Joan continued to stare ahead, her head rested upon Stiles' shoulder while Malia's head was placed upon her lap. If you were to look past their tired and fearful expression, you could imagine it as a family picture in a way. Thoughts were running through her head at the speed of light, wanting nothing more than to be able to heal her friends right then and there. 

          "You know, this is where it all started," Stiles pipped up, his eyes traveling around the room. "That's where the money was. one-hundred-seventeen million in bearer bonds."

          "How do you even change bearer bonds into cash?" Kira questioned from besides Scott.

          "Bank, I guess," Stiles assumed. "They just let it sit here the whole time collecting dust. You know bearer bonds are basically extinct?"

          Joan looked up at him in curiosity, "Why does it matter?"

         "You know how many problems that money could solve?"

          "For you?" Kira asked.

           Stiles nodded hesitantly, looking down at his hands feverishly, "Me. My dad... The Eichen House and MRI bills are crushing him..." Joan reached out and placed her hand overtop of his as a form of comfort. Stiles smiled down at her, glad that she was feeling better and by his side.

          "Mom does this thing, she writes down all the items in our budget, and how much they cost, then she adds them all up and figures out how long we have until... We lose the house," Scott admits helplessly. There were so many different things those bonds could have been used for besides sitting in this vault for years or being used to pay assassins to kill every supernatural beings in Beacon Hills.

          They could help Scott and Stiles pay for the massive amount of debt their parents were dealing with. It could help thousands of other lives as well, but it wasn't. Instead it was helping people that didn't need it. It was helping kill innocent lives left and right without giving a damn. It was a perfect example of how dark and greedy humanity was.

»

          Malia lay sound asleep when she and Stiles came back from their discussion with Scott. Joan lightly shook the sick were-coyote's shoulder, trying to ease her back into consciousness. "Malia. Malia...?"

          The were-coyote slowly stirred awake, her eyes blinking as she tried to focus on the two humans kneeling in front of her. Joan grabbed her hand as she watched Malia wake up, now seeing the black blood that had dried around her mouth.

          "We, uh, we gotta leave for a few, okay?" Stiles informed hesitantly, receiving a confused look from Malia.

          "Where are you going?" Malia quickly asked as she attempted to sit up causing her to wince. 

          The two shared a look of concern, knowing that Malia was becoming sicker and sicker by the minute. "Whatever's happening, it's worse for you guys," Stiles spoke, seeing the looking of distress crossing Joan's face as they were about to leave Malia. "That means it's not just people getting sick, it's another assassin."

          Malia slowly nodded, her hand squeezing Joan's. Her body shook as if a chill had run down her spin. Stiles reached his hand out and pressed it against her forehead, feeling the sudden spike in her temperature. "Here," he mumbled, taking off his outer coat and wrapping it around her shoulders. He smiled down at the were-coyote, not wanting to frighten her when the two of them had to leave.

          "You're coming back, right?" Malia quickly asked before they could stand up and begin to leave.

          Joan and Stiles nodded profusely. "Yes, of course," Joan explained in her motherly tone. "We'd never leave you behind." It was like the roles were switched when Malia had ran off in Mexico. But this time is wasn't Malia that had left without them knowing if she'd come back, this time it was Stiles and Joan that were leaving Malia. They didn't know if they would get back in time. All they could do is hope that they would.

          Stiles quickly kissed Malia's forehead, while Joan kissed her knuckles. It hurt to be leaving Malia, Scott, and Kira in the vault. It was an indescribable pain that circled around their hearts. The two had no idea what they'd come back to once they got back into the vault, and that terrified them beyond belief.

          The looked behind them one last time, Joan's eyes connected with Malia's before the door closed with a boom. Her heart clenched in her chest and she continued to stare at the wall, Stiles doing the same.

          Joan took a deep breath before turning to look at Stiles, "Let's do this then..."

»

          Joan had never been more terrified in her life, and that was saying a lot seeing the many villains she and the pack had faced. Her heart pounded in her chest as she and Stiles hurriedly ran through the school hand in hand. The slide to a stop several paces before the quarantine room was, Stiles turning towards Joan and telling her to stay where she was.

          "What? No!" Joan explained, staring at Stiles like he was crazy. 

          "They've been looking for us, and especially you ever since you left the quarantine. If you go in there with me, they'll put you back in your bubble. I need you, they need you. So, I need you to stay right here for just a second. Please, Joan. Please!"

          Joan sighed in irritation, know that Stiles was right. She nodded sheepishly, causing a thankful smile to grace Stiles' chapped lips. "Thank you! I'll be back as soon as possible," he explained quickly, placing a kiss on her cheek before running into the room to fine Mr. Yukimura.

         Joan slowly touched her cheek, still feeling where Stiles had kissed her. She was beyond surprised about his most recent action. Her mind was racing the longer she should there, her thoughts consumed with the idea of Stiles doing something more than just kissing her cheek.

          She shook her head, Why would I want Stiles to do more than just kiss my cheek? He's Stiles! That'd be weird, but it felt so nice to hold his hand and be in his embrace... Okay, that's enough! There are more important things to have in mind instead of thinking about my feelings on Stiles Sitlinski.

          Once Stiles had returned, he quickly grabbed her hand once again and basically dragged her to Coach's office, all the while explaining that Coach was the only adult to have gotten sick. Joan nodded along, understanding most of what Stiles said when they had made it to his office. 

          The duo quickly searched through Coach's office in hopes of some kind of clue of what infected him. By the time they had finished searching Coach's office was a mess with papers and other items all over the place. Stiles sighed in defeat, collapsing into Coach's chair. Joan walked over, seeing the dark circles forming under Stiles' eyes and the thin layer of sweat covering his forehead.

          Stiles stared down at Coach's desk, his eyes catching a stack of 'approved' papers. He quickly grabbed them and began to look through them, seeing the different ink used to stamp the word 'approval'. He quickly looked over his shoulder at Joan, the two now connecting the dots. 

         They were infected by the ink. The ink that the strange man had brought for them to use.

          "I was wondering how that idiot got sick," the man spoke up, causing the two teens to jump out of their skin. "I'm also wondering where your friends are. Since in order to get paid by the benefactor, I need to have proof they're dead."

          "Visual confirmation," Joan and Stiles said at the same time, their eyes trained on the gun that the man held in his hand.

          The man took a threatening step towards the teen, a wicked grin plastered across his face, "Exactly."

          Stiles protectively moved Joan behind him, just like he had done on the previous full moon. She quickly protested by hitting his shoulder multiple times. "Stiles, now is not the time to play Batman," Joan whispered into the boys ear, clutching onto the back of his jacket. Stiles shrugged his shoulders, trying to remain calm for both himself and Joan.

         The man quickly moved the duo into the locker room, his gun aimed at Stiles' head and they looked forward. "Still a bit feverish, Mr. Stilinski? But you should know something, the virus doesn't kill humans, you'll get better," the man explained from behind them, his tone sounding passive and sarcastic. "So don't you think you should tell me where they are? Shouldn't some of you get to live?"

          "I think I saw them in the library," Stiles answered after a moment, fear coursing through his body. 

          "Or it might've been the cafeteria," Joan quickly added with the shrug of her shoulders, her voice now shaking. "It was definitely one of those two."

          The man began to become impatient, taking another step towards the two, "I'm going to count to three, and then I'm going to kill you."

          Stiles slowly turned around, Joan following as well. "Think you can scare me?" Stiles asked, staring the man square in the eye. Joan wanted to do nothing more than to tell Stiles to shut up, but it felt like her voice had left her. With one hand she gripped his shoulder, while the other intertwined with his. 

          "No, I think I can kill you. I just thought the countdown would make it more exciting," the man replied back sarcastically, pressing the barrel of his gun to Stiles' forehead. 

          Joan could feel Stiles tighten his grip on her hand, her body flush against his. The two of them couldn't think of anyone better to die beside. They were only human and did what they could. Even though they didn't want to die, they couldn't have asked for a better person to hold their hand why they did.

          "One..." the man spoke, his finger getting closer to the trigger. Joan's breath hitched in her throat, "Stiles, I–" she stuttered out, her forehead placed on his back. "I know," he muttered back, his eyes beginning to water. "I know, Joan..."

          "Two..." 

          Their eyes squeezed shut, awaiting for the gun shot to sound. Right when the man said 'three' the gun shot was heard, but rather the shot coming from the assassin's gun it was from another. Joan could feel the blood in her hair as she slowly lifted her head, her mouth falling open at the sight of Mr. McCall. His gun was pointed forward and smoking. Down on the ground lay the assassin, a bullet hole visible on his forehead.

          Stiles quickly turned around to look at Joan, his hands shaking as he caressed her face, "Are you okay?"

          Joan nodded, tears welling in her eyes as she embraced Stiles tightly, not caring if the man's blood got all over her. She stepped away and looked up at his blood-splattered face. "I'm so happy you're okay," she whispered, whipping some of the blood off with her thumb. Stiles smiled weakly down at her before he turned to look at Mr. McCall.

          "Where– where the hell did you come from?" Stiles shakily asked, thankful that he had saved them.

          Mr. McCall shook his head, taking a step towards the duo and placing his hand on Stiles' shoulder, "Stiles, Joan, listen. I got a call from Melissa. I don't know what it means. She said there's an antidote. It's in a vault, reishi mushrooms."

          "Wait, what's in the vault?"

          "It's in a jar on one of the shelves," he quickly explained. "She said to tell Scott, it's in the vault." The two nodded, quickly running out of the locker room and back towards the Hale vault. Their hands were clasped tightly as they ran, not caring if anyone saw them.

          Their feet pounded against the concrete floors as they continued their decent down the stairs to the basement. They quickly made a sharp right before stopping in front of the door to the Hale vault.

          "Hey, Scott? Scotty? In the vault, in there with you!" Stiles called, banging his fists against the stone wall.

          Joan quickly repeated Stiles' movements, her hands slapping against the wall ferociously, "It's called reishi mushrooms! Scott? Kira? Malia?!"

          "Scott, open the door! It's in there with you. It's in a jar, it's on one of the shelves!!" Stiles repeated, his voice become hoarse the longer he continued to yell.

          "Scott, please! Can you hear us?! Scott!"

          Their screaming continued for several more minutes, their fists connecting with the stone wall until this skin began to bruise. Stiles slowly slid down the wall after still not hearing a response from anyone in the vault. Joan on the other-hand continued to plead and slam her hands against the door.

           "Joan," Stiles softly spoke, looking up at her in worry.

          "No, no. They have to listen. They– they can't... No!" Joan stuttered, collapsing beside Stiles. The Stilinski boy had never seen Joan Arcs in this much pain and distress. She was always the strong willed one, the one who knew how to put aside her emotions to do the greater good, but now Stiles saw the true Joan. The Joan who had lost too much and couldn't handle loosing more.

          He pulled her to his chest as she sobbed, hold her shaking body close. He slowly ran his hand down her back, trying to calm her down as his eyes began to water. They were too late. His heart broke as he stared down at Joan her sobs having become only sniffles. He prayed that somehow they were still alive, that Scott had heard their message and would open the door soon.

          The two humans waited, their bodies never leaving from beside the vault. They didn't want to leave their friends, no matter if they were dead or alive. Time seemed to move in slow motion until the wall finally began to open. Both Stiles and Joan scrambled to their feet, sounds of relief leaving their lips when they saw Scott slowly make his way towards them.

          Joan quickly pulled the true alpha and Stiles into a hug, happy that he was alive. They quickly pulled away so Scott could help Kira while Stiles and Joan could help Malia. Without hesitation, Joan ran towards Malia, engulfing her in a tight hug, "Malia. Oh my god..." 

          Stiles smiled down at the two, about to join their group hug when Malia pushed Joan away. The were-coyote stared at the two human's before her, her eyes filled with anger and betrayal. "Malia?" Stiles asked, trying to touch her shoulder. Malia caught his hand and moved it back towards his body before standing up, leaving the piece of paper she had just read behind.

           Joan slowly picked it up, seeing that it was the third piece of the Dead Pool. She'd found out. Malia Tate had found out that she was not a Tate, but was rather a Hale.

»

Welp... That happened... I'm totally not crying, it's just allergies!

On a much sadder note, school for me starts tomorrow, which means it'll be a bit more difficult for me to update, but fear not! I have my Holiday break in three weeks!! In the meantime, I'll try to update as much as I possibly can, but it will not be every night and there most likely not be any double updates coming anytime soon as well, which is the reason why I've been doing double updates this weekend.

Thank you guys sooo much for your support! I love you all and hoped you enjoyed this feels filled chapter, haha! 

– Logan