Azalea's outfit:
Chapter Four
🐺 Magic Bullet 🐺
Azalea sat in class, a bored expression on her face while Scott watches Stefan, return graded tests, coming closer and closer. Behind him, Stiles leans forward to whisper. "If Derek's not the Alpha- if he's not the one who bit you- who did?" Stiles asks making both Scott and Azalea glance back at him.
"I don't know." Scott said making Stiles sits back, thinking before leans forward again, "Did the Alpha kill the bus driver?" He asks again, "I don't know" Scott answered again. Azalea watched in amusement as Stiles flops back for a second before leaning forward again, "Does Allison's dad know about the Alpha?"
"I don't know!" Scott said, this time a lot louder than before. He sinks down in his seat when he realizes everyone is staring at him. Stefan finally drops Scott's test on his desk while giving him a look before walking away. Scott turns it over to see a big D- and a message:
"See me after class."
Stiles and Azalea both peer over at the grade and Stiles cringes slightly, "Dude, you need to study more." Stiles says making Scott puts his head in hands, overwhelmed, "That was a joke. It's one test. You need help studying?" Stiles asked and Scott shook his head. "I'm studying with Allison at her house after school." Scott said making Azalea smirk at him and Stiles smile proudly, "That's my boy."
"We're just studying." Scott said and Stiles shook his head, "No, you're not." He said making Scott raise his eyebrows. "No, I'm not?" He asked and Stiles nodded, "Not if I'm forced to live vicariously through you. If you go to her house and squander that colossal opportunity I'll have you professionally de-balled. Got it?" Stiles said making Azalea look at him weird.
"Yes. If you stop with the questions." Scott said and Stiles nodded, "Done. No more talk of Alphas or Derek. Who still scares me." Stiles said and Azalea chuckled, "I've known that man since he was a teenager. He is nothing but a teddy bear with anger issues."
🐺
"So." Azalea said as she walked up to Allison and Lydia, "I heard Scott is coming over tonight." She said making Lydia perk up slightly. "Scott's coming over? Tonight?" Lydia asked as they started walking up the stairs, "We're just studying together." Allison said shyly making Lydia scoff.
"Just studying never ends with just studying. It's like getting into a hot tub. Somebody eventually cops a feel." Lydia said making Azalea chuckle, "Well- that depends on the people." She said and Lydia just waved her off.
"So what are you saying?" Allison asked, nervously messing with her backpack strap. "I'm saying make sure he covers up." Lydia said making Allison look at her confused, "She means a condom." Azalea said and Allison's eyes widened.
"Are you kidding? After one date?" Allison asked and Lydia rolled her eyes, "Oh, don't be a total prude. Just give him a little taste." Lydia shrugged and Azalea chuckled while Allison glanced around awkwardly. "How much is a little taste?" Allison asked.
"You really like him, don't you?" Azalea asked and Allison shrugged slightly, "Well, there's just something different about him. When I first got here I had this plan: no boyfriends until college. I move too often. But when I met him, he was different. I can't explain it." Allison said and Lydia shrugged.
"I can. It's your brain flooding with phenylethylamine." She said making Allison look at her confused and Azalea sighed, "It's an anti-depressant. I'll tell you what to do. When's he coming over?" Azalea asked.
"Right after school."
🐺
Azalea and Stefan walked out of school together only to see Derek collapse on the ground in front of Stiles jeep making them look at each other before running over to him. "Derek? What are you doing here? What happened?" Azalea asked as Scott ran over and Stiles got out of the jeep. "He's not looking to good." Stiles said making Azalea roll her eyes. "I was shot." Derek struggled to answer.
"Why aren't you healing?" Scott asked and Derek let out a few painful breaths before answering, "I can't. It was a different kind of bullet." He said making Azalea and Stefan look at each other. "A silver bullet?" Stiles asked making Derek glare at him, "No, you idiot-" He started to say but cut himself off with a groan in pain.
"Wolfsbane?" Stefan asked and Derek nodded, "Wait a second. That's what she meant when she said 48 hours." Scott said making Azalea whip her head around to look at him. "What? Who said 48 hours?" She asked making him look at her, "The one who shot him-"
Derek sucks in a breath, a wave of pain rolls through him and his eyes flicker blue. "What are you doing? Stop that." Scott said panickedly and Derek sucked in a painful breath, "That's what I'm trying to tell you. I can't." He said.
Scott grabs him, struggling to keep him from falling to the pavement. Other students take notice, and horns start beeping behind Stiles's car. Stefan quickly helps Scott pull Derek up and over to the passenger side of Stiles's jeep.
Once they got Derek in Azalea turned to Scott, "I need you to find out what kind of bullet they used." She said making him look at her crazy, "How am I supposed to do that?" Scott said and she rolled her eyes. "Allison is an Argent. She's with them, they're the people who would have a wolfsbane bullet." She said as she walked as round the jeep, Scott following her.
"Why should I help you?" He asked as she climbed into the jeep, turning to him before she climbed into the back, "Because you need us." She said them went to the back seat and Stiles climbed into the driver's seat. "Fine, fine. I'll try." Scott said and Stefan stood outside the passenger side, "I'll follow behind you guys." He said and his sister nodded before he walked away.
"Get him out of here." Scott said, looking at Stiles making Stiles groan dramatically, "I hate you so much for this."
🐺
While driving, Stiles glances to his phone when Scott texts back: Need more time. In the passenger seat, Derek slumps down, cradling his arm as he deals with the pain. "Try to not to bleed out on my seats, okay? We're almost there." Stiles says, "Almost where?" Derek asked.
"Your house." Stiles said making Derek look at him with wide eyes, "What? No. You can't take me there." He said and Stiles furrowed his brows. "I can't take you to your house?" He asked and Derek shook his head. "Not when I can't protect myself." Derek said making Azalea frown and look down at herself.
"I'm not invisible right now, am I?" She asked and Derek just rolled his eyes. Stiles hits the brakes, skidding to a stop and turns to Derek, "What happens if Scott doesn't find your magic bullet? Are you dying?" Stiles asked while Azalea sat forward again while Stefan pulled in behind them.
"Not yet. I have a last resort." Derek said making Azalea look at him with a raised brow, "What last resort?" She asked while he took his jacket off. Derek exposes his gunshot wound. It had stopped bleeding, but the veins surrounding it climb from his forearm like vines, creeping toward his inner-elbow.
Azalea raised her eyebrows while Stiles cringed, "What is that? Is that contagious? Maybe you should just get out." Stiles said and Azalea rolled her eyes before sitting back down and texting her brother. "Start the car. Now." Derek demanded weakly, "I don't think you should be giving orders the way you look. In fact, I think if I wanted to, I could probably drag your werewolf ass out to the middle of the road and leave you for dead."
"Start the car or I'm going to rip your throat out with my teeth." Derek threatened making Azalea roll her eyes while Stiles just stared at him for a moment before starting the car again.
🐺
"What am I supposed to do with him?" Stiles asked Scott over the phone, looking over to see Azalea leaning over the back seat to look at Derek's arm.
"Take him somewhere, anywhere."
"And, by the way, he's starting to smell" Stiles said making Derek glare at him and Azalea roll her eyes as she sat back down.
"Like - like what?"
"Like death."
"Okay, take him to the animal clinic."
"What about your boss?"
"He's gone by now. There's a spare key in the box behind the dumpster." Scott said making Stiles sigh, "You're not going to believe where he's telling me to take you." Stiles said as he pulled the phone away from his ear. Derek went to grab his phone but Azalea grabbed it first, "Did you find it?"
"How the hell am I supposed to find one bullet? They have a million. This house is the freaking Walmart of guns."
"If you don't find it, Derek is dead." She said and he sighed, "I'm starting to think that wouldn't be such a bad thing." He said making her roll her eyes.
"Then how about we think about this... the Alpha called you out against your will. Which he is going to do it again. And next time you either kill with him or you get killed. Without Derek, you don't have me or my brother and you need us. Find the bullet." Azalea said then hung up and handed Stiles his phone back.
After a few minutes they pulled up to the animal clinic and Stefan and Azalea helped Derek out of the jeep as Stiles ran to get the key. Once they got inside they helped Derek sit down on a stack of dog food then looked down at his arm. "Does northern blue monkshood mean anything to you?" Stiles asked making Stefan and Azalea look over at him.
"It's a rare form of Wolfsbane. He has to bring me the bullet." Stefan said and Stiles looked at him, "Why?" He asked and this time it was Derek who answered.
"Because without it, I'm dead."
🐺
Derek clicks on a light and slowly pulls his shirt off to reveal the gunshot wound is now far worse. Veins branch out from open sores while the rest of his arm has turned a sicking yellow. "Well, that doesn't look like anything some Echinacea and a good night's sleep couldn't take care of." Stiles said, scratching the back of his neck while the Derek and the Novac siblings just rolled their eyes.
"When the infection reaches my heart, it'll kill me." Derek said and Stiles nodded slightly, "Positivity just isn't in your vocabulary, is it?" He asked. Derek starts pulling drawers open looking for something, " If he doesn't get here with the bullet in time... last resort." He said making the three look at him confused.
"Which is?" Stefan asked and Derek stops at a drawer, finding what he needs. He pulls out an electric done saw and sets it down on the table making Stiles' eyes widen while Azalea and Stefan raised their eyebrows.
"Someone is going to cut off my arm." Derek pushes the bone saw forward, then begins tying a tourniquet around the infected arm. "What if you bleed to death?" Stiles asked, "Azalea will heal me if it works." He said and Azalea cocked an eyebrow. "I never agreed to that." She muttered as she glanced at her brother who glanced at her in amusement.
"I don't know if I can do this." Stiles said while setting down the bone saw, "Why not?" Derek asked in annoyance. "Because of the cutting through flesh, the sawing of bone, and especially the blood." Stiles said dramatically making Azalea raise her eyebrows, "You faint at the sight of blood?" She asked.
"No. But I might at the sight of a chopped off arm!"
"How about this: Either you cut off my arm or I rip off your head." Derek threatened making Stiles roll his eyes, "I'm not buying your threats anymore." Stiles says but then Derek grabs him by the collar making him instantly change his mind, "Okay, bought, sold, I'll do it, I'll do it."
Derek releases him, but not because he wanted to. He starts gasping, choking and coughing. Hunching over the table, he opens his mouth as if to throw up. But instead of vomit, an inky black liquid is choked out, spilling across the floor. "Holy God, what the hell is that?" Stiles cringed.
"It's his body trying to heal itself." Azalea answered moving to stand next to Derek, putting her hands on his shoulders. "It's not doing a very good job." Stiles said and Derek put his arm on the table, "Now... You have to do this now." Derek said and Stefan grabbed Stiles' shoulder. "I'll do it." He said making Stiles sigh in relief and move away from the table.
"Oh God..." Stiles mumbled as Stefan placed the edge of the blade against Derek's skin, just above the furthest-reaching infected vein. "Are you sure?" Stefan asked, raising his eyebrows at Derek who nodded, "Do it." He said. Stefan and Azalea glanced at each other for a moment before Azalea nodded slightly, and just as he's about to pull the trigger someone called out Stiles' name.
Scott bursts through the door, shocked to see Stefan preparing to saw off Derek's arm. "What the hell are you doing?" He asks and Stiles sighs in relief, "You just prevented a lifetime of nightmares." He mumbled.
"Did you get it?" Derek asks and Scott nods and holds up the bullet, Derek grabs it, raises it up to look at it in the light. "What are you going to do?" Stiles asked and Azalea noticed Derek start to sway, "I'm gonna...I'm gonn-" He said weakly and Azalea stepped forward slightly.
"Derek?" She asked, stepping closer to him then suddenly he falls, collapsing right to the floor. The bullet drops and goes rolling. Scott darts after it while Azalea, Stefan and Stiles run over to Derek. "Derek? Derek, wake up! Scott, what the hell are we going to do?" Stiles panicked while Azalea lightly smacks Derek's face.
"I don't know-the bullet-I can't reach it-"
"He's not waking up! I think he's dying. I think he's dead." Stiles yelled and Stefan shook his head, "Not yet." He said making Azalea look at him and he nodded. She sighed softly before holding her hand out over Derek's chest before muttering something under her breath. Right as Scott yelled "I got it!" Derek woke up with a gasp.
Stefan quickly got up and took the bullet from Scott while Azalea helped Derek up. Stefan pulled the tip if the bullet off and dumps all of the Wolfsbane on the table before pulls out a lighter from his pocket. He holds the flame to the pile of wolfsbane and sparks fly as bits of wolfsbane light aflame. He palms the smoldering ashes before grabbing Derek's arm, grinding it into the gunshot wound making Derek groan as he does so.
Derek drops back to his knees on the floor. He opens his mouth, revealing his sharpened fangs. The four watch as Derek tilts his head back and screams, he tumbles back, sweat-soaked skin hitting the cold cement floor. His arm falls to his side. In seconds, the open sores close, wounds healing, returning to normal.
Stefan and Azalea stepped forward to help Derek up while Scott and Stiles still had wide eyes. "That. Was. Awesome!!! Yes!!!" Stiles said while pumping his fist making Azalea roll her eyes. "Are you okay?" Scott asked and Derek rolled his eyes, "Except for the agonizing pain." Derek said sarcastically. "I'm guessing the ability to use sarcasm is a sign of good health." Stiles said making Derek glare at him.
"We saved your life. That means you're going to leave us alone. You got that? And if you don't I go back to Allison's dad and tell him everything-" Scott said and Derek cut him off, "You're going to trust them? You think they can help you?" He asked.
"Why not? They're a lot freaking nicer than you are."
"I can show you exactly how nice they are." Derek said making Scott look at him confused while Stefan and Azalea glanced at each other.
🐺
Scott follows Derek, Stefan and Azalea down a hall of the hospital while throwing glances back to see if they're still alone in the hall. "What are we doing here?" Scott asked. But Derek doesn't answer, just continuing toward a room at the end of the hall.
Derek ushers them into the dark hospital room, quietly closing the door behind them. He pulls the curtain back from the window to let in the moonlight which reveals a man in a wheelchair sitting nearby. Only one side of his body can be seen, a blank, catatonic expression on his face.
"Who is he?" Scott asked looked at the man, "My uncle. Peter Hale." Derek answers. "Is he... like you? A werewolf?" Scott asked and Derek nodded slightly, "He was. Now he's barely even human." Derek said.
"Six years ago my sister and I were at school when my house caught fire. Eleven people were trapped inside. He was the only survivor." Derek said and Azalea and Stefan glanced at each other and sighed. "How are you so sure they set the fire?" Scott asked, "They're the only ones who knew about us." Derek said and Scott shook his head slightly.
"Then they had a reason." Scott said and Derek looked at him, "Like what? You tell me what justifies this?" Derek said angrily as he grabbed the arm of the chair, he pulls Peter Hale around to show burn scars on the other side of his body.
'They say they'll only kill an adult and only with absolute proof. But there were members of my family who were perfectly ordinary in that fire. This is what they do." Derek said angrily, taking a deep breath, "It's what Allison will do." He said and Scott glanced at Azalea who shrugged slightly.
"You never know what might happen, Scott." She said before looking back at Peter. She squinted slightly as she stared at him but before she could do anyone someone said something.
"What are you doing? How did you get in here?" A woman said by the door, looking over the four saw a nurse with red hair standing there. "Nothing we were just leaving." Derek says walking away, Stefan, Azalea and Scott following him.
A little while later as Stefan and Azalea drove home, Azalea sighed. "I want to try to keep an eye on Peter." She said making her brother glance at her, "Why? You think the Argents would try something?" He asked and she shook her head.
"No, I mean incase he's the Alpha." She said and he raised his eyebrows, "He's comatose." He said and she nodded. "I know, but I got a weird feeling off him. I'm hoping it means he just might be getting better soon. But it could also mean that he might already be better." She said and he nodded slightly.
"He is a werewolf after all. He should at least be getting better after six years." He said and she nodded, "Exactly."