Chapter 40: Frayed

Sammy was sitting in Derek's loft. Stiles had something to do with their dad, and Scott wanted to go see Allison, so Sammy was sitting on a desk, watching Derek and Peter strategize. All the while, Cora and Boyd were following along. Sammy was just waiting for someone to tell her what she'd be doing. The conversation pieces that always had something to do with her were when they were mentioning that she might be their key to distracting the twins. That was about it. Boyd and Cora didn't want to hear her feedback, Derek kept giving her these looks, and Peter just looked oddly intrigued by her, so Sammy stayed quiet, swinging her feet from the desk since she clearly couldn't reach the floor.

Therefore, the werejaguar was dressed in an easy, oversized Iron Maiden shirt, leggings, and her high topped vans. The shirt was Aiden's. She was well aware that she never gave it back to him, but he had quite a few of his shirts that she was too afraid to return. She felt like she'd lose everything happy and warm that she'd ever felt with him if she had to part with such possessions. So, she was wearing his shirt that was far too big for her, hair hanging freely in wild waves as they spilled down her shoulders, and her face done up in simple makeup. The only prevalent thing about her face at that particular moment was her winged eyeliner. She looked comfortable, yet somehow put together at the very least.

Finally, her awkwardness came to an end as Scott flung the door to the loft open.

"I know where they are," he announced.

"Same building as the Argents, we know," Derek replied.

Sammy turned and looked at him out of confusion before saying, "I've been to their house? They live outside of Beacon in a large family home. I can show you-"

"We knew about the house, too," Peter interrupted.

"Cora and I followed the twins," Boyd said. "First time we found the house, the second time was after you broke up with alpha-boy-wonder. They must've moved when you left their circle," Boyd said. He still looked at her with bitterness and sadness, but he was more willing to talk to her than Isaac was.

"Wait, then they want you to know," Scott said. He was growing worried.

"Or, more likely, they don't care that we know," Peter explained as Scott approached the desk.

"What is this?" Scott asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Peter chided. "The schemers are scheming. Coming up with a coup de main. Better known as a pre-emptive strike."

Sammy interjected with, "I'm just along for the ride, waiting to get passed off to my next baby sitter. I take no claim to any sketchy decisions that may be made." That earned a glare or two from Cora and Boyd. Peter rolled his eyes.

"You're going after them?" Scott asked.

"Tomorrow," Derek answered. "And you're gonna help us. Sammy, too."

"No. There's no way we're doing this. Do you really think we can take a pack of Alpha's? We only have one Alpha," Scott argued.

"That doesn't matter," Cora said. "Derek and Peter have a plan."

"If we play this right, we don't have to be the stronger pack. We just have to be the smarter one," Derek said.

"Well, what exactly is the plan?" Scott inquired.

Derek began with, "They're one floor above the Argents in the penthouse, right above Allison."

"So...kill them first, that's the plan?" Scott didn't seem convinced.

"They won't even see it coming," Boyd assured.

"Why is the default plan always murder? Just once, can someone try to come up with something that doesn't involve killing everyone?" Scott was trying to take the high road, per usual.

"You never get tired of being so blandly moral, do you?" Peter mocked him. "Not that I disagree with him."

"I do," Cora chimed in.

"Yeah, remember when we wanted to let those boys be handled by the legal system? Do you remember how well that turned out?" Sammy told him. "Plus, it's the most efficient way to remedy the problem."

"No, it's not!" Scott exclaimed.

"Why do we need this kid? He and the girl who would've killed us if Deucalion had told her to?"

"This kid," Derek pressed, "helped save your life. And you would've done the same if put in Sammy's shoes." He then turned to Scott and said, "and you know we can't just sit back and wait for them to make the first move."

"I said it before, I'll say it again. You can't beat a pack of Alphas," Scott reaffirmed.

Cora crossed her arms over her chest and said, "That's why we're going after Deucalian. Just him."

"Cut off the head of the snake, and the body dies," Boyd explained.

"Only this isn't a snake, per-say. It's a hydra," Peter began. "And like Scott says, they're all alphas."

"Deucalian's still the leader," Derek reminded them.

"Let's hope so," Peter said in a softer tone. "Because you know what happened when Hercules cut off one of the heads of the hydra?"

"Two more grew back in its place," Scott finished.

Peter smirked and said, "Somebody's been doing their summer reading."

"No, but Derek's right." Everyone looked at Sammy. "When I was spending my time with the wrong crowd, I learned how they run things. They're officially a democracy, but in reality, Deucalian is pulling the strings with his own tactics. He knows his pack better than they know themselves."

"What do you mean?" Derek asked.

"Deucalion controls the pack with two things. Manipulation and intimidation. He manipulates Kali by pulling at her emotions and teasing her with the things she wants most. He motivates her to follow his lead with that kind of information. The twins on the other hand, he controls them through sheer intimidation. Scott and Isaac saw that the other night. We pissed off the twins at school, and Deucalian simply put them in their place without a word. He's their ringmaster, and they're the circus animals. Kali is iffy, but the twins are how he controls the pack. When they vote on something, it's three against two. Ennis is just in it for the power and the bloodlust."

"So what you're saying is," Peter said, beginning to grasp it, "if we kill Deucalian, or even take the twins out of the equation, maybe the female, the pack will fold?"

"It won't just fold. Kill Deucalian, and the pack will dissipate, fade into the wind. The others won't go on without him."

"See, this is why I like her," Peter commented. Everyone looked at him.

"Whatever."

Derek was right. Scott wasn't going to be able to go through with their original plan. Scott was going to meet Deucalian, so Derek and the rest of the pack, plus Sammy, had been laying in wait to see if Scott would try to meet the ringleader. They, as a group, came to the consensus that Scott would try to talk, convincing the Alphas that there might be another way. One might even want to compare him to Obi-wan Kenobi. The great negotiator. Except Scott wasn't very good at avoiding the fight. He was admirable, but this time it wouldn't be enough.

They tracked Scott and Isaac all the way to an abandoned mall, where Deucalian was waiting for him.

"You didn't come alone," Deucalian said, in place of a proper greeting. It gave Sammy chills to hear that man's voice in this setting. She'd been so comfortable with their pack before, and now he was truly her enemy.

"Yeah, this is Isaac," Scott introduced.

"I'm not talking about Isaac," Deucalian clarified.

Crap, Sammy thought to herself. She was fully shifted, easily hiding in the shadows on an upper level, but Derek didn't stay hidden. He stepped out of the shadows, and into the light, fully shifted with his glowing red eyes.

"You knew I would do this?" Scott realized. "Derek, don't. You can't do this so no one gets hurt. If someone else dies-"

"Him. Just him," Derek declared, pointing straight for Deucalian, who was unphased, and still placed on the dead escalator.

"Just me? Now, how does a blind man find his way into a place like this? All on his own?" Just like that, Deucalian's words summoned his pack. Kali came sliding down a pillar, her claws on her feet and hands shredding the concrete. Ennis came marching up on an escalator, emerging from a lower level. Above the scene were the twins, straight ahead of her. They hadn't decided to merge, and Sammy decided to slip forward, revealing herself to the identical boys.

Aiden took his eyes off his pack and stopped cold. He looked at her center, noticing his shirt hanging loosely on her body. Neither of them said a word. Ethan rested a hand on Aiden's shoulder, trying to keep him calm, but Sammy could see it in his eyes. All he wanted was to reach for her. She knew that because it was all she could feel too. But both of their attentions snapped back to the scene below as fighting broke out.

Derek charged after Deucalian, but with a roar, Kali leapt into the air. Derek was met with a swift kick to the head. The twins flipped off the upper level and landed in a merge, ready to charge the others. While Derek continued to fight with Kali, Ennis charged Boyd, the two large werewolves duking it out. Ennis does well to dodge most of the hits, but is surprised when Boyd catches him with an uppercut. Isaac decides to charge the twins, and that's when Sammy drops below. The moment she lands, Isaac is tossed aside, and a newly shifted Scott charged in to protect his fellow beta. The merged Alpha simply flung Scott into the concrete wall behind them. When Scott hit the ground, Sammy had slid in and swept the merged Alpha's feet out from under him.

Derek started to win in his fight against Kali, finally punching her straight in the face. Once Boyd is knocked back, Cora slid in and continued the fight with an Alpha twice, if not three times, her size. He kept his interaction with her short by clawing clean across her back, shredding her skin. All the while, Deucalian is standing in his same spot, unbothered by the display before him.

The twins began to struggle. As the merged Alpha tried to hit her, they began to split, allowing her to see both of their faces for a moment before the merge re-sealed. It kicked her square in the chest, sending her flying backwards. Isaac charged once again, but the Alpha broke his arm and held on. Scott moved quickly, trying to release his friend. Instead he got distracted, and subsequently was hit. The merged Alpha sliced through the skin on his ribs, earning a roar of pain from Scott. Sammy charged back in and jumped on the alpha's back. She jammed her claws into its shoulder, forcing it to let go of Isaac.

"Aiden, I know you're in there. You and Ethan don't have to do this. Not for a man like that, not for anyone. Please, just stop," she pleaded quietly. The merged Alpha bellowed out with anguish, but it wasn't because he was fighting, it was because the alpha grabbed her by the back of her neck and pulled her off, holding her close to his chest. His hand was wrapped around her neck, but strangely it was loose. She looked up at him, and saw its eyes. They were pleading for her to not fight back. Sammy couldn't stop herself, so he held still. The merged Alpha pulled her and Isaac closer to Deucalian, showing that the two were trapped. Cora was down, Scott was down, Boyd was on the ground, choking for blood, and Derek was just trying to win his fight against Kali.

The entire world around them stopped as Deucalian finally said, "Kill him." Once he saw that he had Derek and Boyd's attention he said, "the others can go."

Derek looked around, suspended in time, seeing Kali step on Cora's throat, Sammy and Isaac trapped by the twins, Scott holding still at the edge of the fight as Ennis stared him down, and Boyd on the ground.

"You're beaten," Deucalian stated, now stepping down the escalator. "Do it, Derek. Take the first step.

"Are we serious with this kid?" Kali grimaced. "Look at him, he's an alpha?" She was mocking him, disappointed in the show Derek had given her. "To what? A couple of useless teenagers?"

"Some have more promise than others," Deucalian sighed, looking at Scott.

"Let him rise to the occasion then. What'll it be, Derek?" Kali encouraged. Pressing his decision. "Pack or family?" Kali pressed her foot further against Cora's neck. The female werewolf groaned in pain, whimpering as she tried to breathe. Derek simply looked contemplative.

Instead of forcing his decision, an arrow whizzed over his head and struck the twins, who immediately separated into two people again. Allison continued to fire flashbang arrows.

"Your eyes...cover your eyes!" Deucalian ordered. Everyone took cover. Sammy and Isaac scrambled away from the twins while Cora and Derek went to help Boyd off the ground. Scott took his place with Sammy and Isaac, ready to charge Ennis.

Sammy felt like she was in over her head. She wished she'd let Aiden talk her into leaving Deucalian's pack together. She wished she was at home with Aiden climbing through her window. She wished she was watching Star Wars with Stiles and her dad. She wished so badly that she could be anywhere but here at this moment. In this...short-lived, pathetic fight where she couldn't bring herself to fatally strike her ex boyfriend and his twin brother in their monster-mashed form. This wasn't the worst day of her life, but it certainly wasn't pleasant.

And then it happened.

Scott and Ennis charged at each other. The two impacted with equal force, each sliding back from each other. When Scott lifted his head, his eyes were as red as Derek's. But it only lasted for a moment before they turned back to gold. Ennis growled, ready to charge again, but instead, Derek caught his attention. Derek threw blow after blow, trying to land a hit, but Ennis kept dodging until he could land his own hit against Derek.

"Sammy, we gotta get out of here," Isaac said, grabbing her arm. This was the first thing he'd said directly to her in a long time. The first time he'd shown any concern since he found out that she killed Erica.

"What about Derek? I could help him-"

"No, dude. We gotta get out of here. The other's have a better shot at getting home if we're in a group," Isaac pressed, watching Cora and Boyd try to leave. Except Derek and Ennis were drifting towards the edge as they fought. Ennis headbutted Derek as they grappled with each other. Scott rushed in and slashed his claws through the tendons in Ennis's legs. He begins to spin, and finally tumbling over the edge, Derek tumbling with him.

He wouldn't let go of Derek.

"Derek!" Sammy screamed as he vanished over the edge.

"Sammy, we gotta go!" Isaac yelled at her. The two of them hesitated only for a moment, hearing the thud of the two bodies hitting the ground. The sound rang in her ears as Isaac gripped the back of her shirt and pulled her with him.

The storm clouds brewed ahead of the bus full of cross-country runners. Coach looked back, seeing some kid up and in the middle of the aisle, causing him to blow his whistle, earning a flinch from Sammy, before he said, "Back to your seat!"

On the bus, Isaac and Boyd sat nearest to the front. Then there were Ethan and Danny, both watching out the window together. Then there were Scott and Stiles, sitting together, studying for the SATs with Stiles asking Scott words for their definitions. Then there was Sammy, alone in her own bus bench, right next to Scott and Stiles. She was monopolizing her solo bench, her back against the window with her legs up, feet just barely dangling into the aisle. She was sitting comfortably, wearing a tight black tank top, and high-waisted black leggings. She had been wearing an oversized black hoodie, but she'd taken that off to use as a pillow behind her shoulders.

There was no Aiden in sight. Since he was on the cross-country team, he was supposed to be on the bus, but he wasn't. She peered over the seats and decided to listen to Ethan and Danny to see if she could hear anything.

"Why?" Ethan asked Danny. She hadn't caught what Danny said.

"You checked your phone three times in the last five minutes," Danny explained.

"Waiting for a message," Ethan answered, giving Danny a gentle smile. The two of them seemed smitten, which pleased Sammy since Danny always had an interesting time finding hot guys in Beacon. The only thing she was really worried about was if Ethan was talking to him because Deucalian told him to, or if he genuinely liked Danny. Hopefully it was the latter, as Danny is quite the catch. If she was a dude, or he was straight, the two of them probably would've dated a long time ago.

"Is it anything important?" Danny asked.

"No, nothing," Ethan answered. He was lying to Danny. Likely because he was actually waiting for updates from his pack. Ethan then looked back on the bus. At first, he was looking at Stiles and Scott, watching Scott's weakened constitution. He hadn't been recovering well from his injury. But then Ethan looked at Sammy, seeing her looking back at him. He tried to give her a friendly smile, but it just looked guilty. Nevertheless, Sammy returned the small smile before looking back down at her phone. She saw the unopened text messages from Aiden on the screen, but they were so daunting that she couldn't even bring herself to read them.

Her attention was snatched up when Stiles said, "Hey, yo, Scotty? Still with me?"

"Uh, yeah, sorry. Uh, what's the word?" Scott wasn't doing too well with focusing on this bus ride.

"Anachronism."

"Something that exists out of its normal time."

"Nice. Okay, next word...incongruous."

"Uh, can you use it in a sentence?" Scott asked. His confusion and discomfort were mixing together.

"Yes. Yes, I can," Stiles said, the snark and sarcasm bleeding into his tone. "The fact that we're sitting on a bus right now, on our way to some stupid cross-country meet after what just happened is incongruous." Sammy snorted in amusement.

"Out of place, ridiculous, absurd," Scott answered.

"Perfect. Okay, next word. Um...Darach. Darach, it's a noun…" Scott just looked at him. Stiles was trying to talk about their newest problem, and Scott wasn't having it.

"Darach. Means Dark Oak," Sammy chimed in. Stiles looked at Scott while gesturing to his sister.

"Dude, we gotta talk about it sometime, okay? Even my sister is more interested than you are, and she's been further out of the look lately than anyone," Stiles pressed.

"Hey, I'm catching up. I'm not that far out of the loop anymore," Sammy corrected.

"You know what?" Stiles said. "We're gonna be stuck on this bus for, like, five hours. So why not?" But Scott just leaned against the window, zoning out once more. She sniffed and realized she was smelling copper. She was smelling blood.

"Next word," Stiles cleared his throat, "intransigent."

"Stubborn, obstinate," Scott answered. Then the bus shook, causing Scott to grimace in pain.

"Oh, buddy, you okay?" Stiles asked, Scott still visibly in pain.

"Stiles, I can smell it. Check his wound," Sammy suggested.

"I knew it. We shouldn't have come. I knew it," Stiles argued.

"We had to," Scott interjected. "There's safety in numbers."

"Excuse me, there's only one Alpha on this bus, and his twin to make the merged Alpha is off somewhere with god knows what excuse," Sammy argued.

"Plus, there's also death in numbers, okay? It's called a massacre...or bloodbath, carnage, slaughter, butchery...wow...that's-" Scott groaned again, interrupting Stiles's rabbit hole that was his train of thought. "All right, Scott, I'm telling Coach that-"

"No, no, no. I'm alright," Scott maintained

"I can literally smell you from here. You smell like blood and death," Sammy sighed.

"She's right, and you don't look alright. Would you just let me see it?" Stiles asked, reaching for Scott's shirt, but Scott jerked and fought him.

"I'm okay."

"Just let me see it, okay?" Stiles said again.

"If you don't let him see it, I'm gonna hold you down and let him look," Sammy snapped at him.

"Okay," Scott said quietly. Shamefully, he reached down and lifted his shirt to reveal the clearly still bleeding wound.

"Oh, dude-"

"I know, it's bad. But, it's because they're from an alpha. It'll take longer to heal-"

"Bullshit," Sammy argued. "Everyone has already healed. You're the only one dragging along."

"Yeah, you know what? Then how come Boyd and Isaac are fine then?" Stiles added.

"I can't believe he's dead," Scott droned, drifting a bit again. "I can't believe Derek's dead."

Scott's words made Sammy's blood run cold. She remembered how Ethan and Aiden showed her mercy, how she could've escaped sooner if she wanted to. The feeling of her heart stopping as Ennis pulled Derek over the edge. The sound of their bodies hitting the ground rang in her ears before she was snapped back out of it by Coach yelling at two more students to get back in their seats.

"Jared, again, car sick?" Coach snapped as he noticed their classmate with a queasy look on his face. "Every time...how do you even get on the bus?" Jared groaned, but Coach just said, "Look at me, wait, no, don't look at me. Look at the horizon. Keep your eyes...keep your eyes on the horizon," he instructed.

"Come on, Coach. Just lean him out a back window, let him blow chunks on other cars, and then we're in the clear," Sammy suggested from the back of the bus.

"Shut it, Stilinski-"

Stiles chirped in and said, "But Coach, I didn't say anything…?"

"I know you didn't say anything! Your sister-" Coach stopped and saw Scott leaning weakly on the window. "McCall, not you too!"

"No, no, Coach, I'm good," Scott responded in a strained voice. His face said it all.

"Hey, Scott, you're bleeding again," Stiles said quietly. Sammy leaned over and saw it seeping through his shirt now. "And don't tell me that it's just taking longer to heal, okay? Because I'm pretty sure that it's still bleeding, and still bleeding means not healing, like, at all," Stiles said. But then both Stilinski's followed Scott's eye line.

"He's listening," Scott said. He was right, Ethan's head was tilted slightly towards the aisle, angling his left ear in the right direction to listen to them.

"Is he gonna do something?" Stiles asked.

"No," Sammy answered. "He's alone on this bus, and he'd never do anything in front of this many people."

"Okay, cool, well, what about the two ticking time bombs sitting right near him?" Stiles asked. Boyd turned his head toward Ethan.

"No, they won't," Scott figured. "Not here."

"Okay, well, what if they do? Are you gonna stop 'em?" Stiles asked.

"I could. I mean they both currently hate me for what I did to their pack-mate, but I could," Sammy answered.

"If it comes down to it, I will. They're not gonna listen to Sammy-"

"Thanks for that-"

"And I don't want you having to forcibly stop anyone because it's a lot harder for you to hide the shift than the rest of us," Scott finished. Sammy sighed.

"You're right. It's a lot harder to explain purple skin over just brown eyes glowing. You just get to say, 'oh hey, yeah the sun probably just hit them the right way,' and be done with it," Sammy complained. Out of any of them, she was the biggest freak. Funny how that keeps happening to her. She used to be the talk of the school, the coolest girl in the freshman class, the Sheriff's wild child. Now she was a literal freak, and she had to hide it.

They hit traffic, the bus slamming on the brakes and Stiles hitting his face on the seat ahead of him. Sammy looked back and noticed a familiar little blue car a few cars behind them. She whipped out her phone, quickly texted Lydia, and waited to see the redhead check her phone.

"Stiles," Sammy whispered, gesturing to the two girls behind the bus. He grinned.

"Yeah, they've been following the entire time," Stiles whispered back, proud that he caught it before the others.

Amidst the car horns honking for the traffic to get rolling, Sammy noticed a low growling sound. She focused on it and realized that Boyd was losing it. He slowly turned his head back at Ethan, the snarling becoming more prevalent. Scott bolted up from his seat.

"What-what...Scott? Where are you going?" Stiles asked.

"It's Boyd," Sammy said to her brother.

"He's gonna do something," Scott confirmed.

"Okay, what? How do you know?" Stiles asked.

"Look at his hands," Scott pointed out. Boyd's claws were out and digging into the seat in front of him. Scott began struggling up the aisle, making his way up to Isaac and Boyd's row. He grabbed Boyd and started talking.

"Sammy? What's he saying?" Stiles asked her, pulling on her arm.

"Uh, he's asking Boyd what his big plan is. Scott said that if Boyd has a plan, tell him, and he'll let Boyd do it."

"Are you serious?"

"Relax, Stiles. He's also asking Boyd what he'd do after making a move. But…" She took a second to focus on their words over the sound of horns honking outside the bus. "Boyd doesn't care," she relayed as the large teenager tried to bolt. Luckily for everyone on that bus, Isaac and Scott were holding him down into the seat.

"What about now?" Stiles pressed. He was on edge.

"Scott says he does care...Isaac just noticed that Scott hasn't healed. Boyd sees it too now. Scott just tried to tell them he's fine."

"And now?"

"Scott said he wants a chance to figure something out, something that doesn't have to end with someone else dying. Boyd just agreed." Scott got up and started coming back down the aisle.

"Have I told you I loved you lately, little sister?"

"You say it every time I make you food or do your laundry," Sammy laughed.

"Well, you're pretty cool, and I love you. Thanks for that," Stiles said, exhaling with a sigh of relief. Scott hobbled back to them and Stiles scooted over so Scott could sit back down without his friend being in the way.

"Crisis averted?" Stiles asked.

"Mm Hmm," Scott hummed.

"Okay, good. 'Cause we got another problem. Ethan keeps checking his phone, like every five minutes. It's like he's waiting for something. You know, like, a message or signal of some kind. I don't know, something evil, though, I can tell-"

"Stiles, shut up," Sammy snapped at her brother.

"Sammy, listen. I have a very perceptive eye for evil, you know that and Scott knows that."

Scott began glaring before saying, "I don't like him sitting with Danny."

"Yeah, neither do I," Stiles agreed.

"Are you kidding me right now?" Sammy snapped. "The two of you should hear yourselves. I already eavesdropped on them because I was wondering if there was a reason why Aiden wasn't here with him. He's probably waiting for updates about Ennis-"

"Sammy, he's evil, and I wanna know what he's waiting for-"

"You are impossible. What are you gonna do to find that out, make me eavesdrop on him again?"

"No, I'm gonna text Danny," Stiles said, pulling out his phone. Sammy was quick, snatching his phone out of his hands before he could send anything.

"Sammy, it's a valid reason to text Danny," Scott tried to defend, but Sammy shook her head.

"The two of you are pussies. I'll just fucking talk to him," she hissed. Both of them looked afraid of her for a moment before she looked forward and whispered.

"Ethan. Hey, Ethan. I know you can hear me," she said in a barely audible tone. His head turned slightly. "I wanna talk. Please?" Ethan barely nodded, said something to Danny briefly before getting up to sit two rows back. Sammy got up and made her way up the aisle. When she sat down, Ethan let out a sigh.

"What is it?"

"I, uh, wanted to talk to Aiden today, but he didn't show up," Sammy looked down, shamefully for wanting such a thing.

"I know. He wanted to talk to you too, but Deucalian…"

"He needed him."

"Honestly, it was Kali that needed him. She has quite the bond with Ennis. The three of them were alphas of neighboring packs before Deucalian found Aiden and I," he elaborated. Sammy sighed.

"I understand it, I just...The two of you could've hurt me, fought me the way you were supposed to, but you didn't," Sammy said. She couldn't stop thinking about the look in the Merged Alpha's eyes.

"I know, but it's not my place to share. It was Aiden's feelings. It was what he wanted. Not that I didn't want it to, but his desire to protect you is a hell of a long stronger-"

"Because he loves me," Sammy said softly.

"Yeah, he really does," Ethan sighed again.

"Is Ennis okay? I know you guys care about your pack, and just because I left doesn't mean I hate you. I still care," Sammy prodded. But it wasn't completely prodding. She genuinely wanted to know how everyone was doing, and if Ennis was okay or not weighed on that.

"He, uh, he's hurt pretty bad, but currently still alive. Kali is having trouble coming to terms with the possibility of him dying. They took him to your friend's emissary."

"Deaton?"

"Yeah."

"Poor Aiden. That whole vet clinic smells like me. I work there now," Sammy sighed.

"Oh you do? That's fun."

"Yeah, anyway, I'm gonna...I'm gonna go sit back in my seat. But I'm sorry things aren't going so well. I'm also sorry you're stuck on the bus with those two bozos back there. Tweedle dum and tweedle brother aren't very subtle." That earned a laugh from Aiden.

"Yeah, they're not."

"Listen," she began, standing up to move back to her seat, "Please tell Aiden...uh...I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'd like to talk to him. If you don't wanna tell him, that's okay, but...I'd like to talk to him."

"Okay." Just like that, Sammy went back to her seat, glaring at her brother the whole way.

"Are you happy now? Did Scott listen in for you?" She snapped at her brother. Neither he nor Scott said a word. She plopped back down into her seat and leaned so that she was staring out the window, ignoring the two of them.

"Jared, I'm warning you," she heard Coach say. Out of curiosity, but mostly boredom, she looked up over the chair. Coach was standing over the car-sick kid. "I'm an empathetic vomiter. You throw up, I'm gonna throw up right back on you, and it will be profoundly disgusting."

"Please don't talk about throwing up. It's not good," Jared struggled to say, trying to breathe through his nausea.

"I might throw up on you just to make a point, Jared."

"It's not good. It's not good," Jared said, shaking his head.

"That's disgusting," Sammy whispered to herself.

"Now the rest of you, don't think we're gonna miss this meet because of a slight traffic jam, a minor tornado warning, or Jared. We're gonna make this thing. Nothing is gonna stop us!" Coach was getting far too hyped about this meet for the audience he had on this bus. "Stilinski! Put your hand down."

Sammy looked over in time to see her brother say, "you know, there's like, a food exit about a half a mile up. I don't know if we stop and then maybe-"

"We're not gonna stop," Coach said firmly.

"Okay, but if we stop-"

"Stilinski!" Coach blew his shrill whistle at Stiles. "Shut it! Seriously, it's a little bus! Stop asking me questions!" Coach yelled.

"I hate him," Stiles said quietly. "Did you call Deaton?" Stiles asked Scott.

Scott sighed and said, "I keep getting his voicemail."

"Alright, that's it. I'm calling Lydia and Allison," Stiles declared.

"How are they gonna help, back in Beacon hills?" Scott questioned.

Sammy smiled and said, "that's because they're like three cars back from the bus. They've been following us for hours."

"Pathetic," Stiles scoffed as he pressed the call button to talk to Lydia.

"Hey, Stiles! Yeah, we're about to walk into a movie, uh, you know, the popcorn and-" Lydia started to lie.

"I know you guys are right behind us. Put me on speaker," Stiles said into the phone.

"Okay."

"Okay, look, Scott's still hurt." The other end of the line was silent for a moment.

"What do you mean still?" Allison asked. "He's not healing?"

"No, he's not healing. I think he's actually getting worse. The bloods turning, like, a black color-"

"W-what's wrong with him?" Lydia asked.

"What's wrong with him? What- Do I look like I have a PhD in lycanthropy? How am I supposed to know that?"

"We need to get him off the bus," Allison said.

"And take him where? A Hospital?" Lydia argued.

"If he's dying, yeah...Stiles, there's a rest area about a mile up. Tell the coach to pull over," Allison decided.

"Yeah, I've been trying."

"Reason with him," Allison pushed.

"Reason? Have you met this guy?" Stiles had to calm himself down and keep himself from yelling.

"Just try something," Allison pressed one last time.

"Fuck me," Stiles groaned. "Any bright ideas Sammy?"

"I wanna see how this turns out," she mused. Stiles groaned and got up, moving to reason with Coach. Sammy slid into Stiles's spot next to Scott.

"What are you doing?" Scott asked as Sammy grabbed his hand.

"Focusing. Remember when you taught me about easing an animal's pain?"

"Sammy, I-"

"Shut up," she snapped at him. Sammy breathed in, exhaled, and watched the veins in her hands darken with Scott's. She was doing her best to focus as Stiles started to yell at Coach and Coach whistled his whistle over and over again.

"Lord, I didn't know it would feel like this," Sammy commented as she was filled with nausea, and some moderate relief shone through on Scott's face.

"Sammy? You okay?"

"Oh god, I'm gonna throw up," Sammy declared. Scott was too weak to react to her. Her hands let go of his and she stood up.

"Coach!" She yelled.

"Little Stilinski! Sit back down!" Coach yelled. Sammy spotted Stiles sitting with Jared.

"Coach! I'm very close to throwing up on this bus, and ff I throw up, you and Jared throw up, is that what you want right now?!" She yelled at him.

"Excuse me?!" Coach yelled. But then Stiles bolted from where he was seated and Jared vomited all over the floor. Everyone was disgusted, Sammy regained her constitution, and Coach damn near threw up himself.

"Alright! Pull the bus over at the next stop!" Coach decided. The bus driver didn't even hesitate. He pulled off into the shoulder and sped on ahead for the rest stop. Sammy looked back and saw Lydia and Allison tailing them to the rest area.

The second the bus stopped, people exploded from the bus doors, trying to escape the smell of Jared's exceptional amount of vomit. It was the perfect way to get Scott off the bus. Coach was spraying lysol all over the bus trying to defeat the smell, yelling out the window, "Jared you suck!" and then, "Hey! Somebody grab some towels...or a mop...or a new bus."

Stiles and Allison were carrying Scott to one of the empty bathrooms while Sammy stayed behind, as instructed during the chaos. She was supposed to keep an eye on Isaac and Boyd, making sure they didn't try anything now that everyone was out in the open. After a couple minutes, everyone had used the restroom and they were all milling about outside the bus while Coach and a volunteer cleaned up the vomit. But then the bus was clean, and Coach had popped his head out.

He blew his whistle and called, "Let's go! Back on the bus!" Sammy looked over at Stiles and Lydia, the three of them now panicking since there was currently no sign of Scott. Lydia made a break for the bathroom and Stiles looked at Sammy, tapping his ears. She nodded back and listened to him across the way.

"The bus can't leave. We need more time," Stiles told her. But Sammy shrugged to tell him she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do about it. "Figure something out. And hurry," Stiles pressed. Sammy took a breath and looked at Isaac and Boyd.

"Hey, I know you guys don't like me, but I need a favor. They're patching Scott up, and we need to buy him some time," Sammy said to the two betas.

"You're right, we don't like you right now," Boyd snapped.

"But it's for Scott, so what do you need us to do?" Isaac asked. Sammy had to think fast, but then she spotted Ethan.

"Remember how you guys wanted to attack Ethan? Well I know everyone is around, so just go after him without turning. Just a good, old fashion, human beat down," Sammy tried to persuade them. The two boys looked at each other before looking back at her.

"You got it, Sammy," Isaac agreed with a malicious smirk taking over his lips. The two approached Ethan, walking right up on his back. Boyd was about to swing, but Isaac threw all caution to the wind and tackled Ethan to the ground. As Isaac and Ethan began to brawl, Boyd close by for support, Stiles jogged up to Sammy.

"Huh, that was your grand idea?" Stiles asked.

"I mean, it's working isn't it?" Sammy smiled as Coach started blowing his whistle and yelling at them. There was no stopping Isaac from putting a little hurt on Ethan, especially since he had the element of surprise.

"Stiles, what's happening?" Scott asked as Allison and Lydia helped him over.

"They went after him. Sammy told them what we were doing and told them to go after Ethan to buy us some time," Stiles explained.

"Who, Boyd?" Scott panicked, suddenly having enough energy to chase down the fight. But Scott's assumption was wrong. Boyd was standing close by, yes, but Isaac had Ethan on the ground against a tree, bashing his face in.

"Isaac! Isaac! Isaac!" Coach yelled, springing up to the fight. Danny was trying to pull Isaac off of Ethan, but he just got thrown off. "Isaac! Back off!" Coach yelled. Ethan had blood spilling down his chin, Isaac having gotten his mouth pretty good.

"ISAAC!" Scott yelled this time. Everyone went silent and Isaac stopped, catching his breath. The kid wasn't even phased. He just smiled at Scott, seeing that his friend was okay. Danny immediately bent down to check on Ethan, who was still on the ground. Everyone was silent.

"All right, everyone back on the bus. Danny, help him get cleaned up. You got two minutes," Coach instructed. Everyone got back on the bus, but the seats were reorganized a bit with Lydia and Allison now joining the bunch, having left Allison's car behind.

Weirdly enough, the skies have cleared overhead of the bus, but Sammy was no longer alone in her seat. Lydia sat next to her, on the side of the aisle where she could talk to both her and Stiles. Allison now sat with Scott, making sure he was okay now that she played nurse. Boyd and Isaac were back in their seats, and now they were a lot calmer. Most people were falling asleep, and Ethan was back sitting with Danny.

"Alright, so let's go over this one more time," Stiles said. He and Lydia, the smart ones of their group, were working on the Darach problem. "So it's the sacrifices, right? Everything has to do with them, and someone who thinks he's, like, a dark druid of some kind."

"Or, actually is a dark druid," Lydia said, convinced that their bad guy was one and the same.

"A darach," Stiles said quietly.

"You know...some ancient cultures sacrificed people in preparation for battle," Lydia brought up, biting her lip after, for a moment.

"So, we got alpha werewolves against a dark druid," Stiles half mused.

"Yeah," Lydia sighed.

"This is all really depressing," Sammy said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah," Stiles agreed.

Sammy pulled out her phone, and for a moment, she hesitated. Her eyes glossed over the text notifications. They were all unopened messages from Aiden over the last week or two. She looked over at Ethan, seeing his face, seeing Aiden's face on him, and suddenly she clicked on the text conversation between herself and her sort of ex. They were all messages asking her to talk, to check-in on her, to say hello to her. All of them were time stamped for before the big fight in the abandoned mall. She typed on two keys, simply writing out "hi." It sat there for a moment in the draft box. It started her down, and she was about to delete it, but then her thumb had a mind of its own. She pressed send.

[Sammy] Hi

A few moments passed, her heart gradually beginning to race in her chest. But then her heart stopped at the sound of her phone going off.

[Aiden] Hi

[Sammy] how's everything going?

[Aiden] not great

[Aiden] Ennis didn't make it

[Aiden] He was going to

[Aiden] But instead Deucalian killed him

Sammy looked down at the news on her phone. For a moment, she thought about relaying that information to Stiles and Scott, but then she froze, and ultimately decided to keep it to herself. Then her phone went off again.

[Aiden] How are you?