( FIFTEEN )
amplification

"Can you go any faster?" Alex asked as she glanced at Stiles, who shook his head, his gaze set on the road in front of him.

"I'm going as fast as I can." Stiles replied as police began to communicate over the radio.

"Unit Five heading northwest on Crescent, reporting an incredibly large...something." A woman's voice started, uncertainty and confusion lacing her tone.

"Unit Nine to Dispatch, I think I've got eyes on the same thing. Some kind of rabid animal." Another officer spoke, Alex, Scott and Stiles sharing glances from their seats.

"Unit Five to Nine, trust me, that's no animal." The woman spoke again.

Stiles grabbed the communicator and began talking into it. "All Units, stay back. Do not engage. I repeat, do not engage."

"Stiles, get off the radio!" Noah's voice exclaimed angrily over the radio.

Stiles let out a breath as Alex raised her eyebrows, the girl accompanying the action with a brief glance towards her boyfriend.

"All Units alert, wait for backup. Repeat, no one goes near this thing." Noah continued, directing his comment towards the officers.

"Unit Five reporting a sighting on Hill Road, southbound."

"Unit Nine, I've got it turning off Oakridge, southbound on Beachwood."

"All Units, this is Dispatch. We've got a 911 call with additional sighting on Mitchell."

"Wait a second, Beachwood to Mitchell?" Stiles furrowed his eyebrows as he continued to drive.

"The hospital." Alex widened her eyes as she shared a glance with Scott.

"We've gotta get there first before he hurts anyone." Scott frowned from the back seat.

"Dad." Stiles spoke into the radio again.

"Stiles, get off this channel." Noah angrily responded, the man fed up with Stiles' insubordination.

"Dad, just listen to me, okay? It's headed for the hospital." Stiles continued, ignoring his father's demand. "He's headed for Beacon Memorial. You hear me? He's headed for the hospital."

••••

Alex, Stiles, and Scott entered Beacon Memorial, the sound of a gun loading behind them causing the three to turn around in surprise, only to find Noah holding his gun up defensively.

A loud thumping noise shook the whole building, a roar sounding immediately after.

"Fourth floor." Alex started as she glanced up at the roof.

••••

Noah led the way, the man holding his loaded gun out in front of him.

The group slowly walked, all four of them passing a few objects on fire, the lights flickering.

Suddenly, Parrish was thrown out in front of them, the group stumbling back in shock at the action.

His eyes were glowing orange and he had deep scratches in his chest, his body on fire.

Noah slowly made his way to Parrish, Alex, Stiles, and Scott beginning to explore the room they were in.

"Parrish. You okay?" Noah started with a frown. When Parrish didn't respond, he spoke again. "Deputy!"

Parrish snapped out of his gaze, the man glancing at Noah as the flames on his body suddenly went away.

Alex frowned as she noticed a trail of bloody claw marks on the ground, the girl beginning to follow them.

The boys caught up with her, Alex continuing to follow the trail until it led to bloody shoe marks.

At the discovery, Alex turned to glance at Scott and Stiles, a frown placed on her face.

They needed to see Deaton.

••••

"What I'm about to show you isn't supposed to exist." Deaton started, Alex, Stiles, and Scott nodding at his words, the veterinarian placing a few Polaroids on the metal table in front of him as he continued. "This is the only surviving evidence of Dr. Valack's time as Chief Medical Officer of Eichen House."

Alex, Stiles, and Scott's gazes were set on the gory images of physically deformed people placed in front of them, the group frowning in a mix of disgust and confusion.

"To call it human experimentation would be charitable." Deaton added sadly.

Scott picked up one of the images, Deaton glancing at him and speaking. "A banshee. She died screaming."

"Valack did all this?" Alex questioned with a frown as she glanced at Deaton, who returned her gaze and sent her a nod. "He drilled holes into their heads? All of them?"

"That was the experimentation part." Deaton answered.

Alex's eyebrows furrowed as she remembered how a spot on Lydia's head was shaved, the girl quickly coming to the conclusion that Lydia was going to get experimented on, just like the others in the photographs. "Lydia."

"He did it to werewolves, banshees, wendigos, any creature he could get his hands on." Deaton continued, catching the group's attention again. "Valack found that trepanation would initially heighten their powers, but to levels that couldn't be contained."

"So he wants to make Lydia more powerful?" Scott questioned, a confused frown overtaking his features as he spoke.

"Yeah, except she's going to end up just like them." Stiles responded as he furrowed his eyebrows at the Polaroids.

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

"That's gonna kill her." Scott frowned.

"No. No, she's not gonna die." Alex shook her head, the girl refusing to believe that's what would happen to Lydia.

"Not only that...her own dying scream could be so powerful that it might kill everyone around her as well." Deaton concluded.

••••

"I'm doing everything I can, but her mom is her legal guardian." Noah started as the man stood up and approached his son and Alex. "She's the only person who can check her out of Eichen House."

"Yeah, and the only person that won't." Alex scoffed, the girl crossing her arms as she glanced between Stiles and Noah, who were already looking at her. "She wouldn't let me stay when I confronted her about Lydia's, so called, 'treatment'."

"Can't we get a court order, or something?" Stiles added, the boy glancing at his dad, a hopeful expression appearing on his face.

"Technically, trepanation is still considered a medical procedure." Noah answered with a sigh.

"These assholes know what they're doing." Alex sighed as she bit on her bottom lip, a small frown overtaking her features.

"A judge would have to declare Natalie unfit, which isn't likely." Noah continued as he glanced between Alex and Stiles. "It could all take months."

"I'll just turn in front of her and she'll freak out, problem solved." Alex responded with a shrug, her arms still crossed over her chest, Stiles pointing at her with raised eyebrows as his gaze shifted between Alex and his dad.

"That'll work." Stiles nodded at Alex.

"Alex, no." Noah sighed as he shook his head.

Alex frowned at the words. "But-"

"Alex." Noah cut her off, the man sending her an authoritative look, Alex getting the message.

"Just trying to help." Alex raised her eyebrows, the girl raising her hands in a surrender motion.

"So you're saying there's nothing we can do?" Stiles frowned at his father, the boy catching Noah's attention.

"I'm saying there's nothing we can do..." Noah let his voice trail off. "Legally."

A smirk appeared on Alex's face as she shared a glance with Stiles, the boy mirroring her expression.

••••

"There's four steps." Stiles started as Alex placed a blueprint of Eichen House on the table in front of the group.

"We get into Eichen, we get into the Closed Unit, we get Lydia, we get out." Alex continued as she crossed her arms, the girl glancing between Lucas, Kira, Malia, and Liam.

"And we have to do all of this while getting past orderlies, guards, electronic door locks, and a Mountain Ash barrier." Scott elaborated.

"Which they have now applied, since my visit last night." Alex added, the girl releasing a breath. "Sorry for that, by the way."

"You have a plan for all of that?" Malia's eyebrows raised as she glanced between Stiles, Alex, and Scott.

"I stole this last night." Alex held up a keycard.

Lucas smirked at his sister. "Nice one."

Alex glanced at her brother. "Thanks. Except it's useless, because they reset the codes every night. They, unfortunately, take extra measures just in case something like this happens."

"So, why did you take it?" Kira furrowed her eyebrows at Alex.

"We're getting to that." Stiles replied with raised eyebrows, the boy catching the group's attention.

"The only way to get Lydia out of Eichen is to make that keycard work again." Scott added.

"How are you gonna do that?" Liam questioned with a confused frown.

"We're getting to that, okay? Just listen." Stiles held his hand up just in front of him as he flipped the laptop screen around so it faced the group. "I pulled all the history off the keycard. Two weeks ago, there was a brownout, and the security system rebooted. During a reboot, all of the keycards revert back to a default code."

"So you're saying if we trigger a reboot, the card goes back to the default code." Lucas furrowed his eyebrows as he glanced between Scott, Stiles, and Alex.

"Exactly." Stiles nodded.

"It works again." A small smile worked it's way onto Liam's face.

"How are we gonna cause a brownout?" Kira spoke up with furrowed brows.

"That's your part." Scott responded as he glanced at Kira, the boy catching her gaze. "You're gonna draw power from the main line, but only enough to cause a brownout."

"Not a blackout." Stiles specified, his eyebrows raising.

Alex nodded. "You do that, they send Eichen into lockdown, which means-"

"We can't save Lydia." Lucas finished his sister's sentence, Alex nodding at the words as she glanced at him.

"There's an electrical room behind the reception counter." Scott started, catching everyone's attention as he tapped on a spot on the blueprint in front of them. "The main power line goes into two breakers that run power to all of Eichen."

Kira huffed an uncomfortable chuckle, the girl speaking up. "Okay, slight problem, I don't know how to do that."

"That's okay, you have time to practice." Alex replied, Kira hesitating for a moment before nodding at her.

"Let's say everything goes perfectly." Malia spoke up, catching the group's attention. "How does a brownout get us into the Closed Unit of Eichen?"

"The system takes five minutes to reboot. In that five minutes, all the alarms will be turned off, the keycard should work." Stiles answered, Alex handing him the keycard.

"Liam and Lucas, you, Alex and I get Stiles to the gate of the Closed Unit, considering we can't get passed the Mountain Ash." Scott began. "That means that after that, he has to go on his own."

Alex glanced between the group as she elaborated. "And when we're gone, all anyone's gonna think is that there was a reboot of the security system that caused a brownout. That's if no one catches on."

Dumbfounded, the group glanced between Stiles, Alex and Scott, all of them confused at the whole explanation.

"Uh, any questions?" Stiles raised his eyebrows.

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

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

"How do you know we'll be able to save Lydia in time?" Lucas crossed his arms.

Kira nervously shifted her weight between both feet, the girl widening her eyes. "What if I can't do it?"

"One at a time guys." Alex frowned as she glanced between them, the girl still processing the rapid succession of the questions her, Stiles, and Scott had just received.

"Okay, admittedly, a lot could go wrong." Stiles added.

"No offence guys, but everything could go wrong." Lucas responded with raised eyebrows.

"If we don't do this, we lose Lydia." Scott spoke up as he glanced at Lucas, his tone serious. "She's gonna die in there tonight. And she might take a lot of innocent people with her."

"It's worth a shot." Alex continued his point.

••••

"She took out the whole school?" Scott widened his eyes as he glanced at Malia, the boy referring to Kira.

"She took out the whole grid." Malia corrected.

"Oh, that's not good." Alex blew out a breath, Scott sending her a look.

Alex met his gaze, the girl raising her eyebrows as she glanced at Kira, who was nervously shifting her weight between both feet. "Sorry..."

"Look, I failed every single practice try." Kira spoke up, changing the subject. "This isn't going to work."

"How far can we get without a brownout?" Liam frowned, glancing between the group.

"Front door?" Stiles suggested with raised eyebrows, the boy exhaling a breath as he crossed his arms.

"We're going. We've gotten this far, and I'm already invested in the plan." Lucas spoke up.

"Scott, we went through boxes of lightbulbs." After a moment, Kira changed the subject again.

Scott moved closer to Kira, the boy's gaze holding hers as he spoke. "It doesn't matter. You've got this."

"The key card won't work unless there's a reboot, and there's no reboot without a brownout." Kira began to panic.

Noticing her shift in behaviour, Scott walked closer to the girl until there were only a few inches between the two. "I know you can do this."

He then glanced between the rest of the group with raised eyebrows. "Anyone here think she can't?"

The group raised their eyebrows and shared unsure glances, Liam being the first one to speak as he shook his head. "Not me."

"I was the one who put you in the plan." Stiles added.

"I have no reason to believe you can't." Alex sent Kira a small smile.

"Since I've known you, you haven't let any one of us down yet, so I have faith." Lucas spoke up.

The group all glanced at Malia, waiting for her response.

"What?" Malia frowned.

"I believe in you too, Kira." Stiles whispered as he glanced at her, the boy hoping she'd catch on.

"I'm the one who's gonna be locked in an electrical room with her." Malia snapped as she glanced at Stiles.

"Malia." Lucas frowned.

Malia sighed as she glanced at Kira. "Y-you can do it."

"You guys are all crazy. We're gonna die." Kira blew out a breath.

"With that attitude, maybe." Alex glanced at her as she spoke, her voice dripping with sarcasm, the girl crossing her arms as Kira returned her glance.

••••

Alex, Stiles, Scott, Lucas, and Liam approached the hallway to the Closed Unit, the group stumbling back behind a wall as they noticed two guards standing by the doors.

"What are they doing there?" Scott spoke in a hushed whisper as he moved his head so he could see the guards better.

Alex grabbed Scott's shoulder and pulled him back quickly as she replied, her voice quiet. "Just- get back, Scott."

"Their rounds should've ended five minutes ago." Stiles furrowed his eyebrows as he sent a quick glance towards the guards before moving his head back.

"So what do we do now?" Lucas whispered with a frown.

"Wait?" Liam suggested quietly as his gaze flickered between the group, his eyebrows raised.

"We can't risk it." Alex glanced at the boy as she spoke in a whisper, her gaze briefly reverting back to the guards.

"I can take 'em." Liam whispered, the group sending him frowns in response.

"No one's taking anyone." Scott replied immediately.

"Yeah, and if anyone here were to, it would be me." Lucas added, Alex shooting him an irritated glare, as this wasn't the time, nor the place.

"How much time?" Stiles whispered, the boy changing the subject as he glanced at Scott.

Scott blew out a breath. "Three minutes."

Alex cursed under her breath, the girl running a hand through her hair as she glanced at the guards again.

"I'll just knock them out and hide the bodies." Liam chimed in.

"Or we could just kill them." Lucas added, the group all glaring at him in response. "What? It's not like they're good people."

"Oh my god, please stop." Stiles narrowed his eyes as he glanced between Liam and Lucas.

While Alex agreed with her older brother's statement, she also knew that they were running out of time, and they needed to find a better solution quickly.

Besides, everyone knew Scott wouldn't approve of either idea.

"Okay, can we stop wasting time?" Alex whispered, the girl growing impatient as she glanced between the group. "Can someone suggest a good idea please, because right now, our plan isn't working, if you haven't noticed by now."

"It's just a minor setback, Lex, we have nothing to worry about..." Stiles blew out a breath as he sent Alex a glance.

"He says with faux optimism." Alex blew out a breath as she met his gaze.

The sound of tapping on bullet-proof glass caught their attention, the group's gazes shifting to a cell in front of them with a boy in it.

"Did you see the doctor?" The boy started, his body beginning to slightly tremble.

"What?" Liam frowned.

"Did you see the doctor?" The manic boy repeated, his tone of voice increasing.

At his loud words, the two guards perked up, both of them glancing towards the cell.

"I- I didn't have my medication." The boy spoke with wide eyes. "I need ten grams at 8am, fifteen milligrams at 1pm, and no more than twenty at dinner."

"We'll get the doctor." Lucas responded as his eyebrows furrowed.

"Doctor Fenris." The boy spoke as he began to cry. "They took Doctor Fenris."

As the boy hit the glass again, the group flinched.

The boy began to aggressively hit the glass, Alex widening her eyes as she glanced at the guards just down the hallway from the group.

"Guys..." Alex whispered as her gaze remained on the guards, who were still glancing at the cell from where they were.

The group followed her gaze, Scott and Liam's attention being drawn back to the boy as he continued louder.

"I haven't had my medication. I need to see the doctor. They took Doctor Fenris!"

"Hey, somebody shut him up." Stiles whispered angrily as he glanced between the werewolves.

As the boy hit the glass again, Alex noticed the two guards begin to approach the cell. She spoke, the girl's gaze never leaving the guards as she did so. "Preferably, now, Scott."

As the words left Alex's lips, Scott growled quietly at the boy, his eyes turning red and his canines baring.

The boy regressed as he stumbled back in fear, his eyes widening at Scott.

Alex glanced at the guards again, only to find them walking into a different room.

Alex released a relived breath as she glanced between the group again. "They're gone."

"Come on." Stiles nodded as he led the group towards the doors to the Closed Unit.

The sound of the voltage transformer humming caught the group's attention, all of them glancing up at the roof as the lights dimmed.

"She did it." Lucas grinned.

"Kira did it." Liam added with a smirk.

"Five minutes to get to Lydia." Scott started as he glanced at Stiles.

As Stiles held up the key card, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Where's the card reader?"

"What?" Alex frowned.

"It should be here, it has to be here." Stiles began to panic.

"You can't be serious right now." Lucas blew out an aggravated breath.

"They must've taken it out when the Dread Doctors got through." Scott sighed.

Stiles looked at him in disbelief. "Are you telling me we came all the way down here, just to be stopped by an ordinary key?"

His voice raised in anger as he continued, the boy now glancing between the group. "Are you kidding me?!"

"We don't need a key." Liam shook his head as he spoke, the boy catching the group's attention.

Once everyone's confused frowns faded in realisation, Liam continued. "Not if we can break it down."

Alex, Lucas, Scott, and Liam shared glanced as they approached the door, Stiles moving out of the way as the werewolves grabbed the bars and began to push against the heavy metal door.

After a few seconds, the werewolves began to tire, the Mountain Ash wearing them out quickly.

Alex stumbled back, Stiles grabbing her shoulders to stabilise her before she could fall.

"We can't." Scott panted as he glanced at Stiles, Stiles' hand moving down to hold Alex's with a gentle squeeze.

"The Mountain Ash." Lucas added, his heavy breathing accompanying his words as he placed his hands on his knees and glanced at the ground. "It's too much."

As the werewolves slowly began to calm down, Stiles' hand still intertwined with Alex's, Liam frowned to himself, the boy glancing down at his clenched fists before shifting his attention to the group again.

"Hit me."

"What?" Alex furrowed her eyebrows at the boy.

"Hit me." Liam spoke again, the boy glancing at Alex briefly before glancing between everyone again. "I'll get angry, and then I'll be stronger."

"Hit him." Stiles added immediately as he glanced between the werewolves. "Hit him."

At his enthusiasm, Alex sent him an incredulous glance.

"Scott, I tried to take your powers." Liam glanced at Scott as he spoke up. "I tried to kill you."

Visibly uncomfortable by the words, Scott glanced at the ground.

"Hit me!" Liam exclaimed.

"He also left you for dead." Stiles suggested with raised eyebrows.

"Hit me, Scott!" Liam exclaimed again, Lucas rolling his eyes.

"Oh my god, fine!" Lucas yelled over the shouting as he stepped forward and roughly punched Liam in the jaw without a warning, the group stumbling back at the action in surprise, Alex's eyes widening as Liam doubled over with a pained grunt.

"Huh." Stiles raised his eyebrows as Liam began to pant. "That'll do it."

"Do it again." Liam breathed as he glanced at Lucas. "I annoy you, right?"

"Very much so, yeah." Lucas responded, the boy frowning as he spoke.

"So hit me!" Liam exclaimed.

Knowing it was the only way for the plan to work, Lucas punched Liam again, this time, on the other side of his face, Liam doubling over again as he yelled in pain.

"It's gotta be harder than that." Stiles glanced at Lucas.

"Again!" Liam exclaimed through panting breaths. "Do it, asshole!"

Although Lucas knew Liam was just trying to rile him up, he still punched Liam harder, Liam groaning in pain as he almost fell to the ground, the boy stabilising himself as he didn't lose his balance.

As Lucas' anger began to grow, the older boy continued to punch Liam. "You angry yet, dude?!" He exclaimed over Liam's irate groans.

Liam growled as he glared at Lucas, his werewolf eyes glowing and his canines baring.

"Let's do this!" Lucas exclaimed as both him and Liam grabbed onto the door again, the two of them furious enough to break it down.

The rest of the group watched as Lucas and Liam broke the door down, Stiles' eyebrows raising in surprise and a smirk appearing on Alex's face, Scott huffing a chuckle.

"Stiles, go!" Lucas yelled, Stiles nodding and breaking away from Alex as he ran down the hallway.

"Be careful, Sti!" Alex called out after him, Stiles sending her a thumbs up over his shoulder as he continued to run. "I love you!"

"I love you too, Lex!" Stiles called back as he soon disappeared from the group's view.

"Two minutes." Scott sighed.

"Good job, guys." Alex glanced between Lucas and Liam, the boys nodding at her as they took a minute to catch their breaths.

••••

Alex, Scott, Lucas and Liam pushed against the Mountain Ash barrier, the werewolves groaning as they used most of their strength.

As their energy began to drain, the four got pushed back, all of them groaning as they caught their breaths.

"Stupid Mountain Ash!" Alex yelled angrily. "For fucks sake!"

"We're never gonna get through." Scott panted with a shake of his head.

"You've gotten through before though, right?" Liam questioned as he glanced at Scott.

"You have?" Lucas frowned as his gaze shifted to Scott.

"That was a life or death situation." Scott clarified.

"Scotty, this is a life or death situation." Alex spoke, the girl catching Scott's attention.

"This isn't just a circle." Scott frowned as he glanced between the group. "There's Mountain Ash in half the building."

"Can you at least try?" Lucas asked, his eyebrows raising as he glanced at Scott.

Scott only released a breath as he glanced at the ground.

"Stiles and Lydia have five minutes to get out." Liam began after a moment. "It's been almost ten, the reboot's over."

"And the keycard doesn't work anymore." Scott frowned.

"And then there's four security guards." Lucas sighed.

"What guards?" Scott frowned in confusion.

Alex blew out a breath as she pointed towards the end of the hallway. "Those guards."

"And we're weak, too." Lucas spoke angrily, the boy running a hand through his dark hair. "Just perfect."

As the four guards approached the werewolves, they immediately electrocuted them, all four werewolves falling to the ground and releasing groans of pain as the electricity coursed through their bodies.

As they tried to fight back, the guards just hit them harder, all of them electrocuting the werewolves repeatedly.

The group yelled in pain, their human features being replaced by their werewolf ones, an instinct that automatically kicks in when they're in immense pain.

The werewolves tried to fight back, however the guards were stronger in this moment, Lucas and Liam falling into a state of unconsciousness as the guards electrocuted them once again.

As Alex tried to fight back against one of the guards, he roughly stepped on her back, forcing her to the ground, the man electrocuting her again.

Screaming in agony, Alex felt her eyes involuntarily tear up.

As she felt the electricity flow through her body, her human features replaced her werewolf ones, the girl's eyes rolling to the back of her head as her body convulsed.

Scott's eyes widened as he witnessed Alex growing weaker. Her eyes drooped shut as her body stopped twitching, Alex falling into unconsciousness quickly.

Scott yelled angrily as he glanced between three members of his pack lying on the floor, the boy roaring loudly as his eyes glowed red and his canines bared.

At the sound, the werewolves immediately woke up and opened their eyes, their werewolf features replacing their human ones as they gained their strength back.

Scott pushed the guards off him, Alex growling as she roughly kicked the one that electrocuted her in the stomach, sending him flying against the opposite wall and breaking his back as he fell to the ground.

"Fuck you." Alex gritted out through her teeth as she kicked his face, the man immediately falling into a state of unconsciousness at the action.

"Come on." Scott spoke as he glanced between the werewolves. "We're getting Lydia out of here."

••••

AUTHOR'S NOTE

alex, stiles and scott: we the big three 😽

so I finally posted another chapter! i'm so sorry for the long wait. i've honestly been extremely busy lately, but despite that, I haven't forgotten about this book, I promise.

I intend to continue this series until the end of s6, so please bare with my slow updates, I promise the chapters will get more interesting!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thanks for reading loves!