The Huntress {Stiles Stilinski}

Code Breaker - It's the code

  Stiles's P.O.V.

Thew two hunters and Chris Argent throw me and Jackson into an empty room on the same floor as Rae and Lydia. Chris grabs the collar of my shirt, avoiding Rae's blood, and slams me into a wall. I flinch in pain but don't say anything. Then I have a thought; I wonder if he knows his daughter is here, in hospital, possibly dying because she's smart enough to stab herself with silver just before she turns so it still hurts her body while she's trying to heal.

"Let me ask you a question, Stiles," Chris says, incredibly close to my face. "Have you ever seen a rabid dog?" I glance over his shoulder to see the other two hunters holding Jackson's arms.

"No," I say, shaking my head. "I could put it on my to-do-list, if you just let me go."

"Well, I have," he answers, ignoring my last comment. "And the only thing I've ever been able to compare it to is seeing a friend of mine turn on a full moon. Do you wanna know what happened."

"Not really," I say, shaking my head again. "No offense to your storytelling skills."

"He tried to kill me, and I was forced to put a bullet in his head," Chris says. Why does he keep ignoring me? Clearly he doesn't know his daughter is here, and he clearly doesn't know that she's turning into a werewolf. "The whole while that he lay there dying, he was still trying to claw his way toward me, still trying to kill me, like it was the most important thing he could do with his last breath. Can you imagine that?"

"No," I say. That's all I seem to be able to say. "And it sounds like you need to be a little more select -"

"Did Scott try to kill you on the full moon?" Chris asks, tightening his grip on my shirt. "Did you have to lock him up?"

"Yeah, I did," I answer honestly. Jackson is silent, for a change. "I had to handcuff him to a radiator. Why? Would you prefer I locked him in the basement and burned the whole house down around him?"

Chris's stony face turns into a small smirk. He knows I mean the Hale house fire. "I hate to dispel a popular rumor, Stiles, but we never did that."

"Oh, right, Derek said you guys had a code," I shrug. "I guess no one ever breaks it."

"Never," he snaps.

"What if someone does?"

"Someone like who?"

"Your sister," I state. Chris's eyes turn to realization, and he lets me go. I brush my shirt down, even though it's already ruined, and he turns to the hunters. They let go of Jackson and follow Chris out of the hospital room.

"What the hell was that?" Jackson says loudly.

"They wanted to know about Scott," I sigh, running my hand over my hair. "Come on, we gotta go."

"Where?" Jackson says as we walk out of the room and then to the elevator. I glance across the lobby and see Lydia with her mom, and then look into Rae's window and see my dad sat in there with her, holding her hand gently as he moves her hair out of her way. "Stiles, we don't even know where they are."

"Peter said that Derek was being held under the Hale house," I explain. "I can bet you they're still there." I dig the Porsche keys out of my pocket and dangle them in front of Jackson's face. "I'm still driving." He rolls his eyes and pushes the button for the elevator.

We run out into the parking lot, and I start clicking the unlock button on the keys so the headlights will flash and I can see what car is the right one. Finally, we get blinded by a set of headlights and I hop in. It's so much smaller than the Jeep that it takes me a minute to work out where everything needs to go. I finally manage to get going, and I speed off in the direction of Derek's house.

When we hit the preserve's forest floor, I'm still going fast. Jackson curses as the Porsche jumps. "Hey, hey, hey," he says. "This isn't exactly an all-terrain vehicle."

I scoff. "Yeah. Did you pay for it?"

"No."

"Then shut up," I smirk, going even faster. When we finally reach the Hale house, I can just make out Chris in the distance, laying on the floor and Allison beside him. Suddenly, Scott comes flying out of the window, Peter following in his full beast form. I hit the car horn, turning Peter's attention to us. Jackson and I are both standing outside the car, holding a Molotov cocktail we'd made just before we left the hospital. I throw my Molotov cocktail at Peter, but he catches it in one hand. "Oh, damn."

"Allison!" Scott shouts, throwing her her bow. She quickly draws an arrow, aiming at the cocktail. She releases, and the arrow strikes perfectly, smashing the glass beaker and igniting Peter's arm. He howls in pain, and I glance at Jackson, who then hurls his beaker at Peter. The alpha's whole body is burning, and then he turns and tries to go after Allison. "No!" Scott leaps, punching Peter in the face and sending him staggering back.

He falls onto his back near the Porsche, shifting back partially into human form. He's burned, badly, like past third-degree burns, and is panting, trying to get breath back. I watch as Allison walks slowly over to Scott, who is still shifted, and kneels in front of him. Taking his head in her hands, she kisses him gently. I can't hear what he asks her, but I can hear what she says. "Because I love you." I smile, happy for my best friend and that he finally got the girl.

Everyone's head turns when we hear Derek walking through the leaves towards his uncle. Scott realizes around the same time I do as to what Derek is going to do.

"Wait!" Scott shouts, running over to him. "You said the cure comes from the one who bit you. Derek. If you do this, I'm dead. Her father, her family - what am I supposed to do?" Derek stops, seeming to consider this for a moment - that is, until Peter speaks.

"You've - already - decided," he hisses, panting. "I can smell it on you!"

Derek growls, his claws coming out. He leans down quickly, slashing Peter's throat. Blood spurts out as Scott yells at him to stop, but Derek can't. He's killed him. Derek turns to look at us all, his eyes flashing red. "I'm the Alpha now."


Scott comes back to the hospital with me, and we're carrying board games and little homely things for Rae. Melissa lets us in, and we see that she's awake. She smiles at us as we walk in, and we dump the things at the end of her bed. I rush over and kiss her, maybe for a bit too long, because when I pull back she's panting.

"How you feeling?" Scott asks, sitting opposite me so we're on either side of her.

"Good," she says, her voice croaky. "I mean, I'm not dead, right?"

"You nearly did," I snap, and she turns to me with a soft smile. "I - how could you-"

"It's the code, Stiles," she shrugs. "A code all hunters have to live by. If you're bitten, you have to kill yourself before you turn. I tried to abide by the code." Her eyes go wide. "Does my dad know?"

"That you're a werewolf?" Scott asks, and she nods. "No. I don't even think he knows you're here."

She chuckles. "Wouldn't surprise me. So long as Allison is okay, that's all he cares about. Oh, crap. Allison-"

"Is fine," I say, taking her hand and kissing the back of it gently. She sighs. "But, Kate - uh, I don't know how to say this, Rae, but . . . Kate's dead." Her eyes go cloudy immediately, and tears slip from her eyes. "Hey, hey, it's okay."

"She was the only one to show real love towards me, other than Alli," Rae cries. Scott backs out of the room to talk to his mom while I hold her. She cries, then coughs and shakes her head. "Anyway. She killed all of Derek's family, so I take it it was Peter who killed her?" I nod and she nods in understanding. "What's all this?"

"Oh, well," I say, making the subject a bit cheerier, "Scott and I thought you'd be very bored here, all by yourself, so we brought you some games. My dad also attempted to make some cookies, but I don't think they-" She holds her hand out, and I look down at it and then her. "What?"

"Give me the cookies," she demands, and I raise my eyebrows. "Stiles, I haven't eaten anything for what feels like ages, so please just give me the food. I may be hooked to all these needles and stuff, but I will not hesitate to sit on you for that food."

I laugh and hand them over, and she snatches them. "All right, damn."

Melissa walks in and takes the cookies away from her. "Sorry, Rae, no food just yet."

"Melissa!" Rae whines, and Melissa and I laugh. "Come on, please, I won't tell anyone."

"Sorry, honey, but I can't let you eat," she says, putting the lid back on the box and handing them back to me. She taps the games and smirks. "Play these, it'll take your mind off of it."

Scott comes back in a few moments after Melissa leaves, his face confused. "I just checked on Lydia and-"

"Oh, my God, Lydia!" Rae shouts, throwing back the covers and making to get out of bed.

"She's fine!" Scott says, lifting Rae back onto the bed. She pouts and glares at him, clearly desperate for some freedom. "But her wound isn't healing."

"I don't get it, the doctor said she'd be fine," I say, sitting down on the row of chairs by Rae's bed.

"Yeah, but the bite's not healing like it did with me," Scott says. "Which means she's not a werewolf."

Rae looks relieved and then confused. "Then what the hell is she?" Scott and I shrug, before I grab a box. "All right, I get that you wanna play a game, but I'm tired."

"I gotta go check on Allison, see how she's holding up," Scott says, hugging Rae and then walking out.

"So," I say, trailing off when I look down at Rae. She's led back down, but is smiling up at me. "You don't wanna play?"

"Stiles, go home," she says gently, her hand caressing my cheek.

"I am not leaving you," I say sternly. "Last time I did that, it got you landed in here."

"This isn't your fault, Stiles," Rae says. There's a pause, where I glance down to the board games and then back to her. She throws her arms in the air and sighs. "Fine, fine. Grab a game, we'll play it."

"Yes!" I say, grabbing the first game and thrusting it at her. She makes an irritated noise before snorting. "What?"

"Snakes and Ladders?" she asks, holding the box up. I shrug. "Oh, babe, you're gonna get your ass whipped right here," she chuckles. I flush as she calls me that, but I know she's about as competitive as I am, so I drag the chair closer to her bed and set up the game on her lap so it's easier for her to reach. She wins. Every time we play.

"Were you that lonely as a child that you played this alone?" I ask, and Rae laughs, shoving my shoulder gently.

"No, I just had a lot of free time," she chuckles. "Another round?" But she yawns, her eyes drooping.

"Nope, you're shattered," I say, moving all the boxes off of her bed so she can lay down. I tuck her covers up and kiss her forehead. "I'm gonna go home and change, but I'll be back in like an hour, okay?" She nods and I walk out, going home to change.

I take a couple of essentials back to the hospital with me, and when I get back she's fast asleep. I make a bed out of the chairs, and, using a blanket and one of my pillows, make a small sleeping space. I'm close enough to her bed that I can reach up and hold her hand gently as we sleep, and I'm finally relaxed, knowing she's going to be okay and knowing that Peter is dead and no longer a threat to Rae.