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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐎

𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥

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Meilani reluctantly followed Stiles and Scott down the block towards the house that held the party there were invited to. It was one of Stiles' old friends from nursery school and he thought it was a good idea to get the three into normal teen activity and out of wolf drama. Something that Meilani needed to focus on because of everything that kept piling up. They should be with Derek trying to figure out what they could do about the pack of Alphas. 

"What?"

Meilani's head snapped up to see Stiles giving her a look that said he knew she was lost in her own head.

"What do you mean what?"

"I mean what, and you know what," Stiles huffed and stopped outside of the house where the party was, the music thumping softly inside. "The look you were giving."

"I didn't give a look," Meilani defended, crossing her arms. 

"There was a distinct look, Lani. The look that says that the las thing you feel like doing right now is going to a party."

Scott raised a shoulder in a half shrug. "It is a little weird going to another high school's party, Stiles. Meilani and I don't even know anyone and you haven't even really spoken to this girl much so how well do you even know her?"

Stiles groaned and threw his head back, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Just one drink, alright? You'll both be fine. She promised to introduce Scott to all of her friends. So tonight, no Allison. Tonight, Scott is moving on and I get to have one normal night with my girlfriend!"

As if Allison had known the trio were talking about her, Meilani's phone buzzed in her back pocket and she took it out to see a missed call from Allison. Before Meilani could text Allison back to see if she was okay, Stiles took Meilani's phone from her hand and stuffed it into his back pocket.

"You're right," Scott breathed, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he tried to hype himself up. "Moving on from Allison."

"Onward and upward!" Stiles encouraged.

"Yeah, let's do this."

"That's what I'm talking about. No look me," Stiles said and the two boys high fived, bringing their hands fully around and high fiving by their waists next.

Meilani rolled her eyes at the boys' antics and followed them towards the front door of the house while Scott rambled to Stiles about his breath. They stepped inside the opened front door and a pretty girl with brown curly hair and a strapless, floral top and skinny jeans greeted them with a drink in hand. Her eyes seemed to brighten up at the sight of Stiles and Meilani had the sudden urge to drag Stiles next to her and away from the greedy eyes of the girl before her.

"Stiles! So glad that you made it."

"Me too," Stiles replied with a small smile and pulled away from the hug the girl had brought him into.

Meilani stepped forward and slid her hand into Stiles with a tight smile towards the girl. "Hi, Stiles' girlfriend, Meilani. That's my twin, Scott."

The birthday girl who Meilani didn't even care to know the name of seemed to shrink back at the intense stare from Meilani. "Right... well... enjoy the party. I'm going to get some more wine from downstairs."

Stiles chuckled as the girl turned and rushed away from the trio before they could say anything else. He turned to Meilani with an amused grin along with Scott who now stood next to Stiles. "You were jealous."

"Was not."

"Oh, you so were," Stiles beamed and leant down to place a soft kiss on Meilani's lips. "It was cute."

Meilani rolled her eyes as both Scott and Stiles laughed and punched them both in the shoulder, earning yelps from them both. "Bug off, assholes."

"I'm going to go get us drinks. Wait here," Stiles informed the twins and rushed off towards the kitchen to grab them some drinks. 

"You sure you want him to be by himself," Scott mused, nudging Meilani with a grin. He grunted when Meilani merely punched his shoulder again. "Geez, Mei, you don't have use your werewolf strength."

Meilani smiled innocently at her twin, pulling her phone out of her back pocket that buzzed twice with two texts from Allison. She furrowed her eyebrows when Scott's phone buzzed next with a text from Allison as well. All three texts asking where they were because she needed to talk to them. Meilani had quickly texted Allison the address of the party, wanting to be anywhere but inside the house anyway. 

Allison wasn't far from the neighborhood and arrived before Stiles had even come back with the drinks for the trio. The twins had both stepped outside to see both Allison and Lydia stood together outside.

"This... isn't the talk we were gonna have, is it?" Scott asked.

Allison shook her head and pulled her sleeve up her arm to reveal an odd looking marking on her wrist. It almost looked like she was grabbed by something, but it wasn't a handprint so Meilani didn't know what to make of it. 

They needed Derek.

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The next morning, Derek had met Meilani, Allison, Lydia and the boys at the school in an empty classroom at the back of the building. It took a lot of convincing from Meilani, but she finally got Derek to meet them for at least an hour and take a look at the bruised patterns on Allison and Lydia's arms that matched up together when they placed next to each other. It had put a damper on the party and Meilani and the boys had left not too long after Scott and Meilani spoke to the girls. Something that Meilani didn't mind too much because she hadn't been in the party mood in the first place. She had only gone to make her boyfriend happy and let him have at least one normal night with her. Plus, the birthday girl had gone rogue anyway so there wasn't much of a point to staying there anyway.

Clearly, Meilani could never have a normal night because werewolf drama always seemed to pop up wherever she was. Go figure. 

"I don't see anything," Derek said, glancing between Allison and Lydia's arm that were held up next to each other. "How is a bruise gonna tell me where Boyd and Erica are?"

"It's the same on both sides," Scott argued. "Exactly the same."

"It's nothing."

"Pareidolia," Lydia said, dropping her arm back to her side. "Seeing patterns that aren't there." She huffed when the room all gave her odd looks about what she was talking about. "It's a subset of Apophenia."

Meilani decided to ignore Lydia's random fact of the day and turned back to Derek with a pleading look. "Come on, Der, they're trying to help."

"These two," Derek remarked and pointed at Lydia. "This one, who used me to resurrect my psychotic uncle. Thank you." Then he turned to Allison with a harsh glare. "And this one who shot thirty arrows into me and my pack."

"Okay, alright now, come on. No one died, alright? Look, there may have been a little maiming, a little mangling, but no death. That's what I call an important distinction," Stiles chimed in, trying to settle the situation before it got worse.

Allison pushed her tongue into her cheek, placing her hands on her hips as she matched Derek's harsh glare. "My mother died."

Derek crossed his arms and seemed indifferent to the whole thing in typical Derek fashion. "Your family's little honor code killed your mother. Not me."

"That girl is looking for Meilani. I'm here to help her, not you."

"You wanna help?" Derek challenged and stepped closer to the huntress. "Find something real."

Meilani sighed when Derek went to walk out of the classroom and rushed after him, grabbing his arm before he could walk out and spun him around. "Derek, just give her a chance. They're on our side now."

"Well then maybe you should tell her what her mother was actually trying to do that night," Derek snapped and stormed out of the room.

Why couldn't things ever just be simple?

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"Okay, what would a pack of Alphas want with Erica and Boyd?" Stiles asked as he, Meilani and Scott made their way across the campus towards their next class. Meilani was just glad it had stopped raining outside because she didn't feel like sitting through her next classes soaked to the bone and freezing.

"I'm not sure it's them they want."

"What, like Derek? Like they're recruiting?" Scott questioned.

Meilani opened her mouth to respond, but felt an odd feeling wash over her as the new twin boys walked past her together. They had dressed the same in the same leather jacket and black jeans with their brown hair cut short and their brown eyes dark with mischief. 

"Babe!" Stiles yelled, finally getting Meilani's attention after she had been momentarily distracted. "You coming?"

Meilani furrowed her eyebrows as she slowly glanced back over her shoulder to see the twins now gone and decided to shake it off for now. School was her safe haven and she'd lie like to focus on school right now then more possible wolf drama.

The trio had sat down in their class with Coach Finstock for their Introduction to Business class. An elective that Meilani and Stiles had convinced Scott to take with them to fill up his schedule and have one less elective to take their final year. 

Coach slammed the textbook down onto the desk and circled said desk to lean against the front. "The stock market is based on two principles. What are they?"

Scott was the first person to raise his hand and Meilani and Stiles both flashed him proud smiles. He had finally stepped up his game and joined Stiles and Meilani on all of their study sessions and preparations for the new school year. With all the werewolf stuff going on, Scott wanted the normalcy as well since he was now in the middle of it all as well. Plus, Scott actually passing in school would be one less thing for Melissa to worry about now that she had to deal with Meilani's werewolf drama. Something that clearly tired the poor nurse out, but the woman never complained.

"Yes, McCall, you can go to the bathroom," Coach waved Scott off, not expecting him to have the answer. "Anybody else?"

"No, Coach, I know the answer."

Coach burst out into laughter at Scott's response, but slowly died off when Scott just stared at him innocently. "Oh... you're serious."

"Yes, sir. Risk and reward."

"Wow!" Coach exclaimed and his own proud smile took over his face. "Who are you and what have you done with the lesser McCall? Don't answer that. I like you better." He turned to Meilani and clasped a hand over her shoulder and squeezed gently. "Meilani, I don't know what you did to your brother, but keep it. I like him!"

Meilani laughed and held a thumb up to Finstock. "Anything for you, Coach."

"That's my girl," Coach said and dropped his hand from her shoulder, backing back up towards the front of the class. "Anyone have a quarter?"

"I got one, Coach!" Stiles answered and fumbled for a quarter in his pocket, a shiny square foil falling out of his front pocket as he did so.

Meilani's face fell in horror when she realized it was a condom and the whole room turned to look at her and Stiles, her face burning a bright red in embarrassment. She quickly lowered herself in her seat and wished a hole would open up beneath her and swallow her whole. Right now would have been a good time for her to not be in a cute cream sweater, leggings and brown leather boots. The one day she decided to put effort into her outfit and Stiles decides to wear the same jeans from the party the night before. She honestly didn't even know he had kept the condom in his pocket. 

Meilani was originally supposed to stay the night at Stiles', but had gone home with Scott instead after the whole Allison and Lydia situation. She needed to go home and try to phone Derek for hours until she finally just dialed Isaac who answered immediately, giving the phone over to Derek. Isaac was definitely Meilani's knew favorite person.

"Stilinski, I think you, uh..." Coach trailed off and picked the condom off the floor, placing it down on the Stiles' desk. His eyes trailed over to Meilani who continued to slide further and further down in her seat between Stiles and Scott. "Congrats, McCall."

Meilani squeezed her eyes shut and tried to ignore the snickers that Scott tried to hide along with the amused grin on his face. She was seriously going to kill Stiles later.

"Put the quarter in the mug, win the reward," Coach announced, picking up his COACH RULES! mug off his desk and placing it on the floor. He backed up to put some distance between himself and the mug, bouncing the quarter off the floor and into the mug. "Huh? Huh? That's how you do it!"

Danny, who was sat in front of Meilani, jumped when Coach flicked the quarter over to him and into his hands.

"Okay. Danny. Risk, reward."

Danny inspected the quarter in his hand and raised an eyebrow at Coach. "What's the reward?"

"You don't have to take the pop quiz tomorrow," Coach offered.

"Uh... Coach, it's not a pop quiz if you tell us about it."

"Danny, I expected more from you at this point. Really," Coach said disappointedly and placed the quarter down on Meilani's desk next. "Meilani. Risk, reward. The risk: if you don't put the quarter in the mug, you have to take the pop - " He broke off when he turned to glance at Danny and shook his head. "The quiz and - and you have to write an essay. Risk, more work. Reward, no work at all. Or you can choose not to play."

Meilani slowly raised herself back up to sit properly in her chair, tucking a piece of curly hair behind her ear and fiddled with the quarter. "Isn't this just chance?"

"No. You know your abilities, your coordination, your focus, past experience - all factors affecting the outcome. So what's it gonna be, Meilani? More work, no work, or choose not to play?"

Meilani twisted the quarter back and forth in between her thumb and pointer finger. She could make it into the mug no problem with her wolf abilities. They'd be able to aid her into sinking the quarter right into the mug. However, that wouldn't be fair to anyone if she did that and Meilani wasn't necessarily one to sweat a quiz or test. So, deciding to play fair like she should, Meilani handed the quarter back to Coach Finstock.

"No play. Okay, who's next?" Coach asked the class and Stiles drummed his hands against his textbook, pushing himself out of his seat. "Stilinski! Love a gambling man! Meilani, you can learn a thing or two from your boyfriend here."

Stiles jogged over to the spot Coach Finstock had previously stood in while Coach stood behind the mug to watch Stiles do his thing. However, before Stiles could bounce the quarter, Noah and a deputy stepped into the room.

"Stiles."

"Yeah, Coach, I got it," Stiles replied, too focused on the quarter and mug that he hadn't realized it was his father who had called his name and not Coach.

"Stiles," Noah said again, earning his son's attention once again. "I need to speak to you outside."

Scott glanced to Meilani who leant back in her seat and focused her hearing on the conversation outside between the father and son. The birthday girl, Heather, had gone missing from the party as Meilani knew. Stiles was apparently the last one to see her which Meilani wanted to assume was in the kitchen before Stiles had walked back out with the three red solo cups of alcohol for Scott and Meilani. Noah had known there was alcohol involved at the party, but didn't seem to mind since instead he needed to focus on Heather being missing.

"Yes!" Danny exclaimed, snapping Meilani's focus back onto the classroom. He was stood where Stiles had been and the quarter clattered to the bottom of the mug. 

"Reward!" Coach exclaimed and gave Danny two thumbs up for doing well. "Who's next? Oh... Greenberg, put your hand down. We all know you don't have a chance, pal."

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"So, you think they kidnapped Heather to turn her?" Meilani asked, jogging to keep up with Scott and Stiles as the trio made their way down the hall after Coach's class.

After speaking to Noah, Stiles had come back into the classroom and couldn't talk about Heather until the class ended ten minutes later. He had a sneaking suspicion that the the alpha pack had been the ones to take her and wanted to use her against Meilani. A girl that Meilani didn't know or care about in the first place.

"Derek says it's easier to turn teenagers," Stiles reminded.

"Yeah, but what would a pack of Alphas need a Beta for?"

Stiles huffed and gripped the straps of his backpack tighter causing his knuckles to turn white. "Meilani, I don't know or care, okay? Heather's mom was best friends with my mom before she died. We used to take frickin' bubble baths together when we were three. She's like a sister to me and I have to find her. You can be jealous all you want, but I have a duty to protect the poor girl."

Meilani frowned at Stiles' rant and felt a bit of guilt for being jealous in the first place. It was feeling that Meilani never really felt because she knew that Stiles loved her and only her since they met in the sandbox in kindergarten. Something inside her just snapped and she chalked it up to everything going on and the fact that it became more and more clear that she could lose anyone at any time. Stiles was someone she couldn't handle losing besides Scott. 

"Okay, then we Isaac to remember," Meilani eventually said.

"How? Peter and Derek couldn't do it. Is there any other werewolf with a better trick?" Scott countered.

Meilani froze in the middle of the hallway as she realized who they could do to for help. "Not a werewolf... but a person who knows a lot about 'em."

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After school, the trio had Derek and Isaac meet them at the pet clinic where Deaton had agreed to help them out. He knew of at least one trick that could potentially help Isaac remember what they needed him to. They had to fill a large, steel tub with water and at least a dozen bags of ice. Thank God Meilani didn't have to be the one to go in there because she felt cold just looking at the tub.

"Obviously, it's not going to be particularly... comfortable... but if we slow your heart down enough, you can slip into a trance-like state," Deaton explained to Isaac as the two entered the room when Meilani and the boys finished filling up the tub.

"Like hypnosis."

"Exactly. You'll be half transformed. It'll let us access your subconscious mind."

Isaac warily squatted next to the tub and dipped a finger into the tub, quickly recoiling at the chill of the water. 

"How slow does his heart rate need to be?" Meilani asked.

"Very slow."

"Okay, well, how slow is very slow?" Derek pried, sounding quite protective over the blue eyed werewolf who still eyed the water with a nervous gaze.

"Nearly dead."

Isaac placed his hand on top of the icy water again and hissed, pulling his hand back and shaking it out. "It's safe, though, right?"

Deaton looked down to Isaac with a deadpan expression. "You really want me to answer that honestly?"

Isaac audibly gulped and glanced back to the icy water. "No... no, not really."

The sound of a rubber glove snapping against skin alerted the group and they all turned to see Stiles with a glove that went up to his elbow placed over his hand. His face fell when he noticed all eyes were on him, none of them seeming amused in the slightest. "Okay, what?"

Derek merely rolled his eyes and turned his focus back to Isaac who shakily rose back to his feet. "Look, if it feels risky then you don't have to do this."

Meilani nodded in agreement and squeezed Isaac's shoulder assuringly. "We can always find another way, Isaac." She could hear Isaac's heart beating rapidly in his chest out of fear and nerves. 

Isaac exhaled heavily, but removed his gray long sleeve shirt to reveal his athletic build and the hints of a six pack anytime he inhaled. He puffed out his cheek with final exhale and cautiously lowered himself into the tub still in his black sweatpants. He gasped and gripped the sides of the tub as the chill surrounded him and Meilani could tell it took a lot for him not to jump right back out.

Meilani shook out her hands and removed her own sweater to reveal a blank tank top underneath, tossing it onto the table next to the tub. She walked over to Isaac and placed her hands on one shoulder while Derek took hold of the other so they could keep Isaac beneath the water for the amount of time they needed. 

Isaac was pushed beneath the surface and he stayed for a moment before he burst back up, spilling ice and water over the sides. His yellow eyes and canines appeared and he roared, trying to break free from Meilani and Derek who were both much stronger than he was.

"Get him back under," Deaton ordered.

Meilani and Derek both pushed Isaac down once again, but only stayed for a few seconds before he shot back up again. He fought against Derek and Meilani's hold and thrashed back and forth while Scott and Stiles grabbed his legs to try and help keep the frozen wolf down.

"Hold him."

"We're trying!" Derek snapped at Deaton.

Isaac was pushed down for a third time and he gave up a fight for another moment or two until he finally went still beneath the water. Meilani and Isaac slowly pulled their hands out of the ice cold water and shook out their hands to dry them off. Isaac slowly rose back to the surface and seemed to float atop of it, inhaling and exhaling faintly.

"Now, remember, only I talk to him," Deaton whispered to the group, glancing around to make sure that they all understood how important it was "Too many voices will confuse him and draw him out. Isaac? Can you hear me?"

"Yes," Isaac replied, voice shaking a bit from the chill of the water making him cold. "I can hear you."

"This is Dr. Deaton. I'd like to ask you a few questions. Is that alright?"

"Yes."

"I want to ask you about the night you found Erica and Boyd," Deaton explained softly, thunder and lightning crashing outside making the whole mood more ominous than it needed to be. "I want you to remember it for me in as vivid detail as possible, like you're actually there again."

Isaac shook his head back and forth frantically and began to shake due to either fear or the water. Meilani wasn't really sure anymore at this point. "I - I don't wanna do that. I don't - I don't wanna do that. I don't wanna do that."

The lights above began to flicker, but Deaton didn't even react to that. "Isaac, it's alright. Just relax. They're just memories. You can't be hurt by a memory."

"I don't wanna do that," Isaac repeated and Meilani and Derek had to hold his shoulders down again when he began to thrash back and forth. "I don't wanna do that."

"Relax," Deaton gently instructed and Isaac slowly became calm once again beneath Meilani and Derek's hands. "Good. Now let's go back to that night. To the place you found Erica and Boyd. Can you tell me what you see? Is there some kind of building? A house?"

"It's not - it's not a house. It's stone. I think marble," Isaac informed.

Deaton gripped the side of the tub and leant a little closer to Isaac. "That's good, Isaac. Can you give me any other descriptions?"

"It's dusty, so empty."

"Like an abandoned building?"

The thunder rumbled once more and the lights only began to flicker more intensely while Isaac remained quiet. Isaac whined and twisted his head this way and that as if trying to fight off the memory. "Someone's here. Someone's here."

Meilani squeaked when Isaac suddenly grabbed her forearm and gripped onto it as if to anchor himself. She quickly glanced to Deaton who reminded Isaac to relax and she had to fight the urge to comfortingly rub Isaac's arm. They couldn't risk Isaac snapping out of the trance now when they were so close to finding out what happened to Erica and Boyd.

"No, no, no. They see me, they see me!" Isaac screamed, only gripping Meilani's arm tighter as he turned onto his side in the tub.

"Just memories," Deaton reminded gently, staring up at the flickering lights warily now. "You won't be hurt by the memories. Just relax. Relax."

Isaac slowly loosened his grip on Meilani's arm and it slid down to her hand which he held the fingers of as an anchor. She didn't move her hand out of his grip since she knew that Isaac need some sort of comfort as he remembered the horrible details that were clearly scarring for him. It seemed to help a bit because the lights finally stopped flickering and remained on.

"Now tell us what you see, Isaac. Tell us everything."

Isaac's eyes slowly opened and he stared up at the ceiling with glassed over eyes. "I hear him. He's talking about the full moon, about being out of control when the moon rises."

"Is he talking to Erica?"

"I think so, I can't - I can't see her," Isaac replied, lower lip trembling and the blue tint to them only worried Meilani which made her subconsciously squeeze Isaac's hand. "I can't - I can't see either of them."

"Can you hear anything else?"

"They're worried. They're worried what they'll do during the full moon. They're... worried that they are gonna hurt each other."

Derek dropped his head and his hands gripped the side of the tub so hard that Meilani was shocked it didn't dent at his strength. "If they're locked in together on the full moon, they're gonna tear each other apart."

Deaton nodded that, the worry appearing for a brief moment in his eyes before it was replaced by focus once again. "Isaac, we need to find them right now. Can you see them?"

"No."

"Do you know what kind of room it is? Is there any kind of a marker? A number on a door? A sign?"

Isaac gasped and bolted up in the tub, his hand dropping from Meilani's fingers and into the tub. His breathing was heavy as if he had just ran a full length marathon. "They're here. They see me. They found me. They're here!"

"This isn't working," Derek growled and turned to Isaac. "Isaac, where are you?"

"I can't see them. It's too dark!" Isaac screamed, the lights suddenly going out and the only light that filled the room was the flash of lightning every few seconds.

"Isaac, where are you?" Derek yelled over Isaac's cries.

"His heart rate - he could go into shock," Deaton warned Derek sternly.

"Derek, let him go!" Meilani snapped.

Derek ignored the two and continued to yell at Isaac to tell him where he was. 

"A vault! It's a bank vault! There's a dead body and it's Erica!" Isaac yelled and his eyes suddenly focused, finally waking up from the trance state. He pushed Derek's hand off him and braced himself against the back of the steel tub. "I saw it. I saw the name."

Meilani grabbed a nearby towel and helped Isaac step out of the tub, handing him the towel so he could dry himself off. 

"B-Beacon Hills First National Bank. It's um - it's an abandoned bank, and they're keeping them locked inside, inside the vault," Isaac replied and noticed the glances he received from everyone. "What?"

"You don't remember what you said before you came out of it, do you?" Stiles inquired.

"You said that when they dragged you into a room there was a body in it."

"What body?"

"Erica. You said it was Erica.

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The group decided to let Isaac dry off quickly and warm himself up before they continued their discussion. It wasn't long before had dried off enough to put his long sleeve shirt back on and pull himself up to sit on the table against the wall. Derek had paced the whole time and he didn't want to believe any of this was happening.

"Erica isn't dead!"

"Derek, he said, there's a dead body. It's Erica," Stiles remarked and gestured to Isaac who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. "Doesn't exactly leave us much room for interpretation."

"Then who was in the vault with Boyd?" Derek argued.

"Someone else, obviously," Scott quipped.

Meilani slapped a hand to her side and she had to fight the urge to strangle Derek for not listening to them. "Maybe it was the girl on the motorcycle. The one who saved you?"

Isaac shook his head when Meilani had turned the conversation back onto him. "No, she wasn't like us. Whoever in the vault with Boyd was."

"What if that's how Erica died?" Stiles suggested and stroked his chin in thought. "They, like, pit them against each other during the full moons and see which one survives. It's like Werewolf Thunderdome."

"Then we get them out tonight," Derek said as if it would be the easiest thing ever.

"Be smart about this, Derek. You can't just go storming in."

Derek crossed his arms and Meilani could see the fight in his eyes, not wanting to wait another moment to save Boyd. "If Isaac got in then so can we"

"But he didn't get through a vault door, did he?" Deaton chimed in next.

"We need a plan," Meilani agreed.

"How are we gonna come up with a plan to break into a bank vault in less than twenty-four hours?"

Stiles had quickly whipped out his phone and typed away at it, freezing when his eyes caught onto something. "Looks like someone already did. Beacon Hills First National closes its doors three months after vault robbery. Doesn't say here how it was robbed, but it probably wouldn't take long to find out."

"How long?"

"It's the internet, Derek," Stiles snorted and waved his phone in Derek's face. "It'll take minutes."

⏤⏤⏤⏤❀⏤⏤⏤⏤

Needless to say, it did not take minutes to find out how the vault was broken into. The twins and Stiles had gone back to the house to do research so they could begin the break in as soon as possible. However, it seemed to provide quite a challenge since it took the trio quite a while and wound up falling asleep while more and more information printed out of Stiles' printer and onto the floor.

Stiles was hung off his bed with his top half bent on the floor and his bottom half still on his bed. Meilani was curled up on the floor next to Stiles with her face stuck to one of the many printed out sheets on the floor while Scott was passed out on Stiles' computer chair, leant back almost so far that it tipped over.

"Guys!" Noah's booming voice startled the trio and Meilani swatted the piece of paper away that stuck to her cheek. "I got to get to work and you three got to get to school."

"Dad!" Stiles called before Noah could make his way out of the room. "Heather?"

"No, nothing yet."

Stiles sighed and pushed himself to his feet, helping his girlfriend get back to her feet and wipe away the drool that dried on her cheek. "Ten hours and nothing."

"We're gonna find something," Meilani assured Stiles and stopped in front of his mirror to fix the birds nest that her hair had become. It was nearing seven in the morning and the McCall twins wouldn't be able to stop at their house to change unfortunately. Meilani was just grateful she had spare sweaters at Stiles' house and tugged a gray one over her head.

"Finding something doesn't make Erica any less dead or Boyd any less about-to-be-dead," Stiles retorted, walking around his room and cleaning up all the papers that had printed out after the three fell asleep.

"Well, we still have time," Scott reminded.

Stiles stopped in his current objective and turned to the twins with an annoyed expression. "Okay, is this whole, like, remain optimistic in the face of complete and utter disaster thing a part of some weird tactic to keep yourself from going wolf and to keep Scott on his be a better McCall program?"

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the floor this morning," Scott grumbled.

Stiles ignored Scott's comment and dropped a few of the pages, one sticking to his hand. It seemed to catch his attention, though, as he screamed for Noah to come back before he finally left for work. He shoved the article into Meilani's hand and barreled out of the room, still shouting for Noah.

Meilani furrowed her eyebrows and sat down on the bed with Scott joining her, smoothing out the article so they could see it properly. The headline read BEACON HILLS FIRST NATIONAL BANK ROBBED and beneath it was a photo of Noah pushing the suspect into the back of his cop car.

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Later on that night, Meilani and the boys met up with Derek and Isaac at the abandoned loft that Derek, Isaac and Peter had taken hold of since it wasn't safe to be in the Hale house anymore. Plus, it was a lot better than having to walk through the burnt remains of their old home.

Stiles spread out a blueprint of the bank on the table near the floor to ceiling window that spread out along the back wall of the loft. He pointed to one section of the blueprint with the red pen in his hand. "Okay, this is how they got in. It's a rooftop air conditioning vent. Leads down inside into the wall of the vault, which is here." He circled the word vent with the red pen and tapped it. "One of the robbers was lowered into this shaft. Now, that space is so small, it took him about twelve hours to drill into wall, which is stone, by the way. Then throughout the rest of the night, they siphoned the cash up to the guys back on the roof through that one little shaft in the wall. Boom."

"Can we fit in there?" Meilani asked, not seeing how they could possibly fit into that tiny space.

"Yes, we can, but very barely. They also patched the wall, obviously, so we're gonna need a drill of some kind. I'm thinking maybe a diamond bit - "

"Look, forget the drill. If I go in first, how much space do I have?" Derek inquired, a plan visibly forming in his head.

Stiles placed his hands on the table and shot Derek a confused glance. "What do you - what do you think you're gonna do, Derek? You gonna punch through the wall?"

Derek crossed his arms and faced Stiles who squared up to him. "Yes, Stiles. I'm gonna punch through the wall."

"Okay, okay, big guy. Let's see it. Let's see that fist. Big, old fist. Make it, come on," Stiles mocked and Derek held up  his right fist, not seeming amused in the least bit. If anything, he looked rather annoyed. "Big, bad wolf. Yeah, look at that. Okay, see this?" He held his palm up to Derek's hand just inches from his fist. "That's maybe three inches of room to gather enough force to punch through solid co- "

Derek pushed his fist forward and loud smack was heard while Stiles collapsed, holding onto his bruised hand. He yelped and stumbled away from Derek, rubbing his injured hand. "He can do it," Stiles announced in a small, strained voice.

"I'll get through the wall," Derek said and smiled in amusement when Stiles whimpered weakly. "Who is following me down?"

"Don't look at me," Peter spoke up from his spot on the metal spiral staircase near the table Derek, Scott and Meilani were stood around. "I'm not up to fighting speed yet, and honestly, with Isaac out of commission, you're not looking at very good odds for yourself."

"So I'm just supposed to let them die?" Derek remarked.

"One of them is already dead."

Derek shot his uncle a glare, clearly wanting Erica to be alive more than anything. Who knew Derek Hale had the capacity to care about others? "We don't know that!"

"Do I have to remind you what we're up against here? A pack of Alphas. All of them killers and if that's not enough to scare your testicles back into your stomach, try to remember that two of them combine bodies to form one giant Alpha. I'm sure Erica and Boyd were sweet kids. They're gonna be missed."

"Could someone kill him again, please?" Stiles huffed, walking back over to the table.

"Derek, seriously? Not worth the risk," Peter stressed, ignoring Stiles' remark.

"What about you?"

"Yeah, if you want me to come - "

"Not you!" Derek snapped at Stiles and turned to Meilani who he had actually been talking to. 

Meilani exhaled heavily and crossed her arms, weighing her options in her head about the whole thing. "I don't know about Erica, but if Boyd is still alive... we have to do something. We have to try. I just want to know who this other girl is. You know, the one locked in with Boyd?"

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Meilani stood outside of the bank with Derek, hidden in the side alleyway in the dark. She felt a bit weird about the whole thing still. She wanted to save Boyd, but something just felt... off... about the whole situation. 

"What is it?"

Meilani's gaze snapped over to Derek who stood next to her, eyeing her since she had been quiet for a while. "I just can't get something out of my head."

"Well, the moon is rising, Meilani. What is it?"

"Risk and reward," Meilani mumbled, Coach's lesson from the day prior coursing through her head constantly. "We aren't measuring the risk with enough information. We don't know enough."

"We know time's running out."

"Yeah, but think about it. They put the Triskele on your door four months ago. What have they been doing all this time? Why wait until now?" Meilani rambled, momentarily feeling like Stiles who rambled on and on when he had millions of thoughts running in his head.

Derek groaned and shook Meilani gently to get her to snap out of her head. "We don't have the time to figure out every little detail."

Meilani shook her head and pushed Derek's hands away from her shoulders. "Okay, but what if this detail, the reason why they waited - what if it's the most important one?"

"Then we do nothing and Boyd and Erica are dead. I know what I'm risking - my life for theirs," Derek admitted and jumped up onto the fire escape above. He glanced down to Meilani and he had a soft expression on his face that Meilani never saw before. It was definitely an odd sight to see on Derek Hale. "I wouldn't blame you if you don't follow me."

"Way to make a girl feel guilty," Meilani mumbled and hopped onto the fire escape after Derek.

It didn't take long for the two to shimmy their way down into the vent that Stiles told them about and it took even less time for Derek to punch right through the wall. Something that Meilani shouldn't have been surprised by in the least. She stepped through the gaping hole while Derek rolled out of it, dust and debris sticking to the arm he used to punch through the wall.

Ahead of them, hidden in the shadows was what looked like Boyd stood motionless and growling. He slowly turned to face Derek and Meilani who now stood next to each other and growled at them, his claws on full display on either side of him.

"Boyd? It's me," Derek said in a calm voice, holding a hand up to show he wasn't going to hurt Boyd and took a step closer to the male.

Meilani's phone buzzed in her back pocket and she saw it was Scott. She huffed, but answered the phone anyway. "Scott, you know now is not a good time."

"Mei! Mei! No, listen to me, okay? Look, you and Derek need to get out of there. The walls of the vault are made with a mineral called ... wait, Stiles, what was it called?"

"It's called Hecatolite," Stiles chimed in and it sounded like Scott placed the call on speaker because she could hear the other sounds in the loft, along with Peter's breathing. "It scatters the moonlight."

"What does that even mean?"

"We're here to get you out, okay?" Derek assured Boyd, stepping another inch closer to the growling wolf. 

"It keeps the moonlight out, okay? They haven't felt the full moon in months," Stiles continued to explain while Derek kept trying to cool off Boyd. 

"Think of it like the gladiators in the Roman Colosseum. They used to starve the lions for three days, making them more vicious. More out of control. Deucalion has kept them from shifting for three full moons," Peter piped in.

Three full moons. That was three full months of them not shifting ever. Not good.

"They're gonna be stronger - "

"More savage, more blood thirsty. They're the lions," Peter continued for Scott, sounding just as worried for her as he did for Derek. "They're the starved lions and you and Derek just stepped into the colosseum."

Meilani's eyes widened and she gulped audibly, her gaze fixed on Boyd who looked thirty seconds away from tearing into her and Derek. "Der, we got a big, big problem."

Another wolf stepped out of the shadows and stopped next to Boyd. She didn't appear to be that much older than Meilani.

"Cora?"

Meilani slowly lowered the phone from ear, but not hanging up on the three boys just yet. "Who?"

"Cora?"

"Derek, get out. Get out now!" Cora growled.

"Meilani? Hey, Meilani!"

Meilani's eyes focused on something black around the vault that went in a circle. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was mountain ash. When she glanced up to the open door of the vault, Meilani noticed that the guidance counselor from the school was the one that poured it around. Definitely not good. "No!"

Meilani barely had time to blink before Cora and Boyd both growled and Boyd leapt forward, throwing Meilani across the vault and into the wall of cabinets that used to house some of the money. He tried to swipe at Meilani again, but Derek stepped in and threw Boyd away from her. Cora had popped up next and tried to fight Derek and Meilani had swooped in to shove Cora away from him.

"You know her?" Meilani panted, bracing herself against the wall of the cabinets next to Derek.

"She's my sister. My younger sister."

"What the hell is she doing here?" Meilani asked, eyes scanning the vault for where Boyd and Cora were hidden now.

"Like I have a clue! I thought she was dead!"

Allison suddenly appeared in the open vault door and Meilani wondered how and when the hell the huntress had even gotten there in the first place. Did she have a death wish? "Look out!"

Boyd had popped up in front of Meilani and grabbed her by the front of her sweater, throwing her like a rag doll once again into another wall of cabinets. She grunted as she crashed into the cabinets and then the floor below. Boyd pressed his nails into Meilani's stomach and held her up against the wall. Meilani coughed and blood dripped down out of her mouth, feeling her eyes feel a bit heavy.

"Boyd!" Allison called, breaking the mountain ash seal and earned Boyd's attention.

Meilani whimpered as she was dropped to the ground and held an arm around her bleeding stomach. She slowly got to her feet while Boyd and Cora escaped out of the vault and into the bank. Derek had ran out of the vault and grabbed Allison by the front of her shirt.

"Don't hurt her, Derek!" Meilani weakly ordered, gripping onto her stomach while she stumbled over to the vault door.

"What were you thinking?" Derek screamed, shaking Allison as he glowered at her.

"She saved our lives," Meilani defended Allison, leaning against the frame of the vault door for support.

"Yeah, and what do you think they're gonna do out there? Do you have any idea what we just set free?" Derek yelled, very clearly pissed with what Allison had done. Regardless of it saving them or not.

Risk and reward.

"You want to blame me? Well, I am not the one turning teenagers into killers," Allison countered.

"No, no that's just the rest of your family."

"I made mistakes," Allison whispered and kept her heated gaze on Derek. "Gerard is not my fault."

"And what about your mother?"

Allison furrowed her eyebrows and her eyes bounced between Derek and Scott. "What does that mean?

Meilani's eyes slowly raised from the floor and over to Derek when she felt his gaze on her, telling her to tell Allison what really happened with her mom. 

"Meilani, what does Derek mean?"

Well... shit.

AUTHORS NOTE

Hi hey hello

Well... that was intense. It will only get crazier and wilder from here, folks, so prepare yourselves. Now that Boyd and Cara are free, it's only going to make things worse for Meilani, Derek and Isaac. 

Also, I'm just ready for Isaac and Meilani's brotp already. I love them and they've just barely become breached the surface of their otp-ness. We have decided to stan, okay? Just love that for them