Chapter 24 – Listen and Hear Me

"I'm serious, I need the econ paper now." Avery said with a jolt of attitude as she stepped up onto the bus.

"Once we get sat down, I can find it." Jared assured her, then asked, "You know collecting your homework at the end of the day would be much easier if you'd just give me a ride home."

"No way, if you got sick in my car… I would never forgive you." She snapped with a groan as she pushed a guy who'd ran into her over into a seat she picked up a wrapped box and shoved it into Jared's arms before sitting in the seat and scooting over to let him sit down beside her.

"What's in the box?" She asked with raised eyebrows as she picked his book bag up and started to go through it in search of her homework for the night.

"I don't know… it's not mine." He admitted, as he held onto the gift box and watched her search his book bag. "It's kind of heavy though."

As her phone rang she stopped the homework search to answer the call from Teagan.

"Hey… how's Isaac?" Avery asked thinking that her best friend must be calling because there was a change with his condition.

"He's the same." Teagan sighed as she looked over to his bed then asked, "Where are you?"

"Just picking up my homework from school. Why… what's up?" Avery asked her.

Teagan quickly filled her in on how Scott had found Stiles and he seemed like himself but didn't remember anything that had happened. Once her friend started to explain how they'd found wrapping paper in Stiles' jeep and they were worried there could be a bomb, Avery's attention went to the box in Jared's hands.

Her eyes focused on the metallic wrapping paper and slowly she realized where she'd see it before. It was the same paper that Stiles had used to wrap the box containing the screws from the prank he'd played on Coach.

Her mind drifted back to Barrow; that was his thing wrapping bombs up in pretty wrapping paper and bows.

Swallowing hard she said, "Jared…"

But before she could explain a teacher she didn't recognize raced on the bus and started yelling for everyone to clear out, But Avery grabbed Jared's arm and said, "Don't move…"

With Teagan's help, Scott had already figured out the Nogitsune's plan and alerted the authorities.

Avery told Teagan she had to get off the phone but that everything was going to be okay and she shouldn't worry. They'd called in the bomb squad and she'd call her back as soon as everything was figured out.

After everyone else was gone an officer came in to do a sweep of the bus and quickly told Jared to not even move a muscle, not even to take a deep breath before he hurried off the bus.

"Oh my god." The scared teenager mumbled feeling sick to his stomach.

"It's a bomb isn't it?"

Avery looked at him and nodded, "Made of nails and bolts…"

"Oh my god, that's even worse than a regular bomb." He said the end of his sentence interrupted by a gag.

Avery's eyes widened, "Don't you dare throw up on me. I swear to god, if you puke on me… I will kill you."

Hearing a noise they both looked up to see Kira's dad slowly walking onto the bus

"They told me not to move." Jared said to the history teacher, feeling more frantic by the second.

"It's Jared, right?" Mr. Yukimura asked, looking between the teens.

"They said, stay right where you are and don't move a muscle." He nervously stammered out.

"It's alright."

"I didn't know what it was when I picked I up." Avery shuddered, "I just… shoved it right into his hands."

"She could have killed us all." Jared uttered as he pinned his eyes shut and tried to control his breathing.

"It's alright, neither of you knew." He soothed, trying to keep them calm.

"Right now we're just trying to get everyone to safety, "Avery… is there a way you climb over or crawl under the seat?"

Looking from side to side in the cramped space she breathed, "Probably over…"

"Wait, you're leaving… you're leaving me alone?" Jared gasped moving in his seat.

"Sit still!" Mr. Yukimura ordered the frightened teenage boy.

Sitting back down Avery said, "I'm stuck, I can't get out anyway."

In reality she could have climbed over the seats, but she was the one who'd endangered Jared's life in the first place, plus a part of her felt like she should have known the Nogitsune was going to strike again.

Once Mr. Yukimura had gotten back off the bus, Jared looked over to her and said, "I can't do this, I can't just sit here like this…"

She saw his leg nervously starting to shake as he tapped his foot on the bus floor, causing Avery to scream at him to stop moving.

When he started to groan and make more noises like he was going to throw up, Avery reached up and pulled down the top half of the bus window, before she stood up and looked out seeing some police officers trying to keep the curious students back at a safe distance.

She'd expected to see large vehicles with a bomb squad label or something, but she didn't see any.

"Hey!" she shouted, causing everyone to look over towards the bus.

"I don't care if you have to call in some bomb squad or the damn army… someone better get us the hell off of this bus, now!"

Sitting back down carefully trying to not move the seat too much, she threw her head back and stared up to the curved ceiling of the bus.

"Thanks for opening the window… I needed the air." Jared mumbled beside her.

Raising her head she saw he was covered in sweat, however scared she was, it was obvious he was terrified. She considered to herself that this was probably his first near death experience.

Hearing another noise at the front of the bus, the teens looked up to see Deputy Parrish.

"Parrish!" Avery exclaimed wondering why they'd sent him instead of the bomb squad.

"Miss Dukate." He responded, giving her a small smile, trying to help her stay calm.

Balling her fists up in her lap she shook her head back and forth, trying to stay calm she was afraid if she lost control she might somehow trip the bomb and kill them all.

Her eyes traveled over the protective vest he was wearing and the duffle bag in his hand.

"What are you doing?" she shakily breathed out. Now worried that she'd put his life in danger as well.

Slowly kneeling down in the isle he admitted, "I heard you yelling."

"I yelled for the bomb squad." She said, but he ignored the comment as he looked to Jared and said, "Jared, it would be very helpful if you could resist throwing up on the potential explosive device."

When he didn't respond, Parrish said, "Do you think you can do that for me?"

"I think so." He nodded, as sweat rolled down his face. He'd never been this terrified before.

Nodding he glanced over at Avery for a moment before he started to slide a pair of scissors under the ribbon on the side of the gift wrapped box.

"Jordan!" Avery gasped, her eyes wide with terror as she stared at the box. What if he cut the ribbon and it tripped the bomb?

Raising his head he looked at her surprised, it was the first time she'd ever called him by his first name. One look in her eyes and he knew she was terrified, seeming more so now than when he'd first got on the bus.

"Avery, it's okay." He assured her.

Swallowing hard, her eyebrows pushed together in frustration at the situation they were all trapped in, and feeling helpless

"You… you look really…" Jared nervously stammered out.

"Handsome?" Deputy Parrish cut him off, "Thank you."

Avery watched as he nervously licked his lips, before continuing, "For a second there, I thought you were going to say I look really young."

He paused as he slid the scissors over the blue decorative ribbon, and Jared's body tensed, before he could remind the teenager to stay very still Avery grabbed his arm, and for a second Parrish thought he saw her eyes darken for a second before returning back to normal. And almost the second she grabbed onto his arm, Jared relaxed so much he didn't even look worried anymore.

Avery on the other hand looked more nervous than she had before, like she was about to jump out of her skin as sweat beaded across her forehead. He had no idea she was absorbing the other teens anxiety to keep him still.

"If you'd said I looked really young, I was going to launch into my explanation about how I'm actually 24; and that anyone can look young if they eat right and exercise. Although, it's probably just good genes anyway, right?"

Cutting the ribbon on the box, Jared gasped and closed his eyes trying to prepare for an explosion, but luckily there wasn't one.

Parrish looked over to where Avery finally let go of Jared's arm and continuously clenched her fists and released them, trying to ignore the buzzing feeling all over her skin.

His green eyes appeared almost brighter than normal in the harsh sunlight seeping in through the bus windows as he stared at her. Letting out a small sigh of relief she slumped back down in her seat some and wiped her forehead.

The wrapping paper on the box crinkled as he slowly lifted the lid up and started to slide it, revealing the contents of the box.

Avery leaned over Jared and looked down, but to her surprise it wasn't a bomb, it was a wooden name plate reading, Sheriff Stilinski.

"Huh?" He breathed out, showing his own surprise as he picked it up and looked it over.

"Are you both okay?" He asked, looking between the teens.

Avery closed her eyes and nodded, still trying to calm her nerves and Jarred remained quiet feeling sicker by the moment.

Reaching for his shoulder radio, he told Sheriff Stilinski, "It's not a bomb, sir, but there is something in the box."

Eyeing Avery again, he stood up and went to the front of the bus placing the name plate against the window to show the sheriff.

"I'm gonna…" Jared gagged out, before putting a hand over his mouth and racing out of the open bus door behind the deputy.

~()~

A couple of hours later, Teagan was sitting in the chair by Isaac's bed again. When she wasn't staring at him, she was glancing at her phone, waiting to hear back from someone. The last time she talked to Avery she was on the bus they thought the bomb was on, then several long minutes later, she sent Teagan a quick text telling her it was a false alarm,but they were sure the bomb was at the police station. She told her she would inform her with more later.

When she heard the door open, she quickly turned her head, seeing Melissa walk into the room. The older woman shot her a small smile, as she walked over to check on Isaac and glance at all the machines hooked up to him.

"How's he doing?" Teagan questioned with a hopeful look on her face.

"About the same." Melissa answered. She looked over at Teagan, as she questioned,"How are you doing? Have you had any sleep? Anything to eat?"

"Food is the last thing on my mind and as far as sleep goes... I can't. I can't sleep." She admitted.

"I know you're worried about him, but you need to take care of yourself too." Melissa pointed out. She walked over to the younger girl, laying a hand on her shoulder, as she said,"I'll be here for the next few hours, I'll keep a close eye on him. You can lay right over there on the couch and I'll wake you up the minute there is a change."

"No, you don't understand, I can't sleep." Teagan said, as tears filled her eyes. "Whenever I do close my eyes, I see the most horrible things and it's getting harder and harder to hold on to myself, it's getting harder to realize what is real and what isn't."

"I'm not even sure if now is real." She softly added, as she looked down at her lap, and began to mess with her fingers.

"How can you usually tell?" Melissa questioned.

"I don't know. I just usually come out of it, somehow Isaac brings me out of it." Teagan said, as she looked over at her boyfriend. She sniffed and wiped the tears from her cheeks, as she added,"He keeps me grounded. He keeps me sane and without him, I'm-I'm a mess." She let out a small chuckle, as she said,"Although if he was awake, this would be the moment he tells me I'm a beautiful mess."

Melissa smiled as she looked at Teagan, seeing the love she has for Isaac, and after having Isaac basically living at her house and hearing him talk about Teagan; it was clear to see how much he loves her in return.

"I'm glad you two have each other, and I'm glad he can pull you back, but I have a feeling you're a lot stronger than you realize." Melissa began to say. She laid a hand on the side of Teagan's face, giving her that motherly touch she hasn't felt in a while, as she added,"It's great having someone by your side, someone to save you, but it's also important to save yourself sometimes. And I believe you can save yourself, Teagan."

As Teagan softly smiled at her words, she continued,"Now, you know, if Isaac was awake right now, he would hate to see you like this. Is this the version of yourself you want him to see when he does wake up?"

Teagan slowly shook her head, remembering her talk with her father earlier about the one you love bringing out the best in you. She knew if Isaac woke up right now, he would be more worried about her; how she was taking care of herself, the fact that she wasn't eating or sleeping much. He would be more worried about that than trying to get better and she didn't want that. She wanted to show him the best version of herself, she wanted to be strong for him.

"I don't have to make my rounds for another hour. Why don't I grab us some food from the cafeteria. We can sit, eat and talk. Then you can take a short nap. I'll be here with you, if anything goes wrong with Isaac or if it looks like you're having a nightmare, I'll wake you up." Melissa suggest. She gave her a soft smile, as she continued,"Although I have to tell you, I've been told I'm a nightmare repellent. At least that's what Scott use to tell me when he was little. He said I kept the nightmares away. I'm sure it was the same with your mother."

"It was." Teagan softly said. A pained look crossed her face, as she added,"But now she's the cause of my nightmares."

~()~

Deputy Parrish lowered his head he breathed a small sigh of relief, before turned to see Avery still sitting in the same seat, she was physically there but her mind seemed to be a million miles away.

"Hey…" He softy said as he walked back to where she was.

It took her a while to respond but when she finally did, her tone was oddly calm and emotionless as she said, "I should have seen that coming."

"A possible bomb?" Parrish questioned, with raised eyebrows.

Avery shook her head knowing he couldn't possibly understand, but she did feel responsible after all she knew when Stiles' surfaced again his Nogitsune side would strike.

"There is no way you could have seen this coming, no one did." He breathed, "Plus, let's just be thankful there wasn't a bomb."

Silently she stood up and started to walk away but he gently stopped her as he said, "This isn't healthy, you know? Shutting down like you do…"

Her eyes searched his face and she shrugged, what on earth could she tell him? That she pulled away and shut down because she was kind of a bomb herself and if she blew she could take people with her.

The darkness was growing and the urge to absorb and take in power to strengthen the dark side of her was growing every day.

There's no way he could understand that. If she was honest with him, he'd probably have her committed.

"It's not your fault." He softly said, watching her intently.

"If that had been a bomb, I could have killed this entire bus full of students. Do you know what I did? I picked up that gift box and pushed it into his hands. Jared said I could have killed us both and he's right…"

"You know what I think?" He started to say, "I know you had the room to get out of the seat, but you didn't. You chose to stay with Jared so he wasn't alone in this. That shows the kind of person you are."

His eyes searched her face as they stood closely together in the small space of the isle between the rows of bus seats.

Tears stung her eyes as she looked back at him and bitterly responded, "You have no idea what kind of person I am…"

If he knew, if he only knew all of the bad she'd done, knew an ounce of the darkness inside of her –he wouldn't be trying to comfort her, he'd be running in the other direction.

Giving her a small smile he pointed out, "I probably know more than you think I do."

As she stubbornly shook her head back and forth he continued, "You think I don't know you because you stay so guarded, but there are times when you let your guard down and I see you, the real you…"

She cut him off trying to move their conversation to a lighter tone, "If that was true, Deputy Parrish, I think you would have left town… ran away screaming."

She saw him smile back at her, but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes as he could tell she was trying to keep from having a serious conversation.

This had happened before when he tried to get her to open up some, but he'd quickly learned if he tried to push, she'd push right back and close off completely. And knowing all of the stress she'd been under lately, with her friend Stiles missing for two days, he didn't want to her shut down.

"And I thought we were finally on first a first name basis." He joked, knowing at the moment, she needed a lighter conversation topic.

A small smile spread over her lips as she laughed, "I have no idea what you're talking about…"

Her eyes lingered on him as he removed the uncomfortably heavy protective vest he'd been wearing over his uniform and dropped it in one of the seats.

"So you didn't just call me Jordan?" He smiled, not just at their conversation but also because when she'd called out his name, it was another of those times that she didn't have her walls up. That she'd let them down and had true emotion showing through, then she'd trusted him enough to cut open the box and see if it was really a bomb they were dealing with.

Smiling she glanced down to the floor and thought of a comeback, but when she raised her head back up she saw a bird fly into the window of the emergency exit door on the back of the bus.

Gasping she jumped and he spun around to see what had caused the thud.

As he looked back at her, he saw tears well up in her eyes as she pushed past him to see it laying on the cement where it had fell.

"Avery…" He asked concerned by her sudden turn from joking around to seemingly distraught.

But she couldn't speak as she avoided his eyes, thinking that maybe if he just looked at her long enough, he might realize she'd accidently killed the bird. He'd know just how dark she was, how bad the power inside of her was and he'd run for sure.

Her mind flashed back to the image of hundreds of dead birds littering the ground outside of the distillery and her knees went weak as she grabbed onto the back seat of the bus to keep from collapsing from the weight of the burden she carried, the weight of the memories and the crushing fear that she couldn't be saved from the darkness, what was even scarier was that she was really starting to believe maybe she didn't even deserve to be saved.

It took a few moments for her thoughts to come back to the present, and a few seconds longer to realize he was also trying to keep her standing on her shaky legs.

"It probably flew too low and got confused, or it might have been sick…" He tried to explain away the bird's suicide flight.

This time when her eyes met his, a few tears ran down her cheeks and she shook her head back forth, opening her mouth she stuttered out a few indescribable sounds, feeling like she owed him an explanation but didn't have one he'd understand.

He had no idea what she was trying to tell him, but he saw the broken expression and the fear in her eyes as he stepped closer and folded her in a tight hug, not only to try and provide some kind of comfort, but also to make sure she didn't fall down.

Closing her eyes she let out a small, content sigh at the comforting feeling that flowed over her as she leaned farther into the embrace and held onto him, softly breathing in his scent as he held her close.

He glanced down to the top of her head as the subtle notes of her perfume tickled his nose, he wasn't sure what it was about her. But he was drawn to her in a way he'd never been drawn to anyone else. The way he was entranced with her and trying to figure out what was on her mind. He wanted to understand why she acted the way she did, to know and understand why she stayed so closed off, but if there was one person who was difficult to read, it was Avery Dukate.

He opened his mouth to ask if she was okay or to try and offer some comfort to the scared teenager, but his gaze went to the window when he heard a small noise, almost like a soft clapping sound.

"Hey…" He said as he slowly released his grip on her and they both rushed to the windows looking out to see the bird was on its feet flapping it's wings before it took off, flying high up in the air and disappearing from sight.

"Must have just stunned itself." Parrish reasoned, looking over to Avery who had her hands rested on the metal of the door with her face almost pushed against the glass.

The blonde teenager had a soft smile on her lips as she realized that maybe she wasn't always to blame for the bad things that happened. She hadn't unintentionally killed a bird, the creature had ran into the window on it's own. For a moment she started to feel a sense of hope like maybe somehow they were all going to be okay, but the new found optimism was short lived.

"Parrish?"

Clicking his radio microphone on and answering the sheriff he said, "Yes, sir?"

"There is a bomb, just not here… remember those boxes of printer cartridges you brought into my office this morning?"

His finger slid off the button as he recalled the earlier events of the day and suddenly it made sense why the sheriff's name block from his desk was in the box.

Avery spun around her eyes wide, "Are Derek and Chris Argent still being held there?"

He stared back at her silently, his green eyes not near as bright as they had been moments prior.

"Oh my god!" She gasped as she moved past him, nearly tripping over the duffle bag still on the floor.

"Wait!" He called rushing after her.

"I have to get my car and go!" She called over her shoulder, but he quickly caught up to her.

"If there is a bomb, and right now that's still a big if -then you can't just go running into the building!"

She looked down to where his strong hand was on her arm from bringing her to a stop.

"I have to be there…" She argued, pulling away from his grip as she started to turn again but he said something that brought her to a stop, "Then I'll drive, we'll get there faster with the sirens on."

She nodded to him in thanks, as the pair rushed towards his patrol car.

~()~

After sitting with Melissa and taking a short nap, Teagan was alone in Isaac's room. The sun was beginning to set and she knew visiting hours were coming to an end, but she didn't care. She wasn't leaving his side. She already called her father, telling him she was staying at the hospital; which he understood. Thankfully Melissa got it cleared for her to stay in his room as long as she needed to.

Teagan leaned forward, grabbing his hand, and closed both of her hands around his. She laid the side of her face against their joined hands as she blew out a nervous breath. She raised her head, as she looked over at him.

"I-Isaac?" She softly said, wishing he would just answer her, and felt her heart drop when she was met with nothing but silence. She scooted closer to the head of the bed, brushing one of his curls from his forehead, then lightly touched the side of his face.

"I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm going to talk anyways, cause... God, I miss you so much." She kissed his hand, keeping her lips pressed against his skin, as tears began to fill her eyes. She lifted her head back up, as she continued,"I miss your voice, your laughter. That little look you give me when I crack a joke, that look that says; 'God I can't believe I fell in love with such a dork'. Even though we both know I'm hilarious." She softly chuckled, as she touched his cheek, then said,"I also miss that look you give me when you think I'm not looking, the one I catch out of the corner of my eye that tells me everything you're feeling. That one that tells me how much you love me. I miss your blue eyes, the ones that see me like no one else does. The ones I want to stare at for the rest of my life."

She reached up to wipe the tears from her face, then moved her hand back toward his face, lightly running her fingertips across his lips, as she whispered,"I miss those too. I miss feeling them against mine, miss them against my skin. You changed my life with one kiss. God, that day you kissed me. It is definitely one of my top favorite days ever. I was still feeling that kiss days later. I remember telling Avery about it afterwards. I think she was more happy about us kissing than we were. You know she was 'Team TI' from the beginning." She chuckled again, then continued,"But I remember I told her, days later I still had goosebumps. I remember it took me so many minutes to move after you left. You completely captivated me, Isaac."

She licked her lips, tasting the salty tears that fell, as she said,"I also miss your bright, beautiful smile, that to this day still gives me the flutters. All of your smiles do. I bet you didn't know you have different smiles, did you?" She paused for a moment, even though she knew he couldn't answer. "Well you do. You have that smile that you give me whenever I say I love you. You have the one when you say you love me back. There is also the one you give me when we see each other again, like at school or something, after being apart for a few hours. I miss them all, Isaac, and I can't imagine my life without those smiles again." She swallowed the lump in her throat, trying to hold it together, as she continued,"There is still so much I need to discover about you. So many more smiles, so many more laughs to share, so many more things we need to tell each other. I refuse to believe this is the end for us. I refuse to believe that you're not coming back to me. This world can not survive without you in it." She choked back a sob, as she said,"I know my world can not survive without you in it."

"I'm sorry for getting you here. I know you never wanted to come to the hospital. I know it was my idea. I know it's my fault and I'm so sorry. You were just trying to save me and I love you for that, I love you for always saving me, but I really need you here with me." She cried, "I need those blue eyes and that bright smile. Isaac, I just need you, all of you; every little part that makes you the wonderful man you are. I need it all; now and forever. Please come back to me. Please." As more tears rained down her face, she laid her head on his chest, hearing his heartbeat. "It's you and me. It's always you and me." She whispered.

~()~

As they neared the station Deputy Parrish looked over to the teenager in the passenger seat of his patrol car, noticing how nervous and on edge she seemed.

"Are you…" He started to ask but she scoffed and cut him off, "If you ask me if I'm okay… I'm going to scream."

He nodded, thinking it was a stupid question but he wasn't sure what else to say to her.

"I'm obviously not okay…" She sighed rolling her eyes, "Derek is in there… and so is one of my friend's dads."

As he pulled to a stop they both stared at the building, smoke was pouring out of shattered windows, a few officers were outside coughing and looked dazed.

"Oh my god…" She breathed afraid to see what grisly scene was waiting on them inside of the building.

"If I told you to wait in the car…" He started to say but she didn't let him finish.

"No way."

"I didn't think so." He admitted then said, "But sometimes in situations like this there are 2 bombs, the initial blast and then another one to injure and kill the responders."

As they both got out of the car she said, "Is that supposed to scare me, because it doesn't."

"Yeah?" he asked, gently grabbing her arm and bringing her to a stop as he further explained, "It scares me that –that doesn't scare you."

Looking him dead in the eyes she responded, "I deal with things scarier than bombs on a day to day basis, and right now someone that I love…" her voice trailed off and she shook her head, "That I care about is in there."

Before he could say anything else she pulled away from his grip and rushed inside the building, almost immediately coming to a stop at the sight in front of her. Everyone was bleeding; dust and smoke were thick in the air, along with the coppery scent of blood and death. Officers we're laying scattered on the floor, moaning out in pain and clutching onto their wounds.

She saw Scott and Stiles in one room, both hovering over a dying deputy and trying to help as much as they could.

Parrish stood a few steps behind her, also taking in the frightening and gory scene, his attention turned to Avery as he heard her softly say, "Clinically and unemotionally."

He started to ask her what she was talking about but looked down when he felt someone grab onto his ankle, it was a fellow deputy, heavily bleeding from his leg and in a lot of pain.

Kneeling down he applied pressure to the wound and tried to assure them they were going to be okay and help was on the way, when he looked back up he saw Avery with Derek slouched against her side, leading him into the bathroom.

Staying focused on what he was doing he continued to try and help his fellow officer.

After helping him pull his shirt off Avery gasped as he leaned over a sink and she saw his back with shards of glass and large splinters sticking out of him.

Leaning over the sink he braced himself as she started to pull the glass pieces out, wincing every time he made a pained noise.

"Stiles did this, didn't he?" Derek quietly asked.

"Stiles, no… the nogitsune, yeah." She breathed as she used the fabric from his shirt to grip onto a shard of glass and pull it from his flesh, making a face as it ripped off some freshly healed skin as his wounds were closing.

With a pained grunt he said, "He set us up, he framed Argent and I for Katashi's murder. He wanted us here when the bomb went off…"

Avery let out a small gasp as she breathed, "I… I was supposed to be here too."

"What?" He asked looking over his shoulder at her then let out a hiss of pain as she started on the wooden chunks protruding from his healing flesh.

"This morning, Stiles –er, the nogitsune sent me a text telling me let his dad know he was okay. At the time the sheriff and I neither one understood why he didn't just text him. But now it makes sense! He knew if he told me that, that I'd come to the station to show his dad in person." She explained as she removed the last of the pieces from his back and asked, "Better?"

Standing up he moved around relieved to feel everything was gone and he was all healed up.

"Yeah… thanks." He quietly said as they faced each other, then his face twisted with confusion as he asked, "I heard you say you were leaving earlier, why did you come back?"

"I came back here with Parrish… there was an incident at the school and then the sheriff figured out that the real bomb was here, and I figured they'd still be holding you." She admitted, then raised her eyebrows as she asked, "Why were you eavesdropping on me?"

"I wasn't." He quickly defended, "I was just listening to make sure you were okay."

Her gaze fell to the floor and she started say something, but then a familiar voice rang out from the chaos of the station, "Where are the ambulances?"

"That's Parrish-" Avery started to say, but Derek cut her off as he said, "I know who it was."

"I have to go… I need to help him." She said, her tone growing more confident with every word she spoke.

He watched in silence as she left the room, knowing there was something more between her and the young deputy than she let on. But that was what he'd told her to do, to move on, but it still didn't make things any easier when he was around her.

His gaze fell to the sink beside the one he'd been leaned on where she'd been dropping all of the debris from his back into as he listened to all of the pain and chaos outside of the bathroom.

"He's losing a lot of blood…" Avery observed as she knelt down on the floor with Parrish.

"I know." He breathed.

Looking down to her already bloody hands Avery was silent for a few moments as she forced herself to regain her control, this wasn't the first time she'd been covered in someone else's blood but something about the entire present situation felt off and it was affecting her ability to approach the task at hand unemotionally.

"Take your belt off." She instructed as she looked at the deputy with an almost eerily calm expression as she forced herself into a state of perpetual numbness.

Immediately realizing what she was planning his fingers fumbled on the buckle as he tried to hurriedly remove his belt to use it as a tourniquet on the other officers badly bleeding leg, together they worked on stopping the bleeding.

"Avery…" Looking over her shoulder she saw a very pale Scott leaning against a tall desk near them.

"Scott, what's wrong?" She asked jumping to her feet and turning to face him.

He glanced behind her to Parrish and quietly told her how he'd been trying to take someone's pain, but the man had died right in front of him.

Avery's face contorted with pain as she stared at him, she was supposed to have something to say to make him feel better, but she knew all to well that there was nothing she could say to take that image from his mind.

Stepping forward she silently wrapped her arms around him in an attempt at a comforting embrace, as her own numbness of the situation faded away. As he held onto her she looked to the side and watched as the deputy who'd held the door open for her earlier that morning took his last breath and his eyes glazed over just a few feet away from them.

Her breathing grew labored and tears stung her eyes as she held onto Scott tighter, thinking in the end she needed the hug more than he did.

"Guys!" Kira exclaimed as she rushed up to them and said, "The Oni are coming… it's getting dark."

Stepping back from the hug, Avery wiped her cheeks with the back of her bloody hands and said, "You have to get Stiles out of here."

"And fast." Kira pointed out, almost frantic as she looked around the gruesome scene.

"I… I can't do this…" Scott admitted, looking at Avery with a defeated look as he shook his head back and forth.

He'd practically stolen the words right off her tongue but seeing him starting to lose faith in himself, reminded her that she couldn't stop for even a second. She had to remain in control at all times.

"Kira, go get Stiles." Avery instructed pointing to the room where she'd last seen him.

"Scott!" Avery loudly said as she tried to get his attention but all he could do was look around, feeling over whelmed from all of the pain and suffering in the air.

Grabbing his hand she pulled him behind a wall out of sight from everyone as she tried to calm him down, "Just breathe…"

But it quickly became apparent that it wasn't helping. Grabbing onto his head he admitted, "It's too much… there's too much pain, I can feel everyone's emotions!"

"Focus on something else!" She urged, but he shook his head back and forth, his eyebrows pushed together as he helplessly admitted, "There isn't anything else to focus on."

His voice came out harsher than he'd meant for it too, with his eyes glowing red.

Without a second thought she stepped forward, pulling his face to hers as she captured his lips in a kiss that demanded his submission to her.

One of his hands landed on her side and the other to the side of her face where she thought he was going to push her back, but even if he'd wanted to he wouldn't have had the power to do so. Not with the way she'd kissed him, she was well aware of the effect that kiss had on people, it rendered them senseless, not aware of where they were or even the time.

Finally pulling back she said, "Now get Stiles to the animal clinic, the Oni can't get to him in there."

But he didn't respond as he stared blankly at her.

"Scott!" She said clapping her hands in front of his face and making him jump as he saw her –his eyes widened as he made some indescribable stuttering noises.

With a small laugh she ran her tongue over her bottom lip and patted his cheek as she said, "I know, I blew your mind… but you need to focus."

"You… I…" He stammered still unable to form a sentence, he was doing good to form sounds into words.

"It was the only way to get your mind off of what's happening." She explained as she grabbed his arm and pulled him back around the wall and over to where they were, as EMT's started to flood the building, trying to tend to the injured and get the worst of the wounded onto gurneys for transport to the hospital.

"Ready?" Stiles asked as he and Kira found them.

"I'm staying here…" Avery admitted looking around as she saw Parrish helping an EMT load a badly bleeding officer up onto a gurney

"Scott?" Stiles asked looking at his best friend as he stood in place with a dumbfounded look on his face, as he kept looking over at Avery.

"He's fine." She quickly spoke up and said, "But you guys all need to go, now!"

Stiles and Kira nodded as she then started to walk but Scott didn't move, "You too, McCall." Avery sighed as she put both hands against his back and pushed her stunned friend towards the exit.

~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~

A/N – Thanks for reading! Don't forget to check out Miss E Charlotte and I on Tumblr, where you can find chapter sneak peeks and other Blue Moon related content! ^_^