"You're sure this is where the tracer leads?" Isaac asked as they pulled up to front of the hospital.
"Positive," Allison confirmed as she showed him the beeping dot. "Why would he come here?"
"Dad!" Stiles cried as he scrambled out of Allison's SUV.
"That's not why he's here," Isaac told Allison as they watched Stiles fly into the hospital. They both winced when Stiles ploughed into a woman in a wheelchair and slammed face first into the reception desk.
"Oh, and you know?" Allison looked at Isaac suspiciously even though she agreed.
He rolled his eyes and opened the driver's side door. "Remember how Scott up and left?"
"Yes..." Allison answered angrily.
"That's the awkward thing. See, I was supposed to tell you and Stiles why. I kind of didn't. It's weird to say it out loud, since you're his ex and all that."
"Why is Scott at the hospital? Did his mom call or something?"
"Actually, yes!" Isaac nodded as he exited the car and closed the door. Allison climbed out and stared at him, waiting for the rest of the explanation. "Danny is here. I don't know why, but he was asking for Scott."
Much to Isaac's relief, Allison didn't press the point. What she did do was slam her door shut with more force than was necessary.
"We're kind of on our own from here. It's not specific enough to tell us which floor to look on," Allison explained as she put her phone back in her pocket. "I need you to use your heightened senses to find Peter. He's the only one who knows what is going on and I want to know what it is before I kill him."
There was nothing for Isaac to say to that. Allison still hated the Hales for her mother's death, even if it was a lot more complicated than she was willing to admit. He wondered if she even knew that her mother had tried to kill Scott the night Derek bit her. Derek had filled the pack in on what all happened after that failure of a night.
Sometimes, when he least expected it, Isaac really found himself missing Boyd and Erica.
What he didn't miss was crazy coincidences like the very people they were looking for walking out the hospital doors just as they were walking in them.
"YOU!" Allison screamed as she ran at Peter unarmed. When we move to casually smack her aside as he had done back at the Hale House, she ducked under it and delivered a punch to his groin. Peter, unsurprisingly, doubled over in pain.
"Stop!" Lydia cried as she threw herself in front of Peter, taking Allison's kick to the chest.
Allison gasped as she bent over Lydia, ignoring her revenge on Peter. Panicked, she checked her friend's neck for a pulse.
"I came in peace," Peter wheezed as he straightened himself upright. "Why do you keep attacking us?"
"Us?" Isaac watched Allison ask as she looked from Peter to himself then down to Lydia. "What are you talking about?"
Peter straightened himself out and knelt next to Lydia, helping her to her feet as Allison stayed crouched.
"He means us," Lydia spoke between coughing fits as she slapped away Allison's hand.
"Why are you guys being so quiet?" Allison demanded as she looked over at Scott and Danny. Isaac was sure she saw what he himself just noticed. "Oh."
As if he were just figuring it out himself, Scott looked at his hand. His fingers were interlaced with Danny's. Isaac could hear his heart racing. "Oh."
"Can we do this somewhere else?" Danny finally asked. "In case you all forgot, I'm supposed to be upstairs and all I'm wearing is a hospital gown and boxers."
"You do have nice legs, though," Isaac joked with a wink.
"Everyone, in my car. Now." Allison ordered with a tired voice. She pointed at Lydia and Peter. "She rides up front, he rides in the back."
"There's only three seats in the back," Isaac reminded her.
"I know. I meant in the trunk," she clarified angrily. "We don't have time for arguments. Just go!"
TW
"This feels weird, dumb, and kind of contrived," Danny whispered in Scott's ear.
"You know, half of us can hear you," Isaac reminded Danny as Allison pulled into Scott's driveway.
They'd decided that Scott's house was as close as they would get to neutral ground. Danny was sort of relieved, because he really didn't want to go back to the Hale House yet again. Besides, there were no clothes for him to wear.
"Can I borrow something to wear?" Danny asked Scott as he wrapped his bleeding hand in his hospital gown. "This is all kinds of not flattering."
"I'll help him find something decent," Isaac volunteered as he slapped Danny on the back.
Collectively, they all climbed out of the car and Scott ran ahead of the rest to unlock the front door. It was undoubtedly an usual sight for the neighbours. Danny reckoned it wasn't often that a group of teenagers and one middle aged man all went into the same house in the middle of the afternoon while school was still in session.
His parents were going to kill him for running off yet again.
"Anyone thirsty?" Scott asked nervously as they all piled into the living room. Danny excused himself and headed up to Scott's bedroom.
The room looked much like it had every other time, but it no longer felt like the safe haven it did when Danny was still allowed his secrets. Everything had been dragged into the light kicking and screaming and his life was more of a mess than ever.
He sat on Scott's bed and stared at the half-bandaged bite on his arm. Lydia told him it was from a blood bonding ritual of sorts, if he understood her crazed ramblings correctly. It didn't make it hurt any less.
"The closet is that way," Isaac said as he knocked on the open bedroom door. "I mean, I know you've been out for awhile, but you can't be that confused by one."
"Ha. Ha." Danny stayed on the bed, not ready to get dressed and face the reality waiting for him downstairs. "What do you want?"
"To clear the air. Mostly to get away from Lydia's awful stench because I'm certain that she hasn't bathed in a week, but I thought you'd like to talk to someone a little more removed from the crazy than the rest." Isaac kicked the bedroom door shut and walked to the closet. He pulled out two random shirts and held them up for Danny. One was a plain green t-shirt, and the other a grey and red striped polo. "What do you want? Crazy werewolf shenanigans or sordid teenage love triangle?"
"Excuse me?" Danny asked as he caught the green t-shirt Isaac tossed to him.
"I figured the triangle was more of what you needed right now, since the werewolf stuff is waiting for you downstairs. And by waiting I mean Allison is already grilling Peter. Your boyfriend will recap anything we miss, I'm sure." Isaac grabbed the chair at Scott's desk and sat in it. "Look, I know we made out once, but I swear I'm not jealous."
"Ass," Danny muttered as he put Scott's shirt on. It was way too tight, but better than the alternative.
"Mine is great, but we're talking about you," Isaac nodded. "Look, I know you feel weird because we only know each other as teammates and I was the dork who lived across the street from Jackson, but feel free to use me as a sounding board. We can talk about how you feel it's selfish to get involved with Scott so soon after his breakup with Allison, or how you don't think it's a good idea considering just being friends with him got you tortured and stuck in the hospital. Or we can talk about how you're settling for Scott even though you're totally not over me."
"You think highly of yourself," Danny noted as he check to see if his hand was still bleeding where he'd ripped the IV out. He was happy to see it had finally stopped and had begun to clot. "And there more important things to worry about than my love life. Like why Lydia is suddenly channelling Annie Dutton."
"Who?"
"Never mind." Danny waved his hand and stood up slowly. He felt better than he had when he first arrived at the hospital, but he still didn't feel good. He started going through Scott's dresser looking for sweatpants or pyjamas. There was no way he'd be able to fit into Scott's jeans, no matter how hard he tried. "Why do you even care?"
"Scott is a friend of mine, and I'd like to think that would make us friends by extension. Besides, if anyone knows anything about a messed up life it's me. And is that his underwear drawer you're going through?" Danny rolled his eyes as Isaac leaned over the back of the chair to see what he was doing. "No offence, but it's a little early in your relationship for you two to be sharing that much."
"Shut up." Danny finally found a pair of pyjama bottoms and tried them on. Much like the shirt they were too tight, but not overly so. He could still breathe and that was a definite plus.
"Look, take my advice, and don't worry about Allison. Don't let Scott worry about her. She's a big girl and she'll be fine. Or she'll go insane and kill us all, but I think Lydia is gonna beat her to it. Oh, and a warning..."
"What warning is that?" Danny crossed his arms and stared Isaac in the eye.
"Don't hurt him." Isaac growled in Danny's face, but Danny didn't blink. "That's good. I like that. Let's go join the crazy parade downstairs."
TW
"I'm sorry you got left at the hospital. I didn't even know you were there!" Scott apologized to his phone as he heard Danny and Isaac come down the stairs. He hadn't wanted to listen in on their conversation, and Stiles calling had prevented him from acting on any possible temptation to do so. "Listen, I need to go. We're going to go find out what Peter know. I hope your dad is doing fine."
"Dad's the same," Stiles sadly told Scott into the phone. "And don't let that bisexual paedophile Peter touch you. See you tonight!"
"Why is he bisexual and I'm gay?" Scott yelled into the phone, but he didn't get an answer because Stiles had hung up.
He walked out of the kitchen and into the living room, happy to see that Allison and Peter hadn't started busting furniture over each others' heads yet. Lydia was sitting on Peter's lap in the recliner with her head on his chest. They were looking every bit as creepy as they were. Allison was perched on the coffee table, thankfully unarmed. Danny and Isaac were on opposite ends of the sofa. Scott jumped over the back and settled himself between them. He noticed that Danny rather quickly grabbed his hand and looked at Isaac. He also noticed Isaac giving Danny a thumbs up.
"Now that everyone is here, we can stop rehashing the same information you already know and tell you something new," Peter said as he rocked the chair back forth while running his fingers through Lydia's grimy hair. His creepy smile made Scott involuntarily shudder.
"You had better." Allison gripped the table with her hands so hard Scott could swear he heard the wood cracking. "I'm getting sick of your games."
"Where did you want to start?" Peter's grin grew even wider. It bordered on psychotic, Scott thought.
"What killed Rory?" Allison demanded. Scott had no idea who this Rory was, but anyone could tell that the person meant a lot to her. "What were you doing there?"
"It was a house cat," Peter answered simply, as though he were doing a crossword puzzle. "One that has been alive too long and grown too powerful."
Nobody laughed. It was too absurd to take seriously, but Scott felt Danny tense up beside him. He could tell from Peter's heartbeat that he wasn't lying.
"See, when the lovers over there raised the dead and tried to cover it up, they only cared about the humans revived." Scott could tell that Allison was determined not to look at him or Danny. Her icy gaze stayed fixed on Peter. "They forgot the reason the dead even came back was a young man's wish to have a beloved family pet returned to him. What he got was his pet back with something else in tow."
"Something else in tow? What are you talking about?" Isaac wondered from his spot beside Danny. "I get that you're the big mystery guy, but the whole mystery thing doesn't work when you're trying not to be so mysterious."
"I'm not quite sure what it is. I just know that when these people, and cat, came back what used to reside in the bodies no longer did. I'm not the religious type, so I won't say they're demons or angels or anything quite so boring. What I will say is that, having been dead, I'm certain that there are worlds and lives beyond this one. And I think these things used the little Asian boy to cross into this one."
"I'm not Asian," Danny spoke up awkwardly. "I'm from the Pacific Islands. Hawaii, specifically. I'm Hawaiian."
"That's not important," Allison dismissed casually without even looking at Danny. "How do you know this?"
"How do you think I know?" Peter smirked as he kissed Lydia's forehead. All Scott wanted to do was vomited and rip Peter's head off. The order didn't matter. "I'd been tracking the beast for weeks when that girl died. Unfortunately, I lost it recently and haven't been able to find it again."
"So we made a new plan," Lydia added as she snuggled against Peter. Everyone else in the room cringed or flinched.
"Yes, we did, Love," Peter agreed as he looked hungrily at Danny. "We hoped that by performing a bond with the one responsible for the resurrection, we could use it to find the beast, but that didn't happen. I still have no idea where it is or where it could have gone. And we need to find it because the longer it's on this plane the stronger it becomes."
"Why didn't you just tell us?" Scott asked. "It's the simplest thing."
"Because you're all idiots, quite frankly," Peter commented with a shrug. "I mean, none of you even wondered why I disappeared for days did you? Or why I let Lydia find me? It was because I had lost the trail of the creature and didn't feel like walking home. In case you were wondering."
"So you used me?" Lydia sat up and pouted at Peter. "That wasn't very nice. I should punish you."
"You turned me into my nephew and laughed as he beat me. If anyone needs punished, it's you," Peter countered with a kiss.
"That's enough of that," Scott shouted at them. "If you two are going to be creepy as hell and all paedophilac and stuff can you not do it in my living room? You're grossing us out. And I'm not convinced you aren't doing some sort of rapey mind control thing. Because, you know, Lydia is freaking insane right now."
"RUDE!" Lydia cried indignantly.
"It really is," Peter agreed. "It's not like I'm a vampire putting her under my thrall."
"Do vampires really exist?" Danny asked the room. "I mean, there are werewolves and kanimas and stuff."
"That's a whole other conversation."
"Will you shut up?" Allison yelled at the entire room. She kicked Scott's coffee table and let loose a guttural scream. She pulled Lydia off of Peter and got in his face. Her breath was heavy and Scott could tell she was one wrong word away from trying to kill somebody. "How the hell does a cat kill a person, and how do I kill it?"
Sighing, Peter resumed his rocking. "I told you, the longer they're here, the stronger they get. The more deforned their appearance. That's why I had Lydia destroy the stone. We closed the door so no more will cross over, but we have to worry about the one still here. And since it was the first it is bound to be the strongest. But you kill it like you would anything else."
"Fine," Allison grumbled as she backed away from Peter. "But just so you know, as soon as this is dealt with, you and your nephew are back on the top of my list."
"You talk as though I left it."
Allison pulled her cell phone out and left the house. Everyone else sat in silence as they listened to the sounds of Allison's vehicle starting.
"Can you guys leave? I really don't want to explain to my mom why you're all here," Scott finally asked of his guests. He had a separate request for Peter. "And can you, you know, not take Lydia with you? Because I'm pretty sure this whole thing you have going on with her isn't legal."
"You know, Scott, you and I share a bond, too. I may not be an Alpha anymore, but I am still the one who made you what you are," Peter told him lewdly as he stood up. "You could always join us."
"Just get your creepy ass of out of my house," Scott ordered as he pointed to the door. "And Lydia is staying here. No argument."
"Very well. Take good care of our son," Peter told Lydia with a wink. "Come, Isaac, I suppose I should tell my nephew what is happening so he can make yet another ill-conceived plan that blows up in his face."
When there were just the three of them left in the house, Scott asked Lydia to get a shower. "Honestly, you're kind of gross. You can borrow something from my mom to wear."
Lydia didn't argue, she just wandered up the stairs while humming to herself. Peter and Isaac left without further comment, though Isaac did make kissing noises in Danny's direction.
"Do you want me to go, too?" Danny asked once they were alone. "I mean, I should probably call my parents and let them know I'm alive. And figure out how to explain the unconscious nurse we left on the floor of my hospital room."
"Would it be selfish of me to ask you to stay?" Scott wondered aloud as he tentatively kissed Danny. He leaned into it and grabbed the back of the couch to support himself. When they broke apart, Danny was smiling. It was nice when Danny smiled. "Can I just ask that we try to be normal for five minutes? No werewolves, no ex-girlfriends, no thinking about the crazy girl upstairs?"
"It works for me, but you only get five minutes," Danny agreed as he returned Scott's kiss.
TW
Stiles held his dad's hand and tried not to think about what was happening at Scott's house. He felt horrible for spending so much time away from his dad. The doctors had told him that there had been no deterioration of his condition, but no change either.
"How is he?" Allison asked as she walked into the room and put a hand on Stiles' shoulder.
"Shouldn't you be off trying to kill the Hales or something?" Stiles muttered to her as she draped her arms around him and hugged him from behind. He didn't need wolf powers to hear her sniffling.
"I called my dad. He's dealing with it right now. I thought you could use a friend." Stiles reached up and held her hands. "I can't say I know how you're feeling or what you're thinking. But I've been here. Kinda."
"Your mom." Stiles didn't even need to look at her to know what she meant. It hadn't even been a year. Hell, he didn't even think Allison's mom had been gone for six months.
"Yeah," Allison sniffed in his ear. "My mom. I don't want to promise you that your dad is going to get better. But there is a chance that he'll come back to you. And whether he does or not, I'll be here to help you with whatever you need. I don't want you and your dad to have the distance I have with mine."
"Allison, thank you, but that's not why you're here." As much as he appreciated her words, he didn't want to sound ungrateful by calling her out. "You know that Scott hooked up with Danny and since Lydia is insane and you hate your dad right now I'm the only shoulder you have left to cry on."
Her arms left his shoulders and he heard the dam she'd been holding break.
"I'm sorry," he heard her whisper as she stepped away from him. "God, I'm an awful person."
"You're not," Stiles said regretfully as he turned around and looked at her. He wished he hadn't said anything. "You're not awful. You're human. You're just a kid. We all are. We're all going to be selfish assholes from time to time and it's okay."
"Stop comforting me!" Allison cried as she grabbed her stomach. Stiles let his dad's hand go and ran to Allison. He held her close and she didn't even fight him. "I should be making you feel better."
"It's okay. Really," Stiles assured her as she cried into his shirt. "Allison, I've cried every night since my dad was admitted. It's okay to cry. I've been lucky to have Scott's mom. And you have me."
"Stiles, are you hitting on me?" Allison laughed through her tears.
"If I said 'yes', would I have a chance?" he smiled as he held her.
"Not in hell," she admitted as she hugged him back.