Author's Note:

Hey guys, I can hardly believe I'm up to seventeen chapters already. I feel like there's still so much to come with this story and I've barely scratched the surface. I won't be updating now for at least one-two weeks, just so you're aware. I have some exams on that I need to focus on.

Don't forget to review, I haven't a review since chapter 14! Come on guys, tell me your thoughts or if you have any questions/requests make sure to tell me. I'm answering all reviews now :)

Chapter Seventeen: Be My Drug

He still carrying her. She wasn't sure why. Why he wasn't tending to his own wound? Or why he wasn't making sure Scott was okay. Why Sam didn't take her? If Deaton hadn't said his name as he lifted her from his car, leg still bleeding but bound, she wouldn't have believed that Derek Hale was trying to save her.

"Find Scott…" Avery whispered softly, tugging at Derek's collar. She knew that Scott had been worse off. From all the wolfsbane in his lungs he could suffocate in seconds, even away from the vaporizer.

"It's alright. We've got him." Derek hushed her, as the doors to the veterinary opened and she was quickly taken inside.

"What about you? She got you too!"

"I'm fine." Derek assured her before placing her gently down onto one of the metal tables as everyone else filed in. She noticed that Isaac, Erica and Stiles had stayed in the waiting area while Sam helped bring in Boyd and Derek went back for Scott.

"What happened?" Deaton said worryingly as he moved to inspect Avery's leg. She hissed with pain as he removed the makeshift bandage torn from someone's clothes.

"Victoria Argent happened, that's what." Sam said as he raced around the vet's looking for something to help Boyd's bullet wounds. They'd been laced with wolfsbane too, but he was lucky to get away with only a few scrapes and one wound in his shoulder. They'd used a common form of wolfsbane in these bullets, not like the rare one that Derek had been shot with a while back. Once Deaton pointed him to a set of draws with the bottles of herbs in them, Sam had Boyd fixed and healing. It was lucky he was immune to its effects, they needed an extra pair of hands. Now the next problem was the unconscious Scott and the wounded Avery.

"It's already infected." Deaton leant closer to her thigh, "Something like this… I don't know if my medical expertise can fix this. If she could heal then this would be simpler, but she's not looking too good."

"What? No, Deaton we don't give up." Sam shouted, slamming his fist hard into the wall, "As long as she has a breath in her lungs and a beating heart then we can save her."

"This girl needs a hospital!" Deaton asserted back, "She needs professional medical attention to make sure that the infection goes away. I can stitch her up but it's not going to do any good if we can't get whatever's poisoning her out of her system."

"Wolfsbane." Avery groaned, momentarily pushing her thoughts away from the searing pain, "She had a knife that had been coated in wolfsbane."

Derek came in with Scott and laid him down on the floor beside Boyd. Deaton was split moving between the two as he checked Scott's airways.

"Sam I need you to go into the top drawer on the left, over there, " Deaton pointed where he needed Sam to go, "There's a tub of syringes and bottles of antibiotics. Bring it to me."

Derek moved out of the way as Sam rushed to do what he'd been asked. Derek's eyes were stuck glancing between Scott and Avery, wondering if they were going to make it out of things alive. Deaton caught sight of it and smiled warmly.

"If it's any help," he directed at Derek, "Scott's going to live. If you didn't get him out of there when you did there wouldn't be much I could do. With some rest and fresh air, his system will clean itself up."

"And Avery?" Sam asked, handing the items to Deaton as he got to his feet. Dr. Deaton avoided eye contact but moved to Avery's side. He filled the syringe with the antibiotics and flicked it a little.

"There's no known cure for aconite poisoning when it's in large quantities." He said flatly, "In small amounts it can be dealt with but I'm not sure how she's going to cope with fighting off the poison and blood-loss at the same time. If she's had a small enough dose then maybe the antibodies will be able to fight off the infection. But there's no certainty."

"So what you're saying is that she could be dead by the morning if you've guessed wrong?" Sam's aggressive tone began to surface again, "We're leaving her life in your hands and you're 'not entirely sure'."

"Calm down." Derek eyed Sam off as Deaton administered the injection around her wounds, arm and leg. She was still dropping in and out of consciousness.

"I won't be –,"

"SAM!" Derek shouted, "I know you're worried but you're not helping anyone. You need to cool off some steam, so tell the others to go home. You should go back to the depot with Isaac. I'll call you if anything happens."

"I don't have a phone." Sam said, still riled.

"Then I'll call Isaac, he's got one." Derek placed a hand on is shoulder, "It's not going to make you feel better waiting around in here."

"I need you to promise me something." Sam said quietly, bowing his head almost out of shame.

"Anything." Derek nodded.

"If things take a turn for the worse and you don't think I can get here in time…" he paused and took a deep breath, "I need you to turn her."

Derek was taken aback, but nodded silently again. He couldn't fight Sam on this and it wasn't a terrible idea either. If they knew she was dying, he was the Alpha. She'd begin to heal almost instantly and it wouldn't be too bad having another wolf in his pack. Derek was just worried that it wasn't what she wanted. Either way he would respect Sam's wish, family was precious and he could understand doing anything to protect what he had left. Sam left on those words, Boyd feeling well enough to leave with him. That left Scott recuperating on the ground and Avery's fate up in the air.

"It hurts… so much." Avery said, moaning where she lay. Derek spun around and walked by her side.

"Take my hand," he commanded. She glanced up at him disoriented but took his extended palm. He shut his eyes, as the veins around his hand grew more prominent and blackish in colour. She could feel the pain slip away and let out a happy sigh.

"That's much better." She smiled weakly at him, he let go and slightly smiled back at her, but it was barely noticeable, "Don't let go." She quickly pulled his hand back into place.

"I don't need to hold it anymore. The pain will be gone for a while now." He explained but she wouldn't have a bar of it.

"I know… It just helps with the nerves."

"I'm gonna stitch it up now," Deaton said with the thread and needle in hand. She nodded and looked away.

"You know what Derek?" she patted the top of his hand with her other free one, "You're not too bad. I could be dead in a container and you came in and kicked her ass. Now she's going to be off crying somewhere because your awesomeness is too much to handle."

"You sound drunk." He laughed.

"I'm too poor to buy myself a drink." She grumbled, "Besides who needs to drink when they've got their own human drug."

"Human drug?" he almost frowned.

"Yeah. That's you. With all your magical wolf mojo and healing crap. I like it. It might give me a reason to be nicer to you. I can mellow out every now and again… but can you do that without holding my hand. I don't want people to think we've got a thing going on if I'm clinging on your arm all the time for human drugs."

"I think you need to rest." Derek snickered and pried his hand carefully from her grip. Thanks to him her dropping out of consciousness was now followed with no brain-to-mouth filter. Deaton finished the stitches and started to clean and pack away his instruments.

"Okay…" she slurred, "I'll talk to you in the morning moonbeam." And with that her head dropped and she fell asleep. Deaton smiled at her and then to Derek.

"She's different, isn't she." He said openly.

"A real firecracker." Derek agreed.

"You were lucky to come across those two." Deaton stated, taking off his rubber gloves.

"Don't tell them I said it, but I'm glad I did."

"She should be alright." Deaton nodded, "I can already seeing the inflammation going down. I'm going to head off."

Alan Deaton took off his white coat and hung it up, getting his bag and making his way towards the exit.

"Thank-you." Derek said simply, taking a seat to watch Scott and Avery recover.

"My pleasure." Deaton nodded and left.

xxxx

"Here's fine." Isaac said as Stiles passed a certain section of the forest. Stiles silently pulled over as Sam and Isaac climbed out.

"Thanks." Sam said in a muffled voice, his mind was elsewhere, "Scott's gonna be fine. I'm sure he'll be back to his normal self by Monday."

"Yeah…" Stiles grunted back. Sam shut the door and within seconds Stile's blue jeep was out of sight. Sam and Isaac walked in silence through the forest; a shortcut to the depot and also the best way of avoiding being found.

It would be an understatement to say that Sam was panicked. He had his ears tuned to listen for a ringtone, for that dreaded call that Derek could make. He had to try and think positively but he'd never been an optimist. That seemed to be a trait that both him and his sister shared. They both had very brave fronts, but below the surface terror always lingered. Sam wouldn't over-dramatise things to the same extent that Avery would, but he could certainly get wound up. Like now for instance, his nerves were at their end. The thought that by morning she might be a werewolf with the full moon in a week, with three other uncontrollable wolves in Derek's pack, did not bode well. He finally knew what it felt like to be in Avery's shoes when Sam wanted to end his life when he was first bitten.

Maybe death would have been easier than all this, then the sense of desperation that had taken hold of him since his parents took away the love of his life. Now, thanks to Victoria Argent, it was 100% certain that mummy and daddy dearest would be here for the full moon. Their month had run out and their secret hideout wasn't so secret anymore. He knew this would happen, he knew that Avery was right. A small part of him wished that he had just listened to her and they had moved on, but Beacon Hills was calling him home. Maybe it would be better for everyone if they just left again. There would be fewer hunters in town, maybe less death. Leaving Derek again like this didn't sit well in Sam's gut though. He needed to prove his worth to his ex-best friend. But maybe that wasn't the best plan when survival was involved.

Their mission tonight had failed dramatically. Stiles had a police scanner hidden in his jeep; it had been declared that there was a casualty at the rave. Kara Simmons. They'd failed to protect someone in danger and they'd failed to protect Jackson from his master. Sam couldn't help but feel the most responsible. They were supposed to help Jackson, to be able to come to terms with a memory from his past that caused his mutation, but how could Sam do that when he hadn't even reconciled with his own past? He was a hypocrite, declaring to help someone while he was just as helpless. He knew it, as clear as day, that if he was going to help Jackson in any way that he'd first have to break his own curse. He knew, Avery knew, heck maybe even Derek knew what was holding him back. But he couldn't let it go, he couldn't allow himself to get over what had happened. His past had been full of such senseless evil acts; he'd been responsible for more deaths than you could count on your fingers and toes. It all culminated to one pivotal event; karma finally catching up to him. Ilena's death had to be in the universe's grand design, to punish him for what he had done. This was the one thing that he could not forgive, because he deserved it. He didn't feel sorry for himself, but he was torn up that it had to be someone he held so close.

Now with Avery on the brink of survival it was like fate was mocking him again, trying to take away everything and everyone he held most dear. He'd lost his best friend, the love of his life, and his parent's devotion. All he had left was his sister. If he would be denied even her there was no telling what he would do. He doubted that fate would let him shrivel up in a hole and die too. He could run from his actions but eventually they were going to catch back up with him. The past always had a funny way of doing that.

"Hey… are you alright?" Isaac's voice broke through Sam's swirling thoughts. Sam shrugged and held himself tight as the brisk air around them dropped.

"Just thinking." Sam tried to lay Isaac's mind to worry. Sam quite liked Isaac, that was and understatement. He could see little parts of himself in the kid; charisma, kindness and loyalty. He was unsure if Derek could see it, but he had made a good choice turning this kid. From what he was to what he had become it was undoubtedly a welcomed upgrade. They finally made it to the back entrance of the depot and slipped in un-noticed. Immediately the air heated around them and the musky smell of rusting metal and dust hit him. This was home.

Sam holed himself up in the same abandoned office that Avery had been resting in earlier. He had the contents of his bag sprawled across the floor. His three changes of shirts, another pair of jeans and half-a-dozen pairs of underwear. Asides from the clothes he had a blanket, a compass and shotgun. He had his pocket knife in hand, toying with it, still listening out for Isaac who had fallen asleep inside the old bus.

In some respects this was worse than what had happened with Ilena. At least when she died it was swift and final. There was no prolonged pain and he knew straight away that she was gone. This now was torture. The waiting. The unknown and cloudy future. When he heard Isaac's phone finally start to buzz his heart nearly stopped in its place. He ran, as fast as his legs could carry him. Isaac had only just pressed the call button on his phone before Sam had snatched it away.

"What's happening with her?" he said frantically.

"Take a breath." Derek's voice suggested calmly on the other end of the phone, "She's going to be alright. The antibiotics have worked. She didn't have enough wolfsbane in her system to do fatal damage."

Sam had been able to swallow the fear that had been rising. He put the phone away from his ear and leant against the wall with one hand. He just slumped there, breathing with relief, tears welling in his eyes. But they weren't out of sadness. They were of pure joy. When he heard Derek's voice asking if he was still there, he put the phone back up to his ear.

"Tha-t's. Urm… goo-d." he spluttered out, sniffling and wiping his tears away, "She's gonna be alright."

"Yeah. She's just going to need rest. A lot, which doesn't have me complaining." Derek said lightly. Sam laughed back slightly, before his tone became more somber. He had something important to say.

"I think we need to move on. She's going to take at least a month to get better. Before when she was in good health I would have stayed, because she could protect herself, but now she's too much of a target."

"By that logic, wouldn't it be smarter to hang around?" Derek said coldly, he wasn't impressed, just like Sam had thought.

"I don't know…" Sam said.

"In numbers we're stronger and that doesn't just go for wolves. It goes just the same for humans and you." There was a silence across the phone as Derek must have furrowed his brow, "I need you two here."

His words lingered over the phone lines.

"Kanima or not, you're both welcome."

"Thanks…" was all Sam could say, "I'll come by in the morning."

"Don't worry. I'll drive her back. It's kind of funny to watch her sleep, did you know she talks?"

"I've never heard her." Derek managed to make Sam laugh again.

"She's mumbling something about someone's 'impeccable jawline' right now." Derek stated smugly, he was totally using this as blackmail, "I'm pretty sure it's me."

"Yeah, yeah." Sam scoffed, "… Thanks again Derek." And then Sam hung the phone up. Cliché or not, a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He could breath again. Next thing on his list of things to freak out about: not betting killed by his parents on the full moon.