𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒, liam dunbar

xxi.

the thought of the on coming conversation almost slipped teddy's mind until she stepped into the house.
as soon as the wooden door swung open, the table came in to view, and seated around it was melissa, scott, and rafe.
"scott.."
teddy breathed, instantly rushing to hug her brother.
scott stumbled, surprised, but was quick to wrap his arms round his sister.
"you're okay."
teddy sighed into his shirt.
"and you—"
scott whispered.
"have acquired a jumper."
teddy cheeks were painted pink.
"we'll talk about this later."
he murmured, but when teddy pulled away, she could see he was smiling.
teddy walked round her brother, pulling out the chair next to him and taking a seat cautiously.
"mom, dad."
the brunette regarded her parents with care.
"teddy. how was you day?"
melissa said calmly, a false smile plastered on her face.
"okay."
the girl replied simply, hoping the next words uttered wouldn't be the ones she thought they would be.
of course, they were.
"what were you and, ah—"
"liam."
scott confirmed.
"liam, doing at the school? your father tells me you were there."
teddy swallowed, scowling at scott for telling their parents of whom she was with.
"we were on a walk."
she answered, struggling for a decent explanation.
"we, saw the commotion and i wanted to know what was happening, with scott being in there."
rafe nodded.
"well, that wasn't a very smart thing to do, theodora. i'm disappointed. i expect a girl like you to make smart decisions."
teddy's cheeks burned, but she was used to the lecture.
her parents always expected better from a girl like teddy.
"sorry."
she mumbled, her gaze on the wooden slats of the old table.
"well, all is forgotten."
rafe said, noticing his daughter's solemn gaze.
"we have matters to discuss."
instantly, teddy's hand dropped from on the table to beside her leg, where scott was quick to receive the message and grab it, holding it comfortingly.
"i have to go back to san francisco tonight, to, ah, deal with something."
rafe continued.
"theodora, your mother tells me you haven't quite found your place in beacon hills."
teddy's heart stopped.
the girl stuttered, but no words were formed.
"so," rafe sat back in his seat.
"i want you to come live with me in san francisco."
><
teddy's heart stopped.
once again, hot tears formed behind her eyes.
"mom!"
scott demanded.
"you'd let him take her?"
melissa sighed sadly.
"it's not as simple as that, scott."
"i want to live with my daughter."
agent mccall cut in.
teddy's hands were shaking violently, listening to her family argue the matter that was her, and what she did, and where she went.
"no,"
she said slowly, and then repeated herself louder.
"no."
"what?"
rafe's hand flew to the table.
"no. i don't want to come live with you, dad."
seeing the hurt on her fathers face, teddy softened her tone.
"i'm happy here, dad. i have friends, not many mind you, and there's a boy i really like."
a smile grew on melissa's face.
"a boy?"
teddy blushed and nodded.
"a boy?"
rafe pondered.
"surely a boy isn't more important than family.
"rafe."
melissa stood up.
"it's late, and it's been a stressful day for the both of them."
mama mccall worked her way round the table to stand beside her children.
"so, please rafe, leave. we'll discuss this later."
"mel—"
he started, but melissa cut him off.
"no, i'll see you another day."
and with that, melissa slammed the door.
><
just twelve hours later, the mccall pack were stood around the kitchen table.
teddy was there, after many-a-debate on whether or not scott would let her be involved.
finally, thanks to stiles, scott agreed.
"come on, scott. we know she's supernatural. now we need to know what she is."
so, teddy stood beside liam awkwardly, overviewing the plan.
"is there enough?"
kira asked, opening the surface of her macbook; teddy had no idea where they'd come from.
"depends on how many cameras they have. but i think so."
stiles answered.
"are we really doing this?"
liam asked, glancing at teddy hurriedly, hoping she didn't notice.
she did.
"we're doing it."
scott nodded.
"tonight."
"but isn't it kinda dangerous?"
liam argued.
stiles spoke up.
"yeah, it's incredibly dangerous and borderline idiotic."
"have you guys done something like this before?"
the beta asked.
"something dangerous. or something idiotic?"
"i think it's a yes to both."
kira said, grimacing.
liam sighed, his gaze falling to the floor.
"you don't have to be a part of it if you don't want to."
scott comforted his beta.
"i'm not scared."
liam argued, his eyes flitting to teddy again and back.
stiles smiled, placing a hand on liam's shoulder.
"then you're borderline idiot."
a small smile formed on teddy's lips and she spoke.
"and, apparently, so am i."
"if we do this, we don't know what's coming for us. you know that, right?"
stiles reassured.
"how do we even know somethings definitely coming?"
kira spoke up.
scott replied.
"because the tape from garrett's bag said visual confirmation required."
"simon said the same thing."
stiles added.
"he couldn't get paid by the benefactor until he had proof that you guys were dead."
"so the idea is, what if you kill someone on the dead pool, but you can't send the proof?"
"you don't get paid."
the kitsune answered.
"but how does that get us any closer to the benefactor?"
liam's face was grave.
"he still needs to know if the target is really dead."
said scott.
"especially if it's someone high on the list."
stiles added.
meanwhile, teddy's mind was whirring, trying to catch sense in what they all said.
what were they planning to do?
someone high on the list?
"so if he wants visual confirmation—"
liam continued,
"he's gonna have to come get it himself."
scott finished.
"and, who do you plan on killing?"
teddy asked, her heart pounding.
"that,"
scott spoke solemnly.
"is my job."
><
"not a chance."
teddy argued.
"no way."
"teddy—"
scott tried, but the younger mccall wasn't having any of it.
"i'm not letting you die on the off chance that some psycho is gonna come looking for your dead body! not a chance in hell, scott mccall!"
"teddy, please, hear me out."
scott pleaded.
teddy shook her head, her feet pounding against the wooden floor.
the rest of the pack remained fixated in their positions around the table.
"no, scott.."
teddy's voice broke finally.
"i'm not letting you die."
scott wandered round the table to his sister's side and put his arm around her.
"and i don't intend to die."
scott's voice was gruff; he hated hearing his sister in so much pain.
"come on, sit down. let me explain everything."
so, teddy sat, opposite her brother, her hand in liam's, as scott told her the plan.
but not a word was spoken between the young girl and the beta.
><
the scream of sirens rung in the ears of the two freshman as they hauled themselves out of liam's mum's car.
the screaming, the mad panic, though she was expecting it, all seemed too real.
teddy grasped liam's hand tightly.
the ambulance arrived not a minute after.
liam's mum said a few words to liam before climbing out the car herself, but liam made her get back in.
"no, mom. go home. look after brooks. i'll be back soon."
the blonde haired woman nodded, sending teddy a sympathetic look that made her eyes sting.
then, her and liam sprinted into the hospital.
><
teddy couldn't see anything, which was probably for the best.
her and liam fought through hoards of doctors, side by side, until the bed they were trailing was hauled into a room, out of sight.
teddy's breaths were heavy.
"you know it's not real, right?"
liam's voice was hushed in teddy's ear, but he didn't sound very convinced.
instead of answering, the young girl squeezed the beta's hand.
"after this,"
liam coughed.
"i need to talk to you."
then, the wailing came.
><
a sound that could only be described as pure agony rung through the corridors of the hospital.
nurses and patients alike followed the noise, curious as to the cause.
of course, the source could only be that of a woman who was truly heartbroken.
and that woman, was melissa mccall.
her hands pounded against the body of dr. geyer as sorrowful cries came from her mouth.
her screams were repeated as tears poured down her red cheeks.
melissa's daughter was sobbing too, her face buried in the shoulder of liam, who's eyes were pricked with tears also.
suddenly, melissa collapsed on the floor, her cries shaking liam's core.
when she fell, teddy was out of liam's grasp in an instant, falling into her mothers, who held her head, and together, the pair mourned their dear brother and son.
><
wiping her eyes, melissa entered the morgue, sniffing.
she was followed by her daughter, who's eyes were still red and watery.
liam had his arm around her, and the three gathered with the rest of the pack around scott's body.
"i still hate this plan."
melissa sighed, staring down at her son's lifeless corpse.
"i mean, this is pretty significantly terrifying. he looks dead."
mrs. yukimora glanced at the pleading gaze of melissa and offered up her hand.
"give me your hand."
the nurse looked at stiles, who reassured her.
"it's okay."
slowly, melissa obliged.
the older kitsune placed melissa's hand on her son's ice cold chest.
"wait for it."
and melissa did.
until she felt the faint beating of his heart.
she sighed, a smile of hysterics overcoming her features.
"is that enough to keep a werewolf alive?"
"enough for an alpha."
mrs. yukimora nodded.
then, she gestured towards teddy, and the brunette stepped forwards, accompanied by liam.
slowly, she placed her hand over her brother's heart, smiling slightly when she felt it best in his chest.
"he's alive."
"how much time do we have?"
melissa asked.
noshiko sighed.
"fourty five minutes."
the nurse swallowed thickly.
"what happens after that?"
"i bring him back the same way."
kira breathed.
a shake of melissa's head deterred the kitsune's confidence.
"no, i mean what happens if he stays like this for longer than fourty five minutes?"
"no one's told her?"
noshiko asked, after the silence that followed melissa's question.
"what?"
melissa's voice was raised.
"what happens after fourty five minutes?"
teddy swallowed slowly, realisation dawning on her.
"he dies.."
><
stiles' phone began to ring.
he answered it, before clicking a button on one of the three computers sat before the four of them.
they all flickered to life.
"what now?"
liam asked, his eyes fixed on the flashing screens of the computer in front of him and teddy.
kira sighed.
"we wait."
so, the four sat down in front of the given computers, waiting for something that a) they didn't know what was coming, and b) they didn't know what it looked like.
this wasn't going to be easy.
"uhh, li?"
teddy's voice came as a whisper from beside the blonde.
"you said we needed to talk?"
liam took teddy's hand.
"not here."
he whispered back.
"not yet.."
"what you two whispering about?"
stiles asked, leaning forwards to get a clear view of the two.
instantly, he spotted their intertwined hands.
"come on, as soon as scott isn't here, you make your move? he isn't gonna he happy about that."
stiles half laughed.
on the other hand, kira smiled, punching stiles in the arm lightly.
"leave them alone."
she laughed.
"they're cute."
"we're not t-together."
liam blushed, and teddy's cheeks were too deep a red for her to even think about talking.
but despite that, the pair never released hands.
><
"is that supposed to look like that?"
liam asked as one quarter of the screen flickered black and died.
"no, no it's not."
panic was evident in stiles' voice.
"where is that?"
kira asked.
"the roof, someone's gonna have to check it out."
stiles swallowed thickly.
"i'll go."
kira said, turning away, but stiles argued.
"woah, woah. this might not just be a malfunction."
"that's why i'm bringing this."
kira unsheathed her katana quickly, forcing liam and teddy to take a step back.
stiles nodded, but as kira left, liam let out a yell.
"i'm coming with you!"
he said, releasing teddy's hand and running after the kitsune.
"okay, and you're both coming right back! immediately!"
stiles yelled, not noticing teddy's disheartened face.
the sheriff's son let out a sigh,
"kids,"
leaving teddy to her thoughts.
the mccall just stared at her now empty hand.