The Wolf Within
Summary: Having a pack was nice, having her family together would be nicer but Sydney was well aware that things weren't going to be easy when it came to piecing her life together. This was Beacon Hills after all… Season 6: Peter Hale/OC
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Teen Wolf, Sydney however is all mine.
Chapter 25:
Sydney wandered around the train station but never steering too far away from Peter, who remained sitting on the bench. They were still surrounded by a ton of people but the crowd had caused the herd to thin. She wanted to find a way out but she also wanted to trust that Stiles would figure out how to save them too.
She had lost track of the sheriff but she wasn't concerned, he was a grown man who could generally handle himself, plus it wasn't like they had actually seen the Ghost Riders in a while. Stiles would help them, if there was one thing Stiles excelled at, it was figuring things out.
"Sydney?" Peter called out for her and she paused in her movements, stopping to stand just behind him. Turning to face him, she took note that he was looking over the back of the bench, right at her. "What exactly are you looking for?"
"A way out." She answered simply and leveled him with a glare. "Which is much more than I can say you're doing, I mean, where did you even find a newspaper?"
Peter held up the paper that he had gripped in his one hand and offered her a small smile. It was a decent question right, they were currently in some sort of world similar to purgatory, so where exactly had he found a newspaper, and what sort of things were written in the columns? Only Peter would've managed to locate a piece of the old world while being stuck in limbo.
She wandered around the end of the bench and sat down next to him, her eyes scanning over the front of the newspaper, taking in the words. She didn't know what the articles were about but she knew that it wasn't real, it couldn't be real. Anything in this weird, strange train station had her on edge.
They needed to get out of here, they needed to get back to Beacon Hills, but she didn't know how. Sure they could find the rift and go through the same way they had before, but there wasn't anyone left in Beacon Hills that could concoct enough of the Nine Herbs solution to help either one of them.
The two of them needed another way out, a better way out, one that didn't result in either of them being burnt to a barely recognizable crisp, but time was ticking, they were running low on it. Her and Peter needed to do something and they needed to do it fast.
"Do you think the pack made it out?" Sydney questioned, her voice barely louder than a whisper. Peter pulled his eyes away from the paper just long enough to give her a look and she widened her eyes at him. "Or do you think they're here somewhere? Oh god, what if…what if Bruin's-"
"Do you believe they made it out?" Peter cut her off, sensing how uneasy she was getting over the thought of her pack, and their daughter, not making out of the grasps of the Ghost Riders. "Because if they're anything like you've explained them to be, then I have every bit of faith that they're out of the reach from the Ghost Riders."
Letting out a soft sigh, Sydney nodded her head in understanding. Whether he truly believed his words or he was merely saying it to get her to calm down, she didn't care, the effect was the same. She knew that her pack wouldn't give up without a fight and if they had been taken by the Ghost Riders, surely she would've caught sight, or scent, of them within the train station.
"Why can't things ever just be easy?" Sydney whimpered and pressed her nose against his shoulder, inhaling a deep whiff of his scent. She let it linger in her nose and her heart slowed down, her body calming, at the mere closeness of him. "Do you think when this is all over that we can just be together? You know, without the forces of evil working against us?"
Peter snaked his arm around her middle and settled his palm against her hip. He gave her body a gentle, reassuring squeeze but didn't answer right away. It was easy for him to tell that Sydney was truly upset at the prospect of having to work for their safety but she had a point too, would they ever get to just be together, without having to fight off the enemies at every turn.
Was that something that Peter really wanted?
Yes, yes it was, and the more he thought about it, the more he desired to be around for Bruin, to watch her grow up, to hear her first words and witness her first steps. He wanted to be with Sydney and his daughter, he wanted to try to be normal. Was that too much to ask?
"We should clear out my apartment." Peter stated and Sydney peered up at him, confusion evident on her face. "Unless you don't want me to move into the house."
"What?" She narrowed her eyes in on him and shook her head. "No, I absolutely want you to move in with me, but are you…you'd really give up your apartment?"
"Well there's hardly enough room there for you, me and Bruin." Peter teased, Sydney fighting back the urge to smile at him. "I think when this is all over, we need to have a conversation, but I don't see why I'd need to keep the apartment."
She let out a snort of amusement and made a move to stand up but Peter tightened his grip on her waist, holding her against him and basking in her presence. He had truly missed her and when he had first believed she hadn't come looking for him, he had been a little upset, but he knew that Sydney would've done everything she could've to reach him.
She loved him, he knew that much, and there wasn't anything that she wouldn't do for him, maybe it was time that he started to think the same way.
"Let's get the hell out of here, yeah?" She pressed and made another move to get to her feet, but Peter didn't budge, no, he kept his butt firmly planted on the bench and held her right there with him.
"Sydney I-"
"Dad!"
What the hell, was that…it sounded like Malia. But she wasn't here, was she? Oh dear god, had the Ghost Riders taken her, had he fought valiantly only for her to be erased just like him and Sydney?
"Did you hear that?" Peter asked and looked around, searching for the familiar voice that had called out to him. "Sydney, did you…did you hear that?"
"Hear what exactly?" She countered and followed his gaze around the room. "I hear a lot of weird noises, maybe you could narrow it down for me and I'll tell you-"
"Malia." Peter cut her off and she stared at him, shocked and confused by the girl's name. "You didn't hear Malia?"
"Uh no." Sydney shook her head slowly but stole another look around the train station, wanting nothing more than to lay her eyes on Peter's oldest daughter. Well, okay, that wasn't entirely true, she didn't really want to see Malia here, she would've preferred if the teen was back in Beacon Hills working on a way to get them out of here. "I didn't hear her."
"Are you sure?" Peter pressed.
"Yes." Sydney murmured in response. "Peter I didn't hear anything."
"Dad."
"You swear you didn't just hear that?" Peter hissed and straightened up on the bench. She followed his lead and managed to break his hold on her before clambering to her feet. If he was hearing Malia's voice, what did that mean?
What was happening and what was their next move?
"Dad. Please wake up. Dad."
"Peter?" Sydney ran her hand through his hair and remained standing in front of him but there was a lost look in his eyes. What exactly was he hearing, what was Malia saying to him?
And where was she?
"Peter, what do we do?" Sydney whispered. "Just tell me what we do, please?"
"Sydney, I-"
"Dad."
Peter rose up to his feet, his eyes looking past her and Sydney cocked her head sideways. What was going on, what did he want them to do? She maintained her stance just in front of him but Peter was hardly paying her any attention, instead, he reached over, grabbed her hand and took a step away from the bench.
"Syd…" Peter trailed off and forced his claws out, driving them into her flesh. She winced but she didn't back away, no, whatever he was doing, he had a purpose and she could handle the pain, in fact, she welcomed it. "Sydney please tell me you can see her?"
Sydney widened her eyes at him but slowly turned to look over her shoulder. She felt his claws digging further and further into her flesh but it didn't matter. She could feel the blood dripping out of the punctures on her arm and dripping on to the floor but the second she laid her eyes on Malia's face, she knew that they would be okay.
They had to be okay!
"How'd you get here?" Sydney barked at the teen and looked past her, taking in the sight of Lydia.
"No, they're not here." Peter spoke up. "We're…we're…"
"In the high school." Malia supplied. "And we need your help."
Sydney sucked in a breath and ripped her arm away from Peter's grasp. Her wounds healed up almost instantly, leaving only a small trail of blood to prove that he had even hurt her to start with. Peter reached out towards Malia but stopped, dropping his hand down to his side and looking at her, waiting for her to ask for whatever it was she needed.
"We need you to stop all the people from getting on the train." Lydia piped up and Sydney fought back the urge to growl at the girl. She still didn't like Lydia but now wasn't the time to get into it, no, they had a town to save, she had a family to get back to, but first, they had to stop the Ghost Riders from whatever it was they were planning.
"All the…I'm sorry, do you now realize how many there are?" Peter shot back, sarcasm lacing his tone.
"We can do it." Sydney cut in, but there was very little conviction behind her words. "Well we can try, right?"
"Attention, all passengers, the train will be arriving in twelve minutes." The eerie voice over the P.A. system sounded out in the…were they in the library, was that where they were.
Sydney let out a groan of confusion and looked around at the rows and rows of books. She shook her head, trying to get her head back in the game. It didn't matter where they were, all that mattered was saving everyone, pulling each person out of the grasps of the Ghost Riders. They had faced worse before, right, right?
Surely this wasn't the most fearsome enemy, but Sydney felt a shiver run down her spine, reminding her that she was wearing nothing more than a borrowed sweater while she prepared to help Malia and Lydia try and get all the people to stay off the train.
"Us? You want us to stop them?" Peter leveled a glare on Sydney, but she didn't back down from him. "You know how many there are?"
"Yeah a lot of them so get going." Malia protested, reaching out to grab hold of him. She tugged him forward and tried to get Peter to get a move on, but he wasn't going with any sense of urgency, instead, it was almost like he didn't want to help her. God, what the hell was his problem?
Reluctantly, Peter began marching through the library, Sydney following his lead but taking more time to look around them. She knew there were too many people to save but if they managed to get at least one person out of danger, wasn't that a good thing, wouldn't that be considered sort of a win?
"I can-"
"There are hundreds of waiting rooms in this train station," Peter cut Sydney off and she crossed her arms over her chest, "which apparently now also serves as a high school library. It's impossible."
"We can try." Malia ground the words out.
"We certainly can." Sydney added in, following her words up with a low growl, desperately trying to remind Peter that she was the alpha. Maybe he wasn't officially part of her pack, but he was her mate, and the sooner he understood that she was in charge, the better off they'd all be.
"Where do you get this implausible optimism?" Peter quipped at Malia and Sydney rolled her eyes at him. Was now really the time to be questioning genetics?
"Definitely not from my father." Malia countered quickly.
"We don't have time for this, we need someone to just hear us." Lydia piped up. For once in her life, Sydney found herself agreeing with the strawberry blonde.
If Lydia was going to be the voice of reason, and also double as some sort of mediator, then Sydney could get behind her, at least until this all blew over. She could work with Lydia until she didn't need to anymore, surely it wouldn't be that hard. They had done it before, Lydia wasn't technically the enemy, but that didn't mean she liked her.
"I think they already did." Peter spoke up calmly but Sydney could feel the breeze rushing into the room, and she could barely make out the sound of the all too familiar heavy footfalls coming their way. Sydney took a step forward and tried to get in front of Peter, and Malia. This was her job, she was the alpha, she was supposed to protect them and keep them safe.
She had to do it, her instincts kicked into overdrive and she bared her teeth, drawing out her canines. She could feel her body starting to tense but she prayed that she could control the shift enough to manage to stay human, at least for the time being.
This wasn't a fight for a wolf, this was a fight for Sydney Vance, alpha extraordinaire and fight is what she'd do. They weren't going to hurt her, they weren't going to get to Peter, and they certainly weren't going to lay a hand on Malia.
She stood poised in front of her mate, her claws out, her teeth pointed and sharp, and her eyes glowing a fierce vibrant red. The Ghost Rider closed in on her, stepping heavily and cautiously as he closed the distance between her and him.
It stopped moving and pushed its jacket back, hands immediately wrapping around the handles of his guns. Sydney sucked in a breath and let out a vicious growl, waiting for it to make a move. She wasn't going to charge first, no, she was going to wait and see if it made a move to fire the gun. If she could somehow knock the weapons from its grasp then she could gain the upper hand, she could get one up on the Ghost Rider.
Malia took a step up and stood next to her, her claws and teeth out too. She growled at the Ghost Rider, clearly following Sydney's lead, but it didn't budge, not even an inch. Whatever they did, the Ghost Rider didn't seem to be afraid, not even a little bit.
"Get behind me." Lydia stepped in front of them all and ushered her and Malia behind her. "They won't take a Banshee."
Lydia's voice cut into the air and Sydney didn't dare look at her, no she kept her eyes locked firmly on the Ghost Rider in front of them, just past Lydia. Peter was quick to take the lead and the Ghost Rider nabbed the whip off its hip, giving it a good swing. The crack of the rope was heard loud and clear and Sydney rolled her shoulders back, hoping they could survive this.
"You sure about that?" Peter countered.
Peter surged forward and made a mad slash at the oversized figure as Sydney growled once again, catching the Rider's attention. It didn't seem to bother him though, not as Peter continued to land blow after blow on it. The Ghost Rider wasn't budging, hell, Peter's hits weren't even tickling it.
Sydney sucked in a deep breath, let the air settle in her lungs and she too surged forward, joining the fight. She landed a huge kick on the Rider's hip and caused it to stumble backwards, but it didn't fall over, hell, it barely faltered at all, but it was just enough to give Peter a chance to take a breath.
He continued to fight it though, rushing forward and hitting the Ghost Rider in the face, all the while Sydney tried to help him, distracting and landing hits of her own. Slash after slash landed on the Ghost Rider's chest but Peter didn't stop, hell, the only time he even hesitated was at the sound of Malia's pained yell.
Sydney didn't stop fighting though, not as Peter abandoned the one he had been fighting to look after his wounded daughter. She made a grab for the Ghost Rider's arm and twisted it back, back some more until she swore she heard a cracking sound. The arm went limp and the gun felt from the Rider's grasp, but Sydney didn't have time to celebrate, no, she had to help the others, she had to make sure they all made it out of the library in once piece.
"Malia!" Peter called out to the werecoyote and Sydney followed his lead, watching as he set a gentle hand on Malia's back before ushering her over towards the banshee. "Lydia."
Once Malia was out of the way, Sydney felt Peter's back press against hers and she looked back at the Ghost Rider that she had thought she had eliminated from the equation. It's arm hung limply at its side but it was still coming at her, still moving towards her, all the while Peter faced a second Ghost Rider, the very one who had managed to land his whip on Malia's arm in the first place.
"Jesus Christ, where are they coming from?" Sydney hissed and moved in a circle, following Peter's lead. The two of them rotated, taking in the sight of the other Ghost Rider, and she felt a little bit better knowing Peter would be taking on the one with the broken arm.
If she could just inflict more damage, if she could slow them down enough that they could get out of here, then she'd be golden. But she knew it wasn't going to be that easy, she knew it never was.
"I love you." Sydney said softly and firmly. "So much, okay. We can do this."
"I know." Peter replied and reached a hand back, his palm ghosting down her forearm. "I love you too."
He surged in one direction while she moved in the other, pausing only to steal a quick glance back at him. Peter used the end of one of the benches to send himself flying into the air, his foot hitting the injured Ghost Rider in the center of the chest.
She didn't have time to praise him, no, she continued moving for her battle partner, dropping down and going for its knees. She took the legs out from under him, sending the Ghost Rider crumbling to the floor, but he was quick to make his way to his feet, lifting his arm back and preparing himself to take a chance at whipping her.
Sydney let out a growl and flinched as Peter's body collided with the hard tiled ground before brushing against the backs of her calves. She crouched down and hauled him to his feet, giving him a shove forward, throwing him in the direction of the weakened Ghost Rider.
Sydney managed to duck out of the way as Peter tossed the one Ghost Rider in her direction, but instead of hitting her, it collapsed against his partner, the two of them taking steps backwards in order to remain upright.
Jumping in, Sydney grabbed the good arm of the wounded Ghost Rider and pulled it backwards, catching his attention and forcing his arm in an unnatural angle. She heard a popping noise and when the Ghost Rider let out an ear piercing cry, she knew that it was her that was winning.
Peter seemed to be faring well too, he was managing to fight off the second one, throwing it away from him and attacking, launching himself up into the air before coming down, his kicks landing on the Ghost Rider's core.
They were a team, they were a great pair, and Sydney couldn't help but feel a little bit elated at how well they were working to take on the Ghost Riders. She knew they were strong, she knew she could fight just as good as the next guy, but for her and Peter to be working so effortlessly together just solidified that he was her perfect match.
With his Ghost Rider in a headlock, Sydney darted over towards Peter and took a jab at the Ghost Rider's knees, dropping him to the floor while Peter maintained the death grip he had on the thing's neck.
Peter, using every last ounce of strength he had, lifted the thing up and tossed it over himself backwards. Sydney sidled up next to him but she wasn't expecting the second Ghost Rider to come at them, especially not with both of his arms hanging like dead weight at his side.
"God these guys just keep fucking coming." Sydney cried out and felt Peter's hand press gently against her hip, shielding her behind him.
The Ghost Rider came right for him and dropped him to the ground, but before Sydney could make a move to help him, he waved her off and pointed frantically in Malia's direction.
What the hell, did he really think she was going to just leave him, did he really thing that after not having him with her for so long that she was going to just let him handle the Ghost Riders on his own?
The one Ghost Rider circled his hand around Peter's neck and easily lifted him up off the ground, whizzing around to slam Peter's back against the thick column nearby. She held her breath and waited for an in but Peter beat her to it, he opened his mouth and struggled to get the words out through his airway, which was currently being cut off slowly.
"Sydney, go." He snarled at her from his spot against the column, but she shook her head, silently arguing with him and waiting for just the right second to strike. "Go! Sydney, get Malia and go!"
She could hear Malia and Lydia's footsteps retreating but she wasn't about to leave him. She watched on as the Ghost Rider tossed him towards the bench, Peter's back colliding with the heavy wooden seat. Any normal person would've been winded by an impact like that, but Peter wasn't any normal person, and he had Sydney right there with him.
With a low, ferocious growl, Sydney charged at the two Ghost Riders but the one without the busted arms was already on Peter, his hands back around his neck. She went after him but was stopped by his partner, struggling desperately to get away while Peter was hoisted into the air by his neck, his feet dangling a good three feet over the floor.
Sydney widened her jaw and snapped at the Ghost Rider, landing her bite on its arm, but it was already wounded, the limb already useless. Immediately pulling back, she spit out the nasty, rotting taste and shook her head, hoping to pull herself together long enough to get away from this thing.
She lifted her leg up and pressed the bottom of her foot against its hip, using everything she had to force it backwards.
"Peter!" Sydney screeched and sent the Ghost Rider reeling backwards by the pure shrillness of her tone. She dove forward and tackled it to the floor, just barely catching Malia's guttural roar from the doorway of the library.
They were in this together, they were going to get Peter out of here alive and nothing was going to get in their way. She could work with Malia, she knew that she was fierce and she was one hell of a fighter, yes, Sydney was lucky that they were on the same team.
Sydney managed to rush away from her Ghost Rider and threw herself in Peter's direction, Malia already on her way. The two of them attacked at the same time, Malia wrapping her arms around the thing's waist while Sydney extended her fist up to punch the Ghost Rider in the throat. Peter fell to the floor and crumpled into a heap, but she could hear him breathing, she could tell he was alive- winded and achy but alive.
Malia continued to go to town on the Ghost Rider while Sydney helped Peter to his feet. Once she was sure he could stand on his own, she gave him a gentle pat on the back and took off in a fierce run, joining Malia in the melee.
Peter was right there behind them, making his own attacks on the broken Ghost Rider, keeping it occupied while Sydney and Malia tried desperately to stop them from fighting back. Sydney jumped up and caught her arm on the Ghost Rider's neck, and she pulled, not giving up as Malia went low and swiped her leg out, dropping the thing to the ground while Sydney continued to hold on to its neck. She wrapped her arms tight around it and squeezed, desperately trying to snap its spine and when Malia came up next to her and helped her twist the Ghost Rider's head, Sydney knew they were nearing the end of their fight.
The loud, grotesque cracking of the bones in the Ghost Rider's spine sounded out in the library and the body went limp in Sydney's arms. She hesitantly let go and the Rider slumped to the floor, but she remained poised and ready to fight in case it wasn't over. Malia pressed her back against Sydney's and covered her from behind, watching as Peter worked away at finishing off the other Ghost Rider, who was currently on its knees on the floor, Peter with his hands around its neck.
After a few seconds, and the Ghost Rider not moving, Sydney concluded that they could move on, they could go over and help Peter. Malia took off first and lunged at it, her arm catching the Rider on the chin and flipping it onto its back. Peter jumped on top of the Rider and pressed his forearm across its throat, cutting off its airway just like it had tried to do to Peter.
Sydney glanced around the room for some sort of weapon but nothing caught her attention, nothing except for the benches, which lined the floor. She lifted her leg up and drove the heel of her foot into the seat part of the bench, the wood splintering from the impact and providing the alpha female with a relatively decent sized wooden spike.
"Malia!" Sydney cried out and as soon as the girl was looking at her, she tossed the pointed chunk of wood over to her, wincing as the sharp, narrowed end of it was driven into the Ghost Rider's skull, the hat he wore falling to the floor. When the Ghost Rider stilled, she moved over to the others and set her hand on Peter's back, letting out a sigh of relief as he rose up to his full height, Malia following suit.
"Are they…are they dead?" Sydney quipped and Peter's arm came around her back, holding her tight against him. "Or…or do they come back?"
"Let's not stick around to find out." Malia countered and looked at Sydney and her father, finally taking in the sight of her standing there in nothing more than a sweater, her bare feet catching the girl's attention.
"You wouldn't happen to have some spare clothes in your locker, would you?" Sydney asked but felt a little bit better at the sound of Peter's scoff.
They had managed to kick the Ghost Riders butts, but the fight was far from over. They still needed to figure out how to save the rest of Beacon Hills.
XxxxxxXxxxxxXxxxxxX
Oh man, you guys...I'm so sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. I kept putting it off because I was struggling to figure out what I wanted to do and I just lost track of time. Please forgive me, and I hope that Sydney and Peter kicking butt will start to make up for the long, LONG wait I put you guys through!