A/N Sorry for the delay, we should be back to our regular schedule now. Only a few chapters left ...
"Can you come with me on Wednesday?" Allison blurted out. They had been sitting in the library for almost an hour now and Isaac had been able to tell right from the beginning that she was trying to find a way to say or ask something but when she'd answered his "Something on your mind?" with a "Nothing", he'd just shrugged and had gone back to his own studies.
Not that he was able to focus on what he was reading but his professors didn't care that he had other problems and handed out assignments like candy. Not even Professor Hale spared him even if he fully well knew that Isaac would be busy this weekend. He was just one student among many and he couldn't expect his professor to make an exception for him but still.
"Where to?" Isaac looked up from the screen of his laptop.
"Professor Hale tomorrow." Allison tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Lydia wants me to come with you this weekend and I can't say no without telling her about … you know." She made a vague gesture. "On the other hand, I can't ambush Professor Hale by just coming along."
The professor had asked Isaac about Allison's request to see him during his office hours tomorrow so Isaac already knew about this. Not that he was going to tell her.
"Could you come with me and wait outside?" She asked almost shyly. "I'm not sure if I would go on my own and I might need somebody to talk to afterward. You're the only one who knows about Professor Hale and my aunt."
That was not true, Danny knew as well, but that was another thing Isaac had no intention to tell her. Allison was not Kate so neither Isaac nor Danny would ever hold it against her. Besides, Danny had other things on his mind right now. Like digging into Professor Stilinski's past.
"Sure," Isaac agreed easily. Usually, he would have liked to use Hale's office hours for himself, especially with their upcoming trip, but at the moment he had the luxury that he lived with the professor and could ask him whatever he wanted over dinner.
To Isaac's surprise the topic over dinner that day was neither their trip nor the mess Peter had dragged them into.
"An internship?" Isaac asked not sure if he'd heard the professor correctly. It was just him and Hale, Isaac didn't even want to know where Stilinski was off to.
"Peter gave me the contact information. You're supposed to call them sometime next week and then you can start the following Monday."
"I'm not sure if I feel comfortable with that." Isaac poked the carrots on his plate with the fork. Internships like this didn't just come up, especially paid ones. Isaac didn't want to know what kind of shady business they were running in the back. This was coming from Peter for crying out loud.
"I asked around," Hale said between two bites. "The company exists since the eighties. A few years back they worked for NASA. It's big on their website that some of their robotics went to Mars."
"They worked for NASA?" Isaac perked up at that.
"As far as I can tell they supplied some basic components," Hale clarified. "They did not build the Mars Rover."
"Still cool." Isaac couldn't help a grin. It did sound tempting. It would make up for the job at the pawn shop he'd lost due to Peter, might even pay better, but the huge selling point was that it played right into his major. An internship like this might even get him a foot in the door to a job related to his degree.
"Just give them a call on Monday," Hale said. "See what they have to offer. You don't have to say yes if it doesn't feel right."
"This comes from Peter," Isaac said what they were both thinking.
"It does come from Peter." Hale nodded. "But I think it's genuine. He wants to make it right. He's not a bad person." Hale paused to take a sip from his water glass but more to bring his thoughts in order than to wash down the last bite, Isaac guessed.
"The only reason Stiles is helping him right now is because when he asked for his help, Peter only wanted you to be safe. He didn't ask for his or his partner's safety."
"I didn't know that."
They ate in silence for a moment while Isaac tried to wrap his head around the fact that Peter cared about his safety more than about his own. Maybe it was just an attempt to get on his nephew's good side again. And into Professor Stilinski's pants.
Professor Hale seemed lost in thoughts as well. Isaac did not ask if he was thinking about family dinners with Peter.
"Allison asked me to come with her as her moral support tomorrow." Isaac changed the topic. "I'm supposed to wait outside," he hurried to add. He didn't want the professor to get wrong ideas.
"Did she say what this is about?" Hale asked but Isaac sensed the tension behind his words.
"Not exactly," Isaac said. "Just that she wants to come with us on Friday but she doesn't want to make it awkward." This was something between Allison and the professor but it was only fair to give him a heads-up to make up his mind where he stood in this matter.
The next day, Isaac had to almost drag Allison to Hale's office by her sleeve. She wanted to go, or rather she needed to go as she phrased it, but it was hard.
Isaac had his own problems, more than enough of them, but seeing the professor yesterday and Allison now, he couldn't help but wonder how many sleepless nights both of them had since they had found out about each other. This conversation was more than overdue.
"He doesn't bite," Isaac assured her when she once again fell behind.
"I don't know, maybe I should just …" She fiddled with her hair.
"You should just talk to him," Isaac completed the sentence for her.
"Okay." She nodded, still unsure but then she took a breath and squared her shoulders. It reminded Isaac of her posture at the archery. For some reason, he was glad that she hadn't brought her bow.
At Hale's office, she did hesitate to knock but then she stepped through the door.
Isaac heard the professor greeting her before the door closed and then he was just standing awkwardly in the hallway. He stepped over to the opposite wall to let people pass and to not give the impression that he was trying to eavesdrop.
Leaning his back against the wall he got his phone out, this might take a while. Isaac kept an eye on the people around him, partly because he didn't want to be in the way and partly because he expected Professor Stilinski to come around the corner. It was kind of a tradition to meet him in front of Hale's office.
Professor Stilinski did not come around the corner, he most likely knew that Professor Hale had Allison in his office right now, but when Isaac glanced up from his phone the next time, he spotted a familiar face behind two women walking down the hallway. Isaac blinked, sure that his eyes were playing tricks on him, that was not the guy from the club. It couldn't be. If asked Isaac would have said that he didn't remember much about him just blond hair and a firm build but the face was just a blurry blob in his memory, he'd been pretty out of it. But something about this guy coming down the hallway made Isaac's stomach churn. Suddenly he felt sick. He swallowed against the metallic taste in the back of his throat.
Isaac looked back down at his phone in an attempt to hide his face but out of the corner of his eye, he watched the man.
The two women in front walked past Isaac quickly but the guy took his sweet time, looking at each door in passing as if he was searching for a specific name. And looking at the behinds of the women walking in front of him, Isaac noticed. Gross. But at the same time, it did put Isaac at ease, at least a little bit. The guy he'd met at the club had not looked at women.
Isaac held his breath when the man walked past him.
The man stopped in front of Professor Hale's office. He read the name with a triumphant smile before he leaned in to read the sign with the professor's office hours.
Isaac expected him to knock, he most likely was just an ordinary student who wanted to talk to the professor, but instead, he checked the time on his phone and cursed under his breath. He snapped a picture of the sign and then, with one last glance around, he hurried down the hallway.
Only when he'd rounded the corner Isaac dared to breathe again. He was willing to shake it off as an ordinary student who just happened to look a bit like that guy but this whole scenario felt wrong.
The guy hadn't come back by the time Allison came out of the office.
"Can we go?" She wiped her eyes in an attempt to hide the fact that she'd been crying.
"I just have to tell Professor Hale something real quick." Isaac drew her in a one-armed hug and she melted into his side for a second. "In the meantime, you can decide if you want to get some ice cream or if we go back to the dorms and I tuck you in in Scott's bed."
The last part got him a watery laugh.
Isaac didn't bother with knocking and just burst into the office. He did, however, made sure to close the door before he blurted out that he'd just seen a suspicious guy who might or might not have been the guy who'd tried to kidnap him the other day.
"What?" Hale looked up at him. He was sitting behind his desk, his glasses in hand and a drained look on his face. Looked as if the last half an hour had taken a toll on him as well.
"I'm not sure if it's him but he was looking for your office and he seemed disappointed that you were most likely in here." Isaac ran a hand through his hair, not sure what to make out of what he'd seen. He did have a record of misinterpreting the things he witnessed.
"I just wanted you to know. And you know, maybe tell your husband?" Isaac shifted from one foot to the other, this was not the time to bother the professor with this. "Anyway, Allison's waiting." With that, he hurried out of the room.
Isaac half-expected to find Allison gone but she was leaning against the wall almost in the same spot he'd used while he'd been waiting for her. She was there but her eyes were unseeing and far away.
"Forget the ice cream, Scott's bed it is," Isaac decided and stirred her in the right direction. He wasn't sure if she even knew which way to go right now.
They walked over to the dorms in silence, Allison kind of stiffly matching his pace. In the room, she sat down on Scott's bed and just kind of shrank into herself.
"That bad?" Isaac dared to ask. He wasn't sure what to do now, should he give her space or leave her alone, but in the end, he sat down next to her. There was some space between them but she could lean into him if she wanted to.
"Not bad." She shook her head. The tears had dried up but her eyes were still red and too bright. "Cathartic." She smiled. "I think I can sleep tonight."
Isaac had seen how distraught she'd been when she found out who Professor Hale was and that Isaac knew about what her aunt had done to his family but he'd thought that she'd moved on from that. With Scott and now Lydia she should have other things on her mind but it looked as if this had been eating at her ever since.
"I think I'm coming with you on Friday."