𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄

𝘚𝘈𝘝𝘐𝘕𝘎 𝘓𝘠𝘋𝘐𝘈 . . . 𝘈𝘎𝘈𝘐𝘕

"Alright, I only found one thing online called the Kanima. It's a werejaguar from South America that goes after murderers," Stiles explained to Sawyer and Scott the next day in school as the trio walked through the halls after their first class.

As their luck would have it, their day had started off wonderfully with Isaac Lahey being back in school once again. He had been decked out in a leather jacket and he had a sense of confidence circling around him now that he hadn't had before. It was like he owned the room at this point and Sawyer had half a mind to beat the beautiful boy senseless. Then again . . . it wasn't Isaac's fault his alpha probably brainwashed him into thinking he was god's gift to the world now that he was supernatural and powerful.

"Fuck that," Sawyer scoffed, following after Stiles and shaking his head which made his curls swish gently across his forehead. "Nuh-uh. That scaled bastard was no jaguar. He was more like an annoying scaled reptilian than anything else."

"Okay, and I'm not exactly a murderer and yet that thing tried to drown me in the pool last night!" Stiles quipped, waving his hands around spastically and narrowly missing Sawyer's head as he did so. It only earned him a half-natured glare from the Bowen boy. "Sorry."

Scott, who walked on Stiles' left, chewed on his lower lip and Sawyer could practically see the gears in his head spinning at warped speed. "Yeah, but you did see it kill somebody. Which is probably why it tried to kill you. And it's still trying to kill you, and it probably won't stop until you're dead."

Stiles gaped at Scott's back as the tanned boy continued down the hall, mumbling more to himself without even realizing Stiles and Sawyer were no longer with him. He slapped his hands to his sides and feigned a look of hurt. "You know, I'm really starting to rethink this friendship, Scott!"

Sawyer mockingly pouted at Stiles and pat him on the shoulder while the spastic teen huffed at him with unamused eyes. "It's okay, Sti-Bear. I'll protect you from the big, bad, scary reptilian dick."

"And if he paralizes your ass again?"

"Suddenly . . . I'm letting the Kanima pulverize you."

School used to be Sawyer's safe space from supernatural, which was weird since Sawyer skipped school more than he was in it. Half the time he wasn't even sure how he still managed to keep at least a 3.0 GPA with how much he'd missed. However, that safe space was quickly being dragged out from beneath him as the talk of the Kanima only continued when Jackson dropped into the seat next to Sawyer in Coach Finstock's class to ask them what a Kanima even was.

According to Jackson, Derek had tried to poison him the night before with Kanima poison and he'd been paralyzed for a solid two hours before he was able to get up again. Derek had suspected Jackson to be the Kanima and none of the boys could really figure out why. Derek's bite couldn't possibly make Jackson turn into a Kanima, could it? 

Then their worries were only heightened when Jackson continued on and informed the trio that Isaac and Erica had spoken about Lydia in the hallway. That they had to figure out if she was the Kanima next and if she was, Isaac had been more than willing to kill her himself if he had to. Why Derek even suspected Lydia was beyond the trio as she'd been fine ever since she came back from the hospital. Sure, she'd been found stumbling around the woods naked and trembling, but that didn't mean Lydia was the Kanima. Much like just because Derek bit Jackson didn't mean he was the Kanima.

Naturally, Stiles had begun to freak out about the whole situation as they made their way to their next class that just so happened to have Lydia, Isaac and Erica all in it with them. Scott tried to reassure the spastic boy as they made their way into the classroom that he wouldn't try anything until he had proof that Lydia truly was the Kanima. Though, judging by the looks on Erica and Isaac's faces when they entered the classroom only made Scott look like a liar and Sawyer and Stiles both flew over to the stools on either side of Lydia to stop Erica or Isaac from sitting with her while Scott sat in the table next to them where another boy already sat.

Allison stopped at her usual lab table she sat at with Scott and shot him an odd look when he wasn't sat there. Noticing him jerk his head behind him, she blinked when Eric and and Isaac both merely smirked at her. Erica even went so far as to wiggle her fingers in a mocking wave to the huntress as she sat down.

"Einstein once said, " two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe ". I myself have encountered infinite stupidity," Mr. Harris said to the class, patting Stiles on the shoulder as he passed him by when he brought up being in contact with infinite stupidity.

Sawyer felt a growl rumble in the back of his throat and the only thing that stopped him from going off on Harris was Stiles' hand shooting across Lydia, pressing down on Sawyer's jean covered knee. His eyes snapped over to Stiles and the boy silently begged Sawyer not to do anything stupid. Not when they had bigger issues right now than Sawyer getting a detention for assaulting a teacher. With a grumble about Stiles being lucky he loved him, he pushed the boy's hand away and leant his chin on his hand with a dramatic pout.

As if what he just said wasn't the least bit horrible, Harris continued on with the lesson when no one moved to ask him anything. "So to combat the plague of ignorance in my class, you're going to combine efforts through a round of group experiments. Let's see if two heads are indeed better than one. Or in Mr. Stilinski's case, less than one."

Sawyer shot Stiles a look, practically begging him to let him open his mouth to Mr. Harris. The guy seriously rubbed him the wrong way and he wanted nothing more than to mouth off to the man. To put him in his place for verbally abusing the student body — especially students named Stiles Stilinski — and just knock him down a few pegs. Yet, Sawyer knew with one look from Stiles that he wasn't allowed to land himself in detention. Of course the only person Sawyer actually chose to listen to wouldn't let him have his fun.

How lame.

"Erica, you take the first station. You'll start with . . . " Mr. Harris trailed off his statement when the whole class — excluding Scott, Sawyer, Stiles, Isaac and Allison — all raised their hands eagerly. Ever since Erica had been turned and had her whole transformation, everyone and their mothers had been trying desperately to get within five feet of her and the newly turned blonde werewolf ate up all the positive attention. "I didn't ask for volunteers. Put your hormonal little hands down. Start with Mr. McCall. Lahey, you start with Mr. Bowen."

If looks could kill, Isaac probably would have been six feet underneath in a pool of wolfsbane already with how deathly Sawyer glowered at the blue eyed boy when he sat down next to him. The blue eyed werewolf offered Sawyer a smirk that only made Sawyer want to dump the little bottle of science formulas over his head. He had to clench his fists together when Harris got everyone set up and he rang the bell to start off the project. 

"Isaac, you touch Lydia and I swear to God I will make your death look like a bloody accident," Sawyer growled at the blue eyed werewolf, pouring some of the solution into the glass beaker that the sheet on the table informed him to. He heard Isaac chuckle in amusement at his words and it only made him want to punch the boy more. "I'm serious. Leave her the fuck alone. In case you're not aware, my parents and older brother were hunters. I can make your death fucking slow and painful. Might hurt myself a little bit but it's worth it to see your little fur ass vaporized."

Isaac hummed and leaned his arms on the table, making no sort of move to help Sawyer in any way, shape or form with the project. Sawyer was probably the more academically challenged one of the two and he was pretty sure he'd screw it up. "Huh, you know I'd thought you'd want Lydia out of the way. So you can have Stiles all to yourself."

Sawyer yelped as some of the solution he fiddled with splashed onto his hand and burned it slightly, but it healed two seconds later as he shook off his hand to dry it. His gaze snapped from his previously injured hand and over to Isaac with an unamused expression. "The fuck you on about, Lahey? I just don't want you to murder some innocent girl. Just because your alpha is a psychotic killer, don't mean you have to be one, too."

"Oh come on. I don't need to be a werewolf to know you have a thing for Stilinski," Isaac taunted, flicking his blue eyes over to Stiles who perfectly poured a certain amount of solution into his beaker. His pink tongue was poked out between his lips as he concentrated and Sawyer hated the way it sent his stomach into a flurry and he had to all but force his heart not to skip a beat as he looked over the Stilinski boy. "If Lydia were out of the way, then you'd have all the chance to have him for yourself. Then again . . . whose to say Stiles is even into Lydia, right? He's always giving me a different vibe."

"Lahey, just because you're a werewolf now doesn't mean you have a right to be a douche," Sawyer quipped, snapping his gaze away from the Stilinski boy even when said boy glanced over his shoulder to check on Sawyer, worry swimming in his gorgeous hazel eyes. "Congratulations, you can heal on command and you're stronger than half the guys in this place. Just remember . . . I've been a werewolf longer than you and can kick your ass six ways from Sunday. So if you even think about touching Lydia, I swear I'll make sure you regret being born."

With a DING! from Harris, they were supposed to break off into different partners once again and Isaac turned to Sawyer with a shrug. "Bold of you to assume that I didn't already regret it. Now excuse me because I have work to do."

Sawyer opened his mouth to spew more curses and threats at the Lahey boy, but the taller werewolf was gone and over to Lydia in two seconds flat and Sawyer grumbled just as Stiles dropped into the stool next to him. He went to move out of his stool and shove Isaac away from Lydia when Harris came over and whacked him over the head with the ruler in his hand. "Okay, that's fucking child abuse!"

"Shut it, Bowen, because I really do not have the energy to deal with talking to your brother about you again," Harris said in a bored tone, eyes narrowing as Sawyer dropped back into his stool again. "If you are trying to test my patience, I guarantee it'll be a failing grade and you can't afford to have those."

"Yeah, well you can afford some lessons on how to not be a dick," Sawyer grumbled as Harris waltzed away from him and Stiles, the Bowen boy glaring daggers into Harris' back. He relaxed slightly when Stiles' hand pat him on the back, offering him the best encouraging smile he could. Little did Stiles know all he had to do was look in Sawyer's direction and he'd be fine. Hell, his hand on him alone was enough to snuff out the fire that burst inside him from his anger. 

Damn Stiles for being his anchor.

Thankfully, Isaac hadn't tried anything again when they swapped partners and Stiles and Sawyer were able to get through their project. Though, they didn't necessarily do it well since theirs looked more like mushed up sand by the time Harris chimed the bell one last time to end the project. The only person who had successfully made their crystal was Lydia and the class were all saddened when they heard they could eat their crystals if they succeeded. 

A clear good had dripped off the crystal when Isaac used pliers to hold the crystal out to the strawberry blonde to eat, not wanting to touch it and be paralyzed by the kanima venom. Sawyer's eyes widened when Lydia brought the crystal near her lips and Scott had leaped out of his seat before Sawyer could, trying to stop Lydia from eating the crystal. The strawberry blonde merely furrowed her eyebrows at the McCall boy and proceeded to bite into the crystal.

And nothing happened.

After class ended, Sawyer rushed over to Coach Finstock's office that he knew was empty with Scott, Stiles and Allison following behind him. He pushed into the office and shut the door behind him once everyone was inside. He was slightly on edge as Sawyer and Scott had both noticed Derek stood outside in the school parking lot, staring up at the lab window as if waiting for Lydia to drop.

"Well, pretty boy is outside waiting for Lydia," Sawyer announced to Stiles and Allison while Scott frantically nodded his head next to Sawyer to confirm his words.

"Waiting to kill her?" Allison inquired, brown eyes blowing wide and her heart rate picked up slightly in fear and worry over her best friend. 

"If he thinks she's the Kanima, then yes. Especially after what happened at the pool," Scott chimed in, reminding the group of Stiles, Derek and Sawyer all being attacked the night prior. With the way Scott spoke, it sounded like he was starting to believe Lydia might be the Kanima. Especially since she'd had no reaction to the poison when she unknowingly ate it.

Stiles shook his head, stepping closer to Sawyer and Scott with desperation on his face. He didn't want the strawberry blonde to be the Kanima and fought hard to try and convince everyone she wasn't. She was the only one of them that really got to be normal ( minus being bit by Peter and not really turning or reacting to the bite ) and Stiles would rather keep it that way. Sawyer couldn't even help but agree with him.

"No, no way. It's not her!"

"Stiles, she didn't pass the test.Nothing happened."

"Sti is right, Scotty," Sawyer piped up, quickly coming to the Stilinski boy's defense. He shrugged lamely when Scott turned to him with raised eyebrows. "What? There's no way Lydia would turn into a scaly creature and not cry about it."

"She can't remember turning —"

"It doesn't matter!" Allison cut off the small argument that erupted between the three boys, throwing her head back in frustration. She ran her hands down her face and stared up at the ceiling as if silently begging God to make all of the madness be a dream. "Because Derek thinks it's her. So either we can convince him that he's wrong or we've got to figure out a way to protect Lydia."

Scott exhaled heavily and ran a hand through his raven hair, licking his lips as he thought for a moment. "Well, I really don't think he's gonna do anything at the school. Not when there's too many witnesses."

Allison paced around the small space of the office and chewed on her thumb nail, mumbling incoherent words to herself. Almost like she tried to work out her thoughts before she properly said them out loud. "Okay . . . what if we can prove that Derek is wrong? There could be something in the bestiary."

Stiles barked out a laugh and slapped a hand to his side, shooting Allison a deadpan expression. "Oh, yeah, totally. That nine hundred page book written in archaic latin that none of us can read? Good luck with that one."

Allison snapped her fingers and her eyes lit up with a sudden plan. "Actually, I think I know someone who might be able to translate it."

"Uh . . . I can try to talk to Derek, maybe convince him to give us a chance to prove to him that it's not Lydia," Scott offered, sweeping his eyes around him between his friends. "But if anything happens, Sawyer, you need to let me handle it, okay? Allison and Stiles can't heal like we can. I don't want them getting hurt."

"Or you can just let me grab my brother's weapons and take Derek out," Sawyer supplied next, a beaming grin on his face that didn't match the unamused expression on Scott's face. "Won't even need to worry about him killing Lydia if he's gone first, right?"

"No, we're not killing anybody!"

"What a party pooper."

Allison rolled her eyes and pulled out her automated crossbow from her satchel and unfolded it, locking the arrow into place that had been locked into the system. "I don't need Sawyer, Scott. I can protect myself, you know." She slowly lowered the automated crossbow when she saw the shift in Scott's face, the boy shifting on his face with a soft sigh. "What? Did something else happen?"

"I just don't want you getting hurt. Seriously, if anything goes wrong, you let either call me or let Sawyer protect you, you hear me? I can't lose you and I don't care if your dad finds out. Call, text, scream, yell . . . whatever. I'll hear you and I'll come find you guys as fast as I can. We only have until three."

Sawyer ticked an eyebrow as Stiles lifted the automated crossbow from the desk Allison placed it down on and tilted it this way and that to inspect it. He opened his mouth to tell Stiles he didn't really think it was a good idea for him to be holding the thing when it suddenly went off, shooting out the crossbow that had been locked inside. It zoomed across the air and Scott just nearly caught it before it could stab right into his face. 

With wide eyes, Stiles quickly shoved the crossbow into Sawyer's arms and smiled sheepishly. "Sawyer . . . uh, Sawyer did it."

Sawyer whacked Stiles in the side with the end of the automated crossbow with narrowed eyes. "Yeah, it's a bit sensitive."

Handing off the crossbow to Allison again who held her hand out to it, Sawyer shared a nod with Stiles as they both knew what they had to do now. 

Save Lydia Martin . . . again.

word count: ( 3.1k )

— SAWYER BOWEN IS BACK, BABIES !!!  i am so sorry i've been sleeping on my boy, but he's been giving me ✨issues✨ lately. but no worries, i was able to get this bad boy out and i forgot how chaotic my son was. not the least bit sorry about it either.

— also there was a Cat in the Hat reference hidden in here and it was all for roscoeobrien. so you better find it, ellis, or i'm suing. jkjk . . . love you!

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