Marlow sat on Stiles's bed, still looking him up and down intently.
"And you're sure you're fine?"
Stiles sighed. "Yes, Mar. For the billionth time. I'm fine."
"You still have blood on your face," she pointed out somberly, not in the mood to joke around with her brother.
He stopped in his tracks, trying to wipe the remaining blood from the pack's would-be-assassin Simon off his face.
Marlow got up off the bed without a word and walked to the bathroom.
She grabbed a washcloth and let some warm water run over it.
By the time she walked back into Stiles' room, he was already sitting down on his bed.
Marlow sat down next to him and started wiping the blood off his face.
"So Malia knows?"
Stiles nodded, letting her clean off the blood without making a fuss.
"Yeah. She found the part of the dead pool that had her name on it."
Marlow sighed. "Well, what are you gonna do now?"
She knew talking about it would hurt Stiles, but she wanted to pick one uncomfortable topic over the other.
Stiles shrugged. "Try to apologize, I guess. But knowing Malia, that might not be as easy as I hope."
Marlow stopped wiping for a second.
"It's not Malia's fault. The fact that she was adopted and finding out about it after almost dying a gruesome death would put anyone in a very bad mood. Not to mention that her biological dad is Peter Hale. That's like hitting the trifecta of suck all in one day."
She put the cloth on his cheek again.
Stiles grabbed her wrist and gently put it down.
"I think I got it from here."
Marlow nodded and handed him the cloth.
"What do we do now?"
"We meet at Scott's house in the morning. We're gonna work on a plan and then do that plan. Hopefully with good results this time."
Marlow nodded. "Okay."
She got up off the bed, holding back from making any more comments. "Well, goodnight then," she added as she opened the door.
"Night."
She closed the door and walked to her room, falling against her door with a sigh.
She walked over to her bed and let herself fall into it.
Once again someone had attempted to kill her friends and her brother, and she wasn't there to help.
The situation was starting to get unbearable. It seemed like there were assassins at every turn.
She didn't know what plan they'd cook up in the morning but hoped it would finally end this nightmare.
Marlow, Stiles, Scott, Kira, and Liam were gathered in Scott's kitchen.
Stiles, Kira, and Liam put their laptops on the kitchen table.
Marlow still thought the idea was simply ludicrous.
They were going to pretend Scott was dead and deny the Benefactor visual proof so that he would come and take a look for himself.
That plan, however, had several holes in it.
The Benefactor would have to come in to get visual confirmation of Scott's death.
Kira would have to revive Scott in time or else his heart would give out.
And the pack would have to somehow apprehend the person responsible for sending assassins after them.
Marlow had tried pointing these flaws out but she was once again ignored by everyone else, with them citing that it was the best plan they had for the time being.
She had to fold because she knew they were right.
"Is three enough?" Kira asked as she looked at the laptops.
"Depends on how many cameras they have. But I think so," Stiles replied.
"Are we really doing this?" Liam asked nervously.
Even though they all knew it was the best solution they had, there were still reservations.
"We're doing it. Tonight," Scott replied.
"But isn't it kind of dangerous?" Liam asked.
He might have had more reservations than Marlow if that was even possible.
"It's incredibly dangerous. And borderline idiotic," Stiles told him.
"Have you guys done something like this before?" Liam asked.
"Something dangerous? Or something idiotic?" Stiles asked back.
"I think it's a yes to both," Kira answered instead.
There was a beat of silence as Liam sighed.
"You don't have to be part of it if you don't want to," Scott assured him.
"I'm not scared," Liam assured the group in turn, though he sounded doubtful while saying it.
"Then you're borderline idiotic," Stiles told Liam in a congratulatory manner.
Marlow rolled her eyes. She wished her brother wouldn't take it so light-heartedly.
"If we do this, we don't know what's coming for us. You know that, right?"
"How do we even know something's definitely coming?" Kira asked.
"Good question," Marlow said under her breath, trying to keep her comments to herself.
"Because the tape from Garrett's bag said visual confirmation required," Scott answered Kira and reminded Marlow.
"Simon said the same thing. He couldn't get paid by The Benefactor until he had proof that you guys were dead," Stiles added.
"So the idea is, what if you kill someone on the dead pool, but you can't send the proof?" Scott asked.
"You don't get paid," Kira concluded.
"But how does that get us any closer to The Benefactor?" Liam asked.
"He still needs to know if the target is really dead," Scott answered.
"Especially if it's someone high on the list," Stiles added.
"So, if he wants visual confirmation. He's going to have to come to get it himself," Scott said. Marlow sighed in response, causing him to give her the look. "I know you don't like the idea."
"I don't. There are too many holes in it and that is usually our downfall," she reminded him.
"It's the..." Scott tried to get into the overworked explanation of how it was the only plan they had once more, and Marlow didn't need to hear it again to know that he was right.
She raised her hand. "...only plan we could come up with within the time given. Yes, I know. That doesn't mean I like it."
"You don't have to like it. You just have to play your part and hope we don't all die," Stiles told her.
"Great pep talk. As per usual," Marlow told him, her sarcasm ready to cut someone "So when are we doing it?"
"I'll put Scott under tonight. He'll appear dead and be brought to the morgue. We'll all meet there," Kira told her.
"Argent is gonna inform the Benefactor that Scott's dead and that he can't send the visual proof of it," Stiles added.
"And you, me, Stiles, and Kira will check the security feed to see if and when the Benefactor's coming," Liam concluded
Marlow sighed again. "Okay. Then let's get it done."
Marlow, Stiles, Kira, Liam, and Noshiko stood over Scott's dead body in the morgue. "I know he's not dead yet but this is still horrifying," Marlow said.
"He'll be alright. This is gonna work," Kira told her.
Marlow bit her lip. She was nervous.
The small group heard Melissa cry out and knew the plan was going accordingly so far.
"This sucks"
"I know," Stiles told her.
She knew his tone of voice well and held back the other cynical comments on her tongue.
Melissa walked into the room, and up to her son's dead body.
Marlow hated seeing her like this.
"I still hate this plan," Melissa told the group. "I mean this is pretty significantly terrifyingly. He looks dead."
And he did. Right down to the not breathing, which was what had Marlow so on edge.
Noshiko held out her hand to Melissa. "Give me your hand."
Melissa looked at Stiles, wanting to see if Noshiko could be trusted.
"It's okay," Stiles told her.
Melissa reached out and Noshiko put her hand on Scott's chest.
"Wait for it," she said.
Marlow listened closely. She could hear the faintest beat of Scott's heart and felt herself getting somewhat calmer.
"Is that enough to keep a werewolf alive?" Melissa asked, also calmer by now.
"Enough for an Alpha," Noshiko told her.
"How much time do we have?" Melissa asked.
"Forty-five minutes," Noshiko answered.
"What happens after that?" Melissa asked matter-of-factly.
"I bring him back the same way," Kira answered.
"No, I mean what happens if he stays like this longer than forty-five minutes?" Melissa asked.
The kids went silent.
They hadn't discussed that part of the plan with Melissa - mainly because they didn't want to deal with the thought of it.
"No one's told her?" Noshiko asked around.
"What? What happens after forty-five minutes?"
The group stayed silent. No one wanted to speak up.
"He dies," Noshiko said in her usual blunt manner.
Melissa was silent for a second.
"We will make this work," Marlow assured her.
For the first time that night, she believed herself.
Marlow, Stiles, Kira, and Liam were gathered in front of the three laptops, waiting for Chris to hack into the security camera feed so they could see if the Benefactor would come in.
Chris called Stiles rather quickly.
He was silent for a few seconds, then pushed a button on the laptop.
The feed kicked in and the four of them stood there watching it.
"This is still a stupid plan," Marlow complained, the hope from before fading with each passing minute.
The others shot her an annoyed look.
"I know, I'm annoying. But we don't even know what this person looks like. They could be anyone! And what if they don't arrive in time?"
"I will bring Scott back before anything bad can happen to him. If the Benefactor hasn't arrived by then, then we know the plan has failed and you can say 'I told you so!'," Kira told her.
Marlow closed her eyes, a sigh escaping her lips.
Liam grabbed her hand and looked up at her.
"Hey, everything's gonna be alright," he assured her.
She lightly smiled at him.
She knew he didn't like this plan either but it was nice of him to look out for her.
Stiles narrowed his eyes at them and Liam took his hand away.
They looked at the cameras.
It had been twenty minutes. Still nothing.
Suddenly one of the cameras shorted out.
Liam pointed at the screen. "Is that supposed to look like that?"
"No. No, it's not." Stiles said, slowly starting to panic.
"Where is that?" Kira asked.
"The roof. Someone's gonna have to check it out," Stiles answered.
"I'll go," Kira said and turned back.
"Whoa, whoa. This might not just be a malfunction," Stiles reminded her.
Kira grabbed her katana and pulled off the cloth that was protecting it. "That's why I'm bringing this."
She started rushing out of the room and Liam quickly followed her. "I'm coming with you."
Marlow crossed her arms in front of her chest, shooting Stiles a questioning look.
"Go!" he said exasperatedly.
She rushed after them, biting back another snide remark about the validity of the plan.
"And all three of you are coming right back. Immediately!".
The three ran towards the roof.
"This is gonna be bad!" Marlow told her friends.
"Most definitely," Kira agreed for the first time that night.
"Let's kick some ass then," Marlow said as Kira and Liam opened the door to the roof and shoved themselves through.
They didn't see anyone on the roof.
Marlow started thinking it was a false alarm until one of the generators in front of them exploded.
The trio shielded their eyes as sparks flew toward them.
When the generator was out, the three walked towards it. It had been tampered with.
"Looks like someone did something to it," Liam pointed out.
Marlow could hear a growl behind them and Kira did too as the young Kitsune turned around wide-eyed.
"I think somebody did," she said, pulling the cloth off her katana.
She elegantly swung it around and got in a fighting position.
Marlow and Liam turned around.
One of the giant Berserkers was coming towards them.
Marlow growled and could feel herself shift.
She knew the Berserkers could have only been here for one reason - Scott.
She jumped forward with a roar and swung her leg against the Berserkers rib cage.
He grabbed her leg and flung her to the ground.
Marlow could feel blood oozing from her head.
She groaned out, and not even a minute later, Liam was laying by her side with scratches all over his face.
Marlow could hear the blade of Kira's katana hit the Berserker's bones and heard her yell out angrily just before she lost consciousness.
She didn't know how much time had passed when Liam woke her up.
He and Kira were already up and about again and watched the Berserker in fear.
Marlow jumped up, ready to go one more round.
Kira jumped forward with her katana once more.
Liam was thrown back in front of Marlow's feet.
Kira swung her blade, trying to fend off the giant beast.
"Liam, run. Get out of here," Kira yelled.
Marlow helped him to his feet.
He ran up to the Berserker with a roar.
"Liam!"
He wasn't going to give up that easily.
He jumped atop one of the cages and onto the Berserker.
The beast flung him off once more before turning around and walking away.
Marlow stopped dead in her tracks and narrowed her eyes. "What the hell?"
"I don't know," Kira told her as Liam got up once more.
She looked at her phone.
The Berserker was gone.
"We gotta go. Like, now!"
All three ran downstairs and back to the morgue.
Marlow and Kira burst through the morgue doors where Stiles and Chris were already waiting with Scott's body out of its freezer.
"Where the hell have you been?" Stiles asked angrily as Kira put her hand over Scott's heart.
"Fighting one of the Berserkers," Marlow told Stiles.
"Is everyone okay?" Chris asked.
Marlow nodded. "Liam's looking for Melissa and Noshiko."
Marlow watched as jolts of electricity ran through Kira's hand and Scott's body.
The young werecoyote bit her knuckles.
This had to work. It just had to.
"Come on, Scott. Come on," she mumbled as more electricity jolted through Kira's hands.
Finally, Scott opened his eyes and yelled out in pain.
Marlow let out a relieved sigh.
Kira dropped her hand and kissed Scott.
"What happened? Did it work?" he asked.
No one answered.
Marlow and Kira hadn't even stopped to ask if the Benefactor had come but the answer seemed obvious.
Liam burst through the door. The group turned towards him.
"What?" Kira asked.
"It's your mother," Liam said.
Marlow's heart skipped a beat.
"She's hurt."
Noshiko would be fine.
That's what Melissa told the group as she walked into the morgue.
Noshiko would be fine and Scott was fine, but their plan tanked. Just as Marlow had thought.
She skipped the 'I told you so!' part because she didn't need to add her negativity to an already messed up situation.
She was just sitting in her room, thinking about what they could do next.
She knew Malia was in the house.
Marlow had seen her standing in Stiles' room as they arrived home.
She wanted to say something but left it because she knew Malia wasn't in a state of wanting to listen to anyone else.
Marlow could hear Stiles and Malia arguing in the other room and it stumped her thinking process.
She got off her swivel chair and walked out of her room.
Malia walked out of Stiles' room a few seconds later and Marlow stopped her before she could leave.
"I don't think you're a murderer," she told Malia.
Malia gave her an unreadable expression and Marlow's heart hurt.
Yes, Malia was a little aggressive but that didn't mean she was a murderer. And if she were to stay away from Peter's influence, it would stay that way.
"You don't know that," Malia finally said.
"But I do," Marlow said.
Malia sighed, turned around, and walked away.
Marlow didn't want to lose Malia as a friend, but it was starting to look like she was slipping away from the pack.