[ start of magic bullet ]

from her phone after her twin brother nudged her, shooting her a worried gaze as she sighed, pushing the device back into her pocket, shutting her locker as the bell rang, signalling her first class of the day.

She had been waiting for her older brother to message her all morning. She'd sent many messages however he would not reply. Derek hadn't returned home last night, after searching for the Alpha to find out whom it was, and it was increasingly worrying the twins. He had left nearly 16 hours ago, and they hadn't heard a single thing from him in that period of time. Eleanor hadn't been able to sleep knowing that her brother may be in possible danger, she was worried that he wouldn't be coming back. She'd just lost Laura and she couldn't lose him too.

Nonetheless, Jaden made sure that they both attended school. If Derek was missing for a short while, it would do the both some good to go to school and distract themselves by learning. Eleanor didn't like this idea, however she found herself sat in Economics, surrounded by her best friends.

Stiles frowned at Eleanor's slumped posture and lack of energy. "Nora, you alright?"

"What? Yeah, I'm fine." She smiled reassuringly at her best friend and he raised an eyebrow, the lie she had told obvious to him.

However, he let it go as he leant forward to ensure Scott would be able to hear his next question. "So if Derek isn't the Alpha, and he's not the one who bit you, who did?"

"I don't know." The Hispanic boy shrugged, not bothering to face Stiles as he spoke, answering vaguely.

Stiles rolled his eyes and leant forward even more. "Did the Alpha kill the bus driver?"

Eleanor and Jaden shared the same look. They had this conversation last night after Derek had left to find the mystery supernatural, and their discussion took up the best part of an hour. They both suspected that the Alpha had killed the bus driver, however they could never be too sure without knowing who or what the Alpha was like.

"I don't know." Another abrupt answer from Scott caused a sigh to fall from the ADHD enthused boy.

"Does Allison's dad know about the Alpha?"

This time, Scott's blunt response flared into a frustrated roar. "I don't know, Stiles!"

Jaden, Eleanor and Stiles flinched backward at the sudden raise in volume and the class quietened down, several glances being thrown their way. Scott slid further into his seat and ran a hand over his face due to the increase of stress he felt, and Eleanor sent a worried glance his way. A newly bitten had a high chance of shifting at the smallest of things, and Scott had been bundled with a lot of stress.

Mr Finstock wandered past the four friends, dropping a test on each of their desks, smiling at some and grimacing at others. The twins, Stiles and Scott all looked down at their papers, reading the grade they had received.

Eleanor and Stiles smiled in achievement, holding the test up to one another to see the other's grade. They both smiled to congratulate one another, and Jaden watched on in amusement at the couple.

The two best friends studied together every Sunday, and the Econ test had been something they had been working on for weeks. They were both fairly confident when going into the exam and were obviously ecstatic with the outcome of helping each other. Stiles had received a B+ and Eleanor had received an A, something that was very consistent in all of her subjects.

The pair looked to the boys' table, reading Jaden's C and Scott's D-. Eleanor smiled at her brother, knowing that he had been trying to keep his grades up to play lacrosse this season, however frowned at Scott's red letter. The look on his face represented disappointment and the three friends looked at one another, in hopes that one would have an idea of cheering their friend up.

Stiles laughed awkwardly. "Dude you need to study more."

The attempt at a joke fell through when Scott looked up to glare at his friend, and Stiles grimaced. "That was a joke, Scott, it's one test. You'll make it up dude."

"Do you need help studying?" Eleanor asked, looking at Stiles for agreement as he nodded.

"No, I'm studying with Allison after school today."

Jaden and Stiles began grinning from ear to ear, sharing a knowing look that Eleanor could not fathom. Jaden clapped his hand on Scott's back as Stiles laughed. "That's our boy!"

"We're just studying." Eleanor scoffed at what Stiles and her brother were implying, and carried on writing notes.

"No you're not."

Scott squinted. "No, I'm not?"

Stiles shook his head in confirmation, nudging Jaden suggestively as they both smiled at their friend. "Not if I'm forced to live through you. If you go to her house today, just to study, I'll have to de-ball you. And Jaden here is good at using his claws."

"Okay, whatever, just stop with the questions."

"Done, no more questions. No talk about the Alpha or Derek, especially Derek, who still scares me."

The statement made Eleanor giggle, and Jaden shake his head in amusement. Mr Finstock called for quiet soon after Stiles' sentence, and true to his word, nobody talked of the Alpha or their older brother for the rest of the day.

...

spotted both Allison and Lydia across from her locker and sighed in appreciation for her friends. She had been walking around aimlessly for the past half an hour without the boys due to lacrosse practice and hadn't seen any of her friends until now.

Technically, the youngest Hale was supposed to make an appearance at practice, as Coach had asked her to assist him within practice and games, as apparently she had more leverage over her three friends than he did, and she could be a help to the team. However, Finstock had granted her permission to skip the practice after school due to the cold weather.

Eleanor briskly walked toward the two girls, and caught up with Allison and Lydia as Lydia mentioned that. "Just studying never ends with just studying. It's like getting into a hot tub, eventually someone cops a feel."

The brunette immediately groaned, catching her friends attention. "Bloody hell, I've already had this conversation today."

"Are you kidding? After one date?" Allison fretted, her eyes wide with concern for the two girls as Lydia grinned.

"Don't be a total prude, at least give him a little taste." The innocent girl looked to Eleanor for agreement and the werewolf wrinkled her nose in disgust. Not only were they talking about her best friend, but they were also talking about something she had not yet experienced.

"Don't look at me, I'm the last person you should be asking."

"Well, how much is a little taste?" The stutter that fell from Allison's lips made Lydia's suspicions obvious.

She rolled her eyes. "God, you really like him don't you?"

Allison blushed slightly and sighed in admiration for the brown eyed boy Eleanor had known since elementary school. "Well, it's just, he's different. Before I moved here, I had a plan; no boyfriends until college. And everything was working out perfectly until I met him. I can't explain it."

While Eleanor smiled and listened to Allison gush, happy that someone had begun to appreciate her best friend, Lydia raised her eyebrow knowingly. "I can, it's your brain flooding with phenylethylamine."

Allison stared blankly. "What?"

"I'll tell you what to do, alright? When's he coming over?"

"Right after school." She confirmed, smiling at the thought of her boyfriend and their study date as her two best friends rolled their eyes playfully.

Allison pushed open the door for the three girls and they were met by the crisp, fresh air as they strolled the surroundings of their school. Lydia jumped slightly when remembering what Jackson had said to her, and looked past Allison to Eleanor.

She looked up, as if remembering something. "Oh, Ella! Jackson told me your brother was looking for you earlier, not Jaden, the older one."

The brunette stopped in her tracks upon hearing the statement and widened her eyes, pondering what to do with this new information. First, she needed to tell Jaden.

The two friends, noticing Eleanor's shock, also stopped their movement, and stared at the girl in wonder. "El, you okay?"

"What? Yeah, it's just - I just remembered that I said I would go to lacrosse practice! Catch up with you later?" She shook herself away from her thoughts and smiled falsely.

Lydia and Allison narrowed their eyes, almost sensing Eleanor's lie, however nodded slowly. They gave her soft smiles as they walked toward Lydia's car and Eleanor ran a hand through her hair in confusion, stalking toward the field with pace.

Why the hell would Derek make an appearance at school, let alone talk to Jackson of all people. Something was seriously wrong, and Eleanor could sense it. Every single time she had tried to connect to her older brother, something, a barrier, was stopping her.

She sat down on the bleachers, waiting patiently for over half an hour for the boys' practice to end. She stood outside, her arms wrapped around her for warmth, until the three friends exited the school and greeted her with sweaty, raised eyebrows. They had all thought that Eleanor had departed from Beacon Hill High School to return home. They were not expecting to see her.

Nonetheless, they began talking of the apparently 'amazing' lacrosse practice they had. "Jaden, your reflex to Kyle's pass was legendary!"

Stiles nodded in agreement, patting Eleanor's brother on the back as he looked over at Scott. "And your shots were sick! The goalie didn't catch any."

"Guys." Eleanor sighed, trying to catch their attention as they stopped in front of Stiles' infamous jeep. Nobody paid attention.

"Thanks bro! Your defending was insane though, it's nice to play with you on the field. All three of us together." Scott marvelled at the thought as all four climbed into the vehicle.

"Guys! This is important." Eleanor tried again.

"Coach seemed awfully keen for us to play, do you reckon he's warming up to us?"

Jaden grinned. "You mean, warming up to you? Coach loves McCall and I."

"Hello? Eleanor is trying to speak?" Even speaking in the third person didn't catch their attention.

Nothing did, until Stiles drove forward, hitting a familiar face with the car, coming to a stop upon doing so. All four teenagers jumped at the mere shock, and leant forward to assess who they had hit. To Jaden, Scott and Stiles, seeing Derek laying beside them came as quite a shock. Eleanor, however, had already scrambled over the three and jumped out to help her older brother.

"Oh god, no not here!" Scott groaned in dismay from the passenger seat, and Jaden shot him a look of disapproval.

"Derek? Der, can you hear me? What happened?" Eleanor mumbled, resting a hand upon his forehead before turning back to the three boys. "This is what I was trying to tell you about! Now can you get out of the damn car and help me?"

Jaden had already hopped out of the jeep during her ramble, however it had knocked some sense into the other pair, as they scrambled to where Derek lay on the tarmac as he spoke to Eleanor. "I was shot."

"He's not looking so good." Stiles noted, causing a glare from Eleanor.

"Why aren't you healing?"

Jaden picked up his brothers arm and inspected the wound as the youngest Hale answered for the eldest. "He can't. It's a different type of bullet."

Stiles' eyes glimmered. "A sliver bullet?"

Ignoring the excruciating pain pulsing through his arm, Derek turned to stare at the stupid boy stood in front of him. "No, you idiot. Help me up."

The twins stood either side of their brother, landing him carefully to his feet as he leant against the bonnet of the jeep, watching as Scott widened his eyes in realisation. "That's what she meant when she said you had 48 hours."

"What? Who - who said I had 48 hours?"

"The one who shot you-" Scott stopped speaking mid sentence after watching Derek's eyes flash a steel blue, and he narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing? Stop that!"

Eleanor shoved the young werewolf. "Stop being stupid! He can't help it."

Scott rolled his eyes and Eleanor turned to her best friend, whom she gave pleading eyes. "Please help me put him in your jeep?"

Stiles hesitantly nodded at Eleanor's question, and the boy grabbed Derek's good arm, hauling him to the front seat of the jeep with the help of Eleanor, whom stared at the wound intensely as they sat him down.

Derek aimlessly grabbed at Scott's shirt, pulling him closer as the young boy's eyebrows furrowed. "I need you to find out what bullet they used."

Scott and Stiles both frowned at this demand, while Jaden and Eleanor watched the scene unfold knowingly as Scott muttered. "How the hell am I supposed to know that?"

"Because she's an Argent," That seemed to shut the Hispanic boy up, and made Eleanor's eyes glower with hatred for the anonymous woman Derek was speaking of. "She's with them."

Scott scoffed, trying to strike confidently in his words. "And why should I help you."

Derek's lips pulled weakly at a smirk. "You'll help me, because you need me."

"And last time I checked, you didn't want to lose us as well." Jaden added fiercely, eyeing Scott as he slumped his shoulders in defeat. He couldn't argue with their logic.

"Fine, I'll try." He turned to Stiles, his eyes wandering over the twins and their brother. "Hey, get him out of here."

Stiles allowed Eleanor and Jaden to climb into the back seats before jumping in himself, glaring at Scott as he slammed the door. "Scott? I hate you so much for this."

And with a harsh jab to the shoulder from Eleanor, and a roll of the eyes from Jaden, Stiles started the jeep's engine once again and drove out of the school's parking lot, leaving Scott to fend off the several people waiting to see exactly what was going on.

The other four drove directly toward the Hale house, and Derek emitted a loud groan from his seat as Stiles narrowed his eyes. "Try not to bleed out on my seats? We're almost there."

The twins slid forward in the backseat and stared at Stiles in confusion, as did their older sibling, whom furrowed his eyebrows and stared at Stiles. "Almost where?"

"Your house."

Jaden shook his head instantly. "What? You can't take us there."

Stiles groaned irritably and gripped the steering wheel tighter, turning to look at Derek as he spoke sarcastically. "I can't take you to your own house?"

"Not when I can't protect myself."

With a sigh filled with annoyance and anger, Stiles huffed and pulled over to the side of the road, stopping the car with a push of the break. His eyes landed firmly on the twins, raising an eyebrow at the both of them before turning to their brother, whom looked in a great amount of pain from the wound on his arm.

"Fine. What are you going to do if Scott doesn't find your magic bullet, huh? Are you dying?"

Eleanor frowned at how insensitive he was as Derek held his arm tightly. "Not yet, I have a last resort."

"What do you mean? What last resort?" His interrogatory expression flooded with disgust upon Derek pulling up his shirt, to reveal the bloody bullet hole and he shielded his eyes frantically at the sight. "Oh my god! What is that? You know what, I don't even want to know. You should probably just get out now."

Jaden leant forward and uncovered his eyes, a threatening look plastered deep in his pupils. "Start the car, now."

Stiles turned around cautiously, yet shook his head. "I don't think you should be barking orders with the way he looks. In fact, I'm sure if I wanted to, I could drag Derek's little werewolf ass out of this jeep and leave him for dead."

"Start the car." Derek breathed, leaning closer to Stiles menacingly. "Or I'm going to rip your throat out, with my teeth."

Stiles paused for half a second, contemplating his options. The disappointment he would receive from Scott, and the look of betrayal settling in Eleanor's eyes was enough for him to start the engine once again and continue driving. He had only just made up with his best friend, and he did not want to lose her trust or friendship, even if he didn't necessarily trust her brother.

The four drove around for what seemed like an hour before Stiles eventually pulled over for the second time, bored of driving the streets aimlessly, without any direct location. He pulled out his phone and ran a hand through his hair, beyond frustrated with the situation.

Derek groaned as Stiles opened the door, and he turned around to shoot the eldest Hale a deathly glare. "Try not to die while I call Scott."

Eleanor, whom had followed Stiles out of the vehicle, scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest, nudging her best friend in annoyance. "Watch what you're saying."

Immediately, his expression filled with guilt, and he pulled the youngest Hale into his side, noticing the goosebumps parading her skin. He also knew that she was terrified for her brother, and so he slipped his phone out of his pocket and dialled Scott's number as fast as he could, holding the device up to his ear as it glitched, and connected with the receiver.

"What am I supposed to do with him?" No greetings were conversed before Stiles spoke, and Eleanor almost laughed at how eager Stiles was, however her brother's life was at stake, and there was nothing to laugh about.

Scott sighed in dismay. "Take him somewhere, anywhere."

Stiles turned back to look at Derek and grimaced, the stench of death filling his nostrils. "Oh, and he's starting to smell, really bad."

"Like what?"

Begrudgingly, Eleanor stood on her toes and leaned into the phone, answering before Stiles could. "Like death."

Everything was silent for a second, leaving Scott to make a last minute decision. "Take him to the animal clinic."

"What about your boss?"

"He's gone by now. There's a spare key in a box behind the dumpster."

Stiles had wandered into the road and was stood with Derek upon hearing the instructions, causing him to lift an eyebrow and turn to the Hale. "You won't believe where he wants me to take you."

Stiles was trying to humour the situation, however could not succeed as Derek snatched the phone and began talking to Scott, his voice weak and fragile, yet still threatening as he spoke to the new werewolf.