Chapter 41: Almost Coming Together

A seemingly random man in town was starting to get stir crazy and needed some release. So he moved to go out for a night of jogging to clear his head. He threw on some sweats, grabbed some headphones, and then went to run through the streets in town. After a half hour, he decided to take a small three-minute break and he moved to lean against a lamp post. It was so quiet tonight. There weren't a lot of people to be seen around as the town was still reeling from the discovery of all those bodies that had been found in the water tunnels. He had unfortunately been one of the people who had helped roll in some of those body bags into the hospital's morgue. The story going around was that they had all been victims of a rabid animal. Curfews were being put into effect but he didn't see any reason to worry. After all, he was quite a way from the preserve and the wooden outskirts. Close to the urban heart of the town. No animal would ever go anywhere around there so he should be fine.

Unfortunately, he couldn't have it more wrong. Fatally wrong.

It came so quick the man didn't even have time to scream. Turning around a corner, the last thing he saw was a pair of bright glowing eyes, and two shimmering rows of teeth rushing right for him. Blood was splattered about the sidewalk before the body fell to the ground with a hard flop. Bright, but lifeless eyes of the fresh corpse locked onto the Beast before it galloped off, hungry for more blood. More death. Its nose tried to find some more people, more prey, ripe for the picking. Two more stragglers fell in the next few minutes, people as stir crazy and secured as the first victim.

The Beast caught sight of a car zipping by and it decided to dash on after it. It followed the trail of gas and exhaust not too far from its last victim until it entered a brightly lit parking area in front of a high building. The scents and sounds of significantly more people filled it. It's glowing eyes fell upon the bright sign in front reading: Beacon High Memorial Hospital.

It then went to let out a small howl of excitement, heralding impending doom to the hapless people currently inside.


Jordan Parrish was assigned as the lookout deputy over at the hospital tonight. With what happened with the previous bodies, the Sheriff decided that there had to be someone watching over the hospital morgue to make sure all the bodies recovered were safe. He went and volunteered as he wanted to make sure that if the compulsion came over him again, he wouldn't hurt anyone like back at the animal clinic...or at Eichen House. Stilinski was still a little upset with him for attacking his son, even if he said that he understood it wasn't his fault. So when he asked for a volunteer for this job, his was the first hand up.

Still, Jordan couldn't help but think it ironic, given that the culprit who'd been taking them was revealed to be himself, and he was the one on the job.

'Like letting the fox guard the henhouse',' he thought humorously to himself.

As he sat there, around the corner from the morgue, he let his mind think about his little trip to the Argents. From what they could make out, hellhounds aren't born, but created. They wanted to dig more into his past to see if there was an explanation in there somewhere. Jordan told them that he had a pretty standard childhood. Nothing too special or out of the ordinary. Though, the same couldn't be said after he enlisted. He remembered one thing that always seemed out of place. It was when he had been on his last tour. He had been placed on an OED squad. He remembered being caught in a blast though he had lived. His clothes had been scorched away and his body covered in ash but he had come out no worse for wear. He couldn't explain what had happened or how he managed to survive without a scratch. It was shortly after that when he was shipped back and then moved into law enforcement. Both of the hunters feel that event was the moment when he was 'turned'.

But Jordan's musings were cut off when he suddenly heard screaming from down the hall. He quickly pulled out his gun and darted off, maneuvering through some people that were running away, in frantic fright. He came upon a corner where he felt something. It was like a pit falling in his stomach, telling him that something was heading right for him. A moment later, a dark shape went and peaked into the hallway. It looked like a cross between a demon and an animal. It's bright blue eyes locked onto him and it went from all fours to standing on it's hind legs, taking up the space of the hall.

Jordan's eyes started to sparkle with an amber glow as he moved to pull the trigger and let shots loose.


"Whoo!" Stiles howled out in youthful glee as he moved to stick his head out the window.

Stiles was sitting in the driver's seat, speeding down a dark and dimly lit road. He pressed harder on the gas pedal as he moved to speed up faster down the empty street. After agreeing to work together, Scott and Stiles planned to go off and see Deaton so they could learn more about Valack, Eichen House and for him to check on Zach. Virgil asked if they could hold off for an hour while he went to pick something up for them. He then left and came back to Stiles' house with his jeep, fully repaired and cleaned up.

Scott was sitting in the passenger seat watching Stiles celebrate having his jeep back, fully repaired. He had a sad sort of smile as he watched him. Stiles hadn't smiled or laughed like this in weeks. He didn't want to say or do anything that would snap him out of it. But, he apparently was the only one in the car that felt that way.

"Hey Lassie!" Zach cried out from the back seat. "Can you pull it back a bit!"

"Yeah, Stiles, I know you're happy that your jeep is fixed and all, but try not to wreck it in the hour you get it back!" Virgil cried out right next to him.

"Give him a break," Scott happily chided in. "He hasn't been this happy in a while."

"Wonder why that is," Virgil scoffed at him.

Scott's eyes darted over to see Virgil giving him a bit of a hard look that made him a bit taken aback. The older guy seemed a bit cold to him back at Stiles' house too. He didn't get much time as his attention was back on Stiles as he was settling back in from the window.

Stiles went and settled against his car seat. The hard wind flapping in his ears had kept him from hearing what any of that last bit between them. "Sorry," he gasped out contently. "It's just...wow. Roscoe is back and as good as new." Stiles smiled over at him through the rear-view mirror. "Thanks Virge."

"Virgil," he quickly snipped but then shrugged. "And it was nothing."

"Nothing?" Stiles scoffed. "Are you kidding? I can feel it. My jeep, its...faster, stronger than before. And that horrible burnt, smoky smell is gone."

"Well, that smell was really from all the duct tape that was put over the engine," Virgil said, scolding. "You were suffocating the poor thing."

That sobered Stiles a bit. "Yeah, well...that was then. Next time, if I have any problems, I'll know to go to you."

"Try not to let it be too soon. And speaking of which, where exactly are we going?" he asked them.

"The animal clinic," Scott answered for him. "I called Deaton and he should have more to tell us about Valack and Eichen House."

"Right, he's that emissary of your pack?" Virgil recalled.

"Yeah," Stiles nodded, before turning back to Scott. "And if what you told me is true, he has a lot more than that to tell,"

Scott had told Stiles about what he had found out about their past. That the two of them had actually been singled out by Laura Hale when they were kids. That she was planned to connect with them when she had come back to Beacon Hills, at least before Peter killed her. Stiles was stunned to say the least.

"And why do we have to go?" asked Zach. "We could've just stayed back at your place."

"I'm not going to leave you alone there," Stiles answered.

"I don't need to be babysat," Zach indignantly spat out.

"That's good because I suck at babysitting," Stiles mumbled. He then stiffened up as his tone grew serious. "Look, it's just not safe for you to be alone there. Not without me or my dad."

"It was fine when you were both out the other night."

"Yeah, well that was before a gun loving, kill happy psycho rolled back into town."

Scott had also revealed that Gerard Argent had come back to town. Fully healed and working with his son again. Scott told him that Chris had brought his father back to help with dealing with Gevaudan and the Dread Doctors. He claimed that Chris would keep him under control and how Gerard was too focused with the Beast to bother with them right now but Stiles knew all too well how that worked when the Kanima had been around.

"How is that different from the three mad doctors and their homicidal science project running around?" Zach scoffed out.

"This one knows where I live, and he's not too big on guys like us."

"Besides," Virgil cut in. "I'm kind of curious about this so-called werewolf guru."

"He's not exactly like that, but still, it might also be good to let Deaton take a look at you Zach," Scott added. "Make sure everything's really alright and there's no...complications."

Zach rolled his eyes. "Oh, you mean like me bleeding grey goo from my eyes or mouth. Can't wait."

"That's the spirit," Stiles muttered as he went to make a turn.

Their conversation was then cut short when Stiles' police radio started blaring out.

"Dispatch here, we just got a call. A call just came in. A 1-8-7. Chestnut Drive, near the corner of Stable Street."

Scott blinked. "That's a couple of blocks from the hospital."

"What's a 1-8-7?" Zach asked them.

"Homicide," Stiles growled.

But there was another voice coming in through the dispatch. This time reporting a disturbance at the hospital.

"Mom," Scott gasped almost inaudibly.

With that, Stiles went and violently turned the jeep around, speeding down the opposite direction, heading for the hospital. His previous high spirit had just came crashing down. Well, it had been good while it lasted.

Arriving at the hospital, it was immediate chaos. Pulling up, they all quickly were drawn to the sight of frightened people running out of the hospital front entrance, frantic. Scott practically flew out from the passenger seat while Stiles looked back at the passengers.

"Stay here," he told them.

"Yeah," Virgil nodded, a bead of nervous sweat falling from his brow.

"No arguments here," Zach frantically panted.

Scott turned around when he noticed Stiles wasn't with him. The last thing he wanted was to separate from him now. "C'mon Stiles!" he yelled back at him.

Stiles hopped out of the driver seat and was hot on Scott's tail as he turned his gaze up to the ceiling.

"Do you smell that?" Scott quickly asked him.

Stiles nodded. "Yeah. Blood, lots of it. And still fresh."

"It's here."

"Scott!"

They both turned and saw Scott's mom running over to them. Scott moved quickly over to her and gave her a look over.

"Are you alright?" he asked, as he checked her over for any sign of injury.

She quickly. "I'm okay. I was looking through some folders in the file room when the alert sounded," she said, assuring her son that he was fine. "I was the one that put the call to the Sheriff's station. I had hoped one of you might've been listening." She then threw a look over at Stiles. "Didn't expect both of you."

"How long ago?" Stiles asked her. "When did it show up?"

"Around fifteen minutes ago."

"Mom, stay here," Scott told her as he and Stiles started to run off.

Melissa wanted to yell, scream at her son and Stiles to not go but she knew it wouldn't do any good. "Please be careful," she prayed out to herself.

They went into the elevator and moved to head on up, tensely. The empty elevator was filled with the sounds of their heavy, nervous breathing as they strived to mentally prepare themselves for what they would face once those doors opened. When they finally did, it had done little. They both were still thrown.

The halls were a mess, in every way imaginable. There were papers, gurneys and equipment all thrown about as well as pieces of the walls and ceiling broken and torn up. But the biggest and most significant thing was the blood. Spots and splatters of it, sprayed everywhere. On the walls and the floors. Some by themselves and others near the still fresh corpses of hospital patients, personnel or random visitor.

Scott was scanning the devastation when he noticed something and got Stiles' attention. He pointed out sets of giant wolfen footprints made in blood. Scott saw that they each seemed bigger than both of his feet.

"Let's follow them," Stiles said, making his eyes shine their blue glow in response.

As soon as Scott saw them, he quickly averted his eyes but grit his teeth as he moved to stare back. "Yeah," he said, shining his red eyes back at him.

Scott hoped that Stiles would feel better but he was surprised to see that Stiles moved to avert his eyes after a moment. Stiles moved to quickly go after the prints and Scott shook himself out of it as he went to go with him. The two of them right after them for a few moments but they stopped when they saw that the prints disappeared. At least the wolfen prints did. After the last one, the nest bloody print seemed to be in the shape of a shoe bottom.

"What the hell?" Stiles gasped.

"I guess he changed back," Scott muttered.

"Yeah, but who?"

The next moment didn't answer Stiles' question but still shocked them, as Jordan Parrish came fumbling out of one of the rooms down the hall. He was without his shirt or pants, covered in a layer of black soot, with some blood still leaking from a claw wound spread across his chest.

"Are you okay?" Scott quickly asked as he ran over to him.

"Parrish, what happened?" Stiles asked just as quickly as he joined him.

He was panting, not out of fear, but fatigue. "I'm not sure, I can't remember too much. All I know is, one minute we were fighting, the next, it struck me and started running away."

Scott remembered the image he had seen. The Beast and the Hellhound. "Maybe you scared him off," he mumbled hopefully.

Stiles turned to look back at the footprint of the shoe. "Or maybe he ran out of time."


Liam was taking some time to try and walk off some of this anxiety that was building. Scott had sent him a text setting a meeting for tomorrow. No doubt it was about planning their attempt to break Lydia out of Eichen House. It looked like Stiles was going to be coming as well. It would be the first time that all of them had been together since...well, a while. Liam was feeling both nervous and scared about the whole thing. Not only about breaking into a secure facility's secret wing to break Lydia out, a place that was built for people like them, but for everyone coming in to work together again.

He had tried to call Mason so they could talk but he wasn't answering his phone. If Liam had to guess, he was out trying to connect with Corey. And sure enough, his walking started to lead him towards Sinema, to Hayden. He was going to try and head on in but stopped before he reached the door. Liam's eyes narrowed as he felt that something was off. He turned around and his eyes started looking about but nothing seemed out of place. For a second, Liam thought he must've imagined but when he turned to head back for the front door, he jumped seeing two people standing there.

"Brett? Lori?" he gasped out.

"Hey Liam," Brett greeted stiffly.

Liam had not properly seen Brett or Lori since that terrible night that he and Hayden were taken away by the Dread Doctors. Brett seemed a bit intense to him while Lori was looking a bit sad. Liam dropped his gaze so he wasn't looking her straight in the eye. The memories of him kissing Hayden the other night, and nearly kissing her again at school, came back to him. He hadn't really given Lori much thought the last couple of days but now, seeing her, the memory of them kissing over at Satomi's came rushing back. He wasn't sure what to feel.

"Looking for Hayden?" Lori asked him in a low tone. Her undertone seemed a bit tense with controlled anger.

He blinked. "What the hell are you guys doing here? Are you looking for Hayden too?"

"Not really, but it doesn't matter. She's not here," Brett grumbled shortly at him. "Hate to break it to you but we saw her leave and get picked up by her sister over an hour ago."

"Wait, are you spying on her?" Liam said, getting defensive. "Why are you doing that?"

"Uh, because she's part of that psycho Theo's Chimera Pack," Brett said back.

"Why do you care about Theo?"

"Didn't you know that he's the one that killed Wilson?"

Liam's jaw tightened a bit. "Yeah. Stiles told us that Theo basically confessed it the night of the Supermoon. But Hayden didn't have anything to do with that," he added defensively.

"Relax," Lori said dryly. "Hayden's not special. Corey is being watched too."

"And those other two, Josh and Tracey, we would also be watching them but it looks like they've gone to ground," Brett finished. "Probably holed up with him."

"What are you guys going to do?" asked Liam.

"Relax," Brett hissed, mirroring his sister. "We're not going to do anything. We're just keeping tabs on them, for now."

"For now? Why?"

The siblings shared a look.

"Didn't Scott tell you?" said Lori.

Liam got confused. "Tell me what?"

Brett and Lori then began to tell Liam of Scott's visit to Satomi and the bargain that was struck. When they were done, Liam was quite thrown.

"The full moon? Satomi gave Scott until then? To do what?"

"His duty," Lori answered softly.

"What duty?"

"As the Alpha of Beacon Hills and our pack's ally." Brett started to pace as he felt himself started to get worked up a bit from all this. "He's going to that duty and see that justice for our pack is served."

Liam's gaze caught sight of Brett's claws being visible at the ends of his fingers. "Justice is served? You mean against Theo? Why does Scott have to do that? I mean, if it's for your pack then why doesn't Satomi just go and get him herself?"

Brett moved to take a deep, heated breath. "It's part of the creed."

"Creed? What creed?"

"A wolf creed. It's the unspoken but instinctual pact between packs," Lori moved to answer. "You see, when a wolf from a pack goes and kills another pack's wolf, it needs to be answered. Especially when it was an unprovoked attack in cold blood. Since it was his beta that did the act, Scott has to be the one to take action."

"But...Theo isn't part of our pack anymore. He never really was. It was all a lie. He was playing us from the start so he could go and kill Scott."

Brett shook his head. "Doesn't matter. He was here in Beacon Hills, Scott's territory, with his permission and under his protection. Scott also went and welcomed him into his pack. All that makes anything Theo did while he was here his responsibility. Doesn't matter if it was all a trick or not."

"Wait...are you saying that Scott has to kill Theo?"

Lori stiffened up, resolutely. "The punishment has to fit the crime Liam. Eye for an eye and all that. In this case, it's blood for blood. Beta for Beta. A wolf for a wolf."

"Or fake wolf in Theo's case," Brett dryly added.

Liam was shocked. "But...Scott won't. He can't. He doesn't kill."

Lori moved to nod her head slightly in agreement. "Yeah, we know." Her eyes then shifted to show their golden yellow glow.

Her brother Brett responded in kind. "That's why we're here. Because, when he can't, then we will. And if those faux weres of his try to get in the way, they can share in his fate."

Liam's then narrowed his eyes as they shifted too. "If you even think of touching Hayden-"

"What?" Brett said, stomping a step closer at him. "What are you going to do?"

Low undertone growls were starting to emanate from both the young wolves as they glared hard and threateningly at one another. Both of them silently challenging the other to make the first move.

Lori scoffed at the toxic display. "Calm down, the both of you," she growled at both her brother and Liam. They both were breathing hard but they took a step back and let their eyes go back to normal. Lori then rounded on her brother. "I know you're pissed Brett. I am too. But picking a fight with Liam is not going to help. He's not who we're after." She then went and turned to Liam, equally as hard. "And Liam, I know you don't like it, but this isn't personal. I'm sorry, but this is what it is. I might not be a fan of hers right now, but I still don't want anything bad to happen to Hayden. But when the time comes and she gets in the way, then what happens is on her."

"Lori-"

But she cut Liam off. "You want to help her Liam, then make sure she's as far away from that psycho come the full moon. If she's not, well...it's out of our hands."

Liam and Lori just stared back at each other with a mix of anger and sadness in their eyes. Liam was the first to blink before he turned away and started to run off in the opposite direction, distancing himself from Brett and Lori.

"Are you really okay with this?" Brett softly asked his sister. "Him just going off to try and help her?"

"What do you think?" She then went and gave him a good hit before she went and ran off, leaving her brother alone.

"Yeah, stupid question," he mumbled to himself as he lightly rubbed where his sister struck him.


Sheriff Noah Stilinski was standing out in the hall, right in front of a door, as he watched the orderlies begin wheeling the gurneys with the freshly filled body bags down for the morgue. A tired but resolved look on his face as his eyes followed every one. His eyes caught movement heading for him and his heart starting picking up, thinking they were heading for the room he was trying to guard. It settled when he saw that it was Deputy Clarke.

"Sheriff," she said as she stopped beside him.

"What is it Clarke?" he asked her.

"Another call came through. A jogger, found mauled to death, about nine blocks from here."

"A teenager? The principal made it clear there is a curfew in effect."

She shook her head. "No Sheriff, it wasn't a teenager. Looked like he was in his mid-20's. They're bringing him in to join the others."

Noah let out a tired sigh. The curfew was only for underage kids but it couldn't stop any adults who wanted to be out. They were only able to do so much. Especially when they couldn't even notify the people what the danger truly was.

"Thanks Clarke," he muttered.

She then cast a look around. "Hey, where's Parrish? I thought he was on duty here tonight. He's wasn't one of-" Her eyes went to one of the body bags passing by them.

He saw where she was going with this. "No," he assured her. "It's okay. I just sent Parrish down to try and talk down some of the people that were here. In fact, go down to the main entrance, keep some of the jackals from surprising them on the way out."

"Yes sir," she said before heading off for the elevator.

When the last body bag topped gurney passed him, he went and knocked on the door he was standing in front of.

"You done yet?" he muttered through it.

The door then softly pulled open as Parrish's head stuck through it. His hair was somewhat damp and shirt a little baggy, evidence that he had dressed and cleaned himself up in a hurry, but he looked no worse for wear.

"Thanks for bringing me the extra uniform Sheriff," he said, stepping out and straightening the front of his shirt a bit more.

One major drawback of being a hellhound, besides all the obvious ones, was that he burned through whatever it was he was wearing at the time. And with the hospital so full of tensed people, there was no way that he could get out and avoid being spotted, nearly naked and covered in soot and blood, without anyone asking questions.

"You're just lucky I had that spare one lying around. Though you're probably extremely lucky to come face to face with this thing and still be alive."

Parrish shook his head. "I don't feel lucky Sheriff. This thing, the last chimera, Le Bete, the Beast of Gevaudan or whatever you call it...up until now, I kept hoping that Stiles, Virgil and the Argents were just exaggerating about it. If anything, they were holding back."

That did little to settle Noah as he recalled the fact that Virgil had nearly been made one of Gevaudan's victims and that his son actually fought against this thing. Parrish then went to lead Noah off towards the bloody shoeprint.

"This belongs to whoever it is?"

"Scott and Stiles sure thought so. They took some pictures of it."

"Knowing the shoe of whoever this is won't help if we don't know where to look for them."

"That's why I'm here." They turned to see Melissa heading over for them.

"Are you alright?" asked Noah.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I was in the file room when that thing attacked. I've been spending a lot of time there lately, going through files, trying to find anyone with a record of transplants, surgery, transfusions, anything that would have given them two sets of DNA."

"Making them a potential chimera," Noah said, following along. That was how the Dread Doctors had chosen their victims. "Any luck?"

"Not a lot. It's not easy either. I have to check through the files one by one. It takes time."

They were interrupted when some orderlies started coming down the hall with another body. Noah guessed it was the one that Clarke told him about.

"See to that Parrish," he told him. Parrish nodded and moved to help escort it to the morgue.

"How is he?" Melissa asked, looking after him.

"Scared, and confused. Both of this thing, and of himself." Noah ran his hand furiously across the back of his head. "I tried to look after him as best as I could but-"

He stopped there, unable to go on. Melissa didn't need him to though. She understood.

"Yeah. I mean, we couldn't protect our sons when this all first started happening to them, we thought that we could at least help Parrish." It seemed that was turning out just as badly. "Speaking of our sons, it looks like they're back. Scott and Stiles both came running into the hospital together like they always have. Maybe we can have at least one good thing coming out of all this."

"Maybe," he said in a faraway tone. "But I think we both know that working together in a crisis and being together after it's over can be two very different things."

Melissa sighed. Yes, she knew that all too well. "Still, I'm hoping it turns out better for them."

"Yes, well right now, I'm reserving all my hope for making sure they get through all this alive. That we all do."

"I'll hope enough for us both then."

He gave her a thankful nod.


Down at the entrance of the hospital, Deputy Clarke was one the phone with her sister as she watched to make sure the local reporters kept their distance.

"Are you sure all the doors and windows are locked?" she asked.

Hayden, on the other end, rolled her eyes. "As locked as they were when you headed out an hour ago."

"Hayden, please, there was an attack here at the hospital. Okay, I'm just worried about you."

"Well, maybe you should be more worried about you right now."

"Thanks but I'll be okay. Your big sister knows how to handle herself."

Hayden let herself step in front of a mirror and let her eyes shift. "And your younger sister is no slouch either."

"You are when you go looking for trouble. Like back at the woods," she shot back pointedly.

Hayden closed her eyes. Her sister was thinking of her leading them all to those bodies. 'If she only knew that was the tip of the iceberg', she thought to herself. "I know," she calmly said to her. "I'm sorry. Believe me, I'll be more careful."

"That's all I want."

"Me too."

Clarke then noticed some of the photographers moving to hound one of the patients trying to leave the hospital. "Alright Hayden, I gotta go." She then hung up and moved to help hold them back and help the patient leave.

Hayden sighed as she moved to throw herself on the bed. She looked down at her phone, internally struggling for a few minutes, before she shot herself up and moved to send a text.

"Here," she said to herself as she hit send. "Hope your happy."

A moment later, a phone across town chimed. Theo went to pick it up and saw it was a text from his beta Hayden. Reading about hearing that Le Bete attacking the hospital tonight and snorting when he was finished. As if he didn't know already.

"You're going to have to do better than that," he said to her through himself.


Alan Deaton was looking through a microscope at the blood sample that he had taken from Zach. The young man in question was looking down at his arm, still thrown at how the puncture wound from the needle was fully healed, like it didn't even happen. Though, his wonder was overpowered with anxiety at what the veterinarian would tell him after he was finished with his analysis. Close by, waiting not quite as anxiously but anxious still, were Scott, Stiles and Virgil.

After a moment, Deaton sighed and moved to turn towards them all. "Everything seems fine."

"You're sure?" Zach pressed.

"Well, I can find no signs of mercury in your blood. I would need to run some real medical tests to be sure, but it does seem you are quite fortunate. At least compared to the others that the Dread Doctors had gotten to. Your condition as a chimera appears to be stable. As much as Theo Raeken's seems to be."

"If you can call that bastard stable," Virgil threw in, not taking his eyes off his hands as he was shuffling his grandmother's cards.

Stiles snorted in agreement while Scott sighed in discomfort.

Deaton spared Virgil a moment's look. As well as the cards in his hands. He couldn't help but feel mild familiarity before he looked away when Stiles called his name.

"Is it true? That you've been watching us since we were kids? For Laura Hale?"

He nodded his head. "Yes, its true. After the fire at the Hale House, Laura took Derek and left Beacon Hills but before she did, she came to me and asked me to watch over you boys. Apparently, she took notice of you boys beforehand and felt you both had potential. She thought you would fit well into her family's pack when she had taken over. When she had come back to town, she wanted to rebuild the pack. She came to me to check in on you boys and, after hearing how you turned out, felt Scott wasn't quite ready to join her pack then but thought you might be Stiles. She was planning on approaching you with her offer after she had settled in but, as you know, things didn't turn out like she planned."

Stiles clapped his hands before he pointed at Scott. "See, I told you he's been hiding something. Didn't I say it? How many times did I say it?"

Scott couldn't help the small smile creeping up on him. Oh, had a part of him missed this.

"I was not hiding anything Stiles," Deaton said, drawing his attention back. "Simply just keeping it to myself. These were Laura's secrets, not mine, and there was never a need for either of you to know."

"Not a need for us to know?!" he asked gobsmacked. "Really?"

"Would knowing any of this have changed anything for you?" he calmly went and asked him.

That seemed to make Stiles stop in his tracks as he let himself think on it. Knowing that Laura Hale had wanted to recruit him for her pack, he tried to think how it would have affected how things went for him this past year and a half but he couldn't come up with anything. Maybe Deaton had a point.

"Well," he said slowly. "Is there anything else you're keeping to yourself that we don't have a need to know?"

Deaton looked him square in the eye. He could see that Stiles was studying him, trying to pick out a lie. "Yes." he admitted. "There are other things. Secrets only I know. One of those things happens to involve you."

"What is it?"

"I can't tell you Stiles. At least," he said quickly, seeing Stiles ready to argue again. "Not now. Not yet. But, I promise you right now, I will tell you, when I feel you need to know."

Stiles kept his stare on him as he couldn't pick out any kind of tell coming from Deaton's face or his heart. He couldn't help but feel this was the most honest that Deaton's ever been with him. He sighed and nodded his head. Over to the side, Scott was a little bewildered. What else was Deaton keeping to himself? What about Stiles did he know? For a moment, he thought it might be about him and Cora, but he realized that others knew about it too so it wasn't really his own secret. Now, he was curious.

Deaton could see the wheels spinning through Scott's expression as he moved to catch his eye. They stared at each other for a moment before Deaton spoke again. "But we are starting to stray from our current dilemmas. Back to you Zach." He shifted his gaze back over to the squirrely young man. "Out of all the people the Dread Doctors took, you're the only one to come of their process not just stable but well. Something must've been unique with your transition."

"Liam said that he saw them take you away when they had him and Hayden," said Scott.

Zach shrugged. "Yeah, they went and injected me with something. I don't know what it was. But, that's when my wings went and came out for the first time."

"And you've mastered making them appear now?" asked Deaton.

Zach looked over at Stiles and he went and gave him a nod. He then moved to take off his jacket and shirt as he moved to let his wings come out of his back and spread them as wide as he could in that small room. He even let out his claws and eyes show too but their attention was on his feathered wings.

"Wow," Scott muttered as his eyes widened at them.

"Fascinating," said Deaton.

Zach then made them disappear and moved to put his clothes back on. "Well, those three doctors weren't so fascinated or impressed. They wanted to kill me. 'Your condition is stable yet no progress. A failure'. That's what they said right before they came at me." Zach barely suppressed his urge to shiver. Those words uttered by The Surgeon still haunted him. He heard them nearly every night as he had nightmares where they actually succeeded in killing him.

"Because you weren't what they were hoping for," Scott reasoned.

Stiles jaw stiffened. "Yeah, they wanted an ancient killing machine, not a boy with wings. And it's off to a great start. Eleven new victims spread across Beacon Memorial. And that was just at the hospital. Before we got here, my dad called and told me of a couple finding a mauled jogger a couple of blocks away."

Scott's eyes faltered. All those people, in just one night. "And lets not forget about all the bodies Argent found in that tunnel," Scott threw in. "Who knows how many haven't even been found yet."

"Yes," Deaton sighed. "And I'm afraid it's only going to get worse." He then turned to look at Stiles. "And your theory is that it has a limited time frame?"

Stiles nodded. "Yeah. Having all that power, it's taxing. I don't remember much when I first shifted but-" His eyes seemed to cloud over a bit as he tried to think back to the night of the Supermoon. He might not remember everything that happened, but he could remember how it felt. "I can remember a real rush," he continued. "Every time."

"Every time? Exactly how many times have you gone through the change Stiles?"

"Three."

It hadn't been Stiles who answered, but Virgil. The two of them moved to share a look as a silent understanding seemed to be passing between them. Scott watched them and was lost on what was going on with the two of them. He still didn't know what to make of Virgil, but he wasn't sure he might be entirely good.

But Stiles then nodded and sighed. "Yeah. One at the Supermoon. One about four nights after that. The last time was after I got away from Parrish when he attacked me. Ran through the woods and changed there."

"You're sure it was only three times?" asked Deaton insistently.

"Well, it was only three times that I woke up in strange places and was naked so I would say yeah," he said with a shrugging nod.

"Hey," Virgil sternly cut in. "The first time was in my apartment."

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, like I said, strange place," he said back in the same tone as before. He then smirked amusingly at him to let him know he was messing around.

"He's not wrong," Zach mumbled to himself from off to the side. It was still heard perfectly from everyone in the room.

Virgil rolled his eyes but let himself snort in amusement all the same.

Scott silently watched them go at it. Stiles seemed to be quite happy and comfortable with them. Especially with Virgil, given the looks of ease and...trust they were throwing one another. He couldn't help but be surprised. Stiles wasn't the type to really trust new people, especially in over the last year. Yet, it looks like he went and started trusting two strangers within two weeks.

"Still," Stiles said, sobering up. "Point is, when it happens, I can't remember feeling so strong. But it burns through me, and when it's over, I feel so tired and spent. Maybe that's what happening to it."

Deaton nodded. Right now, Stiles would be the best source of understanding this new threat. After all, they were of the same breed.

"Them," Scott suddenly said. "Let's not forget, this is still a person. They might not even know what they're even doing."

That made Stiles blink. "What, like how Jackson didn't know what he was doing?"

"Maybe," he shrugged. "Like you said, it's all a rush. You didn't know what you were doing or was in any control when you shifted. What if it's the same with them?"

Deaton began to pace a bit. "Perhaps. Whoever the Dread Doctors changed into Le Bete, they might still just be in transition. Their body is slowly acclimating to all this power. And until it is, the Dread Doctors are probably moving to suppress their memory so that they don't interfere with that transition until it's complete."

"Okay, but how long do you think that'll be?" asked Scott.

"I can't know for sure. But, what I do know with certainty, with every new transformation, Le Bete will only grow stronger and the time limit that its out will only grow longer. Until it is permanent."

"Then what happens?" Zach asked them. No one moved to answer him but that gave him all the answers he needed. "Oh."

"Hey," Stiles said over at him. "That's just the worst case scenario. We still have time to stop it before that even happens."

"And what if it does happen?"

Stiles shifted his eyes out at him. "Then I'll be there to stop it after it does."

Zach seemed to settle and he let his eyes shift in kind. Stiles let his eyes fall on Virgil he saw his lips curve slightly when they made eye contact. They both knew that Stiles would still fight, even then. Stiles let a sigh loose before he turned his head over to smile at Scott but saw that his eyes averted. Stiles realized he hadn't made his eyes go back to normal. Scott moved to turn his head to look at him and Stiles could smell the anxiety, just like back at the hospital and quickly made his eyes shift back as he continued to face Scott.

This whole exchange didn't go unnoticed. Deaton decided to break up the new tension.

"But, before any of you boys deal with that, there is the more immediate problem. I did some digging and it seems that Dr. Fenris may indeed be the new alias for our old friend Dr. Valack. He's taken full authority of the Eichen House board."

"How could he have done that?" Scott asked him. "He was locked up when we went to see him."

"I'm afraid Valack has his ways. It also helps that he knows Eichen quite intimately, as he was once it's Chief Medical Officer."

"Valack ran Eichen House?" Stiles resisted the urge to shudder. "Figures that it takes a real nut to run that nut house."

"That's not even the worst of it." Deaton moved over to a cabinet and pulled out a file. "What I'm about to show you, it is not supposed to exist." Scott and Stiles moved closer to the table as Deaton then looked over to Virgil and Zach. "Are you two sure you want to see this?"

Zach let out a hard huff through his nose. "I'll go wait in the waiting area."

He then quickly slid out of the room though Virgil stayed put.

"A demon got close enough to me that I could smell it's damn breath and lived to tell the tale. Nothing will shock me now."

"I'll think you'll be surprised on what is still out there Mr. Edelman. These two could vouch for that." Scott and Stiles stiffened a bit at that. "But if you're sure." He then went and opened the file as he went and placed a small photo out in front of them. It was of a dead wendigo. While Virgil was stuck on the two rows of razor teeth it had, Scott and Stiles had their gaze on the bloody hole that was in its temple. It was followed by a few more photos of other supernaturals, each one sporting holes in the side of their foreheads. "This is the only surviving evidence of Dr. Valack's time as Eichen House's chief medical officer. To call it human experimentation would be charitable."

"Trepanation," Stiles muttered almost to himself. "Yeah, Malia and I found all these papers back in Eichen House when we broke into their file room."

"Those files were just from his earlier work on normal humans. Used them to perfect his techniques as he...took it to the next level. Supernatural humans and creatures."

Scott picked up Deaton's last photo to see that it was a woman grasping at her temples, screaming. He showed it to Stiles and his eyes widened at the sight of it.

"Is that-"

"A Banshee," Deaton said, answering Scott's unfinished question. "She died screaming."

Scott blinked as he suddenly imagined Lydia being the girl in the photo instead and dropped the photo.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Virgil muttered.

Stiles pushed down the bile that wanted to come up through his throat. "Valack drilled holes in their heads. All of them?" he asked in a scratchy voice.

"That was the experimentation part. He did it to werewolves, banshees, wendigos. Any creature he could get his hands on. Valack found that trepanation would initially heighten their powers, but to levels that couldn't be contained."

Scott could see where this was heading. "So he wants to make Lydia more powerful?"

"Yeah, except she's going to end up like them," Stiles said, giving the photos all another look.

"Worse, actually. Lydia's abilities were already pretty exceptional to begin with. Putting a hole in her head, will be like causing a leak in a nuclear reactor. She'll hear everything. Every death, every dying scream. All at once."

That made all of their hearts run cold, even Zach's who could still hear what they were saying from outside the room.

"That's going to kill her," Scott gasped out.

"Not only that. Her own dying scream...could be so powerful that it would kill everyone around her as well."

Stiles picked up another photo of an experimented banshee and as he imagined Lydia's own piercing scream, he moved to crumble the photo up in anger and fear. Virgil he moved to pull a card out from his deck and he saw that it was The Tower. His hand was shaking a bit as he imagined hearing multiple people all screaming in agony all at once before they all stopped at the same time.

Scott noticed his shaking. "Are you alright?" he asked him in concern.

"Fine," he said, clearing his throat and pocketing his cards back into his pouch. "Well, this has been fun, but it's getting pretty late. Maybe we should head back to your house now Stiles?"

"Yeah, maybe you're right." It had been too long a night and he was physically and mentally exhausted.

Scott moved forward. He didn't want to separate right now. "No, maybe we should all go and head to my house. Kira, Malia and Liam are meeting us at the school tomorrow morning and it's closer."

"No, it's okay Scott. I don't mind. Roscoe is back and we have a lot of quality time to catch up on. Besides, all their stuff is at my house anyway."

Scott deflated and he found himself nodding. "Okay."

The three of them then started to make their way out through the clinic's back door. Stiles led the way with Zach following after and Virgil bringing up the rear. Yet, as he was leaving, he moved to give Scott a stern sort of last look before he went on out. Scott went to lean back into the wall, resting himself for a moment, before he noticed that Deaton was staring over at him.

"Is everything okay Scott?" he asked when he noticed him looking.

"Yeah," he shrugged. But Deaton just rose an eyebrow at him and Scott let his head lean back into the wall a little harder than necessary. "No," he muttered. "I mean I finally have Stiles back again, I just thought...maybe things would start going back to normal."

"After only one day?"

"I just want everything back to how it was before," he pouted helplessly out.

Deaton went over to put his hand over his shoulder. "Scott, I think that's the whole problem."

"Really, because before there wasn't a problem just from Stiles and I first seeing each other."

"So that's why you really didn't want Stiles to go. To separate from you. Because now, every time he does, you know that the next time you two see each other, it will hurt him while you feel nothing." Scott's jaw tightened up as that bitter fact reared its ugly head. "I understand you don't want that Scott but you can't just force Stiles to stay with you 24/7." His tone then lowered a bit. "Especially when he feels you already don't really want him around."

Scott's head shot up. "What does that mean?"

"You avoided his eyes when he looked over at you."

"You saw that?" he said, rubbing at his tired eyes.

"Scott, it's not just here. You haven't been able to look Stiles in his eyes, his wolf eyes, since they changed after his possession by the Nogitsune. And I'm not the only one. Derek and Argent, they know also."

"They do? How?" he deflated. They all have seen it and not him? Scott then moved to look down at his shoes. "I didn't even realize I was doing it until about a week ago."

"Stiles told them."

Scott was taken aback. "He did?" That didn't sound like Stiles, to just confide in Derek, and especially Argent, on something like this.

"He didn't exactly tell them over coffee. Stiles was upset and let it slip out to them. According to Derek, Stiles is convinced you don't look at his eyes because you only see the killer of his first love when they come out. And Argent, he believes that Stiles is convinced that you'd rather have had him die that night instead of Allison."

"What?!" he gasped out. "That's not what I-"

"Scott," Deaton cut him off. "I know. That's just how he thinks Stiles feels. And these latest developments would only have given strength to those feelings."

"He shouldn't. I...I'm trying to not do that to him anymore."

"Yes, I saw that too. But do you really think that's going to make him feel better? For his best friend to have to have to force himself to look at him?"

Scott then moved to start pacing off. "Well, I've got to do something. Please, just tell me what I can do. How do I make this stop Deaton?"

"I'm sorry Scott. I don't know. I may be your emissary but doesn't mean I'm always going to have the answers you need or want. The truth is, I believe this is beyond repair. I've seen many a strong bond and relationship fall to things like and never recover. Some heal, but never truly go back. And this just might be another one to add."

"I still have to try," he meekly told him.

Deaton gave him a sad smile. "I know. The best advice I can give you right now is this question. Why can't you look at Stiles' eyes whenever they appear?"

"But I don't know."

But Deaton shook his head this time. "No, you do. You do know but you are avoiding the answer. You have to be honest with yourself. But, if you need help finding it, maybe Mr. Edelman might be of help."

"You mean Virgil? How? You know him?"

"Him, no. But I did know his grandmother, Paulette Edelman. She was a stern but spirited woman. She was quite an avid tarot advisor. I used to go for a reading every now and then when I felt stuck."

"Tarot cards? That stuff isn't real."

"Neither are these files," he said, holding up Valack's experiment records. "It might seem ridiculous but Paulette's candor couldn't be denied. She claimed that her tarot deck had been passed down generations in her family and they opened up special 'connections' she liked to call it."

"So she became a tarot card reader? Did she have a shop?"

"No, she actually used to work at the high school as the librarian before she retired five years ago. Paulette did her readings on the side for a select clientele." He then let an amused smile fall on him. "She always said that's what separated her from the charlatans." He then sobered up. "The point is, I was always felt things get clearer whenever I visited. And, those cards, Virgil had them on him. From what I can make out, he might have inherited her...connection with them."

"You think he can tell me how to fix things with Stiles?"

"He might be able to help point you in the right direction," he corrected. "Or least, help shed some light. If you're open to it."

Scott sighed to himself. What did he have to lose?


It was the dead of night as the two Hale siblings were up on the roof of their apartment complex. However, they weren't there to enjoy the view of the lit up town. They were trading hard blows at one another. The roof was the best place to do so as it was sturdy and reinforced, not to mention far enough so they didn't make noise to wake the baby but were still close enough to hear his cries if he woke up from his sleep.

Derek moved to throw a punch but Cora went and caught it. She then moved to swipe at him with her other hand but Derek quickly caught her wrist and viciously pulled it around and lock it to her back.

"I still say you should have ripped Ruben's face off," he growled as he held her still.

"Why doesn't that surprise me," she growled back as she tried to fight his grip.

"Don't tell me you're feeling sorry for that idiot. What? He tells you some sob story about being terminal and its all forgive and forget?"

Cora moved to bring her heel down on Derek's foot which got him to flinch and loosen up a bit which gave her an opening to throw herself forward and break free. "You really think me that weak?"

"I don't know. You don't have the best track record with soppy eyed high school idiots."

She let out a scoff. "Oh? Says the guy who fell for a batty eyed blonde psychotic vixen. Twice."

With that she ran for him but Derek thrust forward, placed his palm at her chest and pushed into the air before quickly bringing her straight down onto her back and kept her pinned there.

"You shouldn't have let him just go like that," he calmly said down to her.

"I'm not," she huffed out. She moved to get back to her feet. Derek offered her his hand but she batted it away and got up under her own steam. "I hate Ruben for what he did but don't you think we have bigger things to worry about. Like Oscar wanting Jason as his own personal Beast leash, which we only know because I didn't tear Ruben's face off so he let that slip out."

Derek moved to wipe some sweat from his brow. He had to admit that Cora had a point there. "Okay," he surrendered. "Thanks to that, we now know that Oscar suspected who Jason's father was, which Ruben helped to confirm for him. Now he knows, control the son, and you control the father. Especially one that has unlocked a very old and great power. One he could coerce him into giving up if he has the right leverage."

"By killing him," Cora added.

"Or at least controlling him. Either way, he'll have the power of the Beast under his control."

"Just like Deucalion."

Derek shook his head. "No I don't think so. Deucalion wanted to take power by force all for himself. Power for power's sake. No, Oscar seems to be after something else."

"You mean by how he's been acting so secretive with the neighboring alphas and building up the betas of his pack?"

"Yeah. If Oscar only wanted the power, he would've already have moved to take Jason from us as soon as he got Ruben's confirmation. But, he's been cautious and patient. He's after something else. Something bigger."

"What? Like not just being alpha of this town and local outskirts. Have control of the other local alphas and their territories? That would explain him meeting with them."

"Maybe," Derek muttered only to himself. "We need to find out more before we could move."

"Maybe Maggie can try and reach out to Charlie for more help."

"We shouldn't put too much faith in that guy."

"What, you don't trust Charlie?"

"I don't trust anyone," he told her as he moved to head on off.

Cora just rolled her eyes. "Right, of course you don't."


As it was the weekend, the high school was empty when they all arrived the following morning. Some clubs and weekend classes were being held not too many showed up for them given the recent attack at the hospital. That worked out well for Scott and the others as they needed all the privacy they could get to effectively make their plan to rescue their last friend, Lydia. As expected, when Stiles came face to face with everyone, he felt a moment of pain in his heart with each of them before it went away. Though, in Malia's case, it fell into a small lingering ache. The same happened with each of them as well. Malia, Liam and even Kira felt a kind of lingering emptiness meeting Stiles again. Though Scott had felt a blankness when they met up again, which turned to happiness at seeing him before he remembered what had just happened and he felt sad. Stiles didn't say anything about any of it as they went into an empty classroom and he set up some blueprints and floor plans. He then started to formally introduce his friends and former packmates to Virgil and Zach.

"Why did we have to come to the school?" Liam asked them once they were all set up.

"We needed a place to talk where all of us wouldn't be seen or overheard," Stiles answered for him.

"By who?" asked Kira.

It was Scott who answered. "Theo."

Liam tensed up at hearing his name. Both from what he almost made him do, to what Brett and Lori told him last night.

"He's still after Zach so the last thing I want is for him to know where he is," said Stiles. "And the school is still being watched for any signs of him so he's not going to show his face around here any time soon."

"Okay, we don't have a lot of time left to get Lydia out," Scott said, moving to get the point behind their meeting underway.

Zach beyond nervous. "Wait," he cut in. "Are we really going to sit here and plan on breaking into a secured psychiatric hospital that secretly does secret human experiments to break out one of their patients from a secret supernatural sub-ward?"

Scott, Stiles, Malia, Liam and Kira all looked over at each other for a moment before they turned back to him.

"Yeah," all of them nodded, nearly saying it together at the same time.

"Okay, just wanting to be sure," he said, leaning back into his seat.

Virgil was over by the window, giving the outside a small lookover. He couldn't believe he was here again, in Beacon Hills High School. He had only been here for a year but it had felt like one of the longest ones of his life. From the constant staring and gossip surrounding him coming here to his dad and grandmother dying during the spring before graduation.

"Honestly, I don't care much for Lydia Martin," Virgil spoke up. "But she's important to Stiles and I owe him. Zach owes him too. That should be enough."

Zach let a sigh loose before he went to catch Stiles' eye. "Yeah, I guess it is."

"Thanks guys. But it's not like we're going to storm the place. We're just going to get our friend back before Valack has a chance to do her procedure."

"What about your dad?" Kira asked. "He's the Sheriff. Can't he get her out or maybe bring in Valack?"

Stiles shook his head. "No, tried that. My dad says that technically trepanation is still a valid medical practice. And Valack to everyone's eyes is still the renowned and respected Dr. Fenris. Lydia's mom is still her legal guardian so only she could take her out and she gave her consent to the procedure. The only to stop it is to prove she's unfit but that could take months. He says legally, there is nothing anyone can do." Stiles then let some mischief shine in his eyes. "Legally."

"Legally," Liam repeated. "So we're going to kidnap her."

"Yeah," Stiles nodded. "There are four steps. We get into Eichen, get into the closed ward, get Lydia and then get out."

"And we have to do all of this while getting passed orderlies, guards, electric lock doors and a mountain ash barrier."

"How are we going to get in and do all that?' Malia asked.

"Luckily I was already working on a plan the last couple of days."

Kira rose her eyes at him. "You were going to break into Eichen House by yourself?"

"Well, not completely by myself. Parrish was going to help me. He's totally on board, by the way," he said looking over at Scott. "But with all of you, it does make it a whole lot easier."

"So, what's the plan?" asked Malia.

Stiles then moved to pull out a key card. "I went to visit Eichen House the other night and pulled this off of an orderly. It should get us through the electric locks. The problem is, it's useless now because they reset the codes each night."

"So why'd you take it?" Kira asked him.

"I'm getting to that."

"The only way to get Lydia out of Eichen is to make that key card work again," Scott told them.

"And how are you going to do that?" asked Liam this time.

"We're getting to that," Stiles told him. He then opened up his laptop. "Okay, I pulled up the key card's history. Two weeks ago, there was a brownout, the one that the Dread Doctors used Kira to cause, and the security system rebooted. During a reboot, all the key cards revert back to a default code. So, if we trigger a reboot-"

"The card goes back to the default code and it works again," Liam finished.

"How are we going to cause a brownout?" asked Kira.

"That's your part Kira," said Scott.

"Me?"

Stiles nodded. "You did it before, you can do it again."

Scott nodded next. "Only this time, you're going to draw power from the main line, just enough to cause a brownout."

"But not a blackout. If you do that then you'll send Eichen into a lockdown and that would be bad. Very bad."

Scott then pointed to a spot on Stiles' map. "There's an electrical room here. The main power line goes into two breakers that run power to all of Eichen."

"Okay, but slight problem. I don't know how to do that?" she nervously sputtered out.

"That's okay, you have time to practice," Scott moved to try and assure her. "And Malia will be there to help protect and watch your back while you do."

That got Malia to speak up. "Let's say this works out perfectly. How does a brownout get us into the closed ward at Eichen?"

"I was getting to that," Stiles told her.

"The system takes five minutes to reboot," said Scott. "In that time, all the alarms will be offline."

"Plenty of time for Scott, Liam, Zach, and I to get to the closed ward." Stiles then pulled out a key next. "And I also swiped this from one of the guards at the ward. It opens the door to Lydia's room."

"And the brownout will give us access to the ward," finished Scott.

Stiles then sighed. "Not quite. There is a problem. The main door into the ward was replaced. With a dead bolt door."

"What?" Scott muttered. "When we went to see Valack two weeks ago, it was an electric lock door like all the others."

"Well not as of at least two days ago. I guess after the last brownout, they felt the main way into the ward was compromised so they changed it," he said impatiently.

Scott could now see what sparked Stiles' sudden need to train to get passed mountain ash barriers.

"Then how are we supposed to get in passed the mountain ash?" asked Liam.

"Well, that's where Zach comes in." They all then moved to look over at the nervous chimera. "He's a chimera, so he's strong enough to bring down the door and pass the mountain ash."

"You want me to go and get Lydia, in that insane ward? All by myself?" he nervously asked.

"No." Virgil moved to step over to his side. "Get rid of the door and I'll go into that ward and get her."

"Virgil, are you sure?" Stiles asked.

He took a deep breath. "Like I said, I owe you. You saved my life. Carrying a drugged up beauty queen out of a loony bin, it's the least I can do to repay you. I'll come along with you guys and help you finish up your rescue op, no problem. Besides, it sounds like you all will be doing the real heavy lifting."

Scott's jaw tightened up a bit. "Okay then once he brings out Lydia, we then get out and by the time we're done, all anyone will think was that there was a reboot of the security system caused by a brownout."

"Any questions?" Stiles asked the group.

Things were silent for a moment before all of them started speaking.

"How do we get into Eichen House in the first place?" asked Liam.

"What's our worst-case scenario?" asked Malia.

"What if I can't do it?" asked Kira.

"What happens if the orderlies or guards spot us?" asked Zach.

"What if we run into that psycho Valack?" asked Virgil.

"Okay," Stiles said holding up his hands. "Admittedly, a lot could go wrong."

"Everything could go wrong," Liam said to him.

"Guys," Scott started sternly. "If we don't do this, then we lose Lydia. She could die tonight, and take a lot of innocent people along with her. We have to do this."

Everyone in the room still seemed nervous and doubtful but they could see that there was no choice. It was all or nothing now.

"We still have some time to get ready and prepare," Stiles continued on. "Let's not waste it.

Virgil moved to pull a card from his pouch and saw that it was The Tower again, but now, it was upside down in the reversed position. A small glimmer of hope started to well up into his expression. An action that caught Scott's eye.


A/N: Sorry for the long wait but I had a pretty eventful summer this year to make up for the last two years since the pandemic cost me them. But I'm back and I hope this chapter was worth the wait. The part with Scott and Deaton alone was the hardest to write. I wanted Scott to get some get some clarity but still be the slow learner that he is. He's getting open to the fact that this time, he messed up in a way that just won't turn around and work out in the end like he's used to. That's not just about being an alpha or a leader, it's the reality of life. And it's only going to get harder with what Liam found is hanging on his head, but is keeping to himself for now.