work_inprogress | Is it gone, tell me what went wrong / 'Cause baby I'm not that strong

Entry tags:

Is it gone, tell me what went wrong / 'Cause baby I'm not that strong

It wasn't that Peter wanted to leave Scott behind, by any means, but he'd rushed back in there and the Alpha twins--who'd flipped sides just like he'd said they would--were right behind them and Cora had already stopped breathing once. So, he snarled at Isaac who could see the twins behind them and knew, if nothing else, he had a duty to his pack--of which Peter and Cora were a major part.

He floored it.

The epinephrine had burned off a little too fast, which had been embarrassing, but the adrenaline was still pumping--possibly the only thing keeping him upright, honestly. That and needing to take care of his pack...Cora hadn't regained consciousness, and he could only hope someone had found Derek.

Isaac didn't know where Scott was, didn't know if he'd gotten out, and he was shaking, but he got them back to the loft safely. Sure, the pack knew where it was, but they knew where all of them lived and where else were they going to go? Better somewhere they could sort of defend. They didn't have Ms. Blake, anyway, so why would they come after them?

When they got to the loft, Peter got Cora out of the car, lifting her with a pained wince, but when Isaac tried to take her, he snarled at the boy until he ran ahead, getting doors instead, letting them all into the loft and skidding to a bit of a halt at finding Lydia and Hayley sitting there.

Peter noticed the girls, but didn't process, moving across to get Cora on the table, somewhere they could work on her more easily than the sofa. After he got her there, he just leaned against it, head hanging down, breathing a little too hard.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Stiles looked over in surprise again. "Really?"

"Thank you." Allison glanced at Klaus again as she reached back to grab her quiver of arrows. Then she was opening her door to climb out of the car, slinging the strap over her body so the quiver sat against her back. As she turned, he could see the ring daggers strapped to her side as well. "Let's go."

Derek nodded his head, motioning for Isaac to follow him. "In five." He took off again.

Chris shrugged. "If you want. Might as well learn if you're going to keep hanging around them." He didn't want to think about there being a day Stiles might need it, but.

Klaus looked over the weaponry, almost amused, but also impressed, but nodded. "Lead the way."

Isaac did as he was told, moving with Derek as the vampire seemed to melt into the shadows in a blur.

Stiles didn't want to think there would be a day too where he would need to defend himself but it had already happened once or twice and he knew it would be better if he knew what to do. "Sure."

Allison nodded, motioning for Klaus to follow as she started forward, walking slowly as she opened her senses to her surroundings. When she felt the energy in the air change, she stopped. "I think we're nearby."

Derek skirted the edge of the Nemeton, slowing as he reached the spot where he had separated from Elijah and then he was glancing back at Isaac. "Did you feel anything?"

Chris nodded a bit. "All right." He was silent for the rest of the drive, parking when they reached their designated spot. "We have to walk the rest of the way in."

Klaus paused when she did, head tilting and he closed his eyes for a moment. A shiver ran over his skin and he nodded. "I'd say so."

Isaac shifted a little from foot to foot. "Maybe...I don't know. My skin's tingling and I feel like my hair's all on end, but...that could just be everything that's happened tonight.

Stiles was quiet too, focused on the hope that they were close to where his father and Scott's mother were but, at the same time, it also felt like too much to hope for. Glancing over when they finally parked, he tried not to look nervous as he nodded. "Okay."

"What do you feel?" Allison asked softly, looking around.

Derek shook his head a bit as Isaac explained what it was he felt. "No, that's magic."

Chris got out of the car and moved to the back, pulling out his guns and a crossbow both, making sure the clips were fully loaded and he had bolts, before handing Stiles the tire iron he'd promised. "It won't break as easily as the bat."

Klaus shifted uneasily, shaking his head. "It's a kind of ward, I think, trying to make people not want to come this direction, maybe?"

"So, we're at the right place," Isaac said quietly.

Stiles took the tire iron, nodding a bit as he clutched it tightly and then waited for Mr. Argent to start moving before he followed after him. "So, uh, have you ever dealt with emissaries before?"

Allison looked around again before she moved forward, fighting back the shiver that crawled down her spine and whispered in the back of her head. "Then this is exactly the direction we should go."

"Yes, it is." Derek didn't need to feel the air to know it was the right place as he could see the spot where they needed to be in the distance.

Chris shook his head a little. "None but Deaton. Normally, they aren't violent, and can balance wolves, helping keep them from becoming those we would notice."

"Mmhmm..." Klaus murmured, frowning a little bit at the tingle of magic if it was strong enough for him to really feel. He wanted to get this over with, keep anything from backfiring on them, and move on to something more fun...like hunting down these Alpha wolves. God, he hoped they were good for a fight.

Isaac glanced at Derek and was about to ask when Elijah appeared. "There only seems to be one entrance, is that right?" the vampire asked.

"So clearly Deucalion screwed up a lot of things by making the others kill theirs, huh?" Stiles muttered dryly.

Allison glanced sideways at him, noting the tension radiating from him, but she couldn't look at him for long as she needed to stay focused on their surroundings.

Glancing over at Elijah when he appeared, Derek nodded. "Yes, a set of cellar doors just over there." He nodded in the direction.

"More than I think anyone could have realized." Chris shook his head. "It should never have been like this." Another thing that had him questioning the family business.

Klaus caught his brother's scent in the air, and scanned the area, making out shapes in the distance, and tilting his head to listen, smiling slightly when he heard his voice and nodding. "Elijah and his group are in place."

Elijah frowned. "How big is it down there? She's obviously not keeping them above ground, but I don't relish rushing a small space, enclosed, where the humans could get hurt. Better to lure her out..."

Scott had told Stiles the story they had gotten from Gerard and Stiles found himself glancing sideways at Chris again, nodding slightly. "It feels like that about everything lately, doesn't it?"

Allison blinked before realizing that Klaus could hear the others and she found herself envying him for a second. "Let's go this way then." She motioned for him to follow her as she took the opposite point from the other group.

"It's not that big." Derek replied, his jaw clenching. Really, he liked Elijah's idea but that was mostly because he didn't want to go down into the cellar again. "Let's bring her out somehow." He glanced at Elijah. "She might come out if I call for her."

"Things do seem to be going downhill," Chris murmured. He was tense, looking around, remembering the last time he was here.

Klaus nodded, letting her lead, though he pulled out his phone to text Elijah where they were.

Elijah hadn't been listening for him, so the phone buzzing caught him and he read it, before nodding at Derek. "If you think she'll come, call her..."

"So, uh, what are we going to do?" Stiles asked, trying not to sound nervous. "How do we know when we can go in?"

Allison stood still, glancing over at Klaus again as he sent a text message. "Does mountain ash bother you?" She asked softly.

Derek nodded as Elijah encouraged him to call out to Jennifer and he moved forward, looking around. "Jennifer?"

Chris was scanning the area. "We get as close as we can without being seen and when the fighting starts...we move in."

Klaus frowned a little, confused, as he looked back a her, and shook his head. "No?"

Isaac caught his breath, wondering if she'd show, even as Elijah scanned the area between them and the tree. Reaching out, he touched Isaac's elbow lightly. "Let's fall back in the shadows some, so she thinks it's just him here..."

Stiles nodded slowly, his heart pounding wildly in his ears as he felt his chest growing tight with anxiety as they waited.

"Good to know." Allison nodded, moving forward slowly.

Derek waited quietly till he saw a shadow ahead of him, recognizing the slight frame as Jennifer moved slowly towards him with a smirk on her face. "Well, what do we have here?" She paused then, looking around not unlike a rabbit sensing something nearby. "What brings you out here, Derek?" She looked at him again. "I wouldn't think you would want to come back here willingly. Not here of all places."

Elijah held back, hand still on Isaac's arm, waiting for Jennifer to move closer to Derek, farther away from the storm doors. He knew Klaus would be listening, and spoke so softly even Isaac had to strain to hear him. "Be ready to close off retreat."

Klaus heard him, more whisper than voice, but, well. This wasn't their first time doing this. "They're getting ready to move," he told the girl, moving in close to murmur it in her ear. "We need to make sure she doesn't get back to the entrance, to leave it clear for your father and the boy."

When Elijah judged the distance sufficient, he squeezed Isaac's arm. "Right behind me." Then he moved, just a blur that was little more than a whisper of wind past Jennifer, then a blow, hard on her back, sending her toward Derek. If the parents weren't in the root cellar, he wanted her alive to question, which was the only reason she still had her head.

"Got it." Allison murmured softly. "Stay back behind me, then you'll be another surprise for her." Ducking down, she moved into the shadows.

Jennifer had only taken a couple steps when she heard a whisper in the wind that wasn't quite right and then she was flying forward, hitting the ground at Derek's feet. She was disorientated for only a second though before she was looking up into the angry red eyes of an Alpha. "Well I guess you brought some friends." She smirked.

Then her eyes started to glow white as she brought her hand down on the Earth, a crack of thunder filling the air at the same time Derek felt the invisible force slamming into him to send him flying backwards. Jennifer was on her feet then, knowing she needed to get to the Nemeton where she would be her strongest.

She had only made it half way when she heard the whistle of an arrow seconds before light exploded from the ground in front of her, causing her to stumble back as she brought a hand up to protect her face.

Klaus followed her, though urging her a little faster, a little closer. If he was holding back, he needed to make sure she didn't escape.

Isaac had been right behind Elijah, lunging to help Derek with her when the force hit and he went flying backwards, as well. It knocked Elijah off of his feet, momentarily, though he just rolled with it back to his feet, scanning for Klaus.

The light from the arrow made him flinch, but Klaus had been expecting it, and moved in swiftly with the flash, fingers finding Jennifer's throat and bearing her to the ground, eyes glowing bright in the night.

"Now," Chris told Stiles. "Quickly, but quietly. We want to get down there while she's distracted..."

Derek rolled back to his feet as well, instinctively looking for Isaac just to make sure he was okay especially after losing Boyd and Erica already. As soon as he was sure the boy was safe, he turned back in time to see Klaus slamming Jennifer to the ground.

The Darach was winded for a second before focusing on the thing looming over her. Her eyes widened and then narrowed with interest as she tilted her head slowly to the side, a small smirk forming on her mouth. "Well....look at you." She murmured softly, lifting her free hand up towards him almost as if she were going to touch his cheek in wonder. "Aren't you marvelous?"

Stiles stumbled over his feet when Chris told him to move but he was quick to catch himself, glancing sideways at the others even as he and the hunter rushed for the storm cellar doors.

Isaac wasn't as strong as the others, maybe, but he was young and he was a werewolf and if he hadn't rolled up quite as quickly, he'd still gotten back up and nodded when he saw Derek look at him. He was fine. His eyes widened when Klaus just appeared like that, catching the glow in his eyes and the sheer power in the move.

"I am absolutely marvelous, sweetheart, and you are clearly not all that bright."

Elijah glanced at Chris and Stiles, moving the other direction, a visible movement meant to draw the eye with the approaching threat, as he moved to hover over the girl and his brother. Straightening his cuffs, he looked down at the two of them. "Niklaus, do stop flirting with the witch."

"Aren't I?" Jennifer murmured, her hand moving to his arm, sliding slowly over the sleeve of his jacket as she tilted her head despite the hold he had on her. There was something almost animal like in her movements as she continued to watch him. Unseen all around them the shadows started to thicken and grow.

Then she gave a low laugh as she looked up at the other man in the pretty suit. "Witch?" She arched a brow as though it was just an every day disagreement. "I'm so much more than a witch."

The shadows rose like tidal waves, causing Allison's breath to hitch as it crashed over her and the werewolves. It wasn't a normal darkness though as it seemed impossibly thick like nothingness instead of darkness. A high pitched hiss filled the air then, nearing a painful pitch as Jennifer tried to slam her hand against Klaus's chest to send him flying back again.

Stiles heard the high pitched noise, causing his to wince even as he flung open the doors and dashed down the crickety steps. "DAD?!"

Elijah snarled at the darkness and the noise, already moving before Klaus went flying--with his hand clutched around Jennifer's throat. His hand squeezed harder, as much involuntarily as intentional, which might have killed her. Elijah right behind them, though, had his hand through her back, hand curling around her heart. As Klaus collapsed, he pulled the organ out, backing up with it in his hand.

Isaac just...stopped where he was and stared and looked at Elijah and then Derek and then Elijah and then Derek. "...Did he just....?"

Chris came down right behind Stiles, guns drawn and at the ready, breathing out a sigh of relief at finding two live bodies instead of blood.

Derek had been ready to follow as well but he stopped dead at the sight of Elijah pulling the bitch's heart right out from the middle of her back and even he had to admit that was impressive. Jennifer's entire body stiffened, then shifted to reveal the horrible disfigured creature underneath for just a second before the woman collapsed at their feet. The shadows fell back, the noise stopped and the forest was eerily quiet.

Allison was staring at the sight in mild horror as she stood back, an arrow half drawn though she lowered her bow since there was no point for it anymore.

Stiles had no idea what was happening though as he was focused on the sight of his Dad tied up but alive. "Dad!"

"Stiles!" The Sheriff looked up in surprise and then relief as his son rushed towards him. Stiles didn't say a thing though, merely fell to his knees as he threw his arms around him, closing his eyes to hold back the tears that threatened once more though it was more from his own relief as well.

Melissa watched the scene with a small smile before shifting just enough to look up at Chris. "Hey." Despite the bravado she was trying to put forth, he would see the fear giving way to relief and the rush of emotion that came with realizing that she was free. That he was there to save them.

Klaus scrambled out from under the body before she completely collapsed, looking at the blood on his hand and then heart in Elijah's. He glared as Elijah dropped her heart and pulled out his handkerchief to clean off his hand. "...You said I could kill her."

Elijah sighed and rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry. You seemed ready to chat her to death. And she was hurling magic. Perhaps I should have just let her turn you into a frog..."

"...Can druids do that?" Isaac asked, mostly to Derek, mostly still just staring at the heart now on the ground.

Elijah tossed the handkerchief to Klaus. "It looks like you did a good job on her throat. Let's say we killed her together and perhaps see about getting on with the night..."

Klaus caught the scrap of fabric on instinct, but still looked disgruntled.

Chris watched Stiles and the sheriff for a moment, then shifted his gaze to Melissa, tucking his gun away and reached around to pull the knife at his belt free, laying it down by Stiles so he could cut the sheriff's ropes, while he got the one up his sleeve out and moved to Melissa, kneeling beside her. "Hey. That doesn't really look all that comfortable..."

Allison swallowed thickly, making herself look away even as she kept her features composed into a perfect mask of neutrality. Sliding the last arrow away, she turned to head towards the cellar, wanting to make sure that her Dad was okay and that they had found the missing parents.

"I don't know." Derek muttered towards Isaac. "I wouldn't be surprised." Then he nodded towards the cellar. "Go make sure Scott's mom is in there." Since he knew the woman had become important to Isaac as well.

Still watching him, Melissa smiled as he left a knife for Stiles before moving over to help her. "I have to say I've been in better." She murmured before realizing how that sounded. "I mean...I...nevermind." She looked down to watch the process as he started cutting her free while Stiles grabbed the knife to work on his Dad's bonds.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject