Chapter 17

Noah Stilinski is halfway down the stairs when he smells the coffee and…is that bacon? Today is the day he has to deal with McCall's maneuvering, and he was planning to sneak by the diner to grab something greasy but he should have known better than to think he was going to get by his son. When he stepped into the kitchen area he smiled, actually relieved. Stiles was cooking breakfast at it seemed to be real food, not that horrible experiment with oatmeal he tried two weeks ago. Noah spotted eggs, bacon, coffee, juice, and…dear lord were those waffles? Jars of fruit and cream and syrup topped it all off.

"Stiles?" he asks suddenly suspicious. That was real bacon, not the turkey stuff. His son has killed someone for sure. Stiles smiles and sets down what looks like a cinnamon roll. Okay, his son's a serial killer, he can deal with that.

"Morning pop. Thought with your day today you deserved something special" Stiles says smiling easily. Guilty has hell, but he was hiding it pretty well.

"So...where are the bodies?"

Stiles looks confused for a second before scowling. "Oh, ha ha. If you don't want this, I can make you some oatmeal. I might even have a grapefruit" he says looking around and reaching to take back the roll.

Noah jumps in the chair before his son can move anything and starts to fill his plate. "I was just curious. Wasn't upset or anything" he muttered and added a fourth piece of bacon and when there was no complaint, he figured his son must have blown up half of California if he was doing all this.

"Well I jut wanted you to have a good day. You know, if you like, maybe I could…"

"NO" Noah cut him off before that could go anywhere. They had already argued about this more than once. "Stiles this is not one of your things. This is a plain old ordinary sociopath-murderer getting medical treatment. No elves, dwarves, or centaurs involved. And definitely no werewolves" he says seeing Stiles about to argue. "Besides, how exactly did you plan to explain to the department and the hospital why my teenage son is hanging around?"

"Take your kid to work day?" Stiles offers sheepishly.

That did not deserve a response. Instead he took a bite of the roll. Oh god! He almost agreed to let his son come with him for this. It was one of Celeste's! She had cut him off for weeks now. Stiffening his spine at the barely concealed look of victory on his son's face he shook his head. "How's Peter?"

Stiles pouted. He recognized the evasion for what it was. "He found Cora but needs some time according to Derek."

"And the car sized spider?"

Stiles slunk into his chair. "Can't find it" he mutters.

"And isn't there the matter of the missing Hale?"

Stiles flailed around looking miserable and slinking deeper into the chair. "I can't find her dad! Each time I get even a hint of her, she slips away. I know she is close, much closer than Cora is, but it is like a fricking 'Where's Waldo' puzzle. I know she is in the preserve, never the city or town proper which makes no sense, but whenever I look, I can't find a trace of anyone." He was completely frustrated by his total failure to locate Peter's daughter. He had spoken with Derek and the Alpha had agreed not to tell Peter until they could actually give him something real. He had struggled enough with all of the trouble finding Cora as it was. Knowing that one, he had a daughter, and two, that his daughter was within the territory but couldn't be found would drive the man crazy…well, crazier. He had finally told his dad to try and get some ideas but even he was stumped.

Noah felt a little guilty, but he smiled inside while his son ranted, and he got to eat in somewhat peace. By now Stiles was almost distracted.

"I'm not distracted by the way" Stiles suddenly says glaring at his father. "I could be a help."

Noah sighed. "I know you could son" he says as he puts down his fork. "But you are not going. There is no reason to go and many reasons not to. This is a pain in the ass, but it is my kind of problem, not yours. I will deal with our good Agent McCall my way."

"I could drop him into a volcano….or near some lions. Cover him with BBQ sauce to make him appetizing."

Noah smiled at that visual. "While I appreciate the rather bloodthirsty gesture, I am not sure Scott would appreciate that, even with how mad he is. Might even make him cry."

Stiles looked at his father in absolute disbelief. That was a totally low blow! Using Scott that way. Even if it was true. No matter how mad he was at his dad, Scott didn't want to see him hurt. "Fine. No teleporting. I could make his hair fall out" he offers.

Noah really tried to look disapproving but the minute he visualized Raphel McCall without his rather pompous hair he lost it. Laughing he shook his head. "No" he finally got out. "Not unless you get Mel's permission" he added as an afterthought.

Stiles agreed but he was more than halfway certain that Mama McCall would be all in on that particular punishment. Standing up he walked his father to the door and hugged him goodbye as his dad left the day. Looking back to the kitchen he sighed. Hopefully his dad won't be too mad at him.

"Good morning Sheriff" Deputy Graeme said with a smile as Noah walked into the station. She looked at him slightly confused "No take-out?" she asks looking at his empty hands.

Noah narrows his eyes at the smug look on his deputy's face. He is absolutely sure that Stiles had gotten to the woman and that she is one of his son's eyes at the station. "I ate breakfast with Stiles this morning."

Tara frowns. "He was up at 6:30am?"

Noah nods and agrees with her rather doubtful look. Teenagers do not like getting up early and normally his son would require dynamite or a werewolf to get out of bed before he needed to. He also gave up just a little too easily for the Sheriff's comfort. "Your visitor is back" Tara says just as he is approaching his office.

The sheriff looks at his deputy, but she is already moving away fast. They will be heading out in about twenty minutes to the hospital, along with Parrish, to meet up with the four deputies already there and the two at Eichen House as escorts. Dreading what he is going to see, he steps in and spots his visitor from last night sitting in his guest chair looking entirely too put together for this early after their late night visit.

"Ms. Rushman. I am sorry if I wasn't clear yesterday, but I don't have time to talk this morning, I am rather busy" he told the woman who only smiled easily.

The brunette's expression reminded him of his son this morning and his attempt to manipulate him into coming along. "I remember Sheriff, but I think that this might be exactly what my employer is looking for. Our concerns were not just with the incidents themselves. Obviously, things can happen anywhere and it is hardly the fault of the location. But how the local authorities respond, how they handle things, these are things that tell us what could happen in the future."

Noah nods not liking where this sounded like it was going. "I can see how that would be of concern for a new business." His tone is reasonable but the woman smirks, seeing his displeasure and acknowledging it.

"Sheriff, to be blunt, Stark Industries is a target."

"Especially when your boss gives terrorists his home address."

Rushman concedes the point with a nod. "Technically, Tony Stark is not my boss" she adds.

"Close enough though. Especially with all that Avengers stuff he does as well."

"You are familiar with all of that?" she asks with a curious expression.

He sighs. "I have a teen aged son" he says as if that should explain it. From the look on her face, it does.

"Regardless, locating any Stark facility requires careful thought not only in light of potential targeting, but also not overly disrupting the community and the people that live there."

Noah frowns for a moment. "I wouldn't have expected such a company to be too concerned about that."

"Well that may have been true once, but not anymore. Both Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts have set new priorities for the company. However, we have gotten a bit off topic. I have some training in security, a natural part of my job" she admits and Noah nods as it makes sense. "And I feel that seeing how you and your people manage the, shall we say slightly unusual, nothing too extreme of course, will say a great deal about how you might manage the unexpected if it were to come up. I mean this is nothing extreme, correct? Simply a prisoner from a facility, Eichen House I believe, receiving surgery and then being returned?"

Noah leaned back. "You know a great deal more than I told you last night."

Rushman smiled. "Sheriff, may I be blunt?" He nods. "I have access to one of the world's best computer systems designed by one of the most brilliant minds who has a less than absolute moral codes. Finding information is second nature to us and it isn't really that difficult to find out anything that affects us." She looks at him for a moment seeing the wheels turning as he tries to figure out what she did. "Also…your deputy Ryan? He pretty much talked all about it last night in the coffee shop to the waitress while I was there."

The sheriff manages to contain his groan, but the woman definitely sees it and holds back her laughter. Dammit! "So, you want to what? Do a ride along?"

"Essentially. I promise to stay out of the way Sheriff. I just want to observe how you and your deputies handle things. Simple as that and like you said, it is fairly a routine matter, right?"

Noah sighs. He really would like to say no. He technically could and nobody would be able to really argue with him, but Roberts would literally have an aneurysm if he did. The possibility of Stark Industries coming to Beacon Hills would shake things up across the whole county, if not this whole part of the state. It literally could transform the economy around town. 'Huh', he wonders, 'how will Argent react to that idea?' "Fine. You can come, but the moment you become a distraction or don't follow orders, you are out the door without argument or I will have you tossed in a cell until it is over with no matter how much the Mayor screams about it."

Natasha smiles and holds up her hands with a completely innocent expression. "Absolutely Sheriff. I promise to be on my best behavior."

Sheriff Noah Stilinski looks at that face, the expression of complete agreement without a trace of argument or hesitation. Maybe he was wrong and just prejudiced by his son this morning. She can't be that devious. Dealing with all the supernatural crap was really getting to him when some corporate stooge was making him doubt his own judgment. "Okay. Let's go then" he says, and they head out and to the hospital.

Noah walks in the hospital doors and looks up to see Parrish already speaking to one of the other deputies. He also spotted the team from Eichen so that meant that Barrows was already here. He didn't see Mel though. Parrish saw him and broke off to come over. "Sir, they got here with no issues, and he is already being prepped. Nurse McCall said to tell you that all was going according to the plan."

Noah nodded and sent the man off. He spotted two of his deputies right outside the door where Barrows was being prepped. There were no other people per the plans. "So, all is good?" he asks Tara who nods.

"We have a few civilians in the waiting room next door, but they are here for other business and know not to come over here."

Noah frowns. "I thought we cleared this whole section?"

"Just our part, this side. The hospital still has regular patients but right now it is pretty slow. An elderly couple with a regular appointment, a mom with a sick kid, and two teenagers."

Noah nods and starts to walk away but stops. "Teenagers? No parents?"

Tara shrugs. "Yessir. She is here for a checkup and her boyfriend drove her. Said her parents were working this morning. Supposed to be pretty routine. Her doctor got delayed so they are hanging out here rather than going back to the high school."

Noah stared at his deputy for a second before regretting that breakfast. "Describe them."

Tara frowned but noticed that while the sheriff wasn't angry, he did seem concerned. "Girl's white, blonde hair, red lipstick, way too much leather. He's black, bald, and looks like a football player." She sees the sheriff react. "You know them?"

"Unfortunately" he mutters and then heads in the direction of the waiting room wondering if he can still ground his magical son. Stepping through the doors he spots the couple and the mom with the kid before he spots the two of them sitting out of the way looking entirely too innocent.

"Sheriff!" Erica says smiling happily. "Good morning. What brings you here?" Boyd, as usual, doesn't say anything but nods in greeting.

"I think I could ask you the same question Ms. Reyes."

"Oh, my parents wanted me to get a check up with Dr. Barnett but he's running late or something. He should be here in an hour or so, but with doctors you never know" she winks saucily at him. "Boyd brought me, and we figured we would hang out here till he's ready for us."

On the surface it is all innocent and if he didn't have that Stark woman standing off to the side, he would definitely have words with the two of them but instead he just smiles and nods. "Deputy, could you walk Ms. Rushman through the plan for this morning?" he asks, and Tara quickly agrees, and he smiles easily at the woman who nods but is definitely giving him a searching look before they walk back to the secured section.

Turning back to the two he sees that neither one of them look contrite. "You are both grounded."

Erica looks stunned. "What?" Boyd asks looking surprised

"You can't do that!" Erica whispers but then looks at Boyd with real concern. "Can he do that?"

They both look at the Sheriff who isn't smiling but is enjoying that he is managing to intimidate two werewolves. "You can also tell Stiles that he is grounded as well as I am sure that this was his plan all along. You two are going to stay out of this!"

Erica and Boyd both nod in agreement. "You weren't actually supposed to know we were here sir" Boyd tells him, and Noah looks at the teen with a frown. "Stiles just wanted you to have backup, just in case."

Noah sighs. "This is a prisoner, a human prisoner, not one of 'your' problems."

"We won't be a bother, we promise" Erica says looking devastated which Noah wasn't buying for a second. He'd seen her fight, and this was all artifice.

Noah stares long enough that she squirms a bit, long enough to know she wasn't fooling anyone. "Stay out of it" he repeats and walks back to the secure area.

"Everything okay?" Ms. Rushman asks him as he walks back in.

Noah shakes his head. "Just two of my son's friends playing hooky from school by coming early for their appointment instead of staying in school till the right time." She nods and looks back at Tara and Jordan.

"I have to say that things appear to be well in hand. Your deputies are good at their jobs from what I can see" she says approvingly.

"It's going to be a boring few hours" he warns her.

She turns and smiles and Noah admits to feeling a bit outmatched, the woman was stunning. "In that case, I have some questions about an attack on the station recently. I don't mean to be insensitive but an assault on the sheriff's station is rather unusual." Noah refrains from groaning and smiles instead as he gestures to some seats. He has told the cover story for the attack by Matt and the Argents enough he has it down, but this woman is relentless. Roberts seriously owes him a steak dinner for this.

The conversation moves easily with Noah talking more than normal but Ms. Rushman, 'Natalie, please Sheriff', is easy to talk to and does seem to understand the basics of protocol though the gaps in her knowledge clearly show she has never done police work even if she has security experience. "He actually stole a police van for a prank?" she asks looking impressed.

"Borrowed was his exact word."

Natalie smiled. "I take it the kid's father didn't see it that way? Is that why they suspended you? Sorry if that's insensitive but seeing as the kid's dad is a lawyer and now all is good…"

Noah sighed. "Whittemore's a…" he pauses and stops himself "...good attorney." He sees her smile at the changed word but gives it to him. "Once his son admitted to escalating things against Stiles then it suddenly became less about the Sheriff's kid being 'out of hand' and more about 'boys will be boys' and Jason Whittemore does not like bad press. He's a solid lawyer, a bit of an ass, but then aren't they all. Once Jackson admitted his part, he even apologized…reluctantly. Now that the boys have apparently buried the hatchet and it all seems to be going well. And to be honest, I am sure the idea of working with either Stark Industries or the people that come to work with your place will be more than worth it for him to play nice with everyone."

Natalie smiles and nods. "Knowing some of the lawyers I've worked with, that doesn't surprise me. The idea of billable hours seems to make them beyond willing to help."

Noah laughed. He glanced at his watch and was surprised at the time. They should be starting the surgery any minute if they are still on schedule. He was surprised how much he had been talking but she was really easy to talk with. He is about to tell her about one incident with a rather unhappy neighbor story that Parrish had recently dealt with when there is a sudden crash followed by a scream. Jumping up he runs around the corner and spots his two deputies, guns drawn, and looking at the doors to the operating room. Vaguely aware that he had a shadow he moved forward just as a body went flying through the doors and slammed into the wall opposite the door. Gun drawn he yelled "Get back" to Rushman and he moved forward as his deputies both ran in the room.

He didn't get three steps before Deputy Adams came flying to slam into the wall next to the doctor who was still down on the floor. Another scream came out but then a man's yell of fury that sounded more like a furious bull than any human. Three shots rang out before a sound of flesh striking flesh and Deputy Martin is flying through the doors, ripping both of them off the hinges, and slamming into the floor. Noah has a moment before William Barrows steps out, blood sliding down his chest from a surgical incision, and a look of unholy mania on his face. "Freeze Barrows!" Noah yells pointing his gun.

Barrows face is full of rage as he stares at the sheriff and Noah sees something dark, menacing, that was not there the last time he saw the man. Opening his mouth Noah has only a second to comprehend before a swarm of flies comes pouring out of his mouth like a fire hose. He manages to get off one shot that slams into the man's shoulder, but he doesn't even flinch. Noah is about to try and turn and knock down the civilian when he feels a rush of heat and a flash of light appears. Suddenly in front of him a glowing, golden star, the exact shape of his badge, appears and when the flies strike it they explode in puffs of smoke and flashes of light. Staring at the star in front of him he is stunned but still manages to notice that his own badge is glowing in sync with the star shielding him.

When the last fly is gone, the star disappears and Barrows screams before something shiny flies by Noah's vision and lands on the ground. Suddenly two arcs of electricity shoot up from the disc, latching on to the man, and his screams shift from rage to pain. Glancing over he sees Natalie's arm still out from flinging the thing. The snub gun in her other hand looks rather impressive. "What was that?" he barks but the scream from Barrows shifts again.

Shrugging off the mini taser thing, Barrows tries to move back in the operating room but suddenly flies backward into the wall though he doesn't fall down. Melissa is standing in the door, a blue white shield glowing in front of her. "You stay the hell away from us" she yells and Noah spots the rest of the medical team behind her on the floor as she blocks the man from coming in before she turns back to Noah and screams "CALL STILES!"

Barrows grabs ahold of Martin, who was trying to stand, by the neck and slams him into the wall. "You will all pay. I will not go back into the darkness. I have suffered too much, you all will play my game." BANG

Noah looks shocked at the bullet hole in the man's forehead. Glancing at Rushman, smoke rising from the barrel of her gun, a gun that is not trembling in the slightest. She catches his eye and gives him a raised eyebrow in question. "Nice shot" he says and she nods but they both look back and realize that the man is still standing.

"Is he?" Natalie starts to ask when Barrows roars in fury and flings Martin at them.

"You can't kill me!" Barrows screams at them and seconds later they both go down in a tangle of bodies. At least Noah thought they did. Rushman actually managed to dodge Martin's body and is moving towards Barrows at a run. Noah watches the woman leap and bounce off the wall, her legs grabbing onto Barrows and flinging him with some kind of flip but the man twists in the air and lands on his feet and roars as he rushes her. She dances away and shoots him in the kneecap but it doesn't do anything to slow him down and he swings his arm and clips her, sending her spinning into the wall, but she doesn't go down. Noah is about to move when he hears the roars behind him and ducks just as two bodies leap over him and he watches Barrow turn towards them and screams in fury right before Boyd slams into him knocking him back. Erica snarls, her claws slicing into him but while the man screams, he doesn't stop and Boyd gets punched hard enough to fly back a dozen feet. Noah can't get a clear shot with Erica dancing in and out but Barrows is screaming.

"MONSTERS!! I'll kill all of you!"

"Hah, don't like the competition" Erica taunts taking a swing but Barrows catches her and slams her into the wall, pulling back to slam his fist into her face when Boyd barrels in and knocks him back, freeing Erica.

Boyd snarls but Barrows is back and hits him so hard Noah can hear the teen's jaw breaking as Boyd hits the far wall and goes down. Erica screams but it is almost drowned out by the roar that shakes the hospital. He sees Natalie's eyes widen looking behind him and he turns and sees a fiery circle glowing there as Derek, in full Alpha form flies out followed by Jackson and Isaac, both wolfed out as well, and the three launch themselves at Barrows in a flurry of claws, teeth, and kicks.

Noah stares for a second but Barrows, while he seemed invincible before, apparently isn't. Not when facing four werewolves, all of them out for blood. The man looks enraged but then he just stops and collapses, like a marionette with its strings cut. "Is that it?" Jackson snarls around his fangs. "He just died?"

The three of them look confused by the sudden lose of heartbeat.

Derek suddenly snarls furiously and Noah spots something tiny fly out of the man, a bug of some kind, a left-over fly perhaps, moving away quickly.

"I don't fucking think so" his son's voice calls out and a ball of light surrounds the fly and seals it in. Noah sees the thing furiously batting against the ball but it can't get out. He can feel waves of fury and desperation coming off the thing. Its enough to almost make him lose his breakfast.

Noah turns and stares at his son, eye's glowing white, and watches as Stiles squeezes his fist and the little ball shrinks to the size of a golf ball. "You are not getting away again."

"Stiles?" Noah asks, concern clear in his voice.

"Sorry dad, Noshiko finally told Derek and I about why she was here and what it was that got her so worked up and ever since we have been looking for this bastard. Seems he escaped when the Nemeton was destroyed, but he was badly injured and lost most of his power. This thing isn't going to hurt anyone" Stiles voice is cold, hard, and determined.

Looking over at the teens, all back to normal, who are helping Boyd up as well as giving a hand to Mel who was apparently standing guard over several doctors who were injured by the man before she could stop him.

"Well, it appears that your department has some interesting back up when things get more than a little unusual" Natalie said looking around the ER before staring at the sheriff and his son.

Noah was looking at her, trying to figure out why she didn't sound more surprised, while also trying to figure a way explain all this when his son yelled out in excitement. "Oh my god! You're the Black Widow!"