June watched Derek and Stiles as they tried to keep Brett Talbot's convulsing body still so the doctor could make the incision that would save his life. If he didn't make it or do it properly, Brett would most likely die and either way, it would be painful.
Emmy stood behind June's left shoulder, too terrified to take her eyes off the situation unfolding before them – she clutched her phone in her hand, and June could hear her uneven breathing. All things considered, June thought Emmy was taking it in a stride, but she jumped a little when Brett managed to get out of the young men's grip. He shoved them back, and Stiles bumped his head on the cabinet above him. June would have laughed if Brett hadn't then turned to her and Emmy with the sole intention of hurting them, so June did was she did best, and that was land the hardest punch she could to the aggressive boy's jaw. He went to floor, knocked out cold, and not breathing which Stiles was quick to point out despite his small bump and slight disorientation.
Deaton took the opportunity to do the incision while Brett was out of it, and as soon the doctor made the cut, the werewolf gasped for air and started mumbling something that June couldn't make out. Deaton leaned his head in to listen, and his eyebrows furrowed as he figured out the words.
"Three things can not long be hidden," he said after a short while, grim expression on his face.
"The sun, the moon, and the truth." All eyes turned to Emmy whom everyone, besides June, seemed to have forgotten was there. "My mum focused on Buddhism for a few years, and that mantra came up more than once. My dad was interested in it because he came across it while doing research on a specific werewolf pack. They're history professors," she added when she noticed Deaton's somewhat confused expression.
"With some weird-ass specialties," Stiles added, rubbing the top of his head where a bump was undoubtedly swelling up. Emmy shrugged her shoulders. Deaton cleaned up Brett but didn't dress the cut on his chest knowing that it would heal fast, however he did wrap his leg where he had been cut with the poison blade.
"Satomi," Derek mumbled, he shook is head as if recalling something from memory. "Satomi used Buddhism to gain control of the shift. Chances are this kid one of Satomi's. I'll see if I can track her down." Without waiting for a response, Derek left the animal clinic leaving June alone with Deaton, Emmy, Stiles, and Brett's unconscious body on the slab. No ordinary animal clinic was how Lydia had described it to her when the pack first took her there, and the good supernatural doctor had proven that statement right ever since.
Deaton ordered Stiles to sit so he could have a look at his head, just to check that he didn't have a concussion.
"Why are you on the list?" Stiles asked June, his amber eyes darker in the fluorescent light of the clinic. June looked over her shoulder at Emmy who had gone quiet once again with an expression on her face that she couldn't quite read – she twisted a strand of her bright red hair around her finger.
"I don't know," June mumbled, admitting defeat. "My eyes don't glow, I don't scream when people die, I don't eat people, I don't have blackouts. Nothing. I just know how to throw a punch." She looked down at the bruised knuckles of her right hand, and realized they were bleeding from the hard blow to Brett's jaw – she wasn't all that surprised with bone structure like his.
"Just a bump," Deaton determined, and let his hands fall at his side. Stiles got out of the chair, and made June sit down so Deaton could take a look at her hand – he moved her fingers and wrist to check for breaks and sprains but found nothing except the blood, and bruising already forming at her knuckles. He cleaned the wounds slowly but surely as he listened to the conversation.
"But you're on the list," Stiles continued.
"Your guess is as good as mine." June shrugged, and quickly apologized to Deaton for moving her arm, and landing a slight shove in his chest.
"There's a legend about a guardian," Emmy said quietly.
June jumped a little at the sound of her voice – Emmy sought to be as small and invisible as possible, and June struggled with holding her tongue wanting her to know that with hair like hers, it was nearly impossible. She had certainly made an impression on Liam, who had kept stealing glances at her at the lacrosse field.
"What?" Stiles asked somewhat dumbfounded. Emmy wrung her hands but stepped closer to the chair where June sat, her hair almost blinding in the light.
"A long time ago, Beacon Hills was known for its prominent supernatural population - creatures lived harmoniously with the humans but there was still a person who helped maintain that peace, who made sure that any disagreements were handled properly. A diplomat, if you will."
"June?" Stiles snorted at the suggestion. "She's more likely to start a fight than end one." June opened her mouth to protest but closed it again when she realized that Stiles was right, and if not with her fists then with her sharp tongue.
"Ignore him," June grumbled, and sent Stiles a pointed stare.
"The details are few and vague," Emmy admitted. "But apparently something happened that could not be fixed with words alone, so the diplomat used their battle training to defeat the enemy that had come to tear the small peaceful community apart. After it was all over, the guardian and the supernaturals decided to destroy the source that drew creatures to Beacon Hills…"
"The Nemeton," Stiles said, shuddering. Before June came to Beacon Hills, Stiles, Scott, and Allison had all sacrificed themselves to save their parents, and thereby bringing power back to the Nemeton – Stiles had not been fond of the stump since then, not that June could blame him.
Bringing power back to the Nemeton also released the Nogitsune from its hiding place, and nothing good had come of that.
"Right," Emmy said, nodding. "They cut down the Nemeton, and burned everything but the stump. An emissary made some sort of potion to make the humans forget that the supernatural existed, and from then on the guardian's main job was to keep the secret, and if necessary use their skills to defend the village."
June's mind was spinning a hundred miles an hour – she'd never considered herself a guardian or even a defender for that matter but Emmy could be wrong. It was just a story after all; no cause for concern whatsoever but this being Beacon Hills, June should have known better.
"It's plausible," Deaton said as he wrapped June's hand.
"Plausible?" Stiles grunted, clearly not convinced. "More like insane." Emmy shrugged.
"It's just a story," she agreed. "But it might explain why June is on the list." Stiles mumbled some unintelligible profanities while Deaton let go of June's now wrapped hand. She tried to flex her fingers but soon found that the good doctor had bandaged her hand somewhat tight, more or less cutting off blood flow to her fingers. She'd have to re-wrap her hand once she got home.
Deaton stood, and started tidying up the room, both the supplies he had used on Stiles and June but also the things that had been thrown from shelves when Brett had had his minor freak out. Emmy silently grabbed a broom, and started sweeping the floor where are jar filled with mountain ash had broken.
"Have you ever heard of the Great Fire of Beacon Hills?" Deaton asked after a few minutes.
"No," June said just as Emmy said yes. Stiles nodded.
"It happened in the mid-forties, just after the war," he began. "It started as a forest fire but spread so rapidly that the fire department could not contain it, and as a result most of the town's buildings burned down. That's why no building in Beacon Hills is from before the 50's – that was also the time the Hale Vault was installed under the high school."
"That's all very fascinating, Doctor," June growled. "Is there a point in there somewhere? And I swear to whatever higher power you believe in, if you say anything along the lines of 'have patience, young one' I will end you." Emmy, who had been mostly quiet apart from her folklore lecture, burst out laughing. Stiles was so surprised, he jumped a little at the sound, Deaton chuckled, and June smiled because she'd been able to make her friend laugh in the middle of a frustrating situation.
"My point is," Deaton said, blatantly ignoring her comment. "If there's any truth to the story Emmy just told, Noshiko Yukimura might know something valuable." The room went silent, and for a moment Brett's steady breathing was the only sound any of them could hear.
June was starting to get seriously pissed at this godforsaken town, and if anyone dared cross her right this second, they would lose a hand at the very least.
"What? That's not possible." Stiles started ranting at Deaton but June tuned him out.
Her thoughts were incoherent, nothing seemed to make sense anymore and she had a hard time telling if it was some sort of delusion or sleep deprivation that was toying with her mind. If Kira's mom had been alive during the war, and June highly doubted that, then she would be pushing eighty so it had to be Kira's grandmother Deaton was referring to. A grandmother who Noshiko had obviously been named after.
"You should go home," said Deaton, and judging by Stiles' expression, he had lost whatever argument they'd had. "Get some sleep." June nodded, suddenly realizing just how exhausted she was which seemed to be a common thing for these days.
Stiles and Emmy didn't look much better themselves so after Deaton had assured them that he would make sure Brett was okay and taken care of, the three teenagers headed for their cars. June was sure any of them should be driving but they didn't have much of a chance so June took Emmy home, and collapsed in her own bed, and slept through the night, dreamless.
The next morning, June woke up to a text from Lydia saying that she had met up with Stiles at the Sheriff's station so she didn't need a ride. Somewhat relieved, June contemplated closing her eyes for another five minutes but knowing herself, she decided to get up instead.
The bags under her eyes were as big as ever but she felt refreshed, and when she looked at herself in the mirror, she noticed that her eyes were distinctly clearer and more alert than they had been over the past couple of days.
"Morning," she greeted Marco once she came downstairs to get breakfast.
"You got in late last night," he said, sounding disappointed.
"How'd it go at tryouts?" She asked, ignoring his comment. "You make the team?"
"Yeah." She smiled.
"Good, let's go."
The ride to school was quiet. Marco knew that June was keeping secrets, especially about what she was doing and where she was going at all hours, but he'd more or less given up trying to get his sister to tell him. June's lips were as sealed as ever. Since his lecturing hadn't worked, he'd decided to use the same disapproving look that she got from their father when she told him that her former martial arts coach had agreed to teach her to fight with weapons. But even that look didn't seem to face her, so Marco had finally shrugged it off and decided that his sister could do whatever she wanted – there was no stopping her anyway.
"See you after school," June called as they separated at the school entrance.
June spotted Emmy down the hall. The redhead stood with her head leaned against the open locker door, and when she moved closer, she saw that Emmy's eyes were closed and in that moment, she looked more peaceful than June had ever seen her.
"Rise and shine," she said, chuckling. Emmy stirred awake, opening her greenish hazel eyes. They seemed unfocused, far away, and if June hadn't known any better, she would have thought Emmy was sleeping with her eyes wide open, that's how distant she seemed. June meant to ask if she had gotten any sleep at all but was interrupted by an agitated looking Scott, who held his phone a little too tightly in his hand – it had dents from the werewolf's strong grip.
"He took him."
"Who took who? Let's not be cryptic, none of us have slept an awful lot." Emmy pointed a finger at June, agreeing with her.
"Garrett," Scott said. "Garrett took Liam."
Beside June, Emmy's entire body froze.
A/N: Don't forget to leave a comment to let me know what you think! Next chapter is going to be really interesting, and we're finally going to see more of Lydia, Malia and Kira which I am so excited for. Stay tuned!