Six Months Later

APOV

I was sitting cross-legged on the ground. Absent-mindedly I flicked rocks over the cliff edge using my newfound telekinesis. Brooke was lying next to me, on her stomach. She ran her fingers over the grass leaving frost trails in her wake.

The last six months had been full of rebuilding. Learning who we were now, and what we could do. Where we stood in our relationships, not only with each other, but also with our friends. I couldn't speak for Brooke, but I felt good.

I felt more in control of my own life than I ever had. I had a group of friends that I loved more than anything. And I had a sister, who sometimes could be annoying and over bearing, but actually wasn't that bad. I was about to begin my senior year. I was normal, or as close to normal as I could ever be.

XxXxX

"Some mythology refers to them as angels, a more accurate term might be fairy. You would be most likely to know them as Tuatha Dé Danann," Deaton said. Brooke and I just stared at him.

"Impossible," I said. "The Tuatha Dé Danann are some of the oldest settlers of Ireland. They're a race, not a creature."

"Yes, and no," he said. "True they were born with magic, and as you know, we don't know much about their origin."

"Other than that they migrated from the four mythical cities. And that they brought magical treasures with them," Brooke said.

"Including the cauldron."

"The cauldron I used to become human," I finished. "Are you saying that the cauldron saved me? It's been over a year, and this thing is still watching out for me?"

"It's possible. It's an ancient artifact with very written history on it. We still don't understand how it works."

"It did do that whole adrenaline thing, when you were scared, for a while," Brooke reminded me. "Like a fail safe, like it's trying to keep you alive."

"There is another explanation," Deaton said. "This one may be a little less plausible."

"And it is?" Brooke prompted.

"You have Tuatha Dé Danann blood that was activated by the bite."

"A little less plausible?" I repeated. "My mom was a succubus, my dad was an incubus, that's how this works."

"Not necessarily." He shook his head. "It's possible for a human and a supernatural creature to have a supernatural child."

"So you're saying only one of our parents could be a demon?" Brooke asked. "And one is a member of an ancient supernatural race?"

"I've never heard of someone being born a Tuath Dé," I said. "You would think that'd be in my mom's books. I'm pretty sure they died out."

"Have you ever wondered who sits on the Council?" Deaton asked. "Why they rule the Old World with such a tight fist?"

"A bunch of crazy, old supernaturals, who think they're entitled because they're a few millennium old?" Brooke offered.

"The Council started as an underground sect of the English monarchy. They were created to handle supernatural threats to national security. It was rumored the government also used creatures recruited by the council as weapons. The Council was allowed to scour the continent for supernaturals. Eventually they worked their way around the world as the British colonization expanded. As Great Britain declined in power, so did the power of the Council."

"Thanks for the history lesson, but back to the question, who sits on the Council?"

"At the time of the Council's creation, there was only one sect equipped for the job. The strongest race of people on the British Isles, who happen to be practically immortal, Tuath Dé," he said. "Of course the Council has strict laws, you know them well I'm sure. It wouldn't be in the best interest of the monarchy or the Council if the Councilmembers had families. Upholding the law comes before everything."

"So over the years the rest of the race died out, except for those on the Council," Brooke said. Deaton nodded. "Until one of them went off and had their own family."

"Mom was a succubus, she taught us how to use our powers, how to stay under the radar," I said.

"So that leaves dad," Brooke said. "He died when we were kids, we never really got to know him."

"What reason would mom have to lie about what he was?" I asked.

She shrugged. "To protect us? You know how crazy the Council is."

"How did your father die?" Deaton asked.

"The Great Fire of London," I said.

"Interesting," he said. "Like most supernatural creatures, Tuath Dé are hard to kill. They're more resilient than most. A fire shouldn't have done it, unless he was trapped on purpose."

"Like the Hale fire," I said. "So, you're saying someone murdered my dad, and in the process a few hundred other people?"

"Either that, or he's still alive."

I looked at Brooke. "You saw them, right, on the other side? You told me you saw them. Both of them."

She hesitated. "Mom spoke to me. She asked me to protect you, to look out for you. She's why I didn't cross the bridge, I've told you that. But…I don't know, I never actually heard dad. There was someone with mom, I assumed that it was dad, but I'm not sure. Everything from then is so blurry, all I really remember is needing to get back to you."

"If dad is out there, he would have let us know," I said with finality.

"Like I said, this theory is less plausible. Most likely it was the cauldron that did this to you," Deaton said. "What's important is learning about what you are, and how you can use that."

XxXxX

"Alright so, look at these apartments and tell me what you think," Stiles said handing me his phone. I looked up at him with a blank stare. "For next year?"

"Right, right," I took the phone and scrolled through the listings. Brooke leaned over and pointed at one, I clicked it and flipped through the pictures. It was nice, two bedroom, large living room, had a decent view.

"I like this one," Brooke declared.

"I knew you would," Stiles said. Even though it had been a few months since Brooke had gained the strength to appear to my friends, it was still weird. It felt like my territory was being encroached on, I preferred it when her snide comments were just in my head. "The sellers like it too. It's going for almost four times what I can pay, but…" he trailed of, scrolling through the phone for another listing. This one was significantly less nice, smaller, terrible view of an alley. "It's only two blocks away from this one, and this is more in my price range."

"Proximity is definitely nice," I said. "But it's not the loft."

"Nothing is ever going to top your precious loft," Stiles said shaking his head. "Since you have such a good eye, why don't you look up some listings yourself? Just forward them to me so I can look for places in the area that are more affordable, okay?"

"I don't know why you won't just let Ava buy another building. Then you could all still have your own apartments, but you'd be together," Brooke said.

"I've got to grow up and pay rent sometime," Stiles said, trying to make a joke. But I knew the real reason he hadn't taken me up on my offer, he saw it as charity and he was too proud to accept charity from me.

"No one ever said you could live there for free," she mumbled.

My phone buzzed. I looked down to see a text from Derek, I giggled at it and locked my phone. "Derek?" Stiles asked. I nodded. "How's he doing?"

"Fine," I answered coyly. I quickly changed the subject. "Come on, let's show those listings to Scott and see what he thinks."

The three of us walked over to the Jeep together, where Scott was sitting on the hood. "I found a place that would work, but Ava is picky," Stiles told him. "Everywhere else is expensive."

"We'll find something," I told him. "We don't have to be your next door neighbors. Pick a place you want."

"I just don't want us all being too spread out," Stiles said.

"We're all going to be in the Bay Area," I told him. "Anyway, I think Derek may prefer the space. He could have bought a house in the suburbs near you guys, but he didn't."

"So Derek is going to be living with you while you're in college?" Stiles asked carefully.

"That's the plan," I said. He and Lydia had been trying to pull relationship info out of me all summer, and I had been tight lipped about it all. "No one left behind, right?"

"Derek kinda already left us behind," Brooke said.

"He got a head start," I said with a shrug.

"We could wait until we actually get into college to decide where to live," Scott suggested.

"I have a vision," Stiles said. "Let me have that vision."

We laughed. Stiles continued showing Scott listings and I wandered back over to the cliff. "So, you're really graduating," Brooke said to me. "That's weird."

"We've graduated countless times," I reminded her.

"This is going to be your last graduation."

"There's college graduation," I reminded her.

She rolled her eyes. "Not the same. It's just weird you know, you're growing up, moving on."

I laughed. "When you say it like that it sounds like I'm leaving Neverland or something!"

"You practically are!"

"I mean, it seemed like this was the end before," I said. "When I had decided I was better off living out the rest of my life human. But now it's different. Maybe I'll live forever, maybe I'll out live them."

"Werewolves live longer than your average human," Brooke reminded me, but I knew she got what I was saying. What if I had more than just a longer than average life span? "You won't."

"What?"

"This is it for you, I can see it." I shook my head, still not sure what she was getting at. "You've said it yourself, you've gone all in. You can't handle all that loss, not again, not after this."

"You were listening in when I told Derek that if he died, I would too," I accused.

"Yeah, I spy on you a lot, that's not really new information." She shook her head. "The point is, I legitimately think you would die of a broken heart. I don't care if you're some unkillable, cauldron-protected supernatural, you'd find a way. This is your last life."

"I want it to be," I admitted. "I want to get old, I want to have friends, and a family, and love."

Brooke grabbed my shoulder. "You're going to get it, I'm going to make sure of that. We've come too far for you to have anything else."

I turned around to see Scott and Stiles unchaining Liam. "You think he's good?" I asked.

"I'm good!" Liam said adamantly.

"Because after that last full moon…" I trailed off.

"No one asked to see all that," Brooke said shaking her head.

"Are you guys ever going to let me live that down?" He asked.

I shared a look with Stiles and we answered together. "Definitely not."

OoOoO

We got in the Jeep; we only had a few hours before we had to meet the others at school for Senior Scribe. First we had to drop Liam off at the hospital. "What's at midnight?" Liam asked.

"Your bedtime," Stiles told him.

"Is it a party?" Liam asked.

"No, I wish," I said. "It's a tradition."

"Don't give in to his interrogation," Brooke warned.

"What kind of tradition?" He asked. "Where's everyone else?"

"Meeting us there," Stiles said. "Stop asking questions. It's a senior thing, you'll know when you're a senior."

"Anyone else having trouble with their phones?" Scott asked.

I checked mine. "No signal. I was wondering why Derek hadn't texted back."

"Where is he anyway?" Stiles asked.

"Around," I said. There was a stuttering sound "What's that noise?" The Jeep coasted to a stop.

"Are you out of gas?" Liam asked.

"Must be the alternator again," Stiles said, getting out of the Jeep. I hopped out of the Jeep and opened the hood. "Do you even know anything about cars?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Please, I've been fixing my own cars since they were invented."

"She's not kidding," Brooke said. "We actually drove some of the first cars."

"Some of them exploded," I said quietly. Brooke gave me a look. I pushed aside thoughts of my family, tonight was supposed to be a happy night. "Give me that." I took the flashlight and shined it around inside of the car. "You really could've just asked me to look at this before you ruined it with duct tape."

"Where was this skill when we were stranded in the middle of the desert, huh?"

"Might I remind you that we were hit by a Berserker, Derek was missing, and we all thought we were going to die," I said. "I'm sorry if I was a little off my game at the time."

"I do not need your judgment," he said shaking a roll of duct tape at me. "Get back in the car with Liam."

I shook my head and held up my hands in surrender. "I'm going, I'm going."

OoOoO

After they finally got the car running we swung by to pick up Malia. It was cramped in the backseat with four of us. "I'll just meet you guys later," Brooke told me.

We all stared at Malia when she got in the back seat. "What?" She asked.

"Did you find out?" Stiles asked.

She shrugged. "They'll email me."

"Is this about summer school?" Liam asked.

"Did you tell them?" Malia asked Stiles.

"Just that your test scores might not be good enough, and you might have to repeat junior year," Liam said.

Malia glared at Stiles. Stiles sighed. "We should have left him chained to the tree."

OoOoO

At the hospital Scott took Liam upstairs to find his dad, and I stayed downstairs with Stiles and Malia. Stiles was nervous ball of energy. He practically leapt on Scott as soon as he stepped off the elevator. "I still can't reach Kira," Scott told us.

"Okay, but you reminded her about tonight, right?" Stiles asked.

"Yeah, I mean, she only texted me once this week."

"Lydia started a group text with Kira, Malia, and me last night so we could decide what to wear. She's coming," I told Stiles to reassure him. Then I narrowed my eyes at Scott. "She only texted you once?"

"How'd you guys leave things when she left for New York?" Stiles asked.

"They were good. I just told her to, you know, not worry about anything, and to have fun."

"You didn't," I said.

"What?" Scott asked. "What's wrong with "have fun"?"

"Uh, nothing, but it can be interpreted differently," Stiles said.

"Like how?"

"Like if I had told Derek to "have fun" when he left, it would have basically been an open invitation to have sex with…I don't know, Braeden," I said with disgust. "Which I would be the opposite of okay with."

"Saying "have fun" sounds like "not exclusive,"" Stiles clarified.

"No way," Scott said.

Stiles waved Malia over. "If you were going away and I told you to "not worry" and "go have fun," what would you think?"

"Fun like bowling? Or sex with other guys?"

"Okay, now I'm worried."

I pointed at one of the bodies being wheeled by. "There's a huge pile up on 115, Kira's probably stuck in that, it's the only way back into town from the airport."

"She's never going to make it," Stiles said, rubbing his face.

"I can get her," Scott said. "You guys should head to school, Lydia is probably already there."

I waved my phone, which conveniently got a third text from Lydia at that moment. "Oh, she is."

OoOoO

Malia rode shotgun and I sat in the back of the Jeep. "Where's your car?" Malia asked.

"At the loft, I was with Scott and Stiles watching Liam. Figured it'd just be easier to carpool," I told her. "Sorry if I'm encroaching on your boyfriend time."

She shook her head. "No, it's okay. I was just wondering." Stiles and I looked at each other in the rearview mirror. Malia had made so much progress.

When we pulled up to school Stiles checked his phone. "Have you guys heard anything from Scott or Kira?" We both shook our heads. "But Lydia is here?" I nodded.

"I still don't know if I passed," Malia said. She stepped closer to Stiles and sniffed. "What's wrong with you? You smell awful."

"It's called anxiety."

"Why is this thing so important to you?" She asked.

"It's not," he said.

"Really?" I asked. "Because you've been stressing me out for the last three hours with your worrying."

"Maybe it is," He said. "I don't know. I asked my dad about his high school friends. He doesn't talk to them anymore. I started thinking, why are we just expected to go our separate ways after graduation? I've already met the best people in my life, why would I want to lose them?"

I nodded. "So you're worried we're all going to stop talking after graduation? Just like that, after everything we've gone through? I don't think we could ever really be through with each other."

"That's the vision right, we're all together for life?" Malia asked.

"I, for one, am one hundred percent in," I said. "I've spent three and a half centuries looking for friends like you guys. There's no way I'm going to lose you all now." I squeezed Stiles and Malia's arms. "I'm going to try calling Kira again."

I stepped away and dialed Kira, to my surprise she actually answered. "Kira?" There wasn't an answer; all I could hear was rain. And then I heard growling. "Kira, are you okay?"

I turned to see Malia slamming Liam to the ground. "Scott's in trouble," he said.

"Kira's with him."

"They're in the tunnel!" Brooke said, appearing. We took off running towards them. But when we arrived another werewolf had his claws in Scott, it was looking like we were too late. Just when I was almost down the stairs, Scott fought back. He broke the other wolf's arm and stood up.

"I don't know who you are, or what you thought you'd do," Scott said to him. "But you can stay and I'll break something else, or you can run." After a moment the wolf took off running, clutching his broken arm.

It was then that I noticed the other werewolf. He walked towards our group. "I guess you don't recognize me, I look a little different than I did in fourth grade."

Scott took a moment. "Theo?" He asked shocked.

"You know him?" Malia asked.

"Used to," Theo said. "When I hear you were an alpha, a true alpha, I had to come back. I came back to my family, back to Beacon Hills, because I want to be a part of your pack."

OoOoO

We left Theo and went inside. Kira and I shook our heads at each other. "I curled my hair," I said.

"I put on makeup in the airport bathroom."

We both laughed at each other's drowned rat appearances. "This is so typical."

"I passed!" Malia said. I squealed and Stiles gave her a hug. "I'm in!" Kira and I group hugged her and almost tripped. Even Brooke smiled at her.

"There you guys are," Lydia said. "I've been looking everywhere. Are we doing this?"

"Let's go," Scott said.

Brooke didn't go into the library with us. "I'm not a senior," she said. She tried to smile. "Your first senior year without me."

"You're with us," I told her.

"I'll see you back at the loft."

The rest of us waited in line together, talking, laughing. I wrapped my arms around Lydia and gave her a hug. "What's that for?"

"We're going on two years of friendship," I said. "I don't know what I would have done without you."

"You probably would have managed, but I can't imagine you would have looked quite as hot doing it." We both laughed.

Stiles handed me the sharpie to write my initials. As I stepped up to the library shelf he pointed out something on the shelf below. There was a large "D.H." I looked at him and raised an eyebrow, he nodded. I popped the cap off the sharpie and leaned down to the other shelf. I wrote "A.B." in equally large letters next to it.

Lydia shook her head at me as I handed her the sharpie and she wrote her initials on the shelf above. "Statically speaking, I was probably also a senior at the same time he was," I said as she joined us leaning against the railing.

"No matter how much evidence you give me to the contrary, I am still sticking to my original judgment," Lydia said. "Derek is a creep." I gave her a little shove. Kira wrote her initials and then gave the pen to Malia. I watched as Malia hesitated on her second initial before choosing "T." She smiled at me when she turned to hand the pen to Scott.

Scott wrote his initials and capped the pen. Then he stopped, pulled the cap back off, and wrote Allison's. We all watched quietly. "She should have been here," Stiles said.

"She still is."

As we walked out of the library I thought about how this all started. Just over a year ago these people were strangers to me, and now I couldn't imagine my life without them. We had lost friends along the way, but we had also gained amazing new ones too. This wasn't the easiest life to live, but I was glad I had it. No one had chosen this path for me, I picked my own destiny and I wouldn't have it any other way.