A/N: Not beta-read either but I did my best to make this readable.

weregrrrl13, there will be more about the new betas every now and then, Lydia trying to figure out Peter will come up again as well.

rymilu, Give it some time, Stiles will figure it out.

Midnight Chamber, glad to hear that the phone conversation from two sides worked out ;)

sharonpijl, I do try to stick to Lydia's POV unless I really need to fill in some blanks.

Chapter 19 A time to dream

After the phone call, Lydia felt a bit better. Whatever had lead to the brutal confrontation, the important thing was that Ethan was going to recover and so would Rubèn. It was maybe a hopeful sign that a scenario where they all worked together was not impossible. Lydia had enough of this unnecessary violence.

She hated cutting Stiles short but the forth and back talking was tiring her. If she couldn't convince them that staying here with Peter and seeing this thing through was something she had to do, then at least she could hope that with what had happened to the other parents last year, that Stiles would be able to convince his father not to alert her parents.

Her friends had certainly a gloomier outlook on what was going on with her and Peter than Lydia herself had. Which was strange given that she'd been the one who had spent weeks on her own with him spooking through her mind. Given how awkward they handled her sleeping with Aiden, the whole ritual reveal probably put the most uncomfortable fantasies into their heads. Lydia had the feeling she might actually learn a lot: not just ways to get to the bottom of these killings but also things that might help her in the future with her powers.

For now, there were more immediate needs to consider. Lydia was hungry and when she had mentioned that she'd liked something to eat, Peter had offered to order take-out. Leaving the choice of cuisine to her. After thinking for a moment Lydia picked Chinese and Peter simply said. "Chinese it is."

While Peter opened his laptop, she lifted up her tea mug. The tea bag had soaked in it for over seven minutes, when she drank the peppermint came through very strong but the warm liquid running down her throat felt good nonetheless. While she was drinking Lydia watched Peter who looked at his browser and selected a link from a folder that was labeled "BH restaurants".

"You order a lot of take-out, don't you?" Lydia asked with a smile.

The website that popped open was from a Chinese Restaurant called the Golden Dragon, that apparently also delivered food. Seeing how quickly Peter navigated the page Lydia could tell he had been using it before.

Shrugging he replied. "I've got better things to do than cook."

It was almost like being at home, only that her mother got people to cook in their kitchen from time to time. Lydia was actually the one to use the kitchen the most, but what she put together was not really cooking. Playing with her hair she leaned forward to figure out what to order. Once she had decided Peter took the laptop to the guest room and knocked on the door.

Seeing Peter think of someone else was weird. Technically, it still could fall under the "he was getting something out of it" category but it looked like he was already having the loyalty of his new pack. As she watched him disappear into the guestroom, Lydia wondered if she might also view him in a much too negative light. In the end, she would rather expect the worst and been proven wrong then the other way around.

Nobody could deny that Peter acted absolutely ruthless when pursuing a specific goal but apart from Derek nobody could really say how he acted under more normal circumstances. Even know given the chance Lydia could think about more approachable people to talk to then Derek Hale. When she thought about all her interactions with the Hales, she wondered if normal was a term that ever fitted the Hale family life.

Given that neither Laura, Derek or Cora had ever bothered to visit the graves or even were involved enough with the investigation to notice that there were only eight bodies, it cast an interesting light on how disfunctional the pack actually was. Unlike those three, Peter had at least the excuse that he had been in a coma. But it was rather peculiar that nobody had known that Cora survived and that she hadn't known the others were alive at least some years past the fire.

Lydia was curious. Observing how Peter acted now that he had a pack, would probably be interesting and shed some light on how much of what he was doing was an act. Unlike the others she doubted that he'd turn around and start to kill random people. He was too purpose driven for that. So maybe as long as Peter didn't had a reason to go after someone, him being an alpha again would not be as bad at last time. Lydia was sure there was more he wanted, being an alpha again was just part of it. Peter certainly had an eye on her powers and how to use them but how bad that would turn out for her was something Lydia couldn't say.

Lydia was willing to find out and if she didn't like it she would hopefully have her friends to fall back on.

Despite Scott assurances, he couldn't be there all the time. Lydia wasn't even sure if she wanted the twins to help her: they seemed to demand something that she couldn't give. Aiden had already felt this unreasonable jealousy and every word she had said before this evening had not helped. During the phone call, when she said that she wanted to stay, that must have gotten under his skin.

Lydia hadn't forgotten the true purpose behind the twins sleeping with her, she honestly didn't like them marking her with their scent. It was so demanding. She was sure to them it seemed perfectly normal but Lydia had no tolerance for this. If she hadn't been so upset, then maybe she could have explained why to Aiden. With them also speculating if Peter had set up Ethan getting shot, Lydia could only imagine how angry Aiden was.

That was not even the sum of her problems: There was Deucalion.

Short of Deucalion ending up dead, Lydia doubted that she would ever get rid of him. If somehow possible he would use her to get his powers back and if not, Deucalion would certainly kill her or worse. That meant Lydia needed protection unless she was to ask someone the unthinkable. This wasn't just because that would put more strain on her relationship with Scott which wasn't the best to begin with. It seemed horrible, but part of Lydia hoped for something really bad happening to Deucalion.

There was little else that could fix the situation amicable at least when it came to staying close to her friends. Accepting Peter's help already bothered Stiles. Allison - unlike Stiles - didn't only want Peter dead: she might even accomplish that all by herself.

The entire situation was a trainwreck and this was not making it better. But Lydia could not cope with being told what to do and feel by her friends. Until they stopped that, it would be hard to find common ground again or even to have a conversation on the phone.

It upset her that her friends would act this way, way more than anything Peter had done lately. It was probably not fair but she expected better from them. She had gotten over the fact that they had kept her in the dark. At first she had been so happy to have Jackson that it hardly seemed to matter. In fact she didn't want to talk about any of it. She just indulged childishly in the false sense that everything seemed to get back to normal.

Then the little things creeped back: Jackson having issues with his second nature and Derek hovering around giving him advice. There seemed to be something about werewolves that inherently lead to more violence. Which seemed fitting for the old classic movie type of werewolves who had no control over themselves on the full moon but not people who were clearly in control over their actions.

There had been a lot of careless smacking around, broken bones and yelling. Jackson had been more tolerating of the abuse than Lydia could imagine - probably still feeling guilt about being used as a murder weapon - but he had begun complaining. That was when she had begun talking more with Stiles, given that Allison had fled to France.

Stiles had even been surprised how little she was upset when he explained to her why they had moved her so quickly out of the library towards Scott's home. Lydia should be mad at Derek for trying to kill her only from his treatment of Jackson and his general family history, it seemed he simply didn't knew better. The incident seemed to have taught him something.

What Lydia wasn't going to put up with was anyone telling her how to feel or whom she could ask for advice. Like that one time when Derek sent out Cora to tell her to stop seeing Aiden. The arrogance of that had pissed Lydia off more than the misguided attempt on her life. In the end she hadn't cared that much about Derek. Stiles acting as if she couldn't make decisions for herself was upsetting her way more.

While she was reminiscing, Peter had obviously finished talking to his pack and came back with the closed laptop. Placing it on the dinner table, he removed a smart phone from his pocket. Lydia looked at the table where the simply disposable cell she had used to call Stiles laid. There was clearly not enough trust to give out his real phone number. A number she no doubt had in her smart phone and could have passed on to her friends.

He called the restaurant and ordered the Chow Mein for her, then Dry Garlic Spareribs and Yangchow Fried Rice, leaving her wondering if Peter was abstaining from eating or one of his betas.

"Yes, the same appetizers as last time," he concluded the call.

Lydia leaned over the back of the couch. "So how long do they usually take?"

"Might take up forty-fifty minutes, but it'll be worth the wait." Peter looked over to her. Then his voice trailed off a bit at the end. Lydia realised that in her current position she was unintentionally showing off her cleavage. Normally, she avoided doing this, as she wasn't into leading men on but in this case it just happened unintentionally.

Her efforts not to let this new arrangement bother her and to act comfortable, which she strangely enough was, were in a way similar to flirting. It made Lydia wonder if she knew what she was doing. Throwing Peter off his game by getting under his skin might end up with him taking some liberties despite vague promises to the contrary.

"I'm going to find something to wear for Naira."

Tearing his eyes away from her, Peter went into the bedroom. Lydia heard the door of the wardrobe sliding and wondered if he had more clothes left over from the witch that had left him the apartment. When he came back just a few minutes later, he was not carrying a fancy black dress or something that might befit the owner of the robe Lydia was wearing; it was a beige sweater and what seemed to be a pair of slacks.

He handed the clothes over and grabbed his laptop on the way back to the couch. Lydia gave him a bit more room to settle in unsure whether she should maintain a healthy distance or risk maybe giving him the entirely wrong signals. It was a moment when Lydia herself was not too sure what she wanted to signal. It was a dangerous game she was playing but it seemed like shooting straight was not the way to handle Peter.

"Are you really sure, you want to tackle the thing tonight? With me close, you could rest tonight regain your strength and then use tomorrow night to go after it," he suggested in a concerned tone.

The way Peter leaned closer to her, made it clear that he was referring to them sleeping together like two nights ago. The first night in a while where she had actually felt rested and relaxed. It was scary that she actually found the offer tempting. It was ironic in a way that the person who had dragged her into this bleak, dark world was also the one person that seemed to be able to shield her from it.

Lydia felt as if it was rewarding Peter for his bad deeds if she gave in. Whatever else he had planned for her it was obvious that being close to her on his own terms was not something Peter minded. Which was why Lydia didn't let his gesture unsettle her. Maybe she would need to rest at some point, but right now, she had other priorities.

Feeling particularly brave, she leaned in closer herself and imagined how'd she whispered naughty suggestion into Jackson's ear. That was as far as her flirt went, when she actually spoke her voice was low but determined. "What part about me wanting to get his solved as soon as possible is so hard to understand?"

Lydia pulled back after she had finished and studied his expression intently. He was so hard to figure out: Peter managed to seem amused and also contemplative at the same time.

"You're a fast learner - but you've got to be aware that it might take more than one night," he said sincerely, sounding more like a teacher. "It'd be better to have continued series of attempts to identify it. Rather than go for it now and having to take a break after the first couple of attempts."

The thought of facing night after night to face this creepy thing in the darkness was almost making her rethink her plan to go ahead with it later tonight. The last time it had been really dangerous, looking at her bandaged wrist she realised she had forgotten about it. It still hurt a bit but Lydia had grown used to the sensation.

"Damn, I've forgotten to cool this," she explained when Peter noticed her looking at it.

"Does it hurt badly?" he asked taking her hand.

Shaking her head Lydia couldn't help but hope that the crystal was going to help protect her from the physical repercussions of her dream. For a moment she considered calling him out on his display of concern given that he had hurt her much worse already but she saw no benefit in being that hostile. "No, it's not that bad."

As she tried to pull her hand back, there was just a tiny bit of resistance and given how close he was, Lydia wondered if he was testing her. Either way given how she felt her heart beat faster and the way her face started to glow, this was serious enough. Suddenly, she realised the flaw in her plan: her inconvenient but very noticeable attraction. It was hard to think about the right way of making contact to unrattle him when she was actually resisting the impulse to get closer.

'Come on, Lydia,' she told herself, 'get a grip on yourself.'

"Have you given any more thought about what I've suggest the other night?" he suddenly said with a certain smile.

"A suggestion?" She looked around the room, trying hard to remember what suggestion he might have made, apart from offering to protect and help her with her banshee abilities. "Oh."

Suddenly it hit her. Lydia had already forgotten about that, since it seemed to her like a bad tease. That is if Peter was referring to his romantic advance, not that there had been anything romantic about it. Her face revealed her thoughts to him on this matter and he drew back.

"I better get you get some ice." His tone sounded disappointed, which was something she was sure Peter was able to fake very well. As he got up and walked past her, she noticed that he made it a point not touch. Given what little space there was - between her and the table - it was obvious despite how swiftly he moved. Whatever game Peter was playing with her, she was not sure about his strategy. Not that she was sure about hers.

Being a werewolf of course he had no need for a cool pack and so he fixed something up with a plastic bag, ice cubes and a towel. Which he handed to her a few minutes later.

"Thanks," Lydia said in response and mostly out of reflex. She had stare at the book on the table for the past two minutes and now she just had to ask: "What kind of books have you been getting from Yoon?"

Peter sat down on the edge of the couch, almost leaning over her. "This one is on ancient witch cults," he shrugged. "The others, some more or less informative, were all on supernatural topics. The real ones, not books exploring Wicca culture or the legend of the vampire."

"So you're gathering more knowledge on what - supernatural beings, rituals?" she looked at the hand scanner. "And you're archiving everything."

"Most of the druids, even the witches, believe in keeping information to themselves," Peter was clearly not thinking much of that policy and to a degree she could agree with it. "You're lucky if they share the barest minimum when you need it, because most of them don't know that much more either. I don't like depending on some wise old sage who may or may not know and is debating what to share and what not."

Lydia avoided looking at him and instead focused on the book, it was an old heavy volume, the title was obscured but she believed the language was some ancient Aramaic dialect. Only the book didn't look that old, but it seemed like it was handwritten. It was probably insanely expensive, somehow she had the feeling that Yoon was getting these rare books, Peter scanned them in and then she sold them again.

"So, you and Yoon are working on the wikimedia of archaic texts?" she concluded

"Something like that, given that you're good with archaic Latin and dabbled in other languages, you're more than welcome to join our little project. So far we're only five. Well, seven, if you include Naira and Rubèn, who are both interested in helping with whatever they can do."

He was really proud of what he was doing, Lydia could hear it in his voice. It explained a lot, about his connection to Yoon but also what he was doing with his time. Gaining more knowledge was something Lydia could get behind. There was always the question what it could do in the wrong hands but she could also see the other side. If knowledge was kept from the right hands, then it would be even harder to do anything against the misuse of it.

Had Peter's sister not taken the knowledge of the Nemeton from Derek and Peter, they would never had to do this dark ritual.

"That might be debatable," she replied pausing a bit while she shifted the ice cubes on her wrist, "I'll have to know more first."

"Of course." He rose again and took a step away from her and the couch. "There's no hurry."

That was certainly true. Unless the answer to solve this crisis lay hidden in one of these old books. First, they needed to find out more about that undead, extremely powerful thing that was able to invade dreams. There couldn't be too many things like that but finding the right creature would be hard. Thinking about the Argent's alone having a whole bestiary full of creatures, Lydia could only guess how many more possibilities might be out there.

Busy with drinking her tea, resting her wrist and thinking about what she would do tonight, she was surprised to hear the rattling of dishes. When she looked towards Peter and the kitchen area, she saw that he was setting down three plates. So at least he was not above doing that now that he had become an alpha again. Not that she had a clue how unusual that was for him. It felt wrong to ask him how they used to do things before Kate Argent torched their home.

Lydia made herself comfortable on the couch more listening than watching what Peter was doing. It was the first time they had been in the same room for more than five minutes where he hadn't paid any attention to her. Which she didn't lament at all, it was just weird to have him go about his own business after setting the table. It could be that he was just avoiding her on purpose as he seemed to browse through a shelf of books at the other end of the living room.

Still cooling her injured wrist, she took some more time to take in the layout of the flat and the items in it. The fact that there was no tv visible was probably not that unusual, and it looked like there was one in that closed compartment in the bookshelf closer to the couch. While the apartment looked like it had gotten an overhaul no longer than two years ago, some of the items that actually decorated the shelves seemed to belong to the witch: Lydia sincerely doubted that Peter was collecting glass figurines.

It was like Peter didn't want to remove the presence of the witch, just changing enough to serve his needs. The apartment was so clear cut that a blind person could easily move in. There was a substantial lack of paintings and the like, with the exception of the picture in the bathroom - which was also a relief - and it had made Lydia wonder if the witch had indeed been blind. It wouldn't explain the bookshelves filled with normal books.

While she was still busy wondering about the apartment's previous owner and how Peter came to this place, the doorbell rang. Given her current apparell she remained on the couch as Peter opened the door. The delivery man handed over their food and Peter paid him. As soon as the front door was closed, Naira came out of the guest room, sporting the black slacks and the beige sweater.

Lydia got up to head to kitchen sink where she placed the bag with the mostly molten ice-cubes.

"Hey, I'm glad to hear that your friend will recover," Naira said awkwardly as they all sat down at the small dinner table, "I promise as long as he stays away from Rubèn, he has nothing worry about."

Clearly, she meant what she said: There was no particular wish on her side to kill or harm anyone but if they threatened someone she loved, Naira would defend them. If it really was Ethan who had lashed out first, Lydia hoped the twins wouldn't seek revenge. Also it was doubtful that either of them would listen to her. The reason that the Twins were so aggressive lately was the whole situation they had gotten into. Even Lydia had felt some of that unreasonable anger, only when she vented it, the worst that happened where maybe ringing ears.

"So, how is Rubèn doing?" Lydia wanted to know as they began putting the food on their respective plates.

His absence answered her question who was sitting out dinner. That Peter went for the Dry Garlic Spareribs wasn't too much of a surprise either.

"Sleeping - finally. The wounds have closed but are still visible," Naira explained.

Eating with Peter and his new beta as if nothing had happened seemed surreal. Lydia had the feeling that Aiden would see it as the ultimate betrayal. It was also possible that this was just her guilty conscience. As she honestly didn't mind, the Twins had done similar harm before to her friends and she still had gotten along with them. So why shouldn't she get along with Naira and even Peter?

As long as she kept reminding herself that Peter had his own interests at heart, she would be fine. Aggression so far hadn't really helped her or her friends to reveal anything and her new strategy seemed to work much better. Yet, the atmosphere at the dinner table was strained. Lydia reminded herself that she was quite capable of smoothing things out, if she could do it as school with a bunch of teens, this should be easy.

"What are you planning to do, once this thing is over?" Lydia asked as casually as she could given that 'this thing' referred to a two different killing sprees occurring in their little town.

Naira was ready to answer but then looked at Peter, who with an almost unnoticeable gesture signaled something to her. Then the recent turnee shrugged: "Not sure yet, but it would be nice to settle down. As much excitement as life as bounty hunter provided, it's not something I wanted to do forever."

"Bounty Hunter - as in going after people who jump bail?" While Lydia basically knew what the profession was about, it was not like she had ever meet an actual person who was one. Beacon Hills had no shortage of hunters but not of this type.

"Yeah, it seemed to fit my interests. My mother is more the academic type, my father joined the military. Taught me how to handle guns, made me take all kinds of self-defence classes and then I started to study martial arts but - you know - watching tv shows, somehow got me interested in law enforcement - hunting down bad guys seemed so cool when you're seeing it through the eyes of a camera."

"I take it the reality is quite different," Lydia tried to encourage her to continue. It was easy to sound genuinely interested, because she found the whole concept intriguing. Peter let them talk, whatever he had not wanted her to say, talking about her past was not an issue with him.

Naira finished another bite of her fried rice, then kept going. "It's very boring stuff, most people are just really desperate losers and there isn't nearly as much action involved. If there is, it's more disconcerting than anything else. You've got to establish connection with local agencies, bail bonds persons and you're not always welcome, either. Especially, as a woman."

"She underplays her other credits, just because she doesn't like studying, doesn't mean she has not aced all her exams and the additional qualifications she had to make," Peter finally chipped in making Naira blush.

"Both of my parents tried to pass on what they do best," Naira said brushing it off, looking at her Yangchow which she continued to eat with more devotion.

Lydia had so many more questions. "So Rubèn works with you? Must be helpful to have werwolf at your side in that profession."

That caused Naira to laugh and then cough. Some of her food had found it's way in the wrong throat. Still amused she eventually said. "Yes, it had it's benefits - but I actually try to keep him out of sight. You see, up until last year - Rubèn was wanted for questioning. Three years ago, I was working as a deputy in a small town. Just a job for the summer near some air conditioning, when I found out what he was and why people were looking for him, I decided to help him."

"So they were hunters after him, like Allison's aunt?"

The way Naira said people was with such disdain that it seem to point to that. However she felt reluctant about bringing up Kate Argent, who was like the prime example of why any sane person found out about werewolves and then side with them.

Peter just scoffed and said with severe loathing in his voice: "Not like her aunt."

Puzzled Lydia looked at the serious faces both made, as Peter continued. "It was her. She took down most of Rubèn's old pack. In fact, the only other survivor was Rubèn's cousin, a 11 year old girl whom he had escorted to a boarding school. When he came back, everyone else had been subjected to corporectomy while being strung up. The sheriff thought he might be responsible, despite Rubèn clearly not having been in town."

"But after you resurrected Peter, he was able to sent the newspaper articles of Kate to the authorities," Naira began before he interrupted her. "Anonymously, of course."

"Of course," she smiled and then added. "A deputy remembered her being in town - with her kill squad - and put one and one together. Rubèn was cleared and completely exonerated. It probably also helped that the racist sheriff had not been re-elected by then."

That certainly explained why they were siding with Peter and got along so splendidly. It turned out that for once he actually did a good thing. Even though Lydia wondered how he found out about Kate being involved. "How did you find out about this?"

"After coming back to life for the second time, I checked up on old acquaintances."

He then explained how his sister's advice was thought by other alphas and that this way, Rubèn's pack had also come to Beacon Hills years ago on a few occasions. Before Deucalion had his psychotic break and got his alpha pals to butcher their packs as well. That incidents made other packs stay far away from the town. Lydia knew most of this from Stiles.

Peter added to that the more successful packs usually maintained good relations with others packs. It surprised Lydia but as he put it, they had some traits with wolves in common but they were still rational enough to not freak out when another pack just visited their territory. Either way, Rubèn and Peter got along well back then. So it probably made sense, that Peter had gotten back into contact with old friends. Especially with him not getting along with Derek and his pack.

"What happened to the cousin?" Lydia hoped this was a happier answer. It was hard enough to wrap her head around the fact that Allison's family ran around actually hunting werewolves like animals when they clearly were just people with special gifts, people not unlike her.

"She got taken in by another pack," Peter said after finishing his portion. "It's easier for pre-teens and teenager to be adopted by another pack. Adult omegas aren't always accepted."

"I never quite understood that," Naira said sounding as curious as Lydia felt about it.

They went on with the rest of their meals as Peter did what he clearly loved to do: showing off his knowledge. As there was some discrepancy between what each of them knew about werewolves and their packs, he began with the basics. Explaining that between a truly functioning pack there is a bond, a connection that is shared between an alpha and several betas. While some packs are family and thus either are related to the alpha or were bitten by him that is not everything that makes the bond. It just helps establishing one.

"It's a prerequisite that you share a connection. Being raised by or growing up with the alpha is one way. So a young child can become part of another pack, but that bond can also come about through friendship, a common enemy or goal." Peter's voice trailed off a bit, almost as if there was more but Lydia got it. "Then it's still about accepting the authority of the alpha. Which is why some packs tend to fall apart when the old alpha is killed."

"What if there is more than one alpha?" Lydia wondered about how much of a pack bond she actually shared with the twins. They insisted that she was but if she was honest, she did not felt that there was a mystical bond between her and them, nor was there one between her and Scott or the others. The nagging doubt that this was only due to her not being willing or open enought o be part of it, had crossed her mind on more than one occasion.

"They clearly were accepting Deucalion as the leader," he shrugged. "It's unheard of, maybe there was real bond, hard to tell from the outside. In a functioning pack, you can see the bond at work. The individual betas are much stronger than those in a dysfunctional pack - like you know - Derek's band of problematic and now mostly dead teenagers."

Peter smiled. "I guess, you can talk about a pack without there being a bond. Like Scott and his band of misfits. They certainly work well together but as for a real bond, the simple fact that neither Allison nor Stiles are werewolves makes that impossible. I'm not even sure if Isaac has come that far with Scott. That kid is so troubled and cleary switching allegiances on whatever seems the safest bet at the time."

"If your nephew did such a horrible job as the alpha, you can hardly blame him for looking some stability," Naira said most empathically.

Stability was something Lydia could relate to. With her parents on and off relationship, her traveling for business reasons all the time, it had felt good to have at least a solid standing in school. It all had fallen slowly apart when Jackson began obsessing about becoming a werewolf. That was the first pillar being pulled out and then it had not taken long until her world finally came crashing down.

The only good thing that had come out of it, was that she did not need to pretend so much anymore. Instead of being the pretty girl at the arm of the captain of the lacrosse team she was now the slightly disturbed girl who ran around naked in the woods but also someone who did not need to hide her A grades in every single class. But that was still a long way off from feeling solid ground to stand on. How could she feel secure when her dreams were not her own whenever a new supernatural threat came into town.

"True," Peter said giving a reluctant nod, "but Scott has a lot to learn about leading a pack, being a true alpha he certainly has the potential to become one of the best, but given his lack of understanding about our nature, what having an actual pack means, he might fail everyone spectacularly."

Lydia knew he wasn't just bashing Scott's leadership skills, given how reluctant Scott was to actually step up and do so. It was more a democracy and while that was certainly the best system for managing a country, Lydia knew that didn't automatically mean it was the best way for everything. Even democracies needed strong leaders, not that she was convinced that meant Peter was better suited for the job.

When they had finished eating, Naira stood up and cleared the dishes away, leaving Lydia in a position where she wasn't quite ready to continue discussing what made a pack and by extension a good leader. Her thoughts went more to how well she would fare in her dream tonight.

"You want still want to go ahead and do this tonight?" Peter suddenly asked her.

It had to be the look on her face, Lydia was sure she looked just as unhappy as she felt about this whole situation. "Yes, it's not going to get any easier. Besides I can do this."

"One thing is for sure, you're an exceptionally fast learner."

The thing was, while she only now began influencing her dreams, this type of shared nightmare was not exactly alien to her. Lydia could also tell the difference between the two and still recognize how similar the whole process was. This time she felt a bit better prepared. Each little success gave her more confidence to go up against the thing from the crypt. "Yoon said, just in case the crystal doesn't work or overloads, I should have someone keep an eye on me."

"Don't worry, I'll stay awake - occupy myself with scanning in the latest book I got from her. If there is anything going wrong, I'll know it."

His assurance sounded sincere, it was not like there was a reason to believe he wouldn't look out for her. It just felt strange to rely on his protection. Her head was aware of the huge advantage of him being the one on the look out but her heart still saw him as a threat to her.

"I'm going to get it right - tonight I'm going to see its face," she said determined.

"It might not be that pleasant a sight."

Tilting her head a bit to her side, she gave him her best 'are-you-kidding-me' look. "Oh really?"

After him spooking around half-burned as a not quite dead corpse and all those death visions, she was sure even a half rotten or demonic grimace wasn't going to deter her. Then after a moment something else occurred to her. "You already have an idea what it might be."

Even Naira stopped what she was doing, probably just as curious what it might be they were facing.

"None of the options are very pretty - but I can't tell you anything," Peter sighed. "It might influence what you see."

"But whatever it is, it worries you," Naira added and got a reluctant nod from him.

Lydia knew she was right. Whatever that thing was, they already knew it was powerful and that was never a good thing. It seemed like Peter was counting on getting Scott to help with defeating that thing. Only that everyone was for some weird reason more outraged at him than before and it was clear that whatever needed to be done, Peter doubted if Scott was willing to do it.

First she needed to make good on her resolution to unveil or unmask or whatever one would call revealing that monstrous thing in the dark. Slowly, she rose from her chair. "There is no use waiting any longer."

"That's the Lydia I know not backing away from anything," Peter sounded proud.

She shrugged it off and got up from her chair. His behaviour irked her, but she wanted to focus on what she needed to do not get into arguments with him.

"Good night," Lydia said more in the direction of Naira than Peter, having the feeling that this wouldn't be the last she saw of him.

Naira smiled encouragingly. "Good luck."

Holding her head high, Lydia turned around and marched off to the bathroom. Before she went to bed, she wanted to get properly ready for the night. Just because she was facing a grotesque and smelly monster, didn't mean she should have bad breath. Nobody said anything until she had vanished in the bathroom, but she had the feeling she was watched as she marched off.

Maybe it was a bit impolite to walk off so fast but she felt it was late and she was feeling exhausted and this was really something she needed to do. So she gathered her toothbrush and paste. The book on dreaming had listed brushing your teeth extra long and carefully as a way to clear the mind from all the unnecessary baggage.

With all that had happened today and the very fact that she would go after it sleeping in Peter's bed, Lydia needed all the strategies available to keep her focus. For this to work she needed to think of the images she wanted to take with her. This time she had no flashlight as physical prop to help her, but she remembered that a torch might be more useful anyway and concentrated on that image.

When she was done, she washed her face with warm water and carefully padded her face dry with a towel. On her way out towards the bedroom, she hung up that silk robe Peter had given her earlier.

Speaking off the devil, he was sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for her. Lydia took a deep breath and after taking a few uneasy steps towards him, she sat down beside him.

"You have the crystal?" he asked.

Straight to business, she liked that, as she was in no mood for more of his compliments or excuses. Lydia nodded and reached into the handbag which she had set down beside the bed. The crystal was lighter than she had remembered. Holding it up to him, she couldn't help but voicing her doubts. "It's hard to believe this will actually work."

"Luckily, you don't have to be convinced for this to work, you just have to hold onto it or more precisely stay in contact with it," Peter told her calmly.

While he spoke, he took her hand with the crystal. Lydia almost wanted to pull it away, when Peter revealed a red bandana, that was rolled into long strip. While she wondered what it was for, he wrapped it around her hand to tie the crystal to it.

Remembering how she had thrown the flashlight in her hand away during her dream without even realising it, Lydia had to admit she was glad Peter thought of it. It wasn't a hundred percent secure the crystal could still slip out or it could get loose, but she felt safer with the tight knot pressing it into her palm.

"Thanks." Whether anyone liked it or not: right now they were allies with the same goal, and Peter was taking good care of her. Lydia knew he wanted her to succeed and that in this case him being smart and resourceful worked in her favour for a change.

"I'll leave the door open," he told her almost as if he sensed that she wanted to get his on with and wasn't open for long conversations. "I'd stay closer but ... that would be counterproductive."

Lydia nodded as there was not much else to say. Peter stood up and left, while she got up briefly to move the covers aside and then make herself comfortable under the cool satin fabric. As she looked up Peter was standing in the door frame looking at her. His hand was on the light switch. When she nodded, he turned off the light and pulled the door close until it was only slightly ajar.

A/N: Also editing the first chapters on my own, as I noticed that despite having a beta for most of those, there were a couple of missing words and even sentences that made no sense. Sorry, about that, I really wish I could give you properly edited chapters but I really need to wait a long time till I can go back to chapters I wrote and find the problematic parts. If I go back sooner I just don't see the missing words as I still know what I wanted to say.