Chapter 38 – Just Close Enough to Touch

The oni walked away, spilling more and more blood as it went, Avery let out a scream as she slammed the palms of her hands against her head so hard she couldn't see for a few seconds. She had to get the images of watching one of her closest friends being killed from her mind, she needed to focus on the problem at hand; staying alive.

Then it occurred to her that not only was she in the building, so was Stiles' dad and Deputy Parrish, she hadn't seen either since the fight had broken out.

Managing to pull herself together she went back to the bars and reached through, after a small struggle she managed to get the keys out of the blood, next to the fallen officer and let herself out of the cell.

Starting deeper into the police station she stopped when she realized there weren't any more sounds of fighting, no more gunshots just pained moans from the injured, weak and dying.

Her entire body trembled as she wondered what grisly scene she might stumble upon but there was no way she was turning and running. Sheriff Stilinski was in there somewhere, and not only had she also grown attached to him, but she knew how bad Stiles worried about losing his only living parent.

The farther she moved into the building, and the more dead officers she saw the more she was also starting to worry about a certain deputy, with every body she saw, every step she took the fear of losing him was getting stronger –though she didn't quite understand why the feelings were as powerful as they were.

Chalking it up to just being afraid of losing another friend, she turned down a hallway and stopped dead in her tracks as she saw an oni laying on the floor next to a body face down in a puddle of blood.

It wasn't dead, she knew that for sure. She'd only seen one oni die and that was the night when Allison had found a way to kill them, she wasn't sure how her friend had managed it but she did. This one hadn't exploded, it was laying there like it was unconscious.

Slowly she moved closer until she saw it the black smoke like substance rise from the floor and swirl around until the oni was back on it's feet and headed for the room directly in front of it.

"Sheriff!" She heard someone yell and was pretty sure the voice belonged to Parrish. Meaning for the moment at least, they were both alive and she intended to keep it that way.

As she started towards the room loud cracks of gunshots rang out and she slowed her pace the last thing she needed was to get clipped by a bullet. When the sounds died down she rushed into the room and saw there wasn't just one oni anymore, they were dealing with two of them, with one now closing in on her.

"Avery, watch out!" The sheriff yelled, but she had nowhere to run as it came at her swinging it's sword, she expertly avoided every hit as it sliced through the air.

As it raised its sword to her again she ducked down to avoid being struck as she spun and swung her leg out, knocking it down for only a few seconds. But a few seconds was all it took for someone to grab her arm and pulled her away from the immediate danger of it's sword.

~()~

Isaac parked the car beside Chris' vehicle, then glanced over at Teagan in the passenger seat for a moment, the two saying everything they needed to say with one look before they threw their doors open and stepped out into the night. Teagan ran to the back of the car, opening the trunk and then reached inside, grabbing the bow.

She pulled it out, looking at it for a minute it felt strange holding Allison's bow. It felt weird thinking about using it, but it also felt right. Allison was the one who figured it out, she was the one who killed an Oni first. It was only fitting that her bow would be the one to end them once and for all.

Teagan looked back inside the trunk, seeing two arrows sitting there. Chris took two and gave her the other two. She had two shots at killing them and she couldn't miss, everyone's lives depended on it.

She closed her eyes, remembering everything Allison ever taught her about bows; how to use one, the right way to pull back the string, the way to line up your shot. Every lesson came rushing back to her. She just hoped she could remember everything in the moment, she hoped she didn't screw this up.

When she felt someone grab her hand, giving it a squeeze, she opened her eyes and looked over at Isaac. He flashed her a small smile, as he whispered, "You can do this, babe. Allison taught you everything you need to know. She believed in you, and I believe in you too."

Teagan softly smiled back, as she nodded her head, then quietly said, "It's you and me."

Isaac leaned forward, pressing his lips against her for a gentle kiss. He rested his forehead against hers, hoping to give her strength as he whispered back, "It's you and me. It's always you and me, Teagan."

Teagan opened her eyes, staring at him and feeling like there was nothing she couldn't do. Knowing he believed in her, knowing that Allison had believed in her, she knew she could do this –she would do this, for Allison.

The two pulled apart when they heard Chris close his car door. They looked over at the older man, who was holding a crossbow as he asked them if they were ready.

Teagan nodded her head, as she grabbed Isaac's hand, before the two began to walk behind Chris as they made their way toward the school building. Scott had texted them earlier about the plan so they knew everyone was here; minus Avery who was stuck at the station. Teagan hated that she wasn't there but knew she would be safe where she was and for that she was grateful.

As they got closer they heard the unmistakable sounds of a fight; the sounds of growls from a few werewolves and the clinking of swords from the Oni, causing the three to run toward the noise, hoping to help before it was too late.

They came to a stop near the main stairs, looking down at the tunnel that lead to the athletic fields. They saw Derek, Aiden and Ethan fighting some Oni; who were quickly wearing them down, just like it did the others before.

They saw one Oni twirl his sword over his head, planning to bring it down and slice into Derek, but before the Oni could make a move, Chris raised the crossbow and fired off an arrow.

The twins and Derek, watched the arrow pierce the Oni in the chest. They were surprised when they saw a bright light emanating from the Oni before he burst into a puff of black smoke.

"What was that?" Ethan asked surprised, as he looked up at Chris.

"Silver." Chris answered, as Teagan and Isaac stepped up on the ledge beside him.

Isaac gave Teagan's hand one last squeeze before jumping off the edge, doing a flip and landing down below with others. Teagan saw an Oni raise his sword as he planned to walk over to Isaac but before he could take a step, she loaded an arrow and pulled the string back, sending an arrow flying toward the Oni and hitting him near his heart.

She smiled as it exploded into black smoke, saving her boyfriend. She couldn't help but think of Allison, she had a feeling she was smiling down on them as well.

Isaac glanced behind him, a grin on his face, as he look at his girlfriend. He already knew she was a badass, but always felt proud inside when he got to watch it happen right in front of him.

From the corner of his eye, Derek saw the Nogitsune run off, heading for inside the school; where they assumed the others were. He looked back at them as he yelled out, "Isaac, the box. Get the triskele box to Scott!"

Isaac nodded his head at his former alpha, then glanced at Teagan one more time before he ran over to the box. He quickly scooped it up and ran toward the school building to look for Scott and the others. He never liked leaving his girlfriend behind, but he knew she could hold her own until they were reunited again.

~()~

Looking over Avery realized it was Deputy Parrish who'd pulled her behind a desk with him, he looked at her with a shocked expression. The first time he'd seen the masked being raise a sword to her, he thought for sure she was dead. But he'd watched her fight back better than the officers in the station had been able to.

She didn't say anything as she stared back at him, their eyes meeting briefly as she breathed heavily from the fight and staring death in the face. As scared as she was for everyone in the building, including herself a part of her had also never felt so alive, a feeling dangerously close to what she felt in the fight against her mother. Her head spun from the rush of adrenaline rush and she started to wonder if she drew power from something, from someone if she'd be able to fight he oni better.

There were plenty of wounded men around, chances were they weren't going to survive it would be so easy to pull the last of their life force from them. But almost as quickly as the though crossed her mind, she was appalled at herself. She'd been fighting so hard to not dip into the darkness, each time she did it seemed to take over her life little by little, how much longer until it completely swallowed her up?

"Stay behind me." He ordered as he protectively put an arm in front of her and pushed her behind him, trying to keep her safe.

She watched as he continually fired shot after shot at their approaching threat, each bullet causing it to pause for a brief second before continuing it's unrelenting pace at them.

"What are you doing, keep shooting!" Avery demanded when she noticed the gunshots stopped.

"I'm trying!" He yelled back, frustrated as he clip jammed and he had to hurry and get another from his belt.

"Avery, stop!" He shouted as she stood up, she fully intending to fight keep it back away from him as his fingers clumsily tried to eject one clip and load the next one, now his concern was solely for the blonde teenager putting herself in imminent danger.

They both looked over as the sheriff yelled, "Avery!" before tossing a shot gun to her, which she effortlessly caught, cocked, and fire a shot in the direct center of the oni's chest, sending it backwards from the impact.

Standing up Parrish looked between them as the sheriff came closer with a shotgun of his own, "Sir?" Parrish breathed motioning to Avery who fired another at the oni, again hitting her target with ease.

In his mind, they were supposed to be trying to protect the teenager, not giving her a weapon.

As Parrish started to fire on the masked intruder again the sheriff pointed out, "You're gonna need a bigger gun." As he fired a shot, also hitting the other oni.

Suddenly she saw a few more policeman jump up from behind the desks they were hiding at but all of their gunfire was useless. The moment they'd get one knocked down, the other would move in closer.

Blood sprayed the room and pained cries rang out as the oni easily overpowered and brought them down one by one.

As one turned it's attention in Parrish, the sheriff yelled, "Go!" As he pushed the young deputy out of harm's way and towards the door the office, where Avery was fighting off the other one, using the gun to block the oncoming impacts from the blade, which sparked as it collided with the metal barrel again and again.

Deputy Parrish rushed to her aid, as helped fight their way past the oni but once it was back on it's feet it swing it's sword at Avery, but Parrish pushed her out of the way and yelled out in pain as the sharp blade sliced into this side.

"Jordan!" She shrieked, terrified for him, but he pushed her out of the room and ran after her, both of them believing the sheriff was right behind them but it wasn't until they were in the room across the hall and Parrish collapsed against a desk that they both realized they were alone.

"Where's Stilinski?" the deputy asked in a pained voice as he held onto his heavily bleeding side.

"I thought he was behind us…" She admitted, her voice trailing off as she saw the oni through the open door of the room.

"Avery…" He winched as he tried to stay standing, despite the fact that his entire body felt like it was on fire.

She looked down to the shot gun in her hand, knowing she was out of bullets and had nothing to stop the demon from closing in on them.

"You need to get out of here, run." He instructed her, as his legs gave way and he slowly slid to the floor, still clutching onto his side

When she didn't respond he asked, "Do you hear me?"

"I hear you." She answered as she readjusted the gun in her hands and looked down to where he was sitting in his painful, wounded state knowing without a doubt there was no way she was leaving him for dead.

He looked up at her and their eyes locked for a few seconds before she managed to pull her gaze away, leaving him yelling after her as she walked right towards the oni and pulled the door to the room shut behind her.

Yelling out in pain he gripped onto the side of the desk to pull himself up, trying to get out to her before she got herself killed but as he raised up he was able to see through the open blinds of the windows looking out into the hallway, where to his dismay she seemed to be holding her own against the masked figure that easily towered over her by at least a few feet.

Just as his grip slid from the desk and he collapsed back onto the floor he closed his eyes and leaned his head back with a pained expression as the last thing he'd saw was the other imposing masked figure seeming to appear out of nowhere from behind her, and the sound of her scream still echoed through his ringing ears.

Through the devastating and haunting sounds repeating in Parrish's head along with the image of the Oni swinging it's sword at Avery, he could just barely hear the door to the room creak open.

Mustering all the strength he could, he reached beside him and picked up his police issued handgun, but when he opened his eyes a look of relief flooded over his face as Avery leaned against the now open door frame.

"You're alive!" He exclaimed laying the gun back down and leaning his head back against the desk.

"Yeah…" She said through gritted teeth as her entire side and back felt like acid was being poured on it, if she didn't know better –she'd have bet money that her flesh was literally melting off.

Wincing with every step she took she made it over to where he was and dropped beside him, breathing heavily from the pain and exhaustion.

"Did they just leave?" He finally asked.

She nodded and blinked back tears of pain as she hoped they'd make it through whatever was happening to them, survive whatever kind of poison that had gotten into their wounds.

"You… you put up a hell of a fight. That was amazing." He said as he continued to watch her.

With a weak half smile she reminded him of an earlier conversation they'd had, "I told you I happen to possess an elite set of skills."

"No kidding…" He breathed shaking his head as he remembered watching her fight the masked figures moments before.

Trying to block out the excruciating pain from her deep wound she let out a small laugh and said, "Jordan…"

"Yeah?"

"If we make it out of this thing alive… you so owe me dinner. I'm not going to have the last date I was on be one that I picked up the tab for."

Managing a weak smile at the breakfast they'd shared months ago he said, "That wasn't a date…"

"It was to." She argued for a split second forgetting about the pain until she tried to scoot on the floor.

"You're… 16." He reminded her but the truth was he was always having to remind himself that she was a teenager, because he'd never really viewed her as one.

Rolling her eyes she weakly said, "We just literally risked out lives for one another, I think you owe me at least one day where you don't bring up our age difference, not even once."

"Deal."

~()~

The remaining two Oni began to go after Derek and the twins again. Derek spun around one of the Oni, then grabbed on to him and holding him in place as Chris fired off his last arrow, getting him in the chest. Teagan loaded her last arrow, then fired off the shot toward the last Oni.

She gasp in surprise, when he sliced it with his sword, causing it to fall on to the ground in two pieces. She glanced over to the closest person who happened to be Aiden.

"Aiden, get the arrow! It's the last one!" Teagan yelled over at the werewolf.

Aiden nodded his head, as he ran over toward the Oni. He slid across the slick pavement, barely missing the Oni's sword, as he grabbed the part of the arrow that had the silver arrowhead on the end. He quickly stood up then stabbed the Oni, watching him burst into a cloud of smoke.

Teagan smiled, as she lowered the bow, seeing that they had done it. They stopped the Oni, at least they had won this war. The victory was short-lived though, when she heard Ethan yell out for his brother, then saw a sword sticking out of Aiden. He had been stabbed by an Oni, just like Allison had.

"No." Teagan breathed out. This wasn't supposed to happen again. They weren't supposed to lose Allison and they definitely weren't supposed to lose anyone else. They were supposed to win, they were supposed to be okay.

Teagan and Chris laid their weapons on the ground and then ran over to the stairs, making their way down to the ground level where the others were. They came to a step beside Derek; all three were now looking down at Ethan, who was holding his brother in his arms both had tears running down their faces.

"Does it hurt you as much as it hurts me?" Aiden asked, as blood poured out of his mouth.

"Yeah." Ethan breathed out, as he laid his head against his brothers.

"It's okay." Aiden choked out, as he tried to breathe in between the pain. "Lydia never believed I was one of the good guys anyway."

"She'll believe me." Teagan spoke up. She would make sure Lydia knew Aiden fought till the end and went out as one of the good ones. She squatted down beside him, as she softly said, "I'll make sure she knows exactly what you did, Aiden. I'll tell her everything, I promise."

Aiden turned his head to look at Teagan, as he nodded his head with tears in his eyes. She grabbed one of his hands, giving it a small squeeze as she apologized to him. She couldn't help but feel guilty. She was the one to tell him to grab the arrow. He tried to squeeze her hand back, telling her it was okay.

She was never that close to either twin, not after finding out their pack was responsible for the death of her mother. They were also responsible for holding Avery captured all summer, harming her boyfriend, killing Boyd and Erica, as well as numerous other horrible things but she also couldn't ignore some of the good they had done recently. It didn't make up for everything, but she could tell they were trying. All they wanted was what any of them wanted; to live, to survive.

After losing Allison, they all felt like something was missing now, a piece of them was gone, and now Ethan would have to live the rest of his life without his other half, the other piece of him was gone. He didn't even know if he could survive without his twin brother.

Ethan continued to hold his brother until he heard his heart stop beating, causing him to let out a quiet sob, as he slowly lowered him toward the ground. Teagan reached out with her other hand, grabbing Ethan's hand hoping to give him a little bit of comfort.

As he glanced up to look at her, she whispered out a apology to him, knowing how badly he was hurting. She knew how it felt to lose a family member; she would never forget the day a cop knocked on their door, informing her and her father that her mother was gone and was never coming back. That day was one of the worst days of her life, although it was now tied with the past few days; they'd all lost too much.

Teagan stood up from the ground and turned to look at Chris and Derek; they all wore identical expressions. All three could relate to what Ethan was feeling, as they thought about a missing loved one.

She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, she heard the sound of running footsteps coming toward them, followed by Isaac frantically yelling out her name. She turned to face him, seeing a fearful look on his face. She walked away from the others, meeting him half way, she tried to ask him what was wrong, but before she could utter a word, he grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly against him.

Isaac ran a hand up her back, cradling the back of her head as he closed his eyes and breathed out a sigh of relief. After defeating the Nogitsune, then capturing the fly inside the triskele box. He saw a look of panic appear on Lydia's face, as she looked over at the doors that led outside. She was having one of her feelings, one of her horrible feelings that meant death was coming. Someone outside wasn't going to make it.

He didn't wait for the rest of them as he made a mad dash for the door, trying to get outside to get to her. He had to believe she was okay but he also needed to see with his own eyes that she was okay, before he could breathe again.

Isaac pulled back to look at her, as he laid his hands on either side of her face. He blew out a nervous breath, before leaning forward and pressing his lips against hers for a greedy kiss. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her against him, desperately needing to feel her against him.

"I'm okay." Teagan breathed out, as she rested her forehead against his for a moment. "I'm okay." She repeated, as she pulled back to look at him, knowing he was worried about her. She didn't have to be a werewolf to know his heart was beating out of his chest, she could feel it as he held her close.

"I saw... Lydia knew something was wrong and I just... all I could think about was..."

"It's okay." Teagan said, interrupting him. She laid a hand on the side of his face as she said, "I'm not going anywhere, remember? I've been promised a lifetime of being loved by you, I'm not going to miss that. I wouldn't miss that for anything."

Isaac smiled at her words, as he gave her another kiss, a more gentle one this time. He took a deep breath, slowly releasing it, before saying, "It's you and me."

"Always." Teagan whispered back.

Isaac pulled her back toward him, hugging her as he glanced over at the others. Seeing Aiden laying on the ground, then looked over at Ethan, giving him a short nod to say he was sorry for his loss. He too had lost a brother once, as well as his parents. He couldn't help but think how tragic it was that all of them could relate. Most of his friends had lost at least one family member and they all have lost friends.

Hearing more footsteps approach, Teagan pulled back, seeing Lydia standing there as she stared at Aiden with a heartbroken look on her face before turning to Stiles, who pulled her against him, holding her tight.

As Scott and Kira walked up to stand beside Stiles and Lydia, he glanced around at the others. He saw Chris and Derek standing beside Ethan, who was holding his brother's body again. A pained look appeared on his face, he felt bad for the former alphas.

He was glad they were able to stop the Nogitsune and save his best friend, but he never wanted anyone to lose their lives, he wanted all of them to come out on top, to win this war together but now two of them were gone and nothing could bring them back.

Scott looked over at Teagan and Isaac, seeing the couple holding each other close then glanced around at his other friends for a moment. When he realized someone was missing, he looked back over at Teagan, making his way toward the couple.

"Hey…" He began to say, getting their attention.

"Hi, Scott." Teagan said with a smile, happy to see he was alright.

"Where's Avery?" Scott questioned. He had assumed that Avery was with Teagan this whole time.

"She got held up at the station by your dad earlier." Teagan answered. She opened her mouth to say something else, until she saw the look on Scott's face causing her to ask him what was wrong.

"The station was attacked, by the oni." Scott said, remembering that the Nogitsune told them the oni were at the hospital, police station and animal clinic.

"What?" Teagan breathed out, as she pulled away from Isaac. "But, no, she-she was safe. She was supposed to be safe there." She added, feeling her heart race as she began to panic for her best friend.

"Babe, calm down. I'm sure she's okay." Isaac said, as he reached out for her, trying to calm her down.

"I gotta- I gotta call her." Teagan mumbled, as she pulled her cell phone out. Her hands were shaking so bad she could barely make the call, but once she finally hit the button to call her best friend's phone, she placed the phone against her ear, then silently cursed when nothing happened.

She pulled the phone away, glanced down to see she didn't have a signal. Without a word, she turned to walk away, until Isaac grabbed her hand, asking her where she was going.

"I have to find a phone and call her. I have to talk to her." Teagan stated, as she pointed toward the school. "I have to know she is okay." She softly added.

Without another word, she ran inside the building, trying to locate a phone. As she rushed down the hall, feeling like her whole world had slowed down, she felt tears fill her eyes as every bad scenario crossed her mind. She had already lost one friend, she couldn't lose another one. She couldn't lose the girl who was like a sister to her, the one who was always by her side. All she could think was –she couldn't lose Avery too.

~()~

The room fell silent again and provided no distraction from the pain Parrish was in, he started to pull his uniform shirt from his pants but stopped when realized something else concerned him more than his own injury.

"They got you too, didn't they?" He realized outside, closing his eyes for a moment as the sound of her pained scream was still haunting him

"They barely scratched me." Avery lied, but saw the disbelief in his eyes.

"Where at?"

"My back…" She admitted to him, her eyes falling to the linoleum floor.

She sighed and shook her head back and forth when he asked to see her wound, she knew it was far more than just a scratch but she was more worried about his injury than hers.

Finally she slowly scooted on the floor, pulling her back to him and closed her eyes as she felt him start to lift up the bottom of her shirt, revealing her smooth back.

Her eyes opened and she looked down to her stomach when a fluttering feeling erupted in response to his touch as he held her shirt up to get a better look at her injury.

His heart sank and he blew out a heavy breath as he said, "That's far more than some little scratch."

Turning around she raised up on her knees as she moved the edge of his shirt up, revealing a deep gash across the side of the muscled planes of his stomach. Leaning forward some to get a better look she hovered over him as she whispered, "This… this looks really bad, Jordan."

Her eyes frantically moved back and forth as she realized for the first time how much blood had soaked through his uniform.

When he didn't respond to her telling him how bad the wound was, she raised her head to face him as she asked if he'd heard her.

But instead of a look of fear like she'd expected, she was met by an almost calm look on his face as his green eyes now bore into hers. He wasn't aware of the excruciating pain anymore, the only thing he was aware of was exactly how close their faces were and the subtle warm notes of her perfume that laced the air around him.

Her breath halted in her throat as she stared back at him, all of their surroundings melted away the longer they're eyes were locked in a heavy stare his face became the center of her world and in the moment nothing else mattered.

Her eyes drifted down to his chest as she wondered if she was the only one unable to breathe, but when her eyes moved back up she saw his eyes were focused on her lips. Reaching up a hand he moved her hair out of her face, trailing his fingers down the side of her face as he moved his hand back farther, his fingers sliding between her soft, blonde locks as his thumb rubbed over her smooth cheek.

Feeling both of her lips tremble slightly, she ran her tongue over bottom lip feeling like her heart stopped from the way looked at her. It would be so easy, she thought, to just lean in a little closer until their lips met. But she couldn't bring herself to make the move.

She'd kissed plenty of guys, in truth –far more than she'd care to admit. But she'd never been nervous to kiss anyone, until now. It was like somehow in the back of her mind she knew this moment could change everything and her walls were already crumbling down around her.

"W–what… what are you doing?" She asked, her voice so quiet he could barely hear her.

His eyes move from her lips back to her eyes as he whispered back, "I'm going to kiss you."

Her mouth immediately felt as dry as the Sahara Desert in response to his words, as he started to pull her face closer to his, the seconds felt like hours and in a helpless tone she breathed the same excuse he always gave her, "I don't think that's such a good idea…"

Raising his other hand and moving the hair from the other side of her face he agreed, "Probably the worst idea I've ever had."

Her eyes slowly closed at the feeling of his fingertips brushing over her skin and for the both of them time stood still.

With her eyes still closed she started to pulled back from his touch but after tucking her hair behind her ear, her held onto the sides of her face and whispered, "But I'm going to do it anyways…"

Before she had a chance to argue or say anything at all, he pulled her face to his, capturing her still trembling lips in a kiss that knocked the world completely off it's axis. She melted into the moment with him, as he was totally entranced with her. Everything about her from the feeling of her skin under his hands, to the sweet taste of her mouth drew him in –he was entirely absorbed in her.

A feeling she knew all too well as she reached up, clutching onto his hands that were still resting on the sides of her face. Just like she feared, the moment their lips met, everything changed. The floor bottomed out beneath her and she was falling faster than humanly possible, crashing and burning all at once; she'd never been so scared in her entire life.

When their mouths finally separated, neither of them had the strength or the will to move back. They stayed with their lips barely touching, both of them breathing in each other's air, with matching astonished expressions and racing hearts.

Despite the physical pain she was in, she sat back down on the floor and scooted back beside him against the desk he was leaned against.

Her lips hung slightly open, the taste of his kiss still lingered on her tongue as she leaned her head back against the desk, now fully coherent and painfully aware of the poison spreading through her body from the badly bleeding gash on her back. She pinned her eyes shut and let out a small pained noise as she dropped her arms to either side of her.

Deputy Parrish looked over at her and frowned at how pale and weak she looked not to mention he knew first-hand the amount of excruciating pain she was in. Knowing there was nothing he could say to help her, he reached his hand over and held onto hers. As his fingers laced with hers she looked over at him with an unsure expression but she couldn't deny even that even the small gesture provided more comfort than she expected.

"Thank god you're both okay." The sheriff said as he stumbled into the room and started towards them.

Just as quickly as his touch had calmed her, the feeling was ripped away as Parrish quickly let go of her hand before the sheriff could see them. Her eyebrows furrowed and she wrapped her arms around herself, feeling colder by the second from no longer touching him.

"Have you seen anymore of them?" He asked the higher ranking officer.

"No, not for a while." He admitted.

"I don't get it… why'd they let us live?" The deputy questioned, glancing over at Avery for a second and frowning at her unnaturally pale face.

Looking down to his wounded arm where a black smoke was seeping from his own wound, the sheriff said, "I'm not so sure they are letting us live."

The room was silent other then the sounds of labored breathing and pained moans from not only them, but several wounded officers littering the floor.

Several minutes of agony passed and the sheriff looked over to see the young deputy with his head back and eyes closed, "Parrish, keep your eyes open" He said.

Seeing he didn't respond Avery scooted up against him and grabbed his arm as she weakly stuttered out, "Jordan…"

"Deputy!"

Snapping back at the sound of the sheriff yelling for him, he looked down to where Avery had a hold of his arm and was staring at him with slightly bloodshot eyes with a look of terror in them.

"Keep your eyes open." She repeated what he'd been told as she let go of him and he raised the side of his uniform shirt, to reveal his own wound.

"What is this… poison?" He asked, wincing.

"Whatever it is… it's working fast." The sheriff said as he wiped sweat from his forehead and looked back down to his wounded arm.

The seconds felt like hours as time dragged on, leaving them all weaker and closer to death with every passing moment. Just when it felt like they wouldn't last another second, the burning pain stopped and their strength slowly regained.

"Are you okay?" Parrish asked looking over to where Avery was looking around shocked by the sudden change.

"I think so…" She admitted as she watched him stand up and then let him pull her up to her feet.

As he turned to help the sheriff up, Avery put her hands on the desk she sighed in relief, thinking that somehow her friends had done it again, managed to save the day when all the odds were stacked up against them. She just hoped they'd all managed to survive too.

~()~

"Hey…" Deputy Parrish said as he found Avery in the bloody lobby of the police station staring at a puddle of blood on the floor just outside of the holding cell she'd been in.

Her eyes widened at the sound of his voice and without even thinking her hand raised and she touched her bottom lip, remembering the feeling she'd gotten when they'd kissed.

He silently watched as the coroner's office wheeled another sheet covered corpse from the building, but when she didn't turn around he took a step forward and asked, "Avery?"

Slowly she turned around, and faced him. His eyes moved back and forth over her soft facial features, she had some blood smeared across her cheek that he was pretty sure came from his hand when he'd kissed her.

At that thought his eyes slowly traveled down her face to her lips and he swallowed hard at the memory of how it felt to kiss her. Logically, and from a legal standpoint what had happened between them was wrong. But even knowing that, he couldn't deny how strongly he felt for her and even though it was wrong kissing her –it felt right.

Her eyes lingered on his lips for a moment as her mind raced trying to think of something to say. She hated the silence, and normally she always had something to say to break it but she couldn't think of anything to say to him.

What could she possibly say? That kiss, the moment they'd shared together had turned her entire world upside down and she wasn't sure how to feel anymore. Especially when he'd kept shooting her down.

"So, uh…" She stuttered out, then pinned her eyes shut and sighed, not understanding what was happening to her as her stomach erupted in flutters again.

"Avery…" He said quietly as he took a step forward and started to say, "Look, what happened back there… between us…"

But she cut him off as she quickly said, "It's okay, I get it."

"You get it?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Nodding, she tried to appear like her knees weren't shaking as she prepared herself for what he might say and tried to make the situation less painful on her as she said, "Yeah, I get it… it was just one of those things, not a big deal. You thought we were dying, it's fine."

Her words sounded emotionless and confident but she couldn't hide the slightly pained look in her eyes before she looked down to the floor.

He glanced around, making sure they were alone before he asked, "You think that's why I kissed you, because it didn't look like we were ever going to make it out of that room?"

Her gaze slowly lifted some and her brows furrowed at the surprised look on his face as the corner of her mouth twitched as she fought back a smile asked, "If that wasn't the reason, that means you kissed me because…"

Her voice trailed off as he started to nod his head and quietly admitted to her, "I kissed you because I wanted too."

Her stomach fluttered and she wiped her sweaty palms on her clothes, not sure why she kept having those reactions around him. She was always in control of everything but when he was around the way she responded to him was out of her control.

She opened her mouth to speak, not sure what she was going to say but knowing she needed to say something back to him, but before she could the sheriff walked through with his freshly bandaged arm as he paused and asked Avery if she'd heard from any of her friends, mainly Stiles.

"None of my calls are going through." She explained with a worried expression and slightly shaky voice.

Parrish spoke up, saying that with everything happening around town that day, the cell towers were likely jammed up.

"Do you know where they were going?" The sheriff questioned the teenager.

She nodded.

He looked around, "Alright, I need to talk to someone and then we'll go, okay?"

"Thank you." Avery said with a smile. The only thing in that moment that could make her feel better would be seeing all of her friends, knowing that everyone had survived this latest attack. After losing Allison she didn't think there was any way she could handle anyone else she cared about dying.

As the sheriff left them alone, Deputy Parrish ran a hand over the back of his head and thought that asking her not to tell anyone what happened sounded bad, after all he knew he shouldn't have kissed her in the first place.

But there was no going back now, he couldn't undo what had happened and if he was being entirely honest with himself he wouldn't take it back. She was so different from anyone he'd ever met and for months she'd been on his mind, the feeling he'd got when he kissed her was unlike anything he'd felt before.

Seeing the look on his face she realized what he was worried about and she took a small step closer as she whispered, "Don't worry, it will be our little secret, Deputy Parrish."

His eyes searched her face and he felt as guilty for asking that of her but he aslo felt relieved at her understanding no one else could know about the kiss.

Walking a fast pace through the room Sheriff Stilinski called out for Avery to follow him. Her gaze lingered on the young deputy for a few seconds longer before she turned and left.

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

A/N – Just 3 more chapters left! ^_^ Miss E Charlotte and I really hope you enjoyed the chapter.