𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒚-𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒓 | 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽𝔂'𝓼 𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘉𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥

GRABBING THE MAPLE SYRUP BOTTLE, Charlotte unscrews the lid and begins to pour the contents onto the mountain of waffles piled upon her plate. Lydia arches a brow in amusement. "Do you want some waffles with the syrup?" she sarcastically asks.

The blonde shakes her head and grins as she shoves a forkful into her mouth. "Nope."

Allison chuckles as she enters the kitchen of the Martin house and kisses her girlfriend's cheek as she takes the seat beside her. "Come on, Lyds, you should know that by now."

Lydia's eyebrows raise as her expression morphs into one of feigned offence. "I'm being ganged up on now, great."

It's not long before giggles spread across the dining room table. But the moment is cut short as Charlotte's phone rings beside her. She places her cutlery down and groans at the contact name. "Scott, it's eight-thirty on a Saturday. You know the rules, no calls at this ungodly hour unless the world has fallen apart."

"Stiles escaped Eichen House."

Her face falls and she almost falls off her chair. Lydia and Allison share a look at the girl's drastic change in behaviour. Charlotte blinks rapidly as she repeats Scott's words in her head. "I should've answered differently... Hold on, Stiles escaped Eichen House? One can't just escape Eichen! It's fucking Eichen!"

"Speaker, Charles," Lydia tells her.

She nods and does so, Scott's voice now echoing through the room. "Yeah, well... void's got him. It isn't our Stiles anymore."

"Not that any of this isn't gravely concerning," Charlotte begins. "But how the hell do you know this?"

"Malia found me, she was in there, too," he explains. "She was the last one to see him."

"What did she tell you?"

"Wait, Allison? Never mind... She gave me a katana and a photo."

"Well?" Lydia presses impatiently. "What was the photo?"

"What the hell is this? A party?"

Charlotte rolls her eyes, but her lips sport a grin. "Scotty."

"Right, sorry. The point is, I need to talk to Kira. The woman in the photo looks exactly like her. And I mean, identical."

All three girls share a look filled with surprise. "Woah, is she a vampire?" Charlotte asks genuinely. Allison stifles a laugh whilst Lydia shakes her head and delves back into her waffles.

"No idea," Scott responds. He's clearly just as open to the idea of vampires as she is."Which is why I gotta talk to her. Listen, keep an eye out. We don't know what the nogitsune is capable of yet, or what it wants."

"Aye aye, captain," the blonde calls out.

"Let us know what you find out," Allison finishes.

"Will do. Stay safe."

When the line cuts, Charlotte huffs a sigh. "Great, so Stiles isn't Stiles..."

"Appears so," Lydia agrees. "What else could possible go wrong?"

As soon as her lips close, the loud ringing of Charlotte's phone enters their ears. Allison and Lydia laugh as they listen to 'Sound of da Police' continue to play out of the speaker. Charlotte rolls her eyes with a smile and raises the device up to her ear, the call now turned off speakerphone. "Sheriff, what's up? Assuming you heard about Stiles?"

"That and something else... Kid, it's probably best for you to come down to the station."

»»———-　　———-««

"Sorry, but I can't let you walk out with this. It's way above the legal voltage limit." Walking into the Sheriff's station, Charlotte bites down on her lip to avoid laughter escaping at the sight of Deputy Parrish examining Chris Argent's cattle-prod. She walks up to the front desk and gives Derek a small smile in greeting who briefly returns it.

"I only use it for hunting," Chris reassures him, his eyes flicking over to the man stood beside him. Derek and Charlotte share a look, then the werewolf turns to stare at him with a deadpanned face for a few seconds. Chris notices and rolls his eyes in response, his lips twitching upward slightly when seeing Charlotte trying incredibly hard not to laugh.

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure you could use it to jump-start a Seven-Four-Seven," Parrish retorts.

Chris's eyes narrow. "This property belongs to me, and the charges were dropped," he states. He glances to Derek, both of them a little confused as to why they're suddenly not wanted for murder. "Although, I'm not exactly sure who's responsible for that."

"I am," Noah Stilinski announces. "I'll take care of this, Parrish."

"Sheriff, I'm not kidding. This thing's a few watts from being a lightsaber."

Derek turns to look at Argent again and Charlotte can't help but quietly giggle. All four men look over at her. "Sorry," she mumbles.

Noah takes the cattle-prod out of Parrish's hands. "I said I'll take care of it." He looks between the two men. "My office." He smiles at the teenager who hurries after them.

Charlotte closes the door behind her, knowing the following conversation shouldn't be heard by anyone else. "What's going on?"

"The specialist I saw in LA told me the thing that every doctor says when he's trying to avoid a lawsuit. 'We can't say for sure.' And then I spoke with Melissa." Charlotte's brows furrow and she walks closer as Noah pulls out medical scans from underneath his pile of desk paperwork. "These are brain scans," he informs them. "My wife's and Stiles'. I knew they were similar, but..."

She takes the images and lays them atop of another so they match up. "No fucking way," she mutters in disbelief.

Noah nods to her as she looks up to him. "But those are the same. Exactly the same."

"And I'm guessing this isn't possible?" Derek asks.

"It's impossible," Charlotte says. She glances back to the scans in bewilderment. "Like, not even a zero-point-one percent chance."

"So the trickster is still playing tricks," Chris concludes.

"But why this trick?"

Charlotte locks eyes with the Sheriff and they realise that they both seem to have the same understanding. "Because it's pulling on emotional strings," she realises.

Noah nods. "When I was in the army, an officer told me, 'If you want to defeat your enemy, you don't take away their courage. You take away their hope.'"

"You don't look like a man who gives up hope easily," Chris points out.

"But Stiles might," Charlotte whispers. The room is silent for a few moments.

Noah clears his throat and adds, "If this thing inside him... if it's using his mother's disease as some sort of psychological trick, then this isn't just a fight for his body. It's also a fight for his mind. Right?"

"You know, he's left people severely injured," Chris says.

"And others severely dead," Derek adds.

Charlotte scoffs and folds her arms tightly across her chest as she glares at the two beside her. "And? So have the both of you." Both pairs of eyes flick to the ground. She's not wrong. "This is Stiles."

"It's why I need the both of you," Noah tells them. "I need people who are experienced in this kind of thing." Derek and Chris share a look. "I need you to help me stop him."

"And by stop him, you mean trap him."

"Then why am I here?"

Stilinski gives Charlotte a small smile. "You're family," he says. "It also helps that you know how to fight."

The girl returns the smile, then her eyes narrow in both confusion and thought. "Then why is Derek here?" Both Chris and Noah seem to have trouble containing their laughter, whilst the werewolf in question turns to her and growls. Charlotte sheepishly smiles at his empty threat and holds her hands up. "Sorry."

»»———-　　———-««

Allison Argent leads the Sheriff, Charlotte, Derek, and her father into the office within their apartment. "This is everything non-lethal I could find," she says. Strewn across the desk are various weapons ranging from chains, tasers, and smoke bombs.

"Take all of it," Chris says.

Charlotte gives her girlfriend a small smile, however, both of them are thoroughly distracted by the thought of their friend in danger by the evil spirit possessing him.

"So, what's the plan here?" Noah asks.

"Our best shot right now is for Derek to try and pick up Stiles' scent at Eichen house," Chris begins. "Especially if he went through something stressful there."

"That's a given," Charlotte agrees. She had managed to find a few photos of the facility online, and, well... she's not the biggest fan. "I mean, have you seen the place?"

Noah's eyebrows draw together as he raises his doubtfulness. "Should all five of us be going to the same place?"

Chris hesitates and looks between the two girls. "Where else has Stiles been showing up?"

Charlotte sighs before replying, "The school and the hospital. At least, that's where we've seen him."

"Okay, hold on," Derek interrupts. "We did this already. He disappeared; we started looking for him. Then we walked right into a trap at the hospital."

Everyone shares a look as they catch on to what the former Alpha is trying to get across. "He's getting us to repeat the same moves," Charlotte concludes.

"So what do we do?" Allison questions. "Do we just wait for him to come to us?"

"We can't," Derek says.

Charlotte nods as she shuts her eyes. "He's right. We're forgetting about if the oni find him when the sun goes down."

"Scott's working on them right now, with Kira," Noah informs them.

"That's the problem... We're all trying to outfox the fox," Chris says. The gravity of the situation they're in causes the room to fall quiet.

Suddenly, no one knows what to suggest. They're all running out of ideas. After looking at all of the sceptical faces, Noah Stilinksi sighs. "Listen, I'll understand if anyone wants to back out."

"No way," Charlotte retorts immediately. "Not happening." Both Argents nod in agreement.

Then everyone looks over to Derek. He scoffs and grabs a taser. "I won't be the first wolf to run from a fox."

Chris holds up his cattle-prod, amusement twinkling in his eyes. "Apparently I'm carrying the lightsaber."

Allison takes a deep breath before taking one of the two duffle bags on the table. "Dad, you, me, and Derek are at Eichen. Sheriff, it's you and Charles in the hospital. We all meet in the school."

As both the teens and Noah leave the room, Charlotte bumps into Allison's side causing the dark-haired girl to smile. "That was really hot by the way," she says quietly. "You know... ordering everyone around."

Allison arches a brow and a smile adorns her face. "Oh yeah?"

"Oh yeah. Do it more."

It takes them twenty minutes to reach their destination. Walking through the now once again bustling, familiar halls of Beacon Memorial Hospital is oddly comforting for Charlotte. Being surrounded by people constantly trying, and majority of the time succeeding, to save people's lives is something she would never, ever get tired of. That feeling is precisely why she wants to have a future in the medical industry.

Whilst waiting in the elevator with Noah for it to rise to their intended level, she leans her back against the wall and lets out a sigh filled with exhaustion. After a few seconds, he breaks the comfortable silence. "You know what, I don't know how you guys do it." Charlotte purses her lips together into a firm line, her eyes screwed shut as she picks apart each word that leaves her best friend's father's mouth. "You're all so strong. You're fearless. Hell, you guys even manage to keep your grades up."

She grimaces and opens her eyes to find the Sheriff staring into the metal doors of the elevator. "Due to not having magical wolf strength, I'm obviously failing P.E. Actually, it's almost hilarious how badly."

Noah gives her a small smile and chuckles. "I'll just have to have a talk with Coach, then." But when she remains silent and he notices how she is struggling to hide the tears now watering in her eyes, he frowns as he turns to fully face her. "Hey, are you okay?"

"No."

The almost barely audible whisper is enough for the man to reach out and press the emergency button, causing the elevator to abruptly come to a halt. Noah's eyes are filled with concern as he looks at the girl on the brink of crying. "What's going on, kiddo?"

Charlotte takes a moment of hesitation before shaking her head, mumbling various incoherent words to herself. "I'm not okay. I am so far from okay that half the time I don't think any of this is real." She sucks in a deep breath and shakily exhales it as she brings a hand up to quickly wipe the tears that fall out of her eyes. "I mean, we've got fucking ninjas trying to kill us that we don't even know how to kill! Stiles is possessed, Isaac is on the brink of death in the ICU, I'm scared that I'll never be able to control my banshee abilities, and I love Allison so much that I'm so terrified for her life all the time and it's crippling me."

He slowly nods as she rambles, but inside, his heart is breaking for the girl he considers his daughter.

"I feel like I'm useless-" Charlotte's sentence is cut off as a loud sob fills the space, the tears now uncontrollably trailing down her face. Noah doesn't hesitate to pull her into his arms, embracing her into a much needed hug. It's the type of hug, the hug from a parent, that hits differently. Sure, she gets hugs from her mother. But she's not able to be as true with her emotions with Natalie Martin, not unless she wants to reveal that the supernatural is indeed real.

As her head buries into his chest, his Sheriff's jacket dampening from the tears, he murmurs, "You are the strongest girl I know. Don't for one second think that you are useless." But she keeps quiet again, so he pulls away and holds onto her shoulders, staring directly into her eyes. "Okay?"

She sniffles. "Okay," she replies, her tone laced with doubtfulness.

He softly smiles at her and brings her into another hug. "You're gonna be okay, sweetheart. We're all gonna to be okay."

"Thank you," she whispers in return. As the two move apart, he smiles at her once more and flips the switch to restart the elevator. Noah reaches into his pocket for his phone when it begins to vibrate, and with her tears now gone, Charlotte stares in confusion at the Digital Life System notification that appears on the screen. "What's that?"

"Someone's breaking into my house," he replies, brows furrowed. "After Stiles started sleepwalking, I had some safety precautions put in: motion sensors, cameras..."

Charlotte's frown only deepens as the camera to Stiles' bedroom is shown. "Wait, that's his room..." The camera zooms in and both of their eyes widen at the sight of Stiles sitting on his bed. But it's not their Stiles. The nogitsune stares directly into the camera as if somehow knowing that someone is watching. Without breaking eye contact, Stiles' hand raises into the air and his fingers wave in a teasing manner.

»»———-　　———-««

On their way out of the hospital, the pair didn't hesitate to call Derek and the Argents to meet up at the Stilinski household. Upon arriving, it wasn't a surprise at all to Charlotte that Stiles, well, void, wasn't there to greet them. Stood beside Allison, she refuses to let herself cry as she studies the chessboard situated on her best friend's desk. She recalls the day that Stiles had demanded her to come over and help him with labelling each piece with each of the different supernatural creatures in Beacon Hills. Her eyes linger on her own piece that holds the same colour of paper as her sister's. Allison squeezes her hand as she notices a tear fall down her girlfriend's cheek, and Charlotte gives her a brief half-hearted smile.

"What's all this?" Chris questions, also staring at the board. "What are these sticky notes for?"

"This is what Stiles used to try and explain to me about all of..." Noah looks around the group. "You."

"Well, maybe it's a message from Stiles," Allison suggests. "The real Stiles." Everyone falls silent as they think over her words.

Charlotte's eyes follow as Chris picks up Isaac's chess piece that unlike the others is strategically placed off the board. He's hospitalised. He's out of the game.

Derek's brows raise as he leans forward. "You think there's any reason my name's on the king?"

"'Cause everyone loves you to death," Charlotte says dryly. He gives her a mocking smile, and Allison stifles a laugh at their interaction.

"Well, you're heavily guarded," Stilinski begins. "Though I guess the alarming detail is that you're one move from being in checkmate."

Charlotte loudly exhales and nods. "Yeah, that is alarming." She double-takes as she realises exactly who is guarding her friend. Ethan and Aiden. Well, that's surprising.

Derek folds his arms as he turns to her. "I can't tell if that was sarcastic or not."

"It's not a message from Sties," Chris interrupts their impending bickering. "It's a threat from the nogitsune."

Both teenagers in the room come to the realisation at the same time, simultaneously saying, "He's at the loft."

"That's what he's trying to tell us," Allison states.

Chris nods in agreement and turns his eyes to the Sheriff. "And he wants us to come there."

"Night's falling," Derek points out.

"This couldn't sound any more like a trap," Charlotte voices.

"Agreed."

Stilinski shakes his head in disagreement. "I don't think it is."

"I think your opinion might be slightly biased, Sheriff," Argent counters.

"Hear me out," Noah says. "What we're dealing with here is basically someone who lacks motive. No rhyme, no reason. Right?"

"Meaning what?"

"Our enemy is not a killer."

Charlotte kisses her teeth. "I respectfully disagree."

"It's a trickster," the Sheriff continues, briefly glancing to the blonde-haired girl. "The killing is just a by-product."

"If you're trying to say it won't kill us, I'm not feeling too confident about that," Derek says, his gaze moving back over to his chess piece on the board.

"It won't," Noah responds. "It wants irony. It wants to play a trick. It wants a joke. All we need to do," a small smile graces his face, "is come up with a new punch line."

"It wants chaos," Charlotte murmurs to herself.

Chris tilts his head slightly. "The sun is setting, Sheriff. What do you have in mind?"

The drive to Derek's loft is long. As Allison drives, Charlotte stays silent. She can't think of anything but Stiles. What if they can't save him? Or what if they could have saved him, but they're too late? What if they can save him but he kills them before they can? Before she can delve any further into the pit of anxious and paranoid thoughts, she remembers to send a message to Scott who is most likely still with Kira.

Dog DUDE
SOS
Derek's loft, meet us there

"You okay?" Allison questions, quickly looking over to her before returning her eyes to the road.

Charlotte takes a deep breath and nods. "Right now all I'm focused on is destroying this son of a bitch into a million fucking pieces." She pauses. "I also really, really want to slap him."

When they finally reach the parking lot, the girls jump out the car and meet with the group of adults waiting for them. Everyone looks to one another. "Ready?" Derek asks. 

Noah holds up the pair of handcuffs. "Let's get him."

When they finally reach the penthouse, Charlotte thinks her legs might give out underneath her. Not from the trek up the stairs (although that was not enjoyable), but from the crippling anxiety. As Noah Stilinski walks in, the three without supernatural hearing move themselves as close as they can to the open barn door without being spotted from the inside. There's footsteps. Nothing. Then,

"Hi, Dad."

𝘥𝘶𝘯 𝘥𝘶𝘯 𝘥𝘶𝘯𝘯