"Okay Ari, what the hell happened? What happened to your face? Are you okay?" Garrett fired several questions at Ariana as they hurried across the school's carpark and back towards his car. He hadn't said a word as they left the school building and Ariana had hoped he would save the questions for later, giving her time to process everything, but apparently this wasn't her night at all.

"I don't know," Ariana said miserably, hugging her arms around her body as she walked. Every step made her entire body ache. She was fairly sure she was going to wake up tomorrow covered in bruises but she pushed that all out of her mind, not wanting to relive the events of the night in too much detail. "We had the beta, we had him but then Scott came in so we hid. And then Violet got reckless," Ariana paused as Garrett let out an exasperated huff, before she continued, "and she tried to take him down too but he was too strong and-"

"I'm gonna kill him. I'm gonna find him and kill him." Garrett cut Ariana off, glancing back towards the school as he swung the passenger door of the car open and helped Ariana climb in.

Sitting with the car's inside light on, she caught a glimpse of herself in the rearview mirror. Her long hair was all messed up from being shoved across the hallway, and the cut across her cheek had caused blood to drip down across her face although it looked worse than it probably was. Hopefully. Her eyes were bloodshot with a dark bruise already forming under one eye where Liam had swung at her in the midst of his rage.

Ariana's appearance seemed to temporarily stun Garrett as he looked at her from the driver's seat and he paused half way through pulling his door shut. "Is this from the alpha? I swear I'll kill him myself."

Ariana watched him through tired eyes, shaking her head slightly. "No, I got away."

Garrett narrowed his eyes at her. "Okay. Then what happened?"

"Liam," Ariana said dully as her mind vaguely ran over the confrontation, wincing as she briefly recollected the look in Liam's eyes as he threw her against the wall. "He heard us talking and he knows it was us. He knows you had the dagger and he knows I made the poison."

Despite the fact that Garrett had seen Liam and Ariana in the hallway, he had clearly missed their confrontation and this news seemed to stun him yet again. He stared at Ariana, speechless, before reaching for the door handle again. His eyes were hard and deadly, no hint of his typical cocky smirk left.

Ariana flew out a hand to stop him, grabbing at his shirt before he could get out of the car. "No, where are you going?"

"I'm going to kill them both," Garrett shot at her, tugging his arm away.

"You can't!'" Ariana cried out, grabbing at Garrett's arm again, this time with a tighter grip. "We need to get Violet back. Forget the werewolves. Think about Violet."

"I am thinking about Violet!" Garrett said angrily, twisting to stare at Ariana. They held each other's gaze for a moment, Ariana staring back defiantly, before Garrett dropped his head down in defeat. "Fine, I'll kill them later. You're right. First I need to go back and find Violet."

"Garrett, she might-"

"She's fine." Garrett said shortly, already half way out of the car. "I'm going in to find her. Stay here." He paused, giving Ariana a stern look. "Or at least stay near the damn car. I'll be back."

Ariana nodded quickly, instantly regretting the movement as a sharp pain shot up the back of her neck. She sunk back into her seat, closing her eyes as Garrett sprinted back towards the school. Granted, closing her eyes was probably a poor move given the dull ache in the back of her head suggesting a potential concussion, but Ariana was too exhausted and overwhelmed to think about smart choices right now.

"They took her," Garrett announced furiously as he swung his car door open again, causing Ariana to jump slightly at his sudden reappearance. She'd almost dozed off, her mind pushing out the night's events in favour of sleep. The wounds Liam had inflicted were slowly sinking into a dull ache throughout her and it was probably good that Garrett had returned so quickly before Ariana could actually fall asleep.

"Who? The werewolves?" Ariana sat up a little straighter, her mind already racing with panic as she pictured Violet being tortured by the alpha, his hands pressing tighter against her throat. Or worse, being attacked by Liam the way he'd attacked her.

Garrett shook his head as he started the car up again, steering the car out of the school carpark and down the road. He clutched the wheel tight as he inhaled deeply in attempt to calm himself down. "No, the police. And they know about her necklace. They're taking her into custody." He spoke in clipped sentences as the car roared down the streets a little faster than the speed limit requested. "We need to get her and we need to get out."

"What? What do you mean get out?" Ariana asked, frowning. She could see that Garrett was clearly upset but her head was still a little foggy so it took her a moment to catch up. So Violet had been caught. Well that definitely hadn't been part of the plan tonight.

"We get Violet back and then we get out of town. The police going to want to question us both too, Ari. We have to move quick." Garrett paused as he steered the car into their street, pulling over just in front of their apartment. He turned the car off, letting out a sigh before twisting to face Ariana properly. "They're looking for both of us. It's over."

Ariana exhaled slowly as she unclipped her seatbelt. "Okay, so we break her out. How? We can't just walk in and ask them to hand her over. We need a plan," she said, almost desperately. It didn't end like this. They'd always had an exit strategy but mostly due to overconfidence and optimism, they'd never bothered to actually think about the possibility of one third of the trio being locked up. That wasn't part of their exit strategy.

"Don't worry," Garrett said slowly, walking into the apartment with a furrowed brow as his brain went into overdrive. "I think I can work something out. I think I have an idea…"

"This is a bad idea. A really really bad idea," Ariana hissed to Garrett in front of her. He didn't reply, instead holding up a hand indicating for her to keep quiet. "No Garrett, think about this. If anyone sees us here we are screwed and so is Violet."

Ariana glanced around nervously as they crossed into the school grounds, ducking low to stay hidden behind the cars around them. Luckily it was late enough in the morning that most students had arrived, leaving the carpark nice and full with plenty of cars to hide behind. Ariana could see several students roaming around in the distance and she narrowed her eyes as she made out Siobhan Brady and her little clique hovering at the edge of the carpark, probably waiting to ambush students with crappy cars so they could mock them. Everyone seemed completely oblivious to the presence of the two orphans, all unaware of the high stakes right now.

At the mention of Violet, Garrett came to a halt and twisted around to face her. "Ari, we need his help. I hate this but trust me. This will work."

"How do we even know he's going to help us?" Ariana asked, frowning. Scott McCall hadn't exactly been warm and helpful the other night when he had strangled Violet and left her to be arrested. She doubted he would be any more willing to help them today. Garrett had disappeared early this morning for an hour while Ariana packed up most of their belongings into a few duffel bags. When he'd come home he seemed pretty confident that Scott would follow their plan, although he had been a little cryptic about the whole thing.

"He will," Garrett said shortly, turning back around before Ariana could push him any further. Ariana followed him silently until they reached a line of buses, sneaking in between two of them to wait for the alpha to show up. "Now, you keep a look out while I talk to him."

Scott showed up after a minute or two, dark brown eyes already suspicious as he slipped in between the two school buses. He looked tired and on edge, which was perfect since that was exactly how Ariana felt right now.

Ariana stood beside Garrett, arms folded as she glared up at Scott, her cold expression doing more than enough to make up for her tiny frame. Garrett had often said that despite the fact that he was the muscular lacrosse player of their little trio, Ariana was probably the most menacing member of the little trio when she wanted to be.

Sure enough, Scott seemed vaguely uncomfortable as he looked at her, shifting slightly away and focusing his tense expression on Garrett instead. Ariana hardened her glare on him, instantly irritated. What was he doing with that look of desperation, as if he was the one in danger here? As if he was the one with something to lose.

"Okay, what do you want? You want me to go to Stilinski? Or I can go to my father. He's an FBI agent," Scott crossed and uncrossed his arms several times as he talked before finally settling for leaving them in clenched fists at his sides.

Garrett raised an eyebrow as he scoffed at the alpha, "You think I want you talking to anyone with a badge? I'm not getting help from a werewolf because I want you to talk to someone."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Ariana watched Scott closely, taking in his confused and desperate expression again. It was almost like he really had no clue. Did he not understand his own powers and strength? How long had he been an alpha if he was still this clueless?

Garrett seemed unfazed though, pushing on with the plan. "They're transferring Violet to a federal facility. You're not gonna let that happen."

Scott narrowed his eyes. "How?"

"They're going to put her in a car. We're going to follow it, and get ahead of it. You stop it," Garrett said, his tone matter-of-fact as he stared back at Scott.

"You want me to attack a car, that's your plan?" Scott stared incredulously at Garrett before shifting his eyes towards Ariana. She raised one eyebrow silently, daring him to question their plan. To be fair Garrett had proposed this part of the plan to Ariana last night when she was already a little delirious from her minor head injury and from the overwhelming shock of being attacked by her werewolf boyfriend - or ex boyfriend now she supposed. Either way, she hadn't been in the best frame of mind to approve on escape plans.

Garrett twirled his lacrosse stick casually in one hand as he watched Scott with a cold expression. "You're an alpha. If you can't stop one little car then one little beta is going to die."

Something about Garrett's words caught Ariana's attention and she blinked as her brain processed what he had just said. "Wait - what?" Ariana snapped her head towards Garrett, eyes narrowing. "Garrett, what did you do?"

Scott raised an eyebrow, his dark expression lightening slightly for a moment as he watched Ariana, almost as if her reaction had caught him off guard.

"Nothing," Garrett said, brushing Ariana off, but she slapped his arm, glaring at him. Garrett looked back at her for a moment, squaring his jaw before he finally spoke, directing his words to Scott instead. "I stabbed him with my blade dipped in wolfsbane-"

"You- you what? You used my wolfsbane on Liam? Are you insane?" Ariana wasn't sure who she was more angry at now, Liam for attacking her or Garrett for going behind her back. Sure, Liam deserved to be punished for how he had treated her and the dull ache throughout her body was a reminder of that, but it needed to be on her terms.

"He attacked you, Ariana. He could have killed you." Garrett defended himself,

That seemed to surprise Scott yet again and he opened his mouth to speak. "He what?"

Garrett turned back to Scott, a sly expression slipping onto his face. "Your boy didn't mention it? Well where do you think Ari got her scar?" He asked, tilting his head to indicate towards Ariana. With pursed lips, which caused her to wince slightly, Ariana brushed back her hair to reveal the dark red scar that sat across her left cheekbone. She looked up at Scott cooly, allowing him a good look at the damage his beta had done to her.

Scott stared at Ariana, his eyes softening momentarily. "I didn't know."

"Well now you know," Garrett cut in, hovering closer to Ariana protectively. "Now do we have a deal?"

"Fine. I'll help you," Scott said finally, dropping his head in defeat. He pulled his gaze back up to Ariana, taking in her bruises and cuts once more with a sad expression before he slipped away, heading back towards the main building just in time for the school bell.

"And that's our cue," Garrett quipped to Ariana, turning to look at her with a cocky grin. She glared back at him for a moment before turning to slink off the way they had arrived, ignoring Garrett's scoffed protests from behind her.

"Are you seriously mad at me about Liam?" Garrett asked as they weaved their way back through the carpark.

Ariana kept her head low to make sure she was properly hidden from view, still annoyed to actually respond to Garrett. She led the way through the parked cars, keeping her eyes peeled for anyone who could spot them. Honestly, she wasn't sure how she felt about Garrett's actions. She was glad that Liam was getting some kind of punishment for hurting her, but Garrett had done it without checking with her first and now Liam could die. "You just…you should have told me first. That's my poison you used," Ariana said finally.

"You're pissed because I used your poison? Or is it that I used it on Liam?" Garrett asked carefully, nudging her gently from behind. "He's a werewolf, Ari. I know we said you'd pretend to date him to get close to the pack, but you didn't actually still like him did you?"

"I don't know," Ariana said, flying around to glare at Garrett. "I don't know how I feel. He hurt me, obviously, and he's I just know that you shouldn't have done that. What did you say to him anyway?"

"I told him that he should have thought before he tried to kill someone who specialises in poison," Garrett said casually, widening his eyes defensively when Ariana intensified her glare.

"Great. Now he'll definitely think I was in on your stupid plan. If he survives. Which doesn't matter because we're leaving tonight once we get Violet anyway." Ariana huffed as she continued walking, her thoughts all jumbled up in her head. Part of her was worried about Liam now, but if they were leaving tonight it didn't really matter anyway. It wasn't like she had to have anything to do with him now.

"Leaving so we can have a fresh start," Garret reminded her as they climbed back into his car. "Anyway we should get back to the apartment now. Get our stuff together before we have to go tonight. And are you sure Lucas won't spill anything? He's the only one who knows the address."

Ariana sighed, shaking her head as she tugged her seatbelt on. "We're all good. I texted him and told him to keep his mouth shut if anyone asks him. We'll be fine." She had texted Lucas last night, well aware that the police would potentially go to him for information about her whereabouts, but Lucas had her back as always, promising to keep quiet. The school had his own home address down in all her files as a precaution so the orphan's apartment would be impossible to track down unless Lucas talked. As long as he kept his word and kept his mouth shut, they were safe.

"Alright, let's go get our stuff ready then. And maybe we can start looking for where we should go next. Maybe somewhere near a beach…" Garrett mused as he steered the car away from the school, careful to take the back roads in case there were any police cars looking out for them.

Ariana reluctantly allowed a small smile to ease onto her tired face, not completely forgiving Garrett but content to follow along with the plan for now.

"This not going to work," Scott said, his voice tense as he looked down at the gun sitting in his lap. He'd been staring at it for the last few minutes, ever since Ariana had pushed it towards him. She had been more than comfortable holding onto the case in the backseat but Garrett insisted on showing Scott the gun. Ariana wasn't sure if it was to try and intimidate Scott, or to show off, or whether Garrett just wanted Scott to see what he was dealing with, but either way Scott looked uncomfortable.

Garrett seemed quite pleased with himself, smirking as he glanced over at Scott before turning his gaze back to the road, eyes scanning for the police van. "All you have to do is stop the car. I'll take care of the rest."

"Great. Good to know Garrett is comfortable taking care of things himself," Ariana shot out, glaring at the back of Garrett's head.

Garrett out out a frustrated sigh as he tapped on the steering wheel impatiently. "Not now, Ari."

Ariana opened her mouth to shoot out another retort, but she was interrupted by the sound of a car rumbling closer. The three of them all froze and Ariana sunk a little deeper into her seat as she watched the police van fly past. Garrett barely hesitated, instantly shifting the car's gears and pulling back onto the road to to tail the van.

The rest of the car ride was about as tense as to be expected, with Scott looking anxious in the passenger seat while Garrett drove calmly and Ariana sat in the back seat attempting to bore a hole in Garrett's head with her glare. He seemed to be well aware of what she was doing, wisely choosing to stay quiet as he watched the road.

"There's a stop sign about a half a mile ahead." Ariana piped up finally, glancing back and forth from the road to the GPS open on Garrett's phone that she'd grabbed from him earlier. Garrett nodded with a hum of acknowledgement, his eyes focused intently on the police van in front, following its every move from a safe distance.

Scott pushed his hood off his head, turning to frown at Garrett. "So I…take out the tires with my claws?" he asked, his voice full of uncertainty that made Ariana question if he was definitely the 'true alpha'.

"Teeth, claws, heat vision, whatever. Just stop them. You ready?" Garrett looked over at Scott quickly before glancing in the review mirror at Ariana with a nod.

Ariana nodded slightly back and chewed on her bottom lip anxiously as she glanced back down at the GPS screen again. She watched the little blue icon moving along with them as the car got closer to the stop sign, closer to the point of attack.

But it looked like someone had reached the point of attack first. Ariana heard Garrett sucking a breath in suddenly and she glanced over at his white knuckles clutching the steering wheel a little tighter. Following his gaze now, she looked out of the front window of the car to where the police van was supposed to be.

Well it was there, and it definitely wasn't going anywhere else any time soon. The police van was tipped over on one side with a body lying a few feet away. Ariana sat up a little straighter, pulling herself up between the front seats as her heartbeat increased slightly. The body looked like an older male which meant it wasn't Violet, but it still wasn't a good sign.

"Stop- STOP THE CAR," Scott yelled, his hands flying up to brace himself as Garrett slammed one foot on the brake. Ariana clung onto the head of the drivers seat, shoving Garrett's phone into her dress pocket. Her eyes still scanned the area around the car for a sign of Violet. As soon as the car came to a halt, Scott was already halfway out of the car. He sprinted towards the van, not even glancing back at the other two.

"Stay in the car, Ari," Garrett said, his voice tense as he climbed out of the drivers seat. Ariana nodded quickly, quite happy to stay in the car for now. She reached down by her feet to grab Garrett's lacrosse stick and fiddled with it for a moment until Garrett swung open her passenger door. "I'll grab Violet. You stay here and don't move. Could be a trap," he murmured, taking the stick from Ariana.

"Be careful," Ariana said quickly, holding her hand out to him, suddenly too tense to be annoyed at him any longer. Garrett flashed her his usual cocky smirk as he squeezed her hand tightly, before marching towards the other vehicle, both hands now firm on the lacrosse stick.

Ariana rolled the window down a fraction just in time to hear Scott calling out, "She's not in the car. Violet's gone."

Gone. Violet was gone. The words almost didn't make sense as Ariana stared at Scott hunched over another man next to the van, his head shaking hopelessly. What did he mean gone? Where would Violet be? She must have known they were coming to save her so why would she break out on her own? Ariana glanced down at Garrett's phone clutched in her hands, checking it for any message from Violet but there was nothing. No message. No indication of where Violet had gone.

Ariana froze for a brief moment before her hands flew to the door handle, ready to leap out of the car and run to Garrett, but he had stopped walking a few feet away from the vehicle. He was staring out into something off the road, and it took Ariana's eyes a moment to adjust in the darkness before she saw it. The monster.

It was huge, far bigger than Garrett, and taller than the police van. It looked like some kind of deformed soldier, not quite animal but not quite human, standing up right covered in a weird form of armour. Far from anything Ariana had ever seen. It was more horrific than seeing Liam's werewolf form and Ariana had a bad feeling that this creature could do a lot more damage too.

Garrett, being his usual cocky self, seemed unfazed by it, calling out, "You want me? Come on, come and get me!" He hovered at the van, staring down the creature, while Ariana waited in the car with baited breath.

"No, they're Berserkers! Run!" Scott shouted as he noticed the creature too, waving an arm at Garrett. Scott barely glanced back at the car, seemingly forgetting about Ariana's presence as he turned his attention back to one of the men lying down near the van. Berserkers. Ariana was sure she'd heard that term somewhere although she couldn't place it. It was probably one of the many monsters Lucas had used to scare her back in their old foster home. Either way, she really needed Garrett to get back to the car now.

Garrett seemed unfazed by the Berserkers though, moving towards them again instead with his usual cocky strut. "Yeah that's right. You're not so big," he taunted the creatures, looking them up and down as he moved closer.

Ariana froze in horror as the giant creature moved towards Garrett, its footsteps heavy but menacing as it approached him. Garrett seemed unafraid, twirling his lacrosse stick expertly, almost as if he was more interested in showing off his skills than he was of actually fighting the creature. Of course, it was typical of him to be more focused on his ego than the danger in front of him. He was just as reckless as Violet sometimes, especially when he was feeling cocky.

"YOU'RE NOT SO BIG," Garrett let out a yell, almost like a war cry, as he twisted the stick to reveal his dagger inside, swinging it up to attack the creature.

But before Ariana could even open her mouth to scream, another monstrous creature appeared out of the shadows, its sharp claws slicing through Garrett and impaling him through the chest.

Ariana watched in horror, the scream finally escaping her lips as Berserker removed its claws from Garrett, allowing him to sink slowly to the ground.

And then he was motionless.

Ariana stayed in the car for as long as she could, her entire body shaking uncontrollably as she listened to the sound of one of her best friends slowly bleeding out only a few feet away from her. She ducked her head down, making herself as tiny as possible in order to stay hidden when she heard the third car arrive. Peering through the passenger window, Arian watched as another man climbed out of the car and raced over to Scott, hoisting him up and carrying him away from the scene without a second of hesitation. They didn't even bother to check on Garrett, to try and save him too. They must have assumed he was dead. But he couldn't be. He wasn't allowed to be.

As soon as the third car drove off, Ariana threw herself out of Garrett's car and sprinted towards him, her boots practically slipping on the wet road as she ran. "GARRETT!" Her voice pierced through the thick silence as she skidded to a halt, dropping to her knees as she looked down at Garrett, his eyes already glassy as they stared out into the woods. There was too much blood surrounding him, too much red blood spilling onto the cold black tar in a horrific dark contrast.

The hole in his chest was too wide. It was too much. It was too wrong. It was too soon.

"No, no, no, no, don't do this- don't leave-" Ariana broke off with a sob, unable to finish her sentence. But Garrett was already slipping away, his eyes drifting shut as if he was unaware of her presence, like he couldn't even hear her. He almost looked like he could be sleeping, if it wasn't for the choked breaths still escaping his lips.

"No, no, no! You can't leave me-" Ariana grabbed Garrett's hand, squeezing it tightly, letting out a sob as his hand remained limp in hers. "Come on, stay with me. I can call someone. I can-"

But she was too late. He was gone.

Ariana felt her heart clenching in her chest, her entire body preparing itself for a breakdown. Garrett didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve this kind of ending, red blood spilling onto the black slick road, with no one else around to see him go but her. He was an assassin but he was good to her. He had made it his mission to look after herself and Violet. He was the closest thing she had to a brother, to a family.

Ariana gave herself one small moment to pause, a moment of silence to acknowledge the absence of another heartbeat, before she felt her body take over from her brain, the cold realisation rolling over her like a tidal wave.

A long anguished scream fell out of her mouth before she could even think about it, all the grief and anger of the last few minutes pushing itself out of her body. She screamed, her voice loud and harsh and angry. She screamed until she felt herself collapsing against Garrett as the wretched sobs overtook her, clutching him as if she could squeeze him back to life through sheer will. But he was gone. His body was limp against hers, its warmth faded, replaced with a cold unfriendly reminder that death had arrived and taken him away.

After what felt like hours of sobbing, her hands clutching at Garrett's lifeless body like he had become her lifeline, Ariana finally slumped back against the cold ground, her mind clearing and replacing the anguish with fierce determination. "Violet…I need to get Violet," Ariana muttered to herself, glancing up and around, her brain quickly taking in her surroundings again, the logical part of her brain clicking into gear.

Taking a deep breath, Ariana stood up, pausing to pick up Garrett's dagger from where it had fallen beside him. She quickly slid it back into the lacrosse stick and hugged the stick to her chest as she looked down at Garrett one more time before turning on her heels and walking away from his body before she was pushed into another breakdown. "Okay, I just have to find Violet…"

A/N: Well that got sad quickly! Thank you for reading this chapter and I hope you enjoyed it! Unfortunately it was time to say goodbye to Garrett but I've really loved writing him and fleshing him out a little from the few scenes Teen Wolf gave me to work with! Anyway stay tuned for the next chapter as Ariana fights to save Violet... Also if you have time please leave a review, no matter how long or short, and let me know your thoughts on this chapter! As always you can find chapter sneak peeks and Ariana edits on my tumblr (fraysquake) and hopefully I'll have the next chapter posted very soon :)