"Am I being Punk'd?"

The twist of events that led to the abrupt end of the blacklight party were a complete & utter blur for Rachel; even if it had only happened a mere hour ago. One second Derek was yelling at people to get out, then she was watching her friends hopelessly try to fight off the Oni. Then, she woke up in her room, as if it were all one seriously fucked up, disturbingly vivid dream— only she knew it most definitely was not, because the moment she was conscious Isaac was beside her trying to explain everything that had happened as quickly as possible.

He had to repeat it around three times before she was finally able to process the words she was hearing & make sense of them. The only problem was that what he was saying made no sense; it wasn't something that should have been possible.

"My eyes turned black, I almost killed an Oni, then I passed out and.. had a heart attack?" It had to be a joke. He couldn't actually be serious— her, of all people? There was no way in hell someone like her could have a freaking heart attack. She was in better shape than an olympic athlete, she ran for her life almost daily! Sure, she did occasionally eat an entire bag of Doritos in one sitting, but she most definitely ran it off.

"That's what it sounded like." He nodded, completely serious. She couldn't detect a hint of a lie in his tone, and it was terrifying. "Your heart beat wasn't normal, Rae, we all heard it. Even the twins didn't know what caused it, they said they've never heard of a werewolf having a heart attack."

It didn't take a degree in rocket science to decipher that he was now hinting at her abilities, and that the cause could be explained by her telling the truth, but Rachel wasn't having it. She wasn't telling him shit, and she sure as hell wasn't about to believe she was capable of going into cardiac arrest at 17.

"If I was fighting an Oni, of course my heart rate would be fast. Physical activity makes it beat faster. The more you know!" She waved a rainbow shape with her hands, mimicking the overkilled internet meme.

"Rachel. It had to have been at least 120 beats a minute & nowhere near steady. Does a normal heart skip multiple beats continuously? I might not be getting a scholarship to medical school any time soon, but I know what a heart attack is."

"So do I, and I might not be getting a scholarship any time soon either but I know for a damn fact I don't have atherosclerosis, or coronary heart disease, or any of the other shit that causes people to drop dead. And don't you dare propose the possibility of a coronary artery spasm because fighting demons doesn't stress me out, it's my anger management."

"What?"

"Atherosclerosis is basically when plaque builds up in your arteries, it's a disease. Coronary heart disease is pretty self explanatory, but it's basically the same thing as atherosclerosis— come to think of it, I don't know why I categorized them as two separate things. I suppose because CHD is what it's called while the plaque builds up & atherosclerosis is what it's called once it's already there?" Rachel shrugged. "And a coronary artery spasm is also self explanatory. Sudden shock causes the muscles to spasm, muscles spasming causes a momentary halt of blood flow to your heart. It doesn't always cause a heart attack, but if it's recurring it can lead to one."

"How the hell do you know all of that?" Isaac knew Rachel was smart, but he never anticipated her being a Lydia level genius. There was no possible way she would've somehow been able to Google it & recite whatever information WebMD provided, so undoubtedly she knew all of this beforehand— but how? And why?

"I finished reading every book we had regarding the supernatural, so I moved on to studying human problems. I did have humans in my family at one point, if they ever got sick I wanted to be able to help them. Two of my cousins had heart problems, and a great aunt had brain damage from an accident years prior." Rachel never thought anything of it; she wasn't a doctor, nor did she really want to be if it meant she could possibly be tasked with saving the life of a hunter, but she did always want to be able to help the people that meant something to her. "I didn't read much about the diagnosis & symptoms of diseases 'cause I could just smell those, it's not really much. I focused more on the sudden stuff that the supernatural can't detect— mostly brain hemorrhages & heart problems."

"When did you do all of this?"

"I studied while my siblings were at school; my mom was easygoing with my homeschooling. I completed all the textbooks Cora studied within the first few months of the school year, and for the rest of the time I was left to my mythology. Mom tried to get me to go ahead & study the next grade, maybe even graduate early, but I was set on graduating with Cora; I refused to go ahead without her." Rachel still remembered the fit she threw when her mother proposed the idea of graduating early & moving onto college studies. "I think I finally finished the last book when I was eight or nine, then I started asking for books about humans.

The first one I read was something about science & evolution; I never really took an interest in that, so I asked for doctor books— the kind the people who save lives read. She got me university textbooks, medical school ones, for my ninth birthday. I didn't have a clue what half of the stuff in them meant, and I sure as hell couldn't pronounce any of the words, but I read them all cover to cover. They only started to make sense to me later on, once I started with higher grades, but just knowing a bunch of big words made me feel like the smartest kid in the world."

Isaac fell silent for a moment, taking in all of the information he'd just learned. Rachel was bordering on being a child prodigy at the age of nine, and now at seventeen she was barely passing her classes despite all the knowledge she retained. She held the capability to learn, perhaps not when it came to algebra but everything else very much so, though she chose not to. "Why'd you stop?"

"I lost my reason to keep going."

She said it so lightly, but the words felt heavier than bricks. They weighed down on him for the longest time, bringing forth questions he didn't even know he had— what was his reason to keep going? Clearly it wasn't family, as it was for Rachel. She gave up on knowledge, but her fight never ceased because of her brother. The only time Isaac had ever seen her close to giving up was when she believed Derek was dead. As soon as she knew otherwise, the spark that made her who she was blazed brightly once more.

There was no doubt that Derek was her reason to keep fighting, but what was Isaac's? Everyone had someone. Everyone around him had a family to fight for, even if it was only one person— but him? He had nothing. His brother was dead, his parents were both dead; he had no other relatives that he knew of, so why was he still fighting?

"I should go talk to Derek before he leaves again." Rachel interrupted his thoughts, finally getting up from her bed. She winced at the sudden pain, just about every muscle in her body felt as though it had been overworked for weeks. She tried not to let it show, but failed miserably.

"Are you alright?" Isaac questioned the moment he noticed her distress.

"Yeah, fine. It's just been awhile since the last time I passed out, I forgot it hurt this much." She laughed.

He didn't. "It's not supposed to."

"Let me rephrase, then. It's been awhile since I sprinted for over an hour straight because Stiles called me to help him prank Finstock the other day— you don't feel the full effects of exercise until after you rest. Proven fact, now stop worrying about me like I'm some unstable old lady on the brink of death." The way he was worrying about her, Rachel felt as though she belonged in the freaking ICU.

She didn't give him the chance to respond & deny her accusations. Rachel could hear Derek in the living room (could it even be called a living room? All they ever did in there was work out & discuss their plans to defeat the latest evil plaguing Beacon Hills) and she needed to do some major damage control, because no doubt he was going to give her the same speech Isaac had.

Rachel spotted her brother standing by the large window, looking out over the shady side of town— the sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon, emitting a warm orange glow throughout the room. It was a nice change from the icy blue of the blacklights; Rachel still had the neon paint on her skin as a reminder. Next on her to do list was definitely to have a shower & wash it all off.

"Morning brother dearest." Rachel sparked a conversation to kill the deafening silence. "I know what you're going to say, Isaac already said it all & I don't care what any of you heard, there has to be some other explanation, okay? I was awake for like two days straight, so passing out is totally understandable— I can't really explain the weird heart beat thing, but I'm sure Deaton can so I'll go with Scott to the clinic after school & tell him about it. Problems solved."

"How long has this been going on?" Derek didn't turn around when he spoke, his gaze remaining on the scenery outside. Rachel couldn't tell if he was angry or just glad she wasn't dead; possibly a bit of both? Definitely still a bit of anger from the blacklight party, though. Or perhaps that was just his usual anger that remained constantly & never dissipated. 

Rachel didn't exactly know how to answer his question. How long had her passing out from exhaustion been going on? "Uh.. since last night?"

"So, that was the only time you did that?"

"Yes?" She was starting to become concerned of whether or not they were talking about the same thing. Rachel didn't pass out on purpose, it was sort of an involuntary thing her body did when she was so exhausted she literally could not function anymore. "We're talking about me passing out, right? 'Cause I'm kinda getting the feeling you're hinting at something else."

"Am I?"

"I don't know?"

"Is there something else I would be hinting at?" He looked back at her, raising a brow. He didn't look any angrier than usual, so whatever it is that Rachel did that she didn't know she did couldn't have been that bad. She hoped.

"I don't know?" Rachel repeated the same three words she had said a moment ago. She really didn't know what else she did that was concerning or upsetting besides allowing Danny to host his blacklight party in the loft. But Derek wouldn't bring that up until later, knowing him.

"I don't either." He shrugged. Rachel hadn't seen Derek act this mysterious since their first few encounters with Scott & Stiles— usually the only person he messed with was Stiles.

"Would you just tell me what I did? I mean, I know I let Danny host his blacklight party here but c'mon, he's Danny! You know how much I love blacklights & dubstep." Derek knew all too well about her love for deafening beats, and that wasn't a point of interest to him. "I guess trying to fight that Oni was kinda dumb? I don't really remember what I did after I went at it, but if it was something stupid & reckless then I'm sorry?"

"How long do you think I was here before I shut down the party?"

She still wasn't entirely awake yet so it took her a minute, but once the realization hit she sure as hell was. Oh shit. Abort mission. Abort the fucking mission. Leave conversation. Why couldn't real life be like messenger where she could just leave a conversation she didn't like? A very bad decision was made, and Rachel really, really wanted to leave. But seeing as how she couldn't just leave, more bad decisions were about to be made.

"You screwed my teacher!" Rachel regretted the words as soon as she said them, but messages could not be unsent so she was left to continue onwards & make it worse because she really did not know when to shut up & leave the conversation. "Who turned out to be a psychopath. Need I remind you of that? Not to mention you also had a fling with Kate Argent— at least be happy my boyfriend is sane."

"Boyfriend?"

Puto infierno. Keep making it worse, Rachel, keep talking— keep on talking until you've talked yourself into a damn grave. You already predicted your own death, so digging a plot for yourself would be rather useful.  "Yeah. I have a boyfriend. I'm 17. Deal with it." Rachel muttered the last three words in the best punk teenager voice she could manage, hoping a little comedic relief would save her.

Derek didn't laugh. He didn't look like he was about to kill someone though, so she considered it a win. "How long have you two been dating?"

"Officially? Like, a few days." Rachel shrugged. Derek was being eerily calm, and it concerned her. A lot. Why wasn't he yelling at her? Forbidding her from having a boyfriend until she graduated college or some shit? He was always the protective older brother when it came to her getting into fights & whatnot. She could still remember him giving death glares to anyone who so much as looked at her when she was younger. "Aren't you mad?"

"No." The one worded answer was both relieving & confusing; she was about to question further until he spoke again. "I thought you were dating Stiles."

"What?" Why did everyone think that? Just because she was mildly interested in him for like one freaking day nearly two years ago, did not mean they were anything more than friends. "No, no, hell no. Stiles is like the little brother I never wanted but am strangely glad I have; he's so absurdly annoying yet for some reason we all still like him because sometimes he has good ideas & he tolerates my rants about Pretty Little Liars. Why would you ever think I'd date him? Actually, y'know what, don't answer that. I don't want to know. This conversation is bad enough."

Truth be told, Derek was a little mad. His beta, of all people? And why was he just now finding out about it? He was happy she wasn't dating Stiles, mostly because Stiles had a very obvious love for Lydia that would never die (and he had a tendency to be extremely annoying), but why Isaac? Rachel hated him. At least, last Derek heard about it she did; clearly things had done a complete one eighty.

"You weren't going to tell me?" Derek questioned her, breaking the silence. There was a certain tension in the room, and Rachel sincerely hoped it would soon dissipate because she really did not want to fight with him today.

"I thought you'd be mad." She shrugged; she didn't really have any other explanation aside from that. Derek was in a constant state of anger, so most often Rachel hid whatever she could from him to avoid angering the preexisting anger. "He was your beta, I'm your little sister. Oh, and last time a guy showed interest in me you scared him half to death, so uh, there's that, too."

"You were fourteen."

"So was he! I think." Rachel was a bad judge of age, seeing as how her forty-something year old uncle still looked like he was in his early 30's. Her entire family had been like that; she could never remember her mother looking a day over thirty five. Werewolves had a tendency to alter the speed in which they aged, a coveted trait made possible by their healing ability. Rachel was probably the only one in her family who had never so much as tried to slow down her aging; mostly because she planned on waiting until she was in her early 20's & could legally enter a club through the front door, rather than illegally through the back with Scott & Stiles as they'd done in the past. "I still can't believe you aren't mad."

Rachel walked over & hugged her brother. It took a minute, but he eventually gave in & hugged her back, because she wasn't going to let go until he did. If someone had told her him finding out the truth would've gone this well, she would've told him months ago because hiding things was so much unnecessary work.

"There's something I never thought I'd see." Peter commented as he descended down the spiral staircase. Both his niece & nephew had believed he went home, but it was becoming pretty clear to them that he was never going to leave.

"Morning, Satan." The brunette greeted, with a glare. "When did you get here?"

"Derek called me after you had a heart attack." The former alpha deadpanned, continuing before she could protest that it wasn't at all as it seemed. "We took a vote. Everyone agreed you've been acting a little too strangely to ignore, and although we were going to overlook it a little longer, this little bump in the road is forcing a detour. Time for an intervention, sweetheart."

Rachel stared blankly at him. The room fell silent, so silent that she swore she could hear herself blink. And then, she laughed. She laughed like he just told the funniest joke she had ever heard. "An intervention?"

Derek didn't laugh with her. "Something isn't right with you, Rachel."

"You seriously called him? You're seriously having a freaking intervention? Oh my god. I'm leaving. You two can discuss whatever problems you think I have, I'll shower at Lydia's. This is bullshit." Rachel had gone from happy to completely shocked in seconds. It was quite possibly the fastest emotional one eighty to ever occur, and the most betrayed she had felt since she found out Peter was behind the murders that brought her back to this damn town.

"Lydia's in on it." Peter announced, just as Rachel had begun walking towards the door. His words stopped her in her tracks. She, of course, refused to believe him but couldn't argue with his steady heart rate.

"Then I'll go to Scott's house."

"Scott's in on it, too. So are Stiles & Allison and her father." He emphasized the fact that even Chris Argent had agreed there was something off about Rachel, as if that somehow made his cause more okay. It wasn't okay, not in the slightest.

"What about Isaac?" He wasn't in on it. He wouldn't do that. Rachel told him she was going to be fine & she meant it, she didn't lie to him so he wouldn't lie to her. He wouldn't go to Derek, of all people, and support a freaking intervention. Rachel was struggling with her abilities, not a drug addiction— it wasn't exactly something she could go to therapy over. It was something she had to live with & adapt to, which is precisely what she would do if they gave her some damn time.

"He tried to get you to talk about it last night at the party, didn't he?" Peter didn't explicitly confirm it, but what he said was enough. "Don't be mad at your friends for this when it's your own doing. You're the one who relentlessly pushed to find out the truth, and now it's time to deal with the consequences of knowing it."

"Because when I asked to know the truth about how I became the most unique being on earth, I totally knew it was going to result in finding out I'm actually just a wannabe supernatural Frankenstein." She remarked. Hearing those words come out of her mouth almost resulted in an identity crisis; how had she gotten to the point in which any of that made sense to her? How had she gone from being an innocent little girl to a wannabe supernatural Frankenstein in one week, and not known of it until 14 years later? Crisis definitely not averted, potentially coming back around.

"What did you do differently last night?" Derek cut in before Peter had a chance to shoot back with a snide comment about how Rachel's identity crisis didn't matter. "Your eyes turned black. Did you reflect the Oni?"

"No." Rachel shook her head. "I didn't reflect anyone, because I don't need to anymore. I guess the one good thing about remembering is I finally ditched my training wheels. It takes a bit of focus to do it at will, but I guess it's instinctive in the event of imminent danger."

"The training wheels were the reason this didn't happen sooner." Peter grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Think of it like a railing on the edge of a cliff. You had boundaries; you could only push yourself so far before the railing was there to stop you. Now that you know the railing isn't real, it won't stop you anymore & you'll fall right off the cliff if you aren't careful."

"What's the point of giving someone power they can't use?" Rachel questioned. She understood what he was trying to say; she could only do so much before because it was all that she believed she could do. It was all in her head. And now that she knew her limits were endless, so were her possibilities. She could be the ultimate weapon; no one with bad intentions would ever dare to set foot in Beacon Hills again as long as she was there to protect it & the people she loved.

"Because you were an experiment, Rachel. Do you really think a bunch of mad scientists trying to turn a human into a hodgepodge of supernatural creatures knew what the hell they were doing?" Peter tried to reason with her, but it was useless. She wasn't going to listen to anyone, especially not him— she hated him & never believed a word he said, even when Derek was on his side. "They wanted the ultimate weapon, but they made the ultimate mistake."

"So I'm a mistake? Me surviving was a mistake?" Rachel gaped & Derek groaned. Peter hadn't spent enough time with her yet to know, but Rachel could drag on an argument for hours. She would constantly force the topic off track & turn a simple disagreement into an all out war that ended in no one remembering what had started it to begin with; which was precisely what she wanted.

"No, it was not a mistake." Derek cut in before either of them could speak again. "What Peter's trying to say, is they gave you supernatural powers but you aren't supernatural. Your body isn't supernatural."

"Then how can I heal?" She wasn't buying it. It didn't make any sense. How could her body not be supernatural, yet she still had powers? When the Dread Doctors experimented on her, they made her body supernatural. Derek had it all wrong.

Peter didn't think so, though. In fact, what Derek said sparked an idea in his mind of a better way to explain it. "It's all in your head, Rachel. You control it. You've just never realized you were doing it because you never knew the truth."

It was all done subconsciously; only when she was awake. She never realized she did it, but she did; she was the one who constantly made herself to be supernatural. When she reverted back to what she referred to as herself, with the silver blood, she was human. What she never realized, was every time she fell asleep or unconscious her blood reverted to silver because the part of her consciousness that focused on retaining a certain ability was no longer responsive.

As soon as she fell asleep, or passed out, she was no longer the invincible chimera but instead a defenceless human, susceptible to any & all human problems. Specifically, a heart attack— caused by the overload of power that she wasn't capable of handling as a human. If she pushed herself too hard, to the point of exhaustion where she slipped out of consciousness for even a second she was tempting fate far more than most would ever dare.

But Rachel didn't understand, and although the look on her face indicated a light had certainly gone on in her mind, she wasn't looking to pay attention to it. She could look at it one of two ways: she was a time bomb, waiting to detonate the moment she pushed too hard & for that reason, it was in her best interest to no longer use her abilities. Or, she could continue on as she had for so many years prior to learning the truth & continue to use her abilities to protect her friends & family as if nothing had changed.

The latter was the only option she considered.

—

UNEDITED.

god, this is all over the place. i hope this isn't as bad as i think it is, i tried to word it as best as possible so it wouldn't be too confusing. for the longest time i know some people have been beginning to feel as though i was creating an immortal character with every power under the sun, but after holding back from saying it for so long, i'm finally able to let her weakness show.

keep in mind, rachel is a chimera made 14 years before theo, corey, hayden & all the others— she's significantly more flawed, as i mentioned before. the doctors hadn't yet perfected the art of fusing powers & with her, they tried to make something that was everything & it went horribly wrong. also, all those times she went to sleep as a werewolf & woke up as one— she turned herself back into it the moment she regained consciousness without realizing because her memories had been taken (the doctors took almost all memory of the actual procedures & only left her with a small fragment that her mother later took).