| Tricking the Tricksters |
"Inside, hurry," the ninja said, holding the emergency door of the sheriff's station open. Scott and his friends scurried in, filing into the main room of the building. There were only two deputies at their desks—Clark and Strauss—and the sheriff was in his office.
"Everyone okay?" Noah began, Stiles giving his father a hug; Scott nodded in turn.
Mason looked at their dark-clad savior. "Who are you?" he said in awe, wonder, and excitement.
"My name is Osada Eiji," the man said, unveiling his face.
"You're a kitsune," Derek said, intrigued.
"Jikai, yes," the ninja confirmed.
"Uhh…" Mason sounded.
"I am time kitsune."
"That's how you froze the hunters, right?" Liam asked. The man nodded.
"How did you know?" Scott asked.
"You are known to many, Scott McCall. But in this instance, I was sent."
Before anyone could ask, Satomi Ito walked out from the conference room, followed by Brett Talbot. "You?" Scott said, dually delighted and surprised at seeing the other alpha.
"Hey, Scott," Brett said after Satomi smiled at the true alpha. "Liam, Mason. Hayden." There was an animus to the way he greeted her, both in tone and gaze. A fleeting whiff of…jealousy? Scott clasped hands with Brett and Satomi was clearly radiant, motherly, looking over her now safe set of allies.
"When you called and told me Helena Argent was in town," Satomi began, "I feared the worst. But everyone's," she continued, glancing around at the pack before spotting a nervous Derek, "…okay. Derek?"
"Hello, Satomi-sama," Derek said with a nervous grin.
"How…?" she said, turning to Scott.
"It's a long story," Scott answered, turning to give the Hale boy a reassuring smile.
"You've come a long way, Deucalion," Satomi said, smile lessening but not quite dissipating. "Running solo, helping teenagers."
Deucalion simply smirked. "I'm a reformed man. And who's to say I'm 'running solo?'"
"Quite," she replied. "You should know something, too."
"About Eichen House," Brett furthered, his tone more apologetic than anything.
"What happened?" Malia said, stepping forward.
"There was a break-in," Satomi answered. "The supernatural ward…it was a massacre. Poison gas."
Scott's brow furrowed, his head shaking in disbelief. "Did anyone survive?" Derek tried, his voice alarmed and hurried. "Is my uncle, is Peter…?"
The alpha exchanged a look with the kitsune. "Only two survived, I'm afraid," Satomi offered. "But your uncle, your father," she said, looking at Malia, "it seems he was targeted."
"And we're already next," Stiles admitted aloud.
"That's why we're here," Brett said. "We wanna' help."
"There is something else," Eiji said. "The Argents are not just seeking revenge. They are purging this world. Cleansing it. And to do so, they must strike at its center."
"Its center?" Scott said.
"The nemeton," Lydia muttered.
Eiji nodded. "They are planning on taking away its power. And to do so, they have to kill its anchors."
Scott and Stiles immediately looked at each other, each remembering that night before the lunar eclipse. And then remembering Allison.
"Anchors?" Jordan said. "Scott and Stiles…are they still tied to it?"
Eiji nodded again. "It is not active the way it once was."
Scott recalled Deaton's words. "You have to find a way to close that door."
"It manifests only subliminally now," the man continued.
"Like a darkness around our hearts," Stiles furthered.
"So we're the primary targets," Scott stated. "That's nothing new," he said, emphasizing with a hesitant grin to his best friend.
"There's more, though," Satomi said. "The Argents aren't travelling alone. The Soothsayer is with them."
"The who?" the sheriff said in his usual perplexed tone.
Before anyone can answer, they hear a bunch of car doors slam and a series of firearms being clacked. Derek looked around the room. "Where's Mr. Argent?"
/ | * | * | \
Chris Argent crept quietly through the Beacon Hills reserve. His Desert Eagle was drawn, infrared goggles on. "Where are you, Lyall?" While he couldn't seem to find the nemeton, he didn't stop. His venture deep in the woods had to be successful; Lyall Payne was too dangerous to be allowed to live. After a while, though, he heard it: an ultrasonic emitter tuned to a human frequency. He approached cautiously, expecting the trap. As he neared, he saw it sticking in the ground. Suddenly he heard a snap to his left and swung to fire, only for him to drop from the taser that had been fired into his back.
/ | * | * | \
Everyone bustled about. The sheriff and three deputies scrambled around the building with their guns drawn. Corey activated his invisibility and snuck up to the windows, calling out numbers. Hayden hurried to the door and locked it.
"Stiles, Mason, downstairs," the sheriff ordered.
"Can I at least get a gun?" Stiles tried.
"Now!"
"Go with them," Scott said to Derek, opening his phone and dialing his dad. However, the call just hung.
"They're using jammers," Noah Stilinski said, holding up a wired walkie, indicating that it, too, was inoperable.
"I could sneak out," Corey offered. "Call someone. Scott's dad?"
"They're too good," Scott said, shaking his head. "They'll kill you."
"They'll kill us all if we don't do anything," Malia said.
"So what do we do?" Hayden asked, looking to Scott.
"You don't do anything," Valerie Clark said. She turned to the sheriff. "They all should be downstairs. They're kids."
The sheriff took one look at Scott before looking back at Hayden's sister. "They can handle themselves. Trust me." She went to protest when he pulled her into his office.
In the back by the emergency entrance, Strauss was covering the door, stance and shotgun at the ready; Satomi, Eiji, Brett, and Liam moved to cover it as well. The two betas were sharing awkward glances every few seconds; Liam was blushing.
Malia and Deucalion went into the office Agent McCall had formerly used, covering the window.
Hayden rejoined her sister, the two sharing a glance. They got into position to cover the office window.
In turn, the sheriff joined Scott by the front. They exchanged a look, waiting for Lydia to predict who was to die first.
Lydia and Jordan were in the front corner, the banshee trying to talk him down from a seeming panic attack. Deep down, it was something more. His eyes were ablaze, claws and fangs revealed. "I can feel it," Parrish breathed, slamming his head back, fiery eyes opening. "It's calling me."
"What is?" Lydia said.
"It's in danger. He'll get them, Lydia," he said almost trance-like, grabbing her wrist painfully tight.
But then there was a voice and Jordan let her go, looking away from her and towards the source of the sound. Gerard. "It doesn't have to be this way, Scott!" the patriarch yelled, standing a good distance from the front of the building. "If you and Stiles come out alone, we'll spare the rest of your pack. And your families!" The 'for now' was deafening.
Stiles, having heard the ordeal from the top of the stairs, emerged. Scott and the sheriff looked at him. "No, absolutely not," Stilinski said. "You're not going out there. Neither of you are, you hear me?"
"But, dad, they're raze this building to the ground with everyone in it if we don't." Stiles looked at his best friend for support, and despite the alpha's look of fear and sadness, he nodded.
"Come on, Scott!" Gerard yelled. "You've got 30 seconds! Time to choose!"
"Scott, you can't," Derek said, having emerged as well. He looked heartbroken. The sheriff stepped in front of the door, physically trying to bar them. "Scott, please…"
They heard another gun pump. Scott turned to Derek. "If we don't make it out of this, you look after my mom."
"Scott!?" Gerard called.
Stilinski suddenly lurched forward and handcuffed Stiles' wrist to his own. "If you're going, so am I." They shared a tense look, but it broke when it all seemed unnecessary. Sirens erupted from down the road, close enough to be ready to turn into the department's parking lot. At first, they thought it was just the other deputies on patrol that evening, but 20 cars and a few federal SUVs later spoke otherwise. They formed a surrounding perimeter around the building and the hunters. Deputies. State police. FBI. They all got out defensively, guns at the ready.
Scott and Stiles exchanged the happiest of grins when they heard a familiar voice. "Gerard and Helena Argent," Rafael McCall said, amplified by a megaphone, "order your men to put down their weapons. This is the FBI. We have a warrant for your arrest." There was no movement at first, the hunters' guns still pointed outward. "You're surrounded. Comply and disarm."
Another few seconds passed and Rafe was about to speak again when Helena broke her silence. "Guns down! Everyone, guns down!" she yelled. Sounds followed of safeties being flipped and metal touching concrete before being kicked away. The deputies and officers started to approach the hired guns who'd dropped to their knees and laced their fingers behind their heads; they knew the drill.
Rafe and Mack, in turn, approached the elder Argent couple. They bound their hands, Rafe on Gerard and Mack on Helena. "Gerard and Helena Argent," Rafe began, "by order of a Federal judge, I'm placing you and your men in FBI custody on charges of engaging in organized criminal activity, numerous counts of attempting to harm law enforcement, attempting to destroy government property, and 2 counts of attempted murder of an immediate family member of a federal law enforcement official. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be…"
Scott watched his dad in awe. The station had emptied, the two human deputies leaving to help as the sheriff—now unbound from his son—and the pack and allies all looked on. After Rafe finished mirandizing the Argent heads and placing them into the backs of separate state cruisers, he turned to see Scott beaming at him. Rafe returned his smile and looked to see Stilinski with his own eyes on him. They shared a nod.
Malia kissed Stiles before grinning at him. Mason and Corey shared an embrace. Liam awkwardly kissed Hayden's cheek, Brett a few feet off to the side of the boy. Derek walked up next to Scott and linked their hands, smiling at him.
"Wait," Lydia said, looking around their group and then out at the cars. "Where's Jordan?"
Suddenly, Scott's phone buzzed. It was a text from Argent.
/ To Mr. McCall and Stilinski. Come alone if you want him to live. /