...
Y/n was on her knees next to Derek trying to wake him up. "Derek, wake up!" She yelled and agressively tapped his cheek. "Come on!" She slapped him this time, but that also yielded no results. Stiles watched from behind her as she grunted in frustration. Her eyes flared as she decided to finally try something else. She pressed her fingers to Derek's temples, forcing one thought and action into his mind. "Wake up!" She yelled as loud as she could out loud and in her mind. Derek jerked awake and gripped her wrists to pull them away from him.
He looked at her and it took him a moment to take in his surroundings, finally realizing he was on the ground and a certain darach was no where to be found. "Where is she?" He asked.
"The bitch hightailed it with Scott's mom."
"She took her?"
"Yeah, and if that's not enough of a kick to the balls, Scott left with Deucalion, okay?" Stiles informed. "So we gotta get you out of here."
Y/n got out of Derek's grip and took his hand to help him up. "The police are coming right now, 'kay? We gotta get you the hell out of here."
She helped him sit up, but then something occured to him. "Whoa. What about Cora?"
"She's with Peter and Isaac outside, which is exactly where we need you to be. Come on." She made him get up and he went back to his car to meet up with the others while Y/n and Stiles stay behind to hold off the cops.
The couple sit together in the messy E.R. waiting room as F.B.I. officials walk around, doing their work. Y/n glances over when she sees the doors open in her peripherals and her lip curled in distaste when she saw who walked in. Rafael McCall. "Well, this should be fun." She muttered. She didn't know him all that well, only seeing him once or twice when she and Stiles visited Scott when he lived with his father, but that didn't mean she liked him any better. She may be a bit biased seeing as Scott is her best friend and Scott isn't fond of his father, but she also has made her own assessments. And those are he's a good agent, but a not-so-good father, seemingly running from a mistake he made years ago without ever trying to actaully fix it.
Stiles looked at her unimpressed expression and followed her gaze to see the F.B.I. agent who had just arrived and spotted them just then. Stiles sighed and let his head fall back as he looked away. "Oh, just perfect."
Rafael made his way to stand in front of the pair and looked down at them. "A Stilinski at the center of this whole mess. What a shocker." Y/n grit her teeth at the remark. She doesn't like when anyone says anything bad about the Stilinski's. Noah, who's been like a second father figure to her, and Stiles, who is her best friend and now boyfriend. Stiles subtly put a hand on her leg. He could tell even by just those few words she was getting a bit irritated with the man. "Think you can answer some questions without the usual level of sarcasm?"
"If you ask the questions without the usual level of stupud." Stiles quipped and Y/n's lips twitched up in a smile.
Rafael gave an unamused smile. "Where's your dad, and why's no one been able to contact him?"
"I don't know. I haven't seen him in hours."
"Is he drinking again?"
"What do you mean, again? He never had to stop."
"Unlike someone." Y/n quietly muttered. She couldn't help but let it slip. She didn't know him when he used to drink, but she's heard about it. The one or two passerby spirits who linger around the McCall house loved to tell her everything since she was the only one who could see them, and they told her all about the man's habits before he left.
Rafael almost didn't hear her comment, almost, and gave her a questioning look, one she matched with a steady gaze. He probably just imagined it. He brushed it off as he continued his interrogation. "But he did have to slow down. Is he drinking like he used to?"
"All right, how about this? Next time I see him, I'll give him a field sobriety test, okay? We'll do the alphabet, start with 'F', end with 'U'." Y/n actually snorted a bit with that one and the older McCall just gave her a quick glance.
"How about you just tell me what the hell happened here?"
"We don't know what happened." Y/n spoke up this time. "We were stuck in the elevators the whole time."
"You aren't the ones who wrote the name on the doors, are you?"
"What name?" Stiles asked interested.
In bold red letters the name 'Argent' was spray painted onto the outside of the elevator doors.
...
"The word is guardian, Allison. More than anyone, you know that's a role I haven't exactly lived up to lately." Chris comments as he walks into his and Allison's apartment, making their way into his office with Y/n and Stiles trailing behind.
"She took Scott's mother and Stiles' father, Mr. Argent." Y/n pointed out. "It's not a coincidence. I have more than a feeling that she's going to come for you next."
"Yeah, I'd also consider the fact that someone put your name up in large block letters on the elevator doors. That kind of felt like a warning to me." Stiles added.
"I think it might be Morrell." Allison said. "She knows a lot more than she let's on, and she might even be trying to help us."
"Well, she needs to get on that a lot faster, okay? Seeing as how the lunar eclipse is less than two freaking nights away." Stiles sat in one of the chairs and Y/n moved to stand next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Stiles, don't give up hope." Chris urged.
"They could already be dead."
"I don't think so. There's something about Jennifer's tactics. It's like she's still positioning, still moving pieces into place."
"And you're one of them." Allison insisted.
"Then let's not wait around to see the next move." He grabbed a map and laid it out on his desk. "Everything she's done has been on a telluric current, so Melissa and the Sheriff have to be somewhere on one of those currents, right? Y/n, you think you could use them to get a sense of where they are?"
She shook her head with a frown. "I've tried. She's too connected with them at this point to where she's able to block me."
"Then we'll have to do this the usual way. Stiles, if we're gonna find them, we need your help."
"You seriously want to go after her? I mean, what if she just takes you like the others, huh? No offense, but what's the difference between you and them?" The teen asked.
Chris picks up a gun and puts a fresh clip in it. "I'm carrying a .45. Maybe she can heal from a shot to the leg and a few slashes to the face, but personally, I'd like to see how she holds up with half her skull blown off."
"To be fair, that's even assuming she let's you get close enough." Y/n points out.
He waved it off. "We've got one priority right now, and that is to find Melissa and the Sheriff. We've got a map and every clue we need to figure this out. The only thing we don't have is time, which is why I need all three of you."
Stiles sighs, but he seems convinced now. "Where do we start?"
They all gather around the desk and Chris grabs a UV light to reveal his secret markings. "The place where the sacrifices have been commited have usually been different from where the bodies have been found. I think the placement has to do with the strength of the current, so there's the school, the animal clinic, the bank."
"Wait a sec, she wouldn't use the same place twice, would she?"
"Only if she didn't succeed the first time." He pointed to the bank.
"Alan." Y/n said.
"It was her only failure. That could mean something."
"That's just one place so far." Stiles pointed out. "We're gonna need a lot more help."
"What about Lydia?" Allison looked to Y/n.
"Lydia? What can she do?" Chris wondered.
"Lydia's a banshee." Y/n answered with a smile. "She's been able to find a couple of the bodies without looking for them." When the sun came up Chris and Allison lay guns and other weapons on the desk, checking them and making sure they were in working order. Y/n watched with raised brows while Stiles watched with narrowed eyes. "I'm not gonna lie, this is kinda hot." Y/n admitted. Allison laughed at her friend while Chris just looked at the girl unsure. Stiles on the other hand gave her a 'really?' look. She noticed this and smiled at him. "Don't worry, hun. You're smokin'." She winked at him. He shook his head at her but couldn't hold back the small, amused smile, wondering how she could manage to flirt even in a situation like this.
"I thought you guys were retired." Stiles finally commented.
"Retired, yes." Chris agreed. "Defenseless, no." Stiles nodded. "Make sure your phone's on. If you hear from Scott, you let us know immediatly."
Stiles checked his phone, but there was nothing. "Yeah, I'm thinking that's gonna be kind of unlikely."
"All of you, try to remember he's just doing what he thinks is right." A sudden voice from the door caught their attention and they all turned to find Isaac.
"I can't shoot a gun or use a crossbow, but... Well, I'm-" He held up his hand. "I'm getting pretty good with these." Isaac brandished his claws and looked at the four.
Y/n smiled. "Nice to have you on the team, pup."
Isaac sighed. "You're still calling me that?"
"I can't help it." She shrugged with a smirk. "You remind me a lot of a puppy." They soon formed a plan. Chris, Allison and Isaac would go to the bank and check it out while Y/n and Stiles went to Lydia to see how she was and to tell her everything that's happened. Y/n pulled Lydia into a hug as soon as she let them in, and Lydia seemed too happy to reciprocate. Lydia sighed into her friend's shoulder, something about the embrace making her feel 10x better than she had earlier. When they finally pulled away and Y/n saw the bruising on Lydia's neck she frowned. "Does it hurt?"
Lydia knew what she was talking about and shook her head. "Not really. A little sore, but that's to be expected when someone tries to strangle you." She brushed it off.
"I can heal it if you want me to."
She shook her head again. "It's my proof that I survived." She stated with her head held high.
Y/n have her a proud smile. "Damn right."
Lydia glanced behind Y/n for the first time since they arrived, giving Stiles a smile, but then she noticed Scott wasn't there. "Where's Scott?"
Y/n shared a glance with Stiles. "Yeah, about that." Once they all sat down together the couple proceeded to explain what happened the night before, all leading up to Scott going with Deucalion.
"I don't believe it." Lydia denied. "Scott can't really be with them. He can't be."
"You didn't see the look on his face, though. It was-" Stiles shook his head.
"Then what can I do? I mean, I get that I'm some kind of, like, human geiger counter for death, but-"
"Lydia, you're a banshee." Y/n corrected.
"I don't know how to turn it on and off yet."
"You will, one day, and I'll help you."
"Wait... Banshee." Lydia seemed to realize something.
"What? What is it?"
"When she called me a banshee, she was surprised by it. What if that's not why she tried to kill me?"
"Being what you are, you could have known something without realizing it. Something that worried her."
"What would that be?" Stiles wondered.
"That's what we need to find out." Lydia said.
...
They had gone to school, keeping up appearances while also trying to deal with everything. Lydia tried getting a hold of Aiden, but he wasn't answering. She huffed in frustration as they went down the stairs. "Aiden's not texting me back." Stiles stalled in the hall and looked at her. Y/n paused when he did, giving him a concerned look, and it took Lydia a moment to realize they stopped. "Okay, well, maybe we could just- we could go over there and-" Stiles' phone vibrating cuts her off and he checks it.
Y/n can feel the immediate shift when his eyes skim over the words. "Stiles?" She gently called. "What happened?"
His eyes glanced at her for a moment. "It's from Isaac. Jennifer, she t- she has Allison's father. She took him. She's got all three now." His eyes met hers and his hands shook as he tucked his phone back into his pocket.
"There's still time, right?" Lydia questioned, but Y/n's focus was on Stiles. She could feel the wave of anxiety hit him as if it was her own. He started to gasp. "Stiles?"
"Stiles." Y/n called, but her voice seemed to echo as he looked around. The people seemed to rush around him faster than normal, the sounds too loud. He couldn't catch his breath as he faced them again.
"I think I'm having a panic attack."
"It's okay. It's gonna be okay." Y/n softly spoke and gently took him by the arm. He almost sagged against her, his head fuzzy from hyperventilating. The girls helped him walk as Y/n led them to the locker room, knowing it would be empty and quiet, one of the better places to be at a time like this. Their bags dropped by the door, he stumbled and propped himself on one of the shelves, lowering himself to the ground.
"Just try and think of something else, anything else." Lydia tried to help.
"Like what?" He gasped.
"Uh, happy things. Good things. Uh, friends, family." The two gave her a look and she backpedeled when she realized what she said. "Oh, I mean- not family."
Y/n quietly sighed. Lydia was now panicking which wasn't helping anyone. "Lydia, I need you to get some water, yeah? Maybe cold if you could?" If she had a task she'd be okay. Lydia nodded and rushed out of the room to get what Y/n asked for. When the girl was gone Y/n kneeled down in front of Stiles and spoke in soft tones to help him. "Stiles. Honey, I need you to try and calm your breathing."
"I can't. I can't." He gasped with a shake of his head. He was still hyperventilating.
She gently held the sides of his face and made him look at her. "Shh, it's okay. Just look at me, okay?" His eyes did meet hers, but they looked so lost and scared. She wanted desperately to help him, but she couldn't use her magic. If she did that it would just suppress it and then it would resurface at some point, but worse by at least threefold. It could be five hours or five minutes, but it wouldn't help him. Her mind tried to think of something that would distract him, make his mind quiet down and give him time to calm down. She got one idea. It was by no means a conventional way to stop a panic attack, but it seemed like the best option at the moment.
She kissed him.
After her mom died and Alan took her in she used to have really bad panic attacks. Alan would usually be there to talk her down, teaching her different methods of calming herself in case she ever had one when he wasn't around. One of the methods was holding your breath. It didn't always work, but sometimes it did.
His body reacted faster than his mind did, the muscle memory of loving her working to relax him faster by letting him melt into her touch. Every time she kissed him his mind emptied of everything but her. She tasted sweet and the way her lips moved with his always left him dizzy with bliss. If she would stay with him then just maybe everything would be okay.
When she pulled away he looked at her in wonder. "Ooh." He breathed out. He could suddenly breath normally. "How'd you do that?"
She lightly shrugged. "Sometimes holding your breath can help to stop a panic attack. When I kissed you, you held your breath."
"I did?"
She nodded. "Yeah. You did."
"Thanks. That's really smart."
She huffed a small laugh with shake of her head. "It's just something I had to do when I was a kid. You should really thank Alan. Or maybe even Marin. I'm not sure where Alan learned all he did to help me."
Her words clicked something in his mind. "Morrell." Without wasting anymore time he took her hand and led her out of the room and down the halls, catching up with Lydia as she made her way back, and rushed to the guidence counsler office. A girl was sitting there, apparently waiting for Marin to show up. "Are you here for Ms. Morrell?"
"No, I thought this was Gym class." The girl remarked.
"Sweetheart, we're not in the mood for funny." Lydia smiled at her before letting it drop. "Do you know where she is?"
"If I did I wouldn't be waiting here for 20 minutes. So how about you three back out the door and wait your turn?"
"We're not here for a session."
"Well, I am. And I've got some serious issues to work on."
"Hey, wait, wait. You're Danielle. You're Heather's best friend." Stiles recognized the girl.
"I was Heather's best friend." She remarked sadly. "We've been working on that issue three times a week."
"Hold on." Y/n spoke up. "Did you say Morrell was 20 minutes late?"
"And I don't know why either. She's always on time."
Y/n sighed and looked at Stiles and Lydia. "Say what you will about the woman, but she's punctual. She's never late for anything."
"Then she's not late. She's missing." Stiles said.
"What if we're not the only ones who thinks she knows something?"
Stiles looked at Morrell's desk. "Then I want to know what she knows."
He rushed over and started to go through the file drawer. "What are you doing?" Danielle questioned.
"Trying to find her."
"Those files are private."
"Yeah, she's kind of right." Lydia agreed.
"That one's yours." Stiles pulled out a file and held it out to Lydia.
"Let me see that." She eagerly snatched it, curious to see what was in it.
Y/n looked at the papers as Lydia flipped through them when something caught her eye. "Wait, Lydia, that's your drawing." She pointed out. This caught Stiles' attention and he looked over, Danielle also standing to take a peek out of curiousity.
"Yeah, I know. It's a tree."
"Yeah, it's good too." Danielle complimented.
"Thank you."
"No." Y/n shook her head. "I mean that's the same one."
"Same as what?"
"Same one I always see you drawing in class."
"It's a tree. I like drawing trees."
"My God." She muttered before grabbing the drawing. "It's the exact same one. Don't you see?" She held it up for Lydia to see before sitting it down and going through Lydia's bag. "Look here." She pulled out one of Lydia's notebooks and flipped to another drawing. "See? It's the same one." Lydia looked between the two identical drawings with furrowed brows. Y/n started to flip through the pages showing the same drawing over and over, some smaller, some larger, some higher up on the page and some lower down, but all of them the exact same.
"Okay, you can have my session. You got bigger issues." Danielle grabbed her bag and bounced.
"Thank you, Danielle~" Y/n called but her eyes didn't leave her friend who was becoming upset because of this new revelation.
"What is this?" Lydia asked.
"This is your gift. I know, it's a little weird at first, but..." She trailed off when Stiles started to turn the drawing upside down. "What are you-" She cut herself off when she looked at the drawing and came to the same conclussion Stiles had. It wasn't the branches of a tree like they originally thought, but instead the roots.
"I know where they are." He turned and the girls followed to keep up. "It's the Nemeton. That's where she's keeping them. It has to be-"
"Stilinski." A voice called and the three paused to see Rafael walking towards them.
Y/n turned to Lydia and spoke quickly. "Go to Derek, okay? He and Peter have been there before, so they should know where it is. Tell them it's the root cellar. They'll know." Lydia nodded and rushed off as the couple turned to face the agent. He had called Stiles' name, but Y/n wasn't about to leave his side.
"Did you know your dad's car is in the school parking lot and has been since last night?" Rafael asked Stiles.
He shook his head. "No. What does that mean?"
"It means he's officially missing." He lead Stiles to an empty class room to ask him some questions, only pausing when he saw that Y/n was following. "I need to ask him some questions." He said to her to which she nodded. "Alone."
She gasped. "Oh! Okay, yeah, no, I get that." He nodded until she leaned against the wall right outside of the open door. "So I'll just stay here then." She gave him an innocent smile and Stiles smirked behind the man's back. Rafael just sighed and waved it off with a nod, having a feeling that this would be the best he was gonna get from the girl.
Y/n listened in while the two talked, pulling out her phone and sending a message. "Stiles, why am I getting the feeling you, and possibly your girlfriend out there, know something that could help us find your dad?"
"If I did, why would I not tell you?"
"If it meant helping your dad, why wouldn't you?"
"So you're asking me to tell you what I wouldn't not tell you?"
"First, I have no idea what you just said." Y/n quietly snickered. "Second, how about you just help me help you?"
"Well, I don't how to help you help me tell you something that would help you if I don't know it."
"Are you doing this on purpose?" Oh, he most definitely is. Y/n thought to herself with a smirk.
"I don't know anything, okay? Can I just go?"
"Where are your other friends?"
"You mean Scott?"
"I mean Scott. I mean Isaac Lahey, Allison Argent, these twins Ethan and Aiden. I've been told your whole little clique didn't show up at school today."
"I don't have a clique."
"Stiles, come on. There's been a pretty disturbing amount of violent activity in this county in the last few months, several murders tied to this school. I don't know what's going on here, but it's serious. And- hey." Stiles hadn't been looking at him until he got the teen's attention. "Your dad is missing." Y/n frowned at this, but she lightened up when her head turned and she saw who was walking up to her. Stiles looked down again and Rafael sighed. "Fine. But I don't want you going home alone. You have someone you can stay with tonight?"
"He's with us." Alan spoke from the doorway with Y/n smiling by his side.
...
Everyone had gathered at the animal clinic. Lydia unfortunately didn't get anything from the Hale's because, apparently, years ago Talia had taken the memory of the Nemeton's location from them to keep them safe. So now they're all trying to figure out where it could be. "It has to be on a telluric current, or maybe even at the axis of two or where they all intersect." Stiles theorized. "I just know it's where Derek took Paige to die."
"My dad and Gerard were there once." Allison said. "But Gerard said it was years ago, and he couldn't remember where it was. And my dad obviously isn't here to tell us now."
"Yeah, mine either."
"Then how do we find this place?" Isaac asked.
"There might be a way. We're gonna need Scott." The teens looked at Alan, but he was giving Y/n a meanigful look.
"No." She shook her head, already knowing what he was talking about and completely against the idea. "No way. I am not doing it, no!"
"Y/n, it's the only thing we have right now."
"I said no! There's has to be something, anything else we could try." She tried desperately.
"You know there's not." She frowned. She really didn't want this to be their only option.
"What are you guys talking about?" Stiles asked.
"Nothing because it's not happening. It's too dangerous and- and I barely even know how to do it."
"Y/n." Stiles stood in front of her but she avoided his gaze. "If there's something you can do, please, do it."
"I'm not gonna be responsible for killing you!" She almost shouted and finally met his gaze, her eyes making her look like a frightened animal.
"It would be their choice." Alan interjected and she looked at him. "If they choose to do it, they would be willing participants."
"It's okay." Stiles assured. He still didn't know what they were talking about, he gathered that it was dangerous enough to scare even Y/n, but if he could do something to find his dad then he was willing to do anything.
She huffed, folding her arms and looking away to keep herself in check. "Fine. I'll do it." She finally relented. She hated this idea.
Y/n, Stiles, and Alan rode in the Jeep to pick up Scott after finally getting ahold of him with what they know. "How'd you guys find out?" Scott asked.
"Lydia." Y/n answered. "You?"
"Morrell. None of the other Alphas know where it is either."
"So if this works, are you gonna tell them?" Stiles asked.
"I can't stop Jennifer without them."
"How about we concentrate on finding you parents first?" Alan suggested.
"What's the plan?"
"Something fucky." Y/n glowered. She sighed when Alan gave her a look and continued. "Essentially, you, Allison, and Stiles need to be surrogate sacrifices for your parents."
"We die for them?"
"But she can bring us back." Stiles said with full confidence in her, but just to make sure. "You can- you can bring us back, right?"
"You remember the part where I said it was dangerous? I don't want to do this," she sighed, "but it's all we've got right now. If all goes well, you three will be dead for a few seconds, but there's something else you need to think about. There's more than one thing that will be put at risk."
"You'll be giving power back to the Nemeton, a place that hasn't had power for a long time." Alan continued to explain. "This kind of power is like a magnet. It attracts the supernatural, the kind of things that a family like the Argents can fill a bestiary with or someone like Y/n can document in a grimoire."
"Beacon Hills will become a beacon again."
"Doesn't sound any worse than anything we've already seen." Stiles mentioned.
"You'd be surprised what you have yet to see." Alan said.
"Is that it?" Scott wondered.
"I wish." Y/n frowned again. "If it works, it's going to have an affect on you three. You won't be able to see it, but you'll feel it every day for the rest of your lives. It'll be like a- a darkness around your heart, and permanent, like a scar."
"Like a tattoo."
They went back to the animal clinic and started to set up everything. Y/n, Alan, and Lydia poured ice into three metal tubs filled with water and some mistletoe. Y/n didn't like that she needed to work with the plant, but as long as she didn't injest any she would be fine. "All right." She sighed and looked at the three. "What did you guys bring?"
Stiles looked down at the object he held in his fingers. "Um, I got my dad's badge. Jennifer kind of crushed it in her hand, so I tried hammering it out a bit. Still doesn't look great."
"Well, it doesn't need to look good if it has meaning." Alan assured.
"Is that an actual silver bullet?" Isaac asked when he saw what Allison had in her hand.
"My dad made it. It's kind of a ceremonial thing. When one of us finishes learning all the skills to be a Hunter, we forge a silver bullet as a testament to the code."
"Scott?" Y/n questioned.
His head shot up when she called him and he looked at his own object, a simple watch. "My dad got my mom this watch when she first got hired at the hospital. She used to say it was the only thing in their marriage that ever worked."
"Okay, the three of you will get in. Three of us will hold you down until you're essentially..." She swallowed yet her mouth was dry. "Dead." She shook it off and continued. "But it's not just someone to hold you under. It also has to be someone who can pull you back, someone with a strong emotional connection to you, like an emotional tether." Lydia and Allison looked at each other, but Y/n had other ideas. "Actually, Lydia, Isaac will go with Allison." She hasn't said anything, but she could feel something between the two, even if they couldn't see it themselves yet. There was something there, something strong, and she needed every bit of that strength.
"Are you sure?" Allison asked. "I mean, Scott and I both have to go under."
"I know." Was all she said. A bit of tension filled the air and Allison looked at Scott.
"It's okay." He assured. The three changed clothes and stood at the head of each tub, each holding their chosen item. Allison was the first to slowly dip her foot into the bath, gasping at the low temperature. Stiles turned to look at Y/n and she tried to give him an assuring smile. He gave a small one back before facing the tub again, bracing his hands on the side and stepping in. All three stood in the water and then lowered themselves until the water was up to their shoulders, each shuddering and gasping from the cold.
Stiles looked to his left at Scott. "By the way, if I don't make it back and you do, you should probably know something. Your dad's in town." Scott wasn't by any means excited by that news, but that was the least of his problems at the moment.
Scott, Stiles, and Allison gave each other a look as Alan, Y/n, and Isaac stood behind them. They each put their hands on the three's shoulders. Scott gave his friends a nod and they braced themselves to be fully submerged. Y/n leaned in close to Stiles, her lips ghosting over his ear as she whispered an 'I love you' -not for the last time she prayed- before they pushed them under the water. Stiles kept his eyes open until the last moment, catching her eyes before they went from e/c to purple. Y/n closed her eyes and focused her magic, muttering words in another language as she guided the three through the right door. After that, she had no control over what happened. It was up to them to do what they needed and come back.
~~~
Published: 6/9/21
Edited: 4/12/22