"I mean I'm sure you already know all of this," Connor gestured to the file folders and notebooks he had laid out onto the examination table. He looked up at Deaton, seeing him nod slightly, "But I don't know what else to do." Connor sighed out, pressing his hands against the table, "I should've caught it, realized it was him. All of the victims of the attacks had to do with the fire." Connor explained, "It makes sense."
"It does now." Deaton corrected him. Connor quickly glanced up at him and nodded, looking back down at the table.
He had spent the whole afternoon, into the early evening talking with Deaton about everything that had been happening over the past few days. When he was teen, Connor and Deaton were semi-close, Deaton was the Hale's emissary and would always give Connor advice or explain things that weren't always clear. Connor hadn't been able to talk to Deaton since he had gotten back, but with Peter being revealed as the Alpha and Derek disappearing with him, Connor figured it was as good as time as any to catch up with the older man.
"Right, well, I just thought I should bring you up to speed." Connor lamely finished.
"More of an excuse for you to just talk to someone about what's happening, don't you think?" Deaton asked. Connor rolled his lips in and nodded, shifting his stance a bit.
"I guess, yeah." Connor nodded again, "Is that so bad?"
"No." Deaton raised his eyebrows up, "Not at all. Talking it out can sometimes help us find answers to problems we didn't even know were there." Connor laughed lightly; he hadn't missed Deaton's cryptic answers.
"Alright, well, thanks, Doc." Connor said, starting to gather up his papers and Deaton gave him a warm smile in return.
The uneasiness Leah felt after her conversation with Kate hadn't gone away for the rest of the day. She tried to distract herself with homework, but kept thinking about what Kate had said. Deep down, Leah knew Kate was right; Leah wanted to feel more useful, but she didn't want to do it for the benefit of others—she wanted to protect herself. And she hated how easy it was for Kate to figure it out.
A knock on Leah's window made her look away from her homework, seeing Scott perched outside. She waved him in and Scott opened the window, stepping into her room. Leah rolled her chair back and got to her feet, going to sit on the window seat next to Scott,
"What's up?" She asked, raising her eyebrows. Scott rubbed his hands over his face and let out a groan,
"Jackson's gonna get us all killed." Scott complained. Leah furrowed her brow, which made Scott launch into what happened between Jackson and him after school.
Jackson had been confronted by Argent, but before Jackson said anything, Scott and Stiles rolled up to stop it. After Argent left, Jackson then proceeded to tear down Scott and still insist that he deserved the bit. It seemed like both of them had tense after school confrontations.
"Why did you even try?" Leah asked, leaning forward to look at Scott after he had finished his story with a sigh, "I mean, seriously." She raised her shoulders as Scott took in a breath, "I know you want to protect everyone, but Jackson?" Leah emphasized, "He should be at like the bottom of your list."
"I don't know." Scott paused for a moment, shrugging before answering, "Because I can't risk him blabbing to Argent about me."
"Cause of Allison." Leah figured, getting a nod from Scott. He gave her a small smile before looking down at the ground.
"I, uh, gave her her necklace back today." Scott quietly said, "I used my super-sniffer—" Leah snorted at the nickname they had given Scott's werewolf tracking abilities, "And found her out in the Preserve…and then she kind of tazed me." Scott admitted, scrunching up his features. Leah scoffed at him, an amused grin on her face,
"That's what you get for stalking her like a creep." Leah nudged Scott, making him sway as he laughed a bit.
There was a moment of silence as the friends sat together before Scott spoke up again, "You still doing okay?" Leah pulled her lips in and nodded, pressing her palms against the seat.
"Doing my best." Leah settled on, deciding not to tell Scott about who she had gotten a ride home from. Scott gave her a small smile and nodded,
"I know you don't want anyone to worry about your—"
"Scott," Leah started, cutting him off in a warning tone. Scott stopped and closed his mouth, nodding a bit, "My problems do not outweigh yours right now." Leah said, slowly shaking her head, "I am fine. Let's just figure out Peter's next move and then we can worry about whatever the hell is going on up here, okay?" Leah asked, motioning to her head. Scott nodded slightly, giving Leah the response she wanted.
He hated when Leah belittled her problems; she had been doing it since he met her, always thinking that her problems were less of an issue than anyone else's. It was a defense mechanism that was becoming worse and worse. Scott wanted to figure out what had happened to her, figure out how to get her memories back, but he knew he would have to do it without her knowing. If he kept asking about it or showing that he was worried, Leah would just pull back more and more, pretending that she was fine.
"I should go." Scott said after a moment, "Try and catch up on some homework." He sighed. Leah got off of the window seat, letting Scott stand up on it. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Of course." Leah nodded, giving him a small smile. She gave him a little wave as he stepped out of the window, onto the tree and climbing over to his bedroom. Leah shut the window, locking it and walking out of her bedroom.
Heading down the stairs, Leah heard the front door open and when she got halfway down the stairs, she saw Connor walking in, Allison following behind him,
"She should be—oh hey!" Connor said, noticing her and giving his sister a quick smile, "Ran into Allison outside, she said she was looking for you."
"Hey." Allison waved at Leah as Leah stepped off the bottom step. Connor looked in between the two before motioning over his shoulder,
"I'll be in the kitchen." Connor lamely said, excusing himself and heading for the kitchen.
"Sorry I just—I knew you lived next to Scott and I…" Allison trailed off and let out a small laugh, "Can we talk?" She settled on.
"Yeah, of course." Leah nodded, "We can go up to my room." She offered, getting a nod from Allison. Leah turned, walking back up the stairs she had just come down, Allison following behind her.
Leah led Allison to her room, flipping on the light as they walked in. She kicked a few dirty clothes into a pile before sitting down on her bed, Webster scampering in after Allison and jumping up onto the desk chair. Allison noticed and made a face at the cat before looking back at Leah,
"Didn't know you had a cat." Allison laughed lightly.
"Had him since I was like twelve." Leah nodded, "He just does his own thing, honestly." Leah waved her hand around as Allison grinned at her,
"Cats tend to do so." She agreed before walking over to sit down next to Leah on her bed.
"So, what's up?" Leah asked as Allison settled down. She twisted her fingers together for a moment, looking down at her lap. Leah stayed quiet, letting Allison gather her thoughts.
"It's Scott." Allison finally said. Leah raised her eyebrows, looking at her friend, "Lydia and I were out in the woods and then he was there and he gave me back my necklace." Her voice was soft, "And I keep thinking that I made the wrong choice by breaking up with him." Leah opened her mouth, ready to agree with her, but Allison continued talking before Leah could say anything, "And that arrowhead?" She looked at Leah, "It was some sort of flashbulb one. It—It exploded when it hit the tree." Leah grimaced and shook her head,
"That's intense." Leah managed out.
"I mean, why would we even have one of those?" Allison asked aloud, "We don't sell bows and arrows." Allison explained,
"Maybe it's new stuff for hunters?" Leah offered, inwardly hating herself for making such an ironic statement. Allison shook her head,
"I just feel like…people have been lying to me." Allison softly said. Leah took in a deep breath and looked down and away from Allison, "I mean, especially my family…" Allison trailed off, "I just feel like they're keeping this big secret from me." Leah licked her lips and looked back at Allison, feeling guilty,
"I'm sure whatever they're keeping from you, it's because they want to protect you." Leah tried to calm Allison down while her gut knotted up with guilt.
"I hate that." Allison quietly, but seriously said, "I hate when people think that by not telling someone something, it's protecting them."
"So do I." Leah admitted, raising her eyebrows, "But sometimes the truth hurts." She managed out. Allison licked her lips, nodding slightly at Leah before looking back at her hands.
"I didn't come here to talk to you about that though." Allison shook her head, squinting a bit, "I mean, I came here to talk to you about Scott."
"What about Scott?" Leah asked, semi-grateful for the subject change,
"I don't know what to do. I want to talk to him about it. Everything." Allison admitted, raising her eyebrows quickly and Leah nodded,
"So talk to him." She said with a shrug, "He's literally right next door." Allison was quiet, a small smile appearing on her face before disappearing again. Leah leaned forward, trying to catch Allison's eye, "Ally, seriously. Go talk to him. He trekked out into the woods to find you to give you back the necklace. He'd do anything for you. He'd listen to you and just make sure you're okay." Leah paused, remembering her earlier conversation with Scott, "That's just who he is, everything he does is for the benefit for other people." Allison looked over at Leah, giving her a small smile and a nod in response.
Leah's phone buzzed and she looked over her shoulder to see it lighting up with a text. Reaching over for it, Leah grabbed it and sat forward, seeing Stiles's contact name on the screen. She swiped her thumb over the message to view it, the corners of her mouth turning up as she read his complaint about what had happened with Jackson.
"Stiles?" Allison asked, an amused smile on her face. Leah quickly looked over at Allison and locked her phone, making a face as she shook her head,
"It was nothing." She shrugged as Allison raised her eyebrows,
"Come on." Allison groaned out, "Your face practically lights up every time you see him. And you actually smile. Not like the making fun of Stiles smile or whenever you're about to say something snarky smile, like a genuine smile." Leah rolled her eyes and let out a scoff as she tried not to smile, "Why don't you just tell him you have a crush on him?" Allison asked. Leah felt her stomach twist at Allison's question. The thought of telling Stiles that she had a crush on him made Leah sick to her stomach. She couldn't tell him; she figured he would just laugh at her.
"I can't." Leah shook her head.
"Why?"
"Because it would upset the delicate balance of hatred that we have going on."
"You two do not hate each other." Allison shook her head, grinning at Leah.
"Yes, we do!" Leah protested, pointing at Allison. Allison gave Leah an unamused look. Leah raised her eyebrows and looked away from Allison,
"If I go talk to Scott," Allison started, stretching out, "You have to go talk to Stiles." She bargained. Leah paused, taking in a breath as she weighed her options. Her stomach turned as she looked back at Allison,
"Fine." Leah gave in, only agreeing to it for Allison and Scott's sake. She got a satisfied smile from Allison in return.
"Promise?" Allison asked, holding out her pinky finger.
"Yeah, yeah yeah." Leah droned out, wrapping her pinky around Allison's. "Whatever." Leah rolled her eyes as Allison stood up.
"Okay." She gave Leah a small smile, "I will text you later. I expect full details." Leah rolled her eyes again and nodded, getting to her feet. Allison reached out to pull Leah into a hug and Leah found herself hugging Allison back for a moment before she stepped back.
Leah walked Allison out, shutting the front door behind her. Then she turned, heading into the kitchen to grab something to eat. She saw her mom sitting at the kitchen table, surrounded by papers and different file folders. Leah walked to the fridge, grabbing a cheese stick before walking over to her mom, sitting down across from her.
"Whatcha doing?" Leah asked, unwrapping the cheese stick and beginning to pull it apart.
"Asking myself why I ever stopped teaching middle school." Tara sighed out, rubbing her temples with her fingers.
"Because the pay was shit." Leah answered for her, dangling a piece of cheese over her mouth before biting into it.
"But I was much better at it." Tara motioned to all the file folders, "This—I don't know what I'm doing."
"Do you have any leads?" Leah asked, reaching out for one of the file folders. She looked up to see her mom giving her a look.
"What do you think you're doing?" Tara asked.
"Helping?" Leah raised her eyebrows. Tara matched her expression, looking unamused, "Mom, come on." Leah slumped forward, "I'm not gonna tell anyone. Just let me help." She paused, looking down at the file, "I mean, a new set of eyes could pick out something that you missed."
"You think I missed something." Tara stated, not enjoying her daughter's attitude.
"…I don't know." Leah carefully said, looking back at her mom, "Anyway…" Leah looked down at the folder, opening it up.
"Leah." Tara sighed out, "You really shouldn't be looking at those."
"Yet you're doing nothing to stop me." Leah sang out as she looked through the reports. Tara shifted forward on her chair and leaned over the table.
"I just don't understand how Derek's involved in all this." Tara motioned to all of the reports,
"Mom, we've talked about this…" Leah trailed off, looking over at her.
"But why?" Tara ignored her, "Why did he kill his sister? Why Laura?"
"Woah, Todd was a convicted felon?" Leah asked, pulling out Todd's police report. She stared at the mugshot of the guy who she worked with before reading over the report.
"Of arson." Tara nodded and Leah placed the file down, going for another file.
"What about those guys in the woods?" She asked, reaching for a bigger folder.
"Arson." Tara said as Leah flipped open the folder. The bus driver's face stared back at her, "He was an insurance investigator assigned to the Hale house fire but was terminated under suspicion of fraud."
"No way." Leah whispered out, "So they all had something to do with the fire?"
"Could be." Tara nodded at her, "You know what the sheriff always says. One's an accident, two's a coincidence—"
"Three's a pattern." Leah finished for her mom as she shut the folder.
"But that brings us back to why Derek?" Tara moved her hands around, as she leaned back in her chair, settling her hands on top of her baby bump, "If he was going to kill everyone involved with the fire, why start with Laura? She had nothing to do with it." Tara sighed, "I don't know, it's just all so crazy. I mean first it was the mountain lions—Did you know, I looked this up, the instances of wild animal reports were up seventy percent over the past few months?" Tara raised her eyebrows, eyes going wide as Leah shook her head, "It's like they're just going crazy, running out of the woods." Tara waved her hand around in the air.
"Like something's scaring them out." Leah realized, brow furrowing. She figured that maybe with the arrival of Peter, the animals realized that he was a predator and started going crazy because they knew he was a threat. Or something along those lines.
Leah glanced at the clock and realized she still had to go talk to Stiles. She pushed back out of her chair, getting to her feet as she tried to close up some of the file folders.
"Mom, I gotta go." Leah said. "I'll be back later tonight." She promised, glancing over to her mom. Tara reached out to her, giving her a small smile.
"I miss talking to you." She said, squeezing Leah's hand. Leah returned the smile and tried to step back, only to stop when her mom started talking again, "I miss hearing about your day and about your friends." Tara paused, "I don't even know who that girl was—"
"Oh, that was Allison." Leah offhandedly said, but Tara wasn't listening,
"You used to tell me everything." Tara gave her a small smile, "I feel like I barely know what's going on in your life now. I want to be a part of your life again…"
"Mom—"
"I miss it." Tara cut her off, giving her tight smile, "Seems like you're always running somewhere. Always on the go." Tara let go of Leah's hand to motion in the air, "And that's good, okay? But just know that you can always tell me whatever's going on." Tara gave her a maternal smile, nodding at Leah.
"Mom, I swear, we'll talk about everything, I just really need to be somewhere right now." Leah said, pushing away the feeling of guilt. Tara nodded at her,
"Go, go, go do your thing." Tara waved at Leah, "Luckily, in a few weeks, I'll have another one who'll appreciate me." Tara rubbed her hands over her stomach and Leah rolled her eyes,
"I appreciate you, Mom. You know that." Leah rolled her lips in, looking down at her mom.
"I know, I'm just teasing." Tara waved at Leah again, "Go, get out of here." Leah gave her mom a small smile before turning away from her, heading into the living room.
She grabbed her backpack and board, glancing over her shoulder to see her mom looking back at the reports. Leah took in a breath before shaking her head, going for the front door. She walked out of her house, heading for Stiles's and knowing her mom was right. Leah didn't talk to her as much as she used to. Everything just happened so fast and Leah didn't have time to sit and talk to her, which was a problem and Leah knew she needed to start talking to her more. Maybe not tell her everything—her mom didn't need to know her best friend was a werewolf, but Leah knew she needed to tell her mom about the memory loss and about all the things happening with Stiles. Simple, ordinary teenage problems.
The sheriff's car was parked next to Stiles' Jeep when Leah got to the Stilinski house. She kicked back off of her board and walked up to the front door. Raising her hand, Leah knocked on the door, waiting a few seconds as her stomach began knotting up with each passing second, before the door opened to reveal Stiles standing there.
"Hey." Leah said, giving him a small smile.
"What's up?" Stiles asked, brow furrowing, obviously confused as to why Leah was on his doorstep. Leah peered into his house before looking back up at him.
"I need to talk to you." She said, swallowing back her fear. Stiles stared at her for a moment before nodding and stepping back, letting Leah step inside his house. Leah looked over to see the dining room light on and she heard his dad groan.
"Is everything okay?" Leah asked, looking back at Stiles.
"I may have gotten him drunk." Stiles said, scratching the back of his neck and squinting. Leah's eyes widened as she stared at him.
"Stiles!" Leah all about yelled out, "Are you serious? Why—why would you do that? He has to work tonight!"
"Because I needed to get him talking about the case, okay?" Stiles hissed out, waving his hands around. Leah rolled her eyes at him,
"Pregnant mothers work just as well." She whispered out. "God, Coleslaw…how much did you give him?"
"Almost a whole bottle of Jack."
"Stiles!" Leah made her eyes wide again and fell back on her foot, "Jesus."
"I know, I know. I messed up. But! But, I already texted your mom and told her about it. She said she would cover for him tonight." Leah looked at him, knowing that her mom was well aware of the sheriff's previous drinking habits. Tara was one of the few people who actually helped the sheriff stop his excessive drinking so Leah knew her mom wasn't going to be happy about what happened.
"Damnit, Stiles." Leah sighed, "You seriously fucked up." She shoved him back, "My mom is not gonna be happy with him and it's your fault."
"We all screw up sometimes and she's well aware of his track record." Stiles seriously said, jaw clicking as he thought back to the last time his dad had gotten that drunk, "And besides, it was a one time thing. It was only so I could get information about the case."
"Oh so that just magically makes up for it?" Leah waved her hands around. Stiles licked his lips and looked away from her, stomping his foot a little. Leah paused and took in a breath, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked up at Stiles, "What did you find out?" She asked, knowing that his information would probably be the same information that Tara gave her. And she was right.
"So I think it was Peter who was the one scaring them out." Stiles finished.
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Leah nodded a bit. She looked around herself before settling back on Stiles, "As happy as I am that we have a little bit of a lead, even though your methods were…" Leah raised her eyebrows, eyes going wide and letting out a sharp breath, before she composed herself, "that's not actually why I came here." She paused, "Can we go upstairs?"
"Uh, sure." Stiles nodded, his brow furrowing for a moment before he turned away from Leah and walked up the stairs. Leah followed behind, bag thumping against her thigh as she followed him into his room.
Parallel to the set up that Allison and Leah had, Stiles sat down on his bed, leaving a space for Leah to sit next to him. She gave him a small smile as she folded herself on his bed, one leg going under her other leg. Leah stared at her lap, not really knowing how to start; she couldn't just outright tell him, but had to ease herself into it.
"Is everything okay?" Stiles finally broke the silence.
"Uh, yeah." Leah said, looking over to him, brow furrowing, "Yeah, everything's fine. I just—give me a minute."
"Okay…?" Stiles looked a little confused before looking away from Leah.
Leah took in a breath and twisted her fingers together as her stomach worms started moving. She licked her lips and slowly let out the breath she had been holding in. Opening her mouth, Leah started to tell Stiles, when his phone chimed. Stiles pulled out his phone and Leah saw Scott's name on the screen. Stiles immediately answered it, placing it to his ear.
"Hey." He said. Scott said something causing Stiles to glance to Leah. Leah gave him a small smile before looking away from him, eyes trailing around his room as Stiles answered Scott, "Uh, yeah I'm actually—" She felt the bed move as Stiles got up, "No, fine. Fine!" Leah looked up at him as he ran a hand over his mouth, ending his call with Scott.
"Everything okay?" Leah asked.
"Uh, no, apparently Peter is taking Scott's mom out on a date." Stiles raised his eyebrows up. Leah got to her feet, surprised at what Stiles just said,
"That's not good."
"He needs me to stop them, I guess." Stiles said, shoving his phone into his pocket.
"Yeah, go." Leah nodded, concerned at the thought of Peter having Melissa in his clutches. Stiles looked at her,
"Do you wanna come? We could talk in the Jeep."
"No…no." Leah shook her head, making a face, "I should probably get going anyway."
"You sure?" Stiles asked, brow furrowing.
"Yeah, it's not important." Leah shook her head again, putting her hands up, "Go help Scott." Leah urged, "I'll see you tomorrow." She nodded at him. Stiles nodded back, patting himself down to make sure he had his phone and keys before turning away from Leah. He hurried out of the room, flannel flying out behind him. Leah let all of her weight fall onto her foot as she let out a sigh; so much for telling him about her crush.
Leah waited for a moment, looking around Stiles's room before walking out into the hall. She quietly went down the stairs, not wanting to startle the sheriff. But she wanted to make sure he was okay, so she went around the corner walking through the kitchen and looking into the dining room to see the sheriff propping himself up on his elbow, mumbling to himself. Swallowing, Leah went to turn out of the dining room and head out of the house, only to have the sheriff stop her,
"Hey there, Leah." The sheriff mumbled out, getting Leah's attention.
"Hey, sheriff." Leah softly responded, giving him a small smile, "Feeling okay?" The sheriff nodded, eyes fluttering shut for a moment before opening back up.
"Just had a little too much to drink." The sheriff pressed his finger to his mouth, "Don't tell Stiles."
"I won't, sir." Leah nodded at him, "Think you can get to the couch?" She asked, raising her eyebrows, "I think you'll be more comfortable there." The sheriff bobbed his head in a nod and slowly got up from the chair. Leah went over to the sheriff, putting her hands out to steady him and helping him stumble through the doorway of the dining hall, into the living room.
"There ya go." Leah said as the sheriff fell onto the couch, head hitting the pillow. Leah sighed at him before grabbing the blanket from the back of the couch,
"You know he cares about you." The sheriff mumbled as he tried to get comfortable, "That Lydia girl has nothing on you." He murmured as Leah unfolded the blanket, "He may not realize it, but he's been under your spell since day one." The sheriff raised a finger up, eyes fluttering shut. Leah felt her stomach worms return and she laid the blanket over the sheriff.
"Yeah, I wish that were true." Leah whispered to herself as the sheriff turned on his side,
"He'll figure it out eventually. Might just have to help him along." The sheriff mumbled, pulling the blanket up over him. Leah shook her head at the sheriff's drunken rambles, turning away and going back into the dining room.
She straightened out the file folders, discarding the empty bottle of Jack and the glass in the kitchen, exchanging it for a bottle of water. Setting the bottle of water on the coffee table, Leah glanced over to the sheriff to see that he was fast asleep. She shook her head and headed out of the living room, grabbing her bag from where she dropped it in the dining room and leaving the Stilinski house.
Leah hurried down the front walk, getting on her board as soon as she was on the street. Her stomach worms still hadn't gone away; she couldn't stop thinking about what the sheriff said. She hated that he said that to her because now it was the only thing she was going to think about. She shouldn't have gone over there, shouldn't have promised Allison that she would go over there, it was a mistake and just made Leah feel a lot worse.
Her phone rang as she got to her house and Scott's name came up on the screen. Leah quickly answered it, placing it to her ear, "Is your mom okay?"
"Uh, yeah." Scott sounded thrown off, "Wait how did you know?"
"I was with Stiles when you called him." Leah quickly explained, "We were talking about the murders, it doesn't matter. I'm glad she's okay."
"Yeah but she's not the only one in danger." Scott sounded like he was running, "I know you hate him, but I need your help. It's Jackson. Peter's going after Jackson."
"To turn him?" Leah asked.
"To kill him." Scott seriously responded, "I don't know where he is."
"And how would I know where he is?" Leah shot back, feeling her temper flare. Again and again, Scott continued to care about someone who couldn't give two shits about him, "Maybe we should just let him die! If Jackson's dead, then you don't have to worry about him blabbing your secret to Argent!"
"Leah! Please!" Scott cried out, "If he dies, it's my fault!"
"No, it's his own fault!" Leah snapped back, "He got himself into this mess, Scott! You don't need to save him." She heard Scott let out a breath,
"But I do." Scott seriously said. Leah felt her stomach knot up as she ran her fingers through her hair,
"Well, then you're a much better person than I am, Scott." Leah responded. She ended her call with Scott and let out a huff. She knew Scott was the type of person who wanted to save everyone, but part of her was beginning to get seriously fed up with his guilt complex. She couldn't understand why he just couldn't let Jackson die—one of their biggest problems would be solved with Jackson gone.
Glancing down at her wrists, Leah ran her thumb over her wrist, over the claw marks as Kate's voice echoed in her head werewolves were the ones who did that to you. Leah felt herself becoming angry; she was so done with werewolf drama. She didn't want to deal with it anymore—she wanted normal problems like telling her sworn enemy that she had a crush on him. Her life got completely turned upside down as soon as she agreed to go out into the woods that night with Scott and Stiles. Kate was right, she did want to be able to fight for herself—take her life back from the werewolves.
Looking up from her wrist, Leah turned her phone over in her hand, unlocking it and going to her contact list. She clicked on a name, placing the phone to her ear,
"I knew you would call." Kate's voice came over the line, sounding pleased. "And you have perfect timing. Where are you?" Leah looked up from her sneakers, tossing her hair back,
"I'm at my house."
"Good. On my way." Kate hung up the phone and Leah set her board against the door.
She looked at the street, seeing that Allison's car was still parked on the side of the road. Moving her gaze, Leah saw that the light in Scott's room was on. She briefly wondered what kind of lie Scott had come up with to get himself out of the house, but also get Allison to stay. Leah felt a knot of guilt begin to form in her stomach as she realized she was just as bad as Scott—lying to Allison about what was happening. But Leah pushed away the feeling, reminding herself that she wasn't the werewolf, Scott was and it was his secret to tell her.
Kate's car pulled up a few moments later and Leah hurried down the walkway, looking both ways to make sure her brother wasn't around to stop her. She opened the passenger side door, sliding in and pulling her bag onto her lap as she shut the door. Kate gave her a satisfied smile as Leah's stomach turned,
"Glad you changed your mind." Kate nodded at her before pulling back out onto the road.
"You were right." Leah mumbled, looking down at her hands and trying not to give too much away. "I want to be able to survive." She looked up and over at Kate, "And you're the only one who wants to help me." She seriously said. Kate hummed in agreement,
"Well, luckily, you called at the right time." Kate glanced over her shoulder and Leah followed her gaze. In the backseat, there was a duffel bag that looked full of something causing Leah to look back at Kate, confusion written all over her face,
"We're gonna pay a little visit to an old friend." Kate gave her a wicked grin and Leah looked out the window, realizing they were headed towards the Hale house.
When Kate's car pulled up to the house, Leah saw that there were already two other cars parked, men with guns in their hands were standing at the ready. Leah slowly got out of the car as Kate went into the backseat, pulling out the duffel and placing it on top of the car. This wasn't what Leah had in mind when she called Kate; she thought that Kate was just going to take her somewhere to teach her how to fight, not to an attack on Derek's house.
"Are you gonna just storm in there SWAT style?" Leah asked, brow furrowing. Kate let out a small laugh,
"We're just gonna say hello." Kate innocently said, unzipping the duffel and pulling out a shotgun and placing it next to the duffel bag before pulling out a crossbow and arrow. Leah watched her reach back into the bag, pulling out an arrowhead that looked exactly like the one Allison had shown Leah earlier in the day.
"I think I'm just gonna…wait over there." Leah motioned over to the side of the house, away from the car and the guns. She took a few steps away from Kate's car only to be stopped by her,
"Nonsense." Kate shook her head as she picked up the shotgun, "This was the type of gun you shot before, right?" Kate asked, walking around the back of the car to Leah. Leah swallowed and nodded, beginning to doubt her choices. Kate grinned at her and pumped the shotgun once before she handed it to Leah, making Leah drop her bag by her feet, "Safety's off." Leah carefully took it, eyeing Kate as she turned to the group.
"On my count." She seriously said as she screwed the arrowhead a top the arrow. Kate looked to Leah, motioning for her to get ready. Leah blinked before nodding and lifting the gun; even though she realized she didn't want to participate, she knew that if she didn't look the part, Kate would be suspicious.
As Leah watched Kate load up the crossbow, the feeling of guilt set in—this wasn't who she wanted to be, holding a gun pointing at her brother's best friend's house with a group of soulless werewolf hunters. She didn't want to be like Kate.
But before Leah could back out, Kate fired the arrow, letting it explode against the door. Then the rest of the men began firing their guns at the house, making Leah jump. Her finger pressed against the trigger and a shot fired out, the shotgun backfiring against her shoulder. Leah winced and quickly lowered the gun, clicking the safety back on and setting it down. As the hunters continually fired at the Hale house, Leah backed away, wanting to get away.
She turned and ran from the group of hunters, into the Preserve—not really knowing where she was going, but knowing she had to get away from the guns and hunters. Pausing, Leah fell back against a tree, taking in a few deep breaths. She looked around herself, hearing gunfire as the hunters overtook the Hale house.
Suddenly, there was the sound of someone stumbling through the woods, making Leah go into defensive mode. She pushed off the tree and turned towards the noise, eyes scanning the forest as she tried to make out who or what was coming towards her. The person was staggering towards her, tripping over their own feet and Leah heard groans of pain.
Carefully, Leah stepped closer, and the person all about fell into her arms. She struggled as she tried to hold both herself and the person up, hands moving to feel a spot of wetness on their abdomen. Leah slowly fell to her knees, the weight was overbearing and she was trying to make it easier for herself. She moved her hands to the side of his face, pulling it up so she could look at him,
"Oh my God, Scott?" Leah whispered out, brow furrowing. He looked terrible, blood staining his lips and his breath was ragged. She carefully laid him down, letting him roll onto his back and getting her phone out to use the flashlight.
The flashlight lit up Scott's abdomen, showing that the wet spot Leah had felt was actually blood. There was a bullet hole sized rip in his shirt and Leah moved the flashlight over to see that he had been shot. Leah immediately put a hand over the wound, trying to stop the bleeding,
"Oh my God did I shoot you?" Leah's voice was hoarse as she began to panic. Scott sounded like he was gagging, his chest rising and falling rapidly, sweat coating his forehead, "No, no no. Why aren't you healing?" Leah asked aloud, beginning to freak out even more as she sat back on her knees, untying her flannel from around her waist.
Quickly, she pressed the material down on the wound, wanting to stop the bleeding. She moved to look at his face, seeing that his eyes were shut and his breath was slowing down, "No, Scott, oh my God, I'm so sorry." Leah moved her other hand to the side of his face, seeing that his eyes were closed, "I'm so sorry." Her eyes began to water and she blinked, letting the tears roll down her face, "I didn't know you were here."
Leah looked around herself, realizing that the forest was quiet—there were no more gunshots, just the sound of Scott's slow, labored breathing.
"Hey, Scott," Leah looked back at Scott, patting his cheek, "Come on, Scott. Look at me." She moved his face. His eyes fluttered open, "Scotty, hey." Leah gave him a pained smile, "Hey, you're okay, you're okay."
"Allison." Scott managed out. Leah let out a pained laugh,
"No, I'm Leah." She rocked forward, hand on the side of his face, "I'm Leah, I'm your best friend." She sniffled, trying to smile as Scott's eyes fluttered shut again, "No, no, Scott, don't close your eyes." Leah swallowed, her back arching as she tried to listen to his heart, "Scott, wake up, come on!" Leah felt the knot in her stomach getting bigger; she had chosen to go to the dark side for a split second and it ended up in the worst possible way. She had just shot her best friend and he was bleeding out on the forest floor, "Come on!" Leah lifted her head back up to look at Scott, "Scott?" She whispered out after a moment, tears flowing freely. Leah took in a shaky breath and tried to calm herself down. She kept her hand against Scott's wound, hoping that he had just passed out as she moved her other hand into her pocket to pull out her phone.
After fumbling a bit with her phone, she finally got to Connor's contact name, pressing the call button and placing it to her ear. Connor picked up on the second ring and Leah didn't even wait for him to say hello,
"Connor! Connor, I need your help!" She desperately cried out, "It's—It's Scott!"
"What happened?" Connor asked, already sounding concerned.
"I shot him, oh my God, Connor, I shot Scott." Leah started crying again as she looked to Scott's face, "And he's not healing and I fucked up, I fucked up so bad, Connor. I think I killed him!"
"Calm down, Leah! Calm down!" Connor responded, hearing how worried Leah was, "Where are you?"
"By the Hale house." Leah sniffed, moving her hand under her nose before pressing it back onto Scott's wound. "I don't know how far out we are, I just—I just…I can't, I shot him, Connor." Leah whispered out, her guilt overtaking her.
"We're coming, okay? Just…just send me your location." Leah nodded, even though Connor couldn't see her and pulled the phone away from her ear. She used one hand to share her location with Connor, seeing the red pin pop up. Leah looked down at Scott, feeling her phone slip from her hand.
"Please don't die, Scott." Leah begged, feeling hopeless.
Leah didn't know how much time had passed since she called her brother, but at the sound of footsteps crunching against the leaves, she looked over, seeing two figures approach them, "It's us." Connor called out, letting Leah relax slightly. She noticed another person with him and when they got closer, she realized it was Deaton. Leah didn't comment as the pair got to them.
Deaton got to Scott first, crouching down and examining the bullet wound. Leah noticed purple smoke coming from the wound and she felt her brow furrow; that wasn't there before. But Deaton didn't seem put off by it, picking up Scott in his arms. Leah stayed where she was, letting Connor come and crouch by her as she stared her hand, which was stained with Scott's blood,
"What happened?" Connor asked, peering at his sister carefully.
"I…shot my best friend." Leah softly said, eyebrows raising. Connor let out a small sigh as Leah stared at her hand with wide, bloodshot eyes, "I didn't know he was there." She continued, "I wouldn't have gone with her if I known he was there." She felt a sob bubble up and Leah took in a deep breath to keep it down.
"Go with who?" Connor quietly asked, shifting his stance a bit. Leah looked over at him, licking her lips as another tear rolled down her cheek,
"Kate." Leah managed out, "I was here with Kate." She miserably said. Connor's features hardened and he rolled his lips in, swallowing before looking away from Leah.
"Connor." Deaton got the siblings' attention, and he nodded towards where the two had come. Connor pushed out of his crouch and looked down at Leah. Leah was looking back out to the woods, feeling like she was the worst person in the entire world.
After a moment of self pity, Leah got to her feet, following after the group. She got into the backseat, helping Deaton get Scott in safely. His head was in her lap and Leah couldn't help but run her fingers through his hair as Connor drove. Scott drifted in and out of consciousness, not saying much or mumbling nonsense. Leah was quiet the whole drive, the night playing out in her head as she wished she could travel back in time to stop herself.
Connor pulled up to the front of the animal clinic, making Leah's brow furrow as the men got out of the car. But she helped Connor get Scott out of the car, letting him carry her best friend into the clinic. Connor carefully set him on a table in the examination room while Leah stood above him. She reached for Scott's hand, holding it gently as Deaton began to take care of him. He cut Scott's shirt off in order to get to the wound and Leah felt her stomach roll as she saw how much worse the wound looked under the light. She watched Deaton push a needle full of some sort of liquid into Scott's arm before taking out the bullet, dropping it into a metal bowl. Connor went over to look at it and glanced up at Leah,
"What did you say you shot him with?" Connor asked,
"A shotgun." Leah managed out. Connor's brow furrowed as he looked back into the bowl, taking the bullet out and holding it up to the light,
"This didn't come from a shotgun. It looks like it's probably from an automatic gun, not a single shot." Connor looked over at Leah, "You didn't shoot him." Connor motioned to her. Leah let out a breath she wasn't aware she had been holding as she felt a wave of relief crash over her.
Suddenly, Scott took in a deep breath, getting everyone's attention. Leah looked back at him to see Deaton gently pressing a hand against his shoulder, making him lay back, "It's alright." Deaton calmly said. Scott's eyes searched the ceiling as he let out a cough, almost like he was coming back to life, "I wouldn't get up just yet." Deaton warned.
"Where am I?" Scott managed out, looking around the room.
"You're okay." Leah assured him, squeezing his hand and getting him to look at her, "You're okay." She gave him a small smile as Scott gave her a confused look,
"I've given you something that should speed up the healing process." Deaton said, getting Scott to look down at where Deaton was dabbing up the blood. His brow furrowed and he blinked slowly, trying to put all the pieces together,
"But you're a vet." Scott's voice was rough as he looked back at Deaton. Leah looked at Deaton; she had been wondering the same thing,
"That's very true." Deaton nodded, pulling back from Scott's abdomen and discarding the cotton ball he had been using, "And ninety percent of the time I'm mostly treating cats and dogs." Deaton explained, getting a confused look from both Scott and Leah,
"Mostly?" Scott asked back.
"Mostly." Deaton nodded as he placed a bandage on Scott's wound before giving him a small smile. He stepped back from the table and Leah stepped up to Scott's line of vision, not wanting him to strain himself,
"I'm so sorry." Leah managed out,
"Why are you here?" Scott asked, brow furrowing again. Leah knew he was so out of it and so confused—it would probably take him a second to remember everything that had happened,
"I'll explain in the morning." Leah said, squeezing his hand gently, "I'm just really glad you're okay." She felt her eyes water up again as she nodded at him. Scott gave her a small, reassuring smile as he passed out again. Leah sniffled and wiped at her eyes before looking over to where Connor was waiting for her, hands on his hips,
"We need to talk." Connor seriously said, voice low and rough as he raised his chin up a bit. He wasn't angry at his sister, but he did feel a bit disappointed that she felt she had to go to Kate instead of coming to him directly. He was, however, extremely angry at Kate for tricking Leah and taking advantage of her, but he would deal with her later.
Leah nodded, rolling her lips in, the feeling of guilt returning. She took one last look at Scott before letting go of his hand and walking through the door her brother held open for her, leaving Scott behind.
A/N: Questions, comments, concerns or cries of outrage?