

Jordan nods, but then says, "But you have a different code now." Chris looks back over at him, and then grins a little before saying, "Yes. I'm guessing Nixie told you that." "Yeah. She and the others have been trying to get me up to speed on everything." Nodding, Chris says, "Good. The new code was Alison's, and as far as my family goes, I think it suits me better. 'We protect those, who cannot protect themselves'."

Looking out the window again, Chris says, "Araya tried to remind me of the old code and what it meant. They wanted me to help them hunt down Kate and bring her to an end. And at the time, I turned them down. But now… now we're going to see if they're willing to make a deal." Jordan glances over and asks, "What kind of deal?" "The Calaveras aren't typically the kind of hunters to interfere with affairs of the supernatural… not until those affairs begin affecting the livelihood of the normal, human people in this world. But, if I offer my services in helping find Kate, we'll see if I can convince them to help us put a stop to Peter and Kate right now."

He guides Jordan to eventually stop outside of a three story building, music thumping from the inside. It seemed an odd place for the cartel version of hunters to conduct business, but Chris was certain they were here, so Jordan didn't question it. Werewolves existed… he shouldn't be surprised by some of the other weird occurrences that he would be witness to from now on.

As he was waiting in the vehicle, his phone rang with a number he didn't recognize popping on the screen. Answering, he says, "This is Parrish." "Excellent. Jordan Parrish, my name is Doctor Deaton. Nixie gave me your number to have, should I ever need it." Jordan smiles a bit and says, "Yeah. She seems to have given it to everybody. What to you need, doctor? I should warn you first that I'm not in Beacon Hills right now. Any help you need from me might be hard to get."

But Deaton says, "No, no, not at all. That's perfect actually. You're on your way to help the others save Scott, Nixie, and Kira?" "Yeah." "Excellent. In which case, there is something you need to know. Well, two things. The first is that Kate is planning on turning Scott into one of her berserkers. I believe she took Kira as well to see if, after she turns Scott into a berserker, if his friends will still be able to tell it's him." Jordan nods, and then asks, "And the other thing?" "It's about Nixie." "And what's that?" "She's a dragon."

Jordan blinks for a second, because of all the things he'd expected to hear, that wasn't one of them. Tilting his head, he asks, "A dragon?" "Yes. And don't ask how I know that. I'm not even entirely sure how it worked myself. But I know what I saw and what little I could overhear in the vision I was given. And Nixie is a dragon."

Nodding, Jordan asks, "Does that help her? Does that mean she'll be okay?" "Not necessarily. In fact, right now, it may be what's killing her." Sighing, Jordan says, "Nixie told me you have a tendency of taking your sweet time getting to the point sometimes. I need you to be faster right now. I'll apologize later, but…" "No, I understand. You're right. What I'm getting at, is that because of the kind of dragon Nixie is, she is running out of time. Every supernatural creature has a weakness… rules they are bound by that cannot be broken. For werewolves, ashwood, mountain ash, and wolfsbane are some of those rules and weaknesses. For Nixie, these may apply in the future as well, I can't be sure. But I do know that Nixie's weakness… is being alone."

Jordan frowns in confusion and says, "She's not alone though. She knows…" "Yes, Nixie knows that she is not alone. She always has known. But for those who are supernatural, there are always two halves of a whole inside of them, at all times. For werewolves, the man and the wolf are either always struggling for power, or working together towards their greatest strengths. For Malia, it's the human half, and the coyote half. For Kira, it's half human, and half fox. For Nixie, it's half human, and half dragon. And right now, it's the dragon half that we need to worry about. Nixie, on her own, knows she is never alone. The dragon however, is an incredibly visual creature. And if that half truly begins to feel abandoned… well, there is only going to be so much that our Nixie can do before that half wins."

Running a hand through his hair, Jordan asks, "Why is this the fear specific to Nixie? You said it was because of the kind of dragon she was? What does that mean?" "Nixie being a dragon at all, is a rarity, Jordan. It's a gift to us all, far more than I think we will ever truly be able to appreciate. Dragons are not born through bloodlines, and they are not bitten. They are born out of circumstance, and develop within a person who possesses the qualities most agreeable with dragons."

Jordan can practically hear Deaton smiling on the other end, as he says, "Nixie is rarer still, because she is a blue dragon, Jordan. She is the strongest and most resilient of dragons. The most fierce, and in lore, the most feared and the most loved by those around them. Loved by all those who can call a blue dragon a friend, and feared by all those that would be stupid enough to call her an enemy. Because Nixie is not fierce in the sense that she gets angry quickly, or that evil people should fear coming up to her on a normal day. But Nixie is fierce in that, if you threaten anyone that she has decided to care about, then you will receive no mercy from her."

Deaton takes a breath and then continues. "It really makes so much sense, now that I've taken the time to consider it. Nixie has always, since everyone has ever met her, been the most protective person in the group. And not just of her friends in school… she's protective of everyone. Of Noah, Melissa, and even me and Chris, who she shouldn't have to worry about, because she's a teenager. She's the kid, it's our job to worry about her. And even beyond that, I'm sure by now you know that Nixie has a tendency to jump in front of the bullet for her friends, so to speak."

Jordan nods. He knew all too well, just what Nixie was willing to take for her friends. Deaton says, "Blue dragons are the most protective in existence, and the most powerful as a reflection of that. They have to be, in order to withstand all that they're willing to face and take, in the interest of protecting those that they love. And all of that is completely Nixie, but it is also why the blue dragon found a home in her. And it's also why you have to get to her fast. All dragons have a weakness, just as all supernatural creatures do, as I said before. And the weakness of a blue dragon, is that feeling of loneliness. The feeling of not being wanted or cared for by the people she would so willingly die for."

Sighing, Jordan says, "But Nixie…" "Yes, Nixie knows otherwise. And it's probably why she's still alive at this point. Her resilience is astounding. But there is only so much time she will be able to buy for herself, arguing with the voice within. Kate knows what her one true weakness is, and has already planted the seeds of doubt in Nixie's mind. And you and I both know, Nixie's mind runs in a thousand different directions at any given point in time. She'll be arguing with the dragon within, trying to convince that other half that it's stupid to be so worried about something she knows to be ridiculous. But… if the dragon truly begins to feel alone and abandoned… she will lose hope. The feeling of emptiness that is already beginning to grow inside of her, it will consume her, until there is nothing left."

Freezing in place, Jordan asks, "What do you mean, nothing left?" "Being lonely isn't just a weakness for Nixie, Jordan. It is the one fear that a blue dragon has, that can actually kill it. No weapons needed, no poisons or threats. Just that one fear… and if left alone long enough, she will succumb to it and die."

Silence reigns on both sides of the phone for a moment, and then Jordan glances over to see Chris stepping out of the building, along with a small army of Calaveras. Into the phone, he says, "Thanks, Deaton. We're going as fast as we can." "Please save our friend, Jordan. If losing Alison managed to cripple us all for a while, then losing Nixie will surely break us." "I'm on it."

Chris gets into the backseat this time, another man moving beside him to try and reapply the bandages on Chris' stomach. Araya climbs into the passenger seat next to Jordan, and then says, "Drive. Take us to La Loba."

Jordan glances back at Chris, who nods and says, "Jordan Parrish, meet Araya Calavera. Head of the Mexican hunters, the Calaveras." Jordan nods to the woman, and then hurriedly begins driving up the road. Chris then asks, "Who was on the phone?" "Deaton." "Did he have any good news to offer?" "No. Well… not really. Not right now, anyway." "Of course not. Why am I not surprised?"

There's a pause, and then Jordan sighs and says, "According to Deaton, Kate is turning, or may have already turned, Scott into one of her berserkers." Chris sighs and says, "Damn it." Jordan nods, and then takes another moment to consider what he's about to say. He glances at the woman to his right, and then glances at Chris in the rearview mirror. Chris meets his gaze, and then nods and says, "She's no danger to Scott and his pack." Jordan takes another moment to consider that, and then says, "Deaton says that Nixie is a dragon."

The woman next to him turns her head sharply to look at him. Then she says, "She is not old enough to be fully realized yet. How does he know this?" "I don't know. He said not to ask. He just knows that Nixie is a dragon." Araya nods and asks, "Does he know what kind? What color?" "Deaton said blue."

Chris leans forward, ignoring the man tending to him for a moment. Then he asks, "Are we sure Kate has her? And does she know what Nixie is?" Jordan nods and says, "He says Kate is trying to kill her using the one true fear of a blue dragon. The fear of being completely alone."

All is silent for a moment at that, and then Araya says, "Drive faster." Jordan steps on it, switching gears and speeding into the desert at high speed. Glancing over, Jordan says, "I thought hunters didn't concern themselves with the supernatural creatures that weren't bad guys." Araya nods, but then adds, "Typically. But all those with any sense would concern themselves with the livelihood of a dragon. And the rarest of dragons, nonetheless."

Chris looks over at her from his seat in the back, and then asks, "You knew?" "I hurt her alpha. It was enough to draw her true nature to the surface, enough for me to see what she really is and will become. And it was enough to make me ashamed of my actions, Christopher."

To Jordan again, she says, "Drive faster." And even though he was already going far faster than should be considered safe, Jordan pressed the pedal down harder again, praying and hoping that they would get there in time to save her.

It's dark again outside when Nixie hears the first gunshots go off. Lifting her weary head, she tries to yell and see if anyone can hear her. But her entire body just feels so drained of energy… she's not sure she'd reach a level of volume that would make it count.

The lapses of time between her internal arguments were down to minute intervals. She barely got a break anymore, before that doubtful voice inside began questioning what she was so sure of again. And even with gunshots nearby now, that voice rose again, saying, "They're not here for us." "You don't even know who 'they' are. Just shut up." "Who else would be shooting at berserkers?" "So, we can at least agree that it's our people." "They aren't here for us." "They know that we're gone by now. At this point, they have to. Stiles and Lydia know that I wouldn't have just disappeared while Scott and Kira were in trouble. They know I was taken too. They are looking for all of us." "They won't find us. They'll find Scott and Kira. And then they'll leave. And we're going to die alone down here." "No, we are not! Just shut the hell up!"

Gritting her teeth at herself, trying to feel anything other than this overwhelming sense of emptiness that has been trying to take over for a while now, Nixie scrambles in her mind for another way to force hope back into her system. She needed a focal point. Someone or something to focus her energy on, to ground her hope in. And since none of her thoughts or words seemed to be registering with her supernatural half… she needed something more physical… more visual, before she could try and reason with herself again.

Ironically enough, Nixie's gaze fell onto the berserker in the room. He was the enemy. He was meant to hurt her when it seemed she was letting hope win again. He was a pain in the ass and Nixie hopes that, before this is all over, somebody finds a way to kill this one.

But… the fact that he was still here meant that she still had a chance of not dying. It meant that he, and Kate, knew all too well that the others would be coming for her. The berserker was there for the sole purpose of trying to make her die, to lose all hope, before they could reach her. That was his goal. To speed up the process of her dying, so her friends would be too late.

His presence in the room, while a nuisance and a threat… it was also the thing that Nixie used to force some of that emptiness to ebb away. The dragon could argue with her all it wanted, but Nixie knows she's right about this. He was here to destroy her hope, and to help her die before the others could arrive. Which meant he was fully aware that they were on their way.

Smirking, Nixie says to herself, "See?! Now shut up." There is no response this time, which Nixie takes as a good sign. Smiling wider, Nixie says, "They are coming. I told you they would."

Her hope wanes ever so slightly, when instead of hurting her right away, the berserker steps up to her and simply gazes at her, a curious tilt to his head again. Which meant that Nixie was getting worse than she thought. If she was right… the berserker wasn't quite certain that she was actually hopeful again. He might've thought that she was simply trying to confuse him.

The doubtful voice says, "He doesn't…" "No! No, just shut up! God, if any of the others ever doubted that I was coming for them, I'd slap them so hard, they might actually get a concussion. I know they're coming, so you have to know they're coming. So shut up and help me piss this giant asshole off. I am not dying here! We are not dying here!"

Glaring at the beast before her, Nixie says, "I told you they were coming. You cannot break me." And with more energy finally surging through her veins, Nixie shouts, "Stiles! Malia! Scott! Anybody! I'm in here!"

The berserker then grips her side and pulls her further away from the wall. Nixie feels the claw at her back touch just beneath the other long scar she already had back there. The other one had already healed at this point. At least, for the most part. But now, this berserker tore into her skin and dragged a new and identical wound beneath it.

As he nears her other side, Nixie finally screams a bit from the pain. It still wasn't as bad as what Peter had done to her. Nothing would ever be that bad again. But damn it, it hurt! Tears running down her cheeks, frustration and pain rolling through her system, Nixie finally screams out for the one person that she wanted most to find her.

"Jordan!"

The firefight outside grew more intense by the second. And with Derek dead, along with several other of the Calaveras at this point, Kate laughs maniacally before saying, "You're next, Araya. I'm coming to kill you next." Araya simply draws out her knife, along with her own electrified baton, and says, "Come, La Loba. Let me show you how the Calaveras die."

But as Kate was about to charge, and honestly, probably succeed in killing Araya, a lone howl broke through all the other noises of the night.

A solid black wolf then leapt over a broken slab of stone wall, and moved to Araya's side in defense. And though Kate roared at it, clearly thinking she could take a mere wolf… her confidence vanished when the eyes of the wolf suddenly glowed a bright blue at her. Then it charged towards her, and for all Kate's berserkers and jaguar skills… she was no match for the black wolf as he came at her, claws tearing and teeth ripping into her.

When it finally backed off, Kate considerably weaker and not shifted at this point, she turned back to see Derek materializing before them, shifting out of his wolf form to show who he was to everyone else. Staring at him in horrified confusion, Kate says, "But you… you were dead." But Derek shakes his head and says with a smirk, "No. I was evolving. Something you'll never do."

And as one of the berserkers rushed towards him, trying to defend Kate, Derek dodged his attack and then grabbed hold of the skull covered head in his hands. And to everyone's amazement, Derek actually, literally, crushed the skull between his hands. The berserker shattered as a result, the armor falling uselessly to the ground without a body to wear it anymore.

Kate, terrified, scrambled to her feet to try and get away. That's when Chris, finally using the special bullet he had made, filled with a rare and more potent version of wolfsbane; fires at Kate. It hits her hard, and the force of it, compacted with the potentially poisonous substance, not only knocks her back, but slams into her and throws her back onto the ground.

Turning over, eyes finally turning a little sad, she asks softly, "Chris?"

But at his hardened gaze, Kate knows she can't rely on his sympathies to spare her. Struggling to get to her feet again, she asks, "You wanna kill me? Your own sister? For them? They killed Alison!" Chris glares harder and says, "Alison died saving her friends. Who would you die for?" Kate glares back and says, "You won't kill me."

But to her surprise, Chris levels his gun at her and says, "I will if you don't tell me where she is. Where is Nixie?" Smirking, Kate says, "Good luck, Chris. You'll never find her."

And with that, she sprints back into the church, into the catacombs beneath, and hurries back to the one berserker she has that is still surviving. The one keeping guard of Nixie.

As she rushes into the room, removing the stone slab out of the way, Kate says to the berserker, "Come on."

He releases Nixie immediately, and Kate comes forward to get a look at her. They might not have gotten Scott. She might not have won anything else this day. But as she looks Nixie over, bleeding, crying, and mentally broken enough at this point, Kate smirks and says, "At least I did manage to kill you." Backing away, she says to the berserker, "Handle my brother while I get out of here. Let's go."

At Kate's words, Nixie lifts her weary head and says, "No. No… you can't… he'll kill Chris." Smirking again, Kate says, "Yep. Now come on."

But as weary as she was… as broken as she felt… and as conflicted as she and her other half were on the idea of being alone… they still agreed on one very important thing. Chris, like the rest of them, were still hers. They were her pack, her friends, her mentors, and her allies. They belonged to her, and therefore, they were still hers to protect.

And they could both also agree that, if Chris had to face off against the berserker alone… that thing would kill him. And that was unacceptable.

She was still chained to the wall. She couldn't move, follow, or leave to help Chris and her friends. But in spite of all the doubt, all the brokenness and emptiness that she feels inside… Nixie can still feel a small surge of energy return to her body. She can feel her eyes shift, the talons on one of her hands extend. And in a raspy and rougher voice, Nixie shouts, "NO!"

When people think of dragons, they think of fire-breathers. That's what everyone thinks… even Nixie, when she'd first heard it. And yet, she knows it shouldn't come as a great surprise when, rather than fire and heat leaving her… freezing cold and ice comes out instead. Where the room usually always shot down several degrees when she was upset or worried, the sudden plummet into sub-zero temperatures is the most drastic change she's caused yet. Everything in the room around her began freezing over, ice forming on every surface, and within every crevice in the walls and floor.

Her body, likewise, becomes even colder than it normally does. So cold that, this time, Nixie can actually feel it, whereas she usually just felt normal.

And if that wasn't enough, after her roar and shout, freezing air and ice shot out of her mouth and towards the retreating berserker. It honestly looked like blue flames were leaving her lips… except there was nothing hot about it. The force of it shoved the berserker back to his opposite wall, pinning him there.

When Nixie is finally finished, slumping in exhaustion, she looks up to see the berserker now trapped, completely covered and coated in a thick layer of ice, snow, frost, and even icicles. If she weren't still so consumed by doubt, she might've laughed.

Kate stares at her immobilized berserker in horror. Now she had none left. But before she can say another word, Nixie looks over at her and says, "Deal with your brother yourself, you coward. Or face me, if you dare." But as Nixie makes to roar again, Kate sprints from the room, leaving her behind.

For a brief moment, Nixie sighs in relief, basking in that small victory. Chris would be safe. He could handle Kate, Nixie knows that much.

But after that, doubt creeps back in. The emptiness she'd felt before rolls back over her system in a new wave… a stronger wave. And Nixie no longer had the berserker's presence to ground her. He was there… but it obviously wasn't by choice anymore. And Kate had just said that she had, at the very least, managed to kill Nixie in all of this. Meaning that Kate was quite certain she was going to die. She'd been about to take her berserker and leave Nixie to rot in this place.

Nixie was alone. Most of the sounds from outside and above ground had stopped now. She couldn't hear people talking, or guns going off. She didn't hear anyone running around, shouting and trying to find her. It was quiet. It was cold.

Nixie shakes her head and says to herself, "You just have to give them a minute. They just defeated Kate. Give them time." "We are alone." "Give them a minute. Please. They just need…" "Even if they bother to look, they won't find us. We are alone. We are going to die, alone."

And though Nixie tries to argue further, she can feel her weariness growing to new heights. She was bleeding, hurt, and more exhausted than ever. And as the emptiness continued taking over, Nixie felt as though she were being hollowed out. Not like when Alison had died, when she'd felt like part her very being had been ripped out of her body. No, this was different. It was like everything that made up who she was as a person, as a being on this planet, was slowly being stripped away. As though she were being removed from this plane of existence. Because what good did it do her so stay, when she was alone.

The edges of her vision begin blurring and going black, as she slowly begins succumbing to this form of death, exactly as Kate and Peter had predicted.

Jordan couldn't explain it really. After Peter had been collected and trapped in the back of the transport van, Stiles had pulled everyone back together. He was trying to form a grid search pattern, so they could cover more ground looking for Nixie, hopefully finding her as quick as possible.

But Jordan didn't wait for him to finish. Jordan also didn't understand how he knew where he was going, when he'd never been here before, and had no clue where all these tunnels went. But he'd known Nixie was in great danger before Deaton had explained it to him, and he'd been right. He'd also known that they needed to find her quickly, and he'd been right.

He trusts that, hopefully, he'll be right again. He moves down tunnel after tunnel, taking turns and rounding corners with a sureness that didn't match his lack of knowledge of this place.

But none of that mattered, as he finally spotted a room that didn't match the others he'd seen before. They were in a desert. Even underground, the dryness and heat could be felt.

The room he'd just spotted, however, had ice coating the frame of the entrance. That was what Scott and the others had mentioned, when explaining some of the things that made Nixie 'not normal'. When she was upset, worried, or really felt any heightened emotion, the world around her became colder. Chills swept through the air, and storms occasionally started brewing.

Which, if the storm clouds that were gathering outside gave any indication, Nixie was definitely in bad shape. And as he steps into the room, he can't help but wonder what it meant when it wasn't just cold, but when the entire room was literally frozen over in a layer of ice.

And then he sees her, hanging by her wrists from chains that extend down from the ceiling. Her body slumped and weak. Blood pooling on the ground beneath her, soaking through some of her clothing. And she looked much paler than usual… certainly much paler than Jordan was comfortable with her being.

Rushing inside, Jordan shouts aloud, "I found her! Somebody get down here! She needs help!"

From outside, Scott had been listening to Stiles with the others. Chris had just asked the question, "Where is Parrish?" That's when Scott jerked his head to the side, hearing Jordan shout that he had found her, and that she needed help. To Derek, Scott says, "Help me find him. Everyone else stay here! Jordan has her. We'll have her out in a second."

Back in the room, Jordan wraps an arm around Nixie's waist, lifting her up slightly so she wasn't hanging directly from her wrists anymore. Reaching up for one of them, the frost and ice making the metal more brittle, he struggles to try and get her loose from these chains. As her head falls back, body still limp in his arm, Jordan says, "Nixie. Hey, Nixie, can you hear me? I need you to wake up for me, Nixie. Can you do that? Nixie, wake up."

Nixie, for her part, feels lost in a very deep fog at the moment. And it wasn't until she heard his wonderfully warm voice that she felt like there was anything inside of that fog with her. Confused, she opens her eyes hazily.

To Jordan, it breaks his heart to watch her try so hard to perform such a simple task. It looked as though it were taking every last ounce of energy she had, just to open her eyes and look at him. But she does manage it, and then she simply stares at him for a moment.

There's still a deep haze over her eyes though, and Jordan isn't sure what to make of that. Not until she smiles in a shaky and sad way. Then she says, "I think… there are probably worse things to see, when you're about to die. There are worse ways to go." Shaking his head, Jordan says, "Nixie, you're not…" "I just want one last thing before… before I can't…" "Nixie, listen to me, you are not…"

But she cuts him off. Nixie manages to get her feet underneath her again, and uses what little energy she still has to push herself closer to him. And before Jordan could finish his statement… her lips landed against his.

For his part, he's too shocked at first to understand what's happening. Here Nixie was, dangling from the ceiling; bleeding, broken, and clearly at the end of her rope. And apparently, all she wanted any more was to kiss him.

After that initial moment of shock though, Jordan felt her lips move a little against his, and he couldn't help it. Sighing against her lips, he kisses her back, tilting his head to give her better access… to give her whatever she wants right now.

When she pulls back, head lolling back again, tears are falling down her cheeks once more as she cries softly, "I don't want to die."

Jordan wraps his arm more firmly around her as he feels her slipping again. Holding her close, he says, "Nixie, you are not dying. Nixie, come on. Look at me, alright? You're not dying. Now come on, you've got to help me out here." But she's done responding. Her eyes are closed again, her body limp once more… and if possible, her skin starts becoming even paler. Struggling with the chain at her left wrist again, Jordan shouts, "SCOTT! GET IN HERE!"

Jordan does manage to release one of her wrists before Scott rushes into the room. And Scott can't help pausing for a moment, staring at the ice and frost and even snow that coats the entire room. Then he rushes over to Jordan and breaks off the other cuff and those that are around her ankles. Seeing all the blood, he curses, "Shit. We need to get her back outside. Come on." Jordan scoops Nixie into his arms and follows rapidly after Scott to get back out of the catacombs.

Being in the sunlight again doesn't seem to help though. Liam is looking up at the sky, and he finally asks, "What is with the clouds? They'd rolled in and rolled back out, like, four times since we've gotten here already. What gives?" Stiles rushes over with the others to surround Nixie, and then says, "It's her. I… it's got to be her. Right?"

Scott doesn't argue, nor does he care to figure that out right now. He simply looks up at Chris and says, "Get Deaton on the phone. Do it now." Chris had no sooner pulled out his phone then it started ringing. Looking down, he says, "It's Lydia." Scott nods and says, "Answer it."

Swiping to answer and then setting it to speaker, Chris says, "Lydia, you have everyone listening. What's up?" "Where is Nixie?" Chris looks down to the ground, where Jordan has carefully laid Nixie, then he says, "She's here. Still breathing, but barely. She… she looks pretty hurt."

Deaton's voice chimes in, "Can anyone see how many places she was hurt this time?" Scott looks her over and says, "Three. Once on her back, and it looks like her stomach and thigh got hit too. She's lost a lot of blood, Deaton." Stiles asks, "Could she just have passed out? From the blood loss?"

Scott nods, trying to grasp at that bit of hope. But Deaton says, "No, she's not that kind of creature. All dragons are prepared for that kind of pain. All dragons heal too, just not the same as other supernatural creatures. It's a slower process, and her wounds never disappear. Dragons as a race, usually bear their scars with pride. The more they have, the tougher they are known to be. The more experience they are seen to have had, and the more fierce they appear, because the scars represent all the battles they have so clearly fought and won. Her body scars as a reflection of all she's done to protect all of you, but she does heal. Blood loss wouldn't be the thing to make her lose consciousness, not at this age of her life."

Sighing, Scott asks, "Then what is this, Doc? What's happening to her?" "It's like I told Jordan. Kate planted the seeds of doubt in her mind, and it's been too long. She's succumbing to the belief that she is, utterly alone." Lydia voice then exclaims, "But she's not! She has to…" Deaton cuts her off gently, "Lydia, it is more complicated than that. I will explain later. Right now, we need to force that doubt out of her, before she actually dies. Chris? You said she was still breathing?"

Scott holds a hand over her mouth, feels the cold air touch his fingers lightly as she breathes back out. And before Chris can answer, Scott says, "Barely. And her pulse is weak, I'm barely picking it up with my ears. Deaton, what do we do? How do we show her we're here?" "That's for you, Scott." "How?" "You're her alpha. You always have been, even when you weren't officially an alpha. You should be able to call out to her. Order her to heal and to release this senseless doubt that her supernatural half is holding onto."

Nodding, Scott leans over closer, giving Jordan an apologetic look when he has to let Nixie go so Scott can get close enough. Taking Nixie's hand, Scott says, "Nixie, I need you to hear me. You have to wake up. You have to start healing. Understand?"

Nothing happens, so Scott glows his eyes a bright red. Letting his features shift so he's changed, he growls and says, "Nixie, heal. Now, damn it. Start healing. Nixie, wake up!"

Nothing.

Coming back to normal, Scott runs his hands through his hair and says, "Deaton, it's not working. She can't hear me." Deaton frowns as he meets Lydia's concerned gaze. Shaking his head, he says to her, "That doesn't make sense. Scott is her alpha. He should be able to reach her. The only thing that would trump Scott's ability to do that, would be her mate. He would be able to reach further… reach her consciousness without fail."

Lydia blinks in surprise and asks, "Mate?" And Stiles, over the phone, asks, "Wait! There are mates now?! That's a thing!" Deaton answers, "Actually, that is another thing that is specific only to Nixie. It's not even all dragons that have mates. It is, specifically, the blue ones. Because of how rare they are, and because of that specific fear and the potential power it may have over them, blue dragons have mates."

Stiles asks in shock, "So… we're talking the predestined, love them till they die, will feel like something's missing until they find them, type of mates?" And Deaton simply answers, "Yes. More importantly right now, if Scott can't reach Nixie, then we need to try and figure out who her mate might be, if we want any chance of waking her up."

Scott looks up at Stiles and asks, "Did she ever mention a mate to you?" Stiles flails his arms and says, "NO!" Deaton then adds, "Please remember, Nixie didn't even know she was supernatural until a short while ago. She's never known. She was never bit and wasn't born immediately into the world this way. The dragon only manifests later, when the child shows the qualities necessary for the dragon to exist within that person. Aside from that though, her powers and abilities shouldn't actually manifest and be fully realized until she turns eighteen. It's a true sign of how powerful she will grow to be, that so many of her supernatural traits are already apparent to us, when she still isn't eighteen yet."

Then he adds, "Bottom line though, Nixie probably wouldn't understand how to know who her mate is. But… it would be a person she was drawn towards from the very beginning. Someone who, without even knowing them, Nixie found herself liking. More than that, someone whom Nixie found herself able to trust, without even knowing who they were yet, or anything else about them. Someone who…"

Lydia cuts him off and says, "Jordan."

As he looks up at Chris and the phone, Jordan asks, "I'm here. What?" "No… no, I'm not asking you a question! I'm answering the question! You're her mate, Jordan."

At the moment of silence that follows, and at Deaton's curious look, Lydia rolls her eyes and asks, "Am I, literally, the only one with eyes for love in this place?" Back to the phone, Lydia says, "From the first moment she saw you, she knew she liked you. And I'm not talking about normal. She saw Kira, and after a moment, knew she liked Kira. Same with the rest of us. But with Jordan, she told me it was instant. There was no time needed for her to know if she liked him. She knew immediately."

Continuing, she adds, "She's wanted to call him by his first name since the beginning too. She only didn't because she didn't understand why she felt that way. She trusts him. Always has, from the very beginning. And you should've seen her last year when Kincaid knocked Jordan out. I've never seen her get so mad so fast about someone outside of our group getting hurt."

Then Lydia gentles her tone and says to Jordan, "She loves you, Jordan. I know because she told me. And I know because I've seen the way you two look at each other and react around each other. She loves you, and maybe has been in love with you from the very beginning. And you can make her admit that for herself later. Right now, wake my best friend up, so I can fuss at her for thinking we weren't coming to get her." Deaton's voice says, "Lydia, I told you it's more complicated than…" "Deaton, be quiet."

Scott looks over at Jordan, who is now looking down at Nixie worriedly. Putting a hand on Jordan's shoulder, Scott says, "Wake her up. Bring her back to us. Please." Then he looks up at everyone else and says, "Give him a minute."

Jordan knows that it's not much in the way of privacy. There's only so much Scott can do, and given that there are supernatural creatures amongst the group, it's not like they can't still hear him from where they've moved to.

But none of that matters. All that matters right now, is waking Nixie up, and getting her to heal and stay alive. And if he had the power to do that…

Leaning closer over her body, Jordan reaches down gently to cup her face in one hand. Thumb stroking her cheek, he says, "Nixie… Nixie, I need you to listen to me. Alright?"

On the outside, there is still no response yet. But in her own, fog-filled mind, Nixie hears his warm voice again. It cuts through the confusion and chaos that is her brain right now. And then she both hears and feels him whisper, directly next to her ear, "Lydia says you love me. And I'm not inclined to argue with her. You've told me yourself, she's verifiably a genius. And she's your best friend. She knows you almost better than you know yourself, so I'm sure she knows what she's talking about."

There's a familiarity in the tone of voice he uses next… an almost teasing sound, that begins forcing some of the fog in her mind away, when Jordan adds, "I'm still gonna wait until I hear you say that before I put all my stock into that idea. We still need to talk, and I'm not about to let you out of any of this."

He cups her neck in his hand, tilting her head just a little. Then he whispers in a deeper voice, "But what I do know for certain. What I am sure of, more than anything else I've ever known in my life… is that I love you." Smiling a little, Jordan sighs against the side of her neck and says, "I love you, Nixie Haven. I love you more than I ever thought I could ever love anything or anybody. You swooped into my life and you captured my attention, and then my affection, and then my heart. I am yours… so completely yours, that it's ridiculous."

Back to her ear, he says, "And you don't get to come in and do that to me, and then just die right here when I finally found you after these hellish last couple of days and nights. You do not get to do that. Not to me, and not to the rest of your friends." Lips right up against her ear, more earnest than he has ever been, Jordan says desperately, "So wake up, Nixie. Wake up for me. You start healing, you wake up, and you get your ass up off this ground so I can take you home. Nixie, do you hear me? Wake up!"

The fog had been slowly ebbing away as he spoke. But it was actually the bit of anger in his desperate voice that shoved the rest of it out. Because she knew why he was upset. It was the same reason she'd been so upset with herself. Because this was the most ridiculous way to die that Nixie could think of. Dying from a fear of being alone, when she so clearly wasn't. It was the stupidest thing she'd ever heard.

And as Jordan's voice cut through the fog, berating the dragon within her, Nixie says to herself, "I told you so, you freaking idiot." And finally, the other half of her being admits, "Yes. Yes you did."

The sudden gasp that escapes her lips makes Jordan jerk back so he can look down at her. Nixie's eyes shoot open wide, silver encircled with blue, and oval pupils staring up at the sky. Her right hand has talons again, and as they bury into the ground beneath her, she arches her back off the ground. She takes a deep breath in, and then roars back out into the air. The sound is like that of what Jordan would imagine a dinosaur to sound like. Loud, far reaching, reverberating and raspy as it escapes her lips and extends out for everyone in the desert to hear for miles.

Slumping back down when she's finished, Nixie looks up and around her in confusion. Then she winces at the ache in her body. She feels as though she's just run a marathon… and one that she had prepared for in poor fashion, judging from how much everything ached and felt.

Her eyes then lock on Jordan, who is leaning over her again, eyes darting everywhere to try and make sure she's alright. She stares at him for a moment, so relieved to see him here. Then she asks, in her own typical fashion, "What the actual hell happened?"

Jordan can't help it. He laughs breathlessly at her. Dropping his head onto her shoulder, he sighs and says, "You almost died." "Yeah, I got that bit. Stupidest thing I've ever heard of in my life. And I've heard some stupid shit before, so that is saying something."

He laughs again, and then helps her sit up and wraps his arms around her tight. Smiling and hugging him back, clinging to him, she sighs and asks, "Help me stand?" He doesn't argue, helping her to her feet and up off the ground.

Nixie then gingerly touches her stomach, where one of her new wounds had been. A sudden freezing sensation had shot through her upon waking up, and now seemed to rest and focus on the areas where the berserker had injured her. Lifting her shirt to see it, she finds the wound not bleeding anymore. In fact, what should've normally taken at least a couple of weeks to heal, is now already sealed and scared over, as though it had happened months ago, rather than just hours.

Looking back up at Jordan, Nixie asks on bewilderment, "What the hell did you do to me?" Raising an eyebrow, Jordan asks, "You didn't hear me?" "I did… sort of. It's… well, it's kind of fuzzy to be honest. I remember the feeling, more than anything." "Feeling?" Nixie nods, and then blushes a little before saying, "Just… I was suddenly really warm. Like when you walk inside a house after having been out in the cold for a long time. It was good. Really good."

Speaking of good, though she may have been immensely out of it at the time, Nixie does remember that she had managed to steal a kiss from Jordan. Of course, she stole it when she thought she was dying and would never be able to do it again. Honestly, she'd thought of that moment as more of a dream than anything else.

Well… until now, anyways.

Jordan watches a deeper blush rush up to her skin, and as she attempts to take a step back from him, he knows what it is she must be thinking about. And he would most definitely ask her about it later. But right now, he has no intention of letting her go anywhere. Wrapping his arm around her waist, pulling her back into him, he sighs against the top of her head and says, "Never do that to me again. Ever. Understand?" Nixie blinks in confusion and asks, "Do what, exactly?"

Rolling his eyes, Jordan glances over to see everyone else finally getting back to them, before he answers, "Do not ever nearly die on me again." Nixie leans her head back to look up at him for a moment. Then she grins and asks, "You stealing my lines now?" Grinning back, he says, "Seems fitting." "Yeah. No arguments here."

And then Jordan has to let her go, because Stiles immediately yanks her into a hug when he gets back. Sighing against her, he says, "God, don't ever do that again." "Trust me, I didn't mean to do it this time." He nods, and then lets her go so she can hug everyone else. When she gets to Derek, he glows his blue eyes at her, and she beams before leaping into his arms.

Chuckling at her, Derek says, "Glad you're okay." "Yeah. Likewise. So, what happened? Since you obviously weren't actually dying." "I was evolving." As he puts her down, he laughs when Nixie says, "So Kate kick started you into evolving into an even more badass werewolf? Damn. She really screwed the pooch on this one, didn't she? For herself, I mean. Not for us. For us, this is great. Right?"

Derek nods, and then Nixie glances over at Chris and his phone when she hears Lydia say, "Good, you're alive. So now will someone please explain to me how it makes any sense for her to have nearly died in the first place? Because seriously, Nixie… what the hell? Of course we were coming for you." "I knew that."

Scott puts a hand on her shoulder and says, "But you nearly died from feeling alone." "Yeah, well, that wasn't my fault. At least… I don't think it was my fault." From over the phone, Deaton says, "It's true. The fear of loneliness belongs to the dragon half of Nixie's being. Nixie, for herself, knew you were coming. It was the dragon that couldn't understand. Again, dragons are rather visual creatures. At least, until they are in sync with the human half."

Nodding, Nixie says, "And I'm sorry, Lydia. I really did try not to become so useless in all of this. But the other side of me… it was like my mind split into two halves. The one that was human me, and then dragon me. And while human me was perfectly aware that you all were coming, I couldn't convince dragon me to understand that."

And then everyone laughs when Nixie asks Deaton, "By the way, why are dragons so freaking stupid? I threw everything I had at the other half of me, and she just kept shooting me down. I swear, it was like arguing with a brick wall. Useless."

Deaton, relief in his voice, says, "We'll talk more once you're all back home." "Sounds good, Doc."

Scott then gives Nixie a rundown of what happened while she was chained up, and then chuckles when she asks, "And you still didn't kill Peter's worthless ass?! Scott, what the hell?!"

As they're loading back up into the vehicles to head home, Stiles strategically places everyone in the vehicles in such a way that Nixie has no choice but to ride home with Jordan. Sure, Chris wasn't joining them back right away. He was staying behind with the Calaveras, forming plans to go after Kate. But that didn't actually free up a lot of space, since Kira, Scott, and Nixie all had to be brought back home as well.

Which basically meant that, so long as Stiles packed everyone else into the transport van and the vehicle that Peter had originally driven down here, Nixie had to ride with Jordan.

She was nervous about that. On edge. And Jordan knew it was because of that kiss she'd stolen from him. She was so embarrassed about it that, when they'd gotten into his vehicle, she'd climbed into the back, claiming she needed to lay down and try to rest. And in the interest of not making her feel like trying to hitch a ride with someone else again, he didn't argue about it. Yet.

But she wasn't laying down. And Jordan can feel her foot tapping against the floorboard back there, like a jackrabbit waiting to spring and sprint to safety.

Well… Jordan decides he'll just have to make sure that when she sprints, she ends up in his arms. Because before this new day was over, he would make certain that she knew his arms would be the safest place for her to end up. Always.

Chapter 12! The last one is the Epilogue, to be posted shortly. :)