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.*･｡. AN ODE TO CLARK KENT .*･｡.
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009.
STATEMENTS.
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——

"You're cold and wet, Lo—"

"You sound like my dad, Stiles."

"That's because he's a very smart man."

Lois rolled her eyes.

"Does it hurt?" Stiles glanced at her wrist, noticing the light purple tinge that had started to swell. He clicked his tongue and glared at Isaac, who sat with Scott. "I'm gonna kill him."

"It's fine," she told him. Her eyes flickered to the state of her wrist and she forced a smile, "I'm fine."

The truth was, her wrist did hurt. Not enough for it to be broken, and there was no permanent or lasting damage, but it was bruising pretty quickly and it caused her whole forearm to ache. Lois would have to think of an excuse to give her father when he inevitably noticed the injury, but that could wait. Right now, they needed to establish what Isaac had said in his half-conscious state — which was going to be rather hard. He'd said a lot, after all.

Lois felt bad for Isaac. He'd been in distress during his time in the water, and she could only imagine how horrifying it had been to venture back into the worst memories in your mind. Much less to come back to, and learn that you had seen a fellow beta dead.

Erica Reyes was dead.

While she didn't want to believe it, Lois knew that he had been right. She had an awful feeling in her chest. Isaac's memories did not lie — if he had seen Erica's body, then there was no doubt the girl had passed. Lois hadn't liked Erica in her time that she'd been a werewolf, but there was more to her than that. Before that, Erica had been sweet and shy, and lost in this world; she had been trying to find her place in a world that was cruel to her, with cruel people and cruel opinions. All Erica had really wanted was to fit in, and that had gotten to her head. Being a werewolf had made each of the kids in Derek's pack feel untouchable. And for a short while, they had been. Erica Reyes had changed, perhaps not for the best, but she had just wanted to be happy.

But now, she was dead. And Lois felt sick to her stomach.

If Erica was dead, Lois wondered what would happened to Boyd. It was likely that he would end up the same way, if they didn't do something.

Peering down at her wrist and then to Isaac Lahey, a towel on his shoulders and knees pressed to his chest, Lois breathed a sigh.

"He didn't mean to, Stiles." Lois felt Stiles' eyes on her as she spoke, but she struggled to pull her own away from the beta. He looked sad, as if she was lost in his thoughts and not really there at all, anymore. Lois figured he must have been traumatised — she would have been. "He was just scared; it wasn't his fault."

As much as he didn't want to, Stiles nodded, "Yeah— I know,"

She stared up at him, through her lashes.

"What are we going to do?"

"I'm not really sure, yet."

After that, the two lapsed into silence. There was nothing left to be said, so they didn't try to say anything at all. They didn't force out words, or ideas, or make so much as a noise. Lois and Stiles sat in silence while he checked her for other injuries.

When he was certain that all she had sustained from her fall was a bruised wrist and probably a bruised tailbone, Stiles patted her on the knee and she jumped down from where she'd been sat on Deaton's operating table. Stiles wandered off to Scott to try and see what bright ideas he had, if any at all, while Lois lingered for a moment or two. Eventually she hummed and made for the same counter that Isaac was perched upon. He was still lost in thought, so Lois decided that sitting next to him wouldn't be too bad. He'd be less annoying if he stayed silent, she had figured.

Neither of them said anything when she pulled herself onto the counter, sitting herself with a fair distance between them.

Lois winced at the pain in her wrist.

"I did that, didn't I?"

But she didn't answer him. Not when Derek shook his head at something that Deaton had said, clearly unhappy with whatever it was. Then again, when was Derek Hale ever happy?

"She's not dead!" He shook his head, arms crossed.

Isaac tensed, fingers gripping onto his towel, and Lois noticed. She bit her lip, wondering if she should do something. But there was nothing for her to do — what would she do? Hug him and tell him that it'd be okay?

"Derek, he said, there's a dead body. It's Erica." Stiles told him, now seated near Lois. His eyes glanced amongst the group as he recited Isaac's words, and they all sighed at how little he had cushioned the blow. There had been no sugarcoating with Stiles; rather, he spoke his mind like he always did. It wasn't always the best route to take. "Doesn't exactly leave us much room for interpretation."

"Then, who was in the vault with Boyd?"

He had a point.

If Erica was dead, her body in a different room, then who was in the vault? Isaac had said he'd heard Boyd talking to someone, and if it wasn't Erica, then who was it? Derek had no other beta's, and they didn't know any other werewolves in Beacon Hills other than Peter Hale, who it definitely wasn't, and Jackson Whittemore, who had left for London months ago. Other than that, there was no one else for it to be. The only other girl to have been bitten was Lydia, and she hadn't turned. In fact, they still didn't really know what had happened to Lydia. Other than resurrecting Peter Hale with the use and manipulation of Derek, nothing more had happened since that night at the winter formal. Lois had briefly wondered if anything ever would.

Stiles shrugged, "Someone else, obviously."

"Hey— maybe it was the girl on the motorcycle," Scott turned to Isaac, "The one who saved you?"

"No... she wasn't like us." Isaac shook his head, now out of his thoughts and in the current conversation. He pursed his lips as he tried to recall, "And whoever was in the vault with Boyd was."

"How is that possible?" It was finally Lois' turn to speak. She felt all eyes cast to her, but she didn't care. By now, Lois was used to speaking up when she didn't understand something. Usually it was valid, and something no one else understood either. "There aren't any other wolves in Beacon Hills, are there?"

"Not other than that alpha pack," said Derek. "Not that we know of."

"What if that's how Erica died? In the vault with Boyd?" Hands open to express his new idea, Stiles nodded to himself while they all listened. "They, like— pit them against each other during the full moons, and see which one survives."

Lois wrinkled her nose, "Like werewolf thunderdome?"

"Then, we get them out tonight." Derek instructed. He wasn't convinced that it would be exactly like thunderdome, but he had a feeling that Stiles' idea wasn't so far-fetched. If they were trapped in a room during the full moon, there was no telling what Boyd and his companion would do to each other. They had no time to waste — ripping each other to shreds wasn't an option.

"Be smart about this, Derek." The man had been quiet for a while, but Deaton chimed in, "You can't just go storming in."

Clearly he didn't know Derek Hale, very well.

Derek was the king of storming into places — particularly the places that he wasn't supposed to be. After all, Derek Hale had his own way about life and that was how he lived. He had his will and he had his way, and he always would. And that was Derek Hale.

"If Isaac got in, then so can we."

"But he didn't get through a vault door, did he?"

While Derek huffed in defeat, glowering at the man, Lois had to agree with Deaton.

"And Isaac can't even remember how he got in," she added onto the conversation. In her peripheral, Isaac was watching her but she did her best to ignore it. "Where would we even start?"

"You wouldn't start, anywhere." Derek told her. He had never really told her what to do before, especially not when she had her mind set on something, so it was strange — the almost parental expression adorning his face. She blinked in surprise; he couldn't tell her what to do, yet he was trying. Derek shook his head once more as he saw the disbelief and irritation in her eyes, "You're not going anywhere near that bank, Lois. Neither is Stiles."

"Uh— I think Lois and Stiles can speak for themselves," Stiles scoffed at him, "Alright? Nice try, though. Very convincing."

"You're not going," Scott told them, "We need a plan."

Unable to argue with Scott, Lois rolled her eyes. She played with the hem of her shirt while Stiles took to his phone, looking up the bank at question.

"How are we gonna come up with a plan to break into a bank vault in less than twenty-four hours?" Again, Derek had a point.

"You could start by walking through the front door...?" Her idea seemed to strike up ridiculing expressions. "I mean— it's gotta be abandoned for a reason, right? It'll be empty. Doors are probably bolted or they're chained, so take some bolt cutters, snap that son of a bitch open and then you're inside." Lois realised that they were enticed and now expecting her to come up with the next part of the plan, the one where they got into the actual vault, to which she puckered her lips and shook her head. "The vault part... I'm not sure. You're on your own there, boys."

The boys groaned.

"I, uh— I think someone already did break in." They all looked to Stiles as he read search results off of his phone, "Beacon Hills first national closes its doors three months after vault robbery. It doesn't say here how it was robbed, but it probably won't take long to find out."

Lois thought that it was quite convenient, but stayed quiet.

But Derek seemed intrigued, "How long?"

Stiles laughed, but realised he wasn't joking.

"It's the internet, Derek..." When Derek raised his eyebrows, the boy sighed, "Okay? Minutes."

"Sounds like information they'd inclose, Stiles. Y'know—" Lois said with squinted brown eyes, "—to not give ideas to anyone else wanting to commit a bank robbery!"

   Pursed lips, Scott nodded: "I think Lois has a point, Stiles..."

"It'll be out there somewhere— alright?" The boy rolled his eyes at their skepticism and waved a hand, "We've just gotta look."

Eventually the group disbanded, having decided that perhaps Stiles' idea wasn't so far-fetched, and agreed to try and have a plan of sorts set up by the next day. Any later, and they would have to try and save Boyd and this other girl on a whim — winging it was the last option, and Lois knew that Derek had never been afraid of winging it, before. She hoped for everyone else's sake that they'd come up with a plan, long prior to winging it becoming an actual opinion. Breaking into a vault didn't seem right to freestyle.

Lois was about to follow Scott and Stiles out to the jeep, but found herself being tugged back, a gentle grasp on her bruised wrist.

"Hey— uh, about earlier..."

She turned on her heel and rose a brow.

"I—" Isaac shrugged awkwardly, "Well, I'm sorry."

Nodding her head, Lois acknowledged his apology. She wasn't particularly angry about it, seeing as he had no idea what he was doing, but she had appreciated it. Another moment passed and she looked down at his hand.

"Stop doing that."

"Doing what?"

Lois narrowed her eyes and his gaze followed hers as she again looked down at his hand, where a light grey hue passed his veins.

Immediately, Isaac took his hand away from her wrist. For a moment he looked like he was about to say something, but Lois didn't wait to hear it. Rather, she turned around and left.

• • •

Upon getting home, Lois had wasted no time in scouring the internet. While she didn't think that the information about how the guy committed the bank robbery would be out there, she still has to at least try. Boyd's life was kinda of counting on it.

It had taken hours to so much as find the guy's name.

Lois had a feeling that she wouldn't find anything to do with this bank robbery other than clickbait titles, and biased news reporting.

She glanced out of her window and noticed that Scott and Stiles were both sat in his room, just as she was in hers, searching far and wide for the slightest lead.

The girl yawned and rubbed at her tired eyes. It was late, and she needed a break to get up from her desk and move around; her butt had gone numb two hours prior, and she hadn't had a drink for what felt like weeks. So, with another look at Scott and Stiles, Lois left her room and stumbled down the stairs in search of a late night snack and a coffee. She hadn't expected anyone to be in the kitchen, and didn't register any other being as she beelined for the coffee machine and clicked it on, and then opened the fridge.

She hummed.

"If I was gonna rob a stone vault, how would I do it...?"

"If you're planning to rob a bank, you can find a new lawyer."

Lois jumped, dropping the pot of leftovers as she rushed to cover the shriek from her mouth with her hand. The pot hit the floor with a smack! and the food scattered. She breathed a curse.

"Hungry, Lo?" Matthew Lane rose an amused brow and sipped at his mug of tea.

"Not anymore," his daughter rolled her eyes and bent down to the clean the mess on the floor. "What are you doing awake?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Touché."

Her father chuckled. Standing from his seat, Matthew made his way over to Lois and helped her clean up the mess. It didn't take them long, and when they had finished so had her coffee. The man poured a cup for her which she sipped greedily, but Lois had heard him sigh. She could tell there was a lecture coming, and she mentally prepared herself for it. Any minute.

"You shouldn't drink coffee this late, you won't sleep."

There it was.

Lois shrugged, "I'm doing some research. I think sleep is the last thing that I need, right now, dad."

"Can't it wait?"

"It needs to be done by tomorrow."

Matthew watched her with curiosity. He waited to see if she would let on to what this research actually was, whether it was a study for school or if it was something that he really wished that it wasn't. But he was smart, and he had a feeling that this research was going to be exactly what he thought that it was. What with the deer, the birds, the missing girl — Beacon Hills seemed to have turned a left, again, and it was all very similar to the events that had occurred after winter break. Matthew didn't want to believe that Lois had gotten herself caught up in the supernatural once more, but he would have been more shocked if she hadn't. These things seemed to follow that group of kids, everywhere.

"So, this research..." he acted coy and puckered his lips. Matthew leant against the counter top and watched her munch on some of the toast that had just popped from the toaster, "...it has something to do with robbing a bank?"

"Not robbing it—" Lois decided not to lie, "—more like, getting in."

"So, as if you were robbing a bank?"

"Exactly."

It was silent between them for a moment, until her father let out a shallow sigh and narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously.

"Lois, why are you breaking into a bank?"

"I'm not!" She exclaimed in defence. She realised that her words hadn't been very convincing and squeezed her eyes shut in attempts of putting together a well-rounded argument. Upon not finding one, Lois gave in. "Well— I guess I technically am, but not really! Like, not me, specifically—!"

    "Okay, okay— slow down," he coaxed her gently.

   When she was calmer, Matthew sighed. "Lo, we promised—"

    "To not hide secrets, anymore, yeah— I know," Lois groaned, rubbing at her face with her palms. If he noticed the bruise on her wrist, he didn't mention it, which she was grateful for. She didn't feel like explaining why she had it and who had given it to her; it was an irrelevant piece of information that could wait it's turn to be addressed, if it ever needed to be. "I know we promised, but I didn't think anything else would happen! I thought this was over and done with! But here I am, trying to figure out how to break into an abandoned bank on the night of the full moon!"

   Once her tangent was over, he nodded. "Okay, why don't you sit down and tell me whats going on?" She looked ready to decline the offer but he persisted, "I might be able to help,"

   And, so she did.

   Lois sat down and told him everything. About Erica and Boyd being missing, and how Isaac had found them. She told him that they nearly killed him to try and access his memories, found out that Erica Reyes was likely dead, and there was another girl with Vernon Boyd trapped inside of the abandoned bank. That they needed to come up with a plan to get in before the full moon came and Boyd and the unknown girl tore each other apart, and how the robbery was their only lead. She told him everything.

   After confessing it all, the two Lane's sat in silence.

    "Lois, why didn't you just tell me?" He asked her, softly.

   She didn't answer.

    "Well, you can stop looking into that bank robbery, now." He sighed.

   Lois narrowed her eyes, "What? Why?"

    "Because I know how he got in." Matthew dropped the heavy bombshell, sitting back in his chair while her jaw dropped. He nodded his head as he recalled, "I worked on that case. Stilinski arrested him, and then I took his statement."

——

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