| The Spiral, Half Two |
Isaac, on the other, hand, wasn't so lucky: the sword aimed at him pierced through the right side of his abdomen and twisted. "Ahhhh!" Isaac cried out, his hands immediately grabbing onto the blade and forcing it back out of him. Derek swung around simultaneously, forcing his own claws into Isaac's attacker's chest, right below their neck. The otherwise ninja stumbled backwards before collapsing to the ground, just as the hunters on the forward end of the room drew forth crossbows that had been strapped to their backs.
"So, that's how it is," Derek said aloud. Isaac, who'd fallen to a knee, lifted himself back up and glared down the room at his opponents, ready to charge.
"Derek?" came Danny's voice from behind them, and Derek stretched his neck back.
There he saw at the other end, the two men had drawn forth large shields. "Run!" Derek yelled, darting for the windows to his right. He crashed through one just as heard the piercing of air, followed immediately by a massive explosion that sent a great stream of fire chasing after their fall. Derek landed smoother than the others and Isaac the hardest, the wound in his side not healing properly. With no time to analyze it, Derek immediately took off, the cars on the opposite side of the building. They ran and they ran hard, hearing movement behind them and what sounded like the reloading of weapons.
The cars came within sight and just as they were about to pass through the opening in the brick wall that surrounded the temple, Derek crashed and flew back. With too much momentum behind them, Aiden and Cora did just the same and Derek's back collided with Isaac and Danny. The movement behind them stopped and they looked up. There, with seven crossbows outstretched and seven hands on undrawn katanas, stood the seven remaining ryōshi. The wolves slowly clambered up, Cora looking to her brother for direction.
"You are trapped, Mr. Hale," the left-of-center one said in a Japanese accent, stepping forward and lowering his weapons before removing his mask. He was an older man, likely in his 60s by any standard. "Lay down your talons and come inside; we merely wish to talk."
"You wanna' talk?" Derek posed sarcastically. "You're killing my brother, you nearly blew us up, now we're cornered because of your barrier, and you wanna' talk?"
Their leader smirked and motioned for the others to stand at ease, each of them doing so synchronously. "Inside, Mr. Hale; there's something you need to see."
— | RIS | —
The five werewolves reluctantly accepted their escort to the basement of the temple and found themselves in a room with a single table with a folder on it and two chairs on opposite sides of it. They piled into the room and Isaac was given one of the chairs, his wound still bleeding. Derek stood next to him while the three stood evenly around them. The older man took the other seat and the other men fell into the shadows—even with heightened vision they still seemed invisible.
"I didn't think ryōshi ever talked to us," Derek said, his arms folding.
"They don't, Mr. Hale," the older man answered, leaving Derek with a confused look. "We are not ryōshi." Aiden looked over at Derek as if to say 'What the hell did you get us into?'
"Then why did you attack Scott?" Derek pushed, glaring down at the man.
"We were hired by a man claiming to have lost his sister to the alpha," he answered, opening the folder and retrieving the top sheet. "Do you know this man?" he said, rotating it and sliding it forward. Derek shook his head and looked at the others—none of them recognized the red head's photo paper-clipped to what looked like a background file. "His name is Julian Hall." Still nothing. "He seemed to have a great knowledge of Mr. McCall and his pack," the man continued, looking at Isaac in particular. "He gave us a specific window to attack. And how. He knew of the ryōshi as well," he said, looking back up at Derek. "He wanted the alpha to suffer."
"Why are you telling us this?" Isaac asked through burning eyes, using all of his control to restrain from slitting open the man's throat.
"Because he claimed he wanted 'Peter' to suffer," the man answered. Everyone froze, even Isaac. Confusion hit them first, and then, when he moved forward a stealthily taken shot of Scott and Isaac, understanding set in. "This was who he claimed attacked his sister," he continued, pointing at Scott's face. "After we attacked you," he said, his gaze shifting back to Isaac, "we discovered that this man's name is not Peter at all, but that it is Scott. My men started to dig further and they came up with this." First, he retrieved a newspaper clipping—it was the obituary of a one 'Jennifer Hall,' a nurse that worked at Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital. Only Derek understood the clue when a second full-print photo was pushed forward. There, standing with Julian Hall, was Peter Hale. "We know about your family's past, Mr. Hale. We know about the fire and we know about your uncle's homicidal, sociopathic tendencies."
"To say the least," Aiden grumbled and Cora shot him a nasty look.
"Wait, why hire you to make Scott suffer?" Isaac asked, looking at the documents spread out on the desk. But then it clicked. "Shit, we have get back to the hospital. Aiden, call your brother," Isaac ordered. Everyone got up to leave and Aiden dug out his phone when the older man continued.
"Not so fast, Mr. Lahey," he said. Everyone turned and looked back at him, desperation plastered on all their faces except Cora's. "We are still werewolf hunters," he continued, rising to his feet and the other six men circled in. And then a few more joined in, totaling the room to at least two dozen bodies. The werewolves looked around, ready to fight their way out when the man placed two vials on the table, one a thick, dark violet color, and the other a light, clear, pale green color. "However, we know of Mr. McCall's reputation. We know that beneath the beast that comes out on the full moon beats a heart full of light and the fire to do what is good. As the kumicho of the Yasutori clan, I want to extend to you a peace offering, in hopes that one day we can be forgiven for this crime."
Of all the confused looks, Isaac's was the most stricken. "You want…our forgiveness?"
"We want your forgiveness, Mr. Lahey. But most of all, we want Mr. McCall's. A true alpha is a rare thing, something that only happens once during a man's lifetime. We know what Scott McCall is capable of, not just in your world, but in ours. Please, accept these," he said, pointing to the vials. "The dark one will stop the venom corroding in your side. The lighter one will save your alpha." Isaac nodded, lifting the vials and shoving them into his pocket before the five walked through the opening made by the mass of hunters.
— | RIS | —
Ethan never picked up his phone and the panic that had already settled in immediately magnified. They raced back to the hospital, breaking multiple laws in the process—even Danny, the 'most pure' under Scott, almost hit a few pedestrians. When they pulled up to the hospital, Derek immediately identified Peter's scent amongst all those lingering in the halls. "He's here," he said and they ran off towards the ICU, gaining a few angry glares and remarks as they hurried.
When they turned down to hallway leading to the ICU wing, there was Ethan, lying across the bench. Aiden assumed the worst, but when they got there, his lazy brother was merely asleep. "Hey, asshole," Aiden said, kicking at his twin. "Get up!"
Ethan opened his eyes, grumbling as he looked at his brother with an annoyed stare. "What?" He looked around to see Cora, Danny, and Isaac each watching Derek as he pinged the desk secure wing. The same nurse from before walked up and frowned at seeing Derek's face. She hit the button from the inside and stepped out, looking more than peeved.
"It's Derek, right?" she asked, and Derek skeptically nodded. "Listen, hun,' I talked to Melissa; I know you're not Scott's brother. I dunno' why you lied, but quite frankly, I don't care. You're not family—you can't go back and see him."
Derek looked at Isaac behind him on his right. "Then take Isaac back there…he needs to see Scott."
"He's not his brother either, and since Melissa's not here, I can't let him back there."
"Where is Melissa?" Isaac asked.
"I sent her home to freshen up a little. She probably left ten minutes ago; she'll be back soon." The nurse looked at Isaac's hopeful face, his eyes clearly pleading with this woman. "Look, Isaac, I like you. I see the way you care for him…your young love is sweet. But even if I wanted to…the doctor's in with him now."
"Dr. Fenris is back?" Isaac asked.
"No it's his assistant, Dr. Deaton I believe." Everyone seemed to let out a sigh of relief, that is until they looked down the hall and saw both Dr. Fenris and Dr. Deaton walking towards them, Stiles right behind. Isaac and Derek shared an alarmed knowing look and Isaac pushed past her first, Derek right behind. "Stop, you can't—call security!"
Isaac stopped, sliding in front of the room before darting in. There, looming over Scott, dressed in a dress-shirt and tie with a white doctor's coat covering most of his frame, was Peter Hale. He looked up and smirked, his hand crossing over onto Scott's throat and his claws sliding out so that they threatened to pierce the skin they were pressed against. "Good to see some friendly faces," he remarked.
"Get away from him," Isaac said, his eyes glowing a deep yellow.
"You can't win this one, Peter," Derek said just as he stepped beside Isaac. "Even if you kill him and take Scott's powers, there's six of us now. We'll kill you…for good this time."
"You've never really had much vision, Derek, have you?" Peter replied, clearly relaxed in this situation. "See, if I don't kill him, all the power that makes a true alpha will be lost. At least, if I do it, I'll spare the world of that deficit and plus, I'll spare Scott from the worst moments of his life. Do you know what these guys did to him? Do you know what effects Scott will go through in the last hour of his life?"
"Don't play games with me, Peter, we know you hired them," Derek replied, taking a step forward.
"Ah-ah," he remarks, tightening his grip a little more, one of the pointed claws piercing Scott's neck, evident by the light blood flow running down into the sheet. "I must admit, I'm a little impressed. Yes, I devised this whole thing, but that's old news. The question is what happens now," he said, looking at Isaac. "Do you let me spare him of the excruciating, conscious torture he'll go through in a few hours, or do watch him die knowing that you could have ended this painfully for him?"
"None of the above," Dr. Deaton said, walking in behind them. Derek and Isaac turned to look at him, his hands in his pocket, his face meaning all business.
"Doc…how good it is to see you," Peter said with one of his classic smiles.
"Wish I could say the same," Deaton replied calmly. "See, Isaac here has the cure. Your mercenaries gave it to him." Peter frowned immediately, looking from Deaton to Isaac; the blonde nodded and retrieved the small green liquid-filled vial. "Step away from Scott," Deaton warned. But Peter accepted that this was now his only chance. His muscles tightened to rip Scott's throat, but Deaton moved first. From his pocket he threw a large cloud of mountain ash at the former alpha and as it collided, Peter seemed to lose full control of his powers, forcing his claws to nails. He fell back against the wall as the ash surrounded him like chains and towards Deaton the ash soon formed into what looked like a rope, which the druid held onto with a tight grip. "Derek, Conrad is handling the nurse; she called off the security. Get the twins and get Peter out of here." Derek nodded and left the room, eliciting a great deal of (futile) struggle from the older Hale. "Isaac, I've got him. You should inject that into Scott's IV." He looked back at Peter. "Use the whole thing just to be sure."
Isaac nodded and took a few steps to Scott's bedside. In the emergency supply cart below the IV he found a syringe which he promptly filled. He looked at Scott's near-lifeless form and pushed the liquid into the cord leading to the bag. Just then, Derek and the twins walked into the room and grabbed hold of Peter right after Deaton go of the magical rope, all of it somehow appearing in Deaton's hand. They led Peter out of the room, the twins on his arms and Derek with a set of claws in his back; Isaac was already seated by Scott, resuming his touch with Scott's hand. "Give it some time," Deaton said, gripping his shoulder before walking out himself.
— | RIS | —
Isaac awoke to a sensation on his cheek; someone was caressing the light peach fuzz and it was staring to tickle. His eyes fluttered open and, rather than seeing a concerned Melissa by his side, he saw those beautiful brown orbs in front of him, a weak smile beneath them beaming down at him. "Scott—"
"I'm glad you're here," Scott said, his voice even weaker than his smile. "I'm glad you're alright."
Isaac lifted his head and smirked, even laughing a little to himself. "You have no idea," Isaac said, leaning forward and kissing his alpha tenderly.
"I love you, Isaac," Scott said against the blonde's lips.
"I love you, too."