The bullets were raining down heavily on their surroundings and the hunters only seemed to be getting closer and closer with every fired round. Venus' eyes hadn't dared move from Deucalions now failing body, her heart feeling heavy in her chest at yet another death. Her head was tightly tucked under Scotts arms, his body shielding her from the falling debris and the potential bullets.
A full round had hit the pillar the pair were hiding behind, causing a large chunk of cement to come tumbling over them, a fearful yelp escaping the girls lips. Her head as now spinning, more tired than ever of being so close to death yet again, at least this time Stiles knew where they were and what they were doing.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a hunter to the right of her and Scott, gun pointed directly at them. However, the sudden loud screech of a vehicle pulling up near them interrupted the exchange and the hunter went flying across the pavement as a certain sarcastic brunette smiled back at his two best friends.
"Didn't think you were doing this without me, did you?" Stiles calls out to them, the smile growing on his face.
But before either of them could reply, another figure exited the Jeep. "Without us."
Venus looked over at Scott in disbelief as Derek transformed and began to charge at the group of hunters, the Alpha following shortly after him. The actions seemed to have triggered a fight response from the rest of the surrounding pack members and soon the hunters were falling to the ground one by one. They had managed to surround the group from all sides while they were taking cover, leading to the group having to split.
The Nymphs hands immediately go to her pockets, pulling out her trusty daggers, strategically chucking one towards where Malia was attempting to fight a group of them and not spotting the one sneaking up behind her. Her legs then moving her towards another hunter, her knee flying into his chest and knocking him backwards, her daggers cutting across the second hunters shins as she lands.
"I've never been more attracted to you." Stiles speaks from behind her, a stupid grin on his face as he watched her.
The girl rolled her eyes. "Only you would be turned on by something like this."
Their flirting was cut short by the sound of engines turning on, their eyes catching sight of Monroe getting back into her car with the remainder of the still standing hunters. The car wheels scraped through the gravel as they quickly made their getaway before they lost this fight. The pack forms back together as they left, each of them assessing the damage.
"I can't believe you all hid this from me." Stiles complained as Venus dragged him towards the rest of their friends. "Like not a single word said to me."
"We had our reasons." his girlfriend explained, cutting herself short as they reach Scott who was now crouched over Deucalion.
The former Alpha looked almost completely drained of life, his skin pale as a sheet and blood trickling down his face from his nose to his mouth. His eyes couldn't seem to stay focus on one single thing, looking fogged over from his inevitable fate. Venus felt her boyfriends hands gently slide into hers, interlocking their fingers.
"Gerard..." his thick accent sounds through the silence, his eyes still staring straight ahead of him. "What he fears most...He can't beat you and he knows it."
Then his body fell limp, his hand falling from where it was rested on top of Scotts and his head falling droopily to the side. The young Alpha gently sniffles before standing to look at his friends.
Malia breathes in heavily, her eyes studying the corpse in front of them. "It's really started, hasn't it?"
"What's started?"
"It's an all-out war."
Scott seems to finally have registered the fact that Derek was actually here, the boy takes a quick couple steps towards the older man before him in a tight hug. Meanwhile, Venus had detached herself from Stiles and taken up Scotts previous position in front of Deucalion. Her hands moved forwards, gingerly shutting the mans eyelids and whispering a quiet apology before finally allowing him to rest.
Stiles didn't say anything but he was worried for her, he couldn't help it. He knew she thought that every single supernatural life in this town was her responsibility and he knew that she would beat herself up for not being able to save them all. He places a gentle hand on her shoulder as she moves back next to him, hoping to comfort her in any way possible.
"As much as I enjoy this impromptu family reunion, what are you doing here?" Peter grumbles, his attention now fully on Derek.
"I found a pack slaughtered in Brazil." the man answered, a solemn look on his face. "There were two words written in blood on the walls, 'Beacon Hills'."
Isaac scoffed. "That's reassuring."
"You came back for Beacon Hills?" Scott asks breathlessly, his eyes furrowing in the mans direction.
Derek shakes his head with a small smile, his eyes raking over them. "No, I came back for you."
Before anyone could make any snarky retort to the soppy moment, the sound of static came from Stiles' Jeep, the sound being incredibly loud in their abandoned surroundings. Their heads turned towards Stiles in confusion but his attention was fully on the car, clearly confused himself.
"Blood and destruction." Gerards voice eerily came through the radio. "Dreadful objects so familiar. All pity choked with fell deeds."
Stiles and Scott hurriedly get into the Jeep, everyone else crowding around both sides of the car to listen in to what the man was saying.
"Caesers spirit ranging for revenge. With Ate by his side come hot from hell. Shall in these confines with a Monarchs voice." Gerards voice cuts out, the static taking over again before he continued. "Do you know the rest Scott? Do you know your Shakespeare?"
Derek lets out a breath before nodding in Scotts direction, the boy subsequently bringing the mic to his mouth. "Cry, Havoc! And let slip the dogs of war."
"War, indeed. Welcome back, Derek. You must all be feeling rather nostalgic. Are you pleased with the little family reunion I've gathered around you, Scott?"
"Yeah, well, why don't you come join us and I can thank you in person?" Scott suggests, his tone threatening.
"I even have a few visitors for you, from London."
Venus could feel Lydias body grow tense at the statement, clearly having some idea of what's coming next.
"Even someone like Jackson Whittemore couldn't resist coming back to Beacon Hills." the old man laughs. "Say hello, Jackson."
The sizzling sound of electricity sounded through the radio followed by an agonised scream, clearly being Jacksons. Venus herself didn't know the boy personally but she obviously knew who he was and what he had turned into. Lydias body flinched, her head turning away from the radio in attempts to drown out the sound of the boy she once loved in pain. Stiles' hand subconsciously clamped tighter around Venus' as the horrifying sounds continued.
"Do it again, old man." Jacksons voice comes through strained. "Come a little closer. I'm gonna shove that thing so far up your ass-"
"Lost none of his charm has he?" Gerard mocks. "You can find him here with us at the armory, Scott. In fact, I'm going to tell you where to find all of them."
Their head turn to one another in concern and fear for none of them knew what Gerard meant by it. Lydia had grabbed onto Venus' other arm while Stiles still kept a tight hold on her hand as they waited for Gerard to continue speaking.
"Your deputy Hellhound met some friends of his while responding to a call at Eichen House. Your father was on his way back from San Francisco with the goal of entering the fight, but he didn't get far. You might want to tell your mother to skip her shift at the hospital tonight, Liam and his friends are there now. Optimistic of them, but woefully ill-advised."
Venus' eyes widened. "He's splitting us up."
"This is how you wage war Scott." Gerard continued. "A strategic positioning of your army against theirs, which is why you will come to me. You will try to save as many as you can, you might even save a few. But your limited resources will be spread thin. Ultimately, you will fail. The dogs of war, Scott. They're coming for you."
•••
"They shot my toe!" Stiles argued back to Derek, the group now stood around the operating table in the back of the Animal Clinic. The boy was currently telling them the story of how he found Derek to begin with. "My toe was caught in the crossfire. It was obliterated!"
"No one cares about your fucking toe, Stilinski." Isaac groans, earning a smack from his sister.
"You'd be just upset if it was yours, Mr. toe sucker." Venus retorts.
Stiles and Derek let out loud laughs at the statement, the latter speaking in disbelief. "You suck toes? That's disgusting."
"Wh- I do not suck toes!"
Scott takes a deep breath from where he stood at the front of the room. "Guys! Look, It's not just the hunters. We have another problem."
The joking atmosphere quickly died off, all of them turning to Scott as his whole demeanor turned dead serious.
"It's called the Anuke-Ite." Lydia adds on, looking carefully between the two uninformed men.
"It can get in your head, make you see things."
"What does it look like?" Derek questions.
"It used to look like two ordinary people, but somehow they merged." Venus answers. "All we know is that it's made up of two faces. One human, the other supernatural."
"It's a shape-shifter like us, except it knows what you're afraid of. What you fear most." Isaac continues.
"And now it can kill you just by looking at you." Malia concludes the explanation.
Stiles blinks a few times, looking between is friends incredulously. "Okay, so you're telling me we have to go up against this thing blind? And face our deepest fear?"
"Yeah." Scott nods. "Why? What do you fear most?"
"Blindness." the boy replies bluntly, gaining an amused yet concerned look from his girlfriend.
Derek, however, didn't seem to get it. "Becoming...blind?"
"Yeah, terrified of it. Always have been. This just seems to be a situation of unfortunate overlap."
"Wow, you're pathetic." Isaac mumbles, quickly covering it up with a cough.
Scott yet again ignores the bickering and turns his tone straight back to serious. "Lydia, Venus and Stiles, you need to find Argent, get to the armory and rescue Jackson."
"I don't think we have time to wait for him." Lydia shakes her head. "I've gotten through those doors before anyway, I can do it again."
"Can we slow it down just for one second?" Stiles interrupts, his hands flailing about and almost smacking into Venus' face. "So, we're actually talking about doing this? We're gonna do exactly what Gerard wants us to? Is that right?"
The brunette girl next to him couldn't help but take it into consideration. She already didn't like the fact that Gerard was using divide and conquer to get the better of them but now they're doing exactly what he said they would over the radio. Then again, it made sense as to who they were as a pack. They couldn't leave anyone behind.
"I think if we stop the Anuk-Ite then we can stop it all." Scott further explains.
Derek looked up, a skeptical look on his face. "Stopping this thing can stop Gerard and the hunters?"
"He's right." Venus speaks, backing Scott. "They're not just hunters anymore, it's everyone from neighbors to nurses. That thing is fueling their fear, if we stop it then we can change their minds."
Malia slams her hands onto the table before taking a deep breath. "Okay. We can face the Anuk-Ite. We can try to fight it blind. We can try to face our fears. But we still need to know how to catch it."
"We'll figure that out." Scott speaks. "We always do."
"Well, it's nice to see someone hasn't lost their optimism." Derek smiles at his former protege.
"Not yet."
Stiles scoffs. "I have."
"No, he hasn't." Venus flicks her boyfriends head with a sarcastic smile.
"We'll but you time, Scott." Lydia assures. "Maybe Jackson knows something."
"Or Argent might come back with one."
Scott nods, pointing towards Malia, Isaac and Derek. "You three are with me, and we're gonna need Peter. Anyone who can help stop this thing or slow it down."
"Where are we headed?" Isaac questions.
"The high school. It'll find us."
AUTHORS NOTE
here we are ladies, gent and non-binary pals! the final episode!
we're so close to the end, i'm lowkey kinda scared
how's everyone doing today?