"Allison and I weren't the only ones running from something." Scott leaned over the desk and Braeden looked up at him from her maps, lips pulled back and teeth bared, but didn't say anything. "We've been here a month, a month of you complaining about being trapped in this small town, and you haven't taken a single day to relax and visit your siblings. Why?"

"Scarecrow, if I took a day off, you all would be dead. Alan and Marin are more than capable of coming here. They just don't want to, and I'm fine with that." Braeden licked her lips and sketched something on the map of the town. She then cursed and erased it.

Scott knelt next to her and pretended to the look at the map; out of the corner of his eyes he watched her face. They had almost gotten to know each other on the road. In New Orleans, she had actually chosen to save his life over bringing back her lover. Whatever had happened, whatever change occurred, it was now fairly nonexistent. Braeden was the same cold woman he had met in that reservation town.

"I know you haven't seen her yet." Braeden circled something else on the map. It was probably the hiding place of the next group of Argents to come to town. Scott didn't approve, and he had made it known, but Braeden and Chris had been killing the would be assassins. They'd tried to keep one as a prisoner. It was three days before she freed herself and nearly killed Danny. After that, Braeden put in place a no prisoner policy.

"How do you know that?" Scott actually had seen Allison. He watched her walk in the door; her father held her and she cried in his arms. Then he caught Lydia's eye and disappeared down the hallway.

"Because you aren't doing that thing where you stare into space and think. The brooding thing: you aren't doing that." She put her pencil down and swivelled so that they were looking at each other. "Listen, she walked out on you to save your life. She tried to save the lives of everyone in this house but me. But she still walked out on you and you're too much of a pussy to ask her why she wouldn't trust you with the truth. I get it."

"Why did you stay here? There are plenty of places in the world where you're needed. Why stay in this little town? You don't want to be here. You make that known every chance you get." Scott's eyes bore into hers, but she didn't flinch.

Then she smiled. It was a wicked thing and chills ran down his spine. "I told you this once: I do what needs done. I kill the monsters, and there is nothing out there that could hope to compete with mankind in terms of savagery." Braeden stood and stretched. "They aren't sending small forces anymore. They were testing our defended with disposable troops."

"There is no such thing as a disposable person," Scott challenged.

"And that is why you need me. You're all too good at heart. You don't think of people in terms of acceptable losses and the like. Well, most of you don't. I like your ex's dad. He almost gets it. But my people have dealt with hunters as long as we've dealt with wolves. The Argents are cold and ruthless. And now that everyone is here they're gonna hit hard. Your gal is good, but not against whatever they'll be sending."

"They won't expose themselves like that. They covered their tracks with a fake pirate attack, and the airport shooter was never found. They value their secrecy too much. Even when we had a kanima wipe out the whole police station, it was covered up."

"And that was by a small offshoot. You think they don't already have a hundred stories in place?" Braeden laughed coldly. She looked entertained by the idea. "Let's face it. We have an illegal polyandrous married trio, a retired police officer, and a bunch of people who aren't white living here. Someone just needs to plant a few bags of coke and it'll be an easy sell for a drug deal gone bad. This is California. It's not unheard of."

"Sometimes you really scare me." Scott didn't smile at Braeden, but he didn't look away. "So, what do we do? Go on the run?"

"You are as dumb as you look. They have two targets: your girl and her father. Everyone else is just leverage. They could have killed us at any time, but they waited until she arrived to get serious. Because this is a vendetta. Fucking secret societies are the absolute worst: a bunch of old ass white men plotting against anyone that might try to be their equal."

"And?"

"And we don't have a chance in Hell of beating a large force."

"I didn't think so," Allison agreed from the doorway. Scott feels his eyes bulge as he focuses extra hard on Braeden's face. She'd been using the one with the neck scars the most. His eyes lingered on those so that he wouldn't have to turn around.

Braeden rolled her eyes at Scott, then concentrated on Allison. "So, you're the reason the Scarecrow here was wandering around Arizona like a lost puppy."

"Scarecrow?" Allison sounded confused by the nickname. In a moment of clarity, Scott finally understood it.

"If he only had a brain." Scott sung as he turned to look at Allison. She was tired. He'd heard the news reports, followed the stories online, but because they were European citizens the American press barely cared. All he wanted to do was kiss her and tell her how much he loved her.

"Damn, girl, are you the wizard?" Braeden chuckled from behind Scott. "He kept asking me what it meant. I thought your boy would never get it."

"You're Braeden, then," Allison concluded without really looking at Scott. He felt something in his gut, but his brain wouldn't tell him what it was. "My dad wants you. And I..."

"You two need to be alone. I get it." Braeden stood and gathered her materials. "I'm assuming he's in the kitchen with everyone else, since we usually hold the powwows here."

Allison nodded and stepped back so the other woman could pass. Then she closed the door when it was just her with Scott. He swallowed the lump in his throat that had prevented him from speaking.

"I'm sorry," she whispered from across the room. In response, Scott just blinked. He didn't know what to say; he didn't know if he could speak. Allison continued speaking for the both of them. "I should have told you."

"You should have stayed." Both ignored the crack in his voice. "We went through this in high school. When we got back together, I thought you were done trying to shoulder responsibility for everyone else."

"You never stopped. Why would I?" Allison still wasn't looking at him. Maybe she couldn't. "They didn't go for my dad. It was me. They knew I was the weak link."

"And you proved them wrong. Time and again." Scott finally stood, but just long enough to sit on the edge of the desk. "You were never a victim, Allison. What were you trying to prove going out there by yourself?"

"Nothing." She finally looked into Scott's eyes. There was something missing from them. He wondered if it would ever come back. "I did it to protect you. They were going to kill you."

"I'm not exactly a damsel in distress myself," Scott pointed out as he flashed his red eyes. "You should have told me."

Stifling back what was obviously a sob, Allison took a moment to compose herself. Scott took that moment to stare at his hands since he didn't know what else to do.

"They sent me a picture of you. There was a cross hair on it, and you were asleep. It was in our bed. Our home, Scott, and they waltzed in just to take a photo. We never knew. If I hadn't gone, everyone would have died."

"They've been coming for us for weeks. We've been fine. Between Danny blocking all satellite photography of the house and your dad planning with Braeden, we've been a step ahead of them. We would have been safe."

Allison shook her head, and a few tears fell loose. She wiped them away with a sniff. For a moment, Scott wondered how long he could hold his own back. Then he felt his cheek and realized he hadn't.

"You don't get it. Before this, I didn't even know that my... My family is still active in France. All over the world, really. And I had no idea. Scott, every bad thing we've experienced in this town? It's just the edge of the cliff. There are a million more things just waiting to push us over."

"And mankind is the worst one," Scott agreed, remembering Braeden's words. He remembered what he'd experienced in that small Arizona town. He felt his chest where Peter had stabbed him after Braeden refused to do it.

"They're never going to stop." Allison stepped away from Scott, her back flat against the door.

"You're leaving again. I just got you back. Why?" Scott's voice broke again and he closed his eyes. It hurt to much to look at her. He felt her lips on his. She ran her hands along his shoulders, then down his arms until their fingers interlaced. He kept his eyes closed.

"After whatever happens, my dad and I are both leaving. We know how to disappear. As long as we're here, nobody is safe."

"We weren't safe before." Scott argued in vain. Allison kissed his forehead and let him go.

"This is different. You know it is."

"I'll go with you." Scott heard the door open.

Then he heard it shut. Allison broke down on the other side, but he just sat on the desk telling himself that it wasn't real. When he opened his eyes, he was staring at the empty room.

TW

"You two are just leaving like that?" Braeden watched from the living room as Allison and her father began hauling bags to the SUV. "That's cold. These people don't even rate a farewell? Not that I'd give them one either, but I'm a bitch."

"How are you awake?" Chris asked, setting his bags down and catching his daughter's eye.

"Odourless, tasteless drugs may work on werewolves and the average human, but I'm a good read on body language. You two were suspicious as hell, so I didn't eat the big celebratory dinner. Not that it matters. I'm not gonna stop you. Shit, if you need help loading the car just say the word." Braeden crossed her legs and leaned back into the sofa. "You know they're watching. You know the rules of war. And you want to keep everyone here safe by leading them out of town."

"She's smart," Allison told her father before handing him her bags. "I'll be out in a minute. We need to have a chat."

"Don't take too long." Chris looked between his daughter and the other woman before picking up his bags and hauling them out along with Allison's.

"Take care of them for me." Allison crossed her arms and looked at Braeden. She neither knew nor trusted the woman They'd met before, when she was still in high school, but it had been in passing. Allison didn't even know her name until that morning.

"They're on their own. Without you here, the Argents will move on. A small group will stay to observe and not engage, which is typical Argent procedure, but you two already knew that. It's sound planning on all sides. And I'll be leaving in the morning, too. I don't like staying in one place too long. Domesticity makes me feel trapped; it's suffocating as fuck. My ass needs to be on the move."

Allison looked back to the garage where her father was waiting, then to the stairs. "How do you know what they're plotting? How are you connected to my family?"

"Let's just say that we've had run-ins before. They usually ended violently, but I'm low enough on the food chain to not rate a world spanning revenge plot. Unlike you." Braeden shrugged and uncrossed her legs with a smirk. "But that's a story that'll never be told. Don't worry, I'll leave after they're all awake. Just in case something does happen."

"Thank you. I know you said you aren't staying, but thank you for taking care of them."

"You realize this is a mess you're leaving me, and that it's gonna take forever to clean it up, right? I should charge your asses. In fact, hand over a credit card. You guys won't ever pay it off, and it'll throw your relatives off your trail for a little bit."

TW

"Why did you let them go?" Scott was sitting across the table watching Braeden eat cereal. He wasn't hungry, and he didn't understand how she could be. All he wanted to do was vomit. When everyone else had awoken for the day, they noticed their hosts had vanished and went into a panic. What Braeden told them hadn't calmed anyone down, but they had stopped searching the grounds.

"I wasn't aware I was supposed to stop them." She slurped the milk from her spoon, then rolled her eyes. "She's a grown woman and he's a grown man. They can make their own decisions."

"It wasn't a good decision," Scott pouted as he crossed his arms and glowered at the woman. "You could have at least woke someone up. We could've stopped them."

Braeden snorted and let her spoon clatter on the table. "You act like they did something wrong. Scarecrow, I agreed with them. They made the right call. Maybe you'll get that someday. Not everything can end up the way you want. The good guys lose sometimes. Just move on."

He wanted to yell at her. Scott wanted to stomp his feet and throw James in Braeden's face and make a complete ass of himself. Instead, he chose to walk out of the room.

"Wait," Braeden called after him. He stopped, but didn't turn around. "There was something else."

Waiting in silence, Scott tapped his foot. He knew Braeden was wanting him to turn around. She wanted him to blink first, to let her know that she had won this one. His eyes locked onto hers when he did finally turn his head.

"The gal... Allison? Anyway, she said to tell you that she loves you and she always will." Her heart skipped a beat. She was lying, trying to make him feel better. When she saw Scott smile, she coughed and broke the eye contact. She knew he knew. Braeden was embarrassed; Scott fought the urge to tease her about it. Then he remembered what she was lying about and left.

Stiles and Lydia were waiting in the living room where she was holding his hand and crying. Danny was probably at the computer trying to track them, but he had to know it was fruitless. They'd left their phones and GPS behind and stolen Danny's satellite blocker. Maybe Danny had a way to track that, but Scott didn't know enough about computers to put much faith into such a long shot.

Looking over his friends and passing by, Scott continued out to the front yard. Someone was watching him. Somewhere, a stranger with a familiar surname likely had him in cross hairs. He didn't care. He wasn't the target. The targets had fled into the night.

"Scott." The voice wasn't one he had expected.

"Sheriff."

The man who had been a father to him, the one who had been there when Scott's own father wasn't, put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you gonna leave, too?"

"I don't think I can stay." Scott tilted his head until his neck cracked. "No offence, but there's no future for me here. I'm just so... unnecessary. This entire time, all I've done is hang around the house feeling useless. I need to actually do something."

"You aren't useless, Scott." The sheriff squeezed his shoulder. "You're needed here. Your mother needs you, your friends need you. Hell, sometimes even I need you."

Shaking his head, Scott smiled at the comforting words. "No, Sheriff, I'm wanted. And it's great, I love everyone, too. And I would love nothing more than to be able to stay here, but there is a whole world of people out there that don't want me. But they need me. And I didn't know it until Braeden showed me. I can do so much more good outside of Beacon Hills than I could staying."

Scott felt the sheriff's hand slide from his shoulder, and he turned his head so that he could see the older man. He was smiling, something Scott hadn't been expecting.

"You and Braeden are close? I didn't know that. You two are always fighting."

"We're not. She's actually kind of a terrible person. It's just... I can save all of these people by helping her. And maybe, someday, I can even save her from herself. I just don't want to give up. Because once, for one moment, I saw a glimpse of good in her. Something tells me that I can make her see that there is more to helping people than killing something."

"So you're leaving with her, then?"

Scott looked at the doorway to the house, where Stiles was standing. Neither Scott's brother-in-law nor his sister-in-law was with him.

"Yeah, I am. You guys can take care of the town without me. You haven't really needed me in years."

"If you'll recall, half the time I was protecting the town from you. What're you gonna do out there?"

"Help people, apparently," the sheriff answered for Scott, grinning widely. He looked from his biological son to his surrogate one. "Scott, don't be a stranger. Call often, and visit once in awhile. It's good for your mom. She took it the hardest when you vanished."

"It's good for me, too, you jackass. I just got you back." Stiles stepped onto the yard and walked over to give Scott a hug.

TW

"Are you ready, Scarecrow?" Braeden was waiting by the bike. She hadn't been present for the goodbyes, said something about nausea the moment she saw Deaton and Morrell arrive.

"You waited for me. I'm flattered. Where are we headed?" Scott handed Braeden her helmet. His mother had made him buy one for the woman shortly after they arrived in town. "Back to New Orleans to deal with the swamp creature?"

"North, actually. Got a call about a wendigo in Washington."

"But isn't Virginia to the East?"

Braeden grinned as she held her helmet up. "Why have the people in your life not made you wear one of these at all times? Washington State, Scarecrow. Not Washington DC. And, for the record, the District of Columbia is not a part of any state. It's kinda like Puerto Rico in that it's a part of the US, but not an actual state. It's like a commonwealth or a territory or something. And you don't care."

"I really don't," Scott agreed. "Washington is a pretty big place. You have anything more specific?"

"Not at the moment, but that's not gonna stop us, is it?"

"Nope. I have a friend in Seattle who should be willing to give us a place to stay. Just don't do that thing to her you do to everyone else."

"I have a thing I do?" Braeden sounded amused as she stood back to let Scott climb on the bike.

"Yeah. You act like a complete and utter bitch."

She smirked. Scott couldn't see it, but he knew that it was what she was doing. "No promises."

"What's a wendigo?"

"Maybe we should find you a wizard first, Scarecrow."