"We have to get to the school."

Derek pushes open the doors to the morgue, stepping out into the hall. Satomi, Liam, and I follow close behind him, while Melissa and Deaton remain inside. They were going to stay at the hospital in hopes they could reach the sheriff and tell him about the reishi, as he was already on-site at the campus. 

Time was running out and if assassins were closing in, it was time to act. 

Satomi stops abruptly, causing the three of us to do the same.

"What about the others at Lookout Point?" she asks, referring to the rest of her pack.

"I'll take it there once we get it," I promise her. Satomi seems taken aback by the offer but gives me a thankful look for it as her surprise fades. 

Our attention drifts from one another when the elevator pings at the end of the hall. 

We all turn, searching for who was coming down to the morgue at this hour. I had assumed it would be a doctor or a janitor, but when the doors opened, we were only greeted by a slender blonde woman and a gun in her hands. 

She aims it directly at us, and time slows as she starts to rain fire. One shot comes after the other without hesitation. Derek leaps in front of Satomi, taking a bullet into his lower abdomen that would have pierced her chest if not for his sacrifice.

I reached behind me to unclasp my own gun from its holster and return fire, but a sudden force yanked me back before I could. Liam tackled me to the floor and pinned me between him and the base of the wall.

Realizing what he was doing, I try to shove him off. 

He was the one who was in real danger here. I should be the one covering him, but Liam uses his strength to prevent me from escaping his grip. I wrap my arms around him instead, pulling him tight against me. It's an attempt to do what I could to keep any stray bullets from harming him. 

Seconds last for hours. 

I squeeze my eyes shut and press my head into Liam's chest to dull the sound of gunfire. The shots soon die down, and all I'm left with is the thudding of Liam's heart. 

He doesn't remove himself from me, only lifts himself slightly to glance over his shoulder. I peer around him, too, stretching to see Satomi standing over the woman's body. There's a fatal wound on her neck, the result of Satomi stabbing it with a steel spike. The Alpha spins the weapon in her hand flawlessly as she pushes it back into her sleeve, ready for it to be used again if the situation arose. 

Deaton and Melissa charge out from the morgue now that the shots have ceased. The latter helps Derek up from the floor, and the three of them stand together to give Satomi a combined impressed once-over, as not a single shot landed on her as she took on the random assassin. 

Satomi smirks at them. "I may have learned to control my anger, but I still know how to use it."

"Well, alright then," Melissa laughs. 

My eyes leave them, returning to Liam who remains above me. He feels my stare and turns, his face hovering over mine, only a few breaths away. His hand that cradled my head when we fell comes to the side of my face, his touch light and filled with concern.

"You aren't hurt are you?" he asks softly, his breath tickling my skin.

"No, are you?" My question brought a gentle smile to his face and I could feel his thumb move slightly, as if stroking my face.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Liam, Jac?" Melissa calls for our attention. 

I look over Liam's shoulder again, finding four adults watching us with raised eyebrows. I can't help but feel mild embarrassment as I realize Liam and I are in an odd position now that there's no threat of imminent danger, yet we're still tightly embracing. 

I drop my arms from him and avert my eyes. Liam sheepishly clears his throat as he pushes off of me and stands, brushing off invisible dust from his clothes. He offers me a hand afterward, but I pretend not to notice and get up on my own, no matter how much I wished to accept. Being blanketed by his warmth and scent should have felt suffocating, but it didn't, and I had no idea how to handle that. 

"We need to get to Scott and the others," I say to Melissa and Deaton, getting back to business. 

"You guys call Parrish and have him help you with this," I add, gesturing to the woman's body. 

Parrish wasn't fully aware of the supernatural world, but he was on the Dead Pool which meant he was something. He had helped us before and wasn't as judgmental as the other deputies, so he was always the second option if the sheriff was preoccupied.

The two of them nod, allowing me to put my attention forward. 

I move to the elevator with Liam and Derek. Upon approach, my eyes scan the woman's body as she blocked the entryway to the lift. It was meant to be a brief once-over, but when I catch sight of her pistol, I freeze. 

I squat beside her to get a better look at the weapon, studying it. 

The extended magazine was an unusual choice for her concealed carry, and there was nothing about this woman that screamed trained assassin. She was seemingly a rookie who happened to get her hands on the list and took a chance at a couple of million dollars.

Even the trigger had unusual scuff marks around it, and I would bet that the pull weight had been lightened. In theory, that would have given her an advantage with accuracy and speed against any werewolf that tried to charge at her. A failed theory, of course.

"What's wrong?" Liam asks from behind me, curious as to why I stopped. 

"It's a modified pistol," I mutter, speaking more to myself than him.

"Is that important?" he continues. 

Before I can answer or even think about his question, Derek interrupts with a grunt. 

"We need to go. Now." He follows the command by punching the elevator button to reopen the doors. He steps inside without another word. 

Knowing he's right, I force myself to stand and join him, Liam following suit. 

There's a voice in the back of my mind that tells me not to let go of the woman and her weapon; that there's something wrong about it and her, but I ignore it. I needed to remain focused for the sake of Scott and the others. Nothing was more important than that. 

Derek's soft groans also help to ground me in the moment. 

I glance over at him as the elevator takes us back up to the lobby. He's pressing his hand against the area he was shot and his fingers are coated with fresh blood. It's not entirely bizarre for him to bleed, but that wound should have healed seconds after it was inflicted, not still affecting him. 

Derek notices me watching and drops his hand. He pretends he's not bothered by the gunshot and keeps his eyes forward, never looking at me again, and when the elevator finally stops and the doors open, he's the first one out. 

The main hallway of the lobby is chaos. People are screaming about the shots they heard just a few floors below, and the crowd is in a panic. Though, that makes it easier for the three of us to slip out undetected, because no one was paying us any mind.

We bolt out to the parking lot. Derek goes for his Cruiser while Liam and I hop onto my bike. I stay close to Derek when we pull onto the main road and drive toward the high school, not wanting to risk losing him, because the closer we got to the campus, the more packed the road became. A lot of people were heading to the school to witness whatever freakish outbreak was within its walls. Our saving grace was that the vault entrance was on the other end of campus from where everyone was gathered. 

Derek and I pull into the back lot, both parking sloppily next to the curb. 

The older wolf jumps from his car once he shuts it off and sprints through the campus tunnel, heading for the school sign. Liam and I aren't far behind, which is a surprise considering this was Derek Hale we had to keep up with. 

We stop together when we reach the entrance to the courtyard, staring at the giant concrete monument sign that marked its path. Liam and I do nothing, waiting for Derek to draw out his claws and unlock what only his DNA could. Though, as the seconds fly by, it becomes obvious there's something wrong. Derek simply stands before us, unmoving. 

I take a step close to him, finding him staring down at his hands. 

"Derek, open the vault," I demand gently. 

"I can't," he breathes out, his voice unnerved. It sends a chill down my spine. 

Kate's toying with his abilities had taken more than the color of his eyes. He was losing his power completely, and at a rapid pace, too. Lydia had used his name to open the last Dead Pool portion, and it dawned on me now that her banshee premonition might become a reality sooner than expected.

My mind races as I attempt to come up with a last-minute solution. 

There was no telling how far the poison had spread through our supernatural companions, as we didn't have eyes on them. We also couldn't open the vault to get the reishi since Liam and I weren't Hales. We could try and get Peter's aid, but he might not be able to get here in time, if he dared to come at all. 

The only other person in town that could open the vault was Malia, but she was somewhere in the school beyond knowledge, decaying. 

"Malia," I mutter as my thoughts linger on the coyote. 

Her genetics was an advantage to accessing the vault. It may have been useless to us as we couldn't reach her, but our friends would have used that. Stiles would have used that. He would have used her to get into the vault, isolating our friends from everyone, and any danger. They might even be beneath our feet at this very moment, unaware that a cure was within reach.

I turn away from Derek hurriedly, going up to Liam. 

"Can you hear them down there?" I ask him. 

He twitches with confusion, unsure of what my question meant. His eyes go from me to Derek over and over again, trying to piece together why the Hale was as still as stone.  

"What?" he retorts. 

I sigh, grabbing his arm to pull him away from Derek. It was to give both of them space, and save Derek a fraction of his pride. 

"Look, he can't open the vault, okay?" I admit in a low voice. Liam seems to want to ask more about what I mean but I continue before he can, as this wasn't the time to explain something I barely understood myself. 

"But I think they're down there already. Stiles would have figured it out. He would have kept them safe. I know it," I say, not a doubt within my claims. 

"Can you hear them?" I ask again, desperate for the truth. 

If Scott and the others hadn't made their way into the vault, I would have to break into the school. That wasn't something simple, as the campus was filled with extra officers and FBI, thanks to Agent McCall. If any one of them caught me trying to enter during a contained outbreak, I would be put in cuffs in an instant, and a lot of terrible consequences would follow when they tried to get my parents to come down to the station to have a chat over my behavior. 

I couldn't ask Derek to pretend to be my father again, not in a building full of people already aware of his record and history. 

"Liam?" I press as he doesn't make any moves to act. 

His expression is nervously apprehensive, and he bows his head to avoid my eyes.  

"Jac, I can't do that yet," he confesses somberly. 

"I'm sorry." 

I shake my head at his sorrow, refusing to give up. I had spent enough time with wolves and other supernatural beings to understand their inner workings. I always debated whether or not I would actually be able to comprehend those methods and be successful with them, but now was as good a time as any to try. 

I witnessed Stiles teach Malia the very thing I was asking of Liam. He helped her hone her hearing that day at the Calavera's compound. It didn't truly work until she kissed him, and I wasn't going to do that, but the method he used with that action seemed effective.

I place my hands on Liam's upper arms, making him look at me, and only me. 

"Alright, breathe with me, okay?" I insist. 

He nods hesitantly, unsure of where this was going, but does as I say. 

Together, we share every breath. I do that in hopes that he'll calm down and be able to ground himself. It's an effort that becomes difficult as his body is only a step away from mine, and his eyes drop to my chest to keep up with my breathing. I have the urge to turn away and separate myself from him, but I bury that down. 

"Focus on something. Look at my eyes, and focus," I instruct, repeating after Stiles. 

Liam's gaze falls in line with mine for the most part, but it slips as I speak. His eyes drop to my lips, concentrating on every word that leaves them.

"Focus on the sound of my voice," I say, my voice coming out softer than I expected because of how thrown his actions make me. 

He moves closer, his hands coming to cup my elbows. I visibly stutter because of it, shocked at such a delicate and forward action. Liam doesn't falter. In fact, his anxiety seems to have dissipated. It inspires me to keep going. 

"Now think about one person or even an emotion. Use that to hold yourself down, keep yourself in control, and cut out all the other noise," I add, using the technique Scott had created for himself. 

Liam closes his eyes, listening to my commands. His breathing is still synced to mine, and his fingers press themselves further into my arms as he unintentionally draws me into a close embrace. I watch him silently, my face merely an inch from his. His eyes twitch as he tries to maintain balance over his control. My attention soon falls to his lips without thinking, and I find myself leaning toward them. 

"Find your anchor, Liam," I whisper against him, my mouth grazing his cheek. 

His eyes flutter open, golden irises illuminating his face. 

"I hear them," he murmurs, oddly calm. It makes me almost confused for a split second, forgetting what we were doing in the first place. When it comes back to me I feel my body grow rigid with tension. 

"Scott?" I ask. 

Liam nods fervently and clears his throat, as if everything's coming back to him, too. 

"I hear him down there. Scott's down there," he rushes out.

I don't even think before I retract myself from him and drop to the ground. I'm unbothered by how insane I appear and get as close to the pavement beneath me as possible, hoping those under us would be able to hear my pleas. 

"Scott!" I scream like a madwoman. 

"The cure is reishi! They're mushrooms, they're on a shelf in there with you!" 

Liam comes to my side, kneeling on the ground with me. 

"Scott, get up," he calls to his Alpha. "Get up!" 

Nothing happens, and all that I hear is silence. I clench my fist and drive it into the ground, sending powerful thuds into the earth to aid our cause. 

"Get your ass up, McCall!" I demand hotly, continuously slamming my hand into the pavement. Liam does the same but I barely process his actions or screams in the face of my own. 

The feeling of deja vu lingered in my mind as I thought back to when I lost my mother. I pounded my fist against the glass wall of the cell until my fists became raw and bloodied, then continued to beat them after. Now I was doing the same as my friends slipped away from me right beneath my feet.

I wouldn't lose them as I lost her. I wouldn't let someone steal them from me.

"Please," I beg Scott and anything out there that would tip the scales of the universe in our favor. 

The ground shaking beneath us makes Liam pull me back. He yanks me onto a patch of nearby grass, both of us landing on our backs as the school's sign twists, and reveals a hole in the ground. Liam and I stare in amazement as a staircase appears only a few feet from where we had just been crouching. 

Derek doesn't hesitate any longer as he races inside. Liam and I follow, picking ourselves up. 

Scott lies at the base of the steps. Derek goes to his side, helping him sit up. I bolt to his other side and support his head as Derek drags him to a nearby shelf to rest. Beside it, there's a broken glass jar, the mushrooms that had once been inside of it now on the floor. 

Despite being sweaty and abnormally pale with swollen eyes, Scott beams. 

"I told you to stay at the house," he murmurs. 

I laugh brokenly at his words, reaching for his face with my sleeve. I wipe away the dampness on his forehead so it wouldn't drip into his eyes. I wanted them to remain open for as long as possible. 

"Couldn't let you have all the fun," I reply, my voice shaking as my nerves settle.

"Scott! Scotty!" Stiles shouts from a place beyond the vault. It comes from the far wall, followed by dense thuds. 

Derek looks away from Scott, his eyes finding Liam's. 

"There's a lever behind that pillar." He points to the aforementioned location. "Pull it counterclockwise to let him in."

Liam doesn't fight the instruction and goes. I move, too, only so I can check on Malia and Kira. I go to the kitsune first, as Malia was already sitting up on her own. She had her back to us so I couldn't see her face, but her shoulders moved evenly to show she was breathing normally, so I wasn't too worried. 

Kira groans as I prop her up against a pillar, not letting her lie on the grimy floor. 

"Is Scott okay?" she pants. 

I brush back her hair from her face, not at all bothered by the sweat.

"He's fine, you rest," I order gently. 

A loud cranking noise emits from where Liam turns the lever. One of the walls of the vault begins to shift as the pavement had, revealing a random hallway in the basement of the high school. Stiles was on his knees on the other side, and I instantly take note of the blood splatter against his upper body. There was also blood on his face, too, but it was streaked because he wiped it away.

I push away from Kira, running to him. I slide on my knees as I drop in front of his form, my hands going to his shoulders and eyes scanning every inch of his body for injuries. Stiles places his hands over mine, calm. 

"It's not mine," he says grimly. 

His voice with heavy with tension, but also relief. I don't question him over what happened, only pat his arms comfortingly as I'm relieved to see him, too. 

"Stiles," Scott croaks from behind us. Stiles' eyes pass me, searching for his best friend. 

Scott has risen from his seated position and started to limp over to Stiles and I, his weakened state not keeping him from seeing the Stilinski boy before me. Stiles instantly shoots up to greet him. The two boys share a brief pause before reaching out and embracing one another. I watch them fondly, that feeling of dread I had earlier fleeting away in their company.

When they pull back from each other, Scott goes to Kira, while Stiles goes to Malia. Kira and Scott hug, too. Stiles doesn't wrap Malia in his arms, though. He crouches in front of her and says her name a few times since her attention wasn't even on him. She was staring off into space. She doesn't even move until he reaches for her shoulder, and her hand comes up to take hold of his wrist and stop him, and then push him away. 

She doesn't say anything as she stands and heads for the exit of the vault. 

"Malia?" I call out, but she doesn't stop. She only walks away without spare glances or explanation. 

Stiles drops to the floor upon her retreat, making us all turn to him. He sits there with his head in his hands, a crumpled piece of paper clenched within his fist. The Dead Pool. My throat clenches with regret as I realize Malia has just discovered we'd been lying to her for months.

We all stare at Stiles in shock no one moves as that sensation of loss kicks in. It's a familiar feeling to us by now, a darkness that we could only welcome as an old friend; a void.

~

||| A/N |||

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