Change on the Rise [On Hold]

04. Second Chance at First Line (Part Two)

HALE HOUSE

Several mornings later, Scottie was leaning against the Jeep, parked at the edge of the Hale property, as she watched Danica get marched out of the house in handcuffs by one of the Beacon County Sheriff's Department's deputies. Danica looked over at Scottie with a scowl that caused Scottie to look down at the ground with an expression of mixed guilt and shame as Danica was pushed into the back of a deputy's cruiser.

A moment later, Scottie noticed Stiles walking from out of the woods toward the cruiser, which was unattended now that the rest of the deputies were checking out the crime scene itself. Scottie's mouth gaped open in shock when she realized what Stiles is about to do, just as Stiles looked back at Scottie. Scottie immediately tried to get Stiles to stop by mouthing her response at her.

Scottie muttered, "No!"

Stiles ignored her and darted toward the passenger door to the cruiser and opened it so she could talk to Danica, causing Scottie to groan in exasperation.

"Oh, God..."

Scottie turned away from them, unable to watch but not wanting to draw more attention to what Stiles was doing.

Meanwhile, Stiles sat in the passenger seat and turned around so she could face Danica and speak to her through the caged window between the backseat and the front seats of the cruiser.

"Okay, just so you know, I'm not afraid of you," Stiles said. Danica's head was tilted down, but her eyes moved up to look at Stiles through her eyelashes with a scowl that immediately terrified Stiles. "...Okay, maybe I am. Doesn't matter. I just wanna know something." She shifted nervously in her seat. "The guy you killed? He was a Werewolf." Danica continued to scowl blankly and silently at Stiles, who kept talking. "He was a different kind, wasn't he? I mean, he could turn himself into an actual wolf, and I know Scottie can't do that. Is that why you killed him?"

Danica finally lifted her head to speak, but her tone of voice was understandably irritable due to the current situation. "Why are you so worried about me, when it's your friend who's the problem?" She jerked her head toward where Scottie was standing for emphasis, and Stiles moved back away from Danica a little. "When she shifts on the field, what do you think they're gonna do, huh? Just keep cheering her on?" Stiles gulped in anxiety, knowing that Danica wasn't exactly wrong. "I can't stop her from playing, but you can..." She leaned forward so her face and Stiles' were only inches apart as she lowered her voice to a whisper. "And trust me -- you want to."

Before Stiles had a chance to process, the passenger door opened, and a hand yanked Stiles out of the car.

Sheriff Stilinski grabbed her by the right arm and dragged her daughter away from the car, with Stiles groaning the whole way. "Ow. Ow. Ow."

The sheriff finally stopped and let go of Stiles before standing in front of her so they could have a talk. "There. Stand."

Stiles exhaled loudly and finally met her mother's eyes as the sheriff prepared to scold her in an exasperated tone of voice.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sheriff Stilinski asked.

Stiles scoffed as though she thought her mother should be thankful for what she did. "I'm just trying to help!"

"Okay, well, how 'bout you help me understand exactly how you came upon this?"

Stiles, realizing she was in trouble, started to evasively talk herself out of it. "...We were looking for Scottie's inhaler..."

Sheriff Stilinski asked impatiently, "Which he dropped when?"

Stiles said hesitantly, "The other night..."