Once in a Lifetime

25

"Same..." Lydia repeated as her scream resounded over the recorder, causing the glass to shatter.

---

Stiles pulled up to a gas station only to find it closed. "Locked." Scott broke the chain and Stiles asked, "You got a twenty?"

Scott gave his friend a twenty and he started filling up the Jeep. As Stiles filled up the Jeep, he began telling him about what had happened with Donovan. "There was a pin. There was one little metal pin attached to the scaffolding. He was trying to pull me down."

"He was trying to kill you."

Stiles nodded. "Yes, and then I pulled the pin. And all these metal braces came down. And one of them just, just went right through him."

"Why didn't you think you could tell me or Tabitha?"

Stiles let out a sigh. "It was just the way you were looking at me that night. You know, you're standing there with a wrench, you're looking at me like I just bashed you in the head with it. You know, like I'd broken your sacred rule and that's it, no going back. I did tell Tabitha because she was the only one who believed me."

"I know the difference."

"What?"

"I know what self-defense is."

Stiles relaxed, visibly relieved, and walked back to the Jeep.

---

Lydia and Tabitha's dream took them to the school. "Our names are gone," Lydia said. "Our initials."

Meredith shook her head. "Not just you and your friends. Everyone."

"What are we supposed to do? How do we save them?" Tabitha asked, desperate to get back to her boyfriend, friends and parents.

"Don't be afraid."

The girls saw Theo holding Meredith down by her throat. He bent her neck back and slashed her throat, causing the Banshee and the witch to scream, "No, don't!"

Back in their cell, a light blew out. "What the hell was that?" Nurse Cross asked.

"Did you hear that?" Dr. Schrader questioned.

"It came from Lydia and Tabitha's room."

"What did you hear? What was it exactly?"

"I heard a kind of explosion."

"Before that," Nurse Cross said impatiently. "You know what I mean."

"A scream. I thought I heard her scream."

---

Stiles glanced to see that Scott had fallen asleep. He saw a massive storm brewing over the mountain complete with lightning and rolling clouds. "Hey, Scott. Scott. Take a look at this."

Scott woke and looked around outside. "What the hell do you think's happening out there?" Stiles wondered.

Scott shook his head. Stiles pressed down on the gas, making the car accelerate. Once they reached the top, we got out of the Jeep and stood outside.

Scott turned to his friend. "I don't know why I believed him. I don't know why we didn't just keep talking that night. Five more minutes and we would've figured out that there were two different stories. We would've filled a lot of blanks. Should've kept talking."

"He knew we wouldn't."

Scott sighed. "I didn't want it to happen like this."

"Like what?"

"I knew, sooner or later, one of us was going to get a little too much blood on our hands. I had thought it was going to be Malia."

"Well, she definitely seems like she's working on it."

"Just always thought that if it were to happen, then it should be me. I'm the one who's constantly putting you guys in danger, risking your lives for people you don't even know. It should've been me."

Stiles placed a hand on Scott's shoulder. "Come on. We only got a few hours to sunrise. Come on. Let's go."

The boys heard a sword clanging and Scott pointed to a figure fighting. "Hey, Stiles. Do you see that? It's Kira."

They drove up to where Kira was fighting. Scott rolled out of the Jeep still moving, and growled at the Skinwalkers. Stiles urged everyone out of the Jeep as a Skinwalker threw a spear, but Noshiko took Kira's sword, and split the spear, causing it to fall harmlessly to the ground. "Get in!" Stiles yelled. "Come on. Come on, come on. Let's go. Come on, come on, come on." When everyone was in, Stiles asked, "Everyone okay?"

Kira and Scott began kissing. "You came back for me. I love you. I love you so much."

Stiles glanced away, not needing a reminder of the girl he loved wrongly locked up in the institution.

---

Robin glanced up at the sky and turned to her husband. "We've got trouble coming."

"Or maybe not," Micah replied. "Scott and Stiles are working on trying to get Lydia and Tabitha out of Eichen."

"Good. Whatever they need, I'll help with. If Sheriff Stilinski fires me, so be it."