"Why weren't you answering your phone?" Emily asked. Sean had seen he'd missed six calls from her. Three of which he purposely ignored.

"I was at the game," he simply said.

"What game?"

"The lacrosse game I promised Lindsey I'd go with her to."

"So you thought going to some meaningless game was more important than your duty to your family?"

"And what duty would that be? Stalking some random animal clinic receptionist? Or should we start stalking the veterinarian and his tech as well?"

"The veterinarian and the boy he employs know nothing of what we look for."

Sean sighed. "But we're stalking a random woman because some anonymous, nameless client thinks she knows how to find some worthless trinket."

"It's not worthless to the client. He has it on good authority that Sullivan knows how to find it. Now get back home! Now! We need you to follow —"

Sean hung up on his mother. He wasn't doing this tonight. He was still sitting in the school parking lot. Lindsey had left with her friends, riding with Danny. She had jumped up and down with excitement when Sean had joined her in the stands and she quickly introduced him to her girlfriends, Lydia, Kira, and Malia. After the game, she introduced him to the rest of her friends, Scott, who was the team captain, Stiles, Isaac, and officially introduced him to Danny. They were heading to the Beaconburger and Sean had encouraged her to stay with her friends for however long she liked, prompting a comment from Stiles about the big brother being a bad influence. He'd never seen her so happy before. Sean crossed his arms over the steering wheel and laid his forehead against them. His phone started ringing again, no doubt Emily calling. A tap on his window startled him and he looked up to see an older man with blond hair and a few days' worth of beard that had specks of grey in it. His blue eyes held a world weariness. He motioned for Sean to roll down his window, which Sean did.

"Sorry to bother you, son. I just wanted to make sure everything was alright."

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"I know that look well. I've worn it myself." The man held his hand out. "Chris Argent."

"Of Argent Firearms?" Sean shook Chris' hand.

"You're aquatinted with the family business?"

"I'm aquatinted with the Argent family cover business."

Chris gave him a look as if he was calculating him. "Have we had the pleasure of meeting before?"

"I don't believe so. I'm Sean Chasseur."

"Of Chasseur Security. I am also well aquatinted with your family's cover business, although I am also well aware the Chasseurs are not Hunters as your last name suggests."

"No, we're not."

Sean knew the Argents only by their reputation, although he'd met Gerard once and didn't care for the man. He'd heard rumors that the family had somehow been involved with the fire that had killed almost an entire family of werewolves, both human and wolf, and left only three survivors. He'd also heard that Chris was the only one left that kept to the Code and that he'd retired from Hunting.

Sean decided to take a gamble. "Is there a place we can talk? I would like your advice on something."

~~~

"You know, I thought Stiles was the hyperactive one," Isaac said as Lindsey hopped into her chair.

"Hey!"

Scott and Lydia laughed.

"What happened to that shy girl?" Malia asked with a grin, causing Lindsey to laugh herself.

"I killed her."

Danny almost spit his drink, which made Isaac and Kira laugh.

"How can we be that bad of an influence on her that quickly?" Stiles asked.

"I've never had friends like you guys," Lindsey explained. "My family has moved around a lot and no one has really ever tried to be friends with me."

"Really?" Kira asked. "No one even talked to you at your old school?"

"The only one I've ever been able to be myself with is Sean."

"So were you drawn to Beacon Hills?" Stiles asked. Scott hit him in the chest. "Ow!"

"Drawn as in dragged here in the middle of the school year by parents that barely remember they have a younger child that only wants to stay in one place for more than three months?"

"I like her," Malia said. "She's sassy."

Danny laughed.

"I feel like I can be myself around you guys. Like you wouldn't judge me."

Scott looked amused.

"Well, considering we let Stiles hang out with us," Isaac said with a grin.

"Ha! You're hilarious, Isaac."

Scott laughed. Lydia suddenly stood. "I'm going to the bathroom."

"Oh the lady herd needs girl talk," Isaac said with a grin, earning a slap to the back of the head from Lydia.

Kira and Lindsey stood, Lydia motioning for Malia to go with them. It took a moment before Malia realizes that Isaac was correct and she stood and joined them.

"Why are we all going to the bathroom?" Malia asked.

"Well, I really do have to go to the bathroom," Kira said. "I had a big Coke at the game."

"And three since we've been here," Lydia added.

Lindsey giggled. Kira ran into a stall the moment they were inside and Lydia and Lindsey went to the mirror to check their makeup.

Lydia pulled her lipstick out of her purse. "Danny's a really good guy," she said as she reapplied her lipstick. "I've known him for years."

"You guys don't feel awkward hanging around a sophomore, do you?" Lindsey asked.

"They hang with me, don't they?" Malia said.

"Not the same thing, Malia," Kira said as she exited the stall and went to wash her hands.

"It's not?"

"You were missing for several years," Lindsey said. "Definitely not the same thing."

"You know about that?"

"I did a lot of listening when I first started here. People like to gossip. They talked about you and how odd they thought it was that you took up with Scott and his friends right away. I also know you and Stiles both had stints in Eichen House, whatever that is. Scott and Stiles are weird and act like they're always on drugs."

Lydia sniggered.

"That's actually a pretty accurate description," Kira said with a laugh. "What else do they say about us?"

"Lydia is crazy and seems to show up randomly at crime scenes and finds most of the bodies around here. And she sleeps around."

"I do not sleep around!"

"Isaac's dad used to beat the crap out of him before he killed him, but the police couldn't prove it. They talk about this girl named Allison, too." Lydia and Kira looked at one another. "What?"

"What do they say about Allison?"

"They said she was murdered and that everyone liked her. She was tough and smart. They said she didn't deserve to be another Beacon Hills statistic."

"No, she didn't. And she didn't deserve to die the way she did."

"She was friends with you guys, wasn't she?" Lydia nodded. "I'm sorry."

"Do they talk about me?" Kira asked, trying to change the subject.

"Not really."

"Oh."

Malia laughed at how disappointed Kira sounded. The girls returned to the table to see their food had been delivered during their absence.

"Miss us?" Lydia said with a smile.

~~~

Tate walked into his house, mail in his hand. He hung his keys on the peg next to the door and walked into the kitchen, flipping on the light and nearly having a heart attack.

"You should really learn to lock your door." A dark-haired man sat at the table, the whiskey Tate had left out and two glasses sitting on it. The man twirled one of the glasses. "Just anyone can just walk into your house."

"Get out of my house before I call the police."

The man held his hands up. "I just want to talk, Tate. Father to father. No need to get your tighty whities in a wad." Tate just looked at the man. "I just want to talk about Malia."

"Did that Hale send you?"

The man chuckled. "On the contrary, Mr. Tate." He motioned for Tate to sit across from him. "I don't send anyone to do my work. I just wanted to know why you're fighting so hard to keep your adopted daughter."

Tate realized that Peter Hale himself was sitting at his table.

"Besides," Peter continued. "I wouldn't do anything to hurt my chances of gaining custody of my daughter."

"What do you want?"

"I told you. To talk. Father to father."

Tate picked up the mail he'd dropped and set it on the table, keeping his eyes on Peter, who poured a glass of whiskey and set it in front of Tate before pouring himself a drink. "Then talk."

"First, my condolences on your wife and daughter. I know what it's like to lose everything."

"Yet you want to take my daughter from me. You didn't even want her!"

"I didn't know about her. There's a difference."

"So you found out about her and then decided you wanted her?"

"I want to be in my daughter's life. But I know how much she's been through. You telling her she was adopted and throwing a glass at her head didn't help."

Tate looked down and then touched his cheek, remember the deeps scratches Malia had left there when she slapped him that night. "And don't use the 'I was drunk' excuse. That's not a good reason."

"You said you understand how I feel. You know what it's like to lose everything you love. But I know you still have a nephew. You still have family alive."

"Yes, I still have family. But being an uncle is totally different from being a father. You were able to raise her for the first nine years. I don't even remember her mother. I don't know if she's even alive. It's years I've missed because I didn't know. Years I'll not get back. I never signed adoption papers and if I had known Malia even existed, I never would have allowed her adoption."

"She's all I have left."

Peter poured him another glass. "Tell me, Tate." Peter took a drink of his whiskey. "If someone had adopted your younger daughter without your consent, would you not fight to get her back?"

"I'd do anything I could to get her back. I'd fight for as long as I had to."

Peter held his glass up. "So will I."

~~~

Melissa rubbed the back of her neck. This was the third person this month that had come into the ER panicked and believing they were on fire, this time a teenaged boy.

Dr. Geyer walked up to her. "You alright, Melissa?" he asked. He had recently transferred to Beacon Hills Memorial to replace one of the doctors that had been murdered by the Darach.

"Yeah. I just hate seeing kids my son's age die like that."

Dr. Geyer nodded. He had a stepson two years younger than Scott. "I understand," he sighed. "I hate seeing kids die as much as you do."

Melissa suddenly thought about Allison and Aiden. While she wasn't exactly sure if Aiden was as young as he looked, but she remembered how brokenhearted Scott had been after Allison's death and had blamed himself for Aiden's.

Parrish walked towards Melissa and Dr. Geyer. He nodded at them. "Melissa, Doctor," he greeted.

"Hi, Jordan." Melissa returned the greeting.

"You have a minute to answer some questions?"

"It's just like the other two. He came in screaming that he was on fire."

"What was the cause of death?"

"Cardiac arrest," Dr. Geyer answered. "His heart gave out. Now you'll have to excuse me. I have to tell his parents the news."

Parrish nodded. Dr. Geyer turned and walked down the hall.

"Where did they find him?" Parrish asked.

"His mother found him in the front yard screaming at the top of his lungs. She said he'd just gotten home from school. She opened the front door and he suddenly stopped, dropped his bag, and then started screaming. They rushed him here."

"Where are his parents?" Melissa motioned for him to follow her. They turned a corner as the mother started wailing.

"My baby! My baby!" she screamed. "Why couldn't you save my baby!?"

"We did everything we could. I'm sorry."

The father held his wife, tears running down his face. "Is there any way you can find out what caused this?"

"We'll run a tox screen but there is no guarantee that anything will show up."

"You think my son was on drugs!?" the mother screamed. "He didn't do drugs!"

"I'm not saying that...."

"Then why are you wanting to do a tox screen?"

Parrish stepped in at that moment. "The tox screen is to rule out if anyone could have slipped him any drugs that could have caused this."

Dr. Geyer gave Parrish a grateful look.

"And perhaps help determine why this happened."

The mother glared at the deputy.

"I'm Deputy Jordan Parrish with the Beacon County Sheriff's Office."

"If you don't suspect drugs, then what are the cops doing here?"

"I'd actually like to speak to you privately. I don't want the ER waiting room to listen in and intensify your pain and grief."

"Use my office," Dr. Geyer offered. The father nodded and the two and Parrish followed the doctor to his office. "Take all the time you need."

After the door closed, Parrish turned to the grieving parents. "First, let me offer my condolences for your loss."

"What do you know about loss?" the mother said bitterly.

"A lot, ma'am. I'm an Afghanistan veteran. I've... I've seen plenty of loss."

The mother lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry. I...."

"No need to apologize, ma'am. I understand your anger. To answer your earlier question, there have been two other deaths with the same suspicious circumstances. It will be very helpful to the investigation if you could tell me everything your son was involved in and about his friends and acquaintances."

~~~

Deaton sighed and shook his head. "There's very few creatures that can cause hallucinations like that."

Isabel, Derek, and Parrish were standing in the animal clinic after hours. Parrish had filled them in about his suspicions on the strange deaths that had been occurring.

"You're positive it's not drugs?" the Druid vet asked.

"I've seen a wide variety of drugs since becoming a police officer. I've never seen a drug that causes the same hallucination before death. While one will think he's burning to death, the next will think hornets are stinging him and another will think there's creepy crawlies crawling into his ear and eating at his brain."

"You've come across someone with that kind of hallucination?" Derek asked.

"He was institutionalized for over a year because he sprayed professional grade pesticides into his ear."

"Ouch," Isabel commented. "But what makes you think it's supernatural?"

Parrish sighed. "I... I don't know. I can't explain it. It's...."

"A gut feeling," Derek finished.

Parrish looked at him. "Yeah. Like an instinctual feeling."

Isabel turned to Deaton. "What supernatural creatures can cause hallucinations like that?"

"Darachs, Nogitsunes, tricksters, and witches. And I am really hoping we are not dealing with the former two again."

"I thought Nogitsunes were tricksters," Derek said.

"True, but they are the more dangerous of the tricksters as they purposely cause death. As you are well aware of Void doing."

"Very." The bell signaling that someone had come through the front door rang.

Isabel looked over her shoulder. "I could have sworn I locked the front door when Derek and Jordan came in," she mused before heading towards the front. "I'm sorry but we're clos—," Isabel's words cut off, sticking in her throat.

A blond-haired man wearing jeans, a blue shirt that buttoned at the top, and a black leather jacket was standing in the lobby. His brown eyes looked her up and down. It was someone she never thought she'd ever see again. Derek was at her side a moment later, no doubt having heard the acceleration in her heartbeat.

"Hi, Isabel."

~~~

Sean watched his sister sleep. Lindsey had passed out on the bed, only managing to put on the shorts that she slept in before doing so. He smiled to himself as he gently adjusted her comfortably and put the covers over her. His talk with Argent had been a productive one. While he hadn't delved into why his family was in Beacon Hills, he had confessed wanting to protect his sister from the family business and really didn't want her to find out about the real world.

"Then Beacon Hills is the worst place she can be," Chris said as he poured Sean a cup of coffee. "Sugar or cream?"

Sean shook his head. "I take it black." Chris gave him an approving look. "What do you mean by that?"

"I've lived in Beacon Hills on and off for years. The last time we moved back, I was undecided if I wanted to subject my daughter to this world. I really wasn't sure how she would handle finding out about werewolves and other creatures or that it was our family's duty and to hunt and kill those that took a human life. But my sister decided to take it upon herself to show Allison our world." Chris sat down with the coffee.

Sean nodded his thanks. "What happened?"

"I caught Kate trying to kill two werewolves that we didn't have undeniable proof that they'd taken a human life with Allison in tow. One of them being a sixteen-year-old boy that happened to be dating my daughter and had been thrown into this world with a single bite." Chris took a drink of his coffee. "My point is with the amount of supernatural going ons in this town, Lindsey is bound to find out the truth eventually. You're not going to be able to protect her from it."

"Then what do I do?"

"Teach her how to protect herself. The pack here protects the town to the best of their abilities. Even with a True Alpha leading them, they are not always successful. Teach her to protect herself from the ones that do slip past the pack. Teach her and perhaps she won't be too angry when she finds out about the real world."

Sean knew Chris was right. He decided right then and there to start teaching Lindsey how to defend herself. With and without weapons. He gently kissed her forehead and left her room, retreating to his own. Sean fell back onto his bed. If he couldn't protect Lindsey from the truth, perhaps he could protect her from suffering the same heartbreak he had. He closed his eyes and pictured her face. Long light brown hair. A slightly dark complexion. Olive-colored eyes with a hint of sadness and pain. A smile that could light up a room and hide that pain well. The girl his parents threatened to kill if he betrayed the family by leaving. The girl he had pined over for the last five years. The girl he felt he'd failed because he'd pushed her away. He would do anything to protect Lindsey from that pain. Anything.