Scott and I were in the animal clinic, standing across the table from each other, at work, but Deaton was missing.

Scott was looking at his inhaler, telling me everything that had been happening. "My asthma is back. I'm not sure how, but it came back. Just as bad as it used to be. So now, I keep my inhaler on me all of the time. Just like I used to. And it's been five days. We haven't seen any new Chimeras, and we haven't seen the Dread Doctors. We all go to school, pretending like nothing's happened. But everyone seems to know. You just walk down the halls, and no one's smiling. No one's laughing. You get the feeling that everyone can sense that something's coming. They just don't know what is, or how bad it's going to be. Every time I feel like I should do something about it, I find myself reaching for my inhaler. Like, I'm going to take a hit of it, and--and come up with some brilliant solution on how to save everyone. But I don't know what to do. I don't think anyone does. Maybe that's why no one's really talking to each other. Sometimes, we don't even notice each other. But I think some of us are okay with that. Because not talking makes it easier to keep secrets. And I don't know if anyone's really lying about things. Maybe it's more like lies of omission. Maybe the worst lie to Stilinski. Because no one's told him about Parrish yet. Then again, no one's told Parrish, either. He doesn't seem to remember taking the bodies. And we think that he's only really dangerous if you try to get in his way. If Stilinski knew the truth, he'd definitely get in his way. So, Lydia and Stiles are trying to find the bodies, which means finding the Nemeton. They're driving around, searching all of the woods. But the last time that we found this thing, three of us had almost drowned in ice water. We're not the only ones looking for Chimeras. Stilinski's got everyone looking for the next target. Questioning anyone who's a genetic Chimera. Anyone who's got two sets of DNA. No one really knows what they're looking for. Some think it's a serial killer. Some probably know it's worse. The two Chimeras that we know about, Hayden and Cory? They're both doing okay. Actually, better than okay. They're healing faster and getting stronger. They don't need our help. And I don't think they'd want it, anyway. Kira left to figure out what's happening to her, to try to fix it. And I'm getting more and more worried about Deaton. I know something's coming. And all I can think about is how good am I going to be if I can't even breathe?" 

"You sound like you're trying to apologize," I told him in confusion.

"It's because you've believed in me, Natalie," Scott told me. "You always have. And right now, I don't even believe in myself."

"Scott, I'm with you," I told him. "For better or worse."

"Trust me, there's gonna be worse," Scott told me.

I nodded knowingly. "There always is."

       £   

Liam and I were at school before the bell rang, talking between the buses.

"I'll see you second period for History, okay?" Liam asked. "Then lunch."

"I have math after that," I told him. "I'll find you at the bell. They don't just come out after dark, Liam. They will come out whenever they feel like they have to kill their failed experiments. And if we're going to protect them, then we need to stick together so that we don't get hurt in the process."

Liam nodded. "Agreed."

"Liam, just remember it's a full moon tomorrow," I told him. "And you're probably already starting to feel it."

Liam nodded. "I know."

"It's a supermoon," I told him. "Which means it's gonna be closer to the earth, and it means that we're gonna be more aggressive, more violent, more strong."

Liam smiled a small smile. "Natalie, I know what it means. And it doesn't change anything."

"Really?" I asked. "Because you're not the only one with control issues, you know. And this is my first supermoon as a werewolf, so I don't know..."

Liam silenced me with a sweet, long kiss, pulling away. "You worry too much."

"Not the first time someone's said that to me," I told him.

Liam smiled. "It's okay. We're gonna be okay. Okay?"

I nodded, smiling a small smile. "Okay."

We started to kiss sweetly, deeply and passionately.

       £   

Everyone heard an ambulance outside.

Liam and I walked outside to stand next to Mason.

Cory was being wheeled away on a stretcher, mercury bleeding from his mouth, all over his chin, his neck, and his shirt.

"He just started bleeding everywhere," Mason told us. "I don't know..."

"Don't let the do it," Cory told us. "Don't let them kill me."

Scott and Theo walked out of the school next to us.

The paramedics put Cory into the ambulance truck, getting in, driving away.

Scott was frozen in shock.

"Scott," I told him. "Scott, we have to follow them. We have to protect him. Scott, come on. Scott! Scott, this is what we do."

Scott finally started to move, looking at Liam and me. "Find Hayden. If the Doctors are gonna go after Cory now, Hayden's next."

Liam nodded in agreement.

Scott and Theo ran toward Theo's truck, getting inside, driving away, leaving.

Liam and I ran away toward my car, getting inside, driving away, leaving.

       £   

Liam and I found Hayden in Sinema.

"What are you doing here?" Hayden asked.

"Cory's in the hospital," Liam told her. "He's dying."

Hayden looked terrified. "That means I'm next. They're coming for me."

"They're coming for all of us," I told her.

"Then I need to get out of here," Hayden told us, turning to the safe in the wall.

"Hayden, we can protect you," I told her.

"Not against them," Hayden told us, working the combination in the safe.

"You know the combination?" Liam asked.

"It's 12-34-56," Hayden told us.

"But that's..." I trailed off.

"Yeah, Phil's an idiot," Hayden told us.

"Your sister's going to go out of her mind worrying about you," I told her.

"I'll come up with something to tell her," Hayden told us. "I need to get out of here. And I know that you think you can protect me, but I don't want you to. What if you get hurt because of me? What if I turn out like Tracy? What if I hurt you?"

The electronics started to malfunction all around us.

I looked around worriedly. "Oh, God. They're here."

       £ 

Liam and I were hiding Hayden.

The Dread Doctors were looking for us.

  Liam and I pulled Hayden toward the door.

A Doctor appeared in front of us, backhand punching Liam in the face, making him fall.

I kept Hayden behind me, looking around at the three Doctors as they surrounded us.

       £   

I kicked Doctor 1 in the chest, punching him in the mask, trying to punch him again. Doctor 1 raised his arm to block the move, punching me in the face, making me turn away to the wall behind me. I ran up the side of the wall to backflip and kick Doctor 1 in the head, landing on the floor in a crouch. Doctor 1 picked me up, slamming me on the floor.

Liam was thrown against chains hanging from the ceiling, falling to the floor.

The Doctors turned on Hayden.

"Run," I told her. "Hayden, run!"

I started to stand.

Doctor 1 stepped toward Hayden.

Hayden backed away.

Scott shifted, roaring, running toward Doctor 1, punching him in the face, making it stumble back.

I stood in front of Hayden, making her back away from the Doctors.

Doctor 2 stepped closer to Hayden and me.

I looked at Doctor 2 with glowing gold eyes.

Liam stood, shifted, grabbing Doctor 3's arm, punching him in the chest repeatedly. Doctor 3 grabbed Liam, tossing him aside.

Scott jumped into the air to come down on Doctor 1 with an extra strong punch, making him back away, landing on the floor, punching him in the chest repeatedly, trying to punch him again. Doctor 1 caught his arm, flipping him to the floor.

I kicked Doctor 2 in the chest, making him back away from Hayden and me, punching him repeatedly, spinning around to kick him back. Doctor 2 lifted me from the floor, slamming me down on my back, trying to punch me. I rolled out of the way, somersaulting into a standing position. Doctor 2 tried to punch me overhead. I caught his arm, kicking him back away. Doctor 2 grabbed me by my throat, throwing me over the bar to the floor.

Scott stood, punching Doctor 1 in the chest. Doctor 1 grabbed his throat, headbutting the metal mask against his head, making him back away, pushing him into the pole behind him. Scott pushed Doctor 1 back, spinning to kick him in the face, making him turn away, kicking him in the chest. Doctor 1 caught his legs as they made impact, flipping him backward to the floor.

Theo grabbed Liam and me from the floor, shifted. "Get Hayden out of here. Go!"

Theo ran to join the fight.

Liam stood. "Hayden!" Doctor 1 swung toward Theo. Theo caught his arm. "Hayden! Hayden!" 

Theo elbowed Doctor 1 in the stomach, punching him, spinning to kick him. Doctor 1 pushed Theo to the floor. 

I ran through the chains toward where Doctor 2 was injecting Hayden.

Hayden screamed, her eyes turning completely silver, filling themselves with mercury. 

"No!" I told him, angry and horrified.

Doctor 2 let Hayden go, walking away.

Hayden fell to her knees. The mercury faded from her eyes. She held a hand to her neck in confusion.

I ran to Hayden's side, kneeling next to her.

Doctor 1 pinned Theo to a pole by his throat, tossing him to the floor.

The other two Doctors walked away, leaving.

Scott and Theo started to sit up weakly.

Scott, Theo and Liam walked through the chains toward Hayden and me.

I helped Hayden stand.

Hayden nodded. "I'm okay. Really. I think I'm okay."

I was relieved, turning to face the boys. "I saw the needle go in, and her eyes just filled up with mercury. They turned completely silver."

"She looks okay," Theo told us. "Maybe she'll heal."

"Or maybe she won't," Liam told us. We looked at him. "What if something's happening to her on the inside?"

Scott sighed, nodding. "Get them to the animal clinic. I'll meet you there."

Scott walked out, leaving.

I turned to Hayden, Liam and Theo.

       £   

I drove the my car through the pouring rain toward the clinic.

Liam was in the passenger seat.

Hayden and Theo were in the backseat.

"Keep her awake," Liam told him. "I don't think it's a good idea for her to fall asleep."

"Hayden?" Theo asked. "Hayden, you gotta stay awake."

"I'm so tired," Hayden told us.

"Yeah, I know, but you can't go to sleep," Theo told her. 

Liam looked at me. "How do we help her?"

"I don't know," I told them. "When it's wolfsbane poisoning, you burn it out. But I don't know anything about mercury. Especially a kind that's probably been altered by them."

"Is she going to heal?" Theo asked.

"The problem is, she's not really like us," I told them. "None of them are. They're more like--like cheap knockoffs." Theo looked at me. "She might not be as strong as we are. Or heal like we do. She's not a real werewolf."

"What if we turn her into one?" Liam asked.

"Nice idea," I told him. "Except we can't do that."

"But Scott can," Liam told us.

I nodded barely.

       £   

I got us to the clinic.

Theo carried Hayden in.

Hayden was weakening, barely able to stay awake.

Through the pouring rain outside, we could hear Scott's bike and Stiles' Jeep pull up.

"Hey, sorry," Stiles told him. "I had trouble starting the Jeep again. That thing's barely hanging on. I couldn't get in touch with Malia or Lydia. Scott? Where did you get that?"

"This is yours?" Scott asked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was going to," Stiles told him.

"No, but why didn't you tell me when it happened?" Scott asked.

"I couldn't," Stiles answered.

"You killed him?" Scott asked. "You killed Donovan?"

"Well, he was going to kill my dad," Stiles told him. "What? Was I supposed to just let him?"

"You weren't supposed to do this," Scott told him. "None of us are."

"You think I had a choice?" Stiles asked.

"There's always a choice," Scott told him.

"Yeah, well, I can't do what you can, Scott," Stiles told him. "I know you wouldn't have done it. You probably would've just figured something out, right?"

"I'd try," Scott told him.

"Yeah, because you're Scott McCall!" Stiles told him. "You're the True Alpha! Guess what? All of us can't be True Alphas. Some of us have to make mistakes. Some of us have to get our hands a little bloody sometimes. Some of us are human!"

"So, you had to kill him?" Scott asked.

"Scott, he was going to kill my dad," Stiles told him.

"But the way that it happened..." Scott trailed off. "There's a point when it's--it's not self-defense anymore."

"What are you even talking about?" Stiles asked. "I didn't have a choice, Scott. You don't even believe me, do you?"

"I want to," Scott told him.

"Okay, all right, so..." Stiles trailed off. "So, believe me then. Scott, say you believe me. Say it. Say you believe me."

"Stiles, we can't kill people that we're trying to save," Scott told him.

"Say you believe me," Stiles told him.

"We can't kill people," Scott told him. "Do you believe that?"

"Well, what do I do about this?" Stiles asked. "What do you want me to do? Okay, just be... Scott, just tell me how to fix this, all right? Please, just tell me. What do you want me to do?"

"Don't worry about Malia or Lydia," Scott told him. "We'll find them. Maybe... maybe you should talk to your dad."

Scott walked inside, drenched.

I shook my head, looking away, toward Hayden.

"She's getting worse," Liam told us. "I think she's dying."

I looked at Scott. "It's got to be some kind of mercury poisoning."

Hayden moaned in pain. 

"You gotta give her the bite," Theo told him.

Hayden breathed heavily, trying to hold on.

Scott looked as if he was thinking about everything at once, making his decision. "No."