ILLUMINATED NIGHT

​"So when did you get there?"
​
Agent McDouche - sorry, McCall, carefully calculated each and every single teenager sitting down before him. He shouldn't have been surprised to see that the usual trio had been involved, Stiles, Scott, and Carter - The Three Musketeers. The other two teenagers that occupied the bench had been Lydia Martin and Kira Yukimura.
​
He instantly noticed that the five teens all showed different bodily behavior toward the situation. Scott had a tight expression on his face as he sat straight up, Kira refused to take her eyes off the floor while she pressed her elbows on her thighs and Lydia continued to rub her fingers over her kneecaps. Stiles leaned his back against the bench seeming as though the entire situation barely affected him and Carter's posture showed that she had been completely annoyed with the on-going interrogation.
​
And, she was.
​
The youngest Hale was trying her hardest to refrain from shooting off the bench and rushing out of the police station. And she was becoming increasingly frustrated, an overbearing pressure building up at the base of her skull - abilities screaming at her to check on Isaac. Something had happened to him, bad enough for the girl's annoyance and anger toward the whole situation to boil over.
​
"At the same time," Stiles stated vaguely, looking as though the conversation had been like day-to-day chitchat.
​
"At the same time as who?"
​
"The same time as me," Scott prompted, Carter rolled her eyes as Stiles pointed his forefinger at the teen Alpha next to him as they gave Scott's father a dull look.
​
"By coincidence?" His father questioned, eyebrows inching their way up his forehead as he stared down at his son.
​
"What do you mean by coincidence?" Carter asked, speaking up for the first time as she crossed her arms over her chest as she sat between Kira and Scott.
​
"That's what I'm asking you," McCall elaborated, masking his frustration toward the teenagers who were only giving him extremely vague answers. "The three of you showed up at the same time. Was that coincidence?"
​
"Are you asking me?" Scott inquired, face conforming in feign confusion as he peered up at his father.
​
"I think he's asking me," Stiles countered, turning to look at the boy next to him.
​
Carter huffed out in dismissal, "He's obviously asking me."
​
Lydia pursed her lips, deciding to invite herself into the chaos. "I think he's asking all three of you."
​
"Okay, let me answer the questions," McCall cut in, just as his face contorted in annoyance when he realized that he had slipped up which meant that the teenagers were doing what they had planned to do.  Carter quirked up an eyebrow, tilting her head at his wording, Stiles pursed his lips in questioning - all of them wore smug looks as they looked up at the man. "Let me ask the questions."

Stiles winked, pointing a finger at the agent.

"Just so I have this absolutely clear. Barrow was hiding in the chemistry closet at the school. Someone left him a coded message on the blackboard telling him to kill Kira and Carter. Then Barrow took Kira to a power substation and tied her up with the intent of luring Carter there and electrocuting them, which blacked out the entire town."

Stiles head slightly bobbed, "Sounds about right."

"How'd you know he would take her to a power station?" Agent McCall asked, looking directly at Stiles for the answer considering he was the only one that had been willing to talk.

"Well, 'cause he was an electrical engineer," Stiles began. "So where else would he take her?"

Rafael McCall clenched his jaw slightly, frustration starting to show on his face. "That's one hell of a deduction there, Stiles."

"Yeah, what can I say? I take after my Pops. He's in law enforcement," Stiles retorted with obvious sarcasm, a smirk evident on his face as he glanced behind McCall to send his gave a wink while pointing his forefinger at the man.

There was a grumbled choke from the Sheriff's mouth, letting his façade slip as his son's sarcastic mouth got to him. Agent McCall wasn't pleased to know that the Sheriff was chuckling during such a serious situation, his head turning slightly as Stilinski turned his laughter into a hoarse cough. His hand waving to his son, giving Stiles a knowing look, silently telling him that if he answered professionally the interrogation would end.

"Stiles," Stilinski called out. "Just, uh, just answer the man."

Stiles shrugged, his laced-together hands lifting into the air, "We made a good guess."

"What were the two of you doing?" Agent McCall asked, attention turning upon Scott and Kira.

"Eating sushi," Kira explained, while Scott stated: "Eating pizza." They quickly realized their mistake, glancing at one another with wide eyes before they tried again. This time, Scott started with Kira's first answer "Eating sushi," while Kira said what Scott had previously voiced, "Eating pizza."

With a silent huff, the two spoke simultaneously: "Eating sushi and pizza."

"You believe this?" McCall asked, glancing over his shoulder at Sheriff Stilinski, wondering if he had grasped the concept the teenagers were trying to justify to them.

Stilinski pursed his lips, "To be honest, I haven't believed a word Stiles has said since he learned how to speak. But I think these kids found themselves in the right place at the right time and those two girls sitting there are very lucky for it."

"Kira," McCall said, gaining the girl's attention. "Is that how you remember it?"

Everyone seemed to tense up, finding themselves leaning forward a bit to send her a warning glance. Kira look at each one of them nervously, gulping as she tried to form the words on her tongue. Carter would be no less than pissed if Kira blew their cover, if she knew what was good for her she would keep what happened that night to herself.

"Yes," Kira stated, her head moving up and down in the slightest way. "Can I get my phone back now?"

Agent McCall shook his head, looking down at her phone that was sealed in an evidence bag. "Sorry, but no."

And soon enough, McCall was passing off the evidence, Kira's phone, to another deputy while leading the five teenagers out of Sheriff Stilinski's office. They were all silent as they exited, knowing that it was best not to speak until they were out of the station completely.

"Kira," McCall interjected, his attention on the raven haired girl that was exiting the office. "A deputy is going to take you home, but we'll need you to fill out some paperwork first."

The girl hesitated, dark eyes honing in on the deputy that was taking her phone away and into the evidence locker before nodding and giving a single fleeting glance back at Scott and Carter before following through the door.

Carter exited the office next, Scott trailing closely behind. He was keeping himself close to her - closer than usual, after what had occurred at the substation, he was gluing himself to her side like she was going to disappear right before his eyes. Scott's large hand quickly found Carter's smaller one, intertwining their fingers together.

From behind them, Agent McCall shut Stilinski's office door before he called out: "Scott."

Scott turned, Carter glancing up at him in question, wondering if she should leave him to talk to his father, but he was also her ride back home seeing as though she left her car at the school.

"You can stay," Scott whispered, Carter slowly shaking her head.

Carter reluctantly pulled her hand out of his, "No, it's okay, I'll wait over there."

Scott nodded stiffly, knowing that he needed her by his side. But, against his needs and wants, Carter moved away from him, making her way down to the end of the hall. She could still hear them, though, even without her heightened hearing - she just stepped away to be polite.

Scott slowly turned to face his father, McCall wasting no time before he spoke: "I don't know why you guys are lying. Or why Stilinski is content to listen to this crap, but try and remember something. If half this story about Barrow is true, then not only did someone help set him loose, but he was a pawn in their little game. A mass murderer is bad enough. A mass murderer being controlled by someone - far worse."

Scott merely nodded in response, "Yeah, I get it."

"All right, go home," McCall instructed. "It's a school night."

Just another day livin' in good 'ole Beacon Hills.

→ 

Walking into the school hadn't been nearly as bad as she thought it was going to be, seeing as though the power still remained out in the school. But she still wasn't pleased that they hadn't canceled school all together. She was really hoping they would have - considering that she got back to her apartment extremely late, and that she had to sleep on her couch because she had set her room on fire and spent the night tossing and turning like a landed fish. 

Overall, she was blessed with a stiff neck and the sight of crowded hallways.

Carter had decided to drive herself and Isaac to school that day, the duo making a quite stop to get coffee and a few donuts before completing their commute to Beacon Hills High School. The two teenagers entered the school alongside one another, Carter's arm being laced through Isaac's as they sipped on their coffees; the curly-haired Beta persistently questioning Scott's motives as to why he went over to Kira's house in the first place.

"Okay, let me get this straight," Isaac began, knowing that Carter had gone over the entire thing more than two dozen times on the way to school. "Mr. Yukimura invited Scott to their house for dinner?"

Carter rolled her eyes, her lips pulled into a tight line as they continued their descent along the corridor. In all honestly, Isaac's constant questioning was beginning to grain on her nerves, but she had to admit that she understood where he was coming from.

"Yes, Isaac, like I told you before," Carter stated firmly, running her free hand over her face. "Kira's parents wanted to show their appreciation for saving Kira from being attacked by Malia." Isaac scoffed at her words. "That's it, honestly - Scout's Honor."

Isaac glanced down at her with a look of uncertainty on his face, Carter let out a wistful chuckle and shook her head at him - sometimes he took his role as a werewolf and best friend too seriously, because he was turning into Carter's around-the-clock watch dog.

"Isaac, even if something had happened between them, it's not like you could do anything about it." Carter patted his chest with her unoccupied hand, wagging her forefinger in his face. "He's your Alpha."

"But," Isaac drawled out the word, "You're also my Alpha, so if Scott hurt you, it would be my duty to deal out his consequences."

Carter rolled her eyes at him, Isaac smirking down at her with sheer innocence before unlacing their arms, waving goodbye, and leaving her own her own. And that's when Carter began hunting; she needed to find Kira, knowing that the raven-haired girl must have been going out of her mind at that moment.

"Class starts in five minutes!" a voice shouted directly into Carter's ear, that startled brunette jumping forward slightly. "Just because there's no power don't expect there to be no school."

"Hey, that was a triple negative. Very impressive, Coach," Stiles shouted in response to Finstock's statement, Carter had been completely oblivious to her best friend's presence as she continued on her hunt to find Kira.

And before she knew, Carter's gaze fell upon the dark haired girl in question, at the end of the hallways stood Kira Yukimura. Carter quickly rushed toward her, Kira's eyes locking on Carter. The girl's eyes widened, noticing that Carter was approaching her, she sunk her teeth into her bottom lip before turning her back toward Carter and taking off in the opposite direction.

Carter made a move to follow her, but stopped when a male's arm slung itself across her chest. Her dark orbs widened when she turned to face who had grabbed her, seeing Stiles standing next to her with a disbelieving expression on his face.

"Carter, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Stiles demanded his eyes wide. "You're not talking to her."

"I need to talk to her," Carter argued, her attention moving back to Kira as she peered over at them before moving to open her locker.

"No," Stiles denied, making sure that his hold on the youngest Hale remained firm. "You need to remember that someone left a coded message telling Barrow to kill her."

Carter turned to look at her pale friend in disbelief, "Yeah, and you need to remember that someone also left Barrow message to kill me. And that's why I need to talk you her, besides, you can't tell me what to do - you're not my dad, Stiles."

"Car, no way," Stiles denied, using Carter's nickname to try and weasel his way through her stubborn exterior. "Until we figure out if she's just another psychotic monster that's going to start murdering everybody, I vote against any and all interaction."

"But what if she's like me?" Carter opted, watching as Kira turned away from her locker with one last glance at the two friends before making her way down the hallway.

"That girl walked through one point twenty-one gigawatts of electricity," Stiles explained. "She's not like you, or Scott."

Carter gave the boy a look before sighing, "Okay, I know that, but I - Stiles, I saw that girl and she had no idea what she was doing at the substation. And you know who she reminded me of?" She asked, Stiles' eyes and face softening as he caught on to what she was suggesting. "She reminded me of myself when I discovered I was some supernatural creature - she was scared, just like I was."

"Car," Stiles whispered, hazel eyes surveying Carter's completely sympathetic expression.

"I need to talk to her," Carter insisted.

"No."

The brunette girl left after that, realizing that the five minutes Coach had previously announce was slowly disappearing the longer she stood there and argued with Stiles.

The majority of the school day had flown by and Carter still had yet to find the Yukimura girl. After several failed attempts, she had decided to follow the girl, not stealthily, during their lunch hour.

Carter was more than certain Kira knew she was there, following her but made no protest when she found herself seated at the end of the empty hallway with Carter perched beside her. Kira glanced at the Were-Pheanix, pulling her sandwich out of her bag before setting it on her lap.

Carter pulled her own lunch out of her backpack, leaning her back against the wall as she rested her meal in her lap before she glanced over toward Kira.

"I don't want to talk about it," Kira immediately blurted out, Carter knowing that she was talking about what happened at the substation; electricity magically being absorbed into Kira's hands.

"Okay, that's fine," Carter replied, sending the girl a small reassuring smile. Kira avoided Carter's eyes, keeping her own trained on the laces of her shoes. "Want to talk about why you're eating lunch out here - because, you know, there's a seat at our lunch table with your name on it if you want it."

Kira smiled gratefully before pursing her lips, "Do you have your phone?" Carter nodded in confusion, her interest being piqued. "I'm going to show you something no one else has ever seen. No one except for Barrow," Kira then shifted around so that she was now facing Carter, the Hale quirking up an eyebrow. "Take a picture of me - and use the flash."

Even though she was severely confused, she found herself doing so anyway. She pulled her iPhone out of her pocket, sliding up the camera option before snapped a picture of the dark-haired girl in front of her. She peered down at the screen, eyes widening at what she saw; it hadn't been some horrifically lit photo, but there was an orange misty outlining around Kira. The shape of a fox was created around the girl's body.

Carter feigned shocked, breathing out: "Whoa."

"Yeah."

"What is it?" Carter mumbled, giving Kira an unsure look as she grew more confused.

Kira pursed her lips, shoulders shrugging, "I don't know. It just started showing up a couple of months ago. It only happens with the flash on - and I don't know how, but Barrow knew about it. He used my own phone to take pictures of me."

"That's why you asked for it back," Carter said, realization crossing her face as Kira nodded in confirmation. "Here," She handed her phone to Kira, "I want to show you something. Do the same thing I did to you; take picture of me with the flash on."

Kira's eyebrows furrowed, but did as she was instructed nonetheless. She glanced down at Carter's phone, seeing something extremely similar appearing on the photo that definitely wasn't normal. But instead of the outlining being made of mist, it was made up of searing flames that caused Kira's eyes to ache just looking at them - as if she had been staring up at the sun too long.

"You're not the only one, Kira," Carter assured, placing her hand on Kira's knee in a comforting manner. "Mine showed up a few weeks ago, but none of that matters, we need to get your phone back before someone sees those pictures."

And she knew just who to call.

→ 

Carter had gone against Kira's wishes - she didn't want Carter informing Scott and Stiles that the actual reason they needed to break into the police station was because she had some weird fox outlining all of her pictures. But they needed to come up with a plan, and they couldn't devise a legitimate one unless she told them the whole truth.

And that's exactly what she did, without Kira's blessing, of course.

She drove herself and Kira to the police station in her car, the moment they parked they noticed that Scott was already there along with Stiles. When the three of them exited - or dismounted - their vehicles, the three supernatural teenagers huddled around the only human, who was leaning out of his jeep's window, who also knew the station better than the back of her hand.

Various key cards were already on full display for the three others to see, "Okay, this one will get you into all of the perimeter doors, this one into the evidence room, and this one's for my father's office."

"You didn't steal these, did you?" Scott asked, giving the objects a weary look.

Stiles pursed his lips, arm still hanging out the window. "No, I cloned them using the RFID emulator."

"Isn't that worse than stealing?" Carter questioned, raising her eyebrows at her best friend's choices as she stared down at the cards in her hands.

"It's smarter," Stiles said, Carter letting out a chuckle.

"Carter, can I ask you something?" Kira interrupted, turning to the girl with a worried expression flooding over the entirety of her face.

Carter nodded, the two walking away and out of the ear-shot range of Scott and Stiles.

"You didn't tell them anything, did you?" Kira whispered.

Carter nodded in confirmation, feeling a surge of guilt course through her body knowing that she had just straight up lied to Kira's face. Especially since she had been so open and honest about the photo, allowing Carter to be the first person to ever see it or even know about it. But Carter knew that she had no choice, she had to tell Stiles and Scott in order for them to trust Kira completely.

And after everything the three of them had gone through together, Carter knew that she couldn't keep a single thing hidden from them for long.

"No, I just said that you have some pictures of you on your phone that you didn't want anyone to see." Carter offered, mentally cringing at her own lie.

Kira tilted her head to the side in question, "What kind of pictures?"

Carter seemed to consider it a moment, pausing a bit before answering: "Naked pictures."

The raven-haired girl nodded, "Oh, good idea."

Carter was utterly surprised that her lied had stuck, "Okay, cool."

That was when Carter and Kira made their way back over to Scott and Stiles, the three teens being fully aware of all the possible problems that could occur with what they were planning to do. If someone inside caught them with those key cards, not only could they be arrested for copying them but they could be charged for breaking and entering.

Which, Carter supposed, is the exact reason Kira was staying in the car with Stiles.

"Okay, so, now almost everybody's out dealing with the blackout. But there's always somebody at the front desk. Dispatch, usually a night shifter or two, and you guys are gonna use the service door entrance by the dumpster, all right? Nobody uses it. Now, I'll text you if anyone comes out, but Scott - Carter, if y'all get caught, I can't help you. I mean, my dad's under investigation for an impeachment because of your dad, so, if anything happens I will run and leave the three of you for dead."

Carter nodded in understanding, knowing that it had come to one of those times where he needed to put his father before his friends. And she completely agreed with him, especially after Stilinski lost his job when he failed to show any improvement during the whole Kanima situation, also because of the fact that his son had a restraining around.

"Thanks, Stiles," Carter said, giving Stiles a grateful look. "Seriously, this is more help than we could have asked for."

Stiles nodded, "I'd ask my dad, you know, but-"

"No, I know. I get it," Scott replied.

Stiles swallowed hard at the thought of his father losing his job, "All right, just, uh, hurry up."

And with that, Carter and Scott backed away from the jeep, Carter shooting Kira a reassuring smile before they turned around and jogged toward the service door. Scott took the correct key card in his grasp before sliding through the card-reader, a green light emitting as the door unlocked.

Once the couple crossed through the doorway, they remained in a crouched stance, their eyes frantically glancing around for any lurking deputies. The police station was dark, dimly being lit by a light above a door on the other side of the door - it was a place they've been in more times than any teenager would care to admit.

Scott's ears perked up at the sound of another entrance being opened, he quickly stopped mid-stride before pushing Carter back. The duo hiding behind a desk while a lone deputy entered the room, he retrieved a file before exiting the room just as quick as he had entered.

When the door had been shut, the couple then bolted for the evidence room - breaking their backs as they tried to keep as low as possible. Carter raised her arm up, frantically sliding the key card through the reader, hearing it ding before it unlocked. Scott opened the door, ushering the brunette inside and, as quietly as he could, closed the door.

Sighs of relief escaped their mouths, realizing that they had made it inside the evidence room successfully. Scott and Carter were finally able to stand, no longer crouching as the two teens began to sift through the evidence bags and boxes in search for Kira's bright phone.

"Carter," Scott whispered from behind the brunette, the girl whirling around to see Scott holding a plastic evidence bag with Kira's phone sealed inside of it. Carter placed the lib back onto the box she had been searching through, moving toward Scott as he pulled the cellular device out of the bag.

They watched as he pressed down on the lock button on the side of the phone, only to be faced with a black screen and an empty white battery symbol. And that was when Carter realized, that her and Scott were royally screwed.

"It's dead," Carter stated, lips twitching in irritation as a wave of heat flashed up her spine. "We need to take it, but if we do, they'll know it's gone."

"Exactly," Scott agreed, letting his head drop as he sighed.

"How do we charge it if the power's out?" Carter asked, looking around the room. "I mean, if they keep electronic evidence, they have to expect them to die at some point. But the same question remains, how are going to charge her phone if there's no power?"

Scott's eyes danced around the room before they suddenly widened in realization. Carter raised a brow at him in question. "See if you can find a charger cable," Scott instructed, making his way around the desk, positioning himself in front an Apple laptop.

Carter immediately knew what his plan was - he was going to plug Kira's phone into the laptop. She began opening drawers, office supplies rolling around as she sifted through them in search of a charger. It hadn't taken as long as she had anticipated, quickly retrieving the cord before making her way back to Scott.

Scott opened the laptop, the couple were instantly met with the pudgy face of a toddler. The boy was wearing a muscle-shirt, his small teeth being exposed as he made a scrunched up face at the camera. The boy may have been young, but Carter was able to recognize the eyes instantly.

"Scott, is that-"

"Me," Scott finished for her, his voice was soft and vulnerable. Carter looked over at him, watching as his facial expression displayed so many different emotions toward the picture. The feelings that he kept deep down; a sense of love toward his father, and the initial shock of seeing his picture on his father's laptop. He began to blink rapidly, trying to push away the tears and Carter knew that he was having an internal conflict with himself. 

She leaned forward, pressing a feather-light kiss on his cheek for encouragement. He smiled, but she could tell that the picture was still bothering him. She allowed him to process it while she took the phone and charger before plugging them in, leaving the both of them to wait until it was charged enough to delete the pictures.

Carter watched the phone intently, eagerly waiting for the screen to illuminate with life. But before it could, her and Scott's heightened hearing picked up on two distinct voices coming from outside the office. The couple peered over the desk, seeing Stiles standing in front of Scott's father - using his body as a barrier to keep the agent out of his own office.

"Oh, come on, come on," Carter urged, desperately pleading for the phone to turn on. But a sigh of relief escaped her lips when the screen lit up with the AT&T symbol in the middle. "It's on."
​
She then quickly began to scroll through the home menu, clicking on the photo section before deleting all of the pictures Barrow had taken of Kira at the substation. She then scrolled higher, making sure that there hadn't been any Kira had taken herself and forgot to delete.
​
"Okay, I'm done," Carter announced, turning the phone off before tossing it to Scott so he could put it back in the evidence bag. Carter yanked the charger out of the computer, throwing it back in the drawer and shut the laptop. And with that, the two supernatural teens carefully snuck out the evidence room in hopes that Stiles' plan to distract McCall was going to be long enough so they could slip right out of the station.

Keeping low to the floor, they rushed to the door they had previously entered through before slipping back outside. Once the door had dinged, meaning that it was completely shut and locked, Carter let out a laugh of relief. Scott smiled down at her, the couple sharing a quick embrace at their apparent success.

"We did it," Carter assured Stiles and Kira as her and Scott jogged over to them. "All the pics deleted."

Kira's face lit up with relief, "Thank you, seriously."

"So, I guess I should take you home," Carter spoke, looking toward Kira.

"Hey, you guys wouldn't want to go to a party, would y'all?" Scott suddenly asked, Carter's eyes lighting up with certain excitement.

She had completely forgotten about Danny's black light party, even though Aiden and Ethan had asked her if they could use the loft since Derek wasn't going to be there. But, then again, she was just moments ago breaking into the police station.

"Hell yeah," Carter cheered before she turned toward Kira, "You wanna go?"

Kira grinned in response, giving Carter her silent yet obvious answer.

But the party wasn't going to turn out as they had originally thought it would.