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[IKIGAI]

6.01 || got this totally under control

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"I'm just saying, I don't think the Calaveras serve any purpose whatsoever in this search for Kate. In fact, all they seem to be doing is hindering the search for Kate." 

Chris sighs, looking over at Aurelia as she speaks to see her still looking at her computer screen, idly scratching Arlo's head. She looks up after a moment when he doesn't say anything to see him looking at her. "What? I didn't say it in front of any of them this time!" She says defensively and he hums. 

"They have connections we don't. People who might have seen Kate." Chris says.

"Do they? Because we've been at this all summer and the only leads we've been following are ones that you have found." Aurelia says before her phone buzzes and she glances at it before tilting it towards her. 

"Who's that?" Chris asks as she picks it up and unlocks it. 

"Stiles. He wants to know if I'm gonna be back for the beginning of the school year or not." Aurelia responds as she types.

"Why? You quit." He says.

"I resigned, thank you." Aurelia retorts and he frowns.

"Same difference." Chris says.

"No. Resigned makes me feel like less of a failure." Aurelia corrects.

"Wait, why does he want to know if you'll be back for the beginning of the school year?" Chris asks.

"Oh, uh, because last year was the first time I missed his first day back since I was eighteen. And that was because I got locked in a bank vault." Aurelia explains.

"You know, I probably should have guessed that." Chris says and she hums with a shrug. "Are you going to?" 

"I don't know." Aurelia responds.

"Look, I'm the last person who's gonna make you go back to that town if you don't want to," Chris starts and she hums.

"Yeah? Because it kinda sounds like that's where this conversation is going?" Aurelia says.

"I'm not going to make you go back. Mostly because I can't. But I wouldn't. But, I will say, you kind of need to go back at some point." Chris says and she hums.

"Do I?" She asks.

"Yes. Because you still technically live there and everything you own is there." Chris responds.

"I can buy new things." Aurelia responds.

"Yeah, I don't know how to respond to that." Chris says and she shrugs. 

"I know I'll have to go back at some point. Doesn't mean I want to. And, I mean, based on what Stiles and Freya have both said, she's basically moved in with him and Noah. And I don't wanna stay in that house alone." Aurelia says.

"You can stay with me and the girls." Chris says.

"You mean the girls because unless you've changed your mind in the last thirty seconds, you're not planning on coming back with me if I go back for the beginning of the school year." Aurelia says.

"You know, this isn't very fair if you can keep secrets from me and I can't keep secrets from you." Chris says.

"It's probably for the best that you can't keep secrets from me because I have horrendous trust issues and a tendency to always assume the worst." Aurelia responds and he hums. 

"Really? Hadn't noticed." Chris remarks and she rolls her eyes at him.

"Running theory is it comes from being literally abandoned as a child." Aurelia says.

"You might be onto something there." He says and she shrugs.

"Phony psychiatrist isn't looking so stupid now, is he?" She asks.

"No, that's still stupid." Chris says.

"You're mean." She grumbles, looking back at her laptop.

"Mature." Chris says.

"I'm not going to grace that with a response." Aurelia says without looking up. "Do not say 'you just did'. What are you, twelve?" Aurelia asks, looking up. "God, I'm starting to think I'm a bad influence." 

"You are a bad influence." Chris responds.

"Now you're just bullying me." Aurelia complains.

"Look, are you going back to Beacon Hills for the beginning of the school year or not?" Chris asks.

"I probably will. Stiles will just get super whiny otherwise and I don't think Noah would appreciate me violently beating his son because he annoyed me." Aurelia says and Chris nods. 

"Okay, then you can take the car." Chris says and Aurelia frowns.

"You need the car." Aurelia says.

"How are you planning on getting back to Beacon Hills?" Chris asks and she hesitates slightly. "I mean, I assume you won't be flying because you asked me if there was an easy, quick way to get from the south of France to California that didn't involve flying and were shocked when I said no." Chris says and she narrows her eyes briefly.

"Are you ever going to let that go? I don't like aeroplanes." Aurelia says.

"I just don't understand what answer you expected." Chris responds. "So, how are you planning on getting back to Beacon Hills?"

"I don't know. I'd probably," She trails off slightly as she thinks. "Get a cab?" 

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard." Chris responds.

"Well, I don't know. I literally just decided to go back. I haven't thought it through." Aurelia responds.

"Just take the car. I'll go with the Calaveras. It's fine. And it'll probably be easier for everyone." Chris says.

"That's great. But I'm not insured to drive your car so I can't legally do so." Aurelia says before narrowing her eyes slightly. "Unless you know something I don't."

"I had to renew my insurance the other week. I figured it'd just make life easier if I added you to my insurance so you could drive the car." Chris says.

"You added me to your insurance? Is that the kind of thing responsible adults are supposed to think about because I would never have thought of that." Aurelia says and he hums. "Why does me saying 'responsible adult' make you basically have an aneurysm? You know I'm not a responsible adult. The only reason I eat vegetables is because they're like sixty percent of my diet." Aurelia says and he nods.

"I know. You just say things that really concern me sometimes." Chris responds.

"You're really gonna have to get over that." Aurelia says and he hums as she looks back at her laptop.

"What are you doing?" Chris asks and she looks up again.

"Looking through the Bestiary." She responds.

"Thought you said you weren't going to keep trying to figure out what Parrish is until you had more information." Chris says.

"I do have more information. His eyes glowed orange and he has werewolf-like strength." Aurelia says and he hums.

"That's the same information you been working off for months." Chris says.

"Yeah, I know." Aurelia responds.

"You said you were going to stop looking until you had more information two days ago." He says.

"Well, I was bored. I changed my mind." She says with a shrug.

"You have a problem. You don't have to know everything." Chris says.

"Yes, I do. Because if I don't know everything, then that means nobody knows anything." Aurelia retorts and he rolls his eyes at her with a hint of an amused smile. "Don't roll your eyes at me. You know I'm right. The only person who might know something is Stiles and he's functioning on unfound assumptions, good guesses and information gathered from video games and movies." Aurelia says.

"So, you're going back and you're taking the car then?" He asks and she sighs.

"I suppose so. I mean, I don't really want to but I probably should. Because something is no doubt going to start and someone should be there to make sure that nobody dies." Aurelia says and Chris nods.

"I'd appreciate it if you could make sure my daughter and niece don't die." Chris says.

"Suppose so." Aurelia says. 

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"Okay, I think you're being a little paranoid. I'm not going to blow the town up. I had one tiny little meltdown." Aurelia says as she pulls into the high school parking lot.

"That's what we're calling that? One tiny little meltdown? You nearly killing four of Araya's men?" Chris asks and she shrugs, despite the fact that he couldn't see her.

"If you really had a problem with it, you'd have asked me to stay or left with me." Aurelia says.

"Just be careful." Chris says.

"I'm always careful." Aurelia argues.

"No, you're really not. You're actually the total opposite of careful all the time." Chris says and she nods.

"Whatever. Look, I think your daughter and niece, along with all of the other idiot teenagers are currently doing something not careful, so I am going to go and stop them before they get themselves killed. If that's quite alright with you." Aurelia says.

"That definitely doesn't sound careful." Chris says.

"Okay, hanging up now." Aurelia says, grabbing her phone as she turns off the engine. 

"I'll talk to you later." Chris says and she hums.

"Talk to you later." She says before hanging up and she pockets her phone as she climbs out of the car, heading towards the overpass where she could hear everyone's thoughts, picking up the pace in attempt to prevent her hair from getting too wet. 

She stops behind Stiles, Delaney and Nike, leaning over Stiles' shoulder slightly as she watches Scott, Liam, Malia and Kira fight some guy with glowing claws. "Who's that?" She asks and Stiles glances at her.

"Don't know. Some guy." Stiles responds and she nods as he looks forwards again. Before he suddenly turns around to look at her with a frown.

"What?" Aurelia asks.

"The hell are you doing here?" He asks.

"You asked me to come back for the beginning of school." Aurelia says with a shrug. 

"But you never answered me." Stiles argues.

"Yeah, I did. I said maybe." Aurelia says and he looks at her incredulously. 

"You didn't tell anyone you were coming back." Stiles says.

"Yeah, I did. I told Kiki and asked her to tell Del who I knew would tell you." Aurelia says.

"I never told Del." Nike says.

"Well, that's on Kiki, not me." Aurelia says.

"Why would Kiki be the one you tell?" Stiles asks.

"Because I needed to know if she and Del were coming to this stupid thing because I'm staying with them. So, if Kiki wasn't coming, then I didn't have to come and I could have gone straight to the apartment and slept but Del and Malia had already convinced her to come so, I had to come." Aurelia explains.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't know Kiki had someone backing her decision not to come. However, I would have, if she'd told me." Delaney says.

"I would have told you. I was going to tell you. Except, I couldn't. Because, I forgot." Nike says and Aurelia nods with a hum.

"See, not my fault." Aurelia says.

"This is ridiculous. You disappear with Argent for months and the only person you consistently talk to is Freya and then you just turn up like it was nothing?" Stiles asks incredulously and she shrugs.

"Yeah, pretty much." Aurelia says with a nod. "And once I finally managed to get my new phone number to Derek, I talked to him as consistently as he could find payphones." Aurelia says. 

"Still won't buy a phone?" Nike asks and Aurelia shakes her head.

"No, I had to use a shirt I stole from him to do a tracking spell so I could teleport to him and give him my phone number. It's really inconvenient." Aurelia complains.

"This conversation is wonderful but, who's that?" Delaney asks, pointing ahead of them and they all look towards where she was pointing to see a new figure fighting the guy attacking Scott. 

"No idea." Aurelia says.

"You're a telepath." Stiles says.

"Yeah, I'm kind of having issues with that at the moment." Aurelia responds.

"Wonderful." Stiles says dryly and she hits him up the back of the head. "Yeah, I deserved that." He says as he rubs it.

"Are you going to help him?" Delaney asks, glancing at Aurelia when the guy they were fighting stabs Scott with his claws.

"No, he's got this totally under control." Aurelia responds.

"That's totally under control? He's been impaled." Stiles says.

"Why am I the first person you look at? Huh? Kiki's the hybrid." Aurelia says, gesturing at her.

"I'm not helping. I like these shoes and this is my favourite jacket." Nike says with a shrug.

"Look, it is totally under control." Aurelia says when Scott breaks his arm and Stiles rolls his eyes at her, resulting in Aurelia hitting him again. 

"Okay, I know I deserve it, but I really wish you'd stop that." Stiles says.

"Stop doing things you know are going to get you slapped." Aurelia retorts and he huffs.

"I don't know who you are, or what you thought you were going to do, but I'll give you a choice. You can stay, and I'll break something else. Or you can run." Scott says.

"I'd run." Stiles says when the guy glances in their direction.

"I'd walk personally. But I'd definitely leave." Aurelia says, holding a hand up briefly.

"You're not helping." Stiles whispers.

"I'm giving him options." Aurelia whispers back as the guy hesitates for a moment before getting up and running away. 

"Hey, did you just get back?" Scott asks as they all walk over to where Aurelia, Stiles, Delaney and Nike were standing.

"Yeah, couple minutes ago." Aurelia responds.

"You okay?" He asks and she nods.

"I'm fine." She responds and he nods before turning to look at the unfamiliar guy standing opposite them.

"You don't remember me, do you?" He asks. "I mean, I kind of thought Aurelia would but I guess I look a little different since the fourth grade." He says and Aurelia frowns a little.

"Theo?" Scott asks and Aurelia shares a slightly confused look with Stiles.

"You know him?" Malia asks.

"They used to. Trust me, I never thought I'd see you guys again. A couple of months ago, I heard of an Alpha in Beacon Hills. When I found out his name was Scott McCall, I just couldn't believe it. Not just an Alpha, but a True Alpha." Theo, apparently, says.

"What do you want?" Scott asks.

"I came back to Beacon Hills. Back home with my family. Because I want to be part of your pack." He responds.

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"We haven't seen this kid in years. You don't find that highly suspicious?" Stiles asks.

"I'm kind of more concerned about the guy who just tried to kill me." Scott says.

"I think both things are concerning but I'm also tired, so I'm gonna go wait in the car." Aurelia says before looking to Delaney and Nike. "I've got Chris' SUV if either of you want a ride home." She says.

"Cool, thanks." Delaney says.

"Anything that'll get me out of here and away from these people faster." Nike remarks.

"Wait, Argent's SUV? Isn't it illegal to drive a car if you're not insured to?" Stiles asks.

"Yeah." Aurelia responds. "Which is why I'm now insured to drive it. So, I'm gonna go wait in the car. If that's quite alright with you." Aurelia says, walking backwards.

"I guess." Stiles responds.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're okay with that." She remarks dryly.

"Okay, whatever." He says.

"No, really. I don't know what I'd have done if you told me I couldn't go sit in my boyfriend's car." Aurelia says.

"You're such an ass." Stiles says.

"Such a relief that's okay with you. Remind me to run all future decisions past you, will you?" She says.

"Okay, please go away." Stiles says.

"You sure? Only if that's okay by you." She says.

"I hate you so much." Stiles says and she smiles slightly in amusement before turning around and walking away. "So much!" He calls after her.

"I'm sure I'll live!" She responds.

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Aurelia looks up when the car doors open, smiling briefly at Delaney as she climbs in the passenger seat. "Is that my Dad?" Delaney asks, nodding at her phone. 

"No, it's Sudoku. Do you need to talk to him?" Aurelia asks.

"Not really. I was just going to get you to ask if he knew where a couple of things are. I keep forgetting when I talk to him." Delaney says.

"I think he's calling me later or in the morning. You can ask him then if you want." Aurelia says and Delaney nods. 

"Have you guys had any luck finding Kate?" Nike asks and Aurelia glances at her as she turns the car on. 

"No. The Calaveras are really more of a hindrance than they are a help, honestly. And any leads they'd found have been dead ends." Aurelia says with a shrug. 

"So, why did my Dad stay then?" Delaney asks.

"Mostly to shut the Calaveras up. Partly because leads from his contacts have been semi-useful. But he's not planning on staying for long. And things get a little crazy here, he'll come back." Aurelia says and Delaney nods.

"Well, I've got a feeling he'll be coming back soon then." Nike says.

"I need you to stop saying things like that because it kinda freaks me out." Delaney says, looking at the other girl and Aurelia smiles slightly in amusement. 

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