Scott and I were in his room, minutes after the events of tonight.

Scott was lying on his bed, leaning up against the wall.

I sat next to him, pulling his shirt over his head to reveal the deep, deep, bleeding gash in his stomach from Theo trying to kill him. I gently cleaned the blood away, tossing the disinfectant tissues into the trashcan by the nightstand. I put a bandage over his wound, securing it into place.

Scott winced in pain.

"Sorry," I told him.

Scott had been watching me the whole time. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not," I told him, throwing the remains of the bandage away, looking up at Scott to see he was still looking at me. "What?"

"I screwed up," Scott told me. "Badly. So bad that I got myself killed and lost my pack. And if it wasn't for you, I would still be dead."

I closed my eyes, shaking my head. "Scott..."

"How do you do it?" Scott asked. I looked at him. "How does nothing seem to get to you? How do you keep going the way that you do?"

"I got through what I went through the very worst way," I told him. "I closed myself off. I became stone cold. I became ice. So numb to who I was and who I cared about that I didn't care about what happened to me or to anyone around me. And I was that way for a long time. That changed when someone showed me that it was worth to feel... everything. Someone that showed me that if you're numb to who you are or what you want, what's the point of living? Don't do like I did, Scott. I wasted so many years of my life being like that. I don't want to see anyone else that way."

Scott nodded in understanding, looking down. He sat up, inches away, looking at me. "I need to fix this." I met his gaze. "And by this..."

"You mean everything," I finished.

Scott nodded. "Yeah. I need to fix the pack. I need to fix me."

"And you will," I told him. "And I'll help you. Every step of the way."

Scott nodded barely, gazing off.

I took his hand in mine, the single touch sending black veins up my hand, feeling the immense pain that he was in. I pulled my hand away in surprise for a moment, looking up at him.

Scott lowered his gaze.

I took Scott's hand, small, barely noticeable black veins trailing through my hand. I leaned closer to kiss him, black veins trailing through my lips and cheeks. I slowly pulled away once I felt the rest of his pain fade, looking at him.

Scott managed a small smile. 

We heard the doorbell downstairs, exchanging a look, walking downstairs.

Scott opened the door, seeing who was outside before I did. "Parrish?" I walked down the stairs in confusion, looking at Parrish. "What are you doing here?"

"I need your help," Parrish answered.

"With what?" I asked.

Parrish looked behind him. "With her." He stepped aside to reveal Lydia standing outside behind him, her head tilted to the side, looking catatonic. "I found her out in the woods. Her body was freezing. She was practically hypothermic. But that wasn't even the worst part. She had clawed a badge into a rock nearby, making some of her nails peel off. A Sheriff's badge."

Scott shook his head in denial. "No."

I closed my eyes, sighing. "It's a warning."

Sheriff Stilinski was dying.

I looked at Lydia, having a feeling about what could have been wrong with her, walking out onto the porch.

"Tara?" Scott asked in confusion.

I pulled Lydia's hair away from the back of her neck to reveal claw marks in her skin. I closed my eyes, looking down, knowing exactly what was happening to her, but not knowing how to help her.

Someone had to have had dug their claws into the back of her neck to gain access to her memories.

And that procedure was so dangerous that it could kill the victim, or paralyzed them forever, even werewolves.

Lydia was lucky to be alive.

      *****      

Scott and I opened the hospital doors, running inside.

Parrish followed, carrying Lydia's catatonic body. "Help! I need somebody to help me! I need help." Paramedics rolled over a stretcher. "I got an 18-year-old female, potential hypothermic."

Parrish laid Lydia down on the stretcher.

Scott and I got to the elevator, riding our way up, walking down an upstairs hallway.

We saw Stiles talking to a group of doctors and nurse's, including Melissa. "What do you mean, you don't know? Two hours ago, he was fine. Now it looks like somebody took a baseball bat to his neck."

"There could've been some minor internal," the doctor told him.

"Did you say, 'minor internal'?" Stiles asked. "Since when is anything internal minor?" I stopped at the doorway to Stilinski's hospital room, looking inside. Stilinski laid unconscious in his bed, bruised, beaten, with what seemed to be dark patterns in his skin over his neck. "Dr. Geyer, somebody needs to tell me what's happening. Somebody needs to tell me what's happening to him!"

"We don't know," Melissa told him.

Stiles saw Scott and me, walking through the double doors toward us, grabbing Scott, slamming him against the wall, pushing him to the floor. "Where were you? You trusted him. You believed him. Right, huh? So, where were you?"

I pulled Stiles off of Scott, pulling him away. "Hey, hey, hey."

"Where the hell were you?" Stiles asked incredulously.

"Stop it," I told him, turning around, pushing Stiles against the wall, keeping him there with a hand to his chest. "Stiles!"

Stiles held up his hands in defeat. "Okay, all right, all right."

Melissa walked closer, helping Scott stand.

Scott looked at Stiles. "Your dad's not the only one who got hurt."

Stiles looked from me to Scott in confusion.

      *****      

Scott, Stiles, Melissa, Parrish and I were talking around a table in the morgue.

"She's catatonic," I told them. "Theo was digging his way through her mind."

"Why would he do that?" Melissa asked. "What is he looking for?"

"The same thing he's always looking for," Scott answered. "An advantage."

"So what did he gain by trying to kill Stilinski?" Parrish asked.

"It left Scott alone with Liam," I answered. "Theo wanted to make sure no one would be there to stop him from killing Scott. So, he attacked Stilinski and left Hayden to die as a distraction for me and Stiles."

"We need to find this kid," Parrish told us. 

"Isn't that a little dangerous?" Melissa asked. "Especially since he killed my kid?"

"Yeah, but he said he didn't want my dad to die," Stiles told us.

"And you believe him?" Parrish asked.

"He told me where to find him," Stiles told us. "So, maybe he also knows how to save him.

"What do you want to do?" Scott asked. "Talk to him?"

"If it saves my dad, then yeah," Stiles answered. 

"I'll come with you," Scott told him.

"No," I told him. Scott looked at me in confusion. "Theo doesn't know you're alive. That gives us an advantage, so let's keep it that way, at least for the time being."

"I just need to talk to him," Stiles told us, walking toward the door. "Not fight him."

"Stiles, you're not going alone," I told him. Stiles looked at me. "Just because Scott's not going doesn't mean that I'm not. I'll go with you."

Stiles hesitated, nodding. 

"Does anyone even know how to find him?" Parrish asked.

"We don't have to find him," Stiles told us. "He'll come to me."

      *****      

The next morning, Stiles and I were in his house alone.

Until Theo appeared at the door, looking at the line of Mountain Ash on the floor of the doorway. He looked at us. "What's the Mountain Ash for? I'm a Chimera. It won't do anything to keep me at bay."

"It's not for you," I told him. "It's to keep me inside so I don't try to go after you. For killing Scott." Theo smirked. "But go ahead, walk across it. Walk inside. See what happens."

Theo took a breath. "I think I'd rather stay out here. I guess we're all telling the truth now."

"Are you going to let my father die?" Stiles asked.

"If I wanted him to die, I wouldn't have told you where you could find him," Theo told him.

"Then why are they saying his body is shutting down?" Stiles asked. "That some toxin's poisoning him, and they don't know how to stop it?"

Theo tried to keep his expression clear, but I could hear his heartbeat jump, ticking up just a little bit. "I'm not the bad guy here. I'm just a realist. I'm a survivor." He looked at me. "Just like you, Tara. You used to be a lot like me."

I scoffed. "I'm more human that you will ever be."

Theo seemed irritated and annoyed by those words. "You know a lot of things about a lot of stuff, Tara, but you don't know what's coming. I know what the Dread Doctors created. And I know what Parrish is."

        *****      

Theo told us that Parrish was a Hellhound. "Lydia figured it out. I saw it in her memories."

"Right after you drove her out of her mind," I told him.

"Collateral damage," Theo told us. "But if she's right about Parrish, then things around here are gonna get a lot worse."

"I don't care," Stiles told him.

"You should," Theo told us. He looked at Stiles. "Because if your dad does survive, he's not gonna be Sheriff of anything much longer."

"What's happening to him?" I asked. Theo smirked, but didn't answer, turning to leave. I walked up to the doorway angrily. "Hey, tell me!" The line of Mountain Ash prevented me from leaving, shocking me enough to make me back away. Stiles and I watched him go angrily. I turned to face Stiles, sighing. "So sure that you should've put down the Ash?" 

"Would you have attacked him?" Stiles replied. I didn't answer, looking away. "Yeah, exactly. And I don't blame you. I don't. Okay? Did you get anything from him?"

I sighed, looking at him. "He was calm the entire time."

"What about his heart?" Stiles asked.

"I heard it jump, but only once, and only for a second," I answered. "But that doesn't mean he was lying. Not really. The rest of the time it was steady."

"When did it jump?" Stiles asked. "What were we talking about?" 

"It was when I said that your dad was poisoned," I answered.

"And you think that could be something?" Stiles asked.

I nodded. "A jump could mean surprise."

"So why would he be surprised that my dad's still dying?" Stiles asked.

"He didn't say that he was the one who attacked your dad, did he?" I asked.

"No," Stiles answered.

"Well, then this means it was probably something else," I told him. "Another Chimera."

        *****      

Outside, Stiles was in his Jeep, getting ready to leave.

Scott and I were outside the car.

"Do you even know where you're headed?" Scott asked. Stiles didn't answer, trying to start the Jeep, but failing. "Come on. Let us help. We can find the clues that you can't."

"You can't do this alone, okay?" I asked. "You need us. You need all of us. We can get more help. I can text Liam."

"Liam just tried to kill your boyfriend," Stiles told me.

"Okay, then at least let us help," I told him. "Let me give you a ride in a car that can actually start when I want it to." Stiles gave it after a moment, sighing, nodding. I looked between them. "Just listen to me, okay? We survived the Argents. We survived my uncle, twice. We survived an Alpha pack, a Dark Druid, a Nogitsune, Oni, professional assassins. We can survive Dread Doctors and Chimeras, too."

Scott realized. "We're not looking for a missing Chimera. We're looking for a missing teenager."

        *****      

Stiles, Scott and I went to the Sheriff's Station to see who was a missing teenager to find the missing Chimera, looking at a board with pictures, papers and yarn to connect the dots.

"There was a call a few hours ago about a sophomore from Beacon High who never came home last night," Stiles told us.

"What's his name?" Scott asked.

Stiles put the kid's picture on the board. "Noah Patrick."

        *****      

At the school, in the hallway, I broke the locker combination off of Noah's locker, opening it. "Now we can catch his scent."

I pulled out two shirts and a hoodie from inside, closing the locker, handing the hoodie to Scott, hearing someone approach behind me, tossing the second shirt toward them.

Malia caught the shirt. 

Stiles looked at me. "You called her?"

"We need all the help that we can get, and she's my cousin," I told them. "Of course I called her."

"We should be calling everyone," Scott told us.

"And I know what this kid looks like," Malia told us.

We looked at Stiles.

Stiles looked away, sighing.

        *****      

We followed Noah's scent to a warehouse, walking down a set of stairs.

Stiles and Scott were walking a little distance behind Malia and me to talk alone.

"You believed him," Stiles told him.

"You trusted him, too," Scott told him. "Theo got to all of us."

"You know, you don't even know the real story," Stiles told him.

"I don't need to," Scott told him. "All that matters right now is your dad."

Stiles looked away.

I looked from Stiles to Malia. 

"He didn't ant you to call me, did he?" Malia asked.

"No," I answered. "Is it that bad?"

"We kind of broke up, I guess," Malia told me.

"Yeah, Scott and Stiles kind of broke up, too," I told her. I looked at Malia. "Hey, you can tell me what's going on with you. I mean, besides Stiles. You can talk to me."

"I said I'd help find this kind, and I'm doing it to save Stiles' dad," Malia told me. "Don't ask me to talk."

"Well, I'm not asking," I told her. "I'm offering. Malia, I used to be a lot like you. And in a lot of ways, I still am. And I didn't have anyone that would be there for me like that. That's why I got so bad. I'm just saying, it's okay if you want to. So that you don't get so bad."

Malia looked at me, nodding. "I know. Thank you."

I stopped walking when I smelled the scent change direction, looking toward an open grate in the wall, walking toward it, crawling through it to get to a tunnel on the other side.

Malia, Scott and Stiles followed.

"I got it," I told them. "I got his scent."

We walked down the tunnel.

        *****      

Malia found blood on a nearby pipe. "This is Noah's. He was here."

"I think he's close," I told them.

Scott looked around the tunnels. "Guys? We've been down tunnels like this before." He looked at Malia and me. "When we were looking for Liam and Hayden."

"Okay, so what?" Stiles asked. 

"Maybe, it means we're closer than we think," Scott answered. "But there's something else down here. Something that we haven't found yet."

"Yeah, nothing that helps my dad," Stiles told us. "Look, we can't just be standing around here waiting for something to--"

Noah appeared, lunging toward Stiles, picking him up, throwing him into the wall, making him fall unconscious. He lunged toward Malia. Malia grabbed him, turning around, throwing him into the wall, making him fall to the ground.

Noah flipped up into a standing position. I caught his wrist, using it to flip him to the ground, face first, twisting his arm behind his back, kneeling to put a knee to his back to keep him pinned down. Noah struggled immensely. Malia helped me hold him down.

Scott ran to Stiles. "Stiles. Stiles." Stiles blindly reached out his hand, looking to be in another place. "Stiles, you gotta get up." Scott took his hand, helping him stand. "You okay?"

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Let me go, please," Noah told us. "Please. They're coming."

We heard the cackling and buzzing that came when the Dread Doctors were nearby.

        *****      

Malia and I let go of Noah.

Noah tried to run away.

I grabbed him, pushing him against the wall, pinning him with my arm against his throat. "You're not going anywhere."

"I don't remember," Noah told us.

"You don't remember anything?" I asked skeptically.

"No," Noah answered. "Not when it happens. Not when I change."

"You clawed my dad half to death, okay?" Stiles asked. "And now it's poisoning him. You're gonna start remembering every detail right now."

"Guys, I hear them," Malia told us.

"Yeah, I do, too," Scott told us.

I took Noah, pushing him into Stiles. "Hey, Stiles, get him out of here. Go to the hospital. Figure out a way to save your dad."

"We're not gonna be able to stop them," Malia told us. 

"But we can slow them down," Scott told us. "Stiles, go." Stiles took Noah, running away, leaving. The Dread Doctors walked around the corner of the tunnel down the corridor, walking toward us. Scott looked at Malia and me. "We're gonna be okay."

"We're gonna die down here," Malia told us.

"No, we're not," Scott told us.

Malia looked at Scott in confusion. "How can you be so sure?"

"Because Tara's not the only one who called for help," Scott answered.

Malia and I looked a him in confusion.

Chris Argent arrived behind us. "Get down!" He raised an automatic gun toward the Dread Doctors. Malia, Scott and I ducked out of the way. Chris fired toward the Dread Doctors. Doctor 2 raised a hand, using a magnetic forcefield to render the bullet slow, letting it drop to the floor before it could hit them. The more Chris fired, the less fast that they could use the forcefield, slowing them down. "Run!"

Scott, Malia and I stood, running for the tunnel leading to the exit, but wouldn't leave without Chris.

Chris was still firing at the Doctors, backing away toward us.

All of us ran out of the tunnels, leaving.

        *****      

Noah had to have had to shift to break through chains that blocked him and Stiles from leaving. He grew bones out of his arms like a Berserker. A piece had broken off inside of Stilinski, which was what was poisoning him, killing him.

They had to open him up and get it out before he died.

Scott, Malia, Chris and I walked into the hospital waiting room to find out if they could save him.

Melissa stood. She smiled a small smile, nodding.

We knew that meant that Stilinski was alive and healing, sighing, smiling in relief.

Scott looked at me, overwhelmed.

I nodded reassuringly.

        *****      

The next day, I hadn't been able to find Scott, until I went back to the warehouse that was over the tunnels that we had been in the day before.

Scott seemed thoughtful and distant.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

Scott looked toward me. "Thinking."

I walked closer. "What are you thinking about?"

Scott looked down. "You said that I could fix things between the pack. And that's what I want to do. I can't leave it like this."

Scott absentmindedly rubbed a hand gently over the tattoo on his arm.

I stepped closer, putting a hand on his arm. "Then don't. We'll rebuild the pack. Together." I looked at Scott's tattoo of two bands around his arm. "Do you remember the story of Ennis swearing vengeance of the death of his Beta because the Argents killed him?" Scott nodded. "You remember what he did by swearing vengeance?"

"Yeah, he carved a spiral in a metal wall at the distillery," Scott answered.

I nodded. "Mm-hmm. Wolves use spirals for vengeance. But they also use their mark as a warning or a promise. Do you promise that we'll get the pack together?"

"Yes," Scott answered. "But the pack doesn't have a symbol."

"A pack's symbol is a mark symbolic to the Alpha," I told him. I looked at his tattoo. "I can imagine what it can be." I looked at Scott. "Can you?"

"But I got this tattoo--" Scott started.

"When you still had hope for you and Allison to be together," I finished. "And that's why it should be the symbol. Because it also symbolizes Allison. She was part of this pack. A very big part of it. And she still is. Even if she's gone, she's not forgotten. I think that's something we can all agree on."

I took Scott's hand with the hand that I had my triskele tattoo, raising them to the metal wall in front of us.

Scott let his claws grow, letting me circle his arm so that he could claw two bands into the wall, like his tattoo. He looked at my triskele tattoo on the back of my hand in front of us. "You got that tattoo the same day I got mine."

I nodded, letting go, backing away. "Mm-hmm. They were both done by Derek."

Scott nodded. "Derek has a triskele tattoo like that one on his back. It's a symbol of who you and your brother are, and if it wasn't for you and Derek, I would still be that kid Beta that you took under your wing that didn't know the first thing about any of this. It's because of you and Derek, both big parts of the pack, that I got this far." He looked at me, shaking his head. "I can't ignore that, can I?"

I frowned a bit in confusion, tilting my head.

Scott looked at the symbol in front of us. He carved a triskele into the wall, intersecting with the two bands already there perfectly."

I had a touched, surprised smirk playing over my lips.

Scott back away to stand next to me. We both  looked at each other, smiling small smiles. We looked at the two bands twined with the triskele.

I looked at Scott. "I love you."

Scott smiled. We looked at each other for a long, longing moment, kissing slowly, sweetly at first. I wrapped my arms around his neck. He wrapped his around my waist. We kissed with less hesitancy, building up passionately. We both pulled away for a moment, leaning our heads close to the other, turning them to look at the symbol on the wall next to us. We smiled small smiles.

I knew that we could get the pack back together.

It just might had to take a little time.