After Malia stopped by, Stephanie and Will pulled her inside so she could explain where she got the katana and the photo. The next day, Stephanie and Will called Scott and Kira, telling them to come to their house.

When they got there, they all sat around the circle dining room table. "What's wrong, guys?" Scott asked, looking between the siblings worriedly. Stephanie sighed, holding the picture tighter in her hands. "Malia stopped by last night." Scott eyes went wide, he and Kira turning to her.

"She brought a few... items with her that she got from Eichen." Will said as he put the katana he had under the table onto the table and Stephanie pushed the photo towards Scott and Kira.

Kira slowly grabbed the photo, her eyes going wide as she looked between the three. "This looks just like me. This has to be my grandmother." Scott looked at the photo with wide eyes her felt turning to Stephanie and Will. "How did Malia find this?"

"With Stiles." Will said. Kira's head shot up from the photo to look at him as he continued. "She's the last one who saw Stiles at Eichen House. This picture and this. They found it with a body buried in a wall."

"The same backwards five that the Oni put on us was on the wall." Stephanie said. Scott sighed, rubbing his face. "Where is she now?"

"Upstairs. She doesn't like being questioned too much. Learned that the hard way." Stephanie mumbled, lifting up her sleeve to show a bruise in the shape of a hand mark from Malia. Scott sighed before turning back to Kira. "It sounds like it all goes back to your family. Your grandmother, your mom."

Kiras phone vibrated from the edge of the table. She went it check the text and she let out a small gasp, shooting out of her seat and packing her bag.

"What is it?" Stephanie asked, looking at Kira worriedly. Kira looked at Stephanie and shook her head. "My dad."

"You guys go." Will announced. Scott and Kira whipped their heads to him, Kira furrowing her brows at him. "You sure?" Will nodded eagerly. "Yeah go!"

Just before they went to run away, Stephanie pushed the katana and photo closer to them. "Take these! Find out what's up with them!" Kira nodded, grabbing both before she and Scott ran out of the house.

As soon as the front door shut, Stephanie's phone rang. The two turned to look at her phone and saw Allison calling, making Stephanie groan, throwing her head back. "God! We can't catch a break, can we? I literally have a broken nose."

"I know. I know. They can't do anything without us." Will said, getting up and patting her shoulder. Stephanie sighed, getting up as she grabbed her phone to answer it.  "We're just so loved." She mumbled before answering th e phone. "Hey, Allison. What's up?"

...

"This is everything non-lethal I could find." Allison said as she led her father, Derek, the sheriff, Stephanie, Will and James into her fathers office.

"Take all of it." Chris said as he walked towards the desk, putting the stuff in his bag. James sighed, checking the ammo in his gun before turning to Chris. "What's the plan here?"

Chris sighed, looking up at the group. "Our best shot right now is for Derek to try to pick up Stiles' scent at Eichen House. Especially if he went through something stressful there."

"Should all of us be going to the same place?" Sheriff Stilinksi asked and an idea popped into James' head, his eyes going wide slightly. "Where else has Stiles been showing up?" James asked, looking between the teens. Stephanie sighed, crossing her arms as she turned to James. "School, the hospital, his house."

Derek sighed, holding his hand up to stop Stephanie. "Okay, hold on. We did this already. He disappeared. We started looking for him. Then walked right into a trap at the hospital." Will sighed, realizing what Derek was saying. "He's getting us to repeat the same moves."

"So, what do we do? Wait for him to come to us?" Allison asked, looking around the group. The sheriff sighed, shaking his head. "We can't. Not if the Oni find him when the sun goes down." Stephanie straightened up, shaking her head. "Scott's working on them right now with Kira."

"That's the problem. We're all trying to outfox the fox." Chris said, making the room go quiet. The sheriff sighed, making the group turn to him. "Listen. I'll understand if anyone wants to back out."

Derek groaned, crossing his arms. "It wouldn't be the first wolf to run from a fox." Stephanie and Will turned to the sheriff, shaking their heads. "We're not backing out." James nodded along with his kids, rubbing the sheriff shoulder.

Chris sighed, lifting up the electrical stick. "Apparently I'm carrying the lightsaber." Allison nodded at her dad, turning to look at the whole group. "Dad, you and Derek hit Eichen House. Sheriff, it's you and me in the hospital. Saticoys are going to Stiles' house just in case."

"We all meet in the school." Will said, loading his gun and putting his on his belt.

...

The ride was silent most of the drive to the Stilinksi house. James was driving and Stephanie sat in the passenger seat, her leg bouncing as Will sat in the seat right behind her.

James suddenly sighed, making the teens turn to him. "You kids are very brave." Stephanie furrowed her brows at him. When he realized they were a little confused, he continued. "You guys have been fighting all of these creatures and your barely halfway through junior year."

Stephanie felt a panic rise through her and she suddenly shook her head. "I don't think I can do it anymore." Stephanie muttered, her voice cracking slightly, making James and Will turn to her.

"What?" James asked, watching her worriedly. Stephanie pulled her lips into a line, trying to hold back a cry but it seemed like everything just was too much for her, making her let out a small coughed out one. "I'm always scared. I... I can barely breathe. Our group go through all these near death experiences all the time and it freaks me out! I can't even sleep anymore because I'm worried I'm gonna scream myself awake again but this time one of you will already be gone." Stephanie spilled, her words barely audible from trying not to cry.

She took a deep breath to stop herself from crying before exhaling. "I feel like I can't be here anymore." She mumbled. James looked back and forth between Stephanie and the road carefully as Will moved to the seat behind James so he could see Stephanie.

"Beacon Hills... It's just like this weight crushing me and I can't get it off. I just feel like something terrible is gonna happen." She whispered and Will shook his head, moving back behind her again to rub her shoulders. "We'll be okay. We'll all be okay."

"We don't even know if Isaac is dying right now!" Stephanie yelled, turning around to Will. She let out a small sniffle, turning back to face the road. Will sighed, turning and peaking his head in between the front seats to look at Steph.

"We'll figure this out." Will said and Stephanie slowly nodded. James let out a groan as he pulled into the driveway of Stiles' house. "Okay, let's go." James said and Will got out of the car. Stephanie went to get out of the car until James put an arm out, stopping her.

"Will's right. We'll figure this out. Whatever you need to make you feel better about all of this." James said, looking right into his daughters eyes. Stephanie nodded, immediately leaning over the dashboard to hug James. "Thanks, dad." Stephanie mumbled and James nodded, hugging back. "Anytime."

Will knocked on Stephanie's window loudly, making James and Stephanie chuckle as they pulled away. They turned to the window and saw Will gesturing to get out of the car. "I guess we should go." Stephanie said and James nodded, watching his son. "Yeah, he just might explode if we don't get out now."

"Okay. I get upstairs. You two search downstairs." Will said as they slowly entered the house. The small beeping from the house alarm echoed through the air. Stephanie quickly walked towards by the door to the alarm. She quickly typed in the code and the beeping stopped.

She let out a small triumphant laugh, turning to the corner of the room to the small camera on the living room shelf, she sent it a thumbs up as Will walked up the stairs and James walked towards the kitchen to search.

As Will walked up the stairs, he felt the area almost instantly grow colder. He slowly walked down the hall, his hand hovering over the gun. He slowly walked into the sheriff bedroom.

He checked around and under the bed and found nothing. Just as he was about to walk towards the closet, he heard stuff moving around in Stiles' room. Will grabbed his gun, holding it up as he walked out of the sheriffs room, heading towards Stiles'.

He turned to face the doorway and met eyes with Stiles sitting on his bed. Stiles looked up at the sound of Will coming in and sighed. "Can you put the fun down?" Stiles asked, his eyebrows raised. Will clenched his jaw, tightening his grip on the gun. "Not until I know which Stiles I'm talking to."

Stiles groaned, getting off the bed and walking towards Will. He grabbed the tip of the gun by his hand and moved it out of the way. "I think I know a way to know which Stiles you're talking to." He mumbled and before Will could process it, his face was grabbed and he was pulled into a kiss. Will's eyes shut as his eyebrows raised. He felt himself kiss back for almost a second before pulling away.

Will's heart dropped slightly as he shook his head. "You're not Stiles." Will mumbled. Void smirked holding his finger up. "Ding! Ding! Ding!"

Stephanie was searching the living room downstairs when scream echoed from upstairs. Stephanie ran towards the stairs as James came over from the other side of the house.

When they got to the seconds floor, James ran to check Noah's room as Stephanie check Stiles'. She ran in and found the room empty and the window open. She slowly shook her head as her eyes fell to the floor where Will's gun laid.

"Dad?" Stephanie called out. James ran in and skidded to a stop beside her. Stephanie walked farther into the room, looking around just incase before her phone rang. She quickly went to check who it was and saw Allison's name on her screen. She slowly answered it as she turned to the corner of the room to look at the security camera.

"He took Will."

...

"What is all this? What are these sticky notes for?" Derek asked after everyone met back up at Stiles' house, looking down at the chessboard on Stiles' desk. The sheriff sighed, putting his hands in his pockets. "This is what Stiles used to try and explain to me about everyone."

Stephanie nodded eagerly, looking around the group. "Cool, maybe it's a message from Stiles. The real Stiles." Derek nodded in agreement before he saw his chess piece. "You think there's any reason my name's on the king?"

Sheriff Stilinski sighed, tilting his head. "Well, you're heavily guarded." James' face scrunched, touching the top of the King piece. "You're also one move away from being in checkmate. Nice job." Chris' eyes went wide, looking around the group. "It's not a message from Stiles. It's a threat from the Nogitsune."

"He's at the loft. That's what he's trying to tell us." Allison said and Stephanie instantly nodded in agreement. "And he wants us to come there. Night's falling."

Derek scoffed, turning to the girls. "This couldn't sound any more like a trap." The sheriff shook his head. "I don't think it is." Chris turned to the Sheriff, his brows raised. "I think your opinion might be slightly biased, Sheriff."

The sheriff shook his head, putting his hand out to stop them. "Hear me out. What we're dealing with here is basically someone who lacks motive. No rhyme, no reason, right?" Stephanie, now confused, squinted at him. "Meaning what?"

The sheriff turned to Stephanie. "Our enemy is not a killer. It's a trickster. The killing is just a by-product." Stephanie looked at him like he was crazy, squinting her eyes slightly. "If you're trying to say it won't kill us, I'm not feeling too confident about that. It just kidnapped my brother so I'm a little worried."

The sheriff immediately shook his head. "It won't. It wants irony. It wants to play a trick. It wants a joke. All we need to do is come up with a new punch line." James sighed, turning to Noah. "The sun is setting, Sheriff. What do you have in mind?"

—so
how y'all doing???
#stephandwillprotectionsquad