Rachel had not slept.

Not even for a millisecond, nor did she even try to. It was a waste of energy, which she did her best to reserve for morning; the few remaining hours of darkness had been spent in peaceful silence, laying still whilst her mind never ceased to speed through everything that happened. Not only in the past few hours, but everything that had gone on before, and everything that was to come in the future. As much as she wanted to dwell on the unusual amount of good in her life, there was bad that first had to be dealt with.

They still were no closer to finding Erica & Boyd, and it seemed as though time was running out— quite quickly. A detail Rachel hadn't learned until the very last second, apparently a promise had been made to the two betas that they'd be dead by the full moon. Which, unfortunately for everyone trying to find them alive, was a day away. They were slowly but surely running out of options, time & to add to their already problematic lives, ways to avoid the alphas now found itself on that list too. Two of them, twins, were apparently Beacon Hills High School's new students. Rachel had yet to see any of them until now, but even if she hadn't of borrowed some werewolf abilities before leaving for school to prevent questioning on her inhumanly silver eyes, she wasn't stupid. They fit every cliché alpha werewolf description in every horrible, inexplicably popular novel she'd ever been tempted to read right down to the last detail.

Rachel momentarily felt like the protagonist who almost always had a special kind of hatred for the big bad alpha(s) the moment they met. She never did believe in love at first sight, but the minute she saw them walking down the hall like kings, she most definitely believed in it's hateful opposite. It took her no more than a split second to come to the conclusion that she hated them & wanted them dead; if not for aiding Deucalion & the rest of his monstrous pack, for having the audacity to attend her school. Was lurking in the shadows no longer enough?

She didn't have time to find the answer to that question, once she got a text from Scott, telling her to meet them outside the Economics classroom. Something about the part last night & the girl Stiles had ditched them for— she paid little attention to anything written after "police r here, meet us outside econ" & sent a simple text back, correcting each of Scott's spelling errors. Intentional or not, she despised them.

"So," she began as she approached the two. "Should I have my getaway driver on speed dial?"

"They're not here for you. Heather's missing." Scott deadpanned. The brunette's joking smile faded quickly as she saw the look of concern. "Stiles thinks they might've kidnapped her to turn her."

"Derek said it's easier to turn teenagers." The aforementioned teen added, fidgeting nervously.

"They do have the best chance of survival, yes." Rachel nodded, a sigh escaping her lips as she thought for a second.  The alpha pack may have been holding Boyd & Erica hostage, but they were being used as leverage. Heather meant nothing to any of them except Stiles, and possibly Scott (Mr. Save Everybody).  From what Rachel could tell, the alpha pack was looking to get Derek's attention— not Stiles' or Scott's. "But why would a pack of alphas be stocking up on betas? They killed all of their own, now they're starting over?"

"Rachel, I don't know & I don't care, alright?" Stiles snapped. She couldn't remember the last time he called her by her full name, but she knew it sounded wrong. Did he think her previous question had been a joke? It wasn't. "This girl... Our moms were best friends before mine died, all right? We used to take frickin' bubble baths together when we were three. I gotta find her."

"Then we need Isaac to remember." Scott stated & Rachel scoffed.

"How?" She questioned. "If Peter & Derek couldn't get him to remember, no werewolf can— at least, not any that are willing to help. Even I don't know how to do what they did."

"Then maybe we don't need a werewolf." The teen wolf muttered, an idea coming to mind. "Just someone who knows a lot about 'em."

—

A short amount of time later, Rachel found herself pouring bags of ice into a large metal tub inside the veterinary clinic, along with Scott, Stiles & Deaton; who supposedly had a plan that would work. A plan that involved 40 dollars worth of ice, a possible slight raise in the clinic's water bill & probably a lot of mental scarring, but a plan nonetheless. She didn't like or approve of it, but she wasn't going to argue; not when Derek was there to supervise. She'd technically already gone back on her "I'm human until I need to be otherwise" declaration, even if having her as a werewolf currently was useful. The last thing she wanted was for him to think she wasn't serious about not being his beta— she was very serious.

She was also very serious about hating the plan.

"Obviously it's not going to be particularly.. comfortable." Deaton explained to Isaac what he'd told them all earlier before the beta & Derek showed up, when they'd had initially arrived, asking for help. "But if we can slow your heart rate down enough, you'll slip into a trance-like state."

"Like being hypnotized?" He questioned, moving over by Rachel as she tossed the last empty ice bag onto the counter behind her. She almost seemed more nervous than him, and it was far from comforting.

"Exactly." The veterinarian nodded, clarifying further. "You'll be half transformed. It'll let us access your subconscious mind."

"How slow does his heart rate need to be?" Rachel spoke up, almost instantly regretting her decision to ask. Something told her she really didn't want to know, because it'd more than likely make her hate the plan even more— if that was even possible.

"Very slow."

"Okay, well, how slow is very slow?" Derek cut in before Rachel had the chance. She didn't want to know, but at the same time she had to.

The answer, as expected, was not one anybody wanted to hear. "Nearly dead."

Nearly everyone in the room turned to stare at him in shock. They knew it had to be slow, but none had anticipated that it would be a near-death experience (as if Isaac hadn't already had enough of those in the past few days). As much as they wanted to find Erica & Boyd, was risking another life for the possibility of gaining intel really worth it?

"It's safe though, right?" Isaac questioned, looking worriedly towards the vet.

"Do you want me to answer honestly?"

"No." The teen wolf muttered, shaking his head. No one did. "No, not really."

A loud snap then echoed through the animal clinic, everyone following the noise to it's origin; Stiles, who'd previously been digging through various boxes & drawers whilst the others spoke, stood there snapping a latex glove against his arm, an amused grin on his face. Is he ten? Was the first thought to cross Rachel's mind before she rolled her eyes at his immaturity, choosing to ignore him.

"What?" Stiles asked, wondering why everyone was staring at him. Loudly snapping something in a room full of werewolves totally wasn't supposed to gain any attention. When no one spoke, Stiles sighed, peeling the glove off & tossing it back in the drawer he'd gotten it from.

The attention quickly shifted from Stiles back to Isaac as the room fell silent, no one really knowing what else to say. The aforementioned teen wolf only seemed to get more nervous as time passed. Before, he was hiding it well, but now, it was more than evident that being close to death was not something he wanted to do again. Ever.

"You don't have to do this if it feels like too much of a risk." Rachel reminded him. As far as she could remember, no one had asked Isaac if he was okay with the plan— they'd just informed him they had a plan & this was it. "No one is going to blame you if you don't want another near death experience." If they do, they're a bitch & I'll punch them.

But as much as she made it seem like backing out was an option, it was not & everyone knew it. This was their last chance to save Erica & Boyd, and if they didn't go through with it, the two would be as good as dead by nightfall.

Seeming to need reassurance that the plan wasn't going to result in death, Isaac glanced back at Scott; who could only manage to offer a nod of approval— it was (hopefully) going to be okay. The teen then glanced away, deciding there was no more time for procrastination; he gripped the collar of his shirt & pulled it over his head, tossing it aside as he glanced nervously back at the tub of ice water.

Meanwhile, Rachel wasn't paying attention anymore.

Don't stare, don't stare, don't fucking stare. That, along with a few other variations of it (with a lot more swearing), had replaced just about every other thought in her mind for the time being. She kept her gaze on the floor as she always did, and forced her focus to be on more important things— like finding Erica & Boyd before the full moon rises. Now was seriously not the time to be thinking about how hot Isaac was (like, extremely).

She paid little attention as the aforementioned teen slowly got into the tub of ice water, beginning to shiver within seconds. She stayed where she was, leaned against the counter, whilst her brother & Scott stood beside the metal tub, ready to hold the teen wolf under. Rachel had told them before Isaac even arrived at the clinic that she wasn't going to be a part of the drowning part. She'd stay for moral support, but that was all she would do.

The sounds of ice water splashing onto the floor, struggle & growling began as suddenly as it ended; it couldn't have lasted more than ten seconds. With each fragment of time passing, keeping her gaze on the ground became far more challenging, but still, she did not look up. She knew if she did, she wouldn't have been able to remain in the room any longer— was this really what their lives had come to? What desperation had driven them to? The more Rachel thought about it the more she hated it.

She hardly took notice of how silent the room had gotten until the veterinarian spoke in a hushed voice. "Now, remember, only I talk to him. Too many voices will confuse him & draw him out." He explained, everyone else remaining completely quiet. "Isaac, can you hear me?"

Silence returned for a few seconds before the teen wolf responded in a monotone, "Yes, I can hear you."

"This is Dr. Deaton. I'd like to ask you a few questions, is that alright?"

"Yes."

"I want to ask you about the night you found Erica & Boyd." Deaton began, the lights in the clinic flickering faintly. "I want you to remember it for me in as vivid detail as possible, like you're actually there again."

"I don't want to do that." The teen wolf replied almost instantly, his demeanour changing from relatively calm to apprehensive in seconds. "I don't want to do that. I don't want to do that."

"Isaac, it's alright. Just relax." The veterinarian attempted to calm him down, to no avail. "They're just memories. You can't be hurt by a memory."

It took every ounce of self control Rachel had not to scoff at that statement. Either he was lying, or he genuinely had no clue just how wrong he was- she didn't care, regardless. He was wrong. Memories may not have been able to inflict visible wounds, but to Rachel, they hurt more than any weapon ever could. Anyone looking to cause harm would always be temporary; they could be killed. Memories never die.

"I don't wanna do that." Isaac repeated, ignoring Deaton entirely. "I don't want to do that."

"Relax." Deaton spoke again, this time his words seeming to have some effect as he waited a moment before continuing. "Good. Now let's go back to that night. To the place you found Erica & Boyd. Can you tell me what you see? Is there some kind of building? A house?"

"It's not— it's not a house." He stuttered after a few seconds of silence. "It's stone. I think marble."

"That's perfect." Deaton told him, still seeking more information. "Can you give me any other descriptors?"

"It's dusty, empty."

"Like an abandoned building?" The vet questioned, but Isaac didn't answer. The lights flickered again, the sound of the storm outside dulled by the sound of ice water sloshing— something about the way the situation felt, if things were going to start going wrong, it was now. "Isaac?" No reply. "Isaac?"

"They found me!"

"Isaac, relax."

"No, no, no, they see me! They see me!" The teen wolf shouted, ignoring Deaton completely. He thrashed violently in the water, prompting both Scott & Derek to hold him down. Rachel didn't move from her place by the counter— she didn't even look up to see how bad it was. She could feel the fear radiating from him, and that alone was enough to make her want to leave. He should never have gone through with the plan.

"It's just memories." Deaton muttered, once again trying to calm him down. "You won't be hurt by your memories, just relax. Relax." Isaac soon stopped moving, falling still in the icy water once again. "Good. Now tell us what you see. Tell us everything."

After a moment of silence, the teen wolf spoke as calmly as possible "I hear them. He's talking about the full moon, about being out of control when the moon rises."

"Is he talking to Erica?"

"I think so, I can't— I can't see her." He stuttered, now shivering from the cold. "I ca— I can't.. I can't see either of them."

"Can you hear anything else?"

"They're worried." Isaac answered, his voice barely above a whisper. "They're worried what they'll do during the full moon. They're worried that they're gonna hurt each other."

"If they're locked in together on the full moon, they're gonna tear each other apart." Derek stated the obvious, only worsening the rapidly building tension in the room. They needed answers & they needed them now.

"Isaac, we need to find them right now." Deaton informed, a faint hint of worry mixed in with the urgency in his tone. "Can you see them? Do you know what kind of room it is, is there any kind of marker? A number on a door? A sign?"

"They're here! They— they—"

"It's alright."

Isaac shook his head, now noticeably shaking not from the cold, but from fear. "No, no, they see me. They found me, they're here!"

"This isn't working." Derek stated, ignoring the simple instructions Deaton had told him before beginning. Only one person talks— or as it was said in Rachel's mental dialogue, shut the fuck up, Derek. "Isaac, where are you?"

"I can't see them! It's too dark!"

"Tell me where you are!" The alpha demanded, growing tired of wasting time. Every second they wasted on this was a second that could have been used to find Erica & Boyd.

"They see me!"

"Isaac, where are you?" Derek asked again, refusing to not get a specific answer. "Just tell me where you are."

"His heart rate.." Deaton warned. "He could go into shock."

Derek ignored him completely, but Rachel didn't. "Derek, let him go."

Unsurprisingly, he ignored her too. "Isaac, where are you? What did you see?"

"A vault! It's a bank vault!" The teen wolf yelled, thrashing around even more— Rachel swore she heard him say something else before shooting out of the water, finally conscious again, but stayed quiet as he explained further. "I saw it! I saw the name. It's- uh, B-Beacon Hills First National Bank. It's, um, it's an abandoned bank, and they're keeping them locked inside- inside the vault." It was then that Isaac noticed all the looks of concern, worry he could tell wasn't from anything he knew of. "What?"

"You don't remember what you said right before you came out of it, do you?" Rachel questioned, still hoping she'd heard it wrong.

He shook his head. "No."

The room fell silent for a moment before Stiles explained what Rachel couldn't. What she refused to believe. "You said when they captured you that they dragged you into a room and that there was a body in it."

"What body?"

"Erica." Rachel muttered. "You said it was Erica."

After more deafening silence, Derek made it clear he wasn't buying any of the information regarding his beta's supposed death. "She's not dead."

"He said "there's a dead body, it's Erica." Doesn't exactly leave us much room for interpretation." Stiles remarked. He understood it may be hard for the alpha to believe, but for everyone else, it was hard not to believe.

"If she's dead, then who's in the vault with Boyd?" Rachel cut in, genuinely curious. She couldn't deny it, she did feel bad— as much as she wanted to be mad at Derek for just about everything he'd done in the past few months, she knew he cared about his betas. He wasn't particularly great at showing it, but she knew without a doubt he thought of them as his responsibility & if Erica were indeed dead, to some extent he would likely blame himself for not being able to find her soon enough.

Stiles shrugged. "Someone else, obviously."

"Maybe it was the girl on the motorcycle?" Scott suggested, glancing over at Isaac. "The one who saved you?

"No, she wasn't like us & whoever was in the vault with Boyd was."

"What if that's how Erica died?" Stiles began, looking as though the pieces of a puzzle were finally fitting together in his mind. No one else seemed to get it. "They, like, pit them against each other during the full moons and see which one survives. Like a werewolf thunder dome."

"Then we get them out tonight." Derek stated firmly.

"Be smart about this, Derek." Deaton advised before Rachel had the chance to say it in a far less nice way. "You can't just go storming in."

"If Isaac got in, then so can we."

"But he didn't get through a vault door." Rachel argued, growing tired of her brother's persistence. They needed to rescue Erica & Boyd, but they needed to do it without getting themselves caught &/or killed in the process. "He got caught & the alphas dragged him in there. I don't think that strategy would work too well for you, seeing as how you're seeming to be the one they want."

"We need a plan." Scott announced the obvious— Rachel was starting to think it had become his hobby.

Derek had little faith in the idea of a plan. "How are we gonna come up with a plan to break into a bank vault in less than 24 hours?"

Scrolling through what seemed to be a news article on his phone, Stiles answered, "Uh, I think someone already did. "Beacon Hills First National closes its doors three months after vault robbery." Doesn't say here how it was robbed, but it probably won't take long to find out."

"How long?"

"It's the internet, Derek." Stiles chuckled. Derek didn't see the humour— did he ever?. "Minutes."

—

Finding out the information had taken slightly longer than expected. Nearly 16 hours longer than expected. Rachel had stopped by Stiles' house in the morning after he'd ignored her 37 texts— only to find his dad answering the door, explaining that Stiles & Scott were passed out in a pile of papers. It was awkward, seeing as how she could tell he still didn't like her all that much (which she understood to an extent, he still had yet to learn of the supernatural so evidently both herself & her brother remained two of the sketchiest people in town in his opinion) but he didn't tell her to leave, so that was an improvement. Rachel could tell he'd never truly bought that Laura had been killed by a wolf, but with evidence that proved it impossible, he was forced to drop the subject; which, she was unbelievably thankful for.

The last thing she wanted to be reminded of was her older sister's demise. Rachel still wasn't over it, nor would she never be— but each time she felt the need to cry about it, to genuinely mourn the loss, no tears ever came. She liked to think it was because her sister's killer often liked to lurk around her brother's loft, and would certainly question if she decided to host a pity party, but in truth, she knew it was simply no longer her. Rachel couldn't sit around & cry about her own losses, not anymore. She had her chance, and instead of letting it free, she chose to cage the sadness in a small dark corner of her mind. Now it was indefinitely confined there.

Still pondering the idea of a pity party, Rachel had skipped school. Admittedly, it was a bad choice— she was starting to fail two classes & surely had a pile of missed work as is, but it wasn't without good reason. Derek was beginning to get anxious about the rapidly approaching full moon, and she knew all too well what happened when her brother got even remotely worried. He became reckless & stopped thinking about his actions before seeing them though, more often than not, leading to disastrous consequences. When they were breaking into the lair of a pack of alpha werewolves, there was no room for mistakes or rushed plans.

By the time Scott & Stiles arrived at the Hale loft, it was twilight. The sun was setting fast, and time was running out even faster; luckily, all that was left to do was a quick review of the plan they'd concocted in a group chat throughout the various breaks in the school day. Rachel found herself standing in front of one of the only tables in the loft, examining a map of Beacon Hills First National Bank, along with Scott, Stiles & Derek— who she was still slightly annoyed with, but had mostly forgiven, because he was her brother & she loved him, regardless of how many idiotic decisions he made. She still refused to exclusively refer to herself as a member of his pack.

"Okay, see this?" Stiles questioned, circling a small part of the map with a bright red sharpie. "This is how they got in. It's a rooftop air conditioning vent. Leads down inside into the wall of the vault, which is here. One of the robbers was lowered into this shaft. Now, that space is so small, it took him about twelve hours to drill into that wall, which is stone, by the way. Then throughout the rest of the night, they siphoned the cash up to the guys on the roof through that one little shaft in the wall. Boom."

"Can we fit in there?" Scott questioned.

"Yes, we can." Stiles assured him, noticing the disbelief in his friend's tone. "But very, very barely. And they also patched the wall, obviously, so we're gonna need a drill of some kind. I'm thinking maybe a diamond bit.."

Derek cut him off before he had the chance to finish his sentence. "Forget the drill."

"Sorry?"

"If I go in first, how much space do I have?"

"Here we go." Rachel groaned, already seeing where this was going. Stiles was going to be Stiles, Derek was going to be Derek & it was not going to end well for Stiles— did it ever? "Quit while you're ahead, Stiles, quit while you're ahead."

"What do you.. What do you think you're gonna do, Derek?" Stiles asked the alpha, his tone practically dripping sarcasm. "You gonna punch through a wall?"

"Yes, Stiles, I'm gonna punch through the wall." Derek sighed, crossing his arms over his chest— Rachel couldn't tell if he was bored or annoyed. By now she expected him to have built up an immunity to Stiles' sarcasm, but seeing as how he had a tendency to be an easily angered person, it was debatable.

"Okay, big guy, let's see it. Let's see that fist. Big ol' fist. Make it, come on. Get it out there. Don't be scared. Big bad wolf, yeah, look at that." Stiles gripped the alpha's wrist, holding his hand no more than a few inches away from Derek's fist. "Okay, see this? That's maybe three inches of room to gather enough force to punch through solid co—"

Stiles didn't get to finish his sentence before he stumbled back from the impact of Derek's fist against his palm, nearly falling on the floor. "He can do it." The teen announced, ignoring the look of disapproval from his best friend & the laughter from Rachel— he couldn't say much. Ignoring her warning wasn't his smartest choice.

"I'll get through the wall." Derek informed, as if his previous demonstration wasn't enough to prove that. "Who's following me down?"

"I will." Rachel volunteered. She had nothing else to do, and it was far better than staying at the loft when Peter was lurking in the shadows. Besides, someone was going to need to be there to save Scott & Derek if something went wrong— and knowing their luck, something would definitely go wrong. "But I'm still not your beta. I'm with Scott & Stiles."

"You're not coming."

"Excuse me?"

"Here we go." Stiles muttered, repeating what she'd said minutes ago.

Regardless of how much she wanted to tell him to go screw himself, she ignored him & focused on her idiot brother. "The hell do you mean I'm not going?"

"You're not." Derek shrugged. "It's dangerous, Rachel. As of now the alphas don't know about you, and we're going to keep it that way for as long as possible."

"And you're my brother, not my parent." She scoffed. Who was he to tell her she couldn't come with them? It was a pack of alphas— a beta & the world's worst alpha against five potentially psychotic alphas was practically suicide. This was a rescue, not a death mission; and she had every intention of ensuring that didn't change. He could pretend to be a protective older brother some other day. "You need me & I'm coming with you, I don't give a shit what they know about me. Let them know that there's someone out there that can be equally as powerful as them in the blink of an eye."

Before Derek had the chance to argue, Scott cut in. "Look, I don't mean to butt in— but Derek's right. Sort of. We don't know for sure what they want."

"You're making it really hard to be on your side right now." Rachel grumbled, shooting a look of disapproval at the teen wolf. Both Derek & Scott had indeed made some valid points— if the alphas didn't know about her unique ability yet, she could use it to her own advantage later on when it counted. The only problem was figuring out when it would count the most. "But fine. If I'm not going, then who is? 'Cause 2 against 5 is still a death wish."

"Don't look at me." Peter warned from across the room, finally standing up from his place on the stairs, hidden mostly by shadows. "I'm not up to fighting speed yet, and honestly, with Isaac out of commission, you're not looking at very good odds for yourselves."

"Look who decided to ascend from hell for a visit." Rachel remarked, glaring daggers at her uncle. "Sorry I didn't make any of my infamous cyanide brownies, you should have called first. I think we have some bleach though, I could pour you a nice room temperature glass of that if you're thirsty?"

"I'm fine, thanks, sweetheart." He smiled, ignoring her blatant attempts of homicide. "I wouldn't mind some brownies, hold the cyanide, if you've got some free time."

"I can substitute it with arsenic if you're feeling adventurous." She grinned in response. That was quite possibly the most serious offer she'd made in a very long time. "Maybe some rodenticide?"

"Hmm, tempting offer, but I'll pass."

"Unfortunate." Rachel faked a frown, before rolling her eyes & snapping back to the topic that actually mattered. "So, Satan, care to donate an opinion to our cause? Time's still ticking, the alphas still have Erica & Boyd— what do you recommend? We sit around & let them die, I'm assuming?"

Peter shrugged. "One of them is already dead."

"We don't know that." Derek snapped, still refusing to believe Erica was dead.

"Do I have to remind you what we're up against here?" Peter questioned. "A pack of alphas. All of them, killers, and if that's not enough to scare your testicles back into your stomach, then try to remember that two of them combine bodies to form one giant alpha. I'm sure Erica & Boyd were sweet kids. They're gonna be missed."

"Could someone kill him again, please?" Stiles asked, clearly still hating him.

"You get the brownies, I'll get the cyanide." Rachel muttered, nodding along with his previous statement. "I don't actually know how to cook."

Peter momentarily glanced over at the two, unimpressed, before turning back to his nephew. "Derek, seriously? Not worth the risk."

Derek ignored him completely, turning back towards Scott. "What about you?"

Was it even a question? Of course Scott was going to accompany him— Rachel had never even bothered asking, she automatically assumed simply because he was Scott McCall. If there was a chance he could save someone, then he was going to take it.

Before Scott could answer, Stiles did instead. "Yeah, if you want me to come.."

Derek cut him off. "Not you."

"Got it." Stiles nodded.

"I don't know about Erica," Scott admitted, unbelieving that the girl could still possibly be alive. "But if Boyd's alive, we have to do something. We have to try."

"But?"

"Who's the other girl?" The teen wolf asked, unable to think of any other supernatural creature he knew of in Beacon Hills that was unaccounted for. As hard as he tried, he couldn't. "The one locked in the vault with Boyd?"

"The sooner you break in, the sooner we find out." Rachel deadpanned, a faint feeling of dread nagging at her. She couldn't place it, nor could she manage to focus on it for an extended period of time with the dull ache in her skull slowly beginning to worsen once more. It wasn't the headache, nor was it the presence of her psychotic uncle— call it intuition, but something about it felt wrong. She couldn't comprehend what a pack of alphas, who seemed hellbent on getting to Derek, wanted with a random werewolf.

But she was going to find out.

—

UNEDITED.

OH HELL YES. that first scene took me a freaking month. i absolutely hate that scene at the clinic, sorry if it's shit. pretty proud of the way the last half turned out though. i was going to finish the episode in this chapter, but it's 4:30am & i wanted to be asleep like 2 hours ago, i'm so sleep deprived please appreciate (comment & vote on) this :):) i'm so excited for the next chapter, it's the only thing that motivated me to finish the stupid animal clinic scene (so. much. dialogue).

hope you don't hate me for taking forever, next update should be a lot faster! love you all xo