30: Game Time

Stiles looks to the side as he sits in the counsellors office, thinking back to recent events, "You know when you're drowning," he starts. "You don't actually inhale until right before you black out."

He glances towards Ms Morell, who was looking at him calmly from where she sat behind her desk, "It's called voluntary apnea. It's like no matter how much you're freaking out, the instinct to not let any water in is so strong that you won't open your mouth until you feel like your head's exploding. But then when you finally do let it in, that's when it stops hurting. It's not scary anymore. It's actually kind of peaceful," he says.

"Are you saying you hope Matt felt some peace in his last moments?" Ms Morell asks, tilting her head curiously. After the events at the station, Matt's body had been found nearby, drowned.

Stiles shakes his head slightly, "I don't feel sorry for him," he states.

Ms Morrell nods, "Can you feel sorry for the nine-year-old Matt who drowned?"

Stiles shakes his head again, "Just because a bunch of dumbasses dragged him into a pool when he couldn't swim doesn't really give him the right to go off killing them one by one," he tells her. "And by the way, my dad told me that they found a bunch of pictures of Allison on Matt's computer. And not just of her though. I mean, he photoshopped himself into these pictures. Stuff like them holding hands and kissing. You know, like he had built this whole fake relationship. So yeah, maybe drowning when he was nine years old was what sent him off the rails, but the dude was definitely riding the crazy train," he rants.

Ms Morrell hums, "One positive thing came out of this, though. Right?" she asks knowingly, meaning his dad getting his job back.

Stiles sighs, "Yeah. Yeah," he agrees. "But I still feel like there's something wrong between us. I don't know. It's just like tension when we talk. Same thing with Scott, even Sky. I don't know what it is," he admits.

"Have you talked to them since that night?"

"They've got their own things to deal with right now."

***

Sky's gaze stays focused on her fingers as they drum against her thigh as she sits in front of Ms Morrell at her own session.

She sighs, "I haven't spoken to anyone but my brother," she says, leaving out the times her girlfriend has slipped into her room at night, holding her without saying a word out loud.

"And why is that?" Morrell presses.

"Things are just busy right now," Sky waves off, swallowing the lump in her throat.

***

Scott walks down the hallway of his home only to stop what he hears his sister calling, "Mom."

He walks over to see Sky leaning her forehead against the closed door to their Mom's room. He sighs, hearing her heartbeat on the other side of the door.

"Mom," he calls out. "We're gonna have to talk about this eventually."

No reply.

He swallows and grabs Sky's hand, gently pulling her away, "Okay. We're going," he pauses. "We love you," he says quietly through the door.

He turns, pulling Sky into a hug once he sees the tears in her eyes.

***

Stiles chews at his lip, "I don't think Scott's talked to Allison either," he tells her. "But that might be more her choice, you know? Her mom dying hit her pretty hard. But I guess it brought her and her dad closer," he shrugs, "And Jackson? Jackson hasn't really been himself lately. Ariel was traumatised from having a gun pointed at her head. Actually, the funny thing is, as of right now, Lydia is the one who seems the most normal."

Ms Morrell watches him closely, "And what about you, Stiles? Feeling some anxiety about that championship game tomorrow night?"

Stiles looks up from where he was chewing his lacrosse stick, "Why would you ask me that?" he blinks. "Uh, no. I never actually play. But hey, since one of my teammates is dead and another one's missing, who knows, right?" he jokes morbidly.

"You mean, Isaac," Morrell inquires. "One of the three runaways. You haven't heard from any of them, have you?"

Stiles narrows his eyes at her, "How come you're not taking any notes on this?" he asks.

Ms Morrell smiles slightly, "I do my notes after the session."

Stiles's eyebrows raise, "Your memory's that good?"

"How about we get back to you?"

***

"I'm fine," dismisses Sky, frowning.

Ms Morrell slowly leans forward, "You watched as your girlfriend, your best friend, your brother, his father and your mother," Sky flinches. "All got held at gunpoint. You witnessed the deaths and injuries of multiple people," she leans back, looking at Sky with no judgement, "It's okay not to come out of that completely fine."

Sky clenches her jaw, looking up in annoyance, "Fine," she snaps. "You want me to tell you how angry I am?" She grips the arms of the chair tightly as she leans forward. "Well, I'm so goddamn angry. I'm so mad that I had to watch that scumbag wave his gun around and point it at my girlfriend's head whilst he smirked at me!" she nearly growls, but catches herself and continues speaking in a low tone. "I'm furious that he hurt my brothers, the sheriff and -- " she hesitates, voice cracking. "Scared my Mom."

She pauses, taking a breath, "I have nightmares about them dying," she admits, almost too quietly.

"And I'm just -- filled with this rage and sadness. My blood feels like is boiling and my chest feels so tight that I feel I'm going to burst at any moment," she finishes, taking another deep breath, leaning back in her chair, and scowling at the woman in front of her.

"Is that enough for you?"

***

"Stiles?"

Stiles snaps out of his daydreaming state, "I'm fine," he tells her. "Yeah, aside from the not sleeping, the jumpiness, the constant, overwhelming, crushing fear that something terrible's about to happen."

Morrell nods, "It's called hypervigilance," she tells him. "The persistent feeling of being under threat."

"But it's not just a feeling, though," Stiles tries to explain. "It's like it's a panic attack. You know, like I can't even breathe."

"Like you're drowning?" she guesses.

"Yeah."

"So if you're drowning, and you're trying to keep your mouth closed until that very last moment, what if you choose to not open your mouth? To not let the water in?" Morrell asks.

"You do anyway. It's a reflex," answers Stiles.

"But if you hold off until that reflex kicks in, you have more time, right?"

Stiles shakes his head, "Not much time."

"But more time to fight your way to the surface?" reasons Morrell.

Stiles shrugs, "I guess."

"More time to be rescued?"

"More time to be in agonizing pain," corrects Stiles. "I mean, did you forget about the part where you feel like your head's exploding?"

"If it's about survival, isn't a little agony worth it?" Morrell wonders.

Stiles sighs, "But what if it just gets worse?" he asks. "What if it's agony now and it's just hell later on?"

Ms Morrell stares at him, "Then think about something Winston Churchill once said, "If you're going through hell, keep going." "

***

Sky walks up the stairs of her house, only to pause when she sees Scott standing still in the doorway of their mom's room. She walks forward, eyes widening when she sees Gerard in the room with the Kanima, it holding their mom by her neck.

"What the hell are you doing?" demands Sky, glaring at him.

Gerard smirks at them, "Nice of you to join us, Skylar. As you can see," he gestures to the Kanima. "There's been some interesting developments lately. I think we should catch up."

Gerard smiles darkly when they don't speak, "Come on, Scott, Sky. Let's be realistic about who's got the upper hand here," he says, motioning to the grip the Kanima has on their mom. Melissa winces, crying quietly.

Sky steps forward, eyes shining, "Let her go," she demands.

"Can't do that," Gerard shakes his head, lifting a warning finger at her. "But let her live? That's up to you."

"What do you want?" asks Scott, eyes flitting between them all.

"I want to talk," Gerard tells him. "You haven't been answering your phone."

Scott shakes his head, "Let her go, and we can talk about whatever you want."

"I want the same thing that I have always wanted," Gerard tells them. "I want Derek and his pack."

"You have them all in hiding. How am I supposed to know where they are?" Scott asks.

Gerard smirks, "I think with the proper motivation, you could draw them out. And if you hadn't noticed, I now have a fairly impressive means by which I can motivate people," he looks over to the Kanima. "Why do you think I'm able to control him? Oh, you know the myth, Scott. The Kanima is a weapon of vengeance."

"Vengeance for your daughter?" Sky asks.

Scott frowns, "This is about Kate?"

Gerard nods, "I didn't just come here to bury my daughter," he tells them, standing up to leave, along with the Kanima. "I came to avenge her."

Scott looks to their Mom once he's gone, "Are you okay?" he checks.

"Did he hurt you?" Sky asks, frowning. "'Cause I swear I'm not above hitting an old man."

"Oh, I don't know what's happening," Melissa says, putting a hand to her head in distress. "I don't know what that thing was or even what you are, but whatever he wants, just give it to him," she pleads.

"Mom," Scott says. "It's not that easy."

"We can't just give him what he wants," Sky disagrees, eyeing Scott meaningfully, regarding their plan.

"Do what he wants," Melissa repeats, sniffing as she turns away from them. "Just give him what he wants."

Scott sighs, "I don't know if we can."

***

"Good morning," starts Coach as he stands in front of the lacrosse team, Sky and Ariel stand in the back with Stiles and Melissa. "In less than an hour, aircrafts from here will be joining others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind."

"Oh, not this," mutters Sky.

Ariel blinks, "Is this --"

"Yes."

Melissa's face scrunches up, "What?"

"Mankind -- that word should have new meaning for all of us today," Coach continues.

Melissa looks between the three, "What the hell is he talking about?" she asks.

Stiles shrugs, "He does this every year," he tells her.

Melissa raises her brows, "Seriously?"

Stiles nods, "Yeah."

"We are fighting for our right to live."

"Wait," Melissa pauses as she recognises the speech. "Is this --?"

"Making us wonder how he was allowed to be a teacher?" Sky interjects. "Why yes, it is."

"It's the speech from Independence Day," Stiles tells her.

"But as the day the world declared in one voice --"

"It's Coach's favourite movie," adds Stiles.

"We will not go quietly into the night!"

"He doesn't know any sports speeches?" Melissa wonders.

Ariel snorts, "Knowing him, he doesn't care."

"Today we celebrate our Independence Day!"

The team cheers, and Gerard, the principal, steps forward to address them. Sky glares at him from the back of the room, "I hope he has a heart attack," she mutters.

"Maybe his hip will go," Ariel jokes back quietly.

"Well spoken, coach," Gerard says with a nod. "I might have chosen something with a little more historical value, but there's no denying your passion. And while I haven't been here long, there's no denying my pride in having a winning team for this school. I know you'll all be brilliant tonight, even with only one co-captain leading you," he smiles innocently at Scott. "Now, I'm your principal, but I'm also a fan. So don't think I'll be content to watch you merely beat this team. Get out there and murder them."

"You heard the man," Coach shouts. "Asses on the field! "

"Yeah!"

***

Sky winks at Ariel as she watches her take a seat from where she stands next to Scott, though she tenses when Gerard's voice hits their ears from his seat in the stands.

"Scott, Sky, can you hear me?" he checks, smirking when their heads turn in his direction. "Ah, you can. Good. Then listen closely because the game is about to get interesting."

"Let's put a real clock on this game. I'll give you until the last 30 seconds. When that scoreboard clock begins counting down from 30, if you haven't given me Derek, then Jackson is gonna kill someone," he warns them. "So tell me, who's gonna die tonight? Should it be your mother," he turns his head to where their mother sits, watching. "Who so bravely came out to support you? Or the sheriff, your best friend's father? Or how about the pretty little redhead you're so fond of, Sky?" he asks. "Or maybe one of these innocent teenagers with their whole life ahead of them?"

Sky glares at him, but manages to catch Ariel's eye, who shakes her head at her, also listening in.

"Or should I do everyone a favour and kill that ridiculous coach?" Gerard wonders. "It's up to you, McCall's. But you are going to help me take Derek down. Because if you don't -- I'll have Jackson rip someone's head off right in the middle of the field and drench everyone you love and care about in blood."

***

"Sit down, McCall," orders the Coach as he sees Scott stand up from the bench as they watch Stiles struggle on the field, Sky rushing up to him to help him up as he trips over.

"But, Coach, we're dying out there," Scott groans.

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

Scott blinks as Isaac appears next to him in his lacrosse gear, "You came to help."

"I came to win," Isaac corrects with a smirk. "You got a plan yet?"

Scott shakes his head, "No, right now it's pretty much just keep Jackson from killing anyone," he gestures to where Sky had moved near Jackson, hovering as if waiting for him to do something.

"Well, that might be easier if you're actually in the game," Isaac tells him. "We have to make it so Coach has no choice but to play you."

Scott frowns, "How do we do that?" he asks. "He's got a bench full of guys he can use before he ever puts me on the field. Can you do it without putting anyone in the hospital?"

Isaac smirks, "I can try."

Coach runs up to them, "Lahey! Ramirez! You're in."

Isaac runs onto the field to join the game, noticeably shoving his teammates around, injuring them. Eventually, Jackson catches onto what he's doing and crashes into him. Sky rushes forward and shoves Jackson back with a warning look, but he just walks away.

She moves Isaac to the sidelines when she notices his movement slowing down, "Murphy. You're in," shouts Coach. "Lahey! Seriously, what the hell is your problem?" he asks.

"It's not broken. But I can't move it," Isaac mutters to Sky. "I think Jackson nicked me 'cause I can feel it spreading."

Sky nods, "I thought I saw his claws out for a second," she mumbles.

"You want to play chess?" Gerard's voice sounds in their ears, making Sky look up in his direction. "Then you better be willing to sacrifice your own pawns."

Coach sighs, looking to Scott, "Male McCall. Either you're in or we forfeit."

Melissa stands and runs up to them, "Hey, something's happening, isn't it?" she asks. "Something more than a lacrosse game?"

Sky frowns, "Mom, you should get out of here."

Melissa shakes her head, "Oh, I'm not going anywhere. And everything that I said before, forget it. All of it. Okay?" she tells them, reaching up and pushing a strand of hair out of her daughter's face. "If you can do something to help, then you do it. You have to."

Scott nods, determined, sharing a look with Sky, "We will."

"Don't you know what you're really bargaining for, Scott?" Gerard's voice comes again, "Haven't you guessed what the real offer on the table is? It's Allison. It's always been Allison. You give me Derek, and I'll let you have Allison."

Sky stares at her brother, unsure of what his next move will be -- how much would he sacrifice for Allison?

***

"McCall!" Coach shouts. "Where's McCall?"

"Oh, oh, oh," mutters Stiles as he grabs the ball instead. "Ah!"

"Oh," mutters Sky.

"Stilinski!" Coach shouts, seeing him standing still in front of the goal, the opposite team running towards him. "Shoot it. Shoot the ball! Shoot it, you idiot!"

Sky rams into the nearest player running at Stiles, buying him more time.

"Shoot it!" Lydia shouts from the stands and Stiles blinks, shooting the ball into the net.

Stiles gapes at his own actions, "I scored a goal? I scored a goal!" he shouts in glee, grunting as Sky jumps on his back. "I scored a goal!"

"You're not so useless after all!" Sky cheers, squeezing him as he spins them around.

"Yeah!" the Sheriff shouts from the stands.

"We did it," Coach cheers. "We won."

Stiles grins, "Yeah!"

Scott blinks, looking around the field as Ariel runs up to where he was standing, smiling at the sight of her girlfriend celebrating with Stiles, "Nothing happened," he mumbles. "Nothing."

"Was he bluffing --" Ariel starts, but the whole pitch suddenly turns dark, all the lights going out. Everyone starts to shout in panic.

"Scott! Sky!" Melissa calls through the darkness. "Scott, where are you? Sky!"

The lights turn back on suddenly and everyone hurries around, looking for their friends and family.

Scott rushes up to their mom as she runs to him, Ariel looking through the busy crowd, trying to spot Sky, "Mom, mom, mom, mom. Are you okay?" he asks.

Melissa sighs out in relief when she gets to him, "Yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine. But somebody is hurt. Somebody is down on the field," she pauses, eyes widening. "Where's Sky?"

Coach shoves past them, heading to the injured person and they follow, "Get out of the way. Move. Back off! Move," he shouts at the crowd, trying to keep a safe space.

Lydia steps forward from the crowd, in shock when she sees who it is, "Jackson? What's happened to Jackson? Jackson!" she cries. "Jackson! Jackson, what's happening?"

"Can we get a medic over here?" calls Coach. "We're gonna need a medic!"

Melissa crouches down, putting her fingers to his neck, "He's not breathing," she tells them. "No pulse."

"Nothing?" Coach asks.

Melissa shakes her head sadly, glancing at Scott, "Nothing."

Coach stops, "Oh --"

"Oh, my God," cries Lydia, pointing to his body. "There's blood. There's blood."

Scott gestures discretely to his hands, where it was clear the wounds were self-inflicted, "Look."

"He did it to himself," mutters Isaac.

"Get down here," Melissa says, trying to do something to help. "Get down here and hold his head. Tilt it up. And where is Sky?" she asks again, making Scott look around in worry.

"I can't see her anywhere," Ariel whispers, worry coating her tone as she frantically scans the crowd again. "Something isn't right."

The Sheriff steps forward, also scanning the crowd, "Stiles. Where's Stiles?" he asks. "Where's my son? Where's Stiles?" he asks them all, making them all spin round, the panic building as they realise both Sky and Stiles are missing now.

"Where's Stiles? Where the hell is my son?"