Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf; only Cassidy and the world surrounding her.
Lift A Sail - Yellowcard
(Outfit on Profile)
Thanks to MarvelWorksWonders and Jocie413 for reviewing,
and for liking, following, and chatting with my on tumblr!
So this story is based on 5X13 so SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE NEW EPISODES!
Welcome Back to Cassidy Snyder's World!
Lift A Sail
I was so wrong and unaware,
I locked myself away, I thought that I'd be safe,
Then I realized I'd gone nowhere
Life is just too sweet to lie in this defeat
If a cold wind starts to rise,
I am ready now, I am ready now
With the last sail lifted high,
I am ready now, I am ready now
"I still don't like this idea."
Cassidy looked up from her spot on her parent's bed as her mother expressed her feelings. "It's only for a short time, mama."
"Doesn't mean leaving my baby behind makes it any better." Teresa threw more clothing into her suitcase. If her words didn't give it away, the way she was throwing the clothing in without folding them did.
Cassidy looked back down at the bedspread, her fingers tracing designs. "This will keep you guys safe."
"And what about you, huh? You're not safe here either!" The mother zipped up the bag hastily. "The guy that tried to kill you once is out on the run, Cassidy!"
"Quite honestly, mom, I've had my life threated more times than you know, and I'm still here."
"Doesn't help your case."
"Look, mom." Cassidy stood up to walk over to her mother. "Something worse is going on in this town more than ever. We have to figure out how we're going to take care of it. So I'm asking you to get my brother and sister out of this town before something horrible happens to them."
"But you-"
"I'm staying with Mr. Stilinski. I can't be safer than staying with the Sheriff."
Teresa sighed with a nod, knowing she couldn't stop her daughter no matter how hard she tried. And she had been trying all day. "Just…don't get pregnant."
"Mom!"
"What! You're staying in the same house as your boyfriend. I was a teenager once too."
Cassidy rolled her eyes and continued helping her family pack up some belongings they needed. Stiles was helping her brother as well who had plenty of questions to ask the older boy. By the time they were almost done packing the car her mother was in tears.
"Where' your bag, Cassie?" Kara asked her older sisters. Not fully understanding the situation.
Cassidy kneeled down on the grass to the younger girl's level. "I'm not coming with you this time, Kar."
"But…why not?"
She couldn't help feeling herself tear up at her sister's question. "You know how over the summer I had to leave you guys for a while?"
"Yeah."
"Well this time, I'm staying here while you guys go away and spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa." Cassidy tried smiling through the tears, pushing Kara's blonde hair behind her ears. "Think of it as a small vacation. You're going to have a lot of fun."
Kara didn't answer but immediately wrapped her tiny arms around her sister's neck to hug her. Cassidy pulled the little girl into her body, ignoring the aching pain from the bruise that was slowly going away around her neck. She hated ever leaving her family, but this would ensure that they would be out of harm's way.
"We'll be back together before you know it." The older sister let her go. She gave Kara another smile before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.
She stood up and moved towards Andy, who had been hanging back behind them. "Did you pack your video games?"
"Oh yeah, I'll be practicing Mario Kart so much you'll never be able beat me again." The brother smirked.
"Yeah, we'll see about that." She knew he was pulling off his signature 'nothing bothers me' façade, but she could see right through it. "Can you do me a favor?" Andy nodded, sticking his hands deep in his pockets. "Look after Kara, alright? No matter what."
"Cas, what's going on? I mean, I tried to get it out of Stiles but he told me basically nothing."
She gave him a sad smile. "I don't know. But we're going to figure it out." It wasn't a great answer but it was the only she really got. She held her arms open, waiting for him to come hug her.
Very un-Andy like, he quickly walked into her arms, wrapping himself around his older sister. "Please be safe, Cassi. Please."
"I'll be fine, little bro." She whispered, trying to reassure him. "I'm going to make sure this town is as safe as it can be for you guys to come home."
The two split apart, watching as Andy walked over to take care of Kara. Turning her head she found her parents and Stiles talking by the trunk of the car. The conversation seemed to be mostly between Stiles and her father but it didn't look hostile, so that was a good sign. The discussion came to a halt as she stood by the three.
"Say goodbye to your brother and sister?" Carl asked his oldest daughter.
She nodded. "You guys got everything?"
"I think we'll be good for a few days. Do you need anything from us? The both of you." The father looked back and forth between the younger couple.
"I think we're good."
Stiles agreed with her. "Yeah, my dad is taking special precautions in the town."
"If he's taking such extra precautions I don't understand why we have to leave?" Carl's voice held bitterness in it.
"Carl, please." Teresa sighed, not wanting her husband to start up.
"Please, Dad." Cassidy looked up at her father with big eyes. "Please do this for me. I don't ask for much. Please.
Carl couldn't say no to his daughter, even though he wanted to. Multiple times. "You'll call me immediately if you need me right?"
"You're the first one I call." Cassidy agreed and hugged her father tightly, before moving on to hug her mother.
"Stiles," Carl pressed a hand to the younger man's shoulder, "you take care of my little girl?"
"With my life, sir." Stiles nodded.
"Alright, we better get going." Teresa said. "I love the both of you. Please be safe and call us immediately if you need anything."
"We will, mama."
The two teens stood back watching as the rest of the Snyder family drove away. Cassidy couldn't help her eyes from watering as she watched her life drive away. It reminded her of the time she stood in this same spot and watched Isaac drive away. But this was even worse. What if this was the last time she ever saw her family?
Stiles stood behind her, gently rubbing up and down her arms. Seeing the contact almost made her more upset, he softly wrapped his arms around body, pulling her back into his chest. "I've got you, alright?"
She couldn't answer, scared she would start crying. She simply nodded, watching as the car turned down the road. He softly kissed the side of her head, holding her even closer. If he could vow anything at that moment he would work his hardest to help her finish her pursuit and get her family back to her.
"Hey, Malia, it's me. It's Cassidy. Cassidy Snyder. Remember me? Former enemy, current best friend." Cassidy left a message on the girl's answering machine as she sat on Scott's front porch steps. "I'm calling for the hundredth time, trying to get ahold of you. Making sure you're okay." Cassidy sighed and ran a hand through her curls. "Listen if something's going on, you can tell me, I'll help you. I just…please call me back. This probably sounds a lot more desperate than a than an ex. So yeah…call me."
She hung up the phone and dropped it into her lap before holding her head in her hands. She hadn't talked to Malia in days, Ms. Martin had made sure Cassidy was to have no access to visiting Lydia, and she hadn't been able to get ahold of Kira in weeks. She missed her best friends so much. Sure she had Scott and Stiles, but it was a different situation. Currently, Scott was packing up the essentials he needed to take with him, while Stiles was fixing whatever he could for the jeep to work. They were off to get Kira. Mr. Yukimura told them that her and her mother went to Shiprock in New Mexico.
"Hey."
Cassidy's head snapped up at the voice. Another person she hadn't had contact with standing in front of her. Liam stood a few yards away, hands buried deep in his pockets. "Hi." Her voice came out as barely a whisper but he heard her. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to talk to Scott." The young beta took hesitant steps towards her. "You haven't answered any of my texts."
Cassidy stood up. It was funny how she was just trying to get Malia to answer her, while she had been ignoring Liam for the past few days. "Yeah…I needed some time."
"Are you okay?"
It was such a loaded question. "I'll be fine."
His head dropped down to his chest, defeat written across his face. "You're mad at me right? Because of Scott."
"I'm not mad Liam, I'm just," she shook her head trying to gather her thoughts, "I'm kind of disappointed. You nearly killed him, Liam."
Liam rose his head, ready to defend himself. Or at least try to. "I didn't mean to-"
"-But you did." She crossed her arms across her chest. "It happen. That's not something that you can run away from, I know." That fight she had with Malia always on the back of her mind.
"What do I do? Cas, what do I do now?" The boy began to ramble. "How do I make this better? How do I make this right? How do I make you not hate me, because I can't do this without you!" Liam's voice kept getting higher the more he got upset.
"Liam, I don't hate you." She strode up to him, grabbing his arms. "I love you. You mean so much to me, I wish you understood that." Her eyes refusing to leave his. "And I also wish you would have came to me with everything that happen with Hayden."
In a way that was really selfish on her part. And sometimes she felt as if she was being selfish of the relationship she had with Liam period. It wasn't like she was trying to replace Isaac in her life when she found Liam, but it did give her something to put her attention to again. And with Liam losing Hayden, like Isaac lost Allison it made her feel like she was getting a second chance at helping. And that seemed so self-centered on her part. But she just wanted to help him, more than she could with Isaac.
Liam bowed his head. "She's alive you know."
"I do." She gently lifted his head with her hands. "Be careful with her Liam. We don't know what's going on yet."
He grabbed her hands gently, holding them in his own. "I will. I promise."
She squeezed his hands before dropping them. "Scott's inside."
Liam nodded, knowing they weren't fully there yet but it was a step in progress. The two walked around the side, towards the back of the driveway, finding Stiles still under the hood of his jeep.
"Hey, Stiles." Liam spoke softly towards the other boy.
Stiles jumped up from his spot, surprised to see him there. "Liam." He nodded at him, giving Cassidy a questioning glance.
Liam pushed past the awkwardness and climbed the steps into the house.
"What's that about?" Stiles gestured his head towards the boy that walked away.
"He wants to talk to Scott." Cassidy leaned against the front of the Jeep, next to her boyfriend.
"And you?" He started work on the engine again.
She shrugged her shoulders. "It's complicated."
"He's not Isaac, Cas."
"Quite aware of that, thank you." She rolled her eyes. Leave it to Stiles to always be the only one who could say out loud what she was thinking.
He sighed, cranking something that she had no idea what it was on the engine. "I'm just saying, it's not like he tried to kill you. That was another psychotic person, who's actually only a human."
"Karma." She turned around so she could actually look into the engine. "So, I still can't get in touch with Malia."
"Yeah, that's not really a surprise."
"What happen with the two of you?" He ignored her and kept working. Cassidy grabbed the wrench from his hand, finally getting him to look at her. "Stiles?"
"She knew about Donovan." He wiped his hands on his rag.
She scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "Okay? So-"
"So…so," he rested his hands on his hips, "she's thinks it okay. That it's totally fine that I killed Donovan, and that it's not an issue at all."
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. That's why you're mad at her?"
"Do you hear yourself right now?"
"Yes, okay, Pot meet Kettle, how you doin', but come on Stiles. With everything that's happening, that is the least of our concerns right now."
He grabbed the wrench back from her. "So you're saying you completely trust Liam?"
She sighed, throwing her head back to look up at the night sky. "I'm saying I have trust issues, we all know that. I'm taking my pills again, I'm working on getting back to my better self. But we have millions of things on our plate right now, so we just need to take a few steps forward. Alright?"
Stiles watched her shoulders drop in exhaustion. He knew she was tired since she hadn't been sleeping, constantly doing research on Travis which she was trying to hide from him, but he found the papers. She was also frantically trying to get her system back on the normal schedule with her pills, which was weighing her down more than she was leading on. "Are we fighting?" He pouted, getting a small chuckle out of her.
"No, we're just too goddamn stubborn for our own good."
Stiles grinned back at her before getting to work again. At the sound of the screen door opening, Cassidy turned around to see Scott walking out. The Alpha dropped his bag and grabbed the portable light that was hooked to the hood.
"So, what did he want from you?" Stiles asked his best friend.
"To help." Scott shrugged.
"You gonna let him?" Cassidy asked cautiously.
"Eventually, I guess."
"Okay, but shouldn't he be a little higher on your priority list right now?" Stiles twisted another part back on the engine. "I mean, since he's the only other actual werewolf, your only actual beta?"
"You didn't see the way he came at me. You didn't see the look in his eyes." Scott brought up his defense.
"Well I've been with you on a full moon, so I've seen that look."
Cassidy agreed. "Or had said werewolf attempt to kill us themselves."
Stiles gestured at her in agreement. "If you want to get the band back together, Scott, you don't leave out the drummer."
Her eyes grew wide at his comment, almost not believing that he actually said that. "Oh my God, that's the sexiest thing you've ever said. Please ignore the fact that Scott is here and take me in your Jeep right now."
Stiles ignored her statement, but she could see the smug smile that was wanting to break across his face as he walked around the driver's side of the jeep.
"Must you talk like that around me?" Scott whined.
"Scott, I've heard you say much much much worse." Cassidy laughed, twirling Stiles' wrench around on her fingers. "Like disgustingly worse."
The two were cut off by the sound of the engine roaring to life, like it was coming back from the dead. Stiles jumped back around to the front, checking to make sure everything looked good. "Success!"
The three quickly put the tools away before jumping into the Jeep. It took a little longer than usual for Cassidy to situate herself into the backseat as she was surrounded by antifreeze jugs and a gas can. Scott turned around to throw his bag in the back with her when he took notice to them as well.
"There's a minor leak." Stiles explained. "Very minor."
Cassidy grabbed the radio chord and plugged in her iPod. "Alright, dudes. Let the longest ride ever begin."
Nonstop it was supposed to take them about 16 hours to get to Shiprock, New Mexico. But given the fact that they had to pull over every few hours to put more anti-freeze in, it was taking a quite a bit longer than it should be. It was the early morning now so Cassidy was able to read her book. She had maneuvered the extra jugs on the ground and around her so she had enough room to lie down on the seat. The Jeep had been quite for a while, the music stopping to save the battery on her iPod, Stiles was driving, and Scott was reading up on Damnatio Memoriae.
When Stiles and Scott had explained to her about the beast that was running around town to be real of what Travis had told her she was sort of surprised. Which made her even more suspicious of him, if that was even possible. She hadn't told Stiles or Scott yet, but she had started doing research on Travis and his family. She was going to know everything about it, and then use it against him. She would win.
But right at this moment, all of her focus was on getting Kira back with them. That and trying her hardest to stay cool in the hundred degree Jeep.
"Man, I think the Jeep's overheating again." Scott stated her thoughts out loud.
"Probably." Stiles exhaled in annoyance.
"Should we pull over and put more antifreeze in there?"
"No, we can just turn the heat on." He pulled the heat button out to turn it on, while Scott opened his window. "Cas, you asleep?"
"Nope." Cassidy grunted out as she sat up, leaning between the front two seats as she pulled her plaid shirt off. "Impossible to sleep in this heat. Find anything yet?" She leaned over Scott's seat to see if she could read anything in the ancient book.
"Mostly the same stuff we already knew." Scott shook his head, skimming over the pages. "Damnatio Memoriae, was a roman practice, a government decree to destroy the images of the damned. And they would scratch off their names from inscriptions, chiseled their face off of statues. The Romans believed it was a punishment worse than death."
"Being forgotten." Stiles glanced over at the two quickly.
"So like Gary Glitter and Jonathan King at the Cavern Club." Cassidy spoke up.
"Who?" Scott looked back at her with an eyebrow raised.
"Songwriter and a producer that were removed from the Wall of Fame at the Cavern Club in Liverpool because of sex scandals." She explained, spinning her bracelet around her wrist.
"How do you even know that?"
"It's a music thing." Stiles answered for her. "Her music knowledge is astounding."
Cassidy smiled, squeezing his shoulder. "Thanks, babe."
"Guys, listen to this." The Alpha got back on topic. "Damnatio Memoriae was late used on a serial killer in 1598 known as the Demon Tailor. He lured children to his shop in Paris where he kill them and boil the flesh off their bones to eat. The courts believed the crimes so horrible, they ordered all documents destroyed. To this day, no knows his real name."
"So the Dread Doctors resurrected a killer who was so bad he had to literally be erased from history." Stiles deadpanned.
Just the thought of it made Cassidy sick to her stomach. "That is the foulest thing…like ever."
"A killer that became a werewolf." Scott said.
"Which probably made him a better killer." Stiles stated what they all were thinking. "That's great." That's all it took for Stiles to press harder on the gas, now the anxious need to get there faster.
The jingle of Cassidy's cellphone alerted her of a new email. She leaned back in her seat and unlocked the phone to see a new email for Isaac. It had only been a week ago when she called him up out of desperation. And that had be the last time since she contacted him.
"Who was that?" Stiles glanced through the rearview mirror to see her.
"Isaac." Her words came out as a mumble, dropping the phone on the leather seat next to her. She would read the message later.
"Did you tell him about Travis?" Scott turned his body around in the passenger seat so he could see her.
"Did I tell my overprotective best friend, who's a werewolf, that the guy who tried to kill me is out? No, no that sounds like a horrible idea."
"Cas, you have to tell him." Stiles spoke up.
She crossed her arms across her chest, annoyance written on her face. "No, I really don't."
"Why don't you want to tell him?" Scott gave her heartfelt look.
"Because if I tell him he will buy a one-way plane ticket back here, and I don't want that for him. He's happy. France makes him happy, so that's all that matter." She swallowed the lump in her throat. She was blaming the effect her pills had on her for her constant emotional flare-ups. She's only been back on her regular medication for a few days so she had to remind herself how long it took her system to readjust like the first time.
Stiles could basically here the wheels overworking in her head. "Cas-"
"-I'm gonna get some sleep." She grabbed her headphones out of her bag and laid down so her back was to the both boys. Maybe if she could fall asleep, it would give her a break of constant worrying that was on her mind.
She got about an hour of sleep before a rather large bump in the road woke her. She didn't move from her spot though, just listening to her music and the mumbled talk of Scott and Stiles in the front. They were discussing something about Malia and how she wasn't talking to anyone. Cassidy had to keep her heart steady at the mention of Braeden being back in town. She hadn't talked to her mentor since she had left over the summer, except for the note Braeden had left her. And if Braeden was in town that meant she was going to help Malia find the Desert Wolf finally.
"What the hell do you think they're going to do?" Stiles asked, now sitting in the passenger seat since Scott took over driving.
"Something that Malia doesn't want to tell us about. Probably something bad." Scott nodded his head.
"Oh my God, you already know, don't you? It's like the chemosignals, right?"
"Aggression."
"How much?" Stiles scrunched his eyebrows in question.
"I think she's going to kill her. She's going to kill her mother."
It became eerily quiet in the Jeep. That was until Stiles' thoughts couldn't hold in anymore. "Is she still asleep?" He asked, turning around to see Cassidy's eyes still closed.
"Yeah, her heart beat has been steady for a while." Scott listened closely before putting his attention back on the road. "Is she doing okay?"
"No, I know she's not." Stiles rubbed his hand across his lips. "She's trying to be, but everything is piling up on her again. She had her family leave town yesterday, and between Travis and her pills, also dealing with us and trying to get to Lydia…" Stiles cleared his throat. He was getting overwhelmed by just saying it all, how was she even still standing? "I don't want to push her, but I also don't want to see her break again."
Cassidy felt a tear run down her cheek, pooling between her skin and the leather of the seat. She thought she was holding it all together well, but clearly her shell was breaking again.
All of the sudden a loud clunking noise came from the Jeep and they began to slow down. "What's happening?" Scott was looking back and forth from the road to the dash.
"What's going on?" Cassidy 'woke up' rubbing her eyes.
"Umm…" Stiles looked over the dashboard. "Yeah, we're out of gas. That's out of gas."
"It says we have half a tank." Scott motioned to the gauge.
"Not necessarily."
"You still haven't fixed the gas gauge, have you?" Cassidy yawned, running a hand through her frizzed out hair.
"Not necessarily." He shamefully admitted as Scott pulled over to the side of the road.
Cassidy let her head drop back, a loud groan coming out. "Why couldn't we just take my car?"
"Where's the fun in that?" Stiles grabbed the gas can from beside her.
Finding a gas station on Scott's phone, the trio began their 4 mile walk. They stayed quiet for the most part, conserving as much energy as they could in the middle of the desert. They finally found a gas station that looked like it had been deserted for at least a few months. Stiles looked to see if anyone was in the small store while Cassidy plopped down on the concrete platform, dropping her bag next to her.
"Locked." Stiles called out. Scott broke the chain off the gas tank so they could at least use it. "You got a $20?"
"Here." Cassidy grabbed the bill out of her bag. Stiles snatched the money and stuck it in between the two doors. They were such good Samaritans.
Stiles walked over and helped Scott with the gas pump. Scott held the can while Stiles poured the gas from the hose. Stiles was fidgeting, something clearly still on his mind. But the three of them stayed quiet. Cassidy watched the boys from her spot, neither of them fully looking at the other one. They were talking and working together again but there will still something off between the two of them.
As the can filled up to the top, Stiles put the hose away and Scott closed the can. That was when it all came spilling out. "There's a pin." Stiles said, confusing Scott. "There's one…little metal pin attached to the scaffolding." He finally began retelling the real story of the night at the library. "He was trying to pull me down."
"He was trying to kill you." Scott was starting to understand the true events.
"Yeah, so Cassidy screamed grabbing his attention, and I was able to pull the pin. Then all these braces came down…and one of them…just went right through him."
Scott looked down for a second, thinking it over. "Why didn't you think you could tell me?"
Stiles contemplated on his answer. "It was the way you were looking at me that night. You know, you were standing there with the wrench in your hand looking at me like I just bashed you in the head with it. You know? Like I broke your sacred rule and that's it. There's no going back."
"I know the difference."
"What?"
"I know what self-defense is." Scott smiled softly at his best friend before turning around to see Cassidy still sitting there. It was like she was staring past everything, no common ground of where she was. "Cassi, you doing okay?"
"Hmm?" She blinked out of her haze looking over at him, not fully hearing his question.
"I asked if you're doing alright."
"Oh, umm." Cassidy looked up at the two boys standing in front of her. "No. I guess I'm not." She shrugged her shoulders.
"It's okay not to be okay, Cas." Stiles squatted down in front of her.
"I know that, Stiles, and I'm starting to be okay with admitting it, but," she bit her lip thinking of the right words, "but when you know how happy you could be, and you're not there yet…it's hard."
Scott set the can down and sat down beside her. "And we know it doesn't come easily to you, but you don't have to be afraid of letting us in on."
"I hate Travis. And I hate Theo. I hate them so much." Her voice was the most powerful it has been in a while with those words. "I just have so much anger sitting inside of me. I want revenge. I want them to feel the same pain that we all feel that it almost makes me sick."
Stiles let his hands rest on her jean covered knees, his thumbs rubbing circles. "As cliché as this sounds, we are in this together. I am not letting what they did to you, what they did to all of us get swept under the rug. It's not happening." He nodded at her, trying to get her to understand him. "Do you trust me?"
"With my life." For once there was no hesitation in her answer.
Stiles gave her a genuine smile. "That's good to know."
Cassidy quietly beat out the drum beat to the song on the steering wheel. It was a little after midnight and after lots of pushing, Stiles finally let Cassidy take over for a few hours. The boy was passed out in the backseat while Scott was knocked out up front in the passenger seat. She would much rather drive at night anyways, given the fact that sleep rarely came to her in the first place.
After the talk she had earlier with the boys she became calmer. Everything also became calmer to her during night. It was easier for her to drive with the stars in her front of her and no one else on the highway. Just the giant rock formation that they were headed to in the distance.
Scott began fidgeting next to her. He sat up straighter, rubbing his eyes to clear the sleep away. "How far are we?"
"I don't know." She stretched her back before sitting back again. "I feel like no matter how many miles I go, it doesn't look like it's getting anywhere closer."
The conversation died after that. Quite honestly Cassidy and Scott haven't talked one on one since the awkward conversation in the elevator. Their own fight still at large between the two of them.
"You were right." Scott spoke softly, still staring straight ahead.
"About what?"
"Everything you said to me that night at the clinic." He watched her clench the wheel tighter in her hands. "You were right about it all."
Cassidy shook her head, glancing over at him and then back at the road. "No, Scott. I was mad and I shouldn't have yelled at you-"
"But you were right." The alpha cut her off. "I should have stood beside him, I should have done more."
"The things is though, you do. You do a lot for all of us, Scott." She gave him a soft smile. "Just sometimes we get so caught up with good versus evil, that everything seems black and white. We forget about the gray area."
"So what are you saying?"
"I'm saying we're all fuck up." Cassidy laughed. "And I'm definitely up on the top of the list. But we're all fucked up together. If we don't have each other than we're screwed." Scott agreed with her, nodding his head. "So we can't assume anymore, because we are all different people than we were our sophomore year."
"Hell, all of us weren't even friends than."
"Exactly!"
"So…are we okay?"
"Yeah, we're okay."
"Good." Scott smiled at her. "Can I check your iPod?"
"I suppose." She sighed dramatically, but it really didn't mean anything.
Cassidy turned her attention back towards the road in front of them. The clouds above what was known as Shiprock became darker and lightning began lighting up the sky. "Scott, look at that." She pointed to the windshield to show him.
"What the hell?" He dropped the iPod at the sight of the storm clouds.
"Stiles." Cassidy leaned back, shaking the boy with her hand. "Babe, wake up."
"What?" Stiles sat up, his body trying to wake up fast enough.
"Take a look at this."
Stiles pushed himself further between the two seats so he had a better view out of the front windshield. "The hell you think is happening to her out there?"
"I don't know." Scott spoke quietly, clearly worry for his girlfriend increasing.
Stiles took notice of his best friend's uneasiness. "Cas, pull over up at the outturn up ahead."
The girl nodded and pressed down harder on the gas, as she shifted the gear up. It was moments like this where she was glad that Stiles had ever taught her how to drive stick. Finally towards the bend, Cassidy pulled the Jeep over and turned the engine off. She climbed out of the Jeep, stretching her arms high above her head. "Sti, can you grab my flannel?"
Cassidy and Scott stood in front of the Jeep stretching as they watched the storm still take place in front of them. Stiles walked around to them, the shirt in his hands. He helped pull the clothing over her shoulders before placing a soft kiss on her shoulder. The three stood in a line, just watching the lightning. They were so much closer now, but still so far away.
"I don't know why I believed him." Scott spoke up. "I don't know why we didn't just keep talking that night. 5 more minutes and we would have figured out there were two different stories. We would have filled in all the blanks. We should have just kept talking." Distraught was heard in Scott's voice still over that evening.
"He knew we wouldn't." Stiles shook his head.
"And even if you did, we probably wouldn't have believed each other anyways." Cassidy murmured.
"I didn't want it to happen like this." Scott confessed.
"Like what?" Stiles turned his body towards the boy.
"I knew sooner or later, one of us was going to get a little too much blood on our hands. And I thought that it was going to be Malia."
Stiles huffed in annoyance. "Well she definitely seems like she's working on it."
"I just always thought that if it were to happen it should be me." Scott his time turned to the both of them, no more fighting it. "I'm the one that is constantly putting you guys in danger. Risking your lives for people you don't even know. It should have been me." His eyes were filled with regret.
"Scott, we're with you for a reason." Cassidy told him. "Don't forget that."
Stiles nodded, squeezing Scott's shoulder in reassurance. "Come on, we only got a few hours until sunrise." Stiles and Cassidy went to walk away before Scott stopped them.
"Hey guys, do you see that?" The two walked back over, seeing a flash coming from the ground near the rock. "It's Kira."
Sometime during the early morning they finally made it towards the actual rock mountains.
"It's just up here!" Scott exclaimed, barely sitting in the passenger seat. He was using his wolf hearing and Kira's scent to get to her. "Stiles go faster!"
"I'm going as fast as I can!" Stiles yelled right back, his foot putting the gas pedal on the floor.
Cassidy rummaged through her bag, grabbing her gun and putting the magazine in it. They didn't know what they were about to drive into, so it was better to be safe than sorry. As they drove down a small hill Kira, Mrs. Yukimura, and three other women dressed in animal skin came into sight that were clearly ready to fight each other.
Before Stiles could come to a stop, Scott jumped out of the Jeep, tumbling to a standing position and roaring at the three other woman. As Stiles pulled to a full stop, Cassidy jumped out of the Jeep. She stood in the doorway, gun raised to protect herself and Stiles.
"Get in!" Stiles yelled at the three supernaturals.
Kira dropped the giant spear and turned to run with Scott right on her heels. The two climbed into the Jeep, with Cassidy protecting their backs.
"Cas, get in here!" Stiles helped the other two into the back, but his focus really on his girlfriend.
"Mrs. Yukimura! Come on!" Cassidy ignored Stiles, focused on the other kitsune.
One of the animal-clad woman threw a spear at Mrs. Yukimura, but she used the sword in her hand to split it right down the middle. Cassidy threw herself into the backseat as the mother jumped into the passenger seat. Stiles immediately peeled out, leaving the three woman in the dust. Literally.
"Everyone okay?" Stiles asked.
Cassidy nodded, looking over to her right to see Kira and Scott kissing. "I think they're better than okay."
The couple slowly broke apart from each other. "You came back for me." Kira smiled at her boyfriend with adoration in her eyes. "I love you. I love you so much."
It took them another day to get back home, but they were all thankful it went faster than getting there. The Yukimura's explained to them how the women were skinwalkers and they were trying to get Kira to control her inner fox. Supposedly, Kira didn't past their test and the deal was if she failed she was supposed to stay with them, forever. So here's to running away from more problems.
They were finally all home. Cassidy sat at Stiles desk, brushing out her wet hair from the shower as she read the police reports of Travis' brother. Stiles had gone in for his own shower after the two of them finished eating the gorge fest of fast food. She had finally wrote Isaac back saying she was okay they were just dealing with werewolf stuff like always. That's all he really needed to know.
Stiles came back into the bedroom, towel drying his hair. "I've never been so happy to take a shower before."
"Mhmm." Cassidy hummed, her eyes not leaving the computer screen.
Stiles rolled his eyes and walked behind her. He leaned over her shoulder seeing the multiple tabs she had open on her laptop and how they all correlated with Travis somehow. "Babe, you need to take a break." Stiles walked over to his dresser to set his towel down, and grab one of her sleeping pills out of the bottles that were lined up there.
"I need to figure out what I'm missing."
"No, you need to sleep." He gently pushed the lid down so the computer closed. She finally looked up at him with something between annoyance and exhaustion. He held the pill out to her to take.
Her eyes went back and forth from his face to the pill. If she didn't take it now she would be up the rest of the evening no matter how tired her body was. She gently took the pill from him and swallowed it dry. "You take care of me."
"That's what I do." Stiles walked back around to her side, holding out his hand for her to take. She set her hand in his and he pulled her up to a standing position. His hands gently cradled her face, making sure she was looking at him straight in the eye. "Let me help you fight this battle. Please, don't do this by yourself."
Her fingers gently wrapped around his wrists, keeping him close. "Okay." She leaned up on her toes and gave him a soft kiss.
She was going to set things straight again, letting Stiles help her. But also help the rest of her friends. They needed to finish recreating the pack.
Next up; breaking Lydia out of Eichen!
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