Just as a reminder to all of those who are reading: When the text is written in bold and italicized lettering "like this," that is the part of the conversation had in sign language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf. I also have no claim on any pop culture references that I may use throughout my writings. I only own my OCs. Enjoy the read.

(o.o)

Chapter 1.16

Going to the guidance office to look for Miss Morrell was a dead end and she wasn't there. Stiles did find out that Lydia had been drawing the same tree for weeks. Not different styles of the same tree but the exact same, to the detail, tree. He figured out it was a root cellar and we left the office to find out more about it.

"Derek told me about it," I remembered. "It's where he took…" I shook my head, realizing I didn't actually know what they knew about Derek.

Stiles stopped in the middle of the hall. He grimaced and turned to face me and Lydia. "Alright, look go to Derek, okay?" He nodded, meeting my eyes. "You know he and Peter have been there before. They'll know where it is. Tell them it's the root cellar, alright?"

"What are you gonna do?" I asked, looking back to a man that was trying to flag him down.

"I have something to deal with." Stiles gestured to the man behind him. "I'll catch up with you later."

I nodded, sending a smile in Stiles' direction.

Lydia put a hand on my arm and pulled me down the hallway and to her car. She drove in silence, but I noticed her looking over in my direction every few seconds. Things seemed weird around her, and I didn't want them that way. There was no reason to be weird. Both Stiles and Lydia made if very clear to me that they were never a thing, but that didn't stop me from wondering. Still, I had no claim on him.

"You know I'm not mad at you, right?" I said filling the silence.

Lydia glanced at me for a second, before her eyes went back to the road. "No," She admitted, shrugging. "You hide it well, but I know you have a crush on him."

I shook my head. "I wouldn't call it a crush. But other than you, he's the only one who actually listens to me when I talk. I told him about what I can do and he said he'd help me figure it out." I shrugged. "It's just nice not feeling like an outsider anymore. He helps with that."

Lydia looked to me with a small smile forming on her face.

Once we got to the loft, I led the way to the elevator. I tried to pull open the giant, sliding door, but it was locked. I banged my fist on the door until it began to move.

Peter Hale was standing on the other side. "Runt."

I rolled my eyes at him. "String Bean." I grabbed Lydia's arm lightly and tried to pull her around him, but she was frozen in place.

Lydia stared wide-eyed at Peter. "You."

"Me." Peter nodded.

"You."

Peter sighed. "Me."

"You two know each other?" I asked.

"Derek, we have visitors."

I scoffed and pushed around him. "Derek?" I called, spotting him in the same spot he was in when I left him. I hurried over and sat on the bed by Cora's feet, facing him. "Is there any change?" I signed.

Derek shook his head. "Not for the better."

Looking over at Cora, I grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. "Derek, I know there's a lot going on right now, but I need to ask you something."

Derek looked at me.

"The Nemeton. The root cellar. The place where Paige…" I stopped my sentence, already noticing the change in his face. "It's on the preserve, right?"

Derek shrugged. "I guess so, but I can't be sure."

"You don't know where it is?" Lydia questioned. "But you've been there."

"We have." Peter worked his way into the conversation. "But after a few memorable experiences there," He glanced at Derek, "Talia, Derek's mother, and my older sister, decided that she didn't ever want us going back. She knew how dangerous it was and took the memory of its location from us."

"Why is it important?" Derek looked at me.

"Stiles thinks that's where their parents are. Lydia's been drawing pictures of it for months." I narrowed my eyes, realizing a key plot point. I looked up at my cousin. "That explains why Blake wanted you dead. You knew about her sanctuary."

"If they don't know where it is, how do we find it?" Lydia asked.

My phone vibrated in my coat pocket. I grabbed it and answered the video call I was receiving from Stiles. "Everything okay?" I asked him.

"Did they know?" Stiles asked.

"They had their memories taken from them. They can't remember where it is."

Stiles groaned. "Alright. We're all meeting up at the animal clinic. Deaton might know something."

"Deaton?"

"Yeah, he's the vet."

Lydia took steps towards me. "I'll explain in the car." She said, both to me and Stiles. Lydia leaned down to see Stiles in the call. "We'll be right there."

(o.o)

My cousin drove us to the small veterinarian clinic in town. Quickly, I remembered the building. I'd been to it before. Mom would pick Carter up from here when we were kids. It couldn't have been a coincidence, especially with Carter being an Omen. Being here, though, didn't make me feel better. It was almost like I was about to unpack more of Carter's life that I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

An older man, probably as old as my father opened the door for us. He looked at Lydia with a warm smile but turned to me with curiosity. "Hello." He said, politely with a wave.

"Hi," I said, shyly, watching as Lydia walked into the back room. "You're Doctor Deaton, I'm guessing."

Deaton nodded. "You must be CJ." He said, signing the phrase perfectly. The notion shocked me. "Stiles told me about you."

I felt the heat rise to my face at the thought of Stiles talking about me.

"He said you called yourself an Omen."

"That's what my brother called it," I said, planting the bait.

Deaton nodded. "He did."

"You did know him." I pointed out, quieting my voice. "I remember this place from when I was younger."

"I did know him." Deaton said, before signing an 'I'm sorry'.

I nodded at him, knowing that the look on my face gave away that I still wasn't over Carter's death. That I didn't want to talk about it.

Deaton gestured for me to follow the direction Lydia went off to.

I walked into the back room and saw Allison, Isaac, and, of course, Stiles there. "Did you figure it out?" I asked as I walked in.

Stiles shook his head from leaning against the table. "Only that wherever they are has to be on a telluric current."

"Which is?"

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Deaton right behind me. "It's like an energy field." The veterinarian explained. "Being a druid, Blake could feed on them. Beacon Hills has a good handful of them."

"Okay, so if this is what we think Blake is using, doesn't it make sense that the more converges it has, would be the place she's hiding them? It would be the most powerful."

Deaton nodded. "Actually yes."

"But we don't know where that is," Stiles said. "Just that it's where Derek took Paige to die."

"My dad and Gerard were there once," Allison explained. "But Gerard said it was years ago and he couldn't remember where it was." And my dad obviously isn't here to tell us now."

"Yeah, mine either."

I caught Stiles' eye and gave him a hopeful look. We'd find his dad before anything happened to him.

Stiles raised the corner of his mouth in return.

"Then how do we find this place?" Isaac asked.

"There might be a way." The veterinarian offered. "But it's dangerous. And we're gonna need Scott."

"He's with the alphas." I reminded the man.

"I think I can get him to meet." He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text. Thankfully, he was right. Scott had agreed to meet Doctor Deaton and Stiles on the preserve. I had decided to tag along because I didn't want to leave Stiles again. Even though Lydia was my cousin, there were still things she didn't understand about me. Stiles didn't fully understand them either, but he was willing to try and help me. Lydia had her own problems to deal with.

When we arrived, Deaton explained the plan to an extent, but what little I could get, I didn't like it. He'd explained that the three of them would act as sacrifices for their parents and that scared me. We'd gotten to the point where I knew a lot about these people that others didn't. Very specific information that was purposefully hidden. It was a stepping stone in the friendship. I didn't want to lose all of that in one night if things went badly. But I also didn't want my new friends to lose their parents.

Scott had agreed to come back to the Vet Clinic to help, surprising me. Stiles was so sure about his loyalty to what the Alphas were doing to defeat Ms. Blake. In reality, Stiles was probably just worried for his best friend. From what Derek said, the Alphas couldn't be trusted.

When we arrived back at the Animal Clinic, Stiles went into his Jeep, leaning over the driver's side.

I joined him, wondering what he was up to. "Stiles?" The boy poked his head up at the sound of my voice. "You okay?"

Stiles nodded and went back to his task.

I took a couple of steps closer, leaning in and saw that he was digging in his glove compartment.

Stiles leaned up quickly in victory, startling me slightly. He held up what he'd found.

"Your dad's badge." I pointed out.

Stiles nodded. "Deaton said it would help to have an object or a symbol of who we're trying to find. This is the best that I could think of."

"I think it's good." I hesitated, watching as he climbed out of his car and closed the door. "Is this really the best plan that we have?"

"Deaton knows what he's doing." Stiles insisted. "He's helped us before."

"Has he killed all of you before?"

"Well, no but - " He stopped, before holding out his hand to me.

"What?"

"Take it."

"The badge?" I asked, confused.

"No, my hand. Tell me what you see."

My eyes widened, and I quickly shook my head. He wanted me to see if I could see him die. "Stiles, I don't want - "

"But you want to figure this out, right?" Stiles pushed. "You want to see how it works. If I'm' about to die, you'll see it. At least that's the theory that we have."

I took a deep breath, looking down at his hand. He was right. I knew it and so did he, which is why he was being so insistent. I raised my hand, reaching out, but not touching his yet. My hand was visibly shaking with nerves and I looked up at him.

"I'm right here with you."

I let out the breath I held and grabbed his hand in my own. Behind him, I saw three steel tubs lined up next to each other. I didn't bother walking towards them. I knew what was inside.

Stiles gave my palm a squeeze, gaining my attention. "What did you see?"

"Tubs. Filled with water."

It seemed as if a chill ran down Stiles' back. "Deaton said it would be like what happened with Isaac a few weeks ago."

That confused me. "Isaac?"

"We kind of drowned him into subconsciousness to find Erica and Boyd after they'd been kidnapped for three months."

I sighed. "Stiles. I don't want you to die."

Stiles grabbed both of my shaking hands, thankfully blocking my view of the tubs. "We'll be alright. Before you know it, we'll be awake and back at school."

My face wrinkled. Going back to school hadn't even crossed my mind. I knew Stiles didn't understand why I was acting so nervous. I also knew that it was my fault that he didn't understand. But I couldn't tell him about Carter now. Stiles needed to do this for him. I didn't want to potentially guilt him into not doing this. Even though I knew he would have done it anyway, I wouldn't jeopardize him not sacrificing himself for his father.

So instead of saying anything in response, I nodded.

Stiles smiled at me and kept his hand in mine as we reentered the clinic.

Lydia's eyes landed on my and my hand held in Stiles as we walked in.

I politely pulled myself away from Stiles and pushed myself up against a wall in view of everyone so I could be a part of the conversation.

Deaton had finished filling the tubs with water, ice, and other herbs.

I could help but stare into their depths. My insides were shivering again and I hugged my arms around myself, hoping that it wasn't reflecting on the outside. The vision I saw of three of my friends drowned was coming true. It was happening. My friends were about to die and we were just okay with it.

My thoughts were interrupted by a hand on my arm. I looked up to see Isaac, towering over me, offering me a supportive smile. Isaac could probably sense my discomfort. Derek had told me that was something werewolves could do.

Deaton gained everyone's attention, centering himself in front of the group, behind the tubs of water. "What did you all bring?" He asked.

Stiles stepped forward next to me. "I got my dad's badge. Jennifer kind of crushed it in her hand, so I tried hammering it out a bit. Still doesn't look great."

"It doesn't need to look good if it has meaning," Deaton explained, comfortingly.

Allison held up her item between her fingers.

"Is that an actual silver bullet?" Isaac asked.

"My dad made it. It's kind of a ceremonial thing." Allison said, "When one of us finishes learning all the skills to be a hunter, we forge a silver bullet as a testament to the code."

Deaton nodded and turned to the last of the group. "Scott?"

In his hand, Scott held a watch. "My dad got my mom this watch when she first got hired at the hospital. She used to say that it was the only thing in their marriage that ever worked."

"Okay, the three of you will get in. Each of us will hold you down until you're essentially...well, dead." Deaton explained, trying to keep the situation light, and personally, I thought he was failing. "But it's not just someone to hold you under. It needs to be someone who can pull you back. Someone that has a strong connection to you, a kind of emotional tether."

Lydia smiled towards Allison and the brunette sent one back.

"Lydia, you'll be sitting this one out."

I furrowed my brow, looking around the room. It was obvious that Isaac had gotten closer to Allison. It was Allison's house that Isaac took us to the other day. But, something was missing because Scott and Stiles both had to go under. Deaton would obviously hold Scott, but who would hold Stiles?

I looked towards Deaton. "What?"

Deaton met my eye and looked at Stiles.

My gaze shifted over to Stiles, who'd passed me a one-sided smile. "Me?" I questioned before looking at Lydia.

Lydia gave me an encouraging nod.

I shook my head, disturbed. I took angry steps forward towards Deaton. "You want me to kill Stiles?" I questioned. "Are you insane? Do you know what I've been through these last few months?"

Stiles came up behind me gently, grabbing my hands as he had done outside. He pulled me towards him, so I could focus on what he was saying. "He's gonna bring us back." He promised.

I shook my head, feeling tears brim my eyes. "I can't."

Stiles hesitated like he didn't want to say what he was thinking. "You said you'd help."

I scoffed, trying to turn away. Stiles' grasp on my hands was strong though and I couldn't get away.

"We do this, and we find them. We do this, and it's over."

I closed my eyes, something I did when everything was too much. I could block everything out. Other than the feel of Stiles' hands around mine, I was left with my thoughts. However, the only thought I carried consisted of four simple words that I hated.

Carter would do it.

Anything that would help out someone else, Carter would do. It's why he went through to medical school. He wanted to help people.

I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. "Okay."