Sawyer's outfit:

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Chapter Twenty-Nine
⊚ Frayed ⊚

Sawyer sat on the bus with her back against the window, her feet up on the bench and Anakin laying on her legs. Scott and Stiles sat behind her as Stiles was quizzing on words and their meanings. Them and the rest of the track team were all on the way to a track meet and the timing couldn't be worse. 

"Yo, Scotty! Hey, yo! Scotty? Still with me?" Stiles said, making Scott start paying attention to him again. "Yeah, sorry. Uh, what's the word?" He asked and Stiles looked down at a vocabulary app on his tablet, "Anachronism." 

"Something that exists out of its normal time." Scott said and Stiles nodded, "Nice! Okay, next word- incongruous." He said. "Uh, can you use it in a sentence?" Scott asked and Sawyer hummed slightly as she glanced over at them. 

"I can! It's completely incongruous that we're sitting on a bus right now, on our way to some stupid cross-country meet, after what just happened. Incongruous." Sawyer says before glancing around slightly, "Out of place, ridiculous, absurd." Scott said, making Stiles nod. 

"Perfect. Okay, next word. Um... Darach. Darach. It's a noun?" Stiles says slowly, making Scott give him a look, "We have to talk about it sometime, okay? And we're gonna be stuck in this thing for, like, five hours, so why not?" Stiles said and Scott just turned to the window and the passing landscape. "Next word... Intransigent." 

"Stubborn, obstinate." Scott says and then the bus hits a bump making him sit up with a gasp, "Oh, buddy, you okay?" Sawyer asked and Scott nodded, but with a pained expression. 

"We shouldn't have come. I knew it- we shouldn't have come." Stiles said while shaking his head, "We had to. There's safety in numbers." Scott said, making Sawyer scoff slightly. "Yeah, well, there's also death in numbers, okay? It's called a massacre.. or bloodbath...Carnage... Slaughter...Butchery... Wow, that's..." She said, trailing off when she and Stiles noticed Scott barely listening, chest rising with labored breaths. "All right, I'm telling Coach that-" 

"No, no, no, no, I'm all right." Scott said, making Stiles raise his brows, "Well, you don't look all right! Would you just let us see it?" Stiles asked and Scott shook his head. "I'm okay." He said. "Just let us see it." Stiles said and with a reluctant nod while Sawyer leaned to look over the seat, Scott lifted his shirt to reveal slash marks crusted in blood over his torso.  Dark bruises surround each painful-looking wound. 

"Oh, dude..." 

"I know it's bad, but it's because they're from an Alpha- it'll take longer to heal." Scott said, making Sawyer scoff. "How come Boyd and Isaac are fine, then?" She asked but Scott didn't answer her, just looked out the window, "I can't believe he's dead... I can't believe Derek's dead." 

About half an hour later Coach points an angry finger at a couple of team members in the aisle. "The two of you- back in your seats! Jared, again? Carsick? Every ti- How do you even get on the bus? Look at me! No, don't look at me! Look at the horizon. Keep your eyes-keep your eyes on the horizon. McCall, not you, too?" Coach yelled making Scott lift up his head, "No Coach, I'm good." 

As Coach turns away, Stiles spots the dark blood stains on Scott's shirt underneath his jacket. "Hey, Scott, you're bleeding again. And don't tell me that it's just taking longer to heal, okay? Because I'm pretty sure that 'still bleeding' means 'not healing', like, at all." Stiles said but Scott gazed past him, attention focused down the aisle. 

"He's listening." Scott said, nodding towards Ethan, who had his head turned slightly, obviously listening. "You think he's gonna do something?" Sawyer asked and Scott shook his head, "Not in front of this many people." Scott's tone comes off like a warning directed at Ethan. 

"Okay, well, what about the two ticking time-bombs sitting right near them?" Stiles asked, nodding towards Isaac and Boyd who sat a few seats up from Ethan and Danny. "No, they won't- not here." Scott said and Sawyer raised her eyebrows, "Okay, well, what if they do? Are you gonna stop 'em?" She asked. 

"If I have to." 

⊚ 

Lowering a book titled 'Thermodynamic Asymmetry in Time', Lydia glanced at the dashboard of Allison's car as they followed the bus. "So, is that whole "not letting them out of your sight"-thing literal, or more like a general rule?" She asked, making Allison glanced at her as she followed behind the school bus, "Why?" She asked. 

"You're running on fumes." Lydia said, making Allison look down at the gas gauge needle to see it was right on empty making her groan. "Yeah... And I'm pretty sure that bus holds a lot more gas than this Toyota." Lydia said and Allison glanced at her, "What if we stop?" She asked. 

"Is it really that big of a deal? I mean, so we lose them- we know where they're headed." Lydia said and Allison sighed and shook her head. "You didn't see what happened." She said and Lydia raised her eyebrows as she highlighted something in her book. "I know who started it..." She mumbled making Allison tilted her head and raised her eyebrows, "Is that what Aiden told you?" 

"Aiden?" Lydia asked, looking over at Allison in amusement before realization crossed over her features, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a second- is that why you invited me on this whole road-trip-thing?" She asked and when Allison didn't say anything she raised her eyebrows. 

"Oh, my gosh! You're keeping an eye on them and me..." She said and Allison raised her eyebrows slightly. "You're telling me there's nothing going on between you two?" Allison asked, making Lydia scoff slightly. "I'm appalled by the insinuation!" Lydia said and Allison hummed in amusement. 

"Nothing?" Allison asked and Lydia nodded, "Nothing. And for your information, Sawyer's the one who told me everything Scott told her." Lydia said and Allison glanced at her with raised eyebrows. "Speaking of Sawyer, when are you going to tell her?" She asked, making Lydia glance at her, "Tell her what?" She asked. 

"About how you're questioning your sexuality." Allison said and Lydia furrowed her brows, "Why would I tell her?" Lydia asked. "Because she's the reason you're questioning, you like her." Allison said, making Lydia's eyes widen slightly, "No she's not and no I don't." Lydia said and Allison hummed and nodded slightly. 

"You weren't questioning until after you started getting close to her." Allison said and Lydia playfully scoffed, "Or maybe because I never had a female friend who likes girls so I never really thought about it before." Lydia said and Allison raised her eyebrows and glanced at Lydia. 

"So you didn't start questioning yourself because you started having feelings for Sawyer?" Allison asked and Lydia shook her head, "I didn't start questioning because I started having feelings for Sawyer." She said, "But you do have feelings for Sawyer?" Allison asked and Lydia gave her a look, "I don't have feelings for Sawyer." Lydia said before pulling her phone out. 

Allison glanced over to see Lydia texting Sawyer back before exiting the messages to see her wallpaper being a picture of her, Sawyer and Anakin. Lydia paused for a moment, looking at the wallpaper before looking at Allison to see her looking at her with raised eyebrows. 

"What?" Lydia said and Allison looked at her in amusement, "Yeah, you totally don't have any feelings for her." 

⊚ 

All of the sudden Scott started to stand up making Stiles and Sawyer look at him confused, "Scott? Where are you going?" Stiles said and Scott nodded towards the front of the bus, "Boyd- he's gonna do something." He said, making their eyes widen. 

"Okay, what? How do you know?" Sawyer asked, "Look at his hands." Scott said and they turned to see Boyd open his fist, claws out as Scott got up and walked down the aisle. After a few minutes, Scott walked back over, making the twins look at him. 

"Crisis averted?" Stiles asked and Scott nodded as he sat back down. "Okay, good, 'cause we got another problem. Ethan keeps checking his phone, like, every five minutes. It's like, he's waiting for someone, you know? Like, a message or a signal of some kind. I don't know, something evil though, I can tell. Stiles and I have a very perceptive eye for evil, you know that." Sawyer said. 

"I don't like him sitting with Danny." Scott said and Sawyer and Stiles nodded in agreement, "Yeah, neither do I." Stiles said as he pulled out his phone. "What are you doing?" Sawyer asked as Stiles started typing, "I'm gonna ask." He said. Him and Danny texted back and forth for a moment until Danny put his phone away making Stiles to aggressively spam text him. 

Peering over their seats, Sawyer Stiles and Scott watch them until Ethan glanced back and both boys drop down out of sight while Sawyer leaned forward, nearly leaning her head on Anakin. "That wasn't very smooth of us" Sawyer said before Stiles' phone vibrated with a new message: "Someone close to him is sick. Might not make it through the night" 

"Ennis?" Scott asked and Stiles furrowed his brows, "Okay, so, does that mean, uh..." Stiles trailed off. "He's not dead." Scott said and Sawyer shook her head slightly, "Not yet at least." She said. 

⊚

"Jared, I'm warning you, I'm an empathetic vomiter- you throw up, I'm gonna throw up right back on you, and it will be profoundly disgusting." Coach said and Jared looked like he was in pain as he shook his head. "Please don't talk about throwing up... It's not good..." He said and Coach raised his eyebrows slightly, "I might throw up on you just to make a point, Jared." He said and Jared shook his head again. 

'It's not good... It's not good..." 

"Now, the rest of you, don't think we're gonna miss this meet because of a slight traffic jam... a minor tornado warning... Jared... We're gonna make this thing. Nothing is gonna stop us. Stilinski, put your hand down." Coach said and Sawyer lowered her hand down a bit. "You know, there's, like, a food exit about a half mile up. I don't know, if we stop, Anakin can also go to the bathroom-" 

"We're not gonna stop." 

"Okay, but if we stop-" 

"Stilinski! Shut it! Seriously! It's a little bus! Stop asking me questions!" 

"I hate him. Did you call Deaton?" Stiles asked looking at Scott, who shook his head, "I keep getting his voicemail." Scott said, making Sawyer sigh and pull out her phone. "Alright, I'm calling Lydia and Allison." She said as she started to dial Lydia's number. "How are they gonna help, back in Beacon Hills?" Scott asked, making Sawyer scoff as she glanced out the back window. 

"They've been following us since we left the school, I've been texting her the whole time." She said right before Lydia answered the phone, "Hey, Sawyer! Yeah, we're just about to walk into a movie! Uh, you know, the popcorn, and-" 

"Lydia, stop, I know you guys are right behind us. Put me on speaker." 

"Okay..." 

"Okay, look, Scott's still hurt." 

"What do you mean, "still?" He's not healing?" Allison asked and Sawyer glanced at Scott's wound, "No, he's not healing. He's actually getting worse. The blood is starting to turn black." She said. 

"W-what's wrong with him?" 

"What's wrong with him?" Do you think I have a Ph.D. in lycanthropy? How am I supposed to know that? Last time I saw any kind of black blood, Derek was dying from a wolfsbane bullet." Sawyer said and she could hear Allison sigh softly, "We need to get him off the bus." 

"And take him where, a hospital?" 

"If he's dying, yeah. Sawyer, there's a rest area about a mile up. Tell the coach to pull over." 

"Yeah, Stiles and I both have been trying, a lot. I even used my dog needs to go to the bathroom card." Sawyer said, "Well, reason with him." Allison said, making Sawyer scoff. "Reason? Have you met this guy?" Sawyer asked dramatically, "Just try something!" Allison said and Sawyer groaned and hung up before gesturing to Stiles for him to get up and try something. 

Whistle hanging from his lips, Coach stares blankly at Stiles as he makes a second attempt at convincing him to stop. "Coach, it's five minutes for a bathroom break, okay? We've been on this thing for, like, three hours-" Coach blows a short burst of the whistle. "It's sixty miles to the next rest stop-" Another whistle burst. 

"Being cooped up for hours is not good-" Whistle. 

"You know, our bladders aren't exactly-" Whistle. 

"Coach, this-" Whistle. 

"Can you please-" Whistle. 

"Let me talk!-" Whistle. 

"I'm-" Whistle. 

"Every time-" Coach blows the whistle for as long as he can in Stiles's face. While everyone around covers their ears, Stiles takes the full blast until the whistle drops from Coach's lips. "Get back to your seat, Stilinski!" 

"OKAY!" Apoplectic with rage, Stiles turns back down the aisle in jaw- clenched silence. "Jared, keep your eyes on the horizon." Coach said and Jared responds with a moan, a sound which stops Stiles short. Thinking, he slowly turns back, then slips into the seat next to him. "Hey, Jared... How you doing?" Stiles says and his lips spread into a malevolent smile. 

⊚ 

Stiles and Allison hurry Scott into the rest stop men's room while Lydia shuts and locks the door after Sawyer and Anakin walk in. Scott slumps down against the stained tile wall and his jacket falls open to reveal this bloody torso. Kneeling to him, Allison lifts his shirt and looks over the wounds. 

"Oh, my God..." 

"Why didn't you tell us?" Allison asked and Scott gave her a weak smile, "Sorry..." He said weakly. "Okay, just give us a second, okay?" Allison says before pulling Sawyer, Stiles and Lydia aside, along with Anakin. "This shouldn't be happening- I've seen him heal from worse than this." She said and Stiles nodded. 

"Okay, what do we do, then? Do we just call an ambulance?" Stiles asked and Allison sighed worriedly. "What if it's too late? What if they can't help?" She said, "We gotta do something." Sawyer said and Lydia raised her eyebrows. "You know, it could be psychological." Lydia making them all look at her confused, "What do you mean? Like, psychosomatic?" Stiles asked. 

"Somatoformic." Lydia said and Stiles squinted slightly, "Som-" He tried to say making her roll her eyes. "A physical illness from a psychogenic cause?" Lydia said and Allison and Stiles still looked incredibly confused making Sawyer sigh, "She's saying it's all in his head." Sawyer said and Lydia nodded in agreement. "Because of Derek. He's not letting himself heal 'cause Derek died." Stiles said and Allison nodded, "So, what do we do?" 

Lydia opened her bag and pulled out a travel sewing kit, "Stitch him up." She said and Allison, Stiles and Sawyer raise their eyebrows. "I'm serious! Maybe all he needs to do is just believe it's healing." Lydia said and they glanced back at Scott. Breathing becoming more and more labored, he holds his hand tighter over his shirt, blood seeping between his fingers. 

A few seconds later a lighter flame licks the tip of a sewing needle, sanitizing its point. Clicking the lighter off, Allison tosses it back to Sawyer. Stiles pulls out every paper towel from the dispenser, surrounding Scott with them as Allison cleans the blood from the wounds. "He's gonna need another shirt. Where's his bag?" Allison said and Stiles nodded. 

"Um, I'm gonna get it. I hate needles anyway, so...Uh, do you know what you're doing?" Stiles asked and Allison nodded, "Yeah, my father taught me." She said. "I mean, how fast are you gonna...? I mean, the bus, like... the bus could leave." 

"Well, you just make sure it doesn't leave." Allison said and Sawyer nodded before grabbing Stiles and Lydia's arms, "We got it." She said before she, Anakin, Stiles and Lydia walked out of the bathroom. 

A little while later Stiles, Lydia, Sawyer and Anakin leaned against the bus when Coach blew his whistle. "Let's go! Back on the bus!" Coach called out, making them look at each other with wide eyes, "We can't leave yet." Lydia said and Sawyer thought for a moment. "I have a very bad but very satisfying idea." She said before glancing around, "Isaac!" She called out making Isaac look at her as she walked up to him. She made him lean down before whispering something in his ear making his eyes widen slightly. 

A whistle blew over a crowd outside the bus where a fight has broken out as Coach desperately tries to pull the teenagers apart. Stiles and Sawyer turned to Scott who was being helped by Allison and Lydia. "What's happening?" Scott asked, "They went after him. Sawyer told 'em what was happening with you, and they just went after him!" He said. "Who, Boyd?" Scott asked and the twins shook their heads. 

"Isaac! Isaac! Isaac! Back off! Stop!" Coach yelled trying to break up the fight but Isaac still swings his fists even as Danny struggles with him. Isaac gets another hit at Ethan and the twin takes the beating with a disturbing smile. 

"Isaac!" Scott's voice thunders through the crowd, turning every head and shutting every mouth. Whistle hanging off his lip, even Coach falls silent under the young man's commanding presence. Lowering his fist, Isaac looks at the healed Scott for a moment before finally backing off. 

The bus rumbles toward ever-darkening skies while Sawyer and Lydia sit next to each other with Stiles in the seat in front of them. "All right, let's go over this one more time... So, it's the sacrifices, right? Everything has to do with them and someone who thinks he's, like, a dark Druid of some kind." Stiles said. 

"Or actually is a dark Druid." Lydia said and Sawyer nodded, "A Darach." She said and Lydia pursed her lips in thought. "You know... Some ancient cultures sacrificed people in preparation for battle." She said, before looking over at Sawyer, who looked at her with an amused smile. 

"So, we've got Alpha Werewolves against a dark Druid?" Stiles asked and Lydia and Sawyer both nodded, "Yeah." They both said, making them glance at each other for a moment.