┌─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───┐
chapter thirty-seven!
TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS
└─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───┘

( echo house )

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

VERA BLINKS AS the doctor clicks her small flashlight off, causing small blobs of color to dance around in her vision. She closes her eyes hard before opening them again in an attempt to ward off the auras as her mother places a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Pupils are reacting to light normally," Dr. Wronski informs them as she jots a note down onto her clipboard. "That's good— it means your brain is sending the right signals to your eyes."

"So it's not bad?" Mai questions, apprehension and hopefulness at war in her tone.

The doctor looks up at her and gives her a small, supportive smile. "No, Mrs. Pérez. It's safe to say that Vera does have a concussion, but I have no reason to believe that there is any bleeding in the brain."

Vera puffs out a sigh of relief through the throbbing in her skull. The first sign that something was wrong was when she couldn't tell Deaton what had happened. She remembers flashes and blurry images— the metallic shing! of a sword, a voice coming out of Stiles but that definitely didn't belong to him, and her head hurting really, really badly. Then Deaton had called her mom, and she wound up in the emergency room at Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital.

Dr. Wronski walks to where her laptop is perched on the examination room's countertop and begins typing furiously. Her face has a no-nonsense expression that most doctors have, but she still holds an air of warmth that Vera appreciates. It reminds her of Scott's mother.

"I'm prescribing you pain medication," the doctor informs them. "Take it easy and stay home from school for a few days. Mom, you should wake her up every so often to ensure she's waking properly. Do you play any sports?"

"It's cross country season, and then I have lacrosse in the spring," Vera says.

"Well, you'll probably be out of running for the rest of the season. We don't want to risk any more damage to the head."

If Coach Finstock hadn't just been shot with an arrow that put him out of coaching for a while, he may have physically materialized in the room and shouted at Dr. Wronski about how Vera can't miss practices and meets. Though she does feel a bit disappointed that she'll miss out, she does like the idea of having one less stressor in her life.

Dr. Wronski gives them another reassuring look as she closes her laptop. "Your prescription should be ready in an hour. I'll have a nurse come and bring you an ice pack in the meantime, okay? Make sure you check in with your primary care physician so they know you're healing correctly. And drive safe in that storm— I've heard it's bad outside."

"Thank you," Mai says, watching as the doctor leaves the exam room. As soon as the door is closed, she turns to Vera exasperatedly. "Why couldn't you get healing powers, too?"

"Mai," Vera groans.

"It would be a lot easier if you could just make yourself better. What even decides the powers, anyway? How come Dominic got — got stabbed and he is okay, but a hit to the head lands you in the hospital?"

Vera winces because when her mother puts it like that, it does make her seem kind of lame. Dominic's healing tears had been helping him, so Deaton is monitoring his progress at the clinic with Scott. She isn't sure about Kira.

Mai sighs, placing her hands on her hips. "I cannot believe Stiles did this."

Vera starts to shake her head, but stops once it sends a fresh wave of agony to her skull and nausea to her gut. She swallows some bile that had started to rise in her throat and asserts, "It's the nogitsune, Mai. Not Stiles."

A soft knock sounds at the door. A moment later, it opens to reveal Melissa McCall. Her curly black hair is tied into a low ponytail at the nape of her neck, a few loose coils framing her bronze face. She gives both of them a tired yet kind smile.

"Oye, Melissa," Mai greets.

"Hey," Scott's mom replies, her warm eyes shifting to Vera as she holds up a white pouch. "Got you an ice pack."

Vera's muscles relax at the first touch of the bag against her temple. The biting cold seeps through the thin towel separating the frigid plastic from her skin, spreading relief to her throbbing head. Her eyes close as she relishes the pleasant sensation. She's distantly aware of the women speaking quietly to each other in Spanish, but attempting to listen costs too much energy, and she's getting exhausted.

When they're finally ready to leave, Melissa wraps Vera in a hug and says, "Be safe out there."

But unlike Dr. Wronski, she isn't just talking about the storm. She also means the new challenge they're facing— the one from within their own circle. Whatever Deaton had done to save them from the nogitsune had poisoned the spirit, allowing Stiles access back into his body.

Though who knows how long that will last?

— ✯✯✯ —

Two days later, Vera is still in full recovery mode. She hasn't been to school since her injury. Being concussed means that she can't strain her brain, leaving her with virtually nothing to do except lay in her dark bedroom with Hades curled up at her side. Her friends' visits don't bring any positive news. Well, one positive thing is that Dominic had completely healed from being shanked, but aside from that, things are seeming very bleak. Including the fact that Stiles had checked himself into Eichen House.

She wasn't made for sitting around and doing nothing. It's not in her nature— neither the Pérez nor the Hale families are known for being idle, so by Wednesday, Vera is desperate for something to do.

Which is why she shows up unannounced at Allison's apartment and isn't fooled when her friend tries to act casual.

"Aren't you supposed to be at home?" Allison asks in lieu of a greeting.

"I know everyone is here."

Before Allison can object, Vera phases through the door and follows the sound of hushed voices. She finds Aiden, Ethan, Scott, Lydia, Dominic, and Isaac in Argent's office room, their quiet conversation quickly stopping once she appears in the doorway.

"Uh-uh," Lydia protests the instant she sees Vera. "Go home and rest."

"I've rested enough," she counters. "I'm bored and I want to know what's going on."

"Nothing's going on," Scott lies at the same time that Aiden says, "We're robbing someone."

Allison stands beside Vera at the entrance and puts an aggravated hand to her forehead.

"How did you even know we were here?" Isaac questions.

"It's probably her pack GPS," Dominic replies, twirling a pen between his fingers as he lounges back in an armchair. "I swear it's one of your hidden powers, Vee."

"I tracked you here, Dom," Vera deadpans.

His face falls as he digs his phone out of his back pocket. "Shit. I swear I turned my location off—"

"Look, Vera," Scott says from where he leans against Argent's ornate wooden desk, "we can't make your injury worse. We could cause some permanent damage if we let you push yourself too hard. So maybe you should stay out of this one, okay?"

Vera knows that, with Scott as her Alpha now, he could easily coerce her into backing down if he truly wanted to. That bond between them can be activated if he decided to use his supernatural influence on her. But, almost two months after he'd made his transformation into a True Alpha, he has yet to utilize that ability. It seems he prefers to let his pack members maintain their free will most of the time.

"I just want to help," she pleads. "I don't have to fight anyone. All I want is to feel like I'm doing something instead of sitting in my bedroom alone while my mom stuffs me with soup."

"Fine," Lydia assents, pursing her coral-colored lips together. "Here's what we have..."

She — with additions from Allison — explains that the secret to exorcizing a nogitsune is written on a Shugendo scroll from the ascetic mystics of Japan. Allison believes that the information is written on a tiny scroll and hidden in a man named Katashi's silver finger. The problem is that Katashi had been murdered and Derek and Argent have been framed for the crime. So, to obtain the scroll, they have to rob an armored truck and steal the prosthetic from the police when they transport the evidence later.

Another obstacle, however, is a werewolf named Kincaid. He was the last buyer of the prosthetic before it was taken for evidence, and he's likely to want it back.

"That sounds like a horrible plan," Vera says.

"That's what I said," Scott agrees.

Offended, Lydia blinks. "It's not that bad."

"It's not that good," Ethan counters.

"None of us knows the route they're going to take," Lydia reminds them. "If Allison can get one of her dad's GPS trackers on the armored car, then we can follow it."

Allison nods, walking into the room with Vera. She points at a spot on the map that's spread out on the desk. "So when it gets here—"

"We attack 'em," Aiden interjects from where he sits in the corner of the room.

Lydia turns to him, her pin-straight hair falling over one shoulder as she gives him an icy glare. "No. Your bikes will be in the middle of the road, looking like you guys got into an accident. And when the driver gets out to help—"

"We attack 'em!"

"No!" both Allison and Lydia exclaim in sync.

"You'll distract him, and Scott will break open the back door," Lydia corrects.

Scott grumbles, "I hope."

"Aren't you supposed to be the optimistic one?" Dom asks him. "'Yeah guys, I'm totally gonna break open that door and get that dead guy's finger so we can stop an evil spirit from fully possessing Stiles. No worries!'"

Everyone in the room stares blankly at him. Vera knows that he's using humor to deflect his own worries about the situation, but the last sentence hadn't been as funny as he'd hoped. All it had done was sharpen their awareness of the gravity of the situation.

Scott looks down at the map and takes his bottom lip between his teeth. Aiden and Ethan share a wide-eyed expression from across the room, seemingly glad that they're not the ones who had made things awkward this time.

"And usually I'm pessimistic," Isaac grumbles.

By the look on Dom's face, he seems to realize that if Isaac doesn't have anything negative to say, then he'd really made a mistake.

"Okay, it's not the best plan in the world," Vera pipes up, "but at least it's something. And I'll take something over nothing any day."

It's dark by the time the plan swings into action, because of course the police have decided to move all of the evidence regarding Katashi's murder in the dead of night. Vera rubs her eyes and pushes her glasses further up on the bridge of her nose. Her eyelids are heavy as sandbags, her vision slightly bleary unless she blinks hard enough to clear it.

"You didn't have to come," Lydia reminds her from the driver's seat of her car, which is parked far enough from the Sheriff's station so they don't attract attention, but close enough to see the action.

"Well, I'm here, so you'll have to deal with my yawning," Vera retorts, causing Lydia to roll her eyes. "It's one of my scheduled nap times. My mom's been very strict about them and thinks I'm sleeping. We have an hour and a half before she checks on me."

"You can sleep back here," Isaac offers. He pokes his head between the girls' seats, his knees pressing into the backs of them due to the lack of space. "I'm sure you'd fit. The bench is small enough."

"Nice try. You're staying there." Vera puts a hand on his face and moves him back.

Isaac decides to compromise by leaning his elbows near their headrests and shifting his weight forward so he can see the plan unfold as well. Right now, there's nothing to see— the truck is sitting idle in the dark alley near the back door of the station, and Allison, Scott, and Kira are crouched by the cars in the parking lot. Kira's kitsune abilities had allowed her to heal from her own head injury already, which Vera finds totally unfair.

Kira's job is to place the tracker on the truck. It's something that Vera could have done with much less risk — she could have turned invisible and done it without a chance of getting caught — but Allison had been firm on not letting her participate in any action. That leaves her here to sit and watch.

Since Dominic is stationed on the rooftop for additional lookout, there hadn't been anything for Isaac to do (or maybe they just don't trust him not to mess things up, which honestly doesn't surprise Vera). He's only to jump in if things go really badly. However, Lydia would likely sooner run over Kincaid with her car if he shows up than let Isaac into the fight.

A flash of movement catches Vera's eye. A shadow sprints up the alley, framed by the blinding headlights of the vehicle. Kira reaches under the grill of the truck and places the tracker. Apparently triumphant, she turns to where Allison and Scott are waiting and gives them a thumbs-up.

The squeak of a door causes Vera, Lydia, and Isaac to quickly slide down in their seats. Vera peers over the dashboard to see a man leaving through the station's back door. She eventually identifies him as Jordan Parrish, the deputy who had taken care of her nose after the Barrow incident. Kira quickly ducks behind the truck as he descends the steps to the road.

Even with Lydia's window cracked, they can't hear what he says beyond an indistinct murmur as he opens the passenger door. However, something makes him freeze and draw his gun. Vera's nerves instantly jump to high alert. She has half a mind to phase out of the car and help Kira, but as if she can read her thoughts, Lydia handcuffs her to the gear shift.

"What—?" Vera whispers, tugging at the cold restraint and attempting to turn her wrist intangible, but it stays stubbornly intact. She stares at the cuffs with a scowl.

"Mountain ash cuffs," Lydia explains in a hushed voice. "Now shut up and stay still."

Vera tenses. The last time she'd been shackled with these, it had been by the twins, right before Boyd—

Bang!

The back doors of the truck burst open as Parrish circles the vehicle. A humongous, stocky man leaps out, easily slamming Parrish's skull onto the metal like he's weightless. The sight makes Vera's head throb; she uses her free hand to rub at her temples.

"Jesus Christ," she hisses, "who brought the Hulk?"

Lydia glowers at her. "I will duct tape your mouth shut."

Isaac muffles a snicker behind his fist from the back seat.

By the time the man — whom Vera guesses must be Kincaid, the buyer — holds up the silver finger, Scott and Allison are already right behind him. Allison has her crossbow aimed at Kincaid's face in case the situation gets more violent. She won't hesitate to shoot in order to protect Scott.

"We need that finger," he says, causing Kincaid to turn and give him a bewildered look.

The man's bald head gleams under the outdoor lights as he chuckles and faces them. His voice is deep and smooth as honey when he asks, "Why should I give it to you?"

"There's a briefcase in there with $150,000 in it," Allison informs him.

"The scroll inside this prosthetic finger is worth three million."

Vera's eyes widen. Damn.

Scott takes a step forward. "Give me the finger."

Lydia heaves a sigh at his weird choice of wording.

He seems to realize it, too, because he briefly pauses before adding, "You know what I mean."

Something bright moves from above. Vera's eyes flicker upward to see Dom descending from the rooftop with his wings spread back to give him extra speed, his talons glowing red-hot and a leg rearing back to kick Kincaid in the face. It doesn't go as planned. Without so much as looking or flinching, the larger man seizes Dom by the calf and swings him around with tremendous strength, flattening him on the pavement in a split second with a sickening smack.

Dom's wings and talons immediately retract upon landing. He releases a pained groan and curls in on himself, crying, "I thought that would be so much cooler!"

Kincaid's eyes freeze to a chilling blue. His voice becomes slightly slurred through his growing fangs as he growls, "I guess negotiations are over."

As soon as he releases a roar, Allison fires an arrow into his gut. It knocks him back a bit due to the impact, but all he does is pull it out and toss it aside.

Kira jumps out from behind the truck. Kincaid turns and grabs her by the throat with a pleased smile, lifting her feet off the ground as she struggles to loosen his grip. He tosses her back into the brick wall to their left. Moving so quickly that Vera almost misses it, he slashes his claws at Allison's collarbone and pushes her into the wall as well.

"Screw it," Lydia says, hurriedly unlocking her door and fleeing from the car to tend to Allison's injuries. She slams the door shut and then locks it behind her before the others can escape— not that Vera could, because she's still cuffed to the gear shift.

"Hey!" Vera shouts after her. "Lydia!"

She tugs at the cuff on her wrist with all of her might, but all it does is produce angry red marks on her skin when it digs too deep. Her powers still fail her. She feels stupidly human, or maybe even more useless than before Derek had bitten her. At least Isaac would have been able to break normal handcuffs and Vera might have been able to hotwire the car to get them out. But with the restraints made of metal mixed with mountain ash, neither of them can go anywhere.

Scott has fully shifted to his werewolf form. He lunges at Kincaid, slamming his fist into the man's face, but it has no effect. Each blow only seems to inconvenience him. Even as Scott lands punches to his jaw, eyes, and chest, he merely bares his fangs in response and catches both of the Alpha's wrists in his grip. Scott cries out as Kincaid forces his arms down. Then Kincaid slams his head into Scott's, sending him stumbling back.

"Why did Lydia lock me in here, too?" Isaac complains, pointlessly pulling on the unresponsive door handle.

"You'd just be getting your ass kicked, babe," Vera tells him through gritted teeth as she rubs at the indents in her skin.

"Good to know you have such faith in me."

Scott shakes off the pain in his skull and swings a wild punch at the monstrous wolf. Kincaid swiftly dodges, copying the action by sending his fist into Scott's gut. Her friend doubles over, giving Kincaid the perfect opportunity to slam an elbow into Scott's back. Vera's heart leaps as Scott collapses face-down on the ground long enough for his attacker to kick him in the ribs.

The gasps coming from his mouth send Vera into a panic. That Hulk-sized man could easily have twice the strength of a regular werewolf, and if she has to watch him crush Scott's chest without being able to do anything, she might just go insane.

"You have the eyes of an Alpha," Kincaid taunts. "But where's the strength?"

"Up here."

Kincaid turns to see the twins standing on the outdoor staircase to the second level, their fangs bared. Aiden leaps from the ledge. Ethan follows suit, slashing his claws on his way down. This time, his strength is enough to send Kincaid's head rearing back from the impact, but he retaliates just as quickly with a punch that has Ethan flying into the wall.

"That could've been me," Isaac grumbles. Vera turns to see him with his arms crossed over his chest in the back seat, pouting like a toddler.

"Or you could've gotten your pretty face beaten up, and I happen to like your pretty face, so maybe it's good we're stuck here."

"Well I happen to like your pretty face, and you were right about to ghost your way out of this car a few minutes ago and get beaten up, so yeah, maybe it is."

The twins are a flurry of strikes and blows, working so seamlessly that it's like, even if they can't merge together anymore, they're still one person. One brother will instantly replace the other if he goes down. Their combined efforts manage to bring Kincaid to his knees, a trickle of blood running from the corner of his lip as he sways woozily.

"Stop!" Scott shouts as he pushes himself to his feet. He's back in his human form, a hand pressed to his ribs as he limps toward where the twins stalk toward the downed werewolf, bloodlust glinting in their eyes. "Ethan, Aiden!"

"Stop!" Lydia cries when they ignore Scott's orders. Aiden glances at Lydia, his hands curled into tight fists at his sides like he's restraining himself from continuing to beat the shit out of Kincaid.

"You want him to come after us?" he demands.

"Scott," Ethan adds in a warning tone, "we've seen guys like this. Trust us, he's dangerous."

"So are we," Scott counters, staring down at Kincaid as the man wipes a hand across his bloody nose. "And he looks smart enough to remember that."

He reaches down into Kincaid's jacket pocket and removes the silver finger. Instead of fighting back, Kincaid merely stares with a wounded, gaping expression on his bronze face. Vera can't see what he does with it from so far away, but she assumes that he finds the scroll inside judging by the way the others relax their posture.

Scott addresses the twins. "We're here to save a life, not end one."

He drops the prosthetic finger in front of Kincaid, and then turns to walk away.

______

a/n:

part of the reason why this chapter took so long was because i DREADED writing this episode. i knew it was going to be hard to fit vera in with her concussion, but i didn't want to have to skip it and explain what happened later. it was truly the worst thing to get through and it felt like the episode never ended.

also i would just like to mention that stiles and malia did NOT screw in the eichen house basement in this fic's universe !!!! it's just bi and lesbian solidarity in there

+ if you know what's been going on in my personal life, you shouldn't be surprised if hades makes a lot of appearances/has a lot of mentions. i need my kitty time.

okay byeee

—kristyn

TRANSLATIONS:

Oye: Hey

( word count: 3.9k )