Chapter 49: The Reborn III
"Are they seriously carrying a body bag into the parking lot?"
Jimmy leaned forwards between the front seats of the SUV. They had left the Ford behind, all climbing into Chris' car at his insistence of it being faster and safer. Joe sat in the front seat while Chris of course was the one driving. They had parked outside the hospital and Joe was just about to call Scott when they spotted a pair of conspicuos idiots struggling with a heavy body bag. Conspicuous idiots being Scott and Isaac.
"Why not drive the car to the garage?" Joe wondered, indicating the double set of doors where ambulances would drop off DOAs and funeral homes would pick up bodies.
"Yeah, or at least take the stretcher?"
Joe watched as Scott dropped his half of the bag. "Don't they know those bags have handles?"
She became aware of Chris giving them a side-eyed look. He raised his eyebrow. "Steal a lot of bodies from the morgue?"
"No," Joe and Jimmy said at the same time. Joe continued: "Just saying that if we would, we'd be a lot better at it than those two. Oh, God, are they trying to fit him into Aunt Mel's trunk? You could barely fit our groceries in there. Why not the backseat?"
"I think we've seen enough," Chris said with a grumble and turned on the headlights, making Scott and Isaac dart up and stare in confusion. The simile 'like deer caught in headlights' was too easy, but it did come to mind. Chris got out of the car, leaving Joe and Jimmy to follow.
"You're alone," said Scott first and then his brows furrowed. "Except you're not. Joe? And Jimmy? What's going on?"
"We don't have much in common, Scott," Chris said with his hands calmly by his side. Joe had her handgun back into her waistband, but secretly wishing for a holster because she kept worrying she would blow a chunk off her buttcheeks. "But at the moment, we have a common enemy."
Scott gestured to the bodybag, which did look to be moving slightly. Something oozed out through the zippers. "That's why I'm trying to get him out of here."
"I didn't mean Jackson."
Scott's eyes darted between Chris and Joe. Her brows furrowed. Why did he look so confused? He could not possibly think that Chris was talking about Derek?
"Gerard has twisted his way into Allison's head, the same way he's done with Kate." Chris' voice was hard and he did not embroider on the subject of his not-dead sister. "And I'm losing her. And I know you're losing her too."
Joe was brought back to their conversation in her car, in the hospital parking lot a few months back. How Kate's fate was what he feared the most for his daughter. If she just lost her mom...
"You're right," Scott said. "So can you trust me to fix this?" Chris did not look convinced, and Scott persisted. "Then can you let us go?
"No." Chris opened the back door to his SUV, a much better fit for a bodybag. "My car is faster."
Humans in the front, it made for a tight fit for three werewolves in the back. Jimmy's broad shoulders sat squeezed between Scott and Isaac, both avid lacrosse-players with the physique to match. Scott had asked Joe if she trusted Chris before they got in the car and she had just shrugged. She trusted him to honor the Code, if nothing else. Did she trust him to take down Gerard and Kate if they made an appearance? Joe sighed internally. One problem at a time.
"Why do you smell kind of...sharp?" Isaac asked Jimmy, who just frowned and refused to answer. What he had seen back at the house had left him sullen.
"This was not how I saw this evening going," Chris muttered from his seat.
As per Scott's directions, Derek would meet them halfway with Lydia Martin. Apparently that had been Peter's plan to 'fix' Jackson. Scott never mentioned Peter's name explicitely, probably fearing Chris would just turn on his promise to help them right there and then if he knew the old Alpha was back in town, alive and scheming.
"So instead of three hundred hours of therapy, his issues are gonna be magically fixed through the power of love?" Joe asked incredulously, turning over in the seat to the boys who all gave of the impression it had not been their idea. "Come on, guys." She focused on Jimmy. "What do you think?"
He mulled it over. "Self-validation can come through other people, I suppose. I assume he and this Lydia Martin-girl was in love?"
"They dated," Scott offered, but his brows twisted a bit. "I guess they must have been in love?"
Isaac looked doubtful too. They all jumped as the body thumped from the back.
"It's worth a shot, I guess. The alternative is rounding up everyone and taking turns expressing what we like best about this Jackson," Joe said, talking loud to overpower any noises from the not-dead Jackson in the back. "Like a confirmation circle. I don't know the guy, so-"
"That's not an alternative," Isaac shot in. She raised her eyebrows.
Scott seemed to agree, although gentler in his expression. "Jackson's not...an easy guy to like."
"I thought he was the captain of the lacrosse team?"
"That's because he's a great lacrosse-player, not because he's a great human being."
"Oh, wow," Joe said. If Scott couldn't find a positive, it was hard to imagine anyone would. Still... "You really should cut him some slack, guy's clearly got issues."
Another loud thump. Chris sighed darkly. "Clearly."
Not surprisingly, Derek wanted to meet them halfway in the warehouse district. Probably a part of town he knew well enough to consider it his turf. The fog rolled in from the forest and gave a cloak of cover to the dimly lit alleys. They all exited the car while Isaac checked on the body, proclaiming it to be moving even more.
"Hey," Chris said and took Joe to the side. He had a tight frown on his lips. Joe noticed Jimmy looking at them, ready to interfere. "If Kate shows up, let me deal with her."
"Deal with her how?" Joe demanded to know immediately, not sure which answer she was looking for.
His eyes were dark and hard. "Kate's disregard of the Code makes her dangerous, out of control. I'll deal with her the same way I'd deal with any rabid animal."
"Except it's not some rabid animal," Joe bit out, almost scared of how he looked now. "It's your sister."
Another sigh before he told her slowly: "I've already buried Kate."
Difficult to say what was more upsetting: the cool nonchalance in his words or the completely emotionless expression on his face. A week and a half ago he lost his wife, she reminded herself, and again, Joe could not tell what was more upsetting: that fact alone or the fact that she could not fully bring herself to feel sorry for them. Jimmy had confided in her what he found in the basement of the house — the same setup they had used on Derek. A device designed to keep werewolves hooked up to an electrical current, stripping them off their strength and abilities. Torture, for two sixteen-year-olds.
Just the memory of Erica's terrified voice had Joe bring out her phone again to see if there were any missed messages. None. Joe could only hope Erica and Boyd had made it to safety. A part of her felt she had made the wrong choice coming here with Chris, that she should have went after Erica and Boyd in the forest. Too many tracks leading in and out of the house according to Jimmy though, he hadn't been able to get a clear mark of their scent.
Joe swallowed and sounded fiercer than she was when asking: "How can I trust that you're gonna make the hard call?"
"Out of the two of us, Joe, which one has actually killed someone before?" Chris raised his eyebrows when she did not immediately respond. "That's what I thought. You're a good shot, Joe, and you're tough as nails, I'll give you that. But you haven't been groomed your entire life, trained and shaped into somehing with a single purpose, a single function. Kate is Gerard's weapon every bit as much as Jackson is, probably more dangerous."
"Are you gonna try and save her with the power of love too?"
Chris snorted. "No, not really. If I can capture her alive, I will. If not..." He opened the driver side door and then a hidden compartment under the floorboard containing a small arsenal of weapons. To accompany his wods, he held up a handgun, a larger caliber than the 9mm she stole from Kate.
There was no reason to doubt him, but it still sent chills down her spine.
"She's bit," Joe said without thinking. "We're not sure if it took. I'm- I'm sorry?"
Not sure why she was apologizing — in theory, it should make his job easier, right? Because that's what it was to Chris — a job. He hunted werewolves. He hunted werewolves like Erica, like Boyd, Scott, Derek... People like Erica, Boyd, Scott and Derek. How was he different than his sister? Than his father? Their Code meant nothing to anyone but him apparently. And who were they to play judge, jury and executioner? They had come after Isaac too, she remembered, on a mere suspicion.
He had frozen at her revelation, still bent over the hidden compartment. Something hard settled over his face, like he was already coming to terms with another harsh reality and he nodded. "Let me deal with her."
"It wasn't Derek," Joe whispered, but Chris just nodded again like he had already expected that. Or he expected her to say anything to save Derek. Again, she remembered Victoria testing her in the school parking lot. There was no way of telling what they knew or suspected. Kate knew — if she told Gerard, he could have let the news trickle down to the rest of their organization.
"Right." He brandished the gun, like he was checking the alignment or something. She awaited a further reaction, some other comment to the Code, but it never came. Chris handed her two full clips of ammo for the 9mm, which she accepted without a word. "Remember to keep your elbow unlocked."
"Why are you helping me?" Joe numbly held the two clips in one hand. On the other side of the car, she met Jimmy's eyes — he was obviously listening to the whole conversation with a hard line to his mouth. Maybe the better question was, why was she trusting Chris?
At her question, Chris seemed unable to look her in the eyes, busying himself by checking something on his own gun. "Out of everyone that night," he said and loaded the small hand cannon he used, "you and Scott were the only ones not trying to kill anyone."
Was that even true? As he turned to the car, she stared at the back of his head. She'd had both Kate and Peter in her sights — both times too slow to pull the trigger. Not out of the goodness of her heart, but because of some misguided hesitation. She should have shot Kate. She should have shot Peter. She should she should she should...
On the other side of the car, Jimmy had turned away, facing the front.
For some reason, Chris looked up from floorboard of his car with a wry smile on his face. "I'm here for Jackson," he said loudly, obviously talking to someone behind him and Joe leaned sideways to look around him.
Derek had appeared and was lit up by the headlights, a hard edge to his face. No jacket, sweatslick skin — he must have ran here. How fast was this guy?
Chris walked up to the front of the car, putting the gun in its holster. "Not you."
"Somehow I don't find that very comforting," Derek said tersely, giving Joe a short glance that she returned with a shrug. To Scott and Isaac, he ordered: "Get him inside."
Jimmy watched them with his arms crossed, giving no indication to help Scott and Isaac with the body, but he trailed after them. Chris and Derek stared at each other until Chris finally relented and followed the others inside.
"Erica and Boyd?" Derek asked as he stalked up to her, giving her a once-over, obviously finding no cause for concern or maybe he just didn't care.
"Chris let them go before we got there," Joe mumbled and checked her phone again, as she'd done twenty times the last hour. That was the only reason she trusted him — he had let them go. "No word yet, her phone's still off." She put the clips of ammo in her pocket and scanned the otherwise empty alley with several twisting metal constructions for loading and unloading crates. "Where's Uncle Creeper?"
He shrugged and glanced in no particular direction. "Probably not that far off."
"And the girl?"
"What girl?"
He had brushed her off, too fast for her liking, and she stalked after him towards the derelict warehouse. "Scott said something about Lydia breaking the kanima's hold on this kid."
"You think that's gonna work?" Derek scoffed and glanced at her over his shoulder. "Didn't take you for a romantic, Joe."
Ouch...
"It doesn't sound like the most viable long-term solution, I'll admit," Joe said after the initial indignation died down. He was back at being an asshole, reminding her of boys at her high school who walked and talked tougher the second they were within earshot of each other. All business, no time for anything else, especially not her. She grabbed his arm to make him stop walking. "Derek, what's your plan here? You gotta let me help. Should I go back for Erica and Boyd?"
Nostrils flared, eyes flickering — did not take a werewolf to tell that he was conflicted. He never answered her, but took a long look at her hand around his wrist before he tugged it loose. Joe rolled her eyes as she watched him stalk inside, muscles visibly flexing under his t-shirt.
Oh yeah, this trust-thing was going great!
Hands on her hips, she stopped to catch her breath for a second. The events leading her to be here tonight was (mostly) of her own making. She just had to deal with it the best she could, and hopefully persuade Derek not to kill teenagers tonight. Deal with the kanima, somehow, hopefully avoid Gerard and Kate, then get back to finding Erica and Boyd before anyone else did. It was not as much a plan as a loose set of goals, but it was the best she could come up with and she followed Derek inside with a shake of her head.
Or she would have followed if her foot would listen. Stuck. Joe peered down at her military-style boots, but they were not the issue.
The issue was probably that dart sticking out of her calf. It kind of looked like a tranquilizer dart.
"Shiiii-"
Joe tried to swear, but her mouth was not functioning. Yelling for help turned into a short gasp. Her whole body felt like jello, she slumped down, not really feeling it when she met the wet asphalt. Different from the kanima-venom, then she did not feel anything, now she just felt heavy, both body and mind. Like moving in slow motion. She wanted to shout, but again only a light groan came out. The asphalt came closer, until her vision went black.
No telling how much time had passed. Hands on her back, stripping her of weapons, all her protection.
Now the world moved under her. Arms scraping against the ground, her vision swam, blurred, shifted in and out of focus. Thoughts scrambled. This was strange. New. Oh no, it was not, she was being kidnapped yet again. She must be very kidnappable. Was that a word? She could make it so. Stupid damsel in distress shit. Screw this. It sucked balls.
Well, if she was being kidnapped, at least there was a short list of suspects.
Derek? No, probably not, he would do something stupid like carry her. Hmm hm, Jimmy? He too would carry her, she realized, although not as intimately as Derek. Sexist assholes the pair of them. Who else, who else, who could it be? Matt? He was dead, right, unless he decided to do like everyone else in town and come back to the world of the living. Implausible. Peter? He was a wildcard for sure. He had plenty of motive, but would a werewolf use any kind of gun? No. And that left?
"Kate," she murmured, barely aware of how her skin tore after being dragged on the rough ground. Trying to lift her head, both to stop scraping her skin and to see if it really was Kate, she failed and slumped back. "What're you doin'?"
"What does it look like?" Kate's voice came like a bullet, clear and precise, even with how ragged it sounded, like she had a permanent chest cold. A rifle strapped over her shoulder. "Separating the mates, sweetie."
"Oh wow," Joe said and her eyes rolled back in her head without her control. A giggle forced itself between her lips. "It's really real, ain't it? I thought it was all bullshit. He was like smell this and feel that and I was like nah-ah, not gonna do that, papi..."
Kate. Kate Kate Kate. Again. What a load of bullshit. Where was...anyone? Derek. Jimmy. Scott. Anyone.
"Listen to that city girl coming through," Kate commented. She had a solid grip around Joe's ankle and was dragging her down the street based on the moving scenery. "Getting me all hot and bothered with that accent, babe."
Every word came with a harder and harder fight to get out. Mouth felt too small for her lips. "Why you doin' this? Wha's your motive? You jus' obsessed wi' me?"
"Saw you talking to my brother." It was not an answer. Her tone was conversational, but kept fading in and out of focus. Might be Joe fading in and out of consciousness. "Carrying my guns. Stealing my style. And you're obviously hitting my floppy seconds, so, who's obsessed with who, Berkeley?"
This bitch.
"What'd your dad do to mess you up like this?" Joe's hands were over her head, grabbing weakly at air. "Short version, fifty words or less, goooo..." Her voice trailed off into nothing.
They stopped as Kate let go off her ankle, only to kneel next to Joe's face. With her vision blurred, it was hard to make out, but Kate did not look too hot. Heavy circles under her eyes and dark shadows around her nose. Sallow skin. Pupiles small as pinpricks as she leaned closer, almost whispering in that rough voice of hers.
"I don't think you should be talking too much about daddy issues, babe." Her hand came to sweep Joe's curls off her face. "I've been listening to your convos, remember? You're more messed up than me, sweetie." She leaned in closer, unfocused eyes meeting Joe's. "How does it feel to be all helpless and alone, again? Short version. Fifty words or less."
It took forever, but Joe managed to lift her one hand to count. Thumb up. "Fuck," she put her middle finger up too, "you."
Kate let out a short laugh and got up. "Cute." She drew back her foot and kicked Joe in the stomach.
The impact had Joe wheeze and try to curl together, which her body was too heavy to actually do. So she just flailed like a fish. No actual pain, her muscles were too drugged down for that, more a sensation and loss of breath. Did Derek feel that? Kate made a tutting-sound and grabbed Joe's ankle again, dragging her further down, away from the warehouse.
Going cross-eyed, Joe found herself focusing on her scratched hands. How small rocks and pebbles dug into her skin, making it bleed. Like what Derek did with Erica, like what he did to himself — triggering the healing process. Pushing the venom out of the body.
Was it placebo or did she feel like it was working?
Separate the mates. Always separate the mates. Trap, Joe thought. Chris Argent trapped her. How else would Kate know where they would be? Tears slipped over her face, running to her forehead as her head got dragged further backwards. Stupid. She kept walking into these things, leaping headfirst into danger.
Never trust an Argent. Was she ever gonna learn?
"Why are you-" Joe swallowed and tried again. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because I," Kate said happily, even in her hoarse voice, "obviously know more about mates than you." She winked at Joe over her shoulder as she kept walking. "You're Plan B."
Motive. Means. Opportunity. Something looked wrong with Kate, but Joe's eyes were too heavy to focus. Motive: Joe as Plan B. What was Plan A?
She realized Kate was still talking as she kept dragging Joe down to a familiar SUV. Joe did not want to listen. Tried not to. Psycho bitch would say anything she thought would cut into Joe. Not lying, not really, the truth was bad enough when presented by the lips of a serpent. Snake. Kanima.
Joe heard a screech from far off and Kate must have too, as she paused momentarily.
"Sounds like showtime," Kate commented without any expression on her face. She looked down at Joe. "You didn't wonder why Derek's not rushing in to save you? He's busy, baby."
Anything. Bitch would say anything she thought would get a response. And besides, Derek did not need to save her. Another minute and she could move. Probably. Joe breathed heavily. "I should have let you bleed out."
The only response was a careless: "You probably should have." World spun when Kate propped her up against the car. Some rummaging over Joe's head before Kate crouched down again. "Speaking of blood..."
A slight throb in Joe's forearm and she looked down to see Kate insert a needle into the already bleeding flesh. Before Joe could even think to pull away, Kate gripped her elbow to hold her still. For a second Joe suspected another dose of sedatives, but instead the empty syringe filled with blood. Even through the haze of whatever drugs was still in her system, Joe felt the twinge of the needle prodding into her arm — Kate did not have the makings of a good nurse.
"What the hell?" she whispered at the sight of Kate pulling out the needle and getting up again.
"I told you," Kate said from somewhere above her, "you're Plan B."
More blood welled up from the small needlemark where Kate had yanked out the metal tip. Head swimming, Joe put her palms on the ground next to the wheels of the car. Whatever Kate was doing with her blood, it had her distracted.
Get up. Get up get up get up!
With everything she had, Joe kicked her foot into the side of Kate's knee.
"Argh!"
Kate's leg buckled to the side with a harsh crack.
She dropped to the side and Joe took the opportunity to flail onto her stomach, willing her limbs to support her and get up. Get up get up get up!
Two fumbling steps before Kate threw herself ontop of Joe. A tall muscular woman, she smothered Joe's body with her own and got Joe in a chokehold, keeping her in place.
"I hit you with enough ketamine to take down a horse," Kate hissed in her ear as they both struggled, but Joe most of all. "Got a little wolf in ya, Joe?" Blond hair flopped over Joe's face as Kate leaned towards her ear. "Bet ya want some!"
Joe smashed her head back, hitting Kate in the face. As long as Kate was more concerned with throwing punchlines instead of punches, she could win. The grip around her throat loosened enough for Joe to twist around and slam her elbow into Kate's head.
No good. Elbow hit its mark and judging by the enraged sound, it hurt too. But Kate was still on top of her and Joe did not move fast enough to cover her own face when Kate's first punch landed. Second hit Joe's closed arms, third came to the side, knocking into Joe's temple. Guard up, Dad used to say, keep your guard up. Joe squeezed her arms together over her face, elbows tucked in, knuckles to her forehead. Protect the eyes and throat.
Something had snapped. Kate punched like a madwoman, screaming with each jab, even those landing ontop of Joe's guard sending shockwaves to her spine. No technique, no strategy, just wild and pure rage.
Punch after punch, Kate pulling back hard with each, letting out harsh grunts of efforts. Joe felt herself want to curl up, protect vital organs, play dead — it didn't work in juvie, wouldn't work now. A bear might lose interest if you stayed still, but a bear did not have the mental capacity for cruelty such as humans. It did not have a will to inflict pain just for the sake of pain. Kate was worse than any wild animal.
Ske kept punching, not even bothering breaking Joe's guard, too filled with rage to fight properly. Derailing.
Joe's arms throbbed, going numb from the incessant strikes — get up. Get up get up get up!
What had Dad said? For some reason the memory came clear as day: Any action, when in a fight for your life, should be with full commitment and maximum violence. You gonna punch someone, do it proper. Kate pulled back for another hit, leaving her throat exposed.
Joe screamed as she jabbed her fist into Kate's trachea.
A wet gurgling sound and Kate instinctively brought both hands to her throat, as if to dislodge something. Joe bucked under her, pushing her off. Get up get up get up!
This bitch would not stay down!
Joe got halfway to her feet before Kate recovered enough to tackle her down again around her waist. By now, Joe's instincts had taken over, and she would do anything to not get pinned down again. Wrestling hard, jabbing and kicking where they could, they rolled on the ground, screaming and grunting unintelligibly.
"You know, babe," Kate said as Joe was on top, fighting to get her arms loose from Kate's grip, "if we took off our clothes," Joe let out a short cry when Kate jabbed her in the side, "set up a camera," now Kate grunted as Joe struck her fist into her chest, "we could get rich."
Kate, the experienced fighter, hooked her legs around Joe's torso and flipped them over. Joe, expecting it, grabbed hold of whatever she could to keep Kate from getting a full hold of her. She felt the fabric of Kate's shirt rip under her hands.
"See," Kate breathed hard somewhere next to Joe's ear, "now you got the right idea." With one hand between them, Kate used it to bore into Joe's stomach. "Come on, what do you say?" Joe screamed when Kate dug her thumb under her ribcage. "It'll be hot."
By chance, by some dumb stroke of luck, Joe's hand locked on the dart gun on Kate's back. An air rifle, it weighed almost half of a regular one, and she got it yanked loose from the strap. First she used it as a club, striking Kate in the chin to buy time. One hit not enough, Joe grunted and struck once, twice more right in Kate's face until she slumped back, covered in blood and dirt.
Joe scrambled backwards from underneath Kate, getting distance, reloading the dart gun with inexperienced fingers. Joe was never a good shot with precision weapons, but at six feet range, even she would hit.
The dart shot out with a soft fwop and hit Kate in the throat.
"Ah!" Kate said and yanked out the dart. Too late, though. These things worked fast. Her slack gaze met Joe's, going cross-eyed. "Bitch."
Get up. Get up get up get up!
Still clutching the dart gun, she pushed herself off the ground as Kate twitched where she laid. The car door open, but with no other weapons in sight she grabbed the syringe laying in the front seat ready to crush it. Except it was empty. Where-
Screeches echoed through the warehouses and Joe's movements turned frantic as she looked for where the hell her blood was. Whatever Kate was planning, it could not be good, but there was no vial, no bottle, no container anywhere, the blood was...gone. What - the - hell?
She felt like crying. Had she hallucinated? Ketamine could cause hallucinations, right? No, still a puncture wound on her arm. Shit. What? What was happening? Joe's chest heaved, brain heavily contaminated by both adrenaline and every other chemical injected into her body.
On the ground, Kate moaned.
No coherent thoughts coming through, Joe took off running. Back to the warehouse, back to the sound of kanima-screeches, back to Derek and Scott and Jimmy and Isaac. Pack mentality, stronger in numbers. Warn them, she had to warn them — if Kate was here, Gerard could not be far.
Joe did not even pause to listen when she heard loud roars, the tell-tale of werewolves fighting — Derek fighting, Scott fighting, Isaac fighting. Only weapon she had was a non-lethal one. Didn't matter. She did not have any choice but to reload it as she ran. One dart left, basically a ballistic syringe loaded with ketamine and a hypodermic needle, ready to be propelled from the gun by means of compressed gas. Would it even slow down the kanima?
She should have shot Kate again before she ran. Too late. Too late to shoot again.
Joe burst through the entrance to the warehouse, eyes going to all sides trying to take stock of the situation. Jimmy curled up in the corner, large slashes on his chest. Isaac on the floor, dripping blood and Scott to the side, looking rough. Her gaze got stuck on Derek though, half-incapacitated on the ground. He was not even looking at her.
Allison — not the kanima, not Gerard — was descending upon Derek with knives in her hands and murder in her eyes.
"Stop!" Joe shouted, not thinking, just reacting, putting the rifle to her shoulder. Blood ran down her face, she knew she looked a mess, and probably her appearance alone was enough to make the girl pause. "Allison, stop!"
The girl was fighting back tears, lip curled in an angry snarl, only without fangs. "He killed my mom."
"Did he? Are you sure?" Joe tried to stay calm, fighting both the urge to pull the trigger and to throw up. The sound of arrows over the phone, of Erica's frightened cry. "Allison, please don't make me do this."
"If you're gonna shoot me," Allison said and her shaky voice betrayed just how far off the edge she was at the moment, how little anything but revenge mattered to her. "Shoot."
Wet eyes, locked jaw — Joe could not even see Allison, she only saw Kate. KateKateKate.
"Shoot!"
Kate, in the claws of Peter, begging Joe to take the shot. One she never took. How much would have been different? Would it even have killed Peter? Would it have killed Kate?
Allison screamed: "Shoot!"
Another soft fwop and Allison clutched her neck in shock.
"Allison!"
Scott yelled and rushed forward to catch the now sedated girl, but he never reached her. A screech echoed in the warehouse and the kanima appeared from behind Allison, holding her up by her neck with long clawed fingers. Although sedated, Allison's eyes were wide with fear and Joe felt herself turn numb.
She did that. Just now. Her fault. Her fault the kanima lifted Allison off the ground, hissing at her through rows and rows of sharp pointed teeth.
Joe did not even realize she'd dropped the empty gun until it clattered on the floor next to Derek. Her eyes went to him in his morphed state, his hand clutching heavy scratches on his chest. Kanima claws, he must be half-paralyzed, fighting the venom to get up. His eyes were wide, staring at her with some unreadable expression — this face revealed even less than his normal one — but she saw the fear when his focus shifted to something behind her.
"What are you doing?"
The hoarse shout made Joe spin around, but Kate was not even looking at her. Automatically, Joe reached for any weapon — shotgun, pistol or taser — but she had none. Nothing. No claws, no fangs, no guns. Kate did, however.
Shotgun up — Joe's shotgun! — she was aiming at the kanima. Circling it, not giving anyone else a moment of consideration. Joe healed fast, but Kate was even faster if she was already up from the ketamine-shot. Though judging by the slightly deranged look in Kate's eyes, she was not fully out off the woods yet.
Just then, Joe realized what was wrong with Kate. The scar over her throat had disappeared. The bite marks on Kate's long torso had healed too. Kate had barely been human before, but now she was definitely not. Something was wrong though, she looked sick, almost strung out, like a junkie.
"It's gonna be okay, sweetie," Kate choked out, wild eyes locked at Allison. "It's okay."
Judging by the soft gasp and now stream of tears from Allison's eyes, she had not been expecting to see her aunt here. She hadn't known. Joe was frozen, half of her wanting to shield Derek, half of her wanting to fight Kate, all of her just struggling to stay up. For some reason, she tried to find Jimmy, but he was no longer in the corner she'd just seen him? Where-
"Let her go, Gerard! This was not part of the deal!"
Gerard stood by the side, Joe realized, and looked on the spectacle with the calm of a circus ringmaster. "The deal changes as I see fit."
"Gerard!" Chris' warning went unheeded, except for a tightening around Allison's throat. Chris fell back, mouth twisted in a furious scowl.
"Are you insane?" Kate yelled out, the flicker in her gaze revealing that she considered aiming at Gerard instead. "Call off your shapeshifter, let her go!"
"Not yet, sweetheart," Gerard said calmly. "I need the leverage I can get."
Kate looked livid, deranged, frazzled. Not fully up to speed. Eyes going back and forth between the kanima and Gerard; back and forth, back and forth. "What are you doing? Dad! Let her go!"
For some reason, Joe noticed that one arm of Kate's sweater was pulled up. Bloodstains on her forearm.
"Let her go!" Kate screamed at Gerard. Her eyes were wide and constantly moving. Joe realized she had never seen fear in Kate's face before. Anger, frustration, rage, happiness — never fear. Not like this, not like now. "We already have the Alphas! Let her go!"
There was something freezing cold in Gerard's tone when he said: "Fall back, Katherine."
For a second it looked like Kate would do just that, but Chris cut in:
"Kate! This is Allison!" His voice cracked and Joe's heart shattered because she had been the one to shoot Allison, to render her this helpless. "I don't know what deal you have, but it can't be more important than her, your own niece!"
"We had a deal..." The shivery voice betrayed how much Kate was skirting the edge between sanity and insanity.
"He's using you!"
Kate brandished the shotgun further, tucking her elbow into her side. "I need the Alpha blood."
Joe glanced down at her arm, at the already disappearing needlemark. Alpha blood?
At her words, Chris' eyes widened with understanding. "The bite." Nothing but cold resignation in his eyes. "It took. Kate, the Alpha blood, it's a myth! He's lying to you!
"I need-" Kate's voice trembled and she looked as sick as Joe felt. Had she injected Joe's blood into herself? Why why why? "I need the-"
"Because you just could not follow orders," Gerard nearly spat at Kate. "No, you jumped the gun, deciding to go after the big game early for something as petty as revenge. I gave you a clear order and you disobeyed and now, you're paying the consequences."
The shotgun lost its steady aim towards the kanima holding Allison, circled to Joe, then back to the kanima. "What do you mean?" She gave Gerard a desperate look, nostrils flared, mouth in a harsh bite. "It's always been about revenge!"
"Hrm," Gerard's let out a sharp noise of contempt. "You always were a good soldier, Kate, but you never fully grasped the concept of strategy."
At least Kate caught on to the same thing as Joe. The shotgun wavered a fraction, eyes darting to Gerard. "Was a good soldier?"
Something was wrong. Joe knew it, Kate knew it, but they were locked in an impasse. Gerard had all the cards and he knew that.
"You think the strength to slice a beast in half comes for free? It's taken its toll on my body. I have dedicated my entire life to the hunt, I think it's time I got something in return." Gerard's voice went from thundering to silky smooth. "Scott knows, don't you?"
Scott, tearing his eyes away from Allison for a second, nodded and Gerard almost smiled, nearly serene. "It was the night outside the hospital, wasn't it? When I threatened your mother." Joe's eyes widened, pure fire kindled by even the mention of Aunt Mel and she hardly heard the rest of his words. "Knew I saw something in your eyes. You could smell it, couldn't you?"
Isaac's voice rang out from where he, like Derek, laid on the floor clutching bleeding wounds. Isaac, age sixteen, bleeding on the floor. "He's dying."
"I am." Gerard smiled that dead smile of his that never reached his eyes. "Have been for a while now. Unfortunately, science doesn't have a cure for cancer yet. But the supernatural does." He turned to the quivering Kate. "So yes, sweetheart, we do need an Alpha, but not for you."
"No," Kate said, again her eyes going haywire trying to find a focus. "I'm trying to find a cure! You said- you want- no!"
"If you had half the grit I thought you had," Gerard's voice echoed, "you would have killed yourself before the teeth could sink in!" He took a step forward and even though Kate had a clear shot, she never took it. She stumbled back, shotgun wavering, eyes shining from unshed tears. "And here I thought I had raised you to be a true Hunter!"
Even Joe could see how the words affected Kate. She swallowed heavily, staring out into the air.
"You're right."
Finally her eyes stilled in cold determination as she focused on Gerard.
"I am a hunter."
Her voice came stronger. "And we hunt those who hunt us."
"KATE!"
The shout came from Chris who must have figured out what Kate meant; the next thing Joe knew the shotgun swung towards her and Derek. Several things happened at once:
However Gerard controlled the kanima, he did not need to use words. It dropped Allison who fell to the floor like a bag of stones. Faced with an open barrel, Joe threw herself across Derek without thinking. The kanima launched itself at Kate.
A harsh grunt from Derek as Joe landed on top of him was lost when a shotgun blast smashed into the concrete next to his head. The kanima's attack must have knocked off her aim. Waiting for the inevitable next shot that would rip her torso apart, it never came as Kate fired at the kanima, choosing survival over revenge. Then three more loud bangs that caused the kanima to screech.
Chris pulled his gun up the second Allison was free, firing over and over; shots that all hit true, lodging into the kanima's torso, but apart from the slight blood spatter, it never even paused in its struggle with Kate.
The bite definitely took, Joe thought, as Kate kicked the kanima straight into Chris' car. That strength was not natural. How the hell had she fought off Kate just now? Pure unbridled adrenaline?
"You need to get up!" Joe hissed at Derek and she scrambled off him, but with the bloodloss and the venom, he was too wounded to stand. With the beating and ketamine, she could hardly stand herself. He growled at the effort, to get his legs to work. "Come on, pleas-"
Something slammed into Joe's throat and for a second she thought she was shot. Instead Kate had used the shotgun to strike Joe away, swinging it across her throat. Joe flailed back at the impact, windpipe closed off from air, seeing stars and she fell backwards on the floor. Helpless to only watch Kate stand over a frozen Derek, taking aim with a vicious smile.
"Sorry, handsome, I only need one of you!"
"Katherine!"
Gerard's shout was probably the only thing that could hinder Kate from pulling the trigger. The struggle played out over Kate's face. Even Joe could see her finger twitching, wanting to just shoot, to kill.
"We had a deal!" she screamed at Gerard, gun not moving from Derek who was growling in effort to get up. "You said you would help me!"
"I did help you," Gerard nearly trembled with anger and Joe did not have time to think why, why he would not want Derek dead, "but there is a limit to how many mistakes that can be tolerated! You just made your last one." His mouth twisted in an ugly sneer. "You should have stayed dead the first time."
Kate froze as the kanima bounded off the car and attacked.
For a second, it seemed like Kate would just submit to her fate. A true Hunter, despite Gerard's words, she only used that second to bring out something from her pocket. She threw it at the kanima, aiming for its face and whatever it was, it sailed through the air like a clay pigeon.
Like she had done probably a thousand times, Kate took aim and fired.
Joe squeezed her eyes shut when Kate's shot resulted in a large flash explosion. The kanima howled, blinded, and Kate dropped the shotgun in favor of the pistol, emptying all sixteen shots to pierce through the thick hide.
The blast had left even Joe half-blind, left all of them blinking and Joe tried to find either Kate or the kanima, not sure which was the biggest threat. She only saw blurry shapes.
Through the haze, she heard running footsteps.
"Oh no the fuck you don't!" Joe spat and threw herself forward, snatching up the shotgun and sprinting hard towards the exit after Kate.
She made it five, maybe six steps.
"No!" Joe cried when something wrapped itself around her neck and jerked her back. Shotgun clattered to the ground. Her hands tried to break it loose, this thick scaled appendix that lifted her off the ground with no apparent effort at all. Joe barely got her fingers between the tail and her throat, giving a fraction of an inch leeway for her to take a breath, but the strength of this thing would crush her fingers if needed.
Even through the rush in her ears, she heard Derek snarl, but he fell back in fury when the kanima tightened its hold. Leverage. Always leverage. Always in need for a damn rescue, goddamnit!
"Sorry, dear, but you're needed here," Gerard said and Joe did not even have enough air in her lungs to tell him to go screw himself.
The kanima, although injured, judging by the long streams of blood running down its side held Joe with no apparent effort. Gerard's whole face trembled as he took a last look towards the warehouse exit where there was no sign of Kate and he looked tempted to spit on the ground. "Coward."
Like a snake, movement attracted his attention and he tore around to where Scott was making his way to Allison to help her off the floor. He smiled. "Mhrm."
The world blurred as the kanima moved in a fluid swipe to grab Allison as well, holding her in its hands. Not killing her, not yet, even though only her eyes moved, desperate, her body still sedated with the ketamine. Joe's doing. Joe's fault.
It had the desired effect. Scott stopped moving, face wolfed out, glaring at Gerard. Derek was still mostly paralyzed and Joe was glad she could not make out the expression on his face.
"What are you doing?" Chris spat, livid and out of bullets, out of options.
"He's doing what he came here to do," Scott said way too calmly, not taking his eyes off Allison. Joe kicked her feet, but it held her too high off the ground.
"You monster." Chris trembled with rage. "You just tried to kill your own daughter for what you-"
"She was weak!" Spit flew from Gerard's lips as he shouted. "Beaten! Forced against her will! Here, I will be the one to take it!"
"And Allison? You'd kill her too?"
"When it comes to survival," Gerard said in a voice reminiscent of a wailing ghoul. "I'd kill my own son!" He gave Scott a knowing look. "Scott!"
Only now did the cold realization hit Joe. Only now did she realize why Gerard wanted an Alpha.
Her throat cut off, she could not even scream, could not do anything, as Scott's face morphed back to normal, better equipped to show his resignation. He looked at Chris, close to crying, but the Hunter only took a single step after him, helpless just as Joe. She heard Allison whimper too as Scott walked to Derek, still half-paralyzed on the floor, moving to get away.
"No!" Joe managed to choke out and she squirmed harder against the bind, digging her human fingernails into the thick scaly hide, hoping it would feel pain, grow tired of her, cast her to the side. Her breath hitched as Scott plunged his own clawed hand into Derek's neck. Scott forced him up to a stand and Joe cried out, anticipating the pain...that never came.
She saw Scott's claws dig into Derek's skin, holding him in place, and she should have felt that. She should have felt it in her own neck, as if Scott was violating her body, but nothing. Derek's torso was littered with large scratches and bruises, but she felt nothing. Why was she not feeling it?
Derek let out guttural grunts, hands weakly over his stomach, unable to fight it. "Scott, don't." Helpless. Tears clouded her eyes and the tail tightened around her throat when she tried to scream again. "You know he's gonna kill me right after." His red eyes were dark as he looked at Gerard. "He'll be an Alpha."
"That's true," Gerard said with malicious glee. The bastard stood with his hands behind his back, watching contedly as Scott did the dirty work, still with his claws plunged into Derek's neck that she could not feel! Derek obviously did, as evident by his pained grunts, so she should too! "But I think he already knows that, don't you, Scott?"
Scott looked at Allison automatically, not at Joe, no matter how much she tried to tell him with her eyes that he had to stop!
"He knows that the ultimate prize is Allison," Gerard continued. "Do this small task for me, and they can be together. You are the only piece that doesn't fit, Derek." He spat out the name as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. "And in case you haven't learned yet, there is just no competing with young love." He finished his speech by wrenching off his coat.
Jimmy! Where was Jimmy? Joe tried to look around, but only her eyes could move, and she was forced to watch Scott ignore Derek's panicked bursts of: "Scott, don't! Don't!"
It was as if she was speaking through Derek, because it was all she wanted to say. He had to stop! He couldn't do this! Scott, stop!
"I'm sorry. But I have to."
Unable to move, unable to scream, she could only watch Scott push his claws back, forcing Derek to bend backwards, mouth open, fangs extended. His prone body, claws out, but not fighting — helpless. Violated. Exploited. Joe kicked, not caring about her own body, not caring if she choked, not caring about anything other than stopping Scott from whatever he thought he was doing. Did he not realize? How could he not realize-
Allison whimpered too, somewhere to her side, as helpless as any of them. As helpless as all of them, except Scott, who could stop this if he wanted to, who could let Derek go!
While rolling up his sleeve, seemingly in no hurry, Gerard came over to Scott and Derek. It seemed to take forever, as if he was making a show of it, but Gerard slowly placed his forearm into Derek's jaws. He did not bite as much as Scott's claws forced his teeth together, the pain obvious in Derek's eyes and she was not feeling it!
At least Gerard screamed, at least he got some pain, but it would be short-lived. He would heal. He would become stronger. He would kill Derek to become the Alpha. He would be the Alpha. And what would happen to her if Derek died? Did Scott even care?
Derek slumped to the floor, spent, used, empty, and Scott let him go. Dropping him like Peter had dropped Jimmy at the Hale house. Not useful anymore, disposed of like garbage. Her lungs ached with the effort of just breathing, every breath she pulled in trying to be released like a scream. Trembling, delusional, wanting to die now or she'd kill Gerard herself if she had to. Where was Jimmy?
Gerard let out some pained groans, but obviously pleased with the result as he looked at the ring of teeth marks around his arm. He laughed in victory, and held his arm up high as a display, as a trophy.
The red intrusions in his skin turned black almost right away. It seeped out of the wounds, running down his arm, but he had not noticed yet. He noticed their expressions, all horrified, stepping away from him like he was contaminated. He was...infected. Poisoned. Rotten.
"What?" Gerard growled, even though he obviously was not turning. The blood did not stop running as he looked down, glaring at the obvious sick marks. "What is this?" His mad eyes landed on Scott. "What did you do?"
Scott looked at Derek when he answered, Derek who was on the floor, crawling to get away, crawling to escape. "Everyone said Gerard always had a plan." Scott finally looked up at Gerard. "I had a plan too."
For some reason, Gerard brought out a small pill box. He opened it, hands shaking, and Joe recognized the pills. They were the ones in her pill bottle. The one supposed to hold morphine.
Gerard trembled as he shook out all the pills into his hand, not caring most of them landed on the floor. "No. No." Like he couldn't believe it at first, but then his hand crushed down, a small plume of ash rising from his closed fist. "Mountain ash!"
Joe could not breathe. Not from the kanima's tail, not from the sight of Gerard falling to his knees with black blood running from every orifice, but from the apologetic look Scott gave her.
Mountain ash. Her coffee tasting funny. Her medication in Scott's hands. The sudden withdrawal. The detachment from Derek. No pain. She was not feeling Derek's pain and she was supposed to!
Gerard fell to his knees, obviously choking, head rolling back. Gurgling sounds, pained gasps and a tall fountain of black blood erupted from his mouth. The black rotten infected liquid — blood — rained down around him. The smell was reminiscent of death and spoiled meat. Too much came out, splattering the floor, emptying him completely and he slumped to the side when it stopped.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Derek's voice, back to normal, weak, vulnerable, looking up at Scott and eyes flickering over to Joe as if she had known about it and it killed her because she had not!
"Because you might be an Alpha," Scott said calmly, as if he had no idea what he just did. "But you're not mine."
Like Kate, Gerard was not going down without a fight. He was not dead yet and they all turned to watch as he crawled on the floor. Spluttering and coughing up blood. "Kill them!" His order rang out and the kanima's tail tightened around Joe's throat. "Kill them aaaaall!"
A roar overtook his voice.
Joe found Jimmy.
Fully transformed, shifted into a larger than life wolf, Jimmy issued a challenging roar towards the kanima. He seemed stronger than before, not wounded by wolfsbane, and drool clung to his large teeth, his bellow shaking the walls.
Joe slumped as the kanima was forced to drop them to fight off the newcomer. Landing on the floor, she felt the ground tremble as Jimmy charged past on large feet. His long arms swept up to trap the kanima between them, tackling the creature and running them into the far wall, the force knocking creating a large dent in the concrete.
She lost sight of them in the dust explosion and crawled over to Allison instead. Eyes wide, pulse steady, still unable to move too much.
"I'm sorry." Joe's voice sounded foreign and guttural and she helped Allison sit up. The apologies kept coming, not sure what for, for all of it maybe. For being shot. For losing her mom. For having such a shitty family. For being used as leverage. "I'm so sorry."
The kanima's screeches were indistinguishable from Jimmy's roars. Joe looked up — the kanima and Jimmy circled each other, two fully shapeshifted figures. Despite the reptilian appearance, it was easy to see the similarities. Walking upright on two legs, claws extended on either side of them, leaping forwards to tear into each other.
Then, for some reason, both turned to face the wood-covered wall of the warehouse.
A large crash had Joe falling over to cover Allison without thinking.
A car — was that Stiles' Jeep? — came blaring straight through the wooden wall and slammed into the kanima. Jimmy had just enough time to toss himself away and landed in a heap not far from Joe. The kanima screamed as the impact knocked it over.
Not for long though. Down, but not defeated.
Just as Scott let out a relieved sigh, the kanima was back up and clambered onto the Jeep's hood. It hissed through the windows and even Joe could hear Stiles' panicked screams.
While Stiles clambered out of the car, dashing straight for Scott, Lydia Martin got out to confront the kanima. Like a defenseless dainty angelic creature, she faced the demon.
"Jackson!" she shrieked and held up a flimsy shield in the form of something small and shiny. It caught the kanima's attention, whose head twisted like a magpie's, at least temporarily distracted from clawing her face off. Her voice came a little more steadfast. "Jackson."
Joe let go off Allison, just waiting for the inevitable, for the kanima to strike.
It never happened. Instead, a ripple passed through it and the scales subsided. Not a smooth transformation like with the werewolves, more patchy, bit by bit of Jackson's body reclaimed by himself. She could see flecks of skin peek through the scales, most of Jackson Whittemore's face revealed.
A hand closed around Joe's ankle, the heat and touch alone telling her it was Derek. She did not move, too scared of what she would say and do when she was forced to, and let Derek hold onto her for whatever reason he had. If he was using her to absorb some of his pain, she did not feel it. It did not hurt. Scott made sure of that.
The thing that was more Jackson now than kanima, although not completely this or that, took the shiny object. It almost looked like a key, a regular house key, but it was hard to tell. Apparently it meant something. He stared at it, then at Lydia, stumbling back. More and more of Jackson now, less of the kanima.
Beside her, Derek let her go and got up. Still in his wolf-state, still with red glowing eyes, watching Jackson. For some reason now healed.
The boy, because it was no longer a kanima, seemed to expect something as he looked at Derek. Threw his arms out wide, as if to open himself up.
A short-term solution, Joe realized. Kanima only temporarily subdued, letting its guard down. Leaving Jackson free to make the hard choice.
It was the only way to explain why Derek sprang up from the ground.
From the other side, Peter somersaulted through some steelwork. Joe could not even gasp — too spent, too numb — when Derek pierced the teenage boy on his claws, digging them into his chest. On the other side, so did Peter. Jackson, because it was not the kanima, coughed and croaked, letting out a death-rattle.
"Pack bond," someone whispered from her other side. Jimmy, back in his human form, panting and shirtless. Not wounded. He watched the only remaining Hale-werewolves drag their claws out of Jackson and let him slump down into Lydia's trembling arms. Jimmy's eyes were dark and narrowed, focused on Peter. "Pack kill."
As a shivering and whimpering Lydia caught Jackson's slumping form, Derek and Peter stepped back. Derek looked human now, head down, ashamed. He glanced at Joe on the floor, but looked away at the sight of her. Her face was not a good liar. It would betray how she felt.
No one could do anything but watch as Jackson, whose lungs must have been pierced, spluttered and gurgled, dying fast. Isaac backed away at the sight, lost in the world, until Derek clamped his hand on the boy's shoulder, both to steady him and keep him still.
Joe looked away from the scene, squeezing her eyes shut. She was glad she did not have a werewolf's ears, the loud crying from Lydia bad enough without hearing what they were saying to each other. Jimmy was still watching though, hearing it all, his mouth drawn in a firm line.
"Where's Gerard?" Allison whispered and Joe looked over to see that Scott had gotten her up to her feet, holding her upright, clutching at her. Joe followed Allison's gaze, to the empty spot in the pool of black blood.
Chris watched Scott and Allison, but only said: "He can't be far." His eyes met Joe's. "Either of them."
Just like Kate, Joe thought. Can't be far. Like that was a comfort. So much for letting Chris handle anything. As if he could read her mind — but it was probably just her face — Chris turned his head down.
Joe found it easier to watch Jimmy than anything else. It was easier to watch his neutral expression than to see Isaac's fear, Derek's shame, Scott's relief, Allison's sadness, Stiles' worry or Chris' resignation. What did she look like? Scared, angry, helpless?
As Jimmy tilted his head in confusion, she turned back to the Jeep. Turned back to watch the girl who had left the body of her boyfriend on the floor, but stopped at the sound of a long inhale accompanied by the scraping of claws on the floor.
It seemed to take forever, but was probably just a few seconds, before Jackson — fully naked and without a single scale — rose to stand. Claws out, head back, eyes glowing blue and roaring like a-
"Werewolf," whispered Joe, knowing it to hold true.
Aware of Derek's eyes on her, she looked up briefly, before they both stared at Jackson. His face went back to normal, to human, and Lydia jumped in his arms. Clutching at each other as if their lives depended on it — and who knew, maybe that was true? Nothing stronger than young, stupid love. Ask Scott.
Joe saw the expression in Derek's eyes. He had not known this would happen. He thought he had killed Jackson — and he had still done it. Made the hard choice, like he had done when he broke Erica's arm to force the venom out. Like he had done when he killed his uncle.
Was it over?
No. Kate was out there, Gerard was out there, and who knew what else? Jackson and Lydia held onto each other, unaware of anything else, while Joe slowly got up from the floor. Scratched. Aching. Her forearms looked like a shuffling board of bruises from Kate's assault earlier. Joe glanced at the dart gun on the floor — she had been hoping for the rifle — but it would have to do.
She swayed a bit, adrenaline stooping down leaving her dizzy. Derek held out a hand in case she needed, it but she did not. Did not need anyone. Not right now.
Teeth gritted as she headed for the exit, picking up Kate's shotgun too where she had left it when fleeing.
Scott also reached out a hand to her as she passed. "Joe, are you-"
"Don't touch me." She recoiled harder than expected from his hand, trembling from pent-up rage, saw his confused eyes. Not trusting herself at the moment, she only bit out: "You switched out my meds."
"I- I had to," Scott tried to explain, letting go off Allison so Chris held her up instead. "It was the only way."
"Was it?" Voice shrill, eyes flooding over. "Are you sure, Scott? Lying to me, it was the only way?" Her whole body shivered, her eyes flickering, unable to look at him. She glanced briefly at Derek, but could not look at him either. "Using-"
No. Not here, not now, not like this. Not her trauma, that was Derek's. Maybe one day, when she was numbed down, she could tell Scott what he just did. Violating Derek like that, using him, like Kate, like Peter, like everyone else in Derek's life. Not her place to bring it up now, not her pain.
"You'd get hurt," Scott tried again, still reaching out for her, not even realizing what he had done.
"So let me!" Joe yelled and noticed everyone else turning away, uncomfortable by the intimate argument. "That's my choice and you took it away from me!"
He looked confused, eyebrows pulled together and mouth hanging open. "You never had a choice!" Scott gestured to Derek. "If he gets hurt, you get hurt-"
"How long did you plan this?" Joe cried now, cold tears running down, mixing with blood and sweat. "How long did you know? How long did you lie to me? Jesus Christ, Scott, just forcing me to crash off the pain meds is bad enough and then feeding me this crap? Without knowing the consequences? What the hell were you thinking?"
Baring her teeth, Joe wrenched out the pill bottle from her back pocket, dropped it to the ground and stomped heavily. A large plume of ash smoke rose around her foot as the bottle crushed. They were not even the same as the ones Derek brought her, they were larger and she'd taken far too many of them to feel anything but betrayed by Scott.
"Joe, I didn't-" Scott faltered.
"Scott," Stiles tried from the side where he stood looking like a walking skeleton in an oversized t-shirt and bruises all over his face. "Come on, buddy, don't-"
Unfortunately Scott did not have enough sense to listen. "I didn't have a choice! He was going to kill you and Mom, what was I supposed to do?"
"Oh my God," Joe mumbled, unable to fathom and she yelled: "Trust me!"
As Scott's eyes flickered to Derek, she gritted her teeth together. "That is not the same, Scott! You are not the same! He is not my cousin. He hasn't known me for his whole life!" She tried to breathe, but it was hard, forced off from rage and disappointment. "He knows I don't trust him and-" he had never tried to take advantage of it.
Her hands came up to her face, tried to wipe away tears, knowing it futile. She splayed her hands out to Scott instead. "But you're family, Scott. We've always been there for each other and I thought," her voice broke off, but she persisted, "I thought you trusted me as much as I trusted you."
Joe turned around, walking desolately out of the warehouse, not responding to Scott yelling her name. Derek knew better — he never tried.
Outside, there was no trace of Kate or her car. No trace of Gerard either. Joe bit in a scream that threatened to erupt and slammed the tranquilizer gun into the ground so hard it broke.
This was not over. Would it ever be over?
Guys, I am so sorry for this behemoth of a chapter. It should probably have been split into at least two chapters, if not three. There's so much happening and I know the pacing is hard because there's no chance to catch your breath. At all. It's one of those chapters that I want to do so much and it's been rewritten too many times to count and now I just want to post it and move on. Wish I could give you a better Christmas gift than this. I swear I'll make it up to you later on. I won't skip right into season 3 so there's gonna be some room to breathe a little going forwards. After this, I think everyone needs it.
(And I am sorry for Kate getting away - again. I swear there's a plan to this and I hope you're in it for the long haul like me. I also know Gerard is the biggest hypocrite to live, but he was like that on the show too, remember?)
PSA: Gonna take a few days off and post the next chapter on the 27/28th and then a new on the 31st :)
Please let me know what you think of this chapter, even though I know it's a tough one with mostly just bad stuff happening. I have to repeat, I'm all for happy endings, but we're not quite there yet. Sorry.
Thank you for reading anyway and Merry Christmas, guys! Or Happy Holidays if you don't celebrate Christmas! See you in a few days, so take care of yourself and your loved ones!