Chapter 17: The President III
The door to the torture chamber opened and a burly man with a bald head stepped through. If Joe had been asked to describe a stereotypical biker, he would have been almost too obvious. He went straight for the construction light aimed at Derek's face and lit it. Derek blinked his eyes open, as usual his blank expression not revealing much, except from a suppressed anger just beneath the surface.
"Ready to have some more fun?" the man asked and Joe squeezed herself further into the corner. The contact with the wall sent a pang through her ribcage again and she thought she saw Derek wince, even though he hid it well. The man seemed to have all the time in the world and sauntered up to Derek, flexing his fingers. "To be honest, my knuckles are kind of hurting." Chicago-accent, not local. He produced a bat from somewhere on his person. "So I brought some help. But I need to warn ya. I used to play in college."
"AAAAH!"
Jimmy let out a horrific war cry and emerged from the shadows like a vengeful spirit. He gripped Kate's taser wand with both hands and swung widely. It hit the man in his chest with a frizzling sound; the man flopped to the ground like a dead fish. A big man, the initial strike only took him down temporarily, but Jimmy howled again and pushed the taser wand into the man's exposed neck.
He wriggled and trembled much like Joe imagined she had until his eyes rolled back and he was out.
The taser still emitted small sparks, but the room filled with the sound of Jimmy's labored breathing, his skinny chest rising up and down.
Derek growled darkly from where his chains still held him in place. "Great. One less problem. Now get me down from here before that psycho bitch comes back!"
Only one psycho bitch he could be talking about. Jimmy helped Joe up from the floor, her teeth gritting at her broken rib. They went to each side of Derek, trying to find a way to break the chains or open the shackles. Derek's muscles glowed in the construction light and it was not fair that he looked ready for a photo shoot after twenty four hours of captivity and torture.
"Why are you always shirtless?" Joe mumbled to cover up her rising blush. He smelled so nice she wanted to stuff her nose into his chest and she questioned her body's priorities at a time like this. Derek glared at her the best he could over his shoulder as she studied the wall mounts where the chains were fastened. They were as thick as her arms, apparently strong enough to hold him in place.
Before the other hunter had returned, Jimmy tried to help Derek break them by brute force. He'd braced his legs against the wall, pulling with his entire body weight, and Derek actually looked away in second-hand embarrassment.
"This is useless, we need keys!" Jimmy declared and went back to the unconscious man on the floor. He nudged him tentatively with his foot.
"He's out," said Derek and Joe could feel the rumble in his chest.
"Just making sure," Jimmy mumbled, but bent down to start searching the man's pockets.
Joe, left alone a little too close to Derek, swallowed and tried to focus at the task at hand. "Maybe if we can find something to unscrew the mounts in the wall..."
"Can you...can you at least get the wires off?"
It seemed to take some effort for Derek to refrain from barking at her, the softness and vulnerability in his voice catching her off guard. He referred to the patch on his lower abdomen connected to the device Kate had used. It laid smashed on the floor after her and Kate's wrestling match.
Joe could feel his body heat before her fingers even touched his skin. He flinched when she prodded at the thick tape holding the wires in place and she withdrew her hands hurriedly.
"Sorry, sorry," she murmured, afraid a leftover current had shocked him.
"It's not that, it's..." Derek began softly, but noticed Jimmy had stopped searching for keys in favor of listening in. He bit in another harsh remark. "Just get them off me. Please."
She peeled it off, aware of his twitching and scorching hot skin under her fingers, and studied it with amazement how something so simple could cause so much pain. Tossing it away, she looked at his shackles again, because it was easier than to look at his face. Pain, shame, anger — his eyes held a mixture of it all.
"I'll, uh, see if there's anything useful over, uh, there." Head bent, she turned to the remains of the table, wondering if her neck looked as red as it felt. Trying to lighten the mood, she said: "I mean, you'd think a professional torturer would have some kind of power tool at hand." She laughed at her own joke, then winced when her broken rib let her know that had been poor tact. "Ow."
Jimmy sat back on his haunches and held up a switchblade and some large tweezers recovered from the unconscious mman. "He looks to be a traditionalist." Sighing, he put the items away. "I'm not finding any keys. Kate probably has them." They both winced as Derek let out a yell of frustration. "Okay, can you please refrain from doing that? You are being very rude to your saviors."
Joe watched Derek's expression morph into disgust, he turned to Joe instead and snarled. "Who is this guy?"
"Wait, you don't know?" Her brows furrowed. "I thought you guys went to high school together?"
"What?" Derek squinted at Jimmy and his lip lifted in tentative recognition. "Slim Jim?"
Joe took a sharp inhale and grimaced. That sounded like a high school nickname Jimmy hadn't chosen for himself.
"Thank you, Hale, I have gone almost exactly six years without hearing that name." Jimmy's face had reddened underneath the paint and blood. Pulling himself up from the floor again, he held his head high when adressing Derek. "You know what, your sister was right about you. You are emotionally stunted."
Derek threw himself forwards in his chains — they creaked as he tried to get loose again. "What the hell do you know about my sister?" When Jimmy made no motion to answer, he twisted his head to put Joe in focus instead. "Did you know about this?"
"Uh, yes," Joe admitted slowly and watched the pure indignance that settled on Derek's face. His nostrils flared and he looked away from her. "Sorry, I didn't know I was supposed to tell you! Did you know your psycho uncle was taking my aunt on a date?" His expresion blanked even further and she gasped. "Are you serious? Asshole!"
Not one to hit a chained up man, she disgustedly made her way back to the mess on the floor. His jacket, wallet and car keys were among the items she found. She picked up a suspiciously familiar shotgun hidden under some debris and checked the barrel — two cartridges. Joe eyed the chains again, unless the choke was magically small, she'd be more likely to blast Derek's face off than cut the chains.
Lastly, she picked up a phone, which had no less than 21 missed calls. "Hey, is this Scott's phone?"
"Shut up," Derek said sharply. Turning around with eyebrows raised, she saw Derek with a faraway look on his face, as if listening to something.
Jimmy twirled to face the door, picking up the baton again. "Is someone coming?"
"Be quiet!"
"Can you hear something?" Joe asked Jimmy, who shrugged in answer. "I can't hear anything."
"Shut up!" Derek snapped and shook his shackled arms again in frustration. "It's Scott!"
Joe peered out into the hallway. "What, here?"
"No!" Derek's frustration rolled off him, but he seemed to bite it in. "Cover your ears. Do it! Now!"
Jimmy of course immediately slapped his hands over his ears, while Joe theatrically placed her own fingers inside her ears with a sardonic look towards Derek. He rolled his eyes at her and drew a deep breath.
The sound that followed was not supposed to be made or heard by humans. The howl — in lack of better words — shook the earth itself. The walls trembled, pieces of dirt falling lose from the ceiling, Joe's teeth vibrated so much she worried they would fall out. The insane pressure penetrated every fibre of her, her ears popped, her eyes strained. Jimmy fell to his knees, even with his hands pressing over his ears. Joe thought ear wax would pour out of her ear canals.
Derek slumped in his chains and it ended. Jimmy got up from the floor, gingerly removing his hands, staring wide-eyed at Derek. "Holy shit!" He looked at Joe, as excited as a toddler over ice cream, and repeated the praise. "Holy shit!"
Joe only had eyes for Derek. His chest rose and sank slowly, as if whatever had just happened cost him what little he had left of strength. Somehow, the sound he had made, the howl, had been laced with despair, longing, loneliness. It was a call for help.
Apparently aware of her staring, Derek snapped his eyes open and Joe took a step back at the sight of the glow again. Bright, unnatural blue. Not human. His nostrils flared and Derek squeezed his eyes shut again — when he opened them they were normal.
"Did you signal for Scott?" Jimmy asked, the excitement still evident in his body language. "Is he coming?"
Joe's brows furrowed a bit — had she told him about Scott's continued insistence he was...he was like Derek?
"Unless the hunters get him first," Derek muttered in response to Jimmy. They had all heard Kate when she figured out Scott's identity, even without Derek's verbal confirmation.
"H-he's at the Winter Formal," Joe stuttered from where she had retreated to the back of the room. She at least hoped he was. "How are they gonna get him in a gym full of high schoolers and their chaperones?"
Derek's tired eyes landed on her and she resisted the urge to dart out in the hallway just to escape his gaze. "Because he's an idiot."
"He's sixteen, of course he's an idiot." Joe realized this was not as good a defence for Scott as she had intended. There would be increased police presence at the school anyway, because of Derek's wanted status. They wouldn't be able to get him. They couldn't.
"He must have some potential," Jimmy insisted. "Otherwise, why would the Alpha choose him?"
Derek did not answer that, just hung his head forward. Joe realized she was trembling — the construction lights down here emitted plenty of heat, so it was not because of the cold. It was the thought, or even idea, of Scott being hunted by an animal and turned somehow. The Lore had plenty of theories on how someone would turn: pact with the Devil, sleeping with an actual wolf, cursed, but...but the one thing that she'd seen over and over again was the bite.
She let out a breath she hadn't noticed she was holding at the sound of a familiar voice down the creepy dark hallway.
"Derek?" It paused, then added: "And Joe?"
"Scott!" Joe's heart thought it would burst at the sight of her teenage cousin stumbling through the doorway. She ran towards him and crushed him in a bear hug, ignoring both the pangs from the broken rib and the grunts from Derek. Scott clutched her back like a lifeline, hugging her until she felt she could not breathe.
"Scott, help me with this!" Derek shouted, making Scott pull away from Joe. Derek shook the chains to indicate what he needed assistance with. "Together, we'll be strong enough to-"
"No," said Scott in a dark tone. "Not until you tell me how to stop Peter."
"Peter is not the one you have to worry about, it's Kate!" Jimmy shot in from the side-line and Scott gave him a puzzled look. Scott looked at Joe as if to ask why Jimmy was there and she just shrugged — not time for that explanation.
"I don't care about Kate, but I care about Allison. Peter's going after her and her family, he's going to kill them!"
Derek's face twisted, the light on him casting deep shadows. "So what?"
"So tell me how to stop him!"
"You can't!" Derek snapped and the chains rattled again. "All right? We've wasted enough time, we don't know when Kate's coming back with reinforcement and you're not strong enough to keep Joe safe by yourself! So get me out right now!"
No one moved and Derek repeated the motion of tearing at his shackles. "Get me out right now!"
Joe took an automatic step backwards, the intensity of Derek's rage getting to her, while Scott tentatively stepped forwards. "Promise you'll help me."
"You want me to risk my life for your girlfriend? For your stupid little teenage crush that means absolutely nothing?" Joe thought she could see fangs glinting when Derek snarled at Scott. "You're not in love, Scott, you're sixteen years old. You're a child!" Joe pushed herself into the wall when Derek happened to look at her. "You tell him! You said it yourself!"
"I never said..." Joe stuttered when Scott tore around and fixed her with a disbelieving gape. Joe shut her eyes, hoping to distract herself from Derek — should she be able to feel his rage as well? — and shook her head. "I agree we have to stop Kate, but I don't want anyone to die." She swallowed and raised her voice to cut Derek's budding outburst off. "Anyone! Enough people are dead already, it doesn't fix anything!"
"Kate killed my whole family," Derek bit out through gritted teeth, the light made his eyes glitter — or they were pooling with unshed tears. "And she's gonna do the same to yours. Peter is the only way to stop her!"
"Did he tell you that?" Scott demanded. "Like he told you he didn't know what he was doing when he killed your sister? But guess what? He lied! Remember this?" He held up a folded piece of paper. Joe and Jimmy each took a step forward to get a better look — a photo copy of what looked like a dead deer with a spiral on its side.
"Symbol for revenge," mumbled Jimmy, as if he couldn't help himself.
"Where did you get that?" Derek's voice was tight.
"My boss told me three months ago someone came into the clinic asking for a copy of this picture. Do you wanna know who it was? Peter's nurse."
Joe looked between Scott and Derek incredulously. She thought she and Jimmy had done a pretty thorough investigation, but this was all news to her.
"They brought your sister here so that Peter could kill her and become the Alpha, and that's why you're going to help me." Despite Scott's brave words, Derek just looked disgusted. Hurt. Angry. Joe tried to ignore the pit in her own stomach, aching on Derek's behalf. Scott faltered and his voice reduced to a sullen murmur — he did not have it in him to just leave Derek behind. "Just say you'll help me, and I'll help you unlock your other-"
With tremendous effort, Derek tore both arms downwards with a crash. The shackles on his wrists snapped before the wall mounts gave out and Joe felt the twinge in her own wrists in response. Whatever Doctor Deaton had given her was starting to wear off. Derek rubbed the raw skin while his muscles flexed at his arms finally coming down.
He gave Scott a dark look, such pure fiery anger that Joe had never seen before. "I'll help."
"Why couldn't you have done that an hour ago- HEY!"
Derek had grabbed Jimmy by his tactical sweatshirt and shoved him up against the wall. He growled and Joe could see the strands of Jimmy's hair move by the force. "Why are you here?"
"Are you serious?" she snapped and dashed forward to force herself into Derek's line of vision. "He's here with me! He's been helping me!"
"Laura never said anything about him." Derek did not look at Joe, despite her attempts. "He was a little creep in high school and he smells like a little creep now."
"Laura didn't think you could be trusted," Jimmy managed to croak out, the neck of his sweater cutting into his throat. For some reason, this did not seem to make Derek ease up his hold. "Some of us moved on from high school, Hale. But you're obviously still thinking more with your fists than your brain."
"Will you let - him- go!" Joe finally grabbed Derek's shoulder and pushed. He must have been running on fumes, normally she shouldn't have been able to move him an inch. Derek stumbled back, still glaring at Jimmy, who look rattled, but not hurt.
"Why is the actual high schooler the only one acting like an adult?" Joe snapped and gestured to Scott, who smiled awkwardly at the praise. She turned fully to Derek, effectively shielding Jimmy with her body. "Jimmy wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for me, okay? Chill out."
Snorting, Derek bent down to pick up his t-shirt that laid in the clutter on the floor. With a harsh shrug that enhanced all his sculpted external obliques, he got dressed while ignoring them.
"Let's just get out of here first," Scott suggested. His face lit up. "Hey, is that my phone? How did that get here?"
Derek watched Scott excitedly pick up his phone. He met Joe's gaze and mouthed: "Idiot."
"I guess you finally believe now," Scott said conversationally as he helped Joe out from the small incline at the gate. The nighttime dew made the ground muddy and slippery.
"Believe is a strong word," Joe said and held the gate open for Jimmy to struggle up too. Derek came last, and Jimmy cast several nervous glances over his back at the fuming Derek Hale. Out in the open, Joe put the unloaded shotgun over her shoulder. It gave at least some semblance of protection. "I'm willing to accept that whatever's going on is slightly more complex than a mental disorder."
Scott gestured back to the gate where they came from. "Are you serious? Did you not- how can- are you serious?"
"Yes."
"But the chains!"
"What about the chains?"
"And the howl?!"
"Not gonna acknowledge it."
Scott let out a series of exasperated noises and shouted: "What's it gonna take for you to accept what's going on?"
"I don't know, Scott!" Joe snapped and threw her arms out, shotgun waving wildly. The volume of her voice made some nighttime birds take off with rapid wing flutters. "You tell me! What's it gonna take for me to accept that- that- that," Joe stuttered and fought to get the words out. "That I have wasted the last five years of my life? That I have based my future career on what appears to be complete bullshit? That the only thing I thought I knew — like knew, deep in my bones, without a doubt to be true... isn't?"
The tears streamed down her face, cooling the swollen jaw and stinging the broken lip after Kate's assaults. She tried to blink them away, but it was useless. "I don't know, Scott. What do you think it's gonna take?"
Ignoring both Derek and Jimmy who were trudging up the small hill to the Hale house behind her, she turned and took a few steps off to the side. Her bruises and scratches ached as she tried to wipe her face with the rough fabric of her sweatshirt. It felt like her lungs were close to collapsing again and she hated herself for shouting at Scott, and still...She hated herself for even beginning to admit the world as she knew it wasn't anything like it at all.
"Joe, I..."
"Scott, don't." Derek's low baritone put a stop to whatever Scott was trying to say. Joe loved her cousin, immensely, but he had a teenager's tendency to make things worse when trying to apologize. Derek muttered something more to Scott, sounding like: "It's not you, it's stress."
Joe tore around, going to demand who Derek was making that call for her, but an arrow shot out of nowhere and hit Derek in the chest. He went down without a noise.
"Son of a bitch!" she grunted in his place at the sharp piercing sensation striking her heart, bending over, clutching at her sternum. The shotgun slipped from her fingers and was lost in the dim light. Jimmy threw himself to the ground, concealed in the dark, while Scott stood motionless furthest ahead. "Scott, get down you-"
She followed his stricken gaze to a pair of figures up the hill. Kate and Allison Argent — the first one with her arm in a sling, the second with a compound bow, cocking another arrow.
"Shit!" Joe swore loudly as the second arrow hit Derek in the thigh, but it might as well have struck her. Her muscles gave out and she tumbled down next to him. "Motherf-"
"Nngh," Derek grumbled and shifted around on the ground. He tried to yank out the arrows, but the thick velts of blood made it too slippery. "Scott, your eyes!"
Joe instinctively squeezed her eyes shut at a third arrow. This hit a tree next to Scott and exploded with an intense flash. Scott dropped like the arrow had hit him. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear up her vision, groping around on the dead leaves and dirt to get the shotgun back.
"Arrows," Derek grunted from her side. He indicated her to grab hold.
"It's gonna hurt!" she said, as much to herself as to him. No use denying it now! Derek shook his head, at least she thought he did, still working half-blind.
"It's not gonna hurt you. Not if you do it."
"How do you know that?" Joe hissed, grabbed the streamlined projectile and pulled. No arrow head, but it was several inches deep into his chest. Derek let out a low rumble, obviously holding in a scream, but as he said, she did not feel it. "Is there a rule book I don't know about?"
"Second arrow!" Derek bit out and this time he did scream as she tugged the bolt out of his thigh. The blood still gushed out, but he fought himself to a halfway stand. "Run!" He grabbed Joe's shirt and threw her to the side before clambering over to Scott.
Joe landed almost ontop of a quivering Jimmy. He clutched the shotgun with both arms, eyes trained at the approaching figures of Allison and Kate. Even in the night with her vision impaired, Joe could see that Kate's swollen eye and the messed up shoulder did not seem to deter her the slightest. She should have gone for her gun arm.
"Give me!" Joe hissed as Jimmy would not relent the shotgun, nor did he seem inclined to get up and help Scott and Derek. She eventually kicked Jimmy in the stomach to make him release his grip. "Jesus!"
Derek had half carried Scott up to the Hale House, but he was already running on low capacity. The bloodloss had Derek falling forwards while using the last of his strength to push Scott forwards. "Scott, go!"
Scott didn't go. Scott, obviously still blinded, fell onto his back, making feeble attempts to push himself backwards as Allison approached, bow in hand. Joe blinked too, barely making out Kate's silhouette slowing down nearby Derek.
Shotgun in hand, she tried to push up, struggling with balance after the flash bolt. Even if she could aim, they were out of range for the shotgun — she needed to get closer.
Whatever Scott told Allison, it did not seem to work. Kate made some offhand comment that at least made Allison pause instead of outright shooting Scott point blank.
"You - you said we were just gonna catch them?"
"We did that. Now we're gonna kill them."
Joe screamed as Kate shot Derek in the heart with a handgun. She flopped back on the ground, choking on blood that wasn't even there. Through a haze of agony, she could still hear Kate: "See? Not that hard."
She gasped for breath, rolling around on her back, clutching her chest that felt torn apart at the seams. Adrenaline replaced her pain, Derek unmoving on the ground.
"Psychopath," Joe choked out, clawing her way up again. Her vision cleared enough to see Kate approaching Scott with her pistol by her side.
"Oh, no - I know that look. That's the 'you're gonna have to do it yourself' look."
"Kate? Kate, what are you doing?"
Kate shoved off her niece and trained her aim on Scott, who looked helpless and lost on the ground. "Oh, I do love those brown eyes."
"Drop the gun!"
Kate paused, but did not make any moves to drop the weapon. She peered over her still dislocated shoulder, at Joe who had the shotgun raised and pointed straight at her.
"Look who finally grew some balls."
"Drop the gun, Kate!" Joe spat, voice harsh and broken from the still agonizing pain. She fought to keep the trigger finger discipline intact as her dad had taught her. "It's too late! It's over!"
Kate scoffed, her hand not moving a fraction. "It's obviously not over." She did a half-shug. "I deleted the tape, remember?"
"We had two phones," Joe said and tried to keep her voice from wavering. She did not want to shoot. But goddamnit, she would. "Okay? Now drop the gun!"
"You better work on your threats, babe." Kate peered at her over her shoulder again, eyes narrowing at the obvious strain. "Do you have any idea how many cops we have on our payroll?"
"This wasn't the local PD, Kate! It went straight to the Special Crimes Unit in the FBI! It's over!"
"Kate!"
Both she and Kate turned their heads, neither letting their weapons waver from their original target. Chris Argent, gun raised, came towards them. Joe's initial reaction was defeat, but she realized he was aiming at Kate!
"I know what you did," he said with a grim expression. Joe tried to spot if he was followed, if there were more coming. He was alone. "Put the gun down."
At last, Kate hesitated. "I did what I was told to do."
"No one asked you to murder innocent people. There were children in that house, ones who were human." Joe's blood ran cold and she fought the initial response to just pull the trigger.
Chris continued:"Look what you're doing now. You're holding a gun at a 16 year old boy with no proof he spilled human blood." Joe could not bring herself to look at Scott, focusing on Kate, on her hand, if she made even the slightest twitch. "We go by the code — Nous chassons ceux qui nous chassent."
It sounded like French, and Allison translated breathlessly from her position on the ground. "We hunt those who hunt us..."
"Put the gun down," Chris repeated. "Before I put you down."
Kate glanced between Joe and Chris. She'd lost. She had to know she had lost! Joe did not relent — desperate people did desperate things.
"Hey, Joe," said Kate and winked at her over her shoulder. "Think you got the balls to pull that trigger?"
Joe did not waste air responding, but shoved the shotgun closer to her, ready to fire. At that exact moment, the front door of the Hale house burst open and a dark shape whisked past.
Joe pulled the trigger and the butt kicked against her shoulder. At 20-gauge, the tight clusters of lead pellets had less chance of hitting its mark. The dark creature still let out a yelp of pain and next thing she knew, Joe fell flat on her back as the animal swiped her feet from under her.
Her head reeled, but she saw the others also being knocked to the ground. It moved like a flash! Scott crouched, tried to prepare, but the creature still managed to toss Scott down. Joe ignored all warning twinges of pain and flopped to her belly, crawling over to the shotgun that she dropped several feet away.
"Come on!" Kate screamed, the only one still standing. Her good hand holding the gun, her bad one cradled against her. She was not wasting any shots yet. She span around and tried to get the monster in her sights. "COME ON!"
Joe froze when the dark blur stopped by Kate. She thought it had been an animal, but instead Peter Hale calmly grabbed Kate's gun arm and twisted. Several loud shots penetrated the night, each and every one hitting nothing but air.
"AAAH!" Kate yelled and Peter forced her to drop the gun. One arm in his vice like grip, the other cradled uselessly against her chest, she was disarmed completely. With inhuman strength, he threw her in the air so she landed with a crash on the front steps of the house. Moving like a nighttime predator, he stalked up the stairs, grabbed Kate by the neck and pulled her inside.
"No, no, no!" Joe almost shouted. Allison ran after her aunt, leaving Joe to swear and snatch up the shotgun while following, ignoring the harsh twinge in her ribcage. Someone yelled her name, but it didn't register. Up the stairs, in the doorway, almost crashing into Allison who stood petrified and helpless in front of Peter and Kate.
"Let her go!" Joe yelled and aimed the shotgun at Peter's face. He had Kate in a chokehold, fingernails — no, long sharp claws — caressing Kate's exposed jugular. Joe at least stepped in front of Allison, as if she could offer any sort of protection against this...monster.
"You think that weapon can hurt me?" Peter mocked and Joe cocked the shotgun, making sure it was loaded.
"It already did," she bit out. She nodded towards a spreading blood stain on his shirt. "You're bleeding."
"A scratch," said Peter with a sneer. He focused behind Joe, on Allison, obviously taking pleasure at Kate's squirming. "She is beautiful, Kate. She looks like you. Probably not as damaged."
Kate met Joe's eyes — the lack of oxygen made them bloodshot. She mouthed: "Shoot."
"So I'm going to give you a chance to save her," Peter said, not paying attention to neither Kate or Joe. At least until he squeezed Kate's neck harder. "Apologize. Say that you're sorry for decimating my family, for leaving me burned and broken for six years. Say it — and I'll let her live."
"Let her go, Peter!" Joe repeated, fighting to keep tears at bay, she could not lose her sight now. "The police already have her confession! Dying's too good for her!"
"Shoot," Kate choked out and Joe bit her teeth together, knowing the shot would most likely kill Kate before Peter. "Shoot!"
"Apologize," Peter said again, almost sensually, but the wet eyes betrayed how close he was to losing his grip.
"I'm..." Kate began, twisting her face into a scowl, not able to look away from Allison. "I'm sorry."
"Nooo!"
Joe and Allison both screamed as Peter ripped his hand across Kate's throat.
Warm, wet blood splattered across Joe's face, the walls, the floor — Kate's pierced artery flow stood high. Joe threw herself forward, to help Kate, to stop the bleeding, but Peter's hand intercepted her movement and slammed her against the wall.
His large clawed hand forced her off her feet, cutting off her air supply, leaving her gasping and kicking her feet wildly.
"You want to know why I did everything I could to put you in Derek's path?" Peter asked, leaning towards her ear, the manic glint in his eyes even more obvious up close. "Leverage." Her hands flopped against the wall, searching for a grip, but finding nothing. "To strengthen that bond between you...so that when I do this-"
He intensified his grip and Joe heard Derek's grunt, meaning he was nearby and incapacitated. Tears sprang in her eyes at the lack of oxygen, her lungs screaming in her chest.
"I'm sure you get the gist." Peter sighed and talked over his side. "Back off, Derek, or I'll rip her throat out too."
Behind Peter, something moved.
A dark clad figure picked up the discarded shotgun, only his eyes glinting in the midst of dark beard and camouflage paint. Jimmy. Jimmy! Joe pleaded with her eyes, to make him hurry up, before she passed out.
"There are more ways I can get my nephew under control," Peter said and opened his mouth to reveal too many sharp canine teeth than he should have been able to fit. The bite. Joe squirmed harder, thumping weakly against his fist, begging Jimmy to shoot him! Like Kate had begged her. Like she had not had the stomach to.
Her eyes ran over with tears, almost bleeding from the strain. Please. Shoot him!
Finally, finally, Jimmy cocked the shotgun and Peter's face returned to normal. Without turning around, Peter said: "Ah, Jimmy. I wondered where you were."
No.
No, no, no! Joe's eyes widened, darting between Peter and Jimmy, not believing, not wanting to believe.
"Gun please," Peter said conversationally and held his hand out behind him to retrieve the shotgun. Jimmy trembled, the shotgun's muzzle wavering several inches, but he refused.
"No."
Peter finally turned around while raising an eyebrow. He held Joe against the wall with apparently no effort at all. "No?"
"I did everything you wanted," Jimmy stuttered and now Joe worried he was going to blow her head off instead if he couldn't stop shaking. "I deserve the bite. Not her."
He actually was aiming at her.
Joe tried to speak, but her lungs were so tight and empty she imagined them filling with fluid. She did not want the bite! She could not imagine anyone wanting it!
"And you'll get it," Peter said with feigned patience, "once this is over."
"I've been helping you for years!" Spittle flew out Jimmy's mouth, landing in his beard. "I found all the names! I made that list! I did everything you wanted? And you choose this- this- teenage jock instead?"
Jimmy shifted the shotgun briefly in the direction she assumed Scott was, not daring to attack as long as the shotgun was up.
"Jimmy, as I've told you so many times..." Peter rolled his eyes, giving Joe a casual look of 'can you believe this guy?' even as her feet kicked down desperately to find foothold. Peter opened his mouth again, unnaturally big, teeth and jaw lengthening simultaneously. The words came mangled and guttural: "Survival of the fittest."
Everything happened so fast.
Jimmy pulled the trigger as Peter dropped Joe and tore around, mouth agape. Something hit Joe in the side and tackled her to the floor. She coughed and sputtered, her lungs overcompensating with the sudden rush of fresh air. On the wall, a scorch mark indicated where her head had been.
A squelching, organic sound filled the room before Jimmy's scream overpowered everything else. Joe struggled to get up, to help, to do something, but Derek held her in a tight grip.
"No, no, no!" she groaned with what little voice she had. Another round of blood spatter hit the floor and a second later, so did Jimmy, wide eyes staring unseeingly at her. "Nooo!"
Derek left her side and sprang up to attack Peter. As did Scott. Their growls, roars and snarls were inseparable and Joe slumped down without Derek's support. She landed on her stomach, head facing Jimmy. His eyes were open. Unmoving. Dead.
She jolted everytime Derek got hit, the pain numb compared to what was in her heart. She had no idea. He must have been working with Peter all along. She had no idea. He must have known...everything! All along. It shouldn't end like this. Peter had just tossed him aside like garbage. Disposable. Useless.
Her throat ached, her eyes burned, and the fighting moved on above her like she wasn't even here. All meta-humans fighting, all humans discarded on the floor. Behind her, so faint she thought she imagined it, she heard the sound of struggling breaths.
Joe turned her head and met Kate's pleading eyes. She was still alive!
"Ugh," Joe groaned and pushed herself up. Around her, Scott and Derek fought with...it was no longer Peter. He had shapeshifted into a larger than life wolf who walked on two legs. With red eyes. What glowing eyes you have, Grandmother. What big teeth you have. This wasn't Peter Hale. This was the Alpha.
Joe shrieked and pushed herself down when the Alpha threw Scott out of the one remaining window in the room. It seemed out of control now in its other shape and ignored both her and the gasping Kate as it followed Scott.
"Damn it," Joe swore and wrenched off her sweater to push into Kate's open wound. The blood continued to flow around her fingers. Scott would be okay. He could fight. He looked strong. Derek would help him. She hoped. "Damn it!"
Kate gagged and gasped for every breath, eyes open and pleading. Joe pushed harder, reaching into the wound to squeeze the blood flow. She hissed under her breath: "You're not gonna die, Kate. I'm not gonna let you die. You don't deserve to die!"
Trembling with pent up rage, Joe leaned closer to Kate's face, to make sure the near unconscious woman caught her words. "You deserve to live, you psycho bitch, you deserve to live with the knowledge that everyone's gonna know what you did."
Joe's breath came as hard as Kate's came weak. "They're gonna know you're a psychopath, Kate. They're gonna know you killed innocent people, children." The last part came out in an intense whisper through gritted teeth: "And they're gonna think you did it because you're a pathetic, old woman who raped a sixteen-year-old and couldn't handle it when he left you!"
There was no way of telling if she heard or understood, Kate's eyes were wide and rolling back, but Joe did not release her grip on her blood vein. She meant every single word. She was not gonna let Kate get away that easily.
No random pains in her body now. Where was Derek?
Feeling watched, she looked up and Derek was there, unmoving, ready to spring outside. Had he heard-
Her body froze at the sight. It had to be Derek, but...his face was different. Wrong. Glowing blue eyes, forehead pushed together like the beginning of a snout, pointed ears, large fangs extending his jawline. It was not a face built for expressions. Her eyes trailed down his arms, to his hands that ended in the same kind of sharp claws that had ripped out Kate's throat.
Outside, the Alpha roared. Both of them turned at the sight of tall flames, like a fire tornado spinning. Derek gave her another look, hesitating, and she just said: "Go!"
Stuck on the floor, knowing Kate would bleed out in a short time if they did not get help, she tried to get her phone out. Nothing in her pockets. Had she left it down in the underground dungeon? Or had Jimmy...
Jimmy. Joe let out a loud noise of pain and anguish, biting her teeth to stop the incessant sobbing.
Poor, stupid Jimmy.
She finally realized that the roaring had stopped. Trembling with anticipation, she watched the doorway, wondering if they'd lost. If Derek turned on them. If the Alpha would return to make good on his promise. Not a sound. Except...
Joe let out a shaky breath of relief. Finally!
Help was closing in and she dragged Kate's body towards the entrance. She was losing a lot of blood, but if nothing else, Kate was a fighter. She still made ragged and gulping breaths.
"Derek!" Scott sounded desperate. "If you do this, I'm dead. Her father, her family - what am I supposed to do?"
Joe practically threw herself and Kate out the front door onto the porch. Allison and her father huddled together to the side, Stiles and another boy poised in front of a car and Scott — where was Scott?
Scott stood helplessly watching Derek crouched over something. Joe gasped and put her free hand over her mouth when she realized it was Peter Hale, back in human form, burnt beyond recognition. Tendrils of smoke still rose from his unmoving body, as did white plumes of hot breath in the cold air. Alive, still.
Derek pulled his hand back and Scott screamed: "Wait! No, no! Don't!"
Another gasp escaped Joe, now in complete shock, as Derek slashed his uncle's throat. Peter twitched, almost like Kate was still doing, but Derek must have hit harder or Peter had less will to fight. The fog of his breath subsided.
No one moved besides Derek, who rose with some effort, breathing deeply. He turned and his eyes were red. An animalistic undertone laced his voice as he said: "I'm the Alpha now.
He looked at Joe, who automatically tried to shield the unconscious body of Kate with her own. The eyes, the posture — he was different already. Before he could say anything, the sound of helicopters drew closer and a search light lit up the nearby forest.
"Flag them down!" Joe screamed at Scott to be heard over the noise.
He didn't need to. The Hale House and their cars were easily visible from above. The choppers circled over them, looking for a place to land, while a familiar voice came from a loudspeaker:
"THIS IS THE FBI! PUT DOWN YOUR WEAPONS AND LAY ON THE GROUND WITH YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEAD!"
You guys, I am so happy about all the feedback and love for the last chapter and I gotta admit, I was so nervous about posting this one. I hope it lived up to your expectations and I'm so sorry about Jimmy! I hadn't expected to get so much positive feedback on him! So...sorry!
The story's not over yet, obviously, just getting started for Joe and Derek. I hope you stick around for the next season. Chapter 18 is coming right up!
Again, thank you so much for reading and reviewing, you guys are amazing! I had not expected the amount of readers for a series that ended years ago.
So motivated and grateful for the response. Much love to all of you.