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.*･｡. WAITING FOR SUPERMAN .*･｡.
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047.
PLAYING FROM
THE BENCH.
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——

    "You're benched?"

   He nodded.

   Lois exclaimed, "What do you mean you're benched?"

"Coach said I can't play," Scott sighed, leaning down to retie his lace and then plopped himself down on the bench. "He said my grades weren't good enough, someone decided for him."

At their side, Luna quirked a brow, "You think it was Gerard?"

"Probably." The teen wolf shrugged his shoulders, "He doesn't want me to play because he's going to do something..."

Lois rolled her eyes at the fact their Allison's grandpa was just as insane as they had all thought he would be, from the very start. They knew that they had been correct and that he was a very cliché villain, and Lois threw herself into the bench in between Scott and Stiles to express her irritation. Luna followed in suit and sat down on the other side of her boyfriend, the four teens sitting in silence until Scott decided to break it.

"Has anyone seen Allison?"

Stiles shook his head in response, not having seen the brunette in several weeks, and sighed at his friends very sad face, "No offence Scott— but she's totally on route to crazy town, lately. I really don't think she's coming."

The Lane girl couldn't help but agree with her best friend. While she and Allison had been close, she had gone totally insane. Since her mother had passed and she had tried to hunt down Derek that night at the station, the Argents had vanished — nowhere to be seen. Allison had gone off the grid; she hadn't spoken to anyone, she hadn't texted anyone, she hadn't shown up at any of Scott's secret meet-up spots. He had waited hours, hopelessly wishing that she would show up in another ten minutes, another twenty. But she didn't. Now, Romeo was left on his own while Juliet had lost her mind and gone rogue. Scott had climbed through Lois' window once or twice, not really saying why but curling up in her beanbag and leaving in the morning.

She knew that he was hurting. Not only had he lost his girlfriend again, but his mother wasn't talking to him, either. While Lois had been lucky in the sense that her father was willing to accept the supernatural due to his love for comic books, Melissa had been avoiding her son as much as she could.

But, Melissa was at the game. Lois hoped that maybe they were on their way to mending what was cracked, before it had actually broken. He deserved it.

"What about Lydia?" Lois asked, receiving the same amount of declines. Usually she was always at the championship game, but since she and Jackson were no longer together, Lois knew that it would be hard to show up and not support her ex-boyfriend in the same way that she used to.

"You know what's going on?" Stiles asked, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees while he looked at Scott.

Scott sighed, "Not yet."

"But it's going to be bad, isn't it?" He already knew the answer, though. "I mean— like, everyone screaming, running for their lives, blood, killing, maiming kind of bad?"

"Looks like it."

"Scott, the other night seeing my dad get hit over the head by Matt, you know— while I'm just lying there and I can't even move. Lois was at gun point. It just— I want to help." Stiles pursed his lips and shook his head, letting out a shallow breath. The two girls stayed quiet and let them have their time to mend, "But I can't do the things that you can do. I can't—!"

"It's okay," his friend assured, not wanting him to feel the way that he did. Scott may have gotten cool powers, but he had lost a lot because of them. His girlfriend, his mom. It seemed that since he had gotten the bite, life had gotten worse.

"We're losing, dude."

"The hell are you talking about?" Coach shouted in Lois' ear as he appeared behind them, pushing his head between Stiles and Lois', making the girl jump back and groan. "Game hasn't even started! Now put on your helmet and get out there, Stilinski. You're in for Greenberg."

   Stiles frowned, "What? What happened to Greenberg?"

    "What happened to Greenberg?" Finstock echoed absurdly, "He sucks!"

   Lois gaped at the man, slowly digesting his words and forgetting that he had even scared the crap out of her. The anger diminished and she swung round to look at Stiles.

    "You suck slightly less..." she explained to him with a wide smile on her face, "Get up, Stiles! This is it! You're playing!"

    "I'm playing?" His has dropped, looking between his friends and his girlfriend. Stiles' eyes turned to the lacrosse pitch and he blinked emptily, "On the field? With the team?"

    "Yes, unless you'd rather play with yourself."

    "I already did that today," Stiles turned back thin, "Twice."

   Lois' nose wrinkled and she moved away from her best friend, bumping into Scott who was trying not to laugh, "Gross, Stiles!"

   Coach rolled his eyes and gave the boy a shove to the shoulder, watching him fall off of the bench. He blew his whistle loudly and clapped his hands, watching the teenager scramble up and try to throw his helmet on.

    "Get the hell out there!" He blew his whistle again.

    "Ah—!l Stiles cried out, grabbing his lacrosse stick from his side and stumbling out onto the field. He quickly peered around at the other players and cringed to himself, muttering about how he was going to get absolutely ruined on the field. He was excited to be playing for once, but he was more intimidated. He could hardly play.

   His friends and girlfriend, however, were grinning as they sat on the bench. Despite something terrible being in the rise, and the fact that Gerard was still controlling the kanima and Allison had gone crazy, something good was finally happening. Stiles was, for the first time in his life, playing at the championship game instead of keeping the bench warm for the other players. When he turned to look at them, Lois squealed excitedly, jumping out of her seat on the bench and fist-pumping simply to embarrass him. Was she supposed to pretend she wasn't proud?

   Apparently she wasn't the only one excited, judging by his father's yells from the crowd.

    "My son is on the field!"

   Lois span on her foot to look up to where her father, Melissa and Noah were sat, waving her arms excitedly. Lydia had joined the parents and laughed at her friend, knowing fully well that Stiles had never been good enough to be anywhere but the bench.

SCOTT, CAN YOU HEAR ME? AH, YOU CAN. GOOD. THEN LISTEN CLOSELY BECAUSE THE GAME IS ABOUT TO GET INTERESTING.

   Noticing how the boy to her left had gone quiet, Lois sat back on the bench before the game started. She nodded when Luna said that she was going to join Lydia and the parents on the bleachers, glancing at Scott cautiously. He seemed to be out of it, in a trance or a state, distracted by something other than the game. When his eyes flashed amber, Lois pushed a hand over them, in fast that someone else would see.

    "What's wrong?" She hissed with no reply, "Scott?"

LET'S PUT A REAL CLOCK ON THIS GAME, SCOTT.
I'LL GIVE YOU UNTIL THE LAST THIRTY SECONDS. WHEN THAT SCOREBOARD CLOCK BEGINS COUNTING DOWN FROM THIRTY, IF YOU HAVEN'T GIVEN ME DEREK, THEN JACKSON IS GOING TO KILL SOMEONE. SO— TELL ME, SCOTT, WHO'S GOING TO DIE TONIGHT?

He pulled her hand away from his face and turned his head, looking right past her. Lois frowned and followed his glare, now able to see that Gerard was watching them.

SHOULD IT BE YOUR MOTHER, WHO SO BRAVELY CAME OUT TO SUPPORT YOU? OR, THE SHERIFF; YOUR BEST FRIEND'S FATHER? THE GIRL WITH THE NAME OF THE MOON? DEREK SEEMS TO BE PRETTY FOND OF HER, DOESN'T HE? HOW ABOUT THE PRETTY LITTLE REDHEAD WHO MANAGED TO SURVIVE THE BITE OF AN ALPHA, PERHAPS THE LAWYER IN THE BLEACHERS?

OR, MAYBE ONE OF THESE INNOCENT TEENAGERS WITH THEIR WHOLE LIFE AHEAD OF THEM? WHAT ABOUT THE GIRL WHOSE PARENTS NAMED HER AFTER A COMIC BOOK DAMSEL? LOIS AND STILES SEEM TO KNOW AN AWFUL LOT. IT'D BE NICE TO HAVE THEM OFF MY HANDS...

   Lois jumped in surprise when Scott growled and pulled her closed to him, her eyes flickering to the werewolf. She pursed her lips and gently moved to grab his hand, unlatching his grip from her and gently moving to place her between him and Gerard. He looked up at her, out of his trance, and sighed. Scott could still hear his voice.

    "What's he saying?" She asked in a whisper, scanning his face for any clue. "What's going on?"

IT'S UP TO YOU, SCOTT. BUT YOU'RE GOING TO HELP ME TAKE DEREK DOWN. BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T, I'LL HAVE JACKSON RIP SOMEONE'S HEAD OFF, RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD, AND DRENCH EVERYONE YOU LOVE AND CARE ABOUT IN BLOOD.

   Scott turned to the pitch, watching Jackson smirk at him as he got himself ready to play. He shook his head and sighed, the voice in his head finally disappearing, "He wants Derek."

    "Derek?" Lois repeated with wide eyes. She could hardly hear him over the noise, "That's what this is about? He wants Derek?"

   The teen wolf nodded his head and wiped his brow, the beads of sweat from his anger making him cringe. Scott watched the field intently, listening to the whistle blow to signal that it had started. Not just a lacrosse game, but a battle. Lines had been drawn and it was up to him to do something, he just didn't know what.

    "He wants to avenge Kate," the boy muttered but Lois heard it, loud and clear. She sighed to herself, bit her lip — they couldn't just hand Derek over, no matter how she had disliked him. He groaned, "I need to find a way to get onto the field by half-time."

   Lois looked at him, "Or...?"

    "You don't wanna know."

She clamped her eyes shut, his words echoing in her head. They knew that Gerard was up to something, but she didn't think that it would be about Derek Hale. Now that she knew, however, Lois wasn't all that surprised. His uncle had killed Kate, but Kate had been the crazy bitch who had killed Derek's family first, and then had tried to kill him. While Lois believed that death wasn't the answer, she couldn't exactly blame Peter for what he had done, nor could she blame Derek for wanting Kate dead as well.

But Gerard was insane, even more insane that his daughter, and he wanted to avenge her. If that wasn't a movie-villain motive, then Lois didn't know what was.

"I got it! I got it, I got it—!"

Lois opened her eyes again at the sound of Stiles' voice ok the field, cringing when she saw that he really didn't have it.

"—I got it! I'm getting it! I—"

"Oh god—" she mumbled, wincing when the ball was thrown by somebody else and hit him in the head. He groaned and nearly fell to the ground, somehow managing to catch himself and adjust his helmet before he did. Lois sighed to herself and rubbed her face with her palm, "Come on, Stiles..."

When he was hit yet again, and the opposition's points went up on the bored, Scott leapt out of his seat. He whined when he was pulled back down, coach by his ear. "Sit down, McCall."

"But, coach!" Scott moaned, "We're dying out there!"

"Oh, I'm aware of that!" Coach snapped, "Now sit."

Begrudgingly, Scott did as he was told with a pout on his face. They watched as Finstock walked away, knowing how much he wanted to put Scott on the field but had no choice but to keep him off — it wasn't his call, it was Gerard's.

Another body popped himself onto the bench, on Scott's other side, gaining the attention of both teens.

Lois hadn't expected Isaac Lahey to be sat there. She found herself gaping at him as he adjusted his lacrosse gear, not quite believing that he had actually shown up. He had told them that he was leaving with Boyd and Erica, and as much as she had told herself that she didn't care if he left, Lois was actually glad to see him sat there. She bit her lip to prevent a smile.

"You came to help?" Scott was shocked, but grateful.

Isaac shrugged his shoulders and smirked, "I came to win."

Scott nodded his head slowly, the trio of teenagers turning to look at Gerard, whom was already looking at them. He hadn't expected a member of Derek's pack to show up, judging by the expression on his face. It only made Isaac's smirk grow, a slanted smile on his lips.

"You got a plan, yet?"

"Not really—" Lois shook her head, surprising him. He hadn't expected her to speak to him, "—right now, it's pretty much just finding a way to keep Jackson from killing anyone."

"Well, that might be easier if Scott's actually in the game," Isaac's words were half sarcastic and half sincere as he turned to face to said boy. He was right, though. "We have to make it so coach has no choice but to play you."

"How do we do that?" Scott sighed, peering over at the other end of the bench where at least four players sat, waiting to be put in if something went wrong. He didn't think there was much of a chance that enough of their team would get injured and need to be subbed, "He's got a bench full of guys he can use before he ever puts me on the field."

The trio went quiet as they tried to think of an idea, but Isaac's face soon lit up. Lois frowned, noticing how it was the same look that he had given her on the night of the rave, when he knew how to send Matt packing. It was the way that he pursed his lips and nodded to himself, blue eyes lighting up. It was the same look that Scott and Stiles always got when they had an idea, and it was the same look that Isaac had given her. Lois' mind slowly drifted to that night, when his bright idea had been to kiss her, and her eyes travelled to his lips for a fleeting second. But then the second was over, and Lois' mind returned to the topic at hand. She knew that he had an idea to get the players off of the pitch, and she knew exactly what it was.

    "Can you do it without putting anyone in the hospital?" Lois smirked lightly, watching him shrug his shoulders.

   Scott furrowed his brows, looking between the two in confusion. He wasn't sure how Lois had known what he was on about, nor that he even had an idea, but he decided that it was down to the fact that she was always smarter than anyone assumed.

    "Scott's mom is a nurse, right?" The duo nodded at Isaac's question and he hummed cheekily, "I think there'll be enough medical assistance on the field, so no promises."

Lois let out a light laugh but smothered it, moving to look at the ground and running her tongue over her teeth. Isaac noticed this and smiled to himself, oddly proud that he had managed to make her act such a way, a new surge of confidence running through his veins as he pushed his helmet down and winked at Scott. It was a different type of confidence to being a werewolf, a buzz that he only got around the girl who was waiting for superman.

And he liked it.

As Isaac pushed himself off of the bench and jogged into the field, ready to beat some players from his own team to the ground, Lois left the bench and made her way up the bleachers to take a seat next to her father. She was supposed to be watching the game with, after all.

"Why isn't Scott on the field?" Matthew asked his daughter as the whistle blew and the game carried on.

"Coach was told not to put him on," she told him, her eyes glued to the field. Isaac sensed her watching and looked up with a wink, making her cheeks warm. Her father noticed but didn't say anything, "Said it's something to do with his grades."

"Is it really to do with his grades?" He lowered his voice.

She shook her head, "Not in the slightest, dad."

The man nodded and pursed his lips. Alongside the rest of the parents and the three teenage girls, Matthew allowed his attention to return to the championship game. They all watched closely as the players ran around, hardly getting very far before they were knocked off of their feet by player fourteen. The whistle blew and another player was put in their place.

Coach groaned, "Ramirez! You're in!"

Isaac continued to knock another player down, a yell passing the poor boys lips. Everyone in the crowd cringed away from the snap of bone as the whistle blew, again.

"Murphy, you're in." Finstock huffed, "Lahey! Seriously, what the hell is your problem?"

The boy raised his arms to his sides smugly, smiling at his coach as he stepped backwards and returned to the game. Lois rolled her eyes at his cockiness, but she hadn't expected anything less. It was Isaac Lahey that they were talking about.

"That's Lahey?" Lois' father spoke, staring at his daughter disapprovingly. She laughed awkwardly and smiled.

"Hey— I never said that you'd like him," Lois pointed out, which was true. Matthew sighed and turned back to the game, wondering why he had ever thought that the kid wouldn't be that bad. He was a runaway fugitive, and his daughter had even said herself that he was irritating, of course this boy was going to be a nuisance.

From her other side, Luna cringed as another kid went down. She leant in close to Lois wide with eyes, "What the hell is he doing?"

"Trying to get Scott onto the field."

Luna sighed at the boys' ridiculous idea and continued to watch as her boyfriend struggled to sweep up the ball, running away from any of the action in fear of getting hurt. Stiles had also come to realise what Isaac was up to and opted to stay out of the beta's way, not in the mood to break his fragile bones, which was smart of him — Isaac could have snapped Stiles like a twig by simply breathing on him. He had no chance of getting in his way and coming out of it unscathed.

The match proceeded, with only one more boy to knock out until Scott was the only player left. Isaac took no shame in eyeing up a player and rushing towards him while the ball was elsewhere on the field, his eyes glowing amber.

But before Isaac could get there, another Beacon Hills player crashed into him, sending him to the ground with a groan. Lois immediately jumped up from her seat, a gasp passing her lips as Isaac laid, unmoving and in pain. She pushed past her father and friends, flying down the bleachers without missing a single step and ignoring those that called her name. Lois quickly joined Scott as the boys side as a stretcher was wheeled over, falling to her knees and ignoring the mud on her jeans. She allowed her eyes to observe him for injuries, hands reaching out to pull of his helmet.

"Oh my god—!" she breathed, "—are you okay?"

"It's not broken, but I can't move it." Isaac grunted, moving his head to face the kanima. "I think Jackson nicked me, I can feel it spreading."

YOU WANT TO PLAY CHESS, SCOTT? THEN YOU BETTER BE WILLING TO SACRIFICE YOUR OWN PAWNS.

They watched with glares as Jackson passed by them with a smirk, the paramedics lifting Isaac onto a stretcher. Something about the look on his face was so profoundly irritating to Lois, and she couldn't believe that he had paralysed Isaac on the field. Even though it wasn't him — and deep down she knew that it was the part of him being controlled by Gerard — Lois still grit her teeth and stood up, moving swiftly to follow him on the pitch.

"Hey, Jackass!"

Said boy turned around with an ignorant smile, only for Lois Lane to launch herself at him and send her fist into his jaw.

A collective gasp sounded from the crowd as he stumbled backwards, raising a hand to his cheek as the pain travelled from his jaw and to every other bone in his face. Lois wrung out her hand and cringed as the numbness in her fingers, forgetting that supernaturals faces were much tougher than regular ones.

"Suck on that!" She spat, watching his eyes darken.

Jackson started towards her was but pulled back by another player while Scott wrapped an arm around Lois' waist, lifting the teenager up and carrying her back to the sidelines to insure that she couldn't do anymore damage.

"Go Lois!" Stiles chanted from the other end of the pitch, waving his lacrosse stick through the air. He ignored the looks he got and grinned, "Kick his ass!"

"Lane!" Coach yelled out and blew his whistle, "What did I tell you about stepping on my field?"

She rolled her eyes as Scott dabbed at her knuckles with his jersey, wiping away the small beads of blood that formed around her split skin. Lois knew that it would be bruised in the morning — similar to that of when she punched Derek Hale in the ice rink and her fingers had been sore for days on end — and she knew that her father would lecture her later that night about hitting guys even if they were the kanima, but as she watched Isaac get carted off of the field with a smug smile on his face, she couldn't find it within herself to care.

"McCall!" Finstock walked over to the boy, pulling him out of his doctor-mode. Coach's face was full of defeat as he sighed, looking up at Gerard and then back his star-player, "Either you're in, or we forfeit."

Scott nodded and smiled down at Lois in victory. He wen to pull his helmet on, only to be stopped by his mother as she rushed into the field and grabbed his shoulders.

"Hey, something's happening, isn't it?" She asked, "Something more than a lacrosse game?"

He shook his head, "You should go."

"Oh— I'm not going, anywhere." Melissa refused, finally able to come to terms with what her son could do. She glanced between him and Lois, and then at the field, back to her son. "And everything that I said before, forget it. All of it. Okay? If you can do something to help, then you do it. You have to."

"I will."

——

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