Survival

Chapter 38

College?

...

Sean was balancing on one hand while holding his cell phone in the other, "I'm fine now, aside from the whole gross-out factor. So, since both your parents know, do you want to hold the meeting at your house?"

"God no! The last thing we need when we're talking about our future is our parents giving advice!" Scott replied, "We were hoping to use your house, if it's alright."

"It's fine. When?"

"After dinner, around 7."

Sean carefully lowered himself to the ground. It was almost 4, "Okay, I'll head to your place for now. I still don't like being alone here for that long, and I'll need to check on Willow."

"I have Stiles, Liam and Brett with me, and I'll call the others."

...

The Walcott house

Lydia leaned forward, "So, this Connor is a Druidic Guardian sent to protect The Nemeton? Deaton will want to meet him, if he hasn't already."

"So will Satomi." Brett stated. "The Nemeton is on Hale Territory, but it affects our pack too."

Brett was the odd-man out in The McCall Pack. He was actually a member of The Satomi Pack, he was just a temporary addition to Scott's, though he was willing to fight, and die, for both.

"Is he human?" Malia asked.

Derek shrugged, "Peter said that he was human, and he has Celtic runes tattooed over the visible parts of his body, so that means he doesn't have healing powers like a Werewolf."

"I wonder if he'd let us translate?"

"I doubt it."

"Remember, we're here to talk about what to do when we graduate." Scott pointed out.

"When you graduate, you mean." Liam said glumly.

"You don't have to go to college to survive, you know."

"Sorry, Sourwolf, but not all of us have millions of dollars to keep ourselves off the streets."

"What I'm saying, Little Red," Derek gave a slight smirk as Stiles grimaced at the nickname, "Is that you don't need a college degree to get a job. A lot of college graduates can't find work, it's just the economy. Even if you do want a degree, you have online courses and we have a good community college right here in Beacon Hills."

"My parents will kill me if I don't get into a good college." Kira remarked.

"It's not like we need lying foxes in The Pack-"

Kira snarled at Liam, who growled back, eyes yellow.

"What we don't need are whiney puppies-"

"Kira, Liam! Stop this right now!" Scott shouted.

Both were standing now, Liam with fangs bared and in full wolf-mode, Kira smirking with the thought she could take him down easily.

Sean jumped up, seemed to fall, tumbled, then did a handstand, walking between the two on his hands, then doing a backflip over the couch, landing on his feet.

Everyone was looking at the young Wendigo in surprise. They began to clap as Sean cartwheeled over, stopping right beside Liam, jumped upright and put an arm around the boy's shoulder. Liam was still breathing hard, still angry, but fighting it.

"That... Was cool." He'd seen Sean training, but not performing. He had to admit, the boy could move.

Sean mussed the boy's hair, he shied away a bit, blushing.

"Thank you. Come on into my training room, I'll show you a few tricks."

Liam laughed, "That sounds kind of dirty."

Sean grinned, "C'mon, I'll give you some candy."

"Stranger danger!" Stiles shouted in mock warning.

"They don't get much stranger than him." Liam teased, "Or you, Stiles."

Scott motioned that they should let the two go on alone, though Derek followed them in case they needed any help.

"That was a novel solution to a potential fight." Lydia observed.

"And it was entertaining, too."

...

"This is really simple, you have more than enough strength to support your body with your arms, it's just a matter of balance."

Sean was lightly holding Liam up by the waist as he tried to gain his balance. He'd done more than enough upper-body exercises like push-ups and chin-ups as a human to support himself, as a Werewolf, he had superior strength and enhanced agility. While walking on his hands and doing cartwheels was unlikely to aid in a fight, being able to backflip, somersault and leap would be a great advantage.

"I think I got it, you can let go now."

Sean let go but stood nearby as Derek watched from the doorway.

The practice room was large and mostly empty, save for mats , a few bars lined against the wall and a pair of rings hanging from the ceiling. Sean's family had really supported his efforts towards gymnastics.

They watched Liam proceed a few steps on his hands before losing balance, Sean caught him before he could fall. "You're doing great, but you should probably just stay still and find your balance before trying to walk around, okay?"

"Balance is not something I'm good at." Liam admitted, and he wasn't talking about athletics. "Thanks. I don't know what came over me."

"It's not your fault you have IED, any more than it's Stiles' or my own fault we have PTSD. Or the fact that I turn into a cannibalistic monster when I get too hungry."

"I know. It's just, it was nothing, I just felt mad at Kira for no reason."

"I threw you off a roof, well, actually I think I dropped you. I wasn't thinking very clearly and then I died."

"What was it like?"

"I didn't really die, I just kind of shut down. It was like sleep, I guess, I don't remember anything."

"Do you think I could learn to do backflips and jumps like that?"

"You have the strength for it, you just need training." He was silent for a moment, "Liam Dunbar. That's a fine Scottish name. My dad would have had you in a kilt playing the bagpipes."

"I'm not doing a handstand in a kilt! I already streaked through town once, I don't want to show the world everything again."

"I meant like dancing, or marching in a parade. Dad was proud to be a Scot." He smirked, "Oh, and I think I've found your center of gravity."

"Where?"

"Right here." Sean gave him a light swat on the behind.

"Jerk." Liam pouted as Sean and Derek laughed.

...

"Well, I can't order you to do this, but I plan on staying right here." SCott said firmly "I swore to protect Beacon Hills, and I will."

"Eh, I don't think I'd like a college environment," Stiles replied, "Besides, who could afford it?"

"We might be able to persuade my parents, since they're Kitsune too. They should understand. But no promises."

"Like I'd go to college." Malia said bluntly.

"I'm only here on a temporary basis," Brett explained, "And it's difficult enough being a part of two different packs, even if we are allies. I'm pretty much anchored here, with Satomi and you." He looked at Scott, "But goin' pro would be nice..."

Lydia was deep in thought. She could easily afford college, and she already had offers of scholarships. But The Pack needed her genius. True, Stiles was a genius too, but two heads are better than one. But it was something she wanted, and, frankly, to get away from the death-trap that was Beacon Hills would be nice. "Like Brett said, I'm anchored here." She smiled, "I can't leave you idiots to try to figure things out on your own. I may go to the community college, but nothing out of pack territory."

"That leaves Sean and Liam. I don't think Sean could leave even if he wanted to, with his family business and his... Dietary restrictions. And," Scott looked to make sure Sean was still gone, "No offence to Sean, but I don't think he's ready to survive on his own."

"I think he'd agree with you." Brett stated, "He hasn't said anything about leaving Beacon Hills, even after everything he's been through."

...

Later,

Stiles walked over to Sean as the others began to leave.

"So, what did you think about The Force Awakens?"

"I found the lack of Constable Zuvio disturbing." Sean replied, "I mean, he was in all the promotional works, he got two action figures, and they cut his entire scene? He was one of the main reasons I went to see the movie!"

"You went just to see Constable Zuvio? That's dedication!"

"No, I wanted to see the movie, I was just upset he wasn't in it."

Stiles laughed, "Kylo Ren looked like Mozenrath from the old Aladdin cartoon to me."

"I thought so too!" Sean grinned. "What about Hitler Jr. with his hysterical screaming and flailing speech and all the stormtroopers doing the Nazi salute at the end? Could they have made the metaphor any more obvious?"

"They could have given him a tiny mustache."

"Supreme Leader Snoke was kind of cool though."

"Yeah, and I'm glad Peter Mayhew could come back as Chewbacca. After 38 years he's still got it."

"It was cool to see Ackbar again, too."

"You know" Stiles said wistfully, "I used to dream about being Jabba The Hutt, and having Princess Leia in her slave outfit dancing for me..."

"And strangling you to death." Sean snorted.

Stiles' eyes lit up, "Hey, it's still playing at the 11. Want to go see it again?"

"Sure. You can never see enough Star Wars."

Stiles pulled Sean into a hug, "Oh, man, if I wasn't dating Malia, I'd be in love with you!"

"Thank God you're dating Malia!"

...

To be continued...

Notes

I was deeply disappointed they cut out Constable Zuvio's scenes from Star Wars : The Force Awakens.

Chewie is still cool after all these years. Long Live The Mighty Wookie! Give Chewbacca an Oscar! Best Supporting Character! And give him the medal already! Have they not invented step ladders in the Star Wars Universe?

And yes, in this story the surviving Hales are rich.

I am not telling people not to go to college,I am just pointing out that it does not guarantee success in life.