A/N: why did it take me literally more than a year to update this?

because I have commitment issues and the idea of me having to commit to writing the end of this series or trilogy or whatever it's called made me sad so I ran away, that's my bad guys

also I'm on new anxiety meds again and only have a 7 day free trial with amazon prime so I'm probably gonna be cranking out chapters, so I think we might be back bitches 💞

That day, Katherine hadn't expected much to happen.

School had gone normally for once. Liam had picked her up at her house that morning even though she had said she would walk so he could sleep in a little later. But he'd brought her coffee and an unopened box of pop tarts because she usually forgot to bring lunches, so she decided to forgive him.

She had made it through the day without threatening to kill anyone she wasn't already prepared to throttle. She had only grabbed for her bat once. Naturally Mason had kept her from using it, shooting incredulous looks towards his boyfriend when Corey tried to reason with him over it.

One normal day wasn't enough for her to forget about the general chaos she lived in. Not even enough to lull her into a false sense of security.

But when she got a text from her dad that evening while making herself a box of craft dinner, she hadn't expected it to be aimed to the pack group chat. Let alone about Theo Raeken.

So wordlessly Katherine had set her cooking utensils aside and grabbed her things. She didn't even have to ask Scott to pick her up, he was already waiting in the driveway for her. The first thing she asked him was what the fuck, which he only sighed and shrugged at. Then he gave her free reign over the music, which wound up being Taylor Swift for the entirety of the ride.

She was quiet as he parked the Jeep in the closest spot to the doors, and smiled politely at Jacquelyn, who had been left in charge of the front desk. Scott followed dutifully behind her, hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans as they found her dad standing in his office with Parrish, Liam, Lydia and Malia.

Without looking at them, Katherine handed Scott her bag and walked straight down the hallway to where the lock up cell was and marched right up to the barred door. Inside Theo was leaning against the corner closest to her, while a young couple — a short blonde girl and a tall Asian boy — were huddled together on the small metal bench.

She spared the two of them a long, calculating glance before returning to the main problem. "Theo, what in the fuck."

"It wasn't me," he grumbled, defensively raising his hands.

"That's what literally every murderer has said ever, you dingus," Katherine scoffed without missing a beat. "What the fuck did you do."

"I didn't do anything," he spat back and waved an arm around. "The two of them are the ones you need to be pushing for answers here."

"Explain how," she demanded bluntly, "because usually when someone dies it's a pretty safe bet for us to look at you for answers."

Theo just rolled his eyes. "I had nothing to do with any of this," he snapped again, "come on, Katherine. Seriously." She didn't say anything as Theo spun around halfway to the other two and with open arms, said, "who did you kill?" He looked between them. "Was it you?" Silence. "Both of you then? Who's the murderer here?"

"Because it just couldn't be you, right?" Katherine snorted.

The face he made at her was mocking. "All right, I get it," he glared. "The longer you stay quiet, the better. Right? But you're here for murder. And they're keeping me here, too. But you're the murderers."

"We're not murderers," the boy said, trembling.

"Jiang..." the girl warned.

But Jiang went in as if she hadn't spoken. "If you'd been there you'd know we didn't have a choice. They came after us."

The girl was now upright, eyes wide with panic. "Jiang, shut up."

With a huff, Theo stalked over to the cell door and threw his arms open. "We good?"

"Probably definitely not," Katherine gaped at him.

But then the mechanically-locked door swung open and Parrish came in to open the cell. Fuckin great, she thought to herself as Theo stalked out. This is so much better now, thanks.

By the time she was back in her Dad's office the rest of the pack had shown up, and all were as borderline dumbfounded as she was.

"I'm not letting them go," was the first thing she heard her dad say. "We've got two bodies covered in slash marks, they confessed to killing two people.

Clearly, they'd started the conversation without her.

"Hunters," Scott said, his tone a mix of panic and begging.

"People, Scott," her dad shook his head. "Self defence or not, they're still here and the other guys area dead. There's a process I have to follow."

She opened her mouth, but Scott wasn't done. "But you know what's happening around here," he all but pleaded. "It's not safe for them."

"This may actually be the safest place for them in Beacon Hills," her dad countered. "At least I can protect them here."

"Would Stiles think that?"

Katherine turned to face Lydia, frowning deeply. "That's not fair," she shook her head.

They weren't listening to her.

"Especially if one of your deputies is working for Gerard?" Malia added in.

"I'm not buying that," her dad said quietly. It was the tone of voice he used when she was in deep trouble as a child, and she knew there was no point in arguing with him. "I know these deputies like the back of my hand. I know their families, their kids, their brothers and sisters-" they all took a glance out at the bullpen "-I know who they are and I trust them."

Liam glanced at her as he shook his head. "You know who they were," he corrected carefully. "There's something out there. Everyone is afraid, and it's getting worse."

"You can't protect two werewolves from hunters if they're already inside," Scott added.

After staring at them all for a while, her dad turned to look at her. "It's true," Katherine said quietly. "Things have changed, dad, and people are dying for someone else's fear." She inhaled sharply. "Gerard has men everywhere, and more people are joining him all the time. No one is safe anywhere."

Her dad sighed. "It's Quinn, right?" He asked as he looked to the opposite side of the room.

The girl nodded.

She was sitting silently on one of the office chairs, upper body partially leaned over her legs and her shoulders were drawn up to her ears. She was terrified.

"You're sure it was a deputy who shot you?" Her dad asked quietly. "Absolutely one hundred percent sure?"

The girl — Quin — averted her eyes down to her shoes as she gave a tense nod. "I saw flashing lights, a police car, I -- I saw a badge, a gun, and then they shot me." Her jaw clenched. "They shot me in the head. That's all I remember."

Against her better judgement, Katherine felt her brows fly up.

In the head?

"There's a few holes in her story," her dad sighed as he leaned against his desk.

"Maybe because there's a hole in her head," Lydia muttered irritably.

Malia let out a loud laugh at the comment. She still wasn't good at reading social ques or sensing the mood of a conversation.

It took everything to keep herself from cracking a smile.

When everyone turned to look at her, Malia's smile dropped. "I'm sorry."

Scott stared at her for a moment in disbelief, but when Malia didn't look back at him he turned his attention over to her dad. "Sheriff, we need to get Jiang and Tierney out of here before anyone realises they're here."

"And take them where?" Her dad demanded. "I can't let them go."

Lydia shook her head. "But if you keep them here, they're—"

"—look, if there's a problem—"

Her dad was cut off by a blaring flash of light outside of his office. Katherine felt her stomach drop.

Too late.

We're too late.

Her dad darted out into the bullpen to try and get things under control as the half a dozen deputies drew their weapons. Through the far window, she could see the hoard of people standing outside, all armed with Monroe standing at the front.

The familiar numbness worked its way through her body again.

Slowly, Katherine blinked away the dread she felt and the horror of being too late again because fine, maybe we're too late again. More people would die and it'll be horrible, but Gerard and Monroe would be amongst the bodies.

She would make sure of it.

Out in the bullpen, she watched as her dad spoke briefly with Parrish before setting his gun down on the nearest desk. They had another brief conversation before her dad walked to the front door and stepped outside.

Not again.

I was wrong, we can't be too late again.

Please not again.

It didn't take a genius to know Liam was watching her, so she wasn't overly surprised when he grabbed her bat before she could. "No," he said quietly.

Katherine looked him in the eye. "Don't tell me what to do."

His eyes scanned over her face. "No," he said again.

"Katherine," Scott piped in carefully from behind her. "You can't."

Eyes still boring into Liam's, she said, "yes I can. Now get out of my way."

The blinds shifted together as Malia stepped away from them. "We have to get out of here," she said.

The panic in her voice was enough for her to let it go. "Why?"

"Give him a chance," Scott shook his head quietly. "He knows what he's doing."

But Malia wasn't listening. "I am giving him a chance, he can talk to them all he wants to but we have to get the hell out of here."

"How do we get Jiang and Tierney out?" Liam demanded.

"Screw them," Malia spat. "It's Stilinski's job--"

"--but it's our job to keep him alive," Scott cut her off firmly.

"Not mine." The office door swung open quickly and without thinking, Katherine snatched her bat from Liam's grasp and raised it in preparation to swing.

The moment he saw Theo, Liam was stalking forward. "Do you want me to kill him?"

"No, leave him," Malia said shakily, "can we please just go?"

"We aren't going anywhere, don't you get that?" In the last two minutes, Katherine had forgotten Quinn was there. She had stayed silent in the commotion but now stood, arms wrapped around herself in desperation. "We're trapped, they have all the windows and doors covered. We're going to die in here."

Theo rolled his eyes and pointed directly for Quinn. "Does someone want to kill her?"

"Shut up!" Malia snarled.

Instinctively, Katherine stepped away from her. Liam and Theo both had raised brows. Lydia had paused in place.continued looking out the window.

Scott rushed to her. "Take a breath," he said quietly. "You're shaking."

"I'm fine," Malia shook her head uncertainly.

"There's only a dozen of them out there," Lydia cut in. "We can take them."

"Fuckin' right we can," Katherine muttered.

"They're the last of Satomi's pack, Scott," Liam tried. "We can't leave them behind."

After a moment, Scott nodded. "Okay we go. But Jiang and Tierney are coming with us."