Old Scars, Future Hearts

36

Dmitri and Marika watched their friends while sitting on the counter. Marika had lost track of how long the three had been under the water, but she knew it'd been told long.

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."

Marika and Dmitri 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."

Dmitri glanced at the clock and frowned, causing Allison to turn and ask, "What?"

Isaac pulled out his phone to show the time. "You guys were out a long time."

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

"16 hours," Deaton and Dmitri answered.

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."

Marika crossed her arms and glared at him. "Yeah. A stupid deal."

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

"No, you're trying to be smart, as usual. And you're failing. Scott, 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. Marika, he's only doing what he thinks is right."

Marika 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 Marika as he and Dmitri asked, "With what?"

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

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

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

Marika frowned. "Boxers? What in Zeus' name are you on? 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 Marika. "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 Marika, but he hit his head on the dash and hers hit the passenger window. She saw black spots and tried grabbing ambrosia and nectar in case she'd injured herself, but fell unconscious before she could.

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

The ceiling began caving in and stopped abruptly, and Marika, 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.

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

Marika touched her wound. "I'll be okay. I just need water or maybe some of my other stuff."

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

"How bad is it?"

"I think you'll live."

"Haha. Stiles. Tell me."

"There's a lot of blood, but the cut looks pretty minor."

"I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I've had worse than this."

"I believe it."

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

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

Marika heard Scott say from the other line, "Hey, are you okay? Where's Marika? Is she there? Dmitri's starting to freak out."

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

"Sort of," Scott said.

Marika moved closer to Stiles, her hands around his arm. "Hey, uh, Scott? Dima? 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, Dmitri ran up to his sister and hugged her tightly.

Marika glanced back at the Nemeton, then caught her brother's eye. Both had a concerned look, wondering what the sacrifice had caused. No doubt they would be in for a lot more trouble and chaos.