Happy Place -Chapter 60
~A Teen Wolf fan-fiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn~
"Hey, come on in. I just gotta grab my stuff from the kitchen." Avery said to Scott as she opened the door and gave him a friendly smile.
Scott turned and waved bye to his mom as she drove off.
"You can still give me a ride home after we see Dr. Deaton, right?" Scott asked as he looked around the inside of Avery's house with wide eyes.
"Yeah, it's fine. We're picking Teagan up on the way too, she's just finishing dinner with her dad." Avery said as she checked her text messages when she picked her phone up from the kitchen counter.
"Avery, have you eaten dinner yet…" Richard voice trailed off as he saw Scott.
"Yeah, I went and got Chinese food, I yelled and said yours was in the kitchen." Avery reminded him as she nodded towards the take out bag sitting on the table.
"Hi Mr. Dukate." Scott greeted politely.
"Hello." Richard said as he walked over and checked the bag of food.
"Dad, this is Scott… he's Stiles' best friend." Avery explained as she pulled her leather jacket on.
Richard looked up at her with wide eyes.
"Is there a problem?" Scott asked, seeing her dads expression.
Avery quickly texted Teagan and looked up to see her dad shake his head and look back down to the food.
She busted out laughing, causing both of them to look at her confused.
"Oh my god… no, we're just friends, dad. I'm not dating every guy I bring in the house." Avery clarified the situation for her dad.
Scott's eyes widened.
"Oh… good, I was just getting ready to say I was really starting to like Stiles." Richard said.
"Yeah, we're just friends." Scott repeated, nodding.
After saying bye to her dad they went out to Avery's car.
"Did you talk to Derek?" Avery asked looking over to Scott.
"Yeah, he's gonna meet us there." He answered as checked the time.
When they pulled to a stop outside of Teagan's house, she was waiting outside for them.
As she got in the back seat she said, "Hey guys."
"Hey." They both greeted.
"Where's Stiles?" Teagan asked them.
"He's sitting tonight out, he went to pick up dinner for his dad." Scott explained.
"Oh, is he not meeting us after?" Teagan asked surprised.
"No, he has to make sure his dad eats." Avery chimed in.
"Oh…" Teagan said, confusion showing in her voice.
"His doctor says he has to eat healthy, but he's not listening so Stiles has been buying them healthy food instead of greasy burgers, and he's been eating dinner with him to make sure he only eats what's he's supposed to." Avery filled her in.
"That's sweet." Teagan said with a smile, not only meaning that Stiles was taking care of his dad. But also that it was sweet that Avery knew that and seemed concerned also.
"You're both sure you want to be part of this?" Scott finally asked them as Avery pulled around to the back of the animal clinic.
"It's Jackson, I have to be a part of this." Teagan quickly answered.
"And that right there is the reason I have to be a part of this." Avery said after as she nodded towards Teagan
"I know you guys just want to help, but we've seen what he can do as a Kanima, Derek and I can heal… but you guys can't." Scott said as he glanced over his shoulder to Teagan who sighed at his words.
"Scott, you're not kicking us out of this plan. If you try to, I'll kick you out of the plan and Teagan and I will take care of it." Avery said as she shut her car off.
"Yeah." Teagan agreed from the backseat.
"Wait, you can't kick me out!" Scott argued with them.
"Can to, Avery has all the tickets." Teagan reminded him.
He looked over to Avery who nodded as she flipped some of her long, full, wavy blonde hair from her shoulder.
"No one is kicking anyone of the plan, okay? We don't even have a plan yet, and I'm not saying I don't want your help, I just don't want to see anyone get hurt." He told them.
"We're all in this together." Teagan said as she opened her door and got out of the car.
Avery's heels clicked on the pavement as they neared the back door of the building.
"If we get hurt Scott, it's not your fault. I know the risks that I'm taking, but it's Jackson and I have to help." Teagan said, her voice soft.
He looked between them and nodded as they walked in the building.
"I was just about to call you." Dr. Deaton said to Scott.
"Sorry, my mom needed the car for work." He apologized for their lateness.
"It's good to see you again, Teagan." He greeted with a warm smile.
"You too." She said back. It was still strange for her to think that they were actually talking to an adult about werewolf and Kanima problems.
The only other adults who knew anything about it were the hunters.
"Avery, how's Annabel Lee doing?" He asked.
"She's doing good." Avery said with a proud smile.
It wasn't that long ago that she'd taken her kitten in to the vet to get her first shots and be checked over.
"We can put caps on her claws or there's even a procedure to de-claw her." Dr. Deaton said as he looked at the scratches all over Avery's arms.
"No!" Avery gasped.
"She can't go around with no claws, how would she defend herself if she ever got out? And these weren't really her fault; Derek showed up and scared her." Avery explained.
Teagan looked at her friend with widened eyes, she didn't know that Avery had spoken to Derek; let alone that he'd came to her house. She made a mental note to question Avery about it later.
Scott waited by the front door and let Derek and Isaac in when they got there; Scott knew Isaac would be helping, but he didn't think he'd be tagging along with Derek that night.
"What is he doing here?" Scott asked.
"I need him." Derek replied as he walked into the building.
"I don't trust him." Scott argued as he shut the locked the door behind them.
Isaac cockily replied "Yeah, well, he doesn't trust you either."
Sighing Derek angrily said, "And Derek doesn't really care."
"Neither does Avery, so all three of you shut the hell up so we can focus." Avery added in as she crossed her arms over her chest and nodded behind her to the exam room where Teagan and Dr. Deaton were waiting.
Derek looked up at her and shot Scott an angry look before he started towards the room, "You shouldn't be here." He said as he walked past her.
Rolling her eyes she turned and followed him in.
Teagan stood by Avery and watched as Isaac and Scott came in.
"Are we ready?" Dr. Deaton asked them.
"No, not the least little bit. Teagan you shouldn't be here either." Isaac said, as he saw her.
"Well you weren't supposed to be here." Teagan shot back.
"She can't be a part of this." Isaac said gruffly as he looked to Scott.
"She can do what she wants." Avery argued.
"I'm not leaving, if you have a problem with me being here; you can leave." Teagan argued with him.
"I second that." Avery said, a jolt of attitude in her voice as she spoke.
"That's my vote too, I'll let you out." Scott said as he took a step forward.
"He stays." Derek said, speaking louder than all of them.
"Maybe you should just leave too." Teagan snapped at him without even thinking; Isaac had her nerves frayed.
Derek looked at her with raised eyebrows.
"Yeah, I think we only need one werewolf on our team; and we have Scott." Avery agreed with her best friend.
Derek sighed and shook his head, "If anyone is leaving, it's the both of you. How are you even supposed to help? You're not a match for the Kanima."
"It's not just some random monster; it's Jackson." Teagan said as she tucked her brunette hair behind her ears.
"Think back to the pool incident Derek, you were paralyzed… I was the one who chased the kanima… err, I mean Jackson off." Avery reminded him as she glanced at Teagan from the corner of her eyes.
"You didn't chase anything off; you risked your life on a stupid hunch." Derek argued, getting angrier.
"Well, her stupid hunch did save you… you were paralyzed from the neck down in 8 feet of water." Scott sided with Avery and Teagan.
Derek looked over at him and opened his mouth to say something, but Dr. Deaton said.
"All of you stop it! How are you supposed to work together as a team to save your friend if you can't even be in the same room as one another?" He questioned, a look of disbelief on his face.
Derek walked past them toward the vet, his gaze lingering on Avery as he walked by.
"You really shouldn't be here." Isaac said, his voice quieter as he paused next to Teagan for a moment.
She rolled her eyes, "I can do what I want. I'm single remember, you don't get a say in what I do." She said bitterly as she looped her arm with Avery's and walked over to where Dr. Deaton was.
Once everyone settled down they were all standing around one of the metal exam tables while, Dr. Deaton looked through several bottles of herbs and other things he had.
Teagan stared at the glass bottles and tried to ignore Isaac as he stared at her.
Avery reached forward and picked up a bottle as she read the label and looked at the small brownish leaves inside of it.
Trying to stay distracted, Teagan picked up another bottle and looked it over.
Isaac started to reach a hand out, but Derek grabbed his arm and stopped him as he said, "Watch what you touch."
Startled from the sudden movement and Derek grabbing Isaac, Teagan dropped the bottle but luckily it didn't break as it landed on the table.
Scott, Derek and Isaac all cringed from the loud sound of the glass and metal colliding.
Avery smirked as she saw all 3 of them flinch from the corner of her eye.
"Sorry." Teagan quickly apologized looking up to Dr. Deaton.
He nodded but took the jar Avery was holding as he said, "How about none of you touch anything."
Leaning over the table with a curious look on his face Isaac asked, "So, what are you? Some kind of witch?"
With an un-amused look on his face Dr. Deaton replied, "No. I'm a veterinarian."
"Oh", Isaac silently breathed out.
After looking the last bottle over he said, "Un-fortunately, I don't see anything here that's going to be an effective defense against a paralytic toxin."
"We're open to suggestions." Derek said.
At the same time Derek spoke; Isaac offered a different idea, "What about an effective offense?"
"We already tried. I nearly took it's head off, and a hunter emptied nearly an entire clip into its back. The thing just gets back up." Derek explained, avoiding the girls' eyes as he spoke.
"The thing?" Teagan angrily growled.
"It's not a thing Derek, It's Jackson… he's a person." Avery said, knowing how upset Teagan was.
"Not when I attacked it." Derek said, his voice softer as he looked at Avery.
She sighed.
"Him." Teagan corrected again.
"Wait, has it shown any weaknesses?" Dr. Deaton asked surprised at Derek's comments.
"Just one; when Jackson is in Kanima form he can't swim." Avery spoke up.
"Does that go for Jackson as well?" He asked.
"No." Scott answered.
"You're sure?" Dr. Deaton asked.
"Jackson is the captain of the swim team." Teagan explained to him.
Nodding he said, "Essentially, you're trying to catch two people. A puppet and a puppeteer."
Laying a coin down on the table he continued, "One killed the husband, but the other had to take care of the wife. Do we know why?"
"I don't think Jackson could kill the wife…" Avery admitted her theory to the group.
"Humanize it all you want, but it will kill anything…" Derek started to argue with Avery but Teagan cut him off.
"No, she's right. Jackson wouldn't be able to kill the wife…. His mom pretty much died when she was pregnant with him. They kept her on life support long enough to cut him out of her." Teagan said, glancing to Isaac as she spoke.
"I don't think he could let the same thing happen to someone else." Scott agreed nodding.
"But how do you know it's not part of the rules? The Kanima kills murderers, if it… if Jackson kills the wife than the baby dies, too." Isaac explained what he was thinking and was careful to call Jackson by name, so he wouldn't upset Teagan even more.
"If it has to do with the rules, that would mean that your father was a murderer." Scott reasoned.
With a shrug, his tone was honest as he said "It wouldn't surprise me if he was."
Teagan finally looked over at him with a look of concern on her face, it wouldn't have surprised her either. From what she'd seen, Mr. Lahey had been a monster.
Looking up Dr. Deaton said "Wait, the book says they're bonded, right?"
"Yeah, what are you getting at?" Derek asked.
"I think I know… the fear of water isn't coming from Jackson obviously, so it must be coming from whoever is controlling him." Avery answered, looking to the vet.
He nodded, "So what if something that affects the Kanima, also affects it's master?"
They all watched as he poured a circle of mountain ash around the silver coin on the table.
"Meaning what?" Isaac asked.
"Meaning we can catch them." Scott said with a smile at understanding.
Isaac still looked confused so Teagan tried to clear it up, "The master is afraid of water, therefore the Kanima can't swim. Which makes it likely that something that can affect a supernatural creature would also affect the master because of the bond."
After talking to them a bit longer, Dr. Deaton told them to come back the day of the rave and he'd have the supplies they needed.
"I need to stop by the restroom." Teagan said once Derek and Isaac were gone.
"I'm heading out the car." Avery replied.
Scott followed his boss to his office to talk a little more about the plan.
~()~
After washing and drying her hands Teagan took a deep breath as she looked the mirror.
Sighing she shook her head, if she'd known Isaac was going to be there she'd have just had Avery tell her everything that happened and stayed home.
It was more painful to see him than she'd expected.
As she opened the door and walked out into the hallway, she gasped when she saw Isaac.
"I didn't mean to scare you." He said, as he moved away from the wall he'd been leaned up against.
"I thought you'd left." Teagan said as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"I don't want you going to the rave." He stated.
"Isaac, it clearly doesn't matter to you what I want… so I don't care if you want me there or not." Teagan replied.
"It does matter to me, all I want is for you to be safe, Teagan." He said as he faced her in the hallway.
"You can't talk me out of this." She argued.
"For that matter, Avery shouldn't be there either. It's too dangerous, we'll take care of Jackson you guys could go do something else that night." He offered.
She scoffed, "Yeah, we'll just sit at home eating ice cream and watching movies while every person we care about is at the rave."
"Sounds like a good plan to me." He said, before she even finished her sentence.
"There's no way, I'm going to be there and you won't talk me out of it." She said confidently.
"I wish I could…" He said, his voice soft as he brushed some hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear.
He smiled to himself as he could hear her heart starting to race from his flesh brushing against hers.
She started to lean into his touch, but then stopped as she moved away from his hand.
"But if you won't listen to me, I'll just have to talk to Avery." He warned.
"She's my best friend…" Teagan started to say.
"Which means she doesn't want you in danger either, I'll talk to her and she'll take you to do something else that night." Isaac reasoned a plan out loud.
"You're plan will fail for a hundred reasons. Avery knows how important this is to me which is why we're doing this together not to mention she'll side with me over anyone else. Then there's the fact that she's the one who got all of our tickets, whether she's there for the party or our plan she's not going to miss the rave." Teagan said to him, her tone a little cocky with her confidence.
"She was going to the rave anyways?" He asked.
Teagan nodded.
"I should have known." Isaac said shaking his head, of course a raging, underground party would be Avery's thing.
"I need to be closing up the rest of the way, it's late." Dr. Deaton said as he walked into the hallway with the two teenagers.
"Yeah, I was just on my way out. Have a goodnight." Teagan said with a small smile as she quickly walked past him, but Isaac followed her.
"You can't go to the rave, you have to do something else." Isaac said as he followed her towards door of the building.
~()~
Avery walked across the dimly lit parking lot towards her car as she sent Stiles another text message explaining more of what they'd all came up with.
When she was just a few feet from her locked car she heard something behind her. Quickly tucking her phone into her pocket she spun around and swung her arm to hit whoever was sneaking up on her.
"Whoa…" Derek breathed out as he caught her wrist in mid-air.
She groaned and tried to pull her arm away but he kept a firm, but still gentle hold on her.
"Let go of me." She demanded.
"What was it you were saying about not being afraid?" He asked with a knowing look.
"I wasn't afraid." She lied.
"You always spin around and start swinging when you hear something?" He pointed out her action.
"Of course not; I knew it was you behind me. I just wanted to punch you, but if you let go of me, I'll let you off with a dramatic slap across the face." She retorted tugging on her wrist but he kept a hold on her.
He sighed and looked up to the starless sky in irritation at her lies.
"What do you want anyways?" she asked.
"You're not going to the rave." He stated flatly.
"Mhmm, and why not?" she hummed.
"You could get hurt." He responded in a matter-of-fact tone.
"I know the risks I'm taking, I don't care." She argued.
"I have to stay focused on the situation at hand." He said as his eyes locked with hers.
"So do I." She said nodding.
"I can't be a 100% focused and on guard, if I'm trying to listen to make sure you're not in any danger." He explained.
"I can see how that would pose a problem… so how about not worrying about me?" She said with an arched eyebrow.
"You're joking, right?" He retorted with an almost amused look on his face.
"I'm actually not. I'm going to the rave and you can't stop me, Derek. Teagan is my best friend and I have to be there for her." Avery explained.
"What are you not understanding, I can't stay focused if you're going to be putting yourself in danger there." He said, his tone harsh.
"I'll be fine, I'll have Teagan and Stiles will be there…" Her voice trailed off as she saw him roll his eyes.
"What was that for?" She asked, angrily.
"What do you think either one of them will be able to do against the Kanima? It got the upper hand against me." He reminded her.
"I don't need them to make a move against Jackson, I just need to help them save him and I need you to leave me alone." She said.
"What are you talking about?" He asked her.
"I'm trying to move on, Derek. You were the longest relationship with a guy I've ever had, most of them lasted a week. Okay, that's an exaggeration a lot of them only lasted about a night. But the point is, you made a decision… you decided building a pack was more important to you than I was." She began to explain but he cut her off.
"I already told you how important you are." He argued.
"I gave you an ultimatum and you made your decision and broke up with me. You don't get to just come back in talking about how much you care about me, you don't have the right to anymore. I know it's not what you want to hear, but what I have with Stiles isn't some rebound thing, or a distraction. It's real. I actually really like him, and it's not fair to him for us to be doing this." She said, her eyes locking with his.
Moving his eyes from her gaze, he searched her face as he said, "You're right, that's not what I wanted to hear.
She closed her eyes and sighed, "I'm not going to lie when we first broke up, I was so upset and pissed at you that I wanted to blow up your car… of course for legal reasons Teagan wouldn't let me, but she was going to help me key it and slash your tires."
He raised his eyebrows in response to her admission.
"But I didn't do any of that, because I was trying to be adult about what happened and I kind of still don't even understand what all happened between us. But the point is it's all in the past and I'm trying to be grown up about this, but I can't do that if you keep doing this." She argued, frustrated at their situation.
"What is it that you think I'm doing?" He asked her.
"Trying to make me feel guilty for dating Stiles, but you're such a damn hypocrite because it's not like I'm the only one who moved on." She pointed out.
"By the way, you can tell your little girlfriend I'm not after you so she can keep her claws off of me." Avery snapped.
Letting go of her wrist finally he said, "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Erica." Avery said as she rolled her eyes.
"Is part of my pack, that's it." He assured her.
"If I'm being adult and honest about us, the least you can do is the same." She said, immediately growing angry.
"There is nothing going on between me and Erica." Derek said.
She scoffed.
"You don't believe me." He observed.
"No, I don't. She told me about how you've kissed her." Avery admitted.
"Okay… then did she tell you it was one time and I shoved her off of me?" He asked, his eyes meeting hers as he spoke.
"If she's not with you then why does she have it out for me?" Avery asked him, an expectant look on her face.
"She doesn't, you probably read too much into it." He reasoned.
"Is that, right? So, I'm guessing I did this to myself?" She asked, as she reached down and raised the end of her black dress to reveal the claw puncture wounds on her upper thigh.
"When the hell did she do that to you?" Derek asked, his voice almost in a growl as he spoke.
"The other day in chemistry, Allison has a set of wounds to match mine. The bitch is crazy." Avery said.
"Avery!" She heard Teagan gasp from across the parking lot.
Avery looked over as she let go of the bottom of her dress to see her, Isaac and Scott all watching them.
Teagan's eyes were wide as she didn't understand why Avery was talking to Derek with the bottom of her dress raised.
Avery looked between Isaac and Teagan wondering what they'd been talking about, she could tell by the look on her best friends face that it couldn't have been anything good.
Surveying them Avery rolled her eyes and said, "I was showing him my leg, not my underwear or the happy place underneath it, so can we please go?"
Without another word to Isaac, Teagan scurried across the parking lot and got into the passenger seat of the car while Scott got into the back.
Derek and Isaac watched as Avery sped off with her 2 friends in the car with her.
Isaac let out a small sigh of relief, the last time he'd told Teagan to stay away from the underground party, she hadn't argued.
Of course they'd been interrupted when Teagan saw Avery and Derek talking, but he thought maybe Teagan had listened to him and knew it was too dangerous for her to go.
A/N- Thank you all so much for reading!
What did you guys thing of last night's new episode? Crazy, right!?
Just a reminder, I'm doing my best to post a new chapter every day, Miss E Charlotte and I have decided to get the rest of this story posted, so we can post the sequel 'Twice in A Blue Moon' which with follow Teagan and Avery into season 3!