Translucence

36

Kya watched her friends. She'd been counting track of the hours. It had been far too long.

As soon as Scott, Stiles and Allison emerged from the water, Kya suddenly disappeared.

"I saw it," Allison said. "I know where it is."

Stiles climbed out of the tub and nodded. "We passed it. There's -- there's a stump, this huge tree. Well, it's not huge anymore. It was cut down. But it's still big though; very big."

Scott said, "It was the night we were looking for the body."

Stiles turned to his friend. "Yeah, the same night you were bit by Peter."

"I was there too, in the car with my mother," Allison said. "We almost hit someone."

Scott's eyes widened. "It was me. You almost hit me."

He let out a gasp. "We can find it."

Isaac glanced at his phone and frowned, causing Allison to turn and ask, "What?"

He showed the time. "You guys were out a long time."

"How long is a long time?" Stiles wondered, looking around for Kya.

"16 hours," Deaton answered.

Scott turned to his boss. "We've been in the water for 16 hours?"

"And the full moon rises in less than four."

Stiles noticed Scott's expression and narrowed his eyes. "No, dude, you are not going back with them."

Scott let out a sigh. "I made a deal with Deucalion."

Isaac frowned. "Why does it matter anyway?"

Scott sighed. "Because I still don't think that we can beat Jennifer without their help."

Allison looked to Deaton. "He trusts you more than anyone. Tell him he's wrong."

Deaton was silent for a moment. "I'm not so sure he is. Circumstances like this sometimes require that you align yourself with people you'd normally consider enemies."

Isaac scoffed. "So, we're gonna trust him, the guy that calls himself death, destroyer of worlds? We're gonna trust that guy?"

Deaton glanced to Isaac. "I wouldn't trust him, no. But you could use him to your advantage. Deucalion may be the enemy, but he could also be the bait."

A creak from the front door caught their attention and the bell rang. Deaton and Scott walked over and the rest of them soon followed.

Lydia frowned, seeing Ethan. "What do you want?"

"I need your help," he answered.

Stiles asked, "With what?"

"Stopping my brother and Kali... from killing Derek."

They left the clinic and Stiles drove himself to his house while everyone else headed to Allison's apartment.

Stiles grabbed a pair of his dad's boxers and called his friend. "Scott, what do I grab? How about my dad's boxers?"

After a moment, Scott suggested socks, and Stiles picked up a pair.

He hopped into his Jeep and the storm worsened around him.

After a short while, he said, "Come on." Something hit the Jeep from behind. "Whoa, sh -- Oh." A tree branch was in front of the Jeep and he hit it. "Whoa!"

His head hit the window and he was knocked out.

When he woke up, he saw Melissa, Chris and his father.

The ceiling began caving in and stopped abruptly, and Stiles placed a bat to stop the concrete.

Sheriff Stilinski smiled at his son. "I always said aluminum was better." He embraced his son.

He heard crashing above them.

Once everything quieted down, Allison asked, "Is it over?"

Stiles' phone began reading and he answered it. "Scott?"

Scott said from the other line, "Hey, are you okay?"

Stiles nodded. "I'm okay. We're all okay. How about you; you okay?"

"Sort of."

"Hey, uh, Scott? Mind doing us a favor?"

"Name it."

"Can you come get us?"

"Sure."

"Great, okay. Um, uh, bring a ladder." His comment caused a laugh from everyone.

Eventually, they managed to get out of the Nemeton.

Stiles noticed a figure lying nearby and ran up to whoever it was.

He turned the figure over and the girl began coughing. She opened her eyes and looked around wildly.

Stiles reared back slightly. "Kya?"

Kya looked up at him, then at everyone else as they stared at her. "Can you... Can they see me?"

Melissa rushed over to Kya to check her vitals. "You seem okay, but I want to run some tests."

Stiles sat next to Kya and took her hands in his. "How are you alive?"

"A life for another," Kya replied. "Whatever happened here brought me back."

He smiled and pulled her into his arms, never wanting to let her go, never wanting to lose her again.