This is the part where I apologize for taking so long- I'm completely and incredibly sorry! I do have a few valid reasons and some invalid reasons.
Thank you to everyone that has followed, favorited, and reviewed this story! The love I have for all of you is immense.
In all honesty, I struggled to find motivation while writing this because of plot changes that needed to be made- both of my own fault and of the writes of Teen Wolf's fault. (You'll notice that I have changed the excursion to visit Danny in the hospital to after school- it makes more sense than to have Stiles leave school in the middle of the day then leave the hospital when it's dark out.) I don't mean to sound needy but if there was ever a time for you guys to review, now would be the time...
There is currently a poll up on my profile, asking you to vote whether you think Marlee should remain a human or gain a supernatural essence. If it turns out to be the second one, I have a story arc planned that isn't like anything we have seen so far on the show. Be sure to check that out.
The Tumblr blog, fyeahteenwolfocs, is currently having an OC Positivity Month so I'd recommend you go and take a look to see some of the wonderful original characters in this fandom.
You can find me on Polyvore as 'earthdiva', Tumblr as 'missunderstoodxoxo', or you can check out the Marlee Decker tag on Tumblr.
Inspiration for this chapter: "Vacation" by Simple Plan, the new Ghostbusters theme (meaning that I had the trailer playing on repeat in the background- don't ask me why), and "I'll Be Good" by Jaymes Young.
Disclaimer: I own the Decker/Keating clan, Amy Shriner (who does not make an appearance this chapter), and the car known as Ron Burgundy. Everything else belongs to the rightful owners.
While Scott and Stiles had managed to get some sleep, the same could not be said about Marlee Decker. In fact, she had spent hours tossing and turning until she finally decided that enough was enough. Firing up her laptop at around 3:30 in the morning, Marlee spent the next couple of hours researching druids, scrolling through Tumblr, and blasting Simple Plan through her headphones. Eventually, the rising sun filtered in through a crack in between her bedroom curtains. When Virginia opened her daughter's door, she found the young woman sporting quite the raccoon look from lack of sleep and smudged makeup that she hadn't bothered to take off.
"Well, this is something that every mother loves to see."
When it became apparent that the teenager hadn't heard her parent over the sounds of Simple Plan's New York Minute song, "Vacation", the older woman decided to take matters into her own hands. Carefully grabbing one of the pillows that had fallen off of the bed sometime during the night, Virginia hit Marlee over the head with it.
"Sanctuary!" Marlee shrieked as she covered her head with her arms in mock-defense.
Her mother chuckled before a thoughtful expression found its way to her face. "How are you holding up, buttercup?"
Marlee lowered her arms slowly before replying, "Good. I mean, I'm not the one who was taken and murdered- so, I really can't complain."
A shudder passed through the matriarch's body as she pushed the image of a cold, lifeless Marlee away.
"I didn't realize that I was moving us out to a real-life Santa Carla, babe. I'm sorry."
The '80s movie lover's laughter bordered on hysterical; oh, if only Virginia knew the truth.
"Excellent Lost Boys reference, Mom. I don't think that there are any leather-clad vampires in Beacon Hills though."
At least I hope there's not. Werewolves and dark druids are already problematic enough.
"On a lighter note…" Virginia's tone was teasing as a sly look overtook her features. "How was studying with Scott?"
"Oh my God." Marlee groaned, covering her face with her hands.
"Alright, alright. You don't have to tell me anything. I'll leave you to get ready for school." Virginia relented. Yet as she walked towards the bedroom door, she couldn't help but hum a wedding march, only to have a pillow sent flying at her back.
Laughter was abundant in the Decker household that morning.
Unfortunately, it seemed as if the universe was conspiring against Marlee for the rest of the morning. Allison had stayed home in order to dig through her father's things and find possible information, so Marlee caught a ride to school from her mother. (Thank God that Ron Burgundy, her beloved Oldsmobile, was supposedly going to be fixed by the next day.) After that, her day grew to be difficult. It seemed as if there was never a free moment between classes to talk to the boys about what had happened the night before.
When she entered the Physics room for class, seconds before the bell, she silently groaned. Stiles had taken up the seat next to Scott and Marlee was forced to share a table with a random blond guy behind her two friends. She leaned forward to speak, ready to finally be informed of whatever they might have learned.
"So, Hardy Boys, what do we know?"
Before either of them could answer her, the sound of a textbook being placed on the front counter with a 'thud' caught Marlee's attention. When she turned her focus to the person standing there, feelings of dread and annoyance filled her body.
"You've gotta be shittin' me."
"Good morning." Ms. Blake greeted the class with that infamous half-smile.
"You have no power here!" A girl at the back of the room shouted, pointing at the brunette woman.
"Excellent Lord of the Rings reference, Marlee."
Inside, Jennifer was seething at the adolescent's attitude. She thought she was doing an excellent job of playing the innocent English teacher, as well as the "damsel in distress"; yet it seemed as if this irksome teenager could see past the carefully-constructed façade. She only hoped that others would just perceive it as a rowdy student giving her a hard time.
"As you all know, Mr. Harris is still missing… I-I mean, sick. Anyway, uh, I'm filling in, uh, while we all hope and pray for a more qualified substitute to take my place. Okay, so let's get started, shall we?"
Marlee's eyes had practically rolled into the back of her head while Ms. Blake spoke. She didn't understand why the woman had even bothered to try and amend her statement. Everyone knew that pictures of Adrian Harris' face should have been plastered all over town, along with 'Have you seen this man?' It was a wonder that the police hadn't found his body yet. Marlee cringed at the thought of now having her least favorite teacher teach two of the classes in her school day.
It was only a moment later when Scott's phone started vibrating loudly, which he was quick to answer. Marlee watched as he turned in his seat and hunched over, trying to be discreet about the call. The hand holding the device to his ear blocked her view of Scott's face but when whoever had been the other end hung up on him, she could clearly see the expression on his face. He was panicking, which was never a good sign, especially when you live in a town ripe of supernatural activity. There were a few whispered words exchanged between the dynamic duo before the two abruptly threw their belongings into their bags. As they stood, Stiles took the time to look back at Marlee and nod his head in the direction of the door. Ms. Blake made a vain attempt to object as Scott and Stiles practically sprinted out of the classroom. Marlee swept her books into her backpack and made to hastily follow them, only to have her actions halted by the pale woman who positioned herself halfway between the board and the door.
"Marlee, please go back to your seat." Ms. Blake instructed.
"Yeah, funny story, I actually have to…"
"What you need to do is sit down and focus on the lesson. I'm sure your friends will need any notes that you take today."
Rolling her eyes, the teenager took another step towards the exit, only to be effectively stopped by the woman's following words.
"If you walk out of this classroom before the bell rings, I'll have no choice but to give you a lunch detention."
Marlee held back a cringe at her teacher's words. Considering the last detention that had occurred in her friend group had almost resulted in Isaac murdering the crap out of Allison, it was safe to say that said-punishment was not an option.
"You're Satan in a skirt."
Jennifer merely gave her a sickly sweet smile as she stalked back to her spot.
Marlee silently fumed as she glared at the brunette, who continued her attempt to teach the class everything about physics that she could think of. If it wasn't for those homicidal creeps, Ethan and Aiden, there wouldn't have been any hesitation. Marlee would have told Ms. Blake to shove it where the sun don't shine before walking out of the classroom to help Scott and Stiles. She may not have had true friends in a while but those who had been, once upon a time, knew Marlee Decker would do just about anything to help those she cared about. A vibration against her thigh had the irritated blonde inconspicuously checking her phone. The text from Scott was displayed on the screen.
'Where are you? We had to leave without you.'
'She threatened to give me lunch detention if I left. Where did you go?'
'Deaton called. He's going to be taken.'
Fuuuuuuck!
Physics dragged on as Marlee impatiently waited for the goddamn bell to ring already. She had jotted down the occasional note but had spent most of the time tapping her pencil against her desk and her feet on the ground. Her tablemate had sent her an annoyed look or two, only to be silently flipped off. She figured she would maybe apologize for her rude behavior some other day. There were only a few minutes left of class when the sound of the fire alarm pierced the air, sending Marlee's heart racing. She knew the odds of there being an actual fire were in her favor but the idea still put her a little on edge every time. Despite the fact that they were technically supposed to leave their things behind and exit the building immediately, she shoved everything she had on the table into her backpack. Hiking the bag over her shoulder, she proceeded to follow her classmates out of the room and down the hallway- only to have Stiles Stilinski hook his arm around hers as he walked in the opposite direction.
"Where are we going?" Marlee questioned as she turned herself around, falling into step beside him.
"Deaton's missing and we need to find Lydia so she can do her thing and locate him." Stiles explained as he marched towards the locker rooms. Whenever anyone needed to find someone in this school- at least in their case- there was a likely chance that they were in Coach's office or the boys' locker room.
"Our own supernatural GPS." The smirk on her face was evident.
"Exactly." Stiles agreed as they entered a room filled with the smell of sweaty socks and body odor, courtesy of Greenberg. Voices could be heard from the direction of Finstock's office.
"… if I catch you with him again, I'm not going to pull the fire alarm. I'm going to pull your tongue out of your head."
What is with the Hales and their threats? At least she didn't say she'd use her teeth… wait, that'd be bisexual as fuck.
Of course, the redhead wasn't going to just sit there and be threatened. She was done with being a victim.
"Sweetheart, my last boyfriend was a homicidal lizard, so… I think I can handle a werewolf."
As Lydia went to exit the room, the fire alarm still blaring, Cora reached out and grabbed the other girl's wrist.
"Let go." Lydia said firmly. When the brown-eyed she-wolf refused to yield, she started again. "I said…"
"Let go." Stiles' voice cut in, causing the two girls to look off to the side. The boy wore a serious expression on his face while Marlee stood next to him, looking on in interest. "She said 'let go.'"
The werewolf reluctantly did as she was told.
"Cora, how did you even get in the school?" The blonde girl asked in curiosity.
"This building has pretty lax security." Stiles answered instead.
"Well, that's reassuring." Sarcasm dripped from every word.
Stiles' words proved to be correct as Marlee noticed that a school official didn't come around checking to make sure everyone had vacated to the lawn. It was pretty weird but maybe it was just because this school had more students than her old one. While her companion updated Lydia and Cora on the situation, the fire alarm had ceased and people were starting to to trickle back into the halls. Seeing as it was time for lunch, a number of classrooms would be empty. This is what led Stiles to herd them into the Physics room. They positioned themselves at a table farther away from the main door before he fished a box out of his backpack.
"Nuh uh! No!" Marlee jumped back at the sight of the object in Stiles' hands. "Get that shit away from me!"
"You're scared of a Ouija board?" Stiles' voice was filled with amusement and disbelief.
"That's some bad juju right there! Don't fuck with spirits!" Marlee jabbed her finger in the direction of the board.
"A Ouija board?" Lydia asked, skeptically, as Stiles placed the box on the table and set up the offending object.
"Also called a spirit board- and it's worth a shot."
"A shot in the dark."
"Could you just try it, please, okay? Let's not forget who this is for- Scott's boss, the guy who has saved our collective asses on more than one occasion."
"Oh, wait, should we all do this?" Cora cut in.
"Yeah, yeah." Stiles answered. "You guys ready?"
"Yeah."
"Yes."
The three looked to a silent and quite reluctant Marlee. After a few seconds of staring down the others, she gave a heavy sigh before stepping forward to put her fingers on the planchette.
"Let's get this over with."
It was still for a moment until Stiles, who was gazing intently at the board, asked, "Where's Dr. Deaton?"
The planchette remained completely motionless, causing Marlee and the two on either side of her to glance at the redhead.
"What?" She asked in mild confusion.
"Aren't you gonna answer it?" Stiles prompted.
"Oh, I don't know the answer. I thought we were asking some sort of spirit."
"Well, do you know any spirits?" Marlee couldn't tell if Cora's question was legitimate or rhetorical.
"Is she for real?" Lydia asked Stiles while pointing towards the youngest Hale.
"I mean, we do know some dead people but I'm not sure if any of them could give us an answer."
"Marlee, that's not exactly helpful!" The hyperactive teen snapped.
"Staring at Lydia and hoping to find a magical answer isn't helping anything either."
"Alright, new plan." Stiles rummaged around in his pockets for a moment before finding what he was looking for. "Okay, these are Deaton's keys for the clinic. Close your eyes, and I'm gonna put 'em in your hand, and then we're just gonna try and see if you can feel out for his location. It's called psychometry."
"I'm not a psychic." Lydia pointed out.
"You're something! Okay?" Stiles exclaimed. "Just, Lydia, put out your hand."
Closing her eyes, the potential 'something' held out her hand so the boy could gingerly place the keys in her palm. When the metal touched her skin, she let out a 'Hmmm.'
"What?"
"They're cold."
Stiles' eye twitched as he stared at his crush in exasperation.
"Lydia, concentrate, please? Trying to save lives here, for the love of God…" He muttered the last part.
Looking mildly annoyed, the redhead shut her eyes once more and tried to focus on the keys in her hand. The other three gazed at her for a moment, watching for any signs of change. When the muscles in Lydia's face tightened ever so slightly, Stiles spoke.
"Yeah, what is it? What do you see?"
Lydia opened her eyes before shaking her head and replying, "Nothing."
Marlee's shoulders sagged at her friend's answer.
"Got any other ideas?" Cora asked, half-heartedly.
"Yeah, yeah, I do."
Stiles ran to the front counter to grab a pen and paper.
"Automatic writing." He explained as he walked back to their group and held out the pencil.
"Automatic writing?" Lydia asked, a bit doubtful.
The boy nodded, completely serious. Though she looked a bit incredulous, the patient girl let out an audible exhale as she took the writing utensil from his hand. She put the lead to paper and got to work.
While she may have been looking at it upside down, Marlee could still identify the familiar tree that Lydia had been frequently sketching as of late.
"Lydia, what are you doing? What- what the hell is that?"
"A tree."
"A tr- Lydia, you're supposed to be writing words, like in sentences, something like a location, something that would tell us where he is!"
"Maybe you should have said that."
I live for that lowkey sass. Marlee smiled slightly at her friend's response.
"Isn't she supposed to be some kind of genius?" Cora questioned.
"Genius? Yes. Psychic? No." Said-genius defended herself. "Honestly, I don't know why you're even bothering with me anyway. I mean, especially since it's obvious you should be talking to Danny."
"Wait, what?" Stiles looked up. "Why Danny?"
"Because…" The four teenagers turned their heads towards the classroom door near the front. Scott stood in the doorway, holding his shoulder. "Last night, he was a target. But he wasn't a sacrifice."
"So, maybe he was on to something and the Darach wanted to neutralize the threat and take him out." Marlee added on, seeing where this was going.
"Alright, let's go talk to Danny." Stiles pushed away from the table and walked towards his best friend, leaving the girls to follow.
"But isn't Danny still in the hospital?" Cora inquired.
"Yeah, that's where we're going right after school." Stiles answered.
"I'll meet you there." Scott amended as he finished reading the message on his phone.
"Why?"
Scott held up his phone to show a text from Allison.
'I think I found something.'
"Ally A. came through." Marlee grinned.
'How's it going?'
Isaac replied with a picture of Derek's flooded loft and the caption 'I'd hate to be them.'
Marlee noticed the electric cables in the water and sent back: 'The Alphas are al-fucked.'
'Never say that again.'
'I'm going to say that to you twice a day now. Tell Boyd I say "Hi!"'
The young man sent her a photo of Boyd holding a hand up, indicating he was waving.
"Is that Boyd?" Cora leaned over to look at the image on the girl's cell phone.
"Yep. It looks like they're all set for the Alphas. Now all they have to do is wait." Marlee said as she showed Cora the picture of the loft.
A rare smile spread across the werewolf's face.
"This might actually work."
The two were camped out in the backseat of the Jeep in Beacon Memorial's parking lot, waiting for Stiles to return from Danny's room. Lydia was currently curled up in the passenger seat, researching Celtic lore on the internet.
"Let's hope it does. I'm looking forward to the end of the twins' bullshit."
Both Marlee and Cora ignored the look that the redhead shot them in the rearview mirror. So what if Lydia was sleeping with Aiden? That didn't mean that anyone else in the vehicle liked him.
"Hey, I was just wondering- where were you these past few years?"
"I traveled around South America quite a bit. Eventually I settled down in Uruguay."
"That's so cool! One of my Spanish teachers was from Uruguay, along with a couple of families in town."
"Really? Do you know a lot of Spanish?"
Marlee laughed at that.
"One of my preschool teachers was Hispanic and she taught us some basic words. My parents thought that learning to speak a language that a good portion of America speaks was a great idea. I had a tutor in kindergarten before I took part in this after-school club where we learned Spanish. I got a year off when I reached sixth grade but then the real classes started in seventh grade. My dad would always ask me to teach him how to say things."
Cora surprisingly seemed to open up after that. The two of them began to speak back and forth in the language with Lydia, resident genius, occasionally cutting in- she would never admit it but she was just a tad bit jealous of the bond the Hale girl seemed to have with both Marlee and Stiles. The conversation came to an end when the driver's door swung open and Stiles climbed in, papers in hand.
"So, apparently Danny did a project for Harris' class on telluric currents."
"What's up with all of the electricity shit today?"
"Okay, so, wh-what does this kid's homework have to do with finding Deaton?"
The group in the Jeep had met up with Scott at the vet clinic, which oddly wasn't sectioned off as a crime scene. The young man looked as if he had aged, due to stress, in the last few hours. Marlee refrained from reaching over to smooth out the worry lines on her friend's face. All of them were set up around the examination table, various papers spread out in front of them.
"Because it's not just homework, okay? It's a project on geomagnetic fields. They flow through the earth. They can even be affected by lunar phases, all right? Now, look at this. This is a note from Harris on Danny's proposal."
"'I strongly advise you choose another subject. The ideas here, while innovative and thoughtful, border on pseudo-science. Not suitable for class.'"
"Harris wasn't just a sacrifice. He knew something."
"Now, check this out. Allison's dad wasn't the only one with a map, all right? Danny had one too." Stiles unfolded the map and laid it flat on the table as he explained. Meanwhile, Scott arranged the blown-up images of Chris' markings to form an identical layout. "Danny marked all the telluric currents, okay? Now, the weird thing about Beacon Hills is that it actually is a beacon. You wouldn't believe how much energy flowing through this earth is around this town."
"And here I've been, wondering why they named it 'Beacon Hills'." Marlee said, her voice just above a whisper.
"Stiles, look, they match. All right, there's three places, right? Where they're kidnapped and then the place where their body was found." Scott circled the places on the map.
"Look, that's right on a telluric current." Lydia pointed.
"So, maybe where he was sacrificed is somewhere in between."
"Let me see that." Stiles took the pen from Scott and put an 'x' through one of the circles. "You said there's six more bodies to be found. Deaton's one of them. Gotta be somewhere in between, right?"
"Stop." Cora placed her hand on Stiles' and moved them until the pen hovered above 'Beacon Hills First National'. "He's in the vault. He's in the same vault."
Marlee hadn't been in on the supernatural secret until shortly after the last trip to the abandoned bank had occurred- but she had been informed of what had happened that night.
The group hastily picked up everything that they had out on the examination table. Marlee had started to follow Scott and Stiles when she noticed that Lydia had stopped to look at Cora, who was staring at her phone.
"Uh, guys, hold on." The redhead called out.
"Lydia, we don't have time."
"It's Boyd. The plan didn't work. They cut the power." Cora looked up in worry.
All eyes were on Scott, who looked stunned and a bit panicked.
"It's just like he said." It didn't take him long to make a decision. "Go. I can save Deaton myself."
"What? Scott, what about us?"
"Cora can't get there fast enough without you. Go. We can save both of them."
Without another word, Scott took off out of the room.
"Alright, let's go."
Marlee clamored into the back of Roscoe with Cora, anxious to get moving. No one spoke throughout the drive, only exchanging glances of worry and resolve. Stiles floored it, breaking a number of traffic laws as they sped towards the Hale loft. Haphazardly parking outside of the building, the group ran for it, making their way to the basement.
"Okay, what do we do?" Stiles was at a loss as he stared at the backup generator.
"We pull them. Pull all of them." Cora answered.
The girls wasted no time, beginning to flip switches as fast as they could.
A moment later, the lights above them flickered on and the generator hummed to life.
The four teenagers booked it up the stairs, racing to find out if the plan had been successful whatsoever.
Halfway up, they broke their pace as three individuals passed them on the stairs. Marlee assumed the barefoot woman in the lead was Kali, the bitch that she had heard so much about. The woman simply smirked, red eyes flashing as she passed. A low snarl escaped from Marlee's lips as the twins followed their pack member.
She looked way too pleased with herself.
The motley crew's feet thundered on the steps as they quickened their movements again.
When Marlee turned the corner at the entrance of the loft, she wasn't prepared for what she saw.
She hardly noticed Isaac hunkered down in the doorway, holding Jennifer Blake.
The scene in front of her was something that Marlee knew she would picture on the nights she couldn't sleep. The moonlight seemed to cast an eerie, blue glow on everything inside of the room. Derek was down on one knee, arms extended, staring uncomprehendingly at Boyd's motionless body. It felt as if a boulder had settled in the pit of Marlee's stomach. The world suddenly felt so much heavier and darker.
He was dead. Vernon Boyd was dead.
Cora surged forward, running towards the fallen beta before kneeling down next to him. She cradled his head and began to sob; the sound of it nearly broke Marlee's heart. Stiles moved to place a comforting hand on Derek's shoulder, even though he knew that it wouldn't be enough for the mourning alpha.
Lydia entered the room and stood next to Marlee, taking in the sight.
Memories began to play in the blonde's mind, regardless of the mere handful. Memories of a bus ride, of forcing the beta to interact with her at school, and of the brief resemblance of a smile that would appear on his face at her antics. Later, when her mother would ask if Marlee had known Boyd, she would answer with 'He was my friend.' While she didn't know if Boyd considered the her as his friend, the girl considered him as one of hers.
Marlee knew she had to be strong for the others grieving in the room. They had just lost their friend, Erica, not that long ago and this- this was the salt in an open wound. Not Peter's words poking fun at another potential death, not the narrow escapes that a number of werewolves had made over the past weekend- this was the moment that could make or break their opposition against the Alpha pack and the Darach.
Quickly wiping away the trails of tears, Marlee composed herself before stepping forward. The 'swish' sounds that her legs made as she walked across the flooded room mingled with Cora's crying. The blonde came to a halt next to the teen watching over the werewolf siblings. Out of everyone in the room, besides the Hales, Stiles had known about the supernatural the longest; well, as far as Marlee knew…. Yet this couldn't have been easy for him in the slightest. She was determined to make this as painless as possible for everyone involved- for her friends at least. When it came to the Alphas, it was safe to say that she wasn't in favor of showing them any mercy.
"We have to get him outside." Her voice was quieter than intended and cracked in places, causing her to silently curse herself.
"What?" Stiles asked as neither Hale gave any indication that they had heard Marlee's words.
"We have to get him outside." Marlee repeated, louder and more steady this time. "As awful as this sounds, we can't have him in here. We're going to have to call your dad so he can inform all of the proper authorities, like the coroner, and his parents…"
"Why do we need to move him?" Isaac asked from where he still sat, holding on to a sniffling Ms. Blake.
"There's no way we're going to be able to let them in here and not end up in jail. The loft is flooded, we have electrical cables in the water, and- and those wounds are something that will be hard to explain away."
"What do you suggest we tell them?"
All eyes focused on Cora, who was still looking down at Boyd's blank expression.
Marlee thought for a moment before speaking once again.
"He was planning on meeting us here and just outside the building, he was attacked. We heard the commotion and went to investigate. We witnessed multiple people scattering, some with their knives still out. We say that we thought the guys wanted any money that he had on him. We're going with four men. Boyd…" Marlee noticed Derek flinch at the name. "Boyd could have easily taken on one or two."
"I'd say it's the best option we have right now." Lydia's voice wavered a bit as she spoke. She was still in shock over the events that had taken place in the past few hours. She was trying her best to push the fact that Aiden had been involved in this tragedy to the back of her mind. The alpha twin was something that she could worry about later.
"So, do we all agree?"
Isaac, Lydia, and Ms. Blake all gave a silent nod of the head.
Cora, attempting to pull herself together, let out a shaky breath before answering softly. "Okay."
Marlee turned to the boy next to her, who was watching, waiting for the next step. Despite everything that had occurred, he was impressed over the way she was taking charge.
"Stiles, call Scott and tell him that we need him and the Argents over here soon. It's time to reevaluate our game plan. Once we get Boyd downstairs, then we'll call your dad."
As the unusually solemn young man moved away to do as she said, Marlee's attention fell to Derek, who was still down on the floor. She wished that she didn't have to put him through any more of this but it needed to be done.
"Derek?"
Marlee kneeled in front of the silent alpha, who was still gazing at the ground, and gently placed her hands on his shoulders.
"Derek, I need you to look at me."
As green slowly met blue, Marlee was struck by the broken look in the man's eyes. The unspoken meaning hidden behind them was one that she knew all too well. They were the same words that would frequently loop through her head like a broken record: my fault, my fault, my fault, my fault, my fault, my fault, my fault…
"After we… after we get Boyd downstairs, we're going to have to call the police. You're going to have to talk with them. I know that is the very last thing you want to do right now but you have to. It's your loft and if you take off, given all of the trouble you went through with the law last year- they're going to make assumptions. Can you keep it together for another hour or two?"
After a moment of silence, she spoke to him again.
"Can you do that for me? Can you do that for us?"
Finally, Derek opened his mouth and replied, barely audible, "Yes."
"Alright." Marlee gave the hurting werewolf a squeeze on the shoulders before she stood and faced the others. "We got work to do."
So... review?