Bravely Courageous

23

"It's Coach's favorite movie," Stiles said.

""We will not go quietly into the night!""

"He doesn't know any sports speeches?" Melissa wondered.

Maggie chuckled. "I don't think he cares."

""Today we celebrate our Independence Day!""

"Yeah!" the guys cheered.

Gerard appeared in the locker room. "Well spoken, Coach. I might have chosen something with a little more historical value, but there's no denying your passion. And while I haven't been here long, there's no denying my pride in having a winning team for this school. I know you'll all be brilliant tonight, even with only one co-captain leading you. Now, I'm your principal, but I'm also a fan. So don't think I'll be content to watch you merely beat this team. Get out there and murder them."

"You heard the man. Asses on the field!" Coach cried.

Before they got out to the field, Maggie grabbed Stiles' hand, causing them both to glance down before she said, "Something felt weird with his speech. Be careful, okay?"

Stiles nodded. "You and your brother be careful too, Maggie."

She nodded and released his hand before walking off.

Stiles and Scott were sitting on the bench and Maggie and Caleb stood a short distance behind them. Scott turned to his friend. "Your dad coming?"

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, he's already here."

"You seen Allison?"

"She's not here yet. Have either of you seen Lydia?"

Scott shook his head. "Not yet."

Maggie stalked up with a frown. "One of you explain why Caleb and I are feeling like something will go go horribly wrong."

Scott glanced to her before saying, "I don't know. But we all need to be on our guard."

"Scott, the other night, seeing my dad get hit over the head by Matt and seeing Maggie being threatened and shot, you know, I'm just lying there and I can't even move, it just --  want to help, you know, but Maggie, Caleb and I can't do the things that you can do. I can't do the things Maggie and Caleb can do. I can't-" Stiles trailed.

"It's okay," Scott answered.

"We're losing, dude."

Coach's voice sounded from behind Maggie, causing her to jump in the air. "The hell are you talking about? Game hasn't even started. Hawthorne, bleachers. Your brother too. Stilinski, put on your helmet and get out there. You're in for Greenberg."

Stiles glanced to her and back to Coach. "What? What happened to Greenberg?"

Coach scoffed. "What happened to Greenberg? He sucks. You suck slightly less."

He shot Maggie a look and she and Caleb made their way to the bleachers and sat next to Lydia. "We need to win this."

Lydia nodded while staring out to the field. "We will. I hope. Why is Scott's friend out there? He's a terrible player."

"That's Stiles, Lydia. Coach decided to play him because, as he said, he sucks slightly less than Greenberg."

Lydia laughed softly. "He's not wrong."

"We have to win."

"Let's hope we do."

Caleb nodded. "We will. I think. I hope."

"Caleb?"

"Yeah?"

"You're not helping."

"Sorry."