return • theo raeken [2]

nine. heartless

Luna

SCOTT, THEO, COREY, MASON and I step out of the small building, leaving Hayden and Liam inside for when the Ghost Rider arrives.  We all agreed Mason and Corey shouldn't come in until Mason has to put down the Mountain Ash.  My body would not allow me to stand still as we waited, and I kept pacing around the group.  There were a million things that could go wrong.  I didn't want someone to end up being taken away like Stiles was.  We were already having enough trouble with trying to figure out how to get Stiles back, adding more people to the list would make it harder and we'd be even more desperate to figure everything out.

"Everything's going to be okay, Luna," Corey says to me as he walks over to where I am.  "Hayden will lure the Ghost Rider, we'll close the gates, and we'll figure out how to get Stiles back.  How to get everyone back."

The two of us share a smile before he pulls me into a hug.

"Since when did it switch to you comforting me?" I ask, my head resting on his shoulder.

Corey shrugs as he lets me go and says, "Just returning the favor."

Thunder rumbles even more often now.  The Ghost Rider will be coming any minute causing everyone to focus and stare into the shed.  We see a flash of lightning hit the rod on the roof and know the Ghost Rider will be in there soon.  I hear a zap of electricity coming from inside before the stomps and clinking of the Ghost Rider's boots.  I can tell the ones with supernatural hearing are zoning in to hear the sound of one of the gates closing.  Once we hear it, Scott runs inside to close the other gate.

But there's a problem.

"Come on," Scott grunts and we hear the gate clinking against the cage.

I yell over the thunder, "I think it's stuck!"

Theo runs inside without any further discussion.  I rush in after him, leaving Corey and Mason outside.  Scott has ahold of one side of the gate, pulling on it, while Theo is doing the same with the other side.  The Ghost Rider grabs Theo's shoulder and tries pulling him into the cage.  Only Theo's right arm goes in and he yells to Scott.

"Keep closing it!"

Finally pulling myself together, I quickly glide over to help the two of them shut the Ghost Rider inside.  If he gets out, we're screwed.  I help on Theo's side in pushing it closed but once I hear bones cracking within Theo's arm and him yelling, I grab his free arm instead and pull him out from in between the gate.  The two of us trip over each other's feet and land on the floor.  Scott roars at the Ghost Rider and manages to shut the gate the rest of the way.  Mason runs in as soon as the gates closed to make an Mountain Ash barrier.  He stops to stare at the Ghost Rider, but Scott tells him to go and he runs back out to Corey.

Theo and I are still on the ground with my legs almost completely wrapped around his waist from behind.  My breathing is still heavy, Theo lifts and falls slightly as I inhale and exhale since his back is against my chest.  I don't realize how wrong this is supposed to feel until Liam is staring down at the two of us.  For a few seconds, it feels like this is how it's supposed to happen.  Theo and me.  Fighting one minute, making up the next because we care so much about each other.  It feels like somehow I can get over the fact he'd blamed me for his sister's death, used me to get to the pack, and killed Scott.  It feels like in the end we're supposed to be together.  But then reality hits me.

I shove Theo off of me and stand up.  I brush the dirt off my ass before walking over to stand with Scott, Liam, and Hayden who are staring at the Ghost Rider now while leaving Theo to pick himself up.  The Ghost Rider goes to grab his gun from his hip but from where I'm standing, it's not there.  Theo, who's now standing on one side of Scott while I stand on the other, and I stare at Scott as he lifts the gun up so the Rider can see.  Thunder rumbles through my chest as the Ghost Rider lifts his arm up in the air to call for the lightning to take him out of here.  We watch as lightning bolts shoot in from the conduit cable and hit the cage, but he stays right where he is.