Season 1, Episode 11: Formality + Season 1, Episode 12: Code Breaker
I don't know what happened. One second, I'm standing outside my house, the next I'm on the ground bleeding to death after getting shot. Then, the world around me went black and I was out.
When I regained consciousness, I felt a strong surge of electricity flowing in my veins. I was in a totally different place. My wrists and ankles were restrained and chained to something, my shirt was just completely gone, and I felt extremely weak.
"Wow, I've had this going for like thirty minutes," the same voice from the shooting announced, finally turning off the machine that was basically frying me. "I thought you would've been dead by now."
I let out a staggered breath. "Then fucking kill me," I muttered. My tone was sharp, but my voice was weak.
"I'd be happy to," The voice laughed. "But I don't know. Derek, what do you think? Should I put her out of her misery too?"
My eyebrows furrowed a I lifted my head, turning to actually take a look around me. Tied up beside me -- also shirtless -- was Derek, and in front of us stood none other than Kate Argent.
"Leave her alone," Derek growled.
I looked over to Derek, trying to see if he was hurt at all. He looked like he was okay, which made me feel a lot better. He looked at me as well after sensing my eyes on him, giving me a 'are you okay' look.
Usually, I'd nod or tell him I was fine. But right now, I felt horrible... like I was one breath away from dying. By the look on Derek's face, it was obvious that he knew I was in pain.
This only made him angrier.
He began to thrash around in his restraints, trying everything to break free from them.
"Derek, don't even bother," Kate laughed, watching my brother struggle. "By the time you get out of those, she'll be dead. At least you'll get to say goodbye to this one."
Saying that only made him angrier.
"Why are we here," I mumbled. "We would be dead by now if-- if you didn't need us."
Kate smirked, walking up closer to me. She took my chin in her hand, lifting my head up so that I was looking at her. "I need information on that Uncle of yours," She admitted.
Of course this is about Peter.
Given Dereks silence at the mention of Peter, I knew it was best for me also not to say anything. Not for Peter's sake, but my own.
"Come on, guys. He killed your sister!" Kate announced, dropping my face as she walked over to the table at the side of the room. She had all of mine and Dereks stuff from our pockets scattered across the table, looking through them. "Now, either you're not telling me because, well, you want to kill him yourself... or, for some reason, you're protecting him."
Kate opened Dereks wallet, taking out his drivers license and examining the photo. A chuckle left her mouth as she walked towards Derek, holding the ID card next to his face for a side-by-side. "Look at that sour face," She said, squeezing Dereks cheeks. "I bet you always used to get people coming up to you saying, "Smile, Derek!" "Why don't you smile more?" Don't you just wanna kick those people in the face?"
When Kate turned around to walk back to the table, Derek sent her a deadly glare. "I can think of one," He threatened.
"Promise?" Kate asked, turning back around to face Derek. "Cause if I thought you'd be that much fun, I'd let you go."
I don't know what was worse right now. Kate flirting with my brother right in front of me, or the fact that I was in excruciating pain.
We were screwed. No one is going to find us here. Peter couldn't care less about where we were, Scott cant control himself enough to come here and help, and Stiles was defenseless.
"You know what would be a lot of fun?" I asked, catching Kates attention. "You telling us why you want Peter."
Kate smirked, looking me up and down. Seriously, what is her problem? "You know, it's too bad that this werewolf gene runs in your family," Kate began, a sinister smile on her face. "You are all very attractive. I mean, look at the body on you, Lizzie. You've grown up nicely, don't you agree Derek?"
I let out a low growl at the woman, but it was over powered by Dereks loud one.
"I'm just saying," Kate shrugged as she walked to the table, looking down at what was there again. She picked up a file, flipping through it quickly. "All right, let's see... Nothing... nothing... nothing... God, I hate this detective crap."
"Are you gonna torture me, or are you just gonna talk me to death, huh?" Derek snapped.
Kate turned around cheerfully, looking over at Derek. "Oh, sweetie, I don't- I don't wanna torture you," She said. "I just wanna catch up! Remember all the fun we had together?"
I was starting to get why I was here. She wanted to use me against Derek. So every time he did something she didn't like, I'd take the hit. Plus, I think she knew I'd come looking for him if I wasn't here, and I'm pretty good at tracking someone down.
"Like the time you burned our family alive?" Derek questioned.
Kate smirked. "No, I was thinking more about the..." She began to walk closer to Derek, running her finger across his chest. What the fuck was happening, I think I'm going to throw up. "...hot, crazy sex we had..." She continued, smiling up at Derek. "But, the fire thing? That was fun, too."
I turned my head, looking at my brother in disgust. I did not need to be here for this conversation. I guess this was my form of torture from Kate.
Honestly, I should probably start holding my breath to speed up the death process.
Derek thrashed forward, breathing angrily in Kates face.
"I love how much you hate me," Kate laughed. "Remember how this felt?"
Kate bent down, literally licking Dereks stomach. He let out a loud roar, causing her to slowly back up.
I was speechless. I mean, I can't even look at Derek right now.
"Sweetheart... I really don't want to torture you..." Kate said to Derek as she walked over to a control panel, switching on the electric that was connected to the wires against my skin. "Her, I don't really care too much about. She's no use to me. Look at her, she hasn't even healed from anything so far."
"STOP!"
I didn't give Kate the reaction I knew she craved. She wanted to see me in pain, suffering to keep it together. But instead, I didn't have it in myself to feel the pain. I was numb, sitting there with a straight face.
Kate laughed, catching on to what I was doing, turning off the electric. "Don't worry, Derek, I've got someone coming in to actually torture you."
The door behind Kate opened up and a man walked in, cracking his knuckles.
I lifted my head, ready to ask the man to punch me in the face so that I'd be knocked out, but I guess my blood loss work working in my favor.
My head began to spin, and the world around me faded to black.
+
I don't know how long I was out for, but I was relieved to see that Kate wasn't in the room. It was only Derek and I.
"Fucking cunt," I mumbled, resting my head against my arm.
"Liz--"
"Derek, I don't want to fucking hear it," I spoke weakly, not even bothering to face him. "Let's just-- we have to get out of here or else I'm going to die."
Derek shook his head. "Liz, you aren't going to die," He spoke in a tone that was clearly just him trying to convince himself.
I nodded back, motioning my head to the floor below my feet that held a puddle of my blood. "I was sprayed with bullets, I've been ble-bleeding out for over an hour, and I'm being shocked with over 900 volts of electricity," I reminded him. "Im shocked I'm not dead yet."
"I'm sorry, Liz," Derek spoke softly to me. "I should've stayed with you. I never should've went with him. None of this would be happening--"
Derek was cut off by the door opening, Kate walking in and sitting down at the table. "Oh, look who's back," she taunted me. "You really don't die, do you?"
I scoffed. "And you really don't get less annoying, do you?"
Kate turned on the electric for a few seconds after my comment, watching me struggle against its power as a roar escaped me. Well, I guess I'm not numb anymore.
"Unfortunately Derek, if you're not gonna talk... I'm just gonna have to kill you since this one doesn't die," Kate said, although she didn't bother looking in our direction. "So, say hi to your sister for me."
Kate stopped for a moment, a thought coming to her mind just before she reached to turn on the power connected to us. "...You did tell her about me, didn't you? The truth about the fire?" She asked. "...Or did you? Did you tell anybody?"
I looked up again. "What are you talking about?" I muttered.
Derek looked away, not daring to meet my eyes of Kates. He knew something this entire time? He knew what happened, and he never said a word?
Kate laughed. "Oh, sweetie... That's just a lot of guilt to keep buried," She shook her head at Derek amusedly. "It's not all your fault. You got tricked by a pretty face! It happens."
I looked at my brother with pure hurt in my eyes. He knew this entire time.
"Handsome young Werewolf mistakenly falls in love with a super-hot girl who comes from a family that kills the Werewolves. Is that ironic?" Kate continued, seeing that she was successfully getting under our skin. "Is it ironic that you're inadvertently helping me track down the rest of the pack-- again? Or, is it just a little bit of history repeating?"
Kate stepped away, making her way back to the table.
Tears fell down my cheeks as I processed what she just said. My own brother had a hand in the fire. Whether he knew at the time or not, he led them right to us.
I always knew Derek blamed himself for the fire and our family's death, but I thought it was a protection thing, not an involvement thing.
I looked over at him, finally catching his attention. He looked ashamed of himself as his eyes landed on me. I didn't even know what to say to him. Everything's been a lie.
"History repeating..." Kate mumbled, staring off for a moment before turning around to face us again. "It's not Jackson, is it?"
The third beta. She wants the third beta.
"Oh, no, no, no... he's got a little scratch on the back of his neck, but... he's not in love with Allison," Kate was beginning to put the pieces together. "... Not like Scott."
Kate looked at us, realizing she was right. "Well I'll be damned," she laughed, turning around and grabbing her stuff before walking to the door. She flicked the lights off as she opened the door, closing and locking it behind herself.
There was a silence between Derek and I. I didn't even know what to say to him, and he clearly didn't know what to say to me.
"Liz, I can explain," Derek began.
"I don't want to hear your fucking excuses!" I shouted at him, although it physically hurt me to do so. The volume I spoke in made my head spin. "I just-- I need to know why."
Derek took a breath. "I-- I was sixteen. I didn't know what I was getting myself into," He admitted.
"Sixteen--" I breathed. "Derek she's like forty."
"I--"
We were cut off by a distant howl, the noise echoing through the cellar.
Scott.
"Derek, I don't feel so good," I mumbled, my head beginning to spin and my chest tightening.
I scrunched my eyes in pain as I let out a painful breath. I don't know what to do. This might be it, this might be how I die.
Derek howled loudly back to Scott, then looked over at me. He fought to get out of his restraints, wanting to help me. But he couldn't, Kate locked them too tight.
"Hey, hey, eyes open," Derek spoke up, watching as my eyes were slowly closing. "Elizabeth, open your eyes!"
I fought my body as it screamed at me to close my eyes, forcing them to stay open. "Derek-- I, I think I'm dying," tears began to spill from my eyes. "I don't want to die, Derek. Not here, not like this."
"You're not going to die," Derek spoke in an unsure tone as he pulled at the restraints again.
I groaned in pain, letting out a sob. It felt like my insides were being torn apart. Then, out of nowhere, I let out a painful howl so loud that the place shook.
It was a matter of fifteen minutes before we heard someone coming down to us. This person didn't carry the same confident strut that Kate did. Their footsteps were careful, cautious even.
The door to the cellar slowly opened, causing Derek to look up. I couldn't look up, I was in so much pain that movement made it worse.
"Scott," Derek sighed, happy to see the beta.
I opened my eyes to see Scott, gaining a little bit of hope that I'd make it out of here.
Scott came to undo my restraints first, but I shook my head. "No, no I can't-- get Derek out first," I breathed quickly as the pain coursed through my body. "Please."
Without another word, Scott moved over and was able to free one of Dereks hands before he heard the sound of footsteps approaching.
"Someone's here," Scott muttered, hurrying to hide away off to the side.
Derek held his free arm up as if it was still restrained, watching as the door opened and the man from earlier walked in.
He laughed when he saw me, glancing between Derek and I. "Ready to have some more fun?" He asked, cracking his knuckles again. "To be honest, my knuckles are kind of hurting... So, I brought some help," He held up a baseball bat, slipping it into his hands. "But, I need to warn ya-- I used to play in college."
"When, in 1862?" I scoffed. Sarcasm was my only defense now, so I had to use it.
The man glared at me angrily, swinging the bat at me. I waited for it to hit me, but watched as Derek reached across and grabbed it. "...We brought some help too."
From behind the man, Scott emerged from the shadows. Derek used the bat in his hands to knock the man out, giving Scott the clear to come back and get us out of these restraints.
"Scott, help me with this," Derek said, tugging at the restraint around his other wrist.
"No," Scott shook his head, moving over to help me out instead.
Derek looked at Scott confusedly. "What?"
I let out a painful gasp as Scott reached over the undo my restraints. "Ow, ow Scott," I cried, not liking the way my body felt as it was able to relax.
"Scott you're hurting her," Derek pointed out the obvious.
But it wasn't Scott hurting me, it was my body fighting against me.
The boy was careful as he got me out of the restraints, catching me as I fell forward. "Why haven't you healed at all?" He asked me, a concerned look on his face. "I mean, it's been a whole day. I thought you-- well, I know you take longer to heal but I didn't think it was this long."
I leaned on Scotts shoulder and made my way to the chair Kate was sitting in before, sitting myself down. "The pain just hasn't stopped," I sighed, "I think there was a form of wolfsbane in the bullets that shot me, but a weaker version of it. I was also electrocuted for like thirty straight minutes."
"How are you alive?!"
I shrugged, breathing heavily as the pain inside me readjusted. "I--" I began to speak, but I felt a sharp pain in my stomach, causing me to hunch over. "I'm pretty close to not being alive."
Scott looked over at Derek now, a determined look on his face. "Im not letting you out until you tell me how to stop Peter," he clarified.
Derek let out a groan. "You really wanna talk about this right now?" He asked.
"He's going after Allison and her family," Scott said, a worried look on his face. "He's going to kill them."
"Good," I breathed. "Why do you think we're in this mess? for fun?"
"So what?" Derek asked Scott. "Because Allisons precious family nearly killed my sister, and they killed our entire family."
Scott didn't seem to get it. "So, tell me how to stop him"
"You CAN'T! All right? Now," Derek tugged his arm once again in the restraint. "I don't know when Kate's coming back, so just get me out of this right now! Get me out right now!"
As Derek began arguing with Scott, I leaned back in the chair, my body trembling from exhaustion. I wasn't sure how much longer I could hold on. My vision blurred, but the conversation between Derek and Scott faded into the background as my focus shifted inward.
I could feel it—death clawing at me, pulling me under. But I wasn't ready to give up. Not yet.
Scott looked unsure, glancing at Derek and I. "Promise you'll help me, and you're free."
Derek scoffed. "You want me to risk my life for your girlfriend? For your stupid little teenage crush that means absolutely nothing?" He yelled in Scotts face. Well, this is one way to not be freed. "You're not in love, Scott! You're sixteen years old! You're a child!'
I was understanding now where Derek was coming from. Scott was going down the exact same path as Derek did. Derek just wanted to protect Scott from the nightmare that follows behind that family.
"Maybe you're right... But, I know something you don't," Scott began, looking between us again. "Peter said he didn't know what he was doing when he killed your sister, right?"
I nodded. Look, Peter could say all he wanted, but I cannot trust him. Not anymore.
"He lied," Scott said, pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket and unfolding it. It was the photo of the deer with the spiral on its torso, the thing that drew Laura here. "Remember this? This is what brought your sister back to Beacon Hills, right?"
I looked over to Derek, then back at the piece of paper in Scotts hands.
"Wha--"
"Where did you get that?"
Scott looked at the paper for a moment. "My boss told me three months ago, someone came into the clinic asking for a copy of this picture. Do you wanna know who it was?" He stopped speaking for a second, creating a suspense. "Peter's nurse. They brought your sister here so that Peter could kill her and become the Alpha, and that's why you're going to help me."
I could smell the anger radiating off of Derek. Personally, I thought this was common knowledge, but Derek was just in denial about Peter's new persona.
Scott shook his head and went to turn around. "Just say you'll help me, and I'll help you unlock your other--"
I was too busy watching Scott when I heard the sound of a chain snapping. I looked over to Derek, watching him rip the cuff off from around his wrist.
"I'll help you," Derek said, getting himself completely free.
Scott stood up straight, feeling the confidence rush back into him. With Derek and I on his side, he knew he had a chance. Well, I wasn't going to be much help to him, but Derek will be.
The first thing Derek did when he was free was rush over to me, putting his hand on my arm. His veins turned the familiar black color for a moment, but he had to pull away as my pain shocked him.
"What are you doing?" Scott asked Derek, noticing the way his veins changed colors as he touched me. "What--"
Derek looked at me worriedly. "I don't get it, why isn't it working?"
"I guess Kate charged me up with so many volts that it isn't going to work," I frowned.
Derek didn't care, he reached and grabbed my arm tightly so that he wouldn't let go.
I looked at him with wide eyes, shaking my head. "No, no, Derek it's going to kill you," I pulled my arm weakly. "Please, don't--"
"Derek we have to go," Scott rushed him.
The look on my brother's face as he let go of me was one that I only saw one other time. He looked worried, genuinely worried. He's always worried about me, but this worry was the same one he had on the night of the fire.
The look in his eyes was the same. He wanted to help me, take my pain, but his body was rejecting it.
"Please, Derek," I begged him. "I'll be fine."
Derek looked at me, letting out a shaky breath before turning and grabbing his shirt and jacket off of the table.
I pulled my shirt on as well, cringing at the feeling of the dried blood on the shirt hitting my skin. You could clearly see where each bullet went through me, small holes in each spot.
"Scott, help Liz," Derek instructed him as me stumbled over. After being tied up, both of us had no balance. "I can't--"
Scott hurried over to me. "We're going to get you out of here, Liz. You're going to be okay," he assured me, though his eyes betrayed his uncertainty.
"Yeah... I'll be fine," I muttered, forcing a weak smile. "Just don't let Peter or those Argents destroy what's left of us."
Scott and Derek exchanged a glance, both understanding that time was running out—not just for me, but for everyone.