#Teen Wolf 1x10

[fandomontherocks]

This week on Pack Dynamics we're talking S1E10, "Co-Captain." Allison begins to unpack the clues about her family history left to her by her Aunt Kate, but her family's secrets may be more than she bargained for.  Stiles presses his dad for information about the mysterious deaths occurring in Beacon Hills.  Scott finally finds out who the Alpha is while Melissa McCall goes on a date.

[forbescaroline]

TOP 5/10 CHARACTERS PER SHOW (as voted by my followers) ↳ teen wolf edition #8. Melissa McCall portrayed by Melissa Ponzio

[strangerstilinski]

SELENOPHILES OF BEACON HILLS | Teen Wolf Rewrite

Stiles Stilinksi/Original Female Character

chapter eleven

fic summary; after an already traumatic evening involving the unfortunate discovery of a gruesome scene, amber is convinced to hike through the woods with her two best friends in search of the other half of a dead body. but it's not as if she could ever say no.. not when stiles looked at her like that.

chapter word count; 12,383

chapter notes; the argents are desperate to find out who the alpha and mystery beta are. winter formal is right around the corner. amber has a bit of a rough night.

masterlist

c h a p t e r   e l e v e n

co-captain

After school on Friday, Scott insisted they stalk Jackson's whereabouts around town all afternoon. Amber didn't see the point, but Stiles had climbed into his Jeep with a nod of approval and that had been that.

Around four-thirty, after an hour and a half of tailing Jackson as he ran menial errands around town, Amber had pouted until Stiles was convinced to take a short break to swing by the diner downtown.

Scott had frowned at them in annoyance from across the car, but he'd still been the one to amble into the diner without complaint to buy her a milkshake, making his way back out to the vehicle quickly to hand the contraband over to his friend.

When they pulled back out onto the road, Scott immediately thrust his head out the window. Amber snorted at the sight and sipped from her drink, watching Scott take a deep breath through his nose while his hair fluttered in the breeze from the moving car.

"You're really leaning into this whole dog thing, aren't you?" She called out to him amusedly over the wind.

Scott ignored her joke, "He's not in town anymore," He announced, "He headed out toward the old factories."

"Why would he-" Amber started.

She was cut off when Stiles took a sharp turn to head in the direction Scott's nose had told them to go. Her grip on her styrofoam cup slackened in surprise and she rammed into Scott uncomfortably as she was thrown off balance. His hand saved the beverage from spilling all over his lap, but only managed to do so by swiping at it and shoving it out the open window.

"No!" Amber cried, turning around in her seat to look out the back window. She caught sight of her milkshake splattered sadly on the pavement as they drove away, "Stiles-" She whined quietly, nudging his arm in annoyance.

"I'm sorry!" Stiles apologized earnestly, reaching out to take hold of her hand for a moment in consolation. He sped up as they raced down a lane between buildings, "But we're on a stakeout here, Amber."

As they pulled up at the edge of an abandoned building, they spotted Jackson's Porsche parked a few hundred yards away, Chris Argent's large SUV idling right beside it. Stiles swerved into the empty parking lot where the confrontation was taking place and slammed on the breaks as they reached the vehicles.

Amber's body continued forward with momentum as the Jeep jerked and Stiles reached out to brace her back against the seat as the tires squealed to a stop.

He leaned forward to peer around her and Scott, "What's up?" He asked Jackson and Mr. Argent casually, arm still thrown across Amber's sternum, his hand wrapped lightly around her bicep.

"Everything okay?" She asked through the open window with an eager smile.

"Hey, Scott." Mr. Argent greeted with a suspicious grin, "Your friend here was having car trouble. We're just taking a look."

"Oh!" Stiles exclaimed in feigned interest.

"There's a shop right down the street," Scott piped in, pointing behind them with his thumb, "I'm sure they have a tow truck."

"Yeah!" Amber nodded, "You want a ride?" She asked Jackson pointedly, eying the uncomfortably narrow sliver of space between him and Allison's dad.

Scott threw the door to the Jeep open and Stiles dropped his arm from Amber's chest to lean forward against the steering wheel after a moment, "Hey, come on, Jackson. You're way too pretty to be out here by yourself." Stiles joked.

Jackson nodded silently and took quick steps in the direction of the Jeep while Scott hopped out of the vehicle to make room for Jackson to climb into the back, stepping to the side as the other boy approached.

"Hey, boys and girl!" Chris Argent suddenly called out. He walked over to the driver's side of the Porsche and leaned into the car, turning the key in the ignition and bringing the engine to life, "Told you I knew a thing or two about cars." He announced as he rose to stand again, returning to his own SUV without another word and taking off quickly.

"Well, that wasn't creepy at all." Amber stated.

Jackson turned to Scott with an angry scowl, "What, are you following me now?"

The door of the Jeep slammed shut and Amber flinched back against Stiles' shoulder as Scott stormed toward Jackson.

"Yes, you stupid freakin' idiot! You almost gave away everything, right there!" Scott yelled.

Stiles pulled open his own door and he and Amber climbed out and rounded the vehicle to join where the boys were arguing.

"What are you talking about?" Jackson asked with an eyeroll.

"He thinks you're the second Beta!" Scott yelled at him.

Jackson's face contorted in genuine confusion, "What?"

"He thinks you're me!" Scott yelled, turning to smash his fist against the door of the Jeep aggressively.

"Dude, my Jeep-" Stiles said futilely, lifting a hand as he winced.

"I can hear your heart beating from a mile away," Scott told Jackson. Jackson's eyes drifted over to Amber and he looked at her questioningly for a second before his attention returned to Scott's shouting, "Literally! Now, he thinks that there's something wrong. And now, I have to keep an eye on you so he doesn't kill you too!"

Scott yelled out in frustration and moved to punch the vehicle behind him again. Both Stiles and Amber stepped forward, but Amber's arms wrapped around Scott's shoulders first, urging him back a step to put some distance between him and the Jeep.

"Okay, how about we step back from Stiles' Jeep before he has an aneurysm-" She suggested, patting Scott's arm as she released him.

"You know, what? This is your problem! Not mine, okay!" Jackson shouted, "I didn't say anything. Which means you're the one who's gonna get me killed! Okay? This is your fault." He emphasized his words by shoving Scott back against the Jeep with a loud thud.

"Can we stop hitting my Jeep!" Stiles yelled as Scott shoved Jackson back in retaliation, "Yo, alright!" He said loudly, pushing the two boys away from one another.

"Guys! Stop it, okay?" Amber scolded as she stepped up beside Stiles, tugging on the sleeve of Jackson's leather jacket to tug him back from Scott. She watched the two boys breathe heavily for a few seconds as they got a grip on their anger.

"When they come after you, I won't be able to protect you," Scott told Jackson, "I can't protect anyone." He admitted despondently, looking between Stiles and Amber in anguish.

"Why are you looking at us?" Stiles asked nervously, the back of his hand slapping at Amber's wrist unseeingly until she tangled their fingers together.

Scott continued to look at them sadly until Jackson interrupted the moment in frustration, "You know, now you have to do it." He told Scott, reiterating his desire to become a werewolf himself, "Get me what I want, and I'll be fine protecting myself."

Scott looked at him in annoyed disbelief, "No you won't! Just trust me. All it does is make things worse-"

"Oh, yeah? Really?" Jackson scoffed, "Y'know, you can hear everything you want and run faster than humanly possible. Sounds like a real hardship, McCall."

"Yeah, I can run really fast now," Scott admitted, "Except half the time I'm running away from people trying to kill me! And I hear things like- Like my girlfriend telling people that she doesn't trust me anymore, right before breaking up with me. I'm not lying to you! It-it ruins your life."

"It ruined your life." Jackson corrected, "Y'know, you had all the power in the world and you didn't know what to do with it. Y-You know what it's actually like? It's like you turned sixteen and someone bought you a Porsche, but they should've started you out with a nice little Honda." Jackson said condescendingly and raised his eyebrows, "Me? I drive a Porsche."

Jackson turned and stormed away, climbing into his sports car and taking off.

The three friends stood in silence for a minute, unsure what to do next.

"I think that went well." Stiles announced sarcastically.

Stiles was standing in front of the refrigerator taking a swig of orange juice from the carton when he turned and caught sight of his dad sitting at the dining table, the surface looking as if a tornado had torn through the large collection of case files. There were piles of papers strewn around him haphazardly, his glasses resting low on the bridge of his nose as he read through a file with a look of determination.

"Whatcha doin?" Stiles questioned, stepping up to lean against the doorway between the two rooms.

"Work." His dad answered without looking up.

"Anything I can help with?" Stiles asked hopefully.

"You know, if you poured me an ounce of whiskey, that would be awfully nice."

Stiles rushed to throw the juice back into the fridge. He dashed over to the other side of the kitchen to grab the bottle of whiskey and a glass, running them into the dining room only a couple seconds later.

"Any leads?" He questioned, sitting down at the table beside his father and reaching for the file in front of him.

"Hey." The Sheriff scolded, slapping his son's hand away, "You know I can't discuss that with you." He wagged his pen at him with a serious look. Stiles unscrewed the cap from the bottle of whiskey and his father didn't look up from the paper in his hands as he spoke, "Not too much."

Stiles poured the liquor into the shallow glass and measured out what he approximated to be an ounce before pausing. He glanced up at his dad's distraction and hesitated for only a second before adding another large helping into the glass.

"Okay," Stiles said slowly, pushing the nearly full glass into his father's unsuspecting hand, "There you go, dad. Bottoms up."

"Thanks." His dad said quietly, bringing the glass up to his mouth as he focussed on the paper in his other hand. Stiles watched with wide eyes as he downed the entire drink in one go before setting the glass back down on the table and returning to his work. "You know," His dad said suddenly, already slurring his speech, "Derek Hale would be a hale of a lot.. A Hale of a lot?"

"Hell of a lot?" Stiles supplied helpfully.

"Hell." His father repeated, giving his son a thankful thumbs up and nodding, "Yes. He would be a hell of a lot easier to catch if we could get an actual picture of him."

Stiles looked up in confusion, "How do you not have a picture of him?"

"It's the weirdest thing. Every time we tried to get a mugshot, it's like two-" He paused in thought and Stiles tore the photograph out of his father's fingers to look at it himself, "-Laser beams were pointing at the camera."

"Nice.." Stiles commented in a fascinated whisper, looking at the blurry image of Derek.

"Oh, my god." His dad said suddenly, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his face. "That ounce hit me like a brick," He turned his attention on his son and blinked slowly, "And I have said way too much.. If you repeat any of this-"

"Wh- Dad." Stiles defended weakly, "It's me! I'm not gonna say anything. Come on."

Before his father could think about it too long, Stiles snatched up a file buried at the center of the table and pulled out a report about a dead deer. The picture showed a large spiral carved into the animal's side and Stiles dropped the page before digging for another.

"See, the thing is, they're all connected," His dad told him, leaning onto his elbows on the table, "I mean, the bus driver that got killed; He was an insurance investigator assigned to the Hale house fire."

Stiles peered over to look at the file in front of his dad, "'Terminated under suspicion of fraud.'" He read from the page.

His dad shook his head in thought, "Exactly."

"Who else?" Stiles asked quickly.

His dad picked up another file and handed it over easily, slurring as he explained, "The video store clerk who got his throat slashed; He's a convicted felon. History of arson."

"What about the other two guys?" Stiles questioned, "The guys who got killed in the woods?"

His dad waved his hand dismissively, "Priors all over their records. Including-"

"Arson." Stiles finished quietly. His mind was reeling at the influx of information, "So, maybe they all had something to do with the fire." He whispered to himself. He desperately needed to know more and his attention snapped up to his dad as he got an idea, "Another shot?"

"No, no, no. No more." His father said.

"Dad. Come on. You work really hard, alright? You deserve it." Stiles insisted.

His father sighed with a small smile, "Oh my god, I'm gonna have such a hangover." He told his son, gesturing for Stiles to refill the empty glass in front of him.

"You mean you're going to have such a good night's sleep." Stiles corrected with a small grimace. He leaned over to fill the glass with whiskey underneath the cover of the table and swallowed guiltily, "And I'm gonna have an eternity in the lowest circle of hell.." He whispered.

Stiles had refilled his father's glass three times by the time there was a quiet knock at the front door. Stiles' gaze snapped over to the entryway in surprise. When he peeked look at this dad, the man looked unbothered, as if he hadn't even heard someone at the door.

Easing out of his seat slowly, Stiles dashed to the front door and pulled it open to reveal Amber standing on the other side, waiting for him with a heartstopping smile. She went to speak but Stiles pulled her into the house and lifted a finger up to her lips as he shushed her.

"What?" She whispered, looking around the house cautiously.

"I got my dad drunk so he would talk to me about the case." He admitted quietly.

She blinked in confusion, "Which case?"

"All of them." He told her quietly, "Everything to do with Derek and the Hale fire and the attacks."

"Do you want me to go?" She asked in a whisper, pointing back toward the door.

Stiles shook his head, grabbing her by the shoulder and steering her into the mess in the dining room.

"Dad! Look who's here to help." Stiles announced with a flourish, pushing Amber to sit down in the chair across from his father.

Sheriff Stilinski glanced up to peer at her over the brim of his glasses with a dazed look in his eyes, "Amber. Hi, kiddo."

"Hey.." She said quietly, reaching out across the table and pulling Derek's arrest report toward herself slowly, watching for the Sheriff's reaction.

His dad's gaze didn't drift toward her hand. Instead, he leaned forward and pressed his palms into his eyes over the table, "Guys, there's just. There's so many unanswered questions."

"Like what?" Amber asked gently as she poked through the file in her hands.

"Like, if Derek wanted to kill everyone involved with the fire. Then why start with his sister? I mean, she had nothing to do with it." His dad slurred quietly, "Why make it look like some kind of animal did it? When that- When that cougar ended up in the parking lot, I checked with animal control." He said, pointing toward Amber across the table as he spoke, "You know instances of wild animal reports were up seventy percent over the last few months? It's like they're just going crazy. Running out of the woods."

Stiles leaned back in his chair and looked at Amber. Her eyes were round in realization and Stiles shook his head as he spoke to her quietly, "Or something's scaring them out."

"You know, I miss talking to you." His dad suddenly spoke quietly, attention focussed on his son, "It's like we never have time-"

Stiles wasn't listening. He dug his hand into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out his phone quickly, rising to stand, "Dad, you know, I have to make a call. I'm sorry." He caught the sad look of disappointment Amber was sending him as he stepped back from the table and his stomach turned guiltily, "I'll be right back."

"I do. I miss it." His dad whispered as Stiles took a step into the living room, "N' I miss your mom."

Stiles' steps faltered and he spun around slowly, "What'd you say?" He asked quietly.

His dad picked the whiskey up and made to pour himself another glass, but Stiles darted back over to the table to take the bottle from his fingers. He screwed the cap back on and set it down on the cabinet behind him.

"Thanks." His dad told him quietly.

Stiles risked another glance over at Amber and saw a pained look of grief on her face that he was sure matched his own.

The room sat in silence for a long minute before Amber stood from her chair, "Wow, it's almost eleven o'clock already-" She fibbed easily, watching for the Sheriff's reaction.

His eyes widened and he moved to check his watch but Stiles was quick to grab his wrist to pull him to his feet instead.

"Eleven o'clock?" Stiles' dad repeated, "Jeez, we should get to bed."

"Yes we should." Stiles agreed quickly, gently pushing his dad toward the staircase.

He urged his dad upstairs and waited patiently until they heard the click of his bedroom door before he turned to Amber with a dejected sigh.

"You okay?" She asked quietly.

"I'm a horrible person." Stiles admitted, his eyes drifting back toward the mess on the dining room table. His focus caught on the empty glass at his father's seat and his stomach churned with guilt.

His attention was pulled when he felt Amber's fingers against his cheek. She gently turned his head back toward her and squeezed his face with a thumb pressing into the skin on his jaw.

"You are not a horrible person." She told him seriously, hazel eyes flicking slowly between his.

"God." He whispered, "He- he never talks about my mom. Not really. It makes him too sad. And now I've got him drunk and telling me how much he misses her-" His voice catches but before Stiles had time to be embarrassed about it, Amber had pulled him into a hug.

Her arms wrapped around his neck and Stiles could feel her face pressed into the column of his throat. He took a deep breath as he reigned in the urge to cry, his arms wrapping tight around Amber's waist and turning his face into her hair, taking in the scent of her fruity shampoo as he calmed himself down.

After a long minute, Amber's hand drifted up to the nape of his neck and her fingers stroked softly along the short hair there in a soothing motion. When her next breath huffed out hotly over the skin of his neck, Stiles took a shaky breath for an entirely different reason. His stomach tightened in arousal at the realization that he could feel the soft press of her lips against his skin. When her warm breath exhaled slowly over his throat again, his arms tightened around her for a brief second before his eyes shot open in awareness and he stepped back, releasing her.

Fighting back a flush on his cheeks, Stiles forced himself to look Amber in the eyes as they pulled away from one another. He searched her face for any indication that she'd noticed his excitement pressing against her during the tail end of their embrace, but he found nothing but concern in her expression.

Just as he was about to speak, his phone rang out loudly. He scrambled to answer it before it could wake his dad and he nearly dropped the device as he accepted the call.

"Scott, what's up?" Stiles answered purposefully, alerting Amber to who was on the other line.

"Dude." Scott said frantically, "I need you and Amber. Like, now."

Stiles frowned, eyes locking with Amber's as she frowned worriedly in response to seeing the expression on his face.

"What-"

He was interrupted when Scott continued, "My mom just left to go on a date-"

"Dude, that is so not an emergency. You made it seem like-"

"She left to go on a date with Peter Hale!" Scott interrupted again, voice shrill and panicked.

Stiles almost dropped his phone again in surprise, "With Peter Hale? Scary, murdery, miraculously no longer burnt to a crisp, Alpha, Peter Hale?" He asked in alarm.

Amber's eyes widened at the small bits of information she was getting from just one side of the phone call.

"Yes! That Peter Hale!" Scott yelled into the phone, "I need you and Amber to go and stop the date! I don't know how and I don't care, but if he bites or kills my mom-"

"We're not gonna let that happen, man." Stiles promised, already pulling Amber toward the front door and grabbing his car keys out of his pocket, "We're on it. Alright?"

Stiles hung up the phone as he pulled the door open. It was starting to rain and they both ran toward the Jeep quickly to avoid getting soaked.

"What's going on?" Amber asked worriedly as they climbed into the vehicle.

"Scott's mom just left for a date." Stiles told her as he turned the key in the ignition, "With Peter."

"Scott's still following them on foot." Amber told Stiles as she read the text message on her phone, "He says they're sitting at the corner of Elm and West Main."

Stiles nodded his assent and took the next left, turning onto Elm Street heading North. Amber squinted out the windshield to focus on the dark road through the light rain, searching for any sign of the Alpha with Scott's mom.

"No, no, wait! I think we just passed them." Amber said quickly, spinning in her seat to try to catch another glimpse of the nice black car parked on the other side of the road.

Stiles cursed under his breath, did a quick u-turn, and began to backtrack down the street.

"So, what's the plan?" Amber asked nervously.

"Don't have one." He told her.

She turned her head sharply to look at him, "You don't have a plan?" She repeated frantically.

"Not really." He said weakly, allowing the Jeep to slow down to a crawl, "Should I just pull up next to them and-"

"Stiles. Floor it." She said quickly as they approached the parked car.

He looked over at her in confusion for a brief second, "What? Why? We need to-"

"Floor it!" She insisted in a rush, reaching out to wrap her hand around his own on the steering wheel.

Stiles pressed his foot back down on the gas. Amber tightened her fingers around his and at the last second cut the wheel to drive the vehicle directly into the bumper of Peter Hale's parked car. They both jerked forward against their seatbelts painfully as the Jeep came to an unexpected stop. The adults climbed out of the car in front of them and Amber and Stiles shared a brief look of panic before both tumbling out from the vehicle and into the rain.

"Are you kidding me?" Melissa McCall was saying as she checked for damage on the back of Peter's car. Her gaze caught on the two teens stumbling out in front of the Jeep and she glared at them in disbelief, "Stiles!" She scolded the boy, eyes drifting over to the girl beside him, "Amber. What the hell are you two-"

"Ms. McCall?" Stiles said in mock surprise.

"Gosh, Ms. McCall, we are so sorry." Amber apologized weakly, eyes drifting over to where Peter was standing beside the woman.

Scott's mom glared and Stiles took a step toward Amber to drop an arm over the girl's shoulders as casually as he could manage, "Wow. This is- This is just crazy! What a coincidence, huh?" He asked Amber.

"Such a weird coincidence!" She nodded emphatically, wet strands of hair beginning to stick to her cheeks from the rain.

"Ha ha." Ms. McCall laughed dryly, not looking at all amused by the situation.

"I mean- I do not know what happened," Stiles explained, tightening his arm around Amber's shoulders, "You guys just came out of nowhere-"

"Totally outta nowhere." Amber agreed, looking at Stiles with faux surprise, "One second, empty road. And the next-"

"Out of nowhere?" Ms. McCall repeated in a shout, "We were parked on the side of the street!"

"Yeah.. How crazy is that?" Amber shook her head in what she hoped looked like disbelief.

Stiles nodded, "Y'know, we should probably call the cops.. Do one of those accident report things-"

"Oh, I don't think that's necessary." Peter said quickly, looking out through the rain falling around them.

"Are you sure?" Stiles asked quickly, letting his arm drop from Amber's shoulders and beginning to rub at the back of his neck, "I think I'm feeling a little whiplash-"

Amber gasped in feigned concern and turned to stand in front of him. She brought one hand up to his shoulder and cupped the other softly over the back of his neck.

"Whiplash?" Ms. McCall was repeating incredulously at them in a shout as Peter Hale stepped away toward the front of his own car, "You hit us!"

Stiles craned his neck to the side and winced, "I don't know, there's definitely something wrong with my neck-"

Amber frowned in sympathy and rubbed his shoulder reassuringly, "Yeah, we should probably call someone so you can get checked out by a doctor or an EMT or-"

"He doesn't need a doctor!" Ms. McCall told her in annoyance.

Peter Hale rejoined them after a moment and he looked between the teens with a calculating stare before he spoke, "Look, there's no real damage to either of our vehicles. Why don't we do a rain check on dinner," He turned to face Melissa, "And I'll call you a cab to take you home."

"Stiles' neck-" Amber protested quietly.

"I'm sure the boy will recover." Peter told her in barely concealed irritation.

Amber nodded and pulled Stiles a step away from the werewolf, "Right. Sounds good to me. Does that sound good to everyone else?"

Stiles nodded quickly, "Sounds like a solid plan. You call that cab and we'll-" Peter's glare made him falter before continuing, "And we'll get out of here."

Peter pulled a cell phone from his pocket with a displeased frown and made the call, despite the pinched look of disappointment on Melissa McCall's face.

Once Ms. McCall's ride had been called, Stiles and Amber rushed back into the Jeep to escape her wrath and sat inside until they watched her say goodbye to Peter Hale and climb into a cab.

Amber let her head drop back against the seat with a sigh, "Mission accomplished?"

Stiles reached across the vehicle to lay his hand over hers on the bench seat, "Mission accomplished." He told her, "For now, at least."

"That's very reassuring." She laughed sarcastically, turning her head to look at him in the dark of the car.

He shrugged with a grin, "What can I say?"

"Well, you could let me believe for ten seconds that everything is gonna be okay." She joked.

"Alright." He nodded, starting the vehicle up again, "Everything is gonna be okay."

Everything was decidedly not okay.

On Sunday, Amber laid on her back on Scott's unmade bed, anxiously tossing a lacrosse ball up in the air above her head. She was increasing the height of her throws in small increments in an attempt to see how far she could throw it and still manage to catch it in her hands. She'd started the action hoping to distract herself from worrying about Derek.

It wasn't working.

Scott squatted down at the side of the bed and threw the dangling blankets up to cover Amber's feet as he poked his head underneath the bed frame.

"Call it again." Scott demanded without looking at where Stiles was straddling a chair across the room.

"It's not here." Stiles told him for the twelfth time.

"So, you lost your phone again, what's the big deal?" Amber asked, taking a deep breath and throwing the ball above her face again, "Shouldn't we be worrying about-"

Scott suddenly rose to frantically search the blankets around Amber's body. She yelped as he knelt onto the mattress and rolled her to the side carelessly. The lacrosse ball came falling back down and Amber only narrowly avoided falling off of the bed, the ball dropping onto the end mattress before rolling to the floor from Scott's wrestling with the duvet.

"Yeah," Stiles agreed as he watched his friends, "Why don't you just get another new one?"

Scott crawled over Amber's body, his knee digging uncomfortably into her thigh in his haste to climb back to the floor. She squeaked in pain but he was already on his hands and knees on the hardwood again, digging through a pile of discarded shoes at the end of the bed.

"I can't afford a new one!" Scott told them anxiously, "And I can't do this alone! We need to find Derek." He pushed up from the floor and paced the room again as his eyes looked for someplace else he could dig around in search of his phone.

"Okay 'A', You already know I want to find Derek," Amber told him seriously as she sat up, "But how are we supposed to do that?"

Stiles rested his arms on the back of the desk chair he was straddling and he cut in quickly before Scott could respond, "And 'B', didn't you say 'Derek walked into gunfire'?" His eyes drifted to Amber with a shrug, "He sounds pretty dead to me."

Amber leaned over the side of the bed to grab the fallen lacrosse ball and quickly threw it across the room where it smacked loudly into Stiles' chest before he could attempt to catch it.

"Derek is not dead." She told Stiles with a glare as he rubbed at the spot where the ball had hit him.

Scott peeked his head into his ensuite bathroom as he spoke over his shoulder, "Argent's plan was to use him to get to the Alpha. They're not gonna kill him."

"Alright." Stiles conceded, "So then, why don't we just let them do what they're planning, you know? They use Derek to get Peter.. Problem solved."

"We are not letting them use Derek to do anything." Amber looked at Stiles in bafflement.

"Yeah. Especially not if Peter is going after Allison to get to Derek!" Scott interjected anxiously, throwing a pile of laundry across the room and rushing over to his bookshelf to shuffle things around, "I can't protect her on my own. Which means, we need to find Derek first."

Amber looked between her best friends and shook her head in irritation, "Also because, lord knows what the honest to god werewolf hunters are doing with Derek right now?" She prompted. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting from the two of them, but it definitely hadn't been so little compassion. She waved her hands around emphatically as she continued, "Y'know, pain, torture, cutting him open to leave trails of blood for the Alpha to follow-"

"Can you both just help me find my phone?" Scott interrupted, "Now? Please!"

"Y'know, you probably lost it when you two were fighting." Stiles told Scott as he looked between his best friends, "You both remember that? When Derek was trying to kill you, Scott? After you interrupted him trying to kill Jackson?" Stiles turned to Amber with an incredulous look, "Are you starting to see a pattern of violent behavior here?"

Scott spoke before she could, "He wasn't going to kill anyone." Scott insisted.

"And we are not letting him die." Amber said firmly.

Stiles gripped the back of his chair and shook it with a distressed whine, "Could you both at least think about letting him die?" He pleaded, "For me?"

"No." Amber kicked her foot out and pushed at Stiles' chair, rolling him back and sending him crashing into the wall.

Scott suddenly paused in his search for the first time in two hours, tilting his head toward the window as he listened to something only he could hear.

"What?" Amber asked Scott quietly, curious about what was happening but not wanting to disturb what he was listening to.

"My mom just got home from work." He said sadly, still looking out the window, remaining focussed on what his mother was doing outside for a long minute.

"Is she okay?" Stiles asked after he had righted himself in his chair again, "What's she doing?"

"Did something happen?" Amber continued quickly.

Scott shook his head unhelpfully, "She-She's crying."

He sighed and came over to the end of the bed, dropping down to sit beside Amber.

She reached an arm around his back and nudged her knee against his thigh, "Scott.. You-you can't protect everyone from everything." She told him cautiously, her eyes bouncing between the Stiles and the side of Scott's head.

"I have to." He told them determinedly.

As Stiles drove Amber home at dinner time, she allowed the soothing movements of his driving distract her from the ever present pang of worry in her chest for Derek.

His right hand had a loose grip where it rested loosely on knob at the end of the gear lever and she watched the effortlessly smooth movements of Stiles shifting between gears as they moved along the dark roads.

Every once in a while, his lips pursed unconsciously as he got lost in his own head and Amber spared a fleeting thought to how much she'd like to kiss those lips for real. She wanted to kiss him for more than some childhood game, or for more than a passing second on accident. She found herself wanting desperately to kiss him until her own lips were reddened and sore from it.

Stiles straightened his fingers out in a stretch the next time he shifted between gears and he used the ball of his hand to push the lever up. Amber tipped her head back against the metal of the window frame and found herself transfixed as she stared at the long line of his fingers.

His eyes flicked over to her for a moment, too quick for her to hide the way her own gaze rested on him obviously.

"Why are you staring at me?" He asked, attention flicking back and forth between her and the road in front of him.

Her cheeks heated at being caught watching him so blatantly and she shrugged before realizing he hadn't seen the action, "I dunno. 'S just.. relaxing."

"What's relaxing?" He asked as he shifted down and made a turn.

"Watching you drive." She admitted, "It's like, you don't even have to think about it- Like somehow you know when you need to change gears before the car does." She shifted in her seat, "It's not like that when I drive," She laughed quietly, "You make it look so effortless." And hot, she thought silently.

"I've got more experience than you," He told her easily, eyes drifting over to her again, "But you're still making me nervous staring like that."

"Sorry." She apologized softly, still not averting her gaze.

Stiles shook his head fondly and remained focused on the road as they neared her house. He turned to park in the driveway and she bent to unbuckle her seatbelt as they came to a stop.

"Thank you for the ride." She said as she pulled open the passenger side door.

"No problem." He told her, watching her close the door behind herself and giving her a small nod.

She tapped her hand against the window frame in silent goodbye before turning and heading up toward the porch.

She gave him a wave over her shoulder as he backed out of the driveway, pulling her keys out of her pocket. When she turned her house key in the front door, she frowned in confusion at the distinct lack of a click that usually signaled the release of the lock. She slowly swung the unlocked door open, pulling off her zip-up sweatshirt and hanging it on the peg beside the door as she stepped into the entryway.

"Jase?" She called out to her brother curiously, as she wandered further into the house, "You home?"

She pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time in confusion. Jason had only left for the station that afternoon and he wasn't set to be off shift for another twenty four hours, at six o'clock the following evening.

When the house around her remained silent she stepped into the kitchen and tried again, "Derek?" She called out this time, "You here?"

She still didn't get a response and she moved toward the archway leading into the living room. Her heart was pattering nervously in her chest as she imagined turning a corner to suddenly find the werewolf bleeding out and dying.

"Derek?" She called again.

There was a quiet creak of a floorboard from behind her, in the hallway between the kitchen and the staircase. She jumped at the sound but she was grabbed by the shoulders before she could turn around to face the noise.

She let out a small squeak of surprise but the noise was muffled as a rag was pressed firmly over her mouth and nose. She thrashed her body in an attempt to dislodge the arms around her but her head grew fuzzy as she was forced to gasp in breaths through the fabric over her face.

She whined in fear and reached backwards, fingers catching in the long hair of the person behind her. Amber tightened her hand into a fist and pulled as her vision swam slowly, knees wobbling with her next breath and her grip loosening on her attacker as her eyes slipped shut and she fell unconscious.

The first time Amber woke, she was laying against a cold hard surface. She blinked sleepily and tried to focus her eyes, but she felt herself doze back into unconsciousness against her own volition.

She woke up like this several more times. Groggily looking at the dark empty room around her, but slipping back into sleep before she could make herself move much more than lifting her heavy head a few inches from the ground.

When she finally woke more clearly, there were a pair of hands beneath her armpits, dragging her across a cold stone floor. Her hands had been bound behind her back and she pulled weakly at the restraints. The material of whatever fabric was holding her hands together was soft and didn't seem to hurt despite being wrapped and tied off firmly.

She tried to lift her head from where it was limply hanging between her shoulder blades and she groaned quietly at the throbbing headache she was harboring from whatever had caused her to pass out in the first place.

"Oh, good. You're awake." A chillingly familiar voice said before roughly dropping Amber to the ground in a heap, "Pulling your dead weight has been a real pain in the ass."

The girl let out a quiet gasp of pain as her hands and arms were pinned uncomfortably between her body and the cement beneath her. The feeling only lasted a moment and then she was hauled up aggressively until her feet were unsteadily underneath her. Amber stumbled and her knees buckled, eyes blinking rapidly in an attempt to steady her hazy vision while her captor jostled her with hands on her shoulders.

Amber continued to stumble as she was led down the long dark passage through some sort of underground cellar. As her brain cleared, she turned her head to get a look at the woman behind her.

Kate Argent continued to push the girl forward, looking frighteningly beautiful and shooting Amber a sly smile when she noticed the girl's now-attentive gaze.

"Der!" Kate called out teasingly in a singsong voice, "I have a surprise for you!"

Kate tugged Amber to a stop just outside a slightly more well lit room, the brightness leaching out through the doorway and into the dark corridor.

At the annoying nickname for Derek, Amber's heart had begun to pound in her chest and she opened her mouth to speak, but was stopped when one of Kate's hands reached up to cover her lips firmly.

"I don't care." Derek's voice snapped, words coming slowly.

Kate peered into the doorway, holding Amber against the wall just outside with her hand over the girl's mouth. The woman smiled, "Oh, play nice, Der. After all, I did bring your girlfriend for a visit."

Her words were punctuated by sending Amber into the room with a hard shove. Without her hands to brace herself, when Amber's feet caught underneath her from the unexpected push, she was sent to the ground and onto her knees. She winced at the impact against the stone floor but quickly shuffled to get back to her feet, her eyes darting around anxiously. Kate was hovering close by and Amber took a nervous step to the side as her gaze caught on Derek.

The werewolf was shirtless and bound to a tall metal grate with cuffs around his hands and ankles, his face pale and sweaty from whatever abuse he'd endured over the last forty-odd hours.

Amber's chest tightened with anxiety and her hands pulled feebly at the binds around her wrists without thought.

"Derek-" His name fell from her lips in both relief to see him alive and panic at seeing him so helpless.

"It's funny," Kate interrupted, draping a hand over Amber's left shoulder and pushing down until her legs buckled and the girl fell to her knees again, "Y'know, I could've sworn you had a thing for older women," Amber looked up to see Kate grinning at Derek, "But it looks like you're interested in girls a little younger, these days."

Amber frowned but Derek simply growled and pulled at his restraints. Whether he was trying to break free to get to Amber or Kate, it was hard to be sure.

"I'm here because you think I'm Derek's girlfriend?" Amber asked, her stomach dropping at the realization that the woman had to have somehow gotten the information from Allison, "I-I'm not- I'm not Derek's girlfriend-"

"Oh, sweetie, you don't have to lie," Kate told Amber while patting her on the head in a way that felt condescending, "I know he slept with you just the other night. Tell me, what would your big brother think if he found out you were screwing a guy his age?"

"We're not." Derek grunted. "I am nothing like you. You're wrong. So just, let her go." His words came out slowly, as if each one was causing him pain.

It was only then that Amber felt the everpresent charge of electricity in the air. Her eyes caught on the cables attached to the metal grate Derek was chained to and she traced the path of the cables over to where they connected to some sort of large control panel. The knobs on the panel were all turned halfway up on a dial that went to ten; If having them set to five out of ten had Derek weak and in pain, Amber worried what would happen if Kate were to crank the dial up all the way.

"Oh, Der. I can't do that quite yet," Kate responded to Derek's statement, "Before we really get started, let's just get Beta suspect number one out of the way," She pulled Amber back up with a hand fisted in the girl's hair.

Amber gasped as she was tugged to her feet again and before she could process what was happening, something sharp sliced across the side of her stomach through the fabric of the tshirt she was wearing. "I can't imagine you're only pretending to be this weak and helpless, but.. Well, you can never be too sure, can you?"

Amber's hair was released and she strained against her binds again as she looked down at the blood beginning to seep through the gray cotton of her shirt. Her hands itched to reach down and touch, to relieve some of the achingly sharp sting from the deep cut. She watched the fabric darken and stick against her skin as she bled, her mind blank as her heart pounded in her ears.

"You think I'm a werewolf?" She squeaked incredulously after a moment.

Kate shrugged, wiping the blood from the small blade in her hand with a cloth, "I'm starting to doubt it. But, let's check, shall we?"

Kate resheathed her weapon and reached out to pull Amber's shirt up a few inches to reveal the three inch cut along the side of her lower abdomen. The wound was quite obviously still open and bleeding steadily. It dripped down to stain the light wash denim of her jeans a dark red.

"Hm," Kate hummed in disappointment, shoving Amber back down onto her knees with a tight grip at the back of the girl's neck, "Alright, Derek. It's not your girlfriend-"

"I'm not his girlfriend." Amber repeated frantically, heart pounding in her chest. She looked up from the blood soaking into her clothes and watched Derek's angry glare as he continued to pull weakly at his restraints.

Kate rolled her eyes, "Alright, sure. You're 'not his girlfriend.' But, one, if not both of you, knows who the Alpha and the other Beta are and I'm gonna need you to tell me."

The three of them settled into an uncomfortable silence and Amber took a shaky breath and shifted on her knees to relieve some of the pressure from where they were already beginning to ache from their repeated impact with the hard floor.

Kate sighed before continuing, "Derek here won't tell me.. He's a tough one to crack, but you," Kate clicked her tongue and tilted her head at Amber, "I think you might be more willing. With a bit of persuasion, of course."

Amber slid a small step away on her knees to put distance between Kate and herself, "You don't need to persuade me because I don't know who they are." She lied quickly.

Before she could say another word, Kate had shoved Amber onto her back on the hard floor. The woman straddled her and brought the back of her arm to rest over Amber's throat, applying just enough pressure that the girl struggled to pull in oxygen on her next breath.

"Are you sure about that, sweetie?" Kate asked innocently, raising her eyebrows and pushing her arm down that much harder against Amber's windpipe.

"I don-" Amber's words came out choked and incoherent, and Kate let up a fraction so that the girl could speak, "I don't know. I don't know who the Beta is. Or- Or the Alpha. I swear."

Kate squinted down at her in scrutiny before lifting her gaze up to Derek, "I guess you're gonna have to tell me, Derek."

"Derek, don't worry about me, okay? Please don't-" Amber's desperate pleas were cut off when Kate pushed the back of her forearm down against the girl's neck again.

Amber's arms were pinned to the cold floor beneath her back and her lungs were already beginning to hurt from the lack of oxygen. Her throat ached and her face felt too hot as she suffocated. Just when she was beginning to wonder whether Kate was truly intending to kill her, the woman above her was gone.

Amber coughed, rolling onto her side to gasp in deep breaths, head swimming as she recovered.

Kate was crossing the room to stand behind the control panel on the table along the wall, giving both Derek and Amber a smile before she cranked the knob up slowly. Derek took in pained shallow breaths as the electricity flowing into his body increased and Amber's jaw trembled from how tightly she was clenching it shut.

Shifting her focus onto Amber, Kate smiled as she turned the knob up that much more until Derek's whole body was tight with agony.

Amber got to her knees and yanked uselessly once more against the cloth wrapped tightly around her wrists. Her eyes burned with tears as she was forced to watch Derek pull on his own restraints and groan angrily.

"We don't know!" She cried, sitting back on her feet as she took in a heaving breath, "We don't know who they are, please. Please, stop-"

Kate pursed her lips and turned down the controls again. Amber watched Derek's body relax slightly at the decrease of electricity rushing through his body and she too sagged in relief.

"Alright, alright." Kate held up her hands in mock surrender. She made her way over to the teenage girl and pulled her back to her feet with a hand around her bicep, leading her over toward the table by the door. Standing pressed against her back, Kate grabbed a small slip of paper with a phone number written on it and slipped it into the front pocket of the girl's jeans. "I just want you to remember; Every second that you're at home. At school. Cozied up in bed.. I want you to remember what I'm doing to Derek. What I'll continue doing to Derek until we find the other Beta and the Alpha." Kate spoke softly with her lips pressed against the shell of Amber's ear, "Call me. If you figure anything out and you decide you want to put an end to poor Derek's pain and suffering."

And with that, Kate's hand lifted to press a citrusy smelling bundle of cloth back over Amber's mouth and nose. Amber's eyes went to Derek in panic. She didn't want to leave him here by himself to be tortured. The girl thrashed her body violently in an attempt to loosen Kate's hold on her but she only succeeded in exerting herself and pulling in deeper breaths of the chemical coating the rag.

The last thing Amber saw as her vision blurred, was Derek's face, pinched tight in pain and what the girl thought might have been worry.

In the locker room after free period on Monday, Stiles nudged Scott's shoulder, "Have you seen or heard from Amber today?" He asked as he checked his phone again.

Scott shook his head with a shrug, "No phone, remember? And I haven't seen her. But that doesn't mean anything bad, alright? She probably just isn't feeling well."

Stiles frowned worriedly and slipped his phone back into his pocket, "I don't know, man. It just doesn't seem-"

"I think I'm gonna have Jackson take Allison to formal." Scott interrupted, already looking across the locker room over his shoulder.

Stiles blinked in surprise at the change in conversation and shook his head in disbelief, "Dude. Jackson's not going to do you any favors. Even if that favor is taking Allison to formal."

"I have to try," Scott told him determinedly, "I have a D in three classes. If Coach won't let me go to the dance, someone has to be able to protect her in case anything happens."

Stiles shrugged and shook his head as he and Scott approached Jackson at his lacrosse locker.

"What do you two dickwads want?" Jackson rolled his eyes, pulling his backpack off of a hook in his locker.

"I want you to take Allison to the dance." Scott told him.

Jackson didn't immediately answer and Stiles slammed the boy's locker shut before leaning against it to watch the trainwreck unfold.

"You want me to take her to formal?" Jackson finally asked for clarification.

"I don't want you to. I need you to." Scott said honestly and Stiles looked around them as the locker room began to clear out.

"Screw you," Jackson told Scott before turning to Stiles, "You know what, screw you too. In fact, screw each other." He said, gesturing between them.

"Hey, you know he saved your life, right?" Stiles reminded him, thinking back what he and Amber had been told about when they and Derek had been ambushed on Friday night.

"He left me for dead." Jackson said.

Scott looked at the boy in disbelief, "I got shot for you."

"Oh, yeah?" Jackson asked, looking between them, "Show me the bullet wound."

"You know it healed." Scott defended quietly.

"Mm," Jackson hummed, pulling on the strap of his backpack, "Convenient."

"Just, do it for Allison," Scott pleaded, "Okay? She's in serious danger. I'm talking around-the-clock danger. She needs someone to keep an eye on her at the dance."

Jackson looked at Stiles in disbelief and Stiles averted his gaze, leaning his head back against the lockers to look at the ceiling.

Jackson spluttered quietly, "Have her dad do it. Okay? He's the one actually equipped to handle this."

"How am I supposed to do that and.. And keep him from finding out about me?" Scott asked quickly.

"Not my problem." Jackson told him, shaking his head and going to push past them.

Scott's arm shot out to block Jackson's path and slammed against the locker beside Stiles. Scott waited until Jackson took a step back before he spoke.

"You're her friend too." He told Jackson, "You are. All that time you spent with her to get to me.. You can't tell me that you didn't get to know her and like her. It's Allison. It's impossible not to like her. You can't tell me you don't care if she gets hurt."

"What if I get hurt?" Jackson questioned.

Scott didn't hesitate before answering, "Then it's worth it."

Jackson shook his head, "Not to me." He said, pushing between them and heading toward the front of the locker room.

Stiles made a face and turned to watch him go, "I'm not going to say 'I told you so'.." Stiles said before licking his lips, "'Cause that's not strong enough. How about, 'I'm always right, and you should listen to whatever I have to say and never disagree ever. Ever, ever. For the sake of your wolflihood.'"

He blinked at Scott and awaited a response.

Scott's eyes narrowed in determination, "I'm not done." He told Stiles before moving to follow after Jackson.

"You're not done." Stiles repeated quietly in exasperation. He leaned back against the locker with a loud thump, "Okay."

There was a crash from the front of the locker room and Stiles scrambled to round the corner of lockers and see what was going on. Scott had thrown Jackson against the locker room door and was holding him up off of the floor easily with his wolfy-strength. Jackson's fear-filled eyes met Stiles' over the top of Scott's head and he pulled at the hand fisted in his shirt.

"Okay, okay!" Jackson agreed frantically, "I'll take her to the dance! Just put me the hell down!"

Rather than simply let Jackson's feet back down onto the floor, Scott tossed Jackson to the side where he slammed into a row of lockers with a bang. The boy scrambled to pick up his bag and pull it back onto his shoulder.

"Ask her now." Scott told him.

"Okay, alright. I'll go ask her now." Jackson said quickly before rushing through the door and out into the hallway.

Stiles came to stand beside Scott and they both followed behind at a leisurely pace as they stalked Jackson down the hall.

"So, that worked." Stiles observed amusedly.

Scott pulled him to a stop and the two of them peered around the corner to look at where Jackson was talking to Allison in front of her locker. He was sweating and smiling nervously and Stiles shook his head with a roll of his eyes at the lack of subtlety. Jackson and Allison talked for a long minute, and while they couldn't hear what was being said, all seemed to be going according to plan.

"Hey," Stiles said quietly, nudging Scott, "Don't worry. I'll be there too."

"I'm still going." Scott told him as they watched Allison take Jackson's arm in her grip and lead him away down the hall.

"Is that such a good idea?" Stiles asked, "Do you even have a date?"

"Not yet." Scott said.

Stiles pursed his lips, "Do you have a suit?"

"Not yet." Scott repeated in annoyance.

"Do you have a ticket to the formal?" Stiles questioned dubiously, "A ride there?"

Scott sighed, "No. And no." He shrugged and looked at Stiles as his face broke into a grin, "Did you ask Amber yet?"

Stiles frowned and readjusted his backpack over his shoulder, "Not-not in so many words.." Scott raised his eyebrows and Stiles shoved his shoulder, "-Or in any words. Look, I'm working on it. And besides, we're not talking about me. We're talking about you."

"Okay." Scott surrendered, raising his hands in submission.

Stiles nodded before giving his sarcastic approval, "So, you. You're gonna ride your bike to a dance that you're not even allowed to go to without a date, a suit, or any way in.. With werewolves and werewolf hunters all out to kick your werewolf ass."

"Yeah," Scott agreed, "You gonna help me?"

Stiles grinned and grabbed Scott by his shoulder, "Hell yeah."

When Amber woke again, it happened slowly — much the same as she had the first time around. She regained consciousness a handful of times, not managing much beyond looking bleary-eyed around her living room in confusion before she drifted off again and again.

When she finally woke with minimal fuzz clouding her brain, it was to the realization that she was laying on her living room sofa, the bright daylight streaming in through the windows urging her to sit up slowly.

A quiet whine of discomfort slipped past her lips when the movement both caused her brain throb painfully in her skull, and pulled painfully at the cut she was still sporting across her stomach. Her hand went down to lift the hem of her tshirt and she found that the movement had torn open the scab that had dried over the wound at some point, a slow trail of blood once again making it's way down toward her already stained jeans.

On unsteady feet, she moved toward the kitchen, gaze catching the clock on the wall as a wave of nausea washed over her. It was after three o'clock in the afternoon already. Her stomach churned anxiously at the knowledge that she'd spent a majority of the last twenty hours unconscious.

She spotted her phone lying on the kitchen floor where she must've dropped it the night before and bent to pick it up but she was forced to place a white-knuckles grip onto the counter top of the island when the action caused a violent wave of dizziness. Trying desperately not to puke, she pulled in a deep shaky breath and unlocked her phone to find two text messages from Lydia, and four texts along with two missed calls from Stiles.

Shaky fingers fumbled to click on Stiles' contact as she slid to the kitchen floor and leaned her back against the cabinets. Her knees drew into her chest as she listened to the loud ringing and waited for him to pick up, her hand trembling where she held the phone up to her ear.

"Yo," Stiles answered the phone casually, the barest hint of worry in his voice, "Where were you today? I've been texting you."

"Stiles?" Amber breathed in quiet relief, "Are- are you with Scott?"

"No, I just dropped him off at home," Stiles said in confusion, "Why? What's wrong? I can go pick him back up-"

"No!" She told him quickly, taking a slow breath before continuing, "No, don't get Scott. Can you- Can you just come get me?" She asked in a soft whisper.

She had a brief thought about going upstairs to get clean clothes, but when her eyes drifted up to the doorway where Kate had surprised her the night before, her heartbeat picked up in her chest.

"Yeah, 'course. Why- Are you at home? What's goin' on? You're making me nervous." Stiles rambled off quickly on the other end of the phone.

"I'm home," She told him, eyes raking over the room around her.

The room that Kate had infiltrated and waited patiently in so that she could ambush her in the dark–

"But I-I don't wanna be here. I can't-" A small sob interrupted her and her eyes welled with tears.

"Hey, no. No, don't cry," Stiles pleaded quickly, "I'll be right there okay? Just- Just give me five minutes. I'll be right there."

She tried to make a noise of acknowledgment but all that came out was another small sob. She curled in on herself as she cried, the cut on her stomach stinging in protest as she did so. She didn't end the call, but she let the phone fall from her ear as she leaned her face into her knees and wrapped her arms around her head.

She cried for what had to have been five minutes, because the next thing that she was aware of was Stiles' voice shouting out to her from the front of the house.

"Stiles?" Amber called out, voice hoarse from her sobs.

He ran around the corner and skidded into the kitchen, only hesitating in the doorway at the sight of her for a second before he dropped to his knees in front of her.

"Hey, what's going on? What happened?" He asked worriedly, gently prying her hands away from her face.

She took a shaky breath and his eyes caught on her fingertips. He pulled at her wrist to lift her hands between their faces and show Amber the dark red smudges on the fingers of her left hand.

"Is this blood?" Stiles asked quickly, "Amber, is this your blood?"

She sniffled once and dropped her left leg to the floor, revealing the rip and dark stain in the light fabric of her shirt. Stiles' eyes widened and he looked up to meet her gaze quickly before leaning forward to reach for the hem of her shirt. He lifted it slowly to expose the bloody wound on her abdomen.

"Amber, what the hell?" He exclaimed worriedly, "What- What is this? What happened?"

"Kate Argent." She said quietly, leaning her head back against the cabinets again when her head throbbed, "She thinks Derek and I- She wants to know who the Alpha and the other Beta werewolf are. She-she wanted me to tell her about Peter Hale and Scott and she took me to see Derek-"

"So Derek is alive?" Stiles interrupted.

"She's torturing him," Amber cried quietly, "She wanted to prove I wasn't the Beta, so she cut me to see if I'd heal. She-She wanted me to tell her about Scott."

Stiles reached up to rub her shoulders, "Did you?"

"No!" She told him quickly, "No, of course not! I-I told her I didn't know who they were."

"Okay." He said quietly in thought, "Okay."

"When I got home last night, she was here." She whispered, her eyes drifting over toward the doorway again, "She was waiting for me and she drugged me but- But I don't know where she took me. Derek was right there in front of me but I still don't know where he is-"

"Hey, it's okay." Stiles assured her, "You're okay."

She let out another small sob, "What do we do? We need to keep Scott safe but Derek-"

"We're gonna figure it out, okay?" He promised, "We'll talk to Scott and-"

"No!" She told him quickly, "We can't tell Scott what happened."

"What?" He asked incredulously, tightening his grip on her shoulders, "Amber, we have to tell Scott."

She shook her head, "We can't. Stiles, he's already distracted worrying about Allison. I can't have him worried about me too. If he's not focused he's gonna get hurt."

"You're already hurt." He defended.

"Exactly." She told him, sitting up straighter, "There's nothing we can do about it now, right? We can't tell him. If he's worried about me and something happens to him.. I can't- I couldn't handle that."

Stiles frowned at her worriedly, pursing his lips in frustration. He lifted a hand from her shoulder to smooth down her tangled hair, securing it behind her ear gently and Amber leaned into the contact and closed her eyes.

Stiles sighed, "Okay."

She cracked her eyes open and looked at him, gripping onto his hand with her right one, "Can we please get out of this house?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah." He agreed quickly, helping her to her feet with gentle hands, "Do you have a bag packed yet?"

She shook her head and Stiles nudged her through the doorway and toward the stairs, nodding his head and releasing her hand.

"Go," He told her gently, "Go pack a bag and I'll be right here, okay?"

"Okay." She agreed quietly.

When her feet didn't immediately obey and walk up the stairs, Stiles gave her another soft push and she took a deep breath before rushing to her bedroom.

She quickly threw things into a duffel bag in preparation to sleep at Stiles' house. She tossed pajamas, toiletries, and clothes for the following day into it carelessly. Grabbing her school bag, she pulled both bags over her shoulder before fleeing her bedroom and running back down the stairs.

When she came to a stop in the hallway that separated the staircase, the living room, and the kitchen, Stiles was nowhere to be seen.

"Stiles?" She called out worriedly, heart beating frantically in her chest.

The boy in question turned the corner from the living room and stepped in front of her. When he noticed the look of fear on her face and her panicked breathing, he moved closer.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked quickly.

She took a slow breath, forcing herself to calm down from her overreaction, "I-I came back down and your weren't right here and I thought-"

"I'm sorry." He apologized quickly. He reached up to take her bags, pulling them onto his own shoulder and grabbing her hand to tug her toward the front door, "C'mon, let's go. You really need to clean that cut."

She nodded and squeezed his hand tightly in hers as they stepped outside. She reluctantly released him when they got to the front of the vehicle and split off to climb in on opposite sides.

During the ride to the Stilinski house, Amber tilted her head to rest against the window. The cool glass against her temple was a welcome relief to the pounding headache lingering from the drugs. The seatbelt dug uncomfortably into her hip every once in a while, and when they eventually came to a stop, she sighed gratefully.

The moment they were inside, Stiles pulled her upstairs and pushed her toward his bedroom. He dropped her bags in the doorway and rushed off in the direction of the bathroom. Amber had only made it a few steps over toward the bed before he re-emerged with a small first aid kid gripped in his hand.

He stepped toward her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, pushing her to sit down on the edge of the bed. He knelt down on the floor in front of her and positioned himself between her legs.

"Lemme look at it more closely?" He asked politely, his hands hesitating to lift up her shirt again.

She nodded with a frown and tugged the ruined shirt over her head, dropping it onto the bed beside her.

Stiles swallowed and looked at her bra-clad chest distractedly for a moment. Amber watched his tongue poke out to lick his lips and just as she was beginning to contemplate pulling him up by his shirt to kiss him, he seemed to suddenly snap out of it. He shook his head and moved to rest his hands gently on her hip and stomach, fingers prodding gently at the wound there.

She sucked in a sharp breath and he pulled back to dig through the small plastic box beside him for a moment. He wetted a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol and braced his left hand over her stomach again.

"This is definitely gonna sting." He warned, looking up at her before the cotton could make contact with her cut.

She nodded and pulled her lower lip into her mouth, urging him on.

He took a breath and wiped the damp cotton ball gently over the bloodied skin on her abdomen. She whined quietly at the sharp sting of the alcohol and reached out to wrap her hand around Stiles' left wrist. He removed his left hand from her stomach and tangled their fingers together quickly, allowing her to squeeze his hand tight as he continued to wipe the wound clean.

Once the blood had been cleared away, the cut didn't look nearly as gruesome as it had before. Stiles tossed the small pile of bloodied cotton balls into the garbage can beside the bed and leaned back onto his heels as he seemed to contemplate what to do next.

"D'you want me to put the suture bandages on now, or did you want to take a shower or anything first?" He asked, the thumb of his right hand rubbing softly along the top of her thigh.

"I think I wanna shower." She said quietly. The thought hadn't even crossed her mind, but now that he'd suggested it, she desperately craved the warm water over her skin.

Stiles nodded his approval and moved out from between her legs to give her room to stand up. He followed her into the hallway and went to the linen closet while she dug around in the medicine cabinet for a moment in search of painkillers for her head.

"Are you hungry?" He asked as he handed her a towel.

She shrugged, "Honestly, I- I'm kind of nauseous- From whatever she drugged me with." She admitted quietly.

He nodded, "Okay."

Once she'd been given her towel, Amber took a couple of aspirin and closed the bathroom door before moving to turn the hot water on.

She stripped out of her filthy jeans and removed her bra and underwear before climbing under the steaming spray. She tilted her head back and allowed the water to flow over her face as she held her breath, relishing in the warmth enveloping her.

Washing her hair with Stiles' nearly always full bottle of shampoo, she scrubbed vigorously at her scalp. When she lathered herself up with the body wash, the smell made her stomach flutter even as it dripped down into the cut across her abdomen and stung violently.

Once she was clean, she let herself slide down the shower wall until she was sitting on the floor of the tub. She pulled her knees into her chest and breathed in the cologne scented steam around her, taking long deep breaths until she felt herself begin to calm.

When she wrapped a towel around herself a few minutes later and made her way back into the bedroom, Stiles was sitting up on the bed doing homework, one pencil in his hand and another clenched between his teeth. Amber smiled softly at the sight of him and she hesitated in the doorway distractedly for a moment.

Stiles looked up after a few seconds and caught sight of her, the pencil in his mouth dropping to land in his lap silently as his mouth gaped. Amber stalked forward and grabbed her duffle from the floor to toss it onto the end of the bed, digging around for her pajamas even though it was barely four o'clock.

"D'you mind if I change in here?" She asked as she pulled out her clothing, "It's really steamy in the bathroom and now I'm all-"

"Hot."

Her eyes snapped up to meet his and she nodded slowly, "Yeah. I feel like if I go back in there to get changed I'm gonna burst out of my skin."

Stiles nodded silently, his eyes flicking over her slowly. After ten seconds had passed and he continued to distractedly nod his head, she shuffled on her feet.

"Okay, so can you just.. Put a pillow over your head or something?" She asked in amused confusion.

There was an audible click as Stiles' mouth snapped closed. He quickly grabbed a pillow from behind his back and pressed it over his face with both hands.

"I've been blinded." He announced.

"Thanks so much." She laughed, dropping her towel cautiously and pulling on her underwear.

She tugged on a pair of admittedly very short but also very soft pajama shorts along with an aged band tee that she'd cut off just above her belly button at some point over the years.

Once she was dressed, she tossed her bag back onto the floor and draped her damp towel over the back of the desk chair.

"All clear." She said as she flopped onto her back at the foot of the bed, laying horizontal from where Stiles was propped back against the headboard.

He dropped the pillow and moved his books off to the side of the bed before crawling to sit beside her.

"Did the shower help?" He asked, leaning over the side of the bed to pull the first aid kit up onto the bed.

She nodded her head against the mattress, watching him as he pulled out a box of bandages and began peeling off the wrappings.

He leaned forward slowly, his left hand settling over the fabric of her shorts before sliding up to brush gently over the gash at the bottom of her abdomen. Amber took a slow breath as he pinched the skin together and stuck the first suture to her clean skin. He slowly repeated the process, laying tiny bandages to hold the skin together until she looked down to see a neat row of little white stickies ensuring that the cut remained closed tightly.

"All done." Stiles told her as he collected all of the tiny wrappings to throw into the trash.

She watched as he leaned over the side of the bed to dispose of the garbage and slid the first aid kit along the floor before moving back to grab something from the bedside table, holding it out toward her.

She looked at the package as she took it from his outstretched hand and frowned in confusion, looking up to meet his gaze with a frown.

"I know you said you aren't hungry but then I was thinking about it and you probably haven't eaten since lunch yesterday and.. You had a salad, so." Stiles started quickly, "Well I went to look for saltines or something that would be easy on the stomach but we didn't have saltines. We did have those, though." He gestured to the plastic wrapper in her hands, "I figured graham crackers would probably be good too. Plus the sugar will help I think-"

She dropped the package of crackers into her lap and pulled him forward to wrap her arms around his shoulders, taking a shaky breath against the crook of his neck.

"Thank you." She told him, pulling back with butterflies fluttering annoyingly in her stomach, "You're probably right and I should definitely eat something."

Stiles broke into a gratified little smile at her praise and shrugged before moving to sit back where he'd been doing his homework.

Amber pulled open the packaging and snapped one of the crackers in half before munching on it slowly. She ate a couple as she watched Stiles work but stopped before she could overwhelm her empty stomach.

She crawled up the bed after a while to lay on the pillows beside where Stiles was sitting up and he looked down at her as she settled in comfortably. She blinked her suddenly heavy eyelids and yawned, looking up to watch him fiddle with his pencil and avert his gaze as he focussed on something across the room.

He sighed, "Hey, so.. Friday." Her eyes blinked more slowly and she heard his soft voice continue as she began to drift off, "D'you- d'you think maybe you'd want to go to formal? Like, together. As- As dates.. Incase that wasn't clear-"

But when Stiles risked a glance down at the girl beside him, she was fast asleep.

[tw-episodereactions]

Teen Wolf 1x10

Panic for Stiles derailed by a pretty girl. That’s fair.

Scott doesn’t know how to use the ‘you too’ phrase. SAME, MY DUDE.

SHE BROUGHT HER A GAME. Why is Allison so damn cute? Like, for real, Scott, I get you on this.

I am so confused about Danny’s role on this team. I thought he was the goalie? Wouldn’t Scott passing it to Danny be, like, a bad thing? Unless Danny got himself some goalie goals, which are awesome and should be revered.

“Apology accepted.” Scott, you should have apologized with actual words, but I’m glad you’re on good terms with Danny at least. You don’t have a lot of people on your side these days.

Ummm, running would be a good option. Also putting on pants.

TELL ME THIS IS NOT FUCKFACE JOINING UP WITH PETER TO TERRORIZE A HALF NAKED SIXTEEN YEAR OLD BOY IN A LOCKER ROOM. TELL ME HE WOULD NOT ACTUALLY STOOP THIS LOW.

Although, I did kind of call this in like episode two. I mean, they weren’t actually working together then, but literally the episode after the Alpha reveal they’re working together, so I claim prescience anyway.

Couple of things:

That must’ve either been one hell of an explanation from Peter or Fuckface was just itching to be even more of a terrible person and waiting for an excuse.

OR, I will grudgingly admit that he might be doing this to ingratiate himself with Peter while still planning to kill him. Not to help Scott or anyone but himself, of course, but at least it just keeps him at the same amount of trash bag terribleness instead of downgrading him to utter dumpster fire.

Where the hell is Stiles? Maybe he did run? Maybe they have him stuffed in a locker? The timing here is very weird, because if Stiles ran, then why wouldn’t he have gotten to the game first? I mean, he had a car and Peter and Fuckface don’t. Unless they took Jennifer’s car, I guess.

Did they, like, clean up all the blood and glass from the hospital or is some janitor super pissed right now?

Oh, he just wants to kill the responsible ones. Like, the school janitor, or those two dudes in the forest. Or Laura Hale.

I was about to say, I can’t imagine a sixteen year old kid being like, cool, I’ll help you murder people, but then I remembered Jackson.

So I get why Scott is feeling justifiably betrayed. But also, Scott. He’s been dogshit this whole time so this is not a shock to some of us.

Oh Peter is much better at manipulation than Fuckface is.

So we already had the dichotomy of Scott and Fuckface where Scott’s anchor to his humanity is love and his ability to control the shift is driven by his relationships and his willingness to help and comfort. Whereas Fuckface is all about anger and pain.

And now we have the dichotomy with Peter who is willing to maim/manipulate/murder anyone and everyone to achieve his goals, and Scott who’s driven to protect people.

Huh, so the claws in the neck thing is a way to transfer memories. Clearly it’s not just Alphas who can do that. I’m still uncertain as to why Jackson was so affected by Peter’s roar though since Fuckface was the one to do that to him. Is Fuckface automatically part of his pack through bloodlines? If so, why couldn’t he track him instead of terrorizing Scott?

I guess the random douchebags in the forest were a part of the plot.

Okay so, first, there was this movie in the 90s called The Crow where (spoiler alert) the protagonist kills the antagonist by giving him 30 hours of pain all at once. Great scene, very cathartic. 

Second, we’re supposed to believe that Peter’s been changed by all of his trauma because of watching/hearing his whole family die and then spending six years in a coma. Changed enough that he killed his own niece.

Trauma, which he then dumped all onto a sixteen year old boy, all at once. I’m surprised Scott isn’t dead or insane from that, honestly.

I just…this kid has been almost constantly facing his own trauma over the last two and a half months and now he’s had six years worth of trauma dumped on him and…Derek just watched. Like. He just watched it happen. He helped it happen.

I know most of the season has been leading up to killing Peter, and he 100% deserves it and needs to be stopped. But I just can’t get over all the points in the show where they’ve tried to make Derek sympathetic and then they just have him watch this. This thing that (theoretically) made his Uncle go insane and kill his own niece. He just let it happen to Scott right in front of him and walked away.

I hope he dies too.

Oh. Hey Stiles. Glad you’re not stuffed in a locker. Did you stop to get some ice cream on the way? Why the fuck did it take you so long?

Little Spider-Man kiss action.

It’s so funny that her spicy dream about Scott kissing her derails so entirely by the missing necklace that she immediately needs to get up to look for it.

Wow, Chris isn’t very observant. Pretty sure Kate saw her though.

Yup.

Lol, Chris, buddy. You are bad at subtle.

Oooh, I wonder when/how Allison found out about that?

Is this, like, a group of abandoned high rises? Once again, Beacon Hills is like a guy selling watches in NYC: we got your city, we got your woods, we got your rich suburbs, we got your abandoned brutalist architecture.

Once again Jackson’s like, I am a fair, gentle, helpless man and if you touch me I might be overcome in a fit of vapors. 

Lol, Scott and Stiles riding up to save him. How did you even find him, boys?

Oh. Oh, I was wondering about why we didn’t get more of the aftermath with Scott. He is very much not having a good time. At least some of this reaction has gotta be a side effect of getting Peter’s everything dumped into his head, yeah? Except instead of driving him insane it’s just driving him to protect people more and making him frustrated when he can’t.

But, I’m sorry, is that it? Is that all we fucking get of the aftermath of that attack? Like, either Peter just didn’t feel that much anguish about the whole thing and he’s just always been a lying, manipulative killer or they’re deliberately choosing to minimize Scott’s trauma again. I just don’t understand why they would take that route with their main character.

And here’s the thing about Jackson: he already tried to kill Scott. He would have no issue with killing somebody if it gets him what he wants.

But Scott wants to protect people, even the awful ones. We literally saw it from his first painful change where he immediately swallowed down his own trauma because he was worried about Allison. Peter just went and picked a beta with moral fortitude and a stubborn streak.

I like how Jackson sneeringly said he drives a Porsche when just a few minutes ago it was ‘dead’ behind him, he was being intimidated by a man with a large gun, and Scott had to save him. But, sure, he can totally drive a Porsche.

Pet peeve, he’s pronouncing the word wrong. I had it drilled into me at 22 that it’s Por-shuh.

“We’re about to find out,” Allison says, and then immediately after is like, I don’t know.

Also, why would you put a weapon down to investigate a noise? No, more importantly, why would you need to investigate a random noise in the forest? They’re full of random noises. There is a difference between brave and stupid, Allison.

Oh, well I guess she’s still armed. That’s fair.

But Christ, can Scott catch a fucking break this episode?

Oh jeez, Scott, I thought you were getting better at lying, but you’re really not.

I feel a tiny bit sorry for Lydia left alone with a very large weapon she doesn’t know how to use in a creepy forest.

Oh, Stiles. Bud, what are you doing? You’ve had no problem in the past getting info without trying to get your dad drunk about it.

Sheriff, that’s a little more than an ounce. And it hit you really fucking fast. Is he on meds or something? Or did he already have a few?

So everyone’s connected but the janitor. Don’t forget the janitor in Peter’s list of murders.

At least Stiles knows he’s doing a bad thing. There’s still no reason for it, because they’ve shown multiple times that Stiles can get information from his dad’s files seemingly at will. So that makes it worse.

I guess I’m glad Stiles stopped him there. Drinking to relax is much different than drinking from grief.

Oh my god. Is Scott, who’s being hunted by these people, really coming up with excuses for them? Like, I get why’s he’s trying to keep Allison out of this, but, uh, don’t protect her family’s lies, kiddo. That’s not going to help anyone.

Wow, Melissa, you look super cute!

Why do I have a bad feeling about this medical rep?

Ooop, yup. That’s Peter.

There has to be a reason why he hasn’t tried to change more people when Scott turned out to be a thorn in his side. Weird that he didn’t go after someone like Jackson though. Huh, I wonder if he can’t turn someone else until Scott either accepts him or dies. But why wouldn’t he just kill Scott and try for someone else? There has to be some sort of in universe reason, not just he’s the main character.

I wonder if he’s actually happy that Scott’s fighting him so much. The stronger the willpower Scott has, the stronger the beta he’ll be, the stronger the pack Peter will have. Derek just rolled over for him, but Scott’s a prize, right? To be able to corrupt both his innocence and his morality would be a major coup to a guy like Peter.

Not that that would stop him from hurting, Melissa. I’m just saying, there’s probably a reason why he wouldn’t turn her. 

Oh he’s one of those guys that is weird about WWII. Yeah, that tracks.

Oh, poor, baby. Scott very much needs a hug.

I hated that music transition.

Uuuuuuuugh. So either they can change others at any time and didn’t for some unknown reason, or Peter’s real confident that Scott’s going to cave. Could go either way.

I will not be mad if the Argent’s kill Jackson, actually.

Scott, I understand why you’re rushing off to protect your mom, but, like, I feel like this isn’t exactly going to be a quick trip and you’re probably just going to piss Allison off by asking her to stay.

Wow, he didn’t even wait before being creepy with her.

Lol, that was actually so smart Scott! And way to jump in and help Stiles!

Funny that the street was totally empty and now there’s multiple cars being blocked behind them.

I’m not sure it’s a good thing that Peter is impressed by how smart you are Scott.

Ooooh maybe he’s just using Jackson as bait. Could be that too. And, hard agree that Jackson is a dumbass.

All I’m getting from this is that Derek can at least fake supportiveness and helpfulness and there’s no reason he had to put Scott through everything that he did, even if he had to be a fake ass bitch to do it.

Does Derek not yet realize that he transferred his memories with the claws? I guess maybe he wouldn’t, since he’s seen none of the repercussions of it.

I guess this is like a win/win for Peter. If no one shows then he gets Derek to kill Jackson for him and protect their secret. If Scott shows then he gets to go after Scott.

You know what? Danny clearly cares about Jackson; his parents clearly care about him. It’s not that no one cares, it’s that Jackson doesn’t seem to care back. Not enough anyway. The failure is in him, not others.

I also have to wonder how hard Derek is projecting here, since he also has the cool car and the cool hair, but still has no one. Which, again, I would argue, that the failure is in him.

And then we have Scott. Who has no reason to care about either of them. Who has reason to hate both of them. And yet he’s risked his life to save them both multiple times.

There’s a quote that I kind of hate from Doctor Who. “All that pain, that misery, and loneliness. And it just made it kind.” Because no, absolutely not. People can choose kindness in the midst of their pain, misery and loneliness. It’s work, and it’s hard, and it takes effort every single fucking time. But pain and misery and loneliness don’t make someone kind.

Jackson who has barely had any of that that wasn’t from his own making, is not kind. Derek is clearly in the midst of all of that, but it certainly hasn’t fucking made him kind. I think it’s a big mistake to write off Scott as innately kind (no one is innately kind) instead of someone who is making a choice to be kind.

Personal story time. About five years ago I met the kindest person I had ever met. She was a little old lady who never said a bad word about anyone, who always gave people the benefit of the doubt. We were internal customer facing and she generally dealt with a lot of unpleasant people.

As I got to know her, I heard about her partner’s health issues, about her adult son who she was supporting because he once again couldn’t hold down a job. I heard about her persistent insomnia which had her averaging 4-5 hours of sleep a night. But she was unfailingly kind.

One day when I was incredibly angry we went out to lunch and I asked her how she did it. And she told me that her father had not been kind, and that when she was a child she had a lot of anger in her because of it and she would lash out at anyone and everyone. And one day she lashed out and she saw her father in herself. And from that day forward, she chose to be kind.

Sorry about the tangent, but kindness gets treated like it’s something simple and costs you nothing, and that’s absolutely not true. I don’t work with her anymore but we keep in touch, and that lady is still one of the strongest fucking people I ever met.

And while Scott’s not quite at her level of steel, she has probably fifty year on him, and I can see him getting there.

Oh shit, I actually forgot about the Argents.

Oh no! Scott was hit! He really has had a rough episode. I think this is one of the most brutal if I’m not mistaken.

Is Derek actually being helpful again!? This makes two whole times!

Oh lord, I just thought about something….is Allison going to find something incriminating in Scott’s room? Does Scott even have anything incriminating? Eh, it looks like she’s just going to leave and be disappointed in him again.

Oh no, it was a wolfsbane bullet. I mean, that makes sense, but also it’s not like Kate had many of them and she wasn’t really sharpshooting through that door.

Holy shit, Deaton! We haven’t heard from him since Derek kidnapped him and beat him up. It’s been at least a couple of weeks, right? Has Scott even been going to work?

Are we going to figure out why he was so shifty with the Sheriff and Derek?

That’s definitely just a regular wound now. He clearly knows about werewolves and wolfsbane.

Who are you, Deaton?! What do you know?

His little smirk. I love it.

This reveal is too fucking long. It’s either Derek or Jackson or both, and she’d’ve had more reaction to Jackson ergo it’s Derek. It went past creepy and into annoying.

[teenwlficons]

[winnie-the-monster]

[aceofwhump]

No. 20 IT’S BEEN A LONG DAY: Fetal Position

Doom Patrol 1x05 | The Mentalist 5x08 | Graceland 1x10 | Hawaii Five-0 5x07 | Killjoys 1x05 | The Umbrella Academy 1x05 | The Gifted 2x07 | Buffy the Vampire Slayer 3x04 | Teen Wolf 2x02 | Parks and Recreation 5x12 | Jessica Jones 1x09 | Sense8 2x10

@whumptober @whumptober-archive

[stilinskiderek]

11 YEARS OF TEEN WOLF | 1x10-CO-CAPTAIN

August 1, 2011

[princeescaluswords]

Skewed Priorities

Every time I think the Teen Wolf fandom has run out of ways to surprise me, I get bushwhacked by a take so egregiously WTF that it makes me resolve never to doubt anyone's claims of racism or misogyny in media, no matter how outlandish they sound.

QUOTE: "I think people get hung up on the first season and how Scott seemed a little more interested in Allison then the dangers that Stiles or Derek might have been in"

This person isn't a Scott hater. They're not a BNF or the Asshole Anon. As far as I can tell, they like Scott! They like the show!

It's mystifying.

Scott doesn't ignore Stiles ever. He has scenes with Stiles every single episode. Scott ditched a study date with Allison because an angry Stiles demands that he do something! The only time that Stiles is in physical danger and Scott's not present protecting him is in Wolf's Bane (1x09) when Stiles deliberately kept information from Scott in order to keep Scott away and when Peter kidnaps Stiles from the Winter Formal in Formality (1x11). Scott never discovers that Peter has kidnapped Stiles or bitten Lydia until after the end of the season because he's too busy trying to find Derek.

As for Allison, she is stalked by and Scott is threatened with her death by Peter (and Derek) not less than eight times in the first season: Wolf Moon (1x01), Second Chance at First Line (1x02), Night School (1x07), Co-Captain (1x10), three separate times in Formality (1x11), and Code Breaker (1x12). The first four were before she knew werewolves existed! Doesn't she deserve a little protection, too?

As for Derek, I cannot stand it when the fandom does this bit when they say "Derek is a poor woobie baby and why doesn't Scott see that and follow him around and take care of him! For Hale's sakes, his sister just got killed! His family's dead! He's a wreck. Scott should show him some compassion!" and then turn around and say in the very next breath "as a Hale and a born werewolf, Scott should listen to every single word that comes out of Derek's mouth, never question him, and do whatever he asks, because he's simply better."

I know where part of this comes from: The Tell (1x05).

Scott: What? Stiles: Finally! Have you been getting any of my texts? Scott: Yeah, like all 9 million of them. Stiles: Do you have any idea what's going on? Lydia is totally M.I.A., Jackson looks like he's got a time bomb inserted into his face, another random guy's dead, and you have to do something about it. Scott: Like what? Stiles: Something. Scott: Okay, I'll deal with it later.

Of course, the fandom takes Scott saying "I'll deal with this later" as him refusing to listen to Stiles! But here's the thing -- Stiles doesn't know what to do, either! The show wanted to indicate that Scott and Stiles were out of their depth, with too much they didn't know. But fandom doesn't care, because a character of color didn't snap to attention when a white male character demanded something of him. They took it as saying that Scott wasn't doing what he was supposed to do and spending too much time with Allison, because how dare he go after something he wants when the Smartest White Boy in the World and Lost Werewolf Prince aren't being his focus?

Stiles never NEVER got angry with Scott for being with Allison. He got angry with Scott because his father got hurt (and it wasn't fair to Scott). Derek got angry about Allison, but who the hell was he to determine anything about Scott's life? It's 2024, and the idea that Scott should have been Derek's and Stiles's personal manservant is alive and well.

[calsyee]

Re: the Kit Connor situation, as someone who lived through the heydays of Supernatural, Sherlock, and Teen Wolf, I want younger/newer fandom types to understand something about queerbaiting, and specifically when and why the term came about.

In 2012-2013, the media landscape was hugely different. Queerness in media was significantly rarer than it is today, especially in media that had significant fandoms — Glee, Hannibal, and Welcome To Night Vale were then-current, yes, but by and large, many shows had exactly 0 canonically queer characters, with many of the characters who did exist being side characters who appeared once or twice and either died or were jokes (RIP to Lily, the unnamed gay guy from SPN 1x10 "Faith," and Alan J. Corbett, particularly). So, like, not exactly a breeding ground for queer fans to latch on to queer characters, you understand?

But shows like Sherlock, SPN, and Teen Wolf felt different. The veil between creators and fans had thinned, even broken, and we felt we could express ourselves in ways that might be heard by creators — and, on top of that, these shows had seemingly intentional gay subtext about the main characters.

It felt like maybe we could get something we wanted.

And then we didn't, but the subtext and winks and nudges to us didn't let up, and, in fact, often got more intense and overt, and, eventually, we realized we were being had.

These creators didn't want to tell queer stories with their shows, but they knew that having queer subtext attached to their main cast would keep people like us hooked without ever having to deliver and potentially alienate the homophobes in the "mainstream" audience. We were cash cows for them, nothing more.

We called that behavior — seeding subtext without any intention to deliver on it, with that specific intent to make money off us without giving us anything concrete — "queerbaiting."

It's a specific term that refers to a specific phenomenon and comes out of a specific fandom history & legacy.

It is not an accusation to throw at a real human individual about his personal identity & relationships. Kit Connor is a human being, and he does not owe you information on his private life and identity just because he plays a queer you like on the TV, and the fact that some of y'all made the climate so toxic that he felt he needed to come out to get you all off his back is absolutely fucking vile.

[mejomonster]

I've been watching The Vampire Diaries lately as a show to kinda relax to without needing full attention and:

Kinda ship Bonnie/Caroline unfortunately I doubt this show has lesbians (but buffy had willow/Tara in the 90s so I wish this 2000s drama does -.-; I'll see I guess)

Kinda enjoy Tyler and Jeremy's scenes post 1x10 which I'm surprised by cause before I'd been rooting for Tyler to die

Damon/Elena are eons more interesting to me as a dynamic in that their scenes together have less predictability and more interesting outcomes (I get why elena/Stefan is a thing, they're both book loving reading nerds who like to talk about that stuff for hours and write diaries and spend quiet nights kissing/sleeping together and chatting about stuff they fan over basically - without the vampire old issue/Katherine ex situation they'd basically be a normal couple with shared interests, but like... as tv entertainment that's just not as fun to watch as ppl who do not get along and slowly need to learn to understand/interact. It's like angel/buffy versus spike/buffy or faith/buffy I suppose. Except I do appreciate stefan/Elena actually fight over "yr a vampire damn! People are dying I need to get AWAY this is fucked" and "I look like your dead ex what rhe fuck is wrong with you/any other secrets??!!!" Because like while it's still teen romance show level "I love you" ridiculously fast and unrealistically with a yikes vampire usual age gap lol, at least Elena's and stefans reactions seem somewhat more like real people would actually do? Whereas like... idk I usually see a much less realistic reaction of "wow people are dying I need to get away from you and reevaluate my view of the world goddamn".)

Bonnie makes me feel like I'm watching Charmed

Watching vampire stuff I'm glad there's a lot of death in this cause what even is a vampire story without people getting their blood drank? Also this show reminds me I've got my own vampire story I eventually want to write ToT but mines more itwv level bloody than teen angst. That said, i appreciate the slightly outside of high school elements of the show which remind me of charmed or buffy and give the impression this show CAN grow beyond a high school setting as the plot ages out of it, like buffy did, which gives it space to possibly do some cool stuff later on (that say a show like teen wolf bound inside teen-life couldn't really move to)

Thank goodness the show has some horror scenes and fights I really Can't focus without my action scenes lol

Like buffy (tho idk How better the writing will get) I can tell that around mid season 1 the writing shifted from Teen Show Pilot usual to having a more solid idea of the angle it wanted to go in. Caroline went from a "could be any teen extra" to a character with a clear personality, Bonnie went from only magic-show-plot element to someone who's friendships and enemies in the show matters, Matt and Jeremy as plain humans get a more defined characterization driven by their internal values more than only what's happening to them externally, Elena once she finds out vampires exists her character acts much more idk Likable to me? She's an everyday girl stand in, but with the knowledge of vampires her personal bg as someone fucked up by tragedies in the family and feeling death is inescapable to her (vampires all around and looking like a dead ex katherine), her desire to not see anyone else die and personally try to help stop vampires who are hurting people in town (despite being very mundanely human) gives her a solid backbone of who she is when put in a hard position. I liked her trying to fight a vampire alone with pencils and a broken broom - she doesn't succeed as she's a completely untrained and regular strength human but it shows she's got future potential and a trajectory, her trying to stop vampires from killing, her willing to go into danger, her willing to confront anyone, etc. She's showing some interesting traits specific to her that not every character Would do. Even Stefan with as little as I'm personally clicking with him, is making lets say Relationship choices that are distinct from Edward type or Angel type or Spike type or Lestat lol, so at least he's feeling like His Own individual character in a vampire story instead of a copy of someone else. He communicates eons better than Edward, saying he'll leave before leaving for someone's safety lol, and just in general open to conversations when conflicts come up more, he's mopey sure but not to the level of emo Angel from buffy is (and not quite as creepy tho he also stalked for a year lmao) and Lexi coming into town showed he's really not Endlessly pessimistic the way Louis or Angel would be. He's got a distinction versus other leading romance vamps, and although his dynamic doesn't have the enemies/rivals to friends to lovers I enjoy in watching a romance (bellamy/Clarke, lexa/Clarke, lucifer/Chloe, spike/buffy, louis/lestat etc) I do like that he feels like his own character to me. So I'm hoping like buffy the depth of characterization gets a bit better as time goes on for everyone. And the plot expands past high school as characters age up.

Damon and Stefan remind me of Dean and Sam. Yeah I know what I said ToT if supernatural went on 150 years and they turned into demons or vampires or whatever, both fell for the same girl, who's to say what coulda happened. All IM saying now is a crossover when they'd both been airing would've been hilarious.

[diegoshargreevs]

teen wolf and the bold type 😊

Ohh nice, thank you for these!

>> teen wolf

favorite male character: scott

favorite female character: malia

least favorite character: gerard, jennifer, kate..

prettiest character: all of them tbh but maybe allison? or derek

funniest character: stiles

favorite season: 3

favorite episode: all of 3b those were so good!

favorite romantic ship: scallison & stalia

favorite family ship: I dunno, the pack, scott and stiles being bros also scott and his mom

favorite friend ship: scott & stiles

worst ship: not really a fan of stydia 🙊 also hayden and liam..

>> the bold type

favorite male character: richard

favorite female character: sutton

least favorite character: I think I like them all?

prettiest character: sutton

funniest character: andrew lol

favorite season: season 1 or 2

favorite episode: 1x10 2x09 3x06

favorite romantic ship: richard & sutton and kat & adena

favorite family ship: girls trio, this def counts as family ❤️

favorite friend ship: oliver & sutton but also love the relationship that jaqueline has with the girls

worst ship: kat and eva

[steely-eyedmissileman]

The Vampire Diaries, Ep. 1x10

The Turning Point

this is a somewhat boring name for an episode, but it gains some meaning when you do a quick peruse of air dates and learn that this is the last episode before the mid-season break! is what i would say if this were a normal american tv show, but i must instead say that this is the last episode before the first mid-season break because there are two.

we start this episode very excitingly! it's melissa mccill! i love melissa mccill! she's the best character in teen wolf! she has the best track record of episode mvp awards of any character! i wonder how many episodes she'll appear in because i think she's amazing! oh... she's dead.

then, damon makes a quip about trying out for the amazing race. to which i say, 'i would pay good money to see them do the amazing race.' unfortunately, this turn of events seems unlikely. anyway, the brothers are blocked from the amazing race by learning that there's another vampire in town. (which they know because my beloved melissa mccall has been killed.)

damon finds out where fucking newsboy is (by coercing caroline into helping) and then goes to confront him. luckily, he gets shot like ten times by wooden bullets! it was a very cathartic moment for me because i hate damon. i wrote 'hell yeah!' in my notes. with the exclamation point.

after damon and fucking newsboy's confrontation, we learn about the main plot of the episode: career day! this is a classic vampire situation! what's my line from season two of buffy is a wonderful two-parter! i'm so excited!

unfortunately, we are not delving into the true power of career day on a vampire show, but we do get to hear stefan talk about his past, where he's apparently earned many many degrees, in a variety of subjects. elena used to want to be a writer, but since hasn't felt the same since her mom died. to borrow a line from a different (better) vampire show, 'when i look into the future, all i see is you.' (buffy summers to angel, buffy the vampire slayer 2x12 bad eggs)

back at the school, fucking newsboy takes caroline home, proving that she is a vampire magnet. (obviously, he's just trying to get a rise out of her mother.) also, fuck face is back. we spend some time with the mayor for the first time and learn that the mayor is a piece of shit. this means that both fuck face's parents are horrible, and it makes me feel a bit bad for calling him fuck face. not bad enough to stop, obviously. then, it is heavily implied that fuck face is a werewolf. which would make me very excited. and also make me stop calling him fuck face.

then, elena has her best moment yet: 'you don't get to make that decision for me. if you walk away, it's for you, because i know what i want. stefan, i love you.' elena has stepped up to the plate. she's making a decision, finally! she is claiming her agency, sticking to her guns, taking a stand. i have been begging for this since the show began, and it's finally here. of course, the thing she is standing for is her right to date stefan, not literally anything else. but, beggars can't be choosers.

after elena's big moment, she goes into stefan's house with him, and it becomes clear that they are going to have sex. then, there's another what's my line scene! stefan starts to vamp out and turns away. elena pulls him back to her because she's not afraid of his vampire nature and she truly loves him. awwwww

after they have sex, elena finds the picture of katherine that has been sitting on stefan's table the entire time (because he's a creep.) she takes off the necklace (bad move) and runs out of the house to her car. then, she drives away until she runs into a dark figure on a country road and flips the car. then, she hangs there, watching as the figure's bones knit back together and it stands again. that's a vampire. hard cut.

before i'm done with this episode, i have to talk about ht (history teacher [alaric saltzmann]). he kills fucking newsboy, who doesn't recognize him, throwing confusion on my theory from last episode. fucking newsboy has clearly met his sire, who told him about the vampires in the vault. he wouldn't know that katherine's down there unless he heard from a vampire, right? but he didn't recognize ht. i am feeling very confused about this whole thing.

[teenwlficons]

[winnie-the-monster]