❛ You could try and take us but we're the gladiators. Everyone a rager but secretly they're saviors. ❜

SEASON 2, EPISODE 1
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IT HAD BEEN two days since Peter had put Lydia in the hospital, kidnapped Willow and Stiles, attacked Scott, and then died at the hands of his own kin. Willow had to shake the feeling that she had killed Peter. The fire she wreaked on him would have killed anyone without supernatural powers.

⠀⠀⠀The morning after the formal, Starla had woken her up in a frenzy. Starla pulled her daughter into her arms the second she blearily opened her eyes. Since Vic hadn't woken Starla to inform her that their daughter was indeed safe, she panicked until she could see her daughter again.

⠀⠀⠀Willow didn't want to relive what happened a third time, first living it then telling her dad what happened, but she knew that it would at least bring her mom the tiniest bit of comfort if she told her.

⠀⠀⠀"I never liked Peter," Starla told Willow when she finished, shaking her head in disapproval. "He was always very strange." Starla smiled along with Willow, running her hand over her head, and finished with, "I'm just happy you're okay, honey."

⠀⠀⠀Now, Willow was standing over Stiles in the hospital where Lydia was still recovering. Willow and Scott had been texting back and forth over the weekend to make sure everything was going okay. So when he mentioned that Stiles was still at the hospital, she couldn't push back the feeling she needed to check on him.

⠀⠀⠀Stiles was laid out over three hospital chairs, all with armrests he had to maneuver around. He didn't look comfortable at all, twisted into a weird position with his neck back on the final one, leaning over the edge, so his neck was on full display.

⠀⠀⠀"Stiles," Willow called, hearing him mutter softly in his sleep.

⠀⠀⠀"You're dirty," Stiles laughed, eyes still closed and dead asleep.

⠀⠀⠀Willow rolled her eyes.

⠀⠀⠀"Stiles!"

⠀⠀⠀His eyes opened slowly, turning left then right, and finally to look up at her. His face turned a shade of red as he noticed Willow standing there and concluded she had heard him sleep talking.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, hey," Stiles greeted between a yawn, pushing himself up, and sat in the middle chair of the three.

⠀⠀⠀"Hey," Willow greeted, amused by his behavior. "Scott mentioned you being here all weekend, and I thought I'd bring you dinner," she explained, raising the bag of Chinese food for him to see.

⠀⠀⠀Stiles' face lit up, eyes shining in excitement and a wide grin growing over his face as he looked from the white plastic bag back to her. She smiled back, taking the chair beside him, and set the bag at her feet to dig through it. She pulled out one box, opened it to look inside then handed it to him.

⠀⠀⠀"Chow Mein for you," she muttered, then pulled out another box for herself. "Mongolian Beef for me, rice and dumplings for us to share."

⠀⠀⠀"Aw, you remembered my favorite," Stiles noted, looking at her with a stupid grin to tease her. Then, he turned back to his box, using the chopsticks she had given her, and started to eat.

⠀⠀⠀"Haha," she bit back, rolling her eyes as she snapped her chopsticks. "I wasn't that bad of a girlfriend," she muttered.

⠀⠀⠀"No, you weren't," Stiles agreed, nodding his head, then looked back down at his food but didn't continue eating. His eyes narrowed, and he was looking back at her again. "This isn't poisoned, right?" he asked.

⠀⠀⠀Willow looked over at him, mouthful as she raised an eyebrow at his comment. She swallowed and started laughing as she asked, "Why do you say that?"

⠀⠀⠀"I thought we weren't friends," Stiles commented, pulling her words back and throwing them in her face.

⠀⠀⠀Willow sighed, not wanting to talk about it now, "Shut up, Stilinski."

⠀⠀⠀"We have to talk about it at some point," Stiles pointed out. His tone didn't indicate hard feelings or bitterness from their fight. Instead, they both knew it was a matter they needed to get back to.

⠀⠀⠀"Not tonight," Willow stated, and he nodded.

⠀⠀⠀"So, you and Blair?" Stiles asked, his voice strained as he continued eating.

⠀⠀⠀Willow had returned to her food. Then, glanced at Stiles from the corner of her eye, unsure how to take his comment.

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah," Willow sighed, taking the conversation starter. "She's nice, I like her, but I'm not sure how to apologize to her about the dance."

⠀⠀⠀"Take her flowers," Stiles told her. He shrugged, still unable to look at her when she turned to look at him in question. "Girls like flowers, then just tell her I came out of the dance worried about Lydia. We went outside to look for her but, uh... But—"

⠀⠀⠀"Exactly," Willow muttered. "Can't exactly tell her that we found Lydia bleeding out on the field and left her there to die."

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, I guess not," Stiles said under his breath.

⠀⠀⠀"Ugh, she's going to think the worst even if I try to apologize," Willow groaned, running her free hand over her face.

⠀⠀⠀"She's going to think even worse if you don't say anything," Stiles pointed out, and Willow frowned.

⠀⠀⠀"You're right," Willow muttered.

⠀⠀⠀"I know," Stiles stated as he stood. He threw his trash in the can beside Willow, then took hers when he noticed she was finished and did the same. He turned to look back at her and smiled, but it didn't meet his eye. "I'm going to get some candy. You need to take your mind off Blair for now. Come on."

⠀⠀⠀Willow sighed, knowing he was right, and stood. The two walked down the hallways and found the vending machine in a hall not far from them. Stiles stood in front of the machine first, putting in his money then the code for a Reese's. The metal spun, and the candy fell forward, stuck between the spiral and the glass. Stiles frowned, staring at it.

⠀⠀⠀"Seriously? Come on," he muttered, moving closer to the machine and starting to shake it.

⠀⠀⠀"Stiles—"

⠀⠀⠀Stiles took a step back then went back, hugging the machine to use all of his body weight to shake the machine. The sudden movements had the machine falling forward and slamming against the floor, Stiles jumping out of its way.

⠀⠀⠀"Stiles," Willow stated, staring down at the machine as did he.

⠀⠀⠀"What?" he asked, disappointed.

⠀⠀⠀"I could have just used magic," she stated. "Or just bought a Reese's on the same row."

⠀⠀⠀Stiles looked up, smiling sheepishly at her.

⠀⠀⠀"Doesn't matter now," Stiles commented, looking behind them to see that no one had seen what had happened. "Come on," he muttered, pulling her down the hall and casually away from the vending machine before anyone realized it was them.

⠀⠀⠀As they were headed back to the waiting room, a sudden blood-curdling scream came from Lydia's room. Their heads whipped in the direction of her room, turning pale at the thought something terrible had happened, and went running for her.

⠀⠀⠀"Lydia?" Stiles exclaimed as they entered her room with Ms. McCall and Lydia's father.

⠀⠀⠀Lydia was nowhere, her shower still running, but no sign of her or any kind of struggle to indicate anything had happened. It was like she had vanished. However, the open window told them that it was something worse.

"ANY OTHER DESCRIPTORS?" Mr. Stilinski asked Ms. McCall. The hospital had called the Sheriff Station about Lydia's disappearance. The two teenagers were asked to wait until they arrived to see if they needed anything from them.

⠀⠀⠀"Five foot three, green eyes, fair-skinned, and her hair is actually strawberry blonde," Stiles stepped into the adult's conversation.

⠀⠀⠀"Is that right?" Mr. Stilinski asked, unamused by his son butting in.

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah," Stiles nodded.

⠀⠀⠀The Sheriff pulled Stiles off to the side, his hand clamped down onto his shoulder. They talked in a whisper, Mr. Stilinski reprimanding Stiles while his shoulders sunk.

⠀⠀⠀Stiles glanced over to Willow when he and his dad finished talking and nodded his head for her to follow. They walked out of the hall, past the vending machine now crowded by nurses, and over to the elevator.

⠀⠀⠀Scott was already outside in Stiles' Jeep when they exited the building, waiting for them. Stiles pulled his seat up for Willow to get into the back, then both turned to Scott. Stiles handed over the hospital gown he had stolen from Lydia's room to Scott.

⠀⠀⠀"This is the one she was just wearing?" Scott asked, holding it. Stiles nodded, looking distraught by everything that had happened, especially to Lydia. Scott took his worried gaze and reassuringly told his best friend, "I'm not gonna let anyone hurt her. Not again."

⠀⠀⠀"All right, just shove the thing in your face and let's find her," Stiles told him quickly, not wanting to get overly emotional over the situation.

⠀⠀⠀Stiles turned on his Jeep, his lights turning on and illuminating Allison stalking over to them.

⠀⠀⠀"What are you doing here?" Scott asked her from his window as she approached. "Someone's gonna see us."

⠀⠀⠀"I don't care," Allison told him without hesitation, her eyebrows kneaded together and her mouth pressed into a thin line to keep her emotions in check. "She's my best friend, and we need to find her before they do."

⠀⠀⠀"I can find her before the cops can," Scott assured her.

⠀⠀⠀"How about before my father does?" Allison asked.

⠀⠀⠀"He knows?"

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah," Allison sighed, rubbing her head over her forehead. "I just saw him and three other guys leave my house in two SUVs."

⠀⠀⠀"Search party," Scott muttered.

⠀⠀⠀"It's more like a hunting party," Allison corrected.

⠀⠀⠀"Get in," Scott muttered.

⠀⠀⠀He stepped out of the Jeep, moving the seat forward so she could climb into the back with Willow. Willow moved to sit behind Stiles rather than in the middle and hesitantly smiled at Allison as she joined her. The two hadn't talked much since Allison arrived in Beacon Hills despite the fact they had been involved in most of the same things. However, Allison had only recently come to know Scott's true identity.

⠀⠀⠀"All right, but if she's turning, would they actually kill her?" Stiles asked Allison, pulling out of the parking lot.

⠀⠀⠀"I don't know," Allison sighed. "They won't tell me anything, okay? All they say is, 'We'll talk after Kate's funeral when the others get here.'" Allison explained, growing frustrated with the entire situation.

⠀⠀⠀"What others?" Stiles asked.

⠀⠀⠀"I don't know. They won't tell me yet," Allison explained.

⠀⠀⠀"Okay, your family's got some serious communication issues to work on," Stiles stated, and Allison nodded in agreement. "Scott, are we going the right way?"

⠀⠀⠀At some point in Allison and Stiles' conversation, Scott had put his head out of the window like a dog to follow Lydia's scent. If the air hadn't been so tense, Willow would've been laughing at the insanity of it.

⠀⠀⠀"Take the next right!" Scott called back to Stiles.

WILLOW, STILES, SCOTT and Allison were back again at the Hale house. It had only been a couple of days since they had been there, and now they were back again. Willow felt absurd for standing there in front of the destroyed house again. The creeping chill of Peter Hale trying to kill them all came back as well, and she wondered if it had all been a trick. Like Peter would jump from the trees and start laughing at them for thinking he was dead. Derek would follow, laughing at them for ever believing any of their werewolf lore.

⠀⠀⠀Scott and Allison were a couple of steps ahead of her, approaching the house when Willow called them back.

⠀⠀⠀"I should probably cast a protection spell," Willow told them simply.

⠀⠀⠀Stiles and Scott turned back, nodding in understanding as they walked back to stand with her. Allison stared at her a little confused, still ahead of them but stopped in her tracks. Willow looked over to Allison when she held both Stiles and Scott's hands in her own, realizing she hadn't joined the circle.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, um, Allison," Willow said, trying to smile reassuringly but felt more on edge knowing that Allison knew her not so secret. "Take Scott and Stiles' hands."

⠀⠀⠀Allison raised an eyebrow, her frown flicking down just a little more, but she walked over to the broken circle and closed it by taking the boy's hands.

⠀⠀⠀"I'm going to put a protection spell over us. If anything happens, you'll be able to take a few hits before something bad happens. Think of it like a thin suit of armor made from really thick aluminum."

⠀⠀⠀Allison didn't look like she understood what Willow was saying but nodded her head anyway.

⠀⠀⠀"Okay."

⠀⠀⠀"Caelus defendant nos, animus et corpus, ab impetus dum sumus forabilis in hic spatium opi."

⠀⠀⠀Willow opened her eyes and noticed Allison shuttered when the spell went over her. Allison looked over to Willow, looking slightly confused.

⠀⠀⠀"That felt weird," Allison said, the four breaking the circle, and Allison started to roll her shoulders. "But familiar."

⠀⠀⠀"I've done it to you before," Willow stated, the group beginning to head back for the house. Willow walked beside Allison with Scott on the other side of her. "At the school."

⠀⠀⠀"Oh," Allison muttered, nodding her head. "Is that why you passed out then?" she asked curiously, moving her hair behind her ear to look at Willow.

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, I had protections spells on you, Jackson, Lydia, my sisters, and these two along with a stronger one around the room," Willow listed, putting a finger down for each. "Over-exerted myself, I guess."

⠀⠀⠀Allison chuckled at her words and nodded her head at the apparent fact of the matter.

⠀⠀⠀"I think you did," Allison stated with a broad smile that softened into graciousness. "But thank you for your help then. I really appreciate it."

⠀⠀⠀Ahead of the two girls, Stiles and Scott were walking, still confused why Lydia's scent would lead them here.

⠀⠀⠀"Are you sure she came here?" Stiles asked Scott, looking around their surroundings then back to Scott.

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, this is where the scent leads," Scott assured him.

⠀⠀⠀"Alright," Stiles nodded but was still unconvinced. "But has Lydia ever been here?"

⠀⠀⠀"Not with me," Allison told him with a shake of her head. "Maybe she came here on instinct like she was looking for Derek."

⠀⠀⠀"You mean looking for an Alpha," Scott said, falling back so he could talk to Allison one to one.

⠀⠀⠀"Wolves need a pack, right?" she asked him.

⠀⠀⠀"Not all of them."

⠀⠀⠀"But would she have been drawn to an Alpha?" Allison continued, not wanting to get into the politics of what some werewolves do. Instead, they needed what was most likely for Lydia to be doing if she had started to change. "Is it an instinct to be a part of a pack?"

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah," Scott nodded. "We're—We're stronger in packs."

⠀⠀⠀"Like strength in numbers," Allison tacked on.

⠀⠀⠀"No, like—like, literally stronger, faster, better in every way," Scott explained.

⠀⠀⠀"That the same for an Alpha?"

⠀⠀⠀Scott nodded hesitantly, then answered, "That makes Derek stronger, too."

⠀⠀⠀"Whoa, hey, look at this," Stiles called, catching their attention as he squatted down beside something in the leaves. Curious, Willow and Allison walked over to get a better look at what Stiles was looking at. "You see this? I think it's a tripwire."

⠀⠀⠀"Don't—"

⠀⠀⠀Stiles plucked it before Willow could stop him, but nothing happened.

⠀⠀⠀"Don't freak out, Will," Stiles told her, laughing under his breath. "Nothing happened."

⠀⠀⠀"Stiles," Scott called.

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, buddy," Stiles replied, turning around on his heel as did Willow and Allison, only to find Scott hanging upside down by a rope.

⠀⠀⠀"Next time you see a tripwire," Scott stated, throwing his hands out to his sides to express his annoyance. "Don't trip it!"

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, noted."

⠀⠀⠀"Told you," Willow muttered as Stiles stood.

⠀⠀⠀"Shut up," Stiles replied, heading forward with Allison to help Scott down.

⠀⠀⠀Willow stood back, letting the two without superhuman abilities handle the situation of getting Scott down. But, for some reason, they always seemed to forget that Willow could just cast a spell to get him down or let Scott cut himself free.

⠀⠀⠀She watched as they fumbled to get him down, but before they could, Scott suddenly stopped them.

⠀⠀⠀"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" he exclaimed. "Someone's coming. Hide. Go!"

⠀⠀⠀Stiles stumbled away from Scott, turning to look at Willow, and grabbed her by the shoulders to lead her down the hill, Allison right behind them. The three sat behind a bush, watching Scott as Mr. Argent and a couple of his men approached.

⠀⠀⠀Willow felt a chill run down her spine as he squatted in front of Scott, remembering the hospital when he had taken her, Stiles, and Jackson hostage for information.

⠀⠀⠀Willow looked over at Stiles, and he turned back to look at her. He shook his head lightly to keep her from standing to start a fight.

⠀⠀⠀"Globus ignis," Willow whispered under her breath, a ball of fire erupting in the palm of her hand, prepared to make a move if something did happen.

⠀⠀⠀"What are you doing?" Allison whispered back at her, panicked, seeing as that was her dad threatening their friend.

⠀⠀⠀"It's a last resort," Willow replied. "I'm not gonna start until he does."

⠀⠀⠀Allison accepted what Willow said but didn't relax, rather tense as they watched what happened ahead of them.

⠀⠀⠀"Scott?" Mr. Argent asked, pressing his lips together as he stared at the werewolf hanging upside down in the middle of the woods.

⠀⠀⠀"Mr. Argent," Scott greeted.

⠀⠀⠀"How are you doing?" Mr. Argent asked.

⠀⠀⠀"Good. You know, just hangin' out," Scott replied, looking up at his foot that was caught in the rope. "Is this one of yours? It's, uh, good. Nice design. Very constricting."

⠀⠀⠀Mr. Argent wasn't amused by Scott's reply and instead let out a small, disappointed sigh.

⠀⠀⠀"What are you doing out here, Scott?" he asked him, like a worn-out father wondering why his son had snuck out. Willow had heard the same tone from her own father, and she didn't like the fact that it humanized the hunter.

⠀⠀⠀"Looking for my friend," Scott admitted.

⠀⠀⠀"Ah, that's right," Mr. Argent nodded. "Lydia's in your group now, isn't she? Part of your clique? Is that the word you use? Or, is there another way to put it? Part of your pack?"

⠀⠀⠀"Actually, clique sounds about right to me," Scott stated with a nod.

⠀⠀⠀"I hope so," Mr. Argent told him blandly. "Cause I know she's a friend of Allison's and one special circumstance, such as yourself—one, I can handle. Not two."

⠀⠀⠀"No," Scot agreed.

⠀⠀⠀"Scott," Mr. Argent continued but moved on from the matter of Lydia. "Do you know what a hemicorporectomy is?"

⠀⠀⠀"I have a feeling I don't want to," Scott admitted, cringing.

⠀⠀⠀"A medical term for amputating somebody at the waist. Cutting them in half. Takes a tremendous amount of strength to cut through tissue and bone like that," Mr. Argent explained anyways. He motioned over Scott's torso with his hand just about where he would be cut in half if Mr. Argent wanted to. "Let's hope a demonstration never becomes necessary."

⠀⠀⠀Mr. Argent stood, the conversation between the two over as he left with his men to leave Scott hanging.

⠀⠀⠀Once they were gone, the three behind the bushes ran from their hiding place and back to Scott. Stiles and Allison rushed over to Scott to help him down while Willow stared in the direction the men had left.

⠀⠀⠀Why did they come if they were just going to leave?

⠀⠀⠀"Willow?" Scott called out to her, and she turned to look at him now standing upright. "You comin'?"

⠀⠀⠀Willow glanced back at the woods, worried Allison's father was waiting for them to feel safe. She nodded her head back to Scott, shaking the feeling and hoping that wasn't the case.

AUTHOR'S NOTE —

Hello and welcome to Act 2! I'm really excited to get through this. Uh, I'm gonna try to post everyday until September 30th but let's see how that goes and hopefully I don't burn myself out :/ (Edit From September 30: I did it.)

SONG: Glory and Gore by Lorde

Thank you for reading! Leave comments telling me your thoughts on this chapter, but however you interact, know that I really appreciate you reading. I hope you enjoy, and until the next one.