spamalot } { of splitting psyches and confirmation of self

[littlebitscary]

Derek: [and all he can do right now is just glare because damn you pack and your venom and duct tape]

Talia: [smirks a bit a she crouches closer] I know this is probably embarrassing. I'm pretty sure I would be embarrassed.

Derek: [glares. All the glaring. and then there is a stillness, and then confused eyes looking at Talia, scared]

Talia: [her eyebrow goes up a bit] Don't worry. It'll be over soon. [she glances back at Peter over her shoulder] Make sure we're not disturbed.

Peter: You sure you want to do this alone? [he's not all the excited about leaving his sister alone with a creature wearing his nephew and wanting to kill her]

Talia: We just reapplied the kanima venom. I will be fine. What will be worse is if someone interrupts me before I'm finished.

Peter: [licks his lips, but nods] I'll be on the other side of the door. [he looks at Derek, and then walks out and locks the door behind him]

Derek: [watches Peter go, and then the eyes are back on her.]

Talia: [gently takes her hand to steady his head before giving him a small smile.] Don't worry. It'll all be over soon. [And as she says that her claws sink into the back of her neck and she closes her eyes]

[and she will wake up tied down to the nemeton. It's the exact same way Derek had been tied up, the smell of wolfsbane heavy in the air]

Talia: [she pauses, her eyes flashing red for a moment, before raising her arms to test the ropes]

[the ropes are soaked in wolfsbane. everything meant to restrain a wolf. She would also hear the sound of flies buzzing all around her]

Talia: [of course it is. She pauses for a moment before popping her claws, trying to saw at one of the ropes slowly]

[it acts like regular ropes.]

Talia: [And eventually one of the ropes snaps and she does her best to force herself free and off the Nemeton]

[the forest is thick and lush, scents everywhere. The trail back to the house is easy, and the sound of Derek's laughter can be heard echoing. But it's his boyish laughter]

Talia: [frowns slightly and follows the sound quietly, looking through the trees for where it's coming from]

Derek: [and that's where Talia will find a baby Derek on the porch of the house, laughing as he plays with a basketball. He's maybe six, wearing one of Peter's old basketball jersey that's five sizes two big on the tiny boy. He looks up as she gets close and smiles his bright smile] Hi Mommy.

Talia: [she can't help but smile softly at that] Hi, Derek. What're you doing?

Derek: I'm playing with the ball. Peter said he was going to play with me when he got home.

Talia: Well, that should be soon. I hope you're ready for him.

Derek: I will! I've been waiting all day. I'm ready.

Talia: Good. [she's still cautious, because she knows that this could very well be a trap, but for now she'll treat it like it's not, making her way closer]

Derek: Can we play a game until he gets home?

Talia: Of course. What do you want to play?

Derek: Hide and seek?

Talia: Sounds like fun.

Derek: I hide first! [and he takes off running into the house]

Talia: [she smirks a bit, waiting for only a second before following him in. She has a feeling that this is more than a simple game of hide and seek, but she plays along all the same, following where Derek's mind wants to lead her]

Derek: [and he's going to lead her everywhere. Just when she thinks she's found him, he'll disappear and the scent will change. She will eventually find the scent heading down into the basement]

Talia: [she pauses at the top of the stairs, glancing around for a moment before following the lead and heading down the stairs]

[the laughter will lead her to the room that in reality, they are in. But the room is empty]

Talia: [there's a moment where she pauses, before her eyes flash, using her wolf eyes to see if there was anything she was missing]

[she would see the tiny wolf curled up in the corner, looking up at her with his baby eyes. Once she got closer, though, the door will slam shut, locking her in]

Talia: [Her head turns at the sound of the door closing, before taking a few steps closer to where her son was curled up in the corner] Derek?

[when she goes to touch him though, he'll burst apart, thousands of flies taking off to attack at her, having her trapped in the room and taking it's opportunity to hurt her]

Talia: [she snarls at the swarm of flies, claws out and swiping them away from her. She knows it probably won't do much good as it is, but she's going to keep swiping back all the same]

[they are going to keep attacking her, trying to divebomb her, wanting to envelope her and eat her alive. More and more seem to appear the longer she's in there]

Talia: [yeah, eventually she gets the message and takes off back towards the stairs. If she can't get the door open, the flies will find her shifting quickly to wolf form and forcing her way out of one of the basement windows]

[it's only when she's able to escape that she finds herself out of the tricks and back in the forest. Only this time the clearing all around the nemeton is clear for miles, and it's so far in the distance, but Derek is sitting on the nemeton surface, playing goh with a man wrapped in bandages from head to toe, his beat up bomber jacket covering the bandages on his back and arms]

Talia: [she starts running for him, wanting to try and attack the bomber jacket if she can and moving faster to try and get to the other end of the clearing]

[but no matter how fast, how hard she runs - she never gets a step closer.]

Talia: [Yeah, that gets old fast. So she does the next logical thing that comes to mind. She takes a breath, tips her head back and howls up into the cover of the trees]

Derek: [and it's his mother's howl that gets his attention. he blinks a few times, looking at the game board, and then over his shoulder to where he sees his mother in the distance]

Talia: [she's there, in wolf form watching him, and when she gets his attention, her eyes flash red in response]

Derek: [his eyes flash blue, and then he looks up at the nogitsune that growls in anger. He makes to stand, and then he literally flips the table with the game on it]

Talia: [and out they go, back into the real world as Talia withdraws her claws and takes a step back]

Derek: [and the time they've been gone, the venom has burned through his system. He coughs, ripping the tape off his mouth and getting to his hands and knees, and it looks like he's retching but there is bandages coming out of his mouth]

Talia: [keeps moving backwards to give him room before shouting up the stairs] Peter!

Peter: [and he's in the room in an instant, stopping in shock as he watched and went to stand beside his sister] What's happening?

Talia: ... Not really sure.

Derek: [the pile on the floor, he scoots away as smoke rises from it... and then one arm up from the ground, and another]

Talia: [squares off, immediately ready to attack if needed]

Derek: [is in a corner, watching in fear as the shape of the nogitsune rises, and starts to stumble blindly at Talia. Peter grows and puts himself between them, and when it take another step, he grabs the creature and slams it into the wall next to Talia, holding it still by it's throat]

Talia: [her nostril flares slightly at that, trying to make sense of Derek and this other thing, whatever it is]

[She will notice that it's the creature in Peter's claws that smells like her son now, the wolf scent gone from the Derek on the floor]

Talia: [her eyes widen and she surges forward to stop her brother] Peter, wait.

Peter: [he stops, claws poised to rip out the creature's throat, but he looks at Talia in annoyance] What?

Talia: That's Derek! [and with that she'll push her way between Peter and Derek to pull at the bandages]

Derek: [and yup, under all the bandages is a very scared and confused Derek who's eyes flash blue as he looks between the two] Mom?

Peter: [takes a step back, and then looks and...] Talia. [not!Derek is gone, and the window is open - the same one Talia had escaped through in Derek's head]

Talia: [she smiles at him softly before pulling him in tightly, not really caring about his state at the moment and just wanting to hold her son] Tell Kira to call her mother. She can send the oni now.

Derek: [he is freezing cold, in pain, and just curls into his mother's warmth on instinct]

Peter: [watches a moment, then nods and goes upstairs to find Kira, though he has a feeling this isn't going to be the end of it]

Talia: [no, it's probably not, but at least she doesn't have to worry about her son being caught in the crossfire. For right now, she's just going to hold him even tighter, letting him take all the warmth from her he needs]

Derek: I'm sorry [muffled into her chest, and he's going to get heavier as his body is exhausted and he's not going to be able to stand much longer.]

Talia: It's okay. [she turns and starts to lead him towards the stairs] Come on. Let's find Fiona and get you into bed.

Derek: [he shakes his head, trying to pull back] But you don't... I could still...

Talia: We'll ask Noshiko to have the oni check you, but for now you need to sleep. Sundown isn't for a few hours.

[And after he’s checked out and made sure that he’s still Derek and the oni. Once that’s confirmed, Fiona goes up to make sure he’s okay.]

Derek: [is going to be curled up in bed, wrapped up in a comforter that smells like Fiona and trying to get warm somehow]

Fiona: [doesn't really hesitate or say anything, just goes to slide into bed next to him, letting him burrow into her and use her for warmth]

Derek: [he really doesn't know what to say. He's still trying to put things right in his head as to everything that happened. But she's there and alive and the nogitsune hadn't killed her and that is a relief even if his choice made a lot of bad things happen after it]

Fiona: [they can talk about it later, after he's gotten some rest. She's just going to curl up with him, trying not to worry about how cold he is and just offer whatever comfort she can, fingers threading slowly through his hair]

Derek: [he's too scared to drift off, but he's so exhausted at the same time. Apparently being forced out of your own body and into a newly magically made one is hard on the system. But his fingers find their way around her and soon he's just all but clinging against her]

Fiona: [her eyes close at that and she tips her head to the side, pressing a kiss to his temple]

Derek: I'm so sorry. [it's a whisper against her shoulder, pulling her closer]

Fiona: [lets herself be pulled, closing her eyes as she leans against him] It's okay.

Derek: I just... I couldn't let it kill you. Or Dad. I couldn't...

Fiona: [she nods a bit] I know. I know, Derek. It's okay.

Derek: No, it's not. I hurt so many people.

Fiona: You were protecting your family.

Derek: [he just shakes his head, his breath hitching as he tries to not let himself break down]

Fiona: Hey, look at me. [she frames his face with her hands, before tipping his eyes up to look at her] I can't absolve you for everyone. But I can forgive you for me. [a beat to let that sink in] I forgive you for me. Okay?

Derek: [he looks at her, and then nods] Okay.

Fiona: [she nods before sliding her arms around him again, closing her eyes and tipping her head forward to his shoulder] I'm just glad you're you again.

Derek: As much as we can tell, at least.

Fiona: When the oni come, we'll know more.

Derek: [nods] I'm so cold. I can't get warm.

Fiona: [she reaches over to tug the blankets around them more, before rubbing his shoulders a bit to try and warm him up] There are so many incredibly inappropriate suggestions I could make to that comment.

Derek: [and she manages to get a chuckle out of him, tired as it is] I love you too.

Fiona: [grins] I missed you.

Derek: How are the kids?

Fiona: They're good. From what Allison's told me, Liam's making friends.

Derek: Good. As long as they're safe and doing good.

Fiona: They are. And hopefully once we track this thing down, they'll be back home soon.

Derek: [just nods, relaxing a bit as his brain tells him that nope, he's done being conscious. Sleep times]

Fiona: [is good with that, just keeping him close and staying awake, more keeping watch over him than anything else]

Derek: [and he's going to be dead to the world for a few hours]

Fiona: [is awake for most of it, may doze off here and there just because she's comfy]

Derek: [it's a completely dreamless sleep for once, but once he's rested enough, his brain is going to realize he's sleeping and will panic and he will wake up with a gasp, pushing himself up and out of bed, cornering himself against a wall with a surge of adrenaline and fear]

Fiona: [... suddenly lack of husband to curl around is what startles her out of her doze, blinking at him in confusion for a moment, before climbing out of bed and making her way to him] Derek, Derek ... easy.

Derek: [his memories catch up with him and he nods, relaxing a bit as he looks around] How long was I out?

Fiona: [glances over at the clock as she moves to sit next to him] A few hours. It'll be sundown soon.

Derek: [nods, chattering a bit as he rubbed his arms. He moved to the closet, knowing that most of the things in it were Stiles', but there was a storage box on top that he pulled out a sweatshirt from]

Fiona: [frowns a bit at that, staying where she's sitting and watching him] Still cold?

Derek: Yeah. [pause] And pain.

Fiona: [frowns a bit at that] Is it better or worse than before?

Derek: [licks his lips] Worse.

Fiona: [yeah that makes her frown more, she drums her fingers against the floor for a moment before getting up and moving closer to him] All over kinda pain or is it targeted somewhere?

Derek: All over. [he shoved his hands in his pockets] I don't think this is over yet.

Fiona: Nope. But now we can kill it.

Derek: We have to. No matter what.

Fiona: We will. Now that you two are all separated, we'll just let the oni do their thing.

Derek: [there's things he wants to say. About how killing the nogitsune may kill him if they are linked like this. Or he may just die anyway. He felt like he was dying slowly. But he can't worry her more, so he just nods] I'm... I'm actually a bit hungry. Maybe some food could help? I don't remember the last time I ate.

Fiona: [she nods, getting to her feet] Okay. Want to come downstairs or want me to bring it up?

Derek: Let's go downstairs. See if my sisters are there? I'm sure they're worried.

Fiona: [nods before reaching for his hand to lead the way down]

Derek: [takes it, knowing his hand is cold but he squeezes hers and just lets himself be led.]

Isaac: [is sitting at the table, and jumps to his feet as he sees them, nervous]

Cora: [is sitting there with them and looks up as well, fingers resting gently against her coffee cup. He can probably hear Laura talking on the phone to her kids on the porch] Hey.

Fiona: [just continues to pull him into the kitchen, scanning what's out to see if there's something edible]

Derek: Hey. [to them both] It's okay, I'm me. I think.

Jason: [goes and puts a warm cup of tea in his hands] Drink this.

Derek: It's not coffee.

Jason: I know. Addict. It's green tea. It'll help, I promise.

Derek: [nods, having to let go of FIona and wrapping both hands around the warm cup, going to sit down]

Cora: [moves over so that he can take the seat next to her, just watching him carefully as she does] Want anything to eat?

Derek: [nods] That's why we came down. I don't remember the last time I ate.

Cora: I think there's still some leftover pizza or something in the fridge.

Fiona: I'll get it.

Derek: [his stomach knots a bit at the thought of pizza, but he knows he has to eat. He's just going to sip his tea quietly though]

Isaac: [goes to take his seat again] Well, it's good to see you not being actively homicidal, that's for sure.

Cora: [tosses him a bit of a look at that] Isaac.

Isaac: What? It's true.

Derek: [snorts into his cup] It's fine. I'm not a fan of being homicidal myself.

Fiona: [heats up the pizza and moves to take a seat at the head of the table] Let's just focus on the next step, okay? Which is finding the thing.

Isaac: Well, Peter left to do that a few hours ago. I don't think he's been in touch since.

Fiona: [to Derek] Can you think of anywhere it might go?

Derek: [tries to think, then shakes his head] It wants to cause chaos. It knows that we're the ones who help keep balance in Beacon Hills for the supernatural and it wants to destroy us so that balance is broken.

Fiona: Do you think it still wants to go after your mom?

Derek: Oh, it wants her dead. Peter too, along with Argent and Stilinski.

Cora: Well, Mom is here. The Sheriff's out of town, and Chris is probably handling whatever Peter isn't. We probably shouldn't let them be out there alone.

Derek: Not until it's dead.

Cora: I'll see if I can get Peter back here.

Derek: [nods] Okay.

Cora: [reaches for her phone to text him. the phone buzzes from the living room. It's tucked up on a pile of clothes by the door. Someone went out in wolf form] ... Which would work better if he actually had his phone.

Derek: Looks like you may need to go a different route. [like howling]

Cora: [sighs] Yeah, I guess. [and with that, she'll head outside to go ... do that.] Try and get a hold of Chris.

Isaac: [and he will do that, getting a very quick response that he is on his way back]

Peter: [there is a howl in response, a good distance away]

Laura: [wanders in at that point, sliding her phone back into her purse] What'd I miss?

Derek: [and he's going to look at his cup. Nope, he's going to have a hard time looking at his sister and Scott for a while]

Fiona: We figure that Peter, Chris, Talia and the Sheriff are the biggest targets, so we're trying to get at least three of the four here.

Laura: [nods a bit as she wanders closer, resting her hand on top of Derek's head gently] Sounds like a plan. Any idea where this thing may be?

Fiona: That we're still working on.

Derek: [slumps a bit more. He's not going to pull away, but his mind is just giving him conflicting feelings at the moment. Plus she would be able to feel that he's not well from that touch]

Isaac: I'd say we could use the deputies to put out an APB, but that's pretty much putting a call out against Derek.

Jason: It's almost sunset. Once the Oni clear Derek, they can focus on finding the nogitsune.

Laura: [she can, and she won't pull away, just thread her fingers through his hair gently, small soothing gestures] Sounds good. Let's hope they're here sooner rather than later.

Peter: [and the wolf is going to return home, dirty and covered in leaves and mud that he's going to shake off while still on the porch. It's hard to stay clean in the woods, you know]

Cora: [which will earn a shriek from his niece who was sitting there waiting for him. Thank you, Peter.]

Peter: [you're welcome, Cora. You're the one who called him home, after all. And he's going to spare you the nakedness and go to nose at a blanket on the porch to get it onto his back with amazing practice before he shifts back, and can easily wrap it around his waist] You howled?

Cora: [is brushing mud off her clothes] We think that the nogitsune is going to target you, Argent, the sheriff and Mom. So no nosing around by yourself for right now?

Peter: I think I'm capable of handling myself, but if that will make the rest of you feel better...

Cora: Yep.

Peter: Then fine. I'm going to go shower then.

Cora: [nods] Chris is on his way back too. The sheriff's out of town, so hopefully we won't have to worry about him.

Peter: As long as no one told Derek where they were going, he should be fine.

Cora: [shakes her head] Nope. He doesn't know where anyone is, just that they're safe.

Peter: And until the thing is dead, we need to keep it that way. Just in case there is still a link between them.

Cora: [nods] The oni should be here soon anyway.

Peter: [nods. fast shower time.] I'll be back in a bit then. [and he's grabbing his clothes and rushing upstairs]

Cora: [makes sure she's de-mudified before making her way back into the kitchen] Heard from Chris yet?

Isaac: Yeah, he's on his way.

Derek: [is nibbling on pizza now. He's hungry, but not at the same time. But he's forcing himself to eat something]

Cora: Good. So now we're just waiting for sunset.

Isaac: [checks his phone] Which is in ten minutes.

Derek: [nods] Whatever happens, guys... you need to let the Oni do what they have to to me. Got it?

The Girls: [nod their agreement but whether or not they actually will follow through varies depending on the girl]

Isaac: What if they try and kill you?

Derek: [looks at his cup, because he knows he's about to get yelled at] You let them.

The Girls: [yeah, they're not so fond of that one. It's on their faces]

Derek: Look, this thing isn't going to stop until it kills them. Until it kills Mom. Peter. Allison and Stiles' dads. I love you all too, but if killing me kills it? You need to let them do it. Too many people have died already because of me. No more.

Fiona: That doesn't mean you deserve to die for it either.

Derek: [closes his eyes, and there's so much more to what he's not saying] In the end, Mom's the alpha. I'm the beta. And it's my decision.

Cora: [she knows that no one in this room is going to be able to just sit there and watch them kill Derek, but they don't have enough time to debate that now. The sun is setting and things are going to start ramping up soon] Guess we don't have much of a choice.

Peter: [coming downstairs, having heard the discussion but saying nothing. Like hell he's going to let Derek fall. No one's bothered to ask just how guilty Peter's feeling in all this - but it was his girlfriend who put Derek on that nemeton all those years ago, and while not letting Talia die was a given, no one said Peter couldn't take the sword if he had to as a way to save Derek]

Cora: [annnnnnnnd the sun goes down? Since none of them are really happy about this particular decision but there really isn't anything else to say]

[and that is when the Oni are going to show up. No waiting for the perfect moment, no pomp or circumstance. Just appearing and yellow gree eyes glowing as they all stare at Derek]

Laura: [stares them down for a moment as well, not having left her place at Derek's side from earlier, but eventually she steps to the side, moving towards Jason and letting them do what they need to do]

Derek: [gets up, looking at his family a moment, then Fiona with a small smile and mouthing that he loves her, before turning to the warriors.]

Jason: [just holds Laura, watching.]

Isaac: [puts a hand on Cora's shoulder as well, figuring she was going to need it]

Cora: [yep, she does. Please keep her from doing something stupid, Isaac.]

Fiona: [watches him go and knows that there's nothing she can do about it, but she can't bring herself to not watch either.]

Laura: [leans back into Jason and keeps her eyes on the proceedings as well]

Derek: [and he's going to stand there as one of the oni shift to appear behind him, cutting off his escape and also effectively blocking Peter as another moves in front of Derek. It cups his head and locks Derek in a trance as it stares deeply into his eyes, making Derek's glow in response. There's a moment of silence, and then the oni's hand drops with a hiss of burning flesh. Derek's eyes roll into the back of his head and he drops to the ground with all his dead weight, and then the oni disappear]

Fiona: [is out of her chair the second he hits the floor, pulling his head into her lap and doing things like checking his pulse] Derek?

Derek: [still icy cold, and he's shaking almost like he's having a mini seizure. He's not responding to them at all. There is a burnt 5 behind his ear]

Fiona: Derek? Derek! [she glances up at Jason helplessly] He's freezing, I don't know what to do.

Jason: [leaves Laura and goes to kneel beside them, checking Derek's vitals] It's a seizure. We need to trigger his healing to stop it. [he bites his lip, then grabs Derek's arm] Sorry, brother.

Derek: [howls because holy fuck that hurts JASON!]

Fiona: [gives Jason room to do what he needs to do, but doesn't go far, watching Derek carefully to make sure he's okay]

Jason: Yeah, howl all you want, you'll still thank me later. [he checks Derek over, and then moves his head to look behind his ear] Self. Derek, it's out of you. You're fine.

Derek: I don't feel fine.

Jason: Well, you're you. That's what matters.

Fiona: [one hand comes up to thread her fingers through his hair a bit] The rest we can figure out.

Peter: Hopefully they're out hunting it now, and we'll be safe if we stay inside.

Chris: [arrives, out of breath] I think I know where it is.

Fiona: [her attention is focused on Derek, doesn't really give Chris a second glance]

Cora: [frowns as she glances over to him] Where?

Isaac: [and at that moment, there's a call going out about a riot starting at a bar downtown]

Chris: There.

Cora: [she frowns for a moment, she knows that bar] I know that bar.

Isaac: [listens] I think that's the bar Parrish lives over.

Cora: [she glances back at Isaac and nods] Yeah, Lydia hangs out there a ... [and her voice trails off completely as a banshee scream splits the silence of the evening] ... Lydia.

Peter: Cora, Isaac, with me now! [and he's staying in human form as he grabs his keys and runs out the door]

Derek: [winces at the sound, and just curls up with Fiona. A banshee scream only means one thing, after all]

Fiona: [curls her arms around him tightly as Cora grabs her jacket and goes to follow Peter out the door to the car]