canon au } { post-407: weaponized

[impetere]

Cora: [there's Stiles and blood and her alpha is on the other side of that door with her cousin and Kira, and she doesn't really think about too much at the time just focuses on getting there, and when she does she's shouting] Stiles, move!

Stiles: [nope, sorry Cora, he thinks his best friend is dead in the other room and not handling that well]

Cora: [when she gets there she will very gently shove him to the side so that she can get her claws in the door, twisting the lock so that the door slides open and they can get in, just as Cora picks up Kira saying something on the tea being on one of the middle shelves. She darts ahead of Scott to the jar in question and smashes it on the floor, hard]

Scott: [is on the floor near the door, barely moving.]

Stiles: [goes in, kneeling down next to him] Come on, Scott, you can't leave me now. [looks up at Cora] What was that?

Cora: My mom's tea. [slowly the dust moves across the floor, spreading to the rest of them and she watches as Kira and Malia start to breathe a little easier, before turning back to Scott] Is he ... ?

Stiles: [slaps Scott's face hard, and the alpha wakes up with a deep breath, taking in the tea and then coughing as he breaths again. Stiles slumps at that point, his fists curled into Scott's shirt] He's breathing.

Cora: [slumps a bit herself as she lets out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding] Good. [and now she's going to turn her attention to Stiles] I smell blood. Are you ... ?

Stiles: It's the assassins.

Scott: [opening his eyes at that] Stiles?

Stiles: Your dad shot him. And told me about the tea to come save you.

Cora: [so long as it's not his, she exhales again, before sliding her arms around Stiles's neck and pulling him close. Just shut up and hug your girlfriend]

Stiles: [no, he's going to hug her back. She will be able to feel just how much he's shaking from the adrenaline that was starting to ebb]

Cora: [that'll just make her hold him tighter, burying her face in his shoulder and trying to avoid the metallic scent of someone else's blood and just get through to Stiles.]

Scott: [is sitting up, and gives Stiles and squeeze on his shoulder, then goes to check on Kira and Malia]

Stiles: [yeah, now he can have a little moment to freak out about having stared down a gun just moments ago]

Cora: [she can sense his anxiety, and one hand comes up to brush against the back of his head as she keeps him close. It's okay. He's okay. Inhale and exhale.]

Malia: [Kira is fine and goes to Scott for a hug pretty much as soon as he's close enough but Malia is a bit distracted, staring down at the paper she had spread out in front of her earlier, before she lost her vision. Mostly she's drowning out everything else, she's just staring at two words. Malia Hale. Malia Hale. Malia Hale.]

Scott: [hugging and kissing his girlfriend, then looks over] Malia?

Stiles: [he knows that tone. That's an oh fuck tone. His eyes open and he looks at Cora, then Malia]

Malia: [Cora's eyes go to her too, but Malia can't really look at any of them. They all played her for an idiot, all of them, even Peter and she just ... can't be here. She thought they were friends, and they've been lying to her all this time. Peter's been lying to her. She thought about the thing they were hiding, the thing about the money was annoying but the actual truth is so much worse. She gets up, shedding Stiles's jacket as she goes, because she doesn't want it, and just walks out, not saying a word.]

Stiles: Malia, wait. [but she doesn't stop, and he gets up, going over to where his jacket is and he sees the list. He looks at it, then at the group] She knows. [and he crumples it in his hand]

Cora: [something sinks into her stomach hard and she's going to her pockets for her phone, trying to find it because there are people she needs to tell, people that need to know before they see her again] I have to ... I need to tell Peter.

Stiles: [looks at Scott, because his opinions of Peter were not Cora safe]

Scott: [nods] Yeah, tell him. We should go find our dads. Let them know we're okay.

Cora: [nods a bit in agreement and she'll just stay down here and deal with his because yeah, they screwed up big time. Regardless she eventually finds her phone and text both Derek and Peter the same message: “Malia knows.”]

Derek: [reads, then texts back: “where is she now?”]

Peter: [reads. Isn't going to text back, and hesitates, but decides not to text Malia either. She will find him when she's ready]

Cora: I don't know. She just left the vault.

Derek: I can't track her. Someone needs to keep an eye on her.

Cora: I don't know if she'll stand anyone being around her right now. Especially not a Hale.

Derek: Even so, if Peter finds her like that...

Cora: I told him she knows. I don't know what he'll do.

Derek: [god, he wants to trust Peter will do the right thing. But lately, he isn't sure] I'll find Peter. [how, he doesn't know. And Lindsay is still here injured, and Dawn is freaking out about him losing his powers. He needs to stop trying to do everything]

Cora: [how exactly are you going to find Peter, Derek? You have no mojo.] I'll find Peter. You be at the loft in case she decides to take the more direct approach.

Derek: Alright. Bring some of the tea to me first? [because he was exposed being in the room, so better to be safe than sorry with his healing factor the way it was]

Cora: [glances to the text. Then glances to the broken bottle on the ground. There's a beat.] I wouldn't drink it. Just boil it for the smell.

Derek: For once, I'm happy not to have my sense of smell right now.

Cora: [snorts.] I'll be there in twenty. [once she figures out how to carry it]

Derek: [and he's going to say goodbye to Satomi with a promise to keep in touch and help as needed, check on Lindsay, and then head back to the loft]

Cora: [goes through some of the stuff in the vault until she finds the box for the triskelion, leaving the trinket on the shelf and using the box to gather some of the tea leaves into the box. After that it was in her pocket and back to the loft she goes]

Derek: [is waiting there, leaning against the desk and looking out the window]

Cora: [lets herself in and makes her way over to hand him the box] It was on the floor of the vault, so as I said, don't drink it.

Derek: I was just going to eat a few of the mushrooms after rinsing them.

Cora: [she shrugs] Inhaling it works too. That's how I fixed Scott, Malia and Kira. [and why they were ... you know, on the ground.]

Derek: But was it the scent of the tea, or the actual dust of the dried mushrooms?

Cora: [... okay, that she has no clue. She shrugs.]

Derek: Better safe than sorry. A little dirt won't be the death of me. [small smile] You inhaled some of the dust too, right?

Cora: [nods] Considering I'm the one who smashed it on the floor? I'll be fine.

Derek: Good. [he takes the box and heads into the kitchen] This is just going to get worse, you know. As we prove we can't get taken easily, it's going to bring people who want the challenge to us.

Cora: I know. [but she can't go anywhere. It's not like she isn't on the list and she won't leave Stiles]

Derek: I think we're going to need to start looking at this more from a predator point of view. We’re being hunting. I think we need to stop reacting and start being more proactive in this.

Cora: [she glances up at him, and there's something a little nervous in that] We're going to need help.

Derek: [nods] Dawn offered to bring in the Slayers. And... I have a friend in New York I'm going to call out to.

Cora: [eyebrows raise a bit, but she nods] Okay. Just let me know what you need me to do.

Derek: We need to prepare Scott for war. Stiles too. He may not be on the list, but you know he isn't staying on the sidelines.

Cora: [looks to the side for a moment, before shaking her head. No he won't. even if she wishes he would]

Derek: If we're going to stay the course as protectors of this town, Cora, we need to focus on them. Showing them what they need to make it through this. We've been there and know how hunters are. Stiles may not remember what he went through, and Scott's only had to deal with Argent.

Cora: [yeah, she's been through it but she was a kid and she ran] Maybe Buffy would be better.

Derek: Yeah, with Lindsay in the hospital... see if she'll help. If nothing, it'll keep her mind off Peter for a while.

Cora: She's also actually fought a war before.

Derek: True. Get her. The kids need someone like that showing them.

Cora: [nods a bit, and selfishly it takes some of the pressure off her] She's on the list too. She'll do it.

Derek: [the mushrooms are clean now, and he takes a deep breath, then goes to eat them, wincing at the taste] Oh god... it's worse than it smells...

Cora: [she can't help but laugh at that] Sorry.

Derek: How Mom drank this, I have no clue.

Cora: [she shakes her head] I just remember the smell. I must have been really little.

Derek: There's no forgetting the smell.

Cora: She must have liked something about it.

Derek: [swallow and goes to get something to drink from the fridge to get rid of the taste] Yeah, I'm sure. [thinks a moment, then looks at Cora] Do I really look that much like Mom?

Cora: [there's a pause] I think I'm the wrong person to ask. [a lot of what Cora remembers of her mother is through the haze of the fire and things she's tried to forget. She's not really sure how accurate her memory is anymore]

Derek: People just keep telling me that. I miss her at times like this.

Cora: [nods a bit. She misses her all the time, hasn't stopped missing her for six years, really. But she's moving past it, slowly.] I should go get started on finding Peter.

Derek: Yeah, and drag his ass back here when you do.

Cora: [she nods] Be careful, okay?

Derek: [nods] You too.

Cora: [and with that out she goes. She will find Peter back at his apartment and there will be the appropriate amount of Hale sniping.]