Gut Instinct (Teen Wolf)

2:20 Or I Won't

Warnings: angst, shifting, mentions of drugs and I.E.D., injuries

She wasn't avoiding Liam. No. She really wasn't. She was just giving him some space. It may sound like a weak attempt to convince other people she wasn't avoiding him, but she really wasn't.

She knew what it was like to be thrust into this world. She wanted to give him some time to process it. Which was why she didn't go for milkshakes on Sunday. She knew Mason would bring Liam, so she went with Scott and Stiles to tell their dad about the deadpool.

"So the Walcotts were the first," Stiles said. "At least the first we know about. Four murders. Sean, his brother, thier parents. They were killed by a professional assassin called The Mute. Weapon of choice: a military tomahawk. But then the Mute was killed by Peter Hale after he tried to blow up Derek with a Claymore mine.

"Next was Demarco. He delivered a keg to the party at Lydia's lakehouse. And got decapitated outside his car. And then last night, 23-year old Carried Hudson."

"It's a deadpool," Scott summerized. "A hit list of supernatural creatures." Scott unfolded the paper from his pocket and showed it to Noah. "This is only part of it. The rest still has to be decoded."

Vic could tell the moment her dad found her name. His nostrils flared, he gripped the edge of his desk, and his shoulders tensed.

"Who found this list?" he asked.

"Lydia," Stiles said.

"How?" Noah asked.

"She wrote it," Stiles answered.

"She transcribed it without realizing it," Vic clarified.

"Banshee?" Noah asked.

"Banshee," the siblings echoed back.

"Beautiful." The man turned back to the list and pointed to the ink. "Alright, what are these numbers next to the names?"

"We're getting to that," Stiles said. "First, you need to know that the code was broken by the cipher key."

"Wait, you mean like a key word?" Noah questioned.

"It's actually a name," Stiles informed.

"Allison," Scott said.

An awkward silence filled the office. It had been a long few months for everyone in the pack. Scott especially.

"Her name broke a third of the list," Stiles said.

"And now we think there's two other cipher keys," Scott added.

"Which will give us the rest of the names," Noah concluded.

Vic nodded. She forced herself to look away from the paper. Staring holes into it wasn't going to change the fact her name was on there. It was there in clear, black ink.

"Okay, so how do we get the cipher keys?" Noah asked.

"Same way we got the code," Stiles said. "Lydia."

"She's been at the lake house all weekend trying to find the other two key words," Scott said.

"You didn't know about Demarco or Carrie?" Noah asked.

Vic shook her head. "No, I've never met them before. Not every supernatural goes around setting off fireowrks into the sky that spell out their names like we do. A lot of them just try to live as normal lives as they can."

"And what about these other two names on the list? Uh, Kayleen Bettcher and Elias Town. They werewolves too?"

"Possibly," Vic said. "They could be something else but we don't know."