Master Plan/Open Your Eyes
Keeva woke up rather abruptly, gasping for air. She felt a strong grip on her left shoulder and looked over. A paramedic was trying to push her back down to the stretcher. "You need to rest, miss. You fainted." Keeva shrugged off her hand and swung her legs over the side. "You really should lie down." Keeva remained silent as she shoved her feet into her unlaced boots. "Miss…" She quickly stood and hopped down from the back of the ambulance. Now she just needed to find Scott.
"I've got to meet with the medical examiner and try to figure out what happened with Jackson. I have an APB out on Stiles," Keeva stopped in the doorway to the locker room when she heard the sheriff speak. So Stiles was still missing.
"His jeep is still in the parking lot which means," He took a deep shaky breath. "Hell I don't know what it means. Look, if he answers his phone, if he answers his e-mails…" Isaac nodded and gave the sheriff a gentle smile. "We'll call you." The sheriff nodded and, turning, sighed when he spotted Keeva. "What are you doing?"
She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. She suddenly felt a deep burning behind her eyes and her throat felt like it was going to close on her. "I…I just…well…" She cleared her throat and blinked rapidly. "I don't need to go to the hospital." The sheriff nodded and reached for her arm. "Can I talk to Scott real quick?" The sheriff looked over his shoulder and nodded. "I'll meet you outside in twenty minutes." She nodded and hugged him. "We'll find him." He whispered in her hair before releasing her.
He stepped around her and out the door, headed towards his next witness to interview. Scott gave her a broken smile before addressing Isaac. "Is that everyone?" The taller boy moved around Keeva before nodding. "I think so." Keeva winced when Scott pulled Stiles' locker door off its hinges.
Isaac drew his eyebrows together. "You're going to find him by scent?" Scott looked up. "Yeah, we both are." Keeva grinned when Scott handed Isaac a shoe. "How come you get his shirt and I get his shoe?" Scott made to answer but Keeva tapped the back of her hand against Isaac's arm and both boys looked up. Derek stood not ten feet away. "We need to talk." Peter stepped up behind Derek. "All of us."
Scott gaped. "Holy shit." Keeva gasped and shook her head. "No fucking way." Scott took a single step forward. "What the hell is this?" Scott asked. Derek rolled his eyes and shrugged. "You know, I thought the same thing when I saw you talking to Gerard at the sheriff's station." Scott shook his head. "Okay, hold on, he threatened to kill my mom and I had to get close to him what else was I supposed to do?"
"I'm gonna go with Scott on this one." He looked at Isaac. "Have you seen his mom? She's gorgeous." Keeva snorted and Derek looked over his shoulder at Peter. "Shut up." Isaac leaned down to Keeva's ear. "Who is he?" Keeva took a deep breath. "That's Peter. My uncle, unfortunately. A little while back he tried to kill us all and then we set him on fire and Derek slashed his throat." Isaac stood up to his full height just as Peter waved. "Hi." Isaac nodded. "Good to know." Scott shook his head. "How is he alive?" Derek shook his head and scoffed. "Look, the short version is he knows how to safe Jackson, maybe even stop him."
The three teenagers exchanged looks. "Well, that's very helpful except Jackson's dead." Isaac provided. Derek's eyes widened almost comically and the smug grin slowly slid of Peter's face like water. "What?" Keeva drew her eyebrows together. "Jackson's dead. It just happened on the field." Derek looked nervously back at Peter and Isaac and Keeva exchanged confused glances. "Okay, why is no one taking this as good news?" Isaac said. "If Jackson's dead it didn't just happen. Gerard wanted it to happen."
"But why?" Derek asked. Peter smiled and stepped forward. "Well, that's exactly what we need to figure out and something tells me our window of opportunity is closing. Fast." Keeva took a deep breath shook her head. "I have to get going. I need to be at home if Stiles turns up and Jamie needs me." Isaac placed a supportive hand on her shoulder and Scott smiled gently. "We'll call you if we see him." She nodded.
Peter smiled and waved at her as she walked past him. "Go to hell." She said and he maimed being stabbed in the heart. "You wound me, dear niece." Keeva snorted. "I'm sure my barbs cause you extreme discomfort." Peter grinned wider and watched her as she left the room.
The sheriff was sitting at the entrance to the school when she pushed through the front doors. She pulled open the passenger door heaved a deep sigh. "I'm worried about him, too. He'll turn up." Keeva nodded as she looked at her tangled hands. "I just hope nothing's happened to him." The sheriff nodded and shifted the car into drive before pulling away.
The first thing Keeva did when she got home was find Megan and the baby. She found them in the rocking chair in the nursery. Jamie was sleeping in Megan's arms with a blue blanket wrapped tightly around him. Megan looked up and smiled. "How was the game?" Keeva tried to smile back but it was more like a grimace and more tears burned her eyes. "Keeva?"
She shook her head and laughed lightly, dropping her chin to her chest and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Jackson is dead and Stiles is missing. Peter's alive and two of the wolves are missing." Megan slowly stood and deposited the baby into his crib before walked to Keeva. "Do you need anything?" Keeva looked up at the kind woman and felt hot tears course down her cheeks. "I need Stiles."
Megan hummed and pulled Keeva into her arms. "I'm sure he's fine." As if on cue, Keeva heard the sheriff call her name. She pulled away from Megan and smiled. "Thanks for watching the baby. Do you think you could stay the night? I don't know what's going to happen tonight." Megan smiled kindly and nodded. "Of course. I already have a bag ready." Keeva laughed lightly and shook her head. "Thank you, Megan."
Keeva quietly turned and left the room, closing the door behind her. She rounded the corner of Stiles' room, where she knew the sheriff was, and stopped. "Stiles?" Her battered boyfriend turned around to face her. "Hey." Keeva brought her hands to her mouth and felt tears gather at the corners of her eyes, again. "What happened to you?" She rushed him and pulled him down into her arms.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her neck. "I'm okay. I'm okay." He repeated the mantra into her neck and both missed the sheriff inching his way out of the room to give them privacy. She pulled away and cupped his face in her hands. He closed his eyes and winced when she brushed her thumb over the scrape across his cheekbone.
"Gerard?" She guessed. He opened his eyes and nodded once. She sighed and pressed her forehead against his. "I'm going to kill him. I am I swear." Stiles chuckled half-heartedly and shook his head. "Maybe you could help me out of this uniform first." Keeva brushed his nose with hers before taking his hand and leading him into the bathroom.
She turned the faucet on hot with less than half of the cold knob twisted before turning to Stiles. He was leaning tiredly against the counter, his eyes downcast but Keeva knew they were filled with pain and despair.
She stepped in front of him and gently tugged on the hem of his jersey. He lifted his arms and let her maneuver it over his shoulder pads and head. Keeva tossed it to the side and went to work on the laces of his shoulder pads before pushing those noisily to the counter top.
Her chin trembled lightly when she first saw the purple and green bruises across the left side of his rib cage. Stiles sighed and wrapped his hands around her wrists at his waist. Keeva closed her eyes and swallowed thickly. She lifted her head and met his eyes. She could see her own pain reflected in their murky depths as he dipped his head to press his broken lips against hers.
Keeva was the first to pull away as she sank to her knees and began to untie his cleats. She pulled both of them and his socks off his feet before standing and taking a step back from him. She turned to the tub and heard him push his shorts down his hips. He stepped up beside her and slowly dipped one foot into the hot water.
He groaned as he carefully eased himself into the water. He threw his head back and tried to hold the tears at bay. Keeva felt her own eyes well at his clear discomfort. He ached from the game and the beating he took from Gerard but he was mostly frustrated with the way everything was turning out.
Keeva quickly stripped and stood at the edge of the tub for a few seconds before stepping in with him. He lifted his head and watched her sink into the water, her knees on either side of his hips. Sexual gratification was the last thing on their minds. Comfort was the main focus as she cradled his head against her neck. Stiles wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tightly to him with no space between their chests.
Keeva felt his tears run down her neck. He tightened his hold on her to the point of almost pain but even if he was hurting her, Keeva would never ask him to let go. She nuzzled his ear and smoothed her hands over his back and arms, just holding him. "It's okay." He shook against her and she could hear his chest rattling with the sobs he refused to release. "You're okay." Stiles tangled a fist in her hair and kept her still against him. "We're okay."
Keeva had moved them to his bed after the bath. She had her back pressed against the headboard and Stiles had his head pillowed against her thigh with his arms wrapped around her leg. There was a knock on the door. "Dad, I said I'm okay." Keeva ran her fingers through his hair. A knock came again. Stiles sighed before pushing himself off the bed. He pulled the door open and froze.
"Hi." Keeva arched a brow. She knew that voice. "Hi." Stiles responded. "Your father let me in." Stiles glanced back at Keeva. "He did? Of course he did." He looked back at Lydia. "What happened to your…" Stiles shook his head. "Oh, yeah. It's nothing. I'm fine. Don't worry about it." He stopped and there was nothing but silence for several seconds. "Do you want to come in?"
Keeva pulled his pillow to her chest and wrapped her arms and legs around it. Lydia stepped into the room and didn't even notice Keeva. Stiles closed the door and turned to face the weepy red head. "How're you doing?" Lydia opened her moth and Keeva could see tears at the corners of her eyes. "They won't let me see him." Keeva winced. "I'm supposed to give him something. He kept asking for it back."
Keeva saw the girl hold up a single gold key. She slowly got off the bed and walked towards Stiles. "Sit her down. I'm going to get some tissues." Stiles nodded and for the first time, Lydia noticed her presence.
She searched the entire house and not a single room had a box of tissues. She rolled her eyes. She would need to start doing the shopping in this house that was certain. She reentered the bedroom and saw her boyfriend awkwardly sitting beside the still crying Lydia. "Hey, so I couldn't find any tissues so…" Keeva awkwardly handed the toilet paper roll to Lydia.
She took it without complaint. "It's fine." A phone vibrated and Lydia rolled her eyes. She held up her phone and looked accusingly at Stiles. "You have 17 missed messages from Scott." Stiles looked at Keeva and nodded. "I know." Lydia looked between the two with her eyebrows drawn together. "Are you ignoring him?" Stiles shrugged. "No, not really."
The phone vibrated again and Lydia sat up straight, meeting Keeva's eyes. Keeva was startled by the fear she saw reflected in the other girl's eyes. Lydia turned to Stiles and handed him the phone. "You're going to want to read this."
Stiles looked up at Keeva before flashing her the text. Keeva sighed and looked over at Lydia. "How much do you know about this stuff?" Lydia looked at her. "Pieces. Half of it's like a dream." Stiles took a step towards her. "Well, guess what, the other half is like a freaking nightmare." Lydia tensed and glared at him. "I don't care. I can help him."
Stiles shook his head. "See, that's the problem. You don't care about getting hurt. But you know how I'll feel? I'll be devastated. And if you die, I will literally go out of my freaking mind." Keeva narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "You see, death doesn't happen to you, Lydia, it happens to everyone around you, to all the people standing at your funeral trying to figure out how to live their lives now without you in it. And look at my face."
Stiles started advancing on her like a predator. He motioned to his face and backed Lydia into the desk. Keeva took a single step forward. "Do you actually think this was meant to hurt me?" Stiles froze and blinked several times before taking a few steps back. "I'm so sorry." Lydia smiled stiffly. "It's okay." Lydia turned away from him. "I'll find him myself." Stiles sighed and dropped his shoulders. "Lydia wait."
He glanced over at Keeva and shook his head. "Damnit." Keeva rolled her eyes and followed the girl. She caught up with her halfway down the stairs. "He's right, you know." Lydia snapped her head around to face her. "What?" Keeva jerked her head to the top of the stairs. "He's right. Everything that's done to him, isn't done to him. It's done with the intention of hurting others. Me, Scott, Derek." Lydia shook her head. "I know."
Keeva watched as she continued down the stairs and left the house. She turned back around and found Stiles sitting in his desk chair with his back to the door. She felt the sheriff come up behind her. "She left?" Stiles looked up and over. "Yeah, she left." The sheriff nodded and winked at Keeva before stepping into the room and knelling at the side of the desk. "Listen, I know, getting beat up and what happened to Jackson has got you pretty shaken but be happy about one thing."
Stiles swiveled his head around to face his dad. "The game. You were pretty amazing." Stiles chuckled. "Thanks, dad." Keeva smiled and crossed her arms over her chest. "No, I mean it. It was pretty much over and then you got the ball and you started running and you scored and the tide just turned. And you scored again and again. You were just the MVP of the game." Stiles looked over, his eyes sad. "You were a hero." Stiles looked up at Keeva and then back as his father, shaking his head. "I'm not a hero, dad."
"You were last night." The sheriff stood and slapped Stiles back before walking away, down the hall. Keeva watched Stiles. "I'm not a hero." She slowly came up behind him and rested her crossed arms on the back of his shoulders. "You know that little boy down the hall? Your son?" Stiles nodded and dropped his head between his shoulders. "One day, he's going to be old enough to have a hero and he'll look at Batman and Superman and call them his heroes but you know who his real hero's going to be?" Stiles didn't move. "He's going to be that man who tucks him in at night and reads him a story before bed and checks under his bed for monsters. You're going to be his real hero, Stiles."
Stiles sighed and turned his chair around to face her. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "Let's go find Lydia." Keeva smirked and tugged him out the door.
Lydia wasn't that hard to find. She was sitting on the side of the road just a few blocks down from the Stilinski house. Stiles pulled over and Keeva rolled down her window. "Hey, stranger." Lydia jumped and looked over at them. "What are you doing?" Keeva smirked. "We're going to save your boyfriend. Want to come?" Lydia gaped and sat there for a good full minute before stepping slowly out of the car and sitting in the back seat.
"How do you know where they are?" Stiles looked in the rearview mirror and smiled. "This is where Derek tends to make all of his meetings. It's a habit." Lydia narrowed her eyes in doubt but didn't say a word for the rest of the ride.
They stopped the car fifty feet away from the wall. "Do you think they're in there?" Keeva closed her eyes and listened. She heard Isaac gasp as Allison stabbed him, seven times. She heard Chris Argent speak to his father in disbelief about his current actions. She heard Derek moan as Scott forced his jaws open. "They're in there." Stiles nodded and faced the windshield. "That's good enough for me. Everyone have their seatbelts on? Good." Stiles floored it.
They crashed through the wall and bulldozed right into a Kanimaed Jackson. He slammed on the break and opened his eyes, turning to Scott. "Did I get him?" Scott laughed right as the Kanima jumped on the hood of the car and hissed violently at the passengers in the car. All three screamed and scrambled from the car.
Keeva and Stiles ran behind Scott and watched as Lydia held up the key to the Kanima. It froze and slowly reached for the scrap of metal. The Kanima slowly began to shift back into Jackson and he looked at Lydia. He slowly began to back away and Derek and Peter pounced, plunging their claws into either side of him. Jackson collapsed back to his feet and began to fall forward.
Lydia was there and held him to her, holding him up straight. He looked at as she cried and they spoke. Jackson fell forward against her shoulder and she cried, running her hands through his hair and across his shoulders before laying him down on the cement. She stood and turned away from him.
Keeva pressed her chest to Stiles' side and locked her fingers with his. Stiles sighed and shook his head. He looked up when he heard a scratching sound on the floor. Jackson's claws were out and he was slowly beginning to stand. Stiles moved slightly in front of Keeve to try to protect her. Jackson stood to his full height and leaned back, roaring at the sky in his werewolf form. He jerked and blinked, looking at Lydia before she rushed him and wrapped her arms around him.
Keeva tugged on Stiles' arm and he looked down at her. "Let's go home." He smiled and pulled her towards the jeep.
"What do you think his first word'll be?" Keeva glanced up from her book. Stiles was lying on his back in the grass and Jamie was laying on his chest, fast asleep, as Stiles stroked his hand down the baby's back. They were having a picnic in the park. "I don't know. Momma." Stiles snorted and glanced over at his girlfriend. She was wearing a baby blue sundress with white sandals that were currently in the grass. "You wish. I think it'll be…lacrosse."
Keeva snorted. "Lacrosse is too big of a word. It'll be momma." Stiles chuckled. "Try Dada." Keeva turned back to her book. "Keep dreaming, Stilinski. His first word will be momma. I promise." Stiles turned his head and looked up at her. "Wanna bet?" Keeva smirked. "I like those odds."