Phoebe's POV:

"Can't we just pull them out?" Liam asked as I nervously paced back and forth in the room.

"No, don't remove the IVs." Mason's voice quickly replied on the phone. "We don't know what's going to happen. Just wait 'til we get there. We're on our way."

"Alright. Hurry." Liam urged before hanging up the call.

"Okay. I'm going." Nolan spoke up before heading towards the door.

Before he could get closer, Liam side-stepped to block his path with a brow raised. "Whoa, wait, what about your plan?"

I cross my arms over my chest in suspicion. "What plan?"

His eyes slightly widen. "No one saw you come in with me..."

Liam's expression didn't waver. "So...?"

"So...I don't have to get my ass kicked." Nolan concluded.

I slowly turn to Liam with a brow raised. "Your deal was for you to get to beat him up?"

"It was the only part of the plan that I liked." He sheepishly admitted before shaking his head with a sigh. "Go."

A surprising look appears on Nolan's face at the response until he quickly rushes out of the ICU without another word.

I look back toward the other patients in concern and my heart sinks in discomfort. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Olivia's POV:

"In humans, thermoception is done mainly through the skin." I feel Deucalion place his hands on my arms before moving me a step backward until my back was pressed against Malia's and Scott's. "You have temperature receptors that pick up the change in heat and cold. The eyes of Werewolves are particularly effective in picking up heat."

"Well, what do we do without our eyes?" Scott spoke up.

"Just as I told Olivia before. Focus on your skin--the minute temperature changes." He emphasized. "Now, turn and face each other. Olivia, I want you to only observe and feel each of their temperatures shift."

I nod as I take a step forward, assuming I was out of their attack range. "And then what?"

"Malia? Try to hit Scott." Deucalion instructed.

"Seriously?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yes, seriously. You came here to learn to fight--kick his ass!"

"Wait, but what if she hits me by--"

I couldn't even finish my sentence because before I knew it, I felt my atmosphere shift at something coming at me at abrupt speed and I jump back.

However, the sound of Scott letting out a groan causes me to freeze but Malia happily clapped her hands together with a giggle.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Scott weakly asked.

Deucalion sighed in annoyance. "Defend yourselves!"

I feel the warmth move closer to me but I stagger back, lifting my arm which blocked the punch but the second hit struck against my stomach which caused me to groan. "Ow!"

"Sorry, Liv!" Scott quickly apologized but I huff in annoyance and swing my fist, only to feel the air whip through.

Scott lets out another groan of pain and the gravel scrapes under someone's boots as they rush to his cries. "Sorry!" I hear Malia try to comfort but Deucalion lets out a scoff.

"Don't be sorry! Hit him again!" He scolded. "Olivia, you don't need to always rely on your fists. Focus!"

The sound of a hit smashing against the concrete and a cry to escape from Malia's lips causes me to wince.

Feeling the warm temperatures move toward me again, I duck underneath and swipe my leg across, sending the person to stumble forward into me and collapse to the concrete floor.

I nervously remove the blindfold from my eyes and see Malia tightly clutching onto her bloodied fist before meeting Scott's embarrassed expression. "Sorry."

"Yeah," Deucalion groaned in secondhand embarrassment as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I didn't think it was possible, but I'm actually starting to wish I was blind again."

"Technically I almost had it!" I say as Scott and I scramble to stand up. "I just need to get used to the temperatures shifting."

"Scott put the blindfold back on. Olivia and Malia, you two observe." Deucalion instructed in which Malia and I step to the side as Scott moved to stand in the middle. "Stop looking for me. Listen. Sense the rise and fall of temperature. Feel the pressure beneath your feet."

Almost as if it was predator versus prey, Deucalion continued to circle Scott.

"Know with absolute certainty my location. My speed. Even my method of attack."

Before Scott could move a muscle, Deucalion kicks him in the stomach which knocked him back into one of the oil cans and fall onto the ground once more.

I wince at the sound of his groans but Deucalion walks over and kneels in front of him as Scott lifted the blindfold from his eyes in annoyance. "And...you're dead. Again."

Malia rushes over and helps Scott to his feet with a sympathetic expression. "Scott--"

"Alright, come on." Scott cleared his throat, adjusting the blindfold to cover his eyes again. "Let's go again."

"Scott...I think we should try something else." Malia sadly spoke up but he quickly shook his head in frustration.

"No, there is nothing else. I can't beat Gerard when he's got an entire army behind him!"

"They're still afraid of us." I hesitantly add.

"That's the problem! They don't know us." Scott gesture him, Malia, and I. "A-And they don't want us here, they don't even want to look at us. But I still don't think that that fear is real."

"What if it's not just the Anuk-ite?" Deucalion spoke up, seeming taken aback by Scott's argument. "What if this is what people are really like? I mean, could it be that all this creature really does is give people permission to act on whatever awful truth lies within them?"

"I can't believe that." Scott immediately shook his head. "I don't want to."

I fiddle with my mom's bracelet around my wrist. "My mom was afraid of me and the rest of who she figured out was a part of the supernatural, but that never stopped her from trying to understand. She learned to get over that fear and gave everyone a chance."

I feel a hand on my shoulder and I turn, meeting Malia's smile before she gave a short nod with determination. "They can change."

Deucalion slowly nods in understanding before his expression shifts into a stern look. "Lose the blindfold, Scott."

He looks at him with confusion but once Deucalion nods at him, he reluctantly reaches up and removes the blindfold on his forehead.

"Close your eyes. We're going to try this again," Deucalion instructed as he took several steps back to face away from Scott. "but this time, I'm not going to hold back. I'm gonna come at you for real. You asked me here because you think I know how to fight? I don't."

I back away from Scott to lean against the cement column, gesturing for Malia to step away as well. "I have a feeling we should get out of the way." I whisper and she slowly nods, moving across to her previous spot.

Deucalion turns around to face him but this time his eyes flashed a bright red. "I know how to kill people." Deucalion's voice lowered with a snarl.

Scott closes his eyes and cracks his neck in preparation for a fight before Deucalion roars at him with his fangs out and lunges toward Scott.

➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵

After a while of painfully watching Scott trying to endure the hits from Deucalion's cane, I continued trying to practice detecting heat signatures by remembering Deucalion's instructions.

While the heat signatures were still blurry, I managed to differentiate which was cold and hot. Baby steps, I guess.

The sounds of Scott's groans in pain force me to snap my eyes open again, watching as he staggered backward but Deucalion doesn't give him the chance to recover as he hits him again behind the knees which knocked him onto the ground.

"Come on, Scott." I whisper under my breath. "Focus."

Scott's hands flatten against the concrete ground beneath him to slightly push him to sit up but Deucalion moved towards him with his cane raised.

In one swift motion, Scott reaches out and grabs the cane in Deucalion's hands before he could strike, barely missing getting hit in the face with it. He uses it to pull himself to his feet and harshly pulls Deucalion to him before flipping him onto his back on the ground.

Almost as if it was a signal to state that the fight was over, thunder claps in the skies as the rain heavily poured down.

Deucalion chuckled at the sight of Scott standing over him before he nods with an impressed look. "You might just survive this."

I walk to his side and offer my hand for him to grab, carefully pulling him up to his feet. "And the rest of us?"

"You're getting there." Deucalion warmly smiled.

"Scott! Scott!" A voice cried out, snapping our attention away to see Lydia, Allison, and Peter sprint towards us under the catwalk. "None of us are going to survive this!"

"Way to be optimistic." I scoff before I gesture to Deucalion. "We have a chance now that Deucalion's been helping us and I can do more than just shoot fireballs and heal people. He can help you guys--"

"No, no. You don't get it." Allison frantically shook her head. "We need to leave. Now."

"What? Why? What are you guys doing here?" Scott worriedly asked.

"They're coming!" Peter panted. "Monroe and more and they have heavy firepower."

Before any one of us could process the news, a hail of gunshots ripped through the air and everyone watched as bullet after bullet went through Deucalion's chest and abdomen until he dropped face-first to the ground with an unreadable expression.

I crouch down to the floor in horror, pressing my shaking hands against Deucalion's back to transfer my energy into his. "Shit, shit, shit!" I panic but I look towards where the gunshots come from.

A wall of hunters stood across with assault rifles in their hands aimed directly at us but one woman, in particular, wore a smirk as she stood behind them with a pistol in her hands.

The army opens fire yet again but the rest of us hurriedly duck behind whatever support columns, dumpsters, and steel drums that were nearby to take cover.

Something rips through my shoulder but I fight the agonizing pain by grabbing onto Deucalion's arms and pulling him behind the cement column. Another bullet grazes my abdomen and I painfully lean against the cement pillar, feeling my heart quicken at the sounds of the endless gunfire.

A bullet hit the pillar by my face which blew a massive slab of concrete off and I scramble away from the pillar before covering my face with my hands.

"Malia!" I manage to hear Scott yell from a couple of feet away but I couldn't tell from where.

I look over across the catwalk, seeing as Allison tried to cover Lydia's body as much as she could with hers since Lydia kept her hands over her ears due to the loud gunshots practically firing everywhere.

Almost as if she felt my stares, she looked up from the floor and her eyes soften once they met mine, seeing the blood drip to the floor.

I glance down at my hands violently shaking in place, desperately wanting to release the flames from my fingertips but I forced myself to hold it back by applying pressure on my side.

I look back up at Allison and judging from her expression alone, it was almost as if she knew neither one of us had a chance to escape this but at the same time, she wished for a miracle.

"I love you." She mouthed sadly first to me.

"I love you too." I mouth back, her words somewhat calming my nerves.

Suddenly, the screeching sound from the tires of a vehicle causes me to snap my attention away from Allison and to the familiar figure who wore a grin in the driver's seat.

"You didn't think you were doing this without me, did ya?" Stiles questioned as he leaned out of the window of his Jeep and my jaw practically drops at the sudden appearance.

"Without us?" Derek's voice rang out as he appeared next to the Jeep with a smirk.

Before any one of us could utter a word, Derek immediately lets out a growl with his eyes shining a bright blue before launching himself into the fray to take out the two hunters.

Malia threw a hunter against the gated fence and spun on her heel to slam it against the hunter's head which immediately knocked him unconscious. Peter struck repetitive punches against the hunter's cheek until he tossed him to the ground before running after another hunter.

I step out of my spot with my hands engulfed in flames, feeling my eyes shine fiery orange. "Let's see how you like being cornered." I mutter before aiming my hands outward, blasting the line of flames towards the hunters preparing to send another wave to attack.

Noticing the flames coming at rapid speed, they immediately scramble away from being lit on fire and back into their vehicles with frantic looks.

To my surprise, a body lands near my feet and I feel someone press their back against mine as they hold several arrows in front of me. "Mind lighting this for me?" Allison innocently asked.

"Won't they burn through?" I curiously ask.

"If they were ordinary arrows." She chuckled. "Stiles stopped by our place to grab my weapons and thankfully he grabbed some trick arrows I've been working on."

The tires from the multiple SUVs loudly screech on the gravel as they start to drive away from the scene.

"Remind me to thank him for secretly keeping copies to our place." I say before using my finger to light the arrowheads. "Let's see what you got."

She quickly places the three arrows on her bow before aiming them toward the vehicles, furrowing her brows into concentration.

She released the grip and the arrows plunge directly into the tires of each separate vehicle, forcing the three vans to spin out of control and crash into one another as the rest of the vans take off into the night.

"Nice!" I laugh, immediately regretting it as soon as a shot of pain rippled on my abdomen one more. "Ow!"

Allison carefully slung her bow over her head before wrapping my arm around her neck to carefully guide me to where everyone else stood behind Scott who was crouched down to Deucalion's level.

A trickle of blood dripped from his mouth, Deucalion's breaths becoming more and more shallow but he reached forward to place his hand on top of Scott's who didn't hesitate to grab.

I carefully bend down and place my hand on his shoulder but Deucalion slowly shook his head. "Don't." He weakly rasped out. "I-I can already feel myself slipping away and I've accepted my fate."

"Deucalion--"

"Gerard," He cut me off as his breath shook. "what he f-f-fears most...he can't beat you." He softly chuckles in amusement before a strained smile appears on his lips as he looked to meet Scott's eyes. "And he knows it."

I didn't bother to wipe away the tears that fell and watch as his smile faltered and breathing stopped, finally releasing the grip on Scott's hand as his head lolled to the side.

Malia shook her head in disbelief. "It's really started, hasn't it?"

"What's started?" Stiles frowned, clearly confused at what's been happening since he's been gone.

Scott stood up to his feet and turned to face us with a saddened look. "It's an all-out war." His eyes land behind us and I follow his line of vision, seeing as they were set on Derek.

He quickly walked over to the man and embraced him in a hug, my eyes widening in surprise at the sight of Derek accepting the hug by wrapping his arms around him as well.

As they pull away, I move my arm off of Allison's and approach the two. "I'm just going to take this rare opportunity to hug you and you can't say no." I casually say as I wrap my arms around Derek into a tight embrace.

"Good to see you're still alive, Olivia." He chuckled, patting my back a few times. "Allison still tolerating you?"

"Managing." Allison chimes in with a teasing smile.

"I'm right here!" I scoff, pulling away from his embrace so I could lean onto Allison for support.

"As much as I enjoy the impromptu family reunion," Peter rolled his eyes from beside them. "what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to double check on things with Cora and the pack she was staying with but I found the pack slaughtered in Brazil." He answered once he pulled away from Scott's embrace. "There were two words written in blood on the wall 'Beacon Hills'."

My eyes widen. "Wait so Cora's..." I trail off, not wanting to believe she was truly gone.

He shook his head. "I couldn't find her body so I'm grasping for straws that she got away."

Scott's eyes widen with a hopeful expression. "You came back for Beacon Hills?"

"No." Derek crossed his arms over his chest. "I came back for you."

Suddenly, the police radio from Stiles' jeep crackles to life which snapped our attention towards it.

"Blood and destruction," Gerard's voice rang out from the radio which caused Scott and Stiles to rush to the car with the rest of us trailing behind. "dreadful objects so familiar. All pity choked with custom of fell deeds."

Scott quickly gets into the passenger seat as Stiles sat in the driver's seat, leaving the rest of us to crowd around the open windows.

"Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge. With Ate by his side come hot from hell. Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice..." Gerard trailed until the feedback of the radio crackled. "Do you know the rest, Scott? Do you know your Shakespeare?"

Since Derek stood outside of the passenger door of the Jeep with Malia, he gestured for Scott to grab the radio microphone for him and he grabbed it from his hand. "Cry, 'Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war..." He answered.

"You memorize Shakespeare?" Allison asked with slight surprise as Scott lowered the microphone.

"War, indeed." Gerard complimented, hearing the grin from his words. "Welcome back, Derek. You must all be feeling rather nostalgic. Are you pleased with the little family reunion I've gathered around you, Scott?"

Scott scoffed in annoyance. "Yeah, why don't you come join us, and I can thank you in person."

"I even have a few visitors for you...from London." He trailed off before he softly chuckled. "Even visitors from places that Olivia and Derek might recognize."

My heart practically sinks out of my chest, hoping he wasn't referring to who I thought it was. "Oh my god."

"Even someone like Jackson Whittemore couldn't resist coming back to Beacon Hills." He chuckled. "Why don't you two say hello?"

The sounds of crackling electricity flooded the audio followed by the cries of the duo I haven't seen or heard from for a long time.

Derek's grip on the door bent as he heard his sister's cries of pain but I shut my eyes, turning my head away from the car in an attempt to block out the noise.

"Do it again, old man!" Jackson growled. "Come a little closer. I'm gonna shove that thing so far up your ass!"

"I'm gonna make sure I rip your hand out and we'll see if that disgusting grin on your face will still be there!" Cora spoke up next with a snarl. "Hell, maybe I'll use my teeth to--"

"It's clear enough that she's Derek's sister but Jackson's lost none of his charm, has he?" Gerard interrupted her threats. "You can find him here with us at the armory, Scott. In fact, I'm going to tell you where to find all of them."

All?

Almost as if she sensed my worries, I feel Allison's arms wrap around mine as Gerard continued with his list.

"Your deputy Hellhound met some friends of his while responding to a call from Eichen House. Your father was on his way back from San Francisco with the goal of entering the fight, but he didn't get far. You might want to tell your mother to skip her shift at the hospital tonight. Liam, Phoebe, and the rest of their friends are there now. Optimistic of them, but woefully ill-advised."

I rub the side of my head, feeling my heart quicken from the stress and anger beginning to form.

"This is how you wage war, Scott." Gerard continued. "A strategic positioning of your army against theirs. Which is why you will come to me. You will try to save as many as you can, and you might even save a few. But, your limited resources will be spread thin, and ultimately, you will fail."

A small crack is heard from the radio as Scott tightly clutched the radio, nearly crushing it but he closes his eyes for a moment to listen to the rest of Gerard's words which sent chills to run down my spine.

"The dogs of war, Scott...they're coming for you."