Low music hummed in the background of Winowna Jones' bedroom, leaking softly from Aaron's macbook under the clicking of keys.

Mid morning light pooled through the massive windows lining Winnie's room, Aaron perched at his daughter's desk in a washed out Broncos tee and plaid pajama bottoms, hair askew and glasses on his nose.

Aaron sent out yet another work email, sighing as he ran a hand through his hair. An empty mug sat next to him, the weapons dealer only sighing harder when he realized that was the case.

"Honey, will you-"

Aaron's voice cut off short, eyes stopping on the bundle of covers on Winnie's bed as he turned toward to door to call for Elizabeth.

For the first time since she passed out, Winnie rustled.

Nervous, as he often was when it came to his daughter, Aaron let go of the idea of getting more coffee as he stood from Winnie's desk.

Winnie, pale but dressed in warmer sleeping clothes, shifted under her duvet, hair just as it was when she was put in her bed by her mom.

Isaac had been one of the first people Pete called, but there had been no response. But the concern surrounding Winnie ousted the concern of Isaac.

"Winnie?" Aaron calmly asked, carefully sitting on the side of her bed. "You in there, Pooh Bear?"

Eyes shifted below the lids, begging to open as the owner rustled against the warmth she was being subjected to.

"It's me, Win."

Winnie's head slowly turned to Aaron, eyes struggling to fully open. "Dad?"

"Hey kiddo," Aaron greeted with a smile, a comforting hand on her arm. "Rough night, huh?"

"What-" Winnie paused, slowly sitting up in bed, only making it to her elbows before remembering the overwhelming sense of sickness and the wild-eyed deer. "Where's Isaac. Where's everyone?" Her eyes quickly traced her room, registering the morning sun. "How - what time is it?"

"Close to nine," Aaron told her, glancing to his watch.

"School-"

"Winnie, we don't think school is a good idea today," Aaron said before she could go on.

"It's the first day," Winnie nearly pleaded. "I can't miss the first day of junior year, Dad. Not after all the school I missed last semester."

Aaron only shook his head, "Unexplained passing out? That shouldn't be a normal thing, nor should you be running around without knowing if it'll happen again."

"Dad, come one. I can still make it."

"The first day is usually only syllabi," countered Aaron. "You won't be missing much."

Finally caving with a heavy sigh, Winnie went to grab her phone from the nightstand, but had no such luck. "Where's my cell?"

Aaron got up from the bed wordlessly, grabbing the device off its charger before walking it back to Winnie. "Someone named Derek was texting you earlier this morning."

Winnie forced herself up, resting back against the headboard as she took the phone from Aaron. "Thank you," she lightly said, pressing the home button to reveal seven notifications, the most recent less than ten minutes old.

"Want some coffee, hun?" asked Aaron, pretending he didn't know exactly which Derek was texting his daughter as he picked up his own mug from the desk and looked back to her.

"Yes, please," she distractedly replied, unlocking her phone.

Derek
23:14 Heard anything from Lahey?

00:52    Missed Call from Derek

01:25    Missed call from Unknown

Derek
   02:48 Nothing from Isaac

03:01    Missed Call from Derek

08:12    Missed Call from Unknown

Derek
08:42 I've been out all night looking. Nothing. I'm going to try again. Let me know when you get this.

Winnie's heart began to pick up as she pulled the covers back form her legs. She quickly typed a response, letting him know she'd heard nothing so far. The teen sent a short text to both Allison and Pete, knowing the knowledge of her being awake would spread to Lydia, Scott and Stiles through them.

Isaac, however, was a no show.

Winnie called 3 times, each met without even a ring.

A werewolf walks into the den of an alpha pack and isn't heard from again. Sound like it has a happy ending?

Winnie was already on the move, changing from the sweats her mother put her in and into a pair of denim shorts and the first shirt she could grab, soon tucking the Black Sabbath tshirt in. She was barely focused on what she was putting on her body, sliding into a pair of laceless sneakers as she fumbled to smooth down her hair.

She only wanted to get out of the house and help find Isaac.

Winnie, on her way downstairs, absently declined an unknown number calling. She jumped off the last step, skidding into the kitchen to retrieve her keys.

Both Aaron and Elizabeth responded negatively to her arrival, immediately hounding her.

"We already talked about this, Win," Aaron said. "We don't want you going to school today."

Winnie paused, looking between her parents. "I'm not going to school."

As Aaron and Liz exchanged a short glance, Winnie grabbed her keys and hit the button for her side of the garage.

"Hey, hey-"

"You said I couldn't go to school," Winnie defended. "I'm not going to school."

"Let me at least send you with coffee," Elizabeth said with a sigh.

Winnie stilled momentarily, not only because she absolutely wanted coffee, but because she'd gotten the first answer of the day.

Scott
8:50    Isaac's in the hospital

Win quickly relayed the message to Derek, Elizabeth holding out an insulated travel mug to her right when she was about to duck without caffeine.

"Thank you!" she called, balancing the mug and keys as she pulled open the door to the garage.

"Win, where are you going?" Aaron echoed after her, standing in the doorway as Winnie went to the Malibu.

"To do my duty for the supernatural community!"

¥ ¥ ¥

"Couldn't make it through your first class, McCall?"

Scott turned over his shoulder in the Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital parking lot, Winnie jogging up to the dirt bike. "Couldn't make it to your first class, Jones?"

Winnie grinned lightly, toting her coffee mug as the pair headed for the entrance of the hospital. "Apparently knocking unconscious under mysterious circumstances makes parents want to keep you home. Can't imagine why."

Leading the two, Scott glanced to Winnie while keeping an eye out for his mom. "What about Isaac? Do you know why he's here?"

Win gave a tepid tilt of her head, "Potentially."

"There you are!" Nurse McCall expressed, catching the teens as she rounded a corner. "Come on."

"How long has he been here?" Winnie asked, she and Scott flanking either side of Melissa.

"They came in last night," she said, barely able to look at either of them as she did. "Isaac and another girl. Some sort of crash and a ton of property damage. Isaac's hurt, but he's healing."

"Why didn't you tell me before?" the beta questioned.

"Honestly, I was hoping I didn't have to," Melissa admitted to her son.

"What do you mean?"

"Everything that you've been doing," she began, "the extra reading, the summer school, saving up for the bike even though it scares me half to death. Honey, I just didn't wan to disrupt a good rhythm."

"It's not gonna stop," Scott assured, the three stopping in the hall. "I'm gonna be better this year. A better student, a better son, a better friend, a better everything."

A better alpha.

Winnie's brows furrowed, an unfamiliar voice taunting her thoughts.

"He's in room 215 if he isn't already in surgery," Melissa told Scott.

"Thank you." Scott kissed his mom's cheek before taking off, motioning for Winnie to follow.

"We tried so hard to keep him out of it," Winnie whispered to Melissa, offering an apologetic look before heading after Scott.

Scott hit the button for the elevator, trying to focus on anything but the impulse to ask Winnie what she'd meant.

Winnie, however, could hear the question bouncing around his head, so desperate to be spoken into existence. Instead of resolving the problem, she texted Derek asking if he was on his way.

Scott suddenly reached a hand out, the elevator doors attempting to close on a guide pole.

A man with sharp shoes and sunglasses joined Scott and Winnie in the elevator.

"Would you hit the button for the second floor, please?"

Scott paused, the second floor button already lit. He reached out, awkwardly pressing it again.

The metal box filled with mildly uncomfortable silence, the short ride threatening to stretch an eternity.

Winnie glanced over to the blind man, herself situated in the far back corner behind him. Her brows drew in, eyes focused on his headspace.

Scott hummed off rambling thoughts for miles 24/7, but this stranger?

Silence.

When the elevator dinged and the doors parted, a hasty escape for the teens was thwarted.

"One of you wouldn't mind helping me out for a second, would you?"

"Um..." Scott looked to the hand already on his shoulder, "sure."

Winnie followed them out, Scott slowly walking down the hall. She held back a laugh, Scott's expression almost miserable.

"Just here, thank you," the British man said, able to hear the hum of reception as he let go of Scott.

"Sure thing," Scott replied, nearly bolting as Winnie stayed close behind.

Win glanced over her shoulder, the blind man's hidden gaze angled in their direction as they turned a corner.

"Help me look," Scott said aloud, snapping Winnie's attention back as they wandered the halls of the second floor.

The pair skidded up to room 215, it barren of a patient.

Winnie tugged Scott's sleeve, something wrong about the sheer size of the nurse wheeling a limp patient into the elevator clean down the hall.

Scott's eyes narrowed, locking with the mass of a human being that turned in the elevator, Isaac just behind him.

Get back.

Winnie swore at the hum of Scott's voice, claws suddenly emerging from both Scott and the man in scrubs.

The moment Scott lunged into the elevator, Winnie darted for the stairwell once she saw the Up arrow light, dropping her empty mug to the floor in her take off.

"This cannot be happening," she nearly shouted, attempting to call Derek as she jogged up the stairs.

Bursting onto the third floor from the stairs, Derek ran past her from down the hall, at the doors the moment they opened.

"Don't you realize what you're dealing with? I'm an alpha."

"So am I." Derek's claws buried into the nurses' back, Scott tumbling from his grip. He tossed the bald alpha down the hall, Winnie barely getting out of the way.

Derek slowly turned back to Scott, the teen still shifted as he caught his breath against the floor of the elevator. "Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

Winnie jumped over the limp nurse, joining Beacon's werewolves in the elevator, hitting the 1st floor button before turning back to Isaac in the wheelchair, still unconscious. She titled his head, concern in her eyes before looking to Derek. "He got away last night."

"Yeah, but they wanted to finish him," Derek flatly said. "Clearly they're willing to go above and beyond to do it."

"Either of you want to tell me what the hell's going on?" Scott asked, shift faded as he hauled himself up from the ground.

Derek wheeled Isaac around, rolling him out the moment the doors parted. "It's complicated."

Scott and Winnie followed, close behind Derek as they all headed for the nearest exit.

"Where are you taking him?" questioned the beta as Isaac was hauled over Derek's shoulder, both he and Winnie cautiously checking around for hospital staff.

"My old house," replied Derek, well aware he couldn't get Scott to leave them. He jogged with Isaac over his shoulder, heading for the Malibu.

Winnie, although hating not telling Scott, hastily unlocked the red sedan as they reached it. She climbed into the driver's seat, starting the engine in an instant.

"I'm coming," Scott said as Derek got Isaac into the backseat before putting himself in the passenger's.

"Derek shook his head as Scott ran off to his bike, glancing to Winnie as he buckled himself. "Just go. He's coming no matter what."

Winnie tore out of the hospital parking lot, able to spot Scott on his dirt bike following closely the entire drive to the Hale House.

"This is insane," Winnie murmured, looking back to Isaac. "What the hell did he see that warranted them trying to kill him?"

"I doubt they have a non-psychopathic reasoning," said Derek, unbuckling his seatbelt as they reached the property.

Scott's bike pulled up next to the Malibu as Derek hauled Isaac back out of the car. He yanked his helmet off, leaving it on the seat of his bike before running after Derek on his way to the porch. He jumped, his phone ringing before he could go through the entry way. "Stiles-" he attempted the moment he answered.

"We've got a serious problem at the school. Ms. Blake's class-"

"Hey, can you tell me about it later?" he asked Stiles, going into the foyer.

"Uh, well, no, pretty sure this qualifies for immediate discussion," Stiles combated.

"Come to Derek's," Winnie called over her shoulder, having passed Scott and standing next to the table Isaac had been laid on.

"Derek's house? What?" expressed Stiles on the other end. "What the hell are you doing at-"

"Just meet us here, okay?" Scott hung up, joining them in the remnants of the living room. He glanced around the burnt structure as Derek dug through the debris. "You don't still live here, do you?"

"No," Derek replied. "The county took it over but there's something here that I need." He leafed through busted beams of wood, "It'll help heal a wound from an alpha."

Winnie's brows furrowed, a protective hand over Isaac's. "But it did heal."

"Not on the inside," the alpha said. He pulled a familiar plant from the busted floorboards, still searching for more.

Scott hesitated, glancing between Winnie and Derek. "Hey, are you going to tell me who that was back there? That alpha?"

"A rival pack," Derek attempted. "It's my problem. I know you want to help, and you did. I owe you one." He grabbed the last of the plant, standing up straight. "Now go home. Go back to being a teenager."

Scott hung back as Derek began to dismantle the low grade wolfsbane.

The tattoo.

Winnie's brows furrowed, looking up to Scott as he absently touched his bicep. "You got a tattoo?"

"I, uh," he turned to Derek, "if you want to repay back that favor now, there is something you can do for me."