( cr existforlove )
BEING STUCK WITH your ex boyfriend and his current girlfriend, all while three of your friends are most probably being tortured by a supernatural hunter mafia, was not the ideal situation to be in. In some parallel universe, this wouldn't be happening. In another universe was a Juliette that was his and a Stiles that was hers. There would be a world where Juliette was selfish enough not to end her relationship with him, thus Malia would be the one awkwardly third wheeling in the corner of the bathroom while they shared an intimate moment. In this world, however, Juliette was the one by the corner.
"Do you hear them? Do you hear Scott?" Stiles paced around while the two girls sat on the floor. Malia closed her eyes shut, letting out a sigh when she couldn't focus. "Okay, what about Kira? Lydia? Anybody?"
Malia's continuous attempts at concentrating on her super-hearing failed her. "I... I can't. I can't concentrate. I... there's too many sounds and voices."
Stiles kneeled down, his hands meeting hers. "Alright, just breathe. Breathe with me, all right? You practised this with Scott before, you remember that?"
Her body faced the blank wall, attempting to give the two some privacy, which was difficult considering the room was empty with nothing to block her view of them. "I'm trying."
"It's okay, it's okay. Just focus on something."
Juliette felt like she was interfering— which happened not to be the first time she felt this way with the couple. She recalled all her nights in her room spent in companionable insomnia, hearing the giggles and muffled laughter coming from his room from the early stages of his relationship with Malia. From the moment she showed up on the true alphas doorstep, hoping he'd show her control, they knew they'd gained a new member in their little pack. A part of her wanted to hate Malia at first, which she later found to be nearly impossible. Hating people Stiles loved was not an easy thing to try.
And after weeks of rebound attempts, Juliette confidently believes that she dug her feelings for him so far down that she's over him. But Lydia once told her that feelings resurface the moment you think they're gone, and that line stuck with her more than she would've liked. "Here, look at my eyes," Stiles instructed her. "Just focus on the sound of my voice, just concentrate–"
Malia cut him off by moving her lips to his, causing Juliette to gulp and tear her eyes away from them the moment it happened. She felt the blood rush to her face, creating an overwhelming heat from her cheeks, which she assumed to be from the discomfort witnessing their kiss. Though her gaze was far off them to see it, but Stiles snuck a glance to her, slightly embarrassed himself that the kiss might've made her uncomfortable. She wasn't sure which was weirder; her witnessing them kiss, or the fact that she managed not to interrupt them by babbling out a third wheel joke.
The lights flickered. "They're killing him."
Juliette instantly got up to rush to the two. "Malia, can you hear anything else? Why would they do it, what do they want to know?"
"She..." Before she could say it, they heard the true alpha's roar. "She's asking him who could take Derek, a person that would turn but not by a bite..." Malia turned to the wall, focusing harder on the voices. "Kate." She finally said. "Scott said Kate."
Stiles shot Juliette a shocked look, shaking his head left to right. "No, that's not possible." He said. "It can't be what he said, it's impossible."
"Is it?" Juliette questioned, wishing she had asked them more about Kate Argent before when she had the chance and their memory of her was fresher. "Who did you say killed her again— Peter? With his claws? It's unlikely, but..."
Lost, Malia's eyes flickered back and forth from Stiles to Juliette in confusion. "Why? Who's Kate?"
"She's..." Stiles swallowed. "A hunter."
Juliette nodded. "An Argent." The door opened, revealing the guards who gestured with their hands for the three teenagers to leave.
Without questioning it, they instantly got on their feet and left the room. Juliette caught them whispering in Spanish about a she-wolf, and it didn't take long for her to connect the title to Kate Argent. She remembered all the times Stiles and Isaac would joke about her and how sick in the head she was, and she recalled them mentioning her past relationship with Derek Hale, which could be her motive to kidnap him. "Are you okay?" Juliette skipped to Lydia when they stepped outside the club.
"Fine." Lydia repressed, patting down her dress. She received a disbelieved look from Juliette, and let out a sigh of defeat. "They used Kira's powers to electrocute Scott. It was either she turns the dial on me or him."
Juliette's eyes met Araya's, who was meters away talking to Scott. "I'm not advocating for murder," She says. "But i'm going to kill her."
"That's not what matters now— Kate's alive."
"I heard." She swallowed, watching Kira approach the jeep alongside Stiles and Malia. "What I don't get is what she would want with Derek. Their past fling isn't motive enough for her to take him, it's not like they still have feelings for each other. There has to be something more."
They all waited for Scott, backs against the blue jeep (which Juliette voted against, knowing the old jeep would break down on their ride to Mexico— which shockingly enough has not happened yet). When the hunter eventually ended her conversation with the true alpha, Juliette wishing she could eavesdrop on their talk, Stiles approached him slightly lost. "What now?"
"She think she knows where we could find Derek."
"Is she going to tell us where?"
Juliette groaned. "Please tell me it's not in Mexico."
"Uh, actually, she's giving us a guide."
Right on cue, a motorcycle from afar approached them with raging speed, almost crashing into Stiles when they stopped. She took off her helmet, her long black hair fluttering in the wind. "You know her?" Stiles nudged Scott.
"Braeden."
Juliette squinted at her, cupping her hand over her head to block the sunlight from blocking her eyesight. "A mercenary. You saved Isaac." At the recollection of Isaac, she took her phone out of her pocket, wanting to text him like she has been since he left for Europe. Their bond was too tight to break over something like them not living near each other anymore, so they would text each other daily with news.
Braeden nodded, perceiving the unsure look on Stiles' face. "Right now i'm the only person willing to take you to la iglesia."
"The church?"
Stiles turned on his heel, dumbfounded. "What church?"
"It's not a place you'll find god."
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"FOR GODS SAKES," Juliette fussed at the chosen playlist during their road trip through Mexico. The whole car ride has been so silent you could hear the drop of a pin, which Juliette doesn't dwell well with. Scott acknowledged the quiet, leading to him popping a cassette tape in his jeep's radio, having them sit through five songs of 70's disco music. "Scott, if you don't turn it off i'm throwing myself out of this jeep."
Immediately, he took the tape out of the radio. Malia leaned into the space between the driver's seat and the front seat, where Stiles and Scott were seated. The car filled out of silence once more. "Alright, i'll ask. Who the hell is Kate Argent?"
"Well," Stiles started. "We were at her funeral. So, i'd like to know how she got out of a casket that was buried six feet underground. Unless she was never in it."
Lydia tore her gaze off the car window. "She was Allison's aunt, and a total sociopath."
Kira, who observed Scott's discomfort, suspired. It must have been the mention of a person he associate with Allison that has him low in spirits. But Juliette suspected it was the idea that her aunt had been alive this entire time, and she died before she could find out. "You don't have to talk about it now if you don't want to."
"Um," Malia countered. "Yes, he does."
"I'll tell it." Juliette offered, and directly began the story before they could stop her. "She was the one who burned the Hale house, killing most of them. Some of them survived, like Cora and Peter. Peter was in a hospital for years because he got burned so bad he couldn't move a muscle—he's the one that killed Kate by slashing her neck with his claws. Legend says if you say her name three times in the mirror, she'll show up behind you."
Malia's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Of course."
"No!" Stiles rolled his eyes. "Juliette— you're on thin ice."
Amused, Juliette snickered. The comment might've been a bit barbaric of her, but she assumed Malia would get that it was a joke eventually. The werecoyote's eyes drifted to Juliette's feet. "No she's not."
"It's an expression." He exhaled, adjusting back to the main topic. "But, Scott, we saw them bury her."
"No. We saw a casket, remember? She wasn't in it. The Calavera's heard Kate has been killed by an alpha's claws, so they went to morgue. They wanted to make sure she was actually dead. But her body was healing. More and more, as she got closer to a full moon, she was coming back. So they switched up the bodies and took her to Mexico. If a hunter is bit, they have to take their own life before they change— like Allison's mother. The Calavera's, they treat the code like law, they make it their responsibility to enforce it."
The missing pieces of the chain of events captured Juliette's attention; Hadn't they thought of notifying Chris Argent that his sister hadn't truly died? Or were they quizzical about his loyalties, and how loose his faith in the hunter's codex might've become, that he might refuse to choose his sister's death over her turn? Malia shrugged. "Good for her. I wouldn't do it either."
"Would you kill half a dozen people to get out?"
Juliette leaned into Malia to whisper; "Don't answer that."
"Because that's what she did." Scott continued. "She faked her suicide until they unlocked the door to take her body, and she killed everyone in her way until she got out."
"So Kate's a werewolf now?"
"I don't know." He admitted. "There's a saying, sometimes the shape you take reflects the person you are."
Lydia huffed. "What kind of shape is a sociopathic bitch?"
An object hit the side of the jeep, their momentum throwing them to the left side of the car, their bodies aggressively hitting the door. Juliette groaned as her head hit the window, the tires of the car bouncing uncontrollably. Stiles struggled to drive as the car started to break down in the middle of the desert. "It's her, i'm calling it." Juliette said without hesitation before anyone could step out of the car to inspect what hit it.
"That's ridiculous," Kira shook her head. "It's not her."
"You're telling me it's a coincidence that something crashed into the jeep the second Lydia called Kate a bitch?" Juliette asked, half jokingly. They rolled their eyes at her and jumped out of the car. "Fine!" She called out, grabbing her knives. "But if i'm right, you owe me one."
Stiles inspected the car for any evidence of what might've hit it. Braeden parked her motorcycle near the jeep, puzzled as to why they stopped. "We had to stop, it felt like we hit something." Scott informed her.
"Scott, we need to get there by night. It's too dangerous otherwise."
He hesitated, gaping at the group for advice. Stiles nodded, gesturing for him to go. "I'm not going without you."
"Dude, someone needs to find Derek. We'll figure something out. We always do. Just go."
The sun was going down, meaning they'd be left in the dark in the middle of the desert the moment the sun set. Perhaps the worst part was that Scott left, along with Braeden, the only one that knew the routes. It also seemed unlikely that Stiles would get the car started before then, much to their dismay. "We're not going to Mexico in a rental car, Jules." Juliette mimicked their voices in a whine. "Of course the jeep won't break down in Mexico, Jules."
Stiles turned to her, narrowing his eyes. "Really? You're pulling an I told you so, now?"
"Stiles!" Malia pulled out a sharp bone from under the jeep. "I don't think we hit something. I think something hit us."
Juliette's face dropped at the sight of the claw. "God, I was only joking about the Kate thing but I think I might be right." She shuddered as she glanced at the hills behind her, the golden rays of sun starting to disappear.
Lydia approached them, surveying Stiles, who was holding his tools venturing to fix the jeep. Surprisingly, she seemed to be the most nonchalant of them all despite being one with low self defence skills. Lydia would be calm up until the sun went down, and only then would her fear peak. Even Juliette, who knows her fair share of self defence techniques, and could throw a knife with skill, was anxious about how long they'd be here. "Maybe we should just walk."
"Hey, I will never abandon this jeep." Stiles pointed the tool at them. "You understand me? Ever."
"Can't see why." Juliette muttered.
Malia analysed the hills in front of them, catching sound of movement. "Work faster, Stiles." She warned. "There's something out here with us."
"Great." Juliette nodded. "No really, amazing."
It was starting to get dark, so Lydia had to hold a flashlight and aim at the car's engine while Stiles worked with his tools. Expectantly, he kept grousing about how she can't hold it still. "I'm shaking it like this because we're in the middle of nowhere with your broken down jeep and we're being attacked by yet another razor-clawed monster. And i'm terrified."
"Well, just be slightly less terrified!"
"Why do we assume all clawed creatures are bad?" Juliette began, and Stiles groaned knowing she'd end up giving them an essay worthy hypothesis. "Unicorn's could have claws. Fairy's could have claws. So far all we know, it's a fairy unicorn out there."
A thunderous growl came from behind the bushes, but none of them could get a clear view of what it was. Malia shifted into her werecoyote form, running to the source of the growl. "Malia, wait!" Grabbing her sword, Kira ran to her. Stiles called out her name, but the two girls were far gone. "No!" Lydia cajoled Stiles. "Fix the jeep, focus!"
"Still think it's a fairy unicorn?" Stiles' focus was off now, due to Malia wandering off to fight the unidentified creature. He finally got a cut off wire, which he suspected to be the reason for the car's shutting down. "I need electricity to power the wire—" He paused, his eyes landing on Juliette. "You can do it."
"I can?"
He nodded. "I've seen you doing it unknowingly before, you can manipulate your power into releasing the fox fire, but use it on the wire rather than a werewolf or something."
"I'm not sure you're right about that."
"No, he's right." Lydia bobbed her head. "You've electrocuted me a thousand times before, and your hand would light up the same way it would when you'd boost their powers."
Hesitantly, Juliette reached her arm near the wire, the fox fire gathering at the tip of he fingers, creating a small blue flame. Stiles' smile widened at the sight of it, amazed at how easier it has become for her to activate her power at will. Juliette's finger met the wire, and sparks of fire came out at the action. She pulled her hand back instantly, glancing at him to tell her whether it worked. Stiles closed the hood of the car, sliding into the driver's seat to test if it worked. They heard the roar of the engine. "You did it!"
Malia and Kira came rushing back at the sound of the engine, a deep cut visible on their stomach. "Get in!" They screamed, closing the car door the second they were all in.
"What happened?"
"It cut me." Malia looked down at the wound. "I couldn't see what it is, but it runs fast and cuts deep."
"Hold still." Juliette pulled up the shirt enough to get a clear view of the wound. She started examining the the amount of blood that would escape, like Deaton taught here. "Their claw isn't laced with wolfsbane, so that's the good part." Wishing she had equipment near her to aid the wound, she sighed. "It's not deeper than a knife cut, but I can speed up your healing if you want."
"I didn't know you could do that."
She shrugged. "I don't do it often."
"Why not?"
"Because healing takes more strength out of her than amplifying, and she has a habit of fainting afterwards." Lydia leaned into them from the front seat of the jeep. "Which is exactly why you shouldn't do it. Malia will heal fast, i've seen it happen— but if you're going to heal someone tonight, I recommend waiting until we arrive at the Church where there's probably a very fragile Derek in need of healing."
Juliette glanced at Malia, unsure. "Are you sure you'll heal?"
"Lydia's right." Stiles agreed, glancing towards Malia who sat at the backseat with Juliette and Kira. "You didn't see anything?"
"Barely. It had a strong scent though, like death."
The jeep parked in front of the abandoned Church, the only standing building in a field of sand. It was pitch black, only the car's headlights and moonlight to illuminate them. They all spotted three silhouettes heading to the jeep's direction in unhurried motion. Stiles and Juliette were the first to rush out of the car, running towards their direction. Braeden and Scott carried a person in between them, but it hadn't become clear who it was until they reached them face to face.
At the glimpse of Derek, Juliette took a step back with widened eyes. It wasn't the Derek Hale she knew now, it was the younger version she instantly recognised from being a kid and seeing him around town. The Derek her third grade self had an enormous crush on, the one she'd go heart eyes at the sight of. "Holy fucking shit."
"Is that him?" Malia nudged. "Is that Derek?"
Stiles gawked at him, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sort of."