Chapter Twenty One: Erica 2.0

Alex hated gym class. She hated it even more after the chemistry test she'd just taken, the kind of test that could have gone really well or it could have been absolute and total shit. Now she had to climb a dumb wall while all her peers stared at her ass. Granted she could have climbed that dumb wall in her sleep even while coach screamed blaring obscenities at everyone.

She made the climb in record time and even coach had nothing to yell at her on her fast decent down the wall.

"Well done, Argent." He said gruffly, obviously hoping for an opportunity to humiliate his students. "That's how it's done, everyone. I hope you were taking notes."

Alex smiled haughtily as she turned around and gave the class a campy bow, earning her a few chuckles and scoffs from the crowd.

Soon it was Scott and Allison's turn and everyone waited patiently as they geared up and advanced towards the wall. Alex couldn't help but appraise her sister after Jonathon had told her she had completed the First Trial. Allison looked tired, but that could hardly be helped because she'd been up all night getting the living shit scared out of her.

Every Hunter who completed the First Trial came out of it with some traumatic memories.

Alex remembered the time that Nathan had shared his experience with her over a beer on one Thanksgiving a few years ago.

He'd pissed himself, he'd told her with a wry smile.

She shook off the memory of the man she'd considered family.

The competitive part of her wondered if Allison had come anywhere close to her own time.

Alex was shaken from her thoughts as she looked to where Allison and Scott had made it up the wall when suddenly Scott's body jerked off the rock wall and hurdled through the air dropping rapidly towards the ground before the ropes were pulled tight, effectively stopping the impact his face would have made with the floor.

The class laughed and Alex herself nearly cracked a smile as Allison looked down to him from the top of the wall, a smirk that looked a lot like her own played at the corners of Allison's mouth.

"That's enough." Coach ordered his giggling students and Allison descended gracefully. "Stilinski and . . . Reyes. Hit the ropes!"

Stiles stumbled over a few times while gearing up and his counterpart, Erica looked pale and frightened as her hands shook trying to tighten her harness. Stiles smiled encouragingly at the blonde and they made their way to the rock wall. Coach blew his annoying as fuck whistle and they began their climb.

Stiles was actually doing quite well. A year of running around the woods and training for Lacrosse this summer with Scott had given him more muscles - which she found herself looking at appreciatively as they rippled beneath freckled skin on his ascent up the wall.

Erica Reyes, however, was not doing as well.

She had barely made it two feet off of the mat when she began to hyperventilate violently and Alex stepped forward imperceptibly, ready to steady her if she lost her grip.

Nolan Barns, a boy from Alex's chemistry class who she'd caught trying to cheat off of her test earlier that morning, started to snigger and nudge his friends as they watched cruelly while Erica struggled and became increasingly distraught.

"Maybe she'll piss her pants again." He whispered loudly, obviously wanting the class to hear him.

Nolan landed on his ass with a loud thump, the breath completely knocked out of him after Alex had discreetly kicked his legs out from under him. The people around him who had been laughing at Erica's expense were now openly laughing at him and Alex felt a sense of victory when his cheeks darkened with his embarrassment.

Nolan got wordlessly up to his feet, sneered at Alex and remained silent for the rest of the class.

"Come on, Erica!" Alex cheered, averting her glare from Nolan to the freaked out girl on the rock wall. "You're a badass. You got this."

Allison caught her gaze from a few feet over, she looked at her curiously. Alex knew exactly what that look meant. Alex never showed any enthusiasm for anything school related. She only ever showed loyalty or camaraderie to her team and her family.

It was a new look for her.

Alex shrugged back at Allison. Erica Reyes needed some fucking encouragement and if the fucking teacher wasn't going to do it, then she would.

Erica began seizing.

The ropes she was attached to began vibrating with the force of her tremors and shaking the rock wall. Coach finally made himself useful and coaxed her gently back down to the floor just as the bell rang shrilly and the students rushed the exit.

Erica didn't move from her spot on the floor, her shoulders were heaving and Alex realized that she was crying.

Scott and Stiles were waiting for her by the door after everyone had filed out and Alex waved them off signalling that she'd meet them later and made her way over to Erica.

"Hey Reyes." Alex greeted, gently kneeling down beside her unaware that Scott and Stiles were watching curiously from the door with interest. "I think you killed that."

Erica whipped her head up from her hunched over position and glared at her with tears running down her red blotchy face. "Are you making fun of me?"

"No." Alex put her hands up in a show of repose. "No. Dumb joke. Bad timing." Alex shook her head, feeling like an idiot. If it wasn't obvious that she was bad at being empathic, it certainly was now. "I just wanted to see if you were okay."

She hiccoughed loudly a fresh wave of tears filling her eyes. "Other than the crushing embarrassment of the entire class laughing at me . . ." Her glare had softened considerably and she pulled herself up from the floor to sit cross legged.

"Fuck 'em." Alex declared confidently, the usual defiance shining in her eyes.

Erica smiled and watched as Alex stood from the mat. Alex gave her one last smile before turning on her heel to walk away. That was enough nicety for one day. When she realized that Scott and Stiles hadn't left the gymnasium and had been watching the exchange she shifted her gaze to the floor. As she approached them Scott nodded with approval and patted her on the back, not saying anything as he walked ahead.

"That was out of character." Stiles commented, regarding her with a crease in his brow and they walked through the hall. "You tend to get the idea of comfort and violence mixed up. That was the most human I've ever seen you."

"Can it, Stilinski." Alex grumbled. Things were still a little awkward for Alex when it came to Stiles. He'd admitted he was in love with her and they collectively just kind of brushed it off to deal with matters of Wiccans and blood magic. She felt like she didn't know how to act around him anymore. After spending a summer separated and then having him dump a love confession on her she had no idea what kind of relationship they had anymore.

"She is beauty, she is grace." Stiles snorted, rolling his eyes.

"I like Erica, okay? She's funny." Alex said, getting defensive. She didn't think anyone had seen her public display of morality. "She's taken a lot of shit at this school - I respect it."

"I think that's really sweet." Stiles smiled, he and Scott stopping at the door to the girls locker room.

"I'm not sweet." She growled, crossing her arms over her chest while Scott watched the exchange, a pleased smile on his face.

"You're basically candy-coated." Stiles laughed and then dodged her right hook.

Alex could hear him sniggering even after she'd slammed the locker room door in his face.

.

The three of them met up after they'd showered and changed out of their awful gym uniforms. They stood around Stiles' locker and Alex felt like nothing had changed. It was almost like their estranged summer was a long forgotten dream. They chatted idly about after school plans; figuring out what exactly this new giant lizard was, why her scary grandfather was in town and how to ward off a fugue state suicide attempt.

Seriously, nothing had changed.

Scott was talking about potentially tracking down Isaac, where ever Derek was keeping him when Alex spotted Allison striding down the hallway purposefully. Her sights were set on Alex. She announce that she wanted to speak privately with her sister and both Scott and Stiles hurried off like a hurricane was coming. Alex made a mental note to kick both their asses later.

"Wow," Alex drawled, leaning against Stiles' locker and looking her sister over. "Eye contact. That's new."

"I just thought you should know," Allison began, lowering her voice. "Jonathon was killed last night."

Alex paled and she swallowed a hard lump that had solidified painfully in her throat.

Alex thought of cold nights and warm hands. She thought of dark skin and soulful eyes. She thought of long conversations and hurried kisses.

"What happened?" She croaked out. Leaning on Stiles' locker not to look uninterested but out of fear of falling over.

"I completed the Trial. I left. He was still at the Hale House." She breathed out the explanation in curt sentences that felt cold. "He never reported back to mom or dad - they found his body this morning."

Alex couldn't do anything but blink stupidly at her sister.

"I just thought that you should know." Allison admitted quietly, eyes downcast.

"Okay."

Allison cleared her throat. "Grandpa is in town." She segued. "He was disappointed that you weren't at Kate's funeral."

"I wasn't invited."

"He was still disappointed. He's our grandfather, after all."

"Have you still not learned?" Alex scoffed, her sadness and pain melted away manifesting into something she could handle. Annoyance and indifference. "Our family doesn't cater to the sentimentality of sharing the same blood. No one in our family cares about anything but the name."

"That's not true." Allison argued her lips pulling into something resembling a pout.

"Just wait, Allison." Alex sighed, "It won't take you long to see."

Alex turned to leave, she wanted to be alone with her grief, but she turned back to narrow her eyes at her sister.

"Though, maybe it will - you seem to be taking your sweet time understanding that your family; mom, dad, Gerard - all the people whispering in your ear that I'm a traitor, were the same ones demanding I keep secrets from you in the first place."

Allison's eyes widened at Alex's threatening tone and it was the first bit of real emotion Alex had seen on her sisters face in a long time. "You're my sister." Allison said quietly. "My best friend. You should have told me."

"You're seventeen, Allison - and I'll bet that last night you were terrified." Alex surmised, taking a few steps closer to her sister, getting right up into her personal space. "I was eight when I did The First Trial. An eight year old child being tied to a chair and left there to fend for herself -told that everything that goes bump in the night was real and it was my job to hunt and kill them. So when your mom and dad tell you to keep it a secret or it could be my sisters life on the line - you keep it a fucking secret."

Alex felt a strong hand slide into hers, interlocking their fingers in a strong reassuring grip. Stiles was looking down at her, his brown eyes swirling with both compassion and warning. He squeezed her hand tight and she felt her breathing start to even out and her heart rate slow. Alex hadn't even realized how angry she'd become.

She turned to Allison with a new found sense of calm.

"If you could just empathize - only a a little, I think you'd understand how hard this has been. For all of us." Alex finished while Stiles gave her hand another little reassuring squeeze. Allison blinked at her and her eyes drifted down to where their hands were interlocked and back up to flick between Alex and Stiles.

There was an understanding in Allisons eyes.

The bell's shrill tone echoed in the hall, breaking the moment between the sisters. Allison disappeared with the coming flow of students.

"Thank you." Alex breathed out, looking up at Stiles with wide and thankful eyes. She squeezed his hand this time.

Stiles met her gaze with one of his own and swallowed thickly.

"Scott said it was getting heated - he said your heart was hammering against your ribcage."

"I didn't realize."

.

"You and Allison really need to get over whatever is going on between you two." Lydia said offhandedly, the next day at lunch hour. "I feel like a child of divorce." Lydia looked at Alex pointedly with a piercing gaze. "Again."

Alex thrummed her fingers on the table, a nervous tick she had picked up thanks to Stiles. She was obviously spending too much time around his nervous energy.

Again.

The lunchroom was buzzing with student activity and mindless chatter. Alex had opted to sit with Lydia during lunch and completely ignore Stiles and Scott's attempts to flag her down when she'd walked in. She'd brushed by them and breathed an internal sigh of relief when she saw that Lydia was sitting alone due to her recent breakup with Jackson.

She'd smiled in a beautifully effortless way and began applying lipstick while eyeing herself in her rose gold compact.

The sound of her compact shutting closed reverberated throughout the now silent room and Alex snapped her head up to where Lydia's attention had been drawn. Lydia was staring in shock just past Alex's head. Alex reached for her throwing knives and spun around at the ready.

It was Erica Reyes.

2.0

Her frizzy hair had a new shine to it as it fell over her shoulders in long blonde perfectly coifed curls. Her red and bulbous acne had vanished leaving her skin absolutely glowing and her clear blue eyes surveyed the lunchroom like they were looking upon peasants. Her body had shed some of its weight leaving her toned legs perfectly visible in her painted on jeans and her upper half (that up until yesterday had a little more curve to it) in a tight wife beater under a leather jacket that screamed Derek Hale.

Of course his minions would have a uniform. Typical.

Erica Reyes had become an absolute bombshell overnight and she knew it.

Alex nearly laughed out loud when Erica strutted up to the nearest table while looking anyone who dared in the eye and took an aggressive bite out of some poor sophomores apple.

Lydia was staring daggers at Erica as she walked away.

"What the hell is that?" She questioned at the exact same time Alex whistled low in her throat with a pleased smile on her face.

"That, is Erica Reyes." Alex responded.

"I know that." Lydia was irritated. "I was referring to her recent upgrade." Lydia jumped as Scott and Stiles nosily and clumsily fell into the two unoccupied seats beside the two girls.

"A wolf whistle, Alex?" Stiles rolled his eyes at her. "Really?"

"What?" Alex asked with mock innocence, batting her eyelashes at both Stiles and Scott. "She's hot."

"You're worse than the lacrosse players." Stiles grumbled, eyeing her with slight irritation.

Despite not being able to voice their assumptions in front of Lydia, they all new what had happened.

Stiles and Scott had jumped to the same obvious conclusion that she had. This was Derek. He'd bitten Erica and unleashed her onto a room full of unsuspecting underaged kids. Scott and Stiles had made their stance on the subject very clear in Derek's loft the other night. They didn't want Derek biting teenagers who'd had a rough go in life because they didn't understand the ramifications. Once upon time, Alex would have been right there with them on Team Do Gooder.

Not so much anymore.

"Shove it, Stilinski." Alex glared at Stiles and Scott, flicking her eyes over to Lydia in a warning. "She was obviously in need of some validation. Making a catwalk out of the lunchroom was a calculated move."

"Yeah, she wanted us to know what she -" Stiles cut himself off due to Lydia's presence. Although, the strawberry blonde looked like she barely cared about what they were talking about. She'd gone back to perfecting her makeup in her compact that probably cost more than a car. "How she changed."

"She's a sixteen year old girl who has been bullied her entire high school career - she wanted everyone to see her tits." Alex assured, side eyeing Lydia to make sure that she was still just as preoccupied with applying her lipgloss as she had been before and then she unconsciously slid her Oreo's over to Stiles like she had every lunch hour last year.

He accepted them and shoved one unceremoniously into his mouth with a nod of thanks and eye roll. "You're unbelievable - how are you not freaking out-" Stiles was cut off when Lydia stood abruptly from the table, drawing their attention as she placed her compact and phone into her purse with precision.

Lydia fixed her scalding gaze on Stiles and Alex with a pointed stare that could have either meant she cared enough to speak to them or didn't care enough to be nice.

"You two," She started, addressing Alex and Stiles. "Need to bang it out, already." She huffed out an annoyed breath and tossed her impeccably styled braid over her shoulder. "I don't know about everyone else but the sexual tension is giving me a headache." She turned her wrath to Scott. "You." Her tone was harsh. "Call Allison already. I know you broke up but her constant brooding isn't helping the headache that these two have already given me." She spun on her heel, leaving them all reeling, only to turn back around with a perfectly pleasant smile gracing her features. "Alex, you need to help me plan my birthday party - I'll text you with the details later. Love you."

In true Lydia fashion she didn't wait for a response or even catalogue the reactions that her speech had elicited, she just sauntered away with a practiced precision that Erica had not had during her exit.

"Derek has to stop this!" Scott whispered, his voice coming out harsh and loud even with his attempt to remain subtle. He seemed completely unfazed by Lydia's numerous call outs and directed his accusatory gaze on Alex. "Did you know? Did you know he was going to turn her?"

Alex looked back at him without fear. "No."

"Then why don't you look even a little surprised or outraged?"

"Because I'm happy for her." Alex shrugged, a little surprised at the words coming out of her mouth. She appraised Scott who stood before her with a puffed chest and red face, and wondered how he couldn't see how the bite could benefit others just like it had obviously benefited him. Alex did flinch, however, when Stiles' hands flew up over his head in exasperation.

"What kind of hunter . . ." Scott trailed off, astounded at her outlook on the situation but also not wanting to finish his sentence in fear of Alex causing a scene. "He's turning teenagers. How are you okay with that?" His voice held less malice and more genuine curiosity.

"Hey." Alex put her hands up. "You two are to blame for my attitude change on the supernatural, and if I remember correctly, you both tried pretty hard to sway my opinion. So, you can't be shocked that I'm not ramming down Derek's door with pitchforks and torches."

Stiles and Scott were regarding her with matching looks of incredulousness.

"Did you two even see her?" She asked. "Like, really see her. She was confident, badass, and totally comfortable in her own skin."

"Lots of skin." Stiles mumbled toward the table.

"How long did you two go to school with her?" Alex asked, fully ignoring Stiles unhelpful commentary.

"Since elementary school." Scott answered, his mouth set in a hard line.

"Have you ever seen her like that?"

"Definitely not, no." Stiles supplied.

"Derek did her a favour, too." Alex said, feeling like she'd proved her point adequately.

"He's not giving them all the facts." Scott said, his forehead held harsh lines as he glared at her.

"Derek isn't always the sharpest tool in the shed." Alex sighed, while packing up her things in preparation for the bell to ring.

"Still a tool, though." Stiles interrupted, with a raised brow.

"But not a complete idiot." Alex finished her thought. "It's like werewolf one-oh-one when creating Beta's and trying to form a pack. The bond is stronger than parent and child - he wouldn't lie to them." She explained, standing up from her spot and swimming her backpack over one shoulder. "It would only create dissension with in the pack."

"If he was telling them everything, they wouldn't have chosen this life." Scott wasn't letting this go and Alex was getting annoyed with his saviour complex. "We have to find out who he's planing to bite next!"

Scott's voice had risen far too loud and the table of student beside them glanced over with looks of concern and confusion. Scott averted his gaze sheepishly while Stiles' fake smile was straining as he muttered some half-hearted excuse about fetishes.

Alex shook her head abysmally. "I seriously have zero clue how you two have made it this far."

Her heeled boots clicked on the floor as she marched away from them, huffing under her breath about the stupidity of teenaged boys when Stiles called out to her.

"Alex!" He was running after her while simultaneously trying to shove his belongings into his backpack. "Hang on a sec!" He fell easily into step beside her and flashed her a wide smile that made one of her own spread slowly across her face. "I got you a present."

Alex huffed out a short laugh at his expression and stopped to look up at him, still smiling.

"This isn't the part where you pull down your pants, is it?" She joked, instantly embarrassed that it probably shouldn't be the worst gift.

Stiles rolled his eyes and reached down into his open backpack. "You're such a classy lady." He joked back, pulling a rectangular piece of paper and handing it proudly to her. "Here!"

Alex gingerly reached out to take it, her eyes going wide as they scanned the words on the paper he'd given her.

"Stiles . . ." She said slowly, a soft breath leaving the confines of her mouth while rereading the words. "Plane tickets?"

"First class, baby!" He pumped his fist into the air with a cheesy grin spread across his face while Alex continued to stare between him and the tickets, stupidly. "Okay, well. Not first class - but still, pretty cool, huh?"

"These are plane tickets. To Scotland." She said slowly, annunciating every syllable as if it would make more sense.

"Yeah, we covered that, Argent." He snapped his fingers in her face. "Keep up."

Alex let her eyes sweep over him, almost languidly.

When had he gotten hot? He'd always been handsome, but this was something else. Why were her fingers itching to touch him? What was happening? He tell her he loves her and suddenly she's putty in his hands? No. Absolutely not.

"I can't accept this." She said sternly, eyes finally roaming up to meet his eyes.

"Non refundable." He shrugged as if he was already well prepared for her brush off and expecting her to refuse.

"Stilinski, these must have cost a fortune. How did you even - why did you even - Jesus, Stiles."

His smile grew tenfold because he'd left her speechless.

"I've finally left you speechless." He said, telling her exactly what had been on his mind. He reached out for one of her hands and took it gently in his, expecting that there would be a moment when she recoiled from his touch, but when that moment never came Stiles couldn't help the triumphant smile that lit up his face. It melted away to something more serious as he continued to speak. "I did it because there is obviously a lot going on; baby werewolves, lizard dudes, Allison stuff . . . I just don't want you to feel like you're being forgotten."

"I never thought you did." She said quietly.

"Bullshit." He fired back. "This whole summer you thought I'd forgotten about you."

"Common Stiles." She laughed, "You weren't exactly stealth. Maybe I didn't know the extent of how much you were researching and plane ticket buying but I still knew." She squeezed his hand and let go, leaning causally against the nearest locker. "I know you'd like to think you're some kind of James Bond, but you wear your intentions on your sleeve - and they're in neon lights."

He wore a mockingly indignant expression before shrugging. "Okay, well. Now you have proof." His eyes scanned her face like he was looking for something. "I've been talking to Deaton and I know where to start."

"You're coming with me?" She questioned. Her eyebrows pulled together in confusion. Usually, during an intel gathering mission she was expected to go SOLO, maybe a second in command or someone a little more expendable. Alex had never had someone so willingly throw themselves into something so dangerous without any formal training. Yet, here Stiles stood, wide eyed and bushy tailed, so enthralled with the idea of a new adventure and somehow still so determined to keep her safe.

"You're so used to taking care of everyone else." His smile was small, but genuine. It made her heart beat a little faster. "Let me take care of you."

And, oh god, she was in trouble.