KIRA

It had been a few days since the big meeting with the others. School had started finally, and a lot of things had transpired. Scott and Stiles had to re-try out for the lacrosse team, and a new kid named Liam seemed to be in the running for Scott's spot.

And then, well, she accidentally became part of the team. Kira had to admit though, as she began attending the practices, that she was having fun.

Coach announced that the official positions wouldn't be up until Friday, which was the next day. She could tell that Scott was becoming rather restless over whether or not he'd be Captain again, but Stiles seemed to be helping Scott out with that.

Kira wanted to try talking to Scott about it, let him know that she believed he'd get the spot back easily, but every time they were in the same room together, they were always with another group. If it wasn't lacrosse practice, it was training Lydia and Stiles.

Which, by the way, was going wonderfully bad.

Granted, they'd only been going at this for three days, so Stiles and Lydia couldn't exactly become masters in that time. But Kira didn't feel like they were really making any progress at all. She'd managed to swipe a few kendo sticks that her parents had hidden away, and had tried teaching Stiles and Lydia how to wield them, but it wasn't going her way.

"I mean, why do I need to learn how to use a sword?" Lydia asked that day when they were training in Derek's loft. Peter, luckily, was nowhere to be seen. "Allison had a crossbow, and could shoot with an actual bow. Frankly, I would prefer to be as far away from someone as I could be."

"I don't really have a crossbow or an actual bow," Kira replied. "I'm not even really sure if I can use a bow, although I did use Allison's crossbow once."

"You would think I might remember how to use a sword," Stiles replied tonelessly. "I mean, after all, I did try to kill all of you with one."

"Stiles, that wasn't you," Lydia replied, sighing out loud. Kira could tell Lydia was getting frustrated, both with the fact that she found something she wasn't good at, and the fact that she had been making comments like this to Stiles every time he would say something like that.

Kira couldn't blame her. She understood why Stiles felt the way he did, but it was almost as if he didn't want to move on from what had happened. Like he was trying to punish himself, and that only started to make everyone else feel on edge.

"Yeah, well, when you're possessed, let me know," Stiles replied back, carelessly.

"Oh, you mean like when Peter possessed me?" Lydia replied back, anger clouding her face.

Kira suddenly felt incredibly antsy. Frustrated Lydia was troublesome, but usually nothing more. Angry Lydia, however, was another case altogether. Derek and Scott, who had been conversing alone while it was Kira's turn to teach, were starting to notice the tension.

"Lydia, I –" Stiles began, and Kira saw a look on his face that looked like he regretted what he said.

"You're not the only one who has gone through a lot, Stiles," Lydia replied. "For days, I thought I was losing my mind. Weeks, even. You and Scott and Allison and everyone were keeping me out of the loop. I kept seeing things, feelings things, and then eventually, I got possessed by a man who was a killer, who tried to kill me. And what did he make me do? Bring him back."

Scott and Derek immediately came over to the others. Kira was thankful. She wanted to intervene, but didn't know how. She felt frozen. Lydia, on the other hand was in complete control of herself. She had a tight hold on her kendo stick, and was walking towards Stiles with true anger in her eyes.

"And you know what else? I have to see him constantly. The man who tortured me, who made me feel like I was going crazy, who has time and time again proved just how awful he can be. We go to Derek's for an important meeting, guess who's there? I go to the store to go pick up some stupid groceries for my mother, and guess who just so happens to be there? I go out in the mornings for a job, and guess who is there?"

"Lydia," Scott began, walking in between her and Stiles. Lydia wasn't even looking at him, though. It was almost as if she was looking through him at Stiles.

"I love you Stiles, I really do. We're friends, and I would do anything to protect you," Lydia began. "But you do get to constantly just stand there and wallow or act like none of us understand what you are going through or like you are some monster or that your pain is too much to handle. We all have pain, and I know firsthand how it feels to think you are losing your mind."

Kira finally began to move, to try and talk to Lydia, when Lydia seemed to suddenly go slack. Her hold on the kendo stick loosened, and the object fell to the ground.

Then, Lydia was suddenly screaming, and Kira's vision went black.

When Kira opened her eyes, she saw Lydia crouched over her, and a huge look of relief was on Lydia's face.

"Oh, great, somebody is finally awake," she said, helping Kira sit up.

"What… why was I…?" Kira began, and then noticed that Scott, Stiles and Derek were all lying on the floor, unconscious. "What happened?"

"I'm… not really sure," Lydia began, "but I think I made all of you fall unconscious."

"How?" Kira asked.

"When I screamed," Lydia replied, looking at the other three in confusion. "I could feel, as it was happening, that it was different from when I screamed before. Nobody was in danger, and there wasn't a feeling of death in the air. I was angry – really, really angry. I was afraid that I'd… that I'd done something else…"

As Kira looked at Lydia, she realized for the first time how scared Lydia looked.

"I've done some research myself into banshees. Even into sirens, who I've read are often confused with banshees or sometimes even are related. They say that while sometimes a banshee's scream is a warning of death, sometimes a banshee's scream can actually… That it could kill. I was so afraid that I'd…"

Lydia trailed off, and began looking off into the distance. She wasn't crying, but Kira could tell that this was hurting her. Kira hadn't been around here as long as Lydia had, but from what she knew, she understood why Lydia had been so upset. Nobody had told her anything for the longest time, and they had only really brought her into things after she'd raised a Big Bad and when they needed her to defeat a different Big Bad.

And then, once she was finally involved, she had the news dropped on her that she was a creature who was linked to death. But not only that, she had seen her own best friend's death coming, and although she had tried to prevent it, it had still happened anyway.

Had all of that been feelings she had been holding back?

"It's okay, Lydia," Kira responded, walking over to Lydia and putting her arms around her. "They'll wake up, and it'll be okay. I'm just glad that you let that out – and, it could a stylish way."

"What do you mean?" Lydia asked.

"Well, think about it. We thought all your abilities could only help find people or warn us of death. But it turns out, you have a scream so powerful you can literally knock out others. That's kind of a big deal."

Lydia stared at Kira for a moment with a blank expression, as if trying to process what she had said. Kira was honestly afraid that maybe she had said something to offend her, that maybe she hadn't phrased herself right, when suddenly Lydia began to laugh. It didn't sound forced or nervous – it sounded happy.

It occurred then to Kira that she couldn't really remember when she had ever heard Lydia laugh.

Eventually, the two girls had prodded the other boys awake, and once Lydia explained what happened, and Kira chimed in what she believed, even Derek looked pleased.

"I've known of banshees, but I never knew what all they could do," Derek replied. "This – this is amazing, Lydia."

"I know," she replied with a giddy smile.

After the amazement faded and the praising ended, everyone decided to call it a day. Kira saw Lydia walking over to Stiles, a half worried, half apologetic look on her face, and they both began talking in hushed tones Kira couldn't hear.

"That's really cool, right?" she heard Scott ask, and as Kira spun around, she nearly yelped at how close he was to her. He looked almost unnerved too, and he stepped back. "Whoa, sorry, didn't mean to, uh, scare you."

"No, no, it's fine. I just didn't realize you were… well, behind me," Kira replied, moving back to where she was and trying to act normal. She felt incredibly embarrassed.

"Oh. Sorry. I've been told I have a habit of sneaking up on people," Scott replied.

"Oh," Kira replied back, smiling, but then realized no other words were coming out of her mouth.

The two looked at each other awkwardly for about a moment, unsure what to say.

"You're Captain," Kira burst out saying.

"Huh?" Scott asked, confused.

"No, I mean, I meant that you're… you're going to be Captain again," Kira replied, smiling. "You deserve it, Scott. And you're good. You'll get it."

Scott looked at her, and the way he smiled at her made her want to fall apart on the ground right then and there.

"Thanks," he said.

The two continued talking, albeit with some awkward pauses here and there. Eventually, Stiles came over and told Scott he was leaving, and so Scott left with him. Kira followed soon after, as she realized that Derek had disappeared somewhere into his loft, and Lydia was also walking out.

Maybe training wasn't going to be that bad after all.