Chapter 21: Battlefield

Stiles was in the guidance counselor's office, sitting at the opposite side of Ms. Morrell's desk as she listened to him talk as he took the time to fix the net in his lacrosse stick so it would be ready for when he went to practice in a little bit. It had been a few days since the incident at the station and now spring break was over and he was back at school. His father suggested that he go in and talk with the guidance counselor and Stiles didn't have the heart to argue on it.

"You know, when you're drowning, you don't actually inhale until right before you black out. It's called voluntary apnea. Like, no matter how much you're freaking out, the instinct to not let water in is so great you won't open your mouth until you feel like your head's exploding. Then, when you finally let it in, that's when it stops hurting. It's not scary anymore. It's actually quite peaceful"

Stiles of course was speaking of Matt's drowning experience as a child as well as the drowning he suffered after his attack at the station. His body had been found at the river bed in the nearby woods by his dad and the rest of the Sheriff's Station police that hadn't been there that night.

"Are you saying that you hope Matt felt some peace in his last moments?" Morrell asked him.

Stiles rose his head and caught her eye. "I don't feel sorry for him." How could he given what he had done to so many innocent people?

"Can you feel sorry for the nine year old Matt who drowned?"

Stiles sighed out heavily. "Just because a bunch of dumbasses dragged him into a pool when he couldn't swim doesn't give him the right to start killing them one by one." His face then went into a mild glare and his tone became harder. "And by the way, my dad told me that they found a bunch of pictures of Allison on Matt's computer. And not just of her though. He actually photoshopped himself into these pictures. Stuff like them holding hands and kissing. Like he had built this whole fake relationship." Stiles won't deny that he had misgivings about Allison but still, no one deserves to be stalked and violated like that. "He had actually built this whole fake relationship. So yeah, maybe drowning when he was nine years old was what set him off the rails but the dude was definitely riding the crazy train."

Morrell nodded. "One positive came out of this though. Right?"

She was talking of his dad's reinstatement as the Sheriff of Beacon Hills. He began his re-reign as sheriff by taking the two hunters that Stiles had attacked in the station into custody. Their prints were on the weapons recovered near them and the damage to the station house matched to those guns. He even theorized that they were somehow connected with Matt's death and they were being held for questioning. Stiles was happy that not only was Matt stopped but it seemed that the heat was back on with the hunters even without all of Stiles' gathered evidence.

"Yeah," Stiles muttered. "But I still feel like there's something wrong between us. Like…tension when we talk." Surprisingly, his dad didn't want to talk about what happened in the station between them and Matt. Stiles was thankful as he didn't really have a story to tell his father but it seemed he didn't want one. "Same thing with Scott."

"Have you talked to him since that night?"

Stiles shook his head as he looked down at his lacrosse stick. "No. No, I haven't. I kind of been avoiding him actually."

"Why?"

"If I see him again…it would just bring back everything rushing back and I don't think I'm ready for that yet." Not to mention that Stiles might just lose it and let his friend really have it for what he had learned that night. Scott had betrayed him, for the Argents. For Allison. The longer he went without seeing Scott then the longer he had to not break when they had to get that in the open. "Besides…I think he has his own problems to deal with before he can deal with ours."

He was of course talking about the fact that his mother now knew that Scott was a werewolf. He could only imagine what the two of them were going through in their own home. She had completely freaked back at the station. Stiles may be mad at Scott but he wasn't ready to give Scott more grief at least until he could get on top of that bit first.

"I don't think he's talked to Allison either," he continued. "But I think that might be more her choice." It soon went out that her mother was dead. The official story was that she had committed suicide. Had a history of depression. However, Stiles knew the truth because he had smelled the blood and seen the bite mark on the night that she had tried to kill Scott. Stiles assumed that Mrs. Argent had killed herself or been killed because of that. He may have hated the woman for what she tried to do but he empathized for Allison as he knew what it was like to have your mother die. "Her mother's death hit her pretty hard. But…I guess it brought her and her dad closer."

"Speaking from experience of your own similar loss?" Morrell asked him softly.

Stiles didn't answer that. He just kept talking. "Jackson…he hasn't really been himself lately." Now that his master was dead, he wondered if that had forced the Kanima to go into hibernation or something. Jackson had been out of sight and out of mind since that night and hadn't made an appearance in town as far as Stiles knew. "The funny thing is that as of right now, Lydia is the one that seems the most normal."

Morrell moved to let her chin rest on her arm. "What about you Stiles? Feeling some anxiety about that championship game tomorrow night?"

Stiles paused in the middle of tightening the net on his stick with his teeth. "Why would you ask me that?" he asked with his teeth still on the net. He then took his mouth off it. "And no. I never actually play. Not even when I actually made the team and Coach put me back on the bench. But hey, now that one of my teammates is dead and another is missing, who knows?" he said glumly.

"You mean Isaac? One of the three runaways. You haven't…heard from any of them, have you?"

Stiles narrowed his eyes at her. He wondered why she would be asking that of him. It seemed completely out of the blue. Or more like this whole thing had been some kind of a lead in before she asked him that question. He couldn't sense much from Morrell. It was like she was a stone statue, not giving off the slightest emotion at all. "Why aren't you taking any notes on this?" he asked as she hadn't even touched her clipboard.

"I do my notes after the session," she said blankly.

His eyes narrowed a bit more at her. "Your memory's that good?" he asked in disbelief.

"How about we get back to you," she said.

Again, no emotion from that switch. No real reaction to his rising attitude or hostility. Stiles didn't know if this was normal but it didn't seem right. But, at the same time, didn't seem wrong either. He wasn't picking up a bad vibe from this woman but he was still getting a vibe…and he wasn't sure that he should be saying anymore. He just shook his head and went silent.

"Stiles?" she said.

"I'm fine," he said back.

Morrell's gaze on him softened. "Really?"

Now he was picking something up from her. It was doubt and some concern…for him. That made Stiles deflate a bit as he let his back rest into the chair. "Yeah, I'm fine. You know, except for not really sleeping, uneasiness and this crushing feeling that something terrible is about to happen." That emotion that he felt from Morrell seemed to open a major emotional floodgate that he didn't know was blocked up as he let his feelings spill out of him.

Morrell nodded. "It's called hyper-vigilance. The persistent feeling of being under threat."

Stiles shook his head. "It's not just a feeling. No…it's like it's a panic attack. Like I can't even breathe."

"Like your drowning?" she asked him.

Stiles considered it and found himself nodding. "Yeah."

"So, if you're drowning, and you're trying to keep your mouth closed until that, very, last, moment…what if you choose to not open your mouth? To not let the water in."

"No, you do anyway. It's a reflex."

"But, if you hold off, until that reflex kicks in, you have more time, right?"

Stiles face softened a bit. "Not much time."

"But more time to fight your way to the surface," she said to him a bit more pointedly.

He nodded. "I guess."

"More time to be rescued?" she asked.

Stiles started to rock a bit. "More time to be in agonizing pain," he said to correct her. "Did you forget about feeling like your head's exploding?"

But Morrell didn't falter. "If it's about survival, isn't a little agony worth it?"

Stiles didn't know. "What if it just gets worse?" he pointed out. "What if it's agony now…and Hell later?"

Morrell was looking him straight in the eye now. "Then think of something Winston Churchill once said. If you're going through Hell…keep going."

Stiles stared back at her and found his right hand resting at the side of his chair go into a tight fist. For some reason, he felt that panic attack feeling ease up a bit.

Sheriff Stilinski was overseeing the final stages of the clean-up going on at the station as some contractors were putting in new windows for the walls to replace the ones that had been shattered by bullets.

A phone rang and one of his deputies nearby answered it. "Hello?" he asked as he picked up the receiver. He then listened to the other end and the longer he listened then the more concerned and shocked his face went. "Yes," he said after a while. "I'll notify him immediately." He then hung up. "Sheriff!"

"Yeah, what is it James?"

"That was the county jail. You remember that man that we caught impersonating a deputy a few weeks back, along with those two armed men that we had just caught?" The sheriff nodded. "They're dead."

"They are?"

The deputy nodded. "They were killed last night in their cells."

"How is that possible?"

"No idea. They say that their chests were slashed open."

Slashed open? That sounded similar to the deaths that Matt Daehler had been behind, but he was now dead and those people were in custody.

Just then another deputy made his way in. "Sheriff. I responded to that call that we got at the hospital. Do you remember those men that were hit in those animal attacks? The ones that had those scratch marks on their faces that looked identical?"

"Yes. The ones that we found had violent histories. They're in the guarded wards at the hospital."

The deputy shook her head. "Not anymore. They're in the morgue now. They were killed last night. It looked like someone or something came in and tore their chests wide open."

The sheriff wondered just what exactly was going on.

Scott was stepping out from taking a warm shower. He skipped practice and had gone home instead. Right now, he felt he had to be home with his mom, even if she was doing what she could to be as far away from him as he could. At least he would be around for when she finally decided to come to him. He was fixing himself up in his bathroom when he suddenly heard a hiss nearby. He stepped into his room and his jaw dropped at the sight.

The Kanima was in his room, on the wall and its tail was wrapped around his mother's neck as she was lifted off the ground. Her face was wide with fear as she was grasping onto the tail around her neck tightly.

"As you can see Scott," Scott turned to see that Gerard was calmly sitting off in the corner with a content smile on his face. "There's been some interesting developments lately." He took a moment and looked at the sight of the Kanima holding his mother before looking back to him. "I think we should catch up."

Scott noticed the way that Gerard was looking at the Kanima and the way that it was looking back at Gerard the entire time. "You," he muttered.

Scott knew what was happening now. Gerard was the Kanima's master now. He instantly brought his claws out in preparation but Gerard didn't even flinch.

"C'mon Scott, let's be realistic about who's got the upper hand here."

"Let her go," he demanded.

Gerard shrugged. "Can't do that. But, let her live, that's up to you."

Scott took a moment to look at the scared expression on his mother's face as she looked back at him with frightful tears running down her cheeks. He deflated. "What do you want?" he spat.

"I want to talk. You haven't been answering your phone."

"Let her go, and we could talk about whatever you want," he pleaded.

But the old hunter just calmly got up from the chair and moved to be in front of the Kanima. "I want the same thing that I've always wanted. I want Derek and his pack," he finished a little viciously.

Scott shook his head. "You have them all in hiding. How am I supposed to know where they are?"

Gerard shrugged. "I think, with the proper motivation, you might be able to draw them out." He then paused to let Scott hear his mother gagging as the Kanima tightened its tail around her neck. "And, if you hadn't noticed, I now have a very impressive means to motivate people." The Kanima emphasized him by hissing at Scott. "Besides, I have a feeling that you might not be working as hard as you might be if your current grades are any indication of your abilities."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, that while you may not have a great degree of access to the wolves I'm after, there might just be another whose position might grant him a better likelihood of getting what I want. Maybe it would suit me better to cut out the middle man and go straight to him with what I want."

"Stiles," he breathed out. But he shook his head. "No, leave him out of this. This is between you and me."

"Actually, I have my own personal score to settle with young Stilinski. You see, thanks to him, I was forced to cut off some loose ends that he left for me to deal with. He crippled and critically incapacitated my people. Good and decent men that were great at what they did and I actually was quite fond of a few of them. However, their current situations became dangerous and forced me to cut their lives short but, it was a sacrifice necessary to keep the final goal alive."

Scott narrowed his eyes at hearing that Gerard had already started using the Kanima to kill people himself. "What goal?"

Gerard smiled. "Why do you think I'm able to control the Kanima? You know the myth Scott. The Kanima is a weapon of vengeance."

Scott gasped. "This is about Kate?"

Gerard started to lower his eyes into a glare. "I didn't just come here to bury my daughter, I came to avenge her. And, I will."

At that, the Kanima let his mother go and it along with Gerard took their leave. Scott rushed over to his mother and bent down to her as she tried to get her breathing back under control.

"Mom, are you alright?" he asked her trying to get her to face him.

But his mom just kept looking downward. "I don't understand what's happening. I don't know what that thing was or what you are. Or what Stiles has to do with any of it or what he was even talking about. Whatever he wants, just give it to him," she begged.

Scott shook his head. "Mom…it's not that easy."

"Do. What. He. Wants," he sputtered out before she started crying. "Just give him what he wants."

"I don't know if I can."

Scott didn't just mean if was able to do it. He didn't know if he would be capable of it.

Stiles was on the bench on the lacrosse field, putting his gear on for their practice, he heard the coach blowing his whistle.

"Alright! Line up and listen up!" he barked out at them all. All of the players moved to him and were gathered together in a circle around the coach. Stiles stayed towards the outside of that circle as the coach started up again. "Now, I know that by now most of you have heard about what happened. One of our players, Matt Daehler, went off the deep end and turned out to be a murdering psycho. Not who I would've pegged, my money was on Greenberg. The point is, these kind of things can happen, but, we can't let that keep us down. Not when we're in the finals. This school needs a serious morale boost and winning the game tomorrow night is sure to be just what the doctor ordered. And we're going to beat that other team and snag us some happy pills!" The team started yelling and cheering. "Alright then! Let's work those asses off. We have a game to win!" He looked over his shoulder. "Where's Jackson and McCall?!" But no one answered. He then went and loudly blew his whistle.

At that, everyone broke away to begin to start some drills. Stiles just stayed where he stood and let out a disheartened sigh.

"He always knows how to liven things up, doesn't he?"

Stiles turned to see that he had been joined by Isaac.

"What are you doing here?" he asked as he made his way to the benches to finish putting on his gear.

Isaac smirked at him. "I'm on the team, aren't I?"

Stiles went to put one of his gloves on. "I meant here. At school. I thought you guys and Derek had all gone MIA. You've all been gone for a while."

"Yeah, well we've been a little busy to really check in."

"Doing what?"

"Derek wanted us to help in moving some of his stuff and gear from the train depot. Said that we couldn't stay there anymore. We had to go deeper into hiding."

Stiles nodded. He could understand that. Now that they knew that Scott was working for Gerard, there was a chance that Scott had already told the Argents of where he was now hiding. "He say why?"

"No," Isaac said shaking his head. "What about you? You think you're okay to just keep coming back to school?"

"Mrs. Argent is gone. And Gerard is taking a temporary leave. Officially, it's for mourning but really, he kind of has his hands full. He's got a lot of ground to cover and paper trails to make disappear after those two hunters got arrested that night. He doesn't have the time to be wandering around here and causing us trouble right now so we should be okay for a bit." He finished putting his second glove on before looking straight at him. "So, why are you really here?"

His face lost the arrogant smirk and softened up. "I was actually kind of looking for Scott. I wanted to talk to him. Is he around?" Isaac narrowed his eyes when he saw that Stiles stiffened. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." Stiles let his posture loosen up. "And no Scott's not here. He stayed home today. Actually, I think he's been staying home a lot lately, when he's not at the animal clinic. If you really want to talk to him, try going there."

"Thanks."

Isaac was about to head out and Stiles watched him for a few seconds before he let out a small cough and stood up from the bench. "Hey Isaac," he said making him stop and look back at him. "I think there's something that you should know."

"About what?"

Stiles stared him in the eyes. "I don't know if Derek told you. About Matt…and your father and brother."

Isaac face fell a bit. Stiles then went and started to tell him about what Matt had said. About the night he drowned at Isaac's house. Isaac listened to everything and hardly blinked as Stiles laid it all down.

"So that's what happened," Isaac mumbled after Stiles was done. "Cam almost made Matt drown."

Stiles could see that Isaac was feeling hurt. He guessed that he must've thought highly or even looked up to his brother. "Don't think too much about it."

"Too late," he mumbled at Stiles. "I never thought Cam would do something like this."

"Isaac, your brother was drunk and didn't really know what he was doing. He was just being a teenager and doing what teenagers do."

"He almost got a boy killed," he said tirelessly.

"Well, you almost got a girl killed," Stiles countered. That made Isaac tense and look away from him. Stiles deflated. "Look, the point is that I could tell that you don't want to be a bad person. Because you aren't proud of what could've happened. And if you really think your brother wasn't capable of something like that then he wasn't one to enjoy doing this kind of thing. Matt, however did. He enjoyed, no, he loved hurting and killing people. Your brother didn't do that to him. That's just how Matt was."

Isaac was silent for a moment before he nodded. Some cheers made them both look off to see that their teammates were starting to move and crowd around somebody. Somebody that had just entered the field in full lacrosse gear. Stiles and Isaac's eyes widened when they saw who it was.

Erica and Boyd were walking through the woods at night together as they were on high alert.

"Where do you think Isaac went?" Boyd asked as he kept his poise.

"I don't know," answered Erica. "But that doesn't matter now. Derek wants us back before sun up." But Boyd just stopped in his tracks and held Erica back. "What?"

Boyd was scanning the area. "I thought I just heard something."

Erica started to freak out. "Look, if we're going to be doing that whole 'I think I just heard something' thing then we shouldn't be stopping, we should be running."

"No," Boyd breathed. "Listen."

They both went quiet as they started to hear a howling.

"Coyote?" Erica said softly. "Wolf?"

Boyd shook his head. "Can't be. There are no wolves in California."

"Yeah, but there are werewolves," she said back.

"That…didn't sound like Derek."

"Well maybe it was-"

But she didn't say what she thought it was because the howling sounded again but it was joined by multiple others. There was more than one out there. And if it was werewolves, then it appeared there was more than one. A lot more. A fact that actually made them both feel calmer.

Deaton was at the animal clinic preparing a syringe for one of his canine patients that was laid out on his operating table while Scott prepared some of the observation tools. But then they heard the door open up.

"Would you mind seeing who that is?" Deaton asked.

"Yeah," Scott nodded as he dropped what he was doing.

But before Scott could move, the dogs in the clinic all started to bark at once making the both of them freeze. They gave each other a look before Scott moved to see who it was first but relaxed when he saw that it was just Isaac.

Deaton moved passed him and went to open the ashwood door. "It's okay Isaac," he said as he let him in.

"Cool," Isaac said as he slowly moved in.

They took him into the back room where they resumed treating the dog and Isaac's eyes squinted as he watched them.

He let a sniffle escape his nose. His face scrunched up as he didn't like what he smelled coming off the dog. "Why does it smell like that?" he asked. That got Deaton to share a small chuckle with Scott. "What?"

"Scott," Deaton said dropping the syringe. "He said almost same thing to me a few months ago." Scott nodded. "One day, he could tell which animals were getting better and which…were not," he said a little downtrodden.

The three of them looked down at the dog.

"He's not getting better, is he?" Isaac asked them. Deaton shook his head. "Is it cancer?"

"Osteosarcoma," Deaton answered with a nod. "It has a very distinct scent, doesn't it?" he said looking over at Scott who nodded. He then gestured for Isaac to come closer. "Come here." Isaac moved over and Deaton made room for him. "You're well aware of what your new abilities are. Speed, strength, and healing. Have you ever wondered what it could do for others?"

Isaac's eyes widened. "Do you mean…taking pain away? I've seen it before."

"Derek showed you?" asked Deaton.

But Isaac shook his head. "No. Stiles did." Isaac then looked down at his hand and started to open and close it.

At that Scott let a small grin make its way onto his face. "He did it for you, didn't he?" he asked him softly. "For your hand."

Isaac slowly nodded. "At the rave. Jackson, he grabbed and crushed it…and Stiles went and-" Isaac just stopped at that.

Deaton then extended his hand towards him. "Why don't you try it for yourself?"

Isaac moved his hand over into Deaton's grasp and he then directed it right over the dog's belly. Isaac remembered what Stiles said about how he thought about wanting to help and letting his wolf take it from there so he thought about helping this poor dog. Soon enough, his hand's veins went black and he gasped and pulled it away. He saw it run up his arm as he felt the pain enter him. He began to breathe a little quickly and some tears found their way to his eyes. But he was smiling.

Scott smiled too. "I know. First time I did it, I cried too."

The dog started to move around a bit more to their astonishment.

"Did I make it better again?" Isaac asked them as he looked down at it.

"No," said Deaton. "You only took some of its pain, but, sometimes a little help goes a long way. I'm sure that you saw that for yourself when Stiles helped you. Your healing increased more rapidly for you afterwards, didn't it?"

Isaac remembered that his hand did begin to heal a lot more faster after Stiles helped him out. Isaac closed his eyes and nodded before he opened them to look at the dog with a smile. Now he knew why Stiles smiled when he finished doing it for him that night. Deaton excused himself so that he could take the dog back to his cage to rest and Scott moved to clean everything up.

Isaac just stayed off to the side before he finally blurted out. "They're leaving. Tonight, during the game."

Scott was taken aback before he went off to finish cleaning. "So, why are you telling me?"

Isaac deflated. "I'm not telling you, I'm asking you. Asking for advice."

Scott turned to look at him. "From me? Why?"

"Because I trust you," said Isaac.

"Why?"

"Because…you always seem to want to do the right thing."

"I usually have no idea what I'm doing. Actually, I always have no idea what I'm doing," he corrected himself.

"But…you and Stiles always end up doing the right thing anyway." Scott flinched a bit and looked away. "Is there something wrong between you guys?"

"I don't think so, why?"

"Because he looked just like that when I saw him at practice yesterday. That's actually how I knew I'd find you here. He told me to try coming here."

"You talked to him too?"

"Yeah," Isaac breathed out. "But not about this though."

Scott's poised loosened up. "You're leaving too, aren't you?"

He nodded. "But, you're staying. The both of you."

Scott looked off. "I have too many people counting on me. Both of us do."

Isaac went and put his hands into his pockets. "Then that makes me lucky…because I have no one to stay here for." He went to start leaving the room but stopped suddenly. "Why weren't you at practice anyway?"

"I didn't want to go. I have too much on my mind to worry about…some meaningless game," he said mumbling that last part. A part of Scott couldn't believe he actually said that. Not too long ago, Lacrosse meant the world to him. Being first line and being a great player had been his dream. Now, he couldn't imagine something meaning so little next to everything else even if it was the finals.

"Well still, good luck with the game. You two are going to need it."

Scott turned to look at him. "What are talking about?" he asked him with his eyebrows narrowed in confusion.

Isaac noticed that Scott was truly lost. "Wait, Stiles didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

He and Stiles hadn't talked since that night at the station. True, he'd been distracted with what had happened with his mother but he did notice that Stiles had been silent for a while. It had been a little weird because, usually, Stiles would be trying hard to get through to him on this but he hadn't sent so much as a text. Scott assumed that maybe Stiles was working through some issues on his own with his dad, or even wanted to let Scott have some time to deal with his mother. But, with how Isaac made it sound, something very serious must've happened.

"Jackson, he's back," Isaac answered him.

"He was at practice?"

"Yeah. He came back and Stiles said that he would be watching him until tonight."

Scott was surprised. Why wouldn't Stiles tell him about any of this? He didn't know why but he was getting a creepy feeling crawling up his spine. He hoped that it didn't mean what he thought it meant.

"But that means…tonight at the game."

"Yeah," Isaac muttered. "He's playing."

Derek was in his house going over all of his things. Derek had his pack help him move all of his things from the depot to back here as it wasn't safe there anymore now that he learned that Scott had been feeding Gerard information. He figured that returning to his house would be the last thing that the Argents would expect of him right now. As they had been moving, his betas had suggested just leaving Beacon Hills and starting fresh somewhere but Derek refused to leave. But, he could sense how much they wanted to and told them that if they wanted to leave, then that was their choice. He froze when he felt two come on in.

"You've decided?" he said as he turned to face Boyd and Erica. He saw the expression on their faces and knew what their choice was. "When?"

"Tonight," Erica said.

"When everyone's going to be at the game," Boyd finished up. "We figured that was the best time."

"It's not like we want to," Erica tried to say.

But Derek kept his glare up on the two of them as he stepped up a bit closer to them. "What do you want?" he asked them a little harshly.

Erica shrugged. "Since I just turned 16 a month ago, I wouldn't mind getting my license. I can't do that if I'm dead, you know."

Derek could feel the regret oozing out of her. Out of both of them. It seemed that they wished that they hadn't ever taken Derek up on their offer so he decided to remind them of their commitment. "I told you there was a price."

"Yeah, but you didn't say it would be like this," Boyd argued.

"But I told you how to survive!" Derek countered. "You do it as a pack!"

"Are you sure about that?" Erica said at Derek making him look right at her. "Because we couldn't even beat Scott, Stiles and Allison when we all worked together. They beat us down like we were nothing and they didn't even want to kill us. Now we have to help you against guys that want us dead, we don't stand a chance. Besides, I think that we actually learned more from Scott and Stiles then we ever have with you."

"And so you think you would have a better chance without me?" Derek said raising his eyebrows for a moment before he narrowed them back down. "You won't."

"We can't stay here," said Boyd. "The Kanima is still out there and so are the hunters."

"But not as many. Most of the hunters had been taken out already. The Argents are practically all that's left. We can handle them easier now."

Boyd narrowed his eyes. Not in anger, but in fear. "Really? Then why did you have us help you to move everything from the depot and go into hiding?"

Erica moved up a step. "You're supposed to be our Alpha. The strongest of us, right? Well, Scott and Stiles are supposed to be Omegas. The weakest of us but…they haven't gone into hiding. They'd actually been fighting against the Kanima and Stiles is the one that's been taking care of the hunters. All without an Alpha."

"So, you think you can do the same? You're not like Scott and Stiles!" Derek roared out. "You guys won't survive. Not without an Alpha."

"We know," Boyd said without losing a beat.

Derek turned to him and Boyd lowered his gaze a bit as he started to feel a little uncomfortable with what they were about to say and do. But Derek understood without them having to go on.

"You want to look for another pack?!" he asked incredulously…and a secretly a little hurt. But he hid it behind a glare as he watched Erica and Boyd try to look everywhere but at him. "How are you even going to find one?"

Boyd finally looked back at him. "We think we already did."

"Where?" Derek asked.

"In the woods," answered Erica. "We were passing through when all of a sudden we heard all this howling. It was unbelievable."

Boyd smiled. "There must've been over a dozen of them."

"Maybe more," Erica said with a smile of their own.

Derek could smell their excitement. He could see that the idea of being in a pack about three times the size of theirs was more than appealing to them but he would have to shoot that idea down to bring them back to reality. "Yeah, or maybe only two." That made their faces fall. "Do you know what the Bojest effect is? If they modulate their howls with a rapid shift in tone then two wolves could sound like twenty."

Erica shook her head. It was clear that she wasn't going to change her mind. "That doesn't matter okay. There's another pack out there. There has to be," she added a little desperately. She moved to be closer to Boyd. "We made up our minds."

"We've lost Derek," said Boyd. "We're leaving."

"No," Derek said as he pointed at them. "You're running. And once you start, you don't stop. You'll always be running."

Erica pulled on Boyd's arm and the two of them headed on out. Derek watched them leave before he turned and lamented that his betas chose to run away…from him. He then felt a tingle in his spine as he looked down at a shiny piece of broken metal before he took it and turned around to throw it. But it was caught effortlessly by Peter.

"I expected a slightly warmer welcome," he said calmly at him. "But…point taken." He tossed the metal off to the side of the room. "Quite a situation you got here Derek. I mean, I'm out of commission for a few weeks and suddenly there's lizard people, geriatric psychopaths and you're cooking up werewolves out of every self-esteem deprived adolescent in town," he said as he tilted his head in mild amusement.

Derek glared at him. "What do you want?"

Peter's face fell. "I want to help." He started making his way over to him. "You're my nephew. The only relative I have left. You know, there's still a lot that I can teach you." He stopped right in front of him and put his hand on his shoulder. "Can't we just talk?"

Derek looked at the hand. "Sure, let's talk." He then went and grabbed him and tossed him across the room until he collided with the stairs at the opposite end.

Peter started to get thrown around and beaten through the ruins of the Hale House until the sun had long set and night had fallen. Derek was relentless in his assault but Peter didn't so much as defend himself. He was then thrown off into the middle of a room until he finally spoke out.

"You don't think I actually want to be the Alpha again, do you?" Peter sputtered out painfully but amusingly. "That wasn't my finest performance considering it ended in my death. Of course-" But he was cut off with Derek grabbing him for another strike. "Go ahead, hit me!" Peter yelled at him. "Hit me! I could see that its good lifting the heartache off you. The anger, self-loathing and hatred that comes from a complete failure." Derek looked ready to hit him again but he was still and Peter smiled. "I might be the one taking the beating but you've already been beaten. I might have not been a good Alpha, but at least those I bit haven't disappointed me. That's more than I could say for you. So go ahead, hit me. If it'll make you feel better. Even though I really did come here to help."

Derek grit his teeth but threw him down. "You can't help me," he huffed out.

The school's lacrosse field was brightened by spotlights as the stands started to get filled with fans, family and spectators to watch the Lacrosse finals. There was just as much activity in the school locker room as the team moved to get themselves ready.

Danny went over to Jackson who was getting his gear on. "Are you okay dude?" he asked him.

"I'm perfect," Jackson simply said not breaking from his dazed look in his locker.

Danny snorted. "Well, we all know that. But, are you okay?" he asked in mild concern. "You didn't answer my texts all week. I'm getting worried about you." Danny narrowed his eyes when he saw that Jackson was still staring at his locker like a zombie. "Jackson? Jackson!"

Jackson then broke away and looked at him. Suddenly, it was like he snapped out of the stupor he was in and noticed where he really was.

"Stay in the goal tonight Danny," he said in a low voice. "Whatever happens tonight, do not come out," he warned. "If you see me coming towards you then run the other way. As fast as you can."

Scott was sitting on a bench and overheard everything himself. His jaw dropped a bit in concern for what might soon happen.

In another part of the room, Stiles was looking at the two of them with narrowed eyes as he listened in on everything Jackson just said. His focus was broken when someone tapped his shoulder. Stiles whirled around freaked out but let out a deep breath of relief when he saw it was Coach.

"Coach! You scared the crap out of me."

"I did? Good. I needed some cheering up. I see that you're actually here this time."

"Yeah," Stiles muttered as he went to look back at Jackson.

"So, I'll be seeing you on the field then."

At that, Stiles turned back to look at Coach with lightning speed and his eyes wide. "What? I thought I was on the bench?"

"You were and now you're on the field. You're covering for McCall tonight Stilinski."

Now Stiles was confused. "Scott? But, he's here."

"Yeah. He's taking your spot on the bench. You're covering for him on the field. Actually, you were going to cover for him the whole time but I didn't tell you because I didn't want to jinx it and have you be a no show."

The coach was about to head for his office but Stiles grabbed his arm.

"I'm really playing out tonight? With the team?"

"Unless you rather play with yourself," Coach shrugged back.

"Actually I already did that twice today."

Coach then glared at him. "Let me go Stilinski."

Stiles did with a small smile and he looked over to see Jackson make his way out of the locker room but moved to the side to allow Melissa McCall in. She spared Jackson a look before she walked in a bit nervously. She moved in but froze when she saw Stiles looking over at her.

"Hi," he said softly to her.

"Hi," she said back to him.

Stiles could smell her nervousness. "You don't have to be nervous around me Ms. McCall," he mumbled to her. "I'm not going to hurt you. Scott wouldn't either."

She looked down at her shoes. "So, you're…one too?" she asked looking back up at him. Stiles nodded. "Does your dad know?" Stiles shook his head.

But their conversation was cut in when there was a loud audio screech and Coach had come out of the office with a bullhorn and receiver. "Good morning," he said to draw in everyone's attention.

As he began speaking, Melissa's eyes widened as she listened to him address the team. "What's he doing?"

"He does this every year," Stiles shrugged off.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"But…is that-"

Stiles nodded. "Yeah. It's the speech from Independence Day." He then smiled. "It's his favorite movie."

Melissa found herself smiling a bit. "Doesn't he know any sport speeches?"

"I don't think he cares." Stiles shrugged off happily.

When Coach finished, the team started to erupt into cheers which was joined by hard clapping from Gerard. Stiles stiffened but his nostrils flared when he sensed the fear and unease coming off Melissa, returning more harder than before. He looked over and saw that she was eying Gerard nervously. He looked back over at him with hardened eyes and started to subtly move to cover the sight of her from Gerard.

Gerard moved to stand next to Coach. "Well spoken Coach," he said. "I might've chosen something with a little more historical value but there's no denying your passion." He then turned to the team. "And, while I haven't been here long, there's no denying my pride in a winning team for this school. Even with one co-captain leading it." At that Scott, who had been watching from his spot at the bench to the far side, widened his eyes at that. Gerard let a small smile loose before it fell when he looked back out at everyone. "I may be your principal but I'm also a fan. So don't think I'll merely be content with you merely beating the opposing team. Get out there and murder them."

That made both Scott and Stiles jaws drop slightly in unease as Gerard began to head out.

"You heard the man!" Coach yelled out at them all. "Asses on the field!"

The team cheered and began to head out but Scott ran off for the coach.

"Coach," he said grabbing him. "Did he mention me?"

"It's not my decision," Coach mumbled to him a little regretfully.

"But, I have to play," Scott argued.

Coach looked at him. "McCall, you're failing three classes. Academics come first."

"Coach," Scott spat out. "You don't get it. You have to let me play."

But Coach just shook his head. "No, not tonight McCall. Tonight, you're on the bench. Stilinski is taking your place."

Coach then headed out leaving Scott looking after him. He looked off and saw that the locker room was empty. The spot where he noticed his mom and Stiles earlier was now empty. The whole room was empty. He was alone.

Stiles and Melissa moved for the field after they left the locker room. Stiles looked over at the stands and noticed a certain someone.

"My dad's here," he said pointing him out. "Maybe you should sit next to him. It might be safer."

She nodded. "Yeah. You're probably right about that."

"Uh, Mrs McCall," he said before she could get too far. "Don't say anything. Please." He looked softly at her with his eyes pleading for her silence.

Melissa looked at him for a moment before she seemed to ease up a bit. "Okay," she said in what was almost a whisper.

She then took off for the stands while Stiles headed off for the bench. He put his gloves on and looked up at the crowd to see Scott's mom sit right by his dad and heard them say hello to each other. He didn't look away from them until he felt someone come to sit by him.

"I hear you're playing," Scott said as he sat and rested his hands on his knees.

Stiles broke his gaze from their parents and went to look straight at the field. "Yeah."

Scott could see that Stiles didn't seem to want to talk so he took a moment to scan the crowd. He didn't notice the one that he was looking for. "Uh…have you seen Allison? Or Lydia? I can't find them."

"Nope," Stiles breathed out but kept his gaze out at the field.

Scott was thrown at how cold Stiles was being with him but decided to keep talking. "Isaac came by to see me earlier. He said that you decided to watch Jackson after practice yesterday. Anything happen?"

"Nope," Stiles said in the exact same way.

Scott huffed as he started to break. "Okay Stiles, how about we just talk about what we really want to talk about?"

"You want to talk?" Stiles then looked over at Scott and his face was blank. "Really?"

"Yeah," Scott said pointedly. "Something is going to happen and we have to talk about what we're going to do about it."

"Why? So you could tip off your buddy Gerard and give him a heads up?"

Stiles' eyes narrowed into a small glare. Scott's jaw tightened.

"So, you heard at the station." It wasn't a question.

Stiles let a small huff out through his nose. "Yeah, I heard everything. Scott…how could you do this? Gerard? Really? You broke into my house, stole all my evidence and all those times that you said that you were watching Jackson. You kept saying that you kept losing him but I've been watching him and kept him completely in sight. You never were really watching him, were you? You were using that as a cover to go and visit Gerard on what we were doing, weren't you?" Scott looked down at his feet which Stiles took that as confirmation. "Why?"

"I had no choice," he said quickly with a rushed whisper. "He threatened to hurt my mom if I didn't do what he wanted. I didn't know what to do."

Stiles glare loosened a bit. "Why didn't you just tell me? I could've helped you Scott."

"He said that I couldn't say a word about it, especially to you."

The glare strengthened back up a bit. "When has that kind of thing ever stopped us before Scott?"

"I couldn't risk my mom. What if it was you and your dad? What would you have done?"

Stiles flexed his fingers. "I could think of a few things."

Scott noticed his hand doing that and narrowed his eyes. "He's an old man Stiles."

Stiles' eyes widened. "Scott, he threatened your mom's life. Any respect for the elderly points would've been flushed down the toilet at that point." But Stiles saw Scott look away and his jaw dropped a bit in shock. "You gotta be kidding me. You're actually trying to defend him?"

"Stiles, I just can't. I can't do…that?"

"Do what?"

Scott caught his eye. "Hurt people, okay. I can't do…what you do."

At that, Stiles huffed out in disbelief. "Those people," he growled. "Wanted to kill me. Kill us Scott. Was I supposed to just let them go and let them keep trying?"

"No, of course not. But, you shouldn't have done that to them."

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "Why? Because it would hurt your chances with trying to convince the Argents to let you be with Allison?" he spat out. "Is that why you're really doing this? Because Gerard promised that if you sell us all out then you could finally be with her?"

Scott glared at him. "This isn't about Allison Stiles."

"Yes, it is," he spat cutting Scott off. "That's what it is and has always been about Scott. Allison. Why you never trusted Derek and why you wanted to stop Peter. To be with her. Even though her dad threatened you at gunpoint, her mom tried to poison you and her grandfather threatened you and your mom; you still want them to let you be with her." He then remembered his mom's reaction to Gerard. "And Gerard threatened her in front of you, didn't he? Your mom, she was freaked out when she saw Gerard earlier." Scott shut his eyes at that and Stiles narrowed his further. "And you let that psycho just get away with it, didn't you?"

Scott slammed his fist down hard on the surface of the bench and growled. The sight of Gerard having the Kanima take his mother by the throat flashed back to him painfully clear. "Stiles, you just don't understand-"

"No, I completely understand Scott," Stiles cut him off again. "You care about Allison. She's everything. Me, my dad, Lydia, Derek and his pack, all those people that were killed or could be killed, and even your mom; we don't compare to her. Allison's your whole world. There's no room for anything or anyone else," he said savagely.

"You're going too far. That's not the truth and you know it Stiles," Scott said gritting his teeth.

Stiles glare then fell and his face softened. "Really? You said so yourself, remember? All that's on your mind is Allison and nothing else matters. You said it to me with your devil may care smile Scott." His tone had been soft when he said all of this to Scott.

With that, Scott own glare faded away as his jaw fell open a bit in shock. He remembered. He had said that to Stiles. When Lydia was missing and they talked of their first full moons. He had said that with no feelings of doubt and with a smile.

"Stilinski!"

Both Scott and Stiles were snapped out of their staring and looked over at the Coach. He was savagely pointing to the field. Stiles let out a deep breath before he grabbed his helmet and stick.

"Allison's lucky Scott. You're really the perfect boyfriend. You proved that you would really do anything for her." He then put his helmet on and headed off.

Scott let his eyes follow after him solemnly.

Stiles dad and Scott's mom were sitting in the stands as their eyes caught the sight of Stiles moving into the field.

"Why is my son on the field?" he asked.

Melissa gave him a look. "Because he's on the team," she said like it was obvious.

That made the sheriff face widen up. Given that Stiles hadn't been playing even when he officially made the team, he had all but forgotten that Stiles still was on the team. Seeing him appear, at the beginning of the game hit his memory and reason at full force. "He is." She nodded at that. "He's on the team. He's on the field," he said softly. He then stood up. "My son is on the field!" That made everyone around him just give him a look which made him sit right back down.

Stiles had heard and seen all that from the field and let out a deep breath. "Oh, dear god."