◤ chapter twelve: ❛ pursuit of
the rarest ❜ ◢

✧

         COOPER WAS DECIDEDLY NOT A FAN OF STILES' JEEP. Yeah, not everyone could have a car like him, but at the same time, the Jeep was literally made up of more duct tape than car at this point and didn't feel safe to drive. And yet, he was subjected to it what seemed like every single day at this point since Stiles refused taking Cooper's car and letting him drive. Something about 'driving too fast'...whatever.

"So what's our plan with Lydia?" Cooper asked as they hopped out the car, walking back inside the school.

Stiles shrugged. "She has some kind of connection with knowing where people are, so I'm hoping to exploit that."

"With the Ouija board?" Cooper eyed what he carried with displeasure. Supernatural beings, he could handle. Demonic ones, absolutely not. He did not want to think about the possibility of demons being real and possessing Lydia or anyone else – this was Beacon Hills, not an episode of Supernatural, dammit!

"Yes – we have to at least try!"

"How about this – we've both noticed that Lydia has powers connected to the dead. I'm trying to be hopeful and assume that Deaton is alive, therefore Lydia isn't going to do shit," Cooper theorized.

"Well, Miss Morrell thought she would."

"Miss Morrell doesn't know everything."

"Look, can you stop being so pessimistic? It's bringing me down."

"It's called realism."

"Well, I hate it."

"Good."

Cooper rolled his eyes. Stiles always knew how to grind his gears unlike anyone else. God, the boy was insufferable. Yeah, he and Jackson bickered sometimes, but not like this – he doesn't think he's ever had a conversation with Stiles that didn't end in a bitching match. Insufferable, honestly.

He wound the hallways, following after Stiles, looking for Lydia in every nook and cranny before finally managing to find the girl with her arm being held by Cora Hale – because, apparently, Derek Hale had a sister who was alive (not that he knew) that got locked up by the Alpha Pack before Scott and Derek freed her. Just peachy, because they needed a smaller, female version of Derek.

"Let go," Lydia tugged at her wrist, "I said –"

Now, Julia stressed that he shouldn't use his siren abilities loosely. However, Julia wasn't there, so Cooper pursed his lips together, whistling a tune towards Cora. Cora faltered immediately, letting go of Lydia and cupping her hands around her ears. Satisfied, Cooper stopped, meeting Cora's glare as she took her hands – tainted with a little blood – away from her ears.

"Do that again and I'll kill you," Cora growled.

"Touch Lydia again and you'll lose your healing," he threatened.

Lydia was his friend, one of the ones he had. It used to be four – him, Jackson, Danny, and Lydia – but that dissolved. Danny didn't look at him anymore, Jackson was in London, but there was still Lydia. As strained as that relationship may be.

Cora continued to glare at Cooper, so he turned it into a contest, not backing down. He didn't care much for Cora Hale, and he wasn't afraid to show that.

(Technically, yes, this was his first time meeting her, but her first impression was less than stellar.)

Stiles convinced them to move into an empty classroom before presenting what he had brought. Lydia stared at it less than impressed. "A Ouija board?"

"Also called a spirit board. And, it's worth a short..."

"A shot in the dark," Lydia looked at him.

"Could you just try it, please?" Stiles asked impatiently, "Okay, let's not forget who this is for – Scott's boss, the guy who has saved our collective asses on more than one occasion."

"Oh, wait. Should we all do this?" Cora asked.

"Yeah. Yeah. You guys ready?"

"Absolutely not," Cooper shook his head and crossing his arms, "Supernatural shit, I'll deal with, but I am not touching anything remotely demonic with a ten-foot pole."

"Cooper," Stiles sighed, "It'll be fine. And we're not contacting demons, just spirits."

"Well, a demon would say it's a spirit if you asked, so I'm not trusting it. You guys go ahead, though."

Stiles rolled his eyes but accepted his answered. Placing his hands on the planchet, Lydia and Cora followed. "Where's Dr. Deaton?" Stiles asked, waiting a moment before pointedly staring at Lydia.

"What?" she asked.

"Aren't you gonna answer it?"

"Oh, I don't know the answer. I thought we were asking some sort of spirit..." Lydia trailed off.

"Well, do you know any spirits?" Cora asked her.

Lydia stared at her incredulously before trading looks with Cooper. "Is she for real?"

Stiles shook his head, realigning himself in front of Lydia. "New plan. Okay, these are Deaton's keys for the clinic," he handed them to her, "Close your eyes, and I'm gonna put 'em in your hand, and then we're just gonna try and see if you can feel out for his location. It's called psychometry."

"I'm not psychic," Lydia protested.

"You're something! Okay?" Stiles let out in frustration, "Just, Lydia, put out your hand, and..."

"Mmm..."

"What?"

Lydia shrugged. "They're cold."

Cooper groaned. "Great, we're getting nowhere, like I told you."

"Shut up, Cooper," Stiles pointed a finger at him before turning back to the strawberry blonde, "Lydia, concentrate, please? Trying to save lives here, for the love of God."

They waited a moment. Lydia's face changed and Stiles lit up in excitement. "Yeah, what is it? What do you see?"

Lydia simply sighed. "Nothing."

"Okay, that's not working," Stiles conceded, taking the keys from Lydia. Cooper rolled his eyes before looking out the window. Yeah, he didn't know what Lydia was either, but even he knew she wasn't psychic or anything like this.

They felt the same song at the motel. Lydia understood the death there, but in a different way than him. He heard the songs, felt them on his tongue. An evil siren used their songs for death, luring men to death with a beautiful voice. Though Cooper could feel the song of death, he liked to think of himself as a good siren, at least he was trying to be. He used his songs when needed, used his powers of suggestion when it was only necessary, and nothing more.

Stiles tore through his backpack before presenting Lydia with a notebook and pen. "Automatic writing?" Lydia skeptically asked, raising an eyebrow. Cooper scoffed at the suggestion – this was Stiles' third outside-the-box attempt to try and make Lydia have a connection with the 'spirits' or some shit.

"Yes, automatic writing," Stiles said in defense of himself, taking a moment to shake his head and mutter, "Unbelievable."

Cooper started to inspect his nails.

"Lydia, what are you doing? What...what the hell is that?" Stiles asked.

"A tree."

"A tr-? Lydia, you're supposed to be writing words – like, in sentences, something like a location, something that would tell us where he is."

"Well, maybe you should've said that," Lydia replied sarcastically.

Cora looked around impatiently. "Isn't she supposed to be some kind of genius?"

"Watch it," Cooper shot out.

"Genius? Yes. Psychic? No," Lydia rolled her eyes at Cora, "Honestly, I don't even know why you're bothering with me, anyway...I mean, especially since it's obvious you should be talking to Danny."

"What? Why Danny?" Stiles asked, stunned.

Cooper frowned. "That's what I'm wondering. Danny isn't involved with the darach – at least, he shouldn't be."

"Because," all their heads whipped up, looking at Scott who entered the classroom, "Last night, he was a target...but he wasn't a sacrifice."

Cooper stared at him. "Danny was attacked? And you didn't say anything?"

His heart raced with the possibilities of what could have happened. Obviously, Danny wasn't dead, but the thought of Danny being in the hospital still sent fear into his system. They might not be friends anymore, but at one point, Danny was his best friend, sans Jackson, and his almost boyfriend.

(They never made it official, because Cooper refused to date, and besides, they worked better together as friends with benefits. But there was always something under the surface that neither talked about it. Even Jackson knew it was better not to mention.)

Cora frowned. "But isn't Danny still in the hospital?"

"Yeah. That's where we're going right now," Stiles nodded, packing up his bag.

"I'll meet you there," Scott said.

"Why?"

"Did you literally just come to the school to tell us to go the hospital and now you're fucking off again?" Cooper raised an eyebrow, "You know these wonderful things called phones exist and it would've saved you so much time and energy if you just called one of us?"

Scott had the decency to look a little sheepish. "Well, the school was on my way to Allison's. She said there was something she needed to show me."

Cooper stood straighter. Peering at the werewolf with curiosity. "Uh-huh, right," he refused to acknowledge that something was burning his gut. He didn't know what Allison needed to show Scott, but he certainly wished he did, because the possibilities of what it could be plagued his mind.

He moved past Scott and out of the Chemistry classroom, walking with Stiles, Cora and Lydia. Scott trailed them to the parking lot before getting on his bike while Cooper begrudgingly returned to Stiles' Jeep with the other three.

God, he hated this thing.

Quicker than they should've, the three arrived at the hospital. Thankfully, Melissa McCall was nice enough to point them in the direction of Danny's room. Stiles did the honor of going in there while Cooper and Cora stood watch outside.

Stiles came out a short while after entering with a few papers in hand. As they left the hospital to go to the animal clinic and decipher the papers, Stiles called Scott, putting him on speaker.

"Deaton's got to be at one of the six locations, but they're all over town. I don't know how we can get to all of them fast enough."

"Well, we might not have to. Danny was doing a project on something for Mr. Harris' physics class, and I think it actually means something."

"What project?"

"Something on...telluric currents."

"Did you say 'currents'?"

"Yeah..."

Scott explained what Allison showed him. The map located her dad pinpointed, all connected along currents. Twelve places – all the sacrifices were committed on the currents, which meant Deaton was probably being kept on a current line.

Piling into the Jeep, Stiles drove them to the animal clinic where he spread out the papers for the three of them to look at. Scott met them with his own maps from Allison.

"Okay, so what does this kid's homework have to do with finding Deaton?" Cora asked.

"Because it's not just homework, okay? It's a project on geomagnetic fields. They flow through the earth. They can even be affected by lunar phases, alright?" Stiles explained before pointing at one of the notes, "Now, look at this – this is a note from Harris on Danny's proposal."

"I strongly advise you choose another topic. The ideas here, while innovative and thoughtful, border on pseudo-science. Not suitable for class," Lydia read it.

"Harris wasn't just a sacrifice – he knew something," Scott realized.

"Now check this out –" Stiles shuffled some papers, "Allison's dad wasn't the only one with a map, alright? Danny had one, too. Danny marked all the telluric currents, okay? Now, the weird thing about Beacon Hills is that it actually is a beacon – you wouldn't believe how much energy flowing the earth is around this town."

Cooper straightened. "The allure," he muttered, earning looks from the others, "Sorry, it's something Julia said – she said that Beacon Hills always had this allure for supernatural creatures. Just reminded me of the currents."

"Right," Stiles murmured, looking thoughtful at the remark before being brought back into reality by Scott.

"Stiles, look. They match!" Scott pointed out, moving the maps around, "Alright, there's three places, right? Where they're kidnapped, and then the place where their body was found."

"Look, that's right on the telluric current," Lydia pointed.

"So, maybe where he was sacrificed is somewhere in between?"

"Let me see that. You said there's six more bodies to be found. Deaton's one of them. Gotta be somewhere in between, right?"

"Stop."

They looked to Cora, who pointed at a place on the place. The bank. "He's in the vault – the same vault."

With the destination in mind, they hurriedly started to pack up the papers. Scott was almost to the door when Lydia called out, "Guys, hold on –"

"Lydia, we don't have time –"

"It's Boyd," Cora interrupted, looking up, her features ghastly, "The plan didn't work. They cut the power."

"It's just like he said..." Scott blinked, "Go. I can save Deaton myself."

"What? Scott, what about us?" Stiles asked.

"Cora can't get there fast enough without you. Go. We can save both of them," Scott replied.

"I'm coming with you," Cooper stepped forward, challenging Scott, "We can't let you go alone."

Scott looked like he wanted to argue but one look at the clock and he sighed, waving for Cooper to join him. He didn't he hesitate, following Scott to his motorcycle, waiting for him to climb on before doing the same, wrapping his arms tightly around Scott's middle. He refused to think about their close proximity.

They raced to the bank, Cooper's grip only tightening as Scott drove. Thankfully, the werewolf didn't comment. Soon enough, Scott stopped the bike and Cooper climbed off. He raced after Scott, rushing into the vault where they saw Deaton hanging, a ring of mountain ash surrounding him.

"Cooper?" Scott looked him.

He nodded, going up to the mountain ash, bringing his foot out to swipe some of it away, but the moment his foot made contact, the barrier pushed him back and he landed on his ass.

"What the fuck?" he groaned.

"Cooper!" Scott rushed to his side, helping him up.

He eyed the ash on the floor. "I know werewolves were resistant to mountain, I just didn't think about sirens..."

Scott gave him another glance over, checking if he was okay, before racing Deaton and the ring. "I have to try."

He pushed forward, straining his muscles against the barrier. Part of it became visible, being forced back by Scott's might. Cooper's eyes widened in surprise, watching on. He had been told that no one could push through a mountain ash barrier besides humans, and yet...

And yet here Scott was, pushing back. Cooper watched on with fascination, turning to confusion when Scott's eyes began to glow. At first it was the same yellow of a beta, the color that Cooper had grown familiar with, but then it shifted – changing to a darker, deeper red.

The eyes of an alpha.

"Scott..."

The werewolf groaned, holding up, pushing as far as he could, before the barrier let out a roar and Scott was thrown back. He ran after Scott, helping the boy up, heart beating rapidly in concern. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," Scott forced out, gaining his bearings as he sat up on his elbows.

"Scott," they heard from behind. Their heads snapped to see Sheriff Stilinski standing there. "Let me give it a shot."

He brought out his gun, aiming for the rope, firing, and they watched as Deaton's body fell. The sheriff then moved to lug Deaton's body from the circle, propping him up against a wall.

"How'd you find us?" Scott asked once he was crouched next to Deaton, checking to make sure he wasn't bleeding from anymore.

"The vials in the clinic with the Celtic symbols on 'em? I knew that one of 'em looked familiar," the sheriff then pointed at the symbol on the ground of the vault.

"Sheriff, thank you for being one hell of a detective," Deaton managed.

"You bet. Let's get you an ambulance," Sheriff Stilinski walked away from them, bringing out his phone.

"Your eyes were red! Bright yet!" Deaton excitedly told Scott, managing to get a smile on his face.

"I saw that too," Cooper confirmed when Scott's eyes shifted to him.

"How is that possible?"

"Paramedics are on their way! I'll be back in half a minute!" the sheriff called out to them. Deaton watched him walk out of the vault before looking back at Scott.

"It's rare – it's something that doesn't happen within a hundred years. But, every once in a while, a Beta can become an Alpha without having to steal or take power. They call it a True Alpha. It's one that rises purely on the strength of character, by virtue, by sheer force of will."

Scott stared at him, "You knew this would happen."

"I believed," Deaton corrected, "From the moment I knew you were bitten, I believed."

"You're not the only one."

Cooper frowned at that. What the hell was Scott talking about?

Deaton nodded. "No. Deucalion isn't after Derek – he's after you," his eyes then trailed to Cooper's, "And a siren is a rare thing to find, I imagined Deucalion also has a special interest in you."

Locking eyes with Scott, they shared one thought: they had been thinking about the Alpha pack all wrong, and now they were screwed.

authors note
i'm aware that there's a pattern whenever scott and stiles split up for me to put cooper with stiles, and to that i have two reasons. 1) it works out better plot wise for scott to be on his own, and 2) stiles and cooper's bickerings are just too good to pass up

but yes i did have cooper go with scott at the end to save deaton, because of course cooper was going to be there for his man, and yes the alpha pack does want sirens. i know that there are 3 sirens in beacon hills, but they are incredibly rare, so the stars aligned for cooper to have julia and penelope. of course, the alpha pack want to capitalize on having a siren since they can be so powerful, so lol, couples that the alpha pack want to take over stay together ig

cooper and scott are pretty fastburn in comparison to my other fics, and they're def gonna come together soon. yk,, once cooper realizes that the burning feeling in his gut when scott talks about allison is jealousy and he might actually have romantic feelings for scott??? what a concept