...
Jordan in all his flaming hellhound glory stalked towards Theo and his chimeras, but Theo wasn't too worried because he still had an ace up his sleeve. He slipped into Lydia's room and returned a moment later with the banshee herself, claws to her throat. "Back off." He warned as Tracy let Valack go from his place on the wall to face the new threat with Theo. When the hellhound didn't listen right away Theo pressed his claws into Lydia's neck, just enough to create five bloody cuts. "I said back off." Jordan finally stopped, and Stiles had to hold onto Y/n's arm to keep her from lunging at them herself. "Take him."
"The guy's on fire." Corey protested.
"You'll heal. Do it." Josh and Corey still hesitated, so Tracy took it upon herself to attack first while Valack crawled into Lydia's room. Confident in her abilities Tracy plunged her claws right into Jordan's abdomen, but when nothing happen she became fearful.
Jordan backhanded her and she landed hard against another wall. Josh rushed forward and pulled apart a protecive bar that was concealing the building's wiring. Gripping the loose wires in one hand he turned and put the other on Jordan, expecting the electric current to do something, but it didn't. "Theo, this isn't working!" Josh yelled right before Jordan slammed him into a wall.
Valack suddenly appeared, using the trepenation drill on Theo's leg, making the chimera let Lydia go as she dropped to her knees. Valack then hit Theo in the face with the back of the drill. "Sorry, Theo, but I'm not done with her yet." He picked Lydia up by her arms as Jordan slammed Josh onto the ground again. When Jordan went to slash with his claws his arm was caught by Corey who now revealed himself, yet the hellhound was unfazed. Valack turned to escape with Lydia only to find a very angry witch and her equally upset boyfriend. Corey screamed as Jordan lit himself and Corey on fire before he threw the chimera down the hall.
Valack turned with Lydia to dodge the flying body, and Stiles had just a moment to push Y/n out of the way, taking the full brunt himself. "Stiles!" She yelled out in shock. Theo managed to get back up to his feet, grabbing the metal pole and throwing it straight at the hellhound, impaling him in his chest. Jordan dropped to his knees, his fire going out from the wound. Y/n looked with wide eyes. Valack took her distraction and Stiles pushing Corey off of himself to make his escape with Lydia. "No, Lydia!" Y/n yelled when they passed her and she scrambled to her feet to follow. Valack closed a door and locked it behind them. He knew a simple door wouldn't hold the witch, which is why he put a little something extra on it's surface.
When Stiles managed to get back up he immediatly turned to follow Y/n, but paused when he saw her tense shoulders, fists curled so tightly they shook as she stood in front of the door. "Y/n?" He cautiously called, taking slow steps when he saw the flash of purple reflected in the glass.
"He coated the door in mistletoe." Her voice was deadly calm, but Stiles knew her well enough to know she was now beyond royally pissed off.
"It's okay. We'll get through." He promised as he gently made her take a few steps away before he tried to open the door himself, but it was locked.
He struggled with it for a moment before a voice called from behind them. "Let me try." Theo came up, giving Stiles only a moment before the chimera reared back and kicked the door open.
"Move." Y/n growled as she pushed past Theo with Stiles hot on her trail.
"You're not gonna find her without me." Theo claimed before following himself. Y/n and Stiles ran down the halls, coming across another gate that was left open. "Y/n, Stiles." Theo caught up to them as they turned to glare. "I want her out of here, too."
"Oh, I'm sure you do."
"I've got her scent."
"So do I."
"What do you want?" Stiles asked.
"What's the difference? I can help you find her." A quiet hissing sound caught their attention and they looked up to a small window that was emitting steam. Theo opened the door underneath it and found a shower room with several male patients covered in towels and cowering in corners.
"Hey, it's okay." Y/n soothed. One of them hesitantly pointed behind himself. Theo went over and shoved him aside. "Easy!" She snapped at him, but all he did was look down at the newly revealed grate.
"It leads to the tunnels, doesn't it?"
Stiles nodded. "There's miles of them. They could be anywhere by now."
"Well, we're not going to find them by just standing around. Let's go." She used her magic to move the grate aside before jumping down into the darkened tunnels.
"Is she always like that?"
"Just shut up." Stiles climbed down the ladder with Theo following right after. The three roamed the tunnels for a little while, Y/n and Theo following Lydia's scent, but they soon lost it.
"Dammit." Y/n muttered.
"What is it?"
"I lost her scent." Y/n clenched her jaw, upset that she didn't have it anymore.
"I lost it, too." Theo admitted as he leaned his ear close to one of the pipes running along the wall.
"Alright, we just need to find it again."
"What do you smell down here, Stiles?"
"Chemicals and fecal matter. Although I'm pretty sure the fecal matter is you." He gestured to Theo earning an unamused look.
"I smell it, too. It's all that I can smell. Which is why I'm trying something else. So can you please shut up and let me concentrate?"
"Y/n, can you, like, sense her or something with that banshee/witch connection?"
She shook her head. "I tried that already. Because of what Valack did to her, I feel her presence everywhere." Her hands gestured to show just how 'everywhere' Lydia was.
"Then we'll just keep looking." Stiles took her hand to lead her down another tunnel when Theo called for them as he followed a few steps.
"You won't find her like that, Stiles. You both know it. You're going to have to trust me."
"Trust you?" Stiles turned with an incredulous expression. "The guy who murdered his own sister when he was nine?"
"Yeah, I was nine years old. I also believed that a guy in a red suit came down the chimney to deliver presents. So when three people in leather masks showed up and said that my sister wanted me to have her heart, I believed them, too."
"So then together you gutted and killed her. That's a beautiful story."
"I watched her fall into the water and freeze to death in minutes. Do you think I had any idea what was going on?"
"I think you pushed her. And I think you liked it." Suddenly a scream echoed through the tunnels, and Y/n dropped to her knees with a cry of pain, clutching her ears to dampen the sound of the banshee's wail that was several times louder to her. Stiles crouched next to her until the screams stopped and Y/n let her hands fall as she panted. "What direction was that? Where is it coming from?" He asked Theo, but it was Y/n who answered.
"Everywhere. It came from everywhere."
They spilt up this time, each of them trying different tunnels but ultimately coming to the same one. "Nothing." Theo shrugged as soon as he saw the other two.
"Great, you're just as useless as I am."
"I'm trying to help save her life."
In a second Y/n grabbed Theo by his jacket and shoved him against the wall, his head bumping against the pipes. "Stop pretending like you actually give a shit!" She yelled, her eyes glowing in response to her anger. "Her life wouldn't even need saving if it weren't for you! Fils de pute!"
Theo smirked at the insult spat at him. "I see your doctors appointment actually had some results."
"You better keep your mouth shut if you know what's good for you." Her voice was low as she glared at him.
"Y/n." Stiles called as he put a hand on her arm. While he had a thousand more questions than he had earlier when they were listening to Lydia, and he would love to see his girlfriend kick some chimera ass, they needed his help no matter how much they hated it. Her eyes drifted to his hand, dimming back to e/c as they trailed up to his face. Reluctantly she let Theo go and took a few steps away, Stiles' hand still on her as he turned to Theo. "We know what you want. You want Lydia because she gets you to Parrish, you want Parrish 'cause he gets you to the Beast."
"So what? I want it dead, too." Theo dismissed as he started to walk away.
"Right after you take it's power, right?" Stiles' claim made Theo turn back to them. "We know why you got the talons. We know you're looking for Deucalion."
"I found Deucalion. You're right. I'm going to help Parrish stop the Beast. I'm going to take it's power. And then I'm going to break it's neck. So maybe I'm not the good guy in your eyes, but I might end up being the guy that saves all your asses." Y/n barked a sarcastic laugh. "What's so funny?"
"The fact that you think you could kill the Beast, let alone syphon his power." Y/n only smiled at Theo's slight glare, meanwhile Stiles had a brand new idea.
"Break it." He instructed Theo, walking up to look at the pipes.
"What?"
"The sound travels through the pipe." Theo just gave him a blank look. "You'll hear better, dumbass. Break it." Theo did as told, breaking a chunk of the metal and then leaning his ear in the hole. Past the hissing steam and other ambient noise he could hear Valack talking to Lydia. Now with an actual source to follow he led the way through the tunnels, around several twists and turns and finally to a set of double doors.
"Lydia!" Y/n yelled as Theo and Stiles went to push open the doors, but they were locked. Of course they were locked.
"What the hell are you doing, get the door open!"
"I'm trying!" Theo snapped back at Stiles.
"Both of you, move!" Y/n yelled, and they did as told. But before she could do anything Lydia screamed again, making all three cover their ears. Once the sound died down Theo tried the door handle again and this time it broke off. Y/n pushed past him and shoved the doors open, stepping over Valack's half-headed body she went right to Lydia who was propped on a type of gurney with wires stuck to her temples.
Lydia slumped back in her seat, looking at Y/n with wide eyes. "You came back." She croaked.
"Of course I came back. I told you I wasn't going to leave you here." She started to take the wires off of Lydia.
"You can't. It's too dangerous."
"Lydia, please shut up and let us save you." Lydia couldn't help but smile at her friend and nodded as Y/n helped her stand up. Stiles rushed forward to help, the couple each taking one of Lydia's arms and putting it over their shoulders to help support her while they rushed out of there. None of them noticed, or cared, that Theo stayed behind, eyes set on the mask that Valack tried to put on Lydia moments before.
"Okay. You got to try and stay on your feet." Stiles said as the three ran through the tunnels. "The plan didn't work out too well. So we're gonna need your help, okay?"
"You had a plan?" Lydia asked.
"He's always got a plan."
"It was good on paper. Not too much in reality."
Stiles pushed open a metal door, but Lydia dropped to her knees as soon as they crossed it, taking Y/n, who still had a hold on her, down with her. "I can't hold it." Lydia gasped as she pressed her hands to her hand.
"Just a few more seconds. He's almost here." Y/n urged, having felt the hellhound emerge again and steadily make his way towards them.
"I can't do it."
"Y/n." Stiles called.
"Stiles, run!" She pushed him back with her magic just as Jordan pushed him around the corner with Scott and Liam. Just as Lydia was about to scream Jordan wrapped his arms around her and Y/n threw her hands to the ground, creating a barrier around all three of them to protect the others from the sonic boom that was created. The building still shook with the impact, creating a small cloud of dust as some debris was shook loose.
The three boys coughed against the particles in the air, and looked towards the other three as the dust settled. Jordan carried Lydia as Y/n walked in front of them. The hellhound's fire was put out and Jordan was left covered in soot. "Where to?" He asked.
"This way." Scott led the way through the tunnels, but soon Liam took the front.
"There's a gate up ahead." Liam claimed as he rushed forward.
"What about Mason?"
"He's on it. Trust me."
"What's- what's happening?" Lydia groaned as they turned another corner.
"Plan B." Jordan answered.
"Liam, slow down!"
"Liam, wait!" Scott and Stiles called, the Beta rushing ahead of the rest to get to the gate.
He slid to a stop in front of the chainlink structure and threw his hands onto it. There was only a few small sparks before Liam pulled the gate open and glanced back at the rest. "I told you." He panted before running through the gate with the others following. They ran a little farther before coming to the grate that would lead the up to the street just outside the main gates of Eichen.
"Can you stand?" Jordan asked Lydia as he set her on her feet, Malia and Kira peeling to a stop in the Jeep right next to the group.
"Is she okay?" Malia asked after she and Kira got out of the car.
"No, we need to get her to the clinic." Y/n informed in a rush.
"Give me the keys." Scott held his hand out for the object.
Suddenly Jordan groaned in pain and fell against the side of the Jeep from Tracy's attack, the chimera herself grabbing Lydia. "Sorry, but she's coming with me."
"Tracy, you have no idea what will happen if you don't let her go." Y/n warned.
"I'm taking her. That's what's gonna happen. And none of you are going to do a thing-" She gasped and fell to the side after Natalie hit her with one of the security guard's tazer batons, Y/n catching the unsteady Lydia before she could fall.
"Could somebody please get my daughter out of this hellhole?" The woman asked.
"Gladly." Y/n said as she helped Lydia into the back of the Jeep, climbing in behind her while Scott and Stiles got in the front and sped off.
Scott drove as fast as he could, but the gears groaned in protest as he tried to shift. "Scott." Stiles called.
"Yeah. I'm trying, I'm trying."
"We're almost there. Just hold on a little longer, Lyds." Y/n assured, the banshee squirming in pain from the screams in her head. Her face scrunched up and Y/n knew what was coming. She held Lydia's head to her chest and made that same barrier as before around them, protecting Scott and Stiles from the short scream that Lydia let slip. "It's okay, it's okay." She soothed as Lydia kept flinching. "We're going to get through this. You're gonna make it." She promised, making Lydia look at her.
Lydia's eyes trailed from Y/n's own, to her ear that had bled a little, and down to her shoulder where her shirt had slipped down. "But you're not." Y/n looked down and saw a small sliver of something shining on her skin, like a crack in stone leaking a tiny spot of purple sunlight. Scott and Stiles had looked back at her, seeing the blood and the mark on her skin.
She glanced at them and fixed her shirt before giving Lydia a smile. "You're more important right now. It's okay. I'll heal." She assured, but she honestly wasn't sure of that anymore. Scott and Stiles shared a look before the wolf stepped harder on the gas. As soon as they got to the clinic Stiles and Scott helped carry Lydia while Y/n went ahead and made the doors open.
"Get her on the table." Alan directed and the boys did as told, Lydia groaning in pain as they did so while Alan rushed to get something to help. Her back arched off of the table from the pain. "Hold her." Scott and Stiles held Lydia down as best as they could, but she was still able to move a bit. That is until Y/n gripped her arm, doing the same thing to Lydia as she had to Brett when he was poisoned, using her magic to force all of the muscles in her arms and legs to freeze to restrict her movement.
Lydia opened her mouth and a strangled squeak slipped past despite her efforts to hold it back, and that small sound was enough to shake the building. "Alan, hurry!" Y/n called.
"I'm trying. Just keep her still." He filled up a large syringe and went over to Lydia's head. "Steady."
"Uh, what the hell is that?" Stiles asked.
"Mistletoe."
"Mistletoe? She's got a freaking hole in her head."
"Stiles." Y/n called and he turned to see her giving him a look that said 'shut up'. Alan held onto Lydia's jaw to keep her head still as he injected the substance into the wound. Y/n let go as Lydia sat up and screamed. It was a short scream that burst the windows and made the four duck down until the glass stopped flying. Y/n was quick to get up and go to Lydia's side, seeing her laid down and unmoving. "Lydia?" She whispered, her hands moving to wipe the glass from the girl's face. "Lydia." She remained unresponsive. "No, no, no, Lydia, please. Please open your eyes. I need you to wake up. I didn't go all the way through that God-forsaken place just for you to leave me now. You're my best friend, you're my sister, I can't lose you. Please, wake up." Y/n begged, her eyes blurring while the other three watched sadly as it seemed they were too late. Lydia suddenly gasped, and Y/n's breath stuttered in relief as Lydia's eyes fluttered open to look at the witch. "Hey there, sleeping beauty." Y/n smiled as Lydia looked around a bit. "Are you okay?" Lydia gave a tiny nod and Y/n beamed a little more. Lydia held Y/n's hand, the girls holding as tight as they could. "You want to try and sit up?" Lydia nodded again.
Y/n and the boys helped ease her up, glass tinkling as it fell off of them and on to the table and floor. Lydia looked around, glancing at everyone for a moment before her eyes landed on Natalie who was hovering within the door. "Mom?"
"Oh, honey." Natalie breathed as she came forward and pulled Lydia into her arms. The Martin women held onto each other, Scott and Alan shared relieved smiles, and Stiles put his arm around Y/n's shoulder to hold her close.
"They saved my life, Mom." Lydia smiled up at the couple. "Y/n and Stiles saved me."
Y/n smiled up at Stiles before she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder for a moment. Stiles held her close and pressed a kiss to her hair. She pulled away after a moment to look at Alan and Scott's smiling faces, everyone thankful that they managed to save Lydia. Stiles then gestured behind them with his thumb. "I'm not paying for the windows."
~~~
Published: 8/17/22