Chapter Nine
"You okay back there, Scotty?" Lina asked as she glanced into the backseat of the Camero. The teen wolf was looking a little green.
"Just feeling a little nauseous." he groaned, looking nervously out the back window at the SUV chasing them at high speed.
Lina giggled. "Just, don't throw up back there or Derek will kill you." she told him as she took a sharp corner.
"Why did Der let you drive, anyway?" Stiles asked as he gripped the seat tightly. "And where the hell did you learn to drive like this? I feel like we're in a street race, right now."
"I'm just awesome like that, lil' bro."
"I'm older than you!"
"So not getting into that right now. Anyway, how about some music?" she shot her twin a grin, turning the radio on to the rock station. She glanced through the rear view mirror to see that the SUV was gaining on them and couldn't keep the excitment out of her voice when she asked, "Faster?"
"Much faster." Stiles agreed while Scott just groaned.
Changing gears, she quickly pressed down on the accelerator, the car shooting forward. Stiles and Scott yelled in panic while Lina just cackled as she led Kate away from where Derek actually was. Stiles glanced out the back window worriedly.
"Soph, I don't think you're grasping the concept of the car chase here."
Lina glared at him, scowling. "Excuse me?"
"If she goes any faster, she'll kill us!" Scott reprimanded.
"Well, if she doesn't go any faster, they're gonna kill us."
Lina huffed and shifted gears again, the car going much faster than before. Both boys let out another series of yells, struggling to grab a hold of something while Lina just shot them an evil smirk. Turning down a narrow road at high speed, Lina couldn't help but cheer when the SUV had no choice but to stop it's pursuit. Stiles turned on the police radio that he had snagged from their dad's room and it was long before a message was transmitted.
"Suspect is on foot. Repeat, suspect is on feet. We're in pursuit, heading northwest."
"The only thing northwest of the school is the Iron Works." Stiles spoke up, climbing in the back as Lina made a turn, heading for the Iron Works.
"All units, suspect is on foot heading into the Iron Works."
"Told you." Stiles piped up, making Lina roll her eyes.
Slowing down as they reached the factory, she came to a screeching stop while Stiles opened the passenger door for Derek, who was hiding in a forklift and getting shot at by Chris.
"What part of laying low don't you understand?" Scott asked as he leaned in between the front seats as Derek ran into the car.
Lina shot him a glare. "He wouldn't have to lay low if someone hadn't decided to make him the most wanted fugitive in the entire state." she growled at him.
"Can we seriously get past that? I made a dumbass mistake. I get it." Scott said tiredly.
Stiles leaned in between the front seats to talk to Derek. "How did you find him?" he asked.
"The last time I talked to Laura, she was close to figuring something out. She found two things. The first was a guy named Harris." Derek explained.
"Our chemistry teacher?" Stiles asked, confused and a tad sceptical. "What's the second?"
"Some kind of symbol." the man pulled out a scrap of white fabric with a crude sketch of a pendent.
"That's Allison's necklace." Lina whispered. "It used to be Kate's."
Stiles gaped, eyes widening. "What if Harris is somehow connected to Kate?"
Lina swallowed. "Der, I think Laura was investigating the fire."
Derek gave her a sharp look. "What?"
"She has a point." Stiles spoke up. "Harris' proffession is chemistry, which can do a lot of things, like destroying a-"
"-body and getting away with murder-" Lina continued.
"-and even getting away with arson." Stiles finished, voice grim.
"You're teacher helped Kate set my house on fire?" Derek growled, eyes flashing bright blue.
"It's a theory, Der." Lina said, grabbing his hand and squeezing it in silent comfort.
After dropping off Scott, Lina headed home, parking a block away before turning to Derek. "Your staying the night, no ifs, ands, or buts." she told him, eyes narrowed as if daring him to protest.
He sighed, nodding.
"Good. Lets go, then. I'm tired and want some cuddles."
/*
"This is gonna be impossible, you know." Scott complained as he and the twins walked down the main hallway of school.
"Why don't you just ask her if you can borrow it?" Stiles asked him, making Lina shoot him a disbelieving look.
"How?" Scott asked.
"It's easy. You just say, 'Hey Allison, can I borrow your necklace to see if there's anything on it or in it that can lead me to an Alpha werewolf that I need to kill in order to get back to together with you?'"
Lina snorted at how ridiculious sounding that was, even if it was the truth.
"You're not helping!" Scott snapped at them. "Why can't Lina just get the necklace?"
She huffed at him. "I'm not taking my best friend's necklace. Honestly, I don't think we even need it." she told him with a shrug before walking off toward Erica. "Hey, Erica."
The blonde smiled at her. "Hi, Lina."
"So, how would you feel about ditching for a day? Go catch a movie or something? It's been forever since we last hung out." the lightning mage asked her.
Erica brightened. "I'd love too!"
"Great! C'mon, I have my brother's keys, so we're free to go." she said, linking her arm through the blonde's and leading her outside while taking out her phone and sending a text to her brother.
'I'm taking the jeep and ditching wt Erica. I'll pick you up after school' -L
Starting the jeep, she smiled at Erica and pulled out of the parking lot, heading down the street to the store. Her phone starting ringing and she handed it to Erica to tell her what the text said.
"Um, he says 'You don't even have my keys... unless you hotwired it. Please tell me you didn't hot wire my baby'." Erica blinked before turning to Lina. "You know how to hot wire a car?"
"You can learn a lot via the internet." Lina smirked at her. "Anyway, write back, 'i swiped the keys when you weren't looking'."
Erica giggled and did so while Lina parked the outside the store. Getting out and locking the doors, the two headed inside, Erica handed Lina her phone back, and headed right for the snack isle. Browsing through the options, they each grabbed a couple things before heading for the drinks, getting a couple Arizonas. After checking out, they got back in the jeep, driving to the movie theatre. Erica packed the snacks in their bags so they could sneak them inside (both hated paying for theatre food, which was way over-priced). Once parked, they went inside the building.
"So, what are we going to watch?" Erica asked her best friend.
"Either Green Lantern or Immortals. Which one do you want to see?"
"Um, Green Lantern."
"Green Lantern it is."
/*
After picking dropping Erica off and picking up Stiles, Lina drove home, heading up to her room with her phone in hand. Lydia had texted her earlier, saying that Jackson had broken up with her via text. Lina could tell the other was crushed and heartbroken, so she made a mental note to schedule a day to hang out when they were both free. She was about to go on her laptop when she heard Stile say Derek's name and left her room to see her brother leaning against his door and their dad, who had just gotten upstairs.
"Derek's here?" their dad asked Stiles, who nodded.
"Uh, yeah."
John stuck his head into Stiles' room and smiled at Derek. "Don't worry, son, I'm doing everything I can to prove that you're innocent."
Derek relaxed a bit. "Thank you."
John nodded and stepped back, turning to Stiles. "Listen, I've got something to take care of, but I'm gonna be there tonight. I mean, your first game."
"My first game. Guh, its great. Awesome. Uh- Good."
Lina arched an eyebrow at her brother in confusion at his tone.
John smiled at Stiles. "I'm very happy for you, and I'm really proud of you."
"Thanks," Stiles nodded. "Me, too. I'm happy and proud... of myself."
"I am, too." Lina spoke up, hugging her twin, earning a smile from him.
"So, they're really gonna let you play, right?" their dad inquired.
"Yeah, dad. I'm first line. Can you believe that?" Stiles replied.
"I'm very proud." John hugged Stiles, who returned it.
"Oh, me too, again. I'm- Huggie, huggie, huggie," he sighed, making Lina giggle and glance at Derek, who rolled his eyes in amusement.
"I'll see you both there," John told the twins before walking away.
Lina and Stiles went into the latter's room, Lina collapsing on her brother's bed.
"Scott didn't get the necklace?" Derek asked Stiles.
"No," he shook his head. "He's still working on it. But there's something else we can try. The night we were trapped at the school, Scott sent a text to Allison, asking her to meet him there."
"So?" Derek asked.
"It wasn't actually Scott," Lina continued, seeing where her brother was going.
"Well, can you find out who sent it?"
"No," Stiles shook his head. "Not me, but I think I know somebody who can." He reached for his phone, tapping on the screen for a few seconds before placing it to his ear. "Hey, Danny!" he exclaimed happily. "How about coming over and doing some of that lab work?" There was a few seconds of silence as Danny replied. "Great! See you in a bit."
Lina shook her head, grinning. "I'm gonna go make brownies." she said, leaving the room and going to the kitchen.
Getting the ingrediants, she began making chocolate fudge brownies with white chocolate chips. She was putting the brownies in the oven when the doorbell rang. Grabbing a towel to wipe her hands clean, she approached the front door and opened it, smiling at the lacrosse player before her.
"Hey, Danny."
"Hey, Lina," Danny smiled at her. "Where's your brother?"
"He's up in his room," she replied. "Up the stairs, to the right, second door on your left. I'll be up soon. I hope you like brownies."
Danny beamed. "You know I love your baking." he told her.
She laughed and hugged him before going into the kitchen as he went up the stairs, texting Lydia and Erica as she waited for the brownies to finish cooking. When they did, she took them out to cool off for a minute and headed upstairs, poking her head into her brother's room. She blinked when she saw Derek shirtless.
"-horrible person." she heard Danny say to Stiles.
"I know," Stiles admitted. "It keeps me awake at night. Anyway, about that text..."
"Stiles," Derek snapped. "None of these fit."
Lina rolled her eyes. "I'll get you a shirt, don't worry." she said, making Stiles and Danny jump. Derek gave her a gratefull look. "I came up here to ask if you guys wanted something to drink."
"I'm good." Stiles said, Derek shaking his head.
"Um, I'm good, too," Danny said, his eyes glued to Derek's chest.
Lina nodded and left the room, heading to the guest room to grab one of Derek's shirts before going downstairs. Putting the shirt on the counter, she grabbed a knife and cut the brownie and put the slices on a plate, grabbing it and the shirt before heading back up to her twin's room.
"There," Danny was saying, pointing at the screen. The text was sent from a computer. This one."
"Registered to that account name?" Derek inquired, taking the grey shirt Lina held out to him.
"No, no, no, no, no," Stiles vehemently denied. "That can't be right."
Lina frowned and looked at the screen, her eyes widening when she saw it clearly said 'Melissa McCall'.
Stiles patted Danny's back and said, "Well, Danny, great job. Thanks for all your hard work."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Danny said, turning to Stiles. "You called me here."
"I did," Stiles replied. "And now I'm sending you off. I've got some things to do. Also, the game's tonight, isn't it?"
"Uh, yeah," Danny nodded.
Stiles made a 'go away' gesture with his hand, signally for Danny to leave. The keeper threw him an irritated look before glancing at Derek and standing up. Lina linked her hand through his, leading him out of the room.
"I'll wrap some of these up for ya," she told him, holding up the plate of brownies.
He brightened. "Sweet,"
Grinning at him, she led him to the kitchen and set the plate down, going to a cabnent and grabbing a container and cover, putting half of the batch of brownies in it before handing it to the goalie. He took it, kissing her cheek.
"Thanks, Lina."
"No problem. And good luck at the game." she told him, grabbing a brownie and biting into it.
He nodded and left, Derek and Stiles coming down seconds later. The three of them piled into the Jeep, Lina in the back, and began their way to the hospital. On the way, Stiles' phone pinged, meaning he got a new text. Stiles looked at his phone, eyebrows furrowing.
"It's from Scott."
"What's it say?" Derek assked and Stiles pulled off to the side to check, Lina peering over his shoulder.
The text turned out to be a picture of Allison's necklace.
"Call him," Derek said.
Stiles did so, putting his phone on speaker.
"Did you get the picture?" was the first thing Scott said when he answered.
"Yeah," Stiles nodded. "I did, and it looks just like the drawing."
Derek reached over and grabbed Stiles' wrist, asking into the phone, "Hey, is there something on the back of it? There's gotta be something. An inscription, an opening, something."
"No," Scott sighed. "The thing's flat. And no, it doesn't open. There's nothing in it, on it, around it, nothing. And where are you? You're supposed to be here. You're firstline."
Scott let a grunt of surprise before they heard Coach's voice ask, "Where the hell is Bilinski?"
"Man, you're not going to play if you're not here to start."
Stiles sighed esasperatedly. "I know. Look, if you see my dad, can you tell him... tell him I'll be there. I'll just be a little bit late, okay?"
Scott sighed, but agreed.
"Alright, thanks." Stiles hung up, putting his phone away.
"You're not gonna make it." Derek told him.
"I know."
"And you didn't tell him about his mom."
"Not until we find out the truth."
"By the way, one more thing." Derek said casually to Stiles.
"Yeah. Oh, god!" Stiles exclaimed as Derek slammed his head into the steering wheel, making Lina wince. "What the hell was-"
"You know what that was for." Derek growled at him.
"You did sort of pimp him out, Sti." Lina reminded her brother as the twins got out of the jeep.
Lina and Stiles quickly made their way into the familiar setting of the hospital, frowning at the empty corriders, because even late at night there were at least a couple nurses around. The twins looked at the nurses' station, only to find it abandoned.
"She's not here." Lina told her brother, knowing that Derek could here them due to his superior hearing.
"Maybe Jenny's here." Stiles said, meaning Peter's nurse, as they made their way to Peter's room. "Uh, Li, he's not here."
Lina's head snapped around and she stared at him. "Repeat that, please."
"Yeah, Pete's not here." Stiles told her.
They turned to leave after sharing grins, only to halt when they were blocked by Peter.
"Hello, Stiles. Lina." Peter greeted them calmly and Stiles grew teary eyed at hearing his voice for the first time in years.
"What are you doing here, Stiles, Lina? Visiting hours are over." They heard Jennifer say from behind them, but they ignored her, Stiles lunging forward and throwing his arms around Peter, who let out a grunt of surprise, though he returned the hug.
Lina whirled around when she heard a thud to find Jennifer on the floor, unconsciou, and Derek glaring at Peter.
"That's not nice." Peter said, reluctanly releasing Stiles. "She's my nurse."
"She's a psychotic bitch helping you kill people. Stiles, Lina, get out of here. Now." Derek ordered the twins, who nodded and shared a look with Peter before running out of the hospital.