[04. Saving Derek]


[1x04; Magic Bullet]

Olivia rubbed her left arm, trying to soothe the tingling that had been there since she had woken up that morning. She sighed and focused on her history teacher, Mrs. Larson, giving her a polite smile as she handed Olivia back her graded test.

Oliva bit the inside of her cheek to fight her smile as she looked at her perfect score.

Now that Mrs. Larson had passed her desk, she pulled out her cellphone, anxiously checking to see if Derek had messaged her back. He had told her that he was going hunting for the alpha the night before and he had yet to message her with any details.

She didn't even know if he was okay.

A few rows back and one aisle over, Stiles turned away from the back of Olivia's head and looked at Scott's, his curiosity overwhelming him.

The night that the bus driver died, Scott confronted Derek about everything. After beating Scott up, Derek revealed that he, in fact, wasn't the werewolf that bit Scott and that there was another werewolf entirely. An alpha werewolf that wanted Scott in its pack.

Stiles had tried to give Scott space since the revelation but he was growing impatient. He wanted to know everything.

He tapped on Scott's shoulder, getting his attention.

"If Derek isn't the alpha, if he's not the one who bit you, then who did?" he asked his best friend quietly.

Scott hesitated for a second before shrugging lightly. "I don't know."

"Did the alpha kill the bus driver?" Stiles prodded further.

"I don't know."

Stiles sighed heavily. "Does Allison's dad know about the alpha?"

"I don't know!" Scott exclaimed loudly, frustrated, as he turned to look at Stiles.

Everyone in the classroom turned to look at them, hearing Scott's outburst, including Olivia. Stiles sheepishly raised his eyebrows and shrunk away from his best friend, trying to get the attention off himself.

Thankfully, Mrs. Larson came around to their aisle. She handed Stiles his test and then gave one to Scott. Stiles smiled triumphantly when he saw the 'A' circled in red ink.

Wondering what Scott's grade was, he leaned forward. He saw the 'D-' with a little note beside it and grimaced.

"Dude, you need to study more," he commented jokingly.

Scott pressed his lips together and slammed his test face-down on his desk.

"That was a joke," Stiles said flatly. Seeing how disappointed Scott looked, he added, "Scott, it's one test. You're gonna make it up. Do you want help studying?"

"No," Scott sighed, feeling a little bit better. "I'm studying at Allison's after school today."

Stiles raised his eyebrows, feeling pride well within his chest. "That's my boy!"

"We're just studying."

"No, you're not."

Scott glanced back at Stiles. "No, I'm not?"

"Not if I'm forced to live vicariously through you," Stiles stated seriously. Everyone knew that studying with a girl wasn't just studying. There had to be some touching or something involved. "If you go to her house today and squander that colossal opportunity, I swear to God I'll have you de-balled."

"Okay!" Scott said quickly, wishing Stiles would shut up in their very crowded classroom. "Just stop with the questions, man."

"Done," Stiles agreed easily. "No more questions. No more talk about the alpha or Derek. Especially Derek...who still scares me."

-

-

"Scott's coming over?" Lydia asked, raising her eyebrows at Allison. "Tonight?"

"We're just studying together," Allison excused as she, Lydia, and Olivia walked through the hallway, heading toward the library for their free period.

Lydia scoffed. "Just studying never ends with just studying," she smirked, sharing an amused look with Olivia. "It's like getting into a hot tub. Somebody eventually cops a feel."

"Well, so what are you saying?" Allison asked, causing Olivia and Lydia to pause on the stairwell.

"She's saying to make sure he covers up," Olivia told Allison, giving the taller brunette a small smile.

Lydia nodded in agreement but Allison looked at them blankly, obviously not getting it.

"Hello, Snow White!" Lydia exclaimed, rolled her eyes. "Do it with him with a condom."

Allison laughed in disbelief as they started up the stairs again. "Are you kidding? After one date?"

"Don't be a total prude," Lydia shrugged. "Give him a little taste."

"Only if you want to, though," Olivia added, not wanting Allison to do anything she didn't want to do.

Allison smiled gratefully at Olivia but then turned to Lydia, much more unsure. "Well...I mean, how much is a little taste?"

"Oh, God, you really like him, don't you?"

Allison nodded, crossing her arms over her chest self-consciously. "He's just different. When I first moved here, I had a plan: no boyfriends until college. I just move too much. But then I met him and he was different," she shrugged. "I don't know. I can't explain it."

"I can," Olivia said simply. "It's your brain flooding with phenylethylamine."

Lydia rolled her eyes fondly at Olivia while Allison laughed. "What?"

"I'll tell you what to do," Lydia spoke up, offering her expertise. "When is he coming over?"

"Right after school."

"Hmm," Lydia hummed thoughtfully. "Let's see..."

Allison and Lydia continued to the library but Olivia stopped at the girls' bathroom, checking the status of her make-up and pulling up her long sleeves, checking the skin of her left arm to see why it was tingling. Seeing no blemish, wound, or rash, she left the bathroom to meet up with the girls.

She stopped as she passed Jackson in the hallway, seeing the look of pain on his face as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"What's wrong, Jackson?" she asked him.

"Your cousin's here," he said shortly, voice tense.

"Wait, Derek's here?" Olivia shook her head, wondering why Derek had come all the way to the school when he could have just messaged or called her.

"Yeah and he needs to cut his fucking nails," Jackson cursed, pulling his hand from his neck. In his palm was a square of bloody gauze.

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek, worried. Derek had excellent control; he wouldn't just go around digging his claws into people for no reason. "Sorry, Jax," she apologized. "Make sure you put some antibiotic cream on them. I'm going to find Derek."

Jackson waved her off.

Olivia turned and, almost as if in a daze, started walking through the hallways. She went back down the stairs and into the English hallway. In the corner, but the bell, she saw Derek leaning against the cinder block wall.

As she rushed toward him, she saw that he was paler than she had ever seen him with dark circles under his eyes. Upon further examination, she could see blood dripping down his left hand and onto the linoleum floors.

"Derek, what are you doing here? What happened? Are you okay?" Olivia rambled, looking up at him. His eyes were bloodshot, making his pale-green irises stand out.

"I was shot," Derek breathed.

"S-Shot?" Olivia stuttered, her own breath picking up. She grabbed his left hand and pushed up the sleeve of his leather jacket. She sucked in a deep breath when she saw a nasty bullet wound, bloody with short black veins surrounding it. "You're not healing."

"I think it's wolfsbane," Derek informed her shakily. "I need help."

"Okay, how can I help?"

"I need Scott's help," Derek corrected himself. "Ollie, it was Kate who shot me."

Olivia tried not to panic at the name. Derek had told her all about Kate Argent, even when he told no one else.

Kate Argent was in her early twenties when she approached Derek, who was still a teenager. She manipulated him, had sex with him, got him to trust her, and then burnt down the Hale house, killing almost everyone in it. She was the one who killed her mom and injured her dad.

Olivia didn't hate a lot of people but she hated Kate Argent.

"Okay," she said calmly, trying to calm the jumble of thoughts in her head. "Where Scott is, Stiles is. We find Stiles, we find Scott."

Olivia grabbed Derek, helping him lean against her, his arm around her shoulders—which didn't look or feel great to Derek since she was so much shorter than him.

The final bell rang as the two of them slowly navigated the school, heading to the parking lot. All around them, students rushed through the hall, heading to their cars or the bus they rode to go home.

They finally reached the parking lot and Olivia's eyes widened when she saw Stiles about to drive away in his blue Jeep. She sped up, practically dragging Derek behind her, and stepped in front of Stiles' car.

It was only when Stiles slammed on his brakes that Derek collapsed onto the ground.

Olivia immediately knelt next to him as the cars behind Stiles started honking, wondering what the hold-up was. She patted Derek's pale cheeks, rousing him back to consciousness.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Scott demanded as he ran up to them. Stiles came up behind him, having climbed out of his Jeep at Scott's insistence.

Olivia glared at him. "He was shot."

Stiles observed the older werewolf who was breathing heavily and trying not to puke all over the ground. "He's not looking so good, dude."

"Wow, what astute observations there, Sherlock," Olivia snapped at him, her panic causing her to be angry at the wrong people.

Stiles glared back at her.

"Why aren't you healing?" Scott asked Derek, bewildered. When he was shot with the arrow by Mr. Argent, he healed within minutes.

"I can't," Derek said weakly. "It was a different kind of bullet."

Stiles perked up excitedly. "A silver bullet?"

Olivia glared at him while Derek spat, "No, you idiot!"

"Wait, wait," Scott spoke up thoughtfully. "That's what she meant when she said you had forty-eight hours."

"What?" Olivia asked quickly, wondering how Scott knew this. "Who said forty-eight hours?"

"The one who shot Derek," Scott said quickly.

Derek let out a quiet groan as a jolt of pain shot through his body, his eyes glowing icy-blue.

"What are you doing?" Scott hissed at him, looking to see if anyone was watching close enough to see that something was wrong with Derek. "Stop that!"

"Derek, your eyes," Olivia said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Derek's eyes returned to their natural pale-green. "I'm trying to tell you, I can't!" he hissed at Scott, his eyes once again switching to blue.

"We need your help, Scott," Olivia said firmly, grabbing Derek's arm to try to help him to his feet.

Scott looked around once more and grabbed his other arm. "Derek, get up!" he looked at Stiles, who was watching the scene curiously. "Help us put him in your car."

Stiles shuffled forward, taking the arm that Olivia was holding onto and helping Scott pull Derek to his feet. Olivia hurried over to Stiles' jeep and opened the passenger door, allowing Scott to help her cousin into the seat.

She climbed into the Jeep through the driver's side, settling in the back seat.

"I need you to find out what kind of bullet they used," Derek ordered Scott as Stiles got into the driver's seat.

Scott scoffed. "How the hell am I supposed to do that?"

"She's an Argent, Scott," Olivia leaned forward so Scott could see her. She knew that Scott could figure out what to do. "She's with them."

He was going to Allison's house, after all.

Scott looked back at Derek, narrowing his eyes. "Why should I help you?"

Derek glared at him. "Because you need me."

Scott looked down the line of cars and then back at Derek. "Fine, I'll try," he gave in, looking at Stiles. "Get him out of here."

Stiles gritted his teeth and put the Jeep in drive. "I hate you so much for this," he muttered to Scott before pulling out of the parking lot.

-

-

Stiles angrily pursed his lips, sneaking glances in the rear-view mirror as Olivia helped Derek out of his leather jacket.

They had already been on the road for a half-hour and so far there was nothing from Scott. He knew that he told Scott not to squander his opportunity to hook up with Allison but he hoped that his best friend had enough sense to know that things had changed. The sooner that Scott found out what kind of bullet Derek was shot with, the better.

His phone buzzed from his cup holder; he checked the message from Scott.

Scott: Need more time.

Stiles huffed and slammed the phone back into the cup holder.

"Any news?" Olivia asked, leaning between the driver and passenger seats.

"He needs more time," Stiles answered grumpily. He glanced at Derek and added, "Hey, try not to bleed out on my seats, okay? We're almost there."

"Almost where?" Derek asked quietly.

"Your house?"

Derek abruptly turned his head toward Stiles. "What?"

"No, you can't take him there," Olivia objected, shaking her head firmly.

Stiles scoffed. "I can't take him to his own house?"

"Not when I can't protect myself," Derek said, as though it should be obvious to Stiles.

Olivia nodded in agreement.

Motherfucker, he thought, I'm going to kill him before the bullet does.

Stiles shook his head and sharply turned his steering wheel, turning off onto the side of the road. He put the Jeep in park and faced Olivia and Derek.

"All right," he raised his voice. "What happens if Scott doesn't find your little magic bullet, hmm? Are you dying?"

Olivia inhaled sharply, not liking the fact that Derek could very well die, while Derek simply shook his head. "Not yet," he said. "I have a last resort."

"What do you mean, what last resort?" Stiles shouted, fed up with the werewolf. He saw Derek raise his sleeve and abruptly gagged when he saw the bullet wound that was causing them so much trouble. "Oh, my God. What is that?"

"Stiles," Olivia sighed, sending him a flat look.

Stiles ignored her. "Oh, is that contagious?" he whined, shaking his head. "You know what, you should probably just get out."

"Start the car," Derek ordered, voice firm. "Now."

Stiles stiffened, his jaw clenched, and any other time, Olivia might have thought that he looked very attractive when he was angry.

"I don't think you should be barking orders with the way you look, okay?" he glared at Derek. "In fact, I think if I wanted to, I could probably drag your werewolf ass out into the middle of the fucking road and leave you for dead."

"Stiles!"

Derek ignored Olivia's objection on his behalf and narrowed his eyes at the spastic teen. "Start the car or I'm gonna rip your throat out with my teeth."

"Derek!"

Stiles pursed his lips and stubbornly faced forward, not touching the ignition. Yeah, he was afraid of Derek, but he wasn't about to be bossed around in his own damn Jeep. He wasn't too sure he believed Derek, anyway. Was he really willing to kill Stiles in front of Olivia?

"Stiles," Olivia leaned forward, placing a warm hand on Stiles' shoulder. He looked back at her, eyes widening at the desperate look in her cobalt-blue eyes. "Can you please help? Please? He's my family."

Stiles closed his eyes, not being able to resist her pleading look. He sighed and started the Jeep again, pulling back onto the road.

Olivia squeezed his shoulders, grateful. "Thank you."

-

"What am I supposed to do with him?" Stiles asked Scott through the phone, glancing over at Derek and Olivia. Olivia was pressing some tissues she found in her purse to Derek's wound but it wasn't doing much in way of helping.

"Take him somewhere, anywhere," Scott responded, making Stiles roll his eyes.

He sighed. "And, by the way, he's starting to smell."

"Like what?"

"Like death," Stiles looked over at Derek, just to see the older werewolf glaring at him.

There was a pause on the other end of the line before Scott spoke, "Okay, take him to the animal clinic."

"What about your boss?" Stiles asked.

"He's gone by now," Scott said, causing Stiles to look at the clock. They had been driving around for close to four hours now. "There's a spare key in the box behind the dumpster."

"What's he saying?" Olivia asked, catching Stiles' attention.

He shook his head. "You're not gonna believe where he's telling me to take him."

Olivia raised her eyebrows while Derek reached for the phone, holding it up to his face.

"Did you find it?"

"How am I supposed to find one bullet? They have a million," Olivia could hear Scott now, since the phone was closer to her. "This house is like the fucking Walmart of guns."

"Look, if you don't find it, then I'm dead, all right?" Derek reminded him.

"I'm starting to think that wouldn't be such a bad thing."

Olivia narrowed her eyes at the phone, mentally cursing Scott out in her head. Why was his boy so stubborn?

"Then think about this," Derek retorted. "The alpha calls you out against your will. He's gonna do it again. Next time, you either kill with him or you get killed. So, if you wanna stay alive, then you need me. Find the bullet."

Derek hung up the call and passed the phone back to Stiles.

"All right," Stiles said, starting up the Jeep and pulling out onto the road once again. "To the animal clinic."

The drive to the animal clinic took another fifteen minutes and Derek was looking even worse by they time they pulled up to the modest building. Stiles held onto Derek while Olivia searched for the spare key behind the dumpster and when she unlocked the door, the three of them stumbled in.

Feeling his phone buzz in his pocket, Stiles let go of Derek, letting him fall into a pile of dog food bags.

He quickly read the text and looked up at Olivia and Derek. "Does Nordic Blue Monkshood mean anything to you?"

Olivia cursed under her breath, recognizing the name. From her vast internet research of wolfsbane and each species effects on werewolves, she knew that Nordic Blue Monkshood was rare and hard to cure.

"It's a rare form of wolfsbane," Derek told Stiles. "He has to bring me the bullet."

Stiles raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"'Cause I'm gonna die without it."

"Okay, we need that bullet!" Stiles uttered under his breath, messaging Scott back and requesting the presence of the bullet.

Olivia couldn't believe this was happening. She had been trying not to think about the fact that Derek might be dying all day, but it was now at the forefront of her mind. And she was freaking out.

She couldn't lose Derek. He was the last connection to her father's side of the family she had, other than her semi-comatose father who looked like he'd never heal. She loved Derek; he was her cousin, older brother, and good friend all wrapped into one person.

Olivia couldn't imagine her life without him.

"Livvy."

Olivia looked up sharply at that stupid nickname that Stiles kept calling her. He was looking at her, his eyes clearly showing his concern for her.

She wished that he'd show concern for Derek because otherwise, it was just her who cared whether he lived or died.

But she knew that Stiles didn't trust or like Derek, so she didn't count on him being worried about her cousin.

"Yeah?" she asked, aware that she had been lost in her head.

"Let's bring him to the exam room," Stiles suggested, nodding toward Derek.

Olivia wordlessly agreed, rushing forward to help Derek off the pile of dog food. As they led Derek into the exam room, he squirmed around, trying to get his shirt off of him to allow easier access to the wound.

Once in the exam room, Stiles shrugged Derek off of him and turned on the light.

In the florescence, Derek's wound looked much, much worse. The little black veins that were around it earlier had grown, heading down his forearm and up his bicep. The wound itself was still bloody but was steadily turning black as Derek's body tried to heal itself.

Stiles silently gagged and stood at the stainless-steel table across from Derek. "You know, that really doesn't look like anything some echinacea and a good night of sleep couldn't take care of."

Derek looked at his wound carefully. "If the infection reaches my heart, it'll kill me," he said with unsteady breaths. "Ollie, find me a tourniquet."

Olivia nodded and went to the counter, opening random drawers and rummaging through them.

"Positivity just isn't in your vocabulary, is it?" Stiles snarked.

Derek rolled his eyes as Olivia continued to look for a long strip of strong rubber band. "If he doesn't get here with the bullet in time—last resort."

He shuffled over to Olivia's side and grabbed the bone saw from a drawer she had already gone through.

"Which is?" Stiles asked.

Derek turned around and slammed the saw on the table. "You're gonna cut off my arm."

Oh, Olivia thought, that's what he needs the tourniquet for.

"Are you crazy?" she exclaimed, finally spotting a bright-blue tourniquet. She grabbed it and whipped around, glaring at her cousin for his insane idea.

Cutting off his arm? Really?!

Stiles stared at Derek with an open mouth, shocked into silence. Curiously, he picked up the bone saw and revved the blade.

He groaned, his shock wearing off. "Oh, my God. What if you bleed to death?"

Derek shrugged as Olivia wrapped the tourniquet around his arm, right above where the black veins stopped. "It'll heal if it works."

Stiles honestly felt like he was going to faint. "Ugh," he shuddered. "Look, I don't know if I can do this."

"Why not?"

Olivia finished tying the tourniquet around Derek's arm and backed away, glaring down at the bone saw. It wasn't the greatest idea, she knew, but if it would save Derek's life, who cared? She knew that Derek would rather have one arm than be dead and she felt the same way.

"Well, because of the cutting through the flesh, the sawing of the bone, and especially the blood!" Stiles exclaimed, becoming panicked.

Derek gave him an unimpressed look. "You faint at the sight of blood?"

"No!" Stiles shouted. "but I might at the sight of a chopped-off arm!"

Derek shook his head, exhausted. "All right, fine. How about this? Either you cut off my arm or I'm gonna cut off your head."

"Derek," Olivia sighed, tired of the two men bickering. God, they bickered more than she and Stiles did.

"Okay, you know what?" Stiles started angrily. "I'm so not buying your threats any—"

Derek cut Stiles off, leaning over the table and grabbing the collar of his shirt to pull Stiles closer to him. His teeth were bared threateningly, causing Stiles to gulp nervously.

"Holy shit..."

"Enough, Derek," Olivia shook her head and picked up the saw. "I'll do it."

Gagging, Derek slumped onto the table, letting go of his death grip on Stiles. Olivia looked on worried as he leaned over the edge.

"What are you doing?" Stiles asked nervously, stepping away from the pale werewolf.

No sooner were the words out of his mouth that Derek spew black liquid onto the floor, making it splatter everywhere.

"Holy God," Stiles gagged, backing up further and bumping into Olivia. "What the fuck is that?"

Olivia pulled Stiles out of the way and stepped around the black blood, helping Derek into a standing position. "It's his body trying to heal itself."

"Well, it's not doing a very good job of it," Stiles pointed out the obvious.

Olivia rolled her eyes and picked up the saw. "We have to do it now."

"Look—"

"I'll do it," Olivia interrupted Stiles' protests. "Just—just hold him down."

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God," Stiles muttered, going up to Derek and holding the top half of his body down.

"Okay," Olivia breathed, trying to calm down. She inhaled and exhaled a few times to control her panicked breathing. "Okay, it's going to be okay."

Stiles couldn't help but be mad at himself that he was making Olivia cut of her cousin's arm. If he really had the guts, he'd do it for her.

Olivia shook her head. "All right," she placed the blade on Derek's arm, right under the tourniquet. "here we go."

Stiles readied himself, knowing that Derek was probably going to squirm while Olivia cut off his arm.

"Stiles?" Scott's voice echoed through the animal clinic right as Olivia went to press the trigger.

Stiles and Olivia simultaneously sighed in relief.

"Scott?"

Scott entered the exam room, his eyes going straight to the saw Olivia was holding to Derek's arm. His eyes were wide in shock as he yelled, "What the hell are you doing?"

Olivia pulled the saw away from Derek and dropped it on the table as Stiles laughed breathlessly.

"Oh, you just prevented a lifetime of nightmares," Stiles sighed happily.

"Did you get it?" Derek asked Scott, weakly pushing Stiles off of him.

Scott nodded and pulled the bullet out of his pocket, handing it to Derek. Derek held the bullet to his eye level, observing it carefully.

"What are you gonna do with it?" Stiles asked wearily.

Derek's eyes started glazing over. "I'm gonna—I'm gonna—"

He dropped to the ground in a dead faint.

"Derek!" Olivia shouted, running over to his unconscious form. She shook him roughly, trying to wake him up. "Derek! No, no, no!"

Stiles and Scott rushed into action. Stiles knelt down on the other side of Derek and tried to help Olivia while Scott went to the grate in the floor where the bullet fell.

"Derek, come on, wake up!" Stiles patted the older werewolf's face.

"Derek, please!" Olivia pleaded shakily, tears dripping from her eyes.

Stiles looked over at Scott, hoping he'd know what to do. "Scott, what the hell are we gonna do?"

"I don't know!" Scott called back, trying desperately to reach the bullet. "I can't reach it!"

Olivia continued shaking her cousin, praying to whatever god was in the sky that he would just wake up. They were so close, they were so close...

"He's not waking up!" Stiles yelled unhelpfully. "I think he's dying. I think he's dead!"

"Shut up!" Olivia glared at him while Scott exclaimed, "Just hold on!"

Stiles patted Derek's face again and looked up when Scott declared that he got the bullet out of the grate.

"Please don't kill me for this," Stiles mumbled to Derek as he pushed Olivia's hands away and reared back, forming a fist. He decked Derek in the face and shouted at the pain in his hand that flared up immediately.

Derek woke up with a start and Olivia reached for him, helping him to his feet with assistance from Stiles and Scott.

"Give me—" Derek reached for the bullet.

Scott gave Derek the bullet and the older werewolf bit off the top with his teeth, tapping the bullet on the table. Purple dust fell out of the golden casing and Derek pulled out a lighter from his pants pocket and lit it up.

Sparks erupted from the wolfsbane, shocking Stiles and Scott, but Derek and Olivia paid it no attention. Derek scooped up the ashes and hesitated before smushing the wolfsbane into the bullet wound on his arm.

Derek fell to the floor once again, screaming from the pain jolting through his body. His back arched and Olivia winced in horror as he groaned loudly. But then the black veins on Derek's left arm started disappearing until the wound itself healed up, leaving behind smooth, unblemished skin.

"That. Was. Awesome!" Stiles shouted, pumping his fist in amazement. "Yes!"

Olivia rolled her eyes at the spastic boy and bent down, helping Derek off the floor.

Scott watched him carefully. "Are you okay?"

"Well, except for the agonizing pain," Derek snapped, ripping the tourniquet off his arm.

"I'm guessing the ability to use sarcasm is a good sign of health," Stiles commented causing Derek to glare at him.

Olivia nudged her cousin and gave him a they-just-saved-your-life-be-nice look. Derek softened his gaze and looked away, finding his discarded shirt and tugging it back on.

"Okay, we saved you life," Scott declared, narrowing his eyes at Derek. "which means you're gonna leave us alone, you got that?"

Olivia started to protest. "Scott, you don't know—"

"And if you don't," Scott continued as though Olivia didn't speak. "I'm gonna go back to Allison's dad and I'm gonna tell him everything."

Olivia reared back as though she had been slapped in the face. She couldn't believe that Scott was so willing to trust the Argents. They were literally hunters who would kill him if they knew he was a werewolf. It didn't matter to people like Kate if you were young and innocent and had never hurt a soul in your life. If you were different, she'd hunt you down.

"You're gonna trust them?" Derek voiced his similar disbelief. "You think they can help you?"

"Well, why not?" Scott retorted. "They're a lot fucking nicer than you are!"

Derek scoffed and glanced at Olivia before turning back to Scott. "I can show you exactly how nice they are."

"What do you mean?"

Derek gave Olivia a questioning look but she shook her head at him. She didn't want to see her dad with Scott there. Her father and his condition were a private part of her life and she probably wouldn't be able to handle it if Scott reacted badly and said something stupid.

"Go on," she waved at him. "I'll call for an Uber or something."

Derek nodded and then he and Scott left the animal clinic, leaving her and Stiles alone.

Olivia sighed heavily, the adrenaline from the whole situation wearing off and leaving her tired.

"Uh, I can take you home if you want," Stiles spoke up, gaining her attention.

Olivia looked up at him, watching as he nervously scratched the back of his neck. His eyes met hers for a few seconds, the whiskey brown strangely calming her down, and then they flickered away.

"Um, sure," Olivia cleared her throat. "Thanks."

"No problem," Stiles said, watching as she looked around the exam room and grabbed a mop from the corner. "Um...what was Derek going to show Scott? Do you know?"

"Yeah," Olivia nodded and wet the broom so she could clean up Derek's vomit. "He's showing him my dad."

"Your dad?"

"He was in the fire," Olivia explained quietly.

Stiles could tell that she really didn't want to talk about her dad and he didn't want to push her. If Derek wanted to show Scott her father to see how bad the Argents were, that meant that they were somehow connected to the fire.

"The Argents set the Hale house on fire?"

Olivia sighed and set the mop down, resting her forehead against the top of the handle. Stiles was surprised to see tears wetting her eyes. "Yes. Well, Kate Argent did," she corrected herself. "We don't know if anyone else was involved."

Stiles didn't understand how Olivia wasn't a mess right now. The woman who murdered most of her family and heavily injured her father was back in town and she almost murdered one of the last members of the family she had left. If it was Stiles in this situation, he'd be inconsolable.

It made Stiles fall for the girl in front of him even more. She was so strong.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, feeling ashamed. If he had known, he wouldn't have made such a big deal about helping Derek today.

"It's okay, there's no need to apologize," Olivia waved him off, having collected herself. "Usually the Argents follow their code or whatever. But Kate's ruthless—she didn't care that there were kids in that house or that there were humans."

"Livvy—"

"It doesn't matter how nice the Argents seem to be," Olivia said firmly, her eyes hardening as she thought about what Scott said. "Kate killed my mom. There's not a nice bone in her body."

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