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Chapter 44 - More Bad Than Good

Scarlett meets up with Scott, and Stiles after they find the car wreck and Scott sees Malia as a coyote. They are still in the woods trying to figure out more about the Malia Tate situation. "I think I found something?" Stiles says.

"So did I." Scott replies.

Scarlett and Stiles walk over to Scott, "It's a coyote den." Stiles says, looking inside the cave.

"Werecoyote." Scott corrects.

"You see this?" Stiles asks as he looks around, spotting a sweatshirt. "This is Malia's. Remember, it's the same one she was wearing in the photo."

"We shouldn't be here." Scott says, before Scarlett can reply to Stiles.

"What do you mean?" Stiles asks.

"She's not going to come back now. We just invaded her home. Our scent's going to be everywhere."

"She might. There's a human in there, not just a coyote. I'd want to check on things before I left for good." Scarlett says, looking around one last time.

"If she's not going to come back here, where's she going to go?" Stiles asks.

"I don't know." Scott answers.

"Can you track her now? You think you got her scent?"

"Maybe. But I'm better at this when I'm a full wolf. And I'm still worried if I do it, I won't be able to turn back."

Stiles sighs, "The doors still open."

"I can do it while you're still working on closing the door." Scarlett says. 

The boys nod, "Yeah, but I still need to figure out how to close the door. If I can't get to Derek, we're gonna have to find someone else to help. This is basically a crime scene, right? I think it might be a little out of my boss's league." Scott says.

"And more in my dad's." Stiles confirms.

*_*_*_*_*_*

The boys and Scarlett are now with Sheriff Stilinski, still in the woods by the den. They just told him about Malia. "You're sure it was her?" Sheriff Stilinski asks Scott.

"I looked her right in the eyes. And they glowed just like mine." Scott replies.

"It makes sense, dad." Stiles says, stepping into the conversation.

"But it wasn't a girl. It was a four-legged coyote, right?" Sheriff asks, slightly confused.

"We don't know much about that but I can turn into a four-legged wolf, fur and all so it's not that weird to believe." Scarlett shrugs. 

"And it was a full moon and she did change while her mom was driving, then anything could've happened." Scott continues.

"Horrible things could've happened. Ripping, shredding, tearing things." Stiles adds on.

"Which is probably what caused the accident." Scott finishes, Scarlett nodding in agreement. 

When the Sheriff still doesn't say anything, Stiles continues, "Think about it, dad, all right. They're driving, Malia starts to change, she goes out of control, the mom crashes and everybody dies."

"Except Malia." The twins says in unison.

"She blames herself, all right, goes off running into the woods and eventually becomes trapped inside the body of a coyote."

"That makes sense." Sheriff agrees, causing the three teens to sigh in relief. "In a Chinese folktale. Kids, this is insane. I need this kept quiet. The three of you, not a word. I don't want anyone hearing about this. I especially don't want Mr. Tate hearing about this. Scott? Scarlett?"

The twins are looking past the Sheriff at the approaching Mr. Tate. "Sorry. What did you say?" Scott asks.

The Sheriff sighs, "Oh, hell. Mr. Tate."

"Mr. Tate?" Agent McCall calls, hearing the Sheriff say the mans name.

"it's hers." Mr. Tate says.

"All right, wait here." Agent McCall replies.

"Dad." Scott calls out. Scarlett is still ignoring her father.

"I'll talk to you two in a minute. I wouldn't mind hearing how your mom's okay with you running around in the woods this late." Scarlett rolls her eyes at her father.

Before the twins could reply to their dad, Sheriff Stilinski speaks up, "What the hell are you doing bringing him here?"

"I'm getting confirmation on a more than significant lead. And starting to understand why your department can't close cases."

Scarlett clenches her jaw at her fathers words, letting the Sheriff answer, "There's no body. There's no remains to identify."

"Well, not yet, Sheriff. But do a little digging and I'm sure you'll uncover something. Like the bones of a 9-year-old girl."

"I think you're going to find it's just a little more complicated than that, Special Agent."

"Come on, Stilinski, you know how this goes. It's the not knowing that ruins people like Tate. The truth, no matter how profoundly it sucks, the truth is always better than not knowing."

*_*_*_*_*_*

The next morning, the twins and Stiles sit in their History class taking their things out before the teacher arrives. Kira walks up to Scott to exchange a few words. As she starts looking through her bag, her father approaches. Kira blushes and turns around after handing Scott the piles of papers her dad handed to her. 

"All right, everyone. Let's get started." Mr. Yukimura says as he moves towards the front of the classroom. "We were just talking about internment camps and prisoners of war. There's a passage in our reading that I'd like to go over in more detail. Who would like to come up and read aloud for us? Mr. Stilinski, how about you?"

Scarlett sucks in a breath as she turns to look at Stiles, "Oh, maybe someone else could." Stiles answers the teacher.

"Everyone participates in my class, Mr. Stilinski."

Scarlett and Scott exchange looks as Stiles mumbles an "Okay" and moves to the front of the room. He starts breathing heavily, an anxiety attack coming on. 

"Scott." Scarlett says, warning him to help his best friend.

Scott nods in agreement, "I should take him to the nurse's office." Scott stands up and puts an arm around Stiles, moving him out of the classroom. Scarlett's eyes follow until she can't see them anymore. 

"Okay, how about someone else? Miss McCall?" Scarlett nods at Mr. Yukimura, standing up to take Stiles' place at the front of the classroom.

The class passes in a blur, Scarlett more focused on Stiles and if he's okay. The bell rings as class ends, Scarlett quickly stands up and grabs Stiles bag. She reaches over for Scott's but another hand beats her to it. "I can help." Kira says.

"Um. Are you sure? I don't mind, Scott's my brother after all."

"I don't mind." Kira smiles, causing Scarlett to smile back. Both girls move out of the classroom, towards the nurses office. Before they make it that far, the duo hears growling. Turning around, they see a coyote looking at them. "Oh, my God." Kira mumbles.

Scarlett knows she could easily beat the coyote, who she's pretty sure is actually Malia Tate. But Kira doesn't know about the supernatural, and Scarlett wasn't about to expose this life to the new girl. "Go. Run." She lightly pushes Kira towards the locker room. 

*_*_*_*_*_*

Once the girls escape from Malia and the cops are called, Scarlett watches as the Sheriff and Stiles talk. "A couple of students said they saw it running across the field and back into the woods. Thank God, nobody got hurt." Sheriff Stilinksi says. Scarlett listening in with her heightened abilities.

"What happens if she does hurt someone?" Stiles asks.

Before she hears the reply, her father approaches her. "How are you? You sure you're okay?" Scarlett looks aways from the Stilinksi's, rolling her eyes at her dad. Agent McCall clenches his jaw at his daughter's attitude but doesn't say anything, waiting for her to reply. When the silence lingers he speaks once more, "You can't ignore me forever, Scarlett Elizabeth."

"I can try." Scarlett sighs, looking up at her father with an annoyed look. 

Rafael pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration but before he can reply a new voice calls out, "Where did you get that? Where did you find this? It belonged to my daughter." Mr. Tate says, walking over to Stiles and Scott.

The Special Agent walks away to address Mr. Tate with Sheriff Stilinski. Allowing Scarlett to walk towards the two boys. The last thing Mr. Tate says before he leaves is directed towards the Sheriff, "You find that animal. You find that thing."

*_*_*_*_*_*

Later that day, the teenagers gather at Deaton's, coming up with a plan to capture Malia alive. "Xylazine. It's a tranquilizer for horses. For a werecoyote, expect it to work within seconds. I only have three. So whoever is shooting, needs to be a damn good shot." Deaton says.

"Allison's a perfect shot." Scott assures.

"She used to be." Isaac corrects the Alpha.

"She can do it."

"If we manage to find the thing."

"Okay, what is the point of him?" Stiles asks angrily, "Seriously, I mean, what is his purpose? Aside from the persistent negativity and the scarf? What's up with scarf anyway? It's 65 degrees out."

"He's asking the right questions though. Whose to say we find her before Tate or anyone else?" Cora asks, backing up Isaac.

"How do we turn a coyote back into a girl, when she hasn't been a girl for eight years?" Isaac continues.

"I can do it." Scott says confidently.

"You can?" Stiles and Scarlett ask, concerned.

"You remember the night that Peter trapped us un the school? In the gym, he was able to make me turn using just his voice. Deucalion did the same thing at the distillery."

"This is a werecoyote, Scott. Who knows if it'll even work if you can find someone who can teach you." Deaton says.

"That's why you called Derek first." Stiles says in realization. He turns towards Cora, "Where even is he?" 

Cora shrugs, "I haven't heard from him or Peter in a few weeks. They said they needed to go find something, wanted me to stay here in case they got into any trouble." She turns towards Scarlett, "Have you felt anything?"

Scarlett sighs, "Not much, there's kinda a constant feeling of dread that's been surrounding me though, probably because of you guys and that open door."

Scott changes the topic back towards trying to force a change from Malia, "I could try it on my own. But right now, I'm too scared to even change into just a werewolf."

"We need a real Alpha. You know what I mean. An Alpha who can do Alpha things. You know, an Alpha who can get it going. You know, get it-" 

Stiles' rant is cut off by Isaac, "Up?"

Scarlett and Cora snort as Scott answers, "Great. I'm an Alpha with performance issues."

"Is there anyone else besides Derek who could help?" Deaton asks.

"Well, you said Peter is with Derek, but even if he wasn't, I wouldn't trust him." Isaac says.

"I can't do it. I've never been an Alpha." Cora sighs.

"Same." Scarlett says.

"Maybe the twins?" Stiles suggests.

"They're not Alphas anymore. After what Jennifer did, almost killing them? It broke that part of them." Deaton replies.

"Yeah, but what if they know how to do it?"

"Nobody's seen them for weeks." Scott says.

Scarlett makes a face, looking at Stiles, "That's not true." They both say, a knowing look passing between them.

*_*_*_*_*_*

A bit later the twins, Stiles, Cora and Lydia enter Derek's loft. "They said they'd meet us here." Lydia sighs. As she steps through the door, the others beside Scott following.

Before anyone else can say something, the two former Alphas come from the darkness and start fighting Scott. Stiles pulls Lydia away as Cora and Scarlett look to each other in shock, "Should we do something?" Cora asks.

"I'm not sure." Scarlett replies just as Scott lands on the ground, the twins standing above him.

Scott groans, "I thought you guys were gonna teach me to roar."

"We are." Aiden replies, "You do it by giving in."

Ethan continues for his brother, "Giving in and letting go. That's how Deucalion taught us control."

They pick Scott back off the floor, "Hey, you know, that's funny. I've actually tried something like this one time using a heart monitor and lacrosse balls. But you're right, beating the living crap out of him is probably a lot better." Stiles says.

"Actually, you go him beat up that day too." Scarlett adds on, remembering how Stiles keyed a seniors car and blamed it on Scott.

"That's actually the plan? You kick my ass?" Scott asks in disbelief.

"You're afraid to turn." Aiden says.

"We're gonna make you turn. Then you kick our asses." Ethan continues.

"And then you roar." Aiden roars, eyes turning a beautiful blue. They both take turns attacking Scott with little fight back, "You don't think you can let go with us?"

The group off to the side winces with each hit, "You think you're going to hurt us?"

"Come on, McCall. Give it your all."

"We can always heal."

Scott is back on the floor, groaning. "You're an Alpha. You want to roar like one, you've got to give in full throttle. You've got to be the monster. Become the beast."

"Become everything you're afraid of. That's what gives you power. It gives you strength."

"Ugh, I don't know how longer I can watch this." Scarlett says, concerned for her twin. Instinctively, Stiles grabs her hand to try and reassure her.

"Giving into it doesn't make you the bad guy." Aiden continues saying, in between punches.

"So long as you can control it." Ethan adds.

"Sometimes control's a little overrated."

Scott groans again as Stiles speaks under his breath, "Come on, Scott. Fight back."

"What if I can't control it? What if I can't turn back?" Scott asks, still terrified to transform.

"Then it takes over. You become Malia. You get further and further away from being human. You can turn into an animal. Or worse." Ethan answers.

Aiden finishes the though, "You turn into Peter." Aiden slams Scott onto the table behind them, getting on top of him to throw punch after punch. Just as Scarlett was about to step forward, Ethan grabs his twins arm. "What? I thought we were helping him."

"You help too much." Ethan replies. Scott spits blood from his mouth after Aiden gets off him. He still hasn't turned.

*_*_*_*_*_*

The group meets on the outskirts of the woods, getting ready to hunt for Malia. "Anyone else think we might be doing more harm than good?" Lydia asks.

"We're trying to keep a father from killing his own daughter." Scott replies.

"Actually, we're trying to keep a guy from killing a coyote who is actually his daughter, who we don't know how to change from a coyote back to his daughter." Isaac corrects.

"And again with the not helping." Stiles glares at the Beta. Stiles cell phone rings before anyone can say anything else. On the other end, Sheriff Stilinski tells his son how Malia took the doll from the Tate's house. "It took the doll again? What the hell is so important about this doll?"

"I don't know, but listen to me. There are traps all over those woods. Near the trails. Probably near the car crash. And Tate is out there with a rife. I want you to stay out of those woods. You got that? Stiles?" Sheriff tells his son.

"It's the doll."

"Stiles?"

"It's the doll?" After saying bye to his dad, and promising to stay out of the woods, though its an empty promise because Stiles has no plans to actually listen, he turns towards Lydia and Scarlett who stayed with him while the others ran off to comb the woods.

"All right, but why would it go all the way to the school and then all the way back to the house just for a doll? One that was in the car wreck in the first place. We didn't find it in the coyote den." Stiles says.

"It likes the doll. Who cares?" Lydia replies.

"A doll that wasn't hers." Scarlett mumbles.

"What do you mean not hers?" Stiles asks.

"Well if she left it at the car wreck and didn't take it into her den then we can assume it's not hers."

Stiles pulls out his phone, "I took a picture." 

He shows the girls the picture, "That's Malia?" Lydia questions, pointing to the 9-year-old.

"Yeah," Stiles confirms, "That's the jacket and the scarf we found in the den."

"And look who's holding the doll." Scarlett says.

"Malia's younger sister." Stiles replies. Then almost simultaneously, Stiles and Scarlett look at each other. "I know what she's doing."

"She's going back to the car wreck." Scarlett says, nodding, knowing that they're on the same page. "I'm going to run ahead. Call Scott." Before Stiles or Lydia can say anything, Scarlett transforms before they're eyes. A large, white wolf emerges from the clothes that were once on Scarlett. Scarlett runs ahead on four legs, leaving her fallen clothes behind. 

As Stiles calls Scott, Lydia picks the clothes up, placing them in her car. Without another word the teens left behind, follow the path that the wolf just went. Scarlett howls for Scott, knowing he will hear her despite being afraid to change. Once the two are together, they work with each other to corral Malia into a spot so Scott can try and change her back. 

Sure enough after chasing the werecoyote for a few minutes, she stops to look directly at Scott. Scott howls, eyes glowing red. And Malia Tate turns back into a girl.