21

𝐅𝐑𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐃
feral or fetal? my body cannot decide

THE AUTHOR CLEARED THEIR their throat, "Before we get started, I have a few more people to invite to the party."

Hands were clapped and suddenly two bodies were dropped to the ground, right in front of the rows of people that were seated.

Lizzie furrowed her brows as she stood up, staring intensely at the girl and boy that was brought into the theatre room. "Who the hell are you?"

A girl with short wavy hair stood up, wearing baggy ripped jeans, a tank top and a dark flannel over it. A beanie was sat on her auburn hair. "Wow, dude, where am I?"

The boy, tall, masculine, with curly blonde hair stood up and turned around quickly upon hearing the mystery girl talk. "Jen?"

The so called Jen's eyes widened. "Ben..." she took a few steps back and eyed the room they were in, and then the people. "Huh. Well this is awkward."

"Sister, where have you been?" Ben asked with furrowed brows, slowly taking in everyone else.

"He's kind of..." Caroline whispered to Elena and Bonnie who giggled in reply.

"He's also gay as hell, so..." Jen stated upon hearing the blonde girl.

Caroline blushed, tucking her hair behind her ear while trying her hardest to not make eye contact.

"Jen..." Ben trailed off, shaking his head at his sister who he hasn't seen in what?... a few hundred years.

"Better question, why are these two strangers here?" Lizzie asked loudly, looking up at the ceiling.

Jed was staring at Ben with wide sparkly eyes, his hand halfway to his mouth which was holding a half-eaten sand which. He cleared his throat and looked away when Ben happened to make eye contact with him.

"They are a part of your future," the author stated, "very important, they are."

Katherine groaned and rolled her eyes, "ugh, how many more people are going to be added to this whole... thing?" She sniffed disdainfully at the sight of the rugged short girl who seemed high as hell.

Jen rose her brows at the sight of Katherine, leaning back, taking her in. "Wow, you're a bitch."

Katherine smirked. "Thanks."

"Wasn't a compliment," Elena grumbled under her breath.

"Wooow," Jen droned on, "there's two of you."

"The better version is right there, though," Lizzie pointed out, gesturing to Elena. "The other one could catch on fire and no one in this room would blink an eye."

"Uh," Katherine scoffed, holding up her pointer finger, "rude."

Lizzie rolled her pretty blue eyes. "Anyways... you're a part of our future, huh?" She walked slightly closer to Jen, sizing her up. They just stood a few inches away from one another, not blinking. She suddenly snorted, "finally found someone shorter than Hope."

Kol couldn't help but laugh loudly at that. "That's honestly a miracle."

Klaus rolled his eyes at his brother before asking the only thing that mattered to him, "is she a part of Hope's future?"

"Of course," the author replied. "Some good, some bad, but in the end, they're friends."

"Who's Hope?" Jen asked before shrugging. "Honestly don't care." She squatted down on the floor, crossing her legs, staring up at the big screen. "So what are we watching?"

Everyone just stared at the tiny rugged girl in both confusion and awe. To be that carefree is a gift, especially in this world.

HOPE WAS SITTING on the bus, her forehead pressed up against the window, the morning sun beating down on her.

"Wow, pretty," Jen stated, shifting in her spot to get more comfortable.

"Yo, Scotty," Stiles voice rung in her ears as he snapped his fingers next to Scott's face, "Hey, yo, Scotty, still with me?"

The tribrid sat up a little, peering over the seat to see Stiles looking over at his best friend in worry.

Jen was already shoving a burrito into her face, which had Rebekah gaping at her.

"How the bloody hell—" the original barbie breathed out. "She's here for five seconds, yet—" she gestured to the burrito eating girl, flabbergasted. "This is not fair," she pouted, crossing her arms.

Jen glanced back at Rebekah, confused. "What?" She asked around a mouthful of burrito. She went to turn back to the screen, and happened to catch Lizzie's eyes. She paused and then held out out a burrito towards the blonde, wiggling it in the air. "Want one?"

Lizzie pulled her brows together as she stared at the unknown girl. "Uh... no."

Jen shrugged, "more for me then."

"Yeah, sorry," Scott mumbled, lifting his head off of the window to look at Stiles, who was sitting to his right. "What's the word?"

"Anachronism," Stiles announced, looking down at his iPad.

"Something that exists out of its normal time," Scott answered, glancing behind them at Hope who was lost in thought. She had dark circles around her eyes, and looked like she was on the brink of a breakdown.

"Okay... am I the only wondering what the hell happened between last episode and this one?" Caroline asked with raised perfectly plucked brows.

Freya pursed her lips, "something had to have happened, they all look terrible."

"Nice," Stiles praised lightly. "Okay, next word: incongruous."

"Um, can you use it in a sentence?"

"Yes. Yes, I can." Stiles answered quickly. "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."

"What happened?!" Jed shouted incredulously, hating being left out. He wants to know what the hell is happening and why everyone looks so sad.

Ben glanced at him, taking in the sight of Jed before slowly turning back towards the screen, confused on why they're watching... whatever the hell they're watching.

Scott nodded his head, catching onto Stiles' definition, "Out of place, ridiculous, absurd."

"Perfect. Okay, next word: um, Darach." As soon as the word fell from Stiles' lips, Scott and Hope were both looking at him. "Darach, it's a noun. 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 was talking about the dark druid that Deaton had told him about the other day after school when Lydia had found the music teacher had been taken.

Deaton explained that it was the dark druid, the Darach, taking the sacrifices, after they found test papers in Harris' room spelling out the supernatural creature.

Harris was missing, leaving his brief case behind, leaving the teenagers to conclude that he had been taken due to his military connections — just like Kyle and the music teacher.

"Eh, who cares about Harris anyways? He's an asshat," Lizzie grumbled, crossing her arms.

Hope huffed under her breath and laid her head back on the window, watching as the trees passed by.

"Next word..." Stiles cleared his throat. "Intransigent."

"Stubborn, obstinate."

The bus rattled loudly when it ran over a large pothole in the road, making Scott's eyes squeeze shut as he groaned loudly.

Caroline gasped, "he's hurt!"

Klaus leaned forward slightly, "is Hope okay, though?"

Bonnie rose her brow at him, "she seems fine. Scott on the other hand..."

Klaus shrugged, "so? I don't care about Scott. And if he got hurt, it means she did too because they're attached at the hip."

Elena hummed, "he's kinda got a point though."

"You would know, wouldn't you?" Stefan grumbled to himself, but most heard him.

Damon turned to his brother with a smolder. "What's that suppose to mean, brother?"

Stefan rolled his eyes, "it means, Damon... that whenever is in Elena's group, gets hurt. She's a trouble magnet."

"And I never asked to be one, did I?" Elena's honestly tired of Stefan and his snide comments. If it wasn't for him coming to town, stalking her, invading her life, her friends and family wouldn't be in as much danger as they are now. And sure, if it wasn't also for him, she wouldn't have found her soulmate in Damon, and some of their friend-group wouldn't have formed, but some people that are dead, could still be alive if it wasn't for the domino effect of Stefan's arrival.

Stefan huffed. "You didn't have to ask, you just are."

"She's tried to sacrifice herself many times, Stefan, for her friends, for her family, for all of you to be safe," the author spat suddenly, tired of the mistreatment of Elena Gilbert. "These next few words are nothing against you, my love, but if you guys had just let Elena sacrifice herself, a lot of people would still be alive to this day. If it wasn't for you lot, trying to constantly overtake her word and actions, a lot of stuff that happened, wouldn't have. I don't want her to die, she's my favorite, but it's not her fault that people keeps dying around her. And for the record, she's not selfish and stuck up, I'm so tired of others saying that about her when she will literally jump in front of a moving car for any of you." There was a pause, "sadly, she would do the same for Katherine, too."

Katherine froze. "What?"

"Yup," the author smacked her lips. "It hasn't happened yet, in your timeline, but on your dying bed, Elena is there to comfort you and to say that she forgives you, even though you made her life hell," the author said, pretty much just ranting at this point. "How many times did you guys have to stop Elena from running off to offer herself up to Klaus so that no one died for her or because of her?" They rhetorically asked. "You had had to spell her in her own house so that she wouldn't offer herself up as sacrifice. At one point you guys allowed her to have the Boarding House as a safe house which she didn't stay in because she wasn't going to hide. She stabbed herself just to trick Elijah because she didn't know if she could trust him after everything, wanting to make sure he didn't harm anyone. She tried to slit her own throat once she realized that she was connected to vampire Alaric, just because he was a danger to Caroline and other vampires. The one time she and Caroline was kidnapped by the hybrids, she offered herself up to be tortured so that Caroline wouldn't be hurt or bit. There's a ton more, and I could go on forever. I'm just tired of people hating on my girl."

"Like yeah, she's not perfect, but no one is. She does some wrong things sometimes, but at the end of the day, she's doing it out of love. Like the time she got Damon to compel Jeremy's pain away about Vicki. The time they compelled him to get out of Mystic Falls and enjoy his life. She did everything to try to protect those she loves, even if it seems wrong at the time. Elena is lover and a protector, and people need to put some respect on her name."

Lizzie stood up and cheered.

Elena blinked back tears as she heard someone defend her so loudly. Yeah, her friends are always there for her, and Damon is at her side no matter what, but this was... different somehow. Someone that sees how hard she tries to protect and love those she cares for.

Bonnie and Caroline was instantly piling on Elena for a group hug, and they all cried into each others hair.

Katherine pursed her lips at the display and the words.

"Interesting," Jen hummed, taking another bite of one of her burritos.

Ben smiled at the sight of the trio hugging. "Sounds like someone I want on my side."

Clarke stared at Elena and then at the screen where Hope's face could be seen slightly. It sounds like Hope and this Elena girl is a lot alike.

Damon leaned over and kissed his girl on the crown of her head.

Hope immediately sat up straighter in worry, leaning over to look at the McCall over the seat.

Stiles was also looking over at Scott in worry, his foes furrowed deeply. "Are you okay?" The boy in question let out a painful breath. "We shouldn't have come. I knew it. We shouldn't have come."

"We had to," Scott insisted, clenching his jaw as he tried to sit up straighter. "There's safety in numbers."

"Yeah, well, there's also death in numbers, okay? It's called a massacre," Stiles began as he moved to look on his iPad. "Or bloodbath, carnage, slaughter, butchery, wow, that's..."

Hope pursed her lips as Scott moaned out in agony.

"All right, I'm telling Coach that—"

"No," Scott's eyes snapped open, shaking his head as he turned to look at Stiles who didn't look convinced. "No, no, no. We're all right."
Stiles stared at him for a few seconds, his lips parted as he silently studied his best friend. "Well, you don't look alright." He then glanced back at Hope. "Neither of you do."

The auburn haired girl looked out the window, her brows furrowing. Of course she wasn't alright. After what just went down with the alpha's, there was no way anyone would be alright.

"Alpha's?" Jen hummed, pursing her lips as she stared intently at the screen.

"I'm going to rip out their intestines if they did something to my daughter," Klaus threatened with a growl.

"Yup, don't wanna get on his bad side," Clarke grumbled, slouching slightly in his chair, arms crossed.

Stiles completely turned to Scott, reaching out his hands to look at the wound. "Would you just let me see it?"

Scott instantly pushed Stiles' hand away, "I'm okay."

"Just let me see it, okay?"

"Okay," Scott whispered, twisting in his seat as he pulled up the side of his white shirt so that they could see the damage.

"Oh shit," Kaleb hissed through his teeth.

"Well, that's not good," Lizzie tsked.

Jen just hummed from her spot on the floor.

Trailing along the side of his rib cage were three long claw marks that still continued to bleed.

Hayley frowned, "he should be healed, or at least begun the process."

"Oh, dude," Stiles mumbled sympathetically.
Scott noticed the look on Stiles' face, "I know it's bad, but it's just because they're from an Alpha. It'll take longer to heal."

Hope stood up and reached over to place her hands over the wound. "I can help ease the pain."

"She's so..." Hayley trailed off, holding her hands to her heart. She's so happy that her daughter came out kind and loving, and that she didn't take all of the Mikaelson traits.

The McCall put down his shirt and shook his head. "No. There is too many people around." He then winced and pursed his lips. "We don't want to risk anything."

"I don't care. You need help and I'm going to help you." She closed her eyes, mumbling a spell under her breath. An orange light appeared from her hands, making the wound heat up and tingle lightly before it faded.

Jen nodded with the 'not bad' expression, impressed.

The tribrid opened her eyes and removed her hands to see that the wound stopped bleeding, but it still looked terrible. "Why isn't it working?"

"Wait... tribrid?" Ben asked with furrowed brows. He couldn't help but think about Malivore, seeing as he had been made by a witch, a werewolf, and a vampire. Something was going on about this Hope girl that was bigger than he originally thought. 

Stiles shrugged, looking up at the girl. "Maybe you used up your powers after what happened?"

She rolled her eyes. "I have unlimited powers, Stiles. There is just something different about this wound."

"She can still get tired," Freya stated with a frown. She knows that Hope knows it's not really 'unlimited' because she can still exhaust herself. If she pushes too hard, it's possible to go into a witch coma.

Scott shrugged. "It feels a little better."

"That's good." She offered him a small smile. "It's just weird that yours isn't healing yet. Boyd, Isaac, and I are fine." The scars that she had gotten from Boyd and Cora are completely gone, but now was replaced by more scars caused by the Alpha pack.

"Murder on the brain," Kol sing-sung as he pointed at his brother.

Klaus rolled his eyes at his brother, but his attention was fully on the screen, on his daughter.

They looked over at the two werewolves who were sat beside each other silently towards the front of the bus.

There was a heavy silence between the three of them as Scott laid his head back on the window, his eyes half closed, a dazed look on his tan face.

FLASHBACK;

"I know where they are," Scott blurted out as he rushed into Derek's loft where everyone else was already gathered.

"Same building as the Argents, we know," Hope spoke up from where she sat on the table beside Stiles. She wore one of his flannels that she had stole from his closet. "I was finally able to do a locator spell after Lydia stole something from Aiden."

"Hmm," Caroline smirked. "Sharing clothes; they've went into the next stage."

Elena fondly rolled her eyes at her best friend.

Scott looked to her, sighing. "It shouldn't be that simple. They must want us to know."

"Or, more likely, they don't care," Peter spoke up, and even though Hope kinda agreed, she just rolled her eyes. She just had to deal with his non-stop remarks for the past half hour.

"What is this?" Scott looked down at the papers, plans, and maps that they had laid out on the table.

"Isn't it obvious?" Peter rhetorically questioned. "The schemers are scheming, coming up with a coup de main, better known as a pre-emptive strike."

Klaus smirked, "I like him."

"Won't for too much longer..." the author sing-sung just like Kol had just done.

"You're going after them?"

Hope nodded. "Of course. They have already terrorized this town and us for too long. It's time to put a stop to them and their plans."

"When?" He asked, sighing.

"Tomorrow. And you're going to help us."

PRESENT TIME;

"Two of you, back in your seats!" Coach snapped before looking at Jared. "Jared, again, car sick? 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." He then looked at Scott and groaned. "McCall, not you too."

"He's crazy... I dig it," Jen commented, a blanket now wrapped around her as she stared at the screen with a dazed expression.

Lizzie just blinked at the mystery girl.

"No, coach, I'm good," Scott snapped to attention, sitting up, trying to not wince as he said so.

"Hey, Scott, you're bleeding again," Stiles frowned. "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." 

Hope narrowed her eyes as she looked past them, over at Ethan who was clearly listening in on their conversation. "He's listening."

Stiles glanced at Ethan worriedly. "Is he gonna do something?"

"Not in front of this many people."

Stiles scoffed, "Okay, well, what about the two ticking time bombs sitting right near him?" He gestured to Isaac and Boyd.

"They should beat his ass," Lizzie remarked.

Josie frowned slightly but nodded in agreement.

"I volunteer as tribute!" MG shouted and then slouched in his seat when Kaleb side-eyed him. "Actually... I'm more of a lover than a fighter."

"No, they won't. Not here," Scott answered his best friend, shaking his head weakly.

"Okay, well, what if they do? Are you gonna stop 'em?"

"If I have to."

"No, you won't," Hope blurted out, looking at Scott who turned his head and looked at her. "I'll take care of them."

FLASHBACK;

"They're one floor above them in the penthouse, right above Allison."

"Why so many flashbacks instead of just showing us what happened to begin with?" Jed asked, tilting his head much like a puppy.

Ben glanced at him, and couldn't help but agree.

"So kill them first, that's the plan?" Scott questioned, a disappointed and slight disgusted look on his face.

"Yes, it's always the plan," Klaus remarked.

"As I always say... go for the throat," Kol stated, holding up his pointer finger. "Or... the spleen if you want to get creative."

A few people just stared at him in horror or disgust.

"Awesome, dude," Jen said with a head nod in Kol's direction.

"They won't even see it coming," Hope told him simply, shrugging.

"Why is the default plan always murder?" Scott asked, looking around at all of them. "Just once, can someone try to come up with something that doesn't involve killing everyone?"

"Hmm," is all Klaus said.

Rebekah spoke up, "but killing is so fun."

"It's a brilliant past time," Kol remarked.

Yeah... not gonna mess with them; Clarke thought with a grimace.

"You never get tired of being so blandly moral, do you?" Peter questioned, looking Scott up and down. "Not that I disagree with him."

"I do. Why do we need this kid?" Cora — Derek's sister —asked in disgust. She then looked to Hope who rose one brow at her. "Her — I understand. She can definitely handle her own and looks good while doing it."

"She calls it like she sees it, I like her," Lizzie stated with a grin.

Jen tilted her head side to side as she watched the screen, her mind working over every possible thing at once. Sure, yeah, she's kind of high on an edible that she made just before she was teleported here, but she knows something big is going on. And whatever it is, it has something to do with this tiny auburn haired girl on the screen.

The tribrid smirked to herself, and shrugged when Scott looked to her in surprise. "We have to do something, Scott. We can't sit back and wait for them to make the first move. They have already hurt enough people as is." She simply doesn't want to lose anyone else. "So... we're going to attack and make sure they never hurt anyone ever again."

"That's my daughter," Hayley spoke proudly, loving how confident and protective her daughter is of her pack.

Pack.

She never thought her daughter would be a part of one, but here she is; thriving.

PRESENT TIME;

Everyone on the bus flew forward as the bus driver slammed on the breaks, Stiles' hand instantly reaching over to stop Scott from tumbling forward.

Hope perked up when she noticed Boyd who was gripping the the seat in front of him, tightly. She stood up quickly and went to walk towards him when her hand was grabbed. She looked down at who grabbed her, and was met by a worried Stiles. 

Caroline squealed before clamping her mouth shut, but she was grinning widely.

"Where are you going?"

"Boyd. He's gonna do something," she told him simply, her eyes leaving his as she turned to stare at Boyd.

"Okay, what? How do you know?" He rushed out, looking at Boyd as well.

"Look at his hands," Hope told him as she saw the claws. "I have to make sure he won't do anything stupid and bring Isaac into it." She shrugged Stiles' hand off and continued her journey towards Boyd who started to get up. She roughly grabbed his shoulder before he could fully get up, and literally pushed him down onto the seat. "You got a plan? Tell me your brilliant plan, and I'll let go. What are you gonna do? Kill him, right here? And then what? What are you gonna do after that?" She questioned, her hand not leaving his shoulder.

Jen grinned, "I like her."

Ben smirked, "of course you would."

"What is that suppose to mean?" Lizzie asked curiously, if not a little protectively of Hope. "Hope is amazing, and strong, and beautiful, so why should the small brunette with an infiny for burritos not like Hope?" Okay, she came off a little strong, but that's a common thing.

Ben held his hands up, "I didn't mean to offend."

Lizzie huffed, kind of annoyed with herself, but after everything she and Hope have been through, after everything Hope herself has been through, she's protective.

"Lizzie knows that," Josie said softly, "she just has strong emotions."

Lizzie's eyebrows twitched at those words, not knowing how she should feel towards them. On one hand, it's true, she does have strong emotions. But she doesn't want anyone she doesn't know and trust, to know about that part of her.

Clarke pursed his lips. He doesn't know if he likes the brunette Saltzman or not.

"I don't care," Boyd growled at her, but she just rolled her eyes.

"You might not but I do." She gave him a small smile, letting go of his shoulder, looking him in the eyes. "Killing isn't always the answer, trust me. And doing it in front of humans? That's not a risk you should be willing to take." She laid her hand on his knee, and tilted her head at him. "We'll handle this accordingly. Him and his pack of assholes won't get away with everything they have done." She slowly began to smirk. "Do you trust me?"

Isaac answered immediately, "of course."

Elena smiled widely, "aw, he was so quick to say so."

Boyd glanced at the blonde before looking back to the tribrid. He let out a deep breath and then nodded. "Sure."

Hope brightened up and she patted him on the knee. "Thank you." She stood up, ruffled Isaac's curly hair, and then went back to her seat.

"I love their brotp!" Caroline shouted, bouncing in her seat.

"Brotp?" Ben asked with a head tilt.

"Like two people you love together, but like bros," Jed informed the very pretty boy with big muscles.

"Problem solved?" Stiles asked her as she sat down. Of course he had seen the interaction- between her and Isaac, and that gut wrenching feeling had come back. He didn't understand the feeling, but he does know he didn't like it when Hope pays attention to other boys.

"Someone play Jealousy Jealousy by Olivia Rodrigo!" Lizzie shouted at the top of her lungs.

Caroline, Elena, and Bonnie furrowed their brows. "Who's Olivia Rodrigo?"

Lizzie gasped, "you haven't lived through the whole Sabrina vs Olivia thing?!" She sounded almost scandalized by the realization.

The three girls looked to one another and shrugged.

"Lizzie, we are from the future, remember?" Josie had to remind the blonde who seemed to have forgotten that small fact.

"Ohhhh... yeah," Lizzie drawled out with a nod of her head. "Forgot. But still! Sabrina is iconic! She was an opener for Taylor Swift in the years 2023 and 2024. Like come on, you can't say you've made it until you do something like that."

Josie smiled and shook her head, amused by her twin. "She's a big Sabrina Carpenter stan, if you can't tell."

"Stan?" Lizzie rose one brow. "As if. I'm in love with that woman. I would sell my soul for her." She then shrugged, "I like Olivia, too, but Sabrina is where my heart is at."

"Blondie does have some bops," Kaleb stated in agreement, nodding his head.

"I like her too," Rebekah commented with a small smile.

Caroline smiled, "now, I do know Taylor Swift. Love her and everything she is. But, I didn't know she was that big of a deal."

"Didn't she just release an album?" Bonnie inquired.

"Yeah, 1989," Caroline nodded with a big smile.

Alaric shook his head at the girls, "aren't we getting a little off track?"

"Shhh, we're having girl talk, Ric," Caroline shushed the adult who stared at her in disbelief before fondly shaking his head.

"Yup." She nodded with a smirk. 

"Okay, good, because we got another problem. Ethan keeps checking his phone, like, every five minutes. It's like he's waiting for something, you know, like a message or a signal of some kind. I don't know, something evil though, I can tell. I have a very perceptive eye for evil, but you two know that," Stiles stated, glancing between Hope and Scott.

"I don't like him sitting with Danny," Hope announced, looking over at the two as she rested her chin on the seat.

"Yeah, neither do I," Stiles agreed, keeping his eyes locked on Ethan as he shuffled through his pockets to find his phone. "I'm gonna see what he's waiting for."

"What are you doing?" Scott breathed through the pain.

"I'm gonna ask."

When Danny's phone chimed loudly, Hope grinned and waved when Danny looked back at Stiles with a questioning look. Stiles gestured toward his phone in his hand before Danny sternly mouthed: "No."

"I like Danny," MG mused with a small smile.

Stiles frantically glanced between Hope and Scott before sending Danny another text message.

After that, it had been a constant battle between Stiles and Danny. To Hope, it was getting very annoying, and she was getting to the point of wanting to grab Stiles' phone and bending it.

Pretty much everyone was laughing hysterically or chuckling at the scene.

The ones laughing hysterically was Lizzie and Kol, who were both practically on the floor at this point.

Jen grinned, "I like this Stiles guy. He's cool in my book."

When Stiles had finally convinced Danny to ask Ethan why he was checking his phone so much, Ethan instantly knew it had something to do with the trio. He turned around to glance at them, and the boys immediately ducked down. Hope, though, just stayed there and rose an eyebrow.

"Hot," Lizzie breathed out.

"Well, that wasn't very subtle," Stiles muttered out, him and Scott slowly rising back up into their original positions.

Stiles looked down at his phone when he received a message from Danny saying that Ethan was waiting for word about someone close to him that was in the hospital.

"Ennis?" Scott offered, rereading the message.

Hope smirked and looked proud of herself for a second. Then, realization struck. That meant Ennis was still alive. Fuck! "I hope that bastard dies painfully and rots in hell."

Klaus smirked. "She's taking after me. I love to see it."

"A hint of the devil in her eyes, is what you told me," Rebekah mused.

Hayley smiled, leaning her head on Klaus' shoulder. "We raised an amazing girl."

Klaus grinned down at her, "yes. We did."

FLASHBACK;

The group arrived at the abandoned building, watching Scott and Isaac approach Deucalion.

"We're just gonna talk to him, try to reason with him. That's it, all right?" Scott asked Isaac, giving him both look. "What?"

"Nothing. It's just that, uh, I'm actually kind of hungry now," Isaac told him sheepishly. "And I'm scared of what Hope will do once she finds out about this."

A few people snickered at that.

"So am I."

Lizzie rose a brow, "you should be."

"You didn't come alone," Deucalion noted as he came out of the shadows.

"Yeah. This is Isaac."

"I'm not talking about Isaac." 

Derek and Hope emerged from the darkness, their statues tense and angry.

"You knew I would do this?" Scott asked and Hope nodded. "Derek, Hope... don't. I'm doing this so no one gets hurt. If someone else dies..."

"Him. Just him," Hope told Scott, gesturing to Deucalion with her eyes.

"We are about to see a boss battle!" MG practically squealed, squirming in his seat excitedly.

"Just me?" Deucalion questioned rhetorically, his finger tapping on his cane. "Now, how's a blind man find his way into a place like this all on his own?"

Kali slid down the concrete pillar, her red eyes on display. Ennis walked up behind them, his red eyes also showing. The twins showed up on the floor above them.

Hope simply rolled her eyebrows and growled loudly, her eyes shining brightly in the dark. As she did so, Kali jumped and kicked her.

"Dimiterre." Kali flipped over Hope who quickly spun around, and slammed her foot down towards the alpha's head. Though, Kali moved out of the way right in time for Hope's boots to come in contact with the floor.

"Beat her ass, Hope!" Lizzie shouted, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Rip her head from her shoulders!" Klaus shouted as well.

Jen and Ben glanced to one another with raised brows, and Clarke sat straighter in his seat.

"Stupid girl!" Kali spat out and launched herself at the tribrid who easily blocked the multiple hits that were sent her way.

Hope growled and grabbed the woman's long black hair, tilted her head back sharply, and then went to slice her throat.

Jen and Ben sat forward, impressed and intrigued so far.

Of course Hope didn't want to kill, but she has no choice at this point. She didn't kill Gerard when she could've which ended up with more people dying and being manipulated. She wasn't going to make the same mistake twice, especially when it comes with a powerful werewolf pack.

"Aim for the kill!" Kol shouted, excited to finally see some blood spilt.

"This family," Marcel mused to himself, shaking his head.

Kali grabbed Hope's arm, and did a backflip which sent the tribrid stumbling forward. The alpha then used her momentum to flip Hope onto her back, and twisted her arm till the teenager cried out.

"No," Klaus growled out.

"Boo!" Lizzie and Kol shouted in unison, throwing their thumbs down in the air.

Josie winced at the screen, and Kaleb hissed through his teeth. MG 'oohed' with his fist up to his mouth, one foot raised off the ground towards him. Landed hands his hands balled up in fist on his legs.

"Damn," Clarke cursed, wincing.

Through clenched teeth, Hope pointed her good hand at the alpha, and shouted, "Icaeus!"

Kali suddenly went flying backwards into a pillar which made a loud booming noise throughout the abandoned building. And then the dark haired woman fell to her feet, catching herself with a huff.

"Holy shit!" Caroline breathed out.

"I don't know if I want to be her or be with her," Bonnie said in a mumble, amazed.

Jen and Ben wanted to know who this Hope girl was, because no one outside of their family should be this powerful.

"I'll admit, you're good." Kali stood up fully with a glare on her features. "But not good enough."

They fought for a moment, throwing punches and kicks, and they both got a few hits in. But, when Hope noticed the twins merge into a much bigger wolf — which was a crazy sight — she grew angry and frustrated.

Everyone paused at the sight of the merging twins.

"Huh," Hayley said, "that's new."

And a frustrated tribrid isn't a good one.

"Never is," Lizzie winced, knowing fully what an annoyed tribrid is capable of.

"Corporis Impetu!" Hope shouted loudly, her hands held out in front of her, looking like she was strangling someone.

Kali slammed into the wall, her feet barely touching the ground, and it looked like she was getting strangled by the fact she couldn't breath.

"You're a good fighter, I'll give you that, but you simply lack common sense." Hope glared into Kali's angry eyes. "You can't go up against a tribrid and expect to win. You'll lose every time." And with that, Hope twisted her wrist, and Kali's head twisted at a dangerous angle which sent a 'crack' noise throughout the building.

Elena's eyes widened as she stared at the screen, mouth agape. "Oh... my..."

"Damn," Caroline breathed, not knowing what else to say or do.

"Hell yeah, that's my niece!" Kol shouted, and going as far as to jumping up on his chair to cheer for his family member.

Katherine felt a lump in her throat, not knowing how to feel at the sight. At this point, it would be better for her to not kidnap or harm miss little Mikaelson. But — she began to smirk — she could always do what she does best; manipulate. She could practically turn Hope against her family and friends, and have her on her side. She's sure to win and be protected if she has an all powerful tribrid on her side.

Damon grinned, "I like her style."

With that, Kali's body fell to the ground, and Hope took off towards the twins who just saw what she did, and was running towards her angrily.

"They have no chance," Damon stated bluntly. "Not against her."

No one said anything about Hope killing Kali because they all know Kali deserved it.

"That's my daughter!" Klaus shouted, proud of how strong his daughter is. Klaus couldn't help but grin.

"Hello boys!" Hope smirked brightly and jumped into the air, and sent a jump sidekick to their chest. They stumbled back a few inches, but it gave her enough time to land on the ground, jump up, and send them an uppercut.

"She looks like a chihuahua compared to them," Caroline commented with a snicker, which had everyone else snickering as well.

"A chihuahua!" And once again, Kol was hysterically laughing on the floor. He even dramatically crawled towards Lizzie and laid his head on her legs, gasping for breath.

Lizzie wasn't much better though; tears are streaming down her face as she laughed so hard and loud that she swears she felt something pop in her stomach.

"You would be the perfect replacement for Kali!" Deucalion exclaimed loudly, making Hope glance to him before continuing her fight with the mega-wolf.

"You wish," Rebekah rolled her pretty blue eyes.

"She would never join an idiot like you," Marcel stated, "she has higher standards."

"Join us, hope!" The twins shouted, picking the girl up and throwing her a few feet away. "You can become more powerful!"

"I already am powerful!" She shouted as she jumped up to her feet. "Fluctus Inpulsa!" The twins let out a loud groan as their whole body shoot violently. And then suddenly, the twins split apart, and went unconscious on the floor.

"Holy... fuck," Bonnie breathed out at the sheer power of Hope Mikaelson.

Suddenly, something sliced through the air and a bright light occurred.

"Allison," Hope breathed out in worry for the human who shouldn't be in this situation. She then stood up fully as Allison ran out of arrow just as Ennis ran at Scott, hitting him hard, knocking him back, but the McCall had stood up quickly, growling.

Ennis then ran straight for Derek, fighting him harshly which made the Half release a whimper.

She ran forward and went to grab Ennis to snap his neck, but both men began to fall off the second story.

"No!" Hope screamed and held out her hands as she slid to the edge. "Scutum!" A burst of energy escaped Hope, wrapping itself around Derek just before he hit the escalator.

Scott slid to a stop beside the tribrid who was breathing heavily, just staring down at the unmoving body with big eyes. "Hope..."

"Oh my god!" Caroline gasped, covering her mouth, tears forming in her blue eyes.

"No..." Hope trailed off. Sure, her and Derek weren't the closest, but she did consider him an ally, possibly even a friend. So, to see his death, to not prevent it, it hit her harder than she thought it would.

"No... my baby, please don't blame yourself," Hayley whispered, heart clenching at the sight. "You tried your best."

Klaus squeezed Hayley's hand.

As the group stood at the edge, looking down at Derek's body, the alpha pack left. The twins had woken up and picked up Kali's dead body.

Derek Hale was dead and Hope felt guilty for not doing something more to prevent the tragic.

Hayley shook her head, not liking seeing her daughter hurting like this.

PRESENT TIME;

HOPE IGNORED COACH as he yelled at Jared to not throw up. She had her head rested on the window, her eyes closed as she recalled the fall of Derek.

Coach turned to the rest of the bus, calling out, "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 up! Stilinski, put your hand down."

"You know, there's, like, a food exit about a half a mile up. I don't know if we stop and then maybe traffic..." Stiles began to explain, making random hand movements to try and convince Coach to pull over. Scott was looking worse as the time went by, and Hope was being eaten up by guilt.

"He's so worried for his friends," Davina mumbled, "it's so adorable."

"We're not gonna stop."

"Okay, but if we stop—"

"Stilinski!" Finstock shouted, violently blowing on his whistle before beginning move frantically to express his irritation. "Shut it! Seriously! It's a little bus! Stop asking me questions!"

Stiles sunk back into his seat, hand falling over his mouth, "I hate him." He sighed and looked over at Scott. "Did you call Deaton?"

Scott sighed, leaning his head back on the window. "I keep getting his voicemail." He was exhausted, wanting to sleep, but knowing he can't.

Stiles glanced between the two, scrambling to find his phone and dialing a familiar number. "That's it. I'm calling Lydia and Allison."

"How are they gonna help, back in Beacon Hills?"

"They're not." Hope rolled her eyes. "They've been following us for hours." She looked at Stiles who looked back at her in surprise. He thought he was the only one to notice them. "They're not that discreet. Plus, they're literally right behind us."

"They're perfect for one another," Freya mused as he stared at them on the screen.

Landon — no matter if he's slowly coming to the realization of Hope moving on — still didn't like the idea of her with anyone else. Especially someone like Stiles... they're basically the same person! It's clear that Hope has a type.

He smiled and placed the phone against his ear. He pursed his lips, rolling his eyes at whatever Lydia was saying. "I know you guys are right behind us. Put me on speaker," Stiles deadpanned, getting straight to the point. "Okay, look, Scott is still hurt."

Hope learned forward, her face inches away form Stiles' which made him let out a squeaky noise.

"Adorable," Freya grinned.

"What do you mean "still,"? Is he not healing?" Allison's voice broke through the phone, concern laced in her words.

"No, he's not healing. I think he's actually getting worse. His blood's turning, like, a black color," Stiles explained, looking at Scott who was grimacing.

Hayley grimaced, "yeah... that's not good."

"What's wrong with him?"

"What's wrong with him? I don't — do I have a PhD in lycanthropy and Pheanixology? How am I supposed to know that?" Stiles retorted, and waved his hand around, almost slapping Hope in the face.

"We need to get him off the bus," Allison's voice cracked, sounding as though she were on the verge of tears.

"And take him where, a hospital?" Lydia asked.

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

"Yeah, I've been trying," Stiles replied, huffing which made Hope snort a little.

"Well, reason with him."

"Reason? Have you met this guy?"

Allison huffed from the other end, "Just try something."

The phone call ended, and Stiles angrily thrust his phone back into his pocket.

Hope smirked, patted Stiles on the shoulder, and then focused her attention to the front of the bus. She held her hand out in front of her, and slammed her hand down as if she was pushing something invisible. Then, the bus picked up its speed.

"Oh..." Lizzie mused. "We learnt this spell in like third grade. It's pretty cool."

"What's going on?!" Finstock shouted, running towards the front of the bus where the driver was panicking.

Right when they approached the rest area, Hope narrowed her eyes, and the bus began to stutter and choke before squealing to an abrupt stop.

"All nonverbal, too!" Freya said excitedly, straightening in her seat. "I'm so proud of her!"

All the kids yelled out in surprise and fear before Coach ordered them to shut up and get off the bus.

Isaac and Boyd glanced at the trio just as Stiles and Hope helped Scott up from the seat.

Once everyone was off the bus, Allison and Lydia approached them as they hurried towards the bathroom.

They lowered the injured McCall to the floor, and he grunted loudly, resting his head on the wall.

Allison moved forward, rolling up Scott's shirt to assess the damage. What they saw when the shirt was raised had been enough for Lydia and Stiles to take a small step backward. The wound seemed to have somehow gotten worse even though Hope casted a spell.

"Which honestly doesn't make sense, but then again, their world is a bit different," Freya said with a frown.

"Oh, my God," Allison whispered, her eyes filling with concern as she swallowed hard. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Sorry."

Allison stood up and looked towards the others, tears in her brown eyes. "This shouldn't be happening," She pointed out, the three of them moving toward the opposite side of the bathroom. "I've seen him heal from worse than this."

"Okay, what do we do then?" Stiles asked, frantically looking back over at his best friend. "Do we just call an ambulance?"

"What if — What if it's too late? What if he can't help?" Allison asked quickly.

"I tried to heal him in the bus," Hope spoke up. "It only took away the pain and made it stop bleeding a little. But, it should've healed him."

"You know, it could be psychological," Lydia breathed out. Stiles went to speak, but the sound of gagging caught their attention. Their heads snapped over in time to watch as Scott bent over, and blood splattered all over the floor.

"Ew!" Lizzie scrunched up her nose.

Stiles urgently pointed in his direction, "Does that look psychological to you?"

"Somatoformic," Lydia corrected, trying to keeping her eyes off of the gagging boy on the other side of the room. "A physical illness from a psychogenic cause. It's all in his head."

"All in his head?" Stiles murmured to himself, glancing back over toward Scott. "Because of Derek. He's not letting himself heal because Derek died." Has then looked to Hope. "But... you're fine."

The girl in question shrugged and pursed her lips. "I'm used to it." She had blamed herself for her mothers death, her father and uncles death. She had blamed herself for the fire in her room, she had blamed herself for Landon dying, she had blamed herself for Gerard, and now she's blaming herself for Derek dying. It's nothing new.

Everyone's heart broke by her thoughts.

Lizzie pursed her lips, nails digging into the palms of her hands. She hated herself because she used to give Hope so much shit over the fire because it had ruined their plans of a trip. Slowly, she turned to her sister who was wincing.

"I didn't think it would be that big of a deal," Josie stated in a whisper, shrinking in on herself.

Lizzie swallowed thickly and turned back to the screen, tense.

Jen furrowed her brows as she looked between the blonde and brunette.

"So what do we do?" Allison questioned him; Lydia began to dig around in her purse to reveal a travel size sewing kit.

"Stitch hin up." The strawberry blonde shrugged, looking between them. "I'm serious. Maybe all he needs is to just believe it's healing."

Hope furrowed her brows. "But—"

Lydia turned to her. "I think the reason your magic didn't work is because he doesn't understand how it works. There could be many possibilities on why it didn't work."

Freya tilted her head. "Kind of makes sense..."

Allison took the kit from Lydia, pulling out a lighter from her purse to sterilize the needle. The metal heated up, glowing a searing red as it burned off the germs.

Hope took in a breath and made her way to Scott, taking his shirt off. Once the material was off, she laid her hand on his cheek and offered him a small smile. "We'll get you up and running again." She got down on her knees and moved to the side of him.

"He's going to need new shirts. Where is his house bags?" Allison asked, running the tip of the needle through the flame.

Stiles nodded, shooting up and standing beside Lydia. "Um, I'm gonna get them. I hate needles anyway, so..." He turned to exit the bathroom, quickly glancing back at Allison and asked, "Uh, do you know what you're doing?"

"Yeah, my father taught me."

"I mean, how fast are you gonna...I mean, the bus, like, the bus could leave," Stiles stumbled through his words.

"Make sure it doesn't leave," Hope told him, and gave him a small smile. "I'll stay here and make sure it gets done."

"I can help. Come on," Lydia grabbed ahold of Stiles' wrist and exited the bathroom, leaving Allison and Hope alone with Scott.

"Okay," Allison whispered, exhaling deeply to try and calm her nerves. She kneeled down between Scott's knees. "Stay with me, okay? Stay with me."

Hope looked between them before looking back down at the wound. "I'm going to try some spells to help along the process." When the brunette simply nodded, Hope placed her hand above the wound, leaving Allison enough space to work.

"Episkey." She closed her eyes, focusing all her attention on the huge wound. "Episkey," she kept repeating, putting more emotion behind the word, and a orange glow appeared where she was touching, traveling towards the wound. It wrapped around the wound, and it shines through the cracked skin as Allison finally got the thread through the needle.

When the glow went away, Allison let out a disappointed breathed when it didn't seem to do anything.

"Okay," the brunette breathed out and began to finally stitch the wound up. "Keep it going..."

Hope nodded and closed her eyes once again. "Vulnera Sanentur."

Everyone is so focused on the scene, so tense, that no one spoke. Everyone barely even breathed, too in awe of the scene in front of them.

A shock went through out the tribrid's body, and it seemed to shake Scott a little, waking him up seeing he had passed out. "I think it's beginning to work." She took in a deep breath and eyed the wound with determined eyes. "Vulnera Sanentur!" She exclaimed loudly, and another shock went throughout the both of them as a blue light went from her hands, to the wound.

"It's working!" Allison exclaimed in awe and relief as they watched the wound slowly begin to close up. "I'll finish stitching him up, but I think he's good now." Her shoulders slumped and she gave the McCall a smile seeing as he was looking up at her with big brown eyes.

"Thank you," he breathed out and then looked to Hope. "You're amazing."

Hope let out a small chuckle and pulled her hands away from him. "You're lucky that I actually like your stupid ass or I would've let you suffer."

A few people snickered at that.

"Her magic is so cool," Bonnie said, absolutely amazed by everything Hope does. Especially with magic. "I've never seen it light up like hers does. It's simply... amazing."

ONCE OUTSIDE, Lydia and Allison quickly rushed over.

"Are you okay?" Lydia asked quickly, taking the bags off of Scott's shoulder.

Hope furrowed her brows as she looked around for a specific person. "Where's Stiles?"

"Her specific person," Caroline corrected quietly.

"Trying to stall Coach," Lydia explained. "We still don't have gas."

"I'm not leaving them," Allison stated firmly, knowing that she'll ride the bus is she had to.

"Then we have to leave the car."

"Sounds good."

As they made their way over, Hope glanced over only to notice a large group of students were surrounding a tree, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. A familiar red jacket was seen through the crowd, and Hope picked up her speed.

"Stiles, what's happening?" Scott asked in confusion, none of them being able to see clearly through the crowd of people shouting.

"They went after him," Stiles began, seeming just as confused as they were. "I told him what was happening to you and he just went after him."

"Who, Boyd?" Scott asked frantically.

Hope began pushing through the crowd, ignoring those who shouted at her.

"Isaac, Isaac, Isaac!" Coach tried to somehow convince Isaac to stop, but he was having none of it.

Hope watched as Coach and Danny grab at the teen, but his werewolf strength was too much for them to control. He broke out of their hold and lunged toward an already bloodied Ethan, slamming his knuckles against the side of his jaw.

"Isaac!" Hope bellowed, grabbing his arm just as he was about to swing again.

As soon as her voice sounded, Isaac instantly pulled away from Ethan, allowing his body to crumple to the ground. Isaac shyly peered up to meet Hope's eyes.

"Oh," Hayley's eyes widened, just as Klaus' had.

"She's either his anchor, or he thinks of her as his alpha," Jed piped up, munching on some mini m&ms.

"What were you thinking?" She sighed heavily and crossed her arms as everyone made their way to the bus because of Coach yelling at them.

He but his lip and stood up straighter, looking down at her with his bright blue eyes. "He had it coming."

"True," Hope nodded, "but you need more control." She then laid a hand on his arm. "Do you want to sit with me on the bus?"

He perked up with a smile. "Yes."

"Adorable!" Caroline squealed happily.

"I want an Isaac," Bonnie stated with a small smile.

Stiles crossed his arms as he watched the two of them pile onto the bus. "Stupid wolf," he muttered to himself as he slowly made his way on the bus behind them.

Lizzie took it upon herself to sing, "I'm so sick of myself. I'd rather be, rather be anyone, anyone else. My jealousy, jealousy started following me."

"Is that the song you were referencing earlier?" Caroline inquired, curious.

"Yes," Lizzie nodded, smiling.

"I like it," Caroline said, sharing a smile with Lizzie.

Lydia rose a brow at the boy as she shared a look with Allison, and they both laughed together.

Elena leaned forward, "so about that Sabrina vs Olivia thing, what was it about?"

Lizzie got excited as she got up and scooted her seat closer to her mother and her friends. "So..."

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