DISCLAIMER: I Do Not Own Teen Wolf
It's said that there are seven stages of grief: shock, denial, bargaining, guilt, anger, depression and acceptance.
Ellie seemed to go through four of these in the span of an hour, sat in the hospital waiting room. She didn't try to contact anyone; instead, she curled herself into Allison's side and tried to pretend that she hadn't lost another aunt.
After a while, the fact that Derek Hale had bitten Victoria while knowing what she had to do made her stomach clench in anger. Everything about the situation was so wrong, but her only thought was that the alpha werewolf needed to be punished – needed to be killed – for what he'd done.
Later, Gerard appeared in front of her. He seemed about as affected by Victoria's death as he would be any other werewolf's, but Ellie couldn't bring herself to really care. At least he wasn't the one wo actually killed her. That made him the lesser (slightly) of two evils. The old man's clothes were neatly pressed, like he'd only just put them on, and Ellie figured that that meant the night had faded into the day.
"Ellie, it's time to get you home," he said gently – or in as gentle a voice as he could manage.
She gave him a confused frown; the Argent household wasn't her home. Her home was back in New York, with her parents and away from all of this death. "No, I have to- I have to stay here. Allison needs me."
Allison did need her. She'd woken up about an hour earlier and fled the room in loud sobs.
He gave a smile (how he could smile after what happened, she had no idea). "Your cousin is actually coming with us. You both need to have a shower, get some rest, a good meal..."
"That's not important," she interrupted, scowling with sudden ferocity. "If I'm going home, I'm not bothering with that; we have to get straight on to planning."
Maybe turning her back on the friends she'd made in Beacon Hills was a silly idea, and if she'd been asked to join a hunting party a month earlier she would've refused, but the growing distance between herself and her friends coupled with the fact that her aunt's death brought back every raw emotion from her parents' passing, meant all she could feel was anger. Well, she supposed fury was better than the emptiness, so familiar to her since its first appearance the year before, which crept into her chest whenever she really stopped to think about what happened.
"Planning?" Something in Gerard's eyes sparked. "And what would we be planning, exactly?"
"How to take Derek down," Ellie answered, voice lowering to a dangerous edge. When the alpha was gone, then she could grieve.
He shook his head, though the tilt of his lips told her he was pleased with her enthusiasm. "I don't think your cousin is up for revenge right now. Maybe later."
"Later?" She demanded, "Later? No! We don't need Allison to do this; I'm fine with doing this with you, Chris and those minions you always have running around the house."
"You and Allison work better together," Gerard said. "So, in the spirit of doing a good deed, I'm sure I'll be able to come up with some kind of... incentive for her. But only because you insisted of course."
"Okay, whatever," she shrugged. "Now are you taking me home, or what?"
;
It took around six hours to convince Allison to join them. Ellie wasn't allowed to go into her cousin's bedroom to talk to her for most of it, so, instead, she spent the time in the basement with her bow. Her aim was as impeccable as always, perfectly in the centre every time. It became boring after a while, so she migrated onto guns.
They were slightly trickier, and the force kind of hurt her arm, but she was much too busy imagining Derek's face on the target to care.
Gerard found her again soon enough, Allison in tow, and her cousin gave Ellie the darkest look she'd ever seen.
"Are we doing this then, or what?" she said slowly, voice still thick from tears.
Ellie met her grim expression with one of her own. "We are."
They'd both changed into more suitable clothes: black jeans, black tank tops and black boots (a lot of black to match the rest of the hunting crew; that was all they seemed to wear).
Everyone gathered together, piling the weapons in the middle of one of the tables and discussing strategy. The main problem was obviously that they had no idea where Derek was.
Ellie's phone dinged, the sound shrill in the tension of the room. She muttered an awkward apology to her grandfather, who'd turned to look, before glancing down at it.
Received Scott / 06:57pm Apr
At the sheriff's station w/ Derek. Need the bestiary for kanima. Come asap xxx Scott :)
Frowning, Ellie showed the text to her uncle. "I just got this message," she said.
"From Scott?" Chris asked.
"No, no, it can't be him. He wouldn't text me on this phone, and he definitely wouldn't mention Derek," she said, voice leaving no room for argument. "This has to be someone else."
"The sheriff's station?" Gerard read, eyes narrowed.
Chris scowled, "If Derek's really there, I doubt it's willingly."
"You think Jackson-" Allison stopped, clearing her throat. "The kanima. Do you think that the kanima is there, too?"
"Maybe," Ellie's uncle dropped a copy of the blueprints of the station on the table. "And the one controlling him is probably there, too."
"How many do they keep on at the night shift?" Gerard asked.
"Since budget cuts?" Chris shrugged, "Four, at the most. My guess would be, they're either dead, or paralysed, by now."
"This might just be the confluence of events we've been waiting for," the older man said slowly.
His son glared, "Confluence of conflagration?"
"I'm open to both," Ellie's grandfather said.
"What do we do now?" Ellie asked, breaking into their slightly charged conversation. They didn't have time for arguments; who knew how long both Derek and the kanima would be in the same place?
"We should be asking you that question," Gerard told her lowly. "With Victoria gone, that responsibility falls to you both," he nodded to Allison, "now. Women are raised to be leaders, Ellie."
"Not at their ages," Chris protested.
His father didn't even look in his direction. "They're almost eighteen. And they know the difference between revenge and retribution, don't you, girls? Make the decision from a vantage point of strategy over emotion, and we'll follow your lead."
Ellie shared a look with Allison, and that was all they needed in order to come choose what to do. "I want Derek dead," Allison answered hollowly.
"What about Scott?" Chris asked, eyes pleading with the teenagers. He obviously didn't want them to be involved in this, but that wasn't his decision. Not anymore.
"Scott's not the one who forced Aunt Victoria to kill herself," the shorter brunette told them seriously. "I know we're not supposed to pick and choose, but the priority right now is Derek."
"And the others? Derek's pack?"
Ellie barely hesitated. "If they try to protect him, then we kill them."
"All of them," Allison agreed.
;
The plan was quite simple. A group would go to each side of the station and shoot down the windows. Ellie, Allison and Chris would all use the panic to sneak inside and get close to the targets.
The girls both held their own weapons – Allison a crossbow, and Ellie a simple bow. Chris had various knives strapped to his chest, a wolfsbane grange at his hip and a pistol in his hand. They were all walking close to each other through the empty halls, listening out for any sign of movement. Everything was still, until... A yell. A pained yell, coming from the right.
"I've got this," Ellie said quickly. "You go the other way; see if you can find Derek."
She hurried away, toward the noise, and almost crashed into someone walking the opposite way. Immediately, there was an arrow cocked and pointed at their face.
"Ellie?!" It was Scott, blood soaking through his shirt and surprise on his face. He obviously hadn't expected her to be with the hunters.
"Where is Derek?" she demanded.
He didn't answer. "What are you doing?"
"If you're not going to tell me where he is, then get out of my way."
"Ellie... what happened...?"
"Scott, where is he?" Her voice turned to a croak. The werewolf tried to take a step closer to her, ut she flinched back. "You... you need to stay away from me right now. Just..." she moved around him, "Get out of here, and stay out of the way."
She was gone before he could reply, but the exchange had left her eyes feeling wet and her chest feeling emptier than ever.
;
Ellie didn't manage to find Derek, or Allison and Chris, but she came across the kanima in a seemingly unoccupied hallway. He was standing over someone, hand raised and preparing to strike, and there was no time for her to think. Instinctively, she shot the still-loaded arrow into his head. It went straight through his forehead and out of the other side. Her hands dropped back to her sides, but it wasn't over. The kanima simply turned to look at her, yanking the arrow out and throwing it to the floor.
"Oh, Damn," she muttered.
Moments later, after running back the way she came, Ellie was hiding under a desk and holding her breath, a dagger clutched tightly in her hand.
The door opened, and the pitter-patter of claws against the tiles echoed throughout the room. Silently, she prayed that the reptile wouldn't hear her. She had no such luck.
There was a loud screech, and the desk was ripped up from the ground and across the room. It landed in a pile of broken pieces on the floor.
Jackson grabbed her by the neck, lifting her so that her feet dangled off of the ground. Black spots danced in her vision, but she managed, using all of her effort, to lift her arm and stab the dagger into the creature's neck.
The sound that left its throat was nowhere near human, and it made Ellie's ears ring. There was a sharp pain on the back of her neck, followed by the creeping feeling of numbness that dripped through her limbs. She was dropped heavily onto the floor, on her back with her legs tangled awkwardly. Every movement she tried to make was slow, like she was under water.
She had no idea how much time had passed before footsteps sounded, and Matt's form appeared, looming over her. He sighed. "You should've given me a chance," he said patronisingly. "Remember when I said I'm not the kind of guy who would said something like 'well, if I can't have her, no one can'?"
She didn't answer, even though her lips were perfectly fine.
"It's not totally true," he continued, sarcastically sheepish. "Because, Ellie, if I can't have you," his face contorted into a nasty glare, "No one can."
Something clanged in the distance, and Matt went to investigate, leaving her there. She figured he knew that she wasn't going anywhere any time soon.
Closing her eyes, Ellie let herself relax, knowing she wouldn't be able to do anything against her stalker. She could sense someone close to her face, feel heavy breath on her closed eyelids.
Her eyes flickered open, but it wasn't Matt leaning over her, it was her uncle Chris. He put his finger to his lips to keep her quiet, before helping her to her feet. They wobbled below her, not completely under her control.
"We have to," her words slurred slightly. "We have to find Derek..."
"The station is on fire, Ellie," Chris said firmly. "We need to get home, recuperate. We'll get him next time."
"Allison..."
"Is already outside with the others," he finished. "This plan wasn't thought through enough. We need to work harder at this, and then we'll get Derek and the kanima."
Ellie frowned, "But Gerard said-"
"Gerard says a lot of things," her uncle scowled. "You didn't trust him before; don't let your greif affect your judgment. He's still the same as he's always been."
They didn't talk again, only struggled to the car, where Allison was already situated in the passengers' seat.
Little did they know, not 100 metres away, Gerard was touching his hand to Jackson's as a new bond was formed.
a/n Hello! I'm so sorry this is late. I had my christening yesterday (yes, I was christened at fifteen) so I didn't have time. I hope you guys liked this - even if Ellie's going all hunter-crazy right now.
Thank you for reading! Until next time (Sunday btw)
xoxo