HARPER HAD HER EYES CLOSED, HER HEAD TILTED BACK AS SHE BATHED IN THE SUN COMING THROUGH THE JEEP WINDOWS. As somebody who had been brought up in England, a little bit of sun was always valued. Maybe moving to California should have changed her, but it hadn', she still soaked up every little bit she could get.
The wheels rumbled on the dirt roads beneath her, a slightly awkward silence filling the jeep, although the brunette chose to sit back and ignore it. Stiles sat next to her in the driver's seat, of course, while Malia, Kira and Lydia all sat in the back in silence. Her boyfriend had a stern eye on Braeden's bike as he followed it, occasionally looking in his mirror back at Scott and Isaac who were following on their bikes.
"Okay, I'll ask," Malia sat forward, her head through the seats in between the teenage couple, "who's Kate Argent?"
Harper cracked open an eye, almost jumping in surprise when she saw how close the other girl was to her. She sat up straight, peeking back at Kira who also raised her hand nervously.
"Um, I'd like to know, too," the Japanese girl requested shyly.
Stiles looked back at them in the mirror, "well, Harper, Scott and I were at her funeral. So, I would like to know how she got out of the casket that was buried six feet underground."
Harper sighed, her elbow resting on the door of the jeep while her hand massaged her forehead, finally having enough of the heat.
"She must have never been in it to start off with," the Empath scoffed, "you know, the cemetery owner clearly isn't very good at making sure the bodies are actually in the coffins. My dad, Kate. Who's next?"
Kira's brows furrowed, "wait, what happened with your dad?"
"Long story," Harper murmured distastefully, "he's locked up now, don't worry about it."
There was a pause before Lydia answered Malia's original question, "she was Allison's aunt. And a total sociopath."
The deceased hunter's name seemed to ring in Harper's ears a second too long, her lips pursing together as she looked out at the miles of deserts surrounding them. Images of the dream she had had yesterday flooded her brain, and similar ones like that. It seemed since the girl had died, she had appeared in Harper's dreams- her and Lydia, that is. Never anybody else.
"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Kira's eyes softened upon seeing how the three original members' of Scott's pack had reacted to Kate.
"Um, yes, they do," Malia protested.
"All right, Kate was the one who set the fire that killed most of Derek's family," Stiles began to explain.
"Some of the Hale's survived," Harper added, "Cora, Laura, Peter."
"A very angry Peter," Lydia scoffed.
"He's the one that bit and turned Scott the night before sophomore year," the Empath continued, "and then he bit me a few weeks later."
"And he's the one who caught up to Kate and killed her," the strawberry blonde recalled what everybody had told her, despite being in the hospital unconscious when it had happened, "or supposedly."
A heavy silence filled the jeep. They drove that way for another few minutes, but eventually, the silence had to be broken. Even with most of the story, the newer members of the pack still had questions, which was to be expected.
"So, Kate's a werewolf now?" Kira hummed.
"I don't know," Harper replied, looking out of the window, "not everybody turns into a werewolf. Lydia and I didn't because of our families, but some people take on the shape of the kind of person they reflect."
"What kind of shape is sociopathic bitch?" Lydia retorted.
There was no time for a sarcastic reply from any of the teenagers as the jeep suddenly jolted. Stiles' hands gripped for control on the wheel, but the car slid outwards and came to an abrupt stop on the side of the dirt road. Harper held onto her seatbelt tightly, eyes wide as she heard the bikes squeal to a halt from behind them.
"What the hell?' Harper cried, unbuckling her belt.
She went to get out, but Stiles grabbed her wrist and forced her to look back at him.
"Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" He asked quickly.
"I'm fine," the brunette insisted as the others clambered out of the vehicle, "are you?"
Stiles nodded, running a hand through his hair, "yeah, yeah, I'm good."
The pair let go of each other and Stiles rushed to see what had happened to his baby. He squinted his eyes to see through the dust clouds his wheels had created, as Scott, Isaac and Braeden jogged over, helmets under their arms.
"What was that?" Breaden demanded to know.
"I don't know, it felt like we hit something," the Stilinski boy replied, slightly panicked as he began to look under the jeep.
"Scott, we need to get there by night, it's too dangerous otherwise," the dark-skinned woman reminded the alpha, shaking her head.
Scott looked between his friends, or more importantly Stiles and Harper, and Braeden. He knew which decision he had to make as a good person, but he also knew the one he wanted to make as a good friend.
"Go," Stiles insisted.
"Not without you," Scott shook his head.
"Scott, Derek needs you," Harper reminded him, "and god knows it won't be Stiles or me to sniff him out."
Stiles nodded in agreement, "yeah, we'll think of something, we always do, just go."
Without another word, Scott turned back to his motorcycle and started to head towards it. Isaac also began to mount his, slipping the helmet back over his head. Kira rushed towards the Hispanic boy before he could leave.
"Scott, I can't think of anything else to say except for be careful," the teenage girl rushed to get her words out, "and I know 'be careful' sounds kinda lame and I'm totally sure the second you're gone I'm gonna think of something much better, but I..."
"'Be careful' works for me," Scott told her with an amused smile.
Kira wrapped her arms around him into a tight hug. Harper audibly awed, causing the couple to break apart and look at her awkwardly. She sent them a panicked smile and turned back to see what her friends were doing, finding Stiles and Lydia with the hood up and looking through parts Harper didn't even know existed.
"Oo, engines," she lamely pretended she hadn't been looking, despite already getting caught.
Lydia raised her eyebrows at Harper, shaking her head slightly in amusement. The brunette didn't turn around but heard three motorcycles take off, indicating the departure of Scott, Isaac and Braeden.
"Why's it smoking?" Harper questioned her boyfriend, going round to stand next to him from where he was fiddling with something inside the hood.
Stiles looked back up at her, "that's what we're trying to figure out, babe," he sighed in disbelief, "if we knew, we might have a solution."
"Oh," Harper replied.
She stood back and watched as Malia began to stalk around the jeep, almost like a wild animal that had discovered a mysterious type of prey. The werecoyote's eyes suddenly widened and she reached in between the wheel and the car.
"Stiles," she called quickly, "I don't think we hit something. I think something hit us."
She grunted as she managed to yank the object out, lifting what appeared to be a massive claw. It was about the length of Malia's forearm, and razor sharp too. Harper's face scrunched up in a mixture of horror and disbelief, mirroring her boyfriend's almost perfectly.
"Ah, bloody hell."
...
IT HAD BEEN HOURS AND THE SUN WAS DUE TO SET SOON. Stiles remained persistent, a screwdriver in his hand as he worked on his car every second that passed. Harper was on the roof of the jeep next to Malia, an arrangement that had taken some begging to be made.
"Stiles, can we sit on the roof?" Malia had asked, her arms folded across her chest as she tapped her foot impatiently.
Stiles looked at her incredulously, "the roof? There's a perfectly good set of seats inside the jeep. No way."
He went back to his work, ignoring the huff that escaped the werecoyote. Harper was leaning against the car, her eyes shut as if she were about to doze off standing up.
"Harper," the brunette heard Malia whine like a toddler, "Stiles isn't letting me go on the roof."
The Empath opened her eyes, "that's his choice, Malia. Nothing I can do about it."
"Assert your dominance! Tell him to let me!"
Lydia laughed, "Harper? Dominance? Those two words don't even go together."
"They can," Harper defended herself, her voice consequently going a few pitches higher.
"You may have kissed me first, Harps, but you let me take the lead straight away," the strawberry blonde smirked, looking in the corner of her eye as Stiles' jaw clenched slightly, "you're a total bottom."
Harper blushed, hard.
"She's blushing!" Kira giggled.
"Stop teasing her," Stiles cut in, "and please stop talking about kissing Harper, Lydia. You're enjoying this way too much."
Lydia chuckled, "can't handle it, can you, Stilinski?"
Harper groaned, "Lyds, I love you, I really do, but I think I might die of embarrassment if you keep on about kissing me."
Lydia just blew her another kiss.
"Stiles, can I get on the jeep now?" Malia complained again.
"Fine!" Stiles cried, "Malia, get on the jeep. Lydia, stop talking. Please! Can you all just... Stop!"
And so Malia ended up on top of the jeep, Harper beside her a few minutes later. They laid on their backs and looked up at the pale blue sky, listening to Stiles mutter profanities under his breath as he tried to fix the jeep.
"I hope Derek's okay," Kira sighed from where she was sat in the passenger seat, the door open so she could talk to everyone else.
"He'll be fine," Stiles grumbled under his breath.
Harper felt a small ache in her finger and suddenly Stiles released another curse, pulling his hand away and shaking it. Lydia rolled her eyes.
"Maybe we should just walk?" She suggested.
"Hey," he practically glared at her, "I will never abandon this jeep, you understand me? Ever. Ever!"
Malia suddenly sat up, causing Harper to flinch at the sharp movement. The werecoyote's light brown eyes scanned the surroundings, her hair blowing back in the wind.
"Work faster, Stiles," she warned.
"What? Why?" The Stilinski boy asked.
Malia didn't say anything for a while, her stare on the desert never ending. Without looking away, she replied in a tone that sent shivers down Harper's spine:
"There's definitely something out here with us."
...
"HARPER, BABE, COULD YOU PLEASE JUST TRY AND HOLD THE FLASHLIGHT STILL FOR A SECOND, PLEASE? It's really hard to see anything when you keep shaking it like that," Stiles complained.
"Oh, like this?" Harper began to move the torch almost spastically, making it impossible for Stiles to see now.
Stiles shot her a look that made her stop and roll her eyes, "Stiles, it's cold and I'm scared something's gonna come out of those bushes and freaking eat us or something. Can we please just sit in the jeep and wait for Scott?"
"I don't think the jeep will protect you from getting eaten by anything for too long, babe," Stiles shook his head, unscrewing something, "besides, don't worry, we have Malia and Kira."
Kira pulled out her samurai sword and stood next to Malia. The duo stood a little bit away from the jeep, trying to see through the darkness that had settled a while ago.
"Hold this," Stiles handed Lydia something.
"What's this?" The strawberry blonde asked.
"I don't know, I'm hoping it's not important."
"Oh, god."
"Hey, do you think Kate will be mad at us for basically getting her killed?" Harper asked casually after a few seconds, "you think she'll try and kill us?"
"Harper," Lydia whined, pursing her lips together in fear, "don't say stuff like that."
Harper just sighed, her follow up question getting cut short before it could even begin as Malia released what sounded like a mixture of a scream and a growl. The Empath's head snapped up in her direction, seeing the werecoyote's fangs and defensive stance as she took off towards some bushes.
"Malia, wait!" Kira cried, going after her.
"Malia!" Harper yelled anxiously, moving to follow the other supernatural teenagers.
Stiles' large hand quickly wrapped around her arm and pulled her back, his eyes wide as he shook his head at her.
"Hell no, Harper," the Stilinski boy swore, "you are not going out there. Stay here, keep the torch on me so I can fix this jeep and we can get our asses out of here."
Harper shot him an incredulous look, "but Malia-"
"Kira has her handled," Lydia interrupted, taking Stiles' side for the first time that day, "whatever it is... They'll be fine."
Shoulders sagging in defeat, Harper forced a nod and put the torch back on the jeep. Stiles' eyes softened in relief, knowing his girlfriend wasn't about to do something stupid and take off, and he got back to work.
Only a few minutes passed until suddenly the jeep rumbled underneath him, the engine starting up. All three teenagers gasped in excitement, Harper lifting her hands up. Stiles smacked his hands against hers, a grin on his face as he leaned forwards and connected their lips.
Harper sighed in content, wrapping her arms around his neck. Lydia cleared her throat, causing them to part swiftly. Stiles shot her a look of annoyance, which the strawberry blonde returned of course.
"Do you two have to make out any time anything remotely happy happens?" She scoffed.
Harper rolled her eyes as her boyfriend retorted, "jealous?"
Lydia crinkled up her nose, "as if."
Harper almost audibly gasped when she realised Lydia was lying. In fact, when Harper concentrated on the other girl, she could feel the tinge of jealousy radiating from her. The brunette felt betrayed. Lydia had a crush on Stiles?
"Get in the car!" Kira yelled as she ran towards them, Malia slightly behind and holding her stomach.
Thoughts of her best friend liking her boyfriend vanished as quickly as they came, Harper jumping into action and opening the car door. She let Kira and Malia in before herself as they climbed over the seats to get into the back.
"Hurry, Harper," Malia warned anxiously, grabbing her friend's arm and pulling her in, despite the fact that Harper was already halfway through the door and fully capable of doing it herself.
She slammed the door behind her and Stiles took off in the direction Scott, Braeden and Isaac had gone in. Malia leaned back in her seat, hissing in pain. Harper felt a dull ache in her stomach. She peeled her own shirt up, seeing a deep gash.
"Malia, what happened?" She panicked.
"It's okay," Malia replied, "I can feel it healing. I could barely see whatever attacked me, but it had a strong scent though."
"Like what?" Stiles asked.
"Like death."
...
WHEN THE JEEP FINALLY REACHED THE RUINS OF THE CHURCH, SCOTT AND ISAAC WERE JUST LEAVING IT, A FAMILIAR BODY DANGLING FROM THEIR SHOULDERS WHILE BRAEDEN LEAD THE WAY. The rest of the pack rushed over, stunned into silence when they saw the teenager between the two werewolves.
"Is that him?" Malia directed towards Harper and Stiles, "is that Derek?"
Harper cocked her head to the side, "um, kinda."
He looked up, his eyes meeting the rest of the pack. He looked just as confused as everybody else felt.
Derek was a teenager again.
...
sorry this isn't proofread, but i wanted to get this chapter out since i have spent so long and three whole chapters on just the first episode of season four. im excited about what's to come though !
thanks for reading :))