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

I had two reviews on this last chapter and I was thrilled. Both gave me the motivation to make sure I got this done. I've been working on coming up with a schedule and being "stricter" on myself to make sure I do the things I want to do (writing this fic being one of them). Thanks to my no-named Guest for your review. Also, thanks to GirlNextDoor01! I have been trying really hard to hold the continuity and I'm really glad that's showing through. You are all amazing human beings!

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

(o.o)

Chapter 2.05

Scott had disappeared from the locker room to go and find Stiles, knowing I needed the kind of comfort that the werewolf couldn't give me quite yet. Scott and I were getting along well, but Stiles and I hit off our friendship so much easier. I mean, that much should have been obvious or I wouldn't have spent so much of my free time kissing him and having sleepovers.

Mr. Yukimura appeared and nearly grilled Kira and me about what happened and not long after he arrived, so did the sheriff's deputies to do the same thing. I didn't have much to tell any of them and Kira looked like she was about to self-implode. Honestly, she looked like how I felt. At least I knew that the coyote was actually Malia. She wasn't trying to hurt us even if I didn't know what she was doing in the school. It was awkward for me to be a part of the conversation between Kira and her dad. He was acting more like a parent in this situation, which was fine, but he wasn't my dad, and being in the locker room was making me feel claustrophobic.

I turned to the teacher. "I'm gonna go wait outside for the sheriff," I said, fanning myself with my hand. "I - I can't be in here."

Mr. Yukimura nodded. "Just right there." He said, pointing to the bit of wall just outside the room.

I nodded back and passed a few deputies and our bookbags on my way out. The deep breath I took upon exiting the room was almost enough to calm me. I leaned against the wall, closing my eyes as my head softly hit the concrete blocks behind me. I was there for a few minutes before I felt the walls shake light. After I opened my eyes I saw Scott come back with Stiles and the sheriff at his heels. I ran to Stiles, hugging him tightly. "Are you okay?" I asked into his ear.

He pulled me away, holding my shoulders with a confused look on his face. "Am I okay? Are you okay? You were attacked by a freaking wild animal." He moved his hands to my face, leaving goosebumps to form at his touch.

I shook my head. "She didn't attack us. Scott got there before it could get back. We're fine, but your panic attack - "

Stiles moved his head from side to side, looking back at his dad who was far enough away. The man was nodding at Scott to enter the locker room again. "I'm okay."

I looked into his eyes trying to find the confirmation. He was trying not to let his dad worry about him, meaning he was keeping as much as he could a secret. When I found the proof that he thought he was at least kind of okay, I nodded at him. I pulled out of Stiles' grasp and looked at his father behind him.

The sheriff met my eyes and walked up to us, giving me a kind smile like he always did. "Are you okay, CJ?"

"I'm okay." I shrugged. "Okay enough, I guess."

"Can you tell me what happened here?"

"We came into the hall, looking for Scott and I saw it down the hallway. I grabbed Kira and ran into the locker room, but that's the best I got. I think it broke through the glass window on the door. Kira knows more than I do, really. I couldn't tell." I nervously scratched at my ear. "I was pretty much useless."

Sheriff nodded, giving me a sympathetic smile before looking at his son. "Stiles, why don't you take her home? I'll call your dad and let him know what happened."

I nodded. "Our bags are still in there." I gestured to the room, where I saw all three of our backpacks abandoned on the linoleum. The sheriff motioned us inside.

Stiles held my hand in his and pulled me into the room to grab our bags. He bent down for his, seeing the zipper had opened halfway. He furrowed his brow.

"What's wrong?"

Stiles looked up. "Did you go into my bag?"

I shook my head. "No, why?"

Stiles pulled open the bag, glancing inside. "Oh, no."

"What?"

Stiles hurriedly made his way towards Scott.

I grabbed my bag and Scott's from the floor and quickly followed him.

Stiles offered his backpack to Scott. "I think I know what she was looking for." He finished opening the bag and reached in, pulling out the doll they found in the woods the previous night.

Scott looked at his best friend like he had done something stupid. "You took the doll from the car? You realize she could have killed CJ today, right?"

"Yeah, look, I'm sorry about that." He sent me an apologetic look to which I quickly shrugged off. "But I thought you could use it, you know, for, like, her scent."

Having not seen it coming, Mr. Tate approached the three of us, pushing me to the side to get to Stiles holding the doll. I furrowed my brow, catching myself. "Dude," I said aloud, hoping to get an apology. When did he get here? And why was he here?

"Where did you find this?" The angry man asked, pulling the doll out of Stiles' hands.

Scott quickly put himself between the man and Stiles and me.

"It belonged to my daughter." He held the doll like it was the most precious thing in the world. Which I guess that it was, being that it was a long-lost item of someone he'd lost.

The sheriff came over quickly, placing a hand on Scott to back him down. "Mr. Tate, I don't know how you heard about this - if you have your own police scanner or what - but you can't be here." The sheriff surprised the man by putting a hand on him to lead him out. Both men paused and Sheriff Stilinski looked at him with surprise on his face. Stilinski opened the other man's jacket revealing a gun attached to Mr. Tate's hip.

I took a step back towards Stiles, grabbing his hand.

"I have a permit." Mr. Tate insisted.

I couldn't tell what the sheriff said next, but it was enough to make Mr. Tate back away slowly.

"You find that animal! You find that thing!" Tate said before leaving the locker room.

I let out a breath, raking my hand through my hair and pushing it out of my face. I turned to face both Scott and Stiles.

"He's gonna be a problem. Not to mention all of this." Stiles said, looking around the room.

"How?" Scott asked.

"That man is really upset," I told him. "Mad at this coyote that is actually, probably his daughter. And now that the deputies are involved since she was in the school, there's going to be an active hunt for Malia."

Stiles nodded. "They might kill her."

"We should talk to Deaton. He helped us last year when we were trying to catch Jackson, remember?" Scott asked, looking at Stiles. "Maybe he has something to help us catch Malia before they do."

I nodded. "Let's go then."

(o.o)

After the initial conversation with the veterinarian about their plan to somehow figure out whether or not the coyote we were after was actually Malia, we had to act quickly before anyone decided to kill the animal. Thankfully, Doctor Deaton was an amazing human being who was practically designed to help the supernatural. He had come up with the idea of tranquilizing her just so we can get her to stay in one place until we figured out how to change her back. The plan required Allison so Scott had sent her a text asking her for help while Deaton went to his storage to get the tranquilizer.

I sighed from the opposite side of the table when Deaton came back into the room. "Whatcha got, Doc?"

"Xylazine. " Deaton finger-spelled effortlessly. "It's a tranquilizer for horses. Fora werecoyote, expect it to work within seconds. I only have three doses, so whoever's shooting needs to be a damn good shot."

"Allison's a perfect shot," Scott said confidently.

"Is she?" I asked with a raised brow, looking to Isaac who had joined us at the clinic. I knew how much time the two had been spending together courtesy of Lydia, so it was obvious that he'd be the one to know.

Isaac hesitated. "She used to be."

"She can do it." Scott nodded, one-hundred percent sure of his ex.

"If we can manage to find the thing."

I glanced between the two wolves. There was a bit of tension between them with both of them having some sort of feelings for Allison. My eyes finally landed on Stiles.

Stiles shook his head with an irritated sigh. "Okay, what is the point of him?" He asked Scott, pointing to Isaac. "Seriously, I mean, what is his purpose? Aside from the persistent negativity and the scarf?" Stiles looked at Isaac. "What's up with the scarf, anyway? It's sixty-five degrees out!"

"It's a fashion thing," I told him with a laugh. "Let the man be comfortable."

Isaac crossed his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes. "Look, maybe I'm asking the question no one here wants to ask. How do we turn a coyote back into a girl when she hasn't been a girl in eight years?"

"Yeah, I'd like to know that, too." I probed. "I mean, I fully believe that this thing is actually Malia. I can feel that it is. But what if it isn't?"

Scott looked me in the eye and nodded once. "I can change her back."

Stiles' head whipped to his best friend. "You can?"

Scott nodded again, you remember the night that Peter trapped us in the school? In the gym, he was able to make me turn using just his voice. Deucalion did the same thing in the distillery.

"This is a werecoyote, Scott." The vet pointed out. "Who knows if it'll ever work? If you can find someone who can teach you?"

"That's why you tried calling Derek. He would know and he could do it, right?" I asked him.

Scott nodded with a sigh. "Yeah, I could try it on my own, but right now, I'm too scared to even change into just a werewolf."

"We need a real alpha," Stiles stated.

"Scott is a real alpha," I stressed. "He's a true alpha, Stiles."

"You know what I mean!" He said, "An alpha who can do alpha things. You know, an alpha who can get it going! You know, get it - "

I covered my mouth with my hand to stop the smile that grew on my face when I realized what Stiles was saying.

Scott sighed. "Great. I'm an alpha with performance issues."

"Is there anyone else besides Derek who could help?" Deaton asked.

"I wouldn't trust Peter." Isaac offered.

"Don't," I said quickly in agreeance. "That jackass has been a pain in my side through my entire life. And I thought he was dead for most of it."

"Maybe the twins?" Stiles questioned.

"They're not alphas anymore." The doctor told Stiles. "After what Jennifer did, almost killing them? It broke that part of them."

"Yeah, but what if they know how to do it?"

Scott shook his head. "Nobody's seen them for weeks."

"Yeah, um…" I trailed off, hating that I knew the truth.

Scott furrowed his brow. "What?"

"I tried to tell her that it wasn't a good idea. But you know Lydia. She's her own person."

"Lydia's still talking to Aiden?" Stiles questioned a weird glint in his eye.

I turned to him. "That okay with you?" I questioned with an amused smirk and a raised brow.

Stiles shook his head. "I just - nevermind."

I nodded my head and rolled my eyes. "I'll text her and see if she can get ahold of them."

(o.o)

When Scott, Stiles, and I met Lydia at Derek's loft, I wasn't sure how I felt about being there without Derek. It felt empty. I mean, it was seeing as the man hardly had any furniture. He was always the minimalist. Especially after the Hale Fire. Derek didn't seem to want keepsakes once he lost all the ones he cared about most. I respected it and let him grieve how he needed to. Still, being in the loft made my heart ache for him. I missed him and I was worried about him.

After we rode the elevator up to the right floor, I looked over at my cousin after seeing the loft empty. "Where are they?" I asked, signing.

Lydia rushed into the room,c confused, before turning back to me. She raised her hands to sign. "They said they'd meet us here."

Stiles and I followed after Lydia. "See, this is why I don't approve of you and Aiden."

Lydia scoffed in my direction. "Good thing it's not your choice then, huh?"

"Still, you should rethink the man you're kissing when you think no one's watching."

"Really?" Lydia questioned.

Stiles looked between the two of us. "What? What'd I miss?" He asked.

The two turned around slowly, and I furrowed my brow, following their sight. The twins had arrived and were trying to beat Scott to a bloody pulp.

I walked towards the three of the wolves. "Hey! What the hell?!" I felt a hand on my arm and got pulled away from the tussle.

The twins threw Scott into the middle of the room, landing the alphas on the floor. They smirked like they were about to enjoy whatever it was they were about to do to Scott. Ethan and Aiden sauntered over and started to beat him in any possible way they could figure.

I looked back at Stiles, baffled that we were just letting this happen. After shaking my head at the pair behind me, I approached the fight when Scott was caught on the floor again, spitting blood from his lips. I was halfway between the groups when I spoke. "I'm sorry, but is this actually productive?" I asked, looking up at the twins.

"I thought you guys were gonna teach me to roar?" Scott asked.

I still hadn't figured out how to tell the difference between the twins, but the one in the t-shirt responded first. "We are! You do it by giving in."

The tank-topped twin spoke then. "Giving in and letting go. That's how Deucalion taught us control."

I looked over at Stiles, wondering if we were going to let the fight continue.

Stiles smirked. "You know, it's funny because I've actually tried something like this one time, using a heart monitor and lacrosse balls. But, you're right, beating the living crap out of him is probably a lot better."

I scoffed a laugh at Stiles. Guess we were just going to let Scott get his ass kicked. I made my way back to his side. "You know that sounds like something you would do. But this just seems bad."

The three wolves were still talking in the middle of the room, but Scott had been able to get to his feet. I looked over, but couldn't tell what they were saying from such an odd angle so far away. I furrowed my brow before turning back to Stiles. "I really don't need to watch this. I'm gonna go upstairs and take a look around. See if maybe Derek came back and didn't tell anyone."

Stiles nodded. "I'll get you before we leave."

I gave the boy a smile and made my way over to the spiral staircase then walked up it. When I arrived at the open kitchen, I looked around. It was clean but dusty. I sighed. He hadn't been home yet. I approached a door, opening it, and finding a closet. I reached my hand in, finding one of his infamous leather jackets. Before I could even wrap my fingers around the fabric, I received a hard shock from it. I pulled back. "Okay, so that's not good," I said to myself, clutching my finger in the opposite hand.

(o.o)

I had yet to be used to the fact that sometimes Stiles drove a little too wild for my taste. I couldn't stop him though. I'd learned enough to know that trying to stop Stiles from doing anything was a wasted effort. I climbed out of the passenger seat of the Jeep and let Lydia out from the back.

Scott pulled up beside the Jeep on his motorbike and Allison and Isaac showed up in her car.

My cousin and I made our way to stand in front of the Jeep, looking around at the others. "Anyone else think we might be doing more harm than good?" Lydia signed.

"We're trying to keep a father from killing his own daughter." Scott insisted.

Isaac spoke behind Scott. "Actually, we're trying to keep a guy from killing a coyote, who is actually his daughter…. Who we don't know how to change from a coyote back to his daughter."

I narrowed my eyes at my science partner. "That's...not helping."

Scott turned to look at Allison. "Did you bring it?"

Allison went to her trunk and pulled out a large gun that made me feel a little uneasy.

Before we could reiterate the plan, Scott and Isaac's heads turned, instantly on alert.

I looked at Stiles. "What did I miss?"

Stiles glanced back at me. "A shot went off, I think."

Scott quickly swung his leg over his bike and took off into the woods with Isaac and Allison running behind him.

Stiles tried to run after them to stop them, but I grabbed his arm. "Maybe it was Mr. Tate. Wasn't your dad going to see him?"

Stiles nodded and took his phone out of his pocket, calling his father. "Dad, what's going on?" Stiles asked with me watching his lips to try and gauge the conversation. Stiles listened to whatever his dad was saying for just a moment before he responded. "It took the doll again? What the hell is so important about this doll?" Stiles turned to Lydia.

I followed him, making sure to be able to see what he was saying, and I watched as the realization came to his face.

"It's the doll." Stiles dropped the phone from his ear, looking at me, confused. "It's the doll?"

I nodded at him. "Talk it out, babe," I said, encouraging him to go down every path in his head.

"Alright, so why would it go all the way to the school and then all the way back to the house, just for a doll. One that was in the car wreck in the first place."

"Right 'cause we didn't find it at the den, it was in the car."

Lydia, behind Stiles, shrugged. "It likes the doll. Who cares?" She said, signing.

"It likes the doll a lot."

"What kind of doll was it?"

Stiles shook his head. "I don't know. It's a doll, you know. It's got little arms, a big baby head, and dead soulless eyes."

I rolled my eyes. "It was one of those ones that you could feed real food, remember them?"

"Actually, I took a picture," Stiles said, pulling his phone back out from his pocket. "Here," he said as the two girls gathered around him to look.

"That's Malia?" Lydia questioned, pointing to the girl in the blue jacket in the picture.

"Yeah. That's the jacket and the scarf we found in the den."

I furrowed my brow as I stared down at the photo. "Stiles, Malia's not the one holding the doll."

"That's Malia's younger sister. That's her doll." Stiles and I must've realized simultaneously what was going on because we both gasped. "I know what she's doing."

"She's trying to mourn her sister." I continued. "Returning to the last place they were together," I recalled when both Stiles and I did that for his mom and my brother.

"We know where she's going."

I nodded, smiling widely at Stiles. I looked over at my cousin. "Stay here."

"What?" Lydia exclaimed.

"We can't risk more of us getting hurt. If those shots are going off that means that someone is out there, shooting a gun. Stiles and I are going to find her."

Lydia tried to argue more with me, but both Stiles and I took off towards the broken down car.

We ran for a long while before Stiles slowed and I was able to catch up to him. He pulled out his phone, pointing to it. "I have to tell Scott."

I nodded at him, walking at an even pace to try and catch my breath.

Stiles was a few steps ahead of me, but I kept my eyes on him, waiting for him to be done with his call. As I took another step behind Stiles, watching him wildly speak into his phone, I felt my foot click. I paused and looked down seeing a metal contraption surrounding my foot. My heart stopped, but I balled my fists, waiting for Stiles to end his call.

As the call came to an end, he turned back to face me. "What's going on?" Stiles asked, putting his phone safely in his pocket.

I tried to find the words. "I - I think I stepped on a trap."

Stiles' eyes went to my foot, where he saw that I had and his eyes widened.

"Stiles? What do I do?" I asked, concern in my voice.

Stiles too slow steps towards me as I kept perfectly still. "Don't move."

I scoffed. "Well, yeah, obviously. But that won't exactly stop the metal-fucking-trap from cutting off my foot."

"I know, I know." He calmed, putting his hands on my shoulders lightly. "Look at me, I'm gonna get you out of here, okay?"

I nodded, shakily. "M-maybe there's a warning label or something."

"A warning label?"

"On the trap. There's gotta be some way to disarm it. Maybe it says it on there."

"Why the hell would that be on the trap?"

"These are for animals. They can't read, therefore they can't disarm it."

"Yeah, that's true." Stiles nodded. He knelt down, looking at the trap and focusing hard.

I watched him for a moment before I realized there was a problem when he didn't look back up at me. "You can't read, can you?"

Stiles glanced up at me and shook his head.

I took a deep breath, calming my nerves, and trying to be brave and strong enough for the both of us. "Okay, so, we don't need instructions, right? You can figure it out."

Stiles stood back up, facing me. "Ceej, I don't know…"

I shook my head. "Stop. Because you can do this. Remember when we were in the ambulance? You said you came up with the plans, right? Well, you got us this far." I said, gesturing softly to the world around me. "We just need a plan B. One not by the rulebook. Stiles, you can do this. I trust you." I said, signing my last three words, hoping for the emphasis.

Stiles nodded and wiped a quick tear that had fallen from his eye. He knelt back to the ground, looking at the trap and carefully clearing some of the leaves from around it. Stiles grabbed my hand, getting my attention. "Ready?"

"You got it?" I asked, trying not to move as I looked down to watch his lips.

Stiles nodded. "I'm gonna turn this and you pick up your foot, fast, okay?"

I agreed. "Squeeze my hand when you turn it." I took in my breath, waiting the long moment before I felt the squeeze in my palm. I picked my foot up and jumped away, being caught by Stiles.

Stiles' shaking hands held me tightly with a hand in my hair.

"I'm okay," I said into his ear, trying to reassure him. "I'm okay."

Stiles nodded, hugging me close.

(o.o)

After nearly losing my foot on the preserve, Stiles dropped me back at my house. Scott was able to turn Malia back with his roar and Stiles stayed back with his dad to help bring the girl home.

Dad was home when I got there and he greeted me warmly. I enjoyed not getting the second degree from my mother. I like that I was trusted to be myself with my dad. It was amazing to feel so normal even though I was far from it. Even with everything going on, my stress level was at an all-time low since Carter died. I imagined it was because I had people to work through it with me.

After I explained everything that we'd been dealing with for the past couple days and stressing the fact that what it all did saved Malia's life, Dad smiled at me. Like, actually smiled. It'd been a while since I'd seen that side of him. He and I were always very similar in that sense. Being hounded by the ever-present demon, Christina Parker, was the worst.

The pair of us had a quick dinner of turkey burgers and air-fried french fries and then I left my father to his work and went upstairs to my room to do mine. I was continuously reading Carter's files as if they were one, long book that I was able to piece together. I thought briefly about starting my own dream journal. I'd be able to easily recall things that I've seen or felt in particular instances. Like when I felt Kira was warm to my touch. Much warmer than anyone else I knew. Or the shock that I got from Derek's jacket. That struck hard with me. I wasn't sure what it was about, but I didn't get the chance to touch it again and find out if it was just a fluke or if it was what I can do.

I was typing away in a brand new document I opened for my own use when I saw a figure standing in my doorway. I looked up to see Stiles. I smiled at him. "Hey, everything okay with Malia?"

Stiles nodded at me. "Just checking on you."

"I'm okay, Stiles." I scooted over in my bed, giving him some room to sit next to me. I patted the bed and he slowly made his way over, joining me.

Stiles faced me, sitting with one leg under him. "I'm sorry about the trap." He started to say, but I was already shaking my head at him. "I should have warned you about them."

"It's alright," I stressed to him. "My foot is still attached to the rest of my leg, so we're good."

"But I knew about them. My dad he - "

I grabbed Stiles' face between my hands, making him look me in the eye. "Stiles? It's okay. There were a few minor freak outs for the day, but we've been in worse situations.

Stiles nodded slowly, finally agreeing with what I was saying so I dropped my hands from his face. He looked at the laptop in front of me and pointed to it. "So, what did he really have to say when Malia went missing?"

I grabbed the computer, making a few clicks to find the right document. "There wasn't much, so it wouldn't have been helpful. We found her anyway, so…" I trailed off, going through the document that was only a few sentences long.

Stiles squinted at the screen. "Just that she went missing and he couldn't feel her."

I nodded but paused easily. I furrowed my brow and looked back at him. "You can read?"

Stiles smiled shyly. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, after we dropped Malia off."

I grinned at him, quickly closing my laptop and pushing it off of my legs. "That's something you lead with, you punk." I laughed at him. "That's a big win amongst everything that happened today."

Stiles gave me a quick soft smile. He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me back to lay against my pillows with him. His arm was wrapped around my shoulders and I looked up at him. "Thank you." He said to me, signing the words.

This confused me. "For what?"

"Trusting me." He signed, one-handed. "Believing in me back on the preserve.

Warmth filled in my stomach and I pushed myself up to kiss him on the cheek. "You're pretty great to me, too, you know."

Stiles squeezed my shoulders and I relaxed in his embrace. I grabbed his hand and held it in mine, lacing our fingers together as we started to drift off.