{1.4}

"Knowledge is Pain"

***

Ollie knew exactly who the kanima was. 

And he had no idea how to tell his friends. 

 To add on to that: chemistry was his first period, so he knew that he was going to blow something up. In his defense, he was distracted. Learning that Jackson Whittemore was apparently some serial killer lizard man was not exactly surprising, but it did make Ollie's head hurt. 

 He thought about what Derek had said about kanimas. They don't know what they are doing when they turn... and if Derek knew who it was, he would definitely try to kill him. Ollie wasn't Jackson's biggest fan, but he didn't want him to be murdered because of something he had no control over.

 So yes, Ollie was in a difficult position. And he really hated that feeling of being paralyzed.

 Not as much as he hated chemistry, though. 

 "Hey, are you alright?" Stiles asked, looking at him in concern as Ollie thought deeply about what he had saw the previous night. "You look like you're not exactly in this plane of reality." 

Ollie didn't even look up, his eyes glued onto the blank sheet of paper in front of him. "I'm not, I actually died a long time ago." 

"Internally or externally?"

 "Both." 

 Stiles laughed, leaning over to kiss Ollie's cheek, elicting a small smile from the boy. He picked up his pencil and began to sketch meaningless shapes on the paper as Stiles spoke. "Scott said that Derek thinks Lydia is the kanima," he began, making Ollie's stomach tighten to the point it was painful. The boy countinued speaking, but Ollie was no longer listening, staring down at the large 'j' he had sketched on his sheet for a moment, before balling it up in his hands. 

 He may literally have a douchebag's life in his hands, but god-damn it he told Stiles everything. And it felt wrong to keep something so important from someone so important to him. 

He turned around, moving closer to the boy until they were only inches apart, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Stiles, I have to tell you something-" 

 He was interrupted by the loud voice of Mr. Harris, triggering Ollie's fight or flight as his head darted to the side. 

 "Mister Sanchez!" The man drawled, staring at Ollie with a disapproving look on his rat-like face. "Care to share what you two are talking about that is so important?" 

 "I'm trying to prevent a murder." The boy deadpanned, a ripple of laughter spreading across the classroom, belonging to all of the students who didn't know any better. Ollie noticed Erica and Isaac sharing a look as he slid his chair back to it's original placement. 

 Harris sighed deeply, "well since I don't think I can stand hearing you and Stilinski talk for another five seconds, you'll join the first station. With Erica."

Ollie seemed to be the only person in the classroom who was incontent with that partner, but he swallowed his glare, instead directing it at Harris as he slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked over to his station, trying to admit as many teen angst vibes as possible on the way. He slid into the seat next to the blonde, blatantly avoiding eye contact as he stared up at the board.

"So," the girl drawled, "are you any good at chemistry?" 

 "Spanish is more of my strong suit," he admitted, fiddling with the glass containers as the rest of the class got situated around them. The blonde snorted, flicking some hair over her shoulder and leaning her chin onto her palm, staring at him expectantly.  

 "So... what did you figure out last night?" 

 "That I need to get a new lock for my door." Ollie didn't even hesitate, not even looking at the girl. She tilted her head back, smiling. 

 "Cute." 

 Erica leaned forward, so close that Ollie could smell her perfume, and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Why don't you just tell me? It can be our little secret." 

 "Because I'm not an idiot?"

Erica went silent at that, probably because she was anticipating a response said in a less exhausted tone of voice. Ollie grabbed onto the vials, staring blankly at the chemicals in front of him as he realized that he had not listened to a word Harris had said explaining the assignment. Instead, he huffed and turned to face Erica. "I do know who the kanima is, is that what you wanted to hear?"

 Surprised, Scott's head whipped around from where he was seated next to Stiles, directly in front of them. Ollie shot him a glance that he hoped signified, "I'll tell you later", before turning his attention back to Erica. "Unfortunately for you, you won't beat it out of me. I don't want anyone else to die." 

Erica scoffed lightly, leaning forward and resting her hand on his leg, only to have him wince deeply when her claws dug into his skin. Her breath tickled his ear when she whispered, and it only made him clench his jaw harder. 

 "There are some battles you just can't win, Ollie." 

 A strong sense of deja-vu rolled over him, and it took him a moment to remember why. He had heard her say the exact same thing before, in the vision he had in the Sheriff's department. 

 How ironic that was. 

 ***

"Alright, bozos, listen up." 

Scott, Allison, and Stiles all jumped when Ollie burst through the door of the empty office the three were gathered in, slamming his bag onto the ground and holding up his hands. "So, last night, I was just kind of chilling in my bedroom, and then Derek broke in and poisoned me." 

 "Jesus that escalated quickly." Scott said, his eyes wide as the three all turned to focus on the Hispanic boy more clearly. Ollie was obviously nervous, as he kept on shaking his hands, before tugging at the ends of his curls, exhaling sharply. 

 "So, he wanted me to see who the kanima was, and I..." he winced deeply, "well, I did." 

 Allison's lips parted slightly, her dark eyes widened to the point that it was almost comical. "Was it Lydia?" 

 Ollie grimaced, "no." 

 "Well that's good, right?" Stiles began nervously, his eyes flitting between Ollie and Scott as he spoke. "Because that means that Derek is wrong and we can tell him to get lost... right?"

"Not exactly." 

 The boy shot his boyfriend a concerned look, "then what's wrong?" 

 "Well, there is definitely something up with Lydia, but that isn't our primary concern at the moment, because - well..." he looked towards the door, praying that Erica and Isaac weren't within earshot. Still, he cursed, reaching forward and grabbing the front of Scott and Stiles' shirts, pulling them close enough for him to lower his voice to a whisper. "It's Jackson."

"What?" Scott demanded, "but they tested-" 

 Ollie made a sound at the back of his throat, so Scott rephrased. "They tested that person already."

"I didn't ask to get this job!" Ollie shot back, his voice rising with his distress. "That's what I saw, Scott, I don't know what else to say about it." 

 Allison pursed her lips, "and we are sure that you're definitely right." 

 An offended edge came to Ollie's tone, "well I sure as hell hope so, or else I almost got murdered a bunch of times for no reason at all. Oh, and beaten up by your dad's buddies, thanks by the way-" 

 "I had nothing to do with that." The girl defended, crossing her arms over her stomach and taking a step forward. Stiles quickly slid between the two, putting a hand on Ollie's chest. "Okay, let's not start a brawl quite yet, we still have some shit to figure out."

"Yeah, like how we stop another murder from happening." 

 Scott paused, obviously deep in thought due to the way his forehead creased, before looking back up at the group, a newfound determination set in his eyes. 

 "I have an idea." 

 ***

 Scott's idea was terrible. 

 Still, it was better than nothing. 

 The whole concept was based solely around keeping Derek and his squad of bitches from realizing who the real kanima was, all while making sure that Lydia stayed protected, and Jackson stayed within sights. That way, at least they could buy a little time... and if needed, Ollie was told that he was going to have to ad-lib an incredibly dramatic, long speech about how he knew it wasn't Lydia. 

He was kind of looking forward to that, actually. But now, he was tasked with babysitting the girl while Stiles and Katrin (who was also not fond of the situation, which she had made curtly clear ever since he explained it to her) were left to stay with Jackson.  

"Okay, so you are aware that if you want to pass chemistry, you have to actually listen to what I'm saying, right?" 

 Ollie blinked, looking up and shooting Lydia a sheepish smile when she fixated him with a pointed look. He looked down at the blank sheet of paper in front of him, boxes for where he was supposed to fill in the answers left blank. He didn't even do the experiment right in the first place: in fact, it had exploded when he was forced to sit next to Isaac at a station. Fine, maybe he blew it up on purpose. He really didn't want to listen to the Lahey boy threaten him, and he figured that pissing off Harris was just an added bonus. 

 Plus, it made for a believable story when he asked Lydia to help him study.

But now, she seemed awfully unimpressed as he picked up his pencil, the lead immediately breaking when he pressed it onto the paper. He cursed under his breath, before turning it and chucking it in the vague direction where Jackson was sitting, slamming back into his seat with a huff. "I'm sorry." 

 "Don't apologize," the girl pursed her pink lips. "It's not my problem if you want to fail chem." 

 "You don't need chemistry to become a professional doormat." 

 Lydia snorted, before reaching forward to push her supplies to the side. She leaned forward, resting her chin on her palm. "So... are you gonna tell me what's wrong? Or will I just have to watch you freak out for the next hour?" 

 Ollie tried for a nonchalant chuckle, but even he could tell that it was forced. The boy settled for a barely noticable frown, crossing his arms and slouching down in his chair so that some of his curls fell in front of his face. "Nothing's wrong, I'm fine. I'm stupendous." 

"Really? Because I've never heard a sane person use the word 'stupendous' in a sentence before." 

 Ollie couldn't think of what to say to that. Lydia was absolutely right; and the sense that he was not sane had been looming over the Sanchez boy for a while now. He wouldn't be surprised at this point... actually, he would almost be relieved. Being crazy would at least give him an excuse for all of the weird shit happening in his life. 

 Before he could fall further down that rabbit hole, there was a loud sound of a chair screeching against the floor, and then Katrin sat down; an uncharacteristically wide smile on her face. "Hi!" 

 Ollie jumped, "Jeez! Where did you even come from?" 

The redhead didn't even hesitate, "the ninth circle of hell. Speaking of which, we decided that studying as a group would be a better idea - we're meeting... somebody at Scott's house." 

Lydia didn't even hesitate, "if you wanted to take me to someone's house, I would prefer it was yours." 

 Nobody even said anything for a second, although Ollie could feel his eyebrows shoot up and his lips pull into a grin. Katrin's face turned bright red, her green eyes widening dramatically as she turned to look at Ollie; as if making sure he heard it. She turned back to the redhead, who was packing up her binder as if she didn't say anything odd at all. "I'm sorry, what?" 

Lydia's face was the epitome of innocence as she grinned over at the girl. "What?" 

 Ollie's gaze flitted between the two for a moment, feeling awfully out of place as he slowly rose to his feet. "Okay, yeah - what?" 

 "We have to go!" Katrin exclaimed, her voice an octave higher than usual as she whirled around, her hair falling down her back as she reached out to forcefully shove a very confused looking Jackson ahead of her. "Walk, asshat!" 

 "Okay, we should probably go-" Ollie scooped up his backpack, ushering Lydia in front of him as Stiles approached the two. He leaned in, lowering his voice to whisper to Ollie:

 "Yeah, time to execute the escape plan apparently. I'm driving because if I don't, then Derek will be able to catch us on foot." 

 Ollie shot him an annoyed look, "you are the worst." 

 Stiles patted his shoulder, "don't act like it isn't true. Now come on, we don't have a lot of time."

 ***

KATRIN DENNY'S POV

It was blatantly obvious that Ollie and Stiles had no idea what the hell they were doing. 

 That became curtly apparent as soon as they entered Scott's house, Stiles proceeding to lock the door like, three times, before turning back to the group with a sheepish smile. "Uh, there's been a few break-ins around the neighbourhood."

 Katrin watched as Ollie's eyes flitted over Lydia, apparently noticing her incredulous look; stepping in. "Yeah, and a murder."  

Stiles nodded encouragingly. "Uh-huh, it was really bad." 

 Lydia hummed, "good thing you took us here to study then." 

 Katrin found herself repressing a smile, and then immediately kicked herself for it. She couldn't explain it, but there was something about Lydia Martin that just... didn't entirely piss her off anymore. Of course, her resentment started to begin with on account of how similar the two look. Maybe it was petty, but if there was one thing that Katrin was filled to the brim with, it was individuality... and being compared over and over again to a girl she was nothing like chipped away at her armour. She hated feeling like she was so... interchangeable. 

 But she didn't feel that way now. In fact, she kind of found the other girl... endearing. 

 In a mutual hatred way, of course. 

 She noticed how Ollie was staring at Jackson, and hummed to catch the boy's attention. Once his dark gaze focused on her, she shot him a warning look. Was hearing that Jackson was actually the kanima a surprise? No, not at all. In fact, it was sort of funny: alas, she would never admit it aloud. All she could focus on right now was keeping Lydia from being mauled by Derek... damn, he was hot, but he sucked. 

 And Katrin had a very important job in this plan: and it involved shooting Jackson with her crossbow if things went wrong.  

 Damn, she really hoped things went wrong. 

 "Lydia, I need to talk to you." The boy himself said, his tone sharp and his demeanor unwelcoming as he beckoned the redhead over. Lydia shot him a cold look, but followed nevertheless. At the last second, she slipped her hand into Katrin's, an action that shocked her so much she didn't resist being pulled along. 

 Jackson turned and caught sight of the two, his eyebrows shooting up on his head. Lydia met his gaze, tilting her chin up in a challenging manner. "What? I'd like to have a witness." 

 The boy turned to Katrin, and she managed to muster up a daunting grin, trying her hardest to flip him off with her eyes as he scoffed and continued walking away. 

They ended up in Scott's bedroom, Lydia's grip never wavering on her hand. Katrin really wanted to focus on how she was walking into a room with a homicidal lizard man who could go insane at any moment, but her brain kept screaming out the fact that she was holding hands with Lydia Martin. 

 She managed to form a thought coherent enough to direct her eyes to the window, her lips pursing in satisfaction when she saw that the window was closed and the curtains were drawn. That had to mean something. 

 Lydia tapped her foot impatiently against the floor, "so?" 

 "So, you never gave me my key back." 

Katrin couldn't help the small snicker that passed her lips as she gaze Jackson the most judgmental look she could form. "Seriously? Damn, Whittemore, you really are a drama queen." 

He moved forward so quickly that Katrin couldn't even process it, but she still didn't wince as he towered over her, narrowing his eyes and leaning down so they were face to face. "What about you, huh?" 

 "Sorry, I don't speak sociopath." She shot back, slipping her hand from Lydia's to inch into her bag, wrapping around the base of her mini-crossbow. 

"Yeah? Why don't you tell me what you are, Denny!" He shouted, his face turning red. "I know about McCall, I know about Sanchez, why don't you tell me what makes you so different?" 

 Anger burned in Katrin's chest. "Excuse me?" 

 "Yeah, excuse me?" Lydia scrunched up her nose. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You wanna know what makes me different jackass?" She began, her tone slow and dangerous as a sharp edge in her gaze glinted. "I'm not one of those spineless losers who are afraid to call you out on your bullshit. You know what else I'm not afraid of? Shooting you." 

 "What?" Lydia demanded, her voice high-pitched as Jackson scoffed. 

 "You don't scare me." 

 "Really? 'Cause I should-" 

 "Okay, enough!" Lydia stepped in between the two, putting a hand on both of their ribcages and shoving them forcefully apart. "I'm sick of people talking like I'm not in the room!" Her face began to turn red as she put a hand ot her forehead, her words coming out in a slurred frenzy. "First I'm attacked by some lunatic that bites me -- a lunatic who, by the way, still hasn't been caught! I spent two days freaked out of my mind, walking around the woods naked, all of my friends are acting like total nutcases-" she held up a finger, "even more-so than usual -- and you're expecting me to be worried about some key?" 

Pride blossomed in Katrin's chest, "yeah, whore, go jump off a bridge." 

 "Oh, don't even get me started on you!" Lydia exclaimed, whirling around on the redhead, making Katrin's mouth drop open. 

 "Me?" 

 "Yeah, you! You go from liking me, to hating me, to throwing a basketball at someone's head for talking shit about me, to taking me ice-skating because you lost a bet with your cousin - who I also think it psycho, by the way." She exhaled sharply, brushing her hair from her face. "You need to decide on an attitude, 'Trin, because it's getting incredibly repetitive for me, and if we are going to be friends, I need a notice so I can let people know." 

Katrin was, for the first time in her entire life, stunned to silence. She kept opening her mouth, expecting to have a remark on the edge of her tongue, only to be met with silence. She swallowed, her eyes wide as she reached down to tug on the strings of the tears in her jeans, settling for a startled gape as a response. 

 There was a long bout of silence, the only sound being a very vague thud and then an "OW", presumably as Ollie tripped over something. Finally, Jackson spoke up. 

 "So you... don't have my key?" 

 "That's it-" Katrin whirled around, lunging at the boy and grabbing a handful of his shirt, but before she could hit him, Lydia wrapped her arms around her waist and tugged her away. "No fighting! No fighting!" 

 "I'll burn your house down!" The Denny girl shouted, pressing forward as Lydia's surprisingly strong grip kept her in place. "I will not hesitate!" 

 "And to answer your question-" Lydia glared at Jackson, "No, I don't have your stupid key." 

 Jackson observed the two for a moment, as Katrin finally stopped trying to murder him, and Lydia slowly released her hold. Finally, he narrowed his eyes into dangerous slits, making Katrin remember exactly what he was. "You just lied to me." 

 He stalked forward, making Katrin take a half-step in front of Lydia as the boy jabbed a finger in her face. "It was you, wasn't it?" 

Katrin's tone was warning, "Jackson-" 

 "You edited the tape," his voice was so calm it was frightening, making goosebumps rise on Katrin's arms as Lydia's face paled. 

 "What tape?" 

 "On the night of the full moon. The recording... you came into my house, into my room, and you- " 

"I don't know why anyone would go into your bedroom willingly." Katrin cut him off, shoving him back by the chest. "Back off before I file a restraining order."  

 But now, Jackson was angry. He surged forward, grabbing Katrin's forearm and shoving her harshly against the wall, making Lydia gasp and the girl herself wince as her hand slipped into her bag, withdrawing her crossbow and pressing the tip of an already nocked arrow into his stomach. 

 He glanced down, and she clenched her teeth. "What now, motherfucker?"

"Oh my god!" Lydia's yell was shrill enough to make Katrin glance over, only to see that she had tears in her eyes. Immediately, she pulled the weapon away and let it hand at her side, Jackson taking a half-step away. She lifted a hand to point to the crossbow, her voice shaking: "where did you get that?" 

 There were many lies that Katrin could tell to explain the situation, but all that came out was the truth. "I bought it from a creepy store downtown." 

 The girl gave a small tilt of her head, before shaking it and turning to Jackson with a furious huff. She reached up and forcefully ripped a chain from her neck, tossing it at the boy before Katrin had the chance to see what it was. "There, if you want it to bad -- have it."

 Tears began to slip down her face, making Katrin frown as she gently set her crossbow on Scott's bedside table, "hey-" 

 She embraced her tightly, feeling her arms wrap tightly around her waist as her shoulders heaved, her tears seeping into Katrin's shoulder. The girl made eye-contact with Jackson, who was seriously looking as if he wanted to be somewhere else, and mouthed, "I'll fight you." 

 Before she could say anything else, there was a loud crashing sound from below, and she jumped. Lydia pulled away, her arms still partially around her waist as her mascara smudged eyes widened. "What was that?"

 Before Katrin could stop her, the girl pulled away and bee-lined for the door. Katrin cursed, rushing over to try and stop her. 

 Lydia was shaking from head to toe as she crept down the hall, and Katrin reached out to grab her arm. She tensed, and put a finger to her lips to try and signify to keep quiet. Before she could do anything else, Ollie staggered into their few, his shoulder hitting the wall as if he had been shoved. 

The two made eye contact, and then all hell broke loose. 

A/N:

okay, so me and rachel ( silentwishing ) were talking, and i have started a draft that is basically runner from katrin's pov to delve into her story more jshuehe lord knows i may not ever post it, but if y'all have ideas for scenes to include, please tell me!

also, i posted my scott mccall fic! it is called 'bad idea' and consists of a badass bitchy oc, the fake dating troupe, and alexa demie <3 it would mean a lot to me if you would check it out! 

"katrin being in denial about her feelings for sixteen minutes"

that katrin pov change was to switch it up so i could make this chapter extra long! i love her and lydia's progression sm, and the beginning was just my poor child ollie fighting a battle with himself <3 he doesn't want anyone else getting hurt, so child is trying to think of a way so that everyone is safe and that is why i love him.

tell me any one-shots you have of stoliver/whatever the katrin/lydia ship name is! 

i have a lot, but one is that if they existed irl, people would totally write fics ab them lmao - but mostly poly fics and ship fics because who could tear them apart?? your oc would have to be AMAZING.

now i'm thinking of oc's i would make for ollie and katrin fics bye-

anyway, i love you all, and thank you so much for reading!