new york wolves } { of missing sisters and returned enemies

[hereditare]

Stiles: [okay, yup, he's waiting and waiting and then she's not responding to his calls and so he's going to see if maybe she got distracted and he's going along the path he knows she takes to his dorm room to see if he can find her scent like she had been showing him and nope, it doesn't even come off the subway so down and he's going uptown to her stop and it's not fresh at the station - he's learning how to tell age - and he's going to go up the steps and he finds it there and it's mixed with other scents and it's strong and wrong and nope he's booking it for the Hales and pounding on the door] Laura! Laura it's Stiles let me in!

Laura: [frowns and glances over at Peter] ... Didn't Cora say she was going to see Stiles?

Peter: She did. [getting up and going to the door and letting him in]

Stiles: [all but falls into the foyer, his eyes wide and scared] She didn't show up! [cause he heard you through the door] I was trying to see if she got distracted and there's a bad smell I can't make out but she didn't make it even to the subway.

Laura: [and with that, she's on her feet] Bad smell how?

Stiles: I don't know. It was like... stronger. Kinda salty.

Laura: [to Peter] Go and see if you can find what he's talking about. [she'll stick with talking Stiles through it for now] Was it another person, or was it Cora?

Peter: [grabs his jacket and is going to follow her scent until he finds the spot that Stiles is talking about and is going to investigate the area]

Stiles: I'm not that good yet. It's on the street right by the subway. I'm still working on being able to focus on just a single person in those situations.

Laura: Okay. It's okay. This is why you have me. I can help you work through it. [she places her hands on his shoulders gently] Close your eyes, take a deep breath. Do you know Cora's scent normally?

Stiles: [closes his eyes and does like she asks] Yeah, yeah I know hers better than anything.

Laura: Okay. Now take those parts and isolate them. Is the bad part part of her scent, or was it something else?

Stiles: [he tries to focus, and he rubbed at his nose as he did] Some of it is her scent. The salt. It’s stronger than normal. Maybe she was sweating more than normal?

Laura: Okay, so people give off things called chemosignals when we're feeling a really strong emotion - sometimes we can pick up on them. Don't focus so much on what you're smelling. How'd it make you feel?

Stiles: [nods, trying to do that. Give him a moment, and then he looks up at Laura, his eyes yellow] Scared. Scared out of my mind.

Laura: [and it doesn't take much for her to guess what that could be. she pulls back and goes for her jacket] C'mon, we're gonna go catch up with Peter. [and with that she will fire off texts to Malia and Derek that basically read: "Hunters. Keep your heads down." She'll give them more details when she has them and isn't working on hunches and conjecture]

Stiles: [nods, and he's all but dragging Laura along to the spot]

Peter: [he's combed the street and talking some street vendors, but of course no one saw anything. He's a very angry presence when they find him, but he's looking up and counting the traffic cameras in the area.] She was taken about an hour ago. [to Laura] Four of them, and one of them is familiar, but I can't pinpoint it.

Laura: I'm willing to bet it was female? [it's a hunch, but Cora wouldn't be that terrified of just any hunter]

Peter: [that sparks something and there's a tiny sneer and growl from him] Kate.

Stiles: Who's that?

Laura: Kate Argent is the woman who burned our house down. [she shakes her head] We can't tell Derek until we know more. I'm not having him go off the deep end, not now. [her phone buzzes and that's a text from Malia, saying that she'll hide on campus. Laura can infer that it will probably be in a frat house.] Malia's going to ground, I already texted him that there are hunters in town. I don't want him getting angry until I can channel that anger into something useful.

Stiles: ... Does Derek turn into the Hulk if he's angry?

Peter: Pretty much. [his hand is on Stiles' jacket collar, keeping him close] There's enough surveillance cameras here, but they'll know how to cover their tracks. I don't like it, but either we need to ask Derek to do something that could risk his job, or we wait and see what happens.

Stiles: But Cora's.... [and he shuts up because nope, that's Peter tightening his grip to shush him]

Laura: Or we could go over Derek's head. [Flack would have just as much of a vested interest in keeping Derek calm, and if she and Peter can tie this up themselves, all the better.]

Peter: We could. And if Flack knows what's happening, he could make sure he either keeps Derek distracted on a case, or in house where they can watch him.

Laura: [nods] That sounds like our best bet. You want to call him or should I?

Peter: I will. Let's move off the street for a moment. I've got the feeling we're being watched. [he can't tell if he's being paranoid or if they actually are, but staying in the spot of a kidnapping too long will expose them more than he was comfortable with]

Laura: [nods before gesturing for Stiles to follow her] Do you still have clothes upstairs? Because I want you where I can see you until this is resolved.

Stiles: Yeah, and if not, the stuff in Derek's box of clothes from when he was my age fit okay.

Laura: Okay. I'm going to call the Kirsanovs and give them a heads up. Nik can probably help us search at the very least. He knows Cora's scent.

Peter: [pulls out his phone, texting Malia to text him every few hours with her status and if she needs anything]

Malia: Will do. Everything okay?

Peter: No. I'll let you know what I know when I know something more. Just stay in crowded places with people you know, and don't stand out.

Malia: Got it.

Peter: Stay safe sweetheart. [and he'll switch over to calling Flack]

Flack: [picks up in a couple rings] Captain Flack.

Peter: Captain, this is Peter Hale. Are you busy at the moment? [in his very businesslike manner]

Flack: No, not at all. What can I do for you, Peter?

Peter: We have a very.... touchy situation developing that I could use help with. Obviously sensitive and something I'd rather Derek not be involved in.

Flack: [glances around the office, and then moves towards his office, closing the door behind him] What's going on?

Peter: [he gets Laura and Stiles into the elevator to the penthouse and motions for them to go up without him and he will wait in the lobby a moment. He's rather not have Stiles hear this] Over an hour ago it seems Cora was taken by hunters. [gives the cross streets] We're pretty certain this is the same family that took out the rest of our family, but we need verification. There are traffic cameras and I could at least two ATM's with sight lines to the corner.

Flack: I'll look into it. We're wrapping up a case, so I can put Esposito and Ryan on it while Kate keeps Derek and ties up the loose ends.

Peter: Anything to keep him occupied. He's aware there are hunters in town and to keep his head down. He does not know about Cora yet.

Flack: I'll keep it quiet. Anything else I should know before I set them on this?

Peter: [thinks] If it's who we think it is... they know the law and how to walk the line. Their family's been doing this for almost 400 years. And if it's the one specific one we're thinking... Derek and her have personal history. For his safety, you have to keep him from hearing anything about it.

Flack: I'll keep an eye on him. All the information will go through me. Besides, he'll probably be in interrogation most of the day - hopefully by the time he gets out we'll have Cora back.

Peter: [deep breath] Thank you. Keep me in the loop and what I can do to help on your detectives' end.

Flack: Will do. Be careful. [and with that he will hang up and make his way back into the bullpen. He makes his way to Beckett's desk first while Derek is in the break room, leaning in to whisper his instructions to her, and she looks up at him, slightly uncertain and she nods. Then he turns to Esposito and Ryan, gesturing for them to join him in his office]

Beckett: [gets up and grabs her jacket, before going to find Derek] C'mon. We're going to go pick up the suspect.

Derek: [blinks, and then downs his coffee] Alright. What's the case? [no questions, just goes because he trusts Kate to have his back if something happens - and he hopes hunters wouldn't make a move on him while he's on duty]

Kate: Same one. Espo and Ryan were going to, but Flack's pulling them off to work on something else.

Derek: [goes to grab his jacket, badge and gun from his desk and once they are all in the right places] Any idea what they've got?

Beckett: [shakes her head as they go] Nope. He didn't say. Guess today's just a busy day for our end of town.

Derek: [shrugs and just goes to walk with her] Maybe we can grab some real coffee on the way?

Beckett: Sounds good. [and off they go]

Flack: [back in Flack's office, he waits until Derek and Beckett are in the elevator before he turns back to the two detectives in front of them] Alright, this case? Doesn't get spread beyond the three of us, and it especially doesn't get back to Derek. Is that clear?

Esposito: [leaning forward] What's going on with Derek?

Flack: About an hour ago, Derek's younger sister Cora was grabbed in front of their apartment building. His uncle, Peter, called me to fill me in, but he doesn't want it to get out to the department at large, because the people he believes to be responsible have tangled with Derek before, and he doesn't want him to do something stupid, and I agree. Beckett and Derek went to pick up the suspect from your case - if we're lucky, we can have Cora back before they get out of interrogation.

Ryan: You sure you don't want to fill him in on this, boss?

Flack: I'm sure. I don't want him to know about this unless we absolutely have to tell him.

Esposito: So what do we have to start with. Faster we find these bastards, faster when get that girl home to her family.

Flack: [gives them the street crossing that Peter gave him] Traffic cams, ATM cameras, pull everything you can. Find out where they went. Right now, that's about all we've got.

Esposito: [writes it down] I'll get street, you get ATMs? [to Ryan]

Ryan: [nods] Sounds good.

Flack: Good. All of this gets run through me. Every time you know something, I want to know it. [there's a beat] The Hales think they might know who had a hand in it, and they have a history with them. You'll probably want to talk to them about this too.

Esposito: What kind of history, sir?

Flack: Peter thinks it may have been the person who burned down their house in Beacon Hills.

Esposito: Shit. Alright, we're on it. I'll call Laura when I get some images and see if she can recognize faces.

Flack: Good. Now go.

Esposito: [goes off, heading to the tech room]

Ryan: [nods and gets up to follow, leaving Flack in his office. When he catches up with him, he frowns] Are you sure you're good with keeping this from him? This is his sister.

Esposito: No, I'm not. But if he's in danger too and we can find info to keep him from running of half-cocked? Well, we saw what happened to Beckett, and I don't want a repeat.

Ryan: Good point. Then let's get to work. [and they work for a while until eventually Espo decides to talk to Laura?]

Esposito: [he's playing through the reels trying to see if he can pinpoint the timeframe on the best camera angels. They've got a far away shot, but nothing to make faces on yet.] Hey Laura, it's Javi.

Laura: Hey. How's it going? [she sounds tired but for the most part, she's more worried than anything else]

Esposito: Ryan and I are working on trying to get some faces for you and Peter to try and identify, but we've got a far away shot from a red light cam. Black van, no plates. We've got the word out for people to report to Flack if they see it. Anything you got that can help us pin this down more?

Laura: I don't ... I'm not sure. It would depend on what the bitch decides to do with her. [there's a pause as she tries to think about how Kate would decide to torture her sister, which really only makes her mad but something does come to her] Electricity. Check places with a higher than normal electrical output.

Esposito: So you knew that it was a woman who grabbed her already? [writing down ideas and holding it up to Ryan: Look for power surges]

Laura: The person who burned down our house was a woman. Or at least the person that we think did it. We just can't prove it.

Esposito: Derek doesn't talk about what happened with the fire. What's this woman's beef against you guys?

Laura: [swallows hard, before shaking her head] Old ... family rivalry. It's a long story.

Esposito: Is this woman going to kill your sister?

Laura: [her breath catches a bit because that's the thing she's trying not to think about] That depends on what she wants. But ... I don't know if there's any reason why she won't.

Esposito: You're going to have to give me a name, girl. Even if it's a fluke, she has to have a trail. Cell phone, credit card... something in the city we can use to pinpoint her location.

Laura: [swallows] Kate Argent. Her name's Kate Argent.

Esposito: [writes it down and hands it over to Ryan to run his numbers] We're going to find her, Laura. I promise.

Laura: Be careful, Javi. She's a psychopath.

Esposito: Why are we keeping all this from Derek? I mean, does this bitch have something on him personally?

Laura: They have a history. She used him to start the fire, but you didn't hear that from me. I don't need him being angry and stupid until I have somewhere to point him where a minimum amount of people will get hurt, and if you guys can find her and arrest her before he finds out she's even in town, all the better.

Esposito: We'll do our best. Call if you think of anything else, okay?

Laura: I will. Thank you.

Esposito: [hangs up ad rubs at his eyes, then looks at the screen] We've got to find this psycho, Ryan. I'm not going to tell that girl I failed her.

Ryan: Well, that electrical surges idea might have had some merit. There's a warehouse district not too far from the Hales' apartment that had an unusual surge in electrical activity. It's gone quiet in the past half hour, but they could just be saving up for round two.

Esposito: Alright, I can take a squad out and see what we find while you work on track down these leads.

Ryan: [nods] Call me if you find anything.

Esposito: [and he's going to take two uniforms and have two more meet him there to they can investigate the power station]