Chapter Text
Hospital walls were something that Nina was familiar with by now, no matter which country she was in. To the detriment of her mother’s wallet, that meant the Beacon Hills Hospital was a second home to the teenager when her migraines became too much to handle. That morning, Nina and her mother were visiting that second home for the third time in one month after she had fainted in the kitchen and hit her forehead on the counter.
Melissa McCall flipped through notes on a clipboard. “Has your period been regular since we put you on birth control?” At the end of her first year of high school, Nina’s doctors wanted to test the theory that her migraines were hormonal, and she was given the pill. At Melissa’s question, Nina pursed her lips and remained silent. The older woman stared at her, unimpressed. “How many have you missed?”
“They’re tedious,” Nina replied.
With a light chuckle, Melissa shook her head. “I hear ya, sister. I know there haven’t been any documented health issues around skipping your period too much, but there haven’t been many long-term studies, either. It could be why you’ve been having more migraines this month. No more skipping. Got it?”
“Got it.” Nina sighed and squeezed her eyes shut as she felt the familiar stab behind her brow. “Are you sure I can’t go to school today?” It was the first day of her second year at Beacon Hills High School, and she only had three afternoon classes after she commuted to Berkeley for the morning.
Melissa bit the side of her cheek and checked the clipboard again. “You don’t have a concussion, but I really think you should get some rest now, when your high school classes are starting easy. Berkeley started two weeks ago, right? How’s that going?”
She enjoyed her classes so far. Animal physiology was going to be easy considering she worked at the vet clinic, game theory was sure to be simple, and psychology of myth was her for-fun choice. The concept of the supernatural had always seemed far-fetched to her, and learning about how people created mythical creatures and stories would be interesting.
Nina’s mother was sitting in the hospital waiting area when Melissa and Nina walked out. Imogen Holmes immediately stood, rushing over to Nina. “How are you feeling, Darling?” Imogen asked, brushing the hair around her stitches back.
“They gave me pain meds, so fine.”
“I filed a prescription for the pharmacy down the road, so that should be ready in about ten minutes,” Melissa explained. “No concussion, but just to be safe I don’t want her driving this week, and you should come back next Monday so we can check up on you. Does that work?”
Imogen nodded. “Yes, thank you so much, Mel. Does Nina need to take today off of school?”
The nurse gave Nina a pointed look. “I think it would be best, but it’s ultimately Nina’s choice. If you do go to school today, say hi to Scott for me.”
~~~
“You fainted? Why the hell are you here?” Once Nina arrived at the school after missing her college classes, Danny had immediately joined her side, walking her down to her locker as the other students stared at the line of stitches on her temple.
“I didn’t get hurt, it looks worse than it actually is. Besides, if the birth control doesn’t work, I’m going to keep missing classes anyways. I don’t want to have to play catch-up for the first day.”
Danny shrugged, remembering her attendance record during their freshman year. “I heard Will almost hit someone in the parking lot this morning.”
She groaned, rolling her eyes. “I swear, he drives horribly just to make a point.” Her twin notoriously hated driving. Not just in America, either. He’d been awful at it back in England as well. That morning, Nina almost thought that he was going to faint when their mother handed him the car keys. If Will ended up making so much as a dent in the car, she would kill him.
At Nina’s locker, Lydia and Jackson were so kind to detach their mouths from one another to notice Nina and Danny approaching. A brunette that Nina didn’t recognize stood awkwardly to the side, doing her best to look anywhere but at the couple.
“What’s with the head wound?” Jackson asked, sneering at the stitches as soon as he saw her.
“It’s the new trend, would you like one to match?” Nina opened her locker door, conveniently hitting Jackson’s shoulder with it and forcing him out of the way. He responded with a lackluster ‘hah’ as she put her things away and got what she needed.
Lydia hummed, reaching up and brushing the hair around her stitches. “Come on, I’ll fix your hair so you can hide it. Allison?” Lydia turned to the brunette, who had been gawking at Nina’s injury while clutching the handle of her bag. Lydia grabbed both girls’ hands and dragged them to the restroom, leaving Jackson and Danny to talk about lacrosse tryouts. As soon as they were inside the empty restroom, Lydia spun on Nina, hands flying to her hair. “Are you alright? Did you faint again?”
“This morning. At least I don’t have a concussion,” Nina huffed. While she couldn’t turn her head, she panned her eyes over to look at Allison. “I’m Nina, by the way.”
She gave her a hesitant smile. “Allison. Do you, uh… faint a lot?”
Lydia turned Nina’s head, forcing her to look at the wall instead of Allison. “Not really. I have chronic migraines, it’s very rare for them to make me faint. What’s Washington like? I’ve never been.”
“How’d you know that?” Allison asked, her eyes wide as Lydia merely rolled hers.
“You have three different pins from the area. I’m assuming you lived there, or were you just travelling? Ow!” She hissed in pain and glared at Lydia, who muttered an unsympathetic ‘oops’ as she tugged at her hair.
“Both. My family moves around a lot. I liked Washington. That’s also really cool, that you noticed.” She was still awkward, but getting slightly more comfortable as the conversation progressed.
“See? She appreciates it,” Nina grumbled, her head moving as Lydia turned it once more.
Lydia only snorted. “Statistically, someone has to.” She finished her work and patted Nina’s head, turning to Allison. “Don’t mind her, she’s a know-it-all.”
“I still don’t understand how that’s an insult.” Nina assessed her new hairstyle in the mirror. It wasn’t horrible. “Thanks. Could I have a ride home after school? I’m not allowed to drive for the rest of the week.”
“Fine. If you don’t have a concussion now, being in the same car as Will when he's driving will definitely give you one.”
“Who’s Will?”
“Nina’s hot and annoying twin brother.”
Nina gagged. “He is not hot. He is annoying, though.”
“Whatever you say, Darling.” The three left the bathroom as it got closer to the starting time for class. “Are you coming to the party on Friday?”
“I would rather give myself a concussion.”
~~~
At the end of the school day, Nina and Will were both on their way to the lacrosse scrimmage. Her brother was being especially difficult ever since she’d told him he would have to find a ride or drive himself for the rest of the week. “Nurse McCall only suggested you don’t drive, she didn’t say you couldn’t. The last time I had to drive us home from school, the sheriff thought I was drunk.”
“And he let you off with a warning when he realized you’re just stupid,” Nina countered, opening the last door that led to the field. Early fall had her dressed in a light sweater, while the native Californians all sported hats and gloves to battle the cold. Will wore a denim jacket, one that Lydia would inevitably ask to borrow in an attempt to make Jackson jealous.
Will scoffed beside her as they walked across the field to the bleachers. “It’s hardly my fault. It’s not like we ever needed to drive in London.”
“And yet, I manage just fine.” She climbed up the seats and sat next to Lydia, Will sitting one seat below. “Any new people?”
Lydia, who was too preoccupied with the asses of the players to see any new faces or even register Nina’s question, only hummed in response. “I think they’re about to start,” Allison said to her with a smile. Her eyes flicked down to Will, who was pulling out a blue folder. “Hi, are you—”
“Yes.” Will looked up at Nina and opened the folder. “Who are your bets this year?” Last year, the twins made a rather lucrative business in betting on the players and games. They’d even gotten Coach Finstock in on it, not that the school board needed to be aware of that.
Nina glared at him. “Will, this is Allison. Allison, Will. She’s new.”
“Lovely. Bets?”
Allison laughed in disbelief. “Wow, Nina and Lydia were right. You are annoying.” Will only scoffed as Nina and Lydia laughed, handing Nina the spreadsheet as she quickly filled in her top players. Danny, Jackson, and Sanders. As she handed it back over to Will, Allison spoke again and pointed out into the field. “Who is that?”
“Number?” Will asked, quickly making a list of jersey numbers and the players.
“Eleven.”
Will snorted. “Bad choice. McCall was on the bench all last year.” The player in question was heading to the goal. Nina assumed Finstock put him there instead of Danny to possibly boost morale.
Rolling her eyes, Nina slapped Will on the back of the head. “That isn’t what she meant, idiot.” He turned and glared at her but Nina ignored him, looking at Allison instead. “His name is Scott McCall. I work with him. He’s nice, but Will’s right. Rubbish at lacrosse.”
As if on cue, Finstock blew his whistle, and Scott covered the sides of his helmet. Sanders, the first in line, took a shot at the goal. Just because Scott was on goal didn’t mean Sanders was going to go easy on him. The ball sailed through the air, unceremoniously nailing Scott right in the face. “See?” Will nodded to Scott, who was getting up from the ground. The next person in line didn’t wait for Scott to get ready as he threw the next ball, but just as it was about to fly past him and into the goal, Scott adjusted the goalie stick and caught the ball. He also caught the next three, with as much precision as Danny. “Huh. Never mind.”
Nina’s brow furrowed. Scott, the same guy that caused Nina and Deaton to put up a sign that said “___ days since last accident” due to him knocking things over, was playing like a pro. After that initial fumble with the whistle. Nina was more sensitive to sounds when her migraines got bad, but not to that extent.
There was a pause as Jackson cut to the front of the line. “Twenty says Jackson doesn’t make it,” Nina said, nudging Will’s shoulder with her knee. Lydia spun around to glare at her, to which Nina only shrugged. “If you’d like to take the bet to support him, by all means.”
“Yeah, Martin. Be a good girlfriend. We all know the money will be coming out of Jackson’s wallet, anyway.” Will sent Lydia an innocent smile as her glare focused on him.
Lydia pursed her lips, looking out onto the field as Jackson got ready. “Fine,” She huffed. “Put me down on your stupid spreadsheet.”
Will laughed, making a point of lifting his pen high in the air before scribbling out Lydia and Nina’s bet. “Yes, Ma’am.”
On the field, Jackson began running at the goal. Bobbing and weaving as though there were other players against him — Nina was tempted to roll her eyes at the dramatics — until he sprung up and swung the stick, sending the ball on path to the goal. It would have made it if anyone else had been goalie. Scott spun his net to the opposite side of where it had been, and the ball landed perfectly.
Everyone cheered, Lydia included, who actually stood to scream in support for the guy that beat her boyfriend and ousted twenty bucks. It was just to get back at Jackson, naturally, as she shoved the money in Nina’s hand as soon as she sat back down. “Not a word from either of you,” She ordered, staring out into the field.
~~~
At the tail end of her shift, Nina was in the process of sanitizing the examination table by the time Scott bothered to show up. “Don’t tell me being the new star of the lacross team means you’re going to start showing up late,” She mused, leaving the room and peeling her gloves off. Scott was cutting it close, but it wouldn’t have mattered even if he did get there late, as Will wasn’t there to pick Nina up yet.
Scott smiled at her apologetically. “Sorry, Nina. I lost my inhaler in the woods last night, I was busy looking for it.”
She paused from logging out of the computer to stare up at Scott. “Did you intend to tell me that you were in the woods around the same time the police found half of a body?”
His eyes widened, jaw dropping slightly. “I— I lost it before. I wasn’t looking for the body, or anything! I was just… in the woods. At night.”
“Isn’t that reassuring.” Nina stared at him for a beat, then rolled her eyes and stepped back once she was done with the computer, allowing Scott to log on. “Well, congratulations on finding her. I suggest investing the reward money in therapy.”
Tossing her backpack over her shoulder, Nina took her phone out and sent a quick text to Will, asking where the hell he was. “How did you know I found it— her?”
“Mud and blood on the shoes.” He looked down at his shoes, his eyes widening in realization. “I’m choosing to be optimistic and assume you only found her instead of being the one who murdered her.”
Scott’s head shot up from the computer screen to stare at her. “What? I just— what do you mean, murdered? She wasn’t murdered, I was att— I think she was just attacked, I heard a wolf when I was out there.”
Nina only snorted. “No, you didn’t.” Finally, Will pulled up to the clinic, parking over a line instead of in between them.
“I know what I heard—”
“The only wolves in this part of California are at the zoo, Scott. And none of them have somehow escaped in the past twenty-four hours.” She went to the door, pausing as she remembered the other thing on her mind. “Are you on drugs?” Nina asked, watching Scott’s reaction.
Scott only stared at her in confusion, his brow furrowed. “No. What do you mean?”
He didn’t appear to be lying. Scott had always been a bad liar anyway, not that he tried to very often. “Just checking. Try your best not to make a habit of traipsing the woods at night.”
Shaking his head, Scott huffed out a laugh and wished Nina a good night as she left the clinic.
~~~
For Nina’s “for-fun” pick of her college courses, Psychology of Myth was taking up a lot more of her time than she thought. They’d been in class for two weeks, one week longer than her high school, and she had a five page paper due on Sunday night. In honor of it being a full moon Friday, her professor decided to have the students write about werewolves. Nina’s thesis was on clinical lycanthropy and if it came from the myth, or vice versa. It was an opinion piece, but it still required academic sources and full citations. During the two hours she’d been at the public library, Nina had successfully written an outline and gathered enough sources, requiring every book in the mythology and folklore section related to werewolves. It was a larger section than she imagined the Beacon Hills Public Library would have, but at least it saved her the trouble of making Will drive all the way back to Berkeley.
While she was writing, Stiles Stilinski had entered the library and was staring at an empty shelf when Nina noticed and called him over. He sat across from her at the same table, taking the first book that was closest to him, and started flipping through.
It took about ten seconds before he finally got bored and looked up at her. “So, uh… Did you hear about the body?”
Nina spared him a glance, her eyebrow raised as she halted her typing. Who hadn’t? “The same body that Scott accidentally revealed you two had found?” She continued typing as he froze in the corner of her eye.
“He told you that?”
“No,” Nina answered, unable to help the small smile that crept up on her lips as she continued with her paper. “He told me that he found it, after he had accidentally revealed he was in the Preserve at the time.”
“So how’d you know I was there?”
This was too easy. Nina leveled him with an unimpressed look. “You just confirmed it.” He visibly deflated, guilty. “Why are you asking me about the body?”
Stiles looked around before leaning forward, forgetting that he had just confessed to searching for half of a dead woman. “Scott told me that you had said something about her being murdered. My dad said the medical examiner is leaning towards animal attack, since they found wolf fibers on the body. I wanted to know why you thought it was a murder.”
It was comforting to know the medical examiner was an idiot. Nina rolled her eyes. “What animal has the ability to slice someone in half? And wolf fibers? I just told Scott the other day that there are no wolves in this part of California. Furthermore, even if there were, wolves don’t hunt for sport. Why wouldn’t it have eaten at least part of her? Who the hell is the medical examiner?”
“Uh, I don’t know. Someone in San Francisco. Where did you get that information? It’s all classified.”
“Why would I tell the son of the sheriff? No offense.”
Stiles sighed, shrugging. “None taken. So, it was definitely murder?”
“Unless your father has extra classified information to prove otherwise,” She paused from typing to look back at Stiles with a smirk. “Or, It was a werewolf.” That one word seemed to set Stiles off, as he jumped in his seat and nearly fell to the ground, knocking a few books off of their shared table. The people surrounding the area turned to look. “Jesus, I was kidding! You don’t actually believe in werewolves, do you?”
“No!” The library patrons continued glaring at his outburst. “Uh, I mean, no,” He repeated. Gathering the books that had fallen to the floor and clutching them to his chest. “Is it alright if I take these? I have to go right now.”
What the hell was wrong with him? Nina watched him and nodded. “Yeah, I’m done with them.” Thinking that was the end of the conversation, she put her entire focus on her paper.
However, Stiles still stood at the table. “Hey, uh… I’ve been meaning to ask… does Lydia ever talk about me?”
There it was. The inevitable segue in conversation that came every time a boy talked to her. Nina rolled her eyes and refused to look at him. “Walk away, Stilinski.”
“Yep, absolutely.” To his credit, Stiles didn’t persist, immediately leaving her alone.
~~~
The following Monday, Nina found Scott and Stiles whispering quietly at the former’s locker. “Hey, Scott—”
“If you’re going to try and convince me to play the game for your and Will’s stupid betting pool, I don’t want to hear it,” Scott cut her off, already looking at her like she was an annoyance.
She did not have the time or energy for that. Sneering, Nina rested her hand on her hip. “I was going to ask you if you could cover my shift next Thursday. I have a group project and that’s the only time everyone else is available to meet.”
Scott let out a guilty sigh. “Right. Yeah, Nina, I can do that. Sorry.”
“Whatever.” Nina pulled her phone out and sent a quick text to Deaton, confirming the scheduling change. “Lydia did try to enlist me to convince you to play, but I told her if she didn’t shut up about it I’d dislocate your shoulder. Then both star players would be out of commission.”
Stiles’s brow furrowed. “You can dislocate a shoulder?”
“Would you like a demonstration?”
“I’m good, but that’s really thoughtful of you to offer.”
Nina sent Stiles a mock-innocent smile. “I’m nothing if not charitable. See you later, Scott.”
About to walk away, Scott reached out and grabbed her arm. “Wait! You, uh… you were right. About it being a murder. Be careful, okay?”
While Nina never usually cared about the context when people told her she was right, this case made her suspicious. “How do you know it’s a murder? What happened?”
Scott looked over at Stiles, who was shaking his head furiously. “It’s Derek Hale. We don’t have proof yet, but—”
“Derek Hale? He gave Allison a ride home from Lydia’s party. She said he was nice, just quiet.” She decided not to divulge that Allison was currently mad at her because Nina had said it was stupid for her to get in the car with an adult male stranger. She stood by it, but she wasn’t going to get into it with her coworker and his friend. “If he killed that woman, why would he scope out a high school party if he didn’t intend to hurt Allison?” Nina folded her arms over her chest, lifting her hand to bite down on her thumb nail. There could be countless reasons, given that nothing was known about the surviving Hales after the fire, save for the one that was still in a coma.
Scott merely shrugged. “I don’t know, just be careful.”
It was believable, as Scott didn’t know a lot. “Why do you think it’s him?”
“We can’t tell you,” Stiles cut in. “If Derek Hale offers you a ride home, just say no.”
Nina tilted her head to the side. “Really? After Allison’s review, I was thinking of hiring him as my personal chauffeur.”
Stiles mirrored her expression, also tilting his head. “Well, don’t do that.”
“Nina, seriously, just be careful,” Scott sighed, repeating the sentiment for the third time in their interaction.
“I’ll try my best,” She drawled, turning and walking away.
~~~
The first game of the season always had the highest turnout. It was one of Nina’s least favorite things about attending the games, but it also meant the highest cash turnout. “Jackson cornered me earlier today,” Will muttered to Nina as she sat down next to him on the bleachers. “He said that he’s telling all of the other players not to pass to McCall, so everyone that’s bet on him is about to lose out. I’m changing my bets before the game, do you want me to change yours as well?”
After Jackson’s injury, Nina and Will had both replaced him with Scott as their top three. It looked like Jackson was now retaliating against the threat to his status. Nina huffed in distaste. “No, if the both of us win big, people will throw a fit about us cheating. I’ll keep Danny, Scott, and Sanders.”
“If you insist.”
Eventually, Allison joined the twins with her father, and then Lydia sat down with them as well after threatening Scott. Not long after that, the ref blew the whistle, starting the game. Nina closed her eyes as the sharp noise reminded her of the headache she’d had all day, and put in her earplugs along with quickly swallowing some pain medication. The ear plugs only muffled the noise, so she could still hear everything around her. That included the shocked sounds when Jackson checked Scott, sending him to the ground as Jackson scooped up the ball and made the first goal of the game.
“Oh, that piece of shit!” Nina cursed, ignoring the mother that turned to glare at her as she covered her small child’s ears. Everyone else in the stands was cheering at the win, save for Nina and Will, the latter scribbling down the details of the goal.
The game continued, and at the start of the final quarter, they were down two points. The players gathered in their assigned spots, and Scott was hunched over when the ref went to check on him.
“Which one is Scott again?” Chris Argent asked.
“Eleven,” Will answered.
“Otherwise known as the only one who hasn’t caught a single ball this entire game,” Lydia continued.
Nina rolled her eyes. “It’s hardly his fault no one’s been passing to him. Plus, he’s also been the only victim of in-team violence.” Lydia hummed nonchalantly, and Nina turned around to glare at her friend. “If we lose this game because of your boyfriend’s one-sided dick measuring contest, I will kill him painfully and slowly.”
“If we lose this game because of my boyfriend’s one-sided dick measuring contest, I will kill him,” Lydia agreed with a smile. “But for now, Scott’s the only player hunched over on the field.”
“I hope he’s okay,” Allison muttered, her eyes trained on Scott.
“I hope we’re okay,” Lydia replied. “We need to win this.” With that, she stood, lifting another sign and forcing Allison to hold it with her.
The referee signaled the start of the final quarter, and the force of the two players starting with the ball sent it straight up in the air. Scott, no longer hunched over, used the shoulder of an opposing team member to launch himself in the air and catch the ball. Everyone yelled, including Nina, whose headache only worsened because of it. She found it to be worth it as Scott weaved between everyone on the other team, scoring a goal and only putting them one away from tying.
Another miracle occurred as the opposing team passed Scott the ball, and he scored once again. It was hard to tell from the distance, but it looked like he had ripped through the goalie’s net. Once he got the final and winning goal, the initial joy Nina had felt was now shifting to confusion. How did Scott do all of those gymnastics with asthma?