⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀   ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
——

⠀⠀⠀   ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
.*･｡. AN ODE TO CLARK KENT .*･｡.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

008.
TERRIBLE IDEAS.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

——

    "Does anyone else think that is a terrible idea—?" Lois panted as she lifted more ice into the tub, "And we're all gonna die?"

   It all gave her a bizarre sense of déjà vu.

   This whole situation reminded her of when they had gone to break Isaac Lahey out of his jail cell, on the night of his first full moon. Almost six months had passed since that day, and yet here they still were: with Isaac Lahey and Derek Hale. And they were still doing something stupid.

    Lois couldn't believe it.

   Heather had gone missing, after her seventeen birthday. None of her friends had seen her since she had greeted Stiles Stilinski and his girlfriend, and then gone down to the cellar to get more wine for the guests. Apparently she had planned to lose her virginity on that night — but Stiles had been the person she'd had in mind and upon meeting his pretty girlfriend, her plan was soiled. They had said that she wanted to find someone else, instead. And even if it wasn't his fault, Stiles still felt extremely guilty.

   He needed to find Heather, preferably before something terrible happened to her first. They had been friends at childhood, and he felt like he owed it to her. According to his father, and what he had told Stiles earlier that day, he had been the last person to see her.

   Following that debacle, and after Lois had won the chance of no popquiz the next day, she had found herself in the library with the girls; Allison, Luna and Lydia. It was during lunch — when Lois should have been in her detention, but skipped and thus hid in the safety of the library — and rather than getting any extra studying done, the four had spoken more about the bruises on Lydia and Allison's wrists. While Lois admittedly couldn't see anything in the bruises themselves, she was able to see that they were similar, if not identical, when Lydia drew around the marks with ink. None of them had many bright ideas until Lydia had slinked away to hit it off with something even more identical and left her coffee cup as the only thing in her wake.

   Allison had picked up the cup when Lydia was talking to Aiden, Peter and Ethan snickering from the sidelines and making kissing faces like children, and pitched an idea about the bruises not being a symbol but rather a logo — it was a good idea, and Luna wasted no time in helping her look up the all of the business logos for any shop, or company, inside of Beacon Hills. Lois had thought it was a bit of a rogue idea, but she had been caught by Harris before she'd had the chance to tell them that it was kind of far-fetched.

   There were hundreds of businesses within Beacon Hills. Over the course of her lunch detention, she had listed every single one that she could remember and gave it to them after school.

   But what had lead her up to now, was the bright idea of Scott McCall.

   It was no secret that memory hunting inside of Isaac's mind had failed to give Derek and Peter a real sense of what had happened the night that the beta had been saved by an unknown girl. The memories had been too unreachable, and Peter had only a vague idea of how the timeline had gone. It was still a mystery.

   Scott had been quick to realise who might have been able to help them, and Lois was impressed. Studying had helped him.

   So, that was why the trio were stood in Beacon Hills's veterinary clinic; emptying bags of ice into an already freezing tub of water, one that Isaac Lahey would soon clamber into with the intentions of accessing his memories.

   That was if he didn't die from hypothermia first, of course.

   Oh— and Derek Hale was there, too.

    "No offence, gumdrop— but I think my life is the one at risk."

   Lois glowered at him, were they back to gumdrop, again?

Even after all that they had been through together last year, Lois Lane and Isaac Lahey still couldn't get along.

They had realised that when Isaac and Derek had walked in, and Lois had instinctively narrowed her eyes. He had noticed the changed in her heart rate and the way she smelled of loathing; it had made him grin, eyes twinkling in mischief. Of course, they didn't hate each other — neither of them would have gotten out of sophomore year unscathed if they hadn't had the other, and for that they were both grateful.

What Lois wasn't grateful for, however, was the way that Isaac looked even better than she had remembered. No leather jacket, no irritating smirk. In fact, Isaac looked eerily similar to how he had done at the underground rave. She figured that the leather had made a sweet departure when she had shot an arrow-sized hole through it when protecting Lydia, and she was glad. But, in a way, she wished that he was wearing it. She wished that he still had his pompous attitude as well, rather than the attitude he had at the moment: sarcastic, defensive, and writhing in genuine fear. This was a side of Isaac that was more than the front he had put on in response to getting the bite. There was more substance, more true emotion. It was a glimpse of the original Isaac Lahey.

Lois hadn't seen him act like that since the rave, and since he had saved her life. Seeing him like that had brought back all of the memories from those nights — and Lois didn't like it.

She didn't like how she felt, thinking about them.

Deaton intervened their foreshadowed bickering, "Obviously, it's not going to be particularly comfortable..." he noticed Isaac nod his head and decided he was following well, "...but if we can slow your heart rate down enough, you'll slip into a trance-like state."

"Like, being hypnotized?" The beta said, approaching the tub.

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

Now finished with the bags of ice, nothing but empty bags and puddles of water staring up at them, Scott turned to Deaton and rose a brow, "How slow does his heart rate need to be?"

"Very slow."

"Okay— well, how slow is very slow?" Derek asked.

"Nearly dead."

Lois almost choked on air. She shared an uncertain looked with Scott, then looked down at where Isaac was watching the water.

He dipped a hand in and immediately winced, flinching back at the low temperature. A grimace was clear on his face as he moved away hesitantly, and stared up at Deaton with an uncertain smile. It was obvious that he wasn't sure.

"It's safe, though..." he paused, "Right?"

"Do you want me to answer, honestly?" Deaton hummed.

Isaac slowly shook his head.

"No— no, not really."

   If Lois wasn't already convinced that the idea was terrible and that someone really was going to die tonight, she was now. This seemed like an awful lot of risk and not much reward. At least, not enough to balance the two out. Sure, they might find out whether Isaac had found Boyd and Erica, but, on the flip side, he could die as a result of it.

   She was up for a good gamble, and she had one earlier that day, but this didn't feel like a game of chance anymore.

   And she certainly wasn't feeling very lucky.

   A smack! brought them out of their silent state. They all turned to see Stiles with a rubber glove on his arm, smiling proudly as he wiggled his fingers. Lois scoffed.

"...what?" Stiles seemed shocked to find them all staring, but he soon realised his mistake and rolled his eyes as he took it back off.

"Are you an idiot?" Lois hissed.

He tried to defend himself, "I was just—!"

"Look, if it feels too risky—" Derek interrupted their squabble and turned to Isaac. He sighed, staring down at the ice batch and then back to his beta. For the first time, Lois saw Derek Hale look torn for what to do. He really did care about his betas, "—then you don't have to do this."

Another silence passed, all of them focused on Isaac. A part of Lois secretly hoped that he wouldn't do it — a larger part than she ever wished to admit — even if she did want to find Erica and Boyd. Doing this could get Isaac killed. As much as she didn't like the boy, she didn't want him to die in an ice bath. Especially not right in front of her! That sounded traumatising, and sad, and she really didn't want it to happen. She wondered whether searching through logos with Luna and Allison, or staying at Lydia's for the night, would have been a better option than this one.

Isaac stood up and sucked in a breath; he lifted his shirt above his head and put one leg over the tub.

As soon as his skin met the water, had he begun to shiver. It was like his whole body was convulsing, trembling. Hiding a chill that ran down her spine when his lips turned blue, Lois took a step to the left, closer to Stiles. She didn't feel very safe, as she stared.

With a silent count to three, Scott and Derek gave each other a nod and pushed the boy down by his shoulders. Isaac was quickly submerged in the water and Lois' heart stopped.

Bad memories came to mind when she saw him go under.

Stiles grabbed her hand.

The beta launched himself out of the water faster than he had gone under — amber eyes and fangs, a roar echoing through the room and sending Lois into shock. Scott and Derek gripped onto Isaac's shoulder harder as they attempted to push him back down, and even Stiles threw himself into the action by grabbing his legs to stop him from kicking. Lois felt sick to her stomach, frozen.

"Get him back under!" Deaton told them.

Isaac went down and then came back up, again.

"Hold him—!"

Derek clenched his teeth, "We're trying!"

They needed more hands.

Unable to watch and do nothing, Lois contained her anxieties and pushed past Derek, to the spot between him and Scott at the top of Isaac's head.

"Lois, move—!"

She ignored them and whispered a word of encouragement to herself, then placed her hands either side of Isaac's neck. With a sharp intake of breath, Lois pushed him down and into the tub with all of her might. She ignored the thrashing, and the growls, and the sharp teeth and haunting eyes. Lois focused on keeping him under the water and slowly, Isaac started to calm.

When all movement has ceased, the group watched Isaac's body float back to surface. He took in a breath. His eyes were still shut.

    "Now, remember—" Deaton spoke as soon as they were certain Isaac wouldn't only lurch back into action. His tone was soft and light, and he whispered his next instructions: "—only I talk to him. Too many voices will confuse him, and draw him out."

   They nodded obediently. Lois sent a pointed look to Stiles that he returned.

    "Isaac?" The man hummed, "Can you hear me?"

    "Yes..." Isaac said, "I can hear you."

    "This is Dr Deaton, I'd like to ask you a few questions." He waited a moment with no response, "Is that alright?"

    "Yes."

    "I want to ask you about the night you found Erica and Boyd. I want you to remember it for me in as vivid detail as possible," his words stopped and he paused for a short second, to make sure that Isaac wasn't overwhelmed. Deaton continued after he was positive that the beta was calm, "Like you're actually there, again."

   Isaac's face screwed up, "I— I don't wanna do that. I don't—"

   The lights started to flicker as he started to move around, his fingers firmly curled around the rim of the tub. Lois' eyes flickered to Scott's in hope of some reassurance.

    "I don't wanna do that, I don't wanna do that—!"

    "Isaac, it's alright— just relax,"

   But the boy was too worked up again, to calm down. Isaac's breaths grew shallow and uneven as he started to hyperventilate. Scott and Derek held him down as his arms wavered, sending waves of water into his mouth. Lois worried that he would start to choke if they didn't keep his head above the surface. She quickly reached out and lifted his head, tilting it back.

   At her touch, he seemed to soften. Deaton noticed.

    "They're just memories," he hushed, "You can't be hurt by a memory."

   But Isaac was persistent, "I don't wanna do that—!"

    "It's alright, sh..."

    "I— I don't wanna do that..."

    "Relax, relax— alright," Deaton waited until Isaac had fully settled, and he no longer reached to be let out of the tub. It took a minute but he no longer wriggled and squirmed, "Good. Now, let's go back to that night; to the place you found Erica and Boyd."

   Taking his silence as permission, he continued, "Can you tell me what you see? Is there some kind of building? Maybe a house?"

    "It's not— it's not a house. It's stone," Isaac's eyes darted around beneath his eyelids, "I think it's marble."

    "That's perfect. Can you give me any other descriptors?"

   The group kept their hands on him, gently grazing his skin as they listened closely, afraid to let go incase he caused injury to anyone else, or even to himself. Lois didn't want to let him go.

    "It's dusty...and empty." His brow furrowed as he thought about it. It was strange to see him unconscious and speaking, and yet so very intriguing all at the same time. The droplets of water were hit by the light and his face seemed to twinkle; it was like watching a starlit sky that was in so much distress. As if the sun had come without warning, and threatened to steal their night-sky away from them, and claim the moon as his own. Isaac was so very hard in thought, "Like an abandoned building...?"

He didn't say anything, and Deaton pursed his lips. "Isaac?"

Lois watched the beta start to scramble.

"Someone's here— someone's here!"

"Isaac, relax—"

A cry passed his lips and he clutched onto Lois's wrist, her hand still by his face. Isaac held onto it tightly and she tried to hold back a wince. He was just frightened.

"No, no, no—!" He near sobbed, "They see me, they see me!"

"Just memories, you won't be hurt by your memories." With a soothing breath, Deaton shook his head. "Just relax..."

And once again, Isaac did.

Eyes wide, Lois realised that Isaac had yet to let go of her wrist. His grip wasn't so tight, but more like the one on your mother's hand when you were trying not to get lost in a crowd. When you were seeking comfort. Isaac was lost, in the place that his mind had returned him to, and he was afraid. She couldn't bring herself to shake it off — not when his lip quivered. Lois squeezed it.

"Good..." Order was under control, and the vet wasted no time in returning to the questions that he had lined up, just as calm and serene as he had been before. "Now, tell us what you see, Isaac. Tell us everything."

"I hear him— I hear Boyd." Isaac recalled, "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, I can't see either of them."

"Can you hear anything else?"

"They're worried... they're worried what they'll do during the moon." The boy recited their words, "They— they're worried that they're gonna hurt each other."

"If they're locked in together on the full moon, they're gonna tear each other apart." Derek sighed quietly.

Lois knew that was bad. If they were stuck in the same room, it meant that if they lost control then they would thirst for flesh and blood. In that room, the only flesh and blood would be each other.

She didn't like the sound of this. She didn't like the sound of this, at all. Lois was tempted to cover her ears and block out any chance of Erica and Boyd ripping each other to pieces. It made her feel sick and she almost heaved, but Lois forced herself to keep listening. If there was a way to stop them, they needed to know.

"Isaac— we need to find them, right now. Can you see them?"

"No..."

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

As if it were a trigger, Isaac suddenly sat upright and his eyes snapped open. Lois' body lurched with him and she almost fell right into the bath, gasping at the cold water as it swallowed her hand.

"They're here."

Panic swelled in Lois' chest.

"They— they... theyre'—!"

"It's alright, Isaac—"

"No! No—" he whimpered, sliding back into the tub.

"Just tell us—"

"They see me!" Isaac screamed. He squeezed Lois' wrist and shook his head. He didn't hear Lois seethe in pain, "They found me— they're here!"

Derek took matters into his owns hands, "This isn't working!"

   Lois ground her teeth when Isaac gripped her wrist so hardly that it was sure to bruise, and she hissed when Derek started to speak to Isaac, even though they had specifically been told not to.

    "Isaac!" He didn't seemed to care, "Isaac, where are you?"

    "I can't see them—!" Isaac shouted, "It's too dark!"

   Scott shot out to grab Isaac's wrist as he subconsciously yanked Lois closer to the tub, unknowing of what was happening as he thrashed about and cried. The girl cried out in pain when Derek shouted at him again. Isaac panicked even more, moving in all directions in attempt to escape his confinement, and Scott fought against him when Lois nearly slipped.

    "Just tell me, where you are!"

    "You are confusing him," Deaton scolded. He wanted to gain the control again, before something bad happened, "It's not safe."

    "I can't see!"

    "Isaac, where are you?" Derek was almost pleading with him at this point, "Just tell me where you are—"

    "His heart rate—" the vet snapped, "—he could go into shock!"

   Scott took his chance, "Derek, let him go!"

    "Isaac—!"

    "Derek, stop it!" Lois shouted, desperately. Her wrist ached but what hurt more was her heart — none of them could help Isaac out of his panicked state, not unless his alpha stopped speaking and left it to Deaton. "He's gonna get hurt!"

    "Isaac, where are you? What did you see?"

    "A vault!"

   With a deep breath, Isaac shot up. He let go of Lois' wrist as he sat straight, gasping for air. Lois fell backwards and slipped on the water beneath her feet, and she hit the ground with a thump!

    "Lois—!" Stiles shouted for her.

   She didn't hear the next bit, too in a daze from her fall.

   But when the world stopped humming and she came back to, Lois tuned back in to Isaac's rambling and everyone else's forlorn faces. As Scott carefully helped her up, Lois Lane wondered what she could have possibly missed.

    "It's a bank vault! I saw it! I saw the name. It's, uh—" Isaac screwed up his face harshly, "—Beacon Hills first national bank! It's, um—it's an abandoned bank, and they're keeping them locked inside! Inside the vault—!" He trailed off, frowning to himself as he took in the scene around him. Water was everywhere, and no one looks too enthused by his breakthrough, and Lois Lane was being helped off of the floor — why was Lois on the floor? He wasn't sure why, but Isaac's heart sank, "What? What is it?"

    "You don't remember what you said, right before you came out of it—" Stiles spoke with a clogged throat, "—do you?"

   Isaac shook his head and wrapped a towel around himself as he was helped out of the tub by Derek. He became even more confused, "No,"

    "You said..." Stiles glanced at the others with uncertainty in his eyes, and both Lois and Isaac noticed it, "You said when they captured you, that they dragged you into a room and that there was a body in it."

   Gut twisting, Lois rubbed at her wrist. She didn't want to think the worst but she couldn't help it. A body. There was a body. And something told her that it was the body of someone they'd known well; the body of a teenager, of a kid that didn't deserve to die. It told her that the body belonged to a member of Derek Hale's own pack. It belonged to one of them. Lois knew it.

   Isaac paled, "What body?"

    "Erica."

   Scott held onto Lois as she tried not to puke.

    "You said it was Erica."

——

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀   ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀