Hey, hi, yo. I could have posted this yesterday, but FF was being lame. It sucked.

Thank you to everyone who has viewed, faved, or followed this story. And thank you to Guest who reviewed my last chapter, and the others who reviewed before that. LOVE YOU!

Do I even need to tell you that I don't own TW?

Scott's shout woke her. It was quick, maybe a second or two, but it was enough to wake her and send her flying down the hall. Scott was sitting upright, shaking. He flinched when she turned on the light. "Scott?"

Melissa was right behind her. "You okay, Scott?"

He nodded. "Bad dream. Didn't mean to wake you two."

Melissa went downstairs to get him something to drink. Crystal sat on the bed beside him. "What was it about?"

Scott gazed at her dreadfully. "I dreamed I killed Allison."

Melissa came back into the room with a cup, and Crystal left. She caught a glimpse of the clock and groaned. It was seven in the morning. "No point in trying to go back to bed," she muttered. Instead, she found a deep gray tank top and a black off the shoulder half-top with long sleeves. She added a pair of blue jeans, tan boots, and her necklace to the ensemble. She nodded in approval at her reflection.

Scott knocked on her half-open door. "Ready?"

Crystal nodded. "Let me eat first." They went downstairs and she snagged the last banana from the fruit bowl.

"Have you seen my wallet?" Scott asked as she was driving.

"Glove box," she said absently.

He found his wallet and opened it. "What the hell?" Thankfully they were at a stop light, so Crystal had the privilege of watching him gape like a fish. "Where's my money?"

"There was only, like, fifteen bucks in there. Not enough for Italian for two, just so you know." The light turned green. "Derek and I wound up splitting the rest of the bill."

Scott's brow furrowed, and he glared at her. The problem with having puppy dog eyes was that his glares were pretty pathetic. "You treated Derek Hale to dinner? With my money?"

"You did get him thrown in jail," she reminded him. "Be glad that's all we took from you." They reached the school. She hadn't even parked before he bailed. She rolled her eyes.

Scott met up with Stiles near Crystal's locker and proceeded to both tell him that he had a weird dream and complain about Crystal sucking him dry. Crystal slammed her locker door shut. "Oh my God, it's fifteen bucks. I've spent more on you two in one sitting and you don't hear me complaining."

Stiles waved his arms between the two of them. "We'll get back to that later. Right now, I'm more worried about Scott's creepy ass dream."

"Yeah, you never went into details." Stiles and Crystal joined forces, staring Scott down until he gave in.

"I was on a school bus with Allison. We started making out—"

"And I'm done," Crystal interrupted, walking down the hallway.

"It got worse." Scott frowned as he and Stiles caught up to her. "See, after that, my claws grew. Then she was running, and I tore at her legs, and there was screaming and blood everywhere."

"So you killed her?" Stiles asked.

As they kept speaking, Crystal fell back a couple of steps and typed out a text to Derek. Scott had a weird dream last night. He says it felt real. Thoughts?

"It's not like there's a Lycans 101 class you can take."

Crystal's ears twitched and she pushed between the two of them. "Class? No. Teacher? Yes." She looked at both of them significantly.

Stiles groaned, but Scott seemed to be thinking about it at least a little. "Maybe. But we did get him tossed in jail."

"And we spent your money on a very nice dinner. Right now, the scales are tipped more evenly. Of course, I could say I told you so…"

"I'd rather you didn't," Scott said immediately.

"You can't be serious. Going to Derek for help?"

"It's just that the dream felt so real, like it actually happened." They pushed the school doors near the bus parking lot wide and froze. Crystal gasped at all the blood and the torn up bus. Her phone beeped with a message from Derek.

It most likely was. Tell Scott to see me ASAP.

"Oh, now you tell me."

"Dude, chill. She probably just has her phone off," Stiles reassured him as Scott tore through the halls, looking for Allison. It freaked Crystal out too. If Scott's dream had been real, maybe the part about Allison had also been true.

"Scott," Crystal said firmly. "You need to calm down. When she shows up, you're going to freak her out."

He wasn't listening. He wound up slamming his fists into a locker and mutilating it. Crystal caught a glimpse of curly brown hair and tapped his shoulder. When he finally turned to look at her, she pointed behind him. Stiles breathed a sigh of relief as Scott calmed down. As the anxiety left her, Crystal rolled her eyes.

The principal came on the intercom. "Attention, everyone. As you may be aware, the police are on campus trying to determine exactly what happened on one of the buses last night. While they do so, classes will proceed as scheduled." Half the hall groaned. "I repeat, we will be having classes today."

"There's a murder and we still have to deal with Harris?" Stiles huffed.

"It sucks. But life goes on." The bell rang, and Crystal said goodbye to the others. The next few classes were filled with students debating what happened last night and who the victim was. Finally she sat down in Chemistry and immediately turned to Scott and Stiles.

"Maybe it was my blood," Scott whispered.

"Could have been animal blood," Stiles suggested. "You could have caught a rabbit."

Crystal shook her head in exasperation. That was way too much blood to be from one measly rabbit. Besides, she was ninety-eight percent sure werewolves did not go after rabbits. The other two percent made her want to double check with Derek.

"And did what?"

"Ate it, stupid."

Scott's eyes widened. "Raw?"

Crystal resisted the urge to slam her head on the desk. "No, idiot," she hissed loudly.

"You stopped to bake it in a little werewolf oven," Stiles continued in a softer whisper. "Yes, raw."

"Mr. Stilinski," Mr. Harris called across the room. "If you think that qualifies as a whisper, you might want to take the headphones out every once in a while."

Crystal's face twisted into a silent snarl. Harris was a discriminatory teacher who for some reason adored Jackson and Danny (but really, who didn't love Danny?) and was willing to let Crystal herself get away with certain things, which never made sense to her. Stiles, on the other hand, he seemed to hold a special hatred for.

"I think you, McCall, and Ms. Braddock are in need of some space. McCall, by Danny. Stilinski, up front."

She shot the boys a sad smile as they were forced to move. They all knew detentions with Harris were a pain in the ass, and none of them could afford it today.

"Hey, I think they found something."

One sentence was all it took for every student in the room to rush over to the window. Some of them stood on chairs to see over the others. Crystal nudged her way between Danny and Scott. Paramedics were wheeling a man covered in blood and gauze over to the ambulance. Suddenly, the man started flailing and sat straight up. Everyone jumped. Several people screamed, which covered Crystal's yelp. She fisted her hand into the nearest person's shirt.

"Hey, Crystal?" Danny asked. "Think you could let go?"

She released him, ignoring his humored expression.

"I did that," Scott breathed. She turned to him and punched him on the arm. "Ow!" Wimp.

Lunch rolled around. Crystal waved to Boyd when she saw him, but Scott and Stiles had pulled her down as she passed their table and were speaking.

"What makes you think Derek even knows what's going on?" Stiles protested.

Crystal scoffed. "He's a born werewolf, he knows almost everything there is to know. And if he doesn't, he'll find someone who does."

"He is?" they asked together. She nodded. "That explains a lot," Scott mused. "He wasn't out of control like I was."

"Which time, last night or two weeks ago?" Crystal asked.

"Both."

"You don't even know if that was you," Stiles insisted.

"I can't risk it. I have to cancel my date with Allison."

"Wow. A week ago, you were all set for a semi-normal life. Now you want to throw that away?" She rolled her eyes. "Make up your mind."

"I'm gonna cancel."

"He's not cancelling." Stiles spoke over Scott. "We'll figure this out."

"Figure what out?" Lydia asked as she sat down. Pretty soon, her whole clique surrounded the trio.

Crystal rose. "I gotta go." She waved to Allison and Danny and made a beeline for Boyd's table.

"Haven't talked to you in a while. How are things?"

He shrugged. "All right. You?"

"Same. Do you know who they found on the bus today?"

"No. Most likely a bus driver."

She could have slapped herself. "Wow. It's so obvious, why didn't I think of that?"

Boyd chuckled. "I think you've been hanging out with your brother and his friend too long."

Crystal nodded wholeheartedly in agreement, not bothering to correct him. "That's got to be it. Their stupidity is obviously contagious." Her phone beeped. "Hang on."

It was from Stiles. Vic: Garrison Myers. Critical

Crystal frowned. "Garrison Myers. I know that name."

"Didn't he used to be an insurance agent or something?" Boyd asked.

Her eyes widened.

Ms. McCall was arguing with someone outside her window. Crystal tiptoed out of bed and pressed her ear to the wall, hoping to hear something. She wished she had werewolf hearing like Cora and Peter. Maybe she could ask Peter—

No. She had to remember that Peter wouldn't be able to talk to her anymore. She stifled a sob. Ms. McCall didn't want to let her see him yet, saying she wanted Crystal to remember them as they were and not as...burned bodies. Well, Crystal filled in the blanks.

She still couldn't hear anything, so she crept over to the door and cracked it open just enough that she would be able to hear, but not far enough for it to squeak.

"—Garrison Myers isn't going to give that poor girl anything?"

"I know, but insurance companies don't pay out for stuff like that. Her parents and the Hales left her some money, though." Crystal recognized Mr. Stilinski's voice. She pulled the door open fully.

"Can you give it to Peter?"

Ms. McCall and Mr. Stilinski whirled at the sound of her voice. The thirteen year old looked between the two of them. "Can you give the money to Peter?" she asked again.

Mr. Stilinski shrugged. "I don't know, sweetheart."

"Don't call me sweetheart," she told him immediately. Only her parents, Talia, Peter, and Mike Hale had called her that.

"Sorry."

"It's okay." She shook the tears out of her eyes. "Who's Garrison Myers?"

"How much did you hear?" Ms. McCall asked in exasperation.

She smiled slightly, the first smile that touched her face in days. "Just that last bit."

"Garrison Myers is an insurance agent. He's deemed the fire an accident."

Crystal's eyes flooded with angry tears, and she didn't stop them this time. "But it wasn't an accident! I saw her! She was watching the house burn and she smiled!"

Ms. McCall shot a glare at Mr. Stilinski and led Crystal back to her bed like a child. The teenager didn't fight, instead curling up into her pillow and screaming. Ms. McCall rubbed her back like her mom and Talia used to, and even Peter on rare occasions. She just muttered, "She was watching it burn. And she was smiling."

"Crystal?" Boyd was looking at her worriedly.

"What?" she bit out. "I'm fine."

He handed her a rough napkin and pointed at her face. "You were crying."

Crystal dabbed her face dry. "Just memories. I'm fine."

"The bell's about to ring." Boyd changed the subject. When they got up to go to class, she impulsively hugged him. She pulled back before he could do anything other than stiffen.

"Thanks."

Crystal tapped impatiently on the steering wheel. "Come on, Scott," she muttered. Finally he came rushing out of the building. As soon as he was strapped in, she pulled out of her parking space.

"I may have done something," Scot began hesitantly.

"What?" she asked warily. "If it has to do with Derek—"

"No, no."

"Good. Besides, we're going to see him after your shift."

"Can I borrow the car t—?"

"No."

"But I—"

"No. Next subject. What are you doing on your date?"

"Well, Lydia kind of turned it into a double date. We're going bowling."

"Bowling?" Crystal's eyes widened. Scott sucked at bowling, if the stories were to be believed.

"Yeah. It was bad." He winced. "But Jackson was there and…"

"Say no more." She pulled to a stop in front of the vet's. "I'll be back at seven."

"See if Mom'll let me borrow the car!" he called as he ducked inside.

She chuckled and passed a patrol car on the way out of the parking lot. She decided to stop and get Melissa some dinner, and after flipping a coin she chose Chinese. When she got to the hospital, she had to duck past people rushing back and forth. Once the chaos died down, Melissa saw her and smiled. Crystal held out the Chinese box.

"It was Scott's idea."

"That's nice of him, and thank you for buying. But you can tell Scott he's still not getting the car tomorrow night."

They laughed. "I'm gonna go see Peter," Crystal told her.

"Good. Jennifer's on break now."

"Jennifer?"

Melissa raised her eyebrows. "His nurse?"

"The redhead who hates me?"

"That's the one."

Crystal smiled. "I'll be sure to avoid her on the way out." The long-term ward was a ghost town compared to the entryway. Crystal knocked on Peter's door out of habit. "Hey, Peter." He was lying in his bed now. She pulled up a chair, grabbed his hand, and brought him up to speed on everything that had happened since she last saw him, from Derek getting arrested to the insurance investigator getting attacked.

"Scott's got to learn to start trusting Derek soon, or he's going to get into more trouble."

Someone knocked softly on the door. She squeezed Peter's hand and let go. "Yes?"

"Time to go, sweetie," Melissa told her. "It's almost seven."

Crystal nodded and left the room. Melissa closed the door behind her. Neither of them saw Peter's pinky twitch.

"You're not getting the car," were the first words out of Crystal's mouth as Scott got in.

He groaned. "Did you even try?"

"I got Chinese and told her it was your idea. If that's not bribery, I don't know what is."

"Can I—" He stopped at her look. Her ask me again and lose a testicle look. "How about you drive me and Allison?"

She thought it over as she drove. Scott stayed silent, waiting anxiously for her answer. Once they parked outside of Derek's house, he got his answer. "I'll think about it."

He groaned. They climbed out of the car and waited. Scott looked over at her. "What's he waiting for?"

Crystal never took her eyes away from the upstairs window that used to be and probably still was Derek's bedroom. "Probably an apology. After all, you did unbury his sister and get him arrested, just to be able to play a lacrosse game."

Scott looked at the window and swallowed his pride. "He's home, right?"

"He should be."

"Derek, I'm sorry." Scott blurted it out. The door swung open, and Derek stood in the doorway. Scott continued. "It was a bad idea, getting you arrested. We practically told the hunters that you were in town. But I need your help. I had a dream last night." He looked over at Crystal, who waved her hand in a go on motion. "I dreamed that I hurt someone. I got to school, and it turned out that it did happen, just to a different person."

Derek looked at Crystal. Good enough for you? He signed.

Not bad for a teenage boy. Dinner last night helped.

"What are you guys doing?" Scott asked, watching them move their hands in various patterns. "Is that sign language?"

She nodded.

"You think you're the one who attacked the driver?" Derek finally spoke. Scott looked between the two of them.

She shrugged. "I barely told him anything."

Scott turned back to Derek. "Did you see what I did last night?"

"No."

"Am I going to hurt someone?"

"Yes."

Scott was getting more and more anxious with each monosyllabic answer. "Am I going to kill someone?"

"Probably."

"Why do you think we didn't want you playing Saturday?" Crystal added.

"I can help you remember. I can teach you how to control the shift, even during a full moon. But I want something in return."

"What is it?"

They had to give Scott credit for not jumping into the open ended deal head first. "You'll see. For right now, just go back to the bus. Go inside. Let your senses remember for you. Don't try to force it."

Scott thought it over for a moment. "All right."

"Cool. So, we can go now?" Crystal shot Derek a smile. "Not that I don't enjoy spending time with you, broody face and all, but we need to be going. Homework." Scott groaned, and she glared at him softly. "No complaining. Just because you're a werewolf doesn't mean you can fail your classes."

Scott got into the car, and she followed. He unrolled the window and wondered if it was worth it. Yeah, he had to see for himself. "Random question. Could I borrow your car tomorrow night?"

He didn't have to turn around to know that Crystal was sending him a disbelieving look. Derek's eyebrows raised, and he sent Scott a look that was familiar. It's my car, you're not going to be driving it or even touching it any time soon.

"Okay, just wondering."

Crystal waited until they were off the preserve before she reached over to slap Scott's head. "Ow!"

"What on earth possessed you to ask if you could borrow his car?"

"Just something Stiles said."

"And what did Stiles say?"

Scott didn't answer her.

"Just go in? That's it?" Stiles asked as he parked in front of the fence. Scott nodded.

"Yeah. Oh, and I asked if I could borrow the Camaro."

Stiles's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. "What that hell?"

"We were right. They can be scarily similar. You know the look Crystal gets whenever someone asks if they can drive her car?"Stiles nodded. "Well, Derek has one that's nearly identical."

"And you're positive they're not dating?"

"Yeah, pretty sure."

"It's only a matter of time, then. Any chance we could keep them away from each other?"

It was highly doubtful.

Crystal was awake when Scott burst through the door. "I remembered."

"Good. And?"

"And I was trying to protect the driver, not hurt him. This means I can go out with Allison!"

Crystal chuckled. "And not killing your friends and family is a bonus."

"Stiles said almost the exact same thing."

"That kid is smart when he wants to be."

Crystal wound up driving Scott to the bowling alley where the others were waiting. Jackson laughed when he saw them. "Wow, McCall, I didn't know you needed a babysitter."

She glared at him. "He doesn't. Nobody drives my car without my explicit permission." She smiled sweetly. "Sorry, Jackson. Is explicit too big of a word for you? I could dumb it down if you like."

Jackson returned her glare. "I know what it means."

"Which word? Explicit or it?"

Allison laughed. "Okay, guys. Go back to your corners. Crystal, thanks for being Scott's ride. We'll come get you when we're done."

Crystal nodded and waved at her and Lydia, and the four of them went up to the counter. Crystal was alone in the back room, so she set up the pool balls and started shooting. After one game, she got bored and texted Derek.

Bored. Come play pool with me?

She went to the food stand and ordered some fries and a soda while she waited for him to text back.

Can't.

Why not?

Going to hospital then getting my window repaired.

She gaped at the screen and her fingers hit the call button. He answered on the second ring. She didn't wait for him to speak. "What happened to your window?"

"Argent," he growled.

"How bad?"

"Nothing too bad."

Crystal rolled her eyes but let it go. "What are you going to the hospital for?"

"The driver saw something. I want to know what he saw."

"Let me know if he says anything."

Stiles's Jeep was parked by the side of their house. "Wonder what he wants," Scott said. Crystal's phone beeped.

Driver's dead.

Crystal grimaced. "I think I know." She let Scott get out then floored it to the Hale house to talk to Derek. He opened the door when she pulled up.

"So, he's dead." She sat down cross legged on the porch. "Did he say anything before he died?"

"He knew my name. He said he was sorry." Derek leaned against the doorframe.

Her brow furrowed in concentration. "Did he know your first name, last name or both?"

"Just Hale."

"So he was feeling guilty." She looked up at him. "He was the insurance investigator after the fire. He's the reason we never got compensation."

Derek's eyes narrowed, but they were interrupted by Scott running up the steps. Derek straightened.

"I know what you did!" Scott cried.

Crystal rolled her eyes. "Here we go again," she murmured.

"I didn't do anything," Derek told him.

"You killed him!"

Derek shook his head. "He died."

"Like your sister?"

Crystal sucked in a breath.

"Laura was missing. I came here and found her in pieces."

"I think you killed them both."

"All right, enough!" She rose and punched both of them on the shoulder. Derek raised his eyebrows at her, which she ignored. "Scott, Derek didn't kill anyone. And you didn't kill the bus driver."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I trust both of you. If you two say you didn't kill anyone, I believe you. The bus driver died. That's nobody's fault but the Alpha's."

Scott frowned. "Alpha? You mean there's another werewolf?"

"You and I are Betas. Alphas are more powerful than either of us. My sister came here looking for it and now I am, too. But I don't think I can do it without you." Derek looked at Scott seriously.

"Why me?"

"Because he's the one that bit you. You're part of his pack, Scott, and it's you he wants."

:) Thoughts? OH! I saw last night's episode- I don't get MTV, so I had to wait for it online. O MY GOD! I could not believe it. *cross fingers* PLEASE don't be lying, Peter.