#ch: scott summers | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

taeswolfie · 7 months

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𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝑭𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 : 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑶𝒏𝒆

☽︎𝑾𝒐𝒍𝒇 𝑴𝒐𝒐𝒏☾︎

Ch.2

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Stiles Stilinski x fem!Reader

Word count: 9.3k

a/n: I started writing this in November of 2020 on Wattpad and finished a few years later, and although it's kind of old now it's still one of my favorite things I have written so far. I wanted to give it a bit of new life here on Tumblr. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I had writing it. There were about 90 chapters so wish me luck on this massive, and probably slow, migration 😅

A teenage girl sits cross legged in the middle of her bed dressed in pajamas. A book is held up in front of her. The cover of black leather has no title but the Triple Moon is embossed vertically in the middle, a moonstone sewn into the middle moon. Her head moves slightly as she reads and she mutters the words under her breath. She suddenly looks towards her window, a flash of purple is reflected when her eyes meet themselves in the glass before she blinks and they're back to their original color. She tilts her head a bit as if listening for something and squints her eyes before she gets up. The book closes and plops down onto the covers in front of her as she gets up, her hands unfolding from their place in her lap.

She pauses a few steps from her window with a sigh and a roll of her eyes. She takes the last few steps and quickly pulls open the window, sticking her head out and startling the brunette boy currently scaling the trellis on the side of the house. "What are you doing, Stiles?" She asked once he regained his hold on the structure.

"God! Y/n! You nearly scared me to death! How did you know I was here?" He asked, slightly out of breath from the combination of climbing the side of her house and getting a scare.

She shrugged a shoulder. "I heard you."

"How?! I was super careful not to make a sound. Also why weren't you answering your phone?"

"Not careful enough, apparently. And I was busy reading. I didn't want to be disturbed. Now, again, what are you doing, Stiles?"

"I saw my dad leave like 40 minutes ago. Dispatch called, everyone from the Beacon Department and even State Police were called in because two joggers found a body in the woods."

"No."

"No? What do you mean no?"

"I mean no. School starts tomorrow and I don't want to spend my last night of summer traipsing through the woods looking for a body."

"Half body." He corrected.

"Let me rephrase. I don't want to spend my last night of summer traipsing through the woods looking for a half body. Go drag Scott out of bed and make him go with you."

"Uh, he already did." Scott's voice drifted up to the two and Y/n looked past Stiles to see Scott giving her a sheepish grin.

She gave him an unimpressed look before leveling it on Stiles. "There's no way I'm gonna get you to leave me alone tonight, is there?"

"Nope." He grinned at her when she rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Fine." She pulled her head back in her room and stalked over to her closet.

"What are you doing?" She glanced behind her to see Stiles now haphazardly hanging onto her window sill.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm putting on some clothes. I don't want to go out, but I don't want to go without proper clothing more. Now, you can either watch me change or get off my window, but choose wisely."

He flushed a bit as he started to stammer. "Uh-um- I'm uh- I'm gonna go. Down there. With Scott."

"Good choice." She squinted her eyes at him with a sarcastic smile. Once he was out of sight and on the ground with a quiet 'thump' she shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Idiot." She mumbled under her breath but still couldn't help the small smile that crept onto her lips. She hurried and got dressed in a sweater and some pants before climbing onto her window sill and down the trellis, leaving her window ajar for when she came back. When she was on solid ground she made her way to the blue Jeep that she has come to associate as purely Stiles.

Stiles comes to a stop in front of a sign labeled Beacon Hills Preserve No Entry After Dark. All three teens hop out of the Jeep, Stiles holds a flashlight. "We're seriously doing this?" Scott asked with worry in his tone.

"You're the one who's always bitching that nothing ever happens in this town." Stiles shot back with a pat on Scott's shoulder when he passed. Y/n comes up next to Scott with a sigh.

"He's kinda got you there, Scotty." She also pats his shoulder before reluctantly following behind the overly excited boy.

"I was trying to get a good night's sleep before practice tomorrow." Scott also reluctantly followed.

"Right, 'cause sitting on the bench is such a grueling effort." Stiles retorted from five steps ahead of them.

"Hey, be nice Stilinski. Scott's trying to play this year."

"I will play this year." Scott corrected. "In fact, I'm making first line."

"Hey, that's the spirit." Y/n smiled at Scott with a nudge that he returned with a smile of his own.

"Everyone should have a dream, even a pathetically unrealistic one." Stiles said.

"Like chasing after Lydia Martin." Y/n mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?" Stiles couldn't hear her over the crunching of leaves and Scott's scoff.

"I said 'how much can these woods darken?'' Stiles threw a questioning glance over his shoulder at Y/n's innocent expression. He then looked at Scott, but the shaggy haired boy just shrugged. Stiles shook his head and continued looking forward as Y/n smirked to herself.

"Just out of curiosity, which half of the body are we looking for?" Scott asked.

Stiles slowed in his walking for a moment. "Huh! I didn't even think about that." He chuckled.

"I've got a question too." Y/n said with a finger raised slightly in the air. "What if whoever killed this person is still out here?"

"Also something I didn't think about."

"Of course you didn't." Y/n shook her head.

"It's... comforting to know you've planned this out with your usual attention to detail." Scott joked as they climbed up a steep incline making him start to breathe a bit harder.

"I know."

"Maybe the severe asthmatic should be the one holding the flashlight, huh?" Scott leaned against a tree and pulled out his inhaler. Y/n stopped with him as Stiles kept going.

"You good, Scott?" She asked, concerned.

He simply nodded as he shook the inhaler and waved her on. She took a few steps still looking at him before facing forward as he continued to walk with her. Stiles stumbles to the ground to lay on his stomach, Y/n following more gracefully with Scott falling beside her like Stiles had. Scott wheezes as they watch several flashlight beams scan the area, the figures holding them looking for any sign of the other half of the body.

"Okay, come on!" Stiles suddenly jumps up and runs in the direction of the other people.

"Stiles!" Scott calls but he doesn't answer.

Y/n groans. "I'll go after him." Y/n also jumps up and starts running after him.

Scott takes a puff of his inhaler before he also follows. "Wait up!" The three run through the woods, Y/n whisper yelling at Stiles at how much of an idiot he's being. "Stiles!" Scott also tries to whisper yell at the boy.

"Stiles, stop!" Y/n's forceful tone finally gets him to slow to a walk, looking behind him for his friends. Y/n catches up just as a dog barks at him, scaring him into falling back, which happened to be right into Y/n, sending both teens to the ground.

"Hold it right there!" An officer yells, the dog still barking as lights are shined on the two.

"Hang on, hang on!" Another voice calls over the ruckus. "This little delinquent belongs to me."

"Get off me, you oaf! You're crushing my ribs." Y/n groans with effort as she pushes Stiles off while he tries desperately to get up.

"Dad, how are you doing?" Stiles greets his father once he manages to stop crushing his friend.

"Y/n." Noah Stilinski greets.

"Hello Sheriff." She gives an innocent smile as she stands.

"Does he know you're out here?" Y/n didn't need him to name anyone to know who he was talking about.

"Would you believe me if I said yes?" He just looked at her and she looked away. "Yeah, thought not."

"So, do you, uh, listen in to all of my phone calls?" He then asks Stiles.

"No, heh." Stiles tries to deny, but then, "Well, not the boring ones." Y/n shakes her head.

"Now, where's your usual partner in crime?"

"Who, Scott?"

"No, the Gingerbread Man. Yes, he means Scott!" Y/n sasses before she gives the Sheriff a polite smile. "Scott's not with us, right now. He said he wanted to get a good night's rest for tomorrow's practice and he didn't want to come." What she said wasn't a lie, Scott wasn't with them because he trailed behind and he had said those words earlier.

Stiles nodded in agreement with what she had said. "It's just us. In the woods. Alone."

She gave him a short jab in the side with her elbow and a look that said shut up. Noah raises his flashlight and scans the surrounding trees. "Scott, you out there? Scott?" He calls but gets no answer. He sighs and lowers the light. "Well, young man, I'm gonna walk you back to your car. And you and I are gonna have a conversation about something called invasion of privacy." He grabs the scruff of Stiles' clothes and pulls him along, glancing back at Y/n. "And you, missy, I'm gonna give you a ride back home."

"Yes, sir. That sounds great actually." She takes one more look out at the trees with a small frown before following the Stilinski's.

After Noah made sure Stiles got in his car and drove away, he led Y/n to his car where she got in the front seat. Thunder crashes in the distance as she stares out of the front window, a worried look on her face. Rain gently patters against the road. She fidgets in her seat, an uneasy feeling in her gut. Her head whips towards the passenger window as she faintly hears a distant howl, the feeling getting just a bit worse.

When Noah pulls in front of Y/n's home she winces at the sight of Alan Deaton on the porch and sighs. "Thanks for the ride, Sheriff." Y/n glumly says as she unbuckles.

"No problem." He waves goodbye when she gets out and she watches him leave, prolonging the time before she has to face her guardian.

"Y/n." He says in his normal cool tone.

She slowly turns to look at him. "Yes, Alan?"

"Why did I get a call saying that you were wandering around in the woods in the middle of the night?"

"Because I was." She responded plainly.

"Why?"

"Stiles, being Stiles, listened in on the Sheriff's phone call and he heard about a dead body being found, but it was only half, and there was a search party for the other half and Stiles wanted to be the one to find it. He dragged Scott out too, and what kind of a best friend would I be if I had let them go by themselves? But now what kind of best friend am I that I left one of them in the woods after we were caught." She frowned.

"Who?"

"Scott. The Sheriff didn't see him because he hid behind a tree."

"And you know that how?"

"I heard him."

"I see." He nods in understanding. "I'm sure he'll be fine. Scott's a strong boy, he'll be okay. Come on, let's get inside. School starts tomorrow."

"Yeah." She mumbled. He held his arms out and she obliged by hugging him. He pulls away but still keeps an arm over her shoulder. Just before she steps inside she looks over her shoulder, back to the woods.

"What's wrong?"

She shakes her head a bit, a frown still tugging at her lips. "I don't know. Just a feeling." She sighs as she turns away and follows him into the house.

…

Y/n rides into the parking lot of Beacon Hills High School on her bike. She balances on one foot as she smoothly glides up to the bike rack, using her other foot as a brake once she's close enough. She notices Scott's bike and Jackson's Porsche as she's fixing up her bike lock. "Oh, yay, I'm parked next to him." She mutters sarcastically. She turns to face the school, fixing her bag on her shoulder, and takes a deep breath. "First day back to school. What a joy." With one more breath she makes her way to the front doors. She scans the crowd and spots Scott and Stiles, the former holding up his shirt to expose his side. Y/n squints and catches a red splotch on the gauze he has taped there before he puts it down and the two continue walking. She picks up her pace and jogs to the two, catching up when they stop again and she can clearly hear what they're saying.

"All right, well, if you don't believe me about the wolf, then you're definitely not gonna believe me about when I tell you I found the body." Scott's tone lowered with the last few words he spoke.

"What's this about a wolf?" Y/n asked once she stood next to the two, her curiosity piqued.

"Did you not just hear him about the body? Are you kidding me?" Stiles directed the last at Scott.

"No, I wish. I'm gonna have nightmares for a month."

"Oh, God, that is freakin' awesome."

"Yeah, awesome. You saw a wolf?" Y/n looked at Scott in question.

"No, but I heard one howling."

Y/n's brow furrowed a bit in worry but her thoughts are cut off by Stiles groaning out a sigh. "I already said that that was impossible. There are no wolves in California."

"You'd be surprised." She pointed out.

"Look, enough about the wolves. How are you focusing on that more than Scott found the body? I mean, this is seriously gonna be the best thing that's happened to this town since..." He trailed off as he spotted a particular strawberry blonde head. "Since the birth of Lydia Martin. Hey, Lydia... You look..." Lydia passes without a glance at Stiles but a small wave in greeting towards Y/n who returns the gesture. "Like you're gonna ignore me." Stiles sighs and looks at Scott. "You're the cause of this, you know?"

"Uh-huh." Scott 'agrees' with a smile.

"Draggin' me down to your nerd depths."

"Uh-huh." The three continue walking as the bell rings.

"I'm a nerd by association. I've been Scarlet Nerded by you. At least you haven't tarnished Y/n with your nerdy influence. How are you friends with Lydia, by the way? How did you get in there?" He rounds on Y/n.

She scoffs. "There's no 'in' to get to. We just so happen to be very best friends."

"I thought we were your best friends?" Scott points between himself and Stiles.

"You are, Scotty, don't worry." She pats his shoulder. "You're my guy best friends and she's my girl best friend."

"You think you could put in a good word for me so I can be her guy best friend?" Stiles asks with a hopeful tone.

"No." She shoots down immediately, giving a playful coo when he pouts and she lightly pinches his cheek. He bats her hand away with a laugh and the trio continue down the halls.

...

"As you all know, there indeed was a body found in the woods last night." Mr. Curtis informs as he writes on the white board. Scott shares a knowing smile with Y/n and Stiles, the h/c in the seat next to him with Stiles right behind her. "And I am sure your eager little minds are coming up with various macabre scenarios as to what happened. But I am here to tell you that the police have a suspect in custody," Mr. Curtiss turns to face the class, Scott throws a questioning look at Stiles who shrugs, "which means you can give your undivided attention to the syllabus which is on your desk outlining this semester."

Y/n picks up the paper to skim it over, barely glancing out the window when she heard the cell ringing outside. She sees a pretty brunette girl on the bench outside that she doesn't recognize yet doesn't really give it another thought. She looks back to her paper, but her eyes are drawn to movement beside her. She glances over and sees Scott looking around before rubbing his ear in confusion. She narrows her eyes at his actions and keeps watching him as his focus is drawn out the window and his eyes slowly sweep across the room until they stop at the door. A moment later the Vice Principal walks in with the brunette girl behind him.

"Class, this is our new student, Allison Argent. Please do your best to make her feel welcome." The VP leaves and the girl, Allison, moves to sit in the empty seat behind Scott. Y/n watches as Scott grabs one of his pens and turns to give it to Allison.

A confused look flashes across her face before it lights up with a smile. "Thanks."

"We'll begin with Kafka's Metamorphosis, on page 133." The teacher started speaking again as they looked at each other for a minute before Scott turned around. Y/n raised a brow at the exchange and caught Allison's confused look return. With one more glance at Scott Y/n turns back to her own papers, noting to herself to watch Scott a bit more closely.

...

The bell rings and students flood the halls. Scott fiddles with his locker's lock and glances down the hall spotting Allison. She looks over at him and smiles. He just blinks at her in a slight daze as Y/n comes up behind him. "Hey, Scott."

He turns to her. "Oh, hey, Y/n."

"I was meaning to ask, I saw you had a bandage on your side as I was catching up to you guys? What happened? Are you okay?" She asked in concern and he gave her an easy going smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Stiles doesn't believe me but I think a wolf bit me. It was dark and I couldn't see well but I heard a wolf howl."

"You're sure?"

"Pretty sure."

"Can I see? The bite I mean?"

"Yeah, sure." He glanced around before he lifted his shirt enough for her to see. She carefully pulled the top part of the bandage away and he winced. Quickly, but carefully, she put the bandage back and he let his shirt fall.

"Yeah, that's uh... That's some bite." Stiles came around to Scott's other side at that point and she tuned out their conversation as her mind swam with the new information and worry. She only snapped out of her head when Lydia called her name from down the hall. She was standing next to Allison and waving Y/n over. "I'll see you guys later." She said to the boys before she made her way over to Lydia and the new girl.

"Allison, this is my best friend, Y/n. Y/n, this is Allison." Lydia introduced.

"Nice to meet you." Y/n held her hand out which Allison took.

"You, too." Allison gives her a kind smile.

Jackson sidles up beside Lydia with an arm thrown around her. "Hey." She greets and gives him a kiss. Jackson spots Y/n and rolls his eyes.

"Y/n." He says in obligatory greeting.

"Jackson." She says boredly. The two proceed to ignore each other as they talk to Allison.

Across the hall Scott and Stiles watch the exchange as another girl stops beside them at the sight of the four. "Can someone tell me how new girl is here all of five minutes, and she's already hanging out with Lydia's clique?" The girl questions the two boys.

"Because she's hot." Stiles answers.

"Does that mean you think Y/n's hot?" Scott smirks at him.

"What?" Stiles looks at him almost offended. "I'm just saying beautiful people herd together."

"You just called Y/n beautiful." Scott's smile got wider as Stiles glared at him.

"Your point is?"

Scott shook his head. "Nothing. Nothing."

"I'm just stating facts. Y/n is obviously pretty hence why she's with Lydia and the new girl."

"I'm not saying anything." Stiles rolled his eyes as Scott just smiled at him and turned to the girl they were talking to. Scott's smile slowly fell as he looked back over at the four. His ears were able to pick up the conversation taking place across the hall.

"So, this weekend, there's a party." Lydia hints to Allison.

"A party?" The brunette questions.

"Yeah, Friday night." Jackson informs. "You should come."

"Uh, I can't. It's Family Night this Friday. Thanks for asking."

"You sure? I mean, everyone's going after the scrimmage. Even Hermit over there is going." Jackson gestured towards Y/n and she gave him a sarcastic laugh with squinted eyes.

"You mean like football?"

"Football's a joke in Beacon."

"The sport here is lacrosse." Y/n informed. "It's like... A big thing."

"We've won the State Championship for the past three years."

"Because of a certain Team Captain." Lydia smiled up at Jackson and fixed a piece of his hair.

"Well, we have practice in a few minutes. That is, if you don't have anywhere else-"

"Well, I was going to-"

"Perfect." Lydia cut Allison off. "You're coming." Lydia grabbed Allison's wrist with one hand and Y/n's with the other and started to pull them both along.

"Is she always like this?" Allison whispered to Y/n.

"You get used to it." Y/n shrugged with an unbothered expression.

...

Lydia leads the trio as they make their way to the stands and sit. Y/n spots Scott and Stiles already geared up and on the field. She gives them a wave when they look over although Y/n notices Scott wasn't looking at her but at the brunette next to her making her smirk to herself. Coach Finstock talks to Scott and Y/n sees him hand Scott the gear for goalie. Oof. That's gonna be rough. She thought as Scott takes position in front of the goal.

"Who is that?" Allison asks.

"On goal?" Y/n clarifies and when Allison nods she smiles. "That's Scott. He's one of my best friends." Y/n looked back at Scott to see him already looking in their direction with a tilted head and her smile dissolved into a slight frown. Coach blows the whistle and Scott grips at his head as if someone was shouting at him, Y/n's frown goes a little deeper. Another player throws the ball and it goes right into Scott's mask making him fall flat on his back. Stiles grimaces and Scott gets back up. He braces himself as another player throws the ball again, but this time he caught it.

He looks at it surprised and smiles. The lined up players all look around each other to see what McCall had done. Stiles sits up and yells, "Yeah!" Scott catches ball after ball and Stiles whoops. Y/n watches with raised brows and a disbelieving scoff.

"He seems like he's pretty good." Allison comments.

"Yeah, very good." Lydia agrees.

"Uh oh." Y/n mutters when she sees Jackson skip the line to take his shot at Scott. The air is tense as everyone watches Jackson run up and hurl the ball at Scott. But to everyone's surprise he swiftly catches it. Stiles jumps up, hooting in joy. Y/n stands with Lydia as the strawberry blonde cheers and Y/n cups her hands over her mouth. "GO SCOTT!"

"THAT'S MY FRIEND!" Stiles yells making Y/n laugh. Lydia screams some more cheers and Jackson glares over at her. When he catches her eye she just gives him a what? look and sits back down.

...

"I don't know what it was." Scott leads the way through the woods and across a small stream as his two friends follow him. "It was like I had all the time in the world to catch the ball. And it's not the only weird thing. I can... hear stuff I shouldn't be able to hear. Smell things."

"Smell things? Like what?" Stiles questions from behind Scott.

"Like Mint Mojito gum in your pocket. And Y/n smells like flowers."

"I do?" The girl muttered as she pinched her shirt and sniffed it, only smelling her laundry soap and a bit of animal from her time at the Animal Clinic. She then held her wrist up to her nose, focusing on her sense of smell, and there it was. A faint scent of flowers that clung to her skin like a mist. Something she had almost forgotten about because there wasn't anyone who would notice it like her.

The three pause as Stiles rummages through his jacket pockets. "I don't even have any Mint Mojito-" He cuts himself off as he pulls a slightly opened piece of gum from his pocket. Y/n raises a brow as Stiles looks up at Scott who gives him a see? gesture. They continue walking and Stiles shoves the gum back in his pocket. "So all this started with a bite."

"What if it's like an infection, like my body's flooding with adrenaline before I go into shock or something?"

"You know what? I actually think I've heard of this- it's a specific kind of infection."

"Are you serious?" They all stop again, Y/n looking between the two, nervousness flashing through her system as she realizes what Stiles is getting at, albeit jokingly, but this was anything but a joke to her.

"Yeah." Stiles puts his hands on his hips in seriousness. "Yeah, I think it's called Lycanthropy."

"What's that? Is it bad?" Scott worries.

Y/n folded her arms. "He's talking about Werewolfism."

"Yeah! You know, the full moon and the awrooo." Stiles howls. Scott lightly pushes him away and continues walking as Stiles laughs. "Hey, man..." He follows, an unusually quiet Y/n following. "Hey, you're the one who heard a wolf howling."

"Hey, there could be something seriously wrong with me." Scott frets.

"I know! You're a werewolf! Ow!" He rubs his arm from Y/n's sudden attempt to make him shut up. He looks at her in question and she glares at him.

"Don't joke around like that, Stiles." She catches up with Scott. "Ignore him. I'm sure that it's nothing too bad, okay?"

Scott just sighs and Stiles speaks up. "Okay, obviously I'm kidding. But if you see me in shop class trying to melt all the silver I can find, It's 'cause Friday's a full moon." While Scott ignores Stiles, Y/n bites her lip in worry. If it was just a random ordinary wolf, Scott should be fine. But if it wasn't... If it really was what she thinks it was, then things were going to get very complicated very soon.

Scott looks around on the ground but doesn't see anything. "No, I- I could have sworn this was it. I saw the body, the deer came running. I dropped my inhaler." Scott crouches to look through the leaves.

"Maybe the killer moved the body?" Y/n suggests.

"If he did, I hope he left my inhaler. Those things are like 80 bucks." Y/n chuckles a bit but when she feels another presence her head shoots up and she spots a broody looking man with dark hair and a black leather jacket. Stiles notices the man a second later and pats Scott to get his attention. Scott looks back and stands up to face the man.

The man starts walking closer to them at a brisk pace making Y/n take a few steps of her own to where she now stood in front of the boys. Used to her protectiveness neither of them give the action a second thought. "What are you doing here? Huh?" The man asks quickly. "This is private property."

"Sorry, we didn't know." Y/n speaks up for them. "We were just looking for something. You wouldn't have happened to see an inhaler around, would you?" Without another word the man pulls something from his pocket and tosses it towards Scott, but Y/n catches it from the air without looking away from him. She tossed the object back to Scott which he sees as his inhaler. After another moment of Y/n and the stranger staring each other down he turned and walked away. Once she was sure he wasn't coming back she turned to see Stiles gaping towards where he left and Scott frowning.

"All right, well, I've gotta get to work." Scott went to leave only to be stopped by Stiles.

"Guys, that was Derek Hale."

"Hale?" Y/n questioned, the name sounding vaguely familiar to her.

"You remember, right?" He asked Scott. "He's only a few years older than us. This was, like, a few years before you moved here, Y/n. His family burned to death in a fire, like, ten years ago."

"That's awful." Y/n frowned.

"I wonder what he's doing back?" Scott mused.

Stiles scoffs and shrugs his shoulders. "Come on." He started to walk away, Y/n and Scott following after one more look towards where Derek Hale disappeared to.

...

Y/n sat at home that night, curled up in the corner of the couch and worrying at her bottom lip. She stared into space as her mind swirled in a mixed mess. It was only the first day back at school and things are already kind of stressful. She didn't notice the other person in the room until the couch sagged next to her. She turned her head to see Alan giving her a concerned look. "Are you alright?"

"I don't know." She said honestly.

"Well, I don't think the wall will be alright if you keep burning a hole through it." She gave him a weak chuckle as she looked at the wall again. "What's bothering you?"

She sighed and shook her head a bit. "It's hard to explain."

"Do your best."

She was quiet while she tried to get her thoughts in order. "The other night, I heard a howl. It was distant but I know what I heard. And now I find out today, Scott heard it too and he swears a wolf bit him." She looked at him again, concern, worry, and a slight bit of fear written on her face. "He's been acting strange too. He's hearing things only I would normally hear, and he's smelling things like my natural scent of flowers. I think that... I'm scared that..." She sighed in frustration. "My thoughts are so jumbled."

He put a comforting hand on her knee. "Tell me what you feel, then, instead of what you think."

She closes her eyes for a moment and when they open, they glow a slight purple before dimming back to e/c. "I feel like he's been bit by an Alpha. He's turning."

Alan's face turns serious. "Well, if your feeling is correct, and I've never known it to be otherwise, then Scott's going to have a tough time ahead of him."

"Tell me about it." She huffed. "What do I do?"

He was quiet for a moment as he thought of what best to advise. "Just be there for him and help him. If he's really been bitten, he's going to need his friends more than ever."

"What if he or Stiles starts asking questions about what I know? I can't tell them about me." She frowned at the thought. She's never had a reason to reveal what she was and when they learn about the supernatural she'd be lying about it.

"They'll be too preoccupied with Scott's new transformation to wonder about it much. For now, at least, don't worry about it."

"I'll try. Thanks... For helping me." She gave him a small smile and hugged him which he returned. "It's what I'm here for." He patted her back and pulled away. He got up and left her to her thoughts again, but this time they weren't as stormy.

...

"Y/n! Y/n!" The girl looked to the spastic boy who was yelling her name across the lacrosse field as she sat on the stands. She squinted her eyes in confusion watching Stiles run like a bat out of hell and got off the stands so that he wouldn't pile-drive people just to get to her.

"Whoa, whoa!" She cried out when he nearly rammed into her and held tightly to her shoulders. "Calm down there, Speedy. What's wrong?"

"Scott was right." He blurted.

"What? Right about what?"

"Scott was right! About a wolf! There was animal hairs on the body, wolf hairs!"

She opened her mouth to speak, but he rushed off as he spotted Scott, which was probably a good thing because she wasn't even sure what she would say. Her feeling is turning out to be more and more correct as the seconds ticked by. As the game started Y/n could only watch in concern and a slight bit of awe as Scott easily skirted around other players and flipped over three other guys blocking his path to take a quick shot. The team gathered around Scott, praising his score and patting him on the shoulders. Coach called Scott over and she listened in, smiling a bit when he put Scott on first line. Maybe being a werewolf wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for him. Maybe it'll actually be good. Maybe.

But the pit in her stomach told her that maybe it won't be as good as she hopes. She looked over to Stiles to see him with a worried expression. She went over to him and sat next to him. "What's on your mind?" She nudged his shoulder lightly.

"I think- and I know this sounds crazy- but I think I might have been right. That joke I made the other day. I don't think it's much of a joke anymore. I think Scott is actually a werewolf." He looked at her in worry and all she could do was put a comforting arm around his shoulders.

"Whatever is happening here, we'll get through it. I know it." Stiles didn't answer. Just continued watching Scott in worry.

Later that day Y/n pedaled to a stop in front of Stiles' house, Scott doing the same a minute later. "Hey." She greeted.

"Hey. Do you know what Stiles called us for?" He quizzed.

"Nope." She shook her head. Well, she had a pretty good idea what it was. They both made their way into the house and up to Stiles' room where Scott knocked loudly.

The excitable boy opened the door and sighed in relief when he saw it was his friends who smiled at him. "Get in. You gotta see this thing." Stiles closed the door. "I've been up all night reading- websites, books. All this information."

"How much Adderall have you had today?" Scott asked.

"A lot." Y/n and Scott shared a smile at that. "Doesn't matter. Okay, just listen." Stiles urged.

"Oh, is this about the body? Did they find out who did it?" Scott sat his bag on the bed and sat himself down on the edge, Y/n placing herself next to him.

"No, they're still questioning people, even Derek Hale."

"Oh, the guy in the woods that we saw the other day." Scott realized.

"Yeah! Yes. But that's not it, okay?"

"What, then?"

"Remember the joke from the other day?" Stiles scoffed. "Not a joke anymore." When Scott didn't catch on to what he was saying he elaborated. "The wolf. The bite in the woods. I started doing all this reading. Do you even know why a wolf howls?"

"Should I?"

"It's like a signal." Y/n finally spoke up, both boys turning to face her. "A wolf howls to tell its pack where it is." When they both just stared at her she raised her brows at them. "What? I live with a vet and I like animals."

"Right." Stiles agreed. "So if you heard a wolf howling, that means others could have been nearby. Maybe even a whole pack of 'em."

"A whole pack of wolves?" Scott wondered.

"No... Werewolves." Y/n frowned. This had been exactly what she thought this was about. But, while she was nervous, Scott was unbelieving.

"Are you seriously wasting my time with this?" Scott got up and started to grab his bag. "You know I'm picking up Allison in an hour."

"Scott, maybe you should listen to him."

"Not you, too." Scott looked at Y/n, slightly aggravated.

"He's got a point. I mean, Scott, we saw you on the field today. What you did wasn't just amazing, it was practically miraculous."

"Exactly!" Stiles pointed at her excitedly.

"Yeah, so I made a good shot." Scott brushed it off.

"No, you made an incredible shot, I mean..." Stiles grabbed Scott's bag and put it back on the bed. "The way you moved, your speed, your reflexes. People can't just suddenly do that overnight. And- and there's the vision and the senses, and don't even think I don't notice that you don't need your inhaler anymore."

"Okay!" Scott interrupted. "Dude, I can't think about this now. We'll talk tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?! What? No! The full moon's tonight. Don't you get it?"

"What are you trying to do?" The tension in the room rises and Y/n stands, feeling the spiking emotions. The first moon is sometimes the worst for newer wolves. "I-I just made first line. I got a date with a girl who I can't believe wants to go out with me, and everything in my life is somehow perfect. Why are you trying to ruin it?"

"He's not trying to ruin anything, Scott. He's trying to help you."

"You're cursed, Scott. You know, and it's not just the moon that will cause you to physically change. It also just so happens to be when your bloodlust will be at its peak."

"Bloodlust?"

"It's like an uncontrollable urge to maim and kill." Y/n provided the info again.

"I'm already starting to feel an urge to kill, Y/n." Scott said irritably.

"I'm sure you are." Y/n muttered under her breath.

"You gotta hear this." Stiles continued to rant. He grabbed a book and searched for what he wanted from it. "'The change can be caused by anger or anything that raises your pulse.' All right? I haven't seen anyone raise your pulse like Allison does. You gotta cancel this date. I'm calling her right now." He moved around Scott to his bag and rummaged around for Scott's phone.

"Wait, Stiles. You shouldn't-" Y/n tried to warn but she was cut off by Scott.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm canceling the date." Stiles had finally retrieved the device.

"No, give it to me!" Y/n felt heat flush her body as she felt Scott's anger reach a crescendo making him grab Stiles and shove him against the wall, fist raised and ready to strike.

"Scott, stop!" Y/n yelled forcefully. Scott's fist shook and he yelled as he swiped at Stiles' desk chair making it clatter to the floor.

Scott panted heavily as he looked between Y/n and Stiles. The air was thick as Scott realized what he was going to do. "I'm sorry." No one spoke. "I-I gotta go get ready for that party." He, more calmly, got his bag from the bed and went to the door, pausing to look at his friends again. "I'm sorry." And then he left, closing the door behind him.

Y/n let out a breath to calm herself as Stiles leaned his head back onto the wall and she looked over at him. "Are you okay?" She asked. He didn't answer but nodded his head a bit. Even with his assurance she wanted to assure herself so she went over to him and pulled him into a hug, which he gladly reciprocated. The two teens stood in silence for a moment before he pulled away with a sigh. She raised her brows in question and he nodded at her again.

"I'm good. Thanks." He gave her a small, appreciative smile.

"Anytime." He looked at his fallen chair and went over to it. He crouched down and picked it up, sitting it back on its wheels, but paused in his movements. He looked over his shoulder at Y/n with furrowed brows and moved for her to see. She frowned when she saw the three slash marks that scarred the chair from Scott's hit.

...

Y/n sat in her room and bounced her leg anxiously. The party was soon and she didn't want to go, she wasn't much of a party person unless she was in the mood for it, but tonight was the full moon and so she had to. She had to watch out for Scott. The first change is often the hardest and it'll be no different for him.

She jumped slightly when she heard a honk from outside. She looked out her window and smiled when she spotted the blue Jeep, giving Stiles a wave when he spotted her. She took one more glance in the mirror and flattened out any wrinkles in her clothes before she went downstairs. She spotted Alan on her way and stopped in front of him. "How do I look?" She asked.

He twirled a finger and she obliged by turning for him. When she faced him again he smiled. "Stunning as always." He finally said.

She rolled her eyes but still smiled. "You always say that."

"Because it's always true." He was silent for a moment, a tender look in his eyes. She felt a nostalgic feeling from him as he looked at her but also at something else, something not quite in the same space as them. "You look just like her."

A sad smile graced her features as she looked down and remembered her face. It's been a long time since she last saw her mother in person. Yeah, she has pictures, but it's not quite the same. The camera doesn't quite catch the proud gleam in M/n's eyes when Y/n showed off her growing skills. All she has is the memory that she desperately holds onto. And that's enough for now until she can see her again, one day in the future.

She looked back up at Alan and gave him a sudden hug. He huffed a laugh in amusement but hugged her back. "Thank you." Her voice was soft but he still heard her. He just squeezed her a bit tighter before they both pulled away. "Okay. I should go now. Stiles is waiting."

"Have fun. And be careful." He warned gently.

"I will." She gave him one more smile before she turned and rushed out the door and hopped into the Jeep. "Thanks for giving me a ride."

"No problem. You look really good, by the way." Stiles complimented.

"You don't look so bad yourself." They smiled and he started to drive to the party.

Music pounded through the house as teens danced together, several of them holding red or blue cups. Stiles and Y/n stood in the middle of moving bodies and looked around. "I don't see Scott." Stiles yelled over the noise and looked at her.

She took one more glance around. "He's probably not here yet. Stay in here. I'll keep an eye out for him outside."

"Sounds good." With that Y/n made her way to the backyard where more people were having a good time together. She looked around for her friend, but spotted someone unexpected. Her eyes narrowed as she made her way to the mysterious Hale, his eyes already watching her cautiously.

"I know what you are." She said as soon as she was close enough and folded her arms. "All I wanna know is, are you an Alpha?"

"No, I'm not."

"Show me." He rolled his eyes before they flashed a brilliant blue. She frowned at the color but decided to ignore it for now. "Okay. Then what do you want with Scott?"

"I'm just looking out for him. There are Hunters here."

A rush of fear coursed through her and she nearly stopped breathing. "What?" It came out a little more breathless than she intended, but wouldn't you be breathless too if you were presented with one of your biggest fears?

He didn't say anything else as his eyes were drawn behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see Scott had arrived with Allison. Scott spotted them, looking between his friend and the stranger as a dog started barking. Derek looked behind him at the dog and then back at Scott, Y/n giving the canine creature a glance. Scott kept staring until Allison had gotten his attention. Derek took this chance to leave. Y/n gave the moon a nervous glance before returning to the party. She wandered aimlessly until a pair of familiar hands grabbed her and she found she was inside the house again. She looked up to see Stiles giving her a worried look.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

She opened her mouth to say something, but slowly shut it realizing she didn't really have anything to say. So she just settled with, "Yeah, I'm fine." A sudden pull in her gut told her that something was happening and that that something was Scott. "But I don't think Scott is." Not even a moment after she said that Scott had started to practically stumble into the house, sweat on his brow and breathing heavily.

"Yo, Scott, you good?" Stiles asked as he got closer.

"Are you okay?" Another girl asked yet he just bypassed everyone and made his way to his car, speeding off as fast as he could. He was gone by the time Y/n and Stiles made it outside and they just barely caught Allison getting into Derek's car and driving off.

Y/n huffed in frustration and grabbed Stiles' wrist. "Come on." She dragged him to his Jeep and he drove them to Scott's house. Melissa wasn't home as the two bounded up the steps and to Scott's door. That was probably for the best. She tried to open the door and found it was locked so she pounded on it instead.

"Go away." She heard his meak reply.

"Scott, it's us." Movement from the other side and the door opened just a crack. They tried to open it further but Scott wouldn't let them. "Let us in, Scott. We can help."

"No! Listen, you gotta find Allison."

"She's fine, all right?" Stiles assured. "We saw her get a ride from the party. She's- she's totally fine."

"No, I think I know who it is."

"You just let us in. We can try-"

"It's Derek. Derek Hale is the werewolf. He's the one that bit me. He's the one that killed the girl in the woods."

"Wait, no." Y/n tried to correct. "No, Scott, he didn't-" She was cut off.

"Scott.. Derek's the one who drove Allison from the party."

"Oh, shit." Y/n felt Scott's mood shift a second before the door slammed on them and was locked again.

Stiles banged on the door. "Scott!" Stiles kept trying the door as Y/n heard a thump. Her breath hitched when she heard a roar and she pushed Stiles from the door and out of the house. "It's too late. Just check on Allison. I'll try and follow Scott."

"Wait, what?! You can't go out there by yourself! You could get hurt! Whoa!" He nearly fell as Y/n practically shoved him into the Jeep.

"Don't worry, I can handle myself. Just go." She didn't give him anymore time to argue as she started sprinting towards the woods. There wasn't time to track him so she just went in the general direction she had heard him run for a bit before she resorted to getting some help. She stopped for a minute and closed her eyes. When she opened them they blazed with a violet glow and she looked around at the few people now standing around there. "Have you seen a boy run through here?" She got a few nods. "Please, show me which way he went." One by one the figures pointed and she continued running, now following the dead's guidance.

She felt them before she saw them, the wolves and the Hunters. Her eyes returned to e/c as she saw a flash of light and heard Scott's scream of pain. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw three Hunters there. Like a truck hitting her, memories flashed through her head. Running through the woods. She was crying and she heard her mother scream. "Y/n! Run, just run!"

She was snapped out of her flashback when she heard, who she assumed, the lead Hunter speak. "Take him." That's when she spotted Scott, shifted and pinned to a tree by an arrow through his forearm. Suddenly one of the other Hunters was yanked back and she caught a glimpse of Derek. A rush of adrenaline urged her forward and to Scott where she broke the arrow and pulled him away as Derek threw the second Hunter before following them.

The three ran through the woods until Scott collapsed to the ground against a tree, panting. When he turned around and sat with his back on the tree he was back to normal. Y/n dropped to her knees taking deep breaths, her hands gripping onto any fabric they could find to stop from shaking. Derek looked around to make sure they got away for now. "Who were they?" Scott asked.

"Hunters." Derek answered. "The kind that have been hunting us for centuries."

"Us? You mean you! You did this to me!" Scott jumped up from the ground and shouted angrily.

"Is it really so bad, Scott? That you can see better... Hear more clearly, move faster than any human could ever hope? You've been given something most people would kill for. The Bite is a gift."

"He should have had the choice to receive it." Y/n spoke up, finally finding her voice again. She shakily stood up, clenching her hands to stand stronger. "It should have been his decision."

"There's nothing to be done about that now. He has it."

"I don't want it." Scott said.

"You will. And you're gonna need me if you want to learn how to control it." Derek bent over and placed his hand on Scott's shoulder. "So you and me, Scott... We're brothers now." Derek walked away, leaving the teens by themselves. Scott gripped his injured arm and leaned his head back.

Y/n looked at him and his arm. She carefully made her way to his right so she could see it better. "Can I see?" She asked. He looked up at her like he was just realizing she was there but nodded and moved his hand. She gently took his arm and inspected the wound. It wasn't too bad, she could easily heal it. But the problem was healing it would raise more questions than she was willing to answer so soon. So instead she tore off a strip of her clothes, not really minding since she could always fix it later. She tied the fabric around his arm and he hissed at the contact. "Sorry." She pulled her hands away when she was done and looked up at him. "That should do for now. It might take a while, but you'll heal."

"Thank you." She gave him a small smile and a nod. She looked around with a sigh and stood up, holding a hand out to him.

"Come on. It's a ways before we get back home. Better start walking now." He took her hand, she helped him stand and they both started to trek through the woods.

...

By the time the sun was up Y/n and Scott were going down the side of the road, Scott still babying his injured arm. The sound of a car coming drew her attention and she looked over her shoulder, smiling in relief when she saw the most beautiful blue Jeep she had ever seen. She tugged on Scott's good arm to get him to turn as Stiles pulled to a stop next to them. Scott got into the front and Y/n happily hopped in the back, tossing a spare blanket at Scott before curling herself up in one and sprawling in the back.

"You know what actually worries me the most?" Scott asked after a while.

"If you say Allison, I'm gonna punch you in the head." Stiles responded.

"Leave the boy alone, Stilinski." Y/n mumbled tiredly from the back.

"She probably hates me now." Scott practically lamented.

"Ugh." Stiles sighed. "I doubt that. But you might want to come up with a pretty amazing apology. Or, you know, you could just... Tell her the truth and... Revel in the awesomeness of the fact that you're a frickin' werewolf." Scott gave him a look and Stiles backpedaled. "Okay, bad idea. Hey, we'll get through this." Stiles patted his arm. "Come on, if I have to, I'll chain you up myself on full moon nights and feed you live mice. I had a boa once. I could do it."

"I'm pretty sure l could get some puppy chow from the Clinic." Y/n offered with a sleepy smile. Scott scoffed at them with a smile and they continued their drive in silence.

After Stiles dropped Y/n off at home a few hours before school she closed the door behind her and just stood there for what felt like hours but was only a few minutes. Her eyes were glued to the floor, her mind filled with white noise. Alan had been waiting for her to get home and when she didn't come through the living room a bit after the door closed he decided to go to her. When he spotted her her expression looked almost exactly like it had years ago when she was a terrified little girl in front of his door, eyes watery with shadows of the past flickering in the e/c depths. This worried him because she wasn't one to be scared so easily. Something had to have happened that truly shook her.

She didn't seem to notice his presence, even when he was stood right in front of her. He gently placed his hands on her shoulders as if he was handling a scared animal, and by all rights, he was. Her eyes flicked up to his and she just stared at him for a moment. Then it seemed like the night's events finally caught up to her as her breath hitched and tears spilled down her cheeks.

She practically fell into him and he held her up, not asking any questions because right now, all she needed was to be comforted. He would get answers later when she calmed down and was finally able to tell him what happened without choking up. It was moments like those she was thankful that she had found Alan and had been taken in by him and she would always be grateful for it.

Ch.2

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idontknowreallywhy · 6 months

Text

Estera - Ch 17 - Haunted

Oops. It all went a bit pear shaped didn’t it?

John&Virgil discuss bagels, EOS goes loopy and Scott fails to enjoy his whisky.

Another long one, but a lot had to happen before I could tag @sofasurf back in for the next chapter so… buckle up ;)

(Previous… Prologue - Stars are Only Visible in Darkness, Estera - 1 - Colour, 2 - Dinosaur, 3 - Shoes, 4 - Thunderbird, 5 - Lesson, 6 - Safe, 7 - Gull, 8 - Deliver, 9 - Coffee, 10 - Flight, 11 - Run, 12 - Fall, 13 - Trying, 14 - Hide, 15 - Wait, 16 - Distraction)

(Sofasurf’s Recrudescence which is the foundation for all of this)

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“Hey Johnny what’s up?”

“Don’t call me Johnny.”

“Sure.” Virgil squinted as he rubbed out a middle C on the score he was drafting and replaced it with the Ab. Ah, perfect. He smiled to himself, he was nearly there with this one.

“Scott sent bagels to the girl.”

“He… bagels?”

“Yes. Bagels.”

Virgil frowned and scrubbed out 4 bars of the bass line. Too derivative.

“Bagels, Virgil.”

“You can’t have every bagel on the planet John, got to let us earthbound types have a few of them.”

“What? That’s not… Virgil! Pay attention this is important!”

Virgil sighed and closed the manuscript. “What are you concerned about John?”

“It’s HER. He’s… getting too… involved. What if…? Look what happened before.”

If he couldn’t already tell from the furrowed brow, John’s uncharacteristic incoherence would speak volumes about how worried he was. And Virgil sympathised, he really did. Worried-about-Scott was a fairly constant state of mind for him too. But this time… he just didn’t see it.

“John, he’s… happy. He’s on form, he’s fit, he’s enjoying himself - that rescue yesterday? He was on fire, honestly. I thought Allie might ask for his autograph at some point. He’s relaxed. He’s laughing again. I think he might actually be sleeping occasionally.” Virgil paused for a moment and experienced a rush of thankfulness as he processed exactly how relieved he was by how things had changed in recent weeks.

“EXACTLY Virgil. We’ve only just got him back! What if she… triggers something? Or… or breaks his heart? What if next time we don’t get him back?”

“I don’t think she’s any more likely to break his heart than anyone else. Remember the Ruby Summers debacle?”

John cringed. That had been a difficult month for anyone within a 2 mile radius of their eldest brother.

“If he’s interested in her romantically he’s moving unusually slowly for him. You know what he’s like. It’s entirely possible he’s just trying to be supportive - they clearly have something in common. He told me she understands things he can’t explain. Don’t you think it’s good for him to have a friend who does?”

“But…”

“Either something will come of it or it won’t, John. And if he gets hurt we’ll be here. Like we would for any of us.”

Holographic shoulders slumped.

“He won’t thank you for interfering, John.”

“I’m not going to!”

“Good.”

His brother’s image winked out while still muttering and Virgil turned back to his manuscript. He chuckled to himself

“Bagels eh? That’s a new one, Scotty.”

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Can I ask you something?

Of course!

Fire away

How do you know my address?

Scott?

Ok, I was hoping that wouldn’t be a complicated question.

Please answer the question.

You can’t, can you?

You see I’m ex-directory, always have been. I opted out.

To stop creepy people looking me up, actually.

My name and address isn’t anywhere public.

Have you had me followed?

Is it the young guy with the ridiculous beard and the labradoodle Bez has befriended on the beach?

It is isn’t it?

I knew there was something odd about him. He was too friendly.

I can’t believe this.

Please stop. I don’t know what kind of person you think I am, but I am not that kind of person.

Ok? I’m not interested in… whatever it is you want.

Please leave me alone.

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

8 hours of mudslide hell and Scott was ready to drop. Debrief was postponed until they’d all got some sleep and he hastened to the privacy of his room, opening up the messages app on his comm as he did so. A notification popped up - 15 unread messages.

A little warm glow nestled at the base of his rib cage and he smiled, deciding to go and sit on the balcony under the stars to read them. Maybe with a small measure of whisky. As he poured it he remembered she’d been about to ask him something.

He sat back and toasted the moon then opened the chat as he took a sip.

His blood ran cold.

He put the glass down with a shaking hand and sank his teeth into his fist, desperately trying not to panic. He needed to react calmly and slowly and not like the psychopath she clearly thought he was.

He scanned the messages again and they were even worse on second reading.

Slow be damned. He’d already apparently ignored her for hours. He fired back a message.

Estera I promise this isn’t what you think it is.

I understand why you think it is but it isn’t.

Please let me explain.

He downed the whisky and started pacing the balcony.

I haven’t had you followed.

I don’t ‘want anything’ from you.

Please believe me.

The messages remained unread.

“EOS!!”

“Hello Scott”

“EOS which directory did you use to look up Estera’s address?”

“I didn’t use a directory, Scott. I already knew the address.”

Scott closed his eyes. The school staff records. Of course she didn’t need to look it up.

He hadn’t considered EOS would even need to do anything… EOS-ey. It hadn’t occurred to him Estera wouldn’t be in the public directory, most people were these days. Those who weren’t… there was usually a reason.

And now he’d scared her. Which was categorically the last thing on the planet he wanted to do.

He checked again and the messages were still unread. He resisted the urge to throw his comm into the pool and walked quietly back into his room to place it on the bedside table. And then very calmly sat on the side of the bed, picked up the fluffiest cushion in his arsenal and screamed a string of curses into it.

“Scott you are distressed? I am sorry I didn’t mean to upset you. What did I do wrong? Can I fix it please?”

She actually sounded upset. He’d somehow managed to upset the emotionless AI. At what point had John programmed ‘shaky tearful voice’ into his robot friend?

He placed the cushion carefully on his knees, pressed his lips together and shook his head. He opened the message app again. Still nothing.

“No, EOS, you can’t fix it. Please leave me alone now. I need to think.”

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Alan slid across the kitchen floor in his socked feet, cracking the seal on the instant noodles and popping the microwave door in one slick movement. Nice. He put them inside and set the timer before stretching with a loud yawn and a satisfied grin. It wasn’t gourmet but fast food was food and it was fast. 13 seconds later he leapt backwards in surprise as with a loud POOF the packet exploded into flames.

Huh. Maybe the microwaveable noodles weren’t microwaveable after all. He must have messed up and put the wrong kind in. Oops.

Ok, fine. He grabbed one of the slower, ‘just add boiling water’ type instead and flicked the switch on the kettle. The fuse blew immediately. He pouted. Why wouldn’t the universe let him have noodles tonight?

The cleaning bot whirred into life and threw itself down the stairs with a clatter.

Then all the lightbulbs went out one by one.

He stood in the dark, trying not to freak out when he heard a faint, almost childish sob from the lounge and did his best not to whimper as he backed into the corner.

He opened his comm and whispered in a definitely calm and not at all terrified way:

“John… John…? I think we got a haunting situation going on. Please help.”

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John answered his little brother’s call whilst dodging flying bagels and consequently he didn’t entirely understand Alan’s whispered SOS the first time.

Taking cover in the shower cubicle, he asked him to repeat it. The shower switched on at full power and minimum temperature.

“EOS! Please! Can we talk about this?”

There was silence and the lights flickered.

“Alan, I think I know what’s happened. There’s no ghost, I promise. I’ll call you back ok?”

There was a whimper from the other end of the line and an eerily similar one from out in the gravity ring. He poked his head around the door and hoped that this time around he wasn’t about to be crushed to death.

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Scott typed and deleted messages over and over.

What was the point if she wasn’t picking them up?

Why didn’t she have her phone? Had something happened?

She’d been ill… what if it had been more serious than she thought? What if… what if she needed help and nobody was there?

He itched to jump into One and to just go and CHECK. But that would obviously be a terrible idea in the current circumstances.

He glared at his comm, willing the ticks to turn green. And then startled as they did.

Nothing happened for what felt like hours but might have been only moments. Then

✨Estera✨ is typing…

He waited, hardly daring to breathe.

I’m listening.

Right. You’ve got one shot at this, Tracy.

Ok… first I’m so sorry for going quiet, we had a long rescue and there just wasn’t chance to check messages. I wasn’t deliberately ignoring you. I hadn’t actually read your question as it popped up just before we launched, if I had I would have answered it as it’s a good question.

Ok.

I messed up. A call came in yesterday as I was putting the order through and I had to launch One to rescue some climbers but I didn’t know how long it would take.

I just wanted to make sure you had something you could eat when you woke up. That’s all it was. I was worried I’d miss the delivery slot if I waited so

We have this new PA who is…

She’s great but she takes things very literally and I did not explain adequately. It was my fault.

I asked her to look up your address and add it to the order. She has access to non-public information for some of the stuff we have to do with work and I didn’t think to tell her to restrict her search when it was a personal matter.

I’m sorry, it was a breach of your privacy and I will have words with her on the topic.

I don’t know your address.

And I won’t ever know it unless you tell it to me.

I see.

And if anything else I’ve said or done has made you uncomfortable, I apologise.

Honestly I have no ulterior motive here.

I’d like to be friends if you wanted that and I’m here for you if you ever need anything but otherwise…

I just want you to be ok. But I understand if it’s too much

I know I can be too much

I can back off.

I’m rambling and will shut up now. 😏

Ok. Thank you for explaining.

I’m going to need to think for a while.

Sure, whatever you need. No rush from me.

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John’s hologram popped up looking concerned. Scott sighed and bit back an impatient comment.

“I’m fine, John.”

“EOS…”

“Is tattling on me again I assume?”

“No… she’s having some kind of breakdown about upsetting you.”

“Oh. Perfect.”

“What’s up?”

“Personal thing. It’s ok. Don’t worry about it.”

John looked like he was going to argue.

“Please? Just… let me deal with my own stuff ok? I will ask if I need anything. What’s up with EOS? Tell her it’s ok - the misunderstanding was my fault not hers.”

John looked over his shoulder and dropped his voice such that Scott had to stop pacing to hear properly.

“She had a small… tantrum, in the kitchen. I believe Alan is hiding in the cupboard under the sink, could you go and rescue him?”

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He’d like to say he hadn’t been checking for new messages on a 3 minutely basis but it wouldn’t be strictly accurate.

He’d achieved a lot in between the compulsive refreshing though. First he got his big brother face on and coaxed Alan out of the cupboard. Following a brief conversation with John about toning down the “Do Not Upset Scott” aspect of her programming, he reassured EOS she was still his favourite niece and set about replacing the fuse in the kettle. He powered through the GDF paperwork then made precisely 74 chocolate chip pancakes because pancakes were definitely an acceptable substitute for sleep.

3 hours and 26 minutes later there was a soft ping from his comm.

Hello Scott

A soft voice in the back of his mind that sounded a lot like Virgil murmured “wait…” so he bit his lip and sat on his hands. The “is typing” symbol pulsed at him maddeningly.

I don’t know what you meant by having “words” but please don’t sack your PA or anything.

Hi Estera

Oh, no, I wouldn’t do that. It’s a training issue and thus my responsibility to sort out.

Ok.

Another pause.

I’m sorry I overreacted.

I don’t know that you did - it was a reasonable reaction to what you thought had happened.

Hmm.

And I’m sorry you were left thinking it so long. I should have said I had to go.

I should have guessed really. With your job being what it is.

Maybe. But you were also understandably freaked out so…

You’re quite an intimidating family you know.