spamalot } { of gordon walker and mistletoe poisoning

[littlebitscary]

[When Derek stops responding to her, Fiona starts to get concerned and she makes her way to the school. She and Alaric manage to track Derek to the place where he was abducted, and then again to where Gordon dragged him across town. Gordon has Derek strung up, beaten and dealing with wolfsbane while Gordon is doing his usual monologuing.]

Fiona: [she waits patiently for Gordon to leave, less pontificating more action. There's a well timed snarl from Nik outside, and she hopes that it will draw Gordon long enough for her to get Derek out]

Derek: [hears the snarl and managed to lift his exhausted head to the sound.]

Gordon: [hears it as well, looking at Derek a moment before putting the syringe on the table and picking up his rifle. The growl had come not even two minutes after injecting the mistletoe into Derek's neck] Even if they get you out of here, you'll still be dead as the poison works its way through your system. So don't get your hopes up. Your only way to survive this is to tell me what I need to know about Victor and his pack.

Fiona: [poison? Poison is not good. But she keeps quiet, waiting for him to take the bait, that comes with a rattling of one of the doors, and she texts Nik a heads up about the rifle]

Gordon: [watches Derek a moment, then turns up the dial just a bit more, making Derek howl in pain through the gag, and then he goes to sneak out the door and try and get his rifle scope on whatever was coming from down the hall]

Fiona: [she waits for a moment to make sure he's gone, before sneaking out of her hiding place and going right for the dial to turn it back down again]

Derek: [and he collapses in his restraints, his muscles shaking from the last two days of constant electric flow through them. He's panting, his bare chest a sheen of sweat with the cuts and bruises, and he isn't even trying to stay standing which makes it a bit harder to breathe but his legs can't really support him at the moment.]

Fiona: [as soon as the electricity's off, she's rushing to his side. She pulls the tape off first, then pushing up on her toes to get him down from where he's chained, one arm reaching to catch him around the waist] We really gotta stop meeting like this.

Derek: [his senses are misfiring and he flinches at the touch, not realizing it's her at first. But once she's close he can smell her and he gives a single huff of a chuckle before his arms just wrap around her shoulders as he is freed] Agreed. [he's shaking, his muscles not at all in his own control]

Fiona: [she shifts to support his weight and keep him on his feet.] Nik's here and we've got a car, we've just gotta get you there, okay babe? Then we'll get you home.

Derek: [nods, then looks at the table] Mistletoe. [the injection spot would have a tiny trickle of black blood running down his neck since it couldn't heal]

Fiona: [goddamnit. She looks and checks herself, before turning back to him] It's okay. We can treat it, we've just got to get you home faster. You're gonna be just fine.

Gordon: [reappearing, Fiona in his scope] Actually, neither of you are going anywhere.

Fiona: [her eyes go to him and she shifts to get a better grip on Derek and see if she can get to her gun at the same time, but reaching to the small of her back is too obvious from this position. So she just stares him down] I'm human, Gordon. You know that's a no-no in the hunter playbook.

Gordon: You may be human, but you're sleeping with a blue eye, Fiona. You know we don't stand for a wolf that kills an innocent. Your mind's been clouded and if you are going to stand in my way from doing my job, then you have signed your own warrant.

Fiona: My mind's been clouded? Half the community doesn't want to touch you and I'm the one that's crazy? [she raises her eyebrows] I feel like there's something wrong with that sentence.

Gordon: His eyes don't lie.

Fiona: His eyes don't tell the whole story.

Gordon: It's all the story I need. He's a killer, Fiona. Now put him down.

Derek: [and that would be Derek growling, finally able to find enough energy to shift and stand on his own, fangs out and eyes glowing blue]

Fiona: [her hand finds his chest pressing against him gently and holding him in place] I'm not leaving without him.

Gordon: [shifts the scope onto Derek] Your choice.

Derek: [and there is a rabid wolf snarl and he moves, pushing Fiona out of the way of the gun, moving the other way to use the wall to jump off of and tackle Gordon to the ground. Hands wrap around the gun and they struggle on the ground, Derek's fangs snapping in Gordon's face before the man slams the gun up into Derek's chin, snapping his mouth hard and then kicking him off. He pulls out his pistol and goes to aim it at the downed wolf on the ground inches from him]

Fiona: [hits the ground hard but not hard enough to knock the wind from her. She doesn't hesitate to reach for her gun this time, drawing quickly and firing on Gordon before he can take the shot with Derek. It's a quick, instinctual decision that she makes before she realizes what she's done, and she just exhales as she waits for the smoke to clear]

Derek: [looks up from his spot on the floor as Gordon just lays there, eyes open and dead. He blinks, then shifts back and looks at Fiona, unsure]

Fiona: [she exhales slowly one hand shaking slightly as she lowers the gun, before making her way over to him again. She doesn't look at Gordon, because if she does she'll probably start freaking out, and just reaches for him to haul him up onto his feet] C'mon. We gotta get you home.

Derek: [nods, letting her help him get to his feet. His body is trying to heal, so he's feeling a bit better. It's not going to last for long though and he knows it, so he's good for rushing]

Fiona: [she gets him to the door, finding the mountain ash line and dashing her foot across it before leading them through it. Nik's on them the second they pass, taking Derek's weight onto himself.]

Nik: Gordon?

Fiona: Dead. Let's go.

Nik: [watches her for a moment, before nodding and helping Derek into the backseat of the SUV. Fiona climbs in behind him, for him to curl into if he wants]

Derek: [before he's put in, he stops and puts a hand on Nik's shoulder. His eyes are flashing, and he can feel the mistletoe starting to burn into his system. He's heard of wolves poisoned before by mistletoe, and he knows he only has a short amount of time] Nik... Greg. It was Greg. Gordon... he said that Greg told him about my eyes.

Nik: [his jaw twitches, before he's reaching for his phone] I'll tell Victor.

Derek: [nods, and at that point curls up on the seat in her lap. The shaking is coming back, not from the electricity, but from the slow pain starting to build in his body]

Fiona: [places her hand on his shoulder and rubs gently, before turning her attention back to Nik as he gets in the front seat] He has mistletoe poisoning too. Marcus should be prepared.

Derek: [and they are going to get all the way back to the brownstone, but as they are on the stairs Derek will have to stop because he's going to be puking up the black blood as his body has started to go into rejection mode. It's hitting him faster than normal exposure because of the concentration that was injected right into his bloodstream]

Nik: [is the one supporting him and he'll haul him off to the side, giving him space to expel the black blood before glancing back to Fiona] Get Marcus. Now.

Fiona: [nods and she's running into the house] Marcus!

Marcus: [and there is a blonde man coming around the corner, skidding in his converses] Where is he?

Fiona: Outside. He was getting sick so they had to stop.

Marcus: Get him inside and into the first floor guest room. I need the syringe. I have to see the concentration and genus of the mistletoe to know which cure I need to make

Fiona: [nods and her hand goes to her coat pocket to get the syringe she totally grabbed and hands it off to him, before heading back to meet Nik and Derek at the door] First floor guest room.

Nik: [nods and hauls Derek through the house to get him through the bedroom. Victor is coming around the corner to meet them, holding the door to the bedroom open for them]

Marcus: [takes it and goes to the kitchen, his lab already set up and he gets to work doing the science stuff of identifying the plant. It's going to be a rare form - of course - and he's not going to have everything he needs on hand. Once he starts the test, he's running into the room]

Derek: [collapses on the bed when he's laid on it, coughing with more blood coming to his lips. Anyone of the wolves that touch his bare skin would be able to feel the pain building as a new layer of sweat starts to break out. The healing's stopped and the bruises are still there, and it's obvious he's malnourished, suffering from the muscle spasms and his breathing is becoming labored.]

Marcus: [Looks at Derek's condition, then looks at Fiona] I need you to get me a port started in his arm. He needs a saline drip. [looks at Nik] Respiratory kit in the closet, oxygen tank, and the heart monitor. [to Victor] Whatever Gordon used, it's hitting him faster than I've ever seen. I don't know if I can get ahead of it. You need to call his family.

Victor: [Fiona and Nik go to work getting him what he needs, reaching for Derek's hand with one hand and his phone with the other] Nadia is with Peter. I'll call him now. [and as he does so he's going to pull whatever pain he can without going too far]

Marcus: [goes into his spice rack, reaching for a powdered charcoal and a water bottle. It's not going to dissolve, but it's an old fashioned cure for poisons that could give them more time. He waits for Nik to return] I need you to hold him down. He's not going to want to drink this, but he needs to.

Derek: [feels the pain ebb a bit and his eyes finally open for the first time since he entered the room, but it's foggy and he's confused and starts to struggle a bit.]

Peter: [and it was a nice dinner too they were having when the phone rang. He pulled the phone from his jacket pocket, then narrowed his eyes a bit and looked at Nadia before answering] Victor?

Nik: [nods as he brings the equipment to the stop, before moving and bracing Derek's shoulders]

Fiona: [moves to take his other hand] Derek, it's okay. We're home, we're going to make you better. [or ... try, at any rate]

Victor: Peter. I'm sorry to bother you, but we have a bit of a situation.

Marcus: Derek, I need you to drink this down. It's going to try and pull the toxins out of your body. Don't fight it. [and then he's pouring the power into Derek's mouth and following it with water and then trying to shut Derek's mouth and nose to make him swallow]

Derek: [nope, werewolf doesn't like this and is going to try and struggle against all of you]

Peter: [he can hear the commotion in the background and his eyes open and he gets very still] What happened?

Victor: [wedges the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he leans forward to help the effort, adding a little alpha voice for good measure as his eyes flash red] Derek, calm down. [he has no idea if it will work but it's worth a shot. Adding his own strength to it should help] We had a problem with someone we thought was an ally and a hunter named Gordon Walker. Derek was captured in the process. We have him now, but he was given mistletoe poisoning. [he pauses to let that information sink in before continuing] My emissary is working on a cure, but I'm sorry, Peter. He was in my care.

Derek: [the alpha voice works enough to get him to swallow the concoction, as well as another dose.... and then his adrenaline is finally burned out and he passes out]

Marcus: [sits back] At least we got some down. [and he works to set up the drip and get Derek on a monitor and oxygen to help get his blood a bit more oxidized to slow the effects down]

Peter: [Nadia would see a very dark look come over Peter's face as his lip curled a bit.] We'll discuss this when I get there. [because anger spikes are not the time to talk politics.] I will call Talia and let her know I'm leaving for DC immediately. [and yes, he hung up on you, Victor because he is a very pissed Hale]

Victor: [discards the phone for now and takes hold of Derek's hand again] How long to synthesize an antidote, do you think?

Fiona: [stays on the opposite side of Derek, hand clutched in hers firmly]

Marcus: [checking the monitors] It's going to depend on the genus of the mistletoe. If he used standard viscum album, not long. Phoradendron serotinum? No problem. But if he wanted to make sure a pack wolf didn't survive, he would have gone for one of the exotics in the loranthaceae family - that's over 900 species to choose from in different stages of evolution and half of them are native to Australia and the tropical regions. I would need to see if any of my contacts would have components the battle those specific toxins, and we have to keep it out of his lungs until I do. If this gets into his lungs, Victor... and if there were seeds from the berries in that injection... [he's not going to soften the blow with Fiona in the room. She had to know] I don't know if a cure would even stop it.

Fiona: [her lips brush against the back of Derek's knuckles as she processes that, trying to tamp down on the guilt that's bubbling up under the surface because that's not going to help them right now] Is there anything we can do to keep it out of his lungs? Or slow it down?

Nik: [wanders back into the room, a serious look on his face and a serious looking woman behind him. Fiona recognizes her as one of the local hunters, but her being here isn't exactly good] Victor.

Victor: [he glances back over his shoulder, before holding Derek's hand up to Nik] Take over here. I'll be right back.

Marcus: The charcoal. It's an old method, but hospitals still use it today to help poison victims get the toxins out of their system. If he doesn't wake up to let us do it again, we can set up a track and pump it directly into his stomach. That should slow it. The oxygen mask will keep him getting fully oxygenated with each breath, so that should help deter the toxin. Once I find the species, the leaves and twigs are the cure and that will let his healing factor kick back in to heal the rest of him. [nods to Victor as he leaves]

Fiona: [nods, turning her eyes back to Derek again and Nik takes over pulling Derek's pain if he can] I'll call you if he wakes up again.

Marcus: It may be better for him to stay out, Fiona. [he listened to Derek's lungs a moment] A human body tries to repair itself when sleeping. Him being awake will take that away from him, and being in pain and possible breathing issues to come, he's better unconscious. [his phone beeps, and it's his computer. He pulls it out and scrolls through the results report and curses in French]

Fiona: [... Don't ... do that, Marcus] What is it?

Marcus: Good news is that I can identify it. It's a strain from the red mistletoe plant, which is a native and common plant. [he looks up at her] in New Zealand.

Fiona: [groans softly] Can you get the stuff for the antidote here?

Marcus: [tapping his finger against his lip as he thinks, then nods] I think I can, and not having to go to New Zealand for it. I need to go... check with a few people. If he starts to wake, or any of the monitors start to alarm, get me. I'll be in the kitchen.

Fiona: [she nods, before fishing her phone out of her pocket and handing it to him] In case you need any of mine. [because he isn't the only emissary in the room]

Marcus: [takes it] I'm going to do my best, Fiona. You know I will. [and he exits to head across the house to the kitchen and his temporary lab]

Fiona: [nods and just goes back to holding his hand, sinking into the silence and trying to keep the guilt from creeping up on her]

- - - - -

Nadia: [... oh that's not good] I'll call the pilot for the jet. [she's not even going to ask]

Peter: [ goes to pay for the meal while she does that, then closes his eyes and works to keep his anger in check. He can't risk a flare up. Not now. Not while he's not home and with Nadia.]

Nadia: [meanwhile, Nadia is making the arrangements and getting them into the car they ordered for the evening, before looking back at Peter once they're away from prying ears] What happened?

Peter: [once they are in the car] Derek was captured by a hunter and poisoned. Victor has him, but I could hear them in the background and it's not good.

Nadia: Marcus is there. He's in good hands. I'm sure he'll be fine, Peter. [not deterring him from agreeing that this is bad, but she doesn't want him to spiral too much either]

Peter: [nope, he's still angry] Apparently one of your allies sold him out.

Nadia: [there's a moment where she looks at him, confused, because she can't think of a single ally who would betray them like this, and then her eyes widen as the pieces fall into place. She's reaching for her phone, swearing under her breath in Russian as she calls her brother herself]

Peter: [is just going to watch and wait, to see what information Nadia can gather. He's sliding into his thinker mindset, the one who only speaks when he has something to say.]

Victor: [answers his phone in the middle of his hunter meeting, because he knows there's no point not to] Nadia, I'm taking care of it.

Nadia: So you're finally doing something about him? This is what it takes. [she knows his hands were tied before but she's angry. She can't help it.] Which hunter was it?

Victor: Gordon Walker, who is now dead. Patricia and I are discussing the matter now, and she is very clear on the fact that Greg is the one responsible, and he is no longer under my protection.

Patricia: Yes. Because werewolves carry guns now. [meaning she knows Victor's protecting someone, but she doesn't really care so long as the matter is settled] Not that it matters - not like anyone's going to miss him, I just can't leave this unsettled.

Nadia: [sighs heavily] Oh, Fiona.

Victor: [his voice is a bit softer] I'm taking care of it. Just get Peter here.

Nadia: We should be in the air within the hour. We'll be there soon.

Victor: Good. [and with that, he hangs up.]

Peter: [having listened silently. He doesn't like the sound of any of that conversation. and then there is a very dark voice that talks when the call is done] If this Patricia doesn't settle it before I get there, I will.

Nadia: [shakes her head] She'll take care of it. Victor would have taken care of it himself if Deucalion hadn't set such a dangerous precedent. But the hunter responsible is dead and Greg will be by the time we touch down in DC.

Peter: He better, because I won't be as kind as a hunter's death to him.

Nadia: Patricia takes her deal with us seriously, but that doesn't make her any less dangerous. Her team is ... incredibly efficient.

Peter: [just nods, his hands folded in his lap. He turns to look out the window, trying to focus on his breathing to push the anger back]

- - - -

Marcus: [goes back into the room, handing Fiona her phone] I found a source, but I need to go into New York for it. They are going to make the cure for me as I travel, but I'll be gone at least six hours depending on traffic in both cities. I need you to get more charcoal down him every hour. Two capfuls and a bottle of water. Can you do this?

Fiona: [she nods. She'll shove it down his throat if she has to - but lovingly, of course] Peter should be here by then, too.

Marcus: Good. [he doesn't need to tell Fiona where the rest of the medical equipment is if she needs anything. No need to bring out possibilities] Just stay at his side. The comfort that comes from his pack is coming from you both right now. That will keep him calm and resting. Call me if anything changes. [and he'll just go, already going to the car because one of them can tell Victor when he gets out of the meeting.]

Fiona: [nods, keeping his hand in hers tightly]