♞

02
-Second Chance At First Line-
(season one, episode two)
♞

The benches didn't have many people occupying them. It was only a practice after all. Coach Finstock blew his whistle to gain everyone's attention and announced as loud as he could, "I know I'm amazing at my job but, I do need some help with you idiots. Joey Russo will be your new assistant coach." Some players cheered and clapped, while others smirked and whistled.

Joey only signed up because of extra credit. There was a sheet people could sign during the summer if they were interested. Nobody had signed. Naturally, Joey took that position and was excited to sit on the bench all practice doing nothing. But Coach had other plans.

"Jackson... Take a long stick." He said.

Coach turned to Joey with a nervous smile, "Keep an eye on McCall for me?"

Joey nodded and sat down on the bench. She was holding a clipboard and stopwatch for whatever reason. The whistle was blown and players scrambled throughout the field. Several plays were better than others. But then, it was Scott's turn.

"McCall, let's go."

Saying Joey was worried was an understatement. Stiles had practically begged her to quit the assistant coach position. He went on and on about how lacrosse was a rough sport. He was scared for the girl he barely knew to be caught in the supernatural.

She wasn't planning on quitting.

As Scott prepared for his turn the other players lined up watching him. He ran quickly towards the goal, inevitably landing on the ground with a groan. Words were shared from coaches side and Scott was filling with anger. His eyes became darker and his body grew more confident. He was pissed and Stiles was scared, not only for himself, but for his best friend.

"McCall's gonna do it again!" Coach yelled.

Players lined up once again and the whistle was blown. Scott ran faster than before. Everyone watched as Jackson was thrown to the ground, away from Scott in the process.

"Dear lord..." Joey mumbled.

Joey rushed to Jackson's side.
Stiles ran to Scott's.

"I can't con-" Scott stressed to Stiles.

Joey could overhear parts of the conversation between the boys. Raising her suspicions even more. The blonde tried to sneak away from Jackson's side but coach interrupted.

"Jo get over here!" He yelled.

"Coach, I need to grab some supplies from the locker room! I'll be back, keep his arm elevated!"

Joey followed the boys off the field and chased them towards the locker rooms. She felt a pair of eyes on her but decided to ignore it for now. This was more important to her. The door to the locker rooms were open so she peered in from next to it. She could hear growls and things hitting metal from the inside.

She watched as Stiles grabbed the fire extinguisher and sprayed "something" with it. And as she looked closer, she saw it was Scott.
She began to panic, pushing herself further against the wall in fear. Stiles threw himself out of the locker rooms and into Joeys arms.

"Joey?! What are you doing here?" He screamed.

Joey opened her mouth but no words came out. Just a jumbled mess of noises. She blinked furiously and after a few seconds froze.

"Are you okay? Is Scott okay?" She asked softly.

Stiles nodded sweetly and stared at the girl. He knew that she had seen what happened, he just didn't want to believe it.

"Stiles..." Scott called from inside.

Both of them peaked inside to look at Scott.
He was covered in sweat and looked exhausted.

"What happened?"

The brunette walked towards Scott dropping the fire extinguisher off to the side. He nodded at Joey with a look of, 'are you staying?' She nodded in response.

"You tried to kill me. It's like I told you before. It's the anger, it's your pulse rising. It's a trigger."

Scott eyed Joey and looked down towards Stiles who kneeled in front him on the ground.

"But that's lacrosse. It's a pretty violent game, if you hadn't noticed." Scott explained.

"Well it's gonna be a even more violent if you end up killing someone on the field. You can't play Saturday. You're gonna have to get out of the game."

Stiles turned to Joey, "Would you be able to help with that? I can explain everything, alright?"

The blonde nodded slowly, sending Scott a sympathetic smile.

"I'm first line." Scott tried to argue.

"Not anymore." Joey added worried.

•.•

Stiles sat on call with Joey. Nervously picking at his skin.

"Are you gonna explain?" She asked.

The boy stared at her through the screen, "Yeah."

He thought about how to word it but, there was no 'right' way. He just had to say it.

"Scott is... A werewolf?" It came out as more of a question than he intended.

Joey laughed humorously. "You sound ridiculous."

Stiles laughed as well, but he was more nervous than he had ever been in the last few days. And he didn't know why.

"Im not joking Jo. He howls at the moon and has glow sticks for eyes." He held a serious expression, even though he didn't want to be.

The blonde sat still for a minute or two. Her mind was going multiple miles per second. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to react, but she was scared to react the wrong way.

"Okay, so he's like, supernatural?" She asked.

Stiles nodded slowly. "Yep."

A ding interrupted the two, it was Scott.

"What'd you find out?" He asked with a tried expression.

Joey relaxed upon not being alone with Stiles anymore. "It's not good. Jackson's shoulder is separated. He almost cried on my new hoodie."

"Because of me?"

Stiles interrupted, "Because he's a tool."

"Is he gonna play Joey?"

She shrugged. "They don't know yet. Now we're counting on you for Saturday, which I will not be letting you play."

Scott let out a sigh. Joey could tell he cared about lacrosse. Hell, anybody could see that without knowing him. She didn't know him or Stiles very well but they were forming a friendship. And she intended to keep it. Joey knew Scott felt guilty for Jackson being hurt, but it wasn't completely his fault. He wasn't totally in control, is what Stiles told her earlier that day. She just felt bad.

While Stiles was trying to type, Joey was trying to find her phone. It had disappeared within seconds of her talking to Scott.

"What?" Scott said gaining her attention.
She narrowed her eyes at the boys in confusion.

"It looks like-" Stiles typed.

"It looks like what?" The boy wondered.

Joey was sitting in front of a frozen Stiles and worried Scott. She wasn't sure what the boy had saw that was so important. Then, her thoughts were interrupted by her mother yelling from downstairs.

"Joey, I'm going out! Don't stay up too late." Sylvia hollered.

Joey yelled back an 'okay' and returned to her screen.

Scott had vanished and after a few seconds Stiles had ended the call in a panic. And her phone was still missing. She had no idea what was going on. For once, she felt out of control, and It scared her. She spun her chair around and right in front of her was her phone. Sitting on the floor, with blood splattered on the screen.

•.•

Coach walked McCall into his office while questioning him. "What do you mean you can't play the game tomorrow night?"

Joey looked up, her eyes widening at the boy.

"I mean... I can't play the game tomorrow night."

Scott shared a desperate look with the blonde. She shrugged her shoulders in response.

"You can't wait to the play the game tomorrow night." Coach pressured.

"No, coach, I can't play the game tomorrow night." Scott said back.

"Im not following."

"I'm having some personal issues."

Joey joined the conversation, wanting to mess with the brunette. "Is it a girl?" Coach raised his brows in questioning.

"No."

"Is it a guy?" Coach asked. "You know, our goalie Danny is gay."

Scott blinked, "I know, that's not it."

Joey laughed. "You don't think Danny's a
good-lookin guy?"

"I... Think he's good-looking. I- I like girls. And that's not it anyway."

Coach widened his eyes. "Is it drugs? Are you doing meth?"

Joey held in another laugh. "I had a brother that was addicted to meth. You should have seen his teeth- they were all cracked and rotted."

"I bet it was disgusting coach." Joey added.
He nodded.

"My... God, what happened to him?" Scott asked.

"He got veneers. Is that what this is about? Are you afraid of getting hurt, McCall?"

Scott paused, "No... I'm... Having some issues dealing with aggression."

"Well, here's the good news. That's why you play lacrosse. Problem solved. Joey write that down."

"Alright coach-"

Scott was desperately trying to get out of the game and these two weren't making it easier.

"No, I can't play tomorrow night."

"Listen, McCall, part of playing first line is taking on the responsibility of being first line. Now, if you can't shoulder that responsibility, then you're back on the bench until you're ready."

All the laughter from Joey had completely stopped. She felt bad for the boy once again. She wondered how he had been dealing with this, and now she was apart of their group, she wanted to help Scott.

"If I don't play the game, you're taking me off first line?" He asked.

"McCall, play the game. And Joey, go to class."

•.•

Joey walked down the halls towards her locker, and saw Stiles and Scott in the distance. They looked like they were spying on someone. Naturally, she was intrigued.

"What are you guys doing?" She asked

Stiles jumped in response. "Stop doing that."

"Sorry Stilinski."

He nodded, "Scott's telling me what they're saying-"

Scott turned around and faced the pair.
"Be quiet."

They both nodded and watched silently as Scott tuned into their conversation once again.

"Curfew because of the body."

Stiles posture dropped, "Unbelievable."

"My dads out looking for a rabid animal, while the jerk-off who actually killed the girl is just hangin' out doing whatever he wants."

"Well, you can't exactly tell your dad the truth about Derek."

Joey nodded along despite not understanding.

"I can do something. Joey, wanna come with?"

"Wait- like what?" She asked.

"Find the other half of the body." He said while pulling Joey along with him down the halls.

"Are you kidding?"

•.•

"Do you understand now?" Asked Stiles.

Joey nodded, feeling a bit overwhelmed with all this new knowledge. Derek had killed that person and is also a werewolf. Now, they just had to find the rest of the body and he would go to jail.
Easier said than done.

•.•

Stiles dragged the new member of the inner circle up the stairs of Scott's house and through his bedroom door.

"What did you find? How did you find it? Where did you find it? And, yes, I've had a lot of Adderall, so..."

Stiles looked at his best friend relaxed. "I found something of Derek Hale's." He said.

Joey Smiled almost as wide as Stiles. "Are you kidding? What?" She was invested in this just as much as him.

"There's something buried there. I could smell the blood."

"That's awesome!" Stiles shouted.

The blonde smacked him on the arm, "I mean, that's terrible. Who's blood?"

The werewolf stood up and watched the pair with a smirk. "I don't know. But when we do, your dad is gonna nail Derek for the murder. And then you and Joey are gonna help me figure out how to play lacrosse without changing."

Joey smiled, she felt like a part of the team. Sorta like Batman and Robin. Only, she could be Alfred.

"There's no way im not playing that game."

The trio smiled and walked towards the door. They felt like they were getting somewhere, there was no place to go but up from here.

•.•

The hospital doors slid open, greeting them with the smell of sick people and rubbing alcohol.

"Hey." Stiles pointed at the door for the morgue.

Scott muttered an 'okay' before heading inside.

"Good luck." Joey said.

The brunette walked further into the hospital and spotted Lydia. His facial expression changed immediately and he tried to regain his confidence. He finally walked towards the strawberry blonde and began talking.

"Hey, Lydia."

Joey turned to her friend ready to grab him and ask for a few bucks, when she saw him standing next to the girl she had once liked. Her heart dropped and she began to feel angry.

"You probably don't remember me, I sit behind you in Biology." 

Lydia faced the boy, not really paying attention.

"Uh, anyway, I always thought that we just had this kind of connection. Unspoken, of course. Maybe it would be kind of cool to get to know each other, a little better."

The girl directed her attention somewhere else once he was done, "Hold on, give me a second."

She took an earpiece out and looked at the boy before her. "I didn't get any of what you just said. Is it worth repeating?" She asked.

Stiles mouth opened wide and look a little devastated. "Uh, no. Sorry."

He slowly walked away sitting on the chair just a few feet away.

The blonde watched as the boy sat; deep in his own thoughts.

"You okay, Stilinski?"

He looked at the girl who was beginning to sit next to him. "Yep, all good here." Stiles then grabbed a magazine and began pretending to read it.

Stiles watched as Lydia kissed Jackson Whittemore, and enjoyed it. He couldn't understand how she liked him. And Joey had once wondered the same thing, years prior.

Scott yanked the magazine away from the boy and gained both of their attentions in the process. "The scent was the same."

"You sure?" Stiles asked while standing from his chair.

"Yes."

Joey stood as well joining the conversation.

"So he did bury the other half of the body on his property?"

The wolf nodded, "Which means we have proof he killed the girl."

"I saw we use it." Stiles added while walking towards the exit.

"How?" He asked.

Stiles stopped his friend. "First tell me something. Are you doing this because you want to stop Derek, or because you want to play in the game, and he said you couldn't?"

"There are bite marks on the legs, Stiles- bite marks."

"We're gonna need a shovel." Said Joey.

•.•

The teens waited for Derek to drive away. That was their cue to drive towards the house and park. They jumped out of Stiles' Jeep and walked towards where the blood was smelled. Shovels and flashlights in hand.

"Wait, something's different." Scott interrupted the silence.

"Different how?" Stiles and a Joey said in unison.

"I don't know- let's just get this over with."

They began to shovel the dirt until it was just a big pit in the ground.

"What if he comes back?"

Stiles eyed Scott, "Then we get the hell out of here."

"What if he catches us?" Joey asked.

"I have a plan for that."

"Which is?"

All three of them were out of breath and needed a break. But they were determined to find out the truth behind the murder.

"You run one way, Joey and I run the other, whoever he catches first, too bad."

Scott looked up at his friend out of breath.
"I hate that plan."

Then, Joey had hit something.

"Stop, stop."

They began digging with their hands until just a tied rope was revealed.

"Hurry!" Scott panicked.

"Im trying. Did he have to tie the thing in, like, nine-hundred knots?"

"I'll do it." He stressed.

Once they had finished uncovering what was supposed to be a body, they only saw a deceased wolf underneath the dirt covered fabric. All three of them jumped and screamed in panic.

"What the hell is that?" Stiles shouted.

"It's a wolf." Scott replied.

"I can see that."

Joey gave a double take, "I thought you smelled human blood?"

Scott shook his head. "I told you guys something was different."

"This doesn't make sense."

"We gotta get outta here."

They all agreed and decided to cover the wolf up again. A purple flower caught Stiles' eye.

"What's wrong?" Asked Joey.

Stiles pointed a plant a few feet away from them.
"You see that flower?"

Scott continued, "What about it?"

"I think it's wolfsbane."

Joey gasped dramatically and held Stiles' arm.

"What's that?" He said while rolling his eyes.

"Uh haven't you ever seen The Wolf Man?" He asked.

Scott shook his head in response.

"Lon Chaney Jr.? Claude Rains."

Joey widened her eyes in disbelief.
"The original, classic werewolf movie?"

Scott began to raise his voice. "No! What?"

"You are so unprepared for this." Stiles said while walking towards the flower. He pulled the plant from the ground and attached was a rope. Joey and Scott watched as he carried the rope around the wolf's burial several times. Once the rope had ended the real body was revealed.

"Stiles, Joey."

The pair looked down the hole once again and looked at the girl in shock.

"Oh my gosh." The blonde gasped.

•.•

Derek Hale was being walked to a deputies car. He was hopefully going to be charged with the murder of that poor girl. Joey and Scott watched as police took pictures and searched around.
A few moments later Stiles walked towards the car casually, trying not to cause to much attention to himself in the process. Scott quickly turned around pretending not to see him. Joey watched closely as they brunette jumped in the deputies car. She then turned around just as quickly.

Stiles could be heard in the background being pulled away from the car by his father. This was gonna be hard to explain. Knowing Stiles so far; she knew he was gonna dig a deeper hole.

•.•

"I can't find wolfsbane being used for burials."

Stiles looked at his best friend. "Keep looking."

"Maybe it's like a ritual or something, maybe they bury you as a wolf." Joey suggested.

Stiles nodded, "Or, maybe it's like a special skill, you know? Like something you have to learn."

Scott leaned against the window, he looked sick.
"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 a girl werewolf."

Scott began to feel frustrated with the idea of werewolves. "Okay! Stop it!"

"Stop what?" Joey asked.

"Stop saying 'Werewolves'! Stop enjoying this so much." He stressed.

Stiles looked closer at his best friend.
"Are you okay?"

"No! No, I'm Not. I'm so far from being okay."

Stiles ignored the constant heavy breathing from his best friend and continued, "You know, you're gonna have to accept this, Scott, sooner or later."

"I can't." Scott pleaded.

"Well, you're gonna have to."

Joey eyed Stiles, even though he couldn't see it.

"No! I can't breath." Scott hit the roof of the Jeep and began to breathe even more heavily. He seemed like he was struggling to talk.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa."

The Jeep swerved from the panic.

"Pull over, Stiles!" Joey shouted.

"Why? What's happening?" He asked.

Joey thought for a moment before grabbing Stiles' bag roughly. She unzipped it and pulled the rope out with a huff. "You kept it?!"

"What was I supposed to do with it?" He shouted.

"Stop the car!" Scott yelled, his eyes flashing yellow with anger.

The Jeep came to an abrupt stop and Scott threw his door open in the process. Stiles jumped out and threw the bag further into the woods.

"Okay." He sighed.

"We're good-" Joey paused suddenly.

Stiles froze upon seeing an empty passenger seat, "Scott?" He squeaked.

•.•

"Stiles, you know you can't call the dispatch when I'm on duty." The deputy said.

Stiles held the radio tightly in his hand while Joey sat fidgeting in the passenger.

"I just need to know if you've gotten any odd calls."

There was a slight pause on the other line.
"Odd how?"

"Uh, like an off person or... A dog-like individual roaming the streets." He stressed.

"I'm hanging up on you now." She said.

"No! Wait, wait, wait, wait!"

"Goodbye." Then, the line went dead.

Joey rolled her eyes and began to panic more than she already was.

•.•

Joey sat at her dining table, reading about lycanthropy on her laptop. She wanted to be able to help just as much as Stiles.

"Honey, can we talk?" Her mother said softly.

The blonde looked up from her screen and smiled. "Yep."

Sylvia sat across from her daughter. She felt nervous talking about this. But her daughter deserved to know.

"Your father, was friends with a man. His name was Peter."

Joey nodded along. "Okay..."

Her mother sighed and continued. "Your dad recently visited him. He wanted you too as well."

The blonde clenched her jaw. "Why?"

"He's very dear to us. Just go with your father. I'm not sure when, but we agreed for you to see him, at least once." She rubbed Joey's shoulder and nodded.

"Okay, mom." She agreed.

Sylvia walked towards the stairs and away from her daughter.

•.•

The blonde sat on the players bench and waited for the boys.  She held her hand tightly and looked around before spotting Lydia holding Scott's shirt against her. They were talking, willingly. Before she got to talk to them, the whistle was blown. The game was finally starting.

Stiles scrambled to the seat next to Joey and nervously chewed on his glove. The girl rubbed his back to try and calm him down.
"Thanks."

The game started and the players began to throw the ball around. Joey never really learned anything about lacrosse. She didn't need to. Coach would tell her what was happening usually and expect for her to just sit there. Cheers were shouted every few minutes.

Jackson had scored the first point.

All three of them were dissatisfied with that.

Scott's eye caught a poster Allison and Lydia were holding in the bleachers. Stiles pointed at it and showed Joey. They knew that wasn't going to end well. And they were right. After a while they were ready to play again. Players eyed McCall with frustration.

Another sign was lifted into the air form the girls. Joey almost went over and ripped it from their hands but decided against it, knowing Stiles and Scott wouldn't want her to do that. The whistle blew and once again they began to play. Scott ran up and down the field and scored another point.

The other team simply looked at Scott and then passed them the ball. "Did the opposing team just deliberately pass us the ball?"

"Yes, I believe so, Coach." Stiles and Joey said in unison.

"Interesting." Said coach.

Scott threw the ball and ripped the other teams net; making it in the goal. Cheering was the only thing that could be heard, other than Coach and his assistant coach arguing with the ref. The ball was placed and eventually scored once again by the werewolf. They had officially won the game. Everyone raced to the field to cheer them on, but one player specifically was missing.

•.•

"I kissed her."

Joey and Stiles smirked. "We saw."

Scott smiled. "She kissed me."

"Saw that too." Said the brunette.

"That's pretty good." Said Joey.

Scott laughed, "I don't know how, but I controlled it. I pulled it back."

The blonde watched as Scott felt happy for once. She didn't want to ruin that feeling. So she decided not too.

"Maybe it's not that bad."

Stiles took a deep breath. "Yeah. We'll talk later then." He gave Scott a light shove and started to walk away.

"What?" Scott asked.

"The, uh, medical examiner looked at the other half of the body." Said Joey.

"And..." Scott pushed.

"Well, I'll keep it simple. Medical examiner determines killer of girl to be animal, not human. Derek's human, Not animal-"

"Derek not killer. Derek let out of jail." Stiles finished for the girl.

"Are you kidding?"

Stiles let out a huff, "No, here's the bigger kick in the ass, my dad I.D.'d the dead girl. Both halves. Her name was Laura Hale."

Scott's expression turned worried.
"Hale?"

"Derek's sister." Joey added.

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