17: Runaway

"I hate this place."

"I'm aware."

"The food sucks --"

"You've mentioned that once or twice."

"-- And I'm bored out of my mind."

Ariel sighs from her seat next to Sky as she watches the girl grumpily pick at the food on her tray.

They had been in hospital a few days now, both Sky and Lydia recovering nicely -- though Sky had started healing slightly faster then the doctors expected. She had shrugged off their curious looks and claimed good genes or that maybe her injury wasn't as bad as it looked. Sky's mother had smacked her upside the head when she'd said that, because it had been as bad as it looked and it had scared the hell out of her. But still, they left the doctors to their confusion. Her wounds hadn't miraculously healed -- they were still there -- but they were getting better faster then they should, and Sky only felt small amounts of pain when she moved. She would hopefully be allowed to get discharged soon, especially when the hospital knows her mother will be there as a nurse to watch out for her at home.

Lydia had woken up after a day, and before she did, Ariel had managed to check under her bandage to see that the bite hadn't healed, which confused them all. Though, Ariel was really hoping her sister wasn't going to be dragged into being a werewolf.

"If all goes well, you'll be home in a few hours," assures Ariel, reaching out to stroke her thumb over the back of Sky's free hand.

Sky observes her quietly for a moment as she chews a bite of her sandwich, noting the tiredness and worry in Ariel's eyes and how she kept absentmindedly rubbing her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" she asks.

Ariel looks at her in surprise, "What?"

Sky watches her as she tries to figure out what was wrong, "Something's up," she notes.

" I - Um," Ariel fumbles, avoiding her eyes guiltily. "There is something I haven't told you," she admits.

Sky squeezes her hand, "You can tell me anything."

"Yeah," Ariel sighs, nodding. "The thing is, when you and Lyds got hurt, Peter -- He --"

A piercing scream stops her as it echoes through the halls, making them wince before looking at each other with wide eyes when they recognise the voice.

Ariel stands up quickly, "That's Lydia!" she exclaims, rushing out of the room.

Sky grunts in pain as she gets up to follow, stumbling after her, "Wait!"

But when Sky gets to the source of the scream -- Lydia's hospital room bathroom -- she finds everyone crowding around an empty running shower and an open window.

Ariel turns from where she was standing next to the shower to look at Sky, confusion and worry written all over her face.

"She's gone."

***

It had taken a lot of convincing, but eventually, Sky had managed to get her mom to discharge her early, and to let Stiles 'take her home'. Really, Ariel helped her meet up with Scott and Stiles by the Jeep so they could start looking for Lydia.

Scott takes the hospital gown Stiles was holding out to him, "This is the one she was wearing?" he asks. He looks at Ariel. "I'm not letting anyone hurt her. Not again," he promises.

"Alright," cuts off Stiles. "Just shove the thing in you're face and let's find her!" he exclaims. They all pile into the jeep and Stiles starts to drive forward, only to hit the brakes sharply when Allison runs in front of them, "Wow!"

Sky curses as she jerks forward, her seatbelt putting pressure on her abdomen. It was mostly healed, but still very sore. She sees Ariel looking at her worriedly out of the corner of her eye.

The door opens and Allison jumps in the back, Ariel shuffling into the middle next to Sky.

Scott frowns, "What are you doing here?" he asks her. "Someone's gonna see us."

"Aren't you two not allowed to be near each other?" questions Sky.

Allison shakes her head, saying, "I don't care --" she starts.

Sky frowns, "Er -- I care if your father shoots my brother for speaking to you."

Allison sighs, "She's my best friend, and we need to find her before they do," she reasons.

"I can find her before the cops can," Scott tells her.

"How about before my father does?" Allison retorts.

Ariel looks at her in alarm, "He knows?" she asks.

Allison nods, "Yeah. I just saw him and three other guys leave the house in two SUVs."

Scott and Sky look at each other, "Search party," Scott says.

"It's more like a hunting party," Allison corrects.

Stiles starts the Jeep again, "All right, but if she's turning, would they actually kill her?" he wonders.

Allison sighs, "I don't know. They won't tell me anything. Okay, all they say is, 'We'll talk after Kate's funeral when the others get here'." she tells them.

Sky looks at her curiously, "What others?"

Allison shrugs, "I don't know, they won't tell me that yet."

Stiles lets out a frustrated breath as he drives down the road, "Okay, your family's got some serious communication issues to work on. Scott, are we going the right way?"

Scott leans forward and sticks his head out of the window, trying to catch Lydia's scent, "Take the next right!"  he calls.

Sky snorts as she watches him, "Want a Scooby Snack, Scott?" she asks.

"Shut up, Sky."

***

"She came here? You sure?" asks Stiles as they move through the woods near the old Hale house.

Scott nods, looking around, "Yeah, this is where the scent leads."

Sky inhales, "Oh, yeah. She's been streaking around here," she confirms.

"All right, but has Lydia ever been here?" Stiles wonders.

Allison shakes her head, "Not with me."

"Me neither," says Ariel. "Maybe she came here looking for Derek."

"You mean -- looking for an Alpha?" questions Scott.

"Wolves need a pack, right?" asks Allison.

The twins share a glance, "Not all of them," they state together.

"But would she have been drawn to an Alpha? Is it an instinct to be part of a pack? " wonders Allison.

Scott nods, "Yeah, we're stronger in packs."

"I feel like I'm already part of one," murmurs Sky.

"Like strength in numbers," guesses Allison.

Sky rolls her eyes, "No, like, literally stronger, faster, better in every way. More werewolves equal more power."

Allison furrows her eyebrows, "That the same for an Alpha?" she asks.

Scott nods, "That'll make Derek stronger too," he tells them.

Stiles comes to a stop as he sees something, "Whoa, hey, look at this," he points to a wire connected to a tree. "You see this? I think it's a tripwire."

Sky frowns from next to her brother, "Stiles --" she starts, only to yelp as something tightens around her and Scott's ankles and lifts them into the air upside down.

"Yeah, buddy?" Stiles asks, turning back around. "Oh."

Ariel moves forward to help her stop swinging as Sky groans in pain, "This is not what I meant when I told mom I'd hang around and take it easy," she mumbles.

Scott sighs from where he hung next to her, reaching out to keep her steady, "Next time you see a tripwire - don't trip it," he grumbles to his best friend.

Stiles nods awkwardly, looking away from their matching glares, mumbling, "Yeah, noted."

The sound of footsteps heading their way makes them stiffen in panic as the others look around for a way to get them down. Scott waves his arms, "Wait, wait, wait. Someone's coming. Hide. Go!" He urges quietly.

They manage to quickly rush and duck behind some bushes as Chris Argent strolls up to them, other hunters not far behind. His head tilts curiously as he looks at them, "Scott? Skylar?"

"Mr Argent," Scott acknowledges while Sky just hangs with a glare, trying to cover up her pain.

"How are you doing?" he asks as he kneels in front of them, casting an amused glance at Sky's angry expression.

"Good. You know, just hangin' out," says Scott. "Is this one of yours? It's, uh, good. Nice design. Very constricting," he tells him.

"What are you two doing out here?" Argent asks.

Sky huffs, "We were looking for our friend."

Chris nods knowingly, "Ah, that's right. Lydia's in your group now, isn't she? Part of the clique? Is that the word you use? Or is there another way to put it? Part of your pack?"

"Actually, clique sounds about right to me," says Scott.

Argent hums, "I hope so. 'Cause I know she's a friend of Allison's and a special circumstance, such as yourself and Skylar, I can handle. Not another," he tells them.

"No."

Chris looks at Scott closely, "Scott, do you know what a hemicorporectomy is?" he asks.

"I have a feeling I don't want to," Scott mumbles.

Chris smirks, "A medical term for amputating somebody at the waist. Cutting them in half. Takes a tremendous amount of strength to cut through tissue and bone like that," he gives them a warning look as he rises to his feet and starts to walk away. "Let's hope a demonstration never becomes necessary."

When the hunters were out of sight, Allison, Ariel and Stiles rush back over to them, "You two okay?" asks Allison.

Sky squints at her dubiously, "Do we look okay, Allison?" she asks. Allison winces sheepishly.

"It's just another life-threatening conversation with your dad," Scott casually tells her.

Allison walks over to where the wires are tied, "Guys, help me with this."

Whilst the others focused on getting them down, Scott looks over to Sky and smirks, before flicking out his claws and cutting the rope on his ankle, twisting to land on his feet as he drops.

Sky stares at him as she continues to hang upside down, "Show off," she mutters, annoyed.

Scott rolls his eyes with a smile before telling her to grab onto his arm as he cuts her rope, holding onto her as she falls too. She stumbles with a grunt, holding a hand to her stomach, "Never again," she grumbles.

"I think we got it," Scott calls to the others.

They turn from where they were fussing with the ropes and blink at them, impressed, "Yeah," observes Stiles.

Scott starts to walk, "Comin'?"

Everyone starts to move again, Sky hanging back slightly to walk with Ariel, who moves and wraps her arm around Sky's waist to try and take some of her weight, knowing straining herself won't be helping her heal.

***

Sky stands in the boy's locker room the next day, waiting for Coach as he wanted them all there before practice. They hadn't been able to find Lydia and the only possible clue they had is what Stiles was telling them about how something had happened at the cemetery last night, leading to a liver going missing -- which could somehow be connected to Lydia. Ariel was worried sick about her, but what Sky couldn't figure out, was the jittery behaviour she had since the night they got hurt. It wasn't obvious, but she could see it.

"She ate the liver?" asks Scott, scrunching his nose up in disgust.

Stiles shakes his head, "No, I didn't say she ate it. I just said it was missing. And you know what? Even if she did, so what? It's the most nutritious part of the body," he defends.

"I never ate anyone's liver," Scott points out.

"Me neither."

Stiles rolls his eyes at them, "Yeah, right, 'cause when it comes to werewolves, you're a real model of self-control," he pauses. "Actually, wait - hold on. You two are the test case for this, so we should be going over what happened to you."

Sky looks at him curiously, "What do you mean?" she asks.

Stiles looks between them, "I mean like what was going through your mind when you were turning, you know? What were you drawn to?" he asks.

"Allison," supplies Scott.

"Okay, nothing else?" Stiles asks, sighing when Scott shakes his head. "Seriously? Sky?"

"I don't know," she shrugs. "Ariel?"

"Nothing else mattered," Scott tells him. "But, no, that's good, though, right? 'Cause the night that Lydia was bit, she was with you."

Stiles stops, face falling when he realises something, "Yeah, but she was looking for Jackson."

Sky scoffs, muttering, "Of course."

***

Later that night, Sky and Ariel were driving to her house from the store when she got a call from Scott. It was a lead on Lydia.

They made their way to the scene to see police surrounding an ambulance that had been attacked in the middle of the road.

Pulling up, they exit the car and walk over to where Scott and Stiles were standing.

"Lydia couldn't have done this, right?" asks Ariel, casting a worried glance around her. "Could she?"

"I don't know," Scott hesitantly answers.

Sky squeezes her hand, "Even if it was her, it's not her fault, okay? She wouldn't be in control."

Stiles turns to the twins, "What stopped you two from doing that? Was it Allison and Ariel?" he asks. Ariel pauses, raising her eyebrows at that as she looks at Sky.

Sky clears her throat as she feels her girlfriend's amused stare on the side of her face, "I hope so," she mumbles.

"Do you need to get any closer?" Stiles asks, wondering if they caught a scent.

"No, I got it," says Scott.

Sky nods, "Me too."

"Just -- I just need you to find her. All right?" says Stiles. "Please, just find her."

The sound of rustling from the bushes nearby makes Sky perk up as she looks towards the sound, tugging Ariel forward as a naked figure emerges onto the road.

It was Lydia.

Sky blinks before looking anywhere but her as she points towards the girl, stumbling over her words, "Uh- there's --"

"Lydia?" shouts Stiles. "Lydia? Lydia!"

Lydia looks at them with wide eyes, "Well?" she exclaims. "Is somebody gonna get me a coat?"

Stiles rushes forward, only to trip due to being so flustered from what he was seeing. Ariel ignores him as she grabs the coat he was holding and sprints forward towards her sister, covering her quickly with it and then immediately bringing her into a tight hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Ariel breathes, pressing a kiss to her head. "But if you do that to me again I'm going to steal all your lip gloss," she threatens with a shaky voice.

Lydia just squeezes her tighter in response, letting the Sheriff come over to lead them away.