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Lacy here! And guess who is back! That's right, Derek is finally back in Beacon Hills and boy, did he have a rough time getting there. Peter needs a zipper on his mouth. One that's soldered shut. *smiles* Wouldn't that be a nice world? Anywho! So, Derek is back, but the fun is just getting started. Read on, kids!

P.S. Poor Coach.

Disclaimer: I own Effie.

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~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Effie sat in her room, ignoring the banging coming from Stiles's. She didn't even have to guess what he was doing. It was Mischief Night in a few hours, along with Coach's birthday, and, for years, Stiles and Scott had taken pleasure in pranking the man, along with the rest of the team helping out. Effie had stopped helping around the time they tried it on her birthday. Both still sported scars from that.

Shutting her computer as she heard the front door slam shut, Effie finished braiding her hair over her shoulder and moved around her room, grabbing her pajamas from her dresser. She was about to go into her bathroom for a shower when a tap on her window had her spinning in place.

The sight that greeted her, and had her heart racing for a whole new reason, was Derek carefully climbing in, a smile on his face.

"You're back," Effie breathed.

Derek nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry for being gone so long."

Effie raced forward, hugging Derek tightly. "No, don't apologize. I'm just glad to see you." she relished him picking her up. "So glad."

Derek buried his face in her neck. "I sense a story behind that but I hope it can wait until tomorrow."

Effie laughed. "Oh definitely," she pulled back. "So, ran your phone over, huh?"

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Thankfully, since her dad was working and Stiles was out causing trouble, no one was around to notice Effie share her shower with Derek. Before long, they were tucked into her bed, sharing everything that had happened while they were apart.

"A were-coyote," Derek said slowly. That had basically been her reaction to his telling her about being kidnapped and tortured by mexicans with Peter. That and a full body search to make sure he really was in one piece.

Effie nodded against his shoulder where her head rested. "Yeah, I know. It threw us too. But we saved her, just in time. And I think Scott's finally embraced his alpha side."

Derek run his fingers up and down Effie's back. "Good, that'll help in him the long run." he kissed her head. "God, I missed holding you."

Effie smiled, turning her head to accept his kiss. "Trust me, you're not the only one who missed it. Though, I certainly did pick up on your missing me in the shower."

Derek laughed. "And here I thought I was being subtle."

Effie snorted. "Pinning me to the shower door the moment we got in, yeah that's very subtle."

She shrieked as Derek shifted them, rolling so she was pinned under his body, his leg tucked between hers. Effie couldn't help smiling into the kiss. Yeah, it was really good having Derek home.

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Effie climbed outta Stiles's jeep and sighed. "What exactly did you guys do to Coach this year?"

Stiles snorted. "Ef, if I told you, you'd ruin the surprise." he turned towards the school. "Oh, what are they doing here?"

Effie frowned until she saw who was standing with Scott; Ethan and Aidan. "This should be interesting."

"Back at school?" Scott asked.

"No, just to talk."

"Oh," Stiles moved to Scott's side. "That's kind of a change of pace for you guys. Usually, you're just hurting, maiming and killing."

"You need a pack," Aidan said. "We need an alpha."

"Yeah," Stiles continued speaking for Scott. "Absolutely not. That's hilarious, though."

"You came to us for help, we helped." Ethan pointed out.

"You beat his face into a bloody pulp." Stiles shot back. "That's not helping. In my opinion, that's actually counter-productive."

"Why would I say yes?" Scott asked, getting back on topic.

"We'd add strength." Aidan supplied. "We'd make you more powerful. There's no reason to say no."

"I can think of one," Isaac appeared beside Effie. "Like the two of you holding Derek's claws while Kali impaled Boyd. Or forcing me to watch as Kali turned Effie. In fact, I don't know why we're not impaling them right now."

Aidan growled, his eyes flashing. "Wanna try?"

Effie stepped forward, as Isaac started growling and her own eyes flashed lilac. "Go ahead, make a move."

Scott reached out, grabbing Effie's arm, who, in turn, grabbed Isaac's as well. They looked at their alpha and stepped back.

"Sorry," Scott said. "but they don't trust you. And neither do I."

Scott stepped between the twins, heading towards the school. Stiles followed with Effie and Isaac picking up the rear as they shared smirks at Ethan and Aiden's expense.

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Isaac leaned against against the wall next to Effie's locker. "I never thought I'd see you accept Scott as your alpha."

Effie shrugged. "Derek may be my mate but we both know we can't survive alone. Not even with him still being an alpha. And Scott's a true alpha, a true leader. If I'm going to follow anyone, it would be someone who was born to lead."

"What does Derek think?" Isaac asked.

Effie shut her locker and leaned against it. "He's always trusted Scott, for the most part. And if he's meant to follow Scott, he's more than willing to do so. Derek was never meant to be an alpha, and still isn't used to it, so choosing one to follow really is the easier path for him. And he sees the potential that Scott has, now that he's embraced his alpha side."

"Good," Isaac nodded. "I know what you said, a few months back, about always being there for me no matter who our alphas were, but I'm glad we'll still be the same pack. It wouldn't feel right, otherwise."

Effie smiled, linking her arm with Isaac's. "I agree." they started towards Stiles's locker. "It's a fact of life, Lahey, we're stuck with each other. Now and forever."

Isaac laughed. "I can think of worse people to be stuck with."

They approached Stiles and Scott, only to hear the weirdest thing ever.

"I'm the hot girl?" Scott questioned.

"You are the hottest girl." Stiles reassured before he backed away and headed down the hall. Effie frowned after him. What the hell?

"What?" Isaac said, clearly confused.

"I'm the hot girl." Scott said, slightly dazed.

Isaac nodded along. "Yes, you are."

Scott chuckled before following Stiles.

"Would they be worse people to be stuck with?" Effie asked as they watched the two disappear.

"Oh yeah," Isaac agreed.

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

"Son of a bitch!"

Effie snorted as she focused on the doodle in her notebook. Looks like Finstock had found the first of his many pranks for the day.

Said man came slamming into the room. "Mischief Night, Devil's Night. I don't care what you call it. You little punks are evil." by now the entire class was attempting to smother their laughter. "You think it's funny every Halloween my house gets egged? A man's house is supposed to be his castle." he smacked Scott's desk. "Mine's a freakin' omelet." he turned to his desk, seeing present. "Oh this? We're gonna do this again?" he dropped it to the floor. "I don't think so." as he smashed his foot down on it, something clearly breakable shattered inside the box. He knelt down and picked up a piece of a broken mug. Picking up the card, he read it. "Happy birthday. Love, Greenberg."

Effie looked over at the boy, who looked as crushed as his present. Poor Greenberg. She looked at her notebook again and frowned. Her doodle wasn't a doodle any more. It had taken shape. A masked creature stared back at her, eyes glowing and, even though it was a pencil drawing, Effie somehow knew they were supposed to be yellow.

"Ef," Stiles leaned closer, concern on his face.

She held up the drawing. "It's happening again."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

"Barrow went after kids with glowing eyes," Isaac said as he, Allison, Lydia and Effie followed Stiles. "he said those exact words?"

"Yeah," Stiles confirmed. He kept watching Effie, who'd been quiet since the drawing in Coach's class. "And no one knows how he woke up from anesthesia. Just that when they opened him up, they found a tumor full of live flies, which in any other circumstance would be all kinds of awesome."

"Did you say flies?" they turned and saw Lydia had stopped.

"Lydia?" Allison questioned.

"All day I have been hearing this sound." Lydia said. "It's like, this buzzing."

"Like the sound of flies?" Effie asked.

"Exactly like the sound of flies." Lydia confirmed, sounding more annoyed then relieved.

Effie sighed. "Well, if it wasn't safe to say before, I think it is now. There is no way this isn't supernatural."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Effie stood, arms crossed, with Isaac, Ethan, Aiden and Scott. She didn't know which made her more uncomfortable; the police leaving or Barrow having been anywhere near the school.

"Lydia thinks that he's still here." Scott said. "Even though the cops searched the whole school. But they didn't have one thing." he pulled a hospital gown from the bag he was holding. "Our sense of smell."

"Your sense of smell," Effie said, uncertainly. "I've never done this before."

"That's why you're staying with me and Isaac." Scott said. "We'll lead you through it."

"Do we really want a novice working on this?" Aidan asked. "I mean, this guy's a killer."

Isaac gave the omega a look. "Effie is more help than you'll ever be."

Scott held his hand up as Aidan took a step forward. "Knock it off, both of you. Effie is going to learn the same way Isaac and I did. Field experience." he held up the gown again. "Now get the scent and start in the basement."

Ethan and Aidan took their wiff first before heading into the basement. Isaac took the gown from Scott and held it up for Effie.

"Take a breath from the air around us," Scott started instructing. "Focus on what's already in the air, what you can already smell."

Effie nodded and shut her eyes. Inhaling deeply, she picked up Scott and Isaac's scents, which were already familiar to her, then the cleaning products used in the school and the lingering scent from lunch.

"Now sniff the gown." Isaac said. "Focus on the new scent, identify it separately from what you already know is there."

Effie took the gown and brought it to her nose. Immediately, the smell of evil and terror flooded her mind. She felt herself let out a whimper and Isaac place a hand on her shoulder, grounding her. She inhaled again, finding the pure scent of Barrow, tilting her head as she found its trail, leading into the basement.

"I got it." she said.

Scott smiled, proud. "Good, then let's go."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Effie tapped her hand against her leg as she waited for Derek to pick up his phone.

"Hey Effie,"

Effie smiled. "Hey you, so our plans for this afternoon are gonna have to be postponed."

"Okay, is something wrong?"

Effie glanced at Stiles, who was waiting for her. "Just a thing going on at school. I told Stiles I'd help him out with a prank on Coach."

Derek laughed. "Alright, give me a call when you're done."

"You got it," Effie smiled again. Hanging up, she headed towards Stiles, who was frowning at her. "If it wasn't for the fact that I know Derek has something to do with Peter, I would have filled him in. He doesn't need to worry about Barrow unless he gets his hands on one of the pack."

Stiles nodded. "Kay then,"

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Effie stared at her canvas, at the portrait she was painting of Derek. She'd just finished his eyes, a mix of his human green, his beta blue and his alpha red. Showing all the sides that made up the man she loved. On his face, his scruff was heavier then normal but not as thick as when he was wolfed out. The very tip of his fangs peaked out from under his upper lip, which was curled up in a small smirk. His arms were crossed over his chest, his claws, like his fangs, just barely visible. He was wearing one of his gray henley's, sleeves pushed up to the elbows.

Effie had started working on it after Derek had left with Cora. She wanted something to distract her from his being gone, and even if it made her miss him a little more, it also worked. She was focusing on every little detail of Derek's face and upper body. She hadn't put this much effort into her work since painting her walls over a year ago.

But now, she couldn't refocus on the next part of the painting. Something was nagging at her, telling her she should be focusing on something else. Something more important. And she didn't think it was the sketch she'd made in class, which she had pinned up behind the portrait.

Looking down at the red she used for the alpha in Derek's eyes, it hit Effie like a brick. Scott. Something was wrong with Scott.

Tossing her paint brush down, Effie tore off her smock and took off from her room.

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Effie ran down the street, following Scott's scent. As she got closer to the source, she also caught Barrow's scent, and Kira's. Along with fear attached to Kira's scent. She made it to Scott and found Stiles and Lydia with him.

"Effie," Stiles hugged his sister. "how'd you know?"

Effie shook her head. "I just knew something was wrong. I couldn't focus on anything but that feeling." she looked at Scott. "What happened?"

"Barrow took Kira." Lydia said. "He was after her the whole time."

"We have to think of something." Scott said as he got off the phone. "He's going to kill her."

"I knew he was there." Lydia said. "How did I know that?"

"Cause you heard the flies, right?" Stiles suggested.

"What do you hear now?" Effie asked.

Lydia listened carefully, taking a few steps forward as her head slowly tipped to look up. "It's not flies. It's electricity."

"Wait a second," Stiles started thinking. "Barrow was an electrical engineer. He worked at a power substation."

"What substation?" Effie and Scott echoed.

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Effie jumped off Scott's bike and followed him into the building. Stiles was going to check one side while the two shifters took the other side. Running through the substation, they listened for any sign of where Kira would be. Sniffing, Effie caught a scent and tapped Scott's arm. She motioned in the direction and he took the lead.

Entering a room, they found Kira tied to a fence.

"Scott! Effie! No!" Kira shouted.

Before they could react, Barrow appeared and hit them both with live wires, knocking them back, sending them flying into opposite walls. Effie groaned as she pushed herself up on her forearms. Because she hadn't been prepared, she was able to block or channel the electricity Barrow used on them.

"Don't," she heard Scott pant. "She's not-she's not the one you want."

Effie saw Barrow bring the live wire closer to Kira. "Barrow, she's not the one with glowing eyes! Stop!"

Barrow wasn't to be reasoned with. And yet, when he brought the wire closer to Kira, it suddenly sparked and the power units around them started exploding. Effie covered her head, using her Spark powers to shield her body from the bursts of electricity.

Looking up when she felt it was safe to do so, Effie saw the remaining sparks converging on Kira, being absorbed right into her hands. And, even stranger, Kira looked just as surprised as Effie and Scott.

Okay, just what the hell was Kira?

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

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Okay, not gonna lie, Effie's ending thought was exactly what I said when I saw the episode. Like, what the hell? At least Effie isn't the only confusing thing around any more! *pauses* Wait...that's not a good thing. *grins* So, let me know what you think, flame policy stands and thanks so much for reading!

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