Luna

I ENDED UP HAVING to give Scott a ride back to school so Stiles could stop by the hospital to visit Lydia.  The school day was almost done by the time we got there, and we'd decided to hang out in the library until school was officially over.  Many books were scattered across the table in front of us as we tried to search for an answer to our Chimera problem.  The books ranged from scientific to mythical, and neither of us could find a resourceful page in any of them.

Just as I begin to sigh, the bell signalling the end of the school day rang and Kira was making her way over to us in record time.  This only made me nervous because pretty soon Malia would be here and I'd have to make a good impression for the both of them.  Spending my time with my nose in a book and avoiding interaction hasn't helped me any in social situations.  So, when Kira approaches Scott, gives him a kiss on the cheek, and turns to me, I freeze until she sends me a toothy grin.

"Hi, I'm Kira," she says and extends her hand towards me.  I take it without hesitation and shoot her a shy smile.

"I'm Luna.  It's nice to actually meet you," I reply and turn back to the book I've been reading.

"Have you guys had any luck on finding any information?"  Kira asks, assuming one of us would answer.

Scott sighs, "No, and we must've been through the entire selection the library has."

"Honestly, I don't think what we're looking for is even in a high school library.  Maybe at an Ivy league college, at least," I point out.  This makes Kira sigh and pick up a book at random.

"Well, Malia and Stiles are bringing the bestiary.  There should be something in there."

As if they had heard their names being called, Stiles and his girlfriend walk into the library.  They make their way up the stairs to us and Malia is already staring, or glaring, at me.

Scott asks Stiles, "Did you get in to see Lydia?"

"No, she's still in the ICU and no one outside family is allowed in."

"We got one thing," Malia says as she slides a large book with the word "BESTIARY" across the table.

"Anything in here about half-werewolves, half-Kanimas?"  Kira asks.

Scott corrects and says, "The Chimera."

"Um, what?"  Stiles is slightly confuses.  I forgot Theo had only told Scott what I found.

"Chimera, it's a creature made of incongruous parts," I say, feeling I needed to make myself apart of the conversation.

"And if Liam said he found two burial sites, it means Tracy's not the only one," Scott adds.

"Who's the second Chimera?" Kira asks.

Stiles adds to the question, "And why would they bury them?"

"Deaton thinks it's part of their process," answers Scott.

"The people in the masks," Malia specifies.  Scott and Stiles share a look.  Kira flips the bestiary open to a page on Wendigos.  She continues flipping the pages with no sense of purpose and no idea of what she was looking for.  My perfectionist urge shoots me into gear as I shift in my seat, knowing I would be doing a much better job at searching for an answer if I was the one with the book.

Finally, I point at the book and ask, "Do you mind if I-?"

Kira shakes her head with wide eyes before shoving the book towards me.

"Oh, no.  Go ahead."  I smile kindly at her and flip the book back towards the beginning.

The four of them begin whispering between each other even though I could hear them.  I pull my tank top down and my flannel over my chest, suddenly feeling over exposed to criticism.

"Why are we trusting her?" Malia whispers harshly to the group.

"She had a really good reason for not telling us about herself," defends Scott.

Kira hesitantly adds to help Malia, "But just because she has a good reason, doesn't mean we should trust her."

"Yeah, Stiles," Malia agrees.  "You don't trust Theo, and he has a pretty good reason, too."  Malia glares at her boyfriend as he shakes his head.

"You guys weren't there.  You didn't see her house."  Stiles glances at me.  "She was the only one there.  Her family left her all alone in that house for years.  How could you not trust her after that?"  Malia rolls her eyes before sitting down grumpily.  The group disperses into their seats, and I decide not to point out that I heard their entire conversation.

For the next few hours, the group finds more mythical books to look through as I study the bestiary.  Scott got a call from his mom an hour ago telling him to meet her at the hospital, so he and Kira left me with Stiles and Malia.  Well, more so with Malia since Stiles is out cold slobbering on the books.  I finish the bestiary, finding nothing about Chimeras, and toss it across the table with a sigh.  Even the sound of the book hitting the table didn't wake Stiles.

"There's nothing in there.  So, however the Chimeras are being made a hunter must have never seen it before or recorded it."  Malia continues to click her pen, deep in thought.  Without responding to me, she sets the pen down and gets up with her bag.

"Hey, I'm taking off," she says to Stiles.  He mumbles in response.  "Stiles, wake up and go home.  I'll meet you there in a bit."  She walks away without even glancing at me which only makes me slump in my chair.  I understood why she doesn't trust me.  I wouldn't either, but at least I didn't just pop out of nowhere like Theo did.  I've been coming to the same school as them since we were in preschool.  Well, not Malia since she was trapped in a coyote for most of her life.  I guess it makes sense now.

I stand up and walk down the stairs to check the other balcony for books that could help us.  I start with one end of the bookshelf and make my way to the other side.  It must've took longer than expected because just before I'm finished the lights are all turned off and I'm left in the dark.

"Great," I mumble.  Quickly, I look through the remaining books, but I know there isn't anything about mythical creatures or Chimeras.  I huff.  This Chimera thing has to be a new experiment these guys in the mask are doing.  No one has ever written what they've done anywhere; and if they did, there was probably only one published.  It would explain why we're having such a hard time looking for help on Chimeras.

The door to the library swings open and slams into the wall.  I turn around to see Stiles hiding among the stacks around the construction.  My eyebrows furrow as I see the look of panic on his face.  A few seconds later, the door slams open again and a sketchy looking kid comes walking in.  I duck behind the table, hoping nobody saw me.

"You dropped your phone," the kid states.  "It's Malia.  Should I text her back?"  I cover my mouth with my hand to silence my heavy breathing.  "You don't really know who I am, do you Stiles?"  My eyes scan over everything around me for something to help Stiles as the boy jumps into why he was coming after him.  There wasn't anything besides books and the chairs to throw at him, and I wasn't a good enough aim to hit him from here.

"Shit," I mumble to myself and look back over to the kid.

"Did he tell you that he was too scared?  Too much of a frightened little bitch to go in after him?  Or do scared little bitches not tell their little bitch sons about their failures?"  The kid starts making his way up the stairs, and I see Stiles move to another aisle as I carefully crawl towards the stairs.  I take my eyes off Stiles to quietly climb down the stairs, but all of that goes out the window when I hear books falling and something metal hit the floor.  At the sight of seeing the kid throw Stiles against the scaffolding, I run down the stairs and towards the two.

"Hey!" I scream just as Stiles elbows him in the face, knocking him to the floor.  Stiles catches my eye before scurrying up the scaffolding as the kid gets back up.  The kid tries to climb up after him, but I pick up on the chairs and slam it into his back.  This just makes him even more angry.  He turns around and shoves me back with a hand that has a lamprey mouth in its palm.  The shove sends me several feet back into the stairs.  I'm slow to get back up after hitting my head against the floor.

The boy continues with his villain monologue as he climbs up after Stiles, "Don't worry, Stiles.  I'm not going to kill you.  I'm just going to eat your legs."

A growl rumbles through my throat as my canines grow longer, my eyes glow blue, and my fingernails grow into claws.  I can feel my bones wanting to shift, but I fight it and manage to keep them still.  The boy hesitates and glances over his shoulder to look at me.  As if the sight frightened him, he climbed up the scaffolding faster.  Stiles yells at me to stop when he sees I'm about to charge at the kid.  I watch him pull a pin which causes pipes and construction materials to fall.

Whenever people are in a situation where someone's hurt or killed, they always say that it all happens so fast.  They're all full of shit.  Watching as a pipe impales the kid was like watching an arrow being shot at a target in slow motion.  The pipe enters his stomach, makes its way through his organs and bones, and breaks through the skin of his back.  It sticks right into the floor, holding his body up.  Once the noise settles, Stiles looks down from the scaffolding at what he's done.  I round to face the nearly lifeless boy to see his face just as Stiles climbs down and stares at him.

"Help me," Stiles says just barely above a whisper.  I nod and grab ahold of the pole as Stiles grabs a part above my hands.  Before we can try, the boy growls at us causing us to stop.  We stare at him and watch as the life fades from his eyes.  Silver liquid pours out of his wounds.  Stiles walks over to the library phone to call the police, however I step closer to the dead body to study the liquid.  I hear the dispatcher's voice through the phone.  No one answers her, and she decides to send a police unit to investigate the call anyway.

I lifted a finger to touch the silver liquid and rub it between my index finger and thumb.  It felt like something my science teacher had us work with in a lab last year.  Mercury.  Why would it be in this kid's body?  Unless it was what the people in the masks were using in their experiments.  Maybe all of the Chimeras had it inside them.

"Luna, let's go.  The police are going to be here soon," Stiles says from the door.  A phone starts to buzz from the boy's pocket, and I remember seeing him put Stiles' phone in his pocket.  Carefully, I pick the phone out and follow Stiles out of the library.  We run out to Stiles' jeep where the hood was already up.  This must've been where the attack started.  I look around for my truck, but I realize I parked it in the parking lot on the other side of the school.

"Stiles, my truck is in the other parking lot," my voice shakes as I speak.  "I don't think I can get there in time."  He slams the hood shut and looks over at my shaking figure.

"Tha-That's okay.  Just get," he pauses and glances at his car.  "Get in my car, okay?"  He waits for me to nod my head before going around to get in the driver side.  I stumble my way into the passenger seat and shut the door just as he starts the jeep up.  My hands are shaking visibly.  All I want to do is get to my truck and go home.  Stiles' breath is heavy like he's going to have a panic attack, and I'm afraid I'll have to comfort him even though I can hardly calm myself down.  We hear the siren of a police cruiser approaching the school which causes Stiles to back the jeep up, so we are hidden.  We watch the officer get out of his vehicle and walk into the building.

"What was his name?" I blurt out quietly into the silence.  I'm wringing my hands as if they were a wet wash cloth, hoping to get all the nerves out.  I don't know why I wanted his name.  It's not like it would make me feel better about any of it.  But from the way he was talking to Stiles and trying to kill him, the kid was obviously not right in the head.  Even if he was, what Stiles did was self-defense.  What I witnessed was a frightened, human teenager defending himself against someone who was attacking him.  No one should feel guilty about anything that happened tonight.

"Donovan."  He dismissed any other questions once he switched his police scanner on.

A police officer's voice ends the silence, "Dispatch, I'm 10-97, and there's no one here.  It's a 653."  Stiles and I snap our heads toward each other with our eyes wide.

The dispatcher answers back quickly, "Roger that.  Prank call."

After the police officer pulls away from the school and is out of view, Stiles and I run back into the library.  I tumble into his back when he stops abruptly in front of me.  Stepping around him, I understand why he stopped.  Donovan's body was missing.  Not only that, there was no blood or any evidence of a struggle.  I crouch down to see if there was anything we couldn't see standing up.

"Where did he go?  How did he-?  Who would've-?" Stiles starts to breathe heavily just like he did in the jeep.  I stand up and place my hands on his shoulders.

"Look at me."  He keeps his head down with his hands on his hips.  "Look at me, Stiles."  His honey brown eyes meet my ocean blue ones as he tries to hold his breath to stop a full blown panic attack.  "It's going to be fine.  We will figure this out together.  Just relax and calm down."  I rub his shoulders comfortingly.  "You can trust me, you know?"  He nods his head and slows his breathing.

We walk at a slow pace out of the library and school.  Stiles' anxiety and guilt is the only thing I smell as we walk together.

"Stiles."  I stop him once we're out of the building.  "I can smell the guilt all over you."

He sighs, "I killed him, Luna."

"It was self-defense.  He was going to kill you."

"How do I know if Scott is going to see it that way?  I'm not sure if I even want to tell him."

"You have me to back you up because you are going to tell him.  He's your best friend and he'll understand."  He shakes his head.

"You don't know Scott like I do.  It just-"  He shakes his head again, but doesn't say anymore.

"Look, I'm not saying you have to tell him tonight.  Okay?  But tell him before somebody finds Donovan's body or whoever took him tells Scott before you get the chance to."  I gaze at him expectantly.

"Yeah, yeah, no.  I know.  Thank you, Luna."  Without any warning, he pulls me into a hug.  I hesitate, but I wrap my arms around him and pat his back soothingly.  The hug was short, but it honestly helped in calming me down.  I wonder if that's the reason he did it.  "I'll see you tomorrow at school."  He walks in the direction of his car.

"Oh, hey, Stiles?"  He turns around.  "Here's your phone."  I toss him the small device and he catches it.

"Thanks."  I nod and turn to the direction of my car.

On the ride home, I can't stop thinking about Donovan.  How could a kid be pushed so far as to wanting to kill that badly?  I understand he blames Stiles' father for his dad being paralysed, but to kill over it?  There had to be more to the story.  Plus, where did his body go?  I heard his heart stop, and there was no way anybody could have saved him.  So, if he isn't alive then someone took his body.  But who would take his body?

Once I pull into my driveway and cut the engine, I get out to head inside.  I stop when I'm on my porch to turn around.  Theo's truck is in his driveway, but all the lights in his house are off.  Honestly, I'm not angry at him for telling Scott my secret anymore.  After what happened today, I'm glad he did or Stiles would've had to deal with this alone.  From what I know and have seen, Stiles is a good person and he doesn't deserve to have to carry this burden alone.  I'm glad I can be there to comfort and support him.

My hands are still trembling as I insert the key into the lock.  Shoving my shoulder into the stiff door, it swings open too fast and I tumble onto the floor.  Multiple profanities leave my mouth as my hands catch my fall.  In the dim lighting, I can see dried blood and mercury on my fingertips.  I don't remember getting any blood on my hands.  Thinking back, it might've happened when we were going to try to pull the pipe out.

I'm in the kitchen scrubbing my hands under scalding hot water faster than I can blink.  The mercury comes off easily, but the blood clings to my skin.  A groan forces its way from the back of my throat through my lips.  It takes half a bottle of dish soap and the scratchy side of a sponge to get the blood clear.  My hands are left raw and irritatingly red.  I squeeze my eyes shut as the memory comes flooding back.

My growl over powers her screams.  My teeth dig deep into her skin.  I can taste her blood on my tongue as she rips away from me, opening an even larger wound in her arm.  Blood pools at my paws as I begin my attack on her abdomen.  The red substance cover my muzzle and my chest.

She just keeps screaming and screaming and screaming and scre-

"Luna!"  I jump away from the sink and slam into the island behind me.  Theo is standing across from me with his eyes wide.  My hands are shaking more profusely than earlier, and they don't stop even when I hold them together.  "Hey, what's wrong?"  He grabs my hands and rubs my knuckles with his thumbs.  His hands start to shake, too.

"It's nothing."

"Nothing? You won't even look me in the eye."  To prove him wrong, I look him straight in the eye.  It's useless because he can see right through me and smell my chemo signals.  "Luna," his voice is stern and strong.  "What's wrong?"

"Honestly, Theo."  I retract my hands from his and walk away to the living room.  "I don't want to talk about it so don't try to make me."

"Fine."  His finger wrap around my upper arm, and spins me around.  He places his other hand on the back of my head and pulls me into his chest.  The hand that was on my arm moves to my back, and he rubs long circles along my spine which actually helps to pacify me.

With a deep breath, I place my hands on his hips.  I'm too exhausted to push him away and not let him comfort me.  The aroma of his cologne is all can I smell with my face stuffed into his chest.  The hand on my head moves to wrap around shoulders, and I'm able to move my head.  My chin rests on his chest as I stare up at him.  He stares me down just the same.

"You know, I was sure you were going to kick me out.  Literally," he says, his voice just above a whisper.

I smile softly, "I probably should."  My hands move around him to interlock just above his butt.  "But I'm not angry with you anymore."  His eyebrow quirks up which makes me laugh.  "I should be, but I'm not."

"Can I ask why?"  He stops rubbing circles, and wraps his arms around my shoulder as if he was crossing them over his chest.

"No," I say seriously.  He nods.

"That's okay.  I'm just glad I'm not going to get my ass kicked now."  A laugh flies from both our mouths. 

"You might still."  A moment passes where we just stare at each other.  "Do you want to stay tonight?"  The expression that crosses his face makes me want to take it back as quick as I can.  "I mean only if- I was just- honestly you can- never mind you don't have to."

"No, no, I want to."  I listen for his heartbeat and find it's completely steady.  I grin up at him before stepping away.  Taking his hand, I feel my heart jump and I hear his do the same.  I lead him up the stairs to my bedroom, all the while shutting off the lights on the bottom floor.

As we enter my room, I'm suddenly nervous.  Theo hasn't been in here since we were younger and not much has changed.  Although, the stuffed animals were replaced with books, and my boy band posters were switched for fairy lights like a tumblr girl's room.  But my pale, pink walls remained and so did the Scooby Doo sheets.  My cheeks burn at the sight of them, and I quickly run to cover them up.  I notice my hands are still shaking, but only slightly.

"I forgot all about those sheets.  I remember being so angry that my parents wouldn't get me them."  I can hear him trying to hide his laugh, and when I turn around, it's obvious on his face.  I glare at him.

"Stop laughing at me, Mr. I-slept-with-a-Carebear-nightlight-until-I-was-eight."  He stopped laughing and just stared at me with his mouth hanging open.

"That's not fair!  I asked for a Spider-man one!". This time I was the one who was trying to contain my laughter.  He sticks his tongue out at me and points towards my bathroom.  "Just go change, you traitor."  He runs and jumps on my full-size bed before settling in.  I listen to him and grab my shorts and T-shirt, but not without giggling all the way to the bathroom.

Can you believe this was supposed to be a Stiles fanfic?  I've read so many fanfics where Stiles is still dealing with the Donovan alone (except for one, but that was Theo fanfic and the girl was evil).  So, Luna was there and now Stiles has support from her.  And there was a small Leo moment.  I was going to cut it out since Luna wouldn't really ask him to stay, but I know she would if she was as shaken up as she was.
By the way, season 6 Theo has me shaking, like holy shit.  He's hilarious, his hair is on point, and he doesn't give a fuck.  He's such a loveable asshole.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!  Please vote or comment!  Thanks for reading!
- chelsie

word count: 3915