Nova flinched as Scott and Cadmus slammed Liam into the locker room showers, Stiles scrambling to turn on the water as cold as it would go. Liam snarled loudly as the droplets started to soak him, struggling against the hands holding him down.

"Okay," Stiles said with outstretched hands. "You calm yet?"

The only answer he got was a roar loud enough that it made Nova check over her shoulder to make sure that no one would burst through the door to investigate.

Cadmus glanced at her and beckoned her forward with his chin. Scott glanced at him in confusion as Nova advanced, but the other boy shook his head, clearly telling the alpha to trust him.

"Liam," Nova said softly as possible as she crouched down on the ground and looked up at him. Liam's eyes snapped toward her, and she smiled. "You have to calm down, alright? We can't figure out how to help you if you won't talk to us."

It took another moment with the freezing water beating down on him and maintaining eye contact with Nova, but Liam's eyes eventually faded from bright gold to their typical shade of blue. He slumped against the shower wall and glared at Cadmus and Scott when they kept holding on to him.

"Okay," he said firmly, "I'm okay!"

Stiles quickly moved forward again to shut off the water, leaving Liam still soaked but looking far more cleared-headed than he had earlier. Nova felt her heart pang as Liam drew his knees toward his chest, noticing how small he looked at that moment.

Scott crouched down beside Nova, ducking his head so that Liam met his eyes. "That car you smashed," he said gently, clearly trying to keep Liam calm. "I thought you said that was your teacher's?"

Liam nodded and looked to the side, clearly not wanting to talk about it. "He was also my coach. He benched me for the entire season."

"What did you do?" Scott asked.

"You didn't get hurt, did you?" Cadmus questioned, having taken up a spot leaning against a locker.

Liam shook his head. "I got a couple of red cards."

Stiles snorted. "Just a couple?"

Scott and Nova shot him a look, and Cadmus snorted, probably about their synchronization.

Scott looked back at Liam once Stiles raised his hands in a surrendering motion. "You gotta be honest with us," he said firmly. "What else happened?"

"Nothing," Liam assured them quickly.

"Liam," Nova coaxed, making Liam glance at her and sigh.

"I got kicked out of school," he admitted. "They sent me to a psychologist for an evaluation."

Scott looked empathetic, and his voice didn't change from the soft tone he'd kept the entire time. "What did they call it?"

Liam looked down at his shoes and swallowed hard. "Intermittent explosive disorder."

Nova didn't know what that was, but Cadmus took a sharp breath in, so she had to assume it wasn't anything good.

Stiles barked out a disbelieving laugh. "I.E.D.?" he asked. "You're literally an I.E.D.? That's great. That's great." He lightly shoved Scott's shoulder and gave him a thumbs up. "You gave powers to a walking time bomb!"

"Don't be a dick, Stilinski," Cadmus snapped before Nova could. "Are you really one to be talking about mental health?"

Nova wasn't sure what that was about, but Stiles stiffened significantly and narrowed his eyes at her cousin, who only smirked in response.

"Didn't think so. Shut the hell up."

Scott was watching the exchange with a torn expression, but a nudge from Nova made him look back at Liam. "Did they give you anything for it?"

"Risperdal," Liam told him with a nod. "It's an antipsychotic."

Stiles rubbed a hand over his head, muttering under his breath. "Oh, this just gets better..."

Liam looked at him with a scowl. "But I don't take it—"

"Obviously!" Stiles scoffed, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Didn't Cadmus tell you to be quiet?" Nova snapped, half standing until Liam's hand snapped out to grab hers. She moved back down to rest on her haunches again."I can't play lacrosse on it," Liam explained, playing with Nova's fingers nervously. "It makes me too tired."

Scott sighed with a nod. "Okay. I think you should bail out of the game. Tell Coach your leg is still hurting."

"No!" Liam almost yelled, looking desperate. "No. I can do this—especially if you're there."

Nova thought he was talking about Scott, but she realized with surprise that he was looking at her. She smiled and squeezed his hand.

"Of course, I will be," she reassured him. "Cadmus wouldn't let me miss it."

Cadmus chuckled. "She's right," he confirmed. "The kid thinks football is better than lacrosse. Gotta prove her wrong."

Scott interjected before Liam could respond. "But Liam... this isn't just about the game. We think whoever killed Demarco may have been on our team."

"Who's Demarco?" Liam asked, making Nova feel a lot better, considering she had no idea who he was talking about.

It was Stiles who answered this time, sounding a bit incredulous that they didn't remember the name. "The one who brought the beer to the party? The guy who was beheaded, remember?"

"Oh," Nova said quietly, feeling instantly guilty. She thought his name was Mark.

Scott nodded. "We think the person who ordered the keg killed Demarco."

Liam stiffened as soon as Scott said that, his head snapping over to Nova with clear alarm. She was a little surprised at his expression, immediately tightening her hand in his.

"Liam...?" Scott asked slowly. "What, you know something?"

Liam swallowed heavily. "I don't know who ordered the keg," he said quietly. "But I know who paid for it."

Nova felt her heart sink, closing her eyes and dropping her forehead to her knees as she let out a shaking breath.

"Nova?" Cadmus asked with concern. "C'mon, talk to us."

"Garret," she said confidently as she lifted her head to look at her cousin. "At our lockers today, he was complaining about how much the keg cost. He wants to buy a new stick."

Scott looked at both of the younger teenagers and took a bracing deep breath. "Okay," he said confidently. "Okay. At least now we know who we're looking out for."

"Wait," Cadmus said as he raised a hand. "You're telling me that you've been sitting with a psychotic serial killer at lunch?"

"Potential psychotic serial killer," Scott interjected. "We can't know for sure."

Stiles raised an eyebrow with disbelief. "Seriously? I'm pretty sure it all adds up, Scott. He's gotta be our guy."

Nova looked back at Liam and forced a half-smile. "I guess we need to look for new people to sit with at lunch, huh?"

----

Nova thought that she was a pretty patient person. She had to be. Learning new instruments took time, a lot of mistakes, and dedication. So yeah, patient had always been a word she'd used to describe herself growing up.

The way that she was tapping her foot against the ground was making her wonder if any of that was really true, though.

Of course, she was pretty sure that waiting for a lacrosse game that might end with murder was an excuse for impatience and anxious behaviour. Especially when her cousin was playing in that game and was a potential target, along with one of her only friends.

Stefan glanced at her with amusement from where they were standing on the sidelines. "I never took you for a sports fanatic," he teased, making Nova look over at him in confusion. He laughed and gestured to her posture. "You look like you're going to jump out of your skin if the game doesn't start."

"Oh," she said with a bit of a forced laugh. "No, not a fanatic. It's just my first time watching a lacrosse game. And Cadmus is playing! My aunt made me promise to tell her everything since she can't make it."

Stefan nodded with understanding, his eyes flickering across the sidelines until they paused on a boy who was struggling to put on his jersey. "Come with me," he said with excitement as he grabbed Nova's wrist. "I want to introduce you to my brother."

If she was being honest, Nova wasn't really sure if she was up for meeting new people, but Stefan looked so excited that she moved with him, letting him lead her toward the team, stopping in front of the kid who had somehow gotten his head stuck.

Sighing, Stefan shook his head. "Nollie, what are you doing?" he asked fondly as he quickly reached forward to tug the shirt down over his brother's head. Nolan looked surprised for a moment before registering who had helped him, giving Stefan a bashful little grin.

"In my defence, I'm pretty nervous."

Stefan grinned back at his brother. "I noticed," he remarked with a little laugh before gesturing for Nova to come closer. "Nollie, I want you to meet Nova. She's the one I told you about, from music class."

"The genius," Nolan remarked and extended his hand. "Nice to meet you, Nova. I've heard a lot about you. I'm Nolan, Stefan's older brother."

"By three minutes," Stefan interjected as Nova laughed a little.

"It's great to meet you, too," she said sincerely. "Stefan's always talking about you."

Nolan's cheeks went a little pink, but he laughed all the same. "Yeah? How much of it is about how many times I've walked into glass doors?"

"More about you pushing a pull door," Nova admitted, making Stefan snicker as Nolan groaned.

"Great," he muttered and shoved his brother lightly. "Way to make me seem like a total idiot."

Stefan held a hand up to his chest with a mock wounded expression. "I would never!" he protested. "I'm merely recounting tales of our shared youth, dear brother!"

"Recounting tales, my ass," Nolan grumbled, making Nova bite her lip to keep from giggling. She was about to suggest that Nolan tell her embarrassing stories about Stefan as retaliation but was cut off by a voice behind her.

"It's Nova, right?"

Turning slowly, Nova was met with the sight of a very bare stomach. Craning her neck up, she frowned at Brett's familiar smirk looking down at her. He tilted his head when she didn't respond.

"Cat got your tongue, sweetheart?"

Clearing her throat, Nova felt heat rush to her cheeks as she crossed her arms. "No," she denied quickly and corrected herself when she heard Stefan snicker a little. "I mean, yes, I'm Nova. Why?"

Brett grinned down at her. "Is it a crime to want to know a pretty girl's name?"

Her face got even hotter as she fought to maintain eye contact with him, not wanting to look down and be faced with his abs again. "I thought you weren't supposed to fraternize with the enemy," she commented. "Bad form and all."

"It'd be true if you were on the team," Brett agreed, coming forward a little, so they were barely an arm's length apart. "But since you aren't, I can enjoy your company while we wait for the game to start."

Nova was about to inform him that she wouldn't even remotely enjoy his company, but Liam stopped her before she could, his hand resting on his back.

"Don't you have anything better to do, other than bothering Nova?" he asked with a scowl. Mason was on his other side, not even hiding the way that he was ogling Brett, which was admittedly kind of funny to Nova.

"Bothering her?" Brett asked innocently. "Nova and I were just chatting, right Nova?"

"Unfortunately," Nova agreed, making the freakishly tall boy laugh.

"See?" Liam took a step forward, slightly shielding Nova from Brett. "She doesn't want to talk to you. Now go put on a shirt or something."

Brett's eyes shone with mischief as he leaned forward a little. "Why, am I bothering you, Liam?"

Liam's eyes widened a little at the proximity of the other boy, but Nova grabbed his wrist. "We're leaving," she announced, turning so she could lead Liam and Mason away.

"No kiss for luck?" Brett called out as they walked away, making Liam snarl quietly in the back of his throat. Nova shot him a smile and shook her head.

"He's not worth it," she said quietly as they came to a stop, watching Brett jog over to the rest of his team with a laugh.

Liam looked at the taller teenager with a scowl. "I don't care if he's a foot taller than me—I think I can take him."

Mason nodded in agreement, but he seemed pretty distracted as he continued to stare at Brett. "Yeah..."

Liam looked at Mason with furrowed brows. "What do you think you're doing?"

Mason tore his eyes away from the field, where Brett was finally putting on a shirt and coughed a little. "What?" he asked. "Me?"

Liam glanced at Nova. "Are you seeing this?"

"Mhm," Nova agreed, unable to hide her little grin as Liam bit his lip to hide his own.

Mason made an indignant noise. "I'm agreeing with you! I'm being agreeable."

Liam shook his head and glanced back at the field before looking back at Mason. "You think he's hot, don't you?"

"No!" Mason denied automatically. "No. Not at all! No way!" He paused for a moment and sighed. "Maybe... yeah, maybe a little..."

Liam looked at Nova. "Do you think he's hot?"

"Absolutely not," she assured him quickly, a little unnerved by Brett looking over at them as she spoke. "No amount of eight packs can make up for that kind of personality."

"See?" Liam asked Mason. "Nova gets it. He wants to destroy me."

"I think you could definitely take him," Mason assured Liam with several nods, grinning with Liam nodded back. "And then give him to me."

Nova couldn't help the peal of laughter that burst out of her throat at Mason's suggestion, incredibly relieved when Liam started snickering.

Mason waved a hand toward the field. "Now, just go out there and kick their smug prep-school asses!"

Liam nodded with confidence. "All right."

Nova wrapped her arms around him without thinking, throwing them both off balance with the force of her hug. Thankfully, Liam got his footing pretty quickly, wrapping his arms around her waist and squeezing gently before letting go.

"Be careful," Nova said softly, making Liam nod and grin at her.

"Promise."

She watched as he jogged toward the rest of the team, immediately turning to Mason and smiling as brightly as she could. "Do you want to find a spot to sit?"

Mason nodded automatically, but something over her shoulder made him pause. "I think your cousin wants to talk to you," he told her with a chuckle, making Nova turn on her heel to see Cadmus making an odd flapping motion with his arms in her direction.

"Are you sure he's not just warming up?" she asked, hoping that was the case. It was dispelled quickly by Cadmus calling her name though, making her sigh and look back at Mason. "Save me a seat, okay? As close to the bottom as possible, if you're okay with it."

Mason looked a little amused but assured her that he would, leaving her to go figure out what her cousin wanted.

Jogging up to him, Nova couldn't help but notice that his jersey was slightly skewed. She knew it wouldn't make much of a difference, but she quickly corrected it all the same, making him laugh a little. Glancing up at him once she was sure he looked presentable, she bounced back on her heels. "What's up?"

Cadmus licked his lips nervously, his eyes scanning the team behind them. "I just... I want you to be careful," he said gently. "We don't know for sure that Garret is working alone, and if anything happens..."

Nova smiled, touched by her cousin's concern. "I'll be fine," she reassured him with a smile, squeezing his wrist to emphasize her point. "Now stop worrying about me and go—"

She couldn't finish her sentence, cut off by Cadmus grabbing her by the back of the head and yanking her into his chest. Her forehead smacked against his pads, but she realized why he'd done it when she looked up.

Liam was holding a lacrosse ball that had been thrown toward them, his hand not even two inches away from where Nova had been standing. He looked furious, and a glance up at Cadmus told her that her cousin wasn't doing much better.

"Go sit down, Nova," Cadmus said firmly. "I'm going to beat his ass."

"Cadmus—" Nova tried to protest but stopped when she realized that her argument would most likely go in one ear and out the other. "Just... be careful, alright?"

Her cousin made no sign of hearing her, which made Nova roll her eyes and stalk over to where Mason was seated on the second row. His brows lifted in concern as she sat down next to him, but she just shook her head and gestured toward the field, where the players were starting to file on.

"I gotta admit," Stefan said from Mason's other side. "I have no idea what's going on. Nolan pretty much spends all his time on the bench, so I never really bothered to learn the rules."

Nova shrugged. "Looks like we're in the same boat."

Mason rubbed his eyes. "Just cheer when I cheer, alright?"

Nova thought it was a pretty good idea, but she was too startled to echo Mason when the whistle blew, and everyone crashed into each other. "What the—"

Mason glanced at her with a grimace. "Yeah, it gets pretty physical."

"No shit," Nova muttered back, making Mason bark out a laugh as Nova watched Cadmus in the goal. He looked pretty relaxed so far, his stick slung across his shoulder with no doubt a bored expression.

What a cocky bastard.

Mason was cheering quite often, but Nova only paid attention to her cousin since she knew what he was supposed to be doing. She cheered every time he caught the ball before it could enter the net and sighed sympathetically each time he failed.

Her lack of focus on the field was why she missed it when disaster struck.

A pained yell erupted from the field, and Nova's head whipped toward it in time to see a crowd of people surrounding a player who was on the ground. One with a green jersey. She only realized it was Brett because of the way that his ankles hung over the stretcher if she was being honest.

Everyone watched as the paramedics carried him inside, but Nova seemed to be the only person who noticed who had slipped through the doors behind them, making her heart sink into her stomach.

Violet.

Of course, it was Violet that Garrett was working with. She was his girlfriend, they were never seen apart... apparently, they had moved on to murdering together.

Nova tried to catch Scott or Cadmus's attention, but everyone was focused on Liam. It concerned her, but if Violet was setting a trap for one of them, she had to figure out what it was so she could stop it.

Hopping down from the bleachers, Nova gave Mason and Stefan a sheepish smile. "I have to use the washroom," she said with a little laugh. "That almost literally scared the shit out of me."

Stefan laughed a little, but it seemed a little more strained than Mason's. "Do you want one of us to come with you?" he asked, making Mason look at him oddly.

"To the bathroom?" He asked quizzically. "I think she's good."

Nova nodded and rubbed the back of her neck. "He's right," she assured Stefan. "I'll be right back."

She didn't wait for any further questioning, dashing into the school with what she hoped looked like the urgency of someone about to wet their pants instead of that of someone trying to prevent a homicide.

She only slowed down once she got further into the school, trying to listen carefully for any sign of danger as she crept toward the boy's locker room, having a feeling that it'd be the most logical place to take Brett. She watched as three paramedics exited the room, promising they'd be back soon with some antiseptic.

Taking her chance, Nova slipped in and closed the door behind her. The changeroom was the perfect spot for an ambush, but she was sure she could shove a set of lockers down on an attacker. Hopefully.

A groan from behind her made Nova peek around the locker she was stationed behind, and she called out Brett's name softly, not expecting the growl he gave in return.

"Brett?" She said again as she walked toward the bench he was lying on. "Look, I know you're hurt, and this isn't the best circumstance, but we have to get you out of..." she trailed off as she properly looked down at Brett and saw the golden eyes staring back at her. "Oh," she whispered, everything snapping into place as she realized what was happening. "They weren't after them."

"Nova?" Brett asked through heavy panting. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Uhhh..." Nova tried for an excuse but failed to come up with one, so she settled on the truth. "I think two of my friends are trying to kill you. Well, I thought they were trying to kill some other people and were using you getting hurt as a way to lure them out and trap them here, but that part was probably not right."

Brett blinked at her in confusion and took a deep breath. "Okay, you were saying something about getting out of here?"

Nova nodded and went to grab his arm carefully, but a voice behind them made her turn slowly around to see Violet smirking at her.

"Well, I'm afraid that's just not going to happen."

Brett growled again, but even Nova could tell that it was weak. She placed herself in between him and Violet, swallowing heavily as her former friend laughed.

"What are you planning on doing, Nova?" She sneered before pausing thoughtfully. "What are you even doing here?

Not really having an answer, Nova just settled for widening her stance. "If you want him, you'll have to go through me."

Violet paused, clearly surprised by the declaration but ultimately shrugged. "Okay. A shame, though. I really would have enjoyed that shopping trip."

Nova scowled before squeaking in surprise as Violet took off her necklace and swung it around like a whip, becoming red-hot as the seconds ticked by. "Brett?" she called over her shoulder as the boy sat, staring. "I think you should move."

He did, but it wasn't very effective, flopping off the bench and doing his best to crawl away. Nova took a few steps back as Violet advanced, hoping the ballet classes she took before dropping out in eighth grade would be some help.

Violet lunged for her, and Nova acted on instinct, giving a high-pitched war whoop scream of utter terror and dove for Violet's feet, locking her arms around the other girl's knees and knocking them both to the ground. The heated weapon hit Nova in the arm, and she let out a choked-out cry of pain at the sensation.

Violet got to her feet first, using the not-necklace as a whip and cracking it down toward Nova's face. Only a reflexive roll saved Nova from probably losing her eye and ear.

Brett was still crawling but ultimately making progress toward the door.

Violet noticed it at the same time that Nova did, and she tried moving toward him, but Nova stuck her arm out and grabbed Violet by the ankle, almost making the assassin fall on her face.

Looking down at her predicament, Violet scowled down at Nova. "How old are you, twelve?" she snapped as she brought her foot up and smashed it against Nova's face. Something crunched at the impact, and Nova let go of Violet out of reflex, choking on blood as it ran down her face.

When she looked back up from blurry eyes, she let out a half yell at the sight of Violet straddling Brett and slipping the weapon around his neck, tightening it slowly before a noise in the hall made her stop and get off of the werewolf so she could slip behind the door.

Scott burst through not even three seconds later, his eyes landing on Brett and then Nova. The sight of her made his eyes widen as he moved forward out of concern.

"Nova—"

"Scott look out!" Nova yelled as well as she could, but Scott didn't have time to react as Violet sprung out and wrapped the cord around his neck.

"He said we shouldn't try!" Violet sneered in his ear. "But now I've got you! I've got an Alpha!"

Scott's eyes turned red as he pulled the cord away from his neck, but everyone froze at the unmistakable sound of the safety of a gun switching off.

A blonde girl stood behind Violet, smirking a little when she realized everyone was looking at her. "Well," she drawled. "Now that I have your attention." She walked slowly around Violet so the handgun was pressed to her temple. "I think we should consider what we're doing, examine our life choices and all that. Don't you agree?"

Violet's teeth were ground together as she looked between Scott, who was holding her weapon effortlessly away from his throat, and the mystery girl, who was smirking at her. "He's going to die," she tried to reason, making the blonde girl grin wolfishly.

"Probably," she agreed, making Nova's eyes narrow. "But I can kill you a lot quicker."

Violet's jaw dropped and hands slackened around the wire, and that seemed to be what the girl was waiting for. Flipping the gun in her hand, she wacked Violet across the face with it, making the girl's eyes roll into the back of her head as her knees gave out.

Scott pulled the wire off his neck and stared at the blonde as looked at the weapon in his hand and crinkled her nose in disgust. "Who uses garottes anymore? So messy."

"Who are you?" Scott demanded, making the girl raise an eyebrow.

"We've gone to school together since third grade and you don't even know my name?"

"Rowan," Stiles said from the doorway, sounding out of breath. "Her name's Rowan."

Rowan grinned again and tucked the gun into her waistband, looking at Brett with furrowed brows. "You're going to need to do something about him," she advised before turning her gaze to Nova and softening immediately. "Oh, kid, what the hell did she do to you?"

She helped Nova stand up and didn't say a word as she spat out a mouthful of blood. "The bitch broke your nose," she said with a frown. "Lucky it wasn't your jaw."

Scott didn't seem to know what to think of Rowan or the situation in general, he just sighed and turned to Stiles. "I think you better call your dad."

"And a doctor," Rowan advised. "Violet killed all of the paramedics."

----

A/N

And voila! Another chapter posted! Don't be afraid to comment, it inspires me a lot, so there'll probably be more chapters the more comments I get tbh lol

I hope everyone's having a great day, and that you all enjoyed the chapter!