St. Clair || Stilinski [2]

Twenty-Seven || Time

"I was more worried about you, Jace," Stiles admitted, offering out a hand as Jacy climbed the ladder.

Jacy tossed her hair over her shoulder as she stood up in the den of her old house, the wood panel sliding shut behind her.

"Are you okay?" Stiles asked, cupping her face in his hands. "Why did you stay?"

"I'm okay," she said, squeezing his hands softly. "Really, I'm fine. I just, I just need a minute."

"Why?" Stiles' eyes searched hers, trying to understand why she didn't run from their lair.

"I wanted it to tell me something," she replied truthfully. "About me. About what's happening."

Stiles softly sighed, running a hand down her hair. "If what you think is happening is actually happening, you shouldn't be in places like this by yourself. You should've called me or asked Allison to stay."

Jacy nodded. "I know. You're right. I just want to figure out what's going on."

"I know." He put an arm around her shoulder, moving her toward the door. "I get that."

"Weren't you at the hospital?" Jacy asked as they stepped out on the porch, heading toward their cars. "What happened with the body?"

"That's actually what I was going to tell everyone when I found out you were here." Stiles reached into his pocket, revealing a uniform name tape. "I found out who's taking the bodies."

Jacy's brows furrowed, taking the metal strip from his hand.

The moonlight illuminated the engraved name, dust from a slow burn fire rimming the edges.

"It's Jordan?"

||

"My asthma's back. I'm not sure how, but it came back. Just as bad as it used to be. So now I keep my inhaler on me all the time. Just like I used to. It's been five days. We haven't seen any new chimeras, and we haven't see the Dread Doctors. We all go to school, pretending like nothing's happened. But everyone seems to know. You just walk down the halls and no one's smiling. No one's laughing. You get the feeling that everyone can sense that something's coming. They just don't know what it is, or how bad it's going to be. Every time I feel like I should do something about it, I find myself reaching for my inhaler. Like, I'm going to take a hit of it and, and come up with some brilliant solution on how to save everyone. But I don't know what to do. I don't think anyone does.

"Maybe that's why no one's really talking to each other. Unless it's Stiles and Jacy. It's like he won't leave her side, or can't, but even then they're quiet around each other. Sometimes we don't even notice each other. But I think some of us are okay with that. Because not talking makes it easier to keep secrets. And I don't know if anyone's really lying about things. Maybe it's more like lies of omission. Maybe the worst lie is to Stilinski. Because no one's told him about Parrish. Then again, no one's told Parrish either. Jacy thinks they don't understand enough to worry him. He doens't seem to remember moving the bodies. And we think that he's only really dangerous if you try to get in his way. If Stilinski knows the truth, he'd definitely get in his way.

"So Lydia, Allison, Jacy and Stiles are trying to find the bodies, which means finding the Nemeton. They're driving around in pairs, searching all over the woods. But the last time we found this thing, three of us died in ice water. We're not the only ones looking for the chimeras. Stilinski's got everyone looking for the next target. Questioning anyone who's a genetic chimera. Anyone who's got two sets of DNA. No one really knows what they're looking for. Some think it's a serial killer. Some probably know it's worse. The two chimeras we know about, Hayden and Corey, they're both doing okay. Actually, better than okay. They're healing faster and getting stronger. They don't need our help. And I don't think they want it anyway. Allison's been distant, but even she said her dad and Jacy's mom have been spending more and more time apart. And I'm getting worried about Deaton. He went to find out more about the Doctors, but its been over a week since he's contacted anyone."

Scott set his inhaler on the empty metal table in the vet clinic. "I know something's coming. And all I can think about it how good am I going to be if I can't even breathe?"

Theo watched Scott carefully, standing across from him. "You sound like you're trying to apologize."

"You came back looking for an alpha," said Scott. "I guess I'm sorry that you found me."

"I'm not sorry."

Scott's brows rose. "You still want to be part of the pack?"

"Scott," Theo softly laughed, "I'm with you. For better or worse."

"Trust me, there's gonna be worse."

"I'm counting on it."

||

Despite no cover of night, Theo Raeken opened the front door of the abandoned Dane house, cautious as he shut it behind him.

Although he'd parked his truck a block away, one could never be too careful.

Theo pressed the center wall panel in the den, barely pausing before descending the replaced staircase into the lab.

The beta approached the working Doctor, only just having left Scott at the clinic. "I need more time."

The masked Surgeon inhaled as a large injection went into his bone white arm, ignoring the wolf's presence.

"Are you listening to me?" Theo asked. "I said I need more time, especially without Jacy's help."

"Perigee-syzygy," the Surgeon hummed, standing behind another chimera laid out on a table. "The supermoon. We'll know at the perigee-syzygy." He examined his suture covered arm, it no longer baggy and aging.

"But what about Hayden?"

"Failure."

"No, no, no," Theo countered. "Not to me."

"Failure compromises the experiment pool."

"I kept Scott out of your way. I did everything you wanted," he told the Surgeon. "Now I need need Hayden alive!"

The Surgeon rolled his sleeve back down, eyes on detailed moon charts. "Inconsequential."

"You promised me a pack."

"We promised you nothing but the girl."

Theo scoffed, rage rising. "Jacy wants nothing to do with me at this point. It's doubtful she'd ever help me with the pack if she knew what was happening. I need Hayden alive!"

The Dread Doctors turned to Theo, parting from their duties to look at the ungrateful werewolf.

They're not above killing us, even if we are the closest to perfection they have.

Theo's own words rang through his head, causing him to step back as his voice cooled.

The Surgeon stepped forward. "Only until the perigee-syzygy." He yanked a sword from a dead chimera on his table, slamming the sheath onto the wood to create a cane. "Then, she dies."