[3x19; Letharia Vulpina]

Allison Argent smelt like cherries even after spending the most of two days sitting vigil in a hospital. She had left only to go to the bathroom; otherwise Olivia brought all her meals, a change of clothes, and a stick of deodorant. Olivia, herself, had been in and out of the hospital, running herself ragged as she split her time between making sure that Isaac was still alive and searching for Stiles. Isaac was still alive, though completely comatose, and there had been no sign of Stiles—as himself or the Nogitsune.

On the third day of Isaac's hospitalization and Stiles' disappearance, the nurses and doctors still would not let Olivia or Allison into Isaac's room because they weren't family. It didn't matter how many times that Olivia raised her voice, Allison glowered, or Derek insisted; no one was getting in unless they were blood related. It absolutely infuriated all three of them and it was the first time that Allison and Derek ever agreed on anything.

So, Olivia and Allison found themselves resting on the bench outside of Isaac's room, where they had been for what seemed like eternity. It was close enough for Olivia to feel Isaac's faint tether and to know if anything was going on with his health. Currently, he was not healing and not reacting to any stimuli, though he did still have brain activity—thank God.

Olivia sighed and burrowed her head deeper into Allison's bony shoulder. When Isaac wasn't at the forefront of her mind, it was Stiles. She couldn't believe that she missed that he was possessed by a Japanese demon. He was her boyfriend, she loved him, and she still didn't realize until it was too late. She wanted to cry just thinking about what Stiles was going through at the moment.

Was he awake? Did he know what the Nogitsune was doing? Did he have any control? Does he know that none of this was his fault?

This was going to destroy him if they ever got him back. He may be a sarcastic bastard sometimes, but ultimately, he loved and wanted to protect people. Knowing that the Nogitsune used his body to kill two people and harm another—one of his pack—while at the hospital would ruin him.

Right now, Olivia couldn't focus on her own fear about Stiles. To keep herself together, she had to focus on finding him. Derek was out looking for him—along with a special task force of police and Allison's father—and once in a while, Olivia would try to use her mental map to locate him. Each time, his brown tether was nowhere to be seen. The only reason she knew he wasn't dead was because she recognized his presence in a sparkle near her own tether, bouncing around in agitation.

"I'm so tired," Allison whispered, her cheek squished against the crown of Olivia's head.

"If you want, I can stay while you go get some sleep," Olivia offered, though she knew Allison would refuse.

"No, I want to stay here," Allison repeated for what seemed to be the hundredth time.

Olivia nodded in acceptance and fell silent once more as Allison drifted off to sleep. Isaac's green tether pulsed slowly, mimicking his heartbeat, and she found comfort from the reassurance he was still hanging on.

The ding of the elevator caught Olivia's attention. Scott and Melissa walked out slowly, frowning when they spotted the bench where she and Allison had been napping on and off for the past few hours. She sent them a tired smile and nudged Allison awake.

"Have you guys been here all night?" Scott wondered, softly placing his hand on Allison's shoulder to announce his presence.

Allison nodded tiredly. "Yeah."

"They won't let us see him because we're not family," Olivia told them, standing up to stretch. "We told him that he doesn't have any—well, blood-related, anyway..."

"Well, blood-related or not, he's got us, and I've got a keycard," Melissa held up one of the keycards that would get them into Isaac's room—the perks of being a nurse. She swiped it through the lock and waited until it buzzed. "Be quick."

The monitor beeped in tune with Isaac's tether as they walked into the room. The whole side of his face where he fell into the electrified water was still scarred bloody and black as he remained unhealed. Olivia's breath stuttered for a moment before she exhaled loudly, her heart aching at the sight of one of her best friends laying in the bed, unconscious.

She quickly walked to the left side of his bed and took his limp hand, missing the way that Allison gripped onto Scott's arm tightly. Together, they slowly made their way to his other side.

"I thought he'd be healing by now," Allison said softly, eyes watery as she took in Isaac's pale face and his injuries.

"So did I," Scott agreed.

"Do you know if he's in pain?"

"He is," Olivia spoke up now, hot tears glazing over her eyes. Now that she was touching him, she could feel exactly how much pain he was actually in and it broke her heart.

How did they get here? Hadn't she promised to protect Isaac?

Scott laid his hand on Isaac's burnt right arm; sensing what he was doing, Olivia let go of Isaac and watched as black veins lit up his pale skin and transferred onto Scott's hand. Scott inhaled sharply as he transferred some of Isaac's pain onto him, his eyes clenching tightly together as he got through it. Just as his red tether lit up, Scott gasped frantically and let go of Isaac.

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek worriedly, eyeing Scott to make sure he was okay. He gave both her and Allison a reassuring look.

"It won't heal him, but it helps with the pain."

Allison brought her hand up to her mouth, chewing on the outside of her thumbnail. "Did Stiles really do this?"

Olivia knew that Allison wasn't attacking Stiles, but she got defensive anyway. "The Nogitsune possessing him did."

Scott nodded in agreement.

Allison gave Olivia an apologetic look. "Okay, so how do we get the Nogitsune out of him?"

"I'm working on it," Scott focused on Olivia. "I'm going to talk to Kira. Do you want to come with?"

Olivia nodded; if anyone knew about the Nogitsune, it would be her, right? They had already gotten as much information out of Katashi as possible and since Kira was a kitsune, she had to know some things.

-

"The thing is, in all of the stories, kitsune are tricksters," Kira spoke quickly as she accompanied Scott and Olivia down the stairs of school, all of them heading toward the locker room. "They're mischievous. They don't really get caught up in the right or wrong or even understand it."

"What's that mean?" Scott asked, slightly frustrated. "It's just doing this for the hell of it?"

Kira shook her head. "No, there was something else I found. If you somehow offend a Nogitsune, it can react pretty badly."

Olivia sighed. Of course the Nogitsune was offended. Why not? "How do you offend a Nogitsune?"

"I don't know, but if it's doing something this bad, then someone really, really offended it."

Kira slipped into the locker room in order to get ready for cross-country practice, leaving Olivia and Scott standing in the hallway to discuss what they just learned.

"How are we supposed to figure out who offended a thousand-year-old Japanese demon?" Olivia huffed.

"And how are we supposed to protect them against said demon?" Scott added, eyebrows furrowed. "How are we even supposed to get it out of Stiles?"

"I have no idea and I'm guessing hiring a priest wouldn't do anything..." Olivia paused when Ethan and Aiden pushed their way out of the locker room. "What could you possibly want right now?"

She was grumpy, so what? She didn't have time to be delicate when her boyfriend was possessed and missing and one of her best friends was on his death bed.

"Woah, calm down there, Liv," Aiden raised his hands while cocking an eyebrow. "We wanted updates."

"We heard what Kira told you guys," Ethan said. "So, we got nothing, huh?"

"No Stiles, no demonic ninjas..." Aiden started.

Ethan finished, "Things are getting too quiet."

Scott sighed heavily. "Yeah, I know. It's making me nervous, too."

Nervous had to be an understatement.

A dull ache started up in Olivia's eardrums at that moment. She would have thought that she was getting an ear infection but at the same time, Scott, Aiden, and Ethan all winced heavily, covering their ears. Clearly, something was going on that only werewolves could hear.

"You guys hear that?"

"Is it an emitter?" Olivia put the puzzle pieces together.

"One of Argent's," Scott confirmed as he looked around, trying to find where the noise was coming from.

Ethan found it first. "It's coming from the basement."

Ignoring the threat of missing cross-country practice—for the boys—and homeroom—for Olivia—the four of them took off to the stairs. It didn't take long to get to the basement to see what was going on. Naturally, as the slowest of the group, Olivia had been at the back. When Scott, Aiden, and Ethan all stopped to stare at something in one of the storage rooms, she couldn't see the reason until she elbowed her way to the front.

Stiles' familiar silhouette was outlined in the dull glow of the room's overhead lights. In one of his hands was the emitter that the werewolves had heard. Olivia's chest clenched just at the sight of him.

"Stiles?" she breathed unsurely. Was this actually Stiles or was it the Nogitsune?

Stiles slowly turned around and held up his hands defensively. "Okay, I know what you guys are thinking, but it's me," he said hurriedly. "I swear to God it's me."

Olivia faltered, still unsure, and in that moment, the twins pounced on Stiles, growling fiercely. The emitter was harshly thrown to the floor as they worked together to grab Stiles and pick him up by his shirt, bracing him against the wall. While Scott rushed at them, shouting at them to stop, Olivia quickly turned off the emitter and calmly placed a hand on Ethan's shoulder, willing him to calm down.

Ethan was extraordinarily easier to calm than his twin, his regular brown eyes blinking into focus. He let go of Stiles and stepped away with Olivia's hand still on him, breathing heavily. Aiden hadn't given up and it took Scott roaring at him in that alpha tone of his for him to back off.

Aiden hastily let go of Stiles and cowered away, his blue eyes flaring for a moment before turning brown. Olivia let go of Ethan to grab Aiden, pulling him away from Stiles, who was giving Scott an appreciative look.

"Stiles?" Olivia's whisper got his attention and she watched as his brown eyes softened at the sight of her.

"It's me, Livvy, I swear," he rushed her into a tight hug, wrapped his arms around her so snug it was difficult to breathe. At the moment, Olivia didn't particularly care; she was too wrapped up in his warm presence, glad to see him in one piece. "I don't know where I've been the last two days or what I've been doing, but this is me. I promise."

As Stiles let go of her, Ethan stepped up, arms crossed over his chest. "You know what happened at the hospital?"

"I know more than that," Stiles glanced at Scott meaningfully. He passed him to pick up a bag, where he took out a roll of building plans, laying them out onto the table nearby. "You see this?"

Olivia, Scott, Aiden, and Ethan surrounded the table, looking down at the building plans. It was the hospital, marked with different colored lines, and there were little notes written in Stiles' handwriting all over them.

"This is a blueprint of the hospital's electrical wiring," Stiles elaborated, pointing out the red lines. "You see all these markings in red? That's my handwriting. I know I did this. I caused the accident."

Olivia inhaled deeply and glanced at Scott, trying to read his face. Scott was staring at Stiles, slight curiosity and distrust in his eyes as he reached toward the duffle bag at his side.

Stiles continued. "And everything in this bag, it's all stuff that could be a part of something bigger."

Ethan reached into the duffle and pulled out a small power saw; Olivia inhaled through her nose at the sight of it. "What the hell have you been up to?

"I think something worse," Stiles admitted guiltily. "A lot worse."

Immediately, Olivia's brain went whirling, curious as to what the Nogitsune had planned. He wouldn't have just let Stiles go, right? He had to have planned something deadly in order to let him go, enough to satiate his amusement and move on to the next person he wanted to possess—if evil Japanese fox demons even worked like that.

First thing first, they had to figure out what exactly the Nogitsune had planned. Slipping on her "Stiles" hat—which she observed during their nights spent watching Criminal Minds and having him solve every crime before Spencer Reid could even stutter—she turned to their biggest clue.

Stiles.

"We need to search the bag," she advised, nodding at the duffle. Stiles, curious, turned to look at her. "You're our biggest clue as to what the Nogitsune wants, right? We need to know what's in the bag and whatever you can possibly remember to figure out what he's planned."

"She's right," Scott agreed while Stiles continued to stare at her; Olivia turned away from him, slightly confused as his tether shivered in some negative emotion she couldn't quite place, and grabbed the bag, setting it down on one of the tables in the room next to them.

Ethan and Aiden quickly got to work taking things out of the duffle while Scott, Olivia, and Stiles smoothed out another map that Stiles had with him. This time, it wasn't the hospital, but a detailed recording of the Preserve. Duct tape, telephone cord, rough rope, heavy chains, and a heavy-duty dog chain were steadily piled onto the table as the bag emptied.

"What the fuck were you doing," Aiden glanced at Stiles, who paced anxiously behind where Olivia and Scott stood. "building a Terminator?"

"Thanks for that," Stiles answered sarcastically.

"Hey," Olivia quickly cut in before an argument could ensue. She gestured at the map that she and Scott had been studying. "Guys, this is a map of the Preserve."

Ethan instantly reached forward, tracing a red line on the map. "Isn't that the cross-country trail?"

Scott nodded and as Ethan's finger passed the marker for the Looking Point, he added, "That's the Tate car, where Malia Tate's family died."

"You mean that where her father put the steel-jawed traps," Stiles said moodily as he leaned against the table, hands gripping the edge with white knuckles.

Olivia and Scott exchanged looks with Ethan and Aiden. Cross-country practice was happening currently, the boys having already missed the bus out to the Preserve. They had to get there because any one of their classmates could lose a foot within a second.

-

By the time Stiles' jeep screeched to a stop behind the parked school bus in the Preserve, only Coach was present, watching his phone while occasionally checking his watch. Stiles ripped the keys out of the starter and the four of them jumped out of the jeep, the three werewolves heading straight to the trail. Olivia and Stiles ran over to Coach, who looked bewildered at the sight of them.

"Coach!"

"Stilinski, what the—"

Stiles interrupted him swiftly. "Coach, listen close. We have to get everyone off the trail now."

"Why on earth—Where have you—Stilinski!" Coach couldn't focus, still shocked at Stiles' presence.

Olivia understood, but they didn't have the time to be gentle and patient. "Coach, a guy who lives close by put down a hundred coyote traps," she informed him urgently. "Including the trail, so we have to get everyone off now."

Coach's eyes darted between Olivia and Stiles for a second. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go!"

Coach led them to a shortcut to the halfway point of the trail that the team was running. Luckily—or unluckily, really—the same spot was marked on the map in Stiles' pocket, which meant that the Nogitsune had put a trap somewhere around there. When they got there, Scott and Kira were speaking in hushed tones and a group of students, led by Aiden, were a hundred or so feet away.

Stiles started running toward Scott and Kira. "Scott! Stop, stop, stop!" he slid to a stop, as did the students who had caught up to Scott and Kira. "Everyone, stop!"

Olivia and Coach, who had been left behind when Stiles started running, finally caught up and watched as Stiles rummaged around in a leaf pile. There was the sound of clinking chains as he picked up a metal ring; they all watched with bated breath as he pulled the chain out of the leaves, only to find it a few inches long.

A snort left Coach and he started clapping slowly. "Congratulations, Stilinski," he griped sarcastically. "You found a length of chain," he walked toward Scott, eyes determined. "Now, can somebody please tell me what the hell is going on?"

Olivia watched as Scott's widened, but she didn't know what had shocked him until he yelled, "Coach, watch out!"

It was too late. Coach's foot snagged on a trip wire. Within seconds, faster than Olivia could keep up, an arrow had shot from a trap a few feet away and impaled itself into his stomach. Several students gasped, including Olivia and Kira.

"Oh, shit..." Coach went down like a sack of potatoes, blood staining the stomach of his gray sweatshirt.

Everyone went into action. Olivia knelt by Coach's head, Aiden hovering behind her, as she tried to wake him up. Scott was on his left, trying to shake him awake, while Stiles pressed his hands to the wound, trying to staunch the bleeding. Others around them started gossiping, but luckily Danny had enough common sense to call 911.

Coach woke up very suddenly, screaming loudly and scaring Olivia and Aiden half to death at the sheer volume.

"Get it out of me, get it out of me, get it out of me!" Coach struggled now, the blood on his stomach spreading rapidly. Scott and Aiden now had to hold him down because he was wiggling so much from the pain and Olivia held onto the sides of his head, concerned that he might have hit his head on impact. "Oh, my God, I'm gonna die!"

"You're not gonna die, Coach," Olivia's voice was soothing; unfortunately, Coach was not a werewolf and those Anchor powers of hers didn't exactly work on him. "Danny's calling 911."

"They're sending an ambulance," Danny's voice came from somewhere behind her. "And police."

Every reassuring word fell on death ears.

"I'm gonna a die! I'm gonna die! Get it out of me!"

It was very clear that Coach's frantic shouting was getting on Stiles' nerves. His hands pressed harder onto his stomach and his voice had an edge to it as he repeated Olivia's sentiments, "Coach, you're not going to die."

More screaming.

"It'll hurt less if you stop screaming, Coach," Aiden advised, now taking the burden of Coach's struggling as Scott and Stiles had a conversation with their eyes; Stiles nodded at Coach's stomach meaningfully and Scott reciprocated, gripping Coach's arm tightly. Aiden and Olivia caught on quickly, as did Ethan and Kira.

"Get back!" Ethan ushered their classmates away so no one would see. "Get back, give him some room!"

"An ambulance is coming, Coach," Olivia repeated, watching as black veins showed up on Scott's hands, transferring Coach's pain into him. He grunted in pain until, finally, Coach exhaled, relaxed and pain-free, and fainted again.

"He passed out again," Olivia informed them.

Scott let go of Coach's arm but Stiles' shaking breathing got their attention. He had removed his hands from Coach's injury and held them up in front of him, shaking furiously.

"I could have killed him," his voice broke; his tether flared slightly in Olivia's mind. "I could have killed him, right? What if it was his head or his throat?"

"But it wasn't," Olivia crawled away from Coach's head to Stiles' side in order to take his place and compress Coach's injury. "And he's going to be alright."

Scott nodded at Stiles encouragingly and went to him, helping him to his feet.

"I think I just heard the ambulance coming," Aiden informed them, still kneeling beside Coach's shoulder in case he woke up and started flailing around again.

As if on signal, a police siren whooped from a distance.

Stiles sighed heavily. "And my dad."

-

Olivia leaned against the hood of Stiles' jeep, watching as Stiles and Sheriff Stilinski hugged and reunited for the first time in days. Scott stood next to her, watching the same scene, both of them quiet as their minds raced.

Olivia didn't know what Scott was thinking about, but her mind was on Stiles and his random appearance after days of radio silence all the while being possessed by the Nogitsune. His tether was acting strangely; it wasn't nearly reactive as it usually was, and it felt more negative than usual too. Did that mean that some presence of the Nogitsune lingered, like a virus or cold?

And still, the question of the Nogitsune's plan haunted her. An arrow to the stomach of a high school lacrosse coach couldn't be the only thing going on. They were missing something. No, they were missing a lot of things and it was driving her insane. How many people would get hurt like Coach if they didn't fix this?

"This doesn't feel right," she whispered to Scott; he glanced over at her thoughtfully.

Before he could respond, Ethan called for them. "Guys, you better look at this."

Olivia and Scott walked around to the back of the jeep, where Ethan and Aiden had the door opened and looking through the junk that had accumulated since Stiles last cleaned his vehicle. Another duffle was on top of some blankets and empty water bottles; it was full of screws, nails, and other hardware. Next to it was a roll of wrapping paper.

Horror dawned on Olivia when she realized where she had last seen that paper.

"This is the same wrapping paper we used for Coach's birthday present," Scott had realized the connection as well.

"Wasn't that William Barrow's thing?" Ethan asked. "A bomb made from nails and bolts all wrapped up in a birthday present?"

Scott nodded, speechless.

"Where'd it go off?" Aiden prodded.

"On a school bus."

-

Lydia: Hey, where are you? You're missing class

Lydia: I just caught mom talking to Peter. Get ready for either uncomfortable questions or hard denial of the supernatural

Lydia: Allison and I are going to talk to Peter, wanna come?

Lydia: Guess you're busy...

Lydia: Okay, heard about the bomb threat at school. Be safe, love you.

Olivia sighed as she read the build-up of missed texts from Lydia. Lydia's day did not seem as strenuous as Olivia's, but she still had her own set of problems—and that included explaining Peter's unnatural healing to her aunt, who probably already had her suspicions about the supernatural and her daughter's involvement.

Still, that had to wait for now. After informing Sheriff Stilinski about the bomb in the school bus, time seemed to go quickly. A heavy team of police force were sent out to the school, where they did, indeed, find a present wrapped in the same paper as the roll in Stiles' jeep. Deputy Parrish, who Olivia learned from Stiles had just moved to Beacon Hills and had been on a tour in Iraq, had experience with bombs, so he suited up to check out the present.

He came back with what was not a bomb, but the sheriff's name plate. It came straight from his desk at the station.

So now, the emergency lay a mile or so ahead of them, as Olivia, Scott, and Stiles sped through town in Stiles' jeep. Just as they turned the corner onto the street where the station was located, they saw a small explosion come from the wing where the sheriff's office was. A shriek left Olivia's lips as Stiles' jeep swerved in shock; Derek's tether lit up brilliantly. He was in the station and he was injured, but he wasn't dead. It didn't stop tears from welling up in her eyes as she felt the relents of her cousin's pain.

They had to wait impatiently for a few minutes while the initial flames were put out by the fire department, who had already been called but arrived at the same time as them. Noah didn't protest as they entered the station after him and his deputies, too busy trying to find his men to scold them.

"Get me an ambulance here, at the sheriff's station," Noah rambled off into his radio. "We've got an explosion. We got multiple officers down. Multiple officers down. We need an ambulance ASAP!"

Using her map of tethers and following Derek's, Olivia wandered off to where Noah's office had been. She found Derek on the floor, covering Mr. Argent. She rushed toward them, gently rolling Derek off of her best friend's father.

"Are you okay?" she asked both of them, but mostly Derek, who was staring off in space whilst blinking rapidly. "Derek? Derek?!"

He blinked and gasped sharply, jerking away from her and almost falling to the floor. While Olivia gasped and reached forward, Mr. Argent was there first, steadying him. "Derek?"

"I'm okay," Derek said between gasps of pain, leaning slightly into Olivia's touch.

She could now see his back, which was covered in shards of glass piercing his skin through his coat. It was obvious that he had took the heat of the blast and covered Argent, saving his life. That...that was shocking, but Olivia knew Derek. He wouldn't let anyone die who didn't deserve it. Mr. Argent was a good man and what Derek had done was pure instinct. Protect the good.

Clearly, Mr. Argent was shocked at the turn of events as well. "You saved my life..."

"Derek," Olivia got her cousin's attention. "Are you sure you're alright? What are you guys even doing here?"

"It's a long story—" Mr. Argent started to say, but was interrupted when Kira, of all people, ran over to her. She hadn't even known that Kira was at the station; how did she get there?

"Olivia, the Oni are on the way. We need to find Scott and Stiles."

Feeling guilty about leaving Derek so soon after injury, she found Stiles and Scott kneeling at the body of a recently deceased deputy. Her hands instantly found Stiles' arm while Kira explained to Scott that they needed to go. She needed him to ground her for just one second. She needed her person to let her know that everything was alright. She needed her anchor.

Instead, Stiles slid his arm out of her hold and took her hand tightly. She didn't think about how odd his action was, she didn't have time to think. He held her hand and dragged her out of the station, where the four of them got in and started to move. They were headed to the animal clinic, where hopefully they'd be able to hide out until sunrise.

"It's an animal clinic?" Kira asked skeptically when Scott told her where they were going.

Scott nodded. "Yeah, the place is lined with mountain ash, just like my house," he told her. "It will buy us some time."

"But they can get through," Stiles reminded them needlessly. They all remembered when they were marked by the Oni.

"Eventually," Olivia whispered. Maybe Dr. Deaton's mountain ash would hold up better than the McCall residence.

"Eventually," Stiles repeated flatly. "Nobody's got any better ideas?" There was no answer. "Okay, sure. The animal clinic."

It had started raining when they left the police station, but by the time they got to the animal clinic, it was pouring buckets. All four of them were immediately soaked when they got out of the jeep at the back of the building. Olivia had taken the spare key from its hiding place and was unlocking the doors with shaking hands when three tethers within her map lit up—one of them being her own.

"Scott, they're coming!" she shouted over the loud rain. She finished unlocking the door and pushed it open forcefully. "Stiles, get inside!"

Olivia didn't need to tell Scott that the Oni had arrived to kill Stiles. His back had already been turned toward the dark shadow ninjas as loud rattling made his ear quirk. "Go, go!"

Seeing Stiles hesitate at the sight of Scott starting to fight the Oni, Olivia grabbed his arm and used all of her strength to pull him inside of the mountain ash barrier. She didn't stop to see if Kira followed them into the main exam room.

"Okay, you stay here," she could hardly breathe from the anxiety welled within her chest; her hands fluttered around Stiles' shoulders, her eyes quickly looking him up and down for injury. His hair was soaked, smacked flat against his forehead and he was paler than usual but there was no sign of injury or blood, which was good. It needed to stay that way. "I'm going to see if I can help Scott."

She went to leave, but a cold, wet hand wrapped itself around her wrist so tight, she knew she was going to bruise. She looked back toward Stiles and reared away in panic when she saw his cold, cold eyes and the wicked smirk on his lips.

"Actually, I think you're going to stay here, my little Anchor," he purred almost maliciously. He grabbed her other hand in quick succession before she could fight back and his grip was so strong it made her flinch.

Realization dawned on her; this was the Nogitsune, not Stiles. It hadn't been Stiles all day.

All at once, she started struggling against him, using his hold on her to kick him in the leg with all of her might. He hardly flinched, but his smirk widened as twisted her around, arms bent uncomfortably behind her.

"Are you going to behave, sweetheart?"

The pet name infuriated her, and so did his condescending tone. Using some defense moves that Allison taught her, she bent forward and ducked out of his hold, slamming her foot down on his at the same time. His hold on her broke, but before she could even think of another defensive move, the palm of his hand had smacked her right cheek so hard that she was thrown to the ground.

She yelped in pain, her eyes tinting purple. Not only was her own tether going off, but Scott's was blinking madly.

"C'mere," the Nogitsune grabbed her roughly, his superior strength stark against her weak struggling. He hoisted her onto one of the chairs pressed against the wall and held her still with one hand while rifling through the cabinet next to him. First, he balled up a cloth and shoved it in her mouth to stifle her shouting, slapping some medical tape over top, and then he quickly tied her up with some of the restraints that Deaton used on his patients.

Finished, the Nogitsune stepped back and admired his work. Olivia was restrained in the chair, unable to move, unable to speak, and raging mad. He smirked; he'd been alive for thousands of years, had possessed many people, and torturing their partners always brought him some of the greatest satisfaction.

"You look so pretty all tied up like that," he crouched to be at her level and touched her face, slowly dragging the tips of his fingers against the cheek he didn't hit, flushed in anger. Muffled sounds came from between her lips, but he didn't care. "Now, be quiet while I kill Scott, hmm?"

And Olivia watched, unable to move or help as the Nogitsune walked back toward the door. "Kira!" he shouted. "Get inside!"

Scott's tether flared crimson as a pit grew in Olivia's stomach. He'd been injured; she tried to shout his name, but nothing came out thanks to the cloth and tape blocking her mouth.

"Get him inside, get him inside," Stiles ushered Kira and Scott into the exam room.

A sword was impaled in Scott's stomach, so Olivia didn't blame him for not noticing her tied up just a few feet away. Before Kira could even try to pull the sword out of Scott's stomach, the Nogitsune had grabbed her hand and pried it away from the handle before knocking her head on the table. She fell to the floor, unconscious.

Scott stared from Stiles to Kira in shock, before his gaze slowly drifted over to Olivia, who screamed from behind the makeshift gag. He looked back to Stiles, slowly realizing that his best friend wasn't actually himself.

The Nogitsune possessing Stiles moved his body in a way that was very different to Stiles' usual movements. Stiles was all jerky nods and spazzing hands, vibrant and bright with various expressions, sarcastic looks, and attitude. In contrast, the Nogitsune slowly tilted his head as he studied Scott's injury, his eyes assessing everything around him. There was no emotion in his eyes.

He slowly stepped toward Scott, his hand reaching out to the sword still in his stomach. His long fingers danced on the hilt like he was playing the piano. "You okay?"

"Please don't," Scott was still in shock. "stop."

"It's okay," the Nogitsune wrapped his fingers around the handle of the sword in a flourished movement. With his other hand, he grabbed onto Scott's right shoulder to brace himself and then pushed the sword in deeper. Scott groaned and shouted in pain while Olivia closed her purple eyes, trying to do something to help her alpha.

"Does it hurt?" the Nogitsune asked as he twisted the sword all the way around. "Hey, look at me." Scott looked at him reluctantly. "You really should have done your reading, Scott. See, a Nogitsune feeds off chaos, strife, and pain." He fiddled with the sword some more; Scott grunted loudly. "This morning, you took it from Isaac, then you took it from Coach, and then from a dying deputy...All that pain, you took it all..."

The hand that gripped Scott's shoulders moved to his face, holding it tightly. Olivia gasped at the absolute evil that emitted from Stiles' body; she shook within her restraints—not only feeling her own terror, but Scott's horror and pain as well.

"Now give it to me."

Scott's face went lax as dark veins started popping up all over his skin. Olivia watched for the third time today as pain was transferred between two people. More black veins started crawling up Stiles' arm while the Nogitsune shuddered in pure pleasure and ecstasy. It was over in a few seconds, but for Olivia and Scott, that moment seemed like years.

"Whoo!" the Nogitsune let go of Scott quickly and turned around, heading toward Olivia. He brushed some of the hair that had escaped from her ponytail away from her face and traced the bruise that was already forming on her cheek with a heavy fingertip. "All day long, you didn't even notice, Olivia," he hummed, low and long, gripped her chin and forcing her to look up at his face. "You really have to learn not to trust a fox, sweetheart. You know why?" he didn't wait for Olivia to respond. "Cause they're tricksters. They'll fool you. They'll fool everyone."

Olivia had never before been scared of Stiles. In fact, he was the best part of her life and she loved him with all she was. She looked forward to seeing his beautiful face every day. Now, with a hard grip around her chin and a throbbing bruise on her cheek, she had never seen him look so terrifying. In that moment, she never wanted to see him again.

"Not everyone."

Olivia's recognized Dr. Deaton's voice, and she had never been so grateful to see the vague veterinarian that Scott worked for. A needle was swiftly pierced into Stiles jugular, the plunger pressed, and the Nogitsune went down, dropping at Olivia's feet, his eyes rolling into the back of his head.

When it was clear that the Nogitsune was no longer a threat at the moment, Scott and Olivia let out simultaneously breaths of relief. Dr. Deaton tended to Scott first—which Olivia was glad, he had a sword sticking out of his abdomen, for crying out loud—and when the werewolf was healing up, he undid her restraints and ripped the makeshift gag out of her mouth.

"What was that?" She asked, nervously looking down at Stiles' body. "Was it a cure?"

"Will he be okay?" Scott added desperately.

Dr. Deaton's face was grim, and it didn't give the two teenagers much hope. "The fox is poisoned, but it's not dead," he informed them. "Not yet."