Panthera Onca ➳ Derek Hale

21. The Fox And The Wolf

Derek's P.O.V

   They decided to let us go. I could sense Jade's presence nearby, and that made me feel calm. She probably came here looking for me.

   "Sorry, but I can't let you walk out with this." Deputy Parrish claimed. "It's way above the legal voltage limit."

   "I only use it for hunting." Chris responded. I glared at him. I felt that thing zap me many times and I can assure that it's not in the legal voltage limit. 

   "Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure you could use it to jump-start a 747."

   "This property belongs to me and the charges were dropped. Although, I'm not exactly sure who's responsible for that."

   "I am." The Sheriff commented as he walked in. "I'll take care of this, Parrish."

   "Sheriff, I'm not kidding. This thing's a few watts from being a lightsaber." Parrish responded as I, again, gave Chris a critical look, and Chris did not return. Huh. So he doesn't care that this thing is dangerous?

   "I said I'll take care of it." The Sheriff assured him as he took the baton, and brought Chris and I to his office. "The specialist I saw in LA told me the thing that every doctor says when he's trying to avoid a lawsuit. We can't say for sure. And then I spoke with Melissa." He produced the brain scans from Claudia and Stiles. "These are brain scans. My wife's and Stiles'. I knew they were similar. But those are the same. Exactly the same." He wasn't wrong. It's as if someone copied those scans.

   "And I'm guessing this isn't possible." I replied.

   "Not even remotely."

   "So the trickster is still playing tricks." Chris added.

   "But why this trick?" I asked.

   "When I was in the army, an officer told me, if you want to defeat your enemy, you don't take away their courage. You take away their hope." The Sheriff answered. So the nogitsune is trying to make the Sheriff suffer by thinking that Stiles has the same symptoms as his mother?

   "You don't look like a man who gives up hope easily." Chris stated.

   "But Stiles might. If this thing inside him, if it's using his mother's disease as some sort of psychological trick, then this isn't just a fight for his body. It's also a fight for his mind, right?" The Sheriff asked.

   "You know, he's left people severely injured." Chris notified.

   "And others severely dead." I added.

   "That's why I need the two of you. I need people who are experienced in this kind of thing. I need you to help me stop him." The Sheriff requested.

   "And by stop him, you mean trap him." Chris corrected him. The Sheriff nodded and gave Chris his baton back. Chris and I agreed to meet back in his apartment, and so we drove there with the Sheriff. Jade presence was gone before we left the station. I must contact her. We arrived at Chris's apartment and Allison lead us to his office.

   "This is everything non-lethal I could find." Allison replied as she brought some weapons.

   "Take all of it." Chris ordered.

   "What's the plan here?" The Sheriff asked, probably a little worried that his son might get hurt. Well, he shouldn't worry. We won't hurt him.

   "Our best shot right now is for Derek to try to pick up Stiles's scent at Eichen House. Especially if he went through something stressful there." Chris answered him.