Brother || Teen Wolf

Chapter 25 - Learn and Survive

Stiles felt like his head was about to explode. He had spent the afternoon at the police station, finding even more information than he had hoped for. The video store attack the previous night, he knew all about it. He had managed to 'borrow' security footage from the video store parking lot and what it showed had sent chills down his spine.

He had printed it all and was on his way to the hospital, where Jamie had been admitted following the attack. He couldn't wait to share the news with his friend and it showed in the way he drove. He pointedly ignored multiple stop signs and raced to the hospital.

"Look, it's Stiles! You look great, buddy! It's been forever!"

A loud voice greeted Stiles as he entered the hospital room. Jamie was laying on a small bed, appearing physically present but his mind was obviously elsewhere. Stiles noticed Lydia getting up from a small chair.

"He has a concussion so the nurse gave him something. I don't know what it was, but he's making even less sense than usual," the girl explained in a tired voice.

Stiles took in her appearance. Her hair was disheveled, her clothes were crumpled and her make-up was slightly smudged. She was trying to conceal it all behind a smile but it wasn't enough to fool Stiles. He had spent years admiring her from afar, he knew this overwhelmed expression wasn't usual for her. He hoped to distract her with some news.

"So, I was at the police station and--"

"Hey there," a soft voice interrupted.

Melissa had joined them, wanting to check up on Jamie. When she had seen his name in the hospital registry, it had affected her more than she would have thought. She genuinely enjoyed the teen's company and him in a hospital bed wasn't a sight she wished to see.

"Hey, Melissa," Jamie answered with a smile, his eyes half closed.

"You know, when I said it'd be great to see you around the hospital more often, I didn't mean as a patient," she chuckled. She then grabbed his chart and whistled when she saw what he was on. She put the chart down and squeezed Lydia's shoulder gently. She turned back to Jamie, "Well, I wanted to check up on you but I really need to get back to work. You get some rest, okay?"

The woman had barely left the room that Stiles rushed to the door and closed it shut. What he had to say couldn't be overheard.

"So, the police station. They had all these documents on the attacks, you know, all this evidence, so I couldn't resist and I looked at it," Stiles explained, pacing around the small room. Jamie tried following him with his eyes but his friend was moving too much. "They said a mountain lion did it all, but they're not even sure. I was there when this email arrived, it was security footage from the video store."

Stiles suddenly stopped pacing. He turned to Lydia.

"The Alpha, it was caught on camera."

Lydia let out a small gasp. If the police had images of the beast, did it mean the existence of the supernatural was no longer a secret? When Stiles grabbed the pictures from his bag, Lydia snatched them away and examined them intently.

A large creature could be seen on the black and white images. The police couldn't guess about the glowing red eyes, then. Lydia was relieved until she saw the last image. It showed the creature standing on two feet and looking an awful lot like a man. Or to her, like a werewolf.

"Do you think..." Lydia asked before her voice trailed off.

"No way, they can't guess it's a werewolf from just that," Stiles answered, having understood the silent question.

"Jackson saw it too," Lydia confided.

Stiles was about to answer when he got a text from Scott. Finally! If Jamie had a very good excuse for not answering his phone, Stiles couldn't wait to hear Scott's explanation for ignoring him. Not even bothering to read the text, Stiles called Scott immediately. It went straight to voicemail.

"Hey, it's me again," Stiles started. "Look, I found something and I need to tell you about it, okay? So if you could answer your phone right now, that'd be great. Or else I'll kill you. Do you understand me? I'm gonna kill you. And I'm too upset to come up with a witty description about how exactly I'm gonna kill you, but I'm just gonna do it, okay? I'm gonna... ugh! Goodbye."

Lydia was looking at him like he was crazy. Now that Scott was a werewolf, Stiles' threats were ridiculous and they all knew it.

"Stiles... You know I love you, right? You're like my brother," Jamie suddenly announced, "But sometimes you're really, really weird."

Stiles' mouth opened and closed, making him look like a fish out of water. He had no idea what to say. Lydia was doing her best not to laugh, after all there was truth to Jamie's words.

"I should go, hum..." Stiles stuttered.

"Sure," Lydia replied. 

The teen had suffered enough embarrassment for now, she didn't feel like adding to it. When he left the room, she sat in the small chair she had spent the night and most of the day in. She locked eyes with Jamie and sighed. 

"I don't want to live something like that, ever again."

Jamie's expression turned serious. He was still light-headed, but he was fighting it. He whispered, "Me neither."

"We need to learn to defend ourselves," Lydia stated. She had thought about it and if they wanted to remain in Beacon Hills, they would have to learn to fight back. Literally. "I was thinking, we could learn a fighting technique like Nindokai or Kajukenbo."

Jamie couldn't help but laugh -- not at her idea, but because Lydia being Lydia, she just had to pick fighting styles only known by her and fifty experts.

"Or maybe just something efficient, like Krav Maga," Lydia continued. She knew to ignore Jamie for now. She focused on his face, his blue eyes looking straight at her. He brought his eyebrows into a straight line, something he only did when he was serious. So when he spoke, she knew he meant every word.

"Okay. And next time we see the Alpha, he'll be the one ending up in the hospital."