𝕭𝖆𝖉 𝖗𝖊𝖕𝖚𝖙𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓
Twenty - 2X08
Raving

NAT PUSHES OPEN THE SHERIFF'S DOOR WITH HER FOOT, JUGGLING THE BAG OF FOOD AND DRINKS IN HER HANDS EXPERTLY, "THE REAL FOOD HAS ARRIVED!"

Noah cheers, accepting the bag from Natalia with a grin as he pushes away the veggie burger Stiles had given to him, "I knew there was a reason I kept you around!"

Nat smirks in response, falling into the chair next to Stiles as she pulls out one of the paper cups from the grey drink holder, taking a large sip of it.

"Nat!" Stiles cries, looking helplessly between the two, "Dad's meant to be eating healthy today!"

"Well, I thought that since he'd done such a good job lately-"

Noah narrows his eyes, halting where he was about to take a bite from his burger to ask suspiciously,"What do you want?"

Nat shares a look with Stiles before turning back to Noah with an 'innocent' smile, "Well, since you asked...-"

"No. I'm not sharing what I found with you," Noah deadpans, glowering at Nat, "Stiles already asked."

"Oh, come on!" Nat groans, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

Noah scoffs, shaking his head and taking a bite from his burger, "No, I'm not sharing confidential police work with two teenagers..."

Nat groans once more, rolling her eyes at his blatant distrust, "I hope you know that that burger is plant based."

He freezes mid chew, betrayal burning in his eyes as he swallows his food harshly, "I hate you."

Nat glares at him, taking a large sip from her drink, "The feelings mutual, partner."

"Hey, Is that it on the board behind you?" Stiles pipes up, his eyes fixed on the display behind Noah's desk.

"Don't look at that..." Noah orders awkwardly.

Nat and Stiles lean forward, desperate to catch a look at what the police know about the recent murders.

"Avert your eyes..." Noah warns, trying to move in the way of their sight of the crime board. It doesn't work.

"Okay..." Stiles trails as Nat absentmindedly hums, neither of them making any move to turn away from the board whatsoever.

"Hey!" Noah yells, disapprovingly.

"Just- it's just- I see arrows pointing at pictures!" Stiles defends.

"It's like I can't look away!" Nat agrees, her eyes bouncing rapidly between the pictures in hope of decoding what the board is saying before Noah kicks them out.

"Okay, okay, stop. Fine. I found something," Noah sighs, relenting under the two teens' persistence, "The mechanic and the couple who were murdered- they all had something in common."

"They did?" Nat inquires, at the same time Stiles asks, "All three?"

Noah nods, "Yeah. You know what I always say...'One's an incident. Two's a coincidence-'"

"'-Three's a pattern.'" Stiles and Natalia finish simultaneously, both having been subjective to Noah's teachings over the years.

"The mechanic, the husband, the wife? All the same age. All twenty-four." Noah explains.

Nat furrows her eyebrows as she softly chews on her bottom lip in thought. She can see why the connection would be important, if it was only those three people who were murdered. But they weren't the only ones, "So what about Mr. Lahey, then? He doesn't fit the pattern. He's nowhere near twenty four..."

Noah nods, pointing in her direction with a proud smile, elated at the thought of being able to share his findings with someone who isn't afraid to question him back, "Which made me think that either: A) Lahey's murder wasn't connected, or B) the ages were a coincidence...Until I found this," Noah declares, handing over a thin, beige file to her. Nat opens it up immediately, the red letters 'died in combat' stamped all over the top of it. She looks up at him in confusion. What does a dead soldier have to do with all this?  "Which would be C) Did you know that Isaac Lahey had an older brother named Camden?"

Nat shakes her head, looking down at the file in her hands with more interest than before.

Isaac had a brother?

"'Died in combat...'" Stiles reads aloud from where he's leaning over Nat's shoulder.

Noah nods, "But, if he were alive today, take one guess as to how old he'd be..."

"Twenty-four." The duo breathe, realisation dawning on their faces.

Noah and Nat move towards the board, food forgotten behind them as they inspect the map of victims in front of them.

Stiles moans loudly in delight as he takes a bite out of his burger, "The real mystery is how this veggie burger is so good!"

Noah turns to him, nodding vigorously, "I know! Where did you even get it from?"

Nat shakes her head and points towards the board, trying to ignore the father and son duo beside her.

"Nat! Please!" Stiles begs, "If even my dad likes it, this place has gotta be good!"

"I cooked it." She rushes out before pointing towards the board, hoping to change the subject as quickly as possible, "So same age, could mean the same class-"

Stiles and Noah share a shocked look, a grin slipping onto their faces as they begin to coo at Natalia in pure delight.

"You cooked for us!" Stiles exclaims, his smirk growing even wider as the words leave his mouth.

"Aw! Hayes!" Noah grins.

"I hate the both of you." She declares, turning away from them in an attempt to hide the burning of her cheeks.

"No! You love us!" Stiles laughs, his amusement only growing when Nat pushes him away with a scowl.

"Okay, okay. That's enough, Stiles." Noah chuckles, gently clapping Nat on her shoulder.

"Thank you!" Nat mutters, unconsciously leaning into Noah's affection.

Noah nods, looking back at the board in front of them and successfully ignoring Stiles as he drapes his arm around Nat's shoulder, the shit-eating grin on his face not even faltering under her scowl.

"Same age, same class, isn't a bad idea, Nat," Stiles praises, looking over her shoulder towards his father, "I mean, did you think of that?"

"Yeah. Yeah...," Noah trails, "Well, I would have. I mean, I-," Nat and Stiles make a noise of disbelief as they stare wide-eyed at him, making Noah rush to defend himself, "Look, I just got Lahey's file two hours ago!"

"Two hours? Dad, people could be dying."

"Yeah, I'm aware of that, thank you." Noah retorts sarcastically as he glares at his son for his helpful input.

"Same class..."

Nat turns on his heels, pulling out a year-book from Noah's shelf and passing it to Stiles, who takes it from her without hesitation as he begins to flick through the pages quickly.

"Okay, this is it- class of 2006," He proclaims, tapping roughly on the page as Nat and Noah turn to look at what he'd found, "They all went to Beacon Hills."

"Including Isaac's brother." Noah spots, pointing towards the boy's name in the book.

"They must've know each other somehow," Nat states, "Maybe they were all friends."

"Well, they could have had the same classes together," Noah guesses, taking the book from Stiles and quickly turning the pages in search for the victims' names within the book, "They could've..." he pauses at a page, his eyes focusing on an old grainy picture.

"What?" Stiles questions, leaning over the desk in an attempt to look at what his father is seeing.

"Same teacher." Noah finishes.

"Harris...," Stiles breathes, his eyes growing wide at the discovery, "They were all in his class?"

"All four," Noah confirms, "And I don't know how Mr. Lahey fits in, but this? This is definitely a pattern," Noah smiles at them, joy painting his feature at their success, "All right, give me the 2006 yearbook. These names? We need faces."

"Which ones?" Nat questions as her and Stiles follow out his order, rummaging through the mess on Noah's desk in search for any 2006 yearbook.

Nat pulls out the first one she sees from the pile, and moves it so that it's in front of both her and Stiles on the desk.

"Everyone in that chemistry class. If the killer's not done killing-" Noah starts, sitting down at his desk and pulling his phone to his ear as his fingers fly over the dial.

"One of them is next." Stiles finishes, the trio sharing morbid looks of realisation at the grim fact.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's Stilinski..."

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NAT, STILES AND SCOTT MAKE THEIR WAY INTO THE SCHOOL, THE THREE OF THEM SCHEMING OF A WAY TO GET TICKETS FOR THE RAVE LATER TONIGHT.

"There's got to be some other way to get tickets, right?"

"It's a secret show- there's only one way, and it's a secret."

"Well, it can't be much of a secret if half of the school have tickets." Nat returns. She has no doubt that she could find out how to get tickets by tonight- if she wanted to, she could probably con her way onto the list, no ticket needed! But it's so much more fun to watch Scott and Stiles struggle...

"Hey...," Matt greets, stopping the trio in their steps, "Any of you guys know why no one's getting suspended after what happened the other day at school?"

"Nothing happened the other day." Nat protests, making a move to walk past him into the school. Matt moves in her way, determined to get answers.

"What do you mean 'nothing happened the other day'? You were there in the library, when it happened!"

Nat shakes her head slowly, feigning confusion, "What library?"

Matt narrows his eyes, becoming impatient with her antics, "But-!"

"Just forget about it," Stiles interrupts firmly with a glare, "Nobody got hurt."

"I- I had a concussion..."

"Well, no one got seriously hurt." Stiles corrects.

"I was in the ER for six hours!" Matt yells.

"Hey, do you want to know the truth, Matt? Your little bump on the head is about this high," Stiles leans down, holding his hand a few feet away from the ground, "On our list of problems right now."

Nat snorts at Stiles' demonstration, causing Matt to glare at her, his hatred for the duo shinning brightly in his eyes.

Scott sighs, stepping forward to take control of the situation before it can evolve into anything more, "Are you okay?"

Matt nods tensely, "Yeah, I'm fine now. So, you didn't get any tickets last night, either?"

"Are they still selling?" Scott asks, hope plaguing his voice.

"Uh, no, but I managed to find two online. You should keep trying. Sounds like everyone's gonna be there."

He smiles lightly at Scott before taking off in the direction of the school, ignoring both Nat and Stiles as he does so.

"I don't like him," Stiles mutters, electing a nod of agreement from Nat as they stare after the boy in suspicion, "Hey, are you sure about this?"

"Last time, whoever's controlling Jackson had to kill somebody because he didn't finish the job. So, what do you think he's going to do this time?" Scott questions.

"Be there to make sure it happens." Stiles answers with a sigh.

Nat grins at Scott. "Since when did you get so smart?"

Scott rolls his eyes at Nat's backhanded compliment before walking towards the school, Nat and Stiles watching after him.

"They grow up so fast." Nat pouts, shaking her head sadly.

Scott turns, raising his middle finger up towards them.

Stiles wipes a fake tear from his cheek as he nods in agreement, "Way too fast."

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USED TO HIS THEATRICS BY NOW, NAT DOESN'T EVEN FLINCH WHEN COACH FINSTOCK SWINGS OPEN THE DOOR TO THE LOCKER ROOM.

"Can anyone tell me where the hell Jackson is and why he missed morning practice?"

"I thought I told you to keep an eye on him!" Stiles exclaims, narrowing his eyes at Scott.

"Well, it wont be that hard to find him. Just look for the bodies." Nat says, unbothered by the boy's sudden disappearance as she finishes strapping on her wrist guard.

Coach turns to them like a bloodhound, when he hears their voices, "Stilinski, Hayes! Jackson?"

Nat shrugs, "Have you checked Eichen?"

Scott elbows Nat lightly in the ribs, silently telling her to be quiet. Nat jabs him back with a glare as Stiles speaks up.

"Sorry, Coach...I haven't seen him since the last time I saw him..."

Finstock perks up, happy (well, as happy as Finstock can possibly be) to be finally getting some information on Jackson's whereabouts, "Oh, and when was that?"

"Last time I saw him...," Stiles trails, searching his head for the right words to say, "Was definitely the time I saw him last..."

Coach narrows his eyes, attempting to decipher what Stiles had just said, before thinking better of it and shaking his head in dismissal, "Yeah. Again, Danny, tell Jackson no missing practice this close to the championships, okay?"

Danny nods, "Sure, Coach."

"That goes for all of you," Coach warns before muttering lowly, "I should be coaching college."

"So, tickets?" Stiles prompts Danny.

The boy turns towards them regretfully, "Sorry, but I only got two myself."

Nat sighs, stepping away from the boys and leaning back against a set of lockers a few feet away from them- they're getting no where!

She's honestly disappointed in Scott and Stiles!

She'd thought that they'd have at least known to ask her for help, by now!

"What- do you even have a date yet?" Stiles inquires.

"I'm working on it." Danny scowls.

"Okay, okay...Hear me out. You give us the tickets, and you devote your life to abstinence, and just-" Stiles tries, desperation swimming in his tone as Danny walks away from the duo, having had enough of their antics.

Nat shakes her head in disbelief, turning sharply on her heels when she hears a snort of laughter from beside her.

"What are they doing?" Isaac grins, his eyes watching Scott and Stiles in amusement.

"Trying to get tickets for the rave."

"Aren't you gonna help them?"

Nat hums thoughtfully, pretending to think his question over, "No. I think they've got it covered."

Isaac chuckles at her answer, the duo sharing a amused grin.

"Come on," Isaac relents, "It's pathetic- even for their standards."

Nat shrugs, "But it is fun to watch."

Isaac lets out another laugh as he walks closer to Scott and Stiles, grabbing them roughly by the front of their shirts and declaring, "How do you two losers even survive without Nat?"

"What are we supposed to do?" Scott whines, "No one's even selling."

Isaac smirks, gesturing for Natalia to follow him, "Wait here, boys."

Nat furrows her eyebrows, but follows regardless in overwhelming curiosity. Isaac taps lightly on a boy's shoulder and as he turns around, throws a fist into his face. The boy falls to the ground, blood erupting from his nose. The boy's friend swings his fists towards Isaac on instinct, but he never reaches him as Nat slams her knuckles into the side of his face, his jaw cracking under her hand as he falls onto the floor next to his friend, both of them groaning in pain.

"What the hell was that for!?" Nat interrogates, watching Isaac as he leans down, his hand slipping into one of the boy's bags and pulling out three tickets. He waves his finds in Nat's face with a smirk.

Isaac rises to his feet and shoves the tickets into Scott's chest, "Enjoy the show."

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NAT PULLS ALLISON TO THE SIDE OF THE HALLWAY, AWAY FROM THE CHAOS THAT THE OTHER STUDENTS' CREATE IN THEIR WAKE.

"So I hear your going to this rave thing with Matt." Nat states, grimacing at Allison.

"How do you already know!?" Allison exclaims.

Nat smirks for a second before backtracking, pointing an accusing finger towards Allison, "Hey! No changing the subject, Ally-cat!"

Allison shrugs, a small smile playing at the corner of her mouth at the affectionate nickname, "It was worth a try."

"Ally!" Nat cries. "Matt?!"

"I have to!" Allison returns.

Nat scoffs, rolling her eyes at Allison's weak defence, "You're Allison Argent, badass supernatural-hunter. You don't have to do anything."

Allison blushes a bright red at Nat's words, a shy-smile reluctantly slipping onto her mouth, "I do, if we wanna catch Jackson before he kills anyone else."

Nat groans, throwing her hands up in exasperation, "I just...I just don't like him!"

Allison rolls her eyes in amusement, "What's with you and Stiles hating Matt?"

"Haven't you heard!?" Nat cries. "He's evil."

Allison hums. "Evil?"

"Yeah!"

"Right...and who told you that? Stiles?" When Natalia doesn't answer, Allison sighs, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "I'll be okay, 'talia. I'm a 'badass supernatural-hunter', remember?"

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"THEY CAN'T DO THIS!" NAT RAGES, HER EYES WIDE WITH ANGER.

"There's nothing we can do." Noah sighs, scrubbing an exhausted hand over his face.

"There has to be something!" Nat counters, throwing her hands up in anger, "You have the highest number of closed cases that any Sheriff in Beacon Hills has ever had! How can they just fire you!?"

"My son is classified as a 'criminal', in the eyes of justice. Not to mention the fact, I have absolutely no control over my C.I.! I think the real question is, why wouldn't they?"

While his words are harsh, the Sheriff's voice remains calm and even- something that causes Nat to shiver. Noah's anger is like a storm and right now, it seems that Nat is in the eye of it. She'd prefer if he'd shout, if she's being honest. At least with anger comes motivation- he'd want to change their minds- want to get his job back, but instead, he stays painfully still, accepting his fate.

Nat refuses.

She's not just gonna let them fire Noah!

Not without a fight.

"Why aren't you angry!?" Nat yells, slamming her hands down harshly against his empty desk.

"There's no point." He murmurs, picking up a small picture of him and Stiles and pushing it into a cardboard box.

"'No point'?!" Nat repeats furiously, "You're the best thing that has ever happened to this station! You've saved countless of lives and you think that that's 'not worth it'!?" Nat shakes her head rapidly, scoffing at Noah's sullen defeat, "If you won't do anything, I will."

She turns, ignoring the calls of protest from Noah and the dull buzzing of her phone in her pocket as she goes.

She isn't just gonna allow him to throw away his whole career just because of their stupid mistakes!

Nat marches up to the man who had told Noah the dreadful news.

He has his back to her, but from what she can see, he looks to be around the same age as Noah, dressed in a smartly put together black suit with a thin head of hair.

He looks every part a member of the government.

"Hey!" She shouts, ignoring the multiple heads that turn her way- they aren't who she needs. The man glances at her once, before looking away in disinterest, his back turning to her once more.

Other members of the Sheriff's department raise to their feet- Tara among them, looking particularly worried at Nat's approach. She steps closer to her, her hand held out in front of her in warning, "Hayes, don't."

Nat ignores the woman and continues on her mission, blinded by her anger.

"You're making a mistake!" Nat growls, silence filling the station as everyone turns to watch the con warily, knowing how close she is to the Stilinski family (and how personally she takes any insults against them), "Noah Stilinski has done nothing but serve Beacon Hills with honour and dignity- more than I can say for the rest of you assholes! He has solved countless of cases and saved even more lives!" Nat yells, shoving her finger harshly into the man's chest to emphasise her fury, "He's done more than you ever will. Noah goes out everyday and does his best- he risks his life for a quite frankly undeserving town," She scoffs out a laugh, her eyes trailing up and down his body apathetically, "and I bet you've never even left your desk, you pretentious dick-"

He raises an unamused eyebrow, "Are you done, Miss Hayes?"

Nat glares, taking a threatening step forward and ignoring the other officers as they cautiously step closer to the duo, one hand in front of them as if they're approaching a wild animal, "You fucki-"

Nat stops as a hand drops firmly onto her shoulder, pulling her away from the man and behind a firm body. Noah stands in front of her protectively, effectively blocking her view of the government official.

"Mr Stilinski," The man spits, "Times up. Return you badge and gun at the front desk and leave before I have you escorted out," He turns to look at Nat, who silently seethes behind Noah, practically itching to dig her nails into the man's eyes, "And unless you want to go back behind a jail cell, I suggest you do the same, Miss Hayes, until further notice."

Nat narrows her eyes at the man, her hate for him evident on her face. Everything in her wants to shout at him, yell at him, for how wrong he is for doing this. She wants to demand to speak to his superiors, but the look on Noah's face stops her. He doesn't want her help.

She only made it worse.

Like always.

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THE RIDE HOME IS SILENT.

The once lively car rides that they shared together- filled with siren sounds and jokes- is now deathly quiet. Neither Nat or Noah saying a single word, both too preoccupied with what had just happened.

Noah stops the car in the driveway, the duo climbing out without a word. Stiles meets them half-way with a smile.

"Hey, can't talk, gotta run...," He trails, faltering his steps slightly when he spots Nat next to his dad, "Nat, there you are! Me and Scott have been trying to call you for ages! Come on! We've gotta go!" Stiles continues, walking past them with enthusiasm, before abruptly stopping when neither of them say a word. He turns, his eyebrows furrowing when he sees their grim expressions, "Hey, wait, wait, wait-what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Noah answers evasively, continuing towards the front door of the Stilinski household in dejection. Nat shifts uncomfortably, not wanting to tell Stiles that his father had just been fired because of them.

"Oh. Where's your gun?" Stiles questions, spotting his dads empty gun holster at his side. Nat shakes her head subtly, silently trying to warn him to stop.

"I left it at the station...," Noah responds glumly, "Along with my badge..."

"What?"

Stiles looks between his father and Nat with wide eyes, hoping one of them will break and tell him it's all an elaborate prank.

They don't.

"It's all right. You know what? We'll talk about this later."

"Dad-" Stiles tries.

Noah brushes his worry off with a shrug, interrupting Stiles before he can even finish his sentence, "Don't worry about it."

"Dad!" Stiles exclaims.

Noah sighs, "It was decided that the son of a police chief and his C.I. stealing police property and having a restraining order filed against both of them by one of the town's most respected attorneys did not reflect well on the county..."

"They fired you?"

"No. Look, it's- it's just a leave of absence. It's- it's temporary."

"Did they say it was temporary, or...?"

Stiles turns to look at Nat for more answers. Nat just shakes her head, her eyes falling to the ground in shame.

This is all their fault.

If only they had been more careful with Jackson...

Noah sighs, for what must have been the hundredth time tonight alone, "Actually, no. You know, I- Don't worry about it, though," Seeing the regretful look on Stiles' face, he continues, his tone softening slightly in the face of his only child, "Hey. We're going to be fine."

"Dad, I don't get it...," Stiles mutters sorrowfully, "Why- why aren't you angry at me?"

Nat steps away from the scene feeling as though she's intruding on a private moment between the father and son.

Secretly, she's been wanting to ask him the same question.

They ruined his career.

Why isn't he angry?

Nat thinks it would be better if he was. At least that way, she'd know where she stands with the man...

"I don't know. Maybe I just don't want to feel any worse than I already do by having to yell at my son and C.I.," He pauses for a second, before correcting his mistake sadly, "Ex-C.I..."

His words feel like a bullet to Nat's heart.

Yet another life she's ruined because of her stupid mistakes...

Noah walks off towards the house, leaving Nat and Stiles alone, the two watching the man leave- there's no way to fix what they've done.

They've ruined Noah's career.

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"YOU GUYS OKAY?" SCOTT QUESTIONS AS HE ROUNDS THE BACK OF THE JEEP BESIDE THEM.

Nat nods, her back turned to the duo as she surveys their surroundings closely. The jungle stands in front of them, music blaring through the walls while people linger outside, smoke pouring from their mouths.

"Yeah, why?" Stiles mutters, rummaging around the back of his jeep in search of the two bags he had hastily shoved in the back before they'd left to pick up Scott.

"Neither of you said anything the whole way here..."

"No, I'm fine. Just grab the other bag." Stiles commands, nodding towards the other bag beside him.

Scott smiles sheepishly, stopping Nat before she can pull out the second bag for Stiles, "I can't. Remember, Deaton said you have to do it alone..."

"Do what alone?" Nat questions, looking between the two warily. She doesn't like the thought of having to leave them alone while a psychopathic lizard is running around killing people...

"Oh, yeah. You weren't there," Stiles hums, "We went to Scott's sketchy boss, and he gave us something called mountain ash."

"Apparently, only Stiles can use it." Scott adds with a grin of excitement, eager to see what the ash can do.

"Why?"

The boys shrug in response.

"Where were you anyway?" Scott asks.

"Oh...just got stuck at the station." Nat answers evasively, her eyes darting to the ground to avoid Stiles' pained gaze.

"Okay, this plan is really starting to suck." Stiles declares with a sigh, quickly changing the subject.

Nat nods in agreement, silently thanking Stiles for his interruption. Scott pays them no mind and turns towards the jungle.

"No. Not here. Not now!" Scott groans, taking off in a run before either Nat or Stiles can even say a word.

"What? Scott! What am I supposed to-!?" Stiles yells after him, making a noise of disapproval when Nat goes to follow him, "Nat! Where are you going?!"

"Inside!" She shouts back, walking backwards so that she can look at Stiles with a raised brow, "We've gotta find Jackson before he kills again, remember?"

"This plan officially sucks." Stiles sighs, watching as his two friends disappear into the building.

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THE LIGHTS BLIND NATALIA AS SHE ADVENTURES DEEPER INTO THE PIT OF SWEATY TEENS.

She shoves her way through the crowd in search of Jackson, and when she finally finds him- after what feels like hours of searching- he's heading straight for her- not that he seems to notice.

His eyes are distant as they stare behind her; probably at his next victim, Nat realises.

She pushes her way forward, stopping right in front of him so that he can't advance any further without having to go around her.

"Jackson."

As soon as his name leaves her lips, his head flies towards her, only now realising that she's directly in front of him.

Now that she has his attention, she's not sure what to say. His beady eyes seem to pierce her soul, reminding her of the beast that lies bellow his very skin.

She doesn't get a chance to carry on though as hands slide around her waist, pulling her back against a body. She turns furiously, ready to maim whoever dared to touch her, but she falters when she sees who it is- Erica.

Any words that Natalia was going to say, gets stuck in her throat as she gapes incredulously in response.

Erica grins at her, clearly realising her dilemma.

Nat doesn't realise that she's turned her body towards Erica, until the blonde is guiding her back against Jackson's body, enclosing her between the two of them.

Erica leans down towards Nat's ear, whispering in a sultry tone, "It's a rave, Natalia. Dance!"

The way Erica purrs her name, sends a shiver down her spine, her skin alighting under her touch as the blonde's hands freely roam her body. Erica steps closer, pushing herself as close as humanly possible to Nat, her breath running over her check as she pulls her close.

Between the two sweaty bodies of Jackson and Erica (Nat is firmly ignoring the former), Nat feels almost disoriented- high off of Erica being this close to her, after so long of being apart from her.

Nat's wanted this for so long.

To feel her one more- to hold her close like this!

Everything around her disappears, blurring together as her vision singles out on Erica. Their bodies move as one, perfectly complementing the other as the music blares loudly in their ears.

Erica's head tilts back slightly, allowing Nat access to her throat. The blonde's hand slides up Nat's body and encloses her arms around her neck, keeping her as close as she possibly can.

Nat lifts her head, her eyes darting towards Erica's lips, their faces only mere centimetres apart.

This is everything she's wanted...

She leans closer, her nose lightly brushing against Erica's-

Jackson's nails dig into her arm, causing a sharp gasp to leave her mouth. He uses his grip on her arm to shove her away as a growl escapes his mouth. Nat lands on the floor with a groan, her palms roughly slapping the sticky floor.

She looks up with a scowl of disgust, her eyes growing wide as she watches him plunge his claws into both Erica and Issac.

"He belongs to me." Jackson growls, pushing them both away from him and continuing deeper into the group of dancing people.

Nat catches Erica as she falls, her hand pressing down against her bleeding wound in panic.

Erica's hand wraps softly around her wrist, a gasp slipping from her mouth, "I'll be okay. I'll heal."

Nat nods hesitantly, turning her concerned gaze to Isaac, who lifts his hand up, signalling he's okay. She trails her eyes to the floor, drawn to the sight of the blood soaking it. She catches sight of the tranquilliser by Isaac's feet and clenches her jaw tightly, her tilting in interest.

Issac, spotting what she's looking at, quickly lunges forward to wrap his hand around it, but before he can reach the small needle, someone unknowingly kicks it away from him. He groans in defeat, holding onto his side.

"What is it?" Nat shouts over the music, her own hand holding tightly onto her bleeding arm where claws had pierced skin.

"A tranquilliser," Isaac answers with a gasp, desperately trying to move closer to it, "Scott gave it to me. We've gotta inject it into Jackson's neck."

Nat nods to signal she'd heard him, before raising shakily to her feet, "I got it. You two get out of here."

"Nat-" Erica begins to protest, her hand reaching out for the girl.

Nat shakes her head, already moving away from them and towards the tranquilliser. She isn't letting them get hurt again, "Go."

This time Isaac hesitates, looking down at her wound in worry. Nat catches his look and rolls her eyes, moving her arm out of his view, "I'll be fine. Go! Both of you. I'll meet you 'round back in five minutes!"

Her hands wraps around the tranquilliser, pulling it close to her body as she pushes through the groups of people towards Jackson's retreating figure, ignoring as Erica shouts after her.

Once she gets close enough to his back, she reaches up and locks her arm around his neck, using her hold on him to yank him down towards her. And before he can even fight back, she plunges the tranquilliser into his neck (harsher than necessary, of course).

She moves out of the way as his body collapses to the floor, his eyes rolling back in his head. She grins in victory at the sound of his body hitting the floor.

Easy!

Her smug smile soon drops into a scowl, however, when she realises she has to drag Jackson's limp body out of here by herself.

Shit.

It isn't too late to call Isaac and Erica back, right?

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NAT STEPS WARILY AWAY FROM JACKSON'S UNCONSCIOUS BODY, BOTH ERICA AND ISAAC FLANKING HER SIDES.

"What now?" Erica questions, clenching her hands nervously at her sides.

Nat shakes her head, opening her mouth to answer, when the door beside them loudly swings open, Stiles entering it brashly.

Erica swings around on instinct, ready to attack, Isaac and Nat hot on her trail. Stiles squeaks, raising his hands up in surrender.

"Uh, no, no, no! Just me, it's just me. Don't freak." Stiles yelps, slamming the door shut behind him before anyone else can see them.

"Stiles." Nat breathes in relief.

"Hey. He okay?" Stiles asks, nodding towards Jackson anxiously.

"Let's find out." Isaac shrugs.

Isaac stalks towards Jackson cautiously, his hand coming up to nudge him. But before Isaac's fingers can even brush against the boy's skin, Jackson's hand shoots up to catch Isaac's, stopping his movements as he crushes his hand in a tight grip.

Isaac falls to the ground, desperately pulling back against Jackson's hold. When he finally does get free, he scrambles backwards into Nat, who drags him closer to the group with a firm grip on his jacket.

"Okay, no one does anything like that again, okay?" Stiles commands, shoving a finger in each of their faces in warning.

Nat bats his finger away from her, "No complaints here."

Isaac groans, flexing his hand out in pain, "Oh, I thought the ketamine was supposed to put him out...?"

"Yeah, well, apparently, this is all we're going to get," Stiles exclaims, throwing his hand out to gesture to the (kind of) unconscious Jackson, "So, let's just hope that whoever's controlling him just decided to show up tonight."

"I'm here. I'm right here with you." Jackson declares, his eyes shooting open to glare at them.

"Jackson, is that you?" Stiles asks, crouching down in front of Jackson cautiously. Nat cringes in anticipation as he nears Jackson. What is he doing!? Did he not just see what happened to Isaac!?

"Us," Jackson corrects, "We're all here."

"Right," Nat nods slowly, unsure of what exactly he's talking about, but not wanting him to stop him (any information is good, at this point), "Are you the one killing people?"

"We are the ones killing murderers."

"So, all the people you've killed so far-" Stiles starts.

"Deserved it." Jackson finishes firmly.

Stiles shares a look with Nat, before turning back to Jackson, determination bleeding into his voice, "See, we got a little rule book that says you only go after murderers..."

"Anything can break if enough pressure's applied."

"All right. So, the people you're killing are all murderers, then?"

"All. Each. Every one." Jackson confirms.

"Well, who did they murder?" Nat inquires, stepping up beside Stiles in curiosity, making Jackson's eyes dart towards her at the sudden movement.

"Me."

Nat furrows her eyebrows in confusion, "Wait, what? What do you mean?"

"They murdered me," Jackson reveals, his eyes turning a bright yellow, "They murdered me."

Erica leans forward, pulling Nat away from Jackson urgently as his hand twitches, his body regaining movement.

"Okay. All right, more ketamine," Stiles demands, "The man needs ketamine. Come on!"

Isaac lifts up the empty bottle of ketamine to Stiles' face, "...We don't have any more."

Stiles turns towards the boy, his tone exasperate, "You used the whole bottle?"

"You try getting his fucked-up ass in here!" Nat argues, shivering as she remembers the struggle the trio had to go through to even get Jackson into the room.

Erica taps on her arm with wide eyes, her eyes locked on Jackson, who is now raising out of his seat, his skin turning into dark-green scales.

Jackson screeches, his head swivelling in a crazed manner.

"Shit!" Nat exclaims, stumbling backwards in shock, "is he having an exorcism, or something!?"

"Um, okay, out! Everybody out!" Stiles yells, pushing Nat and Erica out of the door first, Isaac right behind him.

As soon as they get out, they slam their bodies back against the door in a botch-attempt at keeping Jackson inside the room.

"Okay, find something to move in front of the door..." Stiles directs. Before anyone can follow along with his order, the Kanima jumps out of the side of wall, his figure disappearing into the night as the group watch after him in shock.

"Well, fuck..." Nat pants, her head falling back against the door.

They lost him.

Again.

──────────────────

AFTER WHAT FEELS LIKE HOURS OF SEARCHING FOR THE KANIMA AMONGST THE CHAOS OF THE RAVE, STILES AND NAT EXIT THE CLUB.

"Where the fuck is he?" Nat groans.

Stiles shakes his head, running a hand over his buzzed hair in frustration, before nodding towards Derek, who quickly approaches the duo.

"Hey," Stiles greets as they fall into line beside the man, "So, um, we kind of lost Jackson inside, but it's-," Stiles stops himself when he sees Erica and Isaac exit the club, the latter bending down with a confused expression, "Oh, my God! It's working! Oh, this is-," Stiles grins, throwing his hands up in triumph as he turns to Nat with a proud gleam in his eyes, "I did something! "

Nat nods with a smile, not sure what exactly worked, but feeling happy for him either way, "That's great?"

"Scott?" Derek questions, his eyes set on the building in front of them, completely ignoring Stiles' excitement.

The two turn to look at him, both asking the same question simultaneously, "What?"

"Break it." Derek commands suddenly, his eyes never leaving the building in front of them.

Stiles scoffs, reluctant to break the barrier (they'd lose the Kanima, if they did!), "What? No way!"

Derek turns to Stiles furiously, his hand shooting out to point towards the building, "Scott's dying!"

Nat steps forward, her eyes widening, "What? How do you know?"

"Oh, my God," Derek groans, glaring at the duo, "I just know! Break it!"

Stiles bends down, not needing anymore motivation to break the barrier. Derek rushes forward into the building as soon as he does so, ignoring as Nat shouts after him, concerned for her friend.

Stiles grips nervously onto Nat's arm, hoping to find a sense of comfort in her presence as they watch Derek disappear.

Scott'll be fine.

Derek's probably overreacting.

Right?

──────────────────

WHEN NAT FINALLY SEES SCOTT, HER EYES WIDEN IN SHOCK.

His pale body lies still- too still- on Deaton's examination table. Nat trembles, not just in concern, but in anger.

She's gonna kill whoever did this.

Nat closes her burning eyes, inhaling deeply in an attempt compose herself before forcing her legs to move further into the dull room.

Derek sits beside Scott, his eyes never leaving the boy's limp form as she enters the room.

Nat winces slightly at Derek's appearance, his deathly-pale skin and sunken eyes make it look like he's the one who should be on the examination table, not Scott.

She collapses into the chair next to him, neither feeling the need to greet each other as they watch Scott's unconscious body.

"You're hurt." Derek speaks up after a while, his voice sounding tense.

"I'm fine," She mutters, her eyes never wavering from her friend for even a second, too afraid that if she does, something bad will happen to him. Again, "you look like shit, though."

In truth, Natalia had all but forgotten about her bleeding arm during the chaos that had erupted from Jackson's disappearance.

The reminder of it causes a searing pain to stab at her arm, mild agony pulsating in her veins.

Thanks a lot, Derek.

"You're bleeding." He observes, his eyes still on Scott.

"And, you're being more annoying than usual." Nat returns. Although her words are teasing, no emotion fills her voice- she's too exhausted to argue with the man, right now...

Derek raises to his feet and takes the bandages from the table beside Scott. He chucks it lightly to Nat, who catches it swiftly on instinct.

"Scott would kill me if he knew that I allowed you to get an infection and die at his bedside." Derek mumbles, slumping back into his chair.

Nat snorts lightly, "He wouldn't even hurt a fly-"

She freezes as the words leave her mouth, dropping the bandages Derek had given her onto her lap.

It's a known fact that Scott is...soft-hearted, for a lack of a better word.

The boy's a ray of sunshine that you can't help but want to love and protect.

It's what Nat likes most about him; his ability to be optimistic and hopeful towards everything that's thrown at him...

It's also what she hates most about him, too.

Scott's far too kind-hearted for his own good- too soft, for this harsh world.

Nat knows it, Stiles knows it, Derek knows it- and apparently his enemies know it now too.

They used his heart against him, and now he's lying unconscious on a metal examination table, wounds littering his skin...

Nat drops her head into her hands and tugs harshly at her hair, in an attempt to pull herself together, "Shit..."

Derek gently takes the bandages from her and unravels them, before carefully pulling her injured limb towards him. Nat tenses at the contact before relaxing slightly, allowing him to continue as she warily watches him from the corner of her eye.

He wraps the soft cotton around her arm without a word about her mini break down- something Nat is beyond thankful for (not that she'll ever say it though, of course).

The blood is mostly dried and he doesn't seem to care about wiping it off or disinfecting it (Nat charts that down to him being a wolf- it isn't like he needs to patch himself up every time he gets a cut, the lucky bastard).

"What happened in there?" Nat whispers, filling the deafening silence around them, "You both look like death."

"They used wolfsbane to try and kill him." Derek answers bluntly, ignoring her last comment.

Nat nods as silence washes over the room once more, the only sound being their joint breathing.

Derek pulls away from the girl and releases her arm gently to signify he's done as he drops the bandages back beside Scott.

"Thanks...," Nat mutters, moving her arm around slightly to circulate her blood, "Hey...He's gonna be okay, right?"

"Yeah...he'll be fine."

Nat nods once more, holding onto his words with all that she has.

She has to believe he'll be okay.

She needs him.

They all need him.

He's their light, their hope- her brother.

He's everything...

The two of them sit in a comfortable silence, the both of them staring down at Scott's limp form.

They need him...

──────────────────

(7009 words)
Written - 24/12/2022
Edited - 02/09/2023
Edited - 22/02/2024

author's notes,
Thanks for reading this emotional rollercoaster of a chapter lmao!
MERRY CHRISTMAS, HANUKKAH, WINTER SOLSTICE, KWANZA, etc... (depending on when you read this and if you celebrate it)!!!
I hope you all have an amazing day and enjoy this extra long chapter of bad rep in honour of Christmas!
I'm not sure if I'll upload next week so just in case I don't: happy new year!!
Thank you all so much for the support you've given me while writing this book! I honestly can't describe how happy it makes me to see you all enjoy my book. SO THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!! <333
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