Black Webs

I Forget Where We Were

If our hearts are never broken,
and there's no joy in the mending,
there's so much this hurt can teach us both.
There's distance and there's silence,
your words have never left me,
they're the prayer that I say everyday.

t h i r t y

S t i l e s

Everyone regrouped at Derek's warehouse.

"You know, we really need a less depressing lair," Scott pointed out.

Derek huffed. "Well, we can think about refurnishing the place when we make it out alive."

"I don't know. You kind of get used to that wet paint and dead rat smell." Stiles said.

"I don't have rats," Derek huffed again.

"Guys, I think if you poke the beast one more time he's going to explode," Isaac warned, in a low voice. Malia choked back a laugh.

For a few moments, Stiles would just enjoy this. Being here with all of these people, including Derek, who were here ready to fight by his side today, all these people who were putting their own lives at risk.

There were so many brave souls in this room. He felt his own heart pounding with their energies, their spirits, their stealth.

They were comrades, each and every one of them.

"Guys," Stiles said, suddenly. "I can't afford to lose any of you, I just I... wanted you to know that," and he meant it.

"Aw, that's cute," Malia pretended to wipe an invisible tear.

Lydia scoffed. "You sure about that?" she still sounded like she wanted to eat his heart up and toss the remains in a garbage can.

Scott smirked, like he was being showered with kisses, Derek was trying to appear poker-faced, but Stiles caught the genuine surprise in his eyes at being acknowledged, Stiles realized the guy didn't get acknowledged enough.

Allison shot him a smile that warmed his chest, and Isaac fist-bumped him.

They were the weirdest group of comrades ever.

"So we infiltrate Wolfram & Hart," Allison began. "It won't be easy," Scott said. "Their security is tight, and that was before the city went to hell. It's the only building with light and electricity running at the moment, and Peter's buffoons are swarming the perimeters like vultures,"

"I know," she said. "That's why I came up with a plan," she smiled, yanking a map of the building from the bag she'd brought with her. "I have the map, the original blueprints and a list of all the workers Peter hasn't sacked or killed up to date,"

"How?" Stiles was pretty certain everyone's mouths were hanging open.

"Kate Argent is atoning for her sins from beyond the grave," she muttered cryptically.

When everyone continued to stare at her in bewilderment, she rolled her eyes. "I got the info from my dad, he had an insider in Wolfram & Hart, working closely with my aunt and reporting back to him. He knew about the company's illegitimate dealings long before any of us."

"You hunters really know your stuff," Scott looked impressed.

"My family's full proof. When my dad found out that Peter Hale had been promoted, and that a werewolf was now running the joint, he knew things would get ugly fast, which is why he began to monitor them even more closely than ever before."

She laid out everything she'd obtained on the dining table, where they all gathered to peer at it.

"This is every exit in the building," Allison said, pointing at various locations on the depicted perimeters, "Including a couple of unofficial exit points, here, and here," she continued.