Return ➵ McCall [DISC.]

26; Cold Shoulder

Claire dropped the broken piece of metal on top of the center console, her hands grabbing the flannel and bunching it up. She pressed it down hard on her thigh, trying to soak up as much blood and mercury as she possibly could while her other hand grabbed the half full water bottle that was in her cup holder. It may not have been alcohol or some other sterilizing agent, but it would at least let her see what she was doing.

She removed the flannel for a brief moment, spilling water over the wound and then wiping at it carefully with a clean part of the flannel. She looked over at the sewing kit again, then over at the lighter sitting in the passenger seat from her emergency kit. She knew she was going to need actual medical attention at some point, but there wasn't any time for that.

Claire grabbed a spool of thread, unwrapping it as quickly as she possibly could without knotting it. She took a deep breath, trying to settle her shaking hands as she attempted to thread the needle.

Missed.

Again.

Missed.

Her head fell back against her seat, closing her eyes and taking steady breaths. Her mind drifted to the mantra that Liam had told her about, mumbling it softly. "Three things that cannot long be hidden-"

Claire sat up straighter, keeping her eyes closed as she felt the eye of the needle with her thumb.

"The sun, the moon, and the truth." She rolled her shoulders back, bringing her other fingers to the end of the thread, leaving just enough to slide into the small hole. "The sun, the moon and the truth. The sun, the moon, and the truth."

Again.

"The sun, the moon and the truth." Claire opened her eyes, looking at the needle in front of her. Scratch that--the threaded needle in front of her. The corner of her mouth ticked up in a smile, pulling half of the thread through and tying a knot at the end. She grabbed the lighter, knowing the faster she got this done, the more adrenaline she could hold onto as to not feel the pain as much.

She flicked the lighter on, bringing the needle into the flame and waiting for the tip to heat up. Her eyes watched as the needle turned from silver, to a glowing orange, and finally a searing red.

"I can take care of myself."

● ● ●

Claire jumped awake at the sound of her phone ringing, her eyes darting around in confusion as she sat up straight in her seat, trying to find her phone. She grabbed it, blinking as she tried to focus her eyes on the caller ID.

Stiles.

"Hello?" She answered, clearing her throat and looking down at her thigh. It was stitched up as neatly as possible, her somehow being able to sew herself up and tie it off before passing out. She wiped at the sweat coating her face, taking in her surrounding and slowly coming out of her confused state. "Are you okay?"

"Am I oka-?" Stiles spluttered on the other line, bringing his voice to a low whisper like he was trying to hide the fact that he was on a phone call. "Are you okay? Where are you?"

"Are you with Scott?" Claire asked, not even shocked at the silence coming from her phone. "Stiles."

"Yes, but he doesn't know I'm calling you." Claire realized she could hear running water in the background, following by a clinking noise. She couldn't see it, but Stiles was hiding in his bathroom, making unnecessary noises to try and hide the sound. "I told Scott I had to use the bathroom, now answer me."

"I'm parked on the side of the highway, I just needed to clear my head." It wasn't a complete lie, she was parked on the side of the highway. "Emotionally, I'm all over the place but physically I'm fine."

She was almost surprised at how smoothly she could lie.

"Listen, I know that Scott is probably not at the top of the list of people you want to see right now, and trust me he isn't at the top of mine either."

"Stiles, I can't be around him right now."

"I need you, okay? I need your help, I need to find out what's wrong with my dad." Stiles voice cracked, making Claire's stomach twist. "If you can just help me with this, I will tell you anything and everything that you want to know. The truth okay, about Allison, about everything I swear-"

"Hey." Claire cut him off, taking a deep breath. "You had me at helping your dad, what do you need?"

"I need you to meet us at the location I text you so we can try to find the Chimera that hurt my dad. Do you have any supplies, like I don't know, flashlights, weapons?"

"I'll try to find some stuff, I don't have access to much of anything right now but I can try." Scott was her access to most things, and she had no clue where the ring daggers were.

"Thank you."

"Anytime."

● ● ●

"He didn't want you to call me, did he?" Malia asked, Scott glancing over his shoulder.

"No." Scott replied, looking back over at her. "Is it that bad?"

"We kind of broke up, I guess." She shrugged, an uncomfortable expression on her face.

"Yeah, we kind of broke up too." He sighed, looking down at his feet. Malia started walking further down the tunnel, Scott speeding up to match her pace. "You can tell me what's going on with you, I mean besides Stiles. You can talk to me."

"I said I'd help find this kid, and I am doing it to save Stiles' dad." Malia stated bluntly, avoiding eye contact. "Don't ask me to talk."

"Well I'm not asking, I'm offering. I'm just saying it's okay if you want to." Scott stopped dead in his tracks, Malia sensing his heart rate jump as a new scent entered the train depot. "Claire?"

They both turned around in time to see Stiles take a flashlight from Claire, who had quickly changed into clothes that were not stained with blood or mercury and tried to grab as many things as quickly as she could from Scott's house whilst trying to running into his mom.

Scott and Claire made eye contact, both looking away quickly. Malia's eyebrows raised, repeating his words back to him. "That bad?"

"Yeah, that bad." He muttered, looking down at his hands. Malia just shrugged, crouching down so that she could get into the tunnels. Scott followed, Stiles and Claire following suit. 

Scott turned as Claire dropped down into the tunnel, wincing as she grabbed her thigh. His face shifted to concern, reaching out instinctively to take her pain, but she jerked away from him, her eyes meeting his.

"Just, don't." Claire crossed her arms, walking up next to Malia. The two girls shared a look, neither of them necessarily wanting to be there. 

"You could have told me she was coming." Scott whispered to Stiles, who gave him a look that lacked any empathy.

"Yeah, well you could have told her the truth." Stiles shrugged, making Scott feel even guiltier than he already did. "I don't think you get to pull the 'don't hide things from me' card right now."

"I got it." Malia interrupted, her eyes trained deep into the tunnel. "I got his scent."

Malia, Claire and Stiles headed forward, Scott a step behind. The tunnels may have been freezing, but the cold shoulder he was receiving felt much worse.

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Damn that's crazy, how have you guys been?