Nightmares

36

Tabitha watched her friends while sitting on the counter. She'd been counting track of the hours. It had been too long. They should be up and out of the water.

As soon as Scott, Stiles and Allison emerged from the water, she hopped down from the counter.

"I saw it," Allison said. "I know where it is."

Stiles climbed out of the tub and nodded. "We passed it. There's -- there's a stump, this huge tree. Well, it's not huge anymore. It was cut down. But it's still big though; very big."

Tabitha glanced at Stiles as Scott said, "It was the night we were looking for the body."

Stiles turned to his friend. "Yeah, the same night you were bit by Peter."

"I was there too, in the car with my mother," Allison said. "We almost hit someone."

Scott's eyes widened. "It was me. You almost hit me."

He let out a gasp. "We can find it."

Tabitha glanced at her phone and frowned, causing Allison to turn and ask, "What?"

Isaac grabbed her phone to show the time. "You guys were out a long time."

"Hey! My property!" Tabitha cried.

"How long is a long time?" Stiles wondered.

"16 hours," Deaton and Tabitha answered, the latter taking her phone back.

Scott turned to his boss. "We've been in the water for 16 hours?"

"And the full moon rises in less than four," Deaton informed.

Stiles noticed Scott's expression and narrowed his eyes. "No, dude, you are not going back with them."

Scott let out a sigh. "I made a deal with Deucalion."

Tabitha crossed her arms and glared at him. "A stupid deal. Just like Steve unknowingly signing up for the serum."

"I'm doing what I have to do."

"No, you're trying to be smart, as usual. And you're failing epically. People have backed the wrong side and have paid for it."

Isaac frowned. "Why does it matter anyway?"

Scott sighed. "Because I still don't think that we can beat Jennifer without their help."

Allison looked to Deaton. "He trusts you more than anyone. Tell him he's wrong."

Deaton was silent for a moment. "I'm not so sure he is. Circumstances like this sometimes require that you align yourself with people you'd normally consider enemies. Tabitha, he's only doing what he thinks is right."

Tabitha shook her head. "I don't care."

Isaac scoffed. "So, we're gonna trust him, the guy that calls himself death, destroyer of worlds? We're gonna trust that guy?"

Deaton glanced to Isaac. "I wouldn't trust him, no. But you could use him to your advantage. Deucalion may be the enemy, but he could also be the bait."

A creak from the front door caught their attention and the bell rang. Deaton and Scott walked over and the rest of them soon followed.

Lydia frowned, seeing Ethan. "What do you want?"

"I need your help," he answered.

Stiles stood behind Tabitha as he asked, "With what?"

"Stopping my brother and Kali... from killing Derek."

They left the clinic and Stiles drove himself and Tabitha to his house while everyone else headed to Allison's apartment.

Stiles grabbed a pair of his dad's boxers. "How's this?"

Tabitha frowned. "Boxers? No. Pick something else."

He ignored her and called his friend. "Scott, what do I grab? How about my dad's boxers?"

After a moment, Stiles suggested socks, and picked up a pair. "Come on."

The two of them hopped into his Jeep and the storm worsened around them. "This storm seems pretty bad."

Stiles glanced at Tabitha. "Yeah it does."

After a short while, he said, "Come on." Something hit the Jeep from behind. "Whoa, sh -- Oh." A tree branch was in front of the Jeep and he hit it. "Whoa!"

Stiles tried protecting Tabitha, but he hit his head on the dash and hers hit the passenger window. She saw black spots and tried using her magic, but her eyes closed before she could conjure a spell.

When she woke up, she saw Melissa, and hugged her.

The ceiling began caving in and stopped abruptly, and Tabitha, who had crouched into a little ball, hands around her head, looked to see what happened. She saw that Stiles had placed a bat to stop the concrete.

Sheriff Stilinski smiled at his son. "I always said aluminum was better." He embraced his son.

Tabitha heard crashing above them and Melissa made her way over to the redhead. "You're bleeding. Are you okay? Stiles; are you?"

Tabitha touched her wound. "I'm okay."

Stiles nodded and studied Tabitha's wound. "Do you need something for that?"

"How bad is it?"

"It looks like a pretty minor cut, but there looks like there's a lot of blood."

"I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yup."

Once everything quieted down, Allison asked, "Is it over?"

Stiles' phone began reading and he answered it. "Scott?"

Tabitha heard Scott say from the other line, "Hey, are you okay? Where's Tabitha? Is she there?"

Stiles nodded. "I'm okay. Tabi's here too. We're all okay. How about you; you okay?"

"Sort of," Scott said.

Tabitha moved closer to Stiles, her hands around his arm. "Hey, uh, Scott? Mind doing us a favor?"

"Name it."

"Can you come get us?"

"Sure."

"Great, okay," Stiles answered. "Um, uh, bring a ladder." His comment caused a laugh from everyone.

As soon as they managed to get out of the Nemeton, Robin ran up to her and hugged her tightly.

Tabitha looked around wildly and asked, "Is Aunt Jennifer gonna hurt me?"

Robin shook her head. "No, sweetheart. Your aunt will never bother you again."

Tears began falling down her cheeks and Robin hugged her tightly as she said, "You're safe now, darling. You're safe."

Stiles walked up and frowned in a confused manner. "Tabi, are you okay?"

Tabitha turned from her mother's arms to Stiles'. He looked to Robin in confusion and she said, "Jennifer is gone. For good."

Stiles wrapped his arms tightly around Tabitha continued crying.

She eventually pulled away and Stiles dried her tears with a smile and asked, "Are you okay?"

Tabitha nodded. "For the first time in months, yeah. I am."

"Good." He hugged her again and the two stood like that for awhile, drowning out everything else in the world.