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Allison approached the kitchen of the Argent apartment bright and early, noticing the smell of coffee and hearing the sound of someone already rummaging through the cupboards. She rounded the corner and noticed Olive, standing on her tiptoes to reach a mug on the shelf.
"You're up early," She says as she approaches the counter, leaning against it and Olive turns around, mug in hand.
"Yeah, just uh, excited for the parents to get home," She smiles slightly, and Allison furrows her eyebrows as she noticed the dark circles under her eyes.
"Did you sleep at all?" Allison asks, tilting her head slightly and Olive sighs as she places the mug on the counter, shaking her head. "You haven't been doing much of that lately have you?"
"Not since Isaac, no," She shook her head, pouring coffee into the mug and adding a spoonful of sugar before taking a sip. "I just can't seem to fall asleep."
"Maybe cause your bed's cold," Allison shrugs, looking up at her and wiggling her eyebrows. Olive narrows her eyes and Allison just smiles playfully. "Come on, I don't even have werewolf hearing and I can hear you sneaking him into your room all the time."
"To be fair he just appears on my balcony sometimes. What am I gonna do, make him sleep outside?" She says, raising her eyebrows as she brings the mug to her lips again. Allison just shakes her head, laughing as she takes a seat at the island. Olive sets the cup down, face faltering slightly as she remembers the state of her boyfriend. "Guess we don't have to really worry about that for now though, do we?"
"Hey," Allison shakes her head, leaning over the counter to place a comforting hand on Olive's arm. "He's gonna be okay. Didn't you say he was already healing?"
"Yeah, but I called the hospital yesterday. He's still in the ICU and he hasn't woken up yet. I don't know if-"
"Stop," Allison shuts her down and Olive meets her gaze. "Don't think like that, okay? Isaac's tough, he'll pull through."
Olive sighs, twirling the spoon in her coffee and Allison furrows her eyebrows, taking her bottom lip in between her teeth as if she's thinking.
"Hey, why don't you take today off from active-supernatural duty and wait at the hospital? That way you can be there when he wakes up," She looks up at Olive who shakes her head.
"No I'm not just gonna sit around and wait, Stiles is-"
"We can handle Stiles," Allison nods, and Olive takes a deep breath, still unsure. "It's okay for you to take a day to focus on yourself...and Isaac, I guess, but this will also help you from going out of your mind worrying about him all day when you're trying to do something else."
Olive thinks on it for a moment, genuinely weighing her options before turning back to Allison.
"What about the three musketeers down at the sheriff's station, I was supposed to pick them up," She sighed, leaning back on the counter behind her and Allison shakes her head.
"I'll do it."
"You're gonna go pick up Derek and our parents from the police station?" She says, raising an eyebrow. Allison frowns slightly at the mention of Derek, but rolls her eyes and turns back to her.
"The things I do for you," She shakes her head, taking a deep breath and Olive laughs lightly.
"Okay, then, I guess I'm going to the hospital," She shrugged as she finished her coffee, setting the mug in the sink and grabbing her bag, looking back at Allison who just nods, a small smile on her face. Olive turned to leave, making her way to her car and driving down to the hospital.
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Once she'd arrived she stared nervously at the entrance to the hospital for a few minutes before she finally gained the courage to go in. She sighed as she ran a hand through her hair, approaching the nurse's desk. She looked up, a bit taken aback when Melissa hurried over to her. She was immediately on alert, a pit forming in her stomach as her mind raced with possibilities.
"What happened, is he okay?" She asked frantically as Melissa met her halfway. She nodded, a grin appearing on her face before she spoke.
"They took him out of the ICU this morning, I was just about to call you," She gestured back to the desk as Olive's eyes widened.
"Does that mean-"
"You can see him now, if you want to," Melissa raised an eyebrow, and Olive's smile reached her ears as she nodded her head excitedly.
Melissa led her to Isaac's new room. This one was smaller than the last with a chair in the corner. Olive shared a look with Melissa before she entered the doorway, noticing Isaac still hooked up to a few machines. She furrowed her eyebrows and turned back to her, tilting her head slightly.
"Has he woken up yet?" She asked, still a little concerned.
"No not yet," She shook her head, leaning against the doorframe. "If this were a normal case I'd say there's a risk of brain damage, but this is anything but normal."
"Wait- brain damage?" Olive's eyes widened as she folded her arms over her chest.
"Yeah, being comatose for that long sometimes has an effect on a person, but- I mean- can werewolves even get brain damage?" She asks, furrowing her eyebrows and Olive turns back to Isaac nervously, chewing on the inside of her cheek.
"I don't know," She shrugs and she shakes her head slightly, pulling the chair to the side of the bed and sitting in it. She was pleased with his improvement, his burns were almost gone completely and when she touched his hand she sensed it was in a lot less pain. She sighed as she leaned back in the chair, crossing her legs and folding her arms over her chest again. Melissa gave her a small smile before leaving the room and Olive just sat there, watching him as he slept and silently pleading for him to wake up. She'd found herself doing a lot of that lately. Whether she was in close proximity to him or not she'd always find herself silently wishing it were her instead of him. Isaac's been through enough, between his past and being Derek's grunt worker all summer and the injuries that came with it, she knew he was getting burnt out. As she watched him sleep, she made a mental note that she owed him a vacation when this was all over. She sighed as she rested her head in her hand. He looked so at peace. Regardless of his state, at least he was getting some good rest.
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A few hours passed and Olive had dug her book out of her bag and made some decent progress through the chapters when she just happened to glance up and see Noah walk past the door. She furrowed her eyebrows, setting her book down before making her way out of the room and stopping him in the hallway.
"Noah!" She shouted as she practically ran to catch him at the end of the hallway. He turned around, giving her a slightly stern look and she smiled sheepishly. "I mean...Sherrif Stilinski. What's going on?"
"We're trying to figure out Stiles' next move. Derek's at the school with Argent and Allison and your mom are taking Eichen House," He nodded and Olive turned back to the direction she came from before nodding her head.
"I wanna help," She said, meeting his gaze again and Noah shook his head.
"Allison told me not to let you help," He raised an eyebrow and Olive rolled her eyes.
"Well Allison isn't here," She said, widening her eyes slightly and the Sheriff sighed. "It'll be easier for you to look with an extra pair of eyes and I'm losing my mind sitting in there just waiting for him to-" She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I can help you."
"Fine," The sheriff nodded his head, gesturing for her to follow him. As the two boarded the elevator they stood in silence, both of them too lost in their thoughts to communicate. After a little while, Noah spoke up.
"You know," He said, turning to Olive, who met his gaze. "I don't know how you kids do it. You're all so strong. You're fearless." Olive scoffed at the notion, shaking her head as she tugged her bottom lip between her teeth to keep from letting the tears in her eyes fall. She didn't know what it was about the sheriff's statement that brought them there, but she wouldn't let them fall.
"I am failing econ," She shook her head, keeping her eyes trained on the elevator door.
"Is that Coach's class?" He asked, furrowing his eyebrows and she nodded. "Well, I'll have a talk with him."
Olive laughed lightly as she felt the tears brim her eyes stronger, threatening to fall. She frowned, staring down at her shoes and shaking her head. Noah turned to look at her, noticing her state, and pulling the button to stop the elevator. She nodded, doing everything she can to keep the tears from falling but she couldn't hold it in any longer.
"Hey, are you okay?" He asked, stepping closer to her and she just shook her head.
"I uh- I'm not...fearless," She says, letting out a shaky breath. "I'm actually terrified. I act like I know what I'm doing, like I know how to control what I am, like I even know what I am, but I don't. I- I don't know if Isaac is gonna wake up, or if he's dying right now. I don't know what I would do if he-" She shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "I don't know what my mom is thinking, hell I haven't had a normal conversation with her in days. I don't know what Derek thinks about all this, I don't- I don't know anything!"
Noah sighed as he approached her, wrapping her in his arms and shushing her, attempting to calm her down. She sniffled as she cried into his shoulder and he rubbed her back soothingly.
"You know what's funny?" He whispered, and she shook her head against his uniform. "You sound just like a cop."
Olive chuckled, sniffling as he hugged her tighter before pulling away. She wiped her eyes, staring at the ground but Noah kept his hands on her shoulders, leaning down to meet her gaze.
"Hey," He says as she looks him in the eye, a few more tears hitting the floor of the elevator. "You're gonna be okay. Okay?" She nodded and he smiled at her, moving to push the button to signal the elevator to go. Olive looked up in an attempt to stop her tears as she wiped them on her sleeve.
When the elevator started moving again, Noah's phone began to buzz. They shared an odd look as he pulled it out of his pocket, looking down at the screen and furrowing his eyebrows.
"What is that?" She asks, moving closer to him to look at the screen.
"Someone's trying to break into my house," He glanced at her and then back to the phone, tapping a few buttons to reveal the camera that was triggered. "When Stiles started sleepwalking I had cameras installed in every room just in case."
"Is that his room?" She asked squinting to try to get a better look at the screen and Noah nodded. There Stiles sat, on his bed, waving at the camera while giving them a tight-lipped grin.
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The two made their way out of the hospital, Noah checking in with Olive, making sure she didn't want to stay. Olive continued telling him no as she piled into the front seat of his sheriff's car. They pulled into the driveway of the Stilinski home just as the rest of their group did. Olive hugged her mother tightly when she saw her, Susan giving her a concerned look when she pulled away.
"You okay?" She asked, eyebrows furrowed and Olive just nodded, giving her a small smile.
"Yeah, let's go in," She nodded toward the door and the six of them made their way into the house and up to Stiles' room, finding it empty. They all looked around the room until Argent called them around the chessboard sitting in the corner.
"What is this, what are all these sticky notes for?" He asked, waving his hand above the pieces. Olive furrowed her eyebrows, finding her own name next to Derek's on one of the pieces.
"Why am I a horse?" She asked, eyebrows furrowed and Derek snickered from the corner of the room.
"This is what Stiles used to try and explain to me about all of you," Noah said, ignoring her question.
"Maybe it's a message from Stiles," Allison tilted her head as she leaned over the board, trying to make sense of all the pieces. "The real Stiles."
Olive furrowed her eyebrows, picking up the piece labeled "Isaac" which was placed to the side of the board. She flipped it around in her hand for a second before looking up at the rest of the group.
"Is there any reason why my name is on the king?" Derek asked, folding his arms across his chest and Noah took a closer look at the board.
"Well, you're heavily guarded," Noah raised an eyebrow and Susan shook her head.
"The alarming detail is that you're one move from being in checkmate," She sighed, raising both her eyebrows and looking around at the group.
"You play chess?" Olive asked, blinking a few times before Susan shrugged.
"Used to," She shook her head, looking back down at the board. Olive turned to Chris who looked just as impressed as she did and then looked back at the board herself.
"This isn't a message from Stiles," Olive shook her head, turning to everyone in the room. "It's a threat from the nogitsune."
"He's at the loft, that's what he's trying to tell us," Allison nodded, looking at Stilinski wide-eyed.
"And he wants us to come there," Chris said, tacking onto her statement.
"Night's falling," Derek narrowed his eyes at the board before turning to everyone else.
"This couldn't sound anymore like a trap," Susan shook her head as Olive continued to toss around the chess piece in her hand.
"I don't think it is," Noah shook his head and Susan rose an eyebrow.
"I think your opinion might be slightly biased, Sheriff."
"Hear me out," Noah pointed a finger at her before turning to the rest of the group. "What we're dealing with here is basically someone who lacks motive. No rhyme, no reason, right?"
"Meaning what?" Olive looked up at him, folding her arms and narrowing her eyes slightly.
"Our enemy's not a killer. It's a trickster. The killing is just a by-product."
"If you're trying to say it won't kill us, I'm not feeling too confident about that," Derek said, nodding his head toward his chess piece.
"It won't. It wants irony. It wants to play a trick, it wants a joke," Stilinski furrowed his eyebrows, leaning into the group slightly. "All we need to do is come up with a new punchline."
"Well, the sun is setting, Sheriff. What did you have in mind?" Susan turned to him, tilting her head as Noah sighed, looking back down at the chessboard.
"I don't know yet."
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