Chapter Text
Scott was sitting in his room, relacing his lacrosse stick when he heard a noise outside. He grabbed a bat and went to see what was going on, nearly striking his best friend in the face. They both screamed before Scott realised who it was and dropped the bat.
“Stiles, what the hell are you doing?!”
“You weren't answering your phone! Why do you have a bat?”
“I thought you were a predator!”
Stiles looked at him in confusion before shaking his head and continuing on with his reason for being there.
“Look, I know it's late, but you gotta hear this. I saw my dad leave twenty minutes ago. Dispatch called-they're bringing in every officer from the Beacon Department, and even state police.”
“For what?”
“Two joggers found a body in the woods.” Stiles reached up to pulled himself free of the trellis, landing on his feet.
“What, a dead body?”
“No, a body of water- Yes, dumbass, a dead body!”
“You mean, like, murdered?”
“Nobody knows yet. Just that it was a girl, probably in her twenties.”
“Hold on, if they found the body, then what are they looking for?”
“That's the best part-they only found half. We're going.”
“What about Leah?”
“Already in the car. Let’s go.”
She’s leaned back in the front seat with her feet up on the dash when they get back to the car.
Stiles jumped into the driver's seat and smacked her legs. “Seriously, what did I say about feet on the dash?”
She just laughed and slid into the back seat to let Scott in. “Welcome to the party Scotty.”
“I’m surprised you're here. Don’t you need like, 12 hours of sleep or something to be functional?”
“Preferably. But I’m not letting you idiots go searching around the woods for a dead body without me.” She smiled. “Besides, what a better way to start sophomore year than some good old-fashioned trauma?”
______________________________________________________________________________
“We're seriously doing this?” Scott asked, not for the first time since they set out on this adventure.
“You're the one always bitching that nothing ever happens in this town.”
“I was trying to get a good night's sleep before practice tomorrow.”
“Right, 'cause sitting on the bench is such a grueling effort.”
“No, because I'm playing this year. In fact, I'm making first line.”
Stiles laughed. “Hey, that's the spirit! Everyone should have a dream, even a pathetically unrealistic one.”
Scott scoffed and ignored his comment. “Just out of curiosity, which half of the body are we looking for?”
Stiles paused for a beat. “Huh! I didn't even think about that.”
“Does it really matter?” She offered. “It’s a dead person. I’m sure you’ll know when you find it. Or smell it.”
Scott shook his head. “And, uh... what if whoever killed the body is still out here?”
“...also something I didn't think about.”
Scott rolled his eyes and she snorted.
“Good to know you planned this out with your usual attention to detail.”
“I know.”
Scott started wheezing as they continued up the hill, struggling to keep up with his friends.
“Maybe the severe asthmatic should be the one holding the flashlight, huh?”
They’re trek was interrupted by nearby lights and the three dropped to the ground and hid. They waited for a beat before Stiles got impatient and jumped up, throwing a, “Hey! Come on!” over his shoulder.
“Stiles!” Scott shouted after him.
She shared a look with Scott before shrugging and going after Stiles.
Scott took a hit of his inhaler before following. “Wait up! Guys!”
They were running through the trees when Stiles decided to stop and look back, causing her to slam into him. They both stumble before turning and shouting upon being met with a police dog.
“Ahh…” “Holy f-”
“Hold it right there!” A deputy shouted at them. They both put their hands up while Scott hid behind a tree.
“Hang on, hang on…” A voice says from behind a blinding light. They squinted to see the Sheriff approach. “At least one of these little delinquents belongs to me.”
Stiles gave his dad an awkward smile. “Hey dad, how are you doing?”
The Sheriff gave Stiles a look. “So, do you, uh, listen in to all of my phone calls?”
“No… not the boring ones.”
The Sheriff sighed and looked at Leah. “I thought you were supposed to be the responsible one.”
She smiled. “I am. Think of how irresponsible it would be to let him come out here alone.”
The Sheriff looked between them and rubbed his eyes. “There’s usually three of you. Where’s your other partner in crime?”
Stiles dramatically faked ignorance.“Who, Scott? Scott's home. He said he wanted to get a good night's sleep for the first day back at school tomorrow.”
The Sheriff looked at her for confirmation.
She nodded seriously. “He wants to make the lacrosse team.”
The Sheriff narrowed his eyes, lifted his flashlight, and looked around.
“Scott, you out there? Scott?”
Scott remained hidden and the Sheriff sighed before grabbing the two visible teens and pulling them away.
“Well then, I'm gonna walk you back to your car, you’re going to drop Leah off at home, and then you and I are gonna have a conversation about something called "invasion of privacy".”______________________________________________________________________________
She and Stiles met up with Scott in front of the school the next day.
“You’re never going to believe what happened to me last night.”
“Did it involve getting grounded until you graduate? Cause’ that’s what happened to me.”
She smirked as Scott shook his head. “No. Look.” He lifted up his shirt to reveal his wound.
She and Stiles stepped forward to get a better look.
Stiles hissed. “Whoa.”
She looked up at Scott in concern. “What happened?”
“It was too dark to see much, but I'm pretty sure it was a wolf.”
She froze in place as Stiles looked at him incredulously. “A wolf bit you?”
“Uh-huh.”
Stiles scoffed. “No, not a chance.”
“I heard a wolf howling.”
“No, you didn't.”
“What do you mean, "No, I didn't?" How do you know what I heard?”
“Because California doesn't have wolves, okay? Not in, like, sixty years.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. There are no wolves in California.”
She shook herself back into the conversation. “Could’ve been a coyote,” she input, smiling. “Hope you got all your shots.”
Scott looked panicked for a moment before turning around the conversation. “All right. Well, if you don't believe me about the wolf, then you're definitely not gonna believe me about when I tell you I found the body.”
She raised her brows and Stiles literally jumped at the news.
“You- are you kidding me?”
“No, man, I wish. I'm gonna have nightmares for a month.”
“Oh, god, that is freakin' awesome. I mean, this is seriously gonna be the best thing that's happened to this town since-” He got distracted by Lydia walking by. “Since the birth of Lydia Martin. Hey, Lydia! You look…” She continued on without giving him a second look. “Like you're gonna ignore me…” She and Scott laughed as he turned back to them. “You guys are the cause of this, you know.”
Scott rolled his eyes. “Uh-huh.”
“Draggin' me down to your nerd depths. I'm a nerd by association. I've been scarlet-nerded by you two.”
“Says the man who once spent forty-two straight hours playing WOW.”
“See though, the fact that you know the acronym proves that you are just as much of a nerd. And that was ONE time.”
“Yeah. Sure. Okay.”
______________________________________________________________________________
They went back to the preserve after school to find the body again and the boys caught her up on lacrosse tryouts. Apparently, Scott had some newfound abilities.
“I- I don't know what it was. It was like I had all the time in the world to catch the ball. And that's not the only weird thing. I- I can hear stuff I shouldn't be able to hear. Smell things.”
A look of dark concern passed over her face. Stiles on the other hand just scoffed. “Smell things? Like what?”
Scott tells him he can smell the gum in Stiles’ pocket and Stiles doubts him, before finding the aforementioned gum.
Stiles looked back at him. “So all this started with the bite?”
“What if it's like an infection? Like, my body's flooding with adrenaline before I go into shock or something?”
Stiles smirked. “You know what? I actually think I've heard of this- it's a specific kind of infection.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I think it's called lycanthropy.”
Her breath hitched.
Scott turned back to Stiles. “What's that? Is that bad?”
“Oh, yeah, it's the worst. But only once a month.”
“Once a month?”
“Mm-hmm. On the night of the full moon. Aroooo!” Scott shoved him and he laughed. “Hey, you're the one who heard a wolf howling!”
“Hey, there could be something seriously wrong with me!”
“I know! You're a werewolf!” Scott didn’t seem to find the joke funny. Stiles sighed and put a hand on his shoulder. “Okay, obviously I'm kidding. But, if you see me in shop class trying to melt all the silver I can find, it's 'cause Friday's a full moon.”
“You know…” She said, hesitantly, speaking up after being quiet thus far. “It’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility.”
Scott looked at her. “What? Werewolves?”
She shrugged. “Yeah, I mean- you know… it’s not totally impossible.”
They both looked at her. Stiles tried to hide a laugh. “You don’t seriously believe in werewolves, do you?”
She rolled her shoulders defensively. “I’m just saying that there’s a lot of things in this world we don’t really know about. You can’t actually prove that something doesn’t exist.”
“Actually I think science can-”
Scott stopped walking and looked around, causing Stiles to bump into him, effectively cutting him off.
“I could have sworn this was it. I saw the body, the deer came running. I dropped my inhaler…”
She crouched down with Scott as Stiles looked around. “Maybe the killer moved the body?”
“If he did, I hope he left my inhaler. Those things are, like, eighty bucks.”
Stiles then hit his friends on their backs to get their attention. They looked up to see a guy walking toward them. Her expression hardened and she grabbed Scott, pulling him slightly behind her as they stood up.
“What are you doing here? This is private property.”
“Hey- yeah- sorry about that,” she offered. “We’re just looking for something. But we’re leaving now so…”
She started to push the boys away. The guy looked at Scott and tossed him his inhaler before turning and walking away.
She breathed a visible sigh of relief and Scott began to walk away. “Um... All right, come on, I gotta get to work.”
Stiles stopped them. “Dudes, that was Derek Hale!” Scott looked back at him. “You remember, right? He's only, like, a few years older than us.”
“Remember what?”
“His family. They all burned to death in a fire, like, ten years ago.”
Scott looked back the way Derek went. “I wonder what he's doing back…”
She grabbed them both by the back of their shirts and steered them away. “And it is none of our business, so let’s go.”
______________________________________________________________________________
My place. NOW. Earth shattering emergency.
There were a lot of “earth shattering” emergencies that came up in Stiles’ life. The discontinuation of Dunkaroos had also been a life altering emergency. So, she wasn’t overly concerned.
But he was still her best friend and it’s not like she had anything else to do. So she went over.
“Okay. What’s the emergenc-”
She stopped and looked around. The room was entirely cluttered with papers and books, all of them about werewolves.
He spun around, nearly falling out of his chair before he saw her. “Oh. It’s you.” He sighed in relief. “Look-” He shoved a paper in her hands. “I know this might sound crazy, but I think you were right.”
She looked back up at him. “Right about what?” She asked slowly.
“Werewolves. See, I overheard my dad on the phone. The fiber analysis came back from the lab in L.A. They found animal hairs on the body from the woods. Wolf hairs.” She lowered herself onto his bed. “And that’s not all. Practice today, Scott was insane. Like, literally a beast. He’s probably the best player on the team now. Except, last week he could barely catch the ball, let alone score.”
She shook her head. “We can’t let him go to that party with Allison tonight.”
He nodded. “I know. Full moon right?” He looked at her then, suspiciously. “Hey, how did you know?”
“Know what?”
He gestured around. “You know- the werewolf thing. You guessed right away.”
She shrugged. “I’m just open-minded. That’s all.”
They both turned at a knock on the door. Stiles jumped up and cautiously opened it, revealing Scott on the other side. Stiles breathed a breath of relief. “Get in.” He shuts the door behind Scott. “You gotta see this thing. I've been up all night reading- websites, books, all this information.”
Scott looked around the room. “How much Adderall have you had today?”
“A lot. Doesn't matter, okay? Just listen.”
Scott sat next to her on the bed. “Oh, is this about the body? Did they find out who did it?”
“No, they're still questioning people. Even Derek Hale.”
“Oh, the guy in the woods that we saw the other day?”
“Yeah!” She gestured at Stiles to get back to the point. “Yes. But that's not it, okay?”
Scott frowned. “What, then?”
“Remember the joke from the other day?” He and Leah shared a look. “Not a joke anymore. The wolf, the bite in the woods… I started doing all this reading.” He stood abruptly. “Do you even know why a wolf howls?”
Scott blinked. “Should I?”
“It's a signal, okay? When a wolf's alone, it howls to signal its location to the rest of the pack. So if you heard a wolf howling, that means others could have been nearby. Maybe even a whole pack of 'em.”
“A whole pack of wolves?”
“No. Werewolves.”
Scott scoffed and stood up. “Are you guys seriously wasting my time with this?” He looked between them. “You know I'm picking up Allison in an hour.”
Scott went to leave, but she stood in front of the door and Stiles grabbed him by the arm. “I saw you on the field today, Scott, okay? What you did wasn't just amazing, all right? It was impossible.”
Scott shrugged him off. “Yeah, so I made a good shot.”
“No, you made an incredible shot! I mean, the way you moved, your speed, your reflexes? Y'know, people can't just suddenly do that overnight. And there's the vision, and the senses, and don't even think I don't notice that you don't need your inhaler anymore-”
“Okay! Dude, I can't think about this now. We'll talk tomorrow.” He turned to leave but saw her blocking the way. “Seriously Lee? Not you too!”
She crossed her arms and stayed steady in the doorway. Stiles turned Scott back to face him. “Dude, the full moon's tonight. Don't you get it?”
Scott shoved Stiles off him again. “What are you trying to do? I- I just made first line. I got a date with a girl who I can't believe wants to go out with me, and everything in my life is somehow perfect. Why are you guys trying to ruin it?”
“We’re trying to help!”
“Scott.” She took a step toward them. “You can’t go out tonight.”
He looked back at her, betrayed.
Stiles tried again. “You're cursed, Scott. You know, and it's not just the moon that’ll cause you to physically change. It also just so happens to be when your bloodlust will be at its peak.”
“Bloodlust?”
“Yeah, your urge to kill.”
“I'm already starting to feel an urge to kill, Stiles.”
Stiles grabbed a book off his desk and started reading it. “You gotta hear this- "The change can be caused by anger or anything that raises your pulse." All right? I haven't seen anyone raise your pulse like Allison does. You gotta cancel this date.” He moved towards Scott’s bag. “I'm gonna call her right now.”
“What are you doing?!”
“I'm canceling the date.”
“No! Give it to me!”
Scott grabbed the phone out of Stiles' hand and shoved Stiles against the wall. He raised his fist, which was grabbed by Leah, who wrenched Scott back. He shoved her back and threw a desk chair across the room before coming back to himself. Stiles looked afraid and she looked worried.
Scott looked anxious before grabbing his backpack. “I'm sorry. I- I gotta go get ready for that party.” He went to the door before looking back at his friends. “I'm sorry.”
Stiles went over to her as Scott fled.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She looked at him. “We have to find a way to stop him from going to that party.”
“Yeah, we just tried that. Wasn’t a very successful operation if you ask me.”
“It doesn’t matter. He could hurt someone. Or himself.”
Stiles sighed and picked up his chair. His face dropped as he looked at the back.
“I think you might be right.”
He turned the chair to reveal claw marks on its back.
Great. Just great.
______________________________________________________________________________
They didn’t manage to find Scott until he was already at the party. They split up to look for him, and a short while later she finds him stumbling into the house, looking in pain.
She went up to him and grabbed his arm. “Scotty, are you okay?”
His only response was a groan and she dragged him outside. She took the keys from his pocket before shoving him in the car and hopping in the driver's side.
It took him a while before he even noticed that they were moving. “What are you doing?”
“Taking you home. Where you are going to stay until the sun comes up.”
He looked around in panic. “Do you even know how to drive?!”
Her grip tightened on the wheel. “Now is not the time to be judging my actions, Scotty. Now shut up and try not to kill anything.”
They made it back to his house and she brought him inside, shoving him into his room and closing the door behind him. She leaned against it, breathing hard.
“Scott? You have to try and calm yourself down.”
He groaned again and she heard him stumbling around until the shower turned on. They both stayed in that position for a while before Stiles arrived.
“Scott? Leah?”
There’s a pressure on the other side of the door. “Stiles?”
Stiles appeared and turned to her. “Hey, let me in.”
“No!” Scott shouted from the other side of the door. “Listen, you gotta find Allison.”
“She's fine, all right? I saw her get a ride from the party. She's totally fine, all right?”
Scott pounded a fist against the door. “No, I think I know who it is. It- it’s Derek. Derek Hale is the werewolf! He's the one that bit me. He's the one that killed the girl in the woods.”
She sighed and knocked her head against the door as Stiles’ eyes widened. “Scott… Derek's the one who drove Allison from the party…”
Her eyes widened as she looks at him, panicked. She turned back to the door. “Scott! Wait! We’ll go get her! Just- just stay in there. Scott?”
There’s silence on the other side. She opened the door to see Scott’s room empty and his window open.
She let go of the knob and started running out of the house, dragging Stiles with her. “Shit shit shit shit shit-” She stopped at his jeep. “Okay. Okay, you- you go find Allison, and I’ll go after Scott.”
“You’re going to try and keep up with a werewolf on foot?”
She ticked her head to the side. “I can be fast when I need to be.”
______________________________________________________________________________
She made it into the woods and heard the sound of an arrow shooting and then Scott’s screams. She bolted towards him as Derek appeared and knocked out two of the three hunters attacking Scott. She made it to Scott and ripped the arrow out of his arm. He shouted in response.
She grabbed him and started running. “Come on! We gotta go!”
They run a fair distance away until she decides it’s far enough. They both stopped to catch their breath as Derek caught up with them.
Scott looked up at him. “Who were they?”
“Hunters. The kind that have been hunting us for centuries.”
Scott glared at Derek. “Us? You mean you! You did this to me!”
Derek looked back at him. “Is it really so bad, Scott? That you can see better? Hear more clearly? Move faster than any human could ever hope? You've been given something that most people would kill for. The Bite is a gift.”
She leveled her gaze at Derek as Scott continued to glare at him. “I don't want it.”
“You will. And you're gonna need me if you want to learn how to control it.” He bypassed her to get to Scott, placing a hand on his shoulder. “So you and me, Scott? We're brothers now.”
He walked away and she waited for him to disappear completely before pulling Scott up.
“Come on. Let’s get you home.”
______________________________________________________________________________
It was morning by the time Stiles found them on the side of the road. They climbed into the jeep, both exhausted.
“You know what actually worries me the most?” Scott pondered.
“If you say Allison, I'm gonna punch you in the head.”
Scott groaned. “She probably hates me now.”
Stiles rolled his eyes. “Ugh. I doubt that. But you might want to come up with a pretty amazing apology. Or, you know, you could just tell her the truth and revel in the awesomeness of the fact that you're a frickin' werewolf.” Scott shot him a look. “Okay, bad idea. Hey, we'll get through this. Come on, if I have to, I'll chain you up myself on full moon nights and feed you live mice. I had a boa once. I could do it.”
She laughed and leaned forward, putting a hand on Scott’s shoulder. “As much as I would love to see that, I also sincerely hope that never happens.” She squeezed his shoulder. “But we’re here for you man. We’ll help you through this. Whatever it takes.”