AUTHOR'S NOTE: Wow, this episode was all sorts of back and forth and I'm not sure I was able to pull it off in written form, since it's usually around Avery's perspective that I write.. so what I'm going to do is add in two flashbacks but that'll be towards the end. I hope you still enjoy this chapter. There are some funny bits before we get to the serious stuff.

As usual, Avery's outfit is up on Polyvore for this chapter.

Frayed

Thunder is rumbling and lightning is flashing when Finstock angrily blows the whistle. "Back in your seat!" He yells at a male student who thought it was a good idea to stand in the middle aisle of a moving bus.

Avery grins at the student's misfortune, glad that Coach Finstock has never been mean to her since she occasionally feeds him.

"Stop thinking about it, man."

"What? You're not thinking about it, too?"

Avery then turns her attention to Isaac and Boyd, the two wolves seated in front of her. When getting on the bus this morning, she made sure that Stiles and Scott saved the seat in front of theirs while she sat behind Isaac- only because they were in the middle of a discussion on who can kick whose ass between Batman and Spiderman- so she could be back and forth between the two groups.

"We'll both stop thinking about it." She hears Isaac say.

"I can't." Boyd answers and Avery wants to agree with him- that she can't get over it as well but for the sake of everyone's safety, they all need to stop thinking about it and get on with their lives until they come up with a backup plan.

Of course she knows exactly what they're talking about but talking about it- getting angry over it right now on the school bus with very human students to witness someone wolfing out- well that didn't bode well for anyone. And every time Boyd glances over his shoulder at Ethan, Avery readies herself in case Boyd were to suddenly lunge.

With Coach insisting that the entire Lacrosse team be put on track team to keep themselves in shape, Avery is just now thinking that his decision was a poorly made one.

"Well there's nothing you can do about it either." Isaac retorts and Avery is suddenly brought back to their discussion.

"You sure about that?" Boyd glances yet again at Ethan and Avery groans. Out loud.

"Oh my god. You two need to chill." Boyd and Isaac both turn around, both cocking eyebrows at Avery. "It sucks, okay? I get it. But dwelling on it, especially here will help no-one."

"Yes, Mom." Isaac sarcastically rolls his eyes. "Whatever you say."

In order to lighten up the mood, Avery mock gasps and Boyd's lips twitch in amusement. Well, at least that was something. If her and Isaac's banter occupied the dark-skinned werewolf, kudos to herself. "I will cut you, Curly Sue. Call me Mom one more time."

Boyd actually snorts and Isaac smirks in challenge. "Mom."

"That's it! No treats for you."

"That's not really helping you, you know? Only a Mom carries treats."

"I hear not a word you're saying, Lahey. I'm too busy digging out treats for my new favorite buddy." Avery grumbles as she digs through her duffel bag. Isaac chuckles at her, not believing she actually has treats but when she pulls out a bag packed full with slim jims, his jaw falls open. "Yeah. See! You could've had some but now, Boyd gets all the goods." Boyd turns to see what Avery is talking about and when he sees the handful of slim jims being handed over to him, he takes them with a genuine smile.

"So not fair." Isaac mumbles. "You don't even know him that well."

"Hey, Stilinski!" Danny suddenly calls out. "Don't think I don't see what you're hiding from me."

"You see nothing, Mahealani!" Avery narrows her eyes at him over her shoulder.

She gathers up her pillow and blanket, dropping a few slim jims in Isaac's lap because she was a sucker for his cheekbones before hiding her snacks and making her way towards the back of the bus. As she passes Danny and Ethan, Danny's gaze follows her and when she sits down in front of her brother and Scott, he keeps on staring. She quickly tears into her own slim jim, munching on it as she tries to pay attention to Stiles but the heat of Danny's gaze has her fidgeting. Finally snapping, Avery picks up two slim jims and launches them at him.

"Damn you and your dimples!"

"You love me." Danny laughs. "And thanks."

When Avery sits back down, she sits with her back to the window and is met with Stiles' amused snort.

"What?"

"Nothing." He shrugs as he continues to mess with his iPad. "I was just thinking the same thing. About Danny's dimples, you know. They really are irresistible."

Avery laughs, offering him a slim jim of his own before she nods in Scott's direction. "What's wrong with him?"

Scott looks pale- sick actually- and it's kind of worrisome the way he just lazily gazes out the window, slowly shutting his eyes and leaving them closed for seconds at a time. "Tired, I guess." Stiles answers. When Avery keeps her gaze on him, Stiles sees that she actually looks worried so he takes a moment to study his friend as well. "Scott? Scott!" No answer. Stiles glances at Avery and sees her worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. "Yo, Scott!" Stiles snaps his fingers by Scott's ear. "Hey! Yo, Scotty." He snaps his fingers again right before Scott looks over at him. "You still with me?"

"Yeah, sorry, what's the word?" He asks as he shakes his mind clear. "Oh, hey, Avery." He offers her a tired smile as he scratches at his eyebrow.

Stiles purses his lips together before shrugging at his sister and reading the word. "Anachronism."

"Something that exists out of it's normal time." Scott easily answers.

"Vocabulary testing? Nice." Avery manages to grin at the two of them.

"Okay, next word." Stiles slides his finger of the iPad, bringing up a new word for Scott. "Incongruous."

Scott frowns. "Um, can you use it in a sentence?"

"Yes, yes I can. It's completely incongruous that we're sitting on a bus right now on our way to some stupid cross country meet after what just happened. Incongruous." Stiles sarcastically supplies.

Avery flinches at her brother's words, Scott nodding as he finally understands. "Out of place. Ridiculous. Absurd."

"Perfect." Stiles gives him a thumbs up.

"Okay, next word, um.." He trails off but Avery isn't paying attention to him anymore. Her attention is now back on Scott who keeps grimacing, leaning his head against the window as he holds his side. "Darach." Stiles finally gains their attention again. "Darach. It's a noun." He says as he looks up to find both his best friend and sister staring at him- both void of any amusement. "We have to talk about it sometime, okay? We're gonna be stuck in this thing for like five hours so why not?" Scott leans his head back on the window, staring at nothing as he blinks slowly. When Stiles gets no remark from him, he goes back to his iPad. "Next word." Stiles clears his throat. "Intransigent."

"Stubborn." Scott answers. "Obstinate." The bus hits a bump, sending everyone flying a few inches in their seat and when everyone rights themselves, Scott is groaning and clutching at his chest.

"Whoa, Scooby, you okay?" Avery says as she sits up on her knees on the seat.

Scott doesn't answer, eyes closed in pain as he groans. "We shouldn't have come." Stiles tells him when he sees his friend in pain. "I knew it. We shouldn't have come."

"We had to. There's safety in numbers." Scott finally answers.

"Yeah, well there's also death in numbers, okay? It's called a massacre." Stiles snarks. "A blood bath. Carnage. Slaughter. Butchery." Avery watches on mutely as he lists word after word. He really isn't helping the situation at all. Scott groans again and Stiles gives in. "Alright, Scott, I'm telling Coach-"

"No. No." Scott stops him from getting up. "I'm alright."

"Well you don't look alright. Just let me see it." Stiles attempts to lift Scott's shirt but Scott stops him.

"I'm okay."

"Just let me see it, okay?" And boy if Avery isn't reminded of the night Stiles bugged her about her own wound from the scuffle with Cora.

Scott finally gives in, nodding his consent as he slowly lifts his own shirt and Avery has to lean over the back of her seat to get a view. The wounds are obviously still open, blood staining Scott's skin and now even his shirt. The cuts are about half an inch deep and Avery's mind in whirling.

These should have healed hours ago.

"Aw, dude." Stiles mumbles.

"I know it looks bad." Scott says as he lets his shirt fall. "But it's because they're from an alpha. It'll take longer to heal."

Simultaneously, Avery and Stiles glance up towards Boyd and Isaac. "How come Boyd and Isaac are fine then?" Avery beats her brother to the punch.

Scott doesn't say anything as he lays his head against the window and the Stilinski twins share a brief and panicked look. "I can't believe he's dead." They hear Scott say. "I can't believe Derek's dead."

And yeah, that hurt Avery a little more than she was willing to admit.

..

..

While Scott decides to get a little bit of rest, Stiles goes back to messing with his iPad, and Avery tries to get some sleep as well. Only since the bus is moving and their driver positively sucks, she only gets a good half hour, maybe a little more, of rest.

"Two over here, back in your seats!" Finstock's sharp whistle makes Avery jump awake. "Jared? Again. Carsick. Every ti- how do you even get on the bus?" The kid in question groans- Avery looking in his direction because Finstock's interrogation is quite funny. "Look at me. No don't look at me." He quickly corrects himself. "Look at the horizon. Keep your eyes- keep your eyes on the horizon." He points out the window.

Avery grins but when she sees Finstock turn his gaze on Scott, she tries to block her friend's view by fake yawning and stretching her arms up and out. "McCall?" Finstock groans and well, so much for blocking his view. "Not you, too!"

Scott leans up with a grimace. "Um, no, Coach! I'm good." He calls out.

"Hey, Scott, you're bleeding again." Stiles then points out. "Don't tell me that it's just taking longer to heal, okay, because I'm pretty sure that still bleeding means not healing. Like at all."

Scott groans and looks up, face going grim a second later as he nods towards the front of the bus. "He's listening." Both Stiles and Avery turn their attention towards the direction Scott nodded to and find Ethan with his head cocked towards them- ear out.

"Is he going to do something?" Avery mumbles.

"Not in front of this many people."

Stiles and Avery take Scott's word for it but Stiles then zeros in his gaze on something else. "Well what about the two ticking time bombs sitting right near him?"

Avery knows who he's talking about without having to look. "They won't." Scott assures him. "Not here."

"Okay, what if they do? You gonna stop them?"

Scott nods. "If I have to."

..

..

Everyone goes back to their own thing, trying to busy themselves or regain strength for the upcoming meet. Avery is letting her iPod shuffle through a playlist she made for the trip as she closes her eyes for a minute and before she can drift off, she feels herself flying forward and bangs her head on the back of the seat in front of her.

"Ow. What the fuck!"

"Language!" Coach barks but Avery isn't paying him any attention. She sets her iPod aside as she rubs at her now sensitive forehead and when she doesn't hear her twin cackling at her misfortune, she turns only to find the both of them staring intensely towards the front of the bus.

Scott suddenly stands, eyes trained on Boyd. "Whoa. Scott, where you going?" Stiles asks.

"Boyd. He's going to do something."

Avery turns her gaze on Boyd now and sure enough, she can see his clawed hand gripping the empty seat's back in front of him. Stiles quickly stands to make room for Scott as the werewolf stumbles out into the aisle.

The injured wolf slowly makes his way forward, gripping each seat as he pushes himself towards Boyd, and Avery thinks he's about to keel over any second now. Her eyes quickly dart from Boyd and Isaac's seat to Ethan's, and she can't help but think that things are about to get very messy.

Scott's hand slams down on Boyd's seconds later and Avery releases a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. She sees Scott talking to Boyd and since Stiles has an eye on everything, she takes a moment to catch her breath and collect herself.

Her mind wanders back to that night and she has to shake her head clear. She's angry, hurt, and confused just like the rest of them and if she's being honest with herself, she also feels a little guilty. She had been there of course, after arguing with her brother about it, but she couldn't let them go in alone and she was glad she had decided to go. But now she also feels a bit responsible that she couldn't stop Derek from falling to his death.

The Hale alpha fell with Ennis in tow, the two falling from several stories high and she couldn't stop the flinch at having heard his body collide with the ground below. If Derek had lived through that, it'd have been a miracle.

Scott passes her line of vision but now she's too bummed to even care. She hears her brother ask if the crisis has been averted and when he gets his confirmation, he goes off about another problem. Avery tries to zone them out because she really can't deal with this anymore but then she hears the words Ethan, and how he's checking his phone way too much for it not to be about evil deeds, and the fact that neither her brother nor Scott like that Ethan is sitting with Danny.

Now her interest is piqued.

Stiles wants to know what Ethan is looking at so Stiles texts Danny to find out only to be shut down repeatedly. After that, all hell breaks loose and Stiles spams Danny's phone with text message after text message after text message.

Avery has to sink down in her seat when she hears Danny's phone ding repeatedly to hide her shaking form of suppressed laughter.

And then the laughter completely ceases when she hears Scott say that Ennis is still alive. If Ennis is alive, did that mean Derek made it out too?

..

..

Avery is now back with Boyd and Isaac, going through her phone behind their seat when she hears Finstock picking on Jared once again. Apparently the kid got carsick and was on the verge of puking which didn't bode well for anyone since Coach was an empathetic vomiter. As Avery snorts and wishes she had thought of recording their Coach's musings sooner, he then goes on to tell them that no traffic jam, minor tornado warning, or Jared was going to keep them from the meet.

"Stilinski, put your hand down!"

Avery's head shoots up only to hear her brother answer back. "You know, there's like a food exit about half a mile up. If we stop then maybe the traffic might-"

"We're not gonna stop."

"Okay but if we stop-"

"Stilinski!" Finstock yells, blowing his whistle at him. "Shut it! Seriously, it's a little bus. Stop asking me questions!"

Isaac shakes his head in amusement and turns toward Avery. "Your brother just doesn't know when to quit, does he?"

"Nah. I think it runs in our blood." She chuckles.

"You think?" Boyd turns, joining in on the conversation.

Avery laughs with the two of them, setting her chin on the back of their seat. When she sees their gaze go over her head and their grins go wider, she turns and sees her brother making his way to the front, his gaze set on the Coach.

"Lord, here we go." She mumbles and quickly gets out her phone, setting it to record.

"We need to stop. I really have to go to pee." Stiles tells Finstock.

Finstock crosses his arms and shakes his head. "No."

"Coach, it's five minutes for a bathroom break, okay? We've been on this thing for like three hours-"

Finstock blows the whistle in his face.

Stiles sighs. "It's sixty miles to the next rest stop-"

Finstock blows the whistle again.

"Being cooped up for hours is not good-"

Whistle blow.

"You know, our bladders aren't exactly-"

Whistle blow.

"Coac-"

Whistle blow.

"This is fa-"

Whistle blow.

"Can you just-"

Whistle blow.

Stiles goes to say something else but Coach immediately shuts him down with yet another blow from his whistle.

"Please-"

Whistle blow.

"Let me talk, I'm-"

Coach blows the whistle and then laughs at Stiles' aggravated expression.

"Every time-"

Again the whistle sounds but last for several seconds and Stiles goes tense and annoyed. "Get back to your seat, Stilinski!" Finstock yells.

"Okay!" Stiles screams back.

Avery is laughing so hard that Isaac has to pick her phone from her hands so she doesn't drop it. Her laugh eventually goes mute, though she's practically curled on her seat, shaking with suppressed laughter and tears leaking from her eyes at her brother's attempt to stop the bus.

One second she's laughing her ass off and the next, the bus comes to an abrupt stop as everyone yelps and groans in disgust. She looks up just in time to see Stiles book it to the back of the bus and everyone glancing at Jared who's bent over his seat and puking his guts out.

The bus doors open and when Boyd stands, Avery climbs into his empty spot. "Boyd, carry me over the puke. If I even look at it again, I'm going to join Jared in redecorating the aisle."

"Really?" Boyd quirks an eyebrow at her. "You take on.. people stronger than you all the time and you're afraid of puke?"

"It's disgusting, okay? Now can I please have a piggy back ride over it?" She pouts with a frantic expression.

Boyd grins as other students start climbing over the seats to get off the bus before nodding and giving Avery his back so she can climb on. Avery whoops as Boyd carries her and laughs when he drops her off outside the bus.

"Thank you, kind sir." She curtsies at him.

Boyd chuckles and as he walks away, Isaac comes up behind her with a smirk. "I may or may not have took a picture of the big scary, bulky werewolf carrying a tiny girl on his back."

Avery throws her head back and laughs but before she can get a word out, she hears, "Jared! YOU SUCK!", and laughs even harder. Their Coach really was a trip.

Isaac laughs with her but when she catches Stiles and Allison trying to discreetly carry Scott into the bathrooms, she excuses herself from the blonde werewolf.

When she's sure that Isaac occupies himself with something or someone else, Avery rushes to the bathroom where they dragged Scott. Once inside, she finds Scott on the floor and sitting between the sinks- Allison holding up his shirt as Stiles and Lydia watch on.

"Oh my god. It's getting worse?!" Avery blanches when she sees the wound, the once bleeding red wounds now turning black. Even the veins around the would to be turning black and Avery is quickly reminded of a werewolf bite to a vampire. This almost looks exactly the same.

"Why didn't you tell us it was this bad?" Allison asks.

Scott tiredly smiles at her. "Sorry." He mumbles.

"Just give us a second, okay?" Allison tells him. She slowly stands as Scott allows his eyes to close. "This shouldn't be happening." She tells Stiles while Avery chooses to kneel by Scott, making sure he stays awake now. "I've seen him heal from worse than this."

"Okay, what do we do? Do we call an ambulance?" Stiles panics.

"What if- what if it's too late? What if they can't help?" Allison blurts.

"Well we got to do something."

"You know," Avery hears Lydia chime in with her two cents. "-it could be psychological."

"Well- what's that mean? Like psychosomatic?"

"Somatoformic." No-one says anything after Lydia's words and Avery wants to yell at them to hurry up and come up with a idea because Scott is literally getting paler by the second. "A physical illness from a psychogenic cause." Again, no-one speaks. "Yes, it's all in his head."

"In his head?" Stiles realizes. "Because of Derek! He's not letting himself heal because Derek died."

Avery sighs, head falling so that her chin is nearly tucked in to her chest. They really couldn't catch a break. Scott whimpers and Avery's head snaps up. "Uh, guys. Whatever you plan on doing, do it quickly!" She moves closer to Scott and leans in to gently pat his cheek. "Come on, Scooby. Stay awake." His eyes blink open and he feebly grins at her.

This is seriously breaking her heart.

"What do we do?" Allison then says.

Avery can hear someone rummaging through a bag and when she looks over her shoulder, Lydia is holding objects in her hands. "We stitch him up." Allison looks like it's a bad idea. "I'm serious." Lydia tells them. "Maybe all he has to do is believe it's healing."

Again, no-one says anything so Avery snaps. "Do it. Now!"

Everyone is now a blur of figures, Allison moving to kneel by Scott and starts lifting up his shirt over his head. Avery moves to give the girl her space while Lydia and Stiles watch on. Stiles then moves to get paper towels and when he kneels by Scott, Allison pulls out a needle and a lighter, burning the needle to sterilize it.

"He's gonna need another shirt. Where's his bag?" Allison asks.

"Um, I'm gonna get it." Stiles volunteers. "I hate needles anyway, so.." He gives Allison a thumbs up and disappears from the bathroom.

"Not to be a debbie downer," Avery mumbles, eyeing the needle in Allison's hand. "-but do you know what you're doing?"

"Yeah. My father taught me." She says.

"W-well how fast are you because the bus could leave."

"Then make sure it doesn't leave."

Avery opens her mouth to protest but Lydia grabs her hand. "Come on, I can help."

..

..

Lydia and Avery rush outside but when they get there, they have no idea what to do to stall the bus. Lydia suggests pouring sand in the gas tank but Avery tells her that they're trying to stall, not become stranded.

Avery then suggests that someone get Jared back on the bus to make him puke somewhere else but when Lydia tells her that she has to do it for coming up with the idea, Avery passes on it. She's a bit like Coach, an empathetic vomiter so if she sees it or hears it, she'll vomit too.

As they try to brainstorm some more, Avery catches Isaac and Boyd's curious gaze on her and when she tries to give them a reassuring smile, they each narrow their gaze suspiciously. She knows that they know something is up but they really can't risk to two temperamental werewolves to find anything out. Especially after what had happened with the alphas, Boyd and Isaac would be out for blood if they knew Scott wasn't faring well now.

Stiles makes the mistake of walking by them at that particular moment and Boyd takes the chance to grab the lithe teen and starts badgering him with question after question.

The bus is nearly cleaned out by now and Avery thinks about saving her twin from his interrogation but then she catches sight of Allison and Scott coming from the bathrooms. Heaving a sigh of relief, she and Lydia run towards them.

"Is he okay? You okay?" Lydia immediately asks and Scott nods.

"Where's Stiles?" He asks.

"Um-"

"Trying to stall Coach." Avery cuts her off.

"Al, we still don't have gas." Lydia throws in.

"I'm not leaving him.

"Then we have to leave the car."

"Sounds good."

"What? Tha- that wasn't an suggestion. Allison, wait!" Lydia tries to call her friend back as Avery and Allison help Scott walk.

"So what was keeping you from- from healing?" Avery wonders as she readjusts her grip on Scott. "Was it because of Derek?"

"He thought it was his fault." Allison fills her in.

With Avery stopping in her trek, she makes Allison stop as well, both teens turning to her. "Scott, that wasn't your fault. And if it was, then Allison and I are just as guilty."

John was out at work again leaving Stiles and Avery the house to themselves. Scott had called them earlier in the day, telling the Stilinski twins that tonight was the night. He was going to confront Deucalion and try to make a truce or something with the elder alpha so he'd stop terrorizing their town and friends.

Stiles deemed his idea stupid, as did Avery, but she kept her opinion to herself. Stiles then tried to marathon movies with her but as the minutes ticked away, Avery couldn't help the bouncing of her knee or the biting of her nails.

"Don't even think about it, Avs." Stiles mumbles when he sees her glance at the clock. "It isn't our problem."

"Isn't it?!" She explodes, not bothering to hide the fact of what she's thinking. "He's our friend, Stiles. Knowing Deucalion, it's probably a trap. That man is pure evil."

"And knowing Scott, he'll take backup. Or Derek and his minions will show up and take care of it. I hope."

"Don't you see." Avery groans. "If you deduced that about Scott, don't you think Deucalion did too? They're going to be way in over their heads with all those alphas."

Stiles sighs and turns towards his sister. "All the more for you to not go. You're safer here."

"And how long will that last? If those alphas take down our friends, how long until they have Beacon Hills in chaos? Scott needs backup- and I'm sure Allison will be there- but two is better than one."

"Avs,-"

"I was trained for this, Stiles. I know how to be careful." She pleads, tears stinging her eyes as she pleads her case. "We're not little kids anymore, as much as everyone says we are- we're not. We're soldiers. Fighters. And while you don't have the training right now- I do. I can be of help."

Stiles looks at his sister, every emotion he's ever experienced running rampant all at the same time as he mulls over her words. "You call me." He caves with a determined expression. "When it's over- call me."

"I will." Avery sighs in relief. "I will."

Scott and Allison look sadly over at Avery and it's then that they realize that their friend blamed herself as well. Just when Scott opens his mouth to assure her that she isn't to blame either, students rush to form a circle, and holler in delight and fear catch their attention.

Stiles suddenly makes an appearance, eyes going wide when he sees his best friend. "Stiles!" Scott calls out. "What's happening?"

"He went after him. I told him what was happening with you and he just went after him."

"Boyd?" Scott quickly glances between the Stilinski twins hurriedly. Panic flashes across his features and all of them race towards where the commotion is coming from.

"Isaac! Isaac!" Coach Finstock calls and Avery realizes that it isn't Boyd attacking Ethan, it's Isaac. Avery's eyes widen, panic bubbling in her gut as she watches Isaac throw punch after punch at Ethan's face, the alpha bleeding from his mouth and not fighting back.

Danny lunges, arms going around Isaac's waist to get him off of Ethan but Isaac easily pushes him away. "Stop!" Danny yells at him.

In Isaac's brief hesitation to throw another punch, Avery launches herself at him, putting herself between Isaac and Ethan, and putting her hands on his chest. "Isaac! Isaac, you need to stop."

His eyes look less wild and he gently shoves her aside before throwing another punch at Ethan. "ISAAC!"

Scott's yell startles Isaac, the beta wolf looking up in shock at Scott being okay. The second he backs off of Ethan, Danny lunges for his friend and Avery quickly puts herself between the two again, her hands gently pushing the wolf back.

Allison, Scott, Lydia, and Stiles look on in shock at Isaac's behavior and while Avery tries to calm herself- because the fight really got her adrenaline pumping- a student next to them makes a comment about Isaac.

"That's the second time he's attacked Ethan." The dark-haired male sneers. "I didn't know we had a homophobe in our school. His bitch needs to keep him on a tighter leash."

Isaac tenses, as does Boyd and Scott who easily heard every word. Avery looks to her right, easily finding the culprit since he's staring at them with a scowl on his face. Narrowing her eyes, Avery angles her body to him. "You say that word as if it should offend it. FYI, it doesn't."

The dark-haired male's companion has the decency to look sheepish at having been caught but the dark-haired guy just doesn't know when to stop. "Well in that case, maybe as his whore, you-"

WHAM!

The guy doesn't get to finish his explanation seeing as Avery's fist connects with his face. There's an audible crunch and oohh's coming from the crowd but Avery doesn't care. Just when she swings her arm back to strike again, Isaac catches her arm and when she glares at him for stopping her, she kicks out and catches the student in the crotch with her foot. More oohh's and now even laughter ring out and while Isaac flinches in sympathy with the guy and his hurt junk, Avery tears herself from Isaac and walks up to the guy who's breathing heavily on his knees now.

"Who's the whore now?" She murmurs.

Before she can even think about swinging again, arms wrap around her own- trapping her to keep her from doing any further damage. "That'll do, Scrappy. That'll do." Avery peers over her shoulder to find that it's Scott who's keeping her from getting into any more trouble. "You just don't know how to walk away from a fight, do you?"

Avery slowly grins at that. "I guess I don't."

By the time Avery pulls up to the abandoned mall where everything is to take place, Allison is already heading for an entrance. The huntress catches sight of Avery, chuckling lowly and waits for her companion to catch up.

"Couldn't stay away, huh?"

"Never."

"Good." Allison smirks while briefly hugging her. "Because all the yelling, growls, and snarls just completely stopped. I have a feeling we might be needed."

"Lead the way, your Highness." Avery bows, bow in hand with a quiver of arrows that she had gotten Derek to deliver to her house the day before. She and Cora still weren't allowed near each other so Derek had no other choice than to deliver.

Once inside, Allison holds up a finger to her lips to signal that they need to be quiet. Avery rolls her eyes, she having known that since before she even showed up but lets Allison lead anyway. Allison points up and Avery nods. There were three levels to the mall and they needed to be at it's highest shooting point to have the advantage.

By the time the girls quietly take their place, the sight below them has them having to steel themselves and prepare for a fight.

Avery had been right. Derek ambushed Scott's talking-of-peace and Deucalion surprised them right back. It was Scott and Derek's Pack versus a group of alphas and it was no surprise that the alphas had the upper hand. One giant alpha, who Avery realizes that it's Aiden and Ethan combined, have Isaac and Scott on their knees, hands gripping the back of their necks to keep them in place.

Ennis stood off to the side, keeping an eye on everyone while Deucalion stood like the prick he was in the middle of the escalator over all of them.

"Kill him." Deucalion calls out causing Derek to look up in shock at him. Derek's gaze then drops to Boyd who was spitting up blood and practically crawling on his stomach as he looks up in fear at his alpha. "The others can go." Derek looks at Isaac at Scott when Aiden/Ethan made them groan in pain and then back down at Boyd who seems afraid that his alpha might actually kill him. "You're beaten." Deucalion gloats. "Do it, Derek. Take. The first. Step."

Avery and Allison share a panicked look, both girls readying their bows in case Derek did make a move towards Boyd. While Derek looks stricken, the female alpha scoffs. "Are we serious with this kid?" It was then that Avery notices the female alpha has her talons for toe-nails pressed against Cora's throat. "Look at him! He's an alpha?" She huffs sarcastically. "To what? A couple of useless teenagers?"

"Some have more promise than others." Deucalion tells her, his gaze turning towards Scott.

"Let him rise to the occasion, then. What will it be, Derek? Pack," She looks at Boyd. "-or family?" She presses down harder on Cora's throat.

Cora yelps in pain as her throat is being crushed and Avery sets her eyes on the female alpha. She and Cora might not have started off on a good note but she was not about to let them kill Derek's little sister right in front of him. As she sets up to shoot, she watches as Allison points her arrow towards the alpha holding Isaac and Scott.

They wait patiently, waiting to see what Derek is going to choose and if they had to change target at the last second, they would. Derek contemplates his answer, looking between both beta wolves- Boyd and Cora- before looking down at the ground. When he takes too long to answer, Allison releases a breath and lets her arrow fly.

The arrow sounds like a whistle- alerting the wolves of it's presence and Derek ducks just as the arrow flies over his head- the arrow hitting it's intended target of the twins' alpha form. Avery grins, letting her arrow fly and hers purposely hits the ground right behind the female alpha, startling her to shield her eyes and stumble back off of Cora.

The alphas starts to cover their eyes, giving Boyd and Cora a chance to crawl away and out of the crossfire. "Your eyes! Cover your eyes!" They hear Deucalion call out.

Avery and Allison both shoot an arrow in front of Ennis, making the alpha crouch and cover before shooting more towards the female who Avery finally remembered that they called Kali.

Arrow after arrow whistles at it's target, Allison and Avery smirking at the chance to have the werewolves at a disadvantage given how sensitive their eyesight is.

Arrow after arrow explodes with a flash and when everyone is dazed enough, Allison and Avery let up. They both see Scott look up, his eyes finding them at the top of the third level, both girls smugly staring back at him.

Scott suddenly leaps to his feet, Isaac slowly regaining his balance when Scott and Ennis catch each other's gazes. Allison sees what's going on, trying to ready another bow but Avery stops her. Derek jumps back into the fray, helping Cora and Boyd get away from everyone as Allison and Avery watch as Scott and Ennis growl, challenging each other before Scott takes off at a run. Avery's eyes widen, not believing that Scott challenged him and Ennis charges at the younger beta.

Shoulders collide and it's like two boulders clashing. Ennis falls to the ground as Scott slides backward on one bended knee, his claws digging into the concrete to slow him down.

Scott then looks up but his eyes aren't yellow. They're red. Alpha red.

Allison and Avery gasp, looking at each other in astonishment but when they look back down at Scott, his eyes are yellow once again.

While Ennis tries to challenge Scott again, Derek swoops in and attacks from the back. Avery and Allison run around the top floor, both girls trying to get a better angle to shoot should they need to step in again.

Ennis and Derek go head to head- alpha against alpha- while Scott pathetically scoots and practically bear crawls his way towards them. They're on the edge of the second floor when Scott pushes himself forward- swiping at Ennis' right calf. His claws rip into flesh, catching Ennis off guard and sends him tumbling over the edge.. taking Derek with him.

"Nooo!" Avery screams in horror.

It happens almost in slow motion, Derek's eyes catching hers before he looks back at Scott, plummeting to the ground below. Scott watches on in shocked horror, moving forward as if he could help but it's too late. Everyone hears the impact, Avery and Allison flinching at the sound, and when Avery makes a move to run and help, Allison catches her by the shoulder.

"It's too late."

"No-.. no." Avery shakes her head. "He's an alpha! There might be something we can-"

"Avery!" Allison raises her voice a little. "It's done. That was too far of a drop."

"But.. but it's Derek." Avery's voice comes out small. "He's my friend, Alli. I want to help. I need to help. If we hadn't shown up then maybe-"

"Don't." Allison shakes her head furiously. "Don't start blaming yourself. If we hadn't shown up, either Boyd or Cora would be dead right now. Derek wouldn't have wanted that."

Avery turns back to where Isaac is pulling Scott back from the edge. "Let's go then. The others are going to be livid if they find us up here."

Allison smiles sadly at her before taking one last look where her friends stand, grabbing Avery by the wrist and running for safety.

Everyone stands by the bus while Jared finishes cleaning up his mess and the kid Avery had beaten up is complaining to their Coach.

"Are you not going to do anything?" He asks, holding a paper towel to his bloodied nose while pointing furiously at Avery.

"Uh, no. No." Finstock shakes his head. Avery snorts at the furious look on the guy's face, leaning her head on her brother's shoulder. "You provoked her and she kicked your ass in retaliation. Suck it up, Jefferson!" Allison and Lydia don't bother to hide their amused grins nor do Stiles, Isaac, Scott, and Boyd. "Alright." Coach claps. "Everyone, on the bus! We have a meet to get to."

I am so sorry for any mistakes.