Chapter 15: Raving

Jackson was just off studying by himself at school when he got a text. He took his phone to read it and suddenly his body seem to be on autopilot. He went over to his car and then drove off to a warehouse where it was being prepped to be the scene of a rave that was to be there on Friday night. Jackson made his way inside to head to where a booth was set up where there were already people lined up to buy some tickets to see the show.

One of those people was Matt Daehler who was in line and had noticed him approach. "Hey Jackson," he said before Jackson started walking on in his direction. "Not here to punch me again, are you?" he asked with a nervous smile. But Jackson just stared right on ahead with that same blank stare. "You want to go ahead of me in line?"

Jackson moved to go ahead of Matt but it didn't stop there. He walked on ahead of everyone one by one. He didn't notice that he was being watched closely by Scott who was standing around the corner. Scott looked down the line and noticed Matt standing there so he made his way over to him.

"Hey, Matt."

Matt turned and looked over at him. "What?" he asked.

"How much are tickets?"

"75," he said.

That made Scott's eyes widened. He didn't have that kind of money on him. Actually, he didn't have any money on him. "Could I borrow some money?"

"Yeah, how much?" Matt asked him.

"75," Scott said.

That made Matt scrunch his eyes up and shake his head which Scott mimicked. Matt then turned to look back on ahead leaving Scott to wonder what he was going to do now. He went off to stand in the back of the line to try and buy him some time to think as well as keep watching Jackson. He took a look at the front and caught a glimpse of the girl at the window.

"Next," she said to the person at the front of the line.

That person happened to be Jackson. Scott narrowed his eyes as he saw Jackson move for the girl slowly. Jackson wasn't moving normally. He was moving and looking kind of like he did in the library. Whoever was controlling him before was controlling him now.

"How many?" the girl asked Jackson.

He held his hand and brought out one finger. Jackson then moved the money over to the girl who took it and then went on to hand him his ticket. However, Jackson slid his hand through the entire length of her palm to take the ticket and the girl pulled her hand away. Jackson kept his dark gaze on her and it was clear that she was freaked out. She then told the others with her that they had to leave. They entered the elevator and went on up but she kept her gaze on Jackson whose eyes followed right on after her.

From where he stood, Scott believed that he just found the Kanima's next target.

Stiles was off with his father in his office at the station as he went and brought him the food that his dad asked him to get. Well, not exactly as he asked, which was made clear after the sheriff took his first bite.

"What the hell is this?" he asked his son with his mouth full from the first bite.

"Veggie burger," Stiles said.

"Stiles, I asked for a hamburger."

"Well, Veggie is healthier. We're being healthy," he said as he held up a bowl of salad.

His dad went on to go for the fries but instead found carrots and sticks of celery. "Why are you trying to ruin my life?"

Stiles rolled his eyes. "I'm trying to extend your life. Okay? Could you just eat it please?" He then pointed to the board behind him. "And tell me what you found."

There was an ulterior motive for Stiles coming over to the station to eat with his dad. He knew that his dad was looking into the deaths caused by the Kanima. Recently, Stiles and Scott learned of two more. A young married couple who were attacked in the woods. Apparently, the wife had said that what attacked them and killed her husband wasn't human but didn't say more as she had been suffocated in her hospital bed.

Stiles dad just shook his head. "No, I'm going to share confidential police work with a teenager."

"Is that all of it on the board behind you?" Stiles asked pointing to it with his jaw.

His dad looked at it before turning back to him. "Don't look at that."

But Stiles looked and was still looking. His dad kept telling him to look away but Stiles went out of his way to keep looking at it even though his dad told him not to.

"I see arrows pointing at pictures."

"Okay, enough. Fine," his dad barked out in defeat. Stiles let his eyes show that his dad had his full attention. "I found something. The mechanic and the couple who were murdered, they all had something in common."

Stiles nodded. "All three?" Well, actually four if the hunter who the Kanima killed was included though his dad didn't know about that one as the Argents kept that one hidden away.

Hid dad nodded. "Yeah. You know what I always say: One's an incident. Two's a coincidence."

"Three's a pattern," Stiles finished for him.

The sheriff then held his hand to count them off with his fingers. "The mechanic, the husband, the wife, all the same age. All 24."

24? Come to think of it, Scott had told him that Gerard mentioned that the fallen hunter was 24 as well when he had brought him to Deaton's. All the victims shared that trait. Well, almost all of them.

"What about Mr. Lahey? Isaac's dad isn't anywhere near 24."

His dad nodded. "Which made me think that either: A, Lahey's murder wasn't connected. Or B, the ages were a coincidence. Until I found this." He then brought out a folder which Stiles took. "Which would be C." Stiles opened it to see that it was a file that had a red stamp on it reading: Died in Combat. "Did you know that Isaac had an older brother named Camden?"

"Who died in combat," Stiles mumbled as his eyes started to skim the file more carefully.

"But, if he were alive today, take one guess to how old he would be?"

Stiles looked at Camden's birthdate listed on the file. "24," he said looking back at his dad.

Soon enough, Stiles headed off and stood in front of the board with his dad beside him as they looked at the pieces together. Stiles tried to think how all the victims being 24 could play into this.

"Uh, same age would mean same class, right? Did you think of that?" he asked his dad.

His dad nodded as he kept his eyes on the board. "Yeah," he mumbled out.

Stiles looked back at him. "No you didn't," he said as he heard the jump of his heart that told him that his dad was lying.

The sheriff let out a frustrated breath. "Alright, but I would've," he coughed out. "Look, I just got Lahey's file two hours ago."

That got Stiles to tense up. "Two hours? Dad, people could be dying."

"Yeah, I'm aware of that. Thank you."

The two Stilinski's went back to staring at the board.

"Same class," Stiles mumbled out loud.

"Wait here," his dad said before stepping out of the room.

He came back ten minutes later with some files and even two or three yearbooks from Beacon Hills High School. The two of them slammed them down on the desk and started to go through them.

Stiles pulled out a folder. "I got it. Class of 2006." He pulled out a class roster and sure enough found their names on it. The mechanic. The married couple. Even the hunter. "They all went to Beacon Hills."

His dad pointed at another roster. "Including Isaac's brother."

Okay, they now had a connection but Stiles wondered what that even meant. "Okay…so what if they all knew each other? I mean, two of them were married, so maybe they all hung out together?"

His dad shrugged. "They could've had the same classes together. They could've-" But he froze right there.

"What?" Stiles asked him.

His dad looked up at him. "Same teacher."

Stiles looked down to see what his dad found and saw a file with a picture. One who Stiles recognized as one of his own teachers. "Harris," he breathed out. "They were all in his class?"

"All four. Now, I don't know how Mr. Lahey fits in, but this…this is definitely a pattern. Alright, give me the 2006 yearbook. These names, we need faces." Stiles then went and pulled out the 2006 book. "Look at the chemistry class," his dad told him as he got to the phone. "If the killer is not done killing-"

"Then one of them is next," Stiles muttered out.

"Yeah," his dad said before he turned his attention back to the phone. "Yeah, it's Stilinski."

Stiles then flipped through the pages of pictures to find the ones of Harris' class list. Unbeknownst to him, he skimmed a photo of the girl that was working the ticket booth for the rave.

Chris Argent told Allison to come with him as he headed out. She asked where they were going but he didn't answer her. It was soon answered for her when they stopped in front of the hospital. Argent spoke with one of the orderlies who took them both to the Morgue and the two of them stepped on inside. Allison saw that there were two freshly covered bodies on gurneys there under an observation light.

"This one," he said showing her a toetag. "Shawn. Shawn was killed by this thing that Gerard says is some kind of a shapeshifter. It hasn't been around for centuries."

Allison nodded. "The thing you shot outside the club the other night."

That made her father tilt his head at her. "South American legend calls it the Kanima." Allison nodded her head at him to show that she was following but he saw that she was nervous. He then pointed to the other body. "This one, Jessica, she was smothered to death after giving birth. The police think it was done by someone else. We think that it was a person that is controlling this other shapeshifter. That means two killers Allison. One human. One not. You know, the question I had after Gerard told me about our family, why us? He quoted me Winston Churchill: Price of Greatness is Responsibility. Personally…I think it's more about knowledge." He then started to step over to her and kept his gaze firmly on hers. "What we know of the truth, we know about the world. That makes us responsible. For a young couple, their newborn daughter. Anyone that doesn't have the power to defend themselves. Are you starting to get it?"

Allison took a deep breath. "I get that this isn't a lecture," she said before she narrowed her eyes a little angrily. "It's an interrogation."

"Depends on what you know," he said to her as he started to move off. "Gerard showed me the library. Cameras didn't catch everything but do you think that a little high school fight could explain that amount of damage?" Allison looked away from him and he decided to settle a bit. He let his face and his tone soften a bit. "We know that you're trying to protect your friends but people are dying. A child was orphaned. What you know makes you responsible." He then went to pull the cover off of the body he was next to. "Makes you responsible for this," he hissed out as Allison turned away.

Allison turned away and thought on how her father's tone reminded her of someone. Stiles. In the woods after Jackson escaped them, how he told them that anyone that was killed would be their fault. All three of theirs because they had Jackson but lost him. Or rather, how he blamed her and Scott for being together and letting Jackson slip away. But she remembered how Stiles looked at her as he said all of this in the first place. He really blamed her. Blamed her for showing up to distract Scott with their relationship instead of letting him do his job and guard Jackson. How he no doubt was trying to convince Scott that she couldn't be trusted even though she was trying everything she could to prove that she could be. That was why she ran off to warn Stiles about the police looking for Jackson but it didn't seem to do much at all. Now, this was starting to be too much. There were two more dead people and that blame was starting to eat away at her. Choking her and she just wanted it to stop.

She looked back at her father. "What do you want me to tell you?"

"Anything you know," he said moving closer to her. "Anything that could lead us to the answer that could mean everything. Who controls the Kanima?"

Scott was at the Animal Clinic after the whole thing at the warehouse and was unlocking it to let in Derek. But he saw that he wasn't alone.

"What's he doing here," he said looking at Isaac who was following him.

"I need him," Derek said as he stepped in.

"I don't trust him," said Scott.

Isaac just walked on in. "Well, he doesn't trust you either."

"And Derek really doesn't care," he said stopping their exchange and then turning on Scott. "Now where's the vet? Is he going to help us or not?"

"That depends," Deaton said stepping out from around the corner. "Your friend Jackson. Are we planning to kill him or save him?"

"Kill him," said Derek while Scott said at the same time, "Save him."

Scott looked over at Derek. "Save him," he said to him. He then turned back to Deaton. "Save him," he repeated.

Deaton then took the three of them to the back room and brought out an assortment of jaws with different powders and herbs inside of them. Isaac went to grab one of them but Derek grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"Watch what you touch," he said before he let Isaac's wrist go.

Deaton took one of them out to look at it and Isaac leaned in. "So, what are you? Some kind of witch?"

Deaton looked at him and smiled. "No, I'm a veterinarian." He then put the bottles back. "Unfortunately, I don't see anything here that's going to be an effective defense against a paralytic toxin."

"We're open to suggestions," Derek mumbled.

"What about an effective offense?" suggested Isaac.

"We already tried," said Derek. "I nearly took its head off. Argent emptied a whole clip into it. The thing just gets right back up."

"Has it shown any weaknesses?" Deaton asked.

Derek tilted his head. "One. It can't swim. In fact, when Stiles fought against the Kanima he used that to his advantage. He splashed it with water and tried to move it into the pool. It's the one time I'd ever seen that thing show any kind of fear."

Scott raised his eyebrows at how Derek seemed to actually be giving Stiles a subtle bit of praise. His friend didn't really go into specifics about his fight with the Kanima but it was clear from Derek's tone that it was just short of impressive. He saw that even Isaac seemed to be thrown by it.

That all made the vet nod. "Does that apply for Jackson as well?"

"No," said Scott. "He's the captain of the swim team."

Deaton nodded. "Essentially you're trying to catch two people." He then went and fetched a medallion to show them. "A puppet and a puppeteer," he said before putting it on the table. "One killed the husband, but the other had to take care of the wife. Do we know why?"

Scott thought about it. "I don't think Jackson could do it. His mother died pregnant too and was maybe murdered. I don't think he could let the same thing happen to someone else."

Isaac's eyes narrowed. "How do you know that it's not part of the rules? The Kanima kills murderers, right? If Jackson kills the wife then the baby dies too?"

Scott shook his head. "Does that mean your dad was a murderer?"

Isaac shrugged. "Wouldn't surprise me if he was," he said softly.

"Hold on," Deaton said suddenly. "The book says that they're bonded, right?" Derek nodded. "What if the fear of water isn't coming from Jackson but from the one controlling him?" Deaton then went for one of the jars and opened it. "What if something that effects the Kanima, also effects its master," he said as he started to pour out a black powder around the medallion.

"Meaning what?" asked Isaac.

"Meaning we can catch them," Scott realized. "Both of them."

Stiles was driving him and Scott off to school and managed to find a spot right by at the front of the parking lot. Not too far away was the bike rack where Matt Daehler was locking up his bike. Stiles got out of the car with Scott following right after him.

"There's got to be some more tickets, right?" Scott asked him as he had just finished telling him that the booth had closed on him before he could find a way to get them tickets to be at the show.

Stiles gave him a look. "It's a secret show. There's only one way, and it's a secret."

Matt caught sight of them and headed for them. "Hey," he called out to stop the two of them. "Either of you guys know why no one's getting suspended for what happened the other day at school?" he asked referring to the carnage at the library.

Stiles just shrugged. "Forget about it okay, no one got hurt."

Matt gave him a look. "I had a concussion."

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Well no one got seriously hurt."

"I was in the ER for like six hours," Matt started to complain.

But Stiles suddenly broke. "You want to know the truth Matt? Your little bump on the head is about this high," he said dropping down to the floor and elevating his hand just an inch off the ground. "On our list of problems right now!" he roared out before he let out a frustrated breath out when he stood back up.

Matt seemed taken aback at that and Scott bit back the discomfort that he was starting to feel from himself and what he was sensing from Matt.

"Are you okay?" he asked the guy.

Matt nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine now. So…you didn't get any tickets last night either?"

Scott shook his head. "They still selling?" he asked hopefully.

"No," he answered. "But I managed to find two online. You should keep trying. Sounds like everyone's going to be there," he finished a little smug before walking off.

Stiles gave the guy a look as he went off. "I don't like him," he said to Scott before turning to him. "Hey, are you sure about this?"

Scott went over to him. "Look, whoever's controlling Jackson had to kill somebody because he didn't finish the job so what do you think he's going to do this time?"

Stiles deflated. "Be there to make sure it happens."

In the locker room, Coach Finstock went and slammed open the door as he stepped out of his office to the shock of the entire locker room.

"Can anyone tell me where the hell Jackson is and why he missed morning practice?" he asked the room at large.

Scott went to look at his feet while Stiles gave Scott a look.

"I thought I told you to keep an eye on him," Stiles mumbled to him.

But before Scott could say anything, "Stilinski!" shouted Coach. "Jackson?" he asked when he had Stiles' attention.

"Sorry Coach. I haven't seen him since the last time I saw him."

"And when was that?"

"The last time I saw him? Definitely the time that I saw him last."

That made Coach roll his eyes. "Hey Danny," he said turning to the guy in question. "Tell Jackson no missing practice this close to the championships. Okay?"

"Sure coach," Danny mumbled to him.

He then looked over at everyone. "That goes for all of you," he said before going off and pointing especially at Stiles whose jaw tightened a bit. He then headed back into his office. "I should be coaching college," he said before closing the door behind him.

Scott and Stiles turned back to Danny to ask him about the rave.

Danny shook his head. "Sorry. I only have two myself."

"Do you even have a date yet?" Stiles asked knowing that Danny and his boyfriend had broken up.

"I'm working on it," Danny said tensely.

Stiles cleared his throat. "Okay. Okay, hear me out. You give us the tickets and then devote your life to abstinence."

Isaac, who was watching them a short distance away, found that this was too pathetic to go on so he went on and grabbed the two of them by the back of their shirts giving Danny room to get away. "How, do you two losers, even survive?" he asked in disbelief. He couldn't believe that these were the same two guys who went on and actually beat him down without even getting a scratch.

Scott sighed. "What are we supposed to do? No one's even selling."

Isaac then caught sight of two teammates exchanging tickets with each other and then let them go. "Wait here boys," he said before walking over to them.

"What is he-" But Stiles was cut off when he and Scott saw Isaac begin to get rough and clobber the two he saw. Scott and Stiles both cringed and flinched at the abuse and pain he was giving them. "That's excessive." "That'll bruise." "Wow, okay."

Isaac then walked over and handed Scott and Stiles each a ticket. "Enjoy the show." He then walked off.

"Brutal…but effective," Stiles said weakly to Scott who just let out a puff of air.

Allison was alone in the chemistry classroom as she waited to meet up with Scott in private. Allison had left Scott a note telling him that it was urgent that they meet. There were new things happening that she had to talk to him about. Not to mention that she had been approached by Matt Daehler earlier and she really had to tell him what just happened with him. She soon heard the noise of the door opening and looked to see Scott coming in.

"Uh," she said when they got together. "I know you said that we can't talk like this anymore-" She was finding it hard to keep going.

"What happened?" Scott asked as he took her by the hands.

"My dad and I…he knows," she mumbled to him. "About the last two murders. He knows that there are two killers and…he and Gerard."

But Scott stopped her. "Hey," he said softly with a calming smile. "It's okay. It's not bad. If he knows fine. I'm…actually more worried about your mom."

Allison face tensed up. "What does that mean?" she asked confused.

"Uh…well, remember when I got called during detention for the office and I said that it was your mom who called?" Allison nodded. "She talked to me, not just about the whole thing with the fight and the sink. She was asking me all these questions about us. Like…really specific questions and there were pencils being sharpened."

Now she was really lost. "Pencils?"

He sighed. "Just trust me. It was bad." Now she sighed. "And, uh…I think that we should do something. Like um…be seen with other people," he said half-heartedly.

Allison narrowed her eyes. "You mean…be seen dating other people?"

"Maybe more." That actually made Allison separate from him. "What?" he asked thinking that he upset her.

"Uh…I don't know how it happened or…why I even said yes," she said as Scott started to look a little nervous. "But I'm actually supposed to hang out with…Matt," she finished weakly.

Scott, though, just seemed to get excited. "Oh. Great. That's perfect. Go out with him." He actually seemed happy for her.

Allison certainly was thrown. "Seriously?" She wondered if Scott was trying to pull her leg or something.

Scott nodded though he seemed to get serious. "Yeah. And make a big deal of it in front of your mom. Even kiss him, if you have to."

"Kiss him? Are you sure about that?" Now she was certain that Scott was playing around with her.

Scott started to weigh everything in his head. "Uh…totally," he said after a moment.

Allison now realized that Scott was being serious with her. "Oh. Like…really kiss him?"

"Well, what's 'really kiss him' like?"

Allison then stepped up to him and lightly grabbed at the back of his head. "Like-" she said before she went and started kissing him lovingly.

They then slowly separated and Scott smiled. "Yeah, don't do that," he joked at her. But he saw that she didn't seem happy. He lightly caressed her cheek. "What is it?"

Allison thought there was so much that she didn't know where to begin. There was all the murders in town, her dad hounding on her for answers, Gerard starting to circle her about her place in the family, and all the feelings and thoughts that she'd been having about Stiles and his blatant distrust of her and her family.

But she just looked into Scott's eyes and said, "Nothing." She then let her hands drop from his head to his shoulders. "I gotta go," she said before she went off to collect her bag and head out.

"I love you."

Allison looked back at Scott. "You too," she said before she went and left the classroom.

Outside the opposite classroom door, the two of them had been watched by Allison's mother. Her face was frigid and her eyes were glaring at the teenage werewolf left in the room after spending such an intimate time with her daughter.

After school, Scott told Stiles to follow him to Deaton's as he wanted to speak to the both of them and help them go over the plan for the rave. Deaton welcomed Stiles as he came through the door and he asked for him and Scott to come and follow him to the back. He went to his medicinal cabinet and brought out a syringe pump and a drug bottle for them to see.

"Ketamine?" Stiles said as he read the label on it.

"It's the same thing that we use on the dogs but a higher dosage." He then set it down for Scott to reach over and take it. "If you can get close enough to use it on Jackson then it should buy some time."

Scott looked up at him. "Time?"

"Yes." Deaton then pulled out another bottle labeled with a symbol and containing a black powder. "This is some of what we'll use to create the barrier."

The bottle was then set down and Stiles picked it up to look at it. "What is this stuff anyway?" he asked as he turned the bottle in his hand.

"It's from the Mountain Ash tree," Deaton explained. "Which is believed by many cultures to protect against the supernatural. This entire office is lined with ash wood making it difficult for people like you two from causing me any trouble."

"Wow," Stiles said with a smile. "You don't happen to have a lot more of this stuff lying around, do ya? I think we need enough to sprinkle on the entire town."

Deaton smiled at him. "I'm afraid it doesn't quite work like that Stiles." He then took the bottle back from him. "With the mountain ash, if it's spread around a certain area, it could create a special kind of barrier making it next to impossible for anything supernatural to pass through."

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "So, you're saying that if we take this stuff and spread it completely around the entire building then Jackson and whoever's controlling him can't cross it?"

Deaton nodded. "They'll be trapped."

Scott smiled. "That doesn't sound too hard."

"Yes, but unfortunately it's not quite that simple." Deaton's face fell a bit. "Most Supernatural beings get repelled by the mountain ash, including werewolves. It would trap all of you as well. And, unfortunately, the barrier must be made by someone that it can't repel."

"But." Stiles went and grabbed the bottle again. "I'm holding it now and I don't feel anything."

Deaton smiled at him. "That's because, right now, it is just normal ash. Think of it like gunpowder. It's only powder…until a spark is used to ignite it. The mountain ash needs a certain spark itself to unleash its own power. The spark of belief." Scott and Stiles suddenly looked at each other with a bit of befuddlement so he tried to explain it a different way. "Let me try a different analogy." The two of them looked back at him. "I used to golf. I eventually learned that the best golfers never swing before first imagining where they want the ball to go. They see it in their mind and then their mind takes over. I think you boys would be amazed at what the force of your own wills can accomplish."

Stiles gave the bottle a bit of a turn around before he set it back down on the table.

Scott shook his head. "So what you're trying to say is that none of us can make the ash do what we need it to do."

Deaton nodded. "Unfortunately."

"Well," Stiles shrugged. "Then who's going to make the barrier? Can you do it?"

He shook his head. "I'm afraid that I'm in a rather…complicated position to be directly involved. However," he said when he saw that the two of them were looking like hope was lost. "I may know someone that could help."

"Who?" asked Scott.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that. This person is the type that would prefer to remain anonymous. Their position is just as delicate as mine."

"Let me guess. It's complicated," said Stiles.

"Unfortunately," Deaton said with a small nod.

Stiles leaned in closer to Scott. "I'm starting to notice that he says that a lot," he whispered to him.

"But I trust them," Deaton said to the two of them. "I know that they will help."

Stiles couldn't help but think that this sounded a little too eerie and mystifying and made him be a little uncomfortable.

"But they'll make it work? Right?" Scott was hoping that this wouldn't change things. "It will keep the Kanima back?"

The vet nodded as he caught his eye. "It will. My contact has had experience with this before. The barrier will be in place for you, if you give them enough time."

Scott and Stiles sighed but nodded to show that they would do their parts so that Deaton and whoever he was going to get would do theirs. Stiles also began wonder just how many things like this have actually happened before to build up experience.

Over in the basement of the Argent House, Gerard and Chris were meeting with some of their men as they prepared and went over the operation they were about to conduct. Allison was sitting at the steps looking over them as they got started.

"Alright," Chris said to everyone. "The party's in a warehouse just inside the industrial sector." He then turned to his daughter. "Allison has learned that Jackson Whittemore will be there seeking his next target out of the crowd. Since we still have little clue to just how strong that he is we need to be extremely cautious." Gerard went and took some more of his medication and Chris started to put his gear on. "When Allison has determined Jackson's location and has determined him to be at the optimal point where we could take him down, she'll signal me." He then looked at her. "Optimal meaning as far away from the crowd as possible." Allison nodded to show that she understood. He turned to the others. "There will be no collateral damage tonight. Go ahead," he said to his daughter and Allison took that as her cue to leave.

Gerard watched her leave with his arms folded. "Not willing a participant as she seems." That made Chris freeze and look at him. "Your young protégé also seems to be under the impression that we are planning a trap."

Chris cocked his gun and then put it in his holster. "She doesn't need to know any more than that."

Gerard nodded before he reached for a switchblade. "For the rest of us then, let's be perfectly clear. You don't trap a creature this dangerous." He then brought the blade out of its casing. "You kill it."

Stiles was in his room getting ready for what was about to happen. There was a good chance that he and the others would be facing down a fully transformed Kanima tonight and, after his last tango with it, his nerves were as tense as a chipmunk. He was practicing his breathing exercises and trying to keep himself calm and centered before he headed out into the scaly lion's den. He let out a deep breath and opened his eyes where they fell on his evidence box. His empty box. There was only one group of people that he could think of that would steal his collection of evidence but Stiles found something off, or rather didn't find something. A scent. There was no trace of any outside scents in his room outside those that should be. Not only that but there was no sign of his room being ransacked or messed with. Whoever had come in here seemed to know where he had everything and where he hid things.

But he shook his head. There was a different situation that he had to focus his attention on now. He heard his dad's car pulling up and decided that he should get going. He grabbed his stuff and headed out of his room, down the stairs and out the front door. He saw that his dad just turning his car off.

"Hey," he said as his dad stepped out of his car. "Can't talk. Gotta run." But he froze when his nose picked up his father sour mood. He wasn't angry or upset though. It smelled like…defeat. "Dad? Is something wrong?"

"Nothing," he mumbled.

Stiles didn't have to bother to check if he was lying. He would've known even if he couldn't. His eyes looked his dad over and saw something vital missing from his uniform. "Where's your gun?"

His dad tensed up. "I…left it in the station. Along with my badge."

Stiles' face fell. "What?"

But his dad just held up his hand. "Don't worry about it. We'll talk about this later," he mumbled as he set to head into the house.

But Stiles wasn't letting his dad go. "Dad," he said stopping him.

"Don't worry about it," his dad tried to say.

"Dad!" Stiles cried. His face getting paler and fearful.

The sight of it made the sheriff decide to just get it out in the open. "It was decided that…the son of the police chief…being the center of a public murder conspiracy on top of stealing police property and having a restraining order filed against him by one of the town's most respected attorneys…did not reflect well on the county," he finished lamely.

Stiles felt his insides shrivel up. "They fired you?" he choked out.

But his dad shook his head. "Nah, it's just…leave of absence. It's temporary."

Stiles wasn't buying it. "They say it was temporary to you?"

"Actually no," his dad admitted. The two of them stared at each other for a tense second before he shook his head. "You know what, its fine. Temporary…we're going to be fine."

Stiles saw his dad leaving and his eyes narrowed. Something was still bothering him about all of this. "Dad…I don't get it. Why aren't you angry at me?" Being a cop was his dad's entire life. To have it just taken from him would bound to have his dad feel mad beyond belief but Stiles couldn't see or sense any anger from him at all. He just picked up how his dad felt hopelessness and disappointment. To be honest, Stiles would've preferred some rage from him. He…deserved some from him because of what had happened but his dad just wasn't doing it.

His dad just gave him a forlorn look. "I don't know." He shook his head slightly and then shrugged. "Maybe I don't want to feel any worse than I do by having to yell at my son." He left it at that as he headed back inside.

Stiles was left out in the driveway feeling his heart take a serious hit. As his dad had walked inside, Stiles was able to smell the sadness and grief that his father was trying to keep himself from showing. The taste of it all seemed to amplify his own feelings of sadness and disappointment. Sadness and Disappointment that he gave him. His father was in pain but unlike the hospital this was the kind that he couldn't take from him.

He swallowed the feeling rising up into his throat back down and just headed off into his jeep. Stiles found himself slamming the door shut fiercer and pulling his gear shift harder than normally as he pulled out to pick up Scott.