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[She leaves the message for Scott and knows that he'll tell Allison and Allison will tell Lydia. Maybe she should do that too, but she's waiting for his reply right now and she doesn't want to have to say the same things over and over again. Getting up from Isaac's bed, she leaves his room and moves down the hall to the room that her and Cora share. DiCaprio sleepily (but happily) follows her. Instead of moving to her own bed to go back to sleep, because that's what she really wants to do, she moves to sit on the edge of Cora's bed. DiCaprio settles at her feet and just stares up at Erica, panting with the dumb happy look on his face. The other dog is asleep in the corner, clearly not impressed by anything that DiCaprio has been doing as of late.]

Isaac's gone.

[Cora had started to suspect that maybe that's what it was. Isaac hadn't been around in a while, and she thought that maybe he'd been taken like Derek was, but that doesn't really make things easier on Erica. Cora can go home and see them both. All Erica really has is this.

It's not fair. But it is what it is.

She pauses for a moment, before shifting to the side so that Erica can move and sit next to her. She's never been overly affectionate as a rule, but she's getting better at it, and this is a moment where it's needed.]

[Erica takes note of the movement and she moves to sit in that empty spot. Her finger pushes at her bracelet, making it rotate around her wrist.]

I sent Scott a message about it.

[She nods, inching a bit closer once Erica settles so that her shoulder is pressed against hers.]

I'm sure he'll tell everyone else.

[For the most part, anyway.]

[Erica nods. It feels hollow to think that it's just another thing they have to do. Let everyone know that he went home. It's supposed to be a good thing, but all she can think about is how she's probably never going to see him again.]

He'll be fine. He's strong and back home he has Scott and Derek to help him.

[She nods as she does, looking down at her hands.]

He and Scott have gotten really close - back home, I mean. Scott'll take care of him.

[She and Derek were planning to leave town as it was, and Scott is better at taking care of people anyway.]

I know... and I know that he's stronger than me. I just... I'll miss him being here.

It felt like we were finally together... like a real pack.

[She nods a bit in agreement about them all being together. It was nice, for a little while, having all the people who mattered in one place.]

I didn't say that. About him being stronger than you.

[And she doesn't want Erica to think that that was what she was inferring because it wasn't.]

No, I know. I said it, because it's true. [Look, Erica knows that she dies. Isaac tries to save her and he makes it out. Cora and Boyd make it out, even though Boyd doesn't live she knows that it's just her that doesn't make it out of that vault.]

No, it's not.

[It's not the dying that makes a person weak, it's the how, and the way Erica died wasn't weak. She wasn't slaughtered like a dog. Neither was Boyd. They were both fighting for something and the only reason that Cora survived is because Derek couldn't stand to lose her and there's a part of her that's grateful for that. Her friends died fighting. She doesn't want to be the one who dies, sick, miserable and too weak to even lift her own head.]

Just because you died, doesn't make you weak. And just because we survived doesn't make us stronger.

[Cora can't think that, because her mother is dead, and her mother was the strongest wolf she'd ever known. If she think her mother is weak for dying, then she has nothing left to hold on to.]

Even here... [She almost says that it was true again, but she's pretty sure Cora would deny that too. Isaac had been the one to go out, to face the danger and go on all those away missions. He'd fought for the city, fought for Scott - died for Scott. Erica never even tried, because she was afraid of dying here too.]

It feels like that's what it means. It's what people thought, at least. [Derek's first comments about her have stuck with her far longer than they should, but she can't help that.]

[Cora shakes her head, shifting a bit to face her on the bed so that she's looking her in the eye as she says it.]

You stood up to Kali when Boyd and I wouldn't.

[When they were too scared to. When it wasn't the smart thing to do, but Cora pretty much has come to be of the opinion that the smart thing is overrated.]

You didn't win, but at least you lost fighting for something. That's more than a lot of people ever get. You died fighting for yourself.

[Not Derek, not Scott, but for Erica. And maybe it doesn't mean as much to Erica as it does to Cora, but she hopes that it does.]

Edited 2014-08-30 15:04 (UTC)

[Erica takes a breath and looks at her.]

I didn't know that... I mean, I've known I died for a long time. There had been a tree that gave us fruit and I saw parts of it, but it wasn't complete and ... I just thought...

[She pauses because she gets a message from Scott around this time...]

It's Scott... I told him.

[She'll reply a few times and then she'll look to Cora.]

I'm going to go unlock the front door. He wants to see his room, I think. I'll be right back.

[Cora nods a bit as she lets her go, pausing to rest her chin on her hands as she waits for her to come back, thoughts spinning a bit in her head. She's not surprised no one told her that - she and Boyd were the only ones who really knew, and she didn't tell anyone, from the guilt more than anything else.

They were close enough to pack at that point. She shouldn't have let her go up against Kali alone, but she was so used to surviving, to focusing on keeping herself alive more than anything else, she had forgotten how to fight. Losing Erica and Boyd had brought that back in her again, and while she still picks her battles carefully, makes sure that it's something worth fighting for, she fights.

That's the important thing.]

[She's gone longer than she had realized she'd be. Stopping to tell Stiles on the way, because she'd thought about how Scott would need someone to talk to. How she wanted him to know, too. Then she'd done the thing she hadn't wanted to do... run into Scott.

She stays with him a bit longer, talking to him about Isaac and hugging him, which made her even more sad.

Now, she's returning, glad the dogs are in here asleep, instead of out there to bug Scott.]

Sorry... I texted Stiles to let him know and then Scott was here.

[She definitely looks more upset than she had been when she left.] I still have to tell Boyd.

[She notices that, seeing the toll that this is having on her, and she knows that she should do something. Even if she isn't entirely sure what that something is.]

Do you want me to do it?

[She'd understand if she didn't - Boyd, Isaac and Erica were tight, pack before she even came into the picture, but Cora wants to offer all the same.]

[Erica moves to the bed and sits down, shoulders slouching forward as she nods.]

I'm tired of people I love leaving... [It's been a rough few weeks for her. First Sam and now Isaac... she's afraid that if she goes to tell Boyd, he'll be gone too.]

Can you?

[She nods a bit at that, and while she would promise to stay, there's a part of her that knows she can't. They don't get a say in who comes and who goes. They just have to deal with whatever they're given.

It sucks a lot.

Still, she reaches for the bracelet to fire off a message to Boyd.]

Yeah. I can do that.

[Erica nods.] Thanks.

[Then she moves to sit on the floor, her back to the side of the bed watching as DiCaprio shuffles to his feet to come plop down next to her on the floor. She knows if she stays on the bed, she'll end up curling up next to Cora and her and Cora have never been that close. She could do that with Isaac, she had even shared a bed with him for those months before they had their own place.]

[They haven't been, but Cora wouldn't have minded. Still, she can get the need to separate the two, wanting to not confuse things, especially with a loss like that. As much as she can try and fill in some of the gaps, she's not Isaac. She wouldn't want it to seem like she's trying to be.

Still, she shifts so that she's resting on her stomach, letting that proximity be there all the same. Reminding Erica that she's not alone, even if it isn't the one she wanted.]

He's on his way.

[The heavy footsteps should be a dead giveaway to his arrival even if they were all missing their enhanced senses. Boyd quickly deposits his jacket somewhere near the door and goes straight for the girl's room. He's grateful as always for Cora making things easier for him. Knowing Isaac is gone just makes him want to rush to their sides more than usual. Derek and Peter were no great loss to him, but Isaac? That gets to him.

It's obvious from the moment he opens the door to their room. There's a tension in his shoulder like he's trying hard to hold them up. While Boyd isn't one to be open about his feelings often, he's visibly upset. He doesn't waste any time moving to Erica's side first to silently offer himself. Whatever she needs it's hers as far as he's concerned.]

[The dogs hear him first. Heads lifting up to the sounds and Erica starts to feel that tightness in her chest. She knows that he has two choices. He could come in here and see them or he could go to this own room to settle with his own thoughts. It's a difficult whichever way he goes with this, but she just hopes that she's strong enough to handle whatever it is.

When the door opens, the dog moves away. Not out of fear, but just out of not wanting to get stepped on.

The moment Body settles beside her, she feels that part of her break. The one that knows what this means. It had been one thing to talk to Scott about a lost love. To open up about unsaid things and how much Isaac had cared for Scott.

This was different, this was about losing a part of them. It had been the three of them and she thought it would always be that way, but now they're just losing each other. If not here... then back home. She reaches for Boyd and leans her weight to him, her arm crossing over him as she hugs him from her seated on the floor position. It's then that she feels the first sting of tears. The heavy sob that breaks from her as she realizes that they're a broken pack again.]

[He wraps one of his arms around Erica, eyes squeezing shut at the sound of that sob. Yes, their pack was broken again. It's small comfort knowing at least Scott would look after Isaac back home if nothing else when this was over. He remembers how happy Isaac was when he saw him, how cheerfully he talked about his time with Erica. He missed them. He has to go back to missing them every day. It's so wrong, but everything about their lives were.

He exhales sharply, but for now he's content to just hold her and allow her to feel this. If there's a stinging behind his closed lids, he ignores it.]

[She's meant to be stronger than this, Cora and her were just talking about it, but she can't help but feel like she's lost half of herself with Isaac leaving. He's always been there for her, from the first day when she arrived. Now, she's not sure what she's going to do. She'll have to keep going. She knows that much at least.

Erica's sob stops as suddenly as it had started, but she still clings to Boyd for comfort. Her head still resting to his shoulder as she curls against him. She doesn't want to lose anyone else. She doesn't want to deal with this one person at a time.]

[Boyd would probably argue she's the strongest out of all the betas present in this room. He often feels himself straining to measure up. Unlike some of the people present in Asgard he can't read minds so that remains unsaid.

He runs his fingers over her back, squeezing just a little tighter. Very carefully he opens his eyes to quietly acknowledge Cora in the room. They're bright and wet, but he won't be crying any time soon or trying offer up some empty words of comfort. That's not who he is. The best he can do is be here.]

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