EPISODE FOURTEEN, SEASON SIX
Avery rubbed widely at her blood-stained hands trying desperately to get the blood off her skin so the image of Brett's weak smile, his and Lori's bodies colliding with the moving vehicle, Lori crying over her brother's motionless body and Lori falling into a silent sleep that she would never wake up from erase from her mind but no matter how hard she scrubbed away at her skin, they would appear in a flash.
It seemed like as she kept rubbing, the more she would see it all happen again in the back of her eyes and it felt as if she was still there, shaking and trembling in fear and shock with watering eyes staring at the bodies laying in the middle of the road.
A frustrated cry left Avery as she saw Lori and Brett hit the car hand in hand for what felt like the hundredth time. Her hands continued to scrub the other harder and faster with desperation glowing in her glossy green eyes that sparked with pain. Her hands were red and raw from all the scrubbing but she didn't care. She just wanted the blood off her. She felt disgusting.
Her breathing was uneven and ragged while she tried to keep herself under control but she couldn't stop the single tear that slipped down her cheek. It wasn't because of the stinging pain she felt as she kept washing her hands but because of the heart-clenching pain she felt from the past events. The events that would surely cause her to wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and a rapidly beating heart hammering against her ribs.
A sob came from the terrified girl as she turned off the faucet and covered her mouth with her hand which she had admitted was stained with Brett's poisoned blood and would not come completely off her raw skin.
Her back collided with the wall behind her in her bathroom and slid down it still covering her mouth to muffle her small cries.
She needed comfort but there was no one there. She was alone with the previous events haunting her mind, in a taunting way that made her want to curl up in a ball and hide from the cruel world. What had happened to the world? Why would people just stand there and gawk at a terrified boy then call for help for two teenagers that had a whole life yet to live? Why did Brett and Lori have to die? It wasn't fair. None of it was fair and all Avery could do was sit on the floor of her bathroom and hug her knees close to her chest wondering what she had done wrong.
She had tracked Brett down as fast as she could. She had run as fast as she could. She had done everything that she could but yet, none of it mattered. None of it mattered because Brett and Lori were dead. None of it was enough. She felt like she wasn't enough. She felt like she could've done better.
Maybe tomorrow would be easier. Maybe not. Time would only tell and as Avery collected her strength to get back to her feet, she thought about what would happen next. Gerard, her nightmare in solid form, was there, staring at her with beady darkened eyes and a heartless smirk, watching her witness the murder of two innocent people and enjoying it. How could he enjoy it? Why was he so heartless? Did he not have any humanity?
Avery curled herself in Bed and held her stained hands to her chest, trying to pretend that they were normal. But yet again nothing in her life was normal. Normal wasn't in her dictionary. After all, she had spent her childhood marching through the dark gloomy woods alongside her evil grandfather hunting innocent people who had lives, Who had a families, Who had friends. She regretted a lot of things in her life but standing beside Gerard was definitely at the top of that list.
Arrow jumped up onto the mattress, joining Avery's side as she snuggled close to her and made a soft noise which was her way of telling the girl that everything would be okay.
But would everything be okay?
~
"They were murdered." Scott states, inspecting the bloody lacrosse stick in his hand that once belonged to Brett. Avery couldn't keep her eyes off the object. The bloodied pole that was sitting in Scott's hands meant a lot to the boy, lacrosse was everything to him other than his sister. And now all that it is, is a weapon that was used against him. That thought made Avery sick and shiver but her attention was drawn to Scott as he placed it down and continued. "Killed by the new hunter in Beacon Hills. You know, when he took out the Hellhound, we thought that it was luck. That we were dealing with an amateur. But now we know that whoever this new hunter is, he has a teacher."
Avery's eyes fell to the metal bench in front of her, seeing Gerard's emotionless expression as he held her eyes. Avery remembered how tense she had gotten as soon as she saw him deep in the murmuring crowd. "Gerard." She whispered, in a venom like tone, to show how much she hated saying his name. Even the mention of him made her want to hide but she stood tall with crossed arms over her chest, eyes set hard on the bloody lacrosse stick.
All eyes fell on her and Argent nodded. "Which means this is my fault. I'm the one who let him go." Lydia was quick to disagree. "You couldn't have done anything."
"He could've killed him." Malia shrugged simply which earned a weird look from Lydia but Avery smiled slightly sharing the same thoughts as Malia. Avery couldn't help but think to herself that would've been nice.
Malia averted Lydia's eyes. "Just saying."
"We're not executioners," Lydia says turning away from Malia and looking at nothing in particular. But Malia didn't fully agree. "You are when it comes to war."
It was quiet for a few seconds but then Scott broke the silence by saying something that caused Avery to scrunch her face up in disgust. "That's why we're gonna make peace." Avery lifted an eyebrow at Scott questionably. "With Gerard? Highly doubtful. Also, that is a disgusting idea. I'd rather shoot myself in the foot with an arrow."
Scott turns to Avery and sends her an apologetic look, knowing how hard this might sound for her to hear. "Avery, you know what's coming."
Avery did know what was coming. Everyone else would call it war but Avery calls it hell. Hell was coming to Beacon Hills and it was coming fast. Gerard is the best manipulator Avery knows about and it will be a piece of cake for him to get every citizen in Beacon Hills to go after all supernatural creatures.
"We all keep using the same word," Scott says which
Argent then mutters the word with folded arms. "War."
Scott nods in agreement.
Malia looks between the two before asking. "So what stops a war from happening?"
"Peace summit." Argent answers.
Scott nods again, an idea forming in his head. "Right. We meet face-to-face with Gerard. Find out what he wants and then we stop all this before it gets any worse." Avery wanted to tell him how bad of a plan that was because if somebody knew how bad Gerard was, it would be her but Lydia beats her to it as she says. "Last time Gerard was at a peace meet was with Deucalion. He blinded him and then killed everybody else, including his own men."
Argent then walks around Avery and puts himself beside Scott to look him dead in the eye to show how serious he was when he says. "I'll go. I know he's not going to kill me."
Malia frowns. "You sure about that?"
He looks over at the werecoyote and shakes his head. "Not really."
Avery immediately does not like the idea of her father meeting with Gerard. Gerard doesn't care about anything other than himself and his power. She opens her mouth to say how much she disagrees of the plan but before she can utter a single word, Her father cuts her off, his stern eyes set on her with a pointed look. "Avery, I can make decisions for myself. I am the parent. It's not the other way around."
Avery instantly shuts her mouth tight and keeps them closed with an annoyed expression dawning on her features. She doesn't want him going but like he said he is the parent, so she stays quiet.
Once Argent knows that she isn't going to try to argue with him about him going, he places his gaze back onto Scott who explains the "great" plan that Avery hates with everything she has. "All we need is to find out what he wants. Then we can bargain."
Argent drops his eyes for a quick second as a small sigh slips past his lips before lifting them back to Scott. "Even if he does agree, his terms might be difficult to meet."
"Well, that's why it's a negotiation. I don't expect to get anything without giving something up." Scott says, feeling confident with the plan.
Argent nods. "Then you're gonna have to figure out just how much you're willing to give, and how far you're willing to go to stop a war."
Oh, God
~
Avery's ragged breathing gets heavier with each swing her fist collides with her punching bag that swishes in the air once her tapped knuckles hit the bag with force. Her focus was strong but so were her punches but both seemed to fade as soon as her phone lit up with text messages in the corner of her eye. Avery dropped her clenched fists and strode over to where her phone sat and picked it up. The messages were from Mason. "Please come to school. It's urgent. Nolan and Gabe have Liam in a classroom trying to make him shift. I don't know what to do."
Panic set in the pit of Avery's stomach as she read the message over and over. Liam was in trouble. Her fingers tapped at the screen as she quickly sent a message to Mason. "Keep calm. I'll be there soon."
She didn't even bother untapping her knuckles as she grabbed her helmet and ran out the door to her motorbike. Her heart was hammering in her chest and she was having trouble trying to control how worried she was about Liam. Please be okay, Liam.
She jumped onto her motorbike and fled down the road clearly on a mission. She didn't care that she was speeding. She had to get to Liam before something terrible happened. She had to help him.
The thought of him being hurt made her rev on the engine and nearly crash into a car that came around a corner. It beeped at her aggressively but she didn't care, her mind was locked on the beta that was currently in trouble.
The school came into view within a minute of speeding. She didn't bother parking it as she practically jumped off and threw her helmet on the ground before running to the double blue doors that welcomed her as she slammed her palms on the wood and swung them open. Her feet pounded on the ground as she ran. She could hear people murmuring and gasping as she neared a crowd surrounding a classroom.
Avery was silently panicking but she held herself together, pushing herself past people and shoving people out of her way with a focused expression. She needed to get to Liam.
The sound of grunting came from inside the classroom along with the sound of skin hitting skin in an aggressive way. "Liam!" She called out to the boy who was hidden behind a big crowd that watched with eager and amused eyes but she didn't get an answer back, only a pained grunt.
"Get out my way!" Avery told the people in front of her which got their attention before she pushed herself to the front of the group to see a scene that made her heart drop to her stomach. The sight was disgusting and it was even worse knowing that people were just standing by and watching. Liam was on the ground, blood pouring out of his mouth as he tried to hold back the werewolf inside him. Gabe had him by the collar of his shirt with a raised fist, ready to throw another punch.
"Avery!" Mason's panicked voice yelled her name, earning Avery's attention. She saw him being held back by two teenagers who pushed him back every time he tried to save his best friend from the atrocious event. She could see the concern in his eyes that we're practically begging her to do something, anything.
She turned back to Liam to see that he had turned his head slightly after hearing her name. Her eyes met his and time froze as she held his broken expression. It broke her heart to see him like this, so she snapped into action as she made her way to the fight but before she could reach Liam, a hand clasped her shoulder to hold her back. She spun around not bothering to see who it was before delivering a sharp punch to the their nose, hearing a delightful crack as she retrieved her clenched fist.
The boy moved his hand to his now bleeding nose and groaned but Avery didn't care. He was going to stop her from getting to Liam. Stop her from saving an innocent boy from being beaten to a bloody pulp. She then ran to Gabe and called out his name urgently. "Gabe!"
He turned his head just in time to see Avery's knuckles heading straight toward his face before it connected and he tumbled to the ground. She didn't stop there. She couldn't. He hurt Liam and she wasn't going to let him go easily. She slammed her foot on his chest as he was trying to get back up causing him to hit the floor again with a grunt. Avery then got to her knees, straddling his hips and slamming her fists to his face while Liam slowly healed and kept his eyes on Avery who continued to punch Gabe over and over and over again.
There was so much anger that was being built up inside her and it felt good to let it all out. All she was at the moment was angry and she wanted to feel something more. Something else.
Gabe's hands shot out and pulled Avery by her waist off of him with all his strength making her hit the ground hard and slam a leg into a desk. She quickly scrambled to her feet or at least tried to as Gabe was quicker and kicked her in the stomach. Kick. Kick. Kick. He didn't stop. And that was okay. At least it wasn't Liam anymore.
He knelt down to his knee beside Avery, holding her down by her shirt. "You're gonna pay for that." He growled menacingly but all he got back was a smile as she leaned forward to him. "Do your worse."
He was all bloody. His nose. His mouth. He had a slit on his cheek that trickled blood and Avery had to admit, it was a good look on him. She wanted him to hurt. Just like how he hurt Liam. All she saw was red as she looked into his dark eyes.
He lifted his fist and Avery's eyes were drawn to it as it soared through the air toward her. She stared until it hit her cheek. Her head snapped to the side, still wearing her smile. "That's all you got?"
His anger was radiating off him as he threw punch after punch but eventually she stopped letting him have his fun as Avery's hand felt around on the desk she had just hit and grabbed an object that felt heavy enough but before she could slam it at him, a loud voice boomed through the classroom. "What the hell is going on?!"
It was Coach. He pushed past everyone as Avery dropped her hand back to the ground. Coach grabbed onto Gabe and pulled him far away from Avery. "Back off!" He turned to Nolan and grabbed his shirt. "Hey! Get to the principal's office! Now!" He pushed the two boys out of the classroom who quickly scurried away.
Avery's face was stinging from the small cuts on her eyebrow and cheekbone. She was pretty sure that her lip which had been split open not long ago had re-opened but she didn't think much of it because her eyes had landed on Liam who was still on the ground. Still in pain.
"What the hell is this?" Coach asks looking around at everyone with disappointment written on his expression. "Get out! All of you! I can't stand to look at your faces!" He screamed and immediately the classroom that once was filled with students, emptied until it was only Coach, Mason, Corey, Liam and Avery.
Avery lifted herself off the ground with a soft grunt, feeling a rush of pain shoot through her from her stomach. She used the table to hold herself up but once she saw Liam still on the ground, she ditched the table and took a few quick strides toward Liam. Once she got to him, Corey and Mason joined her, helping her pick him up.
"I can't believe you did that," Mason told Liam as he held him up. Liam was breathing hard and it was clear that he was having trouble staying up "Clark Kent, right?"
"Yeah. Clark Kent." Mason agreed before Liam rested his head on his shoulder while Mason held him.
Avery was proud of him. He didn't shift and he didn't fight back. She had no idea how he did it but she knew that he was strong. Avery placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm proud of you, Liam."
He lifted his head and turned to her with confusion in his eyes. "Why did you do that?" She smiled at him, hiding all of the pain she felt at the moment as she dropped her hand from his shoulder. "You're my brother. And family sticks together." She answered truthfully which made his gaze soften before pulling her into a tight comforting hug that told her everything that he wanted to say. Thank you.
She held him and let him rest his head on her shoulder, tiredly. He was okay. He was going to be okay. Avery couldn't have saved Brett and Lori but she saved Liam from getting more hurt. And he was grateful.
They were family.
"Okay. Go and clean yourself up." She patted his shoulder and he nodded, letting Mason and Corey help him walk out of the classroom. Avery felt somebody looking at her and so he turned, meeting Coach's eyes that were soft as he looked at her. "Avery... I- I'm so sorry."
Avery dropped her eyes to the floor and watched as a drop of her blood fell to the floor. "It's fine. At least Liam is okay." She lifted her eyes back onto Coach to see that he was shaking his head. "It's not fine." She fell silent, knowing that it was true. Nothing was fine.
Avery went to walk away but she couldn't take one step without her head feeling like it was spinning and a wave of dizziness washing over her. She stumbled slightly and a hand immediately clasped onto her shoulder to steady her. "Are you okay?" Avery could hear just how worried he was about her just by hearing those three words and how he said them.
She shut her eyes and nodded with a small hum. "Fine." She opened her eyes and turned to him to send him a small smile but he didn't seem convinced but he nodded anyway and dropped his hand from her shoulder. "If you need anything, come to me. And I mean anything at all." He paused, sighing. "Even though, you're not a student anymore, you're still my favourite student and you always will be."
Avery chuckled softly. "Thanks, Coach."
~
A groan left Avery's lips as she gently placed an ice pack onto her split cheek. She had washed the blood away and was met with a growing bruise that ached every time she grazed it. She was alone yet again and she was getting tired of being alone and thankfully her phone rang beside her. She answered the call and placed the phone to her ear. "Hello?"
"Hey, Avery. I heard what happened at the school. I was just checking up on you to see if you were okay." Malia's voice greeted her which made Avery instantly feel relief. She needed her best friend and she now just realised how much she needed a nice conversation with her. "Uh, yeah I'm okay. Just slightly in pain but it's nothing I can't handle." Avery smiled.
"Yeah..." Malia then fell silent which made Avery suddenly feel worried. "Malia? You okay?"
"Uh, yeah, yeah. I'm fine. It's just that I'm worried about you." Malia told Avery into the phone which caused Avery to drop her hand that held an ice pack to her cheek with a frown. "You're worried about me?" She knew that Malia didn't need to be worried about her. She was fine. Right?
"Yeah. I am. Look, today what happened at the school, I think that's only the start and I heard that you got hurt. I can heal and so can the others. But you can't. And I was just thinking that if this is really the start then... Well, you know. I just don't want you to get hurt because I care about you." Her voice was soft and concerned as she spoke and that made Avery listen more carefully to her words.
"I get that you're worried. But I'm fine and whatever happens, I know that everything will be okay." Avery whispers but her attention is brought to Arrow as she walks out of her bedroom and toward her. Arrow jumps onto the couch and places her head on Avery's lap which she then earns a soft stroke behind her ear. "Everything will be fine."
"Right. Okay, I was just making sure you're okay." Malia says which makes Avery smile as her eyes are locked on Arrow who purrs happily. "I'm okay."
"Good. Okay, I'll talk to you later." Malia then says.
"Bye, Malia," Avery says before dropping her phone and ending the call with a smile. She was glad she had Malia. She wouldn't know where she would be without her.
Suddenly as her eyes are on Arrow, her phone buzzes with a text. She thinks that it is Malia who forgot to tell her something during the call but she is proven wrong as she sees her father's name with the text that says. "I found where Theo is. But be careful. I love you."
Avery's face lights up with relief as she taps on the destination and jumps to her feet. "Yes!" She yells in joy.
Arrow lifts her head up, curiously while Avery runs around the house to gather her things, not wasting a single second to go and find Theo.
"I'm coming, Theo." She whispers as she runs out of the house, locking it behind her.
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It's happening!! Theo and Avery are going to be together again!
Also, Liam and Avery's friendship is just perfect and I love them so much.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and had a good day or night <3