“So.” Allison returns to the meeting room, still wary of the witch in the room. She knows that the whole Stiles situation still hangs awkwardly between them, but she’s doing her best to focus on the work. And she has to admit, she’s more than a little curious about what this work is. “Tell me about this Peter guy.”
“Based on the spell I performed, he should have a rather demonstrative role in each of your lives.” Freya turns to face Scott and Lydia specifically. “You shared a connection to him, whether that be power or blood.”
“That means he could be a relative of one of you or what? Part of Scott’s pack?”
Freya shakes her head. “It would be deeper than that. Likely someone Scott turned.”
Allison’s brow furrows along with the other two. That doesn’t seem right. Scott’s very judicious about who he bites has been ever since he became an alpha. That he has a beta that he can’t remember makes little sense.
“That doesn’t explain his connection to Lydia, either. Or Derek. Or you.” Allison takes a deep breath as she considers. “There can’t just be no trace of this person. There have to be records somewhere. Do we have a last name?”
Freya shakes her head. “All I wrote before I passed out was ‘Peter.’ If he had a last name, we don’t know it.”
“Okay.” Allison rubs the back of her neck. “Let me go to the Sheriff’s station. They have residency records. If this guy was from Beacon Hills, maybe we can find him that way.”
“I’ll go with you,” Lydia offers. “I have a car. And Freya should too—maybe if she looks at the names, it might jog her memory as to why she’s supposed to know them.”
“I have to work,” Scott sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Just keep me posted? The second you know something—”
“We’ll let you know,” Allison nods with a smile. As the three women file out, Scott catches Allison’s wrist before she can go too far.
“Hey, Ally?”
Lydia pauses at the door, almost asking if Allison wants her to wait, and the other woman waves it off. She waits until their footsteps fade from the room before turning back to Scott again.
“What’s up?”
“I know this probably should be a larger conversation that we don’t have time for right now, but I just wanted to say—whatever’s happening with you and Stiles? I’m happy for you.”
She glances up at him with a small smile and a nod before giving his hand a squeeze. “Thanks. I’m happy for you and Lydia too.”
Scott smiles before letting her go with a brush of his thumb against the inside of her wrist. “Make sure she knows that? Because I can kind of tell she’s freaking out about it.”
“Oh, you mean the fleeing across the country and not telling you the truth for almost ten years didn’t give it away?” Allison counters with a smirk. “I’ll tell her. Keep us posted if you hear anything from Derek.”
Scott nods, before letting her go and Allison turns to head towards the Sheriff’s office.
* * * * *
Allison comes home on her eighteenth birthday, slightly dejected that neither of the people she thought would be her soulmate actually were. In some ways, she knew it was coming. She and Isaac weren’t quite on that wavelength, as much as she enjoys his company. And as much as she wanted her and Scott to be Romeo and Juliet, she forgot that the play has always been a tragedy. Still, the flutters of hope she had when she woke up that morning have dashed as she returns home to a world that’s still gray-scale.
Chris, predictably, does not know what to do with this.
It’s not that her father has ever not been loving. She saw how he was with her mother, who he always acknowledged as his soulmate, but she also saw the way things frayed at the seams towards the end. She tells him he doesn’t have to make her feel better, and he nods dutifully, but before he leaves her alone in her room, he turns back to face her.
“It’s not the end of the world if you don’t find your soulmate at eighteen, Ally. Most people don’t.”
“I know.” She rests her chin on her knees as she draws them to her chest. “Sometimes I just feel like I’m never going to love anyone the way I loved Scott.”
“You probably won’t.”
She raises an eyebrow at him, and he smirks at her in return. “What you and Scott had was special, loathe as I am to admit it. But every relationship is unique. Every relationship is going to feel different and you’ll love them differently. So no, you might not love someone the way you loved Scott. But that doesn’t mean when the time comes, you won’t know that it’s right just because it doesn’t feel like him.”
Allison doesn’t grasp it immediately, but when the time comes, she knows that she’ll find a way. Also, in some ways, it was good that Scott wasn’t the one. It might have made Chris falling in love with Melissa a little more awkward.
* * * * *
Turns out, Peter is a fairly common name in Beacon Hills. Who’d have thought?
They divide the residency records between the three of them, with Parrish monitoring their witchy friend from across the way. When Allison makes her way over to collect another batch, Parrish takes her arm gently to hold her attention.
“Are you sure we can trust her?”
“I’m not sure that we can’t,” Allison replies, turning to face him. “Why? Is the hound giving you a bad feeling?”
Parrish makes a face, before shaking his head. “I don’t know who this Peter guy is—but before she cast the spell, I remember not thinking it was a good idea. Whoever they’re trying to locate, I don’t think he’s a good person.”
Allison nods, because she understands, but they need answers. “I’ll make sure they stay safe. But we won’t know for sure until we find answers.” And the idea of danger has never stopped Allison from following something through to the end before.
Parrish nods and reluctantly lets her go. They spend another hour going over the documents, before Freya excuses herself for a cup of coffee. And once she does, Lydia strikes.
“So. You and Stiles.”
Allison swallows hard, running a hand through her hair. “Yeah. Me and Stiles.”
“Is he your—”
“Yeah.”
Lydia pauses before smiling softly and nodding. “Good.”
Not the reaction Allison expects. She lifts her head and squints at her friend curiously. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That it’s good? That I’m happy for you?” Allison doesn’t lift her stare and Lydia huffs before continuing. “You’re my best friend, and as much as he is my ex, we didn’t break up because of something he did wrong or anything like that. He’s a good boyfriend. Which means he’ll take care of you. Honestly, you need it.”
Allison nods before offering Lydia a small smile. “I feel the same way about you and Scott, for the record. No hard feelings.”
“Good.” Lydia reaches forward and giving her hand a squeeze. Some tension lifts from her shoulders. “We’ll figure this whole missing memory thing out and then hopefully everything will go back to normal.”
Freya returns with her cup of coffee and looks at both of them with a sigh. “Anything?” They both shake their head. “Then let’s keep looking.”
* * * * *
Allison figures out Stiles is her soulmate before he does. Or, at least, she thinks she does. It’s just before they cut their teeth on enough cases to make it to Miami, and the moment itself isn’t anything special. They’re just hanging out, talking, and suddenly Allison can see the purple tinge of his hoodie and the warm brown of his eyes.
He doesn’t falter or react, so Allison keeps it to herself. Unlike Lydia, she doesn’t feel the need to flee or fear what’s coming. She just hopes that one day, he’d catch up with her, eventually. She’s not one to burn a good partnership over something so trivial.
It takes Stiles a long time to catch up, though.
In fact, it takes until after he and Scott talk about Lydia, and he shows up at her dad’s house. He looks a little frantic, a little distracted, and when she appears, he glances around with a nervous smile.
“Your dad home?”
Allison shakes her head. “He and Melissa are having a date night. Why?”
“Good.” He doesn’t answer her question. Instead, he just takes a step forward, his hands finding her hips before leaning in to kiss her.
Allison blinks in surprise, fingers curling into the front of his shirt before sinking into it, feeling the rush of relief that comes with both of them being on the same page. The rightness of it all licks up her spine, and while yes, this doesn’t feel like the first time Scott kissed her, she would even say it’s better. Kissing Stiles feels like coming home, a familiarity and sturdiness that keeps her steady. A recognition of their history, but also the itch of something new, ready to be explored.
She takes a step backwards, giving them enough room to come in from the doorway and let it close behind him. Another couple steps and her back meets the back of the couch, holding her in place as the kiss finally breaks. She smiles, before tipping her head up to look at him.
“Took you long enough to catch up.”
His eyebrows furrow. “How long have you known?”
“A while,” she admits. “I figured you’d get there when you were ready.”
“Mmmmm,” he nods, resting his forehead against hers. “Thanks for not running away from me.”
“Yeah, well. I enjoyed having you around.” She brushes her thumb against his shoulder. “How long have you known?”
“About six months?” He shrugs. “It was slow, you know. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it.”
She nods. “It’s weird, isn’t it? To have this friend you’ve known forever, and suddenly they’re that person?”
He nods, before smirking in her direction. “But I can’t think of a better person for it to be.” Allison grins as he leans in to kiss her again, letting the moment bubble up between them, but as Stiles’ hands slide into tempting places, she pulls back.
“Probably shouldn’t be making out right here when my dad comes home.”
Stiles nods, before glancing around the house. “So, which one is your room?”
Allison laughs, before taking his hand and pulling him deeper into the safety of the apartment.
* * * * *
Allison takes the latest file on the stack, flips it open, and frowns. “Did you know Derek had an uncle?”
Lydia’s head lifts. “I thought it was just Derek and Cora.” She blinks and then shakes her head. “No, wait. Malia is his cousin. So yeah, I guess he had to have had one, maybe before the fire?”
Allison shakes her head, turning the file to face her friend. “According to this file, he owns property downtown. As in currently.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. I think we would know if Derek had family in town.” Lydia takes the file to review it, while Freya perks up in interest.
“That would solve one connection for the spell. If Derek was family, then who was he to you, Lydia?”
Lydia glances up before shaking her head, staring down at the picture in front of her. “I—I don’t know.”
“If he was Derek’s uncle, then why would Scott need to—” Allison’s voice trails off as she draws connections—connections she doesn’t fully understand, but needs to because it’s not just Scott and Lydia’s history that’s changed. Her own is in the mix. “Lydia, who turned Scott?”
Lydia looks up at her, because Allison should know the answer to that question. But then again, so should Lydia, as the alpha bit her, too. When the answer comes up empty, she shakes her head, concern coloring her face. “I don’t know.”
Allison nods, before getting up to use one of the white boards. “We’ve been thinking about this the wrong way. It’s not a beta Scott’s missing, it’s an alpha.” She labels the top of the board THE ALPHA before drawing out lines to the rest of the board. “The alpha who bit Scott killed Laura Hale to steal her power, turned Scott, activated you, killed Kate. The one who Derek killed to become an alpha. We should know who he is.”
There are big gaping holes in their memories for a reason, and as she lists them all out, she reaches for Peter’s photo and tapes it up under the title. She then turns back to the two women, putting her focus on Freya.
“The only thing we don’t know is his connection to you.”
Freya gets to her feet, moving closer and staring down the face in front of her, and she looks almost shell-shocked. Like she’s wracking her brain for the source of something familiar but unable to pin it down. “I know this face. I don’t know how or why but… I know him.”
Lydia reaches for Allison’s phone and tosses it to her. “We need to get Derek on the phone. He needs to know, especially if he’s going to Cora and Malia.”
Allison nods, dialing the number and putting the phone to her ear. Whatever did this, this problem might be bigger than they thought.
C ~ stiles/allison ~ teen wolf/tvdverse ~ 2,292
“So.” Allison returns to the meeting room, still wary of the witch in the room. She knows that the whole Stiles situation still hangs awkwardly between them, but she’s doing her best to focus on the work. And she has to admit, she’s more than a little curious about what this work is. “Tell me about this Peter guy.”
“Based on the spell I performed, he should have a rather demonstrative role in each of your lives.” Freya turns to face Scott and Lydia specifically. “You shared a connection to him, whether that be power or blood.”
“That means he could be a relative of one of you or what? Part of Scott’s pack?”
Freya shakes her head. “It would be deeper than that. Likely someone Scott turned.”
Allison’s brow furrows along with the other two. That doesn’t seem right. Scott’s very judicious about who he bites has been ever since he became an alpha. That he has a beta that he can’t remember makes little sense.
“That doesn’t explain his connection to Lydia, either. Or Derek. Or you.” Allison takes a deep breath as she considers. “There can’t just be no trace of this person. There have to be records somewhere. Do we have a last name?”
Freya shakes her head. “All I wrote before I passed out was ‘Peter.’ If he had a last name, we don’t know it.”
“Okay.” Allison rubs the back of her neck. “Let me go to the Sheriff’s station. They have residency records. If this guy was from Beacon Hills, maybe we can find him that way.”
“I’ll go with you,” Lydia offers. “I have a car. And Freya should too—maybe if she looks at the names, it might jog her memory as to why she’s supposed to know them.”
“I have to work,” Scott sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Just keep me posted? The second you know something—”
“We’ll let you know,” Allison nods with a smile. As the three women file out, Scott catches Allison’s wrist before she can go too far.
“Hey, Ally?”
Lydia pauses at the door, almost asking if Allison wants her to wait, and the other woman waves it off. She waits until their footsteps fade from the room before turning back to Scott again.
“What’s up?”
“I know this probably should be a larger conversation that we don’t have time for right now, but I just wanted to say—whatever’s happening with you and Stiles? I’m happy for you.”
She glances up at him with a small smile and a nod before giving his hand a squeeze. “Thanks. I’m happy for you and Lydia too.”
Scott smiles before letting her go with a brush of his thumb against the inside of her wrist. “Make sure she knows that? Because I can kind of tell she’s freaking out about it.”
“Oh, you mean the fleeing across the country and not telling you the truth for almost ten years didn’t give it away?” Allison counters with a smirk. “I’ll tell her. Keep us posted if you hear anything from Derek.”
Scott nods, before letting her go and Allison turns to head towards the Sheriff’s office.
Allison comes home on her eighteenth birthday, slightly dejected that neither of the people she thought would be her soulmate actually were. In some ways, she knew it was coming. She and Isaac weren’t quite on that wavelength, as much as she enjoys his company. And as much as she wanted her and Scott to be Romeo and Juliet, she forgot that the play has always been a tragedy. Still, the flutters of hope she had when she woke up that morning have dashed as she returns home to a world that’s still gray-scale.
Chris, predictably, does not know what to do with this.
It’s not that her father has ever not been loving. She saw how he was with her mother, who he always acknowledged as his soulmate, but she also saw the way things frayed at the seams towards the end. She tells him he doesn’t have to make her feel better, and he nods dutifully, but before he leaves her alone in her room, he turns back to face her.
“It’s not the end of the world if you don’t find your soulmate at eighteen, Ally. Most people don’t.”
“I know.” She rests her chin on her knees as she draws them to her chest. “Sometimes I just feel like I’m never going to love anyone the way I loved Scott.”
“You probably won’t.”
She raises an eyebrow at him, and he smirks at her in return. “What you and Scott had was special, loathe as I am to admit it. But every relationship is unique. Every relationship is going to feel different and you’ll love them differently. So no, you might not love someone the way you loved Scott. But that doesn’t mean when the time comes, you won’t know that it’s right just because it doesn’t feel like him.”
Allison doesn’t grasp it immediately, but when the time comes, she knows that she’ll find a way. Also, in some ways, it was good that Scott wasn’t the one. It might have made Chris falling in love with Melissa a little more awkward.
Turns out, Peter is a fairly common name in Beacon Hills. Who’d have thought?
They divide the residency records between the three of them, with Parrish monitoring their witchy friend from across the way. When Allison makes her way over to collect another batch, Parrish takes her arm gently to hold her attention.
“Are you sure we can trust her?”
“I’m not sure that we can’t,” Allison replies, turning to face him. “Why? Is the hound giving you a bad feeling?”
Parrish makes a face, before shaking his head. “I don’t know who this Peter guy is—but before she cast the spell, I remember not thinking it was a good idea. Whoever they’re trying to locate, I don’t think he’s a good person.”
Allison nods, because she understands, but they need answers. “I’ll make sure they stay safe. But we won’t know for sure until we find answers.” And the idea of danger has never stopped Allison from following something through to the end before.
Parrish nods and reluctantly lets her go. They spend another hour going over the documents, before Freya excuses herself for a cup of coffee. And once she does, Lydia strikes.
“So. You and Stiles.”
Allison swallows hard, running a hand through her hair. “Yeah. Me and Stiles.”
“Is he your—”
“Yeah.”
Lydia pauses before smiling softly and nodding. “Good.”
Not the reaction Allison expects. She lifts her head and squints at her friend curiously. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That it’s good? That I’m happy for you?” Allison doesn’t lift her stare and Lydia huffs before continuing. “You’re my best friend, and as much as he is my ex, we didn’t break up because of something he did wrong or anything like that. He’s a good boyfriend. Which means he’ll take care of you. Honestly, you need it.”
Allison nods before offering Lydia a small smile. “I feel the same way about you and Scott, for the record. No hard feelings.”
“Good.” Lydia reaches forward and giving her hand a squeeze. Some tension lifts from her shoulders. “We’ll figure this whole missing memory thing out and then hopefully everything will go back to normal.”
Freya returns with her cup of coffee and looks at both of them with a sigh. “Anything?” They both shake their head. “Then let’s keep looking.”
Allison figures out Stiles is her soulmate before he does. Or, at least, she thinks she does. It’s just before they cut their teeth on enough cases to make it to Miami, and the moment itself isn’t anything special. They’re just hanging out, talking, and suddenly Allison can see the purple tinge of his hoodie and the warm brown of his eyes.
He doesn’t falter or react, so Allison keeps it to herself. Unlike Lydia, she doesn’t feel the need to flee or fear what’s coming. She just hopes that one day, he’d catch up with her, eventually. She’s not one to burn a good partnership over something so trivial.
It takes Stiles a long time to catch up, though.
In fact, it takes until after he and Scott talk about Lydia, and he shows up at her dad’s house. He looks a little frantic, a little distracted, and when she appears, he glances around with a nervous smile.
“Your dad home?”
Allison shakes her head. “He and Melissa are having a date night. Why?”
“Good.” He doesn’t answer her question. Instead, he just takes a step forward, his hands finding her hips before leaning in to kiss her.
Allison blinks in surprise, fingers curling into the front of his shirt before sinking into it, feeling the rush of relief that comes with both of them being on the same page. The rightness of it all licks up her spine, and while yes, this doesn’t feel like the first time Scott kissed her, she would even say it’s better. Kissing Stiles feels like coming home, a familiarity and sturdiness that keeps her steady. A recognition of their history, but also the itch of something new, ready to be explored.
She takes a step backwards, giving them enough room to come in from the doorway and let it close behind him. Another couple steps and her back meets the back of the couch, holding her in place as the kiss finally breaks. She smiles, before tipping her head up to look at him.
“Took you long enough to catch up.”
His eyebrows furrow. “How long have you known?”
“A while,” she admits. “I figured you’d get there when you were ready.”
“Mmmmm,” he nods, resting his forehead against hers. “Thanks for not running away from me.”
“Yeah, well. I enjoyed having you around.” She brushes her thumb against his shoulder. “How long have you known?”
“About six months?” He shrugs. “It was slow, you know. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it.”
She nods. “It’s weird, isn’t it? To have this friend you’ve known forever, and suddenly they’re that person?”
He nods, before smirking in her direction. “But I can’t think of a better person for it to be.” Allison grins as he leans in to kiss her again, letting the moment bubble up between them, but as Stiles’ hands slide into tempting places, she pulls back.
“Probably shouldn’t be making out right here when my dad comes home.”
Stiles nods, before glancing around the house. “So, which one is your room?”
Allison laughs, before taking his hand and pulling him deeper into the safety of the apartment.
Allison takes the latest file on the stack, flips it open, and frowns. “Did you know Derek had an uncle?”
Lydia’s head lifts. “I thought it was just Derek and Cora.” She blinks and then shakes her head. “No, wait. Malia is his cousin. So yeah, I guess he had to have had one, maybe before the fire?”
Allison shakes her head, turning the file to face her friend. “According to this file, he owns property downtown. As in currently.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. I think we would know if Derek had family in town.” Lydia takes the file to review it, while Freya perks up in interest.
“That would solve one connection for the spell. If Derek was family, then who was he to you, Lydia?”
Lydia glances up before shaking her head, staring down at the picture in front of her. “I—I don’t know.”
“If he was Derek’s uncle, then why would Scott need to—” Allison’s voice trails off as she draws connections—connections she doesn’t fully understand, but needs to because it’s not just Scott and Lydia’s history that’s changed. Her own is in the mix. “Lydia, who turned Scott?”
Lydia looks up at her, because Allison should know the answer to that question. But then again, so should Lydia, as the alpha bit her, too. When the answer comes up empty, she shakes her head, concern coloring her face. “I don’t know.”
Allison nods, before getting up to use one of the white boards. “We’ve been thinking about this the wrong way. It’s not a beta Scott’s missing, it’s an alpha.” She labels the top of the board THE ALPHA before drawing out lines to the rest of the board. “The alpha who bit Scott killed Laura Hale to steal her power, turned Scott, activated you, killed Kate. The one who Derek killed to become an alpha. We should know who he is.”
There are big gaping holes in their memories for a reason, and as she lists them all out, she reaches for Peter’s photo and tapes it up under the title. She then turns back to the two women, putting her focus on Freya.
“The only thing we don’t know is his connection to you.”
Freya gets to her feet, moving closer and staring down the face in front of her, and she looks almost shell-shocked. Like she’s wracking her brain for the source of something familiar but unable to pin it down. “I know this face. I don’t know how or why but… I know him.”
Lydia reaches for Allison’s phone and tosses it to her. “We need to get Derek on the phone. He needs to know, especially if he’s going to Cora and Malia.”
Allison nods, dialing the number and putting the phone to her ear. Whatever did this, this problem might be bigger than they thought.