Nobody would know what happened in that parking lot... except for Laura Hale, the survivor. She laid bloody, broken, and actually genuinely afraid. It took a lot to scare Laura, she hadn't felt fear as of recent until she found out about Cora being kidnapped by Adrian Harris, the Identity Thief.
She was so thrilled to have her brother back that not once did she consider why he looked so young... why he didn't have a good explanation of where he had been during the nights after he and Stiles got her out of Oscorp Tower.
Yet, when she saw those icy blue eyes that belonged to him step out of the shadows not unlike a predator taking its prey by surprise, Laura realized she was missing so much of the picture. She only knew Derek had been taken to the Tower after the fire because the explosion had been so damaging. They used his blood to create the Lycan serum which enhanced his abilities to where even though he was a Beta, he had the strength of an Alpha. Laura couldn't stop Derek because of the serum that enhanced every aspect of the werewolf.
Laura didn't think she could stop him because of their bond, not when he was so ruthless in that state. She was having trouble even taking a small breath due to deep cuts on her stomach from Derek's claws.
Cora didn't have a phone, and Laura only had one person she could call, so she did the only thing she could in this moment. She called Stiles.
Tuesday, September 4
Standing upon the top of the Chrysler building on a perch, Stiles felt the wind rush through his hair while he adjusted his web shooters overlooking the skyline of Manhattan at night.
"Elasticity has to be correct, otherwise the web's just going to snap and I go splat. Nothing to worry about Stiles, it's not like nobody knows you're a freaky Cross Species, Werespider, thing. Yeah, I totally love days like today when I talk to myself and I decide to do something so stupid I might as well be considered suicidal, yay!" he squealed mocking himself as he set the web cartridge into place and took in a deep breath.
"Only going to have one shot at this, so I need to be extremely careful with what I do here." He stepped onto the ledge of the gargoyle smiling. It would be smarter to try this during the day, but if this was going to work the way he wanted to, he didn't want people seeing what he was doing. Thankfully there was no need for him to make some half-baked explanation for why he was out of the house tonight... Stilinski was already passed out at home, having spent a wonderful night with Stiles. Stiles had cooked some of the best food he had ever made as a way to apologize to his Dad for being such a pain lately. He wanted to say that his Chicken Curry was to break the ice about his powers, but it never happened. Stiles hadn't been able to say a single word to him about it and quite frankly Stiles was okay with it. He didn't need his father knowing that he had powers to know he was extraordinary already.
So, Stiles stepped onto the very edge of the gargoyle, and aimed his arm not unlike that of a gun's barrel, and when he felt he found the right spot for the web to latch onto a building, he fired. A long string of the material flew across the street, splattering onto the wall within a matter of a few seconds.
He felt the chills run down his spine, knowing how stupid this idea was, but something made him want to do this, to do something life threatening. Stiles cracked his knuckles, looking at the utter height he was at.
Did he ever mention that he had a very slight fear of heights? He had been up high before, and heck he even dived out of Oscorp Tower, twice... but he was full of adrenaline and he was more focused on something else. Now, he was facing his mortality. Something about that just gave him goosebumps.
"Okay, here goes nothing!" he stuttered, clicking his tongue as he fell forward, letting gravity do the rest of the work. Through the air he flew down towards the ground, his jacket flapping in the air like a cape as he clung onto the single strand of web that would either be his salvation or demise...
He watched as the ground grew closer, and closer far too rapidly. Stiles could already imagine the impact of hitting the ground. He would be dead before he could even blink as soon as the pavement made even the slightest contact with him. Stiles closed his eyes, praying that this would work. Suddenly, the web became taut, and his eyes burst open as his body contorted and he was suddenly swinging up towards the sky.
"WOO-HOO!" he cheered loudly throughout the concrete canyons of New York, a huge smile growing upon his face as he let go of the web flying forward high above the buildings. As he started to descend once more he shot another web, moving forward and using his weight swung around the corner of a skyscraper, using his other web shooter to latch onto a rooftop ledge as a grapple point of sorts. Pulling himself forward, Stiles landed rather heroically onto the rooftop with the brightest smile he had ever had the pleasure of forming.
That was the best thing he had ever done, and he had felt amazing after taking Harris down, but this.. this was on a whole other level entirely.
He had come a long way from being that eight year old in the hospital watching his mother die, and Stiles knew that with what had happened over the past few weeks he was in a brand new world. It still astounded him to think that a few weeks ago he was just a skinny, powerless nerd and now here he was running around stopping serial killers, crawling up walls, punching through walls and swinging from a web. What a perfectly normal life he had.
Stiles looked forward, looking at the skyline and without even thinking he ran forward, shooting a web and launched into the air again, using Manhattan as his own personal playground.
By the time he realized what had happened he was sticking to the side of Stark Tower as his phone began ringing. Stiles pulled it out, seeing it was a call from Laura. This was something different though, something about how the hairs on his neck stood on end made him know this call was something entirely different.
"S-Stiles?" she breathed out weakly, causing chills to run down Stiles' body.
"Laura, what's wrong?" he asked, using his Spider Sense to try to figure out where she was.
"It's De..." her words were stopped by sudden violent coughing for a moment. "...something's wrong with him. He tried to kill me... I need help."
Stiles watched as the city turned blue in his sight thanks to his Spider Sense. The blue sense was like a blanket, overtaking the the island until it hit a skyscraper and it lit up the brightest gold he had ever seen in his life. He knew that building all too well, it was the one Sara Roberts' father worked at....
"You're at Fisk Tower, aren't you?" he asked lowly, and they both knew she didn't need to answer that.
"Please hurry."
Stiles hung up, and dove off of the wall using his web swinging to his advantage. He covered so much ground in a matter of minutes that he might as well have been flying.
The race across the city was much faster now that he wasn't just leaping off the sides of buildings or simply running through the streets, now he was soaring, using only the webs he and Lydia had made.
He let go of the web as he reached Fisk Tower and he saw that the parking garage was now glowing from his Spider Sense.
"I'm coming Laura."
Norman gasped awake, covered in a sickly sheet of sweat as Dr. Morbius stood there with fear. Morbius took a breath of what appeared to be relief as Norman examined his surroundings to find he was in a bed, and not just any bed... a hospital bed.
"Where am I?" he asked drowsily. Morbius rubbed his hands together nervously as he sat down in a chair beside Norman.
"You're in the infirmary. The serum was injected into you and you had a severe reaction. I thought you weren't going to make it." the doctor weakly croaked out, knowing Norman's tendencies involving violence.
"What was the reaction?" Norman hissed, sitting up. Morbius took in a deep breath, recalling the horrifying experience.
"When the serum was injected, it seemed fine. One moment you were fine, the next you were having convulsions, screaming out in pain. By the time I got to you, your heart had stopped. We had to bring you back four times."
Norman eyed him suspiciously, something about how laced with emotion Morbius' words were, it kept throwing him off.
He probably hoped I would stay dead. He thought to himself, grimacing. Morbius was standing there still, seemingly worried but Norman saw through that 'facade' of his.
"Michael, I wanted to thank you, for saving my life."
Morbius gulped slightly, sensing the venom behind the man's words. "I, I didn't do much either than get you to the medical bay, sir. You can thank Nelson and his team for saving your life."
So you did want me to stay dead...
Norman weakly climbed to his feet, stepping towards the nervous man. Osborn's hand slowly raised from his side and reached out for the doctor's shoulder.
In that particular moment, Morbius saw what every other worker in the Tower saw when they looked in Norman's eyes. They saw a monster. He couldn't move though, as if his entire body had become frozen just from that one look at Norman's eyes.
Norman grabbed a hold of Morbius' shoulder, squeezing tightly. "No, no... you could have just let me lay there in that room and die, but you went out of your way to get me help. I owe you, Michael." he plastered a sweet, fake smile on his face and watched a bead of sweat run down the side of the doctor's face. "What's wrong? You seem afraid."
"W-why would I, why would I be afraid Mr. Osborn?"
"Because you're about to die."
"What?"
"You heard me..."
Norman's other hand flew up, wrapping around the doctor's throat and slammed him against the wall within the blink of an eye.
Wrapping his other hand around his neck, Norman began squeezing the life out of Morbius. He could see the life leaving his eyes, and Norman's maniacal smile showed the side only Stiles Stilinski truly knew about.
Morbius' attempt to break free weakened, and as he was about to black out, Norman's eyes grew wide at the revelation at what he was doing. Letting go of Michael and backing into a corner, shocked that he would kill someone as innocent as him, Norman shook with worry.
Morbius gasped for air, crawling away from Norman who was on the other side of the large medical bay.
"What did I just try to do..." Norman muttered to himself bringing his knees up to his chest.
Stiles found Laura laying against a pillar in the parking garage looking worse for wear. Her arms were torn open like she was paper. In fact, most of her looked that way. She seemed so weak, and for Stiles to be aware of the fact that she was an Alpha werewolf, the strongest of a Pack, it made him wonder what could have caused her so much damage.
"Hey, hey..." he tried to wake her up shaking her lightly, watching the werewolf's eyes flutter open just a tiny bit. "What happened?"
"D-Der..."
"Derek?" Stiles asked, and Laura nodded. "No, Derek's not here. What happened Laura?"
She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, catching him off guard. "H-he... did." she growled weakly, before passing out once more. Stiles gulped with wide eyes as he knew she needed to get help.
Lifting her into his arms, Stiles carried her to the roof of the parking garage, and decided to test whether he could swing with the weight of two people.
Hurrying to the Loft, Stiles found Cora getting a glass of orange juice (apparently she was more of a nocturnal person, go figure) when he opened the door holding the unconscious werewolf in his arms.
"I need help!" he called out, causing Cora to jump out of shock, but it quickly was turned into worry as she helped Stiles carry Laura to the couch.
"What the hell happened?" she asked, as Stiles shrugged.
"I don't know, I asked her and she said Derek happened. I was going to ask what she meant by that but she passed out. Why aren't her wounds healing?"
"Well, it could be two things... either she was attacked by another Alpha, their wounds last longer than Betas, or... she's the reason."
"What do you mean, she's the reason? I'm sure she didn't just maul herself!" he laughed sarcastically to which he got punched in the jaw by the she-wolf. Stiles groaned in pain as he held his jaw. "What was that for?"
"I didn't mean that you idiot. If there's a psychological conflict, werewolves can prevent themselves from healing. Say I were injured in a fight and I thought I was the reason that, oh I don't know... you, died. My guilt could cause me to stop healing. Any number of things really."
"How exactly can we fix a psychological barricade?" he asked, rolling his eyes a bit unintentionally, causing another slap from Cora.
"We can't. Only she can..." Cora explained, and Stiles sighed putting his hand on Laura's shoulder.
"She was looking for Derek." he lowered his head.
"How do you know that?"
"The morning after The Identity Thief was arrested Laura had me come by the Loft. Derek had left during the middle of the night and she hadn't seen him. Your sister wanted me to look for him. I," he took in a deep breath.
"You what?"
"I told her no." he admitted, his voice filled with guilt.
"NO? What do you mean you told her no?" Cora growled, her eyes glowing yellow as Stiles eyed the claws form on her hands.
Somebody needs to get this girl a manicure, immediately!
Stiles sat back with his head lowered. "Look, I didn't ask to be a part of this, okay? I just wanted to know what happened to my Mom."
He saw that look of confusion on her face, and explained in a way he hoped she would understand. After explaining he saw how she was at ease with his answer. "With everything that had happened in the past few weeks, I thought I could have my old life back, one where I wasn't a Cross Species, or werespider, or whatever I am... I just wanted to be human again, or at least pretend. That's why I told Laura no, because I wanted to be normal. I guess this is what my hopes get us, huh?"
Cora retracted her claws and grabbed the teenager's arm gently. "Look, Stiles... if what this, Madame Web... or whoever she is was telling the truth that what happened to you in Oscorp Tower was supposed to happen, maybe there's a reason you got stronger because of it."
"I don't feel stronger, that's the thing."
"Let's face it Stiles, if you can take on those robots Osborn sent after you without getting hit after coming back from the dead, and then manage to take down a werewolf all in a matter of a couple days, I'd say you're stronger."
"I just don't understand one thing, if I was supposed to die that day like she said, why wouldn't she tell me anything else that was going to happen?"
"Maybe it's because it's a surprise Mr. Stilinski..."
"Your surprises end up with blood though."
"Who are you talking to?" Cora asked with a raised eyebrow and Stiles just laughed.
"I'm speaking to an old woman in a wheelchair with no personal boundaries." he informed her with a smile.
"Oh Stiles, you are him..." Madame Web's voice echoed in the back of his mind and he scratched his head at that remark. What did that mean?
"Look, Derek would come looking for you if you needed help. I'd say that's the least you could do."
Stiles nodded, cracking his knuckles as he climbed to his feet. "Take care of her, just one question... from what you've seen of Derek lately, has he been acting weird at all?"
"I haven't been around him all that much the past few months if you remember. But when he came back to town he was acting all weird."
"Came back to town? He left?"
"Yeah, I think so anyway, he showed up for the first time in nine years back in May."
May, why is that month ringing a bell right now?
"I'd say this is a coincidence that May just so happens to ring a bell because that's when the bank robberies began. You of all people should know that, after all, you were studying their locations."
Stiles groaned, rather annoyed by that old woman. "May... you're sure about that?" Cora nodded and the teenager turned towards the window. "I'll see what I can do to find Derek, I promise."
With a nod goodbye Stiles leaped out of the open window and into the city, to which Cora looked in shock, only to see the teen swing out of sight.
Madame Web had been right, May was when the bank robberies first began. It couldn't be a coincidence, could it? The only time that woman popped up it seemed was when something was supposed to happen. He got to his house around two a.m. and decided that perhaps school wasn't as important as finding out what the missing Hale was involved with.
Then again, his father would not be pleased with this. How many days had Stiles missed because of his powers now? There was a few days about Harris, other than that it was fine. He decided that he was going to stay at home and figure out what was going on, one way or another.
Stiles sat down at his desk and realized something... everything somehow went back to the Hales. Oscorp Tower, Claudia, Harris and Erica... the bank robberies, even Stiles' own powers were from the Hales. Stiles cracked his knuckles, glancing upon the red mask he had worn the night he went to Ryker's Island to speak with Kasady.
I wonder how Harris is holding up with him. Whatever happens to Harris, he deserves it.
Opening a notebook he had been using to research the bank robberies, he meticulously scanned through every scrap of information he had acquired over the course of five months. Now that he thought about it, one piece of info really got him. There was only one robbery per month. Exactly seven days after a full moon.
Full Moons - Bank Robberies
May 5th - May 12th
June 4th - June 11th
July 3rd - July 10th
August 1st - August 8th
August 31st - September 7th?
As he wrote it, his Spider Sense went off and he turned to see Derek standing in the background of his room, his face pale, as if he hadn't slept a lot in a few days.
"Derek?"
"Hey, Stiles... what are you working on?" he said with a mischievous smile, stepping forward to take a look. Stiles stopped him in his place though before he could even move.
"What did you do to your sister in that parking garage..."
Derek's face fell flat, and his eyes shined like he was close to crying, but at the same time it was the complete opposite. He didn't look guilty, he wasn't sorry about it.
"So, she called you did she? How is she... alive I presume."
Stiles blinked in surprise to his response. "Alive? She's barely breathing, and I can't exactly take her to a hospital. Now, I don't know what's going on with you Derek, but this isn't you. What's going on?"
"Nothing is going on that concerns you Stiles. You did what you wanted to do, you caught the Identity Thief, and you learned the truth about Claudia. Do yourself a favor, live a normal life. You won't like what's coming if you decide to be a meddling bug."
"I prefer to be called a curious arachnid... and you're working for them, aren't you?" Derek's eyes glowed blue at that, and Stiles was unable to move as the werewolf grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the wall, cracking the paint. "Okay, I'm right then."
"I'm trying to be nice, Stiles... I'm not here to hurt you."
"Then let go of me..." Stiles growled, clenching his fists as his Spider Sense went off like a machine gun in the back of his head. "However, I think the both of us know that's a lie, and you plan on either hurting me or killing me. Spider Sense is a hell of a thing!" Stiles brought his arm up, and slammed his elbow down on Derek's, releasing him. Throwing a punch, Stiles watched as Derek dodged it easily and brought his fist directly into his ribs with a sickening crack. Stiles felt his feet leave the ground and he prepared himself. Derek grabbed him and slammed him into his desk, shattering a framed picture of Stiles and his parents. Stiles hit the ground and shot a web onto the werewolf's chest and pulled him in for an attack. "I think I need to take you to obedience school!"
Stiles wrapped his legs around Derek's neck and knocked him to the ground, and proceeded to throw as many punches as he could before he could recover. Five punches in and Derek sent his claws into the teen's stomach and dug in deep. Stiles' eyes turned pitch black as he growled in pain, before he heard the sound of his father's voice.
"Stiles? What's going on?" Stilinski called, and all Stiles could do was freeze in that moment.
"What's the matter, Stiles... don't want your Dad seeing you fight a werewolf with your eyes like that? Stop fighting and I'll let him live."
He thought about it as Derek slashed at his chest and face, tearing him apart like he was a piece of paper. Stiles released Derek and was sent flying into his closet.
As he laid there, blurred vision and all he watched as Derek grabbed his notebook and trashed his computer. Putting the notebook in his jacket Derek looked at the closet, and with Stiles' enhanced hearing he could hear Derek whisper "I can't let you play hero... I'm sorry," before jumping out of the room and into the early morning. Stilinski busted through the door a moment later and found the carnage.
"Stiles?"
"D-dad..." he groaned weakly. His body was heavy, almost dead weight at this point and Stiles couldn't even hardly move. He could have won that fight, he felt it in his bones but he couldn't let his father see him like that. "Dad..."
Stilinski turned to the closet to see his son, and immediately rushed to his aid. "Hey, hey, stay with me kiddo. Stay with me," Stiles heard him beg, as his eyes closed and everything went black.