✩ ⋆ ☽ ⋆ ✩ ⋆ ☾ ⋆ ✩
CHAPTER SIX
SECOND CHANCE AT FIRST LINE
✩ ⋆ ☽ ⋆ ✩ ⋆ ☾ ⋆ ✩

MIA GROANED AS STILES tossed her a shovel.  She had gotten her new pair of white All Stars covered in dirt because they decided to go body hunting, again.  Her brain had somehow convinced her that going body hunting again wouldn't be a bad thing, and that if they found the body, maybe everything would calm down.

Stiles and Scott were convinced that Derek was the killer, but Mia wasn't so sure.  He was definitely a bit strange, but being a werewolf must do that to people.  She hoped that he wasn't responsible because he seemed like a decent guy when he wasn't stalking their friend group.

The brunette dug her shovel into the ground while silently praying that she wouldn't accidentally hit the dead body with her tool.  She may find the whole murder scenario fascinating, but she didn't want to be the one to stumble upon the cadaver.  Stiles could do that for her.

"Why did I doing this right now?" Mia asked as she tossed the dirt to the side.  "I would've brought other shoes so these wouldn't get dirty."

"Stop complaining and just dig," Stiles said from where he was digging into the ground.

"Stop complaining and just dig," Mia mocked under her breath, causing Scott to chuckle.

The trio continued to dig in hopes of finding the body.  Mia stood in between her partners in crime and tossed the dirt she had on her shovel toward her twin, who groaned at her actions.

"Mia," Scott warned as he looked at the younger Stilinski with the same look his mother gave him when he did something wrong.

"Please don't give me the mom look," Mia pleaded as she dug her shovel into the ground again.  "This is taking me forever."

"This is taking way too long," Scott complained as he moved some of the dirt from Mia's section to the ground above them. 

"Just keep going," Stiles said as he poked Mia with his shovel.

"What if he comes back?" Scott asked in a nervous tone.

"Then we get the hell out of here," Stiles shot back.

"What if he catches us?" Scott's words made Mia let out a laugh.

"I have a plan for that," the twins spoke in unison as they thought about their plans.

"Which is?"

"You run one way, I run the other," Stiles explained before looking at his sister.  "Mia calls our dad as she hopes Derek won't kill her.  Whoever he catches first, too bad."

"You and I run away and leave Stiles behind," Mia glared at her twin before tossing some dirt on his shoes.

"I hate that plan," Scott looked at Stiles before turning to the brunette.  "We're not leaving Stiles."

"We should," she muttered under her breath before hitting something with her shovel.  "I hit something."

Stiles pushed his sister back from where she was digging so that she was next to Scott, who caught her when she stumbled.  Once he knew Mia was steady, Scott reached down and helped Stiles uncover a brown bag tied with about nine hundred knots.

Mia ignored her brother's voice until the boys managed to untie the knots to reveal the upper half of a wolf. The three teens screamed as they looked at the animal before frantically jumping out of the hole.

"What the hell is that?" Stiles yelled as Mia just stared down at the wolf's body.

"It's a wolf," Mia and Scott spoke simultaneously, causing the duo to share a confused glance.

"Yeah, I can see that." Stiles looked at Scott with wide eyes.  "I thought you said you smelled blood, as in human blood."

"I told you something was different," Scott explained as he placed his hand on Mia's back, helping her calm down.

"This doesn't make sense."

"None of this makes sense Sti!" Mia shouted.  "Our best friend is a freaking werewolf and we have gone body hunting twice in like a week!"

Both boys looked at Mia before looking at each other.

"We've got to get out of here," Scott rubbed his hand up and down Mia's back to hopefully soothe the girl's nerves.

Stiles quickly agreed before asking the two for help covering up the evidence.  When he looked away from the pit, his eyes found a purple flower that was buried a few feet away from it.

"You see that flower?" Stiles asked, causing Scott and Mia to look up from where they were working.

"What about it?"

"It looks like-" Stiles stopped speaking when Mia noticed the plant they had seen while researching werewolves.

"Wolfsbane," Mia finished before moving toward the plant.

Scott had a confused look on his face as Stiles explained what the plant was using references to The Wolf Man, but of course, the shaggy-haired boy was oblivious.

"We have got to make you come over for a movie night soon," Mia said as she crouched next to the plant.  "You haven't seen that or Star Wars.  I don't know why I'm even friends with you."

She quickly pulled the flower from the ground as Stiles told Scott that he was unprepared for this whole werewolf thing.  Attached to the plant's roots was a rope that was buried in the dirt.  Mia held onto the plant with her right hand and pulled at the rope with her left, following the circular pattern it was buried in.

She kept pulling the rope until Scott and Stiles stood up and called her name while staring into the hole they had dug.  Where the wolf had once been was now the torso that had been missing from the crime scene.

"Holy shit," Mia couldn't tear her eyes away from the body, which was covered in dirt and grime from when it was buried.

✩ ⋆ ☽ ⋆ ✩ ⋆ ☾ ⋆ ✩

Scott stood next to Roscoe as he looked at the sheriff's car. which was parked in front of the Hale house.  He watched as Derek was led into the back seat of the car by a deputy, who closed the door behind the older werewolf.  His eyes widened as he saw Stiles and Mia start walking toward the cop car before entering.  Stiles opened the passenger door while Mia opened the driver's side door.

The twins turned to face the back seat, where Derek Hale sat with a stoic expression on his chiseled features.

"Hey Derek," Mia greeted with a small smile before her brother started to speak.

"Okay, just so you know, I'm not afraid of you."

Derek looked up to see the twins in the front seat of the car before glaring at Stiles.

"Okay, maybe I am."

"I'm not," Mia shrugged as she looked at the Hale.

"Doesn't matter," Stiles continued, ignoring his twin's comment.  "I just want to know something.  The girl you killed, she was a werewolf."

Derek continued glaring at the older Stilinski from where he sat.

"She was a different kind, wasn't she?" Stiles asked before being poked in the shoulder by Mia.  "I mean, she could turn herself into an actual wolf, and I know Scott can't do that."

"Could he learn to do that?" Mia asked with a wide eyed expression.  "Is that something you could learn to do over time?"

"Is that why you killed her?" Stiles ignored Mia's words, which made Derek's glare soften a little.

"Why are you so worried about me when it's your friend who's the problem?" Derek asked as he looked out the car window toward Scott, who was leaning on the powder blue Jeep.  "When he shifts on the field, what do you think they're gonna do, huh?  Just keep cheering him on?"

Mia's stomach fell at the thought of her friend shifting on the field and outing himself as a creature of the night.

"I can't stop him from playing, but you two can." Derek looked at Stiles before turning to Mia.  "And trust me, you want to."

The door next to Stiles opened up and the boy was pulled from his seat, leaving Mia alone with Derek.

"You know I'm right," he spoke as he looked at her.  "He can't play the game."

Mia was dragged out from the car before she had the chance to respond.  The back of her flannel shirt was in her father's hand as he pulled her next to her brother.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Noah asked as he looked between his children.

"Stiles made me do it!" Mia exclaimed as she pointed toward her brother and gave her dad a look filled with false innocence.

"I'm just trying to help," Stiles sighed before pushing his twin's shoulder. 

"Okay, well, how 'bout you help me understand exactly how you came across this." 

The three Stilinskis sighed in unison before Stiles spoke up.

"We were looking for Scott's inhaler," he explained as he looked toward his father.

"Which he dropped when?"

"The other night," Stiles pushed his hands into his pockets as Mia groaned.

"The other night when you and your sister were out here looking for the first half of the body?"

"Yes," Stiles responded, causing Mia to slap him on the back of the head.

"Idiot," Mia glared at her twin as their dad started to realize their lies.

"The night you told me you two were alone and Scott was at home?"

"Yes," Stiles answered before he realized what he had said.  "No.  Oh crap."

"So you lied to me?"

"That depends on how you define lying," Stiles explained with a somewhat calm expression.

"Well, I define it as not telling the truth." Noah looked between his twins.  "How do you two define it?"

"To be laid in a place to rest," Mia scratched the back of her head as she sheepishly looked at her dad.

"Reclining your body in a horizontal position." Stiles explained with hand motions, which caused Mia to smack her hand over her face in exasperation.

"Get the hell out of here," Noah sighed before Stiles walked off with an absolutely, leaving his daughter standing in front of him.  "You have anything to say for yourself?"

"Sorry?" Mia gave her dad a small smile before hugging the man.  "I'll make sure Stiles stays out of trouble."

"Alright sweetheart," Noah placed a kiss on his daughter's forehead before ushering her away from the crime scene.

✩ ⋆ ☽ ⋆ ✩ ⋆ ☾ ⋆ ✩

Mia sat in the back seat of Roscoe, again, as Stiles and Scott sat in the front of the Jeep.  She played with a thread that hung from the edge of her shirt as they boys talked about the wolfsbane plant they had found at the burial site.

"Maybe its a thing for you guys," Mia spoke up  as she started to play with the zipper on Stiles' bag.  "Maybe they bury you as a wolf."

"Maybe its a special skill," Stiles suggested as he continued driving.  "Like something you have to learn."

Mia continued to play with the bag's zipper in boredom as she listened to the boys speak.

""I'll put it on my to-do list, right underneath figuring out how the hell I'm playing this game tonight."

"Maybe it's different for girl werewolves," Stiles suggested as he continued his thought from earlier before he looked at Mia through the rear view mirror.

"Why are you looking at me?" Mia stopped fiddling with the zipper as she glared at her twin's reflection.  The bag was now open and Mia could see Stiles' different notebooks inside of it, along with a small pencil case that was filled to the brim with pens and pencils.

"Okay, stop it!" Scott snapped at the duo, causing Mia to flinch.  "Stop saying werewolves!  Stop enjoying this so much."

"Are you okay?" Stiles looked at Scott, whose forehead was coated with sweat.

"No!  No, I'm not." Scott clutched his side as he spoke.  "I'm so far from being okay."

"You know, you're gonna have to accept this Scott, sooner or later," Stiles said before being smacked in the back of the head by Mia.

"We'll get through this together Scooter," Mia placed a hand on her best friend's back in hopes of soothing him, but only felt his breathing become more rapid.

"I can't," Scott groaned as Mia rubbed her hand between his shoulder blades.

"Well, you're gonna have to," Stiles turned to Scott from his seat to see the McCall boy's face scrunched up in pain.

"No!" Scott groaned.  "I can't breathe."

The teenage werewolf shouted in pain as he slammed his hand on the roof of the car.  At the sight of their friend freaking out, the twins shared a look of panic as the car swerved off the road for a moment.

"Pull over!"

"Why?  What's happening?" Stiles asked as he pulled the Jeep back onto the road.

Scott reached into the back seat and tore the bag off Mia's lap before rummaging through it on his own.  In the bottom of the bag was the rope from the burial site with the wolfsbane plant at the end of it.

"You kept it!" Scott yelled as he looked between Stiles and Mia.

"What was I supposed to do with it?" Stiles shouted back as he took his eyes off the road.

Scott groaned in pain and shouted for Stiles to stop the car while clutching his chest.

"Stiles, pull over!" Mia shouted as she watched Scott's eyes glow a golden color.

Stiles slammed on the breaks before exiting the car with the backpack in his hands.  Mia listened from the back seat as Scott groaned in pain while clutching his head.

"Scott, I need you to breathe, okay?" Mia placed her hand on his shoulder, only to be roughly pushed away by her best friend.  Her head slammed against the side of the car, causing her to lose consciousness due to the impact.

Stiles turned around as he felt a shooting pain in the right side of his head, only to find Scott gone and Mia laying motionless against the Jeep's window.

"Mia?" He called out as he frantically ran toward the car.  Once he got into his seat, he reached into the back and started to shake his sister in hopes of waking her up.  "Mia!"

The brunette didn't stir from her brother's voice, causing him to start to panic.

"Please wake up," he whispered before pulling her body into a tight embrace.  His heart was racing as he pleaded for his twin to wake up.  He pleaded for her to not leave him like their mother had done years ago.  "Mia."

Stiles shook his sister as tears started to slip from his eyes.  He felt her chest rise and fall against his own, which slightly calmed him.

After five minutes, the brunette started to stir in her brother's arms before letting out a groan.

"I'm going to kill him," she said in a shaky voice as she wrapped her arms around her twin. 

"Don't do that again," Stiles whispered as he placed a soft kiss to her forehead.  

✩ ⋆ ☽ ⋆ ✩ ⋆ ☾ ⋆ ✩

"Stiles, Mia, you know you two can't call the dispatch line while I'm on duty." 

"Yeah I know," Mia tapped her fingers on her thigh as her twin started to talk.

"I just need to know if you've gotten any odd calls." Stiles asked the deputy he was speaking to.

"Odd how?"

"Uh, like an odd person," Mia started to speak before her twin cut her off.

"Or a dog-like individual roaming the streets."

"I'm hanging up on you now." Stiles and Mia began to protest before the deputy hung up on the duo.

Stiles let out a groan as his sister smacked the back of his head.

"A dog-like individual?" Mia rolled her eyes at her twin.  "You may as well have asked if she had seen a werewolf running around town."

✩ ⋆ ☽ ⋆ ✩ ⋆ ☾ ⋆ ✩

Mia walked onto the bleachers with her dad's arm around her shoulders.  She had told Stiles to wish their best friend good luck before he went inside to get himself ready for the game.  Her eyes scanned the crowd of players that stood on the field for her friends.  She found Isaac first, and when their eyes met, both teens smiled.

"Do you see your partners in crime?" Noah asked as he noticed his daughter's smile.

"Not yet," Mia waved at the curly haired boy before noticing her brother walking next to the benches.  "I spy Stiles."

Next to her brother stood Scott, who stopped walking when Lydia Martin pulled the boy close to her chest.  Mia couldn't hear what the strawberry blonde was saying to her best friend, but she had a feeling it had to do with Jackson's injury.

About six minutes later, the referee blew their whistle, starting the first game of the season for the Cyclones.  Mia watched as the teams started to line up, with Jackson Whittemore standing across from the other team's captain.

"I'm going to talk to your brother," Noah started before standing up from his seat.  "Want to wish him good luck?"

Mia nodded before following her dad toward the benches, where her brother sat next to a few of the other bench warmers.

"Hey kid," Noah patted his son's back with a smile on his face.  "So, you think you'll see any action tonight?"

"Action?" Stiles asked as he looked out toward where Scott was on the field.  "Maybe."

Noah gave his son another pat on the back before going back up toward his seat, leaving Mia standing behind her twin.

"So, was he okay before the game?" Mia moved to sit next to her twin while the team's coach was facing the field.  "Was he nervous?"

"He wants to play," Stiles shrugged while picking up his helmet from the floor. 

"I know he wants to play," Mia smiled as she watched Scott run down the field.  "But he does know that Allison's dad is here tonight, right?"

"Yeah, he knows."

"I'm going back to the benches so that I can get a better view of the game." Mia pressed a quick kiss to her brother's cheek before walking toward her dad, who was sitting next to Melissa McCall.

"Hey Melissa," Mia greeted the nurse with a kind smile before sitting down between the two adults.  

"Hi Mia."

The trio attentively watched the game unfold from their seats on the bleachers.  They stayed seated until Jackson Whittemore scored a goal after Scott was knocked down by another player.  The crowd cheered for the team captain as Lydia and Allison held up a sign for Jackson.

The brunette could hear the girls cheering for the captain behind her and she groaned at hearing his name.

"Come on Scott," Mia whispered as she watched the team reset their formation so the next play could start.  She turned around to see Allison and Lydia holding up the We Love U Jackson sign and groaned.  "Ignore them."

The brunette watched as Scott stood on the field with his head facing the floor.  When he finally looked toward the crowd, Mia could practically feel his anger from her seat.  He glared at the duo sitting behind her before returning his focus to the game.

Her knee bounced up and down in anticipation as she watched her friend use a defensive player from the other team as a stool.  He jumped over the player and ran toward the goal with a speed Mia had not seen before.

"Come on Scott!" She cheered as she stood up and bounced on the balls of her feet.  The lacrosse ball flew from Scott's net into the goal, and the crowd celebrated.

Mia cheered with Melissa and her father, happy that she could hear the coach telling the team to pass to Scott.  She watched as a player from the other team passed Scott the ball before he shot another goal.  When Scott turned toward the crowd, Mia spotted a flash of gold in his helmet, which made her heart drop.

"I'll be right back," Mia muttered before moving off the bleachers in favor of the grassy area beside them.  She watched the game from the side, her heart racing at the thought of Scott shifting on the field.

Her foot tapped against the ground as she saw him standing across from the goal, looking between the defensive players and the goalie.

"Focus on my voice," she whispered, "you've got this.  Just focus on me."

She watched his shoulders relax on the field, and the brunette let out a shaky breath.

"Shoot it Scooter.  You've got this."

The teenage werewolf tossed the ball into the goal, and the crowd cheered.  Beacon Hills had won their first game of the season by a point, but that didn't matter, they won.

Mia watched as everyone crowded the team on the field before going to find her brother or best friend, only to find Isaac Lahey.

"Hey Isaac," she gave the boy a sweet smile as he pulled off his helmet.  "Great game.  I saw coach put you in for a few minutes."

The boy smiled at the fact that she had noticed his playing time.  He was happy that there was someone at the game for him, even if she did have other reasons for being there.

"I'm glad you liked the game."

Mia smiled at the timid boy before she saw her brother start waving his arms like a maniac in an attempt to get her attention.

"I hate to run off, but my brother and dad are calling me over," Mia gave Isaac a quick hug before pulling away.  "I'll see you on Monday."

She ran off, leaving the curly haired lacrosse player alone on the field.  Once she was near Stiles, the boy pulled her aside and told her what their father had said.

"So they released Derek?"

"Yeah," Stiles groaned, "and now we need to go find Scott."

He wrapped his hand around her wrist before dragging the brunette toward the school.  They ran into the school before finding their way to the boy's locker room, where they saw something unexpected.

Scott was kissing Allison.

Allison was kissing Scott.

Mia didn't know why it shocked her so much, but she stayed silent as she stared.  Her twin covered his mouth as he watched the couple with wide eyes.

"Stiles," Allison greeted as she walked past the twins.  "Hey Mia."

Both twins waved at her before approaching their best friend.

"I kissed her." Scott's cheeks were flushed while his smile was wide.

"I saw."

"Yeah, I know," Mia rolled her eyes as she looked at the giddy smile on her best friend's face.

"She kissed me."

"Saw that too," Stiles said, "that's pretty good, huh?"

Mia watched as her best friend thought about kissing the new girl before he spoke up with a smile.

"I don't know how, but I controlled it," Scott explained with an enthusiastic expression.  "I pulled it back.  Maybe I can do this.  Maybe it's not that bad."

Mia moved next to her best friend and pulled his arm around her shoulders.

"We've got this Scooter."

"We'll talk later then," Stiles smiled at his best friend before ruffling Mia's hair, much to her displeasure.

Scott reached out and turned the older Stilinski around to face him.

"What?"

When Stiles didn't answer, Mia took it as her cue to explain what had happened.

"The medical examiner looked at the other half of the body we found," she started before Scott cut her off.

"And?"

"Well, I'll keep it simple." Stiles continued for his sister.  "Medical examiner determines killer of girl to be animal, not human.  Derek's human, not animal."

"Derek's let out of jail because he couldn't be the killer," Mia finished as she rested her head against Scott's shoulder.

"Are you kidding?" 

"No, and here's a bigger kick in the ass," Stiles started before his gaze fell.  "My dad ID'd the dead girl.  Both halves."

"Her name was Laura Hale," Mia sighed as she thought of what the girl's identity meant.

"Hale?" Scott's eyes widened at the last name of the victim.

"Derek's sister," the twins answered in unison before turning to their friend.

The three friends just stood in silence as they thought about what this meant.  If Derek Hale was the killer, that meant that not only had he killed someone, he had killed his own sister.

✩ ⋆ ☽ ⋆ ✩ ⋆ ☾ ⋆ ✩

Author's Note

Hey everyone! I hope this chapter finds you well! I'm glad to have written this as it's my longest chapter to date! This has about 4.1K words, so I hope you enjoyed it. Next chapter starts episode three, so I'm really excited for that!! Remember to comment and vote because that always helps with inspiration!

- Daniella

✩ ⋆ ☽ ⋆ ✩ ⋆ ☾ ⋆ ✩

✩ ⋆ ☽ ⋆ ✩ ⋆ ☾ ⋆ ✩

PUBLISHED: May 22, 2020

✩ ⋆ ☽ ⋆ ✩ ⋆ ☾ ⋆ ✩