Since school is out for the summer and all, Lydia is the only adult who doesn't actually have work to do since her schedule mostly follows the schedule of a high school student's. Scott's stuck at the Veterinarian office while Stiles, Jordan and Malia are stuck at the police station. Melissa and John are also stuck at their respective jobs, so Allison, the Winchesters and sometimes Chris find themselves spending time with Lydia, Kira, Liam, Hayden and Mason most of the time and getting to know the younger members of the Pack.

Hayden and Mason delve a little deeper into the time when the Dread Doctors visited Beacon Hills, and they learn that Hayden was actually a failed experiment while Mason was the success. Allison was livid to learn about Theo and how he split up the pack, and even went as far as high-fiving Kira when it came out that Kira had some dealing with Skinwalkers- an entirely different breed than what Sam and Dean were familiar with- and that she was the one to basically send Theo to his everlasting Hell.

The pack also tell Allison of her distant relative who used Mason to resurrect himself and all the drama that came with it, as well as Scott giving Hayden a real bite so she could be a true werewolf instead of the mess that she was.

This particular day, however, has Allison sitting with Lydia and the younger pack members while her Dad, Sam and Dean clean weapons and peruse the internet for anything nearby to hunt. Allison's a little quieter than usual, but only Lydia seems to be concerned by it. There are several instances in which the red head looks like she wants to ask Allison what's wrong, but she holds back and grins when Allison seems to take to Liam and his boyish smiles.

Hayden and Mason are going to town on a couple boxes of pizzas when the two wolves in the room seemingly go still and quiet. Their heads simultaneously tilt to the side as if they're stretching their hearing to something the humans can't hear and their nostrils flare as they scent the air.

"Someone's coming," Hayden murmurs. "Someone new."

Scrambling to their feet, Hayden and Liam put themselves between the door and everyone else. They listen as the stranger grumbles about the elevator needing a serious tune-up and that she was totally haunting Dean if she died in the metal deathtrap. The wolves glance over their shoulders at Dean who's fumbling with his phone, his eyes widening before jumping to his feet.

"Stand down!" Dean shouts. "S'just Charlie. She's a friendly."

"Charlie?!" Allison perks up, grinning brightly.

Hayden and Liam ease their stances while Chris, Sam and Dean join everyone in the front part of the room. Knuckles then rapping on the metal door resonates around the room, Dean shouts, "Come in!", and everyone watches as the metal door barely nudges. Grunting can be heard and then a pale hands sneaks in to grasp the door before it's being pushed open further.

A rather slim redhead stands in the opened doorway- red hair cropped short and curled, and her facial features somewhat sharp and almost elvin looking. She's another plaid wearing individual and she beams brightly at the gathered people. "Ding dong, bitches," she greets. "Momma's home."

Allison snorts and she's the first to break from the group to make a beeline for Charlie. They hug happily and then Allison's dragging along her curious friend behind her. "Everyone, meet Charlie. Charlie, I'd like you to meet Lydia, Kira, Liam, Hayden, Mason and that over there is my dad Chris."

Charlie's still beaming, waving at each welcoming face before she turns her attention on the eldest in the room. "Big fan, Mr. Argent. Big fan."

"Uh.. thank you?"

"Your weapon's store!" She blurts. "It's wonderful and I gotta admit that I spend a little too much money ordering from you. Seriously, I would starve myself just so I'd have more cash to shop online, but I kind of like food too much." Realization dawns on him and Chris slowly grins. "And mountain ash! Who would've thought it'd have the effects it does? It's such a great addition to my stash.. and I'm just going to zip it now because I've just come to realize that I'm fangirling all over you and this is not Comic-Con."

Charlie sheepishly falls silent, the Winchesters and Allison are having trouble stifling their laughter, and Lydia's staring at the new girl in awe. "Oh god, she is just like Stiles."

Allison is the first one to break, followed by her Dad, Dean and Sam. Kira, Liam, Hayden and Mason join in on the laughter as well, and Chris' laughter slowly ebbs away. "It's nice to finally meet you, Charlie," he says. "I've heard a lot about you from Allison."

"All good things I hope."

Chris smirks. "Of course. And, uh, sorry about your expenses. Next time you order, get a hold of Allison so we can get you the family discount."

Eyes wide, Charlie falls silent. Seconds pass and then as seriously as she can, she asks, "Did we just become best friends?"

"I believe so," Sam muses.

"I'm totally an honorary Argent," Charlie mutters. "My life is so cool."

xXx

Having retrieved her bags from her vehicle because she was totally crashing a few days with the only family she had left, Charlie set up her station of laptops and iPads with a few spread out books atop a metal table. Kira and Lydia were the first to wander over, the two girls immediately zoning in on Charlie's beastiary app. Tips are shared, emails are exchanged, and Charlie's little supernatural network has expanded to include the pack of Beacon Hills.

Everyone is so at ease with one another and Allison takes a moment to take it all in, and just watch. Lydia is by her side, flipping through the pages of Charlie's most informative books while Chris, Dean and Sam seem to be holding their own with Liam and Kira- the foursome watching Kira showing off her katana skills. Hayden and Mason are keeping Charlie entertained- Charlie marveling at Hayden's claws as she flicks them in and out.

"So how much does that wolf friend of yours actually pay for such sweet digs?" Charlie asks as she and her two new friends wander back over to the table. "I would not mind looking further into this building if there's another place as big as this to use as a getaway home," she says while gesturing around the loft.

"Actually," Lydia smiles, "Derek owns it."

"The loft?"

"The building."

"No kidding?" Eyebrows raising in surprise, Charlie does another glance around. "I wonder if the big bad wolf would give me a discount seeing as we've got friends in common."

Liam scoffs. "He might just let you squat here in his place if you promise to keep up with it every now and then. He's not around much anymore and the only family he has is either locked away or in another country."

"Sweet." Charlie plops down in one of the metal chairs, kicking her feet up on the table and crossing them at the ankles. "So when you and the boys heading home?" She asks, settling her gaze on Allison.

"Few days, I think," she shrugs and Lydia's smile slowly falls. "I get the feeling Sam and Dean don't really do vacations, and this is some much needed relaxation even if they're not exactly relaxing."

Charlie chuckles as Allison grins, but Hayden and Mason are staring at Lydia with their own wary expressions. Lydia had been all smiles before, but now her lips are pressed thin and her brow is furrowed as she stares between Allison and Charlie. Going home? Beacon Hills was home- is home- and she doesn't know why Allison going home seems like she's leaving Beacon Hills instead of sticking around.

"..Lyds? Did you hear what I said?"

"What do you mean by going home?" She blurts instead, gaze focusing on Allison now. "Beacon Hills is home, isn't it?"

Allison's dimpled smirk falls and Charlie mutters a guilty, "Oh, crap."

"Uh.."

"Allison." Lydia's staring at her best friend, gaze pleading for the answer she needs to hear. "Tell me Beacon Hills is still home."

"W-well would you look at that," Charlie stammers, quickly standing. "I think I hear Dean calling me."

"Yep. Same here," Mason mumbles and scrambles after Charlie while dragging Hayden by the wrist.

Left alone, Allison firmly plants her feet on the floor and angles herself towards Lydia. "I'm sorry, but home is- home is Kansas now. Home is.. home is my Dad, Sam and Dean. Home is-"

"Pack." Lydia sadly shakes her head. "Home is where the Pack is," she says, but Allison merely smiles sadly.

"Am I pack?" She asks. "I've been dead for years, Lydia, and then when I came back.. I had no idea who I was. Sam and Dean were there for me-"

"We would've been there for you!" She snaps back, her anger and hurt leaking through. The other voices in the loft have gone quiet, but the girls pay them no mind. "The pack would have taken care of you, but that decision was taken out of our hands."

As Lydia's angry tears fall, Allison has to wipe away some of her own at seeing her friend hurting. "The angels knew what they were doing when putting me in the hands of the Winchesters. They wanted me to have a pain-free recovery, but Derek kind of threw a wrench into their plans when we crossed paths." Allison takes a moment to gather her thoughts, she sniffling lightly. "Please believe me when I say the pack will always be family, but I- I found another family. We're small.. a little broken and rough around the edges, but they're mine."

"You know Scott will have no problem accepting them. All of you can stay here in Beacon Hills."

"We really can't," Allison says. "Not only do we already have something good going on for us in Kansas, but I can't really show my face around here. I died, Lydia. I had a funeral- a funeral in which I'm sure more than a handful of locals attended. Coach Finstock recognized me, Lyds. If that lunatic of a man could recognize me, don't you think others will, too?"

Lydia's mouth opens, but then snaps shut, her shoulders slumping. "But we just got you back."

"Did you?" Allison gulps. And this was the moment of truth. This needs to be said finally so that maybe they would start to understand. "I'm not the same Allison Argent as before. I might look it, but.. I'm not."

"You are."

Allison shakes her head. "I was tormented in Hell, Lyds. Actual hell. I was broken and put back together, then broken all over again. I've seen too much.. been through too much and there's no going back. All I can do is move forward and deal."

"And you can't move forward and be closer to Beacon Hills at the same time?" She tries one last time.

"No." Sadly sighing, Allison reaches forward to bring Lydia into a hug. Lydia hesitates momentarily, but caves and is quick to return the embrace. "There's so much more outside of Beacon Hills- so many more monsters- and I can't work localized anymore. Working with Dean and Sam, we travel where we're needed. I work best that way now. I'm sorry."

"I know you are," Lydia mumbles. "I really wish it were different."

"Me, too."

Leaning back, Lydia wipes at the tears gathered on her eyelashes, sniffling one last time as she quickly composes herself. Then flashing her friend a small teasing grin, she says, "So that's one friend down. Now all you have to do is tells Stiles and Scott."

Allison's faint smile falls, her nose wrinkling in distaste. "Dammit."

As expected, telling Scott and Stiles went about the same as it did with Lydia. Well, mostly.

Scott, though he wasn't happy about the decision, understood why Allison needed and wanted to be away. Stiles, on the other hand, pushed and argued that Allison could be happy in or around Beacon Hills if she truly wanted. Allison argued that she couldn't- she gave him the same reasoning she gave to Lydia- but Stiles just wasn't having it. So when the waterworks and shouting went on too long, Chris had decided to step in and separate them.

It took a full day for tempers to calm and then Stiles showed up with apology pie which Dean immediately tried to take for himself.

One particular day has Stiles and Scott having the same day off, so the McCall pack find themselves at Derek's loft yet again, this time watching as Allison spars with Sam while Chris calls out the taller man's vulnerabilities to his daughter.

Dean's taken up the metal table for himself, a bunch of popcorn and soda spread out as he laughingly watches Allison kick his brother's ass. Charlie, Lydia, Liam and Mason are seated with him and the others are spread out around the room, hooting and hollering for either sparring partner. Then after a good two-hour workout and some lazing about with many laughs, Allison gathers up some clothes to go shower.

The water in Derek's building is surprisingly strong and relaxing against tense muscles, and Allison has no problem filling the room with steam as she stands under the spray to take her time cleansing her body. She's more than halfway done with her shower when the atmospheric pressure in the room changes and she turns the water off when something in her gut just isn't sitting right. Hesitantly turning around, Allison parts the top part of shower curtain just enough to to poke her head out.

Instead of finding the bathroom empty, a man is staring back rather blankly at her. Allison screams, the man's eyes widen before stumbling back in shock and someone roars from the other room. As she jerks back and clamps the curtain closed, her mind supplies that she's seen him before- the blue eyes and beige trench coat being very familiar. Then poking her head out once more, she squints her eyes curiously at the man now avoiding her gaze by staring towards the ceiling.

"My apologies, Miss Argent."

"Castiel?"

"Yes. I would appreciate it you'd call off the wolves. Your scream set them off if I'm not mistaken."

Sure enough, stampeding footfalls can be heard and Allison's eyes wide. "Guys!" She shouts. "I-I'm fine. No need to barge in."

"You screamed. We heard voices. Plural," Dean grunts from the other side of the door. "Sammy's not too impressed either."

"Just a little misunderstanding, is all," she sighs. "Castiel didn't look before flying."

"Cas?" The door is kicked open and three very unimpressed hunters are glaring at the angel in question. Allison squeaks again and tightens her hold on the shower curtain, but everyone's attention is thankfully on the angel on not on her. "Get out of there, you freakin' ass. Allison's showering and we won't be responsible for what Papa Argent does to you for lingering in here."

Castiel beats a hasty retreat, squeezing between Sam and Dean, and sidestepping Chris. Sam lingers by the bathroom door and before he closes it, he catches Allison's gaze. "You okay?"

"Mhm." She jerks her head up and down. "Just startled, but I'm good."

"Okay." He smiles tightly at her. "Get dressed and meet us in the front. If Cas is here, he must have a reason."

Before he can close the door, however, Allison calls back out to him. "Sam? Are you okay? You seem a little off."

"Noticed that, did you?" At her nod, he grimaces. Then with a sigh, Sam steps a little further into the bathroom. "You screamed. The werewolves panicked and well.. I don't exactly have a good track record when it comes to.. dating. The women who fall for me tend to get hurt. Die, really."

At Sam's expression, Allison's heart breaks a little for him. "Hey," she softly says. "I'm okay. I can take care of myself. Cas really only just startled me. I didn't exactly think I would be finding an angel with me in the bathroom while I was naked and vulnerable."

Sam snorts, his smile finally looking a little genuine. "Yeah, okay. I'll just- I'll meet you out in the front. I don't think right now's a good time to make your dad paranoid about why I stayed behind."

Allison doesn't say another word, but she does cheekily grin and Sam steps back before shutting the door fully. He makes his way back towards the room where everyone's standing about, Chris sparing him a single glance before focusing on the angel once more.

"..I mean, seriously. It's not okay to pop in on people in the shower." Sam walks in on his brother mid-rant, the angel on the receiving end of said rant looking rather annoyed by now.

"Like I said, Dean," Castiel sarcastically drawls his brother's name, "it was an accident. I flew to the bunker, but no one was there. I tried to sense you out when I remembered the sigils you and Sam have, so I sought out Miss Argent instead. I didn't know she'd be.. indisposed at the time."

"You couldn't have zapped out when you noticed you were in a bathroom full of steam?!"

"I panicked."

"Y-you.. panicked?!" Throwing his head back, Dean barks out a sarcastic laugh. "You're a freakin' angel! You don't panic!"

"Uh, guys," Stiles hesitantly puts himself between the two arguing men. "It's okay. Just chill. The angel's apologized. No harm, no foul. Lets all just take it down a notch."

Dean rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest with a huff. Scott, Kira, Lydia, Charlie, Liam and Hayden are standing around in a rather tense circle, and Castiel fidgets nervously as Dean and Chris still seem rather unimpressed. Sam and Stiles are the only ones indifferent.

"So what's going on? Why the surprise visit?" Sam asks.

"When I realized Miss Argent was in Beacon Hills, I figured this was the appropriate time to relieve Mr. McCall and Mr. Stilinski of their darkness. Heaven is stable at the moment and I had time to come down to Earth."

"O-our darkness?" Scott stammers, the tension in his shoulders ebbing away. "You can do that? Now?!"

"Yes." Then turning to Chris, Castiel ducks his head in apology. "Mr. Argent, you have Heaven's sincerest apology about what happened to your daughter. Allison was never meant for Hell."

"To my understanding, Heaven was at war. It's.. it's not okay, but I understand. Thank you for the apology."

Allison finally stumbles back into the room, finger combing damp hair and blushing when her gaze meets Castiel's. Castiel clears his throat, gaze darting upward once more as his own cheeks tint pink. And seeing the angel blush.. that's enough to break the tension finally and ease people up until they're chuckling at Castiel's misfortune.

"So.. this darkness?" Stiles says. "Will it hurt? Taking it out, I mean."

All eyes turn on Allison, but she merely shrugs. "Yes." Castiel answers. "It will not be pleasant."

"Will we need anchors like we needed when we first made the sacrifice?" Scott fidgets nervously, hands tucked deep into his front pockets with his shoulders hunched. "They kept us anchored to this plane while we went under."

"Anchors as such, no, but your friends will need to hold you down while I'm removing the darkness. If you flail and I lost concentration, the process will only take longer."

Stiles' nose wrinkles. "Peachy. So what do we-"

"You will need to lie on a flat surface. The floor is most appropriate and you can have a pillow beneath your head if you need it."

"I got the pillows." Liam quickly jogs to the bed Allison and Sam share, he retrieving the pillows from there and tossing them on the floor where the pack and everyone else have cleared off from.

Castiel waits expectantly, and Stiles and Scott share a hesitant look before sighing and kneeling. As they situate themselves on their backs and get as comfortable as they can, Allison heads over to Stiles' side. "I think the enhanced should hold down Scott and the humans hold down Stiles. Scott's strength will be far greater than a human's anyway, so he needs all the supers holding him down."

Kira, Liam and Hayden immediately kneel by Scott and after a moment's hesitation Lydia and Dean choose to help with Scott. Sam, Charlie and Chris join Allison for Stiles. Leaving enough space between the two infected for Castiel to kneel himself, Castiel then takes his place. With a solemn nod, he asks everyone to place their hands on Stiles and Scott.

"Take a deep breath," Castiel says while placing his hands onto Scott and Stiles' chest, "and if you feel yourself about to lose consciousness, don't fight it." The two boys don't have a chance to utter another word as Castiel's hands start glowing, the glow getting bright enough that the others have to close their eyes and look away.

Stiles and Scott both groan and huff, panting and shifting uncomfortably. They both start to faintly glow just beneath the surface of their skin, their groans turning into full blown screams as their bodies arch off the floor. Scott's claws and teeth sprout sharp, but his eyes never bleed red for they're already glowing a sheer white as Castiel's grace sweeps through them. Stiles screams and Scott roars, and everyone struggles as they push the bodies back down on the floor with as much strength as they can muster.

Stiles passes out before Castiel can even finish, but Scott stays alert the entire time. As the glow from Castiel starts to fade, Scott's screaming gets less and less. Eventually the glow ceases to exist, Castiel slumps back on his haunches and Scott pants harshly as he tries to catch his breath.

"Cas?" Dean immediately moves to help his friend. "You good?"

He gulps. "I'm fine. It's done. The darkness is gone."

We finally get a little action coming up next chapter :) Guess which villain I'm bringing in ;)

Also, I just realized this story is coming to an end really soon! :O