SIDELINES

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JACKSON IS DEAD. Stiles is missing. The sheriff is struggling to keep himself together for the sake of the town. Everyone is terrified.

The ambulance arrived nearly twenty minutes ago to collect Jackson's body and take it to the hospital to be examined. Scott's mother, now being aware of the supernatural threats in Beacon Hills after the night at the police station, insisted on accompanying the delivery of the corpse to prevent the coroner from discovering the true cause of death.

The lacrosse team retreated into the locker rooms by Coach's orders, and Stilinski followed the players to ask more questions regarding what happened on the field. Emery managed to slip past Coach and join Isaac and Scott at their lockers (thought she doubts he would even care all that much).

Isaac and Emery have yet to mention their argument outside of the animal clinic from earlier today, which revolved around the fact that he had planned to leave with Erica and Boyd without a word to her. Nevertheless, Emery is more concerned about Stiles' disappearance and Jackson's sudden death than the condition of her relationship at the moment.

"I gotta meet with the medical examiner to try and figure out what happened with Jackson. I've got an APB out on Stiles," the sheriff informs the three teenagers, holding a notepad and pen in his hands. "His jeep is still in the parking lot, so that means..." he pauses, eyes briefly falling to stare at the ground. A twinge of sympathy hits Emery's chest at his saddened face. "Hell, I don't know what that means. Look, i—if he answers his phone, if he answers his emails, if any of you see him—"

"We'll call you," Isaac says gently.

Scott nods in agreement as he adds, "Look, he's probably just freaked out from all the attention or something. We'll find him."

"Yeah..." The tears glistening in Stilinski's exhausted eyes are hard to miss, but nobody mentions it as the man blinks them away. "I'll see you, okay?"

Then he turns to leave without giving them a chance to respond.

Finstock approaches them within a second. "McCall," he addresses in a much kinder tone than usual. "We need you on the team, okay? You know I can't put you in the field next season if you don't get your grades up."

"Yeah, I know, Coach."

"All right," he murmurs, beginning to walk away until he abruptly faces Scott again. Coach stammers slightly as he tries to put his thoughts into a sentence. "I mean, I—I know I yell a lot, but it's not like I hate you guys. Well, I kind of hate Greenberg"—he lets out a chuckle, while Scott smiles at his correction—"but, you know, that's different. I'm just saying we... I need you on the team. Get your grades back up."

Scott moves his head up and down in a soft manner. "I will."

"I know," Finstock whispers. He glances over at Emery and squints at her. "You're not supposed to be in here, but I don't see you. Got it?"

The witch hums, amused by his deliberate ignorance. "Got it, Coach."

"I'll see you at cross country though, right?"

"Yes. Absolutely."

"Good."

Then Coach Finstock, along with the rest of his players, slowly file out of the locker rooms after gathering all of their bags and gear. Isaac and Scott stare at the door until the last person rounds the corner leading to the hallway, disappearing behind the other side of the wall.

Isaac walks toward the exit, while Scott remains beside Emery. "Is that everyone?"

"I think so."

Emery flinches when Scott rips the metal door to Stiles' locker off its hinges without warning, tossing it at Isaac's feet as he begins to rummage through the items in the small compartment. "Seriously?"

"You're gonna find him by scent?" asks Isaac.

"Yeah, we both are." Scott takes a piece of Stiles' clothing out of the locker, along with one of his sneakers and passes it to Isaac.

Isaac frowns. "But how come you get his shirt, and I get a shoe?"

Emery stifles a grin at his question.

Scott's attention has been drawn elsewhere, however, and both Emery and Isaac follow his gaze to find Derek standing in the middle of the room. His arms are folded behind his back, features stoic and hard as always. "We need to talk."

When Peter Hale steps out into the open space, a smug smile tugging at his lips, Emery nearly feels her heart stop beating. "All of us."

"Holy shit."

Emery involuntarily stumbles backward, bumping into Isaac's chest. Her ears start to ring, anxiety wrapping itself tightly around her lungs as she stares at the man responsible for permanently altering her DNA. She attempts to swallow the air that gets caught in her throat, trying to remain calm despite the fear that overwhelms her. A shiver goes down her spine once Peter recognizes her.

"Well, if it isn't my strangest creation..."

Scott steps directly in front of her after he senses the discomfort caused to her by the man's presence. "What the hell is this?"

"You know, I thought the same thing when I saw you talking to Gerard at the sheriff's station," Derek replies sharply, brows narrowed at the teenage boy as he gapes.

"Okay, hold on. H—He threatened to kill my mom. And I had to get close to him! What was I supposed to do?"

Peter puts forth, "I'm gonna go with Scott on this one. Have you seen his mom?" He directs his inquiry to Emery and Isaac, who each raise a brow at the man. "She's gorgeous."

"SHUT UP!"

Scott and Derek shout simultaneously, their voices merging together in scolding.

Isaac leans down to Scott and Emery's ears to ask, "Who is he?"

"He's Peter, Derek's uncle. A little while back, he tried to kill us all, and then we set him on fire, and Derek slashed his throat."

Adding to Scott's short yet gruesome explanation, Emery says, "He's the one who scratched me." She had told him of the events that led to her becoming a witch just a few weeks ago, and it seems to click in Isaac's memory as he moves to gently switch places with Emery and push her behind him.

"Hi," Peter greets with a wave.

Isaac feigns a smile. "That's good to know."

"How is he alive?" Scott queries, still unable to comprehend how Peter is standing before them.

Derek dismisses the werewolf's question. "Look, the short version is he knows how to stop Jackson— and maybe how to save him."

"Well, that's very helpful except... Jackson's dead." Isaac informs the pair grimly, causing the Hales' eyes to widen in surprise.

"What?"

Scott blinks. "Yeah, Jackson's dead. It just happened on the field."

Derek nor Peter seems to be particularly content with the news, as their facial expression remain unchanged from their serious ones. Emery continues to keep her fingers clasped over her boyfriend's wrist for comfort as he speaks.

"Okay, why is no one taking this as good news?"

Peter exhales before answering the boy's question. "Because if Jackson is dead, it didn't just happen. Gerard wanted it to happen."

"But why?"

An oddly sickening smile forms on Peter's face, almost as if he finds the reality of their situation amusing. He stalks closer to the teenagers as he expresses his observations to the group.

"Well, that's exactly what we need to figure out. And something tells me that the window of opportunity is closing. Quickly."

Emery rolls her eyes at his dramatics.

____________

As he, Isaac, and Emery joined Peter and Derek in searching for something at the Hale House, Scott received a text from Stiles' father informing him that the boy had shown up at their home, claiming that his bruised face had been inflicted by some of the other team's players who jumped him after losing the game.

Although they did not entirely believe his statement, Emery and Scott felt a weight being lifted from their shoulders, his safety being one less thing they have to worry about now.

However, the text was soon followed by a call from Melissa, suggesting that they came to Beacon Hills Memorial because of an odd development that had to do with Jackson's body. So, the werewolves hopped into Emery's car and drove away from the Hale House, heading to the hospital to meet Scott's mother.

When they reach the hospital, the three discover that the odd development Melissa found is a thick coating of the kanima venom forming around Jackson's torso. His body lies inside of a leather bag, which is halfway unzipped to allow them to observe the contents. Isaac and Emery linger over his head as they inspect the venom without touching it with their hands, trying to avoid being paralyzed by the substance.

"What's happening to him?" Scott asks, clearly dumbfounded.

Melissa stammers. "I—I thought that you were gonna tell me. Is it bad?"

"It doesn't look good," Isaac points out, resting his palms against the flat surface.

Isaac, along with the others, is startled when Jackson's neck suddenly twitches. He places an arm over Emery, pulling her farther from the table and towards the corner. "Whoa..."

"Um, Mom, could you zip it up, please?"

Melissa gapes at her son's request, while Emery shoots her friend a look of disbelief. "Scott," she whisper-yells. "You're a werewolf?"

He shakes his head frantically.

"Okay," Melissa breathes out. She's evidently terrified to even near the bag as she steps closer. Her fingers tug on the zipper, pulling it up until it reaches Jackson's chin. "Okay, okay. Here we go."

The zipper gets caught on the leather, causing a slight struggle as the woman tries to continue closing it. The kanima's mouth parts to reveal the dark, razor-sharp teeth aligning its jaw, hissing loudly at Melissa. Her forearms fly up to her chest, and she lets out sounds of fear while the teenagers stare wide-eyed at the creature.

"Mom, zip."

"Okay, okay, okay," Melissa's voice has become more panicked than before. She attempts to yank the bag over the kanima's face.

"Zip! Zip, Mom, zip!"

"Somnum!" Emery squeals, flinging her hand out to cast the incantation on Jackson. A blast of violet hits his nose before his movements slow until he falls into another slumber, allowing Melissa to fully zip the body bag to his head. She exhales, "That should last at least a few minutes... I think."

Isaac gulps. "We should call Derek—"

"I'm calling Derek."

Scott fumbles with grabbing his phone out from his back pocket, dialing the Alpha almost immediately. He answers. "Uh, Derek, Jackson's in some sort of... transparent casing. It looks like the venom from his claws— and he's moving."

Emery's sleeping spell has worn off within a single minute, meaning that either she cast it incorrectly... or the kanima has managed to subdue the magic and regain consciousness. Regardless, they need to find a solution as soon as possible (preferably before the creature is fully capable of mauling them all to death).

Peter and Derek discuss amongst themselves on the other line before Derek says, "Scott, bring him to us."

"I'm not sure if we have time for that."

When she hears screeching from the speakers of Scott's phone, Emery narrows her eyes in suspicion. "What the hell was that?"

The Alpha ignores her. "Scott, get him out of there now— go now. We'll meet you halfway."

"Of course, you don't want to tell us." Emery scoffs, pressing her lips in a line out of annoyance. Derek and Scott end their phone call. "How are we going to sneak him out of here? He's supposed to be dead."

Scott pauses at the realization of her point: if they're caught trying to smuggle out a corpse from the hospital, then they'd be in a lot of legal trouble. He turns to look at the woman to his left for an idea. "Mom?"

Melissa gives him an unimpressed glance at his inability to conjure his own plan, sighing heavily as she clasps her palms together. "I will check if there is anyone out in the hallway," she explains lowly. "When I say the coast is clear, you run like hell and get him out of here, okay?"

They nod in understanding.

Scott and Isaac each grab one end of the large pouch and prepare to hurry out of the room, while Melissa heads to the door and cracks it open enough to peak into the hallway. She cranes her neck to peer back at the teenagers after a moment. "Clear."

Emery dashes past the frame first, and the two boys trail after her closely as she leads them to the nearest staircase. They race down the steps and out to the parking lot, where she carefully watches for any signs of movement as Isaac and Scott wait behind her. After several people walk down the street and out of her line of sight, Emery signals for them to continue carrying Jackson's body away from Beacon Memorial.

THUD!

Emery whirls around to see that Scott's hands are empty, his end of the bag slumped at his feet while Isaac has managed to keep his hold firm on the top. The dirty blond gapes at his friend with petrified eyes. His girlfriend stares at the two incredulously, resisting the urge to smack Scott across the nape of his neck.

"Are you kidding me?" Emery hisses in a quiet tone, gritting her teeth out of frustration. "Don't just stand there— pick it up!"

Scott whispers an apology and bends over to lift the kanima's legs upward, until the screeching of tires causes him to turn to face the vehicle that enters the parking lot. The brightness of the headlights forces them all to squint their eyelids as the driver shuts off the engine and steps out of the car.

Chris Argent approaches the teenagers with a blank yet determined expression.

"You're alone," Scott remarks.

"More than you know."

"What do you want?"

Argent inhales sharply. "We don't have much in common, Scott. But at the moment, we have a common enemy."

The werewolf glances between him and the pouch on the ground. "That's why I'm trying to get him out of here."

"I didn't mean Jackson." Scott quirks a brow at him, so he explains. "Gerard has twisted his way into Allison's head in the same way he did with Kate. I'm losing her— and I know you're losing her too."

"You're right." Scott blinks, regretfully confirming his statement. "So, can you trust me to fix this?"—Argent nods slightly—"Then can you let us go?"

"No," the hunter deadpans.

Isaac hangs his head low in defeat, while Emery shows a pleading look across her features. Scott appears to be confused when Argent smirks.

"My car's faster."