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 2.09

There was a good twenty minutes before the cops showed up at the substation. However, we couldn't leave because we technically had something to do with William Barrow being found dead at the scene. Though we couldn't precisely explain what had happened, mostly because none of us really knew. Still, Agent McCall decided to question us for half an hour after we got back to the Sheriff's Station, getting nowhere with what information we were willing to give to him.

We all filed out of the Sheriff's office once the interrogation was over, and I spotted my dad waiting in the main bullpen area. I sent the back of Agent McCall's head a heated glare.

Dad got up from his post on the waiting bench. "Are you okay?" He signed.

I rolled my eyes, moving to stand in front of him. "That guy's an asshole."

Dad chuckled, nodding. "He looks like one."

"Can I say goodbye really quick?" I asked, turning my head to spot Kira looking awkward next to a deputy.

"Sure." Dad nodded. "I'll go make sure everything's okay with the Sheriff." He left me to head towards the office.

I made my way to Kira, grabbing her arm to stop her from following the deputy out of the building. I ignored him as he tried to stop me. I couldn't hear his pleas to leave them alone anyway. "Are you okay?"

Kira nodded, looking behind me as we both noticed Agent McCall slide his card into the reader to enter another room. "Yeah."

"Hey, if you ever need anything, the offer still stands to talk. Especially now." I said, giving her a look I hoped she would take seriously. "I would say to text me later, but seeing that your phone is evidence, that's probably not possible."

"Probably not."

"I'll see you at school, then." I gave her a smile and a quick wave as she left the station with the deputy. After a long sigh, I found Stiles sitting on the bench outside his father's office and went to join him. "You were right. She's still warm." I told him. "Actually warmer than she was the other day." Stiles had a hunch that with Kira absorbing all the substation's power, things might have changed with whatever she was.

"That sounds weirder than you can even fathom," Stiles informed me.

"Right?" I questioned with a chuckle. "I feel awkward just saying it."

Stiles reached for my hand. "Well, you did great tonight. Whether or not you feel it."

I was still unsure. I had to tie my plaid shirt around my waist to hide the dried blood I'd wiped on my jeans from my ears. I nodded at Stiles and gave him a small smile. "So did you. I just wanted to say goodnight before we left. I'll see you tomorrow morning?"

"I will be the one picking you up." Stiles joked, pulling me into his side for an awkward, seated hug.

I smiled as he kissed the top of my head and went to stand from the bench. However, Stiles still had a hold on my hand, so I sat back down. "What?" I asked.

He took his free hand and held it flat, touching his fingertips to his mouth, then to his cheekbone.

I breathed a laugh. "Kiss? I didn't teach you that one."

"I've been studying on my own."

I leaned forward to kiss him. I sighed when I felt his fingers lightly dance along the side of my face.

Stiles abruptly pulled away, and I furrowed my brow at him. "Uh, hey, Mr. Parker. Good to see you again."

I turned around, spotting both of our fathers standing outside the sheriff's office. "Hey, Dad." I got up from the bench to face them, and Stiles stood next to me.

The sheriff looked at me. "Thanks for your help, CJ. I'll make sure we get you an interpreter next time."

I looked up at my dad who's face changed to a look of confusion. I grinned sheepishly. "Actually, I don't need one."

The sheriff furrowed his brow at my words.

"I'm very good at reading lips. I was just trying to give him a hard time. I'm still not cool with him stepping on your toes, Sheriff."

Sheriff nodded his head, looking down at his feet for a moment to hide his smile. "Well, thank you." He said when he looked back up. Sheriff turned to my father, holding out his hand. "I'll see you later, Patrick."

Dad shook the man's hand. "Whenever you're free next, we'll cook out again. Get the firepit going."

"Sounds great." He looked at Stiles, gesturing his head towards his office.

Stiles squeezed my hand. "Night, Ceej."

"Night," I said, leaving his side and walking towards the exit with my father.

When we were buckled into the car, he turned to me. "You know, I don't remember Carter and Derek getting into this much trouble with the law."

I chuckled. "Carter probably didn't tell you most of the stuff he and Derek did. Nor did they have a friend like Stiles."

Dad nodded his head with an amused smile. "That's true." He let out a breath. "I don't know if I've said this before, but I like him. Stiles."

"Me too, Dad."

(o.o)

The following day, I leaned against the lockers next to Stiles', watching as Coach strolled towards us, screaming into his bullhorn. I shook my head, not caring what the hell he was talking about. The fact that we still had school even though there was a city-wide blackout made no sense to me. "He okay?" I asked Stiles.

Stiles shrugged with one shoulder, shoving a book into his locker. "Is he ever?" He looked at me and smirked. "I like these." He said, flicking the fake cat ear on the top of my head. "It's cute."

I readjusted the headband after he'd touched it. "I love Halloween, so obviously, I had to dress up. It took me nearly all night to find, especially in the dark."

"You should have called me to help."

"You were up? I thought you fell asleep around eleven?"

"I stopped texting you around eleven." He pulled a book from his locker, knocking his keys to the ground.

I sighed as he bent to pick them up. "We gotta look into some extra strength melatonin. Maybe an actual sedative. You need sleep, Stiles."

Stiles stood back up, staring at his keys. "Yeah, I know." He said absentmindedly.

I looked at his keys in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"I have no idea where this key came from."

I shrugged. "Maybe your dad put it on your keys."

"What for?"

"I don't know. Could be anything, I guess. You should ask him."

Stiles nodded, shoving his keys into his pocket.

I looked past Stiles as the door to the hallway opened. "Hey, there's Scott." I said, pointing him out."

Stiles turned to see before turning back and spotting Kira turn around and go the other way down the hall. He put his arm out, stopping Scott from chasing after the poor girl. "No. No, stop!"

"What? I need to talk to her." Scott insisted.

"No, you don't," I told him. "I was going to try and talk to her, remember? A softer, gentler touch."

"Okay, you both need to remember someone left a coded message telling Barrow to kill her." Stiles reminded both of us.

"All the more reason for me to talk to her and not your basically human girlfriend," Scott said, making me furrow my brow.

"Guys, no way," Stiles said. "Until we figure out if she's just another psychotic monster that's going to start murdering everybody, I'm voting against any and all interaction."

"What if she's like me?"

I put my hand on his arm. No warmth. "She's not like you."

"Not to the one-point-twenty-one jigawatts of electricity that she walked through last night," Stiles promised.

Scott shook his head just barely as Stiles closed his locker. Without another word, he left us.

I stared after him. "So, I don't want to step on your toes here because you're his best friend, but do you mind if I try talking to him?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll catch up."

I stood on my tiptoes, placing a quick kiss on Stiles' cheek before hurrying after Scott. "Scott!" I called after him, trying to keep my bag on my shoulder. I rolled my eyes when he barely slowed but finally stopped outside our first class. "Remember what I said yesterday about just being her friend?"

"You think I should talk to her." Scott realized. "What about Stiles?"

"Stiles has his own shit to deal with, trust me. You need to help her with this." I insisted. "Whatever Kira is, it's not bad."

"You know?"

"I get the feeling that I would."

Scott thought for a moment before nodding slowly. "Okay, I'll talk to her during lunch."

"I won't lie to Stiles about it, but I'll try and keep him at bay. Give you some time before he comes looking."

Scott smiled. "Thanks, CJ."

(o.o)

Stiles and I sat with Lydia outside at the tables for lunch. I snacked on a sandwich I brought from home while Stiles and Lydia tried to work through some of our homework that I didn't understand. Most of the lunch period had already gone by before Stiles' realized his best friend's absence.

"Hey, where's Scott?" Stiles asked.

I looked up at Lydia, pursing my lips, not looking towards Stiles next to me.

"Well, I don't know where he is," Lydia admitted.

I sighed. "I don't know where he is." I insisted, finally turning to my boyfriend.

Stiles narrowed his eyes on me. "He's talking to Kira, isn't he?"

"I thought it was best that we get ahead of the situation," I confessed. "Kira is the least of our problems. In fact, she's not a problem at all. She's alone. Scott and I just wanna help."

Stiles began to pack up his things, shoving them into his backpack.

"You're not mad at me, are you?" I asked, suddenly worried that going behind Stiles' back may not have been the best way to handle the situation."

Stiles zipped up his backpack before pausing to look at me. "No, I'm not mad. Look, we'll talk later about it, okay? After school."

I nodded. "Yeah, okay. See you in a bit."

Stiles threw his backpack around his shoulder and headed inside to find the alpha werewolf.

Lydia waved her hand in my face, making me realize I hadn't noticed that I watched Stiles walk away. "You okay?" she asked me.

"Yeah," I said, wrapping my sandwich up in the plastic I brought it to school in. I was no longer hungry for it."

"Is he okay?"

I shrugged. "He's still not sleeping. So, I think he's just cranky. You know him. He doesn't get mad like that."

Lydia nodded at me, and I was thankful that he dropped it. "So, now that we have time…" she said, trailing off from her sentence.

I groaned, shaking my head. "We have time, but is this the place?"

"You heard me scream." Lydia continued, not caring where we were.

"I have always heard you scream," I said, trying to shrug it off.

"But you've never been that close before." Lydia leaned forward. "I saw the blood, CJ. That can't be good. We should get you checked out."

"So the doctors can tell me that I'm deaf again?"

"I just want to make sure that everything's okay."

I frustratedly pushed my hair out of my face. "You don't really get it, do you?" I asked quietly, narrowing my eyes at her.

"Well, please explain it to me so that I do. I just don't want to worry about you."

I leaned my elbows on the table, sitting forward on the table's bench. "Science says that I'm deaf. Even if there is some sort of supernatural exception to that, that's all the doctors will see."

"And if it's more than that?"

"If I go in there, claiming that something is wrong, they'll either look at me like I'm crazy, or they'll want to dig deeper into my head to find out what's wrong." I sighed. "There's a reason why we didn't try to fix it when it happened. The damage is too serious, and it's risky. If we went in to correct it, I would have lost a lot more than my hearing."

Lydia's shoulders fell. "Oh."

"I didn't want that to sound so intense, but that's why I need you to listen to me when I say that I'm okay."

"Alright, I'll listen to you."

"Thanks," I said. "Next time, we'll make sure I'm a bit away from you so that you can scream without 8injuring me. That sound good enough?"

"Absolutely."

(o.o)

Danny had told me about the party that he was throwing at Derek's loft, and with everything that we had going on, I begged Stiles to go. We just had a quick stop to make at the Sheriff's office for Scott and Kira. It took a lot of convincing to do it, but we ended up having to try and sneak the two of them into the Sheriff's Station.

Kira needed to get her phone out of evidence, or at the very least, get specific pictures off of it. Scott was dodgy about why, but we all just assumed it was about whatever Kira was keeping to herself about what she was.

I waved at Scott from the passenger seat of Stiles' Jeep, where we were waiting for them to meet up with us.

Stiles was shuffling them through his fingers before beginning to pass them to Scott. "This one will get you into all of the perimeter doors, this one into the evidence room, and this one's for my father's office."

"You didn't steal these, did you?" Scott questioned.

"No, I cloned them using the RFID emulator."

"Super easy. He taught me in like five minutes." I admitted.

Scott narrowed his eyes at the two of us. "Isn't that worse than stealing?"

Stiles paused for a few seconds. "It's smarter."

"Scott, can I ask you something?"

Stiles scoffed at her secretive behavior. "Okay, I'll just - " He turned to me as Scott and Kira took a couple of steps away from the Jeep. "What is she saying?"

I focused my eyes, trying to see through the dark. "She's just asking if he told us what kind of pictures are on her phone." I turned to Stiles, spotting the indifferent look he held on his face. "So, can we talk about the Scott - Kira thing?"

"Hold on; they're coming back." He turned back to them, sighing emphatically. "Okay, so, now almost everybody's out dealing with the blackout. But there's always somebody at the front desk. There's dispatch and usually a night-shifter or two." Stiles pointed behind them. "You guys are gonna use the service door entrance by the dumpster, alright? Nobody uses it."

"We'll text you if anyone comes out, but if you get caught, you're on your own."

Stiles explained further after Kira looked confused. "My dad's under investigation for an impeachment because of your dad, so if anything happens, we will run and leave you both for dead."

Scott nodded, understanding. "Got it. Thanks. Seriously, dude."

"I'd ask my dad, but you know…." Stiles shrugged.

"No, I know I get it."

Stiles sighed. "Alright, just hurry up." He leaned back in his seat after Scott and Kira left us.

I turned in the seat to face Stiles, sliding my leg up underneath me. "Can we talk now?"

Stiles lowered his head, scratching at his hairline before turning to face me in return.

"You have every right to be mad at me if that's what this is, but I don't like you being mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you," Stiles said, signing the words. He was still learning, so his gestures were a little off. I appreciated the effort as always.

I closed my eyes, sighing in relief. I felt Stiles grab my hands in his, getting my attention back. He was staring down at our hands, so I spoke first. "I don't want Kira to go through all of this alone," I admitted. "I spent the first month here alone, not knowing what the hell was going on with me and any way to deal with it. I believed that I was seeing the ghost of my head brother, talking to him. I saw that music teacher lying in a pool of her own blood before it actually happened." I shook my head. "What are you supposed to do when you see something like that, and you don't believe in the supernatural?"

Stiles looked up at me through his lashes.

"So, I encouraged Scott to talk to her even though you said we shouldn't. I'm sorry."

Stiles brought my hand up to his lips, placing light kisses on my fingertips. He shook his head after letting our hands fall into his lap. "You don't have to be sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you." He admitted. "I'm glad that you and Scott are friends. Considering that he's my best friend, it's pretty great that you two can get along."

"Then, what's the issue?" I asked with a laugh.

"It's honestly so stupid." He said with a shrug, turning back the right way in his seat.

"Tell me anyway." I insisted.

Stiles groaned, scratching his fingers through his hair for a moment before finally relaxing again. "We all hang out at school and stuff, right? But outside of that, I've had you to myself for over a month. We were the ones with the inside jokes and secrets."

"We can still have inside jokes and secrets."

"I know. It's not bad. Like I said, I'm glad you and Scott can talk. It's just something I'll have to get used to."

I gave him a tight smile. "It's kinda cute that you're being territorial, but don't make it a habit."

"Noted."

I pushed myself onto my knees in my seat, leaning over into his space. I smiled at the side of his face until he turned his head. "We good?"

Stiles nodded, pecking my lips once with his.

I narrowed my eyes at him and huffed back into my seat. "That'll do for now because we're on a stakeout, but I'm calling in for a make-up make-out after Danny's party."

Stiles scoffed jokingly. "Oh, well, if you insist."

"I do," I promised proudly, getting comfortable again.

When Stiles relaxed back into his seat once the tension between us resolved, he still looked like he was thinking hard about something. His keys were twirling around his fingers as a fidget distraction, but I believed his keys were still the problem.

"Did you ask your dad about that key?"

"Nah."

"Have you figured it out yet?"

Stiles stopped twirling the keys, catching the one key by itself and staring at it. "No, not yet."

The lights caught my eyes first. "Shit, Stiles. It's Scott's dad."

"Ah, hell." He pulled out his phone, trying to text Scott, but it wasn't going to be sent fast enough."

"What do we do?" I asked him.

Stiles undid his seatbelt hastily and rushed after the special agent into the sheriff's station.

I was left in the Jeep, staring, at a loss for words. "Okay, I'll just stay here, then." Thankfully it wasn't a few minutes before Stiles came back out. I climbed out of the Jeep, walking around to meet him at his door. "Did they get out?"

"I think so."

"You think so?" I questioned, looking back where they would come out. Like they knew I had been asking about them, they burst through the door, running towards us gleefully.

"We did it." Scott boasted. "All the pics deleted."

Kira bounced on her feet, looking at me. "That was awesome!"

Stiles nodded at her.

I clung to Stiles' arm. "That's great. I'm glad it all worked out."

"I mean, it was terrifying. Completely terrifying! But kind of awesome." Kira looked between the three of us. "I've never done anything like that before. Have you?"

Stiles took his arm from my grasp and wrapped it around my shoulders in an attempt to hide his awkwardness. "Once or twice."

"So, I guess I should take you home…." Scott said after a moment.

Kira looked bummed but nodded anyway, heading towards Scott's bike.

I stared after him, watching as he got on the bike and then her behind him. I faced away from them, looking towards the Jeep. "Ask her about the party," I whispered, hoping Scott would take the hint.

Stiles waved a hand towards me, trying to get my attention. "What did you say?"

I turned back to Scott. "Wait for it…."

Scott turned around on his bike, trying to look at Kira. "Hey, you don't want to go to a party, do you?"

(o.o)

Once we got up to the floor of Derek's loft, I pulled the giant door open and stepped in. Immediately, I felt the beat of the music and smiled. It had been a very long time since I'd been to a party. I took off my sweater, revealing the light blue tank top underneath, and threw it off to the side. I went further and further into the crowd, pulling Stiles along with me by the hand as he talked with Scott.

Turning back, I realized how much we just needed to relax—specifically him. I put my free hand on the side of his face, bringing his lips to mine while I stood on my tiptoes. It was undeniable that I had surprised him, but I wanted to have fun. We would try and figure out our other problems in the morning. I pulled away, and his face was stunned. "I wanna dance."

Stiles looked me up and down, just noticed I stood in front of him in just my tank top. He turned back towards Scott. "You know what, it can wait."

I smiled at him and led him further into the mob of dancers. Stiles and I danced for a while, letting go of all our other worries. Neither of us knew how to dance at all, but it didn't matter. We laughed at each other with our dumb dance moves.

Stiles paused for a moment, standing close to me, using his hands to talk. "How are you doing this?"

I took a step closer to him so that he may hear me. "You don't have to hear the music to feel it," I said, pointing to my feet. "The floor is shaking, and everyone else is dancing to the beat. I'm just picking it up."

Stiles shook his head with a smile, grabbing my hands to pull me forward, closing the gap between us. "You're incredible."

I laughed at him, moving his hands down to my hips to place them there. Mine worked their way up around his neck. Another few minutes passed of us enjoying the time we had to be free from the supernatural and just be teenagers.

Unfortunately, the feeling didn't last long. I felt a heavy chill run down my spine, and I lost my footing, nearly crashing to the floor.

Stiles caught me quickly when I reached out for him. "Hey, whoa, are you okay?"

Something was happening, but I didn't want to disrupt the party. Not when all of our friends were having fun. I looked around the giant room. No one was screaming or running towards the elevator. No one was dying. "Yeah, I'm good. I think I just need to sit down." I laughed the nerves away, trying to push the feeling down.

Stiles nodded and led me to the side of the room, sitting us on the spiral staircase. He had grabbed a couple of bottles of beer on the way over.

I looked curiously at the bottle I was handed. "You have a bottle opener?"

Stiles nodded and took out his keys.

My eyes paused on the keys. "Hey, look," I said, pulling the keyring from his hands and singling out the outlying key. "It's glowing."

Stiles eyed the key, furrowing his brow. "Glowing?"

"Yeah, there's a certain chemical in the UV paint they've used. It's what makes it glow. Carter and I painted my bedroom back in Maryland with this stuff."

"How did that get onto the key I didn't know I had?"

"That's the same key?" I questioned, earning a nod. I shrugged, handing him back his keys. "Maybe you bumped someone freshly painted."

"No, I'm -" Stiles stopped his words and looked at me like he was a deer in headlights.

"Stiles, are you okay?"

"I need to go." He said, repeating himself.

"What? Go?" I asked. "I thought we were gonna have a sleepover?"

"Yeah, I know, but I need to go." Stiles got up from his spot next to me but faced me again. "I want to stay. I know I owe you one, okay? But I just need you to trust me." He sighed the word trust. I knew instantly that was another sign he'd picked up from when I said it to him.

I nodded, still confused.

"I'll call you later, okay?" He took off before I could argue with him.

I sighed, bummed. I figured I would just stay at Derek's for the night. The party would end at some point. I grabbed the untouched beers and went upstairs to the kitchen to make some food for myself. As I placed the drinks on the counter, the chill ran down my back again. I shivered and looked around.

Behind me stood a cloaked figure, standing curiously with a strange mask covering his face.

I furrowed my brow. "Upstairs is off-limits," I told him, now knowing if that were the case but assuming it was. The figure faded like a ghost and reappeared directly in front of me. "What the hell?"

The man put his hand up to the side of my face, a finger behind my ear, and then everything went black.