Once in a Lifetime

46

Scott and Tabitha made their way to Liam's to find him hiding under his covers, pretending to be sick.

"Liam," Scott said sternly.

He grunted and pretended to cough. "No, I'm... I'm sick."

"You're not sick."

Liam began to stammer. "Yeah, I'm like deathly ill. It's serious. I think..." He let out a fake cough. "I think it's the flu."

"It's not flu season."

"Uh, then I probably have pneumonia."

Tabitha pulled off the covers. "Get up. You have school."

Liam pulled his covers back up. "I don't think I should go to school. Or outside. Or anywhere. Ever again."

Scott shook his head. "It doesn't matter what you think, okay? Because you gotta go. Now all you do is pretend like nothing happened."

Liam scoffed. "Pretend? I'm just supposed to pretend?"

Scott thought of a quick analogy. "Think of it like when Superman gets caught with his glasses off. You know, he doesn't give up. He puts them back on and says, "I'm still Clark Kent.""

"You want me to wear glasses?"

"No!" Scott cried, dragging Liam from the bed. "Tabitha and I want you to go to school, okay? And be Liam Dunbar. Just like how Superman has to be Clark Kent, like Spiderman, and Captain America..."

"Captain America is just Steve Rogers," Liam answered from the floor. "Everybody already loves him. Unlike us, who everybody hates. They hate us for trying to save their lives."

Tabitha nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Whether they like it or not, we're trying to save their lives."

"Exactly," Scott agreed. "Which is why you're gonna get up and go to school and pretend like nothing ever happened. Because if you don't, more people could die."

"Because of me," Liam muttered.

Scott sighed. "Tabitha and I didn't really know Brett or Lori. Well, not like you did. But we know you." Scott grabbed Liam's backpack and placed it on the covers. "And if you're afraid of seeing more of your friends die, you'll go."

Liam made his way to the school while Scott, Malia, Lydia and Tabitha met with Argent to explain what had happened with Brett and Lori.

"They were murdered in cold blood," Tabitha told him. "A new hunter has come into town."

Scott said, "You know, when he took out the Hellhound, we thought it was luck. That we were dealing with an amateur. But now we know that whoever this new hunter is, he has a new teacher."

"Or she."

"Gerard," Argent noted, giving a nod to Tabitha and pursed his lips. "Which means this is my fault. I'm the one who let him go."

Lydia glanced at Scott. "You couldn't have done anything. You couldn't either, Tabitha."

"They could've killed him," Malia said, earning a look from Lydia. "Just saying."

Lydia shook her head. "We're not executioners."

"You are when it comes to war."

Scott looked between them. "That's why we're going to make peace."

Tabitha scoffed. "Make peace with Gerard? That'd be like talking to Pierce or Loki."

Scott turned to the strawberry blonde. "Lydia, you know what's coming. We all keep using the same word."