Stiles could see the living, breathing pulse of the forest as he and Scott walked through. He noticed the flowering vines climbing up the trees, racing to get above the canopy before winter struck. He could see the tiny seedlings growing on the forest floor, fertilized by the droppings of the squirrels and birds that ate them. Rabbits enjoyed the vital products of the warm temperatures and rainfall, happily nibbling on the growing plants. Everything seemed to be working in perfect harmony, and the world was vibrant with the energy of summer.
"So have you made any progress with getting to know your mom's side of the family?" Scott asked, breaking their comfortable silence. He and Stiles were taking a shortcut through the woods to get to the movies. Thanks to Scott's wolf powers, they spent most of their time together, even when the Sheriff protested. They knew that it would be more difficult to see each other once school started, so they were making the most of the summer.
"Not really," Stiles said, unable to hide the disappointment in his voice. "I've gotten hold of a few secretaries and coworkers, but most of the numbers are either disconnected or someone else's now. Same with the addresses. It's kinda like... everyone just moved all at once."
Scott thought for a minute. "So do you think there's a reason for it?" he asked, following what he knew would be Stiles' train of logic. He'd learned to think like Stiles in cases such as these, and it had definitely been helping him. Still, he felt he couldn't match the boy's ability to analyze situations.
"Well, most of the numbers are pretty old, my dad said some hadn't been updated since before I was born. I guess my mom didn't keep great records," Stiles reflected for a minute as they walked, trying to find the words to explain. "It's just... feels wrong. I don't think it's exactly a big sale at Witches R' Us that made them all leave, you know?"
"Do you think they were running to something, or... away from something?" Scott asked, silently wondering if there really was a store called Witches R' Us.
"I don't know," Stiles replied, his mouth in a grim line as he found himself fearing the worst. Feeling the suddenly heavy nature of the conversation, he smiled, trying to lighten the mood. "I sense... a disturbance in the force."
Scott was quiet for a long moment. "I... still haven't seen Star Wars," he admitted sheepishly.
"Dude, I lent you all those DVDs like four weeks-" Stiles stopped short and stood still, listening. Scott looked back at the boy, the smile dissolving from his expression as he stopped and paid attention to everything his senses could pick up. He heard a brief crunching sound, like leaves underfoot, followed by a quick whistling. His hand shot up just in time to grab the arrow whizzing toward his chest. Both boys stared at it for a moment before grimly surveying the woods around them. It only just occurred to them that there was an awful lot of cover here for a hunter.
"Looking for me?" a voice called. Allison jumped down from a tree only about a hundred feet away from the pair. Her scent was almost entirely masked.
"Allison," Scott said, his voice betraying his sudden understanding. He hadn't thought of the girl for quite some time, since only a few weeks after they'd broken up at the beginning of the summer. "You've gotten better at this whole hunting business."
"I've been training," she said, taking a few steps closer to the pair. Scott instinctively moved slightly in front of Stiles. "Looks like you've moved on pretty quickly."
Scott's eyes flashed yellow. The truth was, he had loved Stiles long before he even knew Allison. He'd loved her, too, but Stiles had always been his true love, the one that he thought he could never have. "Did you need something?" Stiles asked, getting annoyed at the two trading witticisms. "Other than target practice?"
Allison actually looked at Stiles for the first time. "Yeah, I heard that we have another threat in town to deal with," Allison said, her eyes narrowing.
"You hunt witches, too?" Stiles asked, knowing it would've just been a matter of time before the Argents knew. They had a close eye on everything in Beacon Hills.
"That depends," she said, almost smiling. "If you're a threat to humans, then yeah, we do."
"I haven't hurt anyone, and I didn't exactly plan on it," Stiles said. "Feel free to leave us alone."
"I think Derek would have a different opinion of that," Allison said, "You've proven yourself to be a threat, Stiles. Derek is on the retreat, and the Alpha pack is following him. That leaves us with lots of time to keep a close eye on you."
Scott's muscles tensed and a tendon along his jawline twitched angrily. Stiles hadn't even noticed that the boy's hands had balled into tight fists. He gently slid his own fingers down Scott's wrist, inviting him to open his hand so he could hold it. The loving gesture seemed to calm down the aggressive protector within Scott. Stiles smiled, realizing how important easing the tension of this moment could be. "Well don't worry, I'm not going to hurt anyone anytime soon. I think we can live peacefully alongside the hunters," he said in a calm, even tone, which seemed out of place in the aggravated stand-off.
Regardless, the tension did ease a bit. Allison's bunched up shoulders relaxed slightly and Scott's posture melted back from the ready-to-pounce stance he'd been taking. "There's more going on than you know," Allison said, her tone suggesting that she was letting him in on a bit of information that she hadn't intended on telling him. "You should talk to some other witches."
"What do you mean, is there something going that you... can totally not tell me and just walk away," Stiles started to inquired more, but Allison turned her back on the pair and began walking away. "Thanks, I wasn't in the middle of a sentence or anything."
Allison stopped for a moment and turned around, giving Stiles hope that she would answer his question. "Oh, and one more thing," she said smugly, whipping out an arrow, notching it in her bow, and firing before either had time to react. Both boys noticed as it left her hand, however, that it was easily going to miss them by a mile. Boyd, however, sprang up in time to catch the arrow before it planted itself firmly in his chest.
As the hunter disappeared, Stiles and Scott openly stared at Boyd, mouths agape. He made his way over to the pair, snapping the arrow in half on the way. "Hey guys," he said casually, dropping the pieces of metal and plastic on the forest floor.
"You've been gone for months and nobody has heard a word from you after disappearing mysteriously, and now you show up just as Allison tries to make a pincushion out of you, and all you have to say is 'hey guys'?!" Stiles said loudly, more or less describing his mate's feelings as well.
"Uh... how's it going, guys?" Boyd said with a shrug.
"So where were you?" Scott asked, cutting Stiles off as he started in on another tangent. Boyd's expression darkened.
"A pack of Alphas had us locked up in a bank," he responded, now looking like he didn't want to discuss the subject. "They let us out when they heard about Stiles sending Derek running with his tail between his legs."
"You and Erica? Where did she go?" Scott asked, wondering if the pair had split up to find their pack. However, Boyd's expression darkened even more.
"Me and Cora. Cora Hale. She went to look for Derek. After I heard what happened, I thought finding you would be a safer bet," Boyd responded, avoiding the obvious question.
"So... then Erica..." Scott couldn't think of a good way to ask, but he needed to know her fate. The look of sharp pain and loss in Boyd's face answered his question. He put his hand on the boy's broad shoulder. "I'm sorry."
Boyd stared at Scott's hand for a moment, as if considering it, then seemed to accept his empathy. Scott considered going in for a hug, but figured that it would be a bit too intimate between pack members. Instead, he just gave the boy's shoulder a squeeze and dropped his hand. A heavy silence weighed down the air between the three for a long moment, letting the gravity of the news sink in. It was not lost on Scott that Boyd had come to him instead of his Alpha. He hoped that the boy would stay with him and Stiles instead of going to Derek, since that seemed the safer plan of action.
Boyd's face lightened, and he tried to get everyone's minds off of the sad news. "So has anything new been going on with you two?" he asked earnestly and innocently, not realizing how loaded his question was due to the massive changes that had occurred between the two in the past few weeks.
The pair looked at each other, easily reading the other's expression and finding themselves unable to resist the fit of laughter that bubbled up inside each of them.
**Lol, I wrote this before Boyd died on the show... Not that I'm following the canon timeline here, but it kind of made it that much sadder.**