Chapter Text
Stiles was driving for the school with his heart still beating like a jackhammer. When he was forced to stop at the light, he took his hand and wiped the back of his neck. A few drops of blood wet his fingers. He wondered why it was taking so long for those scratches to heal up. That wonder didn't last long as he pulled into the parking lot just in time to hear and feel the boom of voices that started to scream out. He saw that there were people already in the parking lot cheering and shouting. He guessed that the game was over and judging from how those were his classmates screaming it was because they had won.
He tried to navigate through the sea of people moving and jumping around as they celebrated. A few shouts of 'State!' were heard. Stiles felt a slight ping in his heart that he couldn't play in this game until he remembered why he couldn't. He finally made it to the field but couldn't see any sign of the team.
He flagged down one of his classmates. "Hey, where's the team?" he asked.
"They headed into the locker rooms a few minutes ago."
"Okay thanks," he said before moving off to head into the school.
"Stiles!" Stiles stopped in his tracks to see his father walking up to him. "There you are."
"Hey dad," he said turning around with a small smile plastered on him despite the panic he was feeling.
"Where were you? You missed the whole the game."
Stiles sighed. "Yeah…I know. I had some trouble with my jeep. My battery needed a jump start. I think the mechanic must've stiffed us when he fixed it," he added stressfully. "It took a while to flag someone down who would help me since a lot of people were here." He hoped his dad bought it.
He didn't get time to see if he did before he heard, "Bilinski!"
Stiles turned around to look at the pissed off face of the Coach baring down on him. "Hey Coach!"
"I had car trouble coach," he tried to explain.
"Then why didn't you ditch the car and make the long run for it."
Stiles raised his eyebrows. "I was over three miles away."
"Doesn't matter. At your age, three miles of running would've been a warmup jog for me."
"Hey, take it easy," his dad said stepping in. "It wasn't his fault. He couldn't help what happened."
The coach seemed to be chewing on the insides of his cheek in frustration. "You're lucky that we're in the semi-finals Bilinski. If you want to stay in first line then you make sure you get here early. And I mean when they're still setting up early."
"Got it coach," Stiles nodded.
"Alright. Don't think you're getting off easy though Bilinski. Expect some suicide laps the next time I see you."
"Looking forward to it," he said with a sarcastic smile as the coach went off to the parking lot. Stiles turned back to see that his father seemed both thrown back and amused. "I better go find Scott."
"Yeah," his dad sighed. "I better head back to the station." Stiles nodded and started to walk off. "Oh, and Stiles," he said before he could go anywhere.
"Yeah dad?" Stiles said stopping.
"Why is your coach calling you Bilinski?"
"You don't want to know," he said simply before he took off and ran for the locker rooms.
Scott was on the field and ripped his helmet off as he looked around for any sign of Stiles. He could swear that he heard his voice though he couldn't hear him out with so much screaming going on around him. Scott rushed into the school along with the rest of his teammates as they celebrated their win.
"Stiles? Stiles! Has anyone seen Stiles?" he roared out to anyone nearby but no one was paying him any attention.
Scott was getting panicked but his heart froze when he bumped into Allison. The two of them just stared at each other in silence amidst all the cheering and chaos going on around them.
"You were…pretty awesome out there," Allison managed to say with a small smile.
"Thanks, you too," he said before he caught himself. "I mean…that's not what I meant."
"No," Allison said taking pity on him. "I did some pretty awesome cheering. You can thank me."
"You did?"
"Totally," she nodded. "I went from Go Team Go to Defense, Defense. Up until I ran out of breath. I brought my A-Game."
"That's great," Scott smiled.
But their reunion was cut short by one of Jackson's buddies coming in and chanting 'State! State!' and cutting in between them. Allison was then taken away by her father and Scott was left to glare at the guy to get him to move on. Scott spared Allison a final look as Jackson started to go over to him.
"Gosh, isn't that heartbreaking," he said in a mockingly soothing tone. "I bet it causes a lot of sleepless nights." Scott just glared at him. "You know what though McCall? I actually…sympathize." Scott knew that was a lie even without hearing his heart. "Which is why I'm going to make this mutually beneficial. You give me what I want and I'll help you get her back."
"What?" Scott asked in disbelief.
"Well, three days is in just in time for the Winter Formal. Think about you taking her instead of me. And, think about what to do to get her out of her tiny little dress by the end of the night. See how this could work for everybody?" he asked smugly despite the fact that Scott was glaring at him predatorily. "Three days McCall. Have fun," he said before smacking him at the cheek and taking off.
Scott sighed out in frustration. Stiles assured him that Jackson had been bluffing since he didn't know anything beyond the fact that he and Stiles were werewolves. However, thanks to him, Jackson now knew that Allison was connected to all this even deeper than she even knew. The threat he posed between him and Allison was now all too real. He didn't know what he was going to do.
He headed for the shower and then went for his locker so he could change and go about looking for Stiles but stopped when Danny called him out. "By the way McCall, Apology Accepted."
Scott's eyes narrowed a bit. "I didn't apologize," he pointed out. He meant to do it. He felt bad for hitting Danny like he did during the full moon but didn't get a chance to say anything to him yet.
But Danny just smiled. "Every time you got the ball tonight, you passed it to me."
Scott scoffed. "Every time I passed the ball to you, you scored."
Danny just shook his head. "Wow, Stiles was right. Your apologies are awkward." Scott's face fell a bit at the mention of his friend. "Apology accepted." Danny then left.
Actually, with him leaving, Scott was left all alone in the locker room. Scott went to finish getting changed but then the lights just turned off plunging the whole locker room into darkness. "Danny?" Scott nervously called out but there was no answer. The last time he had been in the locker room like this was the night that the Alpha had attacked the school. Of course, back then he wasn't alone, unlike now. Scott went to turn the lights back on but the switch wasn't working. "The hell?" he muttered as he found a lacrosse ball rolling on the ground, across the room. He went to pick it up and then jumped when he caught someone close by, but his heart steadied when he saw it was Derek. "Thank God! Where the hell have you been? Do you have any idea what's been going on? Where's Stiles?"
But Derek just stared at him blankly before his eyes darted to look over Scott's shoulder. Scott turned around to see that they weren't alone. It was Derek's uncle, Peter Hale. And he was looking scarless and healthy as he was spinning a lacrosse net in his hands.
"I really don't get lacrosse," he said looking at the net in wonder.
Scott's eyes widened. "It was you," he mumbled. Everything suddenly was making sense.
But Peter paid him no mind and kept talking like Scott hadn't just cut in on him. "When I was in high school we played basketball. There's a real sport. Still…I read somewhere that lacrosse comes from native American tribes that played it to resolve conflict. Do I have that right?" he said to himself before he shrugged. "I have a little conflict of my own to resolve Scott. And I'm going to need your help."
During his talk, Scott tried to look to Derek for an explanation but he just stared ahead, indifferent to Scott's panic. Scott glared at Peter when he was finished with his monologue.
"I'm not going to help you kill people," he said with conviction.
"I don't want to kill all of them. Just the responsible ones. And…that doesn't have to include-" He stopped and looked over to his nephew.
"Allison," Derek finished for him.
Scott looked back at Derek with shock plain on his face. "You're on his side?" he asked in disbelief. "Are you forgetting the part where he killed your sister?"
"It was a mistake," Derek said back immediately.
"What?" Scott couldn't believe that Derek just said that. Considering everything Derek put him through all for the death of his sister, he was saying that it was just a mistake?
"It happens," Derek explained.
Scott just shook his head. "Where the hell is Stiles? He was with you earlier. What happened to him?"
"You won't have to worry about Stiles Scott," Peter said drawing back his attention. "He's fine. Well, mostly."
"What did you do to him?" Scott asked glaring at the Alpha.
"Nothing, really. We just merely exchanged words, among other things. I have to say, your friend has quite a bit of potential. He's definitely one to watch. As are you."
"What are you talking about?"
"Scott, you seem to be getting the wrong impression. I'm just trying to help you, the both of you be all you can be. But there are things in your lives that seem to be holding you back."
"If they keep me from being a psychotic nut job like you…I'm okay with that. And I know that Stiles would say the same thing."
Peter then calmly started to step forward and Scott found himself backing away a bit. He looked to Derek, trying to get some help from him but the older beta was completely indifferent to his plight.
"Don't be too sure about that. Remember, I said that Stiles and I exchanged a little more than words. I saw into his mind and…while he might not agree with my methods, I could feel that he does…empathize. Maybe you need to see things from my perspective yourself."
Peter then grabbed Scott by the head and then drove his claws straight into the back of his neck. Scott started to grunt in pain as a strange sensation started to overtake him. He fell to the floor and was gasping in shock and pain as his mind was being invaded. Suddenly flashes started to dance in his mind's eye and blocked everything else out. He saw a house. The Hale house but it wasn't a wreck. Then he saw two men with gasoline. They were the ones that had messed with him and Stiles that night in the woods when they tried to get drunk. They were pouring gasoline onto the house. He then saw Peter as the Alpha taking them both out in revenge. He then saw the bus driver Garrison Meyers. Peter went after him for his part played for that night. He saw Peter in the hospital, slowly snapping out of the pain from his wounds that he's had for years. He could see the Hale house burning. Hear the sounds of the entire Hale family screaming as the flames consumed them including Peter. He then saw Peter rising by the power of the full moon to the shocked eyes of Jennifer from the hospital. He then saw Laura Hale approach him and he then snapped and attacked her. He finally saw Stiles and himself in the woods, the gaze infared, as he went and bit the two of them.
Scott then snapped out of it and found himself on the floor, alone. He forced himself up and placed himself on the bench letting the strain slowly leave him. Scott then heard heavy footsteps and someone panting. He knew who it was.
"Scott!" Stiles said charging into the room. "We have a huge problem!"
"Trust me…I know," he said in a defeated tone.
Stiles nostrils flared as he caught the scent of Scott's blood. He looked and saw his neck was bleeding. "You okay?"
Scott nodded. "More or less," he said in the same tone before he remembered that Stiles had an encounter with Peter too. "What about you? You okay?"
"More or less," Stiles repeated back. Stiles then went to sit down next to Scott. "What are we going to do?"
Scott shook his head. "I don't know."
Allison was finding it hard to get to sleep that night. Scott's face plagued her mind, and her dreams as she dreamt him there with her until she finally snapped her eyes open and was awake. She kept turning in her bed trying to let herself finally get back to sleep, until she felt her neck and realized that her pendant was gone. She looked around her room but couldn't find it anywhere. She was starting to panic and hope that she didn't lose it. She went over to the car, hoping that it had just dropped on the floor or something but her panic increased when she found no sign of it anywhere. But her panic was interrupted when the garage door started to open. She then went to duck and hide under the cover of the doors.
"There hasn't been an issue since we lived here," she heard her father say.
"All I'm saying is that firing those things so close by is bound to draw attention," her aunt said back.
She lifted her gaze to see her father holding something in his hand. "These things have saved my life more than once. And I know how to be inconspicuous when I need to."
"This coming from a man whose preferred weapon is a crossbow," her aunt teased. "You know, these extra skills are something you could be teaching your daughter.
Her dad's gaze become sullen. "Not yet."
"Ever?"
"Not yet," he said to end the conversation. "You coming?"
Kate gave a look behind her shoulder before she left the object on the bench. "Yeah."
Allison got out of the car when the both of them fully left the garage. She went over to the bench table and saw that it looked like some kind of an arrow head. What she didn't know was that her Aunt Kate had caught her watching them from the car and had intentionally left it there for her. She was watching her niece take it before fully closing the door so that Allison wouldn't know that she was found out.
Jackson was taking a joyride in his Porsche, working through the anticipation of him soon becoming a werewolf. With his threat hanging over Scott's head, he was sure that the guy was running at full speed to getting this Alpha or whatever to get him the bite and make him one of them. He drove his Porsche into an empty lot but suddenly found his car stopping. Something was wrong…again. He couldn't believe this. What had happened to his car this time? He had just blown some money on getting that large dent in his door fixed and now there was something else wrong. He got out of his car to breathe out in frustration about it when another car pulled up. He looked over to see that it was Allison's father.
"Car trouble?" Her father then started to put on some leather gloves.
Something about him doing that in this deserted lot in front of him seemed to be making Jackson nervous. Thanks to Scott, he knew that the Argents hunted werewolves, meaning that this man was a trained killer. But he would have no reason to hurt him…at least, not yet.
"Um," Jackson said nervously. "It's alright. I'm just going to call for a tow truck."
But Mr. Argent disregarded it. "Don't worry. I know a few things about cars. It might be something simple," he said going to pop open his hood.
"Uh…I don't know. It's a pretty expensive car and they pull all this warranty crap if you do your own repairs," he tried to explain away.
"Well…I won't tell if you won't," he said with a smile. "It's Jackson, right?" He then went to the hood and lifted it. "Come here. I'll show you what to look for." Jackson bent down to look but Mr. Argent didn't move. He just placed his gloved hand to Jackson's neck and lifted down his shirt to look upon the scratches on it. "I'm sorry."
"What?" Jackson tried to act like he didn't realize what the man was doing.
"Your neck. You hurt yourself?"
"Uh, no. It's just a scratch," he tried to explain away.
"Looks like more than a scratch," Mr. Argent said not letting up or letting go of him. "Kind of looks like claw marks." At the mention of claw, Jackson pulled away from him. "You alright," the man tried to laugh off.
Jackson was beyond freaked now. "Yeah. I'm just going to call for a tow truck," he said going for his phone.
"Is there any reason why you're so reluctant to tell me what it was that did that?" he asked with a bit of a sharp tone.
Before anything else could be said, a new car pulled into the lot. It was Stiles' jeep and inside was him and Scott.
"What's up?" Stiles asked with a calm and happy expression.
"Everything okay?" Scott asked with mild curiosity in his tone.
"Hey Scott." Mr. Argent just shrugged. "Your friend was just having some car trouble. We're just taking a look."
Stiles nodded while Scott pointed behind them. "There's a shop right down the street. I'm sure they have a tow truck," Scott explained.
"Yeah, you want a ride?" Stiles offered. Scott then opened the door for him. "Hey, come on Jackson. You're way too pretty to be out here by yourself," he said jokingly.
Scott was looking at Jackson, trying to goad him into getting in. Meanwhile, Mr. Argent was looking at Stiles who spared him a small glance and narrowed his eyes slightly when he caught the hunter's gaze. Jackson took the hint and nodded as he went over.
Mr. Argent saw that his ruse was over and then went to remove the part that he had placed in Jackson's engine to stall his car. "Hey boys," he called out to them. He then went to the front seat and restarted Jackson's car for him. "I told you I knew something about cars." He then left.
As soon as he was completely out of sight, Jackson then went to wail on them. "What? Are you following me now?"
"Yes, you stupid freaking idiot," Scott said slamming the door shut. "You almost gave away everything right there!"
"What are you talking about?"
"He thinks you might be another beta?" Scott tried to explain.
"What?" Jackson said not following.
"He thinks you're me!" Scott roared before moving to hit the hood of the jeep to vent his rage.
"Dude, my jeep," Stiles scolded.
Scott didn't pay him any mind. "We heard your heart racing from a mile away. Literally! Now, he thinks that there is something wrong and I have to keep an eye on you so he doesn't kill you too!"
Scott went to hit the jeep again but Stiles went and grabbed Scott's arm. "Scott, why don't you step away from the jeep? I don't want to have to hurt you," he said pulling him away.
Jackson just shook his head. "You know what, this is your problem. Not mine. I didn't say anything which means that you're going to get me killed. This is your fault," he said pushing Scott back to hit the jeep.
Stiles huffed. "Seriously?" Scott and Jackson went to go at each other and Stiles went to pull them away. "Alright, stop."
"If they come after you again, I might not be able to protect you again."
"You know what," Jackson scoffed. "You have to do it now. Give me what I want and I'll be fine protecting myself."
Stiles angrily sucked his teeth at Jackson while Scott glared at him.
"No you won't!" Scott shouted at him. "Trust me. All this does is make things worse."
"Oh really," Jackson nodded. "You can hear anything you want and run as fast as humanely possible. Sounds like a real hardship McCall. I can see you and your best friend suffering so much."
Scott nodded. "Yeah, I can run really fast now. Except half the time I'm running from people trying to kill me. And I can hear things like my girlfriend telling people she doesn't trust me before breaking up with me! I'm not lying! All it does is ruin your life."
Stiles went to give Scott a hard look. Scott wasn't doing a very good job turning Jackson away. Probably because Scott didn't have such a problem using his new abilities to make the lacrosse team and impress Allison in the first place. Not to mention all the stuff he had put him and Derek through when they both tried to convince him to take everything seriously and gain control before risking things on a lacrosse game. He had no problem showing it off until Allison broke up with him and that is why it looks like Jackson didn't believe him. Which he proved a moment later.
"It ruined your life," Jackson said to Scott. "You had all the power and didn't know what to do with it. It's like your parents giving you a Porsche when they should've started you off with a simple Honda. Me, I drive a Porsche," he added smugly before moving back to his car.
Stiles rolled his eyes and held his arm out to stop him. "Now you listen here Jackson. If you think for a second that you could just come in and threaten us like that and walk away then you have another thing coming. Scott, for whatever reason, cares about your sniveling hide and is just trying to warn and protect you."
"Protect me? What about you? McCall seems to have no problem bitching to me but you're not saying a word. Why? Maybe its because what your friend is saying is nothing but a load of crap. You two went from bench warming nobodies to the center of everyone's attention. So Scott lost his girlfriend. Boo hoo. Your Alpha or whatever obviously made a bad choice picking this loser to give the power to. At least he'll soon have someone that knows what to do with it."
Stiles huffed. "That's it." That was all he said before Jackson was grabbed and practically slammed against the front hood of the car.
"Stiles!" Scott called out in panic.
But his friend ignored him. Jackson tried to fight against Stiles' grip but couldn't budge at all. He then froze at the sound of light growling coming from Stiles' throat. "Listen here Jackson. This isn't a game. Okay, this is real and its serious. All these murders happening in town, who the hell do you think is doing it? If you think you can keep prancing around like this without anything happening then you have another thing coming. People's lives are at stake here you selfish bastard."
"Get off of me," Jackson grunted out.
But Stiles still kept his hold and even had his eyes glow gold at him which stopped his struggling as the eyes bared on him. "You think that you're really going to be a werewolf, well, I have some bad news. You're not. The Alpha, I've met him and believe me, he's not the slightest bit interested. You've met him too Jackson, did you know that? The attack at the video store. That was him. You were right there and guess what, he didn't want to bite you. He would've killed you if it wasn't for those poisoned scratches you had on your neck that drove him away. I could still smell some of it." He spared a moment to look back at Scott who was staring back at Stiles nervously. "The night at the school, the Alpha was there too and he wasn't looking to turn you. He wanted you dead. He was trying to get me and Scott to kill you, but we fought it off. If I were you I wouldn't go around and make us begin to reconsider. And as for the Argents, if they find out about what you know, do you think they're just going to sit back and let you try and be a werewolf? The next time that one of them gets you alone they'll point some guns at you. One of them might even pull the trigger. Believe me, when it comes to people in league with werewolves they've shown that they don't care about offing them too."
"Stiles, enough! Let him go!" Scott called out.
Stiles spared his friend a look before he roughly let the jock go. Jackson was holding onto his chest as he glared at Stiles. "You're crazy!" spat Jackson.
"No, you're crazy," Stiles said back to him. "The Alpha considered you dying to be something entertaining. If he finds out that you know about all of us and are being followed by the Argents, he'll make your death a priority. He won't want to turn you Jackson. He'll have you shredded to pieces and left as another poor animal attack victim. You're not worth anything to him."
Jackson glare on Stiles intensified. "Oh, and you and McCall mean something? Two low down losers like you?"
Stiles scoffed. "You think that just because you are rich and drive a Porsche around that it somehow matters? That stuff means nothing when it comes to this Jackson. And," he said as he savagely smiled. "If we're such losers and something like the Alpha wants us but doesn't want you…you should really think about what that means."
Jackson just huffed before he turned and pointed at Scott. "You better get me what I want McCall or I swear to God."
Stiles cut in with a louder sounding growl escaping from his throat as well as his fangs making an appearance as he leered at Jackson. The Co-Captain then went and got into his car and drove off.
"What the hell was that Stiles?" Scott wailed on him.
"That was me doing what you should've been doing from the start Scott. Your little try and reason with him strategy obviously wasn't working. Jackson's a no good spineless coward and the only way to get anything through that gelled head of his is scare the living daylights out of him."
"And what if he decides to go to the Argents now."
Stiles shook his head. "He won't. Because I made sure to scare him about what would happen to him if he does. If the hunters don't deal with him then the Alpha would. He won't risk either one of them coming for him."
Scott just shook his head. "I don't know."
"Scott," he cut him off. "Are you planning on ever helping him become a werewolf?"
"Of course not."
"Then stop complaining. You could ignore him now and forget about his phony threats. Come on, I better get going. I promised my dad I would have some food ready by the time he got home."
Scott then went to sit shotgun while Stiles went to sit next to him at the driver's seat. "Hey Stiles," he said as his friend started the car. "Is there something going on between you and the hunters that you haven't told me?"
Stiles looked back at him with raised eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
"Stiles, I know. About them suspecting that you were the werewolf Allison's dad shot during the first full moon. I overheard them talking about it at the game. They think that I was you." Stiles didn't say anything. He just started driving. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"You had other things on your mind," he explained away.
"Stiles," Scott hollered. "You could've told me that Allison's family was starting to catch onto you."
"Why Scott? So you could have another problem to complain about as you try to get Allison back?"
Scott narrowed his eyes. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Stiles just glared ahead. "Nothing. Just forget it."
Scott looked away from his friend. He then remembered Peter's words about Stiles. That while Stiles didn't agree with his methods, he empathized for his situation. What exactly did that mean? Did that mean that Stiles secretly hated the Argents…even Allison?
Allison wanted to know exactly what it was that her father and aunt were messing with so she went and took her compound bow and some arrows into the woods and she also called Lydia to come along with her.
"Allison," Lydia called out. "When you said that you had an errand to do before we went shopping, going for a hike in the woods, not what I was expecting."
Allison smirked as she talked back at Lydia. "Before I forget I wanted to ask if you were okay with something. Jackson asked me to the Winter Formal."
Lydia face fell a bit behind her. "Did he?" she asked as if it was slightly of interest.
"Yeah. Just as friends but I wanted to make sure that you were okay with it first."
"Sure," Lydia said with a slight squeak in her voice. "As long as it's just friends."
"Well yeah," she gave a small laugh. "I mean it's not like I would take him into Coach's office during lacrosse practice and make out with him or anything."
She then sent a slightly dirty look Lydia's way making it clear that she was aware of what Lydia had done with Scott.
Lydia knew she was busted. "Uh, yeah…about that-"
Allison then stopped when they came upon what she thought was a good spot. She took out one of her arrows and then fastened the arrow head that her aunt left on the end.
"What does that do?" Lydia asked as she did it.
She smiled. "We're about to find out."
Allison then took out her bow and pulled on the arrow until the line was taught. She then released and the arrow hit the tree ahead of her where it then sent out a mini explosion of bright light and sparks. The two of them just stared at the spot in awe.
"What the hell was that?" Lydia asked.
Allison shook her head. "I don't know."
"Well…that was fun," Lydia said as she rubbed her hands together. "Any more lethal weapons you want to try out?"
Allison looked at the tree to see that there was still a bit of fire burning on the bark from her shot. But then there was the sound of twigs breaking in the distance that had the two girls stiffen in response.
"I think I heard something," Allison whispered to her.
"So what if you heard something?" said Lydia.
"So, I want to find out what that something is. Don't worry, it's probably nothing."
She started to walk off but Lydia stopped her. "What that nothing is something? That something something dangerous?" she said real fast.
"Shoot it," Allison simply said with a hard look on her face.
Allison left the paralyzed Lydia standing there as she went into the brush. She kept her eyes peeled and reached for the taser that her aunt had given her that she kept behind her belt. She carefully tried to seek out what it was and when she heard a new sound she then turned and fired the taser. It shot out and connected with Scott's chest.
"Trigger finger," he screeched out through the shocks.
"Oh," she panicked. "God, I'm so sorry," she said as she kneeled over next to him. "I'm so sorry."
"No, it's my fault," he explained away. "Totally my fault."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said trying to sit up but couldn't lift himself.
"I didn't mean to. I didn't know it was you. If I did-"
"You would've still pulled the trigger?" he asked.
"No, of course not. I'm so sorry. You sure you're okay?"
Scott pulled the tasers out. "Yeah, I think so," he said smiling slightly as he found himself able to sit up.
"What were you doing here anyway? Were you…following us?"
"No," he said shaking his head. "Not at all. Your…dad. He told me you run this trail sometimes. I was hoping to catch you alone."
"By following me?" she smiled.
"Well…yeah," he admitted.
"What for?"
Scott then went into his pocket and pulled out the necklace. "I found this at school."
Allison gasped. She didn't lose it after all. "Thank god," she said reaching for it. "I was beginning to think it was stolen."
Suddenly Scott heard Stiles' voice saying 'Just steal the damn thing'. Scott nodded. "No, just lost. Definitely not stolen, by anyone."
"Well, thank you for finding it. And bringing it," she said as she put it back on.
Scott then gave her a look. "You don't think I'm a total stalker now, do you?"
She shook her head slowly and with amusement. "No. I just think you're weird. Like you always are."
Then the two of them went into a light hug. Scott missed feeling Allison so close to him. Allison then pulled away and took her taser and headed back for Lydia but not before sparing him one more look. Scott stayed where he was in the brush. Maybe Stiles was right. Jackson's threats were phony. His threat from last night about him trying to steal her away from him didn't seem so threatening now. He didn't need him to get her back. He could do it himself.
Stiles was at home, heating some leftovers for him and his dad to have when he came back from work when there was a knock on the door. He looked towards the door and honed his senses out. The scent that came from it, he knew who it was, and he quickly let his nerves be calm when he went to answer the door with a bored expression on his face.
"Oh, hello Mr. Argent," he said at the sight of Allison's father. "What brings you here?"
"Well, I was hoping that I could speak to your father. Is he around?"
Stiles knew that Mr. Argent knew that his father wouldn't be here now and didn't want to see him. He wanted to see Stiles. But, he played dumb and shook his head. "No, he's not here yet."
"Say, was there any more trouble with Jackson's car. I know I got it running again but I just hope he didn't run into any more trouble."
"Oh, I'm sure that he was relieved that you were there," Stiles said smiling to hide the sarcasm behind that remark.
"Well, I was happy to help. What about you Stiles? Are you doing okay?"
Stiles seemed taken aback. "Of course. Why?"
"Well…Allison told me that you were there when there was that incident at the school."
"Oh," Stiles nodded. He knew where the hunter was trying to take this. "Yeah but it all turned out okay at the end."
"Yes, it did. Though, I hear that happened because Derek Hale was trying to harm you all."
Stiles shrugged. "I heard that too. But, I didn't see Derek in the school that night so who knows who really did it," he answered calmly.
"Of course…you've met Derek Hale before, haven't you?"
Stiles nodded. "Yes. I've seen him around. Even gave him a ride once."
"You know Derek Hale well then? Do you think that you, the son of the sheriff, should be associating with someone that may be connected with murder so well?"
Stiles raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry Mr. Argent but what would that matter to you? My personal life is of no business of yours."
"I'm just trying to look out for your best interests."
'Yeah right,' Stiles thought silently. "Well thanks for the concern but I'm alright. I have my dad for that."
"But I'm sure there are things your father won't be able to help you with Stiles."
Stiles narrowed his eyes at him. "Well, like I said, my personal and my family life is of no business of yours." He kept his ground as he stared unflinchingly back at Mr. Argent. Scott may be quick to bend to this guy, more to the fact that he's Allison's father, but Stiles won't let himself be pushed around by the guy who went and shot his friend.
Mr. Argent kept his gaze for a while before he loosened himself. "Well, I should probably get going then."
"I thought you said that you needed to see my father?" Stiles said not letting him think he could just hit and run with him like he could with Jackson or Scott.
"I'll speak to him another time."
Stiles nodded. "Okay. I'll tell him that you stopped by. I assume it was for business. I remember Allison saying that you sold arms to law enforcement. Funny though," he said with a bit of a mischievous smile coming over him. "I don't remember my father ever saying anything about upgrading the Sheriff's Department's weapon supplies in the last few months. Though, in your line of work, I guess it pays just to move around place to place and make some sales pitches, right? I'm sure there are many law enforcement divisions around the country that could tell my dad that they were happy you rolled into town, huh?"
Chris Argent stared blank back at the boy. Was he trying to threaten him? Telling him that he was watching them as much as they were watching him. He put his gloved hands into his pockets.
"I'm sure that your father will only get the best news about me."
"I hope so," Stiles said with a small smile. "My dad's kinda picky about who he deals with."
Stiles was happy to smell some discomfort as the hunter went off back to his car. He closed the door after him and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Well…that seemed to go well. At least Mr. Argent didn't leave with breaking anything like he did with Derek's car window.
His dad came by a bit later and was happy to see that Stiles had the table ready for them. After they ate Stiles went up to finish up his homework and he decided to come down for a little milk break and saw that his dad had the table full of papers.
"Whatcha doing?" he asked.
"Work," his dad said simply.
"Anything I can help with?" he offered.
"You know, if you poured me an ounce of whiskey, it would be awfully nice."
Stiles then went and grabbed the bottle and a small glass and headed for his dad. As he approached, he saw that the papers seemed to be old records and profiles. Most likely related to the murders that Peter Hale committed. With the mystery of the Alpha being Peter Hale solved, he knew that the killings weren't random. Peter himself had said that he wanted to get the ones responsible and he remembered seeing the latest two victims at the scene of the fire that night thanks to him having his neck jammed with the Alpha's claws. But how the others who were killed were involved he didn't know yet. But maybe his dad did.
"Any leads?"
His dad just slapped him on the wrist. "You know I can't discuss that with you." Stiles went to pour him some whiskey. "Not too much," his dad asked.
Stiles spared him a look and started to pour more than was necessary. "There you go dad," he said as he gave him a full glass. "Bottoms up."
His dad took the glass and started drinking but didn't stop until he emptied the glass. "You know," he started. "Derek Hale would be a hale of a lot…hale of a lot," he said a little absentmindedly.
"Hell of a lot," Stiles said correcting him feeling awful with himself for doing this.
"Hell," his dad said nodding to the correction. "It would be a hell of a lot easier to find him if we had an actual picture of him."
Stiles narrowed his eyes. "How do you not have a picture of him?" Surely his dad got a mugshot when he and Scott had accused him of killing his sister almost two months ago.
His dad held up a picture. "It's the weirdest thing. It's like everytime we tried to get a mugshot it was like two laser beams were pointed into the camera."
Stiles grabbed the photo to see that there was a flare at Derek's face. Specifically his, "Eyes," he muttered. Like a flash flare from animals in night photos. He guessed it was a side effect of being a werewolf. He guessed that he and Scott's eyes would do the same if they went to get pictures taken. He would have to see later so that he could warn Scott about this.
His dad started to stretch and mumble. "That hit me like a brick. And I said way too much. If you repeat anything about this."
"Dad," Stiles said smiling like he was naively innocent. "It's me. I'm not going to say anything. Come on." His dad just chuckled at that. Stiles then went to a nearby folder and opened it to find a photo of a deer with a spiral carved into its belly.
"The thing is," his father continued. "They're all connected. I mean, the bus driver that got killed, he was the insurance investigator that was assigned to the Hale House fire."
Garrison Meyers? So, he did have a strong connection to the fire. He looked at the file his dad was looking at. "Terminated on suspicion of fraud."
"Exactly."
"Who else?" Stiles asked. There were two others that Peter went after.
"The video store clerk that got his throat slashed, a convicted felon with a history of arson."
Another arsonist…and one of his arson moments was no doubt the Hale house. "And those two guys you found?"
"Felons with priors all around including-"
"Arson," Stiles finished. Yes, he knew that but his father confirmed it. That just left the janitor. Though, that might've been a 'mistake' as Scott said Derek told him was Laura Hale. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time that night. Other than that, everyone that Peter Hale had killed played a part in the Hale Family Massacre. The arsonists who no doubt were hired and paid by the Argents and Meyers who might've been bribed to cover it up for them. Stiles then noticed his dad trying to get himself sorted. "Another shot?" he offered to him.
His dad held his hand out. "No, no more."
"Dad, come on. You've worked really hard, you deserve it." Stiles defended. His father just handed him so much now that could help Stiles get the Argents to not only stay off his and Scott's back but even stop them from doing this kind of thing again. A small part of him didn't think that Peter Hale was wrong to go after these people. They massacred his whole family. Him wanting revenge, he could get though how he was trying to get it could involve less throat ripping.
His dad coughed out a small laugh. "My god, I'm going to have such a hangover," he said relenting.
"You mean that you're going to have such a good night's sleep," he said taking the glass and turning around. He then looked at the bottle and wished that he could get drunk himself to forget doing this to his dad.
"And I'm going to spend an eternity in the lowest circle of hell." He then poured his dad some but then went and took a quick sip before his dad could see. A burning sensation went down his throat but then faded only a few seconds later. Curse it all.
