Derek slid the metal door to his loft open; he hadn't been to that place in years. He took his very first steps inside, only to be greeted by the specs of dusts that occupied the space during his absence. He didn't necessarily think of it as his home but still, it was the closest thing he had to that definition.

Erika walked past him and headed towards one of the covered couches. She lifted the white sheet off and flaunted it away. She flopped her body weight onto the seat and sighed a long one, "Eh, too bad I bit the dust before ever setting foot in here," she said.

"I actually bit the dust in here," said Boid nonchalantly as he looked around the place, his eyes landing on the spot he'd lost his life for the first time.

"Seriously...," Derek commented as he took his turn to throw himself on a couche. He closed his eyes for a moment, allowing his body to relax a little. When he reopened them, his gaze fell on Isaac, who was leaning on the door frame, his arms crossed. Isaac didn't say anything, he just stared at Derek, "If you've got something on your mind, just go ahead and share it, because you know I'm not going to beg," said the latter.

"You were never one to beg," Isaac chuckled, then he added, "But yeah, I do have a question for you. Why did you do it?"

"Do what?" said Derek.

"Go out there by yourself," said Isaac, still in the same position.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Derek tried to dismiss the topic, although he knew it wouldn't be that easy to do so.

"I wanted to ask you the same thing from the moment we saw each other, but I thought the timing was inappropriate," said Erika.

Isaac moved inside as Boid pulled a chair to sit closer to the group. Neither of them was specific with their questions, but Derek knew exactly what they meant, and he knew he was just delaying the inevitable by that point, he was going to have to give clear answers anyway. He just wanted to take his time in order to find better words for it.

"I mean, I knew you were as bold as brass, but never reckless. So, I kinda wonder the same thing," this time it was Boid'd turn to ask.

"Was it because it was Jennifer?" Isaac spoke again.

"How did you know she was there anyway? In the distillery?" asked Erika.

"I think it was the other way around. I think she was the one following him,"

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," Derek confirmed Boid's thought.

"It makes sense that out of all of us, you'd be on Jennifer's radar the most. But that still doesn't answer the question I asked before," said Isaac.

Boid and Erika remained silent, but just by the way they perked up, Derek knew they were waiting for the answer too. Seeing that Isaac wasn't letting go, he took a deep breath and started, "I was at the hospital when I caught wind that Jennifer was back. I can't say I thought much about it before going out there,"

"I don't think you thought about it at all, if you want my opinion. I mean considering you knew there were other creatures other than Jennifer," said Erika.

"Do you... Still have feelings for her or something?" said Boid.

Derek looked at Boid and Erika, they hadn't changed a bit. He'd noticed that before, of course but... He felt like he was finally having the time to think about it soberly, since the entire previous days were a blur. Isaac on the other hand, seemed to have changed a tad. He sure still had that sinical side to him, but he appeared to be more thoughtful.

"Was it guilt?"

Isaac caught Derek off guard with that question. He read right through him, or so Derek thought, "Maybe...," he said.

"And you thought you should be the one to take her down?" said Isaac.

"I get it, but at the same time I don't. You didn't think for a second that she wouldn't face you alone? Because that's the kind of person she is? Unless... You were ready to die," Erika wasn't making it any easier on him.

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"Is that true? You knew you weren't coming back alive?" said Boid.

They kept going, one after the other, asking questions and suggesting answers, getting to conclusions on their own. Derek hadn't said a thing until then, unsure if he had anything to say anyways.

"Look, some twisted reason in your mind may lead you to believe that you brought Jennifer into our lives back then but... I hope you realize that it was not the case, right? I hope you know that on that night, you saved us. Without you in that distillery with Scott and Deucalion, none of us would be here right now," Isaac had said all of that so fast, barely leaving Derek the time to disagree. He just looked at Isaac, giving him a questioning look, it was like he knew what Isaac was talking about, but at the same time he didn't.

Isaac noticed the brooding look on Derek's face so, he continued, "Scott told us what you did that night. You tricked Jennifer into healing Deucalion's eyes, which weakened her greatly, and then you fought her and took the beating in order to win some time until the lunar eclipse was over. You do realize that you played the biggest part in taking her down, right?"

Derek's eyes fell to the floor the moment Isaac finished speaking. Twisted truly was the correct word to describe his thoughts and feelings about Jennifer's ordeal. Hearing Isaac retell the events of that night the way they happened sparked a dull ache in Derek's heart. Not that he doubted Isaac, but he did doubt himself for sure. Somehow, he'd completely forgotten the part he played that night, he looked down on his own role, the same way he'd always looked down on himself. For years, he'd relentlessly blamed himself for Jennifer, completely omitting the fact that, she would have executed her plans regardless...

"He's right, you know? Jennifer isn't your problem. She is our problem," Erika didn't have her usual nonchalant or playful tone when she uttered those words. On the contrary, she sounded... Comforting and sincere.

They all remained silent after that. Derek was finally able to entertain the idea that perhaps, not all of the guilt fell on his shoulders like he thought it did. He was finally contemplating the idea of peeking out of his airtight shell on the subject.

But something came to rattle their little moment of peace. They all started looking at each other, before looking at the still open door. They slowly got up, got ready to act, until Derek spoke up, "We know you're there. Come out already!"

Only seconds after his words, a figure appeared from behind the wall where she'd been hiding. Erika growled under her breath at the sight, her claws already pushing through her skin, her fangs out, eager to finish what they'd started the previous night.

"What are you doing here, Kali?" for some reason, Derek sounded calm, like he knew something the others didn't. Well, Isaac didn't seem phased by her presence either.

Kali just stood there, looking back at them. She didn't look fierce, she didn't look feral, she didn't seem to be ready for a fight, or she most likely didn't come looking for one. She put both of her hands up before she spoke, "I am just here to talk," she said simply.

****

Scott, Lydia and Stiles were facing who they believed to be the nogitsuné. None of them spoke, allowing the racket coming from the sheriff station to become the only background noise to their stance.

"Did you like my surprise?" the nogitsuné spoke first, adorning a smile on his lips. It seemed he just wanted to claim responsibility for the bomb, in case they hadn't figure it out yet.

"No. Sorry, I prefer to be honest about my feelings," Stiles surprised Scott with his answer, drowned in sarcasm like his usual, apart from gritting his teeth he didn't allow any other emotions to show.

"Where are the Oni?" asked Lydia.

"Ow, tonight I thought we could dance to a different song," said the creature.

"We can definitely dance," Scott was ready to jump at his throat, but was surprised again when Stiles put a hand up to stop him.

"Lydia! We meet again! Did you miss me?" the nogitsuné addressed Lydia.

"Not really," she said.

"Tell me, I am just curious, how did you do it?" he asked again.

"What do you mean?" Scott interfered.

"I didn't come here with any ill intentions. I just came to enjoy the show," the nogitsuné looked past the three friends, towards the sheriff station. Then he continued, "So how did you know I was here?"

She just frowned, having no answer to his question. Scott couldn't lie, he was intrigued by it as well, but he was brought out of his thoughts by Stiles' question, "You came all the way here just to gloat? Is that the only reason?"

"See any other reason? Besides, it's not like getting here was that hard," the nogitsuné remained quiet for a while before he added, "Aren't you going to ask me anything alse? Like the usual questions? You know, like: Why are you doing this to us? And all that spiel," he adopted an over dramatic tone, in order to mock them, without a doubt.

"We know better than to ask a trickster about his motifs," said Stiles.

"Ah! you spoiled all the fun," said the nogitsuné.

"It's nothing personal," Lydia chimed in.

Scott watched the conversation between his friends and the nogitsuné carry on like nothing was pressing. He was barely able to hide how dumbfounded he was at Lydia's and Stiles' nonchalance, even though they seemed to be holding their rage back, it still was pretty out of character for them, especially Stiles, after what happened at the station. He was calm about it, too calm for Scott's liking.

"Anyways, it was kinda nice chatting with you here, but I have things to tend to," the nogitsuné cut Scott's contemplations short.

"Scott?" the sheriff's voice caught the three friend's attention, they turned to look at Noah as he approached them. But when they turned back towards the nogitsuné, he was no longer there.