To Better The Shattered; Scott McCall [2] ✔

0.70 In Which There Is Always A Crossfire

"I've been sitting here for, like, five minutes," she told him bemusedly. "What were you staring at?"

Stiles' eyes flicked back to the empty table, and he said seriously: "Boyd. He's not there."

"Boyd?" Ellie had never met someone called Boyd (but she'd barely met anyone at BHHS, so that wasn't totally shocking).

"Yeah, he was the one who gave me the keys for the rink." The pale boy pulled himself back into his seat, stabbing a piece of meat on his tray with a plastic fork. "He doesn't have any friends."

"Meaning he's a good target for Derek," Ellie realised, eyes widening. "But – aren't Isaac and Erica enough?"

"He wants three, I think," Stiles replied. "Well, Scott thinks so. I'm not usually one to follow his ideas – he's failing three classes after all – but he seems pretty in-the-know where Derek is concerned."

"Why would Derek risk turning more people?" Ellie said, outraged. "They could die, doesn't he get that?"

"He's an idiot," Stiles commented.

Ellie frowned, staring down at her very unappetizing sandwich – ham and cheese were hardly suitable considering the impending werewolf apocalypse.

"Ellie!" And that was Scott, probably wondering if she had a death wish for sitting with Stiles. The teenage werewolf dropped into the seat next to her, looking panicked. "Oh my- that thing, with Erica, it wasn't – it wasn't what it looked like, I swear!"

"I know, Scott," the girl shook her head. "She's with Derek now; getting to us is probably her mission, or whatever. I don't care."

"That's good," Scott breathed. "So good. I- thank you. I knew there was a reason I love you. You're so understanding."

"That's so charming," she responded blandly. "But that's not the problem – Big Bad Wolf turning people is. He can't carry on – the hunters are sending in reinforcements daily. Battle lines are being drawn, Scott, and my grandfather isn't used to losing."

"I can't just stand by and pretend to be normal, Ellie," Scott said. "Stiles and I are involved now."

"Whoa, why are you bringing me into this?!" Stiles squeaked.

"I don't want you normal, Scott. I want you alive." Ellie grabbed his hand under the table, "There's always crossfire; you're going to get caught in it."

"I have to stop this, you know that," he pulled away.

"Yeah," she smiled sadly. "Yeah, I know that."

"Scott, uh, not that this relationship drama isn't entertaining," Stiles interrupted, "But we've got a serious problem." He nodded to the table opposite, "Notice anything different?"

"Boyd," Scott blinked. "Boyd is gone. Where's Boyd?"

Ellie got to her feet, swinging her bag back over her shoulder and giving her sandwich to Stiles. "Where do you think he is? I've got to go and meet Allison at Harris' room, but... keep me informed about the Derek situation, okay? Allison and I will help as much as we can."

;

A late night call from Stiles was the last thing Ellie expected. She'd begun to creep to her car to meet Scott, but was stopped by the sound of a quiet conversation between Gerard and Allison. She knew that she would never get away with meeting her boyfriend with her grandfather skulking around, so, resignedly, she retreated to her bedroom.

Hopefully Scott would understand.

It was when Ellie was grabbing her pyjamas from her draw when the familiar ringtone sounded from her mobile. The song (Radioactive, Imagine Dragons) was one she associated with Stiles (for a reason even she didn't know) so she knew that it was the boy as soon as she picked up.

"Stiles?" she answered, frowning. He hadn't called her since the day of the first lacrosse game she went to. "Are you... okay?"

"No, uh, actually I'm not." He said, sounding distraught, "Scott's not picking up, and I didn't know who to call."

"What is it?" Ellie was immediately worried – Stiles never looked further than Scott supportive wise. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm not the one who's hurt." Stiles sniffed, "Please, just... come, alright? Do you know where the auto-shop is?"

"I think so. I'll be right there." She hung up, all worries of Gerard forgotten. Ellie threw on her coat, running down the stairs with her shoelaces untied and hopped into the Mazda. Without checking the meeting time on the window, the brunette sped to the shop.

By the time she reached it, there were already two police cars and an ambulance on the scene. Stiles was sat with his dad at the back of the ambulance, looking as bad as he sounded on the phone. She parked away from the crowds before rushing to him, yelling, "Stiles!"

His head snapped up, and he looked honestly surprised that Ellie had shown.

The sheriff stood as she approached. "Ellie," he greeted politely. "What are you doing here?"

"Stiles called me," Ellie answered, then turned to Stiles. "What happened?"

"I went to get the jeep repaired, left, and when I came back, it was... it was on top of the guy." He struggled with the words, staring down at his shaking hand. "Can I just get out of here? Ellie can give me a ride, right Ellie?"

"... Right?" she said unsurely. "Uh, right, yeah, and I'll try to get through to Scott. He'll want to know that you're okay."

"Just make sure they wash her, alright?" Stiles asked with a strained smile. His dad walked away, and the boy quickly grabbed Ellie's arm and pulled her to her car. "We'll pick up Scott on the way. There's a lot we need to talk about."

a/n this is so short and I'm so sorry, honestly. It's kind of late, though, and I have loads more stuff to do for school. I'll update again next tuesday, and I'm hoping to do a birthday update next Friday.

Thank you so much for reading - I'm really sorry.

xxx