[2x08; Raving]

"Oh, what the hell is this?"

Stiles looked up from where he was putting together his salad, immediately noticing the disgruntled look on his dad's face as he frowned at the burger in his hands.

"Veggie burger," Stiles sang, picking up his soda to take a sip.

Noah gave him an unimpressed look. "Stiles, I asked for a hamburger."

"Well, veggie is healthier," Stiles countered, pointing at his salad. "We're being healthy."

Noah sighed and opened the carton next to his sandwich, expecting fries. When he saw the pieces of carrots and celery, he sighed heavily, "Why are you trying to ruin my life?"

"I'm trying to extend it, okay?" Stiles rolled his eyes. "Could you just eat it, please, and tell me what you found?"

"No," Noah said indignantly. "I'm not sharing confidential police work with a teenager."

Stiles took another sip of his drink, his eyes flickering past his dad to the board behind him. It was a typical crime board, with pictures of the victims, reports, and evidence all connected by strings. "Is that it on the board behind you?"

Noah looked back at it for only a second, a look of frustration on his face. "Don't look at that."

Stiles strained his neck in order to see around his father, taking in all the information that he could make out.

"Avert your eyes," Noah demanded; Stiles kept on looking. "Hey!"

"Just, it's just—" Stiles used his arms to hover off his chair to see better. "I see arrows pointing at pictures."

"Okay, okay, stop, fine," Noah sighed heavily and Stiles looked at him with wide, attentive eyes. "I found something. The mechanic and the couple who were murdered, they all had something in common."

Stiles raised his eyebrows. "All three?"

"Yeah," Noah confirmed. "and you know what I always say. One's an incident, two's coincidence—"

"Three's a pattern," Stiles finished.

"The mechanic, the husband, the wife," Noah listed. "all the same age. All twenty-four."

Stiles furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Wait, what about Mr. Lahey? I mean, Isaac's dad isn't anywhere near twenty-four."

Noah nodded. "Which made me think that either Lahey's murder wasn't connected or the ages were a coincidence," he pulled a file from his desk and handed it over to Stiles. "Did you know that Isaac Lahey had an older brother named Camden?"

Stiles did not know that but he wasn't exactly Isaac's friend so he wouldn't know intimate details about the blonde werewolf's life. Then, when he read what was stamped in large red letters on the first page of the file, he felt a little hint of unwanted sympathy for him.

"Died in combat," he read.

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

Stiles looked from the file to his dad. "Twenty-four."

"Twenty-four."

Stiles pressed his lips together and stood up, abandoning his food to get a better look at the evidence board. Noah let him explore, standing next to him as he did his own thinking.

"Okay, what if same age means same class," Stiles spoke up, looking over at his dad. "I mean, did you think of that?"

"Yeah..." Noah said flippantly before correcting himself, "Well, I would've. I mean, look, I just got Lahey's file two hours ago."

"Two hours?" Stiles gave him a look of disbelief. "Dad, people could be dying!"

"Yeah, I'm aware of that, thank you!" Noah snapped and focused back on the board. "Same class..."

Within minutes, the two Stilinski men had all the school files and records that they could get their hands on. It wasn't hard to get class rosters and old yearbooks but it was the transcripts that they couldn't receive without a warrant. It didn't matter, though, they didn't really need more than the rosters.

Stiles looked through the folders and paused when he saw the correct one. "Okay, this is it," he told Noah. "Class of 2006. They all went to Beacon Hills."

Noah pointed at one of the names in the file. "Including Isaac's brother."

"All right, so what if they all knew each other, you know?" Stiles mused; he hoped that he and Scott were still friends by the time they were twenty-four. "I mean, two of them were married so maybe they all just hung out."

Noah nodded and continued going through the file. "They could've had the same classes together, they could've—"

Stiles gave him a curious look when he stopped talking, looking down at the paper he found in concentration. "What?"

"Same teacher," Noah finished, pointing out the class roster.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at the picture on top of the roster. "Harris," he sighed; why was this guy always so sketchy? "They were all in his class?"

"All four," Noah confirmed. "Now, I don't know how Mr. Lahey fits in but this—kid, this is definitely a pattern."

Stiles nodded in agreement.

"All right, give me the 2006 yearbook," Noa requested. "These names, we need faces."

Stiles rummaged through the stack of old yearbooks that had been brought in. He found the 2006 yearbook rather quickly and handed it to his dad.

"Which ones?" he asked as Noah flipped through the book.

"Everyone in that chemistry class," Noah stated. "If the killer's not done killing—"

"One of them is next," Stiles finished.

Noah nodded gravely, picking up his phone to ask for more evidence.

-

-

Olivia shoved her hands into the pockets of her canvas jacket, hiding them from the crisp evening air. She walked with Derek and Isaac through the parking lot of the animal clinic, hoping that this meeting with Scott and Dr. Deaton wasn't going to be tense. They were all working together now, so there was no reason to be hostile.

They were meeting with Scott and Dr. Deaton to find a way to save Jackson. Dr. Deaton was apparently full of supernatural knowledge and Scott was representing his make-shift pack, so that left Derek, Olivia, and Isaac to represent the Hale pack as the first three members.

As they approached the clinic, Scott unlocked the door. He greeted Olivia with a smile that fell slightly when he saw Derek and went away completely when he saw Isaac trailing after them.

"What's he doing here?" he asked tensely as he allowed Olivia into the clinic.

"I need him," Derek briskly walked past Scott.

Scott narrowed his eyes at Isaac as he walked into the clinic. "I don't trust him."

"Yeah, well, he doesn't trust you, either," Isaac replied casually.

Derek turned to the younger betas with a glare. "And Derek really doesn't care."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Can you stop talking in third person?" she asked, exasperated. "We're working together now, so you guys can get over your little spat."

Scott and Isaac gave each other dark looks.

"Got it?" Olivia demanded, narrowing her eyes at them.

"Yes."

"Yeah, sorry."

Derek rolled his eyes as Isaac and Scott sheepishly lowered their gazes from each other. "Okay, where's the vet?" he asked Scott. "Is he gonna help us or not?"

"That depends," Dr. Deaton walked into the room like he was waiting for his cue. "Your friend, Jackson, are we planning to kill him or save him?"

"Kill him."

"We're going to save him."

"Save him."

Derek, Olivia, and Scott spoke respectively. Olivia and Scott immediately gave Derek a pointed look, which had Derek sighing.

"Save him," the three of them said together, looking to Dr. Deaton.

Dr. Deaton invited them into his main exam room. As the four of them entered, he pulled a platter of jars out of a cabinet and set it on the stainless-steel counter. They were all labeled differently, with various herbs or plants tightly sealed within them.

Isaac reached for one of the jars but Derek quickly grabbed his hand to stop him. "Watch what you touch."

Isaac took his hand back and rested his forearms on the counter, looking up at Dr. Deaton with curious eyes. "So, what are you, some kind of witch?"

Dr. Deaton blinked at him. "No, I'm a veterinarian," he said plainly as he began looking through his jars; Olivia smiled, amused. "Unfortunately, I don't see anything here that's going to be an effective defense against a paralytic toxin."

"We're open to suggestions," Derek told him.

"What about an effective offense?" Isaac wondered.

"We already tried," Derek crossed his arms over his chest. "I nearly took its head off and Argent emptied an entire clip into it. The thing just gets back up."

Dr. Deaton furrowed his eyebrows. "Has it shown any weaknesses?"

"Well, one," Derek confirmed. "It can't swim."

"Does that go for Jackson as well?"

"No," Olivia shook her head. "He's going to be captain of the swim team next year."

Dr. Deaton nodded and hummed. "Essentially, you're trying to catch two people," he turned from the counter to rummage through one of the drawers by the sink. He turned back to them, a coin in his hand. "A puppet and a puppeteer—" he set the coin on the steel counter. "one killed the husband but the other had to take care of the wife. Do we know why?"

"I don't think Jackson could do it," Scott said thoughtfully. "His mother died pregnant, too, and she was maybe murdered. I think he couldn't let the same thing happen to someone else."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek. "Okay, but what if it's not part of the rules?" when all eyes went to her, she explained, "the kanima kills murderers. If Jackson killed the wife, the baby would have died, too."

Isaac nodded in agreement. "That makes sense."

"Does that mean your father was a murderer?" Scott asked Isaac.

Olivia pressed her lips together; if the man was capable of abusing his son, he was more than likely capable of murder.

Isaac raised an eyebrow. "It wouldn't surprise me if he was."

Dr. Deaton, who had been silently thinking while Olivia, Isaac, and Scott had their exchange, spoke up. "Hold on, the book says they're bonded, right?" Derek nodded at him. "What if the fear of water isn't coming from Jackson but from the person controlling him?"

He grabbed a jar of black ash and opened it. "What if something that affects the kanima," he sprinkled the ash around the coin representing the person controlling Jackson. "also affects its master?"

Olivia's face lit up in realization. If they could catch the kanima, they could catch the person controlling him. Finally, a break-through.

Isaac hadn't caught on like Olivia, Scott, and Derek had. "Meaning what?"

"Meaning we can catch them," Scott told him. "Both of them."

-

-

Stiles sped through the parking lot, wincing when he saw that they were three minutes late to meet up with Olivia outside of the school. Olivia hated being late to anything, so for her, that meant being twenty minutes early to school—in comparison, Stiles strolled in with enough time to visit his locker before rushing to class. Stiles didn't want to face her ire, even if it was really hot sometimes.

"You're gonna get in trouble with the parking officer," Scott told Stiles as he hurriedly turned into the front row to look for a parking spot. "Liv can wait a couple of minutes."

"Okay, first of all, Dale and I are buds," Stiles rolled his eyes before continuing his search for an empty spot. "and secondly, Livvy hates being late for class. It's like a control thing or something."

His eyes lit up when he saw an empty spot. He rapidly turned the steering wheel, swinging into place and changing the gear to park.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Scott admitted, nodding toward the windshield.

Stiles followed his gaze, his lips quirking when he saw Olivia standing in front of the Jeep, her arms crossed over her chest—which gave him a fantastic view of her cleavage—a frustrated look on her face, and her right foot tapping impatiently on the sidewalk.

Stiles jumped out of the vehicle, slamming the door shut behind him. "Good morning, beautiful!"

Olivia's face softened at the grin on his face. "Morning," she greeted both him and Scott. "You said you were gonna meet me five minutes ago."

"Yeah, sorry about that," he gave her an apologetic smile.

"It's fine," Olivia rolled her eyes fondly, leaving Scott shocked. He knew that she liked Stiles but this was a complete one-eighty with the way she used to get onto them when they were late meeting up with her.

Olivia turned her gaze to Scott. "Did you get the tickets to the rave?"

"No," Scott sighed heavily. "They were seventy-five bucks."

"Did you?" Stiles asked her.

"Lydia gave me hers," Olivia nodded and gave them an apologetic smile. "I only have one, though..."

"Ugh," Scott groaned, slipping his backpack onto his shoulders. "there's got to be some other way to get tickets, right?"

Olivia twisted her lips while Stiles shook his head. "It's a secret show. There's only one way and it's a secret."

"Hey!"

The three of them turned toward the voice calling to them. Stiles scowled heavily when he saw that it was Matt Daehler.

"Do any of you guys know why no one's getting suspended after what happened the other day at school?" he asked them.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at him. "Just forget about it. Nobody got hurt."

"I had a concussion," Matt informed him.

"Well, nobody got seriously hurt."

"I was in the emergency room for six hours," Matt said indignantly.

Fuck this guy, Stiles thought, we have more serious problems than the bump on his head.

"Hey, do you want to know the truth, Matt?" Stiles' voice grew hard. "Your little bump on the head is about this—" he bent toward the sidewalk, holding his hand an inch away from the concrete. "high on our list of problems right now."

Olivia sighed and grabbed Stiles' arm, pulling him back up to his natural height.

Scott turned to Matt, trying to make up for Stiles' crankiness. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine now," Matt gave Stiles a weird look before turning back to Scott. "So, you didn't get any tickets last night, either?"

Scott shook his head. "Are they still selling?"

"Uh, no, but I managed to find two online," Matt informed him. "You should keep trying, it sounds like everyone's gonna be there."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek as Matt turned and walked away from them. She didn't know why but he gave her the creeps. Like, he was creepier than anyone she had ever met in her life.

"I don't like him," Stiles glared at Matt's back and then turned to Olivia and Scott. "Hey, are you guys sure about this?"

"Last time, whoever's controlling Jackson had to kill somebody because he didn't finish the job," Scott said as the three of them walked into the school. "So, what do you think he's going to do this time?"

"Be there to make sure it happens," Stiles answered; Scott nodded. "Okay, but as of right now, we won't even be able to get into the rave."

Olivia's eyes raked up and down the hallway, looking for a sign that someone had some extra tickets to the rave. To her absolute luck, she saw two freshman boys showing their tickets to each other, huge grins on their faces.

"I'll get you the tickets," she spoke up, catching Stiles and Scott's attention.

"What?" Stiles raised his eyebrows. "They're sold out."

Olivia smiled sweetly and pointedly looked over to the freshmen. The pieces of the puzzle fit together quickly for Stiles, who immediately started to protest.

"No," he shook his head firmly. "No, no, no. You're not gonna go out with a freshman, Olivia!"

Olivia gave him an amused look, secretly happy that he was reacting like this. "Who said anything about going on a date?"

She walked away before Stiles could object any more, her hips swaying seductively as she made her way to the two freshmen boys. Stiles watched, an angry look on his face, as Olivia smiled sweetly at them.

"Wow," Scott raised his eyebrows in appreciation as Olivia playfully patted one of the boys on the stomach, a flirty look on her face. "Who knew Olivia could flirt?"

Stiles scowled. "Shut up."

"She's really going for it."

Stiles turned his glare on Scott, who looked very amused about Stiles' anger. "Seriously?"

"What?" Scott shrugged innocently, seeing Olivia start back over to him from the corner of his eye. "I'm just saying—"

"Well, I'm saying shut the fuck up," Stiles snapped causing Scott to grin widely.

"Why are you being mean to Scott?" Olivia asked; Stiles whipped around to face her, not having known she was right there.

"I-I wasn't being mean to Scott," Stiles tried to defend himself while Scott stuck out his tongue at him.

Olivia hummed, rolling her eyes. "Here," she handed them the two tickets she managed to score off the freshmen. "Two tickets to the rave."

Scott studied the ticket and gave her a grateful smile. "Plan Save-Jackson is a go."

-

After school, Stiles and Scott stopped by the animal clinic to pick up some supplies from Dr. Deaton. The veterinarian would supply something to calm Jackson down and then something to trap both him and his master at the rave. When they arrived, Dr. Deaton presented them with a small vial of clear liquid.

Scott read the label. "Ketamine?"

Dr. Deaton nodded. "It's the same stuff we use on the dogs, just a higher dosage," he explained. "If you can get close enough to Jackson, it should slow him down enough to buy you some time."

He handed the vial of medicine and a large needle to Scott before grabbing a jar of black ash.

"This is some of what you'll use to create the barrier," he told them before gesturing to Stiles. "This part is for you, Stiles. Only you."

Stiles grimaced. "Uh, that sounds like a lot of pressure," he picked up the jar to study the contents. "Can we maybe find a slightly less pressure-filled task for me?"

Scott gave him a pointed look but Stiles just shrugged defensively.

"It's from the mountain ash tree which is believed by many cultures to protect against the supernatural," Dr. Deaton continued like Stiles hadn't objected to his task. "This office is lined with Ashwood, making it difficult for someone like Scott to cause me any trouble."

"Okay, so then what?" Stiles put the jar back on the counter. "I just spread this around the whole building and then either Jackson, or whoever's controlling him, can't cross it?"

"They'll be trapped."

As Stiles fidgeted nervously, Scott gave him a reassuring look. "Doesn't sound too hard."

"That's not all there is," Dr. Deaton added, looking to Stiles. "Think of it like gunpowder. It's just powder until a spark ignites it. You need to be that spark, Stiles."

"If you mean light myself on fire, I don't think I'm up for that."

It was important to catch Jackson and the dickhead controlling him but Stiles wasn't about to burn to death to make that happen. He wasn't that selfless—especially for Jackson's sake.

Dr. Deaton's lips quirked in amusement. "Let me try a different analogy," he offered. "I used to golf. I learned that the best golfers never swing before first imagining where they want the ball to go. They see it in their mind and their mind takes over. It can be pretty extraordinary what the force of your own will can accomplish."

"Force of will," Stiles mumbled, nodding slightly.

"If this is going to work, Stiles, you have to believe it," Dr. Deaton raised his hands to act as if he was inhaling deeply.

Stiles hated the believe-in-yourself-and-you'll-accomplish-anything speech like he heard annually in elementary school. But, if there was ever a time to use that nonsense, it'd be today. They needed to catch the kanima and its master; there were already too many people dead.

He hummed loudly and copied Dr. Deaton's movements, showing him and Scott that he was going to cooperate.

-

-

Olivia looked up from her chemistry homework and gave Stiles a curious look. "What did he mean by being a spark?"

Stiles had come to her house after he stopped at his own home to tell her the rest of the plan. Olivia, along with Scott, Isaac, and Erica, would try to distract Jackson long enough to get the ketamine in him, Derek and Boyd would be on the lookout for the Argents, and Stiles would be creating the mountain ash barrier.

The upcoming night was a little daunting and Olivia had to admit that she was nervous about how it would all go down. There were so many moving parts and even if one thing didn't go as planned, the whole thing would fail. There was a lot riding on this and it unnerved her.

"He said I have to believe that it will work," Stiles sighed from the space next to her on the bed. Sirius was in his lap and was enjoying the scratches that he was giving him behind his ears.

Olivia was pretty sure Sirius loved Stiles more than he loved her.

"Okay," she set her pencil in her textbook to mark her page and sat up to face him head-on. "so, why are you nervous?"

"I don't know," Stiles shrugged, his eyes avoiding hers. "I guess I don't think that I'm up for it."

Olivia frowned, concerned with the embarrassed look on his face. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not like Scott or Derek or Isaac," the tip of Stiles' ears flushed as he scratched the back of his neck. "I mean, I'm human. Nothing special."

Olivia's heart ached because she wished Stiles saw himself like she saw him. Stiles wasn't useless and he was damn special. It was him who pulled her walls down from around her, it was him who bridged the gap between Olivia and Scott, and it was him who did so much research so they all could know what they were dealing with. Stiles was the one who held everyone together. He was so special to Olivia, in a way that no one has ever been before.

"Don't say that, Stiles," her voice was quiet as she reached for his hand. Sirius whined when Stiles was unable to continue petting him but Olivia paid him no mind as she intertwined her fingers with Stiles'. "You are so special."

Stiles scoffed. "To who?"

"To me."

Olivia could feel her face heating up when Stiles looked at her with wide whiskey-colored eyes. There was a little twinkle starting in his sad eyes that had her squirming. Maybe it was a little too much information about her feelings for him but he was being down on himself and she couldn't stand that.

She gathered her courage to continue. "and you're not useless, either," she pointed at him with a stern finger, knowing that he'd say something like that next. "Scott wouldn't have survived being a werewolf without you, okay? And you have a super important part of the plan. It's arguably the most important part, in my opinion."

Stiles' lips quirked slightly but there was still that sad look in his eyes.

Something else is upsetting him, Olivia realized.

"What else happened, Stiles?" she squeezed the hand she kept in her grasp.

Stiles was quiet for a few seconds before admitting, "My dad lost his job because of me."

Olivia raised her eyebrows. "Because of you?"

Stiles nodded. "Apparently having a son that stole a prisoner transport van isn't a good look for the sheriff..."

"Stiles—"

"And he didn't even yell at me," Stiles shook his head in disgust. "I got him fired and he wasn't even mad."

Olivia didn't know what to say. She wasn't good at giving advice and she was hardly in touch with her own feelings. She didn't want to make things worse for Stiles. That being said, she had the compulsion to do something. She really cared about Stiles and she hated seeing him upset.

Not knowing what else to do, Olivia leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Stiles' shoulder. Stiles buried his face in the crook of her neck as she reached for his head, soothingly running her fingers through his growing buzzcut. It was a nice hug and it was nice that they didn't really need to say anything in order to comfort each other. That was one of Olivia's favorite things about them.

She pressed a chaste kiss to Stiles' temple and smiled slightly as she felt his fingers tighten around her waist. When Stiles finally pulled away from her embrace, she gave him a sweet smile.

"Everything will be okay, Stiles," she whispered.

Stiles nodded, his eyes trailing up and down her face, spending more time around her lips. Olivia could feel the tension in the room and she had to admit that she wanted him to kiss her but maybe this wasn't the right time.

Thankfully, the universe agreed. Olivia's bedroom door swung right open, revealing Lydia in her pajama-clad glory. Olivia and Stiles jumped away from each other, trying to act casual.

Lydia grinned widely at them as Sirius jumped off the bed to greet her. "Sorry, did I interrupt something?"

Olivia rolled her eyes and climbed off her bed. "What did you need Lydia?" she asked, grabbing her homework from the bed to set it on her desk. "Were you looking for more kids to make your soup?"

Lydia scoffed playfully. "Bitch."

"Witch."

"I just came to remind you that the rave was starting soon," Lydia said coyly. "Weren't you guys supposed to go to that?"

"Right," Stiles hurriedly stood up, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. "Livvy, you should get dressed so we can go pick up Scott."

Olivia nodded while Lydia raised an eyebrow at him. "Scott's going on your date with you?"

"It's not a date," Stiles and Olivia said at the same time—almost too quickly—before giving each other awkward looks.

"Anyway..." Stiles muttered. "I'll be downstairs."

Olivia nodded and Lydia smirked at her while Stiles left the room with Sirius on his heels. She waved mockingly at her before shutting the door, making Olivia sigh heavily.

Twenty minutes later, Olivia was appropriately dressed in lacy black shorts, a white tank top, and a black bralette with her hair pulled back into a French braid. Thirty minutes later, they had picked up Scott and were on their way to the Iron Works where the rave was taking place. The car ride was dead silent but luckily, they pulled up to the warehouse.

Scott gave Stiles a worried look as the three of them got out of the Jeep. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Stiles nodded. "Why?"

"You just didn't say anything the whole way here," Scott pointed out while looking at Olivia for a hint about what was going on.

Olivia just shrugged; if Stiles wanted to tell Scott what was going on, he would have.

"No, I'm fine," Stiles opened up the hatch and picked up one of the large bags of mountain ash. "Just grab the other bag."

"I can't, remember?" Scott reminded him. "Deaton said you have to do it alone."

Stiles sighed heavily. "Okay, this plan is really starting to suck."

Olivia gave him a sympathetic look. "Call if you need help, all right?"

Stiles nodded and grabbed the other bag before closing the hatch. Out of nowhere, Scott perked up, glaring toward the warehouse that already seemed to be full. The rave was in full swing.

"Not here," he grumbled. "Not now."

"What?" Stiles gave him a confused look but Scott just took off into the warehouse. "Scott, wait! What am I supposed to do?"

Since Scott was gone, it was up to Olivia to reassure him. "Just do what Dr. Deaton said, okay?" she grabbed both of his arms to steady him. "You can do this, Stiles."

"I can't do this."

"Yes, you can," Olivia repeated herself. "I'm going inside now, so you have to do this, okay?"

Stiles nodded but what came out of his mouth wasn't assuring. "This plan officially sucks."

"Sorry, sweet-cheeks," Olivia pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before walking away from him. She missed seeing the furious blush raising on his cheeks but she somehow knew it was there.

Olivia showed her ticket to the bouncer at the door and walked into the thick of the party. Lights were blasting, music was blaring, and most of the people in attendance were having fun with their friends, but Olivia didn't feel comfortable like most of them. She didn't like parties to begin with and now, with everything that was supposed to go down tonight, it felt like her heart was about to beat straight out of her chest.

She quickly met up with Isaac and Erica.

"You look great, Erica!" she complimented her packmate. Her white graphic tank-top was really nice, especially under some of the neon lights.

"You too, Liv!"

They started to look through the crowd for Jackson but it was only a moment or so later that Scott approached them with the ketamine and needle. He pulled Olivia and Isaac aside as Erica kept a look-out and explained that Isaac needed to inject Jackson with the medication since the Argents were here to capture and presumably kill Jackson.

"Why me?" Isaac asked, taking the needle and vial from Scott.

"Because I have to make sure that Argent doesn't completely ruin the plan," Scott told him. "Okay, you better do it intravenously, which means in the vein. When you find him, you pull back on the plunger there," he pointed to the needle in Isaac's hand. "In the neck is probably gonna be the easiest."

Olivia nodded, knowing that it was important that she know that information, too, just in case Isaac forgot it in the heat of the moment.

"Find a vein, jam it in there, and pull back on the trigger," she repeated.

Scott nodded. "Just be careful."

Olivia gave him a small smile and a nod while Isaac scoffed. "Oh, I doubt it'll even slightly hurt him."

Olivia pressed her lips together and gave him a deadpan look. "Isaac, he was talking about us."

"She's right," Scott confirmed. "I don't want you guys getting hurt."

Isaac was surprised by Scott's sentiment, so he stared at him in shock.

Olivia patted Scott on the shoulder while Isaac was distracted. "You be careful, too," she told him. "Try not to get killed."

Scott rolled his eyes playfully. "Thanks for the advice, Liv."

He ran off to try to stop the Argents from getting to Jackson and Isaac turned to her.

"Why doesn't he want me to get hurt?" he asked her, confused.

"Because it's Scott," Olivia sighed. "and he's a good guy."

"Oh."

"Yeah," Olivia couldn't help but laugh a little at the lost look on his face. "Come on, we should find Jackson."

They joined back up with Erica to look for Jackson again. While they were searching, tingles started erupting all over Olivia's body. It started in her torso before it suddenly disappeared. And then it was her shoulder and then her chest and then finally, her head.

Derek. Boyd. Scott. Derek. Boyd. Scott.

She rubbed just below her ear as the voices started again. Derek and Boyd were supposed to be making sure nothing would interfere with their plan, so it probably meant they had joined up with Scott to distract the Argents. They were fine. They were fine.

Her phone buzzed in her shorts and she saw that Stiles had texted her for help.

She nudged Isaac to get his attention. "You guys find Jackson," she told him; he gave her a curious look. "I need to go help Stiles."

Isaac nodded and Olivia took off, making her way out of the warehouse. She found Stiles ten feet or so away from his jeep, a handful of mountain ash left.

"Stiles?"

Stiles whipped around at her voice and sighed loudly. "Oh, thank God," he muttered. "Scott wouldn't pick up and I've got, like, fifty feet of ash left..."

"Okay."

"and I've been hearing gunfire," Stiles continued, his voice wavering anxiously. "and I'm out of the fucking magical fairy dust and I'm all alone."

"Stiles!" Olivia exclaimed, stepping over the mountain ash to be by his side. "You're not alone, okay? I'm here."

"Okay," Stiles nodded, his eyes softening as he looked down at her. "Okay but what about the ash? There's none left."

Olivia pressed her lips together and looked down at the line of mountain ash, only a couple feet away from them. "Dr. Deaton said you had to believe, right?" she looked back to him; Stiles nodded. "Okay, so believe that it will work."

"Uh, he said that people who golf imagined where the ball would go," he scratched his forehead.

"Okay, so then imagine," Olivia corrected herself. "Imagine that it will work, Stiles."

Stiles nodded, his eyes flitting away from her to one of the cars they were standing by. As it happened, there was a bumper sticker on the back of one of the cars with a familiar Einstein quote.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

"Imagine," he breathed.

Olivia watched as he exhaled heavily and closed his eyes. He started walking the rest of the way to the start of the barrier, dropping ash as he went. Olivia couldn't believe it when the ash actually covered the rest of the distance, completing the barrier successfully.

"Stiles, you did it!"

"What?" Stiles opened his eyes and looked down at the line of mountain ash. When he saw that it was one continuous line, he spun to face Olivia. "I did it!"

"I know—oop!" Olivia's exclamation was cut off as Stiles bounded over to her and picked her up, spinning her through the air. She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. Sighing, he put her back down so her feet could touch the ground.

And then, his lips were on hers.

The kiss was over before either of them could process what had happened. Olivia stared up at Stiles with wide eyes, getting the same shocked look from him.

"Wha—"

"Um—"

"Yeah—"

"We should—"

"Yeah—"

"They probably have Jackson by now..."

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, we should—we should get in there."

Olivia made a noise of agreement.

Stiles had kissed her and she didn't even get to enjoy the moment. To be fair, he hadn't either. It seemed like it was more of an absent-minded thing than being a planned out gesture. But, even if it wasn't the longest or most passionate kiss, it was perfect to Olivia.

They crossed the mountain ash barrier, glad that Olivia could get through it, and made their way into the warehouse. A quick text to Erica informed them that she and Isaac had Jackson sedated in one of the rooms on the right side of the building.

Since there were only three rooms to the right of the building, Olivia and Stiles found Isaac, Erica, and Jackson quickly.

Stiles opened the door and immediately flinched back when Erica lunged toward them. "Uh, no, no! It's just us," he said quickly. "Don't freak."

Erica relaxed as he shut the door behind Olivia. Olivia turned to Jackson and studied him; he was unconscious and leaned over in a metal folding chair.

"Is he okay?" she asked Isaac as she rubbed her chest; it felt like her lungs were tingling.

"Well, let's find out," Isaac said cockily, strutting over to Jackson. He flicked out his claws and was about to strike Jackson when Jackson reached out, tightly grabbing Isaac's wrist. He squeezed harshly and twisted, breaking Isaac's arm and making him fall to his knees from the pain.

Isaac. Isaac. Isaac.

Olivia's arm erupted into tingles; the same arm of Isaac's that Jackson was breaking. Something lit up at the back of her mind but she was too focused on Erica and Stiles ripping Isaac out of Jackson's grip to figure out what it was.

"Okay," Stiles raised his voice once Isaac was safely out of Jackson's reach. "no one does anything like that again, okay?"

"I thought the ketamine was supposed to put him out," Olivia went to Isaac's side and put a supportive hand on his back while turning to Stiles for answers.

"Yeah, well, apparently this is all we're gonna get," Stiles commented, his voice growing harsh with nerves. "So, let's just hope that whoever's controlling him just decided to show up tonight."

"I'm here," a dark, warped voice spoke up. They all turned to Jackson, his eyes open but strangely blank. "I'm right here with you."

In a show of bravery, Stiles clenched his jaw and leaned down in front of Jackson so they were eye-to-eye. "Jackson, is that you?"

"Us," Jackson continued to speak in the warped voice. "We're all here."

Olivia raised her eyebrows as Stiles looked back at her. Apparently the master did show up to the rave.

Stiles turned back to Jackson. "Are you the one killing people?"

"We are the ones killing murderers."

"So, all the people you've killed so far—"

"Deserved it," Jackson cut Stiles off.

"See, we got a little rule book that says you only go after murders," the way Stiles spoke was dark, smooth, and controlled. It was the worst timing ever, but Olivia thought that it was kind of hot.

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

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "All right, so the people you're killing are all murderers then?"

"All. Each. Everyone," the master confirmed through Jackson.

"Well, who did they murder?"

"Me."

Olivia stiffened, shocked by the master's statement. What did that even mean? How was someone who was supposedly murdered be controlling Jackson?

"Wait, what?" Stiles was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"They murdered me," the master's voice grew furious as Jackson's eyes started changing to a reptilian gold. "They murdered me."

Her heart racing, Olivia reached forward and grabbed the back of Stiles' sweatshirt, pulling him back to her, Isaac, and Erica.

"Okay, all right," he said quickly while Jackson slowly changed into the kanima. "More ketamine. The man needs more ketamine."

Isaac held up the empty vial. "We don't have anymore."

Stiles looked at him in disbelief. "You used the whole bottle?"

Olivia winced as scales started appearing on Jackson's face and neck. "Who cares?" she raised her voice. "Get out of here, now!"

Jackson slowly stood up and they moved.

"Go, go, go," Stiles chanted, pushing Erica and Olivia out the door, him and Isaac quickly following after them. Once he slammed the door shut behind Isaac, he urged, "Okay, find something to move in front of the door—"

He didn't get to finish his order when the kanima jumped through the wall and ran out toward the crowd.

"Fuck!" Stiles yelled. "Okay, let's go! Let's go!"

Olivia rubbed her chest again as she tried to keep up with Stiles, Erica, and Isaac. The tingles in her chest were growing almost painful and her regular whispers were turning to shouts.

SCOTT. SCOTT. SCOTT.

She couldn't ignore the obvious signs anymore. When Isaac was being injured by Jackson, she felt it and heard his name. That couldn't be a coincidence, especially when she had had similar instances before. There was the time when Erica knocked out Stiles, when Derek was paralyzed by the kanima, when Erica had her seizure in the library, and more. She was somehow connected to her pack mates and she somehow knew when something bad was happening to them.

And now, something was happening to Scott. Whatever it was, it was bad. Worse than usual.

SCOTT. SCOTT. SCOTT.

Olivia stumbled out of the warehouse, relieved to see Stiles talking to Derek on the other side of the mountain ash barrier.

"Derek!" she called, catching his attention.

Stiles and Derek turned to her, shocked to see her eyes glowing purple.

"Livvy, what's wrong?"

"Ollie, what's going on?"

"Scott," she whimpered as she clutched her chest, falling to her knees on the concrete. "Something's wrong with Scott."

SCOTT. SCOTT. SCOTT.

"Wait, what—"

Stiles question went ignored as Derek heard a loud howl come from a nearby warehouse. It was Scott's and he was in trouble just like Olivia warned him.

"Scott," he breathed in realization.

Stiles gave him a confused look. "What?"

Derek just shook his head and pointed at the barrier. "Break it."

"What?" Stiles narrowed his eyes. "No way."

"Scott's dying!"

"Okay, what? How do you know that?"

"Oh, my God, Stiles, I just know! Break it!"

"Stiles!" Olivia shouted from her place in Erica's arms. "Scott needs help."

Stiles only looked into Olivia's purple eyes for a second before bending down to break the barrier. Derek ran through and was gone in a second, looking for Scott.

Stiles stepped through the barrier and gathered Olivia up into his arms, nodding at Erica. He waited patiently for her purple eyes to disappear, hoping that would signal the end of whatever was happening to Scott.

It was five minutes later that Olivia's eyes changed back into their usual cobalt blue.