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TWENTY SEVEN.

It took a total of ten seconds for Derek to run off, leaving Boyd to grab a hold of his other two pack members. It took a total of eleven seconds for Scott to go rushing forward, and eleven point three seconds for Sage and Stiles to grab a hold of Scott's shirt to keep him from running after Derek. It took three minutes for Stiles, Scott, Sage, Allison, and Lydia to stop their bickering about what just happened inside the McCall house, and four minutes for the five to split apart, two of the three girls taking a separate car. In the meantime of all the second and minutes being timed, Sage was nearly on the verge of having a panic attack. Not only was Jackson the Kanima, and not only had she had the assumption about it, but Derek was going to kill him.

Sage was practically shoved into the backseat of Stiles' jeep by Scott, who was eager to follow after the retreating Alpha. It seemed like as soon as she was strapped down by a seatbelt, Stiles took off. She had to grip onto the back of the front seats in order to keep from flying out the windshield. Scott's head was stuck out the window to try and get Derek's scent, instructing Stiles to take left's and right's every couple of seconds. They were really just winging it, trying their hardest to get to Jackson before Derek did. Although a part of Sage assumed the Kanima could handle everyone on it's own.

"Take the next right up here!" Scott ordered, making Stiles jerk his wheel in the direction, nearly throwing Sage into the window as he did so. Stiles needed new seatbelts. He really did. Or a whole new car. Right when they were turning into an alley, Scott started to shout urgently, "Stop, stop, stop!"

Sage moaned when her seatbelt dug into her stomach, trying not to scream at the omega in front of her. There were tire spikes directly in front of the car as well as a gate, that being the whole reason the car was put to a halt. Right when Stiles began to ask what to do, Scott had flung open the door, leaving the other two to stare as he flipped himself over the gate, never once looking back. The blonde in the backseat scoffed before unclicking her seatbelt, rolling rather ungracefully into the passenger's seat.

"What are we going to do?" Sage questioned, raising her eyebrows over at Stiles. His fingers gripped tightly onto the steering wheel, teeth pulling at his bottom lip. He finally turned to face her after staring at Scott's already dispersed silhouette.

He shrugged, putting the car into reverse, "We wait. I can circle around to see if we can get in another wa— Sage? Are you okay?" He took off his seatbelt, moving to place his hands on Sage's shoulders to get him to turn and look at her. Her eyes were on her chest, like something was happening to her. "Sage, hey, will you look at me?"

"Yeah, I, uh," She swallowed hard, looking up to meet Stiles' eyes, "I'm fine. I just started to feel weird."

Stiles furred his eyebrows, "Sage, weird in this town isn't not an adjective that really defines weird. Weird in this town is a freaking Kanima roaming around the streets that is actually a kid we hated in school while our werewolf best friend is chasing after him. So, when you say that you started to feel weird, I'm entitled to worry. Not only as your boyfriend but, once again, the best friend of a werewolf."

"Stiles," Sage stated, moving her hand from her stomach, "I'm okay. It was just a different feeling. It was like someone was getting hurt but they weren't— oh. Oh." Her eyes widened and she looked back towards the alley. "I'm pretty sure that Jackson is being shot at."

"What? Is it the Argent's? Why aren't you screaming in pain? You got shot before and you were screaming."

Sage glared at him, motioning for him to start moving the car, "I guess Altor's can't connect with abominations. Or it's because he doesn't even know that he's the Kanima and that means neither does my body."

"That's..." Stiles grimaced, "A disturbing thought. Lovely. Alright, well. If Scott wasn't killed by that thing, then he said he would text us."

Scott did end up texting, and he ended up telling them to drive to one of the most unique and unfitting places of all things in Beacon Hills. Sage was the one extremely confused by the place, mostly because she didn't think Jackson, or the Kanima, would be the person to go to a club called Jungle. She wasn't even sure they were allowed to go into a club without a fake I.D., which doesn't really stop her, but still. She thought it would be more of a graveyard and morgue kind of thing.

"A club? Seriously?" Sage breathed under her breath, scoffing as she jogged over to Stiles who was waiting for her near the entrance of the alley. When she squinted her eyes, she sound barely make out another figure peeking over the side of the brick wall to try and see who was entering the club. She very highly doubted that the Kanima would just walk in through the front.

Walking up behind the shadow, she and Stiles stood there waiting for Scott to realize that they were behind him. Well, Sage was, she just wanted to see him jump. When he did turn around, her lip twitched despite the situation they were being placed in. Stiles cringed from beside her, "Sorry, sorry. Did you see where he went?"

"I lost him," Scott muttered, letting out a sigh as he looked up as if expecting to see the Kanima.

Sage's interest was peaked and she crossed her arms over her chest, alarmed. "You lost him? Why can't you catch his scent?"

"I don't think he has one."

Sage huffed, "Comforting. Do you know where he's going?"

"To kill someone."

"Oh," Stiles chimed in, giving Scott a stupid look while Sage rolled her eyes, "That explains the claws and the fangs, and all that. Good, that makes perfect sense now." When Scott and Sage turned to look at him, he frowned, "Wh— Guys, I'm one hundred and forty seven pounds of pale skin and fragile bone, okay? Sarcasm is my only defense."

"You're also one hundred and forty seven pounds of pale skin and plain stupidity," Sage muttered, moving in between them so that she could get a better visual of everyone coming into the club. There was nothing out of the ordinary, and she heard Scott and Stiles bickering behind her, Scott saying something that rubbed her wrong. When he referred to Jackson as an 'it', she spun around, "He's not an it, that's Jackson, Scott."

"I know," Scott agreed, "I know."

"Alright, but does he know that? Did anybody else see him back at your house?" Stiles questioned, shifting around as he rubbed shoulders with Sage.

"I mean, I don't think so but he already passed Derek's test anyways."

Sage chewed on her lip, "That's the thing, how did he even pass the test?" When Scott protested that he didn't know for the second time, she paused. "Maybe it's like an either-or thing. Derek said a snake can't be poisoned by it's own venom, right?" Stiles' eyes widened as he realized where she was going with her words.

"When's the Kanima not the Kanima?" Stiles asked, both himself and Sage looking towards Scott who was only beginning to understand what the were trying to explain.

A switch was flicked inside Scott's head. "When it's Jackson."

Sage snapped her eyes shut before starting to pace along the alley, tugging her hands through her hair. At this point, she was wondering if things in Beacon Hills would ever calm the hell down. First, they had Peter out for revenge, trying to kill everyone in the town which included her. Then Allison's psycho aunt was the one that murdered her whole family, and now there was an abomination just trailing along the streets that just so happened to be a co-captain of the lacrosse team.

Her eyes opened when she ran into a body, Stiles' body, surprised when he barely glanced at her. All of his attention was directed towards the top of the club, where a few boards were placed. Sage glanced up as well, and the wind was knocked out of her. Slithering through an opening was the Kanima, and while Stiles called out for Scott, she refused to take her eyes of him.

"He's inside," Scott choked out.

Stiles threw his hands up. "What's he going to do in there?"

There was a moment of hesitation in Scott's voice, and Sage finally diverted her eyes when she saw that any sign of the Kanima disappeared. Scott glanced into the crowd, his eyes going as round as saucers, "I know who he's after."

"What? How? How? Did you smell something?" Stiles interrogated, his eyebrows shooting up as he looked at his best friend.

"Armani."

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When they were able to get into the club through the back door thanks to Scott's abilities to rip a handle off, Sage was immediately welcomed with the musky smell of sweat and alcohol. She honestly didn't think that Danny was one for this kind of crowd, but hey, she knew what it was like to go through a break up. She had been talking to him and he finally revealed that his on and off boyfriend ended up breaking up with him. Sage asked whether or not he wanted her to snap the guy's neck, to which Danny gave a small snort.

It was a literal party when they finally made it to the center of the place, strobe lights and disco balls hanging and flashing from every single angle in the room. She would have grinned if it hadn't been for the reality that there was no female in the club aside from her. No one had boobs. Well, real boobs. Right when she started to walk, her hand laced in Stiles' she was startled when someone grabbed a hold of her waist that definitely wasn't her boyfriend.

"Such pretty, blonde hair!" Someone shouted over the music and into her ear. She flinched, looking around to see that she was surrounded by drag queens. They were touching every inch of her body, not sexually but with interest. Two of them were twirling around with her hair, tugging and braiding small sections while another one was tugging at her shirt. She shifted uncomfortably, moving a bit to see that the same thing was happening to Stiles, although he wasn't the least bit amused.

"Dude, everyone in here is a dude!" She heard Scott yell, making her eyes roll. "I think we're in a gay club!"

"Man, nothing gets passed those keen werewolf senses, does it, Scott?" Stiles deadpanned. Sage wasn't even effected when he said the word werewolf in public because quite frankly, she highly doubted any of these people really cared. Hell, she was even getting distracted by all the hot, sweaty, sexy, shirtless bodies.

Note to self, always be Danny's wing woman.

When she managed to get out of the hold they had on her, she walked over to Stiles. He was struggling to get free, and completely failing. The drag queens looked over when she showed up, some of them giving her a stare down while others were flickering their eyes in between her and her boyfriend. She flashed a genuine smile, ignoring the pleading look Stiles was giving her. "I'm sorry but can I steal my boyfriend away from you?"

One of them started to grin widely, "Sweetheart, you don't gotta ask. You take care of him!"

"They're so cute together," Another cooed, moving to pinch Stiles' and Sage's cheeks. Sage smiled politely while Stiles flinched, clearly uncomfortable. When they finally released her boyfriend, he breathed out in relief before grabbing a hold of her face and smashing his lips onto her's. She was shocked, her eyes widening rather than shutting as she kissed Stiles back. There were cheers from behind her which were barely audible over the booming music.

Stiles pulled away from the kiss, and she raised her eyebrows in question at him. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but what exactly was that for?"

"I wanted to kiss you," Stiles shrugged. "And I want them to know I'm taken."

Sage smiled before allowing him to grab her hand, the two searching the crowd until they found Scott standing near the bar, looking completely uncomfortable. She also noticed that Danny's ex boyfriend was dancing with some random guy, and had the urge to walk up to him and give a hard punch in his face. This was actually the second time since formal that she's seen him, the first time was at one of the lacrosse games.

Stiles must have realized she had ill intentions because he gripped her hand tighter, practically dragging her 5'4 body over to their friend. When Scott noticed them, he let out a breath in relief. Stiles being Stiles, turned towards the bartender that was moving over to them. "Three beers!"

"I.D.'s?" The man asked. Sage snickered, knowing very well that there is no possible way the guy is going to serve beers to three teenagers. She wouldn't even drink it if he did happen to give them away. She was too much of a lightweight. After two beers, she would most likely be grinding on half of the boys in this place, and that wouldn't end well for anyone. Despite not being of age, the two boys handed over their drivers license. The bartender glanced at her, and she shook her head while sighing. He grinned and looked over at her friends, "How about two cokes?"

"Rum and coke, sure!" Stiles agreed. Sage snorted before scanning the crowd to try and find Danny. She could still hear Stiles faintly agreeing to the bartender's coke agreement, but it, just like everything else in this club, was blocked out by music. "Coke's fine, I'm driving anyways."

Sage pulled her hand free from Stiles' in order to look farther out into the crowd. It was already difficult to see with so many bodies pressed against each other, and it was only made worse when you add it being dark and lights blinding you every single time you look somewhere new. When she looked to her right and saw a familiar boy, she let out a breath in relief, turning back towards the two. "I found Danny."

Scott swallowed hard, never taking his eyes off The Jungle's ceiling. "I found Jackson." They all kept their eyes on the Kanima that was just circling above Danny and the guy he was dancing with. Sage was inching forward, wanting to grab a hold of Danny before anything happened. Scott had the same idea, "Go get Danny."

"What are you going to do?" Stiles asked, moving next to Sage. Scott didn't reply, his hand just outstretching so that the couple could see his claws. Stiles glanced up again then nodded, "Works for me."

Sage and him started to push through the crowd of sweaty bodies, their line of sight getting taken away from them every time someone walked in front of Danny. Sage ended up getting farther ahead than Stiles, both of them calling out Danny's name with no acknowledgement from the boy. She was growing irritated as guys started shoving her around, fog taking up the last resource of sight she managed to keep. At this point, any and all sense of direction was lost. "Danny? Scott? Stiles!" She started spinning around, hoping to catch a familiar face.

When screams started to irrupt through the crowd, she felt her heart plummet to the ground. Everyone was backing away from the center of the dance floor, which in turn made Sage gravitate closer to it. When she was finally able to see, scanning through all of the faces of the people Jackson paralyzed, she caught sight of the last person affected. Pushing through the last few people standing in her way, she dropped to the ground beside Danny.

"Hey, hey, Danny. It's Sage. You're going to be okay, alright? You're going to be okay," She assured, grabbing a hold of his hand. Her head was spinning as she tried to find out where Stiles and Scott were, more importantly where the hell Jackson went. He hadn't killed Danny, which meant something interrupted him. A small flash of plaid was seen, and she glanced from Danny to her boyfriend, struggling to decide before giving Danny's hand a squeeze and running after Stiles.

When he caught sight of her following him, he grabbed her forearm and the two rushed outside. Both of their shoes slammed down on the concrete when the noticed Scott standing near the side of a car, staring down at something. To her surprise, when she got closer she noticed that it wasn't something but someone. Jackson was laying on the ground, Sage only able to see his chest because of the car hiding him. When she went to take a step forward towards him, Stiles soccer mom-ed her. "He's naked, Sage."

"He's also bleeding, Stiles," Sage hissed, moving forward again. She could give two shits about whether or not he was naked. She just wanted to get him off the ground before he bled to death. Before she went any further, she looked over at Stiles' body. "Can I please have your jacket?"

Stiles frowned before pulling off the jacket, handing it over to her. Instead of putting it on herself, she handed it over to Scott. "You're the one that has to put him in the car."

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Sage sat in the backseat of Stiles' jeep, shifting around to try and find a comfortable position. Jackson's head was on her lap, half of his body was revealed to her, and the other half was only covered by a small jacket. Scott was outside talking to Danny, something she wished she could have done herself, but she wasn't going to leave Jackson. Apparently Derek had been in the club, ready and willing to kill Jackson. There was blood all over Jackson's chest, but it didn't look like he had any real injuries.

"Does he have to be on your lap?" Stiles grumbled from the front seat, watching as she moved her hands to rest on the front of the seat. Sage snorted, grinning at him in amusement. He hadn't been okay with anything that has happened in the past ten minutes. It was actually extremely hilarious because she could see it written all over his face that he was jealous.

"Are you jealous of an unconscious guy, Stiles?" Sage mused, quirking an eyebrow at him.

He scoffed. "No. Of course not. I'm just curious as to why he's on your lap."

"His head is on my lap," Sage corrected. "And it wouldn't be if the backseat of your car was a bit bigger."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Sage leaned forward, Jackson's head lolling towards the side as she grabbed Stiles' shoulder. He turned around, and she pressed her lips onto his'. Just like always, he seemed to take a gasp of air like he wasn't expecting for her to start kissing him. He parted her lips, and she moved in deeper, her surroundings turning irrelevant as she ran her hands around the base of Stiles' neck.

It didn't last long, seeing as they needed air to survive. Stiles was the one to pull away, giving her a look of confusion, "What was that for?"

She smirked, "I wanted to kiss you, and I wanted you to know I'm taken."

He went to reply but his words were cut short as Scott jumped into the jeep, glancing in between the two in suspicion. Sage's cheeks heated up and she leaned back, putting Jackson's head back on her lap. Stiles was flushed as well, but looked towards Scott in question. "So?"