season 4, chapter 6 : orphaned
* * *
"Oh, you're looking for a punch to the face."
* * *
I stand in the animal clinic, desperately trying to keep Brett pinned down with the help of Stiles and Derek. He's currently squirming around of the cold metal table, Deaton hovering over him with a sharp scalpel dripped in his hands.
"What the hell is happening to this kid?" Stiles frantically asks.
"He's been poisoned by a rare wolfsbane." Derek tells us. "I need to make an incision and you need to hold him as still as possible."
"Derek, how about a little werewolf strength?" Stiles says.
"Yeah, I'm not the only one here with werewolf strength." Derek fires back.
"If you cant hold him still, the incision might kill him." Derek sternly says.
"You don't think we're trying?" I exclaim.
Brett's eyes turn gold, shoving all four of us. I land on top of Stiles, the two of us groaning from the impact.
"Sorry." I mumble.
"Are you okay?" Stiles asks.
I just nod as Stiles stands up, helping me up as well. His hand stays on my lower back as we watch Brett jump off the metal table just for him to be punched in the face by Peter, falling to the ground unconscious.
Peter looks at Derek. "I guess I still have a little werewolf strength myself."
"Yeah, maybe more than a little." Derek replies, looking down at his cut that hasn't healed.
I drop down beside Brett. "Doc, I don't think he's breathing."
Deaton crouches down beside me, cutting an incision in Brett's chest. I grimace at the sight, leaning into Stiles' body slightly. Brett gasps for air, yellow mist escaping the cut.
"Is he going to be okay?" I question.
"I think so." Deaton answers. "He'll probably be our for awhile though."
Stiles leans forwards slightly. "Guys, I think he's saying something."
"The sun.. The moon.. The truth." Brett breathes out.
"Three things cannot long be hidden." Deaton begins. "The sun, the moon, and the truth. It's Buddhist."
♡
Holding the printed paper in his hands, Parrish leans against his desk and looks up at Stiles, Lydia, and I.
"This is a hit list?" Parrish asks.
"We call it a dead pool." I say. "Recognise any of the names?"
"Yeah, the Sheriff had me run a bunch of these through the system last time." Parrish tells us. "We couldn't find any of them."
"Show him the other thing." Stiles says to Lydia.
Lydia hesitates before flipping the paper over, revealing his name in the printed writing.
"Okay, that's kind of terrifying." Parrish says, standing up. "What's the number?"
"That's how much you're worth." Lydia replies.
Parrish turns around. "I'm worth five dollars?"
"Five million." Stiles corrects, holding his hand up to show the number five.
"I only make 40,000 a year." Parrish states. "Maybe I should kill myself. I don't get it, why am I on this?"
"Honestly, that might be a question for another day." Stiles says. "There's still another third of the list we've got to crack."
"We need the third cipher key but we need help getting it." Lydia continues.
"From who?" Parrish questions.
"Meredith." Lydia replies.
"The last time you saw her, you almost have her a nervous breakdown." Parrish tells us.
♡
The four of us wait for the door to be opened, the man trying different keys. A door creaks then Stiles and I turn to see another guy walking towards us, Brunski.
"Oh no, not this guy." Stiles mutters.
"What the hell are we running here?" Brunski asks, pushing past us. "Bed and breakfast? You do not just open the door for anyone with a badge."
"We need to talk to Meredith Walker." Parrish says. "It involves a murder investigation."
"Well, you can talk to her all you want but these three, especially that one, they're outta here." Brunski replies, glaring at Stiles.
"They're crucial witness in an ongoing investigation." Parrish states. "I wouldn't have brought them here if it wasn't absolutely.. crucial."
"Come back with a court order then I'll listen." Brunski says before turning to Stiles. "As for you, Mr Stilinski, how about you come back with payment in full. That's right, daddy may be the Sheriff but he's late on the bills. Those government jobs aren't as reliable as they used to be, huh?"
I step forwards. "Leave him alone."
"What are you going to do?" Brunski scoffs. "You're just a little girl that will run back mommy once I say one bad thing about you."
"Oh, you're looking for a punch to the face." I snap.
I go to step forwards but Stiles grabs me, pulling me into his body to stop me from actually punching the man.
"The government jobs do help when you need a favour." Parrish continues. "A month ago, Canaan P.D helped you get home after blowing a 0.1 on a breathalyser."
Brunski purses his lips. "Alright, I'm not against a little quid pro quo. Not at all."
The man shoves the keys into Stiles' hands before walking off, disappearing around the corner.
"You, I like you. I'm gonna keeps you." Stiles tells Parrish, shoving the keys in his hands before turning to me. "And you, just be glad I stopped you from punching him."
"He was disrespecting you and your dad, I had to say something!" I tell Stiles.
Stiles smiles, taking my hand and pulling me into the room where Meredith is sitting on the bed. Stiles, Lydia, and I sit down on the bed opposite while Parrish stands in the doorway, Lydia speaking to the girl.
"Meredith, what do you mean you can't tell us?" Lydia asks.
"We just need the third key, you can give it to us." I gently say.
Meredith shakes her head. "I can't."
"The why'd you give us the second key?" Lydia questions.
"I wanted to help." Meredith replies. "That's what I want to do, I want to help."
"Great." Lydia exclaims. "Help us now, okay? Give us the third cipher key."
"Things have changed, I can't." Meredith tells us. "I can't, he doesn't want me to."
"Who's he?" Stiles asks.
"The Benefactor." Meredith says.
Lydia stands up. "What's his name?"
Meredith shakes her head, her lips pressed into a thin line which causes me to sigh.
"You're shaking you head, what does that mean?" Stiles speaks up. "Does that mean you don't know or you don't want to help?"
"I-I can't.. I cant help anymore." Meredith stammers.
"How do you know about him?" Lydia continues.
Meredith's breathing begins to rapidly grow heavier, her head frantically shaking from side to side.
"Guys, I think we should stop." I say with worry, my eyes on the girl.
"Meredith, a lot of people are going to die if you don't tell us." Lydia pushes.
"I don't.. I don't know." Meredith stammers. "Please.."
"Meredith, it's okay." Parrish reassures. "You're going to be alright."
Meredith continues to shake her head, repeating the words 'I don't know' over and over.
"I don't know!" Meredith screams.
The girls screams echoes throughout the room, Lydia staggering backwards but I quickly catch her. Lydia turns her head to face me and I notice blood running down from her ear.
♡
"Both of the first two keys, Allison and Aiden, they're both names of the dead." Stiles informs, pacing around the room.
"We've already tried every other dead persons name we could think of." Lydia replies, sitting in front of her laptop. "And if you haven't noticed, there were a lot of tries."
"Yeah, we noticed." Stiles sighs.
I notice Lydia's face fall. "Are you okay?"
"She's the only other banshee I've ever met and I think I might have just drove her over the edge." Lydia quietly says.
"Lydia, it wasn't your fault." I tell her.
"Hold on." Stiles begins. "Banshees predict death, right? Why if the third key is someone who isn't dead but will be."
Lydia nods, sighing as she closes her eyes. Stiles and I move behind her, watching her slowly type a name.
Keyword: Derek.
The screen fills with more names and numbers.
I point at Merediths name. "We need to call Parrish."
Lydia grabs her phone, dialling Parrish's number and talking into it. Eventually she puts it on speaker for us.
"Lydia, Meredith's gone." Parrish tells her. "They found her an hour ago in her room. She hung herself.. I'm sorry."
Lydia looks at me, tears in her eyes. I quickly leave Stiles' side and embrace my friend in my arms as she stands there, not knowing what to do or say.
♡
Stiles left to go to Scott's house while Lydia agreed to come back to mine. The two of us sit in my room when my mom suddenly appears at the door.
"Hey girls." My mom says. "I haven't seen you in awhile, Lydia. Or you, Y/n."
"Hi Mrs Y/l/n." Lydia replies, smiling.
"Yeah, sorry." I apologise. "Just stuff to do with school and making time for my friends."
"It's okay, Y/n." My mom tells me. "As long as you're all safe then I don't mind."
I smile then my mom passes Lydia and I some takeaway, heat still radiating off of it.
"Your father and I got some food earlier and I saw you bringing Lydia round so I figured I'd buy you both some as well." My mom says.
I smile. "Thanks."
My mom leaves the room and I turn to see Lydia smiling, already diving into her food. I'm glad that we're still managing to be happy throughout everything we've been too and are still going through.