{2.1}

"Lizard Repellant"

***

OLLIE COULD TELL THAT something was wrong. 

Actually, he couldn't pinpoint only one thing that felt wrong. In fact, everything felt wrong. Ollie felt like he was standing on the very edge of a steep, neverending cliff... his nerves were buzzing with anxiety, and he had a pit in his stomach that refused to diminish; no matter how many deep breathing exercises he did. 

 He was sitting in the drivers seat of his own car - for once - and his finger wouldn't stop tapping against the wheel. Katrin was beside him, explaining the difference between a pocket knife and a Swiss army knife to her cousin. Ollie wasn't really listening, his eyes stubbornly glued ahead as if he could figure out why he was so deterred in the darkness of the night. 

 "Hey!" Katrin leaned over and snapped her nails in front of his face. Ollie blinked, turning to glance at the girl in time to see her gesturing with her knife as she spoke. "Why the face, Ollie-Pop? Don't tell me you're nervous." 

 "Not at all," he shifted in his seat, exhaling sharply as he felt the nerves in his stomach twinge. "I feel like at any second, Nicole is going to realize my car is gone and will run down the street and like... stab me or something." 

 Katrin hummed, spinning the small knife (with the blade away, thank you very much) around her fingers. "She's not the one you should be worried about stabbing you." The girl shot him a tight-lipped grin. "And besides, you're not the one who has to accomplish a vital aspect of the plan using the power of believing in yourself." 

 "I actually have to shank Jackson with ketamine." Ollie retorted, rolling his eyes and tightening his grip on the steering wheel. "Which is a job that involves like... ninety percent more brainpower. It also has a ninety percent higher chance of death."

 Katrin paused. Her lips pursed, and Ollie thought that - for a split second - she actually looked like she was in deep thought. That idea quickly diminished, as she just propped her leg up on the seat and began absent-mindedly braiding a piece of her hair. "Your boyfriend is here." 

 Even with the warning, the sound of the back door opening made Ollie jump. Stiles slid into the back seat, wordlessly fastening his seat belt. The whole car was silent for a moment, and Ollie felt his eyebrows shoot up on his face. "Hi, Stilinski." 

 "Hey." 

 "Ready to believe in yourself?"

 The boy sighed deeply. Ollie turned around, propping his elbow up on the middle console so he could look at Stiles. The boy had a frown on his face, the line between his eyebrows accentuated as he stared blankly ahead. Ollie's eyebrows pinched together, and he flicked Katrin's shoulder. 

 The girl shot him a dirty look. "What?" 

 "Switch with Stiles." 

 "Huh?" 

 "Seats." Ollie gestured to the seat as if she wouldn't know what he was referring to. "Switch seats with Stiles. I want to talk to him."

 The girl stared at him for a moment, gritting her teeth together, before she sighed. "Okay, fine." She opened her door, raising her voice to shout at Stiles. "I'm promoting young love! Stilinski, get in the front seat!" 

 "You should listen," Ollie advised in a sing-song tone. "She has knives." 

 A few moments later, Stiles was in the passenger seat, and Ollie started the car. He wasn't used to Stiles being so quiet, and it was only setting him even more on edge. This is why, as soon as they were on the road, he shot him a sideways glance. "You gonna tell me what's wrong?" 

 Stiles' frown only deepened. "I am top contender for the worst son who has ever lived."

 Ollie managed a small smile. "I wouldn't worry about it. I'm currently supposed to be in my bedroom as Nick works a night shift. If she comes home earlier I might actually end up on the side of the road." 

 "Well, did you get your mom fired from her job?" 

 Ollie faltered. He swallowed, turning to look at Stiles for a split second, before his stubborn eyes veered back to the road. He wished he wasn't driving so that he could properly give his boyfriend a reassuring look, but whenever he looked away he felt his pulse increase. He settled for a sigh, his grip on the steering wheel deadly. "I... what happened?" 

 "My dad," Stiles sunk deeper in his seat, pinching the bridge of his nose. "He said he was on a 'leave of absence'. And it's all my fault. Like jeez-" he turned to Ollie, his cheeks turning red. "Can you even believe that? I mean, I know that some shit we do is like-" 

 Katrin piped up from the back seat. "Illegal?"

 "Well... yeah. But I didn't think it would - I didn't -" he huffed in frustration, hitting his hand against the dashboard. 

 Ollie honestly didn't know what to say. He wanted to do something reassuring. Like, even something as simple as reaching over to grab his hand. But he couldn't move his hands from the steering wheel, so he just took another obnoxiously deep breath. "It'd be easier if he knew." He said, sparing Stiles another half-second glance. "Because then he'd know that the illegal shit we do is to prevent mass-homicide."

Stiles paused, kicking one of his feet up on the bashboard and resting his elbow on his knee. "I guess."

 The knot in Ollie's stomach tightened again. He knew he should have said something else, but his anxiety was making it hard for him to even keep his grip on the wheel steady. He hated this feeling - like he was about to literally implode from stress. His mind wouldn't stop thinking about the possible outcomes of the night. The plan was too risky for him to relax - and Ollie usually had no problem with risky plans. The only difference was, he liked being the one taking the risk. He didn't like not knowing if one aspect of the plan would fail and royally fuck everything up.  

 But he didn't say that. So he kept his eyes on the road and exhaled sharply, ignoring how the buzzing in his veins felt awfully similar to a warning. 

 ***

KATRIN SHOOK OLLIE'S arm. 

They were standing outside, the cool wind ruffling Ollie's hair as he resisted the urge to wrap his arms around himself. Stiles and Scott were pulling bags from the backseat of the car, and Ollie was trying to re-teach himself how to breathe evenly. He turned to shoot his cousin an annoyed look, yanking his arm away. "What do you want?" 

 "I can tell that you're freaking out," she said, crossing her arms. "Everything is going to be fine, okay?" 

 Ollie nodded. "Yeah, I know. I just don't wanna go to a rave right now." 

 That much was true. He would rather eat his own foot than go into a loud party. Katrin caught onto that, as she snorted softly and fiddled with one of her rings. "I can tell that too." 

 "Hey, Ols!" Scott called, and Ollie turned his head just in time to clumsily catch his baseball bat with his left hand. He almost dropped it, but managed to get a good grip in time to shoot his friend a sheepish smile. 

 "Does this fit rave protocol?" 

 "If anyone asks, just hold it like-" Stiles made a gesture with his arms as if the bat was resting on his shoulders. "-you know? And look brooding, it's a whole aesthetic."

 "You're an idiot." Ollie said, but complied. He turned to Katrin, "do I look brooding?" 

 "You look like a nerd with a baseball bat." 

 Ollie genuinely smiled at that, but the smile was wiped off his face at the expression on Scott's face. He was staring ahead as if he caught sight of something, but Ollie followed his gaze and didn't see anything. Scott cursed under his breath, "not here, not now-" 

 He took off in a run. Ollie hesitated, before turning to glance over at Stiles. "Good luck." 

 The boy tried for a smile, but it looked like more of a grimace. "We'll need it."  

 And with those reassuring words to cling onto, Ollie turned to run after Scott. It didn't take long for him to enter the warehouse, but as soon as he did, his face contorted into a grimace. Lights were pulsating everywhere, and bodies were crammed so close together that it made Ollie claustrophobic even looking at the dancefloor. The music was too loud, and Ollie already felt like passing out three seconds in. 

 He spotted Scott standing behind a wall, and grabbed onto his wrist. "Dude!" He yelled, his face beginning to turn red. "This fucking sucks!" He stuck a finger in his ear, the only pro of the loud environment being that his senses were so overrided his anxiety symptoms were beginning to wear off. "And you have like, super hearing! Are you dying right now? Blink twice if you want me to hit you with my bat!"

  A new figure walked over to stand beside him, and Ollie did a double-take when he realized that it was Allison. The vial of ketamine in his pocket seemed to burn at the very thought of hunters getting involved in his mess, and his eyes narrowed. 

 But Scott seemed even more deterred than he did, so he figured Allison wasn't a part of their god-awful plan. This in mind, Ollie took a step to the side, not wanting to get involved, and absentmindedly spun his bat around his wrist. 

 A familiar face caught his eye, and he felt a wave of annoyance seep over him. Ignoring that he should probably stay with Scott, he stalked over to the edge of the dancefloor. It took him a moment, and some girl elbowed him in the ribs on his face over. Another grinned at him and shouted a "hey, handsome" that he graciously chose to ignore. He didn't stop until he could grab Isaac Lahey by the back of the shirt and tug him backwards. 

 "So," he mused, pursing his lips. "Are you, by chance, on kanima shanking duty?"

Isaac grinned, his teeth seeming to glow in the lights. "I don't know, Sanchez, I thought you would jump at that opportunity." 

 Ollie hummed, releasing his hold on the boy and pulling the vial from his pocket. It was connected to a contraption that resembled the trigger of a gun, and Ollie held onto it as tightly as he dared. "Scott tends to throw curveballs in the plan." 

 "Your own best friend? How rude of him." 

 Ollie resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but he knew it was true. Scott didn't want him new Jackson - he was certain of that much. And he could guess that his friend was hiding his true intentions for who was in charge of stabbing Jackson. The thought annoyed Ollie - but he wanted to make sure he was one hundred percent clear on the plan. "Where's Erica?" 

 "Looking for Jackson." Isaac glanced behind him, "why don't you go look for the bastard. That way at least you can see his future and figure out if we all die in the end." 

 "You can't change the future," Ollie shot back, really rolling his eyes this time. "And by the time I had a chance he probably would have poisoned me. I don't like being poisoned."

 Isaac scoffed. "Petty, much?" 

 "I still haven't forgiven you."

 The werewolf rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Am I stabbing that thing or not?" 

 "No." A new voice said, and Scott made himself known. He seemed distracted, but was obviously relatively clear-minded; as he reached over to grab the device from Ollie's hand. Scott tilted his head to look him in the eye, speaking in a rushed tone. "Isaac and Erica will be the distractions. You need to use this to get him in the vein, okay? The neck will probably be the easiest." He demonstrated pulling back the trigger. "Then you pull this back." 

 "Stab and pull," Ollie repeated, mildly confused that Scott wasn't replacing him with one of his werewolf buddies. "What about the Argents?" 

 "I'd rather you in here than out there," Scott explained. "You don't have the best track record with Argents. Plus, it's safer with numbers." 

 Ollie blanched. One on hand, it was sweet that Scott cared. On the other... "you know that I could just hit them with my bat, right?" 

 Scott smiled, patting Ollie's shoulder. "I think the bullets are a little more deadly." 

 "Don't bet on it, McCall."

 The boy looked as if he was about to say something else, but before he got the chance, he froze. Isaac copied the action, both of them seeming as if they were listening to - or for - something. Ollie scowled, swinging his bat back and forth. He was sure that if he had super-hearing, he would have already blown up from the obnoxious sounds within the rave. Alas, he still wanted to be in the loop. 

 Luckily, Scott had his back. "Erica found Jackson." He looked at both of the boys in turn. "You got this?" 

 Ollie scoffed, "have you ever met me?" 

 Scott nodded, before giving a fleeting wave as he turned to sprint back into the crowd. Ollie spun around to address Isaac, only to see that he had already disappeared. Ollie cursed in annoyance, tightening his grip on the drugs as he braced himself. Turning back to the crowd, he tucked the vial against his thigh, making sure to not accidentally prick someone as he pushed his way through the crowded room. 

 The second he caught sight of Jackson he rolled his eyes. Erica had her hands on his shoulders, doing a pretty good job as a distraction as she practically made out with a homicidal lizard. Isaac was worse- standing behind her with a shit-eating grin on his face as she occasionally turned her attention to him. 

 "Fucking straight people." Ollie grumbled, before jumping as a hand was placed on his shoulder. Ironically - it was a girl who couldn't have been much older than him. She grinned at him, the lights making her pale skin almost unnerving as she brushed some dark, curly hair behind her ears. Ollie almost dropped the vial, jumping as his grin on his bat tightened. He accidentally shouted, his eyes widening. "Hi!" 

 She chuckled, "Oliver, right? I think I'm in your English Lit class." 

 Ollie was floored. For one, he usually didn't pay attention to that class, since he shared it with Katrin. Second, he felt bad not recognizing the girl. "Right! Um-" he glanced over his shoulder to steal a glance at Jackson. "What's up?" 

 "I just wanted to know if you've seen my girlfriend!" She was also shouting to be heard over the music, gesturing behind them with her hand. "I didn't want to talk to some rando here. Short, blonde hair, blue shirt?" 

 The situation became less ironic, and Ollie would have grinned if he wasn't concerned about keeping his eyes on an evil kanima. Plus, there were about four thousand girls in the room with that description, and his vision was beginning to blur from the effects of the blinding lights. "I haven't seen her, sorry!" 

 "No sweat," she jokingly saluted. "Keep your eyes peeled." 

 He nervously laughed, mentally thanking god that she didn't notice the vial of drugs and the baseball bat he was holding. Or maybe she did notice and just chose to not mention it. Whatever the case, Ollie was definitely going to start talking to her in English Lit.

 He whirled around, his chest seizing as he realized that the brief distraction had made him lose sight of Jackson. He cursed, pushing past another group of people and spinning around. God damn it! He could't have gotten far - they were literally in a compacted death machine of a room. 

 He heard a shout that helped him up. It was Erica unmistakably, and Ollie whipped his head around to see Jackson digging his claws into her chest. He swore again, accidentally knocking some random guy to the ground as he sprinted over. Isaac had been knocked over, so Ollie had to step over him in order to swing the needle-mechanism forward. He grabbed Jackson's hair to steady himself, miraculously managing to hit a vein with the sharp needle. He pulled the trigger, gritting his teeth together as Jackson slumped forward.

 Ollie let him fall, his shoulder heaving from his nerves as he gripped the now-empty vial with shaking hands. 

 He glanced down at Isaac, his lip curling into a sneer. 

 "What now?" 

 ***

THE WAREHOUSE SETTING was only making Ollie more and more uncomfortable. And the fact that he was chilling with an unconscious kanima was not making things any easier.

He had his arms crossed, his hands loosely holding the empty vial and his bat respectively. Erica and Isaac were standing on either side of him, no one was speaking. They were all just staring at Jackson; who seemed relatively harmless slumped in a small metal chair.  

Ollie whistled through his teeth. "So," he drawled, staring straight ahead. "You two having a nice party?"

 "Shut up." Isaac grumbled, and a grin tugged at Ollie's lips. Before he could think of another smartass comment, the door swung open, and he whirled around, raising his bat. 

 "Whoa! Don't beat my head in!" Stiles exclaimed, holding his hands out. Ollie relaxed, lowering his weapon and placing a hand on his chest as Katrin wordlessly entered the room. Ollie walked over to Stiles, placing his hands on either side of his face. "You did it?" 

 The boy smiled. "I believed the shit out of that magical fairy dust." 

 "I deserve some credit." Katrin drawled, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes. "I was inspirational as fuck. People who are professional inspiration speakers actually pissed themselves at how goddamn uplifting I was." 

 Stiles scoffed. "Sure, Kat." 

 "Don't act like you don't know it's true."

 Stiles paused when he saw Jackson, and grabbed onto Ollie's bicep. "Okay, is he good?" 

 Isaac cracked his knuckles, seeming excited for a chance to prove his bravery. "Let's see." He said, sauntering over to the unconscious boy. He outstretched his claws, and Ollie watched with raised eyebrows as he lashed his head forward. Before he could even touch Jackson, the boy's hand grabbed onto Isaac's and bent it backwards. 

 Isaac grunted, hissing in pain as struggled to pull his hand free. "God-!" 

 "Okay," Stiles paused, sighing deeply. "No one does anything like that again, alright?"

Isaac groaned, holding onto his wrist and screwing his eyes shut. "I thought the ketamine was supposed to knock him out!" 

 "Yeah, well, apparently this is the best we're gonna get tonight." Stiles shot back, "So let's hope that whatever is controlling him just decided to show up tonight."

 As Ollie tapped his bat against the ground, he shared a look with Katrin. The girl gestured to her bag with her chin, and Ollie shook his head. He already had enough shit to deal with - and he wasn't curious enough to see what would happen if Katrin shot Jackson with the crossbow. 

 Jackson's eyes opened. The action made chills travel up Ollie's arm, and he reached over to pat Stiles's hand - the one that was still resting on his bicep. The boy glanced over, his face paling as Jackson seemed to observe them through a milky, half-dead gaze. 

 Then he spoke, his distorted voice making Ollie tighten his grip on his bat. "I'm here." He said, "I'm right here with you."

Ollie's mouth went dry. He didn't want to say anything, but his desire to figure some shit out cancelled that fear out. He took a tentative step forward, the blank expression in Jackson's eyes making him feel vaguely sick. "Jackson?" He inquired, his eyes narrowing. "Is that you?"

 The answer was harrowing and annoyingly cryptic. "Us. We're all here."

 'The fuck?' Ollie mouthed to Stiles and Katrin, both of whom seemed just as confused as he felt. Stiles stepped forward, looking as if the very image of Jackson disgusted him. "Are you the one killing people?" He asked, his hands balled into tense fists.

 "We're the ones killing murderers."

Stiles exhaled sharply, "so all of the people you've killed..."

 "Deserved it."

"I'm not loving this conversation," Ollie said, glaring at Jackson as if it would make a difference. "Hey, asshead. We've got a little rule book that says you only kill murderers-" 

 "Anything can break if enough pressure is applied."

 Ollie didn't even hesitate. "Don't interrupt me. If you're only killing murderers, care to enlighten us on who exactly they murdered? Or are you a secret member of the FBI?"

 "He's definitely in the FBI..." Katrin mumbled under her breath, and Ollie was nearly certain that he was the only one who heard. Jackson responded quickly, as if whoever was controlling him had all of the correct answers pre-recorded. 

 "Me."

 Now that caught Ollie's attention, and his head whipped up to share a look with Stiles. The boy took another step forward, but Ollie reached over to catch his wrist, pulling him back. "Wait, what? What do you mean?"

 "They murdered me." Jackson's voice began to shake, along with his shoulders. The brown of his eyes melted away, replaced with a sickening yellow color that made Ollie's anxiety return. His pupil compacted into a slit - like a reptile - and Ollie tugged Stiles back even more as he repeated; "they murdered me."

 Scales began to creep up his arms. Ollie's eyes widened as Stiles frantically hit his arm. "Ketamine! We need more ketamine - the man needs ketamine!"

 Ollie swallowed, his gaze never leaving Jackson - whose arms were beginning to move. "Uh, we don't have any more." 

 "What?" Stiles demanded in an aghast tone. "You used all of it?" 

 Ollie turned to look at him, "I wasn't supposed to?"

"Um, guys?" Katrin spoke, her tone surprisingly even. She lifted an arm, and when she pointed at Jackson Ollie could see that her finger was shaking. He followed her gesture, his blood turning cold as he saw that the boy was rising from his seat. He bared his teeth, snarling at them, before his head began to shake back and forth. It looked like he was having a seizure, so Ollie panicked and threw the empty needle-mechanism at him. It bounced harmlessly off of his head, so the boy began to push Stiles to the side. "Okay, let's go!" 

 "What a brilliant plan," Stiles muttered, but complied, shoving Katrin out the door. Ollie followed, and as soon as Isaac was out of the room, shut the door and held the knob in place. 

 Stiles whipped his head back and forth frantically. "We need to find something to put in front of the door!"

 Ollie pressed his back against the cool metal, huffing as he did so. "Do you happen to have any lizard-repellant?" 

 There was a loud crash, Ollie grimacing deeply as his muscles tensed. He coughed as dust circled through the air, a disbelieving expression shadowing his face as he saw that the kanima had broken clean through the wall of the warehouse. The wood splintered, even the steel outer layer having shattered. 

 Katrin blanched. "So much for blocking the door."

 Erica groaned, grabbing a handful of her hair. "Shit!" She turned to Isaac. "Is Derek still out front?" 

 The boy nodded, before pausing and shrugging. "If he wasn't shot then he should be." 

 "Come on-" the girl turned and ran off, Isaac close on her heels. Ollie groaned, hitting the broken wall with his bat. "Derek?" He demanded, shouting after the pair. "Seriously?"

 "What better option do we have?" Katrin demanded, before cracking her neck and sprinting after the pair. Ollie groaned, turning to Stiles. 

 "Can you promise me that I never have to go to a rave ever again?" 

 Stiles brushed some dust from Ollie's shoulder. "Rave's suck. Neither of us should have to go to one ever again." 

 "Is that a yes?" 

 "Hopefully." 

 Ollie groaned again, before begrudgingly breaking into a run. Stiles followed, muttering about how much he hates Jackson as he did. Luckily, it didn't take long to spot Derek. He was standing by Ollie's car, looking as brooding as ever. Katrin was next to him, Isaac and Erica a few feet away. 

 "Hey!" Ollie shouted as he neared the group. "We kind of -" 

 The wind was suddenly knocked out of him. Ollie wasn't sure what happened - one second he was running, the next his back hit the group several feet away, the force making him gasp for air as the concrete scratched his arms. 

 He laid there for a second, disoriented, before blurrily sitting up and putting a hand to his chest; coughing. He noticed the look that Erica and Isaac shared, but chose to instead focus on the laughter coming from his cousin. 

 Katrin threw his head backwards, cackling like a witch as she clapped her hands together. She pointed to Ollie, before smacking a dumbfounded Stiles's arm. "Did you see that? Our magical fairy barrier worked!" 

 "I'm fine, thanks for asking!" Ollie shouted back, scowling. He wasn't in pain, but his heart was beginning to beat faster as he stared at the line of mountainash. He couldn't cross it, but Stiles and Katrin could, which means... 

 His head began to spin. His thoughts began to swirl again, leaving him completely oblivious to the barrier being broken and Derek running off. Stiles ran over and knelt by his side, but Ollie couldn't even hear what he was saying. 

 Another barrier. Another barrier to add to his ever-growing list of obscurities.

 And he didn't even know what the hell this one means.

a/n:

another one day 4.3k word chapter haha-

i'm not even gonna say anything else. we are powering through, fam. also i think i'm gonna end this series after i write the book for season three, bc there is no way i'm gonna enjoy writing for seasons 4, 5, and 6. i'll do one shots and shit but i think i'll stop writing these books after the second one.

three more episodes to write. just three more. cmon bea, you can do it.

spam me with headcanons and incorrect quotes!

also i posted a tua apply fic, so if you like the umbrella academy, you should totally check it out! 

 it feels good to have an update done. just an fyi, i'm getting my wisdom teeth out next week, then i'm starting a new school, so i actually have an excuse for not updating. as usual, i'll do my very best. and i do miss and love you all so very much <3

thank you for reading and your patience!