The episode opens at the hospital during a severe thunderstorm, as Melissa takes charge in evacuating patients and keeping things organized. One of the doctors tells her that all of his patients have been cleared and are out of the building, sans Cora Hale, and we go upstairs to where Peter stands dabbing at Cora's forehead with a cloth and asking into the hall when they're going to get Cora out of the hospital.
Melissa comes in to get her out, but when she sees Peter she has a brief moment of shock when she realizes that he's supposed to be dead. He tells her that he gets that a lot, as Cora's pulse spikes and she vomits mistletoe and black blood.
—
At the loft, Jennifer runs in calling out for Derek. He tells her he's there, and they embrace briefly while Jennifer informs him about what happened at the recital, quote, "before [Scott and Stiles] can tell [him] lies."
He promises her that he'll listen to her, and she kisses him before pulling back and asking coldly if the boys are there already as if she sensed the deception from his kiss alone. Derek looks over Jennifer's shoulder, as Scott, Stiles, and Noel walk out from behind a corner. She turns to look at them as well, and asks Derek if the boys told him she was the one taking people.
Scott corrects that they told him she was the one killing people, and she decides to try and get to Noel and convince him she's not a murderer, because he wasn't at the recital and wouldn't have any firsthand knowledge of what she had done. She plays up the innocent teacher act, telling Noel that she has yet to grade his latest essay, but she's sure it's fantastic "like all his other work."
Noel doesn't fall for it for a second, keeping his jaw set and his shoulders squared as Stiles asks her where his dad is. She turns to Derek and begs him not to believe them, trying to discredit the boys, but Derek asks simply if Jennifer knows what happened to Stiles' father.
Jennifer denies knowing anything, and Scott suggests that Derek ask her why she tried to kill Lydia. Once again, she denies knowing anything about that, and Noel asks loudly "Then what do you know?"
Jennifer looks up at Derek and tells him pathetically that she knows that the boys are trying to fill Derek's head with stories and lies that they can't prove.
Without changing his expression, Scott tells her matter of factly that they can prove it. He uncaps a bottle of mistletoe and throws it at her, revealing her true form as the Darach. All four boys watch in shock, Jennifer trying to run but Derek catching her easily. He brandishes his claws as she begs him to stop, and she tells him that she's the only one that can save Cora.
She then tells him to call Peter.
On the phone with Peter a beat later, the man says Cora is in and out of consciousness and vomiting black blood and mistletoe. Derek squeezes Jennifer's neck and some cracks are heard, and Scott tries to get Derek to stop with a call of his name. Derek doesn't stop however, and Stiles tries to get him to let her go, to no avail as well. Jennifer mentions that they'll never find the sheriff if she's dead, and Noel yells out in a voice that is only half his own and with a flash of Laura's signature red eyes "Derek, put her down!!"
Derek almost immediately drops Jennifer to the floor at that, as Noel puts his hands up around his throat in surprise at Laura's voice coming from his mouth for the first time in over a year. Jennifer seems intrigued, looking up at him and saying "Noel Whittemore, host to an alpha's soul? And to the second most powerful Hale, no less."
She takes a second to catch her breath, continuing with a devious grin "You know... The longer you host her, the less you there will be. But I know how to help you get her out." She looks up at Derek and says with a smirk "Looks like you need me in more ways than one."
She then turns to look at the boys, repeating to them "You all need me."
—
The credits roll.
—
They all drive toward the hospital, Derek taking Jennifer in his car, while Noel is with Scott and Stiles in the jeep. Stiles tells the other two that something feels wrong about this situation, and how despite being found out, Jennifer still appears as though everything is going according to her plan. He asks the other two if they see it as well, the werewolves staying silent as they arrive to their destination.
They walk into the hospital, Stiles brandishing a bat, telling them that since they have claws, he needs a weapon too. Thus, the bat, apparently.
The five of them walk down the hall toward an elevator, Scott's mother stopping him and separating him from the group to ask why he's there. He tells her that they're there for Cora, and asks her to trust him and get herself out of here.
She looks to the group and eyes them all before informing that they need to get Cora on one of the two ambulances coming in either 10 or 20 minutes. Scott nods and they make their way to the elevator, and once inside, Derek holds onto Jennifer's arm while the boys hover over either one of her shoulders looking poised to fight if she tries anything.
They make it to Cora's room but find her gone, a trail of black blood leading away from the bigger pool on the floor. Noel calls for Derek's attention and points down the hall as Peter is pushed through the double doors and lands at their feet.
"We got a problem. Big problem," Peter informs them, and we see the fused twins standing at the other end of the hallway ready for a fight.
—
After the break, Derek rushes at the twins, Scott and Noel not far behind as they wolf out and join the fight. As they try and stop the twins, Stiles gets Peter's attention and the two rush to where Cora lies on the floor.
The twins tell Scott that all they want is "her", and Derek watches as the doors close in front of Jennifer in the elevator, making her escape.
When she gets to her destination the alphas are waiting for her, and she rushes to get back in the elevator before they can get their hands on her.
Derek ushers everyone through some double doors and yells for them not to stop, but Stiles has other plans.
He takes the bat and goes to the door, waiting until the twins are in before breaking it over their heads. The heroic deed fails to do anything, and Noel grabs Stiles and ushers him through the door to safety as Derek and Scott work together to slam one of the light fixtures into the twins' faces as a distraction to buy time.
—
After a scene at the school with Allison and Isaac, Melissa runs into Deucalion's cane plunged in the wall by the elevator. He takes it from her as the lights shut off, and the twins unfuse as the others get Cora into a room to lay her down.
Peter (who had been carrying her) sets her on a table, Noel asking where the twins are. Derek says they're close as he closes the doors, and Stiles asks where Jennifer is. Scott can only shake his head to relay that they don't have her anymore.
Stiles is audibly outraged, and Derek tells him to be quiet, but Stiles gets in his face to yell about how Derek's second psychotic mass-murdering girlfriend has his dad waiting somewhere to be sacrificed.
Scott tries to diffuse the situation as Noel puts a hand on Derek's shoulder and moves him a step away from Stiles, the two locking eyes as Stiles goes back to yelling at Derek about how both the sheriff and Cora are as good as dead without Jennifer.
"They aren't dead yet," Noel says, the others looking at him as he goes to stand at Cora's side. "Peter, how is she?" he asks, putting a hand on her forehead. Peter looks at him and says "She's not getting any better."
"There has to be something we can do to help her," Scott says as he steps closer, and they all look up as Jennifer reenters the room and tells them that there's nothing they can do. She then tells them she can save Cora and tell them where the sheriff is, but only if they offer her protection from the alphas.
—
After the break Derek immediately goes to attack Jennifer, but Scott and Noel stop him short. Derek yells at Jennifer about trying to escape, and she defends that she was running for her life as anyone else in her situation would do. Stiles challenges her that if she's good, she'll heal Cora, but she again refuses and restates her terms.
Peter requests to offer her a different form of persuasion, torture, and Derek says he agrees with that method as Noel and Scott again hold him back from attacking her.
Before things can get too out of hand, Melissa's voice comes on the intercom, and she shakily tells them that they have ten minutes to get Jennifer to Deucalion. Jennifer assures Scott that Deucalion won't hurt Melissa, but Derek and Noel (in perfect sync) tell her to shut up.
Jennifer says it again, and reveals to Derek that he's not the only one Deucalion wants to join his pack, he wants Scott as well.
Before anything else can be said, Chris pulls up to the hospital with Allison and Isaac. They all rush inside as Jennifer tells the group that Deucalion wants more than just a pack of alphas. He wants perfection, and that entails having a true alpha among his ranks.
This revelation mystifies Peter and Derek, Stiles asking what a true alpha is. Peter tells him that it's an alpha that doesn't have to steal his status from someone else, and can become an alpha simply by the force of his own will. Scott looks uncomfortable, almost embarrassed as he's described as such, and Jennifer speaks again.
"Plus, now Noel's been added to the equation," she says through a devious smirk, Noel looking at her fearfully.
"What would he want with me? I'm just a beta, not even a week ago he wanted Derek to kill me," Noel points out, and Jennifer laughs at the statement.
"Do you even understand how rare it is for a bitten werewolf to be an alpha's post mortem host? It's uncommon, but not unheard of, for a dying alpha to reincarnate part of itself into the soul of a newborn beta in their line of succession. But for an alpha to latch on to a human, who then later accepts the bite? That's something even I've never seen with my own eyes. Deucalion already knows you're hosting an alpha's soul, but if he catches word that there's a beta hosting an alpha by the means that you are, he'll force you out of your own body until all that's left is a complacent, hollow shell with red eyes and a compulsion to do whatever he tells it to."
Noel has his hands clasped over his throat like he had done in the beginning of the episode when he yelled in Laura's voice, and someone sets a comforting hand on his shoulder. He looks at them and the camera follows his line of sight until we see that Derek is the one comforting him. Noel swallows thickly and tries to shrug off Derek's hand, but it stays there as Scott brings the conversation back to getting Cora out of the hospital.
Peter argues that the twins aren't just going to let them all walk out of the hospital, and Scott offers to distract them. Derek says he'll help, but Jennifer says that she refuses to go anywhere without Derek.
Peter says he'll go with Scott instead, and Noel offers the same, but Stiles says they'll need an extra set of hands and an extra pair of claws to protect Cora in case things go wrong. He doesn't protest to that, nodding dutifully.
Peter says he'd like to go into the fight with the twins with an advantage, and they all search around for something to use as an extra weapon.
Scott pulls out a syringe of epinephrine, but Noel shakes his head and tells him "Epinephrine is another word for adrenaline, people use it to stop allergic reactions because it opens up the lungs, increases blood flow, and speeds up your heart."
"In simpler terms, it'll just make them even stronger, and probably angrier than they already are," Derek translates, shooting Noel a pointed look, but there's no bite behind it.
"How much stronger?" Peter asks, and seconds later he's stumbling out of the room with the syringe sticking out of his chest. He looks down the hall at the twins, egging them on with the phrase "Alright, boys. Lets rumble."
While Peter and Scott distract the twins, the others take Cora and run, and once they're outside they see that the last ambulance hasn't left yet. Derek carries Cora to it while Stiles and Noel throw open the doors and help get her on the bed.
Jennifer calls Derek's name, and he sees that the ambulance driver has been killed. They walk up to his body, and Kali calls out "Julia..."
When Derek and Jennifer (knowing they can't fight Kali) run back into the hospital, Noel moves to get out and help Derek. Stiles holds him back, though, saying "I can't protect her on my own, I need you here and alive if Kali comes back and opens these doors."
Noel doesn't have to think about it for a minute, but his concern is evident as he looks at the hospital when Kali rushes in after Jennifer and Derek.
—
After Deucalion cuts out the power in the building and traps Derek and Jennifer in the elevator, Stiles finishes securing the ambulance doors and sits down. Noel seems partially relaxed until he looks down at Cora, sitting up straight and putting a hand on her chest.
"Stiles, she's not breathing," he announces, Stiles freaking out as we cut to commercial.
—
After the break, Stiles asks Noel frantically "Do you know CPR?"
"CPR is for when someone's heart stops, dumbass, she needs mouth-to-mouth!" Noel snaps at him, taking Cora's chin and tilting her head back. Without hesitating he starts giving her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, laying his head on her chest after every few breaths to see if she's breathing on her own or not. Stiles looks on anxiously, begging "Come on, come on Cora..."
—
After another scene with Derek and Jennifer when Derek realizes someone needs to turn the backup generator back on, we go back to Noel as he continues to try and resuscitate Cora.
Stiles keeps encouraging her to breathe, and when she finally does, Noel all but collapses as he grabs her hand and Stiles sighs in relief.
Noel looks at her and smiles, saying almost to himself "Not the most romantic of first kisses, but... I've had worse."
—
Peter and Scott hide from the twins in a closet, escaping down the laundry shoot as Scott gets a text from Derek telling him to turn the backup generator on. He relays to Derek that he's on his way, and back at the ambulance, Stiles asks if Cora's breathing is still steady. He nods, saying "Trust me, Stiles, if her breath even hitched, I'd be on my feet. You'd definitely know."
Stiles nods and tells Cora to hang on just a little longer, and gives her a heartfelt speech about how he used to be the one with the plans in his and Scott's friendship.
Noel listens intently as Stiles talks mostly to Cora, not offering anything until Stiles says he doesn't want to be the one to find his dad's body.
He looks like he wants to say something, he even opens his mouth to offer reassurance, but there's suddenly rumbling outside, and the two move to the window to look. They find that the power is out and the silhouette of the twins is walking past outside, Noel telling Stiles to stay back as he unleashes his claws.
Stiles listens for any sign of danger, but then Noel says "Wait... It's Scott, and Peter."
"How do you know?" he asks skeptically, and Noel says "I know their heartbeats. Help me open the door."
Sure enough, Scott and Peter pop in, and Noel helps get Peter into the ambulance. Stiles asks where Derek and Jennifer are, Scott saying he has to go back in for them and his mom. Noel offers to go with him, but Scott denies his help and says "If the twins are here, and they come for you, Peter's too weak to fight them and keep them away from Stiles and Cora. I don't know how soon he'll heal, so if they come, I need you to be here... And I need you to let Laura take over and fight them for as long as she can."
Noel seems incredibly skeptical, but when he glances back at Cora and Peter, he nods and his eyes glow with a hint of red. "Okay," he relents, putting a hand on Scott's shoulder and squeezing it firmly before letting him go and closing the ambulance's doors once again.
—
Jennifer (who we now know is actually named Julia, but will continue to be called by her alias) reveals to Derek that she used to be Kali's emissary, but Kali failed to kill her when she murdered the rest of her pack.
—
Noel isn't seen again until much later in the episode, after the pack sets in place a plan to get Cora safely away from the hospital and get Jennifer out as well.
After Isaac pulls up to the ambulance in Chris's car, Peter gets Cora in and Isaac yells for Stiles and Noel to get in. But Stiles is distracted by the sign on the door asking for the signature of a parent or guardian, and the realization dawns on him that parents count as Jennifer's final sacrifice of guardians.
Stiles books it into the hospital, Noel following after him and telling Isaac to go, and assuring him he'll look after Stiles.
As the two run, Noel asks "What are you doing?! Go get in the car!!"
"Guardians! PARENTS or guardians!" Stiles yells back, Noel running with replenished strength now that he knows what Stiles was trying to get across.
The two of them rush in and see Scott as he ditches Derek in the elevator in order to find his mother. Stiles and Noel run up as well, Stiles calling Scott's name. They slow as they reach Derek, unconscious in the elevator, and the two seem to be internally debating where to go.
Noel squares his shoulders and rushes forward (to Derek) while Stiles goes to his right (where Scott had disappeared).
—
On the roof, Scott agrees to help Deucalion catch Jennifer so he and Stiles can find their parents.
Stiles catches up to Scott and begs him not to go with Deucalion, but Scott goes anyway, claiming there's no plan B this time and their only option is for him to go with Deucalion.
—
Soon after, Melissa wakes up in the root cellar across from the sheriff, and the two have a brief conversation where the sheriff tells Melissa that Jennifer called the cellar a nemeton.
—
This is the end of the episode.