Noel isn't first seen until after the intro. Scott lets Derek into the clinic, along with Isaac and Noel. Instead of asking Derek what Isaac is doing there, Scott asks Noel, and Noel says "Derek needs him, apparently."

"I don't trust him," Scott says lowly, Isaac replying "Yeah, well, he doesn't trust you either."

"And Derek really doesn't care," Derek says in third person, asking where Deaton is. Deaton shows up around the corner, saying "Whether or not I'll help you really depends. Your friend Jackson, are we planning to kill him? Or save him?"

"Save him," Noel says, while Derek says at the same time "Kill him." Scott and Noel both look at Derek, Scott clarifying "Save him."

They all go into the operating room, Deaton pulling out a case of glass containers. Isaac reaches for one, Derek grabbing his hand to stop him and telling him to watch what he touches. Deaton picks up one of the bottles, Isaac asking him "So, what are you? Some kind of witch?"

Noel rolls his eyes and elbows Isaac, silently telling him to shut up. Deaton smiles at Isaac and responds "No. I'm a veterinarian."

Isaac blinks a few times, obviously defeated. Deaton tells them he doesn't have anything that can fight off Jackson's venom, Derek telling him they're open to suggestions.

Isaac suggests they find something offensive instead of defensive, but Noel says "Not gonna help. Derek nearly took his head off and Chris Argent unloaded a whole clip of bullets into him. He was unfazed."

"He hasn't shown any weaknesses?" Deaton asks, Noel shaking his head. "Not really. He can't swim, though, apparently."

"Does that go for Jackson as well?" Deaton asks, Scott jumping in to say "No, Jackson's the captain of the swim team."

"Essentially, you're trying to catch two people," Deaton begins to explain, all four boys listening intently. Deaton goes into a drawer behind him and turns back to them with a small talisman in his hand, stating "A puppet, and a puppeteer."

He puts the talisman down on the table, continuing "One killed the husband, but the other had to take care of the wife. Do we know why?"

"I don't think Jackson could do it," Noel says, everyone turning to look at him.

"His mother died when she was pregnant with him, and she may have been murdered as well. I think somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he couldn't be responsible for letting the same thing happen to someone else."

"How do you know it's not part of the rules?" Isaac asks. "The kanima kills murderers, if Jackson kills the wife then the baby dies too."

"Does that mean her father was a murderer?" Scott questions, Isaac shrugging. "Wouldn't surprise me if he was."

"Hold on. The book says they're bonded right?" Deaton notes, referring to the kanima and their master. Scott nods, and Deaton continues "What if the fear of water isn't coming from Jackson, but from the person controlling him? What if something that affects the kanima also effects its master?" As he says this, he draws a circle of mountain ash around the talisman.

"Meaning what?" Isaac asks, Noel saying "Meaning we can catch them. Both of them."

The camera subtly zooms in on the talisman. Blackout.

—

The next day at school, Noel is first seen in the locker room. Coach asks if anyone can tell him where Jackson was and why he missed morning practice, and a handful of players look at Noel. He shakes his head nervously before suddenly the coach yells "Why's everybody looking at Cole?!"

"Noel, coach," the boy corrects, coach responding "Right, Joel, that's what I said."

Again, Noel corrects him, saying with extra emphasis "NOel. Noel, as in 'no'. Or, you know, like, the word for a small hill? A knoll? Pronounced just like that."

Coach watches him for a second, narrowing his eyes and asking "Are you giving me lip, Nicole?"

Everyone except Scott, Stiles, and Danny laughs, Noel shrinking back a bit and leaning up against the lockers behind him. Coach gives him one more stern look before suddenly remembering something.

"Wait, you have the same last name as Jackson, don't you? Are you brothers? Why the hell didn't I know about this?"

"We're cousins," Noel says, almost under his breath, Finstock looking oddly surprised. "Must be distant cousins then, because obviously being skilled in lacrosse didn't make it to your branch of the family tree. Do me a favor and tell your cousin no more missing practice this close to the championships."

"Yes sir," Noel says, his voice a bit shaky. Stiles puts a comforting hand on his shoulder, Noel reaching up to grab the hand and squeeze it before letting go and finally looking at their coach. "That goes for all of you," the man states, backing into his office and mumbling "I should be coaching college..."

When the door closes behind the coach, Danny tells the boys that he doesn't know how they can get any tickets to the rave since he could only get two himself. Stiles asks if he even has a date yet, Danny replying "I'm working on it."

"We went to formal together, I could go with you to the rave," Noel suggests smoothly, but Danny sees through the suggestion like it's completely transparent. "You go to a rave to grind on and make out with hot guys, not awkwardly shuffle around with your best friend's cousin. No offense, Noel, but I'll pass."

"How about you just give Scott and I the tickets, and you devote your life to abstinence," Stiles suggests, Noel making a face of confusion at the suggestion as Isaac comes in and stands between Scott and Stiles.

"How do you three losers even survive?" he asks them, Scott asking "What are we supposed to do? No one's even selling. And money wouldn't even be an issue if they were, we've got Noel."

"Nice to know I'm just a walking dollar sign to you, Scott," Noel says, only half joking. Scott has the decency to look apologetic for the statement.

As this little exchange happens, Isaac watches two of the lacrosse players with their tickets and goes over to them. Stiles, Scott, and Noel watch in shock as Isaac beats the two boys up and takes their tickets. Stiles gives a few side comments ("That's excessive." "That's gonna bruise.") before Isaac returns, slapping the two tickets onto Noel and Scott's chests.

Noel looks down in shock at the ticket in his hand, Stiles looking shocked that he doesn't have a ticket in his hand.

"Enjoy the show," Isaac says before walking away, Noel watching him go before asking Scott and Stiles "I should probably go and pay them for these, shouldn't I?"

"Yeah, that'd probably be the smart thing to do," Stiles says as Noel pulls out his wallet and walks to where Isaac had taken the tickets from the boys.

—

After Scott and Stiles have their scene at Deaton's where they get the ketamine and the mountain ash, we go to Noel and Derek. Noel looks down at his phone as it vibrates, and he says "They've got the stuff. I should get going soon."

"Why won't you just tell me exactly what you three are plotting?" Derek asks, from where he leans against a table watching Noel standing in the middle of the train depot.

Noel looks up at him and shrugs, taking a step closer to Derek and touching their knees together. "You didn't tell me about the plan to kill Lydia, why should I tell you about our plan?"

"I should have told you about the plan to kill Lydia. Because you were right and I was wrong, remember?" Derek asks, sliding his fingers into the belt loops on Noel's hips to pull him slightly closer.

Noel looks into Derek's eyes and says "Say that again. I didn't hear you the first time."

Derek, smiling, repeats "You were right, and I was wrong."

"One more time," Noel says with a grin, Derek letting out a chuckle. "Don't push your luck," he says, unhooking his fingers from the belt loops and resting his hands on Noel's waist instead.

Noel wraps his arms around Derek's neck in response, a small smile on his face. "Scott will let you know if he needs your help. It's his job to keep you informed, not mine. But trust me, we have this handled."

He pauses, eyes darting over Derek's face for a few beats before he asks softly "If I made you promise not to come tonight... Would you listen to me?"

"Honest answer? No, I wouldn't listen to you. I need to keep you safe, and as long as Jackson is still turning into that monster and killing people, you aren't safe," Derek says, eyes full of concern.

Not convinced, Noel says back "I sleep next door to him every night. If he wanted to hurt me he would have done it already. Plus, I'm the least confrontational guy I know. Whoever Jackson's master is probably doesn't even know I exist, and it's even less likely that I have history with them that would make them want to kill me."

"You live under the same roof as their precious little killing machine, of course they know who you are," Derek says skeptically.

"But why would they want to hurt me? If they wanted to they would have done it by now. And there's really no logical reason to, killing me would just mess with Jackson and our family's emotions, their 'precious little killing machine' as you call him would be out of commission if I died."

"You have a lot of faith banking on the theory that your cousin doesn't hate you as much as the rest of us know he does," Derek points out with his eyebrows raised.

"He lied to my uncle David and told him I had nothing to do with him being chained up in the van when I was literally the one that locked the cuffs around his wrists! And he knew I was the one that did it because I told him I had!" Noel says, moving his arms from around Derek's neck to lay his palms flat on either side of the man's thighs on the table.

Derek says nothing, Noel continuing "Jackson was the one that told his dad not to get me into any kind of trouble that night, even though I walked into the station with Scott and Stiles. Jackson was the one that woke me up when I fell asleep on the couch that night and helped me get to my room. Jackson was the one that didn't care when I sat next to him in the library during detention. He doesn't like me, not by any means, but he doesn't hate me either. And I don't think he realizes yet that I've noticed."

Derek just stares at Noel's face for a few seconds, before asking softly "Will you call me if things get out of hand?"

"Of course I will," Noel says, like he's shocked Derek would doubt that he'd call him at the first sign of danger. He moves his arms back up and around Derek's neck, pulling their faces together and kissing him softly.

When they pull away from each other, he says "Don't worry about me. Scott will be there, he's gonna be doing all the heavy lifting. All I'm there for is to be damage control, okay? That's all I can say until Scott tells you and the others the plan. If he decides to tell you at all, of course"

Derek purses his lips but nods, leaning back in to close the gap and kiss Noel again. The boy obliges, and the scene fades out on them kissing, wrapped in each other's arms.

We then go to the Argents, where they're making their own plans to take Jackson down.

—

Later, at the rave, Noel steps out of the jeep with Scott and Stiles. As Stiles complains about their plan, Scott looks out into the distance and says "No, not here, not now!" He grabs Noel's arm and drags him away from the jeep, Stiles yelling after them about how he still hates their plan.

Once inside the rave, we see Erica and Isaac walking down the entryway smirking at each other. Scott watches and asks "Did they know we were doing this here?"

"I don't know, I didn't tell them," Noel says, following Scott's line of sight. It's then that he realizes Scott isn't talking about Isaac and Erica- he's talking about Allison and Matt.

As Allison walks over to Scott and Noel, the two lead her over to a quieter area. Scott asks Allison what she's doing here, and she points out that Scott encouraged her to go out with Matt.

Confused, Noel stands there while they talk, his head snapping up when Allison tells them Gerard and her father will be there as well.

"What did you tell them?" Noel asks, Allison replying nervously "I told them-" Scott cuts her off by yelling her name in outrage, and she stutters "I had to tell them!" Realization passes across Noel's face as he says in a voice full of fear "Oh God, they know it's Jackson."

"People are dying, Noel, what am I supposed to do?!" she asks, Scott yelling back at her "You're supposed to trust us!"

"I trust you, I trust both of you, more than anyone, you're my best friend and my boyfriend," she assures them, Scott saying dumbfoundedly "We had a plan..."

"So do they," Allison tells them, Scott saying deadpan "This isn't gonna work."

"What do you want me to do, I can fix it, please, please, Scott, just tell me," she begs, and Scott responds "Just stay out of the way."

Noel looks at him a bit shocked, but when Scott starts leaving and Allison reaches out for him, he repeats that he needs her to stay out of the way. Noel stands there for a second, looking conflicted, but he scurries off after Scott when the boy yells his name. Allison watches the two of them walk away with tears in her eyes.

—

Back in the rave later, Scott hands off the ketamine to Isaac. Isaac asks why he has to do it, and Scott says "Noel was supposed to, but now he and I have to make sure the Argents don't ruin the plan."

After Scott gets a scene explaining to Isaac what he has to do, Noel gets a similar scene with Erica. The two stand on the edge of the crowd of dancing bodies, Noel ignoring all of the people that bump into him.

"You have to help Isaac get the ketamine into Jackson. Normally I wouldn't suggest this, since I'm not big on objectification, but you may have to use your... You know... Femininity. Distract him. Jacks loves that kind of thing."

"Is that why he dated Lydia?" Erica asks as she starts to dance with a random girl, Noel pulling her attention back to him.

"I'm serious," he says, moving the hand that's holding her forearm down to hold her hand. "If this plan doesn't work out and the Argents get to him before we do, I could lose him. I can't..." he pauses, blinking rapidly a few times. "I can't lose any more of my family. Not any time soon."

After this expression of emotion, Erica drops the sass and dismissiveness, squeezing Noel's hand.

"Hey," she says, and when he looks at her, there are tears in his eyes. She wipes them away, saying with a smile "We got this. Okay?"

He smiles softly at her and nods, repeating "Yeah, we got this." She pinches his cheek playfully and lets go of his hand, looking out at the dance floor as we head outside to where Derek and Boyd are confronting the Argents.

"Derek, back off," Chris warns, Derek repeating "Back off? When you're trying to kill my boyfriend's cousin in cold blood? That's really all you've got? I've gotta be honest, Chris, I was really expecting more from the big bad veteran werewolf hunter."

Chris smiles coldly, saying "Okay then. How about, didn't anyone ever tell you not to bring claws to a gunfight?"

At his words the Argents all cock their weapons, Boyd saying "That one sounded pretty good." Derek rolls his eyes at the boy's comment, and then we're back in the rave.

—

We don't see Noel again until Stiles goes into the room where Erica and Isaac are keeping Jackson after they wooed him. He is standing slightly in front of the two, and moves like he wants to push them further back when Stiles enters.

"Is he okay?" Stiles asks, Isaac saying "Well, let's find out."

Before Noel can say anything, Isaac releases his claws and moves to take a swipe at Jackson. Jackson catches his arm, however, finally releasing Isaac when there's a sharp crack.

"No one does anything like that again, okay?!" Stiles asks, the other three nodding in agreement.

"I thought the ketamine was supposed to put him out," Isaac complains, Noel taking Isaac's arm and surveying the break.

"This is all we're gonna get," he says, rubbing a thumb gingerly over Isaac's arm. Stiles then says "Let's just hope that whoever's controlling him decided to show up tonight."

Jackson's eyes suddenly flash open, and he says "I'm right here. I'm right here with you."

Erica, Isaac, and Stiles all suddenly turn to Noel. The boy looks as scared as they are, staring at Jackson in shock.

Noel stoops down in front of Jackson with Stiles, asking his cousin softly "Jacks, is that you?"

"Us. We're all here," Jackson responds, Noel biting his lip worriedly.

"Are you the one killing people?" Stiles asks, receiving another vague answer. "We're the ones killing murderers."

"So all the people you've killed so far-" Stiles begins, Jackson finishing "-deserved it."

"See, we've got a little rulebook that says you only go after murderers," Stiles says, Jackson responding "Anything can break if enough pressure's applied."

"So you're positive that the people you're killing are all murderers," Noel asks, Jackson saying cryptically "All. Each. Every one."

"Who did they murder?" Noel asks again, and Jackson growls out "Me. They murdered me."

Suddenly, his eyes turn reptilian, and settle on Stiles. Noel immediately moves his body between Jackson and Stiles, before Jackson says once more "They murdered me."

—

After the scene between Allison and Matt, we're back in the room with Jackson and the pack. Noel watches, a hand firmly resting on Stiles' chest to keep him away from Jackson as kanima scales start to appear on his cousin's skin along with his claws.

Stiles tells Isaac to inject Jackson with more ketamine, but Isaac holds up the empty bottle and tells Stiles that they don't have any more. Stiles, annoyed, asks to confirm that Isaac used the whole bottle, and Erica nudges Stiles to turn his attention back to Jackson, who is now standing up in half kanima form.

The boy hisses and his head starts to whip around, and Noel shoves everyone out of the room before exiting himself.

Outside the room, Stiles tells them to find something to barricade the door, but before they can even move to do so, Jackson breaks through the wall and starts running. They all stare after him in shock before we cut to commercial.

—

After Jackson kills the girl, Stiles leaves the rave, and Noel is nowhere to be found. He's inside, looking for Jackson.

When Stiles and Derek meet up, we see Erica and Isaac walk out of the building with Noel. They see the mountain ash barrier and all look at each other, Noel looking relieved that it worked.

When Scott roars to signal that he's in trouble, Derek and Noel say in unison "Scott." Stiles asks what they mean as Noel takes off running, Derek telling Stiles to break the circle of ash. Stiles at first refuses, until Derek yells at him again and the boy obeys. Immediately after, Noel and Derek burst into the room where Victoria is keeping Scott, both of them dragging him out after getting a few hits from Victoria (Derek even biting her in self defense).

—

Later in the clinic, while Deaton is helping Scott, Noel sits beside Derek, leaning his head on his boyfriend's shoulder as he sleeps. Derek rests a hand over Noel's where it rests on his thigh, and thanks Deaton, the man not saying anything back.

—

This is his last scene of the episode.