AFTER EVERYTHING Derek had been through with Jemma, he trusted her more than anyone, even Peter. So when she spoke up and told him she knew someone who could help find Kate, he listened.
Granted Braeden was a mercenary and wouldn't do it for free, but at least Derek knew of her. She sat in the loft with a confident smirk on her lips, her black army boots hoisted onto the coffee table. Derek glanced at Jemma, unsure, but a single nod from her gave him all the confidence he needed.
"That table is Italian," Peter told Braeden through gritted teeth, disliking her instantly.
Braeden couldn't care less, shooting back, "So are these boots."
"Remind me later to ask you where you got them," Jemma told her, enjoying the annoyance that wafted off of Peter. "They're super cute."
"Awe, thanks," Braeden chuckled, "but unfortunately, Jem, you know I'm not hear to talk fashion. But send me a text whenever and I'm your girl." Her dark brown eyes drifted to Peter and she raised an eyebrow. "You ready to talk numbers?"
Derek wasn't paying attention, his gaze focused on a pair of sunglasses in his hand. This lead Peter to inhale sharply to stop himself from lashing out as he scribbled some digits on a piece of paper.
Braeden barely glanced at it, unimpressed. Taking her own pen, she marked out what Peter wrote and named her own price.
This only fueled Peter's disgust, and he stated, "We're hiring you to find Kate, not assassinate the president."
"I was hired by the Calaveras to find Kate," Braeden reminded, pointing to Derek and Peter. "You two are hiring me to find her first. Going against the Calaveras is what is going to cost you."
Peter tried once more to find middle ground, but scowled once Braeden pushed back the paper—not even looking at it. He stood up dramatically and created space while Jemma stifled a laugh. Derek from beside her snatched the paper and tore it in half.
Looking at Braeden, he said seriously, "We'll pay. Just find Kate; that's all we want."
As soon as Peter slammed the loft door shut after Braeden left, he started to yell at his nephew. "Are you insane!?"
Derek, unbothered, remained sitting on the couch with Jemma. His arm around her, Jemma rested her head on his shoulder, both of them looking at Peter with eyebrows raised from his outburst.
"I didn't have another choice," Derek stated, his voice steady. "We spent a week looking for Kate and found nothing."
"If we don't find who told Kate about the vault, we don't get those bonds back," Peter pointed out, Jemma feeling his aggravation. "What do you think I'm going to do then, huh? Get a job? My resume is slightly out of date."
"Well maybe if you hadn't gone on a homicidal killing spree, people maybe would've hired you," Jemma sassed, Derek chuckling as she sat up. "And Kate wouldn't even be a werejaguar. She'd be rotting in a prison cell, where she—and you—belong."
Peter rolled his eyes, but focused on Derek, who stood and headed for the kitchen. Trialing behind him, he said, "We got robbed, Derek. Robbed!"
Before Peter even lifted a finger to grab Derek's shoulder, the man caught his hand and let out a roar.
Jemma raised to her feet, alarmed. But it wasn't because of the roar.
Peter was unfazed by Derek's grip, commenting, "Oh, that's a new look for you."
Scoffing, Derek let go of his uncle and stepped back, calming himself down. But Peter couldn't let it go. "What happened to your eyes?" he demanded, knowing Derek shouldn't have golden irises.
"I don't know," Derek responded bitterly, "but I'm willing to pay to find out."
*^*^*^*
Sierra never could decide on whether she enjoyed lacrosse season or not. Before Scott got bitten, she genuinely liked attending the games and doing her homework in the bleachers while the boys practiced. But now, it seemed lacrosse only caused more problems, and the teenagers already had a full plate.
Stiles held onto her hand as they walked towards the field, Scott standing on her other side. Both of them had already changed into sweats for the conditioning they were about to do, their bags hoisted over their shoulders.
Scott couldn't hide his nerves from Sierra, leading him to gush to her and Stiles that he didn't think he was the team captain anymore.
Stiles scoffed at the idea, "Of course, you are still team captain. You got your grades up like Coach told you to, right?"
"Yeah, but he never told me I was back on the team," Scott replied.
"Well, he told you to come to try-outs," Sierra stated optimistically. "That's a good thing."
"Sierra's right," Stiles agreed, "but we've got bigger problems to deal with anyways. Did any of you tell Argent about Kate yet?" Scott sheepishly smiled as they came to a stop by the bleachers, Stiles tilting his head. "What?"
"I...texted him but he didn't get back to me."
Sierra scrunched up her nose, looking at her best friend in disbelief. "You're kidding me, right?"
"You told him his dead sister, Kate, came back from the dead over a text?" Stiles was just as shocked.
Scott replied honestly, "I didn't have enough money to call France."
"Don't even get me started on money," Sierra let out a sigh, leaning on Stiles. "I think I'm going to get a job soon if these hospital bills keep coming. Note: next time I almost die, don't admit me. Use a first aid kit."
Stiles didn't find her joke amusing, but added, "My dad and I are still trying to pay off the MRI and a stay at Eichen House."
"Another notice?" Scott asked, concerned. The trio might've opened up to each other about their money struggles, but it seemed like each small family felt overwhelmed at the moment.
Stiles nodded his head, "Yeah, but this one said final." Since his mood had sunken, he glanced around and questioned, "Honestly, what the hell are we doing here anyways? We've got like one hundred seventeen million problems and worrying about our status on the lacrosse team is not one of them!"
"Uh, it is now."
Stiles and Sierra followed Scott's widened gaze to the field, and watched in amazement as the player in the goal caught every shot fired, perfectly. Sierra squinted, something familiar about him washing over her. "Who the hell is that?" Stiles asked, already feeling threatened.
As soon as the boy took off his helmet, Sierra recognized him. "Wait, I think that's—awe, it's Liam!"
Stiles dropped his jaw and looked back to her. "That's the kid you're tutoring?!"
"Well, yeah," Sierra shrugged, confused by the panicked looks on his and Scott's face. "I told you he played lacrosse."
"But you never told us he was good!" Scott argued. "You could've warned us!"
Sierra held her hands up in defense. "How was I supposed to know?" she fought back. "I've never seen him play! We would just talk about it sometimes while he studied!"
"We need to practice a little bit before this thing starts," Stiles told Scott seriously. "Like now."
"Don't let someone intimidate you two," Sierra kept them from running on the field, knowing the entire try-outs they would be in their own heads. "Scott, you're the freaking captain—one of the best players on the team and an excellent leader. Stiles, are you forgetting you helped win state last year? You not only tied the game, but made the winning shot—and you told me you worked on your defense a lot over the summer. You guys got this...okay?"
Scott let out a heavy breath but started to nod his head, "Yeah, yeah, you're right, Sierra."
"Of course I am."
Holding up his fist, Scott bumped his against hers like they always did for good luck. It was their little ritual that always helped him calm down.
Then, Scott pat Stiles on the back. "We got this, buddy," he assured him with his newfound confidence. "I'll go stretch and then we can put up a few shots before Coach gets out here."
"Sounds good."
Stiles turned back to his girlfriend, who smiled cheekily at him and held up her fist. "You want one? I heard mine bring good luck."
"Your kisses do too," Stiles smirked and grabbed her hand, pulling her body close to his. Sierra smiled the second Stiles pressed his lips against hers, his other hand cupping her cheek. Her eyes fluttered closed, and poured everything she had into kissing him. It had been a while since they hung out alone, and even though she saw him every day, Sierra missed him.
Reluctantly, Stiles pulled back but playfully bumped his nose with hers. The second she giggled, he smiled, it sounding like music to his ears. "Are we still on for our drive later?" he asked hopefully, under his breath.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," she replied truthfully, her blue eyes twinkling. "But don't forget we have to study with Malia first, you know, make sure she's doing okay. Then, I am all yours."
Stiles sighed happily, "I love the sound of that."
Sierra kissed him quickly again, and then said, "Well, I love you."
"I love you too, string bean."
"Now, go out there and kick some ass!" she encouraged, making him laugh.
"It's not even the real try-outs yet," he explained. "Those aren't until after school."
"Does that mean I have to kiss you later too?" Sierra feigned disgust, cracking once she saw the offended look on his face. "Oh, stop, you know I'm teasing. I will happily give you another good-luck kiss, later."
"Do you think Scott would be mad if you just kept kissing me now so I don't have to go out there?"
She tilted her head and pursed her lips, giving him the answer without uttering a sound.
"Right," he nodded, backing away from her towards the field. "I love you and I will see you later!"
He jogged away, Sierra watching him go with a smile on her face. Shaking her head, she muttered, "Goofball."
*^*^*^*
Later in the locker room, Scott and Stiles couldn't contain their curiosity about Liam. All they knew came from Sierra, who only revealed he was a transfer student interested in playing lacrosse. Both boys also knew she would probably slap them once she found out about their questioning, but swallowed down their fear and met Liam at his locker, where he was getting dressed.
"Hey, Liam," Stiles caught his attention, trying not to seem to bothered by the freshman. He already felt disgust looking at him, but whether it was because Sierra tutored Liam or because Liam was a good player, Scott couldn't tell. "Wanna explain what that was out there?"
Confused, Liam glanced between Stiles and Scott. "What do you mean?"
"That little display," Stiles referenced Liam's actions on the field. "That little circus act?"
"What circus act?"
"You caught every shot," Stiles pointed out.
Liam furrowed his eyebrows. "I was in goal."
"Yeah, but nothing, not a single shot got past you."
"I was the goalie," Liam repeated himself, not understanding why Stiles was being so harsh. Why wouldn't he catch the balls if that was his job? He joked, "You guys played this game before?"
Stiles went to snap but Scott stepped in, sending his best friend a concerned glance. "You're a freshman, right?" he asked Liam. "Sierra told us about you."
Surprised, Liam widened his eyes. "You guys know Sierra Page?"
Scott hid his smile, picking up on the way Liam's heart skipped a beat, replying with a laugh, "Yeah, we're her best friends."
"He's her best friend," Stiles corrected, pointing to Scott. "I'm her boyfriend."
"Wait, you're her boyfriend?"
Stiles blinked, and then scoffed, "Yes, I am. We've been dating for almost a year, actually."
"Wait, does that include the summer where you guys broke up?" Scott asked him, doing the math in his head.
Stiles winced, "Technically yes." Turning back to Liam, he quirked up an eyebrow. "What's it to you, runt?"
Liam held up his hands, shrugging, "Nothing. I don't mean anything. She told me her boyfriend played; I just didn't know it was you. If anything I thought she would be dating Scott."
"Alright, let's get back to what we were talking about before I mentioned Sierra," Scott interrupted, sensing Stiles's anger. The boy hated when people brought up the possibility of his best friends being together; it just reminded him of his jealousy during their transformation and brought out insecurities he didn't like facing. "You weren't here last semester; that's kind of odd, isn't it?"
Liam replied, though he felt Stiles's glare on him, "I guess, but I just transferred from Devenford Prep."
Scott caught his heart rate increasing. "You transferred?" he tried to clarify, glancing at his best friend to let him know Liam was lying.
"Yeah."
"No," Scott shook his head, stating quietly, "You got kicked out, didn't you?"
Liam looked at him, wondering how he could've possibly known. The only person he told was Mason. "Kicked out, transferred, what do you guys care? I came here to play lacrosse. Your team could use a few good players right?"
"No," Stiles instantly disagreed. "We don't need anymore good players."
Scott winced, "Actually, we could sorta use a couple."
Stiles glared at Scott for not taking his side, but then sighed. "Alright, how did you get this good?" he asked Liam. "Have you always been this good? Or did it suddenly happen once overnight? Have you ever been out in the middle of the woods, during the night of a full--"
"Stiles!" Scott cut him off, his eyes widened in alarm and his jaw dropped. Was he really about to ask Liam if he was a werewolf?
Liam scrunched his nose at the two, but answered, "I learned how to play from my stepfather, alright?" He turned to Scott. "He made team captain when he was a sophomore, like you." Glancing back at Stiles, Liam smirked as he grabbed his bag from his locker. "And yeah, I guess I'm just that good."
He walked away without another word, Stiles glaring daggers into his back while Scott chuckled, "He wasn't lying that time."
"I don't like him," Stiles announced.
Scott rolled his eyes, "Really? I couldn't tell. It's not like you almost pounced on him when he went all goo-goo eyes the second we mentioned Sierra."
"Speaking of her, I vow we never question people without her again," Stiles ignored Scott's sarcasm.
"Agreed."
*^*^*^*
"Nice try, Mal."
The werecoyote groaned at the sight of Sierra and Stiles blocking the doorway, keeping her from exiting the classroom. "Oh come on, please don't make me go," Malia begged as Sierra turned her around. "I hate math!" One look at the numbers on the board made her never want to be in there again.
"You may hate it, but you still need to learn it," Sierra stated, guiding Malia to a desk besides Lydia.
Malia pouted, sitting down, "But it's pointless!"
"It's school," Stiles reminded her, placing Sierra's book on her desk before moving to sit behind her. "School is important and math is essential."
"For what?"
"Knowing how much to tip at restaurants," he replied, causing Lydia and Sierra to exchanged bewildered glances.
"Is he serious?" Lydia whispered to her, raising her volume so Malia could hear her. "Math is also used in less important things like medicine, economics, engineering...."
Stiles winked, agreeing with her, "Tipping!"
"Alright," their teacher's voice made them quiet down once the bell rang. "Volunteers to the board!" Her eyes scanned the room quickly, picking out students. "Diego, Lydia, Sierra and...Malia."
Malia's head shot up. "Wait, I didn't volunteer."
"You did now," Ms. Fleming responded, nudging towards the board. "Come on."
"You'll be fine," Stiles attempted to assure her but Malia whipped her head around to face him, growling under her breath.
His eyes widened and he looked in panic at Sierra, who chuckled as she raised to her feet. She pat his arm, but focused on following Malia to the board.
Malia froze after picking up the chalk, confused by the variables and the numbers blending together. Lydia and Diego were practically finished, but Sierra took her time, noticing Malia's frustration. "Did you go over the notes me and Lydia gave you?" she whispered.
Malia nodded, "Yeah, but only yours made sense. I didn't understand Lydia's."
Sierra frowned, but glanced back to see if Ms. Fleming was paying attention to them. Luckily, the teacher was going over something with another student. "X equals twenty-five," Sierra informed Malia after seeing the problem. "We can go over the notes again tonight, okay?"
Malia sighed and wrote the answer on the board, but felt disappointed in herself. Why was math the only thing she couldn't pick up on?
Lydia spoke up, having heard their conversation. "And sweetie? You might want to put away the claws."
Looking down, Malia's eyes widened at the sight of her claws and quickly put the chalk down. Back at his seat, Stiles pulled out his phone at the sound of an alert.
Beacon Ledger News Alert: TRIPLE HOMICIDE, DEVELOPING...
After reading the article, Stiles informed Sierra through a note, since Ms. Fleming already gave him a warning about his phone. After class, he acted quick to find Kira, who helped them track down Scott in the middle of the hallway between classes.
"An ax-murderer," Kira emphasized.
Stiles added dramatically, "A family-murdering ax-murderer!"
"I, uh, might've already heard about it," Scott revealed with a wince, continuing to head towards his locker.
"What, you did? How?" Stiles demanded.
"My mom called me," Scott replied. "She knew we'd see it on the news."
"Perfect!" Stiles nodded once and then went to leave. "Let's go!"
"Wait," Sierra pulled him back, exchanging a knowing look at Scott before facing him. "We've got History in five minutes."
Confused, Stiles furrowed his eyebrows. "Did you forget the part about the family-murdering ax-murderer?"
"Did you forget that your dad is the sheriff?"
"Sierra is right," Scott agreed firmly. "They want us to stay out of it."
"You're kidding me," Stiles complained, waving his hand in the air. "There's a family-murdering ax-murderer! And we're not going to do anything about it?"
"Stiles, this sounds like a pretty un-supernatural event," Sierra pointed out. "And remember what Deaton said? We have to start taking care of our lives again. Meaning we're not going to do anything until we know they need us. Today, we are taking a break from being detectives and acting like normal high school juniors."
"So the three of you just want to stay here in school, go to class?" Stiles clarified, raising an eyebrow.
"The adults should handle it," Kira took Scott and Sierra's side, even though she secretly wanted to investigate the situation.
"Never heard something so irresponsible in my life."
They watched him leave, Sierra sighing. "I'll see you guys later; I'm gonna go make sure he actually gets to History."
"Sounds good."
Sierra took off in the direction Stiles disappeared, the warning bell echoing throughout the hallway. Scott, multitasking by grabbing his books and glancing at Kira, said, "Hey, you know that thing we wanted to talk about?"
A bright grin spread across Kira's face. "Yeah?"
"Can we talk later— after try-outs?" he asked, shoving his Econ folder in his backpack. "Do you mind waiting? It won't be that long; Sierra will even be there, you know, in the bleachers."
Kira tried to not show her disappointment. She had really wanted to talk to him as soon as possible, especially since her mom was trying to convince her dad to move back to New York. "Oh...I, uh..." But seeing his face, Kira didn't mind waiting. "Sure. We can talk later."
Scott brightened, closing his locker shut. "Great! I'll see you then!" Without thinking twice about it, Scott leaned over and pecked her lips before taking off to economics.
Kira stood there, completely stunned by his action, but it didn't hit Scott until he sat down in class and processed what he did.
"Oh, God."
*^*^*^*
The last time Sierra saw Scott pace because of stress occurred due to a broken vase after playing football with Stiles. Yet, sitting in the locker room, watching him move back and forth caused her own anxiety to rise.
"Oh my god, sit still!" she eventually burst. "What did you need to tell us, Scott? Is this about the ax-murderer?"
He had texted Stiles and Sierra in all caps, demanding that they meet him in the locker room before the rest of the team arrived to get ready for try-outs. But he didn't reveal anything, and the tension was driving Sierra crazy.
Scott froze at her outburst, listening and taking a seat on the bench across from her. "I might've done something stupid."
Stiles snorted, "What else is new?"
Sierra slapped his arm, rolling her eyes. "Not the time, Stiles. Scott, you're freaking me out, man. Just tell me you didn't bite anyone?"
Scott's face contorted, and he looked at her, puzzled. "When would I have had time to bite anyone? And why on earth would I bite an innocent after what Araya told me in Mexico?"
"It's the first thing that popped into my head!" Sierra defended, crossing her arms. "And thank god you didn't, because the last thing we need right now is to train another baby werewolf."
"Sierra—"
"We just have too much on our plates and—"
"Sierra!" Scott raised his voice, cutting her off. "Can we talk about what I dragged you in here for or do you want to keep blabbing about how I bit someone?"
"Dang." Stiles glanced at Sierra and whispered, "You know he's stressed when he snaps like that."
"Stiles!"
"What? It's true!"
"I kissed Kira!" Scott couldn't wait anymore, his eyes squeezed shut as he expected for them to start yelling at him. When he didn't hear anything, he peaked one eye open to see them sitting calmly on the bench. "Why aren't you two freaking out?"
"To be honest, I thought you guys kissed a long time ago," Stiles shrugged his shoulders and then grinned. "Congrats man, you finally did it!"
"I did, but I didn't."
Stiles squinted in confusion, and asked, "Was it on the lips?"
"I mean, yeah."
"Was there tongue?"
"No," Scott shook his head, twirling his lacrosse stick since too many thoughts flew through his mind. "It's like, it was like the kind of kiss you give your grandma when you're five."
"Oh," Stiles caught on. "Chaste. You gave her a chaste kiss."
"Yeah, and now it's weird, like super weird, but it felt natural to do it, you know? And I, I just don't know what to do." Scott felt his heart rate pick back up, worry flooding through his veins.
"How about we ask the girl who hasn't said anything?" Stiles told him, jutting his head towards Sierra, whose lips were pursed in thought. "What're you thinkin' about, string bean?"
"Honestly, I'm kind of surprised," she answered, finally looking up at Scott. "I never thought you'd actually do it. Kiss her, I mean, I knew you liked her."
"Do you think I should go for it?"
"I do," Sierra nodded. "Kira's a sweet girl and I want you to be happy, but I want to make sure you're passed what we talked about before."
Stiles looked between the pair, not understanding. "What do you mean? What did you talk about?"
"I don't want Kira to be a rebound," Scott informed him. "And after Allison...I'm not gonna lie, I didn't want to let anyone in for awhile. We talked about how if I date her, I need to make sure I am all in. Because I, I want a relationship like you have with Sierra. One that's open and honest...one that's real. Because, because a little part of me always thought, thought Allison and I..."
Scott cut himself off, feeling his emotions get the better of him. But he didn't need to finish. Stiles and Sierra understood him perfectly.
It was silent for a minute, his words sinking in while Stiles placed a hand on his shoulder for comfort.
"You know," Sierra spoke first, "you have spent so much time these past few weeks taking care of yourself and coming to terms with what happened. To me, that shows how much you've grown. You acknowledged that you weren't ready and knew Kira deserved better. But Scott, the fact that it felt natural to kiss her in the hallway, tells me that you're ready. It's still your decision, obviously, and we'll respect whatever you decide to do. Just know that I'm extremely proud of you."
Scott felt warmth flood through him and he only felt better as Sierra stood up to hug him properly. "And so is she," Sierra referred to Allison quietly, into his shoulder. Scott didn't say anything and hugged her back tightly, grateful that Sierra was still in his life.
Stiles watched the exchange with pride in his eyes, and joked to lighten the mood, "And that is why Sierra is the best at pep talks!"
"Okay, okay," Sierra rolled her eyes as Scott laughed, both of them pulling apart. "The bell is gonna ring any minute, so I better leave before the rest of the team shows up. You guys are going to great at try-outs, you hear me? I'll be in the stands with Kira and Malia if you need anything."
"Woah, where do you think you're going?" Stiles stopped her from leaving, gently grabbing hold of her wrist. "You're forgetting something, string bean."
"Oh yeah!" Sierra's face brightened and she whirled around to Scott, holding up her fist for him to bump. "Good luck, buddy!"
Scott stifled a laugh, but returned her gesture, watching how Stiles's jaw dropped open slightly. "Sierra!" her boyfriend complained.
Rolling her eyes, Sierra fought back a smile as she faced him again. "Oh, lighten up. I didn't forget my promise to you." Standing on her toes, Sierra pressed a kiss to his lips, much to his pleasure.
"Awe," Scott cooed, causing Sierra to pull away and Stiles to playfully glare at him.
"Dude!"
"What?" Scott questioned. "A guy can't fawn over his OTP?"
Stiles squinted, "How do you even know what that is?"
"Sierra taught me," Scott replied proudly.
"Dude."
Letting out a laugh, Sierra shook her head and turned towards the door. "I'll see you dorks out there. Good luck!"
Closing the door to the locker room behind her, Sierra stumbled into someone heading in. "I am so sorry," she apologized, since they dropped their gear. "Here, let me help."
"It's fine, Sierra. I can get it," a voice assured her and when Sierra looked up, she smiled.
"Hey, Liam! Did you have a good day?"
"I did," he stood back up to swing his bag over his shoulder. "But all day I've been thinking about try-outs. I'm kind of nervous."
Sierra waved her hand to dismiss his idea, "Don't worry, I know you'll do great! I saw you today during free period when you were in the goal."
"Wait, really?"
"Yeah, I was with my best friends earlier," Sierra confirmed with a grin. "Stiles and Scott? Have they introduced themselves to you yet? Scott was the captain last year."
Liam thought back to the locker room and nodded, "Yeah, we met. Stiles told me he was your boyfriend."
"Of course he did," Sierra responded, amused, but not surprised in the slightest. "But yeah, he's right. We've been dating since the end of sophomore year. Whatever else he said, don't let it get to you. He's really protective over me, so is Scott, and when they found out you were the kid I was tutoring, they were just curious."
Liam was entranced by the way she spoke, zoning out until Sierra glanced at her wristwatch, realizing the time. "Oh, I better go! I promised my other friends I'd sit with them to watch try-outs."
That brought Liam down to earth, his ears perking. "You're watching the try-outs?"
"Yep, I'll be cheering on everyone from the bleachers," she joked. "I gotta go, but I'll see you out there. Good luck!"
"Thanks!"
Liam smiled to himself as Sierra turned around to walk towards the field, excitement starting to cloud his head. He was more than ready to hit the field now.