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If he hadn't seen it with his own two eyes, Chris would have had a hard time believing everything that happened in the warehouse in the last fifteen minutes. The kanima, getting out of stasis only to turn back into a killing machine in the blink of an eye and almost wiping them all out in the process. Gerard, who didn't even tell his own family he was sick but who had killed and tortured kids in his master plan to get turned into the monsters he'd hunted viciously all of his life. Scott, being way cleverer than Chris had ever thought he could be and who had found a way to outplay Gerard with the mountain ash pills. His father, dying or close enough, but who had had no qualms in making clear Chris wasn't worth anything to him first. Jackson, getting killed, too, but coming back to life as a werewolf, saved by love.
And, also back from the dead, Peter fucking Hale. Chris had seen the guy burn at the old Hale house just months ago, and then witnessed Derek slashing his throat to take his alpha status. Peter's death - even with the proof he was nothing like the boy from two decades ago but a dangerous creature that had to be put down - had made Chris' heart twist viciously. Chris hadn't expected to see a ghost on top of fighting the kanima tonight... but here Peter is, whole and real, and Chris doesn't know what to do with that. It's a lot to take in, on top of everything.
He wants to focus on his little girl, poor Allison who just realized how badly she was played by Gerard, but he's not the one she wants reassurance from right now. When Scott turns their hand holding into a hug, Chris steps away and lets her have that comfort. He'll be there for Allison later, when she is ready. They only have each other from now on, a family of two.
"We should look for Gerard."
The voice, too close, makes Chris' pulse jump. Peter used to sneak up on him all the time when they were young, too.
Chris is torn. They should indeed find Gerard, to make sure he's not a menace anymore, but his first duty is to his daughter. "I have to take my kid home."
"Scott will makes sure she's safe and Derek will take care of the others," Peter argues. "I know there's no love lost between you and your father, but- "
"You know nothing," Chris says, as cold as he can manage. It would be so much easier if there was no love at all on his part.
Peter raises his hand in a placating gesture, stepping back. He looks completely fine - no visible burn marks or scars on his throat - as if he hasn't been burned alive twice already. In fact he's gorgeous, even more than when he was as a teen, and Chris startles that the thought even crossed his mind. Shaken, Chris turns around and strides to the black mess on the floor where Gerard was last seen.
"So you're back," Chris says, crouching to observe the black goo. "Ready to stab people in the back, of course."
"Stab monsters in the back to save you all, excuse you. But yeah, death was boring," Peter replies, and Chris looks up to see he's smirking. "Impressive, right?" he asks, gesturing to himself. "It took serious mojo."
Chris gets up and follows the trail of black blood, or whatever this is, outside of the warehouse. Peter stays close on his heels, no surprise there.
"Maybe, but you went feral, Hale. I should take you down like the beast you are." Chris is tempted to get his gun, in fact. "The Code..."
"Oh my god, not the Code!" Peter rolls his eyes dramatically. "Forget the Code!"
Chris scoffs. "Without the Code I'd have killed the whole pack, or let the others do it, a long time ago."
Peter's grey eyes shine gold for a second as he tilts his head. "Like your little sis did? Is that what you mean?"
"Of course not." Chris has had nightmares about the Hale fire for years, imagining the kids he saw the pictures of in the newspaper crying to get out. Chris woke up screaming at the vision of Peter burning so many times he lost count, and he hadn't even been able to gather the courage to visit him in the hospital once he came back to Beacon Hills. "I had no idea Kate had done it, that she was that crazy..."
"Of course you didn't," Peter's voice is strained so Chris looks at him again. "You couldn't know, because you were gone!" Peter shouts.
The violence in the tone makes Chris defensive. "I went to college, and then-"
"You ran away!" Peter growls, pushing him against the side of a building and he holds him there easily with a hand fisted in Chris' shirt.
A quick look shows Peter's claws are out and that his teeth are lengthening, eyes gold. He should be scared, but the reason that Chris' heartbeat spikes isn't because of fear but more from sense memory. Peter used to back him up against walls, lockers and trees all the time, always getting in too close until Chris yielded and gave in. In the end, he had always followed Peter, who was an irresistible force.
"You couldn't get away from Gerard fast enough, that I understand perfectly well," Peter says, smoothing down Chris' shirt, though not stepping back. He seems to have gotten his temper under control again, voice soft. He's not meeting Chris' eyes, though. "But you could have told me we were over before you left." He has a self-derisive little laugh. "It took me way too long to realize that, it was pathetic."
Chris closes his eyes and wants to deny they had anything to begin with, but it would be a lie and Peter would smell it.
"I'm sorry," he whispers, going with nothing but the truth. "I never wanted to hurt you."
Peter scoffs. "Well you failed. I loved you."
Chris' heart lurches: he's always wondered what Peter had felt for him, but had convinced himself he was just a friend with benefits; Peter used to flirt with everyone all the time, even in front of him. "Maybe if you had told me that..."
"Are you serious?" Peter says, eyes boggling. "I did, all the time!"
"During sex! Everyone knows that doesn't count," Chris says more and more feebly when he sees how baffled Peter is. Ah shit, he really messed up this one, didn't he? All that anguish and heartbreak for nothing, until he'd met Victoria and convinced himself she was what he needed. To be honest, she had became his everything, and he would never regret his years with her (and most importantly Allison).
To his surprise Peter laughs. "Oh my god, you are such an idiot." He trails soft fingers on the side of Chris' face, and he's now looking halfway between fond and exasperated. "A beautiful, infuriating, total idiot."
Chris wonders if he's going to get kissed but instead Peter steps back (he's not disappointed, no, not at all).
"Come on, Argent. Let's find daddy dearest."
More than a little dazed and confused, Chris follows.
Some things never change.