𝟐𝟐 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒌𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒂

✯☾✯

Lizzie and Stiles followed closely behind Scott within the shadows, looking more sinister than they needed to be. They'd been told to wait behind in the car as Scott went looking for the kanima but, like always, the hyperactive pair had ignored their best friend.

Scott turned, jumping in a start when he noticed Stiles and Lizzie beside him. Situated someplace downtown Beacon Hills, the trinity concealed themselves behind a wall near, what looked like, a club.

"Did you see where he went?" Stiles questioned, he looked up, scanning the rooftops. It seemed that was Jackson's preferred method of transportation.

"I lost him." Scott murmured, only half listening. His werewolf abilities were turned up as far as they could go, all senses searching for a jackass lizard.

"What? You couldn't catch his sent?" Stiles exclaimed, sounding slightly alarmed.

Scott looked at the boy thoughtfully, mind racing with ample possibilities. "I don't think he has one."

Lizzie gnawed anxiously on the inside of her lip, speaking up for the first time. "Do you know where he's going?"

"To kill someone." Scott deadpanned, searching Lizzie's face for recognition.

"Ah. That explains the claws, and the fangs, and all that. Good. Makes perfect sense now." Stiles sassed. Lizzie smiled, it had been a while since she'd heard the boy's signature sarcasm.

Scott, however, glared at Stiles, unhappy with the timing of his witty remark.

Stiles noticed the disappointment. "What? Scott, come on. I'm one hundred and forty-seven pounds of pale skin and fragile bone- sarcasm is my only defense!"

Scott sighed. After spending most of his life with the Stilinski boy, he was very much used to his presumptuous personality.

"Just help me find it."

"Not 'it'-Jackson." Stiles reminded him.

Lizzie wasn't really listening to the conversation at hand. Her main focus was lively que, a loud rabble of noise that was greatly distracting her. It seemed that lots of little things distracted her, no matter how small or loud. There was something in the back of her mind that was making her unable to block out unimportant distractions or visual distractions in order to focus on important matters.

A finger snapped in her face, disrupting her.

"Oi, tiny, you listening?" Stiles basically hollered down her ear. Lizzie jumped, blinking until she was focused again.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I was listening." She blurted, scratching the back of her neck awkwardly.

"All right, tell me what I just said then." Stiles put his hands on his hips. He kind of reminded Lizzie of a strict mom.

The pixie cringed and Stiles was granted amusement in the way she screwed up her face.

Before either of Lizzie's best friends could lecture her, Stiles caught sight of something above them. He called to the other two and trio moved backwards, staring heaven forward at the roof. Lizzie caught a glimpse of slick tail as it disappeared through a crack and into the building.

"He's inside." Scott stated the obvious.

"Why is it always on the roof?" Lizzie questioned. "Did you know that in Australia a lot of the time kangaroos stomp around on people's rooves?"

Stiles left eye twitched, vexed. "No, I did not know that, nor did I need to."

Scott waved his hand in front of them, hushing them. "I know who he's after."

"What, how? How? Did you smell something?" Stiles glanced quickly between where the kanima previously was and Scott.

Scott was staring straight ahead at the front of the line Lizzie watching earlier. And at the front, waiting to be let into the building was someone all three of the recognised.

"Armani."

✯☾✯

The trio managed to get inside what Lizzie had been told certainly was a club, curtesy of Scott's very handy supernatural strength.

Dance music bleared, the beats pounding eardrums. Bodies moved in time to the song, close together, grinding and jumping around.

"Lizzie!" Scott bellowed over the noise. "Hold my hand otherwise we're gonna loose you!"

Lizzie shrugged, complying and grasping hold of Scott's sweaty fingers.

The wolf scanned the bustling room, squinting through the intensely colourful strobe lights.

"Dude! Everyone here's a dude!" He grinned to himself upon making the realisation. "I think we're in a gay club!"

"Man, nothing gets past those keen werewolf senses, huh, Scott?" Stiles spat. Scott and Lizzie turned, stifling laughter when seeing poor old Stiles being fondled and stroked by a couple of magnificent drag queens.

Eventually, after having to save Stiles from the grasps of multiple horny men, they pushed their way through to the bar.

"Two beers and an orange juice for the lady." Stiles requested, banging cheerfully atop the counter.

"IDs?" The bartender approached them doubtfully. Scott and Stiles both produced their wallets, sliding their identification across the smooth surface of the counter whilst Lizzie stared around her in awe, fumbling around with her fingers.

The bartender looked at the cards, both proud owners of horrific photos, with an entertained expression. "How 'bout two cokes?"

"Rum and coke? Sure!" Stiles grinned, still persisting.

The unlucky man behind the bar did not look impressed.

Stiles bopped his head to the music stiffly when he knew he wasn't getting his way. "Coke's fine, actually. I'm driving anyway."

The man moved away with a very visible eye roll, signalling for the drinks. A second guy returned with two cups of coke in his hand, informing the three that Stiles' drink had been paid for by a good looking dude sat across the bar.

Stiles didn't look happy however Lizzie could tell he was secretly flattered.

A few seconds later and another dude from behind the bar approached Lizzie with her juice. He set the glass carefully down in front of her.

"There you go, cutie." He spoke with a confident wink.

Lizzie grinned gratefully. "Have you got any straws?"

The guy nodded, handing her a bright pink one before wandering off to tend to his other duties.

"Hey, I found Danny." The pixie heard Stiles point out. Danny Mahealani, Jackson's possible next target, was dancing amidst the rest of the party goers.

"I found Jackson." Scott added.

The creepy lizard, as Lizzie was very well aware of, was crawling across the ceiling like a spider. More importantly, he was directly above Danny.

"Get Danny." Scott ordered, staring daggers at the scaly being.

"What are you gonna do?" Stiles asked and Scott flicked his claws out, a very successful way of asserting his power.

"Works for me."

"You go, dude."

Stiles grabbed Lizzie by the wrist, dragging her through the sea of people towards Danny. The pair of them called for the boy yet they could not get to him.

The smoke machine turned on, filling the hot room with a cloud of ashy grey, preventing Scott from locating Jackson.

Stiles held onto Lizzie as tight as he could whilst bodies began to drop all around them, each paralysed like Derek had been at the pool.

Chaos enveloped the room, screams and shouts came from every direction.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lizzie spotted Scott dart out the back entrance. She followed, tugging Stiles with her.

Outside, the cool air hit them perfectly, they took deep breaths before the oxygen hitched in their throats. A stream of blood trickled from behind a car in the deserted parking lot. Cautiously, Stiles and Lizzie followed it.

Jackson, now completely in his human form and Scott hovering over him, lay unconscious, bleeding from the neck.

"What do we do with him now?" Scott exclaimed, distressed and worried.

✯☾✯

The trinity had sought refuge within Stiles' jeep, the only place they could go without being bothered by the cops who were swarming the scene.

"Couldn't get anything out of Danny." Scott said as he climbed into the shotgun seat.

"Okay, can we just get the hell out of here now before one of my dad's deputies sees me?" Stiles begged anxiously. He started the car up but didn't get very far.

Ironically, Noah Stilinski pulled up right in front of them.

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Could this get any worse?" Stiles screeched, flailing his hands about.

"Yes." Lizzie squeaked from the back seat. She was pushed up against the car door, concealing herself as far away as she could from Jackson who was laying straight across the back, his legs resting on Lizzie's lap.

Considering the cops were here, it really wasn't the best idea to kidnap an unconscious, half-naked boy but it was Scott, Stiles and Lizzie. Nothing they did came from a good idea.

"That was rhetorical." Stiles scolded the girl, turning back to Scott.

"Get rid of him." Scott told him.

Stiles' eyes widened in alarm. "Get rid of him? We're at a crime scene, and he's the Sheriff!"

"Do something!"

Stiles moved spastically, throwing open the car door and making way towards his father.

Jackson stirred, groaning as he sat up. "What- what's going on?"

"Oh my god!" Lizzie yelped, shuffling further away. She was extremely afraid the only thing covering Jackson's parts, a flimsy blanket, would slide off him as he moved.

"Jackson, Jackson, be quiet." Scott hissed, extremely aware that if the sheriff looked to his right, he'd spot them.

But, Jackson wouldn't rest. He kept sitting up, moaning and whining, still half asleep. After Scott had quietly yelled at him to shut the hell many times, both teens had had enough.

"Scott," Lizzie whispered, leaning forward. "Knock him out. Punch him. Pow, pow."

Scott winced. "Jackson, I'm sorry about this."

The wolf swung his fist, hitting Jackson square in the face and causing him to collapse back down.

Scott and Lizzie watched the conversation between Stiles and his dad, sighing in relief when Stiles came back with a grin on his face, relieved that they could leave this place.

The car ride turned into a brainstorming session extremely quickly.

"Uh, what about your house?" Stiles suggested, they'd come across a conundrum. The conundrum being they had an unresponsive boy in their backseat whom they didn't no what to do with.

"Not with my mom there. We need to take him somewhere where we can hold him long enough to figure out what to do with him. Or long enough to convince him he's dangerous." Scott immediately shut down the idea, unwilling to put his mom in danger.

"I'm sure there's some sort of zoo or circus that would love to have him." Lizzie piped up, voice shaky. She was kind of freaking out. They'd just kidnapped someone. Someone who already hated them with extreme passion.

"Do you know any good zoos or circuses around here, L?" Stiles sassed, the pixie shrinking back.

"I still say we just kill him."

"We're not killing him."

"God!" Stiles groaned. This whole thing was pissing him off. It was pissing everyone off. The firm hold he held around the steering wheel tightened. "Okay, okay, I got an idea."

Scott grimaced uneasily. "Does it involve breaking the law?"

"By now, don't you think that's a given?"

Lizzie giggled at that statement as it was very fitting.

"I was just trying to be optimistic." The wolf sighed. Optimism seemed to be his thing, along with heroic acts and unbearable awkwardness.

"Don't bother."

✯☾✯

The wind thread through Lizzie's mousy brown hair, rushing over her skin. She sat, back against a tree, ignoring the constant shouts of Jackson. It had been Stiles' great idea to lock him in the back of a police van.

She lifted her arm and aimed, stone in hand. The three teens had been in the Beacon Hills Preserve for hours, so long that daylight was cracking through. As she released it, the stone cut through the air and hit the tower of sticks she'd piled up, knocking them all down.

Lizzie breathed in the crisp, winter morning and the frosty chill in the air. A sweet surrendering scent of the moist morning dew cascaded all around the sublime forest. The mixed cool, old autumn leaves from the tall trees lay scattered on the forest floor; they were in the motion of turning a brittle brown. There was the sound of shattered glass that emphasised the leaves being crunched, as if you were to step on them, pushing their papery remains deep into the ground.

Lizzie loved nature. It's beauty astounded her, it connected with her. Every aspect of it made her feel something special and being surrounded by it only made her feel powerful. It was weird but she'd always felt that way.

A few more yells of frustration came from the van. Unfortunately, she was on Jackson watch for a few more hours and she could tell time was not going to fly.

✯☾✯

"Hey, Davey," Lizzie slowly opened the door to Davis' room, her phone in hand, staring at it quizzically. It was very different to Bobby's as most of it was brightly coloured and blinding.

Davis lifted his head from the pillow, blinking groggily.

"Were you napping?" Lizzie guffawed, her eyes lit up happily. Davis only murmured a few incoherent noises.

"Mood," Lizzie nodded, stepping further into the 12 year old's room. "Do you know the WIFI password?"

"Are you serious?" Davis mumbled, taking his time to sit up, perspective still hazy with sleep.

"Totally serious. Now, what is it?" Lizzie said, turning back to her phone, ready to type.

"I don't know!" Davis exclaimed. He was glaring at his sister like she was some sort of unsolved puzzle. "You were the one who made it."

Lizzie sighed, scratching the crown of her head. She really didn't have a good memory. "Are you sure you don't know?"

"I've forgotten it. You wrote it down on a sticky note or something."

Slightly embarrassed, Lizzie bit the side of her cheek, rocking on the balls of her feet. "Oh, I may have lost that sticky note."

Davis threw his hands up. "That's not my problem."

Lizzie groaned, she really needed that password especially since she and her friends were harbouring a homicidal lizard in the woods. "Shit."

"Language!" Andrew called out, conveniently passing by Davis' door.

Giving up, Lizzie left her little brother's room and headed to her own room. She was stopped before she reached it.

Looking up, she noticed Bobby stood in front of her, a sorrowful expression held within his features. Things were still a little awkward between the pair of siblings as it had been since Bobby had screamed at her a few days ago.

"Hey, uhm." The boy refused to make eye contact. "I'm sorry for what I said to you the other day."

There was a moment of silence as Lizzie's gaze softened.

"I want you to know that I didn't mean any of it and- well, I'm gonna talk to that new councillor at school, Miss Morrel. See if she can figure out what the fuck's wrong with me."

"There's nothing wrong with you."

Bobby looked up from the floor, the place he'd rested his vision on whilst he spoke. Lizzie smiled before pulling her big brother into a warm hug, comforting and loving.

Unfortunately, the sibling bonding moment, as adorable as it was, was cut short when the voice and Andrew Brown echoed throughout the house.

"Elizabeth! Why the hell have we just been called down to the sheriff's station?"

✯☾✯

The menacing interrogation roomed was crammed with people all sat around a black table. Scott McCall, Melissa McCall, Stiles Stilinski, Noah Stilinski, Lizzie Brown, Andrew Brown and Jackson Whittemore's laywer.

"You will not go within fifty feet of Jackson Whittemore. You will not speak to him. You will not approach him. You will not assault him or harass him physically or psychologically." Noah read from the document in his hand, face tense.

Yep, Jackson had filed a restraining order and rightfully so. They did kidnap him and lock him in a prison transport van for 17 hours straight.

"What about school?" Stiles spoke up after an hazardous moment of silence.

"You can attend classes while attempting to maintain a fifty-foot distance." Noah frowned at his son.

"But- okay, what if we both have to use the bathroom at the same time, and there's only two stalls available, and they're only right next to each other."

Lizzie and Andrew had chosen seats right in the corner. Their mouths were covered, concealing their stifled laughter. One wrong move, for example, making eye contact with each other, and all their hard work would be unravelled.

"I'm sorry, I think I just need to take a step outside," Andy moved towards the open door before stopping. He put on a strict parent face although his eyes still sparkled with obvious amusement.

"You-," He shook his head, attempting to compose himself. "You kids should be a ashamed of yourselves."

Andy stepped out the room, only lasting seconds before the sound of loud guffaws floated from the hallway.

Lizzie coughed, her father's laugh becoming contagious.

"I'm sorry." She giggled, dashing out the room as well.

✯☾✯

Melissa McCall sighed, running her hands through her dark, curly hair, stress levels at it's peak. She took a deep breath of the cool air, using the moment to herself as an advantage.

It was quickly disrupted when Andrew Brown stepped out of the precinct, he smiled at the woman, beginning to make his way to his car before something pulled him back. He turned, approaching her.

"Hi, uh I don't know if we've met. Uhm, I'm Andy, Lizzie's dad." He stuck his hand out, the corner of his eyes creasing as he grinned.

Melissa remained motionless, staring at the man for a while. Eventually, she came to her senses and shook the strong hand outstretched towards her.

"Melissa, Scott's mom."

Andy rested his hands on his hips, gazing at the darkness around him. "Kids, huh?"

Melissa clicked her tongue, smiling. "Ugh, I know. Well- I would've sort of suspected this from Scott and Stiles but, your daughter, I- she's so sweet. These boys seem to be dragging her into all sorts."

Andy shrugged. "I don't mind. She's been so happy these days. Uh- we lost her mother a few years back and it took a real toll on all of us. But, these past couple of months, I've started to catch glimpses of the girl she was before."

Melissa scrunched her nose up, the new information putting in a state of content appreciation. "So are you a single parent or have you got-"

"No." Andrew blurted a bit to quickly. "No, it's just me. What about you? Surely such a beautiful woman has someone waiting for them at home."

Melissa glanced down, bashfully. "Uh, no. I'm actually divorced. Scott's dad was a dick so,"

Andrew nodded, making a mental note of that. "Well, uh, I better get going but I'll see you around."

The pair bid their goodbyes and Andrew left the McCall woman with a blatant rosy blush forming on her skin.

✯☾✯

The cheerfully repetitive bell above the door of the new pizza restaraunt of Beacon Hills, dinged as Vernon Boyd entered. He scanned the bustling diner, spotting his companion sat sipping on a milkshake in a booth at the back.

He weaved through the tables, skirting past busy waiters. He wasn't paying attention as he neared the table he'd made a bee line for so he was taken completely by surprise when a 5'2 girl barrelled into him. Arms were wrapped around his waist, forcing him into a hug, something he wasn't used to.

Lizzie pulled back when she felt the boy tense. "Sorry, do you not like hugs?"

Boyd softened, staring down at the girl. The height difference was so large he could use her as an arm rest.

"No- I do. I just haven't had one in a while." He spoke in a very calm manner.

Lizzie jumped on the spot. "Well, you're my friend and friends give each other hugs. Come sit."

The pair sat on the plush bench on either side of the table.

"I hope you don't mind." She gestured to her empty milkshake glass. "I was so thirsty."

"Of course I don't." Boyd picked up a menu and began to read through it as Lizzie wittered at him.

"What are you getting?" She asked, chewing on the paper straw sticking out from her glass.

"Hawaiian. Extra cheese."

A waiter approached their table, notepad in hand. He was wearing tacky t-shirt that stated 'Always and Forever' on it which Lizzie was delighted by.

"Drinks?"

Lizzie ordered a second milkshake whilst Boyd went with a coke. The waiter shuffled away, leaving Lizzie grinning from ear to ear.

"He had such a cool t-shirt. Did you see it?" She asked the boy in front of her.

"The vampire dairies one?"

"Yes! Oh my days, have you watched it?"

Boyd cringed. "I'm not proud of it."

"You should be proud of it. It's so good. I can't believe I've finally found someone who's watched it." Lizzie was going a mile a minute, Boyd could barley keep up.

"Have you got a favourite character? Team Stefan or team Damon? What's your opinion on Klaus?"

Boyd furrowed his brows, trying his very best to formulate an answer. "Uh, Enzo. Neither- I don't like Elena and, uhm, I prefer Rebekah."

Lizzie nodded along. "I respect that."

A silence flowed over them. It was comfortable. Friendly. And that's all Boyd ever wanted. A friend. He met the joyful blue eyes of the girl in front of him.

Like him, they hid such heart wrenching trauma behind those glistening pupils that had seen so much.

The costume of your eyes is the most important step to correct when it comes to hiding pain.

Lizzie blinked at Boyd, puzzled. It was almost like she could feel him figuring her out. And she practically could.

Because Lizzie Brown and Vernon Boyd had a lot more in common than they thought.

a/n

not my best work, gonna be honest

andrew got rizz guys

also, have yall watched (or played) the last of us because OH MY GOD the amount of times i've cried already

I wanna write a fic bc i have so many ideas but it's sad bc i have no one to share them with

anyways-

thanks for reading

soph